RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CITY NEAR (Captain Rio's Discoveries.) "FROM Palenque, the last town northward in the province of Cindad Real de Chiapa, taking a southwesterly direction, and ascending a ridge of high land that divides the kingdom of Guatemala from Yucatan, or Campeachy, at the distance of two leagues, is the little river Micol, whose waters, flowing in a westerly direction, unite with the great river Tulija, which bends its course towards the province of Tabasco; having passed the Milcot, the ascent begins, and, at half a league from thence, the traveller crosses a little stream called Otolum, discharging its waters into the before-mentioned current; from this point heaps of 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 fourteen in number, some more dilapidated than others, but still having many of their apartments perfectly discernable. A rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four hundred and fifty in length, presents a plain at the base of the highest mountain forming the ridge, and in the centre is situated the largest of these structures which has been as yet discovered: it stands on a mound twenty yards high, and is surrounded by the other edifices; namely, five to the northward, four to the southward, one to the south-west, and three to the eastward. In all directions the fragments of other fallen buildings are to be seen extending along the mountain, that stretches east and west, about three or four leagues either way, so that the whole range of this ruined town may be computed to extend between seven and eight leagues; but its breadth is by no means equal to its length, being little more than half a league wide at the point where the ruins terminate, which is towards the river Micol, that winds round the base of the mountain, whence descend small streams, that wash the foundation of the ruins on their banks, so that, were it not for the thick F umbrageous foliage of the trees, they would present to the view so many beautiful serpentine rivulets. It might be inferred that this people had had some analogy to, and intercourse with the Romans, from a similarity in the choice of situation as well as a subterranean stone aqueduct of great solidity and durability, which passes under the largest building. I do not take upon myself to assert that these conquerors did actually land in this country; but there is reasonable ground for hazarding a conjecture that some inhabitants of that polished nation did visit these regions; and that, from such intercourse, the natives might have imbibed, during their stay, an idea of the arts, as a reward for their hospitality. The entrance to the large building is on the eastern side, by a portico or corridor thirty-six varas, or yards, in length, and three in breadth, supported by plain rectangular pillars, without either basis or pedestals, upon which there are square smooth stones of more than a foot in thickness, forming an architrave, while, on the exterior superficies are species of stucco shields, the designs of some of them, while over these stones, there is another plain rectangular block, five feet long and six broad, extending over two of the pillars. Medallions or compartments in stucco, containing different devices of the same material, appear as decorations to the chambers and it is presumable, from the vestiges of the heads which can still be traced, that they were the busts of a series of kings and lords to whom the natives were subject. Between the medallions there is a range of windows like niches, passing from one end of the wall to the other, some of them are square, some in the form of a Greek cross, and others, which complete the cross, are square, being about two feet high and eight inches deep. Beyond this corridor there is a square court, entered by a flight of seven steps; the north side is entirely in ruins, but sufficient traces remain to show that it once had a chamber and corridor similar to those on the eastern side, and which continued entirely along the several angles. The south side has four small chambers with no other ornament than one or two little windows, like those already described. The western side is correspondent to its opposite in all respects, but in the variety of ex pression of the figures in stucco: these are much more rude and ridiculous than the others, and can only be attributed to the most uncultivated Indian capacity. The device is a sort of grotesque mask, with a crown and long beard like that of a goat; under this are two Greek crosses, the one delineated in the other. Proceeding in the same direction, there is another court, similar in length to the last, but not so broad, having a passage round it that communicated with the opposite side; in this passage there are two chambers like those above-mentioned, and an interior gallery looking on one side upon the court-yard, and commanding, on the other, a view of the open country. In this part of the edifice some pillars yet remain." CONJECTURES RESPECTING THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT WORKS IN AMERICA. "B (Mc. Murtrie's Sketches of Louisville.) UT few settlements, in any portion of the known world, have ever been effected under