Ancient Indian Refuse Heaps. 37 



to the following. The beaver, repelled and now exterminated 

 within a radius of 90 miles, seems to have been plentiful in 

 the neighbourhood, to judge from the fragments of bones and 

 entire jaws and teeth dispersed throughout the heap. These 

 did not however differ in any respect from individuals now 

 inhabiting the northern rivers of the province. 



A jaw of the little field mouse (A. Gapperii) was met with. 

 It is also a denizen of the locality at the present day. Remains 

 of the Virginian deer were likewise plentiful, and several of its 

 long bones showed by their longitudinal fractures that they 

 had been split for marrow. All the bones were very light 

 and dry, and readily adhered to the tongue. It is requisite to 

 observe that the surrounding country, in particular the valley 

 of the Maguadavic River (River of Hills), has been a favourite 

 resort of this deer from time immemorial, no doubt in conse- 

 quence of the rugged outlines of the country ; however, the 

 numbers annually captured in snow-drifts, and destroyed in 

 early spring when the thaws set in, are to all appearances in 

 excess of the births, so that there is every likelihood of its 

 extinction taking place before long, which, as regards New 

 Brunswick, would be complete, seeing that the animal is 

 localized in its distribution, being all but confined to the river 

 valley above mentioned. I found besides numbers of bones 

 and jaws, evidently of pollack and other large fishes, includ- 

 ing scales of the sturgeon now also plentiful, and the arrow 

 point of bone, shown in plate, fig. 4, also fragments of bone 

 hooks and worked pieces of the Virginian deer's horns turned 

 up with fragments of charcoal. But neither in this kitchen 

 midden, nor in two others partially explored by me on the 

 same coast line, westward, were layers of charcoal found such 

 as Professor Chadbourne describes in shell mounds examined 

 by him on the coast of the adjoining State of Maine,* 

 indicating that fires had been made on the heaps. From 



* See "Maine Nat. History Society Proceedings for 1859;" also 

 " Report on the Agricultural and Scientific Survey of Maine," p. 290. 



