Some Considerations on the Mound Builders. 69 



WHO WERE THEY ? 



So far, I have spoken of the Mound Builders, some- 

 times as distinguished from the Indians, sometimes as 

 distinguished from the modern Indians, so as not to 

 foreclose in advance the discussion of the question which 

 comes next — who were they ? Since comparative phi- 

 lology developed into science, the aboriginal American 

 dialects have been subjected to exhaustive study. After 

 a discussion lasting many years, it has been determined 

 that all the languages and dialects between the Esqui- 

 maux, on the north, and the straits of Terra del Fuego 

 on the South, differ whollv from the languages of the 

 other continents ; and that while they differ widely 

 among themselves in vocabulary, some not having a sin- 

 gle word in common with others, they still have all the 

 same organism or character. They all belong to one 

 family, have a common origin. As the formation of a 

 single language is a matter of time, the multitudinous 

 languages found among the Indians of North and South 

 America prove that this family has lived here for a very 

 long period. 



The study of the physical structure, as exhibited 

 by their skeletons, has ended in the same result. 

 The skulls of all nations south of the Esquimaux, 

 ancient and modern — Patagonian, Peruvian, Aztec, 

 Mound Builders, and the Indian of the present day 

 — are said by Morton (and his views, though ably ques- 

 tioned by Dr. Wilson, of Toronto, are generally accep- 

 ted) to present the same type, to constitute one family. 

 Though occasional natives of other continents may in 

 the lapse of years have drifted to the shores of America, 

 they left no trace in the language or the physical struc- 



