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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



AND 



DISCOVERIEvS IN THE WEST 



BEING AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVIDENCE 

THAT AN ANCIENT POPULATION OF PABTIAI.LT CIVILIZED NATION! 

DIFFERING ENTIRELY FROM THOSE OF THE PRESENT INDIANS PEOPLED 

AMERICA MANY CENTURIES BEFORE ITS DISCOVERY BY 

COLUMBUS, AND INQIHRIES INTO THEIR ORIGIN, \ 

WITH A 

COPIOUS DESCRIPTION 

OP MANY OF THEIR STUPENDOUS WORKS, NOW IN RUINS, 

WKTH CONJECTURES CONCERNING WHAT MAY HAVE 

BECOME OF THEM. 



Compiled from Ti*avelg, Antbentic Sources^ and the 
Researcbes of Antiquarian Societies. 



BY JOSIAH PRIEST 



[ Fourth Edition. ] 

ALBANY: 

PRINTED BY HOFFMAN & WHITE. 
1834. 



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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



AND 



DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 



BEING AN EXHIBITION OF THE EVIDENCE 

THAT AN ANCIENT POPUt.ATION OF PARTIALLY CIVILIZED NATIONS 

DIFrERINO ENTIRELY FROM THOSE OF THE PRESENT INDIANS PEOPLED 
AMERICA MANY CENTURIES BEFORE ITS DISCOVERY BY 

COLUMBUS, AND INQUIRIES INTO THEIR ORIGIN, s 

WITH A 

COPIOUS DESCRIPTIOIV 

OP MANY OF THEIR STUPENDOUS WORKS, NOW IN RUINS 

WITH CONJECTURES CONCERNING WHAT MAT HAVE 

BECOME OF THEM. 



Compiled from Ti-avelg, Authentic Sources, and the 
Researches of Antiquarian Societies, 



BY JOSIAH PRIEST 



[ Fourth Edition. ] 

ALBANY: 

PRINTED BY HOFFMAN & WHITE. 
1834. 



NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW-YORK, To Wit ; 

Be it rememhtrtd, that on the twenty-first day of March, Anno Domini 1633, 
Josiah Priest, of the said district, hath deposited in this office a book, the 
title of which is in the words following, to wit :— " American Antiquities, 
_^^^ _ and Discoveries in the West : being an exhibition of the evidence that an 

"JtS^iJ^i ancient population of partially civilized nations, differing entirely from those 
of the present Indians, peopled America many centuries before its discovery 
by Columbu^. And inquiries into their origin, with a copious description 
of many of their stupendous works, now in ruins ; with conjectures concerning what may 
have become of them. Compiled from travels, authentic sources, and the researches of an- 
tiquarian societies. By JOSIAH PRIEST,"— the right whereof he claims as author and 
proprietor, in conformity with an act of Congress, entitled " An Act to amend the severaJ 
.ct. r-pecting copy right.."J ^^^^^^ ^ ^^^^^^ 

aerk U. S. D. C. N. D. N. T. 




PREFACE. 



AtTHouGH the subject of American antiquities is everywhere surrounded 
witJi its mysteries; yet we indulge the hope, that the volume we now present 

the public, will not be unacceptable, as on the account of its mysteriousnesa 
and obscurity, we have been compelled to wander widely in the field of con- 
jecture, firom which it is not impossible but we may have produced some ori- 
ginal and novel opinions. 

We have felt that we are bound by the nature of the subject, to treat wholly 
on those matters which relate to ages preceding the discovery of America by 
Columbus; as we apprehend no subject connected with the history of the con- 
tinent since that time, can be entitled to the appellation of ANxiqviTiES of 
America. 

If we may be permitted to judge from the liberal subscription this work has 
met with, notwithstanding the universal prejudice which exists against sub- 
scribing for booki, we should draw the conclusion, that this curious subject 
has not its only admirers within the pales of antiquarian societies. 

If it is pleasing as well as useful to know the history of one's country — if to 
feel a rising interest as its beginnings are unfolded — its sufferings — its wars — 
its struggles — and its victories, delineated; why not also, when the story of 
its antiquities, though of a graver and more majestic nature, are attemptsd to 
be rehearsed. 

The traits of the ancient nations of the old world are every where shown by 
the fragments of dilapidated cities, pyramids of stone, and walls of wondroui 
length; but here are the wrecks of empire, whose beginnings, it would seem, 
are older than any of these, which are the mounds and works of the west, to- 
wering aloft as if their builders were preparing against another flood. 

We have undertaken to elicit arguments, from what we suppose evidence, 
that the first inhabitants who peopled America, came on by land, at certain 
places, where it is supposed once to have been united with Asia, Europe, and 
Africa, but has been torn asunder by the force of earthquakes, and the irrup- 
tions of the waters, so that what animals had not passed over before tliis great 



IV PREFACE. 

physical rupture, were forevpr cxclnHfifl; but not ro with men, as they could 
resort to the use of boats. 

We have gathered such evidence as induces a belief that America was, an- 
ciently, inhabited with partially civilized and agricultural nations, surpassing 
in numbers its present population. This, we imagine, we prove, in the disco- 
very of thousands of the traits of the ancient operations of men over the entire 
cultivated parts of the continent, in the forms, and under the character of 
mounds and fortifications, abounding particularly in the western regions. 

We have also ventured conjectures respecting what nations, in some few in- 
stances, may have settled here; also what may have become of them. We 
have entered on an examination of some of those works, and of sonie of the ar- 
ticles found on opening some few of their tumuli; which we have compared 
with similar articles found in similar works in various parts of the other conti- 
nents, from which very curious results are ascertained. 

As it respects some of the ancient nations who may have found their way 
hither, we perceive a strong probability that not only Asiatic nations, very soon 
after the flood, but that also all along the different eras of time, different races 
ofmen,'as Pplynesians, Malays, Australasians, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks, 
Romans, Israelites, Tartars, Scandinavians, Danes, Norwegians, Welsh, and 
Scotch, have colonized different parts of the continent. 

We have also attempted to show that America was peopled before the flood; 
that it was the country of Noah, and the place where the ark was erected. 
The highly interesting subject of American antiquities, we are inclined to be- 
lieve, is but just commencing to be developed. The immensity of country yet 
beyond the settlements of men, towards the Pacific, is yet to be explored' by 
cultivation, when other evidences, and wider spread, will come to view, afford- 
ing, perhaps, more definite conclusion. 

As aids in maturing this volume, we have consulted the works of philoso- 
phers, historians, travellers, geographers, gazettQers, the researches of anti- 
quarian societies, with miscellaneous notices on this subject, as found in the 
periodicals of the day. The subject has proved as difficult as mysterious; any 
disorder and inaccuracies, therefore, in point of inferences which we have made 
we beg may not become the subjecfs of the severities of criticism. 

If, however, we should succeed in awakening a desire to a farther investiga- 
tion of this curious subject, and should have the singular happiness of securing 
any degree of public respect, and of giving the subscriber an equivalent for his 
patronage, the utmost of the desires of the author will be realized. 

JO SI AH PRIEST. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Location of Mount Ararat, • 9 

Origin of human complexions, with other curious matter,* • • • • • 14 

Respecting the division of the earth by Noah among his sons,- • 22 

Idenity and real natne of Mechisedec of the scriptures, 24 

Division of the earth in the days of Peleg, and of the spreading 

out of the nations, with other interesting items, 32 

Of the antiquities of the west, • • 38 

Supposed ruins of a Roman fort at Marrietta, 42 

Course of the lost ten tribes of Israel, when they left Assyria 

for Arsareth, 55 

Accounts of the convulsions of the globe, 79 

Evidences of an ancient population in America different from 

that of the Indians, 83 

Discoveries on the Muskingum, a river in the Ohio, 87 

Discoveries of the remains of ancient pottery, 106 

A catacomb of embalmed mummies, found in Kentucky, 110 

A fac simile of the ancient letters of the Phoenicians, 116 

Ancient letters of America and Africa, with a fac simile of the same, 1 1 8 

A further account of western antiquities, with antediluvian traits, 125 
A cavern of the west, containing hieroglyphics cut in a rock by 

the ancient nations, 139 



VI , CONTENTS. 

Tracks of men and animals found in the rocks of Tennessee and 

St. Louis, 151 

Cotubamana the giant chief of one of the islands of the coast of 

America,. 154 

Still further accounts of discoveries in the west, 195 

Vast works of the ancient nations on the east side of the Musk- 
ingum, Ohio, 161 

Ruins of ancient works at Circleville, Ohio, 163 

Ancient works on paint creek, 166 

A recent discovery of one of those ancient works among the 

Alleghany mountains, 169 

Ancient wells found in the bottom of paint creek, 169 

A description of western tumuli or mounds, 171 

Great works of the ancient nations on the north fork of Paint 

creek, Ohio, 183 

Traits of ancient cities on the Mississippi, 187 

Traditions of the native Mexicans respecting their migrations 

from the north, 189 

Supposed use of the ancient roads as found connected with some 

of the western mounds, •'. • . 193 

Traits of the Mosaic history found among the Azteca Indians, 199 
Ceremonies of the fire worshippers as witnessed on the Ozark river, 209 

Origin of fire worship, 212 

A further account of western antiquities, and of curious articles, 213 
Discovery of America by Europeans before the time of Columbus, 224 
Ruins of the city of Otolum, recently discovered in America,- • 239 
Discovery of a large stone covered with exquisite engravings, 

with a fac simile of the same, • 247 

' A further account of Europeans in America before the time of 

Columbus, 251 

Further accounts of western antiquities, 256 

Great stone castle of Iceland, , 258 



CONTEN'i'S. Vll 

Further accounts of instruments found in the tumuli of the west, 260 

Great size of the Mexican mounds, 267 

Predilection of the ancients to pyramid building, 268 

A fac simile of antediluvian letters, 273 

Voyages and shipping of the Mongol Tartars, and their settle- 
ments on the western coast of America, 276 

A further account of western discoveries, 2S2 

Various opinions respecting the original inhabitants of America, 285 
Voyages of the ancients from Italy and from Africa to America, 

and its adjacent islands, 292 

Further remarks on the subject of human complexions, 296 

Still further remarks on human complexions with other interest- 
ing subjects, • 298 

Cannibalism practised in America, and elsewhere, 303 

Ancient languages of the early nations of America, with a fac 

simile of the glyphs of Otolum the Amercan city, 309, 311 

Atlantic nations of America, and of their languages, 313 

Primitive origin of the English language, 316 

Colonies of the Danes in America, 323 

Ancient chronology of the Iroquois Indians, 336 

Traits of an ancient colony of jNegroes from Africa, in South 

America,. .• .• • • • 340 

On the disappearance of the ancient lakes of the west, and of the 

formation of seacoal, 342 

Further remarks on the draining of the westren country of its 

ancient lakes, 358 

Supposed causes of the disappearance of the ancient nations of 

the west, , 364 

Lake Ontario supposed to have been formed by the crater of a 

volcano, ...=. = ' • • 367 

Keraarks on geology, 372 



Viil CONTENTS. 

Supposed resemblance of the western Indians to the ancient 

\ Greeks, 378 

Supposed traits of the ancient Romans in America, 386 

Traits of white nations in Georgia and Kentucky, before Co- 
lumbus's time, and the traditions of the Indians respecting 

them, 390 

Description of Mount Ararat on which the ark rested, 399 



AMERICAN ANTIQ^UITIES 



AND 



DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



A LOFTY summit on a range of mountains, called Ararat, in 
Asia, furnished the resting place of the Ark, which contained the 
progenitors of both man and animals, who have replenished the 
Globe since the era of the Deluge. 

Ararat h a chain of mountains, running partly round the south- 
ern end of the Caspian, and is situated between the Caspian and 
Black Seas ; in latitude north, about 38 deg. agreeing with the 
middle of the United States, and is from London a distance of about 
two thousand four hundred miles, in a southeasterly course, and 
from the city of Albany, in the- United States, is nearly six thou- 
sand, in an exact easterly direction, and the same latitude, except 
a variation of but three degrees south. 

We have been thus particular to describe the exact situation, as 
generally allowed, of that range of mountains ; because from this 
place, which is nearly on the western end of the Asiatic continent, 
Noah and his posterity descend«d, and spread themselves over 
many parts of the earth, and as we suppose, even to America, re- 
newing the race of man, which well aigh had become extinct from 
the devastation and ruin of the universal flood. 

But that the flood of Noah was uiiiverfial^ is gravely doubted ; 
in proof of which, the abettors of this doubt, bring the traditional 
history of the ancient Chinese. Professor Rafiaesque, of the city 
of Philadelphia, confessedly a learned and most able antiquarian, 
has recently advanced the following exceedingly interesting and 
curious matter, which relates to this subject- 

2 



10 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" History of China before the Flood. The traditions preserved 
by many ancient nations of the earliest history of the earth and 
mankind, befjre and after the great geological floods, which have 
desolated the globe, are highly interesting; they belong at once to 
geology, archeology, history and many other sciences. They are 
the only glimpses to guide xis where the fossil remains or medals 
of nature, are silent or unknown. 

Ancient China was in the eastern slopes and branches of the 
mountains of Central Asia, the hoary Imalaya, where it is as yet 
very douhlfal whether the flood thoroughly extended." 

But though this is doubted, we cannot subscribe to the opinioDy 
however great our deference may be for the ability and research of 
those who have ventured to doubt. We feel by far a greater de- 
ference for the statement or the Hebrew author of the book of 
Genesis ; an historian of the highest accredited antiquity. This 
author says plainly, that " all the high hills under the whole heaven 
were, covered;" and that "fifteen cubits," and upwards, the wa- 
ters prevailed ; and the mountains were covered. But not so, if we 
are to believe the above suggestion, which would leave a very 
large tract of country of Central Asia exempt from the flood of 
Noah, as also a part of South America. 

This opinion, which contradicts the Bible account of that floodj 
is founded on " the traditional history of China, which speaks of 
two great floods which desolated, but did not overflow the land. 
They answer, says Mr. Rafinesque, to the two great floods of Noiah 
and Peleg, recorded in the Bible. " The latter, the flood of Peleg, 
or Yao, was caused, he says, by volcanic paroxysms all over the 
earth ;" but " much less fatal than the flood of Noah, or Yu-ti, in 
China." 

Respecting this flood, " the following details are taken chiefly 
from the Chinese historians, Liu-yu and Lo-pi, whose works are 
called Y-tse, and Uai-ki, as partly translated by Leroux." These 
say, that " the first flood happened under the 8th Ki, or period 
called Yu-li, and the first emperor of it," was " Chin-sang., about 
3170 years before Christ," 826, before the flood. 

But neither can this be true, as the flood of Noah took place 
1656 years from the creation, which would be but 2,344 years he- 
fore Christ; ^being a mistake of about 826 years. Wherefore, if 
Jfeere is any truth in the Chinese history at all, those histories must 



AND DISCOVEniES IN THE WEST. 11 

allude to some flood before that of Noah ; an account of which may 
■ have been received from Noah himself, and preserved in the Chi- 
nese histories written after the flood. 

The flood alluded to, by the above named historians, did not, it 
is true, according to their account, overflow the whole earth, but 
was such as that the waters did not return to their usual channels 
for a long time ; " the misery of mankind was extreme ; the beasts 
and serpents were very numerous ;" being driven together by the 
pursuit of the waters, and also " storms and cold" had greatly in- 
creased. Chin-sang collected the wandering men to unite against 
the wild beasts, to dress their skins for clothing, and to weave their 
fur into webs and caps. This emperor was venerated for these 
benefits, and began a Shi, or dynast}', that lasted 350 years." 

This account would suit very well to the character of Nimrod 
the founder of the first monarchy after the flood, whom we are much 
inclined to think the Chinese historians point out, instead of any 
king before the era of the flood of Noah. 

But to the research of the highly gifted antiquarian, Rafinesque, 
we are greatly indebted in one important respect : It is well known 
that persons in the learned world have greatly admired the boasted 
antiquity of the Chinese nations, whoj by their records, make the 
earth much older than the account given by Moses. But this phi- 
losopher on this subject writes as follows : " The two Chinese 
words, Ki and Shi^ translated period and dynasty^ or family, are of 
some importance. As they now stand translated, they would make 
the world very old ; since no less than ten Ki, or periods, are enu- 
merated, (we are in the 10th;) wherein 232 Shi, or dynasties of 
emperors, are said to have ruled in China, during a course of 276,- 
480 years before Christ, at the lowest computation ; and 96,962,- 
220 before Christ, at the highest; with many intermediary calcu- 
lations, by various authors. 

But if Ki,he says, may also mean a dynasty^ or division, or peo- 
ple, as it appears to do in some instances, and Shi, an age, or a 
irihe^ or reign, the whole preposterous computation will prove false, 
or be easily reduced to agree with those of the Hindoos, Persians 
and Egyptians ;" and come within the age of the earth as given 
in the Scriptures. 

If the central region of Asia, and parts of South America, may 
have been exempted from that flood, we may then safely inquire, 



12 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

whether other parts of the globe may not also have been exempt ; 
where men and animals were preserved ; and thus the account of 
the ark, in which, as related by Moses, both men and animals 
were saved, is completely overturned. But the universal traditions 
of all nations, contradict this, while the earth, every where, shows 
signs of the operations of the waters, in agreement with this uni- 
versal tradition. If such a flood never took place, which rushed 
over the earth with extraordinary violence, how, it may be in- 
quired, are there found in Siberia, in north latitude 60 and 70 deg. 
great masses of the bones of the elephant and rhinoceros — animals 
of the hot regions of the equator. From this it is evident that the 
flood which wafted the bodies of those animals, rolled exactly over 
all China and the Hindoo regions. In all parts of the earth, even 
on the highest regions and mountains, are found oceanic remains. 
Whales have been found in the mountains of Greenland, and also 
in other parts, as in America, far from the ocean. 

Chinese history, it is true, gives an account of many floods, 
which have ruined whole tracts of that country, as many as sixty- 
five, one of which, in the year 185 before Christ, it is said, formed 
that body of water called the Yellow Sea, situated between Corea 
and China. 

But v/ere the history of American floods written, occasioned by 
similar causes; sueh as rivers rupturing their mountain barriers; 
and the shocks of earthquakes, siace the time of Noah's flood ; 
who could say there would not be as many. We shall have oc- 
casion to speak of this subject before we close this volume. 

It is s?.id that the history of China gives an account of the state 
of mankind before the flood of Yuti, or Nonh, and represents them 
as having been happy, ruled by benevolent monarchs, who took 
nothing and gave much ; the world submitted to their virtues and 
good laws ; they wore no crowns, but long hair ; never made war, 
and put no one to death. But this is also contrary to the account 
of Moses ; who says the earth before the flood was corrupt before 
God, and was filled with violence. But they carry their descrip- 
tion of the happiness of men so high, as to represent perfect har- 
mony as having existed between men and animals ; when men liv- 
ed on roots and the fruits of the earth ; that they did not follow 
hunting ; property was common, and universal concord prev;iiled. 
From this high wrought account of the pristine happiness of man, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 13 

we are at once referred to the original state of Adam in Paradise, 
and to his patriarchal government after his fall ; and it is likely also 
to that cf his successors, till men had multiplied in the earth ; so as 
to form conflicting interests, when the rapine and violence com- 
menced, as spoken of by Moses, which it seems grew worse and 
worse, till the flood came and took them all away. 

That the central parts of Asia were not overflown by the deluge, 
appears of vast importance to some philosophers of the present day 
to be established. For if so, we see, say they, at once, how both 
men and animals were preserved from that flood ; and yet this does 
not, they say, militate against the Mosaic account ; for the very 
word ark is, in the original language, theba, and signifies refuge^ 
and is the country of Thibet. So that when Moses talked about 
an ark, he only meant the central part of Asia, or Thibet, in which 
men and animals were saved, instead of a vessel. 

Theba, or Thibet, situated in what is called Central Asia, and in 
size equal to three-fourths of the area of the United States, is in- 
deed the highest part of that continent, and produces mountains 
higher than any other part of the earth : yet Moses says, that the 
flood prevailed fifteen cubits and upwards above the highest moun- 
tains. 

Thibet is situated in latitude 30 degrees north, exactly between 
Farther India, Hiudostan and Siberia, where banks of the bones ef 
equatorial animals are found, as we have noticed ; by which we 
assertain that the deluge roiled over this very Theba, the country 
supposed to have been left dry at the time of Noah's flood. 

But that opinion will not do ; for the Mosaic account plainly 
says, that God said to Noah, " make ihee an ark of gopher wood.'''' 
Surely Noah did not make the central part of Asia, called Theba, 
or Thibet ; neither was he called upon to do so, as it would have 
taken jnt<c/i gopher wood to have formed the whole, or a part of so 
large a country. But respecting the word which is translated ark 
in the f:criptures, it is said by Adam Clarke to be, ia the original, 
Tebath, and not Theha. 

The word Tebathy he says, signifies vessel, and means no more 
nor less than a vessel, in its most coaimon acceptation, a hollow 
place, capable of containing persons, goods, &c. The idea, there- 
fore, that the word ark signified the central parts of Asia, called 



14 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Theba, or Thibet, falls to the ground ; while the history, as giveu 
by Moses, respecting the flood of Noah, remains unshaken. 

The same author has also discovered that a race of ancient peo- 
ple, in South America, called the Zapotecas, boast of being ante- 
diluvian in America, and to have built the city of Coat-Ian, so 
named because this city was founded at a place which swarmed 
with serpents ; therefore named Snake-city, or Coat-Ian, built 327 
years before the flood ; and that, at\he time of the flood, a remnant 
of them, together with their king, named Pet-ela, (or dog,) saved 
themselves on a mountain of the same name, Coat-Ian. 

But we consider this tradition to relate only to the first eflTorts at 
architecture after the flood of Noah, round about the region of Ar- 
rarat, and on the plains of Shinar. The very circumstance of this 
tribe being still designated by that of the Dog tribe, is an evidence 
that they originated not before the flood as a nation, but in Asia, 
since that era ; for in Asia, as in America, tribes of ftien have also 
been thus designated, and called after the various animals of the 
\yoods. The Snake Indians are well known to the western ex- 
plorers in America, as also many other tribes, who are named after 
various wild animals. And the circumstance of their city being 
built at a place v/here there were many serpents, shows the allu- 
sion to point to the same time and place spoken of on page 11, 
where the Chinese historians, Liu-yu and Lo-pi, say the serpents 
were driven together by the waters, where, according to the Za- 
potecas, the city of Snakes, or Coat-Ian, was built. 



Supposed Origin of Human Complexions, with the ancient 
signification of the JYames of the three Sons of JVoa/i, 
and other curious matter. 

The sons of Noah were three, as stated in the book of Genesis ; 
between whose descendants the whole earth, in process of time, 
became divided. This division appears to have taken place in 
the earliest ages of the first nations after the flood, in such manner 
as to suit, or correspond with the several constitutions of those na- 
tions, in a physical sense, as well as with a reference to the various 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 16 

complexions of the descendants of these three heads of the human 
race. 

This preparation of the nations, respecting animal constitution 
and color, at the fountain head, must have been directed by the 
hand of the Creator, in an arbitrary manner ; by which not only 
his sovereignty, as the Governor of the earth, with all its tribes, is 
manifest, but also his wisdom ; because the same physical constitu- 
tions which are suited to the temperate and frigid zones of the 
globe, could not endure the burning climates of the torrid ; so nei- 
ther are the constitutions of the equatorial nations so tempered as 
to enjoy the snowy and ice-bound regions in the high latitude* 
north and south of the equator. 

The very names, or words, Shem, Ham and Japheth, were, in 
the language of Noah, (which was probably the pure Hebrew,) in 
some sense, siguificant of their future national character. We pro- 
ceed to show in what sense their names were descriptive, prospect- 
ively, of their several destinies in the earth, as well also as that 
Ham was the very name of his color, or complexion. 

The word Shem, says Dr. Clarke, signifies renown, in the lan- 
guage of Noah ; which, as that great man, now no more, remarks, 
has been wonderfully fulfilled, both in a temporal and spiritual 
sense. In a temporal sense, first, as follows : His posterity spread 
themselves over the finest regions of Upper and Middle Asia, Ar- 
menia, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, Persia, and the Indus, Gan- 
ges, and possibly to China, still more eastward. 

The word Japheth, which was the name of Noah's third son, has 
also its meaning, and signifies, according to the same author, that 
which may be exceedingly enlarged, and capable of spreading to a 
vast extent. 

His posterity diverged eastward and westward from Ararat, 
throughout the whole extent of Asia, north of the "great range of 
the Taurus and Ararat mountains, as far as the Eastern ocean ; 
whence, as he supposes, they crossed over to America, at the 
straits of Behring, and in the opposite direction from those moun- 
tains, throughout Europe, to the Mediterranean sea, south from 
Ararat ; and to the Atlantic ocean west from that region ; whence 
also they might have passed over to America, by the way of Ice- 
land, Greenland, and so on to the continent, along the coast of Lab- 
rador, where traces of early settlements remain, in parts now de- 



16 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

sen. Thus did Japheth enlarge himself, till his posterity literally 
encompassed the earth, from latitude 35 degrees north and upward, 
toward the pole. 

The word Ham signified that which was burnt or black. The 
posterity of this son of Noah peopled the hot regions of the earth, 
on either side the equator. 

But as it respects the complexions of these heads of the nations 
of the earth, we remark as follows : Shem was undoubtedly a red 
or copper colored man, which was the complexion of all the ante- 
diluvians. 

This conclusion is drawn from the fact, that the nations inhabit- 
ing the countries named as being settled or peopled by the descend- 
ants of Shem have always been, and now are, of that cast. We 
deem this fact as conclusive, that such was also their progenitor, 
Shftm, as that the great and distinguishing features and complexion 
of nations change not, so as to disappear. Shem was the father of 
the Jewish race, who are of the same hue, varying, it is true, some 
being of a darker, and some of a lighter shade, arising from secret 
and undefinable principles, placed beyond the research of man ; 
and also, from amalgamation by marriage with white, and with the 
darker nations, as the African. But to corroborate our opinion that 
the antediluvians were of a red. or copper complexion, we bring 
the well-known statement of Josephus, that Adam, the first of men, 
was a red man, made of red earth, called virgin earth, because of 
its beauty and pureness. The word Adam, he also says, signifies 
that color which is red. To this account the tradition of the Jews 
corresponds, who, as they are the people most concerned, should be 
allowed to know most about it. 

Shem, therefore, must have been a red man, derived from the 
complexion of the first man, Adam. And his posterity, as above 
described, are accordingly of the same complexion ; this is well 
known of all the Jews, unmixed with those nations that are fairer, 
as attested by history, and the traveller of every age, in the coun- 
tries they inhabit. 

The word Ham,wh\ch was the name of the second son of Noah, 
is the word which was descriptive of the color which is blacky or 
burnt. This we show from the testinrsony of Dr. Hales, of Eng- 
land, who was a celebrated natural philosopher and mathematician 
of the 17th century, who is quoted by Adam Clarke, to show that 



AND DISCOVKUIKS IN TUE WKST. 17 

the word Ham, in the language of Noah, which was that of the an- 
tediluvians, was the term for that whidi was black. 

It is not possible, from authority so high and respectable, that 
doubts can exist respecting the legitimacy of this word, and of its 
ancient application. Accordingly, as best suited to the complexion 
of the descendants of Ham, the hot regions of the equator were al- 
lotted to those nations. 

To the Cushites, the southern climes of A-sia, along the coast of 
the Persian gulf, Susiane, or Cushistan, Arabia, Canaan, Palestine, 
Syria, and Egypt and Lybia in Africa. These countries were set- 
tled by the posterity of Ham, who were, and now are, of a glossy 
black. 

But the vast variety of shades and hues of the human face, are 
derived from amalgamations of the three original complexions, red, 
black, and white. This was the act of God, giving to the three 
persons, upon whom the earth's population depended, by way of 
perpetuity, such complexions, and animal constitutions, as should 
be best suited to the several climates, which he intended^ in the 
progress of his providence, they should inhabit. 

The people of these countries, inhabited respectively by these 
heads of nations, the immediate descendants of Shem, Ham and 
Japheth, still retain, in full force, the ancient, pristine red, white, 
and black complexions, except where each have intruded upon the 
other, and become scattered, and mingled, in some degree, over 
the earth. Accordingly, among the African nations, in their own 
proper countries, now and then a colony of whites have fixed their 
dwellings. Among the red nations are found, here and there, as in 
some of the islands of the Pacific, the pure African ; and both the 
black and the red are found among the white nations ; but now, 
much more than in the earliest ages, a general amalgamation of the 
three original colors exists. 

When we speak of the original, or pristine complexions, we do 
not mean before the flood, except in the family of Noah, as it is 
our opinion that neither the black or the white was the complexion 
of Adam and all the nations before the flood, but that they have 
been produced by the power and providence of the Creator in the 
family of Noah only. 

Much has been written to establish the doctrine of the influence 
of climate and/oorf, in producing the vast extremes between a fair 

3 



18 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and ruddy white, and a jet black. But this mode of reasoning, to 
establish the origin of the human complexion, we imagine very in- 
conclusive and unsatisfactory ; as it is found that no distance of 
space, lapse of ages, change of diet, or of countries, can possibly 
" remove the leopard's spots, or change the Ethiopian's skin." 
No lapse of ages has been known to change a white man and his 
posterity to the hue or shape of an African, although the hottest 
rays of the burning clime of Lybia, may have scorched him ages 
unnumbered, and its soil have fed him with its roots and berries, 
an equal length of time. It is granted, however, that a white man 
with his posterity, will tan very dark by the heat of the sun ; but 
it can never alter, as it never has materially altered, the shape of his 
face from that which was characteristic of his nation or people, nor 
the form of his limbs, nor his curled hair, turning it to a taool, pro< 
vided, always, the blood be kept pure and unmixed. 

Power in the decomposition of food, by the human stomach, doe* 
not exist of sufficient force to overturn the deep foundation of cau- 
ses established in the very germ of being, by the Creator. The 
circumstance of what a man may eat, or where he may chance to 
breathe, cannot derange the economy of first principles. Were it 
so, it were not a hard matter for the poor African, if he did but 
know this choice trait of philosophy, to take hope and shake off 
entirely his unfortunate skin, in process of time, and no longer be 
exposed, solely on that account, to slavery, chains, and wretched- 
ness. 

But the inveteracy of complexion against the operation of cli- 
mate, is evinced by the following, as related by Morse. On the 
eastern coast of Africa, in latitude 5 deg. north, are found jet black, 
tawny, olive, and white inhabitants, all speaking the same language, 
which is the Arabic- This particular part of Africa is called the 
Magadoxo kingdom : the inhabitants are a stout, warlike nation, of 
the Mahometan religion. Here, it appears, is permanent evidence 
that climate or food have no eflfect in materially changing the hues 
of the complexion, each retaining their own original tincture ; even 
the white is found as stubborn in this torrid sky, as the black in the 
northern countri«?s. 

The whites found there are the descendants of the ancient Ro- 
mans, Vandals and Goths, who were, it is asserted by John Leo, 
the African, who wrote a description of Africa in Arabic, all an^ 



AND DISCOVEHIES IN THE WEST. 19 

dently comprehended under the general name of Mauri^ or Moon, a§ 
well as the black Moors themselves. — (Morsels Universal Geography ^ 
vol. ii.,pp. 754,781.) 

Procopius, a Greek historian of the 6th century, speaks of a race 
of fair complexioned people, with ruddy countenances and yellow 
hair, who dwelt far within the desert of Lybia, which is in Africa. 
The same race was found by Dr. Thomas Shaw, the antiquary, 
who was born in the 17th century, who speaks of them as retain- 
ing their fair complexion and yellow hair, although a lapse of years 
no less than twelve hundred had transpired, from the time of Pro- 
copius till the time of Dr. Shaw. The latitude of their country is 
between 10 and 12 degrees south. — {Encyclopedia, vol. vi., part 2, 
p. 668, American edition.) 

Shem, according to the commonly received opinion, was the 
eldest son of Noah ; and as the complexion of this child did not 
differ from that of other children born before the flood, all of whongi 
are supposed to have been red, or of the copper hue, on the ground 
of Adam's complexion ; Noah did not, therefore, name the child at 
first sight, from any extraordinary impulse arising from any singular 
appearar.ce in the complexion, but rather, as it was his first born 
son, he called him Shem, that is, renown, which name agrees, in a 
surprising manner, with what we have hereafter to relate, respect- 
ing this character. 

The impulse in the mind of Noah, which moved him to call this 
first son of his Shem, or renown, may have been similar to that of 
the patri^.rch Jacob respecting liis ^rsf born son. He says, Reuben, 
thou art my fi,rst born, ray might, and the beginning of my strength, 
the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. The ideas 
are similar, both leading to the same consequence; in one case it 
is renown, in the other the excellency of power, which is equiva- 
lent to renown : and, in both cases, arise from the mere circum- 
stance of those children being the first born. 

It is not unusual for parents to feel this sensation, on the birth of 
z first child, especially if it be a son; however, it is not impossible 
but the prophetic spirit moved Noah so to name this son by the ex- 
traordinary appellation, renoiim, or Shem ; and the chief trait of ce- 
lebrity which was to attach itself to the character of Shem, was 
to arise out of the fact of his being the type of the Messiah ; and the 
time was to come when this person, after the flood should hare 



20 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

plassed away, would be the only antediluvian survivor ; on which 
account, all mankind must, of necessity, by natural and mutual 
consent, look up to this man with extraordinary veneration. 

By examining the chronological account of the Jewish records, 
we find the man Shem lived five hundred years after the flood, 
and that he over-lived Abraham about forty years. So that he 
was not only the oldest man on the earth at that time, but also the 
only surviving antediluvian, as well as the great typical progenitor 
of the adorable Messiah. 

Here was a foundation for renowiiy of sufficient solidity to justify 
the prophetic spirit in moving Noah to call him Shem, a name full 
of import, full of meaning, pointing its significalion, in a blaze of 
light, to him whose birth and works of righteousness were to be 
of consequences the highest in degree to the whole race of Adam, 
in the atonement. 

But at the birth of Ham, it was different. When this child was 
born, we may suppose the house or tent to have been in an uproar, 
on the account of his strange complexion ; the news of which, we 
may suppose, soon reached the ear of the father, who, on beholding 
it, at once, in the form of an exclamation, cried out. Ham ! that is, 
it is black! and this word became his name. 

It is believed, that in the first ages of the world, things were 
named from their supposed qualities; and their supposed qualities 
arose from first appearances. In this way, it is imagined, Adam 
named all the animals at first sight ; as the Lord God caused them 
to pass before him, a sudden impulse arising in his mind, from the 
appearance^of each creature ; so that a suitable name was given. 

This was natural ; but not more so than it was for Noah to call 
his second son Ham, because he was black ; being struck by this 
uncommon, unheard of, complexion of his own child, which im- 
p»illed him at once to name him as he looked. 

We suppose the same influence governed at the birth of Japheth, 
and that at the birth of this child, greater surprise still must have 
pervaded the household of Noah, as white was a cast of complexion 
still more wonderful than either red or black, as these two last 
named complexions bear a stronger affinity to each other than to 
that of white. 

No sooner, therefore, as we may suppose, was th^ news of the 
birth of this third son carried to Noah, than, being anxious to em- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN TUE WEST. 21 

brace him, saw with amazement, that it was diverse from the other 
two, and from all mankind ; having not the least affinity of com- 
plexion with any of the human race ; and being in an ecstacy, at 
the sight of so fair and ruddy an infant, beautifully white and trans- 
parent of complexion, cried out, while under the influence of his 
joy and surprise, Japheth ! which word became his name ; to this, 
however, he added afterwards, God shall greatly enlarge Japheth, 
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan ; that is, 
Ham shall be his servant ; so that, in a political sense, he was 
higher than the other tsvo. 

But if our opinion on this subject is esteemed not well support- 
ed, we would add one other circumstance, which would seem to 
amount to demonstration, in proving Ham and his posterity to have 
been black at the outset. 

The circumstance is as follows : At two particular times, it ap- 
pears from Genesis, that Noah declared, Ham, with his posterity, 
should serve or become servants to both the posterity of Shem and 
Japheth. If one were to inquire whether this has been fulfilled 
or not, what would be the universal answer ? It would be — it has 
been fulfilled. But in what way i* Who are the people ? The 
universal answer is, the African race are the people. But how is 
this proved, unless we allow them to be the descendants of Ham ? 

If, then, they are his descendants, they have been such in every 
age, from the very beginning ; and the same criterion, which is 
their color, has distinguished them. This proves their progenitor, 
Ham, to have been black ; or otherwise, it had been impossible to 
distinguish them from the posterity of the other two, Shem and 
Japheth ; and whether the denunciation of Noah has been fulfilled 
or not, would be unknown. But as it is known, the subject is 
clear ; the distinguishing trait by which Ham's posterity were 
known a.t first, must of necessity have been, as it is now, black. 

We have dwelt thus far upon the subject of human complex- 
ions, because there are those who imagine the variety now found 
among men, to have originated purely from climate, food, and man- 
ner of living ; while others suppose a plurality of fathers to have 
been the cause, in contradiction of the account in Genesis, where 
one man is said to have been the father all mankind. But on this 
curious subject, respecting the variety of complexions see, toward 
the close of this volume, the remarks of Professor Mitchell, late 
of New- York. 



S3 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Respecting a division of the Earth, hy JVoah, among his 

Sons. 

It cannot be denied but tbe whole earth, at the time the ark 
rested on mount Ararat, belonged to Noah, he being the prince, 
patriarch, or head and ruler of his own family ; consequently, of 
all the inhabitants of the earth, as there were none but his own 
house. This is more than can be said of any other man since the 
world began, except of the man Adam. Accordingly, in the true 
ehaiacter of a Patriarchal Prince, as related by Eusebius, an ec- 
clesiastical writer of the fourth century, and by others, that Noah, 
being commanded of God, proceeded to make his wiU^ dividing 
the whole earth between his three sons, and their respective heirs 
or descendants. 

To Shem he gave all the East; to Ham, all Africa; to Japheth, 
the continent of Europe, with its isle.fy and the northern parts of 
Asia, as before pointed out. And may we not add America, 
which, in the course of Divine Providence, is now in the possession 
of the posterity of Japheth, and it is not impossible but tliis quarter 
of the earth may have been known even to Noah, as we are led 
to suspect from the statement of Eusebius. 

This idea, or information, is brought forward by Adam Clarke, 
from whose commentary on the Scriptures, we have derived it 
That a knowledge of not only Africa, Asia, and Europe, was in 
the possession of Noah, but even the islands of Europe, is prob- 
able, or how could he have given them to the posterity of his son 
Japheth, as written by Eusebius. 

It may be questioned, possibly, whether these countries, at so 
early a period, had yet been explored, so as to furnish Noah with 
any degree of knowledge respecting them. To this it may be re- 
plied, that he lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, and 
more than a hundred and fifty after the building of the tower of 
Babel and the dispersion of the first inhabitants, by means of the 
confusion of the ancient language. 

This was a lapse of time quite sufficient to have enabled explor- 
ers to have traversed them, or even the whole earth, if companies 
had been sent out in diflerent directions, for that express purpose, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 23 

«nd to return again with their accounts to Noah. If the supposi- 
tion of Adam Clarke, and others, be correct ; which is, that at that 
time the whole land of the globe was so situated that no continent 
was quite separate from the others by water, as they are now ; so 
that men could traverse by land the whole globe at their will : if 
80, even America may have been known to the first nations, as well 
as other parts of the earth. 

This doctrine of the union of continents, is favored, or rather 
founded on a passage in the book of Genesis, 10th chap. 20th ver., 
where it is stated that one of the sons of Eber was Peleg, so 
named, because, in his days, the earth was divided ; the word 
Peleg, probably signifying division, in the Noetic language. 

The birth of Peleg was about an hundred years after the flood, 
the very time when Babel was being built. But we do not ima» 
gine this great convulsionary division of the several quarters of 
the globe took place till perhaps an hundred years after the birth 
of Peleg, on account of the peculiar latitude of the expressions, 
" in the days of Peleg." Or, it may have been even two hundred 
years after the birth of Peleg, as this person's whole life was but 
two hundred and thirty-nine years, so that Noah over-lived him 
eleven years. 

" In the days of Peleg," therefore, may as well be argued to 
mean, near the close of his life, as at any other period ; this would 
give time for a very considerable knowledge of the earth's coun^ 
tries to have been obtained ; so that Noah could have made a judi- 
cious division of it among the posterity of his sons. 

This grand division of the earth, is supposed by some, to have 
been only a political division ; but by otht^rs, a physical or geogra- 
phical one. This latter opinion is favored by Adam Clarke. See 
his comment on the 25th verse of the 10th chapter of Genesis, as 
follows: — "A separation of Continents and islands from the main 
land, the earthy parts having been united in one great continent, 
previous to the days of Peleg." But at this era, when men and 
animals had found their way to the several quarters of the earth, 
it seemed good to the Creator to break down those uniting portions 
of land, by bringing into action the winds, the billows, and sub- 
terranean nres, which soon, by iheir repeated and united forces, re- 
moved each isthmus, throwing them along the coasts of the several 



24 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

continents, and forming them into islands ; thus destroying, for 
wise purposes, those primeval highways of the nations. This sub- 
ject continued on page 32. 



Supposed identity and real name of Melchisedec^ of the 
Scriptures. 

' This is indeed an interesting problem, the solution of which 
has perplexed its thousands ; most of whom suppose him to have 
been the Son of God, some angelic, or mysterious supernatural 
personage, rather than a mere man. This general opinion proceeds 
on the ground of the Scripture account of him, as commonly uur 
derstood, being expressed as follows : — " Without father, without 
mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor 
end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth a priest 
continually." — (^Hebrews vii. 3.) 

But, without further circumlocution, we will at once disclose 
our opinion, by stating that we believe him to have been Shem, 
the eldest son of Noah, the immediate progenitor of Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, and the Jews, and none other than Shem, " the man 
of name, or renown." 

We derive this conclusion from the research, and critical com- 
mentary of the learned and pious Adam Clake, who gives us this 
information from the tradition of the Jewish Rabbins, which, with- 
out hesitation, gives this honor to Shem. 

The particular part of that commentary to which we allude as 
being the origin of our belief, on this subject, is the preface of that 
author to the book of Job, on page 716, as follows : " Shem lived 
five hundred and two years after the deluge ; being still alive, and 
in the three hundred and ninety-third year of his life, when Abra- 
ham was born ; therefore, the Jewish tradition, that Shem was the 
Melchisedec, or my righteous king of Salem," which word Mel- 
chisedec, was " an epithet, or title of honor and respect, 710/ a 
proper name, and therefore, as the head and father of his race, 
Abraham paid tithes to him. This seems to be welt founded, and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 25 

the idea is confirmed by these remarkaoie words: {Psalms ex.) 
Jehovah hath s' or j, and will not repent or change, al tah co- 
henleolam al dibaite MalMtsedek. As if he had said: Thou, my 
only begotten sou, ii.st born of many brethren, not according to the 
substituted priesthood of the sons of Levi, who, after the sin of the 
golden calf, stood up in lieu of all the first born of Israel, invested 
with their forfeited rights of primogeniture of king and priest : the 
Lord hath sworn and will not repent, (change.) Thou art a priest 
for ever, after the (my order of Melchisedec, my own original pri- 
mitive) order of primogeniture : even as Shem, the man of namey 
the Shem that stands the first and foremost of the sons of Noah. 
The righteous Prince, and Priest of the Most High God, meets his 
descendant, Abraham, after the slaughter of the kings, with re- 
freshments ; and blessed him, as the head and father of his race ; 
the Jews in particular; and, as such, he received from Abraham 
the tithe of all the spoil. 

How beautifully does Paul of Tarsus, writing to the Hebrews, 
point, through Melchisedec, (or Shem, the head and father of their 
race,) invested in all the original n;]its of primogeniture. Priest of 
the most high God, blessing Abraham as such, before Levi had ex- 
istence, and as such^ receiving tithes from Abraham, and in him 
Jrom Levi, yet in the loins of his forefathers : Moses, on this great 
and solemn occasion, records simply this : Melchisedec, king of 
Salem, Priest of the most high God, sine genealogie ; his pedigree 
not mentioned, but standing as Adam in St. Luke's genealogy with- 
out father and without mother, Adam of God. — {Luke iii., 88.) 
How beautifully, I say, doth St. Paul point, through Melchisedec, 
to Jehoshua, our great High Priest and King, Jesus Christ, whose 
eternal generation who shall declare ! Ha Mashiach, the Lord's 
annointed High Priest and King, after the order of Melchisedec ; 
only begotten, first born son. 

Thus far for the preface on the subject of Melchisedec, showing 
that he was none other than Shem, the son of Noah. We shall 
now give the same author's views of the same supposed mysterious 
character, Melchisedec, as found in his notes on the 7th Hebrews, 
commencing at the third verse. 

Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither 
beginning of days, nor end of life. " The object of the Apostle, 
in thus producing the example of Melchisedec, was to show, 1st. 

4 



td AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

That Jesus was the person prophesied of in the 110th Psalm^ 
which Psalm the Jews uniformly understood as predicting the Mes- 
siah. 2d. To answer the objections of the Jews against the le-' 
gitimacy of the priesthood of Christ, arising from the stock from 
which he proceeded. The objection is this : If the Messiah is a 
true priest, he must come from a legitimate stock, as all the priests 
under the law have regularly done ; otherwise we cannot acknow- 
ledge him to be a priest. 

" But Jesus of Nazareth has not proceeded from such a stock j 
therefore we cannot acknowledge him for a priest, the antetype of 
Aaron. To this objection the Apostle answers, that it was not ne-* 
cessary for the priest to come from a particular stock ; foi Melchlse- 
dec was a priest of the most high God, and yet was not of the stock - 
either of Abraham (for Melchisedec was before Abraham,) or 
Aaron, but was a Canaanite. 

" It is well known that the ancient Jews, or Hebrews, were ex- 
ceedingly scrupulous in choosing their high priest ; partly by divine 
command, and partly from the tradition of their common ancestors, 
who always considered this office to be of the highest dignity. 1st 
God commanded, {Leviticus xxi. 10,) that the high priest should 
be chosen from among their brethren ; that is, from the family of 
Aaron. Qd. That he should marry a virgin. 3d. He must not 
marry a widow. 4th. Nor a divorced person. 5th. Nor a harlot. 
6th. Nor one of another nation. He who was found to have acted 
contrary to these requisitions, was, jure divino, excluded from the 
pontiticate, or eligibility to hold that office. 

" On the contrary, it 'was necessary that he who desired this ho- 
nor should be able to prove his descent from the family of Aaron ^ 
and if he could not, though even in the priesthood, he was cast out j 
■as we find from Ezra, ii. 62, and Nehemiah vii. 63. To these di- 
vine ordinances the Jews have added, 1st. That no proselyte could 
be a priest. 2d. Nor a slave. 3d. Nor a bastard. 4th. Nor the 
son of a Nithinnim ; these were a class of men who were servants 
to the priests and Levites, (not of their tribe,) to draw water, 
and to hew wood. 6th.- Nor one whose father exercised any base 
trade. 

" And that they might be well assured of all this, they took the 
utmost care to preserve their genealogies, which were regularly 
kept in the arohives of the temple. When, if any person aspiredr 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 27 

to the sacerdotal function, his geneobgical table was carefully in- 
spected, and if any of the above blemishes was found in him he 
was rejected." 

But here the matter comes to a point as it respects our inquiry 
respecting Melchisedec's having no father or mother. 

^^ He tcho could not hupi)OTt his pretensions by just genealogical 
evidences, was said to be without father. Thus in Bereshith Rabba, 
sec. xviii. fol. 18, are these words: For this cause shall a man leave 
Jather and mother. It is said, if a proselyte to the Jewish religion 
have married his own sister, whether by the same father or by the 
same mother, they cast her out, according to llabbi Meir. But the 
wise men say, if she be of the same mother, they cast her out ; but 
if of the same father, they retain her, shein ab la gai, for a Gentile 
has no father, that is, his father is not reckoned in the Jewish gene- 
alogies." 

In this way, both Christ and Melchisedec were without father, 
aud without mother, had neither beginning of days, descent of line- 
age, nor end of life in their books of genealogies, which gave a man 
a right to the priesthood, as derived from Aaron ; that is, were not 
descended from the original Jewish sacerdotal stock. Yet Mel- 
chisedec, who was a Canaanite, was a priest of the most high God. 
This sense Suidas* confirms, under the word Melchisedec, where, 
after stating that he reigned a prince in Salem, (that is Jerusalem,) 
113 years, he died a righteous man. To this he adds: "He is, 
. therefore, said to be without descent or genealogy, because he was 
not of the seed of Abraham (for Abraham was his seed,) but of 
Canaanitish origin." 

We think this sufficient to show the reason why he is said to 
ha\*e had no father or mother, beginning of days, nor end of life, 
as stated in Hebrews. But this is not said of him in the book of 
Genesis, where we first become acquainted with this truly wonder- 
ful character. 

It should be recollected that the Jewish genealogies went no far- 
ther back, for the qualifications of their priestly credentials, or 
eligibility to the pontifical office, than to the time and family of 
Aaron, which was more than four hundred years after that of 

t ' ■ ' ■ ' ■ — 

•Suidas, a Greek scholar of eminence, who flourished a. d. 975, and was an 
ecclesiastical writer of that age. 



28 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Abraham and Melchisedec No wonder, then, that Christ's gene- 
alogy was not found in their records, so as to give him a claim to 
that office, such as they might approve. 

But inasmuch as Melchisedec was greater than Abraham, from 
whom the Jewish race immediately originated, he argues from the 
authority of the 110th Psalm, where Melchisedec is spoken of, 
which the Jews allowed to be spoken of Christ, or the Messiah, 
who was to come, and was, therefore, a priest after the order of 
that extraordinary Prince of Peace, and King of Salem ; because, 
neither had he such a claim on the Jewish genealogies, as required 
by the Jews, so as to make him eligible to iheir priesthood, for they 
knew, or might have known, that Christ did not come of the 
Aaronie race, but of the line or tribe of Judah. 

That he was a man, a mere man, born of a woman, and came 
into the world after the ordinary manner, is attested by St. Paul's 
own extraordinary expression. (See Hebrews, vii. 4.) " Now con- 
sider how great this man was, unto whom Abraham gave the tenth 
of the spoils." However wonderfully elevated among men, and in 
the sight of God ; however powerful and rich, wise, holy, and 
happy ; he was, nevertheless, a mere ma7i, or the tenth of the spoils 
he would not have received. 

But the question is, what man was he, and what was his name .'' 
*' Now consider how great this man was," are words which may 
possibly lead us to the same conclusion, which we have quoted from 
the preface of the book of Job^ 

There are not wanting circumstances to elevate this man, on the 
supposition that he was Shem, in the scale of society, far above a 
common level with the rest of the inhabitants of his country, of suf- 
ficient importance to justify St. Paul in saying, " now consider how 
great this man was." 

We shall recount some of the circumstances ; and first, at the 
time he met Abraham, when he was returning from the slaughter 
of the kings who had carried away Lot, the half brother of Abra- 
ham, with all his goods, his wife and children, and blessed him ; 
he was the oldest man then on the earth. This circumstance alone 
was of no small amount, and highly calculated to elevate Shem in 
the eyes of mankind ; for he was then more than five hundred and 
fifty years old. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 3V 

Secoad : He was then the only man on the earth who had lived 
before the flood ; and had been conversant with the nations, the 
institutions, the state of agriculture and the arts, as understood and 
practised by the antediluvians. 

Third : He was the only man who could tell them about the lo- 
cation of the garden of Eden ; a question, no doubt, of great curi- 
osity and moment to those early nations, so near the flood ; the 
manner in which the fall of Adam and Eve took place. He could 
tell them what sort of fruit it was, and how the tree looked on 
which it grew ; and from Shem, it is more than probable, the Jews 
received the idea that the forbidden fruit was that of the grape vincj 
as found in their traditions. 

Shem could tell them what sort of serpent it was, whether an 
orang-outang, as believed by some, that the evil spirit made use 
of to deceive the woman ; he could tell them about the former 
beauty of the earth, before it had become ruined by the commo- 
tion of the waters of the flood ; the form and situation of count).'Ies, 
and of the extent and amount of human population. He could 
tell them how the nations who filled the earth with their violence 
and rapine, used to go about the situation of the happy garden to 
which no man was allowed to approach nor ftiter, on account of 
the dreadful Cherubim and the flaming sword ; and how they blas- 
phemed against the judgments of the Most High on that account. 

Fourth : Shem could inform them about the progress of the ark, 
where it was built, and what opposition and ridicule his father 
Noah met with while it was being builded ; he could tell respect- 
ing the violent manners of the antediluvians, and what their pecu- 
liar aggravated sins chiefly consisted in — what God meant when 
he said, that "a// flesh had corrupted its way before Him," ex- 
cept the single family of Noah. There are those who imagine, 
from that peculiar phraseology, " all flesh hath corrupted its way 
on the earth," that the human /orm had become mingled with that 
of animals. If so, it was high time they were drowned, both man 
and beast, for reasons too obvious to need illustration here ; it was 
high time that the soil was purged by water, and torn to fragments 
and buried beneath the earthy matter thrown up from depths not 
so polluted. 

It is not at all improbable but from this strange and most hor- 
rible practice, the first ideas of the ancient statuaries were derive 



30 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of delineating sculpture whi:;h represents monsters, half humaa 
and half animal. This kind ,of sculpture, and also paintings, 
abounded among the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans, as 
well as other nations of the early ages. Of these shapes were many of 
their gods ; being half lion, half eagle, and half fish ; according 
to the denomination of paganism who adored these images. 

Fifth : Shem was the only man in the days of Abraham, who 
could tell them of the promised Messiah, of whom he was the 
most glorious and expressive type afforded to men, before his com- 
ing, as attested by St. Paul. It is extremely probable, that with 
this man, Abraham had enjoyed long and close acquaintance, for 
he was descended of his loins, from whom he learned the knowl- 
■edge of the true God, in all probability, in the midst of his Chal- 
<lean, idolatrous nation, and became a convert to the faith of Mel- 
chisedec. From the familiar manner with which Melchisedec, or 
Shem, who, we are compelled to believe, was indeed Melchisedec, 
met Abraham, and blessed him, in reference to the great Messiah, 
we are strongly inclined to believe them old acquaintance. 

Sixth : It appears that Shem, or Melchisedec, had gotten great 
possessions and influence among men, as he had become king of 
Salem, or ancient Jehus, where Jerusalem was afterwards built, 
and where mouat Ziou reared her towers, and was the only tem- 
ple, in which the true God was understaudlngly worshipped, then 
on the earth. It is not impossible but the mountainous region 
about Mount Horeb, and the mountains round about Jerusalem, 
were, before the flood, the base or foundation of the country, and 
exact location of the region of the garden called Eden, the place 
where Adam was created. But when the waters of the deluge 
came, they tore away all the earthy matter, and left standing those 
tremendous pinnacles and overhanging mountains of the region of 
Jerusalem and Mount Horeb. 

By examining the map on an artificial globe, it will be seen, the 
region of country situated between the eastern end of the Medi- 
terranean sea, the Black and Caspian seas, and the Persian gulf, 
the country now called Turkey, there are many rivers running in- 
to these several waters, all heading toward each other ; among 
which is the Euphrates, one of the rivers mentioned by Moses, as 
deriving '^ origin in the garden, or country of Eden. Mountain- 
ous countries are the natural sources of rivers. From which we 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 31' 

argue that Eden must have been a high region of country, as inti- 
mated in Genesis, entirely inaccessible on all sides, but the east ; 
at which point the sword of the Cherubim was placed to guard the 
way of the tree of life. Some have imagined the Persian gulf to 
be the spot where the garden was situated. But this is impossible, 
as that the river Euphrates runs iiito that gulf, from toward Jeru- 
salem, or from north of Jerusalem And as the region of Eden 
was the source oi four large rivers, running in different directions, 
so also, now the region round about the present head waters of the 
Euphrates, is the source of many rivers, as said above ; on which 
account, there can be but little doubt, but here the Paradise of 
Adam was situated, before the deluge. If the Euphrates is one of 
the rivers having its source in the garden or country of Eden, as 
Moses has recorded, it is then proved, to a demonstration, that the 
region as above described, is the ancient and primeval site of the 
literal Paradise of Adam. 

The latitude of this region is between 20 and 30 degrees north, 
and running through near the middle of this country, from east to 
west, is the range of mountains known by that of Mount Taurus 
and Mount Ararat. So that we perceive this part of the globe is 
not only the ancient Eden, from where the human race sprang 
forth, at first but that also it was renewed probably near the same 
spot, in the family bf Noah, after the flood. 

Thus far we have treated on thG subject of Melchisedec, show- 
ing reasons why he is supposed to have been Shem, the son of 
Noah, and reasons why St. Paul should say, " Now consider how 
great this vxan was." We will only add, that the word Melchisedec 
is not the name of that man so called, but is only a term, or appel- 
lation, used in relation to him, by God himself, which is the same 
as to saj', my righteous king. So that Melchisedec was not the 
name he received at his birth, but was Shem^ as the Jews inform 
us in their traditions. 



32 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Division of the Earth in the days of Pekg, and of the 
spreading out of the nations^ with other curious matter. 

But to return to the subject (left on page 28,) respecting the 
division of the earth in the days of Peleg. If, then, the division 
of the earth v^ras a physical one, consequently such as had settled 
on its several parts before this division became forever separated 
towards the four quarters of the globe. If this position be true, 
the mystery is at once unriddled, how men and animals are found 
on all the earth, not excepting the islands, however far removed 
from other lands by intervening seas. 

But of this matter we shall speak again towards the close of 
this work, when we hope to throw some degree of light upon this 
obscure, yet exceedingly interesting subject. 

We here take the opportunity to inform the reader, that as soon 
as we have given an account of the dispersion of the inhabi- 
tants of the earth, immediately after the flood, from whom sprang 
the several nations mentioned in sacred and profane ancient his- 
tory, we shall then come to our main subject, namely, that of the 
antiquities of America. 

In order to give an account of those nations, we follow the Com- 
mentary of Adam Clarke, on the 10th chapter of the Book of 
Genesis ; which is the only book to which we can resort for in- 
formation of the kind ; all other works which touch this point, are 
only illustrative and corroboratory. Even the boasted antiquity of 
the Chinese, going back millions of ages, as often quoted by the 
sceptic, is found, when rightly understood, to come quite within 
the account given by Moses of the creation. 

This is asserted by Baron Humboldt, a historian of the first 
order, whose mind was embellished with a universal knowledge of 
the manners, customs, and traits of science, of the nations of the 
earth, rarely acquired by any man. 

The Chinese account of their first knowledge of the oldest of their 
gods, shows their antiquity of origin to be no higher than the crea- 
tion, as related in Genesis. Their Shastriis, a book which gives an ac- 
count the incarnation of the god VishnoOy states, that his first incar- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 38 

nation was for the purpose of bringing up the Vedas, (sacred books) 
from the deep. This appearance of Vishnoo, they say, was in the 
form of a fish. The books, the fish, and the deep, are ail derived 
from Noah, whose account of the creation has furnished the ground 
of this Chinese tradition. In liis second incarnation, he took the 
newly created world on his back, as he assumed the ferm of a tor- 
toise, to make it stable. This alludes to the Mosaic account, which 
says, God separated the water from the dry land, and assigned 
them each their place. In his third incarnation he took the form 
of a wild boar, and drew the earth out of the sea, into which it had 
sunk during a periodical destruction of the world. This is a tra- 
dition of the deluge, and of the subsiding of the waters, when the 
tops of the mountains first appeared. A fourth incarnation oi this 
god was for the rescue of a son, whose father was about to slay 
him. What else is this but the account of Abraham's going to slay 
his son Isaac, but was rescued by the appearance of an angel, for- 
bidding the transaction. In a fifth incarnation he destroyed a 
giant, who despised the gods, and committed violence in the earths 
This giant was none other than Nimrod, the author of idolatry, the 
founder of Babel, who is called, even by the Jews, in their tradi- 
tions, a giant. 

The inhabitants of the Tonga islands, in the South Pacific ocean, 
have a similar opinion respecting the first appearance of land, 
which evidently points to the flood of Noah. 

They say, that at a certain time, the god Tangaloa, who was re- 
puted to preside over arts and inventions, went forth to fish in the 
great ocean, and having from the sky let down his hook and line 
into the sea, on a sudden he felt that something had fastened to his 
hook, and believing he had caught an immense fish, he exerted all 
his strength, and presently there appeared above the surface seve- 
ral points of rocks and mountains, which increased in number and 
extent, the more he strained at his line to pull it up. 

It was now evident that his hook had fastened to the very bot- 
tom of the ocean, and that he was fast emerging a vast continent ; 
when, unfortunately, the line broke, having brought up only the 
Tonga islands, which remain to this day. 

The story of this fishing god, Tangaloa, we imagine is a very 
clear allusion to the summits of Ararat, which first appeared above 
the waters of the flood in Asia. 

5 



34 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, ShetDj, 
Ham and Japheth ; and unto them were sons born after the flood." 
{Genesis x. 1, and onward.) 

The sons of Japheth : " Japheth is supposed to be the same with 
Japetus of the Greeks, from whom, in an extreme remote antiquity, 
that people were supposed to have derived their origin. On this 
point most chronologists are pretty well agreed, (^romer is sup- 
posed to have peopled Galatia ; this was a son of Japheth. So Jo- 
sephus, who says that the Galatians, (or French people, derived 
from the ancient Belgaic tribes,) were anciently named Gomerites. 
From him the Cimmerians, or Cimbrians, are supposed to have de- 
rived their origin. Bochart, a learned French protestant, boru at 
Rouen, in Normandy, in the 16th century, has no doubt that the 
Phrygians sprung from this person ; and some of our principal com- 
mentators are of this opinion. 

Madai, one of the sons of Japheth, is supposed to be the pro- 
genitor of the ancient Medes. Javan was another of his sons, 
from whom, it is almost universally believed, sprung the lonians of 
Asia Minor. Tubal is supposed to be the father of the Iberians, 
and that a part, at least of Spain was peopled by him and his de- 
scendants ; and that Meschech, who is generally in Scripture joined 
with him, was the founder of the Cappadocians, from whom proceed- 
ed the Muscovites or Russians. 

TiRAS. From this person, according to general consent, the 
Thracians derived their origin. 

AsHKENAZ. From this person was derived the name Sacagenaj 
a province of Armenia. Pliny, one of the most learned of the an- 
cient Romans, who lived immediately after the commencement of 
the Christian era, mentions a people called Ascanticos, who dwelt 
about TanniSj or Palus Maeoticus ; and some suppose, that from 
Ashkenaz the Euxine or Black sea derived its name ; but others 
suppose, that from him the Germans derived their origin. 

RiPHATH. The founder of the Paphlagonians, which were an- 
ciently called Riphatoel. 
. ToGARMA. The inhabitants of Sauromates, or of Turcomania. 

Elishah. As Javan peopled a considerable part of Greece, it 
is in that region we must look for the settlements of his descend- 
ants. Elishah probably was the first who settled at Elis, in Pelo- 
pouesus- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 35 

Tarshis. He first inhabited Cilicia^ whose capital, anciently, 
was the city of Tarsus, where St. Paul was born. 

KiTTiM. Some think by this name is meant Cyprus ; others, 
the isle of Chios ; others, the Romans ; and others, the Macedo- 
nians. 

DoDANiM, or Rhodanim. Some suppose, that this family set- 
tled at Dodana ; others, at the Rhone, in France ; the ancient 
name of which was Rhodanus, from the Scripture Rhodanim : — 
" By these, were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands." 
Europe, of which this is allowed to be a general epithet, and com- 
prehends all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to 
go by sea; such as Spain, Gaul or France, Italy, Greece, and Asia 
Minor. 

Thus far we have noticed the spreading out over many countries, 
and the origin of many nations, arising out or from Japheth, one of 
the sons of Noah ; all of whom were white, or at least come under 
that class of complexions. 

The descendants of Ham, another of the sons of Noah, and 
some of the nations springing from him, we shall next bring to 
view. 

CusH, who peopled the Arabic nome^ or province, near the Red 
sea, in Lower Egypt. Some think the Ethiopians sprung from him. 

MiZRAiM. This family certainly peopled Egypt ; and both in 
the east and west Egypt is called Mizraim. 

Phut. Who first peopled an Egyptian nome, or district, bor- 
dering on Lybia. 

Canaan. He y/ho first peopled the land so called j known also 
by the name of the Promised Land. These were the nations which 
the Jews, who descended from Shem, cast out from the land of 
Canaan, as directed by God, because of the enormity and bmtal 
nature of their crimes ; which were such as no man of the present 
age, blessed with a Christian education, would excuse on a jury, 
under the terrors of an oath, from the punishment of death. They 
practised, as did the antediluvians and Sodomites, those things 
which were calculated to mingle the human with the brute. Sure- 
ly, when this is nnderstood, no man, not even a disbeliever in the 
inspiration of the Bible, will blame Moses for his seeming seve- 
rity, in cutting oflF those BHtions with the besom of entire exter- 
mination. 



36 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" Seba. The founder of the Sabeans. There seems to be three 
different people of this name, mentioned in the tenth chapter of 
Genesis, and a fourth in the twenty-fifth chapter of the same book." 
The queen of Sheba was of this race, who came, as it is said, from 
the uttermost parts of the earth, to Jerusalem, to know the wisdom 
of Solomon and the Hebrew religion ; she was therefore, being a 
descendant of Ham's posterity, a black woman. 

Havillah, Sabtah, Ramah, Sabtechah, Sheba, Dedan. These 
are names belonging to the race of Ham, but the nations to whom 
they gave rise, is not interesting to our subject. 

NiMROD, however, should not be omitted, who was of the race 
of Ham, and was his grandson. Of whom it is said, he was a 
mighty hunter before the Lord ; meaning not only his skill and 
courage, and amazing strength and ferocity, in the destruction of 
wild animals, which infested the vast wilds of the earth at that 
time, but a destroyer of men's lives, and the originator of idol- 
atry. 

It was this Nimrod who opposed the righteous Melchisedec ; 
and taught, or rather compelled, men to forsake the religion of 
Shem, or Melchisedec, and to follow the institutes of Nimrod. 

" The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Acad, and 
Calneh, in the land of Shinar. — {Genesis x. 10.^ 

The tower of Babel and the city of Babylon were both built on 
the Euphrates. Babel, however, was first built by Nimrod's 
agency, whose influence, it appears, arose much from the fierce- 
ness of his disposition, and from his stature and great muscular 
powers ; qualifications which ignorant and savage nations, in every 
age, have been found apt to revere. The Septuagint version o^ 
the Scriptures speaks of Nimrod as being a surly giant. This was 
a colored man, and the first monarch of the human race since the 
flood. 

But whether monarchical or republican forins of goverment ob- 
tained before the flood is uncertain. Probability would seem to 
favor neither ; but rather tliat the patriarchal government should 
then have ruled. Every father, to the fourth and flfth generation, 
must have been, in those days, the /latora/ king or chief of his clan. 

These, after a while, spreading abroad, would clash with each 
other's interest, whence petty wars would arise, till many tribes 
being, by the fortune of war, weakened, that which had been most 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 37 

fortunate, would at once seize upon a wider empire. Hence 
monarchies arose. But whether it so fell out before the flood, can- 
not now be ascertained. A state, however, of fearful anarchy 
seems to be alluded to in the Scriptures ; where it is said, that the 
earth was "filled iclth violence.'''' This, however, was near the 
time of the flood. 

Popular forms of government, or those called republican or de- 
mocratical, had their origin when a number of distant tribes or 
clans invaded a district or country so situated as that the interests of 
different tribes were naturally somewhat blended ; these, in order 
to repel a distant or strange enemy's encroachments, would natu- 
rally unite under their respective chiefs or patriarchs. Experience 
would soon show the advantage of union. Hence arose republics. 

The grand confederacy of the five nations, which took place 
among the American Indians, before their acquaintance with the 
white man, shows that such even «mong the most savage of our 
race, may have often thus united their strength — out of which 
civilization has sometimes, as well as monarchies and republics, 
arisen. 

Since the flood, however, it is found that the descendants of 
Japheth originated the popular forms of government in the earth; 
as among the Greeks, the Romans, and more perfectly among the 
Americans, who are the descendants of Japheth. 

We shall omit an account of the nations arising out of the de- 
scendants of Shem, (for we need not mention the Jews, of whom 
all men know they descended from him ;) for the same reasons as- 
signed for the omission of a part of the posterity of Ham, because 
they chiefly settled in those regions of Asia, too remote to answer 
our subject any valuable purpose. 

" In confirmation, however, that all men have been derived from 
one family, let it be observed, that there are many usages, both 
sacred and civil, which have prevailed in all parts of the world, 
which could owe their own origin to nothing but a general insti- 
tution, which could not have existed, had not mankind been of the 
same blood originally, and instructed in the same common notions 
before they were dispersed" from the mountains of Ararat, ?ind 
the family of Noah. Traits of this description, which argue to 
this conclusion, will, in the course of this work, be made to 
appear ; which to such as believe the Bible^ will afford peculiar 
pleasure and surprise. 



38 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Antiquities of the West. 

There are no parts of the kingdoms or countries of the old 
world, but have celebrated in poetry and sober history, the mighty 
relics and antiquities of ancient empires, as Rome, Babylon, 
Greece, Egypt, Hindostan, Tartary, Africa, China, Persia, Europe, 
Russia, and many of the islands oi the sea. It yet remains for 
America to awake her story from its oblivious sleep, and tell the 
tale of her antiquities — the traits of nations, coeval, perhaps, with 
the eldest works of man this side of the flood, and even before. 

This curious subject, although it is obscured beneath the gloom 
of past ages, of which but small record remains ; beside that which 
is written in the dust, in the form of mighty mounds, tumuli, 
strange skeletons, and aboriginal fortifications ; and in some few 
instances, the bodies of preserved persons, as sometimes found in 
the nitrous caves of Kentucky, and the west, yet afTords abundant 
premises to prompt investigation and rational conjecture. The 
mounds and tumuli of the west, are to be ranked among the most 
wonderful antiquities of the world, on the account of their number, 
magnitude, and obscurity of origin. 

" They generally are found on fertile bottoms and near the rivers. 
Several hundreds have been discovered along [the valley of the 
Mississippi ; the largest of which stands not far from Wheeling, 
on the Ohio. This mound is fifty rods in circumference, and 
ninety feet in perpendicular height. 

This is found filled with thousands of human skeletons, and was 
doubtless a place of general deposite of the dead for ages ; which 
must have been contiguous to some large city, where the dead 
were placed in gradation, one layer above another, till it reached 
a natural climax, agreeing with the slope commenced at its base 
or foundation. 

It is not credible, that this mound was made by the ancestors of 
the modern Indians. Its magnitude, and the vast numbers of dead 
deposited there, denote a population too great to have been sup- 
ported by mere fishing and hunting, as the manner of Indians has 
always been. A population sufficient to raise such a mound as 
this, of earth, by the gradual interment of the deceased inhabitants* 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 39 

would necessarily be too far spread, to make it convenient for the 
living to transport their dead to one single place of repository. The 
modern Indians have ever been known, since the acquaintance of 
white men with them, to hve only in small towns ; which refutes 
the idea of its having been made by any other people than such 
as differed exceedingly from the improvident and indolent native ; 
and must, therefore, have been erected by a people jnore ancient 
than what is commonly meant by the Indian aborigines, or wander- 
ing tribes, and more industrious. 

Some of these mounds have been opened, when, not only vast 
quantities of human bones have been found, but also instruments 
of warfare, broken earthen vases, and trinkets. From the trees 
growing on them, it is supposed, they have already existed at least 
six hundred^years ; and whether these trees were the first, second, 
or third crop, is unknown ; if the second only, which, from the 
■old and decayed tioafe-e^j^^^xilii buried in the vegetable mould and 
leaves, seems to favor, then it is all of twelve hundred years since 
they were abandoned, if not more. 

Foreign travellers complain, that America presents nothing like- 
ruins' within her boundaries ; no ivy mantled towers, nor moss cov- 
ered turrets, as in the other quarters of the earth. Old Fort War- 
ren, on the Hudson, rearing its lofty decayed sides high above 
West-Point ; or the venerable remains of two Avars, at Ticonderoga, 
upon Lake Champlain, they say, afford something of the kind. 
But what are mouldering castles, falling turretSj or crumbling ab- 
beys, in comparison with those ancient and artificial aboriginal 
hills, which have outlived generations, and even all tradition j the 
workmanship of altogether unknown hands. 

Place these monuments and secret repositories of the dead, to- 
gether with the innumerable mounds and monstrous fortifications, 
which are scattered over America, in England, and oh the conti- 
nent of Europe, how would their virtuosi examine, and their anti- 
quarians fill volumes with their probable histories. How would 
their fame be conveyed from learned bodies, and though literary 
volumes, inquiring who were the builders, of what age of the 
world, whence came they, and their descendants; if any, what 
has become of them ; these would be the themes of constant 
speculation and inquiry. 

At Marietta, a place not only celebrated as being the first settle- 



40 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ment on the Ohio, but has also acquired much celebrity, from the 
existence of those extensive and supposed fortifications, which are 
situated near the town. They consist of walls and mounds of 
earth, running in straight lines, from six to ten feet high, and nearly 
forty broad at their base ; but originally must have been much 
higher. There is also, at this place, 9ne fort of this ancient de- 
scription, which encloses nearly fifty acres of land. 

There are openings in this fortification, which are supposed to 
have been, when thronged with its own busy multitude, " used as 
gateways, with a passage from one of them, formed by Iwo parallel 
walls of earth, leading towards the river. 

This contrivance was undoubtedly for a defence against surprise 
by an enemy, while the inhabitants dwelling within should fetch 
water from the river, or descend thither to wash, as in the Ganges, 
among the Hindoos. Also the greatness of this fort is evidence 
not only of the power of its builders, but also of those they feared. 
Who can tell but that they may have, by intestine feuds and wars, 
exterminated themselves ? Such instances are not unfrequent among 
petty tribes of the earth. Witness the war between Benjamin and 
his brother tribes, when but a mere handful of their number re- 
mained to redeem them from complete annihilation. Many na- 
tions, an account of whom as once existing, is found on the page 
of history, now have not a trace left behind. More than sixty 
tribes which once traversed the woods of the west, and who were 
known to the first settlers of the New-England states, are now 
extinct. 

The French of the Mississippi have an account, that an exter- 
minating battle was fought in the beginning of the 17th century, 
about two hundred and thirty years ago, on the ground where 
Fort Harrison now stands ; between the Indians living on the Mis- 
sissippi, and those of the Wabash. The bone of contention was, 
the lands lying between those rivers, which both parties claimed. 
There were about 1000 warriors on each side. The condition of 
the fight was, that the victors should possess the lands in dispute. 
The grandeur of the prize was peculiarly calculated to inflame the 
ardor of savage minds. The contest commenced about sunrise. 
Both parties fought desperately. The Wabash warriors came off' 
conquerors, having seven men left alive at sunset, and their adver- 
saries, the Mississipians, but five. This battle was fought nearly 



AND DISCOVEFJIES IN THE WEST. 41 

fifty ycarij before their acquaintauce with white men." — Wehsler^s 
Gazetteer, 1S17, p. Gy. 

It is possible, whoever the authors of these great works were, 
or however long they may have lived on the continent, that they 
may have, in the same way, by intestine feuds and wars, weak- 
ened themselves, so that whew the Tartars, Scythians, and descend- 
ants of the ten lost tribes, came across the straits of Bhering, that 
they fell an easy prey, to those fierce and savage northern hordes- 
It is not likely, that the vast warlike preparations which extend 
over the whole continent, south of certain places in Canada, were 
thrown up, all of a sudden, on a first discovery of a strange enemy ; 
for it might be inquired, how should they know such a mode of 
defence, unless they had acquired it in the course of ages, arising 
i'rom necessity or caprice ? but it is probable, they were constructed 
to defend against the invasions of each other ; being of various 
origin and separate interests, as was much the situation of the an- 
cient nations in every part of the world. 

Petty tribes of the same origin, over the whole earth, have been 
found to wage perpetual war against each other, from motives of 
avarice, power, or hatred. In the most ancient eras of the history 
of man, little walled towns, which were raised for the security of 
a few families, under a chief, king, or patriarch, are known to 
have existed ; which is evidence of the disjointed and unharmoni- 
ous state of human society ; out of which, wars, rapine, and plun- 
der, arose : such may have been the state of man in America, be- 
fore the Indians found their way here ; the evidence of which is, 
the innumerable fortifications, found every where in the western 
regions. 

Within this fort, of which we have been speaking, found at 
Marietta, are elevated squares, situated at the corners ; some one 
hundred and eighty feet long, by one hundred and thirty broad, nine 
feet high, and level on the top. On these squares, erected at the 
corners of this great enclosure, were doubtless, placed some modes 
of annoyance to a beseiging enemy \ such as engines to sling stones 
with, or to throw the dart and spear, or whatever might have been 
their modes of defence. 

Outside of this fort, is a most singular mound, differing in form 
from their general configuration : its shape is that of a sugar loaf, 
the base of which is more than a hundred feet in circumference ; 

6 



42 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

its height thirty, encompassed by a ditch, and defended by a para- 
pet, or wall beyond the ditch, about breast high, through which is 
a way toward the main fort. Human bones have been taken from 
many of these mounds, and charcoal^ with fragments of pottery ; 
and what is more strange than all the rest, in one place, a skeleton 
of a man, buried east and west after the manner of enlightened 
nations was found, as if they understood the cardinal points of the 
compass. On the breast of this skeleton was found a quantity of 
isinglass, a substance sometimes used by the ancient Russians, for 
the purposes that glass is now used. 



Ruins of a Roman Fort at Marietta. 

But respecting this fort, as above, we imagine, that even the 
Romans may have built it, however strange this may appear. The 
reader will be so kind as to have patience till we have advanced 
all our reasons for this strange conjecture, before he casts it from 
him as impossible. 

Our reasons for this idea, arise out of the great similarity there 
is between its form and fortifications, or camps, built by the an- 
cient Romans. And in order to show the similarity, we have quo- 
ted the account of the forms of Roman camps from Josephus's de- 
scription of their military works. See his works, Book v. chap. 5^ 
page 219, as follows: 

*' Nor can their enemies easily surprise them %vith the suddeC" 
aess of their incursions, for as soon as they have marched into an 
enemy's land, they do not begin to fight till they have walled their 
cawp about ; nor is the fence they raise, rashly made, or uneven ; 
nor do they all abide in it ; nor do those that are in it, take their 
place at random : but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is 
first levelled." 

" Their camps are also four square by measure ; as for what 
space is within the camp, it is set apart for tents, but the outward 
circumference hath the resemblance to a WuU ; and is adorned with 
towers at equal distances, where, between the towers stand the en- 
gioes for throwing arrows and darts, and for slinging stonesj, where 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 43 

they lay all other engines that can annoy the enemy, ready for their 
several operations. 

" They also erect four gates, one in the middle of each side of 
the circumference, or square, and those large enough for the en- 
trance of beasts, and wide enough for making excursions, if occa- 
sion should require. They divide the camp within into streets, 
very conveniently, and place the tents of the commanders in the 
middle; in the very midst of all, is the general's own tent, in 
the nature and form of a temple, insomuch that it appears to be a 
city, built on the sudden, with its market place, and places for 
handicraft trades, and with seats for the officers, superior and in- 
ferior, where if any differences arise, their causes are heard and 
determined- 

" The camp and all that is in it, is encompassed with a wall 
round about, and that sooner than one would imagine, and this by 
the multitude and skill of the laborers. And if occasion require, 
a trench is drawn round the whole, whose depth is four cubits, 
and its breadth equal," which is a trifle more than six feet in depth 
and width. 

The similarity between the Roman camps and the one near 
Marietta, consists as follows : They are both four square ; the one 
standing near the great fort, and is connected by two parallel 
walls, as described; has also a ditch surrounding it, as the Ro- 
mans sometimes encircled theirs ; and doubtless, when first con- 
structed, had a fence of timber (as Josephus says, the Romans had,) 
all round it, and all other forts of that description ; but time has 
destroyed them. 

If the Roman camp had its elevated squares at its comers, for 
the purposes of overlooking the foe and of shooting stones, darts, 
aad arrows ; so had the fort at Marietta, of more than a hundred 
feet square, on an a-v^erage, of their forms, and nine feet high. Its 
parapets and gateways are similar; also the probable extent of the 
Roman encampments agrees well with the one at Marietta, %vhich 
embraces near fifty acre? within its enclosure ; a space sufficient to 
have contained a great army ; with streets and elevated squares at 
its corners, like the Romans. Dr. Morse, the geographer, say.e^ 
the war camps ^of the ancient Danes, BelgEP, and Saxons, as found 
in England, were universally of the ciTatlar, while those of the 
Romans, in the same country, are distinguished by the square form j 



44 AMERICAN AxXTIQUITIES 

is not this, therefore, a trait of the same people's work in America 
as in England ? 

Who can tell but during the/oMr hundred years the Romans had 
all the west of Europe attached to their empire, but they may have 
found their way to America, as well as other nations, the Welch, 
and Scandinavians, in after ages, as we shall show, before we end 
the volume. 

Rome, it must be remembered, was mistress of the known 
World, as tJiey supposed, and were in the possession of the arts and 
sciences ; with a knowledge of navigation sufficient to traverse the 
oceans of the globe, even without the compass, by means of the 
stars by night, and the sun by day. 

The history ©f England informs us, that as early as fifty-five 
years before the Christian era, the Romans invaded the .island of 
Britain, and that their ships were so large and heavy, and drew 
such a depth of water, that their soldiers were obliged to leap into 
the sea, and fight their way to the shore, struggling with the waves 
and the enemy, both at once, because they could not bring their 
vessels near the shore, on account of their size. 

America has not yet been peopled from Europe so long, by a 
hundred years, as the Romans were in possession of the island of 
Britain. Now what has not America efiected in enterprise, dur- 
ing this time ; and although her advantages are superior to those 
of the Romans, when they held England as a province, yet, we 
are not to suppose they were idle, especially when their character 
at that time, was a martial and a maritime one. In this character, 
therefore, were they not exactly fitted to make discoveries about in 
the northern and western parts of the Atlantic, and may, there- 
fore, have found America ; made partial settlements in various 
places ; may have coasted along down the shores of this country, 
they came to the mouth of the Mississippi, and thence up that 
stream, making here and there a settlement. This supposition is 
as natural, and as possible, for the Romans to have done, as that 
Hudson should find the mouth of the North river, and explore it 
as far north as to where the city of Albany is now standing. It 
was equally in their power to have found this coast by chance, as 
the Scandinavians in the year 1000 or thereabouts, who made a 
settlement at the mouth of the St. Lawrence ; but more of this in 
due time. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 45 

To show that the Romans did actually go on voyages of discovery, 
while in possession of Britain, we quote from the history of Eng- 
land, that when Julius Agricola w«s governor of South Britain, he 
sailed quite round it, and ascertained it to be an island - 

This was about one hundred years after their first subduing the 
country, or fifty-two years after Christ. 

. But they may have had a knowledge of the existence of Ame- 
rica prior to their invasion of Britain. And lest the reader may be 
alarmed at such a position, we hasten to show in what manner they 
might have attained it, by relating a late discovery of a planter in 
South America. 

" In the month of December, 1S87, a planter discovered in a 
field, a short distance from Mont- Video, a sort of tomb stone, upon 
which strange, and to him unknown, signs or characters were en- 
graved. He caused this stone, which covered a small excavation 
formed with masonry, to be raised, when he found two exceed- 
ingly ancient swords, a helmet and shield, which had suffered much 
from rust ; also an earthen vessel of large capacity. 

The planter caused the swords, the helmet and earthen amphora, 
together with the stone slab, which covered the whole, to be re- 
moved to Mont-Video, where, in spite of the effect of time, Greek 
words were easily made out, which, when translated, read as fol- 
lows : " During the dominion of Alexander, the son of Philip, king 
of Macedon, in the sixty-third Olympiad, Ptolemaios" — it was im- 
possible to decipher the rest, on account of the ravages of time on 
the engraving of the stone. 

On the handle of one of the swords was the portrait of a man, 
supposed to be Alexander the Great- On the helmet there is 
sculptured work, that must have been executed by the most exqui- 
site skill, representing Achilles dragging the corpse of Hector round 
the walls of Troy ; an account of which is familiar to every classic 
scholar. 

This discovery was similar to the Fabula Hieca, the bas-relief 
stucco, found in the ruins of the Via Appia, at Fratachio, in Spain, 
belonging to the princess of Colona, which represented all the prin- 
cipal scenes in the Il'ad and Odyssey. 

From this it is quite clear, says the editor of the Cabinet of In- 
struction and Literature, from which we have extracted this ac' 
count, vol. 3, p. 99, that the discovery of this monumental altar i? 



46 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

proof that a cotemporary of Aristotle, one of the Greek philosophers^ 
has dug up the soil of Brazil and La Plata in South America. 

It is conjectured that this Ptolemaios, mentioned on the stone, 
was the commander of Alexander's fleef, which is supposed to have 
been overtaken by a storm at sea, in the great ocean, (the Atlantic) 
as the ancients called it, and were driven on to the coast of Brazil, 
or the South American coast, where they doubtless erected the 
above mentioned monument, to preserve the memory of the voyage 
to so distant a country ;" and that it might not be lost to the world, 
if any in after ages might chance to fiud it, as at last it was per- 
mitted to be in the progress of events. 

The above conjecture, however, that Ptolemaios, a name found 
engraved on the stone slab which covered the mason work, as be- 
fore mentioned, was one of Alexander's admirals, is not well found- 
ed, as there is no mention of such an admiral iu the employ of that 
emperor, found on the page of the history of those times. 

But the names of Nearchus and Ouesicritus, are mentioned as 
being admirals of the fleets of Alexander the Great ; and the name 
of Pytheas, who lived at the same time, is mentioned as being a 
Greek philosopher, geographer and astronomer, as well as a voy- 
ager, if not an admiral, as he made several voyages info the great 
Atlantic ocean; which are mentioned by Eratosthenes, a Greek 
philosopher, mathematician and historian, who flourished two hun- 
dred years befor Christ. 

Strabo, a celebrated geographer and voyager, who lived about 
the time of the commencement of the Christian era, speaks of the 
voyages of Pytheas, by way of admission, and says that bis know- 
ledge of Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain, and al! the countries 
of the north of Europe was estremeiy limited. He Itjad, indeed, 
voyaged along the coast3 of those countries, but had obtained bat 
an indistinct knowledge of their relative dtuatlons. 

During the adventures of this maa at sea, for the very purpose 
of aseertaiiiiog the geography of the eaith, by tracing the coasts of 
countries, there was a greal lability of his being diriven off in a 
western direction, not oulj by the eniTent which sets always to- 
v;ard8 America, bus: also by ihe u^ide iviuds, vvbii'li hlox'i in the 
same direction for sevei-al months in the year. 

Pytheas, therefore, with his fleet, it is most probable, either by 
desigo or storms, is the man who visited the Ameiican coast, and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. itt 

caused this subterranean monument of masonry to be erected- 
The Ptolemaios, or Ptolemy, mentioned on the stone, may refer to 
OTIC of the /a«r geuerali. of Alexander, crlled sometimes Ptolemy 
Lagus, or Soter. This is the man who had Egypt for his share of 
the conquests of Alexander ; and .t is likely the mention of his 
name on the stone, in connexion with that of Alexander, was caus- 
ed either by his presence at the time the stone was prepared, or 
because he patronised the voyages nnd geograpiibal researches of 
the philosopher and navigator Pytheas. 

Alexander the Great flourished about three hundred years before 
Christ ; he was a Grecian, the origin of whose I'lation is said to 
have been Japetus, a descendant of Japhelh, one of the sons of 
Noah, as before shown. 

Let it be observed, the kingdom of Macedon, of which Alexander 
was the last as well as the greatest of its kings, commetjced eight 
hundred and fourteen years before Christ, which was sixty-one 
years earlier than the commencement of the Romans. 

Well, what is to be learned from all this story about the Greeks, 
respecting any knowledge in possession of tlie Romans about a con- 
tinent xjotsl of Europe .' Simply this, which is quite suflicient for 
our purpose ; that an account of this voyage, whether it was an ac- 
didental one, or a voyage of discovery, could not but be known to the 
Romans, as well as to the Greeks, and entered on the records of 
the nation on their return. But where, then, is the record? We 
must go to the flames of the Goths and Vandals, who overran the 
Roman empire, in which accounts of the discoveries of countries and 
the histories of antiquity were destroyed ; casting over those regions 
which they subdued, the gloom of barbarous ignorance, congenial 
with the shades of the forests cf the north, from whence they ori- 
ginated. On which account, countries, and the knowledge of 
many arts, anciently known, were to be discovered over again, and 
among them, it is believed, was America. 

When Columbus discovered this country, and had returned to 
Spain, it was soon known to all Europe. The same we may sup- 
pose of the discovery of the same country by the Greeks, though 
with infinitely less publicity ; because the world at the time had not 
the advantage of printing; yet, in some degree, the discovery must 
have been known, especially among the great men of both Greeks 
«Dd Romans- 



48 A3IERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The Grecian or Macedonian kingdom, after the death of Alex- 
ander, maintained its eyistence but a short time, one hundred and 
foriy-four years only : when the Romans defeated Perseus, which 
ended the Macedonian kingdom, one hundred and sixty-eight years 
before Christ. 

At this time, and thereafter, the Romans held on their course of 
war and conquest, till four hundred and ten years after Christ, — 
amounting in all, from their beginning, till Rome was taken and 
plundered by Alaric, king of the Visigoths, to one thousand one 
hundred and six-three years. 

Is it to be supposed, the Romans, a warlike, enlightened, and 
enterprising people, who had found their way by sea so far north 
from Rome as to the island of Britain, and actually sailed round it, 
would not explore farther north and west, especially as they had 
some hundred years opportunity, while in possession of the north 
of Europe ? 

Morse, the geographer, in his second volume, page 126, says: 
Ireland, which is situated west of England, was probably discover- 
ed by the Phcenicians ; the era of whose voyages and maritime 
exploits commenced more than fourteen hundred years before 
Christ, and continued several ages. Their country was situated 
at the east end of the Mediterranean sea ; so that a voyage to the 
Atlantic, through the strait of Gibraltar west, would be a distance 
of about two thousand and three hundred miles, and from Gibralter 
to Ireland, a voyage of about one thousand and four hundred miles ; 
which, in the whole amount is near four thousand. 

Ireland is farther north, by about five degrees, than Newfound- 
land, and the latter only about 1800 miles southwest from Ireland ; 
i?o that while the Phoenicians were coasting and voyaging about in 
she Atlantic, in so high a northern latitude as Ireland and England, 
♦nay well be supposed to have discovered Newfoundland, (either 
4}y being lost or driven there by storm,) which is very near the 
coast of America. Phoenician letters are said to be engraven on 
some rocks on Taunton river, near the sea, in Massachusetts ; if so 
this is proof of the position. 

Some hundreds of years after the first historical notice of the 
Phoenician voyages, and two hundred years before the birth of 
Christ, the Greeks, it is said, became acquainted with Ireland and 
was known among them by the name of Juverna. Ptolemy, the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 49 

Egyptian geographer, who flourished about one hundred years after 
Christ, has given a map of that island, which is said to be very 
correct. — (Morse.) 

Here, we have satisfactory historical evidence, that Ireland, as 
well, of course, as all the coast of northern Europe, with the very 
islands adjacent, were known ; first, to the Phoenicians ; second, 
to the Greeks ; third, to the Romans ; and, fourth, to the Egyp- 
tians — in those early ages, from which arises a great probability 
that America may have been well known to the ancient nations of 
the old world. On which account, when the Romans had extend* 
ed their conquests so far north as nearly to old Norway, in latitude 
60 degrees, over the greater part of Europe ; they were well pre- 
pared to explore the North Atlantic, in a western direction, in 
quest of new countries ; having already suflBcient data to believe 
western countries existed. 

It is not impossible but the Danes, Norwegians and Welsh, may 
have at first obtained some knowledge of western lands, islands and 
territories, from the discoveries of the Romans, or from their opin- 
ions, and handed down the story, till the Scandinavians or Norwe- 
gians discovered Iceland, Greenland and America, many hundred 
years before the time of Columbus. 

But, however this may be, it is certain those nations of the north 
of Europe, did visit this country, as we have promised to show io 
its proper place. Would Columbus have made his attempt if he 
had not believed, or conjectured, there was a western continent ; 
or by some means obtained hints respecting it, or the probability of 
its existence } It is said, Columbus found, at a certain time, the 
corpses of two men, of a tawny complexion, floating in the sea, near 
the coast of Spain, which he knew were not of European origin ; 
but had been driven by the sea from some unknown western coun- 
try ; also timber and branches of trees, all of which confirmed him 
in his opinion of the existence of other countries westward. 

If the Romans may have found this country, they may also iave 
attempted its colonization, as the immense square forts of the west 
would seem to suggest. 

In 1821, on the bank of the river Desperes, in Missouri, was 
found, by an Indian,' a Roman coin, and presented to Gov. Clarke. 
This is no more singular than the discovery of a Persian coin near 
a spring on the Ohio, some feet under ground ; as we have shown 

7 



fiO AMERICAN ANTiqUITIKS 

in another place of this work ; all of vvhich go to encourge the con- 
jecture respecting the presence of the ancient Romans in America. 
The remains of former dwellings, found along the Ohio, where the 
stream has, in many placesj washed away its banks, hearths an^fire 
places are brought to light, from two to six feet below the surface. 

Near these remains are found immense quantities of muscle 
shells and bones of animals. From the depths of many of these 
remnants of chimnies, and from the fact that trees as large as any 
in the surrounding forest, were found growing on the ground above 
those fire places, at the time the country was first settled by its pre- 
sent inhabitants, the conclusion is drawn that a very long period 
has elapsed since tlitse subterraneous remnants of the dwellings of 
man were deserted. 

Hearths and fire places. — Are not these evidences that buildings 
once towered above them .'' If not such as now accommodate the 
millions of America, yet they may have been such as the ancient 
Britons used at the time the Romans first invaded their country. 

These were formed of logs set up endwise, drawn in at the top, 
so that the smoke might pass up at an aperture left open at the sum- 
mit. They were not square on the ground, as houses are now 
built, but set in a circle, one log against tlae other, with the hearth 
and fire place in the centre. At the opening in the top, where the 
smoke went out, the light came in, as no other window was then 
used. There are still remaining, in several parts of England, the 
vestiges of large stone buildings made in this way ; that is, in a 
circle. — {Blair''s History of England, p. 8.) 

At Cincinnati there are two museums, one of which contains a 
great variety of western antiquities, many skulls of Indians, and 
more than a hundred remains of what has been dug out of the 
aboriginal mounds. The most strange and curious of all, is a cupj 
made of clay, with three faces on the sides of the cup, each pre- 
senting regular features of a man, and beautifully delineated. It is 
the same represented on the plate. — (^e letter E.) 

A jreat deal has been said, and not a little written, by antiqua- 
rians about this cup. It was found in one of those mysterious 
mounds, and is known by the name of the triune cup ; and there are 
those who thinV the makers of it had an allusion to the Trinity of 
the Godhead. Hence its name, triune cup. 

In this neighborhood, the Yellow Springs, a day's ride below 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE.ST. 51 

Oinciunati, stands one of those singular raouuds. Whenever we 
view those most singular objects of curiosity, and remains of art, a 
thousand inquiries spring up in the mind. They have excited the 
wonder of all who have seen or heard of them. Who were those 
ancients of the west, and when, and for ivhat purpose these mounds 
were constructed, are questions of the most interesting nature, and 
have engaged the researches of the most inquisitive antiquarians. 
Abundant evidence, however, can be procured, that they are not of 
Indian origin. 

With this sentiment there is a general acquiescence ; however, 
we think it proper, in this place, to quote Dr. Beck's remarks on 
this point, from his Gazetteer of the States of Illinois and Missouri. 
(See page 308.) 

" Ancient works exist on this river, the Arkansas, as elsewhere. 
The remains of mounds and fortifications are almost everywhere to 
be seen. One of the largest mounds in this country has been 
thrown up on this stream, (the Wabash,) within the last thirty or 
forty years, by the Osages, near the great Osage village, in honor of 
one of their deceased chiefs. This fact proves conclusively the 
original object of these mounds, and refutes the theory that they 
must necessarily have been erected by a race of men more civil- 
ized than the present tribes of Indians. Were it necessary, (says 
Dr. Beck,) numerous other facts might be adduced to prove, that 
the mounds are no other than the tombs of their great men." 

That this is one of their uses there is no doubt, but not their ex- 
clusive use. The vast height of some of them, which is more than 
a hundred feet, would seem to point them out as places of lookout, 
which, if the country in the days when their builders flourished, 
was cleared and cultivated, would overlook the country to a great 
distance ; and if it were not, still their towering summits would 
surmount even the interference of the forests. 

But although the Osage Indians have so recently thrown up one 
such mound, yet it does not prove them to be of American Indian 
orig;in ; and as this is an isolated case, would rather argue that the 
Osage tribe have originally descended from their more ancient pro- 
genitors, the inhabitants of this country prior to the intrusions of 
the late Indians from Asia. 

Before we close this work, we shall attempt to make this appear 
from their own traditions, which have of late been procured from 



52 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the most ancient of their tribes, the Wyandots, as handed down for 
hundreds of years, and from other sources- 

The very form and character which Dr. Beck has given the 
Osage Indians, argues them of a superior stock, or rather a different 
race of men, as follows : " In person, the Osages are among the 
largest and best formed Indians, and are said to possess fine inili- 
iary capacities ; but residing as they do in villages, and having made 
considerable advances in agriculture, they seem less addicted to war 
than their northern neighbors." 

The whole of this character given of the Osage Indians, their 
military taste, their agricultural genius, their noble and command- 
ing forms of person, and being less " addicted to war," shows them, 
it would seem, exclusively of other origin, than that of the com- 
mon Indians. 

It is supposed, the inhabitants who found their way first to this 
country, after its division, in the days of Peleg, and were here long 
before the modern Indians, came not by the way of Bhering's strait 
from Kamtschatka, in Asia, but directly from China across the Pa- 
cific, to the western coast of America, by means of islands which 
abounded anciently in that ocean between Chinese Tartary, China, 
and South America, even more than at present, which are, how- 
ever, now very numerous ; and also by the means of boats, of which 
all mankind have always had a knowledge. In this way, without 
any difiiculty, more than is common, they could have found their 
way to this, as mankind have to every part of the earth. 

We do not recollect that any of those peculiar monuments of an- 
tiquity appear north of the United States. Mackenzie, in his over- 
land journey to the Pacific, travelling northwest from Montreal, in 
Canada, does not mention a single vestige of the kind, nor does 
Carver. If, then, there are none of these peculiar kinds, such as 
the mounds, farther north than about the latitude of the Canadas, 
it would appear from this, that the first authors of these works, 
especially of the mounds and tumuli, migrated, not from Asia, by 
way of Bhering's strait, but from Europe, east — China, west — 
and from Africa, south — continents now separated, then touching 
each other, with islands innumerable besides, affording the means. 

If this supposition, namely, that the continents in the first age, 
immediately after the flood, were united, is not allowed, how, 
then, it might be inquired, came every country discovered, of any 



AND DISCOVEEIE* IN THE WEST. 53 

size, having the natural means of human subsistence, to be found 
inhabited ? 

In the very way this can be answered, the question relative to 
the means by which South America was first peopled, can also be 
answered, namely : the continents, as intimated on the first pages 
of this work, as quoted from Dr. Clarke, were, at first, that is, im- 
mediately after the flood, till the division of the earth, in the days 
of Peleg, connected together, so that mankind, with all kinds of 
animals, might pass to every quarter of the globe, suited to their na- 
tures. If such were not the fact, it might be inquired, how then 
did the several kinds of animals get to every part of the earth from 
the ARK ? They could not, as man, make use of the boat, or ves- 
sel, Hor could they swim such distances. 

From Dr. Clarke's Travel's it appears, ancient works exist to 
this day, in some parts of Asia, similar to those of North America. 
His description of them, reads as though he were contemplating 
some of these western mounds. The Russians call these sepul- 
chres logri; and vast numbers of them have been discovered in 
Siberia and the deserts bordering on the empire to the south. 
Historians mention these tumuli, with many particulars. In them 
were found vessels, ornaments, trinkets, medals, arrows, and other 
articles ; some of copper, and even gold and silver, mingled with 
the ashes and remains of dead bodies. 

When, and by whom, these burying places of Siberia and Tar- 
tary, more ancient than the Tartars themselves, were used, is ex- 
ceedingly interesting. The situation, construction, appearance, 
and general contents of these Asiatic tumuli, and the American 
mounds, are however, so nearly alike, that there can be no hesitation 
in ascribing them to the same races, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and 
America ; and also to the same ages of time, or nearly so, which 
we suppose, was very soon after the flood ; a knowledge of mound 
building was then among men, as we .see in the authors of Babel. 

