The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History

VOTAN THE CULTURE-HERO

Votan, another mysterious personage, closely resembling Quetzalcoatl in many points, was the supposed founder of the Maya civilization. He is said to have been a descendant of Noah and to have assisted at the building of the Tower of Babel. After the confusion of tongues he led a portion of the dispersed people to America. There he established the kingdom of Xibalba and built the city of Palenque.[63 - See vol. iii., p. 450, et seq.]

Let us turn now from these wild speculations, with which volumes might be filled, but which are practically worthless, to the special theories of origin, which are, however, for the most part, scarcely more satisfactory.

Beginning with eastern Asia, we find that the Americans, or in some instances their civilization only, are supposed to have come originally from China, Japan, India, Tartary, Polynesia. Three principal routes are proposed by which they may have come, namely: Bering Strait, the Aleutian Islands, and Polynesia. The route taken by no means depends upon the original habitat of the emigrants; thus the people of India may have emigrated to the north of Asia, and crossed Bering Strait, or the Chinese may have passed from one to the other of the Aleutian Islands until they reached the western continent. Bering Strait is, however, the most widely advocated, and perhaps most probable, line of communication. The narrow strait would scarcely hinder any migration either east or west, especially as it is frequently frozen over in winter. At all events it is certain that from time immemorial constant intercourse has been kept up between the natives on either side of the strait; indeed, there can be no doubt that they are one and the same people. Several writers, however, favor the Aleutian route.[64 - Though the presumption may be in favor of communication by Bering Strait, yet the phenomena in the present state of our knowledge, favors the Aleutian route. Latham's Comp. Phil., p. 384. The Aleutian archipelago is 'probably the main route by which the old continent must have peopled the new. Behring's Straits, though … they were doubtless one channel of communication, just as certainly as if their place had been occupied by solid land, were yet, in all likelihood, only of subordinate utility in the premises, when compared with the more accessible and commodious bridge towards the south.' Simpson's Nar., vol. ii., p. 225. 'There is no improbability that the early Asiatics reached the western shores of America through the islands of the Pacific.' The trace of the progress of the red and partially civilized man from Oriental Asia was left on these islands. Willson's Amer. Hist., pp. 92-3. The first discoveries were made along the coast and from island to island; the American immigrants would have come by the Aleutian Isles. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., p. 10. To come by Aleutian islands presents not nearly so great a difficulty as the migrations among Pacific Islands. Prescott's Mex., vol. iii., p. 374. Immigration from Asia 'appears to have taken place mostly by the Aleuthian islands.' Smith's Human Species, p. 238.]

DIFFUSION OF ANIMALS

But there is a problem which the possibility of neither of these routes will help to solve: How did the animals reach America? It is not to be supposed that ferocious beasts and venomous reptiles were brought over by the immigrants, nor is it more probable that they swam across the ocean. Of course such a question is raised only by those who believe that all living creatures are direct descendants of the animals saved from the flood in Noah's ark; but such is the belief of the great majority of our authors. The easiest way to account for this diffusion of animals is to believe that the continents were at one time united, though this is also asserted, with great show of probability, by authors who do not think it necessary to find a solid roadway in order to account for the presence of animals in America, or even to believe that the fauna of the New World need ever in any way have come from the Old World. Again, some writers are inclined to wonder how the tropical animals found in America could have reached the continent via the polar regions, and find it necessary to connect America and Africa to account for this.[65 - Some of the early writers were of course ignorant of the existence of any strait separating America from Asia; thus Acosta – who dares not assume, in opposition to the Bible, that the flood did not extend to America, or that a new creation took place there – accounts for the great variety of animals by supposing that the new continent is in close proximity to if not actually connected with the Old World at its northern and southern ends, and that the people and animals saved in the ark spread gradually by these routes over the whole land. Hist. de las Ynd., pp. 68-73, 81; West und Ost Indischer Lustgart, pt i., pp. 8-9. See also Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 38-42; Gottfriedt, Newe Welt, p. 4; Villagutierre, Hist. Conq. Itza, pp. 26-8. Clavigero produces instances to show that upheavals, engulfings, and separations of land have been quite common, and thinks that American traditions of destructions refer to such disasters. He also shows that certain animals could have passed only by a tropic, others only by an arctic road. He accordingly supposes that America was formerly connected with Africa at the latitude of the Cape Verde islands, with Asia in the north, and perhaps with Europe by Greenland. Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. iv., pp. 27-44. The great objection to a migration by way of the cold latitude of Bering Strait, says a writer in the Historical Magazine, vol. i., p. 285, is that tropic animals never could have passed that way. He apparently rejects or has never heard of the theory of change in zones. See farther, concerning joining of continents, and communication by Bering Strait: Warden, Recherches, pp. 202, 221; Humboldt, Exam. Crit., tom. ii., p. 68, et seq.; Snowden's Hist. N. and S. Amer., p. 198; Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, Sept. 12, 1862; Priest's Amer. Antiq., pp. 62-3, 82-3; Valois, Mexique, p. 197; Adair's Amer. Ind., p. 219. Bradford denies emphatically that there ever was any connection between America and Asia. 'It has been supposed,' he writes, 'that a vast tract of land, now submerged beneath the waters of the Pacific Ocean, once connected Asia and America… The arguments in favor of this opinion are predicated upon that portion of the Scriptures, relating to the "division" of the earth in the days of Peleg, which is thought to indicate a physical division, – upon the analogies between the Peruvians, Mexicans and Polynesians … and upon the difficulty of accounting in any other manner for the presence of some kinds of animals in America.' After demolishing these three bases of opinion, he adds: 'this conjectured terrestrial communication never existed, a conclusion substantiated, in some measure, by geological testimony.' Amer. Antiq., pp. 222-8. Mr Bradford's argument, in addition to being thoughtful and ingenious, is supported by facts, and will amply repay a perusal.]

