speculation and conjecture. It may be a weapon of war, and if so, it is the only thing of the kind found represented in Copan. In other countries, battle-scenes, warriors, and weapons of war are among the most prominent subjects of sculpture; and from the entire absence of them here, there is reason to believe that the people were not warlike, but peaceable, and easily subdued." We should have been disposed to place more dependence upon this inference, if any groups of figures had been represented engaged in the arts of peace; but as neither Mr. Stephens nor Colonel Galindo mention any monument besides which represents other than individual figures, and those not distinguished by emblems designating any peculiar office or occupation, we do not see how any certain conclusion can be drawn from the absence of warlike subjects or signs. It is evident that the same altar, one of the sides of which is represented in the engraving in page 88, is alluded to by Colonel Galindo and Mr. Stephens, notwithstanding some discrepancies between the two accounts. Perhaps the feet used in the two measurements were those of different countries- Mr. Stephens of course uses the English foot. With regard to the hieroglyphics, the former states them to be forty-nine, that is, seven rows of seven; the latter, thirty-six, that is, six rows of six. In all cases of difference we should be inclined to prefer the authority of Mr. Stephens, because he seems to have examined the ruins with the greatest care; but there can be no doubt in the case of these hieroglyphics, because a copy of them forms one of the illustrations of his work. We now return to his survey. 14. THE CEIBA PYRAMID. "The other court-yard is near the river. By cutting down the trees, we discovered the entrance to be on the north side, by a passage thirty feet wide and about three hundred feet long. On the right is a high range of steps rising to the terrace of the river wall. At the foot of this are six circular stones, from eighteen inches to three feet in diameter, perhaps once the pedestals of columns or monuments now fallen and buried. On the left-hand of the passage is a high pyramidal structure, with steps six feet high and nine feet broad, like the sides of one of the pyramids of Saccara, and one hundred and twenty-two feet high on the slope. The top has fallen, and has two immense ceiba trees growing out of it, the roots of which have thrown down the stones, and now bind the top of the pyramid. At the end of the passage is the area or courtyard, probably. the great circus of Fuentes, but which, instead of being circular, is rectangular, one hundred and forty feet long and ninety broad, with steps on all the sides. This was probably the most holy place in the temple. Beyond doubt it had been the theatre of great events, and of imposing religious ceremonies; but what those ceremonies were, or who were the actors in them, or what had brought them to such a fearful close, were mysteries which it was impossible to fathom. There was no idol or altar, nor were there any vestiges of them. On the left, standing two-thirds of the way up the steps, is a gigantic head; it is mo ved a little from its place, and a portion of the ornament on one side has been thrown down some distance by the expansion of the trunk of a large tree. The head is about six feet high, and the style good. Like many of the others, with the great expansion of the eyes it seems intended to inspire awe. On either side of it, distant about thirty or forty feet, and rather lower down, are other fragments of colossal dimensions and good design, and at the foot are two colossal heads turned over and partly buried, well worthy the attention of future travellers and artists. The whole area is overgrown with trees, and encumbered with decayed vegetable matter, with fragments of curious sculpture protruding above the surface, which, probably, with many others completely buried, would be brought to light by digging. "On the opposite side, parallel with the river, is a range of fifteen steps to a terrace, twelve feet wide, and then fifteen steps more to another terrace, twenty feet wide, extending to the river wall. On each side of the centre of the steps is a mound of ruins, apparently of a circular tower. About halfway up the steps on this side is a pit, five feet square, and seventeen feet deep, cased with stone. At the bottom is an opening leading into the chamber or sepulchral vault broken into by Colonel Galindo. Immediately above the pit which leads to this vault is a passage leading through the terrace to the river wall, from which as before men tioned, the ruins are sometimes called Las Ventanas, or the Windows. It is one foot eleven inches at the bottom, and one foot at the top, in this form,— and barely large enough for a man to crawl through on his face. There were no remains of buildings." 