" The triune cup (see plate, letter E.,) deposited in one of 
the museums at Cincinnati, affords some probable evidence, that a 
part, at least, of the great mass of humnn population, once inhabit- 
ing the valley of the Mississippi, were of Hindoo origin. It is an 
earthen vessel, perfectly round, and will hold a quart, having three 
distinct faces, or heads, joined together at the back part of each, 
by a handle. The faces of these figures strongly resemble the 



64 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Hindoo countenance, which is here well executed. Now, it it 
well known, that in the mythology of India, three chief gods con- 
stitute the acknowledged belief of that people named Brahma, 
ViSHNOO, and Siva. May not this cup be a symbolical represen- 
tation of that belief, and may it not have been used for some sacred 
purpose, here, in the valley of the Mississippi? In this country, 
as in Asia, the mounds are seen at the junction of many of the 
rivers, as along the Mississippi, on the most eligible positions for 
towns, and in the richest lands ; and the day may have been, when 
those great rivers, the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Illinois, and the 
Muskingum, beheld along their sacred banks, countless devotees 
assembled for religious rites, such as now crowd in superstitious 
ceremonies, the devoted and consecrated borders of the Indus, the 
Ganges, and the Burrampooter, rivers of the Indies. Mounds in 
the west are very numerous, amounting to several thousands, none 
less than ten feet high, and some over one hundred. One opposite 
St. Louis measures eight hundred yards in circumference at its 
base, which is fifty rods. Sometimes they stand in groups, and 
with their circular shapes, at a distance, look like enormous hay 
stacks, scattered through a meadow. From their great number, 
and occasional stupendous size, years and the labors of tens of 
thousands must have been required to finish them. 

Were it not, indeed, for their contents, and design manifested in 
their erection, they would hardly be looked upon as the work of 
human hands. In this view, they strike the traveller with the 
same astonishment as would be felt while beholding those oldest 
monuments of wordly art and industry, the Egyptian pyramids; 
and like them the mounds have their origin in the dark night of 
time, beyond even the history of Egypt itself. Whether or not 
these mounds were used at some former period, as " high places" 
for purposes of religion, or fortifications, or for national burying 
places, each of which theories has found advocates, one inference, 
however, amidst all the gloom which surrounds them, remains cer- 
tain : the valley of the Ohio, was once inhabited by an immense 
agricultural population. We can see their vast funeral vaults, en- 
ter into their graves, and look at their dry bones ; but no passage 
of history tells their tale of life ; no spirit comes forth from their 
ancient sepulchres, to answer the inquiries of the living. It is 
worthy of remark, that Breckenridge, in his interesting travel* 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 65 

through these regions, calculates that no less than five thousand 
villages of this forgotten people existed ; and that their largest city 
was situated between the Mississippi and Missouri, not far from the 
junction of those rivers, near St. Louis. In this region, the mighty 
waters of the Missouri and Illinois, with their unnumbered tribu- 
taries, mingle with the " father of rivers," the Mississippi ; (Mis- 
sissippi, the word in the Indian language means Father of Rivers ;) 
a situation formed by nature, calculated to invite multitudes of 
men, from the goodness of the soil, and the facilities of water 
communications. 

The present race, who are now fast peopling the unbounded 
west, are apprised of the advantages of this region. Towns and 
cities are rising on the very ground where the ancient millions of 
mankind had their seats of empire. Ohio now contains more than 
six hundred thousand inhabitants ; but at that early day, the same 
extent of country, most probably, was filled with a far greater pop- 
ulation than inhabits it at the present time. Many of the mounds 
are completely occupied with human skeletons, and millions of 
them must have been interred in these vast cemeteries, that can 
be traced from the Rocky mountains, on the west, to the Alleghe- 
nies on the east, and into the province of the Texas and New 
Mexico to the south : revolutions like those known in the old 
world may have taken place here, and armies, equal to those of 
Cyrus, of Alexander the Great, or of Tamerlane the powerful, 
might have flourished their trumpets, and marched to battle, over 
these extensive plains, filled with the probabale descendants of that 
same race in Asia, whom these proud conquerors vanquished there. 



Course of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. 

There is a strong resemblance between the northern and inde- 
pendent Tartar, and the tribes of the North American Indians, but 
not of the South American. Besides this reason, there are others 
for believing our aborigines of North America were descended 
from the ancient Scythians, and came to this country from the 
eastern part of Asia. 



56 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This view by no means invalidates the opinion, that many tribes 
of the Indians of North America, ate descended of the Israelitesj 
because the Scythians, under this particular name, existed long be- 
fore that branch of descendants of the family of Shemy called 
Israelites ; who, after they had been carried away by Salmanasser, 
the Assyrian king, about 700 years B. C, went northward, as 
stated by Esdras, (see his second book, thirteenth chapter, from 
verse 40 to verse 45, inclusive,) through a part of Independent 
Tartary. During this journey, which carried them among the Tar- 
tars, now so called, but were anciently the Scythians, and probably 
became amalgamated with them. This was the more easily ef- 
fected, on account of the agreement of complexion and common 
origin. If this may be supposed, we perceive at once, how the 
North American Indians are in possession of both Scythian and 
Jewish practices. Their Scythian customs are as follows : — 
" Scalping their prisoners, and torturing them to death. Some of 
the Indian nations also resemble the Tartars in the construction of 
their canoes, implements of war, and of the chase, with the well 
known habit of marching in Indian file, and their treatment of the 
aged ;" these are Scythian customs. 

Their Jewish customs are too many to be enumerated in this 
work ; for a particular account of those customs, see Smith's View 
of the Hebrews. If, then, our Indians have evidently the manners 
of both the Scythian and the Jew, it proves them to have been, 
anciently, both Israelites and Scythians; the latter being the more 
ancient name of the nations now called Tartars,* with whom the 
ten tribes may have amalgamated. That the Israelites, called the 
ten tribes, who were carried away from Judea by Salmanasser, to 
the land of Assyria, went from that country, in a northerly direc- 
tion, as quoted from Esdras, above, is evident, from the Map of 
Asia. Look at Esdras again, 43d verse, chap. 13, and we shall 
percceive, they " entered into the Euphrates by the narrow passes 
or heads of that river," which runs from the 7iorth into the Persian 
gulf. 

It is not probable, that the country which Esdras called Arsareth, 
could possibly be America, as many have supposed, because a vast 

* The appellation of Tartar was not known till the year A. D, 1327, who 
were at that time, considered a new race of barbarians. — Morse. 



AND DISCO vtltlES IX TUB WEST. 57 

feompany, sucli as the teu tribes were at the time they left Syria, 
(which was about one hundred years aiter their having been car- 
ried away froai Judea, nearly 3000 years ago,) could travel fast 
enough to perform the journey in so short a time as a year and a 
half. 

We learn from the map of. Asia, that Syria was situated at the 
southeasterly end of the Mediterranean sea, and that in entering 
into the narrow passes of the Euphrates, as Esdras says, would 
lead them north of Mount Ararat, and southeasterly of the Black 
sea, through Georgia, over the Caucassian mountains, and so oa 
to Astracan, which lies north of the Caspian sea. We may, with 
the utmost show of reason, be permitted to argue, that this vast 
company of men, women, and their little ones, would naturally biS 
compelled to shape their course so as to avoid the deep rivers 
which it cannot well be supposed they had the means of crossing, 
except when frozen. Their course would then be along the heads 
of the several rivers running north after they had passed the coun- 
try of Astracan. From thence over the Ural mountains, or that 
part of that chain running along Independent Tartary. Then, 
after having passed over this mountain near the northern boundary 
of Independent Tartary, they would find themselves at the foot of 
the little Altain mountains, which course would lead them, if they 
still wished to avoid deep and rapid rivers, running from the little 
Altain mountains northward, or northwesterly, into the Northern 
ocean, across the immense and frozen regions of Siberia. The 
names of those rivers beginning on the easterly side of the Ural 
mountains, are first, the river Obi, with its many heads, or little 
rivers, forming at length the river Obi, which empties into the 
Northern ocean, at the gulf of Obi, in latitude of about 67 de- 
grees north. 

The second, is the river Yenisei, with its many heads, having 
their sources in the same chain of mountains, and runs into th6 
same ocean, further north, towards Bhering's straits, which is the 
point we are approximating, by pursuing this course. 

A third river, with its many heads, that rises at the base of an- 
other chain of mountains, called the Yablouoy ; this is the river 
Lena. 

There arc several other rivers arising out of another chain of 
taoantains, farther on northward towards Bhering's straits, which 



58 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

have no name on the map of Asia ; this range of mountains is cal- 
led the St. Anovoya mountains, and comes to a point or end, at the 
strait which separates Asia from America, which is but a small 
distance across, about forty miles only, and several islands between. 
Allowing the ten tribes, or if they may have become amalgama- 
ted with the Tartars as they passed on this tremendous journey 
toward the Northern ocean, to have pursued this course, the dis- 
tance will appear from Assyria to the straits, to be some hundreds 
over six thousand miles. Six thousand two hundred and fifty- five 
miles, which is the distance, is more, by nearly one-half, than such 
a vast body, in moving on together, could possibly perform in a year 
and a half. Six miles a day would be as great a distance, as such 
a host could 'perform, where there is no way but that of forests 
untraced by man, and obstructed by swamps, mountains, fallen 
trees, and thousands of nameless hindrances. Food must be had, 
and the only way of procuring it must have been by hunting with 
the bow and arrow, and by fishing. The sick must not be for- 
saken, the aged and the infant must be cherished ; all these things 
would delay, so that a rapid progress cannot be admitted 

If, then, six miles a day is a reasonable distance to suppose they 
may have progressed, it follows that nearly three years, instead of 
a year and a half, would not have been more than sufficient to carry 
them from Syria to Bhering's straits, through a region almost of 
eternal snow. 

This, therefore, cannot have been the course of the Ten Tribes 
to the land of Arsareth, wherever it was : and that it was north 
from Syria, we ascertain by Esdras, who says, they went into the 
narrow passes of the Euphrates, which means its three heads, or 
branches, which arise north from Syria. From the head waters of 
this river, there is no way to pass on, but to go between the Black 
and Caspian seas, over the Caucassian mountains, as before stated. 

From this point they may have gone on to what is now called 
Astracan^ as before rehearsed ; but here we suppose they may have 
taken a west instead of a north direction, which would have been 
toward that part of Russia, which is now called Russia in Europe, 
and would have led them on between the rivers Don and Volga ; 
the Don emptying into the Black sea, and the Volga into the 
Caspian. 

This course would have led them exactly to the places where 



AND DISCOVERIBS IN THE WEST. 59 

Moscow and Petersburg now stand, and from thence in a north- 
westerly direction, along the south end of the White sea, to Lap- 
land, Norway, and Sweden, which lie along on the coast of the 
North Atlantic ocean- 

Now, the distance from Syria to Lapland, Norway, and Sweden, 
on the coast of the Atlantic, is scarcely three thousand miles ; a 
distance which may have easily been travelled in a year and a 
half, at six miles a day, and the same opportunity have been af- 
forded for their amalgamation with Scythians or Tartars, as in the 
other course towards Bhering's strait. Norway, Sweden, and 
Lapland, may have been the land of Arsareth. 

But here arises a question ; how then did they get into America 
from Lapland and Norway ? The only answer is, America and 
Europe must have been at that time united by land, or they may 
have built boats. 

The manner by which the original inhabitants and animals 
reached here, is easily explained, by adopting the supposition, 
which doubtless is the most correct, that the northwestern and 
western limits of America were, at some former period, united to 
Asia on the west, and to Europe on the east. 

This was partly the opinion of Buffon and other great naturalists. 
That connection has, therefore, been destroyed, among other great 
changes this earth has evidently experienced since the flood. 

We have examples of these revolutions before our eyes. Florida 
has gained leagues of land from the gulf of Mexico ; and part of 
Leuisiana, in the Mississippi valley, has been formed by the mud 
of rivers. Since the Falls of Niagara were first discovered, they 
have receded very considerably ; and it is conjectured, that this 
subliraest of nature's curiosities was situated originally where 
Queenstown now .stands. 

Sicily was united formerly to the continent of Europe, and an- 
cient authors affirm, that the straits of Gibraltar, which divide be- 
tween Europe and Africa, were formed by a violent irruption of 
the ocean upon the land. Ceylon, where our missionaries have an 
establishment, has lost forty leagues by the sea, which is one hun- 
dred and twenty miles. 

Many such instances occur in histoiy. Pliny (ells us, that in his 
own time, the mountain Cymbotus with the town of Eurites, which 
stood on its side, were totally swallowed up. He records the like 



so AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of the city Tantelis in Magnesia, aud of the mountain Sopelus, 
both absorbed by a violent opening of the earth, so that no trace 
of either remained. Galanis and Garnatus, towns ouce famous iu 
Phoenicia, are recorded to have met the same fate. The vast pro- 
raontorj', called Phlegium in Ethiopia, after a violent earthquake 
in the night, was not to be seen in the morning, tlie earth having 
^wallowed it up and closed over it- 

Like instances we have of later date. The mountain Picus, in 
one of the Moluccas, was so high, that it appeared at a vast dis- 
tance, and served as a landmark to sailors. But during an earth- 
quake in the isle, the mountain in an instant sunk, into the bowel* 
of the earth, and no token of it remained. The like happened 
in the mountainous parts of China, in 1556 when a whole province^ 
with all its towns, cities, and inhabitants, was absorbed in a mo- 
ment ; |p immense lake of water remaining in its place, even to. 
this day. 

In the year 1G46, durl.'ig a terrible earthquake in the kingdom 
of Chili, several whole mountains of the Andes, one afler another, 
were wholly absorbed in the earth. Probably many lakes over 
the whole earth, have been occasioned in this w'ay. Lake Ontario 
is supposed to have been formed in this way. 

The greatest earthquake we find in antiquity, is Ihat mentioned 
by Pliny, in which twelve cities in Asia Minor were swallowed up 
in one night. But one of those most particularly described in his- 
tory, is that of the year 1693. It extended to a circumference of 
two thousand six hundred leagues, chiefly affecting the sea coasts 
and great rivers. Its motions were so rapid, that those who lay at 
their length were tossed from side to side as upon a rolling billow. 
The walls were dashed from their foundations, and no less than 
fifty-four cities, with an incredible number of villages, were either 
destroyed or greatly damaged. The city of Catanea, in particular, 
was utterly overthrown. A traveller, who was on his way thither, 
at the distance of some miles, perceived a black cloud hanging 
near the place. The sea all of a sudden began to roar : Mount 
^tna to send forth great spires of flames ; and soon after a shock 
ensued, wiJh a noise as if all the artillery in the world had been at 
once discharged. Although the shock did not continue above 
tbree minutes, yet near nineteen thousand of the inhabitants o^ 
Sicily perished in the ruins. 



AND DlecOVEItlK* IN THK WK8T. 01 

We have said above, that Norway, Lapland, and Sweden, may 
have been the very land called the land of Arsareth, by Esdra», in 
his second book, chapter thirteenth, who may, with the utmost 
certainty, be supposed to know the very course and place where 
these Ten Tribes went to, being himself a Jew and a historian, 
who at the present day is quoted by the first authors of the age. 

We have also said, it should be considered impossible for the 
Ten Tribes, after having left the place of their captivity, at the east 
end of the Mediterranean sea, which was the Syrian country, for 
them to have gone in a year and a half to Bhering's strait, through 
the frozen wilderness of Siberia. 

In going away from Syria, they cannot be supposed to have had 
any place in view, only they had conferred among themselves that, 
as Esdras says, "they would leave the multitude of the heathen, 
and go forth into a country where never mankind dwelt ;" which 
Esdras called the land of Arsareth. 

Now, it is not to be supposed, a land, or country, where no man 
dwelt could have a name, especially in that early age of the world, 
which was about seven hundred years before the Christian era ; 
but on that very account we may suppose the word Arsareth, to be 
descriptive only of a vast wilderness country, where no man dwelt, 
and is probably a Persian word of that signification, for Syria was 
embraced within the Persian empire ; the Israelites may have, in 
part, lost their original language, having been there in a state of 
captivity for more than one hundred years before they left that 
country* 

Esdras says, that Arsareth was a land where no man dwelt ; this 
statement is somewhat corroborated by the fact, that the country 
which we.have supposed was Arsareth, namely, Norway, &c,, was 
anciently unknown to mankind. On this point see Morse's Geog- 
raphy, vol. ?, p. 28 : 

"Norway— T-A region almost as unknown to the ancients as was 
America." 

But, in this he is mistaken, as will appear by and by, in the 
course of this work. America was known to the ancients. 

Its almost insular situation, having on the west the Atlantic ocean, 
on the south end the North sea, and on the east the Baltic and the 
gulf of Bothnia— these waters almost surrounding it — there being a 
narrow connexion of land with the European continent only on the 



82 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

north, between the gulf of Bothnia and the White sea, which is 
Lapland, and was a reason quite sufficient why the ancients should 
have had no knowledge of that region of country which we have 
supposed to have been the country called by Esdras the land of 
Arsareth. 

Naturalists, as before remarked, have supposed that America was 
at some remote period before the Christian era, united to the con- 
tinent of Europe ; and that some convulsion in nature, such as 
earthquakes, velcanos, or the irruptions of the ocean, has shaken and 
overwhelmed a whole region of earth, lying between Norway and 
Baffin's bay, of which Greenland and Iceland, with many other 
islands, are the remains. 

But suppose the American and European continents, seven hun- 
dred years before the Christian era, were not united ; how, then, 
did such part of the Ten Tribes as may have wandered to that re- 
gion from Syria, get into America from Norway ? The answer is 
easy. They may have crossed over, from island to island, in ves- 
sels or boats, for a knowledge of navigation, and that of the ocean 
too, was known to the Ten Tribes ; for all the Jews and civilized 
nations of that age were acquainted with this art, derived from the 
Egyptians. 

But it may be said, there are no traces that Jews were ever re- 
sidents of Norway, Lapland or Scandinavia. From the particular 
shape of Norway, being surrounded by the waters of the sea, ex- 
cept between the gulf of Bothnia and the White sea, we perceive 
that the first people, whoever they v/ere, viust have approached it 
by the narrow pass between those two bodies of water, of only 
about forty-five miles in width, if they would go there by land. 

Consequently, the place now designated by the name of Lapland, 
which is the northern end of Norway, was first peopled before the 
more southern parts. An inquiry, therefore, whether the undent 
people of Lapland liad any customs like those of the ancient Jews, 
would be pertinent to our hypothesis respecting the route of the Ten 
Tribes, as spoken of by Esdras. Morse, the geographer, says, 
that of the original population of Lapland very little is known with 
certainty. Some writers have sispposed them to be a colony of 
Fins from Russia ; others have thought that they bore a stronger 
resemblance to the Semoeids of Asia. Their language, however, 
is said by Leems to have less similitude to the Finnish, than the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 63 

Danish to the German ; and to be totally unlike any of the dialects 
of the Teutonic, or ancestors of the ancient Germans : but accord- 
ing to Leems, as quoted by Morse, in their language are found 
many Hebrew words, also Greek and Latin. 

Hebrew words are found among the American Indians in consi- 
derable variety. But how came Greek and Latin words to be in 
the composition of the Laponic language ? 

This is easily answered, if we suppose them to be derived from 
the Ten Tribes; as at the time they left Syria, the Greek and 
Latin were languages spoken every where in that region, as well 
as the Syrian and Chaldean. And on this very account, it is likely, 
the Ten Tribes had in part lost their ancient language as it was 
spoken at Jerusalem, when Salmanassar carried them away. So 
that by the time they left Syria, and the region thereabouts, to go 
to Arsareth, their language had become, from this sort of mixture, 
an entire nexo language, as they had been enslaved about one hun- 
dred years. 

So that, allowing the ancient Laplanders to have derived their 
tongue from a part of these ten wandering tribes, it well might be 
said by Leems, as quoted by Morse, that the language of Lapland, 
commonly called the Laponic, had no words in common with the 
Gothic or Teutonic, except a few Norwegian words, evidently fo- 
reign, and unassociated with any of the languages of Asia or Eu- 
rope ; these being of the Teutonic or German origin, which goes 
back to within five hundred years of the flood, several centuries be- 
fore the Ten Tribes were carried away by Salmanassar. 

This view would seem to favor our hypothesis. We shall now 
show a few particulars respecting their religious notions, which 
seem to have, in some respects, a resemblance to those of the Jews. 
Their deities were of four kinds : 

1st. Super-celestial^ named as follow : Radien, Atzihe, and Kied- 
de, the Creator. Radien and Atzihe they considered the foun- 
tain of all power, and Kiedde or Radien Kiedde, the Son, or Crea- 
tor. These were their supreme gods, and would seem to be bor- 
rowed from the Jewish dictrine of the Trinity. 

2d. Celestialj called Beiwe, the Sun, or as other ancient nations 
had it, Apollo, which is the same, and Ailekies, to whom Saturday 
was consecrated. May not these two powers be considered as the 
shadows of the different orders of angels, as held by the Jews ? * 



64 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

3d. Sub-celestial, or in the air and on the earth. Moderakkay 
T)r the Lapland Lucina ; Saderakka,or Venus, to whom Friday was 
holy; and Juks Akka, or the Nurse. These are of heathen ori- 
gin, derived from the nations among whom they had been slaves 
and wanderers, the Syrians. 

4th. Sub-terranean, as Saiwo, and Saiwo-OImak, gods of the 
mountains ; Saiwo-Guelle, or their Mercury, who conducted the 
shades, or wicked souls, to the lower regions. 

This idea would seem to be equivalent with the doctrine found 
in both the Jewish and Christian religions, namely, that Satan con- 
ducts or receives the souls of the wicked to his hell in the subter- 
ranean fire of the earth. 

They have another deity, belonging to the fourth order, and him 
they call Jabme-Akko, or he who occupied their Elysium ; in which 
the soul was furnished wilh a new body, and nobler privileges and 
powers, and entitled, at some future day, to enjoy the light of Ra- 
dien, the fountain of power, and to dwell with him forever in the 
mansions of bliss. 

This last sentiment is certainly equivalent to the Jewish idea of 
heaven and eternal happiness in Abraham's bosom. It also, under 
the idea of a new body, shows a relation to the Jewish and Chris- 
tian doctrine of the resurrection of the body at the last day ; and is 
indeed wonderful. « 

5th. An Infernal deity, called Rota, who occupied and reigned 
in Rota-Abimo, or the infernal regions ; the occupants of which 
had no hopes of escape. He, together with his subordinates, 
Fudno, Mubber, and Paha-Engel, were all considered as evil dis- 
posed towards mankind. 

This is too plain not to be applied to the Bible doctrine of one 
supreme devil and his angels, who are, sure enough, evil disposed 
towards mankind. 

Added to all thisj the Laplanders were found in the practice of 
sacrificing to all their deities, the rein -deer, the sheep, and some- 
times the seal, pouring libations of milk, whey, and brandy, with 
offerings of cheese, &c. 

This last item of their religious manners, is too striking not to 
claim its derivation from the ancient Jewish worship. The Lap- 
landers are a people but few in number, not much exceeding twelve 
hundred families; which we imagine is a circumstance favoring 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 6& 

our idea, that after they had remained a while in Arsareth, or Lap- 
land and Norway, which is much the same thing, that their main 
body may have passed over into America, either in boats, from 
island to island ; or if there then was, as is supposed, an isthmus 
of land, connecting the continents, they passed over on that, leav- 
ing, as is natural, in case of such a migra'ion, some individuals or fa- 
milies behind, who might not wish to accompany them, from whom 
the present race of Laplanders may be derived. Their dress is 
much the same with that of our Indians ; their complexion is swar- 
thy, black hair, large heads, high cheek bones, with wide mouths ; 
all of which is strikingly national. They call themselves Samey 
their speech Same-giel, and their country Same-Edna. This last 
word sounds very much like the word Eden, and may be, inasmuch 
as it is the name of their country, borrowed from the name of the 
region where Adam was created. 

When men emigrate from one region of the earth to another, 
which is very distant, and especially if the country to which they 
emigrate is a new one, or in a state of nature, it is perfectly natural 
to give it the same name or names which distinguished the country 
and its parts, from which they emigrated. 

Edessa, was the name of an ancient city of Mesopotamia, which 
was situated in the country or land of Assyria, between the rivers 
Euphrates and Tigris- In this region the Ten Tribes were held 
in bondage, who bad been carried away by Salmanassar, the Assy- 
rian monarch. We are, therefore, the more confirmed in this con- 
jecture, from the similarity existing between the two names Edna 
and Edessa, both derived, it is likely, from the more ancient word 
Eden, which, from common consent, had its situation, before the 
deluge, not far from this same region where Turkey is now, be- 
tween the Mediterranean, Black, and Caspian seas, and the Persian 
gulf, as before argued. 

If such may have been the fact, that a part of the Ten Tribes 
came over to America, in the way we have supposed, leaving the 
cold regions of Arsareth behind them, in quest of a milder climate, 
it would be natural to look for tokens of the presence of Jews of 
some sort, along countries adjacent to the Atlantic. In order to 
this, we shall here make an extract from an able wprk, written ex- 
clusively on the subject of the Ten Tribes' having come from Asia 
by the way of Bhering's strait, by the Rev. Ethan Smith, Pultney, 

9 



66 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Vt. who relates as follows : — " Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly re- 
spectable character in the church at Pittsfield, gave the following 
account: That in 1815, he was levelling some ground under and 
near an old wood-shed, standing on a place of his, situated on In- 
dian hill. He ploughed and conveyed away old chips and earth to 
some depth. After the work was done, walking over the place he 
discovered, near where the earth had been dug the deepest, a 
black strap, as it appeared, about six inches in length, and one and 
a half in breadth, and about the thickness of a leather trace to a 
harness. He perceived it had at each end a loop of some hard sub- 
stance, probably for the purpose of carrying it. He conveyed it to 
his house and threw it into an old tool box. He afterwards found 
it thrown out at the door, and again conveyed it to the box. 

" After some time, he thought he would examine it ; but in at- 
tempting to cut it, found it as hard as bone ; he succeeded, howe- 
ver, in getting it open, and found it was formed ef two pieces of 
thick raw-hide, sewed and made water tight with the sinews of 
some animal, and gummed over ; and in the fold was contained 
four folded pieces of parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue, 
and contained some kind of writing. The neighbors coming in to 
see the strange discovery, tore one of the pieces to atoms, in the 
true Hun and Vandal style. The other three pieces Mr. Merrick 
saved, and sent them to Cambridge, where they were examined, 
and discovered to have been written with a pen in Hebrew, plain 
and legible. The writing on the three remaining pieces of parch- 
ment, was quotations from the Old Testament. See Deut., chap, 
vi. from 4th to 9th verse, inclusive; also chap. xi. verse 13 to 21, 
inclusive; and Exodus, chap, xiii., 11 to 16, inclusive, to which 
the reader can refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most inte- 
resting discovery. 

These passages, as quoted above, were found in the strap of raw- 
hide, which unquestionably had been written on the very pieces 
of parchment, now in the possession of the Antiquarian Society, 
b-'fort israei left the land of Syria, more than 2500 years ago; but 
vc is not likely the raw-hide strap in which they were found en- 
ciused, had been made a very great length of time. This would 
cc unnatural, as a desire to look at the sacred characters, would be 
very great, aUhough they could not read them. This, however, 
was done at last, as it appears, and buried with some chief, on the 
place where it was found, called Indian hill. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE AVKST. 67 

Dr. West, of Stockbridge, relates, that au old Indian informed 
faim, tbat his fathers in this country had, not long since, been in 
the possession of a book, which they had, for a long time, carried 
with them ; but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they 
buried it with an Indian chief. — (View of the Hebrews, p. 223.) 

It had been handed down, from family to family, or from chief 
to chief, as a most precious relic, if not as an amulet, charm, or ta- 
lisman; for it is not to be supposed, that a distinct knowledge of 
what was contained in the strap could have long continued among 
them, in their wandering condition, amid woods and forests. 

" It is said by Calmet, that the above texts are the very passa- 
ges of Scripture which the Jews used to write on the leaves of their 
phylacteries. These phylacteries were little rolls of parchment, 
whereon were written certain words of the law. These they wore 
upon their forehead, and upon the wrist of the left arm." — {Smith's 
View of the Hehrexos, p. 220.) 

This intimation of the presence of the Hebrews in America, is 
too unequivocal to be passed unnoticed, and the circumstance of its 
being found so near the Atlantic coast, and at so vast a distance 
from Bhering's straits, we are still inclined to suppose, tbat such of 
the Israelites as found their way to the shores of America, on the 
coast of the Atlantic, may have come from Lapland or Norway ; 
seeing evident tokens exist of their having once been there, as we 
have noticed some few pages back. 

But there is a third supposition respecting the land of Arsareth ; 
which is, that it is situated exactly east from the region of Syria. 
This is thought to be the country now known in Asia by the appel- 
lation of Little Bucharia. Its distance from Syria is something 
more than two thousand miles; which, by Esdras, might very well 
be said to be a journey of a year and a half, through an entire wil- 
derness. 

Bucharia, the region of country of which we are about to speak, 
as being the ancient resort of a part of the lost Ten Tribes, is in 
distance from England, 3,475 miles; a little southeast from the 
Jatitude of London ; and from the state of New- York, exactly 
double that distance, 6,950 miles, on an air line, as measured on 
an artificial globe, and in nearly the same latitude, due east from 
this country. 

It is not impossible, after all our speculatioD, and the speculations 



68 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of others, that instead of America, or of Norway, this same Bucha- 
ria is, in truth, the ancient country of Arsareth ; although in the 
country of old Norway, and of America, are abundant evidence of 
the presence of Jews at some remote period, no doubt derived from 
this stock, the Ten Tribes. 

The country of Bucharia is situated due east from Syria, where 
the Ten Tribes were placed by Salmanassar, as well as farther east 
on the river Gozen, or Ganges, of Hindostan. The distance is 
about 2,500 miles, and at that time w^as a vast desert, lying beyond 
the settlements of men, in all probability ; and in order to go there 
they must also pass through the narrow passes of the river Euphra- 
tes, or its heads, near the south end of the Caspian sea, and then 
nearly due east, inclining, however, a little to the north. Two 
circumstances lead to a supposition that this Bucharia is the Arsa- 
reth mentioned by Esdras. The first is, at this place is found a 
great population of Jews: Second, the word Arsareth is similar to 
the names of other regions of that country in Asia : as Ararat, As- 
tracan, Samarcand, Yarcund, Aracan, Ala Tau, Alatanian, Aral, 
Altai, Amu, Korassan, Balk, Bactriana, Bucharia, Argun, Narrat, 
Anderab Katlan : (this word is much like the Mexican names of 
places, as Aztalan, Copallan, and so on,j Anderab, Aktau, Ailak. 
Names of countries and rivers might be greatly multiplied, which 
bear a strong affinity in sound and formation to the word Arsareth, 
which is probably a Persian word, as well as the rest we have 
quoted, as from these regions, ancient Bucharia, the foundations of 
the Persian power was derived. 

The reader can choose between the three, whether America, 
Norway, or Bucharia, is the ancient country called Arsareth, as one 
of the three is, beyond a doubt, the place alluded to by Esdras, to 
which the Ten Tribes weiu ; and in all three th»; traits of Jews 
are found. 

In this country, Bucharia, many thousand Jews have been disco- 
vered, who were not known by the Christian nations to have ex- 
isted at all till recently- It would appear Irom this circumstanrie, 
that the Ten Tribes may have divided, a pari going east to th* 
country now colled Bucharia ; and a part west, to tlie country now 
called Norway ; both of which, at that time, were the region of 
almost endless solitudes, and about equal distances from Syria : and 
from Bucharia to Bhering's staait, is also about the same distance. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 69 

In process of time, both from Bucharia iu Asia, and Norway ia 
Europe, the descendants from these Ten Tribes may Jiave found 
their way into America. Those from Norway, by the way ol 
islands, boats or continent, which may then have existel, between 
America and north of Europe ; and those from Bucha'^ia, by the 
way of Bhering's strait, which at that time, it is likely, was no 
strait, but an isthmus, if not a country of great extent, uniting 
Asia with America. The account of the Bucharfan Jews is a» 
follows : 

" After having seen, some years past, merchants from Tiflis, 
Pcrsiaj and Armenia, among the visitors at Leipsic, we have had, 
for the first time, (1826,) two traders from Bucharia^ loith shawls^ 
which are tfiere manufactured of the finest loool of the goals of Thibet 
and Cashmere, by the Jewish families, who form a third part of the 
population. In Bucharia, (formerly the capitol of Sogdiana,) the 
Jews have been very numerous ever since the Babylonian cap- 
tivity, and are there as remarkable for their industry and manufac- 
tures, as they are in England for their money trai.sactions. It was 
not till 1826, that the Russian government succeeded in extending 
its diplomatic mission far into Bucharia. The above traders ex- 
changed their shawls for coarse and fine woollen cloths, of such 
colors as are most esteemed in the east." 

Much interest has been excited by the iuformation which this 
paragraph conveys, and which is equally novel and important. In 
none of the geographical works which we have consulted do we 
find the the least hint as to the existence in Bucharia of such a 
body of Jews as are here mentioned, amounting to one-third of the 
whole population ; but as the fact can no longer be doubted, the 
next point of inquiry which presents itself is, whence have they 
proceeded, and how have they come to estabhsh themselves in a 
region so remote from their original country ? This question, we 
think, can only be answered by supposing that these persons are 
the descendants of the long lost Ten Tribes, concerning the facts 
of which, theologians, historians, and antiquarians, have been alike 
puzzled : and however wild this hypothesis may at first appear, 
there are not wanting circumstances to render it far from being 
improbable. In the 17th chapter of the second book of Kings, it 
is said, "in the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria took 
Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in 



70 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Helah and in Haber by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the 
Medes:" and in the subsequent verses, as well as the writings of 
the prophets, it is said, that the Lord then " put away Israel out 
of his sight, and carried them away into the land of Assyria unto 
this day." In the Apocrypha, 2d Esdras, xiii., it is said, that the 
Ten Tribes were carried beyond the river, (Euphrates,) and so 
they were brought into another land, when they took counsel to- 
gether, that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and 
go forth into a further country, where never mankind dwelt; that 
they entered in at the narrow passages of the river Euphrates, when 
the springs of the flood were stayed, (frozen,) and " went through 
the country a great journey, even a year and a half;" and it is 
added, that " there will they remain, until the latter time, when 
they will come forth again." The country beyond Bucharia was 
unknown to the ancients, and it is, we believe, generally admitted, 
that the river Gozan, mentioned in the book of Kings, is the same 
as the Ganges, which has its rise in those very countries in which 
the Jews reside, of which the Liepsic account speaks. The dis- 
tance which these two merchants must have travelled, cannot, 
therefore, be less than three thousand miles; and there can be but 
little doubt that the Jews, whom they represent as a third part of 
the population of the country, are descendants of the Ten Tribes 
of Israel settled by the river Gozan. 

The great plain of Central Asia, forming four principal sides, viz : 
Little Bucharia, Thibet, Mongolia, and Mantehous, contains a sur- 
face of 150,000 square miles, and a population of 20,000,000. 
This vast country is still very little known. The great traits of 
its gigantic formation compose, for the most part, all that we are 
certain of. It is an immense plain of an excessive elevation, inter- 
sected with barren rocks and vast deserts of black and almost 
moving sand. It is supported on all sides by mountains of granite, 
whose elevated summits determine the different climates of the 
great continent of Asia, and form the division of its waters. From 
its exterior flow all the great rivers of that part of the world. In 
the interior are a quantity of rivers, having little declivity, or no 
issue, which are lost in the sands, or perhaps feed stagnant waters. 
In the southern chains are countries, populous, rich and civilized ; 
Little Bucharia, Great and Little Thibet. The people of the north 
are shepherds and wanderers. Their riches consist in their herds. 



AND DI8COVERIE« IN THE WBSt. 71 

t'beir habitations are tents, and towns, and camps, which are trans- 
ported according to the want^ of pasturage. The Buchanans enjoj 
the right of trading to all parts of Asia, and the Thibetiaus cultivate 
the earth to advantage. The ancients had only a confused idea of 
Central Asia. " The inhabitants of the country," as we learn from 
a great authority, " are in a high state of civilization ; possessing 
all the useful manufactures, and lofty houses built with stone. 
The Chinese reckon (but this is evidently an exaggeration) that 
Thibet alone contains 33,000,000 of persons. The merchaats of 
Cashmere, on their way to Yarkland in Little Bucharia, pass 
through Little Thibet. This country is scarcely known to Euro- 
pean geographers." The immense plain of Central Asia is hem- 
med in, and almost inaccessible by mountain ranges of the greatest 
elevation, which surround it on all sides, except China ; and when 
the watchful jealousy of the government of the Celestial Empire 
is considered, it will scarcely be wondered at, that the vast region 
in question is so little known. 

Such is the country which these newly discovered Jews are said 
to inhabit in such numbers. The following facts may perhaps 
serve to throw some additional light on this interesting subject. 

In the year 1S22, a Mr. Sargon, who had been appointed one of 
the agents of the London Society, communicated to England some 
interesting accounts of a number of persons resident at Bombay, 
Cinnaraore, and their vicinity, who are evidently the descenendants 
of the Jews, calling themselves Beni Israel, atid bearing almost 
uniformly Jewish names, but with Persian terminations. This 
gentleman, feeling very desirous of obtaining all possible knowledge 
of their condition, undertook a mission for this purpose to Cinna- 
more ; and the result of his inquiries was, a conviction that they 
were not Jews of the one tribe and a half, being of a different'race 
to the white and black Jews at Cochin, and consequently, that they 
were a remnant of the long lost Ten Tribes. This gentleman also 
concluded, from the information he obtained respecting the Beni 
Israel, or sons of Israel, that they existed in great numbers in the 
countries between Cochin and Bombay, the north of Persia^ among 
the hoides of Tartary, and in Cashmere ; the very countries in 
which, according to the paragraph in the German paper, they exist 
in such numbers. So far, then, these accounts confirm each other, 
and there is every probability that the Beni Israel, resident on the 



72 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

west of the Indian peninsula, had originally proceeded from Bu- 
charia. It will, therefore, be interesting to know something of 
their moral and religious character. The following particulars are 
collected from Mr. Sargon's accounts: 1. In dress and manners 
they resemble the natives so as not to be distinguished from them, 
except by attentive observation and inquiry. 2. They have Hebrew 
names of the same kind, and with the same local termination as 
the Sepoys in the the ninth regiment Bombay native infantry. 3. 
Some of them read Hebrew, and they have a faint tradition of the 
cause of their original exodus from Egypt. 4. Their common lan- 
guage is the Hindoo. 5. They keep idols and worship them, and 
use idolatrous ceremonies intermixed with Hebrew. 6. They cir- 
cumcise their children- 7. They observe the Kipper, or great ex- 
piation day of the Hebrews, but not the Sabbath, or any of the 
feast or fast days. 8. They call themselves Gorah Jehudi, or white 
Jews ; and they term the black Jews Colla Jehudi. 9. They speak 
of the Arabian Jews as their brethren, but do not acknowledge the 
European Jews as such. They use, on all occasions, and under 
the most trivial circumstances, the usual Jewish prayer — " Hear, 
O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." 10. They have ho cohen, 
(priest) levite, or kasi, among them, under those terms; but they 
have a kasi, (reader) who performs prayers, and conducts their re- 
ligious ceremonies ; and they appear to have elders and a chief in 
each community, who determine in their religious concerns. 11. 
They expect the Messiah, and that they will one day return to 
Jerusalem. They think that the time of his appearance will soon 
arrive, at which they much rejoice, believing that at Jerusalem they 
will see their God, worship him only, and be despised no more. 

These particulars, we should presume, can scarcely fail to prove 
interesting, both in a moral and religious, as well as in a geogra- 
phical point of view. ' The number of the scattered members of the 
tribes of Judah, and the half tribe of Benjamin, rather exceed than 
fall short of five millions. Now, if this number be added to the 
many other millions to be found in the diflFerent countries of the 
eastj what an immense power would be brought into action, were 
the spirit of nationality once roused, or any extraordinary event to 
occur, which should induce them to unite in claiming possession of 
that land which was given to them " for an heritage forever," and 
to which, in every other clime of the earth, their fondest hopes and 
their dearest aspirations never cease to turn. 



AND- DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 7* 

But although the opinion that the American Indians are the de- 
scendants of the lost Ten Tribes, is now a popular one, and gene- 
rally believed, yet there are some who totally discard this opinion. 
And among such, as ehief, is Professor Rafinesque, whose opinions 
on the subject of the flood of Noah not being universal, and of the 
ark, we have introduced oa the first pages of this work. 

This gentleman is decidedly, and we may say severely, opposed 
to this doctrine, and alleges that the Ten Tribes were never lost, 
but are still in the countries of the east about the region of ancient 
Syria, in Asia. He ridicules all those authors who have attempted 
to find in the customs of the Indians, traits of the Jews, and 
stamps them with being egregiously ignorant of the origin of things 
pertaining to this subject. This is taking a high stand, indeed, 
and if he can maintain it, he has a right to the honor thereof. 
Upon this notion, he says, a new sect of religion has arisen, 
namely, the Mornaonites, who pretend to have discovered a book 
with golden leaves, in which is the history of the American Jews, 
and their leader. Mormon, who came hither more than 2,000 years 
ago. This work is ridiculous enough, it is true ; as the whole 
book of Mormon bears the stamp of folly, and is a poor attempt at 
an imitation of the Old Testament Scriptures, and is without con- 
nection, object, or aim ; shewing every where language and 
phrases of too late a construction to accord with the Asiatic manner 
of composition, which highly characterises the the style of the 
Bible, and how can it be otherwise as it was written in Ontario 
county, New York. 

As reasons, this philosopher advances as follows, against the Ame- 
. rican nations being descended from the Ten Tribes of ancient Israel : 

"1. These Ten Tribes are not lost, as long supposed; their 
descendants, more or less mixed with the natives, are yet found in 
Media, Iran, Taurin, Cabulistan, Hindostan, and China, where late 
travellers have traced them calling themselves by various names. 

2. The American nations knew not the Sabbath, nor yet the 
Sabbattical weeks and years of the Jews. This knowledge could 
never have been lost by the Hebrews. The only weeks known 
in America, were of three days, five days, and half lunations, (or 
half a moon) as among the primitive nations, before the week of 
seven days was used in Asia, which was based upon the seven 
planets, long before the Jaws of Moses-" 

10 



74 AMERICAN antiquities' 

Here is another mafiifest attempt of this philosopher to invali- 
date the Scriptures, in attempting to fix the origin of the ancient 
Jewish and present Christian Sabbath, on the observances of the 
ancient nations, respecting the motions of the seven primary planets 
of the heavens; when it is emphatically said, in the Hebrew 
Scriptures, that the week of seven days was based on the seven 
days' work of the Creator, in the creation of the world. And as 
the Creation is older than the astronomical observations of the most 
ancient nations of the earth, it is evident that the Scripture account 
of the origin of the seven-day Vv'eek ought to have the precedence 
over all other opinions since sprung up. 

3. He says, " The Indians hardly knew the use of iron, al- 
though common among the Hebrews, and likely never to be lost ; 
nor did they, the Indians of America, know the use of the plough.'* 
"4. The same apples to the use of writing; such an art is 
never lost when once known." 

"5. Circumcision was unknown, and even abhorred by the 
Americans, except two nations, who used it — the Mayans, of Yu- 
catan, in South America, who worshipped a hundred idols, and 
the Calchaquis, of Chaco, of the same country, who worshipped 
the sun and stars, believing that departed souls became stars- 
These beliefs are quite different from Judaism ; and besides this, 
the rite of circumcision was common to Egypt, Ethiopia, Edom^ 
and Chalchis." 

But to this we reply, supposing circumcision icas practised by all 
those nations, and even more, this does not disprove the rite to be 
of pure Hebrew or Jewish origin, as we have an account of it in 
the Scriptures written by Moses, as being in use quite two thou- 
sand years before Christ ; long enough before Abraham or his pos- 
terity knew any thing of the Egyptians ; it was therefore, most 
undoubtedly introduced among the Egyptians by the Jews them- 
selves, or their ancestors, and from them the custom has gone out 
into many nations of the earth. 

Again, Mr. Rafinesque says, one tribe there was, namely, the 
Calchaquis, who worshipped the sun and the stars, supposing them 
to be the souls of the departed. 

This notion is not very far removed frona, or at least may have 
bad its origin with the Jews; for Daniel, one of their prophets, 
who lived about 500 years before Christ, expressly says, respecting 



AND DISCOVERIES I.V THE WEST. 71) 

ibe souls of the departed rigliteous : " They that be wise shall 
^hine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
many to righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever." A senti- 
ment of such transcendaut beauty and consequence is not easily 
lost. This tribe, therefore, as above named, may ihei/ not have 
been of Jewish origin ? 

" 6. None of the American tribes have the striking, sharp, Jew- 
ish features, and physical conformation." .[But other authors of 
equal celebrity, have a contrary opinion.] 

" 7. The American Indians eat hogs, hares, fish, and all the for- 
bidden animals of Moses, but each tribe abstain from their tutelar 
animals," (which, as they imagine, presides over their destinies,) 
" or badges of families of some peculiar sort." 

But to this we reply, most certainly the Jews did use fish ; as in 
all their history, even in the Bible, frequent reference is had to 
their use of fishes, and to their fish markets, where they were sold 
and bought. 

" 8. The American customs of scalping, torturing prisoners, 
cannibalism, painting their bodies, and going naked, even in very 
cold climates, are totally unlike the Hebrew customs." Scalping, 
with several other customs of the sort, we have elsewhere in this 
work shown to be of Scythian origin ; but does not, on that account, 
prove, nor in any way invalidate the other opinion, that some of the 
tribes are indeed of Jewish origin. 

" 9. A multitude of languages exists in America, which may 
perhaps be reduced to twenty-five radical languages, and two thou- 
sand dialects. But they are often unlike the Hebrew, in roots, 
words, and grammar ; they have, by far, says this author, more ana- 
logies with the Sanscrit,^^ (the ancient Chinese,) Celtic, Bask, 
Pelasgian, Berber," (in Europe;) " Lybian, Egyptian," (in Afri- 
ca;) " Persian, Turan, &c.," (also in Europe ;) " or in fact, all 
the primitive languages of mankind." This we believft. * 

" 10. The Americans cannot have sprung from a single nation, 
because, independently of the languages, their features and com- 
plexions are as various as in Africa and Asia." 

" We find in America, while, tawny, brown, yellow, olive, cop- 
per, and even black nations, as in Africa. Also, dwarfs and giants, 
handsome and ugly features, flat and aquiline noses, thick and thin 
lips," &c. [Among the Jews is also as great a variety ] 



76 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The Rev. Mr. Smith, of Pultney, Vt., a few years since, pub- 
lished a work entitled " A View of the Hebrews," in which he 
labors to establish that the American Indians worshipped but one 
God ; the great Yohewah, or Jehovah of the Scriptures. This is 
vehemently opposed by philosopher Rafinesque, as follows, in re- 
ply to him. 

" You say, all the Americans had the same God Yohewa ; this is 
utterly false. This was the god of the Chactas and Florida Indians 
only ; many other tribes had tripple gods, or trimurtis, as in Hin- 
dostan, having names nearly Sanscrit." [But neither does this 
disprove that some of these tribes are of Jewish origin.] 

" Polytheism," (a plurality of gods.) " idolatry, and a complex 
mythology, prevailed among all the most civilized nations" of this 
country. 

" All the ancient religions were found in America," which have 
prevailed in the old world, in the earliest ages, as " Theism, Sa- 
baism, Magism, Hindooism, Shamanism, Fetichism, &c., but no 
Judaism-'''' 

He sa3'S, the few examples of the affinity between the Indian 
languages and the Hebrew, given by Mr. Smith, in his work, be- 
long only to the Floridan and Caribbean languages. Mr. Rafin- 
esque says, he could show ten times as many in the Aruac, Gua- 
rian," (languages oi South America,) " but what is that compared 
with the 100,000 affinities with the primitive languages." 

" All the civilized Americans had a priesthood, or priestly caste^ 
and so had the Hindoos, Egyptians, Persians, Celts, and Ethiopians. 
Were they all Jews ? 

" 4. Tribes are found among all the ancient nations, Arabs, Ber- 
bers, Celts, Negroes, &c., who are not Jews. The most civilized 
nations had castes, instead of tribes, in America as well as Egypt 
and Indi^ : the Mexicans, the Mayans, Muhizcas, the Peruvians, 
&c., had no tribes. The animal badges of tribes, are found among 
Negroes and Tartars, as well as our Indians." 

" 6. Arks of covenant and cities of refuge are not peculiar to 
the Jews; many Asiatic nations had them, also the Egyptians, and 
nine-tenths of our Indian tribes have none at all, or have only holy 
bags," (for an ark) somewhat like a talisman, a charm, or as the 
" Fetiches, of the Africans." 

But we reply, there is no evidence that other natioDS than the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



77 



Jews had cities of refuge and imitations of the ark of the cove- 
nant, prior to the time of Moses, which was full sixteen hundred 
years before Christ, and from whom it is altogether probable, that 
all the nations among whom such traits are found, derived them at 
first from the laws of that Hebrew legislator. Those nations, 
therefore, among whom, at this distance of time, those traits are 
found most resembling the Jews, may be said, with some degree 
of propriety, to be their descendants; and among many tribes of 
the western Indians, these traits are found, if we may believe the 
most credible witnesses. 

" 6. The religious cry of aleluya, is not Jewish, says this au- 
thor, hut ptimilive, and found among the Hindoos, Arabs, Greeks, 
Saxons, Celts, Lybians, &c., under the modification oihulili^yululuy 
tulujah, <S,T. Other Americans call it ululaez, gualulu, aluyah 8fc.''^ 

All this being true, which we are willing to allow, does not dis- 
prove but that these forms of speech, which are directed in praise 
and adoration of a supreme or superior being, of some nature, no 
matter what, may all have originated from the Hebrew Jews, as 
this name of God, namely, Jehovah, was known among that nation, 
before the existence, as nations, by those names, of either the Hin- 
doos, Arabs, Greeks, Saxons, Celts, or Lybians ; for it was knowa 
in the family of Noah, and to all the patriarchs before the flood. 
The original word, translated God, was Jehova, and also Elohim, 
which are generally translated Loid and God. 

In the second chapter of Genesis, at the fourth verse, the word 
Jehovah first occurs, says Dr. Clarke, in the original as written by 
Moses ; but was in use long before the days of Abraham, among 
the ancestors of that patriarch. From this word, Jehovah, and Elo- 
him, the words aleluia, &c., as above, it is admitted on all hands, 
were at first derived ; and are in all nations, where known and 
used, directed to the praise and admiration of the Almighty, or other 
objects of adoration. 

This most exalted form of praise, it appears, was known to John 
the Revelator, for he says, in chapter xix., " I heard a great voice 
of much people in heaven, saying alleluia; and again, they said, 
Alleluia." This form of praise, says Dr. Clarke, the heathen bor- 
rowed from the Jews, as is evident from the Pceans, or hymns, 
sung in honor of Apollo, which began and ended with eleleuie, a 



"yS - AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

mere composition of the Hebrew words alleluia and hallelujh. It 
is even found among the North American Indians, and adapted by 
them to the same purpose, viz., the worship of God, or the Great 
Spirit. 

From what we have been able to show on this subject as above, 
we cannot subscribe to the opinion, that those words are not of 
Hebrew and Jewish origins ; consequently, being of Hebrew ori- 
gin, it must follow, that where they are found in the most pure and 
unadulterated use, that the people so using them are most likely 
to be of Jewish descent ; and this is found among the American 
Indians. 

Among some of their tribes they have a place denominated the 
beloved square. Here they sometimes dance a whole night ; but 
always in a bowing or worshipping posture, singing continually, 
hallelujah Ye-ho-wah, Ye-ho-vah ; which last word, says Clarke, 
is probably the true pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew word, 
Jehovah. 

It is no marvel, then, that these Jewish customs are found 
" among nearly all the ancient nations of Asia, Africa, Europe and 
Polynesia, nay, even among the wild negroes to this day," since 
they were in use at the very outset of the spread of the nations 
from Ararat, and are, therefore, of Hebrew primitive origin, but 
not heathen primitive origin, as asserted by Rafinesque. We are 
not tenacious, however, whether the Ten Tribes were lost or not, 
nor do we disagree to the opinion that they are found in almost all 
parts of the old world, having mingled with the various nations of 
Asia; but if so, we inquire, why may they not, therefore, be found 
in America ? Could they not as easily have found their way hither 
as the other nations of the east ? Most assuredly. 

It is not the object of this volume to contend on this point ; but 
when we find attempts,to overturn the Scriptures, and, if possible, 
to make it appear, if not by so many words, yet in the manner we 
understand this writer's remarks, that the Bible itself is nothing 
else than a collection of heathenism, placed under the plausible idea 
o( primitive words, primitive usages and primitive religion; we think 
this is placing the {currus bovem trahit) cart before the horse, and 
should not be allowed to pass without reproof. 



AND UISCOVEUIliS IIV THE WEST. 79 



^^ further account of the Convulsions of the Globe^ with 
the Removal of Islands. 

If the supposition of naturalists may obtain belief, there has been 
a whole continent, reaching from the nocth of Europe to Bhering's 
strait; uniting, not only Europe with America, on the east, but 
also Asia on the north, and may have continued on south from 
Bhering's strait, some way down the Pacific, as Buffon partly be- 
lieved, uniting America and China on the west. 

It was contended by Clavigero, that the equatorial parts of Africa 
and America were once united. By which means, before the con- 
nexion was torn away by the irruption of the sea on both sides, the 
inhabitants from the African" continent came, in the earliest ages, 
to South America. Whether this be true or not, the two countries 
approach each other in a remarkable manner, along the coast of 
Guinea, on the side of Africa, and the coast of Pernambuco, on the 
side of South America. These are the places which, in reality, 
seem to stretch towards each other, as though they had been once 
united. 

The innumerable islands scattered all over the Pacific ocean, 
populous with men, more than intimates a period, even since the 
flood, when all the different continents of the globe were united to- 
gether, and the sea so disposed of, that they did not break this har- 
mony so well calculated to facilitate the migrations of men and 
animals. 

Several tribes of the present Southern Indians, as they now are 
called, have traditions that they came from the east, or through the 
Atlantic ocean. Rafinesque says, it is important to distinguish the 
American nations of eastern origin from those of northeru. The 
latter, he says, were invaders from Tartary, and were as different 
in their manners as were the Romans and Vandals. 

The southern nations, among whom this tradition is found, are 
the Natchez, Apalachians, Talascas, Mayans, Myhizcas, and Hay- 
tians. But those of the Algonquin stock point to a northwest ori- 
gin, which is the way from the northern regions of Asia. 

It is not likely, that immediately after the era of the deluge, there 
was as much ocean which appeared above ground, as at the present 



80 , AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

time; but instead of this, lakes were more numerous. Conse- 
quently, on the surface of the globe there was much more land 
than at the present time. But from various convulsions, more 
than we have spoken of, whose history is now lost, in past ages, 
many parts, nay, nearly all the earthy surface is sunken to the 
depths below, while the waters have risen above ; nearly three- 
fourths of the globe's surface is known to be water. How appalling 
is the reflection ! 

The currents of ocean running through the bowels of the earth, 
by the disposition of its creator, to promote motion in the waters, 
as motion is essential to all animal life, have, doubtless, by subter- 
ranean attrition, affected the foundations of whole islands, which 
have sunk beneath the waters at different periods. To such con- 
vulsions as these, it would seem. Job has alluded, in chapter ix., 
verse 5, as follows : " Which removeth the mountains, and they 
know not; which overturneth them in his anger." 

Adam Clarke's comment on this verse is as follows: "This 
seems to refer to earthquakes. By these strong convulsions, moun- 
tains, valleys, hills, even whole islands, are removed in an instant ; 
and to this latter circumstance the words ' they know not,' most pro- 
bably refer. The work is done in the twinkling of an eye ; no 
warning is given ; the mountain that seemed to be as firm as the 
earth on which it rested, was in the same moment both visible and 
invisible, so suddenly was it swallowed up." — (See p. 59, 60.) 

It can scarcely be supposed but that Job was either personally, 
or by information, acquainted with occurrences of the kind, in or- 
der to justify the thing as being done by God in his anger 

It is not impossible but the fact upon which the following story 
is founded, may have been known to Job, who was a man supposed 
in possession of every species of information calculated to interest 
the nobler faculties of the human mind, if we may judge from the 
book bearing his own name. The story is an account of a certain 
island, called by the ancients Atalantis ; and for aught that can be 
urged against its having existed, we are inclined to believe it did, 
as that all learning, uninspired, and general information, was an- 
ciently in possession of heathen philosophers and priests, to whom 
it was the custom even for princes to resort for learning, before 
they were considered qualified to sit on the thrones of their fathers. 
Such were the Egyptian priests to the Egyptians, and the Druids 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 81 

to the Celtic nations ; the Brahmins to the Hindoos ; the Magi to 
the Persians; the philosophers to the Greeks and Romans ; and 
the prophets of the Indians, to the western tribes. 

" This island is mentioned by Plato, in his dialogue of Tiraaeus. 
Solon, the Athenian lawgiver, is supposed to have travelled into 
Egypt," about six hundred years before Christ. Plato's time was 
three hundred year§ nearer the time of Christ, who has mentioned 
the travels of Solon into Egypt. " He arrives at an ancient tem- 
ple on the Delta, a fertile island formed by the Nile, where he 
held a conversation with certain learned priests, on the antiquities 
of remote ages. When one of them gave Solon a discription of the 
island Atalantis, and also of its destruction. This island, said the 
Egyptian priest, was situated in the Western ocean, opposite the 
straits of Gibraltar ;" which would place it exactly between a part 
of Europe, its southern end, and the northern part of Africa and 
the continent of America. 

" There teas, said the priest, an easy passage from this to other 
islands, which lay adjacent to a large contineat, exceeding in size 
all Europe and Asia." Neptune settled in this island, from whose 
son Atlas, its name was derived, and divided it between his ten 
sons, who reigned there in regular succession for many ages." 

From the time of Solon's travels in Egypt, which was six hun- 
dred years before Christ, we find more than seventeen hundred 
years up to the flood ; so that ti7ne enough had elapsed since the 
flood to justify the fact of the island having existed, and also of 
having been inhabited and destroyed even six hundred yfears be- 
fore the time of Solon ; which would make the time of its destruc- 
tion twelve hundred years before Christ ; and would still leave 
more than five hundred years from that period back to the flood. 
So that if King Neptune had not made his settlement on the island 
Atalantis till two hundred years after the flood, there would have 
been time for the successive reigns of each of the regal lices of 
his sons, amounting to three hundred years, before the time of its 
envelopement in the sea ; ^o that the priest was justified in using 
the term antiquities, when he referred to that catastrophe. 

" They made, i. e. the Atalantians, irruptions into Europe and 
Africa ; subduing all Lybia, as far as Egypt, Europe, and Asia 
Minor. They were resisted, however, by the Athenians, and 
driven back to their Atlantic territories." If they were resisted 

11 



82 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and driven back by the Athenians, the era of the existence of this 
island is easily ascertained ; because the Athenians settled at 
Athens, in Greece, fifteen hundred and fifty -six years before Christ, 
being a colony from Egypt, under their conductor Cecrops. One 
hundred years after their establishment at Athens, they had be- 
come powerful, so as to be able to take a political stand among the 
nations of that region, and to defend their country against invasions. 
Accordingly, at the lime the Atlantians were repulsed and com- 
pelled to return from whence they came, was in the year fourteen 
hundred and forty-three, before Christ. 

" Shortly after this," says Plato, " there was a tremendous earth- 
quake and an overflowing of the sea, which continued for a day 
and a night ; in the course of which the vast island of Atalantis, 
and all its splendid cities and warlike nations, were swallowed up, 
and sunk to the bottom, which spreading its waiters over the chasm, 
added a vast region to the Atlantic ocean. For a long time, 
however, the sea was not navigable, on account of rocks and shoals 
of mud and slime, and of the ruins of that drowned country." 
This occurrence, if the tradition be true, happened about twelve 
hundred years before Christ, three hundred years before the time 
of Job, and seven hundred and fifty years after the flood. At 
the period, therefore, of the existence of this island, a land passage 
to America, from Europe and Africa, was practicable ; also by 
other islands, some of which are still situated in the same direc- 
tion — the Azores, Madeiras, and Teneriffe islands, about twenty 
in number. 

For this story of the island of Atalantis, we are indebted to 
Irving's Columbus, a popular work, of recent date ; which cannot 
be denied but is exceedingly curious, and not without some foun- 
dation of probability. Was not this island the bridge, so called, 
reaching from America to Europe, as conjectured by Dr. Robertson, 
the historian, but was destroyed by the ocean, as he supposes, very 
far back in the ages of antiquity. 

An allusion to this same island, Atalantis, is made by Euclid, 
who flourished about three hundred years before Christ, in a con- 
versation which he had with Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher 
of the same age ; who had, in search of knowledge, travelled from 
the wilds of his own northern regions, to Athens, where he became 
acquainted with Euclid. 



AND Dl«COVERIEa IN THE WEST. 83 

Their subject was the convulsions of the globe. The sea, ac- 
cording to every appearance, said Euclid, has separated Sicily from 
Italy^ Eubma from Bceotia and a number of other islands from the 
continent of Europe. We are informed, continued the philoso- 
pher, that the waters of Pontus Euxinus, (or the Black sea,) 
having been long enclosed in a basin (or lake,) shut in on all sides, 
and continually increasing by the rivers of Europe and Asia, rose 
at length above the highlands which surrounded it, forced open 
the passage of Bosphorus and Hellespont, and impetuously rushing 
into the iEgean or Mediterranean sea, extended its limits to the 
surrounding shores. 

If we consult, he says, mythology, we are told that Hercules, 
whose labors have been confounded with those of nature, separated 
Europe from Africa ; by which is meant, no doubt, that the Atlan- 
tic ocean destroyed the isthmus, which once united those two parts 
of the earth, and opened to itself a communication with the Medi- 
terranean sea. 

Beyond the isthmus, of which I have just spoken, said Euclid, 
existed, according to ancient traditions, an island as large as Africa, 
which, with all its wretched inhabitants, was swallowed up by an 
earthquake. 

Here, then, is another witness, of great weight, besides Solon, 
and Plato, who testifies to the past existence of the island Ata- 

LANTIS. 



Evidences, of an Ancient Population in America^ different 
from that of the Indians. 

We shall now attend more particularly, to the evidences of an 
ancient population in this country, anterior to that of the present 
race of Indians, afforded in the discovery of forts, mounds, tumuli, 
and their contents, as related by western travellers, and the re- 
searches of the Antiquarian Society, at Cincinnati. But before we 
proceed to an account of the traits of this kind of population, more 
than already given, we will remark, that wherever plats of ground, 
.struck out into circles, squares and ovals, are found, we are at once 



84 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



referred to an eara when a people and nation existed in this coun- 
try, more civilized, refined, and given to architectural and agricul- 
tural pursuits, than the Indians. 

It is well known, the present tribes do not take the trouble of 
materially alterjng the face of the ground to accommodate the erec- 
tion- of their places of dwelling; always selecting tlfat which is 
already fashioned by nature to suit their views; using the earth, 
where they build their towns, as they find it. 

In a deep and almost hidden valley among the mountains of 
the Allegl)any, on the road from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, is one 
of those solitary memorials of an exterminated race. It is hid 
amidst the profoundest gloom of the woods ; and is found to con- 
sist of a regular circle, a hundred paces in diameter. This' is 
equal to six rods and four paces ; and twenty- two rods in circum- 
ference. The whole plat is raised above the common level of the 
earth around, about four feet high ; which may have been done to 
carry off the water, when the snows melted, or when violent rains 
would otherwise have inundated their dwellings from the sur- 
rounding hills. 

The neighborhood of Brownville, or Redstone, in Pennsylvania, 
abounds with monuments of antiquity. A fortified camp, of a very 
complete and curious kind, on the ramparts of which is timber of 
five feet in diameter, stands near the town of Brownville. This 
camp contains about thirteen acres, enclosed in a circle, the ele- 
vation of which is seven feet above the adjoining ground ; this was 
a Herculean work. Within the circle a pentagon is accurately 
described ; having its sides four feet high, and its angles uniformly 
three feet from the outside of the circle, thus leaving an unbroken 
communication all around. A pentagon is a figure, having five 
■angles or sides. Each side of the pentagon has a postern or small 
gateway, opening into the passage between it and the circle ; but 
the circle jtsejf has only one grand gateway outward. Exactly in 
the centre stands a mound about thirty feet high, supposed to have 
been a place of lookout. At a small distance from this place, was 
found a stone, eight feet by five, on which was accurately engraved 
a representation of the whole work, . with the mound in the cen^ 
tre ; whereon was the likeness of a human head, which signified 
that the chief who presided there lay buried beneath it. The en- 
graving on this stone, is evidence of the knowledge of stone cut- 
ting, as it was executed with a considerable degree of accuracy. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 85 

On comparing the description of this circular monument with a 
description of works of a similar character, found in Denmark, 
Sweden and Iceland, the conclusion is drawn, that at some era of 
time the authors of this kind of monumental works, in either of 
those countries have been the same. 

" They are called Domh-ringr by the Danes ; that is, literally, 
doom-nug, or, circle of judgment ; being the solemn place where 
courts were held." The celebrated Slonehenge, in England, is 
built after the same fashion ; that is, in a circle, and is of Belgic 
origin, the second class of English antiquities, the era of which 
precedes that of the Romans in England ; which would throw the 
time of their first erection back to a period of some hundred years 
before Christ. 

" Stonehenge. — This noble and curious monument of early times, 
appears to have been formed by three principal circles of stone, the 
outer connected together by an uniform pavement, as it were, at 
the top, to which the chiefs might ascend and speak to the sur- 
rounding crowd. A second Circle consists of detatched upright 
stones, about five feet in height, while the highest are eighteen. 
Within this is a grand oval, consisting of five huge stones, crossed 
by another at the top, and enclosing smaller stones, which seem 
to have been seats, and a large flat stone, commonly called the al- 
tar, but which seems to have been the throne or seat of judgment. 
The whole of the above described monument, with all its appara- 
tus, seems to be enclosed in the midst of a very extensive circle, 
or embankment @f earth, sufficiently large to hold an immense 
number — a whole tribe or nation." — (^Morse.) 

After the introduction of Christianity into the west of Europe, 
which was sixty years after Christ, these circles of judgment, 
which had been polluted with human sacrifices, and other pagan 
rites, were abandoned, and other customs, with other places of re- 
sort, were instituted. This sort of antiquities, says Morse, the 
geographer, which are found all over Europe, are of this character, 
that is, of the tumular kind J such as are found in th6 west of our 
own country, belong entirely to the first era of the settlements of 
Europe. 

The Druidic temples in Europe were numerous, and some of 
•them immense, especially one in the isle of Lewis. In these the 
gods Odin, Thor, Freyga, and other Gothic deities, were adored; 



o6 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

all such structures were enclosed in circles, some greater and some 
less, according to their importance, or the numbers of those who 
supported them. These are of the first order of antiquities found 
in Europe ; or, in other words, the eldest^ and go back very far to- 
ward the flood, for their commencement. 

The same kind of antiquities are found in Ireland, and are al- 
lowed to be of Druidic origin, always enclosed in circles, whether 
a simple stone, or a more spacious temple, be the place where 
they worshipped. The Scandinavians, who preceded the Norwe- 
gians some hundred years, enclosed their rude chapels with cir- 
cular intrenchments, and were called the Dane's Raths, or circular 
intrerichments. 

" In the first ages of the world, the worship of God was exceed- 
ingly simple ; there were no temples nor covered edifices of any 
kind. An altar, sometimes a single stone, sometimes it consisted 
of several, and at other times merely of turf, was all that was ne- 
cessary. On this the fire was lighted, and the sacrifice offered." — 
(Adam Clarke.) 

Such were the Druids of Europe, whose name is derived from 
the kind of forest in which they preferred to .worship. This was 
the oak, which in the Greek is expressed by the word druid, whose 
worship and principles extended even to Italy, among the Celtic 
nations, and is celebrated by Virgil, in the sixth book of the JEneiad, 
where he speaks of the mistletoe, and calls it the golden branch, 
without which no one could return from fhe infernal regions. 

The mistletoe, an account of which may please the reader, is thus 
described by Pliny, who flourished about a. d. 23, and was a cele- ' 
brated writer on natural history, and most learned of the ancient 
Romans : 

" The Druids hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe, and 
the tree on which it grows, provided it be the oak. They make 
choice of groves of oak on this account ; nor do they perform any 
of their sacred rites witho*ut the leaves of those trees. And when- 
ever they find it on the oak, they think it is sent from heaven, and 
is a sign that God hiniself has chosen that tree; and whenever 
found, is treated with great ceremony. 

" They call it by a name which, in their language, signifies the 
curerofills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices 
under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls. The priest, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST.. 87 

dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden prun- 
ing hook, cuts off the mistletoe, which is received in a sagum^ or 
white sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God 
would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." — 
( Clarke.) 



Discoveries on the Muskingum. 

In the neighborhood of Fort Harmer, on the Muskingum, oppo- 
site Marietta on the Ohio, were discovered, by Mr. Ash, an Eng- 
lish traveller, in the year 1826, several monuments of the ancient 
nation. 

" Having made, (says this traveller,) arrangements for an ab- 
sence of a few days, I provided myself with an excellent tinder 
box, some biscuit and salt, and arming my Indian travelling com- 
panion with a good axe and rifle, taking myself a fowling piece, 
often tried, and my faithful dog, I crossed the ferry of the Musk- 
ingum, having learned that the left hand side of that river was most 
accessible and the most abundant in curiosities and other objects of 
my research." In another part of this work -we shall describe 
works of a similar sort, on the opposite side of the Muskingum, as 
given by the Antiquarian Society of Ohio. 

" On traversing the valley between Fort Harmer and the moun- 
tains, I jdetermined to take the high grounds, and after some diffi 
culty, ascended an eminence which commanded a view of the 
town of Marietta^ and of the river up and down, displaying a great 
distance along the narrow valley of the Ohio, cultivated plains, the 
gardens and popular walks of that beautiful town. 

"After a very short inspection, and cursory examination, it was 
evident that the very spot or eminence on which I stood, had been 
occupied by the Indians, either as a place of observation, or a strong 
hold. The exact summit of the hill I found to be artificial ; it ex- 
pressed an oval, forty-five feet by twenty-three, and was composed 
apparently of earth and stone, though no stone of a similar charac- 
ter appeared in that place. 

" The base of the whole was girded round about by a wall of 
earth, in a state of too great decay to justify any calculation, and 



88 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the whole was so covered with heavy timber, that I despaired of 
gaining any further knowledge, and would have left the place, had 
I not been detained by my Indian companion, whom I saw occu- 
pied in endeavoring to introduce a pole into a small opening be- 
tween two flat stones, near the root of a tree, which grew'^on the 
very summit of this eminence. 

" The stones we found were too heavy to be removed by the 
mere power of hands. Two good oak poles were cut, in lieu of 
levers and crows. Clapping these into the orifice first discovered, 
we weighed a large flat stone, tilting it over, wj;ien we each as- 
sumed a guarded position, in silent expectation of hearing the hiss- 
ing of serpents, or the rustling of the ground-hog's litter ; where 
the Indian had supposed was a den of one sort or the other. 

" All was silent. We resumed our labor, casting out a number 
of stones, leaves and earth, soon clearing a surface of seven feet by 
five, which had been covered upwards of fifteen inches deep, with 
flat stones, principally lying against each other, with their edges to 
the horizon. 

" On the surface we had cleared appeared another difficulty, 
which was a plain superfices, composed pf but three flat stones of 
such apparent magnitude that the Indian began to think that we 
should find under them neither snake nor pig ; but having once be- 
gun, I was not to be diverted from my task. 

" Stimulated by obstructions, and animated with other views 
than those of my companion, I had made a couple of hickory sho- 
vels with the axe, and setting to work, soon undermined the sur- 
face, and slid the stones off on one side, and laid the space open to 
view. 

" I expected to find a cavern : my imagination was warmed by 
a certain design I thought I discovered from the very beginning ; 
the manner the stones were placed led me to conceive the exist- 
ence of a vault filled with the riches of antiquity, and crowded with 
the treasures of the most ancient world. 

" A bed of sand was all that appeared under these fiat stones, 
which I cast off; and as I knew there was no sand nearer than the 
bed of the Muskingum, a design was therefore the more manifest, 
which encouraged my proceeding ; the sand was about a foot deep, 
which I soon removed. 

" The design and labor oP man was now unequivocal. The 



AND DISCO VKIIIKS IN THE WE^T. 89 

space out of which these materials were taken, left a hollow in an 
oblong square, lined with stones on the end and sides, and also, 
paved on what appeared to be the bottom, with square stones, of 
about nine inches diameter. 

" I picked these up with the nicest care, and again came to a 
bed of sand, which, when removed, made the vault about three 
feet deep, presenting another bottom or surface, composed of small 
square cut stones, fitted with such art, that I had much difficulty 
in discovering many of the places where they met. These dis- 
placed, I came to a substance, which, on the most critical examin- 
ation, I judged to be a mat, or mats, in a state of entire decomposi- 
tion and decay. My reverence and care increased with the pro- 
gress already made ; I took up this impalpable powder with my 
hands, and fanned off the remaining dust with my hat, when there 
appeared a beautiful tesselated pavement of small, colored stones; 
the colors and stones arranged in such a manner as to express har- 
mony and shades, and portraying, at full length, the figure of a war- 
rior under whose feet a snake was exhibted in ample folds. 

" The body of the figures was composed of dyed woods, bones, 
and a variety of small bits of terrous and testaceous substances, 
most of which crumbled into dust on being removed and exposed 
to the open air. 

" My regret and disappointment were very great, as I had flat- 
tered myself that the whole was stone, and capable of being taken 
up and preserved. Little more, however, than the actual pave- 
ment could be preserved, which was composed of flat stones, one 
inch deep, and two inches square. The prevailing colors were 
white, green, dark blue, and pale spotted red ; all of which are pe- 
culiar to the lakes, and not to be had nearer than about three hun- 
dred miles. 

" The whole was affixed in a thin layer of sand, fitted together 
with great precision, and covered a piece of bark in great decay, 
whose removal exposed what I was fully prepared to discover 
from all previous indications, the remains of a human skeleton, 
which was of an uncommon magnitude, being seven feet in length. 
With the skeleton was found, first, an earthen vessel, or urn, in 
which were several bones, and some white sediment. 

" The urn appeared to be made of sand and flint vitrified, and 
rung, when struck, like glass, and held about two gallons, had a 

12 



90 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

top or cover of the same material, and resisted fire as completely as 
iron or brass. Second ; a stone axe, with a groove round the pole, 
by which it had been fastened with a withe to the handle. Third ; 
twenty-four arrow points, made of flint and bone, and lying in a 
position which showed they had belonged to a quiver. Fourth ; a 
quantity of beads, but not of glass, round, oval, and" square ; color- 
ed green, black, white, blue and yellow. Fifth ; a very large 
conch shell, decomposed into a substance like chalk ; this shell 
was fourteen inches long, and twenty-three in circumference. The 
Hindoo priests, at the present time, use this shell as sacred. It is 
blown to announce the celebration of religious festivals. Sixth ; 
under a heap of dust and tenuous shreds of feathered cloth and 
hair, a parcel of brass rings, cut out of a solid piece of metal, and 
in such a manner, that the rings were suspended from each other, 
without the aid of solder or any other visible agency whatever. 
Each ring was three inches in diameter, and the bar of the rings 
an half inch thick, and were square ; a variety of characters were 
deeply engraved on the sides of the rings, resembling the Chinese 
characters." 

Ward's History of the Hindoos, page 41 apd 56, informs us, that 
the god Vishnoo, is represented holding a sea shell in his hand, 
called the " sacred shell ;" and, second, he states, that " the uten- 
sils employed in the ceremonies of the temple, are several dishes 
to hold the offeriugs, a hand bell, a lamp, jugs for holding water, 
an incense dish, a copper cup, a seat of Kooshu grass for the 
priests, a large metal plate, used as a bell. Several of the articles 
found buried in this manner, resemble these utensils of the Brahmin 
priests, while some are exactly like them. The mat of Kooshu 
grass resembles the mat of hair and feath(?rs; the eartheR dish, the 
conch shell, are the very same in kind ; the brass chain might an- 
swer instead of a bell, or iron plate to strike against, which would 
produce a jingling sound. A quantity of round, oval, and square 
beads, colored variously, were found ; although Mr. Ward does not 
say, that beads were a part of the utensils of the Hindoo priests, 
yet we find them on the necks and arras of both their gods and 
their mendicants. 

Pottery of the same kind found in those ancient works, have 
also the quality of eduring the fije. The art of taking vessels of 
clay, is very ancient ; we find it spoken of by Jeremiah the pro- 
phet, nearly three thousand years ago- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 91 

The art of coloring wood, stones, and shells, with a variety of 
beautiful tints, was also known, as appears from the pavement 
above described, and the colored beads. 

lu many parts of the west, paints of various colors have been 
found hidden in the earth. On the Chenango river, in the state 
of New- York, has recently been found, on opening of one of those 
ancient mounds, though of but small dimensions, three kinds of 
paint, black, red, and yellow, which are now in the possession of 
a Dr. Willard, at the village of Greene, in the county of Chenango 
The Indians of both China and America, have, from time imme- 
morial, used paints to adorn themselves and their gods. 

But the brass rings and tesselated pavement are altogether th» 
most to be wondered at. A knowledge of the method of manufac- 
turing brass was known to the antediluvians. This we learn from 
Genesis iv. 22. Tubal Cain was an artificer in brass and iron about 
eleven hundred years before the flood. 

But how this article, the brass chain, of such curious construc- 
tion, came in the possession of the chief, interred on the summit 
of the mountain, is a question to be answered, it would seem, in 
but two ways. They either had a knowledge of the art of making 
brass, or the article was an item of that king's peculiar treasure, 
and had been derived either from his ancestors from the earliest 
ages, or from South America, as an article of trade, a gift from 
some fellow king, ot\ trophy of some victorious battle over some 
southern nation ; for, according to Humboldt, brass was found 
among the native Mexicans, in great abundance. 

But how the Mexicans came by this art in mineralogy, is equally 
a question. Gold, silver, copper, &c., are the natural product of 
their respective ores ; and accident may have made them acquaint- 
ed with these ; as iron was discevered among the Greeks, by fire 
in the woods having melted the ore. But brass is farther removed 
from the knowledge of man, being a composition of copper and 
the calamine stone, or ore of zinc. However, it is said by Morse, 
that in Chili, in the hills of Huilquilemu, are found mines of 
native brass, of a fine yellow color, and equally malleable with the 
best artificial brass ; yet this is ho common product of mineralogy, 
and would seem to be an exception, or rather a product extraor- 
dinary ; and, in a measure, induces a belief, that it is not proper 
brass, but a metal similar only in complexion, while perhaps its 



92 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

chemical proprieties are entirely different, or it may have been 
produced by the fusion of copper and the ore of zinc, by the fire 
of some volcano. 

Brass was the metal out of which the ancient nations made all 
their instruments of war, and defensive armor. The reason of 
this preference above copper and iron, even by the Greeks and 
Romans, was probably on account of the excessive bright polish it 
was capable of receiving ; for the Greeks and Romans used it long 
after their knowledge of iron. Iron was discovered by the Greeks 
1406 years before Christ. The ancient Americans must have de- 
rived a knowledge of brass from their early acquaintance with na- 
tions immediately succeeding the flood, who had it from the antedi- 
luvians, by way of Noah ; and having found their way to this con- 
tinent, before it became so isolated as it is at the present time, 
surrounded on all sides by oceans, made use of the same metal 
here. 

But the lesselated or spotted pavement is equally curious with 
the brass chain, on account of its resemblance to the Mosaic pave- 
ments of the Romans ; being small pieces of marble, of various 
colors, with which they ornamented the fronts of their tents in time 
of war. This sort of pavement is often dug up in England, and is 
of Roman origin. 

We find the history of the ancient Britons, mentions the cur- 
rency of iro7i rings, as money, which was in use among them,, be- 
fore the invasion of Julius Caesar. Is it not possible, that the brass 
chain, or an assemblage of those rings, as found in this mound, 
may have been held among those ancients of America in the same 
estimation ? The chain, in their mode of reckoning, being per- 
haps of an immense amount ; its being found deposited with its 
owner, who was a chief or king, is the evidence of its peculiar 
value, whether it had been used as an article in trade, or as a 
sacred implement. 

This maculated pavement, arranged in such a manner as to re- 
present in full size, the chief, king, or monarch, who was interred 
beneath it, shows the knowledge, that people had of painting, 
sculpture, and descriptive delineation : but most of all, the serpent 
which lay coiled at his feet is surprising, because we suppose this 
transaction could not have happened from mere caprice, or the sport 
of imagination. 



AND DISCOVKKIKS IN THE WEAT. 93 

It must have been a trait of their theology, and, possibly, an 
allusion to the serpent, by whose instrumentality Satan deceived 
the first woman, the mother of us all : and its bein^ beneath his 
feet, may also have alluded to the promised seed, who was to 
bruise the serpent^s head ; all of which may easily have been de- 
rived from the family of Noah, and carried along with the millions 
of mankind, as they diverged asunder from Mount Ararat, around 
the earth. The Mexicans ere found to have a clear notion of this 
thing, and of many other traits of the early history of man, as re- 
lated in the Hebrew records and the Scriptures, preserved in their 
traditions and paintings, as we shall show in another place. 

The etching on the square sides of those rings of brass, in cha- 
racters resembling Chinese, shows the manufacturer, and the nation 
of which he was a member, to have had a knowledge of engraving, 
even on the metals, equal with artists of the present time, of which 
the common Indian of the west knows nothing. 

The stone hatchet, flint, and bone arrow-points, found in this 
tomb, are no exclusive evidence that this was all done by the mo- 
dern Indians ; because the same are found in vast profusion in all 
parts of the old world, particularly in the island of England, and 
have been in use from remotest antiquity. 

We are very far from believing the Indians of the present time 
to be the most ancient aborigines of America; but, on the con- 
trary, are usurpers ; have, by force of bloody warfare, exterminated 
the original inhabitants, taking possession of their country, proper- 
ty, and, in some few instances, retaining arts learned of those very 
nations. 

The immense sea shell, which was fourteen inches long and 
twenty-three inches in circumference, found in this tomb, is evi- 
dence of this people's having an acquaintance with other parts of 
the world than merely their own dwellings, because the shell is a 
marine production, and the nearest place where this element is 
found from the Muskingum, is nearly a thousand miles in a straight 
line east, to the Atlantic 

If the engravings on this chain be, in fact, Chinese, or if they 
bear a strong and significant analogy to them, it justifies the opin- 
ion that a communication between America and Asia, by means of 
land or navigation to the west, once existed, but has been destroyed 
by some convulsion in nature. And also the characters on those 



94 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

rings show the ancient Americans to have had a knowledge of let' 
ters. A knowledge of letters, hieroglyphics, pictures of ideas, and 
of facts, was known among men 200 years before the time of Moses, 
or 1822 years before the Christian era, among the Egyptians. Na- 
tions of men, therefore, having, at an early period, found their way 
to this continent, if indeed it was then a separate continent ; conse- 
quently, to find the remains of such an art, scattered here and there 
in the dust and ashes of the nationS of America passed away, is not 
surprising. 

The mound which we have described, was apprehended, by 
Mr. Ash, to be only an advanced guard post, or a place of look- 
out, in the direction of the Muskingum and the valley of the 
Ohio. Accordingly, he wandered farther into the woods in a north- 
westerly direction, leaving on his right the Muskingum, whose 
course was northeast by southwest. His research in that direction 
had not long been continued before he discovered strong indications 
of the truth of his conjecture. He had come to a small valley be- 
tween two mountains, through which a small creek meandered its 
way to the Muskingum. 

On either side of the stream were evident traits of a very large 
settlement of antiquity. They consisted, first, of a wall or rampart 
of earth, of almost nine feet perpendicular elevation, and thirty feet 
across the base. The rampart was of a semi-circular form, its en- 
tire circuit being three hundred paces, or something over eighteen 
rods, bounded by the creek. On the opposite side of the stream 
was another rampart of the same description, evidently answering 
to the first ; these, viewed together, made one grand circle, of more 
than forty rods circumference, with the creek running between. 

After a minute examination, he perceived, very visibly, the re»^ 
mains of elevated stone abutments, which being exactly opposite 
each other, suggested the belief that these bridges once connected 
the two semicircles ; one in the centre, and one on either side, or 
the extreme edges of the ring. The timber growing on the ram- 
part and within the circle, was principally red oak, of great age 
and magnitude. Some of the trees, being in a state of decay, were 
not less than seven feet in diameter, and twenty-one in circum- 
ference. 

Some considerable farther up the brook, at the spot where the 
beautiful vale commences, where the mountain rises abruptly and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 95 

discharges from its cleft bosom a delightful creek, are a great num- 
ber of mounds of earth, standing at equal distances from each other, 
forming three grand circles, one beyond the other, cut in two by 
the creek, as the one described before, with streets situated be- 
tween, forming, as do the mounds, complete circles. Here, a» at 
the other, (he two half circles were united, as would appear, by 
two bridges, the abutments of which are distinct, so perfect are 
their remains. 

At a considerable distance, on the sides of the mountain, are 
two mounds or barrows, which are nearly three feet long, twelve 
high, and seventeen wide at the base. These barrows are com- 
posed, principally, of stone, taken out of the creek, on which are 
growing, also, very heavy timber. Here were deposited the dead, 
who had been the inhabitants of the town in the vale. From 
which it appears that the mounds forming those circles, which were 
»ixty in number, are not tumuli, or the places where chiefs and dis- 
tinguished warriors were entombed, but were the houses, the actual 
dwellings of the people who built them. However, the distin- 
guished dead were interred in tumuli of the same form frequently., 
but much more magnificent and lofty, and are fewer in number, 
situated on the highest grounds adjacent to their towns. 

But it may be inquired, how could those mounds of earth have 
ever been the dwellings of families ? There is but one way to ex- 
plain it. They may have, at the time of their construction, re- 
ceived theit peculiar form, which is a conical, sugar-loaf form, by 
the erection of long poles or logs, set up in a circle at the bottom, 
and brought together at the top, with an opening, so that the smoke 
might pass out. Against this the earth (being brought from a dis- 
tance, so as not to disturb the even surface of the spot chosen to 
build on,) was thrown, till the top and sides were entirely enve- 
loped. This operation would naturally cause the bottom, or base, 
to be of great thickness, caused by the natural sliding down of the 
earth, as it was thrown on or against the timbers ; and this thick- 
ness would be in exact proportion with the height of the poles, at 
the ratio of an angle of forty-five degrees. 

In this way, a dwelling of the most secure description would be 
the result ; such as could not be easily broken through, nor set on 
fire; and in winter would be warm, and in summer cool- It is 
true, such rooms would be rather gloomy, compared with the mag- 



96 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



nificent and well-lighted houses of the present times, yet accorded 
well with the dark usages of antiquity, when mankind lived in 
clans and tribes, but few in number compared with the present 
populousness of the earth, and stood in fear of invasion from their 
neighbors. 

Such houses as these, built in circles of wood at first, and lastly 
of stone, as the knowledge of architecture came on, were used by 
the ancient inhabitants of Britain, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, 
and on the continent, as in Norway. No mode of building which 
can be conceived of, would more effectually shut out the wind. 
" Houses of this form, made with upright stones, are even now 
common over all the Danish dominions." — {See Morse's Geography, 
vol. l,p. 158.) 

In the communication of Mr. Moses Fiske, of HiUham, Tennes- 
see, to the American Antiquarian Society, 1815, respecting the re- 
mains and discoveries made relative to antiquities in the west, but 
especially in Tennessee, says, that the description of mounds, 
whether round, square or oblong in their shapes, which have flat 
tops, were the most magnificent sort, and seem contrived for the 
purpose of building temples and castles on their summits ; which 
being thus elevated, were very imposing, and might be seen at a 
great distance. 

" Nor must we," he continues, " mistake the ramparts or fortifi- 
cations, for farming inclosures; what people, savage or civilized, 
ever fenced their grrcunds so preposterously ; bearing no propor- 
tion in quantity necessary for tillage ;" from which the support of a 
whole country was expected ; and further, there were many neigh- 
borhoods which had no such accommodations. 

He has also discovered, that within the areas encompassed by 
these ramparts, are whole ranges of foundations, on which dioelling 
houses once stood, with streets running between, besides mounds 
and other works. 

" The houses generally stood in rows, nearly contiguous to each 
other," as in all compact towns and cities, though sometimes they 
stood in an irregular and scattered manner. These foundations 
" are indicated by rings of the earth, from three to five fathoms in 
diameter," which is equal to eighteen and thirty feet. The re- 
mains of these rings or foundations are from ten to twenty inches 
high, and a yard or more broad. But they were not always circu- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE«T. 97 

lar ; some of which he had noticed were square, and others, also, 
of the oblong form, as houses are now built by civilized nations 

" The flooring of some is elevated above the common level or 
surface ; that of others is depressed- These tokens are indubita- 
ble, and overspread the country ; some scattered and solitary, but 
oftener in groups, like villages, with and without being walled in." 
From which it is clear, that whoever they were, the pursuits of 
agriculture were indispensable > and were therefore in use with 
those nations 

From the forms of the foundations of dwellings discovered and 
described by Mr. Fiske, we conclude they were the efforts of man 
at a very early period. We are directed to this conclusion by the 
writings of Vetruvius, who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, and 
is the most ancient writer on the subject of architecture that anti- 
quity can boast of. His account is as follows . 

"At first, for the walls, men erected forked stakes, and disposing 
twigs between them, covered them with loam : others pulled up 
clods of hay, binding them with wood, and to avoid rain and heat, 
they made a covering with reeds and boughs ; but finding that this 
roof could not resist the winter rains they made it sloping, pointed 
at the top, plastering it over with clay, and by that means dis- 
charging the rain water To this day, (says Vetruvius,) some fo- 
reign nations construct their dwellings of the same kind of materi- 
als, as in Gaul, Spain, Lusitania, and Aquitain. The Colchins, in 
the kingdom of Portugal, where they abound in forests, fix trees 
in the earth, close together in ranks, to the right and left, leaving 
as much space between them, from corner to corner, as the length 
of the trees will permit ; upon the ends of these, at the comers, 
others are laid transversely, which circumclude the place of habita- 
tion in the middle ; then at the top, the four angles are braced to- 
gether with alternate beams The crevices, which are large, on 
account of the coarseness of the materials, are stopped with chips 
and loam The roof is also raised by beams laid across from the 
extreme angles, or corners, gitidually rising frona the four sides to 
the middle point at the top, (exactly like a German barrack,) and 
then covered with boughs and earth. In this manner the barbari- 
ans, (says this author,) made their roofs to their towers.'* By the 
barbarians he means the inhabitants of Europe, at the time when 

13 



SB AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

he wrote these remarks, which was in the reiga of Julius Csesaf 
h. short time before Christ- 

" The Phrygians, who inhabit a champaign country, being des- 
titute of timber, select natural hills, excavate them, dig an entrance, 
and widen the space within as much as the nature of the place 
will permit. Above, they fix stakes in a pyramidal form, bind 
them together, and cover them with reeds or straw, heaping thereon 
great piles of earth. This kind of covering renders them very 
warm in winter and cool in summer. Some also cover the roofs 
of their huts with weeds of lakes ; and thus, in all countries and 
nations, primeval dwellings are formed upon similar principles." — 
(Blake's Atlas, p. 145.) 

The circular, square, and oblong form of foundations, found in 
the west, would seem to argue the houses built thereon to be made 
in the same way this author has described the mode of building in 
his time, among the barbarous nations ; and also furnishes reason to 
believe them to have been made here in America, much in the 
same ages of the world < 

Having this knowledge of the mode of ancient building, we are 
led to the conclusion, that the town which we have just given an 
account of, was a clan of some of the ancient Celtic nations, who, 
by some means, had found their way to this part of the earth, and 
had fixed their abode in this secluded valley. 

Celtic or Irish, as JMr. Morse says, who were derived from Gaul 
or Galatia, which is now France, who descended from Gomer, one 
of the sons of Japheth, a son of Noah ; to whose descendants Eu- 
rope, with its isles, was given. And whether the people who 
built this town were of Chinese or Celtic origin, it is much the 
same; because, if we go far enough back in ages of past time, 
we shall find they were of the same origin, and had equal oppor- 
tunities to perpetuate a remembrance of the arts, as known among 
men immediately after the floodj and might therefore resemble each 
other in their works. 

Here, we may suppose, the gods Odin, Tbor, and Fiiga, were 
Jidored under the oak« composing American forests, as taught by 
the Druids ; here their victims, the deer and buffalo, sent up to the 
skies their smoking odor from the altar of sacrifice, while the priests 
of the forest invoked the blessing of the beneficent Being upon the 
votaries of the mvstic mistletoe. Here were the means of mutual 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 99 

defence and safety discussed ; the sighs of the lover breathed on 
the winds ; parents and children looked with kindness on each 
other; soothed and bound the wounds ef such as returned from the 
uncertain fate of clanular battles; but have been swept with the 
besora of extermination from this vale, while no tongue remains to 
tell the story of their sufferings. 

At the distance of about three miles higher up, and not far from 
the Muskingum, says Mr. Ash, he perceived an eminence very 
similar to the one just described, in which the brass chain was 
found, to which he hastened, and immediately perceived their like- 
ness in form. 

On a comparison of the two, there could be but one opinion, 
namely, that botlv were places of lookout, for the express protection 
of the settlement in the valley. He says he took the pains of clear- 
ing the top of the eminence, but could not discover any stone or 
mark which might lead to a supposition of its being a place of in- 
terment. The country above was hilly, yet not so high as to inter- 
cept the view for a presumed distance of twenty miles. 

On these eminences the beacon fires of the clan who resided in 
the valley may have been kindled at the hour of midnight, to show 
those who watched the portentous flame, the advance or destruc- 
tion of an enemy. Such fires, on the heights of Scotland, were 
wont to be kindled in the days of Bruce and Wallace, and ages 
before their time, originated from the Persians, possibly, who wor- 
shipped in this way the great Oramaze, as the god who made all 
things. The idea of a Creator was borrowed from Noah, who re- 
ceived the account of the creation from Seth, who had it from 
Adam, and Adam from the Almighty himself. 

From this excursion, our traveller, after having returned to Ma^. 
rietta, pursued his way to Zanesville, on the Muskingum river, 
where, learning from the inhabitants that the neighborhood was 
surrounded with the' remains of antiquity, he proceeded to the exa- 
mination of them, having obtained a number of persons to accom- 
pany him with the proper implements of excavation. They pene- 
trated the woods in a westerly direction, to a place known to those 
who accompanie<l him, about five miles distance, where the ruins 
of ancient times were numerous and magnificent in the highest 
degree ; consisting of mounds, barrows and ramparts, but of such 
variety and form, and covering so immense a track of gronnd, that 



100 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

It would have taken at least ten days to have surveyed them mi- 
nutely. 

These immense works of the ancients, it appears, were, in this 
place, encompassed by outlines of an entirely different shape from 
any other described, being of the triangular form, and occupying 
the whole plain, situated as the one before described, in a place 
nearly suirounded by mountains 

But we pass over many incidents of this traveller, and come im- 
mediately to the object of his research, which was to open such of 
those mounds as might attract his attention. His first operation 
was to penetrate the interior of a large barrow, situated at one ex- 
tremity of the vale, which was its southern- Three feet below the 
surface was fine mould, underneath which were small flat stones, 
lying in regular strata or gravel, brought from the mountain in the 
vicinity. This last covered the remains of a human frame, which 
fell into impalpable powder when touched and exposed to air. 

Towards the base of the barrow, he came to three tiers of sub- 
stances, placed regularly in rotation And as these formed two 
rows four deep, separated by little more than a flag stone between 
the feet of one and the head of another, it was supposed the bar- 
row contained about 2000 skeletons, in a very great state of decay, 
which shows their extreme antiquity 

In this search was found a well carved stone pipe, expressing a 
beards head, together with some fragments of pottery, of fine tex- 
ture. Near the centre of the whole works, another opening was 
effected, in a rise of ground, scarcely higher than a natural undula- 
tion, common to the general surface of the earth, even on ground 
esteemed to be level. But there was one singularity accompany- 
ing the spot, which attracted the attention of the company, and this 
was, there was neither shrub nor tree on the spot, although more 
than ninety feet in circumference, but was adorned with a multi- 
tude o( pink and purple flowers. 

They came to an opinion that the rise of ground was artificial, 
and as it differed in form and character from the common mounds, 
they resolved to lay it open, which was soon done, to a level with 
the plain, but without the discovery of any thing whatever. But 
as Ash had become vexed, having found nothing to answer his ex- 
pectations in other openings on the spot, he jumped from the bank» 
in order to take a spade, and encourage the men to dig somewhat 



AND DISCOVERIES* IN THE WEST 101 

deeper At this instant the ground gave way, and involved the 
whole company in earth and ruin, as was supposed for the moment, 
but was soon followed by much mirth and !a ughter, as lio person 
was hurt by the fall, which was but about three feet 

Ash had great difficulty to prevail on any per.".ou to resume the 
labor, and had to explore the place himself, and sound it with a 
pole- before any man would venture to aid him further, on account 
of their fright 

But they soon resumed their courage, and on examination found 
that a parcel of timbers had given way, which covered the orifice 
of a square hole seven feet by four, and four feet deep. That it 
was a sepulchre, was unanimously agreed, till they found it in vain 
to look for bones, or any substances similar to them, in a state of 
decompositioUv They soon, however, struck en object which 
would neither yield to the spade, nor emit any sound ; but perse- 
vering still further, they found the obstruction which was uniform 
through the pit, to proceed from rows of large spherical bodies, at 
first taken to be stones. 

Several of them were cast up to the suface ; they were exactly 
alike, perfectly round, nine inches in diameter, and of about twenty 
pounds weight. The superfices of one, when cleaned and scraped 
with knives, appeared like a ball of base metal, so strongly im- 
pregnated with the dust of gold, that the baseness of the metal it- 
self was nearly altogether obscured On thi* discovery, the cla- 
mour was so gteat, and joy so exuberant, that no opinion but one 
was admitted, and no voice could be heard, while the cry of " 'tis 
gold ! 'tis gold!" resounded through the groves 

Having to a man determined on this important point, they formed 
a council respecting the distribution of the treasure, and each indi- 
vidual, in the joy of his heart, declared publicly the use he intend- 
ed to make of the part alloted to his share. 

The EngUshman concluded that he would return to England, 
being sure, from experience, that there was no country like it. A 
Gerrhan of the party said, he would never have quitted the Rhine, 
had he had money enough to rebuild his barn, which was blown 
down by a high wind ; but that he would return to the very spot 
from whence he came, and prove to his neighbors that he loved his 
country as well as any man, when he had the means of doing well 
An Irishman swore a great oath, the day longer he'd stay in Ameri- 



102 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ca; and the Indian who accompanied Ash, appeared to think, that 
were he t# purchase some beads, rum and blankets, and re- 
turn to his own nation, he might become Sachem, and keep the 
finest squaws to be found. 

Even Ash himself saw in the treasure the sure and ample means 
of continuing his travels in such parts of the earth as he had not 
yet visited. The company returned to Zanesville with but one" 
ball of their riches, while they carefully hid the residue, till they 
should subject it to the ordeal of fire. 

They soon procured a private room, where, while it was receiv- 
ing the trial of fire, they stood around in silence almost dreading 
to breathe. The dreadful element, which was to confirm or con- 
sume their hopes, soon began to exercise its various powers. In a 
few moments the ball turned black, filled the room with sulphurous 
smoke, emitted sparks and intermittent flames, and burst into ten 
thousand pieces ; so great was the terror and suffocation, that all 
rushed inio the street, and gazed on. each other, with a mixed ex- 
pression of doubt and astonishment. 

The smoke subsided, when they were able to discover the ele- 
ments of the supposed gold, which consisted of some very fine 
ashes, and a great quantity of cinders, exceedingly porous; the 
balls were nothing but a sort of metal called spririte or pyrites, 
composed of sulphur and iron, and abounds in the mountains of 
that region. 

