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Show 182 ART OF AMERICAN NATIONS. lizn.tion whi h they alone r cord and expound. Mexican antiquities, however, will soon receive an additional importance by the publication (as wo learn feom his fri nd Mr. E. co. Squier) of M. Aubin, the l!'ronch savant who has devoted a life of study to the rcscn.rch 'B on tho Aztec language and lit ratlll'o; hn.ving, by a residence of thirteen years in Mc:xico, and by the lucky discovery of the collections and M . of .Botturini, b como able to obtaill all the materials and tho information for dcciph ring them, so as to cl ucidate tho history of tho Aztec ompit· pr vions to Cortez. .A few years hence, tho ante- olumhian llistory of Mexico will be as accessible to tls as tho early annals of any Europ an nn.tion; for hieroglyphical documents arc not wanting which contain this information: whilst the researches of Botturini, whieh in tho past century were cut short by t.ho panislr Inquisitio11, have been now resumed by M . .Aubin; and, in his hands, have aflordc<l the key for reading those scaled books. 109 The hunter tribes of Amct·ica evince no fooling for plasticnl beauty; yet withal, like the 'l'urks and the Colts, they have a considerable talent ior decorntivo d sio·ns, and some perceptions of the har·mony of colors. The originality and ornamental combil1ation ofth ir beadwork and embroidery is sufficiently known, but they always fhil in rendering tho human form. Far high r was the civilization of that race which preceded them in tho trans-Alleghanian States. We call tlu~t "Mtmum," I give this nnnounoement a wider circulation thnn tho tlaroatencd book is destined to obtain, by refcn·ing the curious to SQuJF.R's "Observations on tho Aboriginal Monumo~ts of the Missi~~ippi Valley," New York, 8vo., 1847, pp. 71-9 (Extmct from the Tran8aclt01l8 of/lie Ammcan Ethnological Society, vol. ii.); and to Types of Afatlkind, pp. 662-8.-0. R. 0.] 100 Among rocent artioles which show how this new school of Americnn nrclu!lologists nugmouts,-consult SQUIER, "Aztec Picture-writing" (New York J!ribune, Nov. 24, 1862) :~ AR1'LETT, "Tho Aboriginal emi-civilizntiou of tho Grellt Cnlifornill Dnsin, with n llcfutnttou of the ~opulnr theory of the Northern Origin of the Aztecs of Mexico" (New York ller~ld,_ Ap::11 4, 1864):-AumN, "Lnng. Amoricnine. Langue, Litt6rnture et Ecriture ~exacnme~ (Encyclop~die du XIX"• Si~cle, Tome xxvi., Supp16ment, pp. 600-7) :-SQuu:u, , Le8 lndzctl& 011atu8oa du Nicaragua" (Athenamm Jilratlfai8, 22 D6cembro, 1 866) :-Pau~n D Ava-:NNl~s, "Hondurns- Amerique centrale (L' Jlluatration, Pnris, 8 D6oembre, 1866): _ BnASSI-llln DE lloa~tnouno, "J.ottor from RnbiMl-Depnrtment of Vem Pnz" (London Athc'' amm, Dec. 8, .~8o6) :-Idem, "Notes d'un Voynge d!\ns l'Am6riquo oentt·!\le-Lettro i\ M. ~lfrod Mn~ry (Nouvelle& Atmale& de8 Yo11agr8, Pnris, Aout, 1865) :-with SQ\IIF:u'a critlqu~' on 81\ld lettci'(.Op. cit., D6o. 1866) :-1'nUDNIItt, "l'he New Discoveries in G uatcmnlo.," n~d Conlml A~e~·1can Archooology" (Lo11dot1 Atllencr.um, 12th Jan., nnd 81st 1\11\y, 1 866); smoe onhnncod .m ~~~t~rost by DoN Jost:i ANTONIO UnuuTrA's "Discovery of nddition!\1 Monuments of A_nllqUity Ill Contrnl Amoricn" (Ibidem, 18 Doc. 1866). The new work of Du. SOiliiRZim brmgs !