line of embankment is carried down the slope. The entrance-ways are at the east and west sides, the inclosure at these points being covered by a double line of embankment more formidable than at other points. The circles have no gateways. A short distance east by south are the

remains of what purports to have been a very large mound. The altitude of the mound as it now stands is 20 feet. The creek encroached upon the bank and gradually undermined the mound, taking away not less than three-fourths of it. The creek then receded to its present bed, distant about 20 rods.

On the same creek, in Lanier Township, Preble County, was once the work described and figured in "Ancient Monuments."

Five miles south of the great mound is the large mound near Franklin, in Warren County. This mound is about 35 feet high, located on

one of the high hills bordering the east bank of the river, and removed a distance of about three-fourths of a mile from it.

The best view of the Miamisburgh mound seen from any of the Butler County mounds, is that given from the summit of the mound on Sec. 32,

* Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, p. 33 (Plate XII, No. 2).

Madison Township. In the same township, Sec. 19, is the highest mound in the county, with an altitude of 43 feet. A fire on the Miamisburgh mound would be distinctly seen from the summit of this mound. While this mound is not situated on the highest hill in the county, yet its situation is seen to be better adapted for the purpose of a signal station than any other spot, when the various earthworks it was intended to protect are taken into consideration. All the signal mounds radiate from this one. It is located on a hill rising 400 feet above the Miami. It overlooks the inclosure on Sec. 14, Wayne Township. A fire on its summit could be seen from the mounds on Sec. 26, Wayne Township; Secs. 9 and 16, Saint Clair, and Sec. 22, Fairfield; also from the inclosure situated on Sec. 16, Fairfield. The three mounds on Sec. 9, Saint Clair, overlook the inclosure last named, also the one on Secs. 4, 5, 8, 9, Saint Clair; the one on Sec. 30, Wayne, and that near Somerville (Secs. 3, 4, 9, 10), Milford. A light on the same three mounds (Sec. 9, Saint Clair) could be seen from the mound on Sec. 31, Milford, which overlooks the inclosure on Sec. 36, Oxford Township.

The mound on Sec. 20, Liberty Township, could be signaled from the Madison, Saint Clair, or Fairfield mounds. From that point communication could be had with the mound on Sec. 24, Union Township, thence to the mound on Sec. 14. The last named overlooks the inclosures on Secs. 14 and 8, Union.

Communication is established between the mounds on Secs. 16 and 19, Saint Clair, and from the latter to Sec. 12, Ross, located within a few rods of Fortified Hill Fort. This fort commands a view of the earthworks on Secs. 16, 10, 15, and 8, Fairfield, as well as Sec. 13, Ross.

A light on the mound in Sec. 12, Ross, would be seen from the mound in Sec. 21, and this by those in Sec. 30, Hanover, and 24, Reily, while one in the last named mound would be visible from that on Sec. 22, which overlooks the works just above the village of Reily.

The mound on Sec. 21, Ross, overlooks the mound and fort on Sec. 8, Fairfield, also the Cobrain works in Hamilton County, and the circular works on Secs. 27 and 34, Ross.

On Sec. 9, Union Township, and Sec. 15, Fairfield, were a series of works overlooked by a mound on last-named section. A communication could be had with this mound from several mounds on the west bank of the river, notably such as the mounds on Sec. 12, Ross, and 3 and 16, Saint Clair.

REMAINS ON BLENNERHASSETT'S ISLAND, OHIO RIVER.

By J. P. MACLEAN, of Hamilton, Ohio.*

The most famous of all the islands of the Ohio River is known as Blennerhassett's Island. For more than two generations it has been an historic spot. Around it clusters one of the saddest episodes in the history of our country. The traveler anxiously seeks to have it pointed out, and having once beheld it his imagination lingers at the spot. The history of the past wells up before him, and with pity and kindness he thinks of the unfortunate man who was once its possessor.