The triangular form of this enclostlre, being different from the 
general form of those ancient works, is perhaps worthy of notice^ 
merely on the account of its form ; and might be supposed to be of 
Chinese origin, as it is well known that the triangular shape is a 
favorite one of the nations of Hindostan ; it is even in the Hindoo 
theology, significant of the Trinity, of their great Brahma, or god ; 
and on this account, might even characterise the form of national 
works such as we have just described, under the notion, that the 
divine protection would the more readily be secured. " One of 
the missionaries at Pekin," says Adam Clarke, " takes it for grant- 
ed, that the mystery of the Trinity was known among the ancient 
Chinese, as that this A character was its symbol. It is remarkable 
that Moses and the prophets, the ancient, Chaldee Targumists, the 
authors of the Zend Avesta, a Chinese book, Plato, a celebrated 
philosopher of antiquity, who died at Athens, 348 B. C, and also 



AND DI8C0VERIKS IN THE WEST. 103 

the first philosopher of Greece, and Philo the Jew, should all co- 
incide so perfectly in their ideas of a Trinity in the Godhead. 
This could not be the effect of accident. Moses and the prophets 
received this from God himself; and all others have borrowed from 
this first origin." 

For what use the balls of which we have given an account were 
designed, is impossible to conjecture, whether to be thrown by 
means of engines, as practised by the Romans, as an instrument 
of warfare, or a sort of medium in trade, or were used as instru- 
ments, in athletic games, either to roll or heave, who can tell .-* 

But one thing respecting them is not uncertain, they must have 
been of great value, or so much labor and care would not have 
been expended to secure them. Colonel Ludlow, of Cincinnati, a 
man, it is said, who was well versed in the history of his country, 
though now deceased, was indefatigable in his researches, after the 
antiquities of America, discovered several hundreds of those balls 
of pyrites, weighing generally about twenty pounds each, near an 
old Indian settlement, on the banks of the Little Miami, of the 
Ohio, and also another heap in an artificial cave, on the banks of 
the Scipta, consisting of copper .pyrites, or quartz. 

In that division of South America, called Patagonia, which ex- 
tends nearly to the extreme southern point of that country, is found 
a people, denominated Patagonians, who are of a monstrous size 
and height, measuring from six to seven feet, many af them ap- 
proaching to eight. Among this people is found an instrument of 
w^ar, made of heavy stones, wore round by friction ; so that in ap- 
pearance, they are like a cannon ball. These they contrive to 
fasten in a sling, from which they throw them with great dexterity 
and force. — Morse'^s Geography. 

This kind of ball was used, though of a smaller size, to capture 
and kill animals with. The manner of using them is as follows : 
They take three of those balls, two of them three inches, and one 
of them two inches in diameter. The hunter takes the small ball 
in his right hand, and swings the other two, (which are connected 
by a thong of a proper length, fastening also to the one in his hand) 
round his head, till a sufficient velocity is acquired, at the same 
time taking aim, when it is thrown at the legs of the animal he i« 
pursuing, in such a manner as to entangle its feet by the rotary mo- 
tion of the balls : so that its capture is easy. 



104 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Conjecture might go on to establish it as a fact, that these balls 
of pyrites, found in many parts of the west, were indeed a warlike 
instrument, thrown by a sling, out of which, a force almost equiva- 
lent to that of powder, might be acquired ; and from the top of 
mounds, or from the sides of their elevated forts, such a mode of 
defence would be very terrible. 

This mode of fighting was known to the Hebrews- David slew 
Goliath with a stone from a sling. Seven hundred chosen men out 
of Gibea, could sling a stone at an hair's breadth. Job speaks of 
this manner of annoying wild beasts, where he is recounting the 
strength of Leviathan ; " Slinged stones are turned with him into 
stubble." 

Dr. Adam Clarke's observation on the vse and force of the sling, 
are very interesting, and pertinent to the subject. They are found 
in his Commentary, 1st Samuel, chap, xvii- verse 40, " The sling, 
both among the Greeks and Hebrews, has been a most powerful, 
offensive weapon. It is composed of two strings and a leather 
strap ;" (or as among the Patagonians, of raw-hide, > " the strap is 
in the middle, and is the place where the stone or bullet lies. 
The string on the right end of the strap is firmly fastened to the 
hand ; that on the left, is held between the thumb and middle joint 
of the fore finger. It is then whirled two or three times round 
the head ; and when discharged, the finger and thumb let go their 
hold of the string. The velocity and force of the sling is in pro- 
portion to the distance of the strap to where the bullet lies, from 
the shoulder joint. Hence, the ancient Balleares, or inhabitants 
of Majorca and Minorca, islands in the Mediterranean sea, near 
the coast of Spain, are said to ha,ve had three slings of different 
lengths ; the longest they used when the enemy was at the 
greatest distance ; the middle one on their nearer approach, and 
the shortest, when they came into the ordinary fighting distance in 
the field. The shortest is the most certain, though not the most 
powerful. 

" The Balleareans are said to have one of their slings constantly 
bound about their head ; to have used the second as a girdle ; and 
to have carried the third always in their hand. 

" In the use of the sling, it requires much practice to hit the 
mark ; but when once this dexterity is acquired, the sling is nearly 
as fatal as the ball thrown by the explosion of powder- 



AND UI8COVERIE8 IN THE WEflT. 105 

" David was evidently an expert marksman ; and his sling gave 
him greatly the advantage over Goliah ; an advantage of which 
the giant does not seem to have heen aware. He could hit him 
within any speaking distance ; if he missed once, he had as many 
chances as he had stones ; and after all, being unincumbered with 
armor, young and athletic, he could have saved his life by flight- 
But David saved himself the trouble of running away, or the giant 
from throwing his spear or javelia ^t him, by giving him the first 
blow. 

. " Goliah was terribly armed, having a spear, a shield, and a 
sword ; besides, he was every where invulnerable, on account of 
his helmet of brass, his coat of mail, which was made also of brass, 
in little pieces, perhaps about the size of a half dollar, and lapped 
over each other, like the scales of fishes, so that no sword, spear, 
nor arrow could hurt him." 

This coat of mail, when polished and bright, must have been 
very glorious to look upon, especially when the sun, in his bright- 
ness, bent his beams to aid the giant warrior's fulgent habiliments 
to illumine the field of battle, as the wearer strode, here and there, 
among the trophies of death. 

The only spot left, where he could be hit to advantage, was his 
broad giant forehead into which the stone of David sunk, from its 
dreadful impetus received from the simple sling. To some, this 
has appeared perfectly improbable ; but we are assured by ancient 
writers, that scarcely any thing could resist the force of the sling. 

Diodorus Siculus, an historian who flourished in the time of 
Julius CiEsar, a short time before Christ, and was born in the island 
of Sicily, in the Mediterranean, says, " the people of the islands 
of Minorca and Majorca, in time of war, could sling greater stones 
than any other people, and with such force, that they seemed as 
if projected from a capult,^^ an engine used by the ancients for this 
purpose. 

Therefore, in assaults made on fortified towns, they grieviously 
wound the besieged, and in battle, they break in pieces the shields, 
helmets, and every species of armor, by which the body is de- 
fended. It would seem, from the expertness of the Patagonians, 
evinced in the use of the sling, that they may have been derived 
from the ancient inhabitants of those islands, who could as easily 
hare found their way out of the Mediterranean by the strait of 

14 



106 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Gibraltar iuto the Atlantic ocean, and be driven across to South 
America, by the winds from the east, or by the current of the sea^ 
as the Egyptians, as we have before shown. 

The sling was a very ancient warlike instrument ; and in the 
hands of those who were skilled in the use of it, it produced as- 
tonishing effects. The people of the above named islands were the 
most celebrated slingers of antiquity. They did not permit their 
children to eat till they had struck down their food from the top of 
a pole, or some distant eminence. 

Concerning the velocity of the leaden ball thrown out of the 
sling, it is said by the ancients, to have melted in its course. Ovid, 
the Roman poet, has celebrated its speed, in the following beautiful 
verse : 

" Hermes was fired, as in the clouds he hung ; 
So the cold bullet that with fury s]u))g 
From Balearic engines, mounts on' high. 
Glows in the whirl, and burns along the sky." 

A- 

This is no poetic fiction. Seneca, the stoic philospher of Rome^ 
born A. D. 12, says the same thing ; " the ball projected from the 
sling, melts, and is liquified by the friction of the air, as if it were 
exposed to the action of fire," 

Vegetius, who lived in the 14th century, and was also a Roman, 
tells us, that " slingers could, in general, hit the mark at six hun- 
dred f^et distance," vt'hich is more than thirty rods. From this 
view we see what havoc the western nations, using the sling or 
ertgine, to throw stones from their vast forts and mounds with, must 
have made, when engaged in defensive or offensive war. 



Discovery of the Remains of Ancient Pottery. 

On the subject of pottery we remark, that the remains of thi» 
art are generally found, especially of any extent, in the neighbor- 
hood of salt springs. It is true, that specimens of earthen ware 
are frequently taken out of the ancient barrows of the dead, and 
also are frequently brought to sight on the shores of rivers, where 
the earth has been suddenly removed by inundations. 



AND DISCOVERIE* IX THE WE3T. 107 

A few years since, jin instance of this sort occurred at Tawanda 
in Pennsylvania. The Susquehannah had risen very high, at the 
time we are speaking of, and luid undermined the bank on the 
Tawanda shore, to a considerable extent, at the high water mark. 
On the receding of the waters, the bank was found to be carried , 
away for the distan'je of about six rods, when there appeared sev- 
eral fire places, raade of the stones of the river, with vessels of 
earthen, of a capacity about equal with a common water pail, in a 
very good state of preservation. 

Between those fire places, which were six in number, were 
found the skeletons of several human beings, lying in an undis- 
turbed position, as if they, when living, had fallen asleep, and ne- 
ver waked; two of these, in particular, attracted attention, and 
excited not a little surprise; they were lying side by side, with 
the arm of one of them under the neck of the other, and the feet 
were mingled in such a manner as to induce the belief that when 
death came upon them, they were asleep in each other's embraces. 
But in what manner they came to their death, so that they appear- 
ed not to have moved, from the fatal moment till the bank was car- 
ried away, which had covered them for ages, is strange indeed. 

It cannot be supposed they died all at once, of some sickness, or 
that an enemy surprised them while sleeping, and, silently passing 
from couch to couch, inflicted the deadly blow ; because, in any 
of these ways, their bones, in the convulsions of dissolution, must 
have been deranged, so that the image and peaceful posture of sleep- 
ers could not have characterised their positions, as they were found 
to have. It was conjectured, at the time of their discovery, that 
the period of their death had been at the season of the year when 
that river breaks up its ice ; in March or April, the river they sup- 
posed, may have beeu dammed up below them, where, it is true, 
the stream narrows on the account of the approach of the moun- 
tains. Here the ice having jammed in between, caused a sudden 
rise of the river, aad setting back, overflowed them. 

But this cannot be possible, as the noise of the breaking ice 
would never allow them to sleep ; this operation of nature is ac- 
eompanied with a tremendous uproar tearing and rending the shores 
and forests that grow on them, multiplying crash on crash, with 
the noise of thunder. Neither can it be well supposed, the waters 
came over them in the way suggested, even if they had slept dur- 



108 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ing the scene we have just described, because on the first touch of 
the waters to their bodies, they would naturally spring from their 
sleep in surprise. 

Something must have happened that deprived them of life and 
motion in an instant of time. This is not impossible, because at 
Herculaneum and Pompeii, are found, where, in digging, they 
have penetrated through the lava down to those ancient cities, lay- 
ing bare streets, houses and temples, with their contents, such as 
have survived the heat which ruined those cities — skeletons, hold- 
ing between their fingers something they had in their hands at the 
moment of their death, so that they do not appear even to have 
struggled. 

Something of the same nature, as it respects suddenness^ must 
have overtaken these sleepers ; so that their natural positions were 
not disturbed. If the place of their dwellings had been skirted by 
a steep bank or hill, it might then have been supposed that a land 
slip or mine spring^ had buried them alive, but this is not the case- 
They were about four feet under ground, the soil which covered 
them was the same alluvial with the rest of the flat ; it is a myste- 
ry, and cannot be solved, unless we suppose an explosion of earth, 
occasioned by an accumulation of galvanic principles, which, burst- 
ing the earth near them, suddenly buried them alive. 

Dr. Beck, the author of the Gazetteer of Illinois and Missouri, 
suggests the cause of the earthquakes in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, in 1811 and 1812, which, in many places, threw up in an 
instant vast heaps of earth, to iiave been the principle of galvan- 
ism bursting from the depths beneath, in a perpendicular direction, 
overwhelming, in a moment of time, whatever might be asleep or 
fiwake, wherever it fell. 

Further down the Susquebannah, some thirty or forty miles be- 
low Tawanda, at a place called the Black-walnut Bottom, on the 
farm of a Mr. Kinney, was discovered a most extraordidary speci- 
men of pottery. 

Respecting ttiis discovery, the owner of the farm relates, as we are 
informed by a clergyman, who examined the article on the spot, 
though in a broken state, that soon after the first settlements on 
that river, and especially on that farm, a great freshet took plaee 
which tore a channel in a certain direction across the flat, when the 
vessel which we are about to describe, was brought to light. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 109 

It was twelve feet across the top, and of consequence thirty-six 
feet in circumference, and otherwise of proportionable depth and 
form. Its thickness was three inches, and appeared to be made of 
some coarse substance, probably mere clay, such as might be found 
on the spot, as it was not glazed. Whoever its makers were, they 
must have manufactured it on the spot where it was found, as it 
must have been impossible to move so huge a vessel. They may 
have easily effected its construction by building it up by degrees, 
with layers put on in succession, till high enough to suit the enor- 
mous fancy of its projectors, and then by piling wood around, it 
might have been burnt so as to be fit for use, and then propped up 
by stones, to keep it from falling apart. 

But who can tell for what use this vast vessel was intended ? 
Conjecture here is lost ; no ray of ligut dawns upon this strange 
remnant of antiquity. One might be led to suppose it was made 
in imitation of the great laver in the court of Solomon's Temple, 
which was seventeen feet two inches in diameter, and fifty»two 
feet six inches in circumference, and eight feet nine inches deep. — 
(U Chronicles i iv. 2.) 

The discovery of this vast specimen of earthen ware, is, at any 
rate, a singularity, and refers to some age of the world when the 
inhabitants used very large implements of husbandry. If there 
had been in its neighborhood a salt spring, as there are often found 
farther west, we should not be at a loss to know for what purpose 
it was constructed. 

Remarkable specimens of pottery are often brought up from very 
great depths at the salt works in Illinois. Entire pots of a very 
large capacity, holding from eight to ten gallon?, have been disin- 
terred at the amazing depth of eighty feet ; others have been found 
at even greater depths, and of greater dimensions. — Schoolcraft. 

Upon this subject this author makes the following remark : " If 
these antique vessels are now supposed to lie in those depths where 
they were anciently employed, the surface of the Ohio, and conse- 
quently of the Missi.ssippi, must have been sixty o\ eighty feet 
lower than they are at preseT.% to euiible the saline water to drain 
oti'; and the ocean itself must have stood at a lower level, or ex- 
tended in an elongated gulf up the present valley of the Missis- 
sippi." 

Many are of the opinion, that much of this region of country 



!!• AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

once lay beneath large lakes of water, and that the barriers between 
them and the ocean, by some means, are broken down, when a 
rush of water swept the whole country, in its course to the sea, 
burying all the ancient nations, with their works, at those depths 
beneath the surface, as low as where these fragments of earthern 
ware are found. The bottom of those lakes is also supposed to be 
the true origin of the immense prairies of the west ; and the rea- 
son why they are not, long since grown over with forest trees, is 
supposed to be because, from the rich and mucky soil found at the 
bottom of those lakes, a grass of immense length, ten and fourteen 
feet high, peculiar to the prairies, immediately sprung up before 
trees could take root, and therefore hindred this effort of nature. 
And as a reason why forest trees have not been able to gain upon 
the prairies, it is alleged, the Indians annually burn these boundless 
meadows, which ministers to their perpetuity. Some of those 
prairies are hundreds of miles in length and breadth, and in burn- 
ing over, present, in the night, a spectacle too grand, sublime and 
beautiful for adequate description ; belting the horizon with a ruin 
of fire, the farthest end of which seem dipped in the immeasurable 
distance, so that even contemplation, in its boldest efforts, is swal- 
lowed up and rendered powerless. 



•^ Catacomb of Mummies found in Kentucky/. 

Lexington, in Kentucky, stands nearly on the site of an ancient 
town, which was of great extent and magnificence, as is amply 
evinced by the wide range of its circumvallatory works, and the 
quantity of ground it once occupied. 

There is connected with the antiquities of this place, a catacomb, 
formed in the bowels of the limestone rock, about fifteen feet be- 
low the surface of the earth j adjacent to the town of Lexington. 
This grand object, so novel and extraordinary in this country, was 
discovered in 1775, by some of the first settlers, whose curiosity 
was excited by something remarkable in the character of the stones 
which covered the entrance to the cavern within. They removed 
these stones, and came to others of singular appearance for stone» 



▲JTD DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. HI 

in a natural state ; the remoyal of which laid open the mouth of a 
cave, deep, gloomy, and terrific, as they supposed. 

With augmented numbers, and provided with light, they de- 
scended and entered, without obstruction, a spacious apartment i 
the sides and extreme ends were formed into niches and compart- 
ments, and occupied by figures representing men. Wlien alarm 
subsided, and the sentiment of dismay and surprise permitted fur- 
ther research and inquiry, the figures were found to be mumviieSy 
preserved by the art of embalming, to as great a state of perfection 
as was known among the ancient Egyptians, eighteen hundred 
years before the Christian era ; which was about the time that 
the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt, when this art was in its 
highest state of perfection. 

Unfortunately for antiquity, science, and every thing else held 
■•acred by the .illumined and learned, this inestimable discovery 
was made at a period when a bloody and inveterate war was carried 
on between the Indians and the whites : and the power of the na- 
tives was displayed in so savage a manner, that the whites were 
filled with revenge. Animated by this vindictive spirit, the disco- 
verers of the catacomb delighted to wreak their vengeance even on 
the mummies, supposing them to be of the same Indian race with 
whom they were at war. 

They dragged them out to the open air, tore the bandages open, 
kicked the bodies into dust, and made a general bonfire of the most 
ancient remains antiquity could boast. The descent to this cavern 
is gradual, the width four feet, the height seven, and the whole 
length of the catacomb was found to be eighteen rods and a half, 
by six and a half; and calculating from the niches and shelviugson 
the sides, it was sufficiently capacious to have contained at least 
two thousand subjects. 

I could never, says Mr Ash, from whose travels we have taken 
this account, learn the exact quantity it contained ; the answers to 
the inquiries which he made respecting it-were, " 0, they burnt up 
and destroyed hundreds !" Nor could he arrive at any knowledge 
of the fashion, manner, and apparel of the mummies, or receive 
any other information than that they " were well lapped up,'''' ap- 
peared sound, and consumed in the fire with a rapid flame. But 
not being contented with the uncertain informatien of persons, 
^ho, it seems, had no adequate knowledge of the value of this di»- 



112 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

covery, he caused the cavern to be gleaned for such fragments as 
yet remained in the niches, on its shelving sides and from the floor. 
The quantity of remains thus gathered up, amounted to forty or 
fiity baskets, the dust of which was so light and pungent as to af- 
fect the eyes even to tears, and the nose to sneezing, to a trouble- 
some degree. 

He then proceeded on a minute investigation, and separated from 
the general mass several pieces of human limbs, fragments of bo- 
dies, solid, sound, and apparently capable of eternal duration. In 
a cold state they had no smell whatever, but when submitted to 
the action of fire, gave out an agreeable effluvia, but was like no- 
thing in its fragrance to which he could compare it. 

On this subject Mr. Ash has the following reflections: — " How 
these bodies were embalmed, how long preserved, by what nations, 
and from what people descended, no opinion can -be formed, ^or 
any calculation made, but what must result from speculative fancy 
and wild conjecture. For my part, I am lost in the deepest igno- 
rance. My reading affords me no knowledge, my travels no light. 
I have neither read nor known of any of the North American In- 
dians who formed catacombs for their dead, or who were acquainted 
with the art of preservation by embalming. 

The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, who flourished 450 
years before Christ, had three methods of embalming ; but Diodo- 
rus, who lived before Christ, in the time of Julius Caesar, ob- 
serves, that the ancieiit Egyptians had a fourth method of far 
greater superiority. That method is not described by Diodorus ; 
it had become extinct in his time ; and yet I cannot think it pre- 
sumptuous to conceive that the American mummies were preserved 
after thfit, very manner, or at least with a mode of equal virtue and 
effect." 

The Kentuckians asserted, that the features of the face and the 
form of the whole body were so well preserved, that they must 
have been the exact representations of the once living subjects. 

This cavern, indeed, is similar to those found in Egypt, where 
the once polished and powerful inhabitants bestowed their dead, 
wrapped up in the linens, spices, and aromatics of the east. It is 
probable that the cave where these were found was partly natural 
and partly artificial. Having found it suitable to their purpose, 
they had opened a convenient descent, cleared out the stones and 



AND DISCOVERIES LV TUB WESt. US 

rocks, and fitted it with niches for the reception of those they had 
embalmed. 

This custoffij it would seem, is purely Egyptian, and was prac- 
tised in the earliest age of their national existence, which was 
about two thousand years before Christ. Catacombs are numerous 
all over Egypt, vast excavations under ground, vrith niches in 
their sides for their embalmed dead, exactly such as Uie one we 
have described. 

Shall we be esteemed presumptuous, if we hazard the opinion 
that the people who made this cavern and filled it with the thou-* 
sands of their embalmed dead were, indeed, from Egypt? If they 
were not, whither shall we turn for a solutioQ of tkis mystery ? To 
what country shall we travel ? where are the archives of past 
ages, that shall shed its light here ? 

If the Egyptians were indeed, reckoned as the first of nations ; 
for so are they spoken of, even in the Scriptures : if from them ^as 
derived the art of navigation, the knowledge of astronomy, in a 
great degree, also the unparalleled invention of letters^ (from whom 
it is even probable the Phcenecians derived the use of letters,) with 
many other arts, of use to human society ; such as architecture, 
agriculture, with the science of government, &c.; why not alio vr 
the authors of the antiquated works about Lexington, together with 
the immense catacomb, to have been, indeed, a^ Egyptian colony ; 
seeing the art of embalming, which is peculiarly characteristic of 
that people, was found there in a state of perfection not exceeded 
by the mother country itself. 

A trait of national practices so strong and palpable, as is this pe- 
culiar art, should lead the mind, without hesitation, to a belief, that 
wherever the thing is practised, we have found in its authors either 
a colony direct from Egypt, or the descendants of some nation of 
the countries of Africa acquainted with the art. 

But if this be so, the question here arises, how came they in 
America, seeing the nearest point of even South America approach- 
es no nearer to the nearest point of Africa, than about seventeen 
hundred miles? Those points are, first, on the American side, 
Cape St. Roque ; and, second, on the African side. Cape de Verd. 

But such is the mechanism of the globe, and the operation of 
the waters, that from the west coast of Africa there is a constant 
current of the sea setting toward South America ; so that if a vcs- 

15 



114 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

sel were lost, or if an eastern storm had driven it far into the ocean 
or South Atlantic, it would naturally arrive at last on the American 
coast. This is supposed to have been the predicament of the fleet 
of Alexander the Great, some hundred years before the Christian 
era, as we have before related. The cause of this current is 
doubtless, the flow of the waters of the Mediterranean into the 
Atlantic ; the, Mediterranean being fed by a vast number of the 
rivers of Europe. 

The next inquiry to be pursued, is, whether the Egyptians were 
ever a maritime people, or rather, anciently so, sufficient for our 
purpose ? By consulting ancient history, Ave find it mentioned that 
the Egyptians, as early as fourteen hundred and eighty-five years 
before Christ, had shipping, and that one Danus, with his fifty 
daughters, sailed into Greece, and anchored at Rhodes ; which is 
three thousand, three hundred and eighteen years back from the 
present year, 1S33. Eight hundred and eighty-one years after the 
landing of this vessel at Rhodes, we find the Egyptians, under the 
direction of Necho, their king, fitting out some Phoenicians with a 
vessel, or fleet, with orders to sail from the Red sea, quite around 
the continent of Africa, and to return by the Mediterranean, which 
they effected. 

It is easy to pursue the very track they sailed, in order to circum- 
navigate Africa ; sailing from some port on the Red sea, they pass 
down to the strait of Babelmandel, into the Indian ocen ; thence 
south, around the cape of Good Hope, into the South Atlantic ; — 
thence north along the African coast on the west side, which would 
carry them along opposite, or east of South America. 

Pursuing this course, they would pass into the Mediterranean at 
the strait of Gibraltar, and so on to Egypt, mooring at Alexandria, 
on the south end of the Mediterranean ; a voyage of more than six 
teen thousand miles ; two-thirds of the distance round the earth. 
Many ages after their first settlement in Egypt, they were the lead- 
ing nation in maritime skill and other arts. 

It is true, that a knowledge of the compass and magnet, as aids 
to navigation, in Africa or Europe, was unknown in those early 
ages ; but to counterbalance this defect, they were, from necessity, 
much more skilful in a knowledge of the heavenly bodies, as guides 
to their courses, than men are at the present day. But in China, it 
is now believed, that a knowledge of the magnet, and its applica- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 116 

tion to the great purposes of aavigalian, was understood before the 
time of Abraham, more than two thousand years before Christ, of 
which we shall give a more particular account in another place of 
this work. 

But if we cannot allow the Egyptians to have visited South 
America, and all the islands between, on voyages of discovery, 
which by no means can be supposed chimerical, we are ready to 
admit they may have been driven there by an eastern storm ; and 
as favoring such a circumstance, the current which sets from the 
African coast toward South America, should not be forgotten. 

If it be allowed that tliis mode of reasoning is at all conclusive, 
the same will apply in favor of their having Jirst hit on the coast 
of the West Indies, as this group of islands, as they noiv exist, is 
much more favorable to a visit from that particular part of Africa, 
called Egypt, than is South America. 

Egypt and the West Indies are exactly in the same latitude, that 
is, the northern parts of those islands, both being between twenty 
and thirty degrees north. 

Sailing from Egypt, out of the Mediterranean, passing through 
the straits of Gibraltar would throw a vessel, in case of an eastern 
storm, aided by the current, as high north as opposite the Bahama 
islands. A blow of but a few days in that direction, would be 
quite sufficient to have driven an Egyptian vessel, or boat, or what- 
ever they may have sailed in, entirely on the coast of the West 
Indies. The trade winds sweep westward across the Atlantic, 
through a space of 50 or 60 degrees of longitude, carrying every- 
thing within their current directly to the American coast. 

If such may have htten the case, they were, indeed, in a manner, 
on the very continent itself, especially, if the opinon of president 
Jefferson and others be allowed, that the gulf of Mexico, which is 
situated exactly behind those islands, west, has been scooped out 
by the current which makes from the equator toward the north. 

Kentucky itself, where, we think, we ha*'e found the remains 
of an Egyptian colony, or nation, as in the case of the works and 
catacomb at Lexington, is in latitude but five degrees north of 
Egypt. So that whether they may have visited America on a voy- 
age of exploration, or have been driven on the coast against their 
will ; in either case, it would be perfectly natural that they should 
have established themselves in that region. 



118 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Traits of Egyptian manners were found among many of the na- 
tion* of South America, mingled with those who appeared to be of 
other origin ; of whiah we shall speak again in the course of this 
work. 

But at Lexington the traits are too notorious to allow them to be 
other than pure Egyptian, in full possession of the strongest com- 
plexion of their national character, that of embalming, which was 
connected with their religion. 

The Mississippi, which disembogues itself into the Mexican gulf, 
is in the sa^me north latitude with Egypt, aad may have, by its 
likeness to the Egyptian Nile, invited those adventurers to pursue 
its course, till a place suited to their views or necessities may have 
presented. 



Ancient Letters of the' Phoenicians and Amemcans. 

The ancient Punic, Phoenician, or Carthaginian language, is all 
the same ; the characters called Punic, or Phoenician, therelore, 
are also the same. A fac simile of those characters, as copied by 
Pr. Adam Clarke, are herewith presented. See No. 4- 



No. 4. 



No. 5. 









They were discovered in the island of Malta, in the Mediterra- 
nean, which was anciently inhabited by the Phoenicians, long be- 
fore the Romans existed as a nation. These characters were found 
engraved on a stone, in a cave of that island, in the year 1761, 
which was a sepulchral cave, so used by the earliest inhabitants. 
These characters, being found in this ancient repository of the dead, 
it is believed, marks the place of the burial of that famous Cartha- 
ginian general, Hannibal, es they explicitly allude to that char- 
aet€r. The leading in the original is as follows : 



ANB DISCOVERIES IN TUB WEST. 117 

" Chadar Beth olam kahar Chanibaal Nakeh becalelh haveh, rachm 
daehAm beshulh Chanilaal bert Bar melec.''^ 

Which, being interpreted, is : — " The inner chamber of the sanc- 
tuary of the sepulchre of Hannibal, illustrious in the consummation 
of calamity. He was beloved. The people lament, when arrayed 
in order of battle, Hannibal the son of Bar-melec" 

This one of the largest remains of the Punic or Phoenician lan- 
guage now in existence. Characters of this description are also 
found on the rocks of Dighton, Massachusetts, near the sea. 

In a chain of mountains between the rivers Oronoco and Ama- 
zon, South America, are found engraved in a cavern, on a block of 
granite, characters supposed also to be Punic letters, a fac similie 
of which is presented at No. 6. These were furnished by Baron 
Humboldt, in his volume of Researches in South America ; be- 
tween which and those given us above, by Di-. Clarke, it is easy 
to perceive a small degree of similarity. 

But if the Phoenician letters shown at Nos. 4 and 5 are highly 
intejresting, those which follow at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, are equally so. 
These are presented to the public by Prof. Rafinesque, in his At- 
lantic Journal for 1832, with their meaning. 

Under figures 1 and 2 are the African or Lybian characters, the 
primitive letters of the most ancient nations of Africa. Under 
figure 3 are the American letters, or letters of Otolum, an ancient 
city, the ruins of which are found in South America, being, so far 
as yet explored, of an extent embracing a circumference of twenty 
four miles, of which we shall again speak in due time. 

The similarity which appears between the African letters and 
the letters of America, as in use perhaps two thousand years before 
Christ, is almost, if not exact, showing beyond a doubt, that the 
same nations, the same languages, and the same arts, which were 
known in ancient Lybia or Africa, were also known in America ; 
as well also as nations from old China, who came to the western 
coast, in huge vessels, as we shall show in this work. 

We here subjoin an account of those characters, numbered 1, 2, 
3, by the author Prof. Rafinesque ; and also of the American glyphs, 
which, however, are not presented here, but on page 307. They 
are, it appears, formed by a combination of the letters numbered 
1,2,3, and resembling very much, in our opinion, the Chinese 
characters,, when grouped or combined, with a view to express a 



118 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



sentence or a paragraph in their language. The account is as 
follows : 



LYBIAN. 

No. 1. 2. 



AMERICAN. 
3. 



Ear 
Eye 

Nose 



AIPS 

ESH 

IFR 



Tongue OMBR 
Hand VULD 
Earth LAMBD 
Sea MAH 



Air 

Fire 

Sun 

Moon 

Mars 



NISP 

RASH 

BAP 

CEK 

J)OR 



Merc'y GOREG 
Venus UAF 

Saturn SIASH 
Jupiter THEUE 



A 

E 

I 

O 

U 

L 

I\l 

N 

P 

Bp 

C kW 

D t 

G 

V f 

S .sh 

Thz 



3 ^^ iliB> 




-i'%^Bi^^'^;i8>#i^^ 



^ y^;-,m 



ID ET 
|lGH 

iUW 
ES ISH 
UZ 



Letter to Mr. Cfuwijwllion, on the Graphic Systems of Ame- 
rica, and the Glyphs of Otola/n. or Pahnque^ in Central 
^Hmeriea. 

ELEMENTS OF THE GLYPHS. 

I have the pleasure to present you here a tabular and compara- 
tive view of the Atlantic alphabets of the two continents, with a 
specimen of the groups of letters or glyphs, (see p. 307,) of the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 119 

mocuments of Otolum* or Palenque ; which beloug to my seventh 
series of graphic signs, and aie in fact words formed by grouped 
letters or elements as in Chinese characters, or somewhat like tht- 
cyphers now yet in use among us, formed by acrostical anagrams 
or combinations of th first letters of words or names. 

When I began ray investigation of these American glyphs and 
became convinced that they must have been groups of letters, I 
sought for the elementary letters in all the ancient known alphabets, 
the Chinese Sanscrit and Egyptian above all ; but in vain. The 
Chinese characters offered but few similarities with the glyphs, 
and not having a literal but syllabic alphabet, could not promise the 
needful clue. The Sanscrit alphabet, and all its derived branches, 
including even the Hebrew, Phoenician, Pelagic, Celtic and Can- 
tabrian alphabets were totally unlike in forms and combinations of 
grouping. But in the great variety of Egyptian form of the same 
letters, I thought that I could trace some resemblance with our 
American glyphs. In fact, I could see in them the Egyptian cross, 
snake, circle, delta, square, trident, eye, feather, fish, hand, &c., 
but sought in vain for the birds, lions, spbynx, beetle, and a hun- 
dred other nameless signs of Egypt. 

However, this first examination and approximation of analogy in 
Egypt "and Africa was a great preliminary step in the inquiry. I 
had always believed that the Atlantes of Africa have partly colo- 
nized America, as so many ancient writers have affirmed. This be- 
lief led me to search for any preserved fragments of the alphabets 
of Western Africa and Lybia, the land of the African Atlantes yet 
existing under the names of Berbers, Tuarics, Shelluhs, &c. This 
was no easy task. The Atlantic antiquities are still more obscure 
than the Egyptian. No Champollion had raised their veil ; the 
city of Farawan, the Thebes of the Atlantes, whose splendid ruins 
exist as yet in the mountains of Atlas, has not even been described 
properly as yet, nor its inscriptions delineated. 

However, I found at last in Gramay, (Africa llhtslrata,) an old 
Lybian alphabet, which has been copied by Purchas, in his coUec 
tion of old alphabets. I was delighted to find it so explicit, so well 
connected with the Egyptian, being also an acrostic alphabet, and 



* A late discovered city of South America, nearly equal to the Egyptian 
Thebes. 



120 ' AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

above all, to find that all its signs were to be seen in the glyphs of 
Otolum, the American city. Soon after appeared, in a supplement 
to Clapperton and Denham's Travels in Africa, another old and ob- 
solete Lybian alphabet, not acrostical, found by Denham in old in- 
scriptions among the Tuarics of Targih and Ghraat, vi'est'of Fezan : 
which, although unlike the first, had many analogies, and also with 
the American glyphs. 

Thinking, then, that I had found the primitive elements of these 
glyphs, I hastened to communicate this important fact to Mr. Du- 
ponceau, (in a printed letter directed to him in 1828,). who was 
struck with the analogy, and was ready to confess that the glyphs 
of Palenque might be alphabetical words : although he did not be- 
lieve before that any American alphabets were extant- But he 
could not pursue my connection of ideas, analogies of signs, lan- 
guages and traditions, to the extent which I desired, and now am 
able to prove. 

To render my conclusions perspicuous, I must divide the subject 
into several parts; directing my inquiries, 1st. On the old Lybian 
alphabet. 2dly. On the Tuaric alphabet. 3dly. On their ele- 
ment in the American glyphs. 4thly. On the possibility to read 
them. While the examination of their language, in connection 
with the other Atlantic languages, will be the theme of my third 
letter. 

I. The old Lybian delineated in the table No. 1, has all the ap- 
pearance of a very ancient alphabet, based upon the acrostical plan 
of Egypt; but in a very different language, of which we have 16 
words preserved. This language may have been that of a branch 
of Atlantes, perhaps the Getulians, (Ge-tula, or Tulas of the plains) 
or of the Ammonians, Old Lybians, and also Atlantes. 

Out of these 16 words, only 5 have a slight affinity with the 
Egyptian, they are: 

Lybian. Egyptian. Lybian. Egyptian. 

Nose Ifr Nif Venus Uaf Ath 

Sea Mali Mauh Ear Alps Ap 

Satum Slash Sev 
While this Lybian has a greater analogy with the Pelagic dia- 
lects, as many as 12 out of 16 being consimilar. 

Lybian. Pelagic. Lybiwn. Pelagic. 

Eye Esh Eshas Earth Lambd Landa 

Nose Ifr Rinif Sea Math Marah 

Hand Vuld Hul, chii Fire Hash Purah 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 121 

Lijbian. Pelagic. Lyhian. Pelagic. 

Moon Cck Selka, kres Venus Uaf Uenaa 

Mars Dor Hares, Thor Saturn Slash Satur, Shiva 

Mercury Goreg Mer^or Jupiter Theue Theos 

Therefore, the numerical analogy is only 32 per cent, with the 
Egyptian, while it is 75 per cent, with the Pelagic. Another 
proof, among many, that the ancient Atlantes were intimately con- 
nected with the Pelagian nations of Greece, Italy, and Spain ; but 
much less so with the Egyptians, from whom they however bor- 
rowed perhaps their graphic system 

This system is very remarkable. 1. By its acrostic form. 2 
By having only 16 letters like most of the primitive alphabets, 
but unlike the Egyptian and Sanscrit. 3. By being sujceptible of 
twenty-two sounds by modification of six of the letters, as usual 
among the Pelagian and Etruscan. 4. Above all, by being based 
upon the xrostics of ihree important series of physical objects, the 
five senses represented by their agents in man, the four elements 
of nature and the seven planets : which are very philo.>>ophicaI 
ideas, and must have originated in a civilized nation and learned 
priesthood- 5. By the graphic signs being also rude delineations 
of these physical objects or their emblems. The ear, eye, nose, 
tongue and hand, for the five senses The triangle for the earth, 
fish for the sea or water, snake for the air, flame for fire. A circle 
for the sun, crescent for the moon, a sword for Mars, a purse for 
Mercury, the V for Vtnus, double ring for Saturn, and trident for 
Jupiter. Venus btring the fifth planet, has nearly the same sign as 
U, the fifth letter. 

These physical emblems are so natural and obvious, that they 
are sometimes found among mat)y of the ancient alphabet'' ; the 
sun and moon even among the Chinese. But in the Egyptian 
alphabets, the emblems apply very ilten to difFcrent letters, owing 
to the ditt'erence of iaii^uage and acrostic feature. Thus the hand 
applies to D in Egyptian instead of U, the eye to R, the circle to 
0, the snake to L, &c. 

II. The second Lyhian alphabet. No. 2 in the tables, vas the 
ancient alphabet of Tiarics, a modern branch of the Atlantes, until 
superseded by the Arabic. D. nham found, with some difficulty, 
its import, and names of letters which are not acrostic bui literal, 
and tighteta in nuoiber. It is doubtful whether these names were 
well applied in all instances, as the explainer was ignorant, and 

16 



122 A5IERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Denham not aware of the importance of this alphabet. Some ap- 
pear not well named, and U with V have the same sign W ; but 
these are always interchangeable in old language, and in alphabet 
No. 1, V is called UAF instead of VAF, and U is VULD instead 
of UULD ! 

As we have it, this alphabet is sufficiently and obviously derived 
from the first, eleven out of the sixteen letters being similar or 
nearly so, while only five are diiferenl, E, M, R, G and Z. This 
laiyt appears the substitute of TH, of No. 1, and GH represents G. 
Yet they are by far more alike than the Demotic is from the Hie- 
ratic Egyptian, and I therefore deem this No. 2 a Demotic form of 
the ancient Lybiau or Atlantic. 

I might have given and compared several other Lybian alpha- 
bets found in inscriptions ; but as they have been delineated with- 
out a key or names, it is at present very difficult todecypher them. 
I however, recommend them to the attention of the learned, and 
amoijg others, point out the Lybian inscription of Apollonia, the 
harbor of Cyreue, given by Lacella, in his travels in the Cyrenaica. 
The letters of this inscription appear more numerous than sixteen 
or even twenty-two, and although they have some analogies with 
the two Lybian alphabets, yet approximate still more to the De- 
motic of Egypt and the Phoenician. But the inscriptions in Mount 
Atlas and at Farawan, when collected and decyphered, will be 
found of much greater historical importance. 

in. Meantime in the column No. 3 of the tabular view, are giv- 
en forty-six elements of the glyphs of Otolum (see page 307, 
where there is a fac simile of these glyphs) or Palenque, a few of 
these glyphs being given also in column No. 4. These forty-six 
elements are altogether similar or derived from the Lybian proto- 
types of No. 1 and 2. la some cases they are absolutely identic,- 
and the conviction of their common origin is almost complete, par- 
ticularly when taken in connection with the collateral proofs of 
traditions and languages. These elements are somewhat involved 
in the grouping, yet they may easily be perceived and separated. 
Sometimes they are ornamented by double lines or otherwise, as 
monumental letters often are. Sometimes united to outside num- 
bers represented by long ellipses meaning 10, and round dots 
meaning unities, which approximates to the Mexican system of 
graphic numeration. Besides these forty-six elements, some others 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 123 

may be seen in the glyphs, which I left off, because too intricate ; 
although they appear reducible, if a larger table could have been 
given. There is hardly a single one that may not be traced to theg<; 
forms, or that baffles the actual theory. Therefore, the conclusion 
must occur, that such astonishing coincidence cannot be casual, but 
it is the result of original derivation. 

The following remarks are of some importance : 

1. The glyphs of Otolum are written from top to bottom, like 
the Chinese, or from side to side, indifferently, like the Egyptian 
and the Demotic Lybian of No. 2. We are not told how No. 1 
was written, but probably in the same way. Several signs were 
used for the same letter as in Egypt. 

2. Although the most common way of writing the groups is in 
rows, and each group separated, yet we find some framed, as it 
were, in oblong squares or tablets like those of Egypt. See plate 
12, of the work on Palenque by Delrio and Caberera. In that 
12th plate there are also some singular groups resembling our musi- 
cal notes. Could they be emblems of songs or hymns ? 

3. The letter represented by a head occurs frequently ; but it is 
remarkable that the features are very different from those of the 
remarkable race of men or heroes delineated in the sculptures. 

4. In reducing these elements to the alphabetical form, I have 
been guided by the more plausible theory involved by similar 
forms. We have not here the more certain demonstration of Bi- 
lingual inscriptions ; but if the languages should uphold this theory, 
they certainly will be increased of the Atlantic origins of Otolum. 

IV. But shall we be able to read these glyphs and inscriptions, 
without positively knowing in what language they were written .' 
The attempt will be arduous, but it is not impossible. In Egppt, 
the Coptic has been found such a close dialect of the Egyptian, 
that it has enabled you to read the oldest hieroglyphs. We find 
among the ancient dialects of Chiapa, Yucatan and Guatimala, the 
branches of the ancient speech of Otolum. (See page 241.) Nay, 
Otolum was perhaps the ancient TOL or TOLA, seat of the Tol- 
tecas, (people of Tol,) and their empire ; but this subject will be- 
long to my third letter. I will now merely give a (ew attempts to 
read some of the groups. For instance : 

1. The group or word on the seat of the sitting man of plate 4 
-of monuments .©f Palenque, I read UOBAC, being formed by a 
hand} a tongue, a drcle, an ear, and a crescent. It is perhaps hi* 



124 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

name. And underneath the seat is an eye with a small circle 
inside, meauiKg EB. 2. lu plate 5, is an eye with two annexed 
rings, meaning probably BaB, and perhaps the sun, which is BAP 
in the Lybian alphabet. 3. In plate 7, the glyph of the corner 
with a head, a fish, and a crescent, means piobably KIM. 4. The 
first glyph of page 15, is probably BLAKE. 5. I can make out 
many others reading ICBE, BOCOGO, POPO, EPL, PKE, &c. 

If these words and others (although some may be names) can 
be found in African languages, or in those of central America, we 
shall obtain perhaps the key of the whole language of old Otolum. 
And next reach, step by step, to the desirable knowledge of read- 
ing those glyphs, which may covi ; much historical knowledge of 
high import. Meantime I have opened the path, if my theory and 
conjectures are correct, as I have strong reasons to believe. 

Besides this monumental alphabet, the same nation that built 
Otolum had a Demotic alphabet belonging to my 8th series; which 
was found in Guatimala and Yucatan, at the Spanish conquest. A 
specimen of it has been given by Humboldt in his American re- 
searches, plate 45, from the Dresden Library, and has been ascer- 
tained to be Guatiraalan instead of Mexican, being totally unlike 
the Mexican pictoral manuscripts. This page of Demotic has let- 
ters and numbers, these represented by strokes meaning 6, and 
dots meaning unities, as the dots never exceed four This is nearly 
similar to the monumental numbers. 

These w^rds are much less handsome than the monumental 
glyphs ; tliey are also uncouth glyphs in rows formed by irregular 
or flexuous heavy strokes, inclosing within small strokes, nearly 
the same letters as in the monuments. It might not be impossible 
to decypher some of these manii ^ripts written on metl paper : since 
they are written in languages yet spoken, and the writing was un- 
derstood in central America, as late as 200 years ago. If this is 
done, it will be the best clue to the monumental inscriptions. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE 



This letter as above, strongly corroborates our supposition, that 
the authors of the embalmed mummies found in the cave of Lex- 
ington, were of Egyptian origin. See Morse's Geography, p. 500, 
and the Western Guzeteer, p. 103, states that several hundred mum- 
mies were discovered near Lexington, in a cave, but were wholly 
destroyed by the first settlers 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST 12$ 

A further Account of Western Antiquities with Ante- 
diluvian Traits. 

CiNC NVATI is situated on one of those examples of antiquity, 
of great extent- They are found on the upper level of that town, 
but none on the lower one. Tiiey are so conspicuous as to catch 
the first range of the eye. 

There is every reason to suppose, that at the remote period of 
the building of these antiquities, the lowest level formed part of 
the bed of the Ohio. A gentleman who was living near the town 
of Cincinnati, in 1826, on the upper level, had occasion to sink a 
well for his accommodation, who persevered in digging to the depth 
of eighty feet without finding water, but still persisting in the at- 
tempt, his workmen found themselves obstructed by a substance, 
-which resisted their labor, though evidently not stone. They 
cleared the surface and sides from the earth bedded around it, 
when there appeared the stump of a tree, three feet in diameter, 
and two feet high, which had been cut down with an axe. The 
blows o[ the axe were yet visible It was nearly of the color and 
sppaient character of coal, but had not the friabie and fusible quality 
of that mineral. Ten feet bebw, the water sprang up, and the 
well is now in constant supply ai.d high repute. 

Reflections on this discovery are 'hese: 1st. That the tree was 
undoubtedly antediluvian. 2d. That the river now called the 
Ohio, did not exist anterior to the deluge, inasmuch as the remains 
of the tree wers found firmly rooted in its original position, several 
feet btlow the bed of that river 3d. That America was peopled 
before the flood, as appears from the action of the axe in cuUing; 
down the tree 4th That the antediluvian Americans were ac- 
.quaiuted with the use and properties of iron, as the rust of the axe 
was on the top of the stump whv.a discovered. 

And why should they not be acquainted with both its properties 
and utility, seeing it was an antediluvian discovery ? Tubal Ciia 
one of the sons of Cain, the son of Adam, we find, according to 
Genesis iv. 22, was a blacksmith, and worked in iron and brass, 
more than a thousand years before the flood. It was about 500 
years from the creation, when Tubal Cain is noticed in the sacred 
history to have been a worker in brass and iron : but, says Dr. 



136 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Clarke, the commentator, " Although tliis is the first smith on record, 
who taught how to make warlike instruments and domestic uten- 
sils out of brass and iron, yet a knowledge of metal must have ex- 
isted long before, for Cain was a tiller of the ground.^ and so was 
Adam, which they could not have been without spades, hooks, &c." 

The Roman plough was formed of wood, being in shape like the 
anchor of a vessel; the ploughman held to one fluke, so as to guide 
it, while the other entered the ground, pointed with iron, and as 
it was drawn along by the stem, it tore the earth in a streak, mel- 
lowing it for the seed. Such, it is likely, was the form of the pri- 
mitive plough, from which, iu the progress of ages, improvements 
have been made, till the present one, as now formed, and is the 
glory of the well tilled field. 

According to this opinion, 'it would appear, that in the very first 
period of time, men were acquainted with the metals ; and as they 
diverged from the common centre, which was near the garden of 
Eden, they carried with them a knowledge of this all-important 
discovery. If the stump is, indeed, antediluvian, we learn one 
important fact, and this is it : Ainerica, by whatever name it was 
called before the deluge, was then a body of earth above the wa- 
ters, and also v/as connected with Asia, where, it is allowed on 
all hands, man was originated. If it were not connected with 
Asia, it might be inquired, how then came men in America before 
the flood, the traits of whose industry and agricultural pursuits are 
discovered in the felling of this tree, as well as a great number of 
other instances, of which we shall speak by and by ? 

It is not probable, that before the flood there was so small a quan- 
tity of dry land on the earth as at the present time ; the waters of 
the globe being generally hid beneath the incumbent soil, so that 
an easy communication of all countries with each other existed'; 
which must have greatly facilitated the progress of man in peopling 
and subduing it. We know very well it is said, " the gathering 
together of the waters, called He seas ;" but it does not follow that 
they were not subterranean; and it is more than intimated that 
such was the fact, when it is said, " all the fountains of the great 
deep were broken up," on the day the flood commenced. 

But by what means were they broken up } This is left to con- 
jecture, as the Scriptures are higher in their aim, than the mere 
gratification of curious questions of this sort ; but in some way thi» 



AND DISCOVERIES lit THE WEST. 137 

was done. The very terms " broken up," signify the exertion of 
power and violence, of sufficient force to burst at once whole conti- 
nents from the face of the deep, and also to throw out, at one wide 
rush, the central waters of the globe. 

But can we conceive of any means made use of to effect this, other 
than the direct pressure of God's power, sinking the earth to the 
depths beneath, so that the water might rise above, taking the place 
of the land ? We imagine we can. 

It is well known, that the velocity of the earth, in its onward mo- 
tion round the sun, is about twenty miles a second, nearly the speed 
of lightning. Let Hira, therefore, who at first imposed this incon- 
ceivable velocity, stop the earth in this motion suddenly ; what 
would the effect be ? All the fluids, that is the waters, whether 
above ground or underneath it, would rush forward with a power 
equal to their weight, whicli would be sufficient to burst away 
mountains, or any impediment whatever ; and rushing round the 
globe, from the extreme western point, rolling one-half of the migh- 
ty flood over this side of it, and the other half over the antipode, on 
the other side, which is relatively beneath us, till the two half 
worlds of water, should meet at the extreme east, where heaping 
up, by their force, above a common level, vv^ould gradually roll 
back to their original places, as the earth should again go forward. 
This is our opinion of the way how " all the fountains of the great 
deep were broken up." 

If the earth were to be arrested in its course noiv, the effect 
would be the same. Suppose we illustrate the position for a mo- 
ment. Place a vessel of water on a plank, for instance, open on 
the top, like a common bowl, fastened to the plank, so that it should 
not be liable to overcast. Cause this plank to move, at first slowly, 
but increase its steady onward velocity as much as the fluid will 
bear, without causing a reaction ; when, therefore, its utmost speed 
is obtained, stop it suddenly ; the effect would be, the water in the 
vessel would instantly fly over, leaving the bowl behind. Such, 
therefore, we imagine, would be the effect, if the earth were now 
caused to stand suddenly still in its orbit ; except this difference, 
the law of gravitation would prevent the waters of the earth from 
leaving the surface, but would cause a rapid current in the direc- 
tion the earth is pursuing. 

That the waters of the deluge came from the west, is evident 



128 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

from the manner in which the various strata of the earth are situ- 
ated over the whole of our country ; and that its motion was very 
violent is also evident from the appearance of native or primitive 
rock, being found on the top of that which is of secondary forma- 
tion, and of gravel and sand in hills and smaller eminences, lying 
on beds of clay and soils of various kinds below it- 

The effects of the deluge can be traced in all the earth in this 
way, and particularly about Albany, Saratoga, and about the lakes, 
and to the east, showing that the waters flowed in that direction. 
For a beautiful and able description of this subject, see Thomas's 
Travels, published at Auburn, under the head. The Deluge. 

At the same time the waters above the firmament, in the clouds, 
were permitted to burst downward, which, in its fall, subdivided 
into drops, as is natural ; so that one vast perpetual storm, for forty 
days and forty nights, rushed with all the violence of a tornado 
upon the globe, quite around it, by which, in so short a time, the 
highest hills were buried fifteen cubits de^p, and upward ; this is 
what we suppose is meant by the words " and the windows of 
heaven were opened." 

But it may be inquired, from whence did the lauds receive water 
to furnish them with so long a rain as a storm of forty days and 
nights ; and from whence originated vapor enough to becloud the 
whole circumambient atmosphere of the earth at once. Surely 
some cause more than existed before the flood, or since, must have 
transpired at that time, to have produced this great accumulation 
of clouds and rain. 

The answer is, we apprehend, that the central waters bursting 
suddenly Itam the great deep, involving the whole globe, present- 
ed a greater surface of that fluid to the rays of the sun, so that by 
its operation on the frtce of the waters, a dense mist or vapor was at 
once produced quite round the earth, which, in its ascent, carried 
up incessantly that quantity of water which furnished the almo- 
spliere for so long and so dreadful a storm, and justify the expres- 
sion, " and the windows of heaven were opened." 

By some it has been imagined that the flood of Nd'ah was pro- 
duced by the n^ar approach of a comet, the waters of which at- 
tracted the waters of the globe from the depths so as to deluge the 
earth. But this opinion is not admissible, as the same comet which 
by the laws of gravitation would be compelled to follow the same 



AND DI8COVERIE8 IN THE WE8T. 129 

track or orbit, to endless ages, would long ere this time have de- 
luged the world several times, which has not taken place. Others 
have supposed that the poles have been entirely shifted. If such 
m»y have been the fact, it is true the earth would have been easily 
flooded, as the frozen oceans, with two continents of ice, would 
have been placed suddenly beneath the rays of a vertical sun, the 
effect of which would, even now, were such a catastrophe to take 
place, bring^on a universal deluge, equal to that of Noah's. Also 
the whirl and shifting of the waters of the ocean would have con- 
tributed greatly to this effect. In support of this theory, it is shown 
that in the high northern latitudes, banks, and even the entire bo- 
dies of equatorial animals have been found* imbeded in the ice, 
which have been brought to light by unusual thaws. Even in the 
the most 'dreary and desolate northern regions are found in great 
quantities the tropical plants and trees in a state of preservation. 

But these, we believe, are to be accounted fur, not on the prin- 
ciple of the shifting of the poles, but rather by tjie arrest of the 
globe in its orbit round the sun, occasioning a rapid current of the 
waters of the earth eastwardly, which, as the strata of the earth 
generally shows, was the fact, would produce the appearances as 
above stated by the lateral flow of the waters round the earth from 
the equator toward the poles. 

To the arrest of the earth in its orbit, it may be objected, that 
if such had been the fact, the globe would have fallen during that 
time a great way toward the sun ; to which we assert, that the same 
power which could arrest the earth in so extraordinary a manner 
could also hold it suspended in its true place, till the eflfect should 
be accomplished for which the arrest was designed. 

In this way the surface of the earth was ruined ; a dispropor- 
tionate quantity of water, caused to appear on the surface, while in 
the same ratio the land is sunk to the depths below. 

Sixteen hundred years and rising, was the space of time allowed 
from the creation till the flood ; a time quite suflBcient to people 
the whole earth, even if it were then enjoying a surface of dry 
land, twice as much as it does at the present time, being but about 
one-fourth ; and America, as appears from this one monument, 
the atump of Cincinnati, was a part of the earth which was peopled 
' by the antediluvians. 

The celebrated antiquarian, Samuel L. Mitchell, late of New-- 

17 



130 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

York, with other gentlemen, eminent for their knowledge of natu- 
ral history, are even of the opinion, that America was the country 
where Adam was created. In a letter to Governor De Witt Clin- 
ton, in which this philosopher argued the common origin o^ the 
people of America, and those of Asia, he says : — " I avoid the op- 
portunity which this grand conclusion affords me, of stating that 
America was the cradle of the human race ; of tracing its colonies 
westward over the Pacific ocean, and beyond the sea of Kamschatka, 
to new settlements ; of following the emigrants by land and water, 
until they reached Europe and Africa. I had no inclination to op- 
pose the current opinions relative to the place of man's creation 
and dispersion . I thought it was scarcely worth while to inform 
an European, that in coming to America he had left the new world 
behind him, for the purpose of visiting the old. — (American Anti- 
quarian Society .f p. 331.) 

But this opinion cannot obtain, if we place the least reliance on 
the statement of Moses, in the book of Genesis, who gives a cir- 
cumstantial account of the place of man's creation, by stating the 
names of the very rivers arising out of the regions of country call- 
ed Paradise ; such as Pison, Havilah, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Eu- 
phrates ; or as they now are called, Phasis, Araxes, Tigris, and Eu- 
phrates ; this last retains its original name. 

No such rivers are known in America, nor the countries through 
which they flow. Here are data to argue from, but the position, 
or rather the suggestion, of Prof. Mitchell, has absolutely no data 
whatever. If but a tradition favoring that opinion were found even 
among the Indians, it would afford some foundation ; but as their 
tradition universally alludes to some part of the earth, far away, 
from whence they came, it would seem exceedingly extravagant to 
argue a contrary belief. 

This one stump of Cincinnati, we consider, surpasses in conse- 
quence the magnificence of all the temples of antiquity, whose for- 
saken turrets, dilapidated walls, tottering and fallen pillars, which 
speak in language loud and mournful, the story of their ruin ; be- 
cause it is a remnant of matter, in form and fashion, such as it was, 
before the earth " perished by water," bearing on its top the indu- 
bitable marks of the exertion of man, of so remote a time. 

It is not impossible but America may have been the country 
where Noah built his ark, as directed by the Most High. We 



AND DiaCOVERIliH IN THK WKST. 131 

know very well, when the mind refers to the subject of Noah's 
ark, our thoughts are immediately associated with Mount Ararat, 
because it rested there, on the subsiding of the flood. But this 
circumstance precludes a possibility of its having been built there^ 
if we allow the waters of the deluge to have had any current at all. 
It is said in Genesis that the ark floated, or was borne upon the 
waters above the earth, and also that the ark '■'■went upon the face 
of the waters.'''' From which fact we imagine there must have been 
a current, or it could not have went upon the waters. Consequent- 
ly, it vjentfrom the place where it was built, being obedient to the 
current of the flood. 

Now, if it had been built any where in the country called Arme- 
nia, where the mountain Ararat is situated ; and as it is found the 
waters had a general eastern direction, the ark in going on the face 
of the waters would have, during the time the waters of the deluge 
prevailed, which was one hundred and fifty days, or five months, 
(that is, prevailed after the commencement of the deluge till its 
greatest depth was effected,) gone in an eastern direction as far 
perhaps as the regions of the islands of Japan, beyond China, east, 
a distance of about 6000 miles from Ararat, which would be at the 
rate of about forty miles a day, or if it had floated faster, would 
have carried it into the Pacific ocean. 

But if we may imagine it was erected in North America, or some 
where in the latitude of the state of New-York, er even farther 
west, the current of the deluge would have borne it easterly. And 
suppose it may have been carried at the rate of forty or fifty miles 
a day, would, during the time the waters prevailed, in which time, 
we may suppose, a current existed, have progressed as far as to 
Ararat, a distance of nearly 6000 miles from America, where it 
did actually rest. 

More than 1600 years had elapsed when the ark was finished, 
and it may fairly be inferred, that as Noah 'was born about 1000 
years after the creation of the world, that mankind had, from ne- 
cessity, arising from the pressure of population, gone very far away 
from the regions round about Eden ; and the country where Noah 
was born may a« well be supposed to have been America, as any 
other part of the earth ; seeing there are indubitable signs of ante- 
diluvian population in many parts of it. Unite this circumstance 
with that of the ascertained current of the deluge from America, 



ISi AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

fchd with the fact of the ark's having rested in an easterly directiofl 
from this country, "we come to a conclusion, that here, perhaps, in 
the very state of New-York, the miraculous vessel was erected, 
and bore away, treasured in its enormous capacity, the progenitors 
of the human race renewed. So that if America have not the ho- 
nor of being the country where Adam was created, as is believed 
by some, it has, nevertheless the honor, as we suppose, of being 
the country where the ark was erected. 

But as we have argued in the commencement of this volume, 
that Shem was Melchisedeck, and that from him a knowledge of 
the exact situation of Eden might have been obtained by the first 
nations after the flood, it may be inquired, how could he tell them 
if he was born in America, so far from the location of Eden ? To 
this we reply, that it should not be supposed that the antediluvians 
were without the means of recording facts, even by the use of let- 
ters, or their equivalents, which are pictures, nor that they had no 
knowledge of the geography of the globe, as it was before the 
flood, and the means of communication with each other, however 
distant their colonies may have been. 

It is not to be supposed, that more than 1600 years could pass 
away, without the antediluvians having enjoyed the advantages of 
art and science, seeing these are the natural results of human soci- 
ety. The ark itself is a demonstration that even ship building was 
known, or how could Noah have understood what was meant, 
when it was said to him, " build an ark of gopher wood," &c. 

This supposition of the antediluvians having a knowledge of let- 
ters or their equivalents, is maintained by discoveries made on 
opening the vast heaps of bricks which formed the tower of Babel. 
These bricks, it appears, were much larger and thicker than the 
same article is now made, as they are found to be something 
over a foot square and three inches thick. On many of these, as 
stated by M. Beauchamp, a French traveller and astronomer, who 
visited Babylon in 1781, are engraven unknown characters and hie- 
roglyphics. On one brick he found a lion presented in reliefy 
which shows that the mould in which the brick was formed, had 
the form of this animal carved or cut into the timber or metal of 
which the mould was made. On another he found the shape of a 
half moon formed in the same manner. One of the masons who 
was employed in digging brick from these ruins, told M- Beau- 



AND DISCOVERIES I.N TUE WEST. 133 

cbamp, that there were often found, little cells which contained 
images of the human shape formed of clay, and that on one brick 
which had been taken from thence, were represented in varnish 
the figures of a cow, and of the sun and moon., which shows they 
had also a knowledge of painting, and delineation which belongs 
to the fine arts. — (.See Evening Recreations, vol. 1, p. 62, 1830.) 

Now it is not reasonable to suppose that the art of letters, paint- 
ing, and sciUpture were all found out during the short space, from 
the time the ark rested on Ararat, till the time of the commence- 
ment of the building of that tower ; and we will add also, the know- 
ledge of brick making, and of architecture. Is it not, therefore, 
clear that all these were known and practised by the antediluvians ? 

This knowledge was, therefore, received from the family of Noah, 
and especially from Shem or Melchesideck, who, it appears, in leav- 
ing Ararat came westward from its resting place with some one of 
the colonies, who settled the land of Shinar. 

The invention of letters is attributed to the Phoenicians, who 
were of the race of Ham, and consequently, were black ; but the 
true secret of this is doubtless, that to Melchisedeck, the notions of 
the continents of Europe, Africa, America, and the knowledge of 
the use of letters, brought from beyond the flood, even those now 
in use, as they belong to the same family as all letters are found in 
all ages to have a resemblance to each other in shape. 

Shem could therefore tell the latitude of the ancient seat of Pa- 
radise, though he may have been born in America, and though the 
flood had destroyed the beauty and towering grandeur of the 
pristine situation of the seat of Adam. 

In Morse's Universal Geography, first volume, page 142, the dis- 
covery of this stump is corroborated : " In digging a well in Cin- 
cinnati, the stump of a tree was found in a sound state, ninety feet 
below the surface; and in digging another well, at the same 
place, another stump was found, at ninety-four feet below the sur- 
face which had evident marks of the axe ; and on its top there ap- 
peared as if some iron tool had been consumed by rust." 

The axe had, no doubt, been struck into the top of the stump, 
when the horrors of the deluge first appeared, in the bursting forth 
of the waters from above, that is from the windows of heaven ; — 
when sounds terrific, from the breaking forth of the waters of the 
great deep, and from the shock all sensitve beings must have felt 



134 AMERICAN ANTICIUITIES 

when the earth was caused to stand still in its onward course round 
the sun, for the space perhaps of a day. Remember Joshua, at 
whose command and prayer, God stopped the earth for the space 
of a whole day, but not its onward course around the sun, but its 
diurnal motion only, which could not have any effect on the fluids 
of the earth, as the sudden interruption of the other motion would 
have had. 

Who would not flee, when phenomena so terrible, without pre- 
sage or warning, were clianging the face of things, and the feelings 
of the atmosphere ; the earth quivering like an aspen leaf; forests 
leaning to the east, and snapping asunder in one awful crash over 
all the wide wilderness; rocks with mountains tumbling from their 
summits ; the stoutest heart would quail at such an hour as this ; 
an axe, with all things else, would be left by the owners, and a 
general flight, if they could stand at all on their feet, would take 
place, they knew not Avhither, for safety. 

In one of the communications of the admired Dr. Samuel L. 
Mitchell, professor of Natural History, to the American antiqua- 
rian society, he mentions a certain class of antiquities as distin- 
guished entirely from those which are found in and about the 
mounds of the west, as follows : In the section of country about 
Fredonia, on the south side of lake Erie, are discovered objects 
deservedly worthy of particular and inquisitive research. This 
kind of antiquities, present themselves on digging from thirty to 
fifty feet below the present surface of the ground. " They occur 
in the form of fire brands, split wood, ashes, coals, and occasionally 
tools and utensils, buried to those depths." This, it will be per- 
ceived, is much below the bed of lake Erie, of consequence must 
have been antediluvian, and agrees with the discovery of the stumps 
at Cincinnati. " We are informed, that in Rhode Island, New 
Jersey, Maryland, North Carolina, and in Ohio, such discoveries 
have been made." He says, " I wish the members of the society 
would exert themselves with all possible diligence to ascertain and 
collect the facts of this descriplioii. They will he exceedingly cu- 
rious, both for the geologist and hi'^torian. After such facts shall 
have been collected and methodised, we may perhaps draw some 
satisfactory conclusions; light *may possibly be shed upon the re- 
mote PelasgianSy and upon the traditionary Atlantides,'''' the in- 
habitants of the island, we have before spoken of, Atalantis. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. l$6 

But we cannot allow the discoveries made at this vast depth, to 
< belong to any age, or to any of the works of man this side the de- 
luge, as that time enough has not elapsed since that catastrophe, to 
allow the decomposition of vegetables, nor of convulsions, to have 
buried these articles so deep beneath the surface extending over so 
great a tract of country. The draining of lakes, however sudden, 
could never have had so wide and universal an effect. 

It would seem, therefore, that we are compelled to refer them 
to the works of man beyond the flood, which, by the overflowing 
of the waters, and the consequent ruin of the original surface, 
these works, with their makers, have been thus buried in a tomb 
more dreadful to the imagination than the ordinary receptacles of 
the dead. 

In evidence, that the ocean, at some period in ages past, over- 
whelmed the American continent, we notice, from the " British 
Spy," page 112, an account of the discovery of the skeleton of a 
whale, in Virginia : 

" Near Williamsburgh has recently been discovered, by a farm- 
er, while digging a ditch through a plat of ground, about five feet 
below the surface, a considerable portion of the skeleton of a whale. 
Several fragments of the ribs, and other parts, were found, with 
the whole of the vertebrae, or backbone, regularly arranged, and 
very little impaired as to figure. The spot where it was found is 
about two miles from James river, and about sixty from the sea. 
In the same region, at depths of from sixty to ninety and an hun- 
dred feet, have been found the teeth of sharks." In every region 
of the earth,, as well as America, and on the highest mountains, 
are found the bones and shells of the ancient inhabitants of the sea. 
From the universality of those appearances, we conclude they were 
deposited and cast thither by the billows of the deluge. 

From the discoveries of articles of the utensil character, the 
bones of whales, the teeth of sharks, and the stumps of Cincinnati, 
at various depths, as stated above ; we are led to the conclusion, 
that the original surface, of what is now called America, was per- 
haps not much disturbed ; but was rather suddenly, overwhelmed 
from the west, by the bursting forth of the subterranean Pacific, 
which, till then, had been covered with land, mountains and vales, 
thickly peopled. 



136 iLMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The vast depths of strata of loam, sand, clay, gravel, and stone^ 
which lie over each other, evincing, from the unnatural manner of 
their positions, that they were thrown furiously, by the agent, 
water, over the whole continent, furnished from the countries of 
the west 

That such may indeed, have been the fact, is favored from the 

discovery of the whale's skeleton, found on James river, which 

could never have been deposited there by other means than the 

flood ; forced onward, till killed by the violence and agitation of 

the wood, stone, and earth encumbered waters, and sunk finally 

down, where it was recently discovered. 

The pottery of the ancient nations, mentioned by Schoolcraft, 

found at the vast depth of eighty feet, and even at greater depths, 
at the great Saline in Illinois, is evidence of an antediluvian popu- 
lation in America. 

At Cincinnati there is a barrow or mound of human bones, situ- 
ated exactly on the edge of the bank, that overlooks the lower 
town, the principal street leading from the water is cut through it, 
and exposes its strata and remains to every person passing by. 
Seven tiers of skeletons lay plainly in sight, where the barrow had 
caved away, from its being undermined. Among the earth thus 
fallen down, were found several stone hatchets, pieces of pottery, 
and a flute.^ made of the great bone of the human leg. This is a 
very curious instrument, with beautifully carved figures, represent- 
ing birds, squirrels, and small animals, with perforated holes, in 
the old German manner, which, when breathed into, emitted tones 
of great melody. 

Among the modern Indians, no such instrument has ever beea 
found. At the time when the street was opened through this bar- 
row of the dead, a great variety of interesting and valuable relics 
■were brought to light ; among which were human double teethy 
■which, on a moderate calculation, bespoke men as large again as 
the present race. Also some brass rings, which were considered 
cxcedingly curious ; an instance of which is similar to the one 
before mentioned in this work. Iron rings, as we have before 
stated, were anciently used among the Britons before the Chris- 
tian era, as money ; and possibly in this case, the brass rings found 
in this barrow, may be a specimen of the ancient money of America. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 187 



Discovery of an Ivory Image in a Bone Mound at 
Cincinnati. 

In the same barrow of which I have been spsaking, was disco- 
vered an ivory image, which we consider more interesting, and 
surpasses any discovery yet mentioned. It is said to be now in the 
cabinet of rare collections, once in the possession of the illustrious 
Jefferson. 

The account of the image is as follows : It is seven inches high ; 
the figure full leqgth ; the costume, a rohcy in numberless folds, 
well expressed, and the hair displayed in many ringlets ; the child 
naked, near the left breast, and the mother's eye bent on it with a 
strong expression of affection and endearment- 
There are those who think it a representation of the mother of 
our Lord's humanity, with the child Jesus, in her arms. The Ro* 
man Catholics have availed themselves of this image, and made it 
a testimony of the antiquity of their religioa, and of the extensive 
range of their worship, by attempting to prove thereby, that the 
idol was nothing less than a Madona and Child — the virgin Mary, 
and the child Jesus ; and that the Roman Catholic religion was the 
first which arose in the earliest Christian age in the east, and the 
last which set in the west, where it became extinct, by means of 
a second deluge. 

The idea, however, of a second deluge, is inadmissible, as it 
would have destroyed every vestige of the mounds, pyramids, tu- 
muli, and fortifications, of which this work treats ; many of which 
are supposed older than the Christian era ; and the mound in which 
the image itself was discovered would also have been destroyed. 

There is, however, another opinion, which is not impossible 
may have furnished the imagination with materials for the origin 
of such a representation. The image may be of Greek origin, 
and taken from Isaiah the prophet, 7th chap. 14th verse, where it 
is said, — " Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." This 
prophecy of Isaiah was known to the Greeks, for the old Testa- 
ment was translated into their language in the time of Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, king of Egypt, nearly three hundred years before 
the Christian era. — (.See Adam Clarke's General Preface to the Old 
Testament^ p. 27, and is known as the Septugint version.) 

18 



138 AMERICAN MUTKVJVTlEe 

The Greek itataaries maj) in this way, have easily found th«' 
beautiful and captivating idea of a virgin motherj by reading Isaiah 
in the Greek ; a work fraught with all the grandeur of images in- 
spired by God himself, and could not fail to challenge the reading 
of every learned man of the empire, and such were the statuaries, 
among the Greeks, the fame of whose exquisite skill in this re- 
spect, will go down on the historic page to latest lime. 

From the Greeks such an image, celebrating the idea of a vir- 
gin mother and her child, may have easily come into the possession 
of the Romans, as the Greeks were, soon after the translation of the 
Hebrew scriptures into the Greek, subdued by the Romans; who, 
in their conquests, here and there, over the earth, including Europe, 
England, Scotland, and the northern islands, carrying that kind of 
image with them as a god, or talisman, and from thence to America. 

It 'is, however, not impossible, bat it may be indeed of true 
Roman Catholic origin ; as at the time the Romans evacuated 
Europe, with its isles, Ireland, England, &c., about the year 450, 
this church had risen to great importance in the Roman empire 
which aided her to establish her altars in every country they had 
conquered. Consequently, long before the Scandinavians colonized 
Iceland, Greenland, and Labrador, on the American continent, the 
Christian religion was planted in the north of Europe ; first in 
France, in the year 496, and then soon after in England ; and so 
on farther north among the ancient Scandinavians, Norwegians, 
&c., and by these to Iceland and Greenland; who may have alsa 
brought this trait of that church to America. 

The fort at Cincinnati is a circle, embracing about three acres, 
with a wall seven feet high, and twenty feet broad. At the back 
part of the upper level, at a distance from the circular fort, are two- 
mounds of about twenty feet high. One of these, by cutting a 
trench from east to west, four feet wide, and at the depth of ten 
feet, came to some heavy stones, under which was a body of com- 
position resembling plaster of Paris. This broke with great diffi- 
culty, when there were exposed a few fragments of an adult hu- 
man skeleton, placed on a bed of a similar nature with the cover- 
ing. It was determined to ascertain whether the monument was 
erected in memory of one person or more, the lower bed of hard 
Aubstance was also broken through, and underneath a stratum of 
stones, gravel »jA earth, found the frs^ents of another ikcletosj 



a!SD biJSOOVBSISfl IN THB WIEST. ISf 

^consistiog o( one tibia^ or piece of the shin, two piecei of the thigk 
bone, and the right upper, with the left under jaw. 

This was the skeleton of a child, from which was derived the 
important fact, that this mound was not erected for one individual 
only, but also for the infant chief or king ; and that the nation who 
erected this mound, in which the child was buried, was governed 
by 8 line of hereditary chiefs or kings,'as is evident from the nature 
and distinction of the interment of an infant; who certainly could 
not have been an elected chief; the suffrages of a nation could 
never be supposed to elevate an in/ant as its king; but if it suc- 
ceeded by right of lineal descent, it might have been their king. 

The next relic of antiquity, discovered at Cincinnati, is a sphe- 
rical stone, found on the fall of a large portion of the bank of the 
river. It is a green stone, twelve inches in diameter, divided into 
twelve sides, and each side into twelve equal parts, and each part 
distinguished by hieroglyphical engravings. This beautiful stone, 
it is said, is lodged in the cabinet of arts at Philadelphia. It is 
supposed the stone was formed for astronomical calculations, con- 
veying a knowledge of the movements of the heavenly bodies. 

Farther oa in this work, is an account of a still more wonderful 
-stone, covered with the engravings of the ancient nations, where « 
foe simile of the stone is presented. 



Ji Cavern of the West, in which are found many inter- 
esting Hieroglyphics, supposed to have been done by the 
Jlncisnt Inhabitants. 

On the Ohio, twenty miles below the mouth of the Wabash, is 
a c&vern, in which are found many hieroglyphics, and representa- 
tions of such delineations as would induce the belief, that their 
authors were, indeed, comparatively refined and civilized. 

It is a care in a rock, or ledge of the mountain, which presents 
itself to view, a little above the water of the river when in flood, 
and is situated close to the bank. In the early settlement «f Ohio, 
this care became possessed by a party of Kentuckians, «alled 
** Wilson's Gang." Wilson, in the first place, brought his familf 



140 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

to this cave, and fitted it up, as a spacious dwelling, erected a sign- 
post on the water side, on which were these words, " Wilsou^s 
Liquor Vault, and House of Entertainment." The novelty of such 
a tavern, induced almost all the boats descending the river to call • 
for refreshments and amusement. Attracted by these circumstan- 
ces, several idle characters took up their abode at the cave, after 
which it continually resounded with the shouts of the licentious, 
the clamor of the riotous, and the blasphemy of gamblers. Out of 
such customers, Wilson found no difficulty in forming a band of 
robbers, with whom he formed the plan of murdering the crews of 
every boat that stopped at his tavern, and of sending the boats 
manned by some of his party, to New-Orleans, and there sell their 
loading for cash, which was to be conveyed to the cave by land, 
through the states of Tennesse and Kentucky ; the party return- 
ing with it being instructed to murder and rob, on all good oc- 
easions, on the road. 

After a lapse of time, the merchants of the upper country began 
to be alarmed, on finding their property make no returns, and tJieir 
people never coming back- Several families and respectable men, 
who had gone down the river were never heard of ; and the losses 
became so frequent, that it raised, at length, a cry of individual 
distress and general dismay. This naturally led to inquiry, and 
large rewards were offered for the discovery of the perpetrators of 
such unparalleled crimes. It soon came out, that Wilson, with an 
organized party of forty-five men, was the cause of such waste of 
blood and treasure ; that he had a station at Hurricane island, to 
arrest every boat that passed by the mouth of the cavern, and that 
he had agents at Natchez and New-Orleans, of presumed respecta- 
bility, who converted his assignments into cash, though they knew 
the goods to be stolen, or obtained by the commission of murder. 

The publicity of Wilson's transactions soon broke up his party ; 
some dispersed, others were taken prisoners, and he himself was 
killed by one of his associates, who was tempted by the reward 
ofiered for the head of the captain of the gang. 

This cavern measures about twelve rods in length, and five in 
width ; its entrance presents a width of eighty feet at its base, and 
twenty-five feet high. The interior walls are smooth rock. The 
floor is very remarkable, being level through the whole length of 
its centre, the sides rising in stony grades, in the manner of seats in 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 141 

the pit of a theatre. On a diligent scrutiny of the walls, it is plain- 
ly discerned that the ancient inhabitants at a very remote period, 
had made use of the cave as a house of deliberation and council. 
The walls bear many hieroglyphics well executed ; and some of 
them represent animals, which have no resemblance to any now 
known to natural history. 

This cavern is a great natural curiosity, as it is connected with 
another still more gloomy, which is situated exactly above, united 
by an aperture of about fourteen feet; which, to ascend, is like 
passing up a chimney, while the mountain is yet far above. Not 
long after the dispersion and arrest of the robbers, who had infested 
it, in the upper vault were found the skeletons of about sixty per* 
sons, who had been murdered by the gang of Wilson, as was sup- 
posed. But the tokens of antiquity are still more curious and im- 
portant, than a description of the mere cave, which are found en- 
graved on its sides within, an account of which we proceed to give. 

1 The sun, in different stages of rise and declension ; the moon, 
under various phases ; a snake, biting its tail, and representing an 
orb or circle ; a viper ; a vulture ; buzzards tearing out the heart 
of a prostrate man ; a panther held by the ears by a child ; a cro- 
codile ; several trees and shrubs ; a fox ; a curious kind of hydra 
serpent ; two doves ; several bears ; two scorpions ; an eagle ; an 
owl ; some quails ; eight representations of animals which are now 
unknown. Three out of the eight are like the elephant in all re- 
spects except the tusk and the tail. Two more resemble the tiger, 
tne a wild boar, another a sloth ; and the last appears a creature of 
fancy, being a quadrumane instead of a quadruped, the claws being 
alike before and behind, and in the act of conveying something to 
the mouth, which lay in the centre of the monster. Besides these 
were several fine representations of men and women, not naked, 
but clothed ; not as the Indians, but much in the costume of Greece 
and Rome. 

We must at once perceive that these objects, with an exception 
or two, were employed by the ancient Greeks to display the nature 
of the world, the omnipotence of God, the attributes of man, and 
the utility of rendering his knowledge systematic and immortal. 

All human sciences flourished among the Egyptians long before 
they were common to any other people ; the Grecians in the days 
of Solon, about 600 b. c. ; Pythagoras, about the same time ; He- 



142 AMERXCAIf ANTIQUITIES 

rodotus, about 450 b. c ; and Plato, a little later; acquired ilk 
Egypt all that knowledge of nature which rendered them so emi- 
nent and remarkable. But the Egyptian priests did not divulge 
their doctrines, but by the aid of signs and figurative emblems. 
Their manner was, to discover to their auditors the mysteries of 
God and nature, in hieroglyphics ; which were certain visible shapes 
and forms of creatures, whose inclinations and dispositions led to 
the knowledge of the truths intended for instruction. All their 
divinity, philosophy, and their greatest secrets, were comprehended 
in these ingenious characters for fear they should be profaned by a 
familiar acquaintance wilh the commonalty. 

It requires but a rapid and cursory view of the hieroglyphics 
above enumerated, to convince us of design ; and also that the ca- 
vern wherein they are found eagraved, was- originally a place of 
worship or of council. The sun, the most glorious of all visible 
beings, represented their chief god, and received their adoration for 
causing all the vegetation of the earth to bring forth its increase. 

2. The moon denoted the nest most beautiful object in the crea- 
tion, and was worshipped for her own peculiar usefulness ; and 
more particularly for supplying the place of the departed sun, 

3. The snake, in the form of an orb, or circle, biting its tail, 
pointed out the continual mutation of creatures, and the change of 
matter, or the perpetual motion of the world itself. If so, this con- 
struction of that hieroglyphic, the snake, agrees with the Greek 
figure, of the same kind ; which implies that the world feeds upon 
itself, and receives from itself in return, a continual supply for re- 
novation and nourishment ; the same symbol designated the year 
which revolves round, and ends where it first began, like the ser- 
pent with its tail in its mouth ; it is believed the ancient Greeks 
gave it this meaning. 

4. The viper, the most venomous of all creatures, was the em- 
blem of the devil, or wicked angel ; for, as its poison is quick and 
powerful, so is the destroying spirit in bringing on mankind evils, 
which can only be opposed by the grace and power of God. 

6. The vulture, tearing out the bowels of a prostrate man, seems 
• moral intending to reprove fierceness and cruelty. Dr. Rush 
says this hieroglyphic represents intemperance, and by them was so 
understood. 

<5, The panther, held by the ears by a child, was neuit to im- 



AND DiaCOVERIES m TUC WEST. I4S 

prcBs a sense of the dominion of innocence and virtue over oppres- 
sion and vice: or perhaps it bore the Greek meaning of a wretch 
encompassed with difficulties which he vainly attempts to avoid. 

7. The crocodile, from its power and might, was another symbol 
of the Great Spirit ; or its beinj; the only creature without a tongue, 
might have given it a title to the same honor ; all heathen nations 
concur in representing their gods beholding and doing all things in 
heaven and earth in profound silence. 

8. The several trees and shrubs were undoubtedly emblematical, 
of particular virtues, as represented in this temple, the cave, from 
a veneration for their aromatic and healing properties. Among the, 
ancients, we know that the palm tree and the laurel were emblems 
of victory and deserved honor, the myrtle of pleasure, the cedar of 
eternity, the oak of strength, the olive of fruitfulness, the vine of 
delight and joy, and the lily of beauty. But what those in the 
cave imply, it is not possible to determine, as nothing of their cha- 
racter can be deduced from the manner they were sketched on the 
surface of a rough wall, the design obscured by smoke, or nearly 
obliierated from the effect of damp, and the gradual decay of time,. 

9. The fox, from every authority, was put to denote subtlety 
and craftiness. 

10. The hydra serpent probably signified malice and envy, pas- 
sions which the hieroglyphic taught mankind to avoid. 

11. The two doves were hieroglyphics of constancy in love ; all 
nations agree in this, in admiring the attachment of doves. 

12. The bears, it is apprehended, signify industry, labor and pa- 
tience : for the Indians believe the cubs of the bear come into the- 
world with misshapen parts, and that their eyes, ears, and other 
memberi are licked into form by the mother, who passes days in 
that anxious and unceasing employ. 

13. The scorpions were calculated to inspire % detestation for 
malignity and vice ; even the present race of Indians hold these 
animals in great disgust, healing wounds inflicted by them, with a 
preparation of their own blood. 

14. The eagle represents and is held to this day as the emblem 
of a great, noble and liberal mind ; fierce in war, conquering the 
enemy, and protecting his friends ; he among the Indians who can 
4o this, is compared with the eegle. 

15. The owl must haT« been set np to deter men from deceit 



144 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and hypocrisy. He cannot endure the light of the sun, nor can 
hypocrisy bear that of truth and sincerity. He may have been 
the emblem of death and wretchedoess, as among the Egyptians ; 
or of victory and prosperity, when in a flying attitude, as among 
the Greeks. 

16. The quails afford no clue to their hireoglyphic, unless they 
signify the corn season, and point out the time for the usage of some 
particular rites and ceremonies of a religious nature. With the 
Greeks, they were emblematical of impiety, from a belief that they 
engage and torment themselves when the crescent of the new 
moon appears. 

17. The representations of the larger animals were doubtless in^ 
dicative of the power and attributes of the Great Spirit. The mam' 
moth showing his greatness, the tiger his strength, the boar his 
wrath, the sloth his patience, and the nondescript his hidden vir= 
tues, which are past finding out. 

18. The human figures are more definite, and afford inferences 
more certain, on account of the dress they are represented in, which 
rembles the Roman ; the figures would be taken for European an> 
tiquities, were it not for the character and manner of the heads. 
The dress of these figures consisted of, — a carbasus, or rich cloak ; 
a sabucala, or waistcoat, or shirt; a supparum, or breeches, ©pen 
at the knees ; solea, or sandals, tied across the toes and heels ; the 
head embraced by a bandeau, crowned with flowers. 

19. The dress of the females, carved in this cave, have a Gre- 
cian cast, the hair encircled by the crown, and was confined by a 
bodkin ; the remaining part of this costume was Roman. The 
garments called stoUa, or perhaps the toga pura, flounced from the 
shoulders to the ground ; an indusium appeared underneath ; the 
indusium was confined under the breast, by a zone or cestus ; and 
sandals, in the manner of those of the men. 

Could all this have been produced by the mere caprice of abo- 
riginal artizans .' We think not. They have, in this instance, ei- 
ther recorded their own manners in the one particular of costume, 
or they have represented that of others, who had come among them 
as strangers, and wonderfully induces the beliefj that such were 
Greeks, Romans, or some nation of the earth whose mode of dress 
was similar. Viewed in the most critical manner, this instance of 
American antiquity cannot fail to excite in the mind surprise, when 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. liB 

we contrast this with the commonly received opinion, that Colum- 
bus was the first discoverer of this country. 

The hieroglyphic carved in this cave, which represents a child 
holding or leading a panther, brings forcibly to the mind a similar 
idea in the Hebrew scriptures, in the book of Isaiah, chapter 14, 
6th verse, where it is said, the wolf, the leopard and the young lion 
shall be led by a child ; and relates to the period when both natu- 
ral and moral evil shall have no existence in the earth, as is be- 
lieved by some. 

In this cave, it appears, there are skelched on the rock the figure* 
of several animals, now extinct ; among which are three, much 
resembling the elephant, the tail and tusks excepted. It would be 
passing the bounds of credulity to suppose the artists who delineat- 
ed those figures, would represent no less than eight animals, differ- 
ing in their configuration, one from the other, which had in reality 
no being, and such as these had never been seen. 

We suppose the animals resembling the elephant, to have been 
the mammoth, and that those ancients were well acquainted with 
the creature, or they could never have engraved it on the rock. 
Job, of the scriptures, who was a native of the land of Uz, in Idu- 
mea, which is situated southwest of the lake Asphaltites, or sea 
of Sodom, was also well acquainted with this animal. (^See Job, 
chapter 40.) "Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee ; 
he eateth grass as an ox. Lo, now his strength is in his loins ; and 
his force in the navel of his belly. He raoveth his tail like a 
cedar ; the sinews of his loins are wrapped together. His boned 
are as strong pieces of brass ; his bones are like bars of iron. He 
is the chief of the ways of God." 

Whoever has examined the skeleton of one of those animals, 
now in the Philadelphia museum, will acknowledge the bones are 
equal to bars of brass or iron. Its height over the shoulders, eleven 
feet ; from the point of the nose to the end of the tail, following 
the exterior or curve, is twenty-one feet ; a single tooth weighs 
four pounds ten ounces. The rib bones are six inches in width, 
and in thickness three ; the whole skeleton as it is, with the ex- 
ception of a few bones, weighs one thousand pounds. 

But how tremendous must that animal have been, to which the 
tooth weighing twenty-five pounds, found in the earth at Cincin- 
nati belonged, more tlian five times the dimensions of the one de- 

19 



146 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES ' 

scribed above ; arguing, from proportion, that is, if a tooth belong- 
ed to a skeleton weighing one thousand pounds, was found to be 
four pounds ten ounces ; a tooth weighing twenty-five pounds 
would give a skeleton of more than five thousand pounds. And 
if the calculation be carried ibrward in this sort of proportion, we 
shall produce an animal more than forty feet high, and nearly an 
hundred in length, with a proportionable thickness. 

What would be the sensation, were we to meet an animal of 
this sort in his ancietit haunts ; it would almost appear a moving 
mountain ; but add to this, the enormous eyes of the animal, set 
at a frightful distance from each other, with an amplitude of fore- 
hci-d between, clothed like the side of a hill, with a forest of 
shaggy hair; a mouth, gaping like some drear ^cavern, set round 
with teeth sufficient to crush a bufl^alo at a mouthful; its distended 
nostrils emitting vapor like the puffs of a steam boat, with a sound, 
when breathing, that might be heard afar ; the legs appearing in 
size of dimensions sufficient to bear a ship on his shoulders ; and 
his feet or paws spread out like a farmer's corn fan, armed with 
claws like flukes to an anchor of a vessel of war ; the tail, as it is 
said in Job, waving to and fro, like a cedar bending before the wind. 
But add to all this, anger ; let him but put his fierceness on, his 
eyes flash fire, his tail elevated aloft, lashing the ground, here and 
there, at a dreadful distance from his body ; his voice like the 
double rolling of thunder, jarring the Avilderness ; at which every 
living thing would tremble, and drop to the earth. Such an ani- 
mal would indeed be the " chief of the ways of God," it would be 
perfectly safe in the midst of a tornado in the wilderness ; no tree, 
or a forest of them, could possibly harm the monster by falling 
against it ; it would shake them off', as mere troublesome insects, 
as smaller animals do the flies in a summer's day. 

The one in Peale's museum, of which we have spoken, a page 
or two back, is one out of nine skeletons of this monster, which 
were dug out of the earth in the neighborhood of the Shongum 
mountain, in Ulster county, on the southwestern side of the State 
of New York, eight of which were sent to Europe. — (See Spafford^s 
Gazeteer of New York.) 

Near Rochester, in the State of New York, in 1833, two teeth 
of this animal were discovered, but a small depth beneath the sur- 
face. They were found in the town of Perrinton, near Fullam's 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 147 

JBasin, some time ago, by Mr. William Maun, who was engaged in 
digging up a stump. They were deposited about four feet below 
the surface of the earth. These were in a tolerably good state of 
preservation; the roots begin to crumble a little, but the ennmel 
of the teeth is in almost a perfect state. The teeth we're the 
grinders, and from their appearance, were located in the back part 
of the upper jaw. The largest one weighs three pounds and ten 
ounces, measuring six inches lengthwise of the jaw, and three 
inches across the top, the root is about six inches long with several 
prongs. The other tooth is smaller. If we are to suppose this 
animal to have the same number of teeth that other animals com- 
monly have, and that the rest of the teeth were of the same pro- 
portions, as to size, the circle of the jaw from one end to the other 
must have been six feet. Again, if we were to estimate the com- 
parative size of this tooth with that of a large ox, and from thence 
infer the size of the animal to which this tooth belonged, we should 
probably find that its size was forty times larger than our largest 
oxen. 

A forest of trees would soon be nibbled to their roots by a herd 
of such animals as these ; and the western continent would prove 
a small enough pasture for a moderate number of them. 

Dr. Adam Clarke mentions, in his commentary on the subject 
of this animal, denominated behemoth in Job, 40th chapter, 15th 
verse, that he had weighed one of the very smallest grinders of an 
animal of this supposed* extinct race, and found it, in its very dry 
state, to weigh "four pounds eight ounces;" " the same grinder of 
an elephant, says Dr. Clarke, I have weighed also, and find it but 
two pounds ; the mammoth, therefore, continues this great author, 
from this proportion, must have been as large as tico elephants and 
a quarter." 

If, then, an animal of this kind, having a tooth weighing only 
four pounds and eight ounces, was more than twice as large as an 
ordinary elephant, how unwieldily and monsterous must have been 
tlie animal to which the tooth just mentioned, weighing twenty-fine 
pounds, once belonged, arguing from proportion, as Dr. Clarke has 
done. 

The same author, in his Biblical Commentary on the first book 
of Genesis says, that from a considerable part of a skeleton which 
he had seen and examined, it %^as computed that the animal, whe© 



148 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

living, must have bewi nearly twenty-five feet high and sixty feet 
in length ; the bones of one toe were entire, and were something 
more than three feet long. The height of the animal, as computed 
by Dr. Clarke, will agree well with the observations of travellers. 
In the vicinity of May's lick, or Salt spring, in the state of Ken- 
tucky, there are several holes, marked in such a manner as to pror 
claim at once, that they were formed by animals wallowing in 
them, after they had bathed and satiated themselves with the wa- 
ters of the fountain ; these were the works of buffaloes, deer, and 
other small animals. 

But the same appearances are evident in some banks in the 
neighborhood, which were hollowed in a semi-circular manner, 
from the action of beasts rubbing against them, and carrying off 
quantities of the earth on their hides, forming a thick coat, to de- 
fend against the stings of numberless flies, like the rhinoceros of 
Africa. One of those scooped out hollow banks, appeared as if an 
hundred thousand loads of soil might have been carried off; the 
height of the wasted bank, where it was affected by attrition, was 
at least twenty-five feet. The other animals being smaller, could 
get down and up again from their wallowing, with ease and quick- 
ness ; but the mammoths were compelled, from their size, to lean 
against some hill or mountain, so as to coat their hide with earth. 

Near this spot are often found the frames of this animal, sunk 
in the mire. In the state of Missouri, White river and Strawberry 
river, are certain ranges of mountains, at whose base, in a certain 
sp©t, are found " large quantities of these bones gathered in a small 
compass, which collection was doubtless occasioned by the appetite 
these animals had for prey, and had been attracted thither, on ac- 
count of other animals flocking to the salt licks, at that place ; the 
mammoths, following, became mired when they ventured too iar, 
in pursuit, into the marsh, and of course the struggles of the last 
one would sink the bones of his predecessor still deeper. Thus, 
these coUectiens are easily accounted for, although, at first, it seems 
very strange to see these bones accumulated, like those of some of 
the extinct Indian tribes of the west." — {BecFs Gazetteer of llli- 
ttois and Missouri^ p. 232.) 

Adam Clarke supposes the behemoth to have been a carnivorous 
animal. See his remarks on this monster, va his Commentary on 
Job, 40th chapter, loth verse: "The behemoth, on the contrary, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. I4ff 

(i. e. in oppobition to the habits of the hippopotamus and elephant,) 
is represented as a quadruped of a ferocious nature, and formed for 
tyranny, if not rapacity ; equally lord of the floods and of the 
mountains; rushing with rapidity of foot, instead of slowness or 
stateliness ; and possessing a rigid and enormous tail, like a cedar 
tree, instead of a short naked tail of about a foot long, as the hippo- 
potamus, or a weak, slender,hog-shaped tail, as the elephant." 

Job says, c xl. v. 17, that he (this monster) raoveth his tail like 
a cedar, that is, its motions were like those of a tall cedar tree' 
moved slowly one way and the other by the wind, which explicitly 
and emphatically marks the monstrousness of this creature's size. 
" He moveth his tail like a cedar," slowly one way and the other ; 
exactly as the lion, the tiger, or the leopard, in the motions of this 
limb, especially when angry, or watching for their prey ; on which 
account, it is probable, Job has seen fit to make mention of this pe- 
culiar motion of the animal ; and also it is an evidence of the over- 
whelming power or strength of the mammoth. He was, indeed, as. 
it is said in Job, " the chief of the ways of God," in the creation q( 
animals. 

At St. Helen's point, north of Guayaquil, in the republic of Co- 
lombia, South America, on the coast of the Pacific, on the equator, 
are found the enormous remains of this animal. The Peruvian tra- 
dition of those bones is, that at this very point once lauded, from 
some unknown quarter of the earth, a colony of giants, who mutu- 
ally destroyed each other. At New Granada in the same province, 
and on the ridge of the Mexican Cordilleras, vast quantities of the 
remains of this huge beast are found. — (HumboldVs Researches in 
South America.) 

The remains of a monster recently discovered on the bank of the 
Mississippi, in Louisiana, seventeen feet under ground, may be con- 
sidered as the greatest wonder of the west. The largest bone, 
which was thought to be the shoulder blade or jaw bone, is twenty 
feet long, three broad, and weighed 1200 pounds. The aperture 
in the vertebrae, or place for the pith of the back bone, is six by 
nine inches calibre ; supposed when alive to have been 125 feet 
in length. The awful and tremendous size of what this creature 
must have been, to which this shoulder blade or jaw bone belonged, 
when alive, is almost frightful to think of. It must have been a 
«vater animal. 



150 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

In President Jefferson's Notes on Virginia^ we have the following 
as the tradition of the Indians respecting this animal, which they 
call the big buffalo, and assert that he is carniverous, as Dr. Clarke 
contends, and still exists in the northern parts of America. 

" A delegation of warriors from the Dtilaware tribe visited the 
government of Virginia, during the Revolution, on matters of busi- 
ness ; after this had been discussed, and settled in council, the go- 
vernor asked some questions relative to their country, and among 
others, what they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones 
were found at the licks on the Ohio. 

" Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an attitude of 
orat(5ry, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the eleva- 
tion .^f his subject, informed him that it was a tradition handed 
down from their fathers, that in ancient times a herd of these tre- 
mendous animals came to the Big-bone lick, and began an universal 
destruction of the bear, deer, elk, buffaloes and other animals which 
had been created for the use of the Indians- And that the Great 
Man above, looking down and seeing this, was so enraged, that he 
seized his lightning, descended on the earth, seated himself on a 
neighboring mountain, on a certain rock, where the print of his feet 
are still remaining, from whence he hurled his bolts among them, 
till the whole were slaughtered, except the big bull ; who, present- 
ing his forehead to the shafts shook them oft' as they fell ; but at 
length one of them missing his head glanced on his side, wounding 
him sufficiently to make him mad; whereon, springing round, he 
bounded over the Ohio at a leap, then over the Wabash at another, 
the Illinois at a third, and a fourth leap over the great lakes, where 
he is living at this day." 

" A Mr. Stanley, taken prisoner by the Indians near the mouth 
of the Tennessee river, relates that after being transferred through 
several tribes, was at length carried over the mountains west of the 
Missouri, to a river which runs westwardly ; that these bones 
abounded there, and that the nations described to him the animal 
to which these belonged, as still living in the northern parts of their 
country." 

Mr. Jefferson contends, at page 77 of his Notes on Virginia, that 
this animal is not extinct. "It may be asked," says this philoso- 
pher, " why I insert the mammoth as if it still existed. I ask in 
return, whv I should omit it^ as if it did not exist r The northern 



AND DlSCOVEiRIBS IN THK WEST. 151 

and western parts still remain in their aboriginal state, uncTcplored 
and undisturbed by us, or by others for us. He may as well exist 
there now as he did formerly, where we find his bones. If he be 
a carnivorous animal, as some anatomists have conjectured, and the 
Indians affirm," his early retirement to deeper wilds, may be ac- 
counted for, from the great destruction of the wild game, by the 
Indians, which commenced in tke very first instant of their connex- 
ion with us, for the purpose of purchasing matchcoats, hatchets, 
and guns, with their skins." 

The description of this monster's habits, as given by the Delaware 
chief, has a surprising agreement with the account of the behemoth 
given by Job, especially at this verse : — " Surely the mountains 
bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play." " He 
frequents those places, (says Dr. Clarke,) where he can have most 
prey ; he makes a mock of all the beasts of the field. They can 
neither resist his power nor escape his agility. It appears to have 
been a many-toed animal ; the springs which such a creature could 
make must have been almost incredible ; nothing by swiftness could 
have escaped its pursuit. God seems to have made it as the proof 
of his power, and had it been prolific, and not become extinct, it 
would have depopulated the earth of both men and animals 



Tracks of Men and Animals in the Rocks of Tennessee 

and elsewhere. 

