220 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
bones and teeth ; but the mud and water accumulated so fast, they soon became 
discourao-ed with the difficulties attending the search, and gave it over. Some 
of theselt'acts came to my knowledge in March, 1840, on my return to St. 
Louis from an excursion to the south-western part of the country, when I 
immediately repaked to the spot, and found the facts as I have here stated. 
* * * It is well kno'UTi by all persons acquainted with geology, that is 
admitted as a fact, that the mastodons, together with the generality- of ante- 
diluvian animals, existed and became extinct previous to the creation of the 
race of men ; vrhich supposition was founded on the fact that no evidence of 
human existence could be traced back to, or found with, those antediluvian 
animals. The positive cause of this I do not know. My opinion, however, is 
that this want of evidence of a former human race is, that those relics of the 
ancient animal world geiierally have been found accidentally by persons who 
were not aware of the importance of a minute and critical examination of the 
deposits disinterred by them, and therefore the scientific observer was deprived, 
no doubt, often of the facts necessary to be known in order to form correct 
opinions on tliis subject. In view of this I deem it my duty to lay before the 
world what facts I have been able to gather on this interesting subject, which 
will be strong evidence in favour of my belief, that there was a human race 
existing contemporary with those animals. These facts are as follows : — In 
October, 1838, I disinterred the remains of an animal which had clawed feet, 
and was of the size of an elepliaut. This deposit was in Gasconade county, 
Missouri, on the shores of the Burbois river. The principal part of this ani- 
mal had been consumed by fire, which fire evidently had not been produced by 
a volcanic eruption, but had been formed and kindled mechanically by human 
hands, as it ap])eared, for the purpose of destroying the before-mentioned ani- 
mal, which had been mii'ed here and was unable to extricate itself. The par- 
ticulars of the transaction are as follows. A farmer in Gasconade county, 
Missouri, perceived for some time a disagreeable taste in the water which he 
had used for his household. The water was taken out of a clear spring, situated 
in w^hat is usually called a bottom, near his house. Tor the purpose of reme- 
dying this evil, he dug around and into the spring, thus to be enabled to enclose 
it afterwards as a well. By doing so, he found several bones belonging to an 
animal of an unusually large size. Some were whole, and some in fragments. 
Also, at the same time, he found a stone knife and an Indian axe. This cir- 
cumstance created some excitement in the neighbourhood ; and these transac- 
tions were mentioned to me some time afterwards by a Mr. Wash, who lived 
in the vicinity. On hearing this, I immediately made arrangements to proceed 
to the place. On my arrival there, in October, 1838, I found the prospects 
rather dull, as the bones which had been dug out of the spring were principally 
destroyed. They had been removed from their place of embedment without 
the least care, and were, of course, more or less broken ; then exposed to the 
air without any kind of preservation being applied to them ; and eventually 
what few remained tolerably whole, were broken by their curious visitors, to 
ascertain it they contained marrow ; until the few remaining fragments were 
collected together by an intelligent gentleman, by the name of Bailey, residing 
in the neighbourhood, who presented them lo me, and assisted me in my farther 
researches. I found, nine feet beneath the surface, a layer of ashes from six 
to twelve inches in thickness, mingled with charcoal, large pieces of wood 
partly burned, together mth Indian implements of war, as stone arrow-heads 
tomahawks, &c., &c. Also more than one hundred and fifty pieces of rocks 
varying from three to twenty-five pounds in weight, wliich must have been 
carried here from the rocky shores of the Burbois river, a distance of three 
lumdrcd ;^'ards ; as there was no rock, stones, or even gravel near to be found, 
and as those pieces of rocks taken out of the ashes were precisely the same as 
