THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA. 83 



Sand Mound near Fort Florida. 



Fort Florida, the residence of I). G. Bartola, Esq., is situated on the eastern 

 bank of the St. John's, about a mile south of the mouth of the Wekiva River. The 

 mound lies in the hammock about 300 yards northwest of the river and a quarter 

 of a mile northeast of the residence. Its circumference is 240 feet, its height 6'5 

 feet. Shell fields bordering the river are referred to by Wyman. This mound, 

 however, escaped his notice, though one opened by him 1 is not far distant on the 

 rivers bank. On the northwestern side of the mound, 11 feet from the margin of 

 the base, a trench was carried through the center of the mound at the level of 

 the base. The mound was stratified, though the individual layers varied in 

 thickness at different points. 



Thirty-one feet from the margin of the base on the west side of the excava- 

 tion, where the strata were clearly defined, above the dark brown sand upon which 

 the mound was built, were the following layers : 



Base. 



White sand, 8 inches. 



Muck, 7 inches. 



White sand, 1 foot 11 inches. 



Pethidine? mingled with brown sand, 1 inches. 



White sand, 1 foot. 



Black loam}' sand, 2 feet 5 inches. 



A deposit of loam on the surrounding territory will account for the apparent 

 discrepancy in height. 



Throughout the excavation, sherds of good quality, plain and stamped in 

 squares, were met with. 



In the center of the mound were found portions of a human skeleton disturbed 

 by a shaft sunk by a previous investigator. 



Sand Mound near Northern End of Lake Monroe. 



(Volusia County). 



Near the railroad bridge crossing the St. John's at its exit from the lake is an 

 unsyinmetrical mound of sand. It lies back of the hammock land bordering the 

 river on the eastern bank. It is not visible from the channel. Its height is 8 feet 

 5 inches; its circumference, 275 feet. It is composed of pure white sand unstrati- 

 fied. No shell deposit is in the immediate vicinity. Six feet from the margin of 

 the base of the southwestern portion of the mound a trench was dug 13 feet in 

 breadth, converging to 10 feet at the end and H7 - -5 feet in length. At a depth of 1) 

 feet water was reached. Beyond one piece of charcoal, absolutely nothing was 

 found denoting human agency in the erection of the mound. An observer, in the 

 absence of trees, could, from its summit, sweep the river and the adjacent lake 



1 Op. at., page 21. 



