s % 'V- ^LIBRARY ^ *? ^l-UBRARY ^ irir ^^ y of Kouloba 2. Eltftnun"V for prfumeo, found. -ne"IKQuieen.'s remains a. Embousd. (VorK, runiMHj roaMiT*** SCYTHIAN RELICS FOUND IN THE TUMULUS. PREFACE. IMPRESSED with a belief that many persons had an erroneous idea regarding the tumuli of America, I undertook to show, by giving accounts of similar works scattered over Europe and Asia, that such monuments were not peculiar to America. The collec- tion of these facts led me to other considerations, and I conceived the idea of a comparison of the tumuli and ancient monuments of the Old World with those of the New World, and so I collected descriptions of some of the most remarkable tumuli and ancient monuments of America. As I advanced the prospect enlarged, and, considering the material I had collected would serve to illus- trate history, I gathered additional facts of a different character to use in connection with the preceding, to demonstrate that an intercourse existed between the two hemispheres in very remote ages, and to show the probable origin of the peoples who inhabited North America when it was last discovered by Europeans. The title of this book, though expressing the principal subjects of which the most of this volume consists, yet neither of INDIANS nor of ANTIQUITIES does it give a full account, and it is the same of the other subjects, viz. : the remarkable tumuli and monuments of remote antiquity ; the most ancient navigation, navies, vessels, voy- ages, colonies, and commerce of the Old World. The information on the great variety of subjects of which this book treats has been derived from divers sources; some from 'the works of men eminent in science; some from the narratives of distinguished and reliable travellers ; some from the histories of celebrated authors, both ancient and modern ; and, finally, some from the accounts of recent travellers confirming what has been related by those who had preceded them. With this notice, and a reference to the table of contents, a correct idea can be formed of the plan and object of this work. * 610285 VI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE A Siberian Tumulus and its Contents The Tumuli of Bouchtarma Tumuli in Chinese Tartary Tumuli in the Region of the Lepsou River Marco Polo's Account of the Burial of the Grand Khans The- Great Plain of Central Asia Two Remarkable Tombs The Region of the Karatau An Immense Ancient Earthwork and Tumuli on the Lepsou Grand Mountain Scenery of the Karatau and the Alatau Fort Kopal Huge Blocks of Stone Erect on the Kora A Remarkable Stone Tumulus The Mineral Springs and Baths at Arasan The Pass of Karatau The Kirghis Ranges Large Tumuli An Area of One Mile by Four Covered with Tumuli, ....... 39 CHAPTER VII. The Tumuli of Europe Human Sacrifices The Burial Laws of Odin The Tumuli of Ireland The Tumulus of New Grange The Tumulus of Thyre Danebod The Skip's ^Elunger or Ship's Tumulus The Buried Ship of Gokstad, in Norway Tumuli of Britain, of Stone- henge, of Dorsetshire The Age of Celtic Tumuli Tumuli of Canter- bury ; of Cracow, Poland The Tumulus of Kosiusko, ... 48 CHAPTER VIII. Stonehenge Avebury The Gaelic Monuments of France Carnak, . . 56 CHAPTER IX. The Serpent Mound of Oban, Scotland Prehistoric Remains Near the Ser- pent Mound of Ohio The Kistvean The Loggan, or Rocking Stone, of Fordham, New York Druidical or Sabian Circles in Central Arabia Monumental Stones of Algeria, of Constantine and Tripoli in Af- rica Menhirs of Setiff Monumental Stones of Hindustan, of the Dekkan, and of Southern India, ........ 69 CHAPTER X. Tumuli of America Peru : Religion Deities Huacas Academies As- tronomy Division of Time Festivals Sacrifices Navigation of the Peruvians, of the Yucatans, of the Floridians, . . . . 75 CHAPTER XI. Peru : Guaquas Copper Axes Temples Fortresses Pucaras Burials Tombs Mummies, ...... .... 89 CHAPTER XII. \L Mexico : Aztec Migration Teocallis Description of the Great Temple of ff^ Mexico, by Bernal Diaz Mexican Cannibals The Teocalli of Cozu- mel and Sempoalla The Victims of Sacrifice The Teocallis of Cho- lula Their Destruction The History of Cholula Its Great Temple Teocallis as Forts The Capture of the Great Temple of Mexico The Capture of the Teocallis of Sempoalla, 99 CONTENTS. Vll CHAPTER XIII. PAGE Mexico : The Founding of the Great Temple Description of It by Clavi- gero Description of the Temples of Teotihuacan by Brantz Mayer Humboldt's Account of Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Mitla and Papantla The Mexican Hierarchy, Monasteries, Nunneries, Sacrifices, Offer- ings, Penances and Funerals Fortifications, . . . . .121 CHAPTER XIV. The Toltecas Their Migration, Character, Knowledge of Astronomy Their National Extinction Their Dispersion, ..... 144 CHAPTER XV. Mexican Chronology The Abbe Don Lorenzo Herva's Letter to the Abbe Don Francisco Severio Clavigero, on the Mexican Calendar, . .148 CHAPTER XVI. Mexican Festivals The Worship of Fire Father Garces and Font's Visit to the Gila and the Moqui Country in 1773 The Rio Grande Basin The Pueblos of the Rio Grande, Rio Verde and Rio Gila Casa Blanca or Montezuma and Casa Grande of the. Gila The Casas Grandes of the Rio Casas Grandes New Mexico, when First Discovered The Journey of Espejo Through New Mexico in 1582 Its Cities and Peo- ples in 1782, . . . 158 CHAPTER XVII. The Abbe Rrasseur de Bourbourg's Observations on the Civilized Nations of Mexico and Central America, ........ 173 CHAPTER XVIII. The American Indian, by Ulloa, Croghan, Carver and Charlevoix The Opinions of Fathers Gregorio Garcia, Joseph de Acosta, John de Laet, Emanuel de Moraez, George de Huron Charlevoix's Method to Dis- cover the Earliest and the Latest Emigrants, ..... 184 CHAPTER XIX. Tumuli Ucita Cafaciqui Cartersville Mounds and Idols Casquin Capaha Breckenridge's Description of Capaha The Tensas Mounds Tonti and the Tensas Indians The Destruction of their Temple, . 194 CHAPTER XX. The Home of the Natchez Tonti' s and La Salle's Visit to the Tensas and the Natchez, in 1682 Iberville's Visit to the Natchez in April, 1700 Penicaut's Account of the Natchez in 1700 Du Pratz's Account of the Funeral of the Great Female Sun The Religion of the Natchez Their Government Their Feasts Their Temples, and the Funeral of the Stung Serpent, . .206 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXL PAGE The Sultzertown Mounds The Macon Mounds The Flat Heads, . . 224 CHAPTEE XXII. Views of a Member of the First Congress The Works on Little River, in the State of Georgia Bartram's Account of Them Cullsate, Sticoe and Keowee Ancient Tombs and Fortifications on the River Huron, or Bald Eagle Ancient Works near Newark, Ohio Ancient Fortifica- tions at Marietta, Ohio The Ancient Works at Grave Creek, Virginia Schoolcraft's Visit to Them, . > . ^ . * . . . .231 CHAPTER XXIII. Brecken ridge's Description of the American Bottom, and the Mounds of Cahokia and Saint Louis The Mummies of Tennessee The Mounds near St. Charles, Missouri The Trinity Mounds of Louisiana, . . 251 CHAPTER XXIV. Bartram's Account of the Cherokees, Muscogulges and Choctaws, . . 260 CHAPTER XXV. Indian Burials, Idols, Mounds, Terraces and Avenues, .... 267 CHAPTER XXVI. Effigy Mounds The Mounds of Wisconsin The Elephant Mound Ele- phants' Remains at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, 1735, . . . 275 CHAPTER XXVII. Captain James G. Swan's Account of the Chanooks and Chahalis of " the Northwest Coast" of the United States The Antiquity of the Ameri- can Continent How Long Inhabited by Man Origin of the Human Race The Jargon Language Peculiarities of Indian Pronunciation, 279 CHAPTER XXVIII. The Caraibs the Most Expert in Maritime Affairs of all the Savage Inhab- itants of America Their Vessels Their Navigation The Caracoli The Caraibs' Skill in Manufactures Toulola or Arrow- root Their Cure for Wounds Made by Poisoned Arrows The Destruction of the Caraibs, . . . . . .286 CHAPTER XXIX. The Mummies of Tennessee and of Kentucky Where Found How Dressed and How Buried, . . . . ... . . 297 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XXX. PAGE !/ Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell on the Varieties of the Human Race The Settle- ment of America The High Rock Spring of Saratoga, New York, an Evidence of the Antiquity of Man Lewis H. Morgan on Indian Mi- gration, . 304 CHAPTER XXXI. Captain John Dundas Cochran's Account of Niskney Kolymsk Amuse- ments Weather Occupations Animals Baron Wrangel's Trip to the Fair on the Aniuy The Yukagiri The Fortress The Chukche The Fair Chess Articles of Trade Chukche Chiefs Reindeer The Chukche Peninsula Chukche, 312 CHAPTER XXXII. The Voyage of the Vega The Northern Coast of Asia Chukches The Northernmost Capes of Asia The Onkilon The Winter Quarters of the Vega Chukche Settlements Chukche Trade and Travel Mam- moth Remains, . . . . . . . . . ... 322 CHAPTER XXXIII. The Division of the Chukches Their Population Their Burials, Tents, Boats, etc., 335 CHAPTER XXXIV. St. Lawrence Bay Port Clarence Eskimos Their Implements, Burials, etc. Nephite Ocean Currents The Behring Strait Channel Konyan Bay Geological Features Lawrence Island Eskimo The Discovery of Kamschatka Peter the Great Expeditions to Kamschatka The First Voyage of Behring, ..... 341 CHAPTER XXXV. v/The Voyage of Marco Polo in 1291, A.D. Jewish and Egyptian Types Among Indians in America The Voyages of the Norsemen, 860-1000 A.D. Their Route to America Their Relics on Baffin's Bay The Voyage of Leif Eirekson The Viking's Vessel of Gokstad, Norway The Voyage of Captain Magnus Andersen to America on the "Vik- ing," 1893 A.D., . . 