THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. BY FREDERIC D. LENTE, A. M., M. D., Representative from Florida on the Executive Committee of the Centennial Medical Commis- sion; Member of the American Public-Health Association; of Board of Managers of Hudson River State Hospital; of the American Neurological Association; late Professor of Diseases of Women and Children in the University of New York ; Honorary Member of North Carolina State Medical Society; Corresponding Member of New York Medico-Legal Society; Vice-President New York Neurological Society, etc. [reprinted from the semi-tropical, MARCH AND APRIL, 1877.] JACKSONVILLE: CHARLES W. BLEW. 1877- i ?• lmit $ I- SARATOGA, SPRINGS, June to Grand Union Hotel. PAkATKA, PL A,, Pec. to May. THE Mounds of Florida. BY FRED’K D. LENTE, A. M., M. ]% THE writer has recently* endeavored to impress on the minds of invalids and tourists-coming to Florida, and who propose to spend the winter here, the im- portance of devising some means of en- suring both physical and mental employ- ment, regarding, as do others, who have studied the subject, idleness and ennui as militating seriously against the chance of securing the full benefit of a winter residence here. Many are obliged to lo- cate themselves where there may be but little congenial society, or where the amusements, and the inducements to out- door exercise and exploration may be very limited. Some of the more enquir- ing and energetic variety of invalids are disposed to find objects of interest any- where and everywhere. Nature is never dull when intelligently interrogated; but is always instructive and entertaining; and, to the denizen of the North, always presents novelties even in her most unat- tractive tropical haunts, both in her gen- eral aspect, and in herfauna andflora. In the experience of the writer, however, very few of those who find their way here are very persevering in seeking out objects of interest or study for themselves; and they soon tire of one locality, even if the cli- mate and surroundings prove themselves particularly suited to their peculiar form of disease. Florida abounds in natural objects of interest. The State is unique among her sister States in many respects; in her ge- ological formation,—built out, as it were, like a shelf from the shore, through the agency of myriads of little “toilers of the sea;” her foundation secure enough for all practical purposes, but not solid like the main-land; underlaid, so to speak, by arches, and pillars, and caverns, and subterranean lakes and streams, here and there coming to the surface, and sometimes, it must be confessed, rather suddenly;* in her rivers,—bursting full * Bartram, a naturalist, who explored Florida more than a century ago, thus describes, in his usual graphic manner, on the authority of a trader and some In- dians who saw it, an occurrence of this kind. “ The trader, being in the vicinity, heard a loud, rushing noise almost like thunder, and, at a distance, saw the plain overflowed by a rushing torrent of water; it soon overwhelmed the higher grounds, and he rushed to- wards the adjacent Indian village for safety. He met the Indians, who had heard the noise, and were com- ing to see the cause of it. They assembled on a high eminence, and saw that the water was issuing from the earth like a great boiling cauldron. It flowed so for several days, and then retreated, and the surface of the water was then some feet below that of the ground. The excavations and beds of the streams, caused by the rush of waters, and now dry, were seen by Bar- tram. This is precisely what must have occurred, when the fresh-water springs which discharge them- selves offMatanzas Inlet, and Cedar Keys, first formed. The sink, above alluded to, was christened “Alligator Hole,” and is situated on the St, Mark’s River. *“ Florida as a Winter Resort,’’ in The Semi- Tropical, for January and February, 1877. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA, grown from the earth, and sometimes from the sea,* capable, at once, of float- ing large craft; in her wonderful mineral springs; wonderful from their extraordi- nary size and depth, for the unrivalled purity and transparency of their waters, and the abundance of animal life, seen in all its varied forms and motions, as though an etherial medium, to the very bottom of their lowest depths; in her crys- tal lakes, scattered in prodigal profusion, giving life and animation to the prospect, a delicious variety of food to the inhabi- tants, and affording an easy means of com- munication. Then her history is a thril- ling romance from beginning to end; her change of government and ownership, more rapid and numerous than ever be- fore experienced in the world’s history; her soil, lying as it does, under six de- grees of latitude, capable of growing every product of both temperate and tropical climes. Her works of art are not numerous. Though containing the oldest settlements in the country, she is yet a terra incognita. Beyond the very interesting relics at St. Augustine, with which the country is now so familiar, there is nothing which will challenge the attention of the traveler, or compare with those of other States, except her mounds. It happened that the writer, soon after his arrival here last winter, got posses- sion of a copy of Professor Jeffries Wy- man’s report to the Peabody Academy of Science on the “ Shell-Mounds of Flor- ida,”* just out of the printer’s hands. This includes an enumeration and exam- ination of most of the noted “shell- mounds” of the St. John’s river. The interest, ex&ted in the mind of the writer of this paper by this memoir, induced him and many of his acquaintances to pursue the enquiry, and to seek out and to examine, for themselves, some of these relics of past ages in this vicinity. The interest increased as the work proceeded ; and finally, it became an easy matter to assemble, at any time, a party of from thirty to fifty of both sexes to go mound- digging; and no easy matter was it at all times for the ladies to struggle through the dense undergrowth and swamp to reach some of the shell-heaps. The va- rious theories proposed by savants and travelers as to the origin and use of these structures in various parts of the world, their age, the character of the articles found immured, a comparison with those found in widely separated districts, etc., furnished interesting themes for conver- sation and discussion of a healthy and more or less instructive character. As- suming that future visitors here may take something of a similar interest in these matters, and to add to their somewhat * An immense body of fresh' water, passing from un- der the State, bursts out in the form of a spring, at sea, off Matanzas Inlet, producing an ebullition or commotion from a quarter to half a mile across, and a peculiar appearance of the water, which can be seen at a considerable distance. It is also marked, said Major Donaldson of the army, to the writer, by immense numbers of gulls circulating about it. A similar, but not so marked a phenomenon, appears off Cedar Keys, in the Gulf, where fresh water may be dipped out of the sea. Occasionally, what are called “ sink holes,” form suddenly in various parts of the State, the crust, formed of the rotten limestone or coral, gives way and down goes the super-jacent soil with its growth, to a greater or less depth, not unfrequently out of sight, leaving a pond or lake. In this, can always and im- mediately be found, fish in considerable numbers, showing free subterranean communication. On the other hand, large bodies of water, as in the case of Lake Tuskawilla, in Marion county, suddenly disap- pear. This lake, several miles in circumference, and of considerable depth, disappeared in one night, the bottom literally dropping out, leaving fish, turtles and alligators innumerable and uncomfortable. The sud- denness of this occurrence having been questioned by persons long resident in Florida, the writer was able to corroborate it by the testimony of Col. Sprague of St. Augustine, and Judge William Edwards of Mican- opy, both of whom were present at the lake at the time. The lake gradually filled up to its usual level, the hole being gradually stopped by debris and deposit. “In 1837,” says a writer in The Semi-Tropical, July, 1876, “during a terrible storm at night, the lake, (Lake Jackson, near Tallahassee,) from some cause or other, suddenly very nearly disappeared. The storm or something else, knocked the bottom out, and sent the water to some other world. It soon filled up to nearly the former height. It has no visible outlet, and is supposed to have a subterranean channel to the Gulf of Mexico.” *This lamented scientist died before completing his work here. