This is, of cotirse, conjecture well stated. ‘The chances are the 
sinking of Atlantis, if it ever occurred, occupied thousands of years, 
_and, as to the age of the fossiliferous limestone of Yucatan, and how 
long it was in forming, we can only surmise; but it is safe to say, a 
| thousand years must be regarded as the lowest unit of time measure- 
ment. 
Professor Holmes sets the coming of the red pioneers into Yucatan 
_ at “a thousand or more years ago.” The “more ” is a saving clause, 
_ for we have no more reason to believe that the existing ruins in Yucatan 
are the work of people who entered the land a thousand years ago than 
_we have to believe that the mounds in the Mississippi Valley were 
built by the last comers. It is now settled that-long before the 
_ first dynasty under Menes, in Egypt, people of comparative culture 
| lived in the valley of the Nile; and it may be inferred that the exist- 
_ ing ruins in Mexico are the remains of the architecture of its first 
| settlers. The logical inference is that these ruins indicate the devel- 
opment of a race that has lived continuously in the region where — 
the ruins are found. 
Professor Holmes is happy in his suggestion that the easily worked 
_ limestone in Yucatan, much of it shattered by the forces of nature, 
_ gave the people an easy material on which to exercise their architec- 
- tural skill and their strong, rude ideas of decoration. It is well worth 
| noting that the existing ruins of greatest interest were ruins at the time © 
_of the Spanish Conquest, and that the existing traditions are much | 
| like those that pertained to them in the da 
speculations and traditions of the conqueror. ‘The Maya race, to-day 
inhabiting the Peninsula of Yucatan and much of the territory to the 
_ south and west, are undoubtedly descendants of the people who wel- 
_comed Cortez to Cozumel and who subsequently became his allies in 
| the advance on Mexico. The heroine Malintz was of the Maya race. 
This race is still brave, sturdy and intelligent. It has its traditions of 
_ an Eastern origin, but the facts are all against the tradition, for every- 
_ thing points to an Asiatic origin for the native American, or an Ameri- 
_ can origin for the Asiatic. 
The Mayas, during the four hundred years since the Conquest 
_ cannot have advanced, for according to Professor Holmes and Pro- 
_ fessor Brinton they were but little inferior in culture to the Spaniards 
| under Cortez, and at that time, 1519, they had developed a phonetic 
_ System of writing. But whether the existing Mayas are the descend- 
_ ants of the people who built the pyramids and temples now in ruins 
In Yucatan is not a question of vital interest, save as these ruins 
_ would indicate their advance or retrogression. Without doubt there 
_ are 1gnorant peasants in Egypt to-day whose ancestors fought under 
Sesostris or partook in the wars of Mene’s conquest. But the men 
: who built the pyramids and great cities, and dug the great canals and 
_ Teservoirs up to the Twelfth dynasty, will compare favorably with the 
| Egyptian toiler of to-day who is his descendant. ‘There is, therefore, 
_ no goodreason for doubting that the present red natives of Yucatan 
_ are descended from the people whose ruined architectural works amaze 
the student of our time. 
ys of Cortez, plus the adopted 
j 
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