There is no ditch. Nothing could more clearly mark the difference between this fortification and one that would have been made by a white race. An outer ditch is usually considered as not only of essential importance in works of defence, but its excavation supplies the earth required for the ramparts. It seems evident that either these Indians in their method of defensive warfare did not always consider a ditch to be useful, or it is possible that, in consequence of not having shovels or pickaxes, they preferred obtaining earth in some other manner which they found more convenient. Upon inquiring among the farmers who were occupying the adjacent land, I found that there was a prevalent opinion amongst them that the earth composing these embankments had been brought from a distance and that it had been carried by hand. It was also believed by them that the fort could not have been made by Indians and that it was built at a very remote period by some other race. When walking upon the top of the broad ramparts I observed that there were no evidences of the excavations that supplied the earth for the formation of the enormous banks. In some parts of the interior there were some shallow depressions, and also several holes which had been made for some unknown purpose, but they could not have provided the quantities required. It is possible, and, I think probable, that the earth was taken from the surface of the land within the inclosure. A shallow excavation made to a depth not exceeding six inches over the whole area of one hundred and forty acres would have given a sufficient supply. The methods of digging the ground, and of conveying the earth must necessarily have been very primitive, and it is surprising that, with all the difficulties that had to be overcome, works of such magnitude should have been raised. At a gap in an angle over-looking the river the remains of a road, which led down to the water, can still be traced. At the part where this road entered the fort it is evident that it had been paved with flat water-worn stones. The ramparts here reach their greatest dimensions, being fully twenty feet high. The appearance of Fort Ancient from this position was very remarkable, and the effect was heightened by the beautiful foliage of the forest trees that crowned the summits of these lofty earthworks. The inner part of the camp was strongly fortified. High banks were raised across the narrow part of the enclosure at the centre, and two mounds guarded the approach. The road to the outer camp from the plain was also protected by two mounds, and from these there ran low parallels for a distance of nearly fourteen hundred yards. They then terminated by closing round another mound which was probably used for the purpose of a look-out. Some labourers at a farm near this position told me that there once existed other parallel banks connected with the fort, which could be traced for several miles, but that these had been destroyed.