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 3 limited sources of occupation, the writer has ventured to put together, in a more or less readable form, some notes which he jotted down at the time, and some ab- stracts of the description of mounds and their contents of other writers in various parts of the country, and of other coun- tries. In fact, it is absolutely necessary to study them in connection with others in various localities, and to compare the thoughts and theories of other observers far abler and far better qualified than the writer, in order to acquire anything like just appreciation of the comparative val- ue of what might, otherwise, appear to those whose minds have never chanced to wander to the “mound-builders” and their history, a very insignificant matter. He feels more emboldened to take upon himself this self-imposed duty from the fact that the numerous authors, who have lately written so instructively and pleas- antly on Florida, have barely alluded to this interesting subject, though they have generally admitted it to be well worthy of study. It is astonishing how one becomes fas- cinated in digging into and groping among such unsightly objects as masses of old shells, covered sometimes by the decaying vegetable matter and rich hu- mus of centuries, and huge heaps of sand. Even those, whose attention had but recently and accidentally been di- rected to the subject by hearing the cas- ual conversation of others, soon became ardent searchers, and eager enquirers into the significance of the most trivial objects thrown up by the shovel or scratched out with the fingers. It was a novel sensation to most of us, this en- deavor to read history in its own lan- guage, to make the dead speak, and their monuments to give an account of them- selves. The mound digger must become, as indeed he is very apt to become, an enthusiast, or, as Prof. Wyman justly ob- serves, he will overlook the most instruc- tive letters of his new alphabet. "Some- times,” he says, “shovel and rake must be thrown aside, and the hands must be used in the search, for the smallest ob- jects are often the most significant. A little bit of stone, or minute tool of bone, or a chip of flint, or a little fragment of clay pottery, may be sufficient to over- turn a theory, or clench an argument.” A piece of common pottery, liable to be shivered to pieces at a blow, is more lasting than epitaphs of brass or effigies in bronze. These yield to the varying action of the weath- er; stone crumbles away, ink fades, paper de- cays; but the earthen vase, deposited in some quiet and long-forgotten receptacle, survives the changes of time, and even when broken at the moment of discovery, affords instruction in its fragments. Perhaps nothing of a physi- cal character more clearly determines the de- gree of civilization attained by a nation than the progress in the fictile art. Urnal inter- ments, burnt relics, and earth mounds, inas- much as they “lie not in the fear of worms,” endure when personal and even national mem- ories have perished. In some of them rest the surest and earliest physical proofs of the anti- quity of man. Amid the depths of forests, where everything pertaining to the history or even the traditions of the people, who once dwelt beneath their shadows, is to us, emphat- ically ‘in the urn;’ the curiosity of subsequent ages has, in ancient graves, and neglected tu- muli, caught a glimpse of many things be- longing to a forgotten past, learned lessons of the funeral pyre, the last valediction, the fun- eral customs, the religious rites, and the do- mestic economy of nameless nations, whose existence could, otherwise have been scarcely more than conjectured.* Earth-mounds exist in all parts of the world, and are so ancient “that they were old and mysterious in the days of Homer.” The mounds of Florida are of two kinds, the “ shell-mounds ” and the “sand mounds.” There are marine shell- mounds and fresh water shell mounds. The former extend, in immense heaps, sometimes ten to thirty feet in thickness, *“ Antiquities of the Southern Indians," by C. C. Jones. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. all around the coast, as Turtle Mound at New Smyrna, and at Charlotte Harbor and Cedar Keys. Let us first direct our attention to the fresh water shell-heaps or mounds, which almost exclusively occu- pied the labor of Prof. Wyman. “ These heaps,” says Foster*, ‘‘which have been explored by Prof. Wyman, are on a scale of magnitude, which almost surpasses belief.” They commence a little north of Palatka, and extend above Enterprise. They are composed of only three varie- ties of shells, two univalve and one bi- valve ; the largest some two inches or so in diameter. The former are in a good state of preservation, while the latter, a mussel-like shell, are sometimes reduced to a powdery substance, from age, a few of them nearly entire, but very fragile. These heaps hardly deserve the title of mounds, and ought not to be confounded with the remarkable structures of the mound-builders. The heaps only attain a height of from three to ten feet, but are often several hundred in length and breadth ; always situated along the river banks or shore of a lake; sometimes en- croached upon and partially destroyed by changes in the river channels, some- times at a considerable distance from its shore, in consequence of alluvial depos- its, large forest trees growing upon them, and upon those deposits. It has always been a mooted question as to how those heaps were formed. Many even now contend that they were thrown up by the action of the waves; but exactly how the moderate current and placid surface of the narrow river, for it is in the narrowest portions that they are found, could have done this, they do not explain; nor how they became mounted, as they often are, on the bluffs, as at Murphy’s Island, and other points. This may, however, be at- tributed to an upheaval subsequent to their formation, which, the wavy lines, exhibited by the different strata of some of the heaps, where they have been cut away perpendicularly, might appear to indicate. But why they should be ac- cumulated to such an enormous extent only here and there, at long intervals, and not, as it would seem they ought to have been, if this theory be correct, all along the shores, with some degree of uniformity, does not appear. It has been suggested that birds have fed upon them and deposited the exuvicE in these local- ities. But this theory is manifestly un- tenable. The most natural supposition upon a mere inspection of the heaps and their surroundings, is, that the inhabi- tants were poorly supplied with the means of obtaining other food more diffi- cult to secure, and resorted to the shell- fish, which must have existed in those days in enormous quantities. These fish are still found here but in no abundance. It is said that the “ crackers ’ ’ still occasion- ally eat them. They had their habita- tions at convenient points along the river and evidently lived in groups of fami- lies close together. At that epoch, water was more abundant than at present and camping grounds not so numerous. They accordingly chose the highest and dryest spots; on these they consumed enormous quantities of the snail-like fish and mus- sels, and would soon accumulate a large heap of the shells. As they gathered, year by year, the surface was raised, inch by inch, to the height of many feet; higher than they now appear, as decom- position of the shells has taken place, to a considerable extent, and, in so much, has reduced the thickness of the heap.* all the natural or wild orange groves are situated on the shell-heaps, or “ shell-fields,” (Wy- man). There has always been a doubt as to how these groves originated, or whence came the seed; whether the trees are indigenous or not. The above fact seems to indicate that the seed were scattered on these heaps when they were probably used by the Spanish and French as camping grounds, as they must always have afforded the most eligible spots. It is improbable that they existed prior to the landing of the Spaniards, as they would certainly have been noticed in the minute descriptions of the animal and vegetable productions, written by both the Spanish and French authors. Mr. Fairbanks (History of Florida) thinks that they are Seville oranges run wild. If so, it is singular that they *“ Pre-historic Races of the United States of Ameri- ca,” by J. W. Foster, LL. D. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 5 Now, let us see what the internal ex- amination of the heap will reveal. Dr. Wyman spent many laborious days in a most thorough exploration of numerous samples of the shell heaps, searching most carefully for the minutest imple- ments, which might give a clue to the habits of the people who unconsciously reared these lasting monuments of their history. Fragments of pottery were al- ways found, but never in abundance, and seldom in large specimens, bones of va- rious animals, quadrupeds, reptiles, and birds, pieces of flint or chert*, imple- ments of bone, especially some small pointed spiculce, which he conjectured to have been used for picking the fish from their shells. Lastly, he exhumed the remains of fire-places, with charcoal and the charred remains of wood; and, on going deeper, still others, indicating that, as the heap of shells became higher they allowed the fire-places to become covered up, and made others. It would not, of course, be a difficult matter to raise such simple habitations as served them, in order to conform to the altered level. Occasionally he found human bones, mostly in fragments, but these were rare. This fact will be again no- ticed. Here, then, we have the internal evidence which would seem to corrobor- ate fully the theory of the formation of these heaps. The writer’s own explora- tions of several of these mounds led al- ways to the discovery of similar articles but always very sparsely distributed, ex- cept the bones of animals. The