286 ANCIENT MONUMENTS. 



occurrence. Lieut. Fremont observed some small nodules in the rocks of the Sierra 

 Nevada, lying to the eastward of the valley of the Sacramento. He also found 

 numerous fragments on the hills bordering the Lewis fork of the Columbia river. 



Porphyry. — Most of the sculptured pipes of the mounds are made of a very fine 

 and beautiful description of porphyry. It occurs of many shades of color. Some 

 varieties are of a greenish-brown base, with fine white and black granules ; others 

 of a light brown base with white, purple, and violet-tinged specks ; but most are 

 red, with white and purplish grains. In some specimens the base scarcely 

 exhibits any admixture either of grains or crystals, and strongly resembles the 

 red pipe-stone of the Coteaii des Prairies. All are of intense hardness, — a natural 

 characteristic, or in some degree the result of the great heat to which they have 

 been subjected. It generally breaks with a granular fracture, sometimes disen- 

 gaging the grains of the foreign material. Under heat it splinters, often on very 

 nearly the same plane ; pieces partly fused into a porous, dull mass, have been 

 remarked. Heat has also the effect of giving a bright black color to the frag- 

 ments more particularly exposed to its influence, and some of the restored sculp- 

 tures present a striking contrast in the appearance of their parts. It would seem 

 incredible that the difterent fragments originally pertained to the same piece, did 

 they not exactly fit to each other. One or two of the varieties seem to have an 

 argillaceous base, adhere slightly when applied to the tongue, and have a marked 

 argillaceous odor ; these exhibit a rather dull surface, while the others are exqui- 

 sitely polished. It is difficult to tell how the ancient inhabitants worked this 

 obstinate material with the elegance and finish which their sculptures display. It 

 resists the best tempered blade, and yields reluctantly to the finest grit stones. 

 Yet it is clear from the markings on certain specimens that it was cut by some 

 kind of implement. We can only account for the fact by supposing that it was 

 once much softer than it now is. Under such a supposition, it is not improbable 

 that it may have been derived from a locality mentioned by Du Pratz, on the 

 Missouri. So far as the external features of the stone are concerned, the descrip- 

 'tion is very exact; we are left in doubt, however, as to the size of the granules, 

 which in the mound pipes are seldom larger than mustard seeds. 



" In this journey of M. de Borgmont, mention is made only of what we meet 

 with from Fort Orleans, from which we set out, in order to go to the Padoucas ; 

 wherefore I ought to speak of a thing curious enough to be related, which is found 

 on the banks of the Missouri ; and that is a pretty high cliff", upright from the 

 water. From the middle of the cliflf juts out a mass of red stone with white spots, 

 like porphifry, with this difference, that what we are now speaking of is almost soft 

 and tender like sandstone. It is covered with another sort of stone of no value ; 

 the bottom is an earth like that on other rising grounds. The stone is easily 

 worked and bears the most violent fire. The Indians of the country have con- 

 trived to strike off" pieces thereof with their arrows, and after they fall in the 

 water plunge in for them. When they procure pieces large enough to make pipes, 

 they fashion them with knives and awls. This pipe has a socket two or three 



