The Red Cloud chief., 1875-06-10

ersl miles vide, with . Dat and barrer
surface. II 10 the last place in the world
. tourist would care about visiting. II he
we're travelling in search Of beautiful OBJ
jects. In winter the coolest winds
blow over it with Wild force, and In
summer II Il unprotected BY trees OF
shrubbery from the scorching shafts Of
The sun. But It b not wholly u~nintes.
estiag, and I propose We make = short
visit to il.
We will suppose, then, that you and ]
ere stopping ct Of the quiet taverns
In CaEnac, and have wandered toward
the plain ior Q walk. Just outside the
towns bit Of . hill rises high enough
to show ~ the surrounding country.
There are few houses or trees on the
plain; bat il il divided into several av-
enuss BY long row Of unhewn, upright
stones, which, - FAR - the eye q zee,
arc ranged in almost perfect order. like
An army prepared for . battle. There
are over . thousand Of them, and they
stretch across the country from east 10
west for nearly seven miles. The lasg.
est are twenty-five feet high, and the
smallest ten feet. A few have fallen
and others have been carted away; but
originally they were placed apart at reg
ular distancet.
When you come nearer to them you
will see many signs Of age upon them.
They are scanned, NOISY and battered.
How old do you guess they arei No
body Is quite sure, not even the wisest
Of the historians, but We may safely say
that they have held their present posi-
lions for ove eighteen hundred years.
For eighteen hundred years they have
chung to the meagcr ground and with
stood the combined assaults Of time and
storm, while generation after generation
of the living has passed away.
How did they come therea The simple,
credulous people of old, to whom all
fairy stories we're the truest histories, be-
lisved that giants brought them and
planted them; but we know better than
thst.
They were erected by ordinary men,
and you may imagine how much labor
the work cost at Q time when there wei
no carts Of wheelbarrows, much less rail-
roads or massive cranes. Years. per.
haps centuries, were occupied, and to
the builders the undertaking must h.ve
seemed - ~stupendous As the erection of
the East River bridge seems to US.
Similar stones are found at other
places ID Brittany; but the most famous
collection is on q plain near the town of
Salisbury, in England. This is called
Stonehenge, and consists of n hundred
and forty stones, the smallest of which
weigh ten tons and the largest seventy
tons. The remains OF men and animals
have been slso found in the vicinity, and
these have given the sntiquaries . clue
. to the objects for which the stones
were raised.
Nothing positive is known about them.
but it II supposed that they mark the
temples of the Druids, q religious order
which possessed great power in France
and England turing the century before
and the century after the coming of
Christ. They obtained q complete mas.
terry over the ignorant and su~perstitious
people then occupying those countries,
by the prsCsice of mysterious arts, which
often we're extremely cruel. They pro-
fessed to know the hidden nature OF
things, and the forms and movements of
the sun and stars; but in reality they
were not - wise as the children in our
primary schools, and the simplest tricks
of . good modern conjurer would sur.
pass their most wonderful ones. They
were astrologers and herb doctors - we'll
~ priests and historians, and they At
tzibuted . sacred character to many
plants.
Human sacridces formed one of the
most terrible features of their religion.
Tho victims usually were criminals or
prisoners of war; but when there were
none Of these, innocent and ~unofiending
person were sacrificed.
The favorite resort of the Druids was
IN island opposite the mouth OF the river
Loire, in France. where, nee every year;
between sunrise and sunset, they pulled
down and rebuilt the roof of their tenn
Piles; and any priest who allowed the
smallest part of the sacred materials 70
fan carelessly, was torn to pieces BY his
isllows. e
The only tiaces of the order left 10 -
ere The rude stone buildings at Stone
and Carnae. Retresting before
the Romans, the Druids vent to Tie Ias
Of Angissey, in Wales; and when tAey
Nv theif conquerors following, they
made pFepafations for . battle. Among
their pfsparstioas-not exactly for tia
battl9 bat for what they expectsd r.
follow it-Wese immense altar, On which
hey intended 10 sacrifice the unfogtunats
Who should Be left After he bot.
de. They were quite sure that tAsy
would ned tAese altaz1, for their ogacles