gara was obtained from them, by the intrigues and eloquence of Joncaire, an adopted child of the

nation.*

Louis Dennie, a Frenchman, aged upwards of 70, and who has been settled and married among the confederates for more than half a century, told me, that according to the traditions of the ancient Indians, these forts were erected by an army of Spaniards, who were the first Europeans ever seen by them-the French the next-then the Dutch; and finally the English:-that this army first appeared at Oswego in great force, and penetrated though the interior of the country, searching for the precious metals-that they continued there two years, and went down the Ohio.

Some of the Senecas told Mr. Kirkland the missionary, that those in their territory were raised by their ancestors in their wars with the western Indians, three, four or five hundred years ago. All the cantons have traditions, that their ancestors came originally from the west; and the Senecas say that theirs first settled in the country of the Creeks. The early histories mention that, the Iroquois first inhabited on the north side of the great lakes; that they were driven to their present territory in a war with the Algonkins or Adirondacks, from whence they expelled the Satanas. If these accounts are correct, the ancestors of the Senecas did not, in all probability, occupy their present territory, at the time they allege.

1. on ac

I believe we may confidently pronounce, that all the hypotheses which attribute those works to Europeans, are incorrect and fanciful. count of the present number of the works. 2. on account of their antiquity; having, from every appearance, been erected a long time before the dis

* 3 Charlevoix, Letter 15, p. 227.

covery of America: and finally, their form and manner are totally variant from European fortifications, either in antient or modern times.

It is equally clear that, they were not the work of the Indians. Until the Senecas, who are renowned for their national vanity, had seen the attention of the Americans attracted to these erections, and had invented the fabulous account of which I have spoken; the Indians of the present days did not pretend to know any thing about their origin. They were beyond the reach of all their traditions, and were lost in the abyss of unexplored antiquity.

The erection of such prodigious works must have been the result of labor, far beyond the patience and perseverance of our Indians; and the form and materials are entirely different from those which they are known to make. These earthen walls, it is supposed, will retain their original form much longer than those constructed with brick and stone. They have, undoubtedly, been greatly diminished by the washing away of the earth, the filling up of the interior, and the accumulation of fresh soil; yet their firmness and solidity indicate them to be the work of some remote age. Add to this, that the Indians have never practised the mode of fortifying by intrenchments. Their villages or castles were protected by palisades; which afforded a sufficient defence against Indian weapons. When Cartier went to Hochelaga, now Montreal, in 1535, he discovered a town of the Iroquois or Hurons, containing about fifty huts. It was encompassed with three lines of palisadoes, through which was one entrance, well secured with stakes and bars. On the inside was a rampart of timber, to which were ascents by ladders; and heaps of stones were laid in proper places to cast at an enemy. Charlevoix and other writers agree, in repre

H

senting the Indian fortresses as fabricated with wood. Such also were the forts of Sasacus, the great chief of the Pequots; and the principal fortress of the Narragansets was on an island in a swamp, of five or six acres of rising land-the sides were made with palisades set upright, encompassed with a hedge, of a rod in thickness."

I have already alluded to the argument for the great antiquity of those antient forts, to be derived from the number of concentric circles. On the ramparts of one of the Muskingum forts, four hundred and sixty-three were ascertained on a tree, decayed at the centre; and there are likewise the strongest marks of a former growth of a similar size. This would make those works near a thousand years old.

But there is another consideration which has never before been urged, and which appears to me to be not unworthy of attention. It is certainly novel, and I believe it to be founded on a basis, which cannot easily be subverted.

From near the Genesee river to Lewiston, on the Niagara river, there is a remarkable ridge or elevation of land, running almost the whole distance, which is seventy-eight miles, and in a direction from East to West. Its general altitude above the neighbouring land is thirty feet, and its width varies considerably-in some places it is not more than forty yards. Its elevation above the level of lake Ontario is perhaps 160 feet, to which it descends by a gradual slope; and its distance from that water is between six and ten miles. This remarkable strip of land, would appear as if intended by nature, for the purpose of an easy communication. It is in fact, a stupendous natural turnpike, descending gently on each side, and covered with gravel-and but little labor is requisite to make

Mather's Magnalia, p. 693.

it the best road in the United States. When the forests between it and the lake are cleared, the prospects and scenery which will be afforded from a tour on this route to the Cataract of Niagara, will surpass all competition for sublimity and beauty, variety and number.

There is every reason to believe, that this remarkable ridge was the antient boundary of this great lake. The gravel with which it is covered was deposited there by the waters; and the stones every where indicate by their shape, the abrasion and -agitation produced by that element. All along the borders of the Western rivers and lakes, there are small mounds or heaps of gravel, of a conical form, erected by the fish for the protection of their spawn: these fish banks are found in a state that cannot be mistaken, at the foot of the ridge, on the side towards the lake: on the opposite side none have been discovered. All rivers and streams which enter the lake from the South, have their mouths affected with sand in a peculiar way, from the prevalence and power of the North-westerly winds. The points of the creeks which pass through this ridge, correspond exactly in appearance, with the entrance of the streams into the lakes. These facts evince beyond doubt, that Lake Ontario has perhaps, one or two thousand years ago, receded from this elevated ground. And the cause of this retreat must be ascribed to its having enlarged its former outlet, or to its imprisoned waters (aided probably by an earthquake) forcing a passage down the present bed of the St. Lawrence; as the Hudson did at the Highlands, and the Mohawk at the Little Falls. On the South side of this great ridge, in its vicinity, and in all directions through this country, the remains of numerous forts are to be seen; but on the North side, that is, on the side towards the lake, not a single one has been disco

vered, although the whole ground has been carefully explored. Considering the distance to be, say seventy miles in length, and eight in. breadth, and that the border of the lake is the very place that would be selected for habitation, and consequently for works of defence, on account of the facilities it would afford for subsistence, for safety, for all domestic accomodations and military purposes; and that on the south shores of Lake Erie, these antient fortresses exist in great number, there can be no doubt but that these works were erected, when this ridge was the Southern bounda ry of Lake Ontario and, consequently, that their origin must be sought in a very remote age.

A great part of North America was then inhabited by populous nations, who had made considerable advances in civilization. These numerous works could never have been supplied with provisions, without the aid of agriculture. Nor could they have been constructed without the use of iron or copper; and without a perseverance, labor, and design, which demonstrate considerable progress in the arts of civilized life. A learned writer has said, "I perceive no reason why the Asiatic North might not be an officina virorum, as well as the European. The over-teeming country to the East of the Riphæan Mountains, must find it necessary to discharge its inhabitants. The first great wave of people was forced forward by the next to it, more tumid and more powerful than itself: successive and new impulses continually arriving, short rest was given to that which spread over a more Eastern tract; disturbed again and again, it covered fresh regions. At length reaching the farthest limits of the old world, it found a new one, with ample space to occupy, unmolested for ages.' ""* After the North of

* 1 Pennant's Aretic Zoology, 260.