15. MATERIALS AND INSTRUMENTS OF THE BUILDERS, The mountainous range from which the stone was quarried is situated about two miles to the north of the river. The stone is a soft grit, the same as that of which the monuments are formed. Here were found many blocks, containing hard flint stones, which, for that reason, had been rejected after being quarried out. Smaller pieces of these are what Colonel Galindo alludes to as harder stones inserted in some of the obelisks. Where they occur on the surface of the monuments they are not carved like the softer stone, from which it may be inferred that the sculptor had no instruments hard enough to work them, and consequently that iron was unknown to the people who erected those structures. No metal has been discovered in the ruins, or at the quarries, but there have been found sharp and pointed instruments of chaye, or flint-stone, sufficiently hard to scratch into the softer grit-stone. It must have required no small practical knowledge of mechanics to transport the huge masses of stone over the irregular and broken surface which intervenes between the quarries and the city, to say nothing of raising blocks to the top of mountains two thousand feet high. 16. GENERAL EFFECT OF THE RUINS Of Copan. We shall now conclude this division of our subject with another extract from the work of Mr. Stephens. "Of the moral effect of the monuments themselves, standing as they do in the depths of a tropical forest, silent and solemn, strange in design, excellent in sculpture, rich in ornament, different from the works of any other people, their uses and purposes, their whole history, so entirely unknown, with hieroglyphics explaining all, but perfectly unintelligible, I shall not pretend to convey any idea. Often the imagination was pained in gazing at them. The tone which pervades the ruins is that of deep solemnity. An imaginative mind might be infected with superstitious feelings. From constantly calling them by that name in our intercourse with the Indians, we regarded these solemn memorials as 'idols,' deified kings and heroes, objects of adoration and ceremonial worship. We did not find on the monuments or sculptured fragments any delineations of human or, in fact, of any other kind of sacrifice, but had no doubt that the large sculptured stone invariably found before each 'idol' was employed as a sacrificial altar. The form of sculpture most frequently met with was a death's head, sometimes as the principal ornament, and sometimes only accessory; whole rows of them on the outer wall, adding gloom to the mystery of the place, keeping before the eyes of the living death and the grave, and presenting the idea of a holy city-the Mecca or Jerusalem of an unknown people REMAINS OF QUIRIGUA. In the neighbourhood of Copan are the remains of another ruined city. So little curiosity prevails among the inhabitants of the country on the subject, that very few know anything of the existence of such monuments, and the very persons to whom the tract of wild land on which these are situated belongs, had never visited them until induced to accompany Mr. Catherwood. "On a fine morning, after a heavy rain, they set off for the ruins. After a ride of about half an hour, over an execrable road, they reached Los Amatis, a village pleasantly situated on the bank of the Motagua river, and elevated about thirty feet. The river was here about two hundred feet wide, and fordable in every part except a few deep holes. Generally it did not exceed three feet in depth, and in many places was not so deep; but below it was said to be navigable to the sea for boats not drawing more than three feet water. They embarked in two canoes dug out of cedar tres, and proceeded down the river for a couple of miles, where they took on board a negro guide. "After proceeding two or three miles further, and passing through two corn fields, the travellers entered a forest of large cedar and mahogany trees. The path was exceedingly soft and wet, and covered with decayed leaves, and the heat very great. Continuing through the forest toward the north-east, in three-quarters of an hour they reached the foot of a pyramidal structure like those at Copan, with the steps in some places perfect. They ascended to the top, about twenty-five feet, and descending by steps on the other side, at a short distance beyond came to a colossal head two yards in diameter, almost buried by an enormous tree, and covered with moss. Near it was a large altar, so covered with moss that it was impossible to make anything out of it. The two are within an inclosure. "Retracing their steps across the pyramidal structure, and proceeding to the north about three or four hundred yards, they reached a collection of monuments of the same general character with those at Copan, but twice or three times as high. "The first is about twenty feet high, five feet six inches on two sides, and two feet eight on the other two. The front represents the figure of a man, well preserved; the back that of a woman, much defaced. The sides are covered with hieroglyphics in good preservation, but in low relief, and of exactly the same style as those at Copan. Another is twenty-three feet out of the ground, with figures of men on the front and back, and hieroglyphics in low relief on the sides, and surrounded by a base projecting fifteen or sixteen feet from it. "At a short distance, standing in the same position as regards the points of the compass, is an obelisk or carved stone, twenty-six feet out of the ground, and probably six or eight feet under. It is leaning twelve feet two inches out of the perpendicular, and seems ready to fall, which is probably prevented only by a tree that has grown up against it and the large stones around the base. The side toward the ground represents the figure of a man, very perfect and finely sculptured. The upper side seemed the same, but was so hidden by vegetation as to make