When the earliest Spanish expedition passed through that part of the country, it was observed that the Indians frequently placed their houses upon artificial earthworks raised sufficiently high to be above the inundations. At Natchez the tribe, which, from their peculiar customs, have been called the sun worshippers, raised mounds primarily for the residence of their chiefs, who differed from other Indians of that rank, in being invested with special attributes in connection with ceremonies performed before the rising sun. But there were customs with respect to them which require to be noticed. It was stated by Father le Petit, who was for many years a missionary amongst the Natchez, that when their principal chief died his hut was demolished and a new mound was raised, upon which was built the wooden cabin of his successor in that dignity. It can be understood that where a large tribe having this custom dwelt for a long time in one place, it might happen that a series of connected platform mounds, forming an inclosure, would probably have a rectangular shape. Higher up the Mississippi, above the junction of the Ohio, are the Cahokia earthworks. There were also several mounds placed on high ground near the east bank of the river, not far from the borders of Illinois and Wisconsin. One of these, which was about forty feet high, was opened ten years before I went to St. Paul’s. A vault was discovered beneath the level of the ground, which contained several skeletons sitting in a circle. The earth of which it was composed was a kind of loam, not occurring in the vicinity, and it was supposed that it must have been brought from a considerable distance by Indians who wished to show their respect for the burial place of their chiefs, by bringing tributes of earth taken from the ground near their encampments. The high mounds placed around the edge of the promontory, now called Dayton’s Bluff, and which are the most northern group in the valley of the Mississippi, have been described in a preceding chapter. When I was in Chiapas, the Presbitero Macal told me that he was present when two mounds were examined in 1860, near San Cristobal. They were each ten feet high and covered vaults made of large flat slabs of stone. Within these tombs were two skulls, but nothing else was found. There were no weapons or fragments of pottery. In the vault under the mound in Illinois there were several large pieces of pottery, and on the surface, immediately above the tomb, were ashes and other evidences of fire.