The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-04 00:00:00

OLD AMERICA.*

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
It is not surprising that various theories should
he started on the origin of these nations who have
passed into oblivion, leaving no written account

either in parchment or in stone. There can be no
question that their history reaches back to the
remotest period, and it is probable that one phase of
civilisation followed on another. There are per-

SOlll3 who suppose that in different parts.of the
world different nations have developed, at the
same time, identical tendencies in organisation,
art, and theology, though wholly unconnected
with each other. But those who have studied
these antiquities are unanimous in ascribing them
to an Asiatic source. The Edinburgh Reviewer
is clearly of opinion that the people who inhabited
America before the discovery were descended from
Asiatics who crossed from &Airing's Straits, or by
the Aleutian Islands, or, what he considers more

probable, from the Bactrian I leiglits or Ilindostan
by the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and that their
religion came from Java. Ile believes that

Buddhism was established in America closely
about the same time as inJava, and he maintains that
it is shown that a connection exsited in olden
times between Japan and Central America, as
shown by Japanese records and maps. That
a large trade was carried along the coast of Asia,
extending from Japan to ilindostan in periods of
remote antiquity, can be readily believed. Nor
would there be any difficulty in extending that
trade by the Aleutian Islands to the Western shores
of America.

6, Associated with Sal man worship in former
times was that of the lingham or phallus. This
well attested fact leaves little room for doubting
that the aboriginal Americans derived their religious
system in part from the East. The worship of the
lingham was flourishing in the cities of Pomeco and
Tlascalla, in Mexico, at the period of the conquest;
and Mr. Stephens observed at Uxmal, in Yucatan,
certain ornaments upon the external cornice of
several large buildings, the meaning of which was
too plainly sculptured to be misunderstood (7 ravels,
p. 181). Nor was this revolting worship re-
strictedto the territories just indicated ; it appears
to have been equally prevalent in the Gulf States,
and as far north as Tennessee, where inutunerabl
characteristic images have been ploughed up ; some
formed of clay, and others carved out of a kind of
amphibolic rock, the toughest of all stony sub-
stances."

_ •
Remarking on this passage the Spectator says,
" All that is very unsatisfactory. Supposing the
natives, autochthsnes, which we by no means assert,
it would be as natural for them to conceive produc-
tion the highest work, and therefore to wor-
ship the Sus and the Lingham as the first em-
blems of productive force, as for the Ilindoos to do
so. A similarity of that kind proves nothing except
the identity of the human intellect everywhere, but
a similarity of buildings proves a great deal, and
opens up a rare field for archaeological or ethnologi-
cal exploration. The reviewer hints at a theory
that an Asiatic tribe driven out from the islands
about 450 8.C., or driven back from the islands,
crossed the Pacific, reached Central America, and
gradually diffused their creed and their civilisation.
But he obscures this theory by observations upon a
still previous civilisation, which he believes, or seems
to believe, identical with that of Egypt
" The great pyramid on the plateau of Caerna-
vac.t, and known as Xochicalco, the house of
flowers,' is reported to be scarcely distinguishable
from the ordinary type of those in Lower Egypt.
Its position and configuration show it to be one of
the group of adjacent lulls. It is truncated and
divided into four terraces. . . . Want of space
precludes our pursuing these architectural analogies
any farther ; suffice it to say, therefore, that the
distinction between the earlier And later pyramidal
temples of the New World is quite as remarkable
as that between the ancient Egyptian structure and
those erected by the Greek colonists under the
Ptolemies. No doubt very many of the earliest
piles have been modified in subsequent ages, to suit
the particular necessities or tastes of the people;
yet, in every such instance, the archaic type has
been but slightly departed from, whilst the primi-
tive example in the decorations without, always
emblematical of the worship conducted within, has
been scrupulously followed to the last. This is very
apparent in the magnificent ruins of Yucatan, where,
according to the unanimous reports of Mr. Stephens
and later travellers in that wonderful country, the
serpent entwined about the stem of the lotus is
frequently repeated on the friezes of the temples;
and at Palcnque, also, rectangular square is
surrounded by cloisters . . • awl lighted by
windows bearing the exact form of the Egyptian
face.' "
The facts connected with the monuments of the
Mississippi Valley attest the remote antiquity of the
remains there found. Ages upon ages must have
passed, and the river sunk much lower in its bed
since these mounds were erected. Many show that
they were once acted on by the floods, though
now they are far removed beyond the reach of the
highest. An additional river bank had been con-
structed long after they were formed. These
mounds assume the most curious shapes. Some are
in the regular outline of octagons, circles, and other
geometrical figures ; but they occasionally take
another form. For instance, there is one in Adam's
County, Ohio, of the form of a serpent a thousand
feet long, extending in graceful curves, and termi-
nating in a triple coil at the tail. The mouth is
open, and apparently in the act of swallowing an
oval figure, which rests partly within the jaws.
Dense as must at one time have been the popula-
tion which reared these monuments—long before the

* Amarican Arai ology, Ea'nbtory7l Review, April 1,
1,867, Longmans, London.