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[Entered according to Act of Congress.] ' 
 
 ANCIENT AMERICA. 
 
 TWENTY-FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 ID 
 
 REFERENCES. 
 
 From the Courier. 
 
 New York, March 31, 1847. 
 The subscriber, havinrr heard with much pleasure he Lectures on the "Antiquities 
 of America," delivered by Professor Davis before the Pupils, Teachers, and Professors 
 of our Seminary, choerfullv recommends the same to the citizens of this city. 
 
 J. F. SCHROEDER, Rector of St. Ann's Hall. 
 
 VVc are also hajipv in joining \n the above recommendation: — 
 
 HON. JOPIN DUER, 
 HON. MURRx\Y HOFFMAN, 
 MAJOR GEN. EDMUND P. GAINES 
 STEPHEN H. TYNG, D. D. 
 G. SPRING, D. D. 
 HENRY P. TAPPAN, D. D. 
 
 'Vranslatlon of a Letter in French, from C. Cauda, Esq. 
 
 To Profkssor Davis. 
 
 Dkar Sir: — i cannot resist the desire to express to you the extreme satisfaction 
 which the Lectures you delivered at our Institution, Lafayette Place, have given us, on 
 the Antiquities of America in general, and those of Central America in particular. 
 These Lectures, delivered with a persuasive and impressive eloquence, have given our 
 young pupils much enjoyment. The judicious obseivations, and elevated reflections, 
 have excited their interest, and caused them to study more attentively the subject which 
 you rendered so attractive, and which arrested their attention. 
 
 Pray receive our thanks, and the assurance of our high respect, 
 
 CHARLES CANDA. 
 
 Lafayette Place, Nero York, June 9th, 1846. 
 
 From the Distinguished Ornithologist. 
 
 Buffalo, N. Y. August 1st. 
 I have read the " Antiquities of Central America, and the discovery of New England 
 by the Northmen five hundred years before Columbus." by A. Davis, Esq. with extreme 
 pleasure and satisfaction; and I feel much indebted lo that learned gentleman for all that 
 he has said on this most interesting subject, in his memorable lecture above mentioned, 
 and 1 trust that il will be as highly appreciated by all who may peruse it as by mvself. 
 I take this opportunity to offer to Mr. Davis my sincere thanks for his goodness to me, 
 and have great ])leasure in subscribing myself his friend and respectful humble servant, 
 
 JOHN J. AUDUBON. 
 L^ To A. Davis, formerly Chaplain of the Senate, &.c. N. Y. 
 
 m 
 
ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA, 
 
 FIRST INHABITANTS 
 
 CENTRAL AMERICA, 
 
 DISCOVERY OF NEW ENGLAND 
 
 BY THE NORTHMEN, 
 
 FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE COLUMBUS. 
 
 LECTURES 
 
 DET,1TERED IN NEW YORK, WASHINGTON, BOSTON, AND OTHER CITIES. THE FIRST HAS 
 
 BEEN GIVEN EIGHTEEN TIMES IN THE MOST DISTINGUISHED INSTITUTIONS 
 
 OF KEW YORK AND BROOKLYN, THE PAST YEAR. 
 
 BY A. DAVIS, 
 
 Corresponding' Member of the New York Historical Society, Honorary Member of the New Fork 
 Society of Letters, and formerly Chaplain of the Senate of New York. 
 
 24th edition, with IMPORTANT ADDITIONS. 
 
 BUFFALO: 
 JEWETT, THOMAS & CO., STEREOTYPERS AND PRINTERS. 
 
 1851. 
 
'D5f 
 
 The increased popularity of the subject of antiquities, induces the writer 
 to issue a new edition in stereotype. While the work is read with avidity 
 everywhere, it receives most attention in the neighborhood of Boston, where 
 the Northmen came eight hundred years since. Those wiis xlve in that 
 quarter, and are the best judges of the identity of the places described by 
 the voyagers, with their own shores, believe the accounts of the adventures 
 related in the following lectures. Judge Colby, of New Bedford, has lec- 
 tured on the same subject with success. On lecturing there lately, the copy 
 of the inscription on the Dighton Rock, taken by him, was compared by me 
 with that taken by J. R. Bartlett, Esq. N. Y., and they were found to be 
 substantially the same. 
 
 With emotions of gratitude for favors received, I am happy to state that 
 I have at length outrode the storm of opposition the novelty of my sub- 
 ject at first raised. An open sea stretches ahead under clear skies. 
 
 If, in presenting the following facts, derived from various and important 
 sources, and gathered by years of study, I should throw one ray of hght 
 on the darkness of the past, my feeble efforts will be more beneficial than 
 the most fascinating effulgence thrown over the writings of misguided 
 genius. 
 
AINTIQUITIES OF AMEEICA. 
 
 While the beauties of the visible creation fade on the eye, while 
 nature reposes under the mantle of night, it is pleasant to leave the 
 haunts of business, or domestic scenes, and come up to the lecture 
 room to survey the dark scenes of the past under the mild light of 
 history. 
 
 If in the follovi^ing remarks I should not regale my readers with 
 *' apples of gold in pictures of silver," it will not be for want of merit 
 in my subject — the Desolations of Time; for on them nations are 
 gazing. 
 
 If the age of Leo X. was characterized by great attention to the 
 fine arts, so the present is remarkable, not only for its devotion to 
 the embellishments of life, but for progress in historical and anti- 
 quarian researches. The most gifted minds of either sex are inter- 
 ested in these studies. The crowned heads of Europe, instead of 
 imbruing their hands in the blood of their fellows, have been spend- 
 ing mints of money in unfolding the early history of the world.* 
 That spirit of inquiry which awoke, perhaps, in the East, folds not 
 its wings in apathy in crossing the Atlantic ; for here its develop- 
 ments astonish both hemispheres. Knowledge is spreading over 
 the earth, not like the morning beams, which gild only the moun- 
 tain tops, but like the noon-tide rays, that penetrate the deep val- 
 eys.f 
 
 The active mind of man instinctively surveys the dark regions of 
 the past, and would gladly break the unfathomable silence of the 
 nations of the dead, and raise the veil whei'e their beauty and glory 
 have slept for ages. This strong desire to learn something of those 
 
 * The King of Prussia has lately established a professorship of Egyptian antiquities. 
 
 t The following just tribute of praise was given by Mr. Davis, in his lecture. Univer- 
 sity Chapel, N. Y., to tne Historical Society, in speaking of the progress of antiquarian 
 research : 
 
 " And are there not more stars in the Northern than in the Southren hemisphere ? 
 So there are more constellations of intellectual light in the former than in the latter. 
 And one of the most conspicuous is the Historical Society of New York. The light 
 beams afar, and by its influence prominent men from foreign countries are being en- 
 rolled among the names of its distinguished members." 
 
4 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 who lived when time was young, leads the antiquary, too often, to 
 adopt groundless theories. But if there are counterfeit antiquities, 
 there are those also that are genuine. 
 
 It will be recollected that the avaricious Spaniards discovered 
 and conquered Mexico in the North, and Peru and Chili on the 
 South of Central America, in the first place. But at length the 
 solitude of the latter was broken ; and there was discovered "El 
 Dorado," about which the whole Spanish nation had so long been 
 dreaming. 
 
 The appearance of these ruins shows that a nation once existed 
 there, highly skilled in the mechanic arts, and in a state of civiliza- 
 tion far beyond any thing that we have been led to believe of the 
 aborigines, previous to the time of Columbus. 
 
 The antiquities of America may be divided into three classes, left 
 in succession by nations more or less enlightened ; as the ruins of 
 Central America, of Mexico and Peru, and of regions farther North. 
 
 The first knowledge of the ruins, South, was derived from ac- 
 counts given by straggling hunters. 
 
 In 1787, the Spanish government sent out Captain Del Rio to 
 survey the ruins. 
 
 Waldeck, in 1822, published in London an account of Rio's dis- 
 coveries. 
 
 Capt. Dupaix was sent on a mission to Central America in 1805. 
 He supposes the ruins were left before the deluge. Lord Kings- 
 boro' gave an account of Dupaix's researches. His work I saw in 
 the library of a distinguished historian, Wm. H. Prescott, Esq., 
 Boston. This splendid work, at $400 a volume, cost the author his 
 fortune. 
 
 Waldeck visited Central America in 1832, and spent four years in 
 that region. He took many drawings of the ruins, but on his return 
 they were seized by the perfidious Mexicans. 
 
 On losing the fruits of his long toil, he must have felt like Antony 
 on being betrayed by Cleopatra : 
 
 " All is lost ! 
 This foul Egyptian has betrayed me ; 
 My fleet hath yielded to the foe ; 
 Fortune and Antony part here ; even here 
 Do we shake hands." 
 
 The late Governor Galindo, of Peten, in Central America, has 
 corresponded with the late Lieut. Governor Winthrop, Boston, rela- 
 tive to the antiquities of that region. For the great discoveries 
 made, he received a premium from one of the literary societies of 
 Europe. 
 
 He, in speaking of one of the cities in the vicinity of Palenque, 
 says that a gigantic Massica, or bread-fruit-tree, grows on one of 
 the altars, encircling it with its powerful roots. The most remark- 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 5 
 
 able trees growing over the ruins, are the mahogany, cedar, choc- 
 olate, &c. One of the squares of the city is surrounded with six 
 handsome obelisks, the highest of which is more than six yards high. 
 They all bear, in basso-relievo, gigantic figures. One temple has 
 eighty such figures. 
 
 The temple of Copan was 653 feet by 524 feet in dimensions. It 
 must have been as large as St. Peter's Church in Rome. Let us 
 gaze on this mighty structure for instruction. It stands as a land- 
 mark on the broad field of time, — it reminds us of the remote origin 
 of a great ennpire. Centuries must have rolled away. Dynasties 
 must have succeeded each other, before orders of architecture were 
 introduced ; and a long time must have elapsed before an empire 
 would become so luxurious as to erect the stupendous temple of 
 Copan. 
 
 Among the vast pile of ruins is found an architrave of black gra- 
 nite, finely cut. Six granite columns are seen, each of a single 
 piece seventeen feet high, and three feet in diameter. 
 
 The Mayon architecture in Yucatan is said to be superior to that 
 in Palenque. It is wrought in stone, and finished with great ele- 
 gance. 
 
 Gen. Santa Anna says that the antiquities of Central America are 
 worthy of being placed in parallel with the pyramids of Egypt. 
 
 Palenque, which lies 240 miles from Tobasco, lat. 17 ^N., is a- 
 mong the most remarkable cities of the South. Palenque is a Cas- 
 tilian word, and means "hsts for fighting." 
 
 This city has been emphatically called the Thebes of America. 
 In surveying its ruins, the traveler is led to believe that it was 
 founded at as early a period as the renowned cities of Egypt. 
 
 How immense the city ! It is supposed to have been sixty miles 
 in circumference, and that it contained a population of nearly three 
 millions. 
 
