Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1889-07-04

hCo, upOH WHICH u cfOSS-mafK ndu
been made with an axe. The en-
gineer ran his line to an old beech
tree, and, concluding that this was
the point in question, looked for the
mark, but, of course, could not find
it. Taking an axe, he cut into the
tree, and, to his surprise, almost the
first block Clipped out revealed the
Identical mark referred to in the
ancient document. The mark was
still perfect, but had long been COW
cred up, having been made some
years before the revolutionary war.
The date of the deed was 1859.
A very interesting archaeological
discovery was made some years ago in
Norway. From burial mound,
nearly $50 feet in diameter, was dug a
well-preserved viking ship, in which
some chieftain had been entombed
centuries ago. The craft is the largest
ancient vessel now known to exist, it
being "A feet long and 16 feet wide,
with twenty ribs. Along its sides a
row of circular shields extends COM
pletely around it. The mound is now
nearly mile from the sea, but it is
evident that in olden times the waves
washed its base, and the vessel was
drawn out of the water and buried at
its edge.
A curious relic OF one OF the expedi-
tions which sailed TO the West Indies
under the command of Columbus was
discovered some twelve years ago. On
the 4th OF August, 1893, small squad
ron OF three vessels, under the orders
of Christopher Columbus, was an
chored off the southwestern extremity
of the Island of Trinidad. Late at
night Columbus. it is related by Wash
ington Irving, suddenly saw wall of
water approaching toward the fleet
from the south. His own vessel was
lifted so high by the incoming wave
that he feared it would be either sub
merged or dashed on shore, while
| VIC CdDlC vi OHO vi uhO OtuCI ollDp
parted under the strain to which it
was subjected. The crews of the
vessels gave themselves up for
lost, but after time the wave, which
must have been caused by an ex-
ceptionally large body of water COM
ing suddenly down one of the rivers
flowing into the Gulf Of Haria, ebbed
back. This sudden rise of the waters
is mentioned by Columbus son, Ferdi-
nand, who adds that the fleet suffered
no damage save the loss of one anchor.
1t was this anchor that was found,
and, strangely enough, it was dug up
from depth of six feet below the
surface of the ground at spot
three hundred and seventy-two feet
from the nearest point of the coast
line. The land, it is we'll known, has
gained considerably upon the sea
along the shores of Venezuela, so that,
where once ships rode at anchor
gardens are now planted. The anchor
itself was of simple form and COM
paratively rude manuf acture, the
stock being eight feet long and round,
with a ring at one end a foot in diam
eter to which to make fast the cable
and with flukes five feet long, the whole
weighing eleven hundred pounds.
The story of the discovery OF gold in
North Carolina is somewhat curious
Near the close of the last century the
child OF poor settler, while roaming
along the banks OF small stream
discovered bright yellow stone
; which, with the assistance of his play
mates, he picked up and carried HON,
: to his father. The old man, who haC
evidently no knowledge of the appear
ance of gold in its native state, saw
nothing particularly remarkable in tn,
} stone, but, not to disappoint the child
D babe him place it near the cabin door
0 which it would serve to keep open o.
S shut at pleasure. AS the stone wa
S quite heavy, weighing nearly fifteel
. pounds, it was found of considerable
: use for that purpose.
Several years elapsed before an,
I one thought of the stones being posi-
: bly, mineral of value, although it
: owner often showed it to his neigh
a bors, bidding them mark its unusua
Q weight. Finally he was induced b
y some one to take it to goldsmith il
the neighboring town of Fayetteville
who, upon testing it, at once pre-
Q nounced it to be gold. So simple
:. however, and so ign GRANT Of the valu
= OF the precious metal was the oil
Q farmer that he even then allowed tn
S dishonest goldsmith to buy tho nugge
;. of him for the paltry sum of four dol
Q lars. Its true value was ascertaine
o to be not less than four thousand do
# lars, and the locality in which it wa
) found soon became rich field for gol
g hunters. This is claimed to have bee
}, the first discovery of gold ever made i
e the United States.
= The history of the finding of enol
d nous nuggets OF gold in Australi
70 reads almost like a romance. TIL
d earliest discovery of this kind was i
d 1851, but few months after the oper
If ing OF the mines near Bathurst Thi
Q was the celebrated 'one-hundreC
e pound lump" which owed its disco'
il cry to the following curious circun
h stances: A native in the employ of on
n DR.. Kerr was longing along, hatch'
IT in hand, through a sheep run wher
n he had walked hundred times befor,
70 His eyes caught something yello
n upon the surface of block of quart
p and a blow from his Ratchet disclose
n a mass of gold. He fastened back
IS his master, who took his horse an
i rode to the spot The largest bloc
:, weighed seventy-five pounds, and