"I got on the Sultana at Fort Adams when S. S. Prentiss was aboard on his bridal trip--married that morning at Natchez, and the whole bridal troupe went down to New Orleans. It was my first sight and acquaintance with Prentiss. I was charmed with his manners and appearance. He had the most handsome head, and it sat better on his neck and shoulders than any person I know. That was in 1843, when his fame was world wide; yet, sir, he was as bashful, timid and quiet as a boy of 16 in the presence of those ladies." "At table he had nothing to say, but ate his meals quietly, almost stealthily. But as soon as he came down in the social hall, he was lively and chatted enough." I could give other extracts of value and interest from this same letter, but I will not worry you. I hope it will not be long before this letter and other important historical manuscripts will be printed. PRE-HISTORIC JASPER ORNAMENTS IN MISSISSIPPI R. B. FULTON, M. A., LL. D. In the annual Report of the Smithsonian Institute for 1877, Dr. Chas. Rau, under the title of "The Stock-in-Trade of an Aboriginal Lapidary," emphasizes his conjecture "that among the aborigines certain individuals who were by inclination or practice particularly qualified for a distinct kind of manual labor, devoted themselves principally or entirely to that labor." He referred to several instances where, in certain localities, finds of a large number of similarly wrought specimens of work in stone seemed to indicate that each set of specimens came from the hands of a special lapidary. One of the most remarkable of these deposits was found in Lawrence County, Mississippi, in 1875, and was carefully described by Dr. Rau. It consisted of 469 imperfectly finished objects made by chipping, cutting and grinding out of reddish or orange-colored or brown jasper pebbles, and was found accidentally about two and one-half feet below the surface of the ground in the northern part of Lawrence County,[67] The objects were evidently intended for ornaments, and when finished all would have been polished and probably perforated. The majority were cylindrical in shape, and varied from one-fourth to one inch in diameter and from one-fourth to three inches in length. Others were roughly fashioned into ornamental shapes. Several showed an attempt at perforation, and one, not received at the National Museum, was said to be completely perforated. When the hardness of the material used--jasper--is considered, the patience and skill needed to give their form and polish to these objects command admiration. From the fact that only one specimen was perforated completely, one might readily suppose that the workman found the difficulties of this part of his undertaking too great, and buried his unfinished work in despair. Some time ago there came into my hands a set of similar articles found in the county of Lincoln, Mississippi, about twenty-five miles west of the spot where the above-mentioned find was made.