ys:

"There are few objects so well calculated to strike the poetic
imagination as these mounds, standing alone in the wilderness. The
belief that they are the workmanship of human hands, awakens curiosity
and leads to a long train of reflections. For if men have thrown up
these singular elevations, we feel inquisitive to know by whom, and
for what purpose, they were erected. They are large and numerous; and
they bear every mark of great antiquity. Indeed, I am of opinion, that
they are as old as the hills.

"Supposing them to be artificial, we are led into a vast field of
conjecture. Were they made by the present race of savages, who are
ignorant of all the mechanic arts, and disinclined to labor? If so,
what inducement could have been placed before them, sufficiently
powerful, to break down the barriers of nature, and bring men
habitually indolent, to so herculean a task? The Indian, as we see him
now, never works. He is the sovereign of the woods, and strides over
his heritage with the step of a master, and the wild glance of one who
disdains employment. He submits to no restraint but that of military
discipline.

"Viewing them as artificial, nothing can be more curious; and whether
we suppose them to have been graves, or temples, or fortifications,
they are equally calculated to awaken feelings of wonder, if not of
awe. We see them in the wilderness, where, for ages, savage men alone
have dwelt, and we behold them covered with majestic oaks, which have
flourished for centuries. They have existed here in the silence and
repose of the forest, unchanged amid the revolutions which have been
carried on around them. They are among the few records of the past. A
people ignorant of writing, painting, or sculpture, destitute of the
mechanic arts, and without any knowledge of the use of metals, have
left few memorials; unless we see them in the mounds, we might,
perhaps, say none.

"If we suppose them to be natural, which, in my opinion, is the
most rational belief, as to the majority of the mounds, they are
still attractive, as natural curiosities, and as displaying a
wonderful exhibition of the creative power. Beheld in any light,
they are interesting. Whatever may have been their origin, they
adorn the monotony of western scenery, and afford employment to the
fancy of the traveller. The plodding foot may tread carelessly over
them, the uninquiring eye may pass them, unheeded; but the poet and
philosopher linger aroun