The American Antiquarian Society. 



546 



Rocky Mountains iu the west to the Alleg'- 

 hanies in the east ; from the southern shore 

 of lake Erie to the Mexican gulf; and 

 though few and small in the north, nume- 

 rous and lofty in the south, yet exhibit 

 proofs of a common origin.' p. 167. 



Iu the subsequent pages, Mr. Atwa- 

 ter describes a variety of articles found 

 in the mounds, and accompauies his 

 description with drawings ; and they 

 clearly prove that the construcfcrs of 

 these works possessed a knowledge of 

 some of the arts, particularly of making 

 ' vases of calcai'eous breccia,' of form- 

 ing wliat aeems to have been armour of 

 copper, and of fabricating various im- 

 plements of materials, of forms, and 

 for purposes unknown to any tribe of 

 tt)e Indians who have inhabited that 

 region for at least the three last cen- 

 turies. 



Mentioning the mounds of stone, Mr. 

 Atwater says, 



* These works are, like those of earth, iu 

 the form of a couc, composed of small stones, 

 on which no marks of tools are visible. In 

 them some of the most interesting articles 

 are found, as urns, ornaments of copper, 

 heads of spears, &c. of the same metal, as 

 ■well as medals of copper, and pickaxes of 

 hornblend ; several drawings of which may 

 be seen iu this volume.' p. 184. 



This department of his investiga- 

 tion our author closes with the follow- 

 ing remarks : 



' A careful survey of the above-mention- 

 ed works would probably show that they 

 were all connected, and formed but parts 

 of a whole, laid out with taste. 



' Following the river Ohio downwards, 

 the mounds appear on both sides, erected 

 uniformly on the highest alluvions along 

 that stream. Those at Marietta, Ports- 

 mouth, and Ciiiciinmti, are noticed else- 

 where. Their numbers increase all the 

 way to the Mississippi, on which river 

 they assume the largest size. 



' These tumuli, as well as the fortifica- 

 tions, are to be found at the junction of all 

 the rivei-s along the Mississippi in the most 

 eligible positions for towns, and in the most 

 •extensive bodies of fertile lands. Their 

 number exceeds, perhaps, three thousand ; 

 the smallest not less than twenty feet in 

 height, and one hundred iu diameter at the 

 base. Their great number, and the as- 

 tonishing size of some of them, may be re- 

 garded as furnishijg, with other circum- 

 stances, evidence of their antiquity, p. 188. 



' One of the mounds, nearly opposite St. 

 Louis, is eight hundred yards in circum- 

 ference at the base, and one hundred feet 

 in height. Mr. Brackcnridge noticed a 

 mound at New Madrid of three hundred 

 and fifty feet in diameter at the base. 

 Other large ones are in the ~ following 



[July I, 



places, viz. at St. Louis, one with two 

 stages, another with three ; at the mouth 

 of the Missouri ; at the mouth of Cahokia 

 river in two groups ; twenty miles below, 

 two groups also, but the mounds of a 

 smaller size ; on the bank of a lake, for- 

 merly the bed of a river, at the mouth of 

 Marameck, S!. Genevieve ; one near Wash- 

 ington, Mississippi State, of one hundred 

 and forty-six feet in height ; at Baton 

 Rouge, and on the bayou Manchac ; one 

 of the mounds near the lake is composed 

 chiefly of shells ; the inhabitants have 

 taken great quantities of them for lime. 



' The mound on Black River has two 

 stages and a group around. At each of 

 the above places there are groups of 

 mounds, and there was probably once a 

 city. Mr. Brackenridge thinks that the 

 largest city belonging to this people was 

 situated between the Ohio, Mississippi, 

 Missouri, and Illinois. On the plains be- 

 tween the Arkansas and St. Francis, there 

 are several very large mounds. 



' Thus it will be seen, that these remains, 

 which were so few and small along the 

 northern lakes, are more and more numer- 

 ous as we travel in a south-western direc- 

 tion, until we reach the Mississippi, where 

 they are lofty and magnificent.' p. 189. 



' We see a line of ancient works, reach- 

 ing from the .south side of lake Ontario 

 across this state, to the banks of the Mis- 

 sissipi, along the banks of that river, 

 through the upper part of the province of 

 Texas, around the Mexican gulf, quite into 

 Mexico : — increasing in number, improv- 

 ing- in every respect as we have followed 

 them ; and showing the increased numbers 

 and improved condition of their authors, 

 as they migrated towards the country where 

 they finally settled. 



' It is true, that no historian lias told U8 

 the names of the mighty chieftains, whoso 

 ashes arc inurncd in our tumuli ; no poet's 

 song has been handed down to us, in which 

 their exploits are noticed. History has not 

 informed us who were their priests, their 

 orators, their ablest statesmen, or their 

 greatest warriors. But we find idols that 

 shew that the same gods were worshipped 

 here as in Mexico. — The works left behind 

 them are exactly similar to those in Mexico 

 and Peru ; and our works are continued 

 quite into that country.' 



In some of the nitrous caves in Ken- 

 tucky exsiccated bodies have been 

 found, which are called ' mummies,' 

 tliougli it does not appear that they 

 were ever embalmed. Of these the 

 following account is given : — 



' The mummies have generally been 

 found enveloped in three coverings ; first 

 in a coarse species of linen cloth, of about 

 the consistency and texture of cotton bag- 

 ging. It was evidently woven by the 

 ^ame kind of process, which is still prac- 

 tised 



