well in selecting one. It is proven by knowledge that the harbor inside San Carlos Bay was favored before the turn of the century as the practical port for the then huge shipments of cattle to Cuba. Not it those days -- and decidedly not in De Soto's time -- was it possible to ship stock on crowded vessels except for short trips. The port that Anasco chose was the nearest to Havana, perhaps one of De Soto's main specifications. (End Wilkinson)

THE MYSTERIOUS CLAM SHELL

Wilkinson's theory got a boost in 1961 with discovery of a mysterious clam shell by an amateur organization calling itself the Florida Archeological Society.

The group obtained permission from Lykes Brothers, Inc., a large lumber company, to "survey" the Ft. Center mounds on its property along Fisheating Creek. Society members were discovered to be digging into the mounds haphazardly -- carrying away valuable artifacts and scattering the rest. The company refused further access to their property and sued for return of removed objects.

Amongst the artifacts recovered were a dozen hammered gold buttons, some small silver ornaments and an inscribed clam shell. On the inside of the rather large shell is a simple map with an east-west line marked "Rio." Tending north from this river is a line and circle that might represent another stream and a lake, or a trail and a mound. An "X" east of the circle designates a particular place. A compass rose indicates north and east.

On the outside surface of the shell is a Christian cross, two sets of Roman numerals "XX" and "XX," a smaller cross, the letters "LA" and the word "CALOS."

Schell interprets the inscription as a relic of the Soto expedition: "The double Roman numeral for 20 adds up to 40, and the plus-sign indicates something more. The abbreviation LA is league. Therefore, a distance of 40-plus leagues has been given. Now, the line on the left (west) could only be the Gulf of Mexico. The RIO, because of its con-figuration and the location of the find, could he none but the Caloosahatchee. In fact, the rounded curve in the river is just west of La Belle. Whether the line to the north is a branch of the river -- there is just one west of La Belle -- or the route taken to the circle doesn't make much difference. The circle

could indicate, and probably does, the Sun Circle mound village, and the X is where they were.

"That short, deeper line at the end of the river was probably an indication of the river's beginning, or headwaters. In this case it would be Lake Flirt. The 40-plus leagues indicates the distance from near the Sun Circle mound to the gulf. Calos was the name of the cacique who reigned over this area, although this far north was usually attributed to the Mayiami. However, ceremonial construction such as this, in Mayiami territory, was, according to Goggin and Sturtevant, the work of the Calusa (Calos) who made pilgrimages inland to these ritual centers."

The shell is on display in the lobby of the Lykes Brothers headquarters in Brighton, Florida, where visitors may view it. The shell drawing does fit nicely the topography of the Caloosahatchee River. The blunt dash at the east end of the river strongly suggests the end of navigation at a rocky ledge once known as the Falls.

The shell is a salt water species so was most likely carried from the coast and discarded upon reaching the destination indicated. Curious Indians, awed by writing and symbols, could have carried the object to the nearby ritual center if that location was not the original goal. Schell associates the Ft. Center mounds with the village of Luca where Soto's soldiers gathered green corn and waited for Urriparacoxi to appear.

The word CALOS inscribed on the outside of the shell is intriguing. None of the first three adelantados mention the name. The chief called Carlos was first documented in 1566 by Menendez who put up a fort and mission in the San Carlos Bay area -- exactly where is another mystery for students of history. Menendez did order exploration of the interior, seeking a navigable route across Florida. The shell map might be associated with that undertaking.

Other places to which the shell might refer are the mounds near Ortona, or Carlos' winter town, or a Christian mission established by priests anytime in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Dr. Sears, the archeologist who scientifically excavated the mounds after the amateur intrusion, apparently considers the shell map a hoax because he pointedly omits it from his lists of material recovered from the site.