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Ancient Ruins near Somerset, in Perry County.

two acres, on one side of which was an elevation thirty feet high, built This circular fort was connected partly of earth, and partly of stone.

by parallel walls of earth, with an octagonal fort containing forty acres, the walls of which were ten feet high. To this fort were eight openings or gateways, about fifteen feet in width, each protected by a mound of earth on the inside.

"From the fort, parallel walls of earth proceeded to the former basin of the river; others extended several miles into the country; and others on the east to a square fort, containing twenty acres, nearly four miles distant. From this latter fort parallel walls extended to the river, and others to a circular fort a mile and a half distant, containing twenty-six acres, and surrounded by an embankment from twenty-five to thirty feet high. Farther north and east, on elevated ground, protected by entrenchments, were mounds containing the remains of the dead. It has been supposed that the parallel walls, extending south, connected these works with others thirty miles distant.

"Near Somerset, in Perry county, is an ancient ruin, whose walls, enclosing more than forty acres, were built with rude fragments of rocks, which are now thrown down, but which were sufficient to construct a wall seven feet in height, and five or six in thickness. The enclosure has two openings, before one of which is a large and high rock, Near the centre of the work is a circular protecting the passage. conical mound, fifteen or twenty feet in height; and in the line of the wall, and forming a part of it, is one of smaller dimensions. Near the southern extremity of the enclosure is a small work, containing half an acre, whose walls are of earth, but only a few feet in height.

A short distance west of Chilicothe, on the north branch of Paint creek, there are several successive natural deposites of the soil, called river bottoms, rising one above the other, in the form of terraces. Here are ancient works consisting of two enclosures, connected with each other. The largest contains an area of one hundred and ten acres, wholly surrounded by a wall of earth, and encompassed by a ditch twenty feet wide, except on the side toward the river. Within this enclosure, and encompassed likewise by a wall and ditch, were two circular works, the largest of which contained six mounds, which have been used as cemeteries. The smaller enclosure, on the east, contains sixteen acres, and is surrounded by a wall merely, in which are several openings or gateways.

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'On Paint creek, also, a few miles nearer Chilicothe, were extensive Those on the north consisted of ruins on opposite sides of the stream. an irregular enclosure, containing seventy-seven acres, and two adjoining ones, the one square and the other circular, the former containing Within the large enclotwenty-seven and the latter seventeen acres.

sure were several mounds and wells, and two elliptical elevations, one of which was twenty-five feet high and twenty rods long. This was constructed of stones and earth, and contained vast quantities of human bones.

"The other elliptical elevation was from eight to fifteen feet high. Another work, in the form of a half-moon, was bordered with stones of a kind now found about a mile from the spot. Near this work was a mound, five feet high and thirty feet in diameter, composed entirely of red ochre, which was doubtless brought from a hill at a great distance from the place.

"The walls of the ruins on the south side of the stream were irregular in form, and about ten feet high. The principal enclosure contained eighty-four acres, and the adjoining square twenty-seven. A small rivulet, rising without the enclosure, passes through the wall, and loses itself in an aperture in the earth, supposed to have been originally a work of art.

"East of these works, on the summit of a rocky precipitous hill, about three hundred feet in height, rises a wall of unhewn stone, enclosing an area of one hundred and thirty acres. hundred and thirty acres. The wall was on the very edge of the hill, and it had two gateways, one opening directly toward the creek. A large quantity of ashes and cinders, several feet in depth, was found within the enclosure adjoining the wall on the south side.

"Below the hill, in the slate-rock which forms the bed of the creek, are four wells, several feet in depth. Each was found covered by a large stone, having an aperture through the centre. It is believed that the stream has changed its channel since the wells were excavated.

"At the mouth of the Scioto river, on both sides of the Ohio, are ruins of ancient works, several miles in extent. On the south side of the Ohio, opposite Alexandria, is an extensive enclosure, nearly square, whose walls of earth are now from fourteen to twenty feet in height. At the southwest corner is a mound twenty feet in height, and covering

EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVING.-A, an enclosure, containing seventy-seven acres. B, contains eighty-four acres. C, one hundred and thirty-six acres. D, shows the place where wells occur in the creek. E, an enclosure, containing twenty-seven acres. P, contains twenty-seven acres. a, a, a, are wells; b, c, and m, m, m, m, m, are mounds. The large stream is Paint creek.

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Ancient Works at Portsmouth.

Both east and west of the large enclosure are about half an acre. walls of earth nearly parallel-half a mile or more in length-about ten rods apart and at present from four to six feet in height.

