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



rouehencd in a similar manner. The color of this vase is a dark brown or umber. 

 Its height is five and a half, its diameter six and a half inches. The fragment, Fig, 

 5, exhibits the thickness of the ware, the size of the engraved lines, etc. 



Number 2 is a vase of coarser material but more elaborate outline than the one 

 just described. It is square, with slightly rounded angles, and has a singular offset 

 or shoulder at the top. Its exterior is divided into four compartments, within 

 each of which is an ornamental figure, somewhat resembling a bird with extended 

 wings. This ornament is thrown in relief by the roughening of the remaining 

 portions of the surface. One or two other vases have been found, possessing the 

 same shape and having identical ornaments, but lacking the offset or shoulder 

 above mentioned. The ornamental work, in all of these specimens, is executed in 

 a free, bold style; and the figures difi'er just enough to show that they were not cut 

 after a pattern. This vase is burned hard ; its thickness is but one eighth of an 

 inch ; its dimensions are, height five inches, greatest diameter the same. 



From the delicacy of these specimens, and the amount of labor expended upon 

 them, it is concluded that they were not used for ordinary purposes. They were 

 perhaps designed to contain articles valued by the possessor, or to be used only on 

 certain important occasions. It has been suggested that they were possibly the 

 censers of the ancient priesthood, or, from the fact of their being found only in the 

 altar mounds, appropriated to sacred purposes. This supposition might be made 

 with equal propriety in respect to the coarser varieties also found on the altars, and 

 which, it is evident, were designed to be used for purposes requiring strength and 

 the capability of withstanding fire. 



Numbers 3 and 4 are drawn upon the same scale with the two above described ; 

 they contain between one and two quarts. As before remarked, they may be 

 regarded as in all respects very good specimens of the skill of the modern 

 northern tribes in this description of manufacture. 



In the mounds of the South, pottery exists in great abundance ; but it differs 

 very much in form and quality from the specimens found on the Ohio. It is 

 coarser in material, and seems to have been manufactured with less care. The 

 ornaments, although not without grace, are roughly executed. Some of the 

 vessels seem to have been burned to considerable hardness, and exhibit the 

 consequent redness of color ; but most are of a dark brown, and appear to have 

 been hardened over fires, rather than burned in kilns. 



Numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9, as already observed, are examples of this Southern 

 ware. Number 6 is from South Carolina ; Nos. 7, 8, and 9, from Florida : they are 

 all deposited in the cabinet of the Historical Society of New York. No. 6 is about 

 twelve inches in height, of rather elegant model, and ornamented with scrolls. It 

 contains upwards of a gallon. Nos. 7 and 9 hold about a quart each ; No. 8 

 perliaps three quarts. 



Some of those found in the mounds of Carolina are of great size, and capable 