it uncertain. "A statue ten feet high is lying on the ground, covered with moss and herbage, and another about the same size lies with its face upward. There are four others erect, about twelve feet high, but not in a very good state of preservation, and several altars so covered with herbage that it was difficult to ascertain their exact form. One of them is round, and situated on a small elevation with a circle formed by a wall of stones. In the centre of the circle, reached by descending very narrow steps, is a large round stone, with the sides sculptured in hieroglyphics, covered with vegetation, and supported on what seemed to be two colossal heads. Besides these they counted thirteen fragments, and doubtless many others may yet be discovered. At some distance from them is another monument, nine feet out of the ground, and probably two or three under, with the figure of a woman on the front and back, the sides richly ornamented, but without hieroglyphics. "The general character of the ruins is the same as at Copan. The monuments are much larger, but they are sculptured in much lower relief, less rich in design, and more faded and worn, being probably of a much older date. "Of one thing there is no doubt: a large city once stood there; its name is lost, its history unknown; and except for a notice taken from Mr. C.'s notes, and inserted after his visit, by the proprietors of the land in a Guatimala paper, which found its way into Europe, no account of its existence was ever before published. For centuries it has lain as completely buried as if covered by the lava of Vesuvius. Every traveller from Yzabel to Guatimala has passed within three hours' journey of it, and yet there it ay, like the rock-built city of Edom, unvisited, unsought and utterly unknown.” RUINS OF SANTA CRUZ DEL QUICHÉ. The kingdom of Quiché and its capital Utatlan are spoken of by the historians of the Spanish conquests in America as powerful and opulent. It is said that the king opposed the invaders at the head of seventy thousand men. Some vestiges still remain, but as they have been less secluded from the step of man than the monuments we have spoken of above, not being like them surrounded by dense forests, but having villages in their immediate neighbourhood, so they have suffered greater injury. There are some remains of a fortress built on an eminence, which was apparently of considerable strength. The palace is completely destroyed, the materials having been used in building the present village. In part, however, the floor and fragments of the partition walls remain. The floor is of a cement which has resisted the floods of the rainy seasons during hundreds of years, and is still as hard as stone. RITES OF THE WESTERN PAGANS. "The most important part remaining of these ruins," we quote from Mr. Stephens, "is called El Sacrificatorio, or the place of sacrifice. It is a quadrangular stone structure, sixtysix feet on each side at the base, and rising in a pyramidal form to the height, in its present condition, of thirty-three feet. On three sides there is a range of steps in the middle, each step seventeen inches high, and but eight inches on the upper surface, which makes the range so steep that in the ascending some caution is necessary. At the corners are four buttresses of cut stone, diminishing in size from the line of the square, and apparently intended to support the structure. On the side facing the west there are no steps, but the surface is smooth and covered with stucco, gray with long exposure. By breaking a little at the corners, we saw that there were different layers of stucco, doubtless put on at different times, and all had been ornamented with painted figures. In one place we made out part of the body of a leopard, well drawn and coloured. "The top of the Sacrificatorio is broken and ruined, but there is no doubt that it once supported an altar for those sacrifices of human beings which struck even the Spaniards with horror. It was barely large enough for the altar and officiating priests, and the whole was in full view of the people at the foot. "The barbarous ministers carried up the victim entirely naked, and extended him upon the altar, pointing out the idol to which the sacrifice was made, that the people might pay their adorations. The altar had a convex surface, and the body of the victim lay arched, with the trunk elevated, and the head and feet depressed. Four priests held the legs and arms, and another kept his head firm with a wooden instrument made in the form of a coiled serpent, so that he was prevented from making the least movement. The head priest then approached, and with a knife made of flint cut an aperture in the breast, and tore out the heart, which, yet palpitating, he offered to the sun, and then threw it at the feet of the idol. If the idol was gigantic and hollow, it was usual to introduce the heart of the victim into his mouth with a golden spoon. If the victim was a prisoner of war, as soon as he was sacrificed, they cut off the head to preserve the skull, and threw the body down the steps, when it was taken up by the officer or soldier to whom the prisoner had belonged, and carried to his house to be dressed and served up as an entertainment for his friends. If he was not a prisoner of war, but a slave purchased for the sacrifice, the proprietor carried off the body for the same purpose." Some images