WCP5374

[1] [p. 262]

It has been suggested that the fish carvings may indicate that these early immigrants held sacred some fish-god, somewhat as in the case of the early Peruvians. It is to be recollected that the large stone statue of Tiahuanako, near the Peru-Bolivia boundary, has a fish sculptured on its breast, as described before. Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, in a letter¹ bearing upon this subject which he wrote me, speaks of "the resemblance of human sculptures on some of the earliest stone buildings of Bolivia with the Easter Island statue in the British Museum." This statue, it will be recollected, was brought to England some forty years ago by H.M.S. Topaze. "I was greatly struck by the resemblance," he says, "and in the drawing of the large gateway in Bolivia there are figures whose features resemble the very peculiar features of the Easter Island monuments, and have a very curious Caucasian aspect."

Note Appearing in the Original Work

1. December, 1911. [on pages 77 and 262]