A river bottom lake is now in existence, about two hundred perches north of these mounds, and probably once overflowed the plain on which these mounds are now found. The supposition is, that these mounds, once surrounded by water, were places of refuge to which the mound-builders retreated to be more secure against surprise in time of war-the waters of the lake serving as a fosse, and the mounds as ramparts. Had a rampart alone been the object, the adjacent bluff would have furnished one more lofty, but less inaccessible. On the 28th of May, ten days subsequent, a large company of gentlemen, about twenty-five in number, repaired to the great mounds in Selsertown. The distance of the mound from Natchez is about ten miles, bearing east north-east. The road is the one leading to Fayette through Selsertown. Leaving the village of Washington, and passing the residence of W. P. Mellen, Esq., on the right, a mile and a half from the latter place, brought the company in view of the majestic mound, lifting its warlike bastions and tower in broad outline about a mile to the left of the main road to Selsertown. Turning down a lane at right angles to the great road, the plantation of Walter Irvin, sen., Esq., of Natchez, was reached-on which, and near the residence of Walter Irvin, jr., Esq., the mound is located. The appearance of the mound, approached from the Fayette road, is that of a long straight battery of earth, with sloping, regular front and platform at the top, with some moderate elevations or towers upon the terrace, the whole of which is overlooked by an abrupt tower at the western end toward Natchez, rising nearly as high above the terrace or platform as that does above the circumjacent plain. The outline on the southern side, first approached, is of the most imposing and martial character. The traces of design are so apparent that every observer must involuntarily feel that this is other than a natural erection. So enormous a pile, either thrown up or carved from a primitive hill, in the singular shape in which time still spares it to remain, must have been the creation of heads that planned, and of a countless multitude of hands that labored through long periods of time. The magnitude of the mound is such that its relative heights do not at first impress the visitor with their full proportions; but, after a struggle up the steep face of the mound to the broad terrace, which in its turn becomes the base of the great western tower and of four other smaller mounds or towers-after a glance at the general outline of the foundation mound, which bears the resemblance of a parallelogram, having a regular southern side, and an irregular bastion front on the north-and after walking over the terrace which includes an area of about five acres, gazing up at the stern western tower, itself a parallelogram, (once perhaps a regular and perfect one.) of about five rods in length by three in breadth-the mind becomes fully aware of the vastness of the creation and renders a full measure of homage to the proud unknown nation that left behind them such a mysterious hieroglyphic of power, speaking a language of grandeur, yet without a relic of a single word that the present age may translate into the elements of aboriginal history. When walking on this vast terrace one can but think of thousands who trod the same earth centuries ago, of the battle songs that might have rolled in thundering volumes into the still air above, of the chant. over the dead, of the ceremonies of a wild and mysterious worship-and of the dreadful hour, when before the tempest of battle or the anger of pestilence, national power melted away, and the surge of empire, in it flow to other lands, ebbed from this mural throne, leaving it voiceless and a desert. The height of the great terrace, from its base, is forty-five feet by measurement, and of the great tower above the terrace, thirty-eight feet making eighty-three feet in all above the plain. The great length of time the skeletons had been immured, and the consequent rottenness of the bones, prevented the gentlemen from obtaining many perfect specimens of craneology. Indeed, the hope of getting out a whole one, seemed almost abandoned, until the diggers came upon the lower limbs of a full-sized male about a foot and a half below the present surface, from which considerable earth must have been washer] in years past. These were followed up to the head, which, by great care and dexterity, was taken unbroken from its grim pillow, by Mr. James Tooley, Jr. This acquisition was hailed with acclamation, as its developments proved its aboriginal origin, and afforded some probability of what race the mound builders were. It was a compressed skull, after the Flat Head custom, but with a different fashion or compression. The forehead was truly peculiar and imposing, with a broad and lofty field f intellectuality-but with a sad falling off behind. Such a head shot id always have been turned edgewise in a hurricane. The skull, after a care) al cleansing, was immersed in a chemical glutinous menstrum, to preserve if possible, and strengthen the parts entire. The sides of the larger foundation mound are to a considerable extent, if not wholly, incased, about one foot beneath the surface of the soil, with a sort of rubble, resembling slack-baked bricks, without much regularity of form, as if laid upon the original steep faces of the mound to prevent the washing away, in sudden showers, of the soil. This rude roofing, formed of a clay base, and