and the monument was afterwards dedicated to the 'GOD ANALYSIS. OF THE AIR.' 1. Of the great teacher cans. 2 Tradition one of the Merican pic. preserved in ture wort tings. 6. 'The Mexicans ascribed all their improvements in the arts, and the ceremonies of their religion, to a white of the Mexi and bearded man, who came from an unknown region, and was made high priest of the city of Tula. From the numerous blessings which he bestowed upon mankind, and his aversion to cruelty and war, his was called the golden age, and the era of peace. Having received from the Great Spirit a drink which made him immortal, and being inspired with the desire of visiting a distant country, he went to the east, and, disappearing on the coast, was never afterwards seen. 'In one of the Mexican picture writings there is a delineation of a venerable looking man, who, with his wife, was saved in a canoe at the time of the great inundation, and, upon the retiring of the waters of the flood, was landed upon a mountain called Colhuacan. Their children were born dumb, and received different languages from a dove upon a lofty tree. 7. "The natives of Mechoacan are said by Clavigero, a. Important Humboldt, and others, to have a tradition, which, if cor- the natives of rectly reported, accords most singularly with the scriptural account of the deluge. The tradition relates that at the time of the great deluge, Tezpi, with his wife and children, embarked in a calli or house, taking with them several animals, and the seeds of different fruits; and that when the waters began to withdraw, a bird, called aura, was sent out, which remained feeding upon carrion; and that other birds were then sent out, which did not return, except the humming bird, which brought a small branch in its mouth. tradition of Mechoacan. Nature of ny furnish the testimo traditions. 5. The stm ple facts which they exhibit. 8. These traditions, and many others of a similar character that might be mentioned, form an important link in the chain of testimony which goes to substantiate the authenticity of Divine Revelation. 'We behold the unlettered tribes of a vast continent, who have lost all knowledge of their origin, or migration hither, preserving with remarkable distinctness, the apparent tradition o. certain events which the inspired penman tells us happened in the early ages of the world's history. We . Coincidenc readily detect, in several of these traditions, clouded ditions with though they are by fable, a striking coincidence with the scriptural accounts of the creation and the deluge; while in others we think we see some faint memorials of the destruction of the "cities of the plain" by "fire which came down from heaven," and of that "confusion of tongues" which fell upon the descendants of Noah in the plains of Shinar. of these tracertain scriptural ac counte ANALYSIS. sition that the count of the 9. If the scriptural account of the deluge, and the saving of Noah and his family be only a "delusive fable;" at 1. Dificulty in the suppo- what time, and under what circumstances, it may be asked, scriptural ac- could such a fable have been imposed upon the world for deluge &c, a fact, and with such impressive force that it should be is a fable. universally credited as true, and transmitted, in many languages, through different nations, and successive ages, 2. The alter by oral tradition alone? Those who can tolerate the anho tolerate supposition of such universal credulity, have no alternaButive but to reject the evidence derived from all human native of those experience, and, against a world of testimony weighing against them, to oppose merely the bare assertion of infidel unbelief. 8 Antiquities of the Indians race. 4. Consist of what. 5. Where found, and what. CHAPTER II. AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES SECTION I. ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES. 1. THE Antiquities of the Indians of the present race of the present are neither numerous nor important. "They consist chiefly of ornaments, warlike instruments, and domestic utensils; such as rude stone axes or tomahawks, knives and chisels, pipes, flint arrow-heads, an inferior kind of earthenware, and mortars that were used in preparing maize or corn for food. "These specimens of aboriginal evidences of art and ingenuity are frequently discovered in the cultivation of new lands, in the vicinity of old Indian towns, and particularly in the Indian burying places; but they present no evidences of a state of society superior to what is found among the Indians of the present day. "Some tribes erected mounds over the graves of illustrious chieftains; but these works can generally be distinguished cient tumult. from those ancient tumuli which are of unknown origin, by their inferior dimensions, their isolated situations, and the remains of known Indian fabrics that are found within them. 6. Modern mounds for burial; how distinguished from the an 7. Modern fragments sometimes 2. 'As articles of modern European origin, occasionally found in the Western States, have sometimes been blended gistaken for with those that are really ancient, great caution is requi、 site in receiving accounts of supposed antiquities, lest our credulity should impose upon us some modern fraginent ancient relics. manufuc English, and Roman cotns. for an ancient relic. 'As the French, at an early period, ANALYSIS. had establishments in our western territory, it would be 1. Implements surprising if the soil did not occasionally unfold some of French lost or buried remains of their residence there; and ture: French accordingly there have been found knives and pickaxes, iron and copper kettles, and implements of modern warfare, together with medals, and French and English coins; and even some ancient Roman coins were found in a cave in Tennessee; but these had doubtless been deposited there, and perhaps in view of the exploration of the cave, by some European since the country was traversed by the French. But, notwithstanding some 2. Reported reported discoveries to the contrary, it is confidently be- ancient coins, lieved that there has not been found, in all North America, a single medal, coin, or monument, bearing an inscription in any known language of the Old World, which has not been brought, or made here, since the discovery by Columbus. discoveries of ble antiqui edly ancient. tion of earth en ware. 3. There are, however, within the limits of the United 3 RemarkaStates, many antiquities of a remarkable character, which ties, confess cannot be ascribed either to Europeans or to the present Indian tribes, and which afford undoubted proofs of an origin from nations of considerable cultivation, and elevated far above the savage state. 