"The mound builders were inveterate smokers, if the great numbers of pipes discovered in the mounds be admitted as evidence of the fact. These constitute not only a numerous, but a singularly interesting class of remains. In their construction the skill of the maker seems to have been exhausted. Their general form, which may be regarded as the primitive form of the implement, is well exhibited in the accompanying sketch. They are always carved from a single piece, and consist of a flat carved bore of variable length and width, with the bowl rising from the centre of the convex side. From one of the ends, and communicating with the hollow of the bowl, is drilled a small hole, which answers the purpose of a tube; the corresponding opposite division being left for the manifest purpose of holding the implement to the mouth. "The specimen here represented is finely carved from a beautiful variety of brown porphyry, granulated with various-colored materials, the whole much changed by the action of fire, and somewhat resembling porcelain. It is intensely hard, and successfully resists the edge of the finest-tempered knife. The length of the base is five inches; breadth of the same one inch and a-quarter. The bowl is one inch and a-quarter high, slightly tapering upwards, but flaring near the top. The hollow of the bowl is six-tenths of an inch in diameter. The perforation answering to the tube is one-sixth of an inch in diameter, which is about the usual size. This circumstance places it beyond doubt that the mouth was applied directly to the implement, without the intervention of a tube of wood or metal." [Illustration: Indian pipe.] This is an account of a simple pipe, with a small bowl; but most of the pipes found in the mounds are highly ornamented with elaborate workmanship, representing animals such as the beaver, otter, bear, wolf, panther, raccoon, squirrel, wild-cat, manotee, eagle, hawk, heron, swallow, paroquet, etc. One of the most interesting of the spirited sculptures of animal forms to be found on the mound pipes, is the representation of the Lamantin, or Manotee, a cetacean found only in tropical waters, and the nearest place which they at present frequent is the coast of Florida--at least a thousand miles away. According to Sir John Lubbock, these are no rude sculptures, for the characteristics of the animal are all distinctly marked, rendering its recognition complete. Many modern Indians are possessed of a wonderful aptitude for sculpture, and they appear to gladly exchange their work for the necessaries of life.