sometimes mixed with hair or moss, like modern mortar, may once have been continuous, or it may not have been otherwise than it is now found; in either case, it was a sufficient security against the action of rain water. The soil above this rubble, was filled with fragments of pottery, pieces of human and animal bones, charcoal, and the debris of the top of the mound and of those smaller towers which would seem to have been almost entirely washed away. Beneath the rubble, on digging into the sides of the mound, no remains of pottery or bones were to be found. Years ago, gentlemen who then resided in the vicinity of the mound, saw evidence of the existence of a fosse at the foot of the mound, at least on the eastern end; probably a ditch originally encircled the entire mound, which might have been filled to any depth with the rain water that would necessarily fall on so large an area as five acres, carried off by the rubble roofs of the sides. The terrace of the mound, its sides and the fields around it, having, for more than half a century, been cultivated by the plow, it would not be wonderful that nearly all the traces of a continuous ditch should have been filled up. The pottery found upon the surface of the sides, or from one or two feet below the surface, is of a rare, and oftentimes beautiful structure. It is generally in broken pieces, yet large enough to show the shape and curve of the circumference of the vessels of which those pieces were a part. In some cases, the beauty of the shape of the vessel was strikingly evident, and could not be surpassed by any modern manufacturer. It was not glazed, but perfectly smooth, as if some preparation had been spread over the surface of the material previous to the hardening process. The outsides of most of the vessels were ornamented with lines, sometimes drawn parallel to the brim, five or six circles, in the space of an inch in width, extending round the bowl, or by figures of triangular lines and checker-work, elaborately covering most of the outsides of the vessels. The pottery was made of different materials and of different colors; some pieces were brick-colored; others slate-colored; others white. Pieces were found that were made of sea-shells ground into fine lamina, and held together by some affinitive ingredient not yet analyzed. The smaller mounds upon the terrace of the larger one, are irregularly situated at various points on the bastion or battery walls, like look-out or watch-towers. Near the foot of the one situated at the northeastern corner, were found a number of human skeletons, about one or two feet beneath the surface of the earth, with their heads lying in an eastern direction, with some exceptions, where one skeleton would be lying across another. The bones were in a lying position, having never been disturbed since interment-although the plow has for years thrown up human bones on the terrace of this mound in great abundance. The length of time that has evidently elapsed since burial, had corroded most of the bones, so that they crumbled under the hand and exposure to air; yet, with great care, a craneum was extracted from its bed, that preserved sufficient consistency to show its form, and prove the fact of its aboriginal origin. It was indisputably the compressed skull of a Flat Head Indian, or one whose head, in infancy, had undergone the compressing process. The forehead was wide and lofty, and the compression had taken effect chiefly on the back part of the head, bending the scull over with a short curve, which could be distinctly traced in thé circular line which such a compression would naturally make. The skeletons, seen in position, were those of common size, one or two exhibiting a length of bone that may have belonged to a person six feet in height. Near the center of the parallelogram of the foundation mound, there s an appearance of what has been supposed to have been a covered way from the base of the mound (perhaps from the fosse) nearly to the centre. It is now grown up with trees, and has the appearance of a deep gulf worn by the water. Gentlemen who examined this chasm twenty years since, were firm in the belief that it had been a subterranean passage. The longer chasm from the north side of the mound, is approached by a similar one, although shorter, from the southern side. The ancient mounds on the American Bottom, Illinois, are thus described by a tourist : "For the first time I found myself upon the celebrated 'American Bottom,' a tract of country which, for fertility and depth of soil, is per haps unsurpassed in the world. A fine road of baked loam extended along my route. Crossing Cahokia creek, which cuts its deep bed diag onally through the bottom from the bluffs some six miles distant, and threading a grove of the beautiful pecan, with its long trailing boughs and delicate leaves, my path was soon winding gracefully away among those venerble monuments of a race now passed from the earth. The eye is struck at first by the number of these eminences, as well as by their symmetry of form and regularity of outline; and the most familiar resemblance suggested is that of gigantic hay-ricks sprinkled over the uniform surface of the prairie on every side. As you advance, however, into the plain, leaving the range of mounds upon the left, something of arrangement is detected in their relative position; and a design too palpable is betrayed to mistake them for the handiwork of nature. Upward of one hundred of these mounds, it is stated, may be enumerated