257 PREHISTORIC CITIES OF CENTRAL AMERICA-The Ruins of Uxmal, by L. P. Grat- 275 THE ORIGIN OF THE UTES. A Navajo Myth, by W. Matthews. CORRESPONDENCE.-Antiquities of the Wabash River, by A. E. Hodge. Ancestor NOTES FROM THE FAR EAST, by Prof. John Avery-Language of the Kolhs of LITERARY NOTES.-Amateur Journals and The American Antiquarian; The Mu- Published by F. H. REVELL, 150 MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL, BI-MONTHLY. Terms, $4.00 per Annum. (Entered at the Post Office, Chicago, Ill., as second-class matter,) 285 290 293 304 305 806 310 312 313 317 320 American Antiquarian G AND Oriental Journal. This is a Bi-Monthly Illustrated Magazine, Published in Chicago, Ill and edited by Rev. S. D. Peet, assisted by gentlemen residing in New York, Philadelphia, Washington and various other places. Its object is mainly to furnish a medium of communication between Archæologists in different parts of the globe, but it is an interesting magazine for any one to read. THERE ARE EICHT DEPARTMENTS in the Journal, each of which is represented by an associate editor, who is expected to furnish notes on his own specialty, as follows: CLASSICAL ARCHEOLOGY, by Prof. A. C. MERRIAM, Columbia College, New York; "The Far-East," by Prof. J. AVERY, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine; BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY, by Rev. SELAH MERRILL, D. D., Consul at Jerusalem; ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE, by Dr. D. G. BRINTON, Philadelphia, Pa.; NATIVE MYTHOLOGY, by Rev. J. O. DORSEY, Ethnological Bureau, Washington, D. C.; EUROPEAN ARCHEOLOGY, by HENRY PHILLIPS, Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.; ANCIENT ART and ARCHITEC TURE, by Dr. J. D. BUTLER; INDIAN LINGUISTICS, by A. S. GATSCHET, Ethnological Bufcau, Washington, D. C. To the journal are all gentlemen who are well known for their scholarship. The most of them are citizens of the United States, but some are residents in England, France, Greece, China, India, Africa and remote countries. The Magazine has a Department of CORRESPONDENCE, which may be regarded as a most interesting feature. This is sustained by gentlemen whe are engaged in original research in various parts of the globe, and who furnish the results of their investigations for publication to us directly. We frequently hear from the Mounds, and report all discoveries among them, but persons in Colorado, Arizona, California, Washington Territory, Nicaragua, New Mexico and Mexico, and many and more remote places send us letters which we are glad to receive and to publish. The progress of Archæology is so rapid that the only way to conduct a journal is to keep up a correspondence with all parts, and so bring together the result for comparison. We do not propose to be narrowed down to any limited province or field, but, while particular in giving the details, shall take a broad and comprehensive view of the science, expecting our readers to select the points from the general information, on which they may build up their own specialties. BOOK REVIEWS we shall hope to make useful. A department called "Reports" will review the proceedings of Societies, and Book Reviews proper will be confined to the volumes sent by publishers for notice. We offer the journal to the public as one which has already been in the field for several years, and one which has gained a reputation for itself throughout the world, and think that the friends of Archæology will realize the importance of sustaining it. F. H. REVELL, Publisher. STEPHEN D. PEET. Editor. TESTIMONIALS. This magazine, which is justly recognized as an authority on the subject of Archeology, is invaluable to the scholar and others for whom the study of Mythology and research inte the literature and legends of races of prehistoric times possess a charm, which increases as opportunities widen to assist them.-The Household. The object is to collect material on the antiquities of this country, and it has, throngh its competent editor and scholarly correspondents, already done a great work.-Western Farmer. We have for several years been acquainted with this publication, which is steadily growing in interest and popularity among antiquarians.-Christian Advocate. Intensely interesting to our reading farmers and literary men, especially to those on whose lands are found relics of pist races, peoples now known only by the records left in mounds and the accompan, ing implements, pottery, etc.-Farmer and Fruit Grower. We recommend all our readers who have time and taste for the study of the past, to procure the American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal. The number before us for September is especially rich in papers on those American antiquities which are everywhere becoming matters of interest.