ARTIFICIAL SHELL-DEPOSITS. 237 



in many places of such a depth as to prevent the cultivation of the soil. The 

 first field is situated near Blenheim Manor ; the next is at the Ferry House ; the 

 third at Lower Cedar Point. A mile further south is a very large shell-field on 

 the Hungerford estate, at Waverly. The estate called Banks of the Dee 

 contains a shell-field nearly two miles in extent. It follows the Potomac from 

 Piccowaxton to Cuckhold's Creek. A large shell-pile is situated in the Potomac 

 southwest of the Banks of the Dee. Simm's Island in the mouth of Cuck- 

 hold's Creek is covered with a deposit of shells more than a foot in depth. Other 

 large fields are found at Bachelor's Hope and Swan Point. A shell- mound 

 is found at Lancaster's Landing, on the Wicomico River, two miles east of its 

 junction with the Potomac. Shell-fields have been examined at Charleston Creek 

 and Stoddard's Wharf. All the localities thus far mentioned in this paragraph 

 are situated in Charles County. They also occur at Plowden Manor and 

 Chickahominy in Saint Mary's County. 



" Oysters were formerly common in the vicinity of Nanjemoy Creek, but 

 they are now rarely found above Port Tobacco River. They are said to have 

 disappeared almost entirely about 1779, and again during the first quarter of 

 the present century. Fishermen say that the oyster-beds in shoal water are 

 frequently destroyed during long-continuing storms, when the wind blows from 

 the shore, and the small streams carry down sand and detritus, which cover the 

 oysters. 



" Shells of the hard-shell clam, as stated, have been met with in the northern 

 mound at Pope's Creek ; but these mollusks are not found at present in the same 

 locality. 



" Shell-fields occur on the Virginia shore as far north as Mathias Point, in 

 King George County. They are also said to exist on the same side thence to 

 Chesapeake Bay, but in smaller number than on the Maryland shore. 



"As to the age of the shell-deposits at Pope's Creek, it seems evident to the 

 writer that they antedate the Columbian era. This belief is based upon the 

 fact that when Lord Baltimore's colonists arrived in 1633-4, these mounds were 

 concealed from view by a thick stratum of earth which sustained a large forest. 

 This forest remained standing until about 1740, when the soil was prepared for 

 cultivation. At this date minor shell-heaps were found above the stratum of 

 earth which concealed the ancient shell-deposit." 



In another part of Maryland shell-heaps were explored by Mr. Joseph D. 

 McGuire, of Ellicott City, in Howard County, of that state. I am indebted to 

 him for the following communication : 



" In several visits, extending through a period of ten years or more, I have 

 examined quite a number of shell-heaps at and near the mouth of South River, 



