The manner described above, may have been the custom throughout all Mexican America;--that they are only discovered at Arica in _Peru_, may arise from natural causes,--viz., at Arica the rain never falls (as in Egypt) and the soil is calcareous,--and the dryness of the atmosphere, with the saline qualities of the earth, produce natural embalming; thus preserving the body for ages from decomposition,--while in other portions of the Continent, from the moisture, and the absence of the preserving qualities, the bodies would gradually decay, and return and mingle with the undistinguishing dust of centuries. Many analogies are found to the Tyrians, in the details and decorations of the Peruvian Mummies,--both of the rich and the poor. Those of the poor are invariably found resting upon beds of _broken fish-shells_;-- these beds are supposed to be placed there for "religious motives." May not the purple murex (_i. e._ dye shellfish) of Tyrus (as on the Altar of Copan) be here alluded to by this religious custom? In the same Mummy-pits (and they extend over a mile) are found various _models of _boats_, _lines_, _and fish-hooks_; these are buried with the Mummies, and they are evident witnesses of the occupation,--or the "religious motives" of the departed. Is not Tyrus here also?--her fisheries were her National emblems. And that this custom (whereby the means of sustenance were obtained) was practised in South America by the Aborigines, is distinctly stated by Dr. Robertson, upon the authority of Berrere. The statement, also, shews that the distinction between those of the North and South, or Mexican America is apparent,--those of the former depended upon hunting for their sustenance,--those of the latter,--or the Tyrian descendants,--as did their ancestors, upon their fisheries. Robertson says--"In this part of the globe (_i. e._ South America) hunting seems _not_ to have been the first employment of men, or the first effort of their invention and labour to obtain food. They were _fishers_ before they became hunters." [Vol. v., Book iv., p. 318.] The _boat-model_ is directly emblematical of a Religious custom of Tyrus,--copied from the Egyptian,--viz., the belief that the _Soul_ had to pass through various stages and translations, before it reached its final destination or happiness. To accomplish this, the _body_ was to pass over a River,--in a sacred-barge or boat:--the the helmsman was called by the Egyptians in their own language,--_Charon_. The Classic reader will instantly trace the mythological fable of Greece, concerning the Ferryman of the River Styx,--probably introduced into Grecian Thebes by the Tyrian Cadmus.