The theory that America was peopled, or, at least partly peopled, from eastern Asia, is certainly more widely advocated than any other, and, in my opinion, is moreover based upon a more reasonable and logical foundation than any other. It is true, the Old World may have been originally peopled from the New, and it is also true that the Americans may have had an autochthonic origin, but, if we must suppose that they have originated on another continent, then it is to Asia that we must first look for proofs of such an origin, at least as far as the people of north-western America are concerned. "It appears most evident to me," says the learned Humboldt, "that the monuments, methods of computing time, systems of cosmogony, and many myths of America, offer striking analogies with the ideas of eastern Asia – analogies which indicate an ancient communication, and are not simply the result of that uniform condition in which all nations are found in the dawn of civilization."[66 - Exam. Crit., tom. ii., p. 68.] Prescott's conclusions are, first: "That the coincidences are sufficiently strong to authorize a belief, that the civilization of Anahuac was, in some degree, influenced by that of Eastern Asia. And, secondly, that the discrepancies are such as to carry back the communication to a very remote period; so remote, that this foreign influence has been too feeble to interfere materially with the growth of what may be regarded, in its essential features, as a peculiar and indigenous civilization."[67 - Mex., vol. iii., p. 418.] "If, as I believe," writes Dr Wilson, "the continent was peopled from Asia, it was necessarily by younger nations. But its civilization was of native growth, and so was far younger than that of Egypt."[68 - Prehist. Man, p. 615.] That "immigration was continuous for ages from the east of Asia," is thought by Col. Smith to be "sufficiently indicated by the pressure of nations, so far as it is known in America, being always from the north-west coasts, eastward and southward, to the beginning of the thirteenth century."[69 - Human Species, p. 238.] "That America was peopled from Asia, the cradle of the human race, can no longer be doubted," says Dupaix; "but how and when they came is a problem that cannot be solved."[70 - Rel., 2de expéd., p. 28.] Emigration from eastern Asia, of which there can be no doubt, only "took place," says Tschudi, "in the latter part of the fifth century of the Christian era; and while it explains many facts in America which long perplexed our archæologists, it by no means aids us in determining the origin of our earliest population."[71 - Peruvian Antiq., p. 24. America was probably first peopled from Asia, but the memory of that ancient migration was lost. Asia was utterly unknown to the ancient Mexicans. The original seats of the Chichimecs were, as they thought, not far to the north-west. They placed Aztlan not in a remote country, but near Michoacan. Gallatin, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 158-9, 174. There are strong resemblances in all things with Asiatic nations; less in language than other respects, but more with Asia than with any other part of the world. Anatomical resemblances point the same way. Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., tom. i., pp. 196-203. The Americans most probably came from Asia soon after the dispersion and confusion of tongues; but there has been found no clear notice among them of Asia, or of their passage to this continent. Nor in Asia of any such migration. The Mexican histories do not probably go so far back. Venegas, Noticia de la Cal., tom. i., pp. 72-3. If a congregation of twelve representatives from Malacca, China, Japan, Mongolia, Sandwich Islands, Chili, Peru, Brazil, Chickasaws, Comanches, &c., were dressed alike, or undressed and unshaven, the most skillful anatomist could not from their appearance separate them. Fontaine's How the World was Peopled, pp. 147-9, 244-5. The people of Asia seem to have been the only men who could teach the Mexicans and Peruvians to make bronze, and could not teach them to smelt and work iron, one thousand or one thousand five hundred years before the Spanish Conquest. Tylor's Researches, p. 209. It is almost proved that long before Columbus, Northern India, China, Corea, and Tartary, had communication with America. Chateaubriand, Lettre aux Auteurs, p. 87. See also: Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 345; Veytia, Hist. Ant. Mej., tom. i., p. 20; Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., tom. i., pp. 23-4; Simpson's Nar., vol. i., p. 190; Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. ii., pp. 250-1; Macfie's Vanc. Isl., pp. 426-7; Saint-Amant, Voyages, p. 245; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 290, 295-6; Warden, Recherches, pp. 118-36; Macgregor's Progress of Amer., vol. i., p. 24; Mühlenpfordt, Mejico, tom. i., p. 230; Dodge, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, p. 590; Whymper's Alaska, pp. 278-85; Prichard's Nat. Hist. Man, vol. ii., p. 519; Mitchill, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 325-32; Vigne's Travels, vol. ii., p. 36; Latham's Man and his Migrations, p. 122; Sampson, in Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 213. Robertson's Hist. Amer., vol. i., pp. 280-1; Snowden's Hist. N. and S. Amer., p. 200; Stratton's Mound-Builders, MS.; Bradford's Amer. Antiq., pp. 208, 215-16, 432; Pickering's Races of Man, in U. S. Ex. Ex., vol. ix., pp. 287-8; Carver's Trav., pp. 209-13; Kennedy's Probable Origin; Davis' Discovery of New Eng.; Hellwald, in Smithsonian Rept., 1866, p. 334. Herrera argued that as there were no natives in America of a color similar to those of the politer nations of Europe, they must be of Asiatic origin; that it is unreasonable to suppose them to have been driven thither by stress of weather; that the natives for a long time had no king, therefore no historiographer, therefore they are not to be believed in this statement, or in any other. The clear conclusions drawn from these pointed arguments is, that the Indian race descended from men who reached America by the nearness of the land. 'Y asi mas verisimilmente se concluye que la generacion, y poblacion de los Indios, ha procedido de hombres que passaron a las Indias Ocidentales, por la vezindad de la tierra, y se fueron estendiendo poco a poco;' but from whence they came, or by what route the royal historiographer offers no conjecture. Hist. Gen., dec. i., lib. i., cap. vi.] "After making every proper allowance," says Gallatin, "I cannot see any possible reason that should have prevented those, who after the dispersion of mankind moved towards the east and northeast, from having reached the extremities of Asia, and passed over to America, within five hundred years after the flood. However small may have been the number of those first emigrants, an equal number of years would have been more than sufficient to occupy, in their own way, every part of America."[72 - Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., vol. i., p. 179.] There are, however, writers who find grave objections to an Asiatic origin, the principal of which are the absence of the horse, the "paucity and the poverty of the lactiferous animals, and the consequent absence of pastoral nations in the New World." For, adds a writer in the Quarterly Review, "we can hardly suppose that any of the pastoral hordes of Tartars would emigrate across the strait of Behring or the Aleutian Islands without carrying with them a supply of those cattle on which their whole subsistence depended."[73 - Quarterly Review, vol. xxi., pp. 334-5. The communication between Anáhuac and the Asiatic continent was merely the contact of some few isolated Asiatics who had lost their way, and from whom the Mexicans drew some notions of science, astrology, and some cosmogonic traditions; and these Asiatics did not return home. Chevalier, Mexique, pp. 59, 56-8; Viollet-le-Duc, in Charnay, Ruines Amér., pp. 87-9; Fossey, Mexique, pp. 120-1; Democratic Review, vol. xi., p. 617; Lafond, Voyages, p. 133.]

THEORY OF ORIGIN FROM CHINESE

THE COUNTRY OF FUSANG

The theory that western America was originally peopled by the Chinese, or at least that the greater part of the New World civilization may be attributed to this people, is founded mainly on a passage in the work of the Chinese historian Li yan tcheou, who lived at the commencement of the seventh century of our era. In this passage it is stated that a Chinese expedition discovered a country lying twenty thousand li to the east of Tahan, which was called Fusang.[74 - Deguignes writes: 'Les Chinois ont pénétré dans les pays très-éloignés du côté de l'orient; j'ai examiné leur mesures, et elles m'ont conduit vers les côtes de la Californie; j'ai conclu de-là qu'ils avoient connu l'Amérique l'an 458 J. C.' He also attributes Peruvian civilization to the Chinese. Recherches sur les Navigations des Chinois du côté de l'Amérique, in Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, tom. xvii. Paravey, in 1844, attempted to prove that the province of Fousang was Mexico. Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., p. 51. 'In Chinese history we find descriptions of a vast country 20,000 le to the eastward across the great ocean, which, from the description given, must be California and Mexico.' Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, Sept. 12, 1862. 'L'histoire postérieure des Chinois donne à penser qu'ils ont eu autrefois des flottes qui ont pu passer au Mexique par les Phillippines.' Farcy, Discours p. 46, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. i.] Tahan is generally supposed to be Kamchatka, and Fusang the north-west coast of America, California, or Mexico. As so much depends upon what Li yan tcheou has said about the mysterious country, it will be well to give his account in full; as translated by Klaproth, it is as follows: In the first of the years young yuan, in the reign of Fi ti of the dynasty of Thsi, a cha men (buddhist priest), named Hoeï chin, arrived at King tcheou from the country of Fusang; of this land he says: Fusang is situated twenty thousand li[75 - A Chinese li is about one third of a mile.] to the east of the country of Tahan, and an equal distance to the east of China. In this place are many trees called fusang,[76 - 'Fou sang, en chinois et selon la prononciation japonaise Fouts sôk, est l'arbrisseau que nous nommons Hibiscus rosa chinensis,' Klaproth, Recherches sur le pays de Fou Sang, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1831, tom. li., p. 55, note. Others suppose the fusang to be the maguey, and, indeed, it was used for much the same purposes. It was, however, most probably, the mulberry; fu-soh, the Japanese equivalent for the Chinese fusang, being compounded of fu, to aid, and soh, the mulberry, a tree which abounds in a wild state in the province of Yesso, and which has been cultivated by royal command in other parts of Japan, where, as the reader will presently see, Fusang was probably situated. Mr Brooks, Japanese Consul in San Francisco, also tells me that Fu Sang is a name used in Chinese poetry to mean Japan. In Japan it is also thus used, and also used in trade marks, as 'first quality of Fu Sang silk cocoons,' meaning Japanese cocoons.] whose leaves resemble those of the Thoung (Bignonia tomentosa), and the first sprouts those of the bamboo. These serve the people of the country for food. The fruit is red and shaped like a pear. The bark is prepared in the same manner as hemp, and manufactured into cloth and flowered stuffs. The wood serves for the construction of houses, for in this country there are neither towns nor walled habitations. The inhabitants have a system of writing and make paper from the bark of the fusang. They possess neither arms nor troops and they never wage war. According to the laws of the kingdom, there are two prisons, one in the north, the other in the south; those who have committed trifling faults are sent to the latter, those guilty of graver crimes to the former, and detained there until by mitigation of their sentence they are removed to the south.[77 - I follow Deguignes in this sentence; Klaproth has it: 'Ceux qui peuvent recevoir leur grace sont envoyés à la première (méridionale), ceux au contraire auxquels on ne veut pas l'accorder sont détenus dans la prison du nord.' Recherches, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1831, tom. li., p. 55.] The male and female prisoners are allowed to marry with each other and their children are sold as slaves, the boys when they are eight years of age, the girls when they are nine. The prisoners never go forth from their jail alive. When a man of superior mark commits a crime, the people assemble in great numbers, seat themselves opposite the criminal, who is placed in a ditch, partake of a banquet, and take leave of the condemned person as of one who is about to die. Cinders are then heaped about the doomed man. For slight faults, the criminal alone is punished, but for a great crime his children and grandchildren suffer with him; in some extraordinary cases his sin is visited upon his descendants to the seventh generation.

The name of the king of this country is Yit khi; the nobles of the first rank are called Toui lou; those of the second, 'little' Toui lou; and those of the third, Na tu cha. When the king goes out, he is accompanied by tambours and horns. He changes the color of his dress at certain times; in the years of the cycle kia and y, it is blue; in the years ping and ting, it is red; in the years ou and ki, it is yellow; in the years keng and sin, it is white; and lastly, in those years which have the characters jin and kouei, it is black.

The cattle have long horns, and carry burdens, some as much as one hundred and twenty Chinese pounds. Vehicles, in this country, are drawn by oxen, horses, or deer. The deer are raised in the same manner that cattle are raised in China, and cheese is made from the milk of the females.[78 - Deguignes translates: 'des habitants élèvent des biches comme en Chine, et ils en tirent du beurre.'] A kind of red pear is found there which is good at all seasons of the year. Grape-vines are also plentiful.[79 - 'Il y a dans l'original To Phou thao. Deguignes ayant décomposé le mot Phou tao, traduit: "on y trouve une grande quantité de glayeuls et de pêches." Cependant le mot Phou seul ne signifie jamais glayeul, c'est le nom des joncs et autres espèces de roseaux de marais, dont on se sert pour faire des nattes. Thao est en effet le nom de la pêche, mais le mot composé Phou tao signifie en chinois la vigne.' Klaproth, Recherches, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1831, tom. li., pp. 57-8.] There is no iron, but copper is met with. Gold and silver are not valued. Commerce is free, and the people are not given to haggling about prices.

