Aboriginal Monuments and Relics ef New York. 311 
well as the peculiar habits of which, the American Indians had, 
from long observation, a thorough acquaintance. 
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEW YORK MOUNDS.* © 
By whom were the aboriginal monuments of Western New 
York erected, and to what era may they be ascribed? The con- 
sideration of these questions has given rise to a vast amount of 
speculation, generally not of the most philosophical, nor yet of the 
most profitable kind. If the results arrived at have been errone- 
ous, unsatisfactory, or extravagant, it may be ascribed to the cir- 
cumstance that the facts heretofore collected have been too few 
m number, and too poorly authenticated, to admit of correct con- 
clusions, not less than to the influence of preconceived notions, 
and to that constant leaning towards the marvellous, which is a 
tadieal defect of many minds. Rigid criticism is especially in- 
dispensable in archzological investigations; yet there is no de- 
partment of human research in which so wide a range has been 
given to conjecture. Men seem to have indulged the belief that 
here nothing is fixed, nothing certain, and have turned aside into 
this field as one where the severer rules which elsewhere regulate 
philosophical research are not enforced, and where every species 
of extravagance may be indulged in with impunity. I might 
adduce numberless illustrations of this remark. ‘The Indian who 
cumstances not less conclusive, imply a defensive origin. 
hes, on the other hand, seem rather designed for temporary pro- 
tection,the citadel in which the builders sought safety for their 
old men, women, and children, in case of alarm or atta 
N respect to date, nothing positive can be affirmed. Many of 
them are now covered with heavy forests; a circumstance upo 
n 
Which too much importance has been laid, and which in itself 
* Pages 81-84. 
