The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-10-17

I OldlCS h4ll lBOA4 hAoPPAt5P disturbed. The most curious things we found were not the rings of beaten gold
 encircling bony fingers, or water-jars of quaint designs in mholded clay, or spindles with thread still on them, just as the weaver laid down her work some centuries ago-but the petrified eye
 balls. which careful digger may al- | ways find. They are seldom inserted in | the face of the mummy. but apparently
 fallen out among the wrappinss. Mod 1 ern science declares that the human
 eye cannot be preserved, and it is now
 commonly accepted theory that these were never human optics. but those of | cuttle-fish, with which the more perish | able eyes of the subject to be mummy
 fled were replaced. From the great
 number of them it would seem that the friends. wishing to make sure that the dead could see whatever accidents might occur on the long journey, added | handful of extra eyes to each corpse.
 They are very curious and really beau- tiful things-fat on one side, round and
 smooth on the other, bright, amber-like
 yellow. holding light as an opal, and
 varying in size from the tip of your lit | tie finger to the end of a mans thumb.
 They are eagerly sought for the settings ' of scarf pins, sleeve buttons, etc, and | are durable as most jewels. Everybody
 remembers the story that went the | rounds of the press a few years ago how Tiffany, the New York jeweler, was sent number of these mummified eye | balls to be made into a necklace for some sair lady and how two or three
 of the workmen employed in polishing them died before it was discovered that ! their sudden demise was due to the fine Fdust which flakes off from these relics of the tomb. The quality of the wrap pings, and the various articles found in | the graves. enables one to judge with l tolerable correctness what was the con- dition in life of the occupant. MT, E. G. Squier. who spent long time
 searching these Indian cemeteries, writes: "In Peru. as elsewhere. the
 heWers of wood and drawers Of water met in death a treatment corresponding to that meted out to them in life. They were thrust into crevices of the rocks among the mountains, or into holes in tn nitrous sand of the coast, with such
 scant paraphernalia for their wander ings in future world as their own lirl- ited means. or those Of their humble friends. could supply. Few and rude are the relics found with their shriv- elled remains: a gourd, perhaps
 carved wooden cup containing amulets or charms; an impliment of toll, a rude fat sntsr cir to the natural peculiarities of which their superstitious minds rendered rev
 erence." The plebeian dead were bur
 jed in such shallow graves that some
 times earthGuakes tossed them up to
 view, or winds uncovered them. Irl orr
 der to utilize all the arable lands, the
 ancient inhabitants used to pile up the
 stones that cumbered the ground into
 great heaps. There are thousands of
 stone-oiles all over the country, and
 every pile holds it's mummy. MT.
 Squier's description of one that he un-
 covered answers we'll for the rest. He
 says: The dead man sat alone among
 the stones. wrapped iIl rustic cloth,
 with some bean-pods and ears of corn
 pressed between his breast and knees. At his feet, enveloped in coarse cotton
 cloth. were two objects os interest, ob-
 viously connected with his superstitions
 The first was kind Of mask. or idol,
 cut out of wood, bearing a resemblance
 to the carved idols brought from dis
 tant Pacific Islads. It is painted on the
 face and has holes on the top and side, through which thin cords, still remain
 ;t,e i,, al 4e at.
 them in front of some object There was
 also a wooden bowl, carved with bor- der representing birds running around it's rim, packed full of layers of various ly colored alpaca and vieuna wool. in perfece preservation. To us the graves Of the child mummies are most inter- esting Each contains some primitive Dlaythings, rude specimens of knitting, often showing places where stitches have been dropped; tiny spindles and braids of irregular thickness, evidently kept for the sake of contrast with oth- CTS better done A girl-mummy's body was wrapped precisely like her moth- CTS: hair braided and laid around the forehead, with a cincture of white cloth, 1 ornamented with little silver spangles; and narrow bracelets of silver hung on her fieshless arms In one such grave | saw the dead body of a parrot at the lit- tie girls feet, which had doubtless been her pet In boy-mummy's tomb was his beloved sling. bound around his ! forehead; and a baby mummy. embed ded in alpaca wool in queerly braided | basket of rushes, with loops at each end l for handles, had a rattle besides it's lit- tie body--a sea-shell with pebbles in- side the orifice closed with pitch-like l substance "a 5s'7 Ny
 Having spent a long day at mummy | hunting. we rode back to Africa, across | the desert in the gathering twilight,-I somewhat awed by what we had seen | and by thoughts naturally induced of | the suitability of all things earthly; but feeling ourselves immeasurably richer, not only by reason of the two nnummies before mentioned, but with treasure trove of petrified eye-balls, spindles, combs, needles, water jars and carved wooded face to add to my already hete- collection" at home ... FANNIE B WARD.
 WANTS MONEY THERE