f a numer tally civil ple. ANALYSIS. bers throughout the United States. West of the Alleghanies, the number of the mural remains alone has been estimated at more than five thousand, and the mounds The work at a much greater number. That they were the work ous, and par of multitudes of the human family, who were associated ized, but un- in large communities, who cultivated the soil, and who known peo had arrived at a degree of civilization considerably beyond that of the present Indian tribes, cannot be doubted. But the names and the history of these people we shall probably never with certainty learn. Curtained by the hand of time, which has left no written records, if any ever existed, their all but a few earth-embosomed relics have passed into oblivion. At the period of the first discovery of the continent, not only had this unknown but numerous people passed away from their ancient dwelling places, but ages must have elapsed since their "altars and their fires" were deserted; for over all the monuments which alone perpetuate the knowledge of their existence, the forest had already extended its shades, and NATURE had triumphantly resumed her empire, cheating the wondering European with the belief that her solitudes had never before been broken but by the wild beasts that roamed here, or the stealthy footsteps of the rude Indian. 2. Evidence of the anti quity of the ruins described. as ice proceed SECTION II. ANTIQUITIES FOUND IN OTHER PORTIONS OF THE CONTINENT. 3. Increasing 1. Although the deserted remains that have been evidences of civilization described, and others of a similar character-the work of farther south a people apparently long extinct, were the only evidence of a former civilization within the limits of the United States; yet a far different spectacle was presented on entering the regions farther south, where, instead of the buried relics of a former greatness, its living reality was found. 2. 'When the Spanish invaders landed on the coast of Mexico and in Peru, they found there, instead of feeble wandering tribes, as at the north, populous and powerful agricultural nations, with regular forms of government, established systems of law and religion, immense cities, magnificent edifices and temples, extensive roads,* aqueducts, and other public works; all showing a high degree of advancement in many of the arts, and rivalling, in "At the time when the Spaniards entered Peru, no kingdom in Europe could boast of any work of public utility that could be compared with the great roads formed by the Incas.' -Robertson's America many respects, the regularly organized states of the Old ANALYSIS. World. Pyramids and mounds: great pyramid in the city Mex ico. 3. 'The Mexicans constructed pyramids and mounds 1. Mexican far more extensive than those which have been discovered in the United States. Within the city of Mexico alone, were more than two thousand pyramidal mounds, the largest of which, in the central square of the city, was constructed of clay, and had been erected but a short time before the landing of Cortes. It had five stories, with flights of stairs leading to its superior platform; its base was three hundred and eighteen feet in length; its height was one hundred and twenty-one feet, and it was surrounded by a wall of hewn stone. This pyramid was dedicated to one of the Mexican gods, and sacrifices were offered upon its summit. 2. Pyramid, works in and other Tezcuco. Cholula. 4. In Tezcuco was a pyramid constructed of enormous masses of basalt, regularly cut, and beautifully polished, and covered with sculptures. There are still seen the foundations of large edifices, and the remains of a fine aqueduct in a state of sufficient preservation for present use. Near the city of Cholula, was the largest pyramid 3 Pyramid of in Mexico. This also was designed for religious purposes, and was sacred to the "God of the Air." It was constructed of alternate layers of clay and unburnt brick, and was one thousand four hundred and twenty-three feet in length, and one hundred and seventy-seven feet in height. 4. General extent of the in Mexico. character and ruins found 5. Agricul 5. Such was the character of some of the Mexican pyramids, the ruins of many of which, imposingly grand even in their desolation, still crown the hill-tops, and strew the plains of Mexico. The remains of extensive public edifices of a different character, devoted to the purposes of civil life, and many of them built of hewn and sculptured stone, are also numerous. The soil of Mexico was under a rich state of cultivation, and the cities were not only numerous, but some of them are supposed to have tion of Mex contained one or two hundred thousand inhabitants. The city of Tezcuco, which was even larger than that of Mexico, was estimated by early writers to contain one hundred and forty thousand houses. 6. 