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V , A: T. .'- /».-''v 1^ i r — ^ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES I AND li DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST: KEING AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVIDENC E THAT AN ANCIENT POPULATION OF PARTIALLV (IVII.IZKI) NATIONS DIKFERING, ENTIRKI.Y FROM THOSE OF THE PRESENT INDIANS PEOPLED AMERICA MANY CENTURIES BEFORE IW niSCUVERY liV COLTMBIS, AND INQUIRIES INTO THEIR ORIGIN, WITH A COPIOUS D E S C R 1 P T 1 O N OF MAXY OF THEIR STUPENDOUS WORKS NOW IN RUINS WITH (ON.IKCTl llES CONCERMNCi WHAT MAY HAVE BECOME OF THEM. Conipilcd from TravrU* Autbenlie Sources, and th« Researches of Auti • 156 id 159 )V • 104 ■ji: « 167 ■ 169 • 172 t 174 • 177 CONTENTS. VU Page^ Works of the ancient nations in ruins on the north fork of Paint creek, Ohio, 189 Traits of anctcnt cities on the Mississippi, near St. Louis, 193 Tradition of the Mexican natives respecting their migration from the north to that country, 195 Supposed uses of the ancient roads, as connected with the mounds, still traceable in some places, 198 Traits of the Mosaic history found among the Azteca In- dians of Mexico, 205 A curious account of the ceremonies of fire \vorship,as once practised by certain tribes on the Arkansas, 215 Supposed origin of fire worship among the ancients, 218 A further account of western antiquities, compared with si- milar discoveries in Russia, 220 A curious account of the discovery of America by the Nor- wegians and Welch, 8 and 900 years ago, • • • • .' . 229 Ruins of the city of Ololum, built of hewn stone, 800 miles below New Orleans, : 246 A specimen of the ancient manner of the American nations, combining their letters so as to spell, 248 Great stone calendar of the Mexicans, with a fac simile of the engravings on it, 255 State of the arts of the ancient inhabitants of America, as shown by articles found in their tumuli, 263 Great size of some of the Mexican mounds, 274 Predilection of the ancients to pyramid or tumuli building, 275 A curious specimen of antediluvian letters, 280 Voyages and shipping of the Mongol Tartars, and settle- ments on the western coast of America, 283 A further account of Avestern discoveries, 290 Various opinions of antiquarians respecting the original in- habitants of this country, 293 vm CONTENTS. !• li < I i Page Voyages of the ancients from Italy and from Africa to the continent of America and its adjacent islands, 298 Further remarks on the subject of human complexions, . . . 301 Cannibalism practised in America and in other countries,. 308 The Atlantic nations of America, by C. S. Rafinesque, . . . 313 Primitive origin of the English language by C. S. Rafin- esque, 315 An account of colonies of Danes in America, from Europe, 322 Ancient chronology of the Onguys or Iroquois Indians,. . . 335 An African tradition respecting the origin of human com- plexions, 338 Of the disappearance of many ancient lakes of the west, and of the formation of seacoal, 339 Further remarks on the draining of the western country of its ancient lakes, 356 Supposed causes of the disappearance of the ancient Amer- ican inhabitants, 361 Lake Ontario supposed to have been formed by the crater of a volcano, 364 Remarks on geology, against the system which supposes the earth to have existed many ages before man was created, 371 Remarks of Wm. Wirt on the history of ancient America, 377 Resemblance of the western Indians to the ancient Greeks, 379 Traits of the Romans in America, 385 Traits of white nations in Georgia and Kentucky, before Columbus' time, and the traditions of the Indians respect- ing them, 390 the • • 298 • • 301 s,. 308 • • 313 in- • • 315 3e, 322 • • 335 m- • • 338 St, ■ • 339 of ■ • 356 3r- - • • 361 er I • 364 le d, 371 a, 377 s, 379 • 385 AHEERICAIV Al^TI^UITIES AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. A LOFTY summit on a range of mountains, called Ararat, in Asia, furnished the resting place of the Ark, which contained the progenitors of both man and animals, who have replenished the Globe since the era of the Deluge. Ararat is a chain of mountains, running partly round the south- ern end of the Caspian, and is situated between the Caspian and Black Seas ; in latitude north, about 38 deg. agreeing with the middle of the United States, and is from London, a distance of about two thousand four hundred miles, in a southeasterly course, and from the Atlantic coast of the State of New York, nearly six thousand, in an exact easterly direction. We give the following from the recent travels of Sir Robert Ker Porter, which cannot but be highly interesting ; as his account respects the actual appearance of Ararat, having examined it himself, in 1820. "On leaving our halting place, where we had rested for the night a fuller view of the great plain of Ararat gradually expand- ed before us, and the mountain itself in all its majesty, began to tower to the very canopy of heaven. Wc now took a descending position due east over a stony and difficult road ; wiiich carried 10 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES !j|! I'i|! US for more than ten worst, (or eight miles) through several close and rocky defiles, till we reached a small Mahometan village on the side of the Mosschian hills, where we again halted for the night. On the morning of the 17th, we set forth over a road as bad as that of the day before, in a direction southeast, and grad- ually descending from a great height through a very extended slopeing country towards the immense plain of Ararat. As the vale opened beneath us in our decent my whole atten- tion became absorbed in the view before me. A vast plain peopled with countless villages, and the subordinate range of mountains skiriting the base of the awful monument of the antediluvian world. I seemed to stand on a stupendous brink in the history of man, uniting the.tvvo races of men before and after the flood. But it was not till we had arrived on the flat plain that I beheld Ararat in all its amplitude of grandeur. From the spot where I stood it appeared as if the hugest mountains of the world had been piled upon each other to form this sublime immensity of earth, rock and snow. The icy peaks of its double heads rose majestically into the clear and cloudless heavens, from which the suns rays were reflected in an ocean of light glaring around its summits. This stage of the view united the utmost points of the grandeur of plain and inaccessable mountain height. The inhabitants dwelling on the plain, around this mountain, all unite in reverencing it as the haven of the great ship which preserved the father of mankind from the waters of the deluge. The height of Ararat has never yet been stisfactorily measured ; but the best measurments of it was taken by Montieth of the Madras engineers, from the spot where Porter viewed it to the highest point of the loftiest head, and was found to be fifty-five thousand yards, which is full five miles and a half perpendiqular altitude. At the distance of about a half mile from the highest peak, there ascends another horn or point of the mountain, but not as high as the former. In order to pro- duce those two peaks, the mountain, a great distance up, is di- vided. Between these two points on the narrow vale it is be- lieved the Ark rested, as it was impossible that it could have rest- ed on either of the inaccessible points, which have never been trodden by the foot of man, being perpetually covered with snow and ice, while the plain around is adorned with verdure. On the eastern side of this mountain the slope is gentle, so far up as where it divides into the fingers ; but on the other sides it s AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 11 cral close illage on for the I road as ind grad- extended Die atten- n peopled nountains an world. of man, . But it 1 Ararat I stood it een piled rock and :ally into lys were ts. This r of plain lling on it as the mankind las never nts of it the spot ead, and ve miles ut a half f point of r to pro- ip, is di- it is be- ive rest- eer been ith snow I, so far sides it is very steep, jagged and precipitous, giving ofl' branches in a con- fused md broken manner, stretching oti* northward after the gen- eral range of the mountains of Armenia. This peculiar form must have favored the descent of the family of Noah into the plains below where he first commenced the cul- tivation of the vine, and of other plants calculated to produce food. From all appearances, this tremendous mountain is the product of internal fires, which it is likely were in operation before the flood, as no traditions of the inhabitants speak of its having been a volcano since that time. The descending portion of the country, which bounds the great plain being partly round the base of Ararat, favors this supposi- tion, as well also as the nature of the strata which forms the moun- tains giving evidence, by tiie vast quantities of eruptive matter that here burnt, one of the volcanic fires of the antediluvian world." {Porter's Travels, vol. 1, pp. 181—185.; Wc have been thus particular to describe the exact situation, as generally allowed, of that range of mountains ; because from this place, which is nearly on the western end of the Asiatic continent, Noah and his posterity descended, and spread themselves over many parts of the earth, and as we suppose, even to America, re- newing the race of man, which well nigh had become extinct from the devastation and ruin of the universal fiood. But that the fiood of Noah was unirersal is gravely doubted ; in proof of which, the abettors of this doubt, bring the traditional history of the ancient Chinese. Professor Rafinesque, of the city of Philadelphia, confessedly a learned and most able antiquarian, has recently advanced the following exceedingly interesting and curious matter, which relates to this subject, as follows. ^^Hlslory of China before the Flood. The traditions preserved by many ancient nations of the earliest history of the earth and mankind, before and after the great floods, which have desolated the globe, are highly interesting. Ancient China was in the eastern slopes and branches of the mouutains of Central Asia, the hoary Malaya, where it is as yet very doubtful whether the flood thoroughly extended." But though this is doubted, we cannot subscribe to the opinion, however great our deference may be for the ability and research of those who have ventured to doubt. We feel by far a greater 12 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 11 'I ;• deference for the statement of the Hebrew author of the book of Genesis ; an historian of the highest accredited antiquity. This author says plainly, that *'a/Z the high hills under the whole heav- en were covered ;" and that "fifteen cubits and upwards, the wa- ters prevailed ; and the mountains were covered." But not so, if we are to believe the above suggestion, which would leave a very large tract of country of Central Asia exempt from the flood of Noah. This opinion, which contradicts the Bible account of that flood, is founded on "the traditional history of China, which speaks of two great floods which desolated, but did not overflow the land. They answer, says Mr. Rafinesque, to the two great floods of Noah and Peleg, recorded in the Bible. "The latter, the flood of Peleg, or Yao, was caused, he says, by volcanic paroxysms all over the earth ;" but "much less fatal than the flood of Noah, or Yu-ti, in China," which was no doubt the fact. Respecting this flood, "the following details are taken chiefly from the Chinese historians, Liii-yu and Lo-pi, whose works are called Y-tese, and Uai-ki, as translated by Leroux." These say, that "the first flood happened under the 8th Ki, or period called Yu-ti, and the first emperor of it," was ^^ Chin-sang, about 3170 yeax's before Christ," 826 before the flood. But neither can this be true, as the flood of Noah took place 1656 years from the creation, [which would be but 2344 years before Christ ; being a mistake of about 826 years. Wherefore, if there is any truth in the Chinese history at all, it must allude to some flood before that of Noah ; an account of which may have been received from Noah himself, and preserved by the Chinese. The flood alluded to, by the above named historians, did not, it is true, according to their account, overflow the tchole earth, but was such as that the waters did not return to their usual channels for a long time ; "The misery of mankind was extreme ; the beasts and serpents were very numerous ;" being driven together by the pursuit of the waters, and also "storms and cold" had greatly in- creased. Chin-sang collected the wandering men to unite against the wild beasts, to dress their skins for clothing, and to weave their fur into webs and caps. This emperor was venerated for these benefits, and began a Shi, or dynasty that lasted 350 years." AND DISCOVERIES IX THE WEST. 13 This account would suit very well to the character of Nimrod the founder of the first monarchy after the flood, whom wo are much inclined to think the Chinese historians j»oint out, instead of any king before the era of the flood of Noah. But to the research of the highly gifted anticjuarian, Ilafinesciuc, we are greatly indebted in one important respect, as it is well known that persons in the learned world have greatly admired the boast- ed antiquity of the Chinese nations, who, by their records, make the earth iiuich older than the account given by Moses. But this philosopher on this subject writes as follows : "The two Chinese words, Kl and i^hi translated period and di/noslij, or family, are of some importance. As they now stand translated, they would make the world very old ; since no loss than ten Ki, or periods, are enumerated, (wo arc in the 10th ;) wherein 232 Shi, or dy- nasties of emperors, are said to have ruled in China, during a course of 270,480 years Christ, at the lowest computation; and 90,962,220 before Christ, at the highest ; with many intermedia- ry calculations, by various authors. But if Ki, he says, may also mean a dynasty, or division, or peo|)Ie, as it appears to do in some instances, and Shi, an age, or a tribe, or reign, the whole preposterous computation will prove false, or be easily reduced to agree with those of the Hindoos, Per- sians and Egyptians ;'' and come within the age of the earth as given in the Scriptures. If the central region of Asia, may have been exempted from that flood, we may then safely inquire whether other parts of the globe may not also have been exempt ; where men and animals were preserved ; and thus the account of the Ark, in which, as related by Moses, both men and animals were saved, is completely overturned. liut the universal traditions of all nations, contradict this, while the earth, every where shows signs of the operations of the waters, in agreement with this universal tradition. If such a flood never took place, which rushed over tlic earth with extra- ordinary violence, how, it may be enquired, are there found in Si- beria, in north latitude 60 and 70 deg. great masses of the bones of the elephant and rhinoceros — animals of the hot regions of the equator. From this it is evident that the flood which wafted the bodies of those animals,rollcdexactly over all China and the Hindoo regions. In all parts of the earth, even on the highest regions and III. ^1 "• • 14 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES mountains, are found oceanic remains. Whales have been found in the mountains of Greenland, and also in other parts, as in Amer- ica, far from the ocean. Chinese history, it is true, gives an account of many floods, which have ruined whole tracts of that country, as many as sixly- iive, one of which, in the year 185 before Christ, it is said, form- ed that body of water called the Yellow Sea, situated between Co- rea and China. But were the histoy of American floods written, occasioned by similar causes : such as rivers rupturing their mountain barriers ; and the shocks of earthquakes, since the time of Noah's flood ; who could say there would not be as many. We shall have oc- casion to speak of this subject before we close this volume. It is said that the history of China gives an account of the state of mankind before the flood of Yuti, or Noah, and represents them as having been happy, ruled by benevolent monarchs, who took nothing and gave much ; the world submitted to their virtues and good laws ; they wore no crowns, but long hair ; nevor made war, and put no one to death. But this is also contrary to the account of Moses ; who says the earth betorc the flood was corrupt before God, and was filled with violence. But they carry Iheir descrip- tion of the happiness of men so high, as to represent perfect har- mony as having existed between men and animals ; when men liv- ed on roots and the fruits of the earth ; that they did not follow hunting ; property was common, and universal concord prevailed. From this high wrought account of the pristine happiness of man, we are at once referred to the original state of Adam in Paradise, and to his patriarchal government after his fall and it is likely also to that of his successors, till men had Tiultiplied in the earth ; so as to form conflicting interests, when the rapine and violence com- menced, as spoken of by Moses, which it seems grew worse and worse, till the flood came and took them all away. That the central parts of Asia were not overflown by the deluge, appears of vast importance to some philosophers of the present day to be established. For if so, we see, say they at once, how both men and animals were preserved from that flood ; and yet this does not, they say, militate against the Mosaic account ; for the very word ark is in the original language, theba and signifies re- fifgCy and is the country of Thibet. So that when Moses talked 1 Tit ASD DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 15 about an ark, he only meant the central part of Asia, or Thibet, in \.luch men and animals were saved, instead of a vessel. Thebttj or Thibet, situated in what is called Central Asia, and in size equal to three fourths of the area of the United States, is in- deed the highest part of that continent, and produces mountains higher than any other part of the earth : yet Moses says, that the flood prevailed fifteen cubits and upwards above the highest moun- tains. Thibet is situated in latitude 30 degrees north, exactly between Farther India, Hindostan and Siberia, where banks of the bones of equatorial animals arc found, as we have noticed; by which we ascertain that the deluge rolled over this very Theba, the country supposed to have been left dry at the time of Noah's flood. The Mosaic account plainly says that God said to Noah, " make thee an ark of gopher tvood.^' Surely Noah did noi7nake the cen- tral part of Asia, called Theba or Thibet ; neither was he com- manded to do so, as it would have taken much gopher wood to have formed the whole, or a part of so large a country. But re- specting the word which is translated ark in the scriptures, it is said by Adam Clarke to be in the original Tehath, and not Theba. The word Tebath, he says, signifies vessel, and means no more nor less than a vessel, in its most common acceptation, a hollow place, capable of containing persons, goods, &c. The idea, there- fore, that the word ark signified the central parts of Asia, called Theba or Thibet, falls to the ground; while the history, as given by Moses, respecting the flood of Noah, remains unshaken. The same author has also discovered that a race of ancient people in South America, called the Zaiotecas, boast of being an- tediluvian in America, and to have built the city of Coat-Ian, so named because this city was founded at a place which swarmed with serpents, therefore named Snake city, or Coat-Ian, built 327 years before the flood, and that at the time of the flood, a remnant of them, together with their king, named Pet-ela, (or dog,) saved themselves on a mountain of the same name, Coat-Ian. But we consider this tradition to relate only to the ^rsi efforts at architecture after the flood of Noah, round about the region of Ararat, and on the plains of Shinar. The very circumstance of this tribe being still designated by that of the Dog tribe, is an evi- 16 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES dence that tliey originated not before the flood as a nation, but in Asia, since that era; for in Asia, as in America, tribes of men have also been thus designated, and called after the various ani- mals of the woods. The Snake Indians are well known to the western explorers in America, as also many other tribes, who are named after various wild animals. And the circumstance of their city being built at a place where there were many serpents, shows the allusion to point to the same time and place spoken of on page 11, where the Chinese historians, Liu-yu and Lo-yi say the ser- pents were driven together by the waters, at the flood of Polcg, — where, according to the Z!ipotccas,the city of Snakes, or Coat-hm, was built. Many of the first nations were called after serpents, — as the Hii'Ues^ the Ophifes, the Elhiops, or Ethiopians, Bassoliciians,v.Vc. — all derived, it is likely, from circumstances variously relating to the iibundance of serpents in those times, and abounding at ccituia places more than others, l^ven the adoration and worshi|> of that terrible reptile obtained among many nations, before as well as after the Christian era. Supposed Origin of Human Complexions, with the ancient signification of the names of the three sons of JS^oah, and other curious matter. The sons of Noah were three, as stated in the book of Grenesis, between whose descendants, the whole earth, in process of time, became divided. This division appears to have taken place in the earliest ages oi \\\e first nations after the flood, in such manner as to suit or correspond with the several constitutions of those nations in a physical sense, as well as with a reference to the various complexions of the descendants of these three heads of the human race. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 17 This preparation of the nations, respecting animal constitution and color, at the fountain head, must have been directed by the hand of the Creator, in an arbitrary manner; by which not only his sovreignty, as the Governor of the earth, with all its tribes, is manifest, but also his wisdom; because the same physical consti- tutions which are suited to the temperate and frigid zones of the globe, could not endure the burning climates of the torrid; so nei- ther are the constitutions of the equatorial nations so tempered as equally to enjoy the snowy and ice-bound regions in the high la- titudes north and south of the equator. The very names, or words, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, were in the language of Noah, (which was probably the pure Hebrew, in some sense, significant of their future national character. We proceed to show in what sense their names were descriptive, pro- spectively, of their several destinies in the earth, as well also as that Ham was the very name of his color, or complexion. The word Shan, says Dr. Clarke, signifies renown^ in the lan- guage of Noah; which, as that great man, now no more, remarks, has been wonderfully fulfiled, both in a temporal and spiritual sense. In a temporal sense, first, as follows : His posterity spread themselves over the finest regions of Upper and Middle Asia, Armenia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, Persia, and the Indus, Ganges, and possibly to China, still more eastward. The word Japheth, which was the name of Noah's third son, has also its meaning, and signifies, according to the same author^ that which may be exceedingly enlarged, and capable of spread- ing to a vast extent. Hi8 posterity diverged eastward and westward from Ararat, throughout the whole extent of Asia, north of the great range of the Taurus and Ararat mountains, as far as the Eastern ocean; whence, as he supposses, they crossed over to America, at the straits of Behring, and in the opposite direction from those moun- tains, throughout Europe, to the Mediterranean sea, south from Ararat; and to the Atlantic ocean west from that region; whence also they might have passed over to America, by the way of Ice- land, Greenland, and so on to the continent, along the coast of Labrador, where traces of early settlements remain, in parts now desert. Thus did Japheth enlarge himself, till his posterity liter- 2 I i le AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES oily encompassed the earth, from latitude 35 degrees north and upward, toward the polo. Tho word Ham signified that which was burnt or black. The posterity of this son of Noah peopled tho hot regions of the earth, on cither side the equator. But as it respects tiie complexions of these fieads of the nations of the earth, we remark as follows : Shem was undoubtedly a red or copper colored man, which was the complexion of all the antediluvians. , This conclusion is drawn from the fact, that the nations inha- biting the countries named as being settled or peopled by the de- scendants of Shem have always been, and now are, of that cast. We deem this fact as conclusive, that such was also their proge- nitor, Shem, as that the great and distinguishing features and complexion of nations change not materially. Shem was the father of the Jewish race, who are of the same hue, varying it is true, some being of a darker, and some of a lighter shade, aris- ing from secret and undefmable principles, placed beyond the re- search of man; and also, from amalgamation by marriage with white, and with the darker nations, as the African. But to cor- roborate our opiijion that the antediluvians were of a rerf, or cop- per complexion, we bring the well-known statement of Josephus, that Adam, the first of men, was a red man, made of read earth, called virgin earth, because of its beauty and pureness. The word Adam, he also says, signifies that color which is red. To this account the tradition of the Jews corresponds, who, as they are the people most concerned, should be allowed to know most about it. Shem, therefore, must have been a red man, derived from the complexion of the first man, Adam. And his posterity, as above described, are accordingly of the same complexion; this is well known of all the Jews, unmixed with those nations that are fairer, as attested by history, and the traveller of every age, in the countries they inhabit. The word Ham, which was the name of the second son of No- ah, 18 the word which was descriptive of the color which is blacky or burnt. This we show from the testimony of Dr. Hales, of England, who was a celebrated natural philosopher and mathema- tician of the 17th century, who is quoted by Adam Clarke, to show i AND DI8COVRRIEB IN THR WEST. 19 north and ick. The the earth, he nations aubtedly a I of all the tions inha- by the de- ' that cast, leir proge- iturcs and n was the varying it ihadc, aris- ond the re- rriage with But to cor- erf, or cop- Josephus, read earth, less. The red. To lo, as they tnow most from the ', as above his is well are fairer, 3fe, in the on of No- ;h is black. Hales, of mathema- e, to show that the irnrd flam, in the language of Noah, which was t^iat of the antcdihivinns, was the term for that which wns black: It is not possible, from authority so high and rcs|)octablr, that doubts can (\\ist.s respecting tli ■ legitimacy of this word, and of its ancient application. Accordingly, as best suited to the com' plexion of the descendants of //^///j, the hoi ogions of the equator were allotted to those natio/i'^ To the Cushitos, the soutiiLiii climes of A^in, along the coast of the Persian gulf, Susiano, or Ciisliistan, Arabia, Canaan, Pa- lestine, Syria, Kgypt and Lybia in Africa. These countries were settled by tlie posterity of Ham, who were, and now arc, of a glossy black. ^ But the vast variety of %hados and hues of the human face, tmm are derived from amalgamations of the three original complexions, red, black, and white. This was the act of God, giving to the three persons, upon whom the earth's population d(.'pended, by way of perpetuity, such complexions, and animal constitutions, as should be best suited to the several climates, which he intend- ed, in tlie progress of his providence, they should inhabit. The people of these countries, inhabited respectively by these heads of nations, the immediate descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth, still retain, in full force, the ancient, pristine red, white, and black complexions, except where each have intruded upon the other, and become scattered, and mingled, in some degree, over the earth. Accordingly, among the African nations, in their own proper countries, now and then a colony of whites have fixed their dwellings. Among the red nations are found, here and there, ip as in some of the islands of the Pacific, \\{e -pure African; and both the black and the red are found among the white nations; but now, much more than in the earliest ages, a general amalga- mation of the three original colors exists. "When we speak of the original, or pristine complexions, we do not mean before the flood, except in the family of Noah, as it is our opinion that neither the black or the white was the complexion of Adam and all the nations before the flood, but that they have been produced by the power and providence of the Creator in the family of Noah only. Much has been written to establish the doctrine of the influence of climate &nd food, in producing the vast extremes between a fair 2» ji ''V. j;.. 20 AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES and ruddy white, and a Jet blaek. But this mode of reasoning, to establish the origin of the human complexion, we imagine very inconclusive and unsatisfactory; as it is found that no distance of space, lapse of ages, change of diet, or of countries, can possibly *' remove the leopard's ?"iots, or change the Ethiopian's skin." No lapse of ages has been known to change a white man r.od his posterity to the hue or shape of an African, although the hottest rays of the burning clime of Lybia, may have scourched him ages unnumbered, and its soil have fed him with its roots and berries, un equal length of time, it is granted, however, that a white man with his posterity, will tan very dark by the heat of the sun; but it can never alter, as it never has altered, the shape of his face from that which was characteristic of his nation or people, nor the form of his limbs, nor curie his hair, turning it to a loool, provided, always, the blood be kept pure and unmixed. Power in the decomposition of food, by the huma.i stomach, docs not exist of sufficient force to overturn the deep foundation of causes established in the very germ of being, by the Creator. The circumstance of what a man may eat, or where he may chance to breathe, cannot derange the economy of first princi- ples. Were it so, it were not a hard matter for the poor African, if he did but know this choice trait of philosophy, to take hope and shake off entirely his unfortunate skin, in process of time, and no longer be exposed, solely on that account, to slavery, chains, and wretchedness. But the inveteracy of complexion against the operation of cli- mate, is evinced by the following, as related by Morse. On the eastern coast of Africa, in latitude 5 deg. north, are found jet black, towny, olive, and white inhabitants, all speaking the same language, which is the Arabic. This particular part of Africa is called the Magadoxo kingdom : the inhabitants are a stout, war- like nation, of the Mahometan religion. Here, it appears, is per- manent evidence that climate or food have no effect in materially changing the hues of the complexion, each retaining their own original tincture; even the white is found a$ stubborn in this tor- rid sky, as the black in the northern countries. The whites found there are the descendants of the ancient Ro- mans, Vandals and Goths, who were, it is asserted by John Leo, the African, who wrote a description of Africa in Arabic, all an- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 21 reasoning, to imagine very 10 distance of can possibly tpian's skin." ! man r.ad his gh the hottest shed him ages s and berries, that a white latof the sun; shape of his ion or people, g it to a taool, ed. [)a.: stomach, ep foundation f the Creator, here he may f first princi- >oor African, to take hope cess of time, , to slavery, ration of cli- rse. On the re found jet ;ng the same irt of Africa a stout, war- )ears, is per- in materially g their own 1 in this tor- ancient Ro- y John Leo, 'abic, all an- ciently comprehend under the general name of Mauri, or Moors^ as well as the black Moors themselves. — (Morse's Universal Ge- ography, vol. ii., pp. 754, 781.^ Procopius, a Greek historian of the 6th century, speaks of a race of fair complexioned people, with ruddy countenances and yellow hair, who dwelt far within the desert of Lybia, which is Africa. The same race was found by Dr. Thomas Shaw, the antiquary, who was born in the 17th century, who speaks of them as retaining their fair complexion and yellow hair, although a lapse of years, no less than twelve hundred had transpired, from the time of Procopious till the time of Dr. Shaw. The latitude of their country is between 10 and 12 degrees south. — Encyclopedia, vol. vi., part 2, p. 668, American edition. J Shem, according to the v^ommonly received opinion, was the eldest son of Noah; and as the complexion of this child did not differ from that of other children born before the flood, all of whom are supposed to have been red, or of the copper hue, on the ground of Adam's complexion; Noah did not, therefore, name the child at first sight, from any extraordinary impulse arising from any singular appearance in the complexion, but rather, as it was his first born son, he called him Shem, that is, renown, which name agrees, in a surprising manner, with what we have liereafter to relate, respecting this character. The impulse in the mind of Noah, which moved him to call this first son of his Shem, or renown, may have been similar to that of the patriarch Jacob respecting his first born son. He says, Reuben, thou art my frst born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. The ideas are similar, both leading to the came conse- quence; in one case it is renown, in the other the excellency of power, which is equivalent to renown. It is not unusual for parents to feel this sensation, on the birth of n first child, especially if it be a son; however, it is not impos- sible but the prophetic spirit moved Noah so to name this son by the extraordinary appellation, renown, or Shem; and the chief trait of celebrity which was to attach itself to the character of Shem, was to arise out of the fact of his being the type of the Messiah; and the time was to come when this person, after the flood should have passed away, would be the only antediluvian 22 AMERICAN ANTIQUIEIK8 survivor; on which account, all mankind muaU of necessity, by natural and mutual consent, look up to this man with extraordina* ry veneration. By examining the chronological account of the Jewish records, we find the man Shem lived five hundred years after the flood, and that he over-lived Abraham about forty years. So that he was not only the oldest man on the earth at that time, but niso the only surviving antediluvian, as well as the great typical progeni- tor of the adorable Messiah. Here was a foundation for renown^ of sufficient solidity to jus- tify the prophetic spirit in moving Noah to call him Shem^ a name full of import, full of meaning, pointing its signification, in a blaze of light, to him whose birth and works of righteousness were to be of consequences the highest in degree to the whole race ot Adam, in the atonement. But at the birth of Ham, it was difierent. When this child was born, we may suppose the house or tent, to have been in an up- roar, on the accountof his strange complexion; the news of which, we may suppose, soon reached the ear of the father, who, on be- holding it, at once, in the form of an exclamation, cried out Ham ! that is, it is black/ and this word became his name. It is believed, that in the first ages of the world, things were named from their supposed qualities; and their supposed qualities arose h'om first appearances. In this way, it is imagined, Adam named all the animals at first sight; as the Lord God caused them to pass before him, a sudden impulse arising in his mind, from the appearance of each creature; so that a suitable name was given. This was natural; but not more so than it was for Noah to call his second son Ham, because he was black j being struck by this uncommon, unheard of complexion, which impelled him at once to name him as he looked. We suppose the same infiucnce governed at the birth Japhb;th, and that at the birth of this child, greater surprise still must have pervaded the household of Noah, as while was a cast of complex- ion still more wonderful than either red or black, as these two last named complexions bear a stronger affinity to each other than to that of white. No sooner, thcre'bre, as we may suppose, was the news of the birth of this third son carried to Noah, than, being anxious to em- ■1^^ necessity, by I extraordina- wish records, !er the flood. So that he , but .nlso the )ical progeni- )lidity to jus- Viem, a name ficution, in a righteousness to the whole liis child was en in an up- vvs of which, , who, on he- ed out Ham ! things were )sed qualities jined, Adam caused them ind, from the I was given. Noah to call ruck by this him at once ;h Japheth, II must have of complex- lese two last thcr than to news of the sious to em- 4 AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 28 brace him, saw with amazement, that it was diverse from the other two, and from all mankind; having not the least affinity of com- plexion with any of the human race; and being in anecstacy, at the sight of so fair and rudy an infant, beautifully white and transparent of complexion, cried out, while under the influence of his joy and surprise, Japheth ! which word became his name; to this, however, he added afterwards, God shall greatly enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan; that is. Ham shall be his servant; so that, in a political sense, he was higher than the other two. But if our opinion on this subject is esteemed not well support- ed, we would add one other circumstance, which would seem to amount to demonstration, in proving Ham and his posterity to have been black at the outset. The circumstance is as follows : At two particular times, it ap- pears from Genesis, that Noah declared. Ham, with his posterity, should serve or become servants to both the posterity of Shem and Japheth. If one were to inquire whether this has been ful- filled or not, what would be the universal answer ? It would be — it has been fulfilled. But in what way ? Who are the people ? The universal answer is, the African race are the people. But how is this proved, unless we allow them to be the descendants of Ham ? If, then, they are his descendants, they have been such in every age, from the very beginning; and the same criterion, which is their color, has distinguished them. This proves their progeni- tor. Ham, to have been black; or otherwise, it had been impossi- ble to distinguish them from the posterity of the other two, Shem and Japheth; and whether the denunciation of Noah has been fulfilled or not, would be unknown. But as it is known, the sub- ject is clear; the distinguishing trait by which Ham's posterity were known at firsts must of necessity have been, as it is now, black. But some may imagine, that as we do not know the com- plexions of the wives of the three sons of Noah; that our hy- pothesis is defective. This, however, is not difficult to determine, as they must have been red, or copper-colored, like the rest- of the antediluvians, unless we suppose them born with complexions like their husbands, for the same purposes, and occasioned by the same power. But whether this was so or not, it could have made 24 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ''( I no material difference; as it is from the mahj the blood of all the animal creation receives its specific character. We have dwelt thus far upon the subject of human complex- ions, because there are those who imagine the variety now found among men, to have originated purely from climate, food, and manner of living; while others suppose a plurality of fathers to have been the cause, in contradiction of the account in Genesis, where one man is said to have been the father of all mankind. But on this curious subject, respecting the variety of complexions see, toward the close of this volume, the remarks of Professor Mitchell, late of New- York. /S :-l s s ^1 ! Respecting a division of the Earth, by JS/oahj among his Sons. It cannot be denied but the whole earth, at the time the ark rested on mount Ararat, belonged to Noah, he being the prince, patriarch,;or head and ruler of his own family ; consequently, of all the inhabitants of the earth, as there were none but his own house. This is more than can be said of any other man since the world began, except of the man Adam. Accordingly, in the true character of a Patriarchal Prince, as related by Eusebius, an ecclesiastical writer of the" fourth century, and by others, that Noah, being commanded of God, proceeded to make his will, di- viding the whole earth between his three sons, and their respec- tive heirs or descendants. To Shem ho gave all the East; to Ham, all Africa; to Japheth, the continent of Europe^ with its isles^ and the northern parts of Asia^ as before pointed out. And may we not add America, which, in the course of Divine Providence, is noto in the posses- sion of the posterity of Japheth, and it is not impossible but this quarter of the earth may have been known even to Noah, as we are led to suspect from the statement of Eusebius. This idea, or information, is brought forward by Adam Clarke, from whose commentary on the Scriptures, we have derived it. That a knowledge of not only Africa, Asia, and Europe, was in the possession of Noah, but even the islands of Europe, or how m l! AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST* 25 of all the- complex- low found food, and fathers to Genesis, mankind, mplexions Professor *nong his »e the ark le prince, uently, of t his owQ nan since y, in the usebius, lers, that wiU, di- r respec- Japheth, parts of America, 3 pOSSCS- but this 1, as we Clarke, rived it. , was in or how coul^ he have given them to the posterity of his son Japheth^ a» written by Eusebius. It may be^uestioned, possibly, whether these countries, at so early a period, had yet been explored, so as to furnish Noah with any degree of knowledge respecting them. To this it may be re- plied, that he lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, and more than two hundred and fifty after the building of the tower of Babel and the dispersion of the first inhabitants, by means of the confusion of the ancient language. This was a lapse of time quite suflicient to have enabled ex- plorers to have traversed them, or even the whole earth, if com- panies had been sent out in different directions, for that express purpose, and to return again with their accounts to Noah. If the supposition of Adam Clarke, and others, be correct ; which is, that at that time the whole land of the globe was so situated that no continent was quite separate from the others by water, as they are now; so that men could traverse by land the whole globe at their will : if so, even America may have been known to the first nations, as well as other parts of the earth. This doctrine of the union of continents, is favored, or rather founded on a passage in the book of Genesis, 10th chap. 20th ver., where it is stated that one of the sons of Eber was Pe- LEG, so named, because, in his days, the earth was divided ; the word Peleg, probably signifying division, in the Noetic lan- guage. The birth of Peleg was about an hundred years after the flood, the very time when Babel was built. But we do not imagine this great convulsionary division of the several quarters of the globe took place till perhaps an hundred years after the birth of Peleg, on account of the peculiar latitude of the expression, " in the days of Peleg." Or, it may have been even two hundred years after the birth of Peleg, as this person's whole life was but two hundred and thirty-nine years; so that Noah over-lived him eleven years. " In the days of Peleg," therefore, may as well be argued to mean, near the close of his life, as at any other period ; this would give time for a very considerable knowledge of the earth's countries to have been obtained ; so that Noah could have made a judicious division of it among the posterity of his sons. '.■ !fl IH nA i I* r ?t all ^^ 126 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES This grand division of the earth, is supposed by some to have been only a political division ; but by others, a physical or geo- graphical one. This latter opinion is favored by Adam Clarke. See his comment on the 25th verse of the 10th chapter of Gene- sis, as follows : — " A separation of continents and islands from the main land, the earthy parts having been united in one great continent, previous to the days of Peleg." But at this era, when men and animals had found their way to the several quarters of the earth, it seemed good to the Creator to break doion those uni- ting portions of land, by bringing into action the winds, the bil- lows and subterranean fires, which soon, by their repeated and united forces, removed each isthmus, throwing them along the coasts of the several continents, and forming them into islands ; thus destroying, for wise purprscs, tliose primeval highways of the nations. Supposed identity and real name of Melchisedec, of the Scriptures. This is indeed an interesting problem, the solution of which has perplexed its thousands; most of whom suppose him to have been the Son of God, some angelic or mysterious supernatural person- age, rather than a mere man. This general opinion proceeds on the ground of the Scripture account of him, as commonly under- stood, being expressed as follows : — " Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God^ abideth a priest continually.'* — (Hehreics vii. 3.) But, without further circumlocution, we will at once disclose our opinion, by stating that we believe him to have been Shem, the eldest son of Noah, the progenitor of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Jews, and none other than Shem. We derive this conclusion from the research, and critical com- mentary of the learned and pious Adam Clarke, who giv^s us this information from the tradition of the Jewish Rabbins, which, without hesitation, gives this honor to Shem. /-¥v AND DISCOVERIES IS THE WEST. 87 The particular part of that commentary to which we allude, as being the origin of our belief on this subject, is the preface of that author to the book of Job, on page 716, as follows: " Shem lived five hundred and two years after the deluge; l)eing still alive, and in the three hnndred and ninety-third year of his life, when Abra- ham was born; therefore, the Jewish tradition, that Shem was the Melchisedec, or my righteous king of Salem," which word Mel- chisedcc was " an epithet, or title of honor and respect, not a proper name; and, therefore, as the head and father of his race, Abraham paid tithes to him. This seems to bo well founded, and the idea is confirmed by this remarkable language: (Psalms ex.) Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent or change, at tah cohen- Icolam al dibarfe Mulkitsedek. As if he had said: Thou, my only begotten son, first born of many brethren, not according to the subslUuted priesthood of the sons of Levi, who, after the sin of the golden calf, stood up in lieu of all the first born of Israel, invested with their forfeited rights of primogeniture of king and priest: the Lord hath sworn and will not repent, (change.) Thou art a priest forever, after the (my order of Melchisedec, my own original primitive) order of primogeniture: even as Shem, the man of name the Shem that stands the first and foremost of the sons of Noah. The righteous Prince, and Priest of the Most High God, meets his descendant, Abraham, after the slaughter of the kings, with re- freshments, and blessed him as the head and father of his race, the Jews in particular; and, as such, he received from Abraham, the tithe of all the spoil. How beautifully docs Paul of Tarsus, writing to the Hebrews, point to Melchisedec, (or Shem, the head and father of their race,) invested in all the original rights of primogeniture, Priest of the Most High God, blessing Abraham as such, before Levi had ex- istence, and as such, receiving tithes from Abraham, and in him from Levi, yet in the loins of his forefathers: Moses, on this great and solemn occasion, records simply this: Melchisedec, king of Salem, Priest of the Most High God, sine genealogie; his pedigree not mentioned, but standing as Adajn, in St. Luke's genealogy, without father and without mother, Adam ef God. — (Luke iii. 38.J How beautifully, I say, doth St. Paul point, through Melchisedec, to Jehoshua, our great High Priest and King, Jesus Christ, whose eternal generation who shall declare ! Ha Mashiach, the Lord's 28 AMERICAN ANTIQQITIES ■*! Rl ! anointed High Priest and King, after the order of Melchisedec; only begotten, first born son. Thus far for the preface on the subject of Melchisedec, show- ing that he was none other than Shem, the son of Noah. We shall now give the same author's views of the same supposed mys- terious character^ Melchisedec, as found in his notes on the 7th Hebrews, commencing at the third verse. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life. " The object of the Apostle, in thus producing the example of Melchisedec, was to show, 1st. That Jesus was the person prophesied ©f in the 110th Psalm, which Psalm the Jews uniformly understood as predicting the Messiah. 2. To answer the objections of the Jews against the legitimacy of the priesthood of Christ, arising from the stock from which he proceeded. The objection is this; if the Messiah is a true priest, he must come from a legitimate stock, as all the priests under the law have regularly done; otherwise we cannot acknow- ledge him to be a priest. " But Jesus of Nazareth has not proceeded from such a stock; therefore we cannot acknowledge him for a priest, the antetype of Aaron. To this objection the Apostle answers, that it was not necessary for the priest to come from a particular stock; for Mel- chisedec was a priest of the Most High God, and yet was not of the stock either of Abraham (for Melchisedec was before Abra- ham,) or Aaton, but was a Gentile. " It is well known that the ancient Jews, or Hebrews, were ex- ceedingly scrupulous in choosing their high priest; partly by di- vine command, and partly from the tradition of their common ancestors, who always considered this office to be of the highest dignity. 1st. God commanded, (Leviticus xxi. 10,) that the high priest should be chosen from among their brethren; that is, from the family of Aaron. 2d. That he should marry a virgin. 3d. He must not marry a widow. 4th. Nor a divorced person. 5th. Nor a harlot. 6th. Nor one of another nation. He who was found to have acted contrary to these requisitions, was, jure di- vino, excluded from the pontificate, or eligibility to hold that office. *' On the contrary, it was necessary that he who desired this honor should be able to prove his descent from the family of chisedec; ;c, show- ah. We )sed mys- the 7th g neither Apostle, low, 1st. Ii Psalm, iting the iinst the ock from iah is a le priests acknow- a stock; antetype was not for Mei- s not of e Abra- de re cx- by di- !ommon highest he high s, from n. 3d. 5th. 10 was . ure di- Id that ed this tiily of AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 29 Aaron; and if he could not, though even in the priesthood, he was cast out, as we find from Ezra ii. 62, and Nehemiah vii. 63. To these divine ordinances the Jews have added, 1st. That no prose- lyte could be a priest. 2d. Nor a slave. 3d. Nor a bastard. 4th. Nor the son of a Nithinnim; these were a class of men who were servants to the priests and Levites, (not of their tribe,) to draw water, and to hew wood. 5th. Nor one whose father exer- cised any base trade. '* And that they might be tcell assured of all this, they took the utmost care to preserve their genealogies, which were regularly kept in the archives of the temple. When, if any person aspired to the sacerdotal function, his genealogical table was carefully in- spected, and if any of the above blemishes were found in him, ho was rejected." But here the matter comes to a point as it respects our inquiry respecting Melchisedec's having no father or mother. "ife loho could not support his pretensions by just genealogical evidences, was said to be loUhoul father. Thus in Bereshith Rabba, sec. xviii. fol. 18, are these words: For this cause shall a man leave father and mother. It is said, if a proselyte to the Jewish religion have married his own sister, whether by the same father or by the same mother, they cast her out, according to Rabbi Meir. But the wise men say, if she be of the same mother j they cast her out; but if of the same father, they retain her, sliein ab la gaij for a Gentile has no father; that is, his father is not reckoned in the Jewish genealogies." In this way, both Christ and Melchisedec were without father and without mother, had neither beginning of days, descent of lineage, nor end of life in th^ir books of genealogies, which gave a man a right to the priesthood, as derived from Aaron; that is, were not descended from the original Jewish sacerdotal stock; yet Melchisedec, who was a Gentile, was a priest of the Most High God. This sense Suidas* confirms, under the word Melchisedec, where, after stating he reigned a prince in Salem, (that is, Jeru- salem,) 113 years, he died a righteous man. To this he adds: — *'He is, therefore, said to be without descent or genealogy, because * Suidas, a Greek scholar of eminence, who flouriihed A. D. 975, and waa an ecclesiastical writer of that age. 1^ I \k'\ )i l!-l » 1 ,i ' 30 AMERICAN Antiquities he was not of the seed of Abraham, (for Abraham was his seed) but of Canaanitish origin." We think this sufficient to show the reason why he is said to have had no father or mother, beginning of days, nor end of life, as stated in Hebrews. But this is not said of him in the book of Genesis, where we first become acquainted with tliis truly won- derful character. It should be recollected that the , Jewish genealogies went no farther back, for the qualifioations of their priestly credentials, or eligibility to the pontifical office, than to the time and family of Aaron, which was mure than four hundred years after that of Abraham and Melchisedoc. No wonder, then, that Christ's gen- ealogy was not found in their records, so as to give him a claim to that office, such as they might approve. But inasmuch as Melchisedec was greater than Abraham, from whom the Jewish race immediately originated, he argues from the authority of the 110th Psalm, where Melchisedec is spoker of, which the Jews allowed to be spoken of Christ, or the Menrffth, who was to come, and was, therefore, a priest after the order of that extraordinary Prince of Peace, and King of Salem; because, neither had he such a claim on the Jewish genealogies, as required by the Jews, so as to make him eligible to /heir priesthood, for they knew, or might have known, that Christ did not come of the Aaronio race, but of the line or tribe of Judah. That he was a man, a mere man, born of a woman, and came into the world after the ordinary manner, is attested by St. Paul's own extraordinary expression. (See Hebrews^ vii. A.) " Now consider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils." However wonderfully elevated among men, and in the sight of God; however powerful and rich, wise, holy, and happy; he was, nevertheless, a mere man, or the tenth of the spoils he would not have received. But the question is, what man was he, and what was his name ? " Now consider how great this man was," are words which may possibly lead us to the same conclusion, which we have quoted from the preface of the book of Job. There are not wanting circumstances to elevate this man, on the supposition that he was Shem, in the scale of society, far above a common level with the rest of the inhabitants of his coun- ;i: p AND DI8C0VERI8 IN THE WEST. SI his seed) is snid to nd of life, c book of ruly won- I went no cntials, or family of or that of rist's gen- n a claim lam, from 5 from the poker of, Me.^i=!:i.h, ! ordei of because, s required hood, for me of the md came 3t. Paul's "Now gave the ong men, ise, holy, ith of the ^i0 try, of sufficient importance to justify St. Paul in saying, •♦ mow consider how great this man was." We shall recount some of the circumstances; and first, at tho time he met Abraham, when he was returning from the slaughter of the kings who had carried away Lot, the half brothcrof Abra- ham, with all his goods, his wife and children, and blessed him; he was the oldest man then on the earth. This circumstance alone was of no small amount, and highly calculated to elevate Shem in the eyes of mankind; for he was then more than five hundred and fifty years old. Second : He was then the only man on the earth who had lived before the flood; and had been conversant with the nations, the institutions, the state of agriculture, arts and sciences, as under- stood and practised by the ajntediluvians. Third : He was the only man who could tell them about the lo- '-;ation of the garden oi Eden; a question, no doubt, of great cu- riosity and moment to those early nations, so near the flood; the manner in which the fall of Adam and Eve took place. He could tell them what sort of fruit it was, and how the tree looked on which it grew; and from Shem, it is more than probable, the Jews received the idea that the forbidden fruit was that of the grape vincj as found in their traditions. Shem could tell them what sort of serpent it was, whether an orang-outang, as believed by some, that the evil spirit made use of to deceive the woman; he could tell them about the former beauty of the earth, before it had become rained by the commo- tion of the waters of the flood; the form and situation of coun- tries, and of the extent and amount of human population. He could tell them how the nations who filled the earth with their vi- olence and rapine, used to go about the situation of the happy garden to which no man was allowed to approach nor enter, on account of the dreadful Cherubim and the flaming sword; and how they blasphemed against the judgments of the Most High on that account. Fourth : Shem could inform them about the progress of the ark, where it was built, and what opposition and ridicule his fa- ther Noah met with while it was building; he could speak respecting the violent manners of the antediluvians, and what their peculiar aggravated sins chiefly consisted in — what God meant when he 32 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES '^ >^! 1*1 !| said, that *^alljlesh had corrupted its way before Him," except the single family of Noah. There are those who imagine, from that peculiar phraseology, ** all jiesh hath corrupted its way on the earth," that the humun/orm had become mingled with that of animals. If so, it was high time they were drowned, both man and beast, for reasons too obvious to need illustration here; it was high time that the soil was purged by water, and torn to frag- ments and buried beneath the earthy matter thrown up from deptlia not so polluted. It is not at all improbable but from this strange and most hor- rible practice, the /Jr*/ ideas of the ancient statuaries were derived of delineating sculpture which represents monsters, half human and half animal. This kind of sculpture, and also paintings, abounded among the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, as well as other nations]of the early ages. Of these shapes were many of their gods; being half lion, half eagle, and half fish; accord- ing to the denomination of paganism who adored these images. Fifth : Shem was the only man in the days of Abraham, who could tell them of the promised Messiah, of whom he was the most glorious and expressive type afforded to men, before his coming, as attested by St. Paul. It is extremely probable, that with this man, Abraham had enjoyed long and close acquaintance, for he was descended of his loins, from whom he had the knowl- edge of the true Gody in all probility, in the midst of his Chal- dean, idolatrous nation^ and learned the faith of Melchisedec. From the familiar manner with which Melchisedec, or Shem, who, we are compelled to believe, was indeed Melchisedec, met Abraham, and blessed him, in reference to the ^tedX Messiah, we are strongly inclined to believe them old acquaintance. Sixth : It appears that Shem, or Melchisedec, had gotten great passessions and influence among men, as he had become king of Salem, or ancient Jehus, where Jerusalem was afterward built, and were mount Zion reared her towers, and was the only tem- ple, in which the true God was understandingly worshipped, then on the earth. It is not impossible but the mountainous region about Mount Horeb, and the mountains round about Jerusalem, . were, before the flood, the base or foundation of the country, and exact location of the region of the garden called Eden, the place where Adam was created. But when the waters of the deluge m, ' except igine, from its way on with that of , both man ere; it was rn to frag- from dept\ia i most hor- ere derived half human paintings, [lomans, as were many sh; accord- j images, aham, who lie was the before his bable, that |uaintance, the knowl- his Chal- elchisedec. , or Shem, isedec, met lessiahf we ;otten great me king of ivard built, ! only tem- ipped, then ous region Jerusalem, mntry, and 1) the place the deluge AND DI8C0VKRIBI IN THK WEST. came, they tore away all the earthy matter, and left itanding those tremendous pinnacles and overhanging mountains of the re- gion of Jerusalem and Mount Horeb. By examining the map on an artificial globe, it will be seen, the region of country situated between the eastern end of the Me- diterranean sea, the Black and Caspian sous, and the Persian gulf, the country now called Turkey, there are many rivers run- ning into these several waters, all heading toward each other; among which j the Euphrates, one of the rivers mentioned by Moses, as deriving its origin ^in the garden, or country of Eden. Mountainous countries arc the natural sources of rivers. From which we argue that Eden must have been a high region of coun- try, as intimated in Genesis, entirely inaccessible on all sides, but the east ; at which point the sword of the Cherubim was placed to guard the way of the tree of life. Some have imagined the Persian gulf to be the spot where the garden was situated. But this is impossible, as that the river Euphrates runs into that gulf, from toward Jerusalem, or from north of Jerusalem. And as the regoin of Eden was the source o( four large rivers, running in different directions, so also, now the region round about the present head waters of the Euphrates, is the source of many riv- ers, as said above; on which account, there can be but little doubt, but here the" Paradise of Adam was situated, before the deluge. If the Euphrates is one of the rivers having its source in the garden or country of Eden, as Moses has recorded, it is then proved, to a demonstration, that the region as above described, is the ancient and primeval site of the literal Paradise of Adam. The latitude of this region is between 20 and 30 degrees north, and running through near the middle of this country, from east to west, is the range of mountains known by that of Mount Tau rus and Mount Ararat. So that we perceive this part of the globe is not only the ancient Eden, from where the human race sprang forth at first, but that also, it was renewed probably near the same spot, in the family of Noah, after the flood. Thus far we have treated on the subject of Melchisedec, show- ing reasons why he is supposed to have been fiFAem, the son of Noah, and reasons why St. Paul should say, " Now consider how great this man was." We will only add, that the word Melchise' dec is not the name of that man so called, but is only a term, or 3 \ 34 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES appellation, used in relation to him, by God himself, which is the same as to say, my righteous king. So that Melchisedec was not the name he received at his birth, but was Shenif as the Jews in- form us in their traditions. i' ! Division of the Earth in the days of Pelegj and of the spread- ing out of the nations, with other curious matter. But to return to the subject respecting the division of the earth in the days of Peleg. If, then, the division of the earth was a physical one, consequently such as had settled on its several parts before this division became forever separated, towards the four quarters of the globe. If this position be true, the mystery is at once unriddled, how men and animals are found on all the earth, not excepting the islands, however far removed from other lands by intervening seas. But of this matter we shall speak again towards the close of this work, when we hope to throw some degree of light upon this obscure, yet ejjceedingly interesting subject. We here take the opportunity to inform the reader, that as soon as we have given an account of the dispersion of the inhabitants of the earth, immediately after the flood, from whom sprang the several nations mentioned in sacred and profane ancient history^ we shall then come to our main subject, namely, that of the anti- quities of America. In order to give an account of those nations, we follow the Com- mentary of Adam Clarke, on the 10th chapter of the Book of Genesis; which is the only book to which we can resort for in- formation of the kind; all other works which touch this point, are only illustrative and corroboratory. Even the boasted antiquity of the Chinese, going back millions of years^ as often quoted by the sceptic, is found, when rightly understood, to come quite with- in the account given by Moses of the creation. Ihis is asserted by Baron Humboldt, a historian of thejirst order, whr-ne miiiJ was embellished with a universal knowledge of the manners, customs, and traits of science, of the nations of the earth, rarely acquired by any man. AND DISCOVKRIKS IN THE WK8T. 35 lich is the ?c was not 3 Jews in- ie spread- er. jion of the ' the earth tied on its separated, n be true, I are found ir removed [le close of t upon this hat as soon inhabitants sprang the nt history, »f the anti- N the Com- B Book of Drt for in- I point, are antiquity quoted by quite with- of the first nowledge nations of The Chinese account of Xhexr first knowledge of the oldest of i\ie'\r gods, shows their antiquity of origin to be no higher than the creation, as related in Genesis. Their Shastrusy a book which gives an account of the incarnation of the god Vishnoo, states, that his first incarnation was for the purpose of bringing up the Vedas, (sacred books) from the deep. This appearance of Vish- noo, they say, was in the form of a fish. The books, the fish, and the deep, are all derived from Noah, whose account of the creation has furnished the ground of this Chinese tradition. In his second incarnation, he took the newly created world on his back, as he assumed the form of a tortoise, to make it sta- ble. This alludes to the Mosaic account, which says, God sepa- rated the water from the dry land, and assigned them each their place. In his third incarnation he took the form of a wild hoar^ and drew the earth out of the sea, into which it had sunk during a periodical destruction of the world. This is a tradition of the deluge, and of the subsiding of the waters, when the tops of the mountains first appeared. A fourth incarnation of this god was for the rescue of a son, whose father was about to slay him. What else is this but the account of Abraham's going to slay his son Isaac, but was rescued by the appearance of an angel, for- bidding the transaction. In a fifth incarnation he destroyed a giant, who despised the gods, and committed violence in the earth. This giant was none other than Nimrod, the author of idolatry, the founder of Babel, who is called, even by the Jews, in their traditions, a giant. The inhabitants of the Tonga islands, in the South Pstcific ocean, have a similar opinion respecting the first appearance of land, which evidently points to the flood of Noah They say, that at a certain time, the god Tangaloa, who was reputed to preside over arts and inventions, went forth to fish in the great ocean, and having from the sky let down his hook and line into the sea, on a sudden he felt that something had fastened to his hook, and believing he had caught an immense fish, he ex- erted all his strength, and presently thero appeared above the sur- face several points of rocks and mountains, whiqh increased in • number and extent, the more he strained at his line to pull it up. It was now evident that hiB hook had fastened to the very bot- tom of the ocean, and that he was fast emerging a vast continent; 3* 36 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. when, unfortunatoly, the line broke, having brought up only the Tonga islands, which remain to this day. The story of this fishing god Tangaloa, we imagine is a very clear allusion to the summits of A.rarat, which first appeared ■ above the waters of the flood in Asia. ♦' Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth; and unto them were sons born after the flood." (Genesis x. 1, and onward.) The sons of Japheth : " Japheth is supposed to be the same with Japetus of the Greeks, from whom, in an extreme remote antiquity, that people were supposed to have derived their origin. On this point most chronologists are pretty well agreed. Gomer is supposed to have peopled Galatia ; this was a son of Japheth. So Josephus, who says that the Galatians, (or French people, de- rived from the ancient Belgaic tribes,) were anciently named Go- mcrites. From him the Cimmerians, or Cimbrians, are supposed to have derived their origin. Bochart, a learned French protes- tant, born at Rouen, in Normandy, in the 16th century, has no doubt that the Phrygians sprung from this person; and some of our principal commentators are of this opinion. Madai, one of the sons of Japheth, is supposed to be the pro- genitor of ♦he ancient Medas. J avan was another of his sons, from whor, . 'tis almost universally believed, sprung the lonians of Asia Minor. Tubal is supposed to be the father of the Iberi- ans, and that a part, at least of Spain was peopled by him and his descendant; and that Meschcch, who is generally in Scripture joined with him, was the founder of the Cappadocians, from whom proceeded the Muscovites or Russians. Tiras. From this person, according to general consent, the Thracians derived their origin. AsHKENAZ. From this person was derived the name SacagenCy a province of Armenia. Pliny, one of the most learned of the ancient Romans, who lived immediately after the commencement of th? Christian era, mentions a people called Ascanticos, who dwelt about Tannis^ or Palus Ma:oticus; and some suppose, that from Ashkenaz the Euxine or Black sea derived its name; but others suppose, that from him the Germans derived their origin. RiPHATH The founder of the Paphlaguoians, which were an- ciently called Riphatoel. AND DISCOVniES IN THE WEST. 3T ToGARMA. The inhabitants of Sauromates^ or of Turcomania. Elishah. As Javan peopled a considerable part of Greece, it is in that region we must look for the settlements of his descend- ants. Elishah probably was the first who settled at Elis» in Pe- loponesus. Tarshis. He first inhabited Cihcia, whose capital, anciently, was the city of Tarsus, where St. Paul was born. KiTTiM. Some think by this name is meant Cyprus; others, the isle of Chios; others, the Romans; and others, the Macedo- nians. DoDANiM, or Rhodanim. Some suppose, that this family set- tled at Dodana; others, at the Rhone in France; the ancient name of which was Rhodanus, from the Scripture Rhodanim : — "By these, were the isJes of the Gentiles divided in their lands." Europe, of which this is allowed to be a general epithet, and comprehends all tho'se countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea; such as Spain, Gaul or France, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Thus far we have noticed the spreading out over many coun- tries, and the origin of many nations, arising out or from Japheth, one of the sons of Noah; all of whom were white, or at least come under that class of complexions The descendants of Ham, another of the sojis of Noah, and some of the nations springing from him, we shall next bring to view. CwsH, who peopled the Arabic nonie, or province, near the Red sea, in Lower Egypt. Some think the Ethiopians sprung from him MizRAiM. This family certainly peopled Egypt; and both in the east and west Egypt is called Mizraim. Phut. Who first peopled an Egyi)tian nome^ or district, bor- dering on Lybia. Canaan. FIc who first peopled the land so called; known also by the name of the Promised Land. These were the nations which the Jews, who descended from Shem, cast out from the land of Canaan, as directed by G*^, because of the enormity and brutal nature of their crimes; which were such as no man of the present age, blessed with Christian a education, would excuse on a jury, under the terrors of an oath, from the punishment of death. They practised, as did the antediluvians and Sodomites, those 88 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 10 H!! thi^igs which were calculated to mingle the human with the brute. Surely, when this is understood, no man, not even a disbeliever in the inspiration of the Bible, will blame Moses for his seeming severity, in cutting off those nations with the besom of entire ex* termination. "Seba. The founder of the Sabeans. There seems to be three different people of this name, mentioned in the tenth chapter of Genesis, aad a fourth in the twenty-fifth chapter of the same book." The queen of Sheba was of this race, who came, as it is said, from the uttermost parts of the earth, to Jeru- salem, to know the wisdom of Solomon and the Hebrew religion; she was therefore, being a descendant of Ham's posterity, a black woman. Havillah, Sabtah, Kamah, Sabtechah, Sheba, Dedan. These are names belonging to the race of Ham, but the nations to whom they gave rise, is not interesting to our subject. NiMROD, however, should not be omitted, who was of the race of Ham, and was his grandson. Of whom it is said, he was a mighty hunter before the Lord: meaning not only his skill and courage, and amazing strength and ferocity, in the destruction of wild animals, which infested the vast wilds of the earth at that time, but a destroyer of men's lives, and the originator of idolatry. It was this Nimrod who opposed the righteous Melchisedec; and taught, or rather compelled, men to forsake the religion of Shem, or Melchiscdeo, and to follow the institutes of Nimrod. "The beginning of his kingdom was Bahely Erechf Acad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. — {Genesis x. 10.) The tower of Babel and the city of Babylon were both built on the Euphrates. Babel, however, was first built by Nimrod's agency, whose influence, it appears, arose much from the fierce- ness of his disposition, and from his stature and great muscular powers; qualifications whicJi, in every age, have been revered. The Septuagint version of the Scriptures speaks of Nimrod as being a surly giant. This was a colored man, and the first mo- narch of the human race since the flood. But whether monarchical or republican forms of government obtained before the flood is uncertain : — Probability would seem to favor neither; but rather that the patriarchal government suc- ceeded, as every father, to the fourth and fifth generation, must have been, in those days, the natural king or chief of his clan. I; ■IS. i AND DISCOVERIES IN WK8T. 39 1 the brute, ibeliever in s seeming " entire ex- 3nis to be the tenth chapter of race, who h, to Jeru- ff religion; ty, a black m. These s to whom of the race I he was a skill and traction of rth at that •f idolatry, ilchisedec; religion of imrod. Acad^ and th built on Nimrod's the fierce- rnuscular 1 revered. Fimrod as first mo- vernment juld seem (lent sur- ion, must is clan. These, after a while, spreading abroad, \ ould clash with each other's interest, whence petty wars would arise, till many tribes being, by the fortune of war, weakened, that which had been most fortunate, would at once seize upon a wider empire ; — Hence monarchies arose. But whether it so fell out before the flood, cannot now be ascertained. A state, however, of fearful anar- chy seems to be alluded to in the Scriptures; where it is said, that the earth was ^* filled iciih violence." This, however, was near the time of the flood. Popular forms of government, or those called republican or de- mocratical, had their origin when a number of distant tribes or clans invaved a district or country so situated as that the interests of diflTerent tribes were naturally somewhat blended; these, in or- der to repel a distant or strange enemy's encroachments, would naturally unite under their respective chiefs or patriarchs. E.k- perience would soon show the advantage of union. Hence arose republics. The grand confederacy of the five nations, which took place among the American Indians, before their acquaintance with white men, shows that such even among the most savage of our race, may have often thus united their strength — out of which civilization has sometimes, as well as monarchies and republics, arisen. Since the flood, however, it is found that the descendants of Japheth originated the popular forms of government in the earth; as among the Greeks, the Romans, and more perfectly among the Americans, who are the descendants of Japheth. We shall omit an account of the nations arising out of the de- scendants of Shem, (for we need not mention the Jews, of whom all men know they descended from him;) for the same reasons assigned for the omission of a part of the posterity of Ham, be- cause they chiefly settled in those regions of Asia, too remote to answer our subject any valuable purpose. " In confirmation, however, that all men have been derived from one fj^mily, let it be observed, that there are many usages, both sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, which could owe their origin to nothing but a general institution, which could not have existed, had not mankind been of the same blood originally, and instructed in the same common 40 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. ,1 n^' notions before they were dispersed" from the mountains of Ara- rat, and the family of Noah. Traits of this description, which argue to this conclusion, will in the course of this work, be made to appear; which to such as believe the Bible, will afford peculiar pleasure and surprise. f^ m •Antiquities of the West. I'here are no parts of the kingdoms or countries of the old world, but have celebrated in poetry and sober history, the mighty relics and antiquities of ancient empires, as Rome, Babylon, Greece. Egypt, Hindostan, Tartary, Africa, China, Persia, Eu- rope, Russia, and many of the island of the sea. It yet remains for America to awake her story from its oblivious sleep, and tell the tale of her antiquities — the traits of nations, coeval, perhaps, with the eldest works of man this side the flood. This curious si ')ject, although it is obscured beneath the gloom of past ages, of which but small record remains; beside that which is written in the dust, in the form of mighty mounds, tu- muli, strange skeletons, and aboriginal fortifications; and in some few instances, the bodies of preserved persons, as sometimes found in the nitrous caves of Kentucky, and the west, yet affords abundant premises to prompt investigation and rational conjecture. The mounds and tumuli of the west, are to be ranked among the most wonderful antiquities of the world, on the account of their number, magnitude, and obscurity of origin. " They generally are found on fertile bottoms and near the rivers. Several hundreds have been discovered along the valley of the Mississippi; the largest of which stands not far from Wheeling, on the Ohio. This mound is fifty rods in circumfer- ence, and ninety feet in perpendicular height." This is found filled with thousands of human skeletons, and was doubtless a place of general deposite of the dead for ages; which must have been contiguous to some lage city, where the dead were placed in gradation, one layer above another, till it reached a natural climax, agreeing with the slope commenced at its base or foundation. '•-"■^s: '<^i I AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 41 ns of Ara- tioiit which k, be made ird peculiar of the old the mighty Babylon, 'ersia, Eu- ct remains p, and tell 1, perhaps, the gloom eside that lounds, tu- id in some sometimes ret affords onjecture. imong the It of their near the he valley far from ireumfer- ons, and or ages; v'here the ler, till it enced at It is not credible, that this mound was made by the ancestors of the modern Indians. Its magnitude, and the vast numbers of dead deposited there, denote a population too great to have been supported by mere fishing and hunting, as the manner of Indians has always been. A population sufficient to raise such a mound as this, of earth, by the gradual interment of the deceased inha- lants, would necessarily be too far spread, to make it convenient for the living to transport their dead to one single place of reposi- tory. The modern Indians have ever been known, since the acquaintance of white men with them, to live only in «ma// towns; which refutes the idea of its having been made by any other peo- ple than such as differed exceedingly from the improvident and in- dolent native; and must, therefore, have been erected by a people more ancient than the Indian aborigines, or wandering tribes. " Some of these mounds have been opened, when, not only vast quantities of human bones have been found, but also instru- ments of warfare, broken earthen vases, and trinkets. From the trees growing on them, it is supposed, they have already existed at least six hundred years; and whether these trees were the first, second or third crop, is unknown; if the second only, which, from the old and decayed timber, partly buried in the vegetable mould and leaves, seems to favof; then it is all of twelve hundred years since they were abandoned, if not more. Foreign travellers complain, that America presents nothing Jikenmt* within her boundaries; no ivy mantled towers, nor moss covered turrets, as in the other quarters of the earth. Old Fort Warren, on the Hudson, rearing its lofty decayed sides high above West Point; and the venerable remains of two wars,at Ti- conderoga, upon Lake Champlain, they say, afford something of the kind. But what are mouldering castles, falling turrets, or crumbling abbeys, in comparison with those ancient and artificial aboriginal hills, which have outlived generations, and even all tradition; the workmanship of altogether unknown hands. Place these monuments and secret repositories of the dead, to- gether with the innumerable mounds and monstrous fortifications, which are scattered over America, in England, and on the conti- nent of Europe, how would their virtuosi examine, and their an- tiquarians fill volumes with their probable histories. How would their fame be conveyed from learned bodies, and through literary 43 AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIKS Ml i H i! volumes, inquiring who were the builders, of what age of the world, whence came they, and their descendants; if any, what has become of them; these would be the themes of constant spe- culation and inquiry. At Marietta, a place not only celebrated as being the first set- tlement on the Ohio, but has also acquired much celebrity, from the existence of those extensive and supposed fortifications, which are situated near the town. They consist of walls and mounds of earth, running in straight lines, from six to ten feet high, and nearly forty broad at their base; but originally must have been much higher. There is also, at this place, one fort of this an- cient description, which encloses nearly fifty acres of land. There are openings in this fortification, which are supposed to have been, when thronged with its own busy multitude, " used as gateways, with a passage from one of them, formed by two pa- rallel walls of earth, leading towards the river." This contrivance was undoubtedly for a defence against surprise by an enemy, while the inhabitants dwelling within should fetch water from the river, or descend thither to wash, as in the Gan- ges, among the Hindoos. Also the greatness of this fort is evi- dence, not only of the power of its builders, but also of those they feared. Who can tell but that they have, by intestine feuds and wars, exterminated themselves ? Such instances are not unfre- qr.cnt among petty tribes of the earth. Witness the war between Benjamin and his brother tribes, when but a mere handful of their number remained to redeem them from complete annihila- tion. Many nations, an account of whom as once existing, is found on the page of history, now have not a trace left behind. More than sixty tribes which once traversed the woods of the west, and who were known to the first settlers of the New-England states, are now extinct. The French of the Mississippi have an account, that an exter- minating battle was fought in the beginning of the 17th century, about two hundred and thirty years ago, on the ground where Fort Harrison now stands; between the Indians living on the Mis- sissippi, and those of the Wabash. The bone of contention was, the lands lying between those rivers, which both parties claimed. There were about 1000 warriors on each oide. The condition of the fight was, that the victors should possess the lands in dispute. "^F' '■ti AND DISCOVERISS IN THE WEST. 43 at age of the if any, what constant spe- ; the first set- ulebrity, from ations, which I and mounds feet high, and ist have been rt of this an- of land. c supposed to ide, '* used as ed by two pa- ;ainst surprise 1 should fetch s in the Gan- is fort is evi- of those they ine feuds and ire not unfre- war between ■e handful of ilete annihila- c existing, is B left behind. Is of the west, S^ew-England that an exter- 17th century, ground where ? on the Mis- ntention was, *ties claimed. } condition of ds in dispute. The grandeur of the prizq was peculiarly calculated to inflame the ardor of savage minds, ^he contest commenced about sunrise. Both parties fought desperatiply. The Wabash warriors came off conquerors, having seven men left alive at sunset, and their ad- versaries, the Mississippians, but Jive. This battle was fought nearly fifty years before their acquaintance with white men." — Wehsler^s Gazetteer, 1817, p. 69. Also the ancient Eries, once inhabiting about Lake Erie, and gave name to that body of water ; were exterminated by their enemies, another tribe of Indians — so far as that but one member of that nation, a warrior, remained. It is possible, whoever the authors of these great works were, or however long they may have lived on the continent, that they may have, in the same way, by intestine feuds and wars, weak- ened themselves, so that when the Tartars, Scythians, and de- scendants of the ten lost tribes, came across the straits of Bhering, that they fell an easy prey to those fierce and savage northern hordes. It is not likely that the vast warlike preparations which extend over the whole continent, south of certain places in Canada, were thrown up all of a sudden, on a first discovery of a strange enemy; for it might be inquired, how should they know such a mode of defence, unless they had acquired it in the course of ages, arising from necessity, and were constructed to defend against the inva- sions of each other? — being of various origin and separate inte- rests, as was much the situation of the ancient nations, in every part of the world. Petty tribes of the same origin, over the whole earth, have been found to wage perpetual war against each other, from motives of avarice, power, or hatred. In the most ancient eras of the history of man, little walled towns, which were raised for the security of a few families, under a chief, king, or patriarch, are known to have existed; which is evidence of the disjointed and unharmoni- ous state of human society; out of which, wars, rapine and plun- der arose. Such may have been the state of man in America, before the Indians found their way her6; the evidence of which, is the innumerable fortifications, found every where in the western regions. Within this fort, of which we have been speaking, found at ;« * "^ 44 AMEKICAN ANTIQUITIES Marietta, are elevated squares, situated at the corners, one hun- dred and eighty Ceet long, by one hundred and thirty broad, nine feet high, and level on the top. On these squares, erected at the corners of this groat enclosure, were doubtless placed some modes of annoyance to a besieging enemy; such as engines to sling stones with, or to throw|the dart and spear, or whatever might have been their modes of defence. Outside of this fort, is a mound, differing in form from their general configuration: its shape is that of a sugar loaf, the base of which is more than a hundred feet in circumference; its height thirty, encompassed by a ditch, and defended by a parapet, or wall beyond the ditch, about breast high, through which is a way toward the main fort. Human bones have been taken from many of these mounds, and charcoal, with fragments of pottery; in one placcj a skeleton of a man, buried east and tcest, after the manner of enlightened nations, was found, as if they understood the car- dinal points of the compass. On the breast of this skeleton was found a quantity of isinglass, a substance considered sacred by the Mexicans, and adored as a deity. Ruins of a Roman Fort at Marietta. But, respecting this fort, as above, we imagine that even the Romans may have built it, however strange this may appear. The reader will be so kind as to have patience, till we have advanced all our reasons for this strange conjecture, before he casts it from him as impossible. Our reasons'for'this idea arise out of the great similarity there is between its form and fortifications, and camps, built by the an- cient Romans. And in order to show the similarity, we have quo- ted the account of the forms of Roman camps, from Josephus's description of their military works. See his works. Book v. chap. 5, page 219, as follows: ** Nor can their enemies easily surprise them with the sudden- ness of their incursions, for as soon as thcv have marched into an enemy's land, they do not begin to fight till they have walled their AND D18COVUIK0 IN THK WEST. 45 •ners, one hun- rty broad, nine I, erected at the :ed some modes s to sling stones night have been )rm from their r loaf, the base ence; its height ' a parapet, or which is a way ken from many pottery; in one fter the manner rstood the car- ts skeleton was ;rcd sacred bv Ha, that even the y appear. The lave advanced e casts it from imilarity there uilt by the an- , we have quo- om Josephus's Book v. chap. th the sudden- arched into an I'e walled their camj> about; nor is the fence they raise rashly made, or uneven; nor do they all abide in it; nor do those that are in it take their place at random: but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is first levelled." ♦* Their camps arc also four square by measure; as for what space is within the camp, it is set apart for tents, but the outward circumference hath the resemblance to a wall; and is adorned with towers at equal distances, where, between the towers, stand the engines for throwing arrows and darts, and for slinging stones, where they lay all other engines that can annoy the enemy, ready for their several operations. *' They also erect four gates, one in the middle of each side of the circumference, or square, and those large enough for the en- trance of beasts, and wide enough for making excursions, if oc- casion should require. They divide the camp within into streets, very conveniently, and place the tents of the commanders in the middle; in the very midst of all, is the general's own tent, in the nature and form of a temple, insomuch that it appears to be a city built on the sudden, with its market place, and places for handi- craft trades, and with seats for the officers, superior'and inferior, where, if any ditforences arise, their causes are heard and de- termined. ** The canap, and all that is in it, is encompassed with a wall round about, and that sooner than one wouUrimagine, and this by the multitude and skill of the laborers. And if occasion require, a trench is drawn round the whole, whose depth is four cubits, and its breadth equal," which is a trifle more than six feet in depth and width. The similarity between the Roman camps and the one near Marietta, consists as follows: they are both four square; 'the one standing near the great fort, and is connected by two parallel walls, as described; has also a ditch surrounding it, as the Ro- mans sometimes encircled theirs; and, doubtless, when first con- structed, had a fence of timber (as Josephus says the Romans had,) all around it^ and all other forts of that description; but time has destroyed them. If the Roman camp had its elevated squares at its corners, for the purposes of overlooking the foe, and of shooting stones, darts and arrows; so had the fort at Marietta, of more^than a hundred AMEKICAN ANTIQUITIES H i,| feet square, on an average, of their forms, and nine feet high. Its parapets and gateways are similar; also the probable extent of the Roman encampments agrees well with the one at Marietta, which embraces near fifty acres within its enclosure; a space sufficient to havo contained a great army; with streets and elevated squares at its corners, like the Romans. Dr. Morse, the geographer, says, the war camps of the ancient Danes, Belgie and Saxons, as found in England, were universally of the circular^ while those of the Romans, in the same country, arc distinguished by the square form; is not this, therefore, a trait of the same people's work in America as in England) Who can tell but during the/oi/r hundred years the Romans had all the west of Europe attached to their empire, but they may have found their way to America, as well as other nations, the Welch and Scandinavians, in after ages, as we shall show before we end the volume. Rome, it must be remembered, was mistress of the known world, as they supposed, and were in the possession of the arts and sciences; with a knowledge of navigation, sufficient to traverse the oceans of the globe, even without the compass, by means of the stars by night, and the sun by day. The history of England informs us, that as early as fifty-five years before the Christian era, the Romans invaded the island of Britain, and that their ships were so large and heavy, and drew such a depth of water, that their soldiers were obliged to leap into the sea and fight their way to the shore, struggling with the rvaves and the enemy, both at once, because they could not bring their vessels near the shore, on account of their size. North America has not yet been peopled from Europe so long, by two hundred years, as the Romans were in possesi^ion of the island of Britain. Now, what has not America efi!ected in enter- prise, during this time? And although her advantages are supe- rior to those of the Romans, when they held England as a pro- vince, yet we are not to suppose they were idle, especially when their character, at that time, was a martial and a maritime one. In this character, therefore, were they not exactly fitted to make discoveriei about in the northern and western parts of the Atlan- tic, and may, therefore, have found America; made partial set- tlements in various places; coasted along down the shores of thia --^m AND DISCOVBMISS IN THE WRST. 47 ect high. Its ) extent of the arietta, which :o sufficient to ted squares at ;rapher, says, cons, as found ) those of the 5 square {orm\ k in America } Romans had ley may have IS, the Welch before we end >f the known »f the arts and Qt to traverse , by means of Y as fifty-five the island of vy, and drew )d to leap into ith the '.vaves ot bring their irope so long, esbion of the cted in enter- ges are supe- nd as a pro> >ecially when maritime one. ittcd to make of the Atlan- e partial set- hores of this country, found the mouth of the Mississippi, and th<>noe up that stream, making here and there a settlement? This supposition is as naturni, and as possible for the Romans to huvc done, as that Hudson should find the mouth of the North river, aid explore it as far north as to where the city of Albany is now standing. It was equally in their power to have found tiiis coast by chance, as the Scandinnvi'ins in the year 1000, or thereabouts, who made a settlement at the mouth of the St. Lawrence. But ni»re of this in due time. To show that the Romans did actually go on voyages oi' discoverjfj while in possession of Britain, we quote from the history of En- gland, that when Julius Agricola was governor of South Britain, he sailed quite round it, and ascertained it to be ap island. This was about one hundred years after their first subduing the country, or fifty-two years after Christ. But they may have had a knowledge of the existence of Ame- rica, prior to their invasion of Britain. And lest the reader may be alarmed at such a position, we hasten to show in what manner they might have obtained it, by relating a late discovery of a planter in South America. *' In the month of December, 1827, a planter discovered in a field, a short distance from Mont-Video, a sort of tomb-stone, upon which strange, and to him unknown, signs or characters were engraved. He caused this stone, which covered a small e icavation, formed with masonry, to be raised; when he found two exceedingly ancient swords, a helmet and shield^ which had suffered much from rust ; also, an earthen vessel of large capa- city." The planter caused the swords, the helmet and earthen amphora^ together with the stone slab, which covered the whole, to be re- moved to Mont-Video, where, in spite of the efifect 6f time, Cheek words were easily made out, which, when translated, read as fol- lows: — "During the dominion of Alexander ^ the son of Philip, king of Macedon, in the sixty-third Olympiad, Ptolemaios" — it was impossible to decipher the rest, on account of the ravages of time on the engraving of the stone. On the handle of one of the swords was the portrait of a man, supposed to be Alexander t^e Great. On the helmet there is sculptured work, that must have been executed by the most exqui» 48 AMKKICAN ANTIQUITIES J :!'