This is the manner of their marriages: When a man wishes to wed a girl, he erects his cabin just before the door of hers. Every morning and evening he waters and weeds the ground, and this he continues to do for a whole year. If by the end of that time the girl has not given her consent to their union, his suit is lost and he moves away; but if she is willing, he marries her. The marriage ceremony is almost the same as that observed in China. On the death of their father or mother, children fast for seven days; grandparents are mourned for by a fast of five days, and other relations by a fast of three days' duration. Images of the spirits of the dead[80 - 'Les images des Esprits,' &c.; Id., p. 59.] are placed on a kind of pedestal, and prayed to morning and evening.[81 - 'Deguignes traduit: 'Pendant leurs prières ils exposent l'image du défunt.' Le texte parle de chin ou génies et non pas des ames des défunts.' Id.] Mourning garments are not worn.

The king does not meddle with affairs of government until he has been three years upon the throne.

In former times the religion of Buddha was unknown in this country, but in the fourth of the years ta ming, in the reign of Hiao wou ti of the Soung dynasty (A.D. 458), five pi khieou or missionaries, from the country Ki pin, went to Fusang and there diffused the Buddhist faith. They carried with them sacred books and images, they introduced the ritual, and inculcated monastic habits of life. By these means they changed the manners of the people.

Such is the account given by the historian Li yan tcheou of the mysterious land. Klaproth, in his critique on Deguignes' theory that America was known to the Chinese, uses the distances given by the monk Hoeï chin to show that Fusang, where the laws and institutions of Buddha were introduced, was Japan, and that Tahan, situated to the west of the Vinland of Asia, as Humboldt aptly calls Fusang,[82 - 'C'est une analogie curieuse qu'offre le pays à vignes de Fousang (l'Amérique chinoise de Deguignes) avec le Vinland des premières découvertes scandinaves sur les côtes orientales de l'Amérique.' Exam. Crit., tom. ii., p. 63, note.] was not Kamchatka but the island of Tarakai, wrongly named on our maps, Saghalien. The circumstance that there were grape-vines and horses in the discovered country is alone sufficient, he says, to show that it was not situated on the American continent, since both these objects were given to the New World by the Spaniards. M. Gaubil also contradicts Deguignes' theory. "Deguignes' paper," he writes to one of his confrères in Paris, "proves nothing; by a similar course of reasoning it might be shown that the Chinese reached France, Italy, or Poland."[83 - Nouv. Jour. Asiatique, 1832, p. 335, quoted by Humboldt, Exam. Crit., tom. ii., pp. 65-6.]

CHINESE EXPEDITION TO AMERICA

Certain allusions to a Chinese colony, made by Marco Polo and Gonzalo Mendoza, led Horn, Forster, and other writers to suppose that the Chinese, driven from their country by the Tartars about the year 1270, embarked to the number of one hundred thousand in a fleet of one thousand vessels, and having arrived on the coast of America, there founded the Mexican empire. As Warden justly remarks, however, it is not probable that an event of such importance would be passed over in silence by the Chinese historians, who rendered a circumstantial account of the destruction of their fleet by the Tartars about the year 1278 of our era, as well as of the reduction of their country by the same people.[84 - Warden, Recherches, p. 123.]

The strongest proof upon which the Chinese theory rests, is that of physical resemblance, which, on the extreme north-western coast of America, is certainly very strong.[85 - It is enough to look at an Aleut to recognize the Mongol. Wrangel, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1853, tom. cxxxvii., p. 213. 'The resemblance between north-west coast Indians and Chinese is rather remarkable.' Deans' Remains in B. Col., MS. 'I have repeatedly seen instances, both men and women, who in San Francisco could readily be mistaken for Chinese – their almond-shaped eyes, light complexion and long braided black hair giving them a marked similarity… An experience of nearly nine years among the coast tribes, with a close observation and study of their characteristics, has led me to the conclusion that these northern tribes (B. Col. and surrounding region) are the only evidence of any exodus from the Asiatic shore ever having reached our borders.' Taylor, in Cal. Farmer, July 25, 1862. Grant, Ocean to Ocean, p. 304, says that the Chinese and Indians resemble one another so much that were it not for the queue and dress they would be difficult to distinguish. 'The Pacific Indian is Mongolian in size and complexion, in the shape of the face, and the eyes,' and he wants many of the manly characteristics of the Eastern Indians. Morelet, Voyage, tom. i., p. 148, says of the Yucatan Indians, 'leur teint cuivré et quelquefois jaunâtre présente un ensemble de caractères qui rapproche singulièrement leur race de celle des tribus d'origine mongole.' This point of physical resemblance is, however, denied by several writers; thus Kneeland, Wonders, p. 53, says that though Americans have generally been accepted as Mongolians, yet if placed side by side with Chinese, hardly any resemblance will be found in physical character, except in the general contour of their faces and in their straight black hair; their mental characteristics are entirely opposite. Adair writes: 'Some have supposed the Americans to be descended from the Chinese: but neither their religion, laws, customs, &c., agree in the least with those of the Chinese: which sufficiently proves that they are not of that line.' He goes on to say that distance, lack of maritime skill, etc., all disprove the theory. He also remarks that the prevailing winds blow with little variation from east to west, and therefore junks could not have been driven ashore. Amer. Ind., pp. 12-13. 'Could we hope that the monuments of Central and South America might attract the attention and excite the interest of more American scholars than hitherto, the theory of the Mongol origin of the Red-men would soon be numbered among exploded hypotheses.' Nott and Gliddon's Indig. Races, p. 188. 'MM. Spix et Martius ont remarqué la ressemblance extraordinaire qui existe entre la physionomie des colons Chinois et celle des Indiens. La figure des Chinois est, il est vrai, plus petite. Ils ont le front plus large, les lèvres plus fines, et en général les traits plus délicats et plus doux que ceux des sauvages de l'Amérique. Cependant, en considérant la conformation de leur tête, qui n'est pas oblongue, mais angulaire, et plutôt pointue, leur crâne large, les sinus frontaux proéminents, le front bas, les os des joues très saillants, leurs yeux petits et obliques, le nez proportionnellement petit et épaté, le peu de poils garnissant leur menton et les autres parties du corps, leur chevelure moins longue et plate, la couleur jaunâtre ou cuivrée de leur peau, on retrouve les traits physiques communs aux deux races.' Warden, Recherches, p. 123. The Americans certainly approach the Mongols and Malays in some respects, but not in the essential parts of cranium, hair, and profile. If we regard them as a Mongol branch, we must suppose that the slow action of climate has changed them thus materially during a number of centuries. Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 289.] I think there can be no doubt of the presence of Mongol blood in the veins of the inhabitants of that region, though it is probably Tartar or Japanese rather than Chinese. Indeed, when we consider that the distance across Bering Strait is all that intervenes between the two continents, that this is at times completely frozen over, thus practically connecting America and Asia, and that, both by sea and by ice, the inhabitants on both sides of the strait are known to have had communication with each other from time immemorial, a lack of resemblance, physical and otherwise, would be far more strange than its presence. In spite of what may be said to the contrary, there can be no doubt that the Mongolian type grows less and less distinct as we go south from Alaska, though, once grant the Mongols a footing on the continent, and the influence of their religion, languages, or customs may, for all we know, have extended even to Cape Horn.

