A dry, elevated ridge, composed of easily excavated material, was selected as the cemetery. A pit of only a yard or so in diameter was sunk, sometimes vertically, sometimes at an angle, or sometimes it varied from vertical to inclined. It was sunk to depths varying from 15 to 60 feet, and at the bottom a chamber was formed in the earth. Here the dead was deposited, with his arms, tools, cooking utensils, ornaments, and chattels generally, with maize and fermented liquor made of maize. The chamber and passage were then rammed tightly full of earth, and sometimes it would appear that peculiar earth, other than that excavated on the spot, was used. One not unfrequently detects a peculiar aromatic smell in the earth, and fragments of charcoal are always found mixed with it in more or less quantity. M. De Zeltner describes other very simple graves which are filled in with earth, excepting a surface paving of pebbles. Mr. McNiel, who has examined more examples than any other white man, and over a wide district with David as a center, discredits the statements of De Zeltner in respect to the form illustrated in Fig. 4, and states that generally the graves do not differ greatly in shape and finish from the ordinary graves of to-day. He describes the pits as being oval and quadrangular and as having a depth ranging from a few feet to 18 feet. The paving or pack consists of earth and water worn stones, the latter pitched in without order and forming but a small percentage of the filling. He has never seen such stones used in facing the walls of the pit or in the construction of pillars. The flat stones which cover the cist are often 10 or 15 feet below the surface and are in some cases very heavy, weighing 300 pounds or more. A single stone is in cases large enough to cover the entire space, but more frequently two or more flat stones are laid side by side across the cavity. These are supported by river stones, a foot or more in length, set around the margin of the cist. He is of the opinion that both slabs and bowlders were in many cases carried long distances. No one of the pits examined was of the extraordinary form described in detail by De Zeltner and others. [Footnote 7: B. B. White: Jour. Anthrop. Inst. Great Britain and Ireland, p. 246. February, 1884.] HUMAN REMAINS.