"One of the interesting objects found at Lorillard was an idol that has a remarkable resemblance to the idols in the Buddhist temples of Asiatic countries. It was in a temple that was greatly ruined. There are fifteen or twenty temples and other buildings at Lorillard, and it is quite possible that others may be found by a careful examination of the forest. M. Charnay pronounced the idol one of the finest ever discovered in tropical America. It represented a figure sitting in the attitude of Buddha, with the hands resting on the knees; the head was surmounted by an enormous head-dress intended to represent a cluster of feathers surrounding and rising above a medallion and diadem. The garments worn by the bust are a sort of cape covered with pearls and having a medallion in front and on each side. There are heavy bracelets on the arms, and there is a girdle around the waist with a medallion similar to that which decorates the cape.
"The sacred character of the statue or idol is indicated by the circumstance that all around it, and in fact all through the temple, were many bowls of coarse clay, which were used for burning incense. Some of the bowls contained copal, which was the substance used for incense, and the walls of the temples were black with the smoke from the offerings.
THE CROSS OF PALENQUE.
"A singular feature about these temples, and also those at Palenque, is the presence of the cross among the bass-reliefs and hieroglyphics. This circumstance has given rise to the supposition that the temples were built long after the Conquest, and that the natives had been converted to Christianity; but the most careful students of the subject say that the cross was a symbol of the Toltecs long before Columbus or Cortez was born. The famous sculpture at Palenque was in the temple of the same name, and represents a Roman cross on the top of which a bird is perched; a man at one side presents an offering to the bird, and the spaces beneath the arms of the cross are covered with hieroglyphics that have not been deciphered.
"The whole sculpture on which this cross appears was upon three stones placed side by side in the wall of the temple. One of them is still there, the second is in the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, and the third, which is the central one with the cross upon it, has been taken to Las Playas, in the State of Tabasco.
"The whole country is said to abound with ruins that have never been seen by white men, and some of which are not even known to the Indians of to-day. It is certain that this region once contained a dense and highly civilized population, and the ruins that have been explored show that they had a good knowledge of the principles of architecture and sculpture. Exactly who they were has not been revealed, but explorers and scientists are slowly penetrating the secret, and in course of time the history of these primitive people will be given to the world.
