Finch on the Celtic Antiquities of America, 153 



sider it as the production of nature, because those rocks 

 seldom or never occur in that relative situation. It may 

 also be supposed that it is a bowlder of granite, deposited 

 by diluvian torrents in its present situation ; but against 

 this opinion, it may be asserted with some confidence, that 

 primitive limestone never appears above the surface of 

 ground in the shape of small conical pillars, but in large 

 massy blocks, which may be readily seen at some dis» 

 tance. Others may suppose that some ardent admirer of 

 Celtic antiquities erected this monument for his own amuse- 

 ment, but the immense weight of the upper stone renders 

 this improbable. 



2. Stones of Memorial or Sacrifice. — Mr. Kendall, who 

 travelled in the northern parts of the United States, seems 

 to have had a very correct idea of the value of these mon- 

 uments in an hostorical point of view; and mentions some 

 of those which occur in Massachusetts. He says : " In dif- 

 ferent parts of the woods are six or seven masses of stone, 

 on which the few Indians who still hover around their an- 

 cient possesions, make oiferings ; and on this account the 

 name is given to them of Sacrifice Kocks, Two of these 

 are on the side of the road leading from Plymouth to Sand- 

 wich ; one of them is six feet high, the other four, and they 

 are ten or twelve feet in length. They differ in nothing as 

 to their figure from the masses of granite and other rocks, 

 which are scattered over the surface of the surrounding 

 country. All that distinguishes them are the crowns of 

 oak and pine branches which they bear, of which some are 

 fresh, others are fading, and the rest decayed.'' 



Captain Smith, in his description of Virginia, relates that 

 the Indians had certain altar stones, which they call Pawco- 

 rances; these stand apart from their temples, some by their 

 houses, others in their woods and wildernesses, where they 

 met with any extraordinary accident or encounter. As you 

 travel by them, they will tell you the cause of their erec- 

 tion, wherein they instruct their children as their best rec- 

 ords of antiquity, and sacrifices are offered upon these 

 stpnes when they return from the wars, from hunting, and 

 upon many other, occasions. 



Charlevoix mentions the worship of rocks as one of the 

 superstitions of the Northern Indians. 



Vol. VII.— No. 1. 20 



