obtain, according to Mr. Meyer:--old persons are buried; middle-aged
persons are placed in a tree, the hands and knees being brought nearly to
the chin, all the openings of the body, as mouth, nose, ears, etc. being
previously sewn up, and the corpse covered with mats, pieces of old
cloth, nets, etc. The corpse being placed in the tree, a fire is made
underneath, around which the friends and relatives of the deceased sit,
and make lamentations. In this situation the body remains, unless removed
by some hostile tribe, until the flesh is completely wasted away, after
which the skull is taken by the nearest relative for a drinking cup.

The third mode is to place the corpse in a sitting posture, without any
covering, the face being turned to the eastward, until dried by the sun,
after which it is placed in a tree. This mode is adopted with those to
whose memory it is intended to shew some respect. The fourth method is to
burn the body; but this is only practised in the case of still-born
children, or such as die shortly after birth.

Another method practised upon Lake Alexandrina, is to construct a
platform [Note 80 at end of para.], or bier upon high poles of pine,
put upright in the ground upon which the body is placed, bandages being
first put round the forehead, and over the eyes, and tied behind. A bone
is stuck through the nose, the fingers are folded in the palm of the hand,
and the fist is tied with nets, the ends of which are fastened about a
yard from the hands; the legs are put crossing each other.

[Note 80: "They often deposit their dead on trees and on scaffolds."
--Catlin's AMERICAN INDIANS, vol. ii. p. 10--vide also vol. i. p. 89]

The lamentations are raised by the natives around, fires are made below,
so that the smoke may ascend over the corpse, and the mourners usually