dishing.] ^'J J= [Nov. 6, 



otlier tidal growths at the bottom as were the outer swamps. It was 

 apparent that this had actually been a central court of some kind, had 

 probably been formed as an open lagoon by the gradual upbuilding on 

 attollike reefs or shoals around deeper water, of these foundations or 

 ramparts as I have called them, from even below tide level to their pres- 

 ent imposing height. At anj^ rate they were divided from one another 

 by deep narrow gaps that appeared as though left open between them 

 to serve as channels, and that still, although filled now with peaty depos- 

 its and rank vegetation, communicated w^ith the outer swamps, and, in 

 some cases, extended, between parallel banks of shell like those alreadj" 

 described, quite through the surrounding enclosures or lesser outer 

 courts, to what had evidently been, ere the universal sand shoals had 

 formed and mangrove swamps had grown, the open sea. 



The elevation I had ascended, stood at the northern end and formed 

 one corner of this great inner court, the slope to which from the base 

 of the mounds was unbroken by terraces, and sheer. But like the steep- 

 est ascents outside, it was composed of large weather-darkened conch- 

 shells and was comparatively bare of vegetation. Directly down the 

 middle of this wide incliu'e led, from between the two first mounds, a 

 broad sunken pathway, very deep here near the summit, as was the 

 opposite and similarly graded way I had in part followed up, but gradu- 

 ally diminishing in depth as it approached the bottom, in such manner 

 as to render much gentler the descent to the edge of the swamp. Here 

 numerous pierced busycon shells lay strewn about and others could be 

 seen protruding from the marginal muck. A glance sufficed to show that 

 they had all been designed for tool heads, hafted similarly, but used for 

 quite various purposes. The long columnellse of some w^ere battered as 

 if they had once been employed as hammers or picks, while others were 

 sharpened to chisel or gouge-like points and edges. Here, too, sherds of 

 pottery were much more abundant than even on the upper terraces. 

 This struck me as especially significant, and I ventured forth a little way 

 over the yielding quagmire and dug between the sprawling mangrove 

 fingers as deeply as I could with only a stick, into the water-soaked muck. 

 Similarly w^orked shells and sherds of pottery, intermingled with char- 

 coal and bones, were thus revealed. These w^ere surprisingly fresh, not 

 as though washed into the place fi'om above, but as though they had 

 fallen and lodged where I found them, and had been covered with water 

 ever since. 



I suddenly realized that the place, although a central rather than a 

 marginal court or filled-up bayou, was nevertheless similar in general 

 character to the one Col. Durnford had described, and that thus soon my 

 conclusions relative to the typical nature of the Collier deposit, were, 

 in a measure, borne out. Here at least had been a w^ater-court, around 

 the margins of which, it would seem, places of abode whence these 

 remains had been derived — houses rather than landings — had clustered, 

 ere it became choked Avith debris and vegetal growth ; or else it Avas a 



