tion made
from the top downward, and from one side of the base to the center,
disclosed the fact that the mound contained two sepulchral chambers,
one at the base and one near the center of the mound. These chambers
had been constructed of logs, and covered with stone. The lower chamber
contained two skeletons, one of which is supposed to have been a female.
The upper chamber contained but one skeleton. In addition to these,
there were found a great number of shell beads, ornaments of mica, and
bracelets of copper.<26>

A moment's thought will show us what a great work such a mound must have
been for a people destitute of metallic tools and domestic animals. The
earth for its construction was probably scraped up from the surface and
brought thither in baskets. A people capable of erecting such a monument
as this, with only such scanty means at their command, must have
possessed those qualities which would sooner or later have brought them
civilization.

Another very interesting mound of this class once stood in the city of
St. Louis. The rapidly growing city demanded its removal in 1869. It was
an oblong mound, one hundred and fifty feet long by thirty in height. In
its removal it was shown that it contained a burial chamber seventy-five
feet long, from eight to twelve feet wide, and from eight to ten feet
high, in which about thirty burials had taken place. The surface of
the ground had first been leveled, then the walls raised to the desired
height, made firm and solid, and plastered with clay. Timbers formed the
roof, over which the mound had been raised to the desired height.

Illustration of Cross-section St. Louis Mound.--------

In process of time the roof decayed and fell in, thus giving a sunken
appearance to the top of the mound. This view is a cross section of the
mound as it was revealed by the workmen. We notice where the roof has
fallen in, and the outline of the interior chamber. This burial chamber
was perhaps an exact model of the cabins in which the people lived.
Can it be that this mound was the final resting place of some renowned
chief, and that the other bodies were those of his attendants sent
to accompany him to the other world? This is perhaps as reasonable a
conjecture as any. Certain it is that this tumulus and that at Grave
Creek were fit pyramids for the Pharaohs of the New World.

It is not to be supposed that the mounds were the sole cemeteries of the
people who built them. Like t