PREFACE.

A

Preface to this Volume would have been deemed perfectly unnecessary, had not the obliging attention of several respectable individuals rendered some acknowledgement of their kindness my obvious duty.

For the chief portion of the valuable Articles on AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES I am indebted to publications but little known on this side the Atlantic; such as Kilbourn's Ohio Gazetteer, Mc. Murtrie's Sketches of Louisville, the Picture of Cincinnati, and the Archœologia Americana. The latter Publication was politely supplied by Mr. John Smith of Liverpool; and all the former, with others not mentioned, but equally valuable, by J. P. Foote, Esq. of Cincinnati.

To my worthy and esteemed Friend R. Hilditch, Esq. late of Cottage Grove, Shrewsbury, who visited the United States in 1822, I am also indebted for several interesting books and some valuable Original information.

My acknowledgements to those kind-hearted and respectable Friends, in various parts of the kingdom, who have recommended the Work, and obtained for it the patronage of so many Subscribers, will be gratefully recollected in the Preface to the succeeding Volume. z To the Editors of various Periodical Publications, who have honoured the former Volumes by making extracts accompanied with their notice and approbation, I desire to express my sense of obligation. Nor have I been

less encouraged by the letters and good opinions of private individuals of high excellence, intelligence, and respectability; with some of whom it has subsequently been my happiness to form friendships of the most agreeable, and I trust the most durable nature.

The plan of the "Americanum" is precisely the same as that of the preceding Volumes, and the execution, in general, it is believed, will be found not inferior. Should it obtain an equal share of that good will, bestowed on its predecessors, I shall esteem myself doubly repaid for all those hours of reading and reflection stolen from periods of rest and refreshment, and devoted to writing or preparing the various Articles for the press.

As an Appendix to the Volume on Africa, I still intend to publish the interesting Narrative furnished by Mr.W. Lee, (variously cited in the Africanum) and some other Communications I am in daily expectation of receiving from John Thursfield Pierce, Esq. of Cape Coast Castle. These additions will render that volume of corresponding size and price with the present.

I have now only to observe, that no exertions will be withheld to render the next and last Volume as interesting as possible. The EUROPEAN SOIL is indeed more prolific than the Asian, African, or American: but the difficulty of making a NOVEL or RARE Selection of blossoms from a GARDEN, the principal flowers of which have been so variously and industriously culled, tied up and presented to the public under the denomination of "WONDERS OF NATURE AND ART, CURIOSITIES, &c." is, indeed, most sensibly felt.

CHARLES HULBERT.

Shrewsbury, Dec. 24th. 1823.

SELECT

ANTIQUITIES, CURIOSITIES,

BEAUTIES AND VARIETIES,

OF

NATURE AND ART.

PART III.-CHAP. I.

AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.

Ancient Cities, Temples, Palaces, Castles, Monuments, &c.

GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA,

By the Editor, with the aid of Private Communications and Published Authorities.

HOW insignificant the conquerors and heroes of áncient or modern times must appear, when compared with COLUMBUS, the DISCOVERER of a New World. The treachery and deceit of a Portugese King, the mu tinous impatience of ignorant sailors, the ingratitude of Ferdinand and the Spanish nation, are only so many incentives to our admiration of the man, who has atchieved more for the benefit of his race, than all the kings and emperors who, have ever lived. PROVIDENCE, with the benificent intention of preparing an assylum for the oppressed of all nations, and of giving to freedom a permanent sanctuary, no doubt, directed the passage of this enterprising GENOESE, through the then unknown and trackles Atlantic: But, though the humble instrument of an Almighty power, he is, notwithstanding, an object of the grateful recollection of mankind.

AMERICA, since its first discovery by Columbus, in the year 1492, has not ceased to be the subject of European desire and enquiry. Volumes of travels, tours, and local histories, have in various periods, served to amuse and to inform the naturalist, the antiquary, and the general reader: but we may fairly calculate that not one half the wonders of the immense regions of Columbia have yet been brought to view.

The length of America, from north to south, is more than nine thousand miles, and its greatest width four thousand six hundred. The objects which it presents to our notice, are chiefly distinguished by their grandeur and magnificence. The operations of nature seem here to have been conducted on a larger scale, and with, a greater proportion of materials than in any other quarter of the globe. All is noble and majestic. The Alps and the Pyrennees, those long celebrated mountains of Europe, sink into insignificance before the Andes or Cordilleras. Chimborazo, the loftiest point of the Andes hitherto known, has nearly five thousand feet of elevation greater than that of the highest mountain in Europe. As the mountains of the new world are elevated and grand, so its plains are extensive and beautiful. In some places, and at certain seasons of the year the eye feels its imperfection when it attempts to look over the verdant surface of these plains; and the traveller wishes in vain for rocks and woods to relieve his sight. In other parts, there are forests widely extended and almost impenetrable, except to the animals which inhabit them, or to the savages by whom those animals are pursued. Its rivers and lakes are equally remarkable. Of the former, the Plata, the Oronoko, the Marignon or Amazon, and the Mississippi, flow in such spacious channels, that, towards the lower part of their course, they resemble arms of the sea, rather than streams of fresh water. In dimensions and extent they far exceed any of the rivers of the old continent. In North America a chain of lakes extends from east to west. These are of magnitude so immense, that they are rather like inland seas than lakes, and, except the Caspian Sea, they exceed in size the greatest collections of water which any other part of the globe can boast.