72 CLINTON ON THE ANTIQUITIES 
course of thirty years the Buccaneers of St. Domingo lost almost every 
trace of Christianity, what confidence can we repose in the oral history de- 
livered to us by savages, without the use of letters, and continually engrossed 
in war or in the chase. : 
The field of inquiry is then limited in its range, but happily it is not 
entirely closed against us. The monuments which remain afford conside- 
rable room for investigation. The languages, the persons, and the customs 
of the Red Men may be made use of to illustrate their origin and history— 
and even the geology of the country may in some cases be successfully ap- 
plied to shed light on the subject of inquiry. 
Having had some opportunities for personal observation, and not a few 
for inquiry, I am induced to believe that the western parts of the United 
States were, prior to their discovery and occupation by Europeans, inhabit- 
ed by numerous nations in a settled state, and much further advanced in 
civilization than the present tribes of Indians. Perhaps it is not too much 
to say that they did not fall far short of the Mexicans and Peruvians when 
first visited by the Spaniards. In my illustrations of this subject, I shall 
principally confine myself to this state, occasionally glancing beyond it ; and 
avoiding, as far as possible, topics which ave been heretofore discussed. 
The town of Pompey, in the county of Onondaga, is the highest ground 
of that country ; and divides the waters which flow into the Bay of Chesa- 
peake and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The most elevated parts of the 
town exhibit the remains of ancient settlements ; and in various other parts 
of it the vestiges of a numerous population appear. 
About two miles south from Manlius Square, and in the town of Pompey, 
I examined the remains of a large town, which were obviously indicated 
by large spots of black mould in regular intervals of a few paces distant, 
in which I observed bones of animals, ashes, carbonized beans or grains of 
Indian corn, denoting the residence of human beings. This town must have 
extended at least half a mile from east to west, and three quarters of a 
mile from north to south. This extent I could determine with considerable 
accuracy from my own view; but I was assured by a gentleman of veracity 