imple- ments of this primitive race were evi- dently of the simplest character and not abundant, so that they could ill afford to allow them to be lost. The Conch shell, Busycon Perversa, although found rather frequently in the sand mounds, was sel- dom found in the heaps, and it is not al- luded to by Prof. Wyman. This will re- ceive further comment. There are some specimens of frag- ments of human bones found in these heaps, which require special notice. Dr. Wyman found, in several locations, frag- ments of the longbones, (human,) broken into convenient lengths for getting into their cooking utensils, and then crushed, but the parts held together evidently through the medium of the periosteum. Had they been broken, through brittle- ness induced by age, into so many small fragments, these would have been separ- ated and scattered; neither could any pressure, as Dr. Wyman justly remarks, to which they could have been subjected accidentally in the mound, have produc- ed this peculiar condition. Some of the fragments, found in th'e small heap, just a mile or so north of this village, and presented to the writer by Dr. Moragne, exhibit precisely the same appearance, and no scientific person, to whom he has shown them, doubted the fact that the fracture was intentional. We are forced then to the inference, if this be so, that it must have been done with a view to extract the marrow by boiling, or by suc- tion. The habit of cracking marrow bones of beef, in this manner, and suck- ing out or picking out the marrow is in- dulged in to this day, and considered a great luxury, especially by Englishmen. These bones are very old, have lost all their earthy matter, and are cemented more or less by water charged with lime in percolating the shells. In one instance only were such fragments found in a “burial-mound,” and then very near the surface. They may, therefore, have been thrown there by accident when the mound was built. If so it would indicate that the cannibals preceded the mound- builders. In no instance, within the knowledge of the writer, have the mound builders proper been connected, by any discoveries in the mounds, with cannibal- ism. Dr. Wyman is in doubt as to the comparative ages of the two species of should have so completely changed their character, as the trees from the orange seed are apt to produce sweet fruit. * This is not found naturally in this part of the State, but brought from a considerable distance. 6 THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA, mounds. He discusses the subject of cannibalism in his memoir very extensive- ly and interestingly, and quotes numer- ous descriptions by various writers of the horrible tortures inflicted by the cannibals of this and other countries on their ene- mies previous to roasting and devouring them. The custom seems to have been in vogue among the Indians inhabiting this country when visited by Europeans, as among the Algonquins and Iroquois. These fresh water shell heaps are found like all other kinds of mounds in various parts of the country, as along the Missis- sippi and its tributaries, etc. “ Their ar- tificial origin was first determined,” says Foster {op. cit.) “by those eminent natu- ralists, Lesueur and Say, as far back as 1826, mention of which is made in the magnificent work,'* Travels in the United States by the Prince Maximilian.’” Those who have contended for the theory of the natural formation of the fresh water shell heaps have pointed to the immense accumulations of marine shells, oysters, etc., all along the Gulf coast and the Atlantic, as proof, taking it for granted that the latter, from their wide distribution and their magnitude, must have resulted from the action of the waves. It is not more extraordinary that there should be salt water shell heaps than fresh water; as anything edible and so easy of attainment as oysters would most certainly be seized upon by the inhab- itants, whose means of sustenance were so restricted. Their size is greater than that of the fresh water heaps, both, be- cause they are less influenced by age than the latter, and because the shell is much larger. But the examination of these heaps ought to set the question at rest. In the first place, no two valves in close proximity will fit or match, as they should do were the oysters thrown up by the waves; they have all been opened. Nor does it appear that any such process has lately or ever been observed going on along our oyster-bound coast, as mul- titudes of oysters dying, becoming separ- ated from their reefs or beds, and cast up in huge heaps along the shores, with their valves invariably and widely separ- ated. But like the other shell heaps, they speak for themselves. “On this Bayou,” says Foster, (op.cit.), alludingto Bayou Barrataria, the rendezvous of the famous pirate Lafitte, “as elsewhere off the sea and lake shores, all the accumu- lations are artificial.” He judges by the remains found in them. “The pre-his- toric inhabitants doubtless lived on these shell fish, either in great numbers or through many centuries of time.” The same class of accumulations, according to Nott and Gliddon, occurs in the Ala- bama River fifty miles inland, and the evidence is irresistible that the aborigi- nes collected these molluscs for food, when Mobile Bay occupied that region. They say these shells had all been open- ed, and they found pottery, and the same evidences of cooking, and similar collections of bones of animals to those found by Wyman and the writer of this paper. “ Prof. Vanuxem,” says Foster, “was the first to call attention to the ar- tificial origin of some of the mounds,” among other reasons, because “ arrow heads, and fragments of pottery were dis- closed, and besides, the deposits reposed on a yellowish loam, the surface soil of the region, which was penetrated with the roots of red cedar.” (Proceedings of the American Association of Geologists.) Still stronger evidence of the artificial ori- gin of the marine shell heaps is to be found in the description of the heaps of the Pacific coast near San Francisco. These mounds have also been used for burial mounds by the later Indians. Paul Schumaker, in an article in the January (1877) number of the Popular Science Monthly, speaking of those heaps, says: Investigation revealed the artificial forma- tion to consist of a layer of shells, most of which are still found among the living species on the island, bones of fish, sea-fowl, seal, and sea-lions, and whales, and dogs and foxes, THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 7 and a great mass of cobble stones of all sizes, especially of the size of the fist, and used for fire-places, and chippings of different varieties of chert, chalcedony, jasper, quartz, etc.— rocks suitable for the manufacture of knives, arrow-heads, spear-points and other cutting tools, which do not appear in situ on the island, and had to be imported. must have required many hundreds of years to form this land, and to give rise to such a growth. The thickness of the layer of humus on the heap, and the size of the trees are parallel evidences of age. Similar recessions of the river have been noticed at other points, as at Huntoon Is- land. In estimating the age of these mounds we are not confined to mere con- jecture. Trees increase by concentric rings, each ring measuring a year of age, so that, when we have a tree growing in the mound, or the remains of a tree stand- ing, by counting the ring—or if this is not possible, by measuring the diameter, and knowing the number of rings to the inch, within certain limits, for each variety of tree—we may deduce the age with some approach to accuracy. The writer meas- ured the shell of the stump of a live oak standing near the mound just noticed, and found the diameter twelve feet at the junction with the earth, and eight feet where it became cylindrical, three feet above. This would give over five hun- dred years for its age when it died; but as a considerable portion of its outer shell may have been lost by decay, its age was probably somewhat greater, per- haps six hundred years. On a shell mound on the west side of this island, alluded to but not examined by Prof. Wyman, is the shell of a stump of a live oak, which, at the point where it begins to expand at its junction with the ground, measures eight feet, and its summit, two and a half feet higher, five feet; a con- siderable portion of the circumference has, however, been lost by decay; allow- ing for this, the age of the tree was some- thing over four hundred years.