FOREST AND STREAM. 



331 



on all sides except toward the southwest, where there is a 

 long slope and two walls which extend to a pond, distant 

 one hundred and fifty yards, where they gradually decline 

 in height and approach each other. The way is broad and 

 the ascent easy, as if for the march of a whole people to 

 the services of a temple of the sun, and the man who will 

 walk from the pond, along the covered way, and up the 

 slope, will not need a very vivid imagination to enable him 

 to repeople the solitude with the train of vanished worship- 

 ers, the robed priests, the swinging censers and the victims 

 ready for the sacrificial altar. 



About a dozen miles southeast of this mound, which is 

 called the Hope Mound, in the neighborhood of Old Fort 

 Drum, are two other mounds similar to it, but I had not 

 time to visit them. 



All down the Kissimmee, mounds are to be found, of 

 which the largest and most important is at Daughtery's, 

 on the west side of the river, four miles northwest of 

 Fort Bassenger, the place at which Gen. Taylor crossed the 

 river on the way to the disastrous battle field of Okeecho- 

 bee. This fort, like all others in this part of the country, 

 exists only in name. 



Before proceeding to describe the mound, it is necessary 

 to say a few words in regard to the lay of the land, which 

 is a kind of island, called Istokpoga (commonly pronounced 

 l&-ta-po-ga), bounded on the northwest by Lake Istokpoga 

 and a creek of the same name, which empties into the Kis- 

 simmee River. The river bounds the island on the north- 

 east and east. On the south is Lake O-kee cho-bee, with 

 its impassable five-mile-wide marshes, and on the west a 

 marshy prairie dotted with palm islands, the whole form- 

 ing an almost absolute protection against the approach of 

 any enemy, except one coming by water. The island is 

 about twenty five miles in length from northwest to south- 

 east, and about fifteen miles in extreme breadth. 



The mound is situated at the northeastern extremity of 

 the island, of which a good bird's eye view may be had 

 from the summit. It is forty yards in diameter, thirty- 

 five feet high, and with a double crown, the northern one 

 (c), being four feet higher than the other (d). 



The sides are quite steep, except to the west, where there 

 •s a gradual ascent from the enclosed space (B), which is 

 forty-five yards from north to south and thirty -five from 

 east to west, and is enclosed by an embankment five feet in 

 height. The covered way (0) extends north to the river, a 

 distance of oue-fourth of a mile. The mound is built of a 

 clean-washed sand which must have been brought from the 

 river. It is evident that the occupants of these works 

 obtained their supply of water from the river, and the 

 covered way was built, no doubt, for protection, like the 

 long walls at Athens. At a distance of one hundred yards 

 to the west of the mound is a singular bank, which is half 

 as high as the large mound, and is fifty yards in length 

 from north to south. For what purpose was that isolated 

 embankment constructed? I must confess my inability to 

 solve the problem. It may have been raised by enemies, 

 or it may have had some connection with theological sys- 

 tem of these sun worshippers, and was possibly intended to 

 teach the doctrine of tke perpetual eonfiict between the 

 powers of light and darkness. So at each of their temples 

 or sacred places a counter work was erected representing 

 the approach of evil. If this is the true theory it will aid 

 in explaining some seeming inconsistencies which other- 

 wise I cannot understand. The Forest and Stream party, 

 of which Dr. Palmer was a member, visited the Istokpoga 

 mound in February, 1874, but were not able to discover 

 anything worthy of mention in its position or surround- 

 ings, and did not, I believe, give any account of it in the 

 history of their voyage and explorations. 



Eighteen miles to the southwest of this monnd, in the 

 marsh which bounds the island, is a part of a wall, which 

 is a mile in length, if it is correctly described to me by 

 keen-eyed, cool-headed cow hunters, who know all about 

 the mounds and remains, and only require a little question- 

 ing to cause them to furnish many facts of interest, but at 

 the same time they consider the mounds so much of an 

 everyday matter that they would lead the traveler right by 

 any of the mounds or walls, and never mention the fact of 

 their existence, except to ask for an opinion of the why or 

 wherefore of their construction while gathered at the camp 

 fire preparing supper. Hereafter this will be changed, and 

 the smallest boy in the range will point out the mounds as 

 objects of interest. 



