﻿y\ 
  

  

  494 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  n 
  

  

  "Theuet, 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  rare 
  work 
  entitled 
  ' 
  Les 
  Singularitez 
  de 
  la 
  France' 
  

   antarctique,' 
  Paris, 
  1557 
  [1558], 
  gives 
  (p. 
  147), 
  in 
  a 
  representation 
  of 
  a 
  

   curious 
  beast 
  of 
  West 
  Florida, 
  a 
  readily 
  recognizable 
  figure 
  of 
  the 
  biif- 
  ■ 
  

   falo."* 
  The 
  figure 
  bears 
  some 
  resemblance 
  to 
  a 
  bison, 
  and 
  the 
  descrip- 
  ' 
  

   tion 
  seems 
  to 
  clearly 
  indicate 
  this 
  animal. 
  The 
  locality, 
  too, 
  is 
  near 
  

   Palm 
  River, 
  south 
  of 
  Tampa 
  Bay. 
  Tbevet's 
  work, 
  however, 
  is 
  merely 
  

   a 
  compilation, 
  abounding 
  with 
  the 
  grossest 
  exaggerations. 
  He 
  cites 
  no 
  

   authority 
  for 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  "^me 
  esjjece 
  de 
  grands 
  toureax'^ 
  at 
  this 
  lo- 
  

   cality, 
  where 
  certainly 
  no 
  bison 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  found. 
  Maynard, 
  writing 
  

   in 
  1872, 
  says, 
  "The 
  historians 
  of 
  De 
  Soto's 
  travels 
  speak 
  of 
  herds 
  of 
  

   wild 
  cattle 
  being 
  found 
  in 
  Florida. 
  They 
  probably 
  refer 
  to 
  the 
  buffalo 
  

   {Bos 
  americanus), 
  which 
  without 
  doubt 
  extended 
  its 
  range 
  to 
  the 
  prai- 
  

   ries 
  of 
  the 
  west 
  coast." 
  t 
  None 
  of 
  the 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  buffalo 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  these 
  writings 
  relate, 
  however, 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  region 
  of 
  Flor- 
  

   ida,! 
  D® 
  ^oto 
  not 
  apparently 
  hearing 
  of 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  this 
  animal 
  

   until 
  he 
  had 
  reached 
  the 
  Mississippi, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  single 
  instance 
  soon 
  

   to 
  be 
  noticed 
  in 
  another 
  connection. 
  

  

  The 
  late 
  Professor 
  Wyman, 
  in 
  a 
  posthumous 
  paper, 
  also 
  says, 
  "The 
  

   buffalo 
  was 
  an 
  inhabitant 
  of 
  Florida, 
  and 
  it 
  could 
  have 
  been 
  no 
  other 
  

   than 
  this 
  animal 
  which 
  the 
  French 
  met 
  with 
  in 
  their 
  ill-fated 
  retreat 
  

   from 
  Fort 
  Caroline"; 
  and 
  he 
  adds 
  in 
  a 
  footnote: 
  "De 
  Challeux, 
  the 
  

   carpenter 
  of 
  Itibaut's 
  expedition, 
  says, 
  ' 
  near 
  the 
  break 
  of 
  day 
  we 
  saw 
  

   a 
  great 
  beast, 
  like 
  a 
  deer, 
  at 
  fifty 
  paces 
  from 
  us, 
  who 
  had 
  a 
  great 
  head, 
  

   eyes 
  flaming, 
  the 
  ears 
  hanging, 
  and 
  the 
  huger 
  i)arts 
  elevated. 
  It 
  seemed 
  

   to 
  us 
  monstrous 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  gleaming 
  eyes, 
  wonderfully 
  large, 
  but 
  it 
  

   did 
  not 
  come 
  near 
  us 
  to 
  do 
  us 
  any 
  harm.' 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  other 
  animal," 
  

   adds 
  Professor 
  Wyman, 
  "which 
  corresponds 
  with 
  this 
  animal 
  but 
  the 
  

   buffalo, 
  though 
  that 
  animal 
  is 
  as 
  unlike 
  'a 
  deer' 
  as 
  possible." 
  § 
  It 
  

