A N C I E N T W O 11 K S N E A R 11 C K U 1 V E II . 35 



to twelve feet deep. At the time of our visit (July, 1850), wild rice^ was growing 

 abundantly over almost its whole surface, giving to it more the appearance of a 

 meadow than a lake. Fish and mollusks also abound in its waters, finding plenty 

 of food in the warm mud beneath, and among the I'oots and stems of the grass and 

 rushes." 



This locality being thus abundantly supplied with the means of subsistence 

 relied upon in a great degree by the American Indians — rice and fish — we 

 were not surprised to find numerous traces of Indians on the banks of the lake, 

 which are known to have been occupied until a very recent period. There 

 are two prominent points projecting into the water from the south shore, which 

 were favorite spots with the natives. At the easterly point, called Bingham's 

 Point, bones of fishes, with shells (various species of Unio), ai'e very abundant, 

 enriching the soil by their gradual decay. 



On these points were also found remains of pipes, copper kettles, rusty gun-locks, 

 and knives of old fashioned forms, nearly destroyed by rust and decay. From 

 the other, or Thebean Point,^ we obtained arrow-points, and a triangular ornament 

 of stone, which had probably been brought fi'om Ohio. 



On Thebean Point are traces of mounds ; and a little further up the lake com- 

 mences a series of works extending about two miles along the high lands which 

 border upon that portion of it. Some of these works are represented on Plate 

 XXVII. 



As in other cases, it will be noticed that the turtles have their heads turned 

 towards the lake, and in a southerly direction. They difier from those heretofore 

 described, in the more eastern portions of Wisconsin, in the diminished length 

 of the tail. It will be observed that there are several mounds of forms varying 

 from those before mentioned in this work. The one at a, of which an enlarged 

 plan is given on the plate, with its dimensions, may be deemed a modification of 

 the lizard-mounds of eastern Wisconsin. Near it is one with a slight appendix, 

 which has been compared to a tadpole. Next to this is a tapering mound, with a 

 slight curve at the smaller extremity. The three, connected by a ridge that extends 

 beyond them in both directions, are quite peculiar. Unfortunately, the lateness 

 of the evening prevented our making a triangulation of the thi'ee-pronged mound 

 at the top of the plate ; a circumstance which we re'gretted less from having pre- 

 viously surveyed several of the same kind, hereafter to be described. 



As happens in many other cases, these mounds are placed on high and command- 

 ing situations ; evincing a taste for beauty of scenery, or a watchfulness, perhaps, 

 rendered necessary by the proximity of enemies. The ground is very uneven, 

 presenting many prominent swells, occupied by the most important mounds, and 

 numerous depressions in the surface, usually of an oval form, caused, perhaps, by 

 the carrying away of soft materials from below by running water ; thus leaving 

 the surface unsupported, and ready to sink into pits or depressions. They are now 



* Zizatiia aquatica, Liiin. " Scirjms lacustris. 



^ Thcbcau Point is separated from the maiu land by a broad marsh, which is not the case with Binj 

 ham's Point. 



