The Sumter banner. [volume] (Sumterville, S.C.) 1846-1855, 1855-05-02
CONTINUED FROM. FIRST PAGE.).

CONTINUED h FIRST PAGE.)
Gus houses Of Notifications. Ehe one
*e examined was divided into tw cnty
four rooms, cach nearly square and
enclosing m ercH of about one hun.
bred and forty sqnNre &.t. The front
wall IN built up TO the overha#aing
cliff, which formed the roof, and was
curved and full of portfolios. The
stones were all squared and faced,
were .fan equal thickness and laid ~,
With joints broken in u workmunlike
me The only entrance we could
find was q ole about TWO feet square
and eighteen inches from the ground,
which is the usual size Of all tho doors,
both iTthe outer and partition walls,
With the exception of ome subterra.
mean entrances, which were yet small.
or, and difficult to find. Through the
perfection of the rocky roof, there
was very little rubbish in the rooms.
From the first room we passed through
Il small hole in the right hand corner
10 the second, and there through amnth'
er hole into the third, and 30 ON, from
left room TO right and from right to
left, all through the t%wcnty'l"ur rooms;
aud every wall was supplied With
port holes.
Fifty yards above this was q large
ave with q narrow winding entrance,
guarded by n high wall; near the mouth
Of this, entrance is an opening in the
rock, leading of into the mountain,
which we did not explore. and after a
little looking and rummaging about,
We found All outlet to the cave. For
three or four miles TO this canon
buildings were everywhere in view,
Of various forms and dimensions, and
in almost every stage of dcs ny.
Brom here to St. Lot,n's River, a
distance Of ten miles, the1 were seat.
rering ruins; and from there ia twelve
miles northeast, VIC came to The head of
canon, whose sides or banks, even to
the very head, were perpendicular
and shelving, and.near he banks there
was no'soil on the rocks. hight Oh
the brink Of thi, precipice, and Under
the shelves OF rock beneath, were the
best building sites for those beings
who built and dwelt here ages ago.
ANOTHER STRoNGloLD.-All around
The head Of this canon, and down OH
either side, as far as We could see;
were houses Of every conceivable form
and size; and in places where the soil
was sufficient, they were ovcrgrown
with sage and cedars, in every respect
like that on the mountains around
In the centre OF this canon, and near
the head, was a building sixteen or
twenty feet square, :vsif stories high,
and bull: upon q fiat rock about four
feet higher than the level of the bed
Of the canon, and but little broader
than the building; to this we could
not find an entrance, and, unlike all
the rest. it had no port holes. One
large building. which We entered,
stood on the edge OF the precipicc.
with its front wall circular and flush
with the bank, which formed the buck
part, making the ground plan Of the
building like a half moon. There
were no windows in the lower stor,
of any building, and every entrance
was made as difficult and hidden us
possible. The door, or hole, into the
:na las: mentioned was guarded by
two or three walls Of different angles;
thus making q crooked, narrow pass.
age to. the door, and every part of this
passage was in full view from the port
holes of the building, the front wall
being full of them, like pigeon'holes,
pointing in every possible direction;
they were not more than two inches
in diameter on the outside, and were
clustered smooth on the inside with u
kind Of cement, with when the stones
are laid and the roo.ss plastcred, and
IL hard as stone.
The inside arrangement oS a. the
houses was much aI Ike, all having
port holes in the partition walls, and
very small and obscure pas. ,ge'ways
nom N room to another, and from
one or two houses. into The mountain.
Some OH the ellis above were connect.
cd with those below.
We noticed there was no W ter
about there and inquired Of the Indi.
ans how the former inhabitants could
have managcd? They told US that
they had heard that a long tine ago
there wns water running there. We
asked them who built those houses
They smilingly shook their heads and
said thnt they had never heard, but
that surely somebody must have built
them n very long time buck.