A rather secluded place seems to have been chosen for the location of this mound. It is located on Brush creek in Adams county, about six miles south of Sinking Springs. The place selected is a beautiful tableland about 100 feet above the level of the creek, and presents to the water front a rocky, precipitous face. The head of the serpent lies to the north, approaching the brow of the hill. In its open mouth it holds an object resembling an egg.

By the observer standing on the wall of this inclosure, and looking to the southwards, the huge serpent is seen in all its sublimity and grandeur, winding back and forth in graceful curves across the narrow plateau. Looking up the gentle slopes, the observer may see four regular folds before the coil in the tail is reached. The tail tapers gracefully to a point and is wound in three complete coils. The body of the serpent is about five feet high and thirty feet wide at the neck. The egg-shaped object, held in the open mouth, measures, in its two diameters, sixty and one hundred and twenty feet respectively. The whole length of the mound from the end of the precipice to the tip of the tail, is one thousand three hundred feet.

The serpent entered largely into the mythology of the ancient Mexicans, and seems to have had about the same significance with them, that

it had with the ancient Egyptians, Assyrians and Grecians.

They, also, enter largely into the supersti tions of the Hindoos and Chinese. The site of this mound, being as it is in a secluded spot, seems to indicate that it was a place for the observance of sacred rites. The gently rising tableland was aptly fitted for the assembling of the people. Here assembled this primitive people and with the fire of religion burning in their souls, they observed their most sacred rites. While their religion may not have been supported by the logic of a Paul, it was laden with a sincerity and devotion that the churches of to-day might well emulate.

The observer standing on the head of the serpent can see, in the distance, although eight miles away to the northward, fort Hill in Highland county, one of the best and most interesting forts in the state. It is situated on the top of a high hill, about three miles north of Sinking Springs. The hill stands out alone and is washed on the north and west by the east fork of Brush creek. At the top of the hill, 500 feet above the water level in the creek, is a level plateau containing thirty-five acres. This plateau is enclosed by a wall of stone and earth excavated from the top of the hill. The excavation, made in the interior of the mound, is about

fifty feet wide. The embankment is about six feet high and averaging in width, at the base, about twenty-five feet. The wall of the inclosure is 8,582 feet long. There are arranged at intervals thirty-three gateways, ranging in width from ten to fifteen feet. At eleven of these gateways the interior ditch made by the excavation in building the walls, is filled up. A stronger position, for the construction of a fort, could scarcely have been chosen. This fort properly garrisoned was almost impregnable. Near this fort the ruins of a once populous city have beer observed.

Fort Ancient, built on a high plateau overlooking the valley of the Little Miami, in Warren county, is the most extensive prehistoric fortification in the world. The strongest position, that could have been found in the state, was chosen for the erection of this fort. Surrounded as it is on every side by precipitous ravines it stands isolated, and is the Gibraltar of the Mound Builders.

The walls follow the contour of the plateau, forming an inclosure about one mile long and a quarter of a mile wide, narrowing in the central part until the walls come within two or three hundred feet of each other. Cross bars were built at each end of the narrow passage, dividing the fort into three parts, called The Old