ART. IV. View of Ticonderoga.

THE HE engraving in the number for this month presents a view of the remains of Ticonderoga Forts on Lake Champlain, from a drawing taken by Mr. H. Reinagle, the artist, of this city. Ticonderoga is a name familiar to the readers of our early history-its capture was one of those auspicious successes which ushered in the dawn of the revolution, and subsequent events have attached to Lake Champlain a memorable interest, by the decisive victory of Macdonough in the late war. It is situated about fifteen miles south of Crown Point, and about thirty north of Skeenesborough (now Whitehall), where Wood Creek falls into Lake Champlain. It is formed by a sharp angle in the narrow waters of the Lake, and an arm of that Lake stretching to the westward, which receives the waters of Lake George, at the foot of a precipitous fall of about twenty feet. The stream which connects these lakes makes a considerable curvature to the west, and in the distance of two miles tumbles over successive strata of rocks about three hundred feet, the difference of the level between the surface of Lake George and that of Lake Champlain, furnishing a variety of excellent mill scites, accessible to the navigable waters of Lake George forty miles, and to those of Lake Champlain and the river Sorel, which empties itself into the St. Lawrence, about one hundred and thirty miles. From this, the consequence of the situation will readily be perceiv ed.

Ticonderoga was long considered an important post, as it commanded, in times when the country was little explored and still less cleared, all the passes between Canada and the other provinces. It was fortified in the time of the French, long prior to the war of 1756. On the projecting rock that overhangs the margin of the lake, they established a barrier post named Carillon, a quadrangular work, with regular bastions of masonry. During that war, it was rendered famous by the repulse of General Abercrombie from before it, 8th July 1758, after having sustained a loss of near 2000 men in killed and wounded, although he might, by taking possession of a neighbouring height, called Mount Defiance, have easily carried the place.

The French officer who commanded at Ticonderoga, when he heard of General Abercrombie's approach, found it necessary to the defence of the post to take possession of an elevated ridge on the direct route to it from the landing at Lake George, which, at less than half a mile, entirely overlooked the works. This ridge is flat on the summit, and extends westwardly about half a mile to the saw-mills at the perpendicular fall before mentioned, where it terminates in still higher ground, called Mount Hope. On the south it presents a bold acclivity, washed by the strait, and to the north it declines until it sinks into a plain, which is extended about an hundred rods to the shore of the lake, where the bank is ten or twelve feet high; across the crown of this ridge, at the extremity nearest the fort, the garrison hastily threw up an intrenchment, with a common ditch, judiciously flanked, which was strengthened by felling

the forest trees in front outwards, and these they trimmed, pointed, and formed into an impervious abattis, sixty or eighty rods deep, in which the assailants became entangled, and were deliberately shot down, until, after repeated attempts during four hours, in which the most persevering resolution was displayed, they were called off, and the army immediately retreated without molestation. On the approach of General Amherst however, in 1759, with a superior force, Mons. Bourlémarque, the French commander, retired from Ticonderoga with his main body, leaving a garrison of four hundred men to defend the Forts, and intrenched himself on the opposite side of the strait formed by Crown Point and Chimney Point. General Amherst opened trenches against Carillon the 23d July, and the place was abandoned and blown up, after some opposition, on the 26th.

At the peace of 1763, it was confirmed to the British possession, and the Forts were repaired and placed in a posture of defence. In progress of time, as fresh roads and communications were opened, it became of inferior consequence as a pass, on which account it was in some degree neglected, though serving as a nucleus for the resort of Indians, whom the policy of hostilities might instigate to take up arms. On this account, it attracted the early attention of the adjacent states of Vermont and Connecticut on the breaking out of the war of the Revolution, and colonel Allen, at the head of two hundred and thirty green mountain boys as they were termed, was appointed, soon after the news of the battle of Lexington, to undertake the reduction of the place. Intelligence as to the state of the garrison was obtained by means of an officer who disguised himself, and entered the Fort in the character of a countryman wanting to be shaved. In searching for a barber, he observed every thing critically, asked a number of rustic questions, affected great ignorance, and passed unsuspected. Before night he withdrew, joined his party, and at an early hour in the morning guided them to the most vulnerable point. Colonel Allen arrived opposite to Ticonderoga on the 9th of May 1775. Boats were procured with difficulty, when he crossed over with 83 men, and landed near the garrison. The colonel headed, accompanied by the officer who was to act as guide, and entered the fort leading to the works early in the morning. A sentry snapped his piece at colonel Allen, and then retreated through the covered way to the parade, followed by the assailants Captain De la Place, the commander of the place, was surprised in his bed. Colonel Allen demanded the surrender of the keys, and upon the captain asking by what authority, he replied, 'I demand them in the name of the great Jehovah and the continental Congress.' Had the garrison been alarmed in time, they could have made no effectual resistance, as the fort was out of repair, and

*So called from their residing within the limits, of the Green Mountains, as the Hampshire grants were denominated, from the range of Green Mountains that runs through them-a brave hardy race, chiefly settlers from New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The territory has now the name of Vermont.

the effectives in it did not exceed 49 men.*

Could he have gained timely intelligence, he might have procured a reinforcement from St. John's, but the coup de main was so secretly and well conducted, that not the remotest suspicion of the intended attack was entertained.

