ABORIGINAL SACRED ENCLOSURES. 141 



especially dedicated to religious purposes, and within which was kept up the eternal 

 fire. In some cases these structures, it seems, were elevated upon mounds. 



Mr. Payne, in his MSS., thus describes the great Council House of the Chero- 

 kees, which corresponds with the " Rotunda" mentioned by Bartram. After re- 

 marking that it was near this that the dwellings of the Vku and head men of the 

 tribe were erected, and that it was always situated in a town capable of accom- 

 modating a great number of people, he proceeds : 



" Every part bore a mystical reference to the sanctity with which they regarded 

 the number seven. Seven posts were set deep in the ground, equi-distant from each 

 other, so as to form seven equal sides ; though generally the roof, when it touched 

 the ground, as it sometimes did, was entirely circular. Upon the seven posts 

 seven very long beams were so placed, as to rest one end on the ground, or pe- 

 riphery raised two or three feet with earth, while the other end stretched high in air, 

 and all soon met at a point directly over the centre of the floor. Other pieces of 

 timber were fastened transversely to these, answering for ribs : at first they were 

 thatched with grass, and over it a layer of clay, surmounted with another layer 

 of grass, so as to make it water-proof. The external appearance of the entire 

 building very much resembled an immense charcoal-pit. There was an opening 

 in the roof for the escape of the smoke. The fire was in the centre. Anciently, 

 they say, this was the sacred fire handed down from above. 



" The Council House door was always on the eastern side, directly toward the 

 rising sun. Before it was a portico. The seven posts which supported the house 

 were so set, that one stood directly opposite the entrance, on the west side of the 

 structure. It was painted white, and had pins and shelves attached to it, on which 

 were hung or laid all the holy things connected with their worship. * * The 

 space which was regarded as most sacred, was that immediately back of the seat 

 of the Uku, near the white post already mentioned. Among the sacred things kept 

 here were the sacred arks, and smaller arks of clay for conveying the holy fire. 

 * * * Adjacent to the Council House, there was a large public square, the 

 sides formed by four one-story structures. The entrances at each corner were 

 wide and open. These structures were open in front like piazzas, and each one 

 was partitioned off into several divisions, etc." 



The embankment designating the outlines of the structure here described, may 

 be regarded as throwing direct light upon the origin of the small circles so abun- 

 dant in the valley of the Ohio. 



In the account of La Salle's last expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi, 

 published by the Chevalier Tonti, we have a brief notice of the Taencas or Tenzas, 

 from which the following interesting passages, relating to the questions before us, 

 are extracted. 



" As the first village of the Tuenca stands on the other side of a lake which is 

 eight leagues in circumference, and half a league over, we were forced to take a 

 canoe to cross it. As soon as we landed, I was surprised to see the grandeur of 

 the village, and the order of the cottages ; they are placed in divers rows, and in 

 a straight line, round about a large space, being all made of earth and covered over 

 with mats of cane. We presently took notice of two, fairer than the rest, one of 