'No articles of me- 4. Preserva chanical workmanship are more enduring than fragments of earthen ware, specimens of which, coeval in date with the remotest periods of civilization, have been found among the oldest ruins of the world. Numerous specimens, 5 Specimens moulded with great care, have also been discovered in the found the westera United States, and under such circumstances as to preclude the possibility of their being of recent origin. 4. 'Some years since, some workmen, in digging a well near Nashville, Tennessee, discovered an earthen pitcher, containing about a gallon, standing on a rock twenty feet below the surface of the earth. Its form was circular, and it was surmounted at the top by the figure of a female head covered with a conical cap. The head had strongly marked Asiatic features, and large ears extending as low as the chin.* 5 'Near some ancient remains on a fork of the Cumberland River, a curious specimen of pottery, called the "Triune vessel," or "Idol," was found about four feet below the surface of the earth. It consists of three hollow heads, joined together at the back by an inverted bellshaped hollow stem or handle. The features bear a strong resemblance to the Asiatic. The faces had been painted *Archaelogia Americana, vol. 1. p. 214. United 6 Earthen pitcher found at Nashville. 7. The "Trt une Vessel" found on a fork of the Cumberland River. ANALYSIS. With red and yellow, and the colors still retained great brilliancy. The vessel holds about a quart, and is composed of a fine clay, which has been hardened by the action of fire. 1. Idol of clay and gypsum Nashville. 6. 'Near Nashville, an idol composed of clay and gyp found near sum has been discovered, which represents a man without arms, having the hair plaited, a band around the head, and a flattened lump or cake upon the summit. It is said in all respects to resemble an idol found by Professor Pallas in the southern part of the Russian empire.* 2. Ashes and found at Sall Springs. 7. 'In an ancient excavation at the State salt works in earthenware Illinois, ashes and fragments of earthen ware were found at great depths below the surface; and similar appearances have been discovered at other works; which renders it probable that these springs were formerly worked by a civilized people, for the manufacture of salt.† 8. Remains and chim neys. 'Remains of fire-places and chimneys have been dis In the covered in various places, several feet below the surface of the earth, and where the soil was covered by the heaviest forest trees; from which the conclusion is probable that eight or ten hundred years had elapsed since these hearths were deserted.‡ 4. Medals representing the sun; cop silver cup, vessels, &.c. 5. Various articles of copper. 8. 'Medals, representing the sun, with its rays of light, have been found at various places in the Western States, together with utensils and ornaments of copper, sometimes plated with silver: and in one instance, in a mound at Marietta, a solid silver cup was found, with its surface smooth and regular, and its interior finely gilded.§ 'Articles of copper, such as pipe-bowls, arrow-heads, circular medals, &c., have been found in more than twenty 6. Mirrors of mounds. "Mirrors of isinglass have been found in many isinglass places. Traces of iron wholly consumed by rust have been discovered in a few instances. 'Some of the articles of pottery are skilfully wrought and polished, glazed and burned, and are in no respects inferior to those of modern manufacture.|| iron. 7. Articles of pottery. 8. These examples; their origin. 9. These are a few examples of the numerous articles of mechanical workmanship that have been discovered, and which evidently owe their origin to some former race, of far greater skill in the arts, than the present Indian 9. More im. tribes possess. But a class of antiquities, far more intequities; their resting than those already mentioned, and which afford extent. more decisive proof of the immense numbers, and at least Prtant anti character and *Archaelogia Americana, vol. 1. p. 11, and Pallas's Travels vol. 2nd. Some of the Indian tribes made use of rock salt, but it is not known that they understood the process of obtaining it by evaporation or boiling. Archælogia Am. vol. i. p. 202. Schoolcraft's View, p. 276. Schoolcraft's Mississippi, vol. i. 202, and Archælogia Am. vol. i. p. 227. partial civilization of their authors, consists of embank- ANALYSIS. ments of earth, trenches, walls of stone, and mounds, which are found in great numbers in the states bordering upon the Mississippi and its branches,-in the vicinity of the Great Lakes and their tributaries,—and in the Southern States and Florida. cient for. tresses. 10. 'Although upwards of a hundred remains of what 1 Rude an were apparently rude ancient forts or defensive fortifications, some of which were of considerable dimensions, have been discovered in the state of New York alone, yet they increase in number and in size towards the southwest. Some of the most remarkable only can be described. Marietta next page. 3. Consist of 11. At Marietta, Ohio, on an elevated plain above the 2 Ruins at present bank of the Muskingum, were, a few years since, some extraordinary remains of ancient works which ap- a. See No. 1, pear to have been fortifications. They consisted, principally, of two large oblong inclosures, the one containing an area of forty, and the other of twenty acres, together with several mounds and terraces, the largest mound being one hundred and fifteen feet in diameter at the base, and thirty feet in altitude. inclosure. 12. The fortresses were encompassed by walls of 4. Description earth, from six to ten feet high, and thirty feet in breadth. of the larger On each side of the larger inclosure were three entrances, at equal distances apart, the middle being the largest, especially on the side towards the Muskingum. This entrance was guarded by two parallel walls of earth, two hundred and thirty feet apart, and three hundred and sixty feet in length, and extending down to the former bank of the Muskingum. 13. Within the inclosed area, near the northwest corner, was an oblong terrace, one hundred and eighty eight feet in length, and nine feet high,-level on the summit, and having, on each side, regular ascents to the top. Near the south wall was another similar terrace; and at the southeast corner a third. Near the centre was a circular mound, thirty feet in diameter, and five feet high; and at the southwest corner, a semicircular parapet, to guard the entrance in that quarter. 5 Appear the inclosed ances within area. fort or inclo sure. 7. Conical 14. "The smaller fort had entrances on each side, and 6. The larger at each corner; most of the entrances being defended by circular mounds within. "The conical mound, near the smaller fort, was surrounded by a ditch, and an embank- mound near ment, through which was an opening towards the fortification, twenty feet in width. This mound was protected, in addition, by surrounding parapets and mounds, and outworks of various forms. Between the fortresses were 8 Excava tions. |