geometrically constructed works of large and uniform dimensions."

Undoubtedly they were skilled in agriculture, from the remains of
ancient garden-beds, which were cultivated in a methodical manner. The
modern Indians give no such evidence of labor. For wherever they are
found they love to roam in undisputed possession of the forest, and
lead an indolent life. Of course I do not assign this as a valid
reason for their not being identified with the Mound-builders. An
ancient race may have a degenerate offspring.

Nor shall I attempt to find in the various inscriptions any clue to
their Hebrew origin, or to identify that ancient people with the lost
tribes, as some have dared to do. Foster inclines to regard them as
emigrating from the tropics, rather than coming from the north.

This would involve us in investigating the antiquity of the Mexican
and Peruvian ruins, where vast works of high architecture and more
advanced civilization were found than among the Mound-builders. There
is little difficulty in concluding that the Aztecs, who occupied
Mexico during the Spanish invasion under Cortez, were the conquerors
of several races that preceded them. Among these conquered races, no
doubt, were the Toltecs, who were afterwards found in such great
numbers, and in an amazing state of advanced civilization. The crania
of the Mound-builders and the Toltecs correspond. Now, whether they
migrated to the north from the tropics, or journeyed south from the
north, I cannot say. I should incline to the latter theory. Industry
is sure to advance. The rude mounds of the United States are far
surpassed by those immense pyramids in Mexico and Peru, surpassing the
Egyptian in size. And those fine architectural palaces and temples,
whose history we cannot fully know, far eclipse anything in the