The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-01-06

OF Alexanuer. OF tne spread OF ciNlilzatiou
in Indo-China- All before the Islamie
conquest in tho tenth century A. d. Is In .
mist OF Puranic mythology Here then.
more than in other countries. archaeology
has restored the history. and done so en-
tirely within this century.
The existence OF Sanskrit literature was
revealed to the West by Sir William Jones
at the end of the last century, ard this
gave scope to Oriental scholars. while an
Equities only interested the collector. But
serious exploration was led by Prinsep.
whose decipherment of the Asoka inscrip-
lions 1887, which ranks with the achieve
ments of Champollion and RawlInson,
gave the key to mass Of Inscriptions.
His assistant, Cunningham excavated
many sites and collected coins, being head
of the Archaeological Survey from 1861 to
1885. FERGUSON was the historian OF In
dian architecture; Burgess has published
the caye-temples in West and South In
dia; Sewell in Madras. and F-hrer In the
Northwest, have excavated anu explored;
and a few native pundits have been edu-
Gated to such research. The Government,
in financial difficulty. has withdrawn from
the work. but the Congress OF Orientalists
in 1897 resolved to establish an Indian Ex-
ploration Fund.
Inscriptions ABOUND In India, CT copper
plate, stone pillars, and native rock.
These in Sanskrit or modern vernaculars
are records of land grants or local dynas-
ties. The oldcst-in two different alpha
bets (of Semitic oriCin)-are the famous
edicts Of Asoka (third century b. c., who
has been called the Buddhist Constantine.
He placed these monuments of his power
and religion around his frontiers OF north
ern India. but their meaning was forgot
ten until Prinsep's displacement The
Hindoos seem to have a coinage of stamp
ed silver plate before Alexander; but reg
ular coinage begins in the Bactrian king
doms Geo p. Geo 4. d. with Greek and
native inscriptions. Since then the COIN
age is continuous and invaluable for his
tory. No stone building or sculpture Is
older than Alexander (32I B. c., or GER
tainly earlier than Asoka t2s4-223 3. CO.
| Greek influence Is plain in the Punjab. but
| native style is seen in the cave-tcnples-
The richest results have been from the
| mounds, some of which are ruins cf forts
or palaces, but the more important are
| the sturas, lofty domes erec.ed .wo TO one
! thousand years ago. to enshrine Buddhist
relics. These domes are surrounded with
| sculptured reliefs Of scenes In the lie OF
| Buddha, and are often dated by inscrip-
| lions. From one lately opened the Buddha
relic has been sent to the King Of Siam.
the only Buddhist King. Much has been
done by the Government in publishing and
providing casts and photographs; but In
dia yet needs a scientific archaeologist to
| record details with the accuracy demand
ed by modern research
AMERICA
Archa Biological work In the United
States and In Central America was begun
by Squier about the middle of the CEN
fury; and the attention thus drawn to the
subject has borne fruit in the more ac-
curate and scientific explorations connect
ed with the surveying and geological de-
partments. and. above all. those of the
Smithsonian Bureau Of Ethnology. The
names of Whitney. Wright. Cyrus The mas.
Holmes. Fowlle, Mindeleff. and others will
be familiar to all American readers by
their work of the last twenty years, and
need no introducing here.
The earliest remains of man in America
or perhaps in the world-are those te-
meath the great lava beds OF California;;
since those were deposited the rivers
have cut their beds through 2,eoo to 1900
feet OF lava rock. implying an erosion
during tens, or perhaps hundreds, OF
thousands Of years But little can be es-
signed, however, with any certainty to
mounds of refuse on both ocean shores
may probably belong to an age before any
human history.
The most important studies have been
those on the highest civilization OF the
continent, that OF Central America. The
destroying Spaniards preserved but little
of native record except incidentally, ana
tie first collector of Aztec MSS. was Be
raduci $780, of whose treasures but
an eighth survive his imprisonrnents and
prosecutions, one OF the greatest disas-
ters to history. The first great publica-
ton of manuscripts was the maSnlHcene
work OF Lord Kingsborcugh (1S30l; and
almost at the same time appeared Pres-
colts history. Though the later research
es have shown that the land was divided
into many small kingdoms. rather thai
under one power, as Prescott supposed.
vet his account of the calendar and chro-
nology OF the Aztecs has been verified
and added to, and far more has been done
in reading the MSS. than he supposed pos
sibIe. Aubin after years of work In
Mexico brought to Europe MSS. OF an en-
tireiy new kind. showing fully deFei-
oped system OF phonetic writing, which
he has largely deciphered with success.
having analyzed over one hundred syllable
values correctly.
One Of the most complete studies has
been that of the Mavan Quiehe peoples,
and especially of the Mayaus of Yucatan
In 1864 Landa's work on Yucatan twrit-
tea 1860 was rediscovered. and tEe &C
count of the calendar has sufnced 10
enable Goodman to discover the Ee1nlng
of a very large number of signs 1S9O;
these enable the numerical documents
to be translated. and show that a period
CT as much as 5000 years was dealt wits
by the Mayans. perhaps belonging to
mythical ages. The alphabetic Signs OF
Landa have proved useless so far. and
Goodman even disbelieves in any record
except that of numbers. Seller has shown
the identical origin Of the signs used by
Aztecs and Mayans for the days and
months Little had been done to make
known these remains until the recent ex-
plorations. casts. and publications, OF
Maudsley. who has worked magniheently
for seventeen years at Copan. PalenGue,
and Chichen-Itra: these are but three OF
innumerable cities of Guatemala and Yu-
catan that need exploration
In New Mexico the many ruins from
the Colorado to the Rio Grande have teen
proved to resemble those OF the modern
Pueblo Indians. and to have none of the
characteristics Of Central Amer can
architecture; there are no sculptures.
and the rock Inscriptions are too prini-
tive 10 be interpreted. Ncthng points to
an Aztec occupation. and probably The
ancestors of the present people were the
builders.
The innumerable esrthworks OF the Mis-
sissinpi Valley were formerly supposed to
belong to some vanished race; and the
view that they were connected with the
Central American civilization is favored
by the pyramid mound, which was hardly
known otherwise and by the excellence
Of the minor sculpture. But Their are
great differences between the two civili-
-ntfnns The nnrnd builders were FAR in