It will be perceived, that in these brief notices of the most remarkable ruins in this portion of the continent, such detailed and minute descriptions, as are afforded by the sources from whence they have been taken, have been avoided. The object has been, to embrace a general view of their style, character, numbers, and local position, so as to lay the basis of a general comparison of all the American monuments—and not to attempt a particular and circumstantial description; which, to be understood, should be accompanied with pictorial illustrations. Among those omitted, are numerous designs, ornaments in stucco, sculptures and hieroglyphics, to which a verbal delineation could by no possibility render justice;—allusion will be made to these, however, whenever they become important in shedding any light upon the history of their authors, and it will be seen that some of them are valuable evidences, in the solution of various interesting questions involved in the present investigation. Before passing to a view of the other ancient American monuments, may be useful to inquire, what conclusions may be drawn from those just examined.

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Their Antiquity. Though all of these ruins are at this time deserted, it is by no means just to suppose that they are the relics of a people now beeome extinct. When this country was invaded by the Spanish conquerors, as has already been observed, it was, like Peru, occupied by a polished and cultivated race. Many of its cities were then large and flourishing, and inhabited by a numerous population. Their magnificent palaces were still the residences of princes, and the temples still devoted to their original sacred uses. The arts were in a high state of advancement-science was cultivated-religion well

established, and powerful governments in firm and substantial existence. It may accordingly be maintained, beyond the fear of contradiction, that some of these structures, or in any event, similar ones, were erected by the ancestors of the present Indian tribes occupying that region. But as might be naturally inferred, and as is clearly proved by traditional and other testimony, these nations had not escaped the ordinary lot of human affairs, but had been subjected to all the consequences of invasions, wars, and revolutions, through the long period which had elapsed since their first settlement here, to the time of the discovery; and consequently, as we must assign different dates to the origin of these cities respectively, it is probable, and in some cases almost certain, that many of them were already deserted and left to decay when the Spaniards first arrived, while others were still inhabited. We are informed that when Cortez entered Mexico, the great Teocalli of that city had been but recently erected and we are also told that it was built after the model of the pyramids, constructed by the Toltecs—a people to whom were ascribed, as was the custom in the absence of any definite testimony, all such edifices as were manifestly of great antiquity. The pyramids of Teotihuacan and Cholula were said to be of Toltecan origin-and the latter is associated with some of the oldest Mexican religious traditions. These pyramids then were the models for subsequent imitation; but by common consent it is acknowledged, that the era of the arrival of the Toltecs in Mexico, as pointed out by the Mexican hieroglyphic manuscripts, was as far back as the seventh century. We have therefore the testimony of the Mexicans themselves, that some of those edifices proceeded from a nation who

had occupied that country, before the Aztec tribes, at a very early period, and it will be seen hereafter, from other evidences, that their antiquity may be carried back still further.

2. Their general resemblance. It is impossible to survey the remains of the monuments of these ancient nations, without perceiving, however much they may vary in minor details, that they proceeded from branches of the same great race; and for this reason all these ruins have been embraced in one general view, without distinction of authorship. A strict and particular analogy it would be unphilosophical to expect; for, notwithstanding the common origin of their authors, they had been separated, probably for many ages, into distinct societies and governments; but yet, from Zacatecas in the north, to Guatemala and Yucatan in the south and east, we can trace certain leading and marked characteristics in the productions of the arts, which tend to give them a general similitude in style and appearance.

One of the most common indications of this uniformity, is the presence of enormous pyramids; and when these are absent, or are not to be discerned in the form of perfect pyramids, the same species of structure may be observed in immense pyramidal terraces, which served as the bases of more finished and elaborate buildings, and this too at widely separated points, for the edifices at Zacatecas bear a striking similarity to those situated at the south of Mexico. Large quadrangles and courts surrounded by buildings--walls covered with cement and paintings--the employment of the Cyclopean arch-extensive aqueducts, broad and paved roads or causeways-the style of sculpture the peculiar form of the figures in the religious or mythological representations, common even to the Mexican

manuscripts the evidences of similar astronomical systems, and the use of the same system of hieroglyphics, all indicate a decided analogy in the arts, customs and institutions of these nations. This topic, however, will receive more deliberate attention hereafter; and in the mean time let us proceed to the examination of the aboriginal monuments in South America.

CHAPTER VI.

ANTIQUITIES IN SOUTH AMERICA.

SOUTH AMERICA, at the discovery, presented in the character and condition of its inhabitants, an appearance very similar to that exhibited in the northern continent. Over the greater portion, were scattered numerous families of the Red race, elevated in no respect above a state of barbarism, though still preserving some feeble traces of a lost civilization, in their customs and traditions. All these tribes appeared to be of the same stock, and to be characterized by the same physical and social peculiarities as the North American Indians. In the remaining part, there were several nations which were justly entitled to be considered, at least, as semi-civilized; and among these the Peruvians were pre-eminent. Under the guidance of their enterprising sovereigns, in a career of conquest steadfastly pursued for more than four hundred years, they had subjugated, and retained under their permanent dominion, neighboring tribes and kingdoms, until their empire comprehended northern Chile on the south, and the kingdom of Quito on the north, and extended from the Pacific on the west, to the easterly Cordilleras of the Andes.* Civilization, however, was not confined within these limits: Chile, into which country the restless and

* Garcillasso de la Vega, vol. p. 16. Humboldt's Personal Narrative, vol. v. pp. 85, 86. Humboldt's Res., vol. i. p. 177. Yupanqui, the tenth Inca, was compelled to desist from a further prosecution of