8G0 PAPERS RELATING TO ANTHROPOLOGY. 



two earth mounds of small size are found, neither of which is of special 

 interest. 



Having thus briefly described the principal remains around Pensacola 

 Bay and vicinity, let us turn to Choctawhatchee Bay, a map of which 

 is presented. It is almost certain that the aborigines lived around 

 these waters in vast numbers. Every cove and headland that is hab- 

 itable was occupied; all points possessing unusual advantages for hunt- 

 ing and fishing were densely peopled, and at several points towns of 

 considerable size existed. There is hardly an acre of ground on the 

 entire coast line of this bay that does not contain some evidence of 

 aborigiual existence or occupation. These people seem also to have 

 advanced somewhat beyond their brethren of less favored regions in 

 the arts, for it is here that we find the first attempt to model images or 

 figures in clay. Some of these figures are extremely rude, but others 

 are no mean representations of the objects they are intended to imitate. 

 The object of these images or the uses to which they were put is not 

 evident. Most people who have expressed an opinion of them regard 

 them as idols or objects of worship, but it would better accord with 

 Indian customs to regard them as family totems. 



The southern shores of Choctawhatchee Bay and the region about 

 the Narrows where Santa Bosa Sound leaves that bay were peculiarly 

 suited for the support of a large population. From these points the 

 Gulf shores are easy of access, and the shoal waters of the bay and 

 sound furnished inexhaustible quantities of fish and oysters. Several 

 large fresh-water lakes inland were swarming with fish, and game is 

 still plentiful throughout the entire region. Two points seem to have 

 been selected by the aborigines as sites for large towns, and both were 

 located on points or peninsulas surrounded by shoal water, a condition 

 necessary for this peculiar mode of fishing. 



The first and larger of these two towns was situated on the northern 

 shores of Santa Rosa Sound, where it enters Choctawhatchee Bay. The 

 sound here is only about one-fourth of a mile in width, and navigation 

 is obstructed by numerous bars and shoals, which were once covered 

 by oyster beds, though at present the oyster is entirely extinct in both 

 bay and sound. On the east is Choctawhatchee Bay, and northwest 

 lies a large branch of Garnier's Bayou. Several bold springs of excellent 

 water break out of the bluffs, and a small fresh-water stream empties 

 into the sound here and once passed through the center of the town. 

 The largest mound and shell heaps are situated near this stream and in 

 the neighborhood of the finest of the springs. The position of the 

 largest domiciliary mound in this portion of the State is marked by a 

 large shell heap on the bluffs above the largest spring. This shell 

 heap, which was converted into a fort by the Southern army during the 

 civil war, is about 12 feet high, with a base about 200 feet in diameter. 

 About 400 yards nearly due north of this heap, situated in a dense 

 thicket of bushes and small trees, is the mound in question. It is cov- 