so many discouraging circumstances, as that of Louisville and its adjacent country. The great bone of contention, between the northern and southern tribes of Indians, who disputed the possession of it with each other for a hunting ground, it was not likely they could see a foreign people step in between them, and take possession of it, without a violent struggle, on their part to prevent it. Man, in his natural and savage state, is by far the most remorseless and cruel animal of the creation, surpassing the tiger in ferocity, and incapable of forgiving an injury, however unintentionally it may have been offered to him. No matter what length of time may have elapsed, from the moment in which it is committed: no matter what motives may have palliated, excused, or justified the deed-nothing, no, not the silence of the tomb, can protect the object of his hatred; he must have blood! and, in default of the offender, by a refinement in cruelty, making revenge to reach beyond the grave, he wreaks it on his defenceless widow or helpless children! Such were the people, among whom the daring settlers of Kentucky first pitched their tents, in 1769. No sooner did they appear among the tawny sons of the forests, than the war-whoop was heard, the hell-hounds of death were let loose, and murder stalked triumphantly abroad. Every sun that rose witnessed some work of destruction; and every wind that blew, wafted on its wings the heart-appalling yells of an infernal pack, fresh from their butcher chase; and that dust, which had before oft imbibed the blood of the savage, now became saturated with that of his civilized brother. The fury of an ever-active and wary foe, was not the only danger that threatened extermination to those few brave spirits who ventured to this land of blood;* Disease reared her pale and spectre form among them: so that many escaped unhurt, the hatchet and the knife, only to receive their doom from her fell influence. Hunted and watched by the natives, like the beasts of the forest; depending upon their rifles for their support, the pursuit of which forced them into the toils; their bodies enervated by sickness, and their minds enfeebled by the continual apprehension of danger; deprived of all medicine or medical aid-it is not to be wondered at, that so few were added to their number, that a settlement, so situated, progressed but slowly. From an attentive consideration of the various re-liques of the western country, I am led to believe however, that several hundred years previous to this epoch, the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi, were inhabited by a race of men instructed by, and descended from Europeans, (probably the French,) who were the authors of all those more perfect specimens of human art alluded to. Whether we consider the iron hatchets, and other manufactured pieces of that metal, which, at different times and places, have been found buried in the earth, in situations indicative of their great antiquity, or whether we reflect upon the existence and composi The name by which Kentucky at first was designated. tion of the bricks taken from the crumbling wall of the lately discovered ruins on the Mississippi, we are equally certain that neither the Mexicans, nor any other nation of either North or South America, could have been the manufacturers. The use of iron was unknown among them, until after the year 1519, which, according to the principle assumed, by which we have calculated the lapse of time, since those intruments were buried, and these walls constructed, is about the period in which the latter were abandoned. To some other quarter, then, we must look for an explanation of these bricks, iron hatchets, hewn stones, and regularly constructed fortifications, the three latter of which are so commonly dispersed throughout the western country. To attribute them to the Egyptians, Phoenicians, or any other elder nations of Asia, would be as ridiculous, as to suppose them the work of the native, uncivilized American Indian, and it is evident, from the great age of the timber often found growing on the embankments, that they must have been constructed at or prior to the discovery of St. Salvador, by Columbus, in 1492. Greenland was said to have been visited by the Icelanders and the Norwegians, 982, and a colony planted by the former in Vinland, a part of Labrador, or Newfoundland, in 1003. From this epoch until the discovery of St. Salvador, 1492, intervenes a period of four hundred and ninety years, during which time, history makes no mention of any attempt at further discoveries; all remarks, therefore,relative to what may have passed during this interim, are purely conjectural; but upon the discovery of such a country as Greenland was represented to be, by Eric-raude, and particularly when, in a few years, we see the same people, who, by his persuasion, were induced to follow him thither, extending that discovery to Vinland, we are a little surprised that the flame which hitherto had animated them, should be smothered in their bosoms, at the very moment they began to reap the reward of their enterprise in the possession of a country far superior to their own. But even admitting that the Danes, Icelanders, or |