Among the subjects of antiquity, which are abundant on the 
American continent, we give the following, from Morse'' s Universal 
Geography, which in point of mysteriousness is not surpassed, per- 
haps, on the globe. In the state of Tennessee, on a certain moun- 
tain, called the enchanted mountain, situated a few miles south of 
Braystown, which is at the head waters of the Tennessee river, are 
found impressed in the surface of the solid rock, a great number of 
tracks, as turkies, bears, horses, and human beings, as perfect as 
they could be made on snow or sand. The human tracks are re- 
markable for having uniformly six toes each, like the Anakims of 
Scripture ; one only excepted, which appears to be the print of a 
negro's foot. One, among those tracks, is distinguished from the 



152 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

rest, by its monstrousness, being of no less dimensions than six-^ 
teen inches in length, across the toes thirteen inches, behind the 
toes,, where the foot narrows toward the instep, seven inches, and 
the heel ball five inches. 

One also among the tracks of the animals, is distinguished for its 
great size : it is the track of a horse, measuring eight by ten 
inches ; perhaps the horse which the great warrior led when pass- 
ing this mountain with his army. That these are the real tracks 
of the animals they represent, appears from the circumstance of 
this horse's foot having slipped several inches, and recovered again ; 
the figures have all the same direction, like the trail of a company 
on a journey. 

Not far from this very spot, are vast heaps of stones, which are 
the supposed tombs of warriors, slain, perhaps in the very battle 
this big footed warror was engaged in, at a period when these 
mountains which give rise to some branches of the Tugulo, Apa- 
lachicola, and Hiwassa rivers, were in a state of soft and clayey 
texture. On this range, according to Mexican tradition, was the 
holy mountain ; temple and cave of Olaimi, where was also a city 
and the seat of their empire, more ancient than that of Mexico. 
To reduce that city, perhaps, was the object of the great warrior, 
whose track with that of his horse and company, still appear. 
We are of the opinion, that these tracks, found sunk in the sur- 
face of the rocks of this mountain, is indubitable evidence of their 
antiquity, going back to the time when men dispersed over the 
earth, immediately after the flood. 

At the period when this troop passed the summit of this moun- 
tain, the rock was in a soft and yielding state ; time, therefore, suf- 
ficient for it to harden to its present rock consistency, is the argu- 
ment of the great distance of time elapsed since they went over it- 
It is probable the whole of these mountains, out of which a:rise 
the branches of the rivers above alluded to, were, at the time when 
the deluge subsided, but a vast body of clay ; for even now, the 
surface, where it is not exposed to the rays of the sun, is of a soft 
texture, capable of being cut with a knife, and appears to be of the 
nature of the pipe stone. 

In order that those tracks might retain their shape against the 
operation of rains, the clay must have been of a tough &nd oily 
nature j and hardened by slow degrees, after having been brought 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. ISS 

to feel the influence of the sun's rays, and drying nature of the 
Mrinds. The changing and revolutionising consequences of the 
flood, it is likely, unbared these bodies of clay from the depths of 
the earth, by washing off' all the other kinds of strata, not so ad- 
hesive as is the nature of this clay ; out of which these ranges of 
mountains have been made, some eighteen hundred years later than 
the original creation. 

In the wild and savage country of Guiana, in South America, 
are mountains of a prodigious height, on whose smooth and perpen- 
dicular sides, which seem once to have been a barrier to mighty 
waters, are engraved, at a surprising distance from their base, the 
figures of animals ; also the sun, moon, and stars, with other hiero- 
glyphical signs. The tradition respecting them, among the na- 
tives, is that their ancestors, in a time of great waters came in ca- 
noes, to the tops of these mountains, and that the stones were then 
so soft, and plastic, that men could easily trace marks on them 
with their fingers, or with sticks. These rocks, it would appear, 
were then in a state similar to those in Tennessee, which also had 
retained the impressions made on them by the feet of the traveller. 
But these mysterious traces found on the mountain in Tennessee, 
are not the only impressions of the kind. Mr. Schoolcraft, in his 
travels in the central parts of the Mississippi regions, informs us, 
that on the limestone strata of rock, which forms the shores of the 
Mississippi, and along the neighborhood of St. Louis, were found 
tracks of the human foot, deeply and perfectly impressed in the 
solid stone. But two traces of this sort have been, as yet, dis- 
covered ; these are the same represented on the plate, as given by 
Schoolcraft. 

" The impressions in the stone are, to all appearances, those of 
a man standing in aa erect posture, with the left foot a little ad- 
vanced, and the heels drawn in. The distance between the heels, 
by accurate measurement, is six inches and a quarter, and between 
the extremities of the toes, thirteen and a half. The length of 
these tracks is ten and a quarter inches, across the toes four inches 
and a half, as spread out, and but two and a half at the heel. 
Directly before the prints of these feet, within a few inches, is a 
well impressed and deep mark, having some resemblance to a 
scroll^ or roll of parchment, two feet long, by a foot in width. 

To account for these appearances, two theories are advanced; 

20 



154 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

one is, tbat they were sculptured there by the ancient nations : 
the other, that they were impressed there at a time when the rock 
was in a plastic state ; both theories have their diflSculties, but we 
incline to the latter, because the impressions are strikingly natural, 
says Mr. Schoolcraft, exhibiting even the muscular marks of the 
foot, with great precision and faithfulness to nature, and on this ac- 
count, weakens, in his opinion, the doctrine of their being sculp- 
tured by the ancient nations. 

But why there are no others going to and from these, is unac- 
countable, unless we may suppose the rest of this rock, at that 
time, was buried by earth, brush, grass, or some kind of covering. 
If they were sculptured, [why not other specimens appear ; this 
one isolated eflFort of the kind, would seem unnatural. — (iSe* the 
plate which is a true fac simik of those tracks.) 



Cotubamana, the Giant Chief. 

On the subject of the stature of the Patagonians, we have the 
following remarks of Morse, the geographer. " We cannot, with- 
out a charge of unreasonable scepticism, deny all credence to the 
accounts that have been transmitted to us, of a race of men of ex- 
traordinary stature, in the country about the strait of Magellan. 

Inscrutable as are the ways of Providence, and as limited as is 
the progress hitherto made in the natural philosophy of the globe 
we inhabit, no bounds can be assigned to the endless variety of 
phenomena, which successively appear. The man who can assign 
a reason why an Irish giant, or a Polish dwarf, should be bora 
amidst nations of ordinary stature, will have solved every problem, 
as to the existence, either of gigantic Patagonians, or of pigmy Es- 
quimaux. 

From an impartial revision of the various authorities, it appears, 
as an established fact, that the usual stature of one or more tribes 
of Indians in Patagonia, is from six and a half to seven and a half 
feet." When the Spaniards conquered a!nd destroyed the nations 
and tribes of some of the West India islands, among them was a 
tribe whose chief was a man of great stature. Cotubamana wa» 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 1&5 

the name of this cacique, who resided with his nation on the island 
Higuey, adjacent to Hispaniola. 

This chieftian, as related by Las Casas, the historian, was the 
strongest of his tribe, and more perfectly formed than one man of 
a thousand, of any nation whatever. He was taller than the tallest 
of his countrymen, and in width from shoulder to shoulder full three 
feet, with the rest of his person in admirable proportion. His as- 
pect was not handsome ; yet his countenance was grave, strongly 
marked with the characteristics of a man of courage. His bow 
was not easily bent by a common man ; his arrows were three 
pronged, pointed with the bones of fishes ; all his weapons were 
large enough for a giant ; in a word, he was so nobly proportioned 
as to be the admiration of even the Spaniards. 

Already the murderous Spaniards had been more than conquer- 
ors in several battles which drove the poor fugitives to their caves, 
and the fastnesses of the mountains, whither they had followed their 
chief. A daily pursuit was continued, but chiefly to capture the 
as yet invincible Cotubamana. While searching in the woods and 
hills of the island, at a certain time, and having got on their trail, 
they came at length to a place where the path which they had fol- 
lowed suddenly divided into many, the whole company of the 
Spaniards, except one man, chose a path, which they pursued. 
This one exception, was a man named Juan Lopez, a powerful 
Spaniard, and skilful in the mode of Indian warfare. He chose 
to proceed alone, in a blind foot path, leading ofi" to the left of the 
course the others had taken, winding among little hills, so thickly 
wooded that it was impossible to see a man at the^ distance of half 
a bow shot. But as he was silently darting along this path, he en- 
countered all at once, in a narrow pass, overhung by rocks and 
trees, twelve Indian warriors, armed with bows and arrows, fol- 
lowing each other in Indian file. The poor natives were con- 
founded at the sight of Lopez, imagining there must be a party of 
soldiers behind him, or they would doubtless have transfixed him 
with their arrows. Lopez demanded of them where their chief 
was ; they replied, he is behind us, and opening to let him pass, 
he beheld the dauntless Cotubamana in the rear. At sight of the 
Spaniard, the gallant cacique bent his gigantic bow, and was on 
the point of launching one of his three headed arrows into his 
heart ; but Lopez at the instant, rushed upon him, and wounded 
him with his sword. 



156 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The other Indians, struck with terror, had fled. The Spaniard 
and Cotubamana now grappled with each other ; Lopez had seized 
the chief by the hair of his head with one hand, and was aiming 
with the other a thrust with his sword at his naked body, but the 
chief struck down the sword with his arm, and closed in with his 
antagonist, and threw him with his back upon the rou|h rocks. 

As they were both men of great strength, the struggle was long 
and violent. The sword lay beneath them, but Cotubamana seized 
with his great hand the Spaniard's throat, and began to strangle 
him, when the sound of the contest brought the other Spaniards to 
the spot. They found their companion writhing and gasping in 
the agonies of death, in the gripe of the Indian. The whole band 
now fell, upon him, and finally succeeded in binding his noble 
limbs, when they carried him to St- Domingo, where the infernal 
Spaniards hanged him as if he had been a murderer. — {Irving^s 
Life of Columbusy vol. 3, p. 159.) 

Could this native have been less than twelve feet in height, to be 
iu proportion with the breadth of his back between his shoulders, 
which was full three feet, as Las Casas relates ? In reading the 
story of the miserable death of this hero, we are reminded of the 
no less tragical end of Wallace, the Scottish chief, who was, it is 
said, a man of great size and strength, and was also executed for 
defending his country. 

Goliath of Gath was six cubits and a span high, which, accord- 
ing to the estimate of Bishop Cumberland, was eleven feet and 
ten inches ; Cotubamana and Goliath of the Philistines, were, it 
appears, much of the same stature, terrible to look upon, and irre- 
sistible in strength. 

There are those who imagine, that the first inhabitants of the 
globe, or the antediluvians, were much larger than our race at the 
present time; and although it is impossible to prove this opinion, 
yet the subject is not beyond the reach of argument in its support. 

The circumstance of their immense longevity favors strongly 
this opinion ; our species, as they are now constituted, could not 
possibly endure the pressure of so many years ; the heart, with all 
the blood vessels of the body, would fail. All the organs of the 
human subject, which appertain to the blood, would ossify, and 
ee9.se their action, long before five, six and nine hundred years 
■^euld transpire, unless differently or more abundantly sustained 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 157 

with the proper support, than could now be furnished from the lit- 
tle bodies of the present times. 

Small streams sooner feel the power of a drought than a river or 
a lake ; great trees are longer sustained beneath the rays of a burn- 
ing sky, without rain, than a mere weed or shrub ; and this is by 
reason of the greater quantum of the juices of the tree, and of the 
greater quantum of the water of the river or the lake. 

Apply this reasoning to the antediluvians, and we arrive at the 
conclusion, that their bodies must have been larger than ours, or 
the necessary juices could not have been contained, so as to furnish 
a heart, and all the blood vessels, with a sufficient ratio of strength 
and vigor to support life so many ages in succession. 

Their whole conformation must have been of a larger, looser, 
and more generous texture, as the flesh and skin of the elephant, 
which is the largest as well as the longest lived animal known to 
the science zoology. The mammoth was undoubtedly a long lived 
animal. The eagle, the largest of the fowl family, lives to a great 
age. That the antediluvians were of great stature, is strongly sup- 
ported by a remark of king Solomon, found in his book of Wisdom, 
in the Apocrypha, 14th chapter, at the 6th verse, where he calls 
all the inhabitants of the earth, who were destroyed by the deluge, 
*^ proud giants,^^ whose history, by tradition, handed down from 
the family of Noah, through the lineage of Shem, was well known 
to that king, the wisest of men in his day and age. 

And even after the flood, the great stature of men is supported 
in the Scriptures in several places, who were, for some generations, 
permitted to live several hundred years, and were all accordingly 
of great stature. Whole tribes or nations of gigantic inhabitants 
peopled the country of Canaan, before the Jews drove them out. 

Their manners and customs were very horrible, whom Solomon, 
the king, charges with being guilty, among many other enor- 
mities, of glutting themselves with the blood and flesh of human 
beings; from which we learn they were cannibals. — {See book of 
Wisdom, 12th chap. 5th verse — Apocrypha.) 

The very circumstances of the human race, before the flood, re- 
quired that they should be of greater strength of bedy than now, 
because it is not likely so many useful and labor saving machines 
were invented and in use as now. Every thing was to be effected 
by strength of muscle and bone, which of course would require 
greater bodies to produce it. 



158 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Were we to indulge in fancy on this subject, we should judge 
them no pigmy race, either in person or in temper ; but terrible, 
broad, and tall in stature, loose and flabby in their flesh and skin ; 
coarse and hideous in their features, slow and strong in their ges- 
tures, irascible and ferocious in their spirits, without pity or refine- 
ment ; given wholly to war, rapine and plunder ; formed into 
bands; clans and small bodies of marauders, constantly prowling 
round each other's habitations, outraging all the charities of a more 
refind state of things, measuring all things by mere bodily strength. 

From such a state of things we should naturally look for the 
consequence mentioned in the Bible ; which is, that the whole earth 
was filled with violence before the flood, and extremely wicked 
every way, so as to justify the Divine procedure in their extermina- 
tion. 

Indications now and then appear, in several parts of the earth, 
as mentioned by the traveller, of the existence af fowls, of a size 
compared with the mammoth itself, considering the diflference in 
the elements each inhabit, and approach each other in size as near- 
ly as the largest fowl now known, does the largest animal. 

Henderson, in his travels in New Siberia, met with the claws 
of a bird, measuring three in length ; the same was the length of 
the toes of a mammoth, as measured by Adam Clarke. 

The Yakuts, inhabitants of the Siberian country, assured Mr- 
Henderson, that they had frequently, in their hunting excursions, 
found the skeleton, and even the feathers of this fowl, the quills of 
which were large enough to admit a man's arm into the calibre, 
which would not be out of proportion with the size of the claws 
mentioned above. 

Captain Cook mentions having seen, during his voyages, a mon- 
strous bird's nest in New Holland, on a low sandy island, in En- 
deavor river, with trees upon it, where were an incredible number 
of sea fowls. This monstrous nest was built on the ground, with 
large sticks, and was no less than twenty-six feet in circumference, 
more than eight feet across, and two feet eight inches high. Ge- 
ographies speak of a species of eagk', sometimes shot in South 
America, measuring from tip to tip of the wings, forty feet. This, 
indeed, must have been of the species celebrated in the tradition 
of the ancients, called the Phoenix. 

In various parts of Ireland, are frequently dug up enormous 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 159 

horns, supposed to have belonged to a species of deer, now extinct. 
Some of these horns have been found, of the extent of fourteen 
feet from tip to tip, furnished with brow antlers, and weighing three 
hundred pounds. The whole skeleton is frequently found with 
them. It is supposed the animal must have been about twelve 
feet high. — (Morse's Universal Geography,') 



A Further Account of Discoveries in the West^ as given 
by the Antiquarian Society at Cincinnati. 

Near Newark, in the county of Licking, Ohio, is situated one 
of those immense works or fortifications. Its builders chose, with 
good taste and judgment, this site for their town, being exactly on 
the point of land at the junction of Racoon creek and South fork, 
where Licking river commences. It is in form resembling some- 
what a horse shoe, accommodated, however, to the sweep of those 
two streams ; embracing in the whole, a circumference of about 
six hundred rods, or nearly two miles. 

A wall of earth, of about four hundred rods, is raised on the 
sides of this fort next to the small creek, which comes down along 
its sides from the west and east. The situation is beautiful, as 
these works stand on a large plain, which is elevated forty or fifty 
feet above the stream just noticed, and is almost perfectly flat, and 
as rich a soil as can be found in that country. It would seem the 
people who made this settlement, undertook to encompass with a 
wall, as much land as would support its inhabitants, and also suffi- 
cient to build their dwellings on, with several fortifications, ar- 
ranged in a proper manner for its defence. 

There are, within its ranges Jour of those forts, of different di- 
mensions ; one contains forty acres, with a wall of about ten feet 
high ; another, containing twenty-two acres, also walled ; but in 
this fort is an elevated observatory, of sufficient height to overlook 
the whole country. From this, there is the appearance of a secret 
or subterranean passage to the water, as one of the creeks runs 
near this fort. A third fort, containing about twenty-six acres, 
having a wall around it, thrown out of a deep ditch on the inner 
side of the wall. This wall is now from twenty-five to thirty feet 



160 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

in height- A fourth fortification, enclosing twenty acres, with a 
wall of ahout ten feet high. Two of these forts are perfect circles ; 
one a perfect square ; another aa octagon or eight sided. These 
forts are severally connected by roads running between parallel 
walls ; and also in the same way communicate with the creeks ; 
so that these important points, in case of invasion, should not be 
deprived of water. There are, besides the forts, four other small 
works of defence, of a circular form, situated in such a manner as 
to protect, in a measure, the roads running from fort to fort- 

The fort which is of the eight sided form, containing the great- 
est space within, has eight gateways, with a mound in front of 
each of them, and were doubtless placed there to aid in a defence 
against invaders. The other forts have no gateways connected 
with the roads that lead to them, except one, and this is a round 
fort united to the octangular fort, containing twenty-two acres ; the 
gateway to this looks toward the wilderness ; at this gate is also a 
mound, supposed to be for its defence. 

On the southern side of this great town, is a road running off to 
the country, which is also walled in the s^e way ; it has been 
surveyed a few miles, and is supposed to connect other similar 
works on the Hokhoking, thirty miles distance, at some point a 
few miles north of Lancaster, as walls of the description connected 
with this work, of ten or twelve miles in extent, have been dis- 
covered. It is supposed, also, that the walls on each side of the 
road were made for the double purpose of answering as a fence to 
their fields, with gateways to accommodate their farms, and for 
security in time of danger, so that communion between friendly 
settlements might not be interrupted. About the walls of this 
place have been discovered very beautiful rock crystal and horn 
stone, suitable for arrow and spear heads, a little lead, sulphur, 
and iron. 

This kind of stone, suitable for spears, was, undoubtedly, valua- 
ble on other accounts, as axes, knives, mallets, &c., were made of 
it. It is likely that, as very little iron has been discovered, even 
in its oxydized state, their vast works of excavation were carried 
on by means of wooden shovels and scrapers, which would answer 
very well in the easy and stoneless soil of that country. 

A second fort, situated southwesterly from the great works oh 
the Licking, and four or five miles, in a northwestern direction 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE«T. 161 

from Somerset, the seat of justice for Perry county is found. Thin 
work encloses about forty acres ; its wall is entirely of stone, not 
regularly laid up in a wall, agreeably to the rules of masonry, bat 
a huge mass of stones and rocl<8 of all shapes and sizes, as nature 
formed them, without the mark of an iron tool upon them. These 
are in sufficient quantity to form a wall, if laid in good order, of 
about fourteen feet ;n height, and three in thickness. 

Near the centre of the area of this enclosure, is a stone mound, 
of a circular form, fifteen feet high, and was erected, as is conjec- 
tured, for an altar, on which were performed their religious rites, 
and also for a monument to perpetuate the memory of some great 
event in the history of its builders. It is also believed, that the 
whole of this vast preparation was devoted solely to the purposes 
of worship of some kind ; as it is situated on very high grounds, 
where the soil is good for nothing, and may have been, what is 
called, an high place in Scripture, according to the customs of the 
ancient pagans of the old world. 

It could not have been a military work, as no water is found 
there, nor a place of dwelling, for the same reason, and from the 
poverty of the soil ; but must have been a place of resort on great 
occasions, such as a solemn assembly to propitiate the gods ; and 
also a place to anoint and crown their kings, elect legislators, trans- 
act national affairs, judge among the people, and inflict condign 
punishment. 

Who will believe for a moment, that the common Indians of the 
west, who were derived in part from the wandering hordes of the 
northern Tartar race of Asia, were the authors of these works; 
bearing the marks of so much labor and scientific calculation in 
their construction ? It cannot be. 



Vast Works of the Ancient jVations on the east side of 
the .Muskinicmn. 

This fort, town, or fortification, or whatever it may have been, 
is between three and four hundred rods, or rising of a mile in cir- 
cumference, and so situated as to be nearly surrounded by two 
small brooks, running into the Muskingum. Their site is on as 

21 



v 



^ 2, :< 



>.^ 



/v 



Xl/- 



%, 



*7 



"'■<'/ 



A I'lEW 

Of the dncientworks on the Musking- 
um, near Marietta, Ohio, 
Explanation. — No. 1, every- 
where, shows the wath of these works. 
No. 2 shows th4 conical mounds. No. 
2, however, inclosed by a circle repre- 
sents a very large mound surrounded by 
a wall and ditch. No. 3 shows the two 
covered ways leading from the large fort 
to the shore of the Muskingum. No. 6 

Bhowa the TGmaina nf an ancient well. 

No. 6 shows two ponds, or excavations. 
No. 7 shows an elevated octangular 
oblong 9()uare, 180 feet long 80 broad 
and 9 high; level on the top. No. 4 
shows a 2d octangular square, 150 by 
an 120 feet, and 8 high; with a subte- 
lancan way leading to its top. No. 8 
shows a Sd elevated square, 180 feet by 
54, not aa high as the others. From 
actual survey by S. De Witt, drawr. 
May, 18»2, by S. D. Drown. 



'"'■^0. 



J 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEflT. 161 

from Somerset, the seat of justice for Perry county is found. Thin 
work encloses about forty acres ; its wall is entirely of stone, not 
regularly laid up in a wall, agreeably to the rules of masonry, but 
a huge mass of stones and rocks of all shapes and sizes, as nature 
formed them, without the mark of an iron tool upon them. These 
are in sufficient quantity to form a wall, if laid in good order, of 
about fourteen feet ;n height, and three in thickness. 

Near the centre of the area of this enclosure, is a stone mound, 
of a circular form, fifteen feet high, and was erected, as is conjec- 
tured, for an altar, on which were performed their religious rites, 
and also for a monument to perpetuate the memory of some great 
event in the history of its builders. It is also believed, that the 
whole of this vast preparation was devoted solely to the purposes 
of worship of some kind ; as it is situated on very high grounds, 
where the soil is good for nothing, and may have been, what is 
called, an high place in Scripture, according to the customs of the 
ancient pagans of the old world. 

It could not have been a military work, as no water is found 
there, nor a place of dwelling, for the same reason, and from the 
poverty of the soil ; but must have been a place of resort on great 
occasions, such as a solemn assembly to propitiate the gods ; and 
also a place to anoint and crown their kings, elect legislators, trans- 
act national affairs, judge among the people, and inflict condign 
punishment. 

Who will believe for a moment, that the common Indians of the 
west, who were derived in part from the wandering hordes of the 
northern Tartar race of Asia, were the authors of these works; 
bearing the marks of so much labor and scientific calculation in 
their construction ? It cannot be. 



Vast Worh of the Ancient jVations on the east side of 
the Muskinirnm. 

o 
This fort, town, or fortification, or whatever it may have been, 
is between three and four hundred rods, or rising of a mile in cir- 
cumference, and .so situated as to be nearly surrounded by two 
small brooks, running into the Muskingum. Their site is on an 

21 



162 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

elevated plain, above the present bank of that river, about a half 
mile from its junction with the Ohio. 

We give, the account in the words of Mr. Atwater, president of 
the Antiquarian Society. " They consist of walls and mounds of 
earth, in direct lines, and in square and circular forms. The 
largest square fort, by some called the town^ contains forty acres, 
encompassed by a wall of earth, from six to ten feet high, and from 
twenty to thirty in breadth at the base. 

" On each side are three openings at equal distances, resembling 
twelve gateways. The entrances at the middle are the largest, 
particularly on the side next to the Muskingum, From this outlet 
is a covert way formed of two parallel walls of earth, two hundred 
and thirty-o e feet distant from each other, measured from centre 
to centre. The walls at the most elevated part, on the inside, are 
twenty-one feet in height, and forty-two in breadth, at the base, 
but on the outside average only about five feet in height. This 
forms a passage of about twenty rods in length, leading by a gradu- 
al descent to the low grounds, where, at the time of its construc- 
tion, it probably reached the river. Its walls commence at sixty 
feet from the ramparts of the fort, and increase in elevation as the 
way descends to the river ; and the bottom is rounded in the cen- 
tre, in the manner of a well founded turnpike road. 

Within the walls of the fort, at its northwest corner, is an oblong 
elevated square, one hundred and eighty feet long, one hundred 
and ihirty-two broad, and nine feet high, level on the summit, and 
even now, nearly perpendicular at the sides. Near the south wall 
is an elevated square, one huqdred and fifty by one himdred and 
twenty, and eight feet high, similar to the other, excepting, that 
instead of an ascent to go up on the side next the wall, there is a 
hollow way, ten feet wide, leading twenty feet towards the centre, 
and then rising with a gradual slope to the top. This was, it is 
likely, a secret passage. At the southeast corner is a third elevated 
square, of one hundred and eighty by fifty-four feet, with asceents 
at the ends, ten feet wide, but not so high nor perfect as two others. 

Besides this forty acre fort, which is situated within the great 
range of the surrounding wall, there is another, containing twenty 
acres, with a gateway in the centre of each side, and ait each cor- 
ner these gateways are defended by circular mounds. 

On the outside of the smaller fort is a mound, in form of a sugar 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 163 

loaf ; its base is a regular circle, one hundred and fifteen feet in 
diameter, or tweuty-one rods in circumference ; its altitude is thirty 
feet. It is surrounded by a ditch four feet deep, fifteen feet wide, 
and defended by a parapet four feet high, through which is a gate- 
way towards the foot, twenty fc 't in width. Near one of the cor- 
ners of the great fort, was found a reservoir or well, twenty-five 
feet in diameter, and seventy-five in circarafereucc, with its sides 
raised above the common level of Ihe adjoining surface, by an em- 
bankment of earth, three and four feet high." 

It was, undoubtedly, at first, very deep, as, since its discovery 
by the first settlers, they have frequently thrust poles into it to the 
depth of thirty feet. It appears to run to a point, like an inverted 
cone or funnel and was undoubtedly that kind of well used by the 
inhabitants of the old world, which were so large at their top as to 
aflford an easy descent down to the fountain, and up again with its 
water in a vessel borne on the shoulder, according to the ancient 
custom. {See Genesis xiii, 24.) " And she, (that is Rebecca, the 
daughter of Bethuel,) went down to the well, filled her pitcher and 
came up." Bethuel was an Assyrian, who, it seems, had made a 
well in the same form with that described above. Its sides were 
lined with a stratum of fine ash colored clay, eight and ten inches 
thick, beyond which is the common soil of the place. It is con- 
jectured, that at the bottom of this well might be found many cu- 
rious articles which belonged to the ancient inhabitants. Several 
pieces of copper have been found in and near these ancient works, 
at various places ; and one was in the form of a cup, with low sides, 
the bottom very thick and strong, showing their enlarged acquain- 
tance with that metal, more than the Indians ever had. 



Riiins of Jlncient Works at Circkville. 

At Cireleville, in Ohio, are the remains of very great works of 
this description, evidently of a military character, two of which 
are united ; one is exactly square, the other an exact circle. The 
square fort is fifty rods on each side ; the round one is nearly three 
hundred feet, or eighteen rods in circumference ; the circle and 



164 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

square touching each other, and communicate at the very spot 
where thfey united- 

The circular fort is surrounded by two walls, with a deep ditch 
between them ; the square fort is also encompassed by a wall, 
without a ditch. The walls of the circular fort were at least 
twenty feet in height, measuring from the bottom of the ditch, be- 
fore the town of Circleville was built. The inner wall is formed 
of clay, brought from a distance, but the outside one was formed 
with the earth of the ditch, as it was thrown out. 

There were eight gateways, or openings, leading into the square 
fort, and only one into the circular. Before each of these openings 
was a mound of earth, about four feet high, forty feet in diameter 
at the base, and twenty feet and upwards at the top, situated about 
two rods in front of the gates ; for the defence, no doubt, of these 
openings. The walls of this work vary a few degrees from north 
and south, and east and west, but no more than the needle varies ; 
and not a few surveyors have, from this circumstance, been im- 
pressed with the belief, that the authors of these works were ac- 
quainted with astronomy, and the four cardinal points- 

Within the great square fort are eight small mounds, placed op- 
posite the gateways, for their defence, or to give opportunity to pri- 
vileged spectators to review the thousands passing out to war, or 
coming in with the trophies of victory- Such was the custom of 
ancient times- David, the most potent king of the Jews, stood at 
the gateway of the city, as his armies went to quell the insurrection 
of his son Absalom. (See 2d Samuel, xviii, 4.) " And the king 
stood by the gate side, and all the people came out by hundreds 
and by thousands." It cannot be supposed the king stood on the 
ground, on a common level with his armies. Such a situation 
would be extremely inconvenient, and defeat, in a great measure, 
the opportunity of review, How impressive, when soldiers, fired 
with all the ardor of expected victory, to behold their general, chief, 
king, or emperor, bending over them, as they pass on, from some 
commanding position near at hand, giving counsel to their captains ; 
drawing, in this vvay, large draughts on the individual contidence 
and love of the soldiery. Such may have been the spectacle at 
the gateways of the forts of the west, at the eras of their grandeur. 
In musing on the structure of these vast works lound along the 
western rivers, enclosing such immense spaces of land, the mind 



AND D18COVERIK8 IN THE WEST. 1*5 

is irresistibly directed to a contemplation of ancient Babylon, tbe 
first city of magnitude built immediately after the flood. That 
city was of a square form, being fifteen miles distance on each ol 
its sides, and sixty in circumference, surrounded with a wall 
eighty-seven feet in thickness, and three hundred and fifty in 
height. On each side it had twenty-five gateways, amounting in 
all, to a hundred ; the whole, besides the wall, surrounded with a 
deep and wide ditch. At each corner of this immense square, was 
a strong tower, ten feet higher than the walls. There were fifty 
broad streets, each fifteen miles long, starting from each of its gates, 
and an hundred and fifty feet broad, crossing each other at right 
angles ; besides four half streets, surrounding the whole, two hun- 
dred feet broad. The whole city was divided into six huncJred 
and seventy-six squares, four and a half furlongs on each side. In 
the centre of the city stood the temple of Belus, and in the centre 
of this temple stood an immense tower, six hundred feet square at 
its base, and six hundred feet high, narrowing in the form of a 
pyramid as it ascended. The ascent to the summit was accom- 
plished by spiral stairs, winding eight times round the whole- This 
tower consisted of eight distinct parts, each on the top of the other, 
seventy-five feet high, till the whole, in aggregate, finished the 
tower. 

In the difl'erent stories were temples, or chapels, for the worship 
of the sun ; and on its top, some authors say, was an image of gold, 
forty feet in height, equal in value to three millions five hundred 
thousand dollars. — (Blake''s Atlas.) 

The model of this city, with its towers at the corners, and 
pyramid in its centre, having been made at so early a period of time, 
being not far from one hundred years after the flood, was doubtless 
of sufficient influence to impress its image on the memory of tradi- 
tion, so that the nations spreading out from that region over all the 
earth, may have copied this Chaldean model in their various works. 

This thought is strengthened when we compare its counterpart, 
the vast works of the west, with this Babylonian prototype of archi- 
tectural effort, and imagine we >see in the latter, the features and 
general outlines of this giant, among cities, in tht* towers, walls, 
and pyramids of the western state.s. 

Near the round fort at Circleviile, is another fort, ninety feet 
high, and was doubtless erected to overlook the whole works of 



166 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

that enormous military establishment. That it was a military es- 
tablishment is the decided opinion of the president of the Western 
Antiquarian Society, Mr. Atvvater. He says, the round fort was 
picketed in, if we are to judge from the appearance of the ground, 
on and about the walls. Half way up the outside of the inner 
wall, is a place distinctly to be seen, where a row of pickets once 
stood, and where it was placed when this work of defence was 
originally erected. Finally, this work about its walls and ditch, a 
few years since, presented as much of defensive aspect, as forts 
which were occupied in our war v/ith the French, such as Oswego, 
Fort Stanwix, and others. 

Respecting this place, it is said, that the Indian, even to this 
day, will on no account enter within its outlines, which circum- 
stance proves beyond a doubt, that it was also, a holy, or sacred 
place, where the mysteries of ancient paganism were celebrated, 
with all the pomp and circumstance, necessary to the belief of that 
which is mere fiction. 



Ancient Works on Paint Creek. 

On Paiut creek, in Ohio, about fifteen miles from Chilicothe, 
are works of art, still more wonderful than any yet described. 
There are six in number, and are in the neighborho<rt of each other. 
In one of those grand enclosures are contained three forts, one em- 
braces seventeen, another twenty-seven, a third seventy-seven, 
amounting in all, to one hundred and fifteen acres of land. 

One of those forts is round, another square, and a third is of an 
irregular form, approaching however, nearer to the circular than any 
other ; and the wall which embraces the whole, is so contrived in 
its courses, as to favor those sevend forms ; the whole being, evi- 
dently, one work, separated into three compartments. 

There are fourteen gateways, going out of the whole work, be- 
sides three which unite the several forts one with the other, in- 
wardly ; all these, especially those leading outwardly, are very 
wide, being, as they now appear, from one to six rods- At three 
of those ;,'iUe\v.iysj ois the outside of the wall, are as many ancient 



AND niSCOVERIBP IN Tin-: WKST. 107 

well* ; and one on the inside, where doubtless, the inhabitants 
procured water. Their widtli at the top is from four to six rods, 
but their depth unknown, as they are now nearly filled up. With- 
in the greatest enclosure, containing the seventy-seven acres, is an 
eliptical elevation of twenty-five feet in height, and so large, that 
its area is nearly one hundred and fifty rods in circumference, com- 
posed almost entirely of stone in their rough and natural state, 
brought from a hill adjacent to the place. 

This elevated work is full of human hones, and some have not 
hesitated to express a belief, that on this work, human beings were 
QDce sacrificed. The surface is smooth and level, favoring the idea 
of the horrid parade, such occasions would produce ; yet they may 
have been erected for the purpose of mere military mancevreing, 
which would produce a spectacle very imposing, composed of thou- 
sands, harnessed in their war attire, with nodding plumes. About 
a mile from this fort, there is a work in the form of a half moon, 
set round the edges with stones, exactly resembling the stone circles 
of the Druids, in which they performed their mystic rites in Eu- 
rope two thousand years ago. Near this semicirle is a very singu- 
lar mound of only five feet in height, but ninety feet in circum- 
ference, composed entirely of red ochre ; which answers well as a 
paint. An abundance of this ochre is found on a hill, not a great 
distance from this place; from which circumstance, the stream 
which runs along here, is called Paint creek- 

So vast a heap of this paint being deposited, is pretty clear evi- 
dence, that it was an article of commerce among these nations. 
Here may have been a store bouse, or a range of thera, attended 
by salesmen, or merchants ; who took in exchange for it, copper, 
feathers, bow and arrow timber, stone for hatchets, spears, and 
knives, wooden ploughs and shovels ; with skins and furs, for cloth- 
ing; stones for building their rude altars and works; with food to 
sustain the populace, as the manner of cities of the present time. 
Red paint in particular, is used now among the Hindoos, which 
they mark themselves with, as well a? their gods. This vast col- 
lection of red paint, by the ancient nations, on Paint creek, favors 
the opinion, that it was put to the same use, by the same people. 

Near this work is another, on the same creek, enclosing eighty- 
four acres, part of which is a square fort, with seven gateways ; 
and the other a fort, of an irregular oval, with seven gateways, sur- 



168 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

roanded with a wall like the others. But the most interesting 
work of the three contiguous forts, is yet to be described. It is 
situated on a high hill, of more than three hundred feet elevation, 
and in many places almost perpendicular. The wall running round 
this work, is built exactly on the brow of the precipice, and in its 
courses, is accommodated to the variations of this natural battle- 
ment, enclosing, in the whole, one hundred and thirty acres. On its 
south end the ground is level, where the entrance to the fort is easy. 
At the north end, which approaches pretty near to Paint creek, 
appears to have been a gateway descending to the water, the 
ground favoring it at this point, as well as at one other, leading to 
a little stream, which runs along its base, on the east side of this 
eminence, where is also another gateway ; these three places are 
the only points which are at all accessible. The wall round the 
whole one hundred and thirty acres, is entirely of stone, and is in 
sufficient quantity, if laid up in good order, to make it ten feet high, 
and four thick. At the north gateway, stones enough now lie, to 
have built two considerable round towers, taken from the hill itself, 
and are of the red sand stone kind. 

Near the south end of this enclosure, at the place where it is 
easiest of access, " appear to have been a row of furnaces, (says 
Mr. Atwater) or smith's shops, where the cinders now lie, many 
feet deep ; but was not able to say with certainty, what manufac- 
tures were carried on here, whether brick or iron, or both." It was 
a clay, that had been exposed to the action of fire ; the remains of 
which are four and five feet in depth ; which shows in a good de- 
gree, the amount of business done was great. " Iron ore, in this 
country, is sometimes found in such clay ; brick and potter's ware 
are now manufactured out of it. This fort is, from its natural site, 
one of the strongest positions of the kind in the state of Ohio, so 
high is its elevation, and so nearly perpendicular are the sides of 
the hill on which it was built." At the several angles of the wall, 
and at the gateways, the abundance of stone lying there, leads to 
the belief, that those points, towers and battlements once overlook- 
ed the country to an immense distance ; from whence stones and 
arrows might have been launched away, from engines adapted to 
that purpose, among the approaching enemy, with dreadful eflfect. 
" No military man could have selected a better position for a place 
of protection to his countrymen, their temples and their gods," than 
this. 



AND OIJSCOVEfllES IN THK WEST. UJ9 



^indent Wells found in the Bottom of Paint Creek, 

In the bed of Paint creek, wbich washes the foot of the hill, 
on which the walled town stood, have been discovered four wells. 
They were dug through a pyritous slate rock, which is very rich 
in iron ore. When first discovered, by a person passing over them 
in a canoe, they were covered, each by stones of about the size 
and shape of the common mill stone. These covers had holes 
through their centre, through which a large pry, or handspike 
might be put for the purpose of removing them off and on the 
wells. The hole through the centre of each stone, was about four 
inches in diameter. The wells at their tops were more than nine 
feet in circumference; the stones were well wrought with tools, so 
as to make good joints, as a stone mason would say, which were 
laid around them severally, as a pavement. At the time they were 
dug, it is not likely Paint creek run over these wells. For what 
they were sunk, is a' mystery ; as that for the purposes of water, 
so many so near each other, would scarcely appear necessary ; 
perhaps for some kind of ore or favorite stone, was the original 
object, perhaps for salt water. 

There is, at Portsmouth, Ohio, one of those works, which is 
very extensive and wonderful, on account of walled roads, a " high 
place," with many intricate operations in its construction. 

On the east bank of the Little Miami, about thirty miles east 
from Cincinnati, are vast works of this character ; having the form 
almost exactly of the continent of North and South America, as 
presented on the map, on which account some have supposed they 
were made ir» imitation of it. 



j1 Recent Discovery of one of those Ancient Works 
among the Alleghanies. 

New discoveries are constantly making of these ancient wprks, 
the farther we go west, and the more minutely the research is prose- 
cuted, even in parts already settled. 

22 



170 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

During the last year, 1832, a Mr. Ferguson communicated to 
the editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal, a discovery of 
the kind, which he examined, and describes as follows : 

" On a mountain called the Lookout mountain, belonging to the 
vast AUeghanian chain, running between the Tennessee and Coos 
rivers, rising about one thousand feet above the level of the sur- 
rounding valley. The top of the mountain is mostly level, but 
presents to the eye an almost barren waste. On this range, not- 
withstanding its height, a river has its sour.ce, after traversing it for 
about seventy miles, plunges over a precipice- The rock from 
which the water falls, is circular, and juts over considerably.' Im« 
mediately below the fall, on each sid6 of the river, are bluffs, 
which rise about two hundred feet. Around one of these bluTs, 
th^e river makes a bend, which gives it the form of a peninsula. 
On the top of this are the remains of what is esteemed fortifica- 
tions ; which consist of a stone wall, built on the very brow of this 
tremendous ledge. The whole length of the wall, following the 
varying courses of the brink of this precipice, is thirty-seven rods 
and eight feet, including about two acres of ground." 

The only descent from this place is between two rocks, for about 
thirty feet, when a bench of the ledge presents itself, from two to 
five feet in width, and ninety feet long. This bench is the only 
road or path up from the water's edge to the summit. But just at 
the foot of the two rocks, where they reach this path, and within 
thirty feet of the top of the rock, are five rooms, which have been 
formed by dint of labor. The entrance to these rooms is very 
small, but when within, they are found to communicate with each 
other, by doors or apertures. Mr. Ferguson thinks them to have 
been constructed during some dreadful war, and those who con- 
structed them, to have acted on the defensive ; and believe that 
twenty men could have withstood the whole army of Xerxes, as it 
was impossible for more than one to pass at a time ; and might by 
the slightest push, be hurled at least a hundred and fifty feet 
down the rocks. The reader can indulge his own conjectures, 
whether, in the construction of this inaccessible fortress, he does 
not perceive the remnant of a tribe or nation, acquainted with the" 
arts of excavation and defence ; making a last struggle against the 
invasion of an overwhelming foe ; where, it is likely, they were 
reduced by famine, and perished amid the yells of their enemies. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 171 



t/i Dzscriptloa of Western Tumuli or Jllounds. 

Ancient Tumuli are considered a kind of* antiquities, diff< ri»tg 
in character from that of the other works ; both on «ccouiii of ivhat 
is frequently discovered in tliem, and the manner of their construc- 
tion. They are conical mounds, either of earth or stones, w hich 
were intended for sacred and important purposes. In many parts 
of the world, similar mounds were used as monuments, sepulchres, 
altars, and temples. The accounts of these works, found in the 
Scriptures, show, that their origin must be sought for among the 
antediluvians. 

That they are very ancient, and were used as places of sepulture, 
public resort, and public wcfrship, is proved by all the writers of 
ancient times, both sacred and profane. Homer frequently men- 
tions them, particularly describing the tumulus of Tydeus, and 
the spot where it was- In memory of the illustrious dead, a se- 
pulchral mound of earth was raised over their remains ; which, 
from that time forward, became an altar, whereon to oiFer sacrifices, 
and around which to exhibit games of athletic exercise. These 
oflferings and games were intended to propitiate their manes, to 
honor and perpetuate their memorie3. Prudentius, a Roman bard, 
has told us, that that there were in ancient Rome, just as many 
templtts of gods, as there were sepulchres of heroes ; implying that 
they were the same. Need I mention the tomb of Anchies, which 
Virgil has described, with the offerings there presented, and the 
games there exhibited ? The sanctity of Acropolis, where Cecrops 
was inhumed ? The tomb of the father of Adonis, at Paphos, 
whereon a temple dedicated to Venus, was erected ? The grave 
of Cleomachus, whereon stood a temple dedicated to the worship 
of Apollo ? Finally, I would ask the classical reader, if the words 
translated tomb, and temple^ are not used as synonymous, by the 
poets of Greece and Rome ? Virgil, who wrote in the days of 
Augustus Csesar, speaks of these tumuli, as being as ancient as they 
were sacred, even in his time. 

The conical mounds in Ohio, are either of stones or of earth. 
The former, in other countries, and in former ages, were intended 
as monuments, for the purpose of perpetuating the memory of sonie 



17'2 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

important event, or as altars whereon to offer sacrifices. The latter 
were used as cemeteries and as altars, whereony in later timesj 
temples were erected, as among the people of Greece and Rome. 

The tumuli " are of various altitudes and dimensions, some be- 
ing only four or five feet, and but ten or twelve in diameter, at 
their base; while others, as we travel to the south, rise to the 
height of eighty, ninety, and some raore than a hundred feet, 
and cover many acres of ground. They are, generally, when com- 
pleted, in the form of a cone. Those in the north part of Ohio, 
are of inferior size, and fewer in number, than those along the 
river. These mounds are believed to exist, from the Rocky moun- 
tains in the west, to the Alleghanies in the east ; from the southern 
shore of lake Erie to the Mexican gulf; and though few and small 
in the north, are numerous and lofty in the south, yet exhibit proof 
of a common origin. 

On Jonathan creek, in Morgan county, are found some mounds, 
whose bases are formed of well burnt bricks, between four and five 
inches square. There are found lying on the bricks, charcoal cin- 
ders, and pieces of calcined \uman hones. Above them the mounds 
were composed of earth, showing, that the dead had been buried 
in the manner of several of the eastern nations, and the mounds 
raised afterwards to mark the place of their burial. 

One of them is about twenty-four feet in circumference, and 
the stones yet look black, as if stained with fire and smoke! 
This circle of stones seem^ to have been the nucleus on which the 
mound was formed, as immediately over them is heaped the com- 
mon earth of the adjacent plain. This mound was originally about 
ten feet high, and ninety feet in circumference at its base ; and has 
every appearance of being as old as any in the neighborhood, and 
was, at the first settlement of Marietta, covered with large trees. 

A particular account of many curious articles, which go to show 
the person buried there was a member of civilized society, is given 
farther on in this work, under the head of " a description of im- 
plements found in the tumuli." 

The person buried here was about six feet in height, nothing dif- 
fering from other men in the form of his bones, except the skull, 
which was uncommonly thick. The timber growing on this 
mound, when it was cleared ofi^, was ascertained to be nearly five 
hundred years old, from counting the concentric circles or grains of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE«T. 17S 

the wood on the stumps. On the ground beside them were other 
trees in a state of decay, that had fallen from old age." 

If we were to conjecture, from this sort of data, how gn^at a 
lapse of years has ensued since the abandonment of this mound, 
we should pursue the following method. From Ihe time when the 
country became desolate of its inhabitants, till trees and forests 
would begin to grow, cannot well be reckoned less than five years. 
If then they are permitted to grow five hundred years, till as large 
and as old as some of the trees were on the mound when it was 
cleared by the people of Marietta, from that time till their natural 
decay and fall to the earth, and reduction to decayed wood, a& was 
found on the mound, could not be less than three hundred years, 
in decaying so as to fall, and then fifty years to rot in ; this would 
give eight hundred and fifty-five years for the first growth of tim- 
ber. From this lime we reckon a second crop, which we will sup- 
pose, was the one growing when the mound was cleared of its tim- 
ber ; which W'as, according to Mr. Atwater's statement, " between 
four and five hundred years ;" add this to the age of the first crop, 
say four hundred and fifty, and. we have, in the whole, one thou- 
sand three hundred and five years since it was deserted of its buil- 
ders. Dr. Cutler supposes at least a thousand years. Then it will 
follow, taking out the time since Marietta was settled, and the 
tnound cleared of its timber, that the country was deserted about 
five hundred years after the commencement of the Christian era. 

About the same time, say from the year 410 to 500 of the Chris- 
tian era, the greater part of Europe was devastated by the Goths, 
the Huns, the Heruli, the Vandals, the S'wevri, the A Hans, and 
other savage tribes, all from the northern v^ilds of ancient Russia. 
By these the western empire of the Romans, comprehending Italy, 
Germany, France, Spain, and England, was subverted ; all litera- 
ture was obliterated, and the works of the learned, which contained 
the discoveries and improvements of ages, were annihilated. 

And from all we can make out by observing the growth of tim- 
ber, with that which is decayed, as found on the deserted works 
of the west, we are inclined to believe, that about the same period 
of time "vhen Europe was overrun by the northern hordes, that 
the region now called the United States, where the ancient in- 
habitants had fixed their abode, was also overrun by northern 
hordes from toward Fihering's strait, who had, in ages before, got 



174 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

across from Asia, the Tartars, or Scythians, and had piultiplied ; 
and as they raultiplied, progressed farther and farther southerly till 
they discovered an inhabited country, populous, and rich, upon 
whom they fell vfith all the fury of Att'!d and his Huns; till after 
many a long and dreadful war, they were reduced in numbers^ and 
driven from their country far to the south ; when the rich fields, 
vast cities, innumerable towns, with all their works, were reduced 
to the ancient dominion of nature, as it was when first overgrown 
immediately after the flood, except their vast pyramids, fortifica- 
tions, and tumuli, these being of the same nature and durability of 
the hills and mountains, have stood the shock of war and time= 
the monuments of powerful nations disappeared. 

" In clearing out a spring near some ancient ruins of the west 
on the bank of the Little Miami, not far from its entrance into the 
Ohio, was found a copper coin, four feet below the surface of the 
earth ; from the fac simile of which it appears, that the characters 
on the coin are old Persian characters. — {Morsel Universal Geogra- 
phy^ vol. 1, p. 442.) 

The era of the Persians, as noticed on the page of history, was 
from 559, after the flood, till 334, before Christ, and were a people 
of great strength, of enterprising character, and enlightened in the 
arts and sciences ; and for aught that can be objected, traversed 
the globe, planted colonies, perhaps even in America, as the coin, 
which lay so deep beneath the surface of the earth, would seem to 
justify ; which was truly a Persian coin of copper. 

At Cincinnati, a mound, only eight feet high, but one hundred 
and twenty long, by sixty in breadth, has been opened, and is now 
almost ©bliterated, by the construction of Main-street, which h.u 
furnished many curious discoveries relative to the ancient inhabit- 
ants who. built it. Of the articles taken from thence, many have 
been lost ; but the most worthy of notice are embraced in the fol- 
lowing catalogue : 

1st. Pieces of jasper, rock crystal, granite and some other stones, 
cylindrical at the extremes, and swelled in the middle, with an 
annular groove near the end. 2d. A circular piece of stone coal, 
with a large opening in the centre, as if for an axis or axel tree, 
and a deep groove; the circumference suitable for a hand ; it has 
a number of small perforations, disposed in four equidistant lines, 
which run from the circumference towards the centre. 3d. A 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE V/E8T. 175 

gniall article of the same shape, with eight lines of perforations, 
but composed of argilaceous earth, well polished; 4th. A bone 
ornamented with several lines, supposed to be hieroglyphical. 5th. 
A sculptured representation of the head and beak of a rapacious 
bird, resembling the eagle. 6th. A mass of lead ore, lumps of 
which have been found in other tumuli. 7th. A quantity of isin- 
glass, (mica membranacea,)- several plates of which have been 
found in and about other mounds. 8th. A small oval piece of 
sheet copper, with two perforations ; a large oblong piec? of the 
same metal, with longitudinal grooves and ridges. 

These articles are described in the fourth aud fifth volumes of 
the AraericaD Philosophical Transactions, by Governeur Sargeant 
and Judge Turner, and were supposed, by philosopher Barton, to 
have been designed, in part, for ornament, and, in part, for super- 
stitious ceremonies. In addition to which, the author of the fore- 
going, (Mr. Atwater,) says, he has since discovered, in the same 
mound, a number of beads, or sections, of small hollow cylinders, 
apparently of bone or shell. 

Several large marine shells, cut in such a manner as to serve for 
domestic utensil«i, and nearly converted into a state of chalk ; seve- 
ral copper articles, each consisting of two sets of circular concavo 
convex plates, the interior of each set connected with the other by 
a hollow axis, around which bad been wound some lint, and the 
whole encompassed by the bones of a man's hand. About the pre- 
ciuctsof thi« town, Cincinnati, human bones have been found " of 
different sizes ; sometimes enclosed in rude stone coffins, but often- 
er lying blended with the earth ; generally surrounded by a por- 
tion of ashes and charcoal," as if they had been burnt either alive 
or dead, as the Hindoos burn both the dead husband and the living 
wife, on the same funeral pile. (See Ward's History of the Hin- 
doos, p. 57 ;) where he states, •' that not less than five thousand of 
these unfortunate women, it is supposed, are burnt annually." On 
the shores of the Pacific, to the west, about the mouth of the Co- 
lumbia river dwell a tribe of Indians, known by the name of Tol- 
kotins, who compel the widows of their tribe to sleep by the dead- 
bodies of their deceased husbands, nine nights in succession im- 
mediately after their death, however offensive it may be. When 
this period is accomplished, the body is laid on a pile of dry wood 
•nd burnt to ashes, at which time, the unfortunate wife is 



176 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

forced, by the friends of the deceased, into Ihe fire, while her 
own relations stand by, and as often as she is pushed on to the 
fire, these pull her off This kind of persecution, they continue 
till the poor wretch is severely blistered, when they desist. The 
body of her lord is now consumed, when she gathers up the bones 
from among the ashes of the wood, and carefully envelopes them 
in the bark of the birch tree, and is doomed to carry them about 
on her back, a year or two. When the prescribed time is accom- 
plished, the relations on both sides assemble, and having feasted, 
discharge her from farther penance, when, if she choose§, she can 
marry again. So far as is known, it appears that this practice, 
which is purely of Hindoo origin, is peculiar to this tribe. — (Ross 
Cox's late travels on the Columbia, p. 329.) 

This practice, as above, is ample evidence, that the Hindoos 
once filled with their idolatry, and cruel ceremonies, the regions 
of the west, who came hither in vessels, in the early ages, as we 
shall show in another part of this volume. 

The ancient Jews practised the same thing ; {See Amos, vi. 10.) 
" And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, 
to bring out the bones out of the house." The ancient Edomites 
burnt the dead bodies of their captured enemies. (See Amos, ii. 
1 :) " He," that is Edom, " burned the bones of the king of Edom 
into lime." The same may have been practised in America. 

Besides these relics found at Marietta, others equally interesting, 
have be^n procured from a mound on the Little Muskingum, about • 
four miles from Marietta. There are some pieces of copper which 
appwr to have been the front part of a helmet. It was originally 
about eight inches long and four broad, and has marks of having 
been attached to leather ; it is much decayed, and is now quite a thin 
plate. The helmet was worn by the ancients as a defence against 
the blows of the sword, aimed at the head. The Greeks, the Ro- 
mans, with many other nations of antiquity, made use of this ma- 
jestic, beautiful, warlike covering of the head. But how came 
this part of the ancient armor in America } This is the mystery, 
■and carinot be solved, only on the principle, that we believe the 
wearers lived in those ages coeval with the martial exploits of the 
Medes, Persians, Carthaginians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and 
of the Celtic nations of Europe. In the same mound on the 
Muskingum, was found a copper ornament ; this was on the fore- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE VVKfiT. 177 

head of a human skeleton, do part of which retained its form, ex- 
cept that part of the forehead where the copper ornament lay, and 
had been preserved no doubt by the salts of that mineral. In Vir- 
ginia, near Blacksburgh, eighty miles from Marietta, there was 
found the half of a steel bow, which, when entire would measure 
five or six feet ; the other part was corroded or broken. The 
father of the lad who found the bow, was a blacksmith, and work- 
ed up this curious article with as little remorse as he would an old 
gun barrel. In the 18th Psalm, 34th verse, mention is made by 
David, king of Israel, of the steel bow, which must have been a 
powerful instrument of death, of the kind, and probably well 
known to the Jews, as superior to the wooden bow. This kind of 
warlike artillery, the bow and arrow, has been used by all nations, 
and in all ages of time. The time of king David was about one 
thousand one hundred years before Christ ; when he says, a bow 
of steel was broken by his own arm. This must have been done in 
some of his fights with the enemies of Saul, as it is not very proba- 
ble that he fought personally after he came to the kingdom ; and 
from his earnestness in the fight, drew the string of his bow too far, 
so that the instrument could not bear it, consequently it snapped 
asunder ; which circumstance he has celebrated in the praises of 
the God of Israel, as an evidence of the aid and strength derived 
from Heaven in the heat of battle. But Dr. Clarke supposes, steel 
is out of the question, as he thinks the art of making steel was un- 
known at that time, and believes the bow alluded to, which was 
broken by David, was a brass one, but it is unknown to the writet 
of this work, whether brass will spring at all so as to throw an ar- 
row with an effect. But why may not steel have been known, 
and the art of producing it from iron, in the time of David, as well 
as the art of making brass, which is equally hidden, and more so 
than that of steel .-' Tubal Cain was a worker in brass and iVcm, 
before the flood ; and we should suppose the way to procure steel 
from iron, would as soon have been discovered by the antediluvian 
blacksmiths, as a knowledge how to make brass from a union -of 
copper and zinc. 

The discovery of this steel bow, in the west, is exceedingly cu- 
rious, and would seem to justify the belief, that it came from the 
old world, as an instrument of warfare in the hands of some of the 
Asiatic, African, or European nations, possibly Danes, as the pre! 

2? 



its AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

sent iDdlan nations were found destitute of every kind of bow and 
arrow, except that of wood. 

" In Ross county, near Chilicothe, a few years since, was found, 
in the hand of a skeleton, which lay buried in a small mound, an 
ornament of pure gold ; this curiosity, it is said, is now in the 
Museum at Philadelphia." — (Atwaler.) The tumuli, in what is 
called the Sciota country, are both numerous and interesting. But 
south of Lake Erie, until we arrive at Worthington, nine miles 
north of Columbus, they are few in number, and of comparatively 
small magnitude. Near Columbus, the seat of government of 
Ohio, were several mounds, one of which stood on an eminence in 
the principal street, which has been entirely removed, and con- 
verted into bricks. It contained human bones, some few articles, 
among which was an oit;/ carved in stone, a rude but very exact re- 
presentation. The otvl, among the Romans, was the emblem of 
wisdom, and it is not impossible but the ancients of the west, may 
have carved it in the stone for the sanie reason; who may have 
been, in part, Romans, or nations derived from them, or nations 
acquainted with their manners, their gods, and their sculpture, as 
we suppose the Danes were. " In another part of the town of 
Columbus, was a tumulus of clay, which was also manufactured 
into bricks. In this were many human bones ; but they lay in 
piles, and in confusion." which would seem to elicit the belief, 
that these were the bones of an enemy, or they would have been 
laid in their accustomed order. Or they may have been the bones 
of the conquered, thrown together in a confused manner, and 
buried bfineath this mound. 

As we still descend the Sciota, through a most fertile region of 
country, mounds and other ancient works, frequently appear, until 
we arrive at Circleville. Near the centre of the circular fort at 
Circleville, was a tumulus of earlh, about ten feet high, and seve- 
ral rods in diameter at its base. On its eastern side, and extending 
six rods from it, was a semicircular pavement, composed of pebbles 
such as are now found in the bed of Sciota river, from whence they 
appear to have been taken. The summit of this tumulus was 
nearly ninety feet in circumference, with a raised way to it, lead- 
ing from the east, like a modern turnpike. The summit was level. 
The outline of the semicircular pavement, and the wall, are still 
discernible. Mr. Atwater was present when this mound was re- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 17f 

looved, and carefully examined the contents it developed. They 
were as follows: — 1. Two skeletons, lying on wliat had been the 
original surface of the earth. 2. A great quantity of arrow heads, 
some of which were so large as to induce a belief that they were 
used for spear heads. 3. The haiidle, either of a small sword, or 
a large knife, made of an elk's horn ; around the end where the 
blade had been inserted, was a ferule of silver, which, though 
black, was not much injured by time ; though the handle showed 
the hole where the blade had been inserted, yet no iron was found, 
but an oxyde or rust remained, of similar shape and size. The 
nwords of the ancient nations of the old world, it is known, were 
very short. 4. Charcoal, and wood ashes, on which these article* 
lay, were surrounded by several bricks, very well burnt. The 
skeleton appeared to have been burnt in a large and very hot fire, 
which had almost consumed the bones of the deceased. This 
skeleton was deposited a little to the south of the centre of the 
tumulus ; and about twenty feet to the north of it was another, 
with which was found a large mirror, about three feet in length, 
one foot and a half in width, and one inch and a half in thickness ; 
this was of isinglass, (mica membranacea.) 

On this mirror was a plate of iron, which had become an oxyde ; 
but before it was disturbed by the spade, resembled a plate of cast 
iron. Ttie mirror answered the purpose very well for which it was 
intended. This skeleton had also been burned like the former, 
and lay on charcoal and a considerable quantity of wood ashes ; a 
part of the mirror is in the possession of Mr. Atwater, as also a 
piece of brick, taken from the spot at the time. The knife, or 
sword handle, was sent to Peale's museum, Philadelphia. To the 
southwest of this tumulus, about forty rods from it, is another, more 
than ninety feet in height. It stands on a large hill, which appears 
to be artificial. This must have been the common cemetry, as it 
contains an immense number of human skeletons, of all sizes and 
ages. These skeletons are laid horizontally, with their heads 
generally towards the centre, and the feet towards the outside of 
the tumulus. In it have been found, besides these skeletons, stone 
axes and stone knives, and several ornaments, with holes through 
them, by means of which, with a cord passing through these per- 
forations, they could be worn by their owners, round the neck. 

Sir Robert Ker Porter says, that in Persia thousands of such 



180 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

stones are found - belonging to the early ages of that people, and 
that they were considered by the Persians to be endowed with 
supernatural qualities, and were, therefore, made by the people to 
defend them from evil spirits; they are found in great abundance 
amODg the Hindoos even now. On the south side of this tumulus, 
and not far from it, was a semicircular fosse, or ditch, six feet deep ; 
which, when examined at the bottom, was found to contain a great 
quantity of human bones, which, it is believed, were the remains 
of those who had been slain in some great and destructive battle ; 
because they belonged to persons invariably who had attained their 
full size ; while those found in the mound adjoining, were of all 
sizes, great and small, - but laid in good order, while those in the 
ditch were in the utmost confusion ; and were, no doubt, the con- 
quered invaders, buried thus ingloriously, where they had in- 
trenched themselves, and fell in the struggle. The mirror was a 
monstrous piece of isinglass, a lucid mineral, larger than we re- 
collect to have ever heard of before, and used among the rich of 
the ancients, for lights and mirrors. A mirror of any kind, in 
which men may he enabled to contemplate their own form, is evi- 
dence of a considerable degree of advancement in the arts, if not 
even of luxury itself. 

The Rev. Robert G. Wilson, D. D., of Chilicothe, furnished 
the Antiquarian Society, with information concerning the mound, 
which once stood near the centre of that town. He took pains to 
write down its contents at the time of its demolition. Its perpen- 
dicular height was about fifteen feet, and the circumference of its 
base about one hundred and eighty feet, composed of sand. It 
was not till this pile of earth had been removed, that the original 
design of its builders could be discovered. On a common level 
with the surrounding earth, at the very bottom of this mound, they 
had devoted about twenty feet square ; this was found to have 
been covered at first with bark, on which lay, in the centre, a 
human skeleton, overspread with a mat, manufactured from weeds 
or bark, but greatly decayed. On the breast of this person lay 
what had been a piece of copper in the form of a cross^ which had 
become verdigris ; on the breast also lay a stone ornament, three 
inches in length, and two and a half in width, with two perfora- 
tions, one near each end, through which passed a string, by means 
of which it was suspended from the wearer's neck. On this 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 181 

string, which appeared to have been made of the sinews of some 
animal, which had been cured or tanned, but were very much in- 
jured by time, was strung a great many hearts^ made of ivory, or 
bone, he could not tell which. With these facts before us, we are 
left to conjecture at what time this individual lived, what were his 
heroic deeds in the field of battle ; his wisdom, his virtues, his 
eloquence in the councils of his nation ; for his coteraporaries have 
testified in a manner not to be mistaken, that among them he was 
held in honorable and grateful remembrance, by the mound which 
was raised over him at his decease. The cross on the breast of 
this skeleton, excites the most surprise, as that the cross is the em- 
blem of the Christian religion. It is true, a knowledge of this 
badge of Christianity, may have been disseminated from Jerusalem, 
even as far east as China ; as we know it was at a very early 
period, made known in many countries of Europe, Africa, and 
Asia ; especially, at the era when the Roman emperor Constantiue, 
in the year .531, ordered all the heathen temples to be destroyed, 
for the sake of Christianity, throughout his vast dominion. The 
Gnostic heresy of the first centuries of the Christian era, which 
spread itself into more than fifty sects, wandered into all the coun- 
tries of the known world ; in Africa, Asia, and Europe, are still 
found gems, coins and various precious stones, having engravings 
upon them, the emblems of their deities, their genii and their mys- 
tical characters, mingled with allusions, also, to the Christian 
religion. This cross, therefore, may it not have been left on the 
bosom of this skeleton by some officiating priest of the Gnostics, 
even here in America .'* (For an account of the Gnostics, see the 
Amulet, 1832, by Marmion Savage, A. B., p. 282.) 

The reader may recollect, we have elicited an argument, from 
the age of the timber, or forest trees, growing on the mound, at 
Marietta, proposing to show the probable era when the country be- 
came depopulated ; and come to the conclusion, that at least, about 
thirteen hundred years have passed away since that catastrophe. 

This would give about five hundred years from Christ till the 
depopulation of the ancient western country ; so that, during the 
lapse of those five centuries, a knowledge of what had been propa- 
gated at Jerusalem about Christ, may have been, easily enough by 
missionaries, travelling philosophers of the Romans, Greeks, or of 
other nations, carried as well to China, as to other distant countries, 



182 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

as we know was the fact. The string of beads, and the stone ott 
his breast, which we take the liberty of calling the Skalgramu 
stone, or the stone in which the Hindoos suppose the god Vishnoo 
resides; together with the copper cross on his breast, and beads on 
his neck, are cireunostances, which strongly argue that a mixture 
of Gnosticism, Brahminism, and Christianity were embraced by 
this individual. To prove that the wearing of beads around the 
neck, or on the arm, for the purposes of devotion, is a Hindoo 
custom, we refer to Ward's late history of those nations, who was 
a Baptist missionary, among that people, and died in that country. 
This author says, page 40, that Brumha, the grandfather of the 
gods, holds in his hand, a string of beads, as an evidence of his 
devotion or goodness. Ungee, the regent of fire, is represented 
with a bead roll in his hand, to show that he is merciful or pro= 
pitious to those who call upon him. — Page 45. 

The Hindoo mendicants, or saints, as they suppose theraselvesj 
have invariably, a string of beads, made of bone, teeth of animals, 
ivory, stones, or the seeds of plants, or of something, hanging about 
their necks, or on their arms, which they recount, calling over and 
over, without end, the name of the god, as evidence of devotion 
to him.— Pa^fc 422. 

The devotions of the ascetic disciples among the Hindoos, con- 
sists in repeating incessantly the name of their god, using, at the 
same time, the bead roll, or rosary, as the catholics do. — Page 427. 

" Strings of beads were used for this purpose, from remotest 
antiquity, in all eastern Asia." — [Humboldt, p. 204.) 

This author further says, " therosarie,'''' which is a string of beads, 
" have been in use in Thibet and China, from time immemorial ; 
and that the custom passed from the east, viz : China, to the Chris- 
tians in the west, viz : Europe ;" and are found among the catho- 
lics ; no other sect of Christians, that we know of, have borrowed 
any trappings from the pagans, to aid their devotions, but this. The 
stone found on his breast, as before remarked, we assume to call 
the Shalgramu stone See also. Ward's account of this stone, page 
41 and 44, as follows : — A stone called the Shalgramu is a form of 
the god Vishnoo, and is in another case, the representative of the 
god Saoryu, or the sun. — Page 52. 

The Shalgramu, or Lingu, is a black stone, found in a part of 
the Gundeekee liver. They are mostly perforated, in one or more 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 18^ 

places, by worms, while at the bottom of the river ; but the Hin- 
doos believe the god Vishnoo, in the shape of a reptile, resides ia 
this stone, and caused the holes With this belief, how very 
natural it would be to wear on the breast, either in view or con- 
cealed, this stone, as an amulet, or charm, as found on the breast 
of this skeleton, in the union with the cross. We are inclined to 
believe, that the Roman catholic religion, borrowed, at a very 
early period, after their peculiar formation and corruption, subse- 
quent to the time of Constantine, the notion of the rosary, or bead 
roll, which they recount while saying prayers, from the Hindoos ; 
and that from Christian missionaries, the Hindoo Brahmins bor- 
rowed the idea of the cross, which they might also wear, together 
with Lingu stone, as an amulet or charm. For we see on the 
breast of this person, both the emblem of Christianity, and of the 
Hindoos' superstition, on which account, we are of the opinion, 
that the ministers of the Brahmin religion, lie buried beneath 
many of the western mounds. 

Mr. Ward informs us, page 272, that near the town of Dravina, 
in Hondostan-hu, are shown to this day, or at the time he lived in 
India, four small elevations, or mounds, from the top of which, the 
great ascetic philosopher, Shunkuracharyu, used to teach and ha- 
rangue the people and his disciples. From this circumstance, we 
catch a glimpse of the oratorial use of the mounds in the east ; 
and why not the same use be derived from them to the ancient 
people of the west; and more especially so, if they icr.y be be- 
lieved to have, in any measure, derived themselves from any na- 
tions of the Chinese world 



Great Works of the Ancient JVations on the JVorth Fork 
of Paint Creek. 

On the north branch of this creek, five miles from Chilicothe, 
are works so immense, that although we have given the reader 
several accounts of this kind, yet we cannot well pass over these. 
They are situated on an elevated piece of land, called the second 
bottom. The first bottom, or flat, extends from Paint creek, till 
it is met by a bank of twenty-five feet in height, which runs in 



184 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

a straight line, and parallel with the stream. One hundred rods 
from the top of this first bank, is another bank, of thirty feet in 
height ; the wall of the works runs up this bank, and twenty rods 
beyond it. The whole land enclosed, is six hundred and twenty 
rods in circumference, and contains one hundred and twenty-six 
acres of land. This second bank runs also parallel with the creek, 
and with the first. On this beautiful elevation, is situated this irn- 
mense work, containing within it, seventeen mounds of different 
sizes. Three hundred and eight rods of this fort are encompassed 
with a wall twelve feet high, a dicth twenty feet wide, and the 
wall the same at its base. Two hundred and forty rods, running 
along on the top of the first bank, is the rest of the wall ; but is 
"without a ditch ; this is next to the river or creek, between which 
and the water, is the first bottom or flat. Within this great en- 
closure, is a circular work of one hundred rods in circumference, 
with a Avail and ditch surrounding it, of the same height of the 
other wall. Within this great circle, are six mounds, of the circu- 
lar form ; these are full of human bones ; the rest of the mounds, 
eleven in number, are for some other purpose. There are seven 
gateways, of about five rods in width each. " The immense labor, 
and numerous cemeteries filled with human bones, denote a vast 
population, near this spot, in ancient times." — {Atwater.) 

" Tumuli are very common on the river Ohio, from its utmost 
sources to its mouth, although on the Monongahela, they are few, 
and comparatively small, but increase in number and size, as we 
descend towards the mouth of that stream at Pittsburgh, where the 
Ohio begins ; after this they are still more numerous and of greater 
dimensions, till we arrive at Grave creek, below Wheeling. At 
this place, situated between two creeks, which run into the Ohio, 
a little way from the river, is one of the most extraordinary and 
august monuments of antiquity, of the mound description. Its cir- 
cumference at its base, is fifty-six rods, its perpendicular height 
ninety feet, its top seven rods and eight feet in circumference. 
The centre at the summit, appears to have sunk several feet, so as 
to form a kind of amphitheatre. The rim enclosing this concavity 
is seven or eight feet in thickness ; on the south side, in the edge 
©f this rim, stands a large beech tree, the bark of which is marked 
with the initials of a great number of visitants." 

This lofty and venerable tumulus has been so far opened as to 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 185 

ascertain that it contains many thousands of human skeletons, but 
no farther; the proprietor will not suffer its demolition, in the 
least degree, for which he is highly praiseworthy. 

Following the river Ohio downwards, the mounds appear on 
both sides, erected uniformly on the highest alluvials along that 
strfeam, increasing in numbers all the way to the Mississippi, on 
which river they assume the largest size. Not having surveyed 
them, (says Mr. Atwater,) we shall use the description of Mr. 
Breckenridge, who travelled much in the west, and among the 
Indians, and devoted much attention to the subject of these aston- 
ishing western antiquities. 

These tumuli, (says Mr. Breckenridge,) as well as the fortifica- 
tions, are to be found at the junction of all the rivers along the 
Mississippi, in the most eligible positions for towns, and in the most 
extensive bodies of fertile laud. Their number exceeds, perhaps, 
three thousand ; the smallest , not less than twenty feet in height, 
and three hundred in circumference at the base. Their great 
number, and their amazing size, may be regarded as furnishing, 
with other circumstances, evidences of their great antiquity. 

I have been sometimes induced to think, that at the period when 
these were constructed, there was a population as numerous as that 
which once animated the borders of the Nile, or of the Euphrates. 
The most numerous, as well as the most considerable of these re- 
mains, are found precisely in those parts of the country where the 
traces of a numerous population might be looked for, namely, from 
the mouth of the Ohio, on the east side of the river, to the Illinois, 
and on the west side, from the St. Francis to the Missouri. I am 
perfectly satisfied that citiesy similar to those of ancient Mexico, of 
several hundred thousand souls, have existed in this western 
country. 

From this view we are compelled to look upon those nations as 
agriculturists, or they could not have subsisted ; neither wild game 
nor fish could possibly support so great a population. If agricul- 
turists, then it must follow, of necessity, that many modes of 
building, as with stone, timber, earth or clay, were practised and 
known, as well as methods of clearing the earth of heavy timber. 
And if they had not a knowledge of metals, we cannot well con- 
ceive how they could have removed the forests for the purposes of 
husbandry, and space for building. But if we suppose they did 

24 



186 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

not build houses with wood, stone and brick, but lived in tents or 
some fragile hut, yet the use of metals cannot be dispensed with, 
on account of the forests to be removed for agricultural purposes. 
Baron Humboldt informs us, in his Researches in South America, 
that when he crossed the Cordillera mountains, by the way of Pa- 
nama and Assuay, and viewed the enormous masses of stone cut 
from the porphyry quarries of PuUal, which was employed in con- 
structing the ancient highroads of the lucas, that he began to doubt 
whether the Peruvians were not acquainted with other tools than 
hatchets made of flint and stone ; and that grinding one stone on 
another to make them smooth and level, was not the only method 
they had employed in this operation. On which account he adopt- 
ed a new opinion, contrary to those generally received. He con- 
jectured that they must have had tools made of copper, hardened 
with tin^ such as it is known the early nations of Asia made use of. 
This conjecture was fully sustained by the discovery of an ancient 
Peruvian mining chisel, in a silver mine at Yilcabamba, which had 
been worked in the time of the Incas. This instrument of copper 
was four inches long, and three-fourths of an inch wide ; which he 
carried with him to Europe, where he had it analyzed, and found 
it to contain ninety-four parts of copper and six of tin. He says, 
that this keen copper of the Peruvians is almost identically the 
same with that of the ancient Gallic axe, which cut wood nearly 
as well as if made of iron and steel. 

Every where on the old continent, at the beginning of the civil- 
ization of nations, the use of copper, mixed with tin, prevailed over 
that of iron, even in places where the latter had been for a long 
time known. Antonio de Herera, in the tenth book of his History 
of the West Indies, says expressly that the inhabitants of the 
maritime coast of Zocatallan, in America, prepared two sorts of 
copper, of which one was hard and cutting, and the other mallea- 
ble. The hard copper was to make hatchets, weapons and instru- 
ments of agriculture with, and that it was tempered with tin. — 
(Humboldt, vol. 1, pp. 260—268. 

Among a great variety of the gods of the people of the Tonga 
islands, in the South Pacific ocean, is found one god named To-gi 
Ocummeu, which is, literally, the iron axe. From which circum- 
stance we imagine the people of those islands, sometimes called the 
Friendly Islands, were, at^ some period before their having been 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 167 

discovered by Captain Cook, acqiisinted with the use of iron, and 
consequently in a more civilized condition. Because men, in those 
early times, were apt to deify almost every thing, but especially 
those things the dqosI useful ? 

Were the people of Christendom to lose their knowledge of the 
true God, and to fall back into nature's ignorance, is there an arti- 
cle, within the compass of the arts which would from its usefulness 
have a higher claim to deification than the metal called iron. 

That group of islands belongs to the immense range shooting out 
from New-Holland, in south latitude about 20 deg. and once per- 
haps were united to China, forming a part of the continent. But, 
however this may be, ihefrst inhabitants of those islands were de- 
rived from China, and carried with them a knowledge of the arts ; 
among which was that of the use of iron, in the form of the axe, 
which, it appears, had become deified from its usefulness. The 
reason of the loss of this knowledge, must have been the separation 
of their country from the continent by convulsions, from age to age ; 
which not only altered the shape and condition of the land, but 
threw the inhabitants into confusion, separating them far from each 
other, the sea running between, so that they became reduced to 
savagism,, as they were found by the first Christian nations. 



Traits of ancient Cities on the Mississippi. 

Nearly opposite St. Louis, there are the traces of two ancient 
cities, in the distance of a few miles, situated on the Cohokia 
creek, which empties into the Mississippi but a short distance be- 
low that place. Here is situated one of those pyramids, which is 
one hundred and fifty rods in circumference at its base, (nearly 
half a mile,) and one hundred feet high. At St- Louis is one with 
two stages or landing places, as the architectural phrase is. There 
is another with three stages, at the mouth of the Missouri, a few 
miles above St. Louis. With respect to the stages, or landing 
places of these pyramids, we are reminded of th6 tower once stand- 
ing in old Babylon, which had eight stages from its base to the sum- 



188 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

mit, making it six hundred feet high. At the mouth of the Coho- 
kia creek, a short distance below St. Louis, are two groups of 
those mounds, of smaller size, but we are not informed of their es- 
act number. At Bayeau Manchac and Baton Rouge, are several 
mounds, one of which is composed chiefly of shells, which the in- 
habitants burn into lime. There is a mound on Black river, M'hich 
has two stages or stories ; this is surrounded with a group of lesser 
ones, as well as those at Bayeau Manchac, and Baton Rouge. 
There is one of those pyramids n'ear Washington, in the State of 
Mississippi, which is one hundred and forty-six feet high ; which 
is little short of nine rods perpendicular elevation, and lifty-six 
rods in circumference. Mr. Breckenridge is of the opinion that 
the largest city belonging to this people, the authors of the mounds 
and other works, was situated on the plains between St. Francis 
and the Arkansas. There is no doubt but in the neighborhood of 
St. Louis must have been cities or large towns of these ancient 
people ; as the number and size of the mounds above recounted 
would most certainly justify. 

Fifteen miles in a southwesterly direction from the town of St. 
Louis, on the Merrimack river, was discovered, by a Mr. Long, ou 
lands which he had purchased there, several mounds of the ordi- 
nary size, as found in the valley of the Mississippi, all of which go 
to establish that this country, lying between the Missouri and the 
Mississippi rivers, below St. Louis, and between the junction of 
the Illinois and the Mississippi above, with the whole region about 
the union of those rivers with each other, — which are all cot far 
from St. Louis — was once the seat of empire, equal, if not surpass- 
ing, the population and the arts as once they flourished on the plains 
of Shinar, the seat of Chaldean power, and on the banks of the 
Euphrates. 

It was on the lands of this gentleman, Mr. Long, that the disco- 
very of a burying-ground, containing a vast number of small tumuli, 
or graves, took place. On opening the graves, there were found 
deposited in stone cofiins, composed of stone slabs, six in number, 
forming the bottom, sides and top, with end pieces, the skele- 
tons of a lace of human beings, apparently of but from three to 
four feet in height. This discovery excited much surprise, and 
called forth, from several pens, the conjectures of able men, who 
published a variety of opinion? respecting them. Some imagined 



AM) DISCOVRRinS IN Tllli WKST. 189 

them to be the relics of a race of pigmy inhabitants who had be- 
come extinct. Others on account of the size of the teeth, which 
denoted full grown and adult persons, conjectured them to be the 
skeletons of a race of baboons or monkeys, from the shortness of 
their stature. From this opinion arose another conjecture, that 
they had been the objects of worship to the ancient nations, as they 
had been sometimes among the earlier Egyptians. 

The bones of these subjects were entirely destroyed, and re- 
duced to ashes of a white clialky consistency, except the teeth, 
which were perfect, being made imperishable from their enamel. 
Many of these graves were opened, and the inmates found not to 
exceed three and four feet. At length one was opened, and the 
skeleton it contained appeared to be of the full size of a large man, 
except its length ; however, this, on close inspection, was found to 
have had its legs disjointed at the knees, and placed along side the 
thigh bones, which at once, in the eyes of some, accounted for the 
statures of the whole. 

Such a custom is, indeed, singular; and among all the discove- 
ries of those ancient traits, nothing to compare with this has come 
to light. Respecting this instance of short skeletons, it has been 
also urged, that as certain tribes of the common Indians, now in- 
habiting the upper shores of the Missouri, place their dead on 
scaflfolds and in baskets, fastened to the limbs of trees, till their 
flesh becomes separated from the bones, that the authors of these 
short graves did the same. And that when by this process, they 
had become fair and white, they deposited them in small coffins, as 
discovered on the farm of Mr. Long. But although this is doubt- 
less true respe:;ting the Missouri Indians, yet we have no account 
of short graves having been found among others. But as we are 
unable to cast light on this discovery, we shall leave it as we found 
it — a great curiosity. 



Tradilion of the JHexican J\''alives respecting their 
Migration from the JVorth. 

In corroboration of Mr. Atwater's opinion, with respect to the 
gradual remove of the ancient people of the west toward Mexico, 



190 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tve subjoin what we have gathered from the Researches of Baron 
Humboldt, ou that poiot- See Helen Maria William's translation 
of Humboldfs Researches in South America, vol. 2, p. 67. From 
which it appears the people inhabiting the vale of Mexico, at the 
time the Spaniards overrun that country, were called Aztecks, or 
Aztekas ; and were, as the Spanish history informs us, usurpers, 
having come from the north, from a country which they called 
Aztalan. 

This country of Aztalan, Baron Humboldt says, " we must look 
for at least north of the 42d degree of latitude." He comes to this 
conclusion from an examination of the Mexican or Azteca manu- 
scripts, which were made of a certain kind of leaves, and of skins 
prepared ; on which, an account in painted hieroglyphics or pic- 
lures, was given of their migration from Aztalan to Mexico, and 
how long they halted at certain places, which, in the aggregate, 
amounts to "four hundred and sixteen years" 

The following names of places appear on their account of their 
journey ings, at which places they made less or more delay, and 
built towns, forts, tumuli, &c. 

1st. A place of Humiliation^ and a place of Grottoes. It would 
seem at this place they were much afflicted and humbled ; but in 
what manner is not related ; and also at this place, from the term 
grottoes, that it was a place of caverns and dens, probably where 
they at first hid, and dwelt till they built a town and cleared the 
ground. Here they built the places which they called Tocalco 
and Oztatan. 

2d Journey ; they stopped at a place of fruit trees ; probably 
meaning, as it was farther south, a place where nature was abun- 
dant in nuts, grapes, and wild fruit trees. Here they built a mound 
or tumuli, and, in their language, it is called a Teocali. 

3d Journey ; when they stopped at a place of herbs, with broad 
hates; probably meaning a place where many succulent plants 
grew, denoting a good soil ; which invited them to pitch their tents 
here. 

4th Journey ; when they came to a place of human boms; where 
they, either during their stay had battles with each other, or with 
some enemy, or they may have found them already there, the relics 
of other nations before them ; for, according to Humboldt, this 
migration of the Aztecas, took place A. D. 778 ; so that other na- 
tions certainly had preceded them, also from the north. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 191 

5th Journey ; they came to a place of Eagles. 
1 6th Journey ; to a place of precious stonesj and minerals. 
7ih Journey ; to a place of spinniny, where they manufactured 
clothing of cotton, barks, or of something proper for clothing of 
some sort, and mats of rushes and feathers. 

8th Journey ; they came to another place of eagles, called the 
Eagle mountain, or in their own language, Quauktli Tepee: TepeCj 
says Humboldt, in the Turkish language, is the word for moun- 
tain ; which two words are so near alike, tepee and lepe^ that it 
would seem almost an Arab word, or a word used by the Turks. 

9th Journey ; when they came to a place of walls, and the se- 
ven grottoes ; which shows the place had been inhabited before, 
and these seven grottoes were either caves in the earth, or were 
made in the side of some mountain, by those who had preceded 
them. 

10th Journey ; when they came to a place of thistles, sand and * 
vultures. 

11th Journey ; when they came to a place of Obsidian Mirrors., 
which is much the same with that of isinglass, scientifically called 
mica membranacea. This mineral substance is frequently found 
in the tumuli of the west, and is called, by the Mexicans, the 
shining god. The obsidian stone, however, needs polishing, be- 
fore it will answer as a mirror. 

12th Journey ; came to a place of water, probably some lake, or 
beautiful fountains, which invited their residence there ; on the 
account not only of the water, but for fishing and game. 

13th Journey ; they came to the place of the Divine Monkey ^ 
called in their own language, Teozomoco. Here, it would seem, 
they set up the worship of the monkey, or baboon, as the ancient 
Egyptians are known to have done. This animal is found in Mex- 
ico or New Spain, according to Humboldt. 

14th Journey ; when they came to a high mountain, probably 
with table lands on it; which they called Chopaltepec^ox mountain 
of locusts. A place, says Baron Humboldt, celebrated for the 
magnificent view from the top of this hill ; which, it appears, is in 
the Mexican country, and probably not far from the vale of Mex§ 
ico ; where they finally and permanently rested. 

15th Joumney ; when they came to the vale of Mexico ; hav- 
ing here met with the prodigy, or fulfilment of the prophecy, or 



192 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

oracle, which at their outset from the country of Aztalan, Huehue- 
tlapallan, and Amaquemecan ; which was (see Humboldt, vol 2, 
p. 185,) that the migrations of the Aztecks should not terminate 
till the chiefs of the nation should meet with an eagle perched on a 
cactus tree or prickly jyear ; at such a place they might found a 
city. This was, as their bull-hide books inform us, in the vale of 
Mexico. 

We have related this account of the Azteca migration from the 
country of Aztalan, Huehuetlapallan, and Amaquemecan, from the 
regions of north latitude 42 degrees, merely to show that the coun- 
try, provinces, or districts, so named in their books, must have been 
the country of Ohio, Mississppi and Illinois, with the whole region 
thereabout ; for these are not far from the very latitude named by 
Humboldt as the region of Aztalan, &c. 

The western country is now distinguished, by the general name 
of the " lake country," and why, because it is a country, of lakes ; 
and for the same reason, it was called by the Mexican, Azteca, 
Indians, Aztalan, because in their language, atl is water, from 
which Aztalan is doubtless a derivitive as well also as their own 
name as a nation, or title, which was Astecas., or people of the Lakes. 

This account, derived from the Mexicans since their reduction 
by the Spaniards, gathered from the researches of learned travel- 
lers, who have, for the very purpose of learning the origin of the 
people of this country, penetrated not only into the forest retreats 
in the woods of Mexico, but into the mysteries of their hard lan- 
guage, their theology, philosphy and astronomy. This account of 
their migration, as related above, is corroborated by the tradition of 
the Wyandot Indians. 

We come to a knowledge of this tradition, by the means of a 
Mr, William Walker, soaie time Indian agent for our government ; 
'vho, it seems, from a pamphlet published, 1823, by Frederick 
Falley, of Sandusky, giving Mr. Walker's account, that a great 
many hundred years ago the ancient inhabitants of America, who 
were the authors of the great works of the west, were driven away 
from their country and possessions, by barbarous and savage hordes 
of warriors, who came from the north and northeast ; before whose 
' power and skill in war, they were compelled to flee, and went to 
the south. 

After having been there many hundred years, a runner came 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. ] 9.'i 

back into the same country, from whence the ancient people had 
been driven, which we suppose is the very country of Aztalan, or 
the region of the western states ; bringing the intelligence, that a 
dreadful beast had landed on their coast along the sea, which was 
spreading among them havoc and death, by means of fire and thun- 
der ; and that it would no doubt, travel all over the country, for 
the same purpose of destruction. This beast whose voice was like 
thunder, and whose power to kill was like fire, we have no doubt, 
represents the cannon i\nd small arms of the Spaniards, when ihey 
first commenced the murder of the people of South America. 



Supposed I'ses of the Ancient Roads connected wilk the 

Mounds. 

Ancient roads, or highways, which in many parts of the west, 
are found walled in on both sides for many miles, where the forest 
trees are growing as abundant, and as large, and aged, as in any 
part of the surrounding woods. We have already mentioned seve- 
ral roads which have always been found connected with some 
great works ; as at Piketon, Portsmouth, Newark, Licking county, 
and at the works on the Little Miami river. These roads, where 
they have been traced, are found to communicate with some 
mound, or mountain, which had been shaped by art to suit the 
purposes of those who originated these stupendous works. The 
circumstance of their being walled in by banks of earth, leaving 
from one to four and six rods space between, has excited much in- 
quiry, as to the reason and purposes of their construction. But 
may not this grand characteristic of the people of the west, in road 
building, be illustrated by comparing a practice of the Mexicans 
with this fact. We will shosv the practice, and then draw the 
conclusion. 

" The Mexicans believed, according to a very ancient tradition, 
that the end of the world would take place at the termination of 
every cycle of fifty-two years ; that the sun would no more appear 
on the horizon, and that mankind would be devoured by evil genii 
of hideous appearance, known under the name of Tzitziraimes. 

25 



194 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

On the last day of this great cycle of time, of fifty-two year*;/ 
the sacred fires were extinguished in all their temples, and dwel- 
lings, and every where, all the people devoting themselves to pray- 
er, no person daring to light a fire at the approach of the night ; 
the vessels of clay were broken, garments torn, and whatever was 
most precious was destroyed, because every thing appeared useless 
at the tremendous moment of the last day. Amidst this frantic 
superstition, pregnant women became the objects of peculiar horror 
to the men ; they caused their faces to be hidden with masks made 
with paper of the agave; they were even imprisoned in the store 
houses of maize or corn, from a persuasion, that if the catastrophe 
took place, the women transformed into tigers, would make com- 
mon cause with the evil genii, and avenge themselves of the in- 
justice of the men. As soon as it was dark, the grand processions 
called the festival of the new fire, commenced. The priests took 
the dresses of the gods, and followed by an immense crowd of 
people, went in solemn train to the mountain of Huzachthcatl, 
which was two leagues or six miles from Mexico. This lugubrious 
march was called the march of the gods ; which was supposed to 
be their final departure from their city, and possibly never to re- 
turn ; in which event, the end of the world was come. When 
the procession had reached the summit of the mountain, it waited 
till the moment when the Pleiades, or the seven stars, ascended 
the middle of the sky, to begin the horrible sacrifice of a, human 
victim, stretched on the stone of sacrifice, having a wooden disk 
on the breast, which the priest inflames by friction. The corpse, 
after having received a wound in the breast, W'hich extinguished 
life, while he was held on the fatal stone, was laid on the ground ; 
and the instrument made use of to produce fire by friction, was 
placed on the wound, which had been made with a knife of ob- 
sidian stone. When the bits of wood, by the rapid motion of the 
cylinder, or machine made use of for that purpose, had taken fire, 
an enormous pile, previously prepared to receive the body of the 
unfortunate victim, was kindled, the flames of which, ascending 
high into the air, were seen at a great distance ; when the 
vast populace of the city of Mexico, and surrounding country, 
filled the air with joyful shouts and acclamations. All such as 
were not able to join in the procession, were stationed on the ter- 
races of houses, and on the lops of teocallis, or mounds, and tu- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 195 

inulis, with their eyes fixed on the spot where the fiame wan to 
appear: which, as soon as it was perceived, was a token of the 
benevolence of the gods, and of the preservation of mankind du- 
ring another cycle of fifty-two years. Messengers posted at pro- 
per distances from each other, holding branches of wood, of a very 
resinous pine, carried the new fire from village to village to the dis- 
tance of many leagues ; and deposited it anew in every temple, from 
whence it was distributed to all private dwellings. When the sun 
appeared on the horizon, the shouting was redoubled, the proces- 
sion went back from the mountain to the city, and they thought 
they could see their gods also returning to their sanctuaries. The 
women were then released from their prisons, every one put on a 
new dress, the temples were whitewashed, their household furni- 
ture renewed, their plate, and whatever was necessary for domestic 
use. " This secular festival, this apprehension of the sun being 
extinguished at the epoch of the winter solstice, seems to present 
a new instance of analogy between the Mexicans and the inhab- 
itants of Egypt. When the Egyptians saw the sun descend from 
the Crab towards Cupricor7i, and the day& gradually grow shorter, 
they were accustomed to sorrow, from the apprehension that the 
sun was going to abandon the earth, but when the orb began to re- 
turn, and the duration of the days grew longer, they robed them- 
selves in white garments, and crowned themselves with flowers." 
(Humboldt, p. 380, 384.) 

This Mexican usage may have been practised by the people of 
the west, as the roads would seem to justify, leading as they do, 
either to some mountain prepared by art, or at some mound : and 
as these processions took place in the night, so that the Pleiades, 
or seven stars, might be seen, it was necessary that the roads should 
be walled as a defence against an enemy, who might take advan- 
tage under cover of the night. After having examined these ac- 
counts of the ancient works of the west, it is natural to ask, who their 
authors were : this can be answered only by comparison and con- 
jecture, more or less upheld, as circumstances, features, manners, 
and customs of the nations, many resemble each other. " If we 
look into the Bible, we shall there learn, that mankind, soon after 
the deluge, undertook to raise a tower, high as heaven, designed to 
keep them together. But in this attempt they were disappointed, 
and themselves dispersed throughout the world. Did they forget 



196 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

to raise afterwards similar monuments and places of worship? 
They did not, and to use the words of an inspired writer, " high 
places," of various altitudes and dimensions, were raised on every 
high hill throughout the land of Palestine, and all the east, among 
the pagan nations. Some of these " high places" belonged to 
single families ; some to mighty chieftains, a petty tribe, a city, or 
a whole nation. At those " high places," belonging to great na- 
tions, great national affairs were transacted. Here they crowned 
and deposed their kings ; here they concluded peace, and declared 
war, and worshipped their gods. The Jews, on many great oc- 
casions, assembled at Gilgal ; which word signifies "an Aeop." 
Shiloh, where the Jews frequently assembled to transact great na- 
tional affairs, and perform acts of devotion, was on the top of a high 
hill. When this was forsaken, the loftier hill of Zion was selected 
in its stead ; upon Sinai's awful summit the law of God was pro- 
mulgated. Solomon's temple was situated upon a high hill, by 
Divine appointment. Samaria, a place celebrated, for the worship 
of idols, was built upon a high hill of Shemer, by Omri, one of 
the kings of Israel, who was buried there. How many hundreds 
of mounds in this country are situated on the highest hills, sur- 
rounded by the most fertile soils ? Traverse the counties of Lick- 
ing, Franklin, Pickaway, aad Ross ; examine the loftiest mounds, 
and compare them with those described in Palestine, and a convic- 
tion will remain, that as in the earliest ages, men preferred the 
summit of the highest mountains, as a love of the same, as a me- 
morial of ancestry, would influence posterity to the like custom." 
(Atwater.) 

But the most extraordinary mound we have heard of, is men- 
tioned by Schoolcraft, Travels in the West. It is called Mount 
Jolietj and is situated on the river Des Plains, one of the head wa- 
ter rivers of the Illinois. Its situation is such as to give to its size 
its fullest eflfect, being on a level country with no hill in sight to 
form a contrast. Its height is sixty feet, nearly four rods perpen- 
dicular, its length eighty-four rods, its width fourteen, and is one 
hundred and ninety-six rods in circumference on its top, but con- 
siderably larger, measuring round the base. It has been remarked 
by Dr. Beck, that this is probably the largest mound within the 
limits of the United States. This mound is built on the horizontal 
Ume stone stratum of the secondary formation, and is fronted by 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST, 197 

the beautiful lake Joliet, which is but fifteen miles long, furnish- 
ing the most " noble and picturesque spot in all America." — 
(Schoolcraft.) This mound consists of eighteen million two hun- 
dred and fifty thousand solid feet of earth. How long it took to 
build it, is more than can be made out, as the number of men em- 
ployed, and the facilities to carry on the work, are unl.nown. 

In England, Scotland, and in Wales, they are thus siti. .-.ted. At 
Inch Tuthel, on the river Tay, there is a mound which resembles 
this on the Licking, near Newark. The camp at Comerie is on a 
water of Ruchel, situated on a high alluvion, like that in the west. 
The antiquities of Ardoch are on a water Kneck, their walls ditch- 
es, gateways, mounds of defence before them, and every thing 
about them, resemble our works of this character in America. 

What Pennant, in his Antiquarian Researches in the north of 
Europe, calls a pratorititn, is exactly like the circular works round 
our mounds, when placed within walls of earth. Catter-thun, two 
miles from Angus, is ascribed to the ancient Caledonians, or Scotch. 
Such works are very common in Ohio. One on the river Loden, 
or Lowthe, and another near the river Emet, are exactly like those 
in the west. The strong resemblance between the works in Scet- 
land and those of the west, I think, says Mr. Atwater, n man will 
deny. In various parts of the British isles, as well as England, 
Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, are abundance of those works, which 
were places of worship, burial, and defence, bailt by the ancient 
Picts, so called by the Romans, because they painted themselves, 
like the aborigines of this country. At a very early period of the 
globe, a small mound of earth served as a sepulchre and an altar, 
wheron the officiating priest could be seen by the surrounding 
worshippers. Such sacred works may be traced from Wales to 
Russia, quite across that empire north, to our continent ; and then 
across this continent, from the Columbia on the Pacific ocean, to 
the Black river, on the east end of lake Ontario ; thence turning 
in a southwestern direction, we find them extending quite to the 
southern parts of Mexico and Peru. 

" If there exists," says Dr. Clarke, " any thing of former times 
which may afford evidence of antediluvian manners, it is this mode 
of burial ; which seems to mark the progress of population in the 
first ages after the dispersion, occasioned by the confusion of lan- 
guages, at Babel Whether under the form of a mound in Scan^ 



i98 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

dinavia and Russia, a barrow in England, or cairn in Ireland, Scot- 
land and Wales, or heaps of earth, which the modern Greeks and 
Turks caMtepe, and the Mexicans /ejoec ; and lastly, in the more 
artificial shape of a pyramid, in Egypt : they had universally the 
same origin." 

Here we have the unequivocal opinion of a man who has scarce- 
ly his fellow, respecting a knowledge of the ancient manners of 
mankind; who says,_ that the tumuli, found in all parts of the 
€arth, belong solely to the age immediately succeeding Noah's flood ; 
which greatly favors our opinion, that this country was settled as 
early as the other parts of the earth, which are at as great a dis- 
tance from Mount Ararat and Babylon. 

But what is the distance from Mount Ararat by way of Bhering's 
•strait, to the middle of the United States, which is the region of 
the Missouri.' It is something over ten thousand miles; nearly 
half the circuit of the globe. Here, in the region of the western 
states, we have, by the aid of Baron Humboldt, supposed the 
country of Aztalan was situated ; where the great specimens of 
labor and ancient manners are most abundant. If this was the 
way the first people came into America, it is very clear they could 
not, in the ordinary way of making a settlement here and there, 
have arrived soon enough to show signs of as great antiquity, in 
their works in America, as those of the same sort found in the north 
of Europe. Some other way, therefore, we are confident, the first 
inhabitants must have pursued, so that their works in America 
might compare, in character and antiquity, with those of other na- 
tions. From Ararat, in a westerly course, passing through Europe, 
by way of the countries now situated in Russia in Europe, to the 
Atlantic, the distance is scarcely 5000 miles ; not half the distance 
ihe route of Bhering's strait would have been. And if the Egyp- 
tian tradition be true respecting the island Atalantis, and the con- 
jectures of naturalists about a union of Europe and America on the 
north, there was nothing to hinder their settling here, immediately 
after their dispersion. 

It is supposed the first generations immediately succeeding the 
flood, were much more enlightened than many nations since that 
period ; the reason is, they had not yet forgotten that which they 
had learned of the manners of their antediluvian ancestors, from 
Noah : but as they spread and diverged asunder, what they had 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 199 

learned from him concerning the creation, architecture, and the 
culture of the earth before the flood, they lost, and so retrograded 
to savagism. 

It is true, the family of Shem, of whom were Abraham, Isaac, 
and Jacob, by the particular^Providence of (iod, retained, unadul- 
terated, the traditional history of the creation, and of man, till the 
time Moses embodied it in a book, 857 years after the flood. But 
the rest of the nations were left, in this respect, to mere recollec- 
tions ; which, as soon as they divided and subdivided, became con- 
tradictory and monstrous in their accounts. 