* The It will strike any reflecting person that the small shells of the fresh water heaps must have accumulated, to form such huge masses, either through the co-oper- ation of an immense number of persons, or during an immense number of years. It could not have been by a great num- ber of people living upon such a contract- ed space, and must therefore have re- quired a great length of time. Let the mounds and their surroundings again speak and tell us their age. The entire absence of any well-formed stone imple- ments, which were used by later Indians, would indicate a rather remote age, as would the condition of some of the shells already described, and also the thick layer of fine humus, which forms very slowly, covering them when lying in the dense forest. One of this description was visited and examined by the writer in company with his friend, Prof. C. R. Ag- new, of New York, last winter. It is sit- uated in a swamp on the east side of Murphy’s Island, about ten miles south of this place. Though a rather extensive heap, about nine hundred feet in length by about thirty-five in breadth, with ir- regular elevations, it was so covered by forest growth and detritus, that our guide himself had difficulty in finding it. It is at a distance of nearly three quarters of a mile from the shore of the river, though doubtless at one time forming a portion of the shore itself, judging from the for- mation of the surface between it and the river, which is, of course, flat and swampy, and from having been a shallow bay, has been filled up by alluvial deposits. On this, is growing almost to the water’s edge, very large forest trees of slow growth, as live and water oaks, etc. It * The age of a tree cannot be deduced from its di- ameter unless we know the rate of its annual growth (that is the thickness of the rings or the number to the inch) though the same variety of trees may have rings of various thickness according to the soil. According to Dr. J. A. Lapham of Wisconsin, different trees in that state vary as to age, from 99 years to the foot, to 130 years. The harder woods have usually more rings to the inch. “ The largest and oldest trees in the State,” says Lapham, “is one near Manitowoc, a white cedar, 12 feet in circumference, consequently 8 THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. oldest tree found by Prof. Wyman grow- ing upon a mound, live oak, was six hun- dred and sixty years. These oaks in- crease at the rate of twelve rings to the inch. We may form a reasonable ap- proximate, as to the age of this shell-heap. We may form a very rough estimate of the lapse of time between the abandon- ment of the mound and the commence- ment of the growth of the tree. It must have required a great many years for a vegetable growth to appear on the mound and to decay so as to form a soil suffi- cient to support such a growth, probably a century at least. If then, we add this to the age of the tree, and make an esti- mate of the time required for a moderate number of families to consume shell-fish of such small size sufficient to form a mound several feet in thickness, we may arrive at a reasonably fair conclusion as to the age of the heap. Let us now take up the study of a very different class of mounds, or the mounds proper. They are always built of a very fine sand, hence their common name, “ sand-mounds.” Prof. Wyman, who de- voted comparatively little attention to these mounds, intending to make another visit here for their examination, calls them “burial” mounds. In one sense they are, but it will require further investigation to prove that they were really constructed for this purpose. So far, the weight of evidence in Florida is against this suppo- sition ; for, as we recede from the surface in digging, and get nearer the centre, we cease to find any articles whatever, noth- ing but the cleanest and purest sand. Dr. Wyman says he could not, at the time, command the necessary labor to enable him to penetrate fully to the bot- tom of the mounds, and thus far, the wri- ter has met with the same difficulty. A very determined effort was made by a large party, including the writer, last win- ter, to open up a mound on Dunn’s Creek, near Palatka, and we reached the bot- tom very nearly, digging a trench direct- ly through the mound; but the day was hot and our time too short, and even with the assistance of our negroes, we failed to demonstrate fully the absence of objects of interest at the bottom. My friend, Jno. P. Haines, a zealous member of the Mu- seum of Natural History of New York, went up the river above Enterprise to ex- amine a mound, but he, too, from lack of time and labor, failed to get to the bot- tom of the mound, though he found many interesting relics. General Peden, of Jacksonville, who has been long in Flor- ida, and has devoted much time to this investigation, informs the writer that, in one instance, if not in more, a single skeleton has been found at the bottom of a mound in the sitting posture, one which is commonly adopted by pre-historic ra- ces. He cannot recall the exact localities of these mounds, as it was many years ago. It is probable that some of them were constructed for the burial of distin- guished persons, and others for some other objects, as in other parts of the United States; so that even the thorough examination of one or more might not fully settle the question. It is to be hop- ed that tourists, who may have the inter- 860 years old.” This is not very old when we compare it with the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, several of which, now standing, are computed to be from 1,000 to 1,500 years old. They are comparatively small. The writer found it almost impossible to count the rings of an olive only four inches in diameter, with the aid of a lens, although the section was polished. “ The latter tree,” says Lossing, (“ The Hudson from the Wilderness to the Sea,”) alluding to some dwarfed balsams on Mount Tahawus, not more than five feet in height, “are most of them centenarians. Their stems, not larger than a strong man’s wrist, exhibited, when cut, over one hundred concentric rings.” E. D. Cope (Wheeler’s Report on the Geographical Surveys and Explorations West of 100th Meridian, 1875) says, “ My assistant, an educated and exact man counted the rings in a cut made into the side of a Pinon (Pinus Cem- broides). In a quarter of an inch of solid wood he found 16 concentric layers, or 64 to the inch. The Pinon is a small species, hence the closeness of the rings in a small tree.” DeCandolle mentions having seen trees in South America from 1,500 to 6,000 years old. Under the city of New Orleans immense trunks of trees were discovered while making excavations. Some of the cypress trunks were ten feet in diameter. Their age must have rivalled that of the South Amer- ican giants; but they are dwarfs along-side of the ce- dars of California. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 9 est and the leisure, and the means, may hivestigate this subject fully in other parts of the State little frequented at present, where far more interesting relics are rep- resented to exist than we find along this river. er jaw was generally perfect, and its teeth intact. It is worthy of note that the condition of the latter always indicated great age, their crowns almost entirely worn off. The same fact was noticed by Mr. A. C. Beals, the U. S. Hospital Stew- ard at St. Augustine, who obtained nu- merous relics from a large mound near that city. This would indicate perhaps that only the aged (most distinguished) members of the tribe were accorded the honor of mound burial. It is important to record that one skull was decidedly distorted,* flattened on one side; the sig- nificance of this fact will presently be ap- preciated. It has been remarked that they, in one sense, are burial mounds. They are invariably truncated cones, having a broad, circular base, a moderate height, and broad area on top. Nothing is found on digging into the sloping sides, but, at the depth of two or more feet on the upper surface, we come to various relics. For instance, in the mound on Murphy’s Island, alluded to by Wyman, measuring about one hundred and fifty feet in cir- cumference, about twelve in height, and about thirty feet in diameter on top, the writer found numerous portions of hu- man skeletons, many skulls, more or less imperfect. The bones were not placed in any order. A small portion of the surface had already been disturbed, but, in portions which had not been, as under the roots of decayed trees, the same dis- order prevailed, and this lias invariably been the case, where bones have been found in these sitrface, or as they have been technically termed, “intrusive” burials. This fact will receive further comment when we come to consider the mounds of other parts of the country. A remark made by Jno. Bartram, (Vol. marked “Florida,” in Astor Library, by Roberts, Stark and others, page 26,) may perhaps give the clue to the explanation of this. “Whether the Florida Indians,” he says, “buried the bones after the flesh was rotted off them, as the present South- ern Indians do, I can’t say.” In such a case the bones would naturally not be ar- ranged in anatomical order. The object of this may have been to prevent their exhumation by wild animals. No bones of animals are found in these mounds, a striking contrast to the shell mounds in this respect, a fact worthy of remem- brance. The bones were mostly in rath- er an advanced state of decay. The low- Along with the bones, were found a considerable number, but no variety ex- cept in point of size, of stone implements ; a sort of thick, short chisel, which has has been called, by various archaeolo- gists,‘‘bark peelers,” “mullers,” ‘‘axes,” etc. They are made of a moderately soft stone, their form is perfect, the lines all curved and apparently as true as if regulated by mathematical calculation. Their outline and exact appearance may be seen in any of the recent publications on American Antiquities. They are dif- ferent from the axes so abundantly found in other States, as they have no groove. Dr. Wyman states that an axe has never been found in the State. But Mr. Beals writes, of the relics in