summit with a brick wall. It is twelve hundred feet long, seven hundred and fifty broad, and is said to resemble the tower of Belus.* In Nepaul, upon a hill called Simbi, are some tombs of the Lamas and people of distinction, several of which are pyramids finely ornamented and sculptured.

The pagoda has been originally formed upon the model of the pyramid. Those of Deogur, in the vicinity of Ellora, three in number, are built with huge blocks of stone placed one upon another so as to form a pyramid, the summit of which is crowned with the trident of Mahadeva. The beautiful pagoda of Tanjore two hundred feet high, that of Madura, and the black pagoda of Juggernaut are all pyramidical edifices of hewn stone piled up in large masses. One of the improvements in the construction of the pagodas, is the enclosure or wall, which was subsequently added, surrounding the base, and composed of brick or stone. These contained large areas, and their sides faced the cardinal points. The entrances to the pagodas of Raimseram, which are surrounded by walls, are in the shape of a truncated pyramid, and similar to the Egyptian propyla. The more ancient Hindoo temples bore no inscriptions or sculptures, but the outer walls of others are covered with figures of animals, men and gods, like the Mexican, and subsequently, whole scenes from the great epic poems were added.‡

The ancient temples of Hindoo origin in Java, are of the

*Burne's Travels in Bokhara.

Heeren's As. Res., vol. iii. p. 74, etc.

The word pagoda is by some said to be derived from Bhagavati, "Holy house" by others, from the Persian Putkedeh, "House of idols." The Sanscrit appellation Devalaya signifies "House of the gods," a name similar to the Mexican.

same character. They are almost all pyramidal buildings, and are composed either of brick or stone, the outer surface of the stone temples has been coated with a fine stucco, and in the interior is to be perceived the Cyclopean arch. They are constructed with great solidity, they face the cardinal points, and the walls are covered with sculptures which have been executed after they were laid, as the same figure or group occupies several blocks. The groups of temples, called "the thousand temples" are pyramidal; they are approached, through "four entrances facing the cardinal points of the compass, and each guarded by two gigantic statues representing warders." "The temple of Boro Budur, situated in the mountain and romantic land of Kadu, is a square building, of a pyramidal shape, ending in a dome. It embraces the summit of a small hill, rising perpendicularly from the plain, and consists of a series of six square ascending walls, with corresponding terraces, three circular rows of latticed cages of hewn stone, in the form of beehives, and finally, of the dome already mentioned. There is no concavity except in the dome. The hill is in fact a sort of nucleus for the temple, and has been cut away and fashioned for the accommodation of the building.' "* The same author, from whom this description is taken, mentions another class of Javanese temples. "They may generally be described,” he says, "as consisting of a succession of terraces, for the reception of which, the sides of the mountain are scooped out. There are three of these terraces at Sukuh, and no less than twelve at Katto. The length of the terraces at Sukuh is no less than one hundred and fifty seven feet, and the depth of one of them eighty. The entrance at Sukuh, is by a flight of steps

* Crawfurd, vol. ii. p. 198.

through a triple portal. At Katto we have similar ones, up to the twelfth or last. The terraces are chiefly occupied by statues and sculptured figures of animals."*

The Chinese style of architecture is probably imitated from the tent, but in the cemeteries and more ancient temples, we recognise the graduated pyramid. This is particularly the case in the construction of the altar to heaven in Pekin. This edifice stands in a square enclosure, three miles in circuit. The terrace consists of three stages, diminishing from one hundred and twenty to sixty feet in width, each stage being surrounded by a marble balustrade, and ascended by steps of the same material.f

The temples or Marais of the Polynesians, were of a pyramidal form, and encompassed with stone enclosures.‡ These pyramids were composed in steps or terraces, with a level area upon the summit, and were often of large dimensions. The graduated pyramid of Atehuru was two hundred and seventy feet long, ninety-four wide at the base, and fifty feet high. The outer stones consisted of coral and basalt, were well hewn, and regularly laid. Another temple still standing at Maeva is one hundred and twenty feet square, and one at Ruapua, in Owyhee, is formed of immense blocks of lava, and is one hundred and fifty feet long by seventy broad.§ Easter island contains the most remarkable structures of this kind. They are all erected with layers of stone cut with great precision, and upon their summits are enormous colossal statues of the same material, some of them twenty-seven feet high, and representing

human figures. Of these Mr. Ellis gives us the following description. "The most remarkable objects in Easter island, are its monuments of stone work and sculpture, which, though rude and imperfect, are superior to any found among the more numerous and civilized tribes inhabiting the South Sea islands. These monuments consist of a number of terraces, or platforms, built with stones, cut and fixed with great exactness and skill, forming, though destitute of cement, a strong durable pile. On these terraces are fixed colossal figures or busts. They appear to be monuments erected in memory of ancient kings or chiefs, as each bust or column had a distinct name. One of these, of which Forster took the dimensions, consisted of a single stone, twenty feet high and five wide, and represented a human figure to the waist; on the crown of the head a stone of cylindrical shape was placed erect; this stone was of a different color from the rest of the figure, which appeared to be formed of a kind of cellular lava. In one place seven of these statues or busts stood together one which they saw lying on the ground was twentyseven feet long, and nine in diameter."+

* Ellis, vol. iii. p. 242. Beechey's Nar., pp. 30, 37, etc.

† Ellis, vol. iii. p. 325.

CHAPTER XII.

CONCLUSION.

THE facts adduced in the course of the preceding investigation tend, it is conceived, to support the following conclusions: I. That the three great groups of monumental antiquities in the United States, New Spain, and South America, in their style and character present indications of having proceeded from branches of the same human family:

II. That these nations were a rich, populous, civilized and agricultural people; constructed extensive cities, roads, aqueducts, fortifications, and temples; were skilled in the arts of pottery, metallurgy, and sculpture; had attained an accurate knowledge of the science of astronomy; were possessed of a national religion, subjected to the salutary control of a definite system of laws, and were associated under regular forms of gov

ernment:

III. That from the uniformity of their physical appearance ; from the possession of relics of the art of hieroglyphic painting; from universal analogies in their language, religion, traditions, and methods of interring the dead; and from the general prevalence of certain arbitrary customs, nearly all the aborigines appear to be of the same descent and origin; and that the barbarous tribes are the broken, scattered, and degraded remnants of a society originally more enlightened and cultivated:

IV. That two distinct ages may be pointed out in the his