The probability of the western nations of the New Continent having had communication with the east of Asia long before the arrival of the Spaniards, was I think shewn by me in a work on the monuments of the native inhabitants of America (Vues des Cordillères et Monumens des peuples indigenes de l’Amérique). I inferred this probability from a comparison of the Mexican and Thibeto-Japanese calendars,--from the correct orientation of the steps of the pyramidal elevations towards the different quarters of the heavens,--and from the ancient myths and traditions of the four ages or four epochs of destruction of the world, and the dispersion of mankind after a great flood of waters. The accounts published since my work, in England, France, and the United States, describing the wonderful bas reliefs, almost in the Indian style, in the ruins of Guatimala and Yucatan, have given to these analogies a still higher value. (Compare Antonio del Rio, Description of the Ruins of an Ancient City discovered near Palenque, 1822, translated from the original manuscript report by Cabrera (del Rio’s exploration took place in 1787), p. 9, tab. 12-14; with Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, 1843, vol. i. pp. 391 and 429-434; vol. ii. pp. 21, 54, 56, 317, 323; with the magnificent volume of Catherwood, “Views of ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan,” 1844; and lastly, with Prescott’s “Conquest of Mexico,” vol. iii. App. p. 360.) The architectural remains in the peninsula of Yucatan shew, still more than those of Palenque, a degree of civilisation and art which excites our astonishment. They are situated between Valladolid, Merida, and Campeachy, chiefly in the western part of the country. But the monuments in the island of Cozumel (more properly Cuzamil), east of Yucatan, were the first which were seen by the Spaniards in the expedition of Juan de Grijalva, 1518, and that of Cortes in 1519, and the report of them did much to spread over Europe a high idea of ancient Mexican civilisation. The most important ruins of the peninsula of Yucatan, which unfortunately have not yet been thoroughly measured and drawn by architects, are the Casa del Gobernador of Uxmal, the Teocallis and vaulted constructions at Kabah, the ruins of Labnah with domed columns, those of Zayi with columns very nearly of the Doric order, and those of Chiche with large ornamented pilasters. An old manuscript written in the Maya language by a Christian Indian, and which is still in the hands of the Gefe politico of Peto, Don Juan Pio Perez, gives the different epochs (“Katunes” of 52 years) in which the Toltecs settled in different parts of the peninsula. From these data Perez infers that the monuments or buildings of Chiche go back to the close of the fourth century of our era, while those of Uxmal belong to the middle of the tenth century. But the accuracy of these conclusions is subject to much uncertainty. (Stephens, Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, vol. i. p.