Instead of being faced with stone, elaborately carved with the symbols of their religion, the green turf covered the high places of the mound-builders; they ascended them by graded avenues or winding paths, not by broad and imposing stairways; and the wooden temple roofed with bark supplied the place of the massive edifices which still rear their crumbling, spectral fronts amid the forests of Central America. The features of resemblance between a large part of the monuments of America and many of the most ancient of those of the old world early attracted the attention of Humboldt, who seems to have been strongly impressed with their indentity, yet, with characteristic caution, unwilling to follow the connections to their ultimate results. That the practice of erecting these colossal, montiform temples was necessarily derivative, cannot be admitted. The primitive temples of every people on the globe seem to have been constructed much upon the same plan, and consisted of great enclosures of earth or upright stones, often, if not always, symbolizing in their forms the leading conceptions connected with the worship to which they were dedicated.

The primitive altars, or shrines of the heathen gods, corresponded in rudeness and size with their vast open temples, and like them sustained everywhere a general resemblance. This resemblance to a certain degree may be regarded as accidental, inasmuch as an eminence or high place would naturally suggest itself as the most fitting spot whereon to render up homage to those superior powers which were supposed to dwell above, in the skies, or among the stars. It may also have resulted in no small degree from the very general primitive superstition that mountains and hills were the abiding places of the gods.

When America was discovered by Columbus, it was supposed by him and his contemporaries to be a part of the region vaguely termed India beyond the Ganges; and the newly discovered lands were thenceforth styled Indies, and the native inhabitants to this day are called Indians. The names by which Indian tribes are known to us are a strange medley. Some are nicknames given by the whites, such as Hurons, Iroquois, Nez Perces, Gros Ventres, Diggers, Blackfeet, Flat-heads; others are derived from some locality near which they resided, as the Delawares, River Indians, Montagnais, Athabascans, etc. A great many tribes are known to us by the names applied to them by other Indian tribes. Thus the words Mohawk, Sioux, Esquimaux, Assiniboins, Arkansas, and Nottoway are not the real names of tribes, but all Algonquin terms; so too Adirondacks is the Mohawk term of contempt for the Montagnais on the St. Lawrence. As a general rule Indians when asked their name give the term Men or Real Men. This is the meaning of Onkwe Hon we, used by the Hurons and Iroquois; Renappi, Lenni, Illiniwek, Irini, Nethowuck, used by Al-gonquin tribes; Tinne, used by the Athabascans; and apparently of Apache. But this meant the tribe as composed of individuals: each tribe as a unit, a body politic, had a name, generally that of the animal or object which was the totem of the tribe.

Thus the five Iroquois nations were called as one Hotinnon-sionni or Hodenosaunee, a cabin; the Mohawk was the Ganniagwari, the she bear; the Illinois were called Anoka. - The whole continent was occupied by scattered tribes, from the lowest stage of barbarism to a semi-civilized state, corresponding to the stone and bronze ages of the old world, for iron was nowhere wrought. Agriculture was confined to a few plants - maize, squashes, beans, tobacco, plan-tains, cassava, etc. Manufactures were confined to the making of canoes from bark or hollowed trees, lodges of bark or skins, gar-ments of skins, and in some parts basket work and rude weaving, weapons, and images carved and occasionally hammered or moulded. There seems to be an identity of race through-out the continent. Lawrence gives their gen-eral character as follows: skin brown or cin-namon-hued; iris dark; hair long, black, and straight; beard scanty; eyes deep-seated; nose broad, but prominent; lips full and rounded; and face broad across the cheeks, which are prominent, but less angular than in the Mongo-lian, and with the features distinct. The gen-eral shape of the head is square, with low but-broad forehead, back of head flattened, top elevated, face much developed, and powerful jaws.

The parietal region is much developed, the orbits are large, the feet and hands small and well proportioned, and the teeth white and sound; the facial angle about 75°. The ave-rage stature is no greater than in other races. The muscular development is not great, and there is a tendency to grow very fat when food is abundant and the habits of life are lazy. Though active and agile in sports and pursuits of short duration, the Indian is in-ferior to the white race in labors requiring compactness of muscle and long-continued ex-ertion. The complexion varies from the dark brown of the California tribes to the almost white of the Mandans and the Chinooks. The beard is scanty, except among the Athabas-cans, and is prevented from appearing by the custom of plucking it out. The Indian has a dull, sleepy, half-closed eye, . with little fire, unless when the passions are excited. The features are frequently regular, and the expression noble; many of the women are handsome. The skin is thinner, softer, and smoother than in the white races. The practice of artificially moulding the skull was often adopted. The average volume of the brain, as measured in nearly G50 crania, is only 77 cubic inches for the semi-civilized and 84 for the barbarous tribes.

Dr. Morton, from a scientific examination of skulls from existing tribes and ancient tombs, considers the American nations, excepting the polar tribes, as of one species and one race, but of two great families, which resemble each other in physical but differ in intellectual character. The North American Indian was of haughty demeanor, taciturn, and stoical to the last degree; cunning and watchful in the surprise, persevering in the pursuit, and revengeful in the destruction of his enemies; cruel to prisoners of war, without regard to age or sex, and when himself a captive enduring the most painful tortures without a murmur; brave and too often ferocious in war; idle and grave in peace, except when engaged in hunting and amusements; hospitable, and grateful for favors; of necessity a close observer of natural phenomena, his temperament poetic and imaginative, and his simple eloquence of great dignity and beauty of expression. As a race, however, the animal propensities strongly preponderate over the intellectual. - The origin of the American Indians has been a matter of debate for centuries, and Grotius, De Laet, Garcia, and others discussed it in their day with more learning than judgment.