MONGOLIAN ANALOGIES

Analogies have been found, or thought to exist, between the languages of several of the American tribes, and that of the Chinese. But it is to Mexico, Central America, and, as we shall hereafter see, to Peru, that we must look for these linguistic affinities, and not to the north-western coasts, where we should naturally expect to find them most evident.[86 - This will be best shown by referring to Warden's comparison of American, Chinese, and Tartar words. Recherches, pp. 125-6. The Haidahs, are said, however, to have used words known to the Chinese. Deans' Remains in B. Col., MS. Mr Taylor writes: 'The Chinese accent can be traced throughout the Indian (Digger) language,' and illustrates his assertion with a comparative vocabulary of Indian and Chinese. Cal. Farmer, Sept. 12, 1862. The Chinese in California 'are known to be able to converse with them (the Indians) in their respective languages.'! Cronise's California, p. 31.] The similarity between the Otomí and Chinese has been remarked by several writers.[87 - Warden, Recherches, pp. 127-9, gives a long list of these resemblances. See also Ampère, Prom. en Amér., tom. ii., p. 301; Prescott's Mex., vol. iii., p. 396; Faliés, Études Hist. sur les Civilisations, tom. i., pp. 380-1. Molina found (in Chili?) inscriptions resembling Chinese. M'Culloh's Researches on Amer., pp. 171-2. Bossu found some similarity between the language of the Natchez of Louisiana, and the Chinese. Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes Occidentales, tom. i., let. xviii.; cited by Warden, Recherches, p. 121. The last mentioned author also quotes a long list of analogies between the written language of the Chinese and the gesture language of the northern Indians, from a letter written by Wm Dunbar to the Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and comments thereon. Recherches, p. 176. Of the value of these philological proofs the reader may judge by the following fair sample: 'the Chinese call a slave, shungo; and the Naudowessie Indians, whose language from their little intercourse with the Europeans is the least corrupted, term a dog, shungush. The former denominate one species of their tea, shousong; the latter call their tobacco, shousassau.' Carver's Trav., p. 214. The supposition of Asiatic derivation is assumed by Smith Barton on the strength of certain similarities of words, but Vater remarks, these prove only partial migrations. Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 290. 'On the whole, more analogies (etymol.) have been found with the idioms of Asia, than of any other quarter. But their amount is too inconsiderable to balance the opposite conclusion inferred by a total dissimilarity of structure.' Prescott's Mex., vol. iii., p. 396. Barton, New Views, gives a comparative vocabulary to show that Asiatic traces have been discovered in the languages of South as well as North America. Latham, Man and His Migrations, p. 185, has proofs that 'the Kamskadale, the Koriak, the Aino-Japanese, and the Korean are the Asiatic languages most like those of America.' 'Dans quatre-vingt-trois langues américaines examinées par MM. Barton et Vater, on en a reconnu environ cent soixante-dix dont les racines semblent être les mêmes; et il est facile de se convaincre que cette analogie n'est pas accidentelle, qu'elle ne repose pas simplement sur l'harmonie imitative, ou sur cette égalité de conformation dans les organes, qui rend presque identiques les premiers sons articulés par les enfans. Sur cent soixante-dix mots qui ont des rapports entre eux, il y en a trois cinquièmes qui rappellent le mantchou, le tungouse, le mongol et le samojède, et deux cinquièmes qui rappellent les langues celtique et tschoude, le basque, le copte et le congo.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 27-8. Prichard, Nat. Hist. Man, vol. ii., pp. 512-13, thinks that the Otomí monosyllabic language may belong to Chinese and Indo-Chinese idioms; but Latham, Varieties of Man, p. 408, doubts its isolation from other American tongues, and thinks that it is either anaptotic or imperfectly agglutinate.] A few customs are mentioned as being common to both Chinese and Americans, but they show absolutely nothing, and are scarcely worth recounting. For instance, Bossu, speaking of the Natchez, says, "they never pare their finger nails, and it is well known that in China long nails on the right hand are a mark of nobility."[88 - Nouveaux Voyages aux Indes Occidentales, tom. i., lettre xviii. Cited by Warden, Recherches, p. 121.] "It appears plainly" to Mr Carver "that a great similarity between the Indian and Chinese is conspicuous in that particular custom of shaving or plucking off the hair, and leaving only a small tuft on the crown of the head."[89 - Trav., p. 213.] M. du Pratz has "good grounds to believe" that the Mexicans came originally from China or Japan, especially when he considers "their reserved and uncommunicative disposition, which to this day prevails among the people of the eastern parts of Asia."[90 - Hist. of Louisiana, London 1774.] Architectural analogy there is none.[91 - Speaking of the ruins of Central America, Stephens says: 'if their (the Chinese) ancient architecture is the same with their modern, it bears no resemblance whatever to these unknown ruins.' Cent. Amer., vol. ii., p. 438.]

BUDDHISM IN THE NEW WORLD

The mythological evidence upon which this and other east-Asiatic theories of origin rest, is the similarity between the more advanced religions of America and Buddhism. Humboldt thinks he sees in the snake cut in pieces the famous serpent Kaliya or Kalinaga, conquered by Vishnu, when he took the form of Krishna, and in the Mexican Tonatiuh, the Hindu Krishna, sung of in the Bhagavata-Purana.[92 - Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 236. Speaking of the Popol Vuh, Viollet-le-Duc says: 'Certains passages de ce livre ont avec les histoires héroïques de l'Inde une singulière analogie.' In Charnay, Ruines Amér., p. 40. See also, Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, pp. 212-13, 236-42.] Count Stolberg,[93 - Geschichte der Religion Jesu Christi, tom. i., p. 426. Quoted in Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 256.] is of opinion that the two great religious sects of India, the worshipers of Vishnu and those of Siva, have spread over America, and that the Peruvian cult is that of Vishnu when he appears in the form of Krishna, or the sun, while the sanguinary religion of the Mexicans is analogous to that of Siva, in the character of the Stygian Jupiter. The wife of Siva, the black goddess Kali or Bhavani, symbol of death and destruction, wears, according to Hindu statues and pictures, a necklace of human skulls. The Vedas ordain human sacrifices in her honor. The ancient cult of Kali, continues Humboldt, presents, without doubt, a marked resemblance to that of Mictlancihuatl, the Mexican goddess of hell; "but in studying the history of the peoples of Anáhuac, one is tempted to regard these coincidences as purely accidental. One is not justified in supposing that there must have been communication between all semi-barbarous nations who worship the sun, or offer up human beings in sacrifice."[94 - Vues, tom. i., p. 257. Tschudi, again, writes: 'As among the East Indians, an undefined being, Bramah, the divinity in general, was shadowed forth in the Trimurti, or as a God under three forms, viz., Bramah, Vishnu, and Sciva; so also the Supreme Being was venerated among the Indians of Mexico, under the three forms of Ho, Huitzilopoctli, and Tlaloc, who formed the Mexican Trimurti. The attributes and worship of the Mexican goddess Mictanihuatl preserve the most perfect analogy with those of the sanguinary and implacable Kali; as do equally the legends of the Mexican divinity Teayamiqui with the formidable Bhavani; both these Indian deities were wives of Siva-Rudra. Not less surprising is the characteristic likeness which exists between the pagodas of India and the Teocallis of Mexico, while the idols of both temples offer a similitude in physiognomy and posture which cannot escape the observation of any one who has been in both countries. The same analogy is observed between the oriental Trimurti and that of Peru; thus Con corresponds to Bramah, Pachacamac to Vishnu, and Huiracocha to Siva. The Peruvians never dared to erect a temple to their ineffable God, whom they never confounded with other divinities; a remarkable circumstance, which reminds us of similar conduct among a part of the inhabitants of India as to Bramah, who is the Eternal, the abstract God. Equally will the study of worship in the two hemispheres show intimate connection between the existence and attributes of the devadasis (female servants of the Gods) and the Peruvian virgins of the Sun.All these considerations, and many others, which from want of space we must omit, evidently prove that the greater part of the Asiatic religions, such as that of Fo, in China, of Buddha, in Japan, of Sommono-Cadom, in India, the Lamaism of Thibet, the doctrine of Dschakdschiamuni among the Mongols and Calmucs; as well as the worship of Quetzalcoatl, in Mexico, and of Manco-Capac, in Peru, are but so many branches of the same trunk; whose root the labors of archæology and modern philosophy have not been able to determine with certainty, notwithstanding all the discussion, perseverance, sagacity, and boldness of hypothesis, among the learned men who have been occupied in investigating the subject.' After remarking upon the marvelous analogy between Christianity and Buddhism as found to exist by the first missionaries to Thibet, he goes on: 'Not less, however, was the surprise of the first Spanish ecclesiastics, who found, on reaching Mexico, a priesthood as regularly organized as that of the most civilized countries. Clothed with a powerful and effective authority which extended its arms to man in every condition and in all the stages of his life, the Mexican priests were mediators between man and the Divinity; they brought the newly born infants into the religious society, they directed their training and education, they determined the entrance of the young men into the service of the State, they consecrated marriage by their blessing, they comforted the sick and assisted the dying.' Finally, Tschudi finds it necessary to 'insist on this point, that Quetzalcoatl and Mango Capac were both missionaries of the worship of Bramah or Buddha, and probably of different sects.' Peruvian Antiq., pp. 17-20. Domenech, Deserts, vol. i., p. 52, has this passage, nearly word for word the same as Tschudi, but does not mention the latter author's name. There is 'a remarkable resemblance between the religion of the Aztecs and the Buddhism of the Chinese.' Gentleman's Magazine; quoted in Washington Standard, Oct. 30, 1869. In Quetzalcoatl may be recognized one of the austere hermits of the Ganges, and the custom of lacerating the body, practiced by so many tribes, has its counterpart among the Hindoos. Priest's Amer. Antiq., p. 211. Quetzalcoatl, like Buddha, preached against human sacrifice. Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 265.]

