Silver in moonda. In the number of Science for May 22 jou have an article on 'Silver from a PemiBylmnla mound,' whicU lead9 me to apfak ot a recent linrl liire. Williin the eitr llnillB, on ibc west slilo of tlii? river, and in the region of a group of mounds now mainly removed, there were recently fnunil two nodules of nearly pure •ilver, weighing together upward of twelve pounds, together with ii ama!) piece of silvei^foil. The no>l- nlei were frregulnr In shape, with some admixture of etu-tliy material ; but a competent chemist pronDUiices tUeni essentially pure silver. With them was found a large copper axe, a lai^e sea-shell (Pyrula?), hone ■peara. human bones, etc., — the usual conlenls of the moumU (in this region) of the so-called mound-bu II d- ers. A more complete examination of these articles will be made. E. A. Stbono.
Oniiid Kapids, Ulub., Jane II.
Moand-bdildisg trlboB.
' Name the mound-bulldtnE tribes.' is the demnnd now made of those holding the Indian theory. The mound testimony so tar obtained (much of It by the bureau of ethnology, and yet unpublishedl, taken in connection with the hlaturlcal, traditional, and Iln- guisUc evidence, leads to the following conclusions: —
1. That the ancient works in eastern Arkansas, north of the Arkansas Hirer, were chiefly built by the ' Akansea' (Quapaws or Kappas), and other allied trlties or the Dnkotan Htock encountered by UeSuto, and found still occupying this region when hrst visited by the French explorers. The evidence in support of tliix opinion seems to be well-nigh conclusive.
2. That some ancient works recently diMCOvered in Ponlotoc and Union couniies. Miss., are probahly due to the Chickiuaws. who are Ifoown to have in- habited this region from the time of DcSoIo's expe- dition until a rocenl date. These works have been visited and carefully explored by n bureau asaislanl, who discovered in one of the mounds, iu addition to a number of the usual mound-builder's relics found In such works, one blade of a p«lr of scissors, the blade of an iron 'case-knife,' and a small silver plale stamped wiili the Spanish coat-of-arms. Tbe vestiges of aboriginal art present marked differences from those fonn<l in Arkansas, western Tennessee. and the more southern portions of Mi^Bls!•ippl. Of course the data so far obtained, relatingto this locali- ty, are too meagre to justify a decided conclusion.
3. That most of the antiquities of Alabama and Geoi^ia are altrlbuUble to the Miii-koki tribes. But the mound explorations indicate that Ibe south-west comer of Geoi^ia. and immediately adjoining por- tions of Florida, were occupied in mound-building times by a different people. It is somewhat signifi- cant that Ur. Ualschet ('Migration legend of the Creeks') locates the Ccbeea in precisely this area. Ijome specimens of pottery Indicate contact with the whiles, but others are more ancient. The indications are that the same people occupied this region at two different periods.
4. That the Cherokees were mound-builders, and that they were the authors of mont of the works of western North Carolina and eulem Tennessee. I have given elsewhere {Magazine n/ American hiiiory. May. 1884) some reasons for Ihls belief. Subseiguent explorations have served to strengthen this opinion. A number of mounds around the stie of old Fort Loudon, Uunroe county, Tenn. (one of them of lai^e sizel, recently opened, furnish what seem to he abso- lutely conn ectlng-t Inks t)etweeu the mouud-bullders and Indians. From the largeone, containing ninety-
��one skeletons, were taken dozens of poliabed cells; several shell masks; some engraved shells; a gallon or nuire of shell beads, some of Iheni pearls; veasels of clay of ancient type: bone implemenis; hundreds of p«rtoraIed shells; a /tie jilpet of a eotu}"u-ntlTrly moJern Chci-okee lyin- : Jour tnpper ha'ak-helU \eUh theli-fiead and pebble nilllr* ; discoldai stones, etc. No indication of Intruvve burials.
Uut Ibe mound irstimunv in regard to this tribe does not stop beiti. It liiditaies that Id Ihem we must aitrihule the works of l^anawlia viilley, near ("harleston. those at Unive Creek, and the typical works of southern Ohio: in other word*, it is In ac- cord with the tradition mentioned by Haywo"d, and the theory which hlentiCes them with the "ralegwl. Tbe proof is clrcumsL-intial, but the chain is un- broken: the pipes atone are sufficient to show Ihls. We can trace them back ahmK their line of mlgraiion to Iowa. The works of Ohio indicate several differ- ent waves of population, and occupancy (or a greater or less length of lime by different tribes; but the works of the Talegwi (Cherokec»)aregenerallyeasily distineuished. The mound teslimoiiy absolutely for- bids the idea that the Ohio mound- builders went south to the Gulf states, and merged into the Muskoki family, or were represeuled by the Natcbe-.
5. 'rhat the track of the Shawnees cati be traced by their works from southern Illinois t" nortb-i-asiem Georgia. They were undoiilitedly the auiln rs of the box-i-haped 'stone graves.' or cysts, found south of the Ohio River, and the other works of that region directly connected with these graves. While it fs probable they entered It from ilie west, pouibly along the line of the lower Missouri River, the works at the eastern end of the elongate area bear the marks of greatest age, unless we attribute lo them ibe Cabukla pyramid and its companions. The region ol the Cumberland valley and middle Tennessee was evi- dently their chief and most pennanent seat of power. The later occupancy by them and by the Delawares, of various points in Ohio, Is generally Indicated by their stone cofhns and mode of burial.
tt. That a large portion of the works of Kentucky differ from all others east of the Uississlppi, north- eastern Missouri alone presenting any thing similar. Tbe only probable solution of the puzzle is, [hat a tribe which once Inhabited this section ba^ become extinct, or fled wfsl, and was alMorbed in some other tribe, or became nomadic. And, last, that Morgan's theory that the mound-builders were from the pueblo Indians Is without fouudailon.
The evidence on which these conclusion' ar-e based cannot be presenti'd here, but will be fiveu In the report on the mound explnralious of the bureau of ethnology for the years 18^2-4^, now beine prepared for publication. Ctbvs TauuAS.
Alterts aqnlrreL
That the credit of first publishing a drawing of Aben's squirrel may be given to the proper per-on, I b^, through you. to call Dr. Shufeldt's ailenliou to the illustration of it that is contained In Senate ex- doc. No. .">9, 32d congress, 2d session, 1W3: "Re. port on the natural history of the country passed over by the exploring expeihlion under the command of Brevet Capu L. Sitgreaves, U. S. topographical engineers, during the year lS.il, by S. W. Wooil- house, M.D , surgeon and naturalist to the expedi- tion."
Plate G Is a full-length view of the anlninl, and on pp. 63, 54. Is a description In detail of this Srinnii.
KrwYork. JuoglS. L. S. FoSTKB.
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