• site skill, representing Achilles dragging the corpse of Hector round the walls of Troy; an account of which is familiar to every •classic scholar. This discovery was similar to the Fabula Heica, the bas-relief stucco, found in the ruins of the Via Appia, at Fratachio, in Spain, belonging to the princess of Colona, which represented all the principal scenes in the Iliad and Odyssey. From this it is quite clear, says the editor of the Cabinet of In- struction and Literature, from which we have extracted this ac- count, vol. 3, p. 99, that the discovery of this monumental altar is proof that a cotemporary of Aristotle, one of the Greek phi- losophers, has dug up the soil of Brazil and La Plata, in South America. It is conjectured that this Ptolemaios, mentioned on the stone, was the commander of Alexander's fleet, which is supposed to have been overtaken by a storm at sea, in the great ocean, (the Atlantic) as the ancients called it, and were driven on to the coast of Brazil, or the South American coast, where they doubtless erected the above mentioned monument, to preserve the memory of the voyage to so distant a country; ar\d that it might not be lost to the world, if any in after ages might chance to find it, as ot last it was permitted to be, in the progress of events. The above conjecture, however, that Ptolemaios, a name found engraved on the stone slab which covered the mason work, as be- fore mentioned, was one of Alexander's admirals, is not well founded, as there is no mention of such an admiral in the em- ploy of that emperor, found on the page of the history of those times. But the names of Nearchus and Onesicritus are mentioned, as being admirals of the fleets of Alexander the Great; and the name of Pytheas, who lived at the same time, is mentioned, as being a Greek philosopher, geographer and astronomer, as well as a voy- a^r, if not an admiral, as he made several voyages into the great Atlantic ocean; which are mentioned by Eratosthenes, a Greek philosopher, mathematician and historian, who flourished two hun< dred years before Christ. Strabo, a celebrated geographer and voyager, who lived about the time of the commencement of the Christian era, speaks of the voyages of Pytheas, by way of admission, and says that his know- AND DI8C0VKRIES IN THE WEST. 49 } of Hector iar to every le bas-relief io, in Spaiiiv nted all the ibinet of la- sted this ac- mental altar Greek phi- ;a, in South n the stone, supposed to t ocean, (the 1 to the coast ey doubtless the memory night not be to find it, as ts. name found work, as be- is not well in the em- ory of those entioned, as nd the name , as being a ell as a voy- nto the great ,es, a Greek led two hun< lived about peaks of the lat his know- ^ i ledge of Spain, Gaul, Germany and Britain, and all the countries of the north of Europe was extremely limited. He had, indeed, voyaged along the coasts of those countries, but had obtained but an indistinct knowledge of their relative situations. During the adventures of this man at sea, for the very purpose of ascertaining the geography of the earth, by tracing the coasts of countries, there was a great liability of his being driven off in a western direction, not only by the current which sets always towards America, but also by the trade winds, which blow in the same direction for several months in the year. Pytheas, therefore, with his fleet, it is most probable, either by design or storms, is the man who visited the American^coast, nd caused this subterranean monument of masonry to be erected. The Ptolomaios, or Ptolemy, mentioned on the stone, may refer to one of the four generals of Alexander, called sometimes Ptolemy La- gus, or Soter. This is the man who had Egypt for his share of the conquests of Alexander; and it is likely the mention of his name on the stone, in connection with that of Alexander, was caus- ed either by his presence at the time the stone was prepared, or because he patronised the voyages and geographical researches of the philosopher and navigator, Pytheas. Alexander the Great flourished about three hundred years be- fore Christ; he was a Grecian, the origin of whose nation is said to have been Japetus, a descendant of Japheth, one of the sons of Noah, as before shown. Let it be observed, the kingdom of Macedon, of which ^lex- -ander was the last, as well as the greatest of its kings, com- menced eight hundred and fourteen years before'Christ, which -was sixty-one years earliar than the commencement of the Ro- ■mans. But, what is to be learned from this story about the Greeks, re- specting any knowledge in possession of the Romans about a con- tinent west of Europe? Simply this, that an account of this voy- age, whether it was an accidental one, or a voyage of discovery, could not but be known to the Romans, as well as to the Greeks, and entered on the records of the nation on their return. But where, then, is the record ? We must go to the flames of the Goths and Vandals, who overran the Roman empire, in which accounts of the discoveries of countries and the histories of antiquity were 4 w AMFRICAN ANTI4UITIE0 destroyed; casting over thoso regions which they subdued, the- gloom of barbarous ignorance, congenial with the shades of the forests of the north, from whence they originated: on which ac- count, countries, and the knowledge of many arts anciently known, were to be discovered over again; and among them, it is believed, was America. When Columbus discovered this country, and had returned to Spain, it was soon known to all Europe. The same we may sup- pose of the discovery of the same country by the Greeks, though with infinitely less publicity; because ihe world at the time had not the advantage of printing; yet, in some degree, the discovery must have been known, especially among the great men of both Greeks and Romans. The Grecian or^Maccdonian kingdom, after the death of Alex- ander, maintained its existence but a short time, one hundred and forty-four years only; when the Romans defeated Perseus, which ended the Macedonian kingdom, one hundred and sixty-eight years before Christ. At this time, and thereafter, the Romans held on their course of war and conquest, till four hundred and ten years after Christ, — amounting in all, from their beginning, till Rome was taken and plundered by Alaric, king of the^Visigoths, to one thousand, one hundred and sixty-three years. Is it to be supposed, the Romans, a warlike, enlightened, and enterprising people,^who' had found their way by sea so far north from Rome as to the island of Britain, and actually sailed round it, would not explore^farther north and west, especially as they had some hundred years opportunity, while in possession of the north of Europe? Morse, the geographer, in his second volume, page 126, says: — Ireland, which is situated west of England, was probably discovered by the Phoenicians; the era of whose voyages and maritime exploits commenced more than fourteen hundred years before Christ, and continued several ages. Their country was situated at the east end of the Mediterranean sea; so that a voy- age to the Atlantic, through the strait of Gibraltar west, would be a distance of about two thousand and three hundred miles, and from Gibraltar to Ireland, a voyage of about one thousand f>t ■'A i AND DI8C0VKBIER IN THE WK8T. 61 jdued, the- ies of the which ac- lly known, ,s believed, returned to e may sup- ;ks, though e time had le discovery nen of both ath of Alex- liundred and rseus, which r-eight years leir course of ter Christ, — IS taken and lousand, one rhtened, and so far north Isailed round [ally as they pssion of the page 126, ^as probably [voyages and mdred years [country was that a voy- wcst, would Indred miles, )ne thousand f J,3| and four hundred miles; which, in the whole amount, is near four thousand. Ireland is farther north, by about five degrees, than Newfound- land, and the latter only about eighteen hundred miles southwest from Ireland; so that while the Phoenicians were coasting and voyaging about in the Atlantic, in so high a northern latitude as Ireland and England, may well be supposed to have discovered Newfoundland, (either by being lost or driven there by storm,) which is very near the coast of America. Phoenician letters are said to be engraven on some rocks on Tauijton river, near the sea, in Massachusetts; if so, this is proof of the position. Some hundreds of years after the first historical notice of the Phoenician voyages, and two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Clceks, it is said, became acquainted with Ireland and was known among them by the name of Juverna. Ptolemy, the Egyptian geographer, who flourished about one hundred vears after Christ, has given a map of that island, which is said to be very correct. — (Morse. ) Here we have satisfactory historical evidence, that Ireland, as well, of course, as all the coast of northern Europe, with the very isload* diacent, were known; first, to the Phoenicians; second, to the c ks; third, to the Romans; and, fourth, to the Egyp- tians — iu those early ages, from which arises a great probability that America may have been well known to the ancient nations of the old world. On which account, when the Romans had extend- ed their conquests so far north as nearly to old Norway, in latitude 60 degrees, over the greater part of Europe; they were well pre- pared to explore the North Atlantic, in a western direction, in quest of new countries; having already sufficient data to believe western countries existed. It is not impossible but the Danes, Norwegians and Welsh may have at Jirst obtained some knowledge of western lands, islands and territories, from the discoveries of the Romans, or from llioir opinions, and handed down the story, till the Scandinavians Oi* Norwegians discovered Iceland, Greenland and America, many hundred years before the time of Columbus. But, however this may be, it is certain those nations of the north of Europe did visit this country, as we have promised to »bow in its proper place. Would Columbus have made this at- 4» 52 AMKBICAN ANTIQUITIK8 tempt, if he had not believed, or conjectured, there was a western continent; or by some means obtained hints respecting it, or the probability of its existence? It is said, Columbus found, at a cer- tain time, the corpses of two men of a tawny complexion, floating in the sea, near the coast of Spain, which he knew were not of European origin, but had been driven by the sea from some un- known western country; also, timber and branches of trees, all of which confirmed him in his opinion of the existence of other coun- tries westward. If the Romans may have found this country, they may also have attempted its colonization, as the immense square forts of the west would seem to suggest. In 1821, on the bank of the river Dqsperes, in Missouri, was found, by an Indian, a Roman coin^ and presented to Gov. Clarke. This is no more singular than the discovery of a Persian coin near a spring on the Ohio, some feet under ground; as we have shown in another place of this work — all of which go to encourage the conjecture respecting the presence of the ancient Romans in Ame- rica. The remains of former dwellings, found along the Ohio, where the stream has, in many places, washed away its banks, heartlis and fire places are brought to light, from two to six feet below the surface. Near these remains, are found immense quantities of muscle shells and bones of animals. From the depths of many of these remnants of chimnies, and from the fact that trees as large as any in the surrounding forest, were found growing on the ground above those fire places, at the time the country was first settled by its present inhabitants, the conclusion is drawn that a very long pe- ri<^d has elapsed since these subterraneous remnants of the dwel- lings of man were deserted. Hearths and fire places. — Are not these evidences that build- ings once towered above them? If not such as now acommodate the millions of America, yet they may have been such as the an- cient Britons used at the time the Romans first invaded their country. These were formed of logs set up endwise, drawn in at the top, so that the smoke might pass out at an aperture left open at the summit. They were not square on the ground, as houses are now built, but set in a circle^ one log against the other, r a western r it, or the d, at a cer- )n, floating 'ere not of n some un- trees, all of other coun- y also have I of the west issouri, was Jov. Clarke, in coin near have shown courage the ans in Anie- ig the Ohio, y its banks, to six feet of muscle any of these arge as any round above ttJed by its ry long pe- jf the dwel- that build- acommodate h as the an- ivaded their rn in at the re left open 1, as houses the other, AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 53 with the hearth and fire place in the centre. At the opening in the top, where the smoke went out, the light came in, as no other window was then used. There are still remaining, in several parts of England, the vestiges of large stone buildings, made in this way; that is, in a circle. — (Blair's History of Eng- land^ P* 8.) At Cincinnati, there are two museums, one of which contains a great variety of western antiquities, many skulls of Indians, and more than a hundred remains of what has been dug out of the aboriginal mounds. The most strange and curious of all, is a cup, made of clay, with three faces on the sides of the cup, each pre- senting regular features of a wian, and beautifully delineated. It is the same represented on the plate. — (See letter E.) A great oeal has been said, and not a little written, by antiqua- rians about this cup. It was found in one of those mysterious mounds, and is known by the name of the trivne cup. In this neighborhood, the Yellow Springs, a day's ride below Cincinnati, stands one of those singular mounds. Whenever we view those most singular objects of cui'iosity, and remains of art, a thousand inquiries spring up in the mind. They have excited the wonder of all who have seen or heard of them. Who were those ancients of the west, and when, and for ichat purpose these mounds were constructed, are questions of the most interesting nature, and have engaged the researches of the most inquisitive antiquarians. Abundant evidence, however, can be procured, that they are not of Indian origin. With this sentiment there is a general acquiescence; however, we think it proper, in this place, to quote Dr. Beck's remarks on this point, from his Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Mis- souri. (See page 308.J " Ancient works exist on this river, the Arkansas, as elsewhere. The remains of mounds and fortifications are almost every where to be seen. One of the largest mounds in this country has been thrown up on this stream, (the Wabash,) within the last thirty or forty years, by the Osages, near the great Osage village, in honor of one of their deceased chiefs. This fact proves conclusively the original object of these mounds, and refuUo the theory that they must necessarily have been erected by a race of men more civilized than the present tribes of Indians. Were it necessary, 64 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS I % (says Dr. Beck,) numerous other facts might be adduced to prove, that the mounds arc no otlier than the tombs of their great men." That this is one of their uses there is no doubt, but not their ex- clusive use. The vast heighth of one of them, which is more than a hundred feet, would seem to point them out as places of lookout, which, if the country in the days when their builders flourished, was cleared and cultivated, would overlook the country to a great distance; and if it were not, still their lowering summits would surmount even the interference of the forests. But although the Osage Indians have so recently thrown up one such mound, yet it does not prove them to be of American Indian origin; and as this is an isolated case, would rather argue that the Osage tribe have originally descended from their more ancient progenitors, the inhabitants of this country prior to the intrusions of the late Indians from Asia. Before we close this work, we shall attempt to make this appear from their own traditions, which have of late been procured from the most ancient of their tribes, the Wyandots, as handed down for hundreds of years, and from other sources. The very form and character which Dr. Beck has given the Osage Indians, argues tliem of a superior stock, or rather a dif- ferent race of men, as follows : " In person, the Osages are among the largest and best formed Indians, and arc said to pos- sess fine military capacities; but residing as they do in villages, and having made considerable advances in agriculture^ they seem less addicted to war than their northern neighbors." The whole of this character given of the Osage Indians, their military XvL^ie, their agricultural genius, their noble and command- ing forms of person, and being /t'ss " addicted to war," shows them, it would seem, exclusively of other origin, than that of the common Indians. It is supposed, the inhabitants who found their way first to this country, after the earths division, in the days of Peleg, and were here long before the modern Indians, came not by the way of Bhering's strait from Kamtschatka, in Asia, but directly from China across the Pacific, to the western coast of America, by means of islands which abounded anciently in that ocean between Chinese Tartary, China, and South America, even more than at present, which are, however, now very numerous; and also by AND DISCOVERIES IS THE WK8T- S5 the means of vessels, of which all mankind have always had u knowledge. In this way, without any difficulty, more than is common, they could have found their way to this, as men have to every part of the earth. We do not recollect that any of those peculiar monuments of antiquity appear north of the United States. Mackenzie, in his overland journey to the Pacific, travelling northwest from Mon- treal, in Canada, does not mention a single vestige of the kind, nor does Carver. If, then, there are none of these peculiar kinds, such as the mounds, farther north than about the latitude of the Canadas, it would appear from this, that the Jirst authors of these works, especially of the mounds, and tumuli, migrated, not from Asia, by way of Bhering's strait, but from Europe, east — China, west — and from Africa, south — continents now separated, then touching each other, with islajids innumerable besides, affording the means. If this supposition, namely, that the continents in the first ages immediately after the flood, were united, is not allowed, how, then, it might be inquired, came every country yet discovered, of any size, having the natural means of human subsistence, to be found inhabited ? In the very way this can be answered, the question relative to the means by which South America was first peopled, can also be answei-ed, namely ; the continents, as intimated on the first pages of this work, as quoted from Dr. Clarke, were, at first, that is, immediately after the flood, till the division of the earth, in the days of Pelog, connected together, so that mankind, with all kinds of animals, might pass to every quarter of the globe, suited to their natures. If such were not the fact, how then did the seve- ral kinds of animals get to every part of the earth from the ark? They could not, as jnan, make use of the boat, or vessel, nor could they svvim such distances. From Dr. Clarke's Travel's it appears, ancient works exist to this day, in some parts of Asia, similar to those of North Ame- rica. His description of them, reads as though he were contem- plating some of these western mounds. The Russians call these sepulchres logri; and vast numbers of them have been discovered in Siberia and the deserts bordering on the empire to the south. Historians mention these tumuli, with many particulars. In them 56 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES were found vessels, ornaments, trinkets, medals, arrows, and oth- er articles; some of copper, and even gold and silver, mingled with the ashes and remains of dead bodies. When, and by whom, these burying places of Siberia and Tar- tary, more ancient than the Tartars themselves, were used, is ex- ceedingly interesting. The situation, construction, appearance, and general contents of these Asiatic tumuli, and the American mounds, are however, so nearly alike, that there can be no hesi- tation in ascribing them to the same races, in Europe, Asia, Afri- ca, and America; and also to the same ages of time, or nearly so, which we suppose, was very soon after the flood; a knowledge of mound building was then among men, as we see in the authors of Babel. "The triune cvp (see plate, letter E.,) deposited in one of the museums at Cincinnati, affords some probable evidence, that a part, at least, of the great mass of human population, once inhabit- ing the valley of the Mississippi, were of Hindoo origin. It is an earthen vessel, perfectly round, and will hold a quart, having three distinct faces, or heads, joined together at the back part of each, by a handle. The faces of these figures strongly resemble the Hindoo countenance, which is here well executed. Now, it is well known, that in the mythology of India, three chief gods constitute the acknowledged belief of that people named Brahma* VisHNOO, and Siva. May not this cup be a symbolical represen- tation of that belief, "and may it not have been used for some sa- cred purpose, here, in the valley of the Mississippi? In this coun- try, as in Asia, the mounds are seen at the junction of many of ihe rivers, as along the Mississippi, on the most eligible positions for towns, and in the richest lands: and the day may have been, when those great rivers, the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Illinois, and the Muskingum, beheld along their sacred banks, countless devotees assembled for religious rites, such as now crowd in su- perstitious ceremonies, the devoted and consecrated borders of the Indus, the Ganges, and the Burrampooter, rivers of the Indies.. Mounds in the west are very numerous, amounting to several thousand, none less than ten feet high, and some over one hun- dred. One opposite St. Louis measures eight hundred yards in circumference at its base, which is fifty rods. Sometimes they stand in groups, and with their circular shapes, at a distance look :pi AND DISC0VERI8 IN THE WEST. vt like enormous hay stacks, scattered through a meadow. From their great number, and occasional stupendous size, years and the labors of tens of thousands must have been required to finish them. Were it not, indeed, for their contents, and design manifested in their erection, they would hardly be looked upon as the work of human hands. In this view, they strike the traveller with the same astonishment as would be felt while beholding those oldest monuments of wordly art and industry, the Egyptian pyramids; and like them the mounds have their origin in the dark night of time, beyond even the history of Egypt itself. Whether or not these mounds were used at some former period, as " high places" for purposes of religion, or fortifications, or for national burying places, each of which theories has found advocates, one infer- ence, however, amidst all the gloom which surrounds them, re- mans certain: the valley of the Ohio, was once inhabited by an immense agricultural population. Wo can see their vast funeral vaults, enter into their graves, and look at their dry bones; but no passage of history tells their tale of life; no spirit comes forth from their ancient sepulchres, to answer the inquiries of the living. It is worthy of remark, that Breckenridge, in his interesting tra- vels through these regions, calculates that no less than Jive tlwu- sands villages of this forgotten people existed; and that their lar- gest city was situated between the Mississippi and Missouri, not far from the junction of those rivers, near St. Louis, In this re- gion, the mighty waters of the Missouri and Illinois, with their unnumbered tributaries, mingle with the *' father of rivers," the Mississippi; (Mississippi, the word in the Indian language means Father of Rivers;) a situation formed by nature, calculated to in- vite multitudes of men, from the goodness of the soil, and the fa- cilities of water communications. The present race, who are now fast peopling the unbounded west, are apprised of the advantages of tli s region. Towns and cities an rising on the very ground where the ancient millions of mankind had their seats of empire. Ohio now contains more than six hundred thousand inhabitants; but at that early day, the same extent of country, most probably, was filled with a far greater population than inhabits it at the present time. Many of the^ mounds are completely occupied with human skeletons, and mil- 58 AMERICAN ANTIQVITIR8 .':il^ ') 'h'*^' iions of them must have been interred in these vast cemeteries, that can be traced from the Rocky mountains, on the west, to the Alleghenies on the east, and into the province of the Texas ond New Mrxico to the south: revolutions like those known in the old world may have taken place here, and armies, equal to those of Cyrus, of Alexander the Great, or of Tamerlane, the powerful, might have flourished their trumpets, and marched to battle, over these extensive plains, filled with the probable de- scendants of that same race in A!iia,whom these proud conquerors vanquished there." Course of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. There is a strong resemblance between the northern and inde- pendent Tartar, and the tribes of the North American Indians, but not of the South American. Besides this reason, there are others for believing our aborigines of North America were descended from the ancient Scythians, and came to this country from the eastern part of Asia. This view by no means invalidates the opinion that some tribes of the Indians of North America are descendants of the Israeliles, because the Scythians, under this particular name, existed long before that branch of the family of Shem, called Israelites; who, after they had been carried away by Salmanasser, the Assyrian king, about 700 years B. C, went northward, as stated by Esdras, (see his second book, thirteenth chapter, from verse 40 to verse 4.5, inclusive,) through a part of Independent Tartary. During this journey, which carried them among the Tartars, now so call- ed, but were anciently the Scythians, and probably became amal- gamated with them. This was the more easily effected, on account of the agreement of complexion and common origin. If this may be supposed, we perceive at once, how the North American In- dians are in possession of both Scythian and Jewish practices. Their Scythian customs arc as follows: — " Scalping their prison- ers, and torturing them to death. Some of the Indian nations also 1 1 ros me 4na are •r r ^. wo i of 1 nei J- b'^c mo the the to ^1 rec of shj ^ pas < Pe i coi '' COI (w 1 rie '1 cm ■f al 1 soi 1 int i lea sec '■3 to 5 the COI COI wli ex 1 of i n we AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T« Gt t cemeteries, n the west, of the Texas »so known in cs, equal to ncrlane, the marched to probable de- d conquerors rn and indo- Indians, but re are others re descended ry from the t some tribes he Israelites, existed long velites; who, tie Assyrian d by Esdras, I 40 to verse ry. During noio so call- ccame amal- 1, on account If this may merican In- ih practices, their prison- nations also roscmble the Tartars in the construction of their canoes, imple- ments of war, and of the chase, with the well known habit of inarching in Indian file , and their treatment of the aged;" these are Scythian customs. Their Jewish customs are too many to be enumerated in this work; for a particular account of those customs, see Smith's View of the Hebrews. If, then, our Indians have evidently the man- ners of both iht' Scythian and the Jew, it proves them to hav«j b?on, anciently, both Israelites and Scythians; the latter l>eingthe more ancient name of the nations now called Tartars,* with whom the ten tribes may have amalgama*od. Tliat the Israelites, called the ten tribes, who were carried away from Judea by Salmanasser to the land of Assyria, went from that country in a northerly di- rection, as quoted from Esdras, above, is evident, from the Map of Asia. Look at Esdras agiin, 43d verse, chap. 13, and we shall perceive, they " entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passes or heads of that river," which runs from the north into the Persian gulf. It is not probable that the country which Esdras called Arsarefh could possibly be America, as many have supposed, because a vast company, such as the ten tribes were at the time they left Syria, (which was about one hundred years after their having been car- ried away from Judea, nearly 3000 years ago,) could travel fast enough to perform the journey in so short a time as a year and a half. We learn from the map of Asia, that Syria was situated at the southeasterly end of the Mediterranean sea, and that in entering into the narrow passes of the Euphrates, as Esdras says, would lead them worM of Mount Ararat, and soniheasterly of the Black sea, through Georgia, over the Caucassian mountains, and so on to Astracan, which lies north of the Caspian sea. Wo may, with the utmost show of reason, be permitted to argue, that this vast company of men, women, and ther little ones, would naturally be compelled to shape their course so as to avoid the deep rivers, which it cannot well be supposed they had the means of crossing, except when frozen. Their course would then be along the heads of the several rivers running north, after they had passed the coun- * The appellation of Tartar was not known till the year A. D. 1227, who were at tj>at time considered a new race of barbarians. — Morst. 60 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ' i try of Astracan. From thence over the Ural mountains, or that part of that chain running aleng Independent Tartury. Then, after having passed over this mountain near the northern boundary of Independent Tartary, they would find themselves at the foot of the little Altain mountains, which course would lead them, if they still wished to avoid deep und rapid rivers, running from the little Altain mountains northward, or northwesterly, into the Northern ocean, across the immense and frozen regions of Sibc- ria^ The names pf those rivers beginning on the easterly side of the Ural mountains, are first, the river Obi, with its many heads, or little rivers, forming nt length the river Obi, which empties into the Northern ocean, at the gulf of Obi, in latitude of about 67 de- grees north. The second is the river Yenisei, with its many heads, having their sources in the same chain of mountains, and runs into the same ocean, further north, towards Bhering's straits, which is the point we arc approximating, by pursuing this course. A third river, with its many heads, that rises at the base of an- other chain of mountains, called the Yablonoy, or Lena. There are several other rivers, arising out of another chain of mountains, farther on northward towards Bhering's straits, which have no name on the map of Asia; this range of mountains is called the St. Anovoya mountains, and comes to a point, or end, at the strait which separates Asia from America, which is but a small distance across, about forty miles only, and several islands between. Allowing the ten tribes, or if they may have become amalga- mated with the Tartars as they passed on this tremendous journey toward the Northern ocean, to have pursued this course, the dis- tance will appear from Assyria to the straits, to be six thousand, two hundred and fifty-five miles — more, by nearly one-half, than such a vast body, in moving on together, could possibly perform in a year and a half. Six miles a day would be as great a dis- tance as such a host could perform, where there is no way but that of forests untraced by man, and obstructed by swamps, mountains, fallen trees, and thousands of nameless hindrances. Food must be had, and the only way of procuring it must have been by hunting with the bow and arrow, and by fishing. The sick must not be forsaken, the aged and the infant must be cher- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 61 le base of an- ishcd; all these things would delay, so that a rapid progress can- not be admitted. If, then, six miles a day is a reasonable distance to suppose they may have progressed, it follows that nearly three years, in- stead of a year and a half, would not have been more than suffi- cient to carry them from Syria to Bhering's straits, through a re- gion almost of eternal snow. This, therefore, cannot have been the course of the Ten Tribes to the land of Aaarcth, wherever it was; and, that it was north from Syria, we ascertain by Esdras, who says they went into the narrow passes of the Euphrates, which means its three heads, or branches, which arise north from Syria. From the head waters of this river, there is no way to pass on, but to go between the Black and Caspian seas, over the Caucassian mountains, as be- fore stated. From this point, they may have gone on to what •'^ now called Astracan^ as before rehearsed; but here we suppose th- y mi^y have taken a west instead of a north direction, which would have been toward that part of Russia, which is now called Russia in Europe, and would have led them on between the rivers Don &nd Vol^a; the Don emptying into the Black sea, and the Volga into the Caspian. This course would have led them exactly to the places v. heri Moscow and Petersburg now stand, and from thence, in a north- westerly direction, along the south end of the White sea, to Lap- land^ Norway and Sweden^ which lie along the coast of the Norlh Atlantic ocean. Now, the distance from Syria to Lapland, Norway, and Swe- den, on the coast of the Atlantic, is scarcely three thousand miles; a distance which may have easily been travelled in a year and a half, at six miles a day, and the sa' le opportunity have been af- forded for their amalgamation with Scythians c ' Tartars, as in the other course, towards Bhering's strait. N.,;r>ay, Sweden, and Lapland may have been the land of Arsareth. But here arises a question; how, then, did th'jy get into America from Lapland and Norway ? The onl niswer is, America and Europe must have been at that time united by land, or they may have built boats. The manner by which the original inhabitants and animals 62 AMERICAN ANTIQIVTIES u reached here, is easily explained, by adopting the supposition, which, doubtless, is the mos( correct, that the northwestern and western limits of America were, at some former period, united to Asia on the westj and to Europe on the east. This was partly the opinion of BufTon, and other great natu- ralists. That connection has, therefore, been destroyed, among other great changes this rarth has evidently experienced since the flood. We have examples of these revolutions before our eyes. Flo- rida has gained leagues of land from the gulf of Mexico; aiid part of Louisiana, in the Mississippi valley, has been formed by the mud of rivurs. Since tlic Falls of Niagara were first discovered, they have receded very considerably; and it is conjectured, that this sublimest of nature's curiosities was situated originally where Queenstown now stand,<. Sicily was united formerly to the continent of Europe, and an- cient authors affirm, that the straits of Gibraltar, which divide between Europe and Africa, were formed by a violent irruption of the ocean upon the land. Ceylon, where our missionaries have an establishment, has lost forty leagues by the sea, which is one liundred and twenty miles. Many such instances occur in history. Pliny tells us, that in his own time, the mountain Cymbotus, with the town of Eurites, which stood on its side, were totally swallowed up. He records the like of the city Tantelis, in Magnesia, and of the mountain Sopelus, both absorbed by a violent opening of the earth, so that no trace of either remained. Galanis and Garnatus, towns once famous in Phoenicia, are recorded to have met the same fate. The vast promontory, called Phlcgium, in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake in the night, was not to be seen in the morning, the earth having swallowed it up, and closed over it. Like instances we have of later date. The mountain Picus, in one of the Moluccas, was so high that it appeared at a vast dis- tance, and served as a landmark to sailors. But during an earth- quake in the isle, the mountain in an injtant sunk into the bowels of the earth, and no token of it remained. The like happened in the mountainous parts of China, in 1556, when a whole province, with all its towns, cities and inhabitants, was absorbed in a mo- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 63 lie suppositioD, rthwestern and eriod, united to ber great natu- Jtroyed, among ienced since the )ur eyes. Fio- exico; a«d part formed by the irst discovered, snjectured, that liginally where Duropc, and an- , which divide iolcnt irruption ssionaries have , which is one ills us, that in vn of Eurites, . He records the mountain earth, so that us, towns once a me fate. The iftcr a violent morning, the ntain Picus, in i at a vast dis- iring an earth- nto the bowels te happened in 'hole province, orbed in a mo- ment ; an immense lake of water remaining in its place, even to this day. In the year 1646, during a terrible earthquake in the kingdom of Chili, several whole mountains of the Andes, one after another, were wholly absorbed in the earth. Probably many lakes, over the whole earth, have been occasioned in this way. Lake Ontario is supposed to have been formed in this way. The greatest earthquake we fmd in antiquity, is that mentioned by Pliny, in which twelve cities in Asia Minor were swallowed, up in one night. But one of those most particularly described in history, is that of the year 1693. It extended to a circumference of two thousand six hundred leagues, chiefly aflecting the sea coasts and groat rivers. Its motions were so rapid, that those who lay at their length were tossed from side to side, as upon a rolling billow. The walls were dashed from their foundations, and no less than tifty-four cities, with an incredible number of villages, wore either destroyed or greatly damaged. The city of Catanca, in particular, was utterly overthrown. A traveller, who was on his way thither, at the distance of some miles, perceived a black cloud hanging near the place. The sea all of a sudden began to roar — Mount ^Etna to send forth great spires of flames; and soon after, a shock ensued, with a noise as if all the artillery in the world had been at once discharged. Although the shock did not continue above three minutes, yet near nineteen thousand cf the inhabitants of Sicily perished in the ruins. We have said above, that Norway, Lapland, and Sweden, may have been the very land called the land of Arsareth, by Es- dras, in his second book, chapter thirteenth, who may, with the utmost certainty, be supposed to know the very course and place where these Ten Tribes went to, being himself a Jew and a his- torian, who at the present day is quoted by the firsi, authors of the age. We have also said, it should be considered impossible for the Ten Tribes, after having left the place of their captivity, at the cast end of the Mediterranean soa, which was the Syrian coun- try, for them to have gone in a year and a half to Bhering's strait, through the frozen wilderness of Siberia. In going away from Syria, they cannot be supposed to have had any place in viewj only they had conferred among themselYCS that, 64 AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIES iV M' ^ ; !il I as Esdras says, '* they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a country where never mankind dwelt;" which Esdras called the land of Arsareth. Now, it is not to be supposed, a land or country where no man dwelt could have a namef especially in that early age of the world, which was about seven hundred years before the Christian era: but on that very account, we may suppose the word Arsareth to be descriptive only of a vast wilderness country, where no man dwelt, and is probably a Persian word of that signification, for Syria was embraced within the Persian empire: the Israelites may have, in part, lost their original language, having been there in a state of captivity for more than one hundred years before they left that country. Esdras says that Arsareth was a land where no man dwelt; this statement is somewhat corroborated by the fact, that the country which we have supposed was Arsareth, namely, Norway, &c., was anciently unknown to mankind. On this point, see Morse's Geography, vol. 2, p. 28: "Norway — A region almost as unknown to the ancients as was America." But in this he is mistaken, as will appear by and by, in the course of this work. America was known to the ancients. Its almost insular situation^ having on the west the Atlantic ocean, on the south end the North seft, and on the east the Baltic and the gulf of Bothnia — these waters almost surrounding it — there being a narrow connexion of land with the European conti- nent only on the north, between the gulf of Bothnia and the White sea, which is Lapland, and was a reason quite sufficient why the ancients should have had no knowledge of that region of country. Naturalists, as before remarked, have supposed that America was, at some remote period before the Christian era, united to the continent of Europe; and that convulsions, such as earthquakes, volcanos, and the irruptions of the ocean, has shaken and over- whelmed a whole r^ gion of earth, lying between Norway and Baffin's bay, of which Greenland and Iceland, with many other islands, are the remains. But suppose the American and European continents, seven hun- her, says, that of the original population of Lapland very little is known with certainty. Some writers have supposed them to be a colony of Fins from Russia; others have thought that they bore a stronger resemblance to the Semoeids of Asia. Their lan- guage, however, is said by Leems to have less similitude to the Finnish, than the Danish to the German, and to be totally un- like any of the dialects of the Teutonic, or ancestors of the ancient Germans. But according to Leems, as quoted by Morse, in their language are found many Hebrew words; also, Greek and Latin. Hebrew words are found among tho American Indians, in con- siderable variety. But how came Greek and Latin words to be in the composition of the Laponic language? This is easily answered, if we suppose them to be derived from the Ten Tribes; as, at the time they left Syria, the Greek and Latin were languages spoken every where in that region, as well as tho Syrian and Chaldean. And on this very account, it is likely the Ton Trilx's had in part lost their ancient language, as 5 t a •' ture, an entire new language, as they had been enslaved about one hundred years. So that, allowing the ancient Laplanders to have derived their tongue from a part of these ten wandeiing tribes, it well might be said by Lcems, as quoted by Morse, that the language of Lap- land, commonly called the Laponic, had no words in com7»on with th Gothic, or Teutonic, except a few Norwegian words, evi- dently foreign, and unassociutcd with any of the languages of Asia or Europe; these being of the Teutonic, or German origin, which goes back to within five hundred years of the flood, seve- ral centuries before the Ten Tribes were carried away by SaJma- nasser. This view would seem to favor our hypothesis. We shall now show a few particulars respecting their religious notions, which seem to have, in some respects, a resemblance to those of the Jews. Their deities were of four kinds : 1st. Super-celeslialj named as follows: Radien, Atzihe, and Kiedde, the Creator. Radien and Atzihe they considered the fountain of all power, and Kiedde, or Radien Kiedde, the Son, or Creator, 'i hese were their supreme gods, and would seem to be borrowed from the Jewish doctrine of the Trinity. 2d. Celestial^ called Beiwe^ the Sun, or as other ancient nations had it, Apollo, which is the same, and Ailekies, to whom Satur- day was consecrated. May not these two powers be considered as the shadows of the different orders of angels, as held by the Jews ? 3d. Sub-celestial, or in the air and on the earth. Moderakka, or the Lapland Lucina ; Saderakka, or Venus, to whom Friday was holy; and Juks Akka, or the Nurse. These are of heathen origin, derived from the nations among whom they had been slaves and wanderers, the Syrians. 4th. Sub-terranean, as Saiwo, and Saiwo-OIrr '' gods of the mountains; Saiwo-Guelle, or their Mercury, who conducted the shades, or wicked souls, to the lower regions. This idea would seem to be equivalent with the doctrine found in both the Jewish and Christian religions, namely, that Satan 4 AND DI8C0VBRIES IN THE WEST. 67 conducts or receives the souls of the wicked to his hell, in the subterranean fire of the earth. They have another deity, l>elonging to the fourth order; and him they call Jabnie-Akko, or he who occupied their Elysium; in which the soul was furnished with a new body, and nobler privi- leges and powers, and entitled, at some future day, to enjoy the light of Radien, the fountain of power, and to dwell with him for- ever in the mansions of bliss. This last sentiment is certainly equivalent to the Jewish idea of heaven and eternal happiness in Abraham's bosom. It also, un- der the idea of a new body, shows a relation to the Jewish and Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the body, at the last day; and is indeed wonderful. 5th. An infernal deity, called Rota, who occupied and reigned in Rota-Abimo, or the infernal regions; the ocpupants of which, had no hopes of escape. He, together with his subordinates, Fudno, Mubber, and Paha-Engel, were all considered as evil dis- posed towards mankind. This is too plain not to be applied to the Bible doctrine of one supreme devil and his angels, who are, sure enough, evil disposed towards mankind. Added to all this,«the Laplanders were found in the practice of sacrificing to all their deities, the rein-deer, the sheep, and some- times the seal, pouring libations of milk, whey, and brandy, with ofTerings of cheese, &c. This last item of their religious manners is too striking not to claim its derivation from the ancient Jewish worship. The Lap- landers are a people but few in number, not much exceeding twelve hundred families , which we imagine is a circumstance favoring our idea, that after they had remained a while in Ar- sareth, or Lapland and Norway, which is much the same thing, that their maiu body may have passed over into America, either in boats, from island to island; or, if there then was, as is sup- posed, an isthmus of land, connecting the continents, they passed over on that, leaving, as is natural, in case of such a migra- tion, some individuals or families behind, who might not wish to accompany them, from whom the present race of Laplanders may be derived. Their dress is much the same with that of our Indians ; their complexion is swarthy, black hair, large hcadii, 6* ■ik 66 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES high cheek bones, with wide mouths; all of wliich is strikingly national. They call themselves ars ago; but it is not likely the raw-hide in which they were fotind enclosed, had been made a very great length of time. This would be unnatural, as a desire to look at the sa- cred characters would be very great, although they could not read them. This, however, was done at last, as it appears, and buried with some chief, on tlif,' sp(»t where it was found, called Indian Hill. Dr. West, of Stockbridge, relates, that an old Indian informed him, that his fathers in this country had, not long since, been in the possession of a book, which they had, for a longtime, carried with them; but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an Indian chief. — (View of the Hebrews, p 223.) It had been handed down, from family to family, or from chief 70 AMERICAN ANTiaUITIES fr' to chief, as a most precious relic, if not as an amulet, charm, or talisman; for it is not to be supposed, that a distinct knowledge of what was contained in the strap could have long continued among them in their wandering condition, amid woods and forests. " Jt is said by Calmet, that the above texts are the very passa- ges of Scripture which the Jews used to write on the loaves of their phylacteries. These phylacteries were little rolls of parch- ment, whereon were written certain words of the law. These they wore upon their forehead, and upon the wrist of the left arm." — (^Smith's View of the Hebrews ^ p. 220.) This intimation of the presence of the Hebrews in America, is too unequivocal to be passed unnoticed, and the circumstance of its being found so near the Atlantic coast, and at so vast a dis- tance from Bhering's straits, we are still inclined to suppose, that such of the Israelites as found their way to the shores of America, on the coast of the Atlantic, may have come from Lapland or Norway; seeing evident tokens exist of their having once been there, as before noticed. But there is a third supposition respecting the land of Arsareth; which is, that it is situated exactly east from the region of Syria. This is thought to be the country n®w known in Asia by the appel- lation of Little Bucharia. Its distance from Syria is something more than two thousand miles; which, by Esdras, might very well be said to be a journey of a year and a half, through an en- tire wilderness. Bucharia, the region of country o. w;iich we are about to speak, as being the ancient resort of a part of the lost Ten Tribes, is in distance from England, 3,475 miles; a little southeast from the latitude of London; and from the state of New York, exactly double that distance, 6,9.50 miles, on an air Ime, as measured on an artificial globe, and in nearly the same latitude, due east from this country. It is not impossible, after all our speculation, and the specula- tions of others, that instead of America, or of Norway, this same Bucharia is, in truth, the ancient country of Arsareth; although in the country of old Norway, and of America, abundant evi- dence of the presence of Jews at some remote period, no doubt derived from this stock, the Ten Tribes. The country of Bucharia is situated due east from Syria, where ■1 AND DI8COVKRIE8 IN THE WEST. 71 charm, or 3wledt^ of Liod among sts. ery passa- Icavcs of of parch- IV. These left arm." rnerica, is nstance of ast a (lis- ppose, that America, apland or once been Arsareth; 1 of Syria. ' the appel- something night very ugh an en- 3 about to en Tribes, heast from rk, exactly easured on ! east from le specula- , this same ; although ndant evi- I, no doubt ^ria, where the Ten Tribes were placed by Salmanassar, as well as farther east on the river Gozan, or Ganges, of Hindostan. The distance is about 2,500 miles, and at that time was a vast desert, lying boyond the sf *tlomcnts of men, in all probability; and in order to go there they must also pass through the narrow passes of the river Euphrates, or its heads, near the south end of the Caspian sea, and then nearly due east, inclining, however a little to the /lorth. Two circumstances lead to a supposition that this Bu- charia is the Arsareth mentioned by Esdras. The first is, at this place is found a great population of Jews: Second, the word Ar- sareth is similar to the names of other regions of that country in Asia: as Ararat, Astracan, Samarcand, Yarcund, Aracan, Ala Tau, Alatanian, Aral. Altai, Arnu, Korassan, Balk, Bactriana, Kucharia, Argun, Narrat, Anderab Katlan: (this word is much like the Mexican names of places, as Aztalan, Copallan, and so on,) Anderab, Aktau, Ailak. Names of countries and rivers might be greatly multiplied, which bear a strong affinity in sound and formation to the word Arsareth, which is probably a Persian word, as well as the rest we have quoted, as from these regions, ancient Bucharia, the foundations of the Persian power was de- rived. The reader can choose between the three, whether America, Norway, or Bucharia, is the ancient country called Arsareth, as one of the three is, beyond a doubt, the place alluded to by Esdras, to which the Ten Tribes went; and in all three the traits of Jews are found. In this country, Bucharia, many thousand Jews have been dis- covered, who were not known by the Christian nations to have existed at all till recently. It would appear from this circum- stance, that the Ten Tribes may have divided, a part going east to the country now called Bucharia; and a part tnest^ to the coun- try now called Norway; both of which, at that time, were the region of almost endless solitudes, and about equal distances from Syria: and from Bucharia to Bhering's strait, is also about the same distance. In process of time, both from Bucharia in Asia, and Norway in Europe, the disccndants from these Ten Tribes may have found their way into America. Those from Norway, by the way of islands^ boats or continent, which may then have existed, between America and north of Europe; and those from Bucharia, by the 72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES I,.. . m m . way of Bhering's strait, which at that time, it is likely, was no strait, but an isthmus, if not a countrv of groat extent, uniting Asia with America. The account of the Bucharian Jews is as follows: "After having seen, some years past, merclmnts from Tiflis, Persia, and Armenia, among the visitors at Lcipsic, wo have had, for the first time, (1826,) ttoo traders from Bucha-'iay with shawls,- which are there manufactured of the finest wool of the ^oats of Thi- bet and Cashmere^ by the Jewish families, loho form a third part of the popoulation. In Bucharia, (formnriy the cupitol of Sog- diana,) the Jews have boen very numerous ever since llic Baby- lonian captivity, and are there as remarkable for their industry and manufactures, as they are in England for their money trans- actions. It was not till 1820, that the Russian government suc- ceeded in extending its diplomatic mission far into Buciharia. The above traders exchanged their shawls for coarse and fine woollen clothes, of such colors as are most esteemed in the oast." Much interest has been excited by the information which this paragraph conveys, and which is equally novel and important. In none of the geographical works which we have consulted do we find the least hint as to the existence in Bucharia of such a body of Jews as are here mentioned, amounting to one-third of the whole population; but as the fact can no longer be doubted, the next j)oint of inquiry which presents itself is, whence have they proceeded, and how have they come to establish themselves in a region so remote from their original country? This question, we think, can only be answered by supposing that these persons are the descendants of the long lost Ton Tribes, Ooncerning the facts of which, theologians, iiistorians, and antcquarians, have been alike puzzled: and however wild this hypothesis may at first appear, there are not wanting circumstances to render it far from being improbable. In the 17th chapter of the second book of Kings, it is said, *' in the ninth year of Hoshea the king of As- syria took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in llolah and in Ilaber by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Modes:" and in the subsequent verses, as well as the writings of the prophets, it is said, that the Lord then " put away Israel out of his sight, and carried them away into the land of Assyria unto this day." In the Apocrypha, 2d Esdras, ch. xiii.. AND DI8C0VERIKS IN THE WE8T. 73 \y, was no nt, uniting Jews is as Voin Tiflis, I have Imd, )it/i shaii'h',- \ats of T/d- 1 third part tol of Sog- Ihc 13uby- ■ir industry oney tnins- nnient suc- laria. The ino woollen St." 1 which this important. lonsultcd do Li of such a 3ne-third of be doubted, lence have themselves lis question, ese persons icrning the rians, have may at first it far from >nd book of iing of As- ssyria, and zan, and in 5, as well as then " put iito the land as, ch. xiii.y it is said, that the Ten Tribes were carried beyond the river, (Euphrates,) and so they were brought into another land, when they took counsel together, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt; that they entered in at tlu; narrow passages of the river Euphrates, when the springs of the flood.s were stayed, (frozen,) and **went through the country a great journey, even a year and a half;" and it is added, ♦' there will they remain, until the latter time, when they come forth again." The country beyond liucharia was unknown to the ancients, and it is, wo be- lieve, generally admitted, that the river Gozan, mentioned in the book of Kings, is the same as the Ganges, which has its rise in those very countries in which the Jev^s reside, of which the Liepsic account speaks. The distance which these two merchants must have travelled, cannot, therefore, be less than ^hreo thousand miles; and there can be but little doubt that the Jews, whom they represent as a third part of the population of the country* are descendants of the Trn Tribes of Israel settled by the river Gozan. Tiie great plain of Central Asia, forming four principal sides, viz: Little Bucharia, Thibet, Mongolia, JVIantehous, contains a surlace of 150,000 square miles, and a population of 20,000,000. This vast country is still very little known. The gix'at traits of its gigantic formation compose, for the most part, all that we are certain of. It is an immense plain of an excessive elevation, intersected with barren rocks and vast deserts of black and almost moving sand. It is supported on all sides by mountains of granite, whose elevated summits determine the dillbrent climates of the great continent of Asia, and form the dovision of its waters. From its exterior flow all the great rivers of that part of the world. In the interior are a (juantity of rivers, having little declivity, or no issue, which are lost in the sa«ds, or jjcrha^^s feed stagnant waters. In the southern chains are countries, populous, rich and civilized; Little Bucliaria, Great and Little Thibet. The people of the north arc shepherds and wanderers. Their riches consist in their herds. Their habitations are tents, and towns, and camps, which are trans- ported according to the wants of pasturage The Bucharians en- joy the right of trading to all parts of Asia, and the Thibetians cultivate the earth to advantage. The ancients had but a confused 74 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES H-'l ■ < •V y.f. ■ .1 ! m^ ml I- il . 't ! If t». ii;--!' idea of Central Asin. '* The mhalMtantsof the country," as we learn from good authority, ** arc in a high state of civilization; possessing all the useful manufactures, uiid lofty houses built with stone. The merchants of Cashmere, on their way to Ynrk''^ ' in Little Rukharia pass through Little Thil)et. This country • ^- »rc*r- ly known to European geographers." The immense : a of Central Asia is hemmed in, and almost inaccessible by mountain ranges of the greatest elevation, which surround it on all sides, except China; and when the watchful jealousy of the government of the Celestial Empire is considered, it will scarcely be wondered at, that the vast region in question is so little known. Such is the country which these newly discovered Jews are said to inhabit in such numbers. The following facts may per- haps serve to throw some additional light on this interesting sub- ject. In the year 1822, a Mr. Sargon, who had been appointed one of the agents of the London Society, communicated to England some interesting accounts of a number of persons resident at Bombay, Cinnamore, and their vicinity, who are evidently the descendants of the Jews, calling themselves Beni Israel, (sons of Israel) and bearing almost uniformly Jewish names, but with Per- sian terminations. This gentleman, feeling very desirous of ob- taining all possible knowledge of their condition, undertook a mis- sion for this purpose to Cinnamore; and the result of his inquiries was, a conviction that they were not Jews of the one tribe and a half, being of a different race to the white and black Jews at Cochin, and consequently, that they were a remnant of the long lost Ten Tribes. This gentleman also concluded, from the infor- mation he obtained respecting the Beni Israel, or sons of Israel, that they existed in great numbers in the countries between Cochin and Bombay, the north of Persia^ among the hordes of Tartary, and in Cashmere; the very countries in which, according to the paragraph in the German paper, they exist in such numbers. So far, then, these accounts confirm each other, and there is every probability that the Beni Israel, resident on the west of the Indian peninsula, had originally proceeded from Bucharia. It will, there- fore, be interesting to know something of their moral and religi- ous character. The following particulars are collected from Mr. Sargon'a.accounts : 1. In dress and manners they resemble the Ul'i ,r AND DIHCOVBRIES IN THE WEHT. 7ft ry," as we Mvilization; s built with k'nrk'' 1 in •1 '■■•:■ trCft- st- ■.; .wi of y mountain n all sides, government *o wondered d Jews are s may per- resting sub- )ointed one to England resident at /idently the cl, (sons of ut with Per- irous of ob- rtook a mis- his inquiries tribe and a Lck Jews at of the long m the infor- s of Israel, veen Cochin of Tartary, 'ding to the jmbers. So are is every if the Indian t will, there- I and reltgi- ed from Mr. esemble the i nativcH so as not to Ikj distinguished from thorn, except by atten- tive observation and inquiry. 2. They have Hebrew names of the same kind, and with ihe same local termination as the Sepoys in the the ninth regiment Bombay native infantry. 3. Some of them read Hebrew, and they have a faint tradition of the cause of * their originn! exodus (exit) from Egypt. 4. Their common lan- guage is the Hindoo. T). They keep idols and worship them, and use idolatrous ceremonies intermixed with Hebrew. 6. They cir- tuincisc their children. 7. They observe the Kipper, or great ox- j»intion day of the Hebrews, but not the Sabbath, or any of the I feast or fast days. 8. They call themselves Gorah Jehiuli, or white Jews; and they term the black Jews Col/a Jehmli. 9. They speak of the Arabian Jews as their brethren, but do not acknow- ledge the European Jews as such. They use, on all occasions, and under the most trivial circumstances, the usual Jewish prayer — '* Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." 10. They have no cohen, ())riest) levite, or kasi, among them, under those terms; but they have a kasi, (reader) who performs prayers, and conducts their religious ceremonies; and they appear to have ciders and a chief in each community, who determine in their religious concerns. IL They expect the Messiah, and that they will one day return to Jerusalem. They think the time of his ap- pearance will soon arrive, at which they much rejoice, believing that at Jerusalem they will see their (lod, worship him only, and be despised no more. These particulars, we should presume, can scarcely fail to prove interesting, both in a moral and religious, as well as in a geographical point of view. The number of the scattered mem- bers of the tribes of Judah, and the half tribe of Benjamine, rather exceed than fall short of five millions. Now, if this num- ber be added to the many other millions to be found in the different countries of the east, what an immense power would be brought into action, were the spirit of nationality once roused, or any ex- traordinary event to occur, which should induce them to unite in claiming possession of that land which was given to them " for an heritage forever," and to which, in every other clime of the earth, their fondest hopes and their dearest aspiration never cease to turn. But although the opinion that the American Indians are the de- I 76 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. .K till '^^ scendnnts of the lost Ten Tribes, is now a popular one, and ge- nerally believed, yet there are some who totally discard this opinion. And among such, as cin'ef, is Professor Rafincsque, whose opinions on the subject of the flood of Noah not being uni- versal, and of the ark, we have introduced on the first pages of this work. This gentleman is decidedly, and we may say severely, opposed to this doctrine, and alteges that the Ten Trib(!s were never lost, Vnit are still in the countries of the east about the region of ancient Syria, in Asia. lie ridicules a/l those authors who have attempted to find in the customs of the Indians, traits of the Jews, and stamps them with being cgregiously ignorant of the origin of things pertaining to this subject. This is taking a high stand, indeed, and if he can maintain it, he has a right to the honor thereof. Upon this notion, he says, a new sect of religion has arisen, name- ly, the Mormonites, who pretend to have discovered a book with golden leaves, in which is the history of the American Jews, and their leader, Mormon, who came hither more than 2,000 years ago. This work is ridiculous enough, it is true ; as the whole book of Mormon bears the stamp of folly, and is a poor attempt at an imitation of the Old TestauKMit Scriptures, and is without connection, object, or aim ; shewing every where langunge and phrases of too late constructi(jn to accord with the Asiatic manner of composition, which highly characterises the the style of the Bible, and how can it be otherwise as it was written in Ontario county. New York. As reasons, this philosopher advances as follows, against the American nations being descended from the Ten Tribes of ancient Israel : " 1. These Ten Tribes arc not lost, as long supposed ; their descendants, more or less mixed with the natives, are yet found in Media, Iran, Taurin, Caublistan, Ilindostan, and China, where late travellers have traced tlunn calling themselves by various names, 2. The American nations knew not the Sabbath, nor yet the Sabbattical weeks and years of the Jews. This knowledge could never have been lost by the Hebrews. The only weeks known in America, were of three days, five days, and half lunations, (or half a moon) as among the primitive nations, before the week of i AND DISCOVER I KtS IN WEST. seven days wtis used in Asia, which was based upon the seven planets, long before the laws of Moses." Here is another manifest attempt of this philosopher to invali- date the Scriptures, in attempting to fix the origin of the ancient Jewish and present Christinn Sabbath, on the observances of the ancient nations, respecting the motions of the seven primary planets of the heavens ; when it is emphatically said, in the He- brew Scriptures, that tJie week of seven days was based on the seven day's work of the Creator, in the creation of the world. And as the Creation is older than the astronomical observations of the most ancient nations of the earth, it is evident that the Scripture account of the origin of seven-day week ought to have th(^ precedence over all opinions since sprung up. 3. lie says, " The Indians hardly knew the use of iron, al- though common among tiie Hebrews, and likely never to be lost ; nor did they, the Indians of America, know t)ie use of the plough." " 4. The same applies to the use of writing ; such an art is never lost when once known."' ♦T). Circumsion was unknown, and even abhorred by the Ame- ricans, except two nations, who used it — Tlie Mayans, of Yu- actan, in South America, who worshipped a hundred idols, and the Calchaquis, of Caho, of the same country, who worshipped the sun and stars, believing that departed souls became stars. These beliefs are quite ditlcrent from Judaism; and besides this, the rite of circumsion was common to Kgypt, Ethiopia, liidom, and Chalchis." But to this we reply, supposing circumsion was practised by all those nations, and even more, this dcxs not disprove the riic to bo of pure Hebrew or Jewish origin, as ve have an account of it in the Scriptures written by Mosf;s, as being in use quite two thou- sand years before Christ ; long enough before Abraham or his posterity knew any thing of the Egyptians; it was therefore, most undoubtedly introduced among the Egyptians by the Jews them- selves, or their ancestors, and from them the custom has gone. out into many nations of the earth. Again, Mr. Rafinesquo says, one tribe there was, namely, the Calchaquis, who worshipped the sun and the stars, supposing them to be the souls of the departed. This notion is not very far removed from, or at least may hare 78 AMERICAN ANTIQUIT1K8 E:l' l}n had its origin with thn Jews; for Daniel, one of their prophets, who lived about 500 years Iwfore Christ, expressly says, respect- ing the souls of the departed righteous: " They that be wise shall shine as the BRKiHTNEss of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." A sen- timent of such transcendant beauty and consequence is not easily lost. This tribe, therefore, as above named, may they not have been of Jewish origin ? *' 6. None of the American tribes have the striking ; sharp, Jewish features, and physical conformation." [But other authors of equal celebrity, have a contrary opinion. Mitchel and others.] *' 7. The American Indians eat hogs, hares, fish, and all the forbidden animals of Moses, but each tribe abstain from their tutelar animals," (which, as they imagine, presides over th?ir destinies,) *' or badges of families of some peculiar sort." But to this we reply, most certainly the Jews did use fish ; as in all their history, even in the Bible, frequent reference is had to their use of fishes, and to their fish markets, where they were sold and bought. " 8. The American customs of scalping ; torturing prisoners, cannibalism, painting their bodies, and going naked, even in very cold climates, are totally unlike the Hebrew customs." Scapling, with several other customs of the sort, we have elsewhere in this work shown to be of Scythian origin; but does not, on that account, prove; nor in any way invalidate the other opinion, that some of the tribes are of Jewish origin. ♦' 9. A multitude of languages exists in America, which may perhaps be reduced to twenty-five radical languages, and two thou- sand dialects. But they are often unlike the Hebrew, in roots, words, and grammar ; they have, by far, says the author, more analogies with the Sanscrit," (the ancient Chinese) Celtic, Bask, Pelasgian Berber," (in Piurope;J *' Lybian, Egyptian," (in Afri- ca;) '* Persian, Turan, Ate," (also in Europe;) *' or in fact, all the primitive languages of mankind." This we believe. *^ 10. The Americans cannot have sprung from a single nalion, because, independently of the languages, their features nnd com- plexions areas various as in Africa and Asia." •* We find in America, whilCj tawny, brown, yellow, olivo, cop- per, and even black nations, as in Africa. Also, dwarjs and 4 I'W AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 79 cir prophets, says, respect- be wise shall icy that turn fer." A sen- 3 is not easily they not have king ; sharp, other authors 1 and others.] ih, and all the in from their les over th?ir • sort." I use fish ; as rencc is had to J re they were •ing prisoners, I, even in very J." Scapling, ewhere in thi.« n that account, I, that some of I, which may and two thou- rew, in roots, author, more ) Celtic, Bask, an," (in Afri- or in fact, all ieve. , single nauon, turcs nnd com- ow, olivo, cop- ), dwarfs and giantSj handsome and ugly features, flat and aquiline noses^ thick and thin lips," &c. [Among the Jews is also a great variety.] The Rev. Mr. Smith, of Pultney, Vt., a few years since, pub- lished a work entitled ♦♦ A View of the Hebrews," in which he labors to establish that the American Indians worshipped but one God; the great Yohewah, or Jehovah of the Scriptures^ This is vehemently opposed by philosopher Rafincsque, as follows, in re- ply to him. ♦' You say, all the Americana had the same God Yohewa; this is utterly false. This was the god of the Chactas, and Florida Indians only ; many other tribes had tripple gods, or trimurtis> as in Hindostan, having names nearly Sanscrit." [But neither does this disprove that some of these tribes are of Jewish origin.] ** Polytheism," (a plurality of gods,) " idolatry, and a complex mythology, prevailed among all the most civilized nations" of this* country. " All the ancient religions were found in America," which have prevailed in the old world, in the earliest ages, as " Theism, Sabaism, Magism, Hindooism, Shamanism, Fctichism, &c. but no Judaism. He says, the few examples of the affinity between the Indian languages and the Hebrew, given by Mr. Smith, in his work, be- long only to the Floridan and Caribbean languages. Mr. Rafin- csque says, he could show ten times as many in tho Aruac, Gua- rian," (languages of South America,) *• but what is that com- pared with tho 100,000 affinities with the primitive languages." *' All the a'vi7^ze(/ Americans had a priesthood, or priestly castef and so had the Hindoos, Egyptians, Persians, Celts, and Ethio- pians. Wore they all Jews ? *' Tribes are found among all the ancient nations, Arabs^ Berbers, Celts, Negroes, &c., who are not Jews. The most ci- vilized nations had castes, instead of tribes, in America as well as Egypt and India ; the Mexicans, the Mayans, Muhizcas, the Peruvians, dec, had no tribes. The animal badges of tribes, are found among Negroes and Tartars, as well as our Indians." *' Arks of covenant and cities of refuge are not peculiar to the Jews; many Asiatic nations had them, also the Egyptians, and nine-tenths of our Indian tribes have none at all, or have only !lt m '. >;r1 a ■■ 80 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES holy bags," (for an ark) somewhat like a talisman, a charm, or us the '♦ Fetiches, of the Africans." But we reply, there is no evidence that other nations than the Jews had cities of refuge and imitations of the ark of the covenant, prior to the time of Moses, which was full sixteen hundred years before Christ, and from whom it is altogether probable, that all the nations among whom such traits are found, derived them at lirst from the laws of that Hebrew legislator Those nations, ihcroforo, umoiifr whom, at this distance of time, those trdits are found most resembling the Jews, may be said, with some degree of propriety, to he their descendants ; and among 7nany tribes of the western Indians, these traits are found, if we may believe the most credible witnesses. " The religious cry of ahhis^a, is not Jewish, says this au- thor, but -primit'n'c, and found among the Hindoos, Arabs, Greeks, Saxons, Celts, Lybians, &c., under the modification of huHli ijuhUUi, lutuj/ia, ^'C. Other Americans call it u/u/aez, gualulu, aluyah t^c." All this being true, which we are willing to allow, does not dis- prove but that these forms of speech, which are directed in praise and adoration of a supreme or superior lx;ing, of some nature, no matter what, may all have originated from the Hebrew Jews, as this name of God, namely, Jehovah, was known among that na- tion, before the existence, as nations, by those names, of either the Hindoos, Arabs, Greeks, Saxons, Celts, or Lybians ; for it was known in the family of Noah, and to all the patriarchs be- fore the fllood. The original word, translated God, was Jekova, and also Elohim, which are generally translated Lord and God. In the second chapter of Genesis, at the fourth verso, the word Jehovah first occurs, says Dr. Clarke, in the original as written by Moses ; but was in use long before the days of Abraham, among the ancestors of that patriarch. From this word, Jehovah^ and Elohim, the words aleluia &c., as above, it is admitted on all hands, were at first derived; and are in all nations, where known and used, directed to the praise and adoration of the Almighty^ or other objects of worship. The most exalted form of praise, it appears, was known to John the Revelator, for he says, in chapter xix., '* I heard a great voice of much peoplo in heaven, saying alleluia ; and AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 81 chfirm, or J than the covenant, Jrod years , that all m1 them at if) nations, ; trdits are me degree ij/ tribes of believe the rfi this au- js, Greeks, n of hulili :, gualulu, oes not dis- 3d in praise ! nature, no w Jews, as ng that na- s, of either ans ; for it triarchs be- svas Jehova, I and God. ic, the word s written by Abraham, rd, Jehovah, nitled on all here known e Almighty^ B known to " I heard a 2LUIA ; and again, they said Allelui/^ This form of praise, says Dr. Clarke, the heathen borrowed from the Jews, as is evident from the Pecans, or hymns, sung in honor of Apollo, which began and ended with clclfuic, a mere composition of the Hebrew words alleulia and hallelujah. It is even found among the North American In- dians, and adapted by them to the same purpose, viz., the worship of God, or the Great Spirit From what we have been able to show on this subject as above, we cannot subscribe to t4ie opinion, that those words are not of Hebrew and Jewish origins; consequently, being of Hebrew ori- gin, it must follow, that where they are found in the most pure and unadulterated use, that the people so using them are most likely to be of Jewish descent ; and this is found among the American Indians. Among some of their tribes they have a place denominated the beloved square. Here they sometimes dance a whole night ; but always in a bowing or worshipping posture, singing continually, hallelujah Ye-ho-wah, Ye-ho-vah ; which last word, says Clarke, is probably the true pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew word, Jehovah. It is no marvel, then, that these Jewish customs are found *' among nearly all the ancient nations of Asia, Africa, Europe and Polynesia, nay, even among the wild negroes to this day," since they were in use at the very outset of the spread of the na- tions from Ararat, and are, therefore, of Hebrew 2>n;;u7/tje origin, but not heathen primitive origin, as asserted by Rafinesque, We are not tenacious, however, whether the Ten Tribes were lost or not, nor do we disagree to the opinions that they are found in al- most all parts of the old world, having mingled^with the various nations of Asia ; but if so, we inquire, why may they not, tiierefore, l)o found in America ? Could they not as easily have found their way hither as the other natio-^s of the east? Most as- suredly. It is not the object of this volume to contend on this point; but when we find attempts to overturn the Scriptures, and, if possi- ble, to make it appear, if not by so many words, yet in the man- ner we understand this writer's remarks, that the Bible itself is nothing else than a collection of heathenism, placed under the plausible idea of primitive words, primitive usuages and primitive 6 "A m !i |il^ iiir' * 83 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES religion ; wc think this is placing the (currtis bovem trahit) cart before the horse, and should not be allowed to pass without re- proof. :i':'i m- < Jl further account of the Convulsions of the Globes with the Removal of Islands. If the supposition of naturalists may obtain belief, there has been a whole continent, reaching from the north of Europe to Bhering's strniu uniting not only Europe with America, on thr, east, but also Asia on the north, and may have continued on south froui Rhoring's strait, sonic way down the Pacific, as Burton part- ly believed, uniting America and China on th'- west. It was contended by Clavigero, that the equatorial parts of Af- rica and America were once united. IJy which means, before the connexion was torn away by the irruption o^ the sea on both rsides, the Kihabitants from the African continent came, in the earliest »gos, to South America. Whether this be true or not, the two rojntries approach each other in a icmarkable manner, along the coast of Guinea, on the side of A irica, and the coast of Pernam- buco, on the side of South America. These are the places which, in reality, seem to stretch towards (!ach other, as though they had been once united. The innumerable Islands scattered all over the Pacific ocean, populous with men, more than intimates a periou, even since the flood, when all the diObrent continents of the gh^bo were united together, and th.; sea so disposed of, that they did not break this harmony so well calculated to facilitate the migrations of men and animals. Several tribes of the present i^outhern Indians, as they now are called, have traditions that thoi' come from the fas/, or through the Atlantic ocean. Rafinesquc, says, it is important to distin- guish the American nations of eastern origin from those of northern. The latter, he says, were invaders from Tartary, and were as (lifFerent in their manners as were the Romans and Vandals. The southern nations, among whoni this tradition is found, are AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEetT. 83 the Natchez, Apalachians, Taluscas, Mayans, Myhizcas, and Haytians. But those of the Algonquin stock point to a north- west origin, which is the way from the northern regions of Asia. It is not likely, that iinme'diately after the era of the deluge, there was as much ocean which appeared above ground, as at the present time ; but instead of this, lakes were more numerous. Consequently, on the surface of the globe there was much more land than at the present time But from various convulsions, more than we have spoken of, whose history is now lost, in past ages, many parts, nay, nearly all the earthly surface is sunken to the depths below, while th'? waters havi; risen above ; nearly three-fourths of the globe's surface is known to be water. How appalling is this renection! The currents of ocean running through the bowels ef the earth, by the disposition of its creator, to promote motion in the waters, as motion is essential to all animal life, have, doubtless, by sub- terranean attrition, alVectod the foundations of whole islands, which havQ sunk benenth the waters at dilR^rent periods. To such convulsions as those, it would sj^nn. Job has alludi^d, in chapter ix., verse 5, as follows : " Which ronjovcth the mountains, and they know not ; which overturneth them in his anger,'' Adam Clarke's comment on this verse is as follows : '* This seems to refer to earthcjuakes. By these strong convulsions, mountains, valleys, hills, even tohoh islands, are removed in an instant; and to this latter circumstanee the word* * they know noty^ most probably refer. The work is done in the twinkling of an eye ; no warning is given ; the mountain that seemed to be as firm as the earth on whi<'h it rested, was in the same moment both visible and invimible, so suddenly was it swallowed up." — ^^S'-n p. 59, 60.) It can scarcely be supposed but Job was acquainted with occur- ences of the kind, in order to justify his remark of such occuren- ces as being done by God in his anger. It is not impossible but the iact upon which the following story is founded, may have been known to Job, who was a man suppos- ed in possession of every species of information calculated to in- terest the nobler faculties of the human mind, if we may judge from the book bearing his u'lnic. The story is an account of a certain island, called by tho ancients Atalantis; and as all learn- n,! sM- m''i^ If ' , ' ,f . »4 AMBRICAN ANTIQUITIES iiig, uninspired, and general information, was anciently in posses- sion uf heathen philosophers and priests, to whom it was the cus- tom even for princes to resort before they were considered quali- fied to sit on the the thrones of their fathers, we are inclined to credit the account ns it is given by one of those characters. Such were the Egyptian priests to the Egyptians, and the Druids to the Celtic nations ; the Brahmins to the Hindoos; the Magi to the Persians; the philosophers to ihe Greeks and Romana ; and the prophets of the Indians, to the western tribes. *^ This island is mentioned by Plato, in his dialogue of Timaeus. Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is supposed to have travelled into Egypt," about six hundred years before Christ. Plato's time was three hundred years nearer the time of Christ, who has mentioned the travels of Solon in Egypt. '* He arrived at an ancient tem- ple on the Delta, a fertile island formed by the NUe, where he held a conversation with certain learned priests^ on the antiquities of remote ages. When one of them gave Solon a description of the island Atalantis, and also of its destruction. This island, said the Egyptian priest, was situated in the Western ocean, opposite the strait of Gibraltar ;" which would place it exactly between a part of Europe, its southern end, and the northern part of Africa and the continent of America. " There tvasy said the priest, an easy passage from this to other islands, which lay adjacent to a large continent, exceeding in size all Europe and Asia." Neptune settled in this island, from whose son Atlas, its name was derived, and divided it between his ten sons, who reigned there in regular succession for many ages." From the time of Solon's travels in Egypt, which was six hun- dred years before Christ, we find more than seventeen hundred years up to the flood ; so that time enough had elapsed since the flood to justify the fact of the island having existed, and also of having been inhabited and destroyed even six hundred years be- fore the time of Solon; which would make the time of its destruc- tion twelve hundred years before Christ ; and would still leave more than five hundred years from that period back to the flood. So that if King Neptune had not made his settlement on the is- land Atalantis till two hundred years after the flood, there would have been time for the successive reigns of each of the regal I '4 AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 8§ )Osses- le CU8- i quali- ned to Such 3 to the to the ind the [inaeus. led into imc was intioned mi tem- liere he iiqnities iption of ind, said opposite etween a f Africa to other ;eding in [id, from between or many \ six hun- hundred jince the \ also of yrears be- j destruc- till leave the flood, on the is- re would he regal lines of his sons, amounting to three hundred years, before the time of its envclopoment in the sea ; so that the priest was justified in using the term antiquities^ when he referred to that catastrophe. *♦ They made, i. e. the Atalantians, irruptions into Europe and Africa ; subduing all Lybia, as far as Egypt, Europe, and Asia Minor. They were resisted, however, by the Athenians, and driven back to their Atlantic territories." If they were resist- ed and driven back by the Athenians, the era of the existence of this island is easily ascertained; because the Athenians settled at Athens, in Greece, fifteen hundred and fifty-six years before Christ, being a colony from Egypt, under thi.-ir conductor, Ce- crops. One hundred years after their establishment at Athens, they had become powerful, so as to be able to take a political stand among the nations of that region, and to defend their coun- try against invasions. Accordingly, at the time the Atalantians were repulsed and compelled to return from whence they come, was in the year fourteen hundred and forty-three, before Christ, or nearly so. "Shortly after this," says Plato, "there was a tremendous earthquake, and an overflowing of the sea, which continued for a (lay and night; in the course of which, the vast island of Atulan- tis, and all its splendid cities and warlike nations, were swallowed up, and sunk to the bottom, which, spreading its waters over the chasm, added a vast region of water to the Atlantic ocean. Fo* a long time, the sea was not navigable, on account of rocks and shoals of mud ui.d slime, and of the ruins of that drowned coun- try." At the period, therefore, of the existence of this island, a land passage to America, from Eui'ope and Africa, was practicable; also by other islands, some of which are still situated in the same direction — the Azores, Madeiras, and Tenerifte islands, ahout twenty in number. For this story of the island Atalantis,wo arc indebted to Irving's Columbus, a popular work of recent date; which account cannot be denied but is exceedingly curious, and not without foundation of probability. Was not this island the bridge, so called, reaching from America to Europe, as conjectured by Dr. Robei'tson, the historian, but was destroyed by the ocean, as he supposes, very far back in the ages of antiquity? p r' 1 ;, V i ft' ' i * ■ 1 »^'?^ mM m fmis I'i; : T.. , . i^h i ! 1 [;' ijii , 86 AMERICAN ANTIQi;iTIC8 And allusion to this same island, Atalantis, is niado by Ear h'i, who flourished about three hundred years before Christ, in a con- versation which he had with Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher of the same ago, who had, in search of knowledge, travelled from the wilds of his own northern regions, to Athens, where he be- came acher roin be- nc- unds the ;i(iCS, rose i « race ol Indians, afforded in the discovery o{ forts, moundsy tu- muli, and their contents, as related by western travellers, and the researches of the Antiquarian Society, at Cincinnati. But before we proceed to an account of the traits of this kind of population, more than already given, we will remark, that, wherever plats of ground, struck out into circiss, squares, and ovals, are found, wc arc at once referred to an era when a ])eo- ple and nation existed in this country, more civilized, retincd, and given to architectural and agricultural pursuits, than are the In- dians. It is well known, the present trihes do not take the trouble of materially altering the face of the ground, to accommodate the erection of their places of dwelling; always selecting that which is already fashioned by nature to suit their views; using the earth where they build their towns, as they find it. In a deep and almost hidden valley, amon^' 'ho mountains of the Alleghany, on the road from Philadelpii j Pittsburg, is one of those solitary memorials of an exterminated race. • It is hid amidst the profoundest gloom of the woods, and is found to con- sist of a regular circle, a hundred paces in diameter. This is equal to six rod^ and four paces, and twenty- two rods in circum- ference. The whole plat is raised above the common level of the <3arth around, about four feet high; which may have been done to carry ofT the water,when the snows melted, or when violent rains would otherwise have inundated their dwellings, from the sur- rounding hills. The neighborhood of Brownville, or ReJ tone, in Pennsylvania, abounds with monuments of antiquity. A fortified camp, of a very complete and curious kind, on the ramparts of which is tim- ber of five feet in diameter, is found near the town of Brownville. This camp contains about thirteen acres, enclosed in a circle, the elevation of which is seven feet above the adjoining ground; this was a Herculean work. Within the circle a pentagon is accu- rately des'^ribed; having its sides four feet high, and its angles uniformly three feet from the outside of the circle, thus leaving an unbroken communication all around. A pentagon is a figure, Jhaving five angles or sides. Each side of the pentagon has a .postern or small gateway, opening into the passage between it and 4he circle; but the circle itself has only one grand gateway out- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // Ay (/. 1.0 I.I 11.25 US. u& m WMU l^liii^ HMtographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WBBSTEt.N.Y. MSM (716)S73-4S03 '^ 88 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ward. Exactly in the centre stands a mound about thirty feet high, supposed to have been a place of observation. At a small distance from this place, vas found a stone, eight feet by five, on which was accurately engraved a representation of the whole work, with the mound in the centre; whereon was the likeness of a human head, which signified that the chief who presided there lay buried beneath it. The engraving on this stone, is evidence of the knowledge of stone cutting, as it was executed with a con- siderable degree of accuracy. On comparing the description of this circular monument with a description of works of a similar character, found in Denmark, Sweden and Iceland, the conclusion is drawn, that at some era of time the authors of this kind of monumental works, in either of those countries have been the same. *' They are called Domh-ringr by the Danes; that is, literally, doom-ring, or, circle of judgment; being the solemn place where courts were held." The celebrated Stonehenge, in England, is built after the same fashion; that is, in a circle, and is of Bclgic origin, the second class of English antiquities, the era of which precedes that of the Romans in England; which would throw the time of their first erection back to a period of some hundred years before Christ. " Stonehenge. — This noble and curious monument of early times, appears to have been formed by three principal circles of stone, the outer connected together by an uniform pjivement, as it were, at the top, to which the chiefs might ascend and speak to the surrounding crowd. A second circle consists of detached upright stones, about five feet in height, while the highest are eighteen. Within this is a grand oval, consisting of five huge stones, crossed by another at the top, and enclosing smaller stones, which seem to have been seats, and a large flat stone, commonly called the altar, but which seems to have been the throne or seat of judgment. The whole of the above described monument, with all its apparatus, seems to be enclosed in the midst of a very ex- tensive circle, or embankment of earth, sufficiently large to hold an immense number — a whole tribe or nation." — {Morse.) After the introduction of Christianity into the west of Europe, which was sixty years after Christ, these circles of judgmekJi, which had been polluted with human sacrifices, and other pagan. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T« 69 rites, were abandoned, and other customs, with other places of resort, were instituted. This sort of antiquities, says Morse, the geographer, which are found all over Europe, are of tkis charac- ter, that is, of the tumular kind, such as are found in the west of our^own country, and belong entirely to the first era of the settle- ments ot Europe. The Druidic temples in Europe were numerous, and some of them immense, especially one in the isle of Lewis. In these the gods Odin, Thor, Freyga, and other Gothic deities, were adored; all such structures were enclosed in circles, some greater and some less, according to their importance, or the numbers of those who supported them. The same kind of antiquities are fonnd in Ireland, and are al- lowed to be of Druidic origin, always enclosed in circles, whether a simple stone, or a more spacious temple, be the place where they worshipped The Scandinavians, who preceded the Norwe- gians some hundred years, enclosed their rude cKapels with cir- cular intrsnchmonts, and were called the Dane's Raths, or circu- lar intrenchments. " In the first ages of the world, after the flood the worship of God was exceedingly simple; there were no temples nor covered edifices of any kind. An altar, sometimes a single stone, some times it consisted of several, and at other times merely of turfy was all that was necessary. On this the fire was lighted, and the sacrifice offered." — (Adam Clarke.) Such were the Druids of Europe, whose name is derived from the kind of forest in which they preferred to worship. This was the oak, which in the Greek is expressed by the word druid, whose worship and principles extended even to Italy, among the Celtic nations, and is celebratad by Virgil, iji the sixth book of the Mneiad, where he speaks of the misletoe, and calls it the golden branch, without which no one could return from the infernal regions. The misletoe, an account of which may please the reader, is thus described by Pliny, who flourished about a. d. 23, and was a celebrated writer on natural history, and most learned of the an- cient Romans: ** The Druids hold nothing more sacred than the misletoe, and the tree on which it grows, provided it be the oak. They make 90 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES choice of groves of oak on this account; nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of those trees. And when- ever they find it on the oak, Ihey think it is sent from heaven, and is a sign that God himself has chosen that tree; and when- ever found, is treated with great ceremony. "They call it by a name which, in their language, signifies the curer of ills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacri- fices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls. The priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden prun- ing hook, cuts off the misletoe, which is received in a sagum, or white sheet Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." — (Clarke.) "A evidei occup strong it exp comp( larch Th< earth, the w Discoveries on the Muskingum. In the neighborhood of Fort Harmer, on the Muskingum, oppo- site Marietta on the Ohio, were discovered, by Mr. Ash, an Eng" lish traveller, in the year 1826, several monuments of the ancient nations. " Having made, (says this traveller,) arrangements for an ab- scence of a few days from the fort, I provided myself with an ex- cellent tinder box, some biscuit and salt, and arming my Indian travelling companion, with a good axe and rifle, taking myself a fowling piece, often tried, and my faithful dog, I crossed the ferry of the Muskingum, having learned that the left hand side of that river was most accessible and the most abundant in curi- osities and other objects of my research." In another part of this work we shall describe works of a similar sort, on the oppo- site side of the Muskingum, as given by the Antiquarian Society of Ohio. " On traversing the valley between Fort Harmer and the moun- tains, I determined to take the high grounds, and after some diffi- culty, ascended an eminence which commanded a view of the town of Marietta, and of the river up and .down, displaying a ^reat distance along the narrow valley of the Ohio, cultivated plains, the gardens and popular walks of that beautiful town. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 91 "After a very short inspection, and cursory examination, it was evident that the very spot or eminence on which I stood, had been occupied by the Indians, either as a place of observation, or a strong hold. The exact summit of the hill I found to be artificial; it expressed an oval, forty-five feet by twenty-three, and was composed apparently of earth and stone, though no stone of a simi- lar character appeared in that place. The base of the whole was girded round about by a wall of earth, in a state of too great decay to justify any calculation, and the whole was so covered with heavy timber, that I despaired of gaining any further knowledge, and would have left the place, had I not been detained by my Indian companion, whom I saw occupied in endavoring to introduce a pole into a small opening between two flat stones, near the root of a tree, which grew on the very summit of this emience. " The stones we found were too heavy to be removed by the mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut, in lieu of levers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first dis- covered, we weighed a large flat stone, tilting it over, when we each assumed a guarded position, in silent expectation of hearing the hissing of serpents, or the rustling of the ground- hog's litter; where the Indian had supposed was a den of one sort or the other. " All was silent. We resumed our labor, casting out a num- ber of stones, leaves and earth, soon clearing a surface of seven feet by five, which had been covered upwards of fifteen inches deep, with flat stones, principally lying against each other, with their edges to the horizon. " On the surface we had cleared, appeared another difficulty, which was a plain superfices, composed of but three flat stones of such apparent magnitude that the Indian began to think that we should find under them neither snake nor pig; but having once begun, I was not to be diverted from my task. " Stimulated by obstructions, and animated with other views than those of my companion, I had made a couple of hickory shovels with the axe, and setting to work, soon undermined the surface, and slid the stones off* on one side, and laid the space open to view. " I expected to find a cavern: my imagination was warmed by 93 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 1^- ')!^: a certain design I thought I discovered from the very beginning; the manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the exist- ence of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, and crowded with the treasures of the most ancient world. " A bed of sand was all that appeared under these flat stones, which I cast off ; and as I knew there was no sand nearer than the bed of the Muskingum, as design was therefore the 7)wre manifest, which encouraged my proceeding; the sand was about a foot deep, which I soon removed. " The design and labor of man was now unequivocal. The space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an oblong square, lined with stones on the end and sides, and also, paved on what appeared to be the bottom, with square stones^ of about nine inches diameter. " I picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a bed of sand, which, when removed, made the vault about three feet deep, presenting another bottonl or surface, composed of small square cut stones, fitted with such art, that I had much difficulty in discovering many of the places where they met. These displaced, I came to a substance, which, on the most criti- cal examination, I judged to be a mat, or mats, in a state of en- tire decomposition and decay. My reverence and care increased with the progress already made; I took up this impalpable powder with my hands, and fanned off the remaining dust with my hat, when there appeared a beautiful tesselated pavement of small, colored stones; the colors and stones arranged in such a manner as to express harmony and shades, and portraying, at full length, the figure of a warrior under whose feet a snake was exhibited in ample folds. ** The body of the figures was composed of dyed woods, bones, and a variety of small bits of terrous and testaceous substances, most of which crumbled into dust on being removed and exposed to the open air. ** My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had flat- tered myself that the whole was stone, and capable of being taken up and preserved. liittle more, however, than the actual pave- ment could be preserved, which was composed of flat stones, one inch deep, and two inches square. The prevailing colors were white, green, dark blue, and pale spotted red; all of which are i-|'-i'«'fl AND DISCOVKRIES IN THE WEST. 93 ery beginning; Jeive the exist- and crowded ese flat stones, id nearer than fore the viore ind was about uivocal. The a hollow in an ides, and also, mre stones^ of jain came to a lit about three composed of t I had much 3 re they met. the most criti- a state of* en- :are increased Ipable powder with my hat, lent of small, jch a manner at full length, was exhibited voods, bones, s substances, and exposed as I had flat- r being taken actual pave- t stones, one colors were ►f which are peculiar to the lakes, anrl not to be had nearer than about three hundred miles. "The whole was affixed in a thin layer of sand, fitted together with great precision, and covered a piece of bark in great decay, whoso removal exposed what 1 was fully prepared to discover, from all previous indications, the remains of a human skeleton, which was of an uncommon magnitude, being seven feet in length. With the skeleton was found, first an earthen vessel, or urn, in which were several bones, and some white sediment. " The urn appeared to be made of sand and flint vitrified, and rung, when struck, like glass, and held about two gallons, had a top or cover of the same material, and resisted fire as completely as iron or brass. Second; a stone axe, with a groove round the pole, by which it had been fastened with a withe to the handle. Third; twenty-four arrow points, made of flint and bone, and lying in a position which showed they had belonged to a quiver. Fourth; a quantity of beads, but not of glass, round, oval, and square; colored green, black, white, blue and jellow. Fifth; a very large conch shell, decomposed into a substance like chalk; this shell was fourteen inches long, and twenty-three in circum- ference. The Hindoo priests, at the present time, use this sort of shell as sacred. It is blown to announce the celebration of religious festivals. Sixth; under a heap of dust and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and hair, a parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, and in such a manner that the rings were suspended from each other, without the aid of solder or any other visible agerfcy whatever. Each ring was three inches in diameter, and the bar of the rings a half an inch thick, and were square; a variety of characters were deeply engraved on the sides of the rings, resembling the Chinese characters.'^ Ward's History of the Hindoos, page 41 and 56, informs us, that the god Vishnoo is represented holding a sea shell in his hand, called the "sacred shell;" and, second, he states, that "the uten- sils employed in the ceremonies of the temple, are several dishes to hold the offerings, a hand bell, a lamp, jugs for holding water, an incense dish, a copper cup, a seat of Kooshu grass, for the priests, a large metal plate, used as a belU" Several of the arti- cles found buried in this manner, resemble these utensils of the Brahmin priests, while some arc exactly like them. The mat of 94 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Kooshu grass resembles the matofhair and feathers; the earthen dish, the conch shell, are the very same in kind; the brass chain might answer instead of a bell, or iron pjate to strike against, which would produce a jingling sound. A quantity of round, oval and square beads, colored variously, were found. Although Mr. Ward does not say that beads were a part of the utensils of the Hindoo priests, yet we find them on the necks and arms of both their gods and their mendicants. Pottery, of the same kind found in those ancient works, have also the quality of enduring the fire. The art of making vessels of clay, is very ancient; we find it spoken of by Jeremiah, the prophet, nearly three thousand years ago. The art of coloring wood, stones, and shells, with a variety of beautiful tints, was also known, as appears from the pavement above described, and the colored beads. In many parts of the west, paints of various colors have been found hidden in the earth. On the Chenango river, in the State of New-York, has recently been found, on opening of one of those ancient mounds, though of but small dimensions, three kinds of paint, black, red, and yellow; which are now in the posses- sion of a Dr. Willard, at the village of Greene, in the county of Chenango. The Indians of both China and America, have, from time im- memorial, used paints to adorn themselves and their gods. But the brass rings and tesselated pavement, are altogether the most to be wondered at. A knowledge of the method of manufac- turing brass was known to the antediluvians: this we learn from Genesis iv. 22. Tubal Cain was an artificer in brass and iron about eleven hundred years before the flood. But how this article, the brass chain, of such curious con- struction, came in the possession of the chief, interred on the summit of the mountain, is a question to be answered, it would seem, in but two ways. They either had a knowledge of the art of making brass, or the article was an item of that king's peculiar treasure ; and had been derived, either from his an- cestors, from the earliest ages, or from South America, as an ar- ticle of trade, a gift from some fellow king, or a trophy of some rictorious battle over some Southern nation ; for, according to AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE6T. 05 Humboldt, brass was found among the native Mexicans, in great abundance. But how the Mexicans came by this art in mineralogy, is equally a question. Gold, silver, copper, (fee, are the natural product of their respective ores; and accident may have made them acquaint- ed with these; as iron was discovered among the Greeks, by fire in the woods having melted the ore. But brass is farther removed from the knowledge of man, being a composition of copper and the calamine stone, or ore of zinc. However, it is said by Morse, that in Chili, in the hills of Huilquilemu, are found mines of na- tive brass, of a fine yellow color, and equally malleable with the best artificial brass; yet this is no common product of mineralogy, and would seem to be an exception, or rather a product extraordi- nary, and in a measure induces a belief that it is not proper brass, but a metal similar only in complexion, while perhaps its chemi- cal properties are entirely different, or it may have been produced by the fusion of copper and the ore of zinc, by the fire of some volcano. Brass was the metal out of which the ancient nations made all their instruments of war, and defensive armor. The reason of this preference above copper and iron, even by the Greeks and Romans, was probably on account of the excessive bright polish it was capable of receiving; for the Greeks and Romans used it long after their knowledge of iron. Iron was discovered by the Greeks 1406 years before Christ. The ancient Americans must have derived a knowledge of brass from their early acquaintance with nations immediately succeeding the flood, who had it from the antediluvians, by way of Noah; and having !* nnd their way to this continent, before it became so insulated as it s at the pre- sent time, surrounded on all sides by oceans, made use of the same metal here. But the tesselated or spotted pavement is equally curious with the brass chain, on account of its resemblance to the Mosaic pave- ments of the Romans; being small pieces of marble, of various colors, with which they ornamented the fronts of their tents in time of war. This sort of pavement is often dug up in England, and is of Roman origin. We find the history of the ancient Britons, mentions the cur- rency of iron rings, as money, which was in use among them be- 96 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ^■ir 'ti: h-i fore the invasion of Julius Ctcsar. Is it not possible that the brass chain, or an assemblage of those rings, as found in this mound, may have been held among those ancients of America in the same estimation? The chain, in their mode of reckoning, being per- haps of an immense amount, its being found deposited with its owner, who was a chief or king, is the evidence of its peculiar value, whether it had been used as an article of trade, or as a sacred implement. This maculated pavement, arranged in such a manner as to represent, in full size, the chief, king, or monarch, who was in- terred beneath it, shows the knowledge that people had of paint- ing, sculpture, and descriptive delineation; but most of all, the serpent which lay coiled at his feet is surprising, because we sup- pose this transaction could not have happened from mere caprice, or the sport of imagination. It must have been a trait of their theology, and, possibly, an allusion to the serpent, by whose instrumentality Satan deceived the first woman, the mother of us all ; and its being beneath his feet, may also have alluded to the promised seed, who was to bruise the serpeni's head — all of which may easily have been derived from the family of Noah, and carried along with the millions of mankind, as they diverged asunder from Mount Ararat, around the earth. The Mexicans are found to have a clear notion of this thing, and of many other traits of the early history of man, as related in the Hebrew records and the Scrip- tures, preserved in their traditions and paintings, as we shall show in another place. The etching on the square sides of those rings of brass, in characters resembling the Chinese, shows the manufacturer, and the nation of which he was a member, to have had a know- ledge of engraving, even on the metals, equal with artists of the present time, of which the common Indian of the west knows nothing. The stone hatchet, flint, and bone arrow-points, found in this tomb, are no exclusive evidence that this was all done by the mo- dern Indians; because the same are found in vast profusion in all parts of the old world, particularly in the island of England, and have been in use from remotest antiquity. We are very far from believing the Indians]of the present time AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 07 at the brass his mound, in the same being |)er- ted with its its peculiar Btde, or as a Einncr as to who was in- ad of paint- t of all, the lusc we sup- lere caprice, possibly, an tan deceived beneath his who was to f have been ng with the from Mount \ to have a of the early d the Scrip- re shall show of brass, in anufacturer, lad a know- rtists of the west knows )und in this J by the mo- fusion in all ngland, and )resent time 4o be tho most ancient aborigines of America; but, on the contra- ry, are usurpers; haw., by force of bloody warfare, exterminated tho original inhabitants) taking possession of their country, pro- perty, and, in some few instances, retaining arts, learned of those very nations. The immense sea shell, which was fourteen inches long, and twenty-three inches in circumference, found in this tomb, is evi- dence of this people's having an acquaintance with other parts of the world than merely their own dwellings, because the shell is a marine production, and the nearest place where this element is found from the Muskingum, is nearly a thousand miles in a straight line east to the Atlantic. If the engravings on this chain be, in fact, Chinese, or if they bear a strong and significant analogy to them, it justifies the opinion that the ancient Americans had a knowledge of letters. A knowledge of letters and of hieroglyphics existed before tho time of Moses, as among the Egyptians and PhcBnicians, but also lefore the flood. On this very interesting subject, see page 273 of this work, in proof of the above. Nations of men, therefore, having, at an early period, found their way to this continent, if indeed it was then a]|separate con- tinent; consequently, to find the remains of such an art, scattered here and there in the dust and ashes of the nations of America passed away, is not surprising. The mound which we have described was apprehended, by Mr. Ash, to be only an advanced guard-post, or a place of look-out, in the direction of the Muskingum and the valley of the Ohio. Ac- cordingly, he wandered farther into the woods in a northwesterly direction, leaving on his right the Muskingum, whose course was northeast by southwest His research in that direction had not long been continued before he discovered strong indications of the truth of his conjecture. He had come to a small valley between two mountains, through which a small creek meandered its way to the Muskingum. On either side of the stream were evident traits of a very large settlement of antiquity. They consisted, first, of a wall or ram- part of earth, of full nine feet perpendicular elevation, and thirty feet across the base. The rampart was of a semi-circular form, its entire circuit being three hundred paces, or something 98 AMERICAN ANTIQT'ITIES MK ';l:H;;i over eighteen rods, bounded by the creek. On the oppoMJte side of the stream was another rampart of the same description, evi- dently answering to the first; these,, viewed together, made one grand circle of more than forty rods circumference, with the creek running between. After a minute examination, he perceived, very visibly, the re- mains of elevated stone abutments, which being exactly opposite each other, suggested the belief that these bridges once connected the two semi-circles; one in the centre, and one on cither side, or the extreme edges of the ring. The timber growing on the ram- part, and within the circle, was principally red oak, of great age and magnitude. Some of the trees, being in a state of decay, were not less than seven feet in diameter, and twenty-one in cir- cumference. Some considerable farther up the brook, at the spot where the beautiful vale commences, where the mountain rises abruptly and discharges from its cleft bosom this delightful creek, are a great number of mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each other, forming three grand circles, one beyond the other, cut in two by the creek, as the one described before, with streets situated between, forming, as do the mounds, complete cir- cles. Here, as at the other, the two half circles were united, as would appear, by two bridges, the abutments of which are still distinct. At a considerable distance, on the sides of the mountain, are two mounds or barrows, which are nearly three feet long, twelve high, and seventeen wide at the base. These barrows are com- posed principally of stone, taken out of the creek, on which are growing, also, very heavy timber. Here were deposited the dead, who had been the inhabitants of the town in the vale. From which it appears that the mounds forming those circles, which were sixty in number, are not tumuli, or the places where chiefs and distinguished warriors were entombed, but were the houses, the actual dwellings of the people who built them. How- ever, the distinguished dend were interred in tumuli of the same form frequently, but much more magnificent and lofty, and are fewer in number, situated on the highest grounds adjacent to their towns. But it may be inqunred, how could those mounds of earth have poMite side ption, evi- made one , with the >ly, the re- ,y opposite connected icr side, or n the ram- ' great age of decay, )ne in cir- i where the bruptly and are a great mces from i the other, efore, with )mplete cir- united, as are still untain, are jng, twelve rs are com- which are d the dead, lie. From cles, which ces where were the m. How- the same y, and are :ent to their AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. M 4« ever been the dwellings of families I There is but one way to explain it. They may have, at the time of their construc- tion, received their peculiar form, which is a conical, sugar-loaf form, by the erection of long poles, or logs, set up in u circle at the bottom, and brought together at the top, with an o|)eningt so that the smoke might pass out. Against this, the earth (be- ing brought from a distance, >!j as not to disturb the even sur- face of the spot chosen to build on,) was thrown, till the top and sides were entirely enveloped. This operation would naturally cause the bottom^ or base, to be of great thickness, caused by the natural sliding down of the earth, as it was thrown on or against the timbers; and this thickness would be in exact propor- tion with the height of the polos, at the ratio of an angle of forty- five degrees. In this way, a dwelling of the most secure description would be the result; such as could not be easily broken through^ nor set on fire; and in winter would be warm, and in summer cool. It is true, such rooms would be rather gloomy, compared with the magnificent and well lighted houses of the present times, yet ac- corded well with the dark usages of antiquity, when mankind lived in clans and tribes, but few in number, compared with the present populousness of the earth, and stood in fear of invasion from their neighbors, in a state of perpetual distrust. Such houses as these, built in circles of wood at ^r«^, and lastly of stone, as the knowledge of architecture came on, were used by the ancient inhabitants of Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and on the continent, as in Norway. No mode of building which can be conceived of, would more effectually shut out the wind. *' Houses of this form, made with upright stones, are even now common over all the Danish dominions." — (See Morsels Geogra- fhyy vol. 1, p. 158.) In the communication of Mr. Moses Fiske, of Hillham, Ten- nessee, to the American Antiquarian Society, 1815, respecting the remains and discoveries made relative to antiquities in the west, but especially in Tennessee, says, that the description of mounds, whether round, square or oblong in their shapes, which hftve flat tops, were the most magnificent sort, and seemed con- trived for the purpose of building temples and castles on their earth have 100 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES mu Mil ir ^i m summits; which, being thus elevated, were very imposing, and might be seen at a great distance. " Nor must we," he continues, " mistake the ramparts or for- tifications, for farming enclosures; what people, savage, or civil- ized, ever fenced their grounds so preposterously, bearing no pro- portion in quantity necessary for tillage;" from which the support of a whole country was expected; and further, there were many neighborhoods which had no such accommodations. He has also discovered, that within the areas encompassed by these ramparts, are whole ranges of foundations, on which dwell' ing houses once stood, with streets running between, besides mounds and other works. " The houses generally stood in rows, nearly contiguous to each other," as in all compact towns and cities, though sometimes they stood in an irregular and scattered manner. These foundations *' are indicated by rings of earth, from three to five fathoms in diameter," which is equal to eighteen by thirty feet. The re- mains of these rings or foundations are from ten to twenty inches high, and a yard or more broad. But they were not always cir- cular ; some of which he had noticed were square, and others, also, of the oblong form, as houses are now built by civilized na- tions. " The flooring of some is elevated above the common leval or surface ; that of others is depressed. These tokens are iadubita- ble, and overspread the country ; some scattered and solitary, but oftner in groups, like villages, with and without being walled in." From which it is clear, that whoever they were, the pursuits of agriculture were indispensable, and were therefore in use with those nations. But as it respects the houses of earth, as found in the vale above noticed, on the creek running into the Muskisgum ; we call show from the writings of Vetruvius, who wrote on the sub- ject of architecture in the time of Julius Ccesar, that this is not ^he only circumstance of the kind ; as follows: '* At first, for the walls, men erected forked stakes, and dis- posing twigs between them, covered them with loam; others pulled tup clods of hay, binding them with wood, and to avoid rain and heat, they made a covering with reeds and boughs ; but finding that this roof could not resist the winter rains they made it slop- AND DIBCOVERIE8 IN WEST. 101 ling, and ts or for- , or civil- g no pro- e support re many assed by ch dwell- s mounds s to each mes they mdations fathoms The re- ty inches ivays cir- d others, lized na- leval or iiidubita- itary, but tiled in." irsuits of ise with the vale um ; we the sub- is is not and dis- rs pulled rain and t finding it slop- I ng, pointed at the top, plastering it over with clay, and by that means discharging the rain water. To this day, (say Vetruvius,) some foreign nations construct their dwel'.ngs of the same kind of materials, as in Gaul, Spain, Lusitania, and Aquitain. The Colchins, in the kingdom of Portugal, where they abound in forests, fix trees in the earth, close together in ranks, to the right and left, leaving as much space between them, from corner to corner, as the length of the trees will permit ; upon the ends of these, at the corners, others are laid transversely, which circum- clude the place of habitation in the middle ; then at the top, the four angles are braced together with alternate beaips. The cre- vices, which are large, on account of the coarscnesss of the ma- terials, arc stopped with chips and loam. The roof is also raised by beams laid across from the extreme angles, or corners, gradu- ally rising from the four sides to the middle point at the top, (ex- actly like a German barrack,) and then covered with boughs and earth. In this manner the barbarians, (says this author,) made their roofs to their towers." By the barbarians he means the in- habitants of Europe, at the time when he wrote these remarks, which was in the reign of Julius Ca3sar a short time before Christ. " The Phrygians, who inhabit a champaign country, being des- titue of timber, selected natural hills, excavate them by diging an entrance, and widen the space within as much as the nature of the place will permit. Above, they fix stakes in a pyramidal formt bind them together, and cover them with reeds or straw, heaping; thereon great piles of earth. This kind of covering renders them very warm in winter and cool in summer. Some also cover the roofs of their huts with weeds of lakes; and thus, in all countries; and nations, primeval dwellings are formed upon similar princi- ples." — (^Blake's Atlas, p. 145.J Having this knowledge of the mode of ancient building, we are led to the conclusion, that the town which wo have just given an account of, was a clan of some of the ancient Celtic nations, who, by some means, had found their way to this part of the earth, and had fixed their abode in this secluded valley. Celtic or Irish, as Mr. Morse says, who were derived from Gaul or Galatia, which is now France, who descended from Gomer, one of the sons of Japheth, a son of Noah; to whose descendants Europe, with its isles, was given. And whether the people who built this town were of Chinese or Celetic origin, it is much the 102 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES b'#i ■:\l same; because, if we go far enough back in ages of past time, we shall find they were of the same origin, and had equal oppor- tunities to perpetuate a remembrance of the arts, as known among men immediately after the flood, and might therefore resemble each other in their works. Here, we may suppose, the gods Odin, Thor, and Frige, were adored under the oaks composing American forests, as taught by the Druids ; here their victims, the deer and buffalo, sent up to the skies their smoking odor from the altar of sacrifice, while the priests of the forest invoked the blessing of the beneficent Being upon the votaries of the mystic mistletoe. Here were the means of mutual defence and safety discussed; the sighs of the lover breathed on the winds; parents and children looked with kindness on each other; soothed and bound the wounds of such as return- ed from the uncertain fate of clanular battles; but have been swept with the besom of extermination from this vale, while no tonguo remains to tell the story of their sufferings. At the distance of about three miles higher up, and not far from the Muskingum, says Mr. Ash, he perceived an eminence very similar to the one just described, in which the brass chain was found, to which he hastened, and immediately perceived their like- ness in form. On a comparison of the two, there could be but one opinion, namely, that both were places of lookout, for the express protection of the settlement in the valley. He says he took the pains of clearing the top of the eminence, but could not discover any stone or mark which might lead to a supposition of its being a place of interment. The country above was hilly, yet not so high as to intercept the view for a presumed distance of twenty miles. On these eminences the beacon fires of the clan who resided in the valley may have been kindled at the hour of midnight, to show those who watched the portentous flame, the advance or destruc- tion of an enemy. Such fires, on the heights of Scotland, were wont to be kindled in the days of Bruce and Wallace, and ages before their time, originated from the Pei'sians, possibly, who worshipped in this way the great Oramaze, as the god who made all things. The idea of a Creator was borrowed from Noah, who received the account of the creation from Seth, who had it from Adam, and Adam from the Almighty himself. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 103 From this excursion, our traveller, after having returned to Marietta, pursued his way to Zanesville, on the Muskingum river, where, learning from the inhabitants that the neighborhood was surrounded with the remains of antiquity, he proceeded to the ex- amination of them, having obtained a number of persons to ac- company him with the proper implements of excavation. They penetrated the woods in a westerly direction, to a place known to those who accompanied him, about five miles distance, where the ruins of ancient times were numerous and magnificent in the high- est degree ; consisting of mounds, barrows and ramparts, but of such variety and form, and covering so immense a track of" ground that it would have taken at least ten days to have surveyed them minutely. These immense works of the ancients, it appears, were, in this flace, encompassed by outlines of an entirely difTerent shape from any other described, being of the triangular form, and occupying the whole plain, situated as the one before described, in a place nearly surrounded by mountains. But we pass over many incidents of this traveller, and come immediately to the object of his research, which was to open such of those mounds as might attract his attention. His first opera- tion was to penetrate the interior of a large barrow, situated at one extremity of the vale, which was its southern. Three feet below the surface was fine mould, underneath which were small flat stones, lying in regular strata or graved, brought from the mountain in the vicinity. This last covered the remains of a hu- mane frame, which fell into powder when touched and exposed to air. Towards the base of the barrow, he came to three tiers of sub- stances, placed regularly in rotation. And as these formed two rows four deep, separated by little more than a flag stone between the feet of one and the head of another, it was supposed the bar- row contained about 2000 human skeletons, in a very great state of decay, which shows their extreme antiquity. In this search was found a well carved stone pipe, expressing a bear's head, together with some fragments of pottery, of fine tex- ture. Near the centre of the whole works, another opening was eflTected, in a rise of ground, scarcely higher than a natural un- dulation, common to the general surface of the earth, even on 104 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ;t(" W.*« ■'v : ground esteemed to be level. But there was one singularity ac- companying the spot, which attracted the attention of the company » and this was, there was neither shrub nor tree on the spot, although more than ninety feet in circumference, but was adorn- ed with a multitude of pink and purple flowers. They came to an opinion that the rise of ground was artificial, and as it differed in form and character from the common mounds, they resolved to lay it open, which was soon done, to a level with the plain, but without the discovery of any thing whatever. But as Ash had become vexed, having found nothing to answer his expectations in other openings on the spot, he jumped from the bank, in order to take a spade, and encourage the men to dig somewhat deeper. At this instant the ground gave way, and in- volved the whole company in ruin, as was supposed for the mo- ment, but was soon followed by much mirth and laughter, as no person was hurt by the fall, which was but about three feet. Ash had great difficulty to prevail on any person to resume the labor, and had to explore the place himself, and sound it with a pole, before any man would venture to aid him further, on ac- count of their fright. But they soon resumed their courage, and on examination found that a parcel of timbers had given way, which covered the orifice of a hole seven feet by four, and four feet deep. That it was a sepulchre, was unanimously agreed, till they found it in vain to look for bones, or any substance similar to them, in a state of de- composition. They soon, however, struck an object which would neither yield to the spade, nor emit any sound ; but persevering still further, they found the obstruction which was uniform through the pit, to proceed from rows of large spherical bodies, at first taken to be stones. Several of them were cast up to the surface; they were exactly alike, perfectly round, nine inches in diameter, and of about twenty pounds weight. The superfices of one, when cleaned and scraped with knives, appeared like a ball of base metal, so strong- ly impregnated with the dust of gold, that the baseness of the metal itself was nearly altogether obscured. On this discovery, the clamour was so great, and joy so exuberant, that no opinion but one was admitted, and no voice could be heard, while the cry of *♦ 'tis gold! 'tis gold!" resounded through the groves. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 10& Having to a man deternuned on this important point, they form- ed a council respecting the distribution of the treasure, and eachr individual, in the joy of his heart, declared publicly the use he in- tended to make of the part allotted to his share. The Englishman concluded that he would return to England, being sure, from experience, that there was no country like it A German of the party said, he would never have quitted the Rhme, had he had money enoUgh to rebuild his barrit which was blowiv down by a high wind ; but that he would return to the very spot from whence he came, and prove to his neighbors that he loved' his country as well as any man, when he had the means of doing well. An Irishman swore a great oath, the day longer he'd stay in America; and the Indian who accompanied Ash, appeared to think, that were he to purchase some beads, rum apd blankets, and return to his own nation, he might become Sachem, and keep the finest squaws to be found. Even Ash himself saw in the treasure the sure and ample means of continuing his travels in such parts of the earth as he had not yet visited. The company returned to Zanesville with but one ball of their riches, while they carefully hid the residue, till they should subject it to the ordeal of fire. They soon procured a private room, where, while it was receiv- ing the trial of fire, they stood around in silence almost dreading to breathe. The dreadful element, which was to confirm or con- sume their hopes, soon began to exercise its various powers. In a few moments the ball turned black, filled the room with sulphu- rous smoke, emitted sparks and intermittent flames, and burst into ten thousand pieces; so great was the terror and suffocation, that all rushed into the street, and gazed on each other, with a mixed expression of doubt and astonishment. The smoke subsided, when they were able to discover the ele- ments of the supposed gold, which consisted of some very fine ashes, and a great quantity of cinders, exceedingly porous ; the balls were nothing but a sort of metal called spririte or pyrites, composed of sulphur and iron, and abounds in the mountains of that region. The triangular form of this enclosure, being different from the general form of those ancient works, is perhaps worthy of notice, merely on the account of its form; and might be supposed to be 106 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of Chinese origin, as it is well known that the triangular shape is a favorite one of the nations of Hindostan; it is even in the Hin- doo theology, significant of the Trinity, of their great Brahma, or god; and on this account, might even characterise the form of na- tional works such as we have just described, under the notion, that the divine protection would the more readily be secured. " One of the missionaries at Pekin," says Adam Clarke, " takes it for granted, that the mystery of the Trinity was known among the ancient Chinese, as that this A character was its symbol. It is re- markable that Moses and the prophets, the ancient, Chaldee, Tar- gumists, the authors of the Zend Avesta, a Chinese book, Plato, a celebrated philosopher of antiquity, who died at Athens, 348 years B. C, and also the first philosopher of Greece, and Philo the Jew, should all coincide so perfectly in their ideas of a Trinity in the Godhead. This could not be the effect of accident. The patri- archs, Moses and the prophets received this from God himself; and all others have borrowed from this first origin." For what use the balls of which we have given an account were designed, is impossible to conjecture, whether to be thrown by means of engines, as practised by the Romans, as an instru- ment of warfare, or a sort of medium in trade, or were used as instruments, in athletic games, either to roll or heave, who oan tell? But one thing respecting them is not uncertain, they must have been of great value, or so much labor and care would not have been expended to secure them. Colonel Ludlow, of Cincinnati, a man, it is said, who was well versed in the history of his country, though now deceased, was indefatigable in his researches after the antiquities of America, discovered several hundreds of those balls of pyrites, weighing generally about twenty pounds each, near an old Indian settlement, on the banks of the Little Miami, of the Ohio, and also another heap in an artificial cave, on the banks of the Sciota, consisting of copper pyrites, or quartz. In that division of South America, called Patagonia, which ex- tends nearly to the extreme southern point of that country, is found a people, denominated Patagonians, who are of a mon- strous size and height, measuring from six to seven feet, many of them approaching to eight. Among this people is found an AND OI8COVKRISS IN THE WEST. 107 instrument of war made of heavy stones, wore round by fric- tion; so that in appearance, they are like a cannon ball. These they contrive to fasten in a sling, from vhich they throw them with great dexterity and force. — Morsels Geography. This kind of ball was used, though of a smaller size, to capture and kill animals with. The manner of using them is as follows: They take three of those balls, two of them three inches, and one of them two inches in diameter. The hunter takes the small ball in his left hand, and swings the other two, (which are connected by a thong of a proper length, to the one in his hand) round his head, till a sufficient velocity is acquired, at the same time taking aim, when they are thrown at the legs of the animal he is pur- suing, in such a manner as to entangle its feet by the rotary motion of the balls; so that its capture is easy. Conjecture might go on to establish it as a fact, that these balls of pyrites, found in many parts of the west, were indeed a war- like instrument, thrown by a sling, out of which, a force almost equivalent to that of powder, might be acquired ; and from the top of mounds, or from the sides of their elevated forts, such a mode of defence would be very terrible. This mode of fighting was known to the Hebrews. David slew Goliah with a stone from a sling. Seven hundred chosen men out of Gibea, could sling a stone at an hair's breadth. Job speaks of this manner of annoying wild beasts, where he is recounting the strength of Leviathan: *' Slinged stones are turned with him into stubble." Dr. Adam Clarke's observation on the use and force of the sling, arc very interesting, and pertinent to the subject. They are found in his Commentary, 1st Samuel, chap. xvii. verse 40, " The sling, both among the Greeks and Hebrews, has been a most powerful, offensive weapon. It is composed of two strings and a leather strap;" (or as among the Patagonians, of raw-hide,) " the strap is in the middle, and is the place where the stone or bullet lies. The string on one end of the strap is firmly fastened to the hand; that on the other, is held between the thumb and mid- dle joint of the fore finger. It is then whirled two or three times round the head; and when discharged, the finger and thumb let go their hold of the string. The velocity and force of the sling is in proportion to the distance of the strap to where the bullet 108 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES m lies, from the shoulder joint. Hence, the ancient Balleares, or inhabitants of Majorca and Minorca, islands in the Mediterranean sea, near the coast of Spain, are said to have had three slings of different lengths ; the longest they used when the enemy was at the greatest distance; the middle one on their nearer approach, and the shortest, when they came into the ordinary fighting dis« tance in the field. The shortest is the most certain, though not the most powerful. ** The Balleareans are said to have one of their slings con- stantly bound about their head; to have used the second as a girdle; and to have carried the third always in their hand. *' In the use of the sling, it requires much practice to hit the mark; but when once this dexterity is acquired, the sling is nearly as fatal as the ball thrown by the explosion of powder. " David was evidently an expert marksman; and his sling gave him greatly the advantage over Goliah; an advantage of which the giant does not seem to have been aware. He could hit him within any speaking distance; if he missed once, he had as many chances as he had stones; and after all, being unincumbered with armor, young and athletic, he could have saved his life by flight. But David saved himself the trouble of running away, or the giant from throwing his spear or javelin at him, by giving him the first blow, which placed something more solid in his brain than he had been accustomed to. ** Goliah was terribly armed, having a spear, a shield, and a sword; besides, he was every where invulnerable, on account of his helmet of brass, his coat of mail, which was made also of brass, in little pieces, about the size of a half dollar, and lapped over each other, like the scales of fishes, so that no sword, spear, nor arrow could hit him." This coat of mail, when polished and bright, was very glorious to look upon, especially when the sun, in his brightness, bent his beams to aid the giant warrior's fulgent habiliments to illumine the field of battle, as the wearer strode, here and there, among the trophies of his arm. The only spot left, where he cotild be hit to advantage, was his broad giant forehead, into which the stone of David sunk, from its dreadful impetus received from the simple sling. To some, this has appeared perfectly improbable; but we are assured AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 100 Balleares, or VIediterranean three slings he enemy was rcr approach, y fighting dis* in, though not eir slings con- second as a r hand, ctice to hit the sling is nearly der. his sling gave tagc of which could hit him 3 had as many cumbered with ! life by flight. ly, or the giant ig him the first in than he had . shield, and a , on account of 5 made also of ar, and lapped I sword, spear, 3 very glorious itness, bent his nts to illumine there, among dvantage, was f David sunk, pie sling. To ve are assured by ancient writers, that scarcely any thing could re<)ist tke force , '" the sling. Diodorus Siculus, an historian who flourished in the time of Julius Ccesar, a short time before Christ, and was born in the island of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, says, ♦* the people of the islands of Minorca and Majorca, in time of war, could sling greater stones than any other people, and with such force, that they seemed as if projected from a capuUf" an engine used by the ancients for this purpose. Therefore, in assaults made on fortified towns, they grieviously wound the besieged, and in battle, they break in pieces the shields, helmets, and every species of armor, by which the body is de- fended. It would seem, from the expertness of the Patagonians, evinced in the use of the sling, that they may have been derived from the ancient inhabitants of those islands, who coUld as easily have found their way out of the Mediterranean by the strait of Gibraltar into the Atlantic ocean, and be driven across to South America, by the winds from the east, or by the current of the son as were the Egyptians, as we shall soon show. The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument; and in the hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, it produced as- tonishing effects. The people of the above named islands were , the most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their children to eat till they had struck down their food from the top of a pole, or some distant eminence. Concerning the velocity of the leaden ball thrown out of the sling, it is said by the ancients, to have melted in its course. Ovid, the Roman poet, has celebrated its speed, in the following beautiful verse: — " Hermes was fired, as in the clouds be bung; So the cold bullet that with fury slung From Balearic engines, mounts on high, Glows in the whirl, and burns along the skjr." Seneca, the stoic philosopher of Rome, born a. d. 12, says the same thing; "the ball projected from the sling, melts, and is liquified by the friction of the air, as if it were exposed to the action of fire." Vegetius, who lived in the 14th century, and was also a Roman, tells us, that " slingers could, in general, hit the mark at six hun ; I »H m & I ■ i; ■uJl -tv , 'I m i 110 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES dred feet distance," which is more than thirty rr>d8. From this view we see what havoc the western nations, using the sling or engine f to throw stones from their vast forts and mounds, must have made, when engaged in war. * Discovery of the Remains of Ancient Pottery, On the subject of pottery we remark, that the remains of this art are generally found, especially of any extent, in the neighbor- hood of salt springs. It is true, that specimens of earthen ware are frequently taken out of the ancient barrows of the dead, and also arc frequently brought to sight on the shores of rivers, where the earth has been removed by inundations. A few years since, an instance of this sort occurred at Ta- wanda, in Pennsylvania. The Susquehannah had risen very high, at the time we are speaking of, and had undermined the bank on the Tawanda shore, to a considerable extent, at the high water mark. On the receding of the waters, the bank was found to be carried away for the distance of about six rods, when there ap- peared several fire places, made of the stones of the river, with vessels of earthen, of a capacity about equal with a common water pail, in a very good state of preservation. Between those fire places, which were six in number, were found the skeletons of several human beings, lying in an undis- turbed position, as if they, when living, had fallen asleep, and never waked; two of these, in particular, attracted attention, and excited not a little surprise; they were lying side by side, with the arm of one of them under the neck of the other, and the feet were mingled in such a manner as to induce the belief that when death came upon them, thoy were asleep in each other's em- braces. But in what manner they came to their death, so that they appeared not to have moved, from the fatal moment till the bank was carried away, which had covered them for ages, is strange indeed. It cannot be supposed they died all at once, of some sickness, or that an enemy surprised them while sleeping, and, silently AND DISCOVBRIEB IN THE WEST. Ill passing from couch to couch, inflicted the deadly blow; because, in any of these ways their bones, in the convulsions of dissolu- tion, must have been deranged, so that the imngc and peaceful posture of sleepers could not have characterised their positions, as they were found to have. It was conjectured, at the time of their discovery, that the period of their deulh had been at the sea- son of the year when that river breaks up its ice; in March or April, the river they supposed, may have been dammed up below them, where, it is true, the stream narrows on the account of the approach of the mountains. Here the ice having jammed in be- tween, caused a sudden rise of the river, and setting back, over- flowed them. But this cannot be possible, as the noise of the breaking ice would never allow them to sleep; this operation of nature is ac- companied with a tremendous uproar tearing and rending the shores and forests that grow on them, multiplying crash en crash, with the noise of thunder. Neither can it be well supposed, tho waters came over them in the way suggested, even if they had slept during the scene we have just described, because on the first touch of the waters to their bodies, they would naturally spring from their sleep in surprise. Something must have happened that deprived them of life and motion in an instant of time. This is not impossible, because at Herculaneum and Pompeii, are found, where, in digging, they have penetrated through the lava down to those ancient cities, laying bare streets, houses and temples, with their contents, such as have survived the heat which ruined those cities — skeletons, holding between their fingers something they had in their hands at the moment of their death, so that they do not appear even to have struggled. Something of the same nature, as it respects suddennesSf must have overtaken these sleepers; so that their natural positions were not disturbed. If the plaee of their dwellings had been skirted by a steep bank or hill, it might then have been supposed that a land slip or mine springs had buried them alive, but this is not the case. They were about four feet under ground, the soil which covered them was the same alluvial with the rest of the flat; it is a mystery, and cannot be solved, unless we suppose an explosion of earth, occasioned by compressed air or gas, which, bursting the earth near them, suddenly buried them alive. 112 AMKEICAN ANTIQUITIES If Dr. Beck, tho author of the Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri, suggests the cause of the earthquakes, in tho valley of the Mis- sissippi, in 1811 and 1812, which, in many places, threw up in an instant vast heaps of earth, to have been the principle of galvan- ism bursting from the depths beneath, in a perpendicular direction, overwhelming, in a moment of time, whatever might be asleep or awake, wherever it fell. Further down the Susquehannah, some thirty or forty miles be- low Tawanda, at a place called the Black-walnut Bottonij on the farm of a Mr. Kinney, was discovered a most extraordinary specimen of pottery. Respecting this discovery, the owner of the farm relates, as we are informed by a clergyman, who examined the article on the spot, though in a broken state, that soon after the first settle- ments on that river, and especially on that farm, a great freshet took place which tore a channel in a certain direction across the flat, when the vessel which we are about to describe, was brought lo light. It was twelve feet across the top, and of consequence thirty-six feet in circumference, and otherwise of proportionable depth and form. Its thickness was three inches, and appeared to be made of some coarse substance, probably mere clay, such as might be found on the spot, as it was not glazed. Whoever its makers were, they must have manufactured it on the spot where it was found, as it must have been impossible to move so huge a vessel. They may have easily eiTccted its construction by building it up by degrees, with layers put on in succession, till high enough to suit the enormous fancy of its projectors, and then by piling wood around, it might have been burnt so as to be fit for use, and then propped up by stones, to keep it from falling apart. But who can tell for what use this vast vessel was intended? Conjecture here is lost; no ray of light dawns upon this strange remnant of antiquity. One might be led to suppose it was made in imitation of the great later in the court of Solomon's Temple, which was seventeen feet two inches in diameter, and fifty-two feet six inches in circumference, and eight feet nine inches deep. — (// Chronicles^ iv. 2.) The discovery of this vast specimen of earthen ware, is, at any rate, a singularity, and refers to some age of the world when the ii'f.;:^ AND DiacOVERIta IN THE WEST. 113 inhabitants used very hrge implements of husbandry. If there had b3en in ila neig')b3rh )oJ a salt spring, as tht rj are oAen found farther west, we should not be at a loss to know for what purpose it was constructed. Remarkable specinienH of pottery are often brought up from very great depths nt the salt works in Illinois. Entire pots of a very large capacity, holdi'ig from ui^ht to ten gallons, have been disinterriid from the unazing ' I'' j)tli of eighty feet ; others have been found at even grratur depths, and of greater dimensions. — Schoolcraft. Upon this subject this autlior makes the following remark: — *♦ If these antique vessels are now supposed to He in those depths where they were anciently employed, the surface of the Ohio, and consequently of the Mississippi, must have been sixty or eighty feet lower than they are at present, to enable the saline water to drain off; and the ocean itself must have stood at a lower level, or extended in un elongated gulf up the present valley of the Mississippi." Many are of the opinion, that much of this region of country once lay beneath large lakes of water, and that the barriers Ikj- tween them and the ocean, by some means were broken down, when a rush of water swept the whole country, in its course to the sea, burying all the ancient nations, with their works, at those depths beneath the surface as low as where those fragments of earthern ware are found. The bottom of those lakes is also sup- posed to be the true origin of the immense prairies of the west; and the reason why they are not, long since grown over with forest trees, is supposed to be because, from the rich and mucky soil found at the bottom of those lakes, a grass of immense length, ten and fourteen feet high, peculiar t# the prairies, immediately sprung up before trees could take root, and therefore hindred this effort of nature. And as a reason why forest trees have not been able to gain upon the prairies, it is alleged, the Indians annually burn these boundless meadows, which ministers to"their perpetuity. Some of those prairies are hundreds of miles in length and breadth, and in burning over, present, in the night, a spectacle too grand, sublime and beautiful for adequate description; belting ;the horizon with a rim of fire, the farthest verge of which se«m . • . 8. lU AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIKS dipped in the immeasurable distance, so that even contemplation,, in its boldest efforts, is swallowed up and rendered powerless. it If r.'fi ': fei;r ;.:^V^ ^ I' > •tf Catacomb of J\Iummies found in Kentucky. Lexington, in Kentucky, stands nearly on the site of an an- cient town, which was of great extent and magnificence, as is amply evinced by the wide range of its circumvallatory works, and the quantity of ground it once occupied. There was connected with the antiquities of this place, a cata- comb, formed in the bowels of the limestone rock, about fifteen feet below the surface of the earth, adjacent to the town of Lex- ington. This grand object, so novel and extraordinary in this country, was discovered in 1775, by some of the first settlers, whose curiosity was excited by something remarkable in the character of the stones which covered the entrance to the cavern within. They removed these stones, and came to others of singu- lar appearance for stones in a natural state; the removal of which laid open the mouth of a cave, deep, gloomy, and terrific, as they supposed. With augmented numbers, and provided with light, they de- scended and entered, without obstruction, a spacious apartment ; the sides and extreme ends were formed into niches and compart- ments, and occupied by figures representing men. When alarm subsided, and the sentiment of dismay and surprise permitted fur- ther research and inquiry, the figures were found to be mummies^ preserved by the art of embalmmg, to as grest a state of perfec- tion as was known among the ancient Egyptians, eighteen hundred years before the Christian era; which was about the time that the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, when this art was in its per> fection. Unfortunately for antiquity, science, and every thing else held sacred by the illumined and learned, this inestimable discovery was made at a period when a bloody and inveterate war was car-^ oried on between the Indians and the whites : and the power of the natives was displayed in so savage a manner, that the whites were filled with revenge. Animated by this vindictive spirit, the AND DISCOVBRIBB IN THE WEST. 115 discoverers of the catacomb delighted to wreak their vengeance even on the mummies, supposing them to be of the same Indian race with whom they were then at war. They dragged them out to the open air, tore the bandages open, kicked the bodies into dust, and made a general bonfire of the most ancient remains antiquity could boast. The descent to this cavern is gradual, the width four feet, the height seven, and the whole length of the catacomb was found to be eighteen rods and a half, by six and a half; and calculating from the niches and shelvings on the sides, it was sufficiently capacious to have contained at least two thousand subjects. I could never, says Mr. Ash, from whose travels we have taken this account, learn the exact quantity it contained ; the answers to the inquiries which he made respecting it were, "O, they burnt up and destroyed hundreds !" Nor could he arrive at any know- ledge of the fashion, manner, and apparel of the mummies, or re- ceive any other information than that they *^were welllapped up^^* appeared sound, and consumed in the fire with a rapid flame. But not being contented with the uncertain information of per- sons, who, it seems, had no adequate knowledge of the value of this discovery, he caused the cavern to be gleamed for such frag- ments as yet remained in the niches, on its shelving sides and from the floor. The quantity of remains thus gathered up, amounted to forty or fifty baskets, the dust of which was so light and pungent as to affect the eyes even to tears, and the nose to sneezing, to a troublesome degree. He then proceeded on a minute investigation, and separated from the general mass several pieces of human limbs, fragments of bodies, solid, sound, and apparently capable of eternal duration In a cold state they had no smell whatever, but when submitted to the action of fire, gave out an agreeable effluvia, but was like no- thing in its fragrance to which he could compare it. On this subject Mr. Ash has the following reflections : '* How these bodies were enbalmed, how long preserved, by what nations, and from what people descended, no opinion can be formed, nor any calculation made, but what must result from speculative fancy and wild conjecture. For my part, I am lost in the deepest igno- ranoe. My reading affords me no knowledge, my travels no light. 1 kave neither read nor knowa of any of the North American In- 116 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES m m hi • Ml; sv ! dians who formed catacombs for their dead, or who were ac- quainted with the art of preservation by embalming. The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, who flourished 450 years before Christ, had three methods of embalming; but Diodo- rus, who lived before Christ, in the time of Julius Ca)sar, observes, that the ancient Egyptians had a fourth method of far greater su- periority. That method is not described by Diodoras ; it had become extinct in his time ; and yet I cannot think it presumptu- ous to conceive that the American mummies were preserved after that very manner, or at least with a mode of equal virtue and effect." The Kentuckians asserted, Ihat the features of the face and the form of the whole body were so well preserved, that they must have been the exact representations of the once living sub- jects. This cavern, indeed, is similar to those found in Egypt, where the once polished and powerful inhabitants bestowed their dead, wrapped up in the linens, spices, and aromatics of that country. It is probable that the cave where these were found was partly natural and partly artificial. Having found it suitable to their purpose, they had opened a convenient descent, cleared out the stones and rocks, and fitted it with niches for the reception of those they had embalmed. This custom, it would seem, is purely Egyptian, and was prac- tised in the earliest age of their national existence, which was about two thousand years before Christ. Catacombs are numerous all over Egypt, vast excavations under ground, with niches in their sides for their embalmed dead, exactly such as the one we have described. Shall we be esteemed presumptuous, if we hazard the opinion that the people who made this cavern and filled it with the thou- sands of their embalmed dead were, indeed, from Egypt? If they were not, whither shall we turn for a solution of this mystery ? To what country shall we travel ? where are the archives of past ages, that shall shed its light here ? If the Egyptians were indeed, reckoned as the first of nations ; for so are they spoken of, even in the Scriptures : if from them was derived the art of navigation, the knowledge of astronomy, in a great degree, with' many other arts, of use to human society; vere ac- ANO DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 117 such as architecture, agriculture, with the science of government, &c.; why not allow the authors of the antiquated works about Lexington, (together with the immense catacomb as evidence,) to have been, indeed, an Egyptian colony; seeing the art of embalm- ing, which is •peculiarly charactereslic of that people, was found there in a state of perfection not exceeded by the mother country itself. A trait of national practices so strong and palpable, as is this peculiar art, should lead the mind, without hesitation, to a belief, that wherever the thing is practised, we have found in its authors either a colony direct from Egypt, or the descendants of some na- tion of the countries of Africa acquainted with the art. But if this be so, the question here arises, how came they in America, seeing the nearest point of oven South America ap- proaches no nearer to the nearest point of Africa, than about seventeen hundred milos? Those points are, Hrst, on the Ameri- can side, Cape St. Roque; and, second, on the African side, Cape de Verd. But such is the mechanism of the globe, and the operation of the waters, that from the west coast of Africa there is a constant current of the sea setting toward South America, so that if a ves- sel were lost, or if an eastern storm had driven it far into the ocean or South Atlantic, it would naturally arrive at last on the American coast. This is supposed to have been the predicament of the fleet of Alexander the Great, sonic hundred years before the Christian era, as wc have before related. The cause of this current is doubtless, the flow of the waters of the Meditorranoan .nto the Atlantic ; the, Miditcrrancan being fed by a vast number of the rivers of Europe. The next inquiry to be pursued, is, whether the Egyptians were ever a maritime people, or rather, anciently so, sufficient for our purpose? By consulting ancient history, we find it mentioned that the Egyptians, as early as fourteen hundred and eight-five years before Christ, had shipping, and that one Danus, with his fifty daughters, sailed into Greece, and anchored at Rhodes; which is three thousand, three hundred and twenty years back from the present year, 1835. Eight hundred and eighty-one years after the landing of this vessel at Rhodes, we find the Egyptians, under the direction of Necho, their king fitting out some Phoenicians with a vessel, or fleet, with orders to sail from the Red sea, quite 118 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES P i mm iMi ■.'"Hi I around the continent of Africa, and to return by the Miditerran- ean, which they efTected. It is easy to pursue the very track they sailed, in order to cir- cumnavigate Africa; sailing from some port on the Red sea, they pass down to the strait of Babelmandel, into the Indian ocean; thence south, around the Cape of Good Hope, into the South Atlantic ; — thence north along the African coast on the west side, which would carry them along opposite, or east of South America. Pursuing this course, they would pass into the Mediterranean at the strait oi Gibraltar, and so on to Egypt, mooring at Alex- ndria, on the south end of the Mediterranean; a voyage of more han sixteen thousand miles; two-thirds of the distance round the earth. Many ages after their first settlement in Egypt, they were the leading nation in maritime skill and other arts. It is true, that a knowledge of the compass and magnet, as aids to navigation, in Africa or Europe, was unknown in those early ages; but to counterbalance this defect, they were, from necessity, much more skilful in a knowledge of the heavenly bodies, as guides to their courses, than men are at the present day. But in China, it is note believed that a knowledge of the magnet, and its application to the great purposes of navigation, was understood before the time of Abraham, more than two thousand years before Christ, of which we shall give a more particular account in ano- ther place of this work. But if we cannot allow the Egyptians to have visited South America, and all the islands between, on voyages of discovery, which by no means can be supposed chimerical, we are ready to admit that they may have been driven there, by an eastern storm; and, as favoring such a circumstance, the current which sets from the African coast toward South America, should not be forgotten. If it be allowed that this mode of reasoning is at all conclusive, the same will apply in favor of their having yJr*^ hit on the coast of the West Indies, as this group of islands, as they now exist, is much more favorable to a visit from that particular part of Africa called Egypt, than is South America. Egypt and the West Indies are exactly in the same latitude, that 'is, the northern parts of those islands, both being between twenty and thirty degrees north. AND DI8C0VERIXS IN THE WEST. 110 Sailing from Egypt, out of the Mediterranean, passing through the straits of Gibraltar, would throw a vessel, in case of an eastern storm, aided by the current, as high north as opposite the Bahanta islands. A blow of but a few days in that dtrection^ would be quite sufficient to have driven an Egyptian vessel, or boat, or whatever they may have sailed in, entirely on the coast of the West Indies. The trade winds sweep westward across the At- lantic, through a space of fifty or sixty degrees of longitude, car- rying every thing within their current directly to the American coast. If such may have been the case, thoy were, indeed, in a man- ner, on the very continent itself, especially if the opinion of Pre- sident Jefferson and others be allowed, that the gulf of Mexico, which is situated exactly behind those islands, west, has been scooped out by the current which makes from the equator toward the north. Kentucky itself, >v^here we think we have found the remains of an Egyptian colony, or nation, as in the case of the works and catacomb at Lexington, is in latitudf) but five degrees north of Egypt; so that whether they may have vi;sited America on a voy- age of exploration, or have been driven on the coast against their will, in either case, it would be perfectly natural that they should have established themselves in that region. Traits of Egyptian manners were found among many of the nations of South America, mingled with those who appeared to be of other origin; of which we shall speak again in the course of this work. But at Lexington, the traits are too notorious to allow them to be other than pure Egyptian, in full possession of the strongest complexion of their national character, that of embalming, which was connected with ther religion. The Mississippi, which disembogues itself into the Mexican gulf, is in the same north latitude with Egypt, and may have, by its likeness to the Egyptian Nile, invited those adventurers to pur- sue its course, till a place suited to their views or necessities may have presented. Other tokens of the presence of an Egyptian population, are not wanting in North America; as in the vale of Mexico, a few years since, '* several curiouis specimens of sculpture have been 120 AM£RICAN ANTldUlTIKS discovered, and sent to CharlpstoDt South Carolina, by the Ame- rican Minister at Mexico, Mr. Poinsett; which articles arc now in the Museum of the Literary and Philosophical Society, at Charleston. The collection consists of several images, and a large figure of a snake, which was doubtless a favorite object of adoration. These images are well worthy attention, as they bear the evident marks of antiquity; and though the sculpture is rjude, it is impossible for any one who has examined the remains of ancient times, not to be struck with the strong resemblance they bear to the workmanship of the ancient. Egyptians." — The Escritoify vol. 1, p. 358, for 1827. Jlncient Letters of the Phcenicians and Americans, The ancient Punic, Phoenician, or Carthaginian language, is all the same; the characters called Punic, or Phoenician, there- lore, are also the same. A fac simile of those characters, as copied by Dr. Adam Clarke, are herewith presented. See No. 4. No. 4. No. 5. 7f/^£#^ ,r i',". .1 They were discovered in the Island of Malta, in the Mediter- ranean, which was anciently inhabited by the Phoenicians, long before the Romans existed as a nation. These characters were found engraved on a stone, in a cave of that island, in the year 1761, which was a sepulchral cave, so used bj- the earliest inhabitants. These characters, being found in thias ancient re- pository of the dead, it is believed, marks the place of the burial of that famous Cartliaginian general, Hannibal, as they expli- AND DIBCOVBBIB8 IN THE WKBT. 121 citly allude to that character. The reading in the original is a» follows: *^Cfiadar Beth olam kabar Chanibaal Nakeh hecaleth haveh^ rachm daeh Am heshuth Chanilaal ben Bar melee.''* Which, being interpreted, is: "The inner chamber of the sanc- tuary of the sepulchre of Hannibal, Illustrious in the consumma- tion of calamity. He was beloved. The people lament, when arrayed in order of battle, Hannibal, the son of Bar-molcc." This is one of the largest remains of the Punic or Phoenician language now in existence. Characters of this description are also found on the rocks of Dighton, Massachusetts, near the sea. In a chain of mountains between the rivers Oronoco and Ama- zon, South America, are found engraved in a cavern, on a block of granite, characters supposed also to be Punic letters, a fac simile of which is presented at No. 5. These were furnished by Baron Humboldt, in his volume of Researches in South America; between which and those given us above, by Dr. Clarke, it is easy to perceive a degree of similarity. But if the Phoenician letters shown at Nos. 4 and 5 are highly interesting, those which follow at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 arc equally so. These are presented to the public by Prof. Rafinosque, in his At- lantic Journal for 1832, with their meaning. Under figures 1 and 2 are the African^ or Lyhian characters, the primitive letters of the most ancient nations of Africa. Un- der figure 3 are the American letters, or letters of Otohim, an ancient city, the ruins of which are found in North America, being, so far as yet explored, of an extent embracing a circum- ference of seventy-five miles, of which we shall again speak in due time. The similarity which appears between the African letters and the letters of America, as in use perhaps two thousand years before Christ, is almost, if not exact; showing, beyond a doubt, that the same nations, the same languages, and the same arts, which were known in ancient Lybia, or Africa, were also known in America; as well also as nations from old China, who came to the western coast in huge vessels, as wo shall show in this work. We here subjoin an account of those characters, numbered 1^ 122 AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES % \!'d 2, 3, by the author^ Prof. Rafinesque; and also of the American giyphSf which, however, are not presented here, but on another page of this work. They are formed by a combination of the letters numbered 1, 2, 3, and resembling very much, in our opinion, the Chinese characters, when grouped or combined, with a view to express a sentence or a paragraph in their language. The ac- count is as follows: LYBIAN. AMERICAN. No. 1. 2. 3. Ear AIPS Eye ESH Nose IFR Tongue 0MB R Hand VULD Earth LAMBD Sea Air Fire Sun Moon Mars MAH NISP RASH BAP CEK DOR A E i ;^j)^) ^ Merc'y GOREG Venus UAF Saturn SIASH Jupiter THEUE O U L M N P Bp C k D t G V f S sh Thz * w it^ ^n A // .^a^Ei A EI IZ o\v uvv [L IM [N IR Vv vv V ^ ,v 8* 03 8dp-Q- AJ7 # LU S UJ UK ID ET [GH UW ES ISII uz AND DltCOVBRin IN TUB WKHT. 123 [jetter to Mr. Champollion^ on the Graphic Systems of Amerieat and the Glyphs of Otohtm^ or Palenqve^ in Central America. ELEMENTS OF THE GLYPHS. I have the pleasure to present you here a tabular and com- parative view of the Atlantic alphabets of the two continents, with a specimen of the groups of letters, . or glyphs, of the monuments of Otolum,* or Palenque ; which belong to my seventh serious of graphic signs, and are, in fact, words formed by grouped letters, or elements, as in Chinese characters, or somewhat like the cyphers now yet in use among us, formed by acrostical anagrams, or combinations of the first letters of words or names. When I began my investigation of these American glyphs and became convinced that they must have been groups of letters, I sought for the elementary letters in all the ancient known alpha- bets, the Chinese Sanscrit, but in vain. The Chinese characters offered but few similarities with the glyphs, and not having a lit- eral but syllabic alphabet, could not promise the needful clue. The Sanscrit alphabet, and all its derived branches, including even the Hebrew, Phoenician, Pelagic, Celtic and Cantnbrian alphabets, were totally unlike in forms and combinations of grouping. But in the great variety of Egyptian form of the same letters, I thought that I could trace some resemblance with our American glyphs. In fact, I could see in them the Egyptian cross, snake, circle, delta, square, trident, eye, feather, fish, hand, «fec., but sought in vain for the birds, lions, sphynx, beetle, and a hundred other nameless signs of Egypt. However, this first examination and approximation of analogy in Egypt and Africa,was a great preliminary step in the inquiry. I had always believed that the Atlantes of Africa have partly colonized America, as so many ancient writers have affirmed. This belief led me to search for any preserved fragments of the alphabets of Western Africa and Lybia, the land of the Afri- can Atlantes, yet existing, under the names of Berbers, Tuarics, Shelluhs, dec. This was no easy task The Atlantic antiqui- ties are still more obscure than the Egyptian. No Champollion * A late discovered city of North America, nearly equal to the Egyptian Thebes. 124 AMBRICAN ANTIQUITIES m &■ m0. had raised their veil ; the city of Farawun, the Thebes of the Atlantes, whose splendid ruins exist, as yet, in the mountains of Atlas, has not even been described properly as yet, nor its inscrip- tions delineated. However, I found at last, in Germany, (Africa Illustraia,) an old Lybian alphabet, which has been copied by Purchns, in his collection of old alphabets. I was delighted to find it so explicit, so well connected with the Egyptian, being also an acrostic al. phabet, and above all, to find that all its signs were to be seen in the glyphs of Otolum, the American city. Soon after it appeared, in a supplement to Clapperton and Denham's Travels in Africa, another old and obsolete Lybian alphabet, not acrostical, found by Denham, in old inscriptions among the Tuarics of Tagih and Ghraat, west of Fezan; which, although unlike the first, had many analogies, and also wiih the American glyphs. Thinking, then, that I had found the primitive elements of these glyphs, I hastened to communicate this importnrt fact to Mr. l)u- ponceau, (in a printed letter, directed to him \\\ iS28,) who was struck with the analogy, and was ready to confess that the glyphs of Palenque might be alphabetical words, alihough he did not be- lieve before that any American alphabets were extant. But he could not pursue my connection of ideas, analogies of signs, lan- guages and traditions, to the extent which I desired, and now am able to prove. To render my conclusions perspicuous, I must divide the sub- ject into several parts, directing my inquiries^ 1st. On the old Lybian alphabet. 2dly. On the Tuaric alphabet. 3dly. On their element in the American glyphs. 4thly. On the possibility to read them. While the examination of their language, in connection with the other Atlantic languages, will be the theme of my third letter. 1. The old Lvbian, delineated in the table No. 1, has all the appearance of a very ancient alphabet, based upon the acros- tical plan of Egypt; but in a very different language, of which we have sixteen words preserved. This language may have been that of a branch of Atlantes, perhaps the Getulians, (Ge-tula, or Tulas of the plains,) or of the Ammonians, old Lybians, and also Atlantes. AND DISCOVBRieS IN THE WCIT* 125 Out of these sixteen words, only five have a sligl finity with the Egyptian. They are: Lifbian. Egyptian. Lybian. 9'npti*' NoM Ifr Nif ^"cnu8 Uaf Mk Sea Mali Mnuh Ear AipM Ap Saturn Siasli fev While this Lybian has a greater analogy with the Pelagic dia- lects, as many as twelve out of sixteen being consimiiar. Lybian. Ptlagic. Lybian. Ptlagit. Eye Eah Kthuii Knrth linmbd Landa Nog« Ifr Kinif !Hea Mah Murah Hand Vuld Hul, ciiil Fire Ilnsh Turah Moon Cuk Helka, krcs VenuH Uaf Uenan Mars Dor llurea, Thor Saturn 8ii8li Batur, Uliira Mercury Ooreg Merjjor Jupiter TJieue Tbeog Therefore, the numerical analogy is only 32 per cent, with the Egyptian, while it is 75 per cent, with the Pelagic — another proof, among many, that the ancient Atlantes were mtimately connected with the Pelagian nations of Greece, Italy and Spain, but much less so with the Egyptians, from whom thoy however borrowed perhaps their graphic system. This system is very remarkable. 1. By its acrostic form. 2. By having only 16 letters, like most of the primitive alphabets, but unlike the Egyptian and Sanscrit. 3. By being susceptible of twenly-two sounds, by modification of six of the letters, as usual among the Pelagian and Etruscan. 4. Above all, by being based upon the acrostics of three important series of physical objects, the five senses represented by their agents in man, the four elements of nature, and the seven planets; which are very philosophical ideas, and must have originated in a civilized nation and learned priesthood. 5. By the graphic signs being also rude delineations of these physical objects, or their emblems : the ear, eye, nose^ tongue and hand, for the five senses; the triangle for the earth, fish for the sea or water, snake for the ai/, flame for fire; a circle for the sun, crescent for the moon, a sword for Mars, a purse for Mercury, the V for Venus, double ring for Saturn, and trident for Jupiter. Venus being the fifth planet, has nearly the same sign as U, the fifth letter. These physical emblems are so natural and obvious, that they are sometimes found among many of the ancient alphabets; the i2e ANSRICAN ANTIQUITIM i vxh m it X * ■' sun and moon even among the Chinese. But in the Egyptian al- phabets, the emblems apply very often to diflerent letters, owing to the difference of language and acrostic feature. Thus the hand applies to D in Egyptian instead of U, the eye to R, the circle to O, the snake to L, dec. II. The second Lybian alphabet, No. 2 in the tables, was the ancient alphabetof Tuarics, a modern branch of the Atlantes, until superseded by the Arabic. Denham found, with some difficulty, its import, and names of letters which are not acrostic but literal, and eighteen in number. It is doubtful whether these names were well applied, in all instances, as the explainer was ignorant, and Denham not aware of the importance of this alphabet. Some ap- pear not well named, and U with V have the same sign, W; but these are always interchangeable in old language, and in alphabet No. 1, V is called UAF, instead of VAF, and U is VULD, in- stead of UULD! As we have it, this alphabet is sufficiently and obviously derived from tha first, eleven out of the sixteen letters being similar or nearly so, while only five are different, E, M, R, G and Z. This last appears the substitute of TH, of No. 1, and GH represents G. Yet they are by far more alike than the Demotic is from the Hei- ratic Egyptian, and I therefore deem this No. 2 a Demotic form of the ancient Lybian or Atlantic. I might have given and compared several other Lybian alpha- bets found in inscriptions; but us they have been delineated with- out a key or names, it is at present very difficult to decypher them. I, however, recommend them to the attention of the learned, and among others, point out the Lybian inscription of Appolonia, the harbor of Gyrene, given by Lacella, in his travels in the Cyrenaica. The letters of this inscription appear more numerous than sixteen^ or even twenty-two ; and, although they have some analogies with the two Lybian alphabets, yet approxi- mate still more to the Demotic of Egypt and the Phoenician. But the inscriptions in Mount Atlas and at Farawan, when col- lected and decyphered, will be found of much greater historical importance. III. Meantime, in the column No. 3, of the tabular view, are given forty-six elements of the glyphs of OtoKim. These forty-six AND DIBCOVKftIS IN THI WKtT. 137 elements arc altogether similar or derived from the Lybian proto» types of No. 1 and 2. In some cases they are absolutely identic^ and the conviction of their common origin is almost complete* particularly when taken in connection with the collateral proofs of traditions and languages. These elements are somewhat involved in the grouping, yet they may be easily perceived and separated. Kr«ometimes they arc ornamented by double lines or otherwise, as monumental letters often are. Sometimes united to outside numbers, represented by long ellipses, meaning 10, and round lots, moaning unities, which approximates to tho Mexican system of graphic numeration. Besides these forty- six elements, some others may be seen in the glyphs, which I left oif, because too intricate; although they appear reducible, if a larger table could have been given. There is hardly a single one that may not be traced to these forms, or that baffles the ac- tual theory. Therefore, the conclusion must occur, that such as- tonishing coincidence cannot be casual, but it is the result of ori- ginal derivation. The following remarks are of some importance: 1. The glyphs of Otolum are written from top to bottom, like the Chinese, or from side to side, indifferently, like the Egyptian and the Demotic Lybian of No. 2. We are not told how No. 1 was written, but probably in the same way. Several signs were used for the same letter as in Egypt. 2. Although the most common way of writing the groups is in rows and each group separated, yet we find some framed, as it were, in oblong squares or tablets like those of Egypt. 3. The letter represented by a head occurs frequently; but it is remarkable that the features are very difTerent from those of the remarkable race of men or heroes delineated in the sculptures. 4. In reducing these elements to the alphabetical form, I have been guided by the more plausible theory involved by similar forms. We have not here the more certain demonstrations of Bilingual inscriptions; but if the languages should uphold this theory, they certainly will be increased by the Atlantic origins of Otolum. IV. But shall we be able to read these glyphs and inscriptions* without positively knowing in what language they were writtenf Tbe attempt will be arduous, but it is not impossible. la Egypt, 128 AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIKS (■** the Coptic has been found such a close dialect of the Egyptian, that it has enabled you to read iho oldest hieroglyphs. We find among the ancient dialects of Chiapa, Yucatan and Guatimala, the branches of the a»icient speech of Otoium. Nay, Otolum was perhaps the ancient TOL or TOLA, seat of the Toltecas, (people of Tol,) and their empire; but this subject will belong t(» my third letter. I will now merely give a few attempts to read some of the groups. For instance: 1. The group or word on the seat of the sitting man of plate 4, in the Atlantic Journal of Prof. Raffinesque, of monuments of Palenque, I read UOBAC, being formed by a hand, a tongue, a circle, an ear, and a crescent. It is perhaps his name. And underneath the seat is an eye with a small circle inside, meaning EB. 2. In plate 5, (see Atlantic Journal for all the plates alluded to,) is an eye with two annexed rings, meaning probably BaB, and perhaps the sun, which is BAP in the Lybian alphabet. 3. In plate 7, the glyph of the corner with a head, a fish, and a crescent, moans probably KIM. 4. The first glyph of page 15, is probably BLAKE. 5. I can make out many others reading ICBE, BOCOGO, POPO, EPL, PKE, &c. If these words and others (although some may b3 names) can be found in African languages, or in those of central America, we shall obtain perhaps the key of the whole language of old Otolum. And next reach, step by step, to the desirable know- ledge of reading- those glyphs, which may cover much historical knowledge of l>ie|h import. Meantime I have opened the path, if my theory and conjectures are correct, as I have strong reasons to believe. Besides this monumental alphabet, the same nation that built Otolum had a Demotic alphabet belonging to my 8th series; which was found in Guatimala and Yucatan, at the Spanish conquest. A specimen of it has been given by Humboldt in his American researches, plate 45, from the Dresden Library, and has been ascertained to be Gutatimalan instead of Mexican, being totally unlike the Mexican pictoral manuscripts. This page of Demotic has letters and numbers, these represented by strokes meaning 5, and dots meaning unities, as the dots never exceed four. This is nearly similar to the monumental numbers. These words are much less handsome than the monumental \mr'- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 129 •glyphs; they are also uncouth glyphs in rows formed by irregular or flexuous heavy strokes, inclosiof; within small strokes, nearly the same letters as in the monuments. It might not be impossible to decypher some of these manuscripts written on metl paper: since they are written in languages yet spoken, and the writing was understood in central America, as late as 200 years ago. If this is done, it will be the best clue to the monumental inscrip- tions. C. S, RAFINESQUE. This letter as above, strongly corroborates our supposition, that the authors of the embalmed mummies found in the cave of Lex- ington, were of Egyptian origin. See Morse's Geography, p. 500, and the Western Gazetteer, p. 103, states that several hun- dred mummies were discovered near Lexington, in a cave, bu were wholly destroyed by the first settlers. Jl further Account of Western Antiquities with Antediluvian Traits. Cincinnati is situated on one of those examples of antiquity, of great extent. They are found on the upper level of that town, but none on the lower one. They are so conspicuous as to catch the first range of the eye. There is every reason to suppose, that at the remote period of the building of these antiquities, the lowest level formed part of the bed of the Ohio. A gentleman who was living near the town of Cincinnati, in 1826, on the upper level, had occasion to sink a well for his accommodation, who persevered in digging to the depth of eighty feet without finding water, but still persisting in the attempt, his workmen found themselves obstructed by a sub- stance, which resisted their labor, though evidently not stone. They cleared the surface and sides from the earth bedded around it, when there appeared the stump of a tree, three feet in diame- ter, and two feet high, which had been cut down with an axe. The blows of the axe were yet visible. It was nearly of the color and apparent character of coal, but had not the friable and fusible 130 /MEXICAN ANTIQUITIES cA quality of that substance. Ten feet below, the water sprang up,, and the well is now in constant supply and high repute. Reflections on this discovery are these: 1st. That the tree was undoubtedly antediluvian. 2d. That the river now called the Ohio, did not exist anterior to the deluge, inasmuch as the re- mains of the tree were found firmly rooted in its original position, several feet below the bed of that river. 3d. That America was peopled before the flood, as appears from the action of the axe in cutting down the tree. 4th. That the antediluvian Americans were acquainted with the use and properties of iron, as the rust of the axe was on the top of the stump when discovered. And why should they not be acquainted with both its properties and utility, seeing it was an antediluvian discovery? Tubal Cain one of the sons of Cain, the son of Adam, we find, according to Genesis iv. 22, was a blacksmith, and worked in iron and brass, more than a thousand years before the flood. It was about 500 years from the creation, when Tubal Cain is noticed in the sacred history to have been a worker in brass and iron: but says Dr. Clarke, the commentator, " Although this is the first smith on re- cord, who taught how to make warlike instruments and domestic utensils out of brass and iron, yet a knowledge of the metals must have existed long before, for Cain was a tiUer of the ground^ as was also Adam, which they could not have been without spades, hooks, &c." The Roman plough was formed of wood, being in shape like he anchor of a vessel; the ploughman held to one fluke, so as to guide it, while the other entered the ground, pointed with iron, and as it was drawn along by the stem, it tore the earth in a streak, mellowing it for the seed. Such, it is likely, was the form of the primative plough, from which, in the progress of ages, improve- ments have been made, till the present one, as now formed, and is the glory of the well tilled field. According to this opinion, it would appear, that in the very first period of time, men were acquainted with the metals; and as they diverged from the common centre, which was near the garden of Eden, they carried with them a knowledge of this all-important discovery. If the stump is, indeed, antediluvian, we learn one inlportant fact, and this is it: America, by whatever name it was called before the deluge, was then a body of earth above the wa- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 131 ters, and also was connected with Asia, where, it is allowed on all hands, man was originated. If it were not connected with Asia, it might be inquired, how then came men in America before the flood, the traits of whose industry and agricultural pursuits are discovered in the felling of this tree, as well as a great number of other instances, of which we shall speak by and by? It is not probable, that before the flood there was so small a quantity of dry land on the earth as at the present time; the wa- ters of the globe being generally hid beneath the incumbent soil, so that an easy communication of all countries with each other existed; which must have greatly facilitated the progress of man in peopling and subduing it. We know very well it is said, " the gathering together of the waters, called He seas;" but it does not follow that they were not subterranean; and it is more than inti- mated that such was the fact, when it is said, " all the fonntains of the great deep were broken up," on the day the flood com- menced But by what means were they broken up? This is left to con- jecture, as the Scriptures are higher in their aim, than the mere gratification of curious questions of this sort; but in some way this was done. The very terms " broken up," signify the exer- tion of power and violence^ of sufficient force to burst at once whole trac',s of earth from the face of the deep, and also to throw out, at one wide rush, the central waters of the globe. But can we conceive of any means made use of to effect this, other than the ciirect pressure of God's power, sinking the earth to the depths beneath, so that the water might rise above, taking the place of the land? We imagine we can. It is well known, that the velocity of the earth, in its onward motion round the sun, is about twenty miles a second, nearly the speed of lightning. Let Him, therefore, who at first imposed this inconceivable velocity, stop the earth in this motion suddenly; what would the effect be? All the fluids, that is the waters, whe- ther above ground or underneath it, would rush forward with a power equal to their weight, which would be sufficient to burst away mountains, or any impediment whatever; and rushing round the globe, rolling the mighty flood over all countries, with a steady current, till the waters again sought their general level, which commenced to take place at the end of five months 132 AMERICAN ANTIUUITlliS LTii pW^Sjf-'' w XttaTr ' mpi'' m rtfi^ti H *'^- B'^i i; K7 i %-■', ri^sf from the beginning; when the earth again went onward in its annual journey. This is our opinion of the way how " all the fountains of the great deep were broken up." If the earth were to be arrested in its course now, the effect would be the same. Suppose we illustrate the position for a mo- ment. Place a vessel of water on a plank, for instance, open on the top, like a common bowl, fastened, so that it should not be liable to overset Cause this plank to move, at iirst slowly, but increase its steady onward velocity as much as the fluid will bear, without causing a reaction; when, therefore, its utmost speed is obtained, stop it suddenly; the effect would be, the water in the vessel would instantly fly over, leaving the bowl behind. Such, therefore, we imagine, would be the effect, if the earth were now caused to stand suddenly still in its orbit; except this difference, the law of gravitation would prevent the waters of the earth from leaving the surface, but would cause a rapid current in the direc- tion the earth is pursuing. It is supposed by many, that were the earth checked in its daily or diurnal motion on its axis, that the Pacific would, in a mo- ment, rise mountains high, and commence to roll its fathomless depths directly over the entire continent of America. The At- lantic would do the same, and sweep all Europe, Asia and Africa; while the Indian ocecn, which is but the western side of the Pa- cific, would follow on, and thus the globe would again be deluged by a flood. As a reason for this belief, it is shown, that the sur- face of the earth moves at the equator, in turning on its axis, at the rate of more than 1,000 miles an hour; a velocity about equal to the speed of a cannon bail, and were this motion, checked suddenly, it would, it is supposed, produce the above effect. But, if such would be the effect, of a sudden interruption of the earth's diurnal motion, how is it that the earth was not over- flowed at the time the Divine power, at the request and com- mand of Joshua, the captain of the conquering tribes of the He- brews stood still, {for the space of a whole day? In answer to this, we have but one reason to offer, and this is it: — that the matter of the earth's surface, would, the very moment of such an arrest; increase its gravitating power, so as exactly to coun- teract such a catastrophe, or such a tendency of its waters. AND DIS00VERIE8 IN THE WEST. 133 ,rd in its "all the the effect br a mo- open on d not be 5wly, but vill bear, speed is ter in the I. Such, vere now ifference, sirth from the direc- t its daily in a mo- Bithomless The At- Africa; f the Pa- deluged the sur- axis, at |ty about motion, le above iption of hot over- id com- I the He- kswer to Lthat the I of such to coun- ts. To show this opinion correct, we have only to suppose the diurnal motion of our planet, inci eased so much as that it should make its revolution on its axis in one hour instead of twenty- four. What would be the effect? it would cause every particle of matter whether stone, timber, forests, houses with all the works of man, rivers, lakes, animals — with every human being to be thrown with all the force of an explosion high into the atmos- phere, which as it fell to the earth, would be again thrown off as before, by which means the earth would soon be reduced with all its appendages to a complete state of Chaos. If so, then we have a right to our couc'asion, in the inverse proportion, which would take place were the earth suddenly caused to stand still on its axis; the gravitating principle would be increased in exact pro- portion as it would be lessened in case of an increased velocity of the earth's surface. So that were such a thing to take place, as in the days of Joshua, not a paiticle of the globe's surface, whether of earth or water, would be disturbed on account of the faithfulness of the principle of gravitation. But to stop the earth in its other motion, which is performed in its annual journey around the sun, would not effect in any way, the principle above alluded to. That such would be the operations on the earth's surface, were its motion, on its axis increased, as we have discribed, is shown from the fact that a wheel of nine feet circumference, made of wrought iron, will fly to attorns, before it reaches a velocity of 400 feet to the second, were a sufficient impetus attached to it. — SiUiman^s Journal. That the waters of the deluge came from the west, is evident from the manner in which the various strata of the earth are situ- ated over the whole of our country; and that its motion was very violent is also evident from the appearance of native or primitive rock being found on the top of that which is of secondary forma- tion, and of gravel and sand, hills and smaller eminences, lying on beds of clay and soils of various kinds below it. The effects of the deluge can be traced in all the earth, but particularly many parts of America, about the lakes, and to the east, showing that the waters flowed in that direction. For a beautiful and able description of this subject, see Thomas's Tra- vels, published at Auburn, under the head, The Deluge. 134 AMKRICAN ANTIQCITIES m But it may be inquired, from whence came water to furniah the earth with so long a rain as of forty days and nights; and from whence originated vapor enough to becloud the whole circum- amibcnt atmosphere of the earth at once. Surely some cause more than existed before the flood, or since, must have transpired at that time, to have produced this great accumulation of clouds and rain. The answer is, we apprehend, that the central waters bursting suddenly from the great deep, involving the whole globe, pre- sented a greater surface of that fluid to the rays of the sun, so that by its operation on the face of the waters, a dense mist or vapor was at once produced quite round the earth, which, in its ascent, carried up incessantly that quantity of water which furn- ished the atmosphere for so long and so dreadful a storm, and justify the expression, '• and the windows of heaven were opened." By some it has been imagined that the flood of Noah was pro- duced by the near approach of a comet, the waters of which at- tracted the waters of the globe from the depths so as to deluge the earth. But this opinion is not admissible, as the same c jmet which by the laws of gravitation would be compelled to follow the same track or orbit, would long ere this time have deluged the world several times, which has not taken place. Others have supposed that the poles have been entirely shifted. If such may have been the fact, it is true the earth would have been easily flooded, as the frozen oceans, with two continents of ice, would have been placed suddenly beneath the rays of a vertical sun, the eff^ect of which would, even now, were such a catastrophe to take place, bring on a universal deluge, equal to that of Noah's. Also the whirl and shifting of the waters of the ocean would have contributed greatly to this effect. In support of this theory, it is shown that in the high northern latitudes, banks, and even the entire bodies of equatorial animals have been found imbeded in the ice, which have been brought to light by unusual thaws. Even in the most dreary and desolate northern regions are found in great quantities the tropical plants and trees in a state of pre- servation. But these, we believe, are to be accounted for, not on the prin- ciple of the shifting of the poles, but rather by the arrest of the globe in its orbit round the sun, occasioning a rapid current of the AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 135 waters of the earth eastwardly, which, as the strata of the earth generally shows, was the fact, would produce the appearances as above stated by the lateral flow of the waters round the earth from the equator toward the poles. To the arrest of the earth in its orbit, it may be objected, that if such had been the fact, the globe would have fallen during that time a great way toward the sun ; to which we assert, that the same power which could arrest the earth in so extraordinary a manner could also hold it suspended in its true place, till the effect should be accomplished for which the arrest was designed. In this way the surface of the earth wns ruined ; a dispropor- tionate quantity of water, caused to appear on the surface, while in the same ratio the land is sunk to the depths below. Sixteen hundred years and rising, was the space of time al- lowed from the creation till the flood ; a time quite suflicient to people'the whole earth, even if it were then enjoying a surface of dry land, twice as much as it does at the present time, being but about one-fourth; and America, as appears from this one monu- ment, the stumf of Cincinnati, was a part of the earth which was peopled by the antediluvians. The celebrated antiquarian, Samuel L. Mitchell, late of New- York, with other gentlemen, eminent for their knowledge of natu- ral history, are even of the opinion, that America was the country M'here Adam was created. In a letter to Governor De Witt Clin- ton, in which this philosopher argued the common origin of the people of America, and those of Asia, he says : — " I avoid the opportunity which this grand conclusion affords mOj of stating that America was the cradle of the human race; of tracing its co- lonies westward over the Pacific ocean, and beyond the sea of Kamschatka, to new settlements ; of following the emigrants by land and water, until they reached Europe and Africa. I had no inclination to oppose the current opinions relative to the place of man's creation and dispersion. I thought it was scarcely worth while to inform an European, that in coming to America he had left the new world behind him, for the purpose of visiting the old. — American Antiquarian Society, p. 331.) But this opinion cannot obtain, if we place the least reliance on the statement of Moses, in the book of Genesis, who gives a cir- cumstantial account of the place of man's creation, by stating tho 136 AMXftlCAN ANTIQUITIKS IB k names of the rery rivers arising out of the regions of country call- ed Paradise; such as Pison, Havilah, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Eu- phrates; or as they now are called, Phasis, A raxes, Tigris, and Euphrates ; this last retains its original name. No such rivers are known in America, nor the countries through which they flow. Here are data to argue from, but the position, or rather the suggestion, of Prof. Mitchell, has absolutely no data whatever. If but a tradition favoring that opinion were found even among the Indians, it would afford some foundation ; but as their tradition universally alludes to some part of the earth, far away, from whence they came, it wouJd seem exceedingly extravagant to argue a contrary belief. This one stump of Cincinnati, we consider, surpasses in conse- quence the magnificence of all the temples of antiquity, whose forsaken turrets, dilapidated walls, tottering and fallen pillars, which speak in language loud and mournful, the story of their ruin ; because it is a remnant of matter, in form and fashion, such as it was, before the earth " perished by water," bearing on its top the indubitable marks of the exertion of man, of so remote a time. It is not impossible but America may have been the country where Noah built his ark, as directed by the Most High. We know very well, when the mind refers to the subject of Noah's ark, our thoughts are immediately associated with Mount Ararat, because it rested there, on the subsiding of the flood. But this circumstance precludes a possibility of its having been built therdf if we allow the waters of the deluge to have had any current at all. It is said in Genesis that the ark floated, or was borne upon the waters above the earth, and also that the ark ** went upon the face of the waters.^' From which fact we imagine there must have been a current, or it could not have went upon the waters. Consequently, it went from the place where it was built, being obedient to this law of nature. Now, if it had been built any where in the country called Ar- menia, where the mountain Ararat is situated ; and as it is found the waters had a general eastern direction, the ark in going on the the face of the waters would have, during the time the waters of deluge prevailed, which was one hundred and fifty days, or five months, gone in an eastern direction as far perhaps as the regions. AND DISCOVERIEB IN THE WEST. 137 of the islands of Japan, beyond China, east, a distance of about 6000 miles from Ararat, which would be at the rate of about forty miles a day, or if it had floated faster, would have carried it into> the Pacific ocean. But if we may imagine it was erected in North America, or some' where in the latitude of the state of New York, or even farther west, the current of the deluge would have borne it easterly. And suppose it may have been carried at the rate of forty or fifty miles a day, would, during the time the waters prevailed, in which time, we may suppose, a current existed, have progressed as far as to Ararat, a distance of nearly 6000 miles from America, where it did actually rest. More than 1600 years had elapsed when the ark was finished, and it may fairly be inferred, that as Noah was born about 1000 years after the creation of the world, that mankind had, from ne- cessity, arising from the pressure of population, gone very far away from the regions round about Eden ; and the country where Noah was born may as well be supposed to have been America,, as any other part of the earlh; seeing there are indubitable signs of antediluvian population in many parts of it. Unite this circum- stance with that of the ascertained current of the deluge from America, and with the fact of the ark's having rested in an east- erly direction from this country, we come to a conclusien, that here, perhaps, in the very state of New- York, the miraculous vessel was erected, and bore away, treasured in its enormous capacity, the progenitors of the human race renewed. So that if America have not the honor of being the country where Adam was created, as is believed by some, it has, nevertheless the honor, as we suppose, of being the country where the ark was erected. It is not to be supposed, that more than 1600 years could pass away, without the antediluvians having enjoyed the advantages of art and science, seeing these are the natural results of human society. The ark itself is a demonstration that even ship building was known, or how could Noah have understood what was meant, when it was said to him, " build an ark or vessel of gopher wood," dec. This supposition of the antediluvians having a knowledge of letters or their equivalents, is maintained by discoveries made oil 188 AMERICAN ANTIQl TIBS 'i':S ¥m^ ?.M ft;- 111' in ,'f.-'^ i*"! t ^opening the vast heaps of bricks which formed the tower of Babel. These bricks, it appears, were much larger and thicker than the same article is now made, as they are found to be some- thing over a foot square and three inches thick. On many of these, as stated by M. Beauoham, a French traveller and astrono- mer, who visited Babylon in 1781, are er^raven unknown charac- ters and hieroglyphics. On one brick he found a lion presented in relief, which shows that the mould in which the brick was form- ed, had the form of this animal carved or cut into the timber or metal of which the mould was made. On another he found the shape of a half moon formed in the same manner. One of the masons who was employed in digging brick from these ruins, told M. Beauchamp, that there were often found, little cells which con- tained images of the human shape formed of clay, and that on one brick which had been taken from thence, were represented in varnish the figures of a cow, and of the sun and moon, which shows they had also a knowledge of painting, and delineation which belongs to the fine arts. — (8ee Evening Recreations, vol. 1, p. 62, 1830.) Now it is not reasonable to suppose that the art of letters, paint- ing, and sculpture were all found out during the short space, from the time the ark rested on Ararat, till the time of the commence- ment of the building of that tower ; and we will add also, the knowledge of brick making, and of architecture. Is it not, there- fore, clear that all thisse were known and practised by the antedil- uvians ? This knowledge was, therefore, received from the family of Noah, and especially from Shem or Melchesideck, who, it ap- pears, in leaving the ark came westward from its resting place with some one of the colonies, who settled the land of Shinar. The invention of letters, is attributed to the Phoenicians, but the secret is, that, doubtless, to Shem or Melchesideck this art was known, and taught ; as well also, as the positions of the con- tinents of the globe. Shem could therefore tell the latitude of the ancient seat of Pa- radise, though he may have been born in America, and though the flood has destroyed the beauty and towering grandeur of the pristine situation of the seat of Adam. In Morse's Universal Geography, first volume, page 142, the ml u AN'D DI8COVE11IK8 IN THE WEST. 139 discovery of the stump Is corroborated : " In digging a well in Cincinnati, the stump of a tree was found in a sound state, ninety feet below the surface ; and in digging another well, at the same place, another stump was found, at ninety-four feet below the sur- face which had evident marks of the axe ; and on its top there appeared as if some iron tool had been consumed by rust." The axe had, no doubt, been struck into the top of the stump, when the horrors of the deluge first appeared^ in the bursting forth of the waters from above, from the windows of heaven ; — when sounds terrific, from the breaking forth of the waters of the great deep, and from the shock all sensitive beings must have felt when the earth was caused to stand still it its onward course around the sun. Remember Joshua, at whose command and prayer, God stopped the earth for the space of a whole day, but not its onward course around the sun, but its diurnal motion only, which could not have any effect on the fluids of the earth, as the sudden in- terruption of the other motion would have had. Who would not flee, when phenomena so terrible, without pre- sage or warning, were changing the face of things, and the feel- ings of the atmosphere ; the earth quivering like an aspen Jeaf ; forests leaning to the cast, and snapping asunder in one awful cr.sh over all the wide wilderness ; rocks with mountains tumb- ling from their summits; the stoutest heart would quail at such an hour as this ; an axe, with all things else, would be left by the owners, and a general flight, if they could stand at all on their feet, would take place, they knew not whither. In one of the communications of the admired Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, professor of Natural History, to the American antiqua- rian society, mention is made of a certain class of antiquities as distinguished entirely from those which are found in and about the mounds of the west, as follows : In the section of country about Fredonia, on the south side of lake Erie, are discovered objects deservedly worthy of particular and inquisitive research. This kind of antiquities, present themselves on digging from thirty to rifty feet below the present surface of the ground. " They occur in the form of fire brands, split wood, ashes, coals, and occasion- ally tools and utensils, buried to those depths." This, it will be perceived, is much below the bed of lake Erie, of consequence must have been antediluvian, and agrees with the discovery of 140 AMKRICAN ANTIQUIT1S8 mm the stumps at Cincinnati. ** We are informed, that in Rhode Is- land, New Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and in Ohio, such discoveries have been made." He says, *• I wish thy members of the society would exert themselves with all possible diligence to as- certain and collect the facts of this description. They will be ex> ceedingly curious, both for the geologist and historian. After such facts shall have been collected and methodised, we may per- haps draw some satisfactory conclusions ; light may possibly be shed upon the remote Pelasgianst and upon the traditionary At' iantideSf" the inhabitants of the island, we have before spoken of, Atalantis. But we cannot allow the discoveries ipadc at this vast depth, to belong to any age, or to any of the works of man this side of the deluge, as that time enough has not elapsed since that catastrophe, to allow the decomposition of vegetables, nor of convulsions, to have buried these articles so deep beneath the surface extending over so great a tract of country. The draining of lakes, how- ever sudden, could never have had so wide and universal an effect. It would seem, therefore, that we are compelled to refer theni to the works of man beyond the flood, which, by the overflowing of the waters, and the consequent ruin of the original surface, these works, with their makers, have been thus buried. In evidence, that the ocean, at some period in ages past, over- whelmed the American continent, we notice, from the " British Spy, ' page 112, an account of the discovery of the skeleton of a whale, in Virginia : " Near Williamsburgh has recently deen discovered, by a farm- er, while digging a ditch through a plat of ground, about five feet below the surface, a considerable portion of the skeleton of a whale. Several fragments of the ribs, and other parts, were found, with the tohole of the vertehrcRy or backbone, regularly ar- ranged, and very little impaired as to figure. The spot where it was found is about two miles from James river, and about sixty from the sea. In the same region, at depths of from sixty to nine- ty and an hundred feet, having been found the teeth of sharks." In every region of the earth, as well as America, and on the highest mountains, are found the bones and shells of the ancient inhabitants of the sea. From the universality of those appear* AND DIBCOVKRIES IN THK WEST. 141 anccs, we conclude they were deposited and cast thither by the billows of the deluge. From the discoveries of articles of the utensil character, the bones of whales, the teeth of sharks, and the stumps of Cincinnati, at various depths, as stated above ; we are led to the conclusion, that the original surface, of what is now called America, was perhapr not much disturbed; but was rather suddenly overwhelm- ed from the west, by the bursting forth of the subterranean Pact^ fie, which, till then, had been covered with land, mountains and vales, thickly peopled. The vast depths of strata of loam, sand^ clay, gravel, and stone, which lie over each other, evincing, from the unnatural manner of their positions, thai they were thrown furiously over the whole continent, furnished from the countries of the west. That such may indeed, have been the fact, is favored from the discovery of the whale's skeleton, found on James river, which could never have been deposited there by other means than the flood; forced onward, till killed by the violence and agitation of the wood, stone, and earth encumbered waters, and sunk finally down. The pottery of the ancient nations, mentioned by Schoolcraft, found at the vast depth of eighty feet, and even at greater depths, at the great Saline in Illinois, is evidence of an antediluvian po- pulation in America. We have examined the blade of a sword found in Philadelphia, now in Peel's Museum, in New York, which was taken out of the ground something more than sixty feet below the surface. The blade is about twenty inches in length, is sharp on one edge, with a thick back, a little turned up at the point, with a shank drawn out three or four inches long, on which was doubtless, inserted in the handle, and clenched at the end. It is known that the sword of all ancient nations was very short, on which account, their wars on the field of battle, were but an immense number of single combats. At Cincinnati there is a barrow or mound of human bones, si- tuated exactly on the edge of the bank, that overlooks the lower town, the principal street leading from\he water is cut through it, and exposes its strata &iid remains to every person passing by. Seven tiers of skeletons lay plainly in sight, where the barrow had 142 AMBRICAN ANTiaUITIES \ caved away* from its being undermined. Among the earth thus fallen down, were found several stone hatchets, pieces of pottery, and VL^utCt made of the great bone of the human leg. This is a very curious instrument, with beautifully carved figures, repre- senting birds, squirrels, and small animals, with perforated holes, in the old German manner, which, when breathed into, emitted tones of great melody. Among the modern Indians, no such instrument has ever bceo found. At the tmie when the street was opened through this bar- row of the dead, a great variety of interesting and valuable relics were brought to light ? among which were human double teeth, which, on a moderate calculation, bespoke men as large again as the present race. Also some brass rings, which were considered exceedingly curious ; an instance of which is similar to the one before mentioned in this work. Iron rings, as we have before stated, were anciently used among the Britons before the Chris- tian era, as money ; and possibly in this case, the brass rings found in this barrow, may be a specimen of the ancient money of America. Discovery of an Ivonj Image in a Bone Mound at Cincinnati In the same barrow of which we have been speaking, was dis- covered an ivory image, which we consider more interesting, and surpasses any discovery yet mentioned. It is said to be now in the c abinet of rare collections, once in the possession of the illustrious Jefferson. The account of the image is as follows: it is seven inches high; the figure full length; the costume, a robe^ in numberless folds, well expressed, and the hair displayed in many ringlets; the child naked, near the left breast, and the mother's eye bent on it with a strong expression of affection and endearment. There {^re those who think it a representation of the mother of our Lord's humanity, with the child Jesus in her arms. The Ro- man Catholios have availed themselves of this image, and m^j^e it a testimony of the antiquity of their religion, and of the extensive ' •'TS // AND DIBCOVKRIES IN WEST. 14» renge of their worship, by attempting to prove thereby, that the idol was nothing else than a Madona and child, the virgin Mary» aod the child Jesus; and that the Roman Catholic religion was the first which arose in the earliest Christian age in the east, and the last which set in the west, where it became extinct, by means of a second deluge. The idea, however, of a second deluge, is inadmissible, as it would have destroyed every vestige of the mounds, pyramids, tumuli, and fortifications, of which this work treats ; many of which are supposed older than the Christian era; and the mound in which the image itself was discovered would also have beett destroyed. There is, however, another opinion, which is not impossible may have furnished the imagination with materials for the, ori- gin of such a representation. The image may be of Greek origin, and taken from Isaiah the prophet, 7th chap., 14th verse ^ where it is said : — ** Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This prophecy of Isaiah was known to the Greeks, for the Old Testament was translated into their language in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, nearly three hundred years before the Christian era. — (8ee Adam Clarke's General Preface to the Old Testament^ p. 27, and is known as the Septua- gint version.) The Greek statuaries may, in this way, have easily found the beautiful and captivating 4dea of a virgin mother, by reading Isaiah in the Greek — a work fraught with all the grandeur of images inspired by God himself, and could not fail to challenge the reading of every learned man of the empire ; and such were the statuaries, among the Greeks, the fame of whose exqui- site skill in this respect,will go down on the historic page to latest time. From the Greeks, such an image, celebrating the idea of a vir> gin mother and her child, may have easily come into the posses-^ sion of the Romans; as the Greeks were, soon after the transla- tion of the Hebrew scriptures into the Greek, subdued by the Ro- mans, who, in their conquests here and there over the earth, in- cluding Europe, England, Scotland, and the northern islands, car- rying that kind of image with them as a god, or talisman, and from thence to America. 144 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. If. . i9i t'l' > It is, however, not impossible, but it may be indeed of true 'Roman Catholic origin; as, at the time the Romans evacuated Europe, with its isles, Ireland, England, &c., about the year 450, this church had risen to great importance in the Roman empire, which aided her to establish her altars in every country they had conquered. Consequently, long before the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, Greenland, and Labrador, on the American continent, the Christian religion was planted in the north of Eu- rope; first in France, in the year 496, and then soon after in England; and so on farther north among the ancient Scandina- vians, Norwegians, &c., and by these to Iceland and Green- land; who may have also brought this trait of that church to America. Another relic of antiquity, discovered at Cincinnati, is a sphe- rical stone, found on the fall of a large portion of the bank of the river. It is a green stone, twelve inches in diameter, divided into twelve sides, and each side into twelve equal parts, and each part distinguished by hieroglyphical engravings. This beautiful stone, it is said, is lodged in the Cabinet of Arts, at Philadel- phia. It is supposed the stone was formed for astronomical cal culations, conveying a knowledge of the movements of the heav- enly bodies. h '■■ Jl Cavern of the West, in which are found many interesting Hieroglyphics^ supposed to have been made by the Ancient Inhabitants. On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is a cavern, in which are found many hieroglyphics, and represen- tations of such delineations as would induce the belief that their authors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilized. It is a cave in a rock, or ledge of the mountain, which presents itself to view, a little above the water of the river, when in flood, and is situated close to the bank. In the early settlement of Ohio, this •cave became possessed by a party of Kontuckians, called " Wil jed of true ! evacuated 5 year 450, lan empire, juntry they mdinavians American )rth of Eu- on after in t Scandina- and Green- ; church to , is a sphc- bank of the ier, divided :s, and each is beautiful at Philadel- lomical cal )f the heav- _ ^1> lood, and is lied " Wil ~':Z'::^ interesting he Ancient Wabash, is d represen- f that their | .*«,?- ^ ized. It is ssents itself I '' ' ,,^1^ '"^'''S Sl .^i .. " ' f, f ^'^ .1' 5 »- r Ohio, this I ,^ I ^ " " «■ I- « '5. » F i r- fi, _ I ^ " ir »- f=t '* ». « *as^»«r*?*fi9Ks«i«wiW^^" r I €B S "^ '^^ ^* m'i *** ^ •an S-c 3.a «_ g'S glS .• I's2'5 « .5 *w:\ Li-'' i^:j 'I VH:., |e./' m^ jK^%: Mf'i P'H; :ii - *! ll' f^ r*,'''" h' i* v;'. . ' 1 t'i"' ., !*!.•' ^ ; ■I" *'"••. ^, W: :'■ ' AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 145 - d «--»T 4 Mi» son's Gang." Wilson, in the first place, brought his family to this cave, and fitted it up as a spacious dwelling ; erected a sign-post on the water side, on which were these words: ** Wilson's Liquor Vault, and House of Entertainment." The novelty of such a ta- vern induced almost all the boats descending the river to call for refreshments and amusement. Attracted by these circumstances, several idle characters took up their abode at the cave, after which it continually resounded with the shouts of the licentious, the cla- mor of the riotous, and the blasphemy of gamblers. Out of such customers, Wilson found no difficulty in forming a band of rob- bers, with whom he formed the plan of murdering the crews of every boat that stopped at his tavern, and of sending the boats, manned by some of his party, to New Orleans, and there sell their loading for cash, which was to be conveyed to the cave by land, through the States of Tennessee and Kentucky; the party returning with it being instructed to murder and rob, on all good oecasions, on the road. After a lapse of time, the merchants of the upper country be- gan to be alarmed, on finding their property make no returns, and their people never coming back. Several families and respecta- ble rnen, who had gone down the river, were never heard of, and the losses became so frequent, that it raised, at length, a cry of individual distress and general dismay. This naturally led to in- quiry, and large rewards were offered for the discovery of the perpetrators of such unparalleled crimes. It soon came out that Wilson, with an organized party of forty-five men,was the cause of such waste of blood and treasure; that he had a station at Hurricane island, to arrest every boat that passed by the mouth of the cavern, and that he had agents at Natchez and New Or- leans, of presumed respectability, who converted his assignments into cash, though they knew the goods to be stolen, or obtained by the commission of murder. The publicity of Wilson's transactions soon broke up his party; some dispersed, others were taken prisoners, and he himself was killed by one of his associates, who was tempted by the reward offered for the head of the captain of the gang. This cavern measures about twelve rods in length, and five in width; its entrance presents a width of eighty feet at its base, and twenty five feet high. The interior walls are smooth rock. The 10 14« AMERICAN AKTIQVmU >1 floor is very remarkable, being level through the whole length of its centre, the sides rising in stony grades, in the manner of seats in the pit of a theatre. On a diligent scrutiny of the walls, it is plainly discerned that the ancient inhabitants at a very remote period, had made use of the cave as a house of deliberation and council. The walls bear many hieroglyphics, well executed, and some of them represent animals, which have no resemblance to any now known to natural history. This cavern is a great natural curiosity, as it is connected with another, still more gloomy, which is situated exactly above, uni- ted by an aperture of about fourteen feet; which, to ascend, is like passing up a chimney, while the mountain is yet far above. Not long after the dispersion and arrest of the robbers, who had infested it, in the upper vault were found the skeletons of about sixty persons, who had been murdered by the gang of Wilson, as was supposed. But the tokens of antiquity are still more curious and impor- tant than a description of the mere cave, which are found en- graved on the sides within, an account of which we proceed to give: 1. The sun, in different stages of rise and declension; the moon, under various phases; a snake, biting its tail, and representing an orb or circle; a viper; a vulture; buzzards tearing out the heart of a prostrate man; a panther held by the ears by a child; a cro- codile; several trees and shrubs; a fox; a curious kind of hydra serpent; two doves; several bears; two scorpions; an eagle; an owl; some quails; eight representations of animals which are now unknown. Three out of the eight are like the elephant in all re- spects except the tusk and the tail. Two more resemble the tiger; one a wild boar; another a sloth; and the last appears a creature of fancy^ being a quadrumane, instead of a quadruped, the claws being alike before and behind, and in the act of conveying some* thing to the mouth, which lay in the centre of the monster. Be- sides these were several fine representations of men and women, not nakedf but clothed; not as the Indiana, but much in the costume of Greece and Rome. We must at once perceive that these objects, with an excep> tion or two, were employed by the ancient Greeks to display the nature of the world, the omnipotence of God, tJM attributes of :'!<-.'■ AND OISCOVKRIX8 IN THK WKST 147 whole length of manner of seats ' the walls, it is a very remote deliberation and ell executed, and resemblance to is connected with actly above, uni- h, to ascend, is is yet far above, robbers, who had teletons of about mg of Wilson, as urious and impor- ich are found ea- ch we proceed to [cnsion; the moon, id representing an ing out the heart |by a child; a cro- |us kind of hydra s; an eagle; aD .Is which are now 'lephant in all re- -csemble the tiger; ippears a creature |druped, the claws conveying some- te monster. Be* men and women, ich in the costume 1, with an excep* ^ks to display the I the attributes of man, and the utility of rendering his knowledge systematic and immortal. All human sciences flourisher^ among the Egyptians long before they were common to any other people; the Gnicians in the dr.ys of Solon, about 600 b. c ; Pythagoras, about the same t'me ; Herodotus, about 450 b. c. ; and Plato, a little later, acquired in Egypt all that knowledge of nature, which rendered them so eminent and remarkable. But the Egyptian priests did not di- vulge their doctrines, but by the aid of signs and figurative em- blems. Their manner was, to discover to their auditors the mysteries of God and nature, in hieroglyphics ; which were cer- tain visible shapes and forms of creatures, whose inclinations and dispositions led to the knowledge of the truths intended for instruction. All their divinity, philosophy, and their greatest se- crets, were comprehended in these ingenious characters, for fear they should be profaned by a familiar acquaintance with the com- monalty. It requires but a rapid and cursory view of the heiroglyphics above enumerated, to convince us of design; and also, that the cavern wherein they are found engraved, was originally a place of worship or of council. The sun, the most glorious of all visible beings, represented their chief god, and received their ado- ration for causing all the vegetation of the earth to bring forth ita increase. 2. The moon denoted the next most beautiful object in the cTeation, and was worshipped for her own peculiar usefulness ; and, more particularly, for supplying the place of the departed sun 3. The snake, in the form of an orb, or circle, biting its tail, pointed out the continual mutation of creatuies, and the change of ntiatter, or the perpetual motion of the world itself ; if so, this con Btruction of that hieroglyphic, the snake, agrees with the Greek figure of the same kind, which implies that the world feeds upon itself, and receives from itself in return, a continual supply for renovation and nourishment; the same symbol designated the year which revolves found, and ends where it first began, like the ser- pent with its tail in its mouth. It is believed the ancient Greeks gave it this meaning. 4. The viper, the most venomous of all creatures, was the «m- 10* 248 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKB 'SM< i' it" blem of the dovil, or wicked angel: for, as its poison is quick and powerful, so is the destroying spirit, in bringing on man- kind evils which can only be opposed by the grace and power of God. 6. The vulture, tearing out the bowels of a prostrate man, seems a moral intending to reprove fierceness and cruelty. Dr. Rush says this hieroglyphic represents intemperance^ and by them was so understood. 6. The panther, held by the cars by a child, was meant to impress a sense of the dominion of innocence and virtue over oppression and vice; or perhaps it bore the Greek meaning of a wretch encompassed with difficulties which he vainly attempts to avoid. 7. The crocodile, from its power and might, was another sym- bol of the Great Spirit; or its being the only creature without a tongue, might have given it a title to the same honor. All hea- then nations concur in representing their gods beholding and doing all things in heaven and earth in profound silence. 8. The several trees and shrubs were undoubtedly emblematical of particular virtues, as represented in this temple, the cave, from a veneration for their aromatic and healing properties. Among the ancients, we know that the palm tree and the laurel were em- blems of victory and deserved honor, the myrtle of pleasure, the cedar of eternity, the oak of strength, the olive of fruitfulness, the vine of delight and joy, and the lily of beauty. But what those in the cave imply, it is not possible to determine, as nothing of their character can be deduced from the manner they were sketch- ed on the surface of a rough wall, the design obscured by smoke, or nearly obliterated from the effect of damp, and the gradual de- cay of time. 9. The fox, from every authority, was put to denote subtlety and craftiness. 10. The hydra serpent probably signified malice in envy- passions which the hieroglyphic taught mankind to avoid. 11. The two doves were hieroglyphics of constancy and love; all nations agree in this, in admiring the attachment of doves. 12. The bears, it is apprehended, signify industry, labor and patience; for the Indians believe the cubs of the bear come into the world with misshapen parts, and that their eyes, ears, and other >ison is quick iging on man- and power of trostrate man, I cruelty. Dr. e, and by them was meant to [id virtue over meaning of a ily attempts to s another sym- iture without a inor. All hea- Iding and doing ly emblematical , the cave, from jrties. Among aurel were em- ►f pleasure, the fruitfulness, the But what those as nothing of ey were sketch- ured by smoke, the gradual de- denote subtlety ice in envy- avoid, ncy and love; nt of doves, itry, labor and ,r come into the Bars, and other AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WKHT. 149 members are licked into form by the mother, who passes days in that anxious and unceasing employ. 13. The scorpions were calculated to inspire a detestation for malignity and vice; even the present race of Indians hold these animals in groat disgust, healing wounds inflicted by them with a preparaJion of their own blood. 14. The eagle represents and is held to this day as the emblem of a great, noble and liberal mind; fierce in war, conquering the enemy, and protecting his friends; he among the Indians who can do this, is compared with the eagle. 15. The owl must ha/e been set up to deter men from deceit and hypocrisy. He cannot endure the light of the sun, nor can hypocrisy bear that of truth and sincerity. He may have been the emblem of death and wretchedness, as among the Egyptians; or of victory and prosperity, when in a flying attitude, as among the Greeks. 16. The quails aflbrd no clue to their hieroglyphic, unless they signify the corn season, and point out the time for the usage of some peculiar rites and ceremonies of a religious naturo. With the Greeks they were emblematical of impiety, from a belief that they enrage and torment themselves when the crescent of the new moon appears. 17. The representations of the larger animals were doubtless indicative of the power and attributes of the Great Spirit. The mammoth showing his greatness, the tiger his strength, and the boar his wrath, thi sloth his patience, and the nondescript his hidden virtues, which arc past finding out. 18. The human figures arc more definite, and afford inferences more certain, on account of the dress they are represented in, which resembles the Roman. The figures would be taken for European antiquities, were it not for the character and manner of the heads. The dress of these figures consisted of a carbasus, or rick cloak ; a sabuccla, or waistcoat, or shirt ; a supparum, or breeches, open at the knees ; solea, or sandals, tied across the toes and heels ; the head embraced by a bandeau, crowned with flowers. 