so silent and yet so grand, the response is longer delayed. It is like looking at the silent Sphinx, which is half hidden in the sands of the desert, and is the companion of the Pyramids, which are as silent.

These distant regions, hidden so far away in the deep interior of the American Continent, have no associations to stir one's memories. Lofty as the peaks are which surround the Great Plateau, they are silent; often covered with the white shrouds which have fallen upon them from the skies, but oftener draped in that hazy blue atmosphere which makes them so distant to the vision. They seem to belong to another world than ours.

The colors which come from the varying tinges of the rocks are, indeed, very striking, and so are the jagged rocks which project from the sides of the mountains, but they always cause us to feel that some one is hidden beyond those shadows and that humanity has dwelt even in this great wilderness. The outlines of the rocks may resemble ancient castles, and we may imagine many things, but the impression is greatly heightened when we discover that there are actual ruins upon the rocks, and that those ruins were once inhabited and were used as castles by the ancient people, and a feeling of companionship is awakened. The enquiry at once arises: how long have these regions been occupied, who were the people who dwelt in these ruined structures, whence did they come, how long were they here, what was their life, where did they get their subsistence, whither have they gone, what was their history, and have they left any record?

The scene is not merely one of nature's handiwork, wrought in grandeur, and left without inhabitants; nor is it one in which the past is entirely covered with shadows. There must be a reality back of this scene; a substance amid these shadows. We might imagine many things, and be filled with a strange rhapsody as we think of the unreal world. We might picture the unseen spirits as having dwelt here, and shadowy ghosts as flitting from peak to peak. This might increase our wonder and fill us with awe, resembling that which the untrained minds of the natives have often felt as they have looked upon the scene; for with them the natural and supernatural are one.

In that case, everything would be as weird and wild as a dream, as unreal as any picture which poet could draw. There might arise a sense of fear, and superstition might be aroused, and we find ourselves in the same mood as were the wild men, who were here before us. But this does not quite satisfy, we want to know about the people who formerly dwelt here. From these very heights we have gained glimpses of ruins which are as real as the rocks upon which they rest. These ruins stir our minds with new sensations, as they have the mindsof others, who have looked upon the same scenes.

We are familiar with the people who dwell here now, but we want to know about the people who dwelt here in the long ago.

We know, also, many things about the history of the Creation as it is written in the rocks, for the geologists have read this clearly for us. But we want to read the history of the people as well. The process has been a very slow one, and centuries have passed; but there must have been also a process by which the scene was peopled. We want to place the two records together and solve the mystery. The history of the Creation. is a marvellous one, and must have taken many thousands of years to accomplish. This history, the geologist is able to read and point out its periods and processes. As President Jordan has said, the earth's crust has been making history and scenery, with all the earth-moulding forces steadily at work, and has rested in the sun for ten thousand centuries. Mountains were folding, continents were taking form, while this land of patience lay beneath a warm and shallow sea, as the centuries piled up layer upon layer of sand and rock.

At last the uplift of the Sierras changed the sands to dry land and by the forces of erosion the sands were torn away

GEOLOGICAL RELIEF OF THE GREAT PLATEAU.

by slow process, until a mile or more of vertical depth had been stripped from the whole surface, leaving only flat-topped buttes here and there to testify to the depth of the ancient strata; if the swift river from the glacial mountains had done its work and narrowed its bounds, cutting its path through the flinty stone and dropped swiftly from level to level, until it reached the granite core of earth at the bottom, and a view from the canyon rim, shows at a glance how it all was done, we wonder that we cannot tell more about the people who came upon the scene, and the time at which they came.

This is the scientists' interpretation, and brings to view the processes of nature; but what shall we say about the people who have dwelt amid this scene? What is their history, and what was the date of their advent? From what country did they come? To what race and stock did they belong? What were the channels, by which they reached these distant regions?

Access to this isolated plateau was originally gained by means of great streams, the most of which are difficult of navigation, but they never the-less open a channel in different directions, as all of them ultimately reach the sea. There are mountain passes by which wandering tribes, who were accustomed to follow the paths wherever they lead, could reach it.

These different means of access have been employed by the different peoples who have entered the mysterious province.

The first white man to enter it, was a lone traveller, who was ship-wrecked upon the eastern coast, and passing from tribe to tribe wandered at length into the Great Staked Plain and made his way along the southern border, then passed on to the far west, and there made his report of the marvellous things which he had seen. Atter which a little band of Spanish cavaliers passed up from the south and traversed the valleys, and finally reached the Great Plateaus, and visited the pueblos which were scattered here and there, and at last passed over the mountains to the eastward and then continued their long wanderings in search of the fabulous land which they called Quivira. After the Spaniards, the Americans fitted out vessels and sailed around the continent, entered the mouth of the Colorado River, and finally reached the region by this

means.

The problem now before us does not refer to the means of access, nor to the conveniences of travelling by which we may reach the distant region; but it does relate to the period when this mysterious locality was first peopled, and to the direction which was taken by those who first reached it. This is difficult to solve, though many theories are held in reference to it.

Some would place it as far back in a geological age as the time when this great air continent was, like other continents, surrounded by water, and raised but little above it. At that time the valleys, which are now so wide, were filled with seas, which have long since disappeared.

