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the latter, had a smooth, delicate finish, that would not disgrace the chisel of a modern artist.

Another feature in the Aboriginal Architecture, which must claim our attention, is the arch.

"A true arch is formed of a series of wedgelike stones, or of bricks, supporting each other, and all bound together by the pressure of the centre one upon them, which latter is therefore distinguished by the name of the keystone."

No such arch has been found among these ruins. Wilkinson, Gliddon, and others, give representations of the Egyptian arch, but may they not have been formed like these

ing at the top.

Aboriginal arches ? In many instances they were constructed of two large stones laid together and meet

"The stones forming the side walls are made to overlap each other until the walls almost meet above, and then the narrow ceilings are covered with a layer of flat stones. In every case the stones were laid in horizontal layers, the principle of constructing arches, as understood by us, being unknown to the original builders. This accounts for the extreme narrowness of all their rooms. In a few cases the covering stone Antiquities of Mexico;" a work in seven folio volumes, which owes its publication to the truly noble munificence of Lord Kingsbo rough.

is wanting, and the two sides meet so as to form a sharp angle."*

In Yucatan, the inner surfaces of the stones were smoothed, and therefore must have presented the appearance of a regular arch, but not a semicircular one.

What are the nations of the Old Continent whose style of architecture bears most resemblance to that of the remarkable monuments of Chiapa and Yucatan? The points of resemblance will be found neither numerous nor decisive. There is indeed some analogy both to the Egyptian, and Asiatic style of architecture in the pyramidal terrace-formed bases, on which the buildings repose. A similar care also, was observed in the people of both hemispheres, to adjust the position of their buildings to the cardinal points. The walls in both are covered with figures and hieroglyphics, which on the American, as on the Egyptian, may be designed to record the laws and historical annals of the nation. These figures, as well as the buildings themselves, are found to have been stained with various dyes, principally vermilion, a favourite colour with the Egyptians also, who painted their colossal statues, and temples of granite.

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Notwithstanding these points of similarity, the Aboriginal Architecture has little to remind us of the Egyptian or the Oriental. It must be admitted to have a character of originality peculiar to itself.Ӡ

* Stephens.

† Prescott's Conquest of Mexico.

Their sculpture and their hieroglyphics give us no light to guide us to the discovery of their antiquity, and the origin of these singular buildings. Who inhabited these edifices, upon which the large trees now twine their roots among the loosened stones?

Le Noir, gives them an antiquity of "trois mille ans, and says, "Ceci n'est point mon opinion seule; c'est celle de tous les voyageurs qui ont vu les ruines." Colonel Galindo, pronounces this country, "the true cradle of civilization."

Mr. Waldeck, from the old trees and the stalactites in some of the ruins, computes the age of the buildings at two or three thousand years.

Others have gone so far as to give them an antediluvian origin.

The old Spanish writer, Bernal Diaz, believed the Jews to have been the builders, and this is the opinion which Lord Kingsborough has laboured to establish. One thing is certain, that the Aztecs and the builders of Uxmal were a superior race to any that were found inhabiting this country, when it was conquered by the Spaniards.

CHAPTER VIII.

CYCLOPEAN AND ETRUSCAN ARCHITECTURE.

AGES before the Romans existed, the fair land of Italy was inhabited by nations who have left indestructible monuments as the only records of their history. Those wonderful cities of early Italy which have been termed Cyclopean, are thickly scattered throughout certain districts, and "are often perched like eagles' nests, on the very crests of mountains, at such an elevation as to strike amazement into the traveller who now visits them, and to bewilder him with speculations as to the state of society which could have driven men to such scarcely accessible spots for habitation, and to entrench themselves therein with such stupendous fortifications. The choice of such sites seems to indicate a state of society little removed from barbarism, in which there was no security nor confidence between the several communities, and the only law was,

"The good old rule-the simple plan,
That he should take who has the power,
And he should keep-who can."

The walls of the Cyclopean cities are formed of huge blocks of limestone or other calcareous stone, roughly hewn, or, as in the walls of Tyrius, not shaped by the chisel, and in all cases laid together without cement. The Cyclopean gates are square; an enormous stone lying over two upright ones. There are, however, some rude attempts at an arch, the stones being arranged so as to meet at the top, in the same manner as they were formed, by the Aboriginal Architects of Central America. The true arch is never found in this style.

The cities of Etruria generally stood on low ground, although there are exceptions to this rule, and they were less ancient than the Cyclopean. The finest specimens of the Etruscan walls are built of large blocks of hewn stone laid in regular courses.

It is in the gateways and vaults of Etruscan Architecture, compared with those of the Cyclopean, that we find superior skill in the art. The perfect arch, formed of massive stones fitted together without cement, is the most striking feature in these architectural remains. There are many specimens in Etruria which the researches of modern travellers have brought to light.

Of Etruscan bridges with a single arch, several now stand as firmly as they did " twenty or twentyfive centuries ago." It is impossible to determine how long they have been built. The Etruscans were the

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