Figure 25.—Sculptured figures of a type employed in the embellishment of ancient Maya temples. 
worked out by native sculptors, using 
life forms with which they were famil¬ 
iar or monsters created by their fertile 
imaginations. 
With respect to the manner in which 
elements of Asiatic culture could reach 
middle America in the early Christian 
centuries—the period of Buddhistic 
propagandaism—it maybe said that the 
sea going capacity of the ships of that 
period was very considerable, and it is 
thus not impossible that by design or 
by accident Buddhistic devotees should 
have landed upon the shores of America. 
Neither is it impossible that these 
devotees of a creed, determined to 
carry their doctrines to the ends of the 
earth, should not have coasted eastern 
Asia, reaching the continent of North 
America by way of the Aleutian 
Islands. The journey from Alaska to 
middle America would be a long one, 
but not beyond the range of possible 
achievement for the fanatical devotees 
of Buddhism. The suggestion that the 
voyage may have been made by way of 
Atlantis is deserving of little attention, 
and that the hypothetical sunken con¬ 
tinent of the Pacific may have served 
as a bridge is deserving of no attention, 
since the period of sinking, if it ever 
occurred, would doubtless antedate the 
period of man’s occupation of either 
hemisphere. 
The writer of this sketch of a vast 
subject wishes to say in conclusion 
that he appreciates its many short¬ 
comings, for it is intended to be sug¬ 
gestive merely rather than final; but 
he finds gratification in the thought 
engendered by the study, that whereas, 
but a few generations ago our world 
outlook was exceedingly limited and 
our positive knowledge but a hint of 
the whole truth, the time is fast ap¬ 
proaching as a result of the ever widen¬ 
ing scope of scientific research when we 
shall comprehend at a glance the world 
and its inhabitants, present and past, 
with the ease with which we now con¬ 
template our local environment or with 
which we view a story thrown upon the 
screen. 
U. S. National Museum. 
[ 89 ] 
