584 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



jury to the cloth. The river-silt is sufficiently siliceous when in con- 

 tact with a body of lime-cement, in process of time, to become almost 

 as hard as the cement itself 1 have succeeded in separating perfect 

 sections of this thin surface-lamina from the underlying mass; but in 

 no instance have I found this coating on the plain bottoms of the 

 vessels. 



And now, reader, if you have patiently and attentively followed 

 me through these ramblings, and still believe this ancient, simple, 

 practical people went the roundabout road you have been led to sup- 

 pose to accomplish an object, with great waste of time, labor, and 

 material, when a simpler, more natural, and direct way was open to ' 

 them, and which my researches convince me they adopted, I will ask 

 you to accompany me up the hill, not by the steep ascent, through the 

 cemetery, but up the ravine, past the sulphur-spring. You will find 

 it gradual and easy ; in fact, part of the old, well-beaten foot-trail is 

 now a wagon-road ; but, before reaching the top, the trail leaves the 

 road and winds among the rocks, one branch sweeping off' to the left 

 to the ancient settlement. We will take the one to the rioht. When 

 you near the top of the hill, though fully a quarter of a mile from tlie 

 salt-spring, keep a sharp lookout, for you may chance on a good 

 specimen of well-marked pottery. On reaching the crown, you will 

 be some distance west of the old town-site. Here the plough has 

 been working destruction for many years ; but you cannot take up a 

 handful of soil without finding in it the dehris of the old salt-pans. 



You are now in a lane separating a young apple-orchard, thickly 

 grown with clover (so thick as to cover all specimens), from freshly- 

 ploughed cornfields, stretching far off* to the south, over the grand 

 valley of Eagle Creek. 



If you can take your eyes from the charming landscape, climb with 

 me the snake-fence into these ploughed fields, and examine the soil : you 

 will not be likely to find any specimens worth saving, unless it be in an 

 old fence-row, for the ploughshai'e has ground them and the corn has 

 fed on them. Still, the soil is largely composed of disintegrated pot- 

 tery. You may walk the furrows, examine the washes, the entire slope, 

 to the east, to the west you may follow its descent to the south in 

 every ravine, drain, or wash, you will find these remains, and you may 

 possibly be repaid for your tramp by discovering among the wasted 

 pottery and flakes of chert a spade, a rough and peculiarly-chipped ar- 

 row-point, or a flaked axe or chisel. But when your legs have given 

 out, and you can walk no farther, you will have failed to find the boun- 

 daries that limit the district over which these remains are strewed. 

 Then you will sit down and ponder in amazement, and ask, " What 

 object (^ould these people have had in carrying their broken pans and 

 strewing them broadcast over so vast an extent of country, and so far 

 from the salt-springs ?" As you sit thinking, you feel the warmth of 

 the setting sun. Its rays cast your lengthening shadow on the hill, 



