Very remarkable is the observation that ’in this land no iron is found, and that copper, gold, and silver, are not prized;’ from which we may infer that they were known, and probably abundant, and that they ’do not serve as a medium of exchange in the market.’  It is needless to point out the fact that this was the case not only in ancient Mexico, but also in Peru, and that these were probably the only countries on the face of the earth where ‘the precious metals’ were held in such indifference.  Be it observed that the monk Hoei-schin says nothing of the abundance of gold and silver; he simply remarks as a curious fact, that they were not used as a circulating medium.

In commenting on this record, Neumann judiciously reminds the reader that the information given by Hoei-schin and other Buddhist travelers, goes back into a period long anterior to the most remote periods alluded to in the wavering legends of the Aztecs, resting upon uncertain interpretations of hieroglyphics.  One thing we know, that in America as in Europe, one wave of emigration and conquest swept after another, each destroying in a great measure all traces of its predecessor.  Thus in Peru, the Inca race ruled over the lower caste, and would in time have probably extinguished it.  But the Incas themselves were preceded by another and more gifted race, since it is evident that these unknown predecessors were far more gifted than themselves as architects.  ’Who this race were,’ says Prescott, (Conquest of Peru, chap. i. pp. 12, 13, ed. 1847,) ’and whence they came, may afford a tempting theme for inquiry to the speculative antiquarian.  But it is a land of darkness that lies far beyond the domain of history.’

But as the American waves of conquest flowed South, it is no extravagant hypothesis to assume that the race of men whom the monk encountered in Mexico may possibly have had something in common with what was afterward found further south, in the land of the Incas.  One thing is certain; that there is a singularly Peruvian air in all that this short narrative tells us of the land ‘Fusang.’  Fortified places, he says, were unknown; and Prescott speaks of the system of fortifications established through the empire as though it had originated—­as it most undoubtedly did—­with the Incas.  Most extraordinary, however, is the remark of the monk, that the houses are built with wooden beams.  As houses the world over are constructed in this manner, the remark might seem almost superfluous.  It is worth observing that the Peruvians built their houses with wooden beams, and as Prescott tells us, ’knew no better way of holding the beams together than tying them with thongs of maguey.’  Now be it observed, that the monk makes a direct transition from speaking of the textile fiber and fabric of the maguey to the wooden beams of the houses—­a coincidence which has at least a color of proof.  It may be remarked, by the way, that this construction of houses ‘tied up,’ was admirably adapted to a land of earthquakes, as in Mexico, and that Prescott himself testifies that a number of them ’still survive, while the more modern constructions of the conquerors are buried in ruins.’