40G • ETHNOLOGY. 



a fact ^^•llicll may or may not l»e of importance. Nearly 12 years ago I had 

 pointed out to me on a long ridge, Ijetween Julm's creek and Frieudsliip clmrcli, 

 in Pontotoc county, tlie remains of ancient ditclies or embankments. I did not 

 examine tliem closely, and hence cannot describe them satisfactorily. The 

 direction of the ditch or embaidiment could be clearly traced Ijy the eye, and, 

 according to my recollection, plots of ground in the shape of parallelograms 

 were enclosed by these ditches. I was told that the first settlers found these 

 things when they came to the country, and that the Indians did not know who 

 had made them, or with what design. To me they seemed too regular and exact 

 to be the work of ignorant savages. The idea suggested itself to my mind 

 that perhaps these ditches or embankments were the remains of some fortified 

 camp occupied by De Soto, during his famous march through this region of 

 country. I believe that our histories relate that he spent a winter in camp in 

 the Chickasaw nation. But my knowledge of the methods of fortification in 

 vogue at that period is so limited that I am not qualified to ventm'e an opinion 

 on the sul)ject. But the intelligent antiquarian might in these remains find a 

 clue which would throw some light on the past, and interest the liistoric world. 



All the accounts that I have seen of the wonderful march of this Spanish 

 chieftain agree that he spent, in 1640, a cheerless winter among the Chickasaws, 

 his progress being impeded by impassable rivers, &c. One historian says his 

 camp was on the Yazoo, but this must be an eri"or. It is generally conceded 

 that he first reached the Mississippi near Memphis, and in marching from the 

 Chickasaws to that point he Avould not see the Yazoo, which was in the Choc- 

 taw coimtry. Some writer (perhaps Wailes, in his Geological Report of Missis- 

 sippi, 1856) states that De Soto was in Pontotoc county. Kow there is no 

 stream between Pontotoc county and Memphis so likely to hinder his march as 

 the Tallahatchie. Hence I think the cheerless winter he spent among the 

 Chickasaws was on the south side of the Tallahatchie river. These remains 

 are a few miles south of the river, and possibly this may be the very place 

 where De Soto camped. If the localitj? remains uncleared, as when I saw it, 

 I have no doubt they can still be traced. And should their examination be 

 deemed of interest, I will with pleasure direct any one to the gentleman who 

 pointed them out to me. An examination might demolish my theory, for you 

 remember that I disclaim any knowledge of their character or extent. All that 

 I can state positively about them is that they were there when the country was 

 first settled by whites, and the Indians could give no information respecting 

 them. 



Captain B. F. Loughridge informs me that in 1852 the silver front of a cap, 

 with the French inscription : " Dieu et mon Droit," was picked up on his place. 

 This, probably, is a relic of the Bienville expedition against the Chickasaws, 

 about 100 years ago. In the old Indian fields near Harrisburg, in this (Lee) 

 county, cannon balls have been picked up, and other evidences of a battle found. 

 They are probably relics of the same expedition. 



CAVE IN CALAVERAS COUNTY, CAIIFOENIA. 



By J. D. Whitney. 



The following is an account of the cave from which the skulls now in the 

 Smithsonian collection were taken. It is near the Stanislaus river in Calaveras 

 county, on a nameless creek about two miles from Abbey's feny, on the road to 

 Vallicito, at the house of 'Mr. Robinson. There were two or three persons with 

 me who had been to the place before, and knew that the skulls in question were 

 taken from it. Their visit was some 10 years ago, and since that the condition 

 of things in the cave has greatly changed. Owing to some alteration in the 



