more particularly refer, convince me that it was not carved for the purpose of deceiving scientific investigators, as might be, and I believe has been, charged. For the same reasons I am led to form a strong opinion that the carving was executed long before the date of British occupation. Irrespective of these reasons, however, I would point to the carving itself as an answer to the theory; and the argument here makes as strongly against the suggestion of French origin as it does against that of British. The features and expression of the face are not in any respect European, neither is the shape of the head. Again the elliptical eye, appearing on a profile as it should only properly appear to the spectator in the full face, is a characteristic of Eastern, especially of Egyptian, art. I have not the means at hand to verify the opinion, but, if my memory serves me rightly, this same peculiarity appears in delineations of human faces among the ancient Mexican Indians, if not among other American tribes. The theory for which I contend is, that a European workman, either skilled or unskilled, would have produced something having a semblance to a European subject or work of art. The suggestion of French origin for the sculpture leads me to speak of the connection of the French with the history of this part of the province.
The earliest record of the French occupation of Acadia is that of De Monts, who with a party of fellow-countrymen passed the winter of 1604 on the island of St. Croix, situated on the river of the same name, forming the boundary between the province and the State of Maine, and distant about twenty-one miles from the village of St. George. I have never heard of there being any considerable number of French settlers in the neighborhood of St. George, and cannot even say with certainty that there were any French families permanently settled there. L'Etang approaches to within 300 feet or so of Utopia, and La Tête Passage is distant about eight miles from the village, and the occurrence of these names may lead to the inference that there was a partial French occupation of the adjacent country. I have indeed heard of inscriptions on the rock at Black's Harbor, or its vicinity, on Bliss's Island, which are supposed to be in French, but have never met any one who had actually seen these inscriptions. This island is nearly half way between Campobello or Deer Island and Utopia, from which it is about ten miles distant, and opposite the mouth of La Tête Passage. By no hypothesis, however, am I able to connect this curiosity with any European custom or idea, and consequently the remainder of my investigation will be devoted to the argument in favor of its Indian origin.
If it is possible to derive approximately accurate information as to the age of the stone from its situation and condition when found, it would of course assist materially in discovering the nationality of the workman. I believe that the finder, who, as I have stated, was searching for stone for building purposes, was attracted by the shape of the stone in question; that it was lying on the surface and covered with
