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BY ED\yARD P. VINING. " If Buddhist priests were really the first men who, within the scodc of later be proved. Nothing can escape history that belongs to it."-LELAND. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 8, AJ)D 6 BOND 8TUEET. 1885. B.I if V7 68414 w N I }j r / ^.P CoPTBiuirr, 1885, Bt EDWARD P. VININO. TO HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT, AS A TOKEN OF APPBBCIATION OF THE CONSCIENTIOUS LABOUR BESTOWED UPON niS " NATIVE BACE8 OP THE PACIFIC STATES " AND THE OTHER VOLUMES OF niS HISTORIES OF THE PACIFIC STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLT DEDICATED. PREFACE. That there are many who could have done mueli better than myself the work which I have undertaken to do, I am well aware ; but, as those who are more competent liuv^e failed to give to th'^ Chinese records of a distanl, eastern land that careful study which thoy seem to me to demand, I have thought it best to publish the results of my own examination of the subject. It does not appear unjust to former writers upon the sub- ject to call attention to the fact that, with the noteworthy ex- ception of Mr. Leland, they have paid but little attention to the history or characteristics of the country lying in the direc- tion and at the distance from China indicated by the Chinese as the location of the lands to which they gave the names of " Fu-sang " and the " Country of Women " ; and yet a care- ful examination of the descriptions of this region of the world given by other authorities, and their comparison with the de- tails of the Chinese account, and with the minutiae of Asiatic civilization, are almost the only means by which the truth or falsity of the Chinese records can be established. The com- parisons of this nature, made from such data as I have been able tc obtain, reveal so many peculiar coincidences and remove so many difficulties over which earlier investigators have stum- bled, that the hypothesis that thfi Chinese account was derived from a traveler who had visited Mexico is rendered almost infinitely mors probable than any other conjecture that can be entertained upon the subject. It is true that some objec- tions etill remain, but the few statements that it seems difficult PREFACE. to explain are far outweighed by tlio evidence presented by the numerous details of tlie account which are proved to bo true. The explanations suggested as to some doubtful points might seem mere plausible if they were confined to that eluci- dation of the difficulty which, upon the whole, appears to bo its most probable solution. I have preferred, however, to note all possible explanations that have suggested themselves to me, believing that in some cases the truth which further investigation will reveal may possibly lie in some interpre- tation which now seems improbable. Errors will undoubtedly be found in this work, but I have hoped to excite sufficient interest in the question under ex- amination to induce more competent scholars to bring the truth to light regarding those points as to which 1 have failed. I am confident, however, that, after the elimination of all errors, it will bo found that the great mass of evidence that is presented that America was discovered in the fifth century of the Christian era remains practically untouched ; and that as a whole the work will be much easier to ignore than to answer by those who may differ from its conclusions. All attempts to establish a truth which has not been gener- ally received are met by the difficulty that it is almost impos- sible to interest in the subject those who have formerly paid no attention to it, and that those who have studied it are strongly tempted by a natural regard for their own self-com- placency to deny that there is anything more in the subject than they have been able to perceive for themselves. I, there- fore, can not hope that my views will immediately meet with general acceptance; but that their truth will ultimately be recognized, I can not doubt. Some quotations have been made at second-hand, and from authorities which I would not have given if I had had easy access to a better library than my own ; and some books which I desired to consult I have not been able to obtain. Due al- lowance should be made for these facts. It is proper that I should express my thanks for the kind responses which I have received to my applications for assist- ance and information from many to whom I was unknown, PREFACE. tii scnted by vcd to bo iul po»»^8 that eluci- cars to bo [)wever, to tbemselvcB ieb further 10 interpre- , but I bavo n under cx- to bring the hich i bavo jUmination of evidence that . fifth century lied; and that crnore than to iions. ot been gener- almost impos- f ormcrly paid Btndied it are own self-cora- lin the subject jlves. I,there- iteiy meet with ultimately be [hand, and from had had easy -ne books which [btain. I>«eal- ^ks for the kind ations for assist- -v^aa unknown, and wlio may have believed my convictions upon the subject under investigation to be but poorly founded. Among those to whom I am indebted may be named Mr. II. II. Bancroft and his assistants, Messrs. Henry L. Oak, John II. Gihnour, and John Donovan. Mr. Addison Van Name, Librarian of Yale College, Mr. George 13ullen, Keeper of the Printed Books of the British Museum, and Mr. I. A. Leonard, of the Astor Lil)rary, have assisted me to obtain information from a few works not found in my own library. Mr. Kwong Ki Chiu, formerly Secretary of the Chinese Board of Educa- tion, Mr. Saum Song Bo, a graduate of the Chicago University, and Mr. John E. Vrooman, Translator of Chinese at tho United States Custom-IIouso of San Francisco, have explained doubtful passages in the Chinese text to me. They should not be held responsible, however, for any errors that may bo thought to exist in my translation. Mr. Charles G. Leland, M. tho Marquis d'i: ervey do Saint-Denys, and the late Pro- fessor S. Wells Williams gave me permission to quote from their works. Professors Spencer F. Baird, Asa Gray, AVilliam II. Brew- er, O. C. Marsh, and Edward D. Cope, the Rev. Joseph Ed- kins, the Right Rev. Channing M. Williams, Dr. Felix L. Oswald, Dr. D. G. Brinton, Messi's. Edward L. Morse and J. II. Trumbull, the late W. R. Morley, Chief Engineer of the Sonora Railroad, Mr. W. H. Pratt, Secretary of the Daven- port Academy of Natural Sciences, Mr. A. Knoflach, formerly of San Francisco, Mr. AV. W. Rhodes, formerly of the city of Mexico, and Messrs. Maisonneuve et Cie., of Paris, have all rendered me kind assistance, as have also the lions. Lucius II. Footc, Minister to Corea, Percival Lowell, Secretary of tho Corean Embassy, David H. Strother, Consul-Gcneral at the city of Mexico, Joseph D. Iloff, Consul at Coatzacoalcos, and John A. Sutter, Jr., Consul at Acapulco. To all, my thanks are due. Edward P. Vimno. Cbicaqo, III., U. S. A., March 3, 1885. ILLUSTRATIOIITS. no. Map. Route followed hy Uwoi Shan 1. An Lmaoe or Duddiia . 2. Uas-rklibit found at Palenqui 3. ScuLPTunE FROM Imla.nd or Cyprus 4. Sculpture found at Uxual 6. Ornament adotr a Door at Ooosinoo 6. Aureola adout Head of Idol 7. Altar found at Palenque . 8. Seated Fiqurk found at Uxmal . 0. Figure of Duddra at Ellora 10. Two Plants described as "TnEEd" 11. A Century-plant in Blossom 12. The T'uno-treb and the Wild Mulderrt . 13. Bamooo-sprouts 14. Punishment or a Criminal by the Aztecs . 15. Mount Iztaccihuatl, or "the White Woman" 10. An Aztec Mirror 17. An Im.vgb found in Campeachy . IS. Sculptured Tablet at Falenqub 19. Another Representation of Tablet at Palesque 20. Beau-relief in Stucco at Palenque . 21. Detail of Facade of a Building at Uxmal 22. A Mexican Image, said to represent Quetzalcoatl 23. The Temple of Boro-Budor in Java . 24. The " Palace," or Temple, at Palenque 25. The Elephant's-head IIead-dri:ss . 26. Drawing of an Elephant's Head 27. Elephant-pipe found in a Field 28. Elephant-pipe found in a Mound 29. The "Elephant-mound" of Wisconsin . 30. Bitara GAna, or Ganksa 31. An Aztec God, said to be Teoyaomiqui PAOI Frontispiece . 128 . 128 . 129 . 129 . 130 . 132 . 1S3 . 134 . 135 . 383 . 385 . 387 . 389 . 465 . 607 . 623 . 671 . 691 . 692 . 593 . 694 . 695 . 603 . 603 . C07 . 608 . 609 . 609 . 611 . 612 . 613 coxte:n^ts. CUAPTEll I. iNTnonrcTORY ........ Tlie birth of HiitlillKi — His titles — U\n ihiuncfor — Ilin rcli;;iouH iHlicf — Ilia univci'siil charity — Ills life us a iiei'mit — Thi! discovory wliicli he iiiiaR- iiK'd that lio iiuil niadu — Dcsiiv tliat all Hhoultl siiarc its beiiefit.t — Hid coinniaiul to I'vaiigulizc the uorlti — The coiiipiiimcc of his dlM'iiik's — The dispersion from India — Countries visited — Tmees of the reli;;ioii in Kiiropo — Also thn»i;^hout Asia — Ami in Alaska — The wanileiiiigs of Buddhist priests — Few records preserved — Ease of journey from Asia to America — The (Julf-Streum of the Tacitic — Shipw recks on the Kurilo and Aleutian Islands — lleeords of journeys of Ihiddhist priests — Their reliuhilify and value — A Chinese record of a visit to an Eastern country — Iicasons for ereditinj; the account — Object of this work — Previous dis- -The discovery made by do PAOB 1 seur de Hon d'llervoy do Wells Williams. iclcs by MM. Perez, \ ivieii de >aint-Martin, d Lichthal, liras- l•bour^', (lodion, .Tones, Urown, Simson, IJrctschneider, Aduin, ! Saiut-Denys, Lobacheid, Channlng M. Williams, and S. CHAPTER II. De GnoN'Es's Discovert ...... Chinese voynpos — Knowledf?c of forciirn lands — Work of Li-yon, a Chincso historian — The cotmtry of Fu-sang — The length of the // — Wen-shin — Its identification with Jesso — Ta-han — Its idontification with Kamtchatka — The route to Ta-han by land — The country of the Ko-li-han — The She- goei — The Yu-che — Description of Kamtchatka — The land of Licu-kuei — The description of Fu-sang — No other knowledge of the country — The Pacific coast of North America — A Japanese map — The Kingdom of Women — Its description — Shipwreck of a Chinese vessel — American traditions — Civilization of American tribes on the Pacific coast — The Mexicans — Horses — Cattle — The fu-sang tree — Mexican writing — Man- ner in which America was peopled — Similarity of customs in Asia and America — Resemblances in the people — Charlevoix's storj' — Natives floated upon cakes of ice — The kingdom of Chang-jin — Voyages of other nations — The Arabs — Exploration of the Atlantic — The Canaries — Story of their king — The Cape Verd Islands — Conclusion. B 18 CONTEXTS. CUAPTER III. Klaphoth's Dissent FAOB 31) Titlco' (le Guignes's article incorrect — Translation of the nccotintof Fusniiff — Vines and horses not found in Aniericii — Route to Japan — Lengtl\ of tlie // — Identification of \Ven-«hiii witii Jesse — Ta-han idcntitied with Taraikai or Saglialien — The route to Ta-han by land— Tiic Shij-ii'd — J.'uu-kud — Fn-naiiff south of Tgraphy and cthnoh)gj — The unity of the Tartars and Ked-skins — Amciican languages — The Tunguses, or Eastern barba- rians — The /'(-/«, or Northern IJarbarians — The Aiuos, or .Tebis, and the Negritos — The Wmshin, or Pictured-peoplc — Embassies between China am' Japan — The Country of Dwarfs — The Chinese " liook of Mvyiintains and Sens " — Information given by a Japanese emhassiidor — Knmtehatka, the Tchuktchi, and the Aleuts — Lieu kuci — The Icng'h of the /(' — /,/(«- kuci, a peninsula — The land of the Jc-Uluty — The natives of Kamtehat- ka — Their dwellings— Their clothing — The dimi'te — The animals of the country — The customs of the people — The country of the Wcn-xhiu identi- fied with tlie Aleutian Islands — Ta-han, or Alaska — 'Ihe kingdom of Fu- sang and its inhabitants — The Amazons — Fusancf identilied with tho western portion of America called Mexico — The fu-mixj tree — Only one voyage made — Chinese accounts of Fn-xaiir/ — The distance from Ta-han, or Alaska indicates that F'u-sanef is Mexico— The oldest history of America — l^uecessive tribes — The ruins of Witla and Palcnrpie — Some- thing of earlier races to bo learned from the condition of the Aztecs — Pyramidical monuments — If Ihuldhism existed in America, it was an im- pure form — The myth of Iluitzilopochtli — The^M-.w»f/, the maguey, or Agitvc Americana — Connection between, the Horaof America and that of Asia — Metals and monej- — Laws and customs of the Aztecs — Domestic animals — Horses — Oxen — Stag-horns — Chinese and Japanese in the Hawaiian group and in Northwestern America — Shipwrecks upon the American coast — The voyages of the Japanese. CHAPTER Vn. The Arocments of Mm. Pei:ez and Godijon . . . 10-4 Knowledge of America possessed by the Chinese— The Country of Women — Other travelers relate incredible stories — Klaproth's argument — The account contained in the Jajjancse Er<'yeloi)aHlia — Note denying that Fusnug is Japan — Weakness of Klaproth's argument — Identity of names of cities in Asia and Ameiica — American languages — Resemblance of the Tartars to the Aborigines of America — Similitude of customs — A Buddhist mission to America in the lifth century — The Chinese able to measure distances, and possessed of the compass — The musk-oxen and bisons of America — Horses — Names of European animals misapplied to American animals — The "horse-deer" of America — Vinos — The dilli- culty in identifying the fusang tree — Iron and copper in America and Jajjan. CHAPTER VIII. D'Eichtiial's "STrDv" 119 The Buddhistic origin of American civilization — The geographical relations between Northeastern Asia and Northwestern America — The memoirs of de Guignos and Klaproth — If F'u-snug was in Japan, there is no rocui for the "Country of Women" — The Japanese deny that Fu-snng was ir their country — De Guignes's n.iip — The ease of a voyage from Asia to Xll CONTEXTS. America — The warm current of the Pacific Ocean — The Aleutian Islands — Voyages of the natives — The civilization of New Mexico— A white population — Copheue — Huddliisin — How it is inoditied aiul propagated — Its al)sorption of the doctrines of otlier religious — its (irosi'lytisni — Its religious communities — The route from CopUene to Fu-sany — A IJud- dhist sanctuary at Palcnciue — Description of Stephens — An inuige of Buddha — The liou-headcd couch — Tlie winged glo!-e — The aureola about the figure — Decadence in art — The altars upon which flowers and fruits are offered — Keply to observations of M. Vivien dc Saint-Martin — The two routes to 7'((-//i(«— Tiiat country located near the nioutli of the Amoor Uivei- — Traces of liuddhism in that neighbourliood — Kase of voyage to the Aleut iiin islands — Klaproth's theory untciiabh — No other hypothesis remaining tliau that Fusaiii/ must be sought in Anierit .. PAOI CIIAPTEU IX. Coincidences Xoteh by IIumhoi.dt, Lobscheid, and Pbescott Extracts from the " Views of tlie Cordilleras " — Similarity of Asiatic and American civilizations — The struggles of the Brahmans and Buddhists — The divisions of the great cycles — The Mexicans designated the days of their months by the names of the zodiacal si^^ns used in Eastern Asia — Cipaetli and Capricornus — Table of resemble ices — The tiger and monkey found only in southern countries — The Aztec migration from the north — Resemblance between certain Slexiean and Tartarian words — The cutting-stones of the Aztecs — The sign Oilin and the foot-prints of Vish- nu — Etl'eets of a mixture of several nations — Changes resulting from changed circumstances and lapse of time— Analogies in religious cus- toms — Analogy in the fables regarding the destructions of the universe — Lohscheid's reasons for thinking the American Indians to be one race with the Japanese and Eastern Asiatics — Similarity of customs — Tiles — Anchors — The route from Asia to America— Shipwrecks of fishing- b jats — IIead-(lre«ses — Languages — Ileligion — Customs — Marriage sol- enmized l)y tying the garments together — Extracts from Prescott's " His- tory of the Con(|uest of Jlexico" — Analogies in traditions and religious usiges — Disposal of the bodies of the dead — The analogies of science — Tlie calendar — General conclusions. 142 CHAPTER X. Shorter Essays 161 " Wlierc was Pu-sang? " — by th-t Rev. Nathan Brown, D. D. — Dilficulties at- tending a decision — Horses — drapes — Reason for thinking Fii-saii() more distant than Japan — Length of the // — Distances of the route — DiUicul- ties attending Klaproth's theory — The military expeditions of the Japa- nese — The introduction of the Buddhist religion — The Jlaiis — (jnat ILin — Identificatioii of thc_/V-.svi«7 tree with the bread-fruit tree — Con- clusion — Remarks of the Abbe Brasscur de Bourbourg — Tlw pajjcr and books of the Mexicans and Central Americans — Civilization of New Mexico — ('hinese boats — Animals — Mr. Leland's " Ftisang" — An earlier article — Wlio dist?overeil America ? — J. Hanlay's essay — The /u-snuij tree identified with the maguey — Metals — Resemblance in religion a:id cus- toms — .\lso in features — Language — Civilization on Pacific coast — liCtter of Mr. Til. Simson — The Mexican aloe — The fusang tree — Japan — Letter of E. Bretschneider, M. D. — Accounts of Fu-mm/ by the Chinese poets — "The Kingdom of Women" — Verdict of Fatlier Hyacinth — The distance — Horses and deer — The fusaitg tree — The t'ung tree — The pa- CONTENTS. xiu per nitilberry — Mctala — " Tlio Kiiifjiloin of Women " and Salt Lake City — Fu-Havij not Japan — Ta-hwi in Siboria — Envoys from Fu-miiii — Coiitra- dk'toi'V fiuifii'S — Mr. Lelanil's critieisiii — Letter of I'ere (iauhil — I'me- liahility of Chinese texts — The peophn^' of .)ai)un — Chinese linowled^'cof smi'ouniling countries — Remarks of lluiiil)oldt — Letter of the Kt. IJev. Chaiining M. Williams — The Chinese "Classie of Mountains and Si as" — Fabulous stories — Translation of extraets therefrom — Remarks of M. Leon de Rosny — Passage from Asia to Ameriea — The distaneo — t'har- aeter of the Esiiuimaux — An article from a newsjiaper of Rriti.-li Colum- bia — Discovery of Chinese coins in the bank of a creek — Evidence that they had been buried for a long time. PAflC CHAPTER XL Remakici^ of Mm. Vivien de Saixt-Mahtin and Lttcien Adam . Is5 "An Old Story Set Afloat"— The route to fw-wn/;— Identity of the Ainos with the Wcn-nhin — Ta-hmi near the mouths of theAmoor River — Route of Buddhist missionaries to the Amoor — Civilization of Buddhist origin — Pillars with Buddhist inscriptions — Necessity of accurate translation — Twenty thousand li signify only a very great distance — The fu-Hnng tree — Warlike habits — Lack of draught animals — Civilization of Mexico — Difficulty of the voyage — Conclusion — Remarks of >L Adam — Chinese acquainted with America — Ease of the journey — Travels of Buddhist monks — Points characteristic of American civilization — Ten-year cycle — TXw fu-sanii tree — The t'unr) tree — The hibiscus— The Dri/anda cordnta — The maguey, or agave — Zoological objections — Punishments — Slave children — Absurdities — Legend of (^uetzalcoatl — lie came from the P^ast — The legend a myth — Colleges of priests — Practice of confession — The alleged figure of Buddha — The elephant's head — Lack of tusks — America for the Americans — Theory that Ilnml Shan repeated the stories of Chi- uose sailors — Remarks of M. de Ilelhvald and Professor Joly. CHAPTER XIL D'IIervey's Notes 204 Bibliography — ^The name of the priest — Ihc c\\.y ol Kiurfclmc — Tahan — Liru-htfi, a peninsula — Earlier knowledge of Fii-xaiiff — The construction of the dwellings — The lack of aims and armour — The punishment of criminals — The titles of the nobles — The title 7V/-/« found in Corea — Tiie colours of the king's garments — The cycle of ten years — I'eruvian his- tory — The long cattli -horns — The food prepared from milk — The red pears — (jrajies — The worship of images of spirits of the dead — Its ex- istence in China — Cophtne — The "Kingdom of Women" — The legumes used as food — W'cii-sfiin — The iiunishment of criminals — The name 7'«- finii — The country identified with Kamfchatka — Two countries of that name — One lying north of China, and one lying east — Unwarlike nature of the people. CHAPTER XIIL D'IIervey's Appendix . 217 Difference between Hod SM)i\'i story and other Chinese accounts — An earlier knowledge of Fusroif/ — The poem named the Li-xao — The Shan- hai-khui — The account of 7o>ui-/(n)i/-iio — The immense size of the coun- try — The burning of books in China — The origin of the Chinese — The writer Kuan-hxei — The arrival of lloci Shin in 499 — The civil war then XIV CONTENTS. rnglng — The delay in obtaining an imperial audience — The " Ilistory of the Four Lords of the Liang Dynasty" — An envoy from Fusauy — The presents oH'ered by him — Yellow silk — A semi-transparent mirror — This envoy was Jloci Shin — The stories told by Vu-kie — The silk found upon the fu-rnvr/ tree — The palace of the king — The Kingdom of AVumeu — Serpent-husbands— The Smoking Mountain — The Black Valley — The ani- mals of the cuuntry — The amusement of the courtiers — The poem long- kiiig-fu — The route to Fusaiig — Fu-sang east of Japan — Lieu-kuci — The direction of the route. FAOE CILVPTEIl XIV. Professou Williams's Argument . 230 " Notices of Fu-sang and other Countries lying East of China " — The ori- gin of American tribes — The work of IL II. Hancroft- Mr. Leland's book — Ma Twan-lin — His "Antiquarian Researches" — Ilwui-shin's story — Cophfene — No later accounts of Fii-sang — The titles of the nobility — The ten-year cycle — Red pears — The fusang tree — No mention of pulque — Brocade — Fables — Account of the Shih Chuu Ki — The article of the Marquis d'llervey de Saint-Denys — Criticisms thereon — I'liug-lai — The distance of .lapan and Fu-sang — The name Fu-sang sometimes applied to Japan — Mention of the fu-sang tree in a Chinese geography — Expedi- tions sent to search for Fu-sang — Comparison with Swift's " Voyage to Laputa" — The Kingdom of Woimn — Mention by Maundevilo and Marco Polo of a land of Amazons — The country of Win Slitln — Tattooing— Its existence among the I^squimaux — Quicksilver — Lieu-kuci and the Lewcliew Islands. Two kingdoms of Ta Ilan CHAPTER XV. Additional Information. — Nature of the Ciiinese Lanouaoe . 249 Fu-sang wood — Xif-i/ao-Him-li — The Warm Spring Valley — The S/iin f King — The kingdom Hiho-kouc — The astronomer Hi-ho — The story of a (yorean — An island of women — /"ung-lai — An expedition to exjjlore it — The colonization of Japan — Lang Yuen — The Kmtn-lun Mountains — A statue of a native of Fu-sang — A poem to his memory — The tree of stone — Varying translations — The peculiarities of the Chinese language — The brevity and conciseness of the written language — Its lack of clearness — The meaning of groups of characters, or compounds — Proper names — No punctuation — Ditliculty of translating correctly — Preparation of M. Julien — Illustrations of mistakes. CHAPTER XVI. TnE Description of Fu-sano. . 260 The Chinese authorities — Variations in the texts — The Chinese text — A literal translation — Parallel translations of eight authors — The date of Hwui Shan's arrival in China — The location of Fu-sang — The fu-sang trees — The derivation of the name of the country — The leaves of the fu-sang tree — Its first sprouts — Red pears — Thread and cloth — Dwell- ings — Literary characters — Paper — Lack of arms — The two places of confinement — The difference between them — The pardon of criminals — Marriages of the prisoners — Slave-children — The punishment of a crimi- nal of high rank — The great assembly — Suffocatiim in ashes — Punish- ment of his family — Titles of the king and nobles — Musicians — The king's garments — The changing of their colour — A ten-year cycle — Long CONTENTS. XV History of iau(/ — The •ror— This :)und upon \Vomeu — — Tlie ani- IL'lll 'Jhuff- deu-ktiii — PAOB cattle-horna — Tlicir great size — ITorsi'.c;irt>i, cattle-carts, and dccr-carts — Domesticated deer — Koumiss — Tlie red pears jjieserved tliiouf^hout tlie year — To-i*'u-t'aoos — Tiie laclc of iron — Abundance of copper — Gold and silver not valued — Barter in their markets — Courtship — Tlic e;ibiu of the suitor — The sweeping and watering of the path — The ceremonies of marria.^c — Mourning customs — The worship of images of the dead — Tlie succession to the throne — A visit from a party of JJuddhist mis- sionaries — Their labours and success. . 230 —The ori- and's book I's story — )ility— The f pulcpie — ide of the (.V-^(j— The lies applied y — Expedi- ' Voyage to and Marco tooing — Its i of Ta II an Ol'AGE [he Slihi I le story of to explore Mountains 'he tree of language 8 lack of 8 — Proper jreparatiou 249 2G0 text— A lie date of le fu-sang Ves of the |i_Dwell- Iplaces of liniinals — If a crimi- -Punish- lans — The lie — Long CHAPTER XVII. The Kixr.DOM of Womex, the Land of "Masked Bodie.s," and TlIE GkEAT IIaN CoiNTRY ..... 301 The accounts of all these countries derived from the same source — The Chinese text — Tlie location of the Kingdom of Wcmicn — Its inhabitants — Their lonft locks — Their migrations — liirtli of their young — Nursing the young — The age at which they walk — Their timidity — Their devotion to their mates — The salt-plant — Its peculiarities — A shipwreck — The women — A tribe whose language could not be understood — Men with puppies' heads — Their food, clothing, and dwellings — The land of "Marked Bodies" — Ita location — Tattooing with three lines — The char- acter of the people — Lack of fortifications — The king's residence — Water-silver — No money used — The Country of Great llan — Its location — Lack of weapons — Its people. CHAPTER XVIIL The Lenotii of the Li. — The name " Gkeat IIan " . . 328 The direction from Japan in which Fu-sang laj' — Variations in standards of measure — The Cliinese li about one third of a mile in length — The greater length of the Japanese li — Possibility of still another standard in Corea — Communication between Corea and Japan and between Corea and China — Chinese knowledge of the route to .lapan derived from Corean sources — Fu-sang farther from "Great Han" than Japan is — Distances stated with at least approximate accuracy — The country of "Marked Bodies" identified as the Aleutian Islands — Allowances for changes and misunderstandings — Cwsar's account of the inhabitants of Britain — Maundevile's repetition of the storj* — "Great Ilan" identified r.s Alaska — Land found in the regions indicated by Ilwui Shiiu — Jlean- ing of the ciiaractcr "Ilan" — Nature of the Chinese characters — The manner in which they are compounded of two parts — Some characters in which the meaning is affected by that of both parts — Application of the character "Han" to a swirling stream and to the Milky Way — Hence its possible meaning of "dashing water" — Moaning of the i.imo " Alaska " — The breakers of the Aleutian Islands — The population — A philological myth — The hyiiothescs upon one of which Ilwui Shan's story must be explained— The explanation should be consistent. CHAPTER XIX. The Ci'STOMs of the Land of "Maijked Bodies,'' and of Great IIan . . . . . . . .343 Necessity of examining the account in detail — The resemblance of the peo- ple of the two countries — Their customs — Their languages — The marks upon their bodies — Tattooing with tliree lines — Existence of the custom XVI CONTENTS. in Amorica — The marks a si{^ of the position of thrir bearer — The merry nature of the people — Their feasts and dances — Their hospi.'iilitv — HospitaUty of the American Indians — Tlie Irotiuois — Thu Esmiiii.aux — Tlie Aleutians — Absence of fortifications — The chiefs — Tlie decora- tion of their dwcllinfca — The Ifaidah Indians — Other Indian tribes tw.m Bvh\A\ Columbia to Alaska — Esipiiuiaux fondness for ornamentation — Ditches — The dwellings of the people — Water-silver — Proof that ice is meant — Quicksilver — Xo country ever had ditches tilled i^ith quicksilver — The traHic by means of precious gems — Xo money used — Vi'lue of amber — The peaceful nature of the people — The punishment of ciitne — Summary of facts mentioned by Ilwui Shan — Application of the doctrino of chances — The two countries bearing the name of Great Uan. PAGE CHArTER XX. The Counthy ltino in the Region indicated by IIwui SiiXn . 360 The direction from China, Japan, and Great Ilan in which Fu-sang lay — The trend of the American Pacitic coast — The distortion of the com- mon maps — Mexico lies in the region indicated — The nations inhabiting Jlexico in the fifth century — Their language — Traces of their beliefs and customs existing one thousand years later — Aztec traditions — The Tol- tecs — Tlieir character — Their civilization — The time of their dispersion — Their language — The Pacific coast — The evidence of place-nameb — The Aztec language — Limits of the Mexican empire — The name of the coun- try — The city of Tenochtitlan — The application of the name "Mexico" — First applied to the country — Early ma])S — Late application of the name to the city — Pronunciation of the word — Similar names throughout the country — Meaning of the syllable "co" — Varying explanatiims — Real meaning of the term — " The i'lace of the Century-plant'" — Meaning of the syllabic " mk " — Meaning of .he syllable " xi " — Its meaning in other compounds — Other abbreviations — Appropriateness of the designa- tion — The god Mexitli — Proof that he was the god of the century-plant — Reason that the Spaniards were misled as to the meaning of " Mexico." CHAPTER XXI. The FtT-SANQ Tree and the Red Peaks .... 882 Conncclion between the name of the country and that of the " tree " — Ap- plicati(m to smaller plants of the Chinese character translated "tree" — Ai/plication of the term "tree" to the century-plant — Descrijition of the moil, maguey, agave, nloe, or century-plant — the leaves of the fu-sang — Disiigreement of different texts — The t'ung tree — Evidence oi i.orruption in the text — Conjecture as to original reading — Similarity of tho young sprouts to those of the bamboo — Their edibility — Thread and oioth from the fiber of the plant — The finer fabric made from it — Variation in the texts — j!anufaeture of paper — The red pear — The prickl3--pear — Resem- blance of the century-plant to the cacti — Preserves made from the prickly- pears — Confusion in the Mexican language between milk and the sap of the century-plant — The Chinese " lo," or koumiss — The liquor made from the sap of the century-plant — Its resemblance to komniss — Indians never use milk — Confusion in other Indian languages between sap and milk — Meaning of the name fu-sang — Variations in the characters with which it is written — The spontaneous reproduction of the century-plant — The decomposition of the character " sang " — The tree of the large wine-jar — The tree having a great cloud of blossoms — Blooming but once in a thourand years — Tlio Chinese name of the prickly-jiear — Eitel's definition of the terra " fu-sang " — Professor Gray's statement. CONTENTS. xvii rAOG r— The pi.'iility iiin.aux decora- e>< f roni tition — it iff is L'ksilver I'luo of L'l'ifiie — Joctriu-j Xm . 360 ig Jay- he com- habiting jefs and The Tol- ispcr.-^ion les— The he coun- Mcxieo" n of the roiighout iiitions — Meaning |anins in designa- [n'y-piant ilexico." CIIAPTRR XXir. The Lanofaoe of Fu-sano PAOR 4U3 882 "— Ap- Itree"— \i of the sang — |riiption young Ih from in the iRosnm- prickly- 1 pap of made Indians top and l-s with |,--])lant lar^e kg ^^^ |icar — [!nt. Peculiarities of the Chinese lanjjuairo — Dilllculty of indicatinj: pronunciation of foreiirn words — Examples — I'hanfjc in sound of Chinese ehiuucters — The pisang or banana tree — Names of countries terminated with kwoh — The character sascj — The character kl' — The most distant countries at the four points of the compass distinguished by names l)efriimin<» with Ff — Mexican dialects — Fi:-sano-kwoii and Me-shico — The title of the king— Montezuma's title — Title of the noblemen of the first rank — The Mexican Tecuhtli, or Teule — The Petty Ti'i-i,r — The Xaii-to-siia, or Tlato([ue — The title lower than that of Tecuhtli — Its meaning — Tran- scription of foreign words by characters indicating both the meaning and the sound — To-r'u-TA'ocs, or tomatoes — The grape-vine — The tree of stone — A Mexican pun — Danger of being misled by accidental or fancied resemblance. CHAPTER XXIII. The Peouliahities of the Country ..... 418 The construction of the dwellings — Adobe walls — The " Oasns Grandes " — Houses of planks — Lack of armour — Absence of fortifications — Literary characters — The pomp which surrounded the Aztec monarch — Musical instruments — The evanescence of Slontezuma's pomp — Hulers accom- panied by musical instruments — Tangaxoan — The king of Guatemala — The king of Quich6 — Homage to the Spaniards and to tlie Spanish jiricsts — The long cattle-horns — The Chinese measure called a iiru — Animals of the New World erroneously designated by the names of those of tiio Old World — IJisons — Their range — An extinct species — Its gigantic horns — The horns of the Rocky Mountain sheep — Use of horns by the Indians — Herds of tame deer — The lack of iron — The use of cojjper — Gold and silver not valued — Their markets — IJartcr — Customs attending courtship — Sprinkling and sweening the ground as an act of homage — Tne customs of the Apaches — The fastened horse — The Coco-Maricopas — Serenades — Huts built in front of those of the parents — The length of the "year " — The punishment of criminals of high rank — The sweat- house, or cstufa — Indian councils — Severe punishment of men of distinc- tion — Custom in Darien — Punishment witnessed by Cortez — Smothering in ashes. CHAPTER XXIV. The Narrator of the Story ..... 439 The condition of China at the time — The reign of a Rudilhist emperor — The bhifi'shus, or mendicant priests — Their duties — Rules for their con- duct — The name Hwui ShSn — Frequency with which the name Ilwui occurs — Meaning of the characters — The nationality of Ilwui ShSn — Coph6ne — Struggle between Brahmanism and Buddhism — The route from India to China — The command that at least three should go to- gether when traveling — Persecution in China in the year 458 — The journey to America by water — Ease of tlio trip — Probability that Hwui Shiln was but slightly acquainted with the Chinese language — Yu Kie'a criticism of Hwui Shin's statements — Catises of errors — Use of the term " water silver " — Accounts given by first explorers seldom free from error — Absurdities narrated by other Chinese travelers — Pliny — Hero- dotus — Marco Polo — Maundevile — Ca?sar — The unicorn — Elks without joints in their legs — The Icelandic account of Yinland — DilHculties in XVlll CONTENTS. the account — TheUnipeds — The Zono broihera — Ipnornnce . Ill tb'j iiftoentl" century — Marvelous tales of early explorers- to be madt — llwui Shiin entitled to equal charity. f pcotrraphy -Allowaucea PAOI CIIAPTEU XXV. The Introductiox of Asiatic Civilization .... 456 The former ignorance of the people — The introduction of Buddhism — The changes of a thousand years — The two places of conHneincut — Meaniitf of the character fah — Two species of pri'^ons — One for '.nose sentencel io death — The other for minor crimi .. —The Mexican Hades — The future abode of the Aztec hero — The sojourn but temporary — The dark and dismal ''Place of the Dead," in the north — Confinement here eternal — The slave children — Trci.tment of illegitimate children and jf orphans — Age at which children wer- taken to tlie temple — Hoys at sev .'n years of age — Girls at eight — Chinese custom of railing children a year older than they would be considered by us — The punishment of the family of a criminal — Mourning customs — Fasts — Funeruls — Images of the deceased — Reverence of these images and offerings to them — The custom in China — The absence of mourning-garments — The king not fully crowned until some time after his accession to ilic throne. CHAPTER XXVI. The In'troductiox of Asiatic CiviLizATioy, — (Concluded.) . 470 The colour of the king's garments — Colours in Asia — Green and blue con- founded — The dyes used by the Mexicans — Changes of the king's gar- ments — Dresses of different colours for different occasions — Various species of mantles worn — Changes because of superstitious ideas — Length of the " year " — Divisions of the day — The marriage ceremonier — Chineso customs — Mexican customs attributed to Quetzr.lcoatl — Mexican weddings — The horse-carts, cattle-caits, and deer-carts — Oilficulties of this passage — Explanations suggested — The introduction of the horse into America — Extinct specios of horses in America — Indian traditions — Name may have been applied to some other animal— Mirage — The Buddhist descrip- tion of the " three carts " or " three vihicles." CHAPTER XXVIi The Countuy of Womex an"d its IxnAHiTAyvs . . . 487 Stories of Amazons — Account of Ptolemy — Inat of Maundevilc — Marco Polo — The Arabs — The Chinese—Similar stories in America — Exjjlana- tions of those accounts — " Cihuatlan," the Place of Women — The account given by ('ortoz — \uno de Guzman — The expedition to Cihuatlan — The monkeys of Southern Mexico — Their resemblance to human beings — Stories of pygmies — Classical tales — Pliny's account — That of Maunde- vilc — The worship of Hanuman in India — Chinese stories — The Wrang- ling People — The Eloquent Nation — The Long--"med People — "Chu-ju," or the Land of Pygmies — Pygmies in America — Mexican monkeys — Their long locks, queues, or tails — Their migration — Their bickering or chatter- ing — Their rutting-scason— The period of gestation — The beginning of the year in China, Tartary, and Mexico — The absence of breasts — Nurs- ing children over the shoulder — Young monkeys carried on their mothers' backs — Long hair at the back of the head — A different translation sug- gested — Ago at which they can walk — That at which they become fully grown — Tlieir timidity — Their devotion to their mates. CONTENTS. ziz ;raphy caucus PAOI . 456 1— The onnii'if itenccil s— The le dark oternul irplmns n years ir older idy of a eeeased jtom in jrowned 470 )lue con- ig'3 gar- •Various -Length Chinese cddinfTS passage erica — e may descrip- . 487 -Marco |xplana- icconnt a— The Bings— launde- kVranjr- |hu-iu," -Their Ihatter- ling of J-Nurs- lothcra' \n sug- le fully CHAPTER XX VIII. TvE CouxTRY OF "NVoMEN AND ITS INHABITANTS. — {Concluded.) The habit of standing erect — The colonr of the inhabitants — Albinos — Aztlan, "the White Land" — Tiic nioinUain hlnccihuatt, or "tlie White Woman" — The J:!(auhi/utl, or "salt-phmt" — The salt of the Mexicans and Chinese — Kefereiices of SaliaL;uii to the htnuhijatl — An erroneous identification — References to it by Hernandez — The salt-weed — The sage- h'-iish — The characteristic vegetation of Mexico — Food of tiie monkeys^ Cattle and game fattened upon the white sage — Its value in Asia — Tiio Mexican rainy season — The preceding month of "hard times" — UilKcidty of (il)taining food at this season — Animals coming to lowlands in the spring tn feed upon the early vegetation — A sweet variety of sage — The use f an herb to sweeten meat — Chinese description of monkeys — An A/tec pun — Shipwreck of a Chinese fishing-boat — Corean tishing- boats — Japanese vessels wrecked on the American coast — Tiie land readied thought to be that mentioned by Ilwui Shiin — The women of the country — The language that could not be understood — Heads like those of pui)])ies — The Cynocepliali — Their voices — Harking Indians — Their food — Their clothing — Their dwellings — The doorways. CHAPTER XXIX. Yu Kie's Statements reqahdinq Fu-sano . . , The envoy from the kingdom of Fu-sang — The commission of Yu Kie — Hwui Shfin the envoy mentioned — Yu Kie's story — The presents given to the emperor — Tiie custom of offering tribute — The yellow silk — The term applied to vegetable fibers — Sisal hemp — Its strength — r.obability that the agave fiber would be brought home by a traveler — The semi- transparent mirror — Mexican obsidian mirrors — Nature of obsidian — The " Palace of the Sun " — The Chinese zodiac — Their horary cycle — Concave and convex mirrors— Obsidian mirrors peculiar to Mexico — Tiic silk taken from the agave — Lack of cocoons — The seeds of the ccnturj-- plant carried to Coren — The use of agave leaves as fuel — T!ie a-hes used for obtaining lye — The agave fiber steeped in an alkaline solution — The feast of Huitzilopochtli — Intercourse between Corca and China — The Corean records — Possibility that further information may be found in them — The palace of the king — The glitter of obsidian in the morning light — The Country of Women again — Serpent husbands — The expedi- tion of Nuilo de Guzman — The Smoking Mountain — Yolcinoes — Hairy worms — The "nopal de la ticrra"— The fire-troos — The fire-rats — The Black Valley — The Snowy Range — Huitzilopochtli — The intoxicating liq- uor — The "Sea of Varnish "--Pctiuieum — Mineral springs — Hot springs ■ Tile exteat of the land — Animals — Winged men — liirds that bear hu- man beings. PAni 503 519 CHAPTER XXX. Mexican Traditions 536 Mexican hicroglyp' Ics — The tradition regarding Wixipecocha — His arrival — Hia appearance — His conduct — His teachings — Persecution — His de- parture — Survival of the doctrines he taught — The "^Viyatao" — Another version of the tradition — The written account preserved by the Mijcs — The " Taysacaa " — Identity of the term Wixipecocha with the name and title " Hwui Shin, bhikshu " — The Mexican language — Huazontlan — Quftzalcoatl — His history not a myth — The epoch at which he lived — Uis arrival — His garments — His attendants — Their knowledEce of arts — XX CONTKNTS. Anoihcrnccount — Cll^^tom8 introdiicpd — Uolif^iimx pcnanoos — The fouiulu- tidii iif iiKiiiiiHtiTics aii'l nuniu'rii'C — Huliof that lit- was u liudilliist piii'st — UniliiimniHiii mid liuddliisin — Tlie worship of Sivii — The rtdi;!i)ii of Ni'|i;il — Thi' j.'<)ddt'ss Kali — Tlic woiHliip nf Mictlaiuiliiiutl — Qiictzaiioatl'i) liorioi' of liioixlHJiod — Till' nrt^^ lie taught — Tlio culoinlar — Mis proiiiiHe to ntiirii — Hid vow to ' .10 iiitOAioutinK I'M"""' — "'^ toiiiplutioii and fall — III!) sorrow — ,/ "f l'i'< naino — Its triu' iiiciiiiiiij; not "tliu I'iiiiiicd .Sor|)ont," ... ,iie lifvorcd Visitor" — Ti-nn apjilii'd to the prifsfs of Nt'[)al — The Mcxitan " Ciliuaroatl "' — Tlie arrival of Quetzal catl from the cant — I'oH.-iihlc i-xplnnatioii!* — The crossr;* o» his manilo — Kx|ilaiiation of ocrurreiict' of crosses in Yuentan — Intercourse with the West Indian IsltiiidM — The cod llurakun — Oracles and pro|)ho(ipH— Veneration of the cross in ancient times — Its occurrence in India and K;.'ypt — Its use in Asia as 11 symbol of [icacc — The patchwork cloaks of the Hudiihist priests — Huddlia'8 commHiids — The mark of a foot-print in '.he rocks — Occurrence of such foot-i)riuts iu America and Asia— Veueration shown thcin. PAl}B CHAPTER xxxr. VARiora Amkuic.vx TiiAniTioxs. — Buddhism .... 656 White and hi'.'irded men woarinc; lonji robes — The ' Idols — Ahsent'O of vital points of Cliristinn doctrine — .Miirriiifio of the pricnts — Vi'Hi'tnviiinisiii — Fuilnr*' of the Hiiddhisis to strictly comply with tho tenets of tlioir rcli;.'iou — Tho cutiiiR of flesh — A curious nmuualy in IJudilhii's toachiiif»s — Kelii^ious terms — Tlie niiuio SAkyii— Its ocourreiico in Mexico — Otosis — (Jiiutama — (iimteiuala — liuauhtenui-t/.iu — Tlama and lama— Teotl and DiJva — Kefututiim of a nejjativc arf,'ument — Ucli;,'iou9 teiiots — The road to the abode of tho dead — The divisittiis of the ahodo of the dead — Transmigration — Yearly feast for the souls of tin; dead — The tablet at l*alenipie — The lionlieuded couch— Seatoil figures— An ima^o of Quotzalcoall — Tiio atory of Cuumxtli — rrcservation of bid blonde hair. CHAPTER XXXIII. PAOI Tub Pyhamids, Idols, and Akts ok Mexico. .507 Tem|iles huilt upon truncated pyramids — Mounda autedatiuR A/tee occupa- tion — Speculations as to tlie date of tht-ir erection — The IMace of the House of Flowers — The monuments of San Juan Teotiliuacaii — Their size — Their construction — Mexican "teocallis" — Their proportions — Ue- semblancea to the pyramids of India — Pyramids found wherever llud- dhisin i»revails — The tumulus or tope — Its occurrence at Nineveh, in China, and Ceylon — Resemblances noticed by several authors — The tem- ple of Horo-Hudor in Java — Tho palace at I'alentiue — Dome-shaped edifices — The dome at Chichen — Tlie construction of the pyramids — The layer of stone or brick — The layer of plaster — The false arch — Uecora- tivo paintings — Tho priests the artists — The ornament upon the breast — The name Ohaacmol — Cornices — Friezes — Jiepresentation of curved swords — An elephant's head as a head-dress — Other ornaments in shape of an elephant's trunk — The elephant the syml of JJuddha — The taiur — Remains of tho ele[)hant or mastodon in Aincri. v — Their possible con- temporaneity with man — Pipes carved in the shajio of elephants — Tlieii* discovery — An inscribed tablet — The elephant-mound of Wisconsin — A Chippewa tradition — Gandsa — Teoyaomiqui — Their resemblanee — Tho conception of Iluitzilopoelitli — The story of Cuaxolotl — Tezcatlipoca — Tho mirror held by him — Similar idols in Asia — The imprint of the hand — The cataclysms by which the human race has boon destroyed — The cardinal points — Their connection with certain colours — The temples of Thibet — The palace of Quotzalcoatl — A small f,'rcen stone buried with the dead — Sweeping tho path before the numarch — The use of garments and dishes but once — The breech-cloth — Quilted armour — Suspension- bridges — Rooks — Mari'i'ge ceremonies and customs — Tying the gar- ments together — Postpoi oment of the consummation of marriage — Po- lygamy — (Jhildren carrici . on the hip — Children's toys — The enkes used as food — A gamc> — Practices of many Asiatic countries — Milk not used — Authors led to believe in a connection between Asiatic and Mi'xican civilization — Differences between the Mexicans and other American tribes — Erroneous criticism. CHAPTER XXXIV. The IIisTORY of Japax 023 Records reaching back nominally to 6fi0 n. c. — Gaps in the historv — Great age of sovereigns — A giant — Absence of exact dates — The introduction XX u CONTEXTS. of wriflnfr — Maniifnctiiro of paper — Clilncso rooordii of ctnhftnnlon — Men- tioii of It Jiiiiitncsc Hovvri>i);ii mIiumo naiiiu dofx not a|ipt'iir in tlif .lapa* ni'Hi' unniilH — Ti«ni*Iiiti(in of oxfriutM from tlu' Jiipnncno history — IntiT. coiirnc witli Coica ami China — KinhasHiox — Wars — Introdiu'lion of lUuU (IhisMi — Tillis of tioliility — ( 'op|>c'r, Hilvrr, and (/old — lat«'ri'our: i'liini'Ko ai'count of Japan — Tiic routo from Cliina to .Japan — The distanco — Cattle and lior.-e« not raised — Tattooing — Clofiiinp — Cities — I'olypiiuy — Laws — Hnrial of tlie dead — Tlie "Clil- shiiai " — An envoy — A later endiassy — A .lapanesi* prineess — The kin^- doni of Kiu-nn ; tliat of Chujn — Tlie Kastern Fish-lVople — A (.'hineno fxpeiiition to seek lor l"nnfC-lai — Tan-eiien — Uoiiteto Japan — The divis- ions of Japan — Titles of the ollieers — Knd)assieH — Tattooin>5 — Abscneo of writing — Monrninc-^arineiits — Ituddiiisni — Houte to Japan — Dl-^eovery of Rold, silver, iron ore, and copper — The Country of Women — Utasona why Fii-saiij; can not have l)oen sitiuiled in Japan — Consideration of other tlieories — Proof that Hwni Shiln had visited some nnknown land — Had the Chinese any earlier knowledge of America y — The Sbuii Ilai King. rAou CIIAPTKIl XXXr. The Chinese "Classic of Mocxtaixs and Seas" .043 Prefaee — Siii-ciif Mountain — The Mountain of Crccpinf* Plants — Aspen Mountain — Hairy binis — The Korei^^n Ilanj;o — Kan lish— Ki-mao, Kao- Biii, Lofty, Woif, Lone, Hald, and liatuboo Mountains — K'l .so-SANd, Ts'ao-ciii, Yiii-kao, and Hean Mountains — An excessively high peak — Ti-Kf, Kan(1, Li-k'i — Ki-snK, Creen Jude-stono, Wei-siii, Ki-uno, Fi-Li, and Yis Mountains — Siii-iif, K'l, (.'in-KEr, Middle Fi', Ik-siiE, Manu-tsz', K'l riiiNO, Mki-yi", andWi-KAO Mountains — The Fi -tree (or Fi-SANo) — North II Ao, Mao, Eastern Siii, Nt'-ciiiso, K'in, Tsz'-tlno, Ykn, and T'ai Mountains— The Ciia Hill— The Great Men's Country- Si!' -I's body — The t'ountry of Kefined (ientlcmen — llrNo-niNa — the Vaucy of the Manifcf^tationof the Dawn — The CJreen Hills Country — Tho join-ncy of Sm -hai — The Blaek-Teeth ('otmtry — The Warm Springs Ra- vine — Fr-SAN« — The Place where the Ten Suns bathe — An account of (he Ten Suns — Yi-siii's concubine — The IJlaek-Ilip Country — The Hairy People's Coimt")" — A boat upon the sea-shore — Tlie Distiea^ed People's Country — K'ki-wano — A great valley — Shao-hao — Pi-mi-ti Mill — Place where tho Sun and Moon riso-^Tlie Great Men's Country — (iiants and dwarfs — The (ireat People's Market — The Little People — Ki>K.ii Mount- ain — The Country of Plants — Iloii-iiij Mountain — The Mountain of tho Eastern Pass— the Mountoin of the Uright Star— The White People's Country — The Green Hills Country — The Nation of Courteous Vassals — The Black-Teeth Country — Summer Lsland— .The Kai-yI; Country— (^ii'eh- TAN and the Place of the Rising of tlie Sim — YtJ-Kwon — Quaking Mount- ain— The Black-Hip Country— The Needy Tribe— King Hai— Ni'-niEU— YEii-YAO-Kit'N-ri Mountain — The Fi-tree — Warm Springs Valley — ■ I-T'iE\-sr-MA.N Mountain — The Yino Dragon — The Mountain of the Flowing Waves. CHAPTER XXXVL Comments upon the " Classic of Mountains and Seas " . . CG9 The oldest geography of tho world — Article by M. Bazin, Sr. — Its divis- ions — Groups of mountnins — Taoists of the fourth century — The spirits governing the earth — Extravagancies of the work — First mention of tho book — The Familiar Discourses of Confucius — Thought to be apocryphal or corrupted — Tseu-hia — Ssc-ma-ts'icn — Sse-ma-ching — Chao-shi — - CONTENTS. XMll WanR-clion!?— Tho-hb^— Tilt' " Hook <.f Wntt'n* "— ('lllln^'•llc>n— ronxiiUr. otioii of till' wfcti'm niul ^oiitlicrn kin;;il(inis — Siiniiiiuricrt of tlio (;co>,'rn- phy of Tu-yii — liO-pi — Kiii-i'liinj» > c'oinpa!*.'* — The T'ii-n Wii : l.tml of tin- Wiitir — Scaln, r-tM lions, ami ft'a-oltcis — The IslaiulH of tin' Kiowiii^ Stifaiii — ("iittU •fi>li — liinis uiili hairy li'^?!" — .S'rpcnts aa i>ar-orniinicnt.'< — The Slum Mai Kinp u conipiia- tioii of a niinilHTof liiHtiiict accounts — Ilcplons incntioiu'il twice nr more — Description of Japan — The genii wiio once ruloil the enrlh — 'I'he slate of civili/ation — Timers and bcarrt — A poismous insect — The Ravine of tlie Manifestation of the Dawn — The Hairy Tcopic — I'u-saiif; and t\w lllack Teefli Country— Tiio Malay custom of hlackeninj; tlie teeth— The l*hili|ipiiio or Luzon Islands — The banana or plantain (jiiminij) — The " tOU hUIld." PAOR CIIArTEU XXXVII. REC.»riTrLATION. fl«4 Summary of reasons for thinking that IIwul Shiln visited Mexico — The com- mand Of Uuddlm — Tlie ease of the journey — The " silk " and mirror brought back by liim — The belief of liis contcmiiorarics — Fu-sang must have been in Jiqian or America, and was not in Japan — llwui Siiiln'rt story paralleled with accounts of the countries by other authors — The Country of Marked llodies — (irt'at Han — Fu-sang — The Country of Wom- en — Summary of facts mentioned by llwui Shiln — The transparent mirror could not hav " been obtained elsewhere than in Mexico — Tlie Mexican tradition of llwui Shin's visit — Coincidences between Asiatic and American civilizations — ryramids — Architecture — Aits — Heligioiis structures — Religious customs and beliefs — Idols — Marriogc ceiemnnies — Dress — Food — Rooks — (lamos — Tlie working of metids — Suspension- bridges — The calendar — Civilized nations of America all upon the I'acilie coast — Allowances to be made — Errors of first explorers — llwui Sliiln not a ('hinaman — Errors of manuscripts — Changes in language — Changes in customs — Our imperfect knowledge of Mexican civilization — The ar- gument stronger than its weakest parts — Conclusion. APPENDIX. List of Authorities and Refkkkxceb '11 INDEX . . 741 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. SI CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY, 111 %\\ The birth of Buddha — His titles — His character — His religious belief — His uni- versal charity — His life as a hermit — The discovery which he imagined that he had made — Desire that all should share its benefits — His command to evangelize the world — The compliance of his disciples — The dispersion from India — Countries visited — Traces of the religion in Europe — Also throughout Asia — And in Alaska — The wanderings of Buddhist priests — Few records preserved — Ease of journey from Asia to America — The Gulf-Stream of the Pacific — Shipwrecks on the Kurilc and Aleutian Islands — Records of jour- neys of Buddhist priests— Their reliability and value — A Chinese record o*" a visit to an Eastern country — Reasons for crediting the account — Object of this work — Previous discussions of the subject — Plan of this work — The discov- ery made by do Guignes — Humboldt's views — Klaproth's dissent — The Chev- alier de Paravey's essays — Neumann's monograph — Leland's translation and comments — Articles by MM. Perez, Vivien de Saint-Martin, d'Eichthal, Bras- seur de Bourbourg, Godron, Jones, Brown, Simson, Bretschneider, Adam, d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, Lobscheid, Channing M. Williams, and S. Wells Williams. Some centuries before the Christian era, in the little vil- lage'*^"* of Kapilavastu,"^ capital of a small kingdom of the same name,'^' in the northern part of India,'**^ Suddhodana,"" its king, or rajah, was gladdened by the birth of a son. This event probably'"^ occurred in the fifth century b. c.,""' but some authorities fix the date in the sixth"*' or seventh"*'*'' century,*"'* while others place it even as early as 1027 n. c, ; "*' and in the present state of science it seems impo^^sible to determine the date with accuracy.'"' The child was named Siddharta, but he is more frequently * For this and all other references, see the Appendix. 2 AN INGLOKIOUS COLUMBUS. mentioned in history either under his family name of Gautama, or under the appellation of Buddha, " the Enlightened " ; or, from the fact that he was of the race called Sakya, he is re- ferred to as Sakya-muni, "the hermit of the Sakyas." This prince, although handsome, strong, and heroic — sur- rounded by pleasures and tempted by the most brilliant worldly prospects"" — took little part in the sports of his mates, and used frequently to retire by himself into solitude, where he seemed lost in meditation. ''°° Educated in the belief that death was immediately followed by a new birth, and that all living creatures were chained to a never-ending senes of transmigra- tions, he, as he grew in age, Avas more and more oppressed by the conviction that all is vanity, and that a man hath no profit of all his labour which he taketh under the sun. Possessed of wealth and power, and lacking no earthly good, but saddened by the knowledge that age must follow youth, and that death would soon put an end to all his possessions ; and believing that he must then commence a new life which death would again end, and that so for all eternity he must struggle on, being able to retain for but a moment all that seemed good to his eyes, and then being compelled to abandon it — the prospect thus stretch- ing out before him so appalled him that he finally determined to devote his life to the endeavour to find some escape from this eternal series of deaths. It was not for himself alone that he desired to find this relief, but for his dearly loved wife and infant child as well ; and, fur- thermore, his heart was filled with an anxious yearning to be the saviour of mankind, no matter what the cost to himself might be. Born at a time when tyranny and the oppression of the law of castes had become as intolerable in the civil world of India as the dogma of eternal metempsychoses had become in its relig- ion ; '*■• when woman was looked upon, as she still is in Oriental countries, as but the plaything of the stronger sex ; when throughout the world the citizens of each petty nation consid- ered all other tribes as barbarians or wild beasts — he, being the first of the human race "^' to rise above the accidents of fate, looked upon all mankind as his brothers and sisters, and would fain save them all from the woe of the innumerable deaths that awaited them. High and low, bond and free, rich and poor, male and female, old and young, countrymen and foreigners, INTRODUCTORY. 8 for all he felt the same tender pity, and no living creature was so mean as to be beneath his all-embracing love and sympathy. Filled with this anxious devotion, he stole softly away from his home by night, and adopted the life of a Brahmanical her- mit. For years he tortured himself, often fasting until life was almost extinct ; striving, vainly, but with an inextinguishable desire, to find the path which led away from eternal misery. Finally, light, as he believed, dawned upon him. Misery Avas merely the result of unsatisfied desire. If all desire could be extinguished, unhappiness would perish with it. By sitting in a state of inward contemplation, it was possible to arrive at a condition of mind when, for a time, all surrounding objects would fade away and be forgotten. In this state of ecstasy, neither hunger nor cold nor any bodily want could be the source of discomfort, for the mind would be so fixed upon its meditation that it would not know that these existed. Be- yond this state, however, another condition could be reached, in which, after attaining to a forgetfulness of everything but self- existence, the abstraction would become so great that even the consciousness of self-existence would be lost. From this state of entire unconsciousness, a state neither of existence nor of non- existence, there would be no awakening forever. The dreary round of transmigrations would be forever over with ; the dreamless sleep would never end. It was only after continual striving through myriads of ex- istences that this end could be reached, but he who set out upon the path to Nirvana would never turn back ; and ultimately the extinction of consciousness, which was held to be the supreme good, would be attained. There was only one thing of such importance that even the state of quiescence and meditation, which was the foretaste of the final beatitude, could be abandoned for it, and that was the desire to preach the glad tidings to others, that they too might set out upon the happy path. The love of one's neighbours Wi s recognized as the most sacred law, and it was to be only by th d exercise of this virtue that it should be possible to reach the rank of the perfect Buddha.'*" As he himself had come for self- sacrifice, and only by surrendering himself had learned how the world might be saved, so all who desired to follow him must tread in these footprints. Charity and love must extinguish all AX INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ' \ * " Never will I seek or never enter final peace egotism in the heart, and so fill the possessor with a spirit of devotion that he would surrender himself uttei-ly, and forget everything personal, his own existence even, in order to save others.'*"" In the Chinese liturgy there is recorded a vow of the Bod- hisattva Kwan Yin — the Great Compassionate Heart, or Mercy — which is characteristic of this religion receive private, individual salvation alone, but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the universal redemption of every creature throughout all worlds. Until all are delivered, never will I leave the Avorld of sin, sor- row, and struggle, but will remain where I am." '*" Buddha declared that the good news was for all the world ; and bis disciples were commanded to hasten to preach it to every creature. " Let us part with each other," the legend reports him as saying, " and proceed in various and opjiosite directions. Go ye now and preach the most excellent law, expounding every point thereof, and unfolding it Avith care. Explain the begin- ning and middle and end of the law to all men icithoiit excep- //on.""" "Since the doctrine which I proclaim is altogether pure, it makes no distinction between high and low, rich and poor. Like water it is, Avhich washes and purifies all alike. It is like the sky, for it has room for all ; men, women, bojs, girls, rich and i^oor."'^'" This command was faithfully obeyed by his disciples. Max MUller states "**" that at a very early period a proselytizing spirit awoke among the disciples of the Indian reformer — an ele- ment entirely new in the history of ancient religions. No Jew, no Greek, no Roman, no Brahman, ever thought of converting people to his own national form of worship. Religion was looked upon as private or national property. It was to be guarded against strangers. Hei*e lay the secret of Buddha's success. He addressed himself to castes and outcasts. He promised salvation to all ; and he commanded his disciples to preach his doctrine in all places and to all men. A sense of duty, extending from the narrow limits of the house, the vil- lage, and the country, to the widest circle of mankind, a feel- ing of sympathy and brotherhood toward all men — the idea, in fact, of humanity — were first pronounced by Buddha. In the * Sec Cell's " Catena," pp. 4C5, 406, and 409. INTRODUCTOKY. third Buddhist council, the acts of Avhich have been preserved to us in the " Mahavanso," we hear of missionaries being seut to the chief countries beyond India. Some centuries after the days of Buddha, upon tho death of Asoka, a powerful king of India, who had been an ardent devo- tee of the Buddhist faith, his immense empire was dismem- bered,"'' and, profiting by this opi^ortunity, the Brahmans raised their heads, stirred up the smouldering hatred in the hearts of the castes that were formerly privileged, and by such aid recon- quered the land which they had lost, and commenced a war of bloody persecution against Buddhism, which resulted in the complete expulsion of that sect from Central India. Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, and Gamboge gave them asylum. Some of the proscribed sect went even to the distant islands and founded a church in Java, which, judging from the ruins that still remain, must at one time hove flourished. Others went to the north, were arrested by the deserts of Persia, and, after halting in Xcpal, crossed the mountains, and carried their religion and their arts into China, whence they soon passed into Japan and Thibet. This religion was introduced into China about a. d. GG,"" and reached Corea in the year 372."'* There is no part of Northern Asia to which it did not make its way. There is reason to believe that its missionai'ies penetrated into Europe. Mr. Leland mentions a Buddhistic image"" discovered in an excavation in London, at a depth of fifteen feet, nine feet of which consisted of loose soil or debris of a recent character, but the remaining six feet were hard, solid earth, of a character which indicated a probability that the image might have been left a thousand years or more ago where it was found. Profes- sor Holmboe has written a work'"' in which strong grounds are adduced for believing that Buddhist devotees reached Norway, or at least that part of Europe which was then occupied by the ancestors' of the Norwegians of to-day. Professor Max Miiller "^' refers to the existence of Buddhism in Russia and Sweden, as well as in Siberia, and throughout the north of Asia, and says that a ti'ace of the influence of Buddhism among the Kudic races, the Finns, Lapps, etc., is found in the name of their priests and sorcerers, the Shamans — " Shaman " being supposed to be a corruption of /iSraraa^ja, the name of Buddha, and of 6 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Buddhist priests in generaL The suppression of the ** r " is probably owing to the influence of the Pali, which shows a great delicacy,"" or, if the term is preferred, an extreme povert} , in the combinations of two or more consonants, and which always drops the letter " r " when it follows an initial consonant of a Sanskrit word.*" Thus, for instance,"" the Sanskrit words "prakrama" and "pratikrama" became in Pali "pakkam.i," and " padkkama." It is a singular fact that this word " Shaman," applied to a priest or magician, is found, not only throughout nearly every part of Asia, but that it passed over into America so long ago as to become so thoroughly incorporated into the Yakut lan- guage of Alaska, that it and its derivatives were thought by Dall to have belonged originally to that language,"" and he claims that those authors who have thought it to be an (East) Indian word are mistaken. The religious ideas of some of the tribes of Alaska strongly point to an earlier knowledge of some more or less impure form of Asiatic Buddhism, and thus indicate that the word was really borrowed from the disciples of that faith, and is not a mere case of accidental resemblance in sound and meaning. Pinart *^' says that the belief in metempsychosis is generally spread abroad among the Koloches ; they believe that the individual never really dies, and that apparent death is but a momentary dissolution, the man being reborn in another form: sometimes in the body of a human being, and sometimes in that of certain animals, such as the bear, the otter, or the wolf ; of certain birds, such as the crow or the goshawk ; and of certain marine animals, but principally the cachalot. Veniaminoff, in his great work, commits an error in saying that the Koloches do not believe in any other form of metempsychosis than a change into the body of another human being. This purely human metempsychosis is not exclusive, although it predominates. Pinart also states that **^' the primitive religion of the Ka- niagmioutes and the western Esquimaux in general appears to present an order of ideas much superior to those of the Koloches, or other American tribes. This religion, if the conjecture may be permitted, is the remains of a religious system now lost, but in- dicating a very elevated order of ideas. . . . They divided the heaven into five regions, superposed one upon another. . . . We find in these different heavens, as we rise from one to another, INTRODUCTORY. successive transformations and purifications. Each individual, if he lives an honourable life and conforms to their religious ideas, can rise to the highest of these heavens by means of these dif- ferent transformations. Every individual, in their belief, dies and returns to life five times, and it is only after having died for the fifth time that he quits the earth forever and passes into another existence. It can not be denied that these dogmas are strikingly analo- gous to those of the Buddhist faith, and, when added to other reasons for believing that this religion may have been preached in Alaska, the existence of these religious ideas, and of the Bud- dhist designation for a priest, furnishes reasonable grounds for at least entertaining the question whether there was not some early communication of the Buddhists of Asia with America. Even at the present day, the Buddhist priests, or lamas, of Centra^ Asia, are divided into three classes, comprising not Qjjly.8093 ^]jg religious, who devote themselves to study and ab- straction, and become teachers and eventually saints, and the domestic, who live in families or attach themselves to tribes and localities, but also the itinerant, who are ilways moving from convent to convent, and traveling for travel's sake, often without aim, not knowing at all where they are going. Prin- sep says that there is no country that some of these have not visited, and that when they have a religious or partisan feeling they must be the best spies in the world. Hue also speaks '"* of those lamas who live neither in lama- series nor at home with their families, but spend their time vagabondizing about like birds of passage, traveling all over their own and the adjacent countries, and subsisting upon the rude hospitality which, in lamasery and in tent, they are sure to receive, throughout their wandering way. They take their way, no matter whither, by this patli or that, east or west, north or south, as their fancy or a smoother turf suggests, and lounge tranquilly on, sure at least, if no other shelter presents itself by-and-by, of the shelter of the cover, as they express it, of that great tent, the world ; and sure, moreover, having no destination before them, never to lose their way. The wandering lamas visit all the countries readily accessi- ble to them — China, Mantchooria, the Khalkhas, the various kingdoms of Southern Mongolia, the Ourianghai, the Koukou- 8 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. noor, the northern and soutborn slopes of the Celestial Mount- ains, Thibet, India, and sometimes even Turkestan. There is no stream which they have not crossed, no mountains they have not climbed. It should be remembered that tbo journeys of these wander- ing priests have been going on for more than two thousand years, and that, so far as known, no records of them have been preserved, except those which have been kept in China, and which will be mentioned a little farther on. Hence it is impos- sible to define the limits which they may have reached ; but, if it is shewn that the journey to America, from some of the regions (such as that at the mouth of the Amoor River), which it is well known that they did reach, is neither longer nor more difficult than many of the journeys that they undertook, this fact will give reasonable ground for the conjecture that they may, in some one or more instances, have even extended their wanderings as far as to the American Continent. Mr. Leland, in his book, entitled " Fusang," "'* embodies a long letter from Colonel Barclay Kennon, formerly of the United States North Pacific Surveying Expedition, in which the ease of the voyage from Northern Asia to Northern America is fully described. It is hardly necessary to quote additional au- thorities, for the fact mentioned by INIr. P.ancroft,'*" that on the shore of Behring's Strait the natives have constant commercial intercourse with Asia, crossing easily in their boats ; but the facts mentioned by Captain Cochrane,'"** that two natives of a nation on the American Continent, called the Kargaules, were present at a fair held at Nishney Kolymsk, a town situated in Asia, on an island in the Kolyma, River, and that large armies of mice"*" occasionally migrate from Asia to America, or in the other direction, make it evident that there is no great diffi- culty in the passage. Lewis II. Morgan calls attention to the fact that '"' the Ja- panese Islands sustain a peculiar physical relation to the north- west coast of the United States. A chain of small islands — the Kuril ian — breaks the distance which separates Japan from the peninsula of Kamtchatka ; and thence the Aleutian chain of islands stretches across to the peninsula of Alaska upon the American Continent, forming the boundary between the North Pacific and Behring's Sea. These islands, the peaks of a INTRODUCTORY. 9 tlal Mount- 1. There is is tboy have CSC wandcr- '^o thousand 1 have been China, and it is irapos- led ; but, if the regions ch it is well lore difficult Ilia fact will ley may, in wanderings "* embodies lerly of the in which the I America is ditional au- that on the commercial 8 ; but the atives of a aules, were situated in irge armies jrica, or in Igreat diffi- ,'*»'the Ja- Ithe north- islands — [apan from tian chain iska upon twoen the )eaks of a submarine mountain-chain, are thickly .studded togetluT witliin a continuous belt, and are in Hubstantial communication with each other, from the extreme point of Alaska to the Island of Kyska, by means of the ordinary native boat in use among the Aleutian islanders. From the latter to Attou Island the greatest distance from island to island is less than one hundred miles, lietween Attou Island and the coast of Kamtchatka there are but two islands. Copper and Behring's, between which and Attou the greatest distance occurs, a distance of about two hun- dred miles ; while from Behring's Island to the mainland of Asia it is less than one hundred miles. These geographical features alone would seem to render possible a migration in the primitive and fishermen ages from one continent to the other. But, su- peradded to these, is the great thermal ocean-current, analogous to the Atlantic Gulf-Stream, which, commencing in the ecpiato- rial regions near the Asiatic Continent, flows northward along the Japan and Kurilian Islands, and then, bearing eastward, di- vides itself into two streams. One of these, following the main direction of the Asiatic coast, passes through the Straits of Behring and enters the Arctic Ocean ; while the other, and the principal current, flowing eastward, and skirting the southern shores of the Aleutian Islands, reaches the northwest coast of America, whence it flows southward along the shores of Oregon and California, where it finally disappears. This current, or thermal river in the midst of the ocean, would constantly tend, by the mere accidents of the sea, to throw Asiatics from Japan and Kamtchatka upon the Aleutian Islands, from which their gradual progress eastward to America would become assured. It is common at the present time to find trunks of camphor-wood trees, from the coasts of China and Japan, upon the shores of the Island of Unalaska, one of the easternmost of the Aleutian chain, carried thither by this ocean current. It also explains the agency by which a disabled Japanese junk with its crew was borne directly to the shores of California but a few years since. Another remarkable effect produced by this warm ocean-current is the temperate climate which it bestows upon this chain of islands and upon the northwest coast of America. These con- siderations assure us of a second possible route of communica- tion, besides the Straits of Behring, between the Asiatic and American continents. 10 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMIJUS. Tho " Ilistoire dc Karatchatka " "^ mentions a report that a Japanese vessel was wrecked upon Kituy, one of the Kurile Islands ; and M. Pinart '"'* states that a number of Japanese junks, borne by the currents, and probably by the great Ja- panese current, the Kuro-siico, or " Black Stream," have been shipwrecked upon the Aleutian Islands — one such case having occurred in 1871 : thus showing that if a boat were merely allowed to drift with the current along the eastern shore of Asia, it would pass by the way of the Kurile and Aleutian Isl- ands, and, if not stopped by these, would soon drift to the Ameri(\an coast. It has already been mentioned that records have been pre- served in China of a number of journeys made by the devo- tees of the Buddhist religion. The "Encyclopaedia Britanni- ca " "" gives the following list of clerical travelers, the accounts of which are now known to us, and adds : " The importance of these writings, as throwing light on the geography and history of India and adjoining countries, during a very dark period, is great." Shi Tao-''an (died a. d. 385) wrote a work on his travels to the " western lands " (an expression applying often to India), which is supposed to be lost. Fa Ilian traveled to India in 399, and returned by sea in 414. ITicai Seng and Sung Yun, monks, traveled to India to col- lect books and relics, 518-521. Hicen Tsang left China for India in 629, and returned in 645. To which should be added : " The Itinerary of Fifty-six Religious Travelers," compiled and published under imperial authority, 730 ; and " The Itinerary of Khi Nie," who traveled (964-976) at the head of a large body of monks to collect books, etc. Neither of the last two has been translated. The Rev. Mr. Edkins '"' says that both Fa Ilian and Hwen Tsang will be admitted by every candid reader to deserve the reputation for patience in observation, perseverance in travel, and earnestness in religious faith, which they have gained by the journals and translations they left behind them. It should not be forgotten that these men were influenced by the same motives which actuate our Christian missionaries of recent times. They went, seeking not for glory or riches for INTRODUCTORY. 11 Tied in 645. themselves, but either to preach their faith, in accordance with Huddha's command, in countries in which it was not known, or to meet their brethren in foreign lands, or that they themselves might obtain more complete information as to the details of the teachings of their master than they could find in their own country. Hence it may fairly bo claimed that the accounts of these men, who braved all dangers from a devotion to their re- ligious duty, are entitled to far more than the ordinary degree of credit, and that their statements should be very carefully weighed before we undertake to reject them or to brand their authors as romancers. We can well afford the same degree of charity toward them that was shown by Sir John Maundevile '*'* in darker days than our own : "And alle be it that theyse folk ban not the Articles of oure Fythe, as wee ban, natheles for hire godc Feythe naturelle, and for hire gode cntent, I trowe fuUe, that God lovethe hem, and that God take hire Servyso to gree, right as he did of Job, that was a Paynem, and held him for his trewe Servaunt. And there- fore alle be it that there ben many dy verse Lawes in the World, yit I trowe, that God lovethe alweys hem that loven him, and serven him mekely in trouthe ; and namely, hem that dispysen the veyn Glorie of this World ; as this folk don, and as Job did also : And therfore seye I of this folk, that ben so trewe and so feythe- fulle, that God lovethe hem." With this prelude, as to the motives which have led the fol- lowers of Buddha to undertake numerous, difficult, and hazardous journeys to coimtries previously unknown, and as to the degree of credence to which their accounts are, as a rule, entitled, we come to the object of this book. There is, among the records of China, an account of a Bud- dhist priest, who, in the year 499 a. d., reached China, and stated that he had returned from a trip to a country lying an immense distance east. In the case of the other travelers to whom we have referred, the accounts which we possess of their journeys were either written by themselves or their followers ; but, in the case of ITwui ShS.n, the interest excited in his story was so great that the imperial historiographer, whose duty it was to record the principal events of the time"" (each dynasty having its official chronicle concerning the physical and political features of China and the neighbouring countries'^), entered upon bis 12 A\ IN'(;M)HI01:S columbus. ofllelal rocordH a digest of the information ol)tain(' i L '' u AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Mongolians, and other Western Tartars," as (unless there is an error in the date) we find a letter written by the P6rc Gaubil '*"' to M. do risle, dated at Pekin, August 28, 1752, in which he mentions M. de Guignes's discovery of this account, but states his disbelief of the reliability of the Chinese works from which his translations were made. An extract from this letter is given in Chapter X. Philippe Buache,"" in a work entitled " Considerations G6o- graphiques et Physiques sur les Nouvelles Descouvertes au Nord de la Grande Mer," published at Paris in 1753, in which he cor- rectly advanced the opinion of the existenco of the Strait of Anian (since called Behring's Strait), evidently borrowed from de Guignes, when he stated that in the year 458 a colony of Chi- nese was established on the coast of California, in a region called Fusang, which he placed at about 55° north latitude. Her- vas,'"^ in commenting upon this statement, says that this colony has not been found, and that it is certain Uiat none of the lan- guages Avhich are spoken along that coast, between the forty- ninth and sixty-fourth degrees (a number of the words of which are to be found in the account of Cook's third voyage), have any close connection with the Chinese language. Alexander von Humboldt, in his "Views of the Cordille- ras," '"*""'" mentions a number of surprising coincidences be- tween the Asiatic and Mexican civilizations, of such a nature and of such importance as to lead him to the conclusion that there must have been an early communication between these two regions of the world ; but he makes no reference in this work to the history brought to light by de Guignes ; and in his "Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain" he says"" that, according to the learncsd researches of Father Gaubil, it ap- pears doubtful whether the Chinese ever visited the western coast of America at the time stated by de Guignes. No further attention seems to have been paid to the subject until the year 1831, when M. J. Klaproth published, ir Vol. LI of the "New Aimals of Voyages," an article entitled "Re- searches regarding the Country of Fusang, mentioned in Chi- nese Books, and erroneously supposed to be a Part of Amer- ica,""" in which he took the ground that the country mentioned in the Chinese account was probably located in some part of Japan. A translation of this article is given in Chapter III. INTRODUCTORY. 15 3 there is an 5rcGaubiP«» in which he it, but states s from which etter is given Orations G6o- srtes au Nord svhich he cor- the Strait of rrowed from olony of Chi- region called titude. Her- it this colony B of the lan- sn the forty - )rds of which foyage), have the Cordille- cidences be- lch a nature elusion that tween these ence in this ; and in his he says"" aubil, it ap- |the western the subject 3d, ir Vol. kitled «Re- led in Chi- |t of Araer- mentioned Ime part; of Iter III. For some reason, which it seems difficult to explain, Klap- roth's assertions and assumptions (for of argument there is but little, and that is partly based upon mistaken premises) seem to have been generally accepted as a settlement of the question. This did not deter the Chevalier de Paravey, however, from publishing'*"* two pamphlets,'"" one in 1844 and the other at a somewhat later date, in which he argued that the country of Fusang should be looked for in America, and not in Japan. Translations A these pamphlets are given in Chapters IV and V. D'! P.*iav^/ also published two other essays,***" in which he at- tempted to prove that the natives of Bogota must have derived from Asiatic sources such partial civilization as they possessed.**"' The next to discuss the subject was Professor Karl Friedrich Neumann, who published his views in the "Zeitschrift filr Allgemeine Erdkunde," Vol. XVI of the new series,"*' under the title of " Eastern Asia and Western America, according to Chinese Authorities of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries." Mr. Leland published a translation of this opuscule in his book, entitled " Fusang," and a translation is also given in the present volume, Chapter VI. Since that time, articles upon the subject have followed each other so thick and fast that it is difficult to give a complete list of them. In 1850 Mr. Leland "'*' published a resume of the arguments upon this subject, in the New York " Knickerbocker Maga- zine " ; and in 1862 this was republished, with additions, in the New York " Continental Magazine." In 1875 Mr. Leland pub- lished a much fuller work, entitled " Fusang, or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century." This treats the subject at much greater length than any other work, and hence it is impossible for the present author to do more than refer to it ; but it adduces much new and valuable evidence as to the true location of Fusang, and well merits care- ful perusal. In 1862 M. Jose Perez ""* published a " Memoir upon the Re- lations of the Americans in Former Times with the Nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa," one section of which related to the knowledge of America possessed by the Chinese. In 1865 "" M. Gustave d'Eichthal published a " Study con- cerning the Buddhistic Origin of American Civilization." IG AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \ t \l In the same year M. Vivien de Saint-Martin,"'* in a chapter of his " Geographical Annual " for that year, entitled " An Old Story Set Afloat," combated the idea that the Chinese had any early knowledge of America. In 1866 the Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg, in the work en- titled "Ancient Monuments of Mexico,"'" argued against the views of the author of the "Geographical Annual." In 1868 Dr. A. Godron, President of the Academy of Sci- ences at Nancy, published, in the " Annals of Voyages of Geog- raphy, History, and Archaeology,""" an article entitled "A Buddhist Mission to America in the Fifth Century of the Chris- tian Era." According to the " American Philological Magazine " for August, 1869, the Rev. N". W. Jones published in his " Indian Bulletin " an able argument to show that the Chinese Fusang was America. In the same number of the " American Philological Maga- zine" there appeared an article*'" upon the subject, by the Rev. Nathan Brown, under the heading, " Where was Fusang ? " In May, 1869, a letter upon the subject from Mr. Theos. Simson "'* was published in the " Notes and Queries for China and Japan"; and in October, 1870, a letter by E. Bretschneider, Esq., M. D.,"* was published in the " Chinese Recorder and Mis- sionary Journal." Both of these letters were copied by Mr. Le- land in his work. i At the first session of the International Congress of Ameri- canists, held at Nancy in 1875, M. Lucien Adam read an argu- ment against the identification of Fusang with America. These various articles, some of them more or less condensed, are, with the exception of the argument by the Rev. N. W. Jones (of which I have been unable to find a copy), given in Chapters VII to XI of this work. In 1876 M. the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys published a " Memoir regarding the Country known to the Ancient Chi- nese by the Name of Fusang " ; '^" but as his views, and the exceedingly valuable new material that he presents, are given more fully in his notes to his translation of Ma Twan-lin's work, entitled " Ethnography of Foreign Nations," and as, moreover, much of the " Memoir" is quoted by Professor Williams in his comments upon it, it has not seemed necessary to copy the " Me- INTRODUCTORY. ' in a chapter ;led"An Old inese had any the work en- i against the idemy of Sci- ages of Geog- entitled "A of the Chris- agazine " for his "Indian inese Fusang ogical Maga- , by the Rev. usang?" n Mr. Theos. ies for China Jretschneider, •der and Mis- d by Mr. Le- iss of Ameri- ;ad an argu- ;rica. [s condensed, ,Rev. K W. y), given in moir" in this work. The substance of the notes upon the " Ethnography " is, however, given in Cliapters XII and XIII. Mr. Bancroft, in his "Native Races of the Pacific States,"*^ gives Klaproth's translation of the story of Fusang, and com- ments briefly upon it. Professor S. Wells Williams presented to the American Ori- ental Society, on October 25, 1880, an article entitled "Notices of Fusang and Other Countries lying East of China," in which he urges some new grounds for adopting the conclusion of Klap- roth that Fusang should be decided to have been located in Japan. This article, slightly condensed, is copied in Chapter XIV. The last article on the subject is contained in the " Maga- zine of American History," for April, 1883, in which there is given a letter from the Rt. Rev. Channing M. Williams, refer- ring to the accounts of Fusang contained in the SJian Hai King, the Chinese classic of lands and seas. This will be found in Chapter X ; and a translation of all that portion of the Shan Hai King which relates to Eastern regions will be found in Chapter XXXV. An extract from the Introduction to the " Grammar of the Chinese Language," by the Rev. W. Lobscheid, "" in which many singular coincidences are mentioned between the civiliza- tions of Mexico and China ; and some extracts from Mr. Pres- cott's " History of the Conquest of Mexico," in which he ex- presses his conviction of a connection between the civilizations of the two countries, are also given (in Chapter IX), as having a bearing upon the subject. iiiii m published incient Chi- Iws, and the |s, are given -lin's work, ^, moreover, iams in his (y the " Me- II I I w CHAPTER II. DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. Chinese voyages — Knowledge of foreign lands — Work of Li-yen, a Chinese histo- rian— The country of Fu-sang — The length of the W— Wen-shin— Its identifi- cation with Jesso — Ta-han— Its identification with Kamtchatka — The route to Ta-han by land— The country of the Ko-li-han— The She-goei— The Yu-che— Description of Kamtchatka — The land of Lieu-kuci — The description of Fu- sang — No other knowledge of the country — The Pacific coast of North America A Japanese map — The Kjngdom of Women — Its description — Shipwreck of a Chinese vessel — American traditions — Civilization of American tribes on the Pacific coast— The Mexicans— Hoises— Cattle— The fu-sang tree- Mexican writing — Manner in which America was pcopkd — Similarity of cus- toms in Asia and America — Resemblances in the people — Charlevoix's story — Natives floated upon cakes of ice— The kingdom of Chang-jin — "Voyages of other nations — The Arabs — Exploration of the Atlantic — The Canaries — Story of their king — The Cape Verd Islands — Conclusion. Investigation of the Navigations of the Chinese to the Coast of America, and as to some Tribes situated at the Eastern Ex- tremity of Asia — by M, de Guignes} UlS The Chinese have not always been confined within the bound- aries which Nature appears to have established to the country in which they dwell ; they have often crossed the deserts and the mountains which shut them in on their northern side, and sailed the Indian and Japanese seas which bound their kingdom on the east and the south. The principal object of these voyages has been, either commerce with foreign nations, or the intention to extend the limits of their empire. In these voyages observations have been made that are important, as well in regard to history as to geography. Several of their generals have rectified the maps of the countries which they reconnoitered, and their histo- rians have reported some details as to routes, bearings, and dis- tances, which can be made useful. In the enumeration of all the different foreign nations that ili"; DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 19 Inations that the Chinese have known, it appears that some of them must have been situated easterly from Tartary and Japan, in a region which was included within the limits of the American Continent. A knowledge of this region of the world could have been obtained only by means of a cruise that is very remarkable and unusually daring for the Chinese — who have always been con- sidered as but mediocre sailors, hardly capable of undertaking long voyages, and whose vessels are constructed of so little strength as to be poorly adapted to resisting the hardships of a sail over a distance so great as that from China to Mexico. These voyages have appeared to me to be so important, and to have so intimate a relation with the history of the tribes of America, as to induce me to devote myself to collecting and placing in order all that could contribute to their elucidation. I intend this memoir to establish the voyages of the Chi- nese to Jesso, to Kamtchatka, and to that part of America which is situated opposite the easternmost coast of Asia. I dare flatter myself that these researches will be the more favourably received, inasmuch as they are novel, and rest wholly upon authentic facts, and not upon conjectures, such as those which we find in the works of Grotius, Delaet, and other writers who have investi- gated the origin of the American tribes. It is surprising to see that Chinese vessels made the voyage to America many centuries before Christopher Columbus — that is to say, more than twelve hundred years ago. This date, anterior to the origin and the es- tablishment of the Mexican Empire, leads us to inquire whence these nations, and some other nations of America, received that degree of civilization which distinguishes them from the barbar- ous tribes of the continent. Li-yen, a Chinese historian, who lived at the commencement of the seventh century, speaks of a country called Ftc-sang, more than forty thousand li distant from China, toward the east. He says that, in order to reach it, one should set forth from the coast of the province of Leao-tong, situated to the north of Pe-Mn, and that, after having traveled twelve thousand li, one reaches Japan ; that from that country, toward the north, after a voy- age of seven thousand //, the country of Wen-shin is attained ; that at a distance of five thousand li eastwardly from the last the country of Ta-han is found, from which Fii-sang may be reached, which is at a distance of twenty thousand li from Ta- sm :if 20 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \1 .t ' han. Of all these countries we know no others than Lcao-tong^ a northerly province of China, the point of embarkation, and Japan, which was the principal halting-place for the Chinese vessels. The three other places at which they arrived in suc- cession are Wen-ahin, Ta-han, and Fii-sang. I shall show that the first must be understood as Jesso, and the second as Kam- tchatka, and that the third must be a country situated near Cali- fornia. But before examining this route particularly, I wish to give an idea of the U which the Chinese geographers employed as the standard for measuring the distance between these places. It is very difficult to determine the true length of this measure. To-day, two hundred and fifty li make a geographical degree, which gives ten li to each French league of about three English miles. But the length of the li, like that of the French league, has varied under the different imperial dynasties and in the dif- feren*^ provinces of the empire. Pere Gaubil, who has made able researches concerning the astronomy of the Chinese, does not dare to attempt to prove the true length of this measure. He informs us th the majority of the scholars of the reign of the Han dynasty jnaintained that a thousand li, measured from the south to the north, gave a difference of an inch in the length of the shadow of an eigl t-foot hand of a sun-dial, when measured at noon. The scholars of later days have believed this deter- mination to be wrong, because they have been guided in their judgment by the measure of the li in use in the times in which they lived. If we cast our eyes upon the li adopted by the astronomers of the Liang dynasty, which flourished at the com- mencement of the sixth century, we find a material difference, since two hundred and fifty li, measured from the north to the south, give a similar difference in the length of the shadow. In order to judge of the distance of the countries by the statement as to the number of li between them, it is therefore necessary to know the length of the li at the time of the author. "We may be assured that he has considered the length of this measure, and has given the distances with precision. The difficulty in deter- mining the length of the li may be avoided by considering the report of the same author regarding two places that are well known. The distance which is reported from the shore of Leao- tong to the island of Tui-ma-tao is seven thousand li. In con- formity with the length of the li established by this distance, DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 21 the twelve thousand li Irora Leao-tong to Japan terminate at about the center of the island, near Meaco, which is the capital, and which then bore the name of Shan-ching, or the City of the Mountain. Wen-shin, which is found seven thousand li from Japan toward the northeast, can not be anything else than Jesso, situated to the northeast of Japan, and at which the seven thousand ii terminate. A Chinese historian, who has given us a very curious memoir* concerning Japan, has furnished us with additional proofs. In speaking of the limits of this empire, he says that to the northeast of the mountains which bound Japan is placed the kingdom of the Mao-Jin, or of hairy men, and be- yond them that of Woi-shin, or the country of painted bodies, about seven thousand li from Japan. The first are the inhab- itants of Matsumai; the latter are their neighbours on the north, the people of Jesso, which, as a consequence, must be Wen-shin, This country, according to the Chinese historian, was made known about 510 or 520 a. d., its inhabitants ha,ving figures similar to those of animals. They traced different lines upon their faces, the form of which served to distinguish the chief men of the nation from the common people. They exposed their condemned criminals to wild beasts, and they deemed those innocent from whom the animals took flight. Their towns or villages were unwalled. The dwelling of the king was orna- mented with precious things. They added, again, that a ditch might be seen there which appeared to be filled with quicksilver, and that this matter, esteemed in commerce, became liquid and flowing when it had imbibed water from the rain. It was, for the rest, a fei'tile country, where all that is necessary to sustain life might be found in abundance. This description agrees with what we read in the accounts of those who have explored the island of Jesso. The Japanese, who were formerly sent thei'e by an emperor of Japan, found hairy men then >vho wore their beards in the manner of the Chinese, but who were so rude and brutish that they would not receive any instruction. When the Holbnderp discovered Jesso, in 1643, the same barbarians were living there that had been described by the Chinese and Japanese, and their country appeared to abound in mines of silver. But that which agrees the most remarkably with the account of the Chinese is, that the Hollanders found there a mineral earth which glistened in the sun as if it consisted 22 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. I ■li I If! ' of silver. This earth, mixed with a very friable sand, they found where water had been placed. It is this which the Chinese had taken for quicksilver. These proofs, and the situation of Wen- shin, and its distance from Japan according to the Chinese writers, do not permit us to doubt that it must be the island of Jesso. At a distance of five thousand li from this country, toward the east, the ancient Chinese navigators found Ta-han. They declared that the inhabitants of this country had no military weapons ; that their customs were essentially the same as those of the people of Wen-sJiin, but that they had a different language. At almost exactly the distance of five thousand li, indicated by the Chinese, we find upon our maps the southern coast of an island which Don Jean de Gama discovered when going from Mexico to China. Because of the agreement as to distance, I at first believed that this coast was that of Ta-han ; but the details of the route which was taken to reach that country by land, a route which can not be reconciled with the island of Gama, which is said to be separated from Asia, has compelled me to seek else- where for the true location of the country, and to place it in the easternmost part of Asia. The statements of our navigators who have sailed these seas have contributed not a little to confirm me in this opinion. They have remarked that, in the route from China to California, they usually took the wind carrying them to the north of Japan and into the sea of Jesso, from which they sailed to the east, but that at the Strait of Uries the current car- ried them rapidly toward the north. Thus the Chinese, for the purpose of keeping close to the coast, have entered into the Strait of Uries, beyond which they have found a number of islands which extend as far as the southernmost point of Kamtchatka, where the five thousand li, the distance between Jesso and Ta- han, also terminate ; that is to say, they have reached the port of Avatcha, at which the Russians recently embarked, to attempt the discovery of the western coast of America, and whence they have taken the route of Captain Spanberg, who was commis- sioned by the Russian empress, in 1739, to reconnoitre the coast of Japan. But, in order to leave no doubt as to this point, I believe that we should be able to show by the route indi- cated by the Chinese author that Ta-han is more to the north than the place discovered by Gama, and that it forms a part of Siberia. DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 23 I shall not examine in full detail all the Tartarian trihes men- tioned by the Chinese historian, but shall confine myself to speaking only of those that are situated in the easternmost part of Asia, and shall devote myself to relating the customs of the inhabitants, so that they may be compared with those of the nations whom I place in America, and that it may be conclu- sively shown, by the differences which are found, that these last can not be placed in Kamtchatka. Moreover, this circumstantial account has seemed very interesting to me, because of the infor- mation that it gives in regard to the condition of Eastern Siberia. The Chinese travelers, who desired to reach the country of Ta-han, set forth from a city situated to the north of the river Hoang-ho toward the country of the Tartar Ortous. This city, which the Ch' lese called Chung-aheu-kiang-cJiing, must be the same as that which now bears the name of Plljotaihotun. The great desert of Shamo was then passed, and Caracorum was reached, which was the principal encampment of the Jloei-key important Tartarian tribes, from which they came into the coun- try of the Ko-U-han and of the Tu-po, situated to the south of a large lake, upon the frozen surface of which the travelers were obliged to cross. To the north of this lake, great mountains were found, and a country where the sun, says one, is not above the horizon longer than the length of time that it takes to cook a breast of mutton. This is the singular expression of which the Chinese author makes use to describe a country situated very far to the north. The Tit-po, neighbours of the Ko-li-han, have their dwelling-places upon the south of the same lake. These people, who do not distinguish the different seasons of the year, shut themselves up in cabins made of interlaced brush-wood, where they live upon fish and birds and other animals which are found in their country, and upon roots. They neglect to feed herds, and do not apply themselves at all to the cultivation of the earth. The richest among them clothe themselves in the skins of sables and of reindeers, others being clad in birds'-feathers. They attach their dead to the branches of trees. They thus leave them to be devoured by wild beasts, or to fall from putrefaction, which is a practice also found among the Tunguses who live in the same country. Another Chinese historian informs us as to where we may look for the true abode of the ITo-U-han, which appears to us ta \V u AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. || I ' ! ! be the same as the country of the Kerkia or Kergia. lie men- tions the rivers Obi and Angara under the names of 0-pu and Gang-ko-la. Wo must conchido from this that the lake placed to the north of the Ko-li-han is the famous Lake Baikal, which those who come from Russia, or from Siberia, to China, are obliged to cross upon the ice when they arrive there in winter. The Chinese employed eight days in crossing it. Less time is taken at present ; but it is still as dangerous as ever, because of the force of the winds and the abundance of snow. It follows from this account that the country of Ko-li-han is that of the Kerkia, a warlike people, who lived among the mountains, and who have been regarded as the ancestors of the Circassians, who, among themselves, call themselves Kirkez, and who live to the north of Georgia, where they have finally penetrated. The an- cient country of the Kerkia is situated in the provinces which we now call Selinginskoy and Irkutskoy, between the Obi and the Selinga. This is what it was necessary to determine in order to arrive at an exact knowledge of the route which led to Ta-han. Upon leaving the country of the Ko-li-han, one comes into that of the She-goei. These people are situated to the east of Lake Baikal and of the country of the Kerkia, upon the north- ern bank of the river Amoor. From the detailed description which has been preserved for us by the Chinese historians, it may be seen that these barbarians extended in the north of Siberia along the Lena River up to the neighbourhood of the sixtieth degree. This important tribe was divided into five principal hordes, which appeared as so many different nations. The first, called Nan She-goei, that is to say, Southern She-goei, were situ- ated to the north of the Tartarian N-iu-che and Khi-tana^ in the vicinity of the river Amoor, in a country marshy, cold, and ster- ile, where no sheep were raised, and where but few horses were found, but which produced swine and cattle in great numbers, and even a greater number of wild beasts, from which the in- habitants protected themselves with difliculty. The barbarians were clothed in hog-skins, and at the summer solstice they re- tired into the midst of the mountains. They had wagons cov- ered with felt, such as are used by the Turks, which were drawn by cattle. They built their cabins of wood, with some reeds. Their writing was by means of small pieces of wood, and the manner in which they disposed them expressed their different DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 95 ideas. IIo who wislied to marry, commenced by carrying away the destined bride by force, and afterward sent a present of cattle or liorscs to her parents. After the death of her hus- band, the laws of the country compelled the woman to pass the remainder of her life in widowhood, and the family continued the mourning for three years, as is the custom among the Chi- nese. The corpses of the dead were placed upon j)ile8 of wood and abandoned. The other branches of the same nation con- sisted of the She-god of the north (which were called Po She- goei) and the Great She-goei. They were clothed in fish-skins, and had no other industry than fishing and hunting sables, and during the winters they retired into caverns. At the north of the last there lived another nation, whoso excursions carried them to the Arctic Ocean. This is the account given by the Chinese historians of the ancient inhabitants of the north of Asia, across whose country those who wished to go to Ta-han were obliged to pass. In fact, after having left the country of the She-goei and traveling east- ward for five days, the Yu-che are found, a people who derive their origin from the She-goei ; from there, after ten days' jour- ney toward the north, the country of Ta-han is reached, which is the terminus of the route which I have undertaken to exam- ine. Ta-han may be reached by sea also, as I have shown above, and by setting sail from Jesso ; from which we must necessarily conclude that the country of the Yu-che, which makes part of Siberia, is situated toward the river Ouda, which discharges itself into the Sea of ITamtchatka, and that Ta-han, placed to the north of the Ytt-che, is the easternmost part of Siberia, and not the island of Gama, which is entirely detached from the conti- nent, and is situated more to the south and nearer to Jesso. This part of Siberia, called Kamtchatka, is the region which the Japanese call Okii-Jesso, or Upper Jesso. They place it upon their maps to the north of Jesso, and represent it as being twice as large as China, and extending much farther to the east than the eastern shore of Japan. This is the country which the Chi- nese have named Ta-han, which may signify " as large as China," a name which corresponds with the extent of the country and to the idea which the Japanese have given us of it. But, ac- cording to the more detailed accounts given by the Russians, the country is a tongue of land which extends from north to I 20 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ill Houth, from the Capo of Suotoi-noHH as far as to the north of .IcHso, with whicli Hcvcral writtTH have confoiindtMl it. It is a part of Siberia which in neparatod from the rest by a gulf of llio Eastern Sea, which runs from the south to the north. Toward the northern extremity it is inhabited by very savage tribes. Those who live in the southern part are more civilized, and have much in common with the Japanese, which lias occasioned tho belief that thoy were originally colonists from that country. It is probable that their commerce with the Chinese and Japanese, who traded upon their coasts, has contributed to render them more friendly and affable than those of the north, to whom these two civilized nations penetrated but very rarely. Tho southern part of Kamtchatka, or 7\i-hati, lias also been known to the Chinese by the name of Licn-kuei. Formerly, tho Tartars who lived in tho neighbourhood of tho river Amoor reached tho country after five days' navigation toward the north. The Chinese historian reports that this country is surrounded by the sea upon three sides, that tho people dwell along the coast and in the neighbouring islands, and that they have their dwellings in deep caverns and woody thickets. They make a species of cloth from dog-hair. The skins of swino and reindeer servo for their clothing during the winter, and fish-skins during the summer. The weather of the country is cold, because of the fogs and snows which they have in abundance. Tho rivers are frozen over, and several lakes are found, supplying fish, which the people salt in order to preserve them. They have no knowl- edge of the division of the seasons. They love to dance, and wear their mourning-garments for three years. They have large bows, and arrows pointed with bone or stone. In the year 640 A. D. the king of this country sent his sons to China. These long details have been necessary to arrive at an exact understanding of the situation of tho country of Fu-sang, which is the utmost limit of the navigations of the Chinese. The fol- lowing is the description of it which their historians have pre- served for us. It was given by a priest who went to China in the year 499 a. d., in the reign of the TsH dynasty : " The Kingdom of Fu-sang is situated twenty thousand li to the east of the country of Ta-han. It is also east of China. It produces a great number of a species of tree called fu-sang, from which has come the name borne by the country. The leaves of DE OUIQNES'S DISCOVERY. 97 the /U'3ftnf/ arc Himilnr to those of the tree wliich the Chinese eall t^tmf/. Wlieii they first appear, they resemhlc the Hhoots of the reeds called bamboos, ami tlie jjeoplu of tlie country eat tliem. The fruit has the form of a pear, and inclines toward red in colour ; from its bark they make cloth and other stuffs, with >vhieh the people clothe tliemselves, and the boards which arc made from it are employed in the construction of their houses. No walled cities are found there. The people have a sj)eciis of writing, and they h)VO peace. Two prisons, one placed in the south and the other in the north, are designed to confine their criminals, with this difference, that the most guilty are placed in the northern prison, and are afterward transferred into that of the south if they obtain their pardon ; otherwise they arc con- demned to remain all their lives in the first. They are per- mitted to marry, but their children are made slaves. When criminals are found occupying one of the principal ranks in the nation, the other chiefs assemble around them ; they place them in a ditch, and hold a great feast in their presence. They are then judged. Those who have merited death are buried alive in ashes, and their posterity is punished according to the mag- nitude of the crime. "The king bears the title of noble Y-chi ; the nobles of the nation after him are the great and petty Tui-lu and the Na- to-sha. The prince is preceded by drums and horns when ho goes abroad. He changes the colour of his garments every year. The cattle of the country bear a considerable weight upon their horns. They are harnessed to wagons. Horses and deer arc also employed for this purpose. The inhabitants feed hinds as in China, and from them they obtain butter. A species of red pear is found there, which is kept for a vear without spoiling ; also the iris, and peaches, and copper in great abundance. They have no iron, and gold and silver are not valued. He who wishes to marry, builds a house or cabin near that of the maid whom he desires to wed, and takes care to sprinkle a certain quantity of water upon the ground every day during the year ; he finally marries the maid, if she wishes and consents ; other- wise be goes to seek his fortune elsewhere. The marriage cere- monies, for the most part, are similar to those which are prac- ticed in China. At the death of relatives, they fast a greater or less number of days, according to the degree of relationship, and I lli i' ■*'!! 'i. Ii 28 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. '^ I during their prayers they expose the image of the deceased person. They wear no mourning-garments, and the prince who succeeds to his father takes no care regarding the government for three years after his elevation. In former times the people had no knowledge of the religion of Fo; but in the year 458 a. d., in the Sung dynasty, five priests of Samarcand went preaching theii' doctrine in this country, and then the manners of the peo- ple were changed " The historian from whom Ma Tioan-Un has copied this rela- tion adds that there was no knowledge of the country of Fu- sang before the year 458 a. d., and, up to the present time, I have not seen any other than these two writers who speak of it with full details. Some writers of dictionaries, who have also nr^de mention of it, content themselves by saying that it is situ- a.'.'xl in the region where the sun rises. This account informs us that Fu-sang is twenty thousand li from Ta-han or Kamtchatka, a distance almost as great as that from the shore of Leao-tong to Kamtchatka. So, in setting forth from one of the ports of this last-named country, as that of Avatcha, and sailing eastward for a distance of twenty thousand li (which presents to us a great expanse of sea), the route termi- nate? upon the westernmost coast of America, not far from the ?. wot Vvhere the Russians landed in 1741. In all this vast waste oj waters ^' j do not find any land, not even an island, to which tlie d^:tanee of twenty thousand li could be applied, and we can not suppose that tie Chinese had followed the coast of Asia and landed upoii its most easterly extremity, and there found the land of Fu-sang. The excessive coldness of the weather which exists in Kamtchatka and the neighbouring northern regions renders them almost uninhabitable. The distance is far from suflicient, and the unfortunate inhabitants appear to be given over to barbarism, when their customs are compared with those of the people of Fu-sang. In vain we flatter ourselves that we know the western coast of America perfectly ; we know nothing of the country situated to the west and northwest of Canada. Our first geographers, from conjectures, as to the foundation of which we are ignorant, have prolonged the western shores of America so that they ap- proach Asia, supposing that they are not separated, otherwise than by a strait to which they have given the name of Anian. Fran- jl DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 29 9ois Gualle, who eadeavours to prove the existence of this strait, calls our attention to the changing of the currents and the waves, and to the whales and other Arctic fish that are found in the north- ern part of the Pacific Ocean ; but, since the publication of M. de I'Isle's map of this part of the globe, we have learned the results of the explorations of the Russians, who, without giving us the contour of the coasts of America with precision, have made known to us, in general, that the coast of California trends toward the west and approaches quite near to that of Asia, leaving noth- ing between the two countries except a strait of small width, re- establishing the shape of the American Continent as it was given by the earliest geographers, apparently from a knowledge more exact than we have thought, and which has been lost to us. The Japanese, who have also cultivated the arts, and naviga- tion in particular, appear not to have been ignorant of the situa- tion of the countries which lie to the north of their empire. Kaempfer claimed to have seen in Japan a map, made by the peopl'e of that country, upon which they represented Kamtchatka, which extends farther east than Japan. Upon the eastern shore, opposite to America, there is a gulf of a square form, in the mid- dle of which a small island is seen ; farther to the north a second may be perceived, which appears to touch the two continents with its two extremities. Upon a map which this celebrated traveler brought to Europe, and which has passed into the collec- tion of the late M. Hans Sloan, along the eastern coast of Kam- chatka a strait is seen, and beyond it a large country which is America. In the northern part of the strait is an island which extends toward the two continents. M. Hans Sloan has wished me to call attention to this curious map, and Mr. Birch, Secre- tary of the Royal Society of London, has sent me an exact copy of it. This map agrees quite closely with our old maps of America, and with the new discoveries of the Russians. No island is seen where M. de I'Isle has placed the coast which the Russians have discovered ; brit, in the neighbourhood of this strait, America ap- pears to advance considerably, and to form a long tongue of land which extends nearly to Asia. I am led to believe that this coast must form part of the continent of America, from the fact that M. de I'Isle states that a large number of the inhabitants came to meet the Russians with boats similar to those of the Green- "i '■ M: il 30 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. k ii m landers or Esquimaux, which indicates some relationship be- tween the people, and at the same time a connection of this land with America. In this case it is readily seen that the Chinese could reach Fii-sang much more easily than would otherwise be possible, for they could follow the coasts almost all the way. I think that I have given sufficient proof that, at a distance of twenty thousand li from Kamtchatka, there is found a land where Fa-sang may be placed ; that this land is that o^' the continent of America, from which it results that Fu-sang is f..„uated in this continent. The Chinese historians speak also of a country a thousand li farther east than Fu-sang. They call it the " King- dom of Women." But their account is filled with fables, similar to those which our first explorers have related concerning newly discovered countries. " The inhabitants of this kingdom are white. They have hairy bodies, and long locks that fall down to the ground. At the second or third month the women come to bathe in a river, and they become pregnant. They bear their young at the sixth or seventh month. Instead of breasts, they have white locks at the back of the head, from which there issues a liquor that serves to nourish their children. It is said that, one hundred days after their birth, the children are able to run about, and appear fully grown when three or four years of age. The women take flight at sight of a stranger, and they are very respectful towai'd their husbands. These people feed upon a plant which has the taste and odor of salt, and which for this reason bears the name of the ' salt-plant.' The leaves are similar to those of the plant which the Chinese call Sie-hao, which is a species of absinthe." It is easy to perceive from this tale that, as is the custom in several places in the Indies, the women of the country nursed their children over their shoulders, and the fable reported above must have originated from this practice. We also find in the same authors that, in the year 507 a. d., in the reign of the Liang dynasty, a Chinese vessel, which was sailing the ocean, was driven by a tempest to an unknown island. The women resembled those of China, but the men had a figure and a voice like those of dogs. These people fed upon small beans, and had clothing made of a species of linen cloth, and the walls of their houses were constructed of earth built up in a cir- cular form. The Chinese could not understand their language. DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 81 There is room for the belief that the beans that are mentioned are grains of maize ; and the Chevalier de Tonti, in his accounts of Louisiana, reports that the Taen9a8, when speaking to their king, have the custom of making a great howling, by means of which they intend to show their respect and admiration for him. A similar practice among the people of the last-mentioned island may have led the Chinese to say that their voices resembled those of dogs.* We can not doubt at present that the Chinese had penetrated very far into the ocean toward the south, sailing back and forth across it, and that, in consequence, they had sufficient boldness and experience in navigation to enable them to sail to California direct. The examination of the route which they took, and the distances which they have given, prove that they went there in the year 458 a. d. In fact, we find some traces of this commerce in our own accounts. George Home tells that, at the west of the country of the Epiceriniens, neighbours of the Hurons, there lived a people among whom there arrived foreign merchants who had no beards and who were carried by large vessels. Francisco Vasquez de Coronado states also that, at Qui- vira, vessels were found of which the sterns were gilded ; and Pierre Melendez, in Acostaf speaks of the wrecks of Chinese vessels seen upon the coast. It is also an unquestionable fact that foreign merchants clothed in silk formerly came among the Catualcans. All these accounts, added to those which we have adduced, become so many proofs that the Chinese traded at the north of California, near the country of Quivira. We may also notice, as a necessary consequence of such commerce, that, of all the American tribes, the most civilized are situated near the coast which faces China. In the region of New Mexico there are found tribes that have houses of several stories, with hallri, chambers, and bath-rooms. Thej'' are clothed in robes of cotton and of skin ; but that which is most unusual among savages is, that they have leather shoes and boots. Each village has its public criers, who announce the orders of the king, and idols and tern- ■I * The Chinese geographers have also made mention of an island, called Kia-i/, which is situated to the oast of Japan. In the year 659 some of those islanders came to China with the Japanese. The Japanese map, which has been sent to me by M. Sloan, places the island of Kia-i/ to the east of Japan and of Jesse, iu the midst of twelve other smaller islands. 32 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ■ i i r ti. pies are seen everywhere. Baron dc la Hontan speaks also of the Morambecs, who lived in walled cities situated near a great salt lake, and made woolen cloth, copper hatchets, and various other manufactures. Some writers have maintained that the civilize! people situated to the north are the remnants of the Mexicans who took flight at the time when Hernando Cortez penetrated into Mexico, and who fled to the north and founded several considerable kingdoms, among others that of Quivira. Although this conjecture appears not to be devoid of some foundation, we read, nevertheless, ir \costa, that the Mexicans themselves, a long time before the Spanish invasion, came to Mexico from the north, which leads me to believe that the Chi- nese who landed in northern America had contributed to their civilization. The foundation of the Mexican Empire does not date back of the year 820 a. d., a time several c( ;turies later than the navigations of the Chinese, of which the first occurred in 458. The people who inhabited Mexico before 820, and who bore the name of Chichimecas, were savages, who retired into the mountains, whore they lived without laws, without religion, and without a prince to govern them. About the year 820 the N^ahuatalcas, a wise and civilized nation, came to Mexico, from which they drove the inhabitants, and there founded the power- ful empire which the Spaniards destroyed. The Nalmatalcas did not bring from the north the custom of sacrificing human victims. These barbarous sacrifices were not instituted until after their arrival in Mexico, and upon the occasion of a circum- stance which is related in full by Acosta. Before terminating this essay, it is necessary to make somo remarks regarding the description of the country of Fu-sang, and to reply to some objections that may be raised, particularly as to the occurrence of horses, which have not been found in any part of America. The great advantages which are derived from the possession of these animals would appear to be suflicient to in- sure their pi.eservation. "VVe observe upon this subject that all nations do not seem to have been equally persuaded of their use- fulness. Tartary, which is filled with horses, is near to Siberia, where, in several places, they have not been found at all, and where the dog or the reindeer is used instead. Nevertheless, horses could have been taken to these places — no difficulty, such, as that of crossing the sea, preventing their transportation — and DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 33 these tribes have known of them among their neighbours without having made use of them. Possibly the Chinese vessels formerly carried a few of them to America, and some tribes then used them. But it is well known to what a point the savages of Amer- ica carried their cruelty toward conquered tribes. Their wars caused frequent migrations and the complete annihilation of several nations, and consequently the destruction of the usages which these exterminated tribes may have received by means of commerce. Finally, no one undertakes to guarantee all that is contained in the relatic^n of Marco Polo, of Plan Carpin, and of Rubruquis. These ancient travelers have sometimes wan- dered from the truth ; and yet we can not, merely upon this ac- count, sweepingly condemn all of their statements. The Chinese traveler may have allowed himself to be deceived by something that he saw, and may have applied the name of horses to certain animals of the country of Quivira and of Cibola, which resembled them in size, and which the Spaniards have called sheep, on ac- count of the wool that they bear.* In the same way we have given the names of European animals to several animals of America, notwithstanding the fact that they are of a different species. In regard to the cattle mentioned in the account : since we have discovered the country of Quivira, Hudson's Bay, and the Mississippi, a species of cattle has been found with large horns, so that no difficulty remains regarding this point, and we may conclude that the Chinese navigators landed to the north of California, where they found these animals. A more exact description of the tree called fu-sa7ig would contribute toward enabling us to determine the region more definitely. All that is said of it agrees rather with some tree of America than with any that occurs in the frozen land of Kam- tchatka; and the uses that are made of it, such as the manufact- ure of the stuffs, the cloth, and the paper spoken of in the account, appear to indicate a civilized people inhabiting a tem- perate country, such as that in the neighbourhood of California, rather than a country like Kamtchatka, the inhabitants of which retire into caverns, and are clothed in skins, and are too barbar- ous to make cloth or paper, or to have letters or true literary characters for the expression of their ideas — a thing unknown * "These animals," sp.ya Acosta, "are of as great use to the Indians as assea ars among us, and are used to carry heavy burdens." t i II I h 84 AM INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. even to several nations in the southern part of Kamtchatka, who, as we have previously observed, are, from their southerly location, much nearer to China than Fu-sang can be supposed to be, if we locate it in the northern part of Kamtchatka, or any- where upon the northeastern coast of Asia ; in America, on the contrary, and particularly among the Mexicans, there is found a species of writing which consists not of alphabetical characters, but hieroglyphic characters or representations of ideas, such as the oldest characters of China were. Be it as it may, it is not my design to produce a multitude of conjectures as to the people of Fu-sang and as to the Ameri- cans. I confine myself to that which appears to me to be sol- idly confirmed. The Chinese penetrated to a country very far from the shores of the Orient. I have examined the distances stated by them, and the length of the standard of measure used by them, and they have led me to the coast of California. I have concluded from this that they have known America since the year 458 a. d. In the countries near to the spot where they landed were found the most civilized nations of America. I have thought that they are indebted for their civilization to the commerce which they have had with the Chinese.* This is all that I proposed to establish in this essay. It is now easy to perceive the manner in which America has been peopled. There is much probability that several colonies have passed to it from the north of Asia, in the place where the two continents are the nearest together, and whei'e a great island that extends from the east to the west, and which appears to unite them, renders the passage still easier. They may have reached it either by means of the ice, which in these seas some- times lasts two or three years, as we have seen examples in our own days, or by the help of the canoes in use among the Green- landers and other northern barbarians living in the easternmost part of Siberia. A certain agreement in the manners and customs which are found among the Tunguscs and the Samoyedes with thooe of the tribes of Hudson's Bay, of Mississippi, and of Louisiana, adds a * George Home, 1, iv, c. 13, goes further. He affirms that the Mexicans are a colony of Chinese who came into America in 12*79 a. d. with their emperor named Tipun, after the conquest of China by the MongoLii. But this statement Is erroneous, since Ti-pun with his fleet was swallowed up by the waters. DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 86 new force to these reflections. It is known that in general all the nations of the same country are distinguished by peculiari- ties of countenance, and by an exterior, that proclaims their com- mon origin. Such are the Chinese, for example, who are easily recognized among other nations. The nations of Europe have a long and bushy beard, while that of the Chinese, the Tartars, and the people of Siberia is but slight ; in which point they re- semble the Americans, from which it might be inferred that these last came from Tartary. In examining the animals, we are compelled to make the same reflection. Several are foimd in America which are not met with elsewhere, except in the north of Asia — as the hairy cattle, and the reindeer, so common in Siberia and in the northern part of America. A number of additional facts can also be stated which con- firm the ease of the passage. We extract them from Charlevoix, who reports that P6re Grellon, after having laboured for some time in the missions of New France, went from there to China, and thence to Tartary, where he met a Huron woman whom he had known in Canada. She had been captured in war, and taken from one nation to another until she had reached Tartary. Another Jesuit, upon returning from China, related also that a Spanish woman from Florida, who met with the same misfortune, after having passed through extremely cold regions was finally met in Tartary. ilowever remarkable these accounts may be, it is neverthe- less not impossible to reconcile them with geography. The women reached the shore of the sea that washes the western coast of America, whence they first passed by canoes to the island that is found in the strait, from which they landed upon the continent of Asia, and finally, taking the route from Tc-han^ to which I have referred, they approached China. There is room for the belief that this is one of the ways by which America has been peopled ; but it is not at all likely that it has been the only one on the side of the north. Some among the writers who have investigated the origin of the Americans have made some conjectures upon the subject which seem not to be destitute of foundation. At the mouth of the river Kolyma, in Siberia, is found a thickly peopled island, which is often frequented by those who come to hunt for the fossil ivory of the mammoth, which is more beautiful than that of the ilii :i M 30 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \ ^'i elephant, and is used for making different objects. They arrive there, with all their families, by crossing the ice, and it frequently happens that, surprised by a thaw, they are carried away upon large cakes of ice toward the opposite point of America, which is not very far distant. That which seems to give more weight to this conjecture is the fact that the Americans who inhabit this country have the same physiognomy as the unfortunate island- ers, who, from too great a desire for gain, expose themselves to the danger of thus being transported to a strange country. It can not be doubted that floating ice has sometimes carried men, and, even more frequently, animals, to neighbouring countries. Great cakes of ice, detached from more southerly lands, have been seen to arrive upon the coast of Iceland, laden with wood and with animals, of which the Icelanders take so great advantage that they neglect the interior of the island, and remain more willingly upon the coast, in order to be on hand to profit by them. It ia in this manner that a number of ferocious animals have pene- trated into regions where men would never wish to have brought them. I conclude, from all these observations, that a part of Amer- ica has been peopled by the barbarians who inhabit the north of Asia. Adding also that the commerce of the Chinese has not only carried new inhabitants to them, but has also contributed much to the civilization ot the American people, and to give them a knowledge of the most useful arts. And if, upon the evidence of the Japanese map, we place the kingdom of Ghanfj- jin to the south of the Strait of Magellan, it is certain in that case that the Chinese and the Coreans have known the southern part of America ; that their navigators have frequented it ; and that by this means they have civilized the Peruvians, among whom certain arts flourished, and who felt themselves not to be barbarians in anything. Other nations, less civilized than the Chinese, have also had means for reaching America no less easily at the south. Those who have populated the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the Moluccas, and the Philippines, are connected with the inhab- itants of India and of China ; they have been from island to island in their canoes ; they have penetrated successively to New Guinea, New Holland, and New Zea'.and, immense countries of which we do not know the extent. In that way they have ap- '1 1 They arrive I it frequently kI away upon fiierica, which more weight 10 inhabit this tunate island- themselves to untry. It can ried men, and, titries. Great ave been seen ood and with Ivantage that nore willingly J them. It is Is have pene- have brought art of Araer- ; the north of linese has not o contributed and to give 1 if, upon the m of Chang- artain in that - i 3 the southern nted it ; and 'i- ,» '^ians, among ves not to be 'S ave also had '^ uth. Those Borneo, the J 1 the inhab- om island to 1 vely to New countries of ley have ap- DE GUIGXES'S DISCOVERY. 87 proachcd the American Continent. Some of them may have reached the islands which are found between the tenth and twen- tieth degrees of south latitude — islands so near to each other that they form, as it were, a chain, which they could have fol- lowed. They have been peopled one after another, until those most distant from their original starting-point, and the nearest to America, have received their colonies. Perhaps the same reasoning might bo applied to some parts , of Europe. The British Islands, Norway, Iceland, and Green- land may have been the places of passage of American colonies, and, as these regions became more thickly peopled, some of the inhabitants would go to seek new and more distant habitations. But Avithout stopping here to make conjectures regarding the navigation of the ancients, history furnishes us Avith a proof that civilized nations have attempted to discover new lands to the west of Europe, and to penetrate far into this vast sea. It is true of the Arabs. It is known that under the dynasty of the Ommiades these tribes made the conquest of a part of Africa. Thence, under the leadership of Tharic, they passed into Spain, which they re- duced to a province of their empire ; but after the Ommiades had been destroyed in Syria, a prince of that house escaped the general massacre made by the Abbassides, and fled to Spain, where he was proclaimed caliph, and founded a powerful mon- archy, which was destroyed by other princes coming from Africa. These possessed the greater part of Spain, until they were driven out by the Christians. It was during the reign of the Arabs in Spain that some of their sailors, setting sail from Lisbon, where they then were masters, embarked upon the gloomy sea or "West- ern Ocean, with the intention of penetrating as far as they could toward the west, and of discovering the islands and lands which existed there. But their enterprise did not meet with the suc- cess with which they flattered themselves. After eleven days of navigation before a favourable wind, they found a thick sea, which exhaled a bad odor, where they met a number of rocks, and where the darkness commenced to make itself perceived. They were not so bold as to penetrate any farther. Making sail then to the south, they, after twelve days of navigation, ex- plored the Canaries, where they met a man who spoke Arabic. They traveled about among the islands, and landed upon one, !-| f : r k I ! I '. ,■ 38 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \v i 1 1 ' 1 1 ai \ I !'i^ where they were stopped by the islanders. Questioned by the king of the country as to the object of their voyage, they an- SAvercd him that their design had been to penetrate to the end of the world. The king informed them that hia father liad ordered some of his subjects to make the same attempt, but that, after having sailed the sea for a month without discovering anything, they had returned to the Canaries. These strange voyages of the Arabs, and particularly that of the inhabitants of the Cana- ries, cause us to su ct that others of the islanders, equally bold and more fortunate, may have reached America ; since they had the courage to abandon themselves, with their vessels, to the mercy of this vast sea, although they had no knowledge of the compass, and, as we regard them, were but little skilled in the art of navigation. Other Arabs, and the people of Senegal, knew also at the same time of the Cape Verd Islands. We have not found in any writer that the Arabs penetrated any farther. Nevertheless, they approached at least this near to the lands of America, and, if they were not bold enough to sail directly to it, some of those who sailed the sea may have been carried by the tempests to the islands of the Azores, which are in the same degree of latitude, where pieces of wood and dead bodies from America are often found. It is this which gave birth to the belief of Christopher Columbus that there must be, and were, lands near the Azores. After this recital, we see that even the most barbarous people have had sufficient skill in the art of navigation to reach very distant islands, and, as a necessary consequence, to go even as far as to America ; but it is not my intention to exhaust the subject. We shall not be able to succeed in doing that until after we have obtained an exact knowledge of all the globe, and have discov- ered all the southern lands. I must stop with having collected the facts which are scattered in the Chinese geographies con- cerning the voyages of the Chinese in the South Sea and to America, and with having made, in consequence, some reflections concerning the passage of colonies to America. CHAPTER III. KLAPROTU'S DISSENT. Title of do Guignes's article incorrect — Translation of the account of FiMang — Vinea and horses not found in America — Route to Japan — Length of the li Identification of Weti^hin with Jesao— 7a-Aaw identified with Taraikai or Saghalicn— The route to Ta-han by land— The Shy-wei—IAeu-kuei—Fxi^ang south of Ta-han instead of cast— /'w-artn^ an ancient name of Japan — Analy- sis of name " Fu-sang "—The paper mulberry — Metals— The introduction of Buddhism— Fantastic tales. Researched rejanUng the Country of Fust .g^ mentioned in Chinese Books, and erroneously supposed to he a Part of America. — By J. Klaproth. IIMT The celebrated do Guignes, having found in Chinese books a description of a country situated a great distance to the east of China, and thinking it probable that this country, called Fu- sang, must be a part of America, set forth this opinion in an essay read before the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, entitled " Investigation of the Navigations of the Chinese to the Coast of America, and as to some Tribes situated at the Eastern Extremity of Asia." It should be first observed that this title is incorrect. Noth- ing is said in the Chinese original, which de Guignes had before his eyes, concerning any voyage undertaken by the Chinese to Fu-sang, but, as is shown farther on, it is simply a question of a description of this country, given by a priest who was a native of it, and who had come to China. This notice is found in that part of the Great Annals of China * entitled Nan-szii, or " His- * These are the Nan-eulszu, or the " Twenty-two Historians," of which the works form a collection of more than six hundred Cliinese volumes, and which should not be confounded with the annals entitled T'ung-hian-kang-mu, which are known in Europe by the meager extracts which P^re Mailla has given in twelve volumes, in 4°. i|i1 I\ Ij ' 1 ( 1 ' 1. 40 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. tory of the South." After tho clestruction of the dynasty of 7shi, in ■i)iO A. I)., China was overwlielnuMl with troubles, which resulted in the establishment of two empires, one in the northern provinees, the other in those of the south. The last was euccea- sively governed, from 420 to 589 a. n., by tho four dynasties of Siaif/, Tft'iy Liang, and VIC in. The history of the t\\;o empires was written by Ll-yan'Chcn, who lived about the commencement of the seventh century. This is what he says about l'\i-»cm>j : ** In the first of the years yuug-ifmat, of the reign of Fe-ti^ of the dynasty of Ts'i, a shamitn (or liuddhist priest), called Jloei *S7iy,t of which the leaves resemble those of the t'ung {^Bignonia tomentosa), and the first shoots those of tho bamboo. The people of the country eat them. Tho fruit is red and of the shape of a pear. The bark of this tree is prepared in the same way as that of hemp, and cloth and clothing are made of it. Flowered stuflPs are also manufactured from it. "Wooden planks are used for tho construction of their houses, for in this country there are no cities and no walled habitations. The inhabitants have a species of writing, and make paper from the bark of the fu-sang. They have no weapons or armies, and do not make war. According to the laws of the kingdom, there are a southern prison and a northern prison. Those who have committed crimes that are not very serious are sent to the southern prison, but great crimi- nals are shut up in the northern one. Those who may receive pardon arc sent to the first ; those, on tho contrary, to whom it can not be accorded are confined in the northern prison.J The men and tho women who are shut up in the latter are per- mitted to marry each other. The male children, born from these unions, are sold as slaves at the ago of eight years ; the * King-chm is a city of the first order, situated upon the left side of the great Kiang, in the present province of Hu-pe. f Fu^ang in Chinese, or, according to tlic Japanese pronunciation, Fouts^Sk, is the shrub which we call " Hibiscus rosa Chincnsis." X De Guignos has very badly translated this passage, as follows : " The most guilty are placed in the northern prison and afterward transferred into that of the south if they obtain their pardon ; otherwise they are condemned to remain all their lives in the first." KLAPUOTirS DISSENT. 41 ; side of the )n, Fouls-*dk, girla at the apo of nine years. The criminals wlio are confined thoro never come forth alive. When a man of high rank com- mits a crime, the people assemble in great numherH. They sit down face to f.ice with the criminal, who is placed in a ditch, and regale themselves with a banquet, and take leave of him as of a dying man.* Then he is surrounded by ashes. For an offense of little gravity the criminal alone is punished, but for a great crime, the culprit, his sons, and grandsons are punished ; finally, for the greatest offenses his descendants to the seventh generation are included in the punishment, riie name of the king of the country is Y-k'i (or Yit-k'i).\ The nobles of the first class are called 2\ii-lu ; those of the second, little Tui-lu ; and those of the third, Na-tu-8ha. When the king goes forth, he is accompanied by drums and horns. lie changes the color of his garments at different epochs. In the years of the cycle kia and y J they are blue ; in the years ping and ting^ red ; in the years ou and ki, yellow ; in the years keng and sin, white ; finally, in those which have the characters jin and kuei, they are black. " The cattle have long horns, upon which burdens are loaded which weigh as much, sometimes, as twenty ho (of one hundred and twenty Chinese pounds). In this country they make use of carts harnessed to cattle, horses, and deer. They rear deer there as they raise cattle in China, and make cheese from the milk of the females. Il A species of red pear is found there, which id preserved throughout the year. There are also many vines. ^ * Do Guignca translates the last words by " He is then judged." f De Guignes has wrongly read " Y-chi" X The years 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, and 51 of the cycle of sixty years bear the char- acter kia ; the years 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, and 62 have the character y. Ping, 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, and 63; ting, 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, and 64. Ou, 6, 16, 25, 36, 46, and 65 ; ki, 6, 16, 26, 36, 40, and 66. Kcvg, 1, 17, 27, 37, 47, and 67 ; sin, 8, 18, 28, 38, 48, and 68. Jin, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, and 69; kuci, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, and 60. \ De Guignes translates : " The inhabitants feed hinds, as in China, and from them they obtain butter." * In the original, To-p'iWao, De Guignes, having decomposed the word p'u-t'ao, translates: "A great number of iris-plants and peaches are found there." Nevertheless, the word p'u alone never means the iris ; it is the name of rushes and other species of marshy reeds which are used for making mats. T'ao is, in fact, the name of the peach, but the compound word p'u-t'ao, in Chinese, signifies the vine. At present, it is written with other characters — i. e., MH I I > 42 AN IXGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. i fill! I i|li Iron is lacking, but copper is found. Gold and silver are not esteemed. Commerce is free, and they do not haggle at all. " Their practices regarding marriage are as follows : He who desires to wed a girl establishes his cabin before her door ; he spi'inkles and sweeps the earth every morning and every night. When he has practiced this formality for a year, if the luaid will not give her consent, he desists ; but, if she is pleased with him, he marries her. The ceremonies of marriage are nearly the same as in China. At the death of father or mother they fast seven days. At that of a grandfather or grandmother they refrain from eating for five days ; and only for three days at the death of brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and other relatives. The images of spirits are placed upon a species of pedestal, and prayers are addressed to them morning and evening.* " The king does not occupy himself with the affairs of gov- ernment during the three years which follow his accession to the throne. " Formerly the religion ot Buddha did not exist in this coun- try, but in the fourth of the years ta-niing, of the reign of Jliao-wu-tl, of the dynasty of Sung (458 a. d.), five pi-k'ieu, or priests, of the country of Ki-pin (Coph6ne), came to Fu-sang, and there spread abroad the law of Buddha. They carried with them their books and sacred images and the ritual, and estab- lished monastic customs,! and so changed the manners of the inhabitants." ^ ^' ^"^ t^^ vHf ^^ ^'^'^ ancient orthography of the times of Han^ which pre- vailed until the tenth century of our era. The vine is not a native of China, its seeds having been imported by the cele- brated General Chang K'ian, sent into the western country in the year 126 b. c. He traveled through the Afghanistan of our days, and the northwestern part of India, and returned to China after thirteen years' absence. The term p'u-t'ao is not native to China, any more than the object which it designates. It is probably the imperfect transcription of the Greek pSrpvs. The Japanese pronounce it hou-iU. They usually give to the vine the name of ycfn-kadzoura, composed of ychi, a sea craw-fish, and of kadzoura, a general name of climbing plants which attach themselves to neighbouring trees. * De Guignc? translates : " During their prayers they expose the image of the de- funct pcrtion." The text speaks of shin, or genii, and not of the spirits of the dead. f In the original, ^ [fj, cA'M-Aia — that is to say, "to leave one's house or family," or " to embrace a monastic life." Do Guignea has not translated this paaa- age, with the exception of the beginning. r KLAPROTirS DISSENT. 48 The circumstance that vines and horses are found in the country of Fu-sang is sufficient to prove that it could not be any part of America, these two objects having been brought to the continent by the Spaniards, after the discovery of Chris- topher Cohirabus in 1492. But other reasons, drawn from the Chinese books, explicitly oppose the supposition that Fu-sawj should be identified with any part of the New World. We have seen, from the account of the priest Iloei Shin, that Fc- sang was twenty thousand K to the east of Ta-han. De Guignes has erroneously taken this last country for Kamtchatka. He bases this hypothesis upon another passage of the Kan-szii, in which the author says that, in order to go to Ta-Jian, the traveler sets out from the western shore of Corea,* coasts along this peninsula, and, after having gone twelve thousand U, arrives at Japan ; that from there, after a route of seven thousand U toward the north, he comes to the country of Wen-shin, and that, five thousand li from the last, toward the east, the country of Ta-han is found, from which Im-sang is distant twenty thou- sand li. In olden times the Chinese vessels which sailed to Japan crossed the Strait of Corea, passed before the isles of Tsu-sinia (in Chinese, Tui-ma-tad), and landed in some port of the north- ern coast of the great island of Niphon. We must, therefore, conclude that the distance mentioned in the route much exceeds the reality. It should also be remembered that the ancient Chi- nese did not have any means of determining the length of their journeys at sea. Even if we admit the maritime li of the fifth century to have measured four hundred to the degree, the dis- tance of twelve thousand li of coasting between the mouth of the la-t'iiny-kiang, in 38° 45' N. latitude, upon the western coast of Corea, and the middle of the coast of Niphon, upon * De Guignes translates the passage : " Sets out from the shore of the province of Lcao-tong, situated to the north of Pc/cin.''^ But, in the first place, this prov- ince is not to the north, but to the northeast of Pcldn. Next, the Chinese text says that they set forth from the district of Lo-lang, which is situated not in Leao-tunff, but in Corea, and of which the capital is the present city of P'hiff- jang (in d'Auville's map, Fing-yang), situated upon the northern bank of the Ta-t'mig-ldang, or F'ais/iue, a river of the province of P'ing-ngan, which, in great part, in the time of the dynasty of Han, formed the district of Lo-hvvj. P'ing-;/a)ig waa the residence of K'i-tsn, the first Chinese prince who was estab- lished in Corea, about the year 1122 before our era. Il^l^f^ ii:. ! I i:,;f ■! t i « 44 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. the Japanese Sea, is, nevertheless, more than twice too great ; the distance between the two points, in coasting, is not more than fifty-six hundred U, of four hundred to the degree. It, therefore, results that the li of the Chinese route ir ^asure about eight hundred and fifty to the degree. The same account estimates the distance between the Ja- panese port and the country of Wen-shin as seven thousand li, or a little more than eight degrees of latitude. This distance conducts us, however, by following the contour of the coast of the Japanese Sea, exactly to the northern part of Niphon and to the southern point of the island of Jesso. The country of Wen- shin, oy "Tattooed People," is, in fact, found there; for the Ainos, who then occupied both the northern part of Japan and the island of Jesso, have even to this day the custom of painting the face and the body with different figures. The distance from the country of Wen-shin to that of Ta-han is, according to our account, five thousand li, or about six de- grees of latitude. This brings us exactly to the southern point of the island of Taraikai, erroneously called Saghalien upon our maps. The identity of this island with Ta-han is confirmed by another account, which describes the route from the northern part of China to the last named country. In the times of the j^'ang dynasty the Chinese had estab- lished three fortified cities to the north of the northernmost curve described by the Iloang-ho, which surrounded upon three sides the present country of the Ordos, called for this reason Ho-t'ao, or " Enveloped by the River." One of these cities, sit- uated between the two others, bore the name of Chung-sheu- kiang-ch'ing, or "the Central City, which Protects the Sub- missive People." It does not now exist, but its site, which can be determined with precision, was in the country now occupied by the Mongol tribe of Orat, upon the northern bank of the Iloang-ho. To go by land to the country of Ta-han, the trav- eler set forth from this city, and traversed the desert of Gobi, or Shamo, and arrived at the principal encampment of the lloei- hhe, situated upon the left bank of the Orkhou, not far from its sources, and the same place where the Mongolians afterward constructed their first capital, Caracorum. From there he reached the country of the Ivo-li-han and of the Tu-p'o, sit- uated to the south of a great lake, upon the ice of which he KLAPROTH'S DISSENT. 45 must cross in winter. We know from other indications that the lake is that of Baikal. To the north of this lake, say the Chi- nese relations, high mountains are found, and a country where, says one, the sun is not above the horizon longer than during the little time that it takes to cook a breast of mutton. The Ta-po, neighbours of the Jto-li-han, inhabit the country to the south of the lake. Another historian informs us what is the true abode of the Ko-li-han, and we know that this country is the same as the ancient country of Kirkis, or Kerghiz, situated between the 0-2m (the Obi) and the Ang-Jco-la (the Angara). Upon leaving the country of the Ko-li-han, and traveling to the east, we enter into that of the Shy-ioei. The SJiy-wei include a great number of tribes that do not appear to belong to the same nation, for the Chinese accounts mention several who speak a different language from that which the others use. Nevertheless, the greater part of the Shy-wei are of the same origin as the Khi-tan and speak their idiom, which is identical with that of the Mo-ho ; the latter are, to all appe'vrances, the Mongols. The others belong to the Tunguse race. The most southerly Shy-wei live in the vicinity of the river Nou, an affluent upon the right of the upper Amoor. After having left the country of the Shy-wei, who live to the east of the Ko-li-han and of Lake Baikal, and marching for fifteen days to the east, we find the Shy-wei called ^ ^B, Ju-che, who are probably the same people that other Chinese authors call lit ^D> J^-che — ^that is to say, the DJourdJe, ancestors of the present Mantchoos. From there we advance for ten days toward the north, and enjter into Ta-han, surrounded by the sea upon three sides. This country, called also Lieu-kuei, therefore can not be other than the island of Taraikai, as we have already ascertained by following the route by sea laid down by Li-yan-sheu. De Guignes has wished to consider Kamtchatka as Ta-han ; but it is impossible to reach Kamtchatka from the eastern b.^-nk of Lake Baikal within thirty days, this time being barely sufficient to go across a country where there are no roads, from the eastern point of Lake Baikal, by way of the country of the INIantchoos and along the Amoor, to the great island of Taraikai, situated before the mouth of that river. The identity of Ta-han and the island of Taraikai, once ii, . 46 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. demonstrated, prevents all further search for the country of Fa- sung in America. We have seen that the navigators, who went from the eastern coast of Corea to Ta-han^ traveled at first twelve thousand, then seven thousand, and again five thousand li, or in all twenty-four thousand li (or, according to our calcula- tion, twenty-nine and a half degrees of latitude), in order to reach that country. Fu-sang was twenty thousand U (or twenty-three and a half degrees) to the east of Ta-han or Taraikai, and so nearer by four thousand II than the latter country was to the eastern coast of Corea. If we adopt th" letter of the relation, and seek iov Fu-sang to the east of Ta-han, we fall into the great ocean, for the opposite coast of America in the same latitude is not less than four times as distant. We must therr^n-e reject the entire tale as to Fu-sang as fabulous, or else fina a means of reconciling it with the truth. This may be found by supposing the indication of the direction as toward the east to be incorrect. Now, the route by sea which conducts us to Taraikai indicates this as being the constant di- rection ; whereas the traveler at first goes to the south to double Corea, then, upon entering the Japanese Sea, he directs his course to the northeast, and finally changes this course for one more northerly, in order to follow the channel of Tartary to a point south of Taraikai. "NVe may therefore presume that one seta sail from that country, and that at first one goes directly east, in order to pass the Strait of Perouse, by skirting the northern coast of Jes- 80, but that, upon arriving at the eastern point of this islaad, the course turns to the south and leads us to the southeastern part of Japan, which was the country called Fu-sang. In fact, one of the ancient names of this empire is Fi-sa?ig (Hibiscus rosa Ci i- ne)i6cs), and the Japanese books scy that it was applied to their country because of its beauty. If we analyze the two syllables which compose the word "fu- sang," v\^e find that the first, ^,f'i, signifies *- to help, to be use- ful," and that the second, |^, sang, designates the mulberry. The word therefore signifies, the useful mulberry. This circumstance leads me to think that there is some mistake in the Chinese ac- count preserved in the Nan-szu, and that it confounds the hibis- cus, or the " Rose of China," with the paper-mulberry {3forus papyrifera^., for the description of the tree in question applies rather to this last than to the hibiscus ; in fact, the bark of the KLAPROTirS DISSENT. 47 itry of Fa- , who went led at first e thousand )ur calcula- ler to reach renty-three cai, and so vas to the je relation, the great latitude is Fu-sang as the truth, e direction sea which Dnstant di- i to double 1 his course one more ;o a point le seta sail t, in order ast of Jes- islaad, the item part Lct, one of rosa CI i- \ to their rord '* f u- o be use- rry. The urastance linese ac- he hibis- {3forus \ applies k of the paper-mulberry furnishes to the Japanese all the productions which the Chinese account attributes to the true fu-sang. Tho bark is employed to make paper, stuffs, clothing, cordage, wicks, and several other useful things. Among the other productions of Fii-sang, as we have already remarked, the vine and the horse did not exist in America before the arrival of the Europeans, but they are found in Japan. The copper of this country is celebrated as an important article of export. Iron is, even now, rare in Japan, and consequently more valued than copper. According to mythological traditions, horses and cattle were produced from the eyes of the spirit OuJce-motsi- no-kami, and the other domestic animals issued from his mouth. As to the vine, it appears bat that is older in Japan than in China, where it was not introduced until the second century be- fore our era ; for, according to the Japanese traditions, grapes were produced from a tress of black hair thrown down by Iza- naki-no-mikote, the last of the seven celestial spirits that reigned in the country. The single difficulty which remains is that which concerns the introduction of Buddhism. According to the Japanese annals, this religion was not diflFused throughout the empire until 552, the date that it was carried from Fiak-sai, or Fe-tsi, a kingdom situated in Corea, to tiiC court of the Dairi. Never- theless, as this belief had been introduced in 372 into the king- dom of Kao-li, or Ko-rai, and in 384 into Fiak-sai, and the Japan- ese had had intercourse with the two countries for a long time, it is not at all improbable that Buddhism had found disciples in Japan before the way into the palace of the Dairi was opened to it. Finally, I will call attention to the fact that the country of Fi-sang has furnished the Chinese poets with innumerable op- portunities for giving fantastic descriptions of its marvels. The authors of the Shan Jlai King * and the Li-sao,\ as well as Hwai-nan-tz, J Li T'ai-pi, \\ and other writers of the same kind, * Tlic Shan Hai King, the Chinese " Classic of Lands and Seas," is described in chapter xxxvi of this work. f Tlic Li-sao is a celebrated poem written by Kin Yuen in the third ceu'nry n. c. \ Himl-nan-tz is one of ten eminent writers of antiquity, who are assf ciatcd together under the designation of the " Ten Philosophers." lie was the grandson of Kau-ti, of the Han dynasty, b. c. 189. lie wrote upon the origin of things. I TA T'ai-pi is one of the most popular of the Chinese poets. He lived during the reign of the l"ang dynasty. hi?!'!'! m ' ■! • !,' I 'f i I ! 48 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. have used them freely. According to them, the sun rises in the valley of Yang-Jcuy and maked his toilet at Fu-sang, where there are mulberries several thousand fathoms high ; the people cat the fruit, which gives to their bodies the colour of gold, and endows them with the power to fly in the air. In an equally fabulous notice of Fu-sang, which dates from the time of the Liang dy- nasty, there is a statement that the silk-worms of the country are six feet long and seven inches in breadth ; they are of the colour of gold, and lay eggs of the size of swallows' eggs. I spare the reader the rest of these fables. i ,f ses in the lere there le eat the d endows fabulous [liang dy- e country re of the . I spare CHAPTER IV DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. America visited by Scandinavians— American tribes emigrants from Asia — An- cient cninese maps — Researches antedating those of Elaproth — Letter of Pfere Gaubil — Ta-han — Licu-kuei — Identification of these with Eamtchat- ka— Size of i^w^awi;— Views of M. Dumont d'Urville— Length of the li — America lies at the distance and in the direction indicated — The Meropide of Elien — The Hyperboreans — The monuments of Guatemala and Yucatan — The Shan-hai-king — Identification of the fusanff tree with the mctl or ma- guey — The Japanese Encyclopaedia says Japan is not Fu-aang — The banana or pisang tree may have been the tree called fusang — Grapes in America — Milk in America — The bisons of America — Llamas — Horses — Wooden cabins — The ten-year cycle — The titles of the king and nobles — ^The worship of images — Resemblance of pyramids of America to those of the Buddhists — An image of Buddha— The spread of the Buddhist religion — History of the Chichimecas — Resemblance of Japanese to Mexicans — Analogies of Asiatic and American civilizations pointed out by Humboldt — Credit due de Guigncs — Appendix — Afa Twan-lMa account — The fusang said to be the prickly poppy of Mexico— Laws punishing a criminal's family have existed in China — Chinese cycle of sixty years existed in India — Cattle harnessed to carts — The grapes of Fusang wild, not cultivated — Another Chinese custom in Fiisang — The route to Ta-han — ^The route to Japan very indirect — Priests called lamas both in Mexico and Tartary. America under the JVhme of the Country of Fusang — by M. de Paravey.'^'^^^ The scholars of Iceland and Denmark have shown that the Scandinavians, long before Columbus, visited the northeastern portion of America, and there found wild vines and grapes ; and that they even penetrated to the south as far as to what is now known as Brazil. Before these modern researches, the il- lustrious Buffon, in his " Discours sur les Vari6t6s de PEspfece Humaine," took the ground, as M. de Humboldt has also recent- ly done, that the tribes of Northwestern America, and even of !i 60 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Mexico, bad come from Tartary and Central Asia ; and, relying upon the new discoveries of the Russians, he traced the route followed by the Asiatics, holding that they reached the north- western portion of California by way of Kamtchatka and the chain of the Aleutian Islands. Upon his side, M. de Guignes, examining the books of China, and by them throwing a light upon the origin of all European nations, found among them a very remarkable memoir regarding the country of Fu-sang, or the country of tho Extreme East. He availed himself of the light thrown by the Russians and the latest geographers upon the e.vUvMt: rortheastern countries of Asia, and, in his scholarly wor^. he !n.>ved, as far as it was then possible to do so, that the country of IC. -ng, known in the year 458 a. d., rich in gold, silver, and copper, but destitute of iron, could be nothing else than America. All the maps, rough and purposely altered as to the size of foreign countries, that we have been able to find in the books or collections relating to China, and anterior in date to the exact maps of the Celestial Empire, which were finally made by the aid of the corrections of the missionaries at Pekin, show, in fact, to the east and northeast of China, beyond Japan, marked under one of its names, Ji 0,pen 7{C ("Origin of the Sun"), a con- fused mass of countries, delineated as small islands, undoubtedly because they were reached by sea ; and among these countries, of ichich the size is purposely reduced, is marked the cele- brated country of Fu-sang, a country of which many fables have been related in China, but which, in the account translated by M. de Guignes, is presented in a light so entirely natural that it can not be considered otherwise than as one of the countries of America, even if it is not, as we think possible, intended for the entire Continent of America. We had not known of the old Chinese maps, drawn up so as to present Europe and all of Asia, outside of China, as very small countries, until our visit to Oxford in 1830. We then copied them at the Bodleian Library, and our scholarly friend. Sir George Stanton, afterward gave us one of these imperfect maps. Upon returning to London, we there sought and found the Chinese text of the account translated by M. de Guignes ; for the works in which it is found are monopolized at Paris by cer- tain students of Chinese. We copied this text, and showed it to DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 51 Mr. Iluttman, then secretary of the English Asiatic Society. He recognized in it, as we did, a dcr »Tiption of America, or of one of its parts, and, in the surprise w. ich he felt, he communicated, probably, with M. Klaproth regarding our researches, for we were at London again when this Prussian scholar published, in the " Nouvelles Annales des Voyages," in the year 1831, a pretended refutation of the memoir of M. de Guignes, a refutation which he addressed to us, together with a letter of equal length, which we may some day publish. Neither this letter nor this printed article changed our convictions as to the justice of the views of the learned M. de Guignes, We declared them to M. Klap- roth, and, as he himself undoubtedly felt the feebleness of the arguments by which he had endeavoured to pr e that this ac- count of Fa-sang should be understood to rci :r Japan, he afterward, on this account, as we suppose, w' hing- lO convert M. von Humboldt to his false ideas, caused the insertion, in Vol. X of the " Nouveau Journal Asiatique de Paris," of the letters of the late P6re Gaubil, in which this learned mis- sionary, without disputing this story, discu; s the ideas of M. de Guignes, and, not knowing anything then of the maps of which we have spoken, appears to be unwilling to admit that America, under the name of Fic-sang, or under any other name, had been really known to the Buddhists or shamans of High Asia since the ye,\r 458 a. d. Since that time, however, we have endeavoured to prove, by an exact calculation of the distance in li, given in this account, translated from the Great Annals of China, regarding the country of Fit-sang^ and by discussing the route traveled to reach it, that this country, even following the views of M. Klaproth and of Father Gaubil, concerning the Chinese names given to the coun- try so distant from Kamtchatka, could not be found elsewhere than in America. According to the shaman or Buddhist monk who made Fu- sang known to the Chinese in the year 499 of our era, this coun- try was at the same time to the east of China, and equally to the east of a semi-civilized land known in the Chinese books by the name of the country of Ta ^, Han ^, or of the " Great Hans," a name applied first to the Chinese dynasty of the Hans, founded in 206 b. c, after that of the Tsin. But, according to the Chinese accounts regarding this coun- ! '.I '.m 52 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \1 try of Ta-han — which couU be reached either by sea, by setting out from Japan and sailing to the northeast, or by land, by set- ting forth from the sharp bend toward the north which is made by the great river Iloang-ho, into the country of the Mongols, and passing to the south of Lake Baikal, and then, going the same distance to the northeast — this country, very distant from China, could not be any other than Kamtchatka, also called the country of Zieii-kuci, or "Place of Exile" (lieu, ^) "of the Vicious " {htei, %), in other Chinese geographies. Father Gaubil, in these same letters, published by M. Klap- roth, admits this to bo the country of Licu-ktiei, for it is said that the fact that this country is surrounded by the sea upon three sides, as Kamtchatka is, and the distance at which it is placed in the geography of the Tang dynasty, also published by this learned missionary, both agree in confining the land of Lieu-kuei to this extreme point of northeastern Asia. It should also be noticed that M. Klaproth himself, in the memoir which we refute, when discussing the position of the country of Ta-hauj declares that this land has also been called the country of Lieu-kuei; and since, according to Father Gaubil, this place is Kamtchatka, the country of Ta-han must answer to the southern portion of Kamtchatka, and not to the great island of Saghalien or Taraikai, which is found at the east of Tartary, opposite the mouth of the Yellow River, the island in which M. Klaproth attempts to place it in his " Researches regarding Fit- sangy It is, also, in Kamtchatka that the celebrated M. de Guignes places the country of Ta-han, which the Chinese books, such as the Pian-y-tien, the great " Geography of Foreign Nations," a valuable work, of which a copy is possessed by the Royal Li- brary at Paris, represent as inhabited by barbarous men of great stature, and with hair very long and in wild disorder. And when the shaman Iloei Shin, coming from the country of Fii-sang to China, and landing at King-cheu, in the prov- ince of Ilu-pe, upon the left bank of the great river Jviang, said that ^^Fu-sang is at the same time to the east of China and to the east of the country of Ta-han^'' or of Kamtchatka, it is evi- dent that he indicated a very great extension of this country of Fu-sang, from north to south ; since Kamtchatka, even in its most southerly part, is very distant to the northeast from China, if 1 % !, DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 53 even from its northern boundary, and still farther from the river Kiartfj; he speaks, therefore, not of an island; not even of one as largo as .Japan; but of a continent of great extent, such as North America. So, when we had communicated the memoir of M. dc Guignes, and its pretended refutation by M. Klaproth, to the celebrated navigator 31. Duraont d'Urville, whose unfortunate loss science still deplores, this scholar, who, before his last voyage, had, in accordance with our advice, commenced the study of the geo- graphical books preserved in China, could not restrain a smile of pity upon seeing that M. Klaproth had, by main strength, at- tempted to change this vast continent into a simple province of Japan, a country which he himself points out under its true name, in another passage of the Great Annals cited by M. do Guignes, and where the route is described leading by sea from Corea to the country of Tn-han. In order to reach that region, the route touches the country of Wo, or of Japan, which was already well known to the Chinese in all its parts. The route, continuing toward the north, touches at the country of Wen-sJiin (the island of Saghalien) ; then turning to the east, Ta-han or Kamtchatka is reached, otherwise called Lieu-kiiei. It is evi- dent that no other land than North America, cast of Asia, is suf- ficiently large to be at the same time to the east of Central China and of Kamtchatka : this was not plainly said by M. de Guignes, but he evidently perceived it, and the distance also at which Fit-sang is placed from the country of Ta-han or Kamtchatka, in the account of the shaman, completes the demonstration. In fact, he stated this distance of Fic-sang easterly from Ta- han at twenty thousand li, and, as the length of the li has fre- quently been changed in China, M. Klaproth tries, by supposing the length to be very small, to make this distance reach only as far as Japan ! But, as the direction toward the east still incom- modes him and causes him to fall into the ocean, because of the admission which he makes that Ta-han must be the island of Saghalien, he without further ceremony changes this direction and turns it around toward the south ; and in this way, by add- ing one false supposition to another, he arrives at the conclusion that the southeastern part of Japan is this country of Fu-sang; again assuming that this country had been but recently discov- ered by the Chinese. 1 II m 54 AN INGLORIOUS C0LUMUU8. 1 1 > i 1 S' 1 1 f ^ 1 j But Father Gaubil, upon whom ho othorwiHe relies, could un- (Icceivo him and set him right as to the real length of the //. In his "Ilistoire do la Dynastie de,s Tang," a dynuHty that reigned shortly after the epoch when the accounts of Ta-han and of J^\t- Bang were inserted in the Great AnnalH, he said that "lifteen thousand U are reckoned as the distance between IVrsia and the city of Hy-ngan-fUf^ then the capital of China (see " Memoires concernant les Chinois," V^ol. XV, ]). -laO). l^ersia is designated in these books as the kingdom o\ J*o-s8c, and its capital was formerly near l*assa-gardo and JShiraz o^ Perscpolis. Now, toward the northeast, the geographies of the Tan(/ dy- nasty reckon fifteen thousand li also as \he distance from iS(/- nffun-fic to the country of Lieu-kiiei (ib., Vol. XV, p. 453) — which, according to M. Klaproth, is the same as the country of Ta-han — a country surrounded by the sea upon three sides, and which Father Gaubil asserts, as we have said, to be Kamtchatka. If, therefore, wo set a pair of compasses upon a terrestrial globe, placing the points upon Sij-ngan-fu, then the capital of China, and Shiraz or Persepolis, the capital of Posse (or Persia), and then, keeping one point upon the first-named city, swing the other around to the northeast, it will be found to reach to the southern part of the land of Kamtchatka, thus proving the accu- racy of the stated distances. The length of the li during this epoch is therefore fixed ; hence, one third of the above-named distance represents five thousand li, and, adding this to the length of the fifteen thousand li above described, the distance of twenty thousand /<', which the account of the shaman affirms as extending toward the east from the country of Ta-han to that of Fu-sang, from which he had come, can be reckoned with great accuracy. If, then, with the compasses we lay out upon the globe this distance of twenty thousand li, setting one point upon the south- ern end of Kamtchatka (which answers to the country of Lieu- kuei or of Ta-han), and swinging the other point toward the east, we should, if Fu-sang is America, reach at least the western coast of this new continent, a coast which, although long known to the Asiatics, has, by a sort of fatality, been the last to be ex- plored by Europeans. Now, in fact, this is just where the point of the compasses will reach, and this confirms both the conject- ures of Buffon and the assertions made by M. de Guignes, based DE PAIIAVEY'S SUPPORT. 65 fr upon the very incorrect maps wliich were all that coulJ then bo ubtainc'd ; for the arm of tlio oonipasHeH thus reaches to a point north of the mouth uf the Columbia Kivcr, not far from Califor- nia.* This scholar could not tlien arrive at the same precision that is possible for us, since, we repeat, the exact outlines of the northwest coast of America near the Aleutian Islands, and even those of the country of Karatchatka, had not, in his days, been fully established ; but his merit was on that account even tho greater, in being the first to recognize the true value of the /* at that epoch, and to find, in the geographies of China, which h.ad been so rarely consulted by European scholars, countries so un- known to us as Kamtchatka, and the vast American Continent; known from ancient times by tho wandering tribes of Central Asia, but which have only recently been made known to us, by the admirable and persevering efforts of an illustrious genius. IJy the aid of the same books preserved in China, and which, unfortunately for Europeans, have not been translated, although Avc have possessed them for more than a century, we can show that tho Meropide of Elien is North America ; for the invasion of the country of the Hyperboreans, of which this author speaks, can not have taken place elsewhere than from North America into Kamtchatka, and extending as far as to the banks of tho great Amoor River, a region in which, according to tho old Chinese books, there lived a multitude of tribes of which the names arc scarcely known in Europe to this day, although very curious and all significant. From tho most ancient times, having undoubtedly received colonies from Greece and Syria, these happy Hyperboreans sent to the temple of Apollo at Delos sheaves of the grain which they harvested. Herodotus and Pausanias name to us the nations which passed those offerings from hand to hand to Greece, and when to what we have said are added the accounts of the same nations which are given in the Chinese books, we can not avoid the conviction that t:io true land of tho Hyperboreans — that is to say, of the tribes of the northeast — can not be situated elsewhere than upon tho Amoor River, and in the neighbourhood of Corea, * In his later essay M. de Paravey corrects this statement, and names San Francisco as the point that is reached.— E. P. V. 56 AX INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS, countries having an alphabet, and very anciently civilized or colonized. Through the Hyperboreans, in connection with the ferocious tribes of North America, tribes which Elien described under the name of Md-xi-fiog, or "Warriors," the Greeks of ancient times, who had carried the culture of the cereals to the banks of the Amoor, therefore obtained some knowledge concerning Mi-san(/y or the Eastern World, that va^u continent which, explored from the western side by the Phoenicians of Egypt, and afterward by the Carthagenians, received the name of Atlanlis. The flowery imagination of the Asiatics embroidered with fables these accounts of a world so distant, and which could only be reached by incurring very great dangers ; but the curious monuments of Palcnque in Guatemala, and those not less impor- tant which M. de Waldeck sketched in Yucatan, demonstrate positively the ancient relations between Central Asia, India, and Europe, and America, or Merojnde, the true land of J^u-sang. The Shan-hai-hmg, an old mythological geography of Chi- na, the Li-sao, and other Chinese books, relate fables also regard- ing the valley of Tcmg-hu, or of the Hot Springs, from which the sun appears to issue ; it rises then in the country of Fu-sang, where the mulberries grow to a prodigious height. It is said that the people of Fu-sang eat the fruit of these mulberries in order to become immortal, that they can fly in the air, and that the silk-worms of these trees, enormous also, inclose themselves in cocoons of monstrous size. All these fables are founded upon the name sang^ ^, of the mulberry, which enters into '^ Fi-sang,^'' the Chinese name of America ; and this can be explained from an examination of the Mythriac monuments, sculptures of Eastern Asia, in which there may always be observed upon the right the sun rising behind a tree such as the mulberry. This is nothing else, in fact, than the representation of the hieroglyphic character preserved in China to express the Fast, a character which is pronounced tong, ^\ and which is formed by drawing the symbol of the sun, ji, be- hind that of a tree, pfc, '»o / the sun in rising showing its disk, in fact, behind the trees. Tacitus, in his " Germanicus," relates fables, also, in regard to the country where the sun sets, in explaining the sparkling when its fires penetrate the ocean ; but his admirable work has DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 57 been none the less constantly read and consulted since bis time, and these marvelous tales have not caused the denial of the existence of the region of which be speaks. But the account of the shaman Iloei Shin regarding j'w^-srf 71^7 offers none of these fables ; and, if it places a tree of this name in America, it describes it as a plant having red fruit in the form of a pear, a shrub, of Avhich the young shoots arc eaten ; and of which the bark is i:)repared like that of hemp, of which cloth, clothing, and even paper are made : for the inhabitants of this country had a method of writing, says this account, and, in fact, books and a species of writing are found in America, in Mexico, and elsewhere. In the Chinese botanical books the name of fu-sa»f/, which may be translated as "the serviceable, useful mulberry ^^ (these adjectives conveying the meaning of "/w "), is given now to the Jcetime, or hibiscus rosa sinensis, a plant brought from Persia to China, as we learn from Father Cabot, and which hcts been (/rafted upon the mulberry. But M. Klaproth, by some mistake, has been led to see in this plant the paper-mulberry, of which, in fact, cloth and cloth- ing are also made ; while others find in it the 7netl or maguey of IMexico, but badly described ; for this plant also gives cloth and paper, it furnishes a sort of wine and food, and is pre-eminently useful. In truth, this name Fii-sany expresses only the name of the Extreme East, for in the ancient hieroglyphic geography the Cen- tral Kingdom is called, as it now is in China, Chong-hoa, or "the Central Flower," and the four cardinal countries have the name of the Ssefu, or " the Four Auxiliary Countries," composed of the four principal petals of the nelumbo, the mystic flower, the flower of the middle, the sacred lotus, type of ancient Fgypt and of the earth, par excellence. India offers this geographical symbol to us again, and the ancient Chinese maps call the countries of the north, Eu-yu / those of the south, Eu-nan / those of the west, Eu-lin (that is to say, the Ta-tsin, the Roman Empire) ; and, finally, those of the east, Eu-sany. Now, to the east of China there is no other ex- tensive land than America ; and, if Japan has ever been also given this name of Eu-sang, it is because it is to the east of China ; but the Japanese Encyclopa'dia, which should have been N i 58 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. consultocl by M. Klai)roth, who attempted to support his opinion by this name erroneously applied to this country, says that it is not the true country of lAc-scuig. The banana, the j^i-sanff tree of the Malays, may also be one of the trees called fu-saru/, for these trees, as well as the flowers of the nelumbo, or rose-lotus of Egypt, where the young Ilorus is seen to spring — that is to say, where the sun is born, are types of the East. All this, we repeat, is merely a natural series of symbols employed in the ancient and hieroglyphic geography, which is too little studied. The account translated by M. de Guignes also places many ]ni-U(0, or grapes, in the country of Ini-sang. M. de Guignes translated tlie two characters se])arately, understanding ^j?< to mean the iris, and tao the peach. ]M. Klaproth has properly rectified this, but with singular thoughtlessness he forgets that the forests of North America abound in several species of wild vines, and that the Scandinavians placed the country of Yin-hind (the Land of Vines) in the northeastern part of the continent. He therefore denies the existence of the vine in America, and, relying especially upon this passage, he concludes that I'hsanf/ must be Japan, where the vine, as he says, had existed for a long time, although in China it had not been intro- duced from Western Asia until the year 12G before our era. It can therefore be seen how feeble his attempted refutation of M. de Guignes is, even when the last is mistaken ; and his memoir, as a whole, offers no more forcible arguments. When the shaman said that iron was lacking in Fu-satig, hut that copper was found, and that gold and silver were not valued (because of their abundance, no doubt), he repeats what Plato said of Atlantis, and what has been reiterated in all accounts regarding America ; a celebrated river of the northern part of tl)is continent bears the name of the Coppermine River, and co])i)er is also very abundant in Peru. It is also stated that the iidiabitants of Fii-sanr/ raised herds of deer and innde cheese from the milk of the Jiinds; and in the Chi- nese and Japanese Encyclopscdias, as also in the Pian-y-tien, when the figure of an inhabitant of T'Wfzy/// is given, he is drawn, in fact, as engaged in milking a hind having small round spots, and in the two Encyclopedias this is ^^iven as forming the char- acteristic peculiarity of this country of f^'u-sanff. Philostratus, in DE TARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 59 memoir. f f his " Life of Apollonius," mentioned tribes in India who raised Iiinds for their milk, and the thing is not so common as to fail to be remarked, but herds of hinds have also been found in America in our days ; for Valmont do Bomare, in the article entitled " Deer," says : " The Americans have herds of deer and of hinds running in the woods throughout the day and at night re-entering their stables. Several tribes of America have no other milk," he adds, " than that obtained from their hinds, and of which they also make cheese." It appears, therefore, that he translates by these words what IToei Shin said in 499 a. d. concerning the nations of l\i-sang ; and in calling attention to the fact that this usage formerly ex- isted in India, it was not without design, for the same shaman affirms that the religion of Buddha (an Indian religion) had been carried to the country of Fu-sang, in the year 458 of our era, by five monks of Ky-piuy or of Coph^ne, an Indian country. He says that the tribes, from that time converted by them, had nei- ther military weapons nor troops, and, like the Argippcans (of whom Herodotus speaks), that they did not make war ; he adds, finally, that they had a species of writing and worshiped images — that is to say, that they were true Buddhists. That which is said regarding the cattle with long horns that carried heavy burdens upon their heads, and of carts to which horses, cattle, and deer were harnessed, offers, as it appears, the only difficulty ; but the bisons with manes and Avith enormous heads, found in North America, may have been the cause of this erroneous statement, and, but for the evasion of the description, the Chinese name 3Ta, which is applied to horses, asses, and camels, and which forms the radical of useful animals of this nature, might be given, even although it were wrongfully, ."> the llamas and alpacas already domesticated perhaps in South America, which also wat included in Fu-sang. It may be possible, moreover, that horses had been introduced before this epoch into Northwestern America, which is hardly known even in our days, and where tribes are mentioned which use them ; and where teams of reindeers, like those of Kam- tchatka, may also be seen. It is true that it has been supposed that these horses are descended from those brought to Mexico by the Spaniards ; but this has not been proved : and even if we suppose them to be of European origin, an epidemic or a de- CO AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ^t^uctive war may, since the fifth century, hr^ve destroyed the domesticated horses brought to Fu-sang by the Tartars and the Buddhists of Asia. The peoj^Ie of Fu-sang had no other habitations than villages of ■wooden cabins, such as have been found near the Colu:nbia lliver, to the northwest of California ; and, to obtain a wife, the young men of the country were obliged to serve thoir be- trothed for an entire year. Now (in the "Collection Oi The- venot"), this is precisely what Palafox says of the American Indians, Avhose manners he describes ; and this custom also ex- ists in the extreme northeastern countries of Asia, countries from which America may be reached, as we have said. Other details of their customs seem to be borrowed from the Chinese civilization, especially the cycle of ten years, or perhaps even of sixty years — as M. de Humboldt has in fact described among the Muyscas of the plateau of Bogota, in South America, the usage of the cycle of sixty years and of institutions analogous to those of the Buddhism of Japan. The cycle of Fu-nang, be?'*- ing the names of the ten Chinese luois, served to murk the suc- cessive colours of the king's garments, colours which were changed every two years, just as is prescribed for the Ensperor of China by the chapter yue-Ung of the Lil-Jci, or "Sacred Book of Rites." But the so-called Chinese cycles, which gave ♦^heir alphiibets to the most ancient nations of Syria, Pha?nicla, and India, as well as to those of Greece, as we have elsewhere shown (see our " Es- say upon the Common and Hieroglyphic Origin of the Figures and of the Letters," Paris^ ' siu, and the article, entitled "Japan- ese Origin of the Muysci- ' in the " Annales de Philosophie Chretienne," Vol. X, page 8, where the figures of the cycles may be found), may liave been canned to Fu-sang quite as well from Central Asia, or from India, as from China, as they were never unknown to the Buddhists or shamans. We might also discuss the sound of the titles given to the king and nobility of the country of Fu-sang ; but these discus- sions Avorld carry us too far, and we will merely call attention to the fact that the title of the king Avas /-/I'y, a sound which seems connected with the name of the lUc-sos, the pastoral kings of Egypt who came from Asia, and the last syllable with Jiic, the name of the Gothic kings, who also came from the north of Asia : and possibly also with that of Cacique, the title i?4 •^ DE PARAVEY'S SUiTOKT. Gl tiovcd the 13 and the an villages ColuTubia in a wife, i tl.oir be- ll o. The- American 1 also ex- countries from the •r perhaps described America, inalogous ing^ beo"- c the suc- J changed of China f Rites." ilphiibets I, as well )ur " Es- Flgures ' Japan - losophie Ics may- ell from c never to the discus- tcntion I which '.astoral lo with Dm the 10 title of the chiefs of the islands of Ameri<5a, and with that of the Arikis, or kings of the islands of Oceanica. We will therefore confine ourselves to discussing the conclu- sion of this account of Fa-sang. " Formerly," says Iloei Shin, " the religion of Buddha did not exist in this country ; but in the So7ig dynasty (in 458 a. d. a precise date here), five Pi-kieu, or priests of the country of Ky-pin (a country in which Father Gaubil sees Samarcand, and M. de Remusat sees the ancient Cophene, near India), came to Fa-sang, carrying with them their books and sacred images, and their ritual, and established monastic customs, and so changed the manners of the inhabitants." Accordingly, Hoei Shin, a shaman himself, who came to China in 499, forty-eight years after this conversion of the peo- ple of Fa-sang, declared that then the people of that country worshiped the images of spirits at morning and night and did not wage war. It is said that proselytism is one of the duties of the Bud- dhist priests and monks. It is therefore not surprising to see them set forth from Cen1;ral Asia, and cross the seas and the most dangerous countries, in order to convert the savage tribes of Amei-ica, a country already well known to them and to the Arabs and Persians of Samarcand. This can no longer be considered doubtful, since M. de Wal- deck has sketched an old temple or monastery of Yucatan, a large square inclosure accompanied by pyramids analogous tv those of the Buddhists of Pegu, Ava, Siam, and the Indian Ar- chipelago, and which can be studied in all their details. A multitude of niches, in which the figure of the celebrated god Buddha sits with crossed-legs, exist in Java, all around the ancient temple of Bora, Buddha ; and upon examination of the temple of Yucatan, of which M. de Waldeck has published beautiful drawings, we find there the same niches in which sits the same god Buddha, and also find other figures of East Indian origin, such as the frightful head of Siva, a flattened and de- formed head which surmounts each of these niches. We can not attirm, however, that these temples of Yucatan were as old as the account of Fa-sang, as we have no description of other buildings in this country than wooden cabins ; but, per- secuted by the Brahmans of India, the Buddhi V IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 11.25 LilM |25 ■u 122 |22 :^ i£& 12.0 lit mi > Photographic Sdences Corporation ^^ iV \\ '\ ^ ^?v^\ V 23 WIST MA'.N STiiEST WEBSTER, ^i.Y. MSSO (716) S72-4503 I^> ■^,i I" Hi 68 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. am the first to pray you, sir, to translate or criticise their argu- ments ; for the subject is, as I repeat, very important. Bernardin de Saint Pierre, in his *' Harmonies de la Nature," had already indicated the migrations toward the east of the nations of India and of Oceanica, arriving thus at America to the north of Peru ; and M. the Admiral de Rossel, the celebrated navigator and courteous and loyal scholar, has mentioned the Sandwich Islands as the ancient half-way port between India, China, and America, a theory which is renewed in this day. M. de Saint Pierre, in his " fitudes de la Nature " (Eleventh Study, and Note 49, edition of 1836, first volume), has spoken also of numerous points of connection found by a very old autlior between the Malays and the Peruvians ; and my numerous ex- tracts from the " Dictionary of the Quichua Language of Peru," a dictionary of which a copy is preserved in the Royal Library at Paris, have confirmed these points of connection with the Ma- lay spoken at Java. M. d'Eichthal has therefore entered upon a good road ; but I have the priority, and M. de Avezac, to whom I have often spoken of these matters, may have conversed with him also and described to him my studies. You speak here of my " Dissertation upon Fu-sang," which, before it was printed, was the inciting cause of M. Klaproth's article in 1831, as I have shown in my memoir. Permit me, sir, to correct that dissertation by some new and very important notes. I said that the ships of Kamtchatka, constructeri in that place by the Buddhists, who came there from Cabul, carried them to America near the mouth of the Columbia ; but I wrote then far from my books and without a terrestrial t;lobe, and I therefore examined the matter again in 1844, and found that I had placed the po'rt of their arrival a little too far north. The beautiful ^vork of M, Duflot de. Mofras upon Oregon (Paris, 1844), a work which I have read and analyzed, conducts me to the excellent port of San Francisco, to the south of the Columbia River, as the point of arrival of the Indian Buddhists of Cabul. According to the scale of 15,000 //, reckoned by the Chinese between Persia and the city of Sy-ngan-fu, and also reckoned between this city and the southern point of Kamtchatka or of Ta-han, the distance of 20,000 li between Kamtchatka and JF\c- adng, measured upon a terrestrial globe, reaches precisely to this DE PARAVEY'S NEW PROOFS. 69 point ; and M. de Mofras says that the northwestern winds which prevail at San Francisco during a great part of the year would bring one there easily from the northeastern coast of Asia. There, ships enter without difficulty, While the bar at the mouth of the Columbia is very difficult to cross, at least for large vessels. Still, this natural entrance to the beautiful coun- try of Oregon may also have been known of old. In the figure of the half - clothed, half-civilized American of Fu-sang, which is given in the '■'■ Pian-y-tien^^ and also in the Chinese Encyclopaedia, this native is seen milking a young hind with white spots, and her fawn is equally spotted. I sought in vain for any account of this kind of spotted deer in Ameiica, until, upon re-reading M. von Humboldt's works, I noticed that the Cervus Mexicamts of Linnaeus is spotted like our European roe-deer, and that the spots are particularly notice- able while the animal is young. This species of deer is found in America, and in Mexico in particular, in immense numbers, says M. von Humboldt, as well as a large deer similar to ours, and often entirely white ; a deer which is found in the Andes, where it also runs in herds. These last, therefore, recall iLn white and tame hinds which are milked by the Indians of the Himalaya, as we are told by Philostratus in his "Life of Apollonius of Tyane," for these people, being Buddhists, deprive themselves of meat, and live upon fruits and dishes made from milk. The account of Fu-sang speaks also of cattle with very long horns, that are domesticated by the natives of that country. Kow, M. von Humboldt says that the bisons of Canada are often broken to the yoke and that they breed with our Euro- pean cattle. These bisons weigh as much as two thousand pounds or more, but their horns are small ; whereas he says that cattle- horns of a monstrous size have been found in ruined monuments near Cuernavaca, in the southwestern part of Mexico. He refers these horns to the musk-ox of the extreme north of America ; but M. de Castelnau, in his courageous exploration near the Amazon and in Paraguay, found cattle v/ith very long horns, besides another species with small horns, which ran with them in the same plains. The account of Fk-sang is therefore confirmed upon this point ; but there is certainly some error in the text when it is said that ^ it 1^ ,''5 !( '\^l f f ! . hiut ^E!i t ■ 1 j':^ K ' ' !: 1, If' ! ' } I I f If i 1 ^ii 70 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. upon these long horns the cattle carried a weight of twenty ho (the Chinese *' Ao" being a weight of one hundred and twenty pounds) — that is to say, a total weight of twenty-four hundred pounds ! It should be said that they weighed, per head, at least twenty-four hundred pounds, and not that this enormous burden was placed upon their horns ; that would be impossible. The horses mentioned in this account seem alone to have been lacking in America ; but the Patagonians, ^^ue Tartars, are always on horseback, and there is nothing to prove that they had not pi'eserved among them some descendants of the horses which the bonzes of India brought to Fu-sang, and which the boats of Kamtchatka had perhaps taken from Tartary. I will give you some day an article about the tribes of the extreme north of Asia, having large boats and very short nights during summer. A hundred times wiser than M. Klaproth, M. de Guignes, Sr., in his memoir regarding Fu-sang, by a few words referred to this nation with large boats, and of whom the name Kii-tu-moei — that is to say, " Having the Nights very short in Summer " — indicates the position to be near tlie Arctic cirole. There is an account of this nation in the work of Ma Twan- lin, entitled " Wen-hien-tong-Jcao,''^ and I have extracted what he says upon the subject. I have shown elsewhere that the passage from Europe to America by the way of Northern Siberia must then have been practicable, this sea being gradually filled up with the detritus of great rivers which fall into it, and in this way it freezes more and more each year, for it is known that deep seas do not freeze. All these facts open new and important questions, and your use- ful and weighty journal may well treat them. Accept, etc.. Chevalier de Paravey. Saint Germain, April 24, 1847. V 'M' DE PARAVEY'S NEW PROOFS. 71 Appendix A. IN REGARD TO THE MEMOIR OF M. d'eICHTIIAL MEXTIONED BT M. MOnL. Proof given in I84O of the Introduction of the Worship of Buddha into America by Means of the East Indians of Cabul. To the President of the Academy of Sciences : Did certain bonzes of India, setting forth from Central Asia, in the year 458 of our era, ?o to America by the way of Kamtchatka and tlie northwestern part of the New World, in order to convert the nations that lived there, and of which the existence has been known ever since ? This is what is affirmed by the learned M. de Guignes. Sr., in the "Memoires de I'Acad^mie des Inscriptions," where he has given a trans- lation of the account of tlie voyage of these East Indian bonzes, taken from the Groat Annals of China. This has been since denied by M. Klaproth and M. von Humboldt, who base their opinion upon some doubts expressed by the scliolarly Father Gaubil, who had not suflSciently studied the question. I desire to state my reasons for answering this question in the affirmative. I have no doubt upon the subject, since discussing it with the learned Admiral M. de Rossel, and exhaustively studying the memoir of M. de Guignes con- cerning the navigations of the Chinese to the celebrated eastern land which they called the country of Fu-sang, and wliich they placed some two thousand leagues to the east of the shores of their empire and of Tartary. But as neither my mere assertions nor those of others should receive any more favourable consideration than has been given to the ex- cellent work of M. de Guignes, Sr., and as the Academy of Sciences wishes facts rather than words, I will call attention to the monuments of a portion of Central Amerif a, hitherto almost unknown, at least in regard to its an- tiquities; monuments to which I have already called the attention of the Asiatic Society of Paris, of M. Burnouf, Jr., and of M. the Chevalier Jaubert, and which they have igveed with me in recognizing as purely Buddhistic. M. the Baron van der Cappelen, living near Utrecht, llolland, has shown me large drawings of the temple of Boro-Boudor in Java, brought from India by him. This ancient temple is circular, and is ornamented with thousands of small, beauti 1 niches, in which the figure of the cele- brated Indian god Buddha sits cross-legged, each niche being surmounted by the monstrous and deformed head of Siva. I could show the same idols in ancient Egypt, and at Axum, in Abys- sinia ; but, in looking over the beautiful work of M. Waldeck, the skillful artist and distinguished disciple of David, who was sent to Yucatan by the generous and unfortunate Lord Kingsborough, I was surprised to see upon the sketch of the southern facade of the vast square palace of the ruins of Uxmal, near Merida, eight niches of the Indian Buddha, figured seated m \U> s't III' I : M*: m 1I h ; 72 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ns in Java, in the East Indies, and with the face decorated with coarse rays surrounding it, and to see in addition a monstrous and flattened human Iiead surmounting the square nicho and the cabin or house in which this Indian Buddha is seated. The resemblance of this Buddha of Yucatan with the fignro of the Buddha of Java, published in " Crawfurd's Indian Archipelago" (vol. ii, p. 200), ia such that M. Burnouf at first believed my sketches of the ancient palace of Uxmal in Yucatan, sketches copied from Plato xvii of M. Wuldeck's, to be of purely East Indian and Siamese origin, and not American. M. Burnouf knew that the worship of the monstrous Siva accompanied, even in Siam and Nepal, the gentler worship of Buddha, and that their images are often coupled, as in the temple of Boro-Boudor, in ancient Java, in the Indian Archipelago, and as in particular Typhon and the youiig Ilorus were coupled in ancient Egypt. We find again, in the center of America, the same two figures, also coupled, exactly copied, and, to the number of eight, ornamenting the southern facade of an Oriental temple ; thus, as it seems to me, clearly demonstrating the truth of the account of the voyage to Fu-sang, in the year 458 a. d., translated from the Chinese by M. de Guignes, and attributed to five Buddhists who set forth from Ky-pin or Cophene — that is to say, from the country of Cabul in India. In the "Annales de Philosophie Chr6tienne," vol. xii, p. 441, where an analysis is given of the " Antiquit^s du Mexique," by Dupaix, the ex- plorations are mentioned which he made at Zachilla, the capital of the ancient kingdom of the Zapotecs, where ha found upon a rock the imprint of a gigantic foot, an imprint in which M. de Paravey sees an imitation of that which is worshiped upon Adam's Peak in Ceylon, and of which the nations of Ava and P6gn, of the Buddhist religion, have alao similar imitations; in addition. Colonel Dupaix also found in this place an idol, seated, the hands crossed upon the breast, and which can be nothing else than one of the figures of Sakya, or Buddlia. There, according to the " Jonmey of the Shamans," since translated by M. R^musat, was the country of Buddhism, and of the monstrous idola- tries of India ; deplorable alterations from the pure worship founded in Indo-Persia by Shem, in whom we see the celebrated Eeu-tsi of the Chi- nese. There we hear of the two imaginary planets Ragu and Cetu, the head and tail of the dragon, the nodes of the moon, the cause of eclipses, and the place of the conjunctions ; and these planets are draten at full length upon the tceatern fapade of the palace of Uxmal in Yucatan, being interlaced so as to form knots or nodes, and having feathers instead of scales, thus showing that they are intended for aSrial beings. All this points to an ancient hieroglyphic astronomy, in which the spirals of the I DE PARAVEY'S NEW PROOFS. 78 Bun, in its apparent course from one tropic to the otlior, are symbolized by a dragon or a vast boa-constrictor, a tiling quite natural as an image. So, in Chinese, or ancient Babylonian, an eclipse of the sun is written by a picture of the tun eaten by a dragon, or serpent, and nn eclipse of the moon by the figure of the moon eaten hy a dragon. In Chinese ji g, ehi 1^, is an eclipse of the sun, ond yiie ^, chi fj^, an eclipse of the moon; these phrases being used to convey the idea that the heavenly bodies are swallowed little ty little— Chi, ^ ("Diet. Chin.," No. 9505), the phonetic, means "to eat," and when this is united with the radi- cal chong, ^, that of the serpent, the two together signify "to eat Uttlc by little as the boas swallow their food." Notwithstanding the fact that the art of calculating eclipses is known in China, the common people believe only in making a noise to frighten this imagmary dragon, this feathered or atrial boa. To find the picture at full length of these Chinese and East Indian superstitions, at Uxmal in Yucatan, end to see every evidence of a dupli- cation in America of the Buddha of Jura — an island which also contains at Suku a tcocalli, or ancient pyramidal temple, similar to that of Uxmal in America, drawn by M. Waldeck (see his " Voyage au Yucatan ") — have appeared to me to be important and decisive facts. I hope that they, when brought to general notice by publication in the Society's Transactions, will attract the attention of educated Americans, and show tliem that their country and its ruins are worthy of more careful study than they have as yet received, and that they will lead to other explorations than those liith- erto made, which have been but little better than nothing. To defend the learned author of the " History of the Huns," relying here upon the wise geographer Buache, against the ill-founded objections of M. Klaproth, has also appeared to me to be very important, and I do not believe that any one can now deny the voyages of the Indo-Tartars to America, and that nearly one thousand years before Columbus. I could give further proofs of the connection of Uxmal, Palenque, and Tulha with India, but fear to trespass too greatly upon your space. Ohevalieb de Paravey. Paris, July SO, ISIfi. Appendix B TO CUB LETTER TO THE ACADEMY. Kexo Proofs of the Introduction of the Worsh ip of Buddha into America, or into the Country of Fu-sang. Which was the First Country converted to this Religion in the Xew World? One of the countries of America which was first converted by the shamans of Cabul, arriving from the southern point of Kamtchatka at 1 !;•''' ; (. i B 11 S::!f 11 1 ' i '" R 1 % 1 ' i! m ■^ Mi' ■ 1 ;/ I 1 74 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. m I tlie excellent port of San Francisco, in California, to tlie north of Monte- rey, must evidently have been the country upon the banka of the Colorado River, a large river which flows through these some regions froai the north to the south and falls into the northern end of the Gulf of California. Now, in the useful translations of the Spanish authors made by M. Ter- naux-(Jompans, we find that Castatteda placed near the Colorado River, in a small island, a sanctuary of Lamaisra, or of Buddhism. He mentions a divine personage living in a small house near a lake upon this island, and called, as he says, " Quatu-zaca," who was reputed never to eat. Maize, deer-skin mantles, and cloth made of feathers were offered to him in great quantities ; and in the same place (which proves a coloniza- tion) they also made many little bells of copper. Even the name of this deified lama, or of this idol Quatu-zacn, contains the Tii'*tar and East Indian name '' Xaca," written Shi-kia iu Chinese, and " Sakya " in Sanscrit, the nan^e of the celebrated god Buddha ; a remark which we are the first to make, and " Quatu " may indicate his origin as of " Cathay." * Castaneda adds that the nations of these countries were very peace- able and gentle, never waged war, and (abstaining from flesh) lived solely upon three or four kinds of very good fruits- It is therefore impossible to fail to see here an nn'iient colony of Bud- dhists, or of lamas, a colony which in turn pushed its branches into Mex- ico, Yucatan, Bogota, and 3ven to Peru, a country of very civilized customs. The Mexicans, frightfully cruel in their recent idolatries, are, as is known, emigrants from Uie northeast of Asia and from the northwestern part of America, but much more recent; and before their orrival in these beautiful countries it is to be believed, as is stated in the account of Fu-sang, that the gentle and fraternal religion of the Buddhists, the remnants of the race of Shem, reigned there exclusively. Even the title of the shamans, who came there in 458, is derived from the Sanscrit "wamana," which signifies "peaceful," M. Pauthier tells us; end this name is afterward found again in Mexico, where M, Ternaux- Compans (Mexican Vocabulary, in his translation of the old Spanish authors) gives Amanam as the name of the p-'ests and the diviners, a word which evidently may at first have been pronounced Chamanani, Samanani, Shamaneana. CnFTALiER de Pabavet. Saint Germain, Apvil 26, 1847. * The name " Cathav " was, however, U9C() ns a name of the Kingdom of China,'"" OP of its northern portion, and not of ludia.'^o' — E. P. V. DE PARAYEY'S NEW PROOFS. 75 :| i Appendix C. IN RKOABD TO THE FlOrRE OP A NATIVE OP FC-SANO FOCTND IN CHINESE BOOKS, AND NOW PUBLISHED FOU THE FIRST TIME. To what Country of America can the almost Kude Man^ which the Chi- nese Books picture as an Inhabitant of Fu-sang, have helongedf As may bo seen by t!ic engraving,* the Cliinese supposed that the men who inhabited the countrv of Fu-sang were ahnost naked. Now, it r ay be said that the inhabitants of North America are fully clothed. Thi.i is true of the greater part of the country ; but in th 3 " Voyage to the Mouth of the Columbia River " of Lewis «& Clark (page 302, and also page 507), at latitude 46° 18' north, these explorers found the Chinook Indians, and in a village upon the Isknd of Deer, they found women who, instead of short petticoats, had a simple truss alout the loins, or a narrow skin cov- ering this part of their bodiec. Tliey say (page 2*^6) that the Indians living near the Columbia River, owing to the mildness of the climate, always have the legs and feet bare, even in winter; and never wear more than small robes, even in cold weather ; or skin aprons and a kind of cloak upon the shoulders (page 310). The moccasins for the feet and legs are not used, except in Canada and near Hudson's Bay, where the climate is much colder. So the man of Fu-aang, shown as almost nude in the old drawing from the Pian-y-tien and the Chinese Cyclopajdia, must have lived near the Columbia River in the neighbourhood of California, a rich and beautiful country of a very mild and temperate climate, the country of Oregon, regarding which, Spain, England, and the United States are now dis- puting. In addition, if we open the " Exploration de TOregon et de la Cali- fornia," published in iS44 by M. Duflot de Mofras (vol. ii, page 250), we see, in fact, that these Indians therein described have only the loins or the middle of the body covered ; and this exactly as in the plate of the na- tive of Fu-sang, a plate reproduced since the year 499 of our era in all the foreign geographies published in China and Japan. Everything, therefore, ju . Jfies my conjectures. As to the spotted hind and its fawn, we have cited M. von Humboldt in regard to the Cervus Mex- icanus of L'nneeus. An'"' we point out, in this connection also, in order to show that the natives know how to keep them in herds and tame them, the " Voyage en Amerique " by M. de Chateaubriand (in 8vo, vol. i, page * It has not been thought advi!>:;blc to give a copy of ihe engraving, to which reference is made, as tucre is no reason for believing it to be anything more than a sketch made from the fancy of the Chinese artist. — E. P. V. ' , t : i H if i iiii^ 11 11 1 ■il 1 t ■ i;. 1 ■■:•; 1 ■ ' ! • va i yi ' jli ' lii f'l i ■,> '■■| ' ^i! '..is jii I d Hil T6 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 130), wlioro ho speaks of tlio liindM of Canada, a charraing sort of hornless roindoor, which they tamed there, ho telU us. ClIEVALIEn DE PaHAVEY. (Extract from No. 00 (June, 1847) of the " Annales do Thilosophio Chr6tienne.") BEFUTATIOX OF THE OPINION EXPRESSED BY M. JOMARD THAT THE NATIONS OF AMERICA NEVER HAD ANY CONNECTION WITH THOSE OF ASIA. (Extract from the number of May, iS^O, of the ^^Annalet de Philosophie C'hretienne.^') TnE essay opens with a statement of the importance of geogrophical study, in assisting to open up commerce with foreign nations; disputes the unchristian idea that the people of America can have been Autoch- thones; gives a resume of former arguments regarding i^u-'n." James Ande.'son says " it is common over all the Camatic " ; and he again E'pcaks of it as " common and indigenous," and also says " it is common as far ff: DE PaRAVEY'S new PROOFS. 77 Now, the ftcoount of Fu-mng attrilnitca precisely to these Eust Indians of Ky-pin, or of Cubulistnn, the civilization of Aiiiciicft, which must have preceded the ferocious ond sanguinary religion of the Tartars of Mexico. These peaceful and Buddhistic Indians occupied theniselves with coin- tnorco and useful arts. Having known in their own country how to utilize the precious lac insect as well as that of the no]ial, and tinding tho nopal ill Mexico, they must have also carried there tho insect which lives upon it, or, if it existed there, they made use of it as a means of preparing cochineal, an art that is purely East Indian and Asiatic. Merely tho names of Guaxaca, Chacahua, Zachita, and Zacapn, found in Honduras and Guatemala, demonstrate the presence of the.so Huddhists in tlieso countries, since "Xaca" and "Sakyu," or " Wa'-Aw," ore tho well-known Asiatic names of the celebrated divinity /i>, or the Indian Buddha, a god represented as seated with crossed legs, the figure of which, drawn at Uxmal in Yucatan without recognition, by M. de "Waldeck, the artist sent by the late Lord Kicgsborough, baa been first brought into notice by us. The character »A/, ^, of the name "iS7/i-i-/rt," or "Sakya," signifies •'to release, to dismiss, to pardon"; and ^ho character kia, jUlI, "to sit with the legs crossed," exactly as tho figure found at Uxmal by M, Wal- deck is seated. Ciievalibb dk Paravey. north as Nopal, where they say an Insect lives on it with which they dye red." There is no proof, however, that this was the cochineal insect. Al this time different varieties of the cactus had been introduced from America into almost all parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and had long been com- mon in many districts. There is nothing to show that the nopal, then found in Bengal, had not been introduced from America some time during the three centuries elapsing between the discovery of America and the date referred to in the article. And there ic one fact, which seems to render it almost certain that the plant had been introduced from Mexico, and at a comparatively recent date, as it is stated that " the Bengalese call their cactus ' necg-penny,' or ' nag-penny.' " It Is evident that this is a corruption of the Mexican term " nopalli," or " nochpalli " ; and if the plant had been introduced in Hwui ShSti'i time, thirteen centuries before, the name would probably have changed more than this during that length of time. There is really no reason to believe that the plant had been introduced into India before the discovery of America by Columbus. By the end of tho eighteentli century the prickly pear, or Indian fig, had become wild In India, just as it had in many other countries where It is known that it was carried early In the sixteenth century. It seems to have been widely distributed, not only for its fruit, but as a curiosity, and as It throve well In nearly all tropical lands, it soon grew wild and spread it- self over the country. — E. P. V. it: 1 !. 1 ' : 1 ■ 1 j I! ; f CHAPTER VI. ■0 ■ 1 "i i ■: • 1 : ' f 1 ' IE:!':!. :f! I ' II ^ rEUMANN's MOXOGHAPII. Tlic knowledge of foreign nations posscsacd by the Chinese — Their precepts — The journey of Lao-tse — Einbussies and spies — Knowledge derived from foreign visitors — Its preservation in Chinese records — The introduction of lUuldhism —Its command to extend its doctrines to all nations — Chinese system of ge- ography ond ethnology — The unity of the Tartars and Kcd-skins — American languages — The Tunguscs, or Eastern Rarbiirians — The Pe-ti, or Northern Bar- barians — The Ainos, or Jebis, and the Negritos — The Wen-shin, or Pictured- pcople — Embassies between China and Japan — The Country of Dwarfs — The Chinese " Book of Mountains and Seas " — Information given by a Japanese embassador — Kamtchatka, the Tchuktchi, and the Aleuts — Lieukuci — The length of the It — Licu-kuei, a peninsula — The land of the Je-Uhay — The na- tives of Kamtchatka — Their dwellings— Their clothing — The climate — The animals of the country — The customs of the people — The country of the Wen- shin identiGed with the Aleutian Islands — Ta-han, or Alaska — The kingdom of Fusang and its inhabitants — The Amazons — Fu-sang identified with the western portion of America called Mexico — The fu-sang tree — Only one voy- age made — Chinese accounts of Fu-sang — The distance from Ta-han, or Alas- ka, indicates that Fu-iang is Mexico^The oldest history of America — Suc- cessive tribes — The ruins of Mitla and Fulcnque — Something of earlier races to be learned from the condition of the Aztecs — Pyramidical monuments — If Buddhism existed in America, it was an impure form — The myth of Huitzilo- pochtli — The/M.«an(7, the maguey, or Agave AmetHcana — Connection between the flora of America and that of Asia — Metals and money — Laws and customs of the Aztecs — Domestic animals — Horses — Oxen — Stag-horns — Chinese and Japanese in the Hawaiian group and in Noi'thwestern America — Shipwrecks upon the American coast — The voyages of the Japanese. Eastern Asia and Western America, according to Chinese Au- thorities of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries — by Karl D'iedrich Xeumann.^*^ 1. The Knowledge of Foreign Nations possessed by THE Chinese. — As, in the eyes of the Chinese, the " Middle Kingdom " was the most cultured upon earth, its precepts re- ■( !'■ NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 79 quirod that it flhould not only proHervc its customs and laws as handed down from former generations, hut that it should extend these customs and laws abroad beyond the liinitaof the country. It was added that this extension of knowledge should not bo brought about by the art of persuasion of any missionaries, or by the compulsive force of armed troops. A true renovation could only take place, as in the case of every other healthy organic growth, when the pressure was from within outward ; when the surrounding barbarians, irresistibly attracted by the virtue and majesty of the Sons of Heaven, and ashamed of their barbarism, should voluntarily obey the image of the Heavenly Father and become men. A people actuated hy such a spirit would undertake no voy- ages of discovery, and would carry on no wars of conquest ; and during the history of this Oriental land, covering a period of four thousand years, no single prominent man is named who journeyed into foreign lands in order to improve himself or others. The journey of Lao-tse to the West, from which he neither returned nor wished to return, appears to have been a myth, designed to connect his teaching regarding the " Primitive and Infinite Wis- dom " with the western " Mountain of the Gods " or with Bud- dhism. The campaigns which were undertaken beyond the limits which nature has set to the Chinese empire were merely the result of eflForts at self-preservation. In Central as in East- em Asia, in Thibet as on the Irawaddy, it is necessary to take precautions against dangers and disasters which might ultimately threaten the liberty of the nation. As is not infrequently the case, in Europe as well as in Asia, it becomes necessary to send embas- sies and spies into surrounding regions in order to obtain infor- mation as to their situation and condition, as well as to the cir- cumstances and intentions of the inhabitants, of a nature which might prove of service in military expeditions and negotiations with the enemies of the empire. Moreover, the glorious and for- tunate " Middle Kingdom " allured not only barbarians eager for spoils, but also merchants eager for gain, since several articles, such as silk, tea, and genuine rhubarb, were found only here. The Chinese government, like its people, has been controlled by the precepts of its sages, and has at all times received strangers humanely and courteously, as long at least as they yielded un- conditional obedience, or otherwise showed submission and fear ; Mil ( y ''Mi' M 80 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 1 1 i 'i*: lit and, according to Oriental custom, their gifts were repaid by othei's more valuable. All these discoveries, and all the informa- tion obtained in their different peaceable or warlike methods, whether i*elating to the neigbouring nations or to those dwelling in the most distant parts ot the earth, were noted in the last divis- ion of the Anrnal Registers of Chinese history, of which, from our point of view, they constitute the most valuable portion. The arrogance auiT vanity of the Chinese people were part- ly eradicated, however, by means of the introduction of Bud- dhism, and its gradual conquest of the countries of Eastern Asia. He who believed in the divine mission of the Son of the King of Kapilapura must recognize every human being as his equal and brother ; yes, must strive — for the ancient religion of Buddha, as in the case of many others of its dogmas and customs, agreed with the more youthful religion of Christianity in this point also — to extend the gospel of redemption to all nations upon the face of the earth ; and, for this purpose, following the example of the divine-manj must be ready to take upon himself all conceivable sufferings and labours. We therefore find a number of Bud- dhist monks and priests going forth from Central Asia and China, from Japan and Corea. "^o known and unknown regions,, either for the purpose of obtaining information as to their dis- tant brothers in the faith or to preach the doctrine of the Holy Trinity to unbelievers. The accounts of these missionaries' travels, of which we possess several, viewed from a geographical and ethnological standpoint, are among the most important and instructive works of the entire body of Chinese literature. From them is derived the greatest part of the information which we shall give regarding Northeastern Asia and the countries of the western coast of America; information which has descended from centuries that until now have been concealed from view by dark- est night. 2. Their System of Geography and Ethnology. — Arro- gance and vanity are the basis whereupon the Chinese built most of their peculiar system of geography and ethnology. Around the "Central Flowei'," so they were taught by their sages, dwelt rude, uncouth nations, which in reality were but animals, although they had the form and figure of the human race. Because of this assumed animal nature, the inhabitants of the " Central Flower " gave them nicknames of all kinds : " .aatB^r-jrnjj^JtiuTt^ NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 81 doffS, swine, demons, and b?,rbarians, wero the distinguishing names which they gave to foreigners dwelling in the four cardi- nal directions ; to the east, west, no i, and south. The few western investigatoi's and historians, who have thought it worth the trouble to devote their attention to the fallow field of the history of Eastern and Central Asia, have unquestionably fol- lowed the ethnographical system resting upon these limited geo- graphical elements. It therefore sometimes happens that races are represented as belonging to the same family, which in fact have no connection, and sometimes one and the same nation is divided up among different families ; this occurring especially amono- the numerous and widely extended family of the Tartars. 3. TiiK Unity of the Tartars and Red-skins. — The Tun- guses and Mongolians and a great portion of the Turks origi- nally formed (according to the important indications of their bodily figure, as well as the elements of their languages) a single family of nations, really connected with the Esquimaux (the Skraelings or dwarfs of the Norsemen) as well as with the races and tribes of the New World. This is the solid, irrefutable re- sult of the latest researches in the fields of comparative anatomy and physiology, as well as in those of comparative philology and history. All researches point in the end to their unity. The Red- skins have all the different peculiarities which can remind us of their neighbours on the other side of Behring's Strait. They have a four-cornered or round head, high cheek-bones, heavy jaws, large four-cornered eye-sockets, and a low, retreating forehead. The skulls of the oldest Peruvian graves show the same pecul- iarities as the heads of the nomadic Indians of Oregon and California ; £.nd Gallatin, in his researches in the field in which he stands alone, has shown * that the American languages as a whole have such a similarity that, however different their vo- cabularies may be, they all point back to a common origin. All researches regarding the manner in which America was peopled lead to the same final conclusion. Since the earth has been in- habited, these natives have dwelt in the neighbouring regions of Asia and America. The rude masses have in the course of cen- turies, by means of different processes of civilization, been sepa- rated into different races and nations, each of a peculiar physi- cal type — a consequence of the higher mental tendencies — and * Baer, in the " Bcitr&ge zur Kcntnlss des RusaischcQ Reiclics," vol. i> p. 279. 6 1 . , 1- 1 ; ■ 1 > i f u H!f ■ ( 1 .ll ll H t' i I ^ : i'iii 82 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. II i»il: ]> numerous languages have grown up; yet they still bear sufficient tokens of their original unity, in their physical peculiarities, as well aa in their languages, their customs, and their habits. This unity is shown by their genealogy (the oldest historical system of all nations which know only a single original ancestor), which leads the Turks, Mongols, and Tunguses back to the same ori- gin.* Among the Tartarian hordes we find a relationship simi- lar to that which existed between the different German races. The Ostrogoths and Visigoths, the Ostphalians and Westpha- lians, the men of the north and men of the south, belonged in their essential nature to one and the same Teutonic family, not- withstanding the differences in their culture and their destiny. 4. The Tunguses, the Eastern Barbarians. — All the nu- merous Tartaric tribes which wandered about, or dwelt north- easterly from the Middle Kingdom, were called by the civilized southern people Tong-hu, "Eastern Red-men, or Barl arians," from which term our word " Tunguse " has sprung, which has since been applied to the people of a much smaller section of country. Among the Tong-hu the Mongolians were prominent, many centuries before Chinggis Chakan, distinguished by the slightly different names of Wog or 3fog, and divided into seven tribes, whose abodes stretched from the Corean Peninsula high up into the North, across the Amoor River, and to the Eastern Ocean — that is to say, to the Gulf of Anadir, or to Behring's Strait. The nomadic races, called Pe-ti, or " Northern Barbari- ans," dwelt more directly north ; and many tribes were sometimes described as belonging to the Tunguses, and sometimes to the Pe-ti. In one way and another the Chinese obtained an aston- ishingly accurate knowledge of the northeastern coast of the Asiatic Continent, which, as is shown by their observations in astronomy and natural history, extended to the sixty-fifth degree of latitude, and even to the Arctic Ocean. f Among other ac- counts, they tell of a country, inhabited by a small tribe, called Kolihariy or Chorhan, which during the latter half of the seventh century sent several embassies to the court at Singan. This country lay on the North Sea, far from the " Middle Kingdom," * The " Shajrat ul Atrak," or Genealogical Tree of the Turks and Tartars, translated by Colonel Miles, London, 1838. Tung^ or Tungm, is here (p. 25) rep- resented as a son of Thirk. f Gaubil, "Observations Slathematiques," Paris, 1732, vol. ii, p. 110. NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 83 and beyond, still farther north, and on the other side of this sea, the days were sometimes so long and the nights so short that the sun sank and rose again before a breast of mutton could be roasted.* The Chinese were well acquainted with the customs of these hordes, which completely resembled those of the present Tchuktchi, the Koljushes, f and other families of Northeast- ern Asia and Northwestern America. " These barbarians," they say, " have neither oxen, sheep, nor other domestic animals ; but, as some compensation for the lack of these animals, they make use of deer, which are very numerous." The deer spoken of are un- doubtedly reindeer, which have also been described by European voyagers as resembling the common deer. J " Of agriculture these petty tribes know nothing. They support themselves by hunt- ing and fishing, and upon the root of a plant that is found there in great abundance. Their dwellings are built of brush-wood and pieces of larger wood, and their clothing is made of birds'- feathers and the skins of wild animals. Their dead are laid in coffins, which are hung on trees growing in the mountain ranges. They know nothing of any division of the year into different seasons." * The Chinese were also as well acquainted with the tribes which dwelt directly east as with these northern nations. 5. The Ainos, or Jebis, and the Negritos. — Even as early as the reign of the Chexi dynasty, in the times of David and Solomon, the limits of Chinese civilization reached to the Pacific Ocean. The numerous neighbouring groups of islands were known in the kingdom and visited for the purpose of trading. Their inhabitants sent embassies to the court, which offered all kinds of presents, that are described in full in the Shu-king, or Chinese Book of Annals. Moreover, it often happened, and still happens, that China sent forth a part of its overflowing or discontented population to those islands which were either sparsely settled, * " Ma Tioan-lhi," Book 348, p. 6. f " Koljushi," or " Koljaki," is the name of the pegs which these barbarians wear in their under lip, and from these they originally derived their name. The Russians who govern this land afterward called them " Galochcs " (from that word of the French language), the name being at first applied only in jest. In the course of time, however, this word superseded the earlier name " Koljukes," so that they are now universally called " Kaloshes." X Forster, " Schifffahrtcn im Norden," Frankfort, 1784, p. 838. • " J/a Tivan-lin," Book 344, p. 18. »i!!l liEB tit .;*■.? til I irn; •,.( '1 T 84 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. or,in some cases, entirely uninhabited, colonies having thus been sent to Japan, to Lieu-kuei, and to Tai-wan or Formosa, of which fact we possess explicit historical testimony. The family of the Ainos, or Jebis, stretching from Japan to Kamtchatka, over the Kurile and the Aleutian Islands and far away into the North, where it meets the allied family of the Esquimaux, must have appeared especially remarkable to these Chinese-Mongolian colo- nists and traders (who themselves possessed but scanty beards) on account of the strong growth of hair with which the bodies of these Ainos were covered. On this account they were called Mao-jin (or, according to the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters, Mo-ain), meaning " Hairy -people " ; or, from the numerous sea-crabs which the ocean in these regions throws up upon the beach,* Hia-i (or, according to the Japanese pro- nunciation, Jesso) — that is to say, " Crab-barbarians." Moreover, because the Ainos, like the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, and other barbarians, have the custom of tattooing themselves with all kinds of figures, they were also called Wen-shin, or " Pictured-people." In the course of time still other names were applied to them ; but he who is governed by a knowledge of the nature of these regions and their inhabitants, immediately recog- nizes that the different descriptions and accounts all relate to the same family of the Ainos. We are indebted to the repeated em- bassies, which in earlier times went back and forth between China and Japan, for a great part of the information contained in the Annual Registers of the " Middle Kingdom " regarding the north- easterly and southeasterly islands and tribes, and, although much that is fabulous is undoubtedly contained in their accounts, still even their most incredible tales may contain some element of truth. So in the Chu-shu, or "Dwarfs," dwelling far distant from Japan in a southerly direction, having black bodies, naked and ugly, who murder and eat strangers, we immediately recog- nize the inhabitants of New Guinea or Papua.f The Ainos are first mentioned by the name of " the Hairy-people," in the Chi- nese " Book of Mountains and Seas," a work dating from the third or second century before our era, and richly adorned with wonderful tales. It says that they live in the Eastern Sea, and I* " Bcschreibung der Eurilischen und Alcutischen laseln " translated from the Russian into Ger I t : I II 88 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. the limits are not clearly dcfincil. From Karatchatka to Je- tahay is a month's journey, and beyond it is an unknown land, from which no embassy ever came to the * Middle Kingdom.' Neither fortified places nor walled cities are found in this land ; the people live Bcatt^.rc^l about upon the islands of the sea, and upon the banks along the rivers and the sea, of which they salt and preserve the fish." Steller also assures us that the dwellings of the Ittllmen — i. e., the natives of Karatchatka — are found along t' rivers, en the inner sea, and at the mouths of small rivers, especially in such of these places as are provided with trees and bushes. Fish are found in incredible numbers, and salmon ire especially numer- ous ; they are prepared in many ways, but chiefly by salcing,* so as to serve for food both for man and beast throughout the lonj? winters. The races living still farther north live also, almost exclusively, upon fish, from which fact they have received the name " Eskimantik," or '-Eskimo," that is to say, "Raw-fish eaters."! " Their dwellings consist of pits, which they dig quite deep in the earth, and then wall up with thick, unhewn wooden planks." These serve only as their winter residences, their sum- mer residences being set upon posts, like our pigeon-houses. The Italraen dig the earth out from three to five feet deep, making an excavation in the shape of a long rectangular paral- lelogram, and as large as may be required to accommodat j their families. They throw the excavated earth all around the bor- ders of the pit in a pile two feet broad. Then they prepare willow stakes five or six feet long, and drive them i to the ground close together along the wall of the pit, so that they reach to the same height as the earthen wall. Between these stakes and the earth they place dry straw, so that the earth may not fall through and by immediate contact with the articles con- tained in the dwelling cause them to become mouldy or rusty. ing is found in the two Encyclopaedias already named. Jc-tshay-kuo, which here means " the Land of the Je-tshay" is also named only in the two Encyclopaedias. The arrogant Chinese love to write the names of foreign nations with characters which are insulting and abusive in their meanings. The name Lieu-kud is there- fore written with characters meaning " the Dysenteric Devils," and Je-ishay with characters meaning " the Devil's Attendants." ♦Steller, pp. 169, 210, 211. t Mithridates, iii, 3-425. I- Wi NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 89 In the middle of the pit they make the fire-place, between four Hlcnder pilf^s, which ari> fastened above at one Hide of the entrance, which is near t'ae fire-place, and serves also as a chim- ney through which the smoke escapes. Opposite the fire-place thty make a channel in the ground from eight feet to two fath- oms long (the p '-e and length being dependent upon the size of the dwelling), which extends outside of the house, which is opened when a fire is kindled and closed when the fire is allowed to go out. This air-opening is made in any side of the dwelling without regard to the cardinal points, care being only taken that it should always open toward t' 3 ri^cr near which the house is placed. The wind can usually find free entrance, but, when it comes in too strongly, they place a cover over the air- opening as a protection against it. When it is desired to enter the dwell- ing, it is necessary to go in through the opening in the roof, which serves as a chimney, and descend a ladder or a tree-trunk, in which notches in which to place the feet have been hewed. Difficult as this is to a European, especially when a fire is burn- ing and there seems danger of stifling from the smoke, it seems a very easy matter to the Ittllmen. The little children usually creep through the air-channel, which also serves as a cupboard in which the cooking and table utensils are stored. Internally, the dwelling is divided into squares by wooden beams, so that each of tha inhabitants has his own particular sleeping-place and private room. " On account of the frequent fogs and heavy snows, the cli- mate is very raw and cold. The people are all clothed in the hides of the animals which they kill by hunting ; but they also prepare a species of cloth, from dogs' hair and various kinds of grasses, which is also used for clothing. In the winter the skins of swine and reindeer are used as clothing, and in the summer the skins of fishes. They have great numbers of dogs." We now know that a remarkable difference is found in the climate of different portions of Kamtchatka. Districts that lie only a short distance from each other have very different weather at the same season of the year. The southern portion of the peninsula is, in general, tm account of the proximity of the sea, very cloudy and damp, and is, for a great portion of the time, subject to fearfully tempestuous winds. The farther we ascend to the north, toward the Penshinish Bay, the gentler are the ii . I I, ill Itel i' 1. t i ' 'I m < '■ ' ill I : 1 ' ) li 00 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. winds in winter, an h. iliUi I < r 1 k ii. m-. : I 96 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. I fA only the home of the most intellectual civilization of the New World, but also the home of Buddhism.* The Toltecs — a name that means "Architects" — appeared about the middle of the seventh century. One of their literary productions, " The Divine Book," had, according to an unconfirmed tradition, been pre- served up to the times of the Spaniards.f The Aztecs, on the contrary, first came to Anahuac, or '* the Land near the "Water," during the reign of the Emperor Frederick II.J The savage conquerors, as was the case with all races at the time of the great migrations of the nations of Europe, were at first hostile to both the existing religion and the native civilization. In the end, however, when the necessity of having the state properly con- trolled was forced upon them, they could erect the new structure only upon the existing ruins. This is as true in a figurative as in a literal sense, and we can learn much of the condition of the earlier races in this land by a consideration of the regulations, customs, and usages of the Aztecs. The most learned historian of New Spain, in harmony with the results of the most recent researches, long ago recognized the original connection of the numerous languages of Mexico, notwithstanding all their differ- ences in single points.* The pyraraidical, symbolical form of the wonderful monu- ments of ancient Mexico appears in truth to have some external points of resemblance with the religious structures erected by the Buddhists, and the pyramids of the old inhabitants of this land served, like those of the Egyptians and Buddhists, as places of interment ; but neither their architecture nor their ornamenta- tion, if we are to decide from the drawings of Mexican antiqui- ties, exhibit any East Indian symbol, unless their eight rings or stories are considered as such. It is stated in a Buddhist legend that the remains of Sakya, after his cremation, were collected in eight metallic vessels and as many sacred buildings were erected over these. II But if Buddhism ever reigned over Central Ameri- * " Antiquitda Mexicaincs," ii, p. 73 ; " Transactions of the American Anti- quarian Society," ii; Prescott, "History of the Conquest of Mexico," Paris, 1844, iii, p. 253. f Prescott, i, 67. :|: The chronological estimates of the different historians do not agree with one another. Those of the learned Clavigcro appear to be always the most reliable, however. Prescott, i, 11. * Clavigcro, "Storia Antica del Mcssico," i, 163. I "Asiatic liesearches," xvi, 316. NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 97 ca it surely can not have been the pure religion of Sakya, as it is found to-day in Nepal, Thibet, and other countries of Asia, but only a form of a religious belief founded upon the funda- mental principles of this doctrine, and changed to adapt it to the earlier belief of the people of the New World ; for the mis- sionaries of Sakya might be called Jesuits, from the fact that they, in order to obtain an easier entrance for their religion and its dogmas, either built them up upon the previous customs and usages of the country or cunningly mixed the two together. The myth of the birth of the terrible Aztec god of war is per- haps a faded remnant of the East Indian religion which may once have bloomed here. Huitzilopochtli, like Sakya, was begot- ten in a wonderful way : his mother saw a ball of glittering feathers floating in the air, placed it in her bosom, became preg- nant, and bore her terrible son, who, at the time of his birth, had a spear in his right hand, a shield in his left, and a waving tuft of green feathers upon his head.* Juan de Grijalva, the nephew of Valasquez, was so astonished at the superior civilization of the main continent as compared with the islands, and particu- larly at the regularity of the buildings, that he, upon this account, in 1518, gave to the Peninsula of Yucatan the name of "New Spain," a name which soon obtained a much wider extension.! 16. Fu-sANG, Maguey, Agave Americana. — It is known that the flora of the northwestern regions of America is intimately connected with that of China, Japan, and other lands in the east- ernmost region of the Orient. On this account it may be believed that the^w-sa^^' tree was also found in America in earlier times, and that from bad management it has since become extinct. The tobacco-plant a'»d Indian corn are in a similar way native both to China and to the New World.J It appears much more prob- able, however, that the traveler, as has not unfrequently occurred in other similar cases, when he saw in Mexico a new plant for- merly unknown to him, which was used there for many purposes in a similar way to the uses made of the fic-sanff tree in Eastern Asia, gave to it the name of the well-known Asiatic tree which he thought to resemble it. The plant that I mean is the great * Clavigero, ii, 19. f Prescott, i, 143. X Professor Xcumanu seems to have made this statement oa iusufEcicat au- thority.— E. P. V. 1 ■ t i t ' : ,'. ' . 1 ■ , > i ! i "■|!lil Iv'^ \ ! M! i !■: • \ 1 1 4 J I J; Si i^il 98 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Mexican Aloe, the Agave Atnericana, called " 3Iaguey " by the natives, which, throwing up its pyramidical tuft of flowers above the dark circle of its leaves, is found in such great abun- dance upon the plains of New Spain. From its crushed leaves a firm paper is prepared, even up to the present time, as at the time when the Aztec kingdom flourished, and the few hiero- glyphic manuscripts that have escaped the barbarity and fa- naticism of the Spaniards consist of this paper ; and of such manuscripts the Buddhist missionary speaks. The flowing sap is brewed into an intoxicating drink, which is still liked by the people of the country. Its large, stiff leaves serve as firm roofs for their low huts, and from the fibers are made all kinds of thread, cordage, and rough cloth. When cooked, the roots form a savoury species of food ; and the thorns are used as needles and pins. This wonderful plant, therefore, offers not only food and drink, but clothing and writing-materials, and, in fact, so satis- fies, to a certain degree, every want of the Mexicans, that many who are acquainted with the land and its inhabitants are con- vinced that the maguey must be rooted out before the sloth and indolence of the people — evils which prevent them from reach- ing a higher culture and civilization — can be checked.* 17. Metals and Money. — The use of iron, although it is found so abundantly in New Spain, was, as our traveler has justly observed, not known. Copper and bronze were then used instead in this country, as they were formerly used in other regions of the earth. According to the account of Antonio de Herrera, two varieties of copper were prepared, one hard and the other soft — of which the first was used for hatchets, cutting- instruments, and agricultural implements, and the other for kettles and all kinds of household utensils. The inhabitants also understood how to work silver, tin, and lead mines ; but neither the silver nor the gold, which was found upon the sur- face of the earth or in the channels of the rivers, served as the usual medium of exchange, and these metals were not especially valued in the land. Pieces of tin, in the form of a hammer, and packages of cacao containing a certain number of kernels, were generally used as money. " Admirable money," exclaims Peter Martyr, " which checks avarice ; since it can neither be long kept nor safely buried." f * Prcscott, i, 63, 87. f Prescott, i, 92. 'i If NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 99 18. Laws and Customs op the Aztecs. — The laws of the Aztecs were very strict ; but in the few fragments of them which are contained in the hieroglyphic pictures that we have, we find no trace of the regulations described as existing in the land of Fii-sang. An hereditary nobility stood, however, at the side of Montezuma, divided into several different ranks, con- cerning which the historians give contradictory accounts. Zu- rita speaks of four ranks of chiefs, who paid no tribute and who enjoyed other privileges. * The customs of courtship and mar- riao-e resembled those which exist to-day in Kamtchatka. We have no knowledge of the mourning ceremonies of the Aztecs, except that their kings had particular palaces in which they passed the time of mourning for their nearest relatives.f At the festivities in honour of the gods, drums and trumpets were sounded ; and this may also have been done by the attendants of the king as to the representative of the divinity.J The Aztecs reckoned time by a cycle of fifty-two years, and, as is well known, knew very accurately the time of the revolu- tion of the earth about the sun. The ten-year cycle mentioned in the Chinese account may have been a subdivision of that of fifty-two years, or else may have been used as an independent method of reckoning time, as is the case with the ten-year cycle of the Chinese, who call the signs of the different years " stems." It is remarkable that the Mongolians and Mantchoos designate these " stems " by words indicating different colours, which fact may possibly have some connection with the change of colour in the garments of the prince of Fii-sang in the different yeans of the cycle. * Among the Tartarian tribes the first two years of the ten are called green and greenish, the next two red and reddish, the two following yellow and yellowish, the next two white and whitish, and, finally, the last two black and blackish. It appears impossible, however, to bring this cycle of the Aztecs into any connection with those of the Asiatic tribes, who usually reckon time by periods of sixty years. 19. Domestic Animals. — The Aztecs have no draught ani- mals or beasts of burden, and it is well knoAvn that horses were not found in any part of the New World, and the account of * Prescott, i, 18. f Mithridates, iii, 3-33. \ Bcrnal Diaz, " Hist, dc la Conquista," pp. 152, 153 ; Prescott, iii, 87, 97. * Gaubil, " Observations Mathomatiques," Paris, 1732, ii, 136. 1' f f I f'l iii i^ 'i;i I \ |l I » !| 100 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. the Cbinese traveler certainly is not applicable to the later ^Mexican monarchies. Two species of oxen v/itli large horns ranged in herds in the plains of the Rio del Norte before the arrival of the Spaniards.* These may have been tamed by the earlier inhabitants and used as domestic animals. Stags' horns have also been found in the ruins of Mexican buildings, and Montezuma showed the Spaniards enormous horns as curiosities.f It is possible that in earlier times stags ranged farther south than at present and that their range extended from Upper California and other regions of North America, in which they are still found in large herds, as far as to the regions of Central America. An inhabitant of China would naturally think it very strange to see butter made from the milk of the hinds, as milk is rarely used in China even up to the present day. When the inhabitants of Chu-san saw that the English sailors milked goats, even grave, elderly men could not restrain their laughter at the sight. Moreover, the Chinese traveler may have used the character " ma " (or " horse ") to designate some animal resem- bling a horse ; for changes of this kind frequently occur in simi- lar accounts. In the same way the names of many animals of the Old "World have been ajiplied to similar animals in the New "World which belong to quite diflFerent species. The eastern limits of the Asiatic Continent are also the limits of the native country of the horse ; and it furthermore appears that this ani- mal was first introduced into Japan from Corea in the third cen- tury of our era, J But no matter from what source the error in regard to American horses may have come, the unprejudiced and circumspect inquirer will not be induced merely upon this account to declare the whole story regarding Fusang-Mexico to be an idle tale. It appears to me that this description of the countries upon the western coast of America, in the Annual Register of the Chinese Empire, is at least as credible as the account contained in the Icelandic Sagas of the discovery of the eastern shores of the New "World. 20. Chinese and Japanese in the Hawaiian Gkoup and in * Iluraboldt, " Neu-Spanien," iii, 138. + Humboldt, " Neu-Spanion," ii, 243. X Nippon-ki — i. c, " Annual Registers of the Kingdom of Japan." In the entry for the year 284 it is said : " In this year horses were brought from Corea " j but it is not especially stated that they were the first in Japan. 1 i \; NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 101 i'iilltl NoRTinvESTERN Amer JA. — In support of the theory of an early communication of China and Japan with the islands between Asia and America and with the western coast of this division of the earth, even though such communication may have been only accidental, a number of facts of modern date may be adduced. Even if the Chinese and the Japanese, who, by virtue of their knowledge of the compass since the earliest date of their his- tory, would find such a voyage not to be particularly difficult, never intentionally undertook any voyages by sea to America, yet it may have happened, as it still happens, that ships from Eastern Asia, China, and Japan, as well as those of Russians from Ochotsk and Kamtchatka,* were thrown upon the islands and coast of the New World. The earliest Spanish travelers and explorers heard of foreign merchants who had landed upon the northwestern coast of America, and even claimed to have seen fragments of a Chinese ship, f "We also know that the crew of a Japanese junK accidentally discovered a great conti- nent in the East, wintered there, and then safely returned home. The Japanese stated that the land extended farther to the north- west.J They may have passed the winter in the neighbourhood of California, and have discovered the coast farther north, to- gether with the Peninsula of Alaska. A Japanese ship w^as wrecked, about the end of the year 1832, upon Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands, of which the Hawaiian " Spectator " contained the following detailed account : " This Japanese ship had nine men on board, who were carrying iish to Jeddo from one of the southerly islands of the * Eastern King- dom.' A storm drove them into the open sea, where they drifted about for ten or eleven months, until they finally (in December, 1832) landed in the port of Waiala, upon the island of Oahu. The ship sank, but the men were saved and brought to Hono- lulu, where they remained for eighteen months, and then, in accordance with their own desires, sailed for Kamtchatka, hop- ing to be able to slip quietly from this country into their native land." For the terribly barbarous government of Japan, remem- lliil iwif ! '■ • • ■:» lorea ' * An account of a Russian ship which was driven upon the coast of California in 1761 may be found in the "Travels of Several Missionaries of the Society of Jesus in America," Nuremberg, 1785, p. 337. f Torquemada, " Mon. Ind.," iii, 7 ; Acosta, " Hist. Nat. Amer.," iii, 12. t Kacmpfer, " Geschichte von Japan," Lemgo, 1777, i, 82. « ■ it'i . i: I ' ip 102 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. II m fHit liiil bcring even to this day the evil artifices of the Portuguese Jesuits, and fearing the secret plots of the neighbouring Russians, prohib- ited even its own unfortunate shipwrecked subjects from re- turning to their native land. " "When the people of Hawaii," so continues the " Spectator," " saw these foreigners so closely re- sembling them in external form and in many customs and usages, they were much astonihed, and unanimously declared, ' There can be no farther room for doubt. We came from Asia.' " * Another instance of a Japanese ship in America and of the former inconsiderate iron policy of the Japanese government is as follows : During the winter of 1833-'34 a junk from Japan suffered shipwreck upon the northwest coast of America in the neighbourhood of Queen Charlotte's Island. The numerous members of the crew, weakened by hunger, were, with the ex- ception of two persons, murdered by the natives. The Hudson's Bay Company took charge of these unfortunate beings, and in 1834 sent them to England, from which country they were sent on to Macao. This was considered as a fortunate occurrence, as it was hoped that the government at Jeddo would show some gratitude for this humane treatment of its subjects, and possibly give up its policy of prohibiting the entry of foreigners into the kingdom. The ship which it was intended should restore these subjects to the rulers of the "Eastern Kingdom," and at the same time extend the doctrines of the Christian religion to Japan (for Carl Guetzlaff was on board), was received with cannon- balls, and compelled to leave the coast of the inh^^spitable land, with its intended good work unperformed. All these different facts sufficiently prove that a voyage to America and the neighbouring islands, on the part of some of the people who shared in the Chinese civilization, can not have been a very infrequent occurrence. And, upon the other side, the inhabitants of these islands may, in their frail canoes, have accidentally or intentionally landed from time to time upon the Asiatic Continent. " It is wonderful," says the Jesuit Hierony- mus d'Angelis, who in 1G80 was the first European to visit * " Hawaiian Spectator," i, 296, quoted in Belcher's " Voyage Round the World," London, 1843, i, 304; Jarvis's "History of the Sandwich Islands," Lon- don, 1843, 27. According to a tradition of the people of the islands, several such ships had been wrecked upon Hawaii before the arrival of the whites. m NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH. 103 Jesso,* " how bold these people are, and how expert in naviga- tion. In their defective boats they undertake voyages occupy- ing from two to three months, and, however many may perish at sea, new adventurers are always found to undertake the same bold risks." Since the opening of Japan to other nations and its entrance into the affairs of the world, the state of facts outlined above is of course entirely changed. "Voyages from Eastern Asia to Western America and back are now of common, almost of daily, occurrence. The large Japanese Embassy, which came to Wash- ington by the way of the Hawaiian Islands and California in 1860, is fully described in my " History of Eastern Asia," and is still held in fresh remembrance, f * p. Dan BartolH, " Dell' Historia della Compagnia di Giesu," Rome, 1640, t, 71. D'Angelis himself designed a mop of Jcsso. f " Ost-Asiatische Gcscbichte, vom Ersten Chinesischcn Erieg bis zu den Yer- triigen zu Peking" (1840-1860), von Karl Friedrich Neumann, Leipzig, 1861, 835 pp. ISflfj i ; iMu m CHAPTER VII. i 1 \ 1 1 i i If ." • II li THK ARGUMENTS OF MM. PEREZ AXD GODRON. Knowledge of America possessed by the Chinese — The Country of Women — Other travelers relate incredible stories — Klaproth's argument — The account con- tained In the Japanese Encyclopocdia — Note denying that I'\i-aang is Japan — Weakness of Klaproth's argument — Identity of names of cities in Asia and America — American languages — Resemblance of the Tartars to the Abo- rigines of America — Similitude of customs — A Buddhist mission to America in the fifth century — The Chinese able to measure distances, and possessed of the compass — The musk-oxen and bisons of America — Horses — Names of European animals misapplied to American animals — The "horse-deer" of America — Vines — The difficulty in identifying the fusang tree — Iron and copper in America and Japan, Memoir upon the Relations of the Americans in Former Times loith the Nations of Europe^ Asia, and Africa — Section en- titled, "ICnotoledffe possessed by the Chinese in the Fourth Centv / of our Era''— by M. Jose Perez, D. il/!"'" The question as to whether or not the people of Eastern Asia, at the time above named, had any communication with the natives of any part of America, appears to be worthy of the careful investigation of scholars. An unexpected discovery has thrown light upon this subject ; and, following the authority of some writers and the criticisms of others, it appears evident that the New World was known in former times to the Chinese and Japanese. Before engaging in a discussion regarding the authors who have thought that the country of Fii-sang should be iden- tified with America, it is indispensable to place the steps of the process by which their conclusion was reached under the eyes of the reader, without taking part in the perversion of facts for the benefit of any theory whatever, as has unfortunately been done to the injury of the solution of the problem which now occupies us. ii: fli J THE ARGUMENT OF M. PEREZ. 105 It was in 1701 that dc Guignea published liis justly cele- brated memoir, in which, after identifying several nations of the extreme East, mentioned by the Chinese accounts, ami particu- larly that of Ta-han, which he placed, with reason, in the most eastern part of Siberia, this learned Sinologue made known to the astonished scientific world the Chinese descriptions of the famous country of Fu-sang, in which he recognized a part of North America. This continent, say the writers of the Celestial Empire, is situated twenty thousand II to the east of the country of Ta-han. The king bears the title of Y-chi, and the chiefs of the nation beneath him are the great and petty 2'ui-lu and the Ka-to-sha. "The historian from whom Ma Tican-lln copies this account," says de Guigncs, "adds that the Chinese had no knowledge of the country of Fu-sang before the year 458, und to the present time I have seen no other than these two writers who give any extended account of it. Some authors of diction- aries who mention it, merely say that it is situated in the region where the sun rises." The situation of Ih-sang, clearly described in the accounts, and the great distance which separates it from China, to the east of which country it lies — a distance stated in precise terms by the Chinese geographers — appear to positively prove that this country can not be contained in Asia, even within its utmost bounds. Moreover, the Chinese historians, as de Guignes has remarked, also speak of another country a thousand li farther east than Fi-sang, a country called " the Kingdom of Women." The account which is given of it is, it is true, full of fables ; but that merely proves that this last country marked one of the extreme limits of their geographical knowledge, and that it was a land of which they had but very imperfect accounts, analogous to those which the travelers of the Middle Ages gave regarding the eastern countries which they reached. Does not even Marco Polo himself, whose intellectual superiority and the value of whose geographical statements it is now the fashion to exaggerate beyond all reason, relate to us the most incredible stories regarding countries in which he lived ? . . . The Chinese account of " the Kingdom of Women" is written with no less intelligence and sincerity than the European works of the Middle Ages of which we have spoken, and that which appears to us to be fabulous might well seem true if it were better explained. It is evident that the author did not intend to say ^^P ^ 1 1 - ilWill ' ih ! . ' : !i ■ >i'|!'l1li' l'*'li Ill I III 100 AN INGLOUIOUS COLUMBUS. that it was the river of this country which caiiscJ the women's l»n'<;nancy, but morely that tlio baths talcen in its waters were favourable to them when in that ecmilition, which is moreover l)rove(l by the followinj^ phrase, where it is said that tliey ^'avo birth to their young four months after having taken these baths ; and as for the white locks which they had at the back of the liead, by which they nursed their children, the account is ex- j)Iained very easily by a custom, common in India and elsewhere, by which the women nurso their children over their shoulders. I'inally, do (Uiignes mentions, as an additional proof in support of his theory, the shipwreck in 507 a. d. of a Chinese vessel upon tlie shores of an unknown island situated at a great dis- tance in the Pacific Ocean. The women of this country resem- bled those of China, and the men made themselves understood by barking, undoubtedly like the noise made by the Ttenyas in Louisiana in the presence of their king, in order to do Lim honour. From all these facts it appeared indisputable to the learned Sinologue that the Chinese had penetrated very far into the Pa- cific Ocean, if they had not traveled over it, and that they bad sufficient boldness to go to California in the year 458 a. d. . . . Klaproth, the famous Orientalist, having much learning, but even more envy, did not wish that any one should have greater credit than himself for Chinese scholarship, and thought it pos- sible to plunge de Guignes's celebrated discovery into forget- fulness by stufting it into a mattress of paradoxes quite filled with wonderful statements. ... As to the great distanc ; which exists, according to the shaman's account, between this unknown country and China, Klaproth takes a lesson from the trick of decipherers who fail either to understand an entire inscription or some of its words : he finds errors in the original document. " The distances named in the accounts," says he, " much ex- ceed the truth " (that is to say, the hypothesis of the Prussian Sinologue), "and the Chinese bad no means of determining the length of their cruises at sea." Finally, to make it impossible to identify Fu-sang with any part of America, Klaproth con- ceives the ruse of finding a place upon the map for the country of Wen-shin. After having consigned these unfortunate '* Tat- tooed Men " to the island of Jesso, he writes, quite satisfied with himself: "The identity of Ta-han and the island of Tarakai, TUE AUOUMENT OF M. PEREZ. 107 onco ilomonstriitod, provonts uU furllu'i- search for the country of Fii-H'int/ in America." Then, viewinj^ his fanciful argument more and more complacently, he adds : " We must, therefore, reject tlio entire tale as to J'\t-ii^Vt^ and ting they are red, etc. "The natives raise deer, as cattle are raised, and prepare creamy dishes from the milk of the animals. " In this country there is no iron, but there is copper. Gold and silver are not valued. In the markets no duties are levied. The rules for the observance of the marriage-ceremony are in general the same as those of the 'Middle Kingdom' (China). In the second year of the period, called ta-ming (or ' great light '), the year 458 of our era, under the reign of the emperor Hiao Wu-ti,* of the Sung dynasty, five hhikshus (mendicant priests) of the country of Ki-pin, in their travels reached Fou-s6, and com- menced to propagate Buddhism there." The editor of the Wa- ka)i-san-sai-chou-ye adds the following comment : " Note. — It is not now certainly known what to think re- garding the country of Fou-so, which is said to be to the east of China and also to the east of the country of Tai-kan. It is therefore uncertain whether the country to which the bonzes of the country of IiTi-pin went, carrying the doctrine of Buddha, is situated to the north or to the east of Japan. In any case, it is wrong to think that the account refers to Japan, and the statement that Foxi-sd may be another name of Japan is incor- rect." The Japanese author adds in a note : " Ki-pin is one of the western countries [Si-yu). It is San-tna-oell-hcm^' (Sa- marcand). * This princo of the Pch Sunf/, or Northern Sunff dynasty, reigned from 454 to 466 A. D. The period ta-ming is comprised between the years 457 and 4G4, if' THE ARGUMENT OF M. PEREZ. 109 To this account, and as before to serve as the foundation of our argument, we will add the translation which M. de Rosny has also kindly made for us of the notices of the great Japanese EncyclopaBdia of the countries of Boun-zin and Tai- han. BouN-zix (in Chinese, Wen-shhi). — The Encyclopaedia, en- titled San-sai-dzou-ye, says : "The productions of the country of Boun-zin (Men with Tattooed Bodies) are of very little value. In the inns no food is found. The dwelling of the king is orna- mented with gold and gems. In the markets, traffic is carried on by means of precious objects." Tai-kax (in Chinese, Ta-han). — The Encyclopaedia, entitled San-sai-dzou-ye, says : " In the country of Tai-kan there are no armies, and war is not waged. The people are similar to those of Boun-zin (the Men with Tattooed Bodies), but their language is different. " Some people say that the country of Tai-kan is situated to the east of the country of Boun-zin, at a distance of about five thousand ^i." Having laid these documents before our readers, we will now attempt to discuss the arguments that have been urged against the identification of the country of Fu-sang, or Fou-so, with America. First of all, we find, in the account translated by M. de Rosny, a passage which completely annihilates the hypothesis, otherwise so gratuitous as we see, of the Prussian scholar, ac- cording to which Fi-sang was one of the names of Japan. " In any case," says the Japanese author of the great Encyclopaj- dia, " it is wrong to think that the account refers to Japan, and the statement that Fou-sd (or Fu-sang) may be another name of Jaj.m is incorrect." I will add that, after the statement of such an authority, it hardly seems necessary to further refute the im- aginary system invented by Klaproth to compensate for the pov- erty of his cause, since M. de Rosny has been unable to find in any of the Japanese-Chinese dictionaries of his excellent col- lection anything which can justify the statement made by the German scholar, that Fc-sang is another name for Japan. Then, if we admit that Fu-sang is the same as Japan, it is necessary to find between this last country and China another country, Ta- han, inhabited by savages with tattooed bodies and so slightly advanced in knowledge as not to have arms of any nature — ■f iMi: m m^ I -I i| !■' fl It ! i ■ 1 ' ■ ii 1 ! i ft i if 1 1 !< 1 ' 1 |. |:,::fi 1 '. H j 1 ■ .!■ ,l'{:| ^ liiiiiii 110 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. IJ) which is expressly contradicted by our historical and geographi- cal knowledge. It is also necessary to find to the east of Japan, and not in America, another country, Niu-jin-kwoh, which one of the most famous Chinese works, the Peu-tsao-kang-mouh, places to the east of the country of Fu-sang, which is again impossible. Then it is necessary to admit, as Klaproth wishes, that the author of the description of Fu-sang must have been deceived as to the distance of twenty thousand It which separated this remote coun- try from the lands known at this time ; as also that he must have been mistaken when he said that Buddhism had been introduced there in the year 458 a. d., since it did not reach Japan until a century later ; he must also have been mistaken in his mention of the tree which gave its name to Fu-sang, for, according to Klaproth, "there is some error in the Chinese account, which confounds the hibiscus (or the rose of China) with the paper- mulberry, or 3Iorus papyrifera," etc., etc. Once admitting that in the place of the hypothesis, at least very probable at first sight, so skillfully presented by M. de Guignes, another hypothesis absolutely inadmissible is proposed to us, let us consider the weight that should be given the objections of Klaproth against the identification of Fu-sang with America. We have seen that Klaproth thought that he had found a serious objection in the grapes which the Chinese voyagers found in Ft-sang ; but this objection can not now be admitted. By a singular oversight he forgets that the forests of North America abound in wild vines of several species, and that the Scandinavians had placed Vin-land, or the " Land of Wine," in its northeastern part ; he thinks that Fu-sang may have been Japan, where, he says, the vine has existed from times imme- morial, although the Chinese did not introduce it from Western Asia until the year 126 before our era. In addition to all that precedes, a multitude of petty particu- lars are also presented, which, by their significant number, suflice to convince the most unwilling that America must have receiv-ed colonies from Asia. We will mention only a few of these par- ticulars, reserving the others to communicate hereafter to those who are not persuaded that to discuss the matter further is but to labour at demolishing open gates. We not only find in Amer- ica the grand distinctive traits of the nations of the extreme THE ARGUMENT OF M. PEREZ. Ill Orient, but we see that at some remote epoch the Asiatics had given to the cities of the New World the same names as the cities of their mother country, as the Europeans did when they gave to the western cities of the New World the names of New York, New Orleans, New Brunswick {sic), etc. So the name of the famous Japanese city of Ohosaka, to the west of the Pa- cific, has become Oaxaca, in Mexico, upon its eastern side. For- merly there were the same names of nations or of tribes, which we find with the most striking resemblance upon the two sides of the Pacific, as, for example, the Chan, a tribe living in the neighbourhood of Palenque, of which the name signifies " Ser- pent." * The identical name being found again in Indo-China,f in the country of the Nagas, " Serpents." Nachan, " the City of the Serpents," in America, corresponds with the Cambodian Nakhorchan **the City of Serpents." It is sufiicient to add that, in glancing over an old map of Mexico, the geographical names of several different provinces are found, and among them names which betray a Chinese origin at first sight, such as Mi-choa-kan, Ko-li-man, Te-koua-na-pan, etc. The name which the Otomis give to their language, " Hiang-hioung," is not less convincing, and it is known that these Indians are included among the oldest populations of Central America. Grammatical affinities, not less remarkable, arc ostablished between different idioms of the Old and the New World. In several languages, both of Greenland and of Brazil, a special form of negative conjugation is found ; and in the Moska and the Arawack the negation is interposed between the root of the verb and its terminations, as is the case in the Turkish and the other Tartarian dialects. In Guarani, in Chiquito, and in Quichua, as in Tagala and Mantchoo, there exists a pronoun of the first person plural, excluding those who are addressed, and another which includes these last. The con- jugation of the languages of the plateau of Anahuac recalls in most of its details the conjugations of the Basque and the Hun- garian verbs. The type of the different Indian nations is astonishingly similar to the Mongolian type. M. Ledyard, who has had the advantage of studying the American race in the countries in * Sec the Abb6 Brasscur dc Bourbourg's " Popol Vuh," p. civ. f See the notice of these nations given by Yule, " Narrative of the Mission sent to the Court of Ava in 1855." Ijii iiiii irii!! ' ' 1 ;•: ■ I ^ - i I : r i:'li: 112 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. !• >i J i a which its members live, and who has also undertaken ethno- graphic researches in Siberia, was so much struck with this truth that he wrote to Jeflferson : " I shall never be able to inform you how closely the Tartars resemble the aborigines of America, both in a general way and circumstantially." * At the south the Chiriquanos, a Peruvian tribe, present analogies not less strik- ing. *' If I should see these Indians in Europe," said M. Temple, in speaking of them, " with their coppery tint approaching sal- lowness, with their long hair brilliantly black, and with their lack of beard, I should assuredly take them for Chinese, such is the close resemblance between these nations in their traits." \ Another traveler, John Bell, said there were no other tribes in the world which had so striking a resemblance to one another as th£;t of the natives of Canada to the Tunguses.J Alex, von Hum- boldt goes much further. He mentions a monument discovered in Canada, nine hundred leagues from Montreal, upon which was found an inscription in Tartarian characters.* Similitude of customs, which may be supposed the result of chance, but which may rather be the effect of another cause, are not less striking. The form of the teo-calU, " the house of the divinity," among the Mexicans, singularly resembles that of the pagodas with steeples, of Barmany and of Siam ; and the relig- ious ceremonies which were practiced there are not less analogous to the Brahraanic ceremonies than the figure of the 3Iexican god, Quetzalcoatl, is to that of the Indian Buddha. In closing this part of my memoir, I shall be contented to remind my readers of the fact that numerous scholars have called attention to resem- blances between America and Asia, in the customs and institu- tions of the nations )f the two continents, which an intelligent critic can not mistake for those which are merely the effect of chance. Those who are interested in these questions may consult with profit the writings of Garcia, Hugo, Grotius, Fischer, Acosta, Brerewood, and Pennant, as well as many other erudite works bet- ter known, which it is therefore less necessary to mention here. * Sparks's " Life of Ledyard," p. 66. f Temple, "Travels in Peru," vol. ii, p. 184. X "Travels to Various Parts of Asia," IVSS, vol. i, p. 280. See also the " Transactions of the American Ethnological Society," vol. i, 1846, p. 175. * " Tableaux dc la Nature," vol. i. TOE ARGUMENT OF M. GODRON. 113 [ f I bo the Buddhist Mission to America in the Fifth Century of the Christian Era — by Dr. A. Godron, President of the Acad- emy of Sciences of Nancy. 1411 The Europeans were certainly not the first navigators who landed upon the American Continent after the commencement of the Christian era. Before the voyage of Columbus to the New World, before the visits of the Basques to Newfoundland, even before the times, between the ninth and fourteenth centu- ries, when the Norwegians undertook their bold excursions to America and established settlements there, the Asiatics certainly had knowledge of this immense continent. It is not my intention to discuss in this article all the proofs which might be presented in support of this statement — to these I will return hereafter ; but for the present I propose to examine only the account of a visit of Buddhist missionaries to America, which was made in the fifth century of the Christian era. [Plere follows a rksume of the statements and arguments of previous writers upon the subject. M. Godron continues :] As to the point raised by M. Klaproth, that the Chinese did rot possess means of measuring the distances of their journeys accurately and of determining their direction, it may be ob- served that we possess a document which disproves this asser- tion, and which is the more curious from the fact that it came from Klaproth himself. It proves that the Chinese, even in the times of remote antiquity, were no novices in the art of measur- ing distances and fixing their direction. Reference is made to a letter upon the invention of the compass, which he addressed to von Humboldt, and of which this celebrated traveler pub- lished extracts.* Speaking of the voyages from China to India by the way of the Bolor, which he had been discussing, Klaproth states that the accounts of these journeys are worthy of the more confidence from the fact that the compass had long been employed by the Chinese. lie adds that Sse-ma-tscian, a Chinese historian who lived at the time of the destruction of the Bactrian Empire by Mithradates, gives the following account : " The Emperor Tz^-ing-icang, 1,110 years before the Christian era, gave a pres- * Alex, von Humboldt, " Asie Centrale." Paris, 1843, in 8vo ; vol. i, Intro- duction, p. 40. 8 si iiilf ■1; '■' ,, I y\: ! hn . 1 ■■ 1 1 ■ i ;■ 1 "■ ' '■ i ',!, I f i f 11 ': J' i I' i 114 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. cnt to the embassadors of Tcng-kinf/ and Cocbin-China. Tbey feared that they would not be able to retrace the way back to their country, and the emperor therefore gave them five magnetic chariots which pointed to the south by means of the movable arm of a small figure covered with a feather-robe." Adding to these chariots an odometer, that is to say, a mechan- ism by which another small figure strikes a blow upon a drum or bell each time that the chariot has passed over the distance of a Chinese Uy we then have an indication of the direction of the road, and a means of measuring the distance passed over. " In the third century of our era," adds Klaproth, "the Chinese ships were steered upon the Indian Ocean according to the indications of a magnetic needle. In order to avoid friction, and to give a freer movement to the needle, it has been supposed that they al- lowed it to float upon water. This was the aquatic compass of the Chinese and the magnetic fish of the ancient I idian pilots." We, therefore, see that Klaproth was perfectly well informed upon the subject, and may well feel surprised at his remarks in regard to the voyages to Fu-sm If the scientific honesty of a scholar of his rank were not sheltered from all criticism, it might readily be believed that he was forced to mislead the Chinese navigators in order to prevero their arrival in America, and to compel them to land in Japan. But this consideration did not limit the criticisms v/hich the scholarly Prussian Orientalist made regarding the theories of de Guignes. He picks to pieces the description which the Bud- dhist mon\ Hoei Shin gives of the country of Fu-sang. He finds a new source of objection in the nomenclature of the animals and vegetation described as existing in this country. Accord- ing to him, cattle and horses did not exist in America until they were imported by the Spaniards. The vine and wheat were un- known before the conquest. He, therefore, arrives at the con- clusion that the description of Fu-sang is not applicable to America. These new diflUcnlties are not more serious than those which have preceded. No zoologist denies that two species of cattle were found native in North America. One of these is the musk-ox {Bos moschatos\ which goes in small herds of twenty to thirty in- dividuals in the frigid regions which border upon the Arctic oircle, between the 60th and 73d degrees of north latitude, 1 1 1 . ch the of de Bud- finds imals ccord- they tound {Jios py i"- Lrctic Itude, THE ARGUMENT OF M. GODRON. 115 and which can not be referred to here. Tue other is the bison (Bos Amerlcanus), which goes in herds that are often ex- tremely numerous, which are found in the temperate regions of North America, and which in winter migrate farther south. These cattle were certainly found in the region which the Chi- nese of the fifth century knew by the name of Fii-sang, and which must correspond to New California. They also existed in abundance in the sixteenth century in the kingdom of Cibola and the country of Quivera. The first Spanish conquerors who penetrated into this country called them vaccas, and these ani- mals were a precious and abundant resource for them. One of these " conquistadores,'" P. de CastaSeda de Nogera, de- scribed them in a manner which it is impossible to misunderstand.* According to Gomara, there existed at the same time, in the northwestern part of Mexico, a population whose principal wealth consisted in domestic bisons.f It is perfectly true that horses were imported into America from Europe. If the Buddhist monks stated that they were found in Fu-sang, it must have been because of the natural tend- ency of a man who arrives in a new country to assimilate the animals which he finds there to those which he has seen in his native land, and many examples of this tendency might easily be cited. To confine ourselves to America, it is known that the in- vaders of the New World applied the names of European animals to the animals found in America, being guided by the general resemblance, which was often very remote, in the selection of the particular name. Thus, they called the llamas " big sheep," because they were covered with wool ; the peccaries they called " hogs," remarking, it is true, that they were smaller than our hogs. Turkeys were in their eyes " hens," which were larger than those of Spain. The Buddhist missionaries might have even found sheep in the country of Fu-sang, if they had pene- trated farther into the moui ains. P. de CastaSeda de Nogera saw animals near Chichilticale, to which ho applied this name. J He referred to f species of * P. dc Castuneda de Nogora, " Relation du Voyage de Cibola entrcprea en 1540," in the collection of Teranux-Compans. Paris, in 8vo ; vol. ix (1838), p. 237. f Gomara, " Ilistoria General de las Indlas." Medina, 1558, in 8vo, chap, ccxiv. \ See his work cited above, p. 54. r^ i m ! ! \ \ Ai\\ i 1 1- I ' M ! Ili ^ I ,1! 116 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. mountain-goat, the Muaimon montanua, which is found in these regions up to the present day. But what zoological type existed upon the western coast of North America to which the Buddhist missionaries gave the name of the horse ? Was it not the same species of which the Spaniards, during their expeditions into the same country, saw such numerous individuals, which they called horse-deer ; animals remarkable for their great height, and bearing large and branch- ing antlers ? * This appears extremely probable. These Spanish adventurers were no more naturalists than the Buddhist monks of whom we have spoken. The name was undoubtedly applied to the elk, because it stands as high as a horse, and the female is without horns. Even the males shed their horns every year, and, when without these ornaments, they may easily have been mistaken at a distance for horses. Moreover, the Spaniards made a broad distinction between these " horse-deer " and the common deer which they shot in the same part of America. Several species of vines are indigenous to North America, and they grow in a wild state. The Norwegians, in the year 1000, when exploring the eastern coast of the continent near the forty-first degree, north latitude, gave the name of Vinland to the country for this reason, f But this does not suffice to prove that this plant existed also upon the western coast fifty-two de- grees of longitude farther west. But the Spaniards observed vines in IS-^.G in the country of Cibola and Quivera, notably among the Teyas and the Querechos. They found the grapes of an agreeable flavor, and ate both them and red plums. J It is therefore no occasion for astonishment to learn that the Buddhist missionaries saw vines in the country of Fu-sang. The Spanish conquerors also found a cereal abundantly culti- vated by the natives in the same part of North America, and ii; several of their accounts they give it the name of " wheat " * L. Cabiera de Cordove, " Histoirc de Phillippe II, Roi d'Espagnc," in the col- lection of Ternaux-Compnns, vol. x, p. 444. f C. Cln-ist. Rafn, " Memoire sur la Decouverte de l'Am6rique au x* SiScle." Copenhagea, 1845, in 4to, p. 13. X P. do Castaneda de Nogera, in the work cited, vol. is, pp. 125 and 278. Juan Jarancllo, " Relation du Voyage fait d la Nouvelle Torre par Vasquez de Coronado," in the collection of Ternaux-Compans, vol. ix, p. 378. Iff saw ,t the culti- id ii; leat " 278. iiez de THE ARGUMENT OF M. GODRON. 117 (triffo), and in otliers it is dosignated by the name of maize, which has been preserved for it. Need we wonder that the Bud- dhist monks should have availed themselves of the name appli- cable to wheat to designate this precious cereal ? Do not the French peasants even now call it Turkish wheat, or Roman wheat?* But what is that tree which is covered with red, pear-shaped fruit, and which furnishes the natives with the raw material from which their cloth is made ? Some authors have thought this to be the Hibiscus rosa Sinensis ; others, the Broussonetia pa2yyrifera. We can not admit either of these views to be correct. The Hi- biscm rosa Sinensis is, as its name indicates, a native of China. The Broussonetia grows in China and Japan and in the islands of Polynesia, but not in Americ "VVe do not know to what botanical species the tree men- tioned by the Chinese historian should be referred ; but the failure to decide this question does not furnish the least ob- jection in regard to the geographical position of the country of Fu-sang. Iron was unknown in this last country, and in fact the natives of North America were ignorant of the existence of this valuable metal. It was certainly used in Japan before the fifth century ; and this fact alone is sufficient to show that the country of I\c-sang can not, as Klaproth wishes, be identified with the great island of Japan. The Americans, on the contrary, were ac- quainted with the use of copper, and made tools from it before the arrival of the Europeans. Native copper exists in several countries of the New World, and it is found in great abundance near Lake Superior, where it is still mined. Along the southern shore of this lake, Mr. Knapp, Superintendent of the Minnesota Mining Company, discovered in 1840 a great number of galleries often from seven to nine meters in depth, and of an extent equal to about the same number of kilometers. These excavations were the work of the early indigenes, the proof of this assertion having been found by clearing out the trenches. Very many stone mallets and hammers were found, and also wooden shov- els and a great quantity of pottery made without the aid of * The account of Fu-sang says nothing about wheat. It seems probable that Dr. Godron had in mind the wheat mentioned by the Northmen as found in Vin- land, and that, writing from memory, he confused the two accounts. — E. P. V. II I t I I m n I ' 1 . , ■' ' i ■1 ii'-^ ■ \ 1 ■'■ ,!■,.: i ' i j ■ i : i ; 'Hiilil m 118 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. the potter's wheel.* It may also be added that many very old pines have grown upon the rubbish thrown out of these ancient excavations. Mr. Foster counted three hundred and ninety-five concentric rings upon the trunk of one of them which was cut down. Moreover, the pines now living are surrounded by de- cayed trunks, the debris of preceding generations.! We therefore see that all the difficulties raised by Klaproth fall one after the other, and leave the views of the scholarly French Sinologue, de Guignes, without serious objection. The country which the Chinese of the fifth century designated by the name of Mi-sanr/ can therefore have been nothing else than the American Continent, thus discovered by the Asiatics ten centuries before Christopher Columbus. * Lubbock, " North American Archaeology," French translation given in the Revue Archt'ologique of 1806, p. 182. f Lubbock, "Prehistoric Man," French translation. Paris, 1867, 8vo, p. 206. ■; ^'1 II; *■ 1.4 ' CHAPTER VIII. D'eICIITIIAL's " STUDY." iilfi! The Buddhistic origin of American civilization — Tlie Rcographical rclationB between Northeastern Asia and Northwestern America — The memoirs of do Guignea and Klaproth — If Fu-mng was in Japan, there is no room for the " Coun- try of Women " — The Japanese denj that Fu-mng was in their country — Do Guigncs'H map'^The ease of a voj'age from Asia to America — The warm current of the Pacific Ocean — The Aleutian Islands — Voyages of the natives — The civilization of New Mexico— A white population — Cophiine — Bud- dhism — How it is modified and propagated — Its absorption of the doctrines of other religions — Its proselytism — Its religious communities — The route from CophiSne to Fusang — A Buddhist sanctuary at Palenque — Description of Stephens — An Imago of Buddha — The lion-headed couch — The winged globe — The aureola about the figure — Decadence in art — The altars upon which, flowers and fruits are oflfered — Reply to observations of M. Vivien de Saint Martin — The two routes to Tb-Aan— That country located near the mouth of the Amoor River — Traces of Buddhism in that neighbourhood — Ease of voyage to the Aleutian islands — Klaproth's theory untenable — No other hy- pothesis remaining than that Fiisanff must be sought in America. Study concerning the JBuddhistic Origin of American Civili- zation — by M. Gicstave (V EichthaV*^'' CONDENSED TRANSLATION. Article I. — The Geographical Relations between Northeast- ern Asia and Northwestern America. (From the " Revue Arch6- ologique," of September 1, 1864.) The memoir of de Guignes, " Upon the Voyages of the Chi- nese to the Coast of America and as tc some Tribes situated at the Eastern Extremity of Asia," does not in its title fully ex- press the thought which he entertained. The true problem which he intended to examine was that of the existence of a connection between the civilization of America and that of East- em Asia ; and some, at least, of the most important elements for its solution were in his hands. Upon the one side, the discover- ; (;: its . Ill \ i,i I if H 120 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMIJUS. ios of Bt'hrinpf in 175iH and 1741 had conlirnu'il tlie old Japanese docunicnts, and made known, at least in a j^eiier^l manner, the geographical relations between the norther. i portions of Asia and America ; upon the other side, the Htudiea of de Guignes for hiu history of the Mongols had made him accjuainted with the an- cient Chinese histories, and in one of them he found the accoun* upon which all his work is based. Klaproth, in an equally celebrated memoir, has, as is well known, sought to overthrow do Guignes's conclusion, and has endeavoured to substitute another hypothesis. The publication of this last memoir has had a deplorable result. By the weight attached to his name the author has shaken, in the minds of others, the solution indicated by de Guignes, and has turned them aside from the truth; yet, nevertheless, viewed as an attempted refutation, Klaproth's memoir may be said to bo a valueless work, and we shall presently show the incredible weakness of the arguments which he opposes to those of his predecessor. He produces no new documents, and does no more than to re- peat those already quoted by de Guignes, and in fact the only merit that can be recognized in his work is that he often trans- lates them more accurately, and with the superiority given him by the general progress in his times in the science of geography and in acquaintance with the Chinese. Klaproth, in the most arbitrary manner, places himself in op- position to the letter of his text by assuming that the statement that Fu-sang is situated to the east of la-han is erroneous, and placing it to the south instead ; but this is not the only objec- tion to his argument, for no one in Japan has ever been heard to speak of it as Fa-sang; the details which are given by the Chinese narrator regarding this country do not agree with Japan in any respect, and among other circumstances there is one that is mentioned which is quite decisive. The narrator not only places Fu-sang twenty thousand li to the east of Ta-han, but he speaks of a country, " the Kingdom of Women," which is found one thousand li to the east of Fi-sang. Now, one thousand li to the east of Japan there is nothing but the sea. It should also be remembered that the Chinese, living so near to Japan, and having communications with that country from the most ancient times, have never dreamed of placing the coun- try of Fu-sang there. To them Fi-sang has become merely a D'EICIITIIAL'rt •' STUDY." 121 llaces 3ak3 one the lear rom l)un- ly a legendary country, of which fahU>s arc told that would never bo believed as to a neit^hbouriiig land, for the j)restijifo of distance and of novel circumstances is necessary to give rise to tales of sucli a nature. History is no more favourable than fable to Klaproth's opin- ion, for, as he himself admits, Huddhism was introduced into the country of Fu-mug in the year 4.18 a. d., and was not introduced into Japan, officially at least, until S.'ii, about a century later. How, then, can it bo admitted that Fu-aang can be Japan, or oven any part of Japan ? . . . With a species of divinatory instinct, or rather with extreme good sense, do Guignes traced upon the map drawn by him the probable route to America followed by those whom he calls Cliinese navigators ; the details are undoubtedly very imperfect ; only one of the Aleutian Islands, the first Hehring's Island, is shown, and upon the other hand the peninsula of Alaska is im- moderately extended both in length and breadth ; there is also a complete absence of exact determination of latitudes and longi- tudes ; nevertheless, the general iitline of the coasts of Asia and America is perfectly correct. ^Vll the discoveries and observa- tions since made have only served to confirm it. We have three very important documents before us, i. e. : " Statistischo und ethnographische Nachrichten (Iber die Russi- schen Besitzungon an dcr Nordwest-Kiiste von America," by Rear-Admiral von Wrangell, St. Petersburg, 1839 ; an analysis by F. Loewe, of the work of P6ro Wenjarainow, upon *' The (Aleutian) Islands of the District of Unalaska," extracted from the eighth number for 1842 of the periodical, entitled " Archiv fUr die wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland"; and, finally, the analysis in the "Revue des Deux Mondes," for April 1, 1858, of the memoir of Maury regarding the case of the passage between the northeastern shores of Asia and the northwestern coast of America. All these documents agree in demonstrating the ease of this communication, and of establishing a settlement upon the northwestern coast of America. The climate of all this region, even in the highest latitudes, and up to the sixtieth degree, is relatively very mild. The chain composed of the Aleutian Islands and the peninsula of Alaska forms, as it were, a barrier to arrest the polar influences. Moreover, the great warm current of the Pacific Ocean, observed by modern navigators, raises the !lll m ' y 'I ^ ;l: ' 122 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. temperature there very notably. From observations carefully collected, it has been proved that the mean temperature of Sitka is about 45° Fahrenheit, with, it is true, but very slight differ- ence between the summer and the winter ; even in winter the sea is never solidly frozen, and, in a word, according to the unanimous testimony of navigators, there is no other place in the world where so great a; 1 sudden a change of climate is found as is met in passing from Behring's Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The Aleutian Islands, before their conquest by the Russians (1760-1790), were inhabited by a numerous and prosperous pop- ulation. Amphibious and fur-bearing animals existed there in immense numbers. The inhabitants had a tradition that they were of Asiatic origin, and they transported themselves easily from one island to another in their leather canoes, or baidares. " The farther one |\oes north," says Maury, " the easier the passage becomes, and the greater attraction the natives seem to find in it. A po^o serves them as a rudder ; a branch of a tree provided with i^'i limbs and f(>liage is set up in the air to serve as a sail. The crew, which is usually composed of a man with his wife and children, take the opportunity when the wind blows gently toward the point which they wish to reach, and they may be seen feai'lessly sailing before the wind in the open sea at a speed of four or fivt miles r^n hour." Langsdorff, in his " Voy- age arotmd the World i«. the Yei,rs 1803-1807," speaks of canoes made by the natives, vhich would hold as many as a dozen per- sons, and mentions the fact that the; sailed in them from the Island of Kodiak to Sitka. All this, it is true, is proof only of navigation by the indi- genes either between Asia and America, or from one point to another of the northwestern coast of America. We see nothing of any question of navigation in these regions by the Chinese, or even of a direct navigation by the Japanese between the two Continents ; and although there are numerous instances, some of them quite recent, in which Japanese junks have been driven by tempests, or the ocean ciirrents, upon the American coast, the return is much more difiicult, and there does not exist any trace of a regular navigation between China or Japan and America in ancient times. In this respect the title given by de Guignes to his memoir, " Upon the Voyages of the Chinese to the Coast of America," shows that the author wished to give a prudent vague- D'EICHTHAL'S » STUDY." 123 ness to the title, but said perhaps too much. All the facts go to show that the relations with America, of which de Guignes caught a glimpse, can and must have existed ; but in the present state of our knowledge * we must hold that they took place by means of more modest navigators, who still had sufficient skill for so easy a passage. . . . The brief and judicious observations made by de Guignes, regarding the s^ate of civilization attained by the natives of the region now known as New Mexico, have been fully confirmed by the more perfect knowledge derived from old and new docu- ments regarding the region, and we now have imquestionable proof of its high state of civilization, and, in some respects, of its connection with the Chinese civilization before the conquest. All historical documents, moreover, authorize us to place in this country the point at which originated the civilization of the American tribes found farther south. . . . What is said regarding the existence of a white population is confirmed by the observations of modern exi)lorers,f and finally what is said regarding the existence of two prisons in the country may find its explanation in the belief as to future punishments held by some Indian tribes, especially by the Man- dans. J . . . When de Guignes translated from the Chinese records the statement that the religion of JFh was formerly unknown in the land of Fii-sangy but that under the Simg dynasty five bonzes from Samarcand carried their doctrine into this country and changed the manners of the inhabitants, neither he nor any man of that day suspected, either that the religion of Fo was any- thing more than the national religion of China, or that it was identical with Buddhism, and the question does not seem to have occurred to de Guignes as to how these so-called Chinese priests can have come from Samarcand. The country of Ki-pin, the ancient Cophftne, corresponded very closely Avith the country now called Bokhara, the land of Samarcand. Samarcand, in fact, at the time spoken of, was one * The species of suzerainty exercised by China over Kamtcliatka Is the only proof given by de Guignes of tlic action of Cliina in its neiglibourliood. t " Report on the Indian Tribes," by Lieutenant Whipple, p. 31 ; Catlin, "Letters and Notes," etc., vol. i, p. 93. X Catlin, "Letters and Notes," etc., vol. i, p. 157. i t I ..J i: I I }» MNiii"' I i m III I i i; ; -■* , - ^ rifi 1 ' I ft ^ i j 1 1 N i ' I ; 1 ' ( [ ,' ill::! » ! ^f ft j j ijLji jilijj ! f! M ■l 124 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. of the great foci of Buddhism. Moreover, it is in the center of Asia, in contact with Persia upon one side and Turkestan upon the other, at the outlet of all the routes which lead from this central region to the northern frontier of China, and to all the northwestern part of Asia as far as to the coast of the Pacific Ocean. . . . At the time of Klaproth, the history of Buddhism, although something was known of it, was far from complete. The great works of Hodgson, of Tumour, and of Burnouf had not then appeared. That of which de Guignes could not even have thought, and which Klaproth himself could have accomplished but very imperfectly, it is now possible to attempt with a hope of success. By recapitulating all that we know now regard- ing the internal development and the distant propagation of Buddhism, it will be easy to understand what may have been the results of its propagatioa in America, and from this point of view to judge the institutions and the monuments of American civilization. Article II. — Buddhism : How it is Modified and Propagated. (November 1, 1864.) This article shows that the spirit of good-will and charity which animated the doctrines of the Buddhist religion dis- posed it to conciliation toward the foreign religions that sur- rounded it, when carried from India, the land of its birth, into other countries, even when these other religions had but slight affinity with it. It never placed itself in open hostility to the world by which it was surrounded, and in India respected the pantheon of the gods that were worshiped there. Hostile as the spirit which dictated the distinction of castes in India is to the ardent charity which animated Buddhism, it accepted the distinction of castes as an accomplished fact. The fusion of Buddhism with the national religion, even with that of the sects of India the most opposed to its nature, is a fact established by the most authentic documents and by unquestion- able proofs. In principles, nothing can be more opposite to Buddhism than the worship of Siva ; yet, notwithstanding this, at the end of a few centuries we see an intimate union estab- lished between the two religions. In Java, Buddhism is found mixed with Brahmanism, or with D'EICHTHAL'S "STUDY." 125 m the worship of Siva, and the union of Buddhism with Brahman- iam is also found in Ceylon ; and the Buddhistic religion of Ja- pan shows a large mixture of other elements. This series of facts shows what transformations Buddhism underwent, even in very early times, by contact Avith the other religions which it encountered. It also shows us the expansive force by which it was animated, and which served to transport it to a great distance from the place at which it originated. Proselytism is an essential feature of Buddhism ; it is the con- sequence of the sentiments of good-will and universal charity which it professed, and at the same time of the profound faith which the word of the master inspired in his disciples. " If the great saint Buddha formerly descended upon the earth," says Jliuen-tsang, " it was that he might himself spread abroad the blessed influences of his law — Buddha established his doctrine in order that it might be spread abroad into all places. "What man is there who would wish to be the only one to drink of it ? I can not forget the words of the sacred book, * Whosoever has hidden the law from men f hall be struck with blindness in all his transmigrations.' " " The man who believes in the mission of Sakya-muni," says M. Neumann, " is obliged to consider every man as an equal and a brother, and must even strive to have the blessed news of re- demption carried to all the nations of the earth, and for this purpose he should, following the example of the divine-man, submit himself to all trials and all sufl'erings. This is why we see a multitude of Buddhist monks and missionaries going from Central Asia, China, Japan, and Corea, and traveling into all parts of the world, known and unknown. It is to preach to un- believers the doctrine of the three jewels (i. e., Buddha, the Law, and the Assembly), or to gather news of their co-religionists." Buddhism rejected the mystery in which Brahmanism was en- veloped, and, proclaiming the superiority of moral works above mere ritualistic practices,* its preachings opened its doctrines to the acceptance of all mankind. Its disciples, both men and women, after having in the earliest days shared a nomadic life, were united in religious communities and convents, which were governed by the eldest or the most honoured. f It recommended * Burnouf s " Introduction (1 1'lliatoirc du Buddhisme," pp. 335 and 337. f Buraouf, p. 211. : il''' liir M Si' i fi !1 '. \\\} ■ Mi ■ I i ■1'" m v ^ I; ;ij ! J. ii i'i i m 126 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. penance as the means of progressive improvement ; it instituted the confession ; * it prohibited bloody sacrifices. f We can now understand both the truth and importance of the statements made in the Chinese account : that five monks went to Fu-sang, and there spread abroad the law of Buddha ; that they carried with them their books, their saci'cd images, and their ritual, and instituted monastic customs, and so changed the manners of the inhabitants. A Buddhist mission could not be better characterized. It should be remembered, however, that the books and images carried by these missionaries of t ^ fifth century would undoubtedly contain quite as strong an iniusion of the elements of Brahmanism (and of the worship of Siva in particular) as of the elements of Buddhism properly so called. China and Japan seem also to have furnished their contingent, and we in fact know that if this doctrine was first established in Fu-sang by monks from Samarcand, the account which has been transmitted to us is the work of a Chinese monk who had so- journed there himself. As to the indication of Samarcand, as the country from which ihe mission departed, there is nothing that should not seem to us to be perfectly authentic. Since the pub- lication of the journey of Iliuen-tsang, we know that the Buddh- ist propagandist, setting forth from the north of India, passed Samarcand in order to reach, by way of Turkestan and the des- ert of Gobi, the northern frontiers of China. Starting from this point, the Buddhist missionaries would have nothing further to do than to turn toward the north, in order to follow the route indicated by de Guignes, which, by way of the Lake of Baikal and the Amoor River, would lead them to the country of Ta-lian. The remarkable Buddhist monuments recently discovered near the mouth of the Amoor River, although their date can not be precisely determined, prove in any case that at a very ancient epoch this country was frequented by the Buddhists.J From Ta-han, as stated in the Chinese account, these mis- sionaries reached Fii-sang. Article III, — Consideration of the Observations of Hum- boldt upon the Relations between the Civilization of Asia and America (January 1, 18G5), and * Burnouf, p. 300. f Burnouf, p. 339. X Sec C. dc Sabin, " Le Fleuve Amolir," Paris, 1861. ii D'EIOniHAL'S *' STUDY." 127 Article IV. — Upon the Presence of Buddhism among the Red-skins (April 1, 1865), it seems unnecessary to translate ; as Humboldt's arguments ara fully given elsewhere, and as Article IV relates mostly to the religious belief and practices of the Mandan Indians. Article V. — A Buddhist Sanctuary at Palenque (June 1, 1865). John Stephens, in his book, entitled "Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan," new edition, London, 1844, vol. ii, p. 318, makes the following statement : " Within the walls of the palace of Pr^^-nque, at the east of the interior tower, is another building with two corridors, one richly decorated with pictures in stucco, and having in the center an elliptical tablet. It is four feet long and three wide, of hard stone, set in the wall. Around it are the remains of a rich stucco border. The principal figure sits cross-legged on a couch orna- mented with two leopards' heads ; the attitude is easy, the physiognomy the same as that of the other personages, and the expression calm and benevolent. The figure wears around its neck a necklace of pearls, to which is suspended a small medal- lion containing a face ; perhaps intended as an image of the sun. Like every other subject of sculpture we had seen in the coun- try, the personage has ear-rings, bracelets on the wrists, and a girdle round the loins. The Lead-aress differs from most of the others at Palenque in that it wants the plume of feathers." Stephens abstains from noting any analogy between thi(5 image and any other known type ; but M. Lenoir, who, in his "Parallel of the Ancient Mexican Monuments with those of the Old World," referred to this figure, made the remark that its graceful attitude is analogous with the pose which the East Indians give to their god Buddha.* We shall be bolder than M. Lenoir, and where he only suspected an analogy we shall not fear to recognize a true identity. In fact, the scene which we find under our eyes is frequently found in the monuments of Buddhist worship. It may be ob- served, for instance, three times repeated, in the bas-reliefs of the temple of Boro-Boudor in Java, which Crawf urd lias inserted in his woi'k upon the Indian Archipelago. Tliese picture one or more worship "s presenting to Buddha, in accordance with the * "Antiquit^s Mexicainjs," vol. ii, p, Y7. Im 1' { in nm i'ii!-'; Mi ! ' 1 1 i' iitiiM' ° ! |Hf 128 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. precepts of his religion, oflferings of flowers and of fruits. One of these images in par- ticular, that repro- duced in Crawfurd's plate xxii,* and copied in the accompanying cut. Fig. 1, offers a striking resemblance to our image of Pa- lenque, which is copied in Fig. 2. In each we see a worshiper offering to the divin- ity, before whom he is kneeling, a flower, which, in the case of the Buddhist, is in- contestably a lotus- flower, and, in the case of the American wor- shiper, either the same flower or some other of similar appearance — possibly, as has been suggested by M. the Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg, a cacao- tree flower. Here, however, the flower is not found, as in the bas - relief of Boro- Boudor, in the hand of the worshiper, but it rests iipon a sort of support which the * Crawfurd's " History of the Indian Archipelago," 8 vols, in 12mo. Edinburgh, 1820; vol. ii, plates xix, xxii, and xxiii. Fio. 1. -Worshiper offorinir n flower to the imago of Buddha. Fio. 2.— Bas-relief found at Palenquo. WIf f : i'ii D'EIOniHAL'S " STUDY." 129 worshiper presents to the divinity ; but this same disposition, or one that is analogous, may be seen in Crawfurd'a plate xix. Moreover, this same flower is twice found upon the head of our divinity, and is also frequently found associated with the figures of the gods of Palenque. (See, among the rest, Stephens's " Cen- tral America," vol. ii, p. 31G, plate No. 2.) The two lions, or leopards, facing in opposite directions, upon which our divinity is seated, recall the lions which, in the paintings of India, some- times support the seat of Buddha (and even sometimes of other divinities), and of which an example is given in the image of Buddha reproduced in Fig. 1. But they also recall the figures of animals in pairs, facing in opposite directions, which are found so often in the sculptures and paintings of Asia. Such are notably the celebrated capi- tals of the columns of Persepolis, and of the temple of D61os, formed of two horses ; and the group of the lion and the bull placed back to back, attributed to Ardahnari; finally, they agree in every particular with the group of two crouching lions — which, although brought from the island of Cyprus, are of Assyrian type — which may be seen in the Museum of Napoleon III, and of which an engraving is here given (Fig. 3). Nevertheless, the resemblance of this last group with that which serves as a seat for our Buddha is much less than that which it presents to two other groups of lions or leopards, placed back to back, one found at the base of a niche of the edifice called the " House of the Nuns," at Uxraa- j* the other discovered, or more properly disinterred, by Stephens in the same city. A Fio. 3.— Sculpture from the island of Cyprus. Fio. 4.— Sculpture found at Uxmal, Yu- catan. * Cathcrwood, " Views of Ancient Monuments of Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan," plate iv. 9 i" I) ;' " I ■ 1 ■ Jii 1 . 1 j > . i t ■ j j j ■ \^ ill ii ! iii i! nil f fi' 130 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. picture of the latter is given in the "Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," vol. i, p. 183, and we reproduce it in Fig. 4, p. 129, in order that the reader may be able to appreciate its resemblance to the Cyprian group. Upon the plinth of the Cyprian group there is seen the image of the winged glohe^ so frequently represented upon the pedi- ments and friezes of the temples of Egypt, Assyria, and Persia. This emblem does not occur in the last-mentioned American group, but an ornament, either identical or at least very similar, may be seen above a door opening into the interior of a sanct- uary at Ocosingo, a city not very far distant from Palenque. • " In the back wall of the central chamber of this temple," says Stephens,* " was a doorway of the same size with that in front, which led to an apartment without any partitions, but in the center was an oblong in- closure, eighteen feet by eleven, which was mani- festly intended as the most important part of the edifice. The door was choked up with ruins to within a few feet of the top, but over it, and extending along the whole front of the structure, was a large stucco ornament, which at first impressed us most forcibly by its striking resemblance to the winged globe over the doors of Egyptian temples. Part of this ornament had fallen down, and, striking the heap of rubbish underneath, had rolled beyond the door of entrance. We endeavoured to roll it back and restore it to its place, but it proved too heavy for the strength of four men and a boy. The part which remains is represented in the engraving, and differs in details from the winged globe. The wings are reversed ; there is a fragment of a circular ornament, which may have been intended for a globe, but there are no remains of serpents entwining it." Even at Palenque, above the door and upon the frieze of the sanctuary of the edifice described by Stephens under the name of " Casa No. 3," we see the two extremities of a similar orna- ment, the central part having been destroyed. Stephens has re- * Stephens's " Central America," vol. ii, p. 259. Fio. 5. — Oranmcnt above a door of a ruin at Ocosingo. D'EIOIITHAL'S " STUDY." 131 produced this ornament, or at least the two extremities which still remain of it, without making it the object of any observa- tion in his text.* At our first step into the study of the antiquities of Central America, we, therefore, find again the same singularity which struck us in the traditions relative to the Deluge. We see our- selves carried in one direction to Western Asia and the banks of the Mediterranean, and in the other to India and Eastern Asia. Between the two lies the land of Chaldea, and it is from this intermediate point that traditions and rites, as well as civiliza- tion, have radiated. " It is in Chaldea," says M. Alfred Maury,f " that civilization arose for the first time upon our globe, or at least this country was one of the first centers from which it was spread abroad into neighbouring lands. It is therefore easy to conceive that a legend existing in Chaldea may have been carried among the nations who from all quarters resorted to this country." Bearing in mind, again, that we have every reason to believe Samarcand to have been the point of departure of the Buddhism propagated in America, this circumstance makes it more easy to conceive of the presence in the New Woi*ld of Asiatic elements borrowed even by Western Asia. But the course of our work has brought us again into the presence of very serious and diflScult questions. We shall there- fore content ourselves with the presentation of the facts which we have given, and conclude this article with a return to the examination of the figure of Buddha at Palenque. The oval in which the figure is inscribed, although it is true it is a little larger, recalls that which envelopes the bust of our Boro-Boudor (see Fig. 1, upon page 128), an oval which in itself is nothing more than the aureola which at first sur- rounded only the head of Buddha, but which was gradually enlarged. But there is another point of resemblance which, although it relates to a simple detail only, is still more striking and decisive. Stephens relates, as we have remarked, that the oval was origi- nally surrounded by a border in stucco, of which he saw only the remains, and which he did not indicate in his design ; but * Stephens's " Central America," vol. ii, p. 354. f " Encyclopedic Moderne," t. xii, p. 11. i:H ' Uf> f i M I'l: I I ; W. ^ I ;! ( . !• r ! ■ 1 I |!i' ii:::it 'Ir '-H i I i mm 'm'> ''■ i\ 132 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. in the dosign of Castafioda * this border is clearly shown, although even then very dilapidated. It is after this model that, in our copy of the design of Stephens, we have attempted to restore the border in question, in part at least, and at the same time we have restored a series of small ornaments, also given by Cas- tafieda, of which the form is somewhat crescent-shaped. These ornaments have given rise to the most singular interpretations ; but tlie same ornaments, similarly disposed, are found about the aureola of the figure of an East Indi divinity which Raffles has given in his "History of Java" (vol. ii), and which is re- produced below. Moreover, if the origin and signification of this ornament is Bought, it will be found, from a study of the other figures given by Raffles, that it grew from successive transformations of the flames originally drawn about the aureola of the divinities, and of which an example is found in our figure itself. Such analogies as these, we believe, can not be the effect of chance. In order to explain them, it must bo admitted that the Buddhist artists who came to America brought with them the same collection of plans and designs, the same albums, if I may use the word, which were found in the hands of the Buddhist missionaries in the south of India and in t\ e Indian Archipelago. It is a supposition which is confirmed by all the analogies that we know to exist between American and Asiatic art, and more- over it is a very natural supposition, fully justified by the his- tory of Buddhist propagandism, and without which the existence of so marked a connection between American and Asiatic art appears an insoluble problem. It should, however, be borne in mind that, between the primi- tive types imported by the Buddhists and the different monuments which we are examining, we should expect to find all the differences produced by an inevitable decadence in art, as well as by the influ- ence of local causes and the aspect of novel natural surroundings. * " AntiquitSs Mexicaincs," vol. ii, plate xxvi ; and Kingsborough's "Antiqui« ties of llexico," vol. iv, part third, plate xx. Fio. 6. — Aureola about the head of an East Indian idol. D'EICIlTnAL'5 "STUDY." 133 Below and in front of our bas-relief there was also found a species of table, or bracket-shelf, which Castaueda gives in his design, but of which Stephens saw no more than the mark upon the wall of the place where it had stood, which he reproduces with dotted lines " after the model of similar tables existing in other places." * " Del Rio," says Mr. Squier, in his " Researches regarding the Serpent Symbol in America," " describes this table as a large flag-stone, six feet in length,f three feet four inches wide, and seven inches thick, placed upon four legs like a table. These legs were ornamented by figures in bas-relief. Along the tab- let against the wall there reached a sort of border similarly sculptured. Now, this is precisely the character of the Balwig-ko of the Hindoos, or the Then-halang of the Siamese — stones or altars of M I mm .^^ ; JS^ ® II ///// Fio. 7.— Table or altar found at Palenquo. , I" i'l'l I > ) \\ ill m Buddha, upon which fruits and flowers were offered instead of bloody sacrifices. These are found in the Siamese and Japanese temples, as well as in all Buddhist temples generally. J * "Central America," vol. ii, p. 318. " Antiquitda Moxicaines," vol. ii, plate xxvi, Fig. 33. t This length is in fact that which is indicated in the report of Del Rio (see ''Memoires de la Societ6 G6ographique de Paris," vol. ii, p. 170) and in the Ger. man translation given by Minutoli, " Beschreibung einer alten Stadt," etc., Berlin, 1832. Nevertheless, this measure does not agree with that given by Stephens, and bv Del Rio himself, in the place cited for the length of the bas-relief — a measure which, according to the engraving, should be equal to that of the tablet. X Squier, " The Serpent Symbol and the Worship of the Reciprocal Principles of Nature in America," New York, 1851, p. 89. Squier himself refers to an arti- cle by Captain James Low, "On Buddha and the Phrabat — Explanation of the i ■'' J! J If \ n 134 AN INCiLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Quito ropontly ftti Euijlish jotirnal, tlio ** London Til iistrato*! News" (February l^ifi, 1805, p. UK'l), has given, with an image of Hudilha, a specimen of a Buddhist altar, perfectly conformable to the Mexican altar, of which an illustration is given in Fig. 7. The presence of this altar, added to all the resemblances of detail which we have pointed out in the bas-relief, seems to us to clear- ly prove the JJuddhistic character of the Sanctuary of I'alenque. The figure which we have described is, to our knowledge, the only one of the kind which exists at Palenfjue. Outside of this city, and in all the other ruins of Central America, wo do not know of any other figure at all similar, unless it is a figure which INI. Waldeck has given in his " Voyage to Yucatan," and which he says he saw repeated four times in that number of niches of the southern fajjado of the " House of the Nuns " at Uxmal. It is noticeable that this artist, who thought that ho found the imprint of Buddhism at Uxmal in a number of details, perhaps indifferent, seems not to have remarked tho resem- blance of this figure drawn by him to tho reformer of India. He contents himself with the statement that " upon the sill of the niche which surmounts each door there is placed a small seated ^fif/ure." On this occasion at least M. Waldeck can not therefore bo accused of taking sides. Moreover, the southern fajade of the " Hou ^e of the Nuns," of which he speaks, has been drawn again by Stephens in a general view of the site, and has since been drawn by Catherwood.* The niches indicated above each Symbols on a Prapatha or Impression of the Divine Foot," in the " Transac- tions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland," vol. iii, p. 77. I have verified tho citation, and it is entirely correct. I fear, however, that there may have been an error in the transcription of the Indian name given as Balang- ko or Then-halang. The word is unknown to all the Indian scholars whom I have been able to consult. May there not have been a confusion with the stone Bin- tang of the worshipers of Siva ? (Sec Coleman's " Mythology of the Hindus,"' p. 176.) I have not succeeded, however, in discovering the true name of these altars. The authors who describe them merely mention them without stating the name by which they arc called. * Stephens, " Yucatan," vol. i, p. 306. Catherwood, " Views of Ancient Monu. Fio. 8.— Seated figure found in niches of a buildin[r nt Uxmal. "m D'EICIITIIAL'S "STUDY." 186 tlio door arc perfectly tlistinguiahable, altliougli, by reason of tho distance from which the view is supposed to bo taken, it is im- possible to distinguish whether any object is or is not contained in them.* Admitting as authentic, therefore, the image given by M. Waldeck (and there is every reason for so doing), it is impossible to fail to bo struck by tho analogy which it presents with the representations of Buddha in general, but particularly with the figure of Buddha sitting cross-legged, which is found placed and repeated in an entirely similar manner in tho four hundred niches of tho temple of Boro-Boudor at Java.f Tho characteristic posi- tion of tho right arm is tho same in both cases. The head-dress is different, but wo find an almost exactly similar head-dress upon other figures of Buddha, or upon the heads of other divinities. It is a sort of fan which adorns tho head of the divine person- age, and which is formed by a ser- pent with several heads. J It is an ordinary attribute of Vishnu.^ It is also found upon the head of Ilanouman, || upon that of Gane- sa, ^ of Vira-Badhra, ^ etc., and finally upon that of Buddha him- self. J A Buddha with this head- dress somewhat modified is sculpt- ured upon tho wall of the temple of Indra-Saba at EUora ; it has Fio. 9.— Fi(?uro of Buddha— from a tcmplo at KUora. ii ■ •■■1 1, 1 1 i . Moau- ments in Central America," plate viil. It is true that there are not merely four of these niches visible upon tho southern fa9ade, as stated in the account, but eight. At the same time, however, it is also true that the fa9adc is divided into two compartments, each containing four niches, and this fact may possibly explain Waldcck's error. * The part of this fa9ade photographed by M. de Chamcy contains only two of the eight niches, and, even with the magnifying-glass, it is impossible to distin- guish any appearance of a statue in either of them. But the form of the niche is exactly as given by Waldeck, and it is possible that the statues have been de- stroyed since the visit of that traveler. t Crawfurd's " History of the Indian Archipelago," vol. ii, plate xxix. X Moor's " Hindu Pantheon," plate xxiv. • Ibid., plate viii. J Ibid., plate xcii. ^ Ibid., Frontispiece. ^^'^^-t plate xxvi. J Ibid., plate Ixxv. :;■•! f . ^11 ill I I 136 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. been reproduced by Daniel,* and we give it in our Fig. 9 (page 135), that it may be compared with the figure at Uxmal.f The existence of these niches, with their uniform statues, often found in /ery great numbers in the walls of the terraces which support the temples, is one of the common traits of the religious architecture of the Indian Archipelago and of Central America. "We content ourselves here with merely pointing out this analogy. "We shall return to the subject again when, after our review of American history, we return to the examination of the antiquities of Palenque.J GUSTAVE d'EiCHTHAL. i Supplement to the First Article. Reply to some Observations of M. Vivien de Saint-Martin upon cle Guigneis Memoir. The first question which presents itself to us, in connection with this work, is that of the geographical connections and the ancient communications between Asia and America, which could have permi; tf'd the passage of Buddhist missionaries to the New World. We .^ave said that it seems to us to be possible to reduce this questicii to the analysis ond development of de Guignes's memoir upon the subject. In our first article we therefore took up the examination of this memoir, and concluded by adopting * " Oriental Scenery." Description of Ellora. f Even the modification which is presented by the head-dress of the Ptatue at Uxmal seems to be an indication of its authenticity. \ Before terminating this article, we think it necessary to rgain call the atten- tion of our readers to another bas-relief which decorates the house designated by Stephens as Caxa No. ^. It is an unknown divinity, but one which has complete- ly the appearance and attitude of an East Indian divinity. M. Lenoir, in his " Parallel of the Ancient Mexican Monuments with those of the Old World," was the first to make the remark. " This bas-relief," says he, " represents a divinity who offers, especially in his attitude, a great resemblance to the divinities of India or Japan" ("Antiquitcs Mexicaines," vol. ii, p. YS); the figure itself is found In the same volume, plate xxxiii, and also in the " Antiquities of Mexico " of Lord Kingsborough, vol. iv, third part ; ali=o in the " Mcmoircs de la Socidtd do Geographic," vol. ii, plate xvi. Unfortunately this bas-relief was, by 1840, almost destroyed. Stephens saw only a fragment (" Central America," vol. ii, p. 355). Compare this bas-relief wiia the figure of Parvati, given by Moor, "Hindu Pantheon," plate v, figure B ; and with a statuette of Lakchmr which is to be seen in the Imperial Library. A bas-relief discovered by Stephens at Chichen-Itza, in Yucatan, is the only one among the American figures with which we are acquainted that shows a similar attitude. (" Incidents of Travel in Yucatan," vol. ii, p. 292.) east. ndu con in ntcd 192.) D'EICHTHAL'S " STUDY." 137 the opinion expressed by de Guignes, that tlie Fti-sang of the Chinese tradition can be nothing else than a portion of America. An eminent geographer, M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, has com- bated this conclusion in a chapter of his " Annee Geographiqiie " (1865), entitled " Une Vieille Ilistoire remise h Flot " (i. e., An Old Story Set Afloat). There is always profit to be found in a work emanating from M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, and we ourselves have found it in this article ; but we persist none the less in the opinion which wc have expressed : we even think that the observations of M. Vivien de Saint-Martin have only added a new force to our con- viction. The memoir of de Guignes is composed of two quite distinct parts : one is the account of the country of Fu-sanr/, written in the fifth century of our era by a Buddhist missionary named Iloei Shin, which de Guignes extracted from the history of Li-yan-cheu ; the other part is a commentary intended to determine the geographical position of the country of Fu-sang. In the first part, de Guignes is merely a translator ; in the sec- ond, he appears as a critic, and a critic of the first order. His merit, as we formerly remarked (and upon this point M. Vivien is in accord with us), is that, enabled by his vast knowledge of Chinese literature, he discovered two itinerai'ies — one maritime, the other terrestrial ; both of which terminate at the country of Ta-han, the point of Asia which, according to the account, is nearest to the country of Fu-sang. The meeting of the two routes at their northern extremity proves that the country of Ta-han is necessarily situated at some point upon the northeastern coast of Asia. De Guignes thinks that this point is in Kamtchatka. M. Vivien de Saint-Martin tliinks that it should be sought upon the river Amoor, near the point at which it empties into the Sea of Ochotsk, in the region iu which, as we have already said, Buddhist monuments in a state of excellent preservation have been recently discovered. We were instantly strack by the same thought as M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, and, after a new examination of the question, we declare that wo are convinced of the correctness of this view. In fact, even according to the description of the route trans- lated by de Guignes, we see that by traveling Jive dags to the east, in the direction of the Amoor Hiver, the Shg-wei Ju-che are reached ; from there, after traveling Jive dags to the north, % 1 m i'li 138 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. iljfi ffiffi the country of Ta-han is reached, surrounded on three sides by the sea. Now, below its junction with the Soungari-Oula, and especially below its junction with the Oussori, the Amoor turns directly to the north, and the country of Ta-han may probably be located near its mouth. The circumstance that it is surrounded on three sides by the sea, may be accounted for by sujiposing that it is situated in some bend described by the river. But de Guignes, who was but imperfectly acquainted with the course of the Amoor and with the geography of this region, has thought it necessary to go as far north as Kam- tchatka to find a locality which corresponds with the descrip- tion of his itinerary. We, therefore, very willingly make this concession to M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, or, rather, we thank him for the recti- fication which he has led us to adopt. But this fact does not prove that de Guignes's memoir should be considered any the less worthy of interest, or that the solution of the question which he proposes is any the less probable. But let M. Vivien speak for himself : " The few germs of rudimentary civilization, of which the trace is found among the tribes of the Amoor, are of Buddhist origin : they undoubtedly appertain to several different epochs, but the oldest are connected with the mif dons of the sixth cent- ury and the three following centuries, which are mentioned in the texts which de Guignes was the first to describe. This is a real service, among many others, which the scholarly author of the * History of the Huns ' has rendered to science, and of which his error as to the location of Ta-han does not at all diminish the merit." * After calling attention to the Buddhist monuments discov- ered some ten years ago upon the lower bank of the Amoor River, near the village designated as " Ghiliak of the Tower," M. Vivien continues thus : " We, therefore, now have positive proof that the mission- aries of the religion of Buddha, or of Fo, as it is called by the Chinese, not only carried shamanism into all of Central Asia, but pressed to the east and descended the valley of the Amoor River as far as to the shores of the Eastern Sea, at the same time that other propagators of this pre-eminently proselyting religion * " L'Ann4e Gdographiquc," Paris, 1865, p. 268. D'EIOHTHAL'S " STUDY." 139 spread themselves by the maritime route into all the islands contained within the boundaries of the sea inclosed between the Japanese Archipelago and the coast of Mantchooria, designated upon our maps as the Sea of Japan."* Having traveled this distance, would the Buddhist mission- aries arrest their voyage here, or would they not rather, profiting by the ease with which the chain of the Aleutian Islands would enable them to pass from one continent to the other, press on until they had penetrated to America ? A tradition, mentioned by de Guignes, states that at an early epoch " the Tartars who lived in the neighbourhood of the Amoor River were accustomed from this point to reach the southern portion of Kamtchatka, after five days' navigation toward the north." This is the most direct route to reach the Aleutian Islands. They could also reach them almost equally well by turning the point of the island of Saghalien, or Taraikai, upon the south, and coasting along the chain of the Kurile Islands. It is true that we have no historical proof of navigation across what may be called the Aleutian Sea, either by the Tartars or by the Bud- dhist missionaries. But the ease of this navigation is an incon- testable fact, and here, moreover, the tradition of Fu-sang is found. This tradition is not founded merely upon the unsustained statement of an obscure missionary ; it is attested by a multi- tude of legendary beliefs, of which Klaproth himself has made known to us the principal monuments. From that time the question has been, " Where is this land of Fu-sang situated ? " De Guignes founded his answer to this question upon the dis- tance of twenty thousand li, at which distance to the east from Ta-hauy Hoei Shin stated that this country was situated, and thus arrived at the conclusion that Fu-sang must be found at some point upon the American coast, probably in California. As for us, we believe (and M. Vivien is of the same opinion) that the round distance of twenty thousand li is purely emphatic, and merely indicates that the distance is very great. But even this interpretation does not at all weaken de Guignes's conclu- sion : " The Chinese," says this illustrious scholar, " have pene- trated into countries very distant toward the east. I have ex- amined their measures, and they have conducted me to the coast * '• L'Ann6c G6ographique," p. 259. li! 1:^ U. ' fl villi ■lii i'if' s 140 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. of California. I have concluded from this that they have known America since the year 458 a. t>. In the countries near to those where they landed we find the most civilized nations of America. I have thought that they were indebted for their civilization to the commerce which they have had with the Chinese. This is all that I have sought to establish in this memoir." If, at the epoch when de Guignes lived, this conclusion offered itself to him as a probable hypothesis, how much stronger would he have con- sidered the proof if he had known, as we now know, both the character of Buddhism, and its diffusion in the countries along the coast of the Sea of Japan and near the mouth of the Araoor River, and, in addition, the proofs, which we dare call incontest- able, of its presence in America. It is, nevertheless, against this fortunate divination of an illustrious scholar that M. Vivien d-^ '^aint-Martin now protests. Undoubtedly he has shown that in the account of the shaman Iloei Shin several particulars do not agree with America. We may, therefore, conclude that Iloei Shin, not having any one to check his account, and perhaps never having been himself in Fu-sang (for the text is mute, or at least doubtful, as to this point), may have, as to some points, consulted his imagination rather than his recollection ; but making all concessions on this account, there remain two important points in his story as to which no doubt can be raised : the essentially Buddhistic character of the customs of Fu-sang, and its situation at a great distance to the east of the Kingdom of Ta-han and the " Middle Kingdom." Now, from these two characters, Fic-sang can not be located elsewhere than in America. M. Vivien de Saint-Martin is not of this opinion. It is true that he does not offer any conclusion that is well-founded ; he merely thinks that the " supposition of lilaproth (who sees in Fu-sang a portion of Japan) is, as has been said of it, the most probable." But the supposition of Klaproth, as we have repeated time after time, and as, moreover, M. Vivien himself acknowledges, has insur- mountable objections opposed to it : it places to the south of Ta-han that which, according to the account, should be found at the east, and it supposes the existence of a Buddhist kingdom in Japan at an epoch when Buddhism was not known there. It remains, therefore, to return to de Guigncd's hypothesis, which, moreover, is now a hundred times more probable than it seemed D'EICIITHAL'S » STUDY." 141 at the epoch when it was first produced by its ilhistrious author. ♦' Old stories," in spite of the displeasure of M. Vivien de Saint- Martin, are good to revive when they are tnie old stories. To the documents which we named in our second article, as showing the association which has existed between Buddhism and the Brahmanic religions, particularly the worship of Siva, there should be added those given by Kc^ppen, in his history of Buddhism in Thibet, " Die Lamaische Hierarchic und Kirche," vol. i, page 296 and following. ^^^^W '! ^!' 1 m ' !! i li t mm m ' I !i ,1 '^¥M .i ! i ll 1580 if ft J 1583 |i I ^ CHAPTER IX. COINCIDENCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT, LOBSCHEID, AND PBESCOTT. Extracts from the " Views of the Cordilleras " — Similarity of Asiatic and Ameri- can civilizations — The struggles of the Brahmans and Buddhists — The divis- ions of the great cycles — The Mexicans designated the days of their months by the names of the zodiacal signs used in Eastern Asia — Cipactli and Capricornus — Table of resemblances — The tiger and monkey found only in southern countries — The Aztec migration from the north — Resemblance between certain Mexican and Tartarian words — The cutting-stones of the Aztecs— The sign ollin and the foot-prints of Vishnu — Effects of a mixture of several nations — Changes resulting from changed circumstances and lapse of time —Analogies in religious customs — Analogy in the fables regarding the destructions of the universe — Lobschcid's reasons for thinking the American Indians to be one race with the Japanese and Eastern Asiatics — Similarity of customs — Tiles — Anchors — The route from Asia to America — Shipwrecks of fishing-boats — Head-dresses — Languages — Religion — Customs — Marriage solemnized by tying the garments together — Extracts from Prescott's " History of the Conquest of Mexico " — Analogies in traditions and religious usages — Disposal of the bodies of the dead — The analogies of science — The calendar — General conclusions. Extracts from the " Vieioa of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Nations of America^'' — by Alexander von Humboldt. '"' It is a surprise to find, toward the end of the fifteenth century, in a world that we call " new," the ancient institutions, the religious ideas, the forms of edifices which, in Asia, appear to belong to tiie first dawn of civilization. It is true of the characteristic traits of the nations, as of the interior structure of the vegetation scattered upon the surface of the globe, that everywhere they exhibit the imprint of a primitive type, in spite of the differences which are produced by the nature of the cli- mates and of the soil, and by the combined influences of various accidental causes. ... )iS8 m COINCIDENCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT. 143 '"" If the languages offer but feeble proof of ancient commu- nication between the two worlds, this communication is indispu- tably shown in the cosmogonies, the monuments, the hieroglyphics, and the institutions of the nations of America and Asia. . . . i58« jf y^Q reflect ever so little upon the epoch of the earliest Toltec migrations, upon the monastic institutions, the symbols of worship, the calendar, and the form of the monuments of Cholula, Sogamozo, and Cuzco, we perceive that Quetzalcoatl, Bochica, and Manco-Capac did not draw their code of laws from the north of Europe. Everything appears to carry us to Eastern Asi^, to the nations that have been in contact with the Thibetans, the sha- manistic Tartars, and the bearded Ainos of the islands of Jesse and Saghalien. . . . I5S8 ^ prolonged struggle between two religious sects, the Brahmans and the Buddhists, ended by the emigration of the shamans of Thibet into Mongolia, China, and Japan. If any of the tribes of the Tartarian race passed by the way of the northwestern coast of America, and from there southerly and easterly to the banks of the Gila and those of the Missouri, as the etymological researches of "Vater in his work upon the peopling of Araeric? appear to indicate, it would be less surprising to find, among the semi-barbarous tribes of the new continent, idols and architectural monuments, a hieroglyphic writing, an exact knowl- edge of the duration of the year and traditions concerning the first condition of the world, which all recall the knowledge, the arts, and the religious opinions of the Asiatic nations. . . . i»M y^Q have seen that the Mexicans, the Japanese, the Thibe- tans, and several other nations of Central Asia, have followed the same system in the division of the great cycles and in the names of the years that compose them. It remains for us to examine a fact which more directly concerns the history of the migrations of the nations, and which appears to have hitherto escaped the attention of scholars. I expect to be able to prove that a great part of the names by which the Mexicans designated the twenty days of their months are those of the signs of a zodiac used, from the most remote antiquity, by the nations of Eastern Asia. To make it evident that this assertion is less hazardous than it appears at first sight, I will give in a single table — first, the names of the Mexican hieroglyphs as they have beea transmitted to us by all the authors of the sixteenth cent- !i|j I '\<:. m\ i I i ■'■ ' ' 11 m m ' 144 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ury ; second, the names of the twelve signs of the zodiac among the Tartars, Thibetans, and Japanese ; third, the names of the nakchatras, or lunar houses of the calendar of the Hindoos. I dare flatter myself that those of my readers who will examine this comparative table attentively will be interested in the dis- cussion into which we must enter regarding the first divisions of the zodiac. BIOMB OF TnS ZODIAC. Hlndoof, Gretki, ind EuUrn Nttioni. Aqu.irlus. Caprlcornus. Sagittarius. Scorpio. Libra. Virgo. Leo. Cancer. Gt^minl, Taurus. Aries. Pisces. Mmitchoo- Tartari. Singucri. Ne. Oulier. Ous. Pars. Torra, Taoulal. Ov. Lon. Tats. Mo$!ai. Mi. Morin. Ouma. Koin. Tsitsouso. I'etchl. Sar. Tukio. Torrl. Nokai. In. Gacai. y. Thnwlani. Tchi^- I. ■ water. Lany, . . Tah, tiger. /£>, hare. Sron, drafron. Proul, serpent. Tha, horse. Lon, goat. J'rehou. monkey, TWia. bird. Kij, dog. Pah, hog. Hluoglypbt of th« Days of th« M»ican CaliniUr, AH, water. [uter. Cipactli, marine mon- Ocelotl, tiger. TochtU, hare. Cohxiatl, serpent. Acutl, reed. Tecpatl, flint (knifel. OUln, path of the sun. Otomatli, monke/. QuauMli, bird. Ittcuintli, dog. Calli, house. Nakchatnii, or Lunar Houiat of tb* Iliudoot. (The tnahnra is a marin* monster.) Serpent. Kecd. Kazor. [Vishnu Foot-tracks of Monkey. A dog's tail. House. From the most ancient times, the people of Asia have known two systems of dividing the ecliptic : one into twenty-seven or twenty-eight houses, or lunar mansions, the other into twelve parts. The opinion which has been advanced, that this last method of division existed only among the Egyptians, is erro- neous. The oldest monuments of Indian literature, the works of Kalidasa, and of Amarsinh, mention both the twelve signs of the zodiac, and the twenty-seven " Companions of the Moon." From our knowledge concerning the communications which oc- curred several thousand years before our era, between the nations of Ethiopia, of Upper Egypt, and of Hindostan, we are justified in dismissing the supposition that all that the Egyptians trans- mitted to the Grecian tribes appertained exclusively to them. The division of the ecliptic into twenty-seven or twenty-eight lunar houses, is probably more ancient than the division into twelve parts, connected with the annual movement of the sun. The phenomena which are repeated in the same order with every revolution of the moon, attract the attention of mankind more readily than changes of position, of which the cycle is com- pleted only in the space of a year. ... 1193 >i 'W COINCIDENCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT. 145 "" Examining first the analogy which the names of the Mexican days offer to the signs of the Thibetan, Chinese, Tar- tarian, and Mongolian zodiac, the analogy is foo ? i to be very striking in the eight hieroglyphs called atl, cii i ■ i I i li I i fi! f ; I I 146 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. nerat, to the tenth sign of the Indian zoiliac, which is our Capri- cornus. In addition, the idea of the marine animal cipactll is found united in the Mexican mythology with the history of a man, who, at the time of the destruction of the fourth sun, after having floated upon the water for a long time, was saved, alone, by attaining the top of the mountain of Colhuacan. We have else- where observed that the Noah of the Aztecs, who was usually called " Coxcox," bore also the name of *' Teo-cipactli," in which the word ^^god,^ or " divine," is added to that of the sign cipactli. In casting the eyes upon the zodiac of the Asiatic tribes, we find that the Capricornus of the Hindoos is the fabulous fish mahara, or souro, celebrated for its exploits, and represented from the most remote antiquity as a marine monster with the head of a gazelle. Aa the people of India, as well as the Mexicans, often indi- cate the nakchatras (lunar houses) and the laquenons (the twelve signs of the zodiac) merely by the heads of the animals which compose the lunar and solar zodiacs, it is not at all sur- prising that the western nations have transformed the mahara into Capricornus (a/yoKepwf), and that Aratus, Ptolemy, and the Persian Kazwini have not given it even a fish's tail. An ani- mal which, after having lived in the watei for a long time, takes the form of a gazelle, and climbs the mountains, reminds the people, of whom the restless imagination seizes upon the most distant affinities, of the ancient traditions of IMenu, of Noah, and of the Deucalions celebrated among the Scythians and the Thes- salians. It is true that, according to Germanicus, Deucalion, who may be considered to resemble Coxcox, or Teo-cipactli of the Mexican mythology, should be placed, not in the sign Capri- cornus, but in Aquarius, the sign which immediately follows it. This circumstance, however, is not surprising, as it merely con- firms the ingenious view of M. Bailly regarding the ancient con- nection of the three signs, Pisces, Aquarius, and Capricornus or the fish-gazelle. Ocelotl, tiger, the jaguar {felis onca) of the warm regions of Mexico ; tochtli, hare ; ozomatli, she-monkey ; itzcuintli, dog ; cohuatl, serpent ; quauhtli, bird, are the catasterisms which are found under the same name in the Tartarian and Thibetan zodiac. In Chinese astronomy the hare is not only the fourth m ™ COINCIDENCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT. 147 tse, or Bign of the zodiac, but the moon, since the remote epoch of the reign of Yao, has been figured as a disk, in which a hare, sit- ting upon its hind feet, turns a stick in a vessel, as if making but- ter ; a puerile fancy which may have had its origin in the plains of Tartary, where hares abound, and which are inhabited by pas- toral tribes. The Mexican monkey, ozomatli, corresponds to the hen of the Chinese, the petchi of the Mantchoos, and the prchou of the Thibetans, three names which designate the same animal. Procyon appears to be the monkey Ilanuan, so known in the Hindoo mythology, and the position of this star, placed upon the same line with Gemini and the pole of the ecliptic, corresponds very well with the place which the monkey occupies in the Tar- tar zodiac, between Cancer and Taurus. Monkeys are also found in the heaven of the Arabs. They are the stars of the constella- tion Canis Major, called £Jl-kuri1d in the catalogue of Kazwini. I enter into these details concerning the sign ozomatli because it is a very important point, not only in the history of astronomy, but also in that of the migrations of the tribes, to find an animal of the torrid zone placed among the constellations of the Mon- golian, Mantchoo, Aztec, and Toltec tribes. The sign itzcuintlif dog, corresponds with the last sign but one of the Tartarian zodiac, the ky of the Thibetans, the noTcai of the Mantchoos, and the in of the Japanese. Pore Gaubil informs us that the dog of the Tartarian zodiac is our sign Aries ; and it is very remarkable that, according to le Gentil, although the Hindoos were not acquainted with the series of signs which com- mences with the rat, Aries is sometimes replaced by a wild dog. In the same way, among the Mexicans itzcxiintli designates the wild dog, for they call their domestic dog techichi. Mexico formerly abounded with carnivorous quadrupeds which united the qualities of the dog and the wolf, and which Hernandez has described to us but imperfectly. The race of these animals, known by the names of xoloitzcuintli, itzcuintepotzotli, and tepeitz- cuintli, is probably not entirely extinct, but they have more likely retired into the wildest and most remote forests ; for in the part of the country which I have passed through I have never heard a wild dog mentioned. Le Gentil and Bailly have been misled in the opinion which they have advanced that the word m^cha, which designates our a wild dog. This Sanskrit word is the common ill VI Ml !!li: ■ I' ■ i .1 ! ram, signifies li! lift i iiili I ^ 148 AN INGLORIOUS COLDMBUS. name of the ram, and it lias been employed very poetically by an Indian author who, describing the combat of two warriors, says that " by their heads they were two rnk'/uia (rams), by their arms two elephants, by their feet two noble coursers." The following table shows at one view the signs of the Tar- tarian zodiac and the names of the days of the Mexican calendar, which arc alike : Zodiac of the Tartar -Muiitrhooa. I'ars, tiger. 'Jaoulai, haro. Moffai, serpent. I'cfchi, monkey. Aokai, dog. Tukia, bird, fowl. Zodiac of tho Mexirana. Oceloll, tiger. 7hchtli, hare, .•'bbit. Cohuatl, serpent. Oxomatli, monkcj. JtzcuintU, dog. Qi'auhtUy bird, eagle. Without connecting tho hieroglyphs water (atl) and the marine monster {cipactli), which offer a striking analogy with the zodiacal signs of Aquarius and Capricornus, tho six signs of the Tartarian zodiac which are also found in tho Mexican calendar are sufficient to make it extremely probable that tho nations of the two continents have drawn their astronomical ideas from a common source, and it is worthy of notice that the points of resemblance upon which we insist are not derived from rude pictures or allegories, susceptible of being interpreted in ac- cordance with any hypothesis that it is desired to sustain. If we consult the works composed at the time of the conquest, by Spanish authors, or by American Indians who were ignorant of the existence of a Tartarian zodiac, it will bo seen that in Mex- ico, from the seventh century until our era, the days have been called " tiger," " dog," " monkey," " hare " or " rabbit," as, throughout Eastern Asia, the years bear the same names among the Thibetans, the Tartar-31antchoos, the Mongols, the Calmucks, the Chinese, the Japanese, tho Coreans, and among the nations of Tonquin and Cochin-China. It is conceivable that nations which never had any connection may have similarly divided the ecliptic into twenty-seven or twenty-eight parts, and given to each lunar day the name of the stars near which the moon is found to bo placed in its progress- ive movement from west to east. It also appears very natural that pastoral and hunting nations should designate the constel- lations and the lunar days by the names of the animals which COINCIDENCES NOTED DY nrMROLDT. 149 arc the constant objects of their affections or tlicir fears. The heaven of the nomad tribes may bo found to be peopled with dogs, deer, bulls, and wolves, without furnishini; suftleient ground for the conclusion that the tribes have ever formerly made parts of the same nation. Traits of resemblance which are purely acci- dental, or which arise from a similarity of circumstances or lo- cation, should not be confounded with those which are the results of a common origin or of ancient communication. But the Tartarian and Mexican zodiacs are not confined ex- clusively to animals found in the regions inhabited by these nations now ; in both, the tiger and the monkey are also found. The two animals are unknown upon the plateau of Eastern and Central Asia, to which the great elevation gives a colder temper- ature than that which is found in the same latitude farther east. The Thibetans, the Mongolians, the Mantchoos, and the Cal- mucks have therefore received from a more southerly country the zodiac which has, too exclusively, been called the Tartarian cycle. The Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Tlascaltccs migrated from the north toward the south ; we know of Aztec monuments as far north as the banks of the Gila, between 33° and 34"" liorth latitude, and history informs us that the Toltecs came formerly from regions still farther north. The colonists coming from Aztlan did not arrive as barbarian tribes ; everything announces the remains of an ancient civilization as existing among them. The names given to the cities which they constructed were the names of the places which their ancestors had inhabited ; their laws, their annals, their chronology, the order of their sacri- fices, were modeled upon the knowledge which they had acquired in their father-land. Now, the monkeys and the tigers, which figure among the hieroglyphs of the days, and in the Mexican traditions of the four ages, or destructions of the sun, do not live in the northern part of New Spain, or on the northwestern coast of America. As a consequence, the signs ozomatli and ocelotl ren- der it extremely ^ 'obable that the zodiacs of the Toltecs, the Aztecs, the Mongol, ans, the Thibetans, and many other nations, which are now separated by a vast extent of country, originated at the same point in the Old World. The lunar houses of the Hindoos, in which we find also a monkey, a serpent, a dog's tail, and the head of a gazelle, or of a marine monster, offer still other signs, of which the names ra- il', I! hi :!M' I M \\\\ li 150 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 1 call those of calli, acatl, tecpatl, and ollln of the Mexican calen- dar. Indian Nakchatras. Mexican Signs. Magha, house. Calli, house. Venu, cane (reed). Acatl, cane (reed). Crilica, razor. Tecpatl, flint, stone knife. iSravana, three foot-prints. Ollin, movement of the sun, figured by three foot-prints. We can not help noticing that, the Aztec word calli has the same signification as kiuda or kolla, among the Wogouls, who live upon the banks of the Kama and the Irtish, as atl, the Aztec word for water, and itels (river) recall the words atel, atelch, etel or idel (river) in the languages of the Mongolian Tar- tars, the Tchereraissians, and the Tchuwassians. The denomina- tion of calli, house, also designates very well a lunar station or inn {niendzil el kamar, in Arabian), a place of repose. So, also, among the Indian nakchatras, in addition to the houses {magha and punarvasu), we also find a bedstead and a couch. The Mexican sign acatl, cane, is generally drawn as two reeds tied together ; but the stone found in Mexico in 1790, and which offers the hieroglyphs of the days, represents the sign acatl in a very different manner. We recognize there a bundle of rushes, or a sh 'af of maize, contained in a vase. We recall, in this con- nection, the fact that, in the first period of thirteen days of the year tochtU, the sign acatl is constantly accompanied by Cinteotl, who is the goddess of maize, the Ceres of the Mexicans, the di- vinity who presides over agriculture. Among the western peo- ple, Ceres is placed in the fifth of the twelve signs. We also find very ancient zodiacs in which a bundle of ears of grain fills all the place which should be occupied by Ceres, Isis, Astree, or Erigone, in the sign of the harvests and vintages. Thus we find that, from a high antiquity, the same ideas, the same sym- bols, the same tendency to think physical phenomena dependent upon the mysterious influence of the stars, existed among nations the most widely separated from one another. The Mexican hieroglyph tecpatl indicates a cutting-stone of an oval form, elongated toward the two extremities, similar to those which are used as knives, or which are attached to the end of a pike. This sign recalls tlie critica, or cutting-knife, of the lunar zodiac of the Hindoos, Upon the lu.ge stone (rep- m COINCIDEXCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT. 151 resented in a plate given in the original French edition), the hieroglyph tecpatl is figured in a different manner from the form ordinarily given to it. The stone is pierced in the center, and the opening appears to he intended to receive the hand of the warrior who uses this two-pointed weapon. It is known that the Americans had a peculiar method of piercing the hardest stones and of working them into shape by friction. I brought from Soutli America, and deposited in the Berlin Museum, an obsidian ring, which had served for a young girl's bracelet, and which formed a hollow cylinder of almost seven centimetres in- ternal diameter, and four centimetres height, and of which the thickness is not more than thi*ee millimetres. It is difficult to conceive how a vitreous and fragile mass can have been reduced to so thin a band. Tecpatl, however, differed in other respects from obsidian, a substance which the Mexicans called iztH. Un- der the name tecpatl, jade, hornblende, and flint were con- founded. The sign ollin, or ollin tonatiuh, presided, in the beginning of the cycle of fifty-two years, over the seventeenth day of the first month. The explanation of this sign greatly embarrassed the Spanish monks, who, destitute of the most elementary prin- ciples of astronomy, attempted to describe the Mexican calen- dar. The Indian authors translated o^^m by movements of the sun. When they found the number nahui (four) added, they rendered nahui ollin by the words " the sun {tonatluh) in its four movements." The sign ollin is made in three ways : some- times like two interlaced ribbons, or rather like two parts of the curved lines, which intersect and have three distinct folds upon their summits ; sometimes, like the solar disk, inclosed by four squares, which contained the hieroglyphs of the numbers one (ce) and four {nahui) ; sometimes like three foot-prints. The four squares, as we shall hereafter show, alluded to the famous tradition of the four ages, or four destructions of the world, which occurred upon the days /b?r their wants during the coming winter. Wave after wave of immigration is likely to have rolled on ; and if only at long intervals a few returned to their native place, that was sufficient to account for a knowledge of a large Eastern Continent, floating among the Chinese, Japanese, and other Asiatics. The large fleets of fishing-boats about the coasts of Japan and China are, we know, frequently overtaken by tremendous gales, and either destroyed or carried eastward. We know of Japa- nese junks having been picked up beyond the Sandwich Islands, and close to the shore of America, after an absence of more than nine month,?. But much more. Large fleets of war-junks, some- times manned by as many as one hundred thousand men, have left the coast of China and Japan, and have been scattered by the northwest gales, and but few of these ever survived or returned. It is not unlikely that these junks, being well provisioned, have continued in their eastei'n course, until, within 28° north latitude, they fell in with the trade-wind, which compelled them to change their course, and carried them toward Mexico or Lower California, w'lere they laid the foundation of that kind of civiliza- tion which resembles so closely that of the Chinese and Japanese. Look at tht Chinese dress five or six centuiies ago, and you have the head-dress oi the Mexicans ; look at the monstrous uniforms and coats-of-mail, and at the head-dress of the Japanese women, and you will be struck with their similarity to the Mexicans. As all the kings, chiefs, and priests — in one word, all the creators of that peculiar civilizr.t5on — were destroyed oj *he Spaniards, we need not wonder at the low ebb of education of the present race, who are merely the children of peasants and the lower classes. Were Chinese who speak the different dialects and well versed in their own literature, and Japanese of education, well furnished with ancient works, sent with scientific men to America, we may rest :y';''"red, they would soon decipher the inscriptions now fast going to ruin. Summary of Si mii.artty of the American Indians with the Japanese, Chinese, and Northern Asiatics. — I. Language. Monosyllabic, as spoken by the Otomi and other tribes. Hiero- glyphs, m ideographic characters, on the same principle as the As of we COINCIDENCES NOTED BY LOBSOHEID. 157 3ro- the Ciiinese ; absence of the R among the tribes where the ideo- graphic characters are found ; prevalence of hissing sounds and gutturals, and most words terminating in a vowel. 2. Poly- syllabic language of a syllabic character, representing, not sound, but syllables, as in Japan. Japanese words detected in the Indian language ; Japanese form of the possessive case ; prevalence of the R, and the termination of every word in a vowel except the jV. II. Religion. The most ancient religion ri the Indians, now forming the wandering tribes, is the belief in one Great Spirit, whom they worship, like the Japanese their Sin (spirit), without image. In both places, long, honutcry addresses are delivered to the audience, and both exhibit profound reverence of that spirit, and deep religious feelings. The polytheistic form of worship, as found in Mexico, etc., is, according to accepted history, the most modern one, and was, if we believe Chinese legends, introduced by Buddhists and shaman priests, about the beginning of the sixth century of our era, which nearly coincides with the commence- ment of the Toltecan history, which is put down at a. d. 596. The dragon or serpent worship was very prevalent. That the Chi- nese dragon is nothing but a serpent, can be proved from the fact that at this moment serpents are kept in temples as representa- tives of the ancient dragon. They resembled the Chinese and (Buddhist) Japanese in their ideas of "the transmigration of the soul ; in the monastic forms and discipline ; in their penances, ablutions, alms-givings, and public festivals ; in the worship of their household gods ; in the devotions of the priests to the study of astrology and astronomy ; in the admission of virgin females to the vows and rites of the cloister ; in the incense and chants of their worship ; in their use of charms and amulets ; in some of their forms of burning their dead, and the preservation of the ashes in urns, and in the assumption of the right to educate the youth." Among other superstitious notions is the one of a celes- tial dragon endeavouring to devour the sun during its eclipse, and their fondness for the drum, gong, and rattle. III. Customs. The dragon-standard ; banner-lances, as we find them in Chinese Buddhist temples ; ensigns and banners stuck in a ferula, fixed at the back of a warrior. A kind of her- aldry as we meet among the Japanese. Some of their nuptials were symbolized by the ceremony of tying the garments of the til 158 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 1 1 i ! in' m-: two contracting parties together. There was only one lawful wife, though a plurality of concubines. I have already referred to the similarity of dress, architecture, and anchors of ships. Physiologically considered, there is not the slightest diflFerence between these tribes and those of Japan and China, and the tribes among themselves differ no more from oach other than the peo- ple of Europe of one and the same stock. Extracts from the " History of the Conquest of Mexico " — by William IT. Frescott. '^^ An obvioits analogy is found in cosmogonal traditions and reliyious usayes. The reader has already been made ac- quainted with the Aztec system of four great cycles, at the end of each of which the world was destroyed, to be again regenerated. The belief in these periodical convulsions of nature, through the agency of some one or other of the elements, was familiar to many countries in the Eastern Hemisphere ; and, though varying in detail, the general resemblance of outline furnishes an argu- ment in favour of a common origin. The fanciful division of time into four or five cycles or ages was found among the Hin- doos ("Asiatic Researches," vol. ii, mom. 7), the Thibetans (Humboldt, " Vues des Cordilleres," p. 210), the Persians (Bailly, " Traite de I'Astronomie," Paris, 1787, tome i, discours prelimi- naire), the Greeks (Hcsiod, ""Epya /cat ^Hjuepat," v, 108 et seq.), and other people, doubtless. . . . "'" " I have purposely omitted noticing the resemblance of re- ligious notions, for I do not see how it is possible to separate from such views every influence of Christian ideas, if it be only from an imperceptible confusion in the mind of the narrator." (Quoted from Vater's " Mithridates," Berlin, 1812, Theil III, Abtheil 3, p. 82, note.) . . . J085 These coincidences must be allowed to furnish an arsru- ment in favour of some primitive corimunication with that great brotherhood of nations on the Old Continent among whom simi- lar ideas have been so widely diffusec . The probability of such a communication, especially with EasLorn Asia, is much strength- ened by the resemblance of sacerdotal institutions, and of some religious rites — as those of marriage and the burial of the dead ; by the practice of human sacrifices, and even of cannibalism — traces of which are discernible in the Mongol races ; and, lastly, 1' r 'lij'ifii COINCIDENCi-:S NOTED BY TRESCOTT. 159 by a conformity of social usages and manners so striking that the description of Montezuma's court may well pass for that of the Grand Khan's, as depicted by Maundevillo and Marco Polo. It would occupy too much room to go into details in this mat- ter, without which, however, the strength of the argument can not be felt, nor fully established. It has been done by others ; and an occasional coincidence has been adverted to in the preced- ing chapters. . . . *"" Tliere are certain arbitrary peculiarities, which, when found in different nations, reasonably suggest the idea of some previous communication between them. Who can doubt the existence of an affinity, or at least intercourse, between tribes who had the same strange habit of burying the dead in a sitting posture, as was practiced to some extent by most, if not all, of the aborigines, from Canada to Patagonia? The habit of burn- ing the dead, familiar to both Mongols and Aztecs, is, in itself, but slender proof of a common origin. The body must be dis- posed of in some way ; and this, perhaps, is as natural as any other. But, when to this is added the circumstance of collecting the ashes in a vase, and depositing the single article of a precious stone along with them, the coincidence is remarkable. Such minute coincidences are not unfrequent ; while the accumulation of those of a more general character, though individually of little account, greatly strengthens the probability of a communication with the East. . . . '"*' A proof of a higher kind is found in the analogies of science. We have seen the peculiar chronological system of the Aztecs — their method of distributing the years into cycles, and of reckoning by means of periodical series, instead of numbers. A similar process was used by the various Asiatic nations of the Mongol family, from India to Japan. . . . '"*' It is scarcely possible to reconcile the knowledge of Oriental science with the total ignorance of some of the most serviceable and familiar arts, as the use of milk and iron, for example — arts so simple, yet so important to domestic comfort, that, when once acquired, they could hardly be lost. . . . Yet there have been people considerably civilized, in Eastern Asia, who were almost equally strangers to the use of milk. ... It is possible, more- over, that the migration may have been previous to the time when iron was used by the Asiatic nation in question. . . . Such 160 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 'I Hi is the explanation, unsatisfactory indeed, but the best that sug- gests itself, of this curious anomaly. . . . ^* The reader of the preceding pages may, perhaps, acquiesce in the general conclusions — not startling by their novelty : First, that the coincidences are sufficiently strong to authorize a belief that the civilization of Anahuac was, in some degree, in- fluenced by that of Eastern Asia ; and, secondly, that the discrep- ancies 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. ■ i y i J: !^ 4 , CHAPTER X. I ^!'!Nf SUOIITEU ESSAYS. " Wlicro was Fu-snnp; ? " — by the Rev. N'uthan Brown, D. D. — DifTlciilties attending a decision— Horses — Grapes — Reason fortliitiliing Fu-itang more distani tlian Japan — Lengtli of tlie U — Distances of tlic route — Dilliciilticd attending Kliiprotli's tlieory — Tlio military expeditions of tlie Japanese — The introduc- tion of tlic Buddhist religion — The JIaiis — Grmt I/an — Identification of the fu-saug tree with the bread-fruit tree — Conclusion — Remarks of the Abbo Braaseur de Bourbourg — The paper and books of the Mexicans and Central Americans — Civilization of New Mexico — Chinese boats — Animals — Mr. Lc- land's " Fuaang " — An earlier article — Who discovered America ? — J. llanlay's essay — The fu-sang tree identified with the maguey — Metals — RLsembiance in religion and customs — Also in features — Language — Civilization on Pacific coast — Letter of Mr, Th. Simson — The Mexican aloe — The fusnuy tree — Japan — Letter of E. Bretsihneidor, M. D. — Accounts of Fu-sang by the Chinese poets — " The Kingdom of Women " — Verdict of Father Hyacinth — The distance — Horses and deer — The fu-sang tree — The t^utig tree — The paper- mulberry — Metals — " The Kingdom of Women " and Salt Lake City — Fu-sang not Japan — Ta-han in Siberia — Envoys from Fu-sang — Contradictory fancies — Mr. Leland's criticism — Lcittcr of Pire Gaubil — Unreliability of Chinese texts — The peopling of Japan — Chinese knowledge of surrounding countries — Remarks of Humboldt — Letter of the Rt. Rev. Channing M. Williams — The Chinese " Classic of Mountains and Seas " — Fabulous stories — Translation of extracts therefrom — Remarks of M. L6on de Rosny — Passage from Asia to America — The distance — Character of the Esquimaux — An article from a newspaper of British Columbia — Discovery of Chinese coins in the bank of a creek — Evidence that they had been buried for a long time. •' Where was Fu-sang ? ''—hrj the Rev. Xathan Broirn, D. Z)."" It is not a little amusing to observe the regularity with M'hich the discovery of an ancient connection between China and Mex- ico annually goes the rounds of the newspapers. The author of the discovery is generally stated to be Pro- fessor Karl Neumann, who has lit upon some old Chinese record containing it ; but no dates are given for verifying the fact, and no translation of the documents upon which he relies. 11 ^. ^iL^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 1.1 I^|2j8 |2^ ■so ^^" ■■■ 1^ ^ |Z2 Z |i° 12.0 lit 11-25 IM 1.4 I ^ f Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSIO (716) S73-4503 hi Mi l|H li 1» I m 162 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. The following paragraph, from the first chapter of Riviere's " Peruvian Antiquities," translated by Dr. Hawks, is somewhat more definite. After speaking of various theories framed in ref- erence to the colonization of America, he says : " But the hypothesis which in importance surpasses all these is that of de Guignes, who, relying upon the chronicles of China, attributes Peruvian civilization to emigration proceeding from the * Celestial Empire,' or the East Indies. Recent inves- tigations would seem to confirm this opinion." . . . Signor Riviero goes on to say there is " no doubt " that Que- tzalcoatl, Bochica, Manco Capac, and other reformers of Central America were Buddhist priests. Such random assertions are a positive injury to archaeological science ; they destroy confidence, not only in the author who makes them, but in antiquarian re- searches generally. The connection of the Mexican mythology with Buddhism is a thing to be proved, not assumed as a matter beyond doubt. Buddhism is the most gentle and inoffensive of all the heathen religions ; it is as unlike to the bloody religion of the Aztecs as it is to the cruel rites of the Brahmanical wor- shipers of Siva and Durga. If an idol is to be found in Yuca- tan combining these two opposite forms of worship, it is a phenomenon well worth the study of the learned. But, before attempting a solution of the enigma, we want certain proof that such a combination exists. . . . The difiiculties presented ... are formidable, whether, with Klaproth, we suppose that the Chinese account refers to Japan, or with de Guignes, that it refers to America. The former asserts that neither the vine nor horse? were known in America till after the time of Columbus, and that this circumstance alone disproves the theory of de Guignes. But such a summary dis- posil cf the question can not be admitted. The fossil remains of this continent have not been sufficiently examined to decide that the bones of the horse are not among them. But were this point settled, it would still be very supposable that some other animal might be intended by the word translated " horses." In regard to the grape, M. Klaproth is certainly mistaken. New England, as early as the year 1000, was called by the Norwe- gians Yinland, or " the Land of Vines," from the abundance of grapes which they found there. The narrative of Hoei Shin is classed by Klaproth with the- SHORTER ESSAYS. 103 stories and exaggerations of the Chinese poets, who make lu- sang their land of fables, a country lying in the remote East, where the sun rises and makes his toilet. . . . Other passages say that beyond the Southeastern Ocean, be- tween the Kan-shuiy or " Sweet Rivers," lies the kingdom of Ghi-ica-Jcof, where lived the virgin Ghi-ica, or Ili-ho, who mar- ried the prince of Ghi-wa and gave birth to ten suns. But these fables are rather against than in favour of M. Klap- roth's theory ; for the poets would have been more likely to select, as the scene of the marvelous, a remote and unknown country rather than one so near as Japan. The life-like particu- larity of IToei Shbi's account evidently raises it out of tlie region of fable, and compels us to regard it as a matter-of-fact descrip- tion of some existing country. But where is 7tif-/tan ? DeGuig- nes says this country is Kamtchatka ; Klaproth says it is Taraikai, or Saghalien. . . . The distance from the mouth of the Hoang-ho to the coast of North America, by a direct eastern course, would be from 6,500 to 7,000 miles ; corresponding very well to 20,000 Chinese Uy as at present reckoned. But the question aris*.'; , whether Iloei Shin in- tends to say that Fu-sang is equally distant from China and from Ta-han, or whether he means that Fu-sang is at the same dis- tance from Ta-han that Ta-han is from China. The latter sense would require the translation to read : " Fu-sang is 20,000 U east of the country of Ta-han, and it [meaning Ta-han] is equally distant to the east of China." This would locate Ta-han on the road to Fc-sang, instead of making Ta-han and China the basis of au isosceles triangle, of which Fi-sang is the apex. It would render the account more natural and consistent ; for if Ft-sang is in an easterly direction from both the other countries, we must infer that the three were nearly in a line. If we adopt Li-yan-cheu^s statement of the route to Ta-han, whether the latter be Saghalien or Kamtchatka, we must contract our estimate of the li, and that will bring Fu-sang proportionately nearer. As navigation in those early times was generally along the shore, with very little means of accurately measuring distances by water, it will not perhaps be unreasonable to allow, on the average, six nautical U to the mile, and then 20,000 H would just bo sufficient to land us in Oregon or California. From the ' I \'\ w u i I ^! i liiir I: ': , I I' i ' ''I I! f li i! il m f I T 1 ' 1 li ! ' I •' ! ; 164 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. southern point of Karatcliatka to Alaska the distance is about one thousand miles, and to Oregon as much farther ; so that of the 20,000 li, or 3,300 miles, we would have a surplus of 1,300 miles to allow for the windings along the coast. The stages of the voyage would then become : From Corea to the chief port in Japan (making a very large allowance for winding course), 2,000 miles ; thence to Wen-ahin (either in Jesso or Saghalien), 1,100 miles ; thence to Kamtchatka, 800 miles ; thence to Fu-sang^ a long stretch of 3,300 miles. Thus we see there is no insuperable objection to the theory of de Guignes. On the contrary, the supposition of Klaproth, that Fu-saug was the southern part of Japan, involves us in inex- tricable difficulties. It makes Li-yan-cheit and Iloel Shin contradict each other : one affirming that Japan is 12,000 li distant, the other that it is 20,000 ; one declaring that it is east of Ta-haa, the other that it is directly south. Klaproth endeavours to show that i\xQfii-sang tree is the mulberry, of which the Japanese make paper ; but it would be very difficult to discover any resemblance between a mulberry- plant and the shoot of a young bamboo. Nor would its fruit be compared to a pear, which it does not at all resemble in form. At tho period in question, the beginning of the sixth century, Japan was governed by the tyrant Burets Teno, who, according to the imperial annals, sent some thousands of soldiers to destroy a rival. Of course, it could not be said of such a people that " they had neither arms nor troops." The northern and southern prisons, described by Hoei Shin, lind no confirmation in the Japanese annals. There is no evi- dence that th© Japanese reared stags instead of cattle ; they were not without iron, nor did they esteem gold and silver of no ac- count. Finally, as Klaproth himself acknowledges, the Buddhist religion was not introduced into Japan till the year 532, when it was brought in from Corea ; cono'^quently, the priest Hoei Shin could not have spoken of it as the religion of the country in the year 500. But another supposition still remains. The Han were a peo- ple, rather than a country : Ta-han, the Great Han. The Hans were among the oldest of the Chinese races ; they occupied the northern part of the empire, overspread Corea, and ultimately became masters c : Japan. The Japanese historians trace back thei grai khig f' m peo- Ilans d the ately back SHORTER ESSAYS. 166 their line of emperors to Ku-knng, king of Chon, whose great- granilson, Wu-wanf/, became emperor of China, 1122 b. c. The kings of Chott were of the Han race. Gutzlaff says " the state of Hun [424 to 230 b. c] was ruled by a line of kings who traced their descent from the founders of the C7iou dynasty." (** Chin, llist.," p. 202.) Klaproth gives us the testimony of Chinese writers that Wu T'ai-pe, elder son of Kn-kung, prince of Chou^ founded the kingdom of Wu, where his descendants reigned 659 years. Being conquered and driven out by the king of Yiie^ tlicy sailed for Japan, and became the founders of that empire : " The children, the grandchildren, and the relatives of the last king of Wily put to sea, and became the Wo or Japanese." In the third century of our era, these Han rulers of Japan took possession of Corea, which, after the fall of the Han dynasty in China, appears to have become the general rendezvous of the Han races. The country was known as that of the San-han, or 8an-kan, the "Three Hans,*'' namely, the Ma-han, composed of fifty-four tribes, the Sliin-han, twelve tribes, and the Pian-han^ also twelve tribes. It is highly probable that Hoci Shin, in speaking of the country of the Great Han, meant Japan, in dis- tinction from Corea, the common residence of the three principal Han families. It would seem, from the descriptions by other writers, of coast- M'ise and overland journeys to the Great Han, that this term was also used for a more northerly region, either the northern part of Japan (including Saghalien) or a portion of the continent. With the^'e accounts the narrative of Hoei Shin has no necessary con- nection. It is a strong argument in favour of a Sotithern Ta-han as a point of departure for America, that it would make the deviati m from an eastern course far less than by the northern route. We must wait for a more perfect knowledge of the former flora and fauna of America before we can identify, with any cer- tainty, the plants and animals mentioned by Hoei Shin. It has been suggested that the maguey, or Mexican aloe, is ihc fu-sang j but we think a more substantial tree is indicated. In many re- spects the description would agree better with some tree of the bread-fruit family, which includes the artocarpus, moras or mul- berry, maclura, and fig. Of the bread-fruit no less than fifty varieties are enumerated as indigenous to the South Sea Islands, ?!■■■ • M mm Ml' I i i ! f* i 1 < i ■ ( f I t ! i. "• rr jr^ ■■ II lit i 166 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. and tliere is no reason why they should not liave been abundant in the tropical regions of the American coast.* Williams, in his " Narrative of Missionary Enterprises," gives this description of the most common variety : "Among all the trees that adorn the islands of the Pacific, the bread-fruit deserves the pre-eminence for its beauty and value. It frequently grows fifty or sixty feet high, and has a trunk be- tAveen two and three feet in diameter. The leaves are broad and sinuated, something similar in form to those of the fig-tree. They are frequently eighteen inches in length, and of a dark- green colour, with a glossy surface resembling that of the richest evergreens. The fruit is oval, about six inches in diameter, and of a light pea-green." Ellis adds that " it subsequently changes to brown, and when fully ripe assumes a rich yellow tinge." Williams continues : " The value of this wonderful tree ex- ceeds its beauty. It is everything to the natives — their house, their food, their clothing. The trunk furnishes one of the best kinds of timber they possess. It is the colour of mahoj^any, ex- ceedingly durable, and is used by the natives in building their canoes and houses, and in the manufacture of the few articles of furniture they formerly possessed. From the bark of the branches they fabricate their clothing ; and, when the tree is punctured, there exudes from it a mucilaginous fluid, resembling thick cream, which hardens by exposure to the sun, and, when boiled, answers all the purposes of English pitch. The fruit is, to the South Sea Islander, the staff of life. It bears two crops every season. Besides this, there are several varieties which ripen at diflferent periods, so that the natives have a supply of this \ialatable and nutritious food during the greater part of the year.** Our conclusion is this : That the narrative of Iloei Shin is en- titled to full credence ; that before the Anglo-Saxons invaded England j before France became a nation ; a hundred years be- fore the birth of Mohammed, and more than fourtcc.i hundred * The bread-fruit tree, like its congener, the jack-tree of India, requires care for its preservation, and its non-cultivation in a particular country at the present time does not prove its non-existence a thousand years ago. Mr. Ellis (" Polynesian Researches," chap, ii.) says the tree " is propagated by slips from the root " ; but he expresses his fear that it will in a few years become scarce, as the indolent na- tives " are generally adverse to the planting of bread-fruit trees." ill. SHORTER ESSAYS. 107 I! years before the daring Columbus ventured upon unknown waters in search of a new world, the Orientals were passing and repassing the broad Pacific, from China to the American coast, either by the shore line, where the current would aid in carrying them around and down the Mexican coast, or by a direct route over calmer seas, passing the Sandwich Islands and falling into the Mexican current a little north of Peru ; that, i>rcviou8 to the year 500, there was an empire on this continent which must liave rivaled China in civilization, laws, and good government ; that its ruler was so powerful as to maintain \m authority with- out the use of armies ; that the people had a written language ; that they used, in their reckoning of time, the Chinese cycle of sixty years ; that they had domestic animals, and used wheel carriages ; that among the chief productions of the country was a tree resembling or identical with the bread-fruit tree ; that the Buddhist religion liud been recently introduced, but had not exterminated the more ancient idolatry, which consisted in the worship of images representing spirits. These general facts wo consider established on as good authority as we could ask for — that of a Buddhist priest, probably himself one of the mission- aries to Avhom reference is made. JRemarlcs of the Abbe Brasseur de Boitrbourg.''^^ Without undertaking to defend here the argument of M. de Guignes regarding Fii-sangy recently revived by M. Gustavo d'Eichthal by the article in which he ascribed the American civilization to a Buddhist origin, an argument attacked by Klap- roth and more lately by M. Vivien de Saint-Martin, we will, since we are upon known ground, digress sufficiently to call at- tention to some errors in the article of the latter in the " Ann^e G^ographique." We shall not seek to prove that either t\\cfu- sang tree or any very similar tree existed in America ; but it is certain that most of the books of the natives that have been pre- served to our times, without counting those of the collection of M. Aubin, are made from the fibers of the bark of a tree from which the Americans made a true paper. (See Gomara, " Conquista de Mexico," t. i, p. 424 ; Landa, " Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan," p. 44 ; Humboldt, " Vues des Cordilldres," t. ii, pp. 269, 304.) Such are, among others, the "Dresden Manuscript," the manuscript of the Imperial Library, called " Mexican Manuscript, Ko. 2," the t liii I \ ^m Mr |! ■ i ■> & ilt f- I '.' i ^IM Hi 169 AN INGLORIOUS COLOIBUS. "Codex Troauo," etc., which, it may be observed, in pasHJng, are written in alphabetical characters. IVI. Vivien dc Saint-Martin in his article says that writing, properly so called, or alphabetical writing, does not exist in America ; nevertheless, it was well known in 1865 that alphabetical writing really existed, and nothing more is necessary to prove this than the work of Landa, which the scholarly geographer cites, two pages farther on, which, if not sufficient to satisfy him of its existence, should at least have de- terred him from stating the contrary in a manner so absolute. He adds that *' it has never been stated that the miserable savages of the northwest coast hud a method of writing or made paper." There may, however, have been other nations upon these coasts at an earlier date who were in j- )ssession of these two arts ; for it is known, says M. von Humboldt (" Vues des Cordillftres," t. ii, p. 96), that in the last century, " among the inhabitants of Nutka, the Mexican month of twenty days was found in use," which conveys the idea of a state of civilization passably ad- vanced. The remains of gigantic edifices have also been found from time to time in tnese quarters, certainly the works of a people more advanced in civiliz;ition than the miserable savages in question. In spite of Klaproth's skillful refutation of the hypothesis of de Guignes, it has been reproduced several times, says Alex- ander von Humboldt, by the pens of a number of estimable scholars, who think that they have found in the Virdand of Asiatic explorers more than one characteristic trait of America. It is now unquestionably established, moreover, from the ac- counts of the first Spanish explorers, which have been studied upon the spot by the Americans of our days, that the countries situated in the center of the American Continent, and upon its western coasts, ^"om the banks of the Rio Gila to the copper mines of Lake Superior, were formerly inhabited by tribes which were scarcely inferior in civilization to those of Mexico proper. They existed only in a state of decadence at the time of the Spanish conquest, and the remains of this civilization are found even now in the villages of houses of several stories in New Mexico. As to Chinese or Japanese voyages to the northwestern coasts : from time to time their traces have been thought to be found in the ports of California (Bradford, " American Antiq- uitu ditic boat were from it to SHORTER ESSAYS. 160 uities," p. 233) ; and Gomara states tliat, at the time of the expe- ditions of Cortez and Alarcon in these rej^ions, " they heard of boats which had pelicans of gold an-; silver at the i»row, which were loaded with merchandise, and which they thought to come from Cathay and China, because the sailors of these boats caused it to be understood by signs that their voyage had taken thirty days." There also exists a well-known tradition, among the iMhabit- ants of the Pacific coast of North America, that men of distant nations came formerly from beyond the sea to ti \de at the prin- cipal ports of the coast (Bustamante, " Supplemeuv to Book III of the Work of Sahagun "). It is a^.so known ^hat the northern tribes were much more peaceable than the Mexicans, and that in their country there exist "plains covered with trees, among which there are vines, mulberries, and rose-bushes." (See, in the collec- tion of Teroaux-Ccinpans, Castaneda's ''Relation du Voyage de Cibola en 1540," p. 126.) They also possessed great numbers of dogs, which carried their effects, and perhaps even the bison may have boen used as a draught animal and beast of burden ; and it is certain, at least, that the chiefs of the country had quite large herds of tauio deer and domestic bisons (see letter written by the Adelantado Soto, etc., in the " Collection of Narrations regarding Florida," edited by Ternaux-Compans, p. 47, and in the "Relation of Biedma," p. 101) ; and, according to the accounts of various authors, it is probable ♦hat they were used much us are our domestic animals. Gomara, in his "Hist. Gen. de las Indias," in several places mentiotiv" the accounts of travelers of his days, and those of the conquerors, who speak of numerous herds of domestic bisons ex- isting among the northern tribes, and which furnished them with clothing, food, and drink. Humboldt and Prescott remark that the drink must have been their blood, for the natives of these countries apjjear to have this, in common with those of China and Cochin-China, that they make no use of milk (" Tableau de la Nature," trad. Galuski, Paris, 1863, p. 213). It is known that other Indians in the northern part of the United States, and in Canada, usod certain large deers as draught animals for their sledges, in the same way that, at the present day, elks are used by the Indians of the country north of Canada. \ . f ii< '1 h i i ff I, i s Mil iff i ! ■ i i • 1 ■ 1 ■' : 170 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. M. do Saint-Mftrtin says that, before the arrival of the Span- iards, neither draught animals nor beasts of burden were known in America. What can ho call tho vicunas and llamas of Pciu, which are used as beasts of burden exactly as camels are in Asia ? (See Cieya de Leon, " Cronica del Peru," cap. ex and cxi ; and as for North America, consult Gomara, who was tho chap- lain of Cortex.) "There are also great dogs, capable of fighting with a bull, and which carry two arrobas weight (fifty pounds) upon a sort of saddle when they go to the chase." (" Hist, do his Indias," p. 289 ; see also Castofiada, " Relation de Cibola," p. 190.) In any case, before pronouncing so positively as to what is known or not known regarding tho Americans, it seems to us to be prudent to wait ; for every day, it may be said, throws some new light upon tho diverse ancient civilizations of tho continent discovered by Columbus. The "Old Stories Set Afloat " arc not always as improbable as may be thought, and M. Gustavo d'Eichthal may bo right in his reply to tho scholarly editor of the " Ann6e Geographique," that " old stories arc good things to revive when they are true old stories." . . . " The Abb6 de Bourbourg says, in his introduction to the " Popol-Vuh " : " It has been known to scholars for nearly a cen- tury that the Chinese were acquainted with tho American Con- tinent in the fifth centuiy of our era. . . . Readers, who may desire to make comparisons between tho Japanese description of Fa-sang and some country in America, will find astonishing analogies in tho countries described by Castaneda and Fra Mar- cos de Niza in the province of Cibola." ... " Speaking of the Mexican religion, he is constrained to say : " Asia appears to have been the cradle of this religion, and of the social institu- tions which it consecrated." The hook, entitled " Fusang ; or, the Discoven/ of America by Chlmse Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century^'' by Charles G. Leland {12mo, London, 1875). This work opens with a memoir of Carl Friedrich Neumann. This is followed by a translation of Professor Neumann's argu- ment regarding Fu-sang, which is succeeded by a chapter of comments and suggestions by Mr. Leland. Then follows a chap- ter regarding the navigation of the North Pacific, and embody- m ii. SHORTER ESSAYS. 171 ing a letter from Colonel Uarclay Kennon, sotting forth the ease with which a voyage may bo made from Asia to America, by way of the Aleutian iHlandH, oven in an open canoe, and calling attention to the frequency with which this voyage is made by the natives of those regions. Next come a chapter of remarks upon Colonel Kennon's letter and a chapter detailing the venturesome travels of other Buddhist priests. The affinities of Asiatic and American languages arc next considered, the pos- hiblc connection of the Mound-builders with the Mexicans is tlii-n discussed, and attention is called to the wide distribution of images of Buddha. The arguments of de Guignes, Klaproth, and d'Eichthal are next reviewed. Then follow two letters from Theos. Simson and E. Bretschneider respectively, with comments by Mr. Leland. An appendix, describing the Ainos, and discus- sing the resemblance between the American Indians and the tribes of Northeastern Asia, closes the work. It should be remarked that this book is an amplification of an article written by Mr. ^^cland, which appeared in the " Gen- tleman's Magazine" many years before, and Professor Williams is, therefore, wrong in stating that Mr. Bancroft's digest of the arguments upon the subject preceded Mr. Leland's argument. As the article from which the following extracts are taken was credited by the "Chinese Recorder" (from which it is here copied) to the " Gentleman's Magazine," it is probably Mr. Le- land's early argument. Who (discovered America P Evidence that the Xexc World was known to the Chinese fourteen hundred years ago. "" . . . There are among the Chinese records, not merely vague references to a country to the west of the Atlantic, but there is also a circumstantial account of its discovery by the Chinese long before Columbus was born. A competent authority on such matters, J. ITanlay, the Chi- nese interpreter at San Francisco, has lately written an essay on this subject, from which we gather the following startling state- ments, drawn from Chinese historians and geographers. Fourteen hundred years ago, even, America had been discov- ered by the Chinese, and described by them. They stated that land to be about twenty thousand Chinese miles distant from China. About five hundred years after the birth of Christ, ; ! ! t m% \ r III . } \ I ■ : 172 A\ IN(!LORIOUS COLUMBCS. IJiidilhist priests visltod tluTo, and brouglit hack tlio news that they lia«l met with HiuMhiHt itlols and religiouo writings In the country. Their deHcriptions, in many rc8|»octH, rcNcmhlo those of the Spaniards a thousand years hiter. They called the coun- try ** 7')(-aan{/,^* after a tree that grew there, whoso leaves re- Bcmhlo those of the haniboo, of whoso bark the natives made cloths and paper, and whoso fruit they ate. These particulars correspond exactly and remarkably with those given by the American historian, Prescott, about the maguey-tree in Mexico, lie states that the Aztecs prepared a pulp for paper-making out of the bark of this tree. Then, even its leaves were tjsed for thatching ; its fibers for making ropes ; its roots yielded a nourishing food ; and its sap, by means of fermentation, was made Into an intoxicating drink. The accounts given by the Chinese and Spaniards, although a thousand years apart, agree in stating that the natives did not possess any iron, but only copper ; that they made all their tools for working in stone and metals out of a mixture of copper and tin ; and that they, in comparison with the nations of Europe and Asia, thought but little of the worth of silver and gold. The religious customs and forms of worship presented the same characteristics to the Chi- nese fourteen hundred years ago as to the Spaniards four hun- dred years ago. There is, moreover, a remarkable resemblance between the religion of the Aztecs and the Buddhism of the Chinese, as well as between the manners and customs of the Aztecs and those of the people of China. There is also a great similarity between the features of the Indian tribes of Middle and South America and those of the Chinese, and, as Ilanlay, the Chinese interpreter of whom we spoke above, states, between the accent and most of the monosyllabic words of the Chinese and Indian languages. The writer gives a list of words which point to a close relationship, and infers therefrom that there must have been emigration from China to the continent at a most early period, as the official accounts of the Buddhist priests fourteen hundred years ago notice these things as existing even at that time. Per- haps now, old records may be recovered in China, which may furnish full particulars of this question. It is, at any rate, remarkable, and confirmative of the idea of emigration from China to America at some remote period, that U I SIIOHTER ESSAYS. 173 at the time of tho «lis(ovi'ry of Anu'rifa l>y the Spanianls, the lutlian triheH on the coaHt of the I'acitio, opponite to China, fi)r the most part enjoyed a Htate of culture of ancient growth, while tho inhabitants of the Atlantic shore were found by the Kuro- ])eanH in a state of original barbarism. . . . Letter of Thco«. Slniflon/"'' *• ' Buddhist Priests in America.' Under this heading,"" a quer- ist in the last number of * Notes and Queries ' submits to inquiry a statement of Professor Carl Neumann, of Munich, respecting tlio supposed entry of Buddhist jjricsts into the American Con- tinent some tliirteon hundred years ago, and their passage into the land of tho Aztecs, which they called Jui-sauf/y ' after tho Chinese name of the American aloe.' " Now, in the first place, this statement, if true, infcrentially proves much more than it asserts ; the Mexican aloe is a native of Mexico only, and it is manifest, therefore, that if these sup- ])Osed Chinese travelers named the country after the Chinese name of tlic Mexican aloe, that i)lant must have been M'ell known to them before the period of their visit to its native country ; hence, we are carried further back, to a time when the Mexican aloe must have been known in Cliina, and we must allow a con- siderable period for it to have become so well known as to sug- gest to the travelers a name for a newly discovered — or, as it must needs have been in this view, a rediscovered — country. This consideration takes us back into the question of the original peopling of the American Continent, to the age of stone or bronze, perhaps, which is beyond the intended scope of the querist's quotation. " At the period * when the land of Fii-sanf/ is first mentioned by historians,' China, exclusive of the neighbouring 'barbarous tribes,' over whom she held sway, was not so extensive as she is at present, but comprised only what we now call tho Northern and Central Provinces. Does the Mexican aloe grow in that part of tho country at all ? I am inclined to think not, though I can not speak positively upon the point. In Canton it is said by the Chinese to have been introduced from the Philippine Isl- ands, and is called Spanish (or Philippine) hemp, its fibers being sometimes employed in the manufacture of mosquito-nets. "But thQ fu-sang (or, more corveciXy , the fu-sang /ree), as i I ! I ' I 1 ; [ I »t I I iiii! '■n lU AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. doscribcd in Cliinese botanical works, appears to bo a raalvaccous plant ; at any rate, whatever it may be, it certainly is not the Mexican aloe, or anything similar to it. " The land of Busang is described by Chinese anthers as be- ing in the Eastern Sea, in the j^lace where the sun rises. Consid- ering the geographical limits of China at the time referred to (some thirteen Imndred years ago), surely we need not look far- ther thi.ii Japan for a very probable identification of the F\{-sa/>!/ J^. I*rctsc/inei- dcr, Jf. D. ■'* " In the May number of the * Chinese Recorder ' there is an article, reprodu i;/,\n which there are no men, but only women, whose b< os are completely covered with hair. When they wish to become pregnant, they bathe themselves in a certain river. The women have no mannna>, but tufts of hair on the neck, by means of which they suckle their children. "Upon these vague and incredible traditions of a Buddhist monk, several European savants have based the hypothesis that the Cl-'nesehad discovered America 1,^00 years ago. Nevertl',> less, it appears to me that these Sinologues have not succeeded in robbing Columbus of the honour of having discovered Amer- ica. They might have spared themselves the writing of such learned treatises on this subject. It appears to me that the ver- dict passed upon the value of the information of the liuddhist monk Jf((i-s/un by Father Hyacinth is the niost correct. This well-known Sinologue adds the following words merely, after the translation of the article ' J'''i(-sa»ff,'' out of the 'History of the Southern Dynasties ' : • Ifui-s/u'n appears to have been a consum- mate humbug.' (Cf. * The People of Central Asia,' by V. Hya- cinth.) *' I cannot, indeed, understand what ground wo have for be- liovini? that I'^i-sann is America. We can not lav jrreat stress ii]>on the asserted distance, for every one knows how liberal the Chinese are with numbers. By tamed stags we can, at all events, only understand reindeer. But these are found as freqiuMitly in Asia as in America. 3Iention is also made of horses m Fii-sang. This does not at all agree with America, for it is well known that horses were first brought to America in the sixteenth century. Neumann appears to base his hypothesis on the assumption that tl>e tree fu-sang is synonymous M'ith the ^Fexican aloe, 3tr. Sampson has already refuted this error. ('Notes and Queries,' vol, \\\\ p. 78.) "According to the descriptions and drawings of the tree,^»- sa)r'" s. — Wkkk tiiu CiiiNESK here 3,000 i EARS AGO ? " Whjit if antiquarians are able to prove that the Chinese were the earliest settlers of this continent ? That from the loins of the childreti of the ' Flowery Kingdom ' are descended the native tribes whom the white pioneers found possessing the land ? This theory has been often advanced. A few weeks ago a party of minors, who were running a drift in the bank on one of the creeks in the mining district of Cassiar, made a remarkable find. At a depth of several feet the shovel of one of the party raised about thirty of the brass coins which have passed current in China for many centuries. They were strung on what appeared to be an iron wire. This wire went to dust a few minutes after being exposed ; but the coins appeared as bright and new as when they first left the Celestial mint. They have been brought to Vic- toria, and submitted to the inspection of intelligent Chinamen, who unite in pronouncing them to be upward of three thousand years old. They bear a date about twelve hundred years ante- rior to the birth of Christ. And now the question arises, how the coins got to the place where they were found. The miners say there was no evidence of the ground having been disturbed by man before their picks and shovels penetrated it ; and the fact that the coins are little worn goes to show that they were not long in circulation before being hidden or lost at Cassiar. Whether they were the property of Chinese mariners who were Avrocked on the north coast, about three thousand years ago, and remained to people the continent ; or whether the Chinese min- ers who went to Cassijvr seven or eight years ago deposited the collection where it was found, for the purpose of establishing for their nation a prior claim to the land — may never be known. But the native tribes of this coast resemble the Mongolian race 80 closely, th.at one would not be surprised at any time to hear of the discovery of yet more startling evidences of the presence of Chinese on this coast before the coming of the whites." CHAPTER XI. REMARKS OP MM. VIVIEN VK SAIXT-MAUTIX AND LUCIEN ADAM. "An OKI Story Set Afloat" — The route to Fu-sanff—hlcntttj of the AInos with the M'cn-thin — Ta-han near the mouths of the Ainoor River — Route of liuddh- ist misflionarica to the Amoor — Civilization of Budilhint origin — Pillars with DuddhlHt inscriptions — Necessity of accurate translation — Twenty thousand li signify only a very great distance — The fu-Muff tree — Warlike habits — Lack of draught animals — Civilization of Mexico — Difflcidty of the voyoge — Conclusion — Remarks of M. Adam — Chinese acquainted with America — Ease of the journey — Travels of Buddhist monks — Points characteristic of Ameri> can civilization — Ten-year cycle — The fu-»ang tree — The Vung tree — The hibiscus — The Dnjanda cordala — The maguey, or agave — Zoological objec- tions — Punishments — Slave children —Absurdities — Legend of Quetzulcoatl — lie came from the East — The legend a myth — Colleges of priests — Prac- tice of confession — The alleged figure of Huddha — The elephant's head — Lack of tusks — America for the Americans — Theory that ffwui Shitn repeated the stories of Chinese sailors — Remarks of M. do Ilellwald and Professor Joly. "An Old Story Set Afloat'''— by M. Vivien de L int-Martin."*' M* i!P|i(l'il(i CONDENSED TRANSLATION. It was the scholarly and industrious do Guignes, the justly renowned author of that monument of Oriental erudition enti- tled " The History of the Huns," who was the first to make the name of Fu-aang known in Europe. . . . An erroneous opinion on thi . subject does not diminish the merit of his great works, any more than it is affected by his other idea, equally strange, of the Egyptian origin of the Chinese. . . . As the route from Leaotong to Fii-sang passes by way of Japan, Wen-shin, and Ta-han, the precise situation of the coun- try of Ta-han becomes of interest in considering the true loca- tion of Fu-aan^. This can not be determined with certainty from the statements of the historian. The point in Japan which is touched en route is not specified, the directions are but vaguely i 1 ^ ill I ! 180 A\ IXGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. i U I If, noted, and, worso than all, tlio dlstanct's that are indicated can not 1)0 rolled upon, for wo are not only ignorant as to the length of the // (an extremely variable nu'a.siire) whloh in referred to in the account, but it whould be remembered that the Chinese sail- ors can have had but very imperfect means of measuring the distances, and their figures can therefore be taken as nothing more than rough approximations. Hence, we can be guided only by the general indications. Fortunately, there are several which prevent us from straying far from the true course. The Hairy Men among the mountains of Northern Japan, and the Wen-ahiUf or Painted (or Tattooed) Men, are clearly the Ainos ; from which it follows that the coun- try of the Wen-8hi7i must be looked for along the shores of the Sea of Japan (lying between the Japanese Archipelago and the coast of Tartary), either at the northern extremity of the great island of Niphon, or in the island of Jesso (which is also called Matsraai), or, finally, upon some point of the Asiatic Continent (Mant(diooria) which borders the Japanese Sea on the west. From the land of the Wen-ahm, a maritime route conducts us to the country designated by the name of Ta-han. Neither the distance (five thousand li) nor the direction (toward the east) can be of much service to us in looking for this last point. 17ortui tely, there is another document, which furnishes ub with indications so precise as to remove all doubts, which are not scattered by the account of the Chinese coasting voyage. The result, as will be seen, is to place Ta-han near the mouths of the Amoor, perhaps in the great island of Saghalien (or Tarakai), which lies opposite them, but more probably upon the Asiatic Continent. This document is a description of the journey, written by Buddhist missionaries of the time of the T^ang dynasty (618 to 907 A. D.), who went to preach their doctrine among the barbar- ous hordes and half-savage tribes of Central and Eastern Asia. It is to this dissemination of the Buddhist religion, dating at least as far back as the first half of the fifth century of our era, that the shamanism of the nomadic tribes of Centi'al Asia is due. The Buddhist missionaries of China, who undertook this voy- age, set forth from the great bend which the Hoang-ho makes west of Pekin, and crossed the desert of Gobi, thus gaining the principal encampment of the Turkish Iloei-khe, from which they ttlii jvoy- lakes the I they REMARKS OF M. VIVIEN DE SAINT-MARTIN. 187 afterward reached the celebrated I^fongnlian city of Caracorum, of which the ruins may still be seen, not far from the sources of the Orkhon, about one hundred and fifty leagues to the south of Lake Haikal. From that point the route continued to this lake, and, turning to the east, they, after having visited a number of Turkish and Mongolian tribes of the Daourian region, and of the high valleys of the Amoor, reached the country of the iV vhc, a people whom the Mantchoos (who pronoimce their name *'J)Jour(ye^*) regard as the parent tribe of their nation. This country lies about half way down the Amoor Iliver. Hero we are upon known ground. During the ten years that the llussians have had possession of this vast basin of the Amoor, it has been thoroughly explored, maps and descriptions of the country have been published, and the land and its people have become familiar to us. The indigenes are miserable tribes of semi-savages, living by the chase and by fisheries. They be- long to the nation of the Tunguses, which is a branch of the race of the Mantchoos. There are some tribes, however (the Ghiliaks), spread along the sea-shore, which belong to the insular race, and differ but slightly from the Ainos, whose long beards, and the singular development of whose hairy system, not less than their pliysical appearance and the combination of their physiognomi- cal traits, distinguish them broadly from the beardless Tartarian races which arc confined to the continent. The few germs of rudimentary civilization, of which the trace is found among the tribes of the Amoor, are of Buddhist origin ; they undoubtedly appertain to several different epochs ; hut the oldest are connected with the missions of the sixth cent- ury and the three following centuries, which are mentioned in the texts which de Guigncs was the first to describe. This is a real service, ciuiong many others, which the scholarly author of the "History of the Huns" has rendered to science, and of which his error as to the location of Ta-han does not at all diminish the merit. A very curious discovery, made some ten years ago, upon the banks of the lower portion of the Amoor River, by one of the first Russian explorers, confirms the accuracy of the old accounts collected by the Chinese historians. Near the Ghiliak " Village of the Tower," the remains of pillars were found, hav- ing Chinese and Mongolian inscriptions, containing Buddhist formulas. The pillars are delineated, and the inscriptions copied, iW It I Hill Hi III I' !t i III: i!!^ :i t ! If! lllli' f ■ ■ i I'll}; : I l' ' ' ■ t tt Iff fill 188 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. in the interesting volume published at Paris in 1861 by M. de Sabin (from recent Russian material) under the title, "The Amoor River; its History, Geography, and Ethnography." One of the inscriptions, if the translation is exact, is of the time of the Yuan (Mongolian) dynasty, which reigned in China from 1260 to 1338 A. D. ; but there were older establishments there, for the inscrip- tion itself speaks of a re-establiahed convent.* We therefore now have direct proof that the missionaries of the religion of Buddha (or of Ih, as the Chinese write his name) not only intro- duced shamanism throughout all Central Asia, but pushed to the east and descended the valley of the Amoor to the shores of the Eastern Sea ; while other propagators of this worship, so distinguished for its proselyting spirit, overspread (by the mari- time route) all the shores of that sea enclosed between the Japa- nese Archipelago and Mantchooria, which our maps designate by the name of the Sea of Japan. The country of Ta-han, at which the two parties of missionaries arrived, one from the west by land, and the other from the south by sea, and which was, for both, the extreme limit of their journeys, can be found no- where else than near the mouth of the Amoor. The maritime voyage carries us in this direction, and the terrestrial route can lead us nowhere else. It is, in fact, said of the Yu-cJie (the Tun- guses of the valley of the Amoor, near the middle of its course) that by a ten days' journey to the north the country of Ta-han may be reached. . . . Arrived at Ta-han, we are, as it were (in spite of the dis- tance), upon the threshold of Mc-sanr/, the final point of our search ; for the single Buddhist traveler, who made the name of the mysterious country of l^-sanff known to the Chinese, set forth from Ta-han, and no intermediate country is mentioned. But, in this controverted question, it is a matter of the first importance to have a translation free from suspicion. Although we do not wish to cast any doubt upon the general accuracy of de Guignes's translation, which has, in addition, been criticised by Klaproth, nevertheless, in order to have all possible assur- ance of freedom from error, we have had recourse to the inex- haustible kindness of M. Stanislas Jnlien, and give the literal version with which this scholar kindly favoured us. It may be depended upon that he has given a scrupulously faithful tran- * Sabin, p. 168. -^^ mex- itcral lay be tran- REMARKS OF M. VIVIEN DE SAINT-MARTIN. 189 script of the Chinese text. (This translation is given in Chapter XVL) A few short remarks will suffice to show that it is quite im- possible that the country of Fu-sang could have been located in America. To the reasons, sufficiently decisive, which were given by Klaproth, it is now possible to add others more direct and more convincing. First, as to the distance. We have already seen how dan- gerous it is to rely upon statements of this nature contained in Chinese books, especially when they relate to great distances in countries that are known but little or not at all ; and, when they are given by men who are generally ignorant, they are without any guarantee whatever of even approximate accuracy. As- suredly this is the case as to the account which we are now con- sidering. It is evident that, in the mouth of the Buddhist mis- sionary to whom the Chinese are indebted for their only knowl- edge of the country of Fu-sang, twenty thousand li signify nothing more than a very great distance. Nevertheless, if we adhere to the letter of his account and to the direction, " to the east," where are we conducted ? Leaving the neighbourhood of the lower Amoor, turning past the island of Saghalien, passing by the way of the Kurile Islands and along the long chain of the Aleutian Islands (i. e., following the line the most favour- able to the American hypothesis), we scarcely reach beyond the peninsula of Alaska, and are placed in the midst of a region having a climate that is almost polar, and of which the miser- able indigenous population does not correspond in any way with the statements of the text. For those who have thought that Fii-sang might be sought for as far as Mexico, we would simply observe that the part of the American coast to which the twenty thousand U conduct us is distant more than fifty degrees, or at least twelve hundred leagues, from the Mexican coast.* This first argument would seem sufficient ; but other impossi- bilities are revealed by merely reading the text. The description of the fu-sang tree, and of its uses, is abso- lutely foreign to America, either to Mexico, or to the northwest coast. Klaproth very justly remarked that the description, by * This argument falls to the ground, If Ta-han is located either In tlie Aluu- tiaa Islands or in Alaska. — E. P. V. i t ; I . I i 1 ( 1 Ml !ili M v: W3 lllfl^ 190 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. confusion, or from some other cause, appears to apply to the Morns jmpyrifera, although the tree commonly known in China by the name oifu-sang must be the Rose of China, the Hibiscus rosa Chinensis. It has never been said that the miserable savages of the northwestern coast of America had a method of writing, or that they made paper; and it could not be said of the more southerly tribes, or of the nations of Mexico, whose whole life was always a combat, "that they did not make war." The cattle (if this terra is applied to the bisons) have never been employed as draught animals by any of the indigenous tribes of America. The aboriginal Americans have never had carts drawn by horses, cattle, or deer, for two excellent reasons : first, because the Americans, before the arrival of the Spaniards, had no horses ; and, second, because they knew no more of draught animals than of beasts of burden. The tribes of America had no idea of raising animals for their milk ; they knew nothing either of milk or of the articles m^de from it, and therefore made no cheese. It seems useless to insist further on these radical points of difference between Fic-sang and America. Those who seek for Fii-sang in Mexico should reflect that, at the time of the old Toltec monarchy (according to the historic traditions, which are our only guides), it then had, in its local civilization, religious monuments, palaces, and numerous cities, of which it is surpris- ing that the Buddhist account says not a word. So that, on one side, no part of the story is applicable to any country or tribe whatever of America, and, on the other side, the account says not a single word of the only things which would most strike a stranger coming into Western America in the times of the Tol- tec monarchy.* We have said nothing of the difficulties, or rather the mate- rial impossibilities, of a navigation, going and returning, between the Sea of Japan and America, at the time spoken of in the Bud- dhist account ; as contradictions and radical impossibilities have accumulated, it would appear too fastidious to insist upon fur- * M. Vivien overlooks the fact that the Toltec civilization may have been founded mainly upon the teachings of the Buddhist monks, and that, therefore, the religious monuments, palaces, etc., may not have existed until after the date of their arrival. — E. P. V. ther c an ac REMARKS OF M. VIVIEN DE SAINT-MARTIN. 191 ther details. It should be noted that reference is made, not to an accidental voyage, but to a communication, regular, and, as it seems, habitual.* That de Guignes may have believed in the possibility of such a communication, in the state in which the ideas of Europe then were in regard to the northwestern coast of the American Continent above California, can be conceived. In order to see how far the general notions prevailing a hundred years ago were from the truth, it is only necessary to cast our eyes upon the map made by Philippe Buache to accompany the memoir of de Guignes. This map, it is true, would make d'An- ville smile ; but Buache was not a d'Anville, and it is not neces- sary to go back a hundred years to see how frequently it is the case that men, otherwise sagacious, have but a vague idea of the important part which the study of positive geography should have in the solution of scientific questions. It would remain to seek the true situation of Fii-sang, if this question had the least importance ; but its sole interest lies in its having been attached to the complicated question of the origin of the Americans; which has given rise to as many vain hypothe- ses as useless and false speculations. Like all problems in which the effort is to penetrate the depths of the centuries in order to find the half-obliterated traces of events anterior to history, this question presents a powerful attraction ; but such researches have their conditions and their limits, to which scarcely any attention has been paid in the investigations regarding America. Fu-sang has nothing to do with American questions. From that which the Buddhist priest tells us, it is evident that he speaks of a country in which there existed a certain degree of civilization — which excludes all the savage countries of Asia to the north of Ta-han (Eastern Siberia and Kamtchatka). It is therefore necessary to look in some other direction. The disposition of the insular countries of Eastern Asia leaves only one : that to the southeast or the south. Klaproth thought that Fu-sang might be a part of Niphon, the largest island of the archipelago ; and this supposition is, as has been said, the most probable. It be- comes a certainty, if, as Klaproth affirms, Fu-sang is in fact one of the names which Japan has borne. I will add only a word on the subject of the memoir of M. Gustave d'Eichthal. The essay of this scholarly author is an at- * I can find no autboiity for this statement. — E. P. V. ; ( \ : 1 id '. i '?' t I I f[ If Itl-lj..; 1f m^^ If I'- 192 AN IXGLOlilOUS COLUMBUS. tempt to prove that the Mexican civilization not only comes from Asia, but that it has a Buddhistic origin. It is for this rea- son, evidently, that he has warmly taken in hand the defense of the ideas of de Guignes, which, in fact, if they could be sus- tained, would furnish a direct explanation of the analogies which, as some believe, have been discovered between certain delinea- tions figured upon the Aztec monuments and some of the monu- ments of India. Whether well founded or not, these analogies have no neces- sary connection with the question of Fu-sany. This question is entirely one of geography, and it is only from this stand-point that I have regarded it. The other question has an archaeologi- cal side, of which the examination should be conducted by those more competent than myself. Condensed Translatio7i of an Article read by M. Xucien Adam before the International Congress of Americanists, at Nancy, 1875." It is not my intention to fully go over the discussion regard- ing the Chinese account of the country of Fu-sang (dating from the fifth century), which discussion has been going on from 1761 to the present time ; but it is plain that the advantage remains with de Guignes, at least as far as regards the geographical de- termination of the location of this country. The elements of this first part of the problem are in substance as follows : Li-yen, a Chinese historian who lived during the first part of the seventh century, speaks of a country called Fu-sang, dis- tant more than twenty thousand li from China, toward the east. He said that, in order to reach that country, it was necessary to set forth from the coast of the province of Leao-tong, situated to the north of Pe-hin; that, after traveling twelve thousand li, Japan, properly so called — that is to say, Niphon — was reached; that from there, after a voyage of seven thousand li to the northeast, the country of the Wen-shin was reached; and that five thousand li from this last-named country, toward the east, the country of Ta-han was found, from which the country of Fu- sang could be reached, which lay twenty thousand li farther east. The total distance from Leao-tong to Fu-sang, touching I I I \) REMARKS OF M. LUCIEN ADAM. 193 successively at Niphon, Wen-shin, and Ta-han, was therefore forty-four thousand U. Of these five terms two are known, Leao-tong and Niphon, De Guignes and Klaproth agree in placing the third in the island of Jesse. But while de Guignes identifies Ta-han with Kara- tchatka and Fu-sang with California, Klaproth thinks that the fourth country named must be the island of Krafto, and the fifth the southeastern coast of Niphon. I agree with Messrs. Neumann, de Paravey, Perez, d'Eich- thal, Godron, and Leland, that upon these two points de Guignes has the best of the argument as against Klaproth, and that in fact the Chinese have known, at least from the sixth century, of the existence of the New World; since discovered in the year 1000 by the Icelander Leif Erikson, in 1488 by Jean Cousin of Dieppe, and in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. I think it important to add the fact mentioned by Com- mander Maury and Colonel Kennon,* an old officer of the United States Navy, that it is possible to go from China to America by way of the islands of Japan, the Kurile Islands, the coast of Kamtchatka, the Aleutian Islands, and Alaska, without ever los- ing sight of land for more than a few hours, and that the dis- covery of America would not present any very serious difficulty to Chinese sailors. After having established the fact of this discovery, by the geographical article of the historian Li-yen, de Guignes pub- lished a description of Fu-sang, borrowed by him from 3Ici 2\can-lin, which was published for the first time in a portion of the " Great Annals of China," entitled Nan Szu. The story of the Buddhist monk is rendered the more proba- ble from the established fact that in the fifth century of the Christian era numerous Buddhist monks, actuated entirely by religious motives, accomplished voyages nearly as long as, and certainly more dangerous than, that from Leao-tong to the coast of California. Again, at the time when the predecessors of Iloei Shin visited Fu-sang, Samarcand, situated almost in the center of Asia, was incontestably one of the principal centers of Buddhist propagandism. * Mr. Leland has, in his book entitled " Fuaang," inserted a letter from Colo nel Kennon, who, during the years 1833-'56, was connected with the expedition sent out for the purpose of surveying the shores of Bchring's Strait. 18 sill i 'I HI I I [ f ! 'I ■■ 194 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. From this double point of view, it is far from being improba- ble that, coming into the country lying in the neighbourhood of the Araoor River, the monks of Samarcand should have heard a country mentioned as lying far to the east, and that these apos- tles should have sailed in the direction of the rising sun, coast- ing along by the way of the islands which connect the Old World with the New. For the rest, it is necessary to determine whether tbv de- scription of Fu-mng given by Hoei Shin is applicable to any particular portion of the American Continent with a precision such that we will be compelled to consider the Chinese monk as an eye witness. To this question I answer, without hesitation, that a very small number of the details reported by Hoei Shin present a character that is truly American ; that the remainder are purely fanciful and absurd, and that the story as a whole can not be considered as testimony worthy of credit. The lack of iron, the paper made from bark, and the absence of metallic money, are indeed points that are characteristic of America ; but it should also be borne in mind that the same facts were found in the history of several other countries situ- ated to the east of China, notably in the Loo Choo Islands. The cycle of ten years is used in Peru ; but Fu-sang can not be placed in South America, and Mr. Leland, who does not wish to lose the benefit of the decennial cycle, supposes that in the fifth century Mexico may have been inhabited by the ancestors of the present Peruvians I Except these four statements — of which the first three are not exclusively American, and the last is not applicable to the civilization of North America — I can not see anything worthy of credit in the account of Jloei Shin. In the first place, the fii-sang tree described by this monk can not be the maguey, or great American aloe. "I do not know," said Dr. Godron, speaking in 1868, "to what botanical species the tree mentioned by the Chinese narrator can be re- ferred." The scholarly botanist has not changed his opinion, and has kindly written me a note which settles the question definitely : " The Buddhist monk, Hoei Shin, describes, as existing in the country of Fu-sang, a tree of which the fruit is red and pear- REMARKS OF M. LUCIEN ADAM. 195 shaped, and which produces tliia fruit all the year round ; its leaves being similar to those of the tree Vung, and its sprouts to those of the bamboo. Some have believed that in this plant they recognized the Jlibiscus rosa Sinensis or the Jlibiscus S)/riaciis. The second is out of the question, since it is a native of no other country than Syria. It is cultivated as an ornamental tree in our gardens. The first grows spontaneously in China, as well as in Cochin-China, according to Laureiro ; it is cultivated in all the gardens of the two peninsulas of India, and may also be seen in our orangeries. These two species of hibiscus do not have red or pear-shaped fruit. Their fruit is surrounded by large bracts, which env6lop it ; it is capsular, and opens at ma- turity. " It has also been said that the fu-sang tree is the Dryanda conlata. This plant, of the family of the Euphorbiaces, is a tree of little height, which grows wild in Japan. The fruit is a globular and woody capsule of the size of a walnut with its husk ; it contains several kernels, from which a very acrid poisonous oil is extracted, which is much used as an oil for lamps, and which in China bears the name of Mu-yeu, The leaves ai'e large, and disposed in tufts at the ends of the branches ; th( have a leaf-stalk, are heart-shaped, and do not in any way resemble (any more than those of the Hibiscus rosa Sinensis and Sy- riacits) the leaves of the bamboo, which are shaped like those of the grasses. The bamboos appertain to an entirely different grand division of the vegetable kingdom from the Malvaces and the Euphorbiaces. But Iloei Shin was no bot- anist. "The maguey, or Agave Americana, answers still less to the description of the Buddhist monk ; its fruit is neither red nor pear-shaped, but is a hexagonal capsule, and its extremely large loaves form a rosette about the roots. "Of the plants to which that mentioned by the Buddhist monk has been compared, none are American, with the exception of the agave, and, moreover, it seems as impossible to reconcile any plant of China or Japan with the description, as any plant of the New World. The question seems to us, up to the pres- ent time, to be insoluble." I remark, upon the subject of the fu-sang tree, that Iloei Shin does not mention the long thorns which characterize the maguey, "' I i fif!' 190 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS, and docs not say anything of the alcoholic liquor which is ex- tracted in Mexico from the heart of the plant. The zoology of the Buddhist monk is no more correct than his botany, for horses were brought to America from Europe in the sixteenth century ; and it is well known that at tlie time of the conquest the inhabitants of the New World had neither beasts of burden nor draught animals. The pretended herds of deer of Fit-sany are evidently herds of reindeer ; and as to the cattle, or bisons, they have been found domesticated, not upon the coast of the Pacific, where we would naturally look for l'\- sang, but rather in the ancient country of Cibola — that is to say, in the region now known as New Mexico, where the houses are constructed of unburned bricks, and where the Indians, called Pueblo Indians, live in fortified towns, in order to defend them- selves against the incursions of the red-skins. Messrs. d'Eichthal and Leland have ingeniously sought to explain this part of the account of Iloei Shin by substituting, for horses, animals of a great height, and with branching horns, which the Spaniards call '• horse-deer," and by transporting Fu- sang into the interior of the continent, because of the bisons found in Cibola. But the details given by the monk, relative to the construction of the houses, to the cities, and to the military weapons, absolutely exclude New Mexico, Arizona, and Califor- nia itself. M. d'Eichthal has endeavoured to explain the idle tale of the two prisons, by the dogmas as to future punishment held by the Mandans : the prison of the north being understood as hell, and that of the south as paradise. ¥^hat, then, becomes of the mar- riages contracted by the prisoners, and the children sold as slaves, the boys at the age of eight years and the girls at that of line ? Evidently Hoei Shin speaks of temporal punishment and of prisons in the present life. Of the ceremonies of marriage, the punishments inflicted on criminals of the different classes of society, and of the coun- try inhabited by white women, I can see nothing to say, except that it is all imaginary, and stamped with the imprint of mani- fest absurdity. I now hasten to discuss the most important question raised by the account. Is it certain, or even credible, that Iloei Shin found Fu-sang- America converted to Buddhism, as he expressly ; m REMARKS OF M. LUCIEN ADAM. 197 declared? If the apostles, who came from Samarcand, spread abroad the worship of Buddha, and with it the sacred books and holy images of that religion, we should expect to find some- thing of all this in their traditionary history (since writing was unknown), and in their monuments. History, properly so called, is absolutely mute concerning any religious revolution of the fifth century. It is true, however, that this silence might be explained by claiming that the natives formerly had books, which have been destroyed. Let us, there- fore, examine their traditions, and see whether, as has been thought by some, Quetzalcoatl, the god of the city of Cholula, may not have been one of the five monks of Samarcand. According to Motolinia, Quetzalcoatl was a white man, of good height, having a large forehead, and great eyes ; his hair was long and black ; he wore a large beard, trimmed to a round shape. He was chaste and peaceable, and very moderate in all things. So far was he from asking that the blood of men, or oven of animals, should be shed in sacrifice, that he held no of- ferings as agreeable except those of bread, flowers, or perfume ; he prohibited all acts of violence, and detested war. Finally, he lacerated his body with the thorns of the agave, and recom- mended the practice of the most severe penances. I admit that the resemblance is specious ; but if there is one point upon which the legend is particularly plain, it is that Que- tzalcoatl came from a country situated to the east of America, and that, when he took leave of his disciples on the eastern coast, he told them that white men, bearded like himself, would come by sea from the east and subdue the entire country. It is said that the cause of Montezuma's ruin was his blind faith in this prophecy. To this first reason for doubting that Quetzal- coatl can have been a Buddhist priest, there may be added a second, which I think decisive. Quetzalcoatl, who, according to the legend, came from Tula to Cholula — that is to say, from one Toltec capital to another — appeared as the ideal representative of the Toltec race ; but before he was invested with this marvelous form, under which there was poorly concealed an energetic pro- test of the vanquished nation against the belligerent disposition and sanguinary tastes of the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl had been a god similar in appearance to all the rest. At Tula his visage was hideous. At Cholula his body was that of a man, and his head I 1 I "! ( I 198 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. » that of a bird with a red beak. Finally, at a much older period, Quctzalcoatl had been, in the north, purely and simply a bird, representing the hieroglyphical sign of the air ; and, in the south, sometimes an aerolite, and sometimes a serpent. The Quctzalcoatl of the legend is, therefore, a personage not less fabulous than the Saturn of the Latins, than Bochica, the legendary white man of the Musca Indians, or Manco Capac, the legislator of the Incas.* In America, as in Europe, the golden age, or age of peace, has been a popular fancy, and it may be affirmed that during the fifth century the New World was the theatre of incessant wars, which is, moreover, attested by the immense defensive works discovered in the valleys of the Gila, the Colorado, the Ohio, and the Mississippi. As to the colour of the personage in whom the ideal of the golden age is incarnated, it should be remarked that Quctzalcoatl has often been represented with a red visage, and that among all nations, not belonging to the Caucasian race, whiteness of the skin has been considered a sort of blessing, im- plying a divine mission or a superior nature. The existence in Mexico of religious orders or of colleges of priests, of which the members took vows of asceticism, of poverty, and of mortification of the body, does not necessarily imply the preaching either of Buddhism or of Christianity, for America is not the only country in which men who were not connected with either of these two great religions have united themselves to practice frightful austerities in common. As for the volun- tary tortures esteemed as honourable by the Mandan Indians, some of them bear a close resemblance to the tortures which the fanatics of East India inflict upon themselves ; but, as has been very judiciously remarked by M. Foucaux, these practices point us to Brahmanism rather than to Buddhism. Finally, it is no- torious that the races of the New World have, in their life as hunters, and in their perpetual wars, acquired an incredible power of supporting suffering stoically, and that most of them systematically submit their young warriors to the most cruel trials of their endurance. The practice of auricular confession by the natives of Mexico * The same course of reasoning in regard to the myths that in New Mexico and Arizona have gathered about the name of Montezuma, would prove, quite aa conclusively, that no such chieftain ever lived. — ^E. P. V, REMARKS OF M. LUCIEN ADAM. 19a would bo an .irgument more conclusive than the preceJing, if it had not been superabundantly cHtablishcd that the avowal of faults is a cuntom that is almost universal. For the rest, the traditions and beliefs of the ancient races of America constitute a field in which all investigators find almost everything that they desire ; and I can oppose to the opinion of M, d'Eichthal, where ho recognizes Buddhist influences, the opin- ions of others who think that they see Christian influences — of which the agents wore the apostles Saint Bartholomew and Saint Thomas — or the colonists of Great Ireland or those of Jlvitra- mannaland. It remains, therefore, to verify the uncertain data of tradi- tion by the examination of monuments and antiquities. In the belief of M. G. d'Eichthal, the results of the Buddhist preaching of the fifth century are visible upon the walls of the Palace of Palenque, and the House of the Nuns at Uxmal. It may bo objected to the view of d'Eichthal that the bas- relief described by him is identical with others found in Bud- dhist temples ; that, according to Dupaix, Lenoir, Catlin, de Wal- deck, and M. VioUet-le-Duc, Palenque was built much later than the fifth century of our era. But this is a question that is still undecided, and I must recognize the fact that, in the opinion of Mr. Hubert H. Bancroft, the date of the construction of Pa- lenque can only be uncertainly fixed as some time between the first and the eighth century of the Christian era. It should be observed, moreover, that Stephens, who copied the bas-relief, saw no trace of Buddhism in it. M. Lenoir has confined himself to saying that there is an analogy between the attitude of the principal figure and the usual pose of Buddha. M. d'Eichthal, however, does not hesitate to raise a simple an- alogy in the position into a complete identity, doing this with- out paying any attention to the statements of Stephens : that the character of the principal personage is the same as that of personages represented elsewhere in the palace ; that the pre- tended worshiper is sitting cross-legged, and not upon his knees ; that the offering does not consist of a flower, either of the lotus or of the cacao-tree, but of a bunch of plumes, an ornament essentially American, which is lacking in the head- dress of the principal personage ; that similar plumes are asso- ciated with the figures of other divinities of Palenque ; and, 'I f. ''■ \ I I oko of analoj^y, had nothing else in mind than the pose of the principal per. sonage, sitting with legs crossed. Now, there exists at Copan a bas-relief in which four personages, ineontestably American, are represented in this same attitude. Of the figure seated in the niche of the wall of the House of Monks at Uxmal, Mr, Hubert H. HaiuToft. assures us that it is not certainly known whether this figure, which has now disap- peared, was copied from nature or drawn from the more or less uncertain descriptions of the Indians, In any case, it is true that INI. de Waldeek, who was booking for Huddhist resem- blances, did not himself recognize the figure as that of Buddha, and this is a very important fact. Mr. Leland does not share in what I may be permitted to call the Buddhistic illusions of ^I. Gustave d'Eichthal. " Images re- sembling the ordinary Buddha have been found," says ho, " in Mexico and Central America, but they can not be proved to be identical with it." This is the truth. The ancient monu- ments of America sometimes present, in certain details, analo- gies with the principle of Grecian art, Assyrian art, p]gyptian art, and Hindoo art ; but these points of resemblance are purely accidental, and are owing to the unity of the human mind, and, from the mere fact that the conclusions drawn from them are contradictory between themselves, it is evident that no impor- tant historical point can be determined by their means. Mr. Francis A. Allen, Avho also admits the authenticity of the tale of Jloei Shin, believes that he has found upon the walls of the temples of Central America an ornament that is very com- mon in Buddhist countries. I mean the head and trunk of the elephant, an animal unknown in the New "World since the last glacial j)eriod. This time the argument apponrs to be without reply. The following is a short extract on this subject, from the recent work of Mr. Hubert II. Bancroft, on *' The Native Races of the Pacific States " : " At Uxmal, above one of the doors of the * House of the Governor,' there is a sculptured decoration, the central portion of which is a curved projection, supposed by more than one traveler to be modeled after the trunk of an elephant. It pro- RKMAUKS OF M. LCCIEN ADAM. 201 jot'ts nineteen inches from tho Hurfaco of the wall. Thin pro- truding curve occurs more frequently on this and other buildings at Uxmal than any other decoration, and usually with the same or similar accompaniments which may be fancied to represent the features of a monster of which this forms the nose. It oc- curs especially on tho ornamented and rounded corners, being sometimes reversed in its position. 'J'he same ornament is found in the ruins of Zayi, at the angle of the fayatle of the Cusu Grande, and at Labna at tho corner of a palace, where the sup- posed trunk is superposed ui)on the mouth of an alligator inclos- ing a human head. . . . Finally, the head-clress of one of the ]»ers(mages represented upon a bas-relief of tho Palace at Pa- lonquo presents a somewhat striking resemblance to an elephant's trunk." The projection described by Mr. Bancroft reproduces, to a certain extent, the curve of the trunk of the elephant ; but it should be noted that tho tusks of the animal arc lacking. In the absence of this characteristic part, it may be legitimately supposed that, if the artist attempted to copy the nasal append- age of any animal (which is not at all evident), his model may have been the American tapir.* That which I said above regarding the traditions of the an- cient Americans is equally applicable to their monuments. Every one interprets them in tho sense that serves his theories the best, and I dare say that too often the archoeology of the New World is studied to find an argument for the defense of preconceived theorif>8, or to extend and systematize analogies that are entirely accidental. "While I lived in the United States, I often heard tho claim that America was made for the Americans ; which I am far from wishing to contradict. It is to be desired that this formula should be introduced into the study of American antiquities, to serve as a fundamental rule, and that, for the future, m'c should not seek in America for India, Egypt, Assyria, or Greece, but for America itself. Returning to Fii-sang : I think that the Chinese had a knowledge of America, at least in the seventh century, but I * But the proboscis of the tapir is hardly noticeable, and it never takes the curve characteristic of the elephant's trunk, shown in these Central American decorations. — E. P V. \l il m> II V' ^ t 202 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. reject absolutely the tale of JBbei Shift. I understand thereby that this missionary had collected fables, mixed with a very little truth, from the mouths of the Chinese sailors ; that he played upon his compatriots by boasting that he had visited this American Fu-sang; and that he was induced to tell this falsehood by the pious desire to aggrandize the kingdom of Buddha in their eyes. M. Frederick de Hellwald said that the question of Fu- safiff recurs periodically, and is obstinately reproduced from time to time, just as certain journals occasionally repeat the differ- ent tales regarding the apparition of the sea-serpent : and as it is a fact that no one has been given an opportunity to study this monstrous animal zoologically, just so no one has ever given scientific proof of the discovery of America by the Chinese. In 1871 the "Athenseum," of London, related this account of the discovery of America by the yellow men as a thing entirely new. Dr. Bretschneider at that time amply refuted this fable ; but this has not prevented an English book from taking the subject up again recently. It is to be fi. -"id that the refutation of Messrs. de Rosny and Lucien Adam will not prevent a re-appearance of the monster. The Congress of Americanists will render a true service to science by declaring that it holds Fu-sang as a scientific sea-serpent, and by prohibiting it from infesting the regions of American studies. Professor Joly, of Toulouse, could understand this impatience for a solution of the problem, but did not share in it. Before rejecting the Asiatic hypothesis, should not the proofs bearing upon the Lubject which can be furnished by the auxiliary sciences be '^xhaup+c J ? Do we know enough of American archaeology, zoology, anthropology, and craniology to be able to decide au- thoritatively ? Is it too much to ask that the attempt to solve the question be postponed, at least until a later sitting of the Congress ? Returning to the subject of the herds of tame cattle and of deer, mentioned by Hoei Shin, M. Joly asked whether these so- called cattle might not be understood to be the largest of the domestic quadrupeds of Central America, the llama, which is used as a pack animal and to draw loads of goods. M. Lucien Adam observed that the llama inhabits only \ ^n REMARKS OF PROFESSOR JOLY. 203 m South America, particularly Peru. Fu-sanrf is at one time sup- posed to be Mexico ; presently it is moved to Arizona, in order to find the bison there ; and then to Russian America, in order to find the reindeer : now we descend to Peru, in order that we may find a suflicicntly imperfect representative of cattle in the llamas of that country. M. JoLY thought that paleontology might furnish a better solution of the question of the communication between America and Eastern Asia. Could not the representations of the elephant upon the walls of Palenque be explained by a knowledge, on the part of the natives, not of a contemporaneous elephant, but of some one of the primitive elephants — the mammoth or the mastodon ? Might not the Mexicans have discovered some skulls of the Eleiihas primogennis yrhxch existed in America dur- ing the glacial period? Might not the figure of this animal have been preserved in some prehistoric design, as in France the image of the reindeer or the cave-bear has been preserved graven upon fragments of deer-horns? It is denied that Hoei Shin could have found horses in America. Undoubtedly the horse was imported by the conquering Spaniards ; but may not an in- digenous equine race have existed in America ? Have not beds of the bones of horses been found in the Bad Lands ? Until the soil of America has been more thoroughly examined, and more fully studied, so that it shall have deliv- ered up its paleontological secrets, M. Joly asked that caution should be exercised regarding this Asiatic hypothesis. 11 tm : :.i: f (: I l\- i ti\ 11 CHAPTER XII. d'hervey's notes. Bibliography — The name of the prieat — The city of King-cheu — Ta-han — Lieu- kuci, a peninsula — Earlier knowledge of Fusang — The construction of the dwellings — The lack of arms and armour — The punishment of criminals — The titles of tlie nobles — The title Tui-lu found in Corea — The colours of the king's garments — The cycle of ten years — Peruvian history — The long cattle-horns — The food prepared from milk — The red pears — Grapes — The worship of images of spirits of the dead — Its existence in China — Coph^ne — The " King- dom of Women " — The legumes used as food — Wen-shin — The punishment of criminals — The name Ta-han — The country identified with Kamtchatka — Two countries of that name — One lying north of China, and one lying cast — Un- warlike nature of the people. Notes of the Marquis d''Hervey de Saint-Denys on Ma Twan- Ihi's Account of Mi-sang, Wen-shin, Ta-han, and the ^^ King- dom of Wbmen.''^ '"' Ma Twax-lin's account of Fu-sang is of exceptional inter- est, for it has raised the important question as to whether the Chinese knew of America, not only in the fifth century of our era, as is indicated by the account of Jloei Shin, but back to the most remote antiquity, as I propose to demonstrate a little farther on. The Oriental scholar de Guignes was the first to find in the M'orks of 3fa Twan-lin (which had never been inves- tigated before by any European student) the mention of the country of Fu-sang; which he recognized as belonging to North America, and which he thought might be identified with California ; being led to this conclusion by studying the route followed by the Chinese vessels, which the currents had borne to the shores of that country. He set forth this opinion in a very justly celebrated memoir; the assertions contained in which were opposed by a critic who was very much disposed to deny everything that he had not discovered himself. But the feeble- »v-... ■ I D'lIERVEY'S NOTES. 205 ness of his refutation became a powerful argument in support of the opinion advanced by de Guignes, for no one was better able than Klaproth to expose errors of the kind which he ac- cused de Guignes of having committed; and when the poverty of his contradictory pleas is exposed, as well as the manifest inac- curacy of the statements that he makes, the conclusion is natural that the author of the " History of the Huns " has the best of the argument. D'Eichthal, the Chevalier de Paravey, Professor Neumann, and M. Perez have in turn defended de Guignes's memoir with much force, by adding numerous new proofs in support of those which had been given by that scholar. Finally, in a volume full of facts, entitled " Fusang, or the Discovery of America," an American author, Mr. Charles G. Leland, has very recently devoted himself to the confirmation of the identification of Fusang with California or Mexico, by means of more recent documents borrowed from the latest researches concerning the navigation of the Pacific and the ethnography of the American tribes. Dr. Bretschneider alone declares his confidence in the judgment of Klaproth ; undoubtedly from the robust faith with which there is proof that he was inspired, since he very fairly admits that he has read nothing that has been written in opposi- tion to his views. Lack of space prevents any analysis of the works which I have cited, and which it appears suflUcient to point out to the reader. I shall take pains to call attention success- ively to the passages of this notice which have been the subject of controversy, and to several expressions which have been in- terpreted in very different ways by de Guignes, Klaproth, Neu- mann, and Bretschneider. I have endeavoured to make my ver- sion as literal as possible, so that specialists who are not Sino- logues may easily obtain an accurate idea of the original text. The same desire to aid in clearing up the question as to Fii-sang induces me to place in an appendix several documents from Chinese sources which relate to it, and which I believe have never before been published in any European language. The name of the Buddhist priest, ^ ^, Neumann writes IToei Shin, and Dr. Bretschneider, IIui-sMn. This appellation signifies " very sagacious," or "very intelligent" (not *^ universal compassion," as Neumann has translated it ; I can not imagine why), and is a religious name, from which no indication can bo drawn as to the true nationality of the bonze who bore it. Mr. l- [■ :, ; ■ i * ' li! M i: ' 1 ifllll W HWi' f» i i 206 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Leland writes : " Klaproth says, ' a native of the country,' and by 'the country ' he means Fu-sang ; but in the German version of the same passage, given by Neumann, * the [or this] country ' re- fers to China." If Neumann, whose German version I have not seen, otherwise than in the English translation which Mr. Leland has made (adding that it has been revised by Neumann himself), gives it to be clearly understood that Hoei JShi/i was a native of China, he is surely in error. The characters of the Chinese text, 4^ Wi> " of that kingdom " (otherwise, " of this country "), relate to Fu-sang, and not to China. It is true that there is nothing in the Chinese text to indicate whether Jloci Shin had become a bonze in Fa-sang, or whether he was a native of that country. This question it is necessary to reserve, and my version is abso- lutely literal. To arrive at the city of King-cheu, which was situated in what is now called Ilti-Jaiang, and upon the banks of the Yang-tse- kiang, JToei Shin would be compelled to ascend the river, pass- ing Kien-kang, or JVixn-king, which was the capital of the empire of the Tsi dynasty. De Guignes believed that he was able to identify the country of 'ia-han with Kamtchatka, and also with the place of exile called Liexi-kuei by the Chinese. Klaproth thinks that Ta-han, which he also recognizes as the same country as Lieu-knei, must be the island of Saghalien, otherwise called Tarakai, or Karafto. He adopts this hypothesis arbitrarily, without making any allow- ance for the fact that Ma Tican-lin says that Ta-han lies more than 5,000 U to the east of Wen-shin, and this in turn more than 7,000 li northeasterly (not northerly) from Japan, and without making any attempt to reconcile his opinion with that statement, or AA ith the geographical treatise Long-wei-pi-shu, which says that Lieii-kuei could be reached by land, and that the sea sur- rounded this country on three sides only. (^'Zieu-kiiei is to the north of the Northern Sea, and is surrounded by the sea on three sides.") Dr. Eretschneider places the country of Ta-han in Siberia, abandoning Klaproth's opinion on this point ; and Professor Neumann, with whom Mr. Leland agrees, affirms that he believes the American peninsula of Alaska to have been in- tended by this designation. The kingdom of Ta-han is the ob- ject of special mention, a little farther on, and I therefore defer, for discussion in that connection, several documents which I li ' It li D'DERVEY'S NOTES. 207 would be obliged to repeat if they were inserted here, merely remarking for the present that Ma Twanlin, and other Chinese writers, treat separately the countries described by them under the name of Lieu-kuei and Ta-han, and class the first among the regions of the north, and the second among the regions of the east. In any case, whatever may be the exact and definite iden- tification of Mi-sanff, it should not be overlooked that when the bonze Jloei iShm, who arrived in the empire of the Tsi (the dynasty then ruling a large portion of China) by way of the Great Kiang, described Fu-sang as being at the same time to the cast of Ta-han and of China, he should be understood as speak- ing, not of a land of limited extent, but of a true continent. I can not allow t}ie phrase of the account of Hoei Shin — read- ing, " It [the country of Fu-sang\ contains many fu-sang trees, and it is from this fact that its name is derived " — to pass, without repeating an observation which I made some years ago (in the pref- ace of my translation of the Li-sao), and without demonstrating that if the bonze Hoei Shin is the first who made the manners of the people of Fu-sang known to the Chinese, there was a knowl- edge among the Chinese, centuries before him, of the existence of such a country. Even during the life-time of Kiu-yiien, the author of the poem entitled the Li-sao — that is to say, in the third century before our era — the name of Ft-sang was em- ployed by the poets to designate the countries to the extreme east. Now, the fact that this denomination of Fu-sang was not an imaginary one, but a name drawn from a peculiar product of a particular country, necessarily implies a real knowledge, previously acquired, of the existence of the country so designated. The passage relating to the construction of their dwellings Klaproth translates : " The planks of the wood [of the fu-sa7ig'\ are used in the construction of their houses " ; and Neumann, ac- cording to Mr. Leland's English version, " The houses are built of wooden beams." This last translation is the most exact, since the Chinese text does not expressly indicate that the planks which were used in the construction of the houses were made from the wood of the fu-sang tree. Klaproth has translated another passage : " They have neither arms nor troops " ; Neumann, " The people have no weapons " ; and Bretschneider, " Arms and war are unknown." No one of these three versions is strictly exact ; for the expression " kia-ping " con- !0 J llli i ( 1 ■ : r ' '' ' i S 1 ' ) 208 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. iU. i Iff 1 '; ; ll veys the idea of soldiers and their military armament, but with- out excluding them from the bow and arrow for hunting (which would be included in the collective term " anas ") and of which it is not said that the inhabitants of Fu-sang were destitute. The statement is made that, " when a crime is committed by a person of elevated rank, tlie people of the kingdom assemble in great numbers, place the criminal in an excavation, celebrate a banquet in his presence, and take leave of him as of a dying man, when he is surrounded with ashes." This is not clear, and leaves much in doubt as to the exact punishment of the criminal, of which this ceremony appears to be merely a preliminary, in- tended to give it more solemnity. It has been supposed that he was then sent to either the northern or the southern prison. Neu- mann says, " He is covered v/ith ashes," which appears to sig- nify that he was buried alive, as de Guignes also understood this passage ; but the meaning of the character^ is *Ho surround,''^ and never " to cover." The passage relating to the degrees of crime and their pun- ishments, Mr. Leland translates, following Neumann : " If the offender was onr ,i the lower class, he alone was punished ; but, when of ran»., the degradation Avas extended to his chil- dren and grandchildren. With those of the highest rank, it at- tained to the seventh frencation." This interpretation is abso- lutely inadmissible. The word of the Chinese text, Ji|, which should be understood of the gravity, literally of the weight, of a crime, can not be used in the sense of the rank, more or less ele- vated, of the criminal. Klaproth did not commit this error. In the following sentence in regard to the designations of the king and the nobility, the title of the nobles of the first class is given as ^^ J^, Tui-lu. In the great collection, entitled Kii-kin- tu-shu-tsi-ching, the text of the " History of the Liang Dynasty," from which this account is borrowed, is reproduced, and this pas- sage reads, ^ '^ ^, Ta Tui-lu (Great Tui-lu), in opposition to >J> ^-i" it» ^^<^o Tui-lu (Petty Tui-lu, or Tui-lu of the Second Rank), an honourary title, which ia mentioned immediately below. It is therefore probable that the character, ^, ta, has been inadvertent- ly suppressed in my editions of the Wen-hien-tong-hao ; and this was the opinion of de Guignes, who translated this passage, " Great and Petty Tui-luy This detail is of little importance, but it is deserving of attention (inasmuch as the remark must be new, 1 1 D'DERVEY'S NOTES. 209 since the notice of Ma Tican-lin regarding Corca has not been translated into any European la?^guage before) that the title given to the highest dignitaries of Fu-uimj is precisely the same as that borne by the first dignitaries of Kao-kin-U (Corea).'"* "The mandarins of Kao-li are called -j^ f^ J^, Ta 2\n-lu.^^ Eleven other titles, by which lower ranks are called, are also given. " The care of the naanagement of the internal and exter- nal affairs of state is divided among these twelve ranks of func- tionaries. The mandarins, called 2\i Tui-lu, are elected and de- posed by the members of this rank, by their own authority, without consultation either with the king or his ministers." In regard to the colour of the king's garments, it should be noted that the Chinese often confound blue and green. The character ^, employed here, designates equally the azure of the sky and the light green of plants commencing to sprout. In this connection, reference is made to a cycle of ten years, represented by the cyclic characters ^ kia, 2» 2/* P^ P^^^ffi ~X ting, jrj^ oUy g, ki, ^ keng, ^ sin, ^ jin^ and ^ kouei, which the Chinese use in the formation of their cycle of sixty years, associating additional characters with them. Neumann, who found a great affinity between the Mongolian Tartars and Mant- choos and the Indians of North America, cites in this connec- tion the remark of P5re Gaubil : " I do not know where the Mantchoo Tartars learned to express the ten kan [or years of the decennary cycle] by words which signify colours " ; and he gives this curious information of his own ; " The two first years of the decennary cycle are called by the Tartars green and greenish, the two following years red and reddish, and the other years, in their order successively, yellow and yellowish, xohite and ichitish, and black and blackish.'''' Finally, Mr. Leland establishes a very close analogy between the institutions of Peru at the time of the Span- ish conquest and the picture of the manners of Fi'sang sketched by Hoei Shin, and thinks that the same civilization formerly reigned in the *wo Americas. He treats this subject with much interest (pages 49-59), and makes the following observations re- garding the passage to which this note refers : " The change of the colour of the garments of the king, ac- cording to the astronomical cycle, is, however, more thoroughly in accordance with the spirit of the institutions of the Children of the Sun than anything which we have met in the whole of liilf ilii It!' 210 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. . I :i ■■ ( l\\ this strange and obsolete record ; and it is indeed remarkable that Professor Neumann, who had ah-eady indicated the southern course of Aztec, or of Mexican, civilization, and who manifested, as the reader may have observed, so much shrewdness in adducing testimony for the old monk's narrative, did not search more closely into Peruvian history for that confirmation which a slight inquiry seems to indicate is by no means wanting in it. Thus, with regard to the observations of the seasons, Prescott tells us that the ' ritual of the Incas involved a routine of observances as complex and elaborate as ever distinguished that of any na- tion, whether pagan or Christian. Each month had its appro- priate festival, or rather festivals. The four principal had refer- ence to the sun, and commemorated the great periods of his annual progress, the solstices, and equinoxes. Garments of a peculiar wool, and feathers of a peculiar colour, were reserved to the Inca.' I can not identify the blue, red, yellow, and black (curiously reminding one of the alchemical elementary colours, still preserved, by a strange feeling for antiquity, or custom, in chemists' windows) ; but it is worthy of remark that the rainbow was the Inca's special attribute or scutcheon, and that his whole life was passed in accordance with the requisitions of astronomi- cal festivals ; and the fact that different colours were reserved to him, and identified with him, is very curious, and establishes a strange analogy with the narrative of Hoei Shin." The translation by Klaproth of the sentence, which he gives as, " The cattle have long horns, upon which burdens are loaded which weigh as much sometimes as twenty Ao," is absolutely in- admissible. The reference is, not to cattle upon the heads of which burdens are loaded, but to the hollow horns of the cattle, which serve as receptacles. The Jio is a measure of capacity, containing ten teu, or Chinese bushels, and the capacity of the Chinese bushel has, it is said, varied from one litre thirty-five to one litre fifty-four centilitres. We might be in doubt of the existence of horns so extraordinary, but we read, in "L'Histoire de la Conqu6te du Mexique par les Espagnols," that Montezuma showed them, as a curiosity, cattle-horns of enormous dimen- sions ; and, in his " Tableaux de la Nature," A. von Humboldt says that, in making excavations in the southwestern part of Mexico, ancient ruins were found, and cattle-horns were discov- ered which were truly monstrous. D'lIERVEY'S NOTES. 211 I have not translated literally the phrase which refcs to the food which the people make from milk, owing to the difficulty of determining the exact meaning of the character gg, lo, which is used to designate the alimentary preparation of which the hind's milk furnished the base. The true meaning of the charac- ter is curdled milk, and also cream. It also indicates a sort of liquor which the Tartars make from fermented mare's milk. This last sense is adopted by Dr. Bretschneider ; de Guignes has translated it butter, and Neumann has imitated him. Klaproth thinks that cJieese should be understood ; and M. do Rosny, who has translated from the Japanese an abridged reproduction of this notice regarding Fu-sang, says that the inhabitants made creamy dishes from the milk of their domesticated hinds. I have preferred to leave the expression somewhat vague, since it can not be determin d just what was meant by the character used in the original. The version of the Encyclopaedia, iLU-Jcin-tu-shu-tsi-ching, cited above, offers the variation, " They have the pears of the fu-sang tree," etc., instead of the reading in our text, " They gather the red pears, which are preserved for an entire year." In the sentence, reading, " They also have to pu-tao " (many grapes), de Guignes translates the characters ^ J^l ¥^y to pu-tao, " a great quantity of iris-plants and peaches," by giving their isolated value to the characters pu and tao, and by giving to the first {pu, reeds) a signification which is exceptional, to say the least. lie could not have been ignorant that the v impound pu-tao signified grapes / but he also knew that the word, in re- cent times at least, demands a different orthography. Klaproth has asserted that the two characters of the expression pu-tao, employed by Ma Tioan-lin, following the " History of the Liang Dynasty," are nothing but the old form of the orthography more recently adopted. It has, moreover, been established that these characters are merely used to render phonetically in Chinese a word of foreign origin ; and this makes the ideography of their composition of less importance than it would otherwise be. I have felt myself compelled to adopt this view; but it is indeed surprising to see Klaproth seek, in the existence of the vine in Fu-sang, to find an argument for affirming that that country could not be America ; as if the Scandinavians had not given to just this land of North America, where they landed, a name I I mmii^ 212 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. tilff which was suggested by the abundance of wild vines which they found. Neumann has preferred to follow the opinion of de Guig- nes in regard to translating the characters jut-tao separately, instead of as a compound. lie renders the phrase, " apples and rushes /rowi lohich the inhahitanta make mata.''^ This last state- ment is in all respects a more-than-free ti-anslation, since the phrase in italics does not occur in the text, and the word tao should not have the meaning of apple — the fruit of which the Latin name is malum (persicum). The version of Ku-kin-tu-shu-tsi-ching offers quite an impor- tant variation in the phrase relating to the image that is set uj) on the death of a member of the family. In place of ^ :f[^ ^iijl fgj, " the image of a spirit is set iip" that version reads, '^M^ if^ i%j that is to say, " the image of the sjjirit which represents the soul of the deceased is set up " or exposed. It is remarkable that this custom has existed among the Chinese from a great antiquity, as may be read in the chapter Ou-tse-chi-ko of the Shu-king. Klaproth made the translation from the version of Ma Twan-lin, and Neumann from that of the Ku-kin-tu-shu- tsi-ching, which accounts for their difference in the rendering of this passage. But neither of these two scholars appears to me to have correctly expressed the letter and spirit of the Chinese text in the interpretation of the complementary member of the phrase, which immediately follows: ^ 5^ If- ^, literally, "Morn- ing and nighty prostrations are made and oblations offered." Klaproth says, " Prayers are addressed (to the images of the spirits) morning and night " ; and Neumann, " They (the relatives of the deceased) remain from morning to night absorbed in prayer before the imago of the spirit of the dead." f^, pai [to salute, to prostrate one's self), and H, tien {to offer oblations or libations to spirits), are expressions which do not convey, other- wise than indirectly, the idea of addressing prayers, and the meaning of the author may be altered, in an account of this na- ture, by modifying thus the expressions which he uses. As to the country from which the Buddhist priests came, lu- pin, j^j ^, Klaproth writes, in parenthesis, Cophene. The author of the Japanese Encyclopaedia, San-sai-dzott-ye, from which M, de Rosny extracted and translated an abridgment of Iloei Shift's account, adds in a note, after the word Ki-pin, " Ki-pin is one of the western countries {Si-yu) ; it is San-ma-oell-kan (Samar- D'HERVEY'S NOTES. 213 cand)." Mr. Lcland says, "Tho land of Ki-pin^ the ancient Kophen, ia now called 13okhara, the country of Saniarcand. Samarcand, at the times of which we are speaking, was one of the great strongholds of Buddhism." The nature of the facts reported in regard to the " Kingdom of Women " has seiTcd for an argument to impeach the veracity of Hod Hhin ; but it is impossible to fail to distinguish between the account of this bonze concerning Fic-smig, a country in which he had resided, and his story about a Kingdom of Women, of which he knew nothing himself but the marvelous talcs which he had heard related. It may be remarked that all the ancient nations have had some tradition of Amazons, or kingdoms of women ; and M. d'Eichthal has made the curious fact known that entire tribes of North America have borne the name of " women " as a national name. It may also be noted that the Chinese au- thors mention several kingdoms of women, entirely distinct from each other, which fa(3t arose, without doubt, because the Chinese, among whom the women lived retired in the inner apartments, without playing any active part in public life, would naturally give the appellation of Kingdom of Women to those countries of which the manners contrasted with those of the *' Middle King- dom " in this respect. Those which have been mentioned above arc situated to the west of China. The Long-wei-pi-shu speaks of as many as ten, and in the notice which we translate here the Wen-hien-tong-kao mentions two which should not be confounded. Finally, under the name of ;^ A ^> Niu-jin-koue, an insignifi- cant variation, the Encyclopscdia San-tsai-tu-hoei, published in the Ming dynasty, speaks also of an island in the South Sea where the women showed themselves in force and made prison- ers of almost all the sailors of a Chinese vessel which winds and tempests had driven upon that distant shore. The expression which I render, " These islanders fed upon small legumes," is very difficult to translate by an exact equiva- lent, for the botanical classifications of the Chinese are very dif- ferent from ours. The Chinese give the name of ^, ten, to all vegetables having distinct grains enveloped in a pod, shell, or husk. De Guignes, while translating this phrase " little beans," thought it possible that maize might be meant. The short notice which follows, regarding the country of Wen-shin, or of " Tattooed Bodies," '"" does not vary, except by Plli S,l i! h fmn i : 1 I' I I I \l\ n\ II if it 2U AN INGLORIOUS C0LUMHU8. a few diffcront readings, from the account contained in the por- tion of the Nan-Hse, or '* Annals of the South," inserted in my article on Japan."" Ma I'wnn-lin has, however, suppreHwed here the closing flcntonco concerning the i>uni8hraent of criminals, and the trials to which they were subjected. Do Guignos and Klaproth have thought that this country of Wcn-shiii might ho the island of Jesso. Neumann, who places the kingdom of Ta- han in the peninsula of Alaska, thinks that the Wen-shin inhab- ited the Aleutian Islands. This last opinion appears very difli- cult to reconcile with the account, that is given farther on, of the abundance of provisions among the Wen-ahin^anH of the sumpt- uous palace of their king. In the "Chinese Recorder" '" Dr. Bretschneider wrote : " WSn-ahen, the country in which the peo- ple tattoo themselves, lies 7,000 li northeast from Japan, 'i'lie inhabitants make largo lines upon their bodies, and especially upon their faces. By a stretch of the imagination we might suppose North American Red Indians to be here meant. It is known, however, that the Japanese have also the habit of tattoo- ing themselves." Without daring to attempt to decide the ques- tion of the identification of the country of Wen-shin, I will call attention to the following paragraph regarding Ta-han, or rather regarding the two different countries of that name. It will be seen that the manners of the people of Ta-han of the East wore similar to those of the inhabitants of Wen-shin, and that there were also affinities between the people of this land and those of Mi-sang, which therefore seem to show a relationship between the three nations. The name of the country of Ta-han is too extraordinary in itself not to excite attention. Ta-han {^ ^) signifies literally " Great Chinese " {han, Chinese, vir fortis), and Ta-han-hcoh, " Kingdom of the Great Chinese," or " Great Chinese Kingdom," which do Guignes attempted to explain as follows : " That part of Siberia called Kamtchatka is the region which the Japanese call Oku-yeso, or * Upper Jesso.' They place it upon their maps to the north of Jesso, and represent it as being twice as large as China, and extending much farther to the oast than the eastern shore of Japan. This is the country which the Chinese have named Ta-han, which may signify * as large as China,' a name which corresponds with the extent of the country, and to the idea which the Japanese have given us of it." Neumann, on the D'nEUVEY'S NOTES. 215 name to the on the contrary, who locates Ta-hnn in tho poninHuIa of AlaHka, Hup- posea that the ChiucHO have called thm country (rreat China, or a great country coniparablo to China, becaUHo they had knowl- edge of tho vast continent which cxiHts beyond it. These two explanations arc ingenious, withojit doubt ; but we find another, imich simpler, in tho Chinese Encydopindia Yion-kien-lui-hm), regarding at least one of tho two countries called Tii-han of which that work makes mention. Tho Ynen-kien-liii han de- serves to bo carefully examined, since it may give proof of the correctness of Dr. Neumann as to tho identification of tho coun- try of Ta-han situated on tho route to Fii-aang, and at the same time confirm the assertion of do Guignes as to the kingdom of Ta-han situated in Kamtehatka or somewhere else in Eastern Siberia, as MM. Perez and Brotschneider have thought. Neu- mann has, in support of liis o})inion, tho express statement of Li-yen and of Ma 7\oan-lin, that tho Ta-han at which vessels touched on the way to Fu-aang was an Oriental country, situated to tho east, and not to tho north, of Wen-shin. Do Guignes, on his side, produces a very precise account of tho route which Chi- nese travelers folio nod when they went by land to the country of Ta-han, an itinerary which can not be disputed. ITcre is what we read in tho Encyclopajdia Yuen-kien-lui-han — First : Kiuen 231, fol. 46 : " Taiian of the East. — This kingdom is to the east of that of the Wenrshin more than 5,000 li. Its people have no arras and do not wage war. Their manners are the same as those of the Wen-shin, but their language is different " (exactly the same notice as that which the Wen-hien-tong-Tcao gives us). Second : Kiuen 241, fol. 10 : " Taiian of tiik Noutii. — We read in the Sing-tang-shu (' Supplement to the History of the Tang Dy- nasty ' — a work published in tho eleventh century of our era by imperial order) : The Ta-han (of the north) live to the north of the kingdom of Kio, or Kiai. They raise many sheep and horses. The men of this kingdom are robust and of a great height, from which fact tho name Ta-han (' Great Chinese,' or, in common language, * Tall Fellows ') is derived. They are neighbours of the Ke-kia-sse (natives who live upon tho shore of tho lake Pe- hai, or Baikal). In former times they had no relations with the empire (of China), but in the years ching-kuan and yong-hoci (627-655) embassadors from their nation came once or twice offering horses and martens' furs as tribute." The kingdom of 1l|t!||t> m !| ' ■ I', I ' ! i^'ttf'' 21G AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Kio, or Kiai, is situated 500 li to the northeast of the territory of the Pa-ye-ku, one of the most easterly tribes of the great nation of the Iloei-he (Ouigours), which extends as far as the country of the Shi-wet, or She-goei, occupying the northeast- ern part of Siberia. These last natives of Ta-han (whom Ma Tioan-lin calls Ta-mo, and whom he also classed among the nations of the north) are those whom de Guignes thought to be lo'' ted in Kamtchatka ; but the immediate consequence of this verification is to make it impossible to find a place in Asia for the " Ta-han of the East,'''' in which we are solely in- terested. None of the scholars who have studied this ques- tion have suspected the existence of two countries called Ta- han ; and this fact has compelled them to make great efforts to bring into agreement the accounts of the two routes to Ta- han, one by land and the other by water, which led, in fact, to two Lifferent countries. Neur-.ann, whose judgment seems the least reliable, has therefore very probably been the most in- spired. Although the notice of Tahan of the East is very short, it contains the proof of a characteristic and very extraordinary fact, of which the importance should not be overlooked. The peojile of Ta-han, we are told, have no arms and know nothing of war. This fact would be inexplicable regarding a tribe of upper Asia, exposed to the attacks of the ferocious and belliger- ent nations whomi they had upon their frontiers, and it reveals a c'^il'eation analogous to that of the people of Fu-sang, to whom the saii;e peculiarity is attributed. aflii-i m i I. 1 m I'' f CHAPTER XIII. d'iiervey's appendix. Difference between Hoei SMn''s story and other Chinese accounts — An earlier knowledge of Fusang — The poem named the Li-sao — The IShan-hai-king — The account of Tongfangso — The immense size of the country — The burn- ing of books in China — The origin of the Chinese — The writer Kuan-mei — The arrival of Hod Shin in 499 — The civil war then raging — The delay in obtaining an imperial audience — The " History of the Four Lords of the Liang Dynasty " — ^An envoy from Fusang — The presents offered by him — Yellow silk — A semi-transparent mirror — This envoy was Iloei Shin — The stories told by Yu-kie — The silk found upon the fusang tree — The palace of the king — The Kingdom of Women — Serpent-husbands — The Smoking Mountain — The Black Valley — The animals of the country — The amusement of the courtiers — The poem Tong-king-fu — The route to Fusang — Fusang east of Japan — Zieu-kuci — The direction of the route. Appendix to the Account regarding Fusang — hj the Marquis d^Iferveg de Saint-Denys.'^ 1543 The relation of the bonze Iloei Shin has, for more than a century, served as the foundation for all that has been written for the purpose of attempting to decide the question whether Fusang was America or not. This account, so clear and pre- cise, possessed, in the eyes of the Chinese, a character of authen- ticity which distinguished it from quite a large number of other documents relating to Fhisang, which were furnished by authors with more or less inclination for the marvelous. Ma Twan-lin contented himself, for this reason, with merely repeating it with- out adding anything to it. Ma Twan-lin never undertook to unite in his accounts all that the Chinese authors had related regarding the sub'ect of his work, but confined himself to men- tioning only what appeared to him to be the most worthy of credit. The merit of his compilation, taken as a whole, results mainly from this work of elimination, accomplished by judicious w\\\ I i ■ f , ! I! I '■ 218 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. J t: criticism. But if it is attempted to clear up an obscure point by means of the comparison of different accounts and by investiga- tions of all kinds, the most fabulous stories, and little points, ap- parently the most trivial, sometimes contain the clew to tlie wished-for knowledge. Hence it appears that, in an effort to decide as to the true location of Fu-sang, the contrary method should be followed and no means of information should be neg- lected. I have, therefore, grouped here all the documents which I have been able to collect relating to this interesting question ; some much anterior to Hoei Shin's account, and others forming, to a certain extent, the corollary of the declarations of this priest. The first show that, if we admit it to be a fact that Buddhist missionaries of the fifth century visited America, this is far from proving that they were the first who discovered the country ; the second permit us to detect the origin of the introduction of supernaturid elements into the authentic account of the bonze Hoei Shin, and justify Ma Twan-lin in adhering to the strict letter of Hoei Shines account, and in declining to leave it for a comparison of the different statements, by means of which the true elements of these accounts might, some day, be separated from the false. It is proved that the idea of the existence of a great country, covered with vast forests made up of a particular species of trees called fu-sang trees, and situated beyond the eastern seas, was an old tradition, even to the Chinese authors of the third century before our era, this fact being attested by the Li-sao. Kiu- yuen, the author of this celebrated poem, traveled in thought to the four extremities of the universe. In the north he perceived the land of long days and long nights ; in the south the bound- less sea attracted his attention ; in the west he perceived the sun descend and sink in a lake, which has been supposed to be Lake Tingry, or the Caspian Sea ; and, finally, in the east — in spite of the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, and, in spite of the thought, which would naturally occur to him, that the sun also rose from the midst of the waters — he caught a glimpse of distant shores receiving the first gleams of the dawn. It is in a valley in a land shaded by the fu-sang tree that he places the limits of the extreme east. The Shan-hai-ling, a work of uncertain date, but of incontestable antiquity, contains an analogous reference to D'llERVEY'S APPENDIX. 219 this land. An author, almost contemporaneous with Kiu-yuen, Tong-fang-so (whose text is supposed to have suffered some al- terations, but at an epoch much anterior to that of Iloei Shin), expresses himself thus : " At the east of the Eastern Sea, the shores of the country of Fu-sang are found. If, after landing upon these shores, the journey is continued by land toward the east for a distance often thousand U, a sea of a blue colour {pi- hai) is reached, vast, immense, and boundless. The country of Fu-sang extends ten thousand li upon each of its sides. It con- tains the palace of Tai-chin-tong-wangfu (the God who Presides over the East). Great forests are found, filled with trees of which the leaves are similar to those of the mulberry, while the general appearance of the trees is similar to that of those which are called chin (certain coniferous trees). They attain a height of several times ten thousand cubits, and it takes two thousand people to reach their arms around one of them These trees grow two and two from common roots, and mutually sustain each other ; hence their name oi fu-sang (sese sustinentes mori — mulberry-trees which sustain each other). Although they grow tall and straight, like the conifers, their leaves and their fruit are similar to those of the mulberry of China. The fruit, of exquisite flavour and of reddish colour, appears but very rarely, the tree which produces it bearing it but once in nine thousand years. The anchorites who eat the fruit become of the colour of gold, and acquire the power of hovering in celestial space." The exaggeration of the proportions of the fu-sang tree is evidently nothing but hyperbole ; but it may be remarked that this tree is described as resembling the mulberry or the tong tree in its leaves, and the chin tree in its form ; this last being a spe- cies of conifer of which the wood is used in the manufacture of arrows. This description, although not having great botanical precision, reminds one involuntarily of the gigantic Wellingtonia of California, which may be the last remains of an immense forest.* * The Mexicans noticed a resemblance between the century-plant, or agave (the plant which Hivui Sh&n called the fit-sang tree), and the conifers ; for they called the fir-tree ''" "oya-metl," '"' a term meaning the false or counterfeit agave ; and, in fact, the flowering-stalk of the century-plant — often forty feet in height and eight inches in diameter at the base — with its numerous branches of flowers, springing out, almost horizontally, from its upper half, is very similar in form and general appearance to a fir or pine tree. — E. P. V. i ! i ! 1 ii; llitfl 220 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. :i. ^; t! Mil' I ., i ' 1^' ( "• 1 *• ' 1 ^ ■ lE 5- £< |i f ' f '' i ■■■ : ■ .1 } J f 1 1' ■ h !■ 1 ! '^ vj 1 ' ' Im h f : i The indication of a breadth of ten thousand It for the country of Fu-sang shows that it was a true continent ; and, if we do not believe that this curious account of another ocean, found to the east, beyond the vast territory, should be applied to the At- lantic, it still may be thought that America was better known to the Chinese before the Christian era than it could be even from the narration of Iloei tShin himself. In any case, the Buddhist missionaries who again found the route to Fa-sang were certainly guided in their voyage by the light of old traditions. I ventured the following observations when publishing my translation of the Li-aao, some years ag( "The general burning of books, two hundred and thirteen years before our era, was far from being as destructive as has been imagined ; but still it caused a sensible diminution of the sum of acquired knowledge. A great number of texts were preserved in the memory of scholars or by the secretion c marai- scripts, and were thus finally restored, but many others were lost or' altered. Moreover, the Chinese people, at the same time that thej' raised the great wall, isolated themselves in other ways, in order to preserve their unity. No surjirise should therefore be felt at finding that the Chinese in very ancient times were pos- sessed of ideas more just and extensive, regarding a multitude of subjects, than the Chinese of the following centuries; so that, to reach reliable accounts, it is necessary to go back as far as possible into that antiquity which, perhaps, there is good reason for vaunting so highly. " I have sometimes thought that a great mystery might be concealed in the origin of the old Chinese with black hair, who arrived from the north (it is not known from what country) at the banks of the Yellow River — not as primitive men, but as the representatives of a ripened civilization — who avoided any inter- mixture with the native population, and who always turned themselves toward their father-land to seek for light. If it should be unquestionably proved that Fu-sang is indeed Ameri- ca, and if the first ideas which the Chinese had of that region should appear lost in the most remote antiquity, would not a strange enigma be presented to us for solution ? " Mr. Leland's book has shown me that the thought which dic- tated these lines has also presented itself to several scholars who have made a specialty of the study of subjects relating to D'nERVEY'S APPENDIX. 221 America ; and the Long-wei-pi-shu cites an opinion of the Bud- dhist writer Kuan-mei, which demonstrates to what great an- tiquity some idea of the existence of Fu-sang went back among the Chinese, if their statements on the subject are to be believed: " It is in Fu-sang that Hwang -tV a astronomers resided (who were charged with the observation of the rising sun)", says Kuan-mei. " In the first year yong-yuen, of the 2'si dynasty, there was a bonze named Jloei Shin, who arrived from that country, and who made it known" (literally, by whose narration it commenced to be known — k., I, fol. 10), an expression which should be un- derstood here merely as referring to a knowledge renewed after the lapse of centuries, JI>''^ng-ti is the first sovereign of the times reputed historical, and the first cycle of the Chinese com- menced in his reign, in the twenty-seventh century before our era. We may assuredly entertain a doubt as to whether the astronomers of this celebrated emperor, to whom the Chinese attribute the invention of the astronomical globe and the insti- tution of their cycle, established an observatory in Fu-sang. Nevertheless, I believe the fact to be established that there was some account oi Fu-sang current among the Chinese long before the time of Iloei Shin, and this is what I first proposed to make evident. Let us now examine the circumstances under which Jloei Shifi's report was made, and attempt to decide what connection there was between tuis bonze and the five Buddhist priests who went to Fu-sang in 458 ; winy IToei Shin ascended the Grand Kiang to King-cheu, instead of stopping at Nan-king, then the capital of the empire ; and, finally, consider what should be thought of an embassy from Fu-sang, which, according to the work entitled Liang-sse-hong-ki (*' Memoirs of the Four Lords of the Liang Dynasty " ), came to visit the Chinese court in the years tien-kien, which commenced in the year 502, that is to say, at an epoch very near to that of the arrival of Hoei Shin — a co- incidence which should not be overlooked. We will finally con- sider the account of the route to Fu-sang as given by the histo- rian Li-yen, and the light furnished in this respect by several passages of Ma Twan-lin, hitherto inedited. We read in the Ku-kin-tu-shu-tsi-cfiing : " In the time of Tong-hoen-heu, the first year yong-yuen (499), the bonze of the kingdom of Fu-sang, named Iloei Shin, came to Caina. Never- i ■ i i .'■ I"/-' illillli:' I ill M" t m i ( ! W f hi Iffli t il I If r ji if 222 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. theless, the official annals of the Tsi dynasty make no mention of him, and it is the books of the Liang dynasty which contain the account of Iloei Shin regarding Fu-sang^ in a section devoted to the eastern countries." The year 499, designated as the date of the arrival of Hoei Shin upon the banks of the Kiang, was a year of civil war, which preceded the downfall of the Tsi dynasty, and during which that shadow of an emperor, called Tong-hoen-heu (" Prince of the Dis- orders of the East "), remained a prisoner in his palace, besieged by his own brother. This brother was declared " Protector of the Empire," and he resided at the same city of King-cheu, to which we seo that Hoei Shin repaired. This brother soon mounted the throne, and was almost immediately deposed by the founder of the Liang dynasty, known by the name of Liang Wu-ti, in the first month of the year 502. Now, if we suppose that JToei Shin came from Fu-sang and intended to visit the emperor of China — a favour which could never be obtained except after long entreaties — these circumstances explain why it was that he was compelled to remain at King-cheii, until the complete overthrow of the Tsi dynasty, without being able to obtain an imperial audience. The accession of lAang Wu-ti, a prince who was a believer in the Buddhist religion, must, on the contrary, have insured him a favourable reception by the new ruler of the empire. I now come to the statements of the Liang-sse-hong-hi, and am convinced that others, like myself, will be struck by the vivid light which they throw upon the story. The four princes, or feudal lords, of whom the book contains the memoirs, were named Ho-tchin,*" Yu-hie, Sho-tuan, and Chang-ki. Nothing is said as to how they were connected with one another ; but their memoirs tell us that in the years tien-kien, that is to say, in the first years of the reign of Liang Wii-ti, an envoy from the kingdom of Fu-sang presented himself, and, having offered to the emperor divers objects of his country, the emperor charged Yu-kie to interrogate him regarding the customs and the produc- tions of Fi-sang, the history of the kingdom, its cities, its riv- ers, its mountains, etc., as was the custom in similar cases when- ever a foreign embassador visited the court. * In the " Ethnography," edited by the Marquis d'Hcrvey de Saint-Denys, this name is written Hoei-tchin ; while in the same author's " Memoir " it is given as Ho-tchin, The Marquis d'Uervey states that this last form is correct. — E. P. V. id I iW D'HERVEY'S APPENDIX. 223 " The envoy from Fu-sang wept, and responded with respect- ful ardour," says the text — a singular phrase, which appears to give the idea of an old man affected at finding himself again in bis native land after long years of absence. " The offering which he presented consisted principally of three hundred pounds of yellow silk, spun by the silk- worm of ihQ fu-sang tree, and of an extraordinary strength. The emperor had an incense-burner of massive gold, of a weight of fifty Mn. [The Mn weighs a little more than 600 grammes.] This could be lifted and held suspended by six of these threads without breaking them. There was also among the presents offered to the emperor a sort of serai-transparent precious stone, cut in the form of a mirror, and of the circumference of more than a foot. In observing the sun by reflection by means of this stone, the palace which the sun contains appeared very distinctly." (Mention of these mirrors has been made in the " Notes and Queries," and Mr. Leland pre- sents some very remarkable observations upon this subject. "Discovery of America," p. 184.) There is but little probability that Hoei Shin was a native of Fic-sang, although all the texts agree in calling him " a bonze of that country." It may be suspected that he had left China, when very young, in company with the five priests of Ki-pin. This can not be considered as anything more than a conjecture ; but that which appears to me to be beyond doubt is, that Hoei Shin and the envoy from Fu-sang, the bearer of the presents oifered to the emperor Wu-ti, were one and the same person. To the presumption which is raised by the agreement of the dates, an" the circumstances, as mentioned above, should be added the convincing fact that the prince Yu-kie, when speaking at length of Fu-sang and other regions of the extreme east, as is recorded in the Liang-sse-kong-hi, sometimes, as we shall see, based his declarations upon the statements of the envoy whom he had had the charge of interrogating, and sometimes upon the relation given by Hoei Shin, without indicating that there was any difference between the two sources of his information. It is here, moreover, that we find the source of all the extravagancies which have been mixed with Hoei Shift's narration, and which have resulted in casting suspicion upon even his simplest state- ments. The account quoted by Ma Twan-lin was probably the ofllicial iiji ' ii..' i I: I' \\\l]\ 224 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. record of the statements made by Jloei Shin, in his quality of envoy of the kingdom of I^u-sang, in answer to the questions of Yu-kie, who was delegated for the purpose by the emperor. The compilation of this account is similar to that of a great num- ber of analogous documents contained in the notices of the Wen- hien-tong-hao. !N othing is found which approaches the domain of fable, any more than there is in the description of the presents offered to the emperor, and the precision of the details gives to the whole an appearance of truth which can not be mistaken ; but the lord Yu-kie wished to amuse the court in regard to his con- ferences with a person who had excited such general curiosity. Let us return to the study of the Liang -ase-kong-ki. The truth will thus be established. " One day, when the attendants at court were amusing them- selves with stories of foreign countries, the lord Y%i-kie took up the subject, and spoke in the following terras : * At the extreme east is Fu-sang. Silk-worms are found there which are seven feet long and as much as seven inches in circumference. Their colour is golden. It takes a year to raise them. On the eighth day of the fifth month they spin yellow silk, which is extended upon the branches of the fu-sang tree, for they make no cocoons. This silk is naturally very weak ; but it is cooked in lye prepared from the ashes of the wood of i\iQ fu-sang, and thus acquires such strength that four threads twisted together are sufficient to raise a weight of thirty Chinese pounds. The eggs of these silk- worms are as large as swallow's eggs. Some were taken to Kao- kiu-li (Corea) ; but the voyage injured them, so thac nothing issued from them but silk-worms as small as those ol China. "'The palace of the king is surrounded by walis of crystal, which appear clearly before daylight ; but the walls become quite invisible during an eclipse of the moon.' " The lord Yu-kie said besides : * At the northwest, about ten thousand li, there exists a Kingdom of Women, who take serpents for husbands. Moreover, these reptiles are inoffensive. They live in holes, while their wives or concubines live in houses and palaces, and exercise all the cares of state. In this king- dom there are no books, and they know nothing of the art of writing. They believe firmly in the eflScacy of certain forms of prayers or maledictions. The women who act uprightly pro- long their lives, and those who swerve from the right are imme- ;t. D'lIERVEY'S APPENDIX. 00 f; (Jiatcly cut off. The worship of spirits imposes hiws that none dare to violate. To the south of Jlo-c/ieu (the Island of Fire) [probably ^, htco, "fire," and >}j\,cheu, " an island or district"], situated to the south of this country, is the mountain Yen-kuen (liurning Mountain) [probably 'J[g, t/en, " smoke," and ]^, /cicwi, " a peak, a high mountain "], Ihe inhabitants of which eat locusts, crabs, and hairy serpents, to preserve themselves from the heat. In this land of Ilo-cheu, the ho-mu (trees of fire) [probably )J^, /lU'o, " fire," and Tfc, niuh, " wood, a tree "] grow ; their bark furnishes a solid tissue. Upon the summit of the mountain Yen- ]iue)i there live ^re rats {ho-shii) [probably ^, Aaco, "fire," and ^, shu, " a rat, mouse, weasel, squirrel, or similar animal "], the hair of which serves also for the fabrication of an incombus- tible stuff, which is cleansed by fire instead of by water. To the north of this Kingdom of Women is the Black Valley [Ileko) [probably Sf^, Ao/<, " black," and kuh, ^, " a ravine, gully, gorge, canon "], and north of the Black Valley are mountains so high that they reach to the heavens. Snow covers them all the year. The sun does not show itself there at all. It is there, it is said, that the dragon Cho-long (the Luminous Dragon) resides. [Prob- ably j^, chuh, " an illumination, a torch, to illumine," and g|, lung, " a dragon."] At the west is a fountain that inebriates, and has the taste of wine. In these regions there is also found a sea of varnish, of which the waves dye black the feathers and furs that are dipped in them, and another sea of the colour of milk. The territory surrounded by these natural marvels is of great extent and extremely fertile. Dogs, ducks, and horses of a great height live in it, and, finally, birds which produce human beings. The males born of these birds do not live. The daugh- ters only are raised with care by their fathers, who carry them with their beaks or upon their wings. As soon as they commence to walk, they become mistresses of themselves. They are all of remarkable beauty and very hospitable, but they die before reaching the age of thirty years. "'The rabbits of this country are white and as large as horses, their hair being a foot long. The sables are as large as wolves. Their hair is black and of extraordinary thickness.' " The attendants of the court were much amused at these stories. They all laughed and clapped their hands, and said that better stories had never been told. 15 1 1 1 I (.: ! I i III 220 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. " A miniatcr of tlie emperor, named Wan(/-i/itn, interrupted Yu-kie with this bantering objection : * If we believe the official accounts which have been collected regarding the Kingdom of Women, situated to the west of the country of 2aan-yai and to the south of the Kingdom of Dogs (Jiat-hco/i), it is merely in- habited by barbarians of the race of the Kiang-jong, who have a woman as their sovereign ; but there has never been any ques- tion of serpents filling the office of husbands. How do you ac- count for that ?' Y v/e responded with pleasantry with a new explosion of extravagu^.cics, in the midst of which there appeared here and there a true idea, burlesqued for diversion." This curious fragment shows that the Chinese of the sixth century were not as credulous as might be believed ; that they knew how to distinguish between the true and improbable, and that the extravagancies of their story-tellers, at which they wore the first to laugh, does not diminish the merit of the writers that they respected. The Ku-Jein-tu-sIm-tsi-ching is very explicit in this respect ; citing several poets who in their works make allusions to Fu- sang, it makes the following statement : " "We read in the poem entitled Tong-king-fu, *I ascended to the source of day and thus arrived at Fu-sang.^ Ilwai-nan-Ue has written, * The sun issues from the valley Yang-Jco (the Luminous Valley) [probably ^, yang, "the rising sun," and ^, kuh, "a ravine, valley, gully"],* and rises in the midst of the fu-sang trees.' Yang-kiang says, 'Beyond the great sea is Fu-sang,^ and Zi-tai-pe writes, 'At the extreme west is the Jo-m'' tree ; at the extreme east, the /"u-sang tree.'" "From all this," continues the book from which we cite, " it follows that Fu-sang lies to the east of China. Some understand that the sun really comes out of this country, or that Fu-sang is the sun itself ; but this is mere ignorance on their part. When it is said tVat the sun comes forth from Fu-sang, it simply means that the sun rises in the extreme east." I will conclude with some remarks regarding the description of the route from China to Fu-sang, given by the historian Li- yen, who lived at the beginning of the seventh century of our era, and regarding the conjectures to which this itinerary has * Williams's "Chinese Dictionary," p. 1071, defines "Yang-kuh," "the valley of sunrise in the extreme east, probably in Corea, where Yao worshiped the sun at the vernal equinox." (ji i D'lIEKVEY'S APPENDIX. 227 rriven rise. According to Li-yen, tlie route sets out from the coast of Leao-tony, skirts along Japan, touches at the country of the Wen-shin, and then reaches the kingdom of Ta-han, from which the route to Fu-sang is quite direct, the distance being ahnost equal to the entire distance already traveled. The total length of the journey is about 44,000 //, and each of the interme- diate distances is specified. The length of the li can not serve as the basis for any certain calculation as to the exact distance, be- cause of the variations which it has suffered. The inductive labours of the scholars, who have attempted to determine the situ- ation of Fu-aany from the statements of Li-yen, have heretofore consisted in proceeding from the known to the unknown, by at- tempting to determine the length of the li from its value in the distance between Leao-tong and Japan, so as to obtain a propor- tionate measure which would furnish the means for the identifi- cation of the more distant regions designated by the names of Wen-shin, Ta-han, and Fu-sang. This very reasonable method meets two great difficulties in its practice — one resulting from the fact that the particular point in Japan to which the measure was taken is not clearly indicated ; and the other from the fact that the estimate of distances by sea in a voyage of this kind can only be approximate. Thus, de Guignes and Neumann, who agree in placing the country of Wen-shin in Jesso, have differed regarding the identification of Ta-han, which the first thinks to be in Kamtchatka, and the second upon the peninsula of Alaska, and this has resulted in their placing Ft-sang more or less to the south. But neither of these two scholars, nor M. d'Eichthal, the Chevalier de Paravey, M. Jos6 Perez, or Mr. Leland, has hesitated to acknowledge that Fu-sang must be sought upon the American Continent. I do not hesitate to declare that it seems to me impossible to seek elsewhere for a region of a thousand leagues in extent, situated beyond the great ocean, to the east of Japan, and the new documents which I have been permitted to collect attest this to be its true location. The mention regarding the extent of Fu-sang is in the frag- ment of the Shi-cheu-Jci, cited above ; that of the situation of Fi-sang to the east of Japan is found in the preface of the " Ethnography of the Eastern Nations," by Ma Twan-lin, where it is distinctly said, "Japan is situated directly to the east of China, and Fc-sang is situated directly to the east of Japan " ! i! 228 AN INCJLOUIOUS COLUMBUS. {Kiuen, ^24, fol. 1, line 0). Ma Twanlin addn that about thirty thousand li Hcparate China from thiw country of the extretnc east ; an assertion which does not in any way contradict the estimate of forty thousand li made by Li-ycn, since the distance here spoken of is that in a direct line, and not the distance by a roJindabout route. This positive statement of Ma Twan-lin's would bo sufficient to destroy the singular hypothesis of Klaproth, who imagined that the Chinese had confounded Japan with Fa-sang, if this paradoxical theory did not crumble of itself at all points, as it is easy to demonstrate that it does. Klaproth does not dispute either the sincerity of the state- ments of Ifoei IShin, or the veracity of the Chineses writers who have spoken of Fii-sang, and confines himself to commenting upon their statements from his point of view. The best way of exposing his attempted refutation of do Guignes's memoir is to show how he has proceeded in his interpretation of the Chinese authors. The Prussian scholar commences by admitting, with de Guignes, that the country of Wen-shin must be Jesso, so that he is obliged to accept as the length of the li, in the time of the historian Li-yen, a measure proportionate to the number of li which this writer concedes between Leao-tong and the island of Jesso. Then, immediately, in order to bring the remainder of the itinerary into accordance with his fancy, he supposes the li to be less than half as long, and so small that it can not be ap- plied to any of the measures of distance indicated by the Chinese geographers of any epoch. M. d'Eichthal has described this contradiction very clearly; but that which he has not said is, that, in order to place Ta-han in the island of Karafto, or Tarakai, the same land according to him as Lien-lcuei, Klaproth ignores or pretends to be ignorant, on the one side, that the land of Lieit-kuei is described by the Chinese books as a peninsula and not as an island (" Long-wei-pi-shn,''^ Kiuen, 4, fol. T ; " Wen- hien-tong-kao,^^ Kiuen, 347, fol. 4), and, on the other side, th.at the countries of Lieu-kuei and Ta-han are described separately in the two works above named, with the important distinction that Lieu-Jcuei is described among the regions of the north, and Ta-han among those of the east ; this last country being located to the east of the Wen-shin, while Lieu-kuei is to their north. Jililil D'lIEUVEY'S APPENDIX. 229 The quoHtion of the orieiitution troubled the scholarly author of the "Tableaux ile TAsie" very little, it is true ; and, uh the direction toward the east, on leaving the island of Kanifto, or Tarakai, inconunoded hinj, he, in order to arrive ut Iuh conclu- ^ion, changed this direction, ho precisely given by the ChineBe texts, and, without ceremony, turned it arbitrarily toward the south, in such manner was ho carried away by his imagination, that he concluded by supposing that the Chinese navigators of the seventh century thought that they were visiting I'h-satuj when they landed upon the southeastern coast of Japan— that is to say, in a country which had been known to them, and which had had constant relations with China, for more than five cent- uries. If such reasoning had been published by an Orientalist of less reputation than Klaproth, it would be almost superfluous to expose it. Attention should be called, in conclusion, to the fact that Klaproth is the only critic who has opposed the identification of Fu-sang with America ; since no attention should be paid to the unsupported opinion of those who with closed eyes declare that they agree with him. Such is the additional information drawn from the examina- tion of a number of Chinese authors — information which I have thought should be added to the notice of Ma Twan-lin. For a statement of all that has been published hitherto in European laiiguages on the question of Fu-sany, as also for the latest in- formation concerning the ethnography of North America, and the navigation of the Pacific, Mr. C. G. Leland's book may be profitably consulted. •■') Ii f li CHAPTER XIV. PROFESSOR Williams's argument. " Notices of Fu-sang and other Countries lying East of China " — The origin of American tribes — The work of H. II. Bancroft— Mr. Leland's boolt — Ma Twan-lin — His " Antiquarian Researches " — Hwui-shin's story— Coplifene — No later aecounta of Fu-sang — The titles of the nobility — The ten-year cycle — Red pears — Tlie fu-sang tree — No montion of pulque — Brocade — Fables — Account of the SJiih Chau Ki — The article of the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint- Denys — Criticisms thereon — Fdng-lai — The distance of Japan and Fu-sang — The name Fu-sang sometimes applied to Japan — Mention of the fu-sang tree in a Chinese geography— Expeditions sent to search for Fu-sang — Corapari- son with Swift's " Voyage to Laputa " — The Kingdom of Women — Mention by Maundevile and Marco Polo of a land of Amazons — The country of Wan ShSn — Tattooing — Its existence among the Esquimaux — Quicksilver — Two kingdoms of Ta Han — Lieu-kuei and the Lewchew Islands. Notices of Fu-sang and Other Countries lying East of China — by Professor S. Wells Williams.'''' The origin of the various nations and tribes inhabiting the American Continent is a question that has attracted the atten- tion of antiquarians ever since the discovery of the continent four centuries ago. The general designation of " Indians," given by Columbus to the people whom he met, shows the notion then entertained of their Asiatic origin, not less than his ignorance of their true position. Since that time, numerous antiquarians have given us their ideas and researches upon this obscure sub- ject. Some have combined many scattered facts so as to uphold their crude fancies ; while others have formed a theory, and then hunted over the continent for facts to prove it. "When their various works are brought together, comparison only shows how little which can lead to a definite conclusion has yet been really ascertained. The digest of the most careful of these trav- elers, and the candid analysis of the works of antiquarians and PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 231 pbilologists, given by H. H. Bancroft in the fifth volume of his laborious work on the " Native Races of the Pacific States " (pp. 1-130), fully upholds his concluding sentence as to the present state of this question : " To all whose investigations are a search for truth, darkness covers the origin of the American peoples and their primitive history, save for a few centuries preceding the conquest. The darkness is lighted up here and there by dim rays of conjecture, which only become fixed lights of facts in the eyes of antiquarians whose lively imaginations enable them to see best in the dark, and whose researches are but a sifting out of supports to a preconceived opinion." Since the publication of this work, in 1875, attention has been again directed to a hypothesis as to the origin of the na- tive races — namely, that America was peopled from China — by the issue of Mr. C. G. Leland's book, entitled " Fusang, or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century." ]Mr. Bancroft had already collected the leading data upon this particular point (volume v, pp. 34-51), and Mr. Le- laud adduces no new facts.* He brings together in a conven- ient form what he has collected from de Guignes, Neumann, and d'Eichthal in favor of his theory ; while he analyzes and criti- cises the remarks of Klaproth, Sampson, and Bretschneider against it. I have thought that a translation of the sections describing the lands lying to the east of China, found in the work of Ma Twan-lin, would tend to place his notice of Fu-sang in its true light, and help us to guess where that country should be looked for. This distinguished Chinese author belonged to a literary family, and spent his life in collecting and arranging the materials for his great work, the Wdn Illcn Tung Kao, or "Antiquarian Researches," which was published about the year 1321, by the Mongol emperor Jin-tsung, a nephew of Kublai Khan. JMa Twan-lin's life was passed amid the troublous times of the con- quests of the Mongols, and his father held a high oflSce at the court of the emperors of the Sung dynasty at Ilangchow. He was busily engaged with these labors during the whole period of the residence of Marco Polo in China (1275-1295), and their deaths probably occurred about the year 1325. * Attention has already been called to the fact that an earlier and shorter ar- gument by Mr. Lcland preceded Mr. Bancroft's work by many years. — E. P. V. l^ Mlf* t! Ih 232 AN INGLOKIOUS COLUMBUS. The " Antiquarian Rescardics " now contains 348 chapters (k'Uen), arranged, witliout any natural sequence, under twenty-five different heads, as Chronology, Classics, Religion, Dynasties, etc. The last title is called aSV I Kao, or " Researches into the Four Frontiers." In it are gathered together, in twenty-fnir chapters, all the information that the author could collect respecting for- eign kingdoms and peoples. He himself seems never to have traveled outside of his own land ; and during the ruthless wars of the Mongols he was probably glad to escape all molestation by staying quietly at his home at Po-yang, in Kiangsi province. The eight volumes containing these notices of other countries must consequently be regarded only as the carefully written notes of a retired scholar, who was unable to test their value or accuracy by any standard, either of his own personal observation, or of the criticisms of those among his acquaintances who had gone abroad. The energy and skill of the great Khan, so unlike the effete and ignorant rule of the native monarchs it Ilang- chow, must have developed much mental and physical vigor among his subjects. An author like IVIa Twan-lin would there- fore be stimulated to gather all the information he could, no matter whence it came, to enrich his work. Ilis design was more like that of Ilackluyt orPurchas than that of Rollin or La Ilarpe ; and in carrying, it out he has done a good service for the literature of his nuUve land. In his survey of lands beyond the Middle Kingdom, he com- mences on the east, and goes around to the south and west, describing each country without much reference to those near it. Having no data for ascertaining their distances, size, or relative importance, he makes no distinction between islands, peninsulas, and continents ; for all such things his coinitrymen are even noAv just beginning to learn. . . . [The first section of Ma Twan-lin's work, translated by Professor Williams, is that relating to Ilia-i, the land of the "Shrimp Barbarians." These are shown to be the Ainos, and it does not seem necessary to copy the account here. Then follows his translation of the account regarding Fu-sang, which is given elsewhere ; upon which Professor Williams makes the following observations :] Ma Twan-lin makes no comment on this narrative, nor does he tell us whence Ilwui-shin got it ; he did not feel obliged to m^ PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 233 discuss its veracity, or explain its obscurities. The first iinpres- siou made upon one who reads it, with the idea that Fusang lay somewhere on the American Continent, is that it proves rather too much, judging by what we yet know of the nations and tribes who once dwelt there. I do not mean that the notices it gives of the houses, unwalled cities, curious mode of judging prisoners, and mourning customs, could not have ai)plied to the natives of Mexico or Peru ; but ic has not the air of the narra- tive of a man who had actually lived there. It is easy to reply that all traces of the people mentioned have been lost, so that our present ignorance of their early civilization proves nothing either way. Still, this account reads more like the description of a land having many things in common with countries well known to the speaker and his hearers, but whose few peculiari- ties were otherwise worth recording. The shaman Ilwui-shin may have been one of the five priests who went to Fu-sang from Ki-pin only forty years before his arrival at Kingchau, the capital of the Tsi dynasty. Ki-pin is the Chinese name for Cophene, a region mentioned by the Buddhist traveler Fa-hien (chap, v) under that name, and by Strabo and Pliny as situated between Ghazni and Candahar, along the western slopes of the Suleiman Mountains, in the upper valleys of the Ilelmond River. These priests had probably traveled far north of China in their missionary tour, as described by de Gulgnes and d'Eichthal, and lived in Fu-sang until it had become familiar to them. I think that Ma Twan-lin inserts Hwui-shin's account next to that of Ilia-i, from an idea that both kingdoms lay in the same direction. lie seems to have found no accounts of a later date, and the long interval of seven centuries had furnished nothing worth recording about a land so insignificant as Fu- sang. We can hardly imagine that such would have been the case with a country to be reached by a long sea-voyage, one where stupendous mountains, great rivers, well-built cities or citadels, and people with black or dark-red complexions, would each make a deep impression upon an Asiatic. It jp. just as likely that junks drifted across the Pacific Ocean in the sixth century as in the nineteenth ; but Hwui-shin is as silent respect- ing the manner in which he returned from Fu-sang, as of the way he reached it. If the five priests had traveled toward Okotsk, and beyond the river Anadyr, till they reached Beh- 1, : 234 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ring's Straits, and then slowly found their way down to warmer climes, this would naturally form part of the story. Silence on all these points makes one hesitate in coming to the conclusion that Fu-sang formed any part of America. The internal evidences to be deduced from what is stated are still more opposed to that conclusion. In our present state of knowledge of the ancient American languages, so far as I can learn, it would be a vain search to look for any words among them suggesting the names of yueh-ki for king ; tui-lu for a high noble ; siao tui-lu vox a secondary grandee ; and no-cha- sha for those of the Iow3st rank. It is "ot possible at this date to be quite sure what sounds were intended by the priest, or by the historian, to be represented by the Chinese characters used in transliterating the three foreign words ; but those here given are the present ^ nds in the court dialect, and probably near their originals. But the next statement, respecting the changes required every two years in the color of the king's dress, carries with it alto- gether too much likeness to Chinese ritualism to be overlooked. It needs a little explanation to be made clear. The sexagenary cycle, used in Eastern Asia from remote times, is made by repeat- ing ten stems six times in connection with twelve branches re- peated five times ; the two characters united form the name of a year. The ten years containing the ten stems begin with the first year of the sixty. Consequently, the first and second years, the eleventh and twelfth, the twenty-first and twenty-second, and so on to the last decade, will contain the same two stems — kiah yueh five times over ; in these two years the king's dress must be tsing, or azure color. In the next two, the third and fourth in each decade, the stems ping ting require it to be chih, red or carnation. In the next t'vo the stems xcu ki require it to be hxoang, yellow ; in the fourth binary combination, the stems kdng nn require it to be peh^ white. Lastly, the two stems J«'n kwei, denoting the ninth and tenth years of each decade, close the series, and then his robes are to be AcA, black. These five are the primitive colors of Chinese philosophy. Nothing analogous to this custom has ever been recognized among the Aztec, Peruvian, or Maya people. The ten stems in these five couples indicate among the Chinese and