NORTH AMERICA. 
The Gherokees conftruft their habitations on a 
different plan from the Creeks ; that is, but one 
oblong four fquare building, of one dory high 5 the 
materials confiding of logs or trunks of trees, drip- 
ped of their bark, notched at their ends, fixed one 
upon another, and afterwards plaidered well, both 
iniide and out, with clay well tempered with dry 
grafs, and the whole covered or roofed with the 
bark of the chefnut tree or long broad mingles. 
This building is however partitioned tranfverfely 9 
forming three apartments, which communicate with 
each other by infide doors ; each houfe or habita* 
tion has befides a little conical houfe covered with 
dirt, which is called the winter or hot-houfe 5 this 
Hands a few yards didance from the manlion-houfej 
oppofite the front door. 
The council or town-hcufe is a large rotunda, 
capable of accommodating feveral hundred people : 
it ftands on the top of an ancient artificial mount of 
earth, of about twenty feet perpendicular, and the 
rotunda on the top of it being above thirty feet 
more, gives the whole fabric an elevation of about 
fixty feet from the common furface of the ground. 
But it may be proper to obferve, that this mount 
on which the rotunda Hands, is of a much ancienter 
date than the building, and perhaps was* railed for 
another purpofe. The Gherokees themfelves are 
as ignorant as we are, by what people or for what 
purpofe thefe artificial hills were railed ; they have 
various (lories concerning them, the bed of which 
amount to no more than mere conjecture, and 
leave us entirely in the dark ; but they have a tra- 
dition common with the other nations of Indians, 
that they found them in much the fame condition 
as they now appear, when their forefathers arrived 
from 
