Comment by Ed. These mounds have been effaced by the growth of the city. The map of them prepared by Long's party was not published until 1861; it will be found on page 387 of the Smithsonian Institution Report for that year.
[084] The uncertainty with which the shell mentioned was classed as Cassis cornutus renders its identification in terms of modern nomenclature practically impossible; such identification could be accurately made only by examination of the same specimen. The value of the argument relative to the origin of the Indians is, therefore, not easy to estimate.—Ed.
[085] From this fact it derived the name "Monk's Mound." The Trappist establishment was made in 1808, but was soon afterwards abandoned. The mound is one of the largest in the United States—the area of the base is six acres, that of the top two; the height is ninety-one feet.—Ed.
[086] Maturin.-James.
Comment by Ed. Charles Robert Maturin (1782-1816) was a Dublin dramatist and novelist. In his writings passages of undoubted eloquence were strangely mingled with extravagance and bombast. The incoherence of his plots and the inconsistency of his characters led many who recognized his genius to believe him mad.
[087] The cordelle was a rope, often several hundred yards long, by means of which men towed boats up rapid streams. When the current was especially strong, the end of the cordelle was attached to a tree and a windlass used.—Ed.
[088] In a section of forty feet perpendicular, of the alluvion of the Mississippi, near New Madrid, Mr. Shultz found seven hundred and ninety-eight layers, indicating an equal number of inundations, in the time of their deposition. Supposing these inundations to have happened yearly, we have an easy method of forming an estimate of the rapidity of the elevation of the bed of the Mississippi. These layers were found to vary in thickness, from one-fourth of an inch to three inches. See Shultz's Travels, vol. ii. p. 90.—James.
[089] Bellefontaine, or Fort Bellefontaine (old Fort Charles the Prince), was occupied by troops until 1826. See Thwaites, Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, v, pp. 392, 393, note 2. The site of the newer works mentioned in the text is now uncertain. An island opposite the mouth of Cold Water Creek was the camp of Lewis and Clark the first night after beginning the ascent of the Missouri (May 14, 1804).—Ed.
[090] Tilia Americana. The Podalyria alba, anemone virginiana, polygala incarnata (prairies) anagallis arvensis, lathyrus decaphyllus, ranunculus fluviatalis, carex multiflora, &c. were collected at Bellefontain. Dr. Baldwin's MS. Notes.—James.
[091] The correct orthography of the word is Charbonnière, which means "carrying coals."—Ed.