353 CHAPTER XXXVI. J Ancient Navigation, Navies, Vessels, Crews and Voyages The Shipwreck of St. Paul Egyptian, Indian and Carthaginian Ships Their Con- struction The Extent of Carthaginian Navigation, .... 365 CHAPTER XXXVII. Ancient Settlements Idumeans Omerites Chuseens Eastern and West- ern Sabians Arabia Felix Ophir Diodorus's Account of the Sa- bians Tartessa, or Tarsis of Cilicia, and of Iberia, .... 382 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVIII. PAGE Ancient Voyages Canaanites or Sidonians Voyages from Elath and Ezion-Geber to Tarsis Josephus on Solomon and Hiram Phoenician Colonies Diodorus's Description of the Country of Elath and Ezion- Geber, and the Sinus ^Elanitticus The Phoenicians and Carthaginians Necho Necho's Canal Phoenicians Sail from the Red Sea Around Africa to Egypt Commerce Between Egypt and India The Voyage of Scylax from India to Egypt, . 389 CHAPTER XXXIX. Alexander Prepares to Leave India The Voyage of Nearchus from the Indus to the Euphrates The Ichthyophagi Whales The Coast of Suza Alexander Sails Up the Tigris His Great Naval Preparations at Babylon His Grand Scheme of Conquest, Commerce, Colonies, Expeditions Ptolemy Philadelphus The Indian Voyage and Trade, 401 CHAPTER XL. Alexander's Plans The Voyage of Hanno Bougainville's Comments on the Voyage of Hanno Carthaginian Colonies in Africa Carthaginian Traffic in Africa The Gold Mines in the Regions of the Senegal and Rio-d'-Ouro The Voyages and Vessels of Columbus The Nina The Storm The Hurricane The Duration of the Voyages of Columbus Across the Atlantic Ocean Humboldt's Account of the Route from the Canaries to Cumana The Voyage of Bligh in a Launch, . . 417 CHAPTER XLI. Migrations, and Transmission of Names The Phoceans Massalia The Samians Tartessus The Caravan Route from Yarkand te Kara- Korum The Country of the Mongols and Toltecans The Kalkas Tartars Kara-Korum Indian Offshoots from Mexico The Aztec Route Jefferson's "Views in Regard to Indians" Tepe Mateo Tepe Volney's Account of Indians Volney and Mishikinakwa, or Little Turtle ^r. Barton on Indian Languages Jefferson on Lan- guages President D. S. Jordan on the Urgent Need of a National University, . . . . . . . . . . 432 From copies Drawn by Mr. WILLIAM TRABUE, of Louisville, Kentucky. NO. PAGE 1 18 Peninsula of Kertch or Panticapseum. 2 18 Plan of Kertch. 3 25 Interior of the Great Tumulus at Kertch. 4. ..Frontispiece. ..Scythian Kelics found in the'Tumulus. 5 44 A Great Tumulus near Kopal. 6 44 Kopal and Tumuli. 7 56 Stonehenge. 8 92 Adoratorie of Cayambe. 9 92 The Callo Palace of the Incas. 10 94 The Palace and Citadel of the Incas. 11 103 The Great Temple of Mexico. 12 127 TheKuins of Teotihuacan. 13 162 The Casa Grande of the Gila. 14 166 The Pueblo of Hungo Pavie. 15 195 The Tumuli of Cofacique. 16 197 The Tumuli near Cartersville, Georgia. 17 227 The Tumuli near Macon, Georgia. 18 236 The Earthworks on the River Huron, Michigan. 19 238 The Earthworks at Newark, Ohio. 20 240 The Earthworks at Marietta, Ohio. 21 341 Behring Strait. 22 362 The Viking, Model of the Vessel Buried at Gokstad, Norway. 23 426 The Nina, of the Squadron of Columbus on his First Voyage to America. THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES OF AMERICA. CHAPTER I. The Tumuli Derivation of the word Tepe The Ancient Uses of Tuinuli Superstitious Ideas in Eegard to Them Serpent Mounds Serpent Wor- ship Sacred Fires The Earliest and the Latest Tumuli Different Kinds of Tumuli Their Age and Multitude. TUMULI, a name generally given to those hillocks or mounds of earth which were anciently erected over the bodies of deceased heroes or persons of distinguished character, are considered by a learned antiquarian as the most ancient sepulchral monuments. This mode of interment may be traced to remotest antiquity, and the religion of those times had much to do with the erection of these monuments, as the earliest records of these times plainly in- dicate. And as religious ideas are the most tenacious and most durable that possess the human mind, so have they been trans- mitted from generation to generation through many thousands of years ; and it is by reference to these religious rites that some knowledge can be acquired of their construction, and the motives and purposes of their erection, and. that the relations of different and distant nations in past ages may be traced through many centuries. Bryant, in his " Analysis of Ancient Mythology,' ' treats of re- ligious rites and customs in their relation to the tumuli of the Old World. He says : " Lower Egypt being flat, and annually overflowed, the natives were forced to raise the soil on which they built their principal edifices, in order to secure them from the inundation ; and many of their sacred towers were erected upon conical mounds of earth. But there were often hills of the same form constructed for relig- ious purposes, upon which there was no building. These were very common in Egypt. Hence we read of Taphanes, Taph-Osiris, Taph-Osiris-Parva, and contra Taphias, in Antoninus, all of this country. In other parts Taphiousa, Tape, Taphusa Tapori, Taphus, Taphorus, Taphitis. [Though here the word Tape Tepe 1 2 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. I. is derived from taphos, yet it is probable that Tepe is an aborigi- nal word.] All these names relate to high altars, upon which they used oftentimes to offer human sacrifices." Typhen, compounded of Tuph-On, which signifies the hill or altar of the Sun, was one of these. Tophet was a mount of this form. " They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnon, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire." " They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal."* These cruel operations were generally performed upon mounts of this sort, which from their conical figure were named Tuph and Tupha. It seems to have been a term current in many countries. " The Amonians, when they settled in Greece, raised many of these Tupha or Tapha in different places. As it was usual in an- cient times to bury persons of distinction under heaps of earth formed in this fashion, these Tapha came to signify tombs ; and almost all the sacred mounds, raised for religious purposes, were looked upon as monuments of deceased heroes. Hence Taph- Osiris was rendered Taphos, Tot/>o<;, or the bury ing- place of the God Osiris ; and, as there were many such places in Egypt and Arabia sacred to Osiris and Dionusus, they were all by the Greeks esteemed places of sepulture. The tumulus of the Latines was mistaken in the same manner. It was originally a sacred hillock, and was often raised before temples as an altar. In process of time the word tumulus was in a great measure looked upon as a tomb ; and tumulo signified to bury. The Greeks speak of numberless sepulchral monuments, which they have thus misinterpreted." " These supposed places of sepulture were so numerous that Clemens Alexandrinus tells us they were not to be counted. But after all, these Taphoi were not tombs but conical mounds of earth, on which, in the first ages, offerings were made by fire." These learned remarks of Bryant are interesting and instructive. They show the great age and the great multitude of ancient ar- tificial mounds. Some were erected for religious purposes, and others as tombs and monuments of heroes and illustrious men. At the tombs of these heroes religious ceremonies were sometimes performed, and sometimes the hero was even deified ; so it may be said some of these mounds partook of both a religious and a sepulchral character. Bryant himself says " that it was usual in ancient times to bury persons of distinction under heaps of earth in this fashion," that is, under a '' conical mound of earth.' ' Cheva- * Jeremiah, c. 7, v. 31, and c. 19, v. 5. CHAP. I.] OF AMERICA. 3 Her, in his " Description of the Plains of Troy," says : " Mr. Bryant has endeavored to prove that the Greeks were mistaken in sup- posing what were sacred mounds to be the tombs of heroes. But the concurrent testimony of Homer and all antiquity is sufficient to convince us that they had no other way of preserving their ashes than by depositing them under these hillocks. Barrows of a similar shape and of the same sort are to be found in all ceme- teries, and wherever any trouble has been taken to ransack them, the remains of human bones have always been found within them. Some few of them might be particularly consecrated to the ceremo- nies of religion, but it cannot be denied that the greatest number was destined to the purpose of containing the ashes of heroes and other great men." Bryant says, " When towers were situated upon eminences fash- ioned very round they were, by the Amonians, called Tith, which answers to Ti TBrj and Tt TBoq of the Greeks. They were so de- nominated from their resemblance to a woman's breast and were particularly sacred to the deities of light. Mounds of this nature are often termed from their resemblance p.aaToeidfj.