But the authors of the great works found in the west, seem to 
have retained the fast ideas received from their fathers at the era 
of the building of Babel, equally, if not superior, to many nations 
of Europe, as they were in the year 800 after Christ. This is con- 
sented to on all hands, and even contended for by the historian 
Humboldt. In order to show the reader the propriety of believing 
that a colony, very soon after the confusion of the language of man- 
kind, found their way to what is now called America, we give the 
tradition of the Azteca nation, who once inhabited Aztalan, the 
country of the western states, but were, at the era of the conquest 
of South America, found inhabiting the vale of Mexico, because 
they had, as we have shown, been driven away by the irruptions 
of the Tartarian Indians, as follows : 



Traits of the Mosaic History found among the JJzteca 
JYations. 

The tradition commences with an account of the deluge, as they 
had preserved it in books made of the buffalo and deer skin, on 
which account there is more certainty than if it had been preserved 
by mere oral tradition, handed down from father to son. 

They begin by painting, or as we would say, by telling us that 
Noah, whom they call Tezpi, saved himself, with his wife, whom 
they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. Is not this the ark ? 
The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain, which 
they call Colhuacau. Is not this Ararat ? The men born after this 



200 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

deluge were born dumb. Is not this the confusion of language at 
Babel ? A dove from the top of a tree distributes languages to them 
in the form of an olive leaf. Is not this the dove of Noah, which 
returned with that leaf in her mouth, as related in Genesis ? They 
say, that on this ran, beside Tezpi and his wife, were several chil- 
dren, and animals, with grain, the preservation of which was of 
importance to mankind. Is not this in almost exact accordance 
with what was saved in the ark with Noah, as stated in Genesis ? 
When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to 
withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture, which never re- 
turned, on account of the great quantities of dead carcasses which it 
found to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which did not 
return when it was sent out the second time, for the very reason 
here assigned by the Mexicans ? Tezpi sent other birds, one of 
which was the humming bird ; this bird alone returned, holding 
in its beak a branch covered with leaves. Is not this the dove ? 
Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure now clothed the earth, quitted 
bis raft near the mountain of Colhuacan. Is not this an allusion to 
Ararat of Asia? They say the tongues which the dove gave to 
mankind, were infinitely varied ; which, when received, they im- 
mediately dispersed. But among them there were fifteen heads or 
chiefs of families, which were permitted to speak the same lan- 
guage, and these were the Taltecs, the Aculhucans, and Azteca 
nations, who embodied themselves together, which was very natu- 
ral, and travelled, they knew not where, but at length arrived in 
the country of Aztalan, or the lake country in America. 

The plate or engraving presented here, is a suprising representa- 
tion of the deluge of Noah, and of the confusion of the ancient lan- 
guage, at the building of the tower of Babel, as related in the book 
of Genesis, (see chap. vii. and xi.) 

We have derived the subject of this plate from Baron Hum- 
boldt's volume of Researches in Mexico, who found it painted on a 
manuscript book, made of the leaves of some kind of tree, suitable 
for the purpose, after the manner of the ancient nations of the sul- 
try parts of Asia, around the Mediterranean. 

Among the vast multitude of painted representations found by 
this author, on the books of the natives, made also frequently of 
prepared skins of animals, were delineated all the leading circum- 
stances and history of the deluge, of the fall of man, and of the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 201 

scduclion of the woman by the means of the serpent, the first 
murder as perpetrated by Cain, on the person of his brother Abel. 

The plate, however, here presented, shows no more than a pic- 
ture of the flood, with Noah afloat on a raft, or as the traditions of 
some of the nations say, on a tree, a canoe, and some say even in 
a vessel of huge dimensions. It also shows, by the group of men 
approaching the bird, a somewhat obscure history of the confusion 
of the ancient language, at the building of Babel, by representing 
them as being born dumb, who receive the gift of speech from a 
dove, which flutters in the branches of the tree, while she presents 
the languages to the mute throng, by bestowing upon each indivi- 
dual a leaf of the tree, which is shown in the form of small com- 
mas suspended from its beak. 

Among the different nations, according to Humboldt, who inha- 
bited Mexico, were found paintings which represented the deluge, 
or the flood of Tezpi. The same person among the Chinese is 
called Fohi and Yu-iij which is strikingly similar in sound to the 
Mexican Tezpi, in which they show how he saved himself and 
his wife, in a bark, or some say, in a canoe, others, on a raft, which 
they call, in their language, a huahuate. 

The painting, of which the plate is the representation, shows 
Tezpi, or Noah, in the midst of the waters, lying on his back. 
The mountain, the summit of which is crowned by a tree, and rises 
above the waters, is the peak of Colhucan, the Ararat of the Mex- 
icans. At the foot of the mountain, on each side, appear the heads 
of Noah and his wife. The woman is known by the two points 
extending up from her forehead, 'vhich is the universal designation 
of the female sex among the Mexicans. The horn at the left hand 
of the tree, with a human hand pointing to it, is the character re- 
presenting a mountain, and the head of a bird placed above the 
head of Tezpi or Noah, shows the vulture which the Mexicans say 
Tezpi sent out of his acalli or boat to see if the waters had subsided. 

In the figure of the bird, with the leaves of a tree in its beak, is 
shown the circumstance of the dove's return to the Ark, when it 
bad been sent out the second tijne, bringing a branch of the olive 
in its mouth ; but in their tradition it had become misplaced, and 
is made the author of the languages. That birds have a language^ 
was believed by the nations of the old world. Some of those na- 
tions retain a surprising traditional account of the deluge ; who say, 

26 



202 4MER1CAN ANTIQUITIES 

that Noah embarked in a spacious acalli or boat, with his wife, his 
children, several animals, and grain, the preservation of which was 
of great importance to mankind. When the Great Spirit, Tezcat- 
lipoca, ordered the waters to withdraw, Tezpi, or Noah, sent out 
from his boat a vulture. But as the bird's natural food was that of 
dead carcasses, it did not return, on account of the great number 
of dead carcasses with which the earth, now dried in some places, 
abounded. 

Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which was the humming bird^ 
this bird alone returned again to the boiat, holding in its beak & 
branch, covered with leaves. Tezpi now knowing that the earth 
was dry, being clothed with fresh verdure, quitted his bark near 
the mountain Colhucan, or Ararat 

The purity of this tradition is evidence of two things : first., that 
the book of Genesis, as written by Moses, is not as some have 
imagined, a cunningly devised fable, as these Indians cannot be 
accused of Christian priestcraft, nor yet of Jewish priestcraft, their 
religion being solely of another cast, wholly idolatrous. And se- 
cond, that the continents of America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, 
were anciently united, so the earlier nations came directly over af- 
ter the confusion of the ancient language and dispersion — on which 
account its purity has been preserved more than among the more 
wandering tribes of the old continents. 

As favoring this idea of their coming immediately from the re- 
gion of the tower of Babel, their tradition goes on to inform us, 
that the tongues distributed by this bird were infinitely various, and 
dispersed over the earth ; but that it so happened that fifteen heads 
of families were permitted to speak the same language, these are 
the same shown on the plate. These travelled till they came to a 
country which they called Aztalan, supposed to be in the regions 
of the now United States, according to Humboldt. As favoring 
this idea, we notice, the word Aztalan signifies in their language, 
water, or a country of much water. Now, no country on the earth 
better suits this appellation than the western country, on account of 
the vast number of lakes found there, and is even, by us, called 
the lake country. 

There is another particular in this group of naked, dumb human 
beings, worthy of notice, which is, that neither their countenances 
nor form of their persons agree at all with the countenances or for- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. SOf 

mation of the common Indians ; they suit far better to the face of 
the ancient Britons, Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians and Persians 
the progenitors of the German tribes. 

If so, it is evident, that the Indians are not the first people who 
found their way to this country. Among these ancient nations are 
found many more traditions corresponding to the accounts given by 
Moses, respecting the creation, the fall of man by the means of a 
serpent — the murder of Abel by his brother, &c. ; all of which are 
denoted in their paintings, as found by the earlier travellers among 
them, since the discovery of America hy Columbus, and carefully 
copied from their books of prepared hides, which may be called 
parchment, after the manner of the ancients of the earliest ages. 

We are pleased when we find such evidence, as it goes to the 
establishment of the truth of the historical parts of the old Testa- 
ment, evidence so far removed from the sceptic's charge of priest- 
craft here among the unsophiscated nations of the earlier people of 
America. 

Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, says that among the Cbiap- 
anese Indians, was found an ancient manuscript in the language of 
that country, made by the Indians themselves, in which it was said, 
according to their ancient tradition, that a certain person, named 
Votan^ was present at that great building, which was made by or- 
der of his uncle, in order to mount up to heaven ; that then every 
people was given its language, and that Votan himself was charged 
by God to make the division of the lands of Anahuac — so Noah 
divided the earth among his sons. Votan may have been Noah, or 
a grandson of his. 

Of the ancient Indians of Cuba, several historians of America 
relate, that when they Were interrogated by the Spaniards concern- 
ing their origin, they answered, they had heard from their ances- 
tors, that God created the heavens and the earth, anJ all things : 
that an old man having foreseen the deluge with which God de- 
signed to chastise the sins of men, built a large canoe and embark- 
ed in it with his family, and many animals ; that when the inun- 
dation ceased, he sent out a raven, which, because it found food 
suited to its nature to feed on, never returned to the canoe ; that 
he then sent out a pigeon, which soon returned, bearing a branch 
of the Hoba tree, a certain fruit tree of America, in its mouth ; 
that when the old man saw the earth dry, he disembarked, and 



204 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

having made himself wine of the wood grape, he became intoir- 
cated and fell asleep ; that then one of his sons made ridicule of 
his nakedness, and that another son piously covered him ; that, 
upon waking, he blessed the latter and cursed the former. Lastly, 
these islanders held that they had their origin from the accursed 
son, and therefore went almost naked ; that the Spaniards, as they 
were clothed, descended perhaps from the other. 

Many of the nations of America, says Clavigero, have the same 
tradition, agreeing nearly to what we have already related. It was 
the opinion of this author, that the nations who peopled the Mex- 
ican empire, belonged to the posterity of Naphtuhim — (the same, 
we imagine, with Japheth ;) and that their ancestors having left 
Egypt not long after the confusion of the ancient language, travel- 
led towards America, crossing over on the isthmus, which it is sup- 
posed once united America with the African continent, but since 
has been beaten down by the operation of the waters of the At- 
lantic on the north, and the Southern ocean on the south, or by the 
operation of earthquakes. 

Now we consider the comparative perfection of the preservation 
of this Bible account, as an evidence that the people among whom 
it was found must have settled in this country at a very early pe- 
riod of time, after the flood, and that they did not wander any 
more, but peopled the continent, cultivating it, building towns and 
cities, after their manner : the vestiges of which are so abundant 
to this day ; and on this account, viz., their fixedness, their tra- 
ditiouary history was not as liable to become lost, as it would have 
undoubtedly been, had they wandered, as many other nations of 
the old world have, among whom scarcely a vestige of their origin 
is found, of credible tradition, compared wiih this. 

Even the Hindoo nations, who, in their origin wandered also 
from Ararat, have not, with all their boasted refinement and anti- 
quity of origin, as clear an account of the first age of the earth, as 
these Mexicans. But there is another additional reason for it : 
those countries of the east have been frequently overrun by savage 
hordes from the wilds of northern Tartary ; while the ancient peo- 
ple of this continent have rested in peace, till similar hordes found 
their way across Bhering's strait in later years ; and, as is believed, 
an account of the tradition, both of some of the western tribes, and 
of the Azteca nations in Mexico, were driven from their ancient 
possessions. 



AND DlftCOVKRIES IN TUp: Wi;8T. 205 

If, then, we believe that the first people who visited this country 
did not come here by the way of Bhering's strait, from Tartary, 
how then is it that we find such evident marks in the mounds and 
tumuli of the west, of the presence of a Hindoo population, as well 
as of other nations. 

Let the traditions of the nations of Taltec and Azteca extraction 
in Mexico answer it. These say, that a wonderful personage, 
whom they name Quetzalcoatl, appeared among them, who was a 
white and bearded man. This person assumed the dignity of act- 
ing as a priest and legislator, and became the chief of a religious 
sect, which like the Songasis, and the Boudhists of Hindostan, in- 
flicted on themselves the most cruel penances. He introduced the 
custom of piercing the lips and ears, and lacerating the rest of the 
body, with the prickles of the agave and leaves, the thorns of the 
cactus, and of putting reeds into the wounds, in order that the blood 
might be seen to trickle more copiously. In all this, says Hum- 
boldt, we seem to behold one of those Rishi, hermits of the Gan- 
ges, whose pious austerity is celebrated in the books of the Hin- 
doos. 

Jewitt, a native of Boston, who lately died at Hartford, Conn., 
was, some few years since, captured with the crew of the vessel in 
which he had sailed, by the Nootka Indians, at Nootka sound, on 
the Pacific. In his narrative of his captivity and sufferings, he 
states that those Indians had a religious custom, very similar to 
those of the Hindoos, now in use about the temple of Juggernaut, 
in India ; which was, piercing their sides with long rods, and leap- 
ing about while the rods were in the wound. 

Respecting' this white and bearded man, much is said in their 
tradition, recorded in their books of skin, and among other things, 
that after a long stay with them he suddenly left them, promising 
to return again, in a short time, to govern them and renew their 
happiness. This person resembles, very strongly, in his promise 
to return again, the behavior of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, 
who, on his departure from Lacedaemon, bound all the citizens 
under an oath, both for themselves and posterity, that they would 
neither violate nor abolish his laws till his return ; and soon after, 
in the Isle of Crete, he put himself to death, so that his return be- 
came impossible. 

It was the posterity of this man whom the unhappy Montezuma 



2^^ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

thought he recognized in the soldiers of Cortez, the Spanish con- 
queror of Mexico. " We know," said the unhappy monarch, in 
his first interview with the Spanish general, " by our books, that 
myself and those who inhabit this country, are not natives but 
strangers, who came from a great distance. We know, also, that 
the chief who led our ancestors hither, returned for a certain time, 
to his primitive country, and thence came back to seek those who 
were here established, who atter a while, returned again, alone. 
We always believed that his descendants would one day come to 
take possession of this country. Since you arrive from that region 
where the sun rises, I cannot doubt but that the king who sends 
you is our natural master." 

Humboldt says, that the Azteca tribes left their country, Aztalan, 
ia the year of our Lord 644 ; and wandered to the south or south- 
west, coming at last to the vale of Mexico. It would appear, from 
this view, that as the nations of Aztalan, with their fellow nations, 
left vast works, and a vast extent of country, apparently in a state 
of cultivation, with cities and villages, more in number than three 
thousand, as Breckenridge supposed, that they must, therefore, 
have settled here long before the Christian era. 

The peculiar doctrines of the Hindoos, we are informed, were 
commenced to be taught in the east, among what is now called the 
Hindoo nations, by Zoroaster, about the time of Abraham, 1449 
years before the time of Confucius, who was born 551 B. C So 
that there was time for those doctrines of Confucius and Zoroaster 
to take root in China, and to become popular, and also to reach 
America, by Hindoo missionaries, and overspread these regions even 
as early as the commencement of the Christian era. 

Of Zoroaster, it is said, that he predicted the coming of the Mes- 
siah in plain words ; and that the " wise men" of the east, who 
saw his star, were of his disciples, or sect. This doctrine he must 
have learned of Shem, who, we have attempted to show, was Mel- 
chisedek, or of Abraham, as it had been handed down from Adam, 
the first of men. But the peculiar doctrine of Confucius, which 
was the worship of fire as well as that of the sun, by Zoroaster, it 
is likely, was derived from the account he found among the ar- 
chives of the Jews, respecting the burning bush of Moses, which 
had taken place more than a thousand years before the time of Con- 
fucius. From this originated, in all probability, as taught by Con- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 207 

fucius, the burning of heroes, when dead, among many nations; 
and from this, that of immolating widows, as among the Hindoos, 
on the funeral pile, taught by the Brahmin missionaries, who, un- 
doubtedly, visited America, and planted their belief among these 
nations ; the tokens of which appear so abundantly in the mounds 
and tumuli of the west. 

And this Quetzalcotl, a celebrated minister of those opinions, ap- 
pears to have been the first who announced the religion of the east 
among the people of the west. There was also one other mini&ter, 
or Brahmin, who appeared among the Mozea tribes in South Ame- 
rica, whom they name Bochica. This personage taught the wor- 
ship of the sun ; and if we were to judge, should pronounce him a 
missionary of the Confucian system, a worshipper of fire, which 
was the religion of the ancient Persians, of whose country Confu- 
cius was a native. This also is evidence that the first iuhabitants 
of America came here at a period near the flood, long before that 
worship was known, or they would have had a knowledge of this 
Persian worship, which was introduced by Bochica, among the 
American nations ; which, it seems, they had not until taught by 
this man. 

Bochica, it appears, became a legislator among those nations, and 
changed the form of their government to a form, the construction 
of which, says Baron Humboldt, bears a strong analogy to the go- 
vernments of Japan and Thibet, on account of the pontiffs^ holding 
in their hands both the secular and the spiritual reins. In Japan, 
an island on the east of Asia, or rather many islands, which com- 
pose the Japanese empire, is found a religious sect, stiled SiiUOj 
who do not believe in the sanguinary rites of shedding either hu- 
man blood, or that of animals, to propitiate their gods. They even 
abstain from animal food, and detest bloodshed, and will not touch 
any dead body. — (Morse's Geography, p. 523.) 

There is, in South America, a whole nation who eat nothing but 

vegetables, and who hold in abhorrence those who feed on flesh = 

(Humboldt, p. 200.) 

Such a coincidence in the religion of nations, can scarcely be 
supposed to exist, unless they are of one origin. Therefore, from 
what we have related above, and a few pages back, it is clear^, 
both from the tradition of the Aztecas, who lived in the western 
regions before they went to the south, and from the fact that na- 



208 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tions on the Asiatic side of Bhering's strait, having come annually 
over the strait to fight the nations of the northwest, that we, in this 
way, have given conclusive and satisfactory reasons why, in the 
western mounds and tumuli, are found evident tokens of the pre- 
sence of a Hindoo population, or at least of nations influenced by 
the superstitions of that people, through the means of missionaries 
of that cast ; and that they did not bring those opinions and cere- 
monies with them when they first left Asia, after the confusion of 
the antediluvian language, as led on by their fifteen chiefs ; till by 
some means, and at some period, they finally found this country ; 
not by the way of Bhering's strait, but some nearer course, as we 
have conjectured in other places in this work. 

Perhaps a few words on the supposed native country of Quetzal- 
cotl may be allowed ; who, as we have stated, is reported to have 
been a wldte and bearded man, by the Mexican Aztecas. There 
is a vast range of islands on the northeast of Asia, in the Pacific, 
situated not very far from Bhering's strait, in latitude between 40 
and 50 degrees north. The inhabitants of these islands, when first 
discovered, were found to be far in advance in the arts and civili- 
zation, and a knowledge of government, of their continental neigh- 
bors, the Chinese and Tartars. The island of Jesso, in particular, 
is of itself an empire, comparatively, being very populous ; and are 
also highly polished in their manners. The inhabitants may be 
denominated white ; their women, especially, whom Morse in his 
geography of the Japan, Jesso, and others in that range, says ex- 
pressly, are white, fair and ruddy. Humboldt says they are a 
bearded race of men, like Europeans. 

It appears the ancient government of these islands, especially 
that of Japan, which is neighbor to that of Jesso, was in the hands 
of spiritual monarchs and pontiffs, till the seventeenth century. 
As this was the form of government introduced by Quetzalcotl, 
when he first appeared among the Azteca tribes, which we suppose 
was in the country of Aztalan, or western states, may it not be con- 
jectured that he was a native of some of those islands, who in his 
wanderings had found his way to the place now called Bhering's 
strait ; for, indeed, anciently there may have been only an isthmus 
at that place, and thence to this country, on errands of benevolence ; 
as it is said in the tradition respecting him, that he preached peace 
among men, and would not allow any other offering to the divinity 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 209 

thah the first fruits of the harvest ; which doctrine was ia charac- 
ter with the mild and amiable manners of the inhabitants of those 
islands. And that peculiar and striking record, found painted on 
the Mexican skin-books, which describes him to have been a 
white and bearded man, is our other reason for supposing him to 
have been a native of some of these islands, and most probably 
JessOj rather than any other country. 

The inhabitants of these islands originated from China, and with 
them undoubtedly carried the Persian doctrines of the worship of 
the sun and fire ; consequently we find it taught to the people of 
Aztalan and Mexico, by such as visited them from China, or the 
islands above named ; as it is clear the sun was not the original ob- 
ject of adoration in Mexico, but rather the power which made the 
sun. So Noah worshipped. 

Their traditions recognize also another important chief, who led 
the Azteca tribes first to the country of Aztalan, long before th6 
appearance of Quetzalcotl, or Bochica, among them. This great 
leader they name Tecpaltzin, and doubtless allude to the time 
when they first found their way to America, and settled in the 
western region. 



A Description of the Ceremonies of Fire- Worship^ as 
jyractised by certain Tribes on, the Arkansas. 

Mr. Ash witnessed an exhibition of fire-worship, or the worship 
of the sun, as performed by a whole tribe, at the village of Ozark, 
near the mouth of the Ozark, or Arkansas river, which empties 
into the Mississippi from the west. 

He says, he arrived at the village at a very fortunate period ; at 
a time when it was filled with Indians, and surrounded with their 
camp. They amounted to about 900, and were composed of the 
remnants of various nations, and were worshippers of the sun. The 
second day after his arrival happened to be the grand festival 
among them. He had the most favorable opportunity of witnessing 

27 



tlO AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

their adorations at three remarkable stages, the sun's rising, me- 
ridian and setting. 

The morning was propitious, the air serene, the horizon clear, 
the weather calm. The nations divided into classes ; warriors, 
young men and women, and married men with their children. 
Each class stood in the form of a quadrant, that each individual 
might behold the rising luminary, and each class held up a particu- 
lar offering to the sun the instant he rose in his glory. The war- 
riors presented their arms, the young men and women offered ears 
of corn and branches of trees, and married women held up to his 
light their infant children. These acts were performed in silence, 
till the object of their adoration visibly rose ; when, with one im- 
pulse, the nations burst into praise, and sung a hymn in loud cho- 
rus. The lines, which were sung with repetitions, and marked 
by pauses, were full of sublimity and judgment. Their meaning, 
when interpreted, is as follows : 

Great Spirit ! master of our lives. Great Spirit ! master of things 
visible and invisible, and who daily makes them visible and invi- 
ble. Great Spirit ! master of every other spirit, good or bad ; com- 
mand the good to be favorable to us, and deter the bad from the 
commission of evil. O Grand Spirit ! preserve the strength and 
courage of our warriors, and augment their number, that they may 
resist the oppression of the Spanish enemies, and recover the coun- 
try, and the rights of our fathers. O Grand Spirit ! preserve the 
lives of such of our old men as are inclined to give counsel and ex- 
ample to the young. Preserve our children, multiply their num- 
ber, and let them be the comfort and support of declining age. 
Preserve our corn and our animals, and let no famine desolate the 
land. Protect our villages, guard our lives. Great Spirit! 
when you hide your light behind the western hills, protect us from 
the Spaniards, who violate the night, and do evil which they dare 
not commit in the presence of your beams. Good Spirit ! make 
known to us your pleasure by sending to us the Spirit of Dreams. 
Let the Spirit of Dreams proclaim your will in the night, and we 
will perform it through the day ; and if it say the time of some be 
closed, send them, Master of Life ! to the great country of souls, 
where they may meet their fathers, mothers, children and wives, 
and where you are pleased to shine upon them with a bright, warm 
and perpetual blaze ! O Grand ! O Great Spirit ! harken to the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 211 

voice of nations, harkea to all thy children, and remember us al- 
ways, for we are descended from thee. 

Immediately after this address, the four quadrants formed one 
immense circle, of several deep, and danced and sung hymns de- 
scriptive of the power of the sun, till near ten o'clock. They then 
amused and refreshed themselves in the village and camp, but as- 
sembled precisely at the hour of twelve, and formed a number of 
circles, commenced the adoration of the meridian sun. The fol- 
lowing is the literal translation of the mid-day address. 

Courage, nations ! courage ! the Great Spirit looks down upon 
us from his highest seat, and by his lustre appears content with the 
children of his own power and greatness. Grand Spirit ! how great ' 
are his works, and how beautiful are they ! How good is the Great 
Spirit! He rides high to behold us. 'Tis he who causes all 
things to augment and to act. He even now stands for a mom»nt 
to hearken to us. Courage, nations ! courage ! The Great Spirit, 
now above our heads, will make us vanquish our enemies; he will 
cover our fields with corn, and increase the animals of our woods. 
He will see that the old be made happy, and that the young aug- 
ment. He will make the nations prosper, make them rejoice, and 
make them put up their voice to him, while he rises and sets in 
their land,- and while his neat and light can thus gloriously shine 
out. 

This was followed by dancing and hymns, which continued from 
two to three hours, at the conclusion of which, dinners were served 
and eaten with great demonstrations of mirth and hilarity. Mr. 
Ash says he dined in a circle of chiefs, on a barbecued hog, and 
venison very well stewed, and was perfectly pleased with the 
repast. The dinner and repose after it continued till the sun was 
on the point of setting. On this being announced by several who 
had been on the watch, the nations assembled in haste, and formed 
themselves into segments of circles, in the face of the sun, present- 
ing their offerings during the time of his descent, and crying aloud, 

The nations must prosper ; they have been beheld by the Great 
Spirit. What more can they want } Is not that happiness enough ^ 
See, he retires, great and content, after having visited his children 
\vith light and universal good. O Grand Spirit ! sleep not long in 
the gloomy west, but return and call your people once again to light 
and life, to light and life, to light and life. 



312 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This was succeeded by dances and songs of praise, till eleves 
o'clock at night ; at which hour they repaired to rest, some retiring 
to the huts that formed their camp, and others to the vicinity of 
fires made in the woods, and along the river bank. Mr. Ash took 
up his abode with a French settler in the village. He understood 
that these Indians have four similar festivals in the year — one for 
every season. When the sun does not shine or appear on the ado- 
ration day, an immense fire is erected, around which the ceremo- 
tiies are performed with equal devotion and care" 



Origin of Fire-Worship, 

For many ages the false religions of the east had remained sta- 
Hionary ; but in this period ?na^anis»i received considerable strength 
from the writings of Zoroaster. He was a native of Media. He 
•pretended to a visit in heaven, where God spake to him out of a fire. 
This fire he pretended to bring with him, on his return. It was 
considered holy ; the dwelling of God. The priests were forever 
to keep it, tind the people .were to worship before it. He caused 
fire temples every where to be erected, that storms and tempests 
might not extinguish it. As he considered God as dwelling in the 
fire, he -made the sun to be his chief residence, and therefore the 
primary object of worship. He abandoned the olJ system of two 
gods, one good and the other evil, and taught the existence of one 
Supreme, who had under him a good and evil angel ; the immedi- 
ate authors of good and evil. To gain reputation, he retired into a 
cave, and there lived a long time a recluse, and composed a book 
called the Zend-Avesta, which contains the liturgy to be used in 
the fire temples, and the chief doctrines of his religion. His suc- 
cess in propagating his system was astonishingly great. Almost all 
the eastern world, for a season, bowed before him. He is said to 
have been slain, with eighty of his priests, by a Scythian prince, 
whom he attempted to convert to his religion. 

It is manifest that he derived his whole system of God's dwelling 
»n the ire, from the burning bush, out of which God spake to Mo- 
ses. He was well acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. He 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 218 

gave the same history of the creation and deluge that Meses had 
given, and inserted a great part of the Psalms of David into his 
writings. The Mehcstani, his followers, believed, in the immor- 
tality of the soul, in future rewards and punishments, and in the 
purification of the body by fire, after which they would be united 
to the good. — {MarsWs Ecclesiastical Ifistorij, p. 78.) 

From the same origin, that of the burning bush, it is altogether 
probable, the worship of fire, for many ages, obtained over the 
whole habitable earth ; and is still to be traced in the funeral piles 
of the Hindoos, the beacon fires of the Scotch and Irish, the peri- 
odical midnight fires of the Mexicans, and the council fires of the 
North American Indians, around which they dance. 

A custom among the natives of New Mexico, as related by Baron 
Humboldt, is exactly imitated by a practice found still in some parts 
of Ireland, among the descendants of the ancient Irish. 

At the commencement of the month of November, the great fire 
of Samhuin is lit up, all the culinary fires in the kingdom being 
first extinguished, as it was deemed sacrilege to awaken the win- 
ter's social flame, except by a spark snatched from this sacred fire ; 
on which account, the month November is called, in the Irish lan- 
guage, Samhuin. 

To this day, the inferior Irish look upon bonfires as sacred ; they 
say their prayers, walking round them, the young dream upon their 
ashes, and the old take this fire to light up their domestic hearths^ 
imagining some secret undefinable excellence connected with it. 



A Further Account of Western Antiquities. 
" I have a brick," says Mr. Atwater, " now before me, over 
which lay, when found, wood, ashes, charcoal, and human bones, 
burnt in a large and hot fire. And from what was found at Circle- 
ville, in the mound already described, it would seem that females 
were sometimes burnt with the males- I need not say, that this 
custom was derived from Asia, as it is well known, that is the only 
country to look to for the oiigin of such a custom. The Greeks 
and Romans practised burning their illustrous dead ; it was prac- 
tised by the several other nations, but they all derived it from Asia. 



214 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

In Dr. Clarke's volume of Travels from St. Petersburgh to the 
Crimea, in the year 1800 ; and in his Travels in Russia, Tartary, 
and Turkey, it is said conical mounds of earth, or tumuli, occur 
very frequently. The most remarkable may be seen between Ye- 
zolbisky and Voldai, on both sides of the road, and they continue 
over the whole country, from the latter place to Jedrova, and finally, 
over the whole Russian empire. The author of the travels above 
alluded to, says, " There are few finer prospects than that of Wor- 
onetz, viewed a few miles from the town on the road to Pautoosky. 
Throughout the whole of this country, are seen, dispersed over im- 
mense plains, mounds, of earth, covered with fine turf, the sepul- 
chres of the ancient world, common to almost every habitable 
country." 

This country, (Russia in Europe) from Petersburgh to the Cri- 
mea, a seaport on the Black sea, the region over which Adam Clarke 
travelled, is in the very neighborhood of Mount Ararat ; and from 
the circumstance of the likeness existing between the mounds and 
tumuli there, which Clarke says are the " tombs of the ancient 
world," and those of the same character. North and South America, 
we draw the conclusion, that they belong, nearly to one and the 
same era of time ; viz : that immediately succeeding the confusion 
of language, at the building of Babel. 

We are told in the same volume of travels, that " the Cossacks 
at Ekaterindara, dug into some of these mounds, for the purpose 
of making cellars, and found in them several ancient vases," earth- 
en vessels, corresponding exactly with vases found in the western 
mounds. Several Iiave been found in'our mounds, which resem- 
ble one found in Scotland, described by Pennant. A vessel appa- 
rently made of clay and shells, resembling in its form, a small keg, 
v/ith a spout on one side of it, formed like the spout of a tea-kettle, 
■with a chain fastened to each end, made probably of copper, of 
which Mr. Atwater has not informed us. This chain answered as 
a bail or handle ; exactly on its top, or side, under the range of the 
chain handle, is an opening of an exact circle, which is the mouth 
of this ancient tea-kettle. — (See plate, letter A.) 

In the Russian tumuli are found the bones of various animals, 
as well as those of men. In the western tumuli are found also, 
the bones of men, as well as the teeth of bears, otters, and beavers. 

Thus we learn, from the most authentic sources, that these an- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 216 

cient works existing in Europe, Asia, Africa and America, are simi- 
lar in their construction, in the materials with which they were 
raised, and in the articles found in them- 

Let those who are constantly sf^ekiug for some argument to over- 
throw the history of man by Moses, consider this fact. Such per- 
sons have affected to believe, that there were different stocks or 
races of men derived from different original fathers ; and in this 
way they account for the appearance of human beings found on 
islands. But this similarity of works, language, and of tradition, 
relating to the most ancient history of man, indicates, nay wjwe, 
establishes the fact, that all men sprung from but one origin, one 
first man and woman, as Moses has written it in the book of 
Genesis. 

When Dr. Clarke was travelling in Tartary, he found a place 
called herness, situated in the turn of a river ; he inquired the 
meaning of the word, and found that Iverness, in their language, 
signifies in a turn. Whoever looks into Pennant's Tour, will see 
a plate, representing a town in the turn of a river, in Scotland, 
called by the same name, Iverness. The names of not a few of 
the rivers in England, Scotland, and Wales, are the names also of 
rivera in Tartary. 

Some have supposed that all the great works of the west, of 
which we have been treating, belong to our present race of Indians ; 
but from continued wars with each other, have driven themselves 
from agricultural pursuits, and thinned away their numbers, to that 
degree, that the wild animals and fishes of the rivers, and wild 
fruit of the forests, were found sufficient to give them abundant 
support ; on which account, they were reduced to savagism. 

But this is answered by the Antiquarian Society, as follows : 
" Have our present race of Indians ever buried their dead in 
mounds by thousands ? Were they acquainted with the use of sil- 
ver, or copper ? These metals curiously wrought have been found. 
Did the ancients of our Indians burn the bodies of distinguished 
chiefs, on funeral piles, and then raise a lofty tumulus, over the 
urn containing their ashes ? Did the Indians erect any thing like 
the " walled towns," on Paint creek ' Did they ever dig such 
wells as are found at Marietta, Portsmouth, and above all, such as 
those in Paint creek .' Did they manufacture vessels from calca- 
reous breccia, equal to any now made in Italy .' Did they ever make 



216 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

and worship an idol representing the^three principal gods of ludiay 
called the triune cup ? — (See plate ^ letter E.) 

To this we respond, they never have : no, not even their tradi- 
tions afford a glimpse of the existence of such things as forts, tumu- 
li, roadsj wellsj mounds, walls enclosing between one and two hun- 
dred, and even five hundred acres of land ; some of them of stone, 
and others of earth twenty feet in thickness, and exceedingly high, 
are works requiring too much labor for Indians ever to have per- 
formed. 

The skeletons found in our mounds never belonged to a people 
like our Indians. The latter are a tall and rather slender, straight 
limbed people ; but those found in the barfows and tumuli, were 
rarely over five feet high, though a few were six. Their foreheads 
were low, cheek bones rather high, their faces were very short and 
wide, their eyes large, and their chins very broad. 

But Morse the geographer says, p. 629, that the Tartars have 
small eyes, and not of the oblique form, like the Monguls and Chi- 
nese, neither of which seem to correspond with the large eyed race 
who built the mounds and tumuli of the west; on which account 
we the more freely look to a higher and more ancient origin for 
these people. The Indians of North America, in features, com- 
plexion, and form, and warlike habits, suit far better the Tartaric 
character, than the skeletons found in the mounds of the west. 
The limbs of our fossils are short and thick, resembling the Germans 
more than any other Europeans with whom we are acquainted. 

Germany is situated east of England, and parts of it lie along the 
coast of the Atlantic, or the North sea, in north latitude 53 degrees. 
From whence voyagers may have passed out between the north end 
of Scotland and the south extremity of old Norway, by the Shet- 
land and Faroe islands, directly in the course of Iceland, Greenland 
and the Labrador coast of America. This is as possible for the 
Germans to have performed, as for the Norwegians, Danes and 
Welch, in the year of our Lord 1000, as shown in another part of 
this work. White Indians, as found far to the west, must have 
had a white origin. 

An idol found in a tumulus near Nashville, Tennessee, (see 
plate, letter B,) and now in the Museum of Mr. Clifford, of Lex- 
ington, is made of clay, peculiar for its fineness. With this clay 
was mixed a small portion of gypsum, or plaster of Paris. This 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 217 

idol was made to represent a man, in a state of nudity or naked- 
nf'ss, whose arms had been cut off close to the body, and whose 
nose and chin have been mutilated, with a fillet and cake upon its 
head. In all these respects, as well as in the peculiar manner ol 
plating the hair, it is exactly such an idol as professor Pallas found 
in his travels in the southern part of the Russian empire- 

A custom among the ancient Greeks, may have given rise to the 
formation of such an idol ; which was copied by the Asiatic ances- 
tors of the people who brought it with them from Asia to the woods 
of America. This custom was — when a victim was destined to 
be sacrificed, the sacred fillet was bound upon the head of the idol, 
the victim and priest. The salted cake was placed upon the head 
of the viciim only ; it was called " Mola," hence irnmolare, or im- 
molation, in later times was used to signify any kind of sacrifice. 

On this idol, (see the plate, letter B.,) found near Nashville, the 
sacred fillet and salted cake are represented on its head : it is sup- 
posed the copy of this god was borrowed by the Greeks from the 
Persians from whence it might also have been copied, in later 
times, by the Chinese nations, and from thence have been brought 
to America. 

" If the ancestors of our North American Indians, were from the 
northern parts of Tartary, those who worshipped this idol came 
from a country lying farther to the south, where the population was 
more dense, and where the arts had made grater progress ; while 
the Tartar of the north was hunter and a savage, the Hindoo and 
southern Tartar were well acquainted with most of the useful arts," 
who, at a later period than that of the first people who settled this 
country, came, bringing along with them the arts, the idols, and 
the religious rites of Hindostan, China, and the Crimea." 

The ancestors of our northern Indians were mere hunters ; while 
the authors of our tumuli were shepherds and husbandmen. The 
temples, altars and sacred places of the Hindoos were always situ- 
ated on the banks of some stream of water- The same observa- 
tion applies to the temples, altars and sacred places of those who 
erected our tumuli. " To the consecrated streams of Hindostan 
devotees assembled from all parts of the empire, to worship their 
gods, and purify themselves by bathing in the sacred waters. In 
this country, their sacred places were uniformly on the banks of 
some river ; and who knows but the Muskingum, the Sciota, the 

28 
1 



218 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Miami, the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the Mississippi, were oncs; 
deemed as sacred, and their banks as thickly settled, and as welf 
cultivated, as are now those of the Ganges, the Indus, and the 
Burempooter." — {American Antq. Researches.) 

" Some years since a clay vessel was discovered, about twenty 
feet below the surface, in alluvial earth, in digging a well near 
Nashville, Tennessee, and was found standing on a rock, from 
whence a spring of water issued. This vessel was taken to 
Peale's museum, at Philadelphia. It contains about one gallon ; 
was circular in its shape, with a flat bottom, from which it rises in 
a somewhat globose form, terminating at the summit with the figuie 
of a female head ; the place where the water was introduced^ or 
poured out, was on the one side of it, nearly at the top of the 
globose part. The features of the face are Asiatic ; the crown of 
the head is covered by a cap of pyramidal figure, with a flattened 
circular summit, ending at the apex, with a round button. The 
ears are large, extending as low as the chin. The features resem- 
ble many of those engraved for Raffle's history ; and the cap re- 
sembles Asiatic head dresses." — (ylm. Ant. Researches-) 

Another idol was, a few years since, dug up in Natchez, on (he 
Mississippi, on a piece of ground where, according to tradition 
long before Europeans visited this country, stood an Indian temple. 
This idol is of stone, and is nineteen inches in height, nine inches 
in width, and seven inches thick at the extremities. On its breast, 
as represented on the plate of the idol, were five marks, which 
were evidently characters of some kind, resembling, as supposed, 
the Persian ; probably expressing, in the language of its authorsj 
tbe name and supposed attributes of the senseless god of stone. 
(See the plate, letter G.) 

It has been supposed the present race of Indians found their way 
from Asia, by the way of Bheriiig's strait, and had passed from 
thence along down the chian of northern lakes, till they finally 
came to the Atlantic, south of Hudson's bay, in latitude about 50 
degrees north ; long before the people who made the great works 
of the west. That this was the fact, is argued by those who con- 
tend for its belief, from their having greater knowledge of the arts 
diffused among them than the Indians. 

It is, say they, among a dense population, that these improve- 
ments are effected ; it is here that necessity, the mother of inven- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 219 

tion, prompts man to subject such animals to his dominion, as he 
discovers most docile, and best calculated to assist him in his 
labors, and to supply him with food and raiment. All this we 
believe ; and lor this very reason we hold the authors of our west- 
ern works were thus enlightened, before they came here, on the 
plains of Shinar, amid the density of the population of the region 
immediately round about the tower of Babel. For it is evident, 
they never would have undertaken to build a work so immense 
as that tower, unless their numbers were considered equal to it ; 
and much less, unless this was the fact, could they have in reality 
effected it. 

While the thousands and tens of thousands, who are employed 
in that work, were thus engaged, there must also, for their support, 
have been a large country, densely peopled, under contribution. 
In order to this, agriculture must have been resorted to : instru- 
ments of metal were indispensible, both in clearing the earth and 
in erecting the tower. All this was learned from Noah, who had 
brought, with himself and family, the knowledge of the antedi- 
luvians ; of whom it is said expressly, in the book of Genesis, 
that they both understood the use of iron and brass, as well as agri- 
culture. Abel was a tiller of the ground ; Tubal Cain was a work- 
er in iron and brass. 

It cannot, therefore, be possible that Noah's immediate descend- 
ants, to the third or tenth generations, could have forgotten these 
things. And such as wandered least after the dispersion, after 
such as may have spoken the same language, had found a place to 
settle in, would most certainly retain this antediluvian information 
more than such as wandered, as the Tartars al.-vays have done. 

One of the arts known to the builders of Babel, was that of brick 
making ; this art was also known to the people who built the works 
in the west. The knowledge of copper was known to the people 
of the plains of Shinar, for Noah must have communicated it, as 
he lived one hundred and fifty years among them after the flood ; 
also copper, was known to the antediluvians. Copper was also 
known to the authors of the western monuments. Iron was known 
to the antediluvians; it was also known to the ancients of the 
west; however, it is evident that very little iron was among them, 
as very few instances of its discovery in their works have occurred ; 
and for this very reason we draw a conclusion that they came to 



220 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

this country very soon after the dispersion, and brought with them 
such few articles of iron as have been found in their works in an 
oxydized state. 

Copper ore is very abundant, in many places of the west ; and 
therefore, as they had a knowledge of it when they first came 
here they knew how to work it, and form it into tools and orna- 
ments. This is the reason why so many articles of this metal are 
found in their works : and even if they hcd a knowledge of iron 
ore, and knew how to work it, all articles made of it must have 
become oxydized as appears from what few specimens have been 
found, while those of copper are more imperishable. Gold orna- 
ments are said to have been found in several tumuli. Silver, very 
well plated on copper, has been found in several mounds, besides 
those at Circleville and Marietta. An ornament of copper was 
found in a stone mound near Chilicothe ; it was a bracelet for the 
ancle or wrist. 

The ancients of Asia, immediately after the dispersion, were ac- 
quainted with ornaments made of the various metals ; for in the 
family of Terah^ who was the father of Abraham and Nahor, we 
find these ornaments in use for the beautifying of females. See 
the servant of Abraham, at the well of Bethuel in the country of 
" Ur of the Chaldeans," or Mesopotamia, which is not very far 
from the place where Babel stood — putting^a jewel of gold upon the 
face or forhead of Rebecca^ weighing half a shekel, and two brace- 
lets for her wrists, or arms. Bracelets for the same use have been 
found in the west ; all of which circumstances go to establish the 
acquaintance of those who made those ornaments of silver and cop- 
per found in the mounds of the west, equal with those of Ur in 
Chaldea. The families of Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor, who 
were the immediate progenitors of Abraham, lived at an era but 
little after the flood; and yet we find them in the possession of 
ornaments of this kind ; from which we conclude a knowledge 
both of the metals, and how to make ornaments, as above describ- 
ed, was brought by Noah and his family from beyond the flood. 

A knowledge, therefore, of these things must have gone with 
the different people who spread themselves over the whole earth, 
and were retained by those who wandered least, as we suppose 
was the fact in relation to the first settlers of this continent, in the 
regions of the west. It is believed by some that the common In- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 221 

dian nations came first to this country to the northwest, and fol- 
lowing the northern lakes, found their way to the Atlar.tic ; while 
at a later period, they suppose, the more enlightened njifions of 
China came the same way, and followed along down the shore of 
the Pacific, till they found a mild climate, along in latitudes oO, 40 
and 30 degrees. 

But this is not possible : First, Because the Indians were found 
by us as numerous on the shores ot the Pacific as on the shores of 
the Atlantic, and in all the vast country between; dwelling where 
a people still more ancient than they, once lived, but had forsaken 
their fields, their houses, their temples, mounds, forts and tumuli, 
and either were nearly exterminated in wars with them, or wander- 
ed to the south ; the small residue, the descendants of whom are 
found in several of the nations inhabiting South America, as we 
have shown heretofore. 

Second, It would seem impossible for the people, or nations, 
who built the vast works of the west, and are evidently of the 
shepherd or agricultural cast, to have crossed the strait, and fought 
their way through hostile, opposing and %varlike nations, till they 
had established themselves in their very midsi. It is, therefore, 
much more agreeable to reason, and also to the traditions, both of 
the Azteca nations in Mexico and the Wyandot tribes in the west, 
to believe that our Indians came on the continent at a much later 
period than those who are the authors of the works we have de- 
scribed, and that they had many wars with them, till, at length, 
they slowly moved to the south, abandoning forever their country, 
to wander, they knew not whither, as we have also shown. This 
conclusion is not mere fancy, for it is a matter of historic notice, 
that the " Tchautskis annually crossed Bhering's strait to make 
war on the inhabitants of the northwest coast of America." — (^Hum- 
boldt, \o\. l,p. 919.) 

The reader will recollect our description of the walled towns of 
the west, surrounded with deep ditches, as found on Paint creek. 
Little Miami, Circleville, Marietta, Cincinnati, Portsmouth, and 
in Perry county, Ohio. There is a town, {See Morse''s Geography, 
vol 2, p. 631,) situated in the regions of Mount x\rarat, in the an- 
cient country called Independent Tartary, L the name ©f Khiva, 
which stands on a rising ground, like the town in Perry county. 
It is surrounded with a high wall of earth, very thick, and much 



222 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

higher than the houses within. It has three gateways ; there are 
turrets at small distances and a broad, deep ditch ; the town is 
lar^e, and occupies a considerable space, and commands a beautiful 
prospect of the distant plains, which the industry of the inhabitants 
has rendered very fertile ; but the houses of this town are very 
low, and mostly built of clay, and the roofs flat, and covered with 
earth. This town, which so exactly corresponds with the ruins of 
the west, is in that part of Asia east of Ararat, where the primitive 
inhabitants, immediately after the deluge, made the first settle- 
ments. And from this coincidence, we are led to a belief, drawn 
from this and abundant other evidence, that the antiquity of the 
one is equal with that of the other ; that its construction is indeed 
of the primitive form ; which strengthens our opinion, that the first 
inhabitants of America came here with the very ideas relative to 
the construction and security of towns and fortifications, that dic- 
tated the building of Khiva. It is allowed on all hands, that the 
people of Asia are wholly of the primitive stamp; their antiquities, 
therefore, are of the same character with those of America. 

" Proofs of primitive times, (says Mr. Atwater,) are seen in their 
manners and customs, in their modes of burial and worship, and in 
their wells, which resemble those of the patriarchal ages. Here 
the reader has only to recollect the one at Marietta, those at Ports- 
mouth, on Paint creek, at Cincinnati, and compare them with those 
described in Genesis. Jacob rolled the stone from the well's mouth, 
(that is, from the fountain at the bottom,) Rachel descended with 
her pitcher, and brought up water for her future husband, and for 
the flocks of her father." 

Before men were acquainted with letters, they raised monuments 
of unwrought fragments of rocks, for the purpose of perpetuating 
the memory of events. Such we find raised in America. In the 
patriarchal ages men were in the habit of burying their dead on 
high mountains and hills, with mounds or tumuli raised over them j 
such we find in America. Mr. Atwater asks the question, " Did 
they not come here as early as the days of Lot and Abraham ?" 
The latter cf whom lived somfithing more than 2000 B. C, which 
would be only about 340 years after the flood, and about 150 years 
after the confusion of language at Babel. 

If so, they were acquainted more or less with a knowledge of 
the true (xod, the creation of the world, with the circumstances of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 223 

the building of the ark, the fact of the deluge, the number of per- 
sons saved in the ark, or, as they say, on a raft ; and also, with 
circunastances which transpired after the flood, as mentioned in 
Scripture ; all of which are plainly alluded to in Mexican tradition. 
But other nations than the progenitors of the Mexicans have also 
found this country, at other eras, one after another, as accident or 
design may have determined. 

Fortification. — On the shores of the Mississippi, some miles be- 
low lake Pepin, on a fine plain, exists an artificial elevation of about 
four feet high, extending a full mile, in somewhat of a circular 
form. It is sufliciently capacious to have covered 5000 men. Eve- 
ry angle of the breast work is yet traceable, though much defaced 
by time. Here, it is likely, conflicting realms as great as those of 
the ancient Greeks and Persians, decided the fate of ambitious 
monarchs, of the Chinese Mongol descent. 

Weapons of brass have been found in many parts of America, as 
in the Canadas, Florida, &c. with curiously sculptured stones, all 
of which go to prove that this country was once peopled with civil- 
ized, industrious nations, now traversed the greater part by savage 
hunters. 



Discovery of Jimerica by the JVorwegians and Welch, 
before the Time of Columbus. 

This is contended, by Lord Monboddo, a native of Scotland, and 
a philosophical and metaphysical writer of the 17th century. He 
wrote a dissertation on the origin and progress of language, in which 
he is sure he has found among the nations of America, who are of 
the aboriginal class, the ancient Celtic or Gaelic dialect. He goes 
further, and supposes that all the nations of America, from the Lab- 
rador Esquimaux, to the natives of Florida, are derived of Celtic 
origin : but to this we cannot subscribe, as that many nations of the 
common Indians are evidently of Tartaric or Scythian origin ; the 
descendants of the race of Shem, and not of Japheth, who was a 
white man. 
j;_Monboddo, however, argues in support of his opinion, from a 



224 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

number of curious circumstances. He says, that when in France, 
he was acquainted with a French Jesuit, a man of great and cele- 
brated erudition, who related to him that a companion of his, who 
was engaged in the missionary service, with himself, among the 
northern Indians in America, having lost his way in the woods, 
travelled on, he knev«^ not whither, till he found himself among the 
Esquimaux Indians. 

Here he stayed long enough to learn their language ; after which 
he returned to Quebec in Canada ; and happening one day to be 
walking along the docks of that city, observed among the crew of a 
ship that was moored there, a sailor who was a native of the coun- 
try at the foot of the Pyrennean mountains, on the side of Fiance. 
On hearing this man speak, who was a Basque, from his knowledge 
of the Esquimaux, obtained as above related, he understood what 
he said, so that they conversed together a while. 

Now, the language which the Basques speak, Lord Monboddo 
informs us, is absolutely a dialect of the ancient Celtic, and differs 
but little from the language of the ancient Highlanders of Scotland. 
This opinion is corroborated by a fact noticed in a Scotch publica- 
tion, respecting an Esquimaux Indian, who accompanied one of the 
English expeditions towards the north pole, with a view to reach 
it, if possible, or to find a passage from the North Atlantic through to 
the North Pacific, by the way of Bhering's strait ; but did not suc- 
ceed on account of the ice. 

On board of this vessel was a Scotch Highlander, a native of the 
island of Mull, one of the Hebrides ; who, in a few days time, was 
enabled to converse fluently with the Esquimaux ; which would 
seem to be a proof absolute, of the common origin, both of the Es- 
quimaux language, and that of the Basque, which is the ancient 
Scotch or Celtic. 

Also the same author states, that the Celtic language was spoken 
by many of the tribes of Florida, which is situated at the north 
end of the gulf of Mexico ; and that he was well acquainted with 
a gentleman from the Highlandsof Scotland, who was several years 
in Florida, in a public character, and who stated that many of the 
tribes with whom he had»become acquainted, had the greatest af- 
finity with the Celtic in their language j which appeared particu- 
larly, both in the form of speech and manner of reciprocating the 
common salutation of how do you do ? 



AND DlflOOVERIEfl IN THE WEST. 806 

From this similarity, an account of which, however, might be 
^extended in detail to a vast amount, existing between these island- 
ers, and the disinterred remains of the exterminated race, who, as 
it is supposed, built most of the works of the west, it is inferred 
they are the same. Their complexion and manners agree, at the 
present time, with the people of these islands; we mean those of 
the Malay race, yet remaining in South America, in their native 
state of society. 

Also the natives ot the Caribbean islands, in the Caribbean sea, 
which is the same with the gulf of Mexico, only this sea is at the 
southern extremity of the gulf, are of the same race, who, in their 
migrations from the Pacific ocean, have peopled many parts of the 
South and North American continent, the remains of whom are 
found on those islands, as well as among the unsubdued nations in 
the woods of South America. 

It is doubtless a fact, that the earliest tribes who separated from 
the immediate regions about Ararat, passed onward to the east, 
across the countries now called Persia, Bucharia, and the Chinese 
empire, till they reached the sea, or Pacific ocean, opposite the 
American continent. 

From thence, in process of time, on account of an increase of 
population, they left the main continent, in search of the islands, 
and passing from one group to another, till all those islands became 
peopled, and until they reached even the western coast of not only 
South but North America. 

At the same time, tribes from the same region of Ararat, trtvelled 
westward, passing over all Europe and southward, filling the re- 
gions of Africa, and the islands in the Atlantic ocean opposite the 
coasts of South and North America, till they also reached the main 
land, meeting their fellows, after having each of them circumambu- 
lated half of the earth. 

And having started from the regions of Ararat and the tower of 
Babel, with languages differing one from another, and having also 
in process of time, acquired habits arising from differences of cir- 
cumstances, mostly dissimilar one from the other, wars for the mas- 
tery the most dreadful must have ensued, each viewing the others 
as intruders, from whence they knew not. This is evident from 
the tradions of the inhabitants of the two Americas ; some tribes 
pointing to the east, others to the wejt, and others again to the 

39 



306 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

north, as the way from whence their ancestors came. According 
to Clavigero, the naturalist, the ancestors of the nations which 
peopled Anahuac, now called New-Spain, might have passed from 
the northern countries of Europe, (as Norway,) to the northern 
parts of America, on the coast of Labrador, which is called British 
America and Canada ; also from the most eastern parts of Asia to 
the most western parts of America. This conclusion is founded 
on the constant and general tradition of those nations, which unani- 
mously say, that their ancestors came into Anahuac, or New-Spain, 
from the countries of the north and northwest. This tradition is 
confirmed by the remains of many ancient edifices, built by those 
people in their migrations. In a journey made by the Spaniards 
in 1606, more than two hundred years since, from New-Mexico 
to the river which they call Tizan, six hundred miles from Ana- 
huac towards the northwest, they found there some large edifices, 
and met with some Indians who spoke the Mexican language, and 
who told them that a few day's journey from that river towards 
the north, was the kingdom of Tolan, and many other inhabited 
places, from whence the Mexicans migrated. In fact, the whole 
population of Anahuac have usually affirmed^ that towards the 
north were the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, Capallan, 
and several others, which are all Mexican names, now so desig- 
nated ; but were we to trace these names to their origin, they would 
be found to be of Mongol or Mogul origin, from Asia. Boturini, 
or Bouterone, a learned antiquarian of Paris, of the 17th century, 
says, that in the ancient paintings of the Taltecas, a nation of Mex- 
ico, or more anciently called Anahuac, was represented the migra- 
tions of their ancestors through Asia, and the northern countries of 
America, until they established themselves in the country of Tolan. 
{Morse, p. 618.) 

This river Tizan is, unquestionably, the river Columbia, which 
belongs to the territory owned by {he United States, bordering on 
the coast of the Pacific, in latitude 47 degrees north ; which from 
Anahuac, in Mexico, is about that distance (600 miles) and 
this river being the only one of much size emptying into the sea 
on that side of the Rocky mountains, between the latitude of Mex- 
ico and the latitude of the mouth of the Columbia, is the reason 
why that river, may, almost with certainty, be supposed the very 
Indian Tizan. But still farther north, several days' journey, were 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE8T. 307 

the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, and Capallan, 
which were probably in the latitude with the northern parts of the 
United States's lands west ot the Rocky mountains, and filling all 
the regions east as far as the head wafers of the great western 
rivers ; thence down those streams, peopling the vast alluvials in 
Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Northwestern Territory, Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, Mississippi, and so on to the gulf of Mexico. 

Although those kingdoms and provinces spoken of by the natives 
of Tizan, to these Spanish adventurers, had many hundred years 
before been vacated of their population and grandeur ; yet it was 
natural for them to retain the tradition of their numbers and ex- 
tent : and to speak of them as then existing, which, as to latitude 
and location, was true, alUiough in a state of ruin, like the edifices 
at the Tizan, or Columbia. 

In an address delivered at New- York, before the College of 
Physicians, by Dr. Mitchill, which relates to the migrations of 
Malays, Tartars and Scandinavians, we have the following : "A 
late German writer, professor Vater, has published, at Leipsig, a 
book on the population of America. He lays great stress on the 
tongues spoken by the aborigines, and dwells considerably upon 
the unity pervading the whole of them, from Chili to the remotest 
district of North America, whether of Greenland, Chippewa, Dela- 
ware, Natick, Totuaka, Cora or Mexico. Though ever so singu- 
lar and diversified, nevertheless the same peculiarity obtains among 
them all, which cannot be accidental, viz : the whole sagacity of 
that people from whom the construction of the American languages 
and the gradual invention of their grammatical lorms is derived, 
has, as it were, selected one object, and over this diffused such an 
abundance of forms, that one is astonished ; while only the most 
aWe philologist, or grammarian of languages, by assiduous study, 
can obtain a general view thereof. 

" In substance, the author (prof. Vater) says, that through 
various times and circumstances, this peculiar character is pre- 
served. Such unity, such direction, or tendency, compels us to 
place the origin in a remote period, when one original tribe or peo- 
ple existed, whose ingenuity and judgment enabled them to ex- 
cogitate dr invent such intricate formations of language as could 
not be effaced by thousands of years, nor by the influence of zones 
and climates- 



$$S AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" Mr. Vater has published a large work, entitled Mithridaies, iis 
which he has given an extensive comparison of all the Asiatic, 
African and American languages, to a much greater extent than was 
done by our distinguished fellow citizen, Dr. Barton, of Philadel- 
phia, professor of natural history. Mr. Vater concludes by ex- 
pressing his desire to- unravel the mysteries which relate to the new 
and old continents; at least to contribute the contents of his 
Tolunie towards the commencement of a structure, which, out of 
the ruins of dilacerated human tribes, seeks materials for an union 
of the whole human race in one origin ; which some have disputed, 
notwithstanding the plain statement of the Bible on that subject, 
which is a book entitled to the term antiquity^ paramount to all 
other records now in existence on the earth. 

" What this original and radical language was, has very lately 
been the subject of inquiry by the learned Mr. Mathieu, of 
Nancy, in France. The Chevalier Valentine, of the order of St. 
Michael, renewed by Louis XVIII, informs me that this gentlemaa 
has examined Mr. Winthrop's description of the curious characters 
inscribed upon the rock at Dighton, Massachusetts, as published 
in the Transactions of the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
He thinks them hieroglyphics, which he can interpret and explain, 
and ascribes them to the inhabitants of the ancient Atlantic island 
of Plato, called by him Atalantis. Mr. Mathieu not only professes 
to give the sense of the inscription, but also to prove that the 
jiongues spoken by the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other occidental 
or western people, as well as the Greek itself, with all its dialects, 
and ramifications, were but derivations from the language of the 
primitive Atalantians of the island of Plato."— (See />a^e 80 kc.) 



AMD 1JISC0VERIE3 LX TliK WEST. SOd 



Ancient Languages of the first Inhalilants of jimerica. 

First Letter to Mr. ChaT.poIlion, on the Graphic Systems of America ^ 
and the Glyphs of Otolum or Patenque, in Central America 

BY C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

You have become celebrated by decyphering, at last, the glyphs 
and characters of the ancient Egyptians, which all your learned 
predecessors had deemed a riddle, and pronounced impossible to 
read. You first announced your discovery in a letter. I am going 
to follow your footsteps on another continent, and a theme equally 
obscure; to none but yourself can I address with more propriety, 
letters on a subject so much alike in purpose and importance, and 
so similar to your own labors. 

I shall not enter, at present, into any very elaborate discussion. 
I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result oC 
my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some im- 
portance in a philological and historical point of view ; which was. 
announced as early as 1828, in some journals, (three letters to Mr. 
McCulloch on the American nations,) but not properly illustrated. 
Their full development would require a volume, like that of yours 
on the Egyptian antiquities, and may follow this perhaps at some; 
future time. 

It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to. 
my researched, or results of my inquiries : 

1. America has been the laud of false systems ; all those made 
in Europe on it, are more or less vain and erroneous. 

2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization and sci- 
ences, to the nations oi Africa and Europe ; like them the children 
of the Asiatic nations. 

3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, 
glyphs and letters. Several had variou.s modes of perpetuating 
ideas. 

4. There were several such graphic systems in America, to ex- 
press ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent. 

5. They may be arranged in twelve series, proceeding from the 
BQCSt simple to the most complex. 

l$t Series. — Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Tollecas,AztecvUi 



310 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Huaztecas SkereS, Panos, ^c. Similar to the first symbols of the 

Chinese, invented by Tien-hoang, before the flood, and earliest 

Egyptian glyphs. 

2d. Series. — Outlines of figures, or abridged symbols and glyphs, 

expressing words or ideas, "used by almost all the nations of North 

and South America, even the most rude. Similar to the second 

kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to China 

by the Longma, (dragon and horse,) nation of barbarous horsemen, 

under Sui-gin. 

3d Series. — Quipos, or knots on strings, used by the Peruvians, 

and several other South American nations. Similar to the third 

kind of Chinese glyphs, introduced under Yong-ching, and used 

also by many nations of Africa. 

4ih Series. — Wampums, or strings of shells and beads, used by 
many nations of North America. Similar to those used by some 
ancient or rude nations in all the parts of the world, as tokens of 
ideas. 

5th Series. — Runic glyphs, or marks and notches on twigs or 
lines, used by several nations of North America. Consimilar to 
the runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations. 

6/^ Series. — Runic marks and dots, or grapltic symbols, not on 
strings nor lines, but in rows ; expressing words or ideas ; used by 
the ancient nations of North America and Mexico, the Talegas, 
Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans., Tuscaroras, &;c, and also the Muhiz' 
cas, of South America. Similar to the ancient symbols of the 
Ptruscans, Egyptians, Celts, &(c., and the Ho-tu of the Chinese, in- 
vented by Tsang-hi, called also the Ko-teu-chu letters, which were 
in use in China, till 827 before our era. 

7th Series. — Alphabetical symbols, expre^ing syllables or sounds, 
not words, but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows ; such is 
the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near Palenque, 
the American Thebes. Consimilar to the groups of alphabetical 
symbols used by the ancient Lybians, Egyptians, Persians, and also 
the last graphic system of the Chinese, called Ventze, invented by 
Sse^hoang. 

8th Series. — Cursive symbols, in groups, and the groups in paral- 
lel rows, derived from the last, (which are chiefly monumental,) 
and used in the manuscripts of the Mayans, Guatamalans, ^c. 
Consimilar to the actual cursive Chinese, some demotic Egyptian, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



311 



and many modifications of aucient graphic alphabets, grouping the 
letters or syllables. 

9th Series. — Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet 
of the Cherokis, and many graphic inscriptions found in North and 
South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, Africa 
and Polynesia. 

10th Series. — Alphabets or graphic letters, expressing simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, medals 
and coins in North and South America, and lately introduced evcy 
where by the European colonists. Similar to the alphabets of 
Asia, Africa and Europe. 

11^^ Seiies. — Abreviations, or letters standing for whole words, 
or part of a glyph and graphic delineation, standing and expressing 
the whole. Used by almost all the writing nations of North and 
South America, as well as Asia, Europe and Africa. 

I2th Series. — Numeric system of graphic signs, to express num- 
bers All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, strokes, 
circles, glyphs, letters, &c., used by some nations of North and 
South America, as well as in the eastern continent. 

In my next letter I shall chiefly illustrate the 7th and 8th series 
so as to decypher and explain one of the most curious and least 
known of the American modes of expressing and perpetuating ideas. 
I shall give a figure of a sample of those monumental symbols, 
with comparative figures of two alphabets of Africa, the nearest re- 
lated to them, and where the elements may be traced, which are 
grouped in those glyphs. 




[The characters here presented are the glyphs alluded to by this 
author, formed from the combinations of the African and American 



512 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

letters, shown and treated upon page 118 of this work. For an 
account of those glyphs, see pages 122, 123 and 124.] 

At the first glance, the most cursory observer is impressed with 
the idea of their likeness to the Chinese glyphs, which, in the lan- 
guages in which they were or are in use, is equivalent to the com- 
bination of our letters when grouped so as to spell words, and show 
that America, in its earliest history, was not without its literati, and 
means of improvement by the use of letters, but was lost by means) 
of revolutions as once was the fate of the Roman empire. 

We have glanced at the following circumstance before, on page 
241 : we hope the reader will excuse its repetition, as we wish in 
this place to give the entire remarks of the author on this most in- 
teresting subject, the letters and glyphs of America.] 

" Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a; 
large premium for a voyage to Guataraala, and a new survey of the 
antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from 
Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have re- 
stored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name of 
the stream running through the ruins. I should have been inclined 
to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the civil discords 
of the country did not forbid it. My attention was drawn forcibly 
to this subject as soon as the account of those ruins, surveyed by 
Captain Del Rio, as early as 1787, but withheld from the public 
eye by Spain, was published in 1822, in English. 

This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city 75 
miles in circuit, (length 32 English miles, greatest breadth 12 
miles,) full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions : one 
of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes 
of Egypt, as well calculated to inspire me with hopes that they 
would throw a great light over American history, when more pro 
perly examined. 

I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared 
to penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the 
ruins, monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The 
Society of Geography has received many additional accounts, de- 
rived from documents preserved in Mexico ; but they have , not 
been deemed worthy of the reward offered for a new survey, and 
have not even been published. The same has happened with Tia- 
huamxco, in Bolivia, South America, another mass of ancient ruins, 



ANP DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 233 

In the kingdom of Guatemala, North America, the descendants 
of the original inhabitants preserve traditions which go back to the 
epoch of a great deluge, after which their ancestors, led by a chief 
called Votan, had come from a country lying toward the north. 
A As late as in the 16th century, in a village in Guatemala, there 
were of the natives who boasted their descent from the family of 
Votan, or Vodan. They who have studied the history of Scandi- 
navian (old Norway) nations, says Humboldt, in the heroic times, 
must be struck at finding in Mexico a name which recalls that of 
Vodan or Odin, who reigned among the Scythians, and whose race 
according to the very remarkable assertion of Bede, (an ecclesias- 
tical historian of the 17th century,) gave kings to a great number 
of nations. This wonderfully corroborates the opinion of America's 
having been settled in several parts by Europeans, at a period more 
ancient than even the history of Europe can boast of. 

The Shawanese tribe of Indians, who now live in Ohio, once 
lived on the Suaney river, in West Florida, near the shores of the 
southwest end of the gulf of Mexico; among these Indians, says 
Mr. Atwater, there is a tradition that Florida had once been inha- 
bited by white people, who had the use of iron tools. Their oldest 
Indians say, when children, they had often heard it spoken of by 
the old people of the tribe, that anciently stumps of trees, covered 
with earth, w^ere frequently found, which had been cut down by 
edged tools. — {Am. Antq. Researches, p. 27-3.) 

Whoever they were, or from whatever country they may have 
originated, the account, as given by Morse, the geographer, of the 
subterranean wall found in North Carolina, goes very far to show, 
they had a knowledge of iron ore ; and consequently knew how to 
work it, or they could not have had iron tools, as the Shawanese 
Indians relate. Morse's account is as follows : 

" In Rowan county. North Carolina, about ten miles southwest 
from Salisbury, two hundred from the sea, and seventy from the 
mountains, which run across the western end of the State, is found 
a remarkable subterraneous wall. It stands on uneven ground, 
near a small brook. The stones of the wall are all of one kind, 
and contain iron ore. They are of various sizes, but generally 
weighing about four pounds. All are of a long figure, commonly 
seven inches in length, sometimes twelve. The ends of the stones 
form the sides of the wall ; some of these ends are square, others 

30 



234 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

nearly of the form of a parallelogram, triangle, rliombus or rhom- 
boids ; but most of them are irregular. Some preserve their di-' 
mensions through the whole length, others terminate like a wedge. 
The alternate position of great and little ends, aids in keeping the 
■work square. The surface of some is plain, of some concave, of 
others convex. The concave stone is furnished with one convex^ 
so as to suit each other. Where the stones are not firm, or shelly, 
they are curiously wedged in with others. The most irregular are 
thrown into the middle of the wall. Every stone is covered with 
cement, which, next to the stone, has the appearance of iron rust. 
Where it is thin, the rust has penetrated through. Sometimes the 
cement is an inch thick, and where wet, has the fine, soft, oily 
feeling of putty. The thickness of the wall is uniformly twenty- 
two inches, the length discovered is rising of eighteen rods, and the 
height twelve or fourteen feet. Both sides of this are plastered 
with the substance in which the stones are laid. The top of the 
wall appears to run nearly parallel with the top of the ground, be- 
ing generally about a foot" below the surface. In one place it is se- 
veral feet. There is a bend or curve of six feet or more, after 
which it proceeds in its former direction. The whole appears ta 
be formed in the most skilful manner. Six or eight miles from 
this wall, another has been since discovered^ forty feet long, four 
and five feet high, seven inches thick only. The stones of this 
wall are all of one length. — ( Universal Geog. p. 615.) 

In the State of Tennessee, which is situated exactly on the west- 
ern end of North Carolina, are also found the vestiges and remains 
of ancient dwellings, towns and fortifications, with mounds, bar- 
rows, utensils and images, wherever the soil is of prime quality, 
and convenient to water. 

The bodies of two of these people were discovered in the autumn 
of 1810, in Warren county, in the Stale of Tennessee; one of a 
man, the other of a child, to appearance about four years old. 
They were four feet below the surface, in a situation perfectly dry, 
there being a mixture of copperas, alum, sulphur and nitre, in the 
soil that covered them. Their skin was preserved, though its ori- 
ginal complexion could not be ascertained ; but the hair of their 
heads was of an auburn shade. The child was deposited in a 
basket, well wrought of smooth splits of reeds, (arundo gigantucuy) 
and several singular species of cloth, as well as deer skins, dressed 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 235 

«nd undressed, were wrapped round and deposited with them, and 
two feather fans, and a curious belt. — {Morse.) 

From the discovery of these two bodies we think we ascertain 
the inhabitants to have been white, like the Europeans, from the 
color of their hair ; as it is well known the Australasians, Polyne- 
sians and Malays, as well as the common Indians, have universally 
black, long and shining hair. The body which is mentioned by 
Prof. Mitchill, late of New- York, discovered in a nitrous cave, in 
the western country, had red or sandy hair ; such was the color of 
the hair of the Scandinavians of the north of Europe, and are sup- 
posed, upon authority indubitable, to have settled at Onondaga, and 
round about that region. (See toward the close of this work.) 

The wall drscovered in North Carolina, as related above, is 
doubtless a part of a wall built for the defence of a town or city ; 
the rest may have been thrown down by an enemy, or it may have 
been never finished. The regular manner in which it was built 
and laid in mortar, shows a considerable knowledge of masonry. 
This is by no means very extraordinary, as in Europe a considera- 
ble knowledge of the arts was in possession of the people of that 
country, derived from the Romans, who had subdued all the island 
of England, and abandoned the country, some hundred years be- 
fore the time of the Welch expedition to the west of Europe, as 
we shall relate by and by. 

What traits of iron instruments are found scattered over this 
country, except such as have been buried or lost in conflicts and 
battles with the Indians, since the discovery of the country by 
Columbus, as to be attributed to these Scandinavian and Welch 
settlers from the old country ; the latter about the ninth or tenth 
century, and the former long before. 

If the Welch, as we shall show, a few pages hence, found this 
country about the year 950, there was time enough for them to 
have established themselves in many parts, and to have built them- 
selves towns and cultivated the earth to a great extent ; as from 
about 950, till its discovery by Columbus, in 1492, would be not 
far from 542 years. A longer time than this has elapsed, since its 
last discovery, and also time enough for their deserted works to be- 
come covered with forests of the age of four and five hundred years. 
According to Morse, the ancestors of the Welch were the Cim- 
bri, or northern Celts : but he says, the Goths from Asia hftTin^ 



336 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

seized on Germany, and a great part of Gaul, or France, gradually 
repelled the Celts, and placed colonies on the island of Britain, 
three or four centuries before the Christian era ; that the Romans 
found many tribes of the Belgse, or ancient Germans, when they 
first invaded that island ; consequently, not only the Welch, but 
the English also, had, in part, the Goths, or ancieift Germans, lor 
their ancestors, and were the people who, as well as the Scandina- 
vians, discovered America and settled here. 

It may be, that from such causes as these, are found, far to the 
west, several tribes of white Indians, originated from Welch, Ger- 
man and Scandinavian ancestors ; who well might be supposed to 
have had, not only a knowledge of masonry, sufficient to build 
walls, but of iron also ; the traits of which are found in many parts 
sufficiently marked by oxydization to throw the time of their for- 
mation beyond the last discovery of America. 

On the river Gasconade, which empties into the Missouri, on the 
southern side, are found the traces of ancient works, similar to 
those in North Carolina. In the saltpetre caves of that region, and 
Gasconade county in particular, was discovered, when they were 
first visited, axes and hammers made of iron ; which led to the be- 
lief that they had formerly worked those caves for the sake of the 
nitre. 

Dr. Beck, from whose Gazetteer of Missouri and Illinois, p. 234, 
we have this account, remarks, however, that " it is difficult to de- 
cide whether these tools were left there by the present race of In- 
dians, or a more civilized race of people." He says it is unusual 
for the savages of our day to take up their residence in caves; con- 
sidering them places to which the devil resorts ; and that they are 
not acquainted with the uses of saltpetre, and would rather avoid 
them than collect it. This author considers the circumstance of 
finding those tools in the nitre caves, as furnishing a degree of evi- 
dence that the country of Gasconade river was formerly settled by 
a race of men who were acquainted with the use of iron, and ex- 
ceeded the Indians in civilization and a knowledge of the arts. 

But thfere are other facts, he says, connected with these, about 
which there can be no mistake. Not far from this cave is found 
the ruins of an ancient town. It appears to have been regularly 
aid out, and the dimensions of the squares, streets, and some of 
the houses, can yet be discovered. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WKST. 237 

Stone walls are fouod in different parts of the area, which are 
frequently covered with huge heaps of earth. Missouri joins Ten- 
^nessee on the west, the same as the latter does North Carolina ; 
and from a similarity of the works discovered, it would appear, 
that a population, similar in manners and pursuits, inhabited a vast 
region of country, from the Atlantic side of North Carolina, to the 
Missouri Territory. 

These discoveries rank with the architectural works of Europe, 
in the 9th and 10th centuries; as that long before that period, the 
use of stone work had been introduced, even in the island of Bri- 
tain, by the all -conquering bands of the Romans. 

If, therefore, the Germanis, Danes, Welch, Normans, Icelanders, 
Greenlanders, or Scandinavians, settled in this country, who are 
all of much the same origin, there need be no great mystery re- 
specting these discoveries, as they are to be referred to those na- 
tions from Europe, beyond all doubt. The ancient monuments of 
a country, says Dr. Morse, are intimately connected with the epochs 
of its history ; consequently, as the state of masonry, or the knowl- 
edge of stone work, discovered, as above described, in North Caro- 
lina, Tennessee, and Missouri, is of the same character with those 
of Europe, about the time of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th cen- 
turies, we conclude them to be wholly of European origin. 

About ten miles from the spot where the relics of this town are 
discovered, on the west side of the Gasconade river, is also found 
another stone work, still more extraordinary, as it is evident that 
its builders had indeed, a competent knowledge of constructing 
buildings of that material. It is about thirty feet square, and al- 
though in a dilapidated condition appears to have been erected 
with a great degree of regularity. It is situated on a high bold 
cliff, which commands a fine and extensive view of the country on 
all sides. From this stone work was found a foot path, running a 
devious course down the clift', to the entrance of a cave. These 
antiquities evidently /(yrm a distinct class, says Dr. Beck, of which, 
as yet, he had seen no description. 

Of the same class has been discovered on Noyer creek, in Mis- 
souri, the foundation of a large stone building, fifty-six feet in 
length, and twenty-two in breadth, divided into four apartments. 
The largest room occupies about one half of the whole building, 
and is nearly square ; a second in size is twelve feet by sixteen, 



S38 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

partly oval, third, four by sixteen, fourth, three by sixteen feet. 
The outer wall is eighteen inches thick, consisting of rough, un- 
hewn stone ; the partitions between the rooms is of the same ma- 
terial, of equal' thickness with the outer wall. As an entrance in 
to the largest room, are two door ways, the second size, one, and 
the same of the two others. — [See at the bottom of the Frontispiece.^ 

About eighty rods from this structure, is also found the remains 
of the foundation of a stone building, nineteen feet by fifteen, in 
size, of the same character of architecture. One large oval room, 
twelve feet by twelve on an average, occupies the centre, with a 
door way, and at each end of the room, three feet by twelve, with- 
out any door way. It is probable the largest of these buildings was 
the palace of the chief, or king, of the tribe, clan, or nation ; where 
was held the legislatve councils, and the affairs of government 
were transacted. 

The second building, placed at the respectful distance of eighty 
rods, was probably the prison house, and place of execution, which 
the small narrow cells, without any outside door way, would seem 
to suggest. The prison in which St. Paul was confined at Rome, 
is exactly of this form and size ; which we consider a remarkable 
coincidence, unless it is allowed, this American prison house, as we 
have supposed it was, had been fashioned after the same manner. 

We have an account of this prison, in which St. Paul was con- 
fined, which was built several hundred years before the Christian 
era, as given by a gentleman now making the tour of Europe. It 
is as follows : 

" All parts of Italy are interesting to the scholar, and many parts 
to the Christian. Thus, near Naples, at Puteoli, I saw where 
Paul landed, and I travelled between Naples and Rome on the very 
same road over which he was led prisoner to Rome ; and if he was 
incarcerated in this city, (which I see no reason to doubt) he doubt- 
less lived the greater part of the time he was here, in his own hired 
house. I have been in the same dungeon, and seen the very pillar 
to which he must have been chained. 

The prison is the Mamertine, the name and history of which, is 
familiar to every one acquainted with Roman history, as it was, for 
a long time, the only prison of the Romans. It consits of but two 
apartments, circular, and about twelve feet diameter, and six feet 
in height, the one over the other, both under ground. The only 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 230 

entrance to them originally, was through a small hole in the top of 
each, through which the prisoner must have heen let down with 
ropes, passing through the upper to reach the lower prison. These 
dungeons were large enough for the Romans, as the trial soon fol- 
lowed the imprisonment of an offender, who, if found innocent, 
was at once liberated, but if guilty, immediately executed." — 
{Journal and Telegraphy vol. IV., No. 191, — 18C2.) 

From the Romans the German or Belgic tribes may have de- 
rived their first ideas of stone work, as from the Germans the 
Danes derived the same. The style and manner ot this building, 
as it now appears, in its ruined state, agrees well with the build- 
ings of the ancient Danes of the north of Europe, in the 10th and 
11th centuries ; which also consisted of unhewn stone, laid up in 
their natural state, the squarest, and best formed, selected, of course. 
In these buildings, says Morse, were displayed the first elements 
of the Gothic style, in which the ancient Belgae or Germans used 
to erect their castles, in the old world, eight or nine hundred years 
ago. These works of these distinct kind of antiquities, are nume- 
rous in the western countries ; the regularity, form and structure 
of which, says Dr. Beck, favors the conclusion that they were the 
work of a more civilized race than those who erected the former, 
or more ancient works of America ; and that they were acquainted 
with the rules of architecture, &c., [of Danish and Belgic origin,] 
and perhaps with a perfect system of warfare. 

At present, the walls of this trait of ancient times, are from two 
to five feet high, the rooms of which are entirely filled with forest 
trees ; one of which is an oak, and was, ten years ago, nine feet in 
circumference. — {Beck''s Gazetter, p. 306.] 



Ruins of the city ofOtolum, discovered in JYortk Jlmerica* 

In a letter of C. S. Rafinesque, whom we have before quoted, 
to a correspondent in Europe, we find the following : " Some years 
ago, the Society of Geography in Paris ofiered a large premium 
for a voyage to Guatimala, and for a new survey of the antiquities 
of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from Palanque, 
which are wrongly called by that name." 



240 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" I have," says this author, " restored to them the true name of 
Otolum, which Is yet the name of the stream running through the 
ruins. They were surveyed by Captain Del Rio, in 1787, an ac- 
count of which was published in English, in 1822. 

" This account describes partly the ruins of a stone city, of no 
less dimensions than seventy-five miles in circuit ; length thirty- 
two, and breadth twelve miles, full of palaces, monuments, statues 
and inscriptions ; one of the earliest seats of American civilization, 
about equal to Thebes of ancient Egypt. 

It is stated in the Family Magazine, No. 34, p. 266, for 1833, 
as follows : — " Public attention has been recently excited respect- 
ing the ruins of an ancient city found in Guatemala. It would 
seem that these ruins are now being explored, and much curious 
and valuable matter in a literary, and historical point of view is 
anticipated. We deem the present, a most auspicious moment, 
now, that the public attention is tiirned to the subject, to spread its 
contents before our readers, as an introduction to future discoveries 
during the researches now in progress." 

The following are some particulars, as related by Captian Del 
Rio, who partially examined them as above related, 1787 : — " From 
Palenque, the last town northward in the province of Ciudad Real 
de Chiapa, taking a southwesterly direction, and ascending a ridge 
of high land that divides the kingdom of Guatemala from Yucatan 
at the distance of six miles, is the little' river Micol whose waters 
flowing in a westerly direction and unites with the great river 
TuUja which bends its course towards the province of Tabasco. 
Having passed Micol the ascent begins, and at half a league or a 
mile and a half, the traveller crosses a little stream called Otolum ; 
from this point heaps of stone ruins are discovered, which render 
the road very difficult for another half league, when you gain the 
height whereon the stone houses are situated, being still fourteen 
in number, in one place, some more dilapidated than others, yet 
still having many of their apartments perfectly discernable. 

A rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four 
hundred and fifty in length," which is a fraction over fifty-six rods 
wide and eighty-four rods long, being in the whole circuit two 
hundred and eighty rods, which is three-fourths of a mile and a 
trifle over. This area " presents a plain at the base of the highest 
mountain forming the ridge. In the centre of this plain is situated 



AND DISCOVEftlES IN THE WEST. 241 

the largest of the structures which has been as yet discovered 
among these ruins. It stands on a mound or pyramid twenty yards 
high, which is sixty feet, or nearly four rods, in perpendicular 
altitude, which gives it a lofty and beautiful majesty, as if it were 
a temple suspended in the sky. This is surrounded by other ediG- 
ces, namely, five to the northward, four to the southward, one to 
the southwest and three to the eastward, fourteen in all. In all 
directions, the fragments of other fallen buildings are seen extend- 
ing along the mountain that stretch*^s east and west, either way 
from these buildings, as if they were ihe great temple of worship, 
or their government house, around which they built their city and 
where dwelt their kings and officers of state. At this place was 
found a subterranean stone aqueduct of great solidity and durabili- 
ty, which in its course passes beneath the largest building. 

Let it be understood, this city of Otolum, the ruins of which are 
so immense, is in North, not South America, in the same latitude 
with the island Jamaica, which is about 18 degrees north of the 
equator, being on the highest ground between the northern end oF 
the Caribbean sea and the Pacific ocean, where the continent nar- 
rows toward the isthmus of Darien, and is about 700 mi'es south of 
New-Orleans, merely across the gulf of Mexico. 

The discovery of these ruins, and also of many others, equally 
wonderful in the same country, are just commencing to arouse 
the attention of the schools of Europe, who hitherto have denied 
that America could boast of her antiquities. But these immense 
ruins ate now being explored under the direction of scientific per- 
sons, a history of which, in detail, will be forthcomiug, doubtless, 
in due time; two volumes of which, in manuscript, we are inform- 
ed, have already been written, and cannot but be received with 
enthusiasm by Americans. 

By those deeply versed in the antiquities of past ages, it is con- 
tended that the first people who settled in America came directly 
from Chaldea, immediately after the confusion of language at Ba- 
bel. — {See description of the ruins of the American city, published 
in London, 1832, p. 33, by Dr. Paul Felix Cabrera.) Whoever the 
authors of the city may have been, we seem to find in their sculp- 
tured deities, the idolatry of even the Phoenicians, a people whos« 
history goes back nearly to the llood, or to within a hundred and 
Sfty years o( that period. 

31 



242 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

It appears from some of the historical works of the Meiricans, 
written in pictures, which fell into the hands of the Spaniards, that 
there was found one which was written by VotaUf and sets himself 
forth to be the third gentile, (reckoning from the flood or family of 
Noah,) and lord of the Tapanahuasec, or the sacred drum. In the 
book above alluded to, Votan says that he saw the great house 
which was built by his grandfather, meaning the tower of Babel, 
which went up from the earth to the sky. In one of those picture 
books, the account is given by the Indian historian, whoever he 
was, or at whatever time he lived, that Votan had written it him- 
self. He gives the account that he made no less than four voyages 
to this continent, conducting with him at one time seven families. 
He says that others ©f his family had gone away before himself, 
and that he was determined to travel till he should come to the 
root of heaven, (in the west,) in order to discover his relation, the 
CulebraSj or Snake people, and calls himself Culebra, (a snake,) 
and that he found them, and became their captain. He mentions 
the name of the town which his relation had built at first, which 
was Tezequil. 

Agreeing with this account, it is found by exploring the ruins of 
this city, and its sculptures, that among a multitude of strange re^ 
presentations are found two which represent this Votariy on both 
continents. The continents are shown by being painted in two pa- 
rallel squares, and standing on each is this Votan, showing his ac- 
quaintance with each of them. The pictures engraven on the 
stones which form the sides of the houses or temples of this 
ruined city, are a series of hieroglyphics which show, beyond 
all doubt, that the era of its construction, and of the people who 
built it, excels in antiquity those of the ancient Greeks, the Ro- 
mans, and the most celebrated nations of the old world, and is 
worthy of being compared even with the first progenitors of the 
Hebrews themselves, after the flood. — (See History of American 
city., as before quoted, p. 39.) 

It is found that the gods of the ancient Egyptians, even Osiris, 
Apis and IsiSj are sculptured on the stones of this city, the worship 
of which passed from Egypt to many nations, and is found under 
many forms, but all traceable to the same original. 

Butasat respects the true founders of this city, the discovery and 
contents of whicih are now causing so great and general interest in 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 248 

both this country and Europe, it is ascertained in the most direct 
and satisfactory way, in the work to which we have just alluded, 
published in London, 1832, on the subject of this city, that they 
were the ancient Hivites, one of the nations which inhabited Pales- 
tine, or Canaan, a remnant of which, it is ascertained, fled into the 
kingdom of Tyre, and there settled, and into Africa, to avoid anni- 
hilation by the wars of Joshua, the captain of the Jews ; and that 
among them was one who acted as a leader, and was called VotaiXy 
and that he sailed from a port in ancient Tyre, which before it was 
known by that name, was called Chivim^ and that this Votan was 
the third in the gentile descent from Noah, and that he made se- 
veral voyages to and from America. But the kingdom which was 
founded by Votan, was finally destroyed by other nations, and their 
works, their cities and towns turned into a wilderness, as they are 
now found to be. 

The Hivitesy it appears, were the ancestor* of the Moorsj who 
spread themselves all along the western coast of Africa, at an ear- 
ly period, and in later times thej overran the country of Spain, 
till the Romans supplanted them ; who in their turn were sup- 
planted by the northern nations of Germany, the Goths, &c. 

The Moors were sot the proper Africans, as the hair of their 
heads was long, straight and shining. They were a diflferent race, 
and of different manners and attainments. The contour of the faces 
of the authors of the American city, found sculptured on the stones 
of its ruins, are in exact correspondence with the /ore^eac? and nose 
of the ancient Moors, the latter qf which was remarkable for its 
aquiline shape, and was a national trait, characteristic of the Moors 
as well as the Romans. 

When the Spaniards overran Peru, which lies on the western 
side of South America on the coast of the Pacific were found 
statues, obelisks, mausolea, edifices, fortresses, all of stone, equal, 
fully so, with the architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, six 
hundred years before the Christian era. Roads were cut through 
the Cordillera mountains ; gold, silver, copper, and led mines, 
were opened and worked to a great extent ; all of which is evi- 
dence of their knowledge of architecture, mineralogy and agricul- 
ture. In many places of that country, are found the ruins of noble 
aqueducts, some of Avhich, says Dr. Morse, the geographer, would 
have been thought works of difficulty in civilized nations. Save- 



5^44 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ral pillars of stone are now standing, ^vhich were erecled (o 
point out the equinoxes and solstices. In their sepulchres were 
found their paintings, vessels of gold and Hlver, implements of 
warfare, husbandry, &c. 

To illustrate the architecural knowledge of the Peruvians as well 
as of some other provinces of South America, we quote the follow- 
ing from Baron Humboldt's Researches, 1st vol. Eug. trans. Amer- 
edt., p 255. " This plate," referring to one which is found in 
one of the volumes of his Researches, in the French language ; 
" represents the plan and inside of the small building which oc- 
cupies the centre of the esplanade, in the citadel of Canuar, sup- 
posed to be a guard house. I sketched, he says, this drawing with 
the greater exactness, because the remains of Peruvian architect- 
ure, scattered along the ridge of the Cordilleras, from Cuzco to 
Cajambe, or from the 13th degree of north latitude to the equator, 
a distance of nearly a thousand miles. What an empire, and what 
works are these, which all bear the same character, in the cut of the 
stones, the shape of the doors to their stone buildings, the symme- 
trical disposal of the niches, and the total absence of the exterior 
ornaments. This uniformity of construction is so great that all the 
stations along the high road, called in that country palaces of the 
Incas, or kings of the Peruvians, appear to have been copied from 
each other ; simplicity, symmetry, and solidity, were the three 
characters, by which the Peruvian edifices were distinguished. 
The citadel of Cannar, and the square buildings surrounding it, 
are not constructed with the same quartz sandstone, which covers 
the primitive slate, aud the prophyries of Assuay ; and which ap- 
pears at the surface, in the garden of the Inca, as we descend to- 
ward the valley of Gulan, but of trappean prophyry, of great hard- 
ness, enclosing nitrous feldspar, and hornblende. This prophyry 
was perhaps dug in the great quarries which are found at 4000 
metres in height, (which is 13000 feet aud a fraction, making two 
and a third miles in perpendicular height,) near the lake of Cule- 
brilla, nearly ten miles from Cannar. To cut the stones for the 
buildings of Cannar, at so great * height, and to bring them down 
and transport them ten miles, is equal with any of the works of 
the ancients, who built the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and 
Stabia, long before the Christian era, in Naples of Italy. 

" We do not find, however," says Humboldt, " in the ruins of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 845 

Cannar, those stones of enormous size, which we see in the Peru- 
vian edifices of Cuzco and the neighboring countries, Acosto, he 
says, measured some at Traquanaco, which were twelve metres 
(38 feet) long, and five metres eight tenths, (18 feet) broad, and 
one metre nine tenths (6 feet) thick." The stones made use of 
in building the temple of Solomon, were but a trifle larger than 
these, some of which were twenty-five cubits, (43 feet 9 inches) 
long, twelve cubits (29 feet) wide, and eight cubits, (14 feet) thick, 
reckoning twenty-one inches to the cubit. 

" One of the temples of ancient Egypt is now, in its state of 
ruin, a mile and a half in circumference. It has twelve principal 
entrances. The body of the temple consists of a prodigious hall 
or portico ; the roof is supported by 134 columns. Four beautiful 
obelisks mark the entrance to the shrine, a place of sacrifice, which 
contains three apartments, built entirely of granite. The temple 
of Luxor, probably surpasses in beauty and splendor all the other 
ruins of Egypt. In front are two of the finest obelisks in the world ; 
they are of rose colored marble, one hundred feet high. 

But the objects which most attract attention, are the sculptures 
which cover the whole of the northern front. They contain, on a 
great scale, a representation of a victory gained by one of the an- 
cient kings of Egypt over an enemy. The number of human 
figures, cut in the solid stone, amounts to 1,500 ; of these, 500 are 
on foot, and 1,000 in chariots. Such are the remains of a city, 
which perished long before the records of ancient history had a 
being." — {^Malle-Brun. ) 

We are compelled to ascribe some of the vast operations of the 
ancient nations of this country, to those ages which correspond with 
the limes and manners of the people of Egypt, which are also be- 
yond the reach of authentic history. 

It should be recollected that the fleets of king Hiram navigated 
the seas in a surprising manner, seeing they had not, as is suppos- 
ed, (but not proven,) a knowledge of the magnetic needle ; and in 
some voyage out of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, they may 
have been drjven to South America ; where having found a coun- 
try, rich in all the resources of nature, more se than even their na- 
tive country, founded a kingdom, built cities, cultivated fields, 
marshalled armies, made roads, built aqueducts, became rich, mag- 
nifieent and powerful, as the vastness and extent of the ruins of 
Peru, and other provinces of South America, plainly show. 



246 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Humboldt says, that he saw at PuUal, three houses made of stone, 
which were built by the Incas, each of which was more than fifty 
metres, or a hundred and fifty feet long, laid in a cement, or true 
mortar. This fact, he says, deserves attention, because travellers 
who had preceded him, had unanimously overlooked this circum- 
stance, asserting, that the Peruvians were unacquainted with the 
use of mortar, but is erroneous. The Peruvians not only employed 
a mortar, in the great edifices of Pacaritambo, but made use of a 
cement of asphalt um ; a mode of construction, which on the banks 
of the Euphrates and the Tigris, may be traced back to the re- 
motest antiquity. The tools made use of to cut their stone was 
copper, hardened with tin, the same made use of among the Greeks 
and Romans, and other nations, of which we have spoken, in an- 
other place of this work. 

To show the genius and enterprise of the natives of Mexico, be- 
fore America was last discovered, we give the following as but a 
single instance : Montezuma, the last king but one of Mexico, A. D. 
1446, forty-six years before the discovery of America by Colum- 
bus, erected a dyke to prevent the overflowing of the waters of 
certain small lakes in ihe vicinity of their city, which had several 
times deluged it. This dyke consisted of a bank of stones and 
clay, supported on each side by a range of palisadoes ; extending 
in its whole length about seventy miles, and sixty-five feet broad, 
its whole length suflficintly high to intercept the overflowings of 
the lakes, in times of high water, occasioned by the spring floods. 
In Holland, the Dutch have resorted to the same means to prevent 
incursions of the sea ; and the longest of the many is but forty 
miles in extent, nearly one half short of the Mexican dyke. 
" Amidst the exteui-ive plains of Upper Canada, in Florida, near 
the gulf of Mexico, and in the deserts bordered by the Orinoco, in 
Colombia, South America, dykes of a considerable length, weapons 
of brass, and sculptured stones, are found, which are the indica- 
tions that those countries were formerly inhabited by industrious 
nations, which are now traversed only by tribes of savage hunters." 
(Humboldt.) Samuel R. Brown, author of the Western Gazetteer, 
1817, says, he examined one of those remains of the ancient na- 
tions, situated upon the mouth of big Scioto river on a high bank 
of the Ohio, a half mile from the water. He has no doubt it was a 
military position of great strength, and describes it as follows : 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



24t 



" The walls are yet standing, and enclosing as nearly as I could 
ascertain by pacing, fourteen acres of ground- It is of a square. 
form" (like the ancient Roman military works.) " The officious 
hand of civilized man has not yet marred the wood which shade 
these venerable ruins ; nor has any curious antiquarian mutilated 
the loalk by digging in search of hidden treasure. The walls in 
many places are yet sixteen feet high, and no where less than eight. 
At their base they are about thirty feet wide, and wide enough at 
their top to admit a horse team and waggon. There are seven 
gateways, three on the west, two on the east, and two on the north, 
all being about 20 feet wide. On the northwest side are the ruins of 
a covered way, extending to a creek, at the distance of 280 rods 
The covering is fallen in, and large trees are growing in the ditch- 
On the west side are two covered ways leaiding also to the same 
creek, these are apart from each other about 30 feet, and extend- 
ing about 40 rods till they reach the stream. These walls are as 
wide and as high as the walls of the fort. On the east side, are 
also two covered ways at convenient distances from each other, 
leading to another small Creek. 

Thus the garrison of this ancient fortification had five avenues 
through which they could safely procure water." This could never 
have been the work of the common Indians. 



Great Stone Calendar of the Mexicans. 

This stone was found near the site of the present city of Mexico, 
buried some feet beneath the soil, of the same character on which 
was engraven an almost infinite number of hieroglyphics, signify- 
ing the divisions of time, the motions of the heavenly bodies, the 
twelve signs of the Zodiac, with reference to the feasts and sacri- 
fices of the Mexicans, and is called by Humboldt the Mexican Ca- 
lendar, in relief, on basalt. 

This deservedly celebrated historiographer and antiquarian, has 
devoted a hundred pages, and more, of his octavo work, entitled 
Researches in America, in describing the similarity which exists be- 
tween its representations of astrolgy, astronomy, and the divisions of 
time, and those of a great multitude of the nations of Asia ; Chi- 



248 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



nese, Japanese, Calmucks, Mogbols, Mantchaus, and other Tartat 
nations ; the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, PhoenicianSj Greeks, 
Romans, Hebrews, and ancient Celtic nations of Europe. See the 
American edition by Helen Maria Williams, vol 1. The size of 
this stone was very great, being a fraction over twelve feet square, 
three feet in thickness, weighing twenty-four tons. It is of the 
kind of stone denominated trappean porphyry, of the blackish grey 
color. We here present a fac similie of this stone. 




The place where it was found was more than thirty miles from 
any quarry of the kind ; from which we discover the ability of the 
ancient inhabitants, not only to transport stones of great size, as 
well as the ancient Egyptians, in building their cities and temples 
of marble, but also to cut and engrave on stone, equal tvith the 
present age. 

It was discovered in the vale of Mexico, in A. D. 1791, in 
the spot where Cortez ordered it to be buried, when, with his fe- 
rocious Spaniards, that country was devastated. That Spaniard 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 249 

universally broke to pieces all idols of stone which came in his 
way, except such as were too large and strong to be quickly and 
easily thus affected. Such he buried, among which this sculptured 
stone was one. This was done to hide them from the sight of the 
natives, whose strong attachment, whenever they saw them, coun- 
teracted their conversion to the Roman Catholic religion. 

The sculptured work on this stone, is in circles ; the outer one 
of all, is a trifle over twenty-seven feet in circumference ; from 
which the reader can have a tolerable notion of its size and ap- 
pearance. The whole stone is intensely crowded with an infinity 
of representations and hieroglyphics ; arranged however, in order 
and harmony, every way equal with any astronomical calendar of the 
present day. It is further described by Baron Humboldt, who saw 
and examined it on the spot. 

" The concentric circles, the numerous jdivisions and subdivi- 
sions, engraven in this stone, are traced with mathematical precis- 
ion ; the more minutely the detail of this sculpture is examined, 
the greater the taste we find in the repetition of the same forms. 
In the centre of the stone is sculptured the celebrated sign nahui- 
olin-Tonatmh, the Sun; which is surrounded by eight triangular 
radii. The god Tonatiuh or the Sun, is figured on this stone, 
opening his large mouth, armed with teeth, with the tongue pro- 
truded to a great length. This yawning mouth, and protruded 
tongue, is like the image of Kala, or in another work, Time, a 
divinity of Hindostan. Its dreadful mouth, armed with teeth, is 
meant to show, that the god, Tonatiuh, or time, swallows the world, 
opening a firey mouth devouring the years, months, and days, as 
fast as they come into being. The same image we find under the 
name of Mojoch, among the Phcenicians," the ancient inhabitants 
of d part of Africa, on the eastern side of the Mediterranean ; 
from which very country, there can be but little doubt, America 
received a portion of its earliest inhabitants ; hence, a knowledge 
of the arts to great perfection, as found among the Mexicans, was 
thus derived. Humboldt says, the Mexicans have evidently fol- 
lowed the Persians, in the division of time, as represented on this 
stone. The Persians flourished 1500 years before Christ. 