-The Wesleyan. The American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal, edited by Rev. Stephen D. Peet, Chicago, Ill., has a valuable table of contents, and is designed for the most thoughtful class of readers. It is considered authority on the subject of Archæology.-Rural Californian. Subscription Price, $4.00 Per Year. Uxmal is supposed to have been partially occupied on the arrival of the Spaniards, though portions were in ruins. It would appear that 140 years after Menda's foundation-the present capital of Yucatan—the Indians resorted secretly to these sacred buildings to celebrate the religious ceremonies of their fathers which the Roman church detested and forbade. Principal amongst its ruins stand; the Casa del Gobernador, or house of the Governor, a long narrow edifice comprising a simple series of chambers and surmounting three imposing terraces. See Figures 1 and 2. The lowest of these terraces is 3 ft. high, 15 ft. wide, 575 ft. long; the next is 20 ft. high, 275 ft. wide, 545 ft. long; the third is 19 ft. high, 30 ft. wide, 360 ft. long. Eleven doors admit you in front to its interior, and one upon each end. The lintels of these doors were of wood and were found by Stephens in place and well preserved. "This building was constructed entirely of stone. Up to the cornice which runs around it. the whole length and on all four of its sides, the facade presents a smooth surface; but above, is one solid mass of rich, complicated, and elaborately sculptured ornaments, forming a sort of arabesque." Ornaments upon this building present novel and beautiful features. Figures decorated with lavish head-dresses occur over the doorways, and above these a singular scroll-like ornament which recurs with different variations throughout the building, and indeed, universally in the ruins. The intricate character of the facade above the cornice seems produced by a mosaic of symbolic blocks. The rear of the Casa del Gobernador is a solid wall 9 ft. thick, with less magnificent sculpture. The roof is flat and covered with grass and bushes. The principal apartments are 60 ft. long, the floors are of cement, the ceilings form triangular arches as at Palenque. Along the stuccoed wall on the interior of this building are the imprints of a living hand, its creases and wrinkles still preserved, painted red and stamped upon the yielding plaster with a life-like expression. This mysterious sign is encountered throughout the ruins of the country. It seems to have been a common symbol with the Indians of North America and expresses supplication with the accompanying associations of the strength and supernatural assistance which devotion secures. It is constantly found in their pictorial records and forms a very usual mark on their painted bodies, an occult charm invoking the benediction of the spirits. On the flat form of the second terrace at its North West corner is a second important structure called the Casa de los Tortugas or the House of the Turtles, from the series of turtles extending around its cornice. The building is 94 ft. in front, 34 ft. deep, is of much simpler design and ornamentation than the Casa del Gobernador, and stands alone having no visible means of communication with the latter edifice to which it offers a peculiar contrast and seems to occupy a subordinate and complementary position. The next structure to be noticed is the Casa de los Monjos north of the Casa del Gobernador. It is composed of four walls enclosing a large court yard and stands upon the top of three terraces. See Fig. 3. Begininng at the south and going to the right, the sides are respectively 279 ft., 158 ft., 173 ft., 264 ft. long. The range on the south is a stone structure, plain up to the cornice, but from that point ornamented to the roof. A gateway 10 ft. 8 in. wide, pierces this building in the center. Leading to the great central court yard and on either side are four apartments having no communication with each other and reached through doorways from the outside. The buildings which flank the sides of the capacious court yard offer some of the most striking and elegant decorations in the ruins. They are elaborate and wonderfully varied, by turns chaste and regular, and then grotesque, symbolic and violent. On the west for 173 ft. the most richly embellished facade presents a bewildering. agglomeration of minute and careful ornament, through whose intricate arrangement two colossal snakes perpetually entwine themselves. The snakes themselves appear to be rattlesnakes from their engraved tails though their bodies in some parts are covered with feathers. The facade on the north side is 264 ft. long, reached by a staircase 95 ft. wide. It has 13 doorways, and over these, lofty tablets of masonry rise 17 ft. above the cornice, and 42 ft. from the ground. The sculpture is less admirable here, more strange, crude and luxuriant. This building is erected over |