^ ^o?. " These mounds, tophoi mastoides, were not only in Greece, but in Egypt, Syria, and most parts of the world. They were gen- erally formed by art ; being composed of earth raised very high, which was sloped gradually and with great exactness : and the top of all was crowned with a fair tower. The situation of these buildings caused them to be looked upon as places of great safety, and the reverence in which they were held added to their security. On these accounts they were the repositories of much wealth and treasure. There were often two of these mounds of equal height in the same enclosure. The Mezraim called these hills Typhon. In these temples the sun was principally adored, and the rites of fire celebrated. The ground set apart for such use was generally oval, and towards one extremity of the long diameter, as it were in the focus, were these mounds and towers erected. They were termed Tarchon, which by corruption was in later times rendered Trachon. There were two hills of this denomination near Damas- cus. These were hills with towers. Solomon takes notice of a hill of this sort upon Lebanon looking towards Damascus.* The term Trachon seems to have been still further sophisticated by the Greeks, and expressed Dracon, from whence in a great measure arose the notion of treasures being guarded by Dragons. Such are the poetical representations ; but the history at bottom relates to * Canticles, c. 7, v. 4. 4 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. I sacred towers, dedicated to the symbolical worship of the serpent, where there was a perpetual watch, and a light ever burning. The Titanian temples were stately edifices erected, in Chaldea, as well as in Lower Egypt, upon mounds of earth. "The ancients sometimes wilfully misrepresented things, in order to create wonder. Iphicrates relates that in Mauritania there were dragons of such extent that grass grew upon their backs. It is said of Taxiles, a mighty prince of India, and a rival of Porus, that upon the arrival of Alexander the Great, he showed him every- thing that was in his country curious, and which could win the attention of a foreigner. Among other things, he carried him to see a dragon, which was sacred to Dionusus, and itself esteemed a god. It was of a stupendous size, being in extent equal to five acres; and resided in a low deep place, walled to a great height. The Indians offered sacrifices to it, and it was daily fed by them from their flocks and herds, which it devoured at an amazing rate : that it was treated rather as a tyrant than a benevolent deity. Two dragons of a like nature are said to have resided in the mountains of Abisares, or Abiosares, in India ; the one was eighty cubits in length, the other one hundred and forty.* Similar to the above is the account given by Posidonius of a serpent which he saw in the plains of Macra, a region in Syria ; and he says it was about an acre in length, and of a thickness so remarkable that two persons on horseback, when they rode on the opposite sides, could not see one another. Each scale was as big as a shield, and a man might ride into its mouth. What can this description allude to but the ruins of an ancient Ophite temple, which is represented in this enigmatical manner to raise admira- tion. The plains of Macra were not far from Mount Lebanon and Hermon, where the Hevites resided, and where serpent wor- ship particularly prevailed. The Indian dragon seems to have been of the same nature. It was probably a temple and its environs, where a society of priests resided, and worshipped the Deity under the semblance of a serpent. The python of Par- nassus is well known, which Apollo is supposed to have slain. After all, this dragon was a serpent temple; a tumbos formed of earth." Plutarch takes notice that in the temple of Amon there was a light continually burning. The like was observable in the temples of the Egyptians. Pausanias mentions the lamp of Minerva Polias, at Athens, which never went out ; the same custom * "Strabo," 1., 15. CHAP. I.] OF AMERICA. 5 was kept up in most of the Prutaneia.* The Chaldeans and Per- sians had sacred hearths on which they preserved perpetual fire. In the temple of Apollo Carneus, at Gyrene, the fire upon the altar was never suffered to be extinguished. A like account is given by Said Ebn Batrick of the sacred fire which was preserved in the great temple at Aderbain in Armenia. A nation in India called Caimachitae had large Puratheia, and maintained a per- petual fire. According to the Levitical law a constant fire was to be kept up upon the altar of God.f The Roman Catholics keep lights continually burning before their altars. " Towers of this sort were often consecrated to the Ophite deity called Opis and Oupis. The temple was called Kir-Upis, which the Greeks abridged to Grupes ; and finding many of the Amonian temples in the north with the device of a winged serpent upon the frontal, they gave this name to the hieroglyphic. Hence, prob- ably, arose the notion of Gryphons Grupes, which like the dragons were supposed to be guardians of treasures, and to never sleep. The real conservators of the wealth were the priests. They kept up a perpetual fire, and an unextinguished light in the night. From Ker Upis, the place of his residence, a priest was named Grupes. The poets have represented grupes as animals of the serpentine kind, and supposed them to have been in countries of the Arimasphians, Alazonians, Hyperboreans, Scythic nations of the same family, and other northern regions which the Amonians possessed." This name, Amonian, Bryant applies to the descendants of Ham. He says : " They were all of the line of Ham, who was held by his posterity in the highest veneration. They called him Amon, and have in process of time raised him to a divinity ; they worship him as the sun, and from his worship they were styled Amonians. Under this denomination are included all of this family ; whether they were Egyptians or Syrians, of Phenicia, or of Canaan. There once existed a wonderful resemblance in the rites, cus- toms and terms of worship among nations widely separated. This similitude of terms, and the religious system which was so widely propagated, were owing to one great family who spread themselves almost universally. Their colonies went abroad under the sanction of their priests, and carried with them both the rites and the records of their country."! * Prutaneia, Temple of Vesta, where the sacred fire was kept. Puratheia, Persian fire temple. t Leviticus, c. 6, v. 13. Bryant's "Analysis of Ancient Mythology." 6 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. I. This opinion of Bryant that one family and its colonies and descendants spread their religious ideas and rites over the whole world may appear plausible to many, but the nature of man has been the same in all ages, and in all climes. The same sun that shone for the Persians shone also for the Peruvians, and they both worshipped it. There is no more perfect symbol of the sun than fire, and they both adopted it, Earthern pottery has been made by nearly all the nations of the world, and in all ages, but it is not necessary to refer all these to one and the same origin. The same necessity and the same ma- terial were the origin of the earthern utensils of the Old World and of the New. Because a god of war was worshipped in Mexico, it is not neces- sary to trace its origin to Mars, in order to account for the idolatry of the Mexicans. But notwithstanding all this, religious ideas, rites, and cere- monies have been transmitted from nation to nation through a long succession of ages. While we find in the Old World the his- torical record of these facts, the New World presents the material evidence of a similar transmission. Tumuli, or ancient artificial mounds, are found almost every- where where the human race has inhabited. They are found in America in various places, from the Great Lakes to Chili. In the Old World they are found in localities from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, and from Siberia to India. The Assyrians, the Persians, the Babylonians and the Greeks made them. The Celts and the Saxons, the Scythians, Mongolians and Hungarians, all these peoples made mounds over their dead. The earliest, or at least one of the earliest of recorded mounds was that erected by Semiramis over the remains of Ninus, 3810 years ago. Semiramis buried Ninus within the precincts of the palace, and erected over him a hugh mound. Diodorus Siculus says of Ninus : " He was interred at Ninive in a sepulchre that was made for him of a marvellous bigness, being in height, according to Etesias, nine hundred and thirty-seven and a half fathoms, and about half a league about ; which hugh structure [in regard to the city] seated in a plain country by the Euphrates, is seen afar off, as it were a castle ; and it is said that it is yet in being, although the Medes did long since destroy the city of Ninive, when they ruled over the Assyrians." Of Semyramis Diodorus says : " Semyramis went into Persia and other regions of Asia under her rule and dominion, and every- where caused mountains and rocks to be cut in sunder to make CHAP. I.] OF AMERICA. 