_Crouch’s Cove._ This is situated on Goose Island, in Casco Bay, about
fifteen miles north-east of Portland. The whole island is at present
covered with a growth of spruce trees (_Abies nigra_), excepting a
narrow strip on the seaward side, and on this, at the southerly end of
the island, are several shell-heaps of different sizes. The longest of
these is about one hundred and fifty feet in length, forty in width,
and varying in thickness from a few inches to nearly three feet.
Considerable portions have been washed away, and the contents scattered
along the shore. The shells are mostly deposited evenly, but here and
there are raised into small knolls, and all are covered with turf. This
deposit has been carefully examined by Mr. C. B. Fuller, of Portland,
by whom large collections have been made, and a portion of which were
unfortunately destroyed by the great fire of 1866. Mr. Edward S.
Morse has more recently made a partial examination, and obtained many
valuable specimens, which will be mentioned farther on.
Our examinations[6] were begun on the bank and carried inland, until
about 375 square feet of surface, and more than 700 cubic feet of
material had been moved. Mr. Morse has given the following account of
the shells found in this, and some of the smaller deposits near by. He
enumerates the following species: “Common Clam (_Mya arenaria_), Quahog
(_Venus mercenaria_), Large Scallop (_Pecten tenuicostatus_), Large
Mussel (_Mytilus modiolus_), Cockle (_Purpura lapillus_), Beach Snail
(_Natica heros_), Whelk (_Buccinum undatum_), Periwinkle (_Littorina
litoralis_); and also the following, for which there are no common
names: _Nassa obsoleta_, _Natica triseriata_, and _Macoma fusca_. The
following land snails were also met with: _Helix albolabris_, _Sayii_,
_alternata_, _lineata_, _striatella_, _indentata_, _multidentata_, _Zua
lubricoides_, and _Succinea Totteniana_.”
“The heaps were almost entirely composed of the shells of the common
clam, which appeared longer and rougher in texture than that now dug
near by. In some of the heaps the shells of the quahog were abundant,
and marked for their size and solidity. This species, though no longer
found in the same cove with the heaps, may be had in the neighborhood
of Goose Island, but localities in which it lives are quite rare north
of Cape Cod. The common mussel, whelk, cockle, and scallop, were
probably used as food, while the other species were doubtless carried
there by accident. The presence of so many species of land snails would
seem to indicate that the island was once covered with hard-wood trees,
among which these animals alone flourish. The occurrence of the little
snail, _Zua lubricoides_, is inconsistent with the view that it is an
introduced species.”
The shells were deposited in two different layers, very much as on the
island in Frenchman’s Bay already described. The older was separated
from the more recent deposit by a thin stratum of earth, extending
through the largest portion of the heaps. Pieces of charcoal were
scattered everywhere among the shells, but in some places the larger
quantity and the blackened earth showed where fires had been made. The
number of the fragments of the bones of edible animals was quite large,
belonging to no less than fifteen species. Besides these, many bones of
other species, bone implements (Pl. 14, figs. 1, 2; Pl. 15, figs. 6, 7,
8, 9, 12, 13), and pieces of bone from which portions had been sawed
off were found; no implements of stone were exhumed, though Mr. Swan
found a small pestle, and Mr. Morse a chisel lying on the surface near
the shore.