 Palenque, lying about one thousand miles from Mexico, and be- 
 ing elevated five thousand feet above the ocean, enjoyed a climate 
 almost unequalled for its pleasantness. The natural beauty of the 
 scenery was unrivalled, and the soil rich and fertile beyond any 
 other portion of the globe. 
 
 One of the principal structures revealed to the eye of the anti- 
 quarian, is the Teoculi, or temple. Its style of architecture resem- 
 bles the Gothic. It is rude, massive, and durables Though re- 
 sembling the Egyptian edifices, also, yet this and the other build- 
 ings are peculiar, and are different from all others hitherto known. 
 
 The entrance to this temple is on the east side, by a portico more 
 than one hundred feet in length, and nine broad. The rectangular 
 pillars of the portico have their architraves adorned with stucco 
 work of shields and other devices. The temple stands on an ele- 
 vation of sixty feet. Among the ruins different objects of worship 
 have been found ; and in particular, an idol of pure gold, about six 
 inches long. Amid this wilderness of ruins are now to be seen 
 
A lecturp: on the 
 
 fourteen large stone buildings, with many of their apartments in 
 good condition. 
 
 The antiquity of this city is manifest, not only from its nameless 
 hieroglyphics and other objects, but from the age of some of the 
 trees growing over buildings where once the hum of industry and 
 the voice of merriment were heard. The concentric circles of some 
 of these trees were counted, which showed that they were more 
 than 900 years of age. Mr. Brown, who lives in the vicinity of 
 Palenque, has a table, the entire leaf of which was made from a 
 tree growing on these ruins. 
 
 The following are the dimensions of one of the largest buildings 
 in Palenque. Base, 310 by 360 feet — 40 feet high. Building, 280 
 by 180 feet — 25 feet high. The piers have stuccoes finely painted. 
 The paintings are like the frescoes in Italy. 
 
 Wilkinson, the distinguished writer on Egyptian antiquities, says 
 that those of Central America are similar to those of the latter, but 
 not the same. 
 
 Similar beautiful and majestic ruins extend 1000 miles. Hum- 
 boldt visited a splendid building, 800 miles from Mexico, that forty 
 years since was seven stories high. The Spaniards have demo- 
 lished it, mostly to get materials for building dwellings and sugar- 
 houses. Have not the Vandals of the New World made desolation 
 more desolate ? 
 
 Mr. Stephens' new work on "Central America" confirms the 
 statements of tether travelers, while it heightens our wonder by the 
 graphic description of the ruins of the desolated cities, especially of 
 those found in Copan and Palenque. There, he says, " architec- 
 ture, sculpture, painting, and all the arts that embellish life, had 
 flourished in an overgrown forest." 
 
 Among the specimens of the arts, he found massive obelisks, bear- 
 ing on their sides sculptured images, and medallion tablets — large 
 altars, ornamented with hieroglyphics giving a record of those who 
 reared them — splendid temples, adorned with human figures exe- 
 cuted in stucco and bass relief — walls built of hewn stone. The 
 specimens of sculpture equalled any thing he saw in Egypt. 
 
 In his second work he says, '' These ruins are skeletons rising 
 from their graves, wrapt in their shrouds, claiming no affinity with 
 the works of any known people." Long will these works of art 
 stand alone in majesty and beauty, 
 
 "And gorgeous as the sun at midsummer." 
 
 The late Chevalier Fridrichstchal, attache of the Austrian lega- 
 tion, spent nine months at the South. He found, in a place hither- 
 to untrod by modern travelers, a majestic group of pillars. There 
 were ten rows, and in each row forty-eight columns. With his da- 
 guerreotype apparatus, he took a great number of excellont impres- 
 sions. From these, when magnified, he has made drawings, which 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 7 
 
 show the original, by their richness, elegance, and finish, to be the 
 work of a highly cultivated people. 
 
 Mr. Norman has published a valuable work. Rambles in Yuca- 
 tan," lat. 20 ^ North. I have seen some of his remarkable antiqui- 
 ties, as Penates, hieroglyphics on lime stone, the material of these 
 buildings. He kindly gave me a piece of Zuporte wood from lin- 
 tels found amid the ruins. It is hard, fine, heavy, and as lasting as 
 time. Beautiful were the architecture and paintings he saw. The 
 latter were in fresco, and as fresh, apparently, as if recently execut- 
 ed. The colors were sky blue and light green. Mr. N. thinks the 
 cities of the South are of very remote origin ; that they were anti- 
 quities before the Christian era. 
 
 It is natural that we should linger around these inanimate ob- 
 jebts. They remind us of splendid cities that, like Troy, once 
 "were." But, above all, they tell us of the illustrious of other 
 days. What are ruins to us, but as they remind us of the enter- 
 prise and wisdom of those who reared them 1 What were Car- 
 thage without the recollection of the ill-fated Dido, or the daring 
 deeds of HannibaH And what will Mount Vernon be, centuries 
 hence, to our posterity, but as it will remind them of the valor, pa- 
 triotism, and virtues of the Father of our Republic '? 
 
 The monumental history of Central America tells us that this is 
 not a J^ew World. And we awake with astonishment that there 
 was once the seat of a great empire, before David reigned over the 
 twelve tribes of Israel, or Octavius waved his sceptre over the civil- 
 ized world. 
 
 But alas ! the foundations of cities as magnificent as those that 
 adorned the banks of the Nile, have vanished hke the generations 
 before the flood. 
 
 " Every house is builded by some man," but who erected the 
 splendid temples of Palenque, none can tell, save " He who made 
 all things." Unnumbered centuries have passed away since the 
 noon-day of Palencian glory. There the wing of endless night 
 broods over all that was once beautiful and grand — 
 
 '• Where senates once the weal of nations planned 
 Hisseth the gliding snake, through hoary weeds 
 That clasp the mouldering columns," 
 
 Oh ! that some mighty genius like that of Belzoni, would arise 
 and remove from this city of the world called new^ the veil that 
 conceals its origin. 
 
 It is supposed by Stephens and Norman that the hieroglyphics 
 of the South, will, like those of Egypt, at length be deciphered. In 
 anticipation of those developments, well may we exclaim, " visions 
 of glory spare our aching sight." Deep shades rest on the anti- 
 quities of America, yet a few feeble rays of light enliven the gloom. 
 
 That spirit of inquiry that animates all classes in our country 
 
8 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 may yet lead to the reading of the dark characters of the South, as 
 Dr. Lepsius of Prussia, a disciple of Champolion, has deciphered 
 the hieroglyphics of Egypt. Champolion saw on the Rosetta stone 
 three inscriptions — the Greek, the Enchorial or national, and the 
 Hieroglyphic ; by reading the former he was enabled to read the 
 two latter. 
 
 It is supposed that these cities were destroyed by some internal 
 convulsion, or, like those of the South of Europe, were overwhelm- 
 ed by the barbarians of the North. 
 
 Possibly famine or pestilence might have desolated that fair re- 
 gion. It is not singular that it should have been concealed from 
 view for ages, when we recollect that cities of the eastern contin- 
 ent have, in like manner, remained in oblivion till of late. We 
 allude to the ruins of Paestum, in Campania, of Italy, and those of 
 Petra of Idumia, in Asia. A new forest, hid for centuries — the for- 
 mer from the degenerate sons of Rome, while the splendid struc- 
 tures of Petra were known only to Bedouins for over a thousand 
 years. Who does not delight to read about the roses of Paestum 1 
 Yet they still unfold their inimitable petals amid the ruins of palaces, 
 and beside the dilapidated temples. 
 
 Do we admire the boundless forests, the lofty mountains, and the 
 majestic rivers of our hemisphere ? The vast wilderness of ruins, 
 once enlivened by intelligent beings, should demand a higher claim 
 to our admiration. 
 
 The antiquities of America stretch from the great lakes of the 
 North and West, to the southern parts of Peru ; from the Alle- 
 ghany mountains on the East, to the Rocky mountains on the 
 West ; and even from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. 
 
 The Mexicans hold the next place in the scale of civilization t-o 
 the Central Americans. 
 
 The Toltecs probably came into Anahauc, or the vale of Mexico, 
 at the close of the seventh century. They flourished four centu- 
 ries, and suddenly disappeared. They were an enlightened and 
 amiable people. Though pagans, they did not, like the Aztecs, who 
 took possession of the country in 1325, offer up human sacrifices. 
 
 Although the Aztecs, or Mexicans, excelled in astronomy, archi- 
 tecture, the fine arts, agriculture, legislation, jurisprudence, and the 
 display of many of those social virtues that dignify humanity, yet 
 their theology cast a dark shade over all the attractions their history 
 otherwise displays. 
 
 They believed in one supreme God, in thirteen subordinate dei- 
 ties, and over two hundred inferior ones. The God who received 
 the most devotion, was Mars, their god of war. On his altar human 
 victims bled. To this Moloch of the West, twenty thousand, at 
 least, were offered annually ! Such is man where he sees not the 
 attributes of God in the "things that are made." Yes, all nature 
 is but the reflection of the true God. The modest violet, fresh from 
 the sleep of winter, tells him that there is a God, and that He is 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 9 
 
 great and good. — [See Rom., 1. 20.] Nought but the bright beams 
 of the " Sun of Righteousness" can dissipate the darkness with 
 which man has enshrouded his moral nature. 
 
 Remarkable was the progress of the Mexicans in the science of 
 astronomy. Their year was divided into eighteen months of 
 twenty days each ; and five unlucky days. As the year is com- 
 posed of nearly six hours more than three hundred and sixty-five 
 days, there still remained an excess, which they provided for by 
 intercalation. At the expiration of fifty-two years, the end of a 
 cycle, they interposed twelve and a half days, the number which 
 had fallen in arrear. Time was marked on their calendar stones 
 with as much accuracy as is evinced by the modern improvements 
 of astronomy, in two minutes and nine seconds in the year. I have 
 seen in the Museum of Mexican antiquities belonging to the Philo- 
 sophical Society, Philadelphia, a beautiful representation of a large 
 calendar stone to be seen in the city of Mexico. 
 
 If the Carthagenians excelled in navigation, the Mexicans were 
 pre-eminent in a sublime pursuit. Nature impresses on the multi- 
 tude of minds a various bias. To the Mexicans 
 
 " She taught the fabric of the spheres ; 
 
 The changeful moon, the circuit of the stars, 
 The golden zones of heaven." 
 
 How magnificent must have been that temple in Mexico, at 
 whose altars five thousand priests officiated ! But the city of Tez- 
 cuco, on the opposite shore of the lake, was still the seat of a higher 
 advance in civilization than was displayed in Mexico. It was the 
 capital of a splendid kingdom of that name. It was the Athens of 
 the Western World. The King erected a magnificent pile of 
 buildings. It extended from East to West, 1234 yards, and from 
 North to South, 978. Innumerable were the attractions that met 
 the eye on wandering through the courts of this majestic structure. 
 
 As walls incrusted with alabasters and richly-tinted stucco, tapes- 
 tries of variegated feather work, gardens with baths, and sparkling 
 fountains overshadowed by groves of cypress and cedar. There 
 nature seemed ever dressed in her bridal robes ; there light and 
 shade combined to perfect the landscape. 
 