\nothor distinguished pioneer into tho fiold. nnd we 1 t h tla!\t much r 1 t ·n . ' 1nvo reason o ope .'~ 1 WI be thrown upon the Indi!\n ln11gungcs of Now Mexico Culif'orni!\ &o i tho ~~nJomt t·esonrches of two gentlemen eminently qualified for tho t!\~k-1\11·. Jo;IN ~~: ARTtf.1T (Into U. 8. Boundo.ry Commission r to Mexico, rtnd now Seorotnry of Stllto for Rhode island), nnd Prof. WM. W. l'unrum (of thou. s. Po.tont Office, Wnslaington, D. C.). ART OF AMERICAN NATIONS. 1 3 them" mound-builders," from the regular fortifications which they have erected in several of the westom and southern Statcs.'97 Tho Natchez, destroyed by the French of Louisiana, in tho last century, seem to have, in part, belonged to them. .A most charactoristic,-wo may say artistically-beautiful-head [73] in red pivo-clay, the workmanship of these unknown mound-builders, dug up and published by SQumn,108 exhibits the poculi.ar In-dian features so faithfully, and with Fig. 78. such sculptural perfection, that wo cannot withhold our admiration from their artistical proficiency. It proves three things: let, That these "mound-builders" were .American Indians in type:- 2d, That time (age ante-Columbian, but otherwise unknown,) h11S not changed the type of this indigenous group of races:-aud 3d, That the "mound-buildore" were probably acquainted with no other men but themselves. In every way confirming the views of the author MouN»-nuiL»Ett. of Crania Americana. Tho monuments of Mexico partake more of tho decorative character, and we cannot but admire their ingenuity ht making usc of the most l'Cfractory mat rials for artistical purpos e. 'l'ho following theoc heads wore all published by tho various autlrors of Antiquites Mexicaines. Fig. 74,'09 carved of wood, is rcmal'kablo for its finish and elegance; fig. 75 200 belongs to a statue of volcanic stouc; fig. 76 201 is of smaragdito, a green, hard, gem-like stone, which cannot, by ourselves, be worked otherwise than by steel or bronze, and requires the action of the wheel and emery. All of them arc characterized by the 101 [Whilst correcting proof, I lo!\rn, with tho doopest rogrot, of tho demise, nt Now York on tho 14th Dec. 1866, of Dr. H~LUIANN E. J,lJI}}JWJO; whom I saw quite well there lllst October. Our mutunl friend Mr. l'LtiiuNtm will deplore, with our fellow-students, this sudden loss tho more, as he Jms in pross tho crowning monument of LuoJ~WJO's o.rduoas lnbors-tho "Bibliography of Amrrican Aboriginul Linguistics"-tho MSS. of whioh we looked over together, in London.-G. R. 0.] 108 Anr.imt Monument& of tilt Afi&&it8ippi Valley, 1848, p. 2415, fig. 145. 1911 Antiquitt& Afe:r:icaitlt& (Rtlation des Trois E:r:ptd. du Cap. Dzpai:r:, 1806-7, deuin1 dt Ca&tafteda-p!\r LENOin, W AllDt:N, FAit<JY, BARADilnE, ST. Ptuxsr, &o., Paris, 2 vola. folio, 1884)-pl. lxiii., fig. 121, p. 68-2ndo Exp6d. liOO lrlem, pl. vi. p. 7-he Exptl<l. 201 Idem, Supp16mcnt, pl. vii. p. 18-8mo Exptld. :-compo.ro nlso HuMnOLDT ( Vuu du Cordill~ras, !>aria, fol. 1810, pl. 66), "Tote grnvtlo on pierre duro par lea Indiens MuysCI\ S ;" (Rmarclle8, tr. Willinma, J.ondon, 8vo., 1814, ii. p. 206); who considers tho stone a smal'llgdito, nnd the workmanship Now Gren!\dian. |