Page:Anthropology.djvu/99

98  held in high esteem, because, in beauty of material, symmetry of form, and excellency of manufacture, they far excelled all the products of aboriginal fabrication.

May we not suggest that the native, into whose ownership one of these crosses passed, endeavored with a flint flake to perpetuate his recollection of this animal which, in his esteem, was not less remarkable than the pale-faced stranger or his shining gift? We cannot resist the impression that this equinal delineation was the work of an Indian.

 

Not having seen a detailed description of this mound, I made a visit to it in behalf of the Western Reserve Historical Society in May, 1871. It stands upon the north bank of the Etowah, about 2 miles below where it is crossed by the Chattanooga and Atlanta Railway, near Cartersville. Its form, size, and elevation are singular and imposing. It occupies the easterly point or angle of a large and luxuriant river bottom, a part of which is subject to inundations. The soil is a deep, rich, black loam, covering several hundred acres, which has been cultivated in corn and cotton since the Cherokees left it about forty years since.

I was compelled, by bad weather, to make the survey in haste. The bearings were taken with a prismatic compass, the distances measured by pacing, and the elevations obtained with a pocket level.



They are therefore subject to the corrections of future surveyors. Its base covers a space of about 3 acres, and stands at a level of 23 feet above low water in the river. In great floods the water approaches near the mound on 