A gentleman named Smith, an old resident, described a 

 remarkable work on the Ca-loo-sa-hat-chee River, which he 

 s upposed was part of a canal around the rapids of that 

 stream, and which he thought had been dug by the 

 Spaniards, forgetting that they only dig for gold. At the 

 southeastern extremity cf Little Ta-ho pe ka-li-ga Lake is 



a work similar to the Parton Mound already described, but 

 larger and with approaches more distinctly marked. Mr. 

 Bass, the gentleman who described it to me, had served in 

 the army, and spoke of the main work as a fort and of the 

 outer works as the approaches of an enemy, similar to 

 those he had seen in the army. 



So far, my work has been plain sailiug. These works 

 were evidently constructed by a long- vanished and almost 

 forgotten race, of which remains nothing save these monu- 

 ments and faint echoes of shadowy legends that ever float 

 farther and farther away, like mournful music in the depths 

 of limitless forests, yet still the echo remains, and doubt- 

 less, here and there among the Seminoles, an old man may 

 be found who knows, by tradition, of the fate of these 

 sun worshippers, driven out by cruel and warlike enemies 

 who have in turn given place to the merciless Spaniards as 

 they to another aggressive, domineering northern race. 

 But there are other works more difficult of classification, 

 and it cannot be certainly determined whether they are 

 works of nature or of art. Along the Kissimmee River 

 are embankments, apparently raised by the hand of man, 

 but Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Humphrey, of the party which 

 visited Lake O-kee-cho-bee in the boat sold by the Forest 

 and Streajvi party to Col. Parker, decided against me, 

 holding that the banks had been thrown up by the action 

 of the river, which may be accepted as one solution of the 

 problem, but, on the other hand, the fact remains that in 

 many places these embankments run for long distances in 

 a straight line and have been cut across in two, three, or 

 many places by the current of this, the very crookedest 

 stream in all creation. Some at least of these same keen- 

 eyed cow hunters, who dread being ridiculed, stoutly main- 

 tain that they are levees thrown up to protect the prairie 

 from inundation, and even now they look as though they 

 might, with a very little labor, be utilized for the protec- 

 tion of rice fields, and they will no doubt be made useful 

 when the Kissimmee prairie is reclaimed and again brought 

 under cultivation. 



While all agree that the mounds were erected by the 

 hand of man, the date of their construction remains an im- 

 penetrable mystery. They were ancient, venerable, sacred 

 to the untutored Indians, when De Soto found the chief 

 building of the tribe erected on one of them when he 

 landed at Tampa in 1548, and as little was known about 

 them then as is known now. In many places articles have 

 been discovered which, had they been properly preserved, 

 might have aided in clearing up the mystery. In most of 

 the mounds glass beads and other articles, evidently modern, 

 have been discovered near the surface, while at a greater 

 depth articles of an ancient date have been found. In one 

 of the mounds on the St. Johns River, Mr. W. M. Hum- 

 phrey, of Mellonville, found a skeleton of a manjburied in 

 a sitting posture, facing the east. In the Parton Mound, 

 on the Little Tahopekaliga, John Evans, ex- sheriff of 

 Queens County, exhumed fifty-four skulls which had been 

 buried close, together forming a circle. Some of the skulls 

 were of a large size, and one that I found in the same 

 place would cover an ordinarily large head like a cap. 

 Bones have been found which must have belonged to men 

 eight or nine feet high, a femur being long enough to reach 

 from my hip down half way from my knee to my ankle. 

 Mr. Humphrey was very reticent, but if I understood him 

 rightly, expressed the opinion that some, at least, of the 

 mound builders were giants, and that opinion is concurred 

 in by all with whom I have conversed who have any know- 

 ledge of the subject. At McQuaig's* Mound on Lake Cy- 

 press, the point at which the Kissimmee explorers have 

 begun their voyages, a piece of gold, inscribed with charac- 

 ters in some unknown tongue, wns fniiut Tt Was ham- 

 mered, not coined, and sold for sixteen dollars, which was 

 probably much less than itslvalue. 



