midst of a small prairie, about two days' journey from the village of that nation. In shape it resembles the steep roof of a house, and the Minnitarees resort to it for the purpose of propitiating their Great Spirit, by presents, fasting, and lamentation, which they continue for the space of three or five days.""

"Under this class of Indian monuments, may be arranged the Figured Rock, at Dighton, in the State of Massachusetts, which has been described in various publications; also, the sculptured rocks that occur in many parts of the American continent, at Tiverton, Rutland, Newport, Scaticook, Brattleborough, Ohio, &c.

6

"Acosta relates, That amongst the ancient Mexicans, worship was paid to rocks or large stones, and that in the highways they found great heaps of them, which had been offered to the gods; but he adds, that in his time, this superstition of worshipping great stones, had altogether ceased.'

"Gomara, in his Account of Peru, mentions the same practice as still continued amongst the old inhabitants in that country.

"Thus, in the various regions of America, the natives had carefully preserved the stones of memorial and sacrifice, in the use of which they had been instructed by their Celtic ancestors, and which, in some instances, may have been the individual monuments erected by the people.

"3rd. Circles of Memorial were the next monuments erected by the ancient Celta; they consist of nine, twelve, or more rude stones, placed so as to form a circle, and were generally placed on an eminence. There appear to be at least three of these sacred circles in

America. I have been informed of one by Dr. E. James, the scientific tourist to the Rocky Mountains. It is situated upon a high hill, one mile from the town of Hudson, in the State of New York, and attracted his notice many years ago, on account of the remarkable size of the stones, and their position.

"In Mackenzie's Tour from Quebec to the Pacific Ocean, there is noticed a circle of stones, artificially laid on a high rock, upon the banks of the River Winnipigon, which discharges itself into a lake of the same name. The Indians are accustomed to crown this circle of stones with wreaths of herbage, and with branches; for this reason, the carrying-place which passes it, hás received the appellation of Le Portage de Bonnet.

"Tradition sometimes conveys along the stream of time, a name attached to these stone monuments, which informs us of their use. In Erin's bright green isle, which was a famous resort of the Druids, these stone circles, placed upon an eminence, are called in the Irish language, Carrick Brauda; and in Wales, similar structures have retained the name, Cerrig Brudyn, to the present time; the appellation is the same in both coun-. countries, and means Astronomers' Circles.* And thus, in ages long since past, perhaps at the same instant of time, though under different skies, the Druids of England, and the priests of Cuzco, the astronomers of Ireland, Hudson, and Winnipigon, seated upon the lofty hills, and surrounded by their sacred circles of stone, were calculating the progress of the seasons, the revolutions of the planets, and the eclipses of the sun, by the same

* Cerrig, or Kerig, is a rock, not a circle.

formula which their ancestors had first practised in the central plains of Asia.

"4th. Rocking-stones are memorials raised by the same people, and the same race of men, who elevated the cromlechs; they consist of an enormous stone, so equally poised upon its base, that a very small force is sufficient to move it; sometimes even the touch of a finger will cause it to vibrate.

"There are several of these memorials of a former race, in the United States of America, but of the origin of the whole of them we cannot be certain, until an accurate account is published, of their size, appearance, and situation; and it would be desirable if they were illustrated by correct drawings. In the State of New York, there are probably three or more. Professor Green has described one, in the American Journal of Science, vol. v. page 252. It is situated near the top of a high hill, near the village of Peckskill, in Putnam county; the moveable stone is thirty-one feet in circumference; the rock is of granite, but the mica contained in it being schistose, gives it some resemblance to gneiss; and it is supported by a base of the same material. This rockingstone can be moved by the hand, although six men, with iron bars, were unable to throw it off its pedestal.

"There is also a rocking-stone in Orange county, State of New York, of which no account has yet been published.

"In the State of Massachusetts, I have heard of some near Boston, between Lynn and Salem, but do not vouch for the accuracy of the statement, until they undergo a careful examination.

"There is one at Roxburgh, near Boston, described in the Journal of Science, edited in that city.

"A small rocking-stone occurs at Ashburnham, in the same State.

"In New Hampshire there are two; one at Andover, weighing fifteen or twenty tons, and the other at Durham. This was, a short time since, a very splendid rocking-stone, weighing between fifty and sixty tons, and so exactly poised, that the wind would move it, and its vibrations could be plainly seen at some distance; the rock is forty-five feet in circumference, and seven in thickness.

"5th. Tumuli or Barrows." These have been already described.

Many other remains of antiquity might be noticed, if my limits would permit; but I must confine myself to a few of the most interesting ones. Among these, I cannot but regard the hearths and fire-places which are occasionally brought to light, on the banks of the Ohio, four to six feet below the surface. The trees which at the settlement of the country by the present inhabitants, grew on the spot beneath which these chimnies and fire-places are buried, are stated by Mr. Attwater, to have been as large as any in the surrounding forest; and to indicate, that a long period, perhaps a thousand years, may have elapsed since the hearths were deserted. The mummies discovered in the nitrous caves of Kentucky, enveloped in coverings of linen cloth, and a net-work of more artificial structure, in which are fixed the feathers of different descriptions of birds, similar to the manufacture common in the South Sea Islands, appear to be remnants of an earlier race than the present Indians.

It is also stated by Mr. Attwater, that the skeletons found in the mounds in Ohio "never belonged to a people like our Indians. The latter are a tall, rather slender, straightlimbed people: the former were short and thick. They were rarely above five feet high, and few, indeed, were six. Their foreheads were low, cheek-bones rather high, Their faces were very short and broad, their eyes were very large, and they had broad chins.”

"Drawings of Ornaments and Domestic Utensils, taken from Mounds, chiefly by Caleb Attwater, and most of them in his possession.

"All these drawings are three-fifths each way as large as the article they represent.

"A stone ornament, supposed to have been worn on the breast, suspended by a string round the wearer's neck."