plausible. Fort Venango was completed by the French at Franklin, seven
miles below the mouth of Oil Creek, in the spring of 1754, and this was
probably about the beginning of their active operations in this region.
But the construction of these pits no doubt antedates the French
operations very many years. Timber placed in these oil pits, and
thoroughly impregnated by its preserving properties, would be almost
proof against the ravages of time. As evidence of this, petroleum in
some of its forms entered largely into the ingredients used in embalming
by the ancient Egyptians. These embalmed bodies remain perfect to this
day. Even the cerements remain with every thread distinct and perfect as
when they came from the loom, in days when Joseph was prime minister in
Egypt.

There is evidence, too, from the growth of timber in the very beds of
these excavations, that they claim an antiquity greater far than the
occupation of their valleys by the French. Year after year, a silent,
solemn record was made by the concentric circles, first in the shrub,
next in the sapling, and then in the fully developed tree, that tells of
the lapse of time since these mysterious works were in operation.

Besides all this, where was the market for the immense quantity of
petroleum that must have been produced from these excavations, on the
supposition that they were constructed by the French? Surely not at
home, for neither in the misty traditions nor early records of that time
do we find reference to any large quantity of this product, nor even
their facilities for conveying it to the seaboard, had there been a
demand for it at home.

The sole object of the French at that time was to gain military
possession of the country. This is seen in the line of forts that was