404 INDIAN MOUNDS IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA. 



length, and uo signs of fire were to be seen. I found several lower jaw- 

 bones and many teetb, but fragments of crania were not discovered. 



One large cedar grew upon the mound, and many tall palm trees, the 

 positions of wliicli are indicated by small circles in the figure. A few 

 oyster-shells were scattered through the sand, but no utensils or orna- 

 ments of any kind were found. Pottery was also wanting, and the 

 whole structure and contents indicated a different race, or, at least, dif- 

 ferent customs, mode of burial, and building, from any of the mounds 

 hitherto described. 



11. MOUNDS ON PINE KEY. 



About three miles further south, below Pass A'giille, are two islands, 

 divided by a narrow bayou, which are known as Pine Key. On the 

 older maps tfie northern key is named Cabbage Island and the otber 

 Pine Key. On the southern key, below the bayou, is a long lagoon 

 called the Duck Pond. At the southern extremity of this pond, in 

 a dense wilderness of cabbage-palms and saw-palmetto, is a mound of 

 imposing height and considerable size. The view from the top is quite 

 extensive, and looking thence one would suppose that the mound could 

 be seen for a long distance, but such is not the case ; in a search of two 

 days I frequently passed within 100 yards of it without finding it. 



Explorations bad been made previously along the top by persons who 

 professed to have found numerous arrow-beads and ornaments of bone, 

 human skeletons, &c. In my own work I was not so fortunate, as it was 

 with great difficulty that I obtained four crania and one bone ornament 

 inlaid with copper. The bone of this ornament decomposed rapidly 

 upon exposure to the air, but before tbis happened I was successful in 

 obtaining a pretty correct drawing of it, which was sent to the Smith- 

 sonian Institution along with the other relics obtained. 



This mound is 135 feet in diameter, and is about 15 feet above the 

 level of the island. However, it is built upon a natural elevation, and 

 tbe actual structure is not above 5 or feet high. Tbe material was ob- 

 tained close at band, and the outlet of tbe pond appears to have been 

 artificially enlarged by ditching. Tbe evidence is positive that tbe abo- 

 rigines \ isited tins island in vast numbers, as the eastern side is strewed 

 with shells, which in many places lie in masses many feet in thickness. 

 Several large palms and a large live-oak grow upon the mound. 



12. MOUND AT MAXIMO POINT. 



At Maximo Point, on the mainland, is an immense mound, entirely 

 bidden from view by tbe rank growth of the hummock in which it is 

 situated, surrounded by embankments of shell, winding in all directions 

 like modern fortifications. On the eastern side there is a deep excava- 

 tion, perhaps 200 feet in diameter, which contains water. Tbe situation 

 for obtaining food was excellent, as the laud is fertile and the fishing 

 grounds good. 



