130 ELLIOT SMITH, Distribution of Mummification. 



out blow " to the view I am maintaining, the geographical 

 distribution of this singularly ludicrous practice is a very 

 welcome addition to the list of peculiar baggage which 

 the <( heliolithic " traveller carried with him in his wander- 

 ings, and a striking confirmation of the fact that in the 

 spread from its centre of origin this custom must have 

 travelled along the same route as the other practices we 

 are examining. 



After the artificialities of Keane and Fewkes, it is a 

 satisfaction to turn back to the writings of the old eth- 

 nologists who lived in the days before the so-called 

 " psychological " and " evolutionary explanations " were 

 invented, and were content to accept the obvious inter- 

 pretation of the known facts. 



More than eighty years ago, Ellis (15, p. 117) with 

 remarkable insight explained the relationships of the 

 Polynesians and their wanderings, from Western Asia to 

 America, with a lucidity and definiteness which must 

 excite the enthusiastic admiration of those familiar with 

 the fuller information now available. On p. 119 he 

 cites an interesting series of racial factors, usages and 

 beliefs in substantiation of the cultural link between the 

 Pacific Islands and America. 



Quite apart from the mere evidence provided by the 

 arts, customs and beliefs in favour of the transmission of 

 certain of the essential elements of American civilization 

 from the Old World, there is a considerable amount of 

 evidence of another kind, consisting no doubt to a large 

 extent of mere scraps. For instance, there are not only 

 the stories of Chinese and Japanese junks arriving on 

 the American shore and of American traditions of the 

 coming of pale-faced bearded men from the east, 20 but 



20 It is quite possible this may refer to the relatively modern incursion 

 of Norsemen and other Europeans into America by the North Atlantic. 



