442 



INCIDENTS OP TRAVEL. 



as the vocal Memnon, and has never before been en- 

 graved. The other is the top of the fallen obelisk of 

 Carnac ; and I think, by comparison with the engra- 

 vings before presented, it will be found that there is no 

 resemblance whatever. If there be any at all striking, 

 it is only that the figures are in profile, and this is 

 equally true of all good sculpture in bas-relief. 



There is, then, no resemblance in these remains to 

 those of the Egyptians ; and, failing here, we look else- 

 where in vain. They are different from the works of 

 any other known people, of a new order, and entirely 

 and absolutely anomalous : they stand alone. 



I invite to this subject the special attention of those 

 familiar with the arts of other countries ; for, unless I am 

 wrong, we have a conclusion far more interesting and 

 wonderful than that of connecting the builders of these 

 cities with the Egyptians or any other people. It is the 

 spectacle of a people skilled in architecture, sculpture, 

 and drawing, and, beyond doubt, other more perishable 

 arts, and possessing the cultivation and refinement at- 

 tendant upon these, not derived from the Old World, 

 but originating and growing up here, without models or 

 masters, having a distinct, separate, independent exist- 

 ence ; like the plants and fruits of the soil, indigenous. 



I shall not attempt to inquire into the origin of this 

 people, from what country they came, or when, or how; 

 I shall confine myself to their works and to the ruins. 



I am inclined to think that there are not sufficient 

 grounds for the belief in the great antiquity that has 

 been ascribed to these ruins ; that they are not the 

 works of people who have passed away, and whose his- 

 tory has become unknown ; but, opposed as is my idea 

 to all previous speculations, that they were constructed 

 by the races who occupied the country at the time of 