7 the ways easy for travellers, and in the plain and flat countries she cast up great mounds of earth whereon she built either sepulchres for her commanders, or some cities and towns. It was her manner also to raise up high banks in her camp, where she pitched her tent, that from thence she might take a view of her army. Of all these are many marks and ruins in Asia remaining to this day, which are still said to be the work of this queen." The most recent monument of this kind, raised in memory of distinguished men, is that erected by the people of Poland in memory of Kosiusco, the Polish patriot and hero, the friend of Washington. This mound was made in the year 1819, by the volun- tary labor of the Polish people. It has a base 300 feet in diameter, and an elevation of 175 feet. Within this long period of time, from Ninus to Kosiusco, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians and the Persians have passed away ; the empires of the Macedo- nians, the Romans, the Mongolians and the Arabs have risen and perished ; while multitudes of kingdoms, nations and tribes have passed into oblivion, so to no one nation can the erection of these mounds be attributed as the sole authors of them, or referred as the peculiarity of that particular nation. There was no nation of mound-builders in the Old World. These monuments of the Old World, the remains of extinct peo- ples, are known to have been increasing in number for nearly four thousand years. When, therefore, we consider the durability of such monuments, and the multitude of nations that erected them in this long succession of ages, it is not surprising that they should be found in almost every country of Europe and Asia. They are found in Ireland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Poland, Tartary, Siberia, China, India, Asia Minor and Greece, and in the countries along the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. Some of these mounds are the tombs of heroes, kings and chiefs, and some were erected for religious purposes. Some have been erected by the command of kings ; some by the voluntary act of a nation. In some countries they are known to the people by the name of him who is interred beneath them. The history of some of remote antiquity is known, while the origin of others is lost in the remoteness of time. They are known by the names tumuli, barrow, mohill, tepe, and, when made of stones, cairns. In form they are conical, oblong, bowl-shaped, truncated cones, and quad- rilateral. The oldest are long-shaped and in the form of a gigantic grave, often depressed in the centre and elevated towards one end. The bowl-shaped tumuli seem to have succeeded this early form. 8 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. II. The sepulchral mounds of a later date are broad and low, sur- rounded sometimes with an earthen vallum, and sometimes, par- ticularly in Scotland and Scandinavia, by a circle of standing stones.* There is also a peculiar monument in Scotland which has the form of a great serpent, and there are similar ones in India. CHAPTER II. The Burial of Patroclus The Burial of Hector The Tumuli of Platea The Tumuli of Marathon Modern Accounts of those of Marathon The Burial Place of Lydian Kings The Tumulus of Alyattes, the Father of Croesus Herodotus' s Account of it Dr. Chandler's Account of it Ancient Custom of the Greeks in Regard to Tumuli. HOMER, who lived in the tenth or the ninth century, before the Christian era, describes the burial of Patroclus and Hector, who perished twelve centuries (1270) before the Christian era. In describing the burial of Patroclus he says : " Men were sent to the foot of Mount Ida, with axes keen, to hew the lofty oaks. The wood they clove, and bound it to the mules ; these took their way, hurrying to the plain. The axemen too were laden all with logs, which on the beach they laid in order, where a lofty mound in memory of Patroclus and himself Achilles had designed. When all the store of wood was duly laid the Myrmidons put on their armor and harnessed each his horses to his car, and on the cars warriors and charioteers their places took. First came the horse, and then a cloud of foot unnumbered. In the midst Patroclus came, borne by his comrades. All the corpse with hair they cov- ered o'er, which from their heads they shore. Behind, Achilles held his head, and mourned the noble friend whom to the tomb he bore. Then on the spot by Peleus's son assigned they laid him down, and piled the wood on high." The crowd was then dispersed, only the chiefs remaining. " The appointed band remained and piled the wood. A hundred feet each way they built the pyre, and on the summit, sorrowing, laid the dead. Then sheep and oxen they dressed around the funeral pyre. Of all the beasts Achilles took the fat and covered o'er the corpse from head to foot, and heaped the slaughtered carcasses around. Then jars of honey placed, and fragrant oils, resting upon the couch. Next four powerful horses were thrown upon the pyre. * In Asia the oldest have a circle of stones. CHAP. II.] OF AMERICA. 9 Then of nine dogs, that at their master's board had fed, he slaugh- tered two upon his pyre. Last, with the sword, by evil counsel swayed, twelve noble youths he slew, the sons of Troy. The fires devouring might be then applied. All night the pyre burned, and all night Achilles from a golden bowl, the wine out-pouring, moist- ened all the earth." In the morning Achilles gives the following order : " Ye chiefs of Greece. Far as the flames extend quench we first, with ruddy wine, the embers of the pyre. And of Patroclus next : With care distinguishing, collect the bones. Nor are they hard to know, for in the midst he lay, while round the edges of the pyre horses and men co-mixed, the rest were burnt. Let these, between a double layer of fat enclosed, and in a golden urn, remain till I myself shall in the tomb be laid. And o'er them build a mound, not over-large, but of proportions meet. In days to come, ye Greeks, who after me shall here remain, complete the work, and build it broad and high. " Having collected the bones of Patroclus, and in a golden urn encased, " then in the tent they laid them, overspread with veil of linen fair. Then meteing out the allotted space, the deep founda- tions laid around the pyre 'and o'er them heaped the earth." Then followed games with prizes. " The games were ended and the multitude amid the ships their several ways dispersed." The burial of Hector is thus described by Homer : " First on the burning mass, as far as spread the rage of fire, they poured the ruddy wine, and quenched the flames. His brethren then and friends collected from the pyre the whitened bones. These in a golden casket they enclosed, and o'er it spread soft shawls of pur- ple dye. Then in a grave they laid it, and in haste with stone in ponderous masses covered o'er, and raised a mound. The mound erected, back they turned, and all assembled, duly shared the solemn feast in Priam's palace. Such were the rites to glorious Hector paid."* Herodotus says : "After the battle of Platea the Greeks pro- ceeded to inter their dead, each nation by themselves. The Lace- demonians sank three trenches in the one they deposited the bodies of their priests, in the second were interred the other Spar- tans, and in the third the Helots. The Tegeatse were buried by themselves, but with no distinction ; the Athenians in like man- ner, and also the Magarians and Philiasians. Mounds of earth were raised over the bodies of all these peoples. " * Homer's Iliad, by Edward, Earl of Derby. 10 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. II. Pausanias says: "Marathon is at equal distance from Athens and Caristhea, a town of Euboea. It was at Marathon that the Persians landed, and where, after a great battle, they were defeated. They also lost many vessels on leaving it. There is seen the sep- ulchre of the brave Athenians who perished in the battle ; upon their tomb they have erected columns where are engraven the names of the tribes and the exploits of the illustrious dead. The Plateans, a people of Beotia, have also there their monument, and the slaves theirs ; for on this occasion the slaves were enlisted for the first time. Miltiades, the son of Cimon, has his sepulchre apart. This great man having, after the battle of Marathon, failed at the siege of Paros, was exiled by the people of Athens, and died a short time afterwards." From this account, it appears, there were three mounds; yet Stephens, the celebrated American traveller, who visited the plains of Marathon in 1835, mentions but a single mound. He merely says : "I hurried to the battle-field. Towards the centre was a large mound of earth erected over the Athenians who fell in the battle." Aubrey DeVere, who published, in 1850, " Picturesque Sketches in Greece and Turkey," says in that book, when mentioning his visit to Marathon : " The field is about six miles long and two broad, and is as flat as the sea. On two sides it is hemmed in by the moun- tains of Attica, and on one by the low ranges of Euboaa. Within about half a mile of the shore stands the tumulus raised by Aris- tides over the Athenians who fell in the action." DeVere mentions but a single mound. Henry M. Baird, in his " Modern Greece," published in 1856, says : " We reached the mound raised over the slain of the battle of Marathon The hillock or funeral mound under which the one hundred and ninety-two Athenians, who perished in battle, are buried, is perhaps thirty feet high. If its shape was ever an- gular, time has worn it down to a round form, except where the sacrilegious travellers of this country, in searching for brass and flint arrow-heads, have scraped away some earth from its sides. Standing upon the top of this monument of ancient glory I could easily distinguish the positions most probably occupied by the belligerent parties twenty-three centuries ago Having now seen all that is most interesting at Marathon we turned our faces westward. Instead of retracing our steps to Vrana, we directed them to the present village of Marathon We reached it after passing on our left the marble platform supposed to have been that of a monument erected in honor of Miltiades." Herodotus, speaking of Lydia, says : " If we except the gold- CHAP. II.] OF AMERICA. 