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FOREST AND STREAM. 



nent features of the country. Merely to mention the pine, 

 the stately palm, the live oak — the king, as the magnolia is 

 the true queen of trees— the cypress and the water lovin g 

 bay tree, crowned with flowering vines and draped with 

 the funereal Spanish moss, calls up visions of beauty, while 

 the infinite variety of forms under which they are pre- 

 sented are as indescribable as are the charms of the magni- 

 ficent semi-tropical climate. The air fresh with the salt of 

 the ocean, and balmy with the breath of the pines, is in- 

 vigorating as in the Northern Spring time. Lights and 

 shadows, gorgeous beauties of sunset, and tints and color- 

 ing worthy of famed Italy, and a soft summery haze 

 making every object look dim, distant, and unreal, like 

 the figures of mirage, invite the pen of the poet or the 

 brush of the painter to no unworthy labor. Flowers 

 bloom in the wild wood and nature's miracles of life and 

 growth go on for ever. Hunting, fishing, boating, bath- 

 ing, walking in the warm sunshine, or camping beneath 

 the light of the stars, furnish occupation for all, where 

 there is no fear of Winter's cold or storms, and where, as 

 in the island of the blessed, it is always afternoon. 



It was amid these beauties of nature that my researches 

 were made, and although not rich in matter for scientists, 

 they were full of interest to myself personally, and a his- 

 tory of them, may serve to please the readers of the Forest 

 and Stream, and may even succeed in turning in that 

 direction, the attention of some one better qualified than 

 myself to carry on an investigation, which will no doubt 

 yield an abundant return in facts of scientific and historic 

 importance. 



The first of the Kissimmee system of mounds is near the 

 south bank of Boggy Creek, a stream which flows to the 

 southeast and empties into the northwestern bend of Little 

 Ta-ho-pe-ka-li-ga. The second mound is about four miles 

 farther south/near the edge of Fennel prairie, which is a 

 marshy savanna serving as an outlet for the waters of 

 Little Ta-ho-pe-ka-li-ga. These mounds are very much 

 alike, being about fifty feet in diameter and not over ten 

 feet high. Fennel prairie is a half mile wide and with 

 Cross prairie, which is a mile wide, and the lakes, bounds 

 Barber's or Paiton's island, which is a mile and a half 

 from north to south and three from east to west. On 

 this island are to be seen a greater number and variety of 

 mounds than any other place. 



Near the center of the island is a mound which has receiv- 

 ed more attention and provoked more inqury than any other. 

 For convenience, I shall call it Parton's Mound and a 

 rough plan of the works is herewith presented: — 



A— Mound. B— Space enclosed. 0— Incomplete work. K— Way to 

 top of wall, c c c— Ditch, xh y— Approaches, t— Trees in wall. 



They consist of a mound (A) fifty feet in diameter, ten 

 feet abover the general level and partly surrounded by a 

 ditch (c c) five feet in depth. To the northwest of the 

 mound is a level space enclosed by a breast-work, from 

 three to five feet high. The length of the enclosed 

 space is seventy yards, and the greatest breadths twenty- 

 two yards. The interior of the space is clear of trees, 

 but on the north wall near the mound are three trees 

 (t 1 1 ) evidently hundreds of years old. The incomplete 

 circle (C) at the northwestern extremity is twenty yards in 

 diameter, thrown up about two feet above the level and 

 surrounded by a shallow ditch. At (K) a walk leads to 

 the top of the wall. So far this work does not differ ma- 

 terially from many others, but parts of the work are 

 worthy of special attention. On the north of the mound 

 is a crescent shaped work (x) (h) (y) about fifty yards in 

 length with the convex side toward the mound, which it 

 approaches to withiu about fifty feet; the highest part of 

 the bank being at (b), directly over against the mound. 

 The earth from the interior of the work has been carried 

 forward to form the bank, as is done in running a sap. 

 From (h) a level way extends back about fifty yards to the 

 edge of the pine woods; all of these works being in a ham- 

 mock. The deepest excavations are at (x) and (y), where 

 the earth has been taken to form the level way and the 

 embankment. 



The purpose for which the mound was originally built is 

 entirely a matter of conjecture, but the outwork as it now 

 exists, was evidently a fortification, of which the mound 

 served as the citadel, while the works on the north are the 

 approaches of a besieging enemy; the banks being con- 

 structed by digging the earth and carrying it forward as is 

 done in modern engineering, while the level way in the 

 rear of (h) served as a road on which was brought up the 

 heavy material used in the siege. 



One mile to the northwest of the above described works, 

 in the edge of a hammock overlooking Pleasant Lake, 

 are the remains of a very large fortification, of which I 

 could trace out but one angle, shaped like the letter V, the 

 point being toward the southest. The walls are nearly 

 twenty feet in thickness and from three to eight feet high. 

 The interior work, or mound, is a little higher than the 

 walls. Owing to the density of the hammock I failed to 



trace out the remainder of this work. About a mile to the 

 southwest, across Pleasant Lake, on a hill, are other re- 

 mains, but rather indefinite in character and extent. 



One mile farther west, on Pine Island, is another work 

 worthy of special nttice. It is situated at the edge of the 

 marsh which separates the islands, and consists of a mound 

 surrounded by a wall. On the west and north narrow 

 openings, or gateways were left in the walls, and the south- 

 east is a wide opening, which was evidently intended for 

 the reception of a fleet of canoes or small boats when there 

 was more water in the wash than there is at this time. A 





feet in height. They probably mark the places where 

 once stood the dwellings of the race which reared these 

 works. 



Four miles south of Pine Island, on the west side of a 

 beautiful peninsula, which extends into the waters of Lake 

 Ta-ho pe-ka-li-ga, is a work similar to the one at Pleasant 

 Lake. It is located in a hammock and is near a fine land- 

 ing place . Along the eastern side of Ta-ho-pe-ka-li-ga are 

 a number of small mounds, and at the place of Charles 

 McQuaig on Lake Cypress, are two of the ordinary round 

 topped mounds. Twenty miles southeast of Lake Kissim- 



few yards to the north of the mound there is a passage 

 through the tall marsh grass, to the main island, and it is 

 still used in crossing cattle from one island to the other. 

 In the interior of the island, which is two or three miles in 

 diameter, other mounds may be found which do not differ 

 materially from the one at Boggy Creek and many others. 

 In addition to there larger remains, the main island has on 

 its surface some two or three hundred smaller mounds, 

 usually about thirty feet in diameter and two or three 



mee is another large mound. It is at the southwestern ex 

 fcremity of a sand ridge, at the edge of the pine land, but 

 not far from the prairie, above which it rises to a height of 

 thirty-five feet. From the top of the mound, were there 

 no trees in the way, a view could be had of all the country 

 to the pine hills beyond the lake and river, and it is pro- 

 bable that the pine trees have grown up since the mound 

 was abandoned. It is built of sand taken from the ridge, 

 and is forty yards irr diameter, [lerel 01/ top, and quite steep 



