"About twenty years ago, a singular discovery was made of a subterranean village in this county. The houses were disinterred by excavating a canal for the purpose of washing gold. The depth varied from seven to nine feet. Some of the houses were imbedded in the stratum, or gravel. The logs were but partially decayed, from six to ten inches in diameter, and from ten to twelve feet long. The walls were from three to six feet in height, joined together, forming a straight line upwards of three hundred feet in length, comprising thirty-four buildings, or rooms. The logs were hewn at the ends, and notched down, as in ordinary cabins of the present day. In one of the rooms were found three baskets, made of cane splits, and a number of fragments of Indian ware. From the circumstance of the land having been covered with a heavy growth of timber previous to its cultivation by the whites, twelve years before the time of its discovery, it was inferred that they were built at some remote period. The houses were situated from fifty to one hundred yards from the principal channel of the creek.
"A great number of curious specimens of workmanship were found in situations which preclude the possibility of their having been moved for more than a thousand years. During the operations of a gentleman, he found, at one time, about one-half of a crucible, of the capacity of near a gallon. It was ten feet below the surface, and immediately beneath a large oak-tree, which measured five feet in diameter, and must have been four or five hundred years old. The deposite was diluvial, and what may be termed table-land. There was a vessel, or rather, a double mortar, found in Duke's Creek, about five inches in diameter,and the excavation on each side was nearly an inch in depth, and perfectly polished. It was made of quartz, which had been semi-transparent, but had become stained with iron. Some suppose it was used for grinding paint, or for some of their plays or games. The lot of land upon which this discovery was made is in the third district of Habersham, four miles from the Nacoochee valley, on Duke's Creek."
