THE EARTHWORKS OF FLORIDA. 51 



quois confederacy of the tribes prevailed. The towns and forts in the Mississippi 

 valley fell before these conquering tribes, and were left in ruins. 



Mr. Gallatin says : " The evidently fabulous annals of the Iroquois were in- 

 vented by a pure Indian (Cusic). They (the Indians) have no scruple in telling 

 what are called white fibs. If any inquiry is made on any subject, they have 

 considerable tact in discovering the answer which would please the inquirer, and 

 immediately invent a tale for that purpose. I have traced some, evidently of 

 that character, in reference to the supposed Welsh Indians. Yet some of the tradi- 

 tions may be founded on a true fact, though altered, as is so generally the case, in 

 order to answer some immediate purpose. Thus, the assertion of the Delawares 

 that they came from beyond the Mississippi has been confirmed by the affinities of 

 their language with that of the Black Feet. But the story of their having come 

 with the Iroquois, and the recital of their subsequent relations, have evidently 

 been invented." 1 . 



In his chapter on the Natchez and other Indians of Florida, Dr. McCulloh 

 regards the evidence as conclusive that those tribes were competent to the erection 

 of all the earthworks found in that region ; as they are known to have constructed 

 similar ones, and to have had customs that indicate their use. 



It has been remarked already, that in the accounts of early Spanish and French 

 occupation of the country, no notice is taken of mounds or parapets, except such as 

 were then formed or used by the natives. By reference to Smithsonian Contribu- 

 tions, Vol. I, Ch. IV, it will be seen that the characteristic monuments of Florida 

 and Louisiana are pyramidal elevations, often of large horizontal dimensions, but 

 not lofty in proportion, with a flat surface at the toj), and a graded way of easy 

 ascent on one side. These are sometimes surrounded, at a little distance, by ditches 

 or parapets. 



Now, it happens, that Garcilazo de la Vega, in his history of Florida, describes 

 the formation and purpose of such structures, with a particularity that seems to 

 admit of no misapprehension. 



" The town and house of the Cacique of Osachile are similar to those of all other 

 caciques in Florida, and, therefore, it seems best to give one description that will 

 apply generally to all the capitals, and all the houses of the chiefs in Florida. I 

 say, then, that the Indians endeavor to place their towns upon elevated places; but 

 because such situations are rare in Florida, or that they find a difficulty in procuring 

 suitable materials for building, they raise eminences in this manner. They choose 

 a place to which they bring a quantity of earth, which they elevate into a kind of 

 platform two or three pikes in height (from eighteen to twenty-five feet), of which 

 the flat top is capable of holding ten or twelve, fifteen or twenty houses, to lodge 

 the cacique, his family, and suite. They trace around the foot of this mound a 

 square place, conformable to the extent of the town they intend to build, and 

 around this square the more considerable people erect their dwellings. The com- 

 monalty build around them in the same manner, and the whole population thus 

 surround their chief. The mound upon which the cacique lives has its sides made 



" Trans, of Am. Ethnol. Soc, II, cxlvii. 



