388 AECH^OLOGY. 



tlie vicinity of the city. An account of these mounds was published 

 in 1823 in a note to the first volume of Long's Expedition, page 59, 

 but without the map, which was omitted to give place to what was 

 considered more important matter, and has remained unpublished 

 until now. The survey, although not made with great precision, was 

 sufficiently accurate to give a definite idea of the form and relative 

 position of the mounds. ^ 



The following notes were made at the time and published by Mr. 

 Say. The opinion of my much-respected friend concerning the objects 

 of these earthAvorks, given in the extract, have since been corrobo- 

 rated by other observers : 



" Tumuli and other remains of the labors of nations of Indians that inhabited 

 this region many ages since are remarkably numerous about St. Loiiis. .Those 

 tumuli immediately northward of the town and within a short distance of it are 

 twenty-seven in number, of various forms and magnitudes, aiTanged nearly in a 

 line from north to south. The common form is an oblong square, and they all 

 stand on the second bank of the river. The statement given below of the 

 forms, magnitudes, and relative position, is the result of actual admeasurement 

 taken with care, and with as much accuracy as their present indefinite bounda- 

 ries, together with the dense growth of underwood covering their sin-fiice, and 

 tending to beguile and obstruct the vision of the observer, will admit. |A 

 pocket compass and tape measure were the only instruments used.J 



" It seems probable these piles of earth were raised as cemeteries, or they 

 may have supported altars for religious ceremonies. We cannot conceive 

 any useful purpose to which they can have been applicable in war, unless as 

 elevated stations from which to observe the motions of an approaching enemy; 

 but for this purpose a single mound would have been sufficient, and the place 

 chosen would probably have been different. 



"Nothing like a ditch or an embankment is to be seen about any part of these 

 works. 



" What we have called base in the following statement, is in reality the length 

 of a line passing over the top of the mound from the termination of the base 

 each side. 



" The numbers refer to the map. The heights are estimated, with the excep- 

 tion of two." 



No. 1 is the remains of what was reported to be the bastion of an 

 old Spanish stockade, indications of a ditch being still visible. 



No. 2. A square with a hollow way, gradually sloping to the top; or 

 in other words, a hollow square,, open behind. 



Base 50 feet. 



Height 5 



Distance north from the Spanish bastion • • • • 259 



No. 3. An oblong square. 



Longitudinal base 114 



Transverse base 50 



Length at top (or flattened portion) 80 



Perpendicular height 4 



Distance from No. 2 north 115 



No. 4. An oblong square. 



Longitudinal base 84 



(Flattened portion) top 45 



Perpendicular height 4 