11 dust which descends from Mount Tmolus,* Lydia can exhibit no curiosity which may vie with those of other countries. It boasts, however, of one monument of art, second to none but those of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It is the sepulchre of Alyattes, father of Croesus. The ground-work is composed of immense stones ; the rest of the structure is a huge mound of earth. The circumference of the tomb is six furlongs and two plethra, the breadth thirteen plethra. It is terminated by a large piece of water, which is called the Gygean lake. The edifice was raised by men of mean and mercenary occupations, assisted by young women, who prostituted themselves for hire. On the summit of this mound there remained within my remembrance five termini, upon which were inscriptions to ascertain the performance of each, and to intimate that the women accomplished the greater part of the work." Dr. R. Chandler, D.D., in his " Travels in Asia Minor," in th'e year 1764, speaking of his visit to the burying-place of the Lydian kings, says : " Before Sardes, on the opposite side of the plain, are many barrows on an eminence, some of which are seed afar off. We were told that behind them was a lake, and agreed to visit it. We left Sardes in the afternoon, and repassed the Pactolus farther on. In an hour we came to the banks of the Hermus. We forded with water up to our girths, and then rode among huts of the Tur- comans, their large and fierce dogs barking vehemently, and wor- rying us. The plains now appeared as bounded by mountains. The view westward was terminated by a single, distinct, lofty range, the east end of Mount Sipylus. " We approached nearer to the high green ridge on which the barrows are, and going beyond its eastern extremity, pitched our tent, after three hours, by a village called Bazocleu. " We were on horseback again at seven in the morning, and going northwestward for half an hour, came to the lake behind the ridge extending westward, and was anciently called Gygea. It is very large, and abounds in fish, its color and taste like common pond- water, with beds of sedge growing in it. We saw a few swans with cygnets, and many aquatic birds. The air swarmed with gnats. The Lydians asserted it was never dry. The name had been changed from Gygea to Coloe. By it was a temple of Diana, called Coloene, of great sanctity. The privilege of an asylum was conferred on it by Alexander. If the lake be fictitious, the ridge may be regarded as an immense mound raised with the soil. * It probably was the gold-dust brought down from Mount Tmolus by the river Pactolus that made Croesus so rich. 12 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. II. " By Gygea, which was within five miles of Sardes, is the burying- place of the Lydian kings.* The barrows are of various sizes. Four or five, distinguished for their superior magnitude, are visible as hills at a great distance. The lake, it is likely, furnished the soil. All of them are covered with green turf, and as many as I observed in passing among them retain their conical form with- out any sinking of the top. One of the barrows on the eminence, near the middle, and toward Sardes, is remarkably conspicuous. This has been described by Herodotus as inferior only to the works of the Egyptians and Babylonians. It was the monument of Alyattes, the father of Croesus ; a vast mound of earth heaped on a basement of large stones by three classes of the people ; one of which was composed of girls, who were prostitutes. Alyattes died after a long reign, in the year 562 before the Christian era. About a century intervened, but the historian relates that to his time five stones (o/ooe, termini or stelas) on which letters were en- graven had remained on the top, recording what each class had performed ; and from the monument it had appeared that the greater portion was done by the girls. Strabo also has mentioned it as a huge mound raised on a lofty basement by the multitude of the city. The circumference is six stadia or three-quarters of a mile, the height two plethra or two hundred feet, and the width thirteen plethra. " It was customary among the Greeks to place on barrows either the image of some animal or stelas, commonly round pillows with inscriptions. The famous barrow of the Athenians in the plain of Marathon, described by Pausanias, is an instance of the latter usage. " The barrow of Alyattes is much taller and handsomer than any I have seen in England or elsewhere. The mould, which has been washed down, conceals the stonework, which, it seems, was an- ciently visible. f The apparent altitude is diminished and the bottom rendered wider and less distinct than before. Its measure- ments, which we were not prepared to take, deserve to be ascer- tained and compared with those given by Herodotus."! * Dr. Chandler, D.D., Fellow of Magdalen College and of the Society of Anti- quarians, gives ancient authority for what he states. But his name is sufficient guarantee for the truth of what he relates. So the references are omitted here. t There are, or were, in the Crimea, enormous tumuli covered in some in- stances with blocks of limestone, three feet square. This monument of Alyattes may have been stripped of similar stones to erect more modern buildings, and thus the "mould has been washed down." t " Travels in Asia Minor and Greece," by E. Chandler, D.D., in 1764 to 1766. CHAP. III.] OP AMERICA. 13 CHAPTER III. Chevalier's Visit to the Plains of Troy The Tumulus of Eesyetes Built Before the Trojan War The Tumulus of Protesilaus Alexander's Visit to the Plains of Troy Alexander Erects "Altars" Tumuli at Segeum, to Jupiter, Minerva, and Hercules The Tumulus of Demaratus Alexander Erects Twelve "Altars" in India The Scythian Tumuli in the Borys- thenes Herodotus's Account of Them and Dr. Hall's Account of Them Edmund Spencer's Account of Museum of Kertch and of the Opening of a Tumulus in the Crimea, in the Year 1836 Tumuli in the Crimea of Prodigious Size and .in Immense Numbers. A HUNDRED years ago, 1792, Chevalier visited the Plains of Troy. In his book entitled u Description of the Plains of Troy," he says : " I have not the smallest hesitation in believing that the hillock in the vicinity of Udjek, and which is known by the name of Udjek- Tepe, is a sepulchre ; and every circumstance induces me to be- lieve that it is the tomb of Eesyetes, a monument of the most remote antiquity, as it existed even before the time of the Trojan War. Homer alludes to it, and Strabo places it five stadia distant from Troy, on the road leading from there to Alexandrea Troas." Besides this tomb, Chevalier mentions the tumuli of Ilus, Patro- clus, Antilochus, and Hector, and quotes the following : " When Alexander (according to what has been collected from various an- cient authors by Freinshemius in his supplement to Quintus Curtius) arrived at Sestos, he commanded Parmenio to proceed with the greatest part of his troops to Abydos, on the opposite shore. Himself at the head of the rest marched to Eleus, a place sacred to Protesilaus, whose sepulchre under a mound of earth had been constructed there ; for Protesilaus in the flower of his age accompanied his countrymen to Asia, and was the first victim of the Trojan war. On this occasion Alexander performed funeral honors to his manes, praying that his own lot might be more auspicious when he should reach the hostile shore. He then sailed with fifty vessels for Sigeum, and the Grecian haven, so called because it had received the Grecian ships in the time of the Trojan war. When the fleet arrived at the haven, altars were erected on the spot where he had disembarked to Jupiter the Pro- tector, to Minerva, and Hercules. He also commanded altars to be erected in that part of Europe whence he had sailed." Such altars were often erected on the spur of the moment, when they were constructed of earth or stones collected on the spot, and it is 14 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. III. probable that on this occasion the altars were made in this man- ner. " He next proceeded into the fields where the seat of ancient Troy was pointed out to him, and there, as he was accustomed to admire Achilles, and glory in his descent from that hero, he stripped himself and ran with his friends quite naked around his tomb ; he even anointed it and adorned it with a crown. Hep- hestion, too, crowned the tomb of Patroclus, as an emblem that the friendship which subsisted between himself and Alexander was as ardent as that which Patroclus had_ borne to Achilles.' ' The expression in this quotation, that Alexander crowned the tomb, does not convey the correct idea. He anointed and crowned the column erected on the summit of the mound or tomb, it being then and afterwards the custom among the Greeks to erect engraven columns on the summits of such mounds. Arrian men- tions the fact of Alexander having anointed the column. Plutarch, in his life of Alexander, says that " Demaratus, the Corinthian, though far advanced in years, was ambitious of going to see Alexander," who had then conquered Asia. " Accordingly he took the voyage, and when he beheld him he said : ' The Greeks fell short of a great pleasure who did not live to see Alexander upon the throne of Darius.' But he did not live to enjoy the king's friendship. He sickened and died soon after. The king, however, performed his obsequies in a most magnificent manner, and the army threw up for him a monument of earth of great extent and fourscore cubits high." Arrian mentions that when Alexander prepared to leave India he ordered twelve altars to be erected, equal in height to so many fortified towers, but far exceeding them in bulk ; on these he offered sacrifices to the gods and gave them thanks for making him thus far victorious, and consecrated them as eternal monuments of his labors. These altars were probably built on the spur of the, moment, and were huge mounds made either of earth or of stone as they far exceeded towers in bulk, and according to Diodorus were fifty cubits high. The Scythians, who six hundred years before Christ occupied a vast territory north of the Euxine Sea, and extending from the Borysthenes or Dnieper to the Tonais or Don, buried their kings near the Borysthenes and erected huge mounds over them. In speaking of the burial of the Scythian kings, Herodotus says : " The sepulchres of the kings are in the district of the Gherri. As soon as a king dies a large trench of quadrangular form is sunk near where the Borysthenes begins to be navigable. When this has been done the body is inclosed in wax, after it has been thor- CHAP. III.] OF AMERICA. 