fort : — From outside to outsido, 56 iVet Widih of elevation 

 surrounding it, G to 8 feet. Depth of elevation, 2 to 2^ feet. 

 Width of ditch, 6 to feet. Depth of ditch, 2 to 4 feet. 

 Diameter of platform inside of ditch, 25 to 30 feet. From a 

 depression in the surrounding embankment I infer that the 

 entrance to this fort was from the east. 



Within a rod of the large shell bank in the vicinity of Forest 

 River Mills, a little to the left of it, as one stands facing the 

 harbor, may be seen several bushes and a cedar tiee giowiug 

 somewhat isolated in a circular space of about eight feet in dia- 

 meter. If the antiquarian will continue his ex|)lorations along 

 this range of hills, so prolific in shell deposits, he A\ill find, 

 after crossing the railroad- track and scaling the steep hill be- 

 ibi'e him, in a romantic depression near the summit of this hill, 

 and within a few feet of a shell deposit, a second circular 

 growth of bushes, of nearly the same diameter as the one 

 above mentioned. May not these indicate the ancient location 

 of Indian wigwams. — the abrasion of the sod having supplied 

 a ready seed bed. 



When did the Red man settle New-England ? This is a 

 question on Avhich, with the exception of the writings of the 

 Northmen, history is wholly silent. The Northmen have 

 chronicled that when they visited ' Vine-Land' they found the 

 Esquimaux dwelling there. What light may these shell depo- 

 sits shed on this question? The largest deposit contained 

 about thirty coids of broken shells, ashes and stones. I find 

 by experiment that shells broken about as much as these will 

 make about two thirds the bulk of the same shells when filled 

 with the living animals. If Ave call one third of this mass, 

 ashes, stones and earth, which appears to be about a fair 

 proportion, it must have taken about thirty cords of live shell 

 fish to make the mass. From the lazy habits of the Indian 

 and the narrow limits of his resources, considered in 

 connection with the fact that they were always close at 

 hand and readily accessible, I infer, that Avhile he dwelt in the 

 vicinity of these deposits, molluscs were his chief dependence. 

 Assuming that the great deposit was made by the addition of a 

 peck of shells daily (probably a small allowance for a single 

 Indian family,) and assuming in round numbers eighty bushels 

 to the cord, Ave have nearly tAventy-seven years for the time 

 necessary to accumulate this deposit. Within the tOAvn- 

 ship of Marblehead there Avere, a fcAV years since, not far 

 from one hundred cords of these shell deposits. Assuming that 



ESSEX INST. PROCEED. VOL. ii. 20. 