his possession, “ one of the axes was nicely polished, and had a groove around for a handle." These chisels or scrapers are supposed to have been used for scraping and dressing the skins of animals. A few stone beads were found, a tolerably perfect arrow-head, and one curious specimen, which gave rise to considerable speculation as to its probable use, especially, when the Rev. Mr. Roache, of this place, not long after, in another mound, found a similar one. They are concavo-convex plates of stone, *“The flattened and distorted skull,” says Jones, who figures specimens in his work {op. cit.') “ belongs to the mound-builders, to whose industry the erection of these tumuli is to be referred.” THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 10 about five inches long, two and a half broad, and half inch thick; and are ap- parently fragments of an immense stone pot. The material appears to be steatite, spangled throughout with minute parti- cles of mica. It yields readily to the fin- ger-nail, and the markings upon it are curious, showing, in the first place, that it has been scraped, apparently with the nail, in one spot so often as to perforate it. That this hole was not made inten- tionally in order to suspend it, is evident from the fact that one corner has been grooved around with some instrument, so as to allow of its being tied at this point, either to be worn on the person as an amulet, or to suspend it for safe keeping. It is possible, as Mr. Roache suggested, that they may have scraped off the pow- der as a medicine. The shining, silvery particles may have given an idea of su- perior virtue as a medicine, or the pot may have been known to have been for- merly used for boiling down medicinal herbs, and supposed to have absorbed their virtue.* Numbers of similar pots, perfectly preserved, were brought by Lieut. Wheeler, U. S. A., from the mounds and graves of California, and are now in Washington. Some are found in the mounds of Georgia and Alabama. “ Prof. Joseph Jones,” says C. C. Jones, Jr., ‘‘ has a vessel of this sort weighing over two hundred pounds, and one was exhumed in Alabama large enough to allow an adult to sit and bathe in it.” Imagine the patient labor it must have required to fashion so perfectly these huge vessels, with no metallic tools, only chisels of hard stones, flint, obsidian, etc. Numbers of fragments of the ordinary clay pottery were found. These are found not only in the mounds, but scattered over the surface of the ground in their vicinity, and often turned up by the plough. They vary in thickness from a quarter to half an inch, and in the character of the mark- ings on their surface, similarly to what we find figured in the work of Jones and others. These markings indicating some- times the manner in which they were moulded, (in basket work,) sometimes are merely ornamental. The very fragile nature of this pottery, made thin and of only partially baked clay, accounts for the great abundance of the fragments wherever the inhabitants assembled in any numbers. There is a heap in the city of Rome, three hundred feet high, made of fragments of pottery entirely. Perfect specimens, and specimens rudely representing figures of men and animals and idols are found in other States ; but, so far, hardly any perfect specimens have been found here, only two by Prof. Wy- man, one of which was a small toy pot. He remarks, however, that the pottery of St. John’s river is very rude in compari- son with that found in other parts of Florida, especially at Cedar Keys. Mr. Beals found a very good specimen in the mound near Augustine, which he figures in a letter recently received here by a friend, and describes as “a cup about five inches high and very neatly ornamented. It had evidently! been once taller, and having been broken, had been cut off and holes made to convert it into a bale.” It is likely that further explorations will develop far more important relics than any yet discovered.* The material of ♦Coreal (voyages de F. Coreal aux Indes Occiden- tales 1660-97) quoted by Jones, gives a curious account of the treatment of patients by the Jaouiinas of the modern Indians of Florida, He does not speak of their using the powder from the medical pots, but of an emetic powder, prepared from calcined shells. He says—“ One must be a Floridian or the devil to resort to the violence of this emetic.” Mr. Jones {op. cit.) goes on to say that ‘‘the office of physician among these primitive peoples, accompanied as it was with author- ity, notoriety and emoluments, was not exempt from danger. Failure to effect a cure, in some instances, involved, as a direct consequence, the death of the practitioner.” He also remarks (very apropos) that “ the suggestion of such a penalty at this time for pro- fessional ignorance or malpractice would most essen- tially diminish the applications for the degree of M. D., effectually thin the ranks of the medical fraternity, and entirely extirpate the class of ignorant quacks in- festing the community throughout all its borders. ” ♦Since the above was written Mr Fry, of this place, had a perfect pot sent him from a mound about twelve miles from here, which he is engaged in excavating THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 11 which the pots were made was a remark- ably tenacious black or bluish clay, found now in some parts of the State. They are burned to a light, yellow color, with- in and without, but only partially. Be- sides these fragments, we turned up sev- eral large conch shells, Busycon Perver- sa. These appear to have been held in considerable estimation in Florida and in other parts of the country, probably for utensils, and for the manufacture of var- ious ornaments, as we shall see further on; and, on this account, are found bur- ied with their most valuable possessions, the stone scrapers, as a mark of respect to the dead. It is not at all probable that those burials were made by the mound- builders, hence, as has been remarked, the term “burial-mound” is not strictly appropriate. Professor Wyman supposes, and is very probably correct, that the Northern Indi- ans, those from Georgia and the Caroli- nas, came in, conquered the Florida In- dians, and used those mounds for burial purposes. We shall see, when we come to consider the mounds found in other States, that this was not an uncommon practice; that the condition of bones and other articles found at the bottom of the mounds, point unmistakably to an age several hundred years at least, probably over two thousand, greater than those found on the surface. Thus, when our records are lost, or imperfect in one sec- tion of the country, we can supply the links of history by reference to those of another. We have some evidence of the mode of burial of some of the later Flor- ida Indians, who were overcome by Northern tribes. John Bartram, who explored portions of the State, especially the St. John’s, more than a century ago, describes a burying-ground of the more modern Indians, situated some distance above Lake George, on the river, con- taining the sepulchres of the Yemassees, who were here slain by the Creeks in the last decisive battle. These graves occu- pied the whole grove, consisting of two or three acres. There were near thirty of these cemeteries, mostly of equal size and form, being oblong, twenty-five feet in length, ten dr twelve broad, and three or four high. Here we see the tendency even among the later Indians to build their burial places in the form of mounds*. Possibly the idea originated in a necessi- ty for protecting the bodies from incur- sions of wild animals, or other intruders. Our present wild Indians of the plains, not being able to command the labor sufficient to raise mounds, take the oppo- site course, and perch the dead bodies on poles in the air. At one time, the de- mands of medical science for material for dissection, in the absence of any law legalizing it, became so very imperative that the necessity for protective mounds was sorely felt by the community. It is rather singular that the bones in these mounds, even where the latter have evi- dently not been disturbed, are in the scattered condition already described as characterizing the ancient mounds. It would seem that skeletons, and not mere- ly fragmentary portions, ought to be found, unless there was some peculiarity in their burial rites. This supposition seems probable, from a remark by John Bartram, and already quoted. This same condition of the bones is noticed in the mounds of the Mississippi Valley, where they have apparently never been disturb- ed. Articles found in some of the mounds of Florida bring us down to much later than the stone age; so that they may be considered as representing several epochs. Near the surface of a mound near Lake Winder (a widening merely of the St. And Mr. H. L. Cable, of Lake Weir, informs me that his men, in excavating a mound on his place dug up a pot which was found lying over a skull, and which was perfect, with the exception of a small hole in its side, from which a fragment had been knocked out. * Homer and Herodotus describe the building of monumental mounds over the graves of heroes, and the custom has prevailed in all ages up to a comparatively recent epoch in history. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 12 John’s) Dr. Moragne of Palatka, who penetrated this lake and Lake Washing- ton, still further South, with the only steamboat which had ever entered there, found, among other curiosities, beads of glass and silver, silver trinkets, as per- forated disks, also perforated pieces of carnelian. Similar articles have been found on some of the Kissmimee mounds, as in the so-called Dougherty mound near Lake Okeechobee, also steel axes. Some of the most remarkable mounds of the State are found at this point, and on Pine Island in Charlotte Harbor, an in- teresting region to visit, and abounding in fish and game. Among the “ Kissim- mee system of mounds” on Parton’s Is- land, are mounds and earth-works which resemble very closely those of the mound- builders of the Mississippi Valley. “The purpose for which the mound was built,” says Mr. Conklin, alluding to one of them, “is entirely a matter of conjecture; but the outwork, as it now exists, was evidently a fortification, of which the mound served as the citadel, while the works on the North are the approaches of a besieging enemy; the banks being constructed by digging the earth and carrying it forward as is done in modern engineering, while the level way in the rear served as a road, on which was brought up the heavy material used in the siege.” Other extensive fortifications near this, the walls of one being twenty feet thick, are described. On these struc- tures are trees hundreds of years old. Similar, but more extensive and elabor- ate fortifications are found on the hills and mountains of Georgia. through; others contending that, when completed, they were intended for drain- ing Lake Okechobee, and the surround- ing region, as the different sections are said to lie in line for that point. Not hav- ing seen these works, the writer has no opinion to offer. Dr. C. J. Kenworthy, who has carefully examined them, be- lieves them to be of artificial origin. It would seem to have been a very super- fluous labor to undertake to drain a large extent of country when such abundance of fertile lands were lying vacant all around. Nevertheless, the different por- tions of the work appear to have been laid out with such precision, that the question continues to be mooted. “Mr. Fontaine,” says Baldwin, “claims that this ancient race, if they did not cut nu- merous channels, at least constructed le- vees to control and utilize the bayous of the Mississippi for agriculture and com- merce.” The most important mound in point of size and beauty on the St. John’s is that at Mount Royal, from which it takes its name. William Bartram,* a distinguish- ed naturalist, thus alludes to it and the country adjacent. From this place, (Mount Royal and Fort Gates, opposite,) we enjoy a most enchanting prospect of the Great Lake George, through a grand avenue, if I may so term this narrow reach of the river, which widens gradually, for about two miles, towards its entrance into the lake, so as to elude the exact rules of perspective and appear of unequal width. At about fifty yards distance from the landing, stands a magnificent Indian mound. Fifteen years before, when he vis- ited the spot with his father, John Bartram, “there was,” he says, "a noble Indian highway, which led from the mount, three quarters of a mile, first through a point or wing of the orange grove, and contin- uing thence through an awful forest of live oaks. It was terminated by palms, and laurels, and magnolias on the verge Besides these mounds and quasi forti- fications there are extensive canals of very ancient date apparently, judging by the trees growing on their banks, which have also given rise to considerable spec- ulation and difference of opinion. Some preferring to believe, as in the case of the shell-mounds, that they are due to natural causes, heavy freshets, for in- stance, and the water cutting its way * “Travels in the Carolinas and Florida,” Dublin, 1793. (Mercantile Library, N. Y.) THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 13 of an oblong lake. The road was fifty yards wide, the bank being thrown up on each side some two feet high.” The effect produced by this combination of a beautiful level savanna beyond the lake, is described by him as “most striking and magnificent.” J. Bartram says, in his journal, (Astor Library,) “live oaks are growing upon it three feet in diame- ter,” and he describes an extensive wild orange grove on the mound and around it. The vicissitudes of Florida history are well illustrated by what took place in this locality in a comparatively few years. Thus, when the elder Bartram described it in 1772, there were the grand old oaks, and the flourishing orange groves. Fif- teen years later, when his son visited it, these had been destroyed, and had given place to extensive fields of Indigo, at one time a valuable product of Florida. Then, the cultivators had departed, the fields were deserted, the fences rapidly disap- pearing, and desolation reigned supreme. In 1876, more than a century after, when the writer visited it, the mound and the open field around were planted with beans and seedlings of the sweet orange, and the forest east of it had grown up again, and the remains of the great road- way are still to be seen. In a few years something of the original aspect of the place will again appear, the orange groves and the “awful forest.” The mounds exist in all parts of our country except the Northern, Eastern and some of the Middle States. They extend especially along the Mississippi and some of its tributaries, both east and west, down through Texas, across the Rio Grande into Mexico. Baldwin says they are more numerous around the Gulf and the lower Mississippi, although there are one hundred “ enclosures ” and five hundred mounds in one County of Ohio, and fif- teen hundred “enclosures” and ten thousand mounds in the State. This gives some idea of the number in the whole country, and of the density of a pop- ulation of which not even a tradition has been handed down. They exist in vari- ous forms, as mounds proper, those gen- erally presenting truncated cones, often with extensive bases, but rising only six to twelve feet in height, sometimes thirty or forty, with a level section, or area on top, but now and then rising in a conical or pyramidal form to a greater elevation; as, for example, seventy feet in height and one thousand feet in circumference at Grave Creek, West Virginia, sixty-eight feet high and eight hundred and fifty- two feet in circumference, at Miamisburg, Ohio, (figured in Baldwin’s Ancient Amer- ica), ninety feet high, as the great pyra- mid at Cahokia, 111. Some of the works consist of “embankments,” “graded ways,” as near Piketon, Ohio, “enclos- ures’ ’ of great extent, “ditches’ ’ or “fosses,” “walls,” fortified hills,” as in Butler county, Ohio, and long lines of embank- ment, enclosing “groups” of mounds. It is remarkable that the outlines of these structures are always mathematically per- fect, whether circular, oval, squares, par- allelograms, or octagons. This indicates, says Baldwin, as Squier and Davis have remarked, that the “builders possessed a standard of measurement, and had a means of determining angles.” When we consider that the circular works, as at Liberty, Ohio, were from twenty-four hundred to fifty-one hundred feet, or nearly a mile, in circumference, enclosing about forty acres, the wonder is still great- er how they managed to lay out such per- fect figures.* Now, as to the contents of these mounds. A number of them have been explored to their very bottom, and we may infer what we might be likely to find under the larger mounds of this State. The search is still going on. Within the past two *On many of the Pacific Islands are some huge structures of remote antiquity, built of accurately hewn stones of great size, with caverns, terraces, stair-cases, etc. The same mystery hangs over the origin of these as our own. It is supposed that they are due to off- shoots of Malayan civilization, during the existence of what was known to have been a great Malayan Em- pire. 14 THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. weeks, the papers have contained ac- counts of explorations in Wisconsin. Prof. Ganung, of Boston, from a recent examination of mounds in Ottawa coun- ty, Michigan, concludes that the race who built them dates back at least two thousand years. There are at least three sets of burials in these mounds, of very different dates, as marked by th’e state of decay in which the bones are found, and the kind, and material of the relics buried with them; in some instances, are found the skeletons of the mound-builders, with the valuables which they possessed. These bones are always in the last stage of decomposition and generally crumble more or less, especially the skulls, on ex- posure to the air, and on handling. Out of all that have been found in various parts of the country, “ not more than one or two skeletons have been recovered in a state suitable for examination. Messrs. Squier and Davis, in their great work published by the Smithsonian Institution, state that only one single skull known to have belonged to the mound-builders, has been preserved in an uninjured con- dition. The pottery, which has been exhumed from the mounds is represented to be most elegantly designed and finished, (see drawings of vases in Baldwin’s work). “There are axes, single and double, adzes, chisels, drills or