PHALLIC RELICS

Humboldt, who inclines strongly toward the belief that there has been communication between America and southern Asia, is at a loss to account for the total absence on the former continent of the phallic symbols which play such an important part in the worship of India.[95 - 'Il est très-remarquable aussi que parmi les hiéroglyphes mexicains on ne découvre absolument rien qui annonce le symbole de la force génératrice, ou le culte du lingam, qui est répandu dans l'Inde et parmi toutes les nations qui ont eu des rapports avec les Hindoux.' Vues, tom. i., p. 275.] But he remarks that M. Langlès[96 - Recherches Asiatiques, tom. i., p. 215.] observes that in India the Vaichnava, or votaries of Vishnu, have a horror of the emblem of the productive force, adored in the temples of Siva and his wife Bhavani, goddess of abundance. "May not we suppose," he adds, "that among the Buddhists exiled to the north-east of Asia, there was also a sect that rejected the phallic cult, and that it is this purified Buddhism of which we find some slight traces among the American peoples."[97 - Vues, tom. i., p. 276.] I think I have succeeded in showing, however, in a previous volume that very distinct traces of phallic worship have been found in America.[98 - See vol. iii., p. 501, et seq.; see also Brasseur de Bourbourg, Quatre Lettres, pp. 202-8.] An ornament bearing some resemblance to an elephant's trunk, found on some of the ruined buildings and images in America, chiefly at Uxmal, has been thought by some writers to support the theory of a south-Asiatic origin. Others have thought that this hook represents the elongated snout of the tapir, an animal common in Central America, and held sacred in some parts. The resemblance to either trunk or snout can be traced, however, only with the aid of a very lively imagination, and the point seems to me unworthy of serious discussion.[99 - See vol. iv., p. 163, for cut of this ornament. 'D'abord j'ai été frappé de la ressemblance qu'offrent ces étranges figures des édifices mayas avec la tête de l'éléphant. Cet appendice, placé entre deux yeux, et dépassant la bouche de presque toute sa longueur, m'a semblé ne pouvoir être autre chose que l'image de la trompe d'un proboscidien, car le museau charnu et saillant du tapir n'est pas de cette longueur. J'ai observé aussi que les édifices placés à l'Est des autres ruines offrent, aux quatre coins, trois têtes symboliques armées de trompes tournées en l'air; or, le tapir n'a nullement la faculté d'élever ainsi son museau allongé; cette dernière considération me semble décisive.' Waldeck, Voy. Pitt., p. 74. 'There is not the slightest ground for supposing that the Mexicans or Peruvians were acquainted with any portion of the Hindoo mythology; but since their knowledge of even one species of animal peculiar to the Old Continent, and not found in America, would, if distinctly proved, furnish a convincing argument of a communication having taken place in former ages between the people of the two hemispheres, we cannot but think that the likeness to the head of a rhinoceros, in the thirty-sixth page of the Mexican painting preserved in the collection of Sir Thomas Bodley; the figure of a trunk resembling that of an elephant, in other Mexican paintings; and the fact, recorded by Simon, that what resembled the rib of a camel (la costilla de un camello) was kept for many ages as a relic, and held in great reverence, in one of the provinces of Bogota, – are deserving of attention. Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., p. 27. 'On croit reconnoître, dans le masque du sacrificateur (in one of the groups represented in the Codex Borgianus) la trompe d'un éléphant ou de quelque pachyderme qui s'en rapproche par la configuration de la tête, mais dont la mâchoire supérieure est garnie de dents incisives. Le groin du tapir se prolonge sans doute un peu plus que le museau de nos cochons; mais il y a bien loin de ce groin du tapir à la trompe figurée dans le Codex Borgianus. Les peuples d'Aztlan, originaires d'Asie, avoient-ils conservé quelques notions vagues sur les éléphans, ou, ce qui me paroît bien moins probable, leurs traditions remontoient-elles jusqu'à l'époque où l'Amérique étoit encore peuplée de ces animaux gigantesques, dont les squelettes pétrifiés se trouvent enfouis dans les terrains marneux, sur le dos même des Cordillères mexicaines? Peut-être aussi existe-t-il, dans la partie nord-ouest du nouveau continent, dans des contrées qui n'ont été visitées ni par Hearne, ni par Mackensie, ni par Lewis, un pachyderme inconnu, qui, par la configuration de sa trompe, tient le milieu entre l'éléphant et le tapir.' Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., pp. 254-5.] The same must be said of attempts to trace the mound-builders to Hindustan,[100 - Squier's Observations on Memoirs of Dr Zestermann, in Amer. Ethno. Soc., Transact., April, 1851; Atwater, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 196-267.] not because communication between America and southern Asia is impossible, but because something more is needed to base a theory of such communication upon than the bare fact that there were mounds in one country and mounds in the other.

It is very positively asserted by several authors that the civilization of Peru was of Mongolian origin.[101 - In this, as in all other theories, but little distinction is made between the introduction of foreign culture, and the actual origin of the people. It would be absurd, however, to suppose that a few ships' crews, almost, if not quite, without women, cast accidentally ashore in Peru in the thirteenth century, should in the fifteenth be found to have increased to a mighty nation, possessed of a civilization quite advanced, yet resembling that of their mother country so slightly as to afford only the most faint and far-fetched analogies.] It is not, however, supposed to have been brought from the north-western coasts of America, or to have come to this continent by any of the more practicable routes of communication, such as Bering Strait or the Aleutian Islands. In this instance the introduction of foreign culture was the result of disastrous accident.

MONGOL CIVILIZATION IN PERU

In the thirteenth century, the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan, sent a formidable armament against Japan. The expedition failed, and the fleet was scattered by a violent tempest. Some of the ships, it is said, were cast upon the coast of Peru, and their crews are supposed to have founded the mighty empire of the Incas, conquered three centuries later by Pizarro. Mr John Ranking, who leads the van of theorists in this direction, has written a goodly volume upon this subject, which certainly, if read by itself, ought to convince the reader as satisfactorily that America was settled by Mongols, as Kingsborough's work that it was reached by the Jews, or Jones' argument that the Tyrians had a hand in its civilization.

That a Mongol fleet was sent against Japan, and that it was dispersed by a storm, is matter of history, though historians differ as to the manner of occurrence and date of the event; but that any of the distressed ships were driven upon the coast of Peru can be but mere conjecture, since no news of such an arrival ever reached Asia, and, what is more important, no record of the deliverance of their fathers, no memories of the old mother-country from which they had been cut off so suddenly, seemingly no knowledge, even, of Asia, were preserved by the Peruvians. Granted that the crews of the wrecked ships were but a handful compared with the aboriginal population they came among, that they only taught what they knew and did not people the country, still, the sole foundation of the theory is formed of analogous customs and physical appearance, showing that their influence and infusion of blood must have been very widely extended. If, when they arrived, they found the natives in a savage condition, as has been stated, this influence must, indeed, have been all-pervading; and it is ridiculous to suppose that the Mongol father imparted to his children a knowledge of the arts and customs of Asia, without impressing upon their minds the story of his shipwreck and the history of his native country, about which all Mongols are so precise.

But our theorists scorn to assign the parts of teachers to the wrecked Mongolians. Immediately after their arrival they gave kings to the country, and established laws. Ranking narrates the personal history and exploits of all these kings, or Incas, and even goes so far as to give a steel-engraved portrait of each; but then he also gives a "description of two living unicorns in Africa." The name of the first Inca was Mango, or Manco, which, says Ranking, was also the name of the brother and predecessor of Kublai Khan, he who sent out the expedition against Japan. The first Inca of Peru, he believes was the son of Kublai Khan, and refers the reader to his "portrait of Manco Capac,[102 - Manco 'afterwards received from his subjects the title of "Capac," which means sole Emperor, splendid, rich in virtue.' Ranking's Hist. Researches, p. 56. He cites for this, Garcilasso de la Vega, book i., chap. xxvi., a work on which he relies for most of his information.] that he may compare it with the description of Kublai," given by Marco Polo. The wife of Manco Capac was named Coya Mama Oella Huaco; she was also called Mamamchic, "as the mother of her relations and subjects." Purchas mentions a queen in the country of Sheromogula whose name was Manchika.[103 - A relation of two Russe Cossacks trauailes, out of Siberia to Catay, &c., in Purchas his Pilgrimes, vol. iii., p. 798.] Thus, putting two and two together, Ranking arrives at the conclusion that "the names of Mango and his wife are so like those in Mongolia, that we may fairly presume them to be the same."[104 - Ranking's Hist. Researches, pp. 171-2.]

