CHAPTER XXIV. 



Indian Shell-Mounds — Macoma — Anglxus — The Tel- 

 lens — Sanguinolaria — My Adventure with the 

 Sand-Clam — Habits and Beauty of the Mollusk — 

 The Flat Razor — Other Solens — Entodesma — Per- 



IPLOMA. 



AT various points around San Francisco bay are 

 great heaps of rubbish which mark the site of 

 old Indian camping-grounds. They are always situ- 

 ated close to some spring, or are near some stream of 

 water, the presence of which is now generally indi- 

 cated by a growth of willows. They are of various 

 shapes and sizes, and often cover as much ground as 

 would suffice for a large garden. 



A big conical one, situated in the western part of 

 Oakland, is w^ell know^n to picnickers, as it forms a 

 part of "Shell Mound Park." There is a large and 

 gently sloping mound near High street, in the City of 

 Alameda. In this one I have dug for relics, without 

 remarkable success, though odd stone implements 

 have occasionally been found there. 



These mounds are largely made up of old shells, 

 ashes and charcoal dust. This shows that the Indi- 

 ans had their fires there, and that they threw away 

 the rubbish which was left from their meals, and 

 then returned to repeat the operation on the slowly 

 rising pile. In my digging I came upon lumps of 

 half-burned clay, which had probably served as a 



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