15 oughly cleansed and the entrails taken out; before it is sewn up they fill it with anise, parsley-seed, bruised cypress, and various aromatics. They then place it in a carriage and remove it to an- other district, where similar honors are paid it as at the first place. After thus transporting the body through the different provinces of the kingdom, they came at last to the Gherri, who live in the remotest parts of Scythia, and among whom the sepulchres are. Here the corpse is placed upon a couch, around which, at differ- ent distances, daggers are fixed ;* upon the whole are disposed pieces of wood covered with branches of willow. In some other part of this trench is put one of the deceased's concubines, whom they previously strangle, together with the baker, the cook, the groom, his most confidential servant, his horses, the choicest of his effects, and finally some golden goblets ; to conclude all, they fill up the trench with earth, and seem to be emulous in their endeav- ors to raise as high a mound as possible." DeHell, who, in 1838, visited the estate of Vassal, on the Dnieper, the ancient Borysthenes, thus speaks of the country : " It presents to view only a vast desert with numerous tumuli, salt lakes, and a few sheepfolds. These tumuli, from ten to fifteen yards high, are the only hills in the country, and appear to be the burial-places of its old masters, the Scythians. Several of them have been opened, and nothing found in them but some bones, copper coins of the kings of the Bosphorus, and coarse earthern utensils. Similar tombs in the Crimea have been found to contain objects of more value, both as regards material and workmanship. This difference is easily accounted for ; the Milesian colonies that oc- cupied part of the Crimea two thousand years ago spread a taste for opulence and the fine arts all through the peninsula ; their tombs would therefore bear token of the degree of civilization they had reached. They had a regular government, princes, and all the elements and accessories of a kingdom; whilst the poor Scythians, divided into nomad tribes, led a rude life in the midst of the herds of cattle that constituted their sole wealth." In the year 1836 Edmund Spencer visited the Crimea. He says : " We entered the Cimmerian Bosphorus. We were now in the centre of countries connected with some of the most brilliant periods in the history of the Greeks and Romans. These were the countries that formed the emporium of the commerce of Athens, which enriched her citizens and established her as a great * An Indian tribe of the West performed this same ceremony of fixing not daggers but arrows around the tomb or grave of their deceased countrymen. 16 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. III. maritime power, and afterward witnessed some of the greatest triumphs of mighty Rome. Indeed, each side of the strait abounds with objects to interest the traveller, in the numerous ruins of its ancient cities, and in the surprising number and size of the sepulchral tumuli everywhere visible." He thus speaks of the Museum of Kertch and of some of the tumuli in its vicinity : " We then extended our promenade to the Museum, the collection of which has been considerably augmented since the opening of a tumulus in 1830, called by the Tartars Allyn Obo, or the hill of gold, pretended to be the tomb of Mithridates. The immense quantity of bronze gilt vases, gold ornaments, and trinkets then found, fully justifies the appellation ; they were all of the most exquisite workmanship. The Museum contains, in addition, a very choice collection of statues, vases, and medals, the whole found in the environs, and unquestionably of Grecian workman- ship. " The acquisition of these treasures generated the desire to open another of these tumuli ; and the authorities of Kertch selected one whose dimensions were similar to those of Allyn Obo, that is about thirty feet high, and employed a number of men for several weeks in its excavation. After much labor and a useless search, they at length came to an enormous slab. The work of raising the ponderous slab, which had been placed over the tomb in the form of a cross, slowly proceeded, and when, after much labor, the massive stone was removed, we beheld a square trough of cut stone, with a wooden box in the centre containing a bronze urn, gilt, of the most graceful form and elaborate workmanship. The whole was carried to Kertch, a few leagues distant, but when opened, was found to enclose no other treasure than the ashes of him who had been there interred. These remains, perhaps of a prince or hero, I afterwards saw carried out by a servant and thrown upon a dunghill ! tl The tumuli of these countries are exceedingly interesting ; the prodigious size and immense numbers we find, both here and in the adjoining island of Tamana, incontestibly prove that it was a country once occupied by a great and powerful people. That they were opulent, the variety of gold ornaments, beautiful vases, ex- quisite statues, and sculptured tombs found in the neighborhood sufficiently shows. With regard to the origin of the existence of these mounds, if we may depend upon the traditionary accounts of the descendants of the aboriginal inhabitants, some of whom are still to be found in the mountainous districts of the Crimea, these tumuli were voluntarily erected by the people ; as when any CHAP. IV.] OF AMERICA. 17 of their great warriors or kings expired, his ashes were placed in the tomb, and every man who admired his virtues carried a por- tion of earth and threw it over his grave. ' ; Be this as it may, they certainly have not been formed of earth excavated in the vicinity, which is always perfectly level, and some geologists go so far as to say that the earth of which they are composed is different in its nature from that on which it stands. "However, the idea of a mountain tomb being formed as a trib- ute of the voluntary admiration of an entire people for a chief whose loss they deplore, is beautiful and affecting. The tradition of the Tartars is not, however, without some foundation in truth, for the cairns of the Scots were erected in a similar manner, and in the north of Scotland an expression of friendship and affection still remains among the people, to this effect : ' I will cast a stone upon thy cairn.' " CHAPTER IV. The Miletian and Heraklian Settlements in the Crimea The Tumuli near the Theodocian Gate at Kertch Their Contents A Particular Description of Two Great Tumuli near Kertch, and of their Contents. The Miletians (lonians) and Heraklians (Dorians), in the seventh century before Christ, planted colonies in the Crimea. The origin of the city of Miletus in Caria, is within the period of the first Greek emigration from home. The place was first settled by natives of the country, to whom came Sarpedon of Miletus, in Crete, and after him Neleus, from Attica. Miletus was already large and flourishing when the cities of the parent country were just beginning to emerge from obscurity. It was already a power- ful city when the Lydian monarchs rose into consequence. Almost all the Greek cities along the coast of the Euxine Sea were of Miletian origin. Pliny makes them to have been eighty in num- ber, and Seneca seventy-five. Heraclea is a name given to more than forty towns in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the islands of the Mediterranean. They are sup- posed to have derived this appellation from the Greek name of Hercules, and to have either been built in honor of him or placed under his protection. The city of this name that settled colonies in the Crimea is Heraclea Pontica, on the coast of Bithynia, which was founded by a colony of Megarians, strengthened by some 2 18 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. IV. Tanagreans from Boeotia. The number of the former, however, so predominated, that the city was in general considered as Doric. It was famed for its naval power and its consequence among the Asiatic states. In travelling from Theodosia to the Cimmerian Bosphorus, the traveller on reaching Suftanofka, the third station, seventy- seven versts from Theodosia, for the first time sees the horizon crowned by the tumuli and coral-rag peaks which characterize the environs of Kertch. After the long journey over an uninter- rupted steppe slight undulations appear above the horizon, in ap- proaching the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and shortly after this appear- ance the traveller finds himself in a principal necropolis of the ancient Miletian city. Immense cones of earth rise on each side of the road, and ridges of coral-rag lying among these sepulchral monuments give a grand aspect to this singular field of death. On arriving at the end of the plateau, the view extends over the whole Bosphorus. On an evening in summer the last rays of the setting sun tint the cliffs on the Asiatic side. The outlines of the tumuli of Phanagoria become distinctly traced on the blue sky, and the shadow of Cape Akbouroun stretches over the water [1].