" The structure of the Mexican aqueducts, leads the imagination 
at once, to the shores of the Mediterranean." — (^Thomas^ Travels, 
p. 293.) The size, grandeur, and riches, of the tumuli on the 

39 



260 - AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

European and Asiatic sides of the Cimmerian strait," (\yhich nnite* 
the black sea with the Archipelago, a part of the Mediterranean, 
the region of ancient Greece, where the capital of Turkey in Eu- 
rope now stands, called Constantinople,) " excite astonishing ideas 
of the wealth and power of the people by whom they were con- 
structed ; and in view of labor so prodigious, as well as expendi- 
ture so enormous, for the mere purpose of inhuming a single body, 
customs and superstitions which illustrate the origin of the pyra- 
mids of Egypt, the cavern of Elephanta, and the first temples of 
the ancient world." — (^Thomas'' Travels.) 

But whatever power, wealth, genius, magnitude of tumuli- 
mounds, and pyramids, are found about the Mediterranean ; where 
the Egyptian, the Phoenician, Persian, and the Greek, have dis- 
played the monuments of this most ancient sort of antiquities : all, 
all is realised in North and South America ; and doubtless under 
the influence of the same superstition, and eras of time; having 
crossed over, as before argued ; and among the various aboriginal 
nations of South and North America, but especially the former, 
are undoubtedly found the descendants of the fierce Medes and 
Persians, and other warlike nations of the old world. 

The discoveries of travellers in that country, show, even at the 
present time, that the ancient customs, in relation to securing their 
habitations with a wall, still prevails. Towns in the interior of 
Africa, on the river Niger, of great extent, are found to be sur- 
rounded by walls of earth, in the same manner as those of the west 
in North America. 

See the account as given by Richard Lander : " On the 4th of 
May we entered a town of prodigious extent, fortified with three 
walls, of little less than twenty miles in circuit, with ditches, or 
moats between. This town, called Boo-hoo, is in the latitude of 
about 8 degrees 43 minutes north, and longitude 5 degrees 10 min- 
utes, east. On the 17th we came to Roossa, which is a cluster of 
huts walled with earth." 

This traveller states, that there is a kingdom there called Vaoriej 
which is large, powerful, and flourishing ; a city which is of pro- 
digious extent; the wall surrounding it is of clay or earth, and 
very high, its circuit between twenty and thirty miles. He men- 
tions several other places, enclosed by earth walls in the same man- 
ner. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 251 

It is easy to perceive the resemblance between these walled 
?owns in central Africa, and the remains of similar \\orks in this 
country, America. 



A farther Account of European Settlements. 

There are the remains of one of those efforts of Scandinavian 
defence, situated on a hill of singular form, on the great sand plain 
between the Susquehannah and Chemung rivers, near their junc- 
tion. The hill is entirely isolated, about three-fourths of a mile in 
circumference, and more than one hundred feet high. It has been 
supposed to be artificial, and to belong to the ancient nations to 
which all works of this sort generally belong. However, the in- 
habitants living round it, do not believe it to be artificial, on ac- 
count of large stones situated on its sides, too heavy to have been 
placed there by art of man. 

In the surrounding plain are many deep holes, of twenty or thir- 
ty rods circumference, and twenty feet deep; favoring a belief that 
from these, the earth was scooped out to form the hill with. It is 
four acres large on its top, and perfectly level, beautifully situated 
to overlook the country, to a great distance, up and down both riv- 
ers. But whether the hill be artificial nor not, there are on its top 
the remains of a wall, formed of earth, stone and wood, which 
runs round the whole, exactly on the brow. The wood is decayed 
and turned to mould, yet it is traceable and easily distinguished 
from the natural earth. Within is a deep ditch or entrenchment, 
running round the whole summit. From this it is evident, that a 
war was once waged here ; and were we to conjecture between 
whom, we should say, between the Indians and Scandinavians ; 
and that this fortification, so advantageously chosen, is of the same 
class of defensive works with those about Onondaga, Auburn, and 
the lakes Ontario, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, and Erie. As it is 
known, or not pretended, that the Scandinavians did not make set- 
tlements on the continent earlier than 9S5 ; there cannot be a doubt 
but they had to fight their way among the Indians, more or less, 
the same as we did when first we colonized the coast of the At- 
lantic, along the seaboard of the New-England states. 



252 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

But as these Scandinavians, Norwegian, Scotch, and Welch, 
were fewer in number than the Indians, and without the means of 
recruiting from the mother country, as was our case ; they at length 
fell a prey to this enemy, or became amalgamated with them, and 
so were lost; the traces of whom appear, now and then, among 
the tribes, as we have shown. 

We are strongly inclined to believe the following articles, found 
in the town of Pompey, Onondaga county. New- York, are of 
Scandinavian origin. In Pompey, on lot No. 14, is the site of an 
ancient burying ground, upon which, when the country was first 
settled, was found timber growing apparently of the second growth, 
judging from the old timber reduced to mould, lying round, which 
was one hundred years old, ascertained by counting the concentric 
grains. In one of these graves was found a glass bottle about the 
size of a common junk bottle, having a stopple in its muzzle, and 
in the bottle was a liquid of some sort, but was tasteless. This 
fact was related to us by a Mr. Higgins, some time sheriff of 
Onondaga county, who both saw the bottle and tasted the liquid at 
the time it was discovered, but could not tell of what kind, as it 
was tasteless- 

But is it possible that the Scandinavians could have had glass in 
their possession at so early a period as the year 950, and therea- 
bout, so as to have brought it with them from Europe when their 
first settlements were made in this country ? We see no good rea- 
son why not, as glass had been in use nearly 300 years in Europe, 
before the northern Europeans are reputed t© have found this coun- 
try ; the art of making glass having been discovered in A. D. 644. 
In the same grave with the bottle was found an iron hatchet, edged 
with steel. The eye, or place for the helve, was round, and ex- 
tended or projected out, like the ancient Swiss, or German axe. 

On lot No. 9, in the same town, was another aboriginal burying 
ground, covered with forest trees, as the other. In the same town, 
on lot No. 17, were found the remains of a blacksmith's forge. At 
this spot have been ploughed up crucibles, such as mineralogists 
use in jefining metals. 

These axes are similar, and correspond in character with those 
found in the nitrous caves on the Gasconade river, which empties 
into the Missouri, as mentioned in Prof Beck's Gazetteer of that 
country. In the same town are the remains of two ancient forts or 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 253 

fortifications, with redoubts, of a very extensive and formidable 
character. Within the range of these works have been found 
pieces of cast iron, broken from some vessel of considerable thick- 
ness. These articles cannot well be ascribed to the era of the 
French war, as time enough since then till the region round about 
Onondaga was commenced to be cultivated, had not elapsed to give 
the growth of timber found on the spot, of the age above noticed ; 
and added to this, it is said that the Indians occupying that tract 
of country, had no tradition ot their authors. 

The reader will recollect, a few pages back, we have noticed 
the discovery of a place called Estotiland, supposed to be Nova- 
Scotia, in 1354, the inhabitants of which were Europeans, who 
cultivated grain, lived in stone houses, and manufactured beer, as 
in Europe at that day. Now, from the year 1354, till the time of 
the first settlements made in Onondaga county, by the 'present in- 
habitants, is about 400 years. Is it not possible, therefore, that 
this glass bottle, with some kind of liquor in it, may have been de- 
rived from this Estotiland, having been orginally brought from 
Europe ; as glass had been in use there, more or less, from the year 
644, till the Scandinavians colonized Iceland, Greenland, and Es- 
totiland, or Newfoundland. The hatchets or iron axes found here, 
were likely of the same origin with the pieces of cast iron. 

In ploughing the earth, digging wells, canals, or excavating for 
salt waters, about the lakes, new discoveries are frequently made, 
which as clearly show the operations of ancient civilization here, 
as the works of the present race would do, were they left to the 
operations of time for five or six hundred years ; especially were 
this country to be totally overrun by the whole consolidated savage 
tribes of the west, exterminating both the worker and his works, 
as appears to have been done in ages past. 

In Scipio, on Salmon creek, a Mr. Halsted has, from time to 
time, during ten years past, ploughed up, on a certain extent of 
land on his farm, seven or eight hundred pounds of brass, which 
appeared to have once been formed into various implements, both 
of husbandry and war ; helmets and working utensils mingle to- 
gether. 

The finder of this brass, we are informed, from time to time, as 
he discovered it by ploughing, carried it to Auburn, and sold it by 
the pound, where it was worked up, with as little curiosity attend- 



254 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

iDg it as though it had been but an ordinary article of the country's 
produce : when, if it had been annouuced in some public manner, 
the finder would have doubtless been highly rewarded by some 
scientific individual or society, and preserved it in the cabinets of 
the antiquarian, as a relic of by-gone ages of the highest interest. 

On this field, where it was found, the forest timber was growing 
as abundantly, and had attained to as great age and size, as else- 
where in the heavy timbered country of the lakes. 

In the same field was also found much wrought iron, which fur- 
nished Mr. Halsted with a sufficiency to shoe his horses for seve- 
ral years. Hatchets of iron were also found there, formed in the 
manner the ancient Swiss or German hatchet, or small axe is 
formed. 

From the above account, we cannot resist the conclusion that on 
this farm in Scipio, was situated an European village of Danes, or 
Welch, who were cut off" and exterminated by the fortunes of war, 
some hundred years before the discovery of America by Cohimbus, 
when it is likely their town was destroyed by the fire of the enemy, 
their articles of brass broken in pieces, and in the course of ages 
became buried by the earth, by the increase of vegetable mould, 
and the growth of the wilderness. 

If, then, we have discovered the traits of a clan or village of 
Europeans, who had a knowledge of the use of brass and iron, as 
the Danes certainly had, long before they colonized Iceland, Green- 
land and Labrador, why not be allowed to conjecture, nay more, 
to believe, that many others in differcTit parts overspread the lake 
country to a great extent. 

On the Black river, running from the northern part of the state 
of New- York, into lake Ontario, a man was digging a well, when 
at the depth of several feet lie came to a quantity of China and 
Delph ware. This is equallv surprising with the field of brass. 

A Mr. Thomas Lee discovered, not long since, on his farm, in 
Tompkins county, in the State of New-York, the entire iron works 
of a wagon, reduced to rust. From this discovery much might be 
conjectured respecting the slate of cultivation, as a wagon denotes 
not only a knowledge of the mechanic arts, equal, perhaps, in that 
respect, with the present times; but also that roads existed, or a 
wagon could not have traversed the country. 

That the wagon was brought there by the Spaniards, who it is 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE VVEHT. 255 

said, very soou after the discovery of America, explored these north- 
ern and further regions, in quest of mineraiSj because roads at that 
time did not exist ; and for the same reason none of the first settlers 
of the New-England coast had penetrated so far in the wilds with 
a wagon as to give time for it to rust entirely away before the last 
settlement of the western country. 

If one wagon existed, there were doubtless many ; which plainly 
shows a civilized state of things, with all the conveniences of an 
agricultural life, which would also require to^vns and places of re- 
sort — as market places for produce — or a wagon could not have 
been of any use to the owner. Anvils of iron have been found in 
Pompey, in the same quarter of the country with the other disco- 
veries, as above related ; which we should naturally expect to find, 
or it might be inquired how could axes, and the iron works of wa- 
gons, be manufactured .' 

On the flats of the Genesee river, on the land of Mr. Liberty 
Judd, was found by this gentleman a bit of silver, about the length 
of a man's finger, hammered to a point at one end, while the other 
was square and smooth, on which were cut or engraved, in Arabic 
figures, in the year of our Lord 600. 

The discovery of the remains of a wagon, as above stated, goes 
also to prove that some kind of animal must have been domesticated 
to draw it with. The horse, it is said, Was not known in America 
till the Spaniards introduced it from Europe, ■ after the time of its 
discovery by Columbus, which has multiplied prodigiously on the 
innumerable wilds and prairies of both South and North America ; 
yet the track of a horse is found on a mountain of Tennessee, in 
the rock of the enchanted mountain, as before related, and shows 
that horses were known in America in the earliest ages after the 
flood. 

It is likely, however, that the Danes, who are believed once to 
have occupied the whole lake country, had domesticated the buffalo 
and moose, as other nations have done, by which they were aided iu 
agricultural pursuits, as we are now by the ox. 



256 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



A further Account of Western Antiquities. 

But as to the state of the arts among the more ancient nations 
of America, some idea may be gathered from what has been already 
said. That they manufactured brick of a good quality, is known 
from the discoveries made on opening their tumuli. A vast many 
instances of articles made of copper and sometimes plated with sil- 
ver, have been met with on opening their works. Circular pieces 
of copper, intended either as medals or breast plates, have been 
found, several inches in diameter, very much injured by time. In 
several tumuli, the remains of knives, and even of swords, in the 
form of rust, have been discovered. 

Glass has not been discovered in any of their works in the Ohio 
except one; from which we learn at once that thase works were 
made at least more than eleven hundred and sixty years ago ; as 
the manufacture of glass was not discovered till A. D. 664. 
But there is no doubt of their having inhabited this country from 
the remotest antiquity, drawn from data heretofore noticed in this 
work. " Mirrors made of isinglass^ have been found in as many 
as fifty places, within my own knowledge, says Mr. Atwater, be- 
sides the large and very elegant one at Circleville. From the 
great thickness of those mica membranacea mirrors, they answered 
the purpose for which they were made very well. 

Their houses, in some instances, might have been built of ^tone 
and brick, as in the walled towns on Paint creek, and some few 
other places, yet their habitations were of wood, or they dwelt in 
tents ; otherwise their ruins would be met in every part of this 
great country. 

Along the Ohio, where the river is, in many places, wearing 
and washing away its banks, hearths and fire places are brought to 
light, two, four, and even six feet below the surface, these are also 
found on the banks of the Muskingum, at its mouth, and at Point 
Harman, opposite Marietta. Two stone covers of stone vessels, 
were found in a stone mound, in Ross county, in Ohio, ingeniously 
wrought and highly polished. These covers resembled almost ex- 
actly, and were quite equal to vessels of that material manufactured 
in Italy at the present time. 

An urn was found in a mound, a few miles from Chilicothe, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 257 

which, a few years since, was in the hands of a Mr. J. W. Collet, 
who lived in that place, about a foot high, and well proportioned ; 
it very much resembles one found in a similar work in Scotland, 
mentioned in Pennant's Tour, vol. 1, p. 154. It contained arrow 
heads, ashes and calcined or burnt human bones. In digging a 
trench on the Sandusky river, in alluvial earth, at a depth of six 
feet, was found a pipe, which displays great taste in its execution. 
The rim of the bowl is in high relief, and the front represents a 
beautiful female face. The stone of which it is made is the real 
talc graphiqice, exactly resembling the stone of which the Chinese 
make their idols. No tale of this species is known to exist on the 
west side of the Alleghanies; it must therefore have been brought, 
at some remote period, from some part of the old world. 

Fragments of fishing nets and moccasins, or shoes made of a spe- 
cies of weed, have been found in the nitrous caves of Kentucky. 
The mummies which have been found in these places, were wrap- 
ped in a coarse species of linen cloth, of about the consistency and 
texture of cotton bagging. It was evidently woven by the same 
kind of process which is practised in the interior of Africa. The 
warp being extended by some slight kind of machinery, the woof 
was passed across it, then twisted, every two threads of warp to- 
gether, before the second passage of the filling. This seems to have 
been the first rude method of weaving in Asia, Africa and America. 

A second envelope of these mummies, is a kind of net work, of 
coarse threads, formed of very small loose meshes, in which were 
fixed the feathers of various kinds of birds, so as to make a per- 
fectly smooth surface, lying all in one direction. The art of this 
manufacture was well understood in Mexico, and still exists in the 
northwest coast of America, and in the Pacific islands. The third 
and outer envelope of these mummies, is either like the one first de- 
scribed, or consists of leather, sewed together. — (Am- Antq. Soc.) 

The manufacture of leather from the hides of animals is a very 
ancient invention, known to almost all the nations of the earth ; 
but to fiud it in America, wrapped around mummies, as in several 
instances found in nitrous caves, and the Kentucky caverns, shows 
a knowledge of a branch of the arts, in the possession of the people 
of America, at an era coeval with the Egyptians — as the art of em- 
balming is found in connection with that of tanning the skins of 
animals. 

S3 



258 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Amoug the vast variety of discoveries made in the mouuds, tU" 
muli and fortifications of these people, have been found, not only- 
hatchets made of stone ; but axes as large, and much of the same 
shape with those made of iron at the present day ; also pickaxes 
and pestles, (see plate Nos. 11 and 12,) with various other instru- 
ments, made of stone. But besides, there have been found very 
well manufactured swords and knives of iron, and possibly steely 
says Mr. Atwater: from which we are to conclude, that the primi- 
tive people of America, either discovered the use of iron them- 
selves, as the Greeks did, or that they learned its use from this cir- 
cumstance ; or that they carried a knowledge of this ore with them 
at the time of their dispersion ; as received from Noah's family, 
who brought it from beyond the flood, discovered in or before the 
days of Tubal Cain, which was only about five hundred years after 
the creation. 

Dr. Clarke says, that from the manufacture of certain articles in 
the wilderness by the Israelites, iron, and even steel must have been 
known, which was an age preceding its knowledge by the Greeks, 
nearly a hundred years. If this was so, it follows that they must 
have learned it, or rather they must have taken these very instru- 
ments of iron and steel when they left Egypt ; as they had no mean* 
of making such instruments from the ore, in the wilderness. 



Great Stone Castle of Iceland. 

In Iceland, which is not far from Greenland, and Greenland i* 
not far from the coast of America, has been found the remains of 
ancient architecture, of no less dimensions than 200 rods in circum- 
ference, built of stone, the wall of which, in some places, as related 
by Van Troil, was 120 feet high. This was a Norwegian castle, 
of wonderful strength and magnitude, and of the same character 
with ruins found in this country, and in South America. 

Iceland is but 120 miles east of Greenland, and Greenland is 
supposed to be connected with America far to the north. This island 
is considerably larger than the state of New- York, being 400 miles 
in length, and 270 in breadth. It was discovered by a Norwegian 
pirate, named Nardoddr, in the year 861, as he was driven out to 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 259 

sea by an eastern storm, on his way from Norway, which is the 
northern part of Europe, to the Feroe islands. 

Soon after this, in the year 870, it was colonized from Norway, 
under the direction of a man named Ingalf, and sixty years after, 
which would bring it to 930, the whole island was inhabited. But 
they were without any regular government, being distracted with 
the wars of several chiefs, for a long series of years, during which 
Iceland was a scene of rapine and butchery. It is natural to sup- 
pose, during such conflicts, many families, from time to time, would 
leave the island, inquest of some other dwelling. This was in their 
power to do, as they had a knowledge of navigation, in a good de- 
gree, derived from the Romans, at the time they ruled the most of 
Europe, 900 years before. 

That Greenland, or countries lying west of Iceland, existed, could 
not but be known to the Icelanders from the flights of birds of pas- 
sage, and from driftwood, which, to this day, is driven in large 
quantities from America, by the gulf steam, and deposited on the 
western coast of that Island. — (Morse.) 

In this way, it is highly probable, the first Europeans found their 
way to America, and became the authors of those vast ruins built 
of stone, found in various parts of America. The language of the 
Icelanders is, even now, after so long a lapse of ages, much the 
same with that spoken in Sweden, Denmark and Norway ; so that 
they understand the most ancient traditional history of their ances- 
tors. The characters they made use of were Runic, and were but 
sixteen in number. But about the year 1000, the Latin or Roman 
letters superceded the use of the ancient Runic. 

Dr. Morse says, the arts and sciences were extensively cultivat- 
ed in Norway, at the time when Iceland was first settled by them ; 
and while the traces of literature were diminished, and at length 
destroyed, in Norway, by the t'^oubles which shook the whole north 
of Europe for several ages; they were, on the contrary, carefully 
preserved in Iceland. 

From this we may safely infer, that America, having received 
its first European colonies from Iceland; who had not only a 
knowledge of architecture, in a degree, but of navigation also, with 
that of science ; that in the very regions where villas, cities, culti- 
vated fields, roads, canals, ruil-ways, with all the glory of the pre- 
sent age, exist along the Atlantic coast, — also flourished the woik* 



960 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of a former population — the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians, civil- 
ized nations, centuries before Columbus was born, but who have 
passed away by the means of wars, with the more ancient nations 
of America, or with the common enemy of both, the Tartar hordes 
from Asia, now called the American Indians, leaving forever the 
labor of ages, which, here and there, are discovered, the relics of 
their architectural knowledge. 

One hundred and twenty-one years after the discovery of Ice- 
land, Greenland was discovered also, by the Norwegians, who 
planted a colony there, and in a little time after the country was 
provided with two Christian churches and bishops ; between which 
and Norway, the mother country, a considerable amount of com- 
merce was carried on, till 1406 ; a lapse ©f years amounting to 
about 483, before the discovery of America by Columbus; when 
all intercourse between the two countries ceased, occasioned proba- 
bly by the convulsions and wars of Europe at that period. 

The whole of that population, it is supposed, was lost, as no tra- 
ces of them are found ; the climate of that region, as is evident, 
has since undergone a great change, from an accumulation of ice 
and snow from the northern sea, so as to render the coast, where 
those settlements «^-ere, wholly inaccessible. — (Morse.) 

Is it not possible, that as they found the severity of the weather 
increasing rapidly upon them, they may have removed to the coast 
of Labrador, and from thence down the coast, till they came to the 
region of the Canadas, where are discovered the traces of ancient 
nations, in vast lines of fortifications, as attested to by the most ap- 
proved authority, Humboldt, and others. 



<A Description of Instrmnetits found in the Tumuli. 

In removing the earth which composed an ancient mound, situ- 
ated where now one of the streets of Marietta runs, several|curi- 
ous articles were discovered in 1819. They appear to have been 
buried with the body pf the person to whose memory this mound 
was erected. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 261 

Lying immediately on the forehead of this skeleton, were found 
three large circular ornaments, which had adorned a sword belt, or 
buckler, and were composed of copper, overlaid with a plate of 
silver. The frdnts, or show sides were slightly convex, with a 
deep depression*, like a cup, in the centre, and measured two inches 
and a quarter across the face of each. On the back side, opposite 
the depressed portion, is a copper rivet, around which are two se- 
parate plates by whichjthey were fastened to thejleather belt. The 
two pieces of leather resembled the skin of a mummy, and seemed 
to have been preserved by the salts of the copper ; the plates 
were nearly reduced to an oxyde or rust. The silver looked quite 
black, but was not much corroded, as on rubbing it became bright 
and clear. 

Around one of the rivets was a small quantity, of what appeared 
to be, flax or hemp, in a tolerable state of preservation. Near the 
side of the body was found a plate of silver^ which appeared to 
have been the upper part of a sivord scabbard; it was six inches 
long, and two broad, with two longitudinal ridges, which probably 
corresponded with the edges or ridges of the sword once sheathed 
by it, and appeared to have been fastened to the scabbard by seve- 
ral rivets, the holes of which remain in the plate. 

Two or three pieces of a copper tube, were also found with this 
body, filled with iron rust. The pieces, from their ajipearances, 
composed the lower end of the scabbard, near the point of the 
sword, but no sign of the sword itself, except a streak of rust its 
whole length. 

We learn from this that the person who was buried there, was a 
warrior, as the sword declares ; and also that the people, of whom 
he was an individul, were acquainted with the arts of civilized 
life, which appears from the sheath, the flax, the copper, and the 
sijver, but more especially as the silver was plated on the copper. 
Near the feet was found a piece of copper, weighing three ounces, 
which from its shape, appeared to have been used as a plumb, as 
near one of the ends is a crease or groove, for tying a thread ; it 
is round and two inches and a half in length, one inch in diame- 
ter at the centre, and an half inch at the small or upper end. It 
was composed of small pieces of native copper, pounded together, 
and in the cracks between the pieces were stuck several bits of 
silver, one nearly the size of a sixpence. This copper plumb was 



262 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

covered with a coat of green rust, and was considerably corroded. 
A piece of red ochre, or paint, and a piece of iron ore, which 
had the appearance of having been partially vitrified, or melted, 
was also iound in this tumulus ; the bit of ore was nearly pure iron. 

The body of the person here buried, was laid' on the surface of 
the earth, with his face upwards, and his feet pointing to the north- 
east, and his head to the southwest. 

From the appearance of several pieces of charcoal, and bits of 
partially burnt wood, and the black color of the earth, it would 
appear that the funeral obsequies had been celebrated by fire ; and 
that while the ashes were yet hot and smoking, a circle of flat 
stones had been laid around and oyer the body, from which the 
tumulus had been carried up. 

For a view of each article, the reader can refer to the Frontis- 
piece engraving, by observing the numbering of each specimen. 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are articles found in the mound at Ma- 
rietta, in 1819. 

No. 1. Back view of the silver ornament for a sword scabbard. 

No. 2. Front view of the same. 

No. 3. Front view of an ornament for a belt, with a silver face. 

No. 4. Back view of the same ornament, of copper. 

No. 5. A plumb, or pendant, formed of pieces of copper pound- 
ed together, leaving fissures or openings, which were filled with 
bits of silver; an implement, as to its shape, resembling the in- 
struments used by carpenters and masons, now-a-days, to ascer- 
tain perpendiculars with, and was doubtless used by these ancient* 
for the same purpose. 

No. 6. A stone with seven holes, like a -screw plate, fourteen 
inches long, finely polished, and very hard; this, however, was 
not found in the mound, but in a field near this tumulus. 

Letter A represents a small keg in its construction, and a tea- 
kettle in the use of which it seems to have been put, which is in- 
dicated by its spout ; and appears to have been made of a compo- 
sition of clay and shells. 

Letter B represents the idol, before spoken of,^on page* 217 and 
218, in three views, a front, side and back view- 

Letter C represents the idol, or image of stone, on page 219. 

Letter D is the stone, or ShalyramUj described on pages 180, 181. 
and 182. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 5263 

Letter E represents the triune cup, found on the Cany fork of 
Cumberland river, in an ancient work, about four feet below the 
surface. The drawing is an exact likeness, taken originally by 
Miss Sara Clifford, of Lexington, Kentucky ; it is by some called 
the triune idol. 

" The object itself may be thus described. It consists of three 
heads joined together at the back part, near the top, by a stem or 
handle, which rises above the head about three inches. This stem 
is hollow, six inches in circumference at the top, increasing in size 
as it descends. 

The heads are all of the same dimensions, being about four 
inches from the top to the chin. The face, at the eyes, is three 
inches broad, decreasing in breadth, all the way to the chin. All 
the strong marks of the Tartar countenance are distinctly preserved 
and expressed with so much skill, that even a modern artist might 
be proud of the performance. The countenances are all different 
from each other, and denote one old person, and two younger ones. 

The face of the oldest is painted around the eyes with yellow, 
shaded with a streak of the same color, begining from the top of 
the ear, running in a semicircular form, to the ear on the other side 
of the head. Another painted line begins at the lower part of the 
eye, and runs down before each ear, about one inch. — {See the right 
hand figure on the cup^ or image on frontispiece.) 

The face engraved alone, is the back view, and represents a per- 
son of a grave countenance, but much younger than the preceding 
one, painted very differently, and of a different color. A streak of 
reddish brown surrounds each eye. Another line of the same col- 
or, begining at the top of one ear, passes under the chin, and ends 
at the top of the other ear. The ears also, are slightly tinged with 
the same color. 

■ The third figure, in its characteristical features resembles the 
others, representing one of the Tartar family. The whole of the 
face is slightly tinged with vermilion, or some paint resembling it. 
Each cheek has a spot on it, of the size of a quarter of a dollar, 
brightly tinged vrith the same paint. On the chin is a similar spot. 
One circumstance worthy of remark, is, that though these colors 
must have been exposed to the damp earth for many centuries, they 
have, notwithstanding, preserved every shade in all its brilliancy. 

This triune vessel stands upon three necks, which are about an 



264 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

inch and a half in length. The whole is composed of a fine clay, 
of a light umber color, which has been rendered hard by the ac- 
tion of fire. The heads are hollow, and the vessel is ©f capacity 
to hold about one quart. 

Does not this cup represent the three gods of India — Brahma, 
Vishnoo, and Siva .-' Let the reader look at the plate representing 
this vessel, and consult the Asiatic Researches, by Sir William 
Jenes"; let him also read Buchanan's Star in the East, and accounts 
there found, of the idolatry of the Hindoos, and he cannot fail to 
see in this idol, one proof at least, that the people who raised our 
ancient works were idolaters ; and, that some of them worshipped 
gods resembling the three principal deities of India. What tends 
to strengthen this inference, is, that nine murex shells, the same as 
described by Sir William Jones, in his Asiatic Researches, and by 
Symmes, in his Embassy to Ava, have been found within twenty 
miles of Lexington, Kentucky, in an ancient work. 

The murex shell, is a sea shell fish, out of which the ancients 
procured the famous Tyrian purple dye, which was the color of the 
royal robes of kings, so celebrated in ancient times. Their com- 
ponent parts remained unchanged, and they were every way in an 
excellent state of preservation. These shells, so rare in India, are 
highly esteemed, and consecrated to their god, Mahadeva, whose- 
character is the same with the Neptune, of Greece and Rome. 
This shell, among the Hindoos, is the musical instrument of their 
Tritons ; (sea gods, or trumpeters of Neptune.) Those, of the 
kind discovered as above, are deposited in the museum, at Lex- 
ington. The foot of the Siamese god, Gudma, or Boodh, is re- 
presented by a sculpture statue, in Ava, of six feet in length, 
and the toes of this god, are carved, each to represent a shell of 
the murex. 

These shells have been found in many mounds which have been 
opened in every part of this country ; and this is a proof that a 
considerable value was set upon them by their owners. From 
these discoveries it is evident, that the people who built (he ancient 
works of the west, were idolaters ; it is also inferred from the age 
of the world in which they lived ; history, sacred and profane, 
affords the fact, that all nations, except the Jews, were idolaters at 
the same time and age. 

Medals, representing the sun with its rays of light, have been 



AND DISCOVKRIBS IN TUB W£ST. 26S 

found in the mounds, made of a very fine clay, and colored in the 
composition, before it was hardened by heat, from which it is in- 
ferred they worshipped the sun. It is also supposed, that they 
worshipped the moon, both from their semicircular works, which 
represent the new moon ; and also from the discovery of copper 
medals, round like the moon in its full, being smooth, without any 
rays of light, like those which represent the sun. The worship of 
the sun, moon, and stars, was the worship of many nations, in the 
earliest ages, not only soon after the flood, but all along, cotempo- 
rary with the existence of the Jews as a nation, and also succeed- 
ing the Christian era, and till the present time, as among the pagan 
Mexicans. 

Nos. 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, representthe shapes of the stone axes, 
pestle, and other articles spoken of a few pages back. — (^See the 
plate.) 

As it respects the scientific acquirements of the builders of the 
works in the west, now in ruins, Mr. Atwater says, " when tho- 
roughly examined, have furnished matter of admiration to all intel- 
ligent persons, who have attended to the subject. Nearly all the 
lines of ancient works found in the whole country, where the form 
of the ground admits of it, are right ones, pointing to the four car- 
dinal points. Where there are mounds enclosed, the gateways are 
most frequently on the east side of the works, towards the rising 
sun. Where the situation admits of it, in their military works, 
the openings are generally towards one or more of the cardinal 
points. From which it is supposed they must have had some 
knowledge of astronomy, or their structures would not, it is ima- 
gined, have been thus arranged. From these circumstances also, 
we draw the conclusion, that the first inhabitants of America, emi- 
grated from Asia, at a period coeval with that of Babylon, for here 
'it was that astronomical calculations were first made, 2234 years 
before Christ. 

" These things could never have so happened, with such invari- 
able exactness, in almost all cases, without design. " On the 
whole," says Atwater, " I am convinced from an attention to many 
hundreds of these works, in every part of the west which I have 
visited, that their authors had a knowledge of astronomy." He 
strengthens his opinions as follows : " The pastoral life, which men 
followed in the early ages, was certainly very favorable to the at- 

34 



366 AMBRIGAN ANTIQUITIES 

tainmeDt of such a knowledge. Dwelling in tents, or in the open 
air, with the heavenly bodies in full view, and much more liable 
to suffer from changes in the weather, than persons dwelling in 
comfortable habitations, ibey would, of course, direct their atten- 
tion to the prognostics of approaching heat or cold, stormy or plea- 
sant weather. Our own sailors are an example in point. Let a 
person, even wholly unaccustomed to the seas, be wafted for a few 
weeks by the winds and waves, he will become all ear to every 
breeze, all eye to every part of the heavens. Thus, in the earliest 
ages of mankind, astronomy was attended to, partly from necessity ; 
hence, a kfiowledge of this science was early diffused among men, 
the proofs of which are seen in their works, not only here, but in 
every part of the globe. It was reserved, however, for the genius- 
es of modern times, to make the most astonishing discoveries in 
this science, aided by a knowledge of figures, and an acquaintance 
with the telescope." 

Our ancient works continued into Mexico, increasing in size and 
grandeur, preservinj^ the same forms, and appear to have been put 
to the same uses. The form of our works is round, square, trian- 
gular, semicircular and octangular, agreeing, in all these respects, 
with those in Mexico. The first works built by the Mexicans, 
were mostly of earth, and not much superior to the common ones 
on the Mississippi." The sanje may be said of thjp works of this 
sort over the whole earth, which is the evidence that all alike be- 
long to the first efforts of men, in the very first ages after the flood. 

" But afterwards temples were erected on the elevated squares, 
circles, &c., but were still like ours, surrounded by walls of earth. 
These sacred places, in Mexico, were called " teocalli,^^ which in 
the vernacular tongue of the most ancient tribe of Mexicans, signi- 
fies " mansions rf the gods" They included within their sacred 
walls, gardens, fountains, habitations of priests, temples, altars, and 
magazines of arms. This circumstances may account for many 
things which have excited some surprise among those who have 
hastily visited the works on Paint creek, at Portsmouth, Marietta, 
Circleville, Newark, &c. 

It is doubted by many to what use these works were put ; whe- 
ther they were used as forts, camps, cemeterix :, altars, and tem- 
ples ; whereas they contained all these either within their walls, or 
were immediately connected with them. Many persons cannot 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 867 

imagnie why the works, at the places above mentioned, were so ex- 
tensively complicated, differing so much in form, size, and eleva- 
tion, among themselves." But the solution is, undoubtedly, " thev 
contained within them, altars, temples cemeteries, habitations of 
priests, gardens, wells, fountains, places devoted to sacred purposes, 
of various kinds, and the whole of their warlike munitions, laid 
up in arsenals. These works were calculated for defence, and 
were reserted to in cases of the last necessity, where they fought 
with desperation. We are warranted in this conclusion, by know- 
ing that these works are exactly similar to the most ancient now to 
be seen in Mexico, connected with the fact, that the Mexican 
works did contain within them all that we have stated. 



Great size of some of the Mexican Mounds. 

The word Teocalli, Humboldt says, is derived from the name of 
one of the gods to which they were dedicated, Tezcatlipoca, the 
Brahma of the Mexicans. The pyramid of Cholula, was seated 
on a tumulus with four stages, and was dedicated to Quetzalcotl, 
one of the mysteii^us characters that appeared among the ancient 
Mexicans, said to have been a white and bearded man, before spo- 
ken of in this work. 

The teocalli, or pyramid of Cholula, is sixty rods in circumfe- 
rence, and ten rods high. In the vale of Mexico, twenty-tour 
miles northeast from the capital, in a plain that bears the name of 
Micoatl, or the path of the dead, is a group of pyramids, of several 
hundred in number, generally about thirty feet high. 

In the midst of these are two large pyramids, one dedicated to 
the sun, the other to the moon. 'The sun pyramid is ten rods thir- 
teen feet high, and its length nearly thirty-five rods, and of a pro- 
portionable thickness, but is not a circle ; that of the moon is eight 
rods and eleven feet in perpendicular height, but its base is not 
specified by Humboldt ; from whose Researches we have derived 
this information. 

The small pyramids, which surrounded the two dedicated to the 
sun and moon, are divided by spacious streets, running exactlv 
north and south, east and west, intersecting each other at right 



26$ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

aDgle8, forming one grand palace of worship, and of the dead. li 
is the tradition of the Mexicans, that in the small tumuli, or pyra- 
mids, were buried the chiefs of their tribes. We also here ascer- 
tain that the builders of these two vast houses of the sun aud moon, 
had indeed a knowledge of the cardinal points of the compass ; 
for this arrangement could never have taken place from mere 
chance, it must have been the result of calculation, with the north 
star, or pole, in view. On the top of those teocallis, were two 
colossal statues of the sun and moon, made of stone, and covered 
with plates of gold, of which they were stripped by the soldiers of 
Cortez. Such were some of the pyramids of Egypt, with colossal 
statues. 

This tremendous work is much similar to one found in Egypt, 
called the " Cheops and the Mycerlnus ;" round about which were 
eight small pyramids; only the Egyptian work is much less than 
the Mexican one, yet their fashion is the same. 



Predilection of the Ancients to Pyramids. 

In those early ages of mankind, it is evident there existed an 
unaccountable ambition among the nations, seemingly to outdo each 
other in the height of their pyramids ; for Humboldt mentions the 
pyramids of Porsenna, as related by Varro, styled the most learned 
of the Romans, who flourished about the time of Christ ; and says 
there were, at this place, four pyramids, eighty meters in height, 
which is a fraction more than fifteen rods perpendicular altitude; 
the meter is a French measure, consisting of 3 feet 3 inches. 

Not many years since was discovered, by some Spanish hunters, 
on descending the Cordilleras, towards the gulf of Mexieo, in the 
thick forest, the pyramid of Papantla. The form of this teocalli, 
or pyramid which had seven stories, is more tapering than any other 
monument of this kind, yet discovered, but its height is not re- 
markable ; being but fifty-seven feet, its base but twenty-five feet 
on each side. However, it is remarkable on one account ; it is 
built entirely of hewn stones, of an extraordinary size, and very 
beautifully shaped. Three stair-cases lead to its top ; the steps of 



AND DI8COVEI11B8 IN THE TVE8T. Z69 

which were decorated with* hieroglyphical sculpture and small 
niches, arranged with great symmetry. The number of these 
niches seems to allude to the 318 simple and compound signs of the 
days of their civil calendar. If so, this monument was erected for 
astronomical purposes; besides, here is evidence of the use of me- 
talic tools, in the preparation and building of this temple. 

In those mounds were sometimes bidden the treasures of kings 
and chiefs, placed there in times of war and danger. Such was 
found to be the fact on opening the tomb of a Peruvian prince, 
when was discovered a mass of pure gold, amounting to 4,687,500 
dollars. — {Humboldt''s Researches, vol. 1, p. 92.) 

The pyramids of the Ohio are, in several instances, built in the 
same manner, with several stages, on the tops of which were, un- 
questionably, tempks of wood, in the day of their glory, when 
their builders swarmed in populous ten thousands, over all the un- 
bounded west ; but time has destroyed all fabrics of this sort, while 
the mounds on which they stood, in giddy grandeur, remain, but 
stripped of the hcbiliments of architecture, and the embellishments 
of art. 

There is, in Central America, to the southeast of the city of Cuerr 
nuvaca, on the west declivity of the Cordillera of Anahuac, an iso- 
lated hill, which, together with the pyramid, raised on its top by 
the ancients of that country, amounts to thirty-five rods ten feet 
high, which is but thirty feet higher than the hill we are describ- 
in [perpendicular height. The antient tower of Babel, around 
which the city Babylon was afterwards built, was six hundred 
ing ; but the base of Babel is a mere nothing, compared with the 
gigantic work of Anahuac, being but 600 feet square, which is 1-50 
rods, or nearly so; while the hill in America, partly natural 
and partly artificial, is at its base 12,066 feet ; this thrown into rods 
gives 754, and into miles is 2|-, wanting eight rods, which is five 
times greater than that of Babel. 

The hill of Xochicalco is a mass of rocks, to which the hand of 
man has given a regular conic form, and which is divided into five 
stories or terraces, each of which is covered with masonry. These 
terraces are nearly sixty feet in perpendicular height, one above 
the other, besides the artificial mound added at the top, making its 
height near that of Babel : besides, the whole is surrounded with a 
deep broad ditch, more than five times the circumference of that 
Babylonian tower. 



270 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Humboldt says, we ought not to be surprised at the magcitude 
and dimensions of this work, as on the ridge of the Cordilleras of 
Peru, and on the other heights, almost equal to that of Teneriffe, 
he had seen monuments still more considerable. Also in Canada, 
he had seen lines of defence, and entrenchments of extraordinary 
length, the work of some people belonging to the early ages of 
time. Those in Canada, however, we imagine to be of the Danish 
origin, aud to have been erected in the 9th, 10th and 11th centu- 
ries of the Christian era, for reasons hereafter shown. 

If then, as Humboldt states, there were found on the plains of 
Canada, lines of defence of extraordinary length, it affords an argu- 
ment that the Norwegians, and other northern nations, may not 
only have made settlements there, but became a kingdom, a body 
politic and military, and waged long and dreadful wars with op- 
posing powers, who were unquestionably the Indians, who had al- 
ready driven away ihe more ancient inhabitants of America, the 
authors of the western mounds and tumuli. But respecting this 
stone monument of art, found by the hunters, which we "have 
described above, it is said that travellers, who have attentively ex- 
amined it, were struck with the polish and cut of the stones, the 
care with which they have been arranged, without cement between 
the joints, and the execution of the sculpture with which the 
stones are decorated ; each figure occupying several stones, and 
from the outlines of the animals which they represent, not being 
broken by the joints of the stones, it is conjectured the engravings 
were made after the edifice was finished. But the animals and 
men sculptured on the stone of this pyramid, afford a strong evi- 
dence of the country from which the ancestors of those who built 
it came. There are crocodiles spouting water, and men sitting 
even cross legged, according to the custom of several Asiatic na- 
tions; finally, the whole of the American works, of the most an- 
cient class, from Canada to the extreme parts of South America, 
resemble those which are daily discovered in the eastern parts of 
Asia. 

From the deep ditch, with which the greater monument we 
have been describing, is surrounded, the covering of the terraces, 
the great number of subterranean apartments, cut into the solid 
rock, on its northern side, the wall that defends the approach to 
its base, it is believed to have been a military work of great 
strength. The natives, even to this day, designate the ruins of thia 



ANB DISOOVEBIES IN THIS WEST. 871 

pyramid by the name that signifies a citadel or castle. The pyra- 
mid of Mexitli, found in another part of Mexico, called the great 
temple of Tenochtitlan, contained an arsenal, and during the war 
of the Spaniards with the devoted Mexicans, was alternately re- 
sorted to as a fort of defence, and a place of security. 

Nothing of the warlike character, could exceed the grandeur of 
a fight maintained from the base to- the summit of one of these tre- 
mendous teocallis, or pyramids. We may suppose the foe already 
gathered from their more scattered work of ruin, and circling, with 
yells of fury, the immediate precincts of the mound, while the 
rushing multitude fiy from thier burning habitations towards this 
last resort. The goal is gained ; the first who reach it ascend to 
its top ; rank after rank succeed, till in frightful circles of ferocious 
warriors, the whole pyramid is but one living mass of fury. Now 
the enemy come pouring round as a deluge, and begirt this final 
refuge of the wailing populace ; while warrior facing warrior, each 
moment fells its thousands by the noiseless death-stab of the dirk 
of copper ; while from the ranks above, the silent but vengeful ar- 
row does its work of death. Here, from the strong arm and well 
practised, sling stones with furious whizzing through the air, cover 
in showers the distant squadron with dismay. Circle after circle, 
at the base, both of invader and invaded, fall together in glorious 
ruin. Now the top where waved such signals of defiance as rude 
nations could invent, becomes thinned of its defenders; who, 
pressing downward, as the lower ranges are cut in pieces, renew 
the fight. Now the farthest circle of the enemy nears the fatal 
centre. Now the destinies of coilflicting nations draw nigh ; those 
of the pyramid have throv/n their last stone ; the quiver is emptied 
of its arrows ; the last spear of flint and battle-axe have fled, with 
well-directed aim, amid the throng. Surrender, captivity, slavery 
and death, wind up the account ; a tribe becomes extinct, whose 
bones, when heaped together, make a new pyramid. Such doubt- 
less, is the origin of many of the frightful heaps of human bones 
found scattered over all the west. 

We learn from Scripture that in the earliest times the temples of 
Asia, such as that of Baal-Beritb, at Shechim, in Canaan, were not 
only buildings consecrated to worship, but also intrenchments, in 
which the inhabitants of a city defended themselves in times of 
war. The same may be said of the Grecian temples ; for thefwall 



272 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

which formed the parabolis, alone aflTorded an asylum to the be- 
sieged. — (Humboldt. ) 

The ancient Carthaginians, the sworn and eternal enemies of the 
Romans, practised raising mounds of earth over their glorious dead. 
Hannibal, their famous general, who for a while so successfully 
combated the Roman armies, almost in sight of the imperial city, 
was thus honored. At the place where he fell by his own hand, 
having poisoned himself to escape the scorn of his victors, was 
raised a lofty mound of earth over his remains, exactly like the one 
which marks the place where sleeps the ashes of Achilles on the 
plains of Troy. 

The mound of Hannibal was ercted 182 years before Christ. 
If, therefore, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, the more 
ancient Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Jews, and all the first na- 
tions immediately succeeding the flood, were found in this practice, 
is it not fairly inferred, that branches or colonies of these same na- 
tions and races of men, were also the authors of many of the mounds 
of America found scattered over its mighty regions. 

Clavigero, who v/as well acquainted with the history of the 
Mexicans and Peruvians, professes to point out the places from 
whence they emigrated, several places they stopped at, and the 
times which they continued to sojourn there. This, we under- 
stand, is the same as related before in this work, written by Hum- 
boldt, and describes the emigration of the Azteca tribes, from 
Aztalan, or the western states, to Mexico, which commenced to 
take place not long after the conquest of Judea by Titus. Clavi- 
gero supposes these nations of Aztalan came from Asia, across the 
Pacific, from the region along the coast of the Chinese sea and 
islands, reaching America not far from Bhering's strait, and from 
thence followed along the coast of the Pacific, till ihey came, in 
process of time, to a milder climate. 

To this Mr. Atwater adds, and supposes them to have from 
thence worked across the continent, as well as in other directions, 
as far as the regions of the western states and territories, where 
they may have lived thousands of years, as their works denote. 

Others may have found their way into South America, by cross- 
ing the Pacific and Atlantic at different times and places. Green- 
landers have been driven upon the coast of Iceland, which is a dis- 
tance of at least a thousand miles. Thus transported by winds, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



278 



waves and stress of weather, man has found all the islands of all 
the seas. ' In the same way may have arrived persons from Africa, 
and Europe, Australasians, Chinese, Hindoos, Japanese, Birmans, 
Kamschadales and Tartars, on the coasts of America in the first 
ages after the flood. 



y? Sj)ecimen of Antediluvian Letters. 

Although we have bestowed a few thoughts on the subject of 
antediluvian letters on pages 132 and 133, yet we are inclined to 
state, farther, that our opinion is still more confirmed that letters, 
whether as pictures of articles, or of ideas and words, were in use 
before the flood, from the late discoveries made on pulling down 
the foundations of the tower of Babel. 

The reason we introduce this subject again is, that at the time 
the above quoted pages went to press we had not obtained the 
beautiful fac-similie specimen of some of the letters of that tower 
built by Nimrod, son of Ham, and grandson of Noah, and are here 
set forth. 




274 AMERICAr? ANTIQUITIES 

These letters are presented to the public by Sir Robert Ker For-' 
ter, who examined them on the spot, that is at the tower in 1820y 
on the Euphrates : an account of which can be seen at large, in 
bis Travels in Persia, Armenia, the country round about the moun- 
tains of Ararat, Georgia, Babylon, and the vast plains and regions 
of the ancient Tartars, or more properly Scythians, vol. 2, p. 3&5. 

The invention of letters is, by all who have given their atten- 
tion to this exceedingly interesting subject, ascribed to the Phoeni- 
cians, who were black, as the very climax of antiquity, going back 
to the time coeval with Abraham, 2000 B. C 

But from the abundance of letters^ not pictures of things, found on 
the bricks of Babel, it certainly is ascertained that Nimrod has 
here availed himself of the art learned from his grandfather Noah, 
to record his own history, that of the deluge, the family of man 
saved in the ark, the institutions of men before the flood, the crea- 
tion of the first man and woman, as also the erection of the tower, and 
his own laws and religion. We do not certainly know that such is the 
history written on these bricks, yet it is highly probable, as those 
subjects v«fouId be the most likely to engross his attention, and that 
of all other men, at the time, and are therefore supposed to com- 
pose a history, as above expressed. 

The reader will perceive that the writing is in perpendicular co- 
lumns, a mode known to the 7nost ancient in China, although hori- 
zontal writing is practised in that country yet, more frequently ac- 
cording to Good, and by the Chinese is said to be the most ancient. 
The varieties of these letters are found to be immense, yet they all 
partake of a similar formation, which is arrow-headed, and in our 
opinion, stand at the head of all the letters of the human race, and 
are the same which were in use before the flood. But whether 
they were invented by man at first, or were leceived from God by 
Adam, Seth or Enoch, is a question among the most learned. 
Some are of the opinion that the letters are the result of improve- 
ment from picture writing, and others that they were received by 
inspiration. We incline, however, to believe them the invention 
of man, yet we do not forget that "Man hath his understanding by 
the inspiration of God." — {Job.) 

It is said by the same traveller, that on his leaving the bank of 
the river Ingouletz he entered on the dreary steppe or desert plains, 
where he observed innumerable tumuli, or mounds ; and some of 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THK WEST. 275 

s breadth and height hardly credible. He says the mounds in this 
immense region of the dead, vary greatly in size, and that where 
one of unusual magnitude is found, it is generally surrounded by 
several smaller ones. So also in America. 

It is the opinion of this most intelligent traveller that there should 
be no doubt but the larger sort of these tumuli were raised over the 
bodies of princes and heroes, and that the smaller ones cover the 
remains of the followers of their armies, or of their state. But that 
so vast an expanse should be occupied by monuments of the dead, 
extending regularly to the very farthest extent of sight, seemed al- 
most beyond belief: yet, there they were ; and the contemplation 
was as awful, as the view was amazing. 

His first impression, he says, on beholding the immensity of 
these tumuli, was, that he was in some famous field of battle, vast 
enough for the world to have been lost in. Herodotus thus de- 
scribes the burial place of princes among the ancient Scythians. 
He says a large quadrangular excavation was made in the earth in 
dimensions more like a hall of banquet than a grave, and within it 
was placed a sort of bier bearing the body of the deceased prince. 
Daggers were laid at various distances around him, and a number 
of golden goblets; the whole then covered with pieces of wood, 
and branches of the willow tree. This done, the hollow was soon 
filled up, and surmounted with earth by the multitudes following 
in the train. 

Herodotus also describes the great tumulus erected over the re- 
mains of Alyatcs, the father of Croesus, which in part still exists 
near the ancient city of Sardis. He describes it as of a prodigious 
height, having a base of stones, and that three classes of people 
were employed to raise up its enormous bulk. This tumulus was, 
in the time of Strabo, though partly destroyed, still two hundred 
feet high, and its circumference three-fourths of a mile. This 
raound or tumulus was erected about 600 years before Christ ; as 
this Alyates, the father of Crcesos, was contemporary with Nebu- 
chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the same of whom the Scriptures 
give an account. All about that region, the tower of Babel, mounds 
are still immense in numbers, copied from the first, that of Babel, 
and Babel, it is likely, from the same practice once in use before 
the flood, to mark the places where slept the remains of the mighty 
dead, whose deeds attracted the eye of heaven itself, and pio\ oked 
its thunders to exterminate the race. 



276 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Voyages and Shipping of the Mongol Tartars^ and Set- 
tlements on the Western Coast of America. 

The whole western coast of the American coBtinent, from oppo- 
site the Japan islands, in latitude from 40 to 50 degrees north, down 
to Patagonia, in latitude 40 south — a distance of more than six 
thousand miles — it would appear, was once populous with such na- 
tions as peopled the Japan islands, and the eastern shores of Asia, 
Chinese Tartary, China, and Farther India ; who also peopled the 
islands between, with their various nations. 

A cross made of fine marble, beautifully polished, about three 
feet high, and three fingers in width and thickness, was found in 
an Indian temple. This^ it appears, was kept as sacred^ in a pa- 
lace of one 'of the Incas, and held in great veneration by the na- 
tives of South America. When the Spaniards conquered that 
country they enriched this cross with gold jewels, and placed it in 
the cathedral of Cuzco. 

But how came this emblem of Christianity in America ? There 
were in the service of the Mongols, in the 13th century, many 
Nestorians, a sect of Christians. The conqueror of the king of 
Eastern Bengal, was a Christian, which was in 1272, A. D. 

Under this king a part of an expedition was sent to conquer the 
islands of Japan, in large Chinese vessels, and supposed to have 
been commanded by these Christian Nestorians, as officers ; being 
more trust-worthy and more expert in warlike mauouvres than the 
Mongol natives. This expedition by some means found their way 
from the Japan islands, (which are west from North America, in 
north latitude -35 degrees,) to the coast of America in the same 
latitude, and landed at a place called in the Mexican language 
Culcaan, opposite New-California, in north latitude about 35 
degrees. 

In 1273 A. D., Kublai, a Mongol emperor, it appears, became 
master of all China. At that time they were in the possession 
of the knowledge of ship building, so that vessels of enor- 
mous size were constructed by them ; so great as to carry more 
than a thousand men ; being four masted, not rigged as vessels 
now are, yet well adapted to take advantage of the winds ; in thi? 
way this emblem may have found its way here, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 2?7 

They were so solidly and conveniently made, as to carry ele- 
phants on their decks. The Peruvians had a tradition that many 
ages before their conquest by the Spaniards, there landed on their 
coast at St. Helen's point, vessels manned with giants, having 
no beard and were taller from their knees downward than a man's 
head ; that they had long hair, which hung loose upon their shoul- 
ders, and that their eyes were wide apart, and very big in other 
parts of their bodies. 

This description is supposed descriptive of the elephants only, 
with their riders blended both in one animal ; as they did in after 
years, when the Spaniards rode on horses, they took them at first 
to be all one animal. 

There remains not a doubt, that the Mongol Tartars found their 
way from China to the west of America in shipping. The voyage 
is not so great as to render it impossible, as that a French vessel in 
the year 1721 sailed from China, and arrived at a place called Valle 
de Nandras, on the coast, in fifty days. 

The Phoenician letters were known among the Mongol nations. 
If, therefore, they found their way to South America, we at once 
accouiit for the Phoenician characters found in caverns, and cut in 
rocks of that country. 

A description of what is supposed a Chinese Mongel town, to 
the west, in latitude 39, in longitude 87, called by themselves, 
when first visited by the Spaniards Talomeco, is exceedingly curi- 
ous, and situated on the bank of a river running into the Pacific 
from the territory now called Oregon, only four degrees south of 
Lake Erie, iind in longitude 87, or exactly west of Ohio, in lati- 
tude 39. ( 

It was wt^ll built, and contains five hundred houses ; some of 
which are large and show well at a distance. It was situated on 
the banks of a river. Hernando Soto dined with a cacique named 
Guachaia, and was entertained with as much civility as exists 
among polished nations. The suit of servants stood in a row with 
their backs against the wall. This is an eastern fashion. While 
the cacique was at dinner, he happened to sneeze, on which the 
attendants respectfully bowed. This too was an ancient eastern 
usage. After the repast was finished, the servants all dined in 
another hall. The meat was well cooked, the fish properly roasted 
or broiled. 



S78 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

They had the knowledge of dressing furs with neatness, and deer 
skins were prepared with softness and delicacy, with which they 
clothed themselves. 

The principal pride and grandeur of his people, however, con- 
sisted in their temple, which stood in the town of Talomeco, which 
was also the sepulchre of their caciques or chiefs. 

The temple was a hundred paces long, which is eighteen rods, 
and forty wide, which is seven rods and eight feet. Its doors were 
wide in proportion to its length. The roof was thatched neatly 
with split twigs, and built sloping to throw off the rain. It was 
thickly decorated with different sized shells, connected together in 
festoons, which shine beautifully in the sun. 

On entering the temple, there are twelve wooden statues of gi- 
gantic size, with menacing and savage faces, the tallest of which 
was eight feet high. They held in their hands, in a striking pos- 
ture, clubs, adorned with copper. Some had copper hatchets, 
edged with flint ; others had bows and arrows, and some held long 
pikes, pointed with copper. 

The Spaniards thought these statues worthy of the ancient Ro- 
mans. On each of the four sides of the temple, there was two 
rows of statues, the size of life ; the upper row of men with arms 
in their hands ; the lower row of women. The cornice in the 
temple was ornamented with large shells mingled with pearls, and 
festoons. 

The corpses of these caciques were so well embalmed that there 
was no bad smell ; they were deposited in large wooden coffers, 
well constructed, and placed upon benches two feet from the ground. 

In smaller coffers and in baskets, the Spaniards found the clothes 
of the deceased men and women ; and so many pearls, that they 
distributed them among the officers and soldiers by handfulls. The 
prodigious quantity of pearls ; the heaps of colored chamois or goat 
skins ; clothes of marten and other well dressed furs ; the thick, 
well made targets of twigs, ornamented with pearls ; and other 
things found in this temple and its m'agazines, which consisted of 
eight halls of equal magnitude, made even the Spaniards who had 
been in Peru, admire this as the wonder of the new vforld. 

The remains of cities and towns of an ancient population, exists 
every where on the coast of the Pacific, which agree in fashion 
with the works and ruins found along the Chinese coasts, exactly 



AND DISCOVERIES m THE WEST. 279 

West from tlse western limits of North America, showing beyond 
all dispute, that in ancient times the countries were known to each 
other, and voyages were reciprocally made. 

The style of their shipping was such as to be equal to voyages 
of that distance, and also sufficient to withstand stress of weather, 
even beyond vessels of the present times, on account of their great 
depth of keel and size. 

" The Chinese ships have a single deck, below the space of 
which is divided into a great number of cabins, sometimes not less 
than sixty, affording accommodations for as many merchants with 
their servants. 

They have a good helm, some of the larger ships have besides 
the cabin, thirteen bulk -heads, or divisions, in the hold, formed of 
thick planks mortised together. The object of this is to guard 
against springing a leak, if they strike on a rock, or should be struck 
by a whale, which not unfrequently occurs. 

By this plan, if an accident did happen, only one of the divisions 
could be effected; the whole vessel was double planked, laid over 
the first planking ; and so large were some of these vessels as to 
require a crew of three hundred sailors to manage them when at 
sea. — {See Marco Polo, Book 3d., chap. 1, arid note 1123 — Rankin.) 
In A. D. 1275, the Tartars, under their general, called 
Moko, undertook the invasion of the Japan empire, which lies 
along adjacent to China, between the western coast of North Ame- 
rica and China, with a fleet of 4000 sail, having on board two hun- 
dred and forty thousand men. But the expedition proved unsuc- 
cessful, as it was destroyed by a storm, driven and scattered about 
the Pacific ocean. — {Kempfer''s History of Japan — Rankin) "' 

From this we discover the perfect ability of the western nations, 
that is, west of America, to explore the ocean, as suited their in- 
clinations, in the earliest ages ; for we are not to suppose the Tar- 
tars had just then, in 1275, come to a knowledge of navigation, 
but rather, the greatness of this fleet is evidence, that the art had 
arrived to its highest state of perfection. 

But had they a knowledge of the compass .' This is an impor- 
tant enquiry. On this subject we have the following from the pen 
of the most learned antiquarian of the age, C. S. Rafinesque, 
whose writings we have several times alluded to in the course of 
this work. 



280 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This author says, that in the year of the world 1200, or 2800 B. 
C.,or 450 years before the flood, the magnetic needle was known 
and in use, and that under the Emperor Hoangti, which was about 
130 years nearer the time of the flood, reckoning from the creation, 
ships began to be invented. He even gives the names of two ship 
builders, Kong-ku, and Ho-ahu, wh© by order of the above named 
emperor, built boats, at first with hollow trees, and furnished them 
with oars, and were sent to explore places where no man had ever 
been. 

In the year 2037 B. C, or 307 years after the flood, under the 
Hia dynasty, embassies were sent to China from foreign countries 
beyond sea, who came in ships to pay homage to the Hias or em- 
peror. 

If a knowledge of the magnet, and its adaptation to navigation, 
was known before the flood, as appears from this writer's remarks, 
who derives this discovery from a perusal of the Chinese histories ; 
it was, of necessity, divulged by Noah, to his immediate posterity, 
who, it is said, went soon after the confusion of the language at 
Babel, and planted a colony in China, or in that eastern country ; 
as all others of mankind had perished in the flood, consequently 
there were none else to promulge it to but this family. 

Dr. Clarke has given his opinion, in his comment on the book of 
Job, that the needle was known to the ancients of the east. He 
derives this from certain expressions of Job, chap, xxviii. verse 18, 
respecting precious stones, which are : — " No mention shall be made 
of coral pearls : for the price of wisdom is above rubies.'''' That is, it 
is understood that the wisdom which aided man to make this dis- 
covery, and to apply it to the purposes of navigation, on the ac- 
count of its polarity, is that wisdom which is above the price of 
rubies. 

" The attractive properties of loadstone must have been observed 
from its first discovery; and there is every reason to believe that 
the magnet and its virtues were known in the east long before they 
were discovered in Europe." — (Clarke.) 

But it may be inquired, if the knowledge of the magnet and its 
application to the great purpose of navigation, and surveying, were 
understood in any degree, how came one branch of the descendants 
ot the family of Noah, those who went east from Ararat, to have it ; 
and the others, who went in other directions, to be ignorant of it, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 281 

and had to discover it over again in the course of ages. We can 
answer this, only by noticing that many arts of the ancients of Eu- 
rope and of Africa are lost; bat how, we cannot tell ; but in the 
same way this art was lost. Wars, convulsions, revolutions, 
sweeping diseases, often change the entire face and state of society ; 
so that if it were even known to all the first generation, immedi- 
ately succeeding the flood, a second generation may have lost it, 
not dwelling in the vicinity of great waters ; having no use for such 
an art, would of necessity loose it, which remained lost till about 
A. D. 1300. 

In the year 1197, belore Christ, about the time of Job ; a large 
colony from China, under the Yu dynasty w^as sent to Japan, and 
other western islands, who drove out the Owi, or black inhabitants, 
the first settlers of those islands, a branch, it appears, of the family 
of Haniy who had found their way across the whole continent of 
Asia, from Ararat, or else had, by sea, coasted along from the coun- 
tries of the equator, their natural home, to those beautiful islands. 

From this trait of early settlement, we see the AiVican, as he is 
now designated, as enterprising in the colonizing of new countries^ 
as they were in the study of astronomy, and of building, and the 
invention of letters, at the time the Egyptians first merge to notice 
on the page of history. And if the Japan islands, a part of the 
earth as far from Ararat, the great starting point of man after the 
tiood, .as is America, and much farther, was found settled by the 
black race of Ham, why not there/ore parts of America. 

The pure negro has been found on some of the islands between 
China and America ; which would seem to indicate that this race 
of people have preceded even the wiiites, or at least equalled them, 
in first peopleing the globe after the deluge. 

Rafiuesque, the great antiquarian, says, the exact time when the 
Chinese first discovered or reached America, is not given in their 
books, but it was known to them, he says, and to the Japanese at 
a very early period, and called by them Fu Sham, and frequented 
for trade. But who were here for them to trade with .■' Our an- 
swer is ; those first inhabitants, the white, the red and the black, 
the sons of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japhetb, who got on 
to the continent before it was severed from Asia and Africa, in the 
days of Peleg, one or two hundred years after the flood of Noah. 

But there is another way of accounting for the appearance of the 

36 



S82 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

cross, the emblem of Christianity, besides the supposition of iW 
having been introduced by the Nestorians, as stated on page 273. 
There was a tradition among the Mexican Indians, when that 
country was first overrun by the Spaniards, that the gospel of 
Christianity had once been introduced into that country by a per- 
son whom they worshipped under the name of Quetzalcotl ; and ac- 
cording to the tradition of the Catholic church, and the opinions of 
several Spanish writers, this was none other than the apostle St. 
Thomas. 

But whether this is so or not, one thing is certain ; the Saviour 
himself stated that before the end of the Jewish nation should 
come, and the destruction of their city, that the gospel of the king- 
dom of the Messiah should be preached in all the world. Are we 
therefore to suppose, that one whole continent, a fourth part of the 
earth, was not visited according to that statement ? We may there- 
fore Test assured, that in some ivay the gospel was preached in 
America, before forty years had passed away from the time of the 
crucifixion of Christ, although its traces had nearly become oblite- 
rated here when first discovered,- as it had in many other countries, 
till its recent revival under the influence of the great Protestant re- 
formation. 



^further Account of Western Discoveries, 
Six miles from Lebanon, on the Little Miami, above the moutb' 
of Todd's fork, are curious remains of ancient works. The form of 
one of the forts is trapezoidal ; the walls are of earth, and gene- 
rally eight or ten feet high ; but in one place, where it crosses the 
brow of the hill where it stands, it is eighteen feet high. The 
Little Miami passes by on the west, on the north are deep ravines, 
and on the south and southeast the same ravines continue, making 
it a position of great strength. The area of the whole enclosure is 
nearly a hundred acres ; the wall has numerous angles, retreating, 
salient and acute, from which are eighty outlets or gateways. From 
Avhich circumstance we learn that its citizens were very great in 
number, or so many gateways would not have been needed. Two 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 291 

mounds are in its neighborhood, from which walls run in different 
directions to the adjoining ravines. Hound about this work are the 
traces of several roads, two of them are sixteen feet wide, elevated 
about three feet in their centre, and like our turnpikes. 

The Sioux country, on the Wabispinekan, St. Peters, and Yel- 
low rivers, abound with ancient entrenchments, mounds and forti- 
cations. Six miles from St. Louis is a place called the valley of 
bones, where the ground is promiscuously strewed with human 
and animal bones; some of the former are of an enormous size. 

On the river Huron, thirty miles from Detroit, and about eight 
miles from lake St. Clair, are a number of small mounds situated 
on a dry plain or bluff of the river. Sixteen baskets full of human 
bones, of a remarkable size, were discovered in the earth, while 
sinking a cellar on this plain for the missionary. Near the mouth 
of this river, (Huron,) on the east bank, are ancient works, repre- 
senting a fortress, with walls of earth, thrown up similar to those of 
Indiana and Ohio. 

At Belle Fontaine, or Spring Wells, three miles below Detroit, 
are three mounds or tumuli, standing in a direct line, about ten 
rods apart. One of these having been opened, bones, stone axes, 
and arrow-heads, were found in abundance. Within the distance 
of a quarter of a mile of these, are still to be seen the remains of 
ancient fortifications, a breast-work, in some places three and four 
feet high, enclosing several acres of firra"ground, in the centre of an 
extensive swamp. 

" In the state of Indiana, Franklin county, near Harrisonville, 
on the Whitewater river, eight miles from its mouth, on the north 
side, the traces of an ancient population literally strew the earth in 
every direction. On the bottoms or flats are a great number of 
mounds, very unequal in size. The small ones are from two to 
four feet above the surface, and the growth of timber upon them 
small, not being over one hundred years old, while the others are 
from ten to thirty feet high, with trees growing on them of the lar- 
gest and most aged description." — {Brown's Western Gazetteer.) 

Mr. Brown, the author of the Western Gazetteer, from whose 
work we extract the following, says he obtained the assistance of 
the inhabitants for the purpose of making a thorough examination 
of the internal structure of these mounds. He examined from fif- 
teen to twenty of them, and found them all except one to contaia 



284 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

human bones ; some filled with hundreds of all ages, thrown pro- 
miscuously togethei, into great heaps. He found several sculls, 
leg and thigh bones, which plainly shows that their possessors were 
persons of gigantic stature. 

The teeth of all the subjects he examined were remarkably even 
and sound, handsomely and firmly planted. The fore teeth were 
very deep, and not so wide as those of the generality of white peo- 
ple. He discovered in one mound an article of glass, in form re- 
sembling the bottom of a tumbler, weighing five ounces ; it was 
concave on both of its sides. 

It is true, that although glass is said not to have been found out 
till 644 of the Christian era, yet it was known to the ancient Ro- 
mans, but was considered an article of too great value to be in com- 
mon use. That the Romans were actually in possession of this 
knowledge, we learn from the discoveries made in the disinterred 
cities of the ancient Romans, Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried by 
the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Among the vast disco- 
veries of temples, dwellings, streets, gardens, paintings, sculptures, 
skeletons, with treasures of gold, has been found one bow window, 
lighted with a glass of a green tinge or color. The discovery of 
this article of glass in the tumuli, is a proof of its being of Euro 
pean manufacture, and probably of the Roman, brought by its own- 
er as a valuable jewel in those early times. 

In this mound were found several stone axes, such as are shown 
on the plate, with grooves near the heads to receive a withe, which 
unquestionably served to fasten the helve on, and several pieces of 
earthen ware- Some appeared to be parts of vessels, once I olding 
six or eight gallons; others were obviously fragments of jugs, jars 
and cups. Some were plain, where others were curiously orna- 
mented with figures of birds and beasts, drawn while the clay, or 
material of which they were made, was soft before the process of 
glazing w'as performed. The glazer's art appears to have been 
well understood by the potters who manufactured this aboriginal 
crockery. One of the skulls taken out of a mound at this place 
was found pierced with a flint arrow, which was still sticking in the 
bone ; it was about six inches long. 

At the bottom of all the mounds he examined, there was found a 
stratum of ashes, from six inches to two feet thick, which rests on 
the original soil. These ashes contain coals, fragments of brands, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 286 

and pieces of calcined or burnt human bones. It is somewhat 
singular to find that these people both buried and burnt their dead ; 
yet it may be that such as were burnt were prisoners of war, who 
being bound and laid in heaps, were thus reduced to ashes, by 
heaping over them brush and dry wood. 

Near this place, (Harrisouville,) on the neighboring hills north- 
east of the town, are a number of the remains of stone houses. 
They were covered with soil, brush, and full grown trees. Mr- 
Brown cleared away the earth, roots and rubbish from one of them, 
and found it to have been anciently occupied as a dwelling. It 
was about twelve feet square. The walls had fallen nearly to the 
foundation, having been built with the rough stone of nature, like 
a stone wall. At one end of the building was a regular hearth, on 
which was yet the ashes and coals of the last fire its owners had 
enjoyed ; before which were found the decayed skeletons of eight 
persons, of different ages, from a small child to the heads of the 
family. Their feet were found pointing towards the hearth : and 
they were probably murdered while asleep. 

From the circumstance of the kind of house these people lived 
in, (which is the evidence of their not belonging to the mound in- 
habitants,) we should pronounce them to be a settlement of Welch, 
Scandinavians or Scotch, ^vho had thus wandered to the west, from 
the first settlements made along the Atlantic, and were extermin- 
ated by the common Indians, %vho had also destroyed or driven 
away the authors of the mounds, many hundred years before these 
Europeans came to this country. 



Various Opinions of Antiquarians respecting the Original, 
Inhabitants of America. 

But we hasten to a conclusion of this work, by furnishing the 
reader with the opinions of several antiquarians, who stand high in 
the estimation of the lovers of research ; and among these is the 
late celebrated Dr. Samuel L. Mitchili, pro.f"essor of natural His- 
tory. And as we have not room to give at length all that these 
/gentleman have published on this subject, we shall only avail our- 



285 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

selves of extracts, such as will show their final judgment as to 
what nations or races of men they were who built the works of 
which we have given an account. 

In the following we have, in extract, the remarks and opinions 
of Dr. Mitchill in his communication to the American Antiquarian 
society, of which he was a member, 1815 : " I ofier you some ob- 
servations on a curious piece of American antiquity, now in New- 
York. It is a human body found in one of the limestone caverns 
of Kentucky. It is a perfect exsiccation ; all the fluids are dried 
up. The skin, bones, and other firm parts are in a state of entire 
preservation. 

" In exploring a calcareous chamber, in the neighborhood of Glas- 
gow, in the west, for saltpetre, several human bodies were tound 
enwrapped carefully in skins and cloths. The outer envelope of 
the body is a deer skin, dried in the usual way, and perhaps soften- 
ed before its application by rubbing. The next covering is a deer 
skin, the hair of which had been cut away by a sharp instrument, 
resembling a hatter's knife. The remnant of the hair, and the 
gashes in the skin, nearly resemble a sheared pelt of beaver. The 
next wrapper is of cloth, made of twine, doubled and twisted ; but 
the threads do not appear to have been formed by the wheel, nor 
the web by the loom. The warp and filling seem to have been 
crossed and knotted by an operation like that of the fabrics of the 
northwest coast, and of the Sandwich islands. The innermost 
tegument is a mantle of cloth like the preceding, but is furnished 
with large brown feathers, arranged and fashioned with great art, 
so as to be capable of guarding the living wearer from wet and 
cold. The plumage is distinct and entire, and the whole bears a 
near similitude to the feathery cloaks now worn by the nations of 
the northwest coast of America. 

" The body is in a squatting posture, with the right arm reclin- 
ing forward, and its hand encircling the right leg. The left arm 
hangs down by its side. The individual was a male, supposed lo 
be not more than fourteen at its death. There is a deep and ex- 
tensive fracture of the scull near the occiput, which probably killed 
him. The skin has sustained but little injury, and is of a dusky 
color, but the natural hue cannot be decided with exactness from 
its present appearance. The scalp, with small exceptions, is cov- 
ered with reddish hair. The teeth are white and sound. The 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. SSt 

hands and feet, in their shrivelled state, are slender and delicate. 
<' It may now," adds Dr. Mitchill, " be expected that I should offer 
some opinion as to the antiquity and race of this singular exsicca- 
tion. First, then, I am satisfied that it does not belong to the class 
of white men, of which we are members. Nor do I believe that 
it ought to be referred to the bands of Spanish adventurers, who, 
between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries rambled up the Mis- 
sissippi, and along the tributary streams. I am equally obliged to 
reject the opinion that it belonged to any of the tribes of aborigines 
now or lately inhabiting Kentucky. The mantle of feathered 
work and the mantle of twisted threads, so nearly resemble the 
fabrics of the natives of Wakash, and 'the Pacific islands, that I 
refer this individual to that era of time, and that generation of men 
which preceded the Indians of Green river, and of the place where 
these relics were found." 

In another letter to the Society, of a later date, he requests the 
preservation of certain papers, " as worthy of being recorded in 
its archives, showing the progress of his mind in coming to the 
great conclusion that the three races, Malays, Tartars and Scandi- 
navians, contributed to make up the great American population," 
who were the authors of the various works and antiquities found on 
the continent. — (^Am. Antiquarian, p. 315.) 

The fabrics accompanying the Kentucky bodies, resemble, very 
nearly, those which encircled the mummies of Tennessee. On 
comparing the two sets of samples, they were ascertained to be as 
much alike as two pieces of goods of the same kind, made at dif- 
ferent factories of this country. 

Other antiquities of the same class have come to light ; speci- 
mens of cloths, and some of the raw materials, all dug out of that 
unparalleled natural excavation, the Kentucky cavern, which is 
found to extend many miles, in different directions, very deep in 
the earth ; has many vast rooms, one in particular, of 1800 feet in 
circumference, and 150 in height. For a very grand description 
of this cave, see Blake's Atlas, 1826, published at New- York, for 
subscribers. 

The articles found in this cave were sent to Dr. Mitchill, of the 
city of New- York, which were accompanied with the following note ; 
" There will be found in this bundle two moccasins, in the same 
state they were when dug out of the JMammoth cave, about two 



288 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

hundred yards within its mouth. Upon examination it will be 
perceived that they are fabricated out of different materials ; one is 
supposed to be made of a cpecies of flag or lily, Avhich grows in 
the southern parts of Kentucky ; the other of the bark of some 
tree, probably the pappaw. There is a part of what is supposed to 
be a kinniconecke^ or pouch, two meshes of a fishing net, and a 
piece of what is supposed to be the raw material, and of which the 
fishing net, pouch and moccasins were made. Also a bowl, or cup, 
containing about a pint, cut out of wood, found also in the cave : 
and, lately, there has been dug out of it the skeleton of a human 
body, enveloped in a mattiog similar to that of the pouch. This 
matting is substantially like those of the plain fabric, taken from 
the copperas cave of Tennessee, and the saltpetrous cavern near 
Glasgow, in Kentucky." 

And what is highly remarkable, and worthy the attention of an- 
tiquarians is, that they all have a perfect resemblance to the fabrics 
of the Sandwich, Caroline and the Fejee islands, in the Pacific. 
We know the similitude of the manufactured articles, from the fol- 
lowing circumstance : — After the termination of the war in the 
island of Toconroba, wherein certain citizens of the United States 
were engaged, as principals or allies, many articles of Fejee manu- 
facture were brought to New- York by the victors. Some of them 
agree almost exactly with the fabrics discovered in Kentucky and 
Tennessee. They bear a strict comparison, the marks of a similar 
state of the arts, and point strongly to a sameness of origin in the 
respective people who prepared them. Notwithstanding the dis- 
tance of their several residences at the present time, it is impossi- 
ble not to look back to the common ancestry of the Malays, who 
formerly possessed the country between the Allegany mountains 
and the Mississippi river, and those who now inhabit the islands 
of the Pacific ocean. 

All these considerations lead to the belief, that colonies of Aus- 
tralasians or Malays, landed in North America, and penetrated 
across the continent in process of time, to the region lying between 
the great lakes and the gulf of Mexico. There they resided, and 
constructed the fortifications, mounds, and other ancient structures 
which are the wonder of all who have seen them. 

What has become of them ? They have probably been overcome 
by the more warlike and ferocious hordes that entered our hemi- 



AND DISCO VEItlEa IN THfi \TBAT. S6d 

ipliere from the northeast of Asia. These Tartars of tbe higher 
latitudes have issued from the great hive of nations, and desolated, 
in the course of their migratious, the southern tribes of America, 
as they have done those of Asia and Europe. The greater part of 
the present American natives are of the Tartar stock, the descend- 
ants of the hardy warriors who destroyed the weaker Malays that 
preceded them. An individual of their exterminated race now 
and then rises from the tomb, by which their identity of origin is 
ascertained. 

In a communication of Samuel L. Mitchill to De Witt Clinton^ 
1826, he remarks, that " the parallel between the people of Ame- 
rica and Asia affords this important conclusion ; that on both con- 
tinents the hordes dwelling in higher latitudes have overpowered 
the more civilized though feebler inhabitants of the countries situ- 
ated towards the equator." 

As the Tartars have overrun China, so the Aztecas subdued 
Mexico; as the Huns and Alans desolated Italy, so the Chippewas 
and Iroquois prostrated the populous settlements on both banks of 
the Ohio. The surviving race, in these terrible conflicts betweea 
the different nations of the ancient native residents of North Ame- 
rica, is evidently that of the Tartars. The opinion is founded upon 
four considerations. 

1st. The similarity of physiognomy and features. His excellency 
M. Genet, sometime minister plenipotentiary from France to the 
United States, is well acquainted with the faces, hues and figures 
of our Indians, and of the Asiatic Tartars, and is perfectly satisfied 
of their national resemblance. 

Mons. Cazeaux, consul of France to New-York, has drawn the 
same conclusion, from a careful examination of the man of North 
America and Northern Asia. 

M. Smibert, who had been employed in executing paintings of 
Tartar visages for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, was so struck with 
the similarity of their features to those of the Narragansett Indians, 
that he pronounced them members of the same great family of 
mankind. This opinion of the Grand Duke's portrait painter, is 
preserved, with all its circumstances, in the fourteenth volume of 
the Medical Repository. 

I have examined with the utmost care seven or eight Chinese 
tailors, who had assisted in navigating a ship from Macao to New- 

37 



290 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

York. The thinness of their beards, the bay complexion, the 
black lank hair, the aspect of the eyes, the contour of the face, and 
in short the general external character, induced every person who 
observed them to remark how nearly they resemble the Mohegans 
and Oneidas of New-York. 

Sidi Mellimellijthe Tunisian envoy to the United States in 1804, 
entertained the same opinion on beholding the Cherokees, Osages 
and Miamis, assembled at the city of Washington, during his resi- 
dence there. Their Tartar physiognomy struck him in a moment. 

2d. The affinity of their languages- The late learned and enter- 
prising professor Barton took the lead in this inquiry. He collect- 
ed as many words as he could from the languages spoken in Asia 
and America, and concluded, from the numerous coincidences of 
sound and signification, that there must have been a common origin. 

3d. The existence of corresponding customs. I mean to state, at 
present, that of shaving away the hair of the scalp from the fore 
part and sides of the head, so that nothing is left but a tuft on the 
crown. 

The custom of smoking the pipe on solemn occasions, to the four 
cardinal points of the compass, to the heavens and to the earth, is 
reported, upon the most credible authority, to distinguish equally 
the hordes of the Asiatic Tartars, and the bands of the American 
Sioux, the most dreadful warriors ot the west. 

" In addition to the considerations, already stated in favor of this 
opinion, may be urged the more recent discoveries concerning the 
quadrupeds which inhabit the respective countries. There is con- 
culsive evidence, for example, that the wild sheep of Louisiana and 
California is the Tartarian animal of the same name. Yes, the 
taye-taye of Northwestern America is an animal of the same spe- 
cies with the argali of Northern Asia. Our mountain ram, or big 
horn, is their ovis ammon.''^ — {Am. Antq. Sac. p. 333.) 

But we remark, this opinion of the learned antiquarian, professor 
Mitchill, by no means lessens the 'probability, as is contended by 
many learned men, and also is the popular belief, that notwith- 
standing this Tartar physiognomy of our Indians, that they are, in 
part, but in a mixed relation, descended of the Jews ; or in other 
words, a part of the ten lost tribes of Israel ; and do in reality, in 
many things, imitate the worship of the ancient Israelites. Hav- 
ing taught the same to the Tartars, after they left Syria, in mass, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 391 

as is related by 2d Esdras, chap, iciii, 7 — 47. But we resume the 
remarks of professor Mitchill to Governor Clinton, in reference to 
the authors of the works in the west. 

^" The exterminated race, in the saVage intercourse between the 
nations of North America, in ancient days, appears clearly to have 
been that of the Malays. The bodies and shrouds and clothing of 
those individuals have, within a few years, been discovered in the 
caverns of saltpetre aed copperas, within the States of Kentucky 
and Tennessee. Their entire dried or exsiccated condition, has 
led intelligent gentlemen, who have seen them, to call them mum- 
mies. 

They are some of the most memorable of the antiquities that 
North America contains. The race, or nation, to which they be- 
longed is extinct j but in preceding ages, occupied the region situ- 
ated between lakes Ontario and Erie, on the north, and of Mexico 
on the south, and bounded eastwardly by the Alleghany mountains, 
and westwardly by the Mississippi river. 

That they were similar in their origin and character, to the 
present inhabitants of the PaciSc islands, and of Australasia, is 
argued from various circumstances. 1st. The sameness of texture 
in the plain cloth or matting that enwraps the mummies, and that 
which our navigators bring from Wakash, the Sandwich islands, 
and the Fejees. 2d. The close resemblance there is between the 
feathery mantles broughtj now-a-days, from the islands of the South 
Sea, and those wrappers which surround the mummies lately dis- 
interred in the western states. The plumes of birds are twisted 
or tied to threads, with peculiar skill, and turn water like the back 
of a duck. 3d. Meshes of net regularly knotted and tied, and 
formed of a strong and even twine. 4th. Moccasins, or coverings 
of the feet, manufactured with remarkable ability, from the bark 
or rind of plates, worked into a sort of stout matting. 5th. Pieces 
of antique sculpture, especially of human heads, and of some other 
forms, found where the exterminated tribes had dwelt, resembling 
the carving at Otaheite, New-Zealand, and other places. 6th. 
Works of defence or fortifications, overspreading the fertile tract 
of country, formerly possessed by these people, who may be sup- 
posed capable of building works of much greater magnitude than 
the moraiSj or burial places, and the hippes, or fighting stages, of 
the Society islands. 7th. As far as observation has gone, a belief. 



999 AMERICAN Ai\TIQUlT!ES 

that the shape of the skull, and the angle of the face, in the manv 
mies, (found in the west,) correspond with those of the living 
Malays. 

I reject, therefore, the doctrine taught by the European natural- 
ists, that the man of western America differs, in any material point 
from the man of eastern Asia. Had. the Robertsons, the Buffons, 
the Raynals, the De Pauwys, and the other speculators upon the 
American character, and the villifiers of the American name, pro^ 
cured the requisite information concerning the hemisphere situated 
west of us, they would have discovered that the inhabitants of vast 
regions of Asia, to the number of many millions, were of the same 
blood and lineage with the millions of America, whom they affect 
to undervalue and despise. 

But notwithstanding the celebrity, founded on the great erudi- 
tion and critical research of professor Mitchill, we cannot subscribe 
to this opinion respecting the red-headed mummy now in the New- 
York museum, found in a saltpetre cave in Kentucky. It is a well 
known fact, that invariably all the nations of the earth, who are of 
the swarthy or black complexion, have black hair, either straight 
or curled. 

But those nations belonging to the white class, have a great 
variety of color of the hair ; black, white, auburn, and red. We 
are sure this is a characteristic of the two classes of mankind, the 
dark and the white. If so, then the Kentucky body, found in the 
cave, is not of Malay origin, but of Scandinavian ; of whom, as a 
nation, it is said that the predominant color of the hair was red. 

And further, we object, that the traits of ancient population 
found in Canada, between lakes Ontario and Erie, to be of Malay 
origin, but rather of Scandinavian also. Our reason is as follows : 
It is unreasonable to suppose the Malays, Australasian, and Polj-- 
nesian nati©ns of the islands of the Pacific, who were originally 
from the eastern coasts of China, situated in mild climates, should 
penetrate so far north as the countries in Canada, to fix their habi- 
tations. But it is perfectly natural that the Scandinavian, tha 
Welch, or the Scottish clans, all of whom inhabit cold, very cold 
countries, should be delighted with such a climate, as any part of 
either Upper or Lower Canada. 

And farther, as a reason that the Malay nations never inhabited 
any part of the Canadas, we notice, that in those regions there are 



AND DISCOVBRIEa IN THE WEST. 19S 

found no traces of their peculiar skill and labor ascribed to them 
by professor Mitchill, which are the great mounds of the west In 
Canada we know not that any have been discovered. But other 
works, of warlike character, abound there in the form of long lines 
of defensive preparations, corresponding with similar works in the 
north of Europe, and in many places in the state of New-York, 
and in other Atlantic states, as before noticed. On which account, 
we do not hesitate to ascribe the ancient traits of a former civilized 
population, found between lakes Ontario and Erie, to be of Euro- 
pean, rather than of Malay origin- 



Voyages of ihe Ancients from Italy and Africa to ihe 
Continent of America and its adjacent Islands. 

Calmet, a celebrated writer, and well known as an ecclesiastic 
of the Catholic communion, who was highly versed in the antiqui- 
ties of past ages, brings forward the most classic authors of ancient 
times respecting the discovery of America, and the origin of its in- 
habitants. 

He produces the writings of Hornius, son of Theodosius the 
Great, and Emperor of the West, who lived in the third century, 
as supported by the writings of Strabo, a native of Cappadocia, and 
was a historian and geographer at or about the time of the com- 
mencement of the Christian era, affirms as certain, that voyages 
from Africa and Spain into the Atlantic ocean, were both frequent 
and celebrated. He says that Eudoxius, sailing from the Arabian 
gulf to Ethiopia and India, found a prmo of a ship that had been 
, wrecked, which, from its having the head of a horse carved on it, 
he knew belonged to a Phceuician bark ; and some Gaditani mer- 
chants declared it to have been a fishing vessel. Laretius relates 
nearly the same circumstance. Hornius says, (continues Calmet,) 
that in very remote ages three voyages were made to America. 
The first by the Atlantes, or descendants of Atlas, who gave his 
name to the Atlantic ocean, and the island Atlantides; this name, 
(Atlantides,) Plato, who lived nearly 400 B. C, appears to have 
learned from the Egyptian priests, the general depositories of 
knowledge. 



294 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

The second voyage mentioned by Hornius, is given on the au- 
thority of Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the time of Julius Caesar, 
who says, that the Phoenicians having passed the columns of Her- 
cules, (out of the Mediterranean sea at the strait of Gibraltar,) and 
being impelled by the violence of the wind, abandoned themselves 
to its fury, and after experiencing many tempests, were thrown 
upon an island in the Atlantic ocean, distant many days navigation 
to the westward of the coast of Lybia or Africa ; which island pos- 
sessed a fertile soil, had navigable rivers, and there were large 
buildings upon it. On their return, by the means of other adven- 
turers, the report of this discovery soon spread among the Cartha- 
ginians and Romans, the former being harrassed by the wars of the 
latter, and the people of Mauritania sent a colony to that island 
with great secresy, that in the event of being overcome by their 
enemies, they might possess a place of safe retreat. 

Such were the descriptions which the Phcenicians gave of the 
beauty and fertility of this island, as well as of its opulent inhabit- 
ants, that the Romans became desirous of making themselves mas- 
ters of it, and of settling a colony there. This perplexed the Car- 
thaginians, who began to fear that their countrymen would be ena- 
mored of a fertility so much praised, and abandon their native 
country to settle there- And on the other hand they viewed it as 
a safe refuge in event of any unforseen calamity, or if their repub- 
lic in Africa should fall, to which, as being masters of the sea, they 
could easily retire, to secure themselves and families ; more espe- 
cially as the region was unknown to other nations. 

Aristotle, who lived and wrote about 360 B. C-, continues Cal- 
met, in his books of wonderful things, speaking of this island, says, 
the magistrates of Carthage having observed that many of their ci- 
tizens v.ho had undertaken the voyage thither had not returned, 
prohibited, therefore, under the peualtyof capital punishment, any 
farther emigration, aud ordered those who had remained there to 
return to their country, fearing that as soon as the affair should be 
known, other nations would endeavor to establish there a peacea- 
ble commerce. 

But there is an account of another voyage into the Atlantic, spo- 
ken of by Calmet, which was anterior to the preceding, and is at- 
tiibuted to Hercules, who by Galleo, (a writer of the sixteenth 
century, the same whose books and opinions about the Copernican 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 205 

system of astronomy were condemned by the Popish council, in six- 
teen hundred thirty-four,) is ranked as contemporary with Moses, 
who lived nearly 1600 B. C This Hercules, the strong man of 
antiquity, according to heathen mythology, was a great captain, 
and leading character, chief of the Canaanites, who fled from Pa- 
lestine, from the wars of Joshua, and went to Africa, settling as is 
supposed on the western coast of that country. This same Hercu- 
les is supposed to have circumnavigated the globe,, and is spoken 
of as having so done by Diodorus, and that he founded the city of 
Lecta in Septimania., but no writer has pointed out its situation 
America may have been that country, especially as Hercules made 
voyages into the Atlantic between Africa and the continent of 
America to the south. 

Calmet, in his commentary on the Jugurthine war, states in the 
history of the kingdom of Numidia, written in the Punic language, 
that he had read an African account or tradition of the arrival in 
that country of Hercules, with an army of Medes, Persians and 
Armenians. These soldiers, he says, married Lybian women, who 
were black, and that their language imperceptibly degenerated 
from its original purity, and in process of time the name of Med£s 
and Arminians became changed to that of Maurucii or Moors. 

There is a strong probability that the Romans and Carthagini- 
ans, even 300 years before Christ, were well acquainted with the 
existence of this country, obtained by these early navigators, Her- 
cules, Votan, the Carthaginians and Phoenicians: hence, as we 
have argued, in various parts of this work, the tokens of the pre- 
sence of the Greeks, Romans, Persians and Carthaginians, appear 
in many parts of the continent. 

This opinion is believed by many of the early Spanish writers, 
who have written on the subject of the first population of this coun 
try, and have concluded, from the strongest evidence, that the Car- 
thaginiansj a people who were powerful some hundreds of years 
before Christ, and who were the eternal enemies of the Romans, 
have had milth to do in colonizing America, as well also as the 
ancient Tyrians, who before they had become amalgamated with 
the Tyrians, were Hivites, one of the nations who peopled ancient 
Canaan. 



296 AMERICAN ANTIQUJTIK9 



Further Remarks on the Subject of Human Complexions. 

As to the curious subject of the different complexions of man, I 
consider, says Dr. MitcLill, the human family under three divi- 
sions: 

1st. The tawny man, comprehending the Tartars, Malays, Chi- 
nese, the American Indians, of every tribe, LascarS) and other peo- 
ple of the same cast and breed. 

2d. The white man, inhabiting the countries of Asia and Europe, 
situated north of the Mediterranean sea ; and, in the course of his 
adventures, settling all over the world : among whom I reckon the 
Greenlanders, and the Esquimaux nations. 

3d. The black man, whose proper residence is in the regions 
south of the Mediterranean, particularly towards the interior of 
Africa. The people of Papua and Van Dieman's Land, seem to 
be of this class. 

It is generally supposed, and by many able and ingenious men, 
that external physical causes, and combination of circumstances, 
which they call climate, have wrought all these changes in the hu- 
man form and complexion. I do not, however, think them capable 
of explaining the differences which exist among the nations, on this 
principle. There is an internal physical cause of the greatest mo- 
ment, which has scarcely been mentioned. This is the generative 
influence. If by the act of modelling the constitution in the em- 
bryo and foetus, a predisposition to gout, madness, scrofula, and con- 
sumption may be engendered, we may rationally conclude, with 
the sagacious d'Azara, that the procreative power may also shape 
the natures, tinge the skin, and give other peculiarities to the form 
of man. — {Am. Antq. p. 335.) 

This idea of the three original complexions, black, tawny and 
white, we have supposed was realized in the person of Noah's three 
sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth : and although Mr. Mitchill has not 
fixed on a starting place, he has, nevertheless, admitted the princi- 
ple, and has referred the cause of complexion and shape to the 
procreative and generative act, excluding totally any influence 
which climate or food may be supposed to have, as has been con- 
tended by many; which, 60 far as we are able to understand hii 



AND DISCOVKRIE* IN THB WEST. 397 

meaning, is referring the complexions of the human race immedi- 
ately to the arbitrary act of God. To this doctrine we most cor- 
dially subscribe, because it is so simple and natural, the very way 
in which the great Creator works. First fixing the principles of 
nature, as gravitation and motion, which keep the worlds in their 
courses. Were it not for these, all would stand still and nature 
would die. Fire, in its. endless variations, breathes through all 
matter, expands the leaves of all forests, and adorns them with all 
flowers, gives motion to the air, which, in that motion, is called the 
winds of heaven. Fire gives liquescency to the waters of the 
globe ; were it not for this, all fluids that now move over the earth 
in rivers, brooks and springs, or oceans, or passes by subterranean 
channels through the earth, or circulates in the pores of trees and 
herbage, With the watery fluids af all animated life, would stand 
still, would congeal, would freeze to one universal mass of death. 

Also, in the secret embryo of earth's productions, as in all vege- 
tation, all animals, and all human beings, is fixed the principle of 
variety. Were it not for this, what vast confusion would ensue. 
If all human beings looked alike, and all human voices sounded 
alike, there would be an end to society, to social order, to the dis- 
tinctions between friend and foe, relatives and strangers ; conver- 
sation would be misapplied, identity at an end ; subjects of inves- 
tigation and research, arts and science, could have no objects to fix 
upon ; such a state of things would be a fearful retrograde toward 
a state of insensibility and non-existence. 

And is it not also as evident that God has fixed, as well the se- 
cret principle which produces complexion, as it appears in an un- 
mixed state in the human subject, as that he has the other princi- 
ples just rehearsed, and equally as arbitrarily. Vegetation mixes, 
and in this way gives varieties in form, color and flavor, not strictly 
original. Also the original complexions in their pure state, of black, 
tawny and white, have also by mixtures produced their varieties, 
but at the outset, in the embryo, there must be a first predisposing 
principle to each of these complexions, fixed on a more permanent 
basis than that of food and climate ; or else food and climate, after 
these had made a white race of men, or a tawny race, black, might 
be expected in due time, if moved to a climate favoring, to change 
them all back again, as at -first; but this is contrary to all experi- 
ence on the subject, in all ages and climates of the earth. There- 

38 



SOS AMERICAN ANTIQUITIE* 

fore, we fix on the idea of a first principle, placed in the generative 
powers of the sons of Noah, from whom their several progenies de=' 
rived the black, the red or tawny, and the white, in all the sim- 
plicity and beauty of natural operations. 

This curious subject, with the amount of argument on both sides 
of the question, (that is, whether human complexions are produced 
by food and climate, or are original,) is in a masterly manner at- 
tended to, in ihe American edition of the__New Edinburgh Ency- 
clopedia, vol. 6. In that work it is shown that climate, in hun- 
dreds of instances, which respect the complexions of all the nation* 
known on the globe, are found unchangeable. In the torrid climes, 
both the white and the black, with all the intermediate shades be- 
tween the two extremes, are found, as also the black with curled 
hair in the northern regions, in many countries of the old world. 

" As, therefore, the dark complexioned varieties of mankind are 
found near the poles ; as people of the same complexion are found 
over the whole continent of America, under all its various climates ; 
as there are numerous instances of comparative fairness of complex- 
ion under the heat of a burning climate ; as radical differencf^s of 
complexion are found in the same regions, and even among the 
same people ; and as there are numerous instances where the origi- 
nal complexion has remained permanent, notwithstanding it has 
been exposed to a change of climate for centuries ; it may fairly be 
inferred, that the characteristic complexions of the different varie- 
ties of the human race are not the result of climate." — (Encylope^ 
dia, as above, p. 670.) 



Further Remarks respecting Human Complexion^ with 
other Interesting Subjects. 

In another communication, which in part was on the same sub- 
ject, though addressed to the secretary of the American Antiqua- 
rian society. Dr. Mitchell says : " In that memoir, (alluding to the 
one addressed to De Witt Clinton,) I maintained the doctrine that 
there were but three original varieties of the human race, the taw- 
ny man, the white man and the black ; a division which I am 



AMD DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 200 

|)leased to observe, the iDComparable author of the Animal Kinfjdom 
has adopted in France. 

The former of these seems to have occupied, in the earliest days, 
the plain watered by the Euphrates and the Tigris, while the white 
Arab, as he has sometimes been called, was found in the regions 
north of the Mediterranean sea, and the sable Arab, or negro, in- 
habited to the south of that expanse of water. 

Of the brown or tawny variety, are the eastern Asiatics, and 
western Americans, divisible into two great stocks, or genealogies ; 
first, those in high latitudes, v/hom I call Tartars; and, second, 
those who inhabit low or southern latitudes, whom I consider as 
Malays. I am convinced that terras Tartar and Malay, for the 
present purposes of reasoning, are equally applicable to the two 
great continents ; and that, with the exception of the negro colonies 
in Papua, and a few other places, the islanders in the Pacific are 
Malays. 

My observations led me, several years ago, to the conclusion that 
the two great continents Asia and America, were peopled by simi- 
lar races of men ; and that America, as well as Asia, had its Tartars 
in the north, and its Malays in the south. America has had her 
Scythians, her Alans, and her Huns ; but there has been no histo- 
rian to record their formidable migrations, and their barbarous 
achievements; how little of past events do we know. 

The comparison of the language spoken by these Asiatic and 
American nations, colonies and tribes, respectively, was begun by 
our learned fellow citizen, the late Dr. B. S. Barton. The work 
has been continued by the Adelangs and Vater, distinguished phi- 
lologists of Germany. Their profound inquiry into the structure of 
language and the elements of speech, embraces a more correct and 
condensed body of information concerning the original tongues of 
the two Americas, than was ever compiled and arranged before. 
Their Mithridates, a book on languages, surpasses all similar per- 
formances that have ever been achieved by man- 

One of my intelligent correspondents, who has survej^ed with 
his own eyes the region watered by the Ohio, worte me very lately 
a letter containing the following paragraph : 

"I have adopted your theory respecting the Malays, Polynesians 
and Alleghanians. This last nation, so called by the Lenni-lsnapij 
or primitive sjock of our hunting Indians, was that which inl.ibited 



300 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the United States, before the Tartar tribes came and destroyed 
them, and who erected the mounds, works, fortifications and tem- 
ples of the western country. This historical fact is now proved 
beyond a doubt, by the traditions of the Lenni-Ienapi Indian, pub- 
lished by Heckewelder, in the work issued by the Philosophical 
Society of Philadelphia. I may add, that Mr. Clifford, of Lexing- 
ton, Kentucky, has proved another identity between the Allegha- 
nians and Mexicans, by ascertaining that many supposed fortifica- 
tions Avere temples, particularly that of Circleville in Ohio, wheie 
human sacrifices were one of their rites. He has discovered their 
similarity with the ancient Mexican temples, described by Hum- 
boldt, and has examined the bones of victims in heaps, the shells 
used in sacred rites, as in India, and the idol of baked clay, con- 
sisting of three heads." 