of terra cotta have been found in these ruins, as hard as stone, highly polished, and of good workmanship. RUINS OF GUEGUETINANGO. This ruined city, situated like the last-mentioned in the ancient kingdom of Quiché, was in a like manner, built upon an eminence surrounded by a ravine. "The general character of the ruins," says Mr. Stephens, "is the same as at Quichè, but the hand of destruction has fallen upon it still more heavily. The whole is a confused heap of grass-grown fragments. The principal remains are base one hundred and two feet; the steps are four feet high two pyramidal structures. One of them measures at the and seven feet deep, making the whole height twenty-eight feet. They are not of cut stone as at Copan, but of rough pieces cemented with lime, and the whole exterior was formerly coated with stucco and painted. On the top is a small square platform, and at the base lies a long slab of rough stone, apparently hurled down from the top; perhaps the altar on which victims were extended for sacrifice. "The owner of the ground, whose house was hard by, and who accompanied us to the ruins, told us that he had bought the land from the Indians, and that, for some time after his purchase, he was annoyed by their periodical visits to celebrate some of their ancient rites on the top of this structure. This was continued until he whipped two or three of the principal men and drove them away. "At the foot of the structure was a vault, faced with cut stone, in which were found a collection of bones and a terra cotta vase, then in his possession. The vault was not long enough for the body of a man extended, and the bones must have been separated before they were placed there." TIERRA DI GUERRA, OR VERA PAZ. Mr. Stephens visited also the site of the ancient city of Patinamit, or Tecpan Guatimala. Fuentes speaks of the remains of magnificent structures in this place, but there are now only mounds of ruins. There are some fragments of sculptured stones, but so worn as to be undistinguishable. At Santa Cruz del Quiché he met with a priest who told him that four leagues from Copan, in the province of Vera Paz, was another ancient city of considerable size, deserted and desolate, with remains of magnificent palaces and other edifices in a state of comparatively good preservation. "But," says Mr. Stephens, "the padre told us more; something that increased our excitement to the highest pitch. On the other side of the great traversing range of Cordilleras lies the district of Vera Paz, once called Tierra di Guerra, or Land of War, from the warlike character of its aboriginal inhabitants. Three times the Spaniards were driven back in their attempts to conquer it. Las Cases, vicar of the convent of the Dominican order in the city of Guatimala, mourning over the bloodshed caused by what was called converting the Indians to Christianity, wrote a treatise to prove that Divine Providence had instituted the preaching of the Gospel as the means of conversion to the Christian faith; that war could not with justice be made upon those who had never committed any aggressions against Christians; and that to harass and destroy the Indians was to prevent the accomplishing of this desired object. This doctrine he preached from the pulpit, and enforced in private assemblies. He was laughed at, ridiculed, and sneeringly advised to put his theory in practice. Undisturbed by this mockery, he accepted the proposal, choosing as the field of his operations the unconquerable district called Tierra di Guerra, and made an arrangement that no Spaniards should be permitted to reside in that country for five years. This agreed upon, the Dominicans composed some hymns in the Quiche language, describing the creation of the world, the fall of Adam, the redemption of mankind, and the principal events of the life, passion, and death of our Saviour. These were learned by some Indians, who traded with the Quiches, and a principal cacique of the country, afterwards called Don Juan, having heard them sung, asked those who had repeated them to explain in detail the meaning of things so new to him. The Indians excused themselves, saying that they could only be explained by the fathers who had taught them. The cacique sent one of his brothers with many presents, to entreat that they would come and make him acquainted with what was contained in the songs of the Indian merchants. A single Dominican friar returned with the ambassador, and the cacique, having been instructed in the new faith, burned his idols, and preached Christianity to his own subjects. Las Cases and another associate followed, and thus was effected by men of peace what the Spanish arms failed to do, namely, the bringing a portion of the Land of War to the Christian faith. The rest of the Tierra di Guerra never was conquered; and at this | day the north-eastern section, bounded by the range of the Cordilleras and the State of Chiapas, is occupied by Candones or unbaptized Indians, who live as their fathers did, acknowledging no submission to the Spaniards, and the government of Central America does not pretend to exercise any control over them." AN UNTOUCHED CITY. "But the thing that roused us was the assertion by the padre that, four days on the road to Mexico, on the other side of the Great Sierra, was a living city, large and populous, occupied by Indians, precisely in the same state as before the