19. The dress of the females, carved in this cave, have a Gre- cian cast, the head encircled by the crown, and was confined by a bodkin; the remaining part of this costume was Roman. The garments called stoUa, or perhaps the toga pura, flounced from IftO AMSmrAN ANTIQinTIMS the shoulders to the ground ; an industum appeared underneath ; the indusium was confined under the breast, by a zone or cestus ; and sandals, in the manner of those of the men. Could all this have been produced by the mere caprice of aboriginal artizans ? We think not. They have, in this io- stance, either recorded their own manners in the one particular of costume, or they have represented that of others, who had come among them as strangers, and wonderfully induces the belief, that such were Greeks, Romans, or some nation of the earth whoso mode of dress was similar. Viewed in the most critical manner, this instance of American antiquity cannot fail to excite in the mind surprise, when we contrast this with the commonly received opinion that Columbus was the first discoverer of this country. The hieroglyphic carved in this cave, which represents a child holding or leading a panther, brings forcibly to the mind a similar idea in the Hebrew scriptu.es, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, 6th verse, where it is said, the wolf, the leopard and the young lion shall be led by a child; and relates to the period when both natu- ral and moral evil shall have no existence in the earth, as is be- lieved by some. In this cave, it appears, there are sketched on the rock the figures of several animals, now extinct ; among which, arc three, much resembling the elephant, the tail and tusks excepted. It would be passing the bounds of credulity to suppose the ar- tists who delineated those figures would represent no less than eight animals, different in their configuration, one from the other, which had in reality no being, and such as had never been seen. We suppose the animals resembling the elephant to have been the mammoth, and that those ancients were well acquainted with the creature, or they could never have engraved it on the rock. Job, of the scriptures, who was a native of the land of Uz, in Idu- mea, which is situated southwest of the lake Asphaltides, or sea of Sodom, was also well acquainted with this animal. (See Job, chapter 40.) *' Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee ; he eateth grass as an ox. Lo, now his strength is in his loins, and his force in the naval of his belly. He moveth his tail like a ce- dar; the sinews of his loins are wrapped together. His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God." kJiO DISCOVKRIIH IN THK WK«T. Ibl underneath ; no or cestus ; re caprice of B, in this in> >no particular ifs, who had induces the nation of the in the most ty cannot fail this with the rst discoverer escnts a child nind a similar ii, chapter 14, the young lion len both natu- irth, as is bc- the rock the r which, are isks excepted. ppose the ar- no less thaa 3m the other, Dr been seen. to have been quainted with on the rock. )f Uz, in Idu- iltides, or sea il. (See Job, ie with thee ; his loins, and tail like a ce- lis bones are iron. He is Whoever has examined the skeleton of one of those animals, now in the Philadelphia Museum, will acknowledge the boneaare equal to bars of brass or iron, its height over the shoulders, eleven feet; from the point of the nose to the end of the tail, following the exterior curve, is twenty-one feet ; a single tooth weighs four pounds ten ounces. The rib bones arc six inches in width, and in thickness three. The whole skeleton as it is, with the exception of a few bones, weighs one thousand pounds. But how ta'mendous must that animal hnve been, to which the tooth weighing twenty-five pounds, found in the earth at Cincin- nati belonged, more than five times the dimensions of the one de- scribed above ; arguing, from proportion, that is, if a tooth be- longed to a skeleton weighing one thousand pounds, was found to be four pounds ton ounces ; u tooth weighing twenty five pounds, would give a skeleton of more than fivr^ thousand pounds. And if the calculation I c carried forward in ♦; is sort of proportion, we shall produce an animal more than forty feet high, nnd nearly a hundred in length, with a proportionable thickness. What would be the sensation, were we io meet an ani ual of this sort in his ancient haunts; it would almost appear n i luving mountain. But add to this the enormous eyes of the animal, set at a frightful distance from each other,with an t iiipl tiide of fore- head between, clothed like the side of a hill, with a forest of shaggy hair; a mouth, gaping like some drear cavern, set round with teeth sufficient to crush a bufialo at a mouthful, its distended nostrils emitting vapor like the pufis of a steamboat, with a sound, when breathing, that might be heard afar; the legs appearing in size of dimensions sufficient to bear a ship on his shoulders; and his feet or paws spread out like a farmer's corn fan, armed with claws like flukes to an ' nchor of a vessel of war; the tail, as it is said in Job, waving to and fro, lik a cedar bending before the wind. But add to all this anger; Ici i 'tn but put his fierceness 0*1, his eyes flash fire, his tail elevated aloft, lashing the ground, here and there, at a dreadful distance from his body; his voice like the double rolling of 'huider, jarring the wilderness; at which every living thing would tremble and drop to the earth. Such an animal wouM indeed be the **chief of the ways of God.'* It would be perfectly safe in the midst of a tornado in the wilder- ness; no tree, or a forest of them, could possibly harm the mon* 152 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS !i'i .'■■ 'i.'' ster by falling against it. It would shake them off, as smaller animals do flics in a summer's day. The one in Pcale's Museum, of which we have spoken, a page or two back, is one out of nine skeletons of this monster, which were dug out of the earth in the neighborhood of the Shongum mountain, in Ulster county, on the southwestern side of the State of New-York, eight of which were sent to Europe — (See Staf- ford's Gazeteer of New-York.) Near Rochester, in the State of New-York, in 1833, two teeth of this animal were discovered, but a small depth beneath the sur- face. They were found in the town of Perrinton, near Fullam's Basin, some time ago, by Mr. William Mann, who was engaged in digging up a stump. They wore deposited about four feet be- low the surface of the earth. These were in a tolerably good state of preservation ; the roots begin to crumble a little, but the enamel of the teeth is in almost a perfect state. The teeth were the grinders, and from their appearance, were located in the back part of the upper jaw. The largest one weighs three pounds and ten ounces, measuring six inches lengthwise of the jaw, and three inches across the to|), the root is about six inches long with several prongs. The other tooth is smaller. If we are to suppose this animal to have the same number of teeth that other animals com- monly have, and that the rest of the teeth were of the same pro- portions, as to si/e, the circle of the jaw from one end to the other must have been six feet. Again, il" we were to estimate the com- parative size of this tooth with that of a large ox, and from thence infer the si/e of the animal to which this tooth l)elonged, we should probably find that its si/e was forty times larger than our largest oxen. A forest of trees would soon be Jiibbled to their roots by a herd of such animals as these ; and the western continent would prove a small enough pasture for a moderate number of them. Dr. Adam Clarke mentions, in his commentary on the subject of this animal, denominated behemoth in Job, 40th chapter, 15th. verse, that he had weighed one of the very smallest grinders of an animal of this supposed extinct raco; and found it, in its very dry state, to weigh *' four pounds eight ounces ," " the same grinder of an elephant, says Dr. Clarke, I have weighed also, and find it but two pounds ; the mammoth, therefore, continues this great author, from this proportion, must have been as large as two elc AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST- 153 as smaller K J phants and a quarter/' If, then, an animal of this kind, having a tooth weighing only four pounds and eight ounces, was more llian twice as large as an ordinary elephant, how unwieldily and monsterous must have been the animal to which the tooth just J mentioned, weighing twenty-five pounds, once belonged, arguing from proportion, as Dr. Clarke has done. The same author in his Biblical Commentary on the first book of Genesis says, that from a considerable part of a skeleton which he had seen and ex- amined, it was computed that the animal, when living, must have been nearly twenty-five feet high and sixty feet in length ; the bones of one toe were OHtfre, and were something more than three feet long. The height of the animal, as computed by Dr. Clarke, will agree well with the observations of travellers. In the vicinity of May's lick, or Salt spring, in the state of Kentucky, there arc several holes, marked in such a manner as to proclaim at once, that tlicy were formed by animals wallowing in them, after they had bathed and satiated themselves with the waters of the foun- tain; these were the works of buffaloes, deer, and other small ani- mals. But the same appearance are evident in sonic banks in the neighborhood, which were hollowed in a semicircular manner, from the action of beasts rubbing against them, and carrying ofF quantities of the earth on their hides, forming a thick coat, to de- fend against the stings of numberless flics, like the rhinoceros of Africa. One of those scooped out hollow banks, appeared as if an hundred thousand loads of soil might have boon carried off ; the hieght of the wasted bank, where it was affected by attrition, was at least twenty-five feet. The other animals being smaller, could get down and up again from their wallowing, with case and quickness; but the mammoths were compelled, from their size, to lean against some hill or mountain, so as to coat their hide with earth. Near this spot are often found the frames of this animal, simk in'^thc mire. In the state of Missouri, White river and Straw- berry river, are certain ranges of mountains, at whose base, in a certain spot, are found '* large quantities of these bones gathered in a small compass, which collection was doubtless occasioned by the appetite these animals had for prey, and had been attracted thither, on account of other animals flocking to the salt licks, at that place; the mammoths, following, became mired when they 154 AMERICAN ANTIQUrriKS k^l-'y. in.'' ;* venturad too far, in pursuit, into the marsh, and of course the struggles of the last one would sink the bones of his predecessor still deeper. Thus, these collections are easily accounted for, although, at first, it seems very strange to see these bones accu* mulated, like those of some of the extinct Indian tribes of the west." — (Beckys Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouriyp. 332. J Adam Clarke supposes the behemoth to have been a carnivo- rous animal. See his remarks on this monster, in his Commentary on Job, 40th chapter, 15th verse : " The behemoth, on the con- trary, (i. c. in opposition to the habits of the hippopotamus and elephant,) is represented as a quadruped of a ferocious nature, and formed for tyranny, if not rapacity; equally lord of the floods and of the mountains ; rushing with rapidity of foot, instead of slowness or stateliness; and possessing a rigid and enormous tail, like a cedar tree, instead of a short naked tail of about a foot long, as the hippopotamus, or a weak, slender, hog-shaped tail, as the elephant." Job says, c. xl. v. 17, that he (this monster) moveth his tail like a cedar, that is, its motions were like those of a tall cedar tree moved slowly one way and the other by the wind, which explicitly and emphatically marks the monstrousness of this creature's size. *♦ He moveth his tail like a cedar," slowly one way and the other; exactly as the lion, the tiger, or the leopard, in the motions of this limb, especially when angry, or watching for their prey; on which account, it is probable. Job has seen fit to make mention of this peculiar motion of the animal ; and also it is an evidence of the overwhelming power or strength of the mammoth. He was, in- deed, as it is said in Job, " the chief of the ways of God," in the •creation of animals. At St. Helen's point, north of Guayaquil, in the republic of Colombia, South America, on the coast of the Pacific, on the equa- tor, are found the enormous remains of this animal. The Peruvian tradition of those bones is, that at this very point once landed, from some unknown quarter of the earth, a colony of giants, who mutually destroyed each other. At New Granada in the same province, and on the ridge of the Mexican Cordilleras, vast quan- tities of the remains of this huge beast are found. — (Humboldt^s Researches in South America.) The remains of a monster recently discovered on the bank of Kn'r I AMD DISCOVimiBa IN THS WBtT. 166 course the predecessor :ounted for, bones accu- ribcs of the 332.; i a carnivo- Commentary on the con- otamus and ;ious nature, of the floods t, instead of normous tail, about a foot ;-shapcd tail, ti his tail like 11 cedar tree ich explicitly ;ature's size, nd the other; 3tions of this ;y; on which ntion of this ience of the He was, in- od," in the republic of on the equa- he Peruvian nee landed, giants, who in the same , vast quan- ( Humboldt'' s the bank of the Mississippi^ in Louisiana, seventeen feet under ground, maybe considered as the greatest wonder of the west. The largest bone, which was thought to be the shoulder blade or jaw bone, is twenty feet long, three broad, and weighed 1200 pounds. The aperture in the vertebrae, or place for the pith of the back bone, is six by nine inches calibre ; supposed when alive to have been 125 feet in length. T'le awful and tremendous size of what this creature must have been, to which this shoulder blade or jaw bone belong- ed, when alive, is almost frightful to think of. In President Jefferson's Notes on Virginia^ we have the follow- ing as the tradition of the Indians respecting this animal, which they call the big buffalo, and assert that he is carnivorous, as Dr. Clarke contends, and still exists in the northern parts of America. " A delegation of warriors from the Delaware tribe visited the government of Virginia, during the Revolution, on matters of busi- ness ; after this had been discussed, and settled in council, the governor asked some questions relative to their country, and among others, what they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones were found at the licks on the Ohio. " Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude of oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the eleva- tion of his subject, informed him that it was a tradition handed down from their fathers, that in ancient times a herd of these tre- mendous animals came to the Big-bone lick, and began an univer- sal destruction of the bear, deer, elk, buffaloes and other animals which had been created for the use of the Indians. And that the Great Man above, looking down and seeing this, was so enraged, that he seized his lightning, descended on the earth, seated himself on a neighboring mountain, on a certain rock, where the print of his feet are still remaining, from whence he hurled his bolts among them, till the whole were slaughtered, except the big bull ; who, presenting his forhead to the shafts shook them offT as they fell ; but at length one of them missing his head glanced on his side, wounding him sufficiently to make him mad; whereon, springing round, he bounded over the Ohio at a leap, then over the Wabash at another, the Illinois at a third, and a fourth leap over the great lakes, where he is living at this day." *' A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner by the Indians near the mouth of the Tennessee river, relates that after being transferred through (Jgf«>' "VS>. 2U#!> - 1 156 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES several tribes, was at length carried over the mountains west of the Missouri, to a river which runs westwardly ; that these bones abounded there, and that the nations described to him the animal to which these belonged, as still living in the northern parts of their country." Mr. Jefferson contends, at page 77 of his Notes on Virginiay that this animal is not extinct. " It may be asked," says this phil- osopher, *' why I insert the mammoth as if it still existed. I ask in return, why I should omit it, ps if it did not exist ? The northern and western parts still remain in their aboriginal state, unexplored and undisturbed by us, or by others for us. He may as well exist there now as he did formerly, where we find his bones. If he be a carnivorous animal, as some anatomists have conjectured, and the Indians affirm, his early retirement to deeper wilds, may be accounted for, from the great destruction of the wild game, by the Indians, which commenced the very first instant of their connexion with us, for the purpose of purchasing match- coats, hatchets, and guns, with their skins." The description of this monster's habits, as given by the Delaware chief, has a sur- prising agreement with the account of the behemoth given by Job, especially at this verse: — "Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play." " He frequents those places, (say's Dr. Clarke,) where he can have most prey ; he makes a mock of all the beasts of the field. They can neither resist his power nor escape his agility. It appears to have been a many-toed animal ; the springs which such a creature could make must have been almost incredible ; nothing by swiftness could have escaped its pursuit. God seems to have made it as the proof of his power, and had it been prolific, and not become extinct, it would have depopulated the earth of both men and animals. Tracks of Men and Animals in the Rocks of Tennessee and elsewhere. Among the subjects of antiquity, which arc abundant on the American continent, wc give the following, from Morsels Univer' AND DI8COVERI8 IN THE WEST. 157 tal Geography^ which in point of mystcriousncss is not surpassed, perhaps, on the globe. In the state of Tennessee, on a certain mountain, called the enchanted mountain, situated a few miles south of Braystown, which is at the head waters of the Tennessee river, are found impressed in the surface of the solid rock, a great number of tracks, as turkies, bears, horses, and human beings, as perfect as they could be made on snow or sand. The human tracks are remarkable for having uniformly six toes each, like the Anakims of Scripture ; one only excepted, which appears to be the print of a negro's foot. One, among those tracks, is dis- tinguished from the rest, by its monstrousness, being of no less dimensions than sixteen inches in length, across the toes thirteen inches, behind the toes, where the foot narrows toward the instep, seven inches, and the heel ball five inches. One also among the tracks of the animals^ is distinguisiicd for its great size : it is the track of a horse, measuring eight by ten inches; nearly the size of a half bushel measure, and perhaps the horse which the great warrior led when passing this mountain with his army. That these are the real tracks of the animals they represent, ap- pears from the circumstance of this horse's foot having slipped several inches, and recovered again ; the figures have all the same direction, like the trail of a company on a journey. Not far from this very spot, are vast heaps of stones, which are the supposed tombs of warriors, slain, in the very battle this big footed warrior was engaged in, at a period when these mountains which give rise to some branches of the Tugulo, Apalachcola, and Hiwassa rivers, were in a state of soft and clayey tex- ture. On this range, according to Mexican tradition, was the holy mountain ; temple and cave of Olami, where was also a city and the scat of their empire, more ancient than that of Mexico. To reduce that city, perl aps, was the object of the great warrior, whose track with that of his horse and company, still appear. We are of the opinion, that these tracks, found sunk in the surface of the rocks, of this mountain, is indubitable evidence of their antiquity, going back to the time when men dispersed over the earth, immediately after the flood. At the period when this troop passed the summit of this moun- tain, the rock was in a soft and yielding state; time, therefore. fi&>!-- 166 AMERICAN ANT, 4UIT1ie» I I > if sufficient for it to harden to its present rocky consistency, is the argUiTient of the great distance of time elapsed since they went over it. It is probable the whole of these mountains, out of which arise the brnnches of the rivers above alluded to, were, at the time when the deluge subsided, but a vast body of clay; for even now, the surface, where it is not exposed to the rays of the sun, is of a soft texture, capable of being cut with a knife, and appears to be of the nature of the pipe stone. In order that those tracks might retain their shape against the operation of rains, the clay must have been of a tough and oily nature; and hardened by slow degrees, after having been brought to feel the influence of the sun's rays, and drying nature of the winds. The changing and revolutionising consequences of the flood, it is likely, unbared these bodies of clay from the depths of the earth, by washing ofl all the other kinds of strata, not so adhesive as is the nature of this clay; out of which these ranges of stone mountains have been made, some eighteen hundred years later than the original creation. In the wild and savage country of Guiana, in South America, are mountains of a prodigious height, on whose smooth and per- pendicular sides, which seem once to have been a barrier to mighty waters, are engraved; at a surprising distance from their base, the figures of animals; also the sun, moon, and stars, with other hieroglyphical signs. The tradition respecting them, among the natives, is that their ancestors, in a time of great waters came in canoes, to the tops of these mountains, and that the stones were then so soft, and plastic, that men could easily trace marks on them with their fingers, or with sticks. These rocks, it would appear, were then in a state similar to those in Tennessee, which also had retained the impressions made on them by the feet of the traveller. But these mysterious traces found on the mountain in Tennessee, are not the only impressions of the kind. Mr. School- craft, in his travels in the central parts of the Mississippi regions, informs us, that on the limestone strata of rock, which forms the. shores of the Mississippi, and along the neighborhood of St Louis, were found tracks of the human foot, deeply and perfectly impressed in the solid stone. But two traces of this sort have been, as yet, discovered; these are the same represented on the pkite, as given by SchooIcrafL AND DltCOVmiBS IN THK WRaT. 115» ** The impressions in the stone are, to all appearances, those of a man standing in an erect posture, with the left foot a little ad<^ vanced, and the heels drawn in. The distance between the heels,< by accurate measurment, is six inches and a quarter, and between the extremities of the toes, thirteen and a half. The length of these tracks is ten and a quarter inches, across the toes four inches and a half, as spread out, and but two and a half at the heel. Directly before the prints of these feet, within a few inches,isa well impressed and deep mark, having some resemblance to a scroll^ a roll of parchment, two feel long, by a foot in width. To account for these appearances, two theories are advanced; one is, that they were sculptured there by the ancient nations: the other, that they were impressed there at the time when the rock was in a plastic state; both theories have their ditltculties, but we incline to the latter, because the impressions are strikingly natural, says Mr. Schoolcraft, exhibiting even the muscular marks of the foot, with great precision and faithfulness to nature, and on this account^ weakens, in his opinion, the doctrine of their being sculptured by the ancient nations. But why there are no others going to and from these, is unaccountable, unless we may suppose the rest of this rock, at that time, was buried by earth, brush, grass, or some kind of covering. If they were sculptured why not other specimens appear; this one isolated effort of the kind, would seem unnatural.— (i9f<; the plate which ?> a true fac simile of those tracks.) Cotubamana, the Giant Chief. On the subject of the stature of the Patagonians, we have the following remarks of Morse,, the geographer. **We cannot, without a charge of unreasonable scepticism, deny all credence to the accounts that have been transmitted to us, of a race of men of extraordinary stature, in the country about the strait of Magellan. Inscrutable as a,re the ways of Providence, and as limited as is the progress hitherto made in the natural philosophy of the globe f^ n 160 AMERICAN ANTiaVlTIES W "I m> m i^tf M r ■ we inhabit) no bounds can be assigned to the endless variety of phenomena* which suQcessively appear. The man who can as- sign a reason why an Irish giant, or a Polish dwarf, should be born amidst nations of ordinary stature, will have solved every problem, as to the existence, either of gigantic Patagonians, or of pigmy Esquimaux. From an impartial revision of the various authorities, it ap- pears, as an established fact, that the usual stature of one or more tribes of Indians in Patagonia, is from six and a half to fleven and a half feet." When the Spaniards conquered and de- stroyed the nations and tribes of some of the West India islands, among them was a tribe whose chief was a man of great stature. Cotubamana was the name of this cacique, who resided with his nation on the island Higuey, adjacent to Ilispaniola. This chieftian, as related by Las Casas, the historian, was the strongest of his tribe, and more perfectly formed than one man of a thousand, of any nation whatever. He was taller than the tallest of his countrymen, and in width from shoulder to shoulder full three feet, with the rest of his person in admirable propor- tion. His aspect was not handsome; yet his countenance was grave, strongly marked with the characteristics of a man of cour- age. His bow was not easily bent by a common man; his ar- rows were three pronged, pointed with the bones of fishes; all his weapons were large enough for a giant; in a word, he was so nobly proportioned as to be the admiration of even the Spaniards. Already the murc'erous Spaniards had been more than conquer- ors in several battles which drove the poor fugitives to their caves, and the fastnesses of the mountains, whither they had followed their chief. A daily pursuit was continued, but chiefly to capture the as yet invincible Cotubamana. While searching in the woods and hills of the island, at a certain time, and having got on their trail, they came at length to a place where the path which they had followed suddenly divided into many, when the whole com- pany of the Spaniards, except one man, chose a path, which they pursued. This one exception, was a man named Juan Lopez, a powerful Spaniard, and skilful in the mode of Indian warfare. He chose to proceed alone, in a blind foot path, leading off to the left of the course the others had taken, winding among liU\e hills, «o thickly wooded that it was impossible to see a man at the dis- li AND DISC0VKRIB8 IN THE WEST. 161 s variety of who can as- f, should be solved every agonians, or >ritics, it ap- re of one or ind a half to lered and de- India islands, great stature, ided with his rian, was the than one man aller than the er to shoulder lirable propor- ptenance was man of cour- man; his ar- of fishes; all rd, he was so |hc Spaniards, han conquer- |to their caves, had followed ifly to capture in the woods g got on their |h which they whole com- , which they an Lopez, a Idian warfare. |ing off to the ig little hills, Ian at the dis- tance of half a bow shot. But as he was silently darting along this path, he encountered all at once, in a narrow pass, overhung ' V rocks and trees, twelve Indian warriors, armed with bows and arrows, following each other in Indian file. The poor natives wore confounded at the sight of Lopez, imagining there must be a party of soldiers behind him, or they would doubtless have transfixed him with their arrows. Lopez demanded of them where their chief was; they replied, he is behind us, and opening to let him pass, he behold the dauntless Cotubamana in the rear. At sight of the Spaniard, the gallant cacique bent hi» gigantic bow, and was on the point of launching one of his arrows into his heart; but Lopez at the instant, rushed upon him, and wounded him with his sword. The other Indians, struck with terror, had fled; The Spaniard and Cotubamana now grappled with each other; Lopez had seized the chief by the hair of his head with one hand^ and was aiming with the other a thrust with his sword at his naked body, but the chief struck down the sword with his arm, and closed in with his antagonist, and threw him with his back upon the rough rocks. As they were both men of great strength, the struggle was long and violent. The sword lay beneath them, but Cotubamana seized with his great hand the Spaniard's throat, and began to strangle him, when the sound of the contest brought the other Spaniards to the spot. They found their companion writhing and gasping in the agonies of death, in the gripe of the Indian. The whole band now fell, upon him, and finally succeeded in binding his noble limbs, when they carried him to St Domingo, where the infernal Spaniards hanged him as if he had been a Murderer. — Irving^s Life of Columbus, vol. 3, p. 159. Could this native have been less than twelve feet in height, to be in proportion with the breadth of his back between his shoul- ders, which was full three feet, as Las Casas relates? In read- ing the story of the miserable death of this hero, we are reminded of the no less tragical end of Wallace, the Scottish chief, who was, it is said, a man of great size and strength, and was also executed for defending his country. Goliath of Gath was six cubits and a span high, which, according to the esti- mate of Bishop Cumberland, was eleven feet and ten inches; Cotubamana and Goliath of the Philistines, were, it appears, much 11 ^rr 162 AMERICAN ANTIQt'ITIVB of the same stature, terrible to look uj)on, and irresistible in strength. There are those who imagine, that the first inhabitants of the globe, or the antediluvians, were nnuch larger than our race at the present time; and although it is impossible to prove this opinion, yet the subject is not beyond the reach of argument in its support. TJie circumstance of their immense longevity favors strongly this opinion; our species, as thny are now con- stituted, could not possibjy endure the pressure of so many years; the hearty with all the blood vessels of the body, would fail. All the organs of the human subject, which appertfiin to the blood, would ossify, and cease their action, long b(-'fore five, six and nine hundred years should transpire, uidess difUirently or moi'; abundantly sustained with iIkj proper support, than could now ha furnished from the little bodies of the present times. Small streams sooner feel the j)ower of draught than a river or a lake; great trees are longer sustained Ixjueath the rays of a burning sky, without rain, than a mere weed or shrub; and this is by reason of the greater quantum of the juices of the tree, ami of the greater quantum of the water of the river or the lake. Apply this reasoning to the antediluvians, and we arrive at the conclusion, that their bodies must have bi-en larger than ours, or the necessary juices could not have been contained, so as to furnish a heart, and all the blood vessels, with a suHicicnt ratio of .strength and vigor to support life so many ages in succession. Their whole conformation must have been of a larger, looser, and more generous texture, as the flesh and skin of the elephant, which is the largest us well as the longest lived animal known to tin science of zoology. The mammoth was undoubtedly a long lived aaimal. The eagle, the largest of the fowl family, lives to a great age. That the antediluvians were of great stature, is strongly supported by a remark of king Solomon, found in his book of Wisdom, in the Apocrypha, 14th chapter, at the 6th verse, where he calls all the inhabitants of the earth, who were destroyed by the deluge, ^^ proud gianls,^^ whose history, by tra- dition, handed down from the family of Noah, through the lineage of Shem, was well known to that king, the wisest of men in his day and age. And even after the flood, the great stature of men is supported in the Scriptures in several places, who were, for some generations, permitted to live several hundred years, and AXD DISrOVKRIES IN TMK \VF«T. 163 csistiblc in inhabitantH >r than our Ic to provf.' if argument 10 longevity re now con- iTiany years; il.l fail. All o the blond, five, six and titly or moi'; couhl now l)(; lari u river or the rays of a rub; and this ' the tree, and r the lake, arrive at the than ours, or nod, 80 as to icicnt ratio of in succession. |;r, looser, and the elephant, mal known to ibtcdly a long jiniily, lives to 3at stature, is I, found in his Ir, at the 6th Irth, who were Jstory, by tra- Igh the lineage 1 of men in his Itature of men krho were, for jd years, and were all accordingly of great stature Who!*- triU's or nations of gigantic inhabitants poftpled the country of ('anaan, Ujfor(! tho Jews drove them out. Their manners and custiims were very horrible, whom Solomon, the king, charges with b'ing guilty, among many olhf;r enormities, of glutting tli(:ms(*lves with the blood and /le'sh of human b(,ings; from wlii<:li we learn they were cannibals. — (»SVc boo/c of Wi.-tdom, v]m\>. 12, v., — Apor;rypha.) The very cirnim.slanas of the hutiian race, Ixifore the flood, n;- qiiired that the-y should \m: el' greater strength of body than now, because it is not likedy so many us(;ful and laJKjr saving maidiines were invj-nted and in use as now. Kvery thing wus to be ellocted by strength of muscle and bone, which of course wrocedure in their extermination by a flood. Indications now and then appear, in several parts of the earth, as mentioned by the traveller, of the existence of fowls, of a si/e compared with tho mammoth itself, considering the difFerence in the elements each inhabit, and ap- proach each other in size as n(!arly as the largest fowl now known, does the largest animal. Henderson, in his travels in New Sibria, rnot with the claws of a bird, measuring three feet in hmgth; the same was the length of the toes of a mammoth, as measured by Adam Clarke. The Yakuts, inhabitants of the Siberian country, assured Mr. Henderson, that they had frequently, in their hunt- ing excursions, found the skeleton, and even the feathers of this fowl, the quills of which were large enough to admit a man's 164 AMERICAN ANTIQVITIVH 'h'-r arm into the calibre, which would not be out of proportion with the size of the clawii mentioned above. Captain Cook mentions having seen, during his voyages, a mens? ou. l>^rt^s' nest in New Holland, on alow sandy island, in Eno r!v; r, with trees upon it, where wore an incredible numbe: ^i sea fowls. This monstrous nest was built on the ground, with large sticks, and was no less than twenty-six feet in circumference, more than eight feet across, and two feet eight inches high. Geographies speak of a species of eagle, sometimes shot in South America, measuring from tip to tip of the wings, forty feet. This, indeed, must have been of the species celebrated in the tradition of the 4&ncicnts, called the Phconix. In various [tarts of Ireland are frequently dug up enormous horns, supposed to have belonged to a species of deer now extinct. Some of these horns have been found, of the extent of fourteen feet from tip to tip, furnished with brow antlers, and weighing three hundred pounds. The whole skeleton is frequently found with them. It is supposed the animal must have been about twelve feet high. — (Morsels Universal Geography.) l-r'rM- *^ further Account of Discoveries in the West, as given by the Antiquanan Society at Cincinnati. Near Newark, in the county of Licking, Ohio, is situated one of those immense works or fortifications. Its builders chose, with good taste and judgment, this site for their town, being exactly on •the point of land at the junction of Racoon creek and South fork, where Licking river commences. It is in form resembling some- what a horse shoe, accommodated, however, to the sweep of those two streams; embracing in the whole a circumference of about six hundred rods, or nearly two miles. A wall of earth of about four hundred rods is raised on the sides of this fort, next to the small creek which comes down along its sides from the west and east. The situation is beautiful, as these works stand on a large plain, which is elevated forty or fifty feet abovA the stream just noticed, and is almost perfectly flat, and as AND OI8COVERIE8 IN THE WEHT. 165 rich a soil as can be found in that country. It would sfcm the people who made this settl);rnent undertook to enc otopnss with a wall as much land as would :support its inhabitants, and also sudi- cient to build their dwellings on, with several fortifications, arran- ged in a proper manner for its defence. There are, within its ranges, /our of those forts, of different dimensions; one contains forty acres, with a wall of about ten feet high; another, contain- ing twenty-two acres, also walled; but in this fort is an elevated observatory, of sufficient height to overlook the whole country. From this, there is the appearance of a secret or subterranean passage to the water, as one of the creeks runs near this fort. A third I'ort, containing about twenty-six acres, having a wall around it, thrown out of a deep ditch on the inner side of the wall. This wall is now from twenty-five to thirty feet in height. A fourth fortification, enclosing twenty acres,*with a wall of about ten feet high. Two of these forts are perfect circles; one a perfect square; another an octagon, or eight sided. 'I'hese forts are severally connected by roads running between parallel walls, and also in the same way communicate with the creeks; so that these impor- tant points, in case of invasion, should not be deprived of water. There are, besides the forts, four other small works of defence, of a circular form, situated in such a manner as to protect, in a measure, the roads running from fort to fort. The fort which is of the eight sided form, containing the great- est space within, has eight gateways, with a mound in front of each of them, and were doubtless placed there to aid in a defence against invaders. The other forts have no gateways cotmected with the roads that lead to them^ except one, and this is a round fort united to the octangular fort, containing twenty-two acres; the gateway to this looks toward the wilderness, at this gate is also a mound, supposed to be for its defence. On the southern side of this great town, is a road running off to the country, whioh is also walled in the same way ; it has been surveyed a few miles, and it is supposed to connect other si nilar works on the Hokhoking, thirty miles distance, at some point a few miles north of Lancaster, as walls of the description connect- ed with this work, of ten or twelve miles in extent, have been dis- covered. It is supposed, also, that the wall on each side of the road were made for the double purpose of answering as a fence to 166 AMHRICAN A.NTIQIITIEU fin : : \ ,■ ! their fuMs, with gateways to accommodate th(Mr iVuins, and for security in time of danger, .so that communion R'twecn friendly settlements might not be; interrupted. About the wails of this place have been discovered very beautiful rock crystal and horn stone, suitable for arrow and speur heads, a little lead, sulphur, and iron. This kind of stone, suitable for spears, was, undoubt- edly, valuable on other accounts, as axes, knives, mallets, &c., were made of it. It is likely that, as very little iron has been discovered, even in its oxydizod state, their vast works of excava- tion were carried on by means of wooden shovels and scrapers, which would answer very well in the easy and stoneless soil of that country. A second fort, situated southwesterly from the great works on the Licking, and tour or fivo. miles, in a northwestern direction from i^'omersL't, the seat of justice for Perry county, is found. This work encloses about forty acres. Its wall is entirely of stone, not regularly laid up in a wall, agreeably to the rules of masonry, but a huge mass of stones and rocks, of all shapes and sizes, as nature formed them, without the mark of an iron tool upon them. Tlu'sc are in suHici* lit »[uantily to form a widl, if laid in good order, of about fourteen feet in height, and three in thick nes.s. Near the centre of the area of this enclosure is a stone mound, of a circular lorm, lifteen feet high, and was erected, as is con- jectured, for an altar, on which were performed their religious rites, and also for a montnuent to perpetuate the memory of some great event in the history of its builders. It is also believed that the whole of this vast preparation was devoted solely to the j)ur- pose.s of worship of some kind; as it is situated on very high grounds, where the soil is good for n( thing, and may hav(; been, what is called a hitrh place in Scripture, according to the customsi of the ancient pagans of the old world. It could not have been a military work, as no water is found there, nor a place of dwelling, for the same reason, and from the poverty of the soil; but must have been a place of resort on great occasions, such as a solenm assembly to propitiate the gods; and also a place to anoint and crown their kings, c\vcA Iegisla{ors,tran.s- a^t national allairs, judge among the people, and inflict condign punishment. AND DtSCOVERIES IN THR Vt RflT. 167 Who will believe for a moment thnt the common Indians of the west, who were derived in part from tho wandering hordes of Mio northern Tartar race of Asia, were the authors of these works, bearing the marks of so much labor and scientific calculation in their construction? It cannot be. 1^ f'l Vast Wot'ko of the Ancient JViitions on the cast side of the Muskingum. Tins fort, town, or fortification, or whatever it may have been, is between throe and four hundred rods, or rising of a mile in cir- cumference, and so situated as to br^ nearly surrounded by two small brooks, running into tho Muskingiun. Their ;;itc is on an elevated plain, above the present bank of that river, about a half mile from its junction with the Ohio. We give tho account in the words of Mr. Atwater, president of the Antiquarian Soci(;ty: "They consist of walls and mounds of earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms. The largest square fort, by some called tho lown^ contains forty acres, encompassed by a wall of earth from six to ten feet liigh, and from twenty to thirty in breadth at the base. *♦ On each side are Mireo openings, at equal distances, resem- bling twelve gateways. The entrances at the middle are tho largest, particularly on the side next to tho Muskingum. From this outlet is a covert way, formed of two parallel walls of earth, two hundred and thirty-one foot distant from each other, meas- ured from centre to centre. The walls at th(! most elevated part, on the inside, arc twenty-one feet in beigiit, and forty-two in breadth, at the base, but on the outside average only about five feet in height. This forms a passage of about twenty rods in length, leading by a gradual dcscoHt to the low grounds, where, at the time of its construction, it probably reached the river. Its walls commence at sixfy feot from the rampartr, of the fort, and increase in elevation, as the way descends to the river; and the 168 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ■ I fx ii I H? it' • if. bottom is rounded in the centre, in the manner of a well founded turnpike road. Within the walls of the fort, at its northwest corner, is an ob- long elevated square, one hundred and eighty feet long, one hun- dred and thirty-two broad, and nine feet high, level on the summit, and even now yearly perpendicular at the sides. Near the south wall is an elevated square, one hundred and fifty by one hundred and twenty, and eight feet high, similar to the other, excepting that instead of an ascent to go up on the side next the wall, there is a hollow way, ten feet wide, leading twenty feet towards the the centre, and then rising with a gradual slope to the top. This was, it is likely, a secret passage. At the southeast corner is a third elevated square of one hundred and eighty by fifty-four feet, with ascents at the ends, ten feet wide, but not so hiirh or perfect as two others. Besides this forty acre fort, which is situated within the great range of the surrounding wall, there is another, containing twenty acres, with a gateway in the centre of each side, ond at each corner these gateways are defended by circular mounds. On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound in form of a sugar loaf ; its base is a regular circle, one hundred and fifteen feet in diameter, or twenty-one rods in circumference ; its altitude is thirty feet, it is surrounded by a ditch four feet deep, f ."teen feet wide, and defended by a parapet four feet high, through which is a gateway towards the foot, twenty feet in width. Near one of the corners of the great fort was found a reservoir or well, twenty- five feet in diameter, and seventy-five in circumference, with its sides raised above the common level of the adjoining surface, by an embankment of earth, three and four feet high. It was undoubtedly at first very deep, as, since its discovery by the first settlers, they have frequently thrust poles into it, to the depth of thirty feet. It appears to run to a point, like an inverted cone or funnel, and was undoubtedly that kind of well used by the inhabitants of the old world, which were so large at their top as to afibrd an easy descent down to the fountain, anu up again with its water in a vessel borne on the shoulder, according to the ancient custom. (See Genesis^ xiii. 24.) "And she (that is Rebecca, the daughter of Bethuel,) went doten to the well, filled her pitcher, and came up." Bethuel was au Assyrian,who, AND DISC0VBRIJE8 IN THE WEHT. 169 it seems, had made a well in the same form with that described above. Its sides were lined with a stratum of fine ash-colored claVf eight and ten inches thick, beyond which is the common soil of the place. It is conjectured that at the bottom of this well might be found many curious articles which belonged to the an- cient inhabitants. Several pieces of copper have been found in and near these ancient works^ at various places; and ore was in the form of a cup, with low sides, the bottom very thick and strong, showing their enlarged acquaintance with that metal, more than the Indians ever had. Ruins of Ancient Works at Circlevilk. At Circlevillc, in Ohio, are the remains of very great works of this description, evidently of a military character, two of which are united; one is exactly square, the other an exact circle. The square fort is fifty rods on each side; the round one is nearly three hundred feet, or eighteen rods in circumference; the circle and square touching each other, and communicate at the very spot where they united. The circular fort is surrounded by two walls, with a deep ditch between them; the square fort is also cnconjpasscd by a wall, without a ditch. The walls of the circular fort were at least twenty feet in height, measuring from the bottom of the ditch, before the town of Circleville was built. The inner wall is formed of clay, brought from a distance; but the outside one was formed with the earth of the ditch, as it was thrown out. There were oight gateways or openings leading into the square fort, and only one into the circular. Before each of these openings was a mound of earth, about four feet high, forty feet in diameter at the base, and twenty feet and upwards at the top, situated about two rods in front of the gates, for the defence, no doubt, of these openings. The walls of this work vary a few degrees from north and south, and east and west, but no more than the needle varies; and not a few surveyors have, from this 170 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES lii'^'-i'. f^::A circumstance, been impressed with the belief, that the authors of these works were acquainted with astronomy^ and the four car- dinal points. Within the great square fort are eight small mounds, placed op- posite the gateways, for their defence, or to give opportunity to privileged spectators to review the thousands passing out to war, or coming in with the trophies of victory. Such was the custom of ancient times. David, the most potent king of the Jews, stood at the gateway of the city, as his armies went to quell the insur- rection of his son, Absalom. (See 2d Samuel, xviii. 4.) •* And the king stood by the grtte side, and all the people came out, by hundreds and by thousands." It cannot be supposed the king stood on the ground, on a common level with hi - armies. Such a situation would be extremely inconvenient, and defeat, in a great measure, the opportunity of review. How impressive, when sol- diers, fired with all the ardor of expected victory, to behold their general, chief, king, or emperor, bending over them, as they pass on, from some commanding position near at hand, giving counsel to their captains; drawing, in this way, large draughts on the in- dividual confidence and love of the soldiery. Such may have been the spectacle at the gateways of the forts of the west, at the eras of their grandeur. In musing on the structure of these vast works found along the western rivers, enclosing such immense spaces of land, the mind is irresistibly directed to a contemplation of ancient Babylon, the first city o{ magnitude built immediately after the flood. That city was of a s(|uare form, being fifteen miles distance on each ot' its sides, and sixty in circumference, surrounded with a wall eighty-seven feet in thickness, and three hundred and fifty in height. On each side it had twenty-five gateways, amounting in all, to a hundred; the whole, besides the wall, surrounded with a deep and wide ditch. At each corner of this immense square was a strong towyr, ten feet higher than the walls. There were fifty broad streeis, each fifteen miies long, starting from each of its gates, and a hundred and fifty feet broad, crossing each other at right angles, besides four half streets, surrounding the whole, two hundred feet broad. The whole city was divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares, four and a half furlongs on each side. In the centre of the city stood the temple of Belus, and in the centre AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WKST. 171 of this temple stood an immense tower six hundred feet square at its base, and six hundred feet high, narrowing in the form of a pyramid, as it ascended. The ascent to the summit was accom- plished by spiral stairs, winding eight times round the whole: this tower consisted of eight distinct parts, each on the top of the other, seventy-five feet high, till the whole, in aggregate, finished the tower. In the different stories were temples or chapels for the worship of the sun; and on its top, some authors say, was an image of gold, forty feet in height, equal in value to three millions five hundred thousand dollars. — Blake^s Atlas. The model of this city, with its towers at the corners, and pyramid in its centre, having been made at so early a period of time, being not far from one hundred years after the flood, was doubtless of sufficient influence to impress its image on thc^ memory of tradition, so that the nations spreading out from that region over all the earth, may have copied this Chaldean model in their various works. This thought is strengthened when we compare us counterpart, the vast works of the west, with this Habylonian prototype of ar- chitectural effort, and imagine we see in the latter, the features and general outlines of this giant among cities, in the towers, walls and pyramids of the westeir. States. Near the round fort at Circleville is another fort, ninety feet high, and was doubtless erected to overlook the whole works of that enormous military establishment. That it was a military es- tablishment is the decided opinion of the president of the W^estorn Antiquarian Society, Mr. Atwater. He says the round fort was picketed in, if we arc to judge from the appearance of the ground, on and about the walls. Half way up the outside of the inner wall, is a place distinctly to be seen where a row of pickets once stood, and where it was placed when this work of defence was originally erected. Finally, this work about its walls and ditch, a few years since presented as much of defensive aspect as forts which were occupied in our war with the French, such as Oswego, Fort Sianwix, and others. Respecting this place, it is said that the Indian, even to this day, will on no account enter within its outlines, which circumstance irov(s, beyond a doubt, that it was also a holy or sacred place, «: p , ' 172 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES where the mysteries of ancient paganism were celebrated with all the pomp and circumstance necessary to the belief of that which is but fiction. m^ 4p^ *i ■ ^ '1* *' ' L? '•■ m mm ^S IP I'l * i. f • Ancient Works on Paint Creek. On Paint Creek, in Ohio, about fifteen miles from Chilicotho, are works of art still more wonderful than any yet described. There are six in number, in the neighborhood of each other. In one of those grand enclosures are contai.-ied tiiree forts. One embraces seventeen, another twenty-seven, a third seventy-se- ven — amounting, in all, to one hundred and fifteen acres of land. One of those forts is round, another square, and a third is of an irregular form; approaching, however, nearer to the cir- cular than any oth/'i ; and the wall which embraces the whole, is so contrived in i'.s courses, us to favor those several forms, the whole being evidently one work, separated into three compart- ments. There arc fourteen gateways going out of the whole work, be- sides three which unite the several forts one with the other, in- wardly. All ihese, especially tb^sc leading outwardly, are very wide, being, as they now appear, from one to six rods. At three o^ those gateways, on the outside of the wall, are as many ancient wells ; and one on the inside, where doubtless, the inhabitants procured water. Their width across the top is from four to six rods, but their depth unknown, as they are now nearly filled up. Within the greatest enclosure, containing the seventy-seven acres, is an elijjtioal elevation of twenty-five feet high, and so largo, that its area is nearly 0i?e hundred and fifty rods in circumference, composed almost entirely of stone in their rough and natural state, brought from a hill adjacent to the place. This elevated work is full of human bones, and some have not hesitated to express a belief, that on this work, human beings were once sacrificed. The surface is smooth and level, favoring AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 173 ntcd with all ' that which n Chilicothc, et described. h otiier. In forts. One I seventy-se- 2en acres oi id a third is cr to the cir- ?s the wliole, i\\ forms, the rce compurt- ►le work, bc- the other, in- y, are very s. At three nany ancient inhabitants II four to six rly filled up. seven acres, nd so largo, cumference^ laturul state, )rne have not uman beings rel, favoring the idea of the horrid parade, such occasions would produce ; vet they may have been erected for the purpose of mere military inancEUvreing, which wouhl produce a spectacle very imposing* composed of thousands, harnessed in their war attire, with nod- ding plumes. About a mile from this fort, there is a work in the form of a half moon, set round the edges with stones, exactly resembling the stone circles of the Druids, in which they per- formed their mystic rites in Euroj)e, two thousand years ago. Near this semicircle is a very singular mound of only five feet in height, but ninety feet in circumference, composed entirely of red ochre; which answers well as a paint. An abundance of this ochre is found on a hill, not a great distance from this place ; from which circumstance, the stream which runs along here, is called Paint Creek. So vast a heap of this paint being deposited, is pretty clear evi- dence, tliat it was an article of commerce, among these nations. Here may have been a store house, or a range of them, attended by salesmen, or merchants; who took in exchange for it, copper, feathers, bow and arrow timber, stone for hatchets, spears, and knives, wooden ploughs and shovels ; with skins and furs, for clothing ; stones for building their rude altars and works ; with food to sustain the populace, as the manner of cities is of the pre- sent time. Red paint in particular, is used now among the Hin- doos, which they mark themselves with, as well as their gods. This vast collection of red paint, by the ancient nations, on Paint creek favors the opinion that it was put to the same use, by the same people. Near this work is another, on the same creek, enclosingeighty- four acres, part of which is a .square fort, with seven gateways ; and the other a fort, of an irregular oval, with seven gateways, surrounded with a wall like the others. But the most interesting work of the three contiguous forts, is yet to be described. It is situated on a high hill, of more than three hundred feet elevation, and in many places almost perpendicular. The wall running round this work, is built exactly on the brow of the precipice, and in its courses, is accommodated to the variations of this natural battle- ment, enclosing, in the whole, one hundred and thirty acres. On its south end the ground is level, where the entrance to the fort is easy. At the north end, which approaches pretty near to Paint 174 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 1 :» ■? '>'. > K I creek, np|)cai's to have been a gateway descending to the water, the ground favoring it at this point, as well as at one other, lead- ing to a little stream, which runs along its base, on the east side of this eminence, where is also another gate- ..ay ; these three places are the only points which arc at all Inaccessible. The wuli round the whole one hundred and thirty acres, is entirely of stone, and is in sulticicnt (juantity, if laid up in good order, to mako it ten feet high, and four thick. At the north gateway, stones enough now lie, to have built two considerable round towers, taken from the hill itself, and are of the red sand stone kind. Near the south end of this enclosure, at the place where it is easiest of access, " appear to have been a row of furnaces, (says Mr. Atwater) or smith's shops, where the cinders now lie, many feet deep ; but was nut able to say with certainty, what manufac- tures were curried on here, whether brick or iron, or both.'' It was a clay, that had been exposed to the action of fire ; the re- mains of which are four and live feet in depth ; which shows in a good degree, the amount of business done was great. " Ihjh ore, in this country, is sometimes found in such clay ; brick and potter's ware are now manfactured out of it. This fort is, from its natural site, one of the strongest positions of the kind in the state of Ohio, so high is its elevation, and so nearly per[)endiculur are the sides of the hill on which it was built." At the several angles of the wall, and at the gateways, the abundance of stone there, leads to the belief, that those points, towers and battlements once overlooked the country to an immense distance; from whence stones and ari-ows might have been launched away, from engines adapted to that purpose, among the approaching enomy, with dreadtul ellect. " No military man could have selected a better position for a place of protection to his countrymen, their temples and their gods," than this. Ancient Wells found in the bottom of Paint Creek. In the bed of Paint creek, which washes the foot of the hill, on which the walled town stood, have been discovered four wells. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 175- They were dug through a pyritous slate rock wl)ich is very ricl> in iron ore. When first discovered, by u person passing over them in a canoe, they were covered, cuch by stones of about the size and shape of the common mill stone. These covers had holes through their centre, through which a largo pry, or hand- spike might be put for the purpose of removing them olF and on • the wells. The hole through the centre of each stone, was about four inches in diameter. The wells at their tops were more than nine feet in circumference; the stones were well wrought with tools, so as to make good joints, as a stone mason would say, which were laid around them severally, as a pavement. At the time they were dug, it is not likely Paint creek run over these wells. • Fur what they were sunk, is a mystery; as that for the purposes of water, so nmny so near each oth(!r, would scarcely appear necessary; perhaps for some kind of ore or favorite stone, was the original object, perhaps for salt water. There is, at Portsmouth, Ohio, one of those works, which is very extensive and wonderful, on account of walled roads, a " high place,'' with many intricate operations in its construction. On the east bank of the Little Miami, about thirty miles cast from Cincinnati, are vast works of this character. Twelve miles west of Chillicothe, on Paint creek, are found the remains of a furnace ten or twelve feet square, formed of rough stone, sur- rounded by cinders, among trees of full si/e. There are, at this place seven wells, situated within the compass of an acre of land, regularly walled up with hewn stone, but are nearly now filled up with the accumulating earth of ages Eight miles farther up the Creek, a small bar of gold was taken out of a mound, which sold in Chillicothe for twelve dollars. A piece of a cast iron vessel was taken out of the circular embankment at Circleville, Ohio. Near the same place was dug up from beneath the roots of a hickory tree, seven feet eight inches in circumference, a copper coin, but bearing no comparison with any coin now known. Another specimen of copper, finely wrought, was found on removing a mound in Chillicothe. On the Little Miami, about four miles above VVaynes-Ville, on opening a spring of water, the workmen struck upon a regular stone wall. In digging a well in the village of Williamsburgh, on the cast fork of Little Miami, those engaged in the excava- >l 176 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIRS If . 'i. M * H tion, come to a fire-place with charcoal and brands of burnt wood, at the depth of about thirty feet. On the same stream, thirty miles above, a well was found, supposed tu have been made by the ancient people, regularly stoned up, of the same size that wells are now. In some other mounds refined copper mixed with gold has been discovered. What better evidence can be necessary to establish the fact, that nations not aboriginal have peopled this country, who, for aught that appears to th«» contrary were as polished, enterprising, and as enlightened as the people of the most refined ages of antiquity, as demonstrated in China, or even in Europe, as far back as the era of the commencement of Chris- tianity? And if we may judge by some discoveries which have been made in the west, we are able to sJiow that they were much more so, of which we shall give the evidence before we close tlie volume. New discoveries are constantly making of these ancient works, the farther we go west, and the more minutely the research is prosecuted. During the last year, 1832, a Mr. Ferguson communicated to the editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, a discovery of the kind, which he examined, and describes as follows; — "On a mountain called the Lookout mountain, belonging to the vast Alleghanian chain, running between the Tennessee and Coos rivers, rising about one thousand feet above the level of the sur- rounding valley. The top of the mountain is mostly level, but presents to the eye an almost barren waste. On this range, not- withstanding its height, a river has its source, which, after tra- versing for about seventy miles, plunges over a precipice. The rock from which the water falls, is circular, and juts over consider- ably. Immediaiely below the fall, on each side of the river, arc bluflfs, which rise two hundred feet. Around one of these bluffs, the river makes a bond, which gives it the form of a peninsula. On the top of this are the remains of what is esteemed fortifica- tions which consist of a stone wall, built on the very brow of this tremendous ledge. The whole length of the wall, following the varying courses of the brink of this precipice, is thirty-seven rods aiid eight feet, including about two acres of ground." The only descent from this place is between two rocks, for about thirty feet, when a bench of the ledge presents itself, from nm Iny AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 177 two to five feet in width, and ninety fuct long. This bench is iho only road or path up from the water's edge to the summit. But Just at the foot of the two rocks, where tiicy reach this path, and within thirty feet of the top of the rock, are five rooms, which have been formed by dint of labor. The entrance to these rooms is very small, but when within, they are found to oommunicato with each other, by doors or operturcs. Mr. Ferguson thinks them to have been constructed during some dreadful war, and those Vho constructew them, to have acted on the defensive; and believes that twenty men could have withstood the whole army of Xerxes, as it was impossible for more than one to pass at a time; and might by the slightest push, be hurled at least a hundred and fifty feet down the rocks. The reader can indulge his own con- jectures, whether, in the construction of this inaccessible fortress, he docs not perceive the rem' t of a tribe or nation, acquainted with the arts of excavation .a defence; making a last struggle against the invasion of an overwhelming foe; where, it is likely, they were reduced by famine, and perished amid the yells of their enemies. »i Description of fVestern Tumuli or Mounds. • Ancient Tumuli are considered a kind of antiquities, differing in character from that of the other works; both on account of what is frequently discovered in them, and the manner of their construction. They are conical mounds, either of earth or stones, which were intended for sacred and important purposes. In many parts of the world, similar mounds were used as monu- ments, sepulchres, altars and temples. The accounts of these works, found in th« Scriptures, show, that their origin must be sought for among the antediluvians. That they are very ancient, and were used as places of sepul- ture, public resort, and public worship, is proved by all the wri- ters of ancient times, both sacred and profane. Homer, the most ancient Greek poet, frequently mentions them, particularly describing the tumulus of TydeuSj and the spot where it was. In 12 .v«*:^ > IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /, ^ >% 1.0 I.I 121 LiO |2.5 U, Ijg^ 12.2 ^ 1^ 12.0 I mi IL25 nil 1.4 I 1.6 Hiotographic Sciences Coiporation 23 west MAIN STMET WMSTM.N.Y. MSM (71«)S73-4S03 ■^ ^ .^4^ %° *.!, W i ,; J«; J. i^ '■'': 178 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES memory of the illustrious dead, a sepulchral mound of earth was raised over their remains; which, from that time forward, be- came an altar, whereon to offer sacrifices, and around which to exhibit games of athletic exercise. These offerings and games were intended to propitiate their manes, to honor and perpetuate heir memories. Prudentius, a Roman bard, has told us, that there were in ancient Rome, just as many temples of the gods, as there were sepulchres of heroes; implying that they were the same Need I mention the tomb of Anchies, which Virgil has described, with the offerings there presented, and the games there exhibited? The sanctity of Acropolis, where Cecrops the Egyp- tian and founder of the Athenian monarchy who lived about the time of Moses, was inhumed? The tomb of the father of Adonis, at Paphos, whereon a temple dedicated to Venus, was erected? The grave of Cleomachus, whereon stood a temple dedicated to the worship of Apollo? Finally, I would ask the classical reader, if the words translated tomb, and temple, are not used as synony- mous, by the poets of Greece and Rome? Virgil, who wrote in the days of Augustus Caesar, speaks of these tumuli, as being as ancient as they were sacred, even in his time. The conical mounds in Ohio, are either of stones or of earth. The former, in other countries, and in former ages, were intended as monuments, for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of some important event, or as altars whereon to offer sacrifices The latter were used as cemeteries and as altars, on which, in later times, temples were erected, as among the people of Greece and Rome. The tumuli " are of various altitudes and dimensions, some being only four or five feet, and but t?n or twelve in diameter, at their base; while others, as we travel to the south, rise to the height of eighty, ninety, and some more than a hundred feet, and cover many acres of ground. They are, generally, when com- pleted, in the form of a cone. Those in the north part of Ohio, are of inferior size, and fewer in number, than those along the river. These mounds are believed to exist, from the Rocky mountains in the west, to the Alleghanies in the east; from the southern shore of lake Erie to the Mexican gulf; and though few and small in the north, are numerous and lofty in the south, yet exhibit proof of a common origin. i,: AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 179 earth was ward, be- which to and games perpetuate id us, that ' the gods, y were the Virgil has rames there 3 the Egyp- ;d about the r of Adonis, as erected! dedicated to sical reader, i as synony- ^ho wrote in , as being as I or of earth, fere intended memory of er sacrifices on which, in e of Greece nsions, some diameter, at , rise to the red feet, and when com- part of Ohio, Dse along the the Rocky ast; from the id though few the south, yet ' On Jonathan creek, in Morgan county, are found some mounds whose bases are formed of well burnt bricks, between four and five inches square. The bricks of Babel were thirteen inches square. There are found lying on the bricks, charcoal cinders, and pieces of calcined human bones. Above them the mounds were composed of earth, showing, that tiiu dead had been buried in the manner of several of the eastern nations, and the mounds raised afterwards to mark the place of their burial. One of them is about thirty feet in circumference, and the stones yet look black, as if stained with fire and smoke. This circle of stones seems to have been the nucleus on which the mound was formed, as immediately over them is heaped the common earth of the adjacent plain. This mound was originally about ten feet high, and ninety in circumference at its base; and has every appearance of being as old as any in the neighbor- hood, and was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered with large trees." A particular account of many curious articles, which go to show the person buried there was a member of civilized society, is given farther on in this work, under the head of " a descrip- tion of implements found in the tumuli." The person buried here was about six feet in height, nothing differing from other men in the form of his bones, except the skull, which was uncom- monly thick. The timber growing on this mound, when it was cleared off", was ascertained to be nearly five hundred years old, from counting the concentric circles or grains of the wood on the stumps. On the ground beside them were other trees in a state of decay, that had fallen from old age. ; If we were to conjecture, from this sort of data, how great a lapse of years has ensued since the abandonment of this mound, we should pursue the following method. From the time when the country became desolate of its inhabitants, till trees and forests would begin to grow, cannot well be reckoned less than five years. If then they are permitted to grow five hundred years, till as large and as old as some of the trees were on the mound when it was cleared by the people of Marietta, from that time till their natural decay and fall to the earth, and reduction to decayed wood, as was found on the mound, could not be less than threo hundred years, in decaying so as to fall, and then fifty years to 180 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES m 4^f i I W^-i rot in; this would give eight hundred and fifty-five years for the first growth of timber. From this time we reckon a second crop, which we will suppose, was the one growing when the mound was cleared of its timber; which was, according to Mr. Atwater's statement, " between four and five hundred years;" add this to the age of the first crop, say four hundred and fifty, and we have, in the whole, one thousand three hundred and five years since it was deserted of its builders. Dr. Cutler supposes at least a thousand years. Then it will follow, taking out the time since Marietta was settled, and the mound cleared of its timber, that the country was deserted about five hundred years after the commencement of the Christian era. About the same time, say from the year 410 to 500 of the Christian era, the greater part of Europe wa ; devastated by the Goths, the Huns, the Heruli, the Vandals, the Swevri, the Allans, and other savage tribes, all from the northern wilds of ancient Russia. By these the western emjMre of the Romans, compre- hending Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and England, was sub- verted; all literature was obliterated, and the works of the learned, which contained the discoveries and improvements of ages, were annihilated. And from all we can make out by observing the growth of timber, with that which is decayed, as found on the deserted works of the west, we are inclined to believe, that about the same period of time when Europe was overrun by the northern hordes, that the region now called the United States, where the ancient inhabitants had fixed their abode, was also overrun by northern hordes from toward Bhering's strait, who had, in ages before, got across from Asia, the Tartars, or Scythians, and had multiplied; and as they multiplied, progressed farther and farther southerly till they discovered an inhabited country, populous, and rich, upon whom they fell with all the fury of Attila and his Huns; till after many a long and dreadful war, they were reduced in numbers, and driven from their country far to the south; when the rich fields, vast cities, innumerable towns, with all their works, were reduced to the ancient dominion of nature, as it was when first overgrown immediately after the flood, except their vast pyramids, fortifications, and tumuli, these being of the same nature and durability of the hills and mountains, have stood the shock of war and time — the monuments of powerful nations disappeared. 2'* H AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 161 " In clearing out a spring near some ancient ruins of the west on the bank of the Little Miami, not far from its entrance into the Ohio, was found a copper coin, four feet below the surface of the earth; from the facsimile of which it appears, that the char- acters on the coin are old Persian characters. — Morse's Univer sal Geography, vol. 1, p. 442. The era of the Persians, as noticed on the page of history, was from 559, after the flood, till 334, before Christ, and were a people of great strength, of enterprising character, and enlight- ened in the arts and sciences; and for aught that can be objected, traversed the globe, planted colonies, perhaps even in America, as the coin, which lay so deep beneath the surface of the earth, would seem to justify; which was truly a Persian coin of copper. At Cincinnati, a mound, only eight feet high, but one hundred and twenty long, by sixty in breadth, has been opened, and is now almost obliterated, by the construction of Main-street, which has furnished many curious discoveries relative to the ancient inhabitants who built it. Of the articles taken from thence, many have been lost; but the most worthy of notice are embraced in the following catalogue: — 1st. Pieces of jasper, rock crystal, granite and some other stones, cylindrical at the extremes, and swelled in the middle, with an annular groove near the end. 2d. A circular piece of stone coal, with a large opening in the centre, as if for an axis or axeltree, and a deep groove; the cir- cumference suitable for a hand; it has a number of small perfora- tions, disposed in four equidistant lines, which run from the cir- cumference towards the centre. 3d. A small article of the same shape, with eight lines of perforations, but composed of argila- ceous earth, well polished; 4th. A bone ornamented with several lines, supposed to be hieroglyphical. 5th. A sculptured repre- sentation of the head and beak of a rapacious bird, resembling the eagle. 6th. A mass of lead ore, lumps of which have been found in other tumuli. 7th. A quantity of isinglass, (mica mem- brancea,) several plates of which have been found in and about other mounds. 8th. A small oval piece of sheet copper, with two perforations; a large oblong piece of the same metal, with longi- tudinal grooves and ridges. These articles are described in the fourth and fifth volumes of the American Philosophical Transactions, by Governeur Sargeant 182 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES y \4 and Judge Turner, and were supposed, by philosopher Barton, to have been designed, in part, for ornament, and, in part, for super- stitious ceremonies. In addition to which, the author of the fore- going, (Mr. Atwater,) says, he has since discovered, in the same mound, a number of beads, or sections, of small hollow cylinders, apparently of bone or shell. Several large marine shells, cut in such a manner as to serve for domestic utensils, and nearly converted into a state of chalk; several copper articles, each consisting of two sets of circular concavo convex plates, the interior of each set connected with the other by a hollow axis, around which had been wound some lint, and the whole encompassed by the bones of a man's hand. About the precincts of this town, Cincinnati, human bones have been found "of diiferent sizes; sometimes enclosed in rude stone coffins, but oftcncr lying blended with the earth; generally sur- rounded by a portion of ashe^ and charcoal," as if they had been burnt either alive or dead, as the Hindoos burn both the dead husband and the living wife, on the same funeral pile. (See Ward's History of the Hindoos ^ p. 57;) where, he states, "that not less than five thousand of these unfortunate women, it is sup- posed, are burnt annually." On the shores of the Pacific, to the west, about the mouth of the Columbia river dwell a tribe of Indians, known by the name of Tolkotins, who compel the widows of their tribe to sleep by the dead bodies of their de- ceased hui.bands, nine nights in succession immediately after their death, however offensive it may be. When this period is accomplished, the body is laid on a pile of dry wood and burnt to ashes, at which time, the unfortunate wife is forced, by the friends of the deceased, into the fire, while her own relations stand by, and as often as she is pushed on to the fire, these pull her off. This kind of persecution, they continue till the poor wretch is severely blistered, when they desist. The body of her lord is now consumed, when she gathers up the bones from among the ashes of the wood, and carefully envelopes them in the bark of the birch tree, and is doomed to carry them about on her back, a year or two. When the prescribed time is accom- plished, the relations on both sides assemble, and having feasted, discharge her from farther penance, when, if she chooses, she can marry again. So far as is known, it appears that this prac- ;l III AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 18 tice, which is purely of Hindoo origin, is peculiar to this tribe. — Ross Cox's late travels on the Columbia^ p. 329. This practice as above, is ample evidence, that the Hindoos once filled with their idolatry, and cruel ceremonies, the regions •of the west, who came hither in vessels, in the early ages, as we shall show in another part of this volume. The ancient Jews practised the same thing; (See Amos, vi. 10.) " And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that hurneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house." The ancient Edomites burnt the dead bodies of their captured enemies. ((See Amos, ii. 1:) " He," that is Edom, " burned the hones o^ the king of Edom into lime." The same may have been practised in America. Besides these relics found at Marietta, others equally interest- ing, have been procured from a mound on the Little Muskingum, about four miles from Marietta. There are some pieces of cop- per whicji appear to have been the front part of a helmet. It was originally about eight inches long and four broad, and has marks of having been attached to leather; it is much decayed, and is 13 SB sjuaiouB aqj Xq uaoAV sbav jauqoq aq j^ 'ojisid uiqj is ojtnb avou defence against the blows of the sword, aimed at the head. The Oreeks, the Romans, with many other nations of antiquity, made use of this majestic, beautiful, warlike covering of the head) But how came this part of the ancient armor in America? This is the mystery, and cannot be solved, only on the principle, that we believe the wearers lived in those ages coeval with the martial exploits of the Modes, Persians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and of the Celtic nations of Europe. In the same mound on the Muskingum, was found a copper ornament; this was on the forehead of a human skeleton, no part of which retained its form, except that part of the forehead where the copper ornament lay, and liad been preserved no doubt by the salts of that mineral. " In Ross county, near Chilicothe, a few years since, was found, in the hand of a skeleton, which lay buried in a small mound, an ornament of pure gold; this curiosity, it is said, is now in the Museum at Philadelphia." — (Atwater.) The tumuli, in what is called the Sciota country, are both numerous and interesting. But south of Lake Erie, until we arrive at Worthington, nine miles .worth of Columbus, they are few in number, and of comparatively h ... ■ I'; 1 ! • i ■ 184 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES small magnitude. Near Columbus, the seat of government in Ohio, were several mounds, one of which stood on an eminence in the principle street, which has been entirely removed, and con- verted into brick. It contained human bones, some few articles, among which was an mcl, carved in stone, a rude but very exact representation. The owl, among the Romans, was the emblem of wisdom, and it is not impossible but the ancients of the west, may have carved it in the stone for the same reason; who may have been, in part, Romans, or nations derived from them, or nations acquainted with their manners, their gods, and their sculpture, as we suppose the Danes were. " In another part of the town of Columbus, was a tumulus of clay, which was also manufactured into brick. In this were many human bones; but they lay in piles and in confusion," which would seem to elicit the belief, that these were the bones of an enemy, or they would have been laid in their accustomed order. Or they may have been the bones of the conquered, thrown together in a confused manner, and bu- ried beneath this mound. As we still descend the Sciota, through a most fertile region of country, mounds and other ancient works, frequently appear, until we arrive at Circleville. Near the centre of the circular fort at Circleville, was a tumulus of earth, about ten feet high, and seve- ral rods in diameter at its base. On its eastern side, and extending six rods from it was a semicircular pavement, composed of pebbles such as p.re found in the bed of Sciota river, from whence they appear to have been taken. The summit of this tumulus was nearly ninety feet in circumference, with a raised way to it, lead- ing from the east, like a modern turnpike. The summit was level. The outline of the simicircular pavement, and the wall, are still discernible. Mr Atwater was present when this mound was re- moved and carefully examined the contents it developed. They were as follows: — 1. Two skeletons, lying on what had been the original surface of the earth. 2. A great quantity of arrow heads, some of which were so large as to induce a belief that they were used for spear heads. 3. The handle, either of a small sword, or a large knife, made of an elk's horn; around the end where the blade had been inserted, was a ferule of silver, which, though black, was not much injured by time; though the handle showed the hole where the blade had been inserted, yet no iron was founds AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 1S» but an oxyde or rust remained, of similar shape and size. The swords of the ancient nations of the old world, it is known, were very short. 4. Charcoal, and wood ashes, on which these articles lay, were sunounded by several bricks, very well burnt. The skeleton appeared to have been burnt in a large and very hot fire, which had almost consumed the bones of the deceased. This skeleton was deposited a little to the south of the centre of the tumulus; and about twenty feet to the north of it was another, with which was found a large mirror, about three feet in length, one foot and a half in width, and one inch and a half in thickness; this was of isinglass, (mica membranacea.) On this mirror was a plate of iron, which had become an oxyde,. but before it was disturbed by the spade, resembled a plate of cast iron. The mirror answered the purpose very well for which it was intended. This skeleton had also been burned like the former, and lay on charcoal and a considerable quantity of wood ashes ; a part of the mirror is in the possession of Mr. Atwater, as also a piece of brick, taken from the spot at the time. The knife, or sword handle, was sent to Peal's museum, Philadelphia. To the southwest of this tumulus, about forty rods from it, is another, more than ninety feet in height. It stands on a large hill, which appears to be artificial. This must have been the common ceme- try, as it contains an immense number of human skeletons, of all sizes and ages. These skeletons are laid horzontally, with their heads generally towards the centre, and the feet towards the out- side of the tumulus. In it have been found, besides these skele- tons, stone axes and stone knives, and several ornaments, with holes through them, by means of which, with a cord passing through these perforations, they could be worn by their owners, round the neck. Sir Robert Ker Porter says, that in Persia thousands of such stones are found belonging to the early ages of that people, and that they were considered by the Persians to be endowed with supernatural qualities, and were, therefore, made by the people to defend them from evil spirits; they are found in great abundance among the Hindoos even now. On the south side of this tumulus, and not far from it was a semicircular fosse, or ditch, six feet deep; which, when examined at the bottom, was found to con- tain a great quantity of human bones, which, it is believed, were m ' W^ Hjjt Itt '!' '" Bi,'' 1 ": H '- m^ 186 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ||;j> p.S K' P i' i'j^ •■"' K' ' i'' 1 1^^ li^ I'l' |f U- §;'•& tho remains of those who had been slain in some great and de- structive battle; because they belonged to persons invariably who had attained their full size; while those found in the mound adjoin- ing, were of all sizes, great and small, but laid in good order, while those in tho ditch were in the utmost confusion; and were, no doubt, the conquered invaders, buried thus ingloriously, where they they had intrenched themsolves, and fell in the struggle. Tho mirror was a monstrous piece of isinglass, a lucid mineral, larger than we recollect to have ever heard of before, and used among the rich of the ancients, for lights and mirrors. A mirror of any kind, in which men may be enabled to contemplate their own form, is evidence of a considerable degree of advancement in the arts, if not even of luxury itself. The Rev. Robert G. Wilson, D. D., of Chilicothe, furnished the Anti(|uarian Society, with information concerning the mound, which once stood near tho centre of that town, llo took pains to write down its contents at tho time of its demolition. Its pcrpen- ■dicular height was about fifteen feet, and the circumference of its t)asc about one hundred feet, composed wholly of sand. It was not till this pile of earth had been removed, that the original design of its builders could be discovered. On a common level with the surrounding earth, at the very bottom of this mound, they had devoted about twenty feet square; this was found to have been covered at first with bark, on which lay a human skeleton, over- spread with a mat, manufactured from weeds or bark, but greatly decayed. On the breast of this person lay what had been a piece of copper in the form of a cross^ which had become verdigris; on the breast also lay a stone ornament, three inches in length, and two and a half in width, with two perforations, one near each end, through which passed a string, by means of which it was suspend- ed from tho wearer's neck. On this string, which appeared to have been made of the sinews of some animal, which had been -cured or tanned, but were very much injured by time, was strung a great many beads, made of ivory or bone, he could not tell which. With these facts before us, we are left to conjecture at what time this individual lived, what were his heroic deeds in the field of bat- tle; his wisdom, his virtues, his eloquence in the councils of his nation ; for his cotemporaries have testified in a manner not to be mistaken, that among them he was held in honorable and grate- i AND DI8C0VER1E8 IN THE WE8T. 187 fill remembrance, by the mound which was raised over him at his decease. The cross on tlie breast of this skeleton, excites the most surprise, as that the cross is the emblem of the Christian religion. It is true, a knowledge of this badge of Christianity, may have been disseminated from Jerusalem, even as far east as China:; as wo know it was at a very early period, made known in mi\ny countries of Europe, Africa, and Asia; especially, at the era when the Roman emperor Constantino, in the year 331, ordered all the heathen temples to l)c destroyed, for the sake of Christianity, throughout his vast dominion. The (inostic heresy of the first centuries of the Christian era, which spread itself into more than fifty sects, wandered into all the countries of the known world. — In Africa, Asia, and pjurope, are still found gems, coins, and va- rious precious stones, having engravings upon them the emblems of their genii and their mystical characters, mingled with allusions, also, to the Christian religion. This cross, therefore, may it not have been left on the bosom of this skeleton by some officiating priest of the Gnostics, even here in America? (For an accoun of the Gnostics, see the Amulet^ 1832, by Marmion Savage, A. B., p. 282.) The reader may recollect, we have elicited an argument, from the age of the timber, or forest trees, growing on the mound, at Marietta, proposing to show the probable era when the country be- came depopulated; and come to the conclusion, that at least, about thirteen hundred years have passed away since that catas- trophe. This would give about five hundred years from Christ till the depopulation of the ancient western country; so that, during the lapse of those five centuries, a knowledge of what had been propa- gated at Jerusalem about Christ, may have been, easily enough by missionaries, travelling philosophers of the Romans, Greeks, or of other nations, carried as well to China, as to other distant countries, as we know was the fact, during those centuries. The string of beads, and the stone on his breast, which we take the liberty of calling the Shalgramu stone, or the stone in which the Hindoos suppose the god Vishnoo resides; together with the cop- per cross on his breast, and beads on his neck, are circumstances, which strongly argue that a mixture of Gnosticism^ Brahminism^ and ChristlanMy were embraced by this individual. To prove tha IBS AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES $ tho wearing of beads around the neck, or on the arm, for tho pur- pose of devotion, is a Hindoo custom, wo refer to Word's late lijs. tory of those nations, who was a Baptist missionary, among that people, and died in that country. This author says, (page 40,) that Brumha, the grandfather of the gods, holds in his hand, a string of beads, as an evidence of his devotion or goodness. Unmeet tho regent of fire, is represented with a Ixjad roll in his hand, to show that he is merciful or propitious to those who call upon him. — Pitge 45. The Hindoo mendicants, or .taintSy have invariably, a string of beads, made of bone, teeth of animals, ivory, stones, or the seeds of plants, or of something,hanging about their necks, or on their arms, which they recount, calling over and over, without end, tho name of the god, as evidence of devotion to him. — Pftge 422. The devotions of the ascetic disciples among the Hindoos, con- sists in repeating incessantly the name of their god, using, at the same time, the bead roll, or roasy, as the catholics do.— Page 427. " Strings of beads were used for this purpose, from remotest antiquity, in all eastern Asia." — (Hnmholdl^ p. 204.) This author further says, " the rosarie^^^ which is a string of beads, " have been in use in Thibet and China, from time immc- morial ; and that the custom pas.sed from the east, viz : China, to the Christians in the west, viz: Europe ;" and are found among the catholics ; no other sect of Christians, of the latter ages that we know of, have borrowed any trappings from the pagans, to aid their devotions, but this. The stone found on his breast, as before remarked, we assume to call the Shalgramu stone. Sec also, Ward's account of this stone, page 41 and 44, as follows : — A stone called the Shalgramu is a form of the god Vishnoo, and is in another case, the representative of the god Saoryu, or the sun. — Page 52. The Shalgramu, or Lingu, is a black stone, found in a part of the Gundeekee river. They are mostly perforated, in one or more places, by worms, while at the bottom of the river ; but the Hindoos believe the god Vishnoo, in the shape of a reptile, resides in this stone, and caused the holes. With this belief, how very natural it would be to wear on the breast, either in view or con- cealed, this stone, as an amulet, or charm, as found on the breast AND DIHC0VERIE8 IN THE WcsT. idO I his Imnd, a of this skeleton, in union with the cross. Wo are inclined to believe, that the Roman catholic religion, borrowed, at a very early period, after their peculiar formation and corruption, sub- sequent to the time of Constantino, the notion of the rosary, or bead r !!• which they recount while saying prayers, from the Hin- doos; and that from Christian missionaries, the Hindoo Brahmins borrowed the idea of the cross, which they might also wear, to- gether with the liingu stone, as an amulet or charm. For we sec on the breast of this person, both the emblem of Christianity, and of the Hindoo's superstition, on which account, wo are of the opinion that the ministers of tho Brahmin religion, lie buried beneath many of the western mounds. Mr. Ward informs us, page 272, that near the town of Dravi- na, in Hondostan-hu, are shown to this day, or at the time ho lived in India, four small elevations, or mounds, from the top of which, the great ascetic philosopher, ShunkurRcharyu, used to teach and haraxiguo the people and his disciplei'. From this cir- cumstance, we catch a glimpse of the oratorial use of the mounds in the east; and why not the same use be derived from them to the ancient people of the west ; and more especially so, if they may be believed to have, in any measure, derived themselves from any nations of the Chinese world. Great Works of thi Jlncienl JSationson the J^orth Fork of Paint Creek. On the north branch of this creek, five miles from Chilicothe, are works so immense, that although we have given the reader several accounts of this kind, yet we cannot well pass over these. They are situated on an elevated piece of land, called the second bottom. The first bottom, or flat, extends from Paint creek, till it is met by a bank of twenty-five feet in height, wkich runs in astraight line, and parallel with the stream. One hundred rods from the top of this first bank, is another bank, of thirty feet in height ; the wall of the works runs up this bank, and twenty rods 190 AMERICAN ANTIOUITIES I l-i .'■ m r:: PS beyond it. The whole land enclosed, is six hundred and twenty rods in circumference, and contains one hundred and twenty-six acres of land. This second bank runs also parallel with the creek, and with the first. On this beautiful elevation, is situated this immense work, containing within it, seventeen mounds of diilerent sizes. Three hundred and eight rods of this fort are encompassed with a wall twelve feet high, a ditch twenty feet wide, and the wall the same at its base. Two hundred and forty rods, ruuning along on the top of the first bank, is the rest of the wall ; but is without a ditch ; this is next to the river or creek, between which and the water, is the first bottom or flat. At the time the builders of this vast work erected it; it is likely that the Creek run along, near the wall, but has now receded, by being drained off, at the time the Ohio with other western rivers ruptured the mountains which evidently once dammed them up, of which we shall speak in due time. Within this great enclosure, is a circular work of one hundred rods in circumference, with a wall and ditch sur rounding it, of the same height of the other wall. Within this great circle, are six mounds, of the circular form ; these are full of humane bones ; the rest of the mounds, eleven in number, are for some other purpose. There are seven gateways, of about five rods in width each. " The immense labor, and numerous ceme- teries filled with human bones, denote a vast population, near this spot, in ancient times." — (^Atwater.) ** Tumuli are very common on the river Ohio, from its utmost sources to its month, although on the Monongahela, they are few, and comparatively small, but increase in number and size, as we descend towards the mouth of that stream at Pittsburgh, where the Ohio begins; after this they are still more numerous and of great- er dimensions, till we arrive at Grave creek, below Wheeling. At this place, situated between two creeks, which run into the Ohio, a little way from the river, is one of the most extraordinary and august monuments of antiquity, of the mound description. Its circumference at its base, is fifty-six rods, its perpendicular height ninety feet, its top seven rods and eight feet in circumfer- ence. The centre at the summit, appears to have sunk several feet, so as to form a kind of amphitheatre. The rim enclosing this concavity is seven or eight feet in thickness ; on the south side, in the edge of this rim, stands a large beech tree, the bark ■<■*) il' M "'tis: AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. m of which is marked with the initials of a great number of visi- tants." This lofty and venerable tumulus has been so far opened as to- ascertain that it contains many thousands of human skeletons, but no farther; the proprietor will not suffer its demolition, in the least degree, for which he is highly praiseworthy. Following the river Ohio downwards, the mounds appear on both sides, erected uniformly on the highest alluvials along that stream, increasing in numbers all the way to the Mississippi, on which river they assume the largest size. Not having surveyed them, (says Mr. Atwater,) we shall use the description of Mr» Breckenridge, who travelled much in the west, and among the Indians; and devoted much attention to the subject of these aston- ishing western antiquities. " These tumuli, (says Mr. Breckenridge,) as well as the fortifi- cations, are to be found at the junction of all the rivers along the Mississippi, in the most eligible positions for towns, and in the most extensive bodies of fertile land. Their number exceeds, perhaps three thousand ; the smallest^ not less than twenty feet in height, and three hundred in circumference at the base. — Their great number, and their amazing size, may be regarded as furnishing, with other circumstances, evidence of their great antiquity. I have been sometimes induced to think, that at the period when these were constructed, there was a population as numerous as that which once animated the borders of the Nile, or the Euph- rates. The most numerous, as well as the most considerable of these remains, are found precisely in those parts of the country where the traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from the mouth of Ohio, on the east side of the river, to the lUnois, and on the west side, from the St. Francis to the Mis- souri. I am perfectly satisfied that cities similar to those of anci- ent Mexico, of several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this western country." From this view we are compelled to look upon those nations as agriculturists, or they could not have subsisted ; neither wild game nor fish could possibly support so great a population. If agriculturists, then it must follow, of necessity, that many modes of building, as with stone, timber^ earth or clay, and brick were 192 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES practised and known, as well as methods of clearing the earth of heavy timber. And if they had not a knowledge of metals, we •cannot well conceive how they could have removed the forests for the purposes of husbandry, and space for building. But if we suppose they did not build houses with wood, stone and brick, but Jived in tents or some fragile hut, yet the use of metals cannot be dispensed with, on account of the forest to be removed for agri- cultural purposes. Baron Humboldt informs us, in his Researches in South America^ that when he crossed the Cordillera mountains, by the way of Panama and Assuay, and viewed the enormous masses of stone cut from the porhyry quarries of Pullal, which was employed in constructing the ancient highroads of the Incas, that he began to doubt whether the Peruvians were not acquainted with other tools than hatches made of flint and stone ; and that grinding one stone on another to make them smooth and level, was not the only method they had employed in this operation. On which account he adopted a new opinion, contrary to those gene- rally received. He conjectured that they must have had tools made of copper, hardened with tin^ such as it is known the early nations of Asia made use of. This conjecture was fully sustained by the discovery of an ancient Peruvian mining chisel, in a silver mine at Yilcabamba, which had been worked in the time of the Incas. This instrumentof copper was four inches long, and three- fourths of an inch wide ; which he carried with him to Europe, where he had it analyzed, and found it to contain ninety-four parts of copper and six of tin. He says, that this keen copper of the Peruvians is almost identically the same with that of the ancient Gallic axe, which cut wood nearly as well as if made of iron and «teel. Every where on the old continent, at the beginning of the civil- ization of nations, the use of copper, mixed with tin, prevailed over that of iron, even in places where the latter had been for a long time known. Antonio de Herera, in the tenth book of his History of the West Indies^ says expressly that the inhabitants of the maritime coast of Zoctallan, in America, prepared two sorts of copper, of which one was hard and cutting, and the other mal- ieable. The hard copper was to make hatchets, weapons and in- struments of agriculture with, and that it was tempered with tin. — (Humboldt^ vol. 1, pp. 260—268.) If^ AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 193 e earth of ketalS) we forests for But if we brick, but cannot be d for agri- Researches mountains, ; enormous illal, which f the Incas, t acquainted > ; and that id level, was iration. On » those gene- ire had tools svn the early illy sustained |l, in a silver time of the ig, and three- to Europe, ity-four parts ►pper of the If the ancient le of iron and Among a great variety of the gods of the people of the Tonga islands, in the South Pacific ocean, is found one god named To-gi Ocummea, which is, literally, the iron axe. From which circum- stance we imagine the people of those islands, sometimes called the Friendly Islands, were, at some period before their having been discovered by Captain Cook, acquainted with the use of iron and consequently in a more civilized condition. Because men, in those early times, were apt to deify almost every thing, but 6 pecially those things the most useful. Were the people of Christendom to lose their knowledge of the true God, and to fall back into nature's ignorance, is there an article within the compass of the arts which would from its usefulness have a higher claim to deification than the metal called iron. That group of islands belongs to the immense range shooting out from New-Holla«d, in south latitude about 20 deg. and once perhaps were united to China, forming a part of the continent. But, however this may be, the first inhabitants of those islands were derived from China, and carried with them a knowledge of the arts ; among which was that of the use of iron, in form of the axe, which, it appears, had become deified from its useful- ness. The reason of the loss of this knowledge, must have been the separation of their country from the continent by convulsions, from age to age ; which not only altered the shape and condition of the land, but threw the inhabitants into confusion, separating them far from each other, the sea running between, so that they became reduced to savagism, as they were found by the first Christian nations. of the civil- bn, prevailed |,d been for a book of his [nhabitants of •ed two sorts \Q other mal- tponsand in- ired with tin. Traits of ancient Cities on the Mississippi. • Nearly opposite St. Louis, there are the traces of two ancient •cities, in the distance of a few miles, situated on the Cohokia creek, which empties into the Mississippi, but a short distance below that place. Here is situated one of those pyramids, which is one hundred and fifty rods in circumference at its base, (nearly half a mile,) and one hundred feet high. At St. Louis is one with two 13 194 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES .••»i 11 Mk stages or landing places, as the architectural phrase is. There is another with three stages, at the mouth of the Missouri, a few miles above St. Louis. With respect to the stages, or landing peaces of these pyramids, we are reminded of the tower once standing in old Babylon, which had eight stages from its base to the summit, making it six hundred feet high. At the mouth of the Cohokia creek, a short distance below St. Louis, are two groups of those mounds, of smaller size, but we are not inform- ed of their exact number. At Bayeau Manchac and Baton Rogue, are several mounds, one of which is composed chiefly of shells, which the inhabitants burn into lime. There is a mound on Black river, which has two stages or stories ; this is surrounded with a group of lesser ones, as well as those at Bayeau Manchac, and Baton Rouge. There is one of those pyramids near Wash- ington, in the Stkte of Mississippi, which is one hundred and forty six feet high ; which is little short of nine rods perpendicular ele- vation, and fifty-six rods in circumference. Mr. Breckenridge is ' of the opinion that the largest city belonging to this people, the authors of the mounds and other works, was situated on the plains between St. Francis and the Arkansas. There is no doubt but in the neighborhood of St. Louis must have been cities or large towns of these ancient people ; as the number and size of the mounds above recounted would most certainly justify. Fifteen miles in a south westerly direction from the town of St. Louis, on the Merrimack river, was discovered, by a Mr. Long, on lands which he had purchased there, several mounds of the ordinary size, as found in the valley of the Mississippi, all of which go to establish that this country, lying between the Missouri and the Mississippi rivers, below St. Louis, and between the junc- tion of the Illinois and the Mississippi above, with the whole re- gion about the union of those rivers with each other, — which are all not far from St. Louis — was once the seat of empire, equal, if not surpassing, the population and the arts as once they flourish- ed on the plains of Shinar, the seat of Chaldean power, and on the banks of the Euphrates. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 195 There ri, a few • landing ^er once s base to nouth of are two t inform- on Rogue, of shells, mound on surrounded Manchae, ear "Wash- i and forty dicular ele- ikenridge is people, the n the plains doubt but in es or large size of the Tradition of the ^lexican JSTatives respecting their Migration from the JS^jrlh. In corroboration of Mr. Atwater's opinion with respect to the gradual remove of the ancient people of the west toward Mexico, we subjoin what we have gathered from the Researches of Baron Humboldt, on that point. See Helen Maria William's translation of Humboldt's Researches in America, vol. 2, page 67; from which it appears the people inhabiting the vale of Mexico, at the time the Spaniards overrun that country, were called Aztecks, or Aztekas; and were, as the Spanish history informs us, usurpers, having come from the north, from a country which they called Aztalan. This comitry of Aztalan, Baron Humboldt says, " we must look for at least north of the forty-second degree of latitude." He comes to this conclusion from an examination of the Mexican or Azteka manuscripts, which were made of a certain kind of leaves, and of skins prepared; on which an account in painted hieroglyphics, or pictures, was given of their migration from Aztalan to Mexico, and how long they halted at certain places ; which, in the aggregate, amounts to " four hundred and sixteen years." The following names of places appear on their account of their journeyings, at which places they made less or more delay, and built towns, forts, tumuli, &c. 1st. A place of Humiliation and a place of Grottoes. It would seem at this place they were much afflicted and humbled; but in what manner is not related; and also at tins place, from the term grottoes^ that it was a place of caverns and dens, probably where they at first hid and dwelt, till they built a town and cleared the ground. Here they built the places which they called Tocalco and Oztatan. 