sistence. lA its «N * state, it was M g
abound V game and fish, which jnelded the
hunter a ready rëward for the fehorS- of his bow
and spear. Its rich valleys were favorable to the
zea maize. Geographicall*rit possessed some
very strong points to fevor the prosperity of ite
ancient possessors, connected as it was, by water,
■with the Ohio vhlley, the upper lakes, and the
Atlantic ocean:;, and the ptirehuperiGesapSKïrs
to havé been contended for, at several psnods,
by ditferent tribes or confederacies, long anterior
to the remotest end of the discovery of the continent.
. . , .
From an early period in dur history; a deep
interest, has beem felt in the>discoYeryv of the
ancient works and velics. of art whieh charaoter-
ize this area. It is évident from an examination
of these curious remains, that t u f pm k tfe fe rj
mer residencf or occupancy of different races*-at
eras separate - from each other;- that there are;
figuratively speaking* amidst the ruins of a darker-
age traces of the footsteps of an European' or
advanced population, at least in small numbers,
before the Columbian period; that there succeeded
to this a species of psuedd-civihzation,
in a fcmily of the nomadic or huhtei races, who
overcame the prior race, and whose descendants
yet exist; that there was a subsequent decline m
incipient power, and in the arts of defence, leading
to a deeper state of barbarism, which marked
the race on their discovery ; and that evidences
of each of these eras and rafees are to he found
in the rdtuains of art and skill in the ancient
sites abeve*mentionedI
The-larger1 number of .the class of antique,
circular and elliptieal works, scattered over the
western and' south-western part of the state, of
an age^anteriofr to the1-disc©very, lie',chiefly west
of Cayuga, and upon the Sources of the Susquehanna.
Interspersed amid this system of common
ringp-fforts ;of the wesh there are1 some of-a
still edtlidrjperiod, which .exhibit squares and
parallelograms, -.yet without any defensive work
in the nature of "bastions^“
- The. ar'e^ of early ^reneh- occupancy,' dr attempt
at Colonization, within the state; extends
•east and west, between the waters of the Gayuga
and Oneida lakes, as general boundaries, having
the county of Onondaga as its chief and central
points This area comprehends the most striking
part of the numerous remains of implements 6f
art, and other antiquities, of confessedly European
origin, which have heretofore excited attention.
• Howfhr these evidences', extend north
ismot known. But any examination of either
the aboriginal dr foreign remains would be in-
complete which- did not extend also along the
line of the St. «Lawrence and -the waters of Take
Qhamplain.
The valley, of the Hudson, and southern part
of the state .generally, although it has been but
little explored with this view, is known to have
some antiquarian features worthy of examination.
And were there, none others hut the artificial