discovery of America. He had heard of it many years before at the village of Chajul, and was told by the villagers that from the topmost ridge of the sierra this city was distinctly visible. He was then young, and with much labour climbed to the naked summit of the Sierra, from which, at the height of ten or twelve thousand feet, he looked over an immense plain, extending to Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and saw, at a distance, a large city spread over a great space, and with turrets white and glittering in the sun. The traditionary account of the Indians of Chajul is, that no white man has ever reached this city; that the inhabitants speak the Maya language, are aware that a race of strangers has conquered the whole country around, and murder any white man who attempts to enter their territory. They are said to have no coin or other circulating medium; no horses, cattle, mules, or any domestic animals, except fowls, and the cocks they keep under-ground, to prevent their crowing being heard. "There was a wild novelty-something that touched the imagination-in every step of our journey in that country. The old padre, in the deep stillness of the dimly-lighted convent, with his long black coat like a robe, and his flashing eye, called up an image of the bold and resolute priests who accompanied the army of the conquerors; and as he drew a map on the table, and pointed out the Sierra to the top of which he had climbed, and the position of the mysterious city, the interest awakened in us was the most thrilling I ever experienced. One look at that city were worth ten years of an every-day life. If he be right, a place is left where Indians and an Indian city exist, as Cortez and Alvarado found them; there are living men who can go to Copan and read the inscriptions on its monuments. No subject more exciting and attractive presents itself to my mind, and the deep impression of that night will never be effaced. "Can it be true? Being now in my sober senses, I do verily believe there is much ground to suppose that what the padre told us is authentic. That the region referred to does not acknowledge the government or Guatimala, has never been explored, and that no white man ever pretends to enter it, I am satisfied. From other sources we heard that a large ruined city was visible from that sierra, and we were told of another person who had climbed to the top, but, on account of the dense cloud resting upon it, had been unable to see anything. At all events, the belief at the village of Chajul is general, and a curiosity is roused that burns to be satisfied." We have now finished that part of our task which relates to the States of Central America, and propose in a future Supplement to give some account of Palenque, and other deserted cities in Mexico. CUYP AND HIS WORKS. THERE is a peculiar charm about the productions of Albert Cuyp, which renders them delightful to amateurs and to artists; and no other artist perhaps, save Claude and Wilson, has so well succeeded in calling up delightful associations, and vivid recollections of nature and natural effects and appearances, as this highly gifted man. The history of Albert Cuyp contains nothing very remarkable, and may, in consequence, be briefly told. He was born at Dort, in 1606, and was most probably attracted in his early childhood by the beauties of graphic imitation, for his father, Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, was an artist of respectable talents, and exercised his profession both as a portrait and a landscape painter: he was also one of the founders of an Academy of Painting at Dort. To the instructions given by his father, we may doubtless attribute the early progress made by Albert Cuyp; indeed throughout his early works the style of his father is to be distinctly traced, afterwards improved by the son to a higher degree of excellence. The marked improvement of the younger Cuyp does not appear to have arisen from extraordinary or precocious powers, but to have been the result of incessant study, close observation of nature, and great practice. It was, therefore, gradual, and may, throughout its several stages, be dis tinctly traced in his successive works. Notwithstanding the pains which have been taken to discover some particulars of the early life of this great painter, we yet remain in ignorance on all points connected with his education and pursuits, though from the testimony of Houbracken, who states that he was personally acquainted with him, we find that he was of reputable birth, and inherited sufficient property from his family to place him in easy circumstances. The same writer tells us that he had a handsome country seat at Dordwyck, a short distance from Dort, where the picturesque scenery of the surrounding country afforded him an ample supply of materials for study. He also describes him as being a man of pleasing personal appearance, of a handsome and intelligent countenance, and, in his religious views, a strict Calvinist. In the Dictionary of Dutch Painters, published in 1816, by Roeland Van Eynden, and Adrian Vander Willigen, it is stated that the house at Dordwyck, formerly inhabited by our artist, is now in the possession of M. M. Onderwater, and that it is still adorned with many of Cuyp's pictures. In the researches made by these authors to discover some further information connected with the early life of