It is much to be regretted that the evidence upon this interesting subject is so vague and obscure. If men of foreign origin had been settled in Ohio before the fourteenth century it would be reasonable to expect that traces of them would have been left there or some remaining indications of their religion. In the reports and letters of the French missionaries, many of whom spoke and understood the language of the tribes amongst whom they lived, there is no mention made of any rumours or traditions of white people having dwelt in this part of America. There were however at a later period, about the middle of the eighteenth century, certain statements made by officers and men who had been made prisoners by the Indians, which, at that time, received much attention. A cavalry officer, named Stuart, said that in the country west of Mississippi he had seen a tribe of Indians who were remarkably white in colour and had reddish hair. He was informed by them that their forefathers came from a foreign land and had settled in Florida, but that when the Spaniards invaded that country they moved to their present dwelling places. A fellow-captive, who was a Welshman, declared that he understood the language of the tribe, as it differed very little from what was spoken in Wales. Other reports of a similar character were made by men who had lived with tribes occupying lands near the southern parts of the Mississippi valley. It has also been noticed that Indians having fair hair and blue eyes, were living with the Mandans in their settlements near the Missouri. With respect to the statements about Welsh speaking Indians, it is possible that the captives may have been influenced by the belief in the truth of the tradition that ships, under the direction of Prince Madoc, left the Welsh coasts in the twelfth century and landed their crews and emigrants on the eastern shores of the Florida peninsula.[27] It is not, however, necessary to account for the existence of large but irregular embankments, such as those at Fort Ancient, by the supposition that the actions of a numerous tribe of Indians were under the influence or direction of men belonging to another race. But it is otherwise with reference to the geometrical inclosures on the plains, for these must have been unquestionally planned by men who possessed a competent knowledge of the methods of tracing mathematical designs. Take for example the plans of the works at Newark and Circleville. It may be thought that simple figures, such as the squares, would be within the comprehension of uneducated Indians. It would nevertheless be found difficult to lay down upon open fields a square, with all the sides equal and its angles true right angles, containing so large an area as twenty acres.[28] [Illustration: OCTAGONAL AND CIRCULAR INCLOSURES NEAR NEWARK.]