THOMAS.] GEORGIA. 295 



canal, which at its lower end communicates directly with the river. This moat (G 

 G, PI. I), at present, varies in depth from 5 to 2.5 feet, and in width from 20 to 75 feet. 

 No parapets or earth walls appear upon its eiljies. Along its line are two reservoirs 

 (D D) of about an acre each, possessing an average depth of not less than 20 feet, 

 and its upper end expands into an artificial pond (P) elliptical in form and somewhat 

 deeper than the excavations mentioned. 



Within the inclosure formed by this moat and the river are seven mounds. Three 

 of them are preeminent in size, the one designated in the accompanying plan (PI. i) 

 by the letter A far surpassing the others both in its proportions and in the degree 

 of interest which attaches to it. 



To the eye of the observer, as it rests for the first time upon its towering form, it 

 seems a monument of the i)ast ages, venerable in its antiquity, solemn, silent, and 

 yet not voiceless — a remarkable exhibition of the power and industry of a former 

 race. With its erection, the modern hunter tribes, so far as our information extends, 

 had naught to do. Composed of earth, simple, yet impressive in form, it seems cal- 

 culated for an almost endless duration. The soil, gravel, and smaller stones taken 

 from the moat and the reservoirs were expended in the construction of these tumuli. 

 The surface of the ground, for a considerable dietauce around the northern bases, 

 was then removed and placed upon their summits. Viewed from the north, the val- 

 ley dips toward the mounds so that they appear to lift themselves from out a basin. 



The central tumulus rises about 65 feet above the level of the valley. It is en- 

 tirely artificial, consisting wholly of the earth taken from the moat and the excava- 

 tions, in connection with the soil collected around its base. It has received no 

 assistance whatever from any natural hill or elevation. 



In general outline it may be regarded as quadrangular, if we disregard a slight 

 angle to the south. That taken into account, it.s form is pentagonal, with summit 

 admeasurements as follows : Length of the northern side, 150 feet ; length of eastern 

 side, 160 feet; Length of southeastern side, 100 feet; length of southern side, 90 feet, 

 and length of western side, 100 feet. Measured east and west, its longest apex dia- 

 meter is 225 feet ; measured north and south it falls a little short, being about 220 

 feet. On its summit this tumulus is nearly level. Shorn of the luxuriant vegetation 

 and tall forest trees, which at one time crowned it on every side, the outlines of this 

 mound stand in bold relief. Its angles are still sharply defined. The established 

 approach to the top is from the east. Its ascent was accomplished through the in- 

 tervention of terraces rising one above the other — inclined planes leading from the 

 one to the other. These terraces are 65 feet in width, and extend from the mound 

 toward the southeast. Near the eastern angle, a pathway leads to the top; but it 

 does not appear to have been intended for very general use. May it not have been 

 designed for the priesthood alone, while assembletl upon the broad terraces the wor- 

 shipers gave solemn heed to the religious ceremonies performed upon the eastern 

 summit of this ancient temple ? 



East of this large central mound — and so near that their flanks meet and mingle — 

 stands a smaller mound, about 35 feet high, originally quadrangular, now nearly 

 circular in form, and with a summit diameter of 100 feet. From its western slope is 

 an easy and immediate communication with the terraces of the central tumulus. 

 This mound is designated in the accompanying plate by the letter B. Two hundred 

 and fifty feet in a westerly direction from this mound, and distant some 60 feet in a 

 southerly direction from it, is the third (C) and the last of this immediate group. 

 Pentagonal in form, it possesses an altitude of 23 feet. It is uniformly level at the 

 top, and its apex diameters, measured at right angles, were, respectively, 92 and 

 68 feet. 



East of this group, and within the inclosure, is a chain of four sepulchral mounds, 

 (F F F F), ovoidal in sh.ape. Little iudividual interest attaches to them. Nothing, 

 aside from their location in the vicinity of these larger tumuli and their being within 

 the area formed by the canal and the river, distinguishes them from numerous earth 



