Fossils and Ruins

I have not written to you for a long time. In my last two letters, we were looking back on ancient periods which we have been considering in our letters. I sent you some picture postcards of fossil fishes to give you some idea of what these fossils were like. In Mussoorie, when we met, I showed you pictures of other fossils. You may remember especially fossil reptiles. Reptiles are usually animals that crawl, like the snakes, lizards, crocodiles, and turtles, which we have today. The reptiles in old days belonged to the same family but were very different and were very big. You will remember the enormous brutes we saw in the South Kensington Museum. One of them was thirty to forty feet long. There was also a kind of frog bigger than .a man, and a tortoise almost as big. Enormous bats used to fly about, and one animal, the iguanodon, when it stood ~ up on its feet was as big as a small tree. You also saw fossils of old plants. There were beautiful fern markings in the rock, and ~ leaves and palms. 

Long after the reptiles came the mammals or the animals which suckle or give milk to their young. Most of the animals we see around us, and we ourselves, are also mammals. The mammals of old times were not very different from some of our animals today. They were often bigger, but not so big as the reptiles used to be... There were elephants with enormous tusks and huge bears. You also saw the remains of fossil man. These were not very interesting as they were usually bones and skulls. More interesting were the flint instruments which early men used to make. I also showed you some fine pictures of Egyptian tombs and mummies. Some of these, you will remember, was very beautiful. On the wooden coffins were painted long stories of people. Very interesting were the wall paintings from the Egyptian tombs at Thebes. 

You also saw pictures of the ruins of palaces and temples at Thebes in Egypt. Huge buildings they were, with enormous pillars. Near Thebes is the colossus of Memnon, an enormous statue. There were also pictures of the ruined temples and buildings at Karnak in Upper Egypt. Even from these ruins, you can form some idea of how mighty the old Egyptians were as builders. They could not have built these great temples and palaces unless they knew a great deal of engineering. We have now finished our brief look back. In our next letter, we shall go ahead.

Source: http://indiragandhi.in/en/philosophy/letters/4