228 EIGHT EEV. S. THORNTON^ D.D., ON 



extraordinary paintings and carvings. T confess I incline to ilie 

 idea that they represent a Buddhist Mission. I observe that the 

 features which are represented are not at all of the Australian 

 type, but are very much indeed of the type of the Buddha. The 

 aureole with rays appears to me to have a Buddhistic significa- 

 tion. The aureole, or nimbu.s, is not, as some imagine, essentially 

 Christian : it is found in Indian coins and sculpture. I notice in 

 one of the designs a sort of likeness to the Indian mark known as 

 svastika. The theory that they have belonged to a Buddhist 

 Mission, I think, is a tenable one. But why are the faces withoufc 

 mouths ? Because of the silence which is enforced on those who 

 are initiated into the Buddhist mysteries. I would snggest that 

 this view, although not without its difficulties, is the one that 

 explains the peculiarities we observe, better than any other, I 

 would further suggest that in the time of Buddha, 500 years and 

 more before the Christian era, there was a group of islands where 

 the Australian continent is now. I always understood that 

 Australia was rising rapidly, and that the wharfs in Melbourne, 

 now some distance from the sea, were not long since quite close 

 to it. I fancy that Australia, some 500 years before the Christian 

 era, was a Polynesia ; and, therefore, we can more easily under- 

 stand Buddhist missionaries going to and from the various islands, 

 and leaving traces of themselves which appear in these carvings. 



The Bishop of Ballaeat. — I am much indebted to those who 

 have taken part in the discussion. With regard to the sugges- 

 tion quoted from Mrs. Parker's work, I am thankful for it, but 

 I have not read the book mentioned. 



With regard to the rays round the heads. I was much interested 

 in the reference made by the Chairman to similar rays surrounding 

 the heads of Kings on Indian coins. I never presumed to say that 

 they were necessarily of Christian significance. 



Several speakers have concurred in what I said as to Australian 

 degeneration. One gentleman drew attention to the type of face 

 being very different from the aboriginal. One would expect that 

 in pictorial representation they would reproduce the faces with 

 which they were familiar ; but that is not so, and it is a most 

 puzzling thing. Remember, I have brought before you " prob- 

 lems " this afternoon, and have not undertaken to solve them. It 

 has to be considered whether some of these sharp angles in the 

 faces may not be the result of unskilful drawing. It is not so 



