At first, nothing was discovered in this encampment, which had every
appearance of not having been extensively used for years, though the
traces of numerous fires, and the signs of footsteps, and a spring in
the centre, indicated the recent occupation, of which I have just
spoken. A little further scrutiny, however, brought to light certain
objects that we did not note without much wonder and concern. Marble
made the first discovery. It was impossible for seamen to mistake the
object, which was the head of a rudder, containing the tiller-hole,
and which might have belonged to a vessel of some two hundred and
fifty, or three hundred tons. This set all hands of us at work, and,
in a few minutes we found, scattered about, fragments of plank,
top-timbers, floor-timbers, and other portions of a ship, all more or
less burnt, and stripped of every particle of metal. Even the nails
had been drawn by means of perseverance and labour. Nothing was left
but the wood, which proved to be live-oak, cedar and locust, the
proofs that the unfortunate craft had been a vessel of some value. We
wanted no assurance of this, however, as none but a North-West trader
could well have got as high up the coast, and all vessels of that
class were of the best description. Then the locust, a wood unknown to
the ship-builders of Europe, gave us the nearly certain assurance that
this doomed craft had been a countryman.
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