   seems 
  to 
  me, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  reference 
  is 
  in 
  no 
  way 
  applicable 
  to 
  the 
  

   buffalo, 
  and 
  if 
  not 
  really 
  a 
  deer, 
  the 
  beast 
  here 
  described 
  must 
  have 
  

   been 
  a 
  creation 
  of 
  the 
  excited 
  imagination 
  of 
  the 
  much 
  terrified 
  French- 
  

   man, 
  having 
  no 
  more 
  real 
  foundation 
  than 
  the 
  accounts 
  of 
  other 
  strange 
  

   creatures 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  narratives 
  of 
  numerous 
  other 
  early 
  explorers 
  of 
  

   America, 
  — 
  a 
  supposition 
  borne 
  out 
  by 
  the 
  general 
  character 
  of 
  De 
  Chal- 
  

   leux's 
  account 
  of 
  that 
  night's 
  experiences. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  detailed 
  account 
  by 
  M. 
  Eene 
  Laudonniere 
  of 
  Eibaut's 
  attemx)t 
  

   to 
  plant 
  a 
  colony 
  on 
  the 
  St. 
  John's 
  Eiver, 
  in 
  Florida, 
  however, 
  there 
  

   is 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  this 
  incident 
  reported 
  by 
  the 
  carpenter. 
  Laudon- 
  

   niere 
  says 
  the 
  only 
  game 
  found 
  was 
  deer, 
  leopards, 
  bears, 
  etc., 
  while 
  

   in 
  his 
  " 
  descrijition 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  in 
  generall, 
  but 
  chiefly 
  and 
  par- 
  

   ticularly 
  of 
  Florida," 
  as 
  translated 
  by 
  Hakluyt,|| 
  he 
  says, 
  "TheBeastes 
  

   best 
  known 
  in 
  this 
  Countrey 
  are 
  Stagges, 
  Hindes, 
  Goates, 
  Deere, 
  Leop- 
  

   ards, 
  Ounces, 
  Luserns, 
  divers 
  sortes 
  of 
  Wolves, 
  wilde 
  Dogs, 
  Hares, 
  

   Gunnies, 
  and 
  a 
  certain 
  kinde 
  of 
  beast 
  that 
  differeth 
  little 
  from 
  the 
  

   Lyon 
  of 
  Africa."^ 
  No 
  allusion 
  is 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  any 
  animal 
  

   like 
  a 
  buffalo 
  in 
  Laudonniere's 
  whole 
  narrative 
  of 
  the 
  fortunes 
  of 
  the 
  

   French 
  in 
  Florida 
  during 
  the 
  period 
  embracing 
  the 
  founding 
  and 
  aban- 
  

  

  * 
  Patent 
  Off. 
  Rep., 
  Agricult., 
  1851-52, 
  Part 
  II, 
  p. 
  124. 
  

  

  t 
  Bull. 
  Essex 
  Institute, 
  Vol. 
  IV, 
  p. 
  149. 
  

  

  t 
  Schoolcraft 
  says 
  that 
  the 
  distiuction 
  between 
  the 
  former 
  and 
  present 
  boundaries 
  

   of 
  Florida 
  " 
  is 
  overlooked, 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  buffalo 
  in 
  Florida, 
  by 
  the 
  translator 
  of 
  

   De 
  Soto's 
  first 
  letter." 
  — 
  History, 
  Condition, 
  and 
  Prospects 
  of 
  the 
  Indian 
  Tribes, 
  etc., 
  

   Part 
  V, 
  p. 
  G8, 
  footnote. 
  

  

  ^ 
  Fresli-Water 
  Shell 
  Mounds 
  of 
  the 
  St. 
  John's 
  River, 
  Florida, 
  p. 
  80, 
  and 
  footnote, 
  

   December, 
  1875. 
  

  

  II 
  Vovages, 
  etc., 
  Vol. 
  Ill, 
  pp. 
  368-484. 
  

  

  U 
  Ibid., 
  p. 
  369. 
  

  

  ti 
  

  

  