This opinion of human sacrifices was fully confirmed by the tes- 
timony of Mr. Manuel Liea, during the summer of 1818. He, on 
his return from the trading posts on the Upper Missouri, informed 
his fellow citizens at St. Louis, that the Wolf tribe of the Pawnee 
Indians yet followed the custom of immolating human victims. He 
purchased a Spanish prisoner, a boy about ten years old, whom 
they intended to offer as a sacrifice to the Great Star ; and they 
did put to death, by transfixing on a sharp pole, as an offering to 
the object of their adoration, the child of a Paddo woman, who 
being a captive herself, and devoted to that sanguinary and horri- 
ble death, made her escape on horseback, leaving her new born 
offspring behind. The triad, or trinity of heads, (see the plate) in- 
stantly brings to mind a similar article, figured by the Indians of 
Asia, and described by Mr. Maurice in his Oriental Researches. 

I received, a short time since, directly from Mexico, several 
pieces of cloth, painted in the manner that historians have often 
represented. I find the material in not a single instance to be cot- 
ton, as has been usually affirmed. There is not a thread indicating 
the use of the spinning wheel, nor an intertexture showing that the 
loom or shuttle was employed. In strictness, therefore, there is 
neither cotton nor cloth in the manufacture. The fabrics, on the 
contrary, are uniformly composed of pounded bark, probably of the 
mulberry tree, and resembles the bark cloths prepared to this day, 
in the Friendly and Society islands, in the Pacific ocean, as nearly 
as one piece of lineuj or one blanket of wool resembles another. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 301 

I derive this conclusion from a comparison of the several sorts 
of goods. They have been examined together by several excellent 
judges. For, at a meeting of the New-York Literary and Philo- 
sophical society, in February, 1819,1 laid these specimens of bark 
cloth, with their respective colorings and paintings, from Mexico, 
Otaheite and Tongataboo, upon the table, for the examination of 
the members. All were satisfied that there was a most striking 
similitude among the several articles. Not only the fabric but the 
colors, and the materials of which they apparently consisted, as 
well as the probable manner of putting them on, seemed to me 
strong proofs of the sameness of origin, in the different tribes of 
a people working in the same way, and retaining a sameness in 
their arts of making a thing, which answers the purpose of paper, 
of cloth and a material for writing and painting upon. 

Soon after the arrival of these rolls from New-Spain, filled with 
hieroglyphics, and imitative characters, I received a visit from three 
natives of South America, born at St. Bias, just beyond the isthmus 
of Darien, near the equator. They were of the Malay race, by 
their physiognomy, form, and general appearance. Their dark 
brown skins, their thin beards, the long black, straight hair of their 
heads, their small hands and feet, and their delicate frame of body, 
all concur to mark their near resemblance to the Australasians; 
while the want of high cheek bones, and little eyes, placed wide 
apart, distinguished them sufficiently from the Tartars. Other 
similtudes exist. The history of M. de la Salle's last expedition, 
and discoveries in North America, is contained in the second 
volume of his Travels. " After travelling over plains, and some- 
times across torrents, we arrived in the midst of a very extraordi- 
nary nation, called the Biscatonges, to whom we gave the name of 
weepers, in regard that upon the first approach of strangers, all 
these people, men as well as women, usually fell a weeping most 
bitterly. 

That which is yet more remarkable, and perhaps very reasonable 
in that custom, is that they weep much more at the birth of their 
children, than at their death ; because the latter is esteemed only 
by them as it were a journey or voyage, from whence they may 
return after the expiration of a certain time ; but they look upon 
their nativity as an inlet into an ocean of dangers and misfortunes. 
Compare this with a passage in the Terpsichore of Herodotus, 



302 AMERICAN AXTIQUITIES 

who flourished about 450 years before Christ, chap. 4th, where, id 
describing the Tbracians, he observes, " that the Trausi have a 
general uniformity with the rest of the Thracians, (a branch of the 
most ancient Greeks.) On the birth of a child, it is placed in the 
midst of a circle of its relations, who lament aloud the evils which, 
as a human being, he must necessarily undergo, all of which sup- 
posed evils, they particularly enumerate to the child, though it un- 
derstands it not." — (Beloe^s Translation.) 

To find a custom among one of the Indian nations, in America, 
which so strikingly agrees with that of the Thracian, a branch of 
the most ancient Greek people, who existed many hundred years 
before Christ, is very extraordinary, and would seem to justify a 
belief that we have the descendants of the Greeks in our western 
forests ; which also argues that the ancestors of the tribe having 
this curious custom, came early to America, or they could not have 
69 perfectly retained this practice, in their wanderings over Asia, 
who would have inevitably lost their ancient manners, by amalga- 
mations. We have before shown, in this work, that Greeks visited 
South America, in the time of Alexander the great, who for aught 
that can be objected, may have left a colony, and the Biscatongues 
may be their descendants. 

" There is an opinion among the Seneca nation of the Iroquois 
confederacy, to this day, that eclipses of the sun and moon are 
caused by a Manitau, or bad Spirit, who mischievously intercepts 
the light intended to be shed upon the earth and its inhabitants. 
Upon such occasions, the greatest solicitude exists. All the indi- 
viduals of the tribe feel a strong desire to drive away the demon, 
and to remove thereby the impediment to the transmission ol lumin- 
ous rays. For this purpose, they go forth, and by crying, shouting, 
drumming, and the firing of guns, endeavor to frighten him, and 
they never fail in their object, for by courage and perseverance, 
they infallibly drive him off. His retreat is succeeded by a return 
of the obstructed light. Something of the same sort is practised 
among the Chippeways, when an eclipse happens. The belief 
among them is, that there is a battle between the sun and mqpn, 
which intercepts the light. Their great object, therefore, is to stop 
the fighting, and to separate the combatants. They think these 
ends can be accomplished by withdrawing the attention of the con- 
tending parties from each other, and diverting it to the Chippeways 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. M9 

themselves. They accordingly fill the air with noise ond outcry. 
Such sounds are sure to attract the attention of the warring powers. 
Their philosophers have the satisfaction of knowing that the strife 
never lasted long after their clamor and noisy operations began. 
Being thus induced to be peaceful, the sun and moon separate and 
light is restored to the Chippeways. 

Now it is reported, on the authority of one of the Jesuit fathers 
of the French mission in India, that a certain tribe or people, whom 
he visited there, ascribed eclipses to the presence of a great dragon. 
This creature, by the interposition of his huge body, obstructed 
the passage of the light to our world ; they were persuaded they 
could drive him away by terrifying sounds, in which they were 
always successful, as the dragon soon retired in great alarm, when 
the eclipses immediately terminated. 

The manner of depositing the bodies of distinguished persons 
after death, is remarkable. Among the tribes inhabiting the banks 
of the Columbia river, which empties into the Pacific ocean, in 
latitude 47 degrees north, and in some of those which live near the 
waters of the Missouri, the dead body of a great man is neither 
consumed by fire, nor buried in the earth, but it is placed in his 
canoe, with his articles of dress, ornament, war, and hunting, and 
suspended in the canoe, between two trees, to putrify in the open 
air. The custom of exposing bodies to decomposition above ground, 
in the Morais, or places of deposite, for the dead, among the Polyne- 
sians, will immediately occur to every reader of the voyages made 
within the last half century, through the Pacific ocean for the pur- 
poses of discovery. 



Cannibalism in America. 



The practice of cannibalism exists in full force, in the Fejee 
islands. A particular and faithful account of it is contained in the 
14th volume of the Medical Repository, chaps. 209, and 215. The 
history of the five Indian nations dependent upon the government 
of New- York, by Dr. Golden, page 185 — 6, shows that the fero- 
cious and vindictive spirit of the conqueror led him occasionally to 



304 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

feast upon his captive. The Ottavvas having taken an Iroquois 
prisoner, made a soup of his flesh. The like has been repeatedly 
done since, on select occasions, by other tribes. Governor Cass, 
of Michigan, informed me, that among the Miamis, there was a 
standing committee, consisting of seven warriors, vs^hose business 
it was to perform the man eating required by public authority. 
The last of their cannibal feasts was on the body of a white man, 
of Kentucky, about forty years ago. The appointment of the com- 
mittee to eat human flesh, has since that time, gradually become 
obsolete ; but the oldest and last member of this cannibal society 
is well remembered, and died only a few years ago. 

A very circumstaneial description of a cannibal feast, where a 
soup was made of the body of an Englishman, at Michilimackinack, 
about the year 1760, is given by Alexander Henry, Esq., in his 
book of travels through Canada and the Indian territories. In^that 
work it is stated that man eating was then, and always had been, 
practised among the Indian nations, on returning from war, or on 
overcoming their enemies, for the purpose of giving them courage 
to attackj and resolution to die." — [Medical Repository, vol. 14, pp. 
261,262.) 

As extraordinary as this may appear, we are informed by 
Baron Humboldt, in his personal narrative, that " in Egypt, in the 
13th century, five or six hundred years ago, the habit of eating 
human flesh pervaded all classes of society. Extraordinary snares 
were spread, for physicians in particular. They were called to 
attend persons who pretended to be sick, but who were only hungry, 
and it was not in order to be consulted, but devoured." 

Situated west, northwest and southwest of North America, in 
the Pacific ocean, are a vast number of islands, scattered over all 
that immense body, of water, extending in groups quite across to 
China, along the whole Asiatic coast. The general character of 
these islanders is similar, though somewhat diversified in language, 
in complexion are much the same, which is copper, with the ex- 
ception only of now and then people of the African descent, and 
those of the Japan islands, who are white. 

By examining Morse, we find them in the practice of sacrificing 
human beings, and also of devouring them, as we find the savages 
of America were accustomed to do from time immemorial ; having 
but recently suspended the appalling custom. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 305 

From tills similarity, an account of which, however, might be 
-extended in detail to a vast amount, existing between these island- 
ers, and the disinterred remains of the exterminated race, whoj as 
it is supposed, built most of the works of the west, it is inferred 
they are the same. Their complexion and manners agree, at the 
present time, with the people of these islands ; we mean those of 
the Malay race, yet remaining in South America, in their native 
state of society. 

Also the natives ot the Caribbean islands, in the Caribbean sea, 
which is the same with the gulf of Mexico, only this sea is at the 
southern extremity of the gulf, are of the same race, who, in their 
migrations from the Pacific ocean, have peopled many parts of the 
South and North American continent, the remains of whom are 
found on those islands, as well as among the unsubdued nations ia 
the woods of South America. 

It is doubtless a fact, that the earliest tribes who separated from 
the immediate regions about Ararat, passed oaward to the east, 
across the countries now called Persia, Bucharia, and the Chinese 
empire, till they reached the sea, or Pacific ocean, opposite the 
American continent. 

From thence, in process of time, on account of an increase of 
population, they left the main continent, in search of the islands, 
and passing from one group to another, till all those islands became 
peopled, and until they reached even the western coast of not only 
South but North America. 

At the same time, tribes f''om the same region of Ararat, travelled 
westward, passing over all Europe and southward, filling the re- 
gions of Africa, and the islands in the Atlantic ocean opposite the 
coasts of South and North America, till they also reached the main 
land, meeting their fellows, after having each of them circumambu- 
lated half of the earth. 

And having started from the regions of Ararat and the tower of 
Babel, with languages differing one from another, and having also 
in process of time, acquired habits arising from differences of cir- 
cumstances, mostly dissimilar one from the other, wars for the mas- 
tery the most dreadful must have ensued, each viewing the otheris 
as intruders, from whence they knew not. This is evident from 
the tradions of the inhabitants of the two Americas ; some tribes 
pointing to the east, others to the west, and others again to the 

39 



306 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

north, as the way from whence their ancestors came. According 
to Clavigero, the naturalist, the ancestors of the nations which 
peopled Anahuac, now called New-Spain, might have passed from 
the northern countries of Europe, (as Norway,) to the northern 
parts of America, on the coast of Labrador, which is called British 
America and Canada ; also from the most eastern parts of Asia to 
the most western parts of America. This conclusion is founded 
on the constant and general tradition of those nations, which unani- 
mously say, that their ancestors came into Anahuac, or New-Spain, 
from the countries of the north and northwest. This tradition is 
confirmed by the remains of many ancient edifices, built by those 
people in their migrations. In a journey made by the Spaniards 
in 1606, more than two hundred years since, from New-Mexico 
to the liver which they call Tizau, six hundred miles from Ana- 
huac towards the northwest, they found there some large edifices, 
and met with some Indians who spoke the Mexican language, and 
who told them that a few day's journey from that river towards 
the north, was the kingdom of Tolan, and many other inhabited 
places, from whence the Mexicans migrated. In fact, the whole 
population of Anahuac have usually affirmedj that towards the 
north were the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, Capallan, 
and several others, which are all Mexican names, now so desig- 
nated ; but were we to trace these names to their origin, they would 
be found to be of Mongol or Mogul origin, from Asia. Boturini, 
or Bouterone, a learned antiquarian of Paris, of the 17th century, 
says, that in the ancient paintings of the Taltecas, a nation of Mex- 
ico, or more anciently called Anahuac, was represented the migra- 
tions of their ancestors through Asia, and the northern countries of 
America, until they established themselves in the country of Tolan 
{Morse, p. 618.) 

This river Tizan is, unquestionably, the river Columbia, which 
belongs to the territory owned by the United States, bordering on 
the coast of the Pacific, in latitude 47 degrees north ; which from 
Anahuac, in Mexico, is about that distance (600 miles) and 
this river being the only one of much size emptying into the sea 
on that side of the Rocky mountains, between the latitude of Mex- 
ico and the latitude of the mouth of the Columbia, is the reason 
why that river, may, almost with certainty, be supposed the very 
Indian Tizan. But still farther north, several days' journey, were 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 307 

the kingdoms and provinces of Tolan, Aztalan, and Capallan, 
which were probably in the latitude with the northern parts of the 
United States's lands west ot the Rocky mountains, and filling all 
the regions east as far as the head waters of the great western 
rivers ; thence down those streams, peopling the vast alluvials in 
Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, Northwestern Territor^'^, Ohio, Ken- 
tucky, Mississippi, and so on to the gulf of Mexico. 

Although those kingdoms and provinces spoken of by the natives 
of Tizan, to these Spani; !i adventurers, had many hundred years 
before been vacated of their population and grandeur ; yet it was 
natural for them to retain the tradition of their numbers and ex- 
tent : and to speak of them as then existing, which, as to latitude 
and location, was true, although in a state of ruin, like the edifices 
at the Tizan, or Columbia. 

In an address delivered at New- York, before the College of 
Physicians, by Dr. Mitchill, which relates to the migrations of 
Malays, Tartars and Scandinavians, we have the following : "A 
late German writer, professor Vater, has published, at Leipsig, a 
book on the population of America. He lays great stress on the 
tongues spoken by the aborigines, and dwells considerably upon 
the unity pervading the whole of them, from Chili to the remotest 
district of North America, whether of Greenland, Chippewa, Dela- 
ware, Natick, Totuaka, Cora or Mexico. Though ever so singu- 
lar and diversified, nevertheless the same peculiarity obtains among 
them all, which cannot be accidental, viz : the whole sagacity of 
that people from whom the construction of the American languages 
and the gradual invention of their grammatical lorms is derived, 
has, as it were, selected one object, and over this diffused such an 
abundance of forms, that one is astonished ; while only the most 
able philologist, or grammarian of languages, by assiduous study, 
can obtain a general viev/ thereof. 

" In substance, the author (prof. Vater) says, that through 
various times and circumstances, this peculiar character is pre- 
served. Such unity, such direction, or tendency, compels us to 
place the origin in a remote period, when one original tribe or peo- 
ple existed, whose ingenuity and judgment enabled them to ex- 
cogitate or invent such intricate formations of language as could 
not be effaced by thousands of years, nor by the influence of zones 
tmd climates, 



30S AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" Mr. Vater has published a large work, entitled Mithridates, ia 
which he has given an extensive comparison of all the Asiatic^ 
African and American languages, to a much greater extent than was 
done by our distinguished fellow citizen, Dr. Barton, of Philadel- 
phia, professor of natural history. Mr. Vater concludes by ex- 
pressing his desire to uni'avel the mysteries which relate to the new 
and old continents; at least to contribute the contents of his 
volume towards the commencement of a structure, which, out of 
the ruins of dilacerated human tribes, seeks materials for an union 
of the whole human race in one origin ; which some have disputed, 
notwithstanding the plain statement of the Bible on that subject, 
which is a book entitled to the term antiquity^ paramount to all 
other records now in existence on the earth. 

" What this original and radical language was, has very lately 
been the subject of inquiry by the learned Mr. Mathieu, of 
Nancy, in France. The Chevalier Valentine, of the order of St. 
Michael, renewed by Louis XVIII, informs me that this gentleman 
has examined Mr. Winthrop's description of the curious characters 
inscribed upon the rock at Dighton, Massachusetts, as published 
in the Transactions of the Boston Academy of Arts and Sciences. 
He ihinks them hieroglyphics, which he can interpret and explain, 
and ascribes them to the inhabitants of the ancient Atlantic island 
of Plato, called by him Atalantis. Mr. Mathieu not only professes 
to give the sense of the inscription, but also to prove that the 
tongues spoken by the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other occidental 
or western people, as well as the Greek itself, with all its dialects, 
and ramifications, were but derivations from the language of the 
primitive Atalantians of the island of Plato." — {Seepage 80 ^c) 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 300 



Ancient Languages of the first Inhabitants of Jimcrica. 

First Letter to Mr. Champollion, on the Graphic Systems of America, 
and the Glyphs of Ololum or Palenque, in Central America. 

BY C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

You have become celebrated by decyphering, at last, the glyphs 
and characters of the ancient Egyptians, which all your learned 
predecessors had deemed a riddle, and pronounced impossible to 
read. You first announced your discovery in a letter. I am going 
to follow your footsteps on another continent, and a theme equally 
obscure ; to none but yourself can I address with more propriety, 
letters on a subject so much alike in purpose and importance, and 
so similar to your own labors. 

I shall not enter, at present, into any very elaborate discussion. 
I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result of 
my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some im- 
portance in a philological and historical point of view ; which was 
announced as early as 1828, in some journals, (three letters to Mr. 
McCulloch on the American nations,) but not properly illustrated. 
Their full development would require a volume, like that of yours 
on the Egyptian antiquities, and may -follow this perhaps at some 
future time. 

It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to 
my researches, or results of my inquiries : 

1. America has been the land of false systems ; all those made 
in Europe on it, are more or less vain and erroneous. 

2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization and sci- 
ences, to the nations of Africa and Europe ; like them the children 
bf the Asiatic nations. 

3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, 
glyphs and letters. Several had various modes of perpetuating 
ideas. 

4. There were several such graphic systems in America, to ex- 
press ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent. 

5. They may be arranged in twelve series, proceeding from the 
pnost simple to the most complex. 

\at Series. — Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Toliecas^Aztecas, 



310 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Huaztecas Skeres, Panos, Sjc. Similar to the first symbols of the 
Chluese, invented by Tien-hoang, before the flood, and earliest 
Egyptian glyphs. 

2d. Series. — Outlines of figures, or abridged symbols and glyphs, 
expressing words or ideas, used by almost all the nations of North 
and South America, even the most rude. Similar to the second 
kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to China 
by the Lon^ma, (dragon and horse,) nation of barbarous horsemen, 

under Sui-gin. 

3d Scries- — Quipos, or knots on strings, used by the Peruvians, 
and several other South American nations. Similar to the third 
kind of Chinese glyphs, introduced under Yong-ching, and used 
also by many nations of Africa. 

4lh Series. — Wampums, or strings of shells and beads, used by 
' many nations of North America. Similar to those used by some 
ancient or rude nations in all the parts of the world, as tokens of 
ideas. 

5th Series. — Runic glyphs, or marks and notches on twigs or 
lines, used by several nations of North America. Consimilar to 
the runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations. 

6th Series. — Runic marks and dots, or graphic symbols, not on 
strings nor lines, but in rows; expressing words or ideas; used by 
the ancient nations of North America cjnd Mexico, iLie TalegaSj 
Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans, Tuscaroras, ^x, and also the Muhiz- 
casy of South America. Similar to the ancient symbols of the 
Ptruscans^ Egyptians, Celts, (Sj-c, and the Ho-tu of the Chinese, in- 
vented by Tsang-hij called also the Ko-teu-chu letters, which were 
in use in China, till S27 before our era- 

llh Series. — Alphabetical symbols, expressing syllables or sounds^ 
fiioi words, but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows ; such is 
the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near Palenque, 
the American Thebes. Consimilar to the groups of alphabetical 
symbols used by the ancient Lyblans, Egyptians, Persians, and also 
the last graphic system of the Chinese, called Ventze, invented by 
Sse-hoang. 

8th Series — Cursive symbols, in groups, and the groups in paral- 
lel rows, derived from the last, (which are chiefly monum-ntal,) 
and used in the manuscripts of the Mayans, Guatamahns, ^c. 
Consimilar to fhe actual cursive Chinesej some demotic Egyptian} 



AND DISCOVERIES L\ THE WEST. 



311 



and many modifications of ancient graphic alphabets, grouping the 
letters or syllables. 

9lh Series. — Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet 
of the Cherokisy and many graphic inscriptions found in North and 
South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, Africa 
and Polynesia. 

10th Series. — Alphabets or graphic letters, expressing simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, medals 
and coins in North and South America, and lately introduced every 
where by the European colonists. Similar to the alphabets of 
Asia, Africa and Europe. 

11/^ Series. — Abreviations, or letters standing for whole words, 
or part of a glyph and graphic delineation, standing and expressing 
the whole. Used by almost all the writing nations of North and 
South America, as well as Asia, Europe and Africa. 

I2th Series. — Numeric system of graphic signs, to express num- 
bers All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, strokes, 
circles, glyphs, letters, &c., used by some nations of North and 
South America, as well as in the eastern continent. 

In my next letter I shall chiefly illustrate the 7th and 8th series 
so as to decypher and explain one of the most curious and least 
known of the American modes of expressing and perpetuating ideas. 
I shall give a figure of a sample of those monumental symbols, 
with comparative figures of two alphabets of Africa, the nearest re- 
lated to them, and where the elements may be traced, which are 
grouped in those glyphs. 




[The characters here presented are the glyphs alluded to by this 
author, formed from the combinations of the African and American 



312 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Jetters, shown and treated upon page 118 of this work. For an 
account of those glyphs, see pages 122, 1.23 and 124.] 

At the first glance, the most cursory observer is impressed with 
the idea of their likeness to the Chinese glyphs, which, in the lan- 
guages in which they were or are in use, is equivalent to the com- 
bination of our letters when grouped so as to spell words, and show 
that America, in its earliest history, was not without its literati, and 
means of improvement by the use of letters, but was lost by means 
of revolutions as once was the fate of the Roman empire. 

We have glanced at the following circumstance before, on page 
241 : we hope the reader will excuse its repetition, as we wish in 
this place to give the entire remarks of the author on this most in- 
teresting subject, the letters and glyphs of America.] 

" Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a 
large premium for a voyage to Guatamala, and a new survey of the 
antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from 
Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have re- 
stored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name of 
the stream running through the ruins. I should have been inclined 
to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the civil discords 
of the country did not forbid it. My attention was drawn forcibly 
to this subject as soon as the account of those ruins, surveyed by 
Captain Del Rio, as early as 1787, but withheld from the public 
eye by Spain, was published in 1822, in English. 

This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city 75 
miles in circuit, (length 32 English miles, greatest breadth 12 
miles,) full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions : one 
of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to Thebes 
of Egypt, as well calculated to inspire me with hopes that they 
would throw a great light over American history, when more pro 
perly examined. 

I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared 
to penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the 
ruins, monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The 
Society of Geography has received many additional accounts, de- 
rived from documents preserved in Mexico ; but they have not 
been deemed worthy of the, reward offered for a new survey, and 
have not even been published. The same has happened with Tia- 
huanacoy in Bolivia, South America, another mass of ancient ruins, 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 213 

and mine of historical kuowledge, which no late traveller has visit- 
ed or described. 

Being therefore without hope of any speedy accession to our 
knowledge of those places, i iiave been compelled to work upon 
the materials now extant, which have happily enabled me to do a 
great deal, notwithstanding all their defects^ and throw some light 
on that part of the history of America. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

Philadelphia^ January^ 1832. 



Ihe Atlantic Mations of Amei'ica. 

The ocean separating Europe and Africa from America is yet 
Called the Atlantic ocean, our littoral states are called the Atlantic 
states. The Atlantes of North Africa, who gave their name to the 
Atlas mountains, and whose descendants exist there as yet under 
thenames of Taurics, Berbers, Shelluh, Shoioiah, S^c, were one of 
the primitive nations of both continents. They came to America 
soon after the flood, if not before, colonised and named the ocean, 
and the islands in it, as well as America, which was called the 
Great Atlantis, or rather Afala, meaning the first, or main land. 
This name is preserved in Hindu traditions. Ihe Atlantes were 
not the only primitive colonists of America, but they were the 
most conspicuous and civilized. Their true name was Atalans; 
They may have been the founders of Otolum, and many other an- 
cient cities. Their descendants exist to this day in America, under 
the names of Tolas or Tarascas, Atalalas, Matalans, Talegaicis, 
Otalis or Tsulukis, Talahuicas, Chontalas or Tsendalas, <SfG., from 
Carolina to Guatamala. 

When Columbus discovered again America, he and the earliest 
explorers were struck with the similarity between many American 
tribes and the Guanches of the Canary islands, remains of the 
Oceanic Atlantes, in features, manners and speech. Whether the 
Hayiians, Cubans and Aruucs, were genuine Atlantes, is rather 
doubtful, because their lant-uage is more akin to the Pelagic fhau 
the Atlantic. But three at least out of the twenty-five original na- 
tions of America above enumerated, may safely be deemed chil- 
dren of the Atlantes. They are the ninth or Otalis, the tenth or 
Atulans, and the fourteenth or Chontals 

40 



314 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This could be proved in many ways, and by their languages 
compared with those of their African brethren, TauricSy Gnanches, 
8}-c. after a separation of several thousand years. But the proofs 
would fill a volume. 

Our actual Cherokis, and akin tribes, are the children of the first 
branch, named Otalis. This was their original name. Adair, 
only 100 years ago, says that the genuine or upland Cherokis were 
called Otalis, which name meant mountaineers, as in Africa. They 
call themselves now Tsulukis. Our name of Cherokis is derived 
from the word Chelakis, name of a tribe. They have not the 
sound of r in their speech. Only one tribe substitutes r to /• 
The interebting history of this nation shall deserve our attention 
hereafter. The Chontal branch or nation will come under notice 
in investigating the antiquities of Otolum or Palenque. It remains 
here to survey the genuine branch of Atalans ; eldest, perhaps, 
of the American Atlantes. 

Among this, the best known, (and yet hardly knownj) are the 
Tarascas of Michuacan, in West Mexico ; the brave nation that 
first asserted the late Mexican independence. Their true name is 
Tula; and Tala-s-ca, meaning Tala-self-the, or, in our idiom, the 
very self Tata. They have no r in their speech, and this name was 
changed by the Othmis and Mexicans into Tarascas. — (See gram- 
mar of their language by Basulenque, Mexico, 1714.) 

From this interesting little work, some other account from Vater, 
and the Spanish writers, we learn something of their language, 
which is yet spoken, and may be thoroughly studied. We also 
learn that they formed a powerful and civilized kingdom, indepen- 
dent of Mexico, at the Spanish invasion, which became the ally of 
the Spaniards, but was by them subdued by treachery and infa- 
mous conduct. But we learn very little of their previous history ; 
and the little known is buried in untranslated Spanish books. It 
is by their language that we can hope to trace their origin and most 
remote history. Languages do not lie, says Home Tooke. They 
reveal what time has buried in oblivion. 

We shall therefore give some account of it, that the learned or 
curious may study its affinities. So far as we have done so already, 
we have been struck with its evident analogy with the Atlantic, 
Coptic, Pelagic, Greek, Latin and Italian languages of Africa and 
Europe, both in words and structure, in spite of a separation of some 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 



:il5 



thousand years. This language is nth, beautiful and highly com- 
plex. It amalgamates particles to modify words, as in the Italian. 
The verbs have fifteen modifications, as in Italian, or nearly so ; 
they can be compounded, as in Greek. It admits of all the Greek 
rhetorical figures. The plural is formed by x. It has nearly all 
the European vocal sounds, except/ and r; also no gn and no II; 
but it has three sibillant, ts, tz and tzh. 

The analogies with the Italian are striking in the following 
phrases, and some even appear with the Saxon English. 



English. Tola. Italian. 

1 Thou Thu Tu 

2 Was (wast) Esca Sei (fosti) 

3 Thou who Thuqui Tu che 

4 Spoke Vandahaca Favelasti 



English. ToIm. ItaUan. 
II Hi lo 

2 Was Esca Sie (fui) 

3 I who Hiquinioi lo che 

4 Loved Pamphzahaca Amai 



English. 


Tala. Italian. 


1 Is not 


Noxas Non e 


2 So wise 


Mimixcti Amico (savio; 


3 As I 


Isqui hi Com'io 



The following vocabulary of 85 words gives a fair sample of the 
language. The affinities with the Pelagic and its children, Greek, 
Latin, Etruscan and Italian, are marked by the letter jo; those with 
the Atlantic dialects of Africa, with the letter a. They amount to 
50 out of 85 with the Pelagic, or 60 per cent of analogy ; and to 38 
out of 65 with the Atlantic, or 51 percent. These are striking 
facts, deserving attention, in spite of the unbelief of some ignorant 
or lazy philosophers or historians, who neglect or disbelieve these 
evident proofs^. The sixteen English affioities are marked by an 
arterisk. The orthography is, of course Spanish. 



English. 


Tala. 


Eng 


lish. 


Tala. 


Water 


Ama, ma, a. p. 


Land* 




Haca, eche, andatze, a. p 


Fire 


Pa, vepo, tani, a. p. 


Thine 




Thuicheveri 


Stone 


Tzacapu, zainpzin, a. p. 


You 




Thucha 




Cuiri, a. 


Yours 




Thuchaveri 


Men 


Puecha, p. 


We 




Hucha 




Marin, p. 


Ours 




Huchaveri 


Dog 


Vichu, a. 


This 




I, p. 


Mountain* 


Vata, a. 


These 




Ix 


SUr 


Hosqua 


That 




Inde, ima 


Day 


Vina, p. 


Mine, 1 


own 


Huchevi 


Night 


Ahchiuri, tzire 


Be 




E,a.p. 



316 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



English. 


Tala. 


English. 


Tola. 


Heaven' 


Parini, arandu, a. p. 


To be 


Eni, a. p. 


House* 


O, chao, p. a. 


I am 


Ehaca, a. p 


Father,* 


Tata, o.jj. 


Is* 


Esti, a. p. 


Mother, 


Naaa,^. 


Was 


Esca, a. p. 


Hanc], arm, 


Cu, xu, a. 


Place,* earth Can, haca, a. p 


Foot 


Du, a. 


King 


Irecha, a. p. 


Head 


Tsl,p. 


Kingdom 


Arikeve,p. 


Mouth* 


Mu, a. p. 


Name 


A can, Guriqua 


Beard 


Hapu, p. 


Fish 


'Mechoa, p. 


End, tail 


Yara,/». 


City" 


Fatziza,;». 


One 


Mah 


Deer 


Taximaroa 


Alone 


Mahco 


Festival 


Metotes, p. 


Ten 


Xam, p. 


To give 


Inspeni 


Much 


Cani, a. 


To write 


Carani, p. 


Priest* 


Amberi,^. quina'HiGtin 


To say 


Harani, p. 


God 


Tucapacha, a. 


To hold 


Uhcamani 


Just 


Casipeti 


To wash 


Hopo 


Good 


Arabaqueti, 


To think 


Hangue, j9. 


Wise, friend Mimi,^. a. 


To take 


Piran, p. 


Little 


Caxeti 


To come 


Hurani, p. Tiro? 


Tree 


Einba, ches, a. p. 


Food 


Caro, aqua,^. o. 


Bark 


Chucari, p. 


Drink 


Ifsima, a. 


Leaf 


Zahcuri 


Handsome 


Tzitzis, a. 


Bread 


Curinda, a. 


Living 


Tzipeti, p. 


Color* 


Chara,/?. 


To live 


Tzipeni 


Plain 


Pe,p. 


Singer 


Pireti,/?, 


Sand 


Cutza 


To sing 


Pireni 


Peak 


Phurequa,;?. 


Not* 


Noxa=, p. a. 


Evil 


Sismaraqui, himboo 


Like,* as 


lsqm,p. 


Boat 


Xu, a. 


Love 


Panipza, p. 


Self* 


S,p. 


Speech 


Vanda, p. 


1, me* 


Wi,p. a 


Who, whom Qui, p. 


Myself 


His, p. «. 


The 


Ca 


Thou' 


Thu, p. 







Primitive Origin of the English Language. 

BY C. S. RAFINESdUE. 

The best work on the philosophy and affinities of the English 
language, is, at present, the introduction, by Noah Webster, to his 
great dictionary. Yet although he has taken enlarged views of 
the subject, and by far surpassed every predecessor, he I-ias left 
much to do to those future philologists and philosophers who may 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 317 

be inclined to pursue the subject still farther : not having traced 
the English language to its primitive sources, nor through all its 
variations and anomalies. 

But no very speedy addition to this knowledge is likely to be 
produced, since Mr. Webster has stated, in a letter inserted in the 
Genesee Farmer of March, 1832, (written to vindicate some of 
his improvements in orthography,) that no one has been found in 
America or England able to review his introduction ! although 
many have been applied to! But I was not one of those consulted, 
few knowing of my researches in languages, else I could have done 
ample justice to the subject and Mr. "Webster. 

It is not now a review of his labors that I undertake, but merely 
an inquiry into the primitive origin of our language, extracted from 
my manuscript philosophy of the English, French and Italian lan- 
guages, compared with all the other languages or dialects of the 
whole world, not less than 3000 in number. 

The modern English has really only one immediate parent. The 
old English, such as it was spoken and written in England, between 
the years 1000 and 1500, lasting about five hundred years, which 
is the usual duration of fluctuating languages. Our actual English 
is a natural deviation or dialect of it, begun between 1475 and 
1525, and gradually improved and polished under two different 
forms, the written English and the spoken English, which are as 
different from each other as the English from the French. These 
two forms have received great accession by the increase of know- 
ledge, and borrowing from many akin languages words unknown 
to the old English. They are both subject yet to the fluctuations of 
orthography and pronunciation, which gradually modify them again. 

The old English existed probably also under these two forms, and 
had several contemporaneous dialects, as the modern English, of 
which the Yorkshire and Scotch dialects are most striking in Eu- 
rope, while Guyana, Creole and West-India Creole, are the most 
remarkable in America. Another dialect, filled with Bengali and 
Hindostani words, is also forming in the East-Indies. 

A complete comparison of the old and modern English has not 
yet been given. A few striking examples will here be inserted as 
a specimen of disparity. 



318 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 



Written. 


Written. 


Written. 


Written. 


Old English. 


Mod. English. 


Old English. 


Mod. English. 


Londe 


Lande ^ 


See 


Sea 


Sterre 


Star 


Benethen 


Beneath 


Erthe 


Earth 


Hewyn 


Heaven 


Yle 


Island 


Hedde 


Head 



, As late as the year 1555, we find the English language very dif- 
ferent from the actual, at least in ©rthography ; for instance, 



Eng. of 1555. 


Writ. Mod. Eng. 


Eng. of 1555. 


Writ. Mod. Eng. 


Preste 


Priest 


Fyer 


Fire 


Euyll 


Evil 


"Howse 


House 


Youe 


You 







This old English is supposed to have spruug from the amalga- 
mation of three languages : British-Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and Nor- 
man-French, between the years 1000 and 1200. This has been 
well proved by many, and I take it for granted. 

But the successive parents and the genealogies of the Celtic, 
Saxon and Norman, are not so well| understood. Yet through their 
successive and gradual dialects springing from each other, are to 
be traced the anomalies and ffinities of all the modern languages 
of western Europe. 

By this investigation it is found that these three parents of the 
English, instead of being remote and distinct languages, were them- 
selves brothers, sprung from a common primitive source, having 
undergone fluctuations and changes every 500 or 1000 years. For 
instance, the Latin of the time of Romulus, was quite a different 
language from that spoken in the time of Augustus, although this 
was the child of the former, this of the Ausonian, &c. 

The following table will illustrate this fact, and the subsequent 
remarks prove it. 

/. Old English spru7ig partly from the British- Celtic. 

2d Step. British Celtic of Great Britain, sprung from the Celtic 
of West Europe. 

3d Step. This Celtic from the Cumric or Kimran of Europe. 
4th Step. The Cumric from the Gomerian of Western Asia. 
5th Step. The Gomerian from the Yavana of Central Asia. 
6th Step. The Yavana was a dialect of the Sanscrit. 



AND DlSeOVERIES m THE WEST. 31 W 

//. The Old English partly sprung from the Anglo-Saxon of Britain. 

2d Step. The Anglo-Saxon sprung from Saxon or Sacacenas of 
Germany. 

3d Step. The Saxon from the Teutonic or Gothic of Europe. 

4th Step. The Teutonic from the Getic of East Europe. 

5th Step. The Getic from the Tiras or Tharaca of West Asia. 
(Thracians of the Greeks.) 

6th Step. The Tiras from the Cutic or Saca of Central Asia, 
called Scythian by the Greeks. 

7th Step. The Saca was a branch of the Sanscrit. 

///. Old English partly sprung from the Norman- French. 

2d Step. The Norman French was sprung from the Romanic of 
France. 

3d Step. The Romanic from the Celtic, Teutonic and Roman 
Latin. 

4th Step. Roman Latin from the Latin of Romulus. 

5th Step. The Latin from the Ausouian of Italy. 

6th Step. The Ausonian from the Pelagic of Greece and West 
Asia. 

7th Step. The Pelagic from the Palangsha or Pali of Central 
Asia. 

8th Step. The Pali was a branch of the Sanscrit. 

Thus we see all the sources of the English language concen- 
trating by gradual steps into the Sanscrit, one of the oldest lan- 
guages of Central Asia, which has spread its branches all over the 
globe. Being the original language of that race of men, fathers of 
the Hindus, Persians, Europeans and Polynesians. 

All the affinities between English and Sanscrit, are direct and 
striking, notwithstanding many deviations, and the lapse of ages. 
While those between the English and other primitive languages, 
such as Chinese, Mongol, Arabic, Hebrew, Coptic, Berber, &c., 
are much less in number and importance ; being probably derived 
from the natural primitive analogy of those languages with the 
Sanscrit itself, when all the languages in Asia were intimately 
connected. 

Many authors have studied and unfolded the English analogies 
with many languages ; but few if any have ever stated their nu- 
merical amount. Unless this is done we can never ascertain the 



320 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

relative amount of mutual affinities. My numerical rule affords a 
very easy mode to calculate this amount without much trouble. 

Thus, to find the amount of affiuities between English and Latin, 
let us take ten important words at random in each. 



TVrit. Eng. 


Latin. 


Writ. Eng. 


Latin. 


Woman 


Feniina 


One 


Unum 


ft Water 


Aqua 


ft House 


Domus 


t Earth 


Terra 


tMoon 


Luna 


tGod 


Deus 


Star 


Aster 


ttSoul 


Anima 


ttGood 


Bonus 



We thereby find three affinities in ten, or 30 per cent ; as many 
analogies or semi-affinities, marked t, equal to 15 per cent more ; 
and four words, or 40 per cent, have no affinities. This will pro- 
bably be found a fair average of the mutual rate in the old English, 
but the modern has received so many Latin synonyms as to exceed 
perhaps this rate. 

Of these analogies it is remarkable that most are not direct from 
the Latin, or even through the French ; but are of Saxon origin, 
which had them with the Latin previously. 

Thus the affinities between the English and Greek or Russian 
are derived through the Pelagic and Thracian, unless lately 
adopted. 

Boxhorn and Lipsius first noticed the great affinities of words 
and grammar between the Persian and German dialects. Twenty- 
five German writers have written on this. But Weston, in a very 
rare work, printed at Calcutta, in 1S16, on the conformity of the 
English and European languages with the Persian, has much en- 
larged the subject, and has given as many as 480 consimilar words 
between Persian and Latin, Greek, English, Gothic, and Celtic : 
but he has not stated the numerical amount of these affinities. All 
this is not surprising, since the Iranians or Persians were also a 
branch of Hindus, and this language a child of the Zend, a dialect 
of the Sanscrit. Hammer has found as many a 560 affinities be- 
tween German and Persian. 

But the late work of Col. Kennedy, Researches on the Origin 
find Affinity of the principal Langumjes of Asia and Europe^ London, 
1828, 4to., is the most important, as directly concerning this in- 
vestigation ; notwithstanding that he has ventured on several gra- 
tuilious assertions, and has many omissions of consequence 



And discoveries in the west. 321 

Kennedy states that the Sanscrit has 2500 verbal roots, but only 
666 have distinct meanings ; while each admitting of 25 suffixes, 
they form 60,000 word:*, and as lliey are susceptible of 958 incre- 
ments, as many as 1,395,000 words may be said to exist in this 
wonderful language. 

Yet out of these 2500 roots, as many as 900 are found by Ken- 
nedy in the Persian and European languages, although the Greek 
has only 2200 roots, and the Latin 2400. Of these 900 aflGinitiefi 

330 are found in the Greek, 

319 in Latin, 

265 in Persian, 

262 in Geman, , 

251 in English, 

527 in Greek or Latin, 

181 in both German and English, 
31 in all the five languages. 
This is something positive and numerical ; but unfortunately 
not definite, and partly erroneous, as Will be proved presently from 
the English. Kennedy denies atiiniiies •between the Celtic and 
Sanscrit ; but the very words he has offered as examples, (only 
lOOj) offer many evident affinities. His opinion that the Hindus 
and Egyptians came from the Babylonians, is very improbable. It 
was from the high table land of Central Asia that all the old nations 
came. 

The 251 English affinities may be seen in Kennedy, as well as 
the 339 Latin, which are mostly found now also in English through 
the words derived from the Latin. These two united would be 
590 or more already than the 566 separate meanings of the San- 
scrit roots. But Kennedy has by no means exhausted the Sanscrit 
etymologies of the English. Although I have no English Sanscrit 
dictionary at hand, yet I have many Sanscrit vocabularies, where 
I find many words omitte^ by Kennedy. And what is not found in 
the Sanscrit itself, is found in its eastern children, the modern lan- 
guages of Hindostan. 

Among my vocabularies, the most important is one made by my- 
self, of the principal words of the old Sanscrit, met with and ex- 
plained in the laws of Menu translated by Jones. In these old and 
often obsolete words are found the most striking affinities, of 
which I here give the greater part. 

41 



322 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITI£S 



English, 


Old Santtrk 


English , 


Old Sanserii! 


Written. 


of Menu. 


Written. 


of Menv. 


Mother 


Mara 


Beetle 


Blatta 


Mind 


Men 


Penny 


Pana 


Mankind 


Manavah 


Gas 


Akasa 


Era 


Antara 


Father 


Vasus 


Hour 


Hora 


Play 


Waya 


Virtuous 


Verta 


Malice (sin) 


Mala 


Antique 


Arti • 


Patriarch 


Patri 


Middle 


Medhya 


Eyes 


Eshas 


Teacher 


Acharya 


Right 


Rita 


Bos (master) 


Bhos 


Phantom 


Vantasa 


Before 


Purva 


Wood 


Venu 


Wind 


Pavana 


Me, mine 


Man 


Deity 


Daitya 


Animate 


Mahat 


Mouth 


Muc'ha 


Spirit 


Eshetra 



Being twenty-eight derivated words out of eighty-four of this 
old vocabulary, 33 per cent. 

Another very singular vocabulary I have extracted from the 
transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, and Erskiue's ac- 
count of the ancient Mahabad religion of Balk from the book De- 
satir. Some words are given there of the language of the Maha- 
bad empire, the primitive Iran, which appears to be a very early 
dialect of the Sanscrit and Zend. Out of thirty words twelve 
have analogies to the English, equal to 40 per cent. 



English, 


Mahabad 


English, 


Mahabad 


Written. 


of Iran. 


Written. 


of Iran. 


Father 


Titer 


Middle 


Mad 


End 


Antan 


Sky 


Kas 


Course 


Kur (time) 


Royal 


Raka (king) 


Nigh 


Unim 


Ignite 


Agai (fire) 


Amicably 


Mitr (friend) 


Man 


Minhush^ 


Globo 


Gul 


Donation 


Datisur 



1 could add here at least 250 to the 251 of Kennedy, if it were 
not too tedious and long. But I can safely vouch that all the 560 
radical roots of peculiar meaning, forming the base of the Sanscrit, 
are to be found in the English roots, or if a few are lacking it is 
merely owing to some having become obsolete tiirough the lapse of 
nearly 5000 years, when the Yavanas, Sacas and Pallis separated 
from their Hindu brethren, and the revolution of six or seven suc- 
cessive dialects formed by each, till they met again in the English. 



AND DISCOVERIES IS THE WEST. S23 

Kennedy has even some obsolete English and Scotch words, now 
out of use, which are derived frera the Sanscrit- 

This inquiry is not merely useful to unfold the origin and revo- 
lutions of our language ; but it applies more or less to all the lan- 
guages of Europe ; which were formed in a similar way by dialects 
of former languages. Since every dialect becomes a language 
whenever it is widely spread and cultivated by a polished nation. 
Thus the French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanic and Vala- 
quian are now become languages, with new dialects of their own, 
although they are in fact mere dialects of the Latin and Celtic. 

The physical conformation and features of all the European and 
Hindu nations are well known to agree, and naturalists consider 
them as a common race. The historical traditions of these nations 
confirm the philological and physical evidence. All the European 
nations came from the east or the west of the Imaus table land of 
Asia, the seat of the ancient Hindu empires of Balk, Cashmir and 
Iran. The order of time in which the Asiatic nations entered Eu- 
rope to colonize it was as follows : 

1. or most ancient. Esquasox Oscans or Iberians or Cantabrians. 

2. Gomarians or Cumras or Celts or Gaels. 

3. Getes or Goths or Scutttns or Scythians. 

4. Finns or Laps or Sames. 

5. Tiras or Thracians or Illyrians or Slaves. 

6. Pallis or Pelasgians or Hellenes or Greeks- 

The settlement in Europe of these last is so remote as to be in- 
volved in obscurity. But their geographical positions, traditions 
and languages prove their relative antiquity. The Greek language 
is one of those that has been most permament, having lasted 2500 
years, from Homer's time to the Turkish conquest. Yet it sprung 
from the Pelagic and has given birth to the Romanir or modern 
Greek dialects. 



Colonies of the Danes tn Amerim. 

But besides the evidences that the Malay, Australasian z.-A 
Polynesian tribes of the Pacific islands, have, in remote ages, peo- 



324 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

pled America, from the west ; coming, first of all, from the Asiatic 
shores of that ocean ; and also from the east, peopling the island 
Atalantis, (equally early, as we believe,) once situated between 
America and Europe, and from this to the continent ; yet there is 
another class of antiquities, or race of population, which, says Dr. 
Mitchill, deserves particularly to be Roticed. " These are the emi- 
grants from Lapland, Norway, and Finland in Europe, " who, be- 
fore the tenth century, settled themselves in Greenland, and pass- 
ed over to Labrador. It is recorded that these adventurers settled 
themselves in a country which they called Vinlund." 

Our learned regent. Gov. De Witt Clinton, says Dr. Mitchill, 
who has out-done Governeur Golden, by writing the most full and 
able history of the Iroquois, or Five Nations, of New- York, men- 
tioned to me his belief that a part of the old for's and other antiqui- 
ties at Onondaga, about Auburn, and the adjacent country, were of 
Danish character. 

" I was at once penetrated by the justice of his remark ; sii ad- 
ditional window of light was suddenly opened to my view on this 
subject. I perceived at once, with the Rev. Van Troii, that the 
European emigrants had passed, during the horrible commotions of 
the ninth and tenth century, to Iceland. — ((See History of Enylaiid.) 

The Rev. Mr. Crantz had informed me, in his important book, 
how they went to Greenland. I thought I could trace the people 
of Scandinavia to the banks of the St. Lawrence ; I supposed my 
friends had seen the Punic inscriptions made by them here and 
there, in the places where they visited. Madoc, prince of Wales, 
and his Cambrian followers, appeared, to my recollection, among 
these bands of adventurers. And thus the northern lands of North 
America were visited by the hypeiborean tribes from the north- 
westermost climates of Europe ; and the northwestern climes of 
North America had received inhabitants of the same race from the 
northeastern regions of Asia. 

The Danes, Fins or Germans, and Welchmen, performing their 
migrations gradually to the southwest, seem to have penetrated to 
the country situated in the south of lake Ontario, which woiild be 
in the states of New- York and Pennsylvania, and to have fortified 
themselves there ; where the Tartars, or Saraoieds, travelling by 
slow degrees ffom Alaska, on the Pacific, to the southeast, finally 
found them. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 325 

In their course these Asian colonists probably exterminated the 
Malays, who had penetrated along the Ohio and its streams, or 
drove them to caverns abounding in saltpetre and coni ras, in Ken- 
tucky and Tennessee ; where their bodies, accompanied with cloths 
and ornaments of their peculiar manufacture, have been repeatedly 
disinterred and examined by the members of the American Anti- 
quarian Society. 

Having achieved this conquest, the Tartars and their descend- 
ants had probably a much harder task to perform. This was to 
subdue the more ferocious and warlike European colonisfs, who 
had intrenched and fortified themselves in the country, after the 
arrival of the Tartars, or Indians as they are now called, in the 
particular parts they had settled themselves in, along the region 
of the Atlantic. 

In Pompey, Onondaga county, are the remains, or outlines, of a 
town, including more than 500 acres. It appeared protected by 
three circular or eliptical forts, eight miles distant from each other; 
placed in such relative petitions as to form a triangle round about 
the town, at those distances. 

It is thought, from appearances, that this strong hold was stormed 
and taken on the line of the north side. In Camillus, in the same 
county, are the remains of two forts, one covering about three 
acres, on a very high hill ; it had gateways, one opening to the east 
and the other to the west, toward a spring, some rods from the 
works. Its shape is elliptical ; it has a wall, in some places xen 
feet high, with a deep ditch. 

Not far from this is another, exactly like it, only half as large. 
There are many of these ancient works hereabouts; one in Scipio, 
two near Auburn, three near Canandaigua, and several between 
■ the Seneca and Cayuga lakes. A number of such fortifications 
and burial 'places have also been discovered in Ridgeway, or the 
southern shore of lake Ontario. 

There is evidence enough that long and bloody w ars were waged 
among the inhabitants, in which the Scandinavians, or Esquimaux 
as they are now called, seem to have been overpowered and de- 
stroyed in New-York. The survivors of the defeat and ruin re- 
treated to Labrador, a country lying between Hudson's bay and 
the Atlantic ; in latitude 50 and 60 degrees north, where they 
have remained, secure from further pursuit. 



326 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

From the known ferocity of the ancient Scandinavians, who 
with other Europeans of ancient times we suppose to be the au- 
thors of the vast works about the region of Onondaga, dreadful 
wars, with infinite butcheries, must have crimsened every hill and 
dale of this now happy country. 

In corroboration of this opinion, we give the following, which 
is an extract from remarks made on the ancient customs of the 
Scandinavians, by Adam Clarke, in a volume entitled darkens 
Discovery, p. 145. 

1st. Odin, or Woden, their supreme god, is there termed the 
terrible or severe deity, the father of slaughter, who carries deso- 
lation and fire ; the tumultuous and roaring deity ; the giver of 
courage and victory ; he who marks out who shall perish in battle ; 
the shedder of the blood of man. From him is the fourth day of 
our week, denominated Wodnesday, or Wednesday. 

2d. Frigga, or Frega: she was his consort, called also Ferorthe, 
mother Earth. She was the goddess of love and debauchery — the 
northern Venus. She was also a warrior, and divided the souls of 
the slain with her husband Odin. From her we have our Friday, 
or Freya's day ; as on that day she was peculiarly worshipped, as 
was Odin on Wednesday. 

3d. Thar, the god of winds and tempests, thunder and lightning. 
He was the especial object of worship in Norway, Iceland, and con- 
sequently in the Zetland isles. From him w-e have the name of 
our fifth day, Thor's day, or Thursday. 

4th. Tri, tte god who protects houses. His day of worship was 
called Tyrsday, or Tiiesday, whence our Tuesday. As to our 
first and second day, Sunday and Monday, they derived their names 
from the sun and the moon, to whose worship ancient idolaters 
had conseciated them. 

From this we learn that they had a knowledge of a small cycle 
of time, called a week, of seven days, and must have been derived 
in some way from the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, as here we have 
the first intimation of this division of time. But among the Mexi- 
cans no trait of a cycle of seven days is found, says Humboldt ; 
which we consider an additional evidence that the first people who 
found their way to these regions, called North and South America, 
left Asia at a period anterior at least to the time of Moses ; which 
was about IGOO years before Christ. 



AND blSCOVERIES IS TIIK WEST. 327 

feut we continu*^ the quotation, "All who die in battle go to Vall- 
palla, Odin's palace, where they amuse themselves by going 
through their martial exercises ; then cutting each other to pieces ; 
afterwards, all the parts healing, they sit dovin to their feasts, 
where they quaff beer out of the sculls of those whom they had 
slain in battle, and whose blood they had before drank out of the 
same skulls, when they had slain them. 

The Scandinavians offered different kinds of sacrifices, but espe- 
cially human ; and from these they drew their auguries, by the 
velocity with which the blood flowed when they cut their throats, 
and from the appearance of the intestines, and especially the heart. 
It was a custom in Denmark to offer annually, in January, a sacri- 
fice of ninety-nine cocks, ninety-nine dogs, ninety-nine horses, and 
ninety-nine men ; besides other human sacrifices," on various oc- 
casions. 

Such being the fact, it is lairly presumable that as the Danes, 
Scandinavians, and Lapponiac nations, found their way from the 
north of Europe to Iceland, Greenland and Labrador; and from 
thence about the regions of the western lakes, especially Ontario ; 
that the terrific worship of the Celtic gods, has been practised in 
America, at least in the state of New- York. And it is not impos- 
sible but this custom may have pervaded the whole continent, for 
the name of one of these very gods, namely Odin, is found among 
the South Americans, and the tops of the pyramids may have been 
the altars of sacrifice. 

" We have already fixed the attention of the reader," says Baron 
Humboldt, " on Votan, or Wodan, an American, who seems to be 
a member of the same family with the Woads, or- Odins, of the 
Goths, and nations of the Celtic origin." 

The same names, he says, are celebrated in India, Scandinavia, 
' and Mexico, all of which is, by tra lition, believed to point to none 
other than to Noah and his sous. For, according to the traditions 
of the Mexicans, as collected by Bishop Francis Nunez de la Vega, 
their Wodan was grandson to that illustrious old man, who, at the 
time of the great deluge, was saved on a raft, with his family. He 
was also at the building of the great edifice, and co-operated with 
the builder, which had been undertaken by men to reach the skies. 
The execution of this rash project was interrupted ; each family 



AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

receiving from that time a different language ; when the Great 
Spirit, or Teatl, ordered Wodan to go and people the country of 
Anahuac, which is in America. 

" Think, (says Dr. Mitchill,) what a memorable spot is our On- 
ondaga, where men of the Malay race, from the southwest, and 
of the Tartar blood from the northwest, and of the Gothic stock 
from the northeast, have successfully contended for the supremacy 
and rule, and which may be considered as having been possessed 
by each long enough. before" Columbus was born, or the navigat- 
ing of the western ocean thought of by Europeans. 

"John de Laet, a Fie-iiish writer, says that Modoc, one of the 
sons of Prince Owen Gynnith, being disgusted with the civil wars 
which broke out between his brothers, after the death of their fa- 
ther, fitted out several vessels, and having provided them with eve- 
ry thing necessary for a long voyage, went in quest of new lands 
to the westward of Ireland. There he discovered very fertile 
countries," where he settled ; and it is very probable Onondaga, 
and the country along the St. Lawrence, and around lakes Onta 
rio and Erie, were the regions of their improvements. — ( Carver- 
p. 108.) 

" VVe learn from the historian Charlevoix, that the Eries, an in* 
digenous nation of the Malay race, who formerly inhabited the 
lauds south of lake Erie, where the western district of Pennsyl- 
vania and the state of Ohio now are. And Lewis Evens, a former 
resident of the city of New-York, lias shown us in his map of the 
Middle Colonies, that the hunting grounds of the Iroquois extend- 
ed over that very region. The Iroquois were of the Tartar stock 
and they converted (he country of the exterminated Eries or Malays 
into a range for the wild beasts of the west, and a region for their 
own hunters." 

He says, the Scandinavians emigrated about the tenth century of 
the Christian era, if not earlier ; and that they may be considered 
as not only having discovered this continent, but to have explored 
its northern climes to a great extent, and also to have peopled them. 

In the fourteenth township, fourth range of the Holland Compa- 
ny's lands in the state of New-York, near the Ridge road leading 
from Buffalo to Niagara falls, is an ancient fort, situated in a large 
swamp ; it covers about five acres of ground ; large trees are stand- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 329 

ing upon it. The earth which forms this fort was evidently brought 
from a distance, as that the soil of the marsh is quite of another 
kind, wet and miry, while the site of the fort is dry gravel and 
loam. The site of this fortification is singular, unless we suppose 
it to have been a last resort or hiding place from an enemy. 

The distance to the margin of the marsh is about half a mile, 
where large quantities of human bones have been found, on open- 
ing the earth, of an extraordinary size : the thigh bones, about two 
inches longer than a common sized man's : the jaw or chin bone 
will cover a large man's face : the skull bones are of an enormous 
thickness : the breast and hip bones are also very large. On be- 
ing exposed to the air they soon moulder away, which denotes the 
great length of time since their interment. The disorderly manner 
in which these bones were found to lie, being crosswise, commixed 
and mingled with every trait of confusion, show them to have been 
deposited by a conquering enemy, and not by friends, who would 
have laid them, as the custom of all nations always has been in a 
more deferential mode. 

There was no appearance of a bullet having been the instrument 
of their destruction, the evidence of which would have been bro- 
ken limbs. Smaller works of the same kind abound in the coun- 
try about lake Ontario, but the one of which we have just spoken 
is the most remarkable. This work, it is likely, was a last effort 
of the Scandinavians. 

North of the mountain, or great slope toward the lake, there are 
no remains of ancient works or tumuli, which strongly argues, that 
the mountain or ridgeway once was the southern boundary or shore 
of lake Ontario : The waters having receded from three to seven 
miles from its ancient shore, nearly the whole length of the lake, 
occasioned by some strange convulsion in nature, redeeming much 
of the lands of the west from the water that had covered it from the 
time of the deluge. 

The following is the opinion of Morse, the geographer, on the 
curious subject of the original inhabitants or population of America. 
He says, " without detailing the numerous opinions of philosophers, 
respecting the original population of this continent, he will, in few 
words, state the result of his own inquiries on the subject, and the 
facts from which the result is deduced. 

"The Greenlanders and Esquimaux," which are one in origin, 
. 42 



33^ AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

*' were emigrants from the northwest of Europe," which is Nor-* 
way and Lapland. A colony of Norwegians was planted in Ice- 
land, in 874, which is almost a thousand years ago. Greenland, 
which is separated from the American continent only by Davis^ 
strait, which, in several places, is of no great width, was settled by 
Eric Rufus, a young Norwegian, in 982 ; and before the 11th cen- 
tury, churches were founded and a bishopric erected, at Grade, the 
capital of the settlement. 

Soon after this. Bairn, an Icelandic navigator, by accident, dis- 
covered land to the west of Greenland. This land received the 
name of Vineland. It was settled by a colony of Norwegians in 
1002, and from the description given of its situation and produc- 
tions, must have been Labrador, which is on the American conti- 
nent, or Newfoundland, which is but a little way from the continent^ 
separated by the narrow strait of Bellisie, at the north end of the 
gulf of St. Lawrence, a river of Canada. Vineland was west of 
Greenland, and not very far to the south of it. It also produced 
grape vines spontaneously. Mr. Elis, in his voyage to Hudson's 
bay, informs us that the vine grows spontaneously at Labrador, and 
compares the fruit of it to the currants of the Levant. 

Several missionaries of the Moravians, prompted by a zeal for 
propagating Christianity, settled in Greenland ; from whom we learn 
that the Esquimaux perfectly resemble the natives of the two coun- 
tries, and have intercourse with one another ; that a few sailors^ 
who had acquired the knowledge of a few Greenland words, re- 
ported, that these were understood by the Esquimaux ; that at 
length a Moravian missionary, well acquainted with the language 
of Greenland, having visited the country of the Esquimaux, found 
to his astonishment that they spoke the same language with the 
Greenlanders ;" which of course was the same with the language 
of Iceland, and also of Norway, which is in Europe, lying along on 
the coast of the Atlantic ; as that the first colony of Iceland was 
from Norway, and from Iceland a first colony settled in Greenland, 
from thence to Labrodor, which is the continent; showing that the 
language of the Esquimaux is that of the ancient Norse of Europe, 
derived from the more ancient Celtic nations, who were derived 
from the descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah; from which we 
perceive that both from country and lineal descent, the present in- 
habitants are brothers to the Esq,uimaux (Indians, as they are im- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. S81 

properly called) who also are white, and not copper colored, liktf 
the red men, or common Indians, who are of the Tartar stock. 

The missionry, found, " that there was abundant evidence of 
their being of the same race, and he was accordingly received and 
entertained by them as a friend and brother." These facts prove 
the settlement of Greenland by an Icelandic colony, and the con- 
sanguinity of the Greenlanders and Esquimaux. 

Iceland is only about one thousand miles west from Norway, in 
Europe, with more than twenty islands between ; so that there i« 
no difficulty in the way of this history to render it improbable that 
the early navigators from Norway may have easily found Iceland, 
and colonized it. 

" The enterprize, skill in navigation, even without the compass, 
and roving habits, possessed by these early navigators, renders it 
highly probable also, that at some period more remote than the 10th 
century, they had pursued the same route to Greenland, and plant- 
ed colonies there, which is but six hundred miles west of Iceland. 
Their descendants the present Greenlanders and Esquimaux, re- 
taining somewhat of the enterprize of their ancestors, have always 
preserved a communication with each other, by crossing and re- 
crossing Davis's strait. The distance of ocean betweeen America 
and Europe on the east, or America and China on the west, is no 
objection to the passage of navigators, either from design or stress 
of weather ; as that Coxe, in his Russian Discoveries^ mentions that 
several Kamschadale vessels, in 1745, were driven out to sea, and 
forced, by stress of weather, to lake shelter among the Aleutian 
islands, in the Pacific, a distance of several hundred miles ; and 
also Captain Cook, in one of his voyages, found some natives of one 
of the Islands of the same ocean, in their war canoes, six hundred 
miles from land." — [Morse.) 

In the year 1789, Captain Bligh was sent out under the direction 
of the government of England, to the Friendly Islands, in the Pa- 
cific, in quest of the bread fruit plant, with the view of planting it 
in the West Indies. 

But having got into the Pacific ocean, his crew mutined, and 
put him, with eighteen of his men, on board of a boat of but thirty- 
two feet in length, with one hundred and fifty pounds of bread, 
twenty-eight gallons of wafer, twenty poundg of pork, three bottles 
of wine and fifteen quarts of rum. With this scanty provision he 



332 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

was turued adrift in the open sea, when the vessel sailed, and left 
them to their fate. Captain Bligh then sailed for the island of 
Tofoa, but being resisted by the islanders with stones, and threat- 
ened with death, was compelled to steer from mere recollection, 
(for he was acquainted with those parts of that ocean,) for a port 
in the East Indies called Tima, belonging to the Dutch. - He had 
been with the noted Captain Cook, in his voyages. The reason 
the natives pelted them with stones as they attempted to land, was 
because they perceived them to be without arms. This voyage, 
however, they performed in forty-six days, suffering in a most in- 
credible manner, a distance oi four thousand miles, losing but one 
man, who was killed by the stones of the savages, in attempting 
to get clear from the shore of an island, where they had landed to 
look for water. 

" In 1797, the slaves of a ship from the coast of Africa, having 
risen on the crew, twelve of the latter leaped into a boat, and made 
their escape. On the thirty -eighth day three still survived, and 
drifted ashore at Barbadoes, in the West Indies. 

In 1799, six men in a boat from St. Helena, lost their course, 
and nearly a month after, five of them surviving, reached the coast 
of South America, a distance of two thousand seven hundred and 
sixty miles."— ( Thomas^ Travels, p. 283.) 

" If we consider in what an early age navigation was practised, 
and consequently how soon after that era America would receive 
inhabitants within its torrid zone, it will appear probable that the 
Mexicans were a great nation before either the Tartars or Esqui- 
maux arrived on the northern part of this continent." 

Navigation was indeed commenced at an early age, by the 
Egyptians and Phoenicians, probably more than sixteen hundred 
years before the time of Christ, (See Morsels Chronology,) and 
doubtless, from time to time, as in later ages, arrivals, either from 
design or from being driven to sea by storm, took place, so that 
Egyptians, Phoenicians, and individuals of other nations of that 
age, unquestionably found their way to South America, and also to 
the southern parts of North America, from the east, and also from 
west, across the Pacific, in shipping. 

But we entertain the opinion, that even sooner than this, the 
woods of the Americas had received inhabitants, as we have be- 
fore endeavored to show in this work, at a time when there was 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 333 

more land, either in the form of islands in groups, or in bodies, ap- 
proaching to that of continents, situated both in the Pacific and At- 
lantic oceans ; but especially that of Atalantis, once in the Atlantic 
between America and the coast of Gibraltar. 

In the remarks of Carver on this subject, through the interior 
parts of Northwestern America, we have the following : — " Many 
of the ancients are supposed to have known that this quarter of the 
globe not only existed, but also that it was inhabited." 

Plato, who wrote about 500 B. C, in his book entitled Timaeusj 
has asserted that beyond the island which he calls Atalantis, as 
learned from the Egyptian priests, and which, according to his de- 
scription was situated in the Western ocean, opposite, as we have 
before said, to the strait of Gibraltar, there were a great number of 
other islands, and behind those a vast continent. 

If some have aftected to treat the tradition of the existence of 
this island as a chimera, we would ask, how should the priests be 
able to tell us, that behind that island, farther west, was a vast con- 
tinent, which proves to be true, for that continent is America ; or 
rather, as a continent is spoken of by Plato at all, lying west of 
Europe, we are of the opinion that this fact should carry conviction 
that the island also existed, as well as the continent ; aad why not 
Atalantis ? If Plato knew of the one did he not of the other ? 

If the Egyptian priests had told Plato that anciently there exist- 
ed a certain island, with a continent on the west of it, and the strait 
of Gibraltar on the east of it, and it was found, in succeeding ages, 
that neither the strait nor the continent were ever known to exist, 
it would be, indeed, clearly inferred, that neither was the island 
known to them. But as the strait does exist, and the western con- 
tinent also, is it very absurd to suppose that Atalantis was indeed 
situated between these two facts, or parts of the earth now known 
to all the world ? 

Carver says that Oviedo, a celebrated Spanish author, the same 
who became the friend of Columbus, whom he accompanied on his 
second voyage to the new world, has made no scruple to affirm, 
that the Antilles are the famous Hesperides, so often mentioned by 
the poets, which are at length restored to the king of Spain, the 
descendants of king Hesperus, who lived upwards of three thou- 
sand years ago, and from whom these islands received their name. 

De Laet, a Flemish writer, says it is related by Pliny the elder, 



334 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

one of the most learned of the ancient Roman writers, who was 
born twenty-three years after the time of Christ, and left behind 
him no less than thirty-seven volumes on natural history, and some 
other writers, that on many of the islands on the western coast of 
Africa, particularly on the Canaries, some ancient edifices were 
seen ; even called ancient by Pliny, a term which would throw 
the time of their erection back to a period perhaps five or six hun- 
dred years before Christ. 

" From this it is highly probable," says Mr. Carver, that the 
inhabitants, having deserted those edifices, even in the time of 
Pliny, may have passed over to South America, the passage being 
neither long nor difficult. This migration, according to the calcu- 
lation of those authors, must have taken place more than 200 years 
before the Christian era, at a time when the people of Spain were 
much troubled by the Carthaginians, and might have retired to the 
Antilles, by the way of the western isles, which were exactly half 
way in their voyage to South America." 

Emanuel de Morez, a Portuguese, in his History of Brazil, a 
province of South America, asserts that America has been wholly 
peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites. He brings, as a proof 
of this assertion, the discoveries the former are known to have 
made, at a great distance beyond the western coast of Africa. The 
farther progress of which being put a stop to by the Senate of Car- 
thage, some hundred years before Christ, those who happened to 
be then in the newly discovered countries, being cut off from all 
communications with their countrymen, and destitute of many ne- 
cessaries of life, fell into a state of barbarism. 

George de Horn, a learned Dutchman, who has written on the 
subject of the first peopling of America, maintains that the first 
founders of the colonies of this country were Scythians, who were 
much more ancient than the Tartars, but were derived from the 
Scythians ; as the terra Tartar is but of recent date when compared 
with the far more ancient appellation of Scythian, the descendants 
of Shem, the great progenitor of the Jews. 

He also believes that the Phoenicians and Carthaginians after- 
wards got footing in America, by crossing the Atlantic, and like- 
wise the Chinese, by way of (he Pacific. These Phoenician and 
Carthaginian migrations he supposes to have been before the time 



AND DISCOVERIES iN THE WEST. 335 

of Solomon, king of Israel, who flourished a thousand years be- 
fore Christ. 

Mr. Thomas, of Auburn, in his volume entitled Travels through 
the Western Country^ has devoted some twenty pages to the subject 
of the ancient inhabitants of America, with ability evidencing an 
enlarged degree of acquaintance with it. He says explicitly, on 
page 288, that " the Phmnicians were early acquainted with those 
shores," believes "that vessels, sailing out of the Mediterranean, 
may have been wrecked on the American shores ; also colonies 
from the west of Europe, and from Africa, in the same way. Sup- 
poses that Egyptians and Syrians settled in Mexico : the former 
the authors of the pyramids of South America, and that the Syrians 
are the same with the Jews ; wanting nothing to complete this fact 
but the rite of circumcision. Says the Greeks were the only, or 
iSrst people who practised raising tumuli around the urns which 
contained the ashes of their heroes." 

And, as we know, tumuli are in abundance in the west, raised 
over the ashes, as we suppose, of their heroes, should we not in- 
fer that the practice was borrowed from that people ? This would 
prove some of them, at least, originally from about the Mediter- 
ranean. 

But, notwithstanding our agreement with this writer, that many 
nations, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Phoenicians, 
Carthaginians, Europeans, Romans, Asiatics, Scythians and Tar- 
tars, have, in different eras of time, contributed to the peopling of 
America ; yet we believe, with the celebrated naturalist. Dr. Mitch- 
ill, that the ancestors of the people known by the appellation of the 
Malays, now peopling the islands of the Pacific, were nearly among 
the first (vho set foot on the coasts of America. And that the peo- 
ple who settled in the islands of the Atlantic, and especially that of 
Atalantis, now no more, immediately, after the dispersion, were 
they who, first of all, and the Malay second, filled all America 
with their descendants in the first ages. 

But in process of time, as the arts came on, navigation, with or 
without the compass, was practised, if not as systematically as at 
the present time, yet with nearly as wide a range ; and as convul- 
sions in the earth, such as divided one part of it from another, as in 
the days of Peleg, removing islands, changing the shape of conti- 
nents, and separating the inhabitants of distant places from each 



336 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

other, by destroying the land or islands between, so that when 
shipping, whether large or small, as in the time of the Phoenicians, 
and Tyrians of king Solomon, the Greeks and Romans came to na- 
vigate the seas, America was found, visited and colonized anew. 
In this way we account for the introduction of the arts among the 
more ancient inhabitants whom they found there ; which arts are 
clearly spoken of in the traditions of the Mexicans, who tell us of 
white and bearded men, as related by Humboldt, who came from 
the sun, (as they supposed the Spaniards did,) changed or reduced 
the wandering millions of the woods to order and government, in- 
troduced among them the art of agriculture, a knowledge of me- 
tals, with that of architecture ; so that when Columbus discovered 
America, it was filled with cities, towns, cultivated fields and coun- 
tries ; palaces, aqueducts, and roads, and highways of the nations, 
equal with, if not exceeding, in some respects, even the people of 
the Roman countries, before the time of Christ. 

But as learning, and a knowledge of the shape of the earth, in 
the times of the nations we have spoken of above, was not in gene- 
ral use among men ; and from incessant wars and revolutions of na- 
tions, what discoveries may have been made, were lost to mankind ; 
so that some of the very countries once known, have in later ages 
been discovered over again. 

We will produce one instance of a discovery which has been 
lost — the land of Ophir — where the Tyrian fleets went for gold, in 
the days of Solomon. Where is it ? The most learned do not 
know — cannot agree. It is lost as to identity. Some think it in 
Africa ; some in the islands of the South Atlantic, and some in 
South America ; and although it is, wherever it may be, undoubt- 
edly an inhabited country, yet as to certainty about its location, it 
.s unknown. 



,/incient Chronology of the Onguys or Iroquois Indians. 

BY DAVJD CUSICK. 

In the traditions of the Tuscaroras, published by Cusick in 1827, 
few dates are found ; but these few are, nevertheless, precious for 
history. 



iCliD DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. tiSi 

X stoall volume has been printed this year by the Sunday School 
Union, on the history of the Delaware and Iroquois Indians, in 
which their joint traditions are totally neglected, as usual with our 
actual book makers. 

Although Cusick's dates may be vague and doubtful, they de- 
serve attention, and they shall be noticed here. 

Anterior to any date the Eagwehoewe, (pronounced Yaguyhohuy) 
meaning real people, dwelt north of the lakes, and formed only one 
nation.. After many years a body of them settled on the river Ka- 
nawag, now the St. Lawrence, and after a long time a foreign peo- 
|)le came by sea and settled south of the lake. 

1st. date. Towards 2500 winters before Columbus' discovery of 
America, or 1008 years before our era, tdtal overthrow of the 
Towancas, nations of giants come from the north, by the king of 
the Onguys, Donhtonha and the hero Yatatan. 

2d. Three hundred winters after, or 708 before dur era, the 
northern nations form a confederacy, appoint a king, who goes to 
visit the great Emperor of the Golden city, south of the lakes ; but 
afterwards quarrels arise, and a war of 100 years with this empire 
of the south, long civil wars in the north, &c. A body of people 
escaped in the mountain of Oswego, &c. 

3d. 1500 years before Columbus, or in the year 8 of our era, 
Tarenyawagon, the first legislator leads his people out of the moun- 
tains to the river Yenonatateh, now Mohawk, where six tribes 
form an allian<:e called the Long-house, Agotieaseah. Afterwards 
reduced to five, the sixth spreading west and south. TheKautanoh 
since Tuscarora, came from this. Some went as far as the Onau- 
weyoka, now Mississippi. 

4th. In 108 the Konearawyeneh, or Flying Heads, invade the 
Five Nations. 

5th. In 242 the Shakanahih, or Stone Giants, a branch of the 
\vestern tribe, become cannibals, return and desolate the country ; 
but they are overthrown and driven north by Tarenyawagon II. 

6th. Towards 350 Tarenyawagon III., defeats other foes, called 
Snakes. 

7th. In 492 Atoarho I., king of the Onondagas, quells civil wars, 
begins a dynasty ruling over all the Five Nations, till Atotarho IX., 
who ruled yet in 1142. Events are since referred to their reigns. 

43 



338 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

8th. Under Atotarho II., a Tarenyawagon IV., appears to help 
him to destroy Oyalk-guhoer, or the Big-bear. 

9th. Under Atotarho III., a tyrant, Sohnaurowah, arises on the 
Kaunaseh, now Susquehannah river, which makes war on the 
Sahwanug. 

10th. In 602, under Atatarho IV., the Towancas, now Mississau- 
gers, cede to the Senecas the lands east of the River Niagara, who 
settle on it. 

11th. Under Atotarho V., war between the Senecas and Otawahs 
of Sandusky. 

12th. Towards 852 under Atotarho VI., the Senecas reach the 
Ohio river, compel the Otawahs to sue for peace. 

13th. Atotarho VII. sent embassies to the west, the Kentakeh 
nation dwelt south of the Ohio, the Chipiwas on the Mississippi. 

14th. Towards 1042, under Atotarho VIII., war with the To- 
wancas, and a foreign stranger visits the Tuscaroras of Neuse river, 
who are divided into three tribes, and at vf&t with the Nanticokea 
and Totalis. 

15th. In 1143, under Atotarho IX., first civil war between the 
Brians of lake Erie, sprung from the Senecas, and the Five Na- 
tions. 

Here end these traditions. 

C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

The foregoing is a curious trait of the ancient history of the wars 
and revolutions which have transpired in America. 

It would appear that at the time of the overthrow of the Tawan- 
cas, 1008 years before Christ, called in the tradition a nation of 
giants, that it was about the time the temple of Solomon was fin- 
ished ; showing clearly that as they had become powerful in this 
country they had settled here at a very early period, probably 
about the time of Abraham, within three hundred and forty years 
of the flood. 

The hero who conquered them was called Yatatan, king of the 
Onguys, names which refer them, as to origin, to the ancient Scyth- 
ians of Asia. 

Three hundred winters after this, or 708 years before Christ, 
about the time of the commencement of the Roman empire by 
Romulus, the northern nations form a grand confedracy and appoint 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 339 

a king, who went on a visit to the great emperor of the Golden 
city, south of the western lakes. 

Were we to conjecture where this Golden city was situated, we 
should say on the Mississippi, where the Missouri forms a junction 
with that river, at or near St. Louis, as at this place and around its 
precincts are the remains of an immense population. This is likely 
the city to which the seven persons who were cast away on the 
island Estotiland, as before related, were carried to ; being far to 
the southwest from that island, supposed to be Newfoundland, — St. 
Louis being in that direction. 

This visit of Vatatan to the Golden city, it appears, was the 
occasion of a civil war of one hundred years, which ended in the 
ruin of the Golden city. A body of the citizens escaping, fled far 
to the east, and hid themselves in the mountains of Oswego, along 
the southern shores of lake Ontario, where they remained about 
seven hundred years, till a great leader arose among them, called 
Tarenyawagon, who led them to settle on the Mohawk ; this was 
eight years after the birth of Christ. 

These refugees from the Golden city, had now multiplied so that 
they had become several nations, whence the grand confederacy of 
six nations was formed. Upon thesej a natien called Flying Heads 
made war but were unsuccessful ; also, in 242 years after Christ, a 
nation called Stone Giants, made an attempt to destroy them but 
failed. They were successful in other wars against the Snake In- 
dians, a more western tribe. 

About the time of the commencement of Mahomet's career in 
602, a great tyrant arose on the Susquehannah river, who waged 
war with surrounding nations, from which it appears, that while 
in Africa, Europe, and Asia, revolution succeeded revolution, em- 
pires rising on the ruins of empires, that in America the same 
scenes were acting on as great a scale ; cultivated regions, popu- 
lous cities and towns, were reduced to a wilderness, as in the other 
continents. 



0iO 



AMERICAr* ANTIQUITIES 



Evidence that a JYation of Africans^ the Descendants of 
Ham^ now inhabit a District of South America. 

BY C. S. RAFINESQUE. 

The Yarura nation of the Oronoco regions, (also called Jarura^^ 
Jaros, Worrow, Guarau, &c.) is one of the darkest and ugliest in 
South America, some tribes of it are quite black like negroes and 
are called monkeys. They are widely spread from Guyana to 
Choco. The following 35 words of their^language collected from 
Chili, Hervas and. Vater have eaabled me to trace their origin to 
Africa. 



tGod 


Conmeh Anderb 


IMan 


Pumeh 


THeaven 


Andeh 


Woman 


Ibi 


Earth 


Pabu, DaJiu 


Father 


Aya 


Water 


Uy, Uvi 


Mother 


Aini 


River 


Nicua 


Head 


Pachu 


ITSun and 


day Doh 


Eyes 


Yondeh 


Moon 


GoppeJT 


UNose 


NappeJi 


Star 


Boeboe 


Tongue 


Topeno 


Fire 


Condeh 


Feet, 


Tao 


Soul 


Yuaneh 


Evil 


Chatandra 


Wood 


Yuay 


Being 


Abechin, conons, 


Plain 


Chiri 


Our 


Ibba 


irBread 


Tarab, Tambeli 


WiU 


Ea 


Name 


Kuen 


Power 


Beh 


Give 


Yero 


1 


Canameh 


Come 


Manatedi 


2 


Noeni 


Mayze 


Pueh 


ITS 


Tarani 



Those marked IT or 7'out of 34 have some analogy with the 
English, equal to 19 per cent. 

The language of the Gahunas, negroes of Choco and_Popayan 
has 50 per cent analogy with the Yarura, since out of R words to 
be compared, 4 are similar. 



God Conomeh Y 
Man 1 Pumeh 



Cbpamo G 
Mehora 



One 
Two 



Canameh 
Noeni 



Aiuba 
Numi ') 



While the Ashaaty or Fanty, negro^language widely spread ia 
West Africa has 40 per cent of affinity with the Yarura or six words 
sdmilar in fifteen comparable- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 811 



Earth 


Uabu Y 


Dade 


Mother 


Aini 


Mina 


Woman 


Ibi 


Bis 



Father 


Aya Aga 


Eyes 


Yondeh Ineweh 


Water 


l)y Uyaba 



This is the maximum in Africa. But the language of the Pa- 
puas of New Guinea in Polynesia has 50 per cent of Anology, or 
six words out of twelve, which is the maximum with the Asiatic 
and Polynesic negroes. 



Man Puneh Y ^ 
Mehora G ] 


Ameneh P 


One Canameh i 
Amba G 5 


Amboher 


Woman Ibi 


Bienih 


Water Uy 


Uar 


Mother Aini 


Nan?i 


Evil Chatandra 


Tarada 



It may have happened that the Gahunas came from the Papuas, 
through the Pacific ; but the Yaruras from the Ashantis, through 
the Atlantic : yet have been once two branches of a single black 
nation. 

" In support of the doctrine that the three sons of Noah were" 
red, black and white, we bring the tradition of the Marabous, the 
priests of the most ancient race of Africans, which says, that after 
the death of Noah, his three sons, one of whom was white, the 
second tawny or red, the third black, agreed to divide his property 
fairly ; which consisted of gold and silver, vestments of silk, lineu 
and wool, horses, cattle, camels, dromedaries, sheep and goats, 
arms, furniture, corn, and other provisions, besides tobacco and 
pipes. 

" Having spent the greater part of the day in assorting these dil- 
ferent things, the three sons were obliged to defer the partition of 
the goods till the next morning. They therefore smoked a friendly 
pipe together, and then retired to rest, each in his own tent. 

" After some hours sleep, the lohite brother awoke before the 
other two, being moved by avarice, arose and seized the gold and 
silver, together with the precious stones, and most beautiful vest- 
ments, and having loaded the best camels with them, pursued his 
way to that country which his white posterity have ever since in- 
habited. 

" The Moor, or tawny brother, awaking soon afterwards, with 
the same intentions, and being surprised that he had been antici- 
pated by his white brother, secured in great haste the remainder of 
the horses, oxen and camels, and retired to another part of the 



842 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

world, leaving only some coarse vestments of cotton, pipes and to- 
bacco, millet, rice, and a few other things of but small value. 

" The last lot of stuff fell to tbe share of the black son, the lazi- 
est of the three brothers, who took up his pipe with a melancholy 
air, and while he sat smoking in a pensive mood, swore to be re- 
venged." — (AnquetiPs Universal History^ vol. 6, p. 117, 118.) 

We have inserted this traditiouj not because we think it circum- 
stantially true, with respect to the goods, &c., but because we find 
in it this one important trait, viz., the origin of human complexions, 
in the family of Noah : and if the tradition is supposed altogether 
a fiction, we would ask, how came these Africans the most degrad- 
ed and ignorant of the human race — by so important a trait of an- 
cient history — as that such a man, with three sons, ever existed, 
from whom the three races were descended, if it were not so .'' 



Disappearance of many Ancient Lakes of the West, and of 
the Formation of Seacoal. 

This description of American antiquities is more captivating 
than the accounts already given ; because, to know that the mil- 
lions of mankind, with their multifarious works, covering the vales 
of all our rivers, many of which were once the bottoms of immense 
lakes, and where the tops of the tallest forests peer to the skies, 
or where the towering spires of many a Christian temple makes 
glad the heart of civilized man, and where the smoking chimnies 
of his wide spread habitations now are, — once sported the lake ser- 
pent, and the finny tribes, as birds passing in scaly waves along 
the horizon. 

We look to the soil where graze the peaceful flock ; to the fields 
where wave a thousand harvests ; to the air above, where play the 
wings of innumerable fowls ; and to the road where the sound of 
passing wheels denotes the course of men: and say, can this be so.' 
Was all this space once the home of the waves ? Where eels and 
shell fish once congregated in their houses of mud, is now fixed 
the foundation of many a stately mansion, the dwelling'of man : 
Such the mutation of matter, and the change of habitation ! 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 348 

We forbear to ramble farther in this field of fancy, which opens 
before us with such immensity of prospect, to give an account of 
the disappearance of lakes supposed to have existed in the west. 
To do this, we shall avail ourselves of the opinions of several dis- 
tinguished authors, as Volney, in his travels in America ; School- 
craft, in his travels in the central parts of the valley of the Missis- 
sippi ; and Professor Beck, in his Gazetteer ot Illinois and Mis- 
souri, &c. 

We commence with the gifted and highly classical writer, C F 
Volney ; who, although we do not subscribe to his notions of the- 
ology, yet as a naturalist, we esteem him of the highest class, and 
his Statements, with his deductions, to be worthy of attention. 

He commences by saying, that in the structure of the mountains 
of the United States, exists a fact more strikingly apparent than in 
any other part of the world, which must singularly have increased 
the action, and varied the movements of the waters. If we atten- 
tively examine the land, or even the maps of this country, we must 
perceive that the principal chains or ridges of the AUeghanies, 
Blue-ridge, &c., all run in a transverse or cross direction, to the 
course of all the great rivers 5 and that these rivers have been 
forced to rupture their mounds or barriers, and break through these 
ridgesj in order to make their way to the sea, from the bosoms of 
the valleys. 

This is evident in the Potomac, Susquehannah, Delaware and 
James rivers, and others, where they issue from the confines of the 
mountains, to enter the lower country. 

But the example which most attracted his attention on the spot, 
was that of the Potomac, three miles below the mouth of the She- 
nandoa. He was coming from Fredericktown, about twenty miles 
distant, and travelling from the southeast towards the northwest, 
. through a woody country, with gentle ascents and descents. After 
he had crossed one ridge, pretty distinctly marked, though by no 
means steep, he began to see before him, eleven or twelve miles 
westward, the chain of the Blue-ridge, resembling a lofty rampart, 
covered with forests, and having a breach tluough it from top to 
bottom. 

He again descended into the undulating wood country, which 
separated him from it ; and at length, on approaching it, he found 
himself at the foot of this great mountainous rampart, which he 



344 • AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

had to cross, and ascertained to be about 350 yards high, or 1'26 
rods, (nearly half a mile,) deep. 

On emerging from the wood, he had a full view of this tremen- 
dous breach, which he judged to be about 1200 yards wide, or 225 
rods, which is about three-fourths of a mile. Through the bottom 
of this breach ran the Potomac, leaving on its left a passable bank 
or slope, and on the right washing the foot of the breach. On both 
sides of the chasm, from top to bottom, many trees were then 
growing among the rocks, and in part concealed the place of the 
rupture : but about two-thirds of the way up, on the right side of 
the river, a large perpendicular space remains quite bare, and dis- 
plays plainly the traces and scars of the ancient land, or natural 
wall, which once dammed up this river, formed of grey quartz, 
which the victorious river has overthrown, rolling its fragments a 
considerable distance down its course. Some large blocks that 
have resisted its force, still remain as testimonials of the convul- 
sion. 

The bed of this river, at this place, is rugged, with fixed rocks^ 
which are, however, gradually wearing away. Its rapid waters 
boil and foam through these obstacles, which, for a distance of two 
miles form very dangerous falls or rapids. From the height of the 
mountain, on each side of the river, and from attending circum- 
stances, the rapids below the gap and the narrows, for several 
miles above the immediate place of rupture, are sufficient evidence 
that at this place was originally a mountain dam to the river ; con- 
sequently a lake above must have been the effect, with falls of the 
most magnificent description, which had thundered in their descent 
from the time of Noah's flood, till the rupture of the ridge took 
place. 

At the end of three miles, he came to the confluence of the river 
Shenandoa, which issued out suddenly from the steep mountain of 
the Blue-ridg'^ This river is but about one third as wide as the 
Potomac ; having, like that river, also broken through a part of the 
same ridge. 

He says, the more he considered this spot and its circumstances, 
the more he was confirmed in the belief, that formerly the chain 
of the Blue-ridge, in its entire state, completely denied the Poto- 
mac a passage onward ; and that then all the waters of the upper 
part of the river having no issue, formed several considerable 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 846 

lakes. The numerous transverse chains that succeed each other 
beyond Fort Cumberland, could not fail to occasion several more 
veest of North mountain. 

" On the other hand, all the valley of the Shenandoa and Coni- 
gocheague, must have been the basin of a single lake, extending 
from Staunton to Charabersburgh ; and as the level of the hills, 
even those from which these two rivers derive their source, is 
much below the chains of the Blue-ridge and North mountain, it 
is evident that this lake must have been bounded at first only by 
the general line of the summit of these two great chains ] so that 
in the earliest ages it must have spread, like them, toward the south, 
as far as the great AUeghanies." 

At that period, the two upper branches of James river, equally 
bounded by the Blue-ridge, would have swelled it with all their 
waters ; while toward the north, the general level of the lake, find- 
ing no obstacles, must have spread itself between the Blue-ridge 
and the chain of Kittatinny, not only to the Susquehannah and 
Schuylkill, but beyond the Schuylkill, and even the Delaware. 

Then all the lower country, lying between the Blue-ridge and 
the sea, had only smaller streams, furnished by the eastern declivi- 
ties of that ridge, and the overflowing of the lake, pouring from its 
summit over the brow of the ridge ; in many places forming cas- 
cades of beauty, which marked the scenery of primeval landscape, 
immediately after the deluge. 

" In consequence, the river there being less, and the land gene- 
rally more fiat, the ridge of talc granite must have stopped the 
waters, and formed marshy lakes. The sea must have come up to 
the vicinity ©f this ridge, and there occasioned other marshes of 
the same kind, as the Dismal swamp, near Norfolk ;" being partly 
in the states of Virginia and North Carolina. " And if the reader 
recollect, the stratum of black mud mingled with osier and trees, 
which is found every where in boring on the coast, he will see in it 
a proof of the truth of this hypothesis." 

But when the great embankment gave away, by the weight of 
the waters above, or by attrition, convulsion, or whatever may have 
been the cause of their rupture, the rush of the waters brought 
from above, all that stratum of earth now lying on the top of these 
subterranean trees, osiers and mud above noticed. 

" This operation must have been so much the easier, as Blue* 

44 



346 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

ridge in general is not a homogeneous mass crystalized in vast strata; 
but a heap of detached blocks, of different magnitudes, mixed with 
vegetable mould, easily diffusable in water ; it is in fact a wall, the 
stones of which are imbedded in clay ; and as its declivities are 
very steep, it frequently happens that thaws and heavy rains, by 
carrying away the earth, deprive the masses of stones of their sup- 
port, and then the fall of one or more of these, occasions very con^ 
siderable stone slips or avalanches, which continue sometimes for 
several hours. 

" From this circumstance, the falls from the lake must have act- 
ed with the more effect and rapidity. Their first attempts have 
left traces in those gaps with which the line of summits is indented 
from space to space, or from ridge to ridge. It may be clearly per- 
ceived on the spot, that these places were the first drains of the 
surplus waters subsequently abandoned for others, where the work 
of demolition was more easy. 

" It is obvious that the lakes flowing off must have changed the 
whole face of the lower country. By this were brought down all 
these earths of a secondary formation, that compose the present 
plain. The ridge of talcky granite, pressed by more frequent and 
voluminous inundations, gave way in several points, and its marshes 
added their mud to the black mud of the shore, which, at present, 
we find buried under the alluvial earth, afterward brought down 
by the enlarged rivers." 

In the valley between the Blue-ridge and North mountain, the 
changes that took place were conformable to the mode in which 
the water flowed off. Several breaches having, at once or in suc- 
cession, given a passage to the streams of water now called James, 
Potomac, Susquehannah, Schuylkill and Delaware, their general 
and common reservoir was divided into as many distinct lakes, sep- 
arated by the risings of the ground that exceeded this level. 
Each of these lakes had its particular drain, and this drain being 
at length worn down to the lowest level, the land was left com- 
pletely uncovered. 

This must have occurred earlier with James, Susquehannah, and 
Delaware, because their basins are more elevated, and it must have 
happened more recently with the Potomac, for the opposite reason, 
its basin being the deepest of all." 

How far the Delaware then extended, the reflux of its waters- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 317 

toward the east, he could not ascertain ; however, it appears its 
basin was bounded by the ridge that accompanies its left bank, 
and which is the apparent continuation of the Blue-iidge, and 
North mountain. It is probable that its basin has always been 
separate from that of the Hudson, as it is certain that the Hudson 
has always had a distinct basin, the limit and mound of which 
were above West-Point, at the place called the Highlands, com- 
mencing immediately below Newburgh. 

At this place on the western shore of the Hudson, the ancient 
bed or course of that river can be traced in a southwestern direc- 
tion, to where it once united with the waters of the Delaware, 
and thus they travelled to the sea, in company, whereas the for- 
mer has, subsequently sought to travel alone disembouging its flood 
into the sea at an entire and distant point of the compass. The 
ancient bed, however, is much higher than its present one, as the 
country over which it travels, plainly shows, favoring greatly the 
supposition of the lake, which had its foot against this range of 
mountains. 

To every one who views this spot, it seems incontestible, that 
the transverse chain bearing the name of the Highlands, was for- 
merly a bar to the course of the entire river, and kept its waters 
at a considerable height ; and considering that the tide flows as 
far as ten miles above Albany, is the proof that the level above 
the ridge, was a lake which reached as far as to the rapids on Fort 
Edward. 

At that time, therefore, the Cohoes, or falls of the Mohawk, did 
not appear, and till this lake was drained off through the gap at 
West-Point, the sound of those falls was not heard. 

The existence of this lake explains the cause of the alluvials, 
petrified shells, and strata of schist and clay, mentioned by Dr. 
' Mitchill, and proves the justice of the opinions of this judicious 
observer, respecting the stationary presence of waters in ages past, 
along the valley of many of the American rivers. These ancient 
lakes, now drained by the rupture of their mounds, explains ano- 
ther appearance which is observed in the valley of such rivers as 
are supposed to have been once lakes, as- the Tennessee, the Ken- 
tucky, the Mississippi, the Kanhaway, and the Ohio. This ap- 
pearance is the several stages or flats observed on the banks of 
these rivers, and most of the rivers of America, as if the water 



348 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

once was higher than at subsequent periods, and by some means 
were drained off more ; so that the volume of water fell lower 
when a new mark of embankment would be formed, marking the 
original heights of the shores of these rivers. 

In none is this appearance more perceptible than the Ohio, at 
the place called Cincinnati, or Fort Washington ; here the original 
or first bank is nearly fifty feet high, and runs along parallel with 
the river, at the distance of about seventy-five rods. The high 
floods sometimes even now overflow this first level. 

At other places the banks are marked, not with so high an an- 
cient shore, but then the lowness of the country, in such places, 
admitted the spread of the waters to the foot of the hills of nature. 
When we examine the arrangement of these fiats, which are pre- 
sented in the form of stages along this river, we remain convinced 
that even the most elevated part of the plain, or highest level about 
Cincinnati, has been once the seat of waters, and even the primi- 
tive bed of the river, which appears to have had three different 
periods of decline, till it has sunken to its present bed or place of 
its current. 

The first of the periods was the time when the transverse ridges 
of the hills, yet entire, barred up the course of the Ohio, and act- 
ing as mounds to it, kept the water level with their summits. All 
the country within this level was then one immense lake, or marsh 
of stagnant water. In lapse of time, and from the periodical action 
of the floods, occasioned by the annual melting of the snows, some 
feeble parts of the mound were worn away by the water. 

One of the gaps having at length given away to the current, the 
whole effort of the waters was collected in that point, which soon 
hollowed out for itself a greater depth, and thus sunk the lake 
several yards. The first operation uncovered the upper or first 
level on which the waters had stood, from the time of the subsiding 
of the deluge, till the first rupture took place. 

From the appearance of the shores of the river, it seems to have 
maintained its position after the first draining some length of time, 
so as distinctly to mark the position of the waters when a second 
draining took place, because the waters had, by their action, re- 
moved whatever may have opposed the first attempt to break down 
their mound or barrier. 

The third and last rent of the barrier took place at length, when 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 349 

the fall of the water became raore furious, being now more concen- 
trated, scooped out for itself a narrower and deeper channel, which 
in its present bed, leaving all the immense alluvial regions of the 
Ohio bare, and exposed to the lays of the sun. 

It is probable that the Ohio has been obstructed at more places 
tban one, from Pittsburgh to the rapids of Louisville, as that below 
Silver creek, about five miles from the rapids of the Ohio, and 
towards Galliopolis and the Scioto, several transverse chains of 
mountains exist, very capable of answering this purpose. Volney 
says it was not till his return from Fort Vincent, on the Wabash, 
that he was struck with the disposition of a chain of hills below 
Silver creek. 

This ridge crosses the basin of the Ohio from north to south, and 
has obliged the river to change its direction from the east towards 
the west, to seek an issue, which in fact it finds at the confluence 
of Salt river ; and it may even be said that it required the copious 
and rapid waters of this river and its numerous branches, to force 
the mound that opposed its way at this place. 

The steep declivity of these ridges requires about a quarter of an 
hour to descend it by the way of the road, though it is good and 
commodious, and by comparison with, other bills around, he con- 
ceived the perpendicular height to be about 400 feet, or 25 rods. 
The summit ©f those hills, when Volney visited them, was too 
thickly covered with wood for the lateral course of the chain to be 
seen ; but, so far as he could ascertain, perceived that it runs very 
far north and south, and closes the basin of the Ohio throughout its 
whole breadth. 

This basin, viewed from the summit of this range, exhibits the 
appearance and form of a lake so strongly, that the idea of the an- 
cient existence of one here is indubitable. 

Other circumstances tend to confirm this idea, for he observed 
from this chain to White river, eight miles from Fort Vincent, that 
the country is interspersed with a number of ridges, many of them 
steep, and even lofty. They are particularly so beyond Blue-ridge, 
and on both banks of White river, and their direction is every where 
such, that they meet the Ohio transversely. 

On the other hand, he found at Louisville that the south or Ken- 
tucky bank of the river, corresponding to them. Lad similar ridges ; 
so that in this part is a succession of ridges, capable of opposing 



350 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

powerful obstacles to the waters. It is not till lower down the ri- 
ver that the country becomes flat, and the ample savannahs of the 
Wabash and Green rivers commence, which extending to the Mis- 
sissippi, exclude every idea of any other mound or barrier to the 
waters on that side of the river. 

There is another fact in favor of these western rivers having 
been, in many places, lakes, found in this country ; and is noticed 
as a great singularity. In Kentucky, all the rivers of that country 
flow more slowly near their sources than at their mouths ; which is 
directly the reverse of what takes place in most rivers of other parts 
of the world ; whence it is inferred that the upper bed of the rivers 
of Kentucky is a flat country, and that the lower bed, at the en- 
trances of the vale of th ^ Ohio, is a descending slope. 

Now this perfectly accords with the idea of an ancient lake ; for 
at the time when this lake extended to the foot of the Alleghanies, 
its bottom, particularly towards its mouth, must have been nearly 
smooth and level, its surface being broken by no action of the wa- 
ters ; but when the mounds or hills, which confined this tranquil 
body of water were broken down, the soil, laid bare, began to be 
furrowed and cut into sluices by its drains ; and when at length 
the current became concentrated in the vale of the Ohio, and de- 
molished its dyke more rapidly, the soil of this vale washed away 
with violence, leaving a vast channel, the slopes of which occasion- 
ed the waters of the plain to flow to it more quickly ; and hence 
this current, which, notwithstanding the alterations that have been 
going on ever since, have continued more rapid to the present 
day. 

