Finch on the Celtic Antiquities of America. 155 
fered to the gods; but he adds, that in his time, this super- 
Stiion of worshipping great stones had altogether ceased. 
Gomara, in his account of Peru, mentions the same prac- 
tice as still continued amongst the old inhabitants in that 
country, 
Thus in the various regions of America, the natives had 
carefully preserved the stones of memorial and sacrifice, in 
the use of which they had been instructed by their Celtic 
ancestors, and which in some instances may have been the 
individual monuments erected by that people. 
If accurately examined, there can be little doubt that 
America. contains an abundance of these rude stones, which 
were erected by the ancient inhabitants as memorials of 
their history and exploits in war, or as altars‘on which to 
sacrifice to the Deity. Tbe books of the first historians of 
America, contain many accounts of the homage which was 
. paid by the natives to shapeless rocks, and the sacrifices of- 
fered upon them ; but in the lapse of time, the Indians be- 
ing nearly destroyed by diseases or by war, and these stones 
offering no particular feature to the common observer, 
scarcely a trace of their present position can be distinctly 
marked ; but to the historian these rude stones are objects 
of the highest interest, and every exertion should be made 
to identify the situations where they occur. 
in America. I have been informed of one by Dr. E. James, 
i 
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