 While America excels the Eastern continent in the magnitude of 
 its rivers and mountains, it can present also the largest pyramid on 
 the globe, — that of Cholula, six miles from Puebla, Mexico. It 
 covers 44 acres. It is 205 feet high. Its top includes one acre. 
 On this lofty eminence in days of yore, stood an altar where human 
 victims were immolated to appease the wrath of the angry deity 
 whose image stood near. And strange to tell, their bodies were 
 afterwards devoured as a religious rite ! 
 
 Ah, could those " morning stars " that sang together at the birth 
 of a fair creation, weep, would they not shed tears on witnessing the 
 ^^arbarity of those " who sought out many inventions." 
 
10 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 In contemplating the Mexicans, we are reminded of the imj3or- 
 tance of revelation ; for though enlightened, yet, " by wisdom they 
 knew not God." 
 
 If the Central Americans came from the plains of Shinar, it is 
 supposed the Mexicans emigrated from the North West. Baron 
 Von Humboldt says the Mexicans had many traditions of the fall 
 of man, and of the flood, and he thinks they came originally from 
 Aztland, lat. 42'' north. 
 
 John Delafield, Jr., Esq., has published an interesting work on 
 the antiquities of Mexico. He thinks the Mexicans " emigrated 
 from the North, and on their way constructed the various tumuli, 
 embankments, fossa, &c., found in Western North America." An 
 "Atzec map" some 14 feet in length, accompanies the volume, 
 and explains the travels of this race through America. 
 
 On larther inquiry, I find there are some specimens of antiquity 
 in Mexico, that were probably left by the same extinct class as 
 those who built the cities of Central America. These antiquities 
 are seen in the reliefs on the Sacrificial Stone, and on the Pyra- 
 mid of Xocicalco. 
 
 As to the antiquities of the Peruvians, who were on a parallel 
 with the Mexicans as to civilization, see Appendix. 
 
 The antiquities of North America consist of fortifications, mounds, 
 pottery, metallic instruments, &c. They must have been left by 
 intelligent nations at an early period. This is evident from the 
 remark of the late President Harrison. He observes that it would 
 take the trees growing where a forest was cut down fifty years 
 since, five hundred years to equal in height the surrounding woods, 
 and that a forest of the largest trees at the mouth of the Great 
 Miami, consisting of fifteen acres, covers the ruins left by former 
 races. 
 
 There are the remains of a fortification 60 miles west of Mil- 
 waukie, including an area of many acres of land. Large trees are 
 growing on the walls. I have a piece of the burnt brick of which 
 they are built. This place is called Aztland. 
 
 Thave also a piece of a pillar found fifteen feet below the surface 
 of the earth in Chautauque county, N. Y. Nameless are similar anti- 
 quities the curious and intelligent are bringing to light from various 
 parts. 
 
 The people of Ohio, living in a land of monuments, are much 
 interested in the study of antiquities. 
 
 Mr. Squier of Chilicothe, has found some remarkable antiquities 
 in mounds of that vicinity. He has penetrated a large number of 
 the ancient tumuli. He divides them mainly into three classes. 
 The first was erected for sacrificial altars, such being found under 
 the different strata. The second were built as burial places, and 
 the third for places of look-out. 
 
 In addition to the valuable essay I heard Mr. Squier read in New 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 11 
 
 York on antiquities, 1 saw the following remarks on his discov- 
 eries from the New York Courier : — 
 
 " His specimen surprised the [Ethnological] Society, as they 
 furnish evidence of a skill and taste in sculpture, far surpassing any- 
 thing exhibited by the existing tribes. He found the figures of about 
 one hundred animals of ditferent species in all the departments of 
 Zoology, formed with such accuracy, as to be readily distinguishable, 
 and many of them shaped with almost perfect accuracy, and finished 
 in detail as if by superior workmen, showing a liveliness of impres- 
 sion, which would lead to the conclusion that they were the portraits 
 of birds, beasts, fish and reptiles." 
 
 Dr. Davis was connected with Mr. Squier in these researches. 
 The Smithsonian Institute at Washington have just pubUshed a 
 magnificent work, giving an account of their discoveries. The 
 Historical Society in New York are now employing Mr. Squier to 
 investigate the antiquities in the western part of the State. Mr. 
 Squier thinks the mounds of New York, unlike those of Ohio, are 
 of recent origin. 
 
 First Inhabitants of Jlmerica. — We will not say, as the Athenians 
 said of their nation, that the first inhabitants of America were cre- 
 ated when the sun was first lit up in the sky ; but we must presume 
 they early reached this continent from the old world. 
 
 The learned Dr. Clarke says that the continents were once united, 
 but that, by the force of winds and waves, the isthmuses were broken 
 up and formed into islands along the coasts. Easy, however, is the 
 transition from the East to the West, by the way of Bhering's straits, 
 when we consider that they are only thirteen leagues wide. 
 
 Adverse winds, also, might have driven the frail vessels of the 
 ancients to the region lying on the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere. 
 
 But as tropical animals found in America could not have crossed 
 over by Bhering's straits when frozen, they must have come by 
 land that once extended from Asia or Africa to America in the 
 torrid zone. Should it be asked why certain animals, as the horse 
 and the cow, not found originally on this continent, did not cross by 
 this continuous range of lands, we answer because the original con- 
 tinent was divided as possibly in the days of Peleg, (Gen. x. 25,) 
 before such animals had an opportunity to migrate. 
 
 I am incHned to believe that the land that united the now two 
 continents, was the Atlantis, spoken of by Plato, Homer, and He- 
 siod. Plato saw an account of this land which disappeared, in the 
 hieroglyphics of Egypt. I saw in the Jesuits' College, Georgetown, 
 an important article on this subject. It was stated that there were 
 the remains of a sunken tract of land once lying between Brazil and 
 Africa — that such are seen also in the islands of Cape Verde and 
 Ascension and others, and in the numerous sandbanks observed by 
 Bauche in particular, who sounded that part of the Atlantic with 
 g^eat accuracy. 
 
12 A LECTURE OiN THE 
 
 Extract of a letter from Rev. Mr. Heyer to Rev. Dr. Van Vran- 
 kin, ISew Brunswick: — 
 
 " Mr. Davis advocates the theory that I met with more than 
 twenty years ago, in ' Calcott on the Deluge,' that America was 
 peopled by land soon after the flood ; that at that time America was 
 united to the eastern continent, and that in the days of Peleg the 
 earth was divided. The Hebrew word JVepelegeh, divided, as by 
 the coming in of the sea ; from which the Greek word Pelagos, and 
 the Latin word Pelagus, are derived. 
 
 ''I think from the plains of Shinar men and animals diverged in 
 all directions. As it is said in Gen. xi. 8, ' So the Lord scattered 
 them from thence upon the face of all the earth.' " 
 
 As the Europeans on coming here found none or few animals 
 peculiar to the Eastern continent, I think only a part of the various 
 species preserved by Noah migrated west. Those left behind 
 ever remained different from those found in the New World by the 
 Spaniards. If this idea is new to others, I hope it may be consid- 
 ered more reasonable than the infidel opinion, that men and animals 
 were distinct creations here from those of Asia. 
 
 I found this idea corroborated by BufFon, as quoted by Clavigero 
 in his work on Mexico. 
 
 Think you they would have transported venomous serpents from 
 the old to the new world 1 
 
 Ogilby, cosmographer to the English sovereign, 1671, thinks that 
 men and animals came, immediately after the flood, from Armenia 
 to Tartary ; and from the latter place to this continent, by a 
 continuous range of land extending from Asia to America by Bher- 
 ing s straits. 
 
 I think with Georgii Hornii, who published his views, 1629, in a 
 Latin book, that the migration to this continent took place immedi- 
 ately after the confusion of tongues at Babel. 
 
 By this primitive people, the cities of the South rose probably 
 simultaneously with those that adorned the banks of the Nile.* 
 
 After a brief survey of American antiquities, well may we, like 
 the old patriot of Rome, ascend some lofty eminence and look over 
 the wide space of desolation ! Where once nations met in the noon- 
 day of their glory, now wild beasts roam and venomous serpents 
 
 * The traces of an extinct race of men about nine feet in lengfth, are to be found in 
 various parts, as in Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and New York. 
 
 And is it strange it should have been said in the sacred Volume, "and there were 
 giants in those days?" 
 
 The lights of science and revelation commingle, forming one broad stream of light 
 tliuL is not lost but amid the radiance that encircles the throne of the Eternal. 
 
 As to the red men, clouds of obscurity conceal their origin. Mr. Schoolcraft, late 
 Indian Agent, thinks they are of Asiatic origin. Many suppose they are the descend- 
 ants of the Israelites. Vague are their own traditions as to their origin. Some Indians 
 say they come from the East, some from the West; some from the North, and some 
 from the South. Some think they came from beneath the earth; others suppose thej 
 came from the skies. Ledyard thinks,the Indians are of Tartar origin. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 13 
 
 wend their way. To gaze upon the past, we must cross the mel- 
 ancholy flood 
 
 " Unto the kingdom of perpetual night." 
 
 So pass away the glories of the world, with man its lord ! — There 
 is nothing permanent, save in the Spirit's land, and if there be any 
 change there, it is Eternity's rich drama of bloom and perfection. 
 
 The eyes of mankind, from the time of Pythagoras, have been 
 turned to the West, in anticipation that here new discoveries were 
 to be made; and hither were the adventurers at length led. 
 
 Seneca, Diodorus Siculus, Aristotle, as well as others speak of 
 regions west of the Atlantic. 
 
 It is thought Virgil alludes, in the following lines, to places west. 
 
 In speaking of Augustus, he says that 
 
 " He shall his power to India extend, 
 
 Beyond the annual circle, and beyond 
 
 The sun's long progress, where great Atlas bears, 
 
 Laden with golden stars, the glittering spheres."* 
 
 First known Discoveries of America. — The discovery of America 
 by the Northmen, excites a vast deal of curiosity. And is it not a 
 laudable curiosity that leads one to ascertain what white men first 
 trod regions in which the modest wild flower wasted its sweetness 
 on the desert airl 
 
 As geography is one of the eyes of History, it would be well at 
 this time to direct the attention to the map of North America, and 
 to those of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in particular. 
 
 The Royal Society of Northern Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, 
 have lately published an important work. While the contents of 
 this massive work are invaluable, its mechanical execution reflects 
 great honor on the Society that published it. 
 
 This work is called, as translated from Latin, " American Anti- 
 quities, or Northern Writings of Things in America, before the 
 time of Columbus.'' 
 
 The determination was formed some years since by the Royal 
 Society of Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, to publish the authorities 
 on which these accounts rest, in the original documents, accom- 
 panied with full commentaries and illustrations. The text is in the 
 [celandic tongue. 
 