"On the north side of the river are similar ruins, but more intricate and extensive. Walls of earth, mostly parallel, commencing near the Scioto, after running a distance of nearly four miles, and ascending a high hill, terminate near four mounds, three of which are six feet in height, covering nearly an acre each. The fourth and largest is twenty feet high, and has a raised walk ascending to its summit, and another Near this was a mound twenty-five feet in height, descending from it. containing the remains of the dead; and about a quarter of a mile northwest another mound had been commenced. On the brow of the hill is a well, now twenty feet deep, and two others near, of less depth. From the summit of the hill are parallel walls, nearly two miles in length, extending eastwardly to a bend in the Ohio, and thus embracing an area of several square miles within the circuit of the works and the river.

ANCIENT WORKS AT PORTSMOUTH.

"Ruins similar to those already mentioned, are found in great numbers, throughout almost the entire valley of the Mississippi, but those in Ohio have been the most carefully surveyed, and the most accurately described. In Missouri are the remains of several stone works; and in Gasconade county are the ruins of an ancient town, regularly laid out in streets and squares. The walls of the ruins were found covered with large cotton-trees, a species of poplar, of full growth. Similar remains have been discovered in the territory west of the state of Missouri, and also on the Platte river, the Kanzas, and the Arkansas.

Mounds, likewise, of various forms, square, oblong, or circular at the base, and flat or conical at the summit, have been found in great * EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVING.-A, A, walls of earth. B, high land. C, C, wells. D, Alexandria. E, village of Portsmouth. m, mound, twenty feet high; m, m, m, mounds.

Great Mound near Miamisburg.

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numbers throughout the United States; sometimes in isolated positions, but mostly in the vicinity of the mural remains. Some were used as .general cemeteries, and were literally filled with human bones: others appear to have been erected as monuments over the ashes of the dead, their bodies having first been burned, a custom not usually prevalent with the Indians of the present day. The object of others is not certainly known, but probably some were designed for defence, and others for religious purposes.

One

There were several extensive mounds on the site of Cincinnati. of these, first described in 1794, had then on its surface the stumps of oak-trees, several feet in diameter. Beneath it were found the remains of a human body, and various ornaments and instruments of lead, copper, and of stone. Beneath an extensive mound in Lancaster, was found a furnace, eighteen feet long and six wide, and upon it was placed a rude vessel of earthenware, of the same dimension, scontaining a number of human skeletons. Underneath the vessel was a thick layer of ashes and charcoal.

At Miamisburg is the largest mound yet discovered in the northern states, except one of about the same dimensions near the mouth of Grave creek, on the Ohio, below Wheeling. Its base is eight hundred ..feet in circumference, and its height sixty-seven feet. When first discovered by the whites, it was covered with a heavy growth of foresttrees. A few of them still remain, but the trees upon it are chiefly the apple and peach.

GREAT MOUND NEAR MIAMISBURG.

Remains of ancient burial-grounds have been found in various parts of Ohio. In one, within the precincts of Conneaut, Ashtabula county, bones that belonged to men of gigantic size, were found. Some of the skulls were of sufficient capacity to admit the head of an ordinary man. All the other bones were proportionably large. The burial-ground was

Skeletons.-Ancient Wells.-Engraved Stones.

of oblong form, and contained about four acres, which, when the settlement was commenced, were covered with the ordinary forest-trees. While excavating for a road in Conneaut, in 1815, a human jaw-bone was found, which contained an artificial tooth, constructed of silver. Near Coshocton a burial-ground was discovered, containing a vast number of skeletons, all of which had evidently been interred in coffins, as remains of wood and nails were found. What is most remarkable, they were all of pigmy stature, generally not more than from three to four and a half feet in length. The graves were arranged in regular rows, with avenues between, and the heads of all the bodies were placed toward the west, and their feet toward the east.

At Mount Vernon, on the south bank of the Vernon river, in Knox county, the first settlers found two wells, of considerable depth, the origin of which they could not ascertain. They were built of neatlyhammered stone, laid in masonry, and overgrown with moss. These wells may have been constructed by the early French settlers in Ohio, but their construction is generally referred to a period long anterior to that date.

The above engraving represents rude etchings upon what seemed to

be the remains of a stone column or idol, found in Lorain county in 1838. Upon three different places are engraved the figures 1533. The horns represented are now broken off, but their place is easily defined. Upon the top part of the column, was an engraving of a vessel under full sail, the form of which is above scen. Another stone was found

about ten feet distant, of like quality.

Conjecture and analogy alone must write the history of all these traces of an ancient people, for nowhere have symbols of language yet been found sufficient to offer a key to unlock these mysteries.