He has given indeed by his pen, and the artist by his pencil, a reflection of the Ruins, but it is from a mirror of polished ebony, simply a _fac-simile_ resemblance,--light and shade only,--a specimen of Daguerreotype! No one can mistake the rapid manner in which the true copy is impressed upon the mind, and that by the most easy and agreeable means--viz., the fascination of his style; but the _colouring of life_ is not there,--_the Soul of History is wanting_! The Promethean spark by which the flame of historic truth should illuminate his work, and be viewed as a gleaming beacon from afar, to direct wanderers through the dark night of wonders, has found no spot to rest upon and to vivify! But this he has done,--he has brought the timbers of the historic bark to view:--research must build, and science place the rudder; the pilot, constant as the northern star; enthusiasm must drive her before the wind, every sail set, fore and aft, aloft, abroad and full, and it will be strange indeed if that spark will not be found upon Truth's phosphoric sea! If these Ruins can be identified with a nation of the ancient world,--_ancient_ world?--the first word is superfluous now, for these discoveries have destroyed the opposite phrase,--_new_ world;--that expression will belong hereafter to England and parts of Europe, not America; for the former date from the first Cæsar,--the latter, if we err not, from an older and a greater conqueror! If, we say, these Ruins can be identified with a country of Asia, and of "the olden time," we shall have no regret for having turned shipwright to aid the discovery of that nation; and if our classic galley should founder ere we reach "the point proposed," we shall at least struggle in the buoyant waves of hope and pleasure, our light heart floating above the waters of disappointment; and with joyous pride will we hail those who in passing by have found and steered a truer track! First will be given a description of such parts of the great Ruins as may be necessary in the author's own words, with such commentaries as may be required by the narration: then will follow Mr. Stephens's reflections upon all the Ruins; his arguments will be met, his errors detected, his contradictions investigated, and thereupon we shall endeavour (at least) to completely refute his deductions and conclusions. SECTION II. THE RUINS OF COPAN. "They are in the district of country now known as the state of Honduras, one of the most fertile valleys of Central America." Their precise locality was stated in the last section, with the exception that their distance from the sea is about "three hundred miles." "The Copan river is not navigable, even for canoes, except for a short distance in the rainy season." This is a description of the River now (1843), and not as it may have appeared at the time of erecting the edifices. "Falls intercept its course before it empties into the Montagua."