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28 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
sources and passing through valleys, are subject to great increase and
diminution in volume. When, therefore, the water was low in the
Etowah, it might have been difficult, if not impossible, to have' filled the
moat."
Speaking of the mysterious structures enclosed within this ditch, the
same authority says: *
"Within the enclosure there are seven mounds. Three of them are
pre-eminent in size; one in particular far surpassing the others in its
stupendous proportions, and in the degree of interest which attaches to
it. This large central mound stands almost midway between the moat
and the river—a little nearer the latter. Its position is commanding, and
to the eye of the observer it seems a monument of the past ages. It be
longs not to this generation. The hunter tribes had naught to do with
its erection. The offspring of an ancient people, who have passed for
ever beyond the confines of this beautiful valley, it stands a solemn
monument, ever repeating the story of what they achieved, while they
themselves and all else connected with them are sleeping beneath the
shadow of a forgotten past. Composed of native earth, simple yet impres
sive in form, it seems calculated for, an almost endless duration. Al
though no historian has chronicled the names and deeds of those who
aided in its erection—although no poet's song commemorates the virtues,
the manners, the loves, the wars, the brave deeds of those who here
dwelt—still this monument exists, speaking a language perchance more
impressive than the most studied epitaph upon Parian marble.
"This central tumulus is some eighty feet or more above the level
of the valley. There is no geological formation entering in the smallest
degree into its composition. To all appearances, it consists entirely of
the earth taken from the moat and the excavations, together with the
soil removed from around its base, having received no assistance whatever
from any natural hill or elevation. In view of this circumstance, its
stupendous proportions become the more surprising. It is somewhat
quadrangular in form, if we disregard a small angle to the south; its apex
diameter two hundred and twenty-five feet, measured east and west,
and two hundred and twenty-two feet, measured north and south. It is
nearly level on top. Originally this tumulus was crowned with the most
luxurious vegetation, but the utilitarian arm of the husbandman has
shorn it of this attraction. A solitary tree stands near the northern
extremity. The native weeds and annual -grasses flourish, however, in
such rich profusion that the steps of the observer are seriously impeded.
The view of the surrounding country from the summit of this tumulus
is highly attractive. Almost at its base flows the ever-changing tide of
the Etowah River. Alternate fields and forests charm the eye. The
rich alluvial bottoms, teeming with the products of intelligent husbandry
•—the crests of the neighboring hills, adorned with pleasant cottages and
covered with well-cultivated orchards—the consecrated spire, rising from
the oak grove which, marks the suburbs of the neighboring village—all
proclaim in glad accord the happy reign of peace and plenty. Tender
* Ibid., pp. 107-119.