 The inquiry is often made, " Who are the Northmen '?" They 
 were the descendants of the Scandinavians, who, it is thought, 
 sprang from the Thracians mentioned by Homer — a nation now 
 extinct. The Danes, the Swedes, the Norwegians, and the Ice- 
 landers, all come under the name of the Northmen or Norsemen. 
 
 * ]n a paper read lately before the N. Y. Hist. Society, it seems that the inscription 
 on a stone found in Western Virginia, is like that discovered on a monument of Thugga, 
 at Libya. This circumstance corroborates the truth of the report of the Carthagenians, 
 that their people, in early times, traded with nations west of the Atlantic. 
 
14 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 Their literature has been compared, in extent, to the literary- 
 remains of Greece and Latinum. This opens a new fountain of 
 research, where the scholar may often 
 
 '* Return and linger, linger and return." 
 
 This great work contains two Icelandic documents, now for the 
 first time published accurately, in a complete form, purporting to be 
 histories written by or for persons who discovered and visited the 
 North American coast early in the eleventh century, *confirmed and 
 illustrated by extracts from no less than fifteen other original man- 
 uscripts, in which the facts set forth in these histories are either 
 mentioned or alluded to. The Royal Society has already collected 
 two thousand Sagas, or works of Scandinavian or Icelandic history. 
 
 In this work, in particular, is found Adams of Bremen's account 
 of the discovery of America, communicated to him in the eleventh 
 century, by Sweyn, Esthryson, King of Denmark. 
 
 1. Are these documents genuine X 
 
 2. If so, why have they not been heard of before \ 
 
 The work itself contains evidences of the antiquity and authenti- 
 city of the manuscripts, from which the publication has been made, 
 sufficient to raise them above any just suspicion. 
 
 These documents, as Professor Rafn says, have been known to 
 Icelandic scholars ; but these have been so few comparatively, and 
 the means of those few so limited, they have not been able to give 
 them a suitable examination, much less to be at the expense of pub- 
 lishing them. 
 
 How long did the ancient classics, for instance, lay concealed in 
 the monasteries of Europe, for the want of some one to exhibit them 
 to the public view 1 These Icelandic documents may have been 
 in like manner, in the libraries of priests. And we may say that 
 the Society of Antiquarians, in Copenhagen, in bringing these docu- 
 ments to light resembles the conduct of the poet laureate, Petrarch, 
 in the fourteenth century, who, at his own expense, had the valua- 
 ble manuscripts of antiquity dragged from the dust of the cloisters, 
 transcribed, and exhibited to the woi'ld. 
 
 Who does not admire the lovely scenery, where the beautiful and 
 sublime are blended, displayed in the succession of falls at Trenton, 
 N. Y.t Yet these were concealed for ages, till a master spirit 
 revealed them to an admiring world. And does not the raven wing 
 of night hide the works of art, also, till disclosed in a similar way \ 
 The learned of Iceland, though like the generality of poets, poor, 
 yet were not disposed, like Milton, to sell their manuscripts for a 
 paltry sum. 
 
 It is well known that the Norwegians have long claimed the honor 
 of discovering and colonizing America, before the time of Columbus. 
 
 Instead of this discovery being a new fangled theory, as some say, 
 there have been several works published in Europe upwards of a 
 century, which speak of these facts. Wormius speaks of this dis- 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 15 
 
 covery in a Latin translation, published in the University of Oxford, 
 in or about 1716. In Adam of Bremen's account, published 1629, 
 he uses the followinng striking language : " Non fabulosa opinione 
 sed certa, relatione Danorum ; that is, in a free translation, " This 
 is not a fabulous opinion, but a true narrative given by the Danes 
 themselves." Dr. Franklin, in a letter to a distinguished antiquary 
 formerly of Switzerland, says positively, that the Danes came into 
 New England before the time of Columbus. Dr. Mather published 
 an account, also, of the discovery in 1772. 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Henderson, who, travelled in Iceland, says 
 that the fact of this early discovery was well known to the Iceland- 
 ers — that it was authenticated by Northern historians. It is a 
 remarkable fact that Iceland, where these documents relating to the 
 early discovery were preserved, was the Athens of the North, during 
 the Dark Ages. 
 
 During the Middle Ages, the Icelanders were the most intelligent 
 people in the North. Even now, as Henderson says, youth can 
 repeat passages from Latin and Greek authors, who have never been 
 but a few miles from the places of their birth. Truly, the hardy 
 Icelanders were our librarians and historians. 
 
 Iceland appears to have been a medium of communication 
 between Norway and Greenland — a stepping stone, as it were, from 
 one continent to another. 
 
 Iceland, thought by some to be the " Ultima Thule" of Virgil, 
 was discovered by the Norwegians in 761. The oppression of 
 King Harold Harfaga drove them there for an asylum. 
 
 But the restless spirit of the Northmen would not allow them to 
 be idle. They made incursions in every direction, and discovered 
 Greenland in 984. 
 
 In 986, a colony was begun by Eric the Red. This was at length 
 destroyed. By the exertions of the Danish Society, the ruins of 
 this settlement have been discovered. It was located on the West, 
 near Cape Farewell. It is seen in the remains of churches and 
 buildings. 
 
 Lief, the son of Eric, commenced a voyage of discovery in the 
 year 1000. His crew consisted of thirty-five men. Lief was the 
 first to introduce missionaries into Greenland. 
 
 After sailing some time southwest, they made land. They 
 anchored and went ashore. This place was destitute of grass, and 
 was covered with a slaty rock, which they called Helluland. This 
 is supposed to be Labrador. Fishermen and travellers of the present 
 day give a like description of that barren region. 
 
 From thence they sailed southwardly ; and after holding on 
 for some time, they again made land and went ashore. This 
 country was level, had a low coast, presenting, here and there, 
 bluffs of white sand, and was thickly covered with wood. This 
 they called Markland, or Woodland. This is thought to be Nova 
 Scotia. 
 
16 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 Leaving Markland, they sailed south-westerly, with a fair wind, 
 two days before seeing land again, when they passed down a prom- 
 ontory, probably the east side of Cape Cod, stretching east and 
 north ; and then turning west between an Island (Martha's Vine- 
 yard) and the main land, they entered a bay (Narranganset Bay,) 
 through which a river (Taunton River,) flowed when they came 
 to anchor and went ashore. Resolving to spend the winter here, 
 they called the place Leifsbuthir, or place of booths. Here finding 
 grapes plenty, they called the place Vinland, or Wineland the good. 
 This land to those coming from the remote North, appeared as 
 nature in the *' world's first spring." 
 
 Early in the season they returned to Greenland. Lief's return 
 became the principal subject of conversation. 
 
 The next adventurer was Thorwald, his brother. And you will 
 observe that he and the other navigators gave the same account of 
 places they visited. Were not this the case, who could believe any 
 of their reports 1 
 
 Thorwald, thinking the country had not been sufficiently explored, 
 set sail in 1002, and proceeded to Leifsbuthir, where he lived till 
 1004. 
 
 In the spring of 1004, he sailed from Leifsbuthir. After passing 
 along the shore of the promontory, east and north, they sailed 
 round a sharp point of land, called Kjarlanes. This must have been 
 Cape Cod. Kjarlanes implies Keel-cane. For Cape Cod at the 
 extremity, is in the shape of the keel of ancient vessels, which 
 curved inward. These Northmen were peaceable men. They 
 were not like Phaeton, who would gladly have seized the reins of 
 the chariot of the sun to set the world on fire. It must not be denied, 
 however, that the second great navigator, Thorwald assailed the 
 natives without a cause ; but in using the sword he perished by the 
 sword. On receiving a mortal wound, he requested that after his 
 death, crosses might be placed at either end of his grave. 
 
 The Catholic ministers, in giving an account of their first mission- 
 ary labors in this country, speak of the custom of the natives in 
 wearing crosses. Such must have been introduced by the North- 
 men Christians. 
 
 I mentioned this circumstance lately to the librarian of the 
 American Antiquarian Society, Worcester ; and he said that a 
 cross had been sent to that institution by a gentlemen of Ohio. 
 I saw this emblem of the Christian faith. It must have been 
 hid from the light of heaven for centuries. This silver cross is 
 about two and a half inches long. It was found on the breast 
 of a female skeleton that was dug from a mound at Columbus, 
 over which a forest of trees had grown. On the cross the 
 capital letters I. S. are perfectly visible. And what can these 
 letters imply, but the initials of the sacred name Iesus Salvator 1 
 
 Who can doubt, then, that the **Sun of Righteousness" cast his 
 
Discovery of America. 17 
 
 bright beams on the land west of the dread Atlantic, long before 
 the time of Columbus. * 
 
 In 1006, Thorfins, or Thorfin, commanded one of the three 
 ships that came from Iceland to Greenland. He was of royal 
 lineage. 
 
 In the spring of 1007, Thorfin with three ships and one hundred 
 and sixty men, besides cattle and all necessary materials for estab- 
 lishing a colony, set sail for Vinland. 
 
 They sailed to Helluland or Labrador ; from thence to Markland, 
 or Nova Scotia ; and from thence to Kjarlanes, or Cape Cod. 
 Sailing south by the east side of the promontory which terminated 
 at Kjarlanes, they passed along beaches or trackless deserts of sand, 
 How descriptive of this bleak and sterile coast ! 
 
 Those who have sailed from Boston to Narragansett Bay, are 
 ready to say that I am not drawing an ideal picture. 
 
 Continuing their course they arrived at an island. They called 
 it Shaumey. This is supposed to be Martha's Vineyard. Nine 
 men went away in one of the ships and never returned. It is said 
 they were driven on the coast of Ireland, where they were seized 
 as slaves. 
 
 In the spring Thorfin and one hundred and fifty others went to 
 the main land. They called the place Hop, the residence after- 
 wards of King Philip. Here they found large numbers of skrel- 
 lings or natives. Thorfin carried on a traffic with them, by exchang- 
 ing bits of colored cloth for furs In consequence of their frequent 
 attacks, in 1009 they returned to Greenland. Then, it will be 
 recollected, the Northmen had not the use of fire-arms with which 
 to defend themselves against the assaults of the savages. These 
 lords of the wilds had a rude kind of engine, by which they hurled 
 large stones against their foes ; and it is possible that the white 
 man would have never driven the red man from the Atlantic to the 
 Rocky Mountains, but for the invention of gunpowder. 
 
 I cannot forbear to speak of the valor of one of this crew of the 
 Northmen, a female. When all the rest were disposed to flee before 
 the savage foe, she exclaimed : " If I only had a weapon, I ween I 
 could fight better than any of you." Ah ! when we consider the 
 patriotism of the females at the siege of Carthage, who cut their 
 locks to make ropes for engines of war ; and when we recollect the 
 courage of Isabella of Castile, who at the conquest of Grenada, 
 though in ill health, led on her veterans to conquest and glory, have 
 we not reason to suppose that this Scandinavian was sincere in her 
 declaration 1 Truly valor and benevolence are but parallel streams 
 in the female heart. We would not applaud courage , however, 
 unless under the control of a high and holy principle. 
 
