164 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts and Letters. 



sake of comparison. The effigy of a panther guarding the 

 caches at Great Bend is much more symmetrical than that 

 at Milwaukee. Dr. Lapham says that this ground is covered 

 with a present race of Indians who occupied the land in this 

 vicinity down to a very late period. The figure may be con- 

 sidered as a rude representation of a wolf or a fox 

 guarding the sacred deposits before it. Both of these 

 are of so little elevation as to be observed by the passer-by. 

 The body of the animal is 44 feet and the tail 63 in length. 

 The effigy which we discovered as guarding the caches near 

 the beaver dam was accompanied by several large platforms 

 o long mounds. One of them at right angles to the body 

 of the effigy and another several rods distant to the west; 

 these two having a parallel position. The caches were very 

 observable. There were twenty or more of them scattered 

 over the surface of the hill, but all of them in front of the 

 effigy. Passing over the small stream where was formerly 

 a beaver dam we came to other caches similarly situated, 

 but without any effigy near them. These were more 

 numerous than upon the other side, but were fully 

 as well as guarded, as they were hidden in the for- 

 est and were in the rear of a rise of ground, on which we 

 afterward discovered the site of the village itself. The exist- 

 ence of these caches was to us significant for it betokened 

 permanent residence. We have previously noticed the ad- 

 vantages of the locality. The forest, and marsh, and prairie 

 combined would lead one to expect a village somewhere in 

 the vicinity. The fact that extensive works had been de- 

 scribed also led to expectancy but the discovery of the caches 

 put us on the alert. 



(4) The situation of the vill age itself impressed us more than 

 the caches. It was on a rise of ground from which the water 

 flowed in every direction. The stream which we were cross- 

 ing formed a barrier upon the north side. The swale and 

 beaver dam and low land in which the stream headed 

 formed also a barrier to the spot on the east, separating the 

 village from the forests, making the approach to it inacces- 

 sible on that side. The river is some distance to the west, and 

 flows at an angle toward the tongue of land on which the 



