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sketches and diagrams made. The accompanying representation from 

 a sketch by the writer (Plate 12, Fig. 2) will give a general idea of 

 the larger heaps, though by no means a faithful picture of them. One 

 of the deposits as surveyed by Mr. John M. Brown and myself, has 

 the following dimensions (Fig. 3): Shape oval, length 180 feet, 

 breadth 100 feet, depth 6 feet; height of base above high water mark, 

 4 feet. The top of the loftiest mound is 31 feet above high water 

 mark. It descends abruptly toward the river, and at its base the 

 action of the water has formed a fine shell beach. The shore line of 

 this mound is about 100 feet in extent, but its extent inland we did 

 not satisfactorily determine, its limits being obscured by a heavy 

 growth of pine, fir and beech, with a dense undergrowth. The speci- 

 mens collected during this first expedition were deposited by President 

 Chadbourne in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology, at Cambridge. 

 During the present year (July, 1878), in company with Mr. Geo. 

 F. Moses, I made a second visit to the shell-heaps at Damariscotta. 

 Nearly twenty years had elapsed since the time ot my first visit, and 

 during that time many visits, including one from Prof. JeflFries 

 Wyman, had been made to these deposits. Near the largest bed a 

 lime kiln had been erected and a large excavation in its summit 

 showed where its operations had been carried on. The shells were 

 burned in the kiln in order to reduce them to a condition that would 

 render them suitable for fertilizing purposes. The marks of numer- 

 ous explorations were every where visible. During this visit we ver- 

 ified the results of the former expedition with President Chadbourne, 

 finding as before charcoal, animal bones and fragments of pottery. 

 The most interesting find on this occasion was the exposure of a stone 

 wall at the base of a large mound on the bank of the river. The 

 bank had been dug into by other parties and a portion of a wall com- 

 posed of bowlders was here exposed. Removing a mass of the shells 

 we discovered that the wall was regularly laid up in alternate courses, 

 and as far as we could then ascertain, that the shell deposits had 

 accumulated around and above the wall since it was built. Not hav- 

 ing time to continue the exploration, we did not ascertain the extent 

 of the wall. On returning to the village I reported the matter to Dr. 

 R. C. Chapman, a gentleman residing in New Castle who has given 

 much time to intelligent research among the shell-heaps, and have 

 since received from him the following letter : 



