2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



as a starting point to any one seeking the mound. From these " improvements " 

 a due north course will bring one into the neighborhood of this rather singular 

 structure. 



. It is an oval-shaped mound, about 5 feet high, situated in a very dense 

 hummock. For 100 feet a ditch 2 feet deep runs in the direction of its longer 

 diameter. At this point the structure forks, and two embankments 5 feet 

 high continue for 50 feet, making the entire length of the mound 150 feet. 

 The shorter diameter is 75 feet in the center, and at the southern end is 60 feet 

 wide. The central trench is 15 feet in width, and from the southern end traces 

 of a ditch or ancient road may be followed several hundred yards into the 

 hummock. The embankments forming the forks are 20 feet wide when they 

 leave the main structure, gradually narrowing down to 10 feet at the end. 

 Figure i, plate VI, represents a ground plan of the mound, A being the central 

 depression, and B, B, the higher portions. C represents the trail or roadway 

 leading to the mound. Figure 2 is a section across the end looking down the 

 ditch. 



Excavations revealed human bones in every portion of the mound, but by 

 far the larger part occupied the central trench. They were in a bad state of 

 preservation, and I succeeded in getting out only three sufficiently sound to 

 bear transportation, after thorough saturation with boiled oil. I also found 

 one whole bowl, but on my taking it out the bottom crumbled into powder, 

 and the rim broke into several pieces; enough was preserved, however, to 

 make restoration possible. 



The mode of burial was precisely the same as that described minutely 

 in the history of the Ormond Mound, and represented in figure 2, plate III, 

 which renders repetition unnecessary. The growth on the mound consisted 

 of small oaks, and was precisely similar to that around it. It lay with its 

 longer diameter toward the north. Three or four hundred yards west of this 

 is another mound, composed of alternate layers of sand and shell, 150 feet 

 in length, by 45 in width, lying in the same direction as the other. It differs 

 from other mounds of this class in sloping gradually from the southern 

 to the northern end. No doubt the northern end was once level and contained 

 a dwelling. At the highest point it is about 4^^ feet above the level of the 

 earth. Excavations have brought nothing to Hght worthy of note. 



Great changes have occurred in this region since Mr. Walker wrote 

 the above lines, judging from the present appearance of the mounds 

 on Papy's Bayou and Weeden Island. Time has considerably modified 

 the general physical features of the locality, so that it is now difficult 

 to identify the mounds described by Mr. Walker. Their extension 

 has been diminished and their height and configuration greatly 

 modified. Still the above description applies in a general way to the 

 typical mounds on the island north of Papy's Bayou (fig. i). 



The late surveys show that many shell heaps have been destroyed 

 in the last half century ; one of these on the island near the entrance 

 to Papy's Bayou was carried away last winter. Among those that 

 now remain is an extensive group situated on an island north of this 

 bay, now known as Weeden Island from an old settler who lived 



