exico
prior to and at the time of the Conquest, who were far in advance of the
roving tribes of Indians that subsisted in the more northern and eastern
portions of North America.

At the time of the conquests of Mexico and Peru, numerous cities were
found in those countries, and magnificent temples and palaces abounded,
some of which were richly decorated with massive images of solid gold,
others ornamented with fantastic and sometimes hideous figures carved
out of the solid rock. But what is remarkable, no _iron_ implements were
used, nor did the inhabitants have the least knowledge of its use,
notwithstanding iron ore was plentifully distributed through the country
in which they lives. Not a trace of iron has ever been found in those
grand ruins of Yucatan visited by Stephens and Catherwood; nor do the
ruins of the holy city, Cuzco, give evidence that implements of iron
were used in its construction. But the people of these countries were
acquainted with many of the metals, and the Spanish invaders found
numerous silver, tin, and copper mines that had been worked by them. All
the deep, winding galleries of these mines were driven without the aid
of iron, steel, or gunpowder. It is said that an alloy of tin and copper
was used for their edge-tools; and with the aid of a silicious sand or
dust, they were enabled to cut and polish amethysts, emeralds, porphyry,
and other hard substances. With these implements the elaborate carving
in the stone temples of Palenque and the other ruined cities of Central
America was executed. The great calendar-stone, which in 1790 was
disinterred in the city of Mexico, was nicely wrought out of a block of
dark porphyry, that is estimated to have weighed fifty tons, and must
have been transported several leagues; for the nearest point where
porphyry of that character is found is upon the shores of Lake Chalco,
many miles distant from the city of Mexico. In the absence of iron, some
tough metal would be in requisition for the tools and machinery
necessary in the execution and removal of such a gigantic and elaborate
work. In many abandoned quarries in Mexico and Central America
unfinished blocks of granite and porphyry are found, which are supposed
to have been the work of the Toltecs, and abandoned by them at the time
of the invasion of the fierce Aztec. Assuming this to be the fact, we
can readily conceive why the half-raised mass of copper in the Minnesota
Mine should also be abandoned; f