151 



ture and then continues in about the same northerly course 

 along the banks of the ravine, to the narrow portion of 

 the plateau about 550 ft. to the starting point. 



There is thus a continued line, in part natural and in 

 part artificial, which if measured in all its little ins and 

 outs would not be far from 2450 ft. 



Besides the spring mentioned as in the indenture of the 

 eastern ravine, there is another spring in the same ravine 

 about 175 ft. to the north of the first, and a third in the 

 southwestern ravine about 125 ft. to the west of the south- 

 western corner of the work. 



Looking at all the natural advantages offered by this 

 location it is the one spot of the region, for several miles 

 along the river, that would be selected to-day for the erec- 

 tion of a fortification in the vicinity, with the addition of 

 the possession of a small eminence to the north, which in 

 these days of artillery would command this fort. Having 

 this view in mind a careful examination was made of the 

 eminence mentioned, to see if there had ever been an 

 opposing or protective work there, but not the slightest in- 

 dication of earth work fortification or of mounds of hab- 

 itation was discovered. Though some five or six miles 

 up the river on the Illinois side, at Hutsonville, a large 

 group of some fifty-nine mounds of habitation were inves- 

 tigated, about which more will be said at another time. 



The interior of this fortification contains much of inter- 

 est and its history may yet be in part made out by a 

 more. extended examination than it was possible to make 

 during the few days given to its exploration. 



On crossing the outer wall a few low mounds are at 

 once noticed, and all around are seen large circular depres- 

 sions. At the southern portion of the fort these depres- 

 sions, of which there are forty-five in all, are most numer- 

 ous, thirty-seven of them being located south of a line 



