38 A N C I E N T M N U M E N T S . 



" The work C occupies a corresponding position with tliose ah'eady described, 

 as belonging to this group. The peninsula upon which it is situated is approach- 

 able only from the south. Upon this side the ditch is irregular. The mounds of 

 the central group have been opened ; but it is not known with what results. They 

 are quite low, not exceeding three feet in height. The wall of this work is very 

 .slight. At the south-west is a graded passage to the lower level of the river bottom. 



" Huron river or creek, several branches of which join it at this point, is always 

 fordable ; and the bluffs which surround the enclosures arc not very difficult of 

 ascent. These works may have been designed for defence, — perhaps they were 

 ' walled towns ;' but they do not occupy positions of great natural strength. The 

 grounds adjacent to the river are low, and in places swampy : the river evidently 

 once ran at the base of the bluff occupied by the enclosure B." 



Number 2. Ancient Work near Conneaiit, Ashtabula county, Ohio. — " This work 

 is at present very slight, but distinctly traceable. The sketch is a mere coup cVceil, 

 without measurements. The elevation of the bluff upon which it stands is about 

 .seventy feet; and the banks of aluminous slate are, upon the north, very precipi- 

 tous. It would be entirely impracticable for a body of men to ascend upon this 

 side, without ladders and scaling apparatus. Upon the south side it would be 

 practicable for an assailant to ascend, unless prevented by some artificial obstacle. 

 Upon this side, the wall which skirts the brow of the hill is accompanied by an 

 outer ditch, while upon the north there is a simple embankment. The ascent, 

 C C, is gradual and easy. Within the enclosure the earth is very black and rich ; 

 outside of the walls it is a stiff clay. The adjacent bottoms are very fertile, 

 and the creek is everywhere fordable. There can be no doubt that this was a 

 fortified position." 



Near the village of Conneaut are a number of mounds, and other traces of an 

 ancient population, among which is an aboriginal cemetery regularly laid out, and of 

 great extent. 



Number 3. Ancient Work three miles south-east of Cleveland, Cuyahoga county, 

 Ohio. — "This stronghold is on the great plain which extends some miles back 

 Irom the shores of Lake Erie, gently declining towards it, and by many supposed 

 to have been its ancient bed. Many portions of this plain are two hundred feet 

 above the present surface of the lake. The marl, sand, and gravel deposits, of 

 which this formation is made up, are from one hundred to three hundred feet 

 thick. 



" These materials are readily washed away by rains, springs, and rivulets ; so that 

 the flat region is intersected by numberless deep and narrow ravines, leaving bluff 

 headlands, and furnishing the ancient people with numerous positions protected on 

 nearly every side by deep gullies and high precipitous banks, and capable, with 

 little artificial aid, of easy defence. These features of the country, and the manner 

 in which they were made available for defensive purposes, are well illustrated in 

 the example here presented. The isthmus connecting this promontory with the 

 general table is but about two hundred feet wide, and is defended by parallel lines 



