200 Distinctive Characteristics of the 



St. Lawrence, is perhaps the humblest contrivance ever de- 

 vised by man to screen himself from the elements. Nor is 

 their mechanical ingenuity more conspicuous in the construc- 

 tion of their boats ; for these, as we shall endeavor to show 

 in the sequel, have rarely been improved beyond the first rude 

 conception. Their imitative faculty is of a very humble 

 grade, nor have they any predilection for the arts or scien- 

 ces. The long annals of missionary labor and private bene- 

 faction, present few exceptions to this cheerless picture, which 

 is sustained by the testimony of nearly all practical observers. 

 Even in those instances in which the Indians have received 

 the benefits of education, and remained for years in civilized 

 society, they lose little or none of the innate love of their na- 

 tional usages, which they almost invariably resume when left 

 to choose for themselves. 



Such is the intellectual poverty of the barbarous tribes ; 

 but contrasted with these, like an oasis in the desert, are the 

 demi-civilized nations of the new world ; a people whose at- 

 tainments in the arts and sciences are a riddle in the history of 

 the human mind. The Peruvians in the south, the Mexicans 

 in the north, and the Muyscas of Bogota between the two, 

 formed these contemporary centres of civilization, each inde- 

 pendent of the other, and each equally skirted by wild and 

 savage hordes. The mind dwells with surprise and admira- 

 tion on their cyclopean structures, which often rival those of 

 Egypt in magnitude ; — on their temples, which embrace al- 

 most every principle in architecture except the arch alone ; — 

 and on their statues and bas-reliefs which, notwithstanding 

 some conventional imperfections, are far above the rudimen- 

 tary state of the arts.* 



• I cannot omit the present occasion to express my admiration of the recent 

 discoveries of Mr. Stephens among the ruined citifis of Central America. The 

 spirit, ability and success vvliich cluiraclerize tiieso investigations are an honor 

 to that gentleman and to his country ; and ihey will probiibly tend more than 

 the labors of any other person to unravnl the mysteries of American Archseol- 

 ogy. Similar in design to these are the researches of my distinguished friend 

 the Chevalier Freidrichthal, the results of whose labors, though not yet given 

 to the world, are replete with facts of the utmost importance to the present 

 inquiry. 



