Page:Anthropology.djvu/160

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MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY.
159

Stockton, J. B., Toronto, Kans., reports that there are no mounds in that vicinity. A cave near the town is reported to have carvings on the walls.

Tandy, W., of Dallas, Hancock County, Illinois, excavated a mound near that place, which had been the burial place of warriors. All the skeletons were those of adults; ten of the crania and a vertebra having arrow-points sticking in them. There are about thirty mounds in the vicinity of Dallas, of which Mr. Tandy will make a map.

Walker, S. T., writing from Milton, Florida, makes the following mention of antiquities: "I know of quite a large mound containing bones on the Withlecoochee River, seven miles north of Crystal River post-office, from which human bones have been taken; another is situated 28 miles north of Milton, the most wonderful that I have seen. It is one hundred paces in circumference."

He also states: "I have sailed over five hundred miles, and located many mounds, shell heaps, sites of ancient villages, cemeteries, &c. The most important discovery was that of an ancient canal leading from the head of Horseshoe Bayou into the fresh-water lakes of the interior. This canal is about 10 or 12 feet wide, and must have been originally from 6 to 15 feet deep. It is as straight as an arrow, excepting an obtuse angle in one place. Estimated length, one mile. Large pines grow on the embankments and cypresses, 2 feet in diameter, in the bottom of the trench. The lakes, connected by this canal, are about 7 or 8 miles long, and are famous for the immense numbers of fish which they contain. All along Four-Mile Point shell heaps abound, and low mounds, from 1 to 2 feet high, are scattered through the woods for miles. These were undoubtedly built for residence, each being large enough to accommodate a single house, excepting a few which are large enough for half a dozen. East and west of Four-Mile Point the signs of ancient occupation grow gradually less, especially toward the mouth of Choctawhatchie, where a single sand mound exists. West of this, at Indian Bayou, there is a large domiciliary mound and several shell heaps. No more occur until East Pass is reached, where are several small heaps and a cemetery. The burials seem to have been made in separate graves, some being covered with a species of clay or coquina rock. At Camp Walton, or Brook's farm, on the mainland, at the head of the sound, were discovered fifteen large shell heaps and a large domicile mound, 15 feet high, 135 feet wide, and 300 feet long, containing a layer of shells and some human remains, while all through the hammock there are dozens of small circles of earth, &c. At Black Point, at the mouth of Garnier's Bayou, was found a large sand mound, 10 feet high, with a circular base about 200 feet in diameter, and having a sloping roadway to the top.

"Although no oysters now live in Choctawhatchie Bay, they once existed there in vast numbers. The heaps are composed almost entirely