Liberty advocate. [volume] (Liberty, Miss.) 1835-1866, 1839-05-23
MISCELLANEOU US.


Y "REMARKABLE RUINS AND TRADITION
MI "0n the eastern shore ofPascagoula Bay,
Jackson county, State Of Mississippi, near il
n mouth, are the ruins of an ancient fortifcatioI
built, apparently, many centuries ago. 1t az
pears to have been constructed chiefly Of SET
4 shells. Within this ruin, several feet below tn
4 surface, have been found charred Goals, an
fragments OF peculiar kind of earthen ware
together with many human bones. Amongs
them were discovered parts of human skeIe
ton OF gigantic proportions. The upper par
! of the skull was said to be sufficiently large tc
ft loosely over the largest modern heads.
"All historical traces Of the origin of this
fortress have long disappeared. There is how
ever, tradition still eXtant amongst the old
French settlers on the Bay, said to have been
derived from the Indians who inhabited the
coast on ITS first settlement by the French, that
this fertilization was built by a tribe of Ind
+ ians long since extinct, known as the BIux-
les
According to the legend, this tribe was at war
with more powerful neighboring tribe. Az
fer many successive defeats, they we're driven
to the sea shore, where they built this fortf-
cation; they were closely and vigorously be-
became exhausted, and they were reduced to-
the last extremity. Hope having deserted
them, they marched into the ocean and per-
ished.
"ln this neighborhood is frequently heard
the most extraordinary and strange music
AZ Is heard IN the summer months only, and on
The mostcalm and serene evenings, usually af-
Ter sunset. II is said TO be truly melodious, re.
semblng several instruments in concert: the
most perfect harmony is preserved through its
various cadences, though no peculiar notes or
instruments are initiated. The sound appears
to have no peculiar or limited bounds but
seems TO be tranSitory,-somcimes appearance
10 be IN the water,-then Immediately chanpinGl
ais position, seems to be transferred to the al
mosphere, approaching and receding at inter
walls, sometimes dying away for some minutes.
and then suddenly reviying with increased en.l
ergy. The length oftime that this mysterious
nocturnal music continues, is various and rreg.
'iar; sometime but momenary.-apain il will
continue for hours,-and, lingering, leave the
air SO slowly, that it will long dwell in fancy i
and the delusion will last till we are almost led
TO believe that it exists only in imagination i
and were it not supported by the most undoubt-
cd testimony, it would be difficult to give credit
10 such seeming phantasy But that such
music is heard there, is beyond doubt 1t is
attributed to various causes; but the one most
generally accredited, by the supersttious of
this neighborhood, is couched in fiction, and
linked with the tradition of the Biluxi In
ans."-BEsANCoN's ANNUAL REGISTER OF MIS-
sIssIPPI.
Leaving out Of view the poetry of the fore
gong legend. where, we ask, on the page of
history, can be found morethriiling tale than
that ofthe extinction of the Buxies, allowing
The truth of the tradition? The sefdeyoion
Of Poland is beggored by the nobler sacrifice of
an entire withdrawing in solemn array from
beleaguered fortfcation, into its tomb-and
that tomb the ocean! There is a subimity in
the deed that exalts the Indian character, and
allies it to the vaunted, yet perhaps fabulous,
sefsacrifce, Of Curtus, who saved Rome from
an earthquake, by leapng into the chasm. -
The deed Of the Bluxies, if true, was one of
homage to the comparative kindness o! mani
mate nature. As they looked towards the land,
they saw human forms like their own; as they
looked sea-ward, they saw the ruinous and
wastelul deep,-yet far more kind in its cruel
~ than their fellow man.
They raised a nations death song, and marched
into their ocean grave !--S0uth. Western Journal.