 * Malte-Brun says, that crosses were worn by the natives before the introduction of 
 Christianity among them by the Jesuits. In a French work from Denmark, 1 find a 
 representation of crosses used there by the Scandinavians. On one were the Roman 
 letters I. C, 1 suppose for lesus Christus. 
 
 c 
 
18 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 Thorfin married Gudrida, the widow of Thorstein, third son of 
 Eric. She accompanied her husband to Vinland. Snorre, their son, 
 was the first white child born in America. From him descended the 
 distinguished associate of Professor Rafn, the late Finn Magnusen. 
 The late great sculptor, Thorwalsden of Denmark, was of this 
 family. Bishop Thulock Rudolfson was a descendant of Thorfin's, 
 and it is supposed that he wrote or compiled these documents. 
 
 Thorfin, the most distinguished of these, returned to Iceland ; 
 where he ended his days, living in great splendor. 
 
 The editor of the American Antiquities, Professor Rafn, and his 
 associate, Professor Finn Magnusen, think that Vinland was situated 
 in the east part of Rhode Island, and in the south part of Massa- 
 chusetts, on or about Narragansett Bay and Taunton River. 
 
 The points in the Icelandic documents alluding to the locality of 
 Vinland may be reckoned the Geography, Natural History, Astro- 
 nomical Phenomena, and vestiges of the Residence of Northmen in 
 that place. All these, in the opinion of the editor of the American 
 Antiquities, point to the head of Narraganset Bay, or Mt. Hope Bay, 
 as the locality of Hop, the central part of Vinland. 
 
 As the Royal Society have held correspondence with sevcT-al 
 learned societies in this country for some years, they are well quali- 
 fied to form a judgment on this subject. Dr. Webb, now of Boston, 
 formerly Secretary of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and J. 
 R. Bartlett, Esq., of New York, have been very efficient agents in 
 aiding the Royal Society in presenting this great work to the world. 
 
 The following letter from the late General Holstein, Professor in 
 the '' Albany Female Academy," will show the care taken to 
 acquire information relative to American Antiquities : 
 
 " In proof of the great exertions made by the Northern Antiqua- 
 rian vSociety in Copenhagen, to acquire a knowledge of Scandina- 
 vian Antiquities in America, I hereby state that several years since 
 a letter of inquiry, sealed with the seal of the Society, was sent to 
 a professional gentleman of Geneva, in this state a translation of 
 which I made from the Danish tongue" 
 
 The GeograpJiy of Vinland. — Concerning the situation of Helluland, 
 there can be no doubt, as it was the first land southwest of Green- 
 land : where else could this have been unless the coast of Labrador ? 
 
 Markland was situated southwest from Helluland, three days 
 sail, or three hundred and sixty English miles. This is supposed 
 to be Nova Scotia. 
 
 The distance of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick agrees with 
 the account the Icelanders gave of Markland. 
 
 Vinland was situated about two days' sail, or about two hundred 
 and forty English miles to the southwest of Markland : and if Mark- 
 land has been properly located, must be sought in or near the south 
 part of Massachusetts. 
 
 In the Icelandic documents, it is said that Hop, the residence of 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 19 
 
 Thorfin, was situated on an elevation of land near a river which 
 flowed south, through a bay into the ocean. From this the land 
 stretched east ; and turning north, formed a promontory, which 
 terminated in a point or cape, which they called Kjarlanes, The 
 east side of the promontory was found by long, narrow, beaches, or 
 sand hills. To those, who, like myself, have often viewed the 
 Atlantic from these sand hills this account appears pecuharly striking. 
 
 J\'*atural History of Vinland. — -Vinland was remarkable for 
 its beautiful vines, maple trees, maize, and a great variety of wild 
 animals. The waters abounded with fish and were occasionally 
 visited by whales. Birds were numerous. The eider duck was 
 seen about the island in large numbers. 
 
 As to vines, they are said to be numerous even now ; and this is 
 more particularly true of the country around Narragansett Bay. 
 And was not an island called Martha's -Vineyard, on account of the 
 multiplicity of vines growing there ? 
 
 The celebrated Bishop Berkeley, who attempted to establish a 
 theological seminary in the West Indies, says, in his letter to his 
 friends m Europe, that vines were as plenty on Rhode Island as in 
 Italy. Gosnald, who visited the Elizabeth Isles in 1602, says, that 
 vines were in great profusion there. 
 
 In the documents it is said that, in that region, are the red, sugar, 
 and bird's-eye maple. The Northmen cut down the trees; and, 
 after they were dry, they loaded their ships with their timber. It 
 is supposed that the bird's-eye variety was made an article of 
 commerce. 
 
 As to the Indian corn or maize, it seems our pilgrim fathers found 
 some in what is now called Truro, near the end of the Cape. It 
 was buried in the earth to preserve it. Indian corn has never been 
 found north of forty-five degrees north latitude. 
 
 It is needless to remind the reader of the multiplicity of fish that 
 still abound in the waters of this region. The sportsman may, at 
 this day, tell his friends, in the language of Capt. Smith of James- 
 town, who described this quarter, " of the pleasures to be derived 
 from angling and crossing the sweet air, from isle to isle, over the 
 silent streams of a calm sea." 
 
 As to the whales, I have occasionally seen them spouting around 
 the sandy shores of the Cape. 
 
 In regard to the eider duck, in the Latin translation it is called 
 " anas mollissima," a duck with the finest feathers. The real eider 
 duck of Iceland is, at this day, frequently seen around Matha's 
 Vineyard. Wild fowl must have been numerous there, as an 
 island is still called Egg Island, from the quantity of eggs they 
 deposited.* 
 
 * Mr. Audubon says he has seen, in Labrador, twenty-seven nests of the eider duck 
 within a very small compass. 
 
20 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 Thorfin describes the Soil and Climate. — The winters of Vin- 
 land are said to be remarkably mild, but little snow falling, and 
 cattle subsisting out of doors through the winter. 
 
 This account does not agree with the description of New Eng- 
 land winters at this time. Still, however, it has been the practice 
 of the farmers on Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, to let their 
 sheep and cattle lie out during the winter. But the cold winters 
 of New England, compared with those of Greenland, are as the 
 mildness of spring. They speak, however, of a snowy winter. 
 
 But there have been great changes in the face of the earth and 
 in the climate in different ages. Change is the law of nature. Has 
 not one of the bright clusters been blotted out from the map of 
 heaven % Such changes also take place in the face of the earth. 
 
 The Dead Sea was, in early times, sixty miles long. It is now 
 only thirty. And even old Ontario and Erie have receded from 
 their former bounds, leaving to the present generation a rich tract 
 of land several miles wide, and a beautiful ridge-road. Who does 
 not admire the everlasting rocks, rising in stern grandeur on either 
 side the Mohawk, at the Little Falls, N. Y. 1 Yet, the lovely vale 
 above must once have been the bed of a vast lake. This is mani- 
 fest from the fact, that there are "pot holes" found at an elevation 
 of sixty feet above the river, at these falls. 
 
 These circular excavations were made ages since, by the circum- 
 volution of stones, driven by the rapid descent of the waters. You 
 can see a demonstration of this fact, by looking at the high falls of 
 Black River, or Ti^enton. 
 
 And what a mighty labor was that for the waters of this lake to 
 have found their way, gradually, through the high and continuous 
 wall of granite where now the Mohawk murmurs as it rolls along 
 its new channel ! 
 
 Geological facts prove that it was much warmer, formerly, in 
 the North, than it is now.* 
 
 Large forests once flourished in Lapland. 
 
 It is not to be disputed that, in former ages, Iceland produced 
 timber in abundance. Large trees are occasionally found there in 
 the marshes and valleys, to a considerable depth in the ground. 
 Segments of fossil-trees have lately been exported, in proof of the 
 alleged fact. 
 
 It is asserted in the ancient Icelandic records, that when Ingulf, 
 the Norwegian, first landed in Iceland, 879, he found so thick a 
 cluster of birch trees, that he penetrated them with difficulty. 
 
 Henderson, in his travels in Iceland, says that the climate has 
 deteriorated there, from the fact that it was once shaded with 
 forests. 
 
 When the first Norwegian colony settled in Greenland, about 
 
 * I saw two tusks of an elephant that were found at Mt. Holly, Vermont. They 
 were found at an elevation of between eleven and twelve hundred feet above tide water, 
 and twelve feet below the surface of the earth. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 21 
 
 1000 years ago, they found no difficulty from ice in approaching 
 the coast, and a regular correspondence was supported by their 
 people for many years. 
 
 Astronomical Phenomena. — The learned editor and his associate 
 deduce from the astronomical data, lat. 41= 24 min. 16 sec, which 
 is the latitude of Narragansett Bay, and Mount Hope. There, at 
 the winter solstice, December 22, the day is nine hours. 
 
 That the Northmen were capable of taking latitudes, is evident 
 from the circumstance, that at that period they speak of eclipses 
 which have lately been calculated by Sir David Brewster, and the 
 distinguished Norwegian astronomer, Hanstein, and found correct. 
 
 I have a fine diagram, in a work just sent me by Professor Rafn, 
 Denmark, by which it is seen that the Northmen calculated time 
 accurately. They reached the latitude where, at the winter sol- 
 stice, the sun rose at half past seven, and set at half past four. 
 This fact settles the question as to where the Northmen came. 
 
 Little can be said of the Vestiges of the Residence of the J^orth- 
 men in this country. — There is a large rock at the junction of 
 Smith's Creek with Taunton River, with a singular inscription on 
 it. It was evidently made with an iron instrument. Passing over 
 the particular remarks of the editor on these letters, I would give 
 his supposition as to the meaning of the following characters : 
 
 rXXXI AA 
 
 PORFINS 
 
 "Thorfins, with 151 men, took possession of this country." 
 While Mr. Schoolcraft believes in the discovery of the Northmen, 
 he thinks the inscription was left by the Indians. But Professor 
 Rafn has deciphered an inscription on the Paradisic rock of Iceland, 
 which he says proves beyond a doubt the European origin of the 
 inscription in Massachusetts. 
 
 There are similar inscriptions on rocks in the vicinity of Mount 
 Hope Bay. 
 
 The people of the North of Europe were fond of making in- 
 scriptions on rocks on the borders of lakes and rivers; for such are 
 found in Norway, Sweden and Scotland. 
 
 One of these inscriptions, found on a rock in Sweden, has been 
 deciphered by Professor Finn Magnusen. The inscription relates 
 to a battle fought about A. D. 680, between the Kings of Norway 
 and Sweden. Accounts of this battle were given by authentic his- 
 torians. In a work just issued in Denmark, it is proved that thei'e 
 are several other inscriptions found in the neighborhood of Taunton 
 like the one above. 
 
 Were the Northmen capable of making discoveries, and of re- 
 cording them X The rude children of our forests could not perform 
 a work so mighty. 
 