gravers, lance- heads, bracelets, pendants, beads, etc., made of copper.” “ The articles of stone show fine workmanship, some elaborate- ly carved. Tools of some very hard ma- terial must have been required to work the porphyry in this manner.” It is worthy of particular note that some of the implements and ornaments are of obsi- dian, “a volcanic product found, in its natural state,” says Baldwin, “nowhere nearer the Mississippi Valley than the mountains of Cerro-Gordo in Mexico. Fragments of charred cloth, made of spun fibres, have been found in the mounds. Specimens of this are preserv- ed in the Blackmore Museum, Salisbury, England.” Tubes, supposed to have been used for telescopic purposes, from the fact that similar tubes have been found in Peruvian mounds with other discoveries indicating the use for which they were designed. As regards the cop- per found in these mounds, it was subse- quently ascertained that this ancient peo- ple mined the copper deposits of the Lake Superior region very extensively, much more so than has been done in our day; for, wherever an exploration has been made, it has been found that the mound- builders have been before us; and the writer has been informed by a gentleman interested in these mines, that the an- cient miners seem to have possessed some superior means of ascertaining the exist- ence of paying deposits, for, in no in- stance, said he, where they had made excavations, did we fail to find copper in paying quantities, whereas, they often failed where there were no such indica- tions. A mass of copper weighing six tons was found in the “ Minnesota mine,” some thirty feet below the surface. It is described as lying upon a platform of logs, their ends showing the marks of the axe. ‘‘They soon shriveled and decay- ed on exposure to the air.” This was described by Chas. T. Jackson in his geological report to the government. Heavy stone and copper mauls were also found. Besides the fallen and rotting trees of former generations lying across the pits, there were ‘‘trees showing three hundred and ninety-five rings of annual growth standing on the debris." It is needless to enumerate the remarkable remains which were scattered all around this region. One who had examined it informed the writer that at some points, as on Isle Royale, one might gather cart loads of axes, mauls, ham- mers, etc. “Some of the blocks of stone, which had been moved, weigh two or three tons.” “Who can imagine,” says Baldwin, alluding to the theories re- garding the origin of this people, “the Iroquois or Algonquin Indians found in THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. 15 this country two hundred years ago, work- ing the copper mines with such intelli- gence and skill, and such a combination of systematic and persistent industry!” It is absurd to suppose a relationship or a connection of any kind between the original barbarism of these Indians and the civilization of the mound-builders.” The character of these relics described in the preceding paragraph, and the cir- cumstances under which they were dis- covered, compels us to go back thous- ands of years for the date of the epoch when the mound-builders were a flourish- ing people. Geologists have ascertained the fact that, under certain favorable cir- cumstances, skeletons buried in the earth remain in a fair state of preservation for at least two thousand years, and we see in what an advanced state of decay these of the mound-builders are found, notwith- standing the fact that, in most instances, the nature of the soil was not unfavora- ble for their preservation. Sir Charles Lyell counted eight hundred rings of an- nual growth in a section of a tree found growing on a mound in Ohio; yet it is impossible that this can include more than a moderate portion of the time which must have elapsed since the first plant- ing of the colonies, even supposing the mounds to have been reared at an early date after their advent in the country, which is not probable. Skeletons and bones of the mound-builders have been found as far south as Georgia. In West Virginia one was found at the depth of twenty-five feet, and near the skull quan- tities of beads made from the Conch, which had probably been strung around his neck. Skulls taken from the centre of Georgia mounds, as one opposite Ma- con, were entirely different in age and in form from those on the surface, being greatly distorted by pressure; while the accompanying relics were also of an en- tirely different character. As regards the purposes for which the mounds were built, about which archae- ologists have had and are still having so much discussion, we have seen that the burial of certain distinguished persons must have been the object of a certain class. Of course we have not the space here to exhaust the arguments which have been advanced to prove this. There are reasons for supposing that another class were intended for sacrifices, “sacri- ficial” mounds. Mr. M. F. Stephenson states that, from the surface of a mound in Georgia, a sand stone idol was taken; and Foster {op. cit.) thinks that this indi- cates that sacrifices were offered on the mound. Other more significant signs of sacrifices have been discovered in Wis- consin and elsewhere. These mounds are built so as to present a stratified ap- pearance; their stratifications, as well as their contents showing their artificial character.” In the centre of these “al- tar” mounds, as they are also called, have been found great numbers of, to those people, most costly offerings. A friend of the writer, Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, met with some of these deposits in his examinations ; not only these but charred human bones, indicating proba- bly human sacrifices. In the “sepul- chral” mounds, described by Squire and Davis, evidences that cremation, at all events, was practiced, are numerous. The mounds which have slight eleva- tion, and extensive areas on top are sup- posed to have been the foundations for public structures of some kind; while those of greater elevation, with a smaller terminal section, approached by stair- cases and steps, have doubtless been capped by temples or religious structures, which, having been built of wood, as all the buildings of these people were, have entirely dissappeared. Similar mounds in Mexico and Central America were al- ways used for this purpose, and having been invariably constructed of stone, have survived to this day. There is some positive evidence that they used wood in their works. Baldwin mentions that in one of the mounds in the Ohio Valley “ two chambers were found with 16 THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. the remains of the timber of which the walls were made. It does not appear that these elevated and terraced founda- tions were used anywhere on this conti- nent except in Central America and Mex- ico for public buildings; and, as we can conceive of no other object of these structures in this country, and as there are, as we shall see, other good reasons for supposing that the mound-build- ers, or their ancestors, came from these countries, it is a logical inference that those mounds, not intended for burials or sacrifices, were intended as foundations merely. After all the explorations in various parts of our country, and the very inter- esting and important developments aris- ing from them, no one has yet discover- ed the crucial test as to the question, who were the mound-builders ? Perhaps some enterprising archaeologist may find the answer in the mounds of Florida, the most important of which have never yet been explored, and none of them thor- oughly.* At present those appear to be good reasons for connecting the mound- builders, as Baldwin, Foster, and other writers have done, with the ancient in- habitants of Central America and Mexi- co, the people wrho are supposed to have preceded the Incas, and the remains of whose works in Peru, even at this day, as their macadamized roads, over one thousand miles in length, built of stone, and filling up mountain gorges, and val- leys in some instances, surpass in magni- tude and solidity anything of the kind since attempted. Let us now, in conclusion, briefly con- sider the view adopted by Prof. Morgan in his paper recently read before the Academy of Sciences at Washington, and previously alluded to in this article. Any statement or theory advanced by one who has studied this subject so thor- oughly, and won so high a reputation deserves careful investigation, especially as his ideas appear to have been gener- ally accepted by the ethnologists present. But there was really no discussion elicit- ed. Prof. Morgan claims a unity of ori- gin of the Indian races of the country, and rejects the theory of the emigration of the mound-builders from Central America. “ It is certain,” he says, “that if a sensible use of those embankments can be discovered, the mystery about them will be dispelled. The theory that they were built for religious purposes is exceedingly improbable; the magnitude of the work, considering their grade in civilization, indicates that the Indians were laboring for themselves, not for their gods.” He thinks that “the great inclosures of earth works were merely the foundations for their habitations, and designed for protection against hostile attack. He compares them to joint ten- ement houses.” If they were laboring for themselves and not for