THE MUSEUM. 



8i 



In the summit of the hill' lis a huge 

 depression or hollow, nearly fifteen 

 feet deep and forty or fifty feet wide. 

 It extends transversly about two-thirds 

 of the^way across the hill in a slightly 

 diagonal direction. It is evident from 

 its appearance that some force has 

 scooped the dirt from this channel and 

 transported it from the immediate vi- 

 cinity. Yet the hill gives no hint as to 

 the means by which this was accom- 

 plished, or the agent which was em- 

 ployed. 



About three miles south-west of the 

 hill, on the opposite side of Silver 

 Creek and nearly in a direct line with 

 the channel is a small circular hum- 

 mock about ten feet high and not far 

 from six rods in diameter. It is form- 

 ed of clay, identical in its composition 

 with that of Blue Mound. Beneath 

 it is the black loamy soil of the sur- 

 rounding prairie. It is evident that at 

 no very distant period some agency 

 has taken this little hummock from 

 the channel in Blue Mound and trans- 

 ported it bodily to its present position. 



We are accustomed to read of the 

 tremendous hurricanes which frequent 

 that section of the country but it 

 would be a bold hypothesis to assume 

 that this is the result of a hurricane or 

 a wind-storm of any kind. Yet when 

 examining these hills and the surround- 

 ing country the convictions irresistibly 

 forced upon the mind of the observer 

 that wind was the agent employed; 

 although so far as I know there is no 

 record of a wind-storm even approach- 

 ing in severity what this must have 

 been. Still when we reflect upon the 

 description of water-spouts often seen 

 in the Indian Ocean and which are 

 caused by winds, it is easy to conceive 

 of a wind sufficiently violent to pro- 

 duce the results described. 



It should be remembered that this 

 article has been written from observa- 

 tions made in the spring of 1883, when 

 the country was practically unsettled. 

 Since then nearly the whole country 

 has been brought under the plow and 

 no doubt these features would be less 

 easily distinguished. 



Notes from the Mohawk's 

 Country. 



p. M. VAN EPPS. 



During October past I made, in 

 company with Mr. V. Hallenbeck, a 

 visit to that most interesting preco- 

 lonial village site of the ancient Mo- 

 hawks, Camp Cayadotta in Fulton 

 County, N. Y. Well ransacked as 

 this place has been, it still yields much 

 of interest. At the occasion of this 

 visit I made the fortunate find of a 

 handle fashioned from antler, prob- 

 ably for a knife, though possibly for a 

 perforator. 



This curious and interesting speci- 

 men is precisely 2j inches in length 

 and has been made from a prong of 

 antler having the smaller end cut off 

 to an obtuse point with many facets 

 much as a small boy sharpens a lead- 

 pencil. The whole surface has been 

 scraped and polished until all original 

 roughness has been removed and the 

 example has certainly been a neat and 

 very efficient handle. 



The oblong perforation for the in- 

 sertion of the stone (.') blade is in the 

 larger end, and has a depth of i] inch 

 or nearly half the entire length of the 

 handle. The surface of the specimen 

 conforms nearly to the original taper 

 of the prong whence made and dts 

 greatest diameter is 11- 16 of an inch. 

 In outline it is slightly curved and is 

 not exactly round. 



