456 FRESH-WATER SHELL-HEAPS 
plete list of the different kinds of animals, indicated by the 
bones found in the different mounds. The species most com- 
monly met with are the Deer (Cervus Virginianus), the Ter- 
rapin (Emys Floridana) , Soft-shelled Turtle ( Trionyx ferox) 
and the Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis). The condi- 
. tion of the bones in many instances, particularly those from 
Old Enterprise and Horse Landing, indicated that they had 
been long buried, inasmuch as they had lost nearly all their 
organic matter, and when exposed to heat scarcely changed 
their color. In many instances they were incrustéd with a 
deposit of lime, and had the shells in which they were em- 
bedded cemented to them. The bones of birds are quite rare, 
even those of the wild turkey and of the various species of 
ducks, which in the winter frequent the rivers and lakes in 
immense numbers. Of fishes, the species most commonly 
represented are the gar-pikes (Lepidosteus), and a cat-fish 
(Pimelodus). 
In the illustrations to the Brevis Narratio of LeMoyne, 
Pl. XXIV represents a fire over which is built a frame, and 
on this, exposed to heat and smoke, are several animals, 
among which can be recognized the deer, a small mammal, 
the mouth of which resembles that of the opossum, an alli- 
gator, an eel or a snake, and several species of fish. Several 
Indians are standing near, one fanning the fire, and another 
holds an alligator under his arm. On Pl. XXIII, natives 
are represented carrying food in baskets, one of which con- 
tains a deer, a fish, and an alligator. This is quite too large 
a load for one basket, and too much importance must not 
attached to these plates, since they were drawn from mem- 
ory, but they may be taken as an indication of what the 
kinds of food were. In the text, the writer states that they 
“ate freely of the flesh of the alligator, which is white 42 
clean, and which we should have eaten often had it not been 
too redolent of musk.”* This objection we have found from 
personal experience to be a valid ne. i 
* Ibid., p. 5. 



