The flat stone above mentioned was found over a small elevation in the great fort. Upon removing it, one of the visiting party dug up with his cane a piece of earthen vessel, which, from the convexity of the fragment, was supposed to contain two gallons. It was well burned, of a red color, and had its upper edge indented, as with the finger, in its impressionable state. Eastward these fortifications have been traced eighteen miles from Manlius Square; and in Oxford, Chenango county, on the east bank of Chenango river, are the remains of another fort, remarkable for its great antiquity. Northward as far as Sandy Creek, about fourteen miles from Sacket's Harbor, near which, one covers fifty acres, and contains numerous fragments of pottery. Westward they are discovered in great number. There is a large one in the town of Onondaga, one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua, and several between the Seneca, and Cayuga lakes. A number of ancient fortifications and burial places have also been discovered in Ridgeway, Genesee county. Near the Tonewande creek, at the double fortified town* are some interesting antiquities, described by Dr Kirkland. They are the remains of two forts. The first contained about four acres, and the other, distant about two miles, and situated at the other extremity of the ancient town, enclosed twice that quantity of ground. The ditch around the former was about five or six feet deep. A small stream of water, and a high bank, circumscribed nearly one third of the enclosed ground. There were traces of six gates or avenues round the ditch, and near the centre, a way was dug to the water. A considerable number of large thrifty oaks had grown up within the enclosed ground, both in and upon the ditch; some of them appeared to be at least two hundred years old or more. Near the northern fortification, which was situated on This place is called by the Senecas Tegataineaaghque, which imports a double fortified town, or a town, with a fort at each end. Mention the most important places where these remains have been found.--Describe the one near the Tonewande Creek.The remains of the funeral pile. high ground, were found the remains of a funeral pile, probably the burying place of the slain, who had fallen in some sanguinary conflict. The earth was raised about six feet above the common surface, and betwixt twenty and thirty feet in diameter. The bones appeared on the whole surface of the raised earth, and stuck out in many places on the sides. On the south side of lake Erie, are a series of old fortifications, from Cattaragus creek to the Pennsylvania line, a distance of fifty miles. Some are from two to four miles apart, others half a mile only. Some contain five acres. The walls, or breast works are of earth, and generally on ground where there are appearances of creeks having once flowed into the lake, or where there was a bay. These vestiges of ancient fortified towns are widely scattered throughout the extensive territory of the Six Nations, and by Indian report in various other parts. There is one on a branch of the Delaware river, which from the size and age of some of the trees, that have grown on the banks, and in the ditches, appears to have existed nearly one thousand years, and perhaps for a still longer period. SEC. VI. These antiquities afford demonstrative evidence of the remote existence of a vast population settled in towns, defended by forts, cultivating agriculture, and more advanced in civilization, than the nations, which have inhabited the same countries, since the European discovery. They may be viewed as connecting links of a great chain, which extends beyond the confines of this state, and, becoining more magnificent and curious as we recede from the northern lakes, passes through Ohio into the great vale of the Mississippi, thence to the Gulf of Mexico through Texas, and South America. In this vast range of more than three thousand miles, Give some account of the extent of the works. Of their antiquity. VI. Of what do these antiquities afford evidence? How may they be viewed. these monuments of ancient skill gradually become more remarkable for their number, magnitude, and interesting variety; until we are lost in admiration and astonishment, to find in a world, which we call new, ancient institutions, religious ideas, and forms of edifices, similar to those in Asia, which there seem to go back to the dawn of civilization. SEC. VII. Concerning the authors of these works, we have no authentic account. The Indians obviously know nothing in regard to them, and their traditions on this subject are vague, indefinite, and contradictory. They must have existed a long time previous to European intercourse; but their origin, the fortunes that attended them, and the disasters, which effected their ruin, have alike been consigned to oblivion. The same obscurity rests on the origin of the numerous American tribes. That America was peopled from different quarters of the old world, and at different periods, appears to be the most probable conjecture. Philosophers have identified portions of the American family with their Asiatic, European, and African kindred. But to identify the whole with any primitive stock, except the common ancestors of all mankind, would, we believe, be impossible. The Indians of this state have been identified with the Tartars of Asia, and this theory is supported by many traits of resemblance. But after so many ages have elapsed, so many intermixtures taken place, and so little history, even of a traditionary kind now before us, the subject will hardly repay the labor of investigation, and any conclusion, at which we might arrive, must be extremely precarious. VII. What is said concerning the authors of these ruins. CHAP. V. DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. Discoveries of Columbus and the Cabots. Great River discovered by Hudson. Hudson detained in England. Dutch tade to the Great Riv r. Licensed Trading Company. First Settlement. West India Company. New Nether and. First Goveri.or. Van Twil·ler's Administration. Kieft Stuyvesant. New Netherland surrendered to the English. SEC. I. Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, was the first discoverer of America. In 1492, he sailed from Spain with a small fleet, under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, then on the united thrones of Castile and Arragon; and on the 12th of October, discovered San Salvador, one of the Bahama Islands. Columbus took possession of the island in the name of Queen Isabella, and after his return to Spain made several other voyages; but did not discover the continent of America, until Aug. 1, 1498, when he made the land, now called Terra Firma in South America. In 1497, John, and Sebastian Cabot, commenced a voyage of discovery, under the patronage of Henry VII. king of England. On the 24th of June, they approached Newfound I. When, and by whom was America discovered?whose patronage? -When did he discover the continent? some account of the discoveries by the Cabots. -Under -Give land, and, soon after made the first discovery of the Continent of America, and ranged its coast from Labrador to Florida. The attention of all Europe was excited by these enterprises, and numerous voyages were made for the purposes of discovery and settlement. In 1606, James I. king of England, for the purpose of planting two colonies, passed the great North and South Virginia patent, embracing the country from the 34th to the 45th degree of north latitude. Jamestown in Virginia, the first permanent settlement in North America, was effected the following year. SEC. II. On the 3d of September, 1609, the first European discoverer, of whom we have any knowledge, entered the southern waters of New York. Henry Hudson, an English navigator, in the service of the Dutch, anchored his ship within Sandy Hook, and soon after proceeded to New York Bay, discovered Manhattan, and sailed into the river which has since borne his name. The discovery of a northern passage to the East Indies was at this time a subject of sanguine expectation, and an object of deep interest to the commercial world. For the attainment of this, a London company associated, and in 1607, fitted out a ship under the command of Hudson. He penetrated as far, as 820 of north latitude, when the ice arrested his progress. After discovering Spitzbergen, and parts of Greenland before unknown to Europeans, he returned to England. What effect had these enterprises in Europe? -When and where was the first permanent settlement effected in North America? II. When, and by whom was New York discovered?What was the object of his enterprise?- -Give some account of the expedition in 1607. |