within seven miles of St. Louis, their altitude varying from ten to sixty feet, with a circumference at the base of about as many yards. One of these, nearly in the centre of the first collection, is remarked as considerably larger than those around, and from its summit is commanded an exten sive view of the scene. The group embraces, perhaps, fifty tumuli, sweeping off from opposite the city to the northeast, in form of a cres cent, parallel to the river, and at a distance from it of about one mile: they extend about the same distance, and a belt of forest alone obstructs their view from the city. When this is removed, and the prairie is under cultivation, the scene laid open must be beautiful. The outline of the mounds is ordinarily that of a gracefully-rounded cone of varying declivity, though often the form is oblong, approaching the rectangle or ellipse. In some instances they are perfectly square, with a level area upon the summit sufficient for a dwelling and the necessary purlieus. Most of them are clothed with dense thickets and the coarse grass of the bottom; while here and there stands out an aged oak, rooted in the mould, tossing its green head proudly to the breeze, its rough bark shaggy with moss, and the pensile parasite flaunting from its branches. Some few of the tumuli, however, are quite naked, and present a rounded, beautiful surface from the surrounding plain. "Leaving the first collection of tumuli, the road wound away smooth and uniform through the level prairie, with here and there upon the left a slight elevation from its low surface, seeming a continuation of the group behind, or a link of union to those yet before. It was a sweet afternoon; the atmosphere was still and calm, and summer's golden haze was sleeping magnificently on the far-off bluffs. At intervals the soft breath of the 'sweet scuth' came dancing over the tall, glossy herbage, and the many-hued prairie-flowers flashed in the sunlight. There was the heliotrope, in all its gaudy but magnificent forms; there the deep cerulean of the fringed gentiana, delicate as an iris; there the mellow gorgeousness of the solidago, in some spots along the pathway, spread ing out itself, as it were, into a perfect 'field of the cloth of gold;' and the balmy fragrance of the aromatic wild thyme or burgamot, scattered in rich profusion over the plain, floated over all. Small coveys of the prairie-fowl, tetrao pratensis, a fine species of grouse, the ungainly form of the partridge, or that of the timid little hare, would appear for a moment in the dusty road, and, on my nearer approach, away they hurriedly scudded beneath the friendly covert of the bright-leaved sumach or the thickets of the rosebush. Extensive groves of the wild plum and the crab-apple, succeeded each other for miles along the path as I rode enward; now extending in continuous thickets, and then swelling up like green islets, affording a refreshing shade for the numerous herds. The rude farm-house, too, with its ruder outbuildings, half burried in the dark luxuriance of its maize-fields, from time to time was seen along the route. "After a delightful drive of half an hour the second group of eminences, known as the Cantine Mounds,' appeared upon the prairie at a distance of three or four miles, the celebrated Monk Hill,' the largest monument of the kind yet discovered in North America, heaving up its giant, forest-clothed form in the midst. What are the reflections to which this stupendous earth-heap gives birth? What the associations which throng the excited fancy? What a field for conjecture! What a boundless range for the workings of imagination! What eye can view this venerable monument of the past, this mighty landmark in the lapse of ages, this gray chronicler of hoary centuries, and turn away uninterested? "As it is first beheld, surrounded by the lesser heaps, it is mistaken by the traveler for an elevation of natural origin: as he draws nigh, and at length stands at the base, its stupendous magnitude, its lofty summit, towering above his head and throwing its broad shadow far across the meadow; its slopes plowed with yawning ravines by the torrents of centuries descending to the plain; its surface and declivities perforated by the habitations of burrowing animals, and carpeted with tangled thickets; the vast size of the aged oaks rearing themselves from its soil; and, finally, the farm-house, with its various structures, its garden, and orchard, and well, rising upon the broad area of the summit, and the carriage pathway winding up from the base, all confirm his impression that no hand but that of the Mightiest could have reared the enormous mass. At that moment, should he be assured that this vast earth-heap was of origin demonstrably artificial, he would smile; but credulity the most sanguine would fail to credit the assertion. But when, with jealous eye, slowly and cautiously, and with measured footsteps, he has circled its base; when he has surveyed its slopes and declivities from every position, and has remarked the peculiar uniformity of its structure and the mathematical exactitude of its outline; when he has ascended to its summit, and looked around upon the piles of a similar character by which It is surrounded; when he has taken into consideration its situation upon a river botton of a nature decidedly diluvial, and, of consequence, utterly incompatible with the natural origin of such elevations; when he has examined the soil of which it is composed, and has discovered it to be |