40 [Senate 



The remains of an extensive fortification had formerly been observed several 

 miles farther up the creek, but the embankment can not now be easily traced. 



In the township of Leon, lot 49, occur three remarkable excavations, rectangular 

 in form; one of them has a circumference of a hundred and twelve rods, and an 

 elevation from the interior surface of some twenty feet, and nearly in the centre 

 there is a well or reservoir, in form of a semi-circle, ten feet across, by about six 

 in depth. Similar depressions are elsewhere observed, and are believed to owe 

 their peculiar formation to the drift. The principal fact which would indicate that 

 these had been secondarily adopted by the Indians for security or defense, is fur- 

 nished by the numerous remains of ancient art and workmanship, traces of fire- 

 places-, &c., which have been discovered here. Traces of ancient cultivation also 

 yet remained. 



The ancient work (plate II., No. 2,) is situated upon the low grounds bordering 

 upon Elm creek, and the valley is flanked upon either side by a long range of hills. 

 The work consists of an embankment and trench, of circular form, two hundred 

 and eighty-seven feet in diameter. The wall is three feet in height, with ditch, 

 two and one-half feet in depth; and upon the north-eastern side of the work, occurs 

 a well-defined gateway, twelve feet in width, with bastions to guard the entrance. 

 The unbroken forest still extends over the ground occupied by this ancient inclo- 

 sure; the pine, Pinus rigida, P. strobus, and P. ftaZsamm cast their shade, and the 

 wild-flower blooms above its mouldering parapet. Traces of wind-falls, upon 

 which large trees have grown, may be observed within the trench and upon the 

 ancient wall; these successive growths of timber, at least, indicate a remote 

 date to the construction of this work. Numerous caches have been observed here, 

 containing remains of charred corn. This fortification being located in a central 

 position of the valley, which is here some half a mile in width, its adaptation as 

 a work for purposes of defense, is presented in the proximity of marshy lands, 

 which might, to a considerable extent, interfere with the approach of hostile forces. 



The Tumulus, represented upon plate III., f. om the peculiar construction of the 

 work, and the character of its remains, appears to belong to a class of mounds dif- 

 ferent from any others embraced in this exploration. It is located upon the brow 

 of a hill, still covered by the ancient forest, and overlooking the valley of the Cone- 

 wango. This work has some appearance of being constructed with the ditch and 

 vallum outside of the mound, as in the Druid Barrows, but perhaps more accu- 

 rately belongs to the class composed of several stages, as the Trocalli of the valley 

 of Anahuac. The form of the Tumulus is of intermediate character between an 

 ellipse and the parallelogram; the interior mound, at its base, has a major axis of 

 sixty-five feet, while the minor axis is sixty-one feet, with an altitude above the 

 first platform or embankment of ten feet, or an entire elevation of some thirteen 

 feet. This embankment, with an entrance or gateway upon the east side thirty 

 feet in width, has an entire circumference of one hundred and seventy feet. As 

 previously remarked, the work itself, as well as the eminence which it commands, 

 and the ravines upon either side, are overshadowed by the dense forest. The 

 remains of a fallen tree, imbedded in the surface of the mound and nearly decom- 

 posed, and which, from appearance, had grown upon the apex, measured nearly 

 three feet in diameter, and heavy timber was growing above the rich mold it had 

 formed. Thus we have some indicia of the age of this work. The mound, indeed, 

 from the peculiar form of its construction, as well as from the character of its con- 

 tents, has much resemblance to the Barrows of the earliest Celtic origin, in the 

 Old \'yorld. In making an excavation, eight skeletons, buried in a sitting posture, 