2d journey. They stopped at a place o£ fruit trees ; probably meaning, as it was farther south, a place where nature was abundant in nuts, grapes, and wild fruit trees. Here they built a mound or tumuli; and, in their language, it is called a T©- ocali. 196 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 'I »* {p 3d journey; when they stopped at a place of herbs, with broad leaves ; probably meaning a place where many succulent plants grew, denoting a good soil, which invited them to pitch their tents here. 4th journey; when they came to a place of human bones ; where they, either during their stay, had battles with each oth- er, or with some enemy ; or they may have found them al- ready there, the relics of other nations before them; for, according to Humboldt, this migration of the Aztekas took place A.D. 778; so that other nations certainly had preceded them, also from the north. 5th journey; they came to a place of eagles. 6th journey; to a place of precious stones and minerals. ■ • 7th journey; to a place of spinning, where they manufetcturcd clothing of cotton, barks, or of something proper for clothing of some sort, and mats of rushes and feathers. 8th journey ; they came to another place of eagles, called the Eagle mountain: or, in their own language, Quauktli Tepee: Tepee, says Humboldt, in the Turkish language, is the word for mountain; which two words are so near alike, tepee, and tepe, that it would seem almost an Arab word, or a word used by the Turks. 9th journey; when they came to a place of walls, and the se- ven grottoes; which shows the place had been inhabited before, and these seven grottoes were either caves in the earth, or were made in the side of some mountain, by those who had preceded them. 10th journey; when they came to a place of thistles, sand and vultures. 11th journey; when they came to a place of Obsidian mirrors, which is much the same with that of isinglass, scientifically called mica membranacea. This mineral substance is frequently found in the tumuli of the west, and is called by the Mexicans the shining god. The obsidian stone, however, needs polishing before it will answer as a mirror. 12th journey; came to a place of water, probably some lake or beautiful fountains, which invited their residence there, on the account not only of the water, but for fishing and game. 13th journey; they came to the place of the Divine Monkey, AND DI8C0VKRIES IN THE WEST. 197 called, in their own language, Teozomoco. In the most ancient Hebrew, this animal is called K-oph, Kooph and Kuphcn; in the Arabic, which is similar to the Hebrew, it is called K-ha-noos, Khanassa, and Chanass; all of which words bear a strong resem- blance to the Mexican Te-oz-o-moco, especially to the Arabic Khanooss. Here, it would seem, they set up the worship of the monkey, or baboon, as the ancient Egyptians are known to have done. This animal is found in Mexico, according to Hum- boldt. 14th journey; when they came to a high mountain, proba- bly with table lands on it, which they called Chopaliepec, or mountain of locusts : *' A place," says Baron Humboldt, '♦ cel- ebrated for the magnificent view from the top of this hill ;" which, it appears, is in the Mexican country, and probably not far from the vale of Mexico, where they finally and permanently rested. 15th journey; when they came to the vale of Mexico ; having here met with the prodigy, or fulfilmejit of the prophecy, or ora- cle, which at their outset from the country of Aztalan, Huehue- tlapallan, and Amaquemecan; which was, (see Humboldt, vol. 2, p. 185,) that the migrations of the Azteks should not terminate till the chiefs of the nation should meet with an eagle, perched on a cactus tree, or prickly pear; at such a place they might found a city. This was, as their bull-hide books inform us, in the vale of Mexico. We have related this account of the Azteka migration from the country of Aztalan, Huehuetlapallan, and Amaquemacan, from the regions of north latitude forty-two degrees merely to show that the country, provinces, or districts, so named in their books, must have been the country of Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois, with the whole region thereabout; lor these are not far from the very latitude named by Humboldt, as the region of Aztalan, &c. The western country is now distinguished by the general name of the "lake country;*' and why? because it is a country of lakes; and for the same reason it was called by the Mexican, Az- teka, Indians, AztalanSy because in their language atl is water, from which Aztalan is doubtless a derivative, as well also, as their 198 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES m own name as a nation, or title, which was AslecaSt or people of the lakes. This account, derived from the Mexicans since their reduction by the Spaniards, gathered from the researches of learned travel- lers, who have, for the very purpose of learning the origin of the people of this country, penetrated not only into the forest retreats in the woods of Mexico, but into the mysteries of their hard lan- guage, their theology, philosophy and astronomy. This account of their migration, as related above, is corroborated by the tradition of the Wyandot Indians. We come to a knowledge of this tradition by the means of a Mr.William Walker, some time Indian agent for our government; who, it seems, from a pamphlet published, 1823, by Frederick Falley, of Sandusky, giving Mr. Walker's account, that a great many hundred years ago, the ancient inhabitants of America,who were the authors of the great works of the west, were driven away from their country and possessions by barbarous and savage hordes of warriors,who came from the north and northeast, before whose power and skill in war, they were compelled to flee, and went to the south. After having been there many hundred years, a runner came back into the same country from whence the ancient people had been driven, which we suppose is the very country of Aztalan, or the region of the western States, bringing the intelligence, ihat a dreadful ieos^ had landed on their coast along the sea, •which was spreading among them havoc and death, by means of fire and thunder ; and that it would no doubt travel all over the country, for the same purpose of destruction. This beast, whose voice was like thunder, and whese power to kill was like fire, we have no doubt represents the cannon and small arms of the Span- iards, when they first commenced the murder of the people of ^outh America. Supposed Uses of the Jlncient Roads connected with the Mounds. Ancient roads, or highways, which in many parts of the west are found walled in on both sides for many miles, where the forest AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 199 trees arc growing as abundant, and as large, and aged, as in any part of the surrc jnding woods. We have already mentioned seve- ral roads which have always been found connected with some great wdrks; as at Piketon, Portsmouth, Newark, Licking county, and at the works on the Little Miami river. These roads, where they have been traced, are found to communicate with some mound, or mountain, which had been shaped by art to suit the purposes of those who originated these stupendous works. The circumstance of their being walled in by banks of earth, leaving from one to four and six rods space between, has excited much inquiry as to the reason and purposes of their construction. 13ut may not this grand characteristic of the people of the west in road building, be illustrated by comparing a practice of the Mexicans with this fact ? We will show the practice, and then dr w the conclusion. " The Mexicans believed, according to a very ancient tradi- tion, that the end of the world would take place at the termina- tion of every cycle of fifty-two years; that the sun would no more appear on the horizon, and that mankind would be devoured by evil genii of hideous appearance, known under the name of Tzit- zimimes. "On the last day of this great cycle of time, of fifty-two years, the sacred fires were extinguished in all their temples and dwel- lings, and every where, all the people devoting themselves to prayer; no person daring to light a fire at the approach of the night; the vessels of clay were broken, garments torn, and what- ever was most precious was destroyed, because every thing ap- peared useless at the tremendous moment of the last day; amidst this frantic superstition, pregnant women became the objects of pe- culiar horror to the men; they caused their faces to be hidden with masks made with the paper of the agave; they were even imprisoned in the store houses of maize or corn, from a persua- sion that if the catastrophe took place, the women, transformed into tigers, would make common cause with the evil genii, and avenge themselves of the •injustice of the men. As soon as it was dark, the grand procession, called the festival of the new fire, commenced. The priests took the dresses of the gods, and fol- lowed by an immense crowd of people, went in a solemn train to the mountain of Huzachthcatl,which was two leagues or six miles 200 AMBRICAN ANTiaUlTIES Mi, from Mexico. This lugubrious march was called the march oC the gods; which was supposed to be their final departure from their city, and possibly never to return; in which event, the end of the world wa? come. When the procession had reached the summit of the mountain, it waited till the moment when the Plei- des, or the seven' stars, ascended the middle of the sky, to begin tho horrible sacrifice of a human victim, stretched on the stone of sacrifice, having a wooden disk on the breast, which the priest inflames by friction. Tho corpse, after having received a wound in the breast, which extinguished life, while he was held on the fatal stone, was laid on the ground; and the instrument made use of to produce fire by friction was placed on the wound,which had been made with a knife of obsidian stone. When the bits of wood, by the rapid motion of tho cylinder, or machine made use of for that purpose, had taken fire, an enormous pile, previously pre- pared to receive the body of the unfortunate victim, was kindled, the flames of which, ascending high into the air, were seen at a great distance; when the vast populace of the city of Mexico and surrounding country filled the air with joyful shouts and acclama- mations. All such as were not able to join in the procession were stationed on the terraces of houses, and on the tops of teocallis, or mounds and tumulis, with their eyes fixed on the spot where the flame was to appear: which, as soon as it was perceived, was a token of the benevolence of the gods, and of the preservation of mankind during another cycle of fifty-two years. Messengers posted at proper distances from each other, holding branches of wood, of a very resinous pine, carried the new fire from village to village, to the distance of many leagues, and deposited it anew in every temple, from whence it was distributed to all private dwellings. When the sun appeared on the horizon, the shouting was redoubled, the procession went back from the mountain to the city, and they thought they could see their gods also returning to their sanctuaries. The women were then released from their prisons, every one put on a new dress, the temples were white- washed, their household furniture renewed, their plate, and what- ever was necessary for domestic use. This secular festival, this apprehension of the sun being extinguished at the epoch of the winter solstice, seems to present a new instance of analogy be- tween the Mexicans and the inhabitants of Egypt. When the AND DISCOVKRIKS IN THE WEST. 201 Egyptians saw the sun descend from the Crab towards Capricorn^ and the days gradually grow shorter, they were accustomed to sorrow, from the apprehension that the sun was going to abandon the earth, but when the orb began to return, and the duration of the days grew longer, they robed themselves in white gar- ments, and crowned themselves with flowers/' (Humboldt^ p. 380, 384.) This Mexican usage may have been practised by the people of the west, as the roads would seem to justify, leading as they do, either to some mountain prepared by art, or to some mound : and as these processions took place in the night, so that the Pleiades, or seven stars, might be seen, it was necessary that the roads should be walled as a defence against an enemy, who might take advantage under cover of the night. After having examined these accounts of the ancient works of the west, it is natural to ask, who their authors were : this can be answered only by com- parison and conjecture, more or less upheld, as circumstances, features, manners, and customs of the nations, many resemble each other. " If we look into the Bible, we shall there learn, that mankind, soon after the deluge, undertook to raise a tower, high as heaven or the clouds, designed to keep them together. But in this attempt they were disappointed, and themselves dis- persed throughout the world. Did they forget to raise afterwards similar monuments and places of worship ? They did notj "and to use the words of an inspired writer, " high places," of various altitudes and dimensions, were raised on every high hill through- out the land of Palestine, and all the east, among the pagan na- tions. Some of these " high places" belonged to single families ; some to mighty chieftains, a petty tribe, a city, or a whole nation. At those '* high places," belonging to great nations, great nation- al affairs were transacted. Here they crowned and deposed their kings; here they concluded peace, and declared war, and worship- ped their gods. The Jews, on many great occasions, assembled at Gilgal ; which word signifies " an heap." Shiloh, where the Jews frequently assembled to transact great national affairs, and perform acts of devotion, was on the top of a higb hill. When this was forsaken, the loftiest hill of Zidn was selected in its stead; upon Sinai's awful summit the law of God was promulgated. Solomon's temple was situated upon a high hill, by Divine ap- ■202 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES "1 11 I'* pointmcnt. Snmnria, a place cnlobratod, for tho worship of kiol^, WU8 built upon tho high hill of Shcmcr, by Omri, one of tho kings of Israel. How many hundreds of mounds in this country are situated on tho highest hills, surrounded by tho most fcrtilo soils 1 Traverse tho counties of Licking, Franklin, Pickaway, and Ross; cxamino the loftiest mounds, and compare them with those des- cribed in Palostino, and a conviction will remain, that as in tho earliest ages, men preferred the summit of the highest mountains, as a love of tho same, as a memorial of ancestry, would influcnco posterity to tho like custom." — (Atwatcr.) Hut the most extraordinary mound wc have heard of, is men- tioned by Schoolcraft, Travels in the West. It is called Mortit Jolicfy and is situated on the river Dos Plains, one of the head wa- ter rivers of the Illinois. Its situation is such as to give to its size its fullest cflect, being on a level country with no hill in sight to form a contrast. Its height is sixty feet, nearly four rods per- pendicular, its length eighty-four rods, its width fourteen, and is one liundred and ninety-six rods in circumfercnco on its top, but considerably larger, measuring round the base. It has been re- marked by Dr. I?eck, that this is probably the largest mound with- in the limits of tho United States. This mound is built on tho hor- izontal lime stone stratum of tho secondary formation, and is fronted by the beautiful lake Joliet, which is but fifteen miles long, furnishing the most " noble and picturesque spot in all Ameri- ca." (Schoolcraft.) This mound consists of eighteen million two hundred and fifty thousand solid feet of earth. How long it took to build it, is more than can be made out, as the number of men employed, and the facilities to carry on the work, are un- known. In England, Scotland, and in Wales, they are thus situated. At Inch Tuthel, on the river Tay, there is a mound which resembles this on the Licking, near Newark. The camp at Comerie is on a water of Ruchel, situated on a high alluvion, like that in the west. The antiquities of Ardoch are on a water Kneckt their walls, ditches, gateways, mounds of defence before them, and -every thing about them, resembling our works of this character in America. What Pennant, in his Antiquarian Researches in the north of Europe, calls a prcetoriunij is exactly like the circular works round AND DiaCOVBRIRS IN THE WKST. 203 otir mounds, when placod within walls of earth. Cattor-thun, two miles from Angus, is nscrilicd to the ancient Colodonians or Scotch. Such works are very common in Ohio. One on the river Loden, or Lowtlic, and another near the river Emet, are ex- actly liko those in the west. The strong rescmhlanw )xi veen the works in Scotland and those of the woMt, I think i»ays Mr. Atwa- tcr, no man will deny. In various parts ( '" the British isles, as well as I'iUgland, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, an; abundance of those works, which were plac»5s of worship, biiriaJ, and defence, built by the ancient Picts, so called by the Romans, because they l^rt/n/erf themselves, like the aborigines of this country. At a vory early period of the ^lobe, a small mound of earth served as a sepulchre and an altar, whcron the olHciating priest Could be seen by the surrounding worshippers. Such sacred works may bo traced from Wales to Russia, f|iiite across that empire north, to our continent ; and then across this continent, from the Co- lumbia on the Pacific ocean, to the Black river, on the east end of lake Ontario ; thence turning in a southwestern direction, we find them extending (piite to the southern parts of Mexico and Peru. " If there exists," says Dr. Clarke, "any thing of former times which may afibrd evidence of antediluvian manners, it is this mode of burial ; which seems to mark the progress of po- pulation in the first ages after the dispersion, occasioned by the confusion of languages, at Babel. Whether under the form of a mound in Scandinavia and Russia, a barrow in England, or cairn in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, or heaps of earth, which the modern Greeks and Turks call tepe^ and the Mexicans lepec; and lastly, in the more artificial shape of a pyramid, in Egypt : they had universally the same origin." Here we have the onequivocal opinion of a man who has scarce- ly his fellow, respecting a knowledge of the ancient manners of mankind ; who says, that the tumuli, found in all parts of the earth, belong solely to the age immediately succeeding Noah's flood ; which greatly favors our opinion, that this country was settled as early as the other parts of the earth, which are at as great a distance from Mount Ararat and Babylon. But what is the distance from Mount Ararat by way of Bhering's strait, to the middle of the United States, which is the region of 204 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES m the Missouri ? It is something over ten thousand miles ; nearly half the circuit of the globe. Here* in the region of the western states, we have, by the aid of Baron Humboldt, supposed the country of Aztalan was situated ; where the great specimens of labor and ancient manners are moot tSundant. If this was the way the first people^came into America, it is very clear they could not, in the ordinary way of making a settlement here and there, have arrived soon enough to show signs of as great antiquity, in their works in America, as those of the same sort found in the north of Europe. Some other way, therefore, we are confident, the first inhabitants must have pursued, so that their works in America might compare, in character and antiquity, with those of other nations. From Ararat, in a westerly course, passing through Europe, by way of the countries now situated in Russia in Europe, to the Atlantic, the distance is scarcely 5000 miles ; not half the distance the route of Bhering's strait would have been. And if the Egyptian tradition be true respecting the is- land Atalantis, and the conjectures of naturalists about a union of Europe and America on the north, there was nothing to hinder their settling here, immediately after their dispersion. It is supposed theirs/ generations immediately succeeding the flood, were much more enlightened than many nations since that period ; the reason is, they had not yet forgotten that which they had learned of the manners of their antediluvian ancestors, from Noah : but as they spread and diverged asunder; what they had learned from him concerning the creation, architecture, and the culture of the earth before the flood, they lost, and thus retrograd- ed to savagism. It is true, the family of Shem, of whom were Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, by the particular Providence of God, retained unadul- terated, the traditional history of the creation, and of man, till the time Moses embodied it in a book, 857 years after the flood. But the rest of the nations were left, in this respect^ to mere recollec- tions; which, as soon as they divided and subdivided, became con- tradictory and monstrous in their accounts. But the authors of the great works found in the west, seem to have retained the first ideas received from their fathers at the era of the building of Babel, equally, if not superior, to many nations of Europe, as they were in the year 800 after Christ. This is Ie8 ; nearly the western ipposed the Jecimens of is was the r they could and there, ntiquity, in und in the 5 confident, r works in with those je, passing 1 in Russia 300 miles ; i^ould have ing the is- )ut a union » to hinder ceding the since that ^'hich they itors, from t they had ), and the retrograde m, Isaac, jd unadui- in, till the bod. But ! recollec- ;ame con- , seem to at the era y nations This is u ^^ m 1 If :M AND DISCOVKRIES IN THE WEST. 205 consented to on all hands, and even contended for by the histo- rian Humboldt. In order to show the reader the propriety of believing that a colony, very soon after the confusion of the language of mankind, found their way to what is now called Ame- rica, we give the tradition of the Azteca, nation, who once in- habited Aztalan, the country of the western states^ but were, at the era of the conquest of South America, found inhabiting the vale of Mexico, because they had, as we have shown, been driven away by the irruptions of the Tartarian Indians, as fol- lows : see below. Traits of the Mosaic History found among the Azteca J^ations. The tradition commences with an account of the deluge, as they had preserved it in books made of the buffalo and deer skin, on which account there is more certainty than if it had been preserved by mere oral tradition, handed down from father to son. They begin by painting, or as we would say, by telling us that Noah, whom they call Tezpi, saved himself, with his wife whom they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. Is not this the ark ? The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain, which they call Colhuacan. Is not this Ararat ? The men born after this deluge were born dumb. Is not this the confusion of language at Babel ? A dove from the top of a tree distributes languages to them in the form of an olive leaf. Is not this the dove of Noah, which returned with that leaf in her mouth, as related in Genesis? They say, that on this raftj beside Tezpi and his wife, were seve- ral children^ and animals, with grain, the preservation of which was of importance to mankind. Is not this in almost exact ac- cordance with what was saved in the ark with Noah, as stated in Genesis ? When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture^ which never re- turned, on account of the gi*eat quantities of dead carcasses which 206 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES II P^-: |i n it found to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which did not return when it was sent out the second time, for the very rea- son here assigned by the Mexicans 1 Tezpi sent other birds,one of which was the humming bird ; this bird alono returned, hold- ing in its beak a branch covered with leaves. Is not this the dove ? Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure now clothed the earth, quitted his raft near the mountain of Colhuacan. Is not this an allusion to Ararat of Asia ? They say the tongues which the dove gave to mankind, were infinitely varied ; which, when re- ceived, they immediately dispersed. But among them there were fifteen /icarf* or chiefs o( families, which were permitted to speak the same language, and these were the Taltecs, the Aculhu- cans, and Azteca nations, who embodied themselves together, which was very natural, and travelled, they knew not where, but at length arrived in the country of Aztalan, or the lake country in Aujerica. The plate or engraving presented here, is a surprising repre- sentation of the deluge of Noah, and of the confusion of the ancient language, at the building of the tower of Babel, as related in the book of Genesis, (see chap. vii. and xi.) We have derived the subject of this plate from Baron Humboldt's volume of Researches in Mexico, who found it painted on a manu- script book, made of the leaves of some kind of tree, suitable for the purpose, after the manner of the ancient nations of the sultry parts of Asia, around the Mediterranean. Among the vast multitude of painted representations found by this author, on the books of the natives, made also frequently of prepared sinks of animals, were delineated all the leading circum- stances and history of the deluge, of the fall of man, and of the seduction of the woman by the means of the serpent^ the first murder as perpetrated by Cain, on the person of his b'-other Abel. The plate, however, here presented, shows no more than a picture of the flood, with Noah afloat on a raft, or as the tradi- tions of some of the nations say, on a tree, a canoe, and some say even in a vessel of huge dimensions. It also shows, by the group of men approaching the bird, a somewhat obscure history of the confusion of the ancient language, at the building of Babel, by representing them as being born dumb, who receive the gift of AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 207 speech from a dove, which flutters in the branches of the tree,, while she piesents the languages to the mute throng, by bestowing upon each individual a leaf of the tree, which is shown in the form of small commas suspended from its beak. Among the different nations, according to Humboldt, who inha- bited Mexico, were found paintings which represented the deluge, or the flood of Tezpi. The same person among the Chinese is called Fohi and Yti-iij which is strikingly similar in sound to the Mexican Tezpi^ in which they show how he saved himself and his wife, in a bark, or some say, in a canoe, others, on a raft,, which they call, in their language, a huahuate. The painting, of which the plate is the representation, shows Tezpi, or Noah, in the midst of the waters, lying on his back. The mountain^ the summit of which is crowned by a tree, and rises above the waters, is the peak of Colhucan, the Ararat of the Mexicans. At the foot of the mountain, on each side, appear the heads of Noah and his wife. The woman is known by the two points extending up from her forehead, which is the univer- sal designation of the female sex among the Mexicans. The horn at the left hand of the tree, with a human hand pointing to it, is the character representing a mountain, and the head of a bird placed above the head of Tezpi or Noah, shows the vulture which the Mexicans say Tezpi sent out of his acalli or boat to see if the waters had subsided. In the figure of the bird, with the leaves of a tree in its beak,^ is shown the circumstance of the dove's return to the Ark, whea it had been sent out the second time, bringing a branch of the olive in its mouth; but in their tradition it had become misplaced, and is made the author of the languages. That birds have a language, was believed by the nations of the old world. Some of those nations retain a surprising traditional account of the deluge; who say, that Noah embarked in a spacious acalU or boat, with his wife, his children, several animals, and grain, the preserva- tion of which was of great importance to mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw^ Tezpi, or Noah, sent out from his boat a vulture. But the bird's natural food was that of dead carcasses, it did not return, on ac- count of the great number of dead carcasses with which the earth> now dried in some places abounded. U08 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ;»v'J Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which was the humming bird; this bird alone returned again to the boat, holding in its beak a branch, covered with leaves. Tezpi now knowing that the <}arth was dry, being clothed with fresh verdure, quitted his bark near the mountain Colhucan, or Ararat. A tradition of the same fact, the deluge, is also found among the Indans of the Northwest. I received, (says a late travellar,) the following account from a Chief of one of the tribes, in his own words, in the english: — ** An old man, live great while ago, he wery good man, he have three son. The Great Spirit, tell him, go make raft — build wig. warn on top: for he make it rain wery much. When, this done, Great Spirit, say, put in two of all the creatures, then take sun, moon — all the stars, put them in — get in himseL, with his Eqvn, (wife) children, shut door, all dark outside. Then it rain much hard, many days. When they stay there long time — Great Spirit say, old man, go out. So he take,'^diving animal, sa goy see if find the earth: so he went, come back, not find any thing. Then he wait few days — send out mushquash, see what he find. When he come back, brought some mud in he paw; old man wery glad; he tell mushquash, you wery good, long this world stand, be plenty mushquash, no man ever kill you all. Then few days more, he take wery prety bird, send him out, see what it find; that bird no come back: so he send out one white bird, that come back, have grass in he mouth. So old man know water going down. The Great Spirit say, old man, let sun, moon, stars go out, old man too. He go out, raft on much big mountain when he see prety bird, he send out first, eating dead things — he say, bird you do no right, when me send, you no come back, you must be black, you no prety bird any more — you always eat bad things. So it was black." The purity of those traditions is evidence of two things: first, that the book of Genesis, as written by Moses, is not as some have imagined, a cunningly devised fable, as these Indians cannot be accused of Christian, nor of Jewish priestcraft, their religion being of another cast. And second, that the contents of America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, were anciently united, so that the earlier nations came directly over after the confusion of the ancient language and dispersion— on which account its purity has been preserved more than among the more wandering tribes of the old continents. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 209 As favoring this idea of their (the Mexicans) coming immedi- ately from the region of the tower of Babel, their tradition goes on to inform us, that the tongues distributed by this bird were infinitely various, and dispersed over the earth; but that it so happened that fifteen heads of families were permitted to speak the same language, these are the same shown on the plate. These travel- led till they came to a country which they called Aztalan, sup- posed to be in the regions of the now United States, according to Humboldt. The word Aztalan signifies in their language, watery or a country of much w.ater. Now, no country on the earth bet- ter suits this appellation than the western country, on account of the vast number of lakes found there, and is even, by us, called the lake country. There is another particular in this group of naked, dumb hu- man beings, worthy of notice, which is, that neither their coun- tenances nor form of their persons agree at all with the counte- nances or formation of the common Indians; they suit far bet- ter to the face of the ancient Britons, Greeks, Romans, Cartha- ginians and Persians. The Persians are supposed to have been the progenitors of the German tribes. If so, it is evident, that the Indians are not the first people who found their way to this country. Among these ancient nations are found many traditions corresponding to the accounts given by Moses, respecting the creation, the fall of man by the means of a serpent — the murder of Abel by his brother, ike; all of which are denoted in their paintings, as found by the earlier travellers among them, since the discovery of America by Columbus, and carefully copied from their books of prepared hides, which may be called parchment, after the manner of the ancients of the earliest ages. We are pleased when we find such evidence, as it goes to the establishment of the truth, of the his- torical parts of the old Testament, evidence so far removed from the sceptic's charge of priestcraft here among the unsophis- cated nations of the woods of America. Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, says that among the Chiap- ancse Indians, was found an ancient manuscript in the language of that country, made by the Indians themselves, in which it was >;aid, according to their ancient tradition, that a certain person, named Volanj was present at that great building, which was made 14 210 AMERICAN ANTIOUITIEB t't< m 1 if.ia.i «•■>' by order of his uncle, in order to mount up to heaven; that the» every people was given their language, and that Votan himself was charged by God to make the division of the lands of Anahuac — 80 Noah divided the earth among his sons. Votan may have been Noah, or a grandson of his. Of the ancient Indians of Cuba, several historians of America relate, that when they were interrogated by the Spaniards concern- ing their orign, they answered, they had heard from their ances- tors, that God created the heavens and the earth, and all things: that an old man having foreseen the deluge with which God de- signed to chastise the sins of men, built a large canoe and embark- ed in it with his family, and many animals; that when the inun- dation ceased, he sent out a raven, which, because it found food suited to its nature to feed on, never returned to the canoe; that he then sent out a pigeon, which soon returned, bearing a branch of the Hoba tree, a certain fruit tree of America, in its mouth; that when the old man saw the earth dry, he disembarked, and having made himself wine of the wood grape, he became in- toxicated and fell asleep; that then one of his sons made ridicule of his nakedness, and that another son piously covered him; that, upon waking, he blessed the latter and cursed the former. Lastly, these islanders held that they had their origin from the accursed son, and therefore went almost naked; that the Span- iards, as they were clothed, descended perhaps from the other. Many of the nations of America, says Clavigero, have the same tradition, agreeing nearly to what we have already related. It was the opinion of this author, that the nations who peopled the Mexican empire, belonged to the posterity of Naphtuhim — (the same, we imagine, with Japheth;) and that their ancestors having left Egypt not long after the confusion of the ancient language, travelled towards America, crossing over on the isth- mus, which it is supposed once united America with the African continent, but since has been beaten down by the operation of the waters of the Atlantic on the north, and Southern ocean on the S''uth, or by the operation of earthquakes. Now we consider the comparative perfection of the preserva- tion of this Bible account, as an evidence that the people among whom it was found must have settled in this country at a very early period of time, after the flood, and that they did not wander any more, but peopled the continent, cultivating it, building towns AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 211: that theiy msclf was .nahuac — may have f America is concern- heir ances- all things: 3h God de- nd embark- in the inun- ; found food canoe; that ng a branch 1 its mouth; isembarkcd, 3 became in- nade ridicule }d him; that, the former. ;in from the [at the Span- the other. ■0, have the lady related, who peopled aphtuhim — lir ancestors the ancient on the isth- the African ration of the (cean on the [he preserva- leople among \y at a very not wander kilding towns and cities, after their manner; the vestiges of which are so abun- dant to this day; and on this account, viz , their fixedness^ their traditionary history was not as liable to become lost, as it would have undoubtedly been, had they wandered, as many other na- tions of the old world have done. As evidence of the presence of a Hindoo population in the southern, as well as the western parts of North America; we bring the Mexican traditions, re- specting some great religious teacher who once came among them. These say, that a wonderful personage, whom they name Quetzal' coatl, appeared among them, who was a white and bearded man. This person assumed the dignity of acting as a priest and legis- lator, and became the chief of a religious sect, which like the Songasis, and the Boudhists of Illndostan, inflicted on them- selves the most cruel penances. He introduced the custom of piercing the lips and ears, and lacerating the rest of the body, with the prickles of the agave and leaves, the thorns of the cac- tus, and of putting reeds into the wounds, in order that the blood might be seen to trickle more copiously. In all this, says Hum- boldt, we seem to behold one of those Rishi, hermits of the Gan- ges, whose pious austerity is celebrated in the books of the Hin- doos. Jewitt, a native of Boston, who lately died at Hartford, Conn., was some few years since, captured with the crew of the vessel in which he had sailed, by the Nootka Indians, at Nootka sound, on the Pacific. In his narrative of his captivity and suf- ferings, he states that those Indians had a religious custom, very similar to those of the Hindoos, now in use about the temple oP Juggernaut, in India; which was that of piercing heir sides with long rods, and leaping about while the rods were in the wounds. Respecting this white and bearded man, much is said in their tradition, recorded in their books of skin, and among other things ^ that after a long stay with them he suddenly left them, promising to return again, in a short time, to govern them and renew their happiness. This person resembles, very strongly, in his promise to return again, the behavior of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, who, on his departure from Lacedaemon, bound all the citizens under an oath, both for themselves and posterity, that they would neither violate nor abolish his laws till hi^ return; and soon after, in the Isle of Crete, he put himself to death, so that his return became impossible. 212 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES nm It was the posterity of this man whom the unhappy Montezuma thought he recognized in the soldiers of Cortez, the Spanish con- queror of Mexico. " We know," said the unhappy monarch, in his first interview with the Spanish general, *' by our books, that myself and those who inhabit this country, are not natives but strangers, who came from a great distance. We know, also, that the chief who led our ancestors hither, returned for a certain time, to his primitive country, and thence came back to seek those who were here established, who after a while, returned again, alone. We always believed that his descendants would one day come to take possession of this country. Since you arrive from that re- gion where the sun rises, I cannot doubt but that the king who sends you is our natural master." Humboldt says, that the Azteca tribes loft their country, Alta- ian, in the year of our Lord .')44; and wandered to the south or southwest, coming at last to the vale of Mexico. It would appear, from this view, that as the nations of Aztalan, with their fellow nations, left vast works, and a vast extent of country, apparently in a state of cultivation, with cities and villages, more in number than three thousand, as Brcckenridge supposed, that they must, therefore, have settled here long before the Christian era. The peculiar doctrines of the Hindoos, we are informed, were commenced to be taught in the east, among what is now called the Hindoo nations, by Zoroaster, about the time of Solomoii, 500 years before the time of Confucius, who was born 551 b. c. So that there was time for those doctrines of Confucius and Zoro- aster to take root in China, and to become popular, and also to reach America, by Hindoo missionaries, and overspread these regions long before the commencement of the Christian era. Of Zoroaster, it is said, that he wrote of the coming of the Messiah in plain words; and that the " wise men" of the east, who saw his star, were of his disciples, or sect. This doctrine he must have learned of the Jews whose books and theology had, when Zoroaster flourished, gone far among many nations from which they borrowed many things. But the peculiar doctrine of Con- fucius, which was the worship of fire as well as that of the sun, by Zoroaster, it is likely, was derived from the account he found a.nong the archieves of the Jews, respecting the burning bush of Moses, which had taken place more than a thousand years before AND DI8C0VCR1K8 IN THE WEST. 213 the time of Confucius. From this orij^inated, in all probability» as taught by Confucius, the burning of heroes, when dead, among many nations; and from this, that of immolating widows, as among the Hindoos, on the funeral pile, taught by the Brahmin missoinariea, who, undoubtedly, visited America, and planted their belief among these nations; the tokens of which appear so abundantly in the mounds and tumuli of the west. And this Quetzalcotl, a celebrated minister of those opinions, ap- pears to have been ihe^rst who announced the religion of the east among the people of the west. There was also one other minister, or Brahmin, who appeared among the Mozca tribes in South Ame- rica, whom they named Bochica. This personage taught the wor- ship of the sun; and if we were to judge, should pronounce him a missionary of the Confucian system, a worshipper of firo, which was the religion of the ancient Persians, of whose country Confu- cius was a native. This also is evidence that the first inhabitants of America came here al a period near the flood, long before that worship was known, or they would have had a knowledge of this Persian worship, which was introduced by Bochica among the American nations, which, it seems, they had not, until taught by this man. Bochica, it appears, became a legislator among those nations, and changed the form of their government to a form, the con- struction of which, says Baron Humboldt, bears a strong analogy to the governments of Japan and Thibet, on account of the pon- tiffs holding in theij: hands both the secular and the spiritual reins. In Japan, an island on the cast of Asia, or rather many islands, which compose the Japanese empire, is found a religious sect, styled Sint0, who do not believe in the sanguinary rites of shedding either human blood, or that of animals, to propitiate their gods; they even abstain from animal food, and detest blood- shed, and will not touch any dead body. — (Morsels Geography^ p. 523.) There is in South America a whole nation who eat nothing but vegetables, and who hold in abhorrence those who feed on flesh. —(Humboldt, p. 200.) Such a coincidence in the religion of nations can scarcely be supposed to exist, unless they are of one origin. Therefore, from what we have related above, and a few pages back, it is clear, nu AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ?!>■!' ' both from the tradition of the Aztckas, who lived in the western regions before they went to the south, and from the fact that na- tions on the Asiatic side of Bhcring^s strait having come annu^ ally over the strait to fight the nations of the northwest, that we, in this way, have given conclusive and satisfactory reasons why, in the western mounds and tumuli, are found evident tokens of the presence ef a Hindoo population ; or, at least, of nations influenced by the superstitions of that people, through the means of missionaries of those casts, and that they did not bring those opinions and ceremonies with them, when they ^r«/ left Asia, after the confusion of the antediluvian language, as led on by their fifteen chiefs ; till, by some mi3ans, and at some period, they finally found this country — not by the way of Bhering's strait, but some nearer course, as we have conjectured in other places in this work. Perhaps a few words on the supposed native country of 'Quetzalcotl may be allowed ; who, as we have stated, is reported to have been a tohite and bearded man, by the Mexican Aztekas. There is a vast range of islands on the northeast of Asia, in the Pacific, situated not very far from Bhering's strait, in latitude between forty and fifty degrees north. The inhabitants of these islands, when first discovered, were found to be far in advance in the arts and civilization, and a knowledge of government, of their continental neiglibors, the Chmese and Tartars. The island of Jesso, in particular, is of itself an empire, compara- •tivcly, being very populous, and are also highly polished in their manners. The inhabitants may be denominated white — their women especially, whom Morse, in his geography of the Japan, Jesso, and others in that range, says expressly are white, fair and ruddy. Humboldt says they are a bearded race of men, like Eu- ropeans. It appears the ancient government of these islands, especially that of Japan, which is neighbor to that of Jesso, was in the hands of spiritual monarchs and pontiffs, till the seventeenth century. As this was the form of government introduced by Quetzalcotl, when he first appeared among the Azteka tribes, which we sup- pose was in the country of Aztalan, or western States, may it not be conjectured that he was a native of some of those Islands, who ;in his wanderings had found his way hither, on errands of bene- AND DtSCOVERIBt IN THE WEST. 215 volcnco; as it is said in the tradition respecting him, that ho preached peace among men, and would not allow any other offer- ing to the divinity than the first fruits of the harvest, which doc- trine was in character with the mild and amiable manners of the inhabitants of those islands. And that peculiar and striking re- cord, found painted on the Mexican skin-books, which describes him to have been a white and bearded man, is our other reason for supposing him to have b''l: t 216 AMXKICAN ANTIQUIT1K6 The second day after his arrival happened to be the grand festival among them. He had the most favorable opportunity of witnessing their adorations at three remarkable stages — the sun's rising, meridian and setting. The morning was propitious, the air serene, the horizon clear, the weather calm. The nations divided in;o classes; warriors, young men and women, and married men with their children. Each class stood in the form of a quadrant, that each individual might behold the rising luminary, and each class held up a particu- lar offering to the sun the instant he rose in his glory. The war- riors presented their arms, the young men and women offered ears of corn and branches of trees, and married women held up to his light their infant children. These acts were performed in silence, till the object of their adoration visibly rose; when, with one im- pulse, the nations burst into praise, and sung a hymn in loud cho- rus. The lines, which wore sung with repetitions, and marked by pauses, were full of sublimity and judgment. Their meaning, when interpreted, is as follows : " Great Spirit ! master of our lives. Great Spirit ! master of things visible and invisible, and who daily makes them visible and invisible. Great Spirit ! master of every other spirit, good or bad; command the good to be favorable to us, and deter the bad from the commission of evil. O Grand Spirit ! preserve the strength and courage of our warriors, and augment their number, that they may resist the oppression of the Spanish enemies, and re- cover the country, and the rights of our fathers. O Grand Spirit! preserve the lives of such of our old men as are inclined to give counsel and example to the young. Preserve our children, multi- ply their number, and let them be the comfort and support of de- clining age. Preserve our corn and our animals, and let no fa- mine desolate the land. Protect our villages, guard our lives. Great Spirit ! when you hide your light behind the western hills, protect us from the Spaniards, who violate the night, and do evil which they dare not commit in the presence of your beams. Good Spirit ! make known to us your pleasure, by sending to us the Spirit of Dreams. Let the Spirit of Dreams proclaim your will in the night, and we will perform it through the day; and if it say the time of some be closed, send them. Master of Life ! to the great country of souls, where they may meet their fathers,. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 2 IT mothers, children and wives, and where you are pleased to shine upon them with a bright, warm and perpetual blaze ! O Grand 1 Great Spirit! hearken to the voice of nations, hearken to all thy children, and remember us always, for we are descended from- thee." Immediately after this address, the four quadrants formed one immense circle, of several deep, and danced and sung hymns de- scriptive of the power of the sun, till near ten o'clock. They then amused and refreshed themselves in the village and camp, but assembled precisely at the hour of twelve, and formed a number of circles, comm3nced the adoration of the meridian sun. The following is the literal translation of the mid-day ad- dress : ''Courage, nations ! courage ! the Great Spirit looks down upon us from his highest seat, and by his lustre appears content with the children of his own power and greatness. Grand Spirit ! how great are his works, and how beautiful arc they ! How good is the Great Spirit ! lie rides high to behold us. 'Tis he who causes all things to augment and to act. He even now stands for a mo- ment to hearken to us. Courage, nations ! courage ! The Great Spirit, now above our heads, will make us vanquish our enemies; lie will cover our fields with corn, and increase the animals of our woods. He will see that the old be made happy, and that the young augment. He will make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, and make them put up their voice to him, while he rises and sets in their land, and while his heat and light can thus glori- ously shine out." This was followed by dancing and hymns, which continued from two to three houfs; at the conclusion of which, dinners were served and eaten with great demonstrations of mirth and hilarity.. Mr. A.sh says he dined in a circle of chiefs, on a barbecued hog, and venison very well stewed, and was perfectly pleased with the repast. The dinner and repose after it continued till the sun was on the point of setting. On this being announced by several who had been on the watch, the nations assembled in haste, and formed themselves into segments of circles in the face of the sun, presenting their ofTenngs during the time of his descent, and cry- ing aloud: " The nations must prosper ; they have been beheld by the h'-'t ' ;<.3f, !■? ^ 218 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Great Spirit. What more can they want ? Is not that happi. ness enough ? See ! he retires, great and content, after having visited his children with light and universal good. O Grand Spirit ! sleep not long in the gloomy west, but return and call your people once again to light and life, to light and life, to light and life." This was succeeded by dances and songs of praise, till eleven o'clock at night; at which hour they repaired to rest, some retir- ing to the huts that formed their camp, and others to the vicinity of fires made in the woods, and along the river bank. Mr. Ash took up his abode with a French settler in the village. He un- derstood that these Indians have four similar festivals in the year — one for every season. When the sun does not shine or appear on the adoration days, an immense fire is erected, around which the ceremonies are performed with equal devotion and care. Origin of Fire- Worship. For many sges .e false religions of the east had remained stationary; but in u.is period, magianism receiv d considerable strength from the writings of Zoroaster. He was a native of Me- dia. He pretended to a visit in heaven, where God spoke to him out of a fire. This fire he pretended to bring with him on his return. It was considered holy — the dwelling of God. The priests were forever to keep it, and the people were to worship before it. He caused fire temples every where to be erected, that storms and tempests might not extinguish it. As he considered God as dwelling in the fire, he made the sun to be his chief resi- dence, and therefore the primary object of worship. He aban- doned the old system of two gods, one good and the other evil, and taught the existence one Supreme, who had under him a good and €vil angel — the immediate authors of good and evil. To gain reputation, he retired into a cave, and there lived a long time a recluse, and composed a book called the 2knd-Avestay which con- AND DISCOVERIES IM THE WEST. 219 tains the liturgy to be used in ihe fire temples, and the chief dtw;- trines of his religion. His success in propagating his system was astonishingly great. Almost all the eastern world, for a season, bowed before him. He is said to have been slain, with eighty of his priests, by a Scythian prince, whom he attempted to convert to his religion. It is manifest that he derived his whole system of God's dwell- ing in the fire, from the burning bush, out of which God spake to Moses. He was well acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. He gave the same history of the creation and deluge that Moses had given, and inserted a great part of the Psalms of David into his writings. The Mehestaui, his followers, believed in the immor- tality of the soul, in future rewards and punishments, and in the purification of the body by fire; after which they would be united to the good — (Marshes Ecclesiastical History , p. 78.) From the same origin, that of the burning bush, it is altogether probable the worship of fire, for many ages, obtained over the whole habitable earth; and is still to be traced in the funeral piles of the Hindoos, the beacon fires of the Scotch and Irish, the periodical midnight fires of the Mexicans, and the council fires of the North Ameri- can Indians, around which they dance. A custom among the natives of New Mexico, as related by Baron Humboldt, is exactly imitated by a practice found still in some parts of Ireland, among the descendants of the ancient Irish. At the commencement of the month of November, the great fire of Sumhuin is lit up, all the culinary fires in the kingdom being first extinguished, as it was deemed sacrilege to awaken the win- ter's social flame except by a spark snatched from this sacred fire; on which account the month of November is called, in the Irish language, Samhuin. To this day, the inferior Irish look upon bonfires as sacred ; they say their prayers,walking round them, the young dream upon their ashes, and the old take this fire to light up their domestic hearths, imagining some secret undefinable excellence connected with it. K 1^ 220 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIEB A Further Account of Western Antiquities. ** I have a brick," says Mr. Atwater, " now before me, over which lay, when found, wood, ashes, charcoal and human bones, burnt in a large and hot fire; and from what was found at Circle- ville, in the mound already described, it would seem that females were sometimes burnt with the males. I need not say that this custom was derived from Asia, as it is well known that is the only country to look to for the origin of such a custom. The Greeks and Romans practised burning their illustrious dead; it was prac- tised by several other nations ; but they all derived it from Asia." In Dr. Clarke's volume of Travels from St. Petcrsburgh to the Crimea, in the year 1800, and his Travels in Russia, Tartary and Turkey, it is said conical mounds of earth, or tumuli, occur very frequently. The most remarkable may be seen between Ye- zolbisky and Voldai, on both sides of the road, and they continue over the whole country from the latter place to Jedrova,and finally, over the whole Russian empire. The author of the travels above alluded to, says, " There are few finer prospects than that of Wo- ronetz, viewed a few miles from the town on the road to Pautoosky. Throughout the whole of this country are seen, dispersed over im- mense plains, mounds of earth, covered with fine turf, the sepul- chres of the ancient world, common to almost every habitable country." This country, (Russia in Europe) from Petersburgh to the Cri- mea, a seaport on the Black sea, the region over which Adam Clarke travelled, is tn the neighborhood of Mount Ararat; and, from the circumstance of the likeness existing between the mounds and tumuli there, which Clarke says are the " tombs of the an- cient world," and those of the same character. North and South America, we draw the conclusion that they belong nearly to one and the same era of time, viz: that immediately succeeding the confusion of language, at the building of Babel. We are told in the same volume of travels, that '' the Cossacks at Ekaterindara, dug into some of these mounds for the purpose of making cellars, and found in them several ancient vases," earthen vessels, cor- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 221 responding exactly with the vases found in the western mounds. Several have been found in our mounds which resemble one found in Scotland, described by Pennant A vessel apparently made of clay and shells, resembling in its form a small keg, with a spout on one side of it, formed like the spout of a tea-kettle, with a chain fastened to each end, made probably of copper, of which Mr. At- water has not informed us. This chain answered as a bail or handle: exactly on its top, or side, under the range of the chain handle, is an opening of an exact circle, which is the mouth of this ancient tea-kettle. — (See plafe, letter A.) In the Russian tumuli, are found the bones of various animals, as well as those of men. In the western tumuli are found also, the bones of men, as well as the teeth of bears, otters, and beavers. Thus we learn, from the most authentic sources, that these an- cient works existing m Europe, Asia, Africa and America, are similar in their construction, in the materials with which they were raised, and in the articles found in them. Let those who are constantly seeking occasion to overthrow the history of man, by Moses, consider this fact. Such persons have affected to believe that there were diflerent stocks, or races of men, derived from dilferent original fathers ; and in this way, they account for the appearance of human beings found on islands. But this similarity of works, language, and of tradition, relating to the most ancient history of man, indicates — nay, more, establishes the fact, that all men sprung from but one origin, one first man and woman, as Mo- ses has it in the book of Genesis. Some have supposed that all the great works of the west, of which we Lave been treating, belong to our present race of In- dians, but from continued wars with each other, have driven them- selves from agricultural pursuits, and thinned away their numbers to that degree, that the wi-ld animals, and fishes of the rivers, and wild fruit of the forests, were found sufficient to give them sup- port; on which account, they were reduced to savagism. But this is answered by the Antiquarian Society, as follows: " Have our present race of Indians ever buried their dead in mounds by thousands? Were they acquainted with the use of silver or cop- per? These metals curiously wrought have been found. Did the ancients of our Indians burn the bodies of distinguished chiefs on 222 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES tr-s '';^: funeral piles, and then raise a lofty tumulus, over the urn con- taining their ashes ? Did the Indians erect any thing like the " walled towns" on Paint creek ? Did they ever dig such wells as are found at Marietta, Portsmouth, and above all, such as those in and near Paint creek ? Did they manufacture vesssels from calcareous breccia, equal to any now made in Italy? Did they ever make and worship an idol representing the three principal gods of India, called the triune cup? — (See 'plate, letter E.) To this we respond, they never have — no, not even their traditions afford a glimpse of the existence of such things as forts, tu- muli, roads, wells, mounds, walls enclosing between one and two hundred, and even five hundred acres of land, — some of them of stone, and others of earth, twenty feet in thickness, and exceed- ingly high, and are works requiring too much labor for Indians to have performed. The skeletons found in our mounds never belonged to a people like our Indians. The latter are a tall, slender, straight-limbed people; but those found -n the barrows and tumuM were rarely over five feet high, though a few were more. Their foreheads were low, cheek bones rather high, their faces were very short and wide, their eyes large, and their chins very broad. But Morse the geographer says, page 629, that the Tartars have small eyes, and not of the oblique form like the Monguls and Chinese, neither of which seem to correspond with the large eyed race who built the mounds and tumuli of the west; on which account we the more freely look to a higher and more ancient origin for these people. The Indians of North America, in features, complexion and form and warlike habits, suit far better the Tartaric character, than the skeletons found in the mounds of the west. The limbs of our fos- sils are short and thick, resembling the Germans more than any other Europeans with whom we are acquainted. Germany is situated east of England^ and par's of it lie along the coast of the Atlantic, or the North sea, in north latitude 53 degrees. From whence voyagers may have passed out between the north end of Scotland and the south extremity of old Norway, by the Shetland and Faroe islands, directly in the course of Iceland, Greenland and the Labrador coast of America. This is as possible for the Germans to have performed, as for the Norwegians, Danes and Welch, in the year of our Lord 1000, as shown in another part of 0W} AND DIBCOVRRIES IN THE WEST. 22a this work. White Indians, as found far to the west, must have had a white origin. An idol found in a tumulus near Nashville, Tenn., (see platey letter B.) and now in the museum of Mr. Clifford, of Lexington, is made of clay, peculiar for its fineness. With this clay was mixed a small portion of gypsum, or plaster of Paris. This idol was made to represent a man, in a state of nudity or nakedness, whose arms had been cut off close to the body, and whose nose and chin have been mutilated,with a jillet and cake upon its head. In all these respects, as well as in the peculiar manner of plating the hair, it is exactly such an idol as professor Pallas found, in his travels in the southern part of the Russian empire. A cus- tom among the ancient Greeks may have given rise to the forma- tion of such an idol, which was copied by the Asiatic ancestors of the people who brought it with them from Asia to the woods of America. This custom was — when a victim was destined to be sacrificed, the sacred fillet was bound upon the head of the idol, the victim and the priest. The salted cake was placed upon the head of the victim only: it was called *' Mola." Hence im- molare, or immolation, in latter times was used to signify any kind of sacrifice. The ancestors of our northern Indians were mere hunters ; while the authors of our tumuli were shepherds and husbandmen. The temples, altars and sacred places of the Hindoos were always situated on the banks of some stream of water. The same ob- servation applies to the temples, altars and sacred places of those who erected our tumuli. " To the consecrated streams of Hin- dostan devotees assembled from all parts of the empire, to wor- ship their gods, and purify themselves by bathing in the sacred waters. In this country, their sacred places were uniformly on the banks of some river ; and who knows but the Muskingum, the Sciota, the Miami, the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Missis- sippi, were once deemed as sacred, and their banks as thickly settled, and as well cultivated, as are now those of the Ganges, the Indus, and the Barempooter." — (American Ant. Researches.) "Some years since a clay vessel was discovered, about twenty feet below the surface, in alluvial earth, in digging a well near Nashville, Tennessee, and was found standing on a rock, from whence a spring of water issued. This vessel was taken to Peale's 224 AMERICAN ANTIQDIVIE8 » »' i ■■] m V. il u S-'^ museum, at Philadelphia. It contains about one gallon; was cir- cular in its shape, with a flat bottom, from which it rises in a some< what globose form, terminating at the summit with the figure of a female head; the place where the water was introduced, or poured out, was on the one side of it, nearly at the top of the globose part. The features of the face are Asiatic; the crown of the head is covered by a cap of pyramidal figure, with a flattened cir- cular summit, ending at the apex, with a round button. The ears are large, extending as low as the chin. The features resemble many of those engraved for Raffle's history ; and the cap resem- bles Asiatic head dresses." — (Am. Ant. Researches.) Another idol was, a few years since, dug up in Natchez, on the Mississippi, on a piece of ground where, according to tradi- tion, long before Europeans visited this country, stood an Indian temple. This idol is of stone, and is nineteen inches in height, nine inches in width, and seven inches thick at the extremities. On its breast, as represented on the plate of the idol, were five marks, which were evidently characters of some kind, rcseuibliiig, as supposed, the Persian ; probably expressing, in the language ■of its authors, the name and supposed attributes of the senseless god of stone. (See the plate, letter G.) It has been supposed the present race of Indians found their way from Asia, by the way of Bherin^'s strait, and had passed from thence along dowu the chain of northern lakes, till they finally came to the Atlantic, south of Hudson's bay, in latitude about 50 degrees north; long before the people who made the great works of the west. That this was the fact, is argued by those who contend for its belief, from their having a greater knowledge of the arts diflused among them than the Indians. It is, say they, among a dense popula- tion, that these improvements are effected; it is here that necessi- ty, the mother of invention, prompts man to subject, such animals to his dominion, as he discovers most docile, and best calculated to assist him in his labors, and to supply him with food and rai- ment. This we believe, and for this very reason we hold the au- thors of our western works were thus enlightened, before they •came here, on the plains of Shinar, amid the density of the popu- lation of the region immediately round about the tower of Babel. For it is evident, they never would have undertaken to build a work so immense as that tower, unless their numbers were consi- AND DI8COVBBIC8 IN THE WEST. 226 i; was cir- 3 in a some- I figure of a i, or poured the globose Dwn of the lattened cir- . The ears js resemble 3 cap resein- Natchcz, on ling to tradi- od an Indian IS in height, extremities. )1, were five 1, resembling, the language the senseless ^en supposed Asia, by the along dowu the Atlantic, north; long west. That its belief, ffused among ense popula- that necessi- such animals t calculated lod and rai- hold the au- before they of the popu- ,r of Babel, to build a were consi- •dered equal to it; and much less, unless this teas the fact, could they have in reality effected it. While the thousands and tens of thousands, who were employed in that work, there must also, for their support, have been a large country, densely peopled, under contribution. In order to this, agriculture must have been resorted to; instruments of metal were Indispensible, both in clearing the earth and in erecting the tower. AH this was learned from Noah, who had brought, with himself and family, the knowledge of the antediluvians ; of whom it is said expressly, in the book of Gene- sis, that they both understood the use of iron and brass, as well as agriculture. Abel was a tiller of the ground; Tubal Cain was a worker in iron and brass. It cannot, therefore, be possible that Noah's immediate descendants, to the third or tenth generations, could have forgotten these things. And such as wandered least after the dispersion, after such as may have spoken the same lan- guage, had found a place to settle in, would most certainly retain this antediluvian information more than such as wandered, as the Tartars always have done. One of the arts known to the builders of Babel, was that of brick making; this art was also known to the people who built the works in the west. The knowledge of copper was known to the people of the plains Shinar, for Noah must have communica- ted it, as he lived one hundred and fifty years among them after the flood; also copper, was known to the antediluvians. Copper was also known to the authors of the western monuments. Iron was known to the antediluvians; it was also known to the ancients of the west. Copper ore is very abundant, in many places of the west ; and, therefore, as they had a knowledge of it when they first came here they knew how to work it, and form it into tools and ornaments. This is the reason why so many articles of this metal are found in their works ; and even if they had a knowledge of iron ore, and knew how to work it, all articles made of it must have become oxydized as appears from what few specimens have been found, while those of copper are more imperishable. Gold ornaments are said to have been found in several tumuli. Silver, very well plated on copper, has been found in several mounds, besides those at Circleville and Marietta. An ornament of copper was found in a stone mound near Chilicothe; it was a bracelet for the ancle or wrist. The ancients of Asia, immediately after tho 15 / 226 AMEKICAN ANTlQVtTIBS. U' :i^^ Mi dispersion, were acquainted with ornaments made of the various metals; for in the family of Terahy who was the father of Abra- ham and Nafior, wo And these ornaments in use for the beautify- ing of females. See the servant of Abraham, at the well of Be- thuel in the country of *' Ur of the Chaldeans," or Mesopotamia, which is not very far from the place where Babel stood — putting a jewel of gold upon face or forehead of Rebecca, weighing half a shekel, and two bracelets for her wrists, or arms. Bracelets for the same use have been found in the west; all of which circum- stances go to establish the acquaintance of those who made those ornaments of silver and corper found in the mounds of the west, equal with those of Ur in Chaldca. The families of Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor, who were the immediate progenitors of Abra- ham, lived at an era but little after the flood; and yet wo find them in the possession of ornaments of this kind; from which we conclude a knowledge both of the metals, and how to make orna- ments, as above described, was brought by Noah and his family from beyond the flood. A knowledge, therefore, of these things must hdve gone with the different people who spread themselves over the whole earth, and were retained by those who wandered least, as we suppose was the fact in relation to the first "eltlers of this continent, in regions of the west. It is believed by some that the common In- dian nations camo first to this country to the northwest, and fol- lowing the northern lakes, found their way to the Atlantic; while at a later period, they suppose, the more enlightened nations of China came the same way, and followed along down the shore of the Pacific, till they found a mild climate, along in latitudes 50, 40, and 30 degrees. But this is not pose'ble: Firsts Because the Indians were found by us as numerou" on the shores of the Pacific as on the shores of the Atlantic, and in all the vast country between; dwelling where a people still moru anciet/. than they, once lived, but had forsaken their fields, their houses, their temples, mounds, forts and tumuli, and either were nearly exterminated in wars with them, or wandered with to the south; the residue, the descendants of whom are found in several of the nations inhabiting South America, as we have shown heretofore. Second^ It would seem impossible for the people, or nations, who built the vast works of AND DI8COVBRUC8 IN THR WKBT 227 to various ■ of Abra- 5 beautify- eU of Be- sopotamia, d — putting ighing hail" racelets for ch circum- inade tiiose 5f the west, Peleg, Reu, Drs of Abra- ^ct we find ,ni which we ) malie orna- ,d his family lvo gone with ! whole earth, sve suppose continent, in common In- vest, and fol- Itlantic; while id nations of the shore of latitudes 50, iis were found Ion the shores leen; dwelling 1 lived, but had Inounds, forts In wars with lie descendants labiting South It would seem l^ast works ol tne west, and are evidently of the shepherd or agricultural cast, 10 have crossed the strait, and fought their way through hostile, opposing and warlike nations, till they had established themselves in their very midst It is, therefore, much more agreeable to reason, and also to the traditions, both of the Azteca nations in Mexico and the Wyandot tribes in the vvost, to believe that our Indians came on the continent at a much Inter period than those who are the authors of the works we have described, and that they had many wars with them, till, at length, they slowly moved to the south, abandoning forever their country, to wander, they knew not whither, as we have also shown. This conclusion is not mere fancy, for it is a matter of historic notice, that the *' Tchautskis annually crossed Bhering's strait to make war on the inhabitants of the northwest coast of America." — (^Humboldt, vol. 1, p. 919.) The reader will recollect our description of the walled towns of the west, surrounded with deep ditches, as found on Paint creek. Little Miami, Circleville, Marietta, Cincinnati, Portsmouth, and in Perry county, Ohio. There is a town, (^See Morse's Geography^ vol. 2, p. 631,) situated in the regions of Mount Ararat, in the an- cient country called 'ndependent Tartary, by the name of Khiva, which stands on a rising ground, like the town in Perry county. It is surrounded with a high wall of earth, very thick, and much higher than the houses within. It has three gateways; there are turrets at small distances and a broad, deep ditch; the town is large, and occupies a considerable space, and commands a beau- tiful prospect of the distant plains, which the industry of the in- habitants has rendered very fertile; but the houses of this town are very low, and mostly built of clay, and the roofs flat, and covered with earth. This town which so exactly corresponds with the ruins of the west, is in that part of Asia east of Ararat, where the primitive inhabitants, immediately after the deluge, made the first settlements. And from this coincidence, we arc led to a belief, drawn from this and abundant other evidence, that the antiquity of the one is equal with that of the other; that its construction is indeed of the primitive form; which strengthens our opinion, that the first inhabitants of America came here with the very ideas relative to the construction and security of towns and fortifications, that dictated the building of Khiva. It is al- 228 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES i I I'll 1 lowed on all hands, that the people of Asia arc wholly of the primitive stamp; yet their antiquities, aro of the same character with those of America. »* Proofs of primitive times, (says Mr. Atwuter,) are seen in their manners and customs, in their modes of burial and worship, and in their wells, which resemble those of the patriarchal ages. Here the reader has only to recollect the one at Marietta, those at Portsnjouth, on Paint creek, at Cincinnati, and compare them with thoso described in Genesis. Jacob rolled the stone from tlio well's mouth , (that is, from the fountain at the bottom,) Rachel descended with her pitcher, and brough up woter for her future husband, and for the flocks of her father." Before men were acquainted with letters, they raised monu- ments of unwrought fragments of rocks, for the purpose of per- petuating the memory of events. Such we find raised in America. In the patriarchal ages men were in the habit of burying their dead on high mountains and hills, with mounds or tumuli raised over them; such we find in America. Mr. Atwater asks the question, " Did they not come here as early as the days of Lot and Abraham ?" the latter of whom lived something more than 'iOOO B. C, which would be only about 340 years after the flood, and about 150 years after the confusion of language at Babel. If so, they were acquainted more or less with a knowledge of the true God, the creation of the world, with the circumstances of tlie building of the ark, the fact of the deluge, the number of persons saved in the ark, oi, as they say, on a raft; and also with circum- stances which transpired after the flood, as mentioned in Scripture; all of which are plainly alluded to in Mexican tradition. But other nations than the progenitors of the Mexicans have also found this country, at other eras, one after another, as accident or design may have determined. On the shores of the Mississippi, some miles below lake Pepin, on a fine plain, exists an artificial elevation of about four feet high, extending a full mile, in somewhat of a circular form. It is suflliciently capacious to have covered 6000 men. Every angle of the breast work is yet traceable, though much defaced by time. Here, it is likely; conflicting realms as great as those of the an- cient Greeks and Persians, decided the fate of ambitious monarchs, of the Chinese Mongol descent. Weapons of brass have beeu AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEhT. 229 of the laracter seen in ivorship, lal ages, ta, those re them from tho ) Rachel icr future id monu- B of per- America. fing their uU raised asks the ys of Lot nore than the flood, Babel. If ge of the 1C3S of the >f persons Ith circum- |Scripture; But other found this or design |ike Pephi, four feet form. It very angle Id by time. 3f the an- [lonarchs, Have been found in many parts of America, as in Canadas, Florida, &c. with curiously sculptured stones, all of which go to prove that this country was once peopled with civilzed, industrious nations^ now traversed the greater part by savage hunters. The ancient Greeks made their swordf of brass. Discovery of America by the Norwegians and Welch, before the Time of Columbus. This is contended by Lord Monboddo, a native of Scotland, and a philosophical and metaphysical writer of the 17th century. He wrote a dissertation on the origin and progress of language, in which he is sure he has found among the nations of America, the ancient Celtic or Ga'lic dialect. lie goes further, and supposes that all the nations of America, from the Labrador Esquimaux, to the natives of Florida, arc derived of Celtic origin. Monboddo argues, in support of his opinion, from a number of curious circumstances. He says, that when in France, he was acquainted with a French Jesuit, a man of great and celebrated erudition, who related to him that a companion of his, who .was engaged in the missionary service, with himself, among the northern Indians in America, having lost his way in the woods, travelled on, he knew not whether, till he found himself among the Esquimaux Indians. Here he stayed long enough to learn their language; after wl'.ich he returned to Quebec in Canada; and happening one day to be walking along the docks of that city, observed among the crew of a ship that was moored there, a sailor who was a native of the country at the foot of the Pyrenneau mountains, on the side of France. On hearing this man speak, who was a Basque, from his knowledge of the Esquimaux, obtained as above related, he understood what he said, so that they conversed together a while. Now, the language which the Basques speak. Lord Mon- boddo informs us, is absolutely a dialect of the ancient Celtic,, and differs but little from the language of the ancient Highlanders of Scotland. This opinion is corroborated by a fact noticed in a r/ic m-i .i*^i '.t-' 230 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Scotch publication, respecting an Esquimaux Indian, who accom- panied one of the English expeditions towards the north pole, with a view to reach it, if possible, or to find a passage from the North Atlantic through to the North Pacific, but did not succeed on account of the ice. On board of this vessel was a Scotch Highlander, a native of the island of Mull, one of the Hebrides; who, in a few days time, was enabled to converse fluently with the Esquimaux; which would seem to be a proof of the common origin, both of the Esquimaux language, and that of the Basque, which is the ancient Scotch or Celtic. Also the same author states, that the Celtic language was spoken by many of the tribes of Florida, which is situated at the north end of the gulf of Mexico; and that he was well acquainted with a gentleman from the Highlands of Scotland, who was several years in Florida, in a public character, and who stated that many of the tribes with whom he had become acquainted, had the greatest affinity with the Celtic in their language; which appeared particularly, both in the form of speech and manner of reciprocating the common salutation of hoio do you do? Rut what is still more remarkable, in their war song he discovered, not only the sentiments, but several linos, the very same words as used in Ossian^s celebrated njajestic poem of the wars of his ancestors, who flourished about thirteen hundred years ago. The Indian names of several of the streams, brooks, mountains and rocks of Florida, are also the same which are given to similar objccts_, in the highlands of Scot- land. Thii- celebrated metaphysician was a firm believer in the anciently reported account of America's having been visited by a colony from Wales, long previous to the discovery of Columbus; and says the fact is recorded by several Welch historians, which cannot be contested. It is reported by travellers in the west, that on the Red river, which has its origin north of Spanish Texas, but empties into the Missisippi, running through Louisiana; that on this river, very far to the southwest, a tribe of Indians has been found, whose manners, in several respects, resemble the Welch, especially in their marriage and funeral ceremonies. They call themselves the McCedus tribe, which having the Mc or Mac attached to their name, points evidently to a European origin, of the Celtic description. It is further reported by travel- lers, that northwest from the head waters of the Red river, which AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 331 "would be in the region called the great American desert, Indians have come down to the white settlements, some thirty or forty years since, who spoke the Welch language quite intelligibly. These Indians, bearing such strong evidence of Welch extrac- tion, may possibly be descended from the lost colony from Wales, an account of which is given in Fowl's History of Wales, in the 12th century; which relates, that Prince Madoc, weary of contending with a brother for their father's crown, left his coun- try, and sailed from Wales a due west course, which, if they came to land at all must have been Newfoundland, which lies opposite the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, exactly in latitude 50 degreps north, and which is contiguous to this continent. But the account relates that he discovered an unknown country; that he returned to Wales, and gave such a favorable history of his discoveries and of the goodness of the land, that many were in- duced to embark with him on his second voyage, which he ac- complished. He returned again to Wales, but after a while sailed a third time to the newly discovered country, but has never since been heard of. The same account as above, is here again related, but with other circumstances attending. "In the year 1170," 663 years ago, which was as before stated, in the 12th century, ** Madoc, son of Owen Groynwedk, Prince of Wales, dissatisfied with the situation of affairs at home, left his country, as related by the Welch historian, in quest of some new place to settle. And leaving Ireland to the north, proceeded west, till he discovered a fertile country; where leaving a colony, he returned, and per- suading many of his countrymen to join him, put to sea with ten ships, and was never more heard of." VVe are not in the belief that all the tribes of the west, who have the name of Indian, are indeed such. There are many tribes which have been discovered in the western regions, as on the Red river, in the great Ameri- can desert, west of the head waters of that river, and in wilds west of the Rocky mountains; who are evidently not of the Tar- tar stock, whose complexion, language, and heavy bearded faces show them to be of other descent. The Indians who were living on the river Taunton, in Massachusetts, when the whites first settled there, had a tradition that certain strangers once sailed up Asoonset, or Taunton river, in wooden houses, and conquered 232 AMKRICAN ANTiauITISS ^i \MW ■ m the red men. This tradition does not go to lessen the probability 'of the expedition of the Welch fleet, as above related^ but greatly to strengthen it. This account of the Welch expedition, has several times drawn the attention of the world; but as no vestige of them has been found, it was concluded^ perhaps too rashly, to be a fable; or at least, that no remains of the colony exist. Of late years, however, western settlers have received frequent accounts of a nation inhabiting at a great distance up the Missouri, in manners and appearance resembling the other Indians, but speaking Welch, and retaining some ceremonies of the Christian worship; and, at length, says Imlay, in his work, entitled Imlay's America^ this is universally believed. Near the falls of Ohio, six brass ornaments, such as soldiers usually wear in front of their belts, was dug up, attached to six skeletons. They were cast metal, and on one of them which was brought to Cincinnati, was represented a mermaid, playing upon a harp, which was the ancient coat of arms for the principality of Wales. The tradition of the oldest Indians, is that it was 'at the falls of the Ohio, that the first white people were cut off by the natives. It is well authenticated that upwards of thirty years ago, Indians came to Kaskaskia, in the territory, now the state of Illinois, who spoke the Welch dialect, and were perfectly understood by two Welchmen then there, who conversed with them. From in- formation to be relied on, tomb stones, and other monuments of the existence of such a people, have been found, with the year engraved, corresponding very near to that given above, being in the 12th century. But long before this lost colony left Wales, Lord Monboddo says, America was visited by some Norwegians from Greenland, who, it was well known, were the discoverers of Greenland, in A. D. 964, and on that very account, it might be safely supposed they would push their discoveries still farther west. Accordingly, his lordship says, the Norwegians having made a settlement in Greenland, in the end of the tenth century, some adventuerers from thence about that time, which would be more than eight hundred years ago, discovered, «r rather visited, North America; for this writer supposes the continent to have been known to the people of the old world, as early as the time of the seige of Troy; which was about eleven hundred years before Christ; about the time of Solomon, or rather, one hundred years AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 28» before the time of that king. This is a point at which the publi> cation of this book aims, viz: to establish that this part of th& earth was settled as soon after the flood as any other country a» far from Ararat, and perhaps sooner. Lord Monboddo says, these Greenland Norwegian adventurers made a settlement about the mouth of the River St. Lawrence; where having found wild grapes, a German among them named the country Vinland, as is related in the history of ihis discovery. Mr. Irving, in his late life of Columbus, says, that as the Nor wegians had never seen the grape vine, did not know what it was, but their being a German with them, who was acquainted with the grape of his own native country, told them its name, from which they named it as above. This account is recorded in the annals of Iceland; which was peopled from Norway, which is in the north of Europe; and from Iceland the colony came that settled in Greenland, from thence to the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, about the year 1000 A. D. If such was the fact, there is nothing more natural, than that they may have pursued up the river, even to the lakes, and have settled around them, and on the " ^ands in the St. Lawrence. There is an island in that river, yj. Chimney Island^ so named, on account of the discovery c >ient cellars and Jire places^ evidently more ancient than the first acquaintance of the French with that country, which wc suppose to have been made by these Norwe- gians. This Scottish author, in his admired work on the origin and progress of language, as well as in other works of his, re- lates a vast number of curious and interesting circumstances, which relate to our subject; one of the most remarkable, is an account of an Indian mummy, discovered in Florida, wrapped up in a cloth manufactured from the bark of trees, and adorned with hieroglyphical characters, precisely the same, with characters engraved on a metal plate, found in an ancient burying ground, in one of the Hebride islands, north of Scotland. This country, (Scotland) boasts of the most ancient line of kings that have reigned in Europe, having settled in Scotland, more than three hundred years before the Christian era, in the time of Alexander the Great. They are of Cimbrick Chersonese origin, who are derived probably, from some wandering tribe, descended from Japlieth, the white son of Noah, whose independence, the Greeks- 1234 AMXaiCAN ANTIQUITIXS nor Romans were never able, in their wide-spread conquests, to wrest from them; this was reserved for the English to accomplish, "which was done in 1603. These islands, therefore, north and west of Scotland, became peopled by their descendants at an early day. Their hardiness of constitution, perseverance of charac- ter, and adventuring disposition, favors, in the strongest sense, the accounts as recorded in their national documents. And a reason why those documents have not come to light sooner, is, because they were penned some hundred years before the inven- tion of printing; and laid up in the cabinet of some Norwegian chief, at a time when but few could read at all, and the means of information did not exist, to be compared with the facilities of the present time: therefore, it has been reserved to this late era, to unravel, in any degree, the mysteries of antiquity. In the work entitled ♦♦ Irving's Life of Columbus,'* is an ac- count of the discovery of this continent, by those northern islanders, given in a more circumstantial and detailed manner. See his Appendix to vol. 3, p. 292, as follows: — " The most plausible or credible account respecting those discoveries is given by Snoro Sturleson, or Siurloins, in his Saga, or Chronicle of King Olaus. According to this writer, one Blorn, of Iceland, voyaging to Greenland in search of his father, from whom he had beeen separated by a storm, was driven by tempestuous weather far to the southwest, until he came in sight of a low country, covered with woods, with an island in its vicinity. The weather becoming favorable, he turned to the northeast, without landing, and arrived safe at Greenland. His account of the coun- try he had seen, it is said, excited the enterprise of Lief, son of Eric Rauda, (or red head,) the first settler of Greenland. A ves- sel was fitted out, and Leif and Biron departed together in quest of this unknown land. They found a rocky and sterile island, to which they gave the name of Helleland; also a low sandy country, covered with wood, to which they gave the name of Mark land; and two days afterwards they observed a continuance of the coast, with an island to the north of it. This last they described as fertile, well wooded, producing agreeable fruits, and particularly grapes; a fruit with which they were not acquainted; but on being informed by one of their companions, a German, of its qualities and name, they called the country from it, Vinland. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 235 They ascended a river well stored with fish, particularly salmon, and came to a lake from which the river took its origin, where they passed the winter. It is very probable that this river was the St. Lawrence, as it abounded with salmon, and was the outlet of a lake, which it is likely, was Ontario. There is no other river capable of being navigated, very far from its mouth, with a sea vessel, and which comes from a lake, and empties into the sea, on that side of the coast, but the St. Lawrence. The climate ap- peared to them mild and pleasant, in comparison, being accus- tomed to the more rigorous seasons of the north. On the short- est day in the winter the sun was but eight hours above the hori- zon; hence it has been concluded, that the country was about the 49th degree of north latitude and was either Newfoundland, or some part of the coast of North America, about the gulf of St. Lawrence. It is said in those Chronicles of Sturloins, that the relatives of Lief made several voyages to Vinland; that they traded with the natives for peltry and furs; and that in 1121, 714 years ago, a bishop named Eric, went from Greenland to Vin- land, to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. A knowledge of Christianity among the savage Britons, Caledonians and the Welch, was introduced, as is supposed, by St. Paul, or some of his disciples, as early as A. D. 63, more than 1700 years since. "From this time, about 1121, we know nothing of Vinland," says Forester, in his book of northern voyages, vol. 3, p. 36, as quoted by Irving. "There is every appearance that the tribe which still exists in the interior of Newfoundland, and who are so different from the other savages of North America, both in their appearance and mode of living, and as they always in a state of warfare with the Indians of the northern coast, are deemed descendants of the ancient Normans, Scandinavians or Danes." In the chronicles of these northern nations, there is also an account of the voyages of four boat crews in the year 1354, which corroborates the foregoing relations. This little squadron of fishing boats being overtaken by a mighty tempest, were driven about the sea for many days, until a boat containing seven persons, was cast upon an island called Estotiland, about 1000 miles from Friesland. They were taken by the inhabit vts and carried to a fair and populous city, where the king sent for many interpreters to converse with them, but none that could un- 236 AMKRICAN ANTiaUlTIES :.5-:! "- derstand, until a man was found who likewise had been cast upon that coast some time before. They remained several days upon the island, which was rich and fruitful. The inhabitants were in- telligent and acquainted with the mechanical arts of Europe. They cultivated grain, made beer, and lived in houses buUt of stone. There were Latin books in the king's library, though the inhabitants had no knowledge of that language, and in manu- script, as t le art of printing was not yet discovered. They had many tovi 3 and castles, and carried on a trade with Greenland for pitch, sulphur and peltry. Though much given to navigation, they were ignorant of the use of the compass, and finding the Frieslanders acquainted with it, held them in great esteem, and the king sent them, with twelve barks, to visit a country to the south called Drogeo. Drogeo is, most likely, a Norman name; as we find Drogo was a leader of the Normans against the an- cient baronies of Italy, about A. D. 787. Drogeo is supposed to have been the continent of America. This voyage of the fishing squadron, it appears, was in 1.354, more than fifty years after the discovery of the magnetic needle, which was in 1300, A. D. They had nearly perished in this storm, but were cast away upon the coast of Drogeo. They found the people cannibals, and were upon the point of being killed and devoured, (these were our Indians,) but were spared on uccount of their great skill in fish- ing. Drogeo they found to be a country of vast extent, or rather a netv world; that the inhabitants were naked and barbarous, but that far to the southwest there was a more civilized region and temperate climate, where the inhabitants had a knowledge of gold and silver, lived in cities, erected splendid temples to idols, and sacrificed human victims to them. The same, it is likely, the ruins of which have been recently discovered and are now being explored, and account of which we shall give in another part of this work. After the fisherman, who relates this account, had resided many years on the continent of Drogeo, during which time he had passed from the service of one chieftain to another, and traversed various parts of it, certain boats of Estotiland, (now supposed to b3 Newfoundland^) arrived on the coast of Drogeo. The fisher- man got on board of them, and acted as interpreter, and followed the trade between the main land of Drogeo and the island of Es« AND DI8C0VBRIBS IN THE WEST. 287 totiland, for some time, until he became very rich. He then fit- ted out a barque of his own, and with the assistance of some of the people of the island, made his way back across the intervening distance between Drogeo and his native country, Friesland, in Germany. The account he gave of this country determined Zichmni, the prince of Friesland, to send an expedition thither ; and Antonio Zeno, a Venitian, was to command it. Just before starting, the fisherman, who was to have acted as pilot, died ; but certain ma- riners who accompanied him from Estotiland were taken in his place. The expedition sailed under command of Zichmni — the Venetian, Zeno, merely accompanied it. It was unsuccessful. After having discovered an island, called Icaria, where they met with a rough reception from the inhabitants, and were obliged to withdraw; the ships were driven by storm to Greenland. No record remains of any farther prosecution of the enterprise. The countries mentioned in the account written by this Zeno, were laid down on a map originally on wood. The island Estotiland has been supposed by M. Malte-Brun to be Newfoundland. Its partially civilized inhabitants, the descendants of the Scandinavian colonists of Vinland, and the Latin books in manuscript, found in the king's library, to have belonged to the remains of the library of the Greenland bishop who emigrated thither in 1121, 922 years ago. Drogeo, according to the same conjecture,was Nova Scotia and New England. The civilized people to the southwest, who sacrificed human beings in rich temples, he supposes to have been the Mexicans, or some ancient nations of Florida or Lou- isiana. A distinguished writer of Copenhagen, it is said, was not long since engaged in the composition of a work on the early voyages of discovery to this continent, as undertaken by the inhabitants of the north of Europe, more than eight hundred and thirty ^ears ago. He has in his hands genuine ancient documents, the exam- ination of which leads to curious and surprising results. They furnish various and unquestionable evidence, not only that the coast of North America was discovered soon af\er the discovery of Greenland by northern explorers, a part of whom remained there, and that it was again visited in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuties, but also that Christianity was introduced among the .u* 236 AMEEICAN ANTIQUITIES i \U\ i-' s 1 • l-f . »i? Indians of America. The documents of this writer furnish even a map, cut in wood, of the northern coast of America, and also an account of the sea coast south, os far down as the Carolinas, and that a principal station of these adventurers was the mouth of the river St. Lawrence. He says that it was in the year 985 that America v/as Jirst discovered by Baiskc Her Juefser, but that he did not land; and that in the year 1000 the coast was visited by a man named Lief, a son of Eric the i?ed,who colonized Greenland. ( Cabinet of Literature, vol. 3.) From the discoveries of Baron Humboldt in South America, it would appear that the continent of America has indeed been not only visited by the northern nations of Europe at a very early day, but also to have settled on it, and to have become the head of tribes, nations and kingdoms, as follows: In the kingdom of Guatemala, North America, the descendants of the original inhabitants preserve traditions which go back to the epoch of a great deluge, after which their ancestors, led by a chief called Votan, had come from a country lying toward the north. As late as in the 16th century, in a village in Guatemala, there were of the natives who boasted their descent from the family of Votan, or Vodan. They who have studied the history of Scandi- navian (old Norway) nations, says Humboldt, in the heroic times, must be struck at finding in Mexico a name which recalls that of Vodan or Odin, who reigned among the Scythians, and whose race, according to the very remarkable assertion of Bede, (an ec- clesiastical historian of the 17th century,) gave kings to a great number of nations. This wonderfully corroborates the opinion of America's having been settled in several parts by Europeans, at a very ancient period. The Shawanese tribe of Indians, who now live in Ohio, once lived on the Suaney river, in West Florida, near the shores of the southwest end of the gulf of Mexico. Among these Indians, says Mr. Atwater, there is a tradition that Florida had once been inha- bited by white people, who had the use of iron tools ; their oldest Indians say, when children, they had often heard it spoken of by the old people of the tribe, that anciently, stumps of trees, covered with earth, were frequently found, which had been cut down by edged tools. — (Am. Antq. Researches, p. 273.) Whoever they were, or from whatever country ihey may have AND DI8C0VERIB« IN THE WEST. 23» originated, the account, as given by Morse, the geographer, of the subterranean wall found in North Carolina, goes very far to show they had a knowledge of iron ore ; and consequently knew how to work it, or they could not have had iron tools, as the Sha> wanese Indians relate. Morse's account is as follows: "In Rowan county. North Ca- rolina, about ten miles southwest from Salisbury, two hundred from the sea, and seventy from the mountains which run across the western end of the State, is found a remarkable subterraneous wall. It stands''on uneven ground, near a small brook. The stones of the wall are all of one kind, and contain iron ore; they are of various sizes, but generally weighing about four pounds ; all are of a long figure, commonly seven inches iu length, some- times twelve. The ends of the stones form the sides of the wall; some of these ends are square, others nearly of the form of a pa- rallelogram, triangle, rhombus or rhomboids; but most of them irregular. Some preserve their dimensions through the whole length; others terminate like a wedge. The alternate position of great and little ends aids in keeping the work square. The sur- face of some is plain, of some concave, of others convex. The concave stone is furnished with one convex, so as to suit each oth- er; where the stones are not firm, or shelly, they are curiously wedged in with others. The most irregular are thrown into the middle of the wall. Every stone is covered with cement, which, next to the stone, has the appearance of iron rust. Where it is thin, the rust has penetrated through. Sometimes the cement is an inch thick, and where wet, has the fine, soft, oily feeling of putty. The thickness of the wall is uniformly twenty-two inches; the length discovered is rising of eighteen rods, and the height twelve or fourteen feet. Both sides of this are plastered with the substance in which the stones are laid. The top of the v;all appears to run nearly parallel with the top of the ground, be- ing generally about a foot below the surface. In one place, it is several feet There is a bend or curve of six feet or more, after which it proceeds in its former direction. The whole ap« pears to be formed in the most skilful manner. Six or eight miles from this wall, another has been since discovered, forty feet long, four and five feet high, seven inches thick only. The -240 AMERICAN ANTIQI/ITIKB I! 'it.ji Ci, stones of this wall are all of one length. — ( Universal Geography, p. 615.) In the State of Tennessee, which is situated exactly on the western end of North Carolina, are also found the vestiges and re- mains of ancient dwellings, towns and fortifications,with mounds, barrows, utensils, and images, wherever the soil is of prime qual- ity, and convenient to water. The bodies of two of these people were discovered in the au- tumn of 1810, in Warren county, in the State of Tennessee; one of a man, the other of a child, to appearance about four years old. They were four feet below the surface, in a situation per- fectly dry, there being a mixture of copperas, alum, sulphur and nitre in the soil that covered them. Their skin was preserved, though its original complexion could not be ascertained; but the hair of their heads was of an auburn shade. The child was de- posited in a basket well wrought of smooth splits of reeds, (arundo giganlucu,) and several singular species of cloth, as well as deer skins, dressed and undressed, were wrapped round and depo- sited with them ; and two feather fans, and a curious belt. — (Morse.) From the discovery of these two bodies, we think we ascertain the inhabitants to have been white, like the Europeans, from the color of their hair; as it is well known the Australasians, Poly- nesians and Malays, as well as the common Indians, have univer- sally blacky long and shining hair. The body which is mentioned by Prof. Mitchell, late of New- York, discovered in a nitrous cave in the western country, had red or sandy hair; such was the color of the hair of the Scandinavians, of the north of Kurope, and are supposed, upon authority indubitable, to have settled at Onondaga, and round about that region. (See toward the close of this work. The wall discovered in North Carolina, as related above, is doubtless a part of a wall built for the defence of a town or city; the rest may have been thrown down by an enemy, or it may have been never finished. The regular manner in which it was built end laid in mortar, shows a considerable knowledge of masonry. This is by no means very extraordinary, as in Europe a conside- rable knowledge of the arts was in possession of the people of that country, derived from the Romans, who had subdued all th« AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WKST. 241 iography, y on the !s and re- I mounds, ime qual- n the au- 88ee; one Dur years ation per- ilphur and preserved, d; but the Id was de- ls, (arundo ell as deer and depo- )us belt. — fe ascertain from the ians, Poly- ive univer- mentioned a nitrous ich was the f Kurope, settled at |d the close above, is rn or city; It mav have it was built If masonry, a conside- people of lued all the island of England, and abandoned the country, some hundred years before the time of the Welch expedition to the west of Eu- rope, as we shall relate by and by. What traits of iron instru- ments are found scattered over this country, except such as have been buried or lost in conflicts and battles with the Indians, since the discovery of the country by Columbus, am to be attributed to these Scandinavian and Welch settlers from tlio old country ; the latter about the ninth or tenth century, and the former long before. If the Welch, as wc shall show, a few paj^os hence, found this country about the year U'jO, thiuo was time t;noMgh for them to hav<» estal)lisiud themselves in many parts, and to have built ihemsclvos towns, and cultivated the earth to a great extent ; ns, from about 9r)0 till its discovery by Cohniibus, in M9vl, would l)e not far from 542 years. A long'.'r time than has elapsed since its last discovery, and also time enough for tlicir deserted works to become covered with forests of the age of four and five hundred years. According to Morse, the ancestors of the \V'elch were the Cimbri, or northern Celts. But he says the Goths from Asia hav- ing seized on (Jermany, and a great part of Gaul, or France, gradually repelled the Celts, and placed colonies on the island of Britain, three or four centuries before the Christian era ; that the Romans found many tribes of the Bclga^, or ancient Germans, when they first invaded that island: consequently, not only the Welch, but the English also, had, in part, the Goths, or ancient Germans, for their ancestors, and were the people who, as well as the Scandinavians, discovered America and settled here. It may be that from such causes as these, are found, far to the west, several tribes of white Indians, originated from Welch, Ger- man and Scandinavian ancestors, who well might be supposed to have had, not only a knowledge of masonry, sufficient to build walls, but of iron also; the traits of which are found in many parts sufficiently marked by oxyzidation to throw the time of their for- mation beyond the last discovery of America. On the river Gasconade, which empties into the Missouri, on the southern side, are found the traces of ancient works, similar to those in North Carolina. In the saltpetre caves of that region, and Gasconade county in particular, were discovered, when they 16 242 AMERirAN ANTIQUITIE* 'I't. 5vS were first visited, oxcs and hammers made of iron; which lud to the belief that they had formerly worked those caves for the sake of the nitre. Dr. Beck, from whose (Jazettecr of Missouri and Illinois, p. 234, we have this account, remarks, however, that '*it is ditficult to decide whether those tools wore left there by the present race of Indians, or a more civilized race of people." He says it is unusual for the suvngoa of our day to take up their residence in caves, considering them places to which the devil resorts ; and that they are not acquuinted with the uses of saltpetre, and would rather avoid them than collect it. This author considers the cir- cumstance of finding those tools in the nitre caves, as furnishing a degree of cvidt luc that the country of Gasconade river was formerly settled by a race of men who were acquainted with the use of iron, and exceeded the Indians in civilization and a know- ledge of the arts. But there are other facts, he says, connected with those, about which there can be no mistake. Not far from this cave is found the ruins of an ancient town. It appears to have been regularly laid out, and the dimensions of the squares, streets, and some of the houses, can yet be discovered. Stone walls are found in different parts of the area, which arc frequently covered with huge heaps of earth. Missouri joins Ten- nessee on the west, the same as the latter does North Carolina; and from a similarity of the works discovered, it would appear thai a population, similar in manners and pursuits, inhabited avast re- gion of county, from the Atlantic side of North Carolina^ to the Missouri Territory. These discoveries rank with the architectu- ral works of Europe, in the 9th and 10th centuries; as that long before that period, the use of stone work had been introduced, even in the islond of Britain, by the all-conquering bands of the Romans. ir,therefore, the Germans, Danes, Welch, Normans, Icelanders, Greenlanders or Scandinavians settled in this country who are all of much the same origin, there need be no great mystery respect- ing these discoveries, as they are to be referred to those nations from Europe, beyond all doubt. The ancient monuments of a country, says Dr. Morse, are intimately connected with the epochs of its history ; consequently, as the state of masonry, or AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 243 ed to sake )is, p. itVicult it race i it is nee in t; and would ;he eir- nishing er was 'ith the I know- e, nl)Out is found 3gularly some of hich arc ins Ten- Jarolina; jear that vast re- to the chitectu- lat long reduced, s of the elanders, 10 arc all respect- B nations jnta of a with the onry, or the knowledge of stone work, discovered, as above described, in North Carolina, Tennessee and Missouri, is of the same charac- ter with those of l?iuro|»e, about the time of the 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th o«nturies, we conclude them to be wholly of European origin. About ten miles from the spot where the relics of. this town are discovered, on the west side of the (lascunnde river, is also found another stone work, still more extraordinary, as it is evident that its builders had indeed a competent knowledge of constructing buildings of that material. Tt is about thirty feet sriunre, and al- though in a dilapidated condition, appears to have been erected with a great degree of regularity; it is situated on a high bold clifl*, which commands a fine and extensive view of the country, on all sides. These antiquities evidently torm a distinct class, says Dr. Heck, ot which as yet he had seen no description. Of the saiie class has been discovered on Noyer creek, in Missouri, the fou i- dation of a large stone building, fifty-six feet in length and twcnt} • two in breadth, divided into four apartments. The hirgest room occupies about one half of the whole building, and is nearly square; a second in size is twelve feet by sixteen, partly oval; third, four by sixteen; fourth, three by sixteen feet. The outer wall is eighteen inches thick, consisting of rough, unhewn stone; the partitions between the rooms are of the same material, of equal thickness with the outer wall. As an entrance into the largest room, are two door ways; the second size one, and the same of the two others. — (See at the bottom of the Frontispiece.) About eighty rods from this structure is also found the remains of the foundation of a stone building, nineteen feet by fifteen in size, of the same character of architecture. One large oval room, twelve teet by twelve on an average, occupies the centre, with a dour way, and at each end of the room, two others, three fe t i;y twelve, without any door ways. It is probable the largest of these buildings was the palace of the chief, or king of the tribe, clan or nation; where were held the legislative councils, an«? ihe affairs of government were transacted. The second building, placed at the respectful distance of eighty rods, was probably the prison house and place of execution, which the small narrow cells, without any outside door way,would seeni to Buggest. The prison in which St. Paul was confined at Rome »44 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ijrr^ is exactly of this form and size, which we consider a remarkable coincidence, unless it is allowed this American prison house, as we have supposed it was, had been fashioned after the same mannei. We have an account of this prison, in which St. Paul was con- fined, which was built several hundred years before the Christian era, as given by a gentien)an who recently made the tour of Eu- rope. It is as follows: *'A1I parts of Italy arc interesting to the scholar, and many parts to the Christian. Thus, near Naples, at Puteoli, I saw where Paul landed, and I travelled between Naples and Uome on the very san.