22 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 The Roman historian, Tacitus, spoke of the invasion of the 
 Northmen before the Christian era. He says of the Cimbri, that 
 they were not a small tribe, but mighty in fame ; that the vestiges 
 of their ancient glory still remained in their fortifications ; that no 
 other nation had so often given them cause to dread their arms — 
 not the Carthagenians, or Spaniards, or Gauls. 
 
 In later times the Northmen made incursions upon Germany, 
 France, England, the Orkney, Faroe and Shetland Isles. 
 
 The French v^ere in such fear of the Northmen, that they in- 
 serted in their Liturgy, "A furore Normanorum, libera nos, O 
 Domine."* 
 
 In the ninth and tenth centuries, the Danes or Northmen invaded 
 England, and seated one of their favorite princes, Canute, on the 
 throne of Alfred. 
 
 They v^ere a daring people — the sea v^as their home — the 
 mountain wave was the scene of their sport — far and wide did 
 they wander without compass to guide. 
 
 Their vessels were built of timber that is now eagerly sought by 
 the first maritime nations of the earth. 
 
 A people some of whose leaders boasted of never having slept 
 by a cottage fire, became the dread of Christendom. They ruled 
 the waters from the Arctic ocean to the Azores — they passed be- 
 tween the pillars of Hercules — they ravaged the coasts of Spain 
 and France — sacked the cities of Tuscany — drove the Saracens 
 from Sicily. They desolated the classic fields of Greece — pene- 
 trated the walls of Constantinople. Yes, in rescuing the Holy 
 Sepulchre, they led the van of the chivalry of Europe. Mark their 
 valor and their success ; for one hundred Northmen knights, with 
 one aid or squire each, drove ten thousand Saracens from Sicily. 
 Scott gives a beautiful description of this remarkable people, in 
 speaking of the Western Isles : 
 
 " Thither came in times afar 
 Stern Lochlin's sons of roving war ; 
 The Northmen, trained to spoil and blood, 
 Skilled to prepare the raven's food ; 
 Kings of the main, their leaders brave. 
 Their barks the dragons of the wave." 
 
 In describing king Harold's, it is said : 
 
 " And dragons' heads adorn the prow of gold.'' 
 
 Seest thou the tiny fleet of some school-boy launched on an iso- 
 lated sheet of water. And such were the greatest armaments of 
 the famous nations of antiquity, compared with those of the North- 
 men. 
 
 The present illustrious Queen of England is a direct descendant 
 of the Northmen. It will be recollected that Rollo, the Norman, 
 
 * From the rage of the Northmen good Lord deliver us." 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 23 
 
 invaded France in 912, and enthroned himself in the North. In 
 1066, Wilham of Normandy conquered England. These sove- 
 reigns were Northmen, and from their family the pride and glory 
 of Great Britain descended. 
 
 At the begining of the eleventh century the Danes and Norwe- 
 gians were converted to Christianity, and thereby received a new 
 impulse, that led them to extend the blessings of the Gospel. And 
 who but this people could ever have established missions in Green- 
 land ? 
 
 What shall we say of the abiHty of the Northmen to record 
 incidents of their voyages 1 
 
 In the year 1000, on their conversion to Christianity, they adopted 
 the Roman alphabet. This was their Augustan age. The thirst of 
 the Icelanders for learning is seen in the conduct of Ulfijot, their 
 supreme legislator, who, in 925, undertook a voyage to Norway, 
 in his sixtieth year, to acquire a more perfect knowledge of the 
 legal customs and institutions of the parent country. 
 
 In Iceland the learned were called Skalds and Sagamen. 
 
 The former were poets and historians. Skalds denote "smooth- 
 ers and polishers of language." 
 
 The Sagamen recited in prose, with greater detail, what the 
 Skalds had recited in verse. 
 
 By the recitations of the Skalds the real and traditionary history 
 of the country was transmitted fi^om generation to generation. 
 
 Memory is, perhaps, the most improvable faculty of our nature. 
 Deprived of books, it depends upon its own resources. Its strength 
 is seen in the following instance : An Icelandic Skald sang sixty 
 different lays in one evening, before King Harold Sigurdson ; and 
 being asked if he knew any more, declared that these were only 
 the half he could sing. 
 
 Their traditionary histories were written down and preserved. 
 
 As poetry is among the antiquities of all nations, the events it 
 records have ever been preserved by the recitations of Skalds, 
 Minstrels or Bards. 
 
 And whom does the conqueror of Wales cut off from the land'? 
 Does not Edward the First of England destroy the Minstrels of 
 Wales, lest they should, by their recitations, awaken that spirit of 
 liberty in the breasts of the vanquished, which would lead them to 
 throw off the yoke of the British monarch ? 
 
 These Skalds were distinguished men — the companions of kings. 
 They sometimes were kings, as in the instance of Regnar Lodbrok. 
 The Sagamen made their recitations in public and private, at con- 
 venient opportunities. 
 
 If Augustus delighted to have Virgil and Horace on either hand, 
 so the Scandinavian monarchs rejoiced to have Skalds and Saga- 
 men in their presence. 
 
 At solemn feasts, the services of these men were required. 
 
 Saemr.nd, in 1056, collected the different poems relating to the 
 
24 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 mythology and history of the North. The collection was called 
 the "Poetic Edda." He was a man of learning, having been edu- 
 cated at the Universities of Germany and France. 
 
 He performed for the ancient poems the same office which is said 
 to have been done by the ancient Greek rhapsodist, who first col- 
 lected and arranged the songs of his predecessors, and reduced 
 them to one continuous poem, called Homer's Iliad. 
 
 Snorre Sturlson, judge of Iceland, was the most distinguished 
 scholar of his day. His principal work was the Prosaic Edda. It 
 treats in particular of Scandinavian mythology. He Hved in 1178. 
 His bath still attracts the attention of the traveler. The aqueduct 
 of it is five hundred feet long, and is composed of hewn stone, 
 finely united by cement. The reservoir is similarly constructed, 
 and will contain thirty persons. The water was supplied from one 
 of their warm springs. 
 
 The general characteristics of the Icelandic tongue are copious- 
 ness, energy and flexibility to an extent that rivals every modern 
 language, and which enables it to enter into successfui competition 
 with the Greek and Latin. 
 
 Were not the Icelanders then capable of recording the events 
 incident to a voyage of discovery ? 
 
 The internal evidences found in these documents are in favor of 
 their authenticity. 
 
 Besides, there are in existence a series of works from the time 
 when these voyages purport to have been made, down to the pre- 
 sent time, which have been preserved, and which make mention of 
 these discoveries. 
 
 Distinguished men who have had superior opportunities of ascer- 
 taining the merits of this question, have come to the conclusion that 
 the descendants of the Scandinavians were the discoverers of 
 America, prior to the time of Columbus. Among these are Dr. 
 Forster, Mr. Wheaton, our late Minister at the Court of Berlin, 
 and Baron Von Humboldt, also of the above city. 
 
 In a work sent from Denmark are the following important re- 
 marks : — Alexander Von Humboldt, who of all modern travelers 
 has thrown the greatest light on the physical circumstances of the 
 first discovery and early history of America, has admitted that the 
 Scandinavian Northmen were the true original discoverers of the 
 New World. He also remarked, that the information which the 
 public as yet possesses of that remarkable epoch in the Middle 
 Ages, is extremely scanty ; and he has expressed a wish that the 
 Northern Literati would collect and publish all the accounts relat- 
 ing to that subject. 
 
 The Society of Northern Antiquarians has complied with his 
 lequest, in publishing the great work before mentioned. 
 
 Several respectable historians have inserted the above account 
 as credible, in their works. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 25 
 
 The late N. Webster, Esq., told me he had examined the subject 
 forty years since, and came to the above conclusion. 
 
 Wm. H. Prescott, L. L. D., advances the same opinion in his late 
 splendid work on Mexico. 
 
 Besides Adam of Bremen's account of the discovery of America, 
 this great worl<^ speaks of Bishop Eric's voyage to Vinland, in 1121. 
 Although Thorfin's men were driven away at first by the natives, 
 yet it is reasonable to suppose that they at length returned and 
 formed colonies in this quarter, together with others who visited 
 America, as named in the Icelandic MSS. 
 
 If voyages were made, from time to time, to different parts of 
 America, by the Northmen, is it not reasonable to suppose that 
 some parts of our country were inhabited by them for a long time, 
 and that Bishop Eric visited Vinland to perform Episcopal duties, 
 and that the Northmen left evidences of their arts, in the antiqui- 
 ties I will briefly name ? 
 
 How fond is man to hnger around mouldering ruins — to fix the 
 eye on the mutilated column overgrowing with ivy ! But are there 
 not antiquities as worthy as those of art 1 I mean those of our own 
 species. 
 
 I shall make a remark on a human skeleton I saw, not long since, 
 at Fall River, in the vicinity of Narragansett Bay. 
 
 I had an extensive view of the region around Mount Hope, lying 
 on the west of Mount Hope Bay. How accurately is the scenery 
 portrayed in the Icelandic documents ! 
 
 A skeleton was dug up a few years since in that place. It had 
 a breast-plate or medal hanging down its neck, thirteen inches long, 
 and six in width at the top, and five at the bottom. It had also an 
 ornament of fillet work around its body, four and a half inches 
 wide. These ornaments are maae of brass, or, as Dr. Webb says, 
 of bronze. A knowledge of the use of this artificial metal implies 
 a considerable advance in the arts. 
 
 I witnessed lately an object of interest in the State of New York. 
 
 Not long since a large oak tree, cut down at Lyons, was taken 
 to Newark ; and on sawing it, there were found near the centre 
 the marks of an axe. On counting the concentric circles, it was 
 discovered that four hundred and sixty had been formed since the 
 cutting was made. It is well known that a circle is the growth of 
 a year. But the most striking circumstance is, that this large ca- 
 vity, now visable, was made by an edged tool. The rude stone 
 axes of the present race of Indians could never have made clefts 
 so smooth as those 1 saw in the block at the hotel of Gen. Barney, 
 at Newark. I have a report of a Historical Society in Ohio, de- 
 scribing a similar cutting made with a metallic axe about three 
 hundred and fifty years ago. 
 
 On further examination, I presume this skeleton, whose head is 
 
26 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 different from that of the natives, was a Northman ; and that the 
 cuttings in this tree were made by axes wielded by the descendants 
 of NcTrthmen. For I find that the Icelandic MSS. speak of breast- 
 plates worn by the Northmen ; and as to their axes, it is stated 
 that the natives tried them on wood, and afterwards on stone ; buJ 
 the instruments used by the former to cut down maple trees, could 
 not withstand the use made of them by the latter, upon stone. Il 
 it be asked what has become of the Northmen, and where are then 
 descendants '? we answer : Like the mighty master-builders of the 
 splendid cities of Central America, and of the fortifications, mounds, 
 &c., of the United States, they have passed into oblivion. Nations 
 seem to vanish in a day : — Like the 300,000 inhabitants of Moscow, 
 who left the city instantly on the approach of the mad Corsican. 
 
 There have been discovered beyond latitude 68 = , in Greenland, 
 upwards of five hundred people, resembling those m the north of 
 Europe, probably descendants of the Northmen. 
 
