10 Notes on a Lost Race of America. [January, 
river. During the Florida war this series was complete, but at 
present it qonsists only of a large mound on the military reserva- 
tion. The,second, which was located immediately outside of the 
reservation, has been destroyed with the third mound situated 
near the site of the present town market. At the foot of the last 
mound in the clay banks of a small stream which flows into the 
river we find chippings of flint implements. 
The only remaining representative of the ancient series of 
mounds is conical in form, being about fifteen feet in height, with 
a diameter at its base of about fifty feet. By digging into this 
mound, commencing at its apex, we found that its surface con- 
sisted of drifted sand, about five feet in depth; immediately 
beneath this we uncovered a layer of shells made up of the edible 
species of our southern coast, and generally composed of old 
valves of Ostrea virginiana, although among the shells there are 
a few fossil species which are common to our tertiary marls. 
Immediately beneath the shells, in a white sand which forms 
the principal material of the mound, we uncovered a male skele- 
ton, which was interred at an angle so that the head laid toward 
the east and scuth. It is remarkable that in the vicinity of the 
body we were unable to discover implements or ornaments. Con- 
tinuing our excavations on the same level in a southerly direction, 
we found the remains of a second body, consisting of the pelvic — 
bone of a female, and other parts with the exception of the 
skull. ` 
It is worthy of remark that the sandy structure of this series 
of mounds corresponds with that of the sand dunes of our pres- 
ent sea coast which, in connection with the well-known geological 
fact of the former elevations and depressions of the Atlantic 
coast, would give a reasonable explanation for the phenomena 
observed in the study of the Tampa mounds. The recent eleva- — 
tion of the shore around Tampa is evident from the fact that 
_ immediately in the rear of the Fort Brooke mound we found a 
ridge parallel with the present southern shore line; it is composed 
of wave-broken shells, and probably formed the ancient shore 
line during the occupation of the mound, and has since been 
; raised, although previous to its existence the whole shore line had _ 
-a series of elevations and depressions, a fact which becomes self 
evident from an observation of the country directly in rear of the 
town of Tampa. | 
Pe ae, tery Mees ET Tae 
i Ga Moh oa ita PENSE 