PERUVIAN AND ASIATIC ANALOGIES

Let us now briefly review some other analogies discovered by this writer. The natives of South America had little or no beard, the Mongols had also little hair on the face. The Llatu, or head-dress of the Incas had the appearance of a garland, the front being decorated with a flesh-colored tuft or tassel, and that of the hereditary prince being yellow; it was surmounted by two feathers taken from a sacred bird. Here again we are referred to the portraits of the Incas and to those of Tamerlane and Tehanghir, two Asiatic princes, "both descended from Genghis Khan." The similarity between the head-dresses, is, we are told, "striking, if allowance be made for the difficulty the Incas would experience in procuring suitable muslin for the turban." The plumes are supposed to be in some way connected with the sacred owl of the Mongols, and yellow is the color of the imperial family in China. The sun was held an especial object of adoration, as it "has been the peculiar god of the Moguls, from the earliest times." The Peruvians regarded Pachacamac as the Sovereign Creator; Camac-Hya was the name of a Hindu goddess; haylli was the burden of every verse of the songs composed in praise of the Sun and the Incas. "Ogus, Ghengis' ancestor, at one year of age, miraculously pronounced the word Allah! Allah! which was the immediate work of God, who was pleased that his name should be glorified by the mouth of this tender infant."[105 - Quoted by Ranking, Hist. Researches, p. 183, from Abul Ghazi Bahadur, History of the Turks, Moguls, and Tartars, vol. i., p. 11.] Thus Mr Ranking thinks "it is highly probable that this (haylli) is the same as the well-known Hallelujah." Resemblances are found to exist between the Peruvian feast of the sun, and other similar Asiatic festivals. In Peru, hunters formed a circle round the quarry, in the country of Genghis they did the same. The organization of the army was much the same in Peru as in the country of the Khans; the weapons and musical instruments were also very similar. In the city of Cuzco, not far from the hill where the citadel stood, was a portion of land called colcampata, which none were permitted to cultivate except those of royal blood. At certain seasons the Incas turned up the sod here, amid much rejoicing and many ceremonies. "A great festival is solemnized every year, in all the cities of China, on the day that the sun enters the fifteenth degree of Aquarius. The emperor, according to the custom of the ancient founders of the Chinese monarchy, goes himself in a solemn manner to plough a few ridges of land. Twelve illustrious persons attend and plough after him."[106 - Du Halde, Empire of China, vol. i., p. 275. Quoted by Ranking, Hist. Researches, p. 197-8.] In Peruvian as in Chinese architecture, it is noticeable that great care is taken to render the joints between the stones as nearly imperceptible as possible. A similarity is also said to exist between the decorations on the palaces of the Incas and those of the Khans. The cycle of sixty years was in use among most of the nations of eastern Asia, and among the Muyscas of the elevated plains of Bogota. The quipu, or knotted reckoning cord was in use in Peru, as in China. Some other analogies might be cited, but these are sufficient to show upon what foundation this theory rests. I may mention here that the Incas possessed a cross of fine marble, or jasper, highly polished, and all of one piece. It was three fourths of an ell in length and three fingers in thickness, and was kept in a sacred chamber of the palace and held in great veneration. The Spaniards enriched this cross with gold and jewels and placed it in the cathedral at Cuzco; had it been of plain wood they would probably have burnt it with curses on the emblem of 'devil-worship.' To account for this discovery, Mr Ranking says: There were many Nestorians in the thirteenth century in the service of the Mongols. The conqueror of the king of eastern Bengal, A.D. 1272, was a Christian. The Mongols, who were deists, treated all religions with respect, till they became Mohammedans. It is very probable that a part of the military sent to conquer Japan, were commanded by Nestorian officers. The mother of the Grand Khan Mangu, who was brother to Kublai, and possibly uncle to Manco Capac, the first Inca, was a Christian, and had in her service William Bouchier, a goldsmith, and Basilicus, the son of an Englishman born in Hungary. It is therefore highly probable that this cross accompanied Manco Capac.[107 - Concerning the Mongolian origin of the Peruvians, see: Ranking's Hist. Researches. Almost all other writers who have touched on this subject, are indebted to Mr Ranking for their information and ideas. See also Humboldt, Exam. Crit., tom. ii., p. 67, et seq.; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 293-4; Forster's Voyage Round the World. Grotius thinks that the Peruvians must be distinct from other American people, since they are so acute, and believes them, therefore, to be descended from the Chinese. Wrecks of Chinese junks have been found on the coast. Both adore the sun, and call the king the 'son of the sun.' Both use hieroglyphics which are read from above downwards. Manco Capac was a Chinaman who gave these settlers a government founded on the Chinese system. Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 32-3. De Laet, replying to these arguments, considers that the acuteness of the Peruvians does not approach that of the Chinese. Nowhere in Peru have the cunning and artistic works of Chinese artificers been seen. The Chinese junks were too frail to withstand a storm that could drive them across the Pacific. And if the voyage were intentional they would have sought nearer land than the coasts of Mexico or Peru. The religion of the two countries differs materially; so does their writing. Manco Capac was a native Peruvian who ruled four hundred years before the coming of the Spaniards. Novus Orbis, in Id., pp. 33-4. Mr Cronise, in his Natural Wealth of California, p. 28, et seq., is more positive on this subject than any writer I have yet encountered. I am at a loss to know why this should be, because I have before me the works that he consulted, and I certainly find nothing to warrant his very strong assertions. I quote a few passages from his work. 'The investigations of ethnologists and philologists who have studied the Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese annals during the present century, have brought to light such a chain of evidence as to place beyond doubt that the inhabitants of Mexico and California, discovered by the Spaniards, were of Mongolian origin.' Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese annals all agree that the fleet of Kublai Khan, son of Genghis Khan, was wrecked on the coast of America. 'There are proofs clear and certain, that Mango Capac, the founder of the Peruvian nation, was the son of Kublai Khan … and that the ancestors of Montezuma, of Mexico, who were from Assam, arrived about the same time… Every custom of the Mexicans, described by their Spanish conquerors, proves their Asiatic origin… The strange hieroglyphics found in so many places in Mexico, and from California to Canada, are all of Mongolian origin'… 'Humboldt, many years ago, conjectured that these hieroglyphics were of Tartar origin. It is now positively known that they are… The armor belonging to Montezuma, which was obtained by Cortez and is now in the museum at Madrid, is known to be of Asiatic manufacture, and to have belonged to one of Kublai Khan's generals.' It is unnecessary to multiply quotations, or to further criticise a work so grossly misleading. The following unique assertion is a fair specimen of Mr Cronise's vagaries when treading on unfamiliar ground: '"Alta," the prefix which distinguishes Upper from Lower California, is a word of Mongolian origin, signifying "gold."' The most superficial knowledge of Spanish or of the history of California, would have told Mr Cronise that 'alta' simply means 'high,' or 'upper,' and that the name was applied to what was originally termed 'New' California, in contradistinction to 'Baja' or 'Lower' California.]

PERUVIAN GIANTS

I have stated above that the Peruvians preserved no record of having come originally from China. They had a tradition, however, concerning certain foreigners who came by sea to their country, which may be worth repeating; Garcilasso de la Vega gives this tradition as he himself heard it in Peru. They affirm, he says, in all Peru, that certain giants came by sea to the cape now called St Helen's, in large barks made of rushes. These giants were so enormously tall that ordinary men reached no higher than their knees; their long, disheveled hair covered their shoulders; their eyes were as big as saucers, and the other parts of their bodies were of correspondingly colossal proportions. They were beardless; some of them were naked, others were clothed in the skins of wild beasts; there were no women with them. Having landed at the cape, they established themselves at a spot in the desert, and dug deep wells in the rock, which at this day continue to afford excellent water. They lived by rapine, and soon desolated the whole country. Their appetites and gluttony were such that it is said one of them would eat as much as fifty ordinary persons. They massacred the men of the neighboring parts without mercy, and killed the women by their brutal violations. At last, after having for a long time tyrannized over the country and committed all manner of enormities, they were suddenly destroyed by fire from heaven, and an angel armed with a flaming sword. As an eternal monument of divine vengeance, their bones remained unconsumed, and may be seen at the present day. As for the rest, it is not known from what place they came, nor by what route they arrived.[108 - This relation, says Ranking, 'has naturally enough been considered by Robertson and others as a ridiculous fable; and any reader would be inclined to treat it as such, were it not accounted for by the invasion of Japan, and the very numerous and convincing proofs of the identity of the Mongols and the Incas.' Hist. Researches, p. 55. He thinks that the giants were the Mongolian invaders, mounted upon the elephants which they brought with them. 'The elephants,' he says, 'would, no doubt, be defended by their usual armor on such an extraordinary occasion, and the space for the eyes would appear monstrous. The remark about the beards, &c., shows that the man and the elephant were considered as one person. It is a new and curious folio edition of the Centaurs and Lapithæ; and we cannot wonder that, on such a novel occasion, Cape St. Helen's did not produce an American Theseus.' Id., pp. 53-4.]

There is also a native account of the arrival of Manco Capac, in which he figures simply a culture-hero. The story closely resembles those told of the appearance and acts of the apostles Cukulcan, Wixepecocha, and others, and need not be repeated here.[109 - See Ranking's Hist. Researches, p. 56, et seq.; Warden, Recherches, pp. 187-9.]

THE CHINESE FROM PERU

Mr Charles Wolcott Brooks, Japanese consul in San Francisco, a most learned gentleman, and especially well versed in Oriental lore, has kindly presented me with a MS. prepared by himself, in which are condensed the results of twenty-five years' study of the history of the eastern Asiatic nations, and their possible communication with American continent.[110 - Origin of the Japanese Race, and their Relation to the American Continent, MS.] He recognizes many striking analogies between the Chinese and the Peruvians, but arrives at a conclusion respecting the relation between the two nations, the exact reverse of that discussed in the preceding paragraphs. His theory is that the Chinese came originally from Peru, and not the Peruvians from China. He uses, to support his argument, many of the resemblances in customs, etc., of which Ranking and others have availed themselves to prove an exactly opposite theory, and adds that, as in those early times the passage of the Pacific could only have been made under the most favorable circumstances and with the assistance of fair winds, it would be impossible, owing to the action of the SE. and NE. trade-winds for such a passage to have been made, either intentionally or accidentally, from China to Peru, while on the other hand, if a large craft were placed before the wind and set adrift from the Peruvian coast, there is a strong probability that it would drive straight on to the southern coast of China.[111 - See report of a lecture read by Charles Wolcott Brooks before the California Academy of Science, in Daily Alta California, May 4, 1875; San Francisco Evening Bulletin, same date.]

