58 'Transactions.— Miscellaneous. 
should expect to find people some degree removed from barbarism on the 
Asiatie and American shores ; and we do find nations of great antiquity on 
the west side, namely, China and Japan, whilst on the American side the 
Spaniards found the Mexicans and Peruvians little behind themselves in 
civilization, and excelling them in riches and magnificence. But the 
Spaniards not only found great towns to plunder, but they also discovered 
the massive ruins of large towns in deserted and wooded regions in Yucatan. 
In the courts of the houses there are now trees nine feet in diameter, whilst 
there is a depth of nine feet of mould above the pavements. As a proof 
that these cities were once the abode of a numerous people, it is remarked 
that the figure of a tortoise, raised in relief in the court of a temple at 
Uxmal, is worn nearly smooth by the feet of the crowds that passed over it. 
Of the works of art which Cortes sent to Spain, none excited more 
admiration than the superb garments made from feathers. No such work 
had been known in the old world, but this same art was practised in the 
Sandwich Islands and the Fijis. The Spaniards were struck with the 
copiousness and precision of the Mexican language, and Mr. Ellis makes the 
same remarks with regard to the Polynesian. What struck him most was 
the readiness with which boys learned arithmetic, and with regard to their 
` names for numbers he says, “ The precision, regularity, and extent of their 
numbers has often astonished me.” 
There was for a long time a serious obstacle to learning anything about 
the islands of Polynesia; I mean the foregone conclusion that the inhabit- 
ants came from Malaysia, and that the islands are extinct volcanoes, and 
the coral raised with the land from the bottom of the sea. The formation 
of the land and the nature of the polypifer have swept away the last part of 
the belief; but it is still sometimes asserted that the natives came from 
Malaysia in spite of winds and currents, and their own traditions and 
protestations. On the distinction between Malays and Polynesians Mr. 
Wallace is very clear. He lived with the natives in Malaysia for many 
years, and he proves that the West Australian current, which flows through 
the deep but narrow channel of Flores sea and Molucca passage, is the 
natural line between the two races of Malay and Papuan. 
With regard to the distinction between a Papuan and Polynesian he 
says :—‘‘ It is to be especially remarked that the brown and the black 
Polynesian races closely resemble each other. Their features are almost 
identical, so that portraits of a New Zealander or Tahitian will often serve 
accurately to represent a Papuan or Timorese, the darker color and more 
frizzly hair of the latter being the’ only differences. They are both tall 
races. They agree in their love of art and the style of their decorations. 
They are energetic, demonstrative, joyous, and laughter loving, and in all 
