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the location of an important village. I soon recognized at a distance shell-heaps and bones, the former of which become scarcer as we leave the shore. Approaching these, on a spur of Point Sal, upon which a pass opens through the coast-hills, and on both sides of which are springs of fresh water, though I did not succeed, after a careful examination, in distinguishing the remains of a single house, I think I found the traces of a large settlement on a kind of saddle on the low ridge, where flint-chips, bones, and shells lie in great numbers. At length search revealed to me in the thick chaparral a few scattered sandstone slabs, such as in that region were used for lining graves. Digging near these spots, I at last found the graves of this settlement, called by the old Spanish residents call KES-MA-LI. (Fig. 4.)

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Here were brought to light about one hundred and fifty skeletons and various kinds of implements. The graves were constructed in the following manner: A large hole was made in the sandy soil to a depth of about five feet; then a fire was kept in it until a hard brick-like crust was burned to a depth of four or five inches into the surrounding earth. The whole excavation was then partitioned off into smaller spaces by sandstone slabs, about one and a half inches thick, one foot broad, and three feet long; in which smaller partitions the skeletons were found. One of these slabs generally lay horizontally over the head of the corpse, as a kind of protecting roof for the skull, just as I found them at Chetko River, although in the latter place the graves were lined with split redwood boards instead of stones. Such careful burial is not, however, always met with, and must evidently be taken as a sign of the rank or the wealth of the deceased; the more so, as in such graves I usu ally found many utensils, which is not the case with the more carelessly formed tombs, which were covered with a piece of rough stone or half a mortar. The slabs above mentioned were generally painted, and a piece which I carried off with me was divided lengthwise by a single straight, dark line, from which radiated, on either side, at an angle of about 600, thirty-two other parallel red lines, sixteen on each side, like the bones of a fish from the vertebræ. In most cases the inner side of the slab was painted red. Unluckily the specimen I took with me became wet, by rain, before I was able to convey it to a place of safety, and the previously-well-preserved design was blurred.

In these graves the skeletons lay on their backs, with the knees drawn up, and the arms, in most cases, stretched out. No definite direction was observed in the position of the bodies, which frequently lay in great disorder, the saving of room having been apparently the prime consideration. Some skeletons, for example, lay opposite to each other, foot to foot, while adjoining ones, again, were placed crosswise. The skeletons of females have, instead of the protecting head-slab, a stone mortar or a stone pot placed on its edge, so as to admit the skull, which latter, if too narrow in the neck to admit the skull, is simply buried underneath it. Cups and ornaments, both in the case of men and women, lie principally about the head, while shell-beads are found in the mouth, the eye-sockets, and in the cavity of the skull, which latter is almost always filled with sand, pressed in through the foramen magnum. The skeletons were, in some cases, packed in quite closely, one over another, so that the uppermost were only about three feet below the surface of the ground. The indications of poverty are very evident in regard to these, in the scarcity of ornaments, except, perhaps, when they are females, as they are in the majority of cases. I cannot accept the hypothesis that these were the slaves of some rich man and buried with their master; for the lower skeletons were generally found to have been disturbed in a very singular manner, such as could only have been occasioned by a re-opening of the grave after the decomposition of the

bodies. I found, for example, a lower jaw lying near its right place, but upside down, so that both the upper and the lower teeth pointed downward; in another case the thigh-bones lay the wrong way, the knee. pans being turned toward the basin; and, in other instances, the bones were totally separated and mixed up; all tending to show that the graves had been repeatedly opened for the burial of bodies at different times. Once I even found, upon piercing the bottom-crust of a sepulchre, another lying deeper, which, perhaps, had been forgotten, as the bones therein were somewhat damaged by fire. Plenty of charcoal is found in these tombs, usually of redwood, rarely of pine, and I could not determine any third variety. Sometimes there were also discovered the remains of posts from three to six inches in diameter, and of split boards about two inches in thickness. These are probably the remains of the burned dwelling of the deceased, placed in his grave with all his other property, after the fashion I observed in Chetko last year.

