Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1857-01-09
miscellaneous.
America a Land of Antiquities.

Throughout the entire length and
breadth Of the country washed, as it is,
by the waters of two mighty oceans, and
Astounding in natural resources-enor-
nous beyond what it is possible to con
coiye-we find much to admire in the
aspect and beauty of nature; and whether
we travel from the distant shores Of
Maine and New Brunswick to the golden
sands Of California, and the shores Of
the great Pacific, or from the bright,
crystal lakes Of Minnesota to the orange
groves Of Florida, we behold throughout
this immense extent the features Of ma
ture, grand and beautiful in every form
and aspect. The mineralogist, the &C.
ologist, the naturalist, the botanist, and
even the antiquarian, have all rich
field here.
Strange as it may appear, America
abounds in antiquities, so extensive, SO
beautiful and majestic, as to rival those
of Thebes or Nineveh. Ruins of ancient
cities, of immense extent; Notifications,
mounds and pyramids; temples with
walls built Of hewn stone, showing a
refined taste in architecture and adorn-
cd with human figures, beautifully exc
cnted; large altars ornamented with
hieroglyphies, probably giving a record
of those who reared them, but which no
man has been able to decipher; remains
Of ancient palaces, with beautiful speci-
mems of sculpture and painting, with
many other marks of ancient greatness,
prove to us that this is not a new world
but that a powerful empire existed at a
very remote period of time teeming with
with population highly skilled in arts,
and in state of civilization far beyond
anything we have been led to conceive Of
the aborigines, previous to the discovery
of the continent by Europeans.
The antiquities of America extend
from the eastern shores of Maine and
Massachusetts, to the Pacific, and from
the great lakes and British dominions, t.
Peru and La Plata in South America
in fact, throughout the extent of botI
continents Immense forests grow ovel
the ruins Of large cities, and the gigan.
tic size of the trees, with indications that
other generations of trees sprung up anG
grew before them proves that the ruins
were in existence before the Christian
era. In every portion of the United
States, interesting ruins have been dis.
covered. In the State of New York
have been found sculpturod figures Of
one hundred animals of different species,
executed in style far superior to any.
thing exhibited by any of the existing
tribes of Indians. The State of Ohio
abounds in ruins of towers and fortified.
tions, with extensive mounds and pyra-
mids. AT Marietta, and in Missouri.
beautiful pottery, silver and copper or
naments, and pearls of great beauty and
lustre, have been dug up from the earth.
In the caves Of Tennessee and Kentucky
mummies have been found, in a high
state of preservation, clothed with cloths
and skins Of various texture, inlaid with
feathers. Like discoveries have been
made at Carrolton, near Milwaukee, in
the State of Wisconsin-ruins of hugo
Notifications appear. Similar ruins ap-
pear in the State of Missouri. On the
south side Of the Missouri river, in the
western portion of the State, is an en-
closure of some five hundred acres, which
includes the ruins Of n building Ono
doubt an ancient tower with walls $50
feet high, and 80 feet wide at the base,
attached to which are a redoubt and a
citadel, with work much resembling the
structure Of tower in Europe. But It
is in the south Of Mexico that mognifi-
cent and beautiful ruins present them
selves in abundance. Ruins Of majestic
cities, and magnificent temples and affairs,
with beautiful works Of sculpture, tasteful
ly wrought; palaces adorned with paint
iDgs-colors chiefly sky-blue and light
greenwich show, by their richness
and elegance, to be the work of highly
cultivated people.
These ruins, majestic and beautiful in
aDDearance. but oyerOrown with thick