 An important inquiry arises : Was Columbus aware of the dis- 
 covery of the Northmen 1 From a letter preserved by his son, it 
 appears he visited Iceland in 1477. It is thought by the Danes that 
 he there obtained a knowledge of the discovery of Vinland. Al- 
 lowing this to be the case, it is singular he should never have given 
 any intimation of such knowledge. 
 
 Instead of walking through Spain, leading his son by the hand, 
 would he not at once have rushed into the presence of the sove- 
 reigns, and acquired patronage, wealth, and honor, by telling them 
 that the obscure Icelanders had discovered the regions he wished 
 to unfold X 
 
 His greatest enemies never accused him of having reached the 
 New World by information received from Iceland. 
 
 But as Columbus was rather artful, he might, from particular 
 motives, have concealed this knowledge from the observation of 
 mankind. 
 
 After all, let not the circumstance of this prior discovery, cause, 
 m our view, the laurels given to Columbus to wither on his brow. 
 Let us ever honor him for his perseverance and his virtues. 
 
 Let not Lief and his associate Northmen deprive him of what 
 the voice of nations has awarded, the merit of having given, not 
 to Ferdinand and Isabella, only, but to successive generations, a 
 New World. 
 
 Iceland, though but a speck on the bosom of the Northern Ocean, 
 is not unworthy our notice. Though dark to the superficial ob- 
 server, yet it shines with a lustre brighter than the fiame rising 
 from its volcano. It is the light of knowledge. That obscure 
 island is remarkable for the attention paid to learning. Even many 
 among the common class pursue the higher branches of study. 
 Their long nights are enlived by the custom of every member of 
 the family gathering around the* bright lamp, while one reads for 
 the amusement and instruction of all. 
 
DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 27 
 
 The sources of happiness are not, like those of mighty rivers, 
 hid from tlie view of most people. They are accessible to all. 
 The Icelanders, living in a remote island, and cut off from the 
 priviliges that milder climates present, are naturally led to look for 
 happiness in the pursuit of knowledge. 
 
 If the celebrated Pliny could say his books were sovereign con- 
 solers of sorrow, cannot the Icelander also declare that when 
 mountain waves lash the shores, he can find pleasure in the pursuit 
 of those studies that mend the heart and enlighten the mind ! Ah 1 
 yes, fondness jbr books will create an artificial summer in the 
 depths of the most gloomy season. 
 
 The sunny Italy may boast of the beauteous tints that flush her 
 skies ; but after all, her effeminate inhabitants may be destitute of 
 that happiness enjoyed by those who live where winter reigns un- 
 controlled most of the year. 
 
 The benevolence of Deity is seen in the contentedness felt by 
 those who live in the higher latitudes, where, as a writer said of 
 countries north of the Alps, Nature seems to have acted the part 
 of step-mother. 
 
 What a contrast between the condition of the Icelanders and that 
 of their forefathers ! They were the worshipers of the god Wodin. 
 And what were his attributes 1 He was styled the Father of Car- 
 nage ! His greatest favorites were such as destroyed the most of 
 their fellow-creatures in the field of battle. 
 
 But the Prince of Peace has broken the sceptre of the Father 
 of Carnage. The benign influence of his Gospel is seen in all the 
 departments of government. Observe its effects as seen in the 
 difference between the feelings of Lodbrok, a Northman king and 
 skald, and those evinced by peace makers in Europe and America ! 
 Those who, when storms are rising in the political horizon, instead 
 of " letting slip the dogs of war,-' do all in their power to avert 
 the threatened dangers. Lodbrok in his death-song says : " Eight 
 Earls graced my Dwina's mouths. The crimson sweat of death 
 poured on the sullen sea." Yes, he exults in seeing his laurels dyed, 
 in the blood of his fellow-creatures. But the lovers of peace gaze 
 in rapture on those of the Great Pacificators of both continents 
 while verdant under a clear sky. 
 
 Who would not award to such heroes rather than to Augustus, 
 Ccesar, a place among the stars'? (See Georgica, B. I. 34.) 
 
 This, as Cicero said of Rome, is the glory of all lands. 
 
 "Wisdom and knowledge are the stability of our times. All 
 classes become sensible that knowledge is the guardian of property. 
 In every place they eagerly seek after that wisdom which, as Isoc- 
 rates says, is the only imperishable treasure. Who can stay the 
 progress of knowledge'? You might as well think of 'binding the 
 sweet influences of Pleiades, or of loosing the bands of Orion,'"* 
 
 * As the Pleiades appear in Spring, and Orion in Winter, Patrick g^ives the following 
 exposition to the above oassage, from Job, 38 ch., 31 v. ; — " Canst thou forbid the 
 
28 A LECTURE ON THE 
 
 as to attempt to oppose the march of mind. To swell the tide of 
 improvement, it is pleasing to reflect that men of the first talents 
 are engaged ; and that, through the medium of those lectures, 
 which, if they are not the fountains of knowledge, are important 
 guides to them. 
 
 A word in praise of the Scandinavians. Like the patriarch, 
 they went in search of a region, they knew not where. We 
 praise them for their courage, we applaud them for their zeal, we 
 respect them for their motives ; for they were anxious to enlarge 
 the boundaries of knowledge. They reached the wished-for land, 
 
 '* Where now the western sun 
 O'er fields and floods, o'er every Uving soul, 
 Diftuseth glad repose." 
 
 The Scandinavians have opened to view a broad region, where 
 smiling Hope invites successive generations from the Old World. 
 Snch men as Caesar or a Tamerlane, conquer but to devastate 
 countries. Discoverers add new regions of fertility and beauty to 
 those already known. And are not the hardy adventurers, plough- 
 ing the briny wave, more attractive than the troops of Alexander 
 marching to conquer the world, with plumes waving in the gentle 
 breeze, with arms glittering in the sun-beams 1 Who can tell the 
 benefits the former confer on mankind ] 
 
 " To count them all demands a thousand tongues, 
 A throat of brass and adamantine lungs." 
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 Since the above was written, the following important facts have 
 been obtained. 
 
 Mr. Schoolcraft thinks, as stated in his address Defore the His- 
 torical Society, N. Y.. that the pyramids and mounds of America 
 compose a form of architecture equally ancient ; which can be 
 traced back to the period of the original dispersion of mankind 
 He asks, who shall touch the scattered bones of aboriginal historv 
 with the spear of truth and cause the skeleton of this ancient so- 
 ciety to arise and live 1 There is no evidence — not a particle — 
 that the tribes came to the continent after the Christian Era. He 
 observes also that there are evidences of civilized people who lived 
 in Michigan and Indiana before the growth of the forests that cover 
 these states. 
 
 sweet flowers to come forth, when the seven stars rise in the Spring, or open the earth 
 for the husbandman's labor, when the winter season at the Orion ties up his hands." 
 
APPENDIX. 29 
 
 Dr. Dickeson, of Mississippi, has been penetrating a large number 
 of mounds in the south-western states. In these he found interest- 
 ing rehcs, such as mica mirrors, silver and copper ornaments, beads 
 of jasper, agate, &c., similar to those found in Mexico. Several 
 pearls of great beauty and lustre, an inch in diameter, have been 
 found. By an examination of skulls. Dr. Dickeson discovered that 
 dentistry had been extensively practised by this ancient people, as 
 plugging the teeth, and inserting artificial ones, was common. 
 
 The following is from the beautiful ballad of Prof. Longfellow on 
 the " Skeleton m Armor," found at Fall River. 
 
 <' Speak! speak! thou fearful guest, 
 Who, with thy hollow breast, 
 Still in rude armor drest, 
 
 Comest to daunt me! 
 Wrapped not in Eastern balms. 
 But with they fleshless palms 
 Stretched as'if asking alms. 
 
 Why dost thou haunt me? 
 
 How true it is, that wherever the sunlight falls, there appear the 
 temple, the priest, and the altar. If in Greece and Rome we see 
 a Venus smiling in marble, or a Pluto frowning, for such were their 
 Deities, so in Central America we see, apparently, a representation 
 of different Gods, as at Copan, Palenque, and Chi Chen. In Copan 
 are obelisks bearing on four sides beautiful hieroglyphics and images 
 of gods in basso relievo, while before such are altars six feet square 
 and four feet high, having on their upper surface, like characters 
 with those on the stone obelisks. On these altars it is supposed 
 human victims were offered. 
 
 In Palenque different gods were probably worshiped. Represent- 
 ations of such are found on the walls of splendid buildings. 
 
 In Chi Chen they must have worshiped "gods many," as is 
 evident from the appearance of the idols brought from those ruins 
 by Mr. Norman, and presented by him to the New York Historical 
 Society. They are now to be seen in the Museum of that Society 
 at the New York University. 
 
 In attending one of the meetings, lately, of this distmguished 
 institution, I heard an interesting letter read, from a gentleman 
 who has been travehng in Yucatan. He said much about the 
 beauty and splendor of the ruins, and thinks many antiquities are 
 yet to be unfolded. Buildings have lately been discovered that 
 were buried by the natives, in which were rooms made of hewn 
 stone, and whose walls were adorned with beautiful figures, and 
 paintings as fresh as though lately executed. 
 
 Ah! had we powder to read the Monumental History of Central 
 America, we might learn where once were forums in which a 
 Demosthenes or a Cicero declaimed against the wiles and treachery 
 of a Philip or a Cataline; where were groves as beautiful as thai 
 in which Plato taught, and where principles were promulgated, 
 surpassed only but by those advanced by him who spake as never 
 
30 APPENDIX. 
 
 man spake. As it is, we can only behold the fragments of a former 
 world. 
 
 Although the explorations of Peru have not been as extensive 
 as those of Central America, yet enough has been discovered to 
 convince us that its early inhabitants were highly civilized. 
 
 The late travels of Dr. J. J. Von Tshudi develope some interest- 
 ing facts on this subject. 
 
 Magnificent was the temple of Pacchacamac. The meaning of 
 this name of the principal deity is, He who made the ivorld out of 
 nothing. He was the god of the Yuncas. In the temple were 
 images worshipped by the people. These were destroyed by the 
 Incas, who dedicated the temple to the worship of the sun. Virgins 
 of royal birth were appointed to minister within its sacred walls. 
 In 1534, Pizarro took possession of the temple and murdered the 
 virgins. 
 
 Alas! while there Nature unbosomed her every grace to win 
 man to deeds of mercy, the invaders, in the name of Christianity, 
 committed acts at which humanity shudders, and from which mod- 
 esty veils her face. 
 
 This temple stood on a hill upwards of five hundred feet high. 
 It was surrounded with a lofty wall that rose in the form of an 
 amphitheatre. The hill is now covered with brick. 
 
 The road leading from Cusco to Quito, and through the empire, 
 was the finest in America; it was twenty-five or thirty feet wide, 
 and paved with large flat stones. 
 