^j road over which he was led prisonc to Rome; and if he was incarcerated in this city, which 1 see no reason to doubt, ho doubtless lived the greater part of the time he was here, in his own hired house. I have been in the same dungeon, and seen the very pillar tu which he nuist have been chained. The prison is the Mamcrtiney the name and history of v/hich is familiar to every one acquainted with Roman history, as it was for a long time the only prison of the Ronians. It consists of but two apart- ments, circular, and about twelve feet in diameter, and six feet in height, the one over the other, both under ground. The only entrance to them originally, wti-j through a small hole in the top of each, through which the prisoner must have been let down with ropes, passing through the upper to reach the lower prison; these dungeons were large enough for the Romans, as the trial soon followed the imj)risonment of an oifender, who, if found innocent, was at once liberated, but if guilty, immediately executed." — Jour- nal and Telegraphy vol u'.. No. 191 — 1832.) From the Romans, the German or Belgic tril>es may have de- rived their first ideas of stone work, as from the Germans the Danes derived the same. The style and mar.ner of this building, as it now appears, in its ruined state, agrees well with the build- ings of the ancient Danes of the north of Europe, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, which also consisted of unhewn stone, laid up in their natural state, the squarest and best formed selec- ted, of course. In these buildings, says Morse, were displayed the first elements of the Gothic style, in which the ancient Belgre or Germans used to erect their castles, in the old world, eight or nine hundred years ago. These works of these distinct kind of antiquities are numerons in the wesJern countries; the regularity, rkablc as we unnci. is con- ristian of Eu- manv I saw ome on nc; and ) doubt, , in his nd soen a prison liliur to [• a long ro uifHvt- six feet [?he only 1 the top )wn with n; these rial soon nnocenl. ' — Jour- have de- nans the building, he build- he tenth n stone, ed selec- displayed nt Belgffi eight or kind of jgularity, AND OieCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 245 form and structdre of which, says Dr. Beck, favors the conclu- sion that they were ihc woik of a more civilized race than those who erected the former, or more ancient works of America; and that they were acquainted with the rules of architecture, &c., (of Danish and Belgic origin) and perhaps with a perfect system of warfare. At present, the walls of this trait of ancient times are from two to five feet high, the rooms of which are entirely filled with forest trees; one of which is an oak, and was, ten years ago, nine feet in circumference. — (Beckys Gazetteer, p. 306.) But as to the fact of there having been colonics from Europe, who settled in this country many years since, there can be no higher evidence than has been recently nOorded, from a discovery made in 1B35, in the Territory of Arkansas. On the banks of H^/t«76' river, in that Territory, whicli runs into the Arkansas, have been found the remains of an enlightened population of the most extraordinary character, ou account of their dimensions, and the materials of which thev were erected. One of tiiese works is a wall of earth, which encloses an area of six hundred and forty acres, or|Lmi to a mile square, and having in its centre the foundation of a large circular building, or temple. Another, yet more strange, and more extended, consists of the foundations of a great city, whose streets, crossing each other- at right angles, are easily traced through the nn'ghty forest. And beside them are found the foundations of homos, made of burnt bricks, like the brick of the present times. These have been traced to the extent of a mile. A knowledge of brick-making was possessed by the Greolio, and after them the Romans, who introduced the art into all the west of Europe, about the time of tlie Christian era; so that, wherever the wandering bands of Europe might spread them- selves, it is not to be doubted but with them went the art of brick- making, as found in their operations in the westora parts of Nortii America, as in the foundations of this brick city. 246 AMKRICAN ANTIQIMTIRN Ruins of the City of Otolum, discovered in J^Torth Jlmerica. In u lotUjr of (J. S. llnlincscnH', whom wc linvc licforo quotod, to tt corn'spondont in l'iHro|io, wo find tho following: — *' Some- years tigo, iJKj Sooicty of (i(!()gra|)liy, in PtiriH, ollorcd a larg<; premium for a voyage to ( luatcmala, and for a now survey of the anti(juilies of Vu<;atan anss dimensions than seventy-live miles in circuit; length thirty-two, and breadth twelve Miil(;s, full of palaces, monuments, statues and inter iptioiifi; one of lh(! earli<;st seats of American civilization, about e(pml to Theb»!H of ancient I'-gypt." It is stated in tin; Family Mngazine, No. :H, p. 200, for IS'A'A, as follows: "I'ublic attention has bej-n recf;ntly excited resjiecting the ruins of an aneicnt <:ily found in < luatcmala. It would seem that these ruins are now being explorfid, and nuieh curious and valuable malt«'r in a literary and historical [toint of view is antici- pateil. VVj! deem tin; present a most auspicious niome'ut, now that the public attention is turned trovincoof Ciudnd Heal de ChiajKtj tjiking a southwesterly dir(;ction, Jirul ascending a ritlge of high land that divides th* kingdom of (juatenuilu from Y^u<;atan, at the distance of six miles, is the little- river Mieol, whose waters littw in a westerly dirc.-cfion, and mute with the great river Tu/ijn, which bends its course towards IIk; ])rovince of 7'«- basco. Having passed Micol, the ascent begins; and at lialf » leagu»!, or a mile and a iialf, the trav«;ller cross«'s a little stream eulled OroLrM ; from this point heaps of stone ruins are disco- ',??' AND DIHCOVERIKS IN THE WE8T. 247 vercd, which rendor tho roads very difricult for nnothnr half joaguo, when you gain tho height whc:rooii tho stone houses arc situated, heing still fourteen in numlxsr in one place, some nnorc dilapidated than others, yet still having many of their apartments perfectly fliseernihle. A rectnngtilar area, three huncinvi yards in breadth by four hundrefl and fifty in hngtli, which is a fraction over fifty-six rods wide, and fiighty-four rods long, hfijng, in the whole criicuit, two hundred and eighty rofis, which is thr*ro-foiirths of a mile, nnd a trifle over. Tliisarea presents a plain nt tlic base of the highest mountain forming the ridge. In flu; cimtrf; <»f this plain is siluat'Ml the largf.'st (»f the strurtures which lins bf-rui as yet discovered amf)ng these' ruins, it stands on a mound or pyramid twenty yiirds high, which is sixty feet, or nearly four rods in perpendic- ular aitifude, which gives it a lofty and brruififiil m.'ijesty, as if it w<;re a terni)le sus|)(;nded in the sky. This is surrrtunded by other edific's, namely, five to flif: northward, four to the south- ward, oiKJ fo flie southwest, iind three to llie eastward — fourteen in nil. Ill all directions, the frfigments of other fiiljen Ijuildiiigs are seen extfuidiiig along the mountain that str«;t(dK:seast and west either way from these buildings, as if they were the great temple of worship, or tii'iir governmrmt house, around which they built tlujir city, and where dwelt th(;ir kings and oOicijrs of stale. At this placr; WHS fourul a subterranean stone ac phs alluded to by this author formed from a combina- tion of the African and American letters, shown and treated of, on page 118 of this work — and on 122, 123 and 124. At the first glance, the most cursory observer is impressed with the idea of their likeness to the Ciiinese glyphs, which, in the languages in which they were in use, is equivalent to the combinations of our letters when grooped so as to spell words and shows that America, in its earliest history was not without its literati and means of improvement by the use of letters, but was lost by means of national revolutions in this country, as has been the fate of many nations of the old world, the evidence of which is shown in the ruins of this American city, on the stones of which the letters out of which the glyphs hero shown were combined for use, as we combine our letters: — m 'f':\ By those deeply versed in the anli(]uitios of past ages, it is contended that the first people who settled America came directly from Chaidea, imin(3ilialoly after the confusion of language at Babel. — (Sen dcscripliun of the ruins of the American city, pub- lished in London, 1832, p. 33, ly Dr. Paul Felix Cabrera.) Whoever the authors uf the city may have been, we seem to find in their sculptured deities, the idolatry of even the Pha'i cians, a people whose history goes back nearly to the flood, cr to within a hundred and Afty years of that period. It appears from some of the historical works of the Mexicans, written in pictures, which fell into the hands of the Spaniards, that there was found one which was written by Volan, and sets AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEKT. 249 himself forth to be the third gentile, (reckoning from the flood or family of Noah,) and lord of the Tapanahunsec, or the sacred drum. In the book above alluded to, Votan says that he saw the great house which was built by his grandfather, moaning the tower of Babel, which went up from the earth to the sky. In one of tiiose picture books, the account is given by the Indian historian, who- ever he was, or at whatever time he lived, that Votan had writ- ten it himself. He gives the account that he made no less than four voyages to this continent, conducting with him ut one time seven families. He says that others of his family had gone away before himself, and that he was determined to travel till he should come to the root of heaven, the skie, (in the west,) in order to discover his relation the C'ulebras, or Snake people, and calls himself Culcbra, (a snake,) and that he found them, and became their captain. He mentions the name of the town which his relation had built at first, which was Tezcqui/. Agreeing with this account, it is found by exploring the ruins of this city, and its sculptures, that among a multitude of strange representations are found two which represent this Volan^ on both continents. The continents are shown by being painted in two parallel squares, and standing on each is this Votan, showing his acquaintance with each of them. The pictures engraven on the stones which form the sides of the houses or temples of this ruined city, are a series of hieroglyphics which show, beyond, all doubt, that the era of its construction, and of the people who built it, ex'cels in antiquity those of the ancient (i reeks, the Ro- mans, and the most celebrated nations of the old world, and is worthy of being compared even with the first progenitors of the Hebrews themselves, after the flood. — (^ee History of American City, as before quoted , p. 39,) It is found that the gods of the ancient Egyptians, even Osiris^ Apis and Isis^ are sculptured on the stones of this city, the wor- ship of which passed from Egypt to many nations, and is found under many forms, but all traceble to the same original. We have examined the forms of the figuers cut on the side of the famous Obelisk of seventy-two feet in height, brought not long since from' Egypt, by the French government, and erected in Paris; and have compared them with some of the sculptured forms of men, found on the stones of this city, in which there is an exact cor- 250 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 4J nmM rcspondence, in one remarkable particular. On the obelisk — is represented a king or god seated on a throne, holding in one hand a rod grasped in its middle, having on its top the figure of a small bird. The arm holding this is extended toward a person who is rest- ing on one knee before him and offers from each of his hands, that which is cither food, drink or incencc to the one on the throne. The head ornaments are of the most fantastic construc- tion. The same without variation is cut in the stones of the ruined American city in many places; with this difference only, the American sculpture is much larger, as if representing gigan- tic beings, but is of the same character. Can we have a better proof than this, that Egyptian Colonics have reached America in the very first ages of the world after the flood, or some people having the notions, the religion and the arts of the Egyptians, and such were the most ancient people of Canaan, the Mivitcs, Perisitos and Hitites which names denote all these nations as serpent worshipers. As it respects the true founders of this city, the discovery and contents of which are now causing so great and general interest in both this country and Europe, it is ascertained in the most direct and satisfactory way, in the work to which we have just alluded, published in London, 1832, on the subject of this city, that they were the ancient Hivitcs^ one of the nations which in- habited Palestine, or Canaan, a remnant of which, it is ascer- tained, fled into the kingdom of Tyre, and there settled, and into Africa, to avoid annihilation by the wars of Joshua, the captain of the Jews; and that among them was one who acted as a leader, and was called Votariy and that he sailed from a port in ancient Tyre, which before it was known by that name, was called Chivim, and that this Votan was the third in the gentile descent from Noah, and that he made several voyages to and from America. But the kingdom which was founded by Votan, was finally destroyed by other nations, and their works, their cities and towns turned into a wilderness, as they are now found to be. (The word Hivite, which distinguished one of the nations of old Canaan in the time of Joshua, signifies the same thing in the Phoenecian language. Serpent people or worshipers.) The Hivilesy it appears, were the ancestors of the Moors, who spread AND DI8C0VKRIE8 IN THE WEST. 251 themselves all along the western coast of Africa, at an early pe- riod, and in later times they overran the country of Spain, till the Romans supplanted them; who in their turn were supplanted by the northern nations of Germany, the Goths, &cc. The Moors were not the proper Africans, as the hair of their heads was long, straight and shining. They were a different race, and of differ- ent manners and attainments. The contour of the faces of the authors of the American city, found sculptured on the stones of its ruins, arc in exact correspondence with the forehead and nose of the ancient Moors, the latter of which was remarkable for its aquiline shape, and was a national trait, characteristic of the Moors as well as the Romans. When the Spaniards overran Peru, which lies on the western side of South America on the coast of tuo Pacific were found statues, obelisks, mausolea, edifices, fortresses, all of stone, equal, with the architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, six hundred years before the christian era. Roads were cut through the Cordillera mountains; gold, silver, copper, and led mines, were opened and worked to a great extent; all of which is evi- dence of their knowledge of architecture, mineralogy and agri- culture. In many places of that country, are found the ruins of noble aqueducts some of which, says Dr. Morse, the geographer, would have been thought works of difficulty in civilized nations. Several pillars of stone arc now standing, which were erected to point out the equinoxes and solstices. In their sepulchres were found paintings, vessels of gold and silver, implements of war- fare, husbandry, &c. To illustrate the architectural knowledge of the Peruvians as well as of some other provinces of South America, we quote the following l>om Baron Humboldt's Re- searches, 1st vol. Eng. Trans. Amer. edt., p. 255: — "The re- mains of Peruvian architecture, are scattered along the ridge of the Cordilleras, from Cuzco to Cajambe, or from the 13th degree of north latitude to the equator, a distance of nearly a thou- sand miles. What an empire, and what works are these, which all bear the same character, in the cut of the stones, the shape of the doors to their stone buildings, the symmetrical disposal of the niches, and the total absence of exterior ornaments. This uni- formity of construction is so great that all the stations along the high road, called in that country palaces of the Incas, or kings 262 AMERICAN ANTIQUlTieS of the Peruvians, appear to have been copied from each other; simplicity, symmetry, and solidity, were the three characters, by which the Peruvian edifices were distinguished. The citadel of Cannar, and the square buildings surrounding it, arc not con- structed with the same quartz sandstone, which covers the primi- tive slate, and the prophyrios of Assuay; and which appears at the surface, in the garden of the Inca, as we descend toward the valley of Gulan, but of Irappean prophi/ry, of groat hardness, enclosing nitrous feldspar, and hornblende. This prophyry was perhaps dug in the great quarries which arc found at 4000 metres in height, (which is ISOOO feet and a fraction, making two and a third miles in perpendicular height,^ near the lake of Culebrilla, or Serpent lake, ten miles from Cnnnar. To cut the stones for the buildings of Cannar, at so great a height, and to bring them down and transport them ton miles, is equal with any of the works of the ancients, who built the cities of Pompeii, Ilcrculancum, and Stabia, long before the Christian era. " We do not fmd, however," says Humboldt, " in the ruins of Cannar, those stones of enormous si/.c, which we see in the Peru- vian edifices of Cu/.co and the neighboring countries. Acosto he says, measured some at Traquanaco, which were twelve metres (38 feet) long, and five metres eight tenths, (18 feet) broad, and one metre nine tenths (0 feet) thick."' The stones made use of in building the temple of Solomon, were but a trifle larger than these, some of which wore tvvnnty-five cubits, (43 feet 9 inches) long, twelve cubits (29 feet) wide, and eight cubits, (14 feet) thick, reckoning twenty -one inches to the cubit. *' One of the temples of ancient Egypt is now, in its state of ruin, a mile and a half in circumference. It hrs twelve principal entrances. The body of the temple consists of a prodigious hall or portico; the roof is supported by 134 columns. Four beauti- ful obelisks mark the entrance to the shrine, a place of sacrifice, which contains three apartments, built entirely of granite. The temple of Luxory probably surpasses in beauty and splendor all the other ruins of Egypt. In front are two of the finest obelisks in the world; they are of rose colored marble, one hundred feet high. But the objects which most attract attention, are the sculp- tures which cover the whole of the northern front. They con- tain, on a groat scale, a representation of a victory gained by ANO DI8C0VKRIE8 IN THE WK8T. 258 oQC of the ancient kings of Egypt over an enemy. The number of human figures, cut in the solid stone, amounts to 1,500; of these, 500 are on foot, and 1,000 in chariots. Such are the re- mains of a city, which pcrisi id long before the records of ancient history had a being." — Maltc-Hruii. We are compelled to ascribe some of the vast operations of the ancient nations of this country, to those ages which correspond with the times and ujunners of the peo[)lo of J'lgypt, whinh arc also beyond the reach of authentic history. It should be recol- lected that the fleets of king iliriMn navigated the seas in a sur- l)rising manner, seeing they had not, as is supposed, (but not proven,) a kiiowleilge of the inagiietic needle; and in some voy- age out of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, thc^y may have l)(;eu driven to youth America; where having found a country, rich in all the resources of nature, more so than even their na- tive country, founded a kingdom, built cities, cultivated fields, marshalled armies, mado roads, built a'jueducts, became rich, lUMgnificent and powerful, as the vastness and extent of the ruins of Peru, and other provinces of South America, plainly show. Humboldt says, that he saw at Pullal, three liouses made of stone, which were built by the Incas, (king) each of which was more than fifty metres, or a hundred and fifty feet long, laid in a cement, or true mortar. This fact, he says, deserves attention, because travellers who had preceded him, had unanimously over- looked this circumstance, asserting, that the Peruvians were un- acquainted with the use of mortar, but is erroneous. The Peru- vians not only employed a mortar, in the great edifices of Pacari- tambo, but made use of a cement of asphaUtun; a mode of con- struction, which on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, may be traced back to the remotest antiquity. The tools made use of to cut their stone was copper, hardened with tin, the same made use of among the Greeks and Romans, and other nations, of which we have spoken, in another place of this work. To show the genius and enterprise of the natives of Mexico, before America was last discovered, we give the following as but a single instance : Montezuma, the last king but one of Mexico, A. D. 1446, forty-six years before the discovery of America by Columbus, erected a dyke to prevent the overflowing of the wa- ters of certain small lakes in the vicinity of their city, which had 254 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ytisi! IMi' rf f> several times deluged it. This dyko consisted of a bnnk of stones and clay, supported on each side by a range of palwadoes; ox- tending in its whole length about seventy miles, and sixty-fivo feet broad, its whole length sufticiontly high to intercept the over- flowings of the lakes, in times of high water, occasioned by the spring floods. In Holland, the Dutch have resorted to the same means to prevent incursions of the sea; and the longest of the many is but forty miles in extent, nearly one half short of the Mexican dyke. '* Amidst the extensive |)lains of Upper Canada, in Florida, near the gulf of Mexico, and in the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, in Colombia, dykes of a considerable length, weapons of brass, and sculptured stones, are found, which are the indications that those countries were formerly inhabited by industrious nations, which are now traversed only by tribes of savage liunters." — Humboldt. Samuel R. Brown, author of the Western Gazetteer, 1817, says he examined one of those remains of the ancient nations, situated at the mouth of big Scioto river on a high bank of the Ohio, a half mile from the water. He has no doubt it was a military position of great strength, and describes it as follows: — "The walls are yet standing, and enclosing, as nearly as I could ascertain by pacing, fourteen acres of ground. It is of a square form, like the ancient Roman military works. The olficious hand of civilized man has not yet marred the woods which shade these venerable ruins; nor has any curious antiquarian mutilated the walls, by digging in seai'ch of hidden treasure; the walls in many places are yet sixteen feet high, and no where less than eight. At their base they are about thirty feet, and v ide enough at their top to admit a horse team and wagon. There are seven gateways, three on the west, two on the cast, and two on the north, all being about twenty feet wide. On the northwest side are the ruins of a covered way, extending to a creek, at the distance of two hun- dred and eighty rods. The covering is fallen in, and large trees are growing in the ditch. On the west side are two covered ways leading also to the same creek. These are apart from each other about thirty feet, and extending about forty rods, till they reach the stream. These walls arc as wide and as high as the walls of the fort. On the east side arc also two covered wavs. AND DIBC0VERIE6 IN THE WEST 250 at convenient distances from each other, leading to another small creek. Thus the garrison of this ancient fortification had five avenues through which th«;y could safely procure water." This could never have been the work of the common Indians. There is a river in South America, the largest river in the known world, which is the Amazon^ the native or Indian name. There were in very remote times, a people who inhabited a part of an- cient Italy, called Amazons. May not the shores of this river have been settled by a colony of Amazons, or have jj^iven it a name so much resembling the name of that people ? Great Stone Calendar of the Mexicans. This stone was found near the site of the present city of Mexico, buried some feet beneath the soil, on which is engraven a great number of hieroglyphics, signifying the divisions of time, the motions of the heavenly bodies, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, with reference to the feasts and sacrifices of the Mexicans, and is called by Humboldt the Mexican Calendar^ in relief, on basalt, a kind of stone. This deservedly celebrated historiographer and antiquarian has devoted a hundred pages, and more, of his octavo work, entitled Researches in America, in describing the similarity which exists between its representations of astrology, astronomy, and tlM3 di- visions of time, and those of a great multitude of the nations of Asia: Chinese, Japanese, Calmucks, Moghols, Mantchaus, and other Tartar nations; the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Phoe- nicians, Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and ancient Celtic nations of Europe. See the American edition, by Helen Maria Williams, vol. 1. The size of this stone was very great, being a fraction over twelve feet square, three feet in thickness, weighing twenty- four tons. It is of the kind of stone denominated trappean por- 256 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIBS phyry, of the blackidh grey color. We here present a facsimile of this stone. ■'f,u ,■' -t ■■••,■ r The place where it was found v/as more than thirty miles from any quarry of the kind; iVom which we discover the ability of the ancient inhabitants not only to transport stones of great size, as well as the ancient Egyptians, in building their cities and temples of marble, but also to cut and engrave on stone, equal with the present age. It was discovered in the vale of Mexico, in A. D. 1791, in the spot where Cortez ordercc: it to be buried, when, with his fero- cious Spaniards, that country was devastated. That Spaniard universally broke to pieces all images of stone which came in his way, except such as were too large and strong to be quickly and easily thus affected. Such he buried, among which this sculptured stone was one. This was done to hide them from the sight of the natives, whose strong attachment, whenever they saw m§^. AND D18COVBKIK8 IN THB WEMT. 267 simile les from ity of the size, as 1 temples with the )1, in the his fero- Spaniard came in ij quickly niich this from the they saw thorn, counteracted their conversion to the Roman Catholic reli- gion. The sculptured work on this stone is in circles; the outer one of all i'. a trifle over twenty-seven feet in circumference — from wiiich the reader can have a tolerable notion of its size and ap- pearance. The whole stone is intensely crowded with represen- taiions and hieroglyphics, arranged, however, in order and har- mony, every way equal with any astronomical calendar of the present day. It is further described by Baron Humboldt, who saw and examined it on the spot. " The concentric circles, the numerous diviaions and subdivi- sions engraven on this stone, are tracod with mathematical pre- cision. The more minutely the detail of this sculpture is exam- ined, the greater the taste we find in the ropitition of the same forms. In the centre of the stone is sculptured the celebrated sign nahuiolin-Tonatiuh^ the Sun, which is surrounded by eight triangular radii. The god Tonaliuh^ or the sun, is figured on this stone, opening his largo mouth, armed with teeth, with the tongue protruded to a great length. This yawning mouth and protruded tongue, is like the image of Kala^ or in another word. Time — a divinity of Hindostan. Its dreadful mouth, armed with teeth, is meant to show that the god Tonatiuh, or time, swallows the world, opening a fiery mouth, devouring the years, months and days, as fast as they come into being. The same imago we find under tho name of Moloch^ among the Phoenicians, some of the ancient in- habitants on the eastern side of the Mediterranean, from which very country, there can be but little doubt, America received a portion of its earliest inhabitants. Hence a knowledge of the arts to great perfection, as found among the Mexicans, was thus de- rived. Humboldt says the Mexicans have evidently followed the Persians in the division of time, as represented on this stone. The Persians flourished 1000 years before Christ " The structure of the Mexican acqueducts leads the imagina- nation at once to the shores of the Mediterranean." — (Thomas^ Travels, p. 293. The size, grandeur and riches of the tumuli on the European and Asiatic sides of the Cimmerian strait, (which unites the Black sea with the Archipelago, a part of the Mediter- ranean, the region of ancient Greece, where the capital of Tur- key in Europe novr stands, called Constantinople,) *' excite 11 258 AMERieAtf ANTIQUITIKB 1 h : |J;;.'^^ umm Mm SH'i f astonishing ideas of the wealth and power of the people by whom they were constructed. And in view of labor so prodigious, as well as expenditure so enormous, for the mere purpose of inhuming a single body, customs and superstitions which illus- trate the origin of the pyramids of Egypt, the cavern of Ele- phanta, and the first temples of the ancient world." — (Thomas' Travels.) But, whatever power, wealth, genius, magnitude of tumuli, mounds and pyramids are found about the Mediterranean^ where the Egyptian, the Phoenician, Persian and the Greek, have dis- played the monuments of this most ancient sort of antiquities, — all, all is realized in North and South America, and, doubtless, under the influence of the same superstition, and eras of time, — having crossed over, as before argued ; and among the various aboriginal nations of South and North America, but especially the former, are undoubtedly found the descendants of the fierce Medes and Persians, and other warlike nations of the old world. The discoveries of travellers in that country show, even at the present time, that the ancient customs in relatio? to securing their habitations with a wall, still prevail. Towns in the interior of Africa, on the river Niger, of great extent, are found to be sur- rounded by walls of earth, in the same manner as those of the west in North America. See the account as given by Richard Lander; "On the 4th of May we entered a town of prodigious extent, fortified with three walls, of little less than twenty miles in circuit, with ditches or mnats between. This town, called Boo-hoo, is in the latitude of about 8 degrees 43 minutes north, and longitude 5 degrees and 10 minutes east On the 17th we came to Roossuy which is a lister of huts walled with earth." This traveller states, that there is a kingdom, there called Yaoric, which is large, powerful, and flourishing ; a city which is of prodigious extent. The wall surrounding it is of clay, and very high, its circuit between twenty and thirty miles. He mentions several other places enclosed by earth walls in the same manner. It is easy to perceive the resemblance between these walled towns in central Africa, and the remains of similar works in this country, America. ie th AND DISCOVSRIKh IN THK WEST. •259 pie by ligious, pose of h illus- of Ele- Thomas' ' tumuli, [1, where have dis- juities, — loublless, f time,-— le various especially the fierce Id world. !ven at the uring their interior of 1 to be sur- lose of the the 4th of I with three ditches or latitude of [recs and 10 is a- 'ister [here called city which [f clay, and liles. He in the same liese walled ^orks in this .4 further JJcconnt of Eurc^>3(in !*iettlteinciits. Thrrr are the remains of one of those eflorts of Scandinavian defence, situated on a hill of singular form, on the great sand plain between the Susquohannah and Chemung rivers, near their junction. The hill is entirely isolated, about three fourths of a mile in circumference, and more than one hundred foot high. It has been supposed to be artilicial, and to belong to the ancient na- tions to which all works of this sort generally belong. In the surrounding plain are many deep holes, of twenty or thirty rods in circumference, and twenty feet deep — favoring a l»elief that from these the earth was scooped out, to form the hill with. It is four acres large on its top, and perfectly level, beau- tifully situated to overlook the country to a great distance, up and down both rivers; there is on its top the remains of a wall, formed of earth, stone and wood, which runs round the whole, exactly on the brow. The wood is decayed and turned to mould, yet it is traceable, and easily distinguished from the natural earth: within is a deep ditch or entrenchmeni, running round the whole summit. From this it is evident that u war was once waged here; and were we to conjecture between whom, we should say between the In- dians and Scandinavians, and that this fortification, so advantage- ously chosen, is of the same class of defensive works with those about Onondaga, Auburn, and the lakes Ontario, L yuga, Seneca, Oneida and Eric. As it is not pretended that the Scandinaviai)-; made settlements on the continent earlier than 950, there cannut be a doubt but they had to fight their way among the Indians, more or less, the same as we did, when first wo colonized the coast of the Atlantic, along the seaboard of the New-England States. But as these Scandinavians, Norwegians, Scotch and Welch were fewer in number than the Indians, and without the means of recruiting from the mother country, as was our case, they at length fell a prey to this enemy, or became amalgamated with them, and so were lost, the traces of whom appear now and theji among the tribes, as we have shown. 260 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES js ' * i! il %'' ;J,. .it;":. We are strongly inclined to believe the following articles, found in the town of Pompcsy, Onondaga county, New-York, arc of Scandinavian origin. In Pompey, on lot No. 14, is the site of an ancient burying ground, upon which, when the country was first settled, was fcund timber growing apparently of the second growth, judging from the old tinber reduced to mould, lying round, which was one hundred years old, ascertained by counting the concen- tric grains. In one of these graves was found a glass bottle about the size of a common junk bottle, having a stopple in its nuzzle, and in the bottle was a liquid of some sort, but was tasteless. But is it possible that the Scandinavians could have had glass in their possession at so early a period as the year 950 and there- about, so as to have brought it with them from Europe when their first settlements were made in this country ? We see no good reason why not, as glass had been known three hundred years in Europe before the northern Europeans are reputed to have found this country, the art of making glass having been discovered in A. D. 064. But in other parts of the world, glass had been known from time iimncmorial, even from the flood, as it has been found in the tuwcr of Babul. It is l"ound in the cities of Pompeii and llerculaneum, which were buried by an eruption of Vesuvius ; and it is mentioned in Job 37, 18,who lived about sixteen hundred years B. C. Yet glass was invented, or the way to make it found out in England, by a Monk, in 664. In the same grave with the bottle was found an iron hatchet, edged with steel. The eye, or place for the helve, was round, and extended or projected out, like the ancient Swiss or German axe. On lot No. 9, in the same town, was another aboriginal burying ground, covered with forest trees, as the other. In the same town, on lot No. ?7, were found the remains of a blacksmith's forge; at this spot have been ploughed up crucibles, such as mineralogists use in refining metals. These axes are similar, and correspond in character with those found in the nitrous caves on tlie Gasconade river, which empties into the Missouri, as mentioned in Prof. Beck's Gazetteer of that country. In the same town are the remains of two ancient forta or fortifications, with redoubts of a very extensive and formida< ble character. Within the range of these works have been found pieces of cast iron, broken from some vessel of co»^siderabla AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. aei thickness. These articles cannot well be ascribed to the era of the French war, as tiwe enough since then, till the region round about Onondaga was commenced to be cultivated, had not elapsed to give the growth of timber found on the spot, of the age above noticed ; and, added to this, it is said that the Indians occupying that tract of country had no tradition of their authors. The reader will recollect, a few pages back, that we have noticed the discovery of a place called Estotiland, supposed to be Nova Scotia, in 1354, the inhabitants of which were Europeans, who cultivated gram, lived in stone houses, and manufactured heer, as in Europe at that day. Now, from the year 1354, till the time of the first setllemcnts made in Onondaga county, by the present inhabitants, is about 400 years. Is it not possible, therefore, that this glass bottle, with some kind of litjuor in it, may have been derived from this Estotiland, having been originally brought from Europe; as glass had been in use there, more or less, from the year 6G4, till the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, (Ireenland, and Estotiland, or Newfoundland. The hatchets or iron axes found here, were likely of the same origin with the pieces of cast iron. In ploughing the earth, digging wells, canals, or excavat- ing for salt waters, about the lakes, new discoveries are frequently made, which as clearly show the operations of ancient civilization here, as the works of the present race would do, were they left to the operations of time for five or six hundred years; especially were this country totally to be overrun by the whole consolidated savage tribes of the west, exterminating both the worker and his works, as appears to have been done in ages past. In Scij)io, on Salmon crenk, a Mr. Ilalsted has, from time to time, during ten years past, ploughed up, on a c(;rtain extent of land on his farm, seven or ei^lit hundred pounds of brass, which appeared to have once been formed into various implements, both of husbandry and war; helmets and working utensils mingled to- getaer. The finder of this brass, we are informed, as he discovered it carried it to Auburn, and sold it by the pound, where it was worked up, with as little curiosity attending as though it had beer but an ordinary article of the country's produce: when, if it had been announced in some public manner, the finder would have doubt- 262 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIBS J. a,: less been highly rewarded by some scientific individual or society, and preserved it in the cabinets of the antiquarian, as a relic of by-gone ages of the highest interest. On this field, where it was found, the forest timlx;r was growing as abundantly, and had at- tained to as great oge and size, as elsewhere in the heavy timber- ed country of the lakes. From the above account, we cannot resist the conclusion that on this farm in Scipio, was situated an European village of Danes, or Welch, who were cut olF and externunated by the for- tunes of war, some hundred years before the discovery of Ameri- ca by Columbus, when it is likely their town was destroyed by the fire of the enemy, their articles of brass broken in pieces, and in the course of ages became buried by the earth, by the in- crease of vegctublo mould, and the growth of the wilderness. If, then, wo have discovered the traits of a clan or village of Euro- peans, who had a knowledge of the use of brass and iron, as the Danes certainly had, long before they coloni/.cd Iceland, (Jreen- hmd and Labrador, why not be allowed to conjecture, nay more, to believe, that many others in diflerent parts overspread the lake country to a great extent. On the l{lac': river, running from the northern part of the state of New- York, into lak«! Ontario, a man was digging a well, when at the dej)th of several feet he came to a quantity of China and Dclpli ware. Tlus is equally surprising with the field of brass. A Mr. Thomas Lee discovered, not long since, on his farm, in Tou)pkins county, in the Stale of New York, the entire iron works of a wagon, reduced to rust. From this discovery much might be conjectured respi'cting the state of cultivation, as a wagon denotes not only a knowledge of the mechanic arts, equal, perhaps, in that respect, with the present times; but also that roads existed, or a wagon could not have traversed the coun- try. That the wagon was brought there by the Spaniards, who it is said, very soon after the discovery of Ameiica, explored these northern regions, in cpiest of minerals, is not likely because roads at that time did not exist; and for the same reason none of the first settlers of the New-England coast had penetrated so far in the wilds with a wagon as to give time for it to rust entirely away be- fore the first settlement of the western country. If o/ie wagon existed, there were doubtless many; ^^hich AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 263 plainly shows a civilized state of things, with all the conveniences of anagricuU ral life, which would also require towns and places of resort — as market places for produce — or a wagon could not have been of any use to the owner. Anvils of iron have been found in Pompey, in the same quarter of the country with the other discoveries, as above related; which we should naturally expect to find, or it might be inquired how could axes, and the iron works of wagons, be manufactured? On the flats of the Genesee river, on the land of Mr. Liberty Judd, was found a bit of silver, about the length of a man's finger, hammered to a point at one end, while the other was square and smooth, on which were cut, or engraved figures, the year of our Lord 600. The discovery of the remains of a wagon, as above stated, goes also to prove that some kind of animal must have boen domesticated to draw it with. The horse, it is said, was not known in Ameri- ca till the Spaniard3 introduced it from Europe, after the time of its discovery by Columbus, which has multiplied prodigously on the innumerable wilds and prairies of both South and North America; yet the track of a horse . ''nmd on a mountain of Tennessee, in the rock of the enchanted mountain, as before related, and shows that horses were known in America in the earliest ages after the flood: other evidence that horses have ex- isted here before those of the Spaniards can be shown. It is likely, however, that the Danes, who are believed once to have occupied the whole lake country, had domesticated the bufialo and moose, as other nations have done, by which thoy were aided in iigricultural pursuits, as we are now by the ox. v> hich A Further Account of Western Antiquities. But as to the state of the arts among the more ancient nations of America, some idea may be gathered from what has been al- ready said. That they manufactured brick of a good quality, is known from the disooveries made on opening their tumuli, and from the newly discovered foundations of a brick city in Arkan- sas, as before shown. A vast many instances of atticles made -of copper and sometimes plated with silver, have been met with 264 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES < * r ■h ff'.. St'w '':> I;' .'i * |! \Mm 1 '''i ' !'•' \ LilV': 1 '''i '"' If wS''^ 11 ''* ' \ 5 1 i m ': ill; -i-,A |,- < ' t 5iK V * * I I ( on opening their works. Circular pieces of copper, intended' either as medals or breast plates, have been found, several inches in diameter, very much injured by time. In several tumuli, the remains of knives, and even sf swords, in the form of rust, have been discovered. ** Mirrors made of isinglass, have been found in as many as fifty places, within my own knowledge, says Mr. Atwater, besides the large and very elegant one at Circleville. From the great thickness of those mica membranacea mirrors, they answered the purpose for which they were made very well. Along the Ohio, where the river is, in many places, wearing and washing away its banks, hearths and fire places are brought to light, two, four, and even six feet below the surface, these are also found on the banks of Mu&kiugum, at its mouth, and at Point Harman, oppo- site Marietta. Two srone covers of stone vessels, were four »J in a stone mound, in lioss county, in Ohio, ingeniously wrought and highly poiislicd. rhese covers resembled almost exactly, and were qo to iqiui to vessels of that material manufactured in Italy at the p ' scU'i tirnc. An Uv I wp . Ii.und in a mound, a few miles from Chilicothc, which, a few yoa s rfince, was in the hands of a Mr. J. W. Collet, who lived in that place, about a foot high, and wcil proportioned; it very much resembles one found in a similar work in Scotland, mentioned in Pennant's Tour, vol. 1, p. 154. It contained arrow heads, ashes and calcined or burnt human bones. In digging a trench on the Sandusky river, in'alluvial earth, at a depth of six feet, was found a pipe, which displays great taste in its execution. The rim of the bowl is in high relief, and the front represents a beautiful female face. The sto.ic of which is made is the real la/c grap/iique, exactly rcscml>hng the stono of which the Chinese make their idols. No talc of this species is known to exist on the west side of the Alieghanies; it must therefore have been brought, at some remote period, from some other part of the world. Fragments of fishing nets and moccasins, or slioes made of a species of weed, have been found in the nitrous caves of Kentucky. The mummies which have been found in these places, were wrapped in a coarse species of linen cloth, of about the consistency and texture of cotton bagging. It was evidently woven by the same kind of process which is practised in the in- AND DISC0VKRIB8 IN THE WEST. 26& terior of Africa. The warp being extended by some slight kind of machinery* the woof was passed across it, then twisted, every two threads of warp together, before the second passage of tho filiing. This seems to have been the first rude method of weav- ing in Asia, Africa and America. A second envelope of these mummies, is a kind of net work, of coarse threads, formed of very small loose meshes, in which were fixed the feathers of various kinds of birds, so as to make a perfectly smooth surface, lying all in one direction. The art of this manu- facure was well understood in Mexico, and still exists in the northwest coast of America, and in the Pacific islands. The third and outer envelope of these mummies, is either like the one first described, or consists of leather, sewed together. — Am. Antq 8oc. The manufacture of leather from the hides of animals is a very ancient invention, known to almost all the nations of the earth; but to fiind it in America, wrapped around mummies, as in seve- ral instances found in nitrous caves, and the Kentucky caverns, shows a knowledge of a branch of the arts, in the possession of the people of America, at an era coeval with the Egyptians — as the art of embalming is found in connection with that of tanning the skins of animals. Among the vast variety of discoveries made in the mounds, tumuli and fortifications of thoso people have been found,, not only hatchets made of stone; but axes as large, and much of the same shape with those made of iron at the present day; also pickaxes and pestles, (see plate Nos. 11 and 12,) with various other instruments, made of stone. But besides, there have been found very well manufactured swords and knives of iron, and possibly steel, says Mr. Atwater: from which we are to conclude, that the primitive people of America, either discovered the use of iron themselves, as the Greeks did, or that they learned its use from this circnmstance; or that they carried a knowledge of this ore with them at the time of their dispersion; as received from Noah's family, who brought it from beyond the flood, discovered in or before the days of Tubal Cain, which was only about five hundred years after the creation. Dr. Clarke says, that from the manufacture of certain articles in the wilderness by the Israelites^ iron, and even steel must have been known, which was an age pre -266 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIES t ' I m '^ 4 •ceding its knowledge by ihe Greeks, nearly a hundred years. If this was so, it follows that they must have learned it, or rather they must have taken these very instruments of iron and steel when they left Egypt; as they had no means of making such in- struments from the ore, in the wilderness. Great Stone Castle in Iceland, In Iceland, which is not far from Greenland, and Greenland is not far from the coast of America, has been found the remains of ancient architecture, of no less dimensions than 200 rods in cir- cumference, built of stone, the wall of which, in some places, as related by Van Troil, was 50 feet high. This was a Norwegian castle, of wonderful strength and magnitude, and of the same character with ruins found in this country, and in South America. Iceland is but 120 miles cast of Greenland, and Greenland is supposed to be connected with America far to the north. This island is considerably larger than the state of New-York, being 400 miles in length, and 270 in breadth. It was discovered by a Norwegian pirate, named Nrrdoddr, in the year 861, as he was driven out to sea by an eastern storm, on his way from Norway, which is the northern part of Europe, to the Feroe islands. Soon after this, in the year 870, it was colonized from Norway under the direction of a man named Ingalf, and sixty years after, which would bring it to 930, the whole island was inhabited; but they were without any regular government, being distracted with the wars of several chiefs for a long series of years, during which Iceland was a scene of rapine and butchery. It is natural to sup- pose, during such conflicts, many families, from time to time, would leave the island, in quest of some other dwelling. This was in their power to do, as they had a knowledge of navigation in a good degree, derived from the Romans, at the time they ruled the most of Europe, 900 years before. That Greenland, or countries lying west of Iceland, existed, could not but be known to the Icelanders from the flights of birdi» 3-1; ' •i ^ ,< AND DIBC0VER1E8 IN THK WE8T. 267 of passage, and from drift wood, which, to this day, is driven in large quantities from America, by the gulf stream, and deposited on the western coast of that island. — (Morse.) In this way, it is highly probable, the first Europeans found their way here, and became the authors of those vast ruins built of stone, found in various parts of America. The language of the Icelanders is, even now, after so long a lapse of ages, much the same with that spoken in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway — so that they understand the most ancient traditional history of their ancestors. The characters they made use of were Runic, and were but sixteen in number. But, about the year 1000, the Latin or Roman letters superseded the use of the ancient Runic. Dr. Morse says the arts and sciences were extensively cultiva- ted in Norway, at the time when Iceland was first settled by them ; and while the traces of literature were diminished, and at length destroyed in Norway, by the troubles which shook the the whole north of Europe for several ages; they were, on the contrary, carefully preserved in Iceland. From this we may safely infer that America, having received its first European colonies from Iceland, who had not only a know- lodge of architecture, in a degree, but of navigation also,with that of science; that in the very regions where villas, cities, cultivated fields, roads, canals, rail-ways, with all the glo. y of the present age, exist along the Atlantic coast, also flourished the works of a former population — the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, civilized nations, centuries before Columbus was born, but who have passed away by the means of wars with the more ancient nations of Ame- rica, or with the common enemy of both, the Tartar hordes from Asia, now called the American Indians, leaving forever the labor of ages, which here and there are discovered, the relics of their architectural knowledge. One hundred and twenty-one years after the discovery of Ice- land, Greenland was discovered also, by the Norwegians, who planted a colony there ; and in a little time after, the country was provided with two Christian churches and bishops ; between which and Norway, the mother country, a considerable amount of commerce was carried on, till 1406 — a lap^ve of years amount- ing to about 483, before the discovery of America by Columbus ; 268 AMKEIOAN ANTIQUITIKt when all intercourse between the two countries ceased, occa- sioned probably by the convulsions and wars of Blurope at that period. The whole of that population, it is supposed, was lost, as no traces of them arc found. The climate of that region, as is evident, has since undergone a great change, from an accumu- lation of ice and snow, from the Northern sea, so as to render the coast, where those settlements were, wholly inaccessible.— (^Morse,) Is it not possible that as hey found the severity of the weather increasing rapidly upon them, they may have removed to the coast of Labrador, and from thence down the coast till they came to the region of the Canadas, where are discovered the traces of ancient nations, in vast lines of fortifications, as attested to by the most approved authority, Humboldt and others 1 1^:5 'St. i tit rfi- ,•■ -7. ,, Ji Description of Instruments found in the Tumuli. In removing the earth which composed an ancient mound, situ- ated where now one of the streets of Marietta runs, several curi- ous articles were discovered in It^UO. They appear to have been buried with the body of the person to whose memory this mound was erected. Lying immediately on the forehead of this skeleton, were found three large, circular ornaments, which had adorned a sword belt, or buckler, and were composed of copper, overlaid with a plate ol" silv^' •. The frovts^ or show sides, were slightly convex, with a deep depression, like a cup in the centre, and nteasured two inches and a quarter across the face of each. On the back side, oppo- site the depressed portion, is a copper rivet, around which are two separate plates, by which they were fastened to the leather belt. The two pieces of leather resembled the skin of a mummy, and seemed to have been preserved by the salts of the copper. The plates were nearly reduced to an oxyde or rust; the silver looked AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 269 eased, occn rope at ihat lost, as no L'gion, as is an acciimu- is to render iccessible. — the weather 1 to tlie coast ' came to tlio ;s of ancient by the most Tumuli. mound, situ- several curi- to have been f this mound i,were found sword belt, ith a plate of ivcx, with a (d two inches k side, oppo- hich are two leather belt. nummy, and Dpper. The silver looked <|uitc black, but was not much corroded, as on rubbing it became bright and clear. Around one of the rivets was a small quantity of what ap- peared to be flax or hemp, in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the side of the body was found a j)lale of sili>er, which ap- peared to have been the upper part of a sword scabbard. It was six inches long, and two broad, with two longitudinnl ridges, which i)robably corresponded with the edges or ridges of the .sword once sheathed by it, and apj)earcd to have been fastened to the scabbard by several rivets, the holes of which reinaiu in the plate. Two or three pieces of a copper tube were also found with this l)ody, filled with iron rust. The j)icc('s, from their appearances, composed the lower end of the scabbard, near the point of the sword, but no sign of the sword itself, except a streak of rust its whole length. VVc learn from this that the person who was buried there n> s a warrior, as the sword declares; and also that the people of whom ho was an individual, were acquainted with the arts of civilized life, which appears from the sheath, the flax, the copper and the silver, but more especially as the silver was plated on the copper. Near the feet was found a piece of copper weighing three ounces, which from its shape appeared to have been used as a plumb, as near one of the ends is a crease or groove, for tying a thread; it is round, and two inches and a half in length, one inch in diame- . ter at the centre, and an half inch at the small or upper end. It was composed of small pieces of native copper, pounded together, and, in the cracks between the pieces, were stuck several bits of silver, one nearly the size of a sixpence. This copper plumb was covered with a coat of green rust, and was considerably cor- roded. A piece of red ochre, or paint, and a piece of iron ore, which had the appearance of having been partly vitrified, or melted, was also found in this tumulus: the bit of ore was nearly pure iron. The body of the person here buried, was laid on the surface of the earth, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the northeast; and his head to the southwest. From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal and bits of partially burnt wood, and the black color of the earth, it would IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) h A %// V*?*'^^ :/ z -^ II I.I 11.25 iai2.8 |iO ^^™ ^ U4 2.2 US KS 12.0 ■UUU iiil U 11.6 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STMiT WiaSTn,N.Y. 145S0 (716)872-4503 V h;^ <^ o"^ '^ I/a 270 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIK8 appear that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire,' and that while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat stones had been laid around and over the body, from which the tumulus had been carried up. For a view of each article, the reader can refer to the Frontis- piece engraving, by observing the numbering of each specimen. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 0, are articles found in the mound at Mari- etta, in 1819. No. 1. Back view of the silver ornament for a sword scab- V ard. No. 2. Front view of the same. No. 3. Front view of an ornament for a belt, with a silver face. No. 4. Back view of the same ornament, of copper. No. 5. A plumb or pendant, formed of pieces of copper pounded together, leaving fissures or openings, which were filled with bits of silver; an implement, as to its shape, resembling the instruments used by carpenters and masons, now-a-days, 4o ascertain perpen- diculars with, and was doubtless used by these ancients for the same purpose. No. 6. A stone, with seven holes, like a screw plate, fourteen inches long, finely polished, and very hard. This, however, was not found in the mound, but in a field near this tumulus. Letter A represents a small keg in its construction, and a toa- kettle, in the use of which it seems to have been put, which is in- dicated by its spout, and appears to have been made of a compo- sition of clay and shells. Letter B represents the idol before spoken of, on pages 217 and 218, in three views, a front, side and back view. Letter C represents the idol, or image of stone, on page 219. Letter D is the stone, or Shalgramuj described on pages 180, 181 and 182 Letter E represents the triune cvp, found on the Cany fork of Cumberland liver, in an ancient work, about four feet below the surface. The drawing is an exact likeness, taken originally by Miss Sarah Clifford, of Lexington, Kentucky; it is by some called the triune idol. The object itself may be thus described : it consists of three beads, joined together at the back part, near the top, by a stem or AND DIBCOVBRIEB IN THE VTRflT. 371 handle, which rises above the head about three inches : this stem is hollow, six inches in circumference at the top, increasing in size as it descends. The heads are all of the same dimensions, being about four inches from the top to the chin. The face, at the eyes, is three inches broad, decreasing in breadth all the way to the chin. All the strong marks of the Tartar countenance are distinctly preserved and expressed with so much skill, that even a modern artist might be proud of the performance. The counte- nances are all different from each other, and denote one old per- son and two younger ones. The face of the oldest is painted around the eyes with yellow, shaded with a streak of the same color^ beginning from the top of the ear, running in a semicircular form to the ear on the other side of the head. Another painted line begins at the lower part of the eye, and runs down before each ear, about one inch. — (See the right hand figure on the cup^ or image on frontispiece.) The face engraved alone, is the back view, and represents a person of a grave countenance, but much younger than the preceding one, painted very differently, and of a different color. A streak of red- ish brown surrounds each eye. Another line of the same color, beginning at the top of one ear, passes under the chin, and ends at the top of the other ear. The ears also are slightly tinged with the same color. The third figure resembles the others, representing one of the Tartar family The whole of the face is slightly tinged with Ver- million, or some paint resembling it. Each cheek has a spot on it of the size of a quarter of a dollar, brightly tinged with the same paint: on the chin is a similar spot. One circumstance worthy of remark is, that though these colors may have been expo- sed to the damp earth many centuries, they have notwithstanding preserved every shade in all its brilliancy. This triune vessel stands on three legs, which are about an inch and a half in length. The whole is composed of a fine clay of a light umber color, which has been rendered hard, by the ac- tion of fire. The heads are hollow, and the vessel is of capacity to hold about one quart. Does not this cup represent the three gods of India — Brahma, Vishnoo and Siva? Let the reader look at the plate representing this vessel, and consult the Asiatic Researches, by Sir William ^72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES M Ml Jones ; let him also read Buchanan's Star in tke East, and ac- counts there found of the idolatry of the Hindoos, and he cannot fail to see in this idol one proof at least that the people who raised our ancient works were idolaters, and that some of them worship- ped gods resembling the three principal deities of India. What tends to strengthen this inference is, that nine murex shells^ the same as described by Sir William Jones in his Asiatic Researches, and by Symmes, in his Embassy to Ava, have been found within twenty miles of Lexington, Kentucky, in an ancient work." — (Atwater.) The murex shell is a sea shell fish out of which the ancients pro- cured the famous Tyrian purple dye, which was the color of the royal robes of kings, so celebrated in ancient times. Their com- ponent parts remain unchanged, and they were in every way in an excellent state of preservation. These shells, so rare in India, are highly esteemed, and consecrated to their god, Mahadeva, whose character is the same with the Neptune of Greece and Rome. This shell, among the Hindoos, is the musical instrument of their TritonSf (sea gods, or trumpeters of Neptune.) Those, of the kind discovered as above, are deposited in the n)useum, at Lexington. The foot of the Siamese god Gudtna, or Boodh, is represented by a sculptured statue, in Ava, of six feet in length, and the toes of this god are carved, each to represent a shell of the murex. These shells have been found in many mounds which have been opened in every part of this country; and this is a proof that a considerable value was set upon them by their owners; from these discoveries it is evident that the people who built the ancient works of the west were idolaters : it is also inferred from the age of the world in which they lived. History, sacred and profane, aiTords the fact that all nations except the Jews were idolaters at the same times and ages. Medals, representing the sun, with its rays of light, have been found in the mounds, made of a very fine clay, and colored in the composition, before it was hardened by heat, from which it is in- ferred they worshipped the sun. It is also supposed that they worshipped the moon^ both from their semicircular works, which represent the new moon, and also, from the discovery of copper medals, round like the raoon in its full, being smooth, without any AND DI8COVKRIES IN THE WEST. 273 rays of light, like those which represent the sun. The worship of the sun, moon and stars was the worship of many nations in the earliest ages, not only soon after the flood, but all along, cotem- porary with the existence of the Jews as a nation, and also suc- ceeding the Christian era, and till the present time, as among the pagan Mexicans. Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, represent the shapes of the stone axes, pestle, and other articles spoken of a few pages back. — See the Plate. As it respects the scientific acquirements of the builders of the works in the west, now in ruins, Mr. Atwater says, '♦ when tho- roughly examined, have furnished matter of admiration to all in- telligent persons, who have attended to the subject. Nearly all the lines of ancient works found in the whole country, where the form of the ground admits of it, are right ones, pointing to the four cardinal points. Where there are mounds enclosed, the gateways are most frequently on the east side of the works, to- wards the rising sun. Where the situation admits of it, in their military works, the openings are generally towards one or more of the cardinal points. From which it is supposed they must have had some knowledge of astronomy, or their structures would not, it is imagined, have been thus arranged. From these cir- cumstances also, we draw the conclusion, that the first inhabi- tants of America, emigrated from Asia, at a period coeval with that of Babylon, for here it was that astronomical calculations were first made, 2234 years before Christ. " These things could never have so happened, with such inva- riable exactness, in almosi all cases, without design. '* On the whole," says Atwater, *' 1 am convinced from an attention to many hundreds of these works, in every part of the west which I have visited, that their authors had a knowledge of astronomy." Our ancient works continued into Mexico, increasing in size and grandeur, preserving the same forms, and appear to have been put to the same uses. The form of our works is round, square, triangular, semicircular and octangular, agreeing, in all these respects, with those in Mexico. The first works built by the Mexicans, were mostly of earth, and not much superior to the common ones on the Mississippi." The same may be said of the works of tkis sort over the whole earth, which is the evidence 18 274 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIBS w us that all alike belong to the first efforts of men, in the very first" ages after the flood. ** But afterwards temples were erected on the elevated squares, circles, &c., but were still like ours, surrounded by walls of earth. These sacred places, in Mexico, were called " feocalli^" which in the vernacular tongue of the most ancient tribe of Mexicans, signifies " mansions of the gods." They included within their sacred walls, gardens, fountains, habitations of priests, temples, altars, and magazines of arms. This circumstance may account for many things which have excited some surprise among those who have hastily visited the works on Paint creek, at Portsmouth, Maritetta, Circlevillo, Newark, &c. It is doubted by many to what use these works were put; whe- ther they were used as forts, camps, cemeteries, altars, and tem- ples; whereas they contained all these either within their walls; or were immediately connected with them. Many persons cannot imagine why the works, at the places above mentioned, were so extensively complicated, differing so much in form, size, and elevation, among themselves." But the solution is undoubtedly, "they contained within them, altars, temples cemeteries, habita- tions of priests, gardens, wells, fountains, places devoted to sac- red purposes, of various kinds, and the whole of their warlike munitions, laid up in arsenals. These works were calculated for defence, and were resorted to in cases of the last necessity, where they fought with desperation. We are warranted in this conclusion, by knowmg that these works are exactly similar to the most ancient now to be seen in Mexico, connected with the fact, that the Mexiciin works did contain within them all that we have stated. eig the Great size of some of the Mexican Mounds. The word Teocalli^ Humboldt says, is derived from the name of one of the gods to which they were dedicated, Tezcatlipoca, the Brahma of the Mexicans. The pyramid of Cholula, was seated on a tumulus with four stages, and was dedicated to Que- tzakotl, one of the mysterious characters that appeared among Ii ana AND DISCOVERIBS IN THE WEST. 275 the ancient Mexicans, said to have been a white and bearded man, before spoken of. The teocalU^ or pyrumid ol Cholula, is sixty rods in circumference, and ten rods high. In the vale of Mexico, twenty-four miles northeast from the capital, in a plain that bears the name of Micoatl, or the path of the dead, is a group of pyra- mids, of several hundred in number, generally about thirty feet high: in the midst of these are two large pyramids, one dedicated to the «U7i, the other to the moon'^ the sun pyramid is ten rods thirteen feet high, and its length nearly thirty-five rods, and of a propor- tionable thickness; that of the moon is eight rods and eleven feet in perpendicular height, but its base is not specified by Humboldt, from whose researches we have derived this information. The small pyramids, which surrounded the two dedicated to the sun and moon, arc divided by spacious streets, running exactly north and south, east and west, intersecting each other at right angles, forming one grand palace of worship, and of the dead. It is the tradition of the Mexicans, that in the small tumuli, or pyramids, were buried the chiefs of their tribes. We also here ascertain that the builders of these two vast houses of the sun and moon,had indeed a knowledge of the cardinal points of the compass, for this arrangement could never have taken place from mere chance — it must have been the result of calculation, with the north star, or pole, in view. On the top of those teocallis, were two colossal statues of the sun and moon, made of stone, and covered with plates of gold, of which they were stripped by the soldiers of Cortez. Such were some of the pyramids of Egypt, with colossal statues. Thrs tremendous work is much similar to one found in Egypt, called the "Cheops and the Mycerinus," round about which were eight small pyramids; only the Egyptian work is much less than the Mexican one, yet their fashion is the same. Predilection of the Jincients to Pyramids. In those early ages of mankind, it is evident there existed an vnaccountable ambition among the nations, seemingly to outdo 276 AMERICAN ANTiaUITIBS each other in the height of their pyramids ; for Humboldt men- tions the pyramids of Porsenna, as related by Varro, styled the most learned of the Romans, who flourished about the time of Christ; and says there were, at this place, four pyramids, eighty meters in height, which is a fraction more than fifteen rods per- pendicular altitude; the meter is a French measure, consisting of 3 feet 3 inches. Not many years since was discovered, by some Spanish hun- ters, on descending the Cordilleras, towards the gulf of Mexico, in the thick forest, the pyramid of Papantla. The form of this Icocalli or pyramid, which had seven stories, is more tapering than any other monument of this kind yet discovered, but its height is not remarkable, being but fifty-seven feet — its base but twenty-five feet on each side. However, it is remarkable on one account: it is built entirely of hewn stones, of an extraordinary size, and very beautifully shaped. Tliree stair-cases lead to its top, the steps of which were decorated with hieroglyphical sculp- ture and small niches, arranged with great symmetry. The num- ber of these niches seems to allude to the 318 simple and com- pound signs of the days of their civil calendar. If so, this monu- umcnl was erected for astronomical purposes. Besides, here is evidence of the use of metallic tools, in the preparation and build- ing of this temple. In those mounds were sometimes hidden the treasures of kings and chiefs, placed there in times of war and danger. Such was found to be the fact, on opening the tomb of a Peruvian prince, when was discovered a mass of pure gold, amounting to 4,687,500 dollars. — ( Humboldt^ s Researches^ vol. 1, p. 92.) The pyramids of the Ohio are, in several instances, built in the same manner, with several stages, on the tops of which were, unquestionably, temples of wood, in the day of their glory, when their builders swarmed, in populous ten thousands, over all the unbounded west ; but time has destroyed all fabrics of this sort, while the mounds on which they stood in giddy grandeur remain, but stripped of the habiliments of architecture, and the embellish- ments of art. There is, in Central America, to the southeast of the city of Cuernuvaca, on .he west declivity of Anahuac, an isolated hill, which, together with the pyramid raised on its top by the ancienta '1 AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 277 of that country, amounts to thirty-five rods ten foet altitude. The ancient tower of Babel, arouad which tho city of liabylon was afterwards built, was a mere nothing compared with the gigantic work of Anahuac, being but 2400 feet square, which is lf»0 rods, or nearly so; whiic the hill we arc speaking of, partly natural and partly artificial, is at its base 12,006 foet : this, thrown into rods, gives 754, and into miles, is 2^, wanting eight rods, which is five times greater than that of Habol. This hill is a mass of rocks, to which the hand of man has given a regular conic form, and which is divided into five stories or terraces, each of which is covered with masonry. These ter- races arc nearly sixty foet in perpendicular height, one al)Ovc tlie other, besides the artificial mound added at the top, making its height near that of Babel; bf!sidcs, the whole is surrounded with a deep broad ditch, more than five times tiio circuniferenceot' that Babylonian tower. Humboldt says, wc ought not to bo snr[)rised at tiie muguitude and dimensions of this work, as on the ridge of the (Jordilleras of Peru, and on the other heights, almost ecjual to that of Tenerille, he had seen monuments still more considerable. Also in Canada he had seen lines of defence, and entrenchments of extraordinary length, the work of some peojde belonging to the early ages; those in Canada, however, we imagine to be of the Danish origin, and to have been erected in the 9th, 10th, and 11th centuries of the Christian era, for reasons hereafter shown. If then, as Humboldt states, there were found on the plains of Canada, lines of defence of extraordinary length, it affords an ar- gument that the Norwegians and other northern nations may not only have made settlements there, but became a kingdom, a body politic and military, and waged long and dreadful wars with oppo- sing powers, who were unquestionably the Indians, who had al- ready driven away the more ancient inhabitants of America, the authors of the western mounds and tumuli. But respecting this stone monument of art, tound by the hunters, which we have described above, it is said that travellers who have attentively ex- amined it, were struck with the polish and cut of the stones, the care with which they have been arranged, without cement between the joints, and the execution of the sculpture with which the stones are decorated— each figure occupying several stones, and 278 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES from the outlines of the animals which they represent, not being broken by the joints of the stones, it is conjectured the engravings were made after the edifice was finished. But the animals and men sculptured on the stone of this pyramid, afford a striking evi- dence of the country from which the ancestors of those who built it came. There arc crocodiles spouting water, and men sitting even cross-legged, according to the custom of several Asiatic na- tions. Finally, the whole of the American works, of the most ancient class, from Canada to the extreme parts of South Ameri- ca, resemble those which are daily discovered in the eastern parts of Asia. From the deep ditch, with which the greater monument we have been describing is surrounded, the covering of the terraces, the great number of subterranean apartments, cut into the solid rock, on its northern side, the wall that defends the approach to its base, — it is believed to have been a military work, of great strength. The natives, even to this day, designate the ruins of this pyramid by the name that signifies a citadel, or castle. — The pyramid of Mexitli, found in another part of Mexico, called the great temple of Tcnochtitlan, contained an arsenal ; and during the war of the Spaniards with the devoted Mexicans, was alternately resorted to as a fort of defence, and a place of security. Nothing of the warlike character could exceed the grandeur of a fight maintained from the base to the summit of one of these tremendous teocalis, or pyramids. We may suppose the foe ga- thered from their more scattered work of ruin, and circling, with yells of fury, the immediate precincts of the mound, while the rushing multitude fly from their burning habitations towards this last resort. The goal is gained; the first who reach it ascend to its top; rank after rank succeed, till in frightful circles of fero- cious warriors, the whole pyramid is but one living mass of fury. Now the enemy come pouring round as a deluge, and begirt this final refuge of the wailing populace, while warrior facing war- rior, each moment fells its thousands, by the noiseless death-stab of the dirk of copper; while from the ranks above, the silent but vengeful arrow does its work of death. Here, from the strong arm and well practised sling, stones with furious whizzing through the air cover in showers the distant squadron with dismay. Circle AND D1BCOVKR1E8 IN THE WKBT. 279 being ivings s and gevi- lo built sitting after circle, at the base, both of invader and invaded, fall together in glorious ruin. Now the top, where waved such signals of defiance as rude nations could invent, br'^omcs thinned of its defenders, who, pressing downward, as the lower rangea are cut in pieces, renew the fight. Now the farthest circle of the enemy ncars the fatal centre. Now the destinies of conflicting nations draw nigh; those of the pyramid have thrown their last stone ; the quiver is emptied of its arrows; the last spear of flint and battle-axe have fled, with well directed aim, amid the throng. Surrender, captivity, slavery, and death, wind up the account ; a tribe becomes extinct, whose bones, when heaped together, make a new pyramid. Such, doubtless, is the origin of many of the frightful heaps of human bones, found scattered over all the west. We learn from Scripture, that in the earliest times the temples of Asia, such as that of Baal-Berith, at Shechim, in Canaan,were not only buildings consecrated to worship, but also entrenchments in which the inhabitants of a city defended themselves in times of war : the same may be said of the Grecian temples, for the wall which formed the parabolis alone afforded an asylum to the besie- ged. — (Humboldt.) The ancient Carthagenians, the sworn and eternal enemies of the Romans, practised raising mounds of earth over their glorious dead. Hannibal, their famous general, who for a while so suc- cessfully combated the Roman armies, almost in sight of the im- perial city, was thus honored. At the place where he fell by his own hand, having poisoned himself to escape the scorn of his vic- tors, was raised a lofty mound of earth over his remains, exactly like the one which marks the place where sleep the ashes of Achilles, on the plains of Troy. The mound of Hannibal was erected one hundred and eighty- two years before Christ. If, therefore, the Carthagenians, the Greeks, the Romans, the more ancient Phoenicians, the Egyp- tians, the Jews, and all the first nations immediately succeeding the flood, were found in this practice, is it not fairly inferred that branches or colonies of these same nations or races of men, were also the authors of the mounds of America, found scattered over its mighty regions? Clavigero,who was well acquainted with the history of the Mex- 280 AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIBS it I * r ■ P' icans and Peruvians, professes to point out the places from when o they emigrated, several places they stopp(!dat, and the times which they continued to sojourn there. This, we understand, is the same OS related before in this work, written by Humboldt, and describes the emigration of the Ay.lvca tribes from Aztalan, or the western States, to Mexico, which commenced to take place not long after the conquest of Jud(!u i)y Titus. Cluvigero supposi.-s these nations of A/talan came from Asia, across the Pacific, from the region along the coast of the (/liincse sea and islands?, reaching America not far from IJheriiig's strait, and i'rom thence followed along the coast of the Pacific, till they came, in process of time, to a milder climate. To this Mr. Atwater adds, and supposes them to have from thence worked across the contiiuMit, as well iis in other direc- tions, as far ns the regions of the western Slates and territories, where they may have lived thousands of years, us their work? denote. Others may have found their way into South America, by crossing the I'acific and Atlantic, at diderent times and places. — (ireenlanders have been driven upon the coast of Iceland, which is a distance of at least a thousand miles. Thus transported by winds, waves and stress of weather, man has found all the islands of all the seas. In the same way may have arrived persons from Africa and Europe, Australasians, Chinese, Hindoos, .Fajjanese, Burmans, Kamskatdalcs and Tartars on the coasts of America, in the first ages. r A Specimen of Jlntediluman Letters. Although we have before bestowed a few thoughts on the sub- ject of antediluvian letters, yet we are inclined to state, farther, that our opinion is still more confirmed that letters,whether as pic- tures of articles, or of ideas and words, v/ere in use before the flood, from the late discoveries made on pulling down the founda- tions of the tower of Babel. AND DMCOVKRIKS IN THK WKHT. 281 The reason we introduce this subject again is, that at the time the previous pages went to press, we had not obtained the beau- tiful fac-similc specimen of some of the letters of that tower built by Nirnrod, son of Flam, and grandson of Noah, and are hero sot fortli. 11 ;i 'I, 1* ' I 1 if Thcae letters are presented to the public by Sir Robert Kor Porter, who examined them on the spot, that is, at the tower, in 1820, on the Euphrates, an account of which can be seen at large in his Travels in Persia, Arujcnia, the country round about tlie mountains of Ararat, Georgia, Babylon, and the vast plains and regions of the ancient Tartars, or more properly Scythians, vol. 2, p. 395. The invention of letters is, by all who have given their attention to this exceedingly interesting subject, ascribed to the Phoenicians, who were black, as the very climax of antiquity, going back to the time coeval with Abraham, 2000 B. C. But from the abund- ance of letters, not pictures of things, found on the bricks of Ba- bel, it certainly is ascertained that Nimrod has here availed him- self of the art learned from his grandfather Noah, to record his i 1182 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS own history, that of the deluge, the family of man saved in the ark, the institutions of men before the flood, the creation of the first man and woman, as also the erection of the tower, and his own laws and religion. We do not certainly know that such is the history written on these bricks, yet it is highly probable, as those subjects would be the most likely to engross his attention, and that of all other men at the time, and are therefore supposed to compose a history, as above expressed. The reader will perceive that the writing is in perpendicular columns, a mode known to the most ancient Chinese, although horizontal writing is practised in that country yet, more fre- quently, according to Good, and by the Chinese it is said to bo the most ancient. The varieties of these letters are found to be immense, yet they all partake of a similar formation, which is arrow-headed, and in our opinion stand at the head of all the let- ters of the human race, and are the same which were in use be- fore the flood. But whether they were invented by man at first, or were received from God by Adam, Seth or Enoch, is a ques- tion among the most learned. Some are of the opinion that let- ters are the result of improvement from picture writing, and others that they were received by inspiration. We incline, how- ever, to believe them the invention of man; yet we do not forget that " Man hath his understanding by the inspiration of God." — (Job.) It is said by the same traveller, that on his leaving the bank of the river Ingouletz he entered on the dreary steppe or desert plains, where he observed innumerable tumuli, or mounds; and some of a breadth and height hardly credible. He says the mounds in this immense region of the dead, vary greatly in size, and that where one of unusual magnitude is found, it is generrlly surroun- ded by several smaller ones. So also in America. It is the opi- nion of this most intelligent traveller that there should be no doubt but the larger sort of these tumuli were raised over the bodies of princes and heroes, and that the smaller ones cover the remains of the followers of their armies or of their state. But that so vast an expanse should be occupied by monuments of the dead, «xtend- ing regularly to the very farthest extent of sight, seeemed almost beyond belief ; yet there they were, and the contemplation was as «wful as the view was amazing. - AND DI0COVERIE8 IN THE WEST. 283 d in the n of the and his t such is )ablc, as ittention, supposed sndicular although no re fre- xid to be nd to be which is 11 the let- in use be- ll at first, is a ques- 1 that let- iting, and ine, how- lot forget God."— e bank of or desert jnds; and le mounds 3, and that Y surroun- ia the opi- Q no doubt bodies of e remains lat so vast d, «xtend- led almost ion was as His first impression, he says, on beholding the immensity of these tumuli, was that he was in some famous field of battle, vast enough for the world to have been lost in. Herodotus thus de- scribes the burial place of princes among the ancient Scythians. He says a large quadrangular excavation was made in the earth, in dimensions more like a hall of banquet than a grave,and within it was placed a sort of bier bearing the body of the deceased prince. Daggers were laid at various distances around him, and a number of golden goblets ; the whole then covered with pieces of wood, and branches of the willow tree. This done, the hollow was soon filled up, and surmounted with earth by the multitudes following in the train. Herodotus also describes the great tumulus erected over the remains of Alyates, the father of Croesus,which in part still exists near the ancient city of Sardis. He describes it as of a prodigious height, having a base of stones, and that three classes of people were employed to raise up its enormous bulk. This tumulus was, in the time of Strabo, though partly destroyed, still two hundred feet high, and its circumference three-fourths of a mile. This mound or tumulus was erected about 600 years before Christ; as this Alyates, the father of Croesus, was contemporary with Nebu- chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the same of whom the Scriptures givo an account. All about that region, (the tower of Babel,) :nounds are still immense in numbers, copied from the first, that of Babel, and Babel, it is likely, from the same practice once in use before the flood, to mark the places where slept the remains of the mighty dead, whose deeds attracted the eye of heaven it- self, and provoked its thunders to exterminate the race, in the horrors of the deluge. Voyages and Shipping of the Mongol Tartars, and Settle^ ments on the Western Coast of America, The whole western coast of the American continent^ from op- posite the Japan islands, in latitude from 40 to 50 degrees north, down to Patagonia, in latitude 40 south — a distance of more than II {284 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIES six thousand miles — itwould appear was once pojiulous with such nations as peopled the Japan islands, and the eastern shores of Asia, Chinese Tartary, China, and Further India; who also peo- pled the islands hetween with their various natiuns. A cross made of hne niorble, beautifully polished, about three feet high, and three fingers and width in thickness, was found in an Indian tiMiiplo. This, it appears, was ke|)t as sacred, in a palace of one of the Incus, and held in great veneration by the natives of South America. When the Spaniards (•oii(|U(!red that country (hey enriched this cross with gold jewels, and placed it in the ca- thedral of ('Uzco. Ikil how came this emblem of Christianity in America? There were in the service of tin; Mongols, in the; 1,'Jtli century, many Ncstoriuns, a sect of Christians. TIk^ conciueror of the king of eastern 15ongal was a Christian, which was in 1272, A. J). Under this king, a j)art of an expedition was sent to conquer the islands of .lapan, in largo (yhinese vessels, unil supposed to have been commanded by these Christian Nestorians, asoilicers, being more trust-worthy, and more expert in warlike man at first to be all one animal. There remains not a doubt that the Mongol Tartars found their way from China to the west of America in shipping. The voyage is not so great as to render it impossible, as that a French vessel, in the year 1721, sailed frf)m China, and arrived at a place called Valle do Nandras, on the coast, in (ifly days. Tin; IMuenician letters were known among the Motigol nations. If, tbertdbre, they found their way to America, wc; at once account for the I'hcenician characters found in caverns, and cut in rocks of that country. A description of what is supposed a (Jhinese Mongol town, to tlie west, in latitude 'M), in longitude d7, called by lluimselves, when first visited by the Spaniards, Talomeco, is exceedingly curious, and situated on the bank of a river running into the l*acilic from th(! territory now called Oregon, only four degrees south of Lake Erie, and in longitude 87, f)r (exactly west of Ohio, in latitude 39. It was well built, and contains five hundred houses, some of which are large and show wcdl at a distance. It was situated on the banks of a river. Hernando Soto dined with a cacique named Guachaia, and was entertained with as much civility as exists among polished nations. The suit of servants stood in a row with their backs against the wall. This is an eastern fashion. While the cacique was at dinner, he happened to sneeze, on which the attendants respectfully bowed : this, too, was an ancient eastern usage. After the repast was finished, the servants all dintjd in another hall. The meat was well cooked, the (ish properly roasted or broiled. They had a knowledge of dressing furs with neatness ; deer skins were prepared with softness and delicacy, with which they clothed themselves. The principal pride and grandeur of this people, however, con- sisted in their temple,which stood in the town of Talomeco, which was also the sepulchre of their caciques^ or chiefs. The temple was a hundred paces Iong,which is eighteen rods, and forty wide, which is seven rods and eight feet. Its doors were wide, in pro- portion to its length. The roof was supported by posts from the ♦^ i ^\ 286 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ground, and thatched neatly with split twigs, and built sloping, to throw of! the rain. It was thickly decorated with different sized shcils^ connected together in festoons, which shone beautifully in the sun. On entering the temple, there were twelve wooden statues, of gigantic size, with menacing and savage faces^ the tallest of which was eight feet high. They held in their hands, in a striking pos- ture, clubs adorned with copper. Some had copper hatchets, edged with flint ; others^had bows and arrows, and some held long pikes, pointed with copper. The Spaniards thought these statues worthy of the Romans. On each of the four sides of the temple there were two rows of statues, the size of life — the upper row of men, with arms in their hands — the lower row of women. The cornice in the temple was ornamented with large shells, min- gled with pearls and festoons. The corpses of these caciques were so well embalmed that there was no bad smell ; they were deposited in large wooden coffers, well constructed, and placed upon benches, two feet from the ground. In smaller coffers, and in baskets, the Spaniards found the clothes of the deceased men and women, and so many pearls that they distributed them among the officers and soldiers, by handfuUs. The prodigious quantity of pearls; the heaps of col- ored chamois or goat skins ; clothes of marten and other well dressed furs ; the thick, well made targets of twigs, ornamented with pearls, and other things found in this temple and its magazines which consisted of eight halls of equal magnitude, made even the Spaniards who had been in Peru admire this as the wonder of the new world. The remains of cities and towns of an ancient population exist every where on the coast of the Pacific, which agree, in fashion, with the works and ruins found along the Chinese coasts, exactly west from the western limits of North America; showing beyond all dispute that in ancient times the countries were known to each other, and voyages were reciprocally made. The style of their shipping was such as to be equal to voyages of that distance, and also sufficient to withstand stress of weather, even beyond ves- sels of the present times, on account of their great depth of keel and size. ** The Chinese ships have a single deck, below the space of |i AND DISCOVEKIBB IX THE WEST. 287 which is divided into a great number of cabins, sometimes not less than sixty, affording accommodations for as many merchants with their servants. They have a good helm. Some of the larger ships have besides the cabin, thirteen bulk-heads or divisions in the hold, formed of thick planks mortised together. The object of this is to guard against springing a leak, if they strike on a rock, or should be struck by a whale, which not unfrequently occurs. — By this plan, if an accident did happen, only one of the divisions could bo affected. The whole vessel was double planked, laid over the first planking; and so large were some of these vessels, as to require a crew of three hundred sailors to manage them when at sea." — (See Marco PolOf Book 2d, chap. 1, and note U2S— Rankin.) In A. D. 1275, the Tartars, under their general, called Moko, undertook the invasion of the Japan empire, which lies along ad- jacent to China between the western coast of North America and China, with a fleet of 4,000 sail, having on board two hundred and forty thousand men. But the expedition proved unsuccessful, as it was destroyed by a storm, driven and scattered about the Pacific ocean. — (Kempfer^s History of Japan — Rankin.) From this we discover the perfect ability of the western nations, that is, west of America, to explore the ocean as suited their inclinations^ in the earliest ages; for we are not to suppose the Tartars had just then, in 1275, come to a knowledge of navigation, but rather the greatness of this fleet is evidence that the art had arrived to its highest state of perfection long before. But had they a knowledge of the compass? This is an impor- tant inquiry. On this subject we have the following from the pen of the most learned antiquarian of the age, C S. Rafinesque, whose writings we have several times alluded to in the course of this work. This author says that in the year of the world 1200, or 2800 B. C, or 450 year? before the flood, the magnetic needle was known and in use, and that under the Emperor Hoangti, which was about 130 years nearer the time of the flood, reckoning from the creation, ships began to be invented; he even gives the names of two ship builders, Kong-ku, and Ho-ahu, who by order of the above named emperor, built boats, at first with hollow trees, and t .■1 1 i i •»5 288 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES furnished them with oars, and were sent to explore places where no man had ever been. In the year 2037 B. C, or 307 years after the flood, under the IHm. dynasty embassies were sent to China from foreign coun- ties beyond the sea,who came in ships to pay homage to the Hias or emperor. If a knowledge of the magnet, and its adaptation to navigation, was known before the flood, as appears from this writer's remarks, who derives this discovery from a perusal of the Chinese histories, it wiis of necessity divulged by Noah, to his immediate posterity, who, it is said, wenfsoon after the con- fusion of the language at Babel, and planted a colony in China, or in that eastern country; as all others of mankind had perished in the flood, consequently there were none else to promulge it but Jiis family. Dr. Clarke has given his opinion, in his comment on the book of Job, that the needle was known to the ancients of the east; he derives this from certain expressions of Job, chap, xxviii. ver. 18, respecting precious stones, which are : '' No mention shall he made of coral pearls ; for the price of wisdom is above rubiesJ^ That is, it is understood that the wisdom which aided man to make this discovery, and to apply it to the purposes of navigation, on the account of its polarity, is that wisdom which is above the price of rubies. *' The attractive properties of loadstone must have been observed from its first discovery; and there is every reason to believe that the magnet and its virtues were known in the east long before they were discovered in Europe." — (Clarke.) But it may be inquired, if the knowledge of the magnet and its application to the great purpose of navigation and surveying were understood in any degree, how came one branch of the descend- ants of the family of Noah — those who went east from Ararat, to have it, and the others, who went in other directions, to be ignorant of it, and had to discover it over again in the course of agesi We can answer this, only by noticing that many arts of the ancients of Europe and Africa are lost — how, we cannot tell; but in the same way this art was lost Wars, convulsions, revo- lutions, sweeping diseases, often change the entire face and state of society; so that if it were even known to all the frst genera- tion, immediately succeeding the flood, a second generation may have lost it, not dwelling in the vicinity of great waters. Having no use for such an art, would of necessity lose it. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. *>S8 In the year 1197, before Christ, a large colony from China, under the Yu dynasty, was sent to Japan, and other western islands, who drove out the Oni, or black inhabitants, the first set- tlers of those islands, a branch, it appears, of the family of Ham, who had found their way across the whole continent of Asia, from Ararat, or else had by sea coasted along from the countries of the equator, their natural home, to those beautiful islands. From this trait of early settlement, we see the African, as he is now designated, as enterprising in the colonizing of new countries as they were in the study of astronomy, and of building, at the time the Egyptians first merge to notice on the page of liistoiy. And if the Japan islands, a part of the earth as far from Ararat, the great starting point of man after the flood, as is America, and much farther, was found settled by the black race of Ham, why not therefore parts of America, as soon, or sooner? The pure negro has been found on some of the islands between China and America, which would seem to indicate that this race of people have preceded even the whites, or at least equalled them, in first peopling the globe after the deluge. Rafinesque, the great anti(iuarian, says the exact time when the Chinese first discovered or reached America, is not given in their books, but it was known to them, he says, and to the Japanese at a very early jKM'iod, and called by them Fu Sham, and frequent- ed for trade. But who were here for them to trade with ? Our answer is, those first inhabitants, the white, the red and the black descendants of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, who they were when dug out of the Mammoth cave^ about two hundred yards within its mouth. Upon examination, it will be perceived that they are fabricated out of difierent materials: — one is supposed to be made of a species of Hag or lily»which grows in the southern parts of Kentucky; the other of the bark of some tree, probably the pawpaw. There is a part of what is supposed to be a kinniconecke, or pouch, two meshes of a fishing net, and a piece of what is supposed to be the raw material, and of which the fishing net, pouch and moccasins were made. Also, a bowl, or cup, containing about a pint, cut out of wood, found also in the cave ; and lately, there has been dug out of it the skeleton of a iiuman body, enveloped in a matting similar to that of the pouch. This matting is substantially like those of the plain fabric, taken from the copperas cave of Tennessee, and the saltpetrous cavern near Glasgow, in Kentucky." And what is highly remarkable, and worthy the attention of antiquarians, is, that they all have a perfect resemblance to the fabrics of the Sandwich, Caroline, and the Fejee islands, in the Pacific. We know the similitude of the manufactured articles, from the following circumstance: after the termination of the war in the island of Toconroba, wherein certain citizens of the United States were engaged as principals or allies, many articles of Fe- jee manufacture were brought to New- York by the victors. Some of them agree almost exactly with the fabrics discovered in Ken- tucky and Tennessee. They bear a strict comparison, the marks of a similar state of arts, and point strongly to a sameness of origin in the respective peopie who prepared them. Notwithstand- K « 'in '4 296 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIK8 ing the distance of their several residences nt the present time, it is impossible not to look back to the common ancestry of the Ma- lays, who formerly possessed the country between the Alleghany mountains and tiie Mississippi river, and those who now inhabit the islands of the Pacific ocean. All these considerations lead to the bc!i''r that colonies of Aus- tralasians, or Malays, landed in North America, and penetrated across the continent in process of time to the region lying between the great lakes and the gulf of Mexico. There they resided, and constructed the fortifications, mounds and other ancient structures which are the wonder of all who have seen them. What has be- come of them? They have been probably overcome by the more warlike and ferocious hordes that entered our hemisphere from the northeast of Asia. These Tartars of the higher latitudes have issued from the great hive of nations, and desolated in the course of their migrations, the southern tribes of America, as they have done those of Asia and Europe. The greater part of the present American natives arc of the Tartar stock, the descendants of the hardy warriors who destroyed the wer»ker Malays that preceded them. An individual of their exterminated race now and then rises from the tomb, by which their identity of origin is ascer- tained. In a communication of Samuel L. Mitchell to De Witt Clinton, 1826, he remarks that " the parallel between the people of Ame- rica and Asia atlords this important conclusion, that on both con- tinents the hordes dwelling in higher latitudes have overpowered the more civilized though feebler inhabitants of the countries situ- ated towards the e([uator." As the Tartars have overrun China, so the Azlecas subdued Mexico; as the Huns and Alans desolated Italy, so the Chippewas and Iroquois prostrated the pepulous settlements on both banks of the Ohio. The surviving race^ in these terrible conflicts between the different nations of the ancient native residents of North Ame- rica, is evidently that of the Tartars. The exterminated race, in the savage intercourse between the nations of North America, in ancient days, appears clearly to have been that of the Malays. The bodies and shrouds and cloth- ing of those individuals have, within a few years, been discovered in the caverns of saltpetre and copperas,within the States of Ken~ I AND DIRCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 297 tuckyand Tennessee. Their entire dried or cxsiccnted condition has led intelligent gentlemen, who have seen them, to call them mummies. They are some of the most memorable of the antiquities that North America contains. The race or nation to which they be- longed is extinct, but in preceding ages, occupied the region situ- ated between lakes Ontario and Erie on the north, and of Mexico on the south, and bounded oastwardly by the Alleghany moun- tains, and westwardly by the Missisrsippi river. But notwithstanding the celebrity, founded on the great erudition and critical research of Prolessor Mitchell, we cannot subscribe to this opinion respecting the red-headed mummy now in the New York museum, found in a saltpetre cave in Kentucky. It is a well known fact, that invariably all the nations of the earth, who are of the swarthy or black complexion, have black hair, either straight or curled. But those nations belonging to the white class have a great variety of color of the hair — black, white, auburn, and red. We arc sure this is a characteristic of the two classes of mankind, the dark and the white. If so, then the Kentucky body found in the cave is not of Malay origin, but of Scandina- vian; of whom, as a nation, it is said that the predominant color of the hair was red. And further, we object, that the traits of ancient population found in Canada, between lakes Ontario and Erie, lobe of Malay origin, but rather of Scandinavian also. Our reason is as follows: it is unreasonable to suppose the Malays, Australasian and Poly- nesian nations of the islands of the Pacific, who were originally from the eastern coasts of China, situated in mild climates, should penetrate so far north as the countries in Canada, to fix their ha- bitations ; but it is perfectly natural that the Scandinavian, the Welch, or the Scottish clans, all of whom inhabit cold, very cold countries, should be delighted with such a climate as any part of either Upper or Lower Canada. And farther, as a reason that the Malay nations never inhabited any part of the Canadas,we notice that in those regions there are found no traces of their peculiar skill and labor, ascribed to them by Professor Mitchell, which arc the great mounds of the west. — In Canada we know not that any have been discovered; but other works of warlike character abound there, in the form of long lines fi 111 m ii •298 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of defensive preparations, corresponding with similar works in the north of Europe, and in many places in the State of New- York, and in other Atlantic States, as before noticed. On which account, we do not hesitate to ascribe the ancient traits of a former civilized population, found between lakes Ontario and Erie, to be of European rather than of Malay origin. Voyages of the Ancients from Italy and Africa to the Conti- nent of America and its adjacent Islands. » CaliMET, a celebrated writer, and well known as an ecclesiastic of the Catholic communion,who was highly versed in the antiqui- ties of past ages, brings forward the most classic authors of an- cient times respecting the discovery of America, and the origin of its inhabitants. He produces the writings of Hornius, son of Theodosius the Great, and Emperor of the West, who lived in the third century, as supported by the writings of Strabo, a native of Cappadocia, and was a historian and geographer at or about the time of the commencement of the Christian era, affirms as certain, that voy- ages from Africa and Spain into the Atlantic ocean were both frequent and celebrated. He says that Eudoxius, sailing from the Arabian gulf to Ethiopia and India, found a prow of a ship that had been wrecked, which, from its having the head of a horse carved on it, he knew belonged to a Phoenician bark ; and some Oaditana merchants declared it to have been a fishing vessel."" Laretius relates nearly the same circumstance. Hornius says, (continues Calmet,) that in very remote ages three voyages were made to America,the first by the Atlantes or descendants of Atlas, who gave his name to the Atlantic ocean and the island of Atlan- tides : this name (Atlantides,) Plato, who lived nearly 400 B. C, appears to have learned from the Egyptian priests, the general depositories ©f knowledge. The second voyage mentioned by Hornius, is given on the au- thority of Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the time of Julius Coesar, AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 299 who says that the Phoenicians having passed the columns of Her- cules, (out of the Mediterranean sea at the strait of Gibraltar,) and being impelled by the violence of the wind, abandoned them- selves to its fury, and after experiencing many tempests, were thrown upon an island in the Atlantic ocean, distant many days' navigation to the westward of the coast of Lybia or Africa,which island possessed a fertile soil, had navigable rivers, and there were large buildings upon it. On their return, by the means of other adventurers, the report of this discovery soon spread among the Carthaginians and Romans, the former being harrassed by the wars of the latter, and the people of Mauritania sent a colony to that island with great secresy, that in the event of being overcome by their enemies, they might possess a place of safe retreat. Such were the descriptions which the Phoenicians gave of the beauty and fertility of this island, as well as of its opulent inhabi- tants, that the Romans became desirous of making themselves masters of it, and settling a colony there. This perplexed the Carthaginians, who began to fear that their countrymen would be enamored of a fertility so much praised, and abandon their native country to settle there. And on the other hand, they viewed it as a safe refuge in event of any unforeseen calamity, or if their republic in Africa should fail, to which, as being masters of the sea, they could easily retire, to secure themselves and families — more especially as the region was unknown to other nations. Aristotle, who lived and wrote about 350 years before Christ, •continues Calmet, in his book, speaking of this island, says, the magistrates of Carthage having observed that many of their citi- zens who had undertaken the voyage thither had not returned, prohibited, therefore, under the penalty of capital punishment,any farther emigration, and ordered those who had remained there to return to their country, fearing that as soon as the affair should be known, other nations would endeavor to establish there a peaceable commerce. But there is an account of another voyage into the Atlantic, spoken of by Calmet, which was anterior to the preceding, and is attributed to Hercules, who by Galleo, (a writer of the sixteenth century,the same whose books and opinions about the Copernican system of astronomy were condemned by the Popish Council, in 1634,) is ranked as contemporary with Moses, who lived nearly I ] « 1 1 > 800 AMKKK AN ANTim ;ITIP,« IflOO n. (' 'J'liis IF( rc.iilcH, llic stivmp tnnn of jintit|ully, lu'cord- jiig to licatlicii iiiylliology, wiih ii gn'iil ('ii|itiiiii iiinl Icadinfr (^Imi'. nctnr, «'.hi»;r of llm ('.'mimiiifrH, wIki (Ird rroin PiilrHliiic, I'lom tin; wai'H of .loshija, mid went to Arricii, scllliiig, hh is sii|i|ioMcd, cm tlio Wf'Htrni r.ofist <(!' tlint (•((iiiilry. 