134 SUPPOSED FORTIFICATIONS OF 



their longer axis, at a mean rate, may be estimated at 250 

 yards; their shorter, at '200 or 220. It is said, and I believe 

 upon good authority, that some have been found large enough 

 to comprehend 50 acres, and even more. Some are also 

 reported to be square; but I did not see any of that form. I 

 shall confine myself to those which I have seen, and which 

 are to be met with in the low grounds of the rivers Kanhawa, 

 Elk, and Guyandot, or their adjacent uplands; though I am 

 persuaded, the conclusion which I undertake to establish will 

 be applicable to all those works, which have been dignified 

 with the appellation of fortifications, in whatever part of the 

 western country they may be found; since, from the informa- 

 tion which I have obtained, there are certain striking features 

 in which they all agree, and which indicate one common 

 origin and destination. 



1. Those works were not designed for fortifications, because 

 many of them have the ditch within the enclosure, and be- 

 cause, the earth thrown up, or the supposed parapet, wants 

 the elevation necessary for a defensive work. Both these cir- 

 cumstances occur, without exception, so far as my observa- 

 tions went, in all those which present an entire, or nearly a 

 regular circle. The imaginary breast-work induces a belief, 

 that it never exceeded four or five feet in height. At present, 

 the bank seldom rises more than three feet above the plain; 

 and it is well known, that in ground which does not wash, a 

 bank of earth, thrown up in usual way, will lose very little 

 of its height, in a century, or twenty centuries; one fourth 

 for depression would be more than a sufficient allowance. But, 

 we will not rest our argument upon what may, perhaps, be 

 deemed a disputable point. The ditch, even at this day, af- 

 fords, a certain criterion by which me may judge of the origi- 

 nal elevation of the bank. Its width seldom exceeds four 

 feet, at its margin ; its depth is little more than two feet. Such 

 a ditch, making every allowance for the operation of those 

 causes, which tend continually to diminish its depth, whilst 

 some of them are at the same time, increasing its width, could 

 not have yeilded more earth, than would form a bank of the 

 elevation mentioned. If the width, now, be not greater than 