 Amid the ruins were colossal palaces, fortresses, and temples. 
 The walls of these buildings were made of square stones so finely 
 cut that when united, a piece of paper could not be put between 
 them edgewise. How stones could be wrought so beautifully in 
 Peru, as well as farther north, without the aid of iron, is a mystery. 
 Possibly the inhabitants had the art, as well as the Egyptians, of 
 tempering copper so as to cut through solid granite. 
 
 Among the important works lately sent me by the politeness of 
 Prof. Rafn, Denmark, is a memoir of Einar vSockeson. He was a 
 son of a distinguished ruler, who lived at the residence of Eric the 
 Red, the discoverer of Greenland. At the father's request, in 1123, 
 Einar went to Norway to procure a bishop. He obtained Arnold, 
 the first bishop of Greenland. 
 
 Among the specimens of antiquity sent me, is the representation 
 of a church, built by the Northmen in Greenland, before the time 
 of Columbus. It is built with stone walls between four and five 
 feet thick. It has also an arched window, similar to those in the 
 Old Tower, Newport, R. I. A particular account of this church 
 was given by Capt. G. W. Grach, R. N. The Danes have found 
 with certainty the remains of five out of twelve churches left by 
 the Northmen in the eastern settlement of Greenland. 
 
 Bishop Hawks has written a valuable work on " Lost Greenland." 
 m which he speaks of seventeen bishops who successively presided 
 
APPENDIX. 31 
 
 IK that country. The colony suddenly disappeared in or near 1614. 
 I'je present colony was established in 1721. 
 
 The son of a Danish Bishop tells me, he saw the Governor of 
 Gieenland, an old schoolmate of his, who showed him a book pub- 
 iisiied in Greenland, giving an account of these discoveries. It had 
 a rude map of Cape Cod and Boston Harbor. 
 
 X was assured by gentlemen in Boston, that the cellars in Bremen, 
 Me., were left by the Northmen. They are walled up with free 
 stone, unlike any found in that quarter. Large trees were growing 
 over them. 
 
 Mr. Baily, of Pittsburgh, who has spent five years in the upper 
 regions of Lake Superior, says, the ancients once worked the mines 
 there. A tree four hundred years old, was found growing over one 
 of the furnaces. 
 
 If any doubt whether the old stone Tower at Newport, R. 1., or 
 the skeleton at Fall River, were left by the Northmen, I reply that 
 we do not look to such as necessary to substantiate the truth of our 
 position. 
 
 Ah ! could Columbus rise from the sleep of centuries, and behold, 
 not the eastern part of China, which, to the day of his death, he 
 supposed he had discovered, how great would be his astonishment 
 in seeing a new continent, once inhabited by enlightened nations. 
 Would he not exclaim: Here was the primal land where once Eden 
 displayed her lovely groves, enlivened by birds of every plumage, 
 where crystal fountains gushed amid shrubs of the deepest verdure, 
 and where flowers of all hues emitted their sweet perfumes. 
 
 It will be recollected that Columbus believed that the garden of 
 Eden was in Paria, lO'^ N. lat. South America, the only part of the 
 continent he discovered, and where Hesperian fruits, if found, were 
 found there only. 
 
 This master spirit, who supposed his discoveries w^ere foretold in 
 the Divine Oracles, never stepped but on the threshold of the temple 
 of knowledge of the New World. For at the very hour he was 
 kneeling before Isabella, whose woman's curiosity or woman's 
 determination gave America to Europe, there were on this con- 
 tinent, courts that in magnificence surpassed the court of Solomon. 
 
 If we can judge from the past, we must presume there are many 
 wonderful discoveries yet to be made in the Western Continent. 
 Time is the mighty revealer. Its disclosures are as gradual as the 
 approach of the morning light. At first the riches of Mexico 
 and Peru, afterwards the remains of beautiful cities in Central 
 America and the early voyages of the Scandinavians, were revealed 
 to the astonishment of the world. But last of all, the flaming mines 
 of California burst upon the eye, and invite adventurers from both 
 hemispheres to gather in a golden harvest. 
 
 But, alas! this harvest will be gathered not altogether by the 
 first emigrants. The shores of the Pacific will be ultimately 
 peopled by the enterprising, the intelligent, and the good; but the 
 
32 APPENDIX 
 
 pioneers will be great sufferers. Flourishing states will rise on 
 foundations cemented by the blood of those instigated by a thirst 
 for gold. 
 
 The adventurer gazing at the distant realm where more than the 
 treasures of Ophir await his grasp, overlooks the dangers that 
 lie in the intermediate way. To him the opening fields disclose 
 their fragrance and their bloom. The breezes breathe perfume. 
 But in his oward march, distance fatigues the eye and gloomy 
 damps oppress the soul. Alas ! he finds too late, that a " man's life 
 consisteth not in the abundance of things he possesseth" — that 
 which is acquired by the sacrifice of all the endearments of the 
 loved home he has abandoned perhaps forever. 
 
 It may be asked, What does it matter to us what happened before 
 the time of Columbus'? It is nothing to those who have none of 
 that curiosity that distinguishes the inquirers after knowledge. 
 And not to know what happened before we were born, even a 
 heathen said, is always to be children. 
 
 But it is pleasant to reflect that the spirit of I'csearch is abroad. 
 And each new adventurer can gain new tropics by penetrating still 
 deeper into the illimitable solitude of either continent. 
 
 What important discoveries have been made lately, in the East 
 in particular, by the laudable researches of the curious. The 
 Tumuli of Ninevah have revealed to the antiquarian wonderful 
 specimens of ancient art. On splendid slabs of marble, among 
 other striking objects, beautiful representations of warlike instru- 
 ments are found, and such as were supposed to be known only to 
 the Romans, as the catapulta, battering ram, &c. 
 
 Amid the ruins of Persepolis have been discovered remarkable 
 mscriptions of the arrow form. Ey the exertions of Maj. Eawlinson 
 in particular, these characters have been deciphered. They give 
 the history of Darius, one of the kings of Persia, who lived 550 
 years before Christ. 
 
 It is well to remember that these discoveries in archa3ology often 
 throw light on the sacred Scriptures. An instance mentioned by 
 Bishop Potter, while lecturing on the connection between ^' science 
 and religion," is worthy of notice. He observed that it ivas not 
 known what kind of cup that was named in Gen. xliv, v. 5, till it 
 was found represented as the Divining Cup among the antiquities 
 of Egypt. 
 
 To the reflecting mind avenues of pleasure open on every hand. 
 Such witness the power and goodness of Deity written in starry 
 letters upon the azure sky. Vistas of light and glory open amid 
 the desolations of time. For from these an over-ruling Providence 
 erects nations distinguished for every thing that enobles humanity. 
 Yes, before those of every class who love study, the moral land- 
 scape ever spreads before them 
 
 ♦' Bright as noon, 
 Or gentle as the golden star of eve " 
 
From J. r. Schn>,uL,\ fj. D. C" 
 
 B 
 
 The Lecture bv Mr. Davis on Anieiicaii Aiitifiuilie)?, has atlorded me, ami the iiieiii- 
 !)ers of this Institution great pleasure. Thvj interest of his subject and the manner of 
 his impartinif knowledge, enabled liiiu to command the fixed attention of his audience 
 lor an hour and a half. We wish him success, and unue in commending him to our 
 friends. J. F. SCHROEDER, Rector. 
 
 For the Professors, Teachers, and Pupi's of St. Ann's Hall. 
 Nciv York, Feb. 11, 1847. 
 
 From licv. Mr. Ciiiich, Boston. 
 The Lectures now being delivered in this city by the Rev. A. Davis, on "The Dis- 
 covery of the American Continent by the Northmen," and on the " Ruins of Centra! 
 America," are exceedingly interesting. 1 had tlie pleasure last evening of being an 
 j auditor of the first Lecture, and v/as, in common with many others, highly gratified. 
 1 trust that Mr. Davis may meet with that success which he deserves. He has evidently 
 l)estowed great labor and investigation upon this interesting subject, of which he has 
 made himself perfectly master. 'I'hosewho attend Mr. Davis's Lectures wdl find them- 
 selves well repaid for the time they may spend, by the instruction and pleasure which 
 they cannot fail to receive. 
 
 From Archbishop Eccleston. 
 
 On the authority of an introductory letter from the Rt. Rev. Bishop of Albany, 1 
 take pleasure in recommending the Lectures about to be delivered by Professor Davis 
 on subjects to which he has devoted years of patient study and successful research. J 
 trust that his reception in Baltimore will be as favorable as it has been every where else. 
 
 Baltimore, Feb. 15,1850. ^ SAMUEL, ARCHBP., BALTLMORE. 
 
 From H. P. Tappan, D. D. 
 
 I have this morning, with fifty of my i)upils, enjoyed the pleasure of hearing Mr. 
 Davis lecture on the Antiquities of North and CeiUral America. The subject is one of 
 deep interest, and Mr. Davis has a happy tact in presenting the facts which have been 
 gathered bv tiaveiers, and the important and startling inferences which antiquarians 
 have made'from them. HENRY P. TAPPAN. 
 
 \\l Carroll Place, N. Y. Feb. 5th, 1847. 
 
 From the Protestant Chtirch/ium, N. Y. 
 The Editor, Mr. Bradford, concludes thus: — "An exchange paper, in noticing these 
 Lectui'es, says: ' The first related to organic remains found in the United States, Mexico, 
 and other portions of the American Coniiuent, and went to show that this country was 
 formerly connected with Asia, and inhabited by a iiighly civilized lace of beings. ' The 
 Lecturer gave a glowing account of the efforts being made by men of learning and 
 science, under the auspices of learned societies,, in legard to the subject of American 
 Antiquities. Mr. D.'s second Lecture was a continuation of the same subject, confined 
 mostly, however, to the discovery of New England by the Northmen, more that eight 
 hundred years ago. A multitude of authorities were referred to in proof of this; as, 
 also, important discoveries, and other cii-cumstances in New England and elsewhere, 
 going to show that such was the case. Mr. Davis illustrated his Lectures with a 
 number of drawings and specimens of antiquated remains, which greatly enhanced the 
 interest of the subject. His discourses gave evidence that he had made the subject of 
 Antiquarian research one of laborious study, and his remarks were highly entertaining 
 and instructive."' 
 
 From J. M'Canl, D. D. LL. D. Prcs. U. C. Universal/. 
 
 King's CorxKGE, Toronto, May SOth, 1845. 
 My Di:ak SIr: — 1 have read with great interest your brief condensation of the proofs 
 wluc'n niay be advanced, of the discoveiy of America before the voyages of Columbus, 
 and the evidence afforded by the ruins, recently discovered in the southern part of this 
 continent, of the existence of a powerful and civilized nation, pievious to the ariival of 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 The snbiect is not one merely calcidated to excite the attention and reward the re- 
 searches of anti(]uarians, but is also capable (as per testimonials fully demonstrated) of 
 being rendered highly attractive in a popular lecture. 
 [2 Believe me, vours faithfullv, '■ 
 
 P Rkv. A. Dwrs ■ JOHN M'CAUL. ^ 
 
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 BOOKBINDING 11