170 MOUND EXPLORATIONS. 



1, but no specimens or remains, except some broken stones, were found. 

 A few sandstones and chert fragments are still lying in the trench. 



The following measurements, though made in haste and without 

 strict accuracy, are probably of sufficient value to be recorded here : 



No. 1: 40 feet in diameter, 4 J feet high. 



No. 2: 55 feet northwest of No. 1; 35 feet diameter, 2i feet high. 

 No. 3 : 85 feet north of No. 1, and same distance from No. 2 ; 30 feet diameter, 2 

 feet high. 

 No. 4: 55 feet north and a little west of No. 3; 25 feet diameter, 2 feet high. 

 No. 5: 55 feet northeast of No. 4; 35 feet diameter, 2i feet high. 

 No. 6: 80 paces southwest of No. 1; 20 feet diameter, li feet high. 

 No. 7 : 70 paces west of No. G: 20 feet diameter, 2 feet high. 



nOLLINGEll COUNTY. 



This county lies west of Cape Girardeau county, and like the latter 

 is nearly all high land, but the southern end extends a short distance 

 into the swamps. In the southeast corner is one of the inclosed "set- 

 tlements," which is here named after the owner of the land. 



THE PETER BESS SETTLEMENT. 



This is situated 5 miles west of Lakeville, on the western bank of 

 the Castor river, near where the line of the Cape Girardeau and State- 

 Line railway crosses that stream. The "settlement," as these groups 

 are locally named, is a small one, the embankment inclosing only about 

 12 acres. With the exception of a small strip on the east side, it has 

 been under cultivation for forty years, so that the rings or residence 

 sites have long since beeu obliterated. The wall extends entirely 

 around the inclosure, excepting a small space at the northeast corner, 

 where it is open toward the stream. A plat of it is giveu in Fig. 89, 

 on which 1, 2, 3, etc., indicate mounds, a a embankments, and c c jilaces 

 where hitman bones were exposed. 



From the direction of the current of the river it seems quite possible 

 that the wall once entirely sitrrounded the area, but that the northeast 

 corner has been wa.shed away. In the strip of woods on the eastern 

 side the wall is a little over 3 feet high. In the field it is considerably 

 worn down by the plow, but the line of it can still be easily traced. 

 The land inside of it is fully 2 feet higher than that outside, and is so 

 much richer that the owner says it yields 75 bushels of corn per acre 

 in favorable seasons, while that outside yields but 50. Frequent traces 

 of burned earth and ashes are seen in the iields, and great quantities 

 of broken pottery are scattered about. Where the land slopes a little, 

 in the northeast and southeast corner (at c c), fragments of human 

 bones have been washed out in considerable numbers. The large 

 mound. No. 1, is situated a little north of the center of the inclosure. 

 It is 150 feet across and about 10 feet high, nearly circular, but has 

 been worn so much by forty years' tillage that its original outline can 

 not be satisfactorily determined. An old log house and some out- 



