Part 2 (1/2)

But we must account by other means for the discovery of accurate miniature representations of it (_i.e._ the Manatee) among the sculptures of the far-inland mounds of Ohio; and the same remark equally applies to the jaguar or panther, the cougar, the toucan; to the buzzard possibly, and also to the paroquet. _The majority of these animals are not known in the United States; some of them are totally unknown to within any part of the North American continent._ (Italics of the present writer.) Others may be cla.s.sed with the paroquet, which, though essentially a southern bird, and common in the Gulf, does occasionally make its appearance inland; and might possibly become known to the untraveled Mound-Builder among the fauna of his own northern home.

The information contained in the above paragraph relative to the range of some of the animals mentioned may well be viewed with surprise by naturalists. To begin with, the jaguar or panther, by which vernacular names the _Felis onca_ is presumably meant, is not only found in Northern Mexico, but extends its range into the United States and appears as far north as the Red River of Louisiana. (See Baird's Mammals of North America.) Hence a sculptured representation of this animal in the mounds, although by no means likely, is not entirely out of the question. However, among the several carvings of the cat family that have been exhumed from the mounds and made known there is not one which can, with even a fair degree of probability, be identified as this species in distinction from the next animal named, the cougar.

The cougar, to which several of the carvings can with but little doubt be referred, was at the time of the discovery of America and is to-day, where not exterminated by man, a common resident of the whole of North America, including of course the whole of the Mississippi Valley. It would be surprising, therefore, if an animal so striking, and one that has figured so largely in Indian totemism and folk-lore, should not have received attention at the hands of the Mound-Builders.

Nothing resembling the toucan, as has been seen, has been found in the mounds; but, as stated, this bird is found in Southern Mexico.

The buzzard is to-day common over almost the entire United States, and is especially common throughout most of the Mississippi Valley.

As to the paroquet, there seems to be no evidence in the way of carvings to show that it was known to the Mound-Builders, although that such was the case is rendered highly probable from the fact that it lived at their very doors.

It therefore appears that of the five animals of which Wilson states ”the majority are not known in the United States,” and ”some of them are totally unknown, within any part of the North American continent,” every one is found in North America, and all but one within the limits of the United States, while three were common residents of the Mississippi Valley.

As a further ill.u.s.tration of the inaccurate zoological knowledge to which may be ascribed no small share of the theories advanced respecting the origin of the Mound-Builders, the following ill.u.s.tration may be taken from Wilson, this author, however, being but one of the many who are equally in fault. The error is in regard to the habitat of the conch sh.e.l.l, _Pyrula (now Busycon) perversa_.

After exposing the blunder of Mr. John Delafield, who describes this sh.e.l.l as unknown on the coasts of North and South America, but as abundant on the coast of Hindostan, from which supposed fact, coupled with its presence in the mounds, he a.s.sumes a migration on the part of the Mound-Builders from Southern Asia (Prehistoric Man, vol. 1, p. 219, _ibid._, p. 272), Wilson states.

No question can exist as to the tropical and marine origin of the large sh.e.l.ls exhumed not only in the inland regions of Kentucky and Tennessee, but in the northern peninsula lying between the Ontario and Huron Lakes, or on the still remoter sh.o.r.es and islands of Georgian Bay, at a distance of upwards of three thousand miles from the coast of Yucatan, on the mainland, _the nearest point where the Pyrula perversa is found in its native locality_. (Italics of the present writer.)

Now the plain facts on the authority of Mr. Dall are that the _Busycon (Pyrula) perversa_ is not only found in the United States, but extends along the coast up to Charleston, S.C., with rare specimens as far north as Beaufort, N.C. Moreover, archaeologists have usually confounded this species with the _Busycon carica_, which is of common occurrence in the mounds. The latter is found as far north as Cape Cod. The facts cited put a very different complexion on the presence of these sh.e.l.ls in the mounds.

OTHER ERRORS OF IDENTIFICATION.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 20.--”Owl,” from Squier and Davis.]

The erroneous identification of the manatee, the toucan, and of several other animals having been pointed out, it may be well to glance at certain others of the sculptured animal forms, the identification of which by Squier and Davis has pa.s.sed without dispute, with a view to determining how far the accuracy of these authors in this particular line is to be trusted, and how successful they have been in interpreting the much lauded ”fidelity to nature” of the mound sculptures.

Fig. 20 (Squier and Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, p. 225, Fig. 123) represents a tube of steat.i.te, upon which is carved, as is stated, ”in high relief this figure of an owl, attached with its back to the tube.” This carving, the authors state, is ”remarkably bold and spirited, and represents the bird with its claws contracted and drawn up, and head and beak elevated as if in an att.i.tude of defense and defiance.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 21.--”Grouse,” from Squier and Davis.]

This carving differs markedly from any of the avian sculptures, and probably was not intended to represent a bird at all. The absence of feather etchings and the peculiar shape of the wing are especially noticeable. It more nearly resembles, if it can be said to resemble anything, a bat, with the features very much distorted.

Fig. 21 (Fig. 170 from Squier and Davis) it is stated, ”will readily be recognized as intended to represent the head of the grouse.”

The cere and plainly notched bill of this carving clearly indicate a hawk, of what species it would be impossible to say.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 22.--”Turkey Buzzard,” from Squier and Davis.]

Fig. 22 (Fig. 171 from Squier and Davis) was, it is said, ”probably intended to represent a turkey buzzard.” If so, the suggestion is a very vague one. The notches cut in the mandibles, as in the case of the carving of the wood duck (Fig. 168, Ancient Monuments), are perhaps meant for serrations, of which there is no trace in the bill of the buzzard. As suggested by Mr. Ridgway, it is perhaps nearer the cormorant than anything else, although not executed with the detail necessary for its satisfactory recognition.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 23.--”Cherry-bird,” from Squier and Davis.]

Fig. 23 (Fig. 173 from Squier and Davis) it is claimed ”much resembles the tufted cherry-bird,” which is by no means the case, as the bill bears witness. It may pa.s.s, however, as a badly executed likeness of the tufted cardinal grosbeak or red-bird. The same is true of Figs. 174 and 175, which are also said to be ”cherry-birds.”

Fig. 24 (Fig. 179 from Squier and Davis), of which Squier and Davis say it is uncertain what bird it is intended to represent, is an unmistakable likeness of a woodp.e.c.k.e.r, and is one of the best executed of the series of bird carvings. To undertake to name the species would be the merest guess-work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 24.--Woodp.e.c.k.e.r, from Squier and Davis.]