Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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Some, However, Are To Be Met With In
The Savannahs Of Varinas, As In Canada, To The West Of The
Alleghenies.* (* Mummies And Skeletons Contained In Baskets Were
Recently Discovered In A Cavern In The United States.
It is believed
they belong to a race of men analogous to that of the Sandwich
Islands.
The description of these tombs has some similitude with that
of the tombs of Ataruipe.) It seems remarkable enough that,
notwithstanding the extreme abundance of wood in those countries, the
natives of the Orinoco were as little accustomed as the ancient
Scythians to burn the dead. Sometimes they formed funeral piles for
that purpose; but only after a battle, when the number of the dead was
considerable. In 1748, the Parecas burned not only the bodies of their
enemies, the Tamanacs, but also those of their own people who fell on
the field of battle. The Indians of South America, like all nations in
a state of nature, are strongly attached to the spots where the bones
of their fathers repose. This feeling, which a great writer has
beautifully painted in the episode of Atala, is cherished in all its
primitive ardour by the Chinese. These people among whom everything is
the produce of art, or rather of the most ancient civilization, do not
change their dwelling without carrying along with them the bones of
their ancestors. Coffins are seen deposited on the banks of great
rivers, to be transported, with the furniture of the family, to a
remote province.
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