4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 



The mounds of this island (pi. 2, fig. i) are still conspicuous not- 

 withstanding all are more or less worn down and one or two of them 

 have disappeared the past winter. This island is now undergoing 

 development as a business proposition by the company above men- 

 tioned and its appearance will be much changed in the next decade, 

 but the intention is to preserve the mounds. On the highest point, 

 where formerly stood Dr. Weeden's residence and out-buildings, 

 was a large shell heap, upon which now rises a tall tower built in 

 1923-24. Not far away where a year ago was a jungle of palmetto 

 and other semi-tropical plants and trees are several smaller mounds 

 now on a park called Narvaez Park in honor of the Spanish explorer 

 whose ill-fated expedition was lost in this neighborhood several 

 centuries ago. 



Up to the past year no extensive archeological excavations had been 

 made on the island, although Dr. Weeden gathered a small collection 

 of Indian surface relics, consisting mostly of shell objects, stone 

 implements, and fragments of pottery, decorated and plain, of various 

 kinds. No archeologist had yet put a spade into the mound excavated 

 by the author previous to his work and its archeological treasures had 

 not only not been revealed, but were not even suspected.' 



The author's attention was first called to the Weeden mounds by 

 Mr. E. M. Elliott, of St. Petersburg, who, aided by many associates, 

 is developing the property. Mr. Elliott visited the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology about the close of the summer of 1922 and not onlv 

 invited the author to visit his island and examine these mounds, but 

 also urged a scientific exploration in this locality by the Smithsonian 

 Institution. It was, as may readily be seen, a great pleasure to accept 

 this kind invitation, and in November, 1923, as Mr. Elliott's guest, a 

 delightful trip, but all too limited in time, was made to St. Petersburg 

 for that purpose. This visit was little more than a brief reconnais- 

 sance, but included a very profitable trip with Mr. Elliott in the yacht 

 Sunbeam III along the Ten Thousand Islands and southwestern 

 Florida.' The yacht made short stops at Charlotte Harbor, Caxambas, 

 Marco, Horr's Island, Porpoise Point, and other places in south- 

 western Florida. This trip demonstrated the splendid opportunities 

 that await the archeologist in southwest Florida.' For this and many 



^With the exception of a few newspaper notices the hterature of Weeden 

 Mound is very scanty. It does not seem to have been visited by Mr. Moore's 

 parties. 



^The scientific results of this trip will be considered in another article. 



^ In 1918, Dr. Ales Hrdlicka, of the U. S. National Museum, visited this 

 region for the Bureau of American Ethnology, and the results of his trip are 

 embodied in a memoir on " The Anthropology of Florida," published by the 

 Florida State Historical Society, No. i, 1922. 



