on three ranges of terraces, the lowest 600 feet long, and the whole rising to the height of 35 feet, all built of hewn stone. The palace upon the summit is 320 feet in length, and stands with all its walls erect, almost as perfect as when occupied by its inhabitants. The whole building is of stone, plain up to the moulding that runs along the tops of the doorway, and above, filled with rich and elaborate sculpture bearing no resemblance to that of Copan or Palenque. Among the intelligible subjects, are squares and diamonds, with busts of human beings, heads of leopards, compositions of leaves and flowers, and those peculiar ornaments known in Europe as grecques; the whole forming an extraordinary mass of richness and complexity, with an effect both grand and curious. There is no rudeness or barbarity in the design or proportions of the building; on the contrary, the whole wears an air of architectural symmetry and grandeur: and as the stranger ascends the steps, and casts a bewildered eye along its open and desolate doors, it is hard to believe that he sees before him the work of a race of men deserving the name which has been bestowed upon them by their historians, of savages, ignorant of art. If it stood at this day in one of the capitals of Europe, it would form a new order of architecture, if not equalling the remains of the Egyptian, Grecian and Roman art, at least not unworthy to stand side by side with them.

The antiquities we have described, are only a portion of what may be seen by a traveller in Central America: those countries, doubtless, contain the remains of many ancient cities, yet undiscovered. But

what we have related will give the reader an insight into the state of civilization which existed among the aborigines of this region at the period of its discovery by the Spaniards. The present state of the Indians of Guatimala, is similar to that of those in Mexico. They are about half the population of the republic, which is 1,200,000.

PERU lies on the western coast of South America, and is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean. It came to the knowledge of the Spaniards about the year 1513, and was soon after visited by the celebrated Francis Pizarro. In 1531, this adventurer penetrated into the country with a small force, seized upon the Inca, or emperor, and treacherously put him to death. He then proceeded to subjugate the kingdom and

reduce it to the Spanish authority. It remained as a dependency of Spain till the year 1820, when a revolutionary war broke out, which resulted in the independence of the country.

The early history of this region, as derived from the traditions of the people-for there were no written or pictured records-was as follows:-It was originally occupied by independent tribes, justly reckoned among the most savage, even in America; living more like wild beasts than men. For several ages they lived in this manner, when suddenly there appeared on the banks of a lake called Titicaca, a man and woman of majestic form and clothed in decent garments. They declared themselves to be the Children of the Sun, sent by their Beneficent Parent to instruct and reclaim mankind.

The names of these two extraordinary personages were Manco Capac and Mama Oello. At their persuasions, several of the dispersed savages united, and. receiving their commands as heavenly injunctions, followed them to Cuzco, where they settled and began to lay the foundations of a city. Manco Capac taught the men the arts of agriculture, and his wife instructed the women in spinning, weaving, and other household duties.

Manco Capac, whose pride would acknowledge no less illustrious an ancestor than the sun, founded the empire of Peru, A. D. 1025. Whence he came is not known; but it has been suggested that Japan was his original country. At any rate, after high gales of wind, junks have frequently been driven ashore on the western coast of America, which may

indicate by what means a portion of the settlers reached Peru. Be his derivation, however, what it may, Manco Capac and his lineal successors established regulations so judicious, and laws so wise, governed with such ability, and reclaimed so many wild tribes from savage life, that, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, their empire extended from the river Ancosmayu, between Pasto and Popayan, to the river Maule, in Chili, in 35 deg. south, a length of thirty-seven degrees of latitude, or about four thousand miles in a straight line. Its breadth varied from three hundred to one thousand miles, and its population was estimated by Garcilaso de Vega at above ten millions. According to a statement made by Señor Morales y Duares, reported in El Diario de las Cortès of the 11th of January, 1811, the census taken in 1575 by Loyaisa, assisted by the Oidor Don Andres Ziancas, and the Dominican friar Domingo Santo Thomas, gave for the total, 8,225,000 souls; so that the population had already decreased nearly 2,000,000. The Guichua was the national language throughout the empire of the Incas, and is to this day spoken by a majority of the inhabitants of the republic of the Excuador, (formerly the captain-generalship of Quito,) and in Peru, as well as by the inhabitants of Santiago del Estero, a midland province of the Argentine Pampas. This last circumstance proves that the dominion of the Incas extended very far to the east, as well as to the west, of the Andes.

These monarchs were hereditary, and their rule partook something of the patriarchal character. Under the sway of twelve successive Incas, Peru advanced