I examined other graves resembling those described at Point Sal. These others are known by the name of Tě-mě-tě-ti. They lie about fourteen miles north of the Point Sal graves, and are situated on the right bank of the Arroyo de los Berros, opposite to the traces of former settlements about seven miles inland. These tombs only differed from those of Kĕs-mă-ti in not being lined with the thick burned brick-like crust mentioned above, but with a thin light-colored crust, slightly burned, and not more than a quarter of an inch thick.

To these graves I paid a second visit, hoping to obtain more material, having been there only a very short time at my first visit. But the proprietor of the land disappointed my desires, for he appeared, in spite of my scientific explanations, to be inclined, according to squatterfashion, to prevent, with his rifle, my visit to the land, to which he possessed no title. These were the graves where I found the bronze cup, and a buckle of the same material, which later, I am sorry to say, was unaccountably lost. I had hopes to discover more of such articles, enabling me to trace the connections of these people. The location of this village is rather hidden; it is situated on a small plain between a bluffy elevation on the left bank, and the rather high and wooded right banks of the Los Berros Creek. I could plainly notice the excavations where houses had formerly stood, and particularly the large sweat.

house.

In company with the well-informed and industrious antiquarian, Dr. W. W. Hays, and Judge Venabel, of San Luis Obispo, I explored another aboriginal settlement known by the name of Ni-po-mō. It is situated on the large rancho of like name, about eight miles inland, and distant about a mile and a half from the Nipomo Ranch House, occupied by the hospitable Dana brothers. These graves are also in sandy soil, near a former settlement, the existence of which is well marked by quantities of flint-chips, fragments of tools, bones, and a few shells. Only about three hundred yards from the graves, and nearly in a

straight line with them and one of the houses of Nipomo Ranch, there is a large spring of good water, surrounded by willows. These graves were indicated by an elder-bush, a plant which I always found near the graves, or in the neighborhood of ancient settlements.

Lastly, I examined the Wă-le-khe settlements, (Fig. 5.) I hesitated to undertake the trip to these graves, because I only had four days left before the departure of the steamer; and consequently I would only have about six hours remaining for work. But, as I supposed this country offered much of interest to the explorer, I made only the fol lowing examination :

About twenty-five miles from the mouth of the Santa Maria River the Alamo Creek empties into it, discharging a large amount of water. Following the wide bed of the Santa Maria for about seven miles farther up stream, we reach a smooth elevation, which at this place rises about sixty feet above the bend of the river, and which trends in a curve toward the mountains on the right bank. At the farthest end of this, at a place where a fine view over the whole valley is had, we find the traces of the ancient village, now known as Wă-lě-khe. A short distance from the former dwellings, on the highest point of the ridge, an excavation marks the spot where once a house stood, probably that of a chief.

I started from San Luis Obispo to visit this place, passing by the remarkable tar-springs, which are situated at about a distance of eighteen miles from the town. Near them I found traces of what had formerly been a large ditch. As before stated, I had not time to make thorough examinations, yet I found that the ditch was still three feet wide, and entered the creek some miles above the tar-springs, on the banks of which creek the said springs are found in different places. Near the road I observed, in the middle of the ditch, an oak-tree, measuring twelve inches in diameter, and which plainly had taken root after the abandonment of the ditch; for it was not torn up, as would have been caused by the running water, but was at this place well preserved.

I also visited Ostion rancho, (sometimes called Ranchito,) at which place there are extensive beds of oyster-shells, and also some other species of shells, among which are prominently Tapes. At one place, about fifty yards from the right bank of the Arroyo Grande, the shells are closely packed and bound together with coarse sand, forming quite an extensive bluff. I collected a few specimens, which I presented to the California Academy of Sciences.

At the place where Alamo Creek empties into the Santa Maria River, on its left bank, I found several earth-works, and they appeared to me to have been built on this level but elevated spot, the entrance of the valley, for defensive purposes. During my hasty examination I could not discover any place where a house might have been, nor any graves, but nevertheless I incline to the belief that near this place had been an important settlement; for Alamo Creek has better drinking-water than the Santa Maria River, and its width and the adjoining country form

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