57 



Ohio somewhere below the Falls, as high upas 

 Pittsburgh and bordering Lake Eric, was once 

 overwhelmed Avith water, forming an immense 

 lake ; that the summit of those hills was suffi- 

 ciently high to do this ; and that by some great 

 convulsion of nature this barrier was rent to 

 its base, and the waters being thus let loose, 

 the lake above was drained, and the floods, 

 entering from all parts of the higher to the 

 lower grounds, formed the bed of the river 

 now called Ohio. That this immense body 

 of water was salt, appears evident from the im- 

 mense quantity of coral every where to be 

 found in the presumed bed of this lake ; from 

 the remains of submarine plants, fossils, and mi- 

 nerals ; and from the bones and petrifactions of 

 animals, which we know look for their appro- 

 priate aliment in the sea. 



So great a change in the aspect of nature 

 considerably influenced the climate, and, in 

 proportion with its degeneracv, the mammoth 

 pined and ultimately perished. 



But admitting the assertion of that distin- 

 guished philosopher and statesman, Mr. Jeffer- 

 son, that the sensibility of the elephant could 



