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Show 88 BURIAL- AQUATIC- GOSH- UTES. land of spirits." It is well known to all readers of history to what an extreme this revolting practice has prevailed in Mexico, South America, and AQUATIC BURIAL. As a confirmed rite or ceremony, this mode of disposing of the dead has never been followed by any of our North American Indians, although occasionally the dead have been disposed of by sinking in springs or watercourses, by throwing into the sea, or by setting afloat in canoes. Among the nations of antiquity the practice was not uncommon, for we are informed that the Ichthyophagi, or fish- eaters, mentioned by Ptolemy, living in a region bordering on the Persian Gulf, invariably committed their dead to the sea, thus repaying the obligations they had incurred to its inhabitants. The Lotophagians did the same, and the Hyperboreans, with a commendable degree of forethought for the survivors, when ill or about to die, threw themselves into the sea. The burial of Baldor " the beautiful," it may be remembered, was in a highly decorated ship, which was pushed down to the sea, set on fire, and committed to the waves. The Itzas of Guatemala, living on the islands of Lake Peter, according to Bancroft, are said to have thrown their dead into the lake for want of room. The Indians of Nootka Sound and the Chinooks were in the habit of thus getting rid of their dead slaves, and, according to Timberlake, the Cherokees of Tennessee " seldom bury the dead, but threw them into the river." After a careful search for well- authenticated instances of burial, aquatic and semi- aquatic, but two have been found, which are here given. The first relates to the Gosh- Utes, and is by Capt J. H. Simpson:* " Skull Valley, which is a part of the Great Salt Lake Desert, and which we have crossed to- day, Mr. George W. Bean, my guide over this route last fall, says derives its name from the number of skulls which have been found in it, and which have arisen from the custom of the Goshute Indians burying their dead in springs, which they sink with stones or keep down with sticks. He says he has actually seen the Indians bury their dead in this way near the town of Provo, where he resides." As corroborative of this statement, Captain Simpson mentions in ' Exploration Great Salt Lake Valley, Utah, 1659, p. 48. |