In the progress of the war of the revolution, we find Ticonderoga occupied by a detachment of the American army, employed in improving the old French lines, and erecting new works on the same side of the lake, and also on Mount Independence, which is separated from Ticonderoga by a strait about 80 poles wide. General Gates had his head-quarters here, and was afterwards succeeded by Major general St. Clair. On the approach of the British army under Lieut. general Burgoyne, in 1777, it was judged proper to evacuate the place, owing to the very superior force of the enemy, and the want of adequate means of defending both the Forts and Mount Independence, possession of the latter being essential to the preservation of the former. At that period, it was impossible to spare reinforcements, operations to the eastward requiring the services of every individual of the main army.

In the course of the war however, after the surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, it reverted to the possession of the American army.

The view is taken from the cottage seen, at Lacobie point, and bears a western aspect. The Forts are in a state of ruin; but the stone walls of the barracks are standing, and from the durability of the materials, likely to remain in a state of good preservation for a considerable time. The officers' wing of apartments, being built of brick, is dilapidated, and supplies the house below on the shore, which is inhabited by a farmer, with building materials. This house formerly was a store of the garrison, and a bridge once stretched across from the fort to the opposite shore. The remains of the bastion, on the rocky projection, under which the sloop is seen, and which commanded the navigation of the lake, are still existing. The character of the adjacent country, it will be seen, is mountainous; on the Vermont side it is level. It is remarkably healthy, and many of the inhabitants attain to longevity. The beauty of the situation, and curiosity, excited by a recollection of the events on Lake Champlain, now peacefully navigated by the steamboat, which carries passengers at a very moderate rate, contribute to attract the resort of numerous travellers in the summer season, and to attach something more than an ordinary interest to the scene represented.

* The prisoners were, the captain, lieutenant, a gunner, 2 serjeants, and 44 rank and file, beside women and children. There were captured about 120 iron cannon from 6 to 24 pounders; 2 brass cannon; 50 swivels of different sizes; 2 ten inch mortars; 1 howitzer: 1 cohorn; 10 tons of musket balls; 3 cart-loads of flints, 30 new gun-carriages; a considerable quantity of shells; a store-house full of materials to carry on boat-building; 100 stand of small arms; 10 casks of powder, 30 barrels of flour; 18 barrels of pork, and some beans and pease.

ART. V. On the Population and Tumuli of the Aborigines of North America. In a letter from H. M. Brackenridge, esq. to Thomas Jefferson.-Read Oct. 1, 1813.

[From the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society.]

Baton Rouge, July 25, 1813.

SIR-From a knowledge that research into the history of the primitive inhabitants of America, is one of your favourite amusements, I take the liberty of making this communication. My attention to the subject, was first awakened on reading, when a boy, the observations contained in the Notes on Virginia,' and it has become, with me, a favourite theme of speculation. I often visited the mound, and other remains of Indian antiquity in the neighbourhood of Pittsburgh, my native town, attracted by a pleasing interest, of which I scarcely knew the cause, and afterwards read, and heard with delight, whatever related to these monuments of the first, or rather earlier, inhabitants of my native country. Since the year 1810 (without previously intending it) I have visited almost every thing of this kind, worthy of note on the Ohio and Mississippi; and from examination and reflection, something like hypothesis, has taken the place of the vague wanderings of fancy. The following is a sketch of the result of those observations.

I. Throughout, what is denominated by Volney, the valley of the Mississippi, there exist the traces of a population far beyond what this extensive and fertile portion of the continent, is supposed to have possessed: greater, perhaps, than could be supported of the present white inhabitants, even with the careful agriculture practised in the most populous parts of Europe. The reason of this, is to be found in the peculiar manners of the inhabitants by whom it was formerly occupied; like those of Mexico, their agriculture had for its only object their own sustenance; no surplus was demanded for commerce with foreign nations, and no part of the soil, susceptible of culture, was devoted to pasturage; yet, extensive forests filled with wild animals would still remain. The aggregate population of the country might be less, but that of particular districts much greater. We must, in this way, account for the astonishing population of the vale of Mexico when first known to the Spaniards; perhaps equal to any district of the same extent of climate.* The astonishing population of Owyhee, and Otaheite, must be accounted for in the same way. There are certainly many districts on the Ohio and Mississippi equally favourable to a numerous population. When I contemplated the beauty and fertility of those spots, I could scarcely believe it possible, that they should never have supported a numerous population; such a fact would form an exception to what has usually occurred, in every other part of the globe.

II. In the valley of the Mississippi, there are discovered the traces of two distinct traces of people, or periods of population.

* See Humboldt, Vol. II. page 127.