'Extensive ruins of cities, containing the remains of pyramids and the walls of massive buildings, broken columns, altars, statues, and sculptured fragments, show. ing that their authors had attained considerable knowledge of the arts, and were a numerous, although an idolatrous people, are likewise found in great numbers throughout Chiapas and Yucatan; and in the neighboring Central American provinces of Honduras and Guatimala. Only 6. ture, cities, and popula ico. Nature and ruins found and Central extent of the in Yucatan America. HONDURAS ed map shows the localities of the ruins that are described, the most important of which are those of Palenque in Chiapas, of Copan in Honduras, and of Uxmal and Chichen in Northern Yucatan. RUINS OF PALENQUE. 1. The ruins of Palenque, in the province of Chiapas, bordering upon Yucatan, are the first which awakened attention to the existence of ancient and unknown cities in America. "They were known to the Spaniards as early as 1750; and in 1787 they were explored by order of the King of Spain, under a commission from the gov ernment of Guatimala. The account of the exploration was however locked up in the archives of Guatimala until the time of the Mexican Revolution. In 1822 an English translation was published in London, which was the first notice in Europe of the discovery of these ruins. a. See No. 1. 2. The principal of the structures that have been 3. The eleva described, stands on an artificial elevation, forty feet tion on which For the description of the Ruins of Palenque, Copan, Chichen, Uxmal, &c., we are mainly indebted to the valuable works of Mr. Stephens. The illustrative engravings are likewise taken, by permission, from the same works, to which the reader is referred for the fullest description which has yet been published of the Ruins in this portion of America. See Stephens' "Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan," 2 vols. 1841; and Stephens' "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," 2 vols. 1843. stands the principal of the ruins of high, three hundred and ten feet in length, and two hun- ANALYSIS dred and sixty in width. This elevation was formerly faced with stone, which has been thrown down by the growth of trees, and its form is now hardly distinguishable. The building itself, which is called by the natives "The Palace," is about twenty-five feet high, and measures two hundred and twenty-eight feet front, by one hundred and eighty feet deep. The front originally contained fourteen doorways, with intervening piers, of which all but six are now in ruins. ing called "The Pal ace." PLAN OF PALENQUE, No. 1, CALLED THE PALACE. The dark parts represent the walls that are still standing. The other walls are in ruins. the building. 3. The walls are of stone, laid with mortar and sand, 2. Walls of and the whole is covered by a fine plaster, or stucco, nearly as hard as stone, and painted. The piers are 3. Piers. covered with human figures, hieroglyphics, and ornaments. The building has two parallel corridors, or gal- 4. Corridors. leries, running lengthwise on all four of its sides, the floors of which are covered with an exceedingly hard cement, and the walls ornamented. 'In the eastern part 5. Stone steps of the building, a range of stone steps, thirty feet long, leads from the inner corridor to a rectangular court yard, eighty feet long by seventy broad, now encumbered by trees, and strewed with ruins. 4. 'On each side of the steps are the forms of gigantic human figures, nine or ten feet high, carved on stone, with rich head-dresses and necklaces; and on the farther side and court yard. Sculptured human Ag ures. 1. Stone ANALYSIS. of the court yard, on each side of a corresponding flight of steps, are similar figures. 'In one part of the building tower. is a substantial stone tower of three stories, thirty feet square at the base, and rising far above the surrounding Ornaments, Walls. The ornaments throughout the building are so the rooms. numerous, and the plan of the rooms so complicated, as to forbid any attempt at minute description. and plan o 3. Description of the build the Tribu nal of Jus tice." See No. 2, page 74. 5. 'Immediately adjoining the building above described ing called is another, but of smaller dimensions, although placed on a more elevated terrace. Both terrace and building are surrounded by trees, and completely overgrown with them. The front of the building is richly ornamented in stucco, the corner piers are covered with hieroglyphics, and the intervening ones with human figures. The walls are very massive, the floors are paved with large square stones, and in one of the corridors, projecting from the wall, are two large tablets of hieroglyphics, each thirteen feet long and eight feet high. This building has been called, by the Spaniards, the "Tribunal of Justice;" and the tablets of hieroglyphics, the "Tables of the Law." 4. Other 6. The remaining buildings of Palenque are likewise buildings. placed on elevated terraces, and in their general character are similar to those already described. 5. Extent of Palenque. Although it has been repeatedly asserted that these the ruins of ruins cover a space of from twenty to sixty miles in extent, and although it is possible that in the dense surrounding forest other ruins may yet be discovered, yet it is believed that all those which have been explored are embraced within an area of less than an acre. 1. Situation of the ruins RUINS OF COPAN. 1. "The ruins of Copan, in the western part of Honduof Copan ras, adjoining the province of Guatimala, are on the east. |