Cuyp, they learnt from M. Van Ouriyk, an amateur, that in an old brewery called "De Lelie," (but which has long ceased to be worked,) there existed papers and letters in the handwriting of Cuyp, which tended to prove that he was a brewer by trade, and that he lived in a house adjoining that establishment. But this report never met with due confirmation, and is, therefore, little credited. In the history of Dordrecht by Van Balen, it is mentioned that the artist was a member of the Common Council, and that the name of Albert Cuyp is found enrolled in the list of the burghers of the city, who were summoned in 1672 to serve in the national guard, during the reign of William the Third, Stadtholder'; but for some reason, not clearly explained, he was excused that duty; perhaps, as it has been suggested, on account of his being a member of the Common Council, already referred to. While so much doubt exists as to the circumstances under which Cuyp studied the art of painting, the several stages of his progress are, as we have already hinted, distinctly marked in his works. His early productions, though distinguished by their neat and careful finishing, are cold and heavy in their tone of colouring, and exhibit a deficiency in the aërial gradations. These are usually marked with the initials only of his name, and have hence been styled his "A. C." manner. From this manner he diverged into a second and superior mode of treating his subject; his handling became more firm and free; the gradations more true, and the colouring more rich and brilliant. His succeeding works are almost without exception marked "A. Cuyp." The third or most accomplished manner of this artist exhibits, to use the language of Smith, "a concentration of all that practical knowledge, cultivated taste, and ripened judgment can produce in painting." The class of subjects which Cuyp appears to have delighted in, are views of rich pasture lands, with kine and other cattle grazing, the whole being bathed in the rich light of sunset. The busy scenes on the banks of rivers on the arrival or departure of coasters, fishing-vessels, &c., were also represented by him with much success. Smith thus eulogises this artist, and describes some of his favourite subjects. The departure of persons of distinction for the chase, accompanied by attendants and dogs, has frequently employed his pencil at the best period of his pursuit; as also views on rivers and canals in winter, in which are introduced the occupations and amusements peculiar to the country. But whatever scene the picture may represent,whatever may be the aspect under which it is displayed,whether it be that of the warmth of summer, the fresh and varied hues of autumn, or the snowy and frigid effect of winter, there will in every instance be discovered that variety, which a just appropriation of the accidents of light, heat, vapour, and wind admit of; commencing from the first appearance of the harbinger of day, dispersing the rising dews of the morning, following his ascent to meridian splendour, and his refulgent decline in the western hemihis course presents to the observant eye. Even the close sphere; together with all the intervening transitions which of day opened a new scene for his unerring pencil, and the broad forms of nature are tenderly developed by the soft light of the rising moon, whose beams are made to play deceptively on the rippling waters. Such, indeed, was his consummate knowledge of light and colour, that the most perfect gradation and harmony are ever the enchanting results of his best works. མEEFIW The class of subjects above referred to may be considered as those which mainly occupied the pencil of this artist, but the versatility of his genius enabled him to digress from such subjects at pleasure, and we find him painting historical pieces, horse fairs, battle pieces, portraits, interiors, poultry, fish, fruits, and objects of still life. With his rich and glowing style of colouring, and his broad and energetic method of handling, he never failed in producing the warmth and expression of nature, and his portraits have been not unfrequently attributed to Rembrandt, owing to their display of some of the chief characteristics of that master. A portrait of this character was exhibited in the British Gallery in 1831, and is now in the collection of the Rev. Heneage Finch. It represents a young lady with an oval-shaped countenance, slightly marked with the small-pox: her hair is turned back, and a black velvet cap covers her head. Her dress consists of black speckled silk, and a plain muslin kerchief with a black rosette on the bosom. The right hand only is seen, holding a fan. This picture is distinguished for richness of colouring, breadth of effect, and an extraordinary look of nature. Another brilliantly-coloured portrait by this artist is in the collection of the Duke of Bedford. It is that of a youth, with light flowing hair, elegantly habited in a black vest, a scarlet mantle bordered with gold lace, and a narrow lace frill; a large black hat covers his head. We may mention one more instance in which the breadth and brilliancy of Rembrandt appear to animate the productions of Cuyp. It is that of a fine portrait which we believe to be in the collection of Lord Ashburton. It represents a gentleman about thirty-five years of age, with dark hair parted in front: he is dressed in black silk velvet |