The island received its name from Harman Blennerhassett, who, in 1798, purchased the upper portion, containing 170 acres. Previous to this purchase it was known as Backus' Island. It is supposed that the island was first located by General Washington, in the year 1770. It was first surveyed in 1784, and in 1786 Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, made out a patent for it to Alexander Nelson. In 1792 it was purchased of James Heron by Elijah Backus. At the present time it is divided into four farms, and owned by four different parties, none of whom resides there.

All that remains of Blennerhassett's costly mansion and tasteful improvements are the old well, whose wall is covered with moss and fern, two sand stone steps, and a piece of a stone gate-post. Where once was the cellar is now a depression, with a sycamore tree several feet in diameter growing in the center.

The island is situated 14 miles below Marietta, and 14 miles west of the mouth of the Little Kanawha. It extends east and west and is of peculiar form, narrow at the middle and broad at both extremities. It is over 3 miles long, although its area embraces only 297 acres. At the eastern extremity a ridge of land commences and runs through the center of the island until half the distance is reached. On either side of this ridge is a natural trough, resembling the bed of an ancient canal, with the ridge banks higher than those bordering the river. The trough or ancient channel bed on the north side of the western half of the island has been cut away by the river, thus leaving the ridge to form the river's bank. During high water the river breaks over its banks and flows through these troughs, and in its course deposits rich sediment. During the time of these explorations the river was high and had broken into the

*The writer would here express his indebtedness to Mr. F. P. Ames, of Belpre, Ohio, for the valuable assistance he rendered in the exploration of Blennerhassett's Island. It was he who called attention to its antiquities, and who took every opportunity to make the visit both profitable and pleasant. Mr. Bryant E. Johnson also deserves grateful mention. Besides furnishing relics and granting permission to dig in the principal shell heap, he generously abandoned his plow and assisted in making the excavations. The illustrations were made from photographs and negatives furnished by Mr. L. C. Overpeck, of Hamilton, Ohio, who kindly volunteered to do the work without any charge.

trough on the south side and flowed through the channel to the point where the water re-entered the river, thus forming an island of considerable size on the south. During low water the river recedes, thus reuniting the different parts of the island. The head of the island is covered with trees, which serve to protect it from erosion and also from damage by ice. Between these points is a dense covering of trees and underbrush left for the same purpose, on account of the land being low and the channel somewhat deep. Here driftwood accumulates in great quantities, making it of particular advantage to the islanders. Wisdom, however, would dictate to allow the driftwood to accumulate in order to protect this, the weakest part of the island.

The geological formation of the bluff on the Virginia side of the river was not examined, but the rocks appear to be the same as those on the opposite bank. On the Ohio side the rocks are composed of sand and take the name of sand-rock. Not far distant, and farther up the river, are located several grindstone quarries. The series of rocks belong to that age known as the upper portion of the coal measures. Through this sand-rock the Ohio has gradually cut its way until its bed is nearly 600 feet below the summit of the adjacent hills. That the bed of the river was once still lower is evident from the fact that its bottom is composed of sand and gravel. The river channel was partially filled during the glacial epoch, and since the close of that period the river has been gradually reaching its former level. During this process it has changed its bed several times. The plain of Belpre was its bed at the close of the glacial epoch. Distinct markings occur which exhibit changes that took place upon the plain. By the continued process of erosion, first on the Ohio and then on the Virginia side, shifting its channel from time to time, the river has cut its way to its present bed, leaving on the Ohio side a series of beautiful plains and on the Virginia a perpendicular bluff.

Blennerhassett's Island is not wholly an accretion of sediment formed by the river, but largely a deposit of the age of ice. The river, in the constant shifting of its bed, formed two channels at this point, which gives shape to the island. The troughs running along the sides of the ridge, thus forming three ridges (one of which is high and the other two low and bordering the river), were once additional channels, thus presenting four beds, all of which were occupied at one and the same time. When this was the condition of the river the island, in all probability, was a series of three islands running parallel, the two outer extending farther into the present river channels. The bed of the trough on the north side is higher than that on the south, and hence was the first to become dry. More than one-half of the old trough on the south side is still quite low and is soon overflowed during a rise in the river. The whole island is occasionally inundated, which generally inures to its benefit on account of the rich sediment usually deposited.

From the observations made the land seemed to be making on the