On the origin of the fossil bones discovered in the vicinity of Tise's Ford, Florida

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 427

erous intelligent Innuits

who

lived in thatdistrict,

and

from

whom

I

bought

variousjadearticles. Thesepeople allagreedinthe statement that thejade occurs on the side of a steep hill ormountain slope de- scending to one of therivers,

and

each described its occurrence only along

what

appearedfrom their descriptions to be awell-markedvein, orperhaps adike, extending from thewaterto thecrest of the bill.

Jade

celtsalso occur

among

the Indians of the

Yukon

aboutNulato.

They

claim that therough materialis found

upon

thesideofamountain about 2o milesfrom Nulato. Thisis the

same

rangein whichthe pre- vious localityis situated.

The

Point

Barrow

Innuits huntreindeerand mountain sheep along the northernborder of these mountains,

and

un- doubtedly obtain their crude material there.

The same

material is

found in the mountains on the western part of the

Kaviak

Peninsula near Bering Strait.

The

Innuits of that district

know

it well

and have many

implements

made

fromit. AllI questioned asto the local- ity of this stone pointed to the mountains in the immediate vicinity.

From

Norton

Sound

south alongthe

Alaskan

coast to the vicinity of Bristol

Bay

this stone isalmost^or quite

unknown among

theInnuits, as I found

when

traveling

among them

; butthe finespecimensrecently receivedfrom Mr.

McKay,

at Bristol Bay,

show

conclusivelythat there

must

beanotherlocality in that district

where

jade occursin place.

That small water-

worn

fragmentsareveryfrequently used

by

the na- tives forcelts,

&c,

is undoubtedly true, butthatthesefragments

come

from

some

pointwherethe stone occurs as a part or wholeofa vein is at leastveryprobable, as

shown by

the Innuitdescription of the

Kotzebue Sound

locality.

The

Innuitscallita "fire-stone,"

and

sayit

was made

in a very hotfire

when some

of the volcanic cones of theirmountains were in a state of eruption.

On

the Siberian shore of Bering Strait only avery few jade fragments wereseen

by

me,

and

their owners ^all claimed tohave obtained

them

on the

American

side.

Glorieta, New Mexico,

July 29, 1883.

ON

^Till:

ORIGIN OF THE FOSSIE KOMM DISCOVERED

IN

THE

VICINITY OF

TIME'S

FORD, FLORIDA.

By

S. T.

WALKER.

[Letter toProf. SpencerF. Baird._]

The day

after Iwrotetoyou from Fort Ogden, on PeaceCreek, Ipro- cured a small skiff, and the services of

two

strong negroes to

row

it,

and proceeded upthe river insearch ofTise'sFord,which I

was

informed

was

17 miles

by

the river

and

8miles

by

land.

The

rainy season hav- ing set in, the river

was

slightly swollen, and rising, which produced a considerable current increasing in strength as

we

ascended until rowing

became

quite alabor.

The

shores of the river were bold for

428 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

this region,

and

were clothed with a magnificent growth of cypress, oak,

and

hickory trees, though at allpoints examined

by me

the high shores sloped rapidly

away

to low,wet swamps.

About

7 miles (by the river) above Fort

Ogden

I

met

thefirst indicationsoffossilbones.

On

a lowpoint, where the river

makes

a sudden bend, laya small bed of gravel interspersed with innumerable fragmentsof bones,bitsofturtle shell,

&c,

^stillretainingtheir bonystructure,

and

inno

way

changedor petrified.

From

thispoint

onward

everysand-bar

had

itsbed ofgravel with similar fragmentsof bone, bits of deer's horns, and turtleshell.

Each

successive sand-bar held large pieces,

and

I vainly examined bluffs for

some

indicationof thefossilsinsitu. Shark'steeth (quite small) with the enamel

unbroken

were quite plentiful.

The

bluffs were com- posedof white or yellow sand, overlying patches of grayish clay, soft

sandstone rocks,or verysoftlimestone.

The

sand only

was

continu- ous, the clay

and

soft rocks cropping out here

and

there.

As we

as-

cended thestreamuarrowed

aud

the cur ent

was

so swiftthat

we

could not

make more

thana mile

and

a halfanhour. Therebeingno houses on theriver, excepting atthe ferries,

we

could

make

noinquiries.

At

thefirstferry,3 milesabove Fort Ogden, they

had

neverheardofTise's Ford.

At

the second, theferrymaniuformedusthat thereare

two

fords of thatname, one 8 milesabove

and

theother 4 miles below; thatbones couldbe fouud onallthebars

and

along the shores almostanywhere, but thattheywere

more

plentiful atGardner's Bluffs,5 miles above,

and

at Tise'sFord, 4 miles below,than

any

whereelse.

The

riverseemingtohave verylittlecurrentabovethisferry, Ideterminedtopush onto theupper

ford. It

was now

5o'clock inthe afternoon

and my

crew

showed

signsof rebellion,butfinallyagreedto pull toGardner'sBluffs,which

we

reached about sundown.

Here

Ifound a bed of gravel 10 inches thick, which seemed toextend under thebluff.

The

gravel

and

fragments of bone seemed tobevery slightlywaterworn, their angles in

many

instances appearing quitesharp.

At

thisjdace a small stream emptied into the river.

Between

the river

and

the brook thebanks were 10 feethigh,

and

1

had

thesatisfactionoffindingthatthestratumof gravel extended quite through tothe little brook.

Here my men

positive^ refused to proceed, so Ideterminedto leave

them and

proceed alone, as themos- quitoes gavelittleto be hopedforin the

way

ofsleep during thenight.

I ordered

them

todig inthebluffthe next day, and to save all objects of interest they might find,and taking the boat I began the ascent alone. I pulled steadily until 2 o'clock, when, overcome with fatigue, Ilay

down

inthe boat

and

fought the mosquitoes untilday.

The

next

morning

Idropped

down

the riverleisurely, examining every sand-bar

and

bluff,

and

following several small streams half a mile

up

onfoot, without findingthemysterious source ofthisbone supply.

When

I got back I found

my men

digging like heroes, each of

them

havinghis pocketsstuffed with

lumps

ofiron pyrites, which they fondlyimagined to begold. Ikept

my

counselfor the present,

and

suffered the rebels

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 429

todig untilI found there

was no

prospect of unearthing a complete bone,

much

lessa skeleton,

when

Istopped

them

and beganthe return, which

was

rapid

and

easy.

On

reachingTise's

Ford

I

made

a thorough examination of thatlocality. In a cut-off or old river-bed Ifound a vast

number

of fragments of

huge

bones, but none entire except one small vertebra, whichI send you.

My

opinion is that the bones are

washed up

from the bottomof theriverduring high water, as I failedto findtheslightestevidence ofanyfossilsintheclays.

The

bed of gravel at Gardner'sBluffsI think

was

depositedinancient times by theriver.

I

am

induced to think thus because at Fort

Meade and

other places above theydig

up

sharks' teeth,turtles,

and

bonesinwellsatthedepth of18

and

20 feet.

Milton, Florida,

August10, 1883.