'This siiiih! Ilfn-ulcs is siip- pofv'd t«> \\n\i'. <'ir(!mmiii vij^afcd iIk* n^lnlic, iiiid is spolvcii of mh having d(in(« so l»y Diodorus, tiiid tlinl lie roiiiidcrl flic cjiy of fjurta in H('|)tiiniinin, hut. no wtitnr hiis pointed out its Niliiution. Arnrv rinu inny hav(^ hccn lliaf ronnlry, especially as llcrcides inad(i voyag(>s inl<» the Allantic, hctuctii AlVi(;a and tli(; (•<)nlin(^nt of America to the sonih. ('alnxil, in his ('oniinentnry on the .tiignilhin" war, slates, in tlie Iiistory of the kinfnlom <»!' INuniidia, written in the I'linie langiiajfe, thai he had \-r![A an Afii'-an aeeininf or tradition of the arrival in that ronnlry of llerenles, with an army of Medes, Persians and Arntinians. Thesis soMierN, he says, married Ly- hian women, who were hiacli, and that their lanf';iiage imjiercep- tihly degeiit^rated from its oiiginal purity, and in process (d' time tho naini; of IVIedes and Arminians lie<'anie (dianged to that of Mi aunt en or M Dors. TluM'o is a strong prohahility that the Komans and ('arthagini- ans, «W(Mi !UK) H. ('., were w»dl acpiainted with tin; existence of this eo\uitry, ohtained hy these early navigators, |[er tve I>IH(;0VKU1KN IN IIIK WK8T. iiOl Furllutr Ucmnrlis on f/ir Siihji\t of Human Complexions. As in llin oiay b • engrnd'-red, we may r(it.'nmally coijciiKle, with th(! siigjciou ; d" \'/.ira, that thi; prncnuifhw power may a/so .-hape the n trure ;, tingi; ihe sle snnpos'd to Irivo, as has been con- 302 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES tended by many; which, so far as we are able to understand his meaning, is referring the complexions of the human race imme- diately to the arbitrary act of God. To this doctrine we most cordially subscribe, because it is simple, natural and reasonable, the very way in which the Creator works. First fixing the prin- ciples of nature, as gravitation and motion, which keep the worlds in their courses. Were it not for these, all would stand still, and nature would die. Fire, in its endless variations, breathes through all matter, expands the leaves of all forests, and adorns them with all flowers, gives motion to the air, which, in that motion, is call- ed the winds of heaven. Fire gives licjuescency to the waters of the globe : were it not for this, all fluids that now move over the earth in rivers, brooks and springs, or oceans, or nnsses by sub- terranean channels through the earth, or circulates in the pores of trees and herbage, with the watery fluids of all animated life, would stand still, would congeal, would freeze to one universal mass of death. Also, in the secret embryo of earlk's productions, as in all vegetation, all animals, and all human beings, is fixed the principle of variety. Were it not for this, what vast confusion would ensue ! If all human beings looked alike, and all human voices sounded alike, there would be an end to society — to so- cial order — to the distinctions between friend and foe, relatives and strangers ; conversation would be misapplied — identity at an end. Subjects of investigation and research, arts and science, could have no objects to fix upon. Such a state of things would be a fearful retrograde toward a state of insensibility and non- existence. And is it not also as evident, that God has fixed, as well the secret principle which produces complexion, as it appears in an unmixed state in the human subject, as that he has the other prin- ciples just rehearsed, and equally as arbitrarily. Vegetation mixes and in this way gives varieties in form, color and flavor, not strictly original. Also, the original complexions, in their pure state of black, tawny and white, have also by mixtures produced their varieties; but at the outset, in the embryo, there must have been a first predisposing principle to each of these eomplexions, fixed on a more permanent basis than that of food and climate — or else food and climate, after these had made a white race of AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 3oa men, or a lawny race black, might be expectetl in due time, if moved to a climate favoring, to change them all back again, as at first, but this is contrary to all experience on the subject, in all ages and climates of the earth. Therefore, we fix on the idea of a first principle, placed in the generative powers of the sons of Noah, from whom their several progenies derived the black, the red or tawny, and the white, in all the simplicity and beauty of natural operation. This curious subject, with the amount of argument on both sides of the question, (that is, whether human complexions are produced by food and climate, or are original,) is in a masterly manner attended to in the American edition of the new Edinburgh Encyclopedia, vol. 6. In that work, it is shown that climate, in hundreds of instances which respect the complexions of all the nations known on the globe, are found unchangeable. In the tor- rid climes, both the white and the black, with all the intermediate shades between the two extremes, are found, as also the black with curled hair in the northern regions, in many countries of the old world. "As, therefore, the dark complexioned varieties of mankind are found near the poles — as people of the same complexion are found over the whole continent of America, under all its various cli- mates — as there are numerous instances of comparative fairness of complexion under the heat of a burning climate — as radical differences of complexion are found in the same regions, and even among the same people — and as there are numerous instances where the original complexion has remained permanent, notwith- standing it has been exposed to a change of climate for centuries, it may be fairly inferred that the characteristic complexions of the different varieties of the human race are not the result of climate. — ( Encyclopedia^ as above, p. 670. In another communication, which in part was on the same sub- ject, though addressed to the Secretary of the American Antiqua- rian Society, Dr. Mitchell says : "In that memoir (alluding to the one addressed to De Witt Clinton,) I maintained the doctrine that there were but three original varieties of the human race — the tawny man, the white man and the black — a division which I anf> pleased to observe the incomparable author of the Animal King- dom has adopted in France. 304 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS The former of these seems to have occupied, in the earliest days, the plain watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, while the white Arab, as he has sometimes been called, was found in the regions north of the Mediterranean sea, and the sable Arab, or negro, in- habited to the south of that expanse of water. Of the brown or tawny variety, arc the eastern Asiatics, and western Americans, divisible into two great stocks, or genealo- gies ; first, those in high latitudes, whom 1 call Tartars ; and, second, those who inhabit low or southern latitudes, whom I con- sider as Malays. 1 am convinced that terms Tartar and Mahuj, for the present purposes of reasoning, are equally applicable to the two great continents ; and that, with the exception of the negro colonies in Papau, ami a few other places, the islanders in ihe Pa- cific are Malaj-s. My observations led me, several years ago, to the conclusion that the two great continents Asia and America, were peopled by similar races of men ; and that America, as well as Asia, had its Tartars in the north, and its Malays in the south. America hits had her Scythians, lier Alans, and her Huns ; but there has been no historian to record their formidable migriUions, and their bar- barous achievements ; how little of past events do we know. The comparison of the language spoken by these Asiatic and American nations, cojonies and tribes, respectively, was begun by our learned fellow citizen, the late Dr. B. S. Barton. The work has been continued by the Adelangs and Vatcr, distinguished phi- lologists of Germany. Their profound inquiry into the structure of language and the elements of speech, embraces a more correct and condensed body of information concerning the original tongues of the two Americas, than was ever compiled and arranged bei'oro. Their Mithridatcs, a book on languages, surpasses all similar per- formances that have ever been achieved by man. t)ne of my intelligent correspondents, who has surveyed with his own eves the region watered by the Ohio, wrote me very late- ly a letter containing the tbilowing paragraph : *'I have adopted your theory respecting the Malays, Polyncsiaa"* and Alleghanians. This last nation, so called by the Lenni-Ienapi, or primitive stock of our hunting Indians, was that which inhabited the United States, before the Tartar tribes came and destroyed ihcm, and who erected the mounds, works, fortifications and tern- AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 305 pies of the western country. This historical fact is now proved beyond a doubt, by the traditions of the Lemi-lenapi Indian, pub- lished by Heckewelder, in the work issued by the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia. I may add, that Mr. Clifford, of Lexing- ton, Kentucky, has proved another identity between the Allegha- nians and Mexicans, by ascertaining that many supposed fortifica- tions were temples, particularly that of Circleville in Ohio, where human sacrifices were one of their rites. He has discovered their similarity with the ancient Mexican temples, described by Hum- boldt, and has examined the bones of victims in heaps, the shells used in sacred rites, as in India, and the idol of baked clay, con- sisting of three heads." This opinion of human sacrifices was fully confirmed by the tes- timony of Mr. Manuel Liea, during the summer of 1818. He, on his return from the trading posts on the Upper Missouri, informed his fellow citizens at St. Louis, that the Wolf tribe of the Pawnte Indians yet followed the custom of Immolating human victims. He purchased a Spanish prisoner, a boy about ten years old, whom they intended to ofler as a sacrifice to the Great Star ; and they did put to death, by transfixing on a sharp pole, as an offer- ing to the object of their adoration, the child of a Paddo woman, who being a captive herself, and devoted to that sanguinary and horrible death, made her escape on horseback, leaving her new born offspring behind. The triad, or trinity of heads, (see the plats) instantly brings to mind a similar article, figured by the In- dians of Asia, and described by Mr. Maurice in his Oriental Researches. I received, a short time since, directly from Mexico, several pieces of cloth, painted in the manner that historians have often represented. I find the material in not a single instance to be cot- ton, as has been usually afllirmed. There is not a thread indica- ting the use of the spinning wheel, nor an intertexture showing that the loom or shuttle was employed. In strictness, therefore, there is neither cotton nor cloth in the manufacture. The fabrics, on the contrary, are uniformly composed of pounded bark, prob- ably of the mulberry tree, and resembles the bark oloths prepared to this day, in the Friendly and Society islands, in the Pacific ocean, as nearly as one piece of linen, or one blanket of wool re- sembles another. 20 i:|ti| '11 306 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES I derive this condusion from a comparison of the several sorts of goods. They have been examined together by several excel- lent judges. For, at a meeting of the New York Literary and Philosophical society, in February, 1819, 1 laid these specimens of bark cloth with their respective colorings and paintings, from Mexico, Otaheite and Tongataboo, upon the table, for the exami- nation of its members. AU were satisfied that there was a most striking similitude among the several articles. Not only the fabric but the colors, and the materials of which they apparently con- sisted, as well as the probable manner of putting them on, seemed to me strong proofs of the sameness of origin, in the diflercnt tribes of a people working in the same way, and retaining a same- ness in their arts of making a thing, which answers the purpose of paper, of cloth and a material for writing and painting upon. Soon after the arrival of these rolls from New Spain, filled with hieroglyphics, and imitative characters, I received a visit from three natives of South America, born at St. Bias, just beyond the isthmus of Daricn, near the equator. They were of the Malay race, by their physiegnomy, form and general appearance. Their dark brown skins, their thin beards, the long, black, straight hair of their heads, their small hands and feet, and their delicate frame of body, all concur to mark their near resemblance to the Austral- asians ; while the want of high cheekbones, and little eyes, placed wide apart, distinguished them sufficiently from the Tartars. Says M. de la Salle, theBiscatongues,a tribe of western Indians, are cal- led weepers, as on the approach of a stranger they fall a weeping- But that which is yet more remarkable, and perhaps very reason- able in that custom, is that they weep much more at the birth of their children, than at their death ; because the latter is esteemed only by them as it were a journey or voyage, from whence they may return after the expiration of a certain time ; but they look upon their nativity as an inlet into an ocean of dangers and misfor, tunes. Compare this with a passage in the Terpischore of Hero- dotus, who flourished about 450 years before Christ, chap. 4th, where, in describing the Thracians, he observes, ''that the Trausi have a general uniformity with the rest of the Thracians, (a branch of the most ancient Greeks.) On the birth of a child, it is placed in the midst of a circle of its relations, who lament aloud the evils which, as a human being, he must necessarily undergo, all of AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WENT. 1r 307 which supposed evils, they particularly enumerate to the child, though it understands it not." — {^Bcloe's Translation.) To find a custom among one of the Indian nations, in America, which so strikingly agrees with that of the ThraciaJi, a branch of the most ancient Greek people, who existed many hundred years before Christ, is very extraordinary, and would seem to justify a belief that we have the descendants of the Greeks in our western forests ; which also argues that the ancestors of the tribe having this curious custom, came early to America, or they could not have so perfectly retained this practice, in their wanderings over Asia, who would inevitably have lost their ancient manners, by amalgamations. We have before shown in this work, that Greeks visited South America, in the time of Alexander the great, who for aught that can be objected, mny have left a colony, and the BiS' calongxies may be ther descendants. "There is an opinion among the Seneca nation of the Iroquois confederacy, to this day, that eclipses of the sun and moon arc caused by a Manitau, or bad Spirit, who mischievously intercepts the light intended to be shed upon the earth and its inhabitants. Upon such occasions, the greatest solicitude exists. All the indi- viduals of the tribe feel a strong desire to drive away the demon, and to remove thereby the impediment to the transmission of lumi- nous rays. For this purpose, they go forth, and by crying, shout- ing, drumming and the firing of guns, endeavor to frighten him, and they never fail in their object, for by courage and persever- ance, they infallibly drive him off. His retreat is succeeded by return ot the obstructed light. Something of the same sort is practised among the Chippeways, when an eclipse happens. The belief among them is, that there is a battle between the sun and moon, which intercepts the light. Their great object, therefore, is to stop the fighting and separate the combatants. They think these ends can be accompli«hcd by withdrawing the attention of the contending parties from each other, and diverting it to the Chip- peways themselves. They accordingly fill the air with noise and outcry. Such sounds are sure to attract the attention of the war- ring powers. Their philosophers have the satisfaction of knowing that the strife never lasted long after their clamor and noisy oper- ations began. Being thus induced to be peaceful, the sun and moon separate, and light is restored to the Chippeways. 308 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Now it is reported, on the authority of one of the Jesuit fathers of the French mission in India, that a certain tribe or people,whom he visited there, ascribed echpses to the presence of a great drag- on. This creature, by the interposition of his huge body, obstruc- ted the passage of light to our world ; they were persuaded they could drive him away by terrifying sounds, in which they were always successful, as the dragon soon retired in great alarm, when the eclipses immediately terminated. Cannibalism in Jlmericn. The practice of cannibalism exits in full force, in the Fejee islands. A particular and faithful account of it is contained in the 14th volume of the Medical Repository, chaps. 209, and 215. — The history of the five Indian nations Jepcndont upon the govern- ment of New York, by Dr. Golden, page 185 — 6, shows that the ferocious and vindictive spirit of the conqurer led him occasionally to feast upon his captive. The Ottawas having taken an Iroquois prisoner, made a soup of his flesh. The like has been repeatedly done since, on select occasions, by other tribes. Governor Cass, of Michigan, informed me, that among the Miamis, there was a standing committee, consisting of seven warriors, whose business it was to perform the man eating, required by public authority. The last of their cannibal feasts was on the body of a white man, of Kentucky, about forty years ago. The appointment of the committee to eat human flesh, has since that time, gradually be- come obsolete ; but the oldest and last member of this cannibal so- ciety is well remembered, and died only a few years ago. A very circumstantial description of a cannibal feast, where a soup was made of the body of an Englishman, at Michilimackinack, about the year 1760, is given by Alexander Henry, Esq., in his book of travels through Canada and the Indian territories. In that work it was stated that man eating was then, and always had been, practised among the Indian nations, on returning from war, or on overcoming their enemies, for the purpose of giving them courage to attack, and resolution to die." — {Medical Repository^ vol. 14, pp. 261, 262.) As extraordinary as this may appear, we are informed by Baron Humboldt, in his personal narrative, that *'in Egypt, in the 13th m AND DMC0VBIIIE8 IN THE WE8T. S09 century, five or six hundred years ngo, the habit of eating human flesh pervaded all classes of society. Extraordinary snares were spread, for physicians in particular. They were called to attend persons who pretended to be sick, but who were only hungry, and it was not in order to bo consulted, but devoured." Kven now, the whole population of the largo island, Sumatra, in the Indian ocean, oposite China, are Canabals. Notwiihstnnding thoy have as a people, a regular government, yet all criminals, who are reckoned worthy of death by the r laws, ore without exception, de- voured alive. But not in a savage and brutal manner, but most genteelly; as each person concerned in the affair surround the condei.aied person as ho is bound to a post, and in regular order cut away such part as the appetite fancies, eating it with pe|)per and salt, with great delight and relish ; while the poor wretch stands howling with pain, as he is eaten before his own eyes — till he falls down dead by loss of blood. — Masonic Record, page 123, No. 1, for 1830. Situated west, northwest and southwest of North America, in the Pacific ocean, arc a vast numbur of islands, scattered over all that immense body of water, extending in groups ([uite across to China, along the whole Asiatic coast. The general character of these islanders is similar, though somewhat diversified in language, in complexion are much the same, which is copper, with the ex- ception only of now and then people of the African descent, and those of the Japan islands, who are white. By examining Morse, we find them in the practice of sacrific- ing human beings, and also of devouring them, as we find the sav- ages of America were accustomed to do from time immemorial ; having but recently suspended the appalling custom. It is doubtless a fact, that the earliost tribes who separated from the immediate regions about Ararat, passed onward to the east, across the countries now called Persia, Bucharia, and the Chinese empire, till they reached the sea, or Pacific ocean, opposite the American continent. From thence, in process of time, on account of an increase of population, they left the main continent, in search of the islands, and passing from one group to another, till all those islands be- came peopled, and until they reached even the western coast of not only South but North America. 1 -!m I 310 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Kt-Sr' At the same time, tribes from the same region of Ararat, trav- elled westward, passing overall Europe and Southward, filling the regions of Africa, and the islands in the Atlantic ocean opposite the coasts of South and North America, till they also reached the main land, meeting their fellows, after having each of them circum- ambulated half the earth. And having started from the regions of Ararat and the tower of Babel, with languages differing one from another, and having also in process of time, acquired habits arising from differences of cir- cumstances, mostly dissimilar one from the other, wars for the mastery the most dreadful must have ensued, each viewing the others as intruders, from whence they knew not. This is evident from the traditions of the inhabitants of the Americas ; some tribes pointing to the east, others to the west, and others again to the north, as the way from whence their ancestors came. According to Clavigero, the ancestors of the nations which peopled Anahuac, now called New Spain, might have passed from the northern countries of Europe, (as Norway,) to the northern parts of Amer- ica, on the coast of Labrador, which is called British America and Canada ; also from the most eastern parts of Asia to the most western parts of America. This conclusion is founded on the constant and general tradition of those nations, which unanimous- ly say, that their ancestors came to Anahuac, or New Spain^ from the countries of the north and northwest. This tradition is con- firmed by the remains of many ancient edifices, built by those people in their migrations. In a journey made by the Spaniads in 1606, more than two hundred years since, from New Mexico to the river which they call Tizan, six hundred miles from Ana- huac towards the northwest, they found there some large edifices and met with some Indians who spoke the Mexican language, and who told them that a few day's journey from that river, towards the north, was the kingdom of Tolmh and many other inhabited places, from whence the Mexicans migrated. In fact, the whole population of Anahuac have usually affirmed, that towards the north were the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, Capal- lan, and several others, which are all Mexican names, now so de- signated ; but were v/e to trace these names to their origin, they would be found to be Mongol or Mogul origin, from Asia. Botu- rini, or Bouterone^ a learned Antiquarian of Paris, of the 17th AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 311 -century, says, that in the ancient paintings of the Taltecas, a na- tion of Mexico, or more anciently called Anahuac was represented the migrations of their uncestors through Asia, and the northern countries of America, until they established themselves in Tolan. (Morsej p. 618.) This river Tizan is, unquestionably the river Columbia, which belongs to the territory owned by the United States, bordering on •the coast of the Pacific, in latitude 47 degrees north ; which from Anahuac, in Mexico, is about that distance (600 miles) and this river being the only one of much size emptying into the sea on that side of the Rocky mountains, between the latitude of Mexico and the latitude of the mouth of the Columbia, is the reason why that river, may almost with certainty, be supposed the very Indian Tizan. But still farther north, several day's journey, were the kingdoms and provinces of Tolon, Aztalan, and Capallan, which were probably in the latitude with the northern parts of the United State's lands west of the Rocky mountains, and filling all the re- gions east as far as the head waters of the great western rivers ; thence down those streams, peopling the vast alluvials in Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Northwestern Territory, Ohio, Kentucky, Mis- sissippi, and so on to the gulf of Mexico. Although those kingdoms and provinces spoken of by the natives of Tizan, to these Spanish adventurers, had many hundred years before been vacated of their population and grandeur ; yet it was natural for them to retain the tradition of their numbers and ex- tent : and to speak of them as then existing, which as to latitude and location, was true, although in a state of ruin, like the edifices at the Tizan, or Columbia. In an address delivered at New York, before the College of Physicians, by Dr. Mitchell, which relates to the migrations of Malays, Tartars and Scandinavians, we have the following : "A late German writer, professor Vater, has published at Leipsig, a book on the population of America. He lays great stress on the .tongues spoken by the aborigines, and dwells considerably upon the unity pervading the whole of thenij'from Chili to the remotest district of North America, whether of Greenland, Chippewa,Dele- ware, Natick, Totuaka, Cora or Mexico. Though ever so singu- lar and diversied, nevertheless the same peculiarity obtains among them all, which cannot be accidental, viz : the whole sagacity of ^ L ■5M 312 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES II that people from whom the construction of the American lan- guages and the gradual invention of their grammatical forms is derived, has, as it were, selected one object, and over this diffused su«h an abundance of forms, that one is astonished, while only the most able philologist or grammarian of languages, by assidu- ous study, can obtain a general view thereof. "In substance, the author (I'rof. Vater) says, that through various times and circumstances, this peculiar character is pre- served. Such unity, such direction or tendency, compels us to place the origin in a remote period, when one original tribe or peo- ple existed, whose ingenuity and judgment enabled them to exco- gitate or invent such intricate formations of language as could not be effaced by thousands of years, nor by the influence of zones and climates. " Mr. Vater has published a large work, entitled Mil hri dates, in which he has given an extensive comparison of all the Asiatic, African and American languages, to a much greater extent than was done by our distinguished fellow citizen, Mr. Hurton, of Philadelphia, professor of natural history. Dr. Vafer concludes by expressing his desire to unravel the mysteries which relate to the new and old continents, at least to contribute the contents of his volume towards the commencement of a structure which, out of the ruins of dilacerated human tribes, seeks materials for an union of the whole human race in one origin ; which some have disputed, notwithstandii ■ '.he plain statement of the })iblo on that subject, which is a booK entitled to the term nntiquify, paramount to all other records now in existence. "What this original and radical language was, has very lately been the subject of in(|uiry by the learned Mr. Mathieu, of Nancy, in France. The Chevalier Valentine, of the order of St. Michael, renewed by Louis XVIII., informs me that this gentleman has examined Mr. Winthrop's description of the curious characters inscribed upon the rock at Dighton, Massachusetts, as published in the transactions of the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences. He thinks them hieroglyphics which he can interpret and explain, and ascribes them to the inhabitants of the ancient Atlantic island of Plato, called by him Atalantis. Mr. Mathieu not only professes to give the sense of the inscription, but also to prove that the tongues spoken by the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other occidental t AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEUT. 213 or western people, as well as the Greek itself, with all its dialects and ramifications, were but derivations from the language of the primitive Atalantians of the island of Plato," — of which we have before spoken in this work. i The Jltlanlic Nations of Jlmerica. The ocean separating Tjurope and Africa from America is yet called the Atlantic ocean — our littoral States are called the At- lantic States. The Atlantes of North Africa, who gave their name to the Atlas mountains, and whoso descendants exist there as yet, under the names of Taurics, Berbers, Shelluh, Showiuh, &c., were one of the primitive nations of lioth continents. They came to America soon after the flood, if not before, colonized and named the ocean, and the islands in it, as well as America, which was called the Great Atlantis, or rather Aiala, meaning the first or main land. This name is preserved in Hindoo traditions. The Atlantes were not only the primitive colonists of America, but they were the most conspicuous and civilized. Their true name was Atalans. They may have been the founders of Otolum, and many other ancient cities here in North America. Their de- scendants exist to this day in America, under the names of Talas, or Tarascas, Alalalas, Mulalans, Talcgawis, Otalisy or Tsut.ukiSjTalahuicas,Cho7italas or Tsendalas, &c., from Carolina to Guatemala. When Columbus again discovered America, he and the earliest explorers were struck with the similarity between many American tribes and the Guanches of the Canary islands, remains of the Oceanic Atlantes, in features, manners and speech. Whether the Haytians, Cubans and Aruacs were genuine Atlantes, is rather doubtfulj^because their language is more akin to the Pelagic than the Atlantic. But three at least out of the twenty-five original nations of America above enumerated, may safely be deemed children of the Atlantes. They are the ninth or Otalis, the tenth or Atalans, and the fourteenth or Chontals. nil 314 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES This could be proved in many ways, and by their languages compared with those of their African brethren, T(auricj,&MaMc/te5, &c. after a separation of several thousand years. But the proofs would fill a volume. Our actual Cherokis, and akin tribes, are the children of the first branch, named Otalis : this was their original name. Adair, only one hundred years ago, says that the genuine or upland Cherokis were called Otalis, which name meant mountaineers, as in Africa. They call themselves now Tsulukis. Our name of Cherokis is derived from the word ChelakiSy name of a tribe. — They have not the sound of r in their speech. Only one tribe substitutes r to /. The interesting history of this nation shall de- serve our attention hereafter. The Chontal branch or nation will come under notice in investigating the antiquities of Otolum, or Palenque. It remains here to survey the genuine branch of Ata- lans — eldest, perhaps, of the American Atlantes. Among this,the best known ('and yet hardly known) are the Tarascas of Michua- can, in West Mexico, the brave nation that first asserted ihe late Me:;ican independence. Their true name is Tala, and Tala-s-ca, meaning Tala-self-lhe^ or, in our idiom, the very self Tola. They have no r in their speech, and this name was changed by the Othmis and Mexicans into Tarascas. — (See grammar of their lan- guage by Basalenque, MexicOf 1714.^ From this interesting little work, some other account from Vater and the Spanish writers, we learn something of their language, which is yet spoken, and may be thoroughly studied. We also learn that they formed a powerful and civilized kingdom, inde- pendent of Mexico at the Spanish invasion, which became the ally of the Spaniards, but was by them subdued by treachery and in- famous conduct. But we learn very little of their previous histo- ry, and the little known is buried in untranslated Spanish books. It is by their language that we can hope to trace their origin and most remote history. Languages do not lie, says Home Tooke. They reveal what time has buried in oblivion. We have been struck with its evident analogy with the Atlantic, Coptic, Pelagic, Greek, Latin and Italian languages of Africa and Europe, both in words and structure, in spite of a separation of some thousand years. This language is rich, beautiful and highly complex. It amalgamates particles to modify words, as in the AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 315 Italian: the verbs have fifteen modifications,as in Italian, or nearly so : they can be compounded, as in Greek. It admits of all the Greek rhetorical figures: the plural is formed by x. It has nearly all the European vocal sounds, except f and r ; also, no grij and no llf but it has three sibillant, is, tZy and tzh. The analogies with the Italian are striking in the following phrases, and some even appear with the Saxon English. English. Ttda. Italian. English. Tola. Italian. 1 Thou Thu Til 1 I Hi lo 2 Was (wast) Esca Sei (fosti) 2 AVas Eaea Sie (fui) 3 Thou who Thuqui Tu clie 3 I who Hiquinini lo clie 4 Spoke Vandahaea Favelasti Engliih. Tula. 4 Loved Italian. Paiiiplizahaca Aniai 1 Is not Noxas Non e 2 So wise Mimixcti Amico (savio) 3 As I Isqui hi Coni'io M Primitive Origin of the English Language. BY C. S. RAPfNESQUE. The best work on the philosophy and affinities of the English language is at present, the introduction by Noah Webster, to his great dictionary; yet although he has taken enlarged views of the subject, and by far surpassed every predecessor, he has left much to do to those future philologists and philosophers who may be inclined lo pursue the subject still farther : not having traced the English language to its primitive sources, nor through all its va- riations and anomalies. But no very speedy addition to this knowledge is likely to be produced, since Mr. Webster has stated, in a letter inserted in the Genesee Farmer, of March, 1832, (written to vindicate some of his improvements in orthography,) that no one has been found in America or England able to review his introduction ! although many have been applied to! But I was not one of those consultod, few knowing of my researches in languages — else I could have done ample justice to the subject, and to Mr. Webster. It is not now a review of his labors that I undertake, but merely an inquiry into the primitive origin of our language, extracted from my manu- 816 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES script philosophy of the English, French and Italian languages, compared with all the other languages or dialects of the whole world, not less than 3000 in number. The modern English has really only one immediate parent: the old English, such as it was spoken and written in England, be- tween the years 1000 and 1500, lasting about five hundred years, which is the usual duration of fluctuating languages. Our actual English is a natural derivation or dialect of it, begun between 1475 and 1525, and gradually improved and polished under two differ- ent forms, the written English and the spoken English, which are as different from each other as the English from the French. These two forms have received great accession by the increase of knowledge, and borrowing from many akin languages words un- known to the old English. They arc both subject yet to the fluc- tuations of orthography and pronunciation, which gradually modify them again. The old English existed probably also under these two forms, and had several contemporaneous dialects, as the modern En- glish, of which the Yorkshire and Scotch dialects arc the most striking in Europe ; while Jruyana, Creole, and West India Creole are the most remarkable in America. Another dialect, filled with Bengali and Hindostani words, is also forming in the East Indies. A complete comparison of the old and modern English has not yet been given. A few striking examples will here be inserted as a specimen of disparity. JVritten. Written. Written. Old English. Mod. English. Old English. Londc Liuulc See Sterre Star Benetlien Erthe Earth Hewyn Yle Island Hedde As late as the year 1555, we find the English language very different from the actual, at least in orthography. For in- stance: Written. Mod. English. Sea Beneath Heaven Head '. of 1555. Writ. Mod. Eng. Eng. of 1555. Writ. Mod. Eng. Preste Priest Fyer Fire Euyll Evil Howse House Youe You This old English is supposed to have sprung from the amalga- mation of three languages — British-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, and I. Oi AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 317 Norman French, between the years 1000 and 1200. This has been well proved by nlany, and I take it for granted. But the successive parents and the genealogies of the Celtic, Saxon and Norman, are not so well understood, yet through their successive and gradual dialects springing from each other, are to be traced the anomalies and affinities of all the modern languages of western Europe. By this investigation it is found that these three parents of the English, instead of being remote and distinct languages, were themselves brothers, sprung from a common primitive source, having undergone fluctuations and changes every five hundred or one thousand years. For instance, the Latin of the time of Rom- ulus, was quite a different language from that spoken in the time of Augustus, although this was a child of the former — this of the Ausonian, &c. The following table will illustrate this fact, and the subsequent remarks prove it. /. Old English, sprung partly from the British- Celtic. 2d step, British Celtic of Great Britain, sprung from the Celtic of West Europe. 3d step, this Celtic from the Cumric or Kimran of Europe. 4th step, the Cumric from the Gomerian of Western Asia. 5th step, the Gomerian from the Yavana of Central Asia. 6th step, the Yavana was a dialect of the Sanscrit. //. The Old English partly sprung from the Anglo-Saxon of Britain. 2d step, the Anglo-Saxon sprung from Saxon or Sacacenas of Germany. 3d step, the Saxon from the Teutonic or Gothic of Europe. 4th step, the Teutonic from the Getic of East Europe. .5th step, the Getic from the Tiras or Tharaca of West Asia — (Thracians of the Greeks.) 6th step, the Tiras from the Cutic or Saca of Central Asia, call- ed Scythian by the Greeks. 7th step, the Saca was a branch of the Sanscrit. III. Old English partly sprung from the Norman-French. 2d step, the Norman French sprung from the Romanic of France. ,}i 1 318 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 3d step, the Romanic from the Celtic, Teutonic, and Roman Latin. 4th step, Roman Latin from the Latin of Romulus. 5th step, the Latin from the Ausonian of Italy. 6th step, the Ausonian from the Pelagic of Greece and West Asia. 7th step, the Pelagic from the Palangsha, or Pali of Central Asia. 8lh step, the Pali was a branch of the Sanscrit. Thus we see all the sources of the English language concentra- ting by gradual steps into the Sanscrit, one of the oldest languages of Central Asia, which has spread its branches all over the globe; being the original language of tliat race of men, fathers of the Hindoos, Persians, Europeans and Polynesians. All the affinities between English and Sanscrit are direct and striking, notwithstanding many deviations, and the lapse of ages. While those between the English and other primitive languages, such as Chinese, Mongol, Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, Berber, 27 in (Jreck or Latin, IHI in hot!) (lornmn anil English, lU in all the (ivo languages. This is something positive and nnmcMMCul, but unrortiinatiily notdcfinito and partly erroneous, as will Ikj proved presently from the Knglisli. Kennedy denies allinities Ix^tween the ('(iitie and Sanscrit, but the very words he has oHercd as examples, (only 100) oiler many evident alVinities. His opinion that the Hindoos and I'igyptians came from the iJabylonians, is very improbable. — It was from the high table land of Central Asia, that all the old diations cani(\ TIk^ 2r)l LiUglish alhitities may bo seen in Kenncily, as we'll as the 381) Latin, which ar<> mostly founnglisli through the words deprived from the Latin. Tht!So two united would be nUO, or more already than the r)0(J separate meanings of the San- s(M'it roots; but Kennedy has by no means exhiuisted the Sanscrit etymologies of the J'inglish. Although 1 have no I'^nglish Sanscrit dictionary at hand, yet I have many Sanscrit vocabularies, where I fnul many words omitted by Kcsnnedy; and what is not found in the Sanscrit itself, is found in its eastern children, the modern languages of Ilindoston. Among my vocabrlaries, the most important is one made by myself, of the ;)rincipal words of the old Sanscrit, met with and explained in the laws of Menu, translated by Jones. In these old and often obsolete words are found the most striking affinities, of which 1 here give the greater part. Ktifflish inillen. Old Sanscrit of Menu Enfflish, icrillfH, Old Samrril of Menu. Mother Miira Hretle HIntta MiiHl Muii IV'iiny Pana Miinkiinl Miin.iviih (tilS Aka.sa Em Aiitnra Failur Vusus Hour llorti Play Waya Virtuous Vfrta Malico (sin) Malii Antiquu Arti Patriarc?' Patri Middle Modhya Kyes EHtaan "Teacher Achnryn Itight Itita Bos (ninstcr) Kho8 Phantom Vantaita Brfore Purvn Wood Venn Wind Piivaiiu Me, mine Mkh Deity Dnityii Animate Mahat Mouth Muc'ha Spirit Bslietra I AND DI8COVC11IB8 IN THE WR8T. »!21 Heing twenty-eight dcrivated words out of eighty-four of this old vocabulary, 33 |)er cent. Another very singular vocabulary 1 have nxtrncted from tho transactions of the liitcrary Society of Uombay, and I'irskine's account of the unci(Mit Mahabud religion of liulk, from tho book Desalir. Some words are given there of the language of tUe Mahabad empire, the primitive Iran, which appis'irs to he a very early dialect of ih(! Sanscrit and Zend. Out of thirty words, twelve have analogies to the ICnglish — ejpial to forty per cent. F.itffluh, uiritttn. Mahahad of Iran. Km/fltMh, terittrn. Manhahad of trail I'iitli«r I'ltir Aliitillu Mini Knd Aiitiin Hky Km CiMiroR Kiir (tiiiii!) Koyul Kiika (king) Ni«li riiiiii Ignite Agui (dr.!) Aiiiii-iil)ly Mitr (fiicml) IMlD Minhuvh Ololiii (iiil Donation DaliHur I could hero add at least '250 to the 2ry\ of Kennedy, if it were not too tedious and long. Hut I can safely vourdi that all the 566 radical roots (»f peculiar meaning forming the base of the San- scrit, are to lie found in the English roots, or if a few are lack- ing, it is merely owing to some having become obsolete, through the lapse of n(!arly 5000 years, when the Y'avanas, Sacas, and Pallis sc[)arated from their Hindoo bn^thren, and the revolution of six or seven succossivv! dialects formed by each, till they met again in the English. Kennedy has even some obsolete English and Scotch words, now out of use, which are derived from the Sanscrit. This inquiry is not mcndy useful to unfold the origin and rer- olutions ol our language ; but it applies more or less to all the languag(!s of Europe, which were formed in a similar way, by dialects of former languages, since every dialect becomes a lan- guage wheiever it is widely spread and cultivated by a polished nation: thus the French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanic^ and Valaquian are now become languages, with new dialects of their own, although they are in fact mere dialects of the Latin and €eltic. The physical conformation and features of all the European tind Hindoo nitions are well known to agree, and nituralists con- sider them as a common race. The historicil traditions of these fl S32 AMERICAN ANTIQ1TITIEB nations confirm the philologichi and physical evidence. All the European nations came from the east or the west of the Imaua table land of Asia,the seat of the ancient Hindoo empires of Balk, Cashmir and Iran. The order of time in which tho Asiatic na- tions entered Europe to coloni/e it was as follows : 1. or most ancient. Esquas, or Oscans, or Iberians, or Cati' tabrians. 2. Gomarians, or Cumras, or Celts, or Gaels. 3. Getes, or Gollis, or Scutans, or Scythians. 4. Fins, or Laps, or Samcs. 5. Tiros, or Thracians, or Ilhjrians, or Slaves. 6. Pallis, or Pelasgians, or Hellenes, or Greeks. The settlement in Europe of those last is so icmotc as to be in- volved in obscurity. But their geographical positions, traditions and languages prove their relative antiquity. The Greek lan- guage is one of those that has been most permanent, having last- ed 2500 years, from Homer's time to the Turkish conquest; yet it sprung from the Pelagic, and has given birth to the Romanic or modern Greek dialects. Colonies of the Danes in America. BiTT besides the evi^lences that the Malay, Australasian, and Polynesian tribes of the Pacific islands, have in remote ages peo- pled America from the west — coming first of all, from the Asiatic shores of that ocean, and also from the east, peopling the island Atalantis, (equally early, as we believe,) once situated between America and Europe, and from this to the continent ; yet there is another class of autiquities, or race of population, which, says Dr. MitchelJi deserves particularly to be noticed. *' These are the emigrants from Lapland, Norway, and Finland in Europe, who, before the tenth century, settled themselves in Green- land, and passed over to Labrador. It is recorded that these ad- venturers settled themselves in a country which they called Vin- land." AND DISCOVERIES IN THE vyEST. 32» and Our loarnod regent, Gov. Do Witt Clinton, says Dr. Mitchell, who has outdone (Jovernuur Colden, by writing the most full and able history of the Iroquois or Five Nations of New-York, men- tioned to me his belief that a part of the old forts and other anti- quities at Onondaga, about Auburn and the adjacent country, were of Danish character. '* I was at once penetrated with the justice of his remark; an additional v indow of light was suddenly opened to my view on this subject, i perceived at once, with the Rev. Van Troil, that the European emigrants had passed, during the horrible commotions of the ninth and tenth century, to Iceland.'^ — (See History of England.) The Rev. Mr. Crantz had informed me, in his important book, how they went to Greenland. I thought I could trace the people of Scandinavia to the banks of the St. Lawrence ; I supposed my friends had seen the Punic inscriptions made by them here and there, in the places where they visited. Madoc, prince of Wales, and his Cambrian followers, appeared to my recollection among these bands of adventurers. And thus the northern lands of North America were visited by the hyperborean tribes from the north- westermost climes of Europe, and the northwestern climes of North America had received inhabitants of the same race from the northeastern regions of Asia. The Danes, Fins or Germans and Welchmen, performing their migrations gradually to the southwest, seem to have penetrated to the country situated in the south of Lake Ontario,which would be in the States of New- York and Pennsylvania, and to have (orti- fied themselves there; where the Tartars, or Samoieds, travelling by slow degrees from Alaska, on the Pacific, to the southeast, finally found them. In their course these Asian colonists probably exterminated the Malays who had penetrated along the Ohio and its streams, or drove them to caverns abounding in salt peter and copperas, in Kentucky and Tennessee ; where their bodies accompanied with cloths and ornaments of their peculiar manufacture, have been re- peatedly disinterred and examined by the members of the Ameri- can Antiquarian Society. Having achieved this conquest, the Tartars and their descendants had probably a much harder task to perform. This was to subdue the more ferocious and warlijke Jiupropean colonists, who had intrenched and fortified i^ I I I ^'f' 4 324 AMESICAN ANTIQUITIES themselves in the country, after the arrival of the Tartars, or In- dians as they are now called, in the particular parts they had set- tled themselves in, along the region of the Atlantic. In Pompey, Onondjiga county, are the remains, or outlines, of a town, includ- ing more than 500 acres. It appeared protected by three circular or eliptical forts, eight miles distant from each other ; placed in such relative positions as to form a triangle round about il e town, at those distances. It is thought, from appearances, that this strong hold was stormed and taken on the line of the north side. In Ca- millus, in the same county, are the remains of two forts, one cov- ering about three acres, on a very high hill ; it had gateways, one opening to the east, and the other to the west, toward a spring, some rods from the works. Its shape is eliptical ; it has a wall, in some places ten feet high, with a deep ditch. Not far from this is another, exactly like it, only half as large. There are many of these ancient works hereabouts ; one in Scipio, two near Auburn, three nearCanandaigua, and several between the Seneca and Cay- uga lakes. A number of such fortifications and burial places have also been discovered in Ridgeway, or the southern shore o " lake Ontario. There is evidence enough that long and bloody wars were waged among the inhabitants, in which the Scandinavians, or Esquimaux as they are now called, seem to have been over- powered and destroyed in New York. The survivors of the de- feat and ruin retreated in Labrador, a country lying between Hud- son's bay ani the Atlantic ; in latitude 5>> and 60 degrees north, where they have remained, secure from further pursuit. From the known ferocity of the ancient Scandinavians, who with other Europeans of ancient times we suppose to be the authors of the vast works about the region of Onondaga, dreadful wars with infi- nite butcheries, must have crimsoned every hill and dale of this now hnppy country. In corroboration of this opinion, we give the following? which is an extract from remarks made on the ancient customs of the Scandinavians, by Adam Clarke, in a volume en- titled Cl'^rke's Discovery^ p. 145. 1st. Odin or Woderiy their supreme god, is there termed the ter- rible or severe deity, the father of slaughter, who carries desola- tion and fire ; the tumultuous and roaring Deity ; the giver of courage and victory ; he who marks out who shall perish in bat- tle ; the shedder of the blood of man. From him is the fourth day of our week denominaied Wednesday, or Wednesday. 8' I I I AND DISCOVKRIES IN THE WEST. 325 2d. Frigoaor Frega: she was his consort, called also Fcrorthe^ mother earth. She was the goddess of love and debauchery — tho northern Venus. She was also a warrior, and divided the souls of the slain v/ith her husband Odin. From her we have our Fri- day, or Freya's day ; as on that day she was peculiarly worship- ped, as was Odin on Wednesday. 3d. 7Vtor, the god of winds and tempests, thunder and lightning. He was the especial object of worship in Norway, Iceland, and consequently in the Zetland isles. From him we have the name of our fifth day, Thor's day, or Thursday. 4th. Tri, tho god who protects houses. His day of worship was called Tyrsday, or Tiiesday, whence our Tu(!sday. As to our first and second day, Sunday and Monday, they derived their names from the sun and the moon, to whose worship ancient idola- ters had consecrat(;d them. From this we learn that they had a knowledge of a small cycle of time, called a week, of seven days and must have been derived in some way from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, as here we have tho first intimation of this division of time. But among the Mexicans no trait of a cycle of seven days is found, says Humboldt ; which we consider an additional evi- dence that the first people who found their way to these regions, called North and South America, left Asia at a period anterior at least to the time of Moses ; which was about 1(500 years before Christ. But wo continue the quotation, "all who die in battle go to Vallpalla, Odin's palace, where they amuse themselves by go- ing through their martial exorcises; then cutting each other to pieces ; afterwards all the parts healing thoy sit down to their feasts, v/herc they quaff beer out of tho sculls of those whom they had slain in battle, and whose blood they had before drank out of the same skulls, when they had slain them. The Scandinavians offered different kinds of sacrifices, but especially human ; and from these they drew their auguries, by the velocity with which the blood flowed when they cut their throats, and from the appear- ance of the intestines, and especially the heart. It was a custom in Denmark to offer annually, in January, a sacrifice of ninety- nine cocks, ninety-nine dogs, ninety-nine horses, and ninety-nine men ; besides other human sacrifices," on various occasions. Such being the fact, it is fairly prcsumiblo that as tho Danes, Scandi- navians, and Lipponiac nations, found their way from the north 326 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of Europe to Iceland, Greenland and Labrador ; and from thence about the regions of the western lakes, especially Ontario ; that the terrific worship of the Celtic gods, has been practised in Amer- ica, at least in the state of New Yori{. And it is not impossible but this custom may have pervaded the whole continent, for the name of one of these very gods namely Odin, is found among the South Americans, and the tops of the pyramids may have been the altars of sacrifice. "We have already fixed the attention of the reader," says Baron Humboldt, *'on Votan or Wodan, an Ameri- can who seems to be a member of the same family with the Woads or Odins, of the Goths, and nations of the Celtic origin." The same names, he says, are celebrated in India, Scandinavia, and Mexico, all of which is, by tradition, believed to point to none oth- er than to Noah and his sons For, according to the traditions of the Mexicans, as collected by Bishop Francis Nunez de la Ve- ga, their Wodan was grandson to that illustrious old man, who at the time of the great deluge, was saved on a raft, with his family, he was also at the building of the great edifice, and co-operated with the builder, which had been undertaken by men to reach the skies. The execution of this rash project was interrupted ; each family receiving from that time a different language ; when the Great Spirit, or Teatl, ordered Wodan to go and people the con- try of Anahuac, which is in America. Think, (says Dr. Mitch- ill,) what a memorable spot is our Onondaga, where men of the Malay race, from the southwest, and of the Tartar blood from the northwest, and of the Gothic stock from the northeast, have successfully contended for the supremacy and rule, and which may be considered as having been possessed by each long enough before" Columbus was born, or the navigating of the western ocean thought of by Europeans. "John dc Laet, a Flemish writer, says that Modoc, one of the sons of Prince Owen Gynnifh, being dis- gusted with the civil wars which broke out between his brothers, after the death of their father, fitted out several vessels, and hav- ing provided them with every thing necessary for a long voyage, went in quest of new lands to the westward of Ireland. There he discovered very fertile countries," where he settled ; and it is ve- ry probable Onondaga, and the country along the St. Lawrence, and around lakes Ontario and Erie were the regions of their im- provements. — (^Carver J p. 108.) We learn from the historian AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 327 I, says 'Charlevoix, that theEries, an indigenous nation of the Malay race, -who formerly inhabited the lands south of Lake Erie, where the western district of Pennsylvania and the state of Ohio now are. — And Lewis Evans, a former resident of the city of New York^ has shown us in his map of the Middle Colonies, that the hunting grounds of the Iroquois extended over that very region. The Iro- quois were of the Tartar stock, and they converted the country of the exterminated Eries or Malays into a range for the wild beasts of the west, and a region for their own hunters." He says the Scandinavians emigrated about the tenth century of the Christian era, if not earlier; and that they may be considered as not only having discovered this continent, but to have explored its northern climes to a great extent, and also to have people them. In the fourteenth township; fourth range of the Holland Company's lands in the state of New-York, near the Ridge road leading from Buf falo to Niagara falls, is an ancient fort, situated in a large swamp; it covers about five acres of ground ; large trees are standing upon it. The earth which forms this fort was evidently brought from a distance, as that the soil of the marsh is quite of another kind, wet and miry, whi>j t, ^^i^eof the fort is dry gravel and lonie. The site of this f >i' u it )n is singular, unless we suppose it to have been a last resort or hiding place from an enemy. The dis- tance to the margin of the marsh is about half a mile, where large quantities of human bones have been found, on opening the earth, of an extraordinary size : the thigh bones, about two inches longer than a common sized man's : the jaw or chin bone will cover a large man's face : the skull bones are of an enormous thickness : the breast and hip bones are also very large. On being exposed to the air they soon moulder away, which denotes the great length of time since their interment. The disorderly man- ner in which these bones were found to lie, being crosswise, com- mixed and mingled with every trait of confusion, show them to have been deposited by a conquering enemy, and not by friends, who would have laid them, as the custom of all nations always has been in a more deferential mode. There was no appearance of a bullet having been the instrument of their destruction, the evidence of which would have been broken limbs. Smaller works of the same kind abound in the country about lake Ontario, but the one ' i words, reported, that these were understood by the Esquimaux ; that at length a Moravian missionary, well acquainted with the language of Greenland, having visited the country of the Esqui- maux, found to his astonishment that they spoke the same lan- guage with the Greenlandcrs ;" which of course was the same with the language of Iceland, and also of Norway, which is in Europe,, lying along on the coast of the Atlantic ; as that the first colony of Iceland was from Norway, and from Iceland a first colony settled in Greenland, from thence to Labrador,which is the continent ; show- ing that the language of the Esquimaux is that of the ancient Norse of Europe, derived from the more ancient Celtic nations, who were derived from the descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah ; from which we perceive that boti irom country and lineal descent, the present inhabitants are brothers to the Esquimaux (Indians, as they are improperly called) who also are white and not copper col- ored, like the red men, or common Indians who are of the Tartar stock. The missionary "ound, "that there was abundant evidence of their being of the same race, and he was accordingly received and entertained by them as a friend and brother." These facts prove the settlement of Greenland by an Icelandic colony, and the consanguinity of the Greenlanders and Esquimaux. Iceland is only about one thousand miles west from Norway, in Europe, with more than twenty islands between ; so that there is no diffi- culty in the way of this history to render it improbable that the early navigators from Norway may have easily found Iceland, and colonized it. "The enterprise, skill in navigation, even with- out the compass, and roving habits, possessed by these early nav- igators, renders it highly probable also, that at some period more remote than the 10th century, they had pursued the same route to Greenland, and planted colonies there, which is but six hundred miles west of Iceland. Their descendants the present Greenland- ers and Esquimaux, retaining somewhat of the enterprise of their ancestors, have always preserved a communication with each oth- er, by crossing and recrossing Davis's strait. The distance of ocean between America and Europe on the east, or America and China on the west, is no objection to the passage of navigators, either from design or stress of weather ; as that Coxe, in his Rus^ sian Discoveries^ mentions that several Kamschadaie vessels, in 1745, were driven out to sen, and forced, by stress of weather, to take shelter among the Aleutian islands, in the Pacific, a distance ■'Ml t I *". i;; 380 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of several hundred miles ; and also Captain Cook, in one of his voyages^ found some natives of one of the islands of the same ocean, in their war canoes, six hundred miles from land." — (Morse.) In the year 1789, Captain Bligh was sent out under the direc- tion of the government of England to the Friendly islands, in the Pacific, in qiest of the bread fruit plant, with the view of plant- ing it in tht Vest Indies. But having got into the Pacific ocean, his crew mininicd, and put him, with eighteen of his men, on board of a boat of but thirty-two feet in length, with one hundred and fifty pounds of bread, twenty-eight gallons of water,' twenty pounds of pork, three bottles of wine, and fifteen quarts of rum. With this scanty provision he was turned adrift in the open sea, when the vessel sailed, and left them to their fate. Capt. Bligh then sailed for the island of Tofoa, but being resisted by the isl- anders with stones, and threatened with death, was compelled to steer from mere recollection, (for he was acquainted with those parts of that ocean) for a port in the East Indies called Tima, be- longing to the Dutch. He had been with the noted Captain Cook, in liis voyages. The reason the natives pelted them with stones, as they attempted to land, was because they perceived them to be without arms. This voyage, ho'"evcr, they performed in forty- six days, sutlering in a most incredible manner, a distance of four thousand miles, losing but one man, who was killed by the stones of the savages, in attempting to get clear from the shore of an island, where they had landed to look for water. " In 1797, the slaves of a ship from the coast of Africa, hav- ing risen on the crew, twelve of the latter leaped into a boat, and made their escape. On the thirty-eighth day, three still survived, and drifted ashore at Barbadoes, in the West Indies.. In 1799, six men in a boat from St. Helena lost their course, and nearly a month after, five of them surviving, reached the coast of South America, a distance of two thousand seven hundred and sixty miles."— TAomas' Travels, p. 283.) If we consider in what an early age navigation was practised, and consequently how soon after that era America would receive inhabitants within its torrid zone, it will appear probable that the Mexicans were a great nation before either the Tartars or Esqui- maux arrived on the northern part of this continent. Navigation ^as indeed commenced at an early age, by the Egyptians and i i- ■' AND DISCOVERIEH IN THC WEST. 881 Phoenicians, probably more than 1600 years before the time of Christ, (See Morse's Chronology^) and doubtless, from time to time, as in later ages, arrivals, either from design or from being driven to sea by storm, took place, bo that Egyptians, PhcBnicians and individuals of other nations of that age unquestionably found their way to South America, and also to the southern parts of of North America, from the east, and also from the west, across the Pacific, in shipping. But wc entertain the opinion that even sooner than this, the woods of the Americas had received inhabitants, as wc have be- fore endeavored to show in this work, at a time when there was more land, cither in the form of islands in groups, or in bodies, approaching to that of continents, situated both in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans : but especially that of Atalantis, once in the Atlantic between America and the coast of Gibraltar. In the remarks of Carver on this subject, through the interior parts of Northwestern America, we have the following : " Many of the ancients are supposed to have known that this quarter of the globe not only existed, but also that it was inhabited." Plato, who wrote about 500 B. C, in his book entitled Timaeiis^ has as- serted that beyond the island which he calls Atalantis, as learned from the Egyptian priests, and which according to his description was situated in the Western ocean, opposite, as we have before said, to the strait of ( Jibraltar, there were a great number of other islands, and behind those a vast continent. If some have aflected to treat the tradition of the existence of this island as a chimera, we would ask, how should the priests be able to tell us that behind that island, farther west, was a vast con- tinent, which proves to be true, for that continent is America; or rather, as a continent is spoken of by Plato at all, lying west of Europe, we are of the opinion that this fact should carry convic- tion that the island also existed, as well as the continent — and why not Atalantis ? If Plato knew of the one, did he not of the other 1 If the Egyptian priests had told Plato that anciently there ex- isted a certain island, with a continent on the west of it, and the strait of Gibraltar on the east of it, and it was found in succeeding ages that neither the strait nor the continent were ever known to exist, it would be, indeed, clearly inferred, that neither was the iin I I! -v 332 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS island known to thorn. But as the strnit dues exist, nnd the wes- tern continent also, is it very absurd to suppose that Atalantis was indeed situated between these two facts, or parts of the earth now known to all the world ? Carver says that Ovicdo, a celebrated Spanish author, the same who became tiie friend of Columbus, whom he accompanied on his second voyage to the new world, has made no scruple to af- firm that the Antilles arc the famous Hesperides, so often men- tioned by the poets, which are at length restored to the king of Spain, the descendants of king [lesperus, who lived upwards of three thousand years a^jo, and from whom these islands received their name. Dc Laet, a Flemish writer, says it is related by Pliny the elder, one of the most learned of the ancient Roman writers, who was born twenty-three years after the time of Christ, and lefi behind him no less than thirty-seven volumes on natural history, and some other writers, that on many of the islands on the western coast of Africa, particularly on the Canaries, some ancient edi- fices were seen, oven called ancient by Pliny, a term which would throw the time of their erection back to a period perhaps five or six hundred years before Christ. "From this it is highly proba- ble," says Mr. Carver, "that the inhabitants having deserted those edifices, even in the time of Pliny, may have passed over to South America, the passage being neither long nor difficult. This mi- gration, according to the calculation of those authors, must have taken place more than 200 years before the Christian era, at a time when the people of Spain were much troubled by the Car- thaginians, and might have retired to the Antilles, by the way of the western isles, which were exactly half way in their voyage to South America " Emanuel de Morez, a Portuguese, in his History of Brazil, a province of South America, asserts that America has been wholly peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites. He brings, as a proof of this assertion, the discoveries the former are known to have made at a great distance beyond the western coast of A frica; the farther progress of which being put a stop to by the Senate of Carthage, some hundred years before Christ, those who happened to be then in the newly discovered countries, being cut off from Pi AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 383 all communications with their countrymen, nnd destitute of many necessaries of life^ I'ell into a state of barbarism. George de Horn, a learned Dulchman, who has written on the subject of the first peopling of America, maintains that the first founders of the colonics of this country were Scylhians,who were much more ancient than the Tartars, but were derived from the Scythians, ns the term Tartar is but of rtceni date when compared with the far more ancient appellation of Scytnian,the descendants of Shom, the great progenitor of the Jews. He also believes that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians al'terwards got footing in Ame- rica, by crossing the Allantic, and likewise the Chinese, by way of ihc Pacific. These Phoenicion and Carthaginian migrations ho supposes to have been before the time of Solomon, king of Israel, who flourished 1000 years before Christ. Mr. Thomas of Auburn, in his volume entitled Travels through the Western Country, has devoted some twenty pages to the s.ib- jcci of the ancient inhabitants of America, with ability evidencing an enlarged degree of acquaintance with it. He says explicitly, on p'ge ?.88, that " the Phoenicians were early acquainted w h those shores ;" b lieves • that vessels sailing out of the Mediter- ranean may have been wrecked on the American shores; also, colonies fi\)m the west of Europe and from Africa, in the same way. Supjioses th i Egyptians and Syrians settled in Mexico — the former the authors of the pyramids of South America, and that the Syrians are the same with the Jews — wanting nothing to complete this fact but the rite of circumcision. Says the Greeks were the only or first people who practised raising liimuli around the urns which contained the ashes of their heroes." And, as we know, tumuli are in abundance in the west, raised over the ash(^s, as we suppose, of their heroes, should we not in- fer that the practise was borrowed from that people? This would prove some of them, at least, originally from about the Mediter- raiv an. But notwithstanding our agreement with this writer, that many nations, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Phoenici ns, Carthaginians, Europeans, Rr)mans, Asiatics, Scythians and Tar- tars have, in difTerent eras of time, contributed to the peopling of America; yet we believe, with th(j celebrated naturalist. Dr. Mitchell, that the ancestors of the people known by the appella- ^'; 1 m 834 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES tion of the Malays, now peopling the islands of the Pacific, were nearly among the first who set foot on the coasts of America. — And that the people who settled in the islands of the Atlantic, and especially that of Atalantis, now no more, immediately after the disperson, were they who, first of all, and the Malay second, fill- ed all America with their descendants in the first agos. But in process of time, as the art.s came on, navigation, with or without the compass, was practised, if not systematically as at the present time, yet with nearly as wide a range; and as convulsions in the earth, such as divided one part of it from another, as in the days of Peleg, removing islands, changing the shape of continents, and separating the inhabitants of distant places from each other, by destroying the land or islands between, so that when shipping, whether larga or small, as in the time of the Phcenicians and Ty- nans of king Solomon, the Greeks and Romans came to navigate the seas, America was found, visited and colonized anew. In this way we account for the introduction of the arts among the more ancient inhabitants whom they found there, which arts are clearly spoken of in the traditions of the Mexicans, who tell us of white and bearded men, as related by Humboldt, who came from the sun, (as they supposed the Spaniards did,) changed or reduced the wandering millions of the woods to order and government, introduced among them the art of agriculture — a knowledge of metals, with that of architecture ; so that when Columbus dis- covered America, it was filled with cities, towns, cultivated fields and countries ; palaces, aqueducts and roads, and highways of the nations, equal with if not exceeding, in some respects, even the people of the Roman countries Ixjfore the time of Christ. But as learning and a knowledge of the shape of the earth, in the times of the nations we have spoken of above, was not in general use among men; and from incessant wars and revolutions of nations, what discoveries may have been made were lost to mankind — so that some of the very countries once known have in later ages been discovered over again. We will produce one instance of a discovery which has been lost — the land of Ophir, where the Tyrian fleets went for gold, in the days of Solomon. Where is it ? The most learned do not know — cannot agree : it is lost as to identity. Some thii.k it in Africa ; some in the islands of the South Atlantic, and some in AND DI8COVERIB0 IN THE WEST 335 South America; and although it is, wherever it may l)C, undoubt- edly an inhabited country, yet as to certainty about its location, it is unknown. »9ncient Chronologij of ike Ongvys or Iroquois Indians. BY DAVID crSICK. In the traditions of the Tuscaroras, published by Cusick, in 1827, few dates arc found, but these few are, nevertheless, pre- cious for history. A small volume has been printed this year by the Sunday School Union, on the history of the Delaware and Iroquois In- dians, in V nich their joint traditions are totally neglected, as usual with our actual book makers. Although Cusick's dates may be vague and doubtful, they deserve attention, and they shall be no- ticed here. Anterior to any date, the Eagwehoewc, (pronouoced Yaguylio- huy) meaning real people, dwelt north of the lakes, and formed only one nation. After many years, a body of them settled on the river Kanawag, now the St. Lawrence, and after a long time a foreign people came by sea, and settled south of the lake. 1st date. Towards 2500 winters before Columbus' discovery of America, or 1008 years before our era, total overthrow of the Towancas, nations of giants come from the north, by the king of the Onguys, Donhtonha, and the hero Yatatan. 2d. Three hundred winters after, or 708 before tur era, the northern nations form a confederacy, appoint a king, who goes to visit the great emperor of the Golden city, south of the lakes : but afterwards quarrels arise, and a war of 100 years with this empire of the south, long civil wars in the north, &c. A body of people escaped in the mountain of Oswego, &c. 3. 1500 years before Columbus, or in the year 8 of our era, Tarenyawagon, the first legislator, leads his people out of the mountains to the river Yenonatateh, (now Mohawk,) where six tribes form an alliance called the Long-houso, Agoneaseah — af- !ill -iiS m 336 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIK8 terwards reduced to five, the sixth spreading west and south. The Kautanoh, since Tuscarora, came from this. Some went as far as the Onauwcyokn, now Mississippi. 4th. In 108, the Kuncarawyench, or Flying Heads, invade the Five Nations. 5th. In 242, the Shakanahih, or Stone Giants, a branch of the western tribe, become cannibals, return and desolate the country; but they are overthrown and driven north, by Tarcnyuwagon II. 6ih. Toward* 3.30, Tarcnyawagon ill. defeats other foes, call- ed Snakes. 7th. In 492, Atoarho I., king of the Onondogas, quells civil wars, begins a dyn isty ruling over all the Five Nations, till Ato- tarho IX., who ruled yet in 1142. Events are since referred to their reigns. 8th. Under Atotarlio II., a Tarcnyawagon IV., appears to help him to destroy Oyalk-guhoer, or the Hig liear. 9th. Under Atotarlio HI., a tyrant, Sohnanrowah, arises jn the Kuunaseh, now Susquehannah river, which niukes war on the Sahwanug. 10th. In 002, under Atotarho IV., the Towancas, now Missis- saugers, cede to the Senecas the lands east of the river Niagara, who settle on it. 11th. Under Atotarho v., war between the Senecas and Ota wahs of Sandusky. 12th. Towards 852, under Atotarho VI., the Senecas reach the Ohio river, compel the Otawahs to sue for peace. 13th. Atotarho VH. sent embassies to the west; the Kentakeh nation dwelt south of the Ohio, the Chipiwas on the Mississippi. 14th. Towards 1042, under Atotarho VIII., war with the To wancas, and a foreign stranger visits the Tuscaroras of Neuse river, who are divided into three tribes, and at war with the Nan ticokes and Totalis. 15th. In 1143, under Atotarho IX., first civil war between tho Brians of Lake Erie, sprung from the Senecas, and the Five Na tions. Here end these traditions. C. S. RAFINESQUE. The foregoing is a curious trait of the ancient history of the wars and i evolutions which have transpired in Anr.erica It wou!d ( AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 337 Ola the appear that at tho time of the overthrow of the Tawancas, 1008 years before Christ, called in tho tradition a nation of giants, that it was about tho time the tomplc of Solomon was fioishod, show- ing clearly that as they hod become powerful in this country,they had settlod here at a very early period, probably about the time of Abraham, within three hundred and forty years of the flood. The hero who conquered thorn was ciillod YufulaTif king of the Onguys — namos which refer them, as to origin, to the ancient Scythians of Asia. Three hundred winters after lhi^, or 703 years before Christ, about the time of the coinmunccm nt of the Unman cmj)ire, by Romulus, the northern nations foi.n a grand confederacy, and appoint a king, who went on a visit to the great emperor of tho Golden city, south of the western lakes. Were we to conjecture where this golJen city was situated, we should say on the Mississippi, wlicre tlx; Missouri forms a junction with that river, at or near St. Lonis, as at this place and around its precincts are tho remains of an immense population. This is likely the city to which tho seven persons who were cast away on the island Kstotiland, as before related, were carried to ; being far to the southward iVom that island, supposed to be Newfoundland, — St. Louis being in that direction. This visit of Yatafan to the Golden city, it appears, was the occasion of a civil war of one hundred years, which ended in the ruin of the Golden city. A body of the citizens escaping, fled far to the east, and hid them- selves in the mountains of Oswego, along the southern shores of lake Ontario, where they remained about seven hundred years, till a great leader arose among them, called Tarenyawagon, who led them to settle on the Mohawk; this was eight years after the birth of Christ. These refugees from the Golden city, had now multiplied so that they had become several nations, whence U*^ grand confederacy of the six nations was formed. Upon these, a nation called Flying Heads made war, but were unsuccessful ; also, in 242 years after Christ, a nation called Stone Giants, made an attempt to distroy them but failed. They were successful in other wars against the Snake Indians, a more western tribe. About the time of the commencement of Mahomet's career, in 602, a great tyrant arose on the Susquchannah river, who waged war with surrounding nations, from which it appears^ that while 22 i' 336 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIRB in Africa, Europe and Asia, revolution succeeded revolution, em- pires rising on the ruins of empires, that in America the same scenes were acting on as great a scale ; cultivated regions, pop- ulous cities and towns, were reduced to a wilderness, as in the other continents. Jl Tradition. " In support of the doctrine that the three sons of Noah were red, black and white, we bring the tradition of the Marabous, the priests of the most ancient race of Africans, which says that after the death of Noah, his Ihrce sons, one of whom was white, tho second tawny or red, the third black, agreed to divide his pro- perty fairly ; which consisted of gold and stiver, vestments of silk, linen and wool, horses, cattle, camels, dromedaries, sheep and goats, arms, furniture, corn and othci provisions, besides to- bacco and pipes. "Having spent the greater part of the day in assorting these different things, the three sons were obliged to defer the parti- tion of the goods till the next morning. They therefore smoked a friendly pi|)0 together, and then retired to rest, each in his own tent. " After some hours sleep, the white brother awoke before the other two, being moved by avarice, arose and seized the gold and silver, together with the precious stones and most beauti ul vcist- ments, and having loaded the best camels with them, pursued his way to that country which his white posterity have ever since inhabited. "The Moor, or tawny brother, awaking soon afterwards, with the same intentions, and being surprised that he had I .^cn antici- pated by his white brother, secured in great haste the remainder of the horses, oxen and camels, and retired to another part of the world, leaving only some coarse vettments of cotton, pipes and tobacco, millet, rice, and a few other things of but small value. AND DISCOVERIKS IN THE WKbT. 389 *v '* The last lot of stulF fell to the share of the black son, the laziest of the three brothers, who took up his pipe with a melan- choly air, and while he sat smoking in a pensive mood, swore to be revenged." — (AnqueliVs Universal Hislory, vol. 6, p. 117, 118.) We have inserted this tradition, not because we think it cir- cumstantially true, with respect to the goods, djc, but because we find in it this one important trait, viz : the origin of human com- plexions, in the family of Noah ; and if the tradition is supposed altogether a fiction, we would ask, how came these Africans, the most degraded and ignorant of the human race, by so important a trait of ancient history — as that such a man, with three sons, ever existed, from whom iho three races were descended, if it were not so? and ti>at they wore of three diflerent complexions ? m f'A IIS own I Disappearance of many Ancient Lakes of the West, and of the. Formation of Seacoal. This description of American antiquities is more captivating than the accounts already given, because, to know that the mil- lions of mankind, with thinr multifarious works, covering the rales of all our rivers, many of which were once the bottoms of immense lakes, and where the tops of the tallest forests peer to the skies, or where the towering spires of many a Christian tL'iii- ple makes glad the heart of civilized man, and where the smoking chimnies of his wide spread habitations now are, — once sportcil the lake serpent, and the finny tribes, as birds passing in scaly waves along the horizon. We look to the soil whore grazed the peaceful fiock, — to 'lif fields where wave a thousand harvests — to the air above, whero play the wings of innumerable t'owls, and to the road, where the sound of passing wheels denotes the course of men, and say, can this be so \ Was all this s|)ace onco the home of the waves ? — Where eels and shell fish once congregated in their louseaDf mud, is now fixed the foundation of many a stately mansion, tl"? i 340 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIR8 dwelling of man. Such the mutation of matter, and the change of habitation. We forbear to ramble farther in this field of fancy,which opens before us with such immensity of prospect, to give an account of the disappearance of lakes supposed to have existed in the west. To do this, we shall avail ourselves of the opinions of several dis- tinguished authors, as Volney, in his travels in America ; School- craft, in his travels in the central parts of the valley of the Missis- aippi, and Professor Beck, in his Gazetteer of Illinois and Mis- souri, &c. We commence with the gifted and highly classical writer, C. F. Volney; who, although we do not subscribe to his notions of theology, yet as a naturalist we esteem him of the highest class, and his statements, with his deductions, to be worthy of attention. [le commences by saying, that in the structure of the mountains of the United States, exists a fact moie strikingly apparent than in any other part of the world, which must singularly have increased the action, and varied the movements of the waters. If we atten- tively examine the land, or even the maps of this country, we must perceive that the principal chains or ridges of the Alleghanios, Blue Ridge, «Stc., all run in a transverse or cross direction to the course of all the great rivers, and that these rivers have been forced to rupture their mounds or barriers, and break through these ridges, in order to make their way to the sea, from the bosoms ol the valleys. This is evident in the Potomac, Susquehannah, Delaware and James rivers, and others, where they issue from the confines of the mountains, to enter the lower country. But the example which most attracted his attention on the spot, was that of the Potomac, three miles below the mouth of the She- nandoo. He was coming from Fredericktown, about twenty miles distant, and travelling from the southeast towards the northwest, through a woody country, with gentle ascents and descents; after he had crossed one ridge, pretty di inctly marked, though by no means steep, he began to sec before him, eleven or twelve mile« westward, the chain of the Blue Ridge, resembling a lofty ram- part, covered with forests, and having a breach through it from top to bottom > He again descended into the undulating wood country, whicJi ^ AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 34 separate dl im from it; and at length on approat :hiBg it, he found himself at the foot of this groat mountainous rampart, which he had to cross, and ascertained to be about 350 yards high, or 1*20 rods, (nearly half a mile) deep. On emerging from the wood, he had a full view of tliis tremen- dous breach, which he judged to be abf.ut 1200 yards wide, or 225 rods, which is about three-fourths of a mile. Through the bottom of this breach ran the Potomac, leaving on its left a pas- sable bank or slope, and on the right washing the foot of the breach. On both sides of the chasm, from top to bottom, many trees were then growing among the rocks, and in part concealed the place of the ruptu.c. But about two-thirds of the way up, on the right side of the river, a largo perpendicular space remains quite bare, and displays plainly the traces and scars of the ancient land, or natural wall, which once dammed up this river, formed of grey quartz, which the victorious river has overthrown, rolling its fragments a considerable distance down its course. Sonic large blocks that hav? resisted its force, still remain as testimonials of the convulsion. The bed of this river at this place is rugged, with fixed rocks, which are, however, gradually woaringaway. Its rapid wafers boil and foam through these obstacles, which, for a distance of two miles form very dangerous falls or rapids. From the height of the mountain on each side of the river, and from attending cir- cumstances, the rapids br-low the gap and the narrows, for several miles above the immediate place of rupture, are sufficient evidence that at this place was originally a mountain dam to the river, — consequently a lake above must have been the eflect, with falls of the most magnificent description, which had thundered in their descent from the time of Noah's flood, till the rupture of the ridge took place. At the end of three miles, he came to the confluence of the river Shenandoa, which issued out suddenly from the steep moun- tain of the Blue ridge. This river is but about one third as wide as the Potomac ; having, like thut river, also broken through a part of the same ridge. He says the more he considered this spot and its circumstances, the more he was confirmed in the belief that formerly the chain of the Blue Uidge, in its entire state, completely denied the Potomac rA u fit 342 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES a passage onward, and that then all the waters of the upper part of the river having no issue, formed several considerable lakes. The numerous transverse chains that succeed each other beyond Fort Cumberland, could not fail to occasion several more west of North mountain. *' On the other hand, all the valley of the Shenandoa and Co- nigochfague must have been the basin of a single lake, extend- ing from Staunton to Chambersburgh; and as the level of the hill" (even those from which these two rivers derive their source) is much below the chains of the Blue Ridge and North mountain, it is evident that this lake must have been bounded at first only by the general line of the summit of these two great chains ; so that in the earliest ages it must have spread, like them, toward the Koyth, as far as the great Allcghanics." At that period, the two upper branches of James river, equally bounded by the Blue Ritlgc, would have swelled it with all their waters; while towards the north, the general level of the lake, fmding no obstacles, must have spread itself between the Blue Kidge and the chain of Kittatinny, not only to the Susquehan- nah and Schuylkill, but beyond the Schuylkill, and even the Del- aware. Then all the lower country, lying between the Blue Ridge and the sea, had only smaller streams, furnished by tl>3 eastern de- clivities of that ri(ige, and the overflowing of the lake, pouring from its summit over the brow of the ridge, in many places form- ing cascades of beauty, which marked the scenery of primeval landscape, immediiitely after the deluge. In consequence, the river there being less, and the land generally more flat, the ridge of talc granite must have sto{)ped the waters and formed marshy Inkes. The sea must have come up to the vicinity of this ridgi"?, and there occasioned other marshes of the same kind, as the Dis- mal Swamp, near Norfolk, being partly in the States of Virginia and North Carolina. And if the reader recollect, the stratum of black mud, mixed with osier and trees,which is found every whor ■ in boring on the coast, he will see in it a proof of the truth of this hypothesis. But when the great embankment gave away, by the weight of the waters above, or by attrition, convulsion, or whatever may have been the cause of their rupture, the rush of the waters AND DIBCOVERIE8 IN THE WEST. 343 brought from above all that stratum of earth now lying on the top of these subterranean trees, osiers and mud above noticed. This operation must have been so much the easier, as IJlue Ridge in general is not a homogeneous mass, crystalized in vast strata, but a heap of detached blocks of dilTercnt magnitudes, mixed with ve- getable mould, easily diifusable in water. It is in fact a wall, the stones of which are embedded in clay; and as its declivities are very steep, it frequently happens that thaws and heavy rains, by carrying away the earth, deprive the musses of stones of their support, and then the fall of one or more of these, occasions very considerable stone slips or avalanches, which sometimes continue for several hours. From this circumstance, the falls from the lake must have acted with the more eflect and rapidity. Their lirst attempts have left traces in those gaps with which the line of summits is inden- ted from space to space, or from ridge to ridge. If maybe clearly perceived on the spot, that these places wore the first drains of the surplus waters subsequently abandoned for others, where the work of demolition was more easy, it is obvious that the lakes flowing off, must have changed the whole face of the lower country. By this were brought down all th«;se cartlis of a se- condary formation, that compose the present plain. The ridge of talcky granite, pressed by more frequent and voluminous in- undations, gave way in several points, and its niarshes added their mud to the black mud of the shore, which at present we find bu- ried under the alluvial earth, afterward brought down by the en- larged rivers. In the valley between the IJluc Ridgf and North mountain, the changes that took place were conformable to the mode in which the water flowed off. Several breaches having, at once or in suc- cession, given a passage to the streams of water now called James, Potomac, Susquehannah, Schuylkill and Delaware, their general and common reservoir was divided into as many distinct lakes, separated by the risings of the ground that exceeded this level. — Each of these lakes had its particular drain, and this drain being at length worn down to the lowest level, the land was left com- pletely uncovered. This must have occurred earlier with James, Susquehannah and Delaware, because their basins are more elevated, and it must 1 m ■4 344 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 1^'! have happened more recently with the Putomac, for the opposite reason, its basin being the deepest of all. How far the Delaware then extended, the reflux of its waters towards the east, he could not ascertain ; however, it appears its basin was bounded by the ridge that accompanies its left bank, and which is the apparent continuation of the Blue Ridge and North mountain. It is prob- able that its basin has always been separate from that of the Hud- son, as it is certain that the Hudson has always had a distinct basin, the limit and mound of which were above West Point, at the place called the Highlands, commencing immediately below New burgh. At this place on the western shore of the Hudson, the ancient bed or course of that river can he traced in a southwestern direc- tion, to where it once united with the waters of the Delaware, and thus they travelled to the sea in company, whereas the former has subsequently sought to travel alone, disembouging its flood into the sea at an entire and distant point of the compass. The ancient bed, however, is much higher than its present one, as the country over which it travels plainly shows, favoring greatly the supposition of the lake, which had its foot against this range of mountains. To every one who views this spot, it seems incontestible that the transverse chain bearing the name of the Highlands, was for- merly a bar to the course of the entire river, and kept its waters at a considerable height; and considering that the tide flows as far as ten miles above Albany, is the proof that the level above the ridge was a lake which reached as far as to the rapids on Fort Edward. At that time, therefore, theCohoes, or falls of the Mohawk, did not appear, and till this lake was drained off through the gap at West Point, the sound of those falls was not heard. The existence of this lake explains the cause of the alluvials, petrified shells, and strata of schist and clay mentioned by Dr. Mitchell, and proves the justice of the opinions of this judicious observer, res- pecting the stationary presence of waters in ages past, along the valley of many of the American rivers. These ancient lakes, now drained by the rupture of their mounds, explains another ap- pearance which is observed in the valley of such rivers as are sup- posed to have been once lakes, as the Tennessee, the Kentucky,. ^ AND DISCOVERIES !N THE WEST 34& the Mississippi, the Kanhaway, and the Ohio. This appearance is the several stages or flats observed on the banks of these rivers and most of the rivers of America, as if the water once was higher than at subsequent periods, and by some means wore drained off more ; so that the volume of water fell lower when a new mark of embankment would be formed, marking the original heights of the shores of these rivers. In none is this appearance more perceptible than the Ohio, at the place called Cincinnati, or Fort Washington. Here the ori- ginal or fust bank is nearly fifty feet high, and runs along pa- rallel with the river, at the distance of about seventy-five rods. — The high floods sometimes even now overflow this first level. At other places the banks are marked, not with so high an ancient shore, but then the lownoss of the country in such places admit- ted the spread of the waters to the foot of the hills of nature. — When we examine the arrangement of these flats, which are pre- sented in the form of stages along this river,we remain convinced that even the most elevated part of the plain, or highest level about Cincinnati, has been once the scat of waters, and even the primi- tive bed of the river, which appears to have "had three dificrent l)eriods of decline, till it has sunken to its present bed or place of its current. The first of the periods was the time when the transverse ridges of the hills, yet entire, barred up the course of the Ohio, and acting as mounds to it, kept the water level with their sum- mits. All the country within this level was then one immense lake, or marsh of stagnant water. In lapse of time, and from the periodical action of the floods, occasioned by the annual melting of the snows, some feeble parts of the mound were worn away by the water. One of the gaps, having at length given away to the current, the whole effort of the waters was collected in that point, which soon hollowed out for itself a greater depth, and thus sunk the lake several yards. The first operation un- covered the upper or first level on which the waters had stood, from the time of the subsiding of the deluge, till the first rupture took place. From the appearance of the shores of the river, it seems to have maintained its position after the first draining some length of time, so as distinctly to mark the position of the waters when a i M 1^ ■■1 :'4 346 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES second draining took place, because the waters had, by their ac- tion, removed whatever may have opposed the first attempt to break down their mound or barrier. The third and last rent of tlie barrier took place at length, when the fall of the water became more furious, being now more concentrated, scooped out for it- self a narrower and deeper channel, which is its present bed, leaving all the immense alluvial regions of the Ohio bare, and ex- posed to the rays of the sun. Iv is probable tJiat the Ohio has been obstructed at more places than one, from Pittsburg to the rapids of Louisvillle, as that be- low Silver creek, about five miles from the rapids of the Ohio, and towards Galliopolis and the Scioto, several transverse chains of mountains exist, very capable of answering this purpose. Volncy says it was not till his return from Fort Vincent, on the Wabash, that he was struck with the disposition of a chain of hills below Silver creek. This ridge crosses the basin of the Ohio, from north to south, and has obliged the river to change its direction from the cast towards the west, to seek an issue, which in fact it finds at the confluence of Salt river ; and it may even be said that it required the copious and rapid waters of this river and its nu- merous branches, to force the mound that opposed its way at this place. The steep declivity of these ridges requires about a quar- ter of an hour to descend it by the way of the road, though it is good and commodious; and by com|)arison with other hillsaround, he conceived the perpendicular height to be about 400 feet, or 25 rods. The summit of those hills, when Volney visited them, was too thicklv covered with wood for the lateral course of the chain to be seen ; but, so far as he could ascertain, perceived that it runs very far north and south, and closes the basin of the Ohio throughout its whole breadth. This basin, vicwc'! from the sum- mit of this range, exhibits the appearance and foDii of a lake so strongly, that the idea of the ancient existence of one here is in- dubitable. Other circumstances tend to confirm this idea, for he observed from this chain to White river, eight miles from Fort Vincent, that the country is interspersed with a number of ridges, many of them steep, and even lofty. They are particularly so beyond Blue-ridge, and on both banks of White river, and their direction is every where such, that they meet the Ohio trans- versely. AND DI6C0VERIE8 IN THE WEST. 847 On the other hund, he found at Louisville that the south, or Kentucky bank of the river, corresponding to them, had similar ridges; so that in this part is a succession of ridges, capable of opposing j)0wcrful obstacles ' the waters. It is not till lower down the river that the country becomes flat, and the ample sa- vannahs of the Wabash and Green rivers commence, which, ex- tending to the Mississippi, exclude every idea of any other mound or barrier to the waters on that side of the river. There is another fact in favor of these western rivers having been, in many places, lakes found in this country, and is noticed as u great singularity. In Kentucky, all the rivers of that country flow more slowly near their sources than at their mouths, — which is directly the reverse of what takes place in most rivers of other parts of the world ; whence it is inferred, that the upper bed of the rivers of Kc^ntucky is a flat country, and that the lower bed, at the entrance of the vale of the Ohio, is a descending slope. Now this perfectly accords with the idea of an ancient lake, — for at the time when this lake extended to the foot of the AUegha- nles, its bottom, particularly towards its mouth, must have been nearly smooth and level, its surface being broken by no action of the waters ; but, when the mounds or hills which confined this tranquil body of water were broken down, the soil, laid bare, be- gan to be furrowed and cut into sluices by its drains, and when at length the current became concentrated in the vale of the Ohio, and demolished its dyke ni »re rapidly, the soil of this vale washed away with violence, leaving a vast channel, the slopes of which occasioned the waters of the plain to flow to it more ([uickly, and hence this current,which notwithstanding the alterations that have been going on ever since, have continued more rapid to the pres- ent day. Admitting, then, that the Ohio has been barred up, either by the chain of Silver creek, or any other contiguous to it, a lake of great extent must have been the result. From Pittsburg, the ground slopes so gently that the river,when low, does not run two miles an hour, which indicates a fall of four inches to the mile. — The whole distance from Pittsburg to the rapids of Louisville, fol- lowing all the windings of the river, does not exceed 600 miles. From these data, wo have a difference of level, amounting to 200 >4> 348 AMERICAN ANTIQIMTIES Ccet, which does not exceed the cicvntion of the rnngcs of hills supposed to have once danimcd up the Ohio river nt that place. Such a mound could check the waters and turn them back as far as to Pittsburg. Such having been the fact, what an immense, space of the wes- tern country must have lain under water iVom the subsiding of the flood till this mound was broken down ! This is made apparent by the spring freshets of the Oluo, at the present time, which, ri- sing only to the height of fifty feet, keeps back the water of the great Miami, as far as Grenville, a distance of seventy miles up the country to the north, where it occasions a stagnation of that river, and even an inundation of its shores, to a great extent. In the vernal inundations the north branch of the (Jrcat Miami forms but one with the south branch ; the space between becomes one body of water. '* The south branch runs into Lake Erie, and is sometimes called St. Mary's river. The carrying place, or portage between the heads of these two rivers is but three miles, and in high water the space can be passed over in a boat, from the one which runs into the Ohio, to the other which runs into Lake Erie." This Mr. Volney states to have been the fact, as witnessed by himself on the spot, in the year 1790 ; so near are all these waters on a level with each other. lie says that, during the year 1792, a mercantile house at Fort Detroit, which is at the head of Lake Erie, despatched two canoes, which passed immediately, without carrying, from the river Huron running into Lake Erie, to (Irand river, which runs into Lake Michigan, by the waters overflowing at the head of each of these rivers. The Muskingum, which runs into the Ohio, also communicates, by means of its sources, and of small lakes, with the waters of the river Cayahoga, which flows into Lake Erie. From all these facts united, it follows that the surface of the level country between L:ike Erie and the Ohif), cannot exceed the level of the flat next to the waters of the Ohio more than 100 feet, nor that of the second flat or level, which is the general surface of the country, more than seventy feet; consequently a m«iund or range of mountain, of 200 feet, at Silver creek, 600 miles down the Ohio, from Pittsburg, would have been sufficient to keep back its waters, not only as far as Lake Erie, but even to spread AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 349 them from the Inst slopes of the Allcghanics to the north of Luke Superior. Kut whatever elevation we allow this natural mound, or if wc suppose there were several in diflerent places, keeping back the water in succession, the existence of sedentary waters in this western country, and anerent lakes, such as we have pointed out between Hliio Ridge and North mountain, is not the less an incon- trovertible fact, as must appear to every one who contemplates the country ; and this fact '-xplains, in a simple and satisfactory manner, a number of local circumstances which, on tiie other hnnd, serve as proofs of the fact. For instnncp, thes'j ancient lakes e.Nphiin why, in every part of the basin of the Ohie, the land is always levelled in hori/ontal beds of difFt'r(!nt heights ; why these beds are placed in ihe order of their spicitic gravity ; and why we (ind in vnriuiis places the remains of trfcs, of osier, and of other plants. 