tion, some of which seem to have been
constructed for purposes other than inhumation.[7] These are
frequently met with in the valley of the Mississippi, and are said to
extend into Mexico. The most celebrated works of this class, are
believed to be those at Circleville in Ohio, which have so frequently
been described, and are justly considered memorials of the labor and
perseverance of those by whom they were erected.

There is a tradition among the Indians of the north, which if true
would furnish a very rational solution to the question, "for what
purpose were they constructed?" According to this tradition about "two
thousand two hundred years, before Columbus discovered America, the
northern nations appointed a prince, and immediately after, repaired
to the south and visited the GOLDEN CITY, the capital of a vast
empire. After a time the emperor of the south built many forts
throughout his dominions, and extending them northwardly almost
penetrated the lake Erie. This produced much excitement. The people of
the north, afraid that they would be deprived of the country on the
south side of the great lakes, determined to defend it against the
infringement of any foreign people; long and bloody wars ensued which
lasted about one hundred years. The people of the north, being more
skillful in the use of bows and arrows, and capable of enduring
hardships which proved fatal to those of the south, gained the
conquest; and all the towns and forts, which had been erected by their
enemy, were totally destroyed and left in a heap of ruins."[8]

The most considerable of those tumuli or sepulchral mounds, which are
found in Virginia, is that on the bottoms of Grave creek, near its
entrance into the Ohio, about twelve miles below Wheeling, and is the
only large one in this section of the country. Its diameter at the
base, is said to be one hundred yards, its perpendicular height about
eighty feet, and the diameter at its summit, forty-five feet. Trees,
of all sizes and of various kinds, are growing on its sides; and
fallen [36] and decayed timber, is interspersed among them; a single
white oak rises out of a concavity in the centre of its summit.[9]

Near to Cahokia there is a group (of about two hundred) of these
mounds, of various dimensions.[10] The largest of these is said to
have a base of eight hundred yards circumference, and an altitude of
ninety feet. These and the one mentioned as being on Grave creek and
many smaller o