ow the existence of mounds and inclosures on Vancouver
Island, and in British Columbia. And the statement is made that a
hundred miles north of Victoria there is a group of mounds ranging from
five to fifty yards in circumference, and from a few feet to fifty feet
in height.<12>

The inclosures, however, are described as being very similar to those in
Western New York, and are probably simply fortified sites, common among
rude people the world over, and such as were often erected by Indians.
The remains on the upper Missouri and its tributaries are very numerous,
and to judge from the brief description given us of them, they must
be very interesting.<13> This section has, however, been too little
explored to speak with confidence of these works.

As showing how much care should be exercised in this matter, we refer
to the account given by Capt. Wilkes in his journal of the United States
exploring expedition. Speaking of the mounds on the gravelly plains
between the Columbia River and Puget Sound, he tells us that the Butte
Prairies are covered with small mounds at regular distances asunder.
Some of them are thirty feet in diameter, six or seven feet above the
level of the ground, and many thousands in number. He opened some of
them, and found a pavement of round stones, and he thought he could
detect an arrangement of the mounds in groups of five, thus.

Illustration of arrangement of mounds.---------

It was his impression that they were the works of men, and had been
constructed successively and at intervals of several years.<14> This
observation of Capt. Wilkes is referred to by many as evidence of the
former existence of Mound Builders in this section.

More careful research in recent times has established the fact that
these mounds were certainly not erected by human hands, and no one else
has been able to discover the supposed arrangement in groups of five.
The pavement of round stones is common to the whole prairie.

But the greatest objection is the number of the mounds. A population
larger than could have found a living in the country must have been
required to erect them, unless we assume that a great length of time was
consumed in this work. Some other explanation must be given for these
mounds, as well as for those mysterious ones mentioned by Prof. Forshey.
This cut gives us a fair idea of the scenery of this section and the
mounds.<15>

Illustration of Mound Prairie.-----------

Within the