The sculptures and hieroglyphics on these ruins bear a striking resemblance to those found in the ruins of Babylon and Nineveh. It also appears that the mammoth, or American elephant, and mastodon--animals which are now extinct--then roamed the wilds of the western continent; for representations of these animals are often found sculptured on the walls of Toltec ruins. Some persons have tried to throw doubts upon these statements alleging that no such animals ever existed outside of tropical regions. However, numerous remains of them have been found in various parts of America, especially in Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri and Oregon. In Siberia they have been found frozen in a complete state of preservation. The illustrious Rufin Piotrowski, a Polish {116} exile, gives a full account of these animals and the methods employed by the Russian government in cutting them out of the ice. (_See Souvenirs d'un Siberien_.) It is no doubt to these animals that reference is made in the fourth chapter of the book of Ether. After this, another colony came from Jerusalem about six hundred years before Christ and re-peopled America. This last colony grew and multiplied, and finally gave rise to two mighty nations. One of these was called Nephites, the other Lamanites. The Nephites were a civilized and enlightened people. For nearly one thousand years they were, from time to time, favored with revelations from God. Prophet after prophet was raised up from among them, and at length they were blessed with a personal appearance of Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, from whose mouth they received the doctrine of the gospel and a knowledge of the future down through all succeeding ages. But, after all the blessings and privileges conferred upon them, they fell into great wickedness in the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, and finally were destroyed by their enemies, the Lamanites.