cles found in the mounds are also composed of hardened copper; and Dr. Meyen, in speaking of the collection of antiquities in the Museum at Lima, says, "the ancient weapons are of copper, and some are of exquisite manufacture."

Traces of the art of cutting and working in stone are not confined, even, to the extensive region just indicated. In the province of Cujo, in Chile, between the cities of Mendoza and La Punta, upon a low range of hills, on a large stone pillar, called "The Giant," certain marks or inscriptions have been observed; and near the Diamond river, upon another stone, besides some ciphers, or characters, are the figures of several animals, and "the impressions" of human feet.* Passing far to the north, on the banks of the Orinoco and in various parts of Guiana, there are rude figures traced upon granite and other hard stones, some of them, like those in the United States, cut at an immense height upon the face of perpendicular rocks. They represent the sun and moon, tigers, crocodiles, and snakes, and occasionally they appear to be hieroglyphical figures and regular characters.†

It is unnecessary, after having thus examined the testimony of numerous travellers, to enter into any labored argument for the confutation of the observation of Robertson, who concludes a brief description of the state of society in Peru by saying, "in all the dominions of the Incas, Cuzco was the only place that had the appearance, or was entitled to the name, of a city;" for the extent of some of these ruins, and the traces of the great skill and patient labor, with which the most barren soils were cultivated and rendered fertile and productive, prove

* Molina, vol. i. p. 270.

Humboldt's Pers. Narr., vol. v. pp. 593, 595. Vol. 4. p. 499.

beyond contradiction the existence of an ancient agricultural population, and their association in large communities and cities. Nor are these evidences of civilization confined to the isolated instances which have been cited; "up even to the very tops of the mountains, that line the valleys through which I have passed," remarks Mr. Temple, "I observed many ancient ruins, attesting a former population, where now all is desolate."* "In proceeding on our journey from Guarmey," says Ulloa, we met with a great many remains of the edifices of the Incas. Some were the walls of palaces, others, as it were, large dikes by the sides of spacious highways, and others fortresses or castles, properly situated for checking the inroads of enemies." Humboldt states, that these ruins are scattered along the ridges of the Cordilleras, from the thirteenth degree of south latitude, to the equator, and that he counted nine of them, between the Paramo of Chulucanas, and Guancabamba.‡

But in examining the line of civilization, as indicated at present by these ancient remains, which is found to commence on the plains of Varinas, and to extend thence to the ruins of the stone edifices, which were observed about the middle of the last century, on the road over the Andes, in the province of Cujo, in Chile; or to the road described by the Jesuit Imonsff; or to the ancient aqueducts upon the banks of the river Maypocho, in south latitude thirty-three degrees sixteen minutes; we are surprised to discover a continuous, unbroken chain of these relics of aboriginal civilization. Reverting to the epoch

* Travels in Peru, vol. ii. p. 43.

† Ulloa, vol. ii. p. 27. Ibid. vol. i. p. 503.

Humboldt's Researches, vol. i. p. 255. Ibid. vol. ii. p. 198.

of their construction, we are presented with the astonishing spectacle of a great race cultivating the earth and possessing many of the arts, diffused at an early period through an immense territory, three thousand miles in extent. Even up to the time of the discovery, most of this vast region was occupied by populous tribes, who were dependent upon agriculture for subsistence, were clothed, and in the enjoyment of regular systems of religion, and their own peculiar forms of government. From conquest and various causes, some sovereignties had increased more rapidly than others; but still, whether we are guided by the testimony of the Spanish invaders, or by the internal evidence yet existent in the ancient ruins, it is impossible not to trace, alike in their manners, customs and physical appearance, and in the general similitude observable in the character of their monuments, that they were all members of the same family of the human race, and probably of identical origin.

Clearly, then, it is a great error to suppose, that the Peruvian empire embraced within its limits all the civilized tribes. Indeed the Incas, themselves, acknowledged the existence, at Tiahuanaco, of ancient structures of more remote origin, than the era of the foundation of their empire; and which were confessedly the models of those, erected by them in their own dominions, an admission fully proved by an examination of their edifices. This fact attaches great interest to the sacred lake of Titicaca, and its environs, which we are led to consider as an ancient, perhaps the most ancient, locality of South American civilization. It indicates also two epochs of the arts, one of remote antiquity, and the other of modern date; and exhibits, in that respect, a striking parallelism with Mexico.

PART II.

RESEARCHES INTO THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE RED RACE.

CHAPTER I.

COMPARISON OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS.

THE various topics of interest, connected with the history of the aborigines of America, are naturally resolved into two great divisions. Of these, the first includes several important questions relating to their history, since the original migration to this continent, and the second respects the solution of the problem of their origin; the first is confined, in its discussion, to a review of the ancient monuments which have been described, and to an examination of the traditions, languages, customs, and institutions of the respective tribes and nations, and the second involves a comparison with several of the nations of the eastern hemisphere. Many facts, however, are common links to the chain of each investigation, and it is impossible, therefore, to comprehend their full force, in either case, until the argument in relation to both is finally determined.

Having, at this point, examined the ancient ruins, in a manner too general perhaps to present a graphic description,