Admitting, then, that the Ohio has been barred up, either by the 
chain of Silver creek, or any other contiguous to it, a lake of great 
extent must have been the result. From Pittsburgh the ground 
slopes so gently that the river, when low, does not run iwo miles 
an hour ; which indicates a fall of four inches to the mile. 

The whole distance from Pittsburgh to the rapids of Louisville, 
following all the windings of the river, does not exceed 600 miles. 
From these data, we have a difference of level amounting to 200 
feet ; which does not exceed the elevation of the ranges of hills 
supposed to have once dammed up the Ohio river at that place. 
Such a mound could check the waters and turn them back as far as 
to Pittsburgh- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 35l 

Such haviug been the fact, what au immense space of the west- 
ern country must have lain under water, from the subsiding of the 
flood till this mound was broken down. This is made apparent by 
the spring freshets of the Ohio, at the present time, which rising 
only to the height of fifty feet, keeps back the water of the Great 
Miami, as far as Grenville, a distance of seventy miles up the coun- 
try to the north, where it occasions a stagnation of that river, and 
even an inundation of its shores to a great extent. 

In the vernal inundations, the north branch of the Great Miami 
forms but one with the south branch ; the s} ace between becomes 
one body of water. 

" The south branch runs into lake Erie, and is sometimes called 
St. Mary's river. The carrying place, or portage between the 
heads of these two rivers is but three miles, and in high water the 
space can be passed over in a boat, from the one which runs into 
the Ohio, to the other which runs into lake Erie." 

This Mr. Volney states to have been the fact, as witnessed by 
himself on the spot, in the year 1796 ; so near are all these waters 
on a level with each other. He says that, during the year 1792, 
a mercantile house at Fort Detroit, which is at the head of lake 
Erie, despatched two canoes, which passed immediately, without 
carrying, from the river Huron, running into lake Erie, to Grand 
river, which runs into lake Michigan, by the waters overflowing 
at the head of each of these rivers. The Muskingum, which runs 
into the Ohio, also communicates, by means of its sources, and of 
small lakes, with the waters of the river Cayahoga, which flows into 
lake Erie. 

From all these facts united, it follows that the surface of the le- 
vel country between lake Erie and the Ohio, cannot exceed the 
level of the flat next to the waters of the Ohio more tlian 100 feet, 
nor that of the second flat or level, which is the general surface of 
the country, more than seventy feet ; consequently a mound or 
range of mountain, of 200 feet, at Silver creek, 600 miles down 
the Ohio from Pittsburgh, would have been suflicient to keep 
back its waters, not only as far as lake Erie, but even to spread 
them from the last slopes of the Alleghanies, to the north of lake 
Superior. 

But whatever elevation we allow this natural mound, or if we 
suppose there were several in different places, keeping back the 



352 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

water in succession, the existence of sedentary waters in this west- 
ern country, and ancient lakes, such as we have pointed out be- 
tween Blue-ridge and North mountain, is not the less an incontro- 
vertible fact, as must appear to every one who contemplates the 
country ; and this fact explains, in a simple and satisfactory manner, 
a number of local circumstances, which, on the other hand, serve 
as proofs of the fact. 

For instance, these ancient lakes explain why, in every part of 
the basin of the Ohio, the land is always levelled in horizontal beds 
of different heights; why these beds are placed in the order of their 
specific gravity ; and why we find in various places the remains of 
trees, of osier, and of other plants. They also happily and natu- 
rally account for the formation of the immense beds of seacoal 
found in the western country, in certain situations and particular 
districts. 

In fact, from the researches which the inhabitants have made, it 
appears that the principal seat of coal is above Pittsburgh, in the 
space between the Laurel mountain and the rivers Alleghany and 
Monongahela, where exists, almost throughout, a stratum, at the 
average depth of twelve and sixteen feet. This stratum is sup- 
ported by the horizontal bed of calcareous stones, and covered with 
strata of schists and slate. It rises and falls with these on the hills 
and valleys, being thicker as it rises with the hills, but thinner in 
the vales. 

On considering its local situation, we see it occupies the lower 
basin of the two rivers we have mentioned, and of their branches, 
the Yohogany and Kiskemanitaus, all of which flow through a 
nearly flat country, into the Ohio below Pittsburgh. 

Now, on the hypothesis of the great lake of which we have 
spoken, this part will be found to have been originally the lower 
extremity of the lake, and the part where its being kept back would 
have occasioned still water. It is admitted by naturalists that coal 
is formed of heaps of trees carried away by rivers and floods, and 
afterwards covered with earth. 

These heaps are not accumulated in the course of the stream, 
but in parts out of it, where they are left to their own weight ; 
which becomes saturated with water, within a sufiicient lapse of 
time, so as to increase their gravity sufficient to sink to the depths 
below. 



ANU DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 353 

" This process may be observed, even now, in many rivers of 
jimerica, particularly in the Mississippi, which annnally carries 
along with its current a great number of trees. Some of these 
trees are deposited in the bays and eddies, and there left in still 
water to sink; but the greater part reach the borders of the ocean, 
where the current being balanced by the tide, they are rendered 
stationary and buried under the mud and sand, by the double ac- 
tion of the stream of the river and the reflux of the sea. 

" In the same manner, anciently, the rivers that flow from the 
Alleghany and Laurel mountains into the basin of the Ohio, find- 
ing, towards Pittsburgh, the dead waters and tail of the great lake, 
there deposited the trees and drift wood which they still carry 
away by thousands, when the frost breaks up, and the snows melt 
in the spring. These trees were accumulated in strata, level as 
the fluid that bore them ; and the mound of the lakes sinking 
g^'adually, as we have before explained, its tail was likewise 
lowered by degrees, and the place of deposit changed as the lake 
receded ; forming that vast bed which, in the lapse of ages, has 
been subsequently covered with earth and gravel, and acquired the 
mineral qualities of coal, the state in which we find it. 

" Coal is found in several other parts of the United States, and 
always in circumstances analogous to those we have just described^ 
In the year 1784, at the mouth of the rivulet Laminskicola, which 
runs into the Muskingum, the stratum of coal there took fire, and 
burnt for a whole year. This mine is a part of the mass of which 
we have been speaking ; and almost all the great rivers that run 
into the Ohio, must have deposits of this kind in their flat and long 
levels, and in places of their eddies. 

" The upper branches of the Potomac, above and to the left of 
Fort Cumberland, have been celebrated some years for their strata 
of coal embedded along the shores, so that boats can lie at their 
banks and load. 

" Now this part of the country has every appearance of having 
been once a lake, produced by one or more of the numerous trans- 
verse ridges that bound the Potomac, above and below Fort Cum- 
berland. 

" In Virginia, the bed of James river rests on a very consider- 
able bed of coal. At two or three places where shafts have been 
sunk, on its left bank, after digging a hundred and tvveniy feet 

4.5 



354 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

through red clay, a bed of coal, about tweaty-four feet thick, has 
been found, on an inclined stratum of granite. It is evident that 
at the rapids, lower down, where the course of the river is still 
checked, it was once completely obstructed : and then there must 
have been a standing water, and very probably a lake. 

" The reader will observe, that wherever there is a rapid, a stag- 
nation takes place in the sheet of water above, just as there is at a 
mill head ; consequently the drifted trees must have accumulated 
there, and when the outlet of the lake had hollowed out for itself a 
gap, and sunk its level, the annual floods brought down with them 
and deposited the red clay now found there ; as it is evident that 
this clay was brought from some other place, for the earth of such 
a quality belongs to the upper part of the course of the river, par- 
ticularly to the ridge called Southwest. 

"It is possible that veins or mines of coal, not adapted to thia 
theory, may be mentioned or discovered on the coast of the Atlaft- 
lic. But one or more such instances will not be sufficient to sub- 
vert this theory ; for the whole of this coast, or all the land between 
the ocean and the AUeghanies, from the St- Lawrence to the West 
Indies, has been destroyed by earthquakes ; the traces of which 
are every where to be seen, and these earthquakes have altered the 
arrangement of strata throughout the whole of this space." 

This account, as given by Breckenridge, of the appearance of a 
portion of- the country between two forks of a small branch of the 
Arkansas river favors this supposition. 

" There is a tract of country," he says, " of about seventy-five 
miles square, in which nature has displayed a great variety of the 
most strange and whimsical vagaries. It is an assemblage of beau- 
tiful meadows, verdant ridges, and misshapen piles of red clay, 
thrown together in the utmost apparent confusion ; yet aflfording the 
most pleasing harmonies, and presenting in every direction an end- 
less variety of curious and interesting objects. 

" After vending along for a few miles on the high ridges, you 
suddenly descend an almost perpendicular declivity of rocks and 
clay, into a series of level, fertile meadows, watered by some beau- 
tiful rivulets, and here and there adorned with shrubbery, cotton 
trees, elms and cedars. 

" These natural meadows are divided by chains formed of red 
clay, and huge masses of gypsum, with here and there a pyramid 



AND DItiCOVERIUii IN THE WEUT. 355 

of gravel. One might imagine himself surrounded by the ruins 
of some ancient city, and the plains to have been sunk by some 
convulsions of nature, more than a hundred feet below its former 
level, for some of the huge columns ot red clay rise to the height 
of two hundred feet perpendicular, capped with rocks of gypsum." 
This is supposed to have been the work of au earthquake. 

Thus far we have given the view of this great naturalist (Volney) 
respecting the existence of ancient lakes to the west, and of the 
formation of the strata of seacoal in those regions. If then it be 
allowed that timber being deposited deep in the earth, becomes the 
origin of that mineral, we discover at once the chief material- which 
feeds the internal fires of the globe. 

The earth, at the era of the great deluge -being covered with an 
immensity of forests, more than it now presents, furnished the ma- 
terial, when sunk and plunged to the unknown depths of the then 
soft and pulpy globe, for exhaustless strata of seacoal. 

This, by some means, having taken fire, continues to burn, and 
descending deeper and deeper, spreading farther and farther, till 
the conquerless element has even under sunk the ocean ; from 
whence it frequently bursts forth in the very middle of the sea, 
accompanied with all the grandeur of display and phenomena of 
fire and water, mingled in unbounded warfare. This internal 
operation of fire feeding on the unctious minerals of the globe, 
among which, as chief, is seacoal, becomes the parent of many a 
new island, thrown up by the violence of that element. 

We cannot but call to recollection in this place, the remarkable 
allusion of Isaiah^ chap, xxx., 33, which is so phraised as almost 
induces a belief that he had reference to this very circumstance, 
that of the internal fires of the globe being fed by wood carbonated 
or turned to coal. " For Tophet is ordained of old. * * He 
hath made it deep and large ; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; 
the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it." 

Various accidents are supposeable by ^vhich seacoal may have, 
at first, taken fire, so as to commence the first volcano ; and in its 
operations to have ignited other mineral substances, as sulphur, 
saltpetre, bitumen, and salts of various kinds. An instance of the 
ignition of seacoal by accident, is mentioned in Dr. Beck's Gazet- 
teer, to have taken place on a tract of country called the American 
Bottom, situated between the Kaskaskia river and the mouth of the 



356 AMERICAN ANTiariTIES 

Missouri. On this great alluvion, which embraces a botTy- of iana 
equal to five hundred square miles, sea'coal abounds, and was first 
discovered in a very singular manner. In clearing the ground of 
its timber, a tree took fire which was standing and was dry, which 
communicated to the roots, but cfxitiuued to burn much longer than 
was sufficient to exhaust the tree, roots and all. 

But upon examination, it was found to have taken hold of a bed 
of coal, which continued to barn until the fire was smothered by 
the falling in of a large body of earth, which the fire had under- 
mined by destroying the coal and causing a cavity. This is a vol- 
cano in miniature, and how long it might have continued its rava- 
ges with increased violence, is unknown, had it not have so oppor- 
tunely been extinguished. 

But this class of strata of that mineral lies, of necessity, much 
deeper in many places than any other of the kind, deposited sines 
the flood, by the operation of rivers and lake.s. If, as we have 
supposed in this volume, the earth, previous to the flood of Noah, 
had a greater land surface than at the present time, we find in this 
supposition a sufficiency of wood, the deposition of which being 
thrown into immense heaps by the whirls, waves and eddies of the 
%vaters, to make whole subterranean ranges of this coal equal in 
size to the largest and longest mountains of the globe. 

These ranges, in many places, rise even above the ordinary sur- 
face of the land, having been bared, since the flood, by the violence 
of convulsions occasioned by both volcanic fires and the irruptions 
of bodies of water and incessent rains. 

If those philosophers who affect to despise the writings of Moses, 
as found in the hook of Genesis, who has given us an account of 
the deluge, would think of this fact, the origin of seacoal, they could 
not but subscribe to (his one account at least, which that book has 
given of the flood. 

The insignificant depositions of timber, occasioned by the draw- 
ing off of lakes, or change of water courses, since the flood, can- 
not be supposed to be in sufficient quantities to furnish the vast 
magazines of this mineral, compared with that of the universal flood- 
These strata of Coal appearing too in such situations as to preclude 
all idea of their having been formed by the operation of water 
since the flood, so that we are driven, by indubitable deduction of 
fj^ir and logical argument, to resort to just such an occurrence as the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THK WEST. 357 

deluge, the account of which is given by Moses in the Scripture. 
So that if there were never an universal Hood, as stated in the 
Bible, the ingenuity of sceptical philosophy would be sadly per- 
plexed, as well as all others, to account for the deposition of wood 
enough to furnish all the mines of this article found over the whole 
earth, in its several locations, if wood be the origin of coal. 

If another flood were to drown the world, its deposits of timber 
could not equal, by one half, the deposits of the Noachian deluge, 
on account of the land surface of the earth having, under the influ- 
ence of that flood, been greatly diminished. If it be truly said in 
the Bible, that the earth perished by water, and also that the foun- 
tains of the great deep (subterranean seas,) were broken up, we 
arrive at the conclusion that there was more wood devoted to 
the purpose of coal creation, because there was, it is likely, double 
the quantity of dry land for the forest to grow upon. 

Further, in proof that vegetables and wood are the prime origin 
of pitcoal, we give the remarks of J. Correa de Serra, in a paper 
read before the Anierican Philosophical Society held at Philadel- 
phia, 1815. 

This gentleman, in speaking of his own examination of the re- 
markable fertility of a certain part of Kentucky, namely that of the 
Elk-horn tract, and of other parts of the west, says, " These west- 
ern strata of earth contain imbedded in them an immense quantity 
of marine shells, and other organized bodies, belonging to the ani- 
mal and vegetable kingdom. The vegetable remains in particular 
are in such astonishing abundance, that they form thick strata of 
coals, extending in some parts to hundreds of miles, keeping always 
nearly the satiae level, as it is particularly ascertained of that stra- 
tum of excellent coals, which is worked at Coal hill, opposite to 
Pittsburgh, across the Monongahela." 

Again, further on in the same paper, and read at the same time, 
the writer says to the society, *' Let us now remember the unbound- 
ed deposites of fossil vegetables which are found in this western re- 
gion, the coal stratum of Pittsburgh for instance, extending for hun- 
dreds of miles. Let us also reflect on the difference of the altera- 
tions which vegetable bodies undergo, when decomposing, if im- 
bedded between stony strata of a ponderous 4o//<f nature, or only 
covered by light permeable strata, or under a column of water. How 
diflferent are these operations from their decomposition in the atrao- 



358 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

sphere ! In the first case, the pressure of a solid stratum, the heat 
of a fermentation which cannot work but on itself, where no prin- 
ciple is lost, but all of them form neic combinations, reduce the de- 
composed vegetable to the state of coals." — (Transactions of the 
Phil. Society, chap, xi., p. 174.) 

But let it be observed, the author of the above remarks on the 
formation of coal, does not say that timber of the ancient forests of 
the earth, is the origin of coal, neither does he deny it ; but believes 
that the marine forests, growing at the bottom of oceans, is the 
true origin, mingled with other marine substances, of the creation 
of sea or pitcoal. Accordingly, at all places where this mineral is 
found, the sea, in some former age of the earth, must have rested. 
Ariierica, therefore, at some unknown distance of ages, must have 
been, in many parts, beneath the sea. But of such an idea, we 
believe nothing, except at the time of Noah's flood. Lakes, how- 
ever, as Volney contends, may have deposited the wood of forests 
in those parts of the west where coal is found. 

Those places, therefore, where it is found too elevated to admit 
of this idea, we have oniy to recollect that they were strata of coal 
so created at the bottom of the lakes or seas, which have now 
shifted their situations, have been hove up by convulsions, occasion- 
ed by various agents acting in the bowels of the earth, as fire, air, 
galvanism and water. 

It is said by those who have examined the immense coal bed at 
Pittsburgh, that the very kind of trees of which the coal was formed 
can be distinguished, as the beech, the maple, the birch, the ash, 
&c., lying in all directions through the whole stratum of the coal 
region. 



Further Remarks on the Draining of the Western Country 
of its jincient Lakes. 

In corroboration of the theory of Mr. Volney on this subject 
we give the brief remarks of that accurate and pleasing writer, Mr. 
Schoolcraft, well known to the reading class of the public. He 
says, while treating on the subject of the appearance of the two 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 359 

prints of human feet, in the limestone strata along the shore of the 
Mississippi, at St. Louis : " May we not suppose a barrier to have 
once existed across the lower part of the Mississippi, converting its 
immense valley into an interior sea, whose action was adequate to 
the production and deposition of calcareous strata. We do not 
consider such a supposition incompatible with the ex'stence of tran- 
sition rocks in this valley ; the position of the latter being beneath 
the secondary. Are not the great northern lakes the remains of 
such an ocean ? And did not the sudden demolition of this ancient 
barrier enable this powerful stream to carry its banks, as it has ma- 
nifestly done, a hundred miles into the gulf of Mexico. 

We think such an hypothesis much more probable, than that the 
every day deposits of this river should have that effect on the gulf. 
We have been acquainted with the mouths of the Mississippi for 
more than a century ; and yet its several channels, to all appear- 
ance, are essentially the same as when first discovered. 

Favoring the same position or theory, we give from Dr. Beck's 
Gazetteer, a quotation from Silliman's Journal, third volume, quoted 
by that author from Bringier on the Region of the Mississippi, who 
says that, 

" Between White river and the Missouri, are three parallel por- 
phyry ranges, running circularly from the west to the northeast. 
These three mountains are twenty-eight miles across, and seem to 
have been above water, when the whole country around was co- 
vered with an ocean." 

At the foot of one of these ranges was found the tooth of some 
tremendous monster, supposed to be the mammoth, twice a large 
as any found at the Big -bone lick. An account of this creature, 
so far as we are able to give it, has already been done in this work ; 
yet we feel it incumbent to insert a recent discovery respecting this 
monster, which we had not seen when. those pages went to press- 
The account is as follows : 

There were lately dug up, at Massillon, Starke county, Ohio, 
two large tusks, measuring' each nine feet six inches in length, and 
eight inches diameter, being two feet in girth at the largest ends. 
The weight of one is as much as two men could lift. The outside 
covering is as firm and hard as ivory, but the inner parts were con- 
siderably decayed. They were found in a swamp, about two feet 
below the surface, and were similar to those found some time ago 



^60 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

at Bone-lick, in Keutncky, the size ot which animal, judging from 
the bones found, was not less than sixty feet in length, and twenty 
two in height, and twelve across the hips. Each tooth of the crea- 
ture's mouth which was found, weighed eleven pounds. — (Clear- 
field Banner. 1832.) 

This is, indeed, realizing the entire calculation made by Adam 
Clarke, the commentator, who tells, as before remarked, that hav- 
ing examined one toe of the creature supposed to be the mammoth, 
he found it of sufficient size and length to give, according to the 
rule of animal proportion, an animal at least sixty feet in length, 
twenty-five feet high. 

It would seem that in nature, whether of animate or inanimate 
things, each has its giant. Of the materials composing the globe, 
the waters are the giant ; among the continents, Asia ; among fish- 
es, the whale ; among serpents, the great li-boa, of Africa ; among 
quadrupeds, the mammoth ; among birds, the condor; among men, 
the Patagonians ; among trees, the banyan of the east ; among 
herbs, the mustard of Palestine. 

But among quadrupeds, the giant of that section of nature, it 
would appear, has become extinct ; by what means is unknown—^ 
whether a change in the climate, a want of food — whether by dis- 
ease or the arts of the ancient nations — all is locked in the fathom- 
less depths of oblivion. 

The animal, however, must have come down in its species, from 
the very outset of time, with all other animals. A male and female 
of this enormous beast must have been saved in the ark ; but it is 
likely the Divine Providence directed a pair that were young, and 
therefore not as large and ferocious as such as were full grown 
Would be. The finding of this animal in America, is, it would ap- 
pear, incontrovertible evidence that the continent was, at some pe- 
tiodj united with the old world at some place or places, as has 
been contended in this work ; as so large an animal could neither 
have been brought hither by men, in any sort of craft hitherto 
known, except the ark ; nor could they have swam so far, even if 
they were addicted to the water. 

But to return to the subject of western lakes. How great a lapse 
of time took place from the subsiding of the flood of Noah, till the 
bursting away of the several barriers, is unknown. The emptying 
out of such vast bodies of water, as held an almost boundless re- 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 361 

igion of the west in a state of complete submergency, must of ne- 
"cessity have raised the Atlantic, so as to envelope in its increase 
many a fair and level country along its coasts, both on this continent 
and those of Europe and Africa. 

In such an emergency, all islands which were low on the surface, 
and not much elevated above the sea, must have been drowned, or 
parts of them, so that their hills, if any they had, would only be 
Jeft, a sad and small memorial of their ancient domains. 

It may have been, that the rush of these mighty waters from the 
west, flowing to the sea at once, down the channels of so many 
livers, at first broke up and enveloped the land between the range 
of the West India islands and the shores of the gulf of Mexico. 
It is conjectured by naturalists, that the time was when those 
islands were in reality the Atlantic coast of the continent. Some 
convulsion, therefore, must have transpired to bring about so great 
a change. 

If, as Schoolcraft has suggested, the Mississippi, in bursting down 
its barriers, drove the earthy matter which accompanied it in that 
occurrence a hundred miles into the sea, it may well be supposed 
that if all that space, now the gulf, was then a low tract of country^ 
which is natural to suppose, as its shores are so now, that it was 
overwhelmed, while the higher parts of the coast, now the West 
India islands, are all that remains of that drowned country. 

The gulf of Mexico is full of low islands, scarcely above the 
level of the sea, which have been, from the earliest history of that 
coast, the resort of pirates. Their peculiar situation in this respect, 
would favor the opinion, that the once low and level shores were, 
by the rush and overflowing of the waters, buried to a great extent 
in the country, leaving above water every eminence, which are 
now the islands of the gulf. 

From an examination of the lakes Seneca, Cayuga and Erie, it 
is evident from their banks, that anciently the water stood in them 
ten and twelve feet higher than at present j these also, therefore, 
have been drained a second time, since those of which we have 
been speaking, of which these were once a part. 

It is evident from the remarks of Breckenridge, which are the 
result of actual observations of that traveller, that there was for- 
merly an outlet from lake Michigan to the ^lississppi, by the way 
of the Illinois river, which heads near the southern end of that lake. 

46 



362 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

This is supported by the well known facts, that the waters of 
all the lakes drained by the St. Lawrence, have sunk many feet. 
The Illinois shows plainly the marks of having once conveyed a 
much greater body of water between its shores than at the present 
time. 

All the western lakes, Superior, Michigan, Huron, lake of the 
Wooks, Erie, Seneca, Cayuga, and many lesser ones, are the mere 
remnants of the [great inland fresh water sea which once existed in 
this region, and the time may come when all the lakes will be again 
drained off to the north by the way of the St. Lawrence, and to 
the south by other rivers, to the sea, adding a country of land freed 
in a measure from these waters, as great in extent as all the lakes 
put together. 

It is believed by the most observing naturalists, that the falls of 
Niagara were once as low down the river as where Queenstown is 
situated, which is six or eight miles below the fall. If so, the time 
may come, and none can tell how soon, when the falls shall have 
worn through the stone ridge or precipice, over which the Niagara 
is precipitated, and coming to a sotter barrier of mere earth, the 
power of the water would not be long in rending for itself a more 
level channel, extending to the foot of lake Erie, on an inclined 
plane of considerable steepness. One shock of an earthquake, such 
as happened in Virginia, in the vicinity of the coal mines, 18-33, 
would probably fracture the falls of Niagara, so as to force the 
waters in its subterranean work, and undermine the falls. 

This would affect lake Erie, causing an increased current in its 
waters, and the lowering of its bed, which would also have the 
same affect on lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior, with all the 
rest of a lesser magnitude, changing them from the character they 
now bear, which is that of lakes, to that of mere rivers, like the 
Ohio. In the mean time, Ontario would become enlarged, so as to 
rise, perhaps, to a level with the top of the falls, which is one hun- 
dred and fifty feet. 

Lake Ontario is but about one hundred and fifty feet below the 
city of Utica, and Utica is four hundred feet above the valley of 
the Hudson river ; consequently, deducting the hundred and fifty 
feet, which is the fall of laud from the long level, as it is called, on 
which Utica stands, to the lake, there will be left two hundred and 
fifty feet elevation of lake Ontaria above the vale of the Hudson- 



AND DISCOVEttlBS IN TUB WEST. 863 

That lake, therefore, need to be raised but a little more than one 
hundred and fifty feet, when it would immediately inundate a 
greater part of the state of New-York, as well as a part of Upper 
and all of Lower Canada, till the waters should be carried off by 
the way of the several rivers now existing, on the easterly and 
southerly side of the lake, and by new channels ; such catastrophe 
would most certainly cut for itself, in many directions, in its descent 
to the Atlantic. 

But we trust such an occurrence may never take place ; yet it is 
equally possible, as was the draining of the more ancient lakes of 
the west. And however secure the ancient inhabitants may have 
felt themselves, who had settled below the barriers, yet that inland 
sea suddenly took up its line of march, to wage war with, or to be- 
come united to, its counterpart, the Atlantic, and in its travel bore 
away the country, and the nations dwelling thereon. 

It is scarcely to be doubted, but the same effects were experi- 
enced by the ancient inhabitants settled between the Euxine or 
Black sea and the Mediterranean, and the whole coast of that in- 
land ocean, where its shores were skirted by low countries. 

It is stated by Euclid, in a conversation that philosopher had 
with Anacharsis, of whom we have before spoken in this work, 
that the Black sea was once entirely surrounded by natural em- 
bankments, but that many rivers runiug into it from Europe and 
Asia, at length overflowed its barriers, cutting for itself a deep 
channel, tore out the whole distance from its own shore to that of 
the Archipelago, a branch of the Mediterranean, which is some- 
thing more than a hundred miles, now called the Bosphorus. 

It is not impossible but from the rush of all these waters at once, 
into the Mediterranean, that at that time the isthmus which united 
Europe and Africa where now is situated the strait of Gibraltar, 
was then torn away. It is true that the ancients attributed this 
separation to the power of Hercules, which circumstance, though 
we do not believe in the strength of this hero, points out clearly 
that an isthmus once was-there. 

By examining the map of the Black sea, we find that beside the 
outlet of the Bosphorus, there is none other ; so that previous to 
the time of that rupture it had no visible outlet. Some internal 
convulsions, therefore, must have taken place, so that its subter- 
ranean channels became obstructed, and caused it at once to over- 



364 A5IERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

flow its lowest embankment, which it appears was toward tiie 
Archipelago, or the west. 

The Caspian sea, in the same country, has no outlet, though 
many large rivers flow into it. If, therefore, this body of water^ 
which is nearly 700 miles long, and nearly 300 wide , were to be 
deranged in its subterranean outlets, it would also soon overflow at 
its lowest points, which is also on its western side, at its southera 
end, and rushing on between the Georgian or Circassian and Tau- 
rus mountains, would plough for itself a channel to the Black sea. 

From this view, the rupturing of the ancient embankments of 
lakes in Europe, Asia and America, it appears that the waters of 
the Atlantic are now, of necessity, much deeper than anciently ; 
CD which account many fair countries, and large islands, once 
thickly peopled, and covered with cities, towns and cultivated re- 
gions, lie now where sea monsters sport above them, while whole 
tracts of country once merged in other parts of the earth beneath 
the waters, have lifted hills and dales to the light and influence of 
the sun, and spread out the lap of happy countries, whereon whole 
nations of men now live, where once the wind drove onward the 
terrific billows. 



Causes of the Disappearance of the Ancient Mations. 

But what has finally become of these nations and where are 
their descendants, are questions, which, could they be answered, 
would be highly gratifying. 

On opening a mound, below Wheeling on the Ohio, a few year* 
since, a stone was found, having on it a brand exactly similar to 
the one commonly used by the Mxican nations, iu marking their 
cattle and horses. 

From this it is evident, that the ancient nations were net savages, 
or a trait of the domestication of animals vi'ould not be found in 
the country, they once inhabited. The head of the SustajaseSyOX 
Mexican hog, cut off square, was found in a saltpetre care iu Ken- 
tucky not long since by Dr. Brown. This circumstance is men- 
tioned by Dr. Drake, in his Picture of Cincinnati. The nitre 
had preserved it. It had been deposited there by the ancient in- 
habitants where it must have lain for ages. 



AND niSCOVEniES L\ TIIK WKST. 865 

This auiinal is not tound, it is said, north of the Mexican coun- 
try, the north line of which, is about on the 40th degree of north 
latitude, and the presumption is that the inhabitants took these an- 
imals along with thera in their migrations, until they finally settled 
in Mexico. Other animals, as the elk, the moose and the buffalo 
were doubtless domesticated by them, and used for agricultural pur- 
poses, as the ox, the horse, and various other animals are now in 
use among us. 

The wild sheep of Oregon, Louisiana, California and the Rocky 
mountains, the same found in the north of Asia, may be remnants 
of the flocks of that animal, once domesticated all over these re-i 
gions by those people, and used for food. 

One means of their disappearance may have been the noxious 
effluvia which would inevitably arise from the bottoms of those 
vast bodies of water, which must have had a pestilential effect on 
the people settled around them. This position needs no elucida- 
tion, as it is known that the heat of the sun, in its action on swamps 
and marshy grounds, fills the region round them with a deathly 
scent, acting directly on the economy and constitution of the hu- 
man subject, while animals of coarser habits escape. 

Who has not experienced this on the sudden draining of stagnant 
waters, or even those of a mill pond. The reason is the filth settled 
at the bottoms of such places, becomes exposed by having the co- 
ver taken away, which was the waters, and the winds immediately 
wafting the deleterious vapors ; the surrounding atmosphere be- 
comes corrupted ; disease follows, with death in its train. 

But on the sudden draining of so great a body of water from such 
immense tracts of land, which had been accumulating filth, formed 
of decayed vegetation and animals, from the time of the deluge till 
their passage off at that time, the stench must have been beyond 
all conception dreadful. 

Such was the fact on the subsiding of the waters of the Nile in 
Egypt, which, after having overflown the whole valley of that river 
about five hundred miles in length, and from fifteen to twenty-five 
in width, leaves an insufferable stench, and is the true origin of 
the plague, which sweeps to eternity annually its thousands in that 
country. 

It is not, therefore, impossible, nor improbable, but by this very 
means, the ancient nations settled round these waters, may have, 



866 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

indeed, been exterminated ; or if they were not exterminated, must 
have been exceedingly /reduced in numbers, so as to induce the re- 
sidue to flee from so dangerous a country, far to the south, or any 
where, from the effects of the dreadful effluvia, arising from the 
newly exposed chasms and gulfs. 

Such, also, would be the effect on the present inhabitants, should 
the fall of Niagara at length undermine and wear down that strata 
of rock over which it now plunges, and drain the lakes of the west, 
the remnant of the greater bodies of water which once rested there. 
In the event of such a catastrophe, it would be natural that the 
waters should immediately flow into the head water channels of all 
the rivers northeast and south of lake Ontario, after coming on a 
level with the heads of the short streams passing into that lake on 
its easterly side. 

The rivers running southeast and north from that part of lake 
Ontario, as high up as the village of Lyons, are a part of the Che- 
mung, the Chenango, the Unadilla, the Susquehannah, the Dela- 
ware, the Mohawk, the Schoharie, (he Au Sable, and the St. Law- 
rence, with all their smaller head water streams. 

The Tallies of these streams would become the drains of such a 
discharge of the western lakes, overwhelmiug and sweeping away 
all the works of men in those directions, as well as in many other 
directions, where the lowness of the country should be favorable 
to a rush of the waters, leaving isolated tracts of highlands, with 
the mountains as islands, till the work of submersion should be 
over. 

All this, it is likely, will appear extremely visionary, but it should 
not be forgotten, that we have predicated it on the supposed demo- 
lition of Niagara falls, which is as likely to ensue, as that the bar- 
riers of the ancient lakes should have given away, where the re- 
spective falls of the rivers which issued from them, poured over 
their precipices. 

Whoever will examine all the circumstances, says Volney, will 
clearly perceive, that at the place where the village of Queenstown 
now stands, the fall at first commenced, and that the river, by saw- 
ing down the bed of the rock, has hollowed out the chasm, and 
continued carrying back its breach, from age to age, till it has, at 
length, reached the spot where the cascade now is. There it con- 
tinues its secular labors with slow but incessant activity. The 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WE^T. 367 

oldest inhabitants of the country remember having seen the cata- 
ract several paces beyond its present place. The frosts of winter 
have the effect continually of cracking the projecting parts of the 
strata, and the thaws of spring, with the increased powers of the 
augmented waters, loosen and tumble large blocks of the rock into 
the chasm below. 

Dr. Barton, who examined the thickness of the stratum of stone, 
and estimates it at sixteen feet, believes it rests on that of blue 
schist, which he supposes forms the bed of the river, as well as the 
falls, up to the Erie. Some ages hence, if the river, continuing its 
untiring operations, may cease to find the calcareous rock that now 
checks it, and finding a softer strata, the fall will ultimately arrive 
at lake Erie; and then one of those great desications will take 
place, of which the valleys of the Potomac, Hudson and Ohio, af- 
ford instances in times past. 



Lake Ontario formed by a Volcano^ 

Though the northern parts of America have been known to us 
but about two centuries, yet this interval, short as it is in the an- 
nals of nature, has already, says Voluey, been sufficient to convince 
us, by numerous examples, that earthquakes must have been fre- 
quent and violent here, in times past. And that they have been 
the principal cause of the derangements of which the Atlantic 
coast presents such general and striking marks. 

To go back no farther than the year 1628, the time of the arrival 
of the first English settlers, and end with 1782, a lapse of 154 
years, in which time there occurred no less than iorly-five earth- 
quakes. These were always preceded by a noise resembling that 
of a violent wind, or of a chimney on fire ; they often threw down 
chimnies, sometimes even houses, and burst open doors and win- 
dows: suddenly dried up wells, and even several brooks and 
streams of water; imparting to the waters a turbid color, and the 
the foetid smell of liver of sulphur, throwing up out of great chinks 
sand with a similar smell. The shocks of these earthquakes seem- 
ed to proceed from an internal focus, which raised the earth up 



368 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

from beloWj the principal line of which ran noitheast and south- 
westj following the course of the river Merrimack, extending south- 
ward to the Potomac, and northward beyond the St. Lawrence, 
particularly affecting the direction of lake Ontario. 

Respecting these earthquakes, Volney says, he was indebted to 
a work written by a Mr. Williams, from whose curious researches 
he had derived the most authentic records. But the language and 
phrases he employs are remarkable, says Mr. Volney, for the ana- 
logy they bear to local facts, noticed by himself, respecting the ap- 
pearance of schists on the shores of lake Erie ; and about the falls 
of Niagara ; and by Dr. Barton, who supposed it to form the bed 
on which the rock of the falls rests. 

He quotes him as follows : — " Did not that smell of liver sul- 
phur, imparted to the water and sand vomited up from the bowels 
of the earth through great chinks, originate from the stratum of 
schist, which we found at Niagara, beneath the limestone, and 
which, when submitted to the action ol fire, emits a strong smell of 
sulphur .'" 

It is true, says "Volney, that this is but one of the elements of the 
substance mentioned, composing schist, but an accurate analysis 
might detect the other. This stratum of schist is found under the 
bed of the Hudson, and appears in many places in the states of 
New-York and Pennsylvania, among the sandstones and granites ; 
and we have reason to presume that it exists round lake Ontario, 
and beneath lake Erie, and consequently that it forms one of the 
floors of the country, in which was the principal focus of the earth- 
quakes mentioned by Mr. Williams. 

The line of this focus running northwest and southeast, particu- 
larly affected the direction of the Atlantic to lake Ontario. This 
predilection is remarkable on account of the singular structure of 
this lake. The rest of the western lakes, notwithstanding their 
magnitude, have no great depth. Lake Erie no where exceeds a 
hundred or a hundred and thirty feet, and the bottom of lake Su- 
perior is visible in many places. 

The Ontario, on the contrary, is in general very deep ; that is to 
say, upwards of forty-five or fifty fathoms, three hundred feet, and 
80 on ; and in considerable extent no bottom could be found with 
a line of a hundred and ten fathoms, which is a fraction less than 
forty rods in depth. 



AND lilSCOVKRlEa h\ TIIK WEST. 307 

This is the case ia some places near its shores, and these circum- 
^stances pretty clearly indicate that the basin of this lake was once 
the crater of a volcano now extinct. This inference is confirmed 
by the volcanic productions already found on its borders, and no 
doubt the experienced eye will discover many more, by examining 
the form of the great talas^ or slope, that surrounds this lake almost 
circularly, and announces in all parts, to the eye as well as to the 
understanding, that formerly the flat of Niagara extended almost 
as far as the middle of lake Ontario, where it was sunk and swal- 
lowed up by the action of a volcano, then in its vigor. 

The existence of this subterranean fire, accords perfectly with 
the earthquakes mentioned by Williams, as above, and these two 
agents, which we find here united, while they confirm on the one 
hand, that of a grand subterranean focus, at an unknown depth, on 
the other, afford a happy and plausable explanation of the confusion 
of all the strata of the earth and stones, which occurs throughout 
the Atlantic coast. It explains, too, why the calcareous, and even 
granite strata there, are inclined in the horizon in angles of forty- 
five degrees and upward, even as far as eighty, almost perpendicu- 
lar, or endwise, their fragments remaining in the vacuities formed 
by the vast explosions. To this fracture of the stratum of granite, 
are owing its little cascades ; and this fact indicates that formerly 
the focus extended south beyond the Potomac, as also does this 
stratum. No doubt it communicated with that of the West India 
islands. 

As favoring this supposition of Monsieur Volney, we recollect 
the dreadful earthquakes of 1811 and 1812, on the Mississippi, in 
the very neighborhood of the country supposed to have been the 
scenes of the etfects of those early shocks, of probably the same 
internal cause, working now beneath the continent, and sooner or 
later may make again the northern parts of it its place of vengeance, 
instead of the more southerly, as among the Andes, and the Cor- 
dilleras of South America. 

The earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 took place at New-Madrid, 
on the Mississippi, where its effects were dreadful, having thrown 
up vast heaps of earth, destroying the whole plain upon which that 
town was laid out. Houses, gardens, and the fields were swal- 
lowed up ; many of the inhabitants were forced to iiee, exposed to 
the horrors of the scenes passing aronnd, and to the inclemencies 

47 



368 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of the storms, without shelter or protectioc. The earth rolled under 
their feet, like the waves of the sea. The shocks of this subter- 
ranean convulsion were felt two hundred miles around. 

And, further, in evidence of the action of volcanic fires in the 
west of this country, we have the following, from Dr. Beck's 
Gazetteer of Illinois : " I visited Fort Clarke in 1820, and obtained 
a specimen of native copper in its vicinity. It weighed about two 
pounds, and is similar to that found on lake Superior, of which the 
following description was given at the mint of Utrecht, in the 
Netherlands, at the request of Dr. Eustis. From every appear- 
ance, that piece of copper seems to have been taken from a mass 
that had undergone fusion. The melting was, however, not an 
operation of art, but a natural effect, caused by a volcanic eruption. 

" The stream of lava probably carried in its course the aforesaid 
body of copper, that formed into one collection as fast as it was 
heated enough to run from all parts of the mine. The united mass 
was, probably, borne in this manner to the place where it rested 
in the soil. Thus we see that even America, in its northern parts, 
as well as many parts of the old world, as it is called, has felt the 
shock of that engine, which is, comparatively speaking, boundless 
in power, capable of new modelling the face of whole tracts of 
country, in a few days, if not hours." 

That many parts of the western country have once been the scene 
of the devastating power of volcanos, is also maintained by that 
distinguished philosopher, Rafinesque — {See Atlantic Journal, No. 
4, p. 138, 1832. 

If by this agent water is thrown out from the bowels of the earth, 
so as to change the entire surface of large districts in many parts of 
the old world, why not in America, if the tokens of such operations 
are found here .'' 

Volney was the first to call lake Ontario a volcano, and to notice 
our ancient mountain lakes, now dried up by eruptions or convul- 
siousj each having a breach or water gap. I am induced to amplify 
his views, by deeming nearly all our lakes as so many volcanic out- 
lets, which have not merely thrown water in later periods, but in 
more ancient periods have formed nearly all our secondary strata, 
by eruptions of muddy water, mud, clay, liquid coal, basalts, trap. 
This was when the ocean covered yet the land. 

Submarine or oceanic volcanos exist as yet every where in the 



AND DI8COVER1K8 IN THE WEST. 369 

oceaD, and their effects are known. They must of course be hol- 
low outlets under water, that would become lakes if the ocean was 
dried up. We cap form an idea of their large number and extent 
by the late but natural discovery, that all the Lagoon islands, and 
circular clusters of islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian 
oceans, are volcanic craters. This is now admitted, even in Eng- 
land ; and the coral reef often crowning those clusters, are later 
superincumbent formations by insects. The Bahama islands in the 
Atlantic, the Maldives, near India, and the ceral islands all over 
the Pacific, are the most striking of these singular volcanic clus- 
ters, nearly at a level with the ocean. Some of them are of im- 
mense extent, from sixty to one hundred and fifty miles in circuit, 
or even more. 

Some circular bays and gulfs of the sea appear to be similar, dif- 
fering by having only one breach. The bay of Naples is one also, 
an ancient crater, with islands in front. 

The analogy between lakes and volcanic craters is obvious. Al- 
most all fiery craters become lakes filled with water, when their 
igneous activity is spent. 

All springs are smaller outlets of water, while the fumaroles and 
holes of igneous volcanos are small outlets of smoke, fire, air, 
gases, hot mud, &c. I can perceive no essential difference be- 
tween them or any other eruptive basin, except in degree of caloric 
or kind of matter which they emit. They may both be quiescent 
or in activity. Springs vary as much as volcanos. We have few 
pure springs ; they commonly hold mineral substances. They are 
cold, warm, hot, salt, bitter, saline, bituminous, limpid, colored, 
muddy ; perpetual or periodical, flowing or spouting. Just like 
volcanic outlets. 

Therefore volcanos are properly igneous springs, and springs or 
lakes are aqueous volcanos ! 

Under this view, we have no lack of volcanic outlets in North 
America, since one-half of it, the whole boreal portion, from New 
England and Labrador in the east, to North Oregon and Alaska in 
the west, and from lake Erie to the boreal ocean, is filled with 
them, being eminently a region of lakes and springs ; covered with 
ten thousand lakes at least. • 

To these, as well as to the dry lakes of our mountains, the lime 
stone craters and sinks, may be traced as the original outlets of our 



$70' AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

kst formations, in a liquid staie, iindei- the ocean, inibeddin^'- 
our fossils. The basaltic, trapic, and qaibonic formations, have the 
same origin, since they are intermingled. But s(jme kinds of sands 
and clays have been ejected since this c6utiuent became dry land 
To trace all these formations to their sources, delineate their streams 
or banks, ascertain their ages and ravage en organized beings, will 
require time, assiduity, zeal, and accurate observations. • 

What connection there is between lakes or dry basins of primi- 
tive regions and their formations, is not well ascertained. Some 
are evidently the produce of crystalization ; but others forming 
streams, veins, banks and ridges, may have been ejected in a fluid 
or soft state, before organic life had b^gun, and thus spread into 
their actual shapes. Many streams of primitive limestone, anlhra- 
eite, wacke, grit, are probably so formed and expanded. Hollows 
in the primitive ocean must have been the outlets of these substan- 
ces, now become lakes, after the land became dry. 

The power which raise* and ejects out of the bowels of the 
earth, watery, muddy and solid substances^ either cold or inflamedj 
is one of the secrets of nature ; but w^e know that such a power or 
cause exists, since we see it in operation. Water rises in lakes 
and springs much above the level of the ocean, while the Caspian 
sea is under that level. There is then no uniform level for water 
on the globe, ijor uniform serial pressure over them. Another cause 
operates within the bowels of the earth, to generate and expel Vir 
quid and solid substances — perhaps many causes and powers are 
combined there. Galvanism is probably one of the main agents.. 
A living power of organic circulation, would explain many earthly 
phenomena. 

Considering, therefore, the omuipotency of the two agents, fire 
and water, so created by Him who is ifiore omnipotent, what chan- 
ges of surface and of inhabitants may not have taken place ip the 
vv^estern regions, as well as in the other parts of America. 

We cannot close this subject better than by introducing an Ara-- 
bian fable, styled the Renolutious of Time. Tlie narrator is sup- 
posed to have lived three thousand years ou the earth, and to have 
travelled much in the course of his life, and to have noted down 
the various changes which took place with respect to the surface 
Qf the globe in many places, and to have been conversant with the 
T^arious generations of men that succeded each other. 



AND DiSCOVKRIKS IN TlIK Wi:«T. 37 t 

This table we consider illustrative of the antiquities of all couu 
Iries, as well as of the changes whicli have most certainly taken 
place in our own, as it relates to surface and inhabitants. 'I'he 
name of the traveller was Khitlr, and his story is as follows: 

I was passing, say Khidr, a populous city, and I asked one of the 
inhabitants, " How long has this city been built. '" But he said, 
" This city is an ancient city ; we know not at what time it was 
built; neither we nor our fathers." 

Then I passed by after five hundred years, and not a trace of the 
city was to be seen ; but I found a man gathering herbs, and I ask- 
ed him, ''' How long has this city been destroyed .'" But he said, 
'^ The country has always been thus." And I said, " But there 
was a city here." Then he said, " We have seen no city here, 
Hor have we heard of such from our fathers." 

After five hundred years, I again passed that way, and found a 
lake, and met there a company of fishermen, and asked them, 
" When did this land become a lake .'" And they said, " How 
can a man like you ask such a question t The place was never 
other than it is." " But heretofore (said I) it was dry land." And 
they said, " We never saw it so, nor heard of it from our fathers." 

Then after five hundred years I returned, and behold, the lake 
was dried up; and I met a solitary man, and said to him, " When, 
did this spot become dryland.^" And he said "It was always 
thus." "But formerly, (said I,) it was a lake" And he said, 
" We never saw it, nor heard of it before." 

And five hundred years afterwards I again passed by, and again 
found a populous and beautiful city, and finer than I had at first seerv 
it ; and I asked one of the inhabitants, " When was this city built :" 
And he said, " Truly it is an ancient place, and we know not the 
date of its building, neither we nor our fathers." 

The human race has every where experienced terrible revolu- 
tions. Pestilence, wars and the convulsions of the globe, have an- 
nihilated the proudest works, and rendered vain the noblest eflbrts 
of man. 

" Ask not the sage when and by whom were erected those lin- 
gering ruins of the west, the imperishable memorials of ages long 
since swallowed up in the ocean of time ; ask not the wild Arab 
where may be found the owner of the superb palace, w ithin whose 
broken walls he casts his tent ; ask not the poor fisherman, as he 



372 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

spreads his nets, or the ploughman who whistles over the fields, 
where is Carthage ? — where is Troy ? of whose splendor historians 
and poets have so much boasted. Alas ! they have vanished from 
the things that be, and have left but the melancholy lesson of the 
instability of the most stupendous labors of our race." 



Remarks on Geology. 

The evidence that the globe has undergone many and dreadful 
convulsions, appears from its confused strata of rock, the under- 
most or primitive, called granite, appearing frequeutly above those 
of a secondary or later formation ; yet by no means dare we come 
to the sacrilegious and all-astounding doctrine, arrived at by mod- 
ern geologists. Which is, that many ages and revolutions of the 
globe had transpired before the creation of man : and also that se- 
veral eras of creation had taken place, before that event, instead of 
one, as we are instructed in the Scriptures. 

To show that such conclusions are arrived at by geologists, we 
quote the following from the pages of the Penny Magazine, a 
highly popular periodical, issued from the press in London, under 
the direction of several of the nobility of that country try of highly 
scientific character. — (See No. 70, for 1833, p. 178.) 

" Fossils, by which is understood the petrified remains of animals, 
as their bones ; also plants, shells, tortoises, fishes and vegetable 
remains, as timber, leaves, brenches, ferns, mosses, &c., all of which 
are found in various parts embedded in rocks, clay, gravel, and other 
strata of the globe. These, found as they are, reveal to us the im- 
portant and wonderful fact, that the author of nature had created 
different species of animals and plants at several successive and 
widely distant periods of time, and that many of those which existed 
in earlier ages of our globe, had become totally extinct before the 
creation of others of different characters in' later periods, that prior 
to man being called into existence, innumerable species of living 
beings hud covered the surface of the earth, for a series of ages. 

" We farther learn, that a very great portion of those creatures 
of the later periods had become extinct, and had been replaced by 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 373 

Others. When that great event, the creation of man, took place, 
the crust of the earth had already undergone numerous changes 
that appear to us to afford indisputable evidences of design ; to be 
evidences the most clear, of the establishment of an order of things 
adapted to the predetermined nature of that more perfect creatur* 
about to be sent as an inhabitant of the globe, to whom was to be 
given " dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowls of 
the air, and over the cattle, and over a// the earth." — (^Scripture. 
See Genesis.) 

" We are also taught by the study of fossils, that prior to the 
creation of man there had existed a totally different condition of 
our planet, in so far as regards the distribution ot laud and water, 
from that whichnow exists ; that where there are now continents 
there must have been deep seas, and that extensive tracts of land 
must have occupied those parts of the globe now covered by the 
ocean." 

Respecting this their opinion, however, we think that many of 
those appearances which indicate that once the waters of the ocean 
covered even the highest ranges of mountains, are to be accounted 
for from the fact, that the Noachian deluge surmounted fifteen cu- 
bits and upwards, the highest parts of the earth, and that then those 
deposits of marine shells, and bones of land and sea animals, took 
place = 

As singular as it may appear, we announced to the reader that 
the authors of those opinions which go to establish the existence of 
an animal creation, and of its duration for many ages before the 
time of Adam, affect also to believe the Scriptures ; as above it is 
seen that they quote from that book the circumstance of man's do- 
minion over all animals, and over all the earth. If, therefore, they 
believe that book ; how is it they go about to contradict the account 
it gives of the creation of the earth, as to the time expended in its 
creation, and as to the era when it was created. 

They, that is, the geologists, say, that severel ages had passed 
away before man was created, but Moses says that but^^ce days had 
transpired, when on the <sixth the man was created ; and to fix the 
meaning of the terms six days, as to their actual amount of time, 
we have only to remember, that on that circumstance, "in six days 
God made the heavens and the earth," was predicated the seven 
days cycle of time, called a week, which, by Jewish and Christian 



874 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

nations have always been observed. The very obligation oi work 
ing six days and of resting on the seventh, was founded on the fact, 
that in six days God made the heavens and earth, and rested on 
the seventh. How then can it be, that immense periods and ages 
of time had rolled away before the creation of man ? If we be- 
lieve the account as written under the direction of celestial in- 
spiration, by what rule is six times twenty-four hours capable of 
being attenuated to the length of many ages or periods ? 

If the six days spoken of in the scripture, as being the founda- 
tion of the Sabbath, and of its observance are not literally so, then 
is the Sabbath founded in falsehood, and cannot be morally binding 
on any man since the world began : he, therefore, who can attack 
the ten commandments and drive one of them out of being, at a 
blow, cannot be supposed as filial to the scriptures, which give 
a circumstancial account, of the ^i»?e, duration^ and manner of the 
creation. 

This geological, or stone argument, respecting the age of the 
earth is certainly preposterous, or the account in Genesis, of the 
creation, is a fahle. We, therefore, consider their deductions, 
that is the authors of the remarks as above recited from the Penny 
Magazine, but a new and elaborate, yet covert mode of over- 
turning the character of the Bible, and should be watched with 
a jealous eye, by the scientific, among those who do believe the 
scirptures. 

The kinds of animals, according to John Mason Good, whose 
species seem now to be extinct, and whose remains are found em- 
beded in the rock of the second formation, are not such as had 
bones ^ but mere worms, insects and shells of the sea, and certain 
kinds of vegetation, all of the lowest links in the scale of either 
animal or vegetable organization. This is important, to our views 
of this subject ; because, if in this second stratum, which lies on 
the first or lowermost, or primitive rock, there are 710 remains of 
animals which either walked on the earth, or flew in the air, or 
swam in the sea, it goes far to disprove the theory of geologists 
respecting the passing away of several ages, before man was 
made ; as such kinds of fossils, arc soon produced, and soon em- 
beded. 

But in the third formation of rock, of the kind denominated 
'^otez or flat rock, of which there are several kinds, are found 



AN1> DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 37? 

'khe fossil bones of large animals in great abundance, with those of 
vegetation also. The remains of all animals so discovered, are 
of the kinds well known, except in a few instances, as belonging 
to animals not extinct. In this very rock of the third and last forma- 
tion, in its lowest parts, are found the remains of fishes, tortoises, 
and shells, though much mutilated, which circumstance goes very 
far in favor of this formation of stratum having been produced since 
the flood ; its foundation being laid at that time ; while the bones 
of laud animals lie embedded above them, and after mingled. 

Next above this are the alluvial deposits, containing fossils, 
which are found all over the globe, at certain places. In this are 
found the bones of the largest kinds of animals, some of which are 
unknown, but were quadrupeds of the largest magnitudes. 

The same kinds, however, are found also imbedded in stone of the 
third class in local situations, and produced by local causes, as the 
sudden submergency of a certain place, by the disruption of a sea, 
lake, or rivers, involving the destruction of a great number of ani- 
mals, both of land and water, which have in certain places been 
found. 

Such are the fossils found in the composite rocks that fill up the 
great basin around Paris ; the celebrated quarries of Alniagen, on 
the Rhine, which, says Good, have been erroneously regarded of 
the same antiquity as Werner's universal formations of the kind 
found in the third class of rocks, as before specified. 

Now as these remains consist in a good degree of animals i^notc», 
it is an evidence that this very stratum has been formed since the 
flood • because the chief argument which supports the theory of se- 
veral ages having passed away before the creation of Adam, rests 
• on the strata of those ages containing altogether unknown animals, 
and these, nothing but worms and insects of the waters. 

That the bones of large animals should be thus found in solid 

rocks of the third formation, and to have become such since the 

> 
flood is not incredible ; as nearly four thousand years have passed 

away since that era. And suppose the animals whose fossils are 

found in local situations, were involved by the disruption of the 

waters of some lake or inland sea, a thousand years siiice the flood ; 

even then time enough has, long ago transpired, for the formation 

®f this stratum. 

If so, it is then a clear case, that such animals^ both of land and 

4S 



378 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

water, as were killed by the flood may have contributed sokly to 
the fossil formations, which are considered universal, and distin- 
guished from those which are local and later. 

The bones of those immense animals which by geologists are 
supposed to have inhabited the earth before the time of Adam, may 
be nothing more than sea animals, the species of which may, even 
now exist ; for who will pretend to an acquaintance with all the 
inhabitants which feed on the pastures covering the bottom of the 
great deep ? The bones of these were doubtless thrown over the 
earth by the flood, and mingled with those of land animals, and 
where the kind of earth favored the formation of rock, they are^ 
found, while others have crumbled to earth not so deposited. 

We see no necessity of this dream about ages antecedent to the 
time of man's creation. The hypothesis is not called for, as time 
enough since that time has transpired, to produce all the appear- 
ances of the fossil kind belonging to geology. 

But in all the excavations which have hitherto been made, and 
among all the fossil discoveries, the bones of man have not been 
found imbedded in rock of the third formation. But this is not to 
say they never will be found, in some future excavations. We 
should naturally expect to find this kind of fossil, as it is certain 
the earth was populous with men before the flood. This we learn 
from a remarkable passage to this effect, found in Genesis, several 
times repeated, at chap, vi., verses 11, 12 and 13. " The earth 
also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 
And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt. And 
God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me ; for 
the earth is filled with violence." How, therefore, could this be, 
unless it v/iks filled with inhabitants of our race. 

If many parts of the earth which was dry land before the flood, 
is now ocean, it at once cuts off" the opportunity of geological re- 
search in a great measure, and lessens the chance of finding fossil 
bones of the human subject- Again, all such of the race whose 
bones may have sunk down into the soft and miry earth, while 
covered by the flood, and did not chance to be covered by those 
kinds of stratum convertible into stone, would of course return to 
mould or earth, as it was, and therefore cannot be distinguished. 

Now as strata of any kind are extremely rare, which contain the 
6one5 of animals, it is not very singular that they are not found, and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 370 

the circumstance can never be used as a proof against the flood of 
Noah. 

It is dangerous to inculcate opinions which go to overthrow the 
confidence men have in the Scriptures. The moment this is done, 
the depraved mind feels itself lightened of a monstrous burden. 
It is far better aud more becoming us, that " God be true and 
every man a liar." The dreams of the geologist figures but poor- 
ly in competition with heaven about the origin of things, and the 
manner of creation. 

Were the doctrine true, that several ages had transpired before 
the reputed time of the creation of Adam, in which the globe had 
been populous with animals, we only should ascertain that all that 
trouble was, so far as we are able to perceive, for nothing ; as there 
could be no possible use in their existence, except to devour each 
other, and to return to earth as they were. The works of God are 
always presented to us, being complete from their foundation to 
their climax- But man being not among the number of his works 
at first on this hypothesis, shows thereby a lack of perfection, so far 
as concerns the operations of his hands, in the early and supposed 
ages of the planet. 

The existence of the globe even now, with all its animals of land 
and sea, with all its phenomena of arrangement, could bring no 
praise, no glory to the Creator without a man, or some order of in- 
telectual beings, who should be able to admire, and to adore through 
his works the author. Through man all animals praise God ; but 
without him they are as though they had not been. To this view, 
even the Scriptures would seem to agree, and to speak of it mv^ch 
in the same way. (See Rev. v. 13.) " And every creature which 
is in heaven and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are 
in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, honor 
glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto 
the Lamb for ever and ever." But without man, this voice, so far 
as creation is concerned, besides the man, could never have as- 
cended, as there could have been no medium through which God 
could have received praise ; no possible way, that his multifarious 
operations should in the least be appreciated, without such a being 
as man is, having a reasonable soul, and powers of perception suited 
to his station. 

But if we believe the account as related by Moses, we perceive 



580 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

that man and animals were made at the same time, with the exr 
caption of but a few hours, so that this head of creation was not 
wanting in the very outset of time. But, on the contrary, if we 
suppose, with those of the geological school, that more time, im- 
mensely more, than has elapsed since the day^ of Adam, had pass- 
ed away before ; then are we met, at every turn, with this insu*- 
perable incongruity, of a creation without a head. 



Resemblance of the Western Indians to the Ancient Greeks, 

The reader will recollect we have shown on page 44, that the 
Greek fleet once moored on the coast of Brazil, in South America, 
said to be the fleet of Alexander the Great, and also the supposed 
Greek carving, or sculpture, in the cave on the Ohio river. — (See 
p. 140.) 

In addition, we give from Mr. Volney's View of America^ his 
comparison of the ancient Greek tribes with the tribes of the west- 
ern Indians- He says, the limits of his work would not allow bins 
to enter into all the minutiae of this interesting subject ; and there- 
fore should content himself with saying, that the more deeply we 
examine the history and way of savage life, the more ideas we ac- 
quire that illustrate the nature of man in general, the gradual for-r 
mation of societies, and the character and manners of the nations of 
antiquity. 

While this author was among the Indians of the west, he was 
particularly struck with the analogy between the savages of North 
America and the so much vaunted ancient nations ol Greece and 
Italy. In the Greeks of Homer, particulaily in those of his Iliiid, 
he found the customs and manners of the Iroquoiss, Delaware, and 
Miamis, strikingly exemplified. The tragedies of Sophocles and 
Euripides, paint almost literally the sentiments of the red men re- 
specting necessity, fatality, the miseries of human life, and the rigor 
of blind destiny. But the piece most remarkable for variety, com- 
bination of features and resemblance, is the beginning of the histo- 
ry of Thucydides, in which he briefly traces the habits and way of 
life of the Greeks, before and after the Trojan war, up to the age 
in which he wrote. This fragment of their history appears so well 



AiND DISCOVERIES IN TJIK WKST. 3S1 

adapted, that we are persuaded the reader will be pleased at having 
it laid before him, so that he can make the comparison for himself. 

'' It is certain that the region now known by the name ot Greece 
was not formerly possessed by any fixed inhabitants, but was sub- 
ject to frequent migrations, as constantly every distinct people or 
tribe yielded up their seats to the violence of a larger supervening 
number. For, as to commerce, there was nonCj and mutual fear 
prevented intercourse, both by land and sea ; as then the only view 
of culture was barely to procure a penurious subsistence, as super- 
fluous wealth was a thing unknown." 

" Planting was not their employment, it being uncertain how 
soon an invader might come and dislodge them from their unforti- 
fied habitations ; and as they thought they might every where find 
their daily support, they hesitated but little about shifting their 
habitations. And for this reason they never flourished in the great- 
ness of their cities, or any other circumstance of power. But the 
richest tracts of country were ever more particularly liable to this 
frequent change of inhabitants, such as that now called Thessaly 
and Bceotia, and Peloponesus chiefly, except Arcadia, and in 
generaHhfr most fertile parts of Greece. For the natural wealth 
of their soil, in particular districts, increased the power of some 
amongst them ; that power raised civil dessension, which ended 
in their ruin, and at the same time exposed them the more to foreign 
attacks." 

It was only the barrenness of the soil that preserved Attica 
through the longest space of time, quiet and undisturbed, in one 
uninterrupted series of possessors. One, and not the least con- 
vincing proof of this is, that other parts of Greece, because ot the 
fluctuating condition of the inhabitants, could by no means, in their 
growth keep pace with Attica. The most powerful of those who 
were driven from the other parts of Greece, by war or sedition, be- 
took themselves to the Athenians for secure refuge, and as they 
obtained Ibe privilege of citizens, have constantly, from remote 
time, continued to enlarge that city with fresh accessions of inhab- 
itants ; insomuch, that, at last, Attica, being insufficient to support 
its numbers, they sent over colonies to Ionia. 

The custom of wearing weapons, once prevailed all over Greece, 
as their houses had no manner of defence, as travelling was full of 
hazard, and their whole lives were passed in armour, like barba- 



882 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

rians. A proof of this, is the continuaace still, in some parts of 
Greece, of those manners which were once, with uniformity, com- 
mon to all. The Athenians were the first who discontinued the 
custom of wearing their swords, and who passed from the savage 
life into more pf^lite and elegant manners. Sparta is not closely 
built ; the temples and public edifices by no means sumptuous, 
and the houses detached from each other, after the oM mode of 
Greece. 

In their war manners they resembled the Indians of America, for 
after a certain engagement they had with an enemy, and being 
victorious, they erected a trophy upon Leucinna, a promontory of 
Corcyra, and put to death all the prisoners they had taken, except 
one, who was a Corinthian. 

The pretended golden age of those nations was nothing better 
than to wander naked in the forests of Hellas and Thessaly, living 
on herbs and acorns ; by which we perceive that the ancient Greeks 
were truly savages of the same kind as those in America, and 
placed in nearly similar circumstances of climate, since Greece 
covered with forests, was then much colder than at present. Hence 
we infer, that the name of Pelasgian, believed to belong to one 
and the same people, wandering and dispersed about from the 
Crimea to the Alps, was only the generic appellation of the savage 
horde'^s of the first inhabitants, roaming in the same manner as the 
Hurons and Algonquins, or as the old Germans and Celts. 

And we should presume, with reason, that colonies of foreigners, 
farther advanced in civilization, coming from the coasts of Asia, 
Phoenicia, and even Egypt, and settling on those of Greece and 
Latium, had nearly the same kind of intercourse with these abori- 
gines ; sometimes friendly, sometimes hostile ; as the first English 
settlers in Virginia and New-England had with the American 
savages. 

By these comparisons we should explain both the intermixture 
atiJ disappearance of some of those nations, the manners and cus- 
toms of those inhospitable times, when every stranger was an ene- 
my, and every robber a hero ; when there was no law but force^ 
no virtue but bravery in war ; when every tribe was a nation, and 
every assemblage of huts a metropolis. 

In this period of anarchy and disorder, of savage life, we should 
see the origin of that character of pride and boasting, perfidiousuess 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 388 

and cruelty, dissimulation and injustice, sedition and tyranny, that 
the Greeks display throughout the whole course of their history ; 
we should perceive the source of those false ideas of virtue and 
glory, sanctioned by the poets and orators of those ferocious days ; 
who have made war and its melancholy trophies, the loftiest aim 
of man's ambition, the most shining road to renown, and the most 
dazzling object of ambition to the ignorant and cheated multitude- 
And since the polished and civilized people of Christendom have 
made a point of imitatmg these nations, and consider their politics 
and morals, like their poetry and arts, the types of all perfection ; 
it follows that our homage, our patronage, and veneration', are ad- 
dressed to the manners and spirit of barbarous and savage times. 

The grounds of comparison are so true, that the analogy reaches 
even to their philosophical and religious opinions ; for all the prin- 
ciples of the stoic school of the Greeks are found in the practice 
of the American savages; and if any should lay hold of this cir- 
cumstance to impute to the savages the merit of being philosophers, 
we retort the supposition, and say, we ought, on the contrary, to 
conclude, that a state of society, in which precepts so repugnant 
to human nature were invented for the purpose of rendering life 
supportable, must have been an order of things, and of govern- 
ment, not less miserable than the savage statfe. This opinion is 
supported by the whole history of these Grecian times, even in 
their most brilliant periods, and by the uninterrupted series of their 
own wars, seditions, massacres, and tyrannical proscriptions, down 
to the time of their subjugation by those Other savages of Italy, 
called the Romans ; who, in their character, politics, and aggran- 
dizement, have a striking resemblance to the Six Nations. 

With regard to religious notions, these do not form a regular sys- 
tem among the savages, because every individual in his indepen- 
dent state, makes himself a creed after his own fancy. If we may 
judge from the accounts of the historians of the first settlers, and 
those of late travellers in the northwest, it appears that the Indians 
compose their mythology in the following manner : 

First : a Great Manitau, or superior being ; who governs the 
earth and the aereal meteors, the visible whole of which constitutes 
the universe of a savage. This Great Manitau residing on high, 
without his having any clear idea where, rules the world, without 
giving himself much trouble ; sends rain, wind, or fair weather, 



384 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

according to his fancy ; sometimes makes a noise, which is the 
thunder, to amuse himself ; concerns himself as little about the af- 
fairs of men as about those of 6ther living beings that people the 
earth ; does good, without taking any thought about it ; suffers ill 
to be prepetrated without its disturbing his repose, and in the mean 
time, leaves the world to a destiny, or fatality, the laws of which 
are anterior, and paramount, to all things. 

Under his command are subordinate Manitaus, or genii, innume- 
rable, who people earth and air, preside over every thing that hap- 
pens, and have each a separate employment. Of these genii, some 
are good ; and these do all the good that takes place in nature ; 
others are bad, and these occasion all the evil that happens to liv- 
ing beings. 

It is to the latter chiefly, and almost exclusively, that the savages 
address their prayers, their propitiatory offerings, and what religious 
worship they have ; the object of which is, to appease the malice 
of these Manitaus, as men appease the ill humor of morose, bad 
men. This fear of genii is one of their most habitual thought, 
and that by which they are most tormented. Their most intrepid 
warrors are, in this respect, no better than their women ; a dream, 
a phantom seen at night in the woods, or a sinister cry, equally 
alarms their credulous, superstitious minds. 

Their magicians, or, as we more properly call them, jugglers, 
pretend to very familiar intercourse with these genii ; they are, 
however, greatly puzzled to explain their nature, form, and aspect. 
Not having our id«as of pure spirit, they suppose them to be com- 
posed of substances, yet light, volatile, and invisible, true shadows 
and manes, after the manner of the ancients. Sometimes they se- 
lect some one of these genii, whom they suppose to reside in a 
tree, a serpent, a rock, a cataract, and this they make their fetih, 
er god, to which they resort, like the African. The notion of an- 
other life is a pretty general belief among the savages. They ima- 
gine that after death they shall go into another climate and country, 
where game and fish abound, where, they can hunt without being 
fatigued, walk about without fear of an enemy, eat very fat meat, and 
live without care or trouble. The Indians of the north, place this 
climate toward the southwest, because the summer winds, and the 
most pleasing and genial temperature, come from that quarter. 

This sketch of Indian manners, is supposed sufficient by Mr. 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 385 

Volney, to prove that there is a real analogy between the mytholo- 
gical ideas of the Indians of North America and those of the Asiatic 
Tartars, as they have been described to us by the learned Russians, 
who have visited them not many years since. 

The analogy between them and the nations of the Greeks, is 
equally evident. We discern the Great Mauitau of the savages, in 
the Jupiter of the heroic ages, or their savage times; with this dif- 
ference only, that the Manitau of the Americans, leads a melan- 
choly, poor, and wearisome life, like themselves; while the Jupiter 
of Homer, and of Hesiod, displays all the magnificence of the court 
of Hecatompylean Thebes, the wonderful secrets of which have 
been disclosed to us in the present age. See the elegant work of 
Mr. Denon, on the high degree of taste, learning, and perfection, 
at which the arts had arrived in that Thebes, which was buried in 
the night of history, before Greece or Italy were known. 

In the lesser Manitaus of the Indians, are equally evident the 
subordinate deifies of Greece ; the genii of the woods and foun- 
tains, and the demons honored with a similar superstitious worship. 

The conclusion Volney draws from all this is, not that the In- 
dians have derived their notions from Greece, but rather are deriv- 
able from Shamanism, or the Lamic system of Budda, which 
spread itself from Hindostan among all the savages of the old world, 
where it is found even to the extremities of Spain, Scotland, and 
Cimbrica. 

Yet as traits of the Grecian nations are found, especially in 
South America, as in the discovery of the subterranean cavity of 
mason work, noticed on page 44, and in the cave on the Ohio, as 
noticed on page 143, it, is not impossible, but that from the Greeks, 
sometime in this country, before the Indians found their way here, 
they may have communicated their mythological notions to the 
more ancient inhabitants, from whom the Tartars, or our Indians, 
when they conquered or drove away that people, imbibed their 
opinions ; as it is not without precedent, that the conquered have 
given to the conqueror their religion as well as their country. 



49 



•8* AMBRIOAN ANTIQUITIfiS 



Traits of Ancient Romans in Jlmerica. 

On pages 40 and 59 inclusive, of this work, we have ventured 
the conjecture, that the Romans colonized various parts of America. 
We still imagine such a conjecture by no means impossible, as 
tokens of their presence are evidently yet extant in the vale of 
Mexico. See page 269, where is an account of a temple, which 
was built and dedicated as sacred to the worship of the sun and 
moon. 

The religions of nations furnish, it is presumed, the strongest 
possible evidence of origin. On this account, the temples of the 
san and moon in Mexico, exactly answer to the same objects of 
devotion, worshipped by the ancient Romans. 

That they are similar in both countries, we prove from Gibbon's 
Roman empire, page 233, vol. 1st, as follows : — The sun was wor- 
shipped at Emesa, by the Romans, under the name of Elagabahis 
or God, under the form of a black conical stone, which, it was uni- 
versally believed, had fallen from heaven, ©n that sacred place. 

This stone, we observe, was undoubtedly what is termed an sero- 
lithis, a copious account of which is given by Dr. Adam Clarke, as 
being thrown out of the moon by the force of volcanic eruptions in 
that planet, which, as soon as they had passed out of the moon's 
attraction, fell immediately to the earth, being drawn hither by the 
stronger force of the centripetal power. A stone falling to the 
earth under such circumstances, was quite sufficient to challengp 
the adoration of the pagan nations as coming down from the gods, 
or from the sun, as a representative of that luminary- 

Accordingly, this stone became deified, and was set up to be 
worshipped, as the sun's vicegerent among men. Gibbon says that 
to this protecting deity, the stone, Antonius, not without some 
reason, ascribed his elevation to the throne of the Roman empire. 
The triumph of this stone god over all the religions of the earth, 
was; the great object of this emperor's zeal and vanity : and the 
appellation of Elagahalm, which he had bestowed on the serolithis, 
was dearer to that emperor than all the titles of imperial greatness. 

In a solemn procession through the streets of Rome, the way 
WM strewed with gold dust ; the black stone set in precious gems. 



AND DieCQVEKIES IN TUB WEST. 88T 

was placed on a chariot drawn by six rnilk white tiorscH, richW 
caparisoned. The pious emperor held the reins, and supported by 
his ministers, moved slowly, with his fucc toward the image, that 
he might perpetually enjoy the felicity of the divine presence. 

In a magnificent temple, raised on the Palatine Mount, the sacri- 
fices of the god Elagabalus were celebrated with every circum- 
stance of cost and solemnity. The riches twines, the most extra- 
ordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely consumed 
on his altar. Around him a chorus of Syrian damsels performed 
their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the 
gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician 
tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal, and 
secret indignation. 

To this temple, as to a common centre of religious worship, the 
imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium, 
and all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of in- 
ferior deities attended in various stations, the majesty of the god of 
Emesa, Elagabalus. 

But the court of this god was still imperfect, till a female of dis- 
tinguished rank was admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first 
chosen for his consort ; but as it was dreaded lest her warlike ter- 
rors might affright the soft delicacy of a Syrian deity, the moon ado- 
red by the Africans, under the name of Astarte, was deemed a 
more suitable companion for the sun. Her image, with the rich 
offerings of her temple as a marriage portion, was transported, with 
solemn pomp, from Carthage to Rome ; and the day of these mystic 
nuptials was a general festival in the capitrl, and throughout the 
empire. 

Here then, at Emesa, in Italy, the Romans worshipped ihe sun 
and moon ; so did the Mexicans, with equal pomp and costliness, 
in the vale of Mexico. If, therefore, in the two countries, the same 
identical religion, having the same identical objects of worship, 
existed, it would seem, no great stretch of credulity, or exertion of 
fancy, to suppose them practised by the same people in either 
country. 

The ancient Romans, or rather, the Romans after they had n»«n 
to great consequence, and had founded and built many eitifj, wer» 
remarkable in one particular, over and abor* all othtr paificulaFs, 
and this was in the construction of a grand national road, vfJ74U 



388 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

Enj^Hsh miles in length. This national road issued from the Fo- 
rum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces and termina- 
ted only by the frontiers of the empire, and was divided off into 
distinct miles, by a stone being set up at the termination of each, 
as in the present times. 

The same was the case wi<h the ancient people of South Ame- 
rica, in the time of the Incas; who, as Humboldt informs us, had 
one grand road, which is even traceable at the present time, of a 
thousand leagues in length, running along on the high ground of the 
Cordilleras, and was paved with large flat stones the whole length. 
In this very respect, that is, of paving their roads with large 
«tones, the Romans and the South Americans were alike. For 
Gibbon says, that in the construction of the Roman national high- 
way, they not only perforated mountains, raised bold arches over 
the broadest and most rapid streams, but paved it with large stones, 
and in some places even with granite. 

In another respect they are alike ; the Romans raised this road 
60 as to be able to overlook the country as it was travelled ; so also 
did the Americans, in chQosing the high grounds of the Cordilleras 
to build it upon. 

It would seem also, that in the very construction of their cities, 
towns, and palaces, as found scattered over many parts of South 
America, even along on the coast of the Pacific, according to Hum- 
boldt and more recent researches, they modelled them, in some 
sense, after the manner of the Romans; especially in the vastness of 
their capacity, or area which they occupied. 

However, it is clear, that as the American architecture did not 
partake of the refinement of taste in the finish of their buildings, 
which characterise those of the Romans, that they, the former, are 
the elder of the two ; and that the American nations in the persons 
of their ancestors, came from Africa, and about the country of the 
Mediterranean, in the very first age of their improvement, or de- 
parture from barbarism. From all this it cannot but be inferred, 
that the continent is indebted to that part of the old world for that 
class of inhabitants, who introduced among the first nations of the 
continent, the arts as found in practice by Columbus, when he 
landed on its shores. 

With this view, we think there is light thrown on the curious 
subject of the Mexican tradition, with respect to the white and 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 389 

bearded men before spoken of in this volume ; who, as they say, 
came among them from the rissing sun,and became their legislators. 
And as the Romans were a maritime people, and had become re- 
fined long before the savages of the north of Europe, and made, 
according to Gibbon, prodigious voyages, they may have been the 
very people wlio- colonized the island of Jesso and Japan, v/ho 
were a white and bearded race, from whom, in another part of this 
work, we have supposed these Mexican legislators may have been 
derived. In either case there is no diffijulty; the origin is the 
same. 

We are firm in the belief that the Carthaginians, Phoeniciflns, 
Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, Rorran and Greek nations 
of antiquity, and others, have had more to do in the peopling of the 
wilds of Ameiica, as well also as the Europeans, after their civili- 
zation, than is generally supposed. 

There was found amojig the nations of Mexico, another trait of 
character strongly resembling a Roman practice ; and this was, that 
*of single comoat with deadly instruments, called the fight of the 
gladiators. This among the Romans was carried to so shameful 
and murderous a degree, tl-^at Commodus, one of their emperors, 
killed with his own bands, as a gladiator, seven hundred and thirty- 
five persons. 

Of this emperor Gibbon says, that being elated with the praises 
of the multitude, which gradually extinguished the innate sense of 
shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes ot the Ro- 
man people, those exercises which till then he had decently con- 
fined within the walls of his palace, and to the presence of his fa- 
vorites. 

On the appointed day the various motives of flattery, fear, and 
curiosity, attracted to the amphitheatre an innumerable multitude 
of spectators ; and some degree of applause was deservedly bestow- 
ed on the uncommon skill of tlie imperial performer. Whether he 
aimed at the head or heart of the animal, the wound was alike cer- 
tain and mortal. With arrows whose points were shaped in the 
form of a crescent, Commodus often intercepted the rapid career, 
and cut asunder the long and bony neck of the ostrich. A panther 
was let loose, and the archer waited till he had leaped upon a trem- 
bling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the beast 
dropped dead, and the man remained unhurt. The dens of the 



390 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

amphitheatre disgorged at once a hundred lions; a hundred darts 
in succession, from the unerring hand of Commodus laid them dead 
as they ran raging around the arena. 

Such, it appears, were the prowess and the sports of the ancient 
Romans, whose counterpart, as it respects this peculiar trait, the 
fight of the gladiator, was found among the Mexican usages of 
North America. 

Again, when the Romans first got footing in the island of Britain 
they erected or laid the foundation of a town, which they named 
Verulam, which soon took the title and rank of a city. This town, 
according to their peculiar manner, was at first circumscribed by 
a wall, including about one hundred acres, the traits of which still 
appear. 

These square inclosures are found in America, as treated upon in 
our account of the Roman squares, at or near Marietta ; strengthen- 
ing the belief that Roman colonies have, in former ages, settled in 
America. 



Traits of White JYations in Georgia and Kentucky before 
Columbus's Time, and the Traditions of the Indians re- 
specting them. 

From the American Journal of Sciences and the Arts, we have a 
highly interesting description of the gold districts in Georgia and 
North Carolina, extending west even unto the state of Tennessee. 
In this Journal, gold is treated on as being extremely abundant, and 
from the situation of the veins, is far m6re eligible to the operations 
of the miner, than the gold mines of South America ; these having, 
as is supposed, been greatly deranged in places, and buried deep 
by the operations of volcanos, while those in tlie states are still in 
their primitive state of formation. 

Gold is found connected with various formations of slate, with 
red clay, and in the bottoms of streams, miugled with the sand and 
gravel. Ii is found with the heavy gravelly earth of the mountains, 
but most of all in the kind of rock called quartz, which is also 
mingled with slate. In North Carolina, on Valley river, gold i» 



AND DISCOVERIES IN TUB WEST. 391 

found in abundance, connected with the quartz rock, which also 
abounds with crystal, running in veins in every direction, in tissues 
from the size of a straw to that of a man's arm. The quartz is in 
great masses, very compact, and of a yellow golden hue, from the 
abundant presence of the metal. In the bottom of this river much 
deposited gold is found in strata. 

It would appear, from the evidences yet remaining, that the an- 
cient inhabitants were not insensible to the existence of the golden 
mines here, nor, of course, of its value ; for, " in the vicinity were 
found the remains of ancient works ; many shafts have been sunk 
by them in pursuit of the ore, and judging from the masses thrown 
up, one of them penetrated a quartz rock to a great depth, as about 
thirty feet still lies open to view. 

There is also a deep and difficult cut across a very bold vein of 
this rock, in pursuit of metal, but it is now much filled up, having 
been used subsequently for an Indian burying ground. At this 
place, says the Journal, nothing short of the steel pickaxe, could 
have left the traces on the stone which are found here. 

Not far from this place, have been found the remains of a small 
furnace, the walls of which had been formed of soap stone, so as 
to endure the heat without being fractured. In the county of Ha- 
bersham, in Georgia, was lately dug out of the earth, at a place 
where the gold ore is found, a small vessel in the form of a skillet- 
It was fifteen feet under ground, made of a compound of tin and 
copper, with a trace of iron. The copper and tin in its composition, 
are undoubtedly the evidence of its antiquity. See the plate at 
letter G, where an exact fac simile of this vessel is engraved taken 
from the Journal of Science and Arts, conducted by professor 
Sillimau. 

Crucibles of earthen ware, and far better than those now in use, 
' are frequently found by the miners. By actual experiment they 
are found to endure the heat three times as long as the Hessian 
crucibles, which are the best now in use- Bits of machinery, such 
as is necessary in elevating the ore from the depths, as used by the 
ancient nations, are also frequently found in the earth where those 
mines exist, which clearly shows those ancients acquainted with 
the minerals. 

On the top of Yeona mountain, in the same region, still exist 
the remains of a stone wall, which exhibit the angles of a fortifica- 



392 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

tioD, and guard the only accessible points of ascent to its summit- 
Timber in the Cherokee country, bearing marks of the axe, (not 
of stone,) have been taken up at the depth of ten feet below the 
surface. Indian tradition, says Mr. Silliman, gives no account of 
these remains. This article, which was found in the gojd mine in 
Habersham county, formed of copper and tin, is in this respect, 
like the [mining chisel described by Humboldt, on page 185 of 
this work. The limber found ten feet beneath the surface, in 
Georgia and North Carolina, bearing the marks of having been cut 
down and cut in two with axes of metal, are to be referred to the 
operations of the Europeans — the Danes, Welch, &c., of whom 
we have already spoken in several parts of this volume. We con- 
sider them the same with the authors of the stone walls which we 
have mentioned that were found in North Carolina, and also with 
the authors of the iron axes, found in a saltpetre cave, on the river 
Gasconade, far to the west, as mentioned in Beck's Gazetteer ; and 
also the same with the authors of the stone buildings, a foundation 
of one of which is represented on the plate. — (See Frontispiece.) 

It would appear from all this, that these Europeans had made 
extensive sittlerrents in various places, extending over an immense 
range of this country, before they were cut off by the Indians; as 
We cannot suppose any other enemy capable of so dreadful and ge- 
neral a slaughter. 

On the farm of a Mr. Richason, a highly respectable gentle- 
man in Georgia, Habersham county, was opened one of the first 
gold mines discovered in the southern states. At this place a most 
singular discovery was also made, which was as follows: 

This gentleman being desirous of examining the stone stratum, 
which formed the bed of a small river, had recourse to a dam, 
which he carried across the stream, and turned the whole of ita 
water into a canal he had excavated in a direction favoring the de- 
scent of the stream ; so that the bed where it had flowed was left 
dry. Now while digging and blasting the rocky bottom of this 
stream, he found, at a certain place, three feet below the surface, 
imbedded in the solid, compact rock, nearly a peck, freight quarts 
ofjlintSy which were elegantly wrought, for their adaptation to the 
gun-lock. Their form, however, in one respect, differs from the 
form of the flint suited to fire-arms now in use ; and this difference 
consists in there being a groove across the head or thick end of the 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 393 

flint, showing that the chuck or jaws of the cock of the gun in 
which they were used, had a corresponding protuberance, so that 
the flint was held by what is called by joiners, a dove-tail, instead 
of a screw, as the gunlock is now manufactured. 

The whole of these curious wrought flints were purchased by a 
gentleman, and carried to Milledgeville, Georgia, where he sold 
them as curiosities at a quarter of a dollar each. 

In Europe, the invention of gunpowder, with the flint, took 
place in 1340, one hundred and fifty-two years before the discove- 
ry of America by Columbus, which was in 1492. It has been 
conjectured by some that these flints were lost by the ancient Span- 
iards, who were searching for the ancient city in America, called 
El Dorado, or the city of gold. 

But this will not do, as it would show that gunpowder had been 
discovered by the Spaniards in Europe, which, if true, would have 
been known and ascribed to them instead of to Swartz the monk ; 
unless we suppose (hat America had been foufid by the ancient 
Spaniards, long enough ago to have produced the formation 
of the rock three feet thick over the spot where they had been 
placed, or lost, by their last owner, which would throw the time 
of their being left there very far back. 

We should, if we can give any plausible opinion at all on this 
subject, incline to ascribe their invention and use to Europeans of 
the Danish and Welsh description, who, we have shown, found 
this country, and settled in it as early as between the 9th and 10th 
centuries, which would give the stream nearly a thousand years to 
increase its stony deposits to the thickness of three feet, so that if 
by the upsetting of a boat as they were going up, down or across 
this stream, the flints were lost at the bottom of the water, and 
being encased in a bag, or basket, or any suitable vessel to hold 
them, is the reason why they were found in such compact order. 

But if this supposition is at all plausible, it follows that the in- 
vention was originated in America ; as it would have been known 
in Europe, if it had been found out there before those Europeans 
came to America. The form of the flint, as it respects the manner 
in which it was held by the chuck or lips of the lock, shows that the 
invention was but a new one. Whether the lock was an iron, cop- 
per, brass or wooden one, is unknown, or whether they had yet found 
out the adaptation of a gun barrel, is also unknown ; but sonie mode 

50 



394 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

of explosion, by the means of some sort of combustible matter, had 
doubtless been discovered, or the flint could have had no use. 

That a perfect knowledge of this art was in their possession, we 
do not believe ; as those white people, with the complete use and 
knowledge of guns, could never have been exterminated by the 
Indians or natives of the country. And that they were extermina- 
ted by the Indians, we prove from their tradition, which relates, 
that in the southern states, but particularly that of Kentucky, had 
been once settled by white people, and that they had been exter- 
minated by war. 

In 1800, some Indians of the Sacs tribe were at St. Louis, who 
on hearing it said that Kentucky was inhabited by white people, ex- 
pressed much astonishment that any person should live in Ken- 
tucky, as it had been a place where much blood was shed, and that 
it was filled with the manes or souls of the butchered white inha- 
bitants, a people who had arts among them unknown to the In- 
dians. Even the icord Kentucky, the name of the chief river of 
the state, signifies river of blood. — (J. H. McCulloch's Researches 
in America, p. 210 to 213.) 

To these people we should think the flints discovered as above 
belonged, and that the use of powder, or of some explosive mate- 
rial or other, by which, either through a tube of iron, copper, or 
wood, a bullet or arrows were discharged, with deadly effect, as 
we can see no other use to which the flints could have been ap- 
propriated. 

It is said that the ancient Phoenicians first discovered the art of 
manufacturing tools from the union of copper and tin, the same of 
which this skillet is found to be formed ; and that of the Phoeni- 
cians, the Greeks and Romans, learned the art, who it is likely 
communicated the same to the ancient Britons ; and from these, in 
process of time, the Danes, the Welch, the Scotch, and the Norwe- 
gians, and brought it with them to the wilds of America. Or if we 
reject this, we may refer the working of those mines of gold, not to 
the Malays, Polynesian, and Australasian tribes ; but rather to the 
more enlightened nations of Egypt, Phoenicia, Greece, Rome, Me- 
dia, Persia, Germany, all of whom, as we believe, have from time 
to time — from era to era — furnished emigrants to this country. 

In evidence, in part, of this belief, we refer the reader to such 
parts of this volume as attempt to make this appear, and especially 



AND J)ISCOVEKIKS IN THE WliST. 393 

to page 116; where au account of tlu; Plicenician characters, a» 
havin^beeii discovered in Americaj is raeutioned. But how the 
article of copper, the skillet of which we have spoken, and is en- 
graved on the plate, and how the timber, which bears the naark of 
the axe, found buried in various places in North Carolina, came to 
be buried so deep, is a question of no small moment. 

Surely the natural increase of earth, by the decay of vegetables, 
and forests, could never have buried them thus deep; their position 
would rather argue that they have been submerged by the sudden 
rush of waters. As favoring this opinion, we notice, that the 
mountain ranges here are such as cross the rivers flowing from the 
west, which pass off to the sea, through North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Georgia. See the map of those states, when at once 
this appears to be the real formation and course of the mountains. 

One of these ranges is denominated the Yeona range ; which 
gives off three separate sections; one in Tennessee, one in western 
North Carolina, and one in Georgia, all running along the western 
ends of these states, which lie along the Atlantic. The Blue ridge 
and the Wuaka mountains approach each other, and form jointly 
the separation of the E. from the W. waters. As this range con- 
tinues from the west ; another range, not less formidable, ap- 
proaches from the north. These are the Waldus ridge, and Cum- 
berland mountains, which unite themselves with the former ; where 
this union takes place, it is called Lookout mountain. At this point 
of intersection, where the union of immense mountains on either 
side, formed a barrier to the streams which flowed from fifty thou- 
sand square miles of country, the waters broke through. 

The evidence at this place, of the war of the elements, is the 
admiration of all who pass the broken mountain, through what is 
called the suck, on boiling chaldron, near the confines of the state 
of Tennessee. At this place, the vast accumulation of waters, it 
is evident, broke through, and deluged the country below, toward 
the sea, overwhelming whatever settlements the Danes, or other 
people of the old world, may have made there, especially along the 
lowest grounds, till the waters were drained t® the Atlantic. This 
position easily accounts for the appearances of such articles as have 
been disinterred, with that of timber,, from the depths mentioned 
in the Journal of Science. Such a circumstance may have gone 
far to weaken the prowess of those nations. So that the survivors 



396 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

dwelling on the highest grounds, could not recover their numbers, 
their order, their state of defence and security, against the Indians 
farther west, who it is likely watched all opportunities to destroy 
them. 

Finally, from all we can gather on this rhomentous subject, we 
are compelled, from the overwhelming amount of evidence to ad- 
mit that mighty nations, with almost unbounded empire, with va- 
rious degrees of improvement, have occupied the continent, and 
that, as in the old world, empire has succeeded empire, rising one 
out of the other, from the jarring interests of the unwieldy and 
ferocious mass : So also in this. 

And, also, that convulsion has succeeded convulsion, deluge suc- 
ceeded deluge, breaking down mountains, the barriers of rivers, 
deranging and destroying the ancient surface till it has, at length, 
assumed a settled and more permanent state of things, where the 
millions of the present race now inhabit. 

But the majestic, yet fearful work of change and revolution, 
is doubtless going on in other worlds or planets as well as this, for 
wherever is the principle of life and motion, whether it belongs to 
organized and animated nature, or to the elements of which the 
earth is composed, the operation of revolution can but be going 
forward. . 

It is believed and asserted by astronomers, as their opinion, ob- 
tained from telescopic observation, that the moon, the satelite of 
the earth is a globe in ruinsy or if not so, it at least is frequently 
much convulsed, by the operations oi volcanic fires. Its surface 
as seen through the glasses, is found extremely mountainous, pre- 
senting an infinite variety of pointed mountains, overhanging ranges 
of ledge and precipicCj with vales and flat regions embosomed be- 
tween ; consequently a great number of rivers, creeks, lakes and 
small seas must divide the land of this globe into a vast num- 
ber of tracts of caiustry, which are doubtless filled with animals, 
consequently, with rational beings in the form of men as ourselves, 
for we can conceive of none other, as fitted to preside over its ani- 
mals. The same we believe of all the stars of heaven. 

In exact accordance with this doctrine of change, as it respects 
the removal of entire worlds ; the scriptures are full of alltisions 
to such a catastrophe yet to take place. And why should it not ? 
as he who made the worlds, also dictated the composition o)f that 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 397 

book, au(l can therefore be supposed as able to signify, beforehand 
the great change which awaits our earth, as is plainly found re- 
corded in it, and that change to be effected by the agency of fire, 
as is supposed to operate in the moon. 

That fires do convulse that planet, is shown from the lerolithis, 
or hot stones frequently thrown through the moon's atmosphere, 
from its surface or interior by the force or power of volcanos, which 
have in a hundred instances, fallen to our earth, of different mag- 
nitudes, in different ages of the world, which among the ancient 
nations, was supposed to be cast down from the gods as objects of 
adoration, and their representatives. 

But whatever changes are observed to be in progress either in 
our globe, or its companion the moon, may also be supposed to suc- 
ceed and be in progression with other worlds, planets or fixed stars, 
both as to the revolution of their surfaces, and their final extinction 
from the firmament, Avhere they are now situated is concerned. 

In that most philosophical work, the bible, yet by some 
but little thought of, are prophetical accounts ef the final ruin of 
this earth, by the agency of fire, the same element by which all 
animal or vegetable life are sustained and perpetuated, one of the 
brightest proofs of the power and wisdom of God afforded in thft 
material universe, but the destruction contemplated is only to cause 
room and opportunity for a grander display, of the adaptation of an- 
other order of things, suited to such beings as have passed through 
the incipient degrees of the infancy of an intellectual state, a nd 
shall be found by him who is the judge of all virtue, worthj to 
be installed in those exalted degrees of reasonable and tremendous 
angelic powers. 

We will just recount some of those predictions: see 2d Peter 
'chap. iii. verse 7. " But the heavens and the earth, which are nowj 
are kept in store, reserved unto fire, against the day of judgiTient." 
And at the 10th verse, " The heavens shall pass away with i. great 
noise, and the elements shall melt with heat : the earth aljo, and 
the works that are therein shall be burnt up." 

Much more relative to the same point is found in the same book, 
which to corroborate by occurrences in the great field of tbe astro- 
nomical or planetary heavens, we give the following from Good's 
Book of Nature, a work whose praise is found in the laboratory of 
philosophical truth, p. 33. " First Lecture on matter and the mate- 
rial world.'''' 



398 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

" But worlds, and systems of worlds, are not only perpetaaiJy 
creating," by the hand of Gud, '■'■ but are also perpetually dimi- 
nishing and disappearing. It is an extraordinary /ac/, that within 
the period of the last century, not less than ildrteen stars, in diffe- 
rent constellations, none below the sixth magnitude, seem totally to 
have perilled ; forty to have changed their magnitude, by becom- 
ing eithef much larger or much smaller ; and ten new stars to have 
supplied the places of those that are lost. Some of these changes may 
perhaps be accounted for, by supposing a motion in the solar, or side- 
real systems, by which the XQ\i.\\\'e positions of several of the hea- 
venly bodies have varied. But this explanation, though it may apply 
to several of the cases, will by no means. apply to all of them. In 
many instances it is unquestionable that the stars [or suns] them- 
selves, the supposed habitations of other kinds or orders of intelli- 
gent beings, together with the diflerent planets by which it is pro- 
bable they were surrounded, and to which they may have given 
light, and pioductive seasons, as the sun gives light and fruitful- 
ness to our earth, have utterly vanished, and the spots which they 
occupied in the heavens have become blanks." 

But there are other instances of the disappearance of stars from 
16 heavens: 125 years b. c, it is recorded by Hipparchus that 

extraordinary luminary appeared suddenly in the firmament, but 
'Isappeard in the course of a itw years. 

[n 389 A. D., a star blazed forth near Aquilae, remained three 
■w^eks shining as bright as Venus, and then was seen no more. 
Tyiho Brahe mentions the sudden appearance of a star as large and 
bri^t as Sirius, inthe constellation Caseiopeia, and for awhile was 
visifile even at mid-day, but in the course of the year began to 
fadeaway, exhibiting all the signs of conflagration, and disappeared 
in JVTirch 1574. Instances of the kind are mentioned by Sir John 
Hersmel, one in particular which was situated in the head of the 
constellation Swan in 1670. 

SucV is the demonstration of change and revolution in the im- 
mensity of God's words, which no doubt is agreeable to the beauty 
and harjQony of the whole, proceeding on principles too deep, too 
abstruse'for human research to penetrate. 

Therefore, in addition to all the changes which the earth has 
imdergone, from general or local causes, it is yet to pass through 
Mother siill more wonderful j and whether the matter of which it 



AND DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST. 3'J& 

is now composed will assume some other form, wnd be adapted to 
other stales of being, or shall utterly vanish, and be annihilated, is 
unknown, yet it appears no less than thirteen of the heavenly 
bodies have passed away but a little while since, as shown above, 
Says Mr. Good, "what has thus befallen other systems will as- 
suredly befall our own. 



Description of Mount Ararat^ on which the JJrk rested. 

Notwithstanding the remarks respecting Mount Ararat, on 
the first page of this work, we give the following additional ac- 
count, from the recent travels of Sir Robert Ker Porter, which can- 
not but be highly interesting ; as his account respects its actual ap- 
pearance, having examined it himself, in 1820. 

" On leaving our halting place, where we had rested for the 
night a fuller view of the great plain of Ararat gradually expanded 
before us, and the mountain itself in all its majesty, began to tower 
to the very canopy of heaven. We now took a descending position 
due east over a stoney and difficult road ; which carried us for 
more than ten wersts, (or eight miles) through several close and 
rocky defiles, till we reached a small Mahometan village on the side 
of the Mosschian hills, where we again halted for the night. On 
the morning of the 17th, we set forth over a road as bad as that of 
the day before, in a direction southeast, and gradually descending 
from a great height through a very extended slopeing country to- 
wards the immense plain of Ararat. 

As the vale opened beneath us in our descent my whole atten- 
tion became absorbed in the view before me. A vast plain peopled 
' with countless villages, and the subordinate range of mountains 
skirting the base of the awful monument of the antediluvian world] 
I seemed to stand on a stupendous brink in the history of man, 
uniting the two races of men before and after the flood. But it 
was not till we had arrived upon the fiat plain that I beheld Ararat 
in all its amplitude of grandeur. From the spot where I stood it 
appeared as if the hugest mountains of the world had been piled 
upon each other to form this sublime immensity of earth, rock and 
snow. The icy peaks of its double heads rose majestically into 



400 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES 

the clear and cloudless heavens, from which the suns rays were 
reflected in an ocean of light glaring around its summits. This 
stage of the view united the utmost pionts of the grandeur of plain 
and inaccessable mountain height. The inhabitants dwelling on 
the plain, around this mountain, all unite in reverencing it as the 
haven of the great ship which preserved the father of mankind 
from the waters of the deluge. The height of Ararat has never 
yet been satisfactorily measured ; but the best measurments o^ it 
was taken by Montieth of the Madras engineers, from the spot where 
Porter viewed it to the highest point of the loftiest head, and was 
found to be fifty-five thousand yards, which is full five miles and a 
half perpendicular altitude. At the distance of about a half mile from 
the highest peak, there ascends another horn or point of the moun- 
tain, but not as high as the former. In order to produce those two 
peaks, the mountain, a great distance up, is divided. Between these 
two points on the narrow vale it is believed the Ark rested, as it was 
impossible that it could have rested on either of the inaccessible 
points, which have never been trodden by the foot of man, being 
perpetually covered with snow and ice, while the plain around is 
covered with verdure 'in its season. 

On the eastern side of this mountain the slope is gentle, so far 
up as to where it divides into the fingers ; but on the other sides 
is very steep jagged and precipitous giving off branches in a con- 
fused and broken manner, stretching off" after the general range of 
the mountains of Armenia. 

This peculiar form must have favored the descent of the family 
of Noah into the plains below where he first commenced the culti- 
vation of the vine, and it is likely of other plants calculated to pro- 
duce food^ 

From all appearances, this tremendous mountain is the product 
of internal fires, which it is likely were in operation before the 
flood, as no traditions of the inhabitants speak of its having been 
a volcano since that time. 

The descending portion of the country, which bounds the great 
plain being partly round the base of Ararat, favors this supposition, 
as well also as the nature of the strata which forms the mountains 
giving evidence, by the vast quantities of eruptive matter that here 
burnt, one of the volcanic fires of the antediluvian world." — (Porter's 
Travels, vol. 1, pp. 181—185.)