* Descending the plateau, the traveller enters the town of Kertch. The straits on which it stands, leading from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azof, and separating Europe from Asia, are about eight miles wide. It is now the chief town of a little government com- prising Yenicaleh, a few miles distant, and about thirteen thou- sand acres of land, which form the eastern point of the peninsula. Kertch, like all Greek colonies, is charmingly situated [2]. A hill, called the arm-chair of Mithridates, rises at a short distance from the shore and gently slopes down to the sea. Around this hill was originally built the old Greek town, and on its sides were once clustered a variety of Greek temples, crowned on the top by the acropolis, which in Greek cities was nothing more than the walls surrounding the sacred spot in which was placed the tutelary deity, upon the safe custody of which the security of the town was supposed to depend.f The interior of the acropolis, which was two hundred yards square, allowed plenty of room for the erection of two sanctuaries, one to Cybele and the other to Ceres, and still left space for the lodgings of the priests and the garrison and for the palace of Mithri- dates the Great, who came here to die. The acropolis of Athens * The numbers in brackets refer to plates. t It is singular how certain superstitious ideas are transmitted from one gen- eration to another through ages, and from one religion to another. fe- I ^ CHAP. IV.] OF AMERICA. 19 had not more available room than that of Panticapseum. The plateau of the hill enclosed in the walls of the town was also orna- mented with palaces, and perhaps temples. The inscriptions and medals of Panticapseum show that there was the worship of seve- ral other divinities besides Cybele and Ceres.* The ancient name of Kertch was Panticapaeum, and it was one of the many Miletian colonies founded on the Black Sea in the seventh century before Christ. In its palmiest days the territory extended as far north as the Tanais. while to the west it was bounded on the inland side by the mountains of Theodocia. This fertile and narrow region was the granary of Greece, especially of Athens. Although there are no fine buildings, or even fragments, left standing, heaps of brick and pottery and the foundations of buildings encumber the soil for a considerable distance round the Hill of Mithridates, and show how great was the extent of the ancient city. The acropolis occupied the summit of the Hill of Mithridates, in shape an irregular polygon, and the ditches and some parts of the walls, of coarse limestone of Kertch, may still be traced. It is proba- ble that in very early times the bay advanced much farther into the land, and that the Hill of Panticapseum was bounded on three sides by the sea. In the midst of the immense ruins which cover the surrounding country may be traced the principal streets, which ended at the gates of the town. The base of the peak is hidden under a mass of ruins, and the whole rock has been carefully hewn. There are no signs of aqueducts in the acropolis, but the lower town was probably supplied with water from two springs at the bottom of the valley, which now furnish the two principal foun- tains of Kertch. One is within the old fortifications, and has been repaired by the Turks with the fragments of ancient marbles, on one of which is an inscription showing it to have belonged to a monument of Sauromates III, raised to his father, Mithridates Eupator (162 A.D.)t The principal gate of the town was turned towards the interior of the peninsula in the centre of the western wall. It led to Nympha3um and Theodosia, and the place is easily recognized by the interruption of the deep ditch which ran along it. About 240 yards from the gate the road which led to Theodosia reached an * Excavations made at the foot of the rock discovered a fine torso, in white marble, of a colossal statue of Cybele the same as Astarte or the Eastern Venus. f Mithridates Eupator, Mithridates the Great, born 131 or 132 B.C., died 63 B.C., reigned fifty-seven years. 20 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. IV. allee of tumuli, ranged several rows deep on each side in an irreg- ular mariner, and continued two-thirds of a mile. This long series of tombs seems to date in a great measure from the foundation of the town of the Miletians. At a later period the dwelling of the dead became more extended, and occupied the range of hills in continuation of Mount Mithridates for six or seven miles in length, and here are found the tombs of the kings. Tumuli are also found on the other side of the low plain to the north, where they form three grand groups, the best known of which is near the modern quarantine. The gate to the north of the Theodosia gate led to the Greek city of Dia, near Kamish-batoun, and the road crossed the hill through a gentle dip. Along it were the tombs of the poor people, who buried their urns and cinders around the coral-rag peak, two hundred and forty-five feet above the level of the bay. Afterwards, as the bay became filled up, the population descended and left the site of the old town, until, in the fourth century, soon after Kertch became converted to Christianity, its kings disap- peared, and barbarous hordes destroyed all the cities of the Bos- phorus. The Panticapaeum of the Eastern empire was a decayed and unimportant town. As soon as there was space enough on the sea-shore the inhabit- ants fortified themselves there; and theMiletian acropolis, with its temples and palaces, has ever since served as a cemetery. By ex- cavations to the depth of eight or ten feet were found broken Etruscan pottery, fragments of marble, and building- stones with inscriptions. In the midst of this new soil were a number of tombs irregularly placed, one on the other, containing stone coffins, made of thin layers of Kertch limestone, filled simply with bones, which proved them to be Christians. The Greeks never allowed the dead to be placed near the Temple of the Gods, as their contact was considered pollution. " The enormous quantity of tumuli around Kertch (Pantica- pa3um) forms one of the distinguishing features of the place. Many of them have been opened, and unfortunately without sufficient care. The tumuli on the shores of the Bosphorus are essentially Miletian. This is also remarkable on the Asiatic side, where the towns of Sindes have no monuments of this kind, while Phana- goria, Kepos, Kimmericurn, which are known Miletian colonies, are surrounded by them. The same is the case on the European shore, where Panticapseum, Myrmekium, Porthmium, Nymphseum, Miletian towns, are distinguished from a distance by the multitude of their tumuli, while the other Kimmericum, now Opouk, and Kherson, colonies of Heraclea, and consequently Dorian, have CHAP. IV.] OF AMERICA. 21 none. The same is the case with the towns of the Tauri, except the residence of Skilouros, near Simpheropol, which has a few tumuli near its walls. It would be curious to inquire what is the reason of the tumulus being peculiar to the Ionic race." The group of tumuli near the Theodosia gate are the most ancient, as is proven by the nature of the objects found in them, and by their worn appearance.* The tumuli near the quarantine are clearly less ancient than those on the road to Theodosia. They are less worn by time, of more colossal dimensions, and their in- terior construction and the objects contained in them show a more advanced state of civilization. These tumuli were also crossed by a public road, which branched off on the right to Myrmekium and on the left to Porthmium. The greater number contain vaults built of masonry, instead of excavations in the limestone, and their floor is on the same level as the ground outside. The arch of the ceiling is formed by each row of stones projecting more than the one below, until they almost touch at the top, and there are several tombs in the same tumulus. On cutting through one, on the new road to Yenicaleh,f three tombs were found. The two first were those of men, as was proven by two swords and a lance which were found in them, and in the third was the skele- ton of a woman crowned with leaves of golden laurel. There were also the following golden ornaments : Ear-rings two inches long. A large bulla, like the fastening of a bell, with a head of Mercury upon it. Many plates of gold which had fallen from the dress, now disappeared, on which were embossed vine-leaves and bunches of grapes. There were two rings, one very massive, with a stone having a head upon it, and the other with a stone cut into the shape of a lion couchant, and there was another represent- ing two owls. By the side of the body was a gold coin of Philip of Macedon. * Blarenberg excavated four of them in 1824, which had not been previously opened. The head was generally surrounded by leaves of beaten gold, of which it was the custom to make a crown. Among the articles found in one tomb are : A bust of Isis in terra-cotta, a fragment of Serapis in plaster, a fragment of a large necklace in carbonate of silver, finished by two heads of lions ; two medals in bronze of KingEumeles (died B.C. 304), having on one side a head of Apollo and on the reverse a Priapus before a branch of myrtle ; a pair of golden brace- lets, beautifully worked ; two golden ear-rings, with small cupids, ornamented with precious stones ; two golden rings, with convex green stones ; a golden ring, with an engraved stone of Minerva, very fine; a golden pin, with a stone on which is a butterfly; a silver pin, with an engraved stone, with a head ; four chalcedony ear-drops, and some leaves in beaten gold. f Yenicaleh is at the point of the peninsula, about seven miles northeast of Kertch. 