240  On’the Mounds of the West: 
embraced in one enclosure, on the banks of the Scioto river, 
three miles above the town of Chillicothe. It is seven feet high 
by fifty-five feet base. A shaft, five feet square, was sunk from 
its apex, with the following results :-— 
ist. Occurred a layer of coarse gravel and pebbles, which ap- 
peared to have been taken from deep pits, surrounding the enclo- 
sure, or from the bank of the river. ‘This layer was one foot i in 
thickness. 
2d. Beneath ‘tis layer of gravel and pebbles, to the depth of 
two feet, the earth was homogeneous, though slightly mottled, 
as if taken up and deposited in small loads, from different locali- 
ties. In one place appeared a deposit of dark colored, surface 
loam, and by its side, or covering it, there was a mass of the 
clayey soil of greater depth. ‘The outlines of these various de- 
posits could be distinctly traced. 
3d. Below this deposit of earth, occurred a thin and even lays 
er of fine sand, a little oyer an inch j in thickness. 
» Ath. A deposit of earth, as above, eighteen inches in depth. 
5th. Another stratum of sand, somewhat thinner than the one 
above mentioned. 
6th. Another deposit of earth, one foot thi¢k, beneath which 
sa 
7th. A third stratum of sand, below which was— 
8th. Still another layer of earth, a few inches in hickees 
which rested on— 
9th. An altar, or basin, of burned clay. 
This altar was perfectly round. Its form and dimensions are 
best shown by the supplementary plan, and section A. F F, 1 is 
the altar, measuring from ¢ to d, nine feet ; from a to e, five feet ; 
height from 6 to e, twenty inches ; dip of curve ar e, nine inch- 
es. ‘The sides ca, ed, slope regularly, at a given angle. ‘The 
body of the altar is burned throughout, though in greater degree 
within the basin, where it was so hard as to resist the blows of a 
heavy hatchet, the instrument rebounding as if struck upon a 
rock. The basin, or hollow of the altar, was filled even full with 
fine dry ashes, intermixed with which’ were some fragments of 
pottery, of an excellent finish and elegant model, ornamented 
with tasteful carvings on the exterior. One of the vases, taken 
in fragments from this mound, has been very nearly restored. 
The sketch B, presents its outlines, and the character of its orna- 
ments. Its height i is Six, its greatest diameter eight, inches. The 
—— is hardly distinguishable from that composing the potte- 
the ancient Peruvians, and in respect of finish, it is fully 
aal to the best Peruvian specimens. A few convex i 
as much = ane the bosses used upon harnesses, were also 
