It lay in
quicksand, which, in turn, rested upon compact clay.
My conclusion regarding the object of the deposit of the statue
in this place, is as follows:--It was for the purpose of hiding
and protecting it from an enemy who would have destroyed it, had
it been discovered. It must have been carefully laid down, and
as carefully covered with boughs and twigs of trees which prevented
it from being discovered. Traces of this new decomposed vegetable
covering can be seen on every side of the trench, and it is quite
evident this vegetable matter originally extended across and above
the statue.
Above this stratum of decayed matter, there is a deposit of very
recent date, from eighteen inches to two feet in thickness, which
may have been washed in, and likewise turned on by plowing. A
farmer who had worked the land, told me that he had "back furrowed"
around it, for the purpose of filling up the slough where the statue
now lies.
It is positively absurd to consider this a "fossil man." It has
none of the indications that would designate it as such, when
examined by a practical chemist, geologist or naturalist. The
underside is somewhat dissolved, and presents a very rough surface,
and it is probable that all the back or lower portion, was never
chiseled into form, and may have been designed to rest as a tablet.
However, as the statue has not been raised, the correct appearance
of the under surface has not been determined, save by feeling as
I pressed my hand as far as I could reach under different portions
of the body, while its lower half lay beneath the water.
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