22 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. IV. At the same time another discovery was made by chance. By the side of the third tomb a fourth was found, in which were two large Etruscan vases, and one amphora about the head of the dead, who was crowned with leaves of golden laurel ; with it were two necklaces, a pair of precious ear-rings, and a coin, all of gold. It is interesting to find on the shores of the Cimmerian Bosphorus the same vases which in Italy are called Etruscan, from the place in which they were first found. They were soon known, however, not to be peculiar to Etruria ; and Magna Grsecia was discovered to be a still more prolific mine of them. Further researches es- tablished the fact that wherever Greece had carried her civiliza- tion and her colonies these vases were found, and that there was not a spot within these limits, even as far as the banks of the Kuban and the Sea of Azof, which did not possess this kind of pottery, manufactured on the spot. The funeral vases, wide below, with narrow necks, nine to fifteen inches high, are found in the tombs, always with two handles, and two compositions painted on them, one on each side, differing both in execution and the style of the subject. On comparing them with those found in Italy, they will be seen to be precisely similar, even to the singular difference in the two compositions which or- nament them. The one is always some scene in private or public life, and the design is elegant and the execution very careful. The other is a coarse sketch hastily done in a rough way, and an eternal repetition of the same personages, with some variation in the pose, the number of figures, and the emblems which accom- pany them.* The subjects chosen go to prove that they were manufactured at Panticapseum, for the griffin, which was the em- blem of that city, constantly appears, and various details of the Scythian costume. Three classes of tombs are still to be mentioned those of the poor, the catacombs, and the tombs of the kings. On going out of the gate leading to Dia, along the mountain of Mithridates, there is an eminence which a gentleman began to excavate. His labors, however, seemed to end in the solid rock below a mass of amphora? which contained the cinders of the poor. At last he remarked a sepulchral slab, and lifting it up, found the entrance to a funeral cave. This was built with an Egyptian roof, and had been de- spoiled of everything precious, but was still most interesting from a suit of small pictures, drawn on the wall below the commence- * Some of the scenes relate to the mysteries of Ceres and the mysteries of Bacchus. The two have an intimate relation with each other, as they both come from the mysteries of Isis and Osiris. CHAP. IV.] OP AMERICA. 23 ment of the roof, about a foot high, representing the war of the cranes and the pygmies. The catacombs are among the tumuli on the road to Theodosia, and are deep excavations fifteen or twenty feet deep, seven or eight feet long, and two and a half feet broad, and, on descending and entering by an arched door, large subterranean chambers are found cut in the white calcareous clay, with niches all around for the bodies. Some remains of coffins are to be found, and the whole is probably a Christian work. The last group of tumuli to be mentioned are those of the kings, at what is called the Golden Mountain.. After following the old road to Theodosia for two miles, Mount Mithridates is seen to offer a passage across it by a narrow valley. The mountain rises again directly, and continues in a northwest direction to the Sea of Azof. This continuation is called the Golden Mountain. An enormous tumulus, which rises above the road where it passes between the hills, seems to an- nounce a more powerful race than that which raised the tombs of the plain. On the crest of the mountain, at three hundred and twenty-three feet above the level of the sea, rises the tumulus, in the form of a cone, one hundred feet high and one hundred and fifty in diameter, different from those in the neighborhood, because it is walled from top to bottom like a Cyclopean monument. It is cased on the exterior like the Pyramids, with large blocks of Kertch stone, cubes of three or four feet placed without cement or mortar. This monument, almost unique of its kind, from its size, was a tomb, and from all times had been the object of a number of mys- terious legends. The Tartar, Turk, and more ancient traditions, spoke of immense treasures hidden in this tomb, which was known by the name of Altun Obo, or the Golden Mountain. The tra- dition existed that there was an entrance to the tomb, which the Tartars had often tried to find, without success. It was not until 1832 that Mr. Kareiche carefully sought for it, and employed thirty-five men for fifteen days in attacking the tumulus from the southwest. At last he had the good fortune to find the entrance to a gallery, by which he penetrated, without an obstacle, to the centre of the tumulus. The gallery was constructed of layers of worked stone, without cement, and was sixty feet long, ten feet high taking in the Egyptian roof and three or four feet broad. Arrived at the end, Kareiche found himself on the edge of a preci- pice which opened before him. He saw with astonishment that the centre of the tomb was formed of a circular tower twenty-five feet high and twenty feet in diameter. The floor of this construc- tion was ten feet below the floor of the gallery, and the vaulted roof was composed of four rows of advancing stones. 24 THE INDIAN AND ANTIQUITIES [CHAP. IV. At length Kareiche saw that he could descend into the tomb by stones placed at distances in the side, and was hastening to reap the treasures promised in the legend, when to his stupefac- tion he perceived that the tomb was empty. On the ground was a large, square stone, on which a sarcophagus might have been deposited, and half-way up the wall was a large, empty niche. He searched in vain to penetrate further ; nothing indicated any passage, and it is still an enigma. What was the object of this expensive and magnificent monument, the rival of the Pyramids? The distance between the tower and the exterior Cyclopean wall is filled with fragments of stone from the fine quarries in the neighborhood.* The modern Greek legend makes this the tomb of Mithridates, although it is well known that he was buried at Sinope. This tomb is placed exactly at the spot where the two branches of the long rampart meet, which extends from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azof. It the rampart is visible extending from the foot of the tumulus to the gorge of Katerles, which opens in a second range of hills parallel to the Golden Mountain and Mount Mithri- dates, and the peaks above it are covered with ruins. To the south the rampart is quite effaced, where the road to Theodosia crosses it, but beyond it its zigzags are seen as far as the White Cape, where it of course terminates. This rampart was probably the ancient boundary of the terri- tory of Panticapseum, and the primitive kingdom of the Bospho- rus before the conquest of Nympha3um and Theodosia, which were added to the kingdom, the first in 410 B.C., and the second about 390 B.C. Within the ramparts, at one hundred and fifty paces to the east, near Kertch, there is another monument of the same kind as the other, but unfinished. It consists of a circular esplanade five hundred paces around and one hundred and sixty-six in diame- ter, with an exterior covering of Cyclopean masonry, built of worked stone, three feet long and high. There are five layers of these, but it seems to have been the intention of the builders to raise a monument like the one before mentioned. Perhaps a revolution, or the death of the prince who was building his own monument, like the kings of Egypt, caused the work to be aban- doned. Several ranges of enormous stones between this and the first monument indicate ancient walls of houses, and adjoining these are traces of ancient gardens, while on the slope of the * Spelicer, in his "Travels in Circassia, Krim Tartary," etc., in 1832, says the tumulus called by the Tartars Altyn Obo, or the Hill of Gold, pretended to have been the tomb of Mithridates, was opened in 1830. /o /i a 4. l.i. VergcHok. Arckrnes.* INTERIOR OF ROYAL IOMB OF KOULO&A, NEAR A . VealibuXe. B . Tomb of King. C. Bones of iHekmg. 3) . Bone* iff ifoa Quefirt. 1. KeaLp-of sh-arp flints. 2 . Arma avui whip, of King. 3 . "FVve sratuettea in. elewam/. 4 . Alleaclant of King- s'. .Bonefc of a.liorse f with- grew 6- Hundreols