ERIE COUNTY— EARTH-WORKS, ETC. 55 



composed of a succession of works placed a mile or two apart, and extending quite 

 through the town of Clarence. The first of these (No. 2) is two and a half miles 

 south of the little village of " Clarence Hollow." It has been under cultivation for 

 a number of years, and its outlines can now be traced only by carefully observing 

 the stronger vegetable growth upon the course of the ancient trench. Where fence 

 lines crossed the wall, short sections of the embankment are yet visible. Frag- 

 ments of pottery are scattered over the area. If any of the usual pits ever existed, 

 they have been filled up by the operations of agriculture. 



PLATE X. No. 3. 



ANCIENT WORK, CLARENCE TOWNSHIP, ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



A MILE northward of the work last described, and occupying a position in no 

 respect well adapted for defence, is the enclosure here presented. It is now much 

 defaced ; the part, however, which has never been cultivated is very distinct, and 

 one or two other short sections may yet with some difficulty be traced. Flint 

 chippings, fragments of pottery, and a number of deep caches occur within the area. 

 A large Indian cemetery is said to exist somewhere between this work and the 

 one just noticed. However true this may be, about half a mile to the northwest 

 on the land of a Mr. Fillmore there is a large deposit of bones, a " ho7ie pit,'''' some 

 fourteen feet square and four or five in depth, filled with crumbling human skele- 

 tons. The spot was marked by a very slight elevation of the earth a foot or too 

 in height. 



A couple of miles distant, still following the brow of the terrace, and not far 

 back of the village of Clarence, was formerly another similar work now com- 

 pletely destroyed. Still a mile beyond is another, (Plate XI. No. 1.,) which, 

 although upon grounds which have been cleared, is yet perfect. It is situated upon 

 a sandy, slightly elevated peninsula, which projects into a low tangled swamp. A 

 narrow strip of dry ground connects it with the higher lands, which border the 

 swamp on the south. It is small, containing less than an acre. The embankment 

 does not preserve uniform dimensions, but has perhaps an average height of three 

 feet. The ditch too is irregular, both in width and depth, owing probably in some 

 degree to the rocky substratum, which in some places comes nearly or quite to the 

 surface of the ground. The stumps of immense pine-trees are standing within the 

 work, as also upon its walls. Here, too, are to be found caches, fragments of pot- 

 tery, etc. The position, for purposes of concealment and defence, is admirably 

 chosen, and recalls to mind the famous stronghold of the Narragansetts in Rhode 

 Island, destroyed in 1676 by the New England colonists under Winthrop and 

 Church. 