JAPANESE WRECKS ON THE AMERICAN COAST

A Japanese origin or at least a strong infusion of Japanese blood, has been attributed to the tribes of the north-west coasts. There is nothing improbable in this; indeed, there is every reason to believe that on various occasions small parties of Japanese have reached the American continent, have married the women of the country, and necessarily left the impress of their ideas and physical peculiarities upon their descendants. Probably these visits were all, without exception, accidental; but that they have occurred in great numbers is certain. There have been a great many instances of Japanese junks drifting upon the American coast, many of them after having floated helplessly about for many months. Mr Brooks gives forty-one particular instances of such wrecks, beginning in 1782, twenty-eight of which date since 1850.[112 - See report of paper submitted by Mr Brooks to the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco Evening Bulletin, March 2, 1875. In this report the details and date of each wreck are given. The author of the paper assures me that he has records of over one hundred such disasters. Every one of these wrecks, when examined, proved to be Japanese, and not one Chinese. See also Irving's Bonneville's Adven., p. 427; Smith's Human Species, p. 239; Roquefeuil, in Nouvelles Annales des Voy., 1823, tom. xviii., pp. 248-9; Anderson, in Hist. Mag., vol. vii., pp. 80-1; Lassepas, Baja Cal., pp. 45-6.] Only twelve of the whole number were deserted. In a majority of cases the survivors remained permanently at the place where the waves had brought them. There is no record in existence of a Japanese woman having been saved from a wreck. A great many Japanese words are to be found in the Chinook jargon, but in all cases abbreviated, as if coming from a foreign source, while the construction of the two languages is dissimilar.[113 - Id.Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 216-7. 'Looking only at the forms and endings of the words, their ring and sounds when uttered, we could not but notice the striking similarity, in these respects, between the proper names as found on the map of Japan, and many of the names given to places, rivers, etc., in this country.' (America.) Rockwell, in Hist. Mag., n. s., vol. iii., p. 141.] The reasons for the presence of Japanese and the absence of Chinese junks are simple. There is a current of cold water setting from the Arctic ocean south along the east coast of Asia, which drives all the Chinese wrecks south. The Kuro Siwo, or 'black stream,' commonly known as the Japan current, runs northwards past the eastern coast of the Japan islands, then curves round to the east and south, sweeping the whole west coast of North America, a branch, or eddy, moving towards the Sandwich Islands. A drifting wreck would be carried towards the American coast at an average rate of ten miles a day by this current. To explain the frequent occurrence of these wrecks Mr Brooks refers to an old Japanese law. About the year 1630, the Japanese government adopted its deliberate policy of exclusion of foreigners and seclusion of its own people. To keep the latter from visiting foreign countries, and to confine their voyages to smooth water and the coasting trade, a law was passed ordering all junks to be built with open sterns and large square rudders unfit to stand any heavy sea. The January monsoons from the north-east are apt to blow any unlucky coaster which happens to be out straight into the Kuro Siwo, the huge rudders are soon washed away, and the vessels, falling into the trough of the sea, roll their masts overboard. Every January there are numbers of these disasters of which no record is kept. About one third of these vessels, it seems, drift to the Sandwich Islands, the remainder to North America, where they scatter along the coast from Alaska to California. How many years this has been going on can only be left to conjecture. The information given by Mr Brooks is of great value, owing to his thorough acquaintance with the subject, the intelligent study of which has been a labor of love with him for so many years. And his theory with regard to the Japanese carries all the more weight, in my opinion, in that he does not attempt to account for the similarities that exist between that people and the Americans by an immigration en masse, but by a constant infusion of Japanese blood and customs through a series of years, sufficient to modify the original stock, wherever that came from.

I have already stated that traces of the Japanese language have been found among the coast tribes. There is also some physical resemblance.[114 - There were in California at the time of the Conquest, Indians of various races, some of the Japanese type. Vallejo, Hist. Cal., MS., tom. i., p. 3; Vallejo, Remin. Cal., MS., p. 6. The Aleutian Islanders resemble the Japanese in various respects. Simpson's Nar., vol. ii., p. 228. Priest, Amer. Antiq., p. 214, thinks that Quetzalcoatl may be regarded as a Japanese, as comparatively white and bearded.] Viollet-le-Duc points out some striking resemblances between the temples of Japan and Central America.[115 - Introduction to Charnay, Ruines Amér., pp. 28-31.] It is asserted that the people of Japan had a knowledge of the American continent and that it was marked down on their maps. Montanus tells us that three ship-captains named Henrik Corneliszoon, Schaep, and Wilhelm Byleveld, were taken prisoners by the Japanese and carried to Jeddo, where they were shown a sea chart, on which America was drawn as a mountainous country adjoining Tartary on the north.[116 - Nieuwe Weereld, p. 39.] Of course the natives have the usual tradition that strangers came among them long before the advent of the Europeans.[117 - Lord's Nat., vol. ii., p. 217.]

The theory that America, or at least the north-western part of it, was peopled by the 'Tartars' or tribes of north-western Asia, is supported by many authors. There certainly is no reason why they should not have crossed Bering Strait from Asia, the passage is easy enough; nor is there any reason why they should not have crossed by the same route to Asia, and peopled the north-western part of that continent. The customs, manner of life, and physical appearance of the natives on both sides of the straits are almost identical, as a multitude of witnesses testify, and it seems absurd to argue the question from any point. Of course, Bering Strait may have served to admit other nations besides the people inhabiting its shores into America, and in such cases there is more room for discussion.[118 - See: Ampère, Prom. en Amér., tom. ii., pp. 300-4; Atwater, in Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact., vol. i., pp. 212-14, 338-42; Montanus, Nieuwe Weereld, pp. 38-42; Priest's Amer. Antiq., pp. 58-9; Religious Cer. and Cust., vol. iii., pp. 4-10; Robertson's Hist. Amer., vol. i., pp. 277-81; Vigne's Travels, vol. ii., pp. 37-8; Gage's New Survey, p. 162; Domenech's Deserts, vol. i., pp. 7-9; Farcy, Discours, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. i., p. 45; Humboldt, Essai Pol., tom. i., pp. 79-80; Adair's Amer. Ind., pp. 12-13; Norman's Rambles by Land and Water, pp. 215-16; Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 267; Vater, Ueber Amer. Bevölkerung, pp. 155-69, cited in Humboldt, Vues, tom. i., p. 175; Laplace, Circumnav., tom. vi., p. 156; Warden, Recherches, pp. 201-2; Josselyn's Two Voyages; Williamson's Observations on Climate; Hill's Antiq. of Amer.; Ixtlilxochitl, Relaciones, in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. ix., pp. 392-3, 450; Foster's Pre-Hist. Races, pp. 334-5; Volney's View; Bossu, Nouveaux Voy.; Slight's Indian Researches; Carver's Trav., pp. 187-96, 208-19; Fontaine's How the World was Peopled, pp. 241-5; Las Casas, Hist. Apologética, cap. ccix., quoted in Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq., vol. viii., pp. 398-9; Delafield's Antiq. Amer., pp. 13-104; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., pp. 293-4; Monglave, in Antiq. Mex., tom. i., div. i., p. 60; Heylyn's Cosmog., p. 947; Norman's Rambles in Yuc., p. 174.]

THE EGYPTIAN THEORY

We may now consider that theory which supposes the civilized peoples of America to be of Egyptian origin, or, at least, to have derived their arts and culture from Egypt. This supposition is based mainly on certain analogies which have been thought to exist between the architecture, hieroglyphics, methods of computing time, and, to a less extent, customs, of the two countries. Few of these analogies will, however, bear close investigation, and even where they will, they can hardly be said to prove anything. I find no writer who goes so far as to affirm that the New World was actually peopled from Egypt; we shall, therefore, have to regard this merely as a culture-theory, the original introduction of human life into the continent in no way depending upon its truth or fallacy.

The architectural feature which has attracted most attention is the pyramid, which to some writers is of itself conclusive proof of an Egyptian origin. The points of resemblance, as given by those in favor of this theory, are worth studying. García y Cubas claims the following analogies between Teotihuacan and the Egyptian pyramids: the site chosen is the same; the structures are oriented with slight variation; the line through the centre of the pyramids is in the 'astronomical meridian;' the construction in grades and steps is the same; in both cases the larger pyramids are dedicated to the sun; the Nile has a 'valley of the dead,' as at Teotihuacan there is a 'street of the dead;' some monuments of each class have the nature of fortifications; the smaller mounds are of the same nature and for the same purpose; both pyramids have a small mound joined to one of their faces; the openings discovered in the Pyramid of the Moon are also found in some Egyptian pyramids; the interior arrangement of the pyramids is analogous.[119 - Ensayo de un Estudio comparativo.]

EGYPTIAN AND AMERICAN PYRAMIDS

The two great pyramids of Teotihuacan, dedicated to the sun and moon, are surrounded by several hundreds of small pyramids. Delafield remarks that the pyramids of Gizeh, in Egypt, are also surrounded by smaller edifices in regular order, and closely correspond in arrangement to those of Teotihuacan.[120 - Delafield's Antiq. Amer., p. 57.] The construction of these two pyramids recalls to Mr Ranking's mind that of "one of the Egyptian pyramids of Sakhara, which has six stories; and which, according to Pocock, is a mass of pebbles and yellow mortar, covered on the outside with rough stones."[121 - Ranking's Hist. Researches, p. 356.] In some few instances human remains have been found in American pyramids, though never in such a position as to convey the idea that the structure had been built expressly for their reception, as was the case in Egypt. It is but fair to add, however, that no pyramid has yet been opened to its centre, or, indeed, in any way properly explored as to its interior, and that a great many of them are known to have interior galleries and passages, though these were not used as sepulchres. In one instance, at Copan, a vault was discovered in the side of a pyramidal structure; on the floor, and in two small niches, were a number of red earthen-ware vessels, containing human bones packed in lime; scattered about were shells, cave stalactites, and stone knives; three heads were also found, one of them "apparently representing death, its eyes being nearly shut, and the lower features distorted; the back of the head symmetrically perforated by holes; the whole of most exquisite workmanship, and cut or cast from a fine stone covered with green enamel."[122 - See vol. iv., pp. 88, 95-6, for further description, also plan of Copan ruins, p. 85, for location of vault. Jones, commenting on the above, remarks: 'This last sentence brings us to a specimen of Gem engraving, the most ancient of all the antique works of Art. Not only is the death "Chamber" identical with that of Egypt, but also the very way of reaching it – viz., first, by ascending the pyramidal base, and then descending, and so entering the Sepulchre! This could not be accidental, – the builders of that pyramidal Sepulchre must have had a knowledge of Egypt.' Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 116-17. Stephens, who in his first volume of travels in Central America, p. 144, describes this vault, writes in vol. ii., pp. 439-40: 'The pyramids of Egypt are known to have interior chambers, and, whatever their other uses, to have been intended and used as sepulchres. These (American pyramids), on the contrary, are of solid earth and stone. No interior chambers have ever been discovered, and probably none exist.' Mr Jones criticises Mr Stephens very severely for this apparent contradiction, but it is customary with Mr Jones to tilt blindly at whatever obstructs his theories. Stephens doubtless refers in this passage to such chambers as would lead one to suppose that the pyramid was built as a token of their presence. Löwenstern is very positive that the Mexican pyramid was not intended for sepulchral purposes. Mexique, p. 274. Clavigero is of the same opinion: 'quelli degli Egizj erano per lo più vuoti; quelli de' Messicani massiccj; questi servivano di basi a' loro Santuarj; quelli di sepolcri de' Re.' Storia Ant. del Messico, tom. iv., pp. 19-20. Foster, on the other hand, writes: 'There are those who, in the truncated pyramids, see evidences of Egyptian origin. The pyramids, like the temple-mounds, were used for sepulchres, but here the analogy ends.' Pre-Hist. Races, p. 187.] In the great pyramid of Cholula, also, an excavation made in building the Puebla road, which cut off a corner of the lower terrace, not only disclosed to view the interior construction of the pyramid, but also laid bare a tomb containing two skeletons and two idols of basalt, a collection of pottery, and other relics. The sepulchre was square, with stone walls, supported with cypress beams. The dimensions are not given, but no traces of any outlet were found.[123 - See vol. iv., p. 474.] There are, besides, traditions among the natives of the existence of interior galleries and apartments of great extent within this mound. Thus we see that in some instances the dead were deposited in pyramids, though there is not sufficient evidence to show that these structures were originally built for this purpose.

ARCHITECTURAL ANALOGIES

Herodotus tells us that in his time the great pyramid of Cheops was coated with polished stone, in such a manner as to present a smooth surface on all its sides from the base to the top; in the upper part of the pyramid of Cephren the casing-stones have remained in their places to the present day. No American pyramid with smooth sides has as yet been discovered, and of this fact those who reject the Egyptian theory have not failed to avail themselves.[124 - Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. ii., p. 440.] It is nevertheless probable that many of the American pyramids had originally smooth sides, though, at the present day, time and the growth of dense tropical vegetation have rendered the very shape of the structures scarcely recognizable.[125 - The reader can compare the various accounts of pyramidal structures given in vol. iv. on this point. See heading 'pyramid,' in Index.] It is further objected that while the American pyramids exhibit various forms, all are truncated, and were erected merely to serve as foundations for other buildings, those of Egypt are of uniform shape, "rising and diminishing until they come to a point,"[126 - Stephens' Cent. Amer., vol. ii., p. 439.] and are not known to have ever served as a base for temple or palace. It is, however, not certain, judging from facts visible at the present day, that all the Egyptian pyramids did rise to a point. Again, it is almost certain that the American pyramid was not always used as a foundation for a superimposed building, but that it was frequently complete in itself. In many of the ruined cities of Yucatan one or more pyramids have been found upon the summit of which no traces of any building could be discovered, although upon the pyramids by which these were surrounded portions of superimposed edifices still remained. There is, also, some reason to believe that perfect pyramids were constructed in America. As has been seen in the preceding volume, Waldeck found near Palenque two pyramids, which he describes as having been at the time in a state of perfect preservation, square at the base, pointed at the top, and thirty-one feet high, their sides forming equilateral triangles. Delafield[127 - Antiq. Amer., p. 56.] remarks that a simple mound would first suggest the pyramid, and that from this the more finished and permanent structure would grow; which is true enough. But if we are to believe, as is stated, that the American pyramids grew from such beginnings as the Mississippi mounds, then what reason can there be in comparing the pyramids of Teotihuacan with those of Gizeh in Egypt. For if the Egyptian colonists, at the time of their emigration to America, had advanced no further toward the perfect pyramid than the mound-building stage, would it not be the merest coincidence if the finished pyramidal structures in one country, the result of centuries of improvement, should resemble those of the other country in any but the most general features? Finally, pyramidal edifices were common in Asia as well as in Northern Africa, and it may be said that the American pyramids are as much like the former as they are like the latter.[128 - Humboldt reviews the points of resemblance and comes to the conclusion that they afford no foundation upon which to base a theory of Egyptian origin. Vues, tom. i., pp. 120-4. 'There is much in the shape, proportions and sculptures of this pyramid (Xochicalco) to connect its architects with the Egyptians.' Mayer's Mex. as it Was, p. 186. Bradford finds that some 'of the Egyptian pyramids, and those which with some reason it has been supposed are the most ancient, are precisely similar to the Mexican Teocalli.' But he only sees Egyptian traces in this; he shows that similar pyramidal structures have been found in very many parts of the world; and he believes the Americans to have originated from many sources and stocks. See Amer. Antiq., p. 423.]

In its general features, American architecture does not offer any strong resemblances to the Egyptian. The upholders of the theory find traces of the latter people in certain round columns found at Uxmal, Mitla, Quemada, and other places; in the general massiveness of the structures; and in the fact that the vermilion dye on many of the ruins was a favorite color in Egypt.[129 - See vol. iv., chap. v., vii., and x. Quoting from Molina, Hist. Chili, tom. i., notes, p. 169, M'Culloh writes: 'Between the hills of Mendoza and La Punta, upon a low range of hills, is a pillar of stone one hundred and fifty feet high, and twelve in diameter.' 'This,' he adds, 'very much reminds us of the pillar and obelisks of ancient Egypt.' Researches, pp. 171-2. Jones, Hist. Anc. Amer., pp. 122-3, is very confident about the obelisk. He asks: 'What are the Obelisks of Egypt? Are they not square columns for the facility of Sculpture? And of what form are the isolated columns at Copan? Are they not square, and for the same purpose of facility in Sculpture with which they are covered, and with workmanship "as fine as that of Egypt?"… The columns of Copan stand detached and solitary, – the Obelisks of Egypt do the same, and both are square (or four-sided) and covered with the art of the Sculptor. The analogy of being derived from the Nile is perfect, – for in what other Ruins but those of Egypt, and Ancient America, is the square sculptured Column to be found?'] Humboldt, speaking of a ruined structure at Mitla, says: "the distribution of the apartments of this singular edifice, bears a striking analogy to what has been remarked in the monuments of Upper Egypt, drawn by M. Denon, and the savans who compose the institute of Cairo."[130 - Essai Pol., tom. i., p. 265. Notwithstanding certain points of resemblance, says Prescott, 'the Palenque architecture has little to remind us of the Egyptian, or of the Oriental. It is, indeed, more conformable, in the perpendicular elevation of the walls, the moderate size of the stones, and the general arrangement of the posts, to the European. It must be admitted, however, to have a character of originality peculiar to itself.' Mex., vol. iii., pp. 407-8.]

SCULPTURE AND HIEROGLYPHICS