'I'hcy also hap- pily and naturally account for the formation of the immense beds of sea coal found in the western country, in certain situations and particular districts. In iHct, from the researches which the inhabitants have made, it appears that the |)rincipal seat of coal Is above I'ittsburg, in the space between the Laurel mountain and the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela, where exists almost throughout, a stiatum, at the average depth of twelve and sixteen feet. This stratum is sup- ported by the horizontal bed of calcareous ston<;s, and covered with strata of schists and slate. It rises and falls with these on the hills and valleys, being thicker as it rises with the hills, but thinner in the vales. On considering its local situation, we see it occupies the lower basin of the two rivers wc have mentioned, and of their branches, the Yohogany and Kiskemanitaus, all of which flow through a nearly flat country, into the Ohio below Pittsburg. Now, on the hypothesis of the great lake of which we ha\e spoken, this part Will be found to have been originally the lower extremity of the lake, and the part where its being kept back would have occa- sioned still water. It is admitted by naturalists that coal is formed of heaps of trees carried away by rivers and floods, and after- wards covered with earth. These heaps are not accumulated in the course of the stream, 350 AMEniCAN ANTIQUITIES but in pnrtH out of it, where tlicy nre Icit to their own weight ; which becomes sntiiratcd with water, within a suflicient hipso ot' time, so as t« increase their gravity suflicient to sink to tho depths below. '♦ This process may bo observed, even now, in many rivers of America, particuhirly in the Mississippi, which annually carries along with its current a great number of trees Some of these trees are deposited in the bays and eddies, and there left in still water to sink, but the greater part reach the borders of the ocean, where the current being balanced by the tide, tliey are rendered stationary, and buried under the mud and sand, by the double ac- tion of the stream of the river and the reflux of tho sea. In the same manner, anciently, the rivers that flow from the Alleghany and Laurel mountnins into the basin of the Ohio, linding towards Pittsburg, the lIcih] waters and tnif of the great lake, there depo- sited the trees and drift wood w hich they still carry away by thousands when tho frost breaks up and the snows melt in the spring. These trees were accumulated in strata, level as the fluid that bore them, and the mound of the lakes sinking gradually, as we have before explained, its tail was likewise lowered by degrees and the place of deposit changed as the lake receded, forniing that vast bed which in the lapse of ages has been subseijuentiy covered with earth and gravel, and acquired the mineral (jualities of coal, the slate in which we find it. "Coal is founil in several other parts of the United States, and always in circumstances analagous to those we have just de- scribed. In the year 1784, at the mouth of tho rivulet La- minskicola, which runs into the Muskingum, the stratum of coal there took fire, and burnt for a whole year. This mine is a part of the mass of which we have been speaking; and almost all the great rivers that run into the Ohio must have deposits of this kind in their flat and long levels, and in places of their eddies. The upper branches of the Potomac, above and to the left of Fort Cum- berland, have been celebrated for soiiKi years for their strata of coal embedded along tiic shores, so that boats can lie at their banks and load. "Now this part of the country has every appearance of having been once a lake, pro(Iuc(Hl by one or more of the numerous transverse ridges that bound the Poton)ac, above and below Fort Cumberland. ftl. AND DISCOVRIIIKS IN TIIK WEHT. S5l it \^^ In Virginia, the bed of James river rests on a very consider- uble bed of coal. At two or three places where shafts have been sunk, on its left bank, after digging a hundred and twenty feet thiough red clay, a bed of cool, about twenty-four feet thick, has been found, on an inclined stratum of granite. It is evident that at the rapids, lower down, were the course of tlie river is still checked, it was once completely obstructed, and then there must have been a standing; water, and very probably a lake. The rea- der will observe that wherever there is a rapid, a stagnation takes place in the sheet of water above, just as there is at a mill head ; consequently the drilled trees must have accumulated there, and when the outlet of the lake had hollowed out for itself a gap, and sunk its level, the annual floods brought down with them and de- posited the red clay now found there ; as it is evident that this clay was brought from some other place, for the earth of such a quality belongs to the upper part of the course of the river, parti- cularly to the ridge called Southwest. '* It is possible that veins or mines of coal, not adapted to this theory, may be mentioned or discovered on the coast of the At- lantic. Hut one or more such instances will not be sufl'icient to subvert this theory ; for the whole of this coast, or all the land between the ocean and the Alleghanies, from the St. Lawrence to the West Indies, has been destroyed by earthquakes, the traces of which are every where to be seen, and these earthquakes have altered the arrangement of strata throughout the whole of this space." This accoui.t, as given by Breckonridge, of the appearance of a portion of the country between two forks of a small branch of the Arkansas river favors this supposition. •'* There is a tract of country," he says, "of about seventy-five miles square, in which nature has displayed a great variety of the most strange and whimsical vagaries. It is an asseniblage of beautiful meadows, verdant ridges, and misshapen piles of red clay, thrown together in the utnfost apparent confusion, yet af- fording the most pleasing harmonies, and presenting in every di- rection an endless variety of curiousand interesting objects. After winding along for a few miles on the high ridges, you suddenly descend an almost perpendicular declivity of rocks and cl>y, into a series of level, fertile meadows, watered by some beautiful liv- *9i > 4 352 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ulets, and here and there adorned with shrubbery, cotton trees, elms and cedars. " These natural meadows are divided by chains formed of red clay, and huge masses of gypsum, with here and tiicre a pyramid of gravel. One might imagine himself surrounded by the ruins of some ancient city, and the plains to liave been sunk by some convulsion of nature, more than a hundred feet below its former level, for some of the huge columns of red clay rise to the height of two hundred feet perpendicular, capped with rocks of gymsum." This is supposed to have been the work of an carth()uakc. Thus far wo have given the view of this great naturalist (Vol- noy) respecting the existence of ancient lakes to the west, and of the formation of the strata of seacoal in those regions. If then it bo allowed that timber being deposited deep in the earth, be- comes the origin of that mineral, we discover at once the ciiici" material which feeds the internal fires of the globe. The earth, at the era of the great deluge being covered with an immensity of forests, more than it now presents, furnished the material, when sunk and plunged to the unkown depths of the then soft and pulpy globe, for exiiaustless strata of seacoal. This, by some means, having taken fire, continues to burn, and descend- ing deeper and (lee|)er, spreading farther and farther, till the con- querless element has even under sunk the ocean ; from whence it frequently bursts forth in the very middle of the sea, accompani- ed with all the grandeur of display and phenomena of fire and water, mingled in unbounded warfare. This internal operation of fire feeding on the unctious minerals of the globe, among which, as chief, is scacol, becomes the parent of many a new Island, thrown up by the violence of that element. We cannot but call to recollection in this place, the remarkable allusioi. if Isa iah J cha[>. xxx., 33, which is so phrased as almost induces a belief that he had reference to this very circumstance, that of the internal fires of the globe being fed by wood carbonated or turned to coal. *' For Tophet is ordained of old. * * lie hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.' Various accidents are supposeablc by which seacoal may have, at first, taken fire, so as to commence the first volcano ; and in its operations to have ignited other mineral substances, as sulphur. iloo( AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 353 saltpetre, bitumen, and salts of various kinds. An instance of the ignition of seacoal by accident, is mentioned in Dr. Beck's Gazetteer, to have taken place on a tract of country called the Jlinerican Bottom, situated between the Kaskaskia river and the mouth of the Missouri. On this great alluvion, which embraces a body of land equal to five hundred square miles, seacoal abounds, and was first discovered in a very singular manner. In clearing the ground of its timber, a tree took fire which was standing and was dry, which communicated to the roots, but con- tinued to burn much lunger tlmn was sufficient to exhaust the tree, roots and all. Bui upon examination it was found to have taken hold of a bed of coal, which continued to burn until the fire was smothered by the falling in of a large body of earth, which the fire had umlormincd by dostroying the coal and caus- ing a cavity. This is a volcano in miniature, and how long it might have continutul its ravages with increased violence, is un- known, iiad it not have so opportunely been extinguished. But this class of strata of tlial mini;ral lies, of necessity, much deeper in many places than any other of the kind, depositcci since the flood, by the opciration of rivers and lakes. If, as w(3 have sup- posed in this volume, the earth, previ«)us to the flood of Noah, had a greater land surface than at tlie present time, wo find in this supposition a sufliciency of wood, the (k'position of which being tlirown into immense heaps by the whirls, waves and ed- dies of the waters, to make whole subterranean ranges of this coal equal in size to the largest and longest mountains of the globe. These ranges, in many places, rise even above the or- dinary surface of the land, having been bared, su ;e the flood, by the violence of convulsions occasioned by both volcanic fires and the irruptions of bodies of water and inccssent rains. If those philosophers who allcct to despise the writings of Moses, as found in the book of (ienesis, who has given us an account of the deluge, would think of this fact, the origin of seacoal, they could not but subscribe to this one account at least, which that book has given of the flood. The insignificant deposi- tions of timber, occasioned by the drawing off of lakes, or change of water courses, since the flood, cannot be supposed to be in suflicient quantities to furnish the vast magazines of this j'liineral, compared with that of the universal flood. These strata 23 354 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of coal appearing too in such situations as to preclude all idea of their having been formed by the operation of water since the flood, so that we are driven, by indubitable deduction of fair and logical argument, to resort to just such an occurrence as the deluge^ the account of which is given by Moses in the Scripture. So that if there were never an universal flood, as stated in the Bible, the ingenuity of sceptical philosophy whould be sadly perplexed, as well as all others, to account for the deposition of wood enough to furnish all the mines of this article found over the w hole earth, in its several locations, if wood be the origin of coal. If another flood were to drown the world, its deposits of timber could not equal, by one half, the deposits of the Noachian deluge, on account of the land surface of the earth having, under the in- fluence of that flood, been greatly diminished. If it be truly said in the Bible, th;it the earth perished by water, and also that the fountains of the great deep (subterranean seas,) were broken up, we arrive at the conclusion that there was more wood devoted to the purpose of coal creation, because there was, it is likely, dou- ble the quantity of dry land tor the forest to grow upon. Fur- ther in proof that vegetables and wood are the prime origin of pitcoal, we give the remarks of J. Correa de Serra, in a paper read before the American Philosophical Society held at Philadel- phia, 1815. Tiiis gentleman, in speaking of his own examination of the remarkable fertility of a certain part of Kentucky, namely that of the Elk-horn tract, and of other pirts of the west, says, ♦♦These western strata of earth contain imbedded in ihem an im- mense quantity of 7narine shells, and other organized bodies, be- longing to the animal and vegetable kingdom. The vegetable re- remains in particular are in such astonishing abundance, that they form thick strata of coals^ extending in some parts to hundreds of miles, kf^cping always nearly the same level, as it is particularly ascertained of that stratum of excellent coals, which is worked at Coal hill, opposite to Pittsburgh, across the Monongahela." Again, further on in (he same papf-r, and read at the same time, the writer says to the society. ♦' Let us now remember the unbounded deposites of fossil vegetables which are found in this western region, the coal slratum of Pitthburgh for instance, ex- tending for hundreds of miles. Let us also rciect on 1'~t difer' AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 355 enee of the alterations which vegotable bodies undergo, when de- composing, if imbedded between stony strata of a ponderous solid nature, or only covered by light pcrjneal)lo strata, or under a column of water. How ditferent are these operations from their decomposition in the atmosphere ! In the lirstcase, the pressure of a solid stratum, the heat of a fermentation which cannot work but on itself where no principle is lost, but all of them form new combinations, reduce the decomposed vegetable to the state of coals.'' — (Transurlions of the P/iil. Socielt/^ chap, xi., p. 174) But let it be observed, the author of the above remarks on the formation of coal, does not say that timber of the ancient forests of the earth, is the origin of coal, neither does he deny it ; but believes that the marine forests, growing at the bottom of oceans, is the true origin, mingled with other marine substances, of the creation of sea or pitcoal. Accordingly, at all places where this mineral is found, the sea, in some former nge of the earth, must have rested. America, therefore, at some unknown distance of ages, must have been, in many parts, beneath the sea. But of such an idea, we believe nothing, except at the time of Noah's flood. Lakes, however, as Volney contends, may have deposited the wood of forests in those part.-^of the west where coal is found. Those places, therefore, where it is found too elevated to admit of ♦his idea, we have only to recollect that they were strata of coal so created at the bottom of the lakes or seas, which have now shifted their situations, have been hooe up by convulsions, occa- sioned by various agents acting in the bowels of the earth, as fire, air, galvanism and water. It is said by those who have examined the immense coal bed at Pittsburgh, that the very kind of trees of which the coal was formed can be distinguished, as the beech, the maple, the birch, the ash, &c., lying in all directions through the whole stratum of the coal region ■;s 356 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Further Remarks on the Draining of the Western Country of its JIncicnt Lakes. In corrobboration of the theory of Mr. Volncy on this subject, we give the brief remarks of that accurate anil pleasing writer, Mr. Schoolcraft, well known to the reading class of the putilic. lie says, while treating on the subject of the appearance of the two |)rints of hunmn feet, in the limestone strata along the shore of the Mississippi, at St. Louis: "May we not suppose a barrier to have once existed across ilie lower part of the Mississippi, con- verting its immense valley into an interior sea, whose action was adequate to the production and deposition of calcareous strata. — We do not consider such a supposition incompatible with the exist- ence oi' transil ion rocks in this valley ; tiie j)osition of the latter being beneath the secondary. Are not tin- great northern lakes the remains of such an ocecm ? And did not the sudden demolition of this ancient barrier enable this |)owerful stream to carry its banks, as it has maniiestly done, a hundred miles into the gulf of Mexico. We think sucii an hypothesis much mon; probable, than that the every day deposits of this river should have that eliect on the gidt". VVc have been ac(|U-iinted with the mouths of the Mis- sissippi for more than a century ; and yet its several channels, to all appearance, arc essentially the same as when first discovered. Favoring the same position or theory, we give from Dr. Beck's Gazetteer, a (juotation from Silliman's .(ournal, third volume, cjuo- ted by that author from Bringier on the region of the Mississip[>i, who says that, "Between While river and the Missouri, arc three parallel j)orphyry ranges, running circularly from the west to the northeast. These three mountains arc? twenty-eight miles across, and seem to have been above water, when the whole country around was covered with an ocean." At the foot of one of these ranges was found the tooth of some tremendou- monster, suppos- ed to be a mammoth, twice as large as any found at the Big-bone lick. An account of this creature, so far as we are able to give it, has already been done in this work ; yet we feel it incumbent to insert a recent discovery respecting this monster which we had not seen when those pages went to press. The account is as fol- 4 AND DISCOVERIES IN TIfE WEST. 357 *• lows. There were lately dug up at Massillon, Starke county, Ohio, two larg<; tusks, measuring each nine feet si.x inches in length, and eight inches diameter, being two feet in girth at the largest ends. The outside covering is as firm and hard as ivory, but the inner parts were considerably decayed. They were found in a swamp, al)out two feet below the surface, and were similar to those found some time ago at Bone-lick, in Kentucky, the size of whici) animal, judging from the bones found, was not less than six- ty feet in length, and twenty-two in height, arid twelve across the hips. Each tooth of the creatures mouth which was found, weigh- ed eleven pounds. — {^Clearfield Banner^ 1832.) This is, indeed, realizing the entire calculation made by Adam Clarke, the commentator, who tells, as before remarked, that hav- ing examined one toe of the creature supposed to be the nnmmoth, he found it of sufficient size and length to give, according to the rule of animal pro[)ortion, an animal at least sixty leet in length and twenty five lect high. The animal must have come down in its species, from the very outset of time, with all other animals. \ male and female of this enormous beast must have been saved la the ark ; but it is likely the Divine Providence directed a pair that were young, and there- fore not as largo and ferocious as such as wore full grown would be. The fituling of this animal in America, is, it would appear, incontrovertible evideiiRC that the continent was, at sorie period, united with the old world at some place or places, as has been con- tended in this work ; as so large an animal could ncMtlier have been brought hither by men, in any sort of craft hitherto known, except the ark ; nor could they have swam so far, even if they were addicted to the water, iiut to return to the subject of wes- tern lakes. How grcM a lapse of time took place from the sub- siding of the flood of Noah, till the bursting away of the several barriers, is unknown. The eiiijitying out of such vast bodies of water, as held an almost boundless region of the west in a state of complete submergency, must of necessity have raised the Atlantic, so as to envelope in its increase many a fair and level country along its coasts, both on this continent and thosc' of Europe and Africa. In such an emergency, all islands which were low on the surface, and not much elevated above the sea, must have been drowned, or parts of them, so that their hills, if any they had, '4- 958 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIKB would only be left, a sad and small memorial of their ancient do- mains. It may have been, that the rush of these mighty waters from the west, flowing to the sea at once, down the channels of so many rivern, at first broke up and enveloped the land between the range of the West India islands and the shores of the gulf of Mex- ico. It is conjcctmed by nuturu lists, that the time was when those islands were in reality the Atlantic coast of the continent. Some convulsion, therefore, must have transpired to bring about so great a change. If, as Schoolcraft has suggested, the Mississippi, in bursting down its barriers, drove the earthy matter which accompanied it in that occurrence a hundred miles into the sea, it may well bo supposed that if all that space, now the gulf, was then a low tract of country, which is natural to suppose, as its shores are so now^ that it was ovorwl'.ehncd, while the higher |)arts of the coast, now the West India islands, are all that remains of that drowned coun- try. The f;iill lU Mexico is full of low islands, scarcely above the level o! i!j( ^f .», which have been, frotn the earliest history of that coast, *')" riitott uf pirates. Their p(Yndiar situation in this res- pect, w> uld ' iw.r the opinion, that the once low and level shores werc, b) the nis!> and overHowing of the waters, biaied to a great extent in the 'ountry, leaving ubovi; water every eminence, wiiich are now the islands of ihi; gulf. From an examination of the lakes Seneca, Cayuga and l"-rie, it is evident from their banks, that anciently the water stood in them ten and twelve feet higher than at present ; these also, therefore, luivo been drained a second time, since those of which we have been speaking, of which these were once a part. It is evident from the remarks of Brccken- ridge, which are the result of actual observations of that traveller, that there was formerly an rutlet from lake Michigan to the Mis- sissippi, by the way of tho Illinois river, which heads near the southern end of that lak<). This is supported by the well knowr facts, ♦hat the waters of all the lakes drained bv the St. Lawrence, have sunk many feet. The Illinois shows plainly the marks oT having once conveyed a much greater body of water between its shores than at the present time. All the western lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, lake of the Woods, Erie, Seneca, Cayuga, and many lesser ones, are the mere rcmuants of the great inland fresh watfM- sea which once ex- I AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST* 350 dated in this region, and the time may come when all the lakes will be again drained off to the north by the way of the St. Law- ranee, and to the south by other rivers, to the sea, adding a con- try of land freed in a measure from these waters, as great in extent as all the lakes put together. It is believed by the most observing naturalists, that the falls of Niagara were once as low down ihe river as where (iuccnstown is situated, which is six or eight miles below the fall. If so, the time may come-, and none can tell how soon, when the falls shall have worn through the stone ridge or precipice, over which the Niagara is precipitated, and coming to a softer barrier of mere earth, the power of the water would not be long in rending for itself a iiiortj level channel, ex- tending to the foot of lake Eric, on an inclined plane of consider- able steepness. One shock of an eartli(|uak(', such as happened in V^irginia, in the vicinity of the coal mines, 1H33, would prob- ably fracture the falls of Niagara, so as fo force the waters in its subterranean work, and undermine the falls. This would allect lake Krie, causing an increased current in its waters, and the lowering of its bed, which would also have the same allect on lakes Michigan, Huron and Sup»M*ior, with all the rest of a lessor magnitude, changingthem from the character they now bear, which is that of lakes, to that of mere rivers, like ihc Ohio. In the mean time, Ontario would become enlarged, so as to rise, perhaps, to a level with the top of the falls, which is one hundred and fifty feet. Lake Ontario is but about one hundred and fifty feet below the city of Utica, and Utica is four hundred feet above the valley of the Hudson river; consecjuently, deduct- ing the hundred and fifty feet, which is the fall of land from the long level, as it is called, on which Utica stands, to the lake, there will be left two hundred and fifty feet elevation of lake Ontario above the vale of the Hudson. Tiiat lake, therefore, need to be raised but a little more than one hundred and fifty feet, when it would immediately inundate a greater part of the state of New York, as well as a part of Upper und all of Lower Canada, till the waters should be carried oi\ by the way of the several rivers now existing, on the easterly and southerly side of the lake, and by new channels ; such catastro- phe would most certainly cut for itself, in many directions, in its ■course to the Atlantic. But we trust such an occurrence may ;? If. 360 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES never take place ; yot it is equally possible, ns was the draining of the more ancient lakes of the west. And however secure the ancient inhabitants may have felt themselves, who had settled be- low the barriers, yet that inland sea suddenly took up its line of march, to wage war with, or to become united to, its counterpart, the Atlantic, and in its travel Ixjre away the country, and the na- tions dwelling thereon. It is scarcely to be doubted, but the same effects were experienced by the ancient inhabitants settled between the Euxinc or HIack sea and the Mediterranean, and the whole coast of that inland ocean, where its shores were skirted by low countries. It is stated by Elucid, in a conversation that philoso- pher had with Anacharsis, of whom we have before spoken in this work, that the Black sea was once entirely surrounded by nat- ural embankments, but that many rivers running into it from Eu- rope and Asia, at length overflowed its barriers, cutting for itself a deep channel, tore out the whole distance from its own shore to that of the Archipelago, a branch of the Mepingaway all the works of men in those directions, as well as in many other directions, where the lowness of the country should I" 'ivorablc to a rush of the waters, leaving isolated tracts of hig. uids, with the mountains as islands, till the work of submersion should be over. All this, it is likely, will appear extremely visionary, but it should not bo forgotten that we have predicated it on the supposed demolition of Niagara falls, which is as likely to ensue, as that the barriers of the ancient lakes should hare given away, where the respective falls of the rivers which issued from them, poured over their precipices. Whoever will examine oil the circumstances, says Volney,will clearly perceive, that the j)lace where the village of Queenstown now stands, the full at first commenc(;d, and that the river, by sawing down the bed of the rock, has hollowed out the chasm, and continued carrying back its breach, from age to age, till it has at length reached the spot where the cascade now is. There it continues its secular labors with slow but incessant activity. — The oldest inhabitants of the country remember having seen the cataract several paces beyond its present place. The frosts of winter have the elfect continually of cracking the projecting parts of the strata, and the thaws of spring, with the increased powers of the augmented waters, loosen and tumble largQ blocks of the rock into the chasm be'ow. Dr. Barton, who examined the thickness of the stratum of stone, and estimates it at sixteen feet, believes it rests on that of blue IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A (/ ^ .^. ./*^ vr4^' A fe 1.0 1= 11.25 m. 125 •" 136 i 141 Ui lit ■it 2.2 m U 11.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716) S72-4S03 >^^^ '9>'- 364 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES schist, which he supposes forms the bed of the river, as well as the falls, up to the Erie. Some ages hence, if the river continuing its untiring operations, may cease to find the calcareous rock that now checks it, and finding a softer strata, the fall will ultimately arrive at Lake Eric; and then one of those great desications will take place, of which the valleys of the Potomac, Hudson and Ohio afford instances in times past. Lake Ontario formed by a Volcano. TiiouciH the northern parts of America have been known to us but about two centuries, yet this interval, short as it is in the an- nals of nature, has already, says Volney, been sufficient to con- vince us, by numerous examples, that earthquakes must have been frequent and violent here, in times past, and that they have been the principal cause of the derangements of which the Atlantic coast presents such general and striking marks. To go back no farther than the year 1628, the time of the ar- rival of the fii'st English settlers, and end with 1782, a lapse of 154 years, in which time there occurred no less than forty-five earthquakes. These were always preceded by a noise resembling that of a violent wind, or of a chimney on fire ; they often threw down chimnies, sometimes even houses, and burst open doors and windows ; suddenly dried up wells, and even several brooks and streams of water, imparting to the waters a turbid color, and the foetid smell of liver of sulphur, throwing up out of great chinks sand with a similar smell: theshocksof these earthquakes seemed to proceed from an internal focus, which raised the earth up from below, the principal line of which ran northeast and southwest, following the course of the river Merrimack, extending southward to the Potomac, and northward beyond the St. Lawrence, particu- larly affecting the direction of Lake Ontario. Respecting these earthquakes, Volney says, he was indebted to a work written by a Mr.Williams, from whose curious researches he had derived the most authentic records. But the language and AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 365 phrases he employs are remarkable, says Mr. Volnoy, for the analogy they bear to local facts noticed by himself respecting the appearance of schists on the shores of Lake Krie, and about the falls of Niagara; and by Dr. Barton, who supposed it to form the bed on which the rock of the falls rests. He quotes him as follows : " Did not that smell of liver sul- phur imparted to the water and sand vomited up from the bowels of the earth, through great chinks, originate from the stratum of schist, which we found at Niagara beneath the limestone, and which, when submitted to the action of lire, emits a strong smell of sulphur ?" It is true, says Volney, that this is but one of the elements of the substance mentioned, composing schist, but an accurate analysis might detect the error. This stratum of schist is found under the bed of the Hudson, and appears in many places in the States of New-York and Pennsylvania, among the san Istones and granites; and we have reason to presume that it exists round Lake Ontario, and beneath Luke Eric, and couseciucntiy that it forms one of the floors of the coun'ry, in wliicli was the principal focus of the eartluiuakes mentioned by Mr. Williams. The line of this focus running northwest and southeast, particularly allec- ted the direction of the Atlantic to Lake Ontario. This predilec- tion is remarkable on account of the singulnr structure of this lake. The rest of the western lakes, notwithstanding their mag- nitude, have no great depth. Lake Erie no where exceeds a hundred or a hundred and thirty feet, and the bottom ol Lake Su- perior is visible in many places. The Ontario, on the contrary, is in general very deep, that is to say, upwards of forty-five or fifty fathoms, three hundred feet, and so on ; and in considerable extent no bottom could be found with a line of a hundred and ten fathoms, which is a fraction less than forty rods. This is the case in some places near its shores, and these cir- cumstances pretty clearly indicate that the basin of this lake was once the crater of a velcano now extinct. This inference is con- firmed by the volcanic productions already found on its borders ; and no doubt the experienced eye will discover many more, by examining the form of the great talus, or slope, that surrounds this lake almost circularly, and announces in all parts, to the eye ML Ml 306 AMRRICAN ANTIQUITIES as well as to the understanding, that formerly the flat of Niagara extended almost us far as the middle of Lake Ontario, where it was sunk and swallowed up by the action of a volcano, then in its vigor. The existence of this subterranean fire accords perfectly with the earthquakes mentioned by Williams, as above, and these two agents, which we find here uiMted, while they confirm on the one hand, that of a grand subterranean focus, at an unknown depth, on the other afford a happy and plausible explanation of the con- fusion of all the strata of the earth and stones, which occurs throughout the Atlantic coast. It explains, too, why the calcare- ous and even granite strata there, are inclined in the horizon in angles of forty-five degrees and upward, even as far as eighty, almost perpendicular or endwise, their fragments remaining in the vacuities formed by the vast explosions. To this fracture of the stratum of granite, are owing its little cascades; and this fact in- dicates that formerly the focus extended south beyond the Poto- mac, as also does this stratum. No doubt it communicated with that of the West India islands. As favoring this supposition of Monsieur Volney, we recollect the dreadful earthquakes of 1811 and 1S12, on the Mississippi, in the very neighborhood of the country supposed to have been the scenes of the effects of those early shocks, of probably the same internal cause, working now beneath the continent, and sooner or later may make again the northern parts of it its place of venge- ance, instead of the more southerly, as among the Andes, and the Cordilleras of South America. The earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 took place at New Madrid, on the Mississippi, where its efiects were dreadful, having thrown up vast heaps of earth, destroying the whole plain upon which that town was laid out. Houses, gardens, and the fields were swal- lowed up. Many of the inhabitants were forced to flee, exposed to the horrors of the scenes passing around, and to the inclemen- cies of the storms, without shelter or protection. The earth rolled under their feet, like the waves of the sea. The shocks of this subterranean convulsion were felt two hundred miles around. And, further, in evidence of the action of volcanic fires in the west of this country, we have the following, from Dr. Beck's AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 367 Gazetteer of Illinois : — " I visited Fort Clarke in 1820, and ob- tained a specimen of native copper in its vicinity. It weighed about two pounds, and is similar to that found on Lake Superior, of which the following description was given at the mint of Utrecht in the Netherlands, at the request of Dr. Eustis. " From every appearance, that piece of copper seems to have been taken from a mass that had undergone fusion. The melting was, however, not an operation of art, but a natural effect caused by a volcanic eniption. "The stream of lava probably carried in its course the aforesaid body of copper, that formed into one collection as fast as it was heated enough to run from all parts of the mine. The united mass was probably borne in this manner to the place where it rested in the soil. Thus we sro that even America, in its northern parts, as well as many parts of the old world, as it is called, has felt the shock of that engine, which is, comparatively speaking, boundless in power, capable of new modelling the face of whole tracts of country, in a few days, if not hours. That many parts of the western country have once been the scene of the devastating power of volcanos, is also maintained by that distinguished philosopher, Rafinesque. — (See Atlantic Jour- naly No. 4, p. 138, 1832.) If by this agent water is thrown out from the bowels of the earth, so as to change the entire surface of large districts in many parts of the old world, why not in America, if the tokens of such oper- ations are found here ? Volney was the first to call Lake Ontario a volcano, and to notice our ancient mountain lakes, now dried up by eruptions or convulsions, each having a breach or water gap. I am induced to amplify his views, by deeming nearly all our lakes as so many volcanic outlets,which have not merely thrown water in later pe- riods, but in more ancient periods have formed nearly all our se- condary strata, by eruptions of muddy water, mud, clay, liquid coal, basalts, trap. This was when the ocean covered yet the land. Submarine or oceanic volcanos exist as yet every where in the ocean, and their effects are known. They must of course be hol- low outlets under water,that would become lakes if the ocean was dried up. We can form an idea of their large number and extent 368 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES by the late but natural discovery, that all the Lagoon islands, and circular clusters of islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, are volcanic craters. This is now admitted, even in En- gland ; and the coral reef often crowning those clusters are later superincumbent formations by insects. The Bahama islands, in the Atlantic, the Maldives, near India, and the coral islands all over the Pacific, are the most striking of these "-ngular volcanic clusters, nearly at a level with the ocean. Some of them arc of immense extent, from sixty to one hundred and fifty miles iu cir- cuit, or even more. Some circular bays and gulfs of the sea appear to be similar, differing by having only one breach. The bay of Naples is one also, an ancient crater, with islands in front. The analogy between lakes and volcanic craters is obvious. Almost all fiery craters become lakes filled with water,when their igneous activity is spent. All springs are smaller outlets of water, while the fumaroles and holes ol i£;noous volcanos are small outlets of smoke, fire, air, gases, hot mud, «Scc. I can perceive no essential difference be- tween them or any other erui)tive basin, except iu degree of ca- loric or kind of matter which they emit. They may both be qui- escent or in activity. Springs vary as much as volcanos. We have few pure springs — they commonly hold mineral substances. They are cold, warm, hot, salt, bitter, saline, bituminous, limpid, colored, muddy — perpetual or peijodical, flowing or spouting, just like volcanic outlets. Therefore volcanos are properly igneous springs, and springs or lakes are aqueous volcanos ! Under this view, we have no lack of volcanic outlets in North America, since one half of it, the whole boreal portion, from New England and Labrador in the east to North Oregon and Alaska in the wesjt, and from Lake Erie to the boreal ocean, is filled with them, being eminently a region of lakes and springs, covered with ten thousand lakes at least. To these as well as to the dry lakes of our mountains, the lime stone craters and sinks, may be traced as the original outlets of our last formations, in a liquid state, under the ocean, embedding our fossils. The basaltic, trapic, and carbonic formations have the same origin, since they are intermingled. But some kinds AND DiecOVERIES IN THE WEST. S69 «of sands and clays have been ejected since this continent became ■dry land. To trace all these formations to their sources, deline- ate their streams or banks, ascertain their ages and ravage on or- ganized beings, will require time, assiduty, zeal and accurate ob- servations. What connection there is between lakes or dry basins of pri- mitive regions and their formations, is not well ascertained. — Some are evidently the produce of crystalization ; but others, forming streams, veins, banks and ridges, may have been ejected in a fluid or soft state, bufore organic life had begun, and thus spread into their actual shapes. Many streams of primitive limestone, anthracite, wacke, grit, are probably so formed and expanded. Hollows in the primitive ocean must have been the outlets of these substances, now become lakes, after the land be- came dry. The power which raises and ejects out of the bowels of the earth watery, muddy and solid substances, either cold or inflamed, is one of the secrets of nature; but we know that such a power or cause exists, since we see it in operation. Water rises in lakes and ^rings much above the level of the ocean, while the Caspian sea is under that level. There is then no uniform level for water on the globe, nor uniform aerial pressure over them. Another cause operates within the bowels of the earth to generate and ex- pel liquid and solid substances — perhaps many causes and powers are combined there; galvinism is probably one of the main agents. A living power of organic circulation would explain many earthly phenomena. Considering, therefore, the omnipotency of the two agents, fire and water, so created by Him who is more omnipotent, what changes of surface and of inhabitants may not have taken place in the western regions, as well as in other parts of Ame- xica. We cannot close this subject better than by introducing an Arabian fable, styled the Revolutions of Time. The narrator is supposed to have lived three thousand years on the earth, and lo have travelled much in the course of his life, and to have noted down the various changes which took place with re^pact Ao the surface of the globe in many places, anJ to have Leen 24 370 AMERICAN ANTIilUITlKS conversant with the various generations of men that succeeded each other. This fable we consider illustrative of the antiquities of all coun- triesy as well as of the changes which have most certainly taken pJace in our own, as it relates to surface and inhabitants. The name of the traveller was Khidr, and his story is as follows: I was passing, says Khidr, a populous city, and I asked one of the inhabitants, " How long has this city been built V But he said, " This city is an ancient city; we know not at what time it was built i neither we nor our fathers. Then I passed by after five hundred years, and no trace of the city was to be seen ; but I found a man gathering herbs, and I asked him, " How long has this city been destroyed ?" But he said, " The country has always been thus." And I said, *♦ But there was a city here." Then he said, " We have seen no city here, nor have we heard of such from our fathers." After five hundred years, I again passed that way, and found a lake, and met there a company of fishermen, and asked them, *' When did this land become a lake ?" And they said, *' How can a man like you ask such a question ? The place was aever other than it is." But heretofore, said I, it was dry land. And they said, " We never saw it so, nor heard of it from our fa- thers." Then after five hundred years I returned, and behold the lake was dried up; and I met a solitary man, and said to him, '^When did this spot become dry land ?" And he said, " It was always thus." But formerly, said I, it was a lake; and he said, '' We never say it, nor heard of it before." And five hundred years afterwards I again passed by,and again found a populous and beautiful city, and finer than I had at first seen it ; and I asked one of the inhabitants, " When was this city built ?" And he said, " Truly it is an ancient place, and we know not the date of its building, neither we nor our fathers." The human race has every where experienced terrible revolu- tions. Pestilence, wars and the convulsions of the globe, have annihilated the proudest works, and rendered vain the noblest ef- forts of man. ^'Ask not the sage when and by whom were erected those lin- AND DISCOVRRIES IN THE WEflT. 871 IHering ruins of the west, the imperishable memorials of ages long since swallowed up in the ocean of time ; ask not the wild Arab where may be found the owner of the superb palacc,within whose broken walls he casts his tent; ask not the poor fisherman, as h« spreads his nets, or the ploughman who whistles over the fields, where is Carthage? where is Troy? of whoso splendor historians and poets have so much boasted. Alas! they have vanished from the things that be, and have left but the melancholy lesson of the instability of the most stupendous labors of our race." Remarks on Geology. The evidence that the globe has undergone many and dread- ful convulsions, appears from its confused strata of rock, the undermost or primitive, called granite, appearing, frequently, above those of a secondary or later formation ; yet by no means dare we come to the sacrilegious and all-astounding doctrine, arrived at by modern geologists, — which is, that many ages and revolutions of the globe had transpired before the creation of man. And also, that several eras of creation had taken place before that event, instead of one, as wc are instructed in the scrip- tures. To show that such conclusions are arrived at by geologists, we quote the following from the pages of the Penny Magazine, a highly popular periodical, issued from the press in London, under the direction of several of the nobility of that cousury of highly scientific character. — (See No. 70, for 1833, p. 178.) ** Fossils, by which is understood the petrified remains of ani- mals, as their bones; alsa plants, shells, tortoises, fishes and ve- getable remains, as timber^ leaves, branches, ferns, mosses, dec, all of which are found in various parts embedded in rocks, clay, gravel, and other strata of the globe. These, found as they are, reveal to us the important and wonderful fact, that the author of nature had created different species of animals and plants at sev- eral successive and widely distant periods of time, and that many S72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES of those which existed in earlier ages of our globe had become totally extinct before the creation of others of different characters in later periods; that prior to man being culled into existence, in- numerable species of living beings had covered the surface of the earth, for a series of ages. "We farther learn that a very great portion of those creatures of the later periods had become extinct, and had been replaced by others. When that great event, the creation of man, took place, the crust of the earth had already undergone numerous changes that appear to us to ailbrd indisputable evidences of design — to be evidences the most, clear of the establishment of an order of things adapted to the predetermined nature of that more perfect creature about to be sent as an inhabitant of the globe, to whom was to be given " dominion over the tishes of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth." — (^Scripture. See Genesis.) " We are^ also taught by the study of fossils, that prior to the creation of man, therj had existed a totally different condition of our planet, in so far as regards the distribution of land and water, from that which now exists; that where there are now continents there must have been deep seas, and that extensive tracts of land must have occupied those parts of the globe now covered by the ocean." Respecting this their opinion, however, we think that many of those appearances which mdicate that once the waters of the ocean covered even the highest ranges of mountains,are to be accounted for from the fact, that the Noachian deluge surmounted fifteen cubits and upwards, the highest parts of the earth, and that then those deposits of marine shells and bones of land and sea animals took place. As singular as it may appear, we announced to the reader that the authors of those opinions which go to establish the existence of SB animal creation, and of its duration for many nges before the time of Adam, affect also to believe the scriptures ; as above it is seen that they quote from that book the circumstance of mao's dominion over all animals, and over all the earth. If, therefore^ they believe that book, how is it they go about to contradict the account it gives of the creation of the earth, as to the time expeor ded in its creatioo» and as to the era when it was crealedf AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 373 : IS They, that is the geologists, say that several ages had passed away before man was created, but Moses says that but five daya had transpired, when on the sixth the man was created; and to fix the meaning of the terms six days, as to their actual amount of time, we have only to remember that on that circumstance,'*in six days God made the heavens and the earth," was predicated the seven days cycle of time, called a week, which by Jewish and Christian nations have always been observed. The very obliga- tion of working six days and of resting on the seventh, was found- ed on the fact that in six days God made the heavens and earthy and rested on the seventh. Flow, then, can it be that immense periods and ages of time had rolled away before the creation of man ? If we believe the account, as written under the direction of celestial inspiration, by what rule is six times twenty-four hours capable of being attenuated to the length of many ages or periods? If the six days spoken of in the Scripture, as bemg the founda- tion of the Sabbath, and of its observance, are not literally so, then is the Sabbath founded in falsehood, and cannot be morally binding on any man since the world began : he, therefore, who can attack the ten commandments, and drive one of them out of being, at a blow, cannot be supposed as filial to the Scriptures, which give a circumstancial account of the time, duration, and manner of the creation. This geological or stone argument respecting the age of the earth is certainly preposterous, or the account in Genesis, of the creation, is a fable. We, therefore, consider their deductions, that is the authors of the remarks as above recited from the Penny Magazine, but a new and elaborate yet covert mode of overturn- ing the character of the Bible, and should be watched with a jea- lous eye by the scientific, among those who do believe the Scrip- tures. The kinds of animals, according to John Mason Good, whose species seem now to be extinct, and whose remains are found em- bedded in the rock of the second formation, are not such as had bones, but mere worms, insects and shells of the sea, and certain kinds of vegetation, all of the lowest links in the scale of either animal or vegetable organization. This is important to our views of this subject ; because, if in this second stratum, which lies on 374 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIBB the first or lowermost, or primitive rock, there are no remains of animals which either walked on the earth, or flew in the air, or swam in the sea, it goes far to disprove the theory of geologists, respecting the passing away of several ages, before man was made ; as such kinds of fossils arc soon produced, and soon em- bedded. But in the third formation of rock, of the kind denominated Jlotezj or flat rock, of which there are several kinds, are found the fossil bones of large animals, in great abundance, with those of vegetation also. The remains of all animals so discovered are of the kinds well known, except in a few instances, as belonging to animals not extinct. In this very rock of the third and last formation, in its lowest parts, are found the remains of fishes, tortoises and shells, though much mutilated, which circumstance goes very far in favor of this formation of stratum having been produced since the flood, its foundation being laid at that time, — while the bones of land animals lie embedded above them, and of- ter miogled. Next above this, are the alluvial deposits, containing fossils, which are found all over the globe, at certain places. In this are found the bones of the largest kinds of animals, some of which are unknown, but were quadrupeds of the largest magni- tudes. The same kinds, however, are found also embedded in stone of the third class in local situations, and produced by local causes, as the sudden subtnergency ot a certain place, by the disruption of a sea, lake or rivers, involving the destruction of a great num- ber of animals, both of land and water, which have in certain places been found. Such are the fossils found /n the composite rocks, that fill up the great basin around Paris ; the celebrated quarries of Al- ningen, on the Rhine, — which, says Good, have been erroneously regarded of the same antiquity as Werner's universal forma- tions of the kind, found in the. third class of rocks, as before spe- cified. Now as these remains consist in a good degree of animals known, it is an evidence that this very stratum has been formed since the flood ; because the chief argument which supports the theory of several ages having passed away, before the creatioa AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 375 rf Adam, rests on the strata of those ages containing altogether unknown animals, and these nothing but worms and insects of the waters. That the bones of large animals should be thus fouhd in solid rocks of the third formation, and to have become such since the flood, is not incredible, as nearly four thousand years have passed away since that era. And suppose the animals whose fossils are found in local situations, were involved by the disruption of the waters of some lake or inland sea, a thousand years since the flood; even then, time enough has long ago transpired for the for- mation of this stratum. If so, it is then a clear case that such animals, both of land and water, as were killed by the flood may have contributed solely to the fossil formations, which are considered universal, and distin- guished from those which are local and later. The bones of those immense animals, which by geologists arc supposed to have inhabited the earth before the time of Adam, may be nothing more than sea animals, the species of which may even now exist; for who will pretend to an acquaintance with all the inhabitants which feed on the pastures covering the bottom of the great deep 1 The bones of these were, doubtless, thrown over the earth by the flood, and mingled with those of land ani- mals, and where the kind of earth favored the formation of rock, they are found ; while others have crumbled to earth, not so de- posited. We see no necessity of this dream alKJut ages antecedent to the time of man's creation. The hypothesis is not called for, as time enough since that time has transpired, to produce all the ap- pearances of the fossil kind belonging to geology. But in all the excavations which have hitherto been made, and among all the fossil discoveries, the bones of man have not been found embedded in rock of the third formation. But this is not to say they never will be found, in some future excavations. — We should naturally expect to find this kind of fossil, as it is certain the earth was populous with men before the flood. This we learn, from a remarkable passage to this eflfect, found in Genesis, several times repeated, at chapter vi.. verses 11, 12 and 13. ** The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and behold 376 AMKRICAN ANTIQUITIES il was corrupt And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh i»- come before me ; for the earth is fiJled with violence." IIow, therefore, could this be, unless it was filled with inhabitants of our race 1 If many parts of the earth which was dry land before the flood is now ocean, it at once cuts off the opportunity of geological re- search in a great measure^ and lessens the chance of finding fos- sil bones of the human subject. Again, all such of the race, whose bones may have sunk down into the soft and miry earth, while covered by the flood, and did not chance to be ccered by those kinds of stratum convertible into stone, would of course re- turn to mould or earth, as it was, and therefore cannot be distin- gi^ished. Now as strata of any kind are extremely rare, which contain the bone3 oi' animals, it is not very singular that they are not found, and the circumstance can never be used as a proof against the flood of Noah. It is dangerous to inculcate opinions which go to overthrow the confidence men have in the Scriptures. The moment this is done, the depraved mind feels itself lightened of a monstrous bur- den. It is far better and more becoming us^ that " God be true, and every man a liar." The dreams of the geologist figure but poorly in competition with heaven about the origin of things, and the manner of creation. Were the doctrine true, that several ages had transpired before the reputed time of the creation of Adam, in which the globe had been populous with animals, we only should ascertain that all that trouble was, so far as we are able to perceive, for nothing, — as there could be no possible use in their existence, except to de- vour each other, and to return to earth as they were. The works of God are always presented to us, being complete from their foundation to their climax. But man being not among the num- ber of his works at first, on this hypothesis, shows thereby a lack of perfection, so far as concerns the operations of his hands, in the early and supposed ages of the planet. The existence of the globe even now,with all its animals of land and sea, with all its phenomena of arrangement, could bring no praise, no glory to the Creator, without a man, or some order of intellectual beings, who should be able to admire, and to adorey. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEHT. 377 through his works, the author. Through man, all animals praise God; but without Aim, they are as though they had not been : to this view even the Scriptures would seem to agree, and to speak of it much in the same way. (See Rev. v. 13.) "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in theni, heard I say- ing, Blessing, honor, glory and power be unto him that sitteth up- on the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." But with- out man, this voice, so far as creation is concerned, besides the man, could never have ascended, as there could have been no medium through which God could have received praise-:r-no pos- sible way, that his multifarious operations should in the least be appreciated, without such a being as man is, having a reasonable soul, and|powers of perception suited to his station. But if we believe the account as related by Moses, we perceive that man and animals were made at the same time, with the exception of but a lew hours, so that this head of creation was not wanting in the very outset of time. But, on the contrary, if we suppose, with those of the geological school, that more time, immensely more than has elapsed since the days of Adam, had passed away before, then are we met at every turn, with this in- superable incongruity, of a creation without a head. History of America. The following is from the pen of the late William Wirt, of Virginia, on the subject of the ancient inhabitants of this coun- try : — Mr. Flint and other travellers and sojourners in the west, state that the impress of the leaves of the bread fruit tree, and the bamboo, have frequently been found in peat beds, and fossil coal formations; in the neighborhood of the Ohio. Pebbles of disrup- tion, vast masses of lead ore far from the mine, stratified rocks, earth and sands, specimens of organic animal and vegetable re- mains, belonging to a tropical climate, clearly indicate some im- / / 378 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES portant and extensive changes, occasioned by fire or water, in the whole great valley of the Mississippi. Then the regular wa\ls, the bricks, the medals, the implements of iron and copper, buried in a soil which must have been undisturbed for ages, with the al- phabetic characters written on the cliffs, as plainly show that other races of men have existed and passed away. And what a world must that have been, when the mammoth and the megolonyx trod the plains, and monstrous lizards, whose bones are now rescued from the soil, and which must have been at least eighty feet in length, reared their heads from the rivers and the lakes ! The mighty remains of the past, to which we have alluded, in- dicate the existence of three distinct races of men, previous to the arrival of the existing white settlers. The monuments o^ the first or primitive race, are regular stone walls, wells stoned up, brick hearths, found in digging the Louis- ville canal, medals of copper, and silver swords, and other imple- ments of iron. Mr. Flint assures us that he has seen these strange ancient swords. He has also examined a small iron shoe, like a horse shoe, encrusted with the rust of ages, and found far below the soil, and the copper axe, weighing about two pounds, singu- larly tempered, and of peculiar construction. These relics, he thinks, belonged to a race of civilized men, who must have disappeared many centuries ago. To this race he attributes the hieroglyphic characters found on the limestone bluffs ; the remains of cities and fortifications of Florida; the regular banks of ancient live oaks near them, and the bricks found at Louisville, nineteen feet below the surface, in regular hearths, with the coals of the last domestic fire upon them: these bricks were hard and regular, and longer in proportion to their width than those of the present day. To the second race of beings are attributed the vast mounds of earth, found throughout the whole western region, from Lake Erie and west Pennsylvania to Florida and the Rocky mountains. Some of them contain skeletons of human beings, and display immense labor. Many of them are regular mathematical figures — parallelograms and sections of circles^ showing the remains of gateways and subterranean passages. Some of them are eighty feet high, and have trees grown on them apparently of the age of five hundred years. They are generally of a soil differing from AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 379 that which surrounds them, and they are most common in situa- tions where it since has been found convenient to build towns and cities. One of these mounds was levelled in the centre of Chillicothe, and cart loads of human bones removed from it. Another may be seen in Cincinnati, in which a thin circular piece of gold, al- loyed with copper, was found last year. Another in St. Louis, called the falling garden, is pointed out to strangers, as a great curiosity. Many fragments of earthen ware, some of curious workman- ship, have been dug throughout this vast region — some represent- ed drinking vessels, some human heads, and some idols. They all appear to be moulded by the hand, and hardened in the sun. These mounds and eaithen implements indicate a race inferior to the first, which was acquainted with the use of iron. The third race are the Indians, now existing in the western territories. In the profound silence and solitude of these western regions, and above the bones of a buried world, how must a phi- losophic traveller meditate upon the transitory state of human ex- istence, when the only traces of the being of two races of men are these strange memorials ! On this very spot, generation after generation has stood, has lived, has warred, grown old and pass- ed away; and not only their names, but their nation, their lan- guage has perished, and utter oblivion has closed over their once populous abodes ! We call this country the New World. It is old ! Age after age, and one physical revolution after another, has passed over it, but who shall tell its history ? Resemblance of the Western Indians to the Ancient Greeks. The reader will recollect we have shown before, that the Greek fleet once moored on the cost of Brazil, in South America, said to be the fleet of Alexander the Great, and also the supposed Greek carving, or sculpture, in the cave on the Ohio river. 380 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIBS In addition, we give from Mr. Volney's Vieiv of America, his comparison of the ancient Greek tribes with the tribes of the west- ern Indians. He says, the limits of his work would not allow him to enter into all the minutisB of this interesting subject ; and there- fore should content himself with saying, that the more deeply we examine the history and way of savage life, the more ideas we ac- quire that illustrate the nature of man in general, the gradual for- mation of societies, and the character and manners of the nations of antiquity. While this author was among the Indians of the west, he was particularly struck with the analogy between ti.e savages of North America and the so much vaunted ancient nations of Greece and Italy. In the Greeks of Homer, particularly in those of his Iliad, he found the customs and manners of the Iroquois, Delcware, and Miamis, strikingly exemplified. The tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, paint almost literally the sentiments of the red men re- specting necessity, fatality, the miseries of human life, and the rigor of blind destiny. But the piece most remarkable for variety, combination of features and resemblance, is the beginning of the history of Thucydides, in which he briefly traces the habits and way of life of the Greeks, before and after the Trojan war, up to the age in which he wrote. This fragment of their history appears so well adapted, that we are persuaded the reader will be pleased at having it laid before him, so that he can make the com- parison for himself. "It is certain that the rigion now known by the name of Greece, was not formerly possessed by any fixed inhabitants, but was sub- ject to frequent migrations, as constantly every distinct people or tribe yielded up their seats to the violence ofa larger supervening number. But, as to commerce, there was none, and mutual fear prevented intercourse, both by land and sea ; as then the only view of culture was barely to procure a penurious subsistence, as surperfluous wealth was a thing unknown*" "Planting was not their employment, it being uncertain how soon an invader might come and dislodge them from their unfor- tified habitations ; and as they thought they might every where find their daily support, they hesitated but little about shifting their habitations. And for this reason they never flourished in the AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 381 as greatness of their cities, or any other circumstance of power. — But the richest tracts of country were ever more particularly lia- ble to this frequent change of inhabitants, such as that now called Thessuly and Bojotia, and Peloponesus chiefly, except Arcadia, and in general the most fertile parts of Greece. For the natural wealth of their soil, in particular districts, increased the power of some amongst them ; that power raise ' civil dissension, which ended in their ruin, and at the same time exposed them more to foreign attacks." It was only the barrenness of the soil that preserved Attica through the longest space of time, quiet, and undisturbed, in one uninterrupted series of possessors. One, and not the least convinc- ing [)roof of this is, that other parts of Greece, because of the fluctuating condition of the iuhabitants, could by no means, in their growth keep pace with Attica. The most powerful of those who were driven from the other parts of Greece, by war or sedi- tion, betook themselves to the Athenians for secure refuge, and as they obtained the privilege of citizens, have constantly, from re- mote time, continued to enlarge that city with fresh accessions of inhabitants ; insomuch, that, at last, Attica, being insufficient to support its numbers, they ,sent over colonies to Ionia. The custom of wearing weapons, once prevailed all overGreece, as their houses had no manner of defence, as travelling was full of hazard, and their whole lives were passed in armour, like bar- barians. A proof of this, is the continuance still, in some parts of Greece, of those manners, which were once, with uniformity, com- mon to all. The Athenians were the first who discontinued the custom of wearing their swords, and who passed from the savage life into more polite and elegant manners. Sparta is not closely built ; the temples and public edifices by no means sumptuous, and the houses detached from each other, after the old mode of Greece. In their war manners they resemble the Indians of America, lor after a certain engagement they had with an enemy, and being victorious, they erected a trophy upon Leucinna, a promontory of Corcyra, and put to death all the prisoners they had taken, ex- cept one who was a Corinthian. The pretended golden age of those nations was nothing better than to wander naked in the forests of Hellas and Thessaly, Uv« 382 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ing on herbs and acorns ; by which we perceive that the ancient Greeks were truly savages of the same kind as those in America, and placed in nearly similar circumstances of climate, since Greece covered with forests, was then much colder than at pres- ent. Hence we infer, that the name of Pelasgian, believed to be- long to one and the same people, wandering and dispersed about from the Crimea to the Alps, was only the generic appellation of the savage hordes of the first inhabitants, roaming in the same manner as the Hurons and Algonquins, or as the old Germans and Celts. And we should presume, with reason, that colonies of foreign- ers, farther advanced in civilization, coming from the coast of Asia, Phoenicia, and even Egypt, and settling on those of Greece and Latium, had nearly the same kind of intercourse with these aborigines ; sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile ; as the first English settlers in Virginia and New-England had with the Amer- ican savages. By these comparisons we should explain both the intermixture and disappearance of some of those nations, the manners and cus- toms of those inhospitable times, when every stranger was an en- my, and every robber a hero ; when there was no law but force, and no virtue but bravery in war ; when every tribe was a nation, and every assemblage of huts a metropolis. In this period of anarchy and disorder, of savage life, we should see the origin of that character of pride and boasting, perfidious- ness and cruelty, dissimulation and injustice, sedition and tyranny, that the Greeks display throughout the whole course of their his- tory ; we should perceive the source of those false ideas of virtue and glory, sanctioned by the poets and orators of those ferocious days ; who have made war and its melancholy trophies, the lofti- est aim of man's ambition, the most shining road to renown, and the most dazzling object of ambition to the ignorant and cheated multitude. And since the polished and civilized people of Christ- endom have made a point of imitating these nations, and consider their politics and morals, like their poetry and arts, the types of all perfection ; it follows that our homage, our patronage, and veneration, are addressed to the manners and spirit of barbarous and savag« times. AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 363 I The grounds of comparison are so true, thot the analogy reach- es even to their philosopical and religious opinions ; for all the principles of the stoic school of the Greeks, are found in the prac- tice of the American savages ; and if any should lay hold of this circumstance to impute to the savages the merit of being philoso- phers, we retort the supposition, and say, we ought, on the contra- ry, to conclude, that a state of society, in which precepts so re- pugnant to human nature were invented for the purpose of ren- dering life supportable, must have been an order of things, and of government, not less miserable than the savage state. This opin- ion is supported by the whole history of these Grecian times, even in their most brilliant periods, and by the uninterrupted series of their own wars, seditions, massacres, and tyrannical proscrip- tions, down to the time of their subjugation by those other sava- ges of Italy, called the Romans ; who, in their character, politics, and aggrandizement, have a striking resemblance to the Six Na- tions. With regard to religious notions, these do not form a regular system among the savages, because every individual in his inde- pendent state, makes himself a creed after his own fancy. If we may judge from the accounts of the historians of the first settlers, and those of late travellers in the northwest, it appears that the Indians compose their mythology in the following manner : First : a Great Manitau, or superior being ; who governs the earth and the tereal meteors, the visible whole of which constitutes the universe of a savage. This Great Manitau residing on highy without his having any clear idea, who rules the world, without giving himself much trouble ; sends rain, wind, or fair weather, according to his fancy ; sometimes makes a noise, which is the thunder, to amuse himself ; concerns himself as little about the affairs of men as about those of other livi.ig beings that people the earth ; does good, without taking any thought about it ; suffers ill to be perpetrated without its disturbing his repose, and in the mean time, leaves the world to a destiny, or fatality, the laws of which are anterior, and paramount to all things. Under his command are subordinate Manitaus, or genii, innu- merable, who people earth and air, preside over every thing that happens, and have each a separate employment. Of these genii, Bomo are good ; and these do all the good tliat takes place in na- 384 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIKS ture ; others are bad, and these occasion all the evil that happens to living beings. It is to the latter chiefly, and almost exclusively, that the savag- es address their prayers, their propitiatory offerings, and what re- ligious worship they have ; the object of which is, to appease the malice of these manitaus^ as men appease the ill humor of morose, bad men. This fear of genii is one of their most habitual thought, and that by which they are most tormented. Their most intrepid warriors are, in this respect, no better than their women ; a dream, a phantom seen at night in the woods, or a sinister cry, equally alarms their credulous, superstitious minds. Their magicians, or as we more properly call them, jugglers, pretend to very familiar intercourse with these genii ; they are, however, greatly puzzled to explain their nature, form and aspect. Not having our ideas of pure spirit, ihey suppose them to be com- posed of substances, yet light, volatile and invisible, true shadows and manes, after the manner of the ancients. Sometimes they select some one of these genii, whom they suppose to reside in a tree, a serpent, a rock, a cataract, and this they make their tetih, or god, to which they resort, like the African. The notion of another life, is a pretty general belief among the savages. They imagine that after death they shall go into another climate and cou'itry, where game and fish abound, where they can hunt with- out being fatigued, walk about without fear of an enemy, eat very fut meat, and live without care or trouble. The Indians of the north, place this climate toward the southwest, because the sumrntr winds, and the most pleasing and genial temperature, come from that quarter. This sketch of Indian manners, is supposed sufficient by Mr. Volney, to prove that there is a real analogy between the mytho- logical ideas of the Indians of North America and those of the Asiatic Tartars, as they have been described by the learned Rus- siens, who have visited them not many years since. The analogy between them and the nations of the Greeks, is equally evident. We discern the Great Manitau of the savages, in the Jupiter of the heroic ages, or their savage times ; with this difference only, that the Manitau of the Americans, leads a melan- choly, poor, and wearisome life, like themselves ; while the Jupit- er of Homer, and of Hediod, displays all the magnifioence of the AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 385 court of Hecatompylean Thobes^ the wonderful secrets of which have been disclosed to us in the present age. See the elegant vovk of Mr. Denon, on the high degree of taste, learning, and perfection, at which the arts had arrived in that Thebes, which was buried in the night of history, before Greece or Italy were known. In the lesser Manitaus of the Indians, are equally evident the subordinate deities of Greece ; the genii of the woods and foun- tains, and the demons honored with a similar superstitious worship. The conclusion Volney draws from all this is, not that the In- dians have derived their notions from Greece, but rather are de- rivable frpm Shamanism, or the Lamic system of Budda, which spread itself from Hindostan among all the savages of the old world, where it is found even to the extremities of Spain, Scotland and Cimbrica. Yet as traits of the Grecian nations are found, especially in South America, as in the discovery of the subterranean cavity of mason work, noticed before, and in the cave on the Ohio, it is not impossible, but that from the Greeks, sometime in this country before the Indians found their way here, they may have communicated their mythological notions to the more an- cient inhabitants, from whom the Tartars, or our Indians, when they conquered or drove away that people, imbibed their opin- ions ; as it is now without precedent, that the conquered have given to the conqueror their religion as well as their country. |>y ^^' lytho- )f the Rus- ^ks, is jvages, th this ilan- I Jupit- bf the Traits of Ancient Romans in America. On some of the first pages of this work we have ventured the conjecture, that the Romans colonized various parts of Ameri- ca. We still imagine such a conjecture by no means impossible, as tokens of their presence are evidently yet extant in the vale of Mexico. See page 269, where is an account of a temple, which was built and dedicated as sacred to the worship of the sua and tnoen. 26 396 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Th« religions of nations furnish, it is presumed, the strongest possible evidence of origin. On this account, the temples of the sun and moon in Mexico, exactly answer to the same object of devotion, worshipped by the ancient Romans. That they are similar in both countries, we prove from Gibbon's Roman empire, page 21)3, vol. 1st, as follows : — The sun was worshipped at Emcsa, by the Romans, under the name oi' Elaga- halus or God, under the formof a black conical stone, which, it was universally believed, had fallen from heaven, on that sacred place. This stone, we observe, was undoubtedly what is termed an juro- lithis, a copious account of which is given by Dr. Adam Clarke, as being thrown out of the moon by the force of volcanic eruptions in that planet, which, as soon as they had passed out of the moon's attraction, fell immediately to the earth, being drawn hither by the stronger force of the centripetal power. A stone falling to the earth under such circumstances, was quite sufficient to challenge the adoration of the Pagan nations as coming down from the gods, or from the sun, as a representative of that luminary. Accordingly, this stone became deified, and was set up to be worshipped, as the sun's vicegerent among men. Gibbon says that to this protecting deity, the stone, Antonius, not without some reason, ascribed his elevation to the throne of the Roman empire. The triumph of this stone god over all the religions of the earth, was the great object of this emperor's zeal and vanity : and the appellation of Elagababis, which he had bestowed on the oeroli- this, was dearer to that emperor than all the titles of imperial greatness In a solemn procession through the streets of Rome, the way was strewed with gold dust : the black stone set in precious gems, was placed on a chariot, drawn by six milk white horses, richly caparisoned. The pious emperor held the reins, and supported by his ministers, moved slowly, with his face toward the image, that he might perpetually enjoy the felicity of the divine presence. In a magnificent temple, raised on the Palatine mount, the sac- rifices of the god Elagabalus were celebrated with every circum- stance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the most extra- ordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely con- sumed on his altar. Around him a chorus of Syrian damsels per- AND DI8<;UVERIRS IN THE WK8T. :W7 'A *1 formed their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal, and secret indignation. To this temple, as to a common cciUrn of religious worship, the imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium, and all the sncred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of in- ferior deities attended in various stations, the majesty of the god of Emesa, Elagabalus. But the court of this god was still imperfect, till a female of dis- tinguished rank was admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first chosen for his consort ; but as it was dreaded lest her warlike ter- rors might affright the soft delicacy of a Syrian deity, the moon adored by the Africans, under the name of Astartc, was deemed a more suitable companion for the sun. Her image, with the rich otlbrings of her temple as a marriage portion, was transported, with solemn pomp, from Carthago to Rome ; and the day of these mys- tic nuptials was a general festival in the capital, and throughout the empire. Here then, at Emesa, in Italy, the Romans worshipped the sun and moon ; so did the Mexicans, with equal pomp and costliness, in the vale of Mexico. If, therefore, in the two countries, the same indentical religion, having the same identical objects of wor- ship existed, it would seem no great stretch of credulity, to sup- pose them practised by the same people in either country. The ancient Romans, or rather the Romans after they had ris- en to great consequence, and had founded and built many cities, were remarkable in one particular, and this was in the construciicn of a grand national road, of 3740 English miles in length. This national road issued from the Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces and terminated only by the frontiers of the empire, ana was divided olf into distinct miles, by stones boin^ set up at the termination of each, as in the present times. The same was the case with the ancient people of South Amer- ica, in the times of the Incas ; who, as Humboldt informs u.s, ha 1 one grand road, which is even traceable at the present time, of a thousand miles in length, running along the high ground of the Cordilleras, and was paved with large flat stones the whole leDgth. 168 AMKRIOAN ANTIQUITIES. In this very respect, that is, of paving their roads with large stones, the Romans and the South Americans were alike. For Gibbon says, that in Iho construction of the Roman national high- way, they not only perforated mountains, raised bold arches over the broadest and most rapid streams, but paved it Avith large stones and in some places even with granite. In another respect they are alike ; the Romans raised this road 80 as to be able to overlook the country as it was travelled ; so also did the Americans, in choosing the high grounds of the Cordilleras to build it upon. It would seem also, that in the very construction of their cities, towns and palaces, as found scattered over many parts of South America, even along on the coast of the Pacific, according to Humboldtand more recent researches, they modelled them in some sense, after the manner of the Romans ; especially in the vastncss of their capacity, or area which they occupied. However, it is clear, that as the American architecture did not partake of the refinement of taste in the finish of their buildings, which characterise those of the Roman, that they, the former, are the elder of the two ; and that the American nations in the persons of their ancestors, came from Africa, and about the country of the Mediterranean, in the very first age of their improvement, or de- parture from barbarism. From all this it cannot but be inferred, that the continent is indebted to that part of the old world for that elass of inhabitants, who introduced among the first nations of the continent, the arts as found in practice by Columbus, when he landed on its shores. With this view, we think there is light thrown on the curious subject of the Mexican tradition, with respect to the white and bearded men before spoken of in this volume ; who, as they say, eame among them from the rising sun, and become their legisla- tDrs.- And as the Romans were a maritime people, and had become refined long before the savages of the north of Europe, and made, according to Gibbon, prodigious voyages, they may have been the very people who colonized the islands of Jesso and Japan, who were a white and bearded race, from whom, in another part of this work, we have supposed these Mexican legislators may have been derived. In either case there is no difficulty ; the origin is tl e same. AND DIHCOVERIKH IN THE WRBT 'iS9 We ftre firm in the belief that the Carthaginians, ThcEnicinns, Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, Roman and Greek nationx of antiquity, and others, have had more to do in the peopling of the wilds of America, as well also as the Europeans, after their civil- ization, than is gonerally supposed. There was found among the natiout, of Mexico, another troil of character strongly if <5cmbling i Homan practice ; and this was that of single combat with deadly instrutiirnts, called the tight of the gladiators. This among tli<; Romans was carri< d to so shame- ful and murderous a degree, that Commodus, one of their Emper- ors, killed with his own hands, in the course of a few years, ns a gladiator, seven hundred and thirty-five persons. Of this emperor, Cribbon says, that being elated with the praises of the multitude, which gradually extinguished the innate sense of shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes of the Roman people, those exercises, which till then he had decently confined within the walls of his palace, and to the presence of his favorites On the appointed day the various motives of flattery, fcur, and curiosty, attracted to the ampitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators ; and some degree of applause was deservedly be- stowed on the uncommon skill of the imperial performer. Wheth- er he aimed at the head or heart of the animal, the wound was alike certain and mortal. With arrows, whose points were shap-- ed in the form of a crescent, Commodus often intercepted the rap- id career, and cut asunder the long and bony neck of the ostrich. A panther was let loose, and the archer waited till he had leaped upon a trembling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the beast dropped dead, and the* man remained unhurt. The dens of the amphitheatre disgorged at once a hundred lions ; a hundred darts in succession, from the unerring hand of Commodus laid them dead as they ran raging around the arena. Such, it appears, were the prowess and the sports of the ancient Romans, whose counterpart, as it respects this peculiar trait, the fights of the gladiators, was found among the Mexican usages of North America. Again, when the Romans first got footingin the island of Britain they erected or laid the foundation of a town, which they named Verulanif which soon took the title and rank of a city. This town, 390 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES according to their peculiar manner, was at first circumscribed by a wall, including about one hundred acres, the traits of which still appear. These square enclosures are found in America, as treated upon in our account of the Romo'i squares, at or near Marietta ; strengthening the belief that Roman colonies have, in former ages settled in America. Traits of White JSations in Georgia and Kentucky before Columbus's Time, and the Tt'uditions of the Indians re- specting them. From the American Journal of Sciences and the Arts, we have a highly interesting description of the gold districts in Georgia and North Carolina, extending west even unto the state of Tennessee. In this Journal, gold is treated on as being extremely abundant, and from the situation of the veins, is far more eligible to the op- erations of the minor, than the gold mines of South America ; these having, as is supposed, been greatly deranged in places, and buried deep by the operations of volcanoes, while those in the states are still in their primitive state of formation. Gold is found connected with various formations of slate, with red clay, and in the bottoms of streams, mingled with the sand and gravel. It is found with the heavy gravelly earth of the moun- tains, but most of all in the kind of rock called quartz, which is also mingled with slate. In North Carolina, on Valley river, gold is found in abundance, connected with the quartz rock, which also abounds with crystal, running in veins in every direction, in tis- sues from the size of a straw to that of a man's arm. The quartz is in great masses, very compact, and of a yellow golden hue, from the abundant presence of the metal. In the bottom of this river much deposited gold is found in strata. It would appear from the evidences yet remaining, that the an- cient inhabitants were not insensible to the existence of the golden mines here, nor, of course of their value ; for, "in the vicinity were AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 391 found the remains of ancient works ; many shafts have been sunk by them in pursuit of the ore, and judging from the masses thrown up, one of them penetrated a quartz rock to a great depth, as a- bout thirty-feet still lies open to view. There is also a deep and difficult cut across a very bold vein of this rock, in pursuit of metal, but it is now much filled up, having been used subsequently for an Indian burying ground. At this place, s-vys the Journal, nothing short of the steel pickaxe, could have left the traces on the stones which are found here. Not far from this place, have been found the remains of a small furnace, the walls of which had been formed of soap stone, so as to endure the heat without being fractured. In the county of Ha- bersham, in Georgia, was lately dug out of the earth, at a place where the gold ore is found, a small vessel in the form of a skillet. It was fifteeu feet under ground, made of a compound of tin and copper, with a trace of iron. The copper and tin in its composi tion, are undoubtedly the evidence of its antiquity^ See the plate at letter G, where an exact fac simile of this vessel is engraved taken from the Journal of Science and arts, conducted by profes- sor Silliman. Crucibles of earthen ware, and far better than those now in use, are frequently found by the miners. By actual experiment they are found to endure the heat three times as long as the Hessian crucibles, which are the bes<^^ now in use. Bits of machinery, such as is necessay in elevating the ore from the depths, as used- by the ancient nations, are also frequently found in the earth where those mines exist, which clearly shows those ancients were ac- quainted with the minerals. On the top of Yeona mountain, in the same region, still exist the remains of a stone wall, which exhibit the angles of a fortifi- cation, and guard the only accessible points of ascent to its summit. Timber in the Cherokee country, bearing marks of the axe, (not of stone,) have been taken up at the depth often feet below the surface. Indian tradition, says Mr. Silliman, gives no account of these remains. This article, which was found in the gold mine in Habersham county, formed of copper and tin, is in this respect, like the mining chisel described by Humboldt, on former page of this work. The timber found ten feet beneath the surface, in Georgia and North Carolina, bearing the marks of having been 392 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES cut down and cut in two with axes of metal, are to be referred ta the operations of the Europeans — the Danes, Welch, &c. of whom we have already spoken in several parts of this volume. We con- sider them the same with the authors of the stone walls which we have mentioned that were found in North Carolina, and also with the authors of the iron axes, found in a saltpeter cave, on the river Gasconade, far to the west, as mentioned in Beck's Gazetteer ; and also the same, with the authors of the stone buildings, a foun- dation of one of which is represented on the plate. — (See Frontis- piece.) It would appear from all this, that these Europeans had made extensive settlements in various places, extending over an immense range of this country, before they were cut off by the Indians ; as we cannot suppose any other enemy capable of so dreadful and general a slaughter. On the farm of a Mr. Richardson,a highly respectable gentleman in Georgia, Habersham county, was opened one of the first gold mines discovered in the southern states. At this place a mos singular discovery was also made, which was as follows : This gentleman being desirous of examining the stone stratum, which formed the bed of a small river, had recourse to a dam, which he carried across the stream, and turned the whole of its water into a canal he had excavated in a direction favoring the de- scent of the stream ; so that the bed where it had flowed was left dry. Now while digging and blasting the rocky bottom of this stream, he found, at a certain place, three feet below the surface, imbedded in the solid, compact rock, nearly a peck, or eight quarts oC flints, which were elegantly wrought, for their adaptation to the gun-lock. Their form, however, in one respect, differs from the form of the flint suited to fire-arms now in use ; and this difference consists in there being a groove across the head or thick end of the flint, showing that the chuck or jaws of the cock of the gun in which they were used, had a corresponding protuberance, so that the flint was held by what is called by joiners, a dove-tail, instead of a screw, as the gun-lock is, now manufactured. The whole of these curiously wrought flints were purchased by a gentleman, and carried to Millcdgeville, Georgia, where he sold them as curiosities at a quarter of a dollar each AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 39a In Europe, the invention of gunpowder, with the flint, took place in 1340, one hundred and fifty-two years before the disco- very of America by Columbus, which was in 1492. It has been conjectured by some that these flints were Ic ^t by the ancient Spaniards^ who were searching for the ancient city in America, called El Dorado, or the city of gold. But this will not do, as it would show that gunpowder had been discovered by the Spaniards in Europe ; which, if true, would have been known and ascribed to them, instead of to Swartz, the monk — unless we suppose that America had been found by the ancient Spaniards, long enough ago to have produced the forma- tion of the rock three feet thick, over the spot where they had been placed or lost by their last owner, which would throw the time of their being left there very far back. We should, if we can give any plausible opinion at all on this subject, incline to ascribe their invention and use to Europeans, of the Danish and Welch description, who, we have shown, found this country, and settled in it as early as between the 9th aud 10th centuries, which would give the stream nearly a thou- sand years to increase its stony deposits to the thickness of three feet, so that if by the upsetting of a boat, as they were going up, down or across this stream, the flints were lost at the bottom of the water, and being encased in a bag or basket, or any suitable vessel to hold them, is the reason why they were found in such compact order. But if this supposition is at all plausible, it follows that the in- vention was originated in America, as it would have been known in Europe, if it had been found out there before those Europeans came to America. The form of the flint, as it respects the manner in which it was held by the chuck or lips of the lock, shows that the invention was but a new one. Whether the lock was an iron, copper, brass or wooden one, is unknown, or whether they had yet found out the adaptation of a gun barrel, is also unknown : but some mode of explosion, by the means of some sort of combus- tible matter, had doubtless been discovered, or the flint could have had no use. That a perfect knowledge of this art was in their possession,we do not believe; as those white people, with the complete use -and knowledge of guns, could never have been exterminated by the ii 394 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Indians or natives of the country. And that they were extermi- nated by the Indians, we prove from their tradition,which relates that in the southern States, but particularly that of Kentucky, had been once settled by white people, and that they had been exter- minated by war. In 1800, some Indians of the Sacs tribe were at St. Louis, who on hearing it said that Kentucky was inhabited by white people, expressed much astonishment that any person should live in Ken- tucky, as it had been a place where much blood was shed, and that it was filled with the manes or souls of the butchered white inhabitants, a people who had arts among them unknown to the Indians. Even the word Kentucky, the name of the chief river of the State, signifies river of blood. — (J. H. McCulloch's Re- searches in America, p. 210 to 213.) To these people we should think the flints discovered as above belonged, and that the use of powder, or of some explosive mate- rial or other, by which, either through a tube of iron, copper, or wood, a bullet or arrows were discharged, with deadly effect, as we can see no other use to which the flints could have been ap- propriated. It is said that the ancient Phoenicians first discovered the art of manufacturing tools from the union of copper and tin, the same of which this skillet is found to be formed; and that of the Phoe- nicians the Greeks and Romans learned the art, who it is likely communicated the same to the ancient Britons ; and from these, in process of time, the Danes, the Welch, the Scotch, and the Norwegians, and brought it with them to the wilds of America. Or if we reject this, we may refer the working of those mines of gold, not to the Malays, Polynesian, and Australasian tribes; but rather to the more enlightened nations of Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Media, Persia,Germany, all of whom, as we believe, have from time to time — from era to era, furnished emigrants to this country. In evidence, in part, of this belief, we refer the reader to such parts of this volume as attempt to make this appear, and especially to page 116 ; where an account of the Phoenician characters, as having been discovered in America, is mentioned. But how the article of copper, the skillet of which we have spoken, and is engraved on the plate, — and how the timber, which bears AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 395 or he mark of the axe, found buried in various places in North Carolina, came to be buried so deep, — is a question of no small moment. Surely the natural increase of earth, by the decay of vegetables and forests, could never have buried them thus deep ; their posi- tion would rather argue that they have been submerged by the sudden rush of waters. As favoring this opinion, we notice that the mountain ranges here are such as cross the rivers flowing from the west, which pass off to the sea, through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. See the map of those States, when at once this appears to be the real formation and course of the mountains. One of these ranges is denominated the Yeona range, which gives off three separate sections ; one in Tennessee, one in west- ern North Carolina, and one in Georgia, all running along the western ends of these States, which lie along the Atlantic. The Blue Ridge and the Wiiaka mountains approach each other, and form jointly the separation of the east from the west waters. As this range continues from the west, another range not less formi- dable approaches from the north. These are the Waldus Ridge and Cumberland mountains, which unite themselves with the for- mer; where this union takes place, it is called Lookout mountain. At this point of intersection, where the union of immense moun- tains on either side formed a barrier to the streams which flowed from fifty thousand square miles of country, the waters broke through. The evidence at this place of the war of the elements, is the admiration of all who pass the broken mountain, through what is called the suck or boiling cauldron, near the confines of the State of Tennessee. At this place, the vast accumulation of waters, it is evident, broke through and deluged the country below, toward the sea, overwhelming whatever settlements the Danes, or other people of the old world may have made there, especial 1)^ along the lowest grounds, till the waters were drained to the Atlantic : this position easily accounts for the appearances of such articles as have been disinterred, with that of timber, from the depths men- tioned in the Journal of Science. Such a circumstance may have gone far to weaken the prowess of those nations, so that the sur- vivors dwelling on the highest grounds, could not recover their I 396 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES numbers, their order, their state of defence and security, against the Indians farther west, who it is likely watched all opportunities to destroy them. Finally, from all we can gather on this momentous subject, we are compelled from the overwhelming amount of evidence to admit that mighty nations, with almost unbounded empire, with various degrees of improvement, have occupied the continent, and that, as in the old world, empire has succeeded empire, rising one out of the other, from the jarring interests of the unwieldy and ferocious mass — so also in this. And also, that convulsion has succeeded convulsion, deluge suc- ceeded deluge, breaking down mountains, the barriers of rivers, deranging and destroying the ancient surface, till it has at length assumed a settled and more permanent state of things, where the millions of ihe present race now inhabit. But the majestic yet fearful work of change and revolution, is doubtless going on in other worlds or planets as well as this, for wherever is the principle of life and motion, whether it belongs to organized and animated nature, or to the elements of which the earth is composed, the operation of revolution can but be going forward. It is believed and asserted by asfronomers as their opinion, ob- tained from telescopic observation, that the moon, the satellite of the earth, is a globe in ruins, or if not so, it at least is frequently much convulsed by the operations of volcanic fires. Its surface, as seen through the glasses, is found extremely mountainous, pre- senting an infinite variety of pointed mountains, overhanging ranges of ledge and precipice, with vales and flat regions embo- somed between. Consequently, a great number of rivers, creeks, lakes and small seas must divide the land of this globe into a vast number of tracts of country, which are doubtless filled with animals, — ^consequently with rational beings in the form of men, as ourselves, for we can conceive of none other, as fitted to preside over its animals. The same we believe of all the stars of heaven. In exact accordance with this doctrine of change, as it respects the removal of entire worlds, the Scriptures are full of allu.:jDns to such a catastrophe yet to take place. And why should it not? as He who made the worlds also dictated the composition of that AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 397 book, and can therefore be supposed as able to signify, before- hand,the great change which awaits our earth, as is plainly found recorded in it, and that change to be effected by the agency of lire, as is supposed to operate in the moon. That fires do convulse that planet, is shown from the ajrolithis, or hot stones frequently thrown through the moon's atmosphere, from its surface or interior, by the force or power of volcanos, which have in a hundred instances fallen to our earth, of different magnitudes, in different ages of the worlds which among the an- cient nations was supposed to be cast down from the gods as ob- jects of adoration, and their representatives. But, whatever changes are observed to be in progress, either in our globe, or its companion the moon, may also be supposed to succeed and be in progression with other worlds, planets or fixed stars, both as to the revolution of their surfaces, and their final extinction from the firmament where they are now situated, is concerned. In that most philosopbical work, the Bible, yet by some but lit- tle thought of, are prophetical accounts of the final ruin of this earth by the agency of fire,the same element by which all animal or vegetable life are sustained and perpetuated, one of the bright- est proofs of the power and wisdom of God afforded in the material universe. But the destruction contemplated is only to cause room and opportunity for a grander display of the adaptation of another order of things, suited to such beings as have passed through the incipient degrees of the infancy of an intellectual state, and shall be found by him who is the judge of all virtue, worthy to be in- stalled in those exalted degrees of reasonable and tremendous an- gelic powers. We will just recount some of those predictions : See 2d Peter chapter iii., verse 7. "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment." And at the tenth verse, ♦* The heavens shall •pass away, with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with heat. The earth also, and the works that arc therein, shall be burnt up." Much more relative to the same point is found in the same book, Avhich to corroborate by occurrences in the great field of the as- tronomical or planetary heavens, we give the following from I 398 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES Good's Book of Naluref a work whose praise is found in the htl>- ratory of philosophical truth, p. 33 : '-^First lecture on matter and the material toorld." " But worlds and systems of worlds are not only perpetually creating by the hand of God, but are also perpetually diminishing and disappearing. It is an extraordinary fact, that within the period of the last century, not less than thirteen stars, in different constellations, none beluw the sixth magnitude, seem totally to have perished — forty to have changed their magnitude, by becom- ing either much larger or much smaller, and ten new stars to have supplied the places of those that are lost. Some of these changes may perhaps be accounted for, by supposing a motion in the solar, or sidereal systems, by which the relative positions of several of the heavenly bodies have varied. But this explanation, though it may apply to several of the cases, will by no means apply to all of them. In many instances it is unquestionable that the stars (or suns) themselves, the supposed habitations of other kinds or orders of intelligent beings, together with the different planets by which it is probable they were surrounded, and to which they may have given light and productive seasons, as the sun gives light and fruitfulness to our earth, have utterly vanish- ed, and the spots which they occupied in the heavens have become blanks." But there are other instances of the disappearance of stars from the heavens. One hundred and twenty-five years before Christ, it is recorded by Hipparchus that an extraordinary luminary ap- peared suddenly in the firmament, but disappeared in the course of a few years. In 389 A. D., a star blazed forth near Aquilae, remained three weeks shining as bright as Venus, and then was seen no more. Tyco Brahe mentions the sudden appearance of a star as large and bright as Sirius, in the constellaiion Caseiopeia, and for a while was visible even at mid-day, but in the course of the year began to fade away, exhibiting all the signs of confIagratI;jn, and disappeared in March, 1574. Instances of the kind are mentioned by Sir John Herschel, one in particular which was situated in the head of the constellation Swan, in 1670. Such is the demonstration of change and revolution in the im- mensity of God's works,which is no doubt agreeable to the beauty AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 309 and karmony of the whole, proceeding on principles too deep, too abstruse for hun)an research to penetrate. Therefore, in addition to all the changes which the earth has undergone, from general or local causes, it is yet to pass through another still more wonderful; and whether the matter of which it is now composed will assume some other form, and be adapted to other states of being, or shall utterly vanish and be annihilated, is unknown^ yet it appears no less than thirteen of the heavenly bodies have passed away but a little while since, as shown above. Says Mr. Good, " What has thus befallen other systems will as- suredly befall our own." That the globe, the place where immense myriads of human beings have originated, and shall yet originate, is to be removed, and give place to another order of things, is justitied not only in that great storehouse of moral philosophy and religious truth, the Bible, but also in the movements and changes of the heavenly bodies, as above noticed. Yet, as evident as it is that nature in her march corroborates that book, in which is found the only loasonable and consistent account of the beginning of things, the creation of this globe and the other luminaries of the universe, there are found immense numbers of men,who but yesterday had no being, advocating the doctrine of the eternity of matter, to the exclusion of a Creator — as if nature were unoriginated and inde- pendent. But as nature is every where stamped with the footsteps and tokens of intellectual arrangement, throughout all her ramifica- tions, we come to the conclusion that she must have been produ- ced by an intellectual being ; as nature, in and of herself, gives no evidence of thought, or of one trait of optional power, — a cir- cumstance exceedingly strange, as we cannot conceive how that which cannot thinks can originate beings who can. Wherefore, there must be a God, who is an unoriginated, in- dependent, and an eternal being ; as on this belief the mind rests, and derives a peculiar pleasure — not afforded by the contrary opinion, as that matter or nature is the only directing and procur- ing cause of things, which cannot be. If, then, there is such a being, he is the natural governor of the universe, and especially of the intellectual beings who inhabit it If,then, he is its governor, it should be expected that he should m 400 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES / announco himself, giving some account of his nature and char- acter, and withal, the conditions of his government over intellec- tual beings. This we believe has been done, and that the Bible is the statute of that announcement, as it bears the character of so- briety and consistency^ as well as unparalleled majesty of thought and diction, which no other book on the globe can claim. It is in this book, which in one sense, may be styled the book of the an- tiquities of time and eternity; that it is said, that this earth shall be removed, and shall give place to another, at which time a con- vulsion that shall shake the solar system will take place. At that time, according to this great record, as prophesied of hy the ancient seers, the whole human family, with innumerable hosts of angelic beings, shall be present at this overturn of na- ture; when the great machinery of this system shall have run down, and a new one be instituted in its place, of a different cha- racter and for different purposes ; and mightier and more varied displays of Omnipotent power and wisdom be brought to view, from the deep cabinet of the eternal energy. I- i / I ■i ^.lJl:Mx:^ 11 »^ 'i'.. fii^.v-^iitAjifih'jriiVVi-