he ancient history indicated
by these ruins will not seem mysterious, nor shall we feel constrained
to treat as incredible the Central American and Peruvian traditions that
anciently strangers came from the Pacific world in ships to the west
coast of America for commercial intercourse with the civilized countries
existing here.

Ruins similar in character are found in the Sandwich Islands, but here
the masonry is occasionally superior to that found elsewhere. A
gentleman interested in archaeological inquiries gives the following
account of a Hawaiian ruin which he visited in the interior, about
thirty miles from Hilo. He says he went with several companions to the
hill of Kukii, which he describes as follows:

"The hill is so regular in its outline that it appears like a work of
art, a giant effort of the Mound-Builders. Its general form resembles
very much the pyramid of Cholulu in Mexico, and from this fact I felt a
great interest in climbing it. We proceeded, Conway, Eldhardt, Kaiser,
and I, on foot up the grassy slope of the hill. There was an absence of
all volcanic matter; no stone on the hill except what had been brought
there by the hand of man. As we arrived near the summit we came upon
great square blocks of hewn stone overgrown by shrubbery, and on
reaching the summit we found that it had been leveled and squared
according to the cardinal points, and paved. We found two square blocks
of hewn stone imbedded in the earth in an upright position, some fifteen
feet apart, and ranging exactly east and west. Over the platform was
rank grass, and a grove of cocoanuts some hundred years old. Examining
farther, I found that the upper portion of the hill had been terraced;
the terraces near the summit could be distinctly traced, and they had
evidently been faced with hewn stone. The stones were in perfect squares
of not less than three feet in diameter, many of them of much greater
size. They were composed of a dark vitreous basalt, the most durable of
all stone. It is remarkable that every slab was faced and polished upon
every side, so that they could fit together like sheets of paper. They
reminded me much of the polished stones in some of the walls of
Tiahuanuco, and other ruins in Peru. Many of the blocks were lying
detached; probably some had been removed; but there were still some
thirty feet of the facing on the lower terrace partly in position. But
all showed the ravages of time and earthquakes, and were cover