The San Antonio light. (San Antonio, Tex.) 1883-1886, 1884-07-25
PREHISTORIC RACES.
Their Ruins and Relics in Northern
Mexican.

mekiceh
nave ramoieu among .he sunless GAIA
COMBS u, rome, anu reau ,ne sentences
cut IN oid Latin along hs WONDERFUL
waits even nave hho inc mover pleas
ure OF Witnessing the excavations maue
py Dr' henry Schiiemann In the glgah-
tic graves OF lava that have held Pom
peii, and seen him decipher hieroglyph-
i,s ,,., eo,.d eror, rans a, .nc;ant
.,' ma "o"eu nv" p." ~,
,'ihes' WRITES correspondent Vi 'he
Two Republics from Piedras Negras.
I,ut I was not IMPRESSED then ma have
h..n ,ats,v ,ban oxa,,ning ,bs n,c,pro
oe.n '"'e'y ""e" eA"'e Wv p,0.'
writings OF the mysterious mouhd-Duiid-
ers not unlike Egyptian bieratic script.
Along the frontier of Mexico are the
e,o,.,,,. 49,. ,,,,,.,,, 49,. :, e..
,oo'p''"''' o'e H"'s". s"'' VI '"eeo p'e
historic peoples, ana many sclentihc
Crusoe has seen these footsteps and been
startled Ruilders of monumental
- ia. 49,, III. -.
nio""os' GIN o"e"crs' WIN "'s'oiy
whose pages have never been perused,
this mysterlously moving, this ever stir
ring this pomad,c nation Ieft as sligbt N
&c, .aP,s "o'aau'o "".,o D ~ e
track among the nhouhtains Oh MeNico us
do the Bedouins on the sandy Sahara.
IL Ia known that the mound-builders
so,ao,.5 as ro,nts ~ d.nor,,,ra sor tho
seN 80. 90 pon's aspa.' ~,
south 'ahcou'ers isiahu anu Tue heigh-
boring mainland. Back OF that period 1t
appears impossible to trace them.
Wn..har az. w.ra.r,rr fou ros,.a
thara and The cnrsa ~ atsrnaI nraar.ss
wes iiftad. whether fugit,vas fro1 the
fa"o ~ tha tarr,hIa Tastar found thar
tbe nuolans ~ a new nation will ali no.
main mart Of Inc archivas wnardsd Nv
,in,a rhair or;nin saans ahsointoiy IL
ohl,vion ei 'e"i ''''' ""''"'' :"
From, This v,ci,itv tbov wsrs lad he
foi,owing Tho rivar conrscs througb Tho
masses az the mountains into The great
Central basin of North America. The
strang. neon,e had entsred n continent
nntrod bv man. Abont that time TROY
was hnrpino on the other sida Of tbs
S5ot Irresistibjv tbey driftsd south.
ward striLing tho 6eadwaters Of the
Missouri and The Saskatchewan thew
were conducted into the Mississlppi
wa,iev In two great armies th.v wan.
dere3 mi they rested on the hanks If the
W,ssjs sinni river one army coming nv
the Red River NJ tho north and The nfber
nv the Missonri
They then ocounied the various tribu-
taries of the MissIssippi. following them
ONT witt, n wild instinct. Their Wander
ings did NOT cease till their feet dressed
The AlIegbenies on tbe east. and iii
thew stood in wonderment Inv tbe dairy
blne waves of The Mexican 9ulf- They
driftad info Georoia and Florida and
also crossed tbs Rio Crande into Mexico
Uigb mn on Tho faca Of clifis along tbe
deem oanyons Of Northern MexicS are
the caves of tbese curious colonists.
close To evries of eagles tbousands az
feet above tbe valleys In some cnses n
natb inst the width Of n human foot
lends from the brink of the cliff above TO
the mouth of the caves. in nearly every
instance a narrow ledoe over0rown with
sbrnbberv. In these caves thew lived
and died
The remains nj the mound-builders
are PLACED nnder four heads. First.
mounds. second embapkments or ram,
narts third mines and avcavntions
fonrtb arts and manufacturers
The monnds are ciassed ma temnle.
altar burial observatorv or Residence
mounds. The temple monnds are of va
rious forms and sizes. distinguisbed by
their truncated tons. The altar mounds
consist OF ooncentric LAYERS of earth
| sand QrnVQl. hRnaQfh this mound Is
nm altar Or hearth of baked earth. evi.
IDENTIFY Of sacred imnortanoe in the
burial mounds are even vet found the
dusty homes Of this peo1le. sealed In
from the air for centuries Tbe observa.
tory mounds were simply signal stations
along which COMMUNICATIONS were
passed between oommunities hundreds
of miles apart. The residence mounds
were Terraces elevated above the surface
of the ground. The garden beds and ami.
mai monnds Of Ohm are n mart Of ths
great system of mound cities erected by
these ancient giants. In fact. the ami.
NAL monnds here. as In tbe North art
but immense bas-reliefs of men. beasts
birds and REPTILES.
The embankments and ramparts mr.,
classed as defensive and religious. Tn,
fertilization manifest progress in tbe arl
of war MT least as Advanced as fine earl,
Cracks and Troians The reIioious in
closures were usually combinations o
oeometrjcai fjgnres in which nerfec
Squares and Circles are found. IN,
mining operations of the mound builder
were extensive. In the Lake Superio
region they mined conner. in Missour
galena. and in Mexican iron. The,
mined iron in pvrjtes. Elsewhere the,
ouarried for mica and porphyrv'
The arts and manufactures OF this peo
pie were of Considerable Importance
After n rude mt effective fashion the,