Others, however, would date the peopling of this mysterious. continent at a very recent period. Judging from the language which has been used by some, one might think that it was but a short time before the discovery by Columbus. The true date is between these two extremes; but it can not be definitely fixed until more facts are secured.

THE ART OF BENIN CITY.

BY FREDERICK STARR.

No archæological or ethnographic material has of recent years aroused so much excitement and interest in Europe, as the objects lately brought from Benin City, West Africa. The bronze objects have attracted the most attention, but those in other materials also deserve notice. The art is so good, the objects represented are so varied, and the questions suggested are so many, that a veritable sensation has been caused.

The largest collection of the Benin bronzes is no doubt that at the British Museum; the next largest is probably at Berlin. Hundreds of specimens, including some choice and interesting pieces, have passed through the hands of Mr. W. D. Webster. The material has also been actively bought by smaller museums, particularly in Germany. Several papers have already been printed regarding these objects. The present article must be considered merely a review of three of the most important of these papers.† Mr. Read and Dr. von Luschan consider their papers preliminary, and propose to publish complete studies later.

Read and Dalton present a summary of our knowledge of Benin City. It was the centre of power of the Beni tribe and was located some seventy-three miles from the mouth of the Formoso or Benin river. The tribe is much like the Dahomey people generally. The city was discovered at the close of the fifteenth century. The Portuguese passed along the coast in 1470; Sequiera visited the region in 1472; Alonzo d'Aviero went inland, probably, in 1487. From that time various adventurers reached Benin City, and by 1550 general commerce had been opened up with it. Windham and Pintado's description of Benin was printed in Hakluyt in 1553. The first really detailed account of it, with illustrations, by a Dutch author, was given in DeBry about 1600. Van Nyendale visited it in 1602 and his

*W. D. Webster, Bicester, England. Within a few months past Mr. Webster has sold Benin bronzes in the following quantities to museums and private parties: Pitt Rivers Museum, £1.437; Vienna, £640; Berlin, £465; Dresden, £735; Munich, £160; Dublin. £72; Edinburgh, £131; Adelaide, 450; Christ Church (New Zealand), £68; Basle, £47; Copenhagen, £115; Cambridge, £50; private buyers, £500. &c. We do not know that any of this interesting material has reached America.

Works of Art from Benin City. Charles H. Read and O. M. Dalton. Jour. Anth. Inst. of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. xxvii., pp. 362-382.

Alterthumer von Benin. F. von Luschen. Verhand. der Berliner Gesel. fur Anth. Eth. und Urgeschicte. 1898., pp. 146-164.

Illustrated Catalogue of Ethnographical Specimens in Bronze, Wrought Iron, Ivory, and Wood, from Benin City, West Africa. W. D. Webster, Bicester, England. Price, 5 shillings.

description was printed later. During this century several English travelers have been to Benin. King in 1820, Fawckner in 1825, and Moffatt and Smith in 1838, all mention the art work. Sir Richard Burton was there in 1862, and left a good description. In 1897 the city was destroyed (in large part) by the British Punitive Expedition under Admiral Rawson.

From these various writers our authors gather many details regarding the life, customs, social organization, etc. The city was a rambling town, divided into two parts by a broad avenue. The king's quarters lay to the south of this; to the north were the houses of the lesser chiefs and the common people. The town had seen its best days before 1600. Private places of worship occupied alcoves at the ends of rooms. There were seven large enclosures for public worship, not far from the palace. These were surrounded with mud walls, and at one end of each was constructed a shelter. Under this was a long altar of clay, upon which stood human heads of cast metal, bearing carved ivory tusks. On the altars were also maces for killing human sacrifices. At the centre of one side of the palace rose a pyramidal tower some thirty to forty feet high. Fixed to the top of this was the tail of a great cast metal snake, whose head came down to the ground and whose body was as large around as that of a man. When King visited the palace in 1820, he was assured that this snake figure had been there for centuries. In some rooms the transverse beams were covered with metal plates adorned with figures. Dapper in the seventeenth century states that these encasing plates were kept ever bright. Society at Benin was distinctly stratified. The king was supreme ruler and received adoration from his subjects. His advisers were the captain of war and two or three other great chiefs. Below these were lower chiefs, from whom officers were chosen. Then, in succession of rank, came brokers, subordinate functionaries, the common people and slaves. Coral necklaces, a sign of nobility, were given by the king himself; anklets of coral beads denoted even higher rank. In the sixteenth century important chiefs rode led horses, on side saddles; on either side walked retainers, who supported their master's hands, or carried shields or umbrellas to protect him against the sun. Bands of musicians, playing ivory horns, gongs, drums, harps, and rattles, accompanied them. There was great diversity in the head-dresses worn. Caps were in vogue. Garments of skin were used, and in some cases the skirt stood out quite stiffly from the body. King wrote in 1820: The king came in, clothed after the fashion of the country and wearing on his head a large round hat, ornamented with gold lace. One of his arms was extended in a horizontal direction and supported by a great officer of state.

of one finger of each hand was of prodigious length to show that his exalted rank placed him above all necessity of working for his living." Hunian sacrifices were made for the benefit of the dead. Some animals were venerated.