their gods, in constructing these huge works, how will Prof. Morgan explain the other enormous structures which were certainly not in- tended for dwellings, or for private pur- poses; the conical mounds, and those covering skeletons and costly offerings; the mound in Adams County, Ohio, form- ing a serpent over one thousand feet in length, the greatest breadth thirty feet, disposed in graceful curves, with a mouth enclosing a huge representation of an egg? ‘‘There can be little doubt,” says Squier and Davis, “of the symbolical character of this monument.” Prof. Morgan estimates that these embank- ments would be occupied by about three hundred families. Did he calculate how long it would require for the working force of this number to construct four *The researches of Lieut. Wheeler and his able as- sistants in New Mexico and Arizona during the past year, and their further prosecution are likely to throw a good deal of light on this question. He says, “ in- formation of shell-mounds and other indications of an- cient burial remains of a people of which history con- tributes no trace, reaches us from several points, thus affording fresh fields for further research.” Some of the remarkable relics sent to Washington by him, the writer has examined and already alluded to them in this paper. They are almost identical with some found on this side of the continent. THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. embankments, each “nine hundred feet long, fifty feet thick, ten or eleven feet high, and over thirty feet level on the top,” with such implements as they had? And, at the same time perform the ne- cessary labor to support their families. Then these are merely the foundations; the houses, such as he describes as suita- ble to cap these foundations, would still present a formidable work. To build structures of such magnitude, to carry on, at some distance from their dwelling-places, such extensive mining operations as have been described, and to arrive at such a grade of civilization as their fabrics indicate, prove that this people must have devoted themselves to agriculture, and very successfully too. Mr. Albert Gallatin considered them “eminently agricultural.” They could not have been so had they been in such constant fear of hostile incursions as to require such habitations. Nor could they have carried on their great mining operations successfully for so great a length of time, as their remains indicate. There are, indeed, undoubted remains of what have the appearance of extensive fortifications as in Butler County, Ohio, (figured by Baldwin,) in Georgia, and Southern Florida, evincing considerable engineering skill, but these are of a very different character from such as he de- scribes. These fortifications are probably built to defend themselves against the in- cursions of the barbarous tribes from the Northwest, who finally conquered them, and pushed them back into Mexico whence they originally came. There are traditions in the annals and books of the Central Americans and Mexicans, that the Toltecs, who preceded the Astecs, came from the Northeast, and that they were driven away from their homes by invasion ; that they inhabited a great em- pire there. Several writers refer to these facts* and refer to points on the coast of the Gulf at which they landed, those who came by water (from the mouth of the Mississippi.) Their character, and their proficiency in the arts are also referred to by these old records. These were our mound-builders. Were the mound-builders of Florida, and those, whose history we have just been reviewing, the same people ? When a more thorough exploration of the mounds in this State shall have been made, we shall be better prepared to an- swer this question. At present, the weight of evidence is in favor of the af- firmative. The structures here are iden- tical with many of those found in other States. In coming north from Central America and Mexico, they landed on the shores of the Gulf, just as they departed thence on their return. They would nat- urally spread themselves along the shore toward the peninsula, as the abund- ance of their works show, in fact, that they did. And its fine climate so nearly resembling their own, and the fruitful- ness of the country, would naturally in- vite them to explore and settle it. We could not expect to find the skulls of the mound-builders, which would go far to- wards settling the question, near the sur- face of the mounds, where the only ex- aminations have been made. Foster re- marks that the “crania from the Florida mounds are distinguishable from those of the mound-builders by marked peculiar- ities.” But he seems to base his asser- tion on only a few skulls which were tak- en from one mound near Cedar Keys. Most likely they were the crania of a later race who practiced intrusive burial, as we have seen that it is impossible to exhume a skull as old as those of the mound- builders entire, only one having been found. The portion of a skull found by the writer in the mound of Murphy Is- land was decidedly flattened on the side, but it was hardly old enough, though quite brittle like rotten wood, for a mound builder’s, and too near the surface. “American archaeology is as yet in its infancy, and there are on every side, in- teresting fields, in which intelligent ob- servers may reap rich harvests.” It is THE MOUNDS OF FLORIDA. hoped that the account of the very mea- gre and comparatively unsatisfactory ex- plorations of the writer, and his refer- ences to the more important labors of others, may serve at least to act as sign- boards to direct other abler workers, and those having more leisure, to these fields; also to afford others, who do not possess energy or strength sufficient for work, or whose health will not permit it, or who may find a winter’s residence here tire- some, one additional weapon for killing time. Frederick D. Lente. Palatka, Feb., 1877. but one instance could I restore sufficient parts of the skull to indicate the shape. The one restored is at Washington, in the Army Medi- cal Museum. The jaws projecting, head rath- er small, with an angle (facial) of 750. This skull indicated more of bite than intellect. The mounds are all small, from two to eight feet high, and from ten to ninety in diameter. There was an excavation made in the soil, and carried down to the gravel some two feet. There the bodies were placed, and the mound built over them; or, it is possihle that the body was covered with bark, then the mound constructed at one time, as there was no evi- dence of stratification visible in any of the mounds which I opened. No implements were found in any of those examined except in one instance, when I found the remains of two vases constructed of coarse material (sand and clay). It would appear that the practice of interring valuables with the body was of a more modern people. The age of these mounds. I counted two hundred and eighty rings on a stump of an oak that remained on the centre of a mound. And in another instance, one tree was four feet in diameter, and counted three hundred and ten rings; and an old stump on one mound must have been much older. So that the mound could not have been less than one thousand years old, as it takes about that time to restore the original condition of woods— having been cleared. There were several animal-shaped mounds which I opened, and found nothing; in fact, there has never been found any evidence that these animal-like mounds were used as de- posits of the dead. No evidence that the peo- ple were cannibals. Whatever be the legitimate inference drawn from similar works and remains in other places concerning the state of civilization attained by the mound-builders, the evidence here goes to prove that they were an extremely barbarous people, in no respect superior, (if equal), to most of the savage tribes of modern Indians. Racine, Jan. 12, 1877. P. S.— In order to present both sides of this question fairly, I append a letter en- tire, which I have recently received from my learned friend, Dr. P. R. Hoy. The mounds which he has examined, as the reader will perceive, are of much less im- portance, in point of size, than those found in the adjoining States, apd were proba- bly raised over indivaduals not particu- larly distinguished, and- would therefore contain fewer valuable deposits. The custom of burying valuables with the chiefs and distinguished persons of tribes has been universal, and to this day, some, at least, of the Western Indians bury numbers of horses, and other valuables with their chiefs. But they have, of late years, perhaps from association with their sharp visitors of the white race, allowed corruption to creep in among even those sacred and immemorial rites, and as I am informed by one who has had long personal experience among them, look up useless animals instead of burying the valuable ponies of the chief. DR. HOY’S LETTER. Dr. F. D. Lente: Sir: There is a remarkable group of nine- ty mounds near Racine. I opened fourteen of these. They were all sepulchral; all con- tained human bones much decayed; and, in THE SEMI-TROPICAL: A MONTHLY JOURNAL, DEVOTED TO SOUTHERN AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, AND TO IMMIGRA TION. Ex-Governor Harrison Reed, Editor. Terms—$3,00 a year, postpaid. Single number, 30 cents. 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