308
PAINTED
REPRESENTATIONS
OF
discovered in places w h e r e there exist t h e walls
and
of towns
constructed
t i o n , n o w entirely e x t i n c t . have a great days
on
rida.
lines
of
by s o m e
fortification, u n k n o w n na
T h e paintings on these
similitude t o those which
earthenware
ANIMALS.
by t h e n a t i v e s
fragments
are e x e c u t e d
of
Louisiana
in o u r
and Flo
T h u s too, t h e Indians of M a y p u r e s often painted b e
fore o u r e y e s t h e s a m e in t h e c a v e r n bones.
o r n a m e n t s as t h o s e w e had o b s e r v e d
of A t a r u i p e , o n t h e vases containing
T h e y were
grеcques,
human
m e a n d e r s , a n d figures o f c r o c o
d i l e s , of m o n k e y s , a n d of a l a r g e q u a d r u p e d w h i c h I c o u l d n o t r e c o g n i z e , t h o u g h it had a l w a y s t h e s a m e squat form. hazard and
the hypothesis
that
the type
that
had b e e n
migration
of the American
the
and s o u t h - e a s t ;
south
lieve
that
the
it b e l o n g s
figure
brought
nations
thither
from
that t h e d e f o r m e d i m a g e o f a native
The
by
straight
inclined
animal
has b e c o m e b y
lines
skill
the Mexican
edifices
at M i t l a ,
m a n y n a t i o n s w h o , without find
alike a s e n s i b l e pleasure same
Magna
Grecia,
and in t h e w o r k s
in the s y m m e t r i c
Arabesques,
meanders,
or
combined,
c o m m u n i c a t i o n with each
the
forms.
grecques,
variously
s i m i l a r t o t h o s e t h a t w e find on t h e vases o f on
to be
preserved.
M a y p u r e s e x e c u t e with t h e greatest formed
in t h e g r e a t
t o represent a tapir, and
d e g r e e s o n e o f t h e t y p e s that has b e e n
ornaments
country,
the north-west to
but I am rather
is i n t e n d e d
I might
to another
o f so other,
repetition o f
and
grecques,
please o u r e y e s , b e c a u s e t h e e l e m e n t s o f which t h e i r series is composed,
follow
in r h y t h m i c
o r d e r , in t h e periodical ear
return
order.
d i s t i n g u i s h e s in t h e c a d e n c e d
concords.
C a n we t h e n
rhythm manifests
itself
T h e e y e finds in t h i s
of the same
forms, what t h e
succession
a d m i t a doubt
that
of s o u n d s a n d t h e feeling o f
in m a n at t h e first dawn o f civiliza
t i o n , a n d in t h e rudest e s s a y s o f p o e t r y a n d s o n g ? Among
t h e natives
is an o c c u p a t i o n purify and
Maypures, the making of
t h e clay by repeated w a s h i n g s ,
mould
rican
of
pottery
principally c o n f i n e d t o t h e w o m e n .
t h e largest
vases with
Indian is u n a c q u a i n t e d with
their hands.
The Ame
the potter's wheel, which
was familiar to the n a t i o n s o f t h e e a s t in t h e r e m o t e s t quity.
They
form it into c y l i n d e r s ,
anti
W e m a y be s u r p r i s e d that t h e m i s s i o n a r i e s have n o t
i n t r o d u c e d this s i m p l e a n d useful m a c h i n e a m o n g t h e natives of
the Orinoco,
yet we must
recollect
that
three
centuries