out five miles from
the fort, to a spot where he showed him some remarkable Indian
monuments. These were on a plain, about thirty yards from the river, and
they consisted of conical mounds of earth, with square terraces. The
principal mount was in the form of a cone, forty or fifty feet high, and
two or three hundred yards in circumference at the base. It was flat at
the top; a spiral track, leading from the ground to the summit, was
still visible; and it was surmounted by a large and spreading
cedar-tree. On the sides of the hill, facing the four cardinal points,
were niches or centry-boxes, all entered from the winding path. The
design of these structures Mr. Bartram was unable to ascertain. The
adjacent grounds had been cleared, and were at this time planted with
Indian corn.

On the 10th of May, Mr. Bartram set out from Fort James. He rode six or
eight miles along the bank of the river, and then crossed it into South
Carolina. The road led him over a country, the surface of which was
undulated by ridges or chains of hills, and sometimes rough with rocks
and stones; yet generally productive of forests, and of a great variety
of curious and interesting plants.

The season was unusually wet: showers of rain fell almost daily, and
were frequently attended with thunder. Hence travelling was rendered
disagreeable, toilsome, and hazardous; particularly in the country
through which he had to pass; an uninhabited wilderness, abounding in
rivers and brooks.

During his progress, Mr. Bartram was kindly received into the houses of
such planters as lived near the road. In his journey betwixt Fort James
and the Cherokee town of _Sinica_, he observed an abundance of
grape-vines, which ramble and spread themselves over the shrubs and low
trees. The grapes, when ripe, are of various colours, and yield
excellent juice.

_Sinica_ is a respectable Cherokee settlement, on the east bank of the
_Keowe river_; but the greatest number of Indian habitations are on the
opposite shore, where also stands the council-house, in a plain, betwixt
the river and a range of lofty hills, which rise magnificently, and seem
to bend over the green plains and the river. Sinica had not, at this
time, been long built. The number of inhabitants was estimated at about
five hundred, among whom about a hundred warriors could be mustered.

From Sinica Mr. Bartram went to another Indian town, about sixteen miles
distant, called _Keowe_. It stood in a fertile