The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-25
CITY OF THE ANCIENTS.
SUPPOSED TO HAVE HAD A POPULA-
TION OF ELEVEN MILLION.
Ruins of n Great Metropolis Claimed
to Have Been Discovered in South

Ruins of n Great Metropolis Claimed
to Have Been Discovered in South
eastern Arkansas.
Lamar Fontaine in New Orleans Picay-
une.
Despite the unfriendly citicisms Of GER
tain learned professors, stand by the
brief announcement of my discovery of
the. remains of a vast prehistoric city in
Arkansas, and since the statement has
attracted so much attention 1 realize that
1t is my duty to add further particulars
and details of the discovery. With the
experience of fifty years as an explorer
TO aid me in my researches, I visited the
counties of Ashley, Desha and Drew in
the southeastern section of Arkansas,
where l found vast area covered by the
tumuh' of the mound builders. There
could be no doubt at all in any mind. with
the evidence before IL as It was before
me, that this was the grand METROPOLIS
of that prehistoric race known as the
mound builders.
surveyed an area of thirty-five miles
west and twenty-five miles north, embrace
ing territory of not less than $4,000
III.
old not cover the whole of the ground on
which the city had been built, for the
tumuh reached far beyond the region
traversed by me.
on each acre there were about four
mounds, and a close examination of these
disclosed to my great delight, the remains
OF hreplaces and the shattered crockery
used In cooking. In some an even closer
lad . al,a
OF the bones of deer bear, turkeys, SPUR
rel and fish. So immense was the prehis-
torlc city through which 1 Travelled that l
am satlsned New York, Chicago, London
and Paris could be placed inside its area.
Making an estimate on the basis that each
dwelling of the great city contained five
inhabitants, l computed that at least II
$4,000 people must have lived in this pre-
historic place.
1t was awe-inspiring, thrilling, to reflect,
standing there amid the ruins of the
dwelling place of the countless millions
OF the prehistoric race that dwelt in the
Hazoo valley, that here lived in the mys-
ferrous people who antedated any inhab-
itants known to have lived on our CONT
nent. This valley of the Yazoo was their
field. The entire delta was in a high
state of cultivation. Every acre was util-
ized-for agricultural purposes. Thousands
of canals were dug and used for irrigation
and navigation, and the pottery discover
ed shows that they manufactured super
Tor articles Of earIhenware for domestic
purposes.
1 found nothing in the course of my ex-
plorations to throw any light on the rea-
son why the prehistoric builders erected
their colossal structures in mound fash
ion. Perhaps they were intended for de-
Tense and it is certain that the mounds
were built IN military formation and were
provided with cisterns for water. The
erections surveyed by me were of the
usual hight, ranging from five to thirty
feet, while the areas inclosed were of from
twenty-five to forty acres in extent, aud
few much larger.
1t viii be interesting, in connection with
the discovery Of this metropolis of the
mound builders, to review briefly the
known facts of the work of these ancient
people.
To begin from the North That portion
of the United States which lies between
the Appaachians and the Rocky noun
tains presents in three groups at once the
oldest aud rudest monuments of bygone
times. The first group extending from the
sources Of the Allegheny to the waters
of the Mississippi Missouri. the second oc-
cupyfng the Mississippi valley vaguely so
defined, and the third stretching from
South Carolina to Texas. These several
groups apparently with very little diff
ference among themselves consist of num-
berless mounds, and Recommendations OF
earth and stone--1,500 of the latter and
10000 of the former being said to stud
Ohio alone. The erections themselves
range from five to thirty feet in hight,
while the areas Enthusiastically of some
symmetrical figure, such as a circle or
ellipse, rectangular parallelogram or reg
ular polygon-vary from twenty to forty
acres. The Recommendations, moreover,
seem generally to contain the mounds,
and sometimes a smaller decentralization
is surrounded by a larger one. Whether
these colossal structures were intended
for worship or for defense, it is impossible
10 decide more probably, however, they
were of a military character, provided, as
they ordinarily were, with cisterns for
water. But, whatever their origin, they
derive interest from the analogous fact
that within the same territorial limits have
been dug up vases of earthenware or cop
per in elegant forms, pipe bowls deco
rated with human heads of the type of the
existing aborigines, or with those of birds,
ETC., domestic utensils, personal ornaments,
hatchets of stone and lastly, weapons
of copper or mica, or shell or obsidiau.
Further investigation of the ruins of the
great city will no doubt bring to light rare
antiquities of prehistoric nature. 1 made
no attempt to dig for treasures. 1t was
enough for me to know that / stood where
the most ancient of people had lived and
labored, fought and struggled died and
disappeared, leaving behind them only
such gigantic monuments as those have
described TO mark the spot where they
had been.