With spirits now he feasts above;
    All left us, to revere
  The deeds we cherish with our love,
    The rest we bury here. 
  Here bring the last gifts, loud and shrill
    Wail death-dirge of the brave
  What pleased him most in life may still
    Give pleasure in the grave. 
  We lay the axe beneath his head
    He swung when strength was strong,
  The bear on which his hunger fed—­
    The way from earth is long! 
  And here, new-sharpened, place the knife
    Which severed from the clay,
  From which the axe had spoiled the life,
    The conquered scalp away. 
  The paints that deck the dead bestow,
    Aye, place them in his hand,
  That red the kingly shade may glow
    Amid the spirit land.

The position in which the body is placed, as mentioned by Dr. McChesney, face upwards, while of common occurrence among most tribes of Indians, is not invariable as a rule, for the writer discovered at a cemetery belonging to an ancient pueblo in the valley of the Chama, near Abiqum, N. Mex., a number of bodies, all of which had been buried face downward.  The account originally appeared in Field and Forest, 1877, vol. iii, No. 1, p. 9.

On each side of the town were noticed two small arroyas or water washed ditches, within 30 feet of the walls, and a careful examination of these revealed the objects of our search.  At the bottom of the arroyas, which have certainly formed subsequent to the occupation of the village, we found portions of human remains, and following up the walls of the ditch soon had the pleasure of discovering several skeletons in situ.  The first found was in the eastern arroya, and the grave in depth was nearly 8 feet below the surface of the mesa.  The body had been placed in the grave face downward, the head pointing to the south.  Two feet above the skeleton were two shining black earthen vases, containing small bits of charcoal, the bones of mammals, birds, and partially consumed corn, and above these “ollas” the earth to the surface was filled with pieces of charcoal.  Doubtless the remains found in the vases served at a funeral feast prior to the inhumation.  We examined very carefully this grave, hoping to find some utensils, ornaments, or weapons, but none rewarded our search.  In all of the graves examined the bodies were found in similar positions and under similar circumstances in both arroyas, several of the skeletons being those of children.  No information could be obtained as to the probable age of these interments, the present Indians considering them as dating from the time when their ancestors with Montezuma came from the north.

The Coyotero Apaches, according to Dr. W.J.  Hoffman,[12] in disposing of their dead, seem to be actuated by the desire to spare themselves any needless trouble, and prepare the defunct and the grave in this manner: