WAMPANOAG INDIANS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 897 



fully inhabited Cape Cod till a comparatively recent time? On Cape 

 Cod scattered shells and a thin layer of rich black earth, often contain- 

 ing- a few stone chips, are found in the vicinity of nearly all Indian 

 towns where the ground may have been fertilized by the natives for 

 their crops, or where the soil was already best for their cultivation. 

 This layer is usually from G inches to 1 foot below the surface, but in 

 one or two places it occurred fully 2 feet down. This depth does not 

 necessarily make the time of accumulation great, for the sand of Cape 

 Cod is noted for its habit of shifting about under the action of the 

 wind, and in some places, where arrow-heads occur most plentifully, the 

 wind has removed all the sand which may once have covered them, and 

 has left them on a smooth gravelly surface, where they may be easily 

 seen. The writer was drawn to an examination of the "drift gravel" 

 of the cape by the success which Dr. C. C. Abbott had in finding stone 

 implements, &c, in the gravel near Trenton, N. J., but none have been 

 found except where a bank had washed away, and the implements 

 which belonged in the layer of soil above had sunk down into the 

 gravel, and been covered up there by later slides. The laws which 

 govern the distribution of Indian camps on Cape Cod, Martha's Vine- 

 yard, and Xantucket are much easier to apply than those which govern 

 the distribution of our villages in the same regions. It is possible to 

 predict with considerable certainty where will be found remains of 

 Indian settlements. Indians did not dig wells, and they were largely 

 dependent for food upon the fish and shell-fish which they caught at the 

 mouths of streams and sheltered bays. Therefore they almost invari- 

 ably chose a sheltered spot, near the shore of some indentation of the 

 coast, or on some stream leading from such indentation. This they did 

 for convenience in bringing their fish aud shell-fish to their camps, 

 which were placed as near as possible to a fresh -water stream or pond 

 to obtain a ready supply of drinking water. It was an easier thing for 

 them to adjust the position of their homes conveniently to these sup- 

 plies than to bring them auy distance to their homes ; and so these 

 matters were considerations of prime importance to them in selecting a 

 camping- ground. Accordingly the ponds or brooks in the vicinity of 

 bays that supply shell fish and quiet fishing-grounds, help us to find 

 vestiges of Indian settelment, provided they have not since been de- 

 stroyed by cultivation of the ground. This method has proved very 

 successful on the parts of Cape Cod visited, and if followed up further 

 in the vicinity of Chatham Harbor, Barnstable Harbor, and the numer- 

 ous inlets on the Falmouth shore, would probably bring to light many 

 more shell heaps. 



The largest shell heaps found were about Wellfleet Bay, Bass Kiver, 

 Ceutreville Kiver, and Buttermilk Bay, the exact spots being marked 

 upon the, map. In the vicinity of Wellfleet Bay, especially where the 

 wind has taken all the soil from the rounded tops of the hills, the vis 

 itor cannot fail to notice the scattered shells and numberless chips of 

 H. Mis. CO 57 



