Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-01-23
FLORIDA sCANNIBALS.
Interesting Discovery Of Phila-
delphia Antiquarian.
Mounds Which Contain Evidence i, oi
the Cannibalfstio Practices OF
the Original Indians OF
the State

| Florida has been fruitful from the timc
of LIE Moyne, who escaped the St. Johns
river massacre In the latter part Of the
10th century, to the present date. LIE
-Moyne was among the first, If not the
first, explorer of Florida antiquities
and he came under the many disad.
vantages of three centuries ago, and
in q country full of hostile tribes and
infested with more hostile white men
The latest follower of this daring ex-
plorer Is q gentleman who Is about ia
start from this port on q tour of In
vestigation of Florida's antiquities in
a vessel built and equipped for the
special purpose and accompanied on
the voyage by small coterie of con-
genial friends. This gentleman Is Prof.
c. B. Moore, representative of the Phil.
adelphia Academy of Natural Sciences,
and his vessel is the Gopher, which has
been built specially to float in shall
low waters. 1t also combines all the
comforts of winter home, q library,
study rooms and laboratories, dark
rooms for photography and all the
paraphernalia necessary in the study
of natural history, wherever the chance
for such study may be found.
The party will be made up of Prof.
Moore, who Is at the head of the work,
and from whose pen will come the re-
ports to the scientific world of the re-.
searches that are made here. His asso7
ciates are DR.. NJ. G.. Miller, DR.. B.
Henry and DR.. G. S. Walker, each of
whom will make u study of some par
ticular branch of the subjects that are
to be investigated. Prof. Moore was
called upon in his commodious quar-
ters on the Gopher just as the boat
was about to leave for o trial trip UP
the river. - I ~
"I have spent 81 winters in Florida"
he said, "and have made quite study
of her extinct races, as we'll as of her
present inhabitants. carry crew OF
six men besides the engineer and cap
tain, and all of these men have had
with Inc for several seasons before
They are trained mound diggers, and
they know what kind of work is re-
quired of them in that branch. l have
made special study Of the mounds Of
Florida, and have opened at least 100
shell mounds and nearly 200 sand
mounds in this state, The collection
of Florida anthropology and relics in
the Philadelphia Academy Of Natural
Sciences is the best in the world, and
is larger than all others combined.
"The shell mounds of Florida are de-
posits of the shells Of fish that, were
eaten by the early inhabitants Of this
country, and are really refuse heaps.
Above Palatlla the shells are those of
fish that could live In fresh waters and
resemble what l should call a peri.
winkle. From Palatla to Jacksonville
there are q few of these mounds, and
below here and nearer to the ocean
the shells are those of the oyster. The
extent of these mounds Is sometimes
marvellous, and shows that they must
have been the accumulations Of great
spaces of time. Thatmound from which
c. II. Curtis, of Bluffton, has been send
ing some samples for paving your
streets In Jacksonville covers about IS
acres, and I have dug into 1t to maxi.
mum depth of rs feet. You will sec
that they are not mounds of conical
shape, like the sand mounds, but were
formed, as / think, by the throwing
aside of the shells as the fish We're con-
sumed by the Indians. At every depth
of their formation l have found fire.
place in which fish were cooked When
the accumulation of shells left these
fireplaces in hollow these hollows were
filled up and another fireplace was
started above the old one, or in another
place.
"An interesting fact has been proven
by the surroundings Of these fire.,
places, and that Is the inevitable con
clusion that the original Florida In
dian was cannibal. l have found to-
gether about these feeding places the
bones of the wild turkey, the bones of
deer cracked open to get at the mar
row and the bones Of human beings,
charred and showing the result OF
cooking. If l had seen but one instance
of this l should not make the assertion,
but 1t has been proven by repeated dis
coveries, and the conclusion that I
have reached is that the Indian Of cen
turtles ago in this state was In tho
habit Of eating his kind.
"The sand mounds were formed in Il
different manner. They are conical Ill
shape, and were evidently built with
great care. They were used ns the
burial places of the dead, and we have
found evidences Of their having also
been used as places of residence. They
were formed in strata or layers, which
were built one above the other atwide-
ly-separated periods of time. mn also
satisfied that they were constructed, at
least many of them, in pre- Columbian
periods, but how long before the dis,
covery Of America by Columbus am
not able to determine. We have been
able to trace to certain extent the re-
lations of these Indians with the other
tribes in other parts of the country
We have found many pieces of copper
of the kind called lake copper, or that
which Is found in the northern pen
insula of Michigan and in the Lake