The Hope Mound, near old Fort Drum, has not been dis- 

 turbed, and offers, with others near it, a fine field for the 

 antiquarian. The articles taken from the Doughtery 

 Mound are all modern, consisting of an immense variety 

 of beads. Some small as a pin head, and others an inch 

 in length, of various colors, some of them gilded; glass 

 ear drops, a piece of silver about three inches in diameter, 

 and about equal in thickness to a silver half dollar beaten 

 out to that size; two steel axes, each one ten inches in 

 length, one four and a half and the other five and a half 

 inches on the blade. On the sides of the axe are several 

 markings made with a cold chisel. All of these articles 

 were found near the surface. Were the mound dug into, 

 others of greater antiquity, if not of greater value, would 

 no doubt be found. 



This lower country contains objects of interest for per- 

 sons beside the antiquarian, who, dry as dust himself, 

 delves into dust piles for broken fragments, mementoes of 

 long-forgotten ages. 



For the man who is tired of civilization and wishes for 

 once to give free play to the Bohemian roving spirit which 

 at times possesses all of us, there is no finer field under 

 the sun than is afforded by the chain of "Summer seas" 

 through which the Kissimmee River, like a ribbon of silver 

 through a row of brilliants, winds its way down to the 

 American tropics. The man who can not swim, wade, 

 walk and carry a load, handle fishing tackle, or a gun and 

 ammunition, or an axe, or an oar; who can't drive an ox 

 team, sleep on the ground without protection, and dine con- 

 tentedly on fried cabbage and jerked beef, or even make a 

 supper of raw cabbage (the cabbage being the edible bud 

 of the palm tree, as is known to all lovers of Xenophon), 

 will not be able to extract all the pleasure that is to be 

 found, although he may make the trip and obtain a fair 

 share of enjoyment. 



Interior Florida is the true hunter's paradise, in which 

 every form of animal life, of earth, air and water ply, 

 hoof, wing and fin. High over head bald eagles circle, ut- 

 tering from time to time their shrill startling screams; 

 huge blue herons fly slowly along; fish hawks perch on the 

 branches of old dead cypresses, ready to dart on their finny 

 prey, with which the waters below fairly teem. Great 

 crowned cranes and gannets stalk in the pools and shal- 

 lows; flocks of bright winged paroquets flit through the 

 forests with discordant cries; mocking birds build their 

 nests near the settler's cabins; and all our northern birds 

 make their Winter homes and sing their songs in the ham- 

 mocks ; in the tall marsh grass the rice birds utter their 

 tinkling call as they weave their breeze-rocked nests; the 

 tall sand-hill cranes match through the high pine land, but 



so wary and shy that it tests the skill of the best of hunt 

 ers to bring one of them down; wild cats, wolves and 

 panthers skulk in the depths of the hammocks. Occasion- 

 ally a bear is seen, while wild turkeys are found in the 

 forests or timbered islands of the prairie, and herds of 

 deer dash over the savannas and through the pine lands. 

 Fred. Beverly's Forest and Stream party were not for- 

 tunate as hunters, but the parties who have since used their 

 splendid little boat have been more successful. In coming 

 up the Kissimmee, we saw two bears swimming the river, 

 but they escaped to the hammock and we had not time to 

 pursue them. While we were at Daughtery's the dogs 

 were heard baying, just at daylight, and Mr. Fletcher went 

 out and in a quarter of an hour brought in a line wild cat; 

 wild turkeys were heard the same morning, but the wild 

 cat was a greater attraction. The next morning a fine 

 larsre wild turkey was shot by the same member of the 

 party. On Istokpoga deer are usually found in herds of 

 but five or six at a time, while forty miles to the west in 

 Manatee County, thirty or forty pairs of antlers are often 

 seen together. With fishing tackle wonderful catches are 

 made, but the ordinary troll abundantly supplied the wants 

 of our party, eight or ten fish being frequently caught in 

 going a short distance. One of the fish caught with the 

 troll, a bass, was twenty-six inches in length and twenty- 

 one inches around, audit was really good eating. 



A married sister of the Daughtery's lives near the cross- 

 ing. One night, when her husband was away from home, 

 a panther, here called a tiger, killed a hog within twenty 

 yards of the house. Tom Daughtery went up and killed 

 the tiger, and its skin, nicely dressed, is in possession of 

 Mr, Gus Bergner, of Indianapolis. It must be confessed, 

 however, that the crowning pleasure is a dash across the 

 prairie on a hardy Cuban pony after a wild turkey, which 

 is run down and captured before it reaches the timber, or 

 after the half wild cattle which are as shy and fleet footed 

 as deer, or finally, a chase after a wild cat, such as we had 

 one day. After a brisk run over the prairie, and many 

 windings and attempts to hide in the palmetto scrub, it was 

 at last, brought to bay and then we had a chance to assist 

 the dogs, and with the buts of our cow whips forced it to 

 yield each of its nine lives. The cat was as tall as a dog 

 and measured over four feet in length. 



These disjointed sketches cannot be considered as in 

 any sense a description of interior Florida, but if they 

 contain enough of interest to direct the attention of hunt- 

 ers, pleasure seekers and invalids to the attractions of this 

 delightful country I shall feel that my object has been 

 abundantly and successfully accomplished. 



A. M. CONKLIN. 



Inchting #nd ( 



HIGH WATER, FOR THE WEEK. 



All communications from Secretaries and friends should be mailed no 

 later than Monday in each week. 



Date. 



Dec. 30. 

 Dec. 31.. 

 Jan. 1.... 



Jan. 2 



Jan. 3.... 



Jan. 4 



Jan. 5 



Boston,. 



2 

 44 

 25 



3 

 47 

 33 

 25 



New York. 



H. 



M. 



10 



28 



11 



y 



11 



50 



morn. 







33 



1 



20 



2 



11 



Charleston. 



H. 



9 

 10 

 10 



11 

 11 



WL. 



44 



25 



25 



3 



47 



eve. 33 



1 25 



The Withdrawal of Yale — Considering how soon it 

 followed the Convention at Springfield, the withdrawal of 

 Yale from the Rowing Association of American Colleges 

 was as unexpected as, we are forced to admit, it was pre- 

 mature. With challenges issued to the great English Uni- 

 versities, in the name of the association, still unreplied to; 

 with the Centennial year close at hand, when the full re- 

 sources of the organization would be required to give eclat 

 to the regattas to be held, this split in the camp, which 

 threatened at one time to break up the college regatta, was, 

 we consider, to say the least, adopted at a very inauspi- 

 cious time. That Harvaid will follow the example of 

 Yale there appears but little room to doubt, as at the recent 

 meeting of students, held for the purpose of considering 

 the question, as well as that of the challenge of Yale to an 

 eight-oared race, the majority were in favor of withdrawal, 

 although the matter was finally left to a committee of 

 students and graduates to report upon. 



It was reported that the example of Yale would be fol- 

 lowed by Columbia, Bowdoin and Princeton. The manly 

 letter of Capt. Nicholl, of the latter, dispels any such in- 

 tention on the part of Princeton. In fact, the pith of the 

 question is reached in two paragraphs of Capt. Mcoli's 

 letter, which read as follows: — 



"We are resolutely opposed to following the footsteps of 

 Yale and Harvard. On the contrary, every consideration 

 of duty and courtesy forbids us deserting the Intercolle- 

 giate Association. Notwithstanding the very natural wish 

 to avoid the public gaze on the part of the seceding univer- 

 sities, anfl their horror of degrading their contest into a 

 mere spectacle, it will not be denied that the regatta, as 

 now constituted is a respectable and manlv method of 

 competition, and not only to collegians, but to many 

 others, a great and attractive feature of the Summer season. 

 Next year every phase of American life will acquire in- 

 creased importance by being submitted to the friendly 

 criticisms of all foreign nations. 



A proper respect for our visitors compels us (as we had 

 hoped it would compel every other member of the Rowing 

 Association) to sacrifice individual preferences, and to lend 

 our aid toward making the '76 regatta a memorable success. 

 Moreover, the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, at its 

 last convention, invited the English universities to be pre- 

 sent at the regatta of '76 and challenged them to race. 

 How, in common courtesy, can we, unless the challenge is 

 declined, abandon, or in any way impair the existence of 

 this association, whose invitation and challenge our English 

 cousins will probably accept ?" 



We have reason to believe that the sentiments of the 

 majority of Columbia coincide with those expressed above. 

 As the case stands, then, the Rowing Association of Aaieri'- 

 can colleges will continue to exist, in spite of the action of 

 Yale and Harvard. 



That everything connected with the last regatta was as it 

 should have been, or that all the colleges have complied 

 with the requirements of the rules of the Association we 

 cannot admit, and if the obligations contained in the now 

 celebrated Boston Advertiser letter are correct* the matter 



