Year: 1868

from an Occasional Correspondent.l &


The monument of the middle. age
which I mentioned in my last let


ter, SO much more striking as the ruin


Of building constructed many ages


ago, is decided scarcity on the 1Ameri


can continent. In Europe you meet old


castles, once inhabited by some cele.


brated parsonage of the 5th, 10th, OF


14th century, the life of those persons
forms probably part of the history ol
the country in which they have lived,
and ON that account this or that spot,
ruin, castle, or building, has specific
value as piece of antiquity, and that
Tafue defines itself by the more, or less
important part9which the former owner
Of such castle may have played in the
history of his country. With monu-


nents Of that kind in the new world,
such recollection does not generally
exist, and certain mystery is wrapped
round the origin, fate and decline of
such buildings, which defes the most
thorough Investigation of the historian.
The country in which the church is sit
uated which thus attracts the attention


of the traveller, had probably not been
inhabited for ages, and even now the
settlements in that vicinity are few and
far between, in spite of Santa Fe, the
capital of New Mexico, being only 25
miles off. Any inquiry, therefore,
which you, may make, will be invar-
iably answered with !. the information
that, the building in question was a
church three hundred years old. Of the
truth of that statement l very soon be-
came pretty thoroughly convinced. bnt
observation and "a superficial knowledge
of the style of architecture of those
times induced me to believe that the
construction of the edifice must date
back to the very first period Of the dis
covery of America and that the sur
rounding huts, wall and defenses, con
structed by the aborigines, must belong
to chapter in American history which
we know nothing about and which, like
the monuments in the Southern part of
Mexico and along the. Pacific coast in
South America, merely remind us of
the extinct races of the Aztecs and of
the tribes governed by the Incas. The
church is built on an elevation of about
100 feet above the surrounding valley
and on one side the walls are still about
25 feet high, while the average, height
Of the ruin may be from 12 to Is
feet. Thesbeams running all along the
sides of the church and supporting the
main as well as the side entrances were
prettily though roughly carved, and
showed that no other tool but the ordi-
nary knife was at the disposal Of the


architect for his decorations. The


building was evidently constructed under
the supervision of missionaries, who
had succeeded in acquiring an influence
over the tribe of Indians who inhabited
that remote spot. That the settlement
was an Aboriginal one is satisfactorily
proved by the difference in the style of
construction from that i of the
church for while the latter was built
ofadobe (cakes of earth dried in the sun)
the huts now all submerged and from two
to five feet under the ground, but still
visible here and there through openings,
formed by violent rain storms, were in
variably bordered with solid stone, as
were likewise the two fountains, which
we found in that place and the wall
which surrounded the whole town re-
sembled in appearance one of the stone
fences, SO often found in Virginia and
Maryland. The wall was built on the
edge of the hill on which the whole vii
lage stood and wide space was left on
the inside between the wall and the bull
dings, probably in order to give room to
every warrior for displaying his skill in
case of a hostile attack on the works of
defence. Gould man but draw an an
swer from these dumb stones which have
probably witnessed the hourishing of
many generations, defunct long ago, how
much would they enrich the knowledge
of the historian and how much light
would they perhaps throw on what is
now wrapped in impenatrable mystery !!
There is something decidedly attractive
about the settlement in ruins, surround
ed, as it is, by forests and mountains,
which only serve to impart to the seem
cry still more wild and romantic
look. There the monument of times
long gone by, stands and may stand for
ages yet, unless the all destructive fol
lower of civilization, the iron horse, de-
stroys one of the few original landmarks
of the middle ages in America and with
it, the recollection of the generations
who have lived, suffered and died on
that spot. - 80 s 7A


The country which we had to pass
through, after having left the place just
described was more or less mountainous,
although interspersed with sandy val
leys and not less sandy table-land; as a
general thing the scenery was impaired
with that peculiar character of hills COM
bined with distant views which is par
ticularly attractive under Southern
sky and gives to the whole scenery. an
indiscribable charm, which is not found
in a more Northern climate. On our
march in southwestern direction we
camped one night in the immediate vi
cinity of gold mine, worked by New
York company. Atthe foot of the noun
tain, where the quartz mill reduced the
stones containing the precious metal to
powder, and where the gold dust was
sifted, we We're shown all
over the building and 1 was surprised to
hear that over 100000 had already
been spent for the purchase, transporta-,
ton and erecting of the machinery and
buildings, which in the Eastern States
would probably not require more than
the tenth parth of that amount. We also
the mountain which furnished
the ore, and found a number of men at
work winding the quartz up on baskets
out of shaft seventy feet deep. We
were invited to descend rather frail
and very steep ladder, the opening of