OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 77
previous to this notice, which appears to have been the earliest made, a detailed account of the opening of the mound, and of its contents, was communicated to the author of the “Crania Americana,” and published in that valuable contribution to science. This account was from the hand of Dr. Clemens, of Wheeling, Va., who seems to have been well acquainted with all the circumstances attending the excavation. It contains, however, no refer- ence to the inscribed stone, although it describes minutely the various other relics taken from the mound, and except in this and one or two other respects, is identical with that published by the proprietor of the mound in 1843.* This singular omission of a relic infinitely the most re- markable of the whole series, is entirely unaccountable, if any thing was known concerning it at that period.
There is also a discrepancy between the accounts of Dr. Clemens and the proprietor of the mound, in respect to the number of skeletons found in the same. The former gentleman states that in enlarging the lower vault for an exhibition chamber, ten human skeletons were found, all in a sitting posture, but too much decayed to be removed. The proprietor of the mound, on the other hand, explicitly states that there were but two skeletons in the lower vault. Apart from this, there is no material conflict between the respective statements.
Tt appears then, first, that the mound was opened as a speculation, the success of which depended to an extent upon the more or less extraordinary character of the re- mains developed ; second, that we have no evidence of the alleged discovery except the unsupported testimony of a single individual, a party interested; third, that a positive discrepancy exists in respect to the relic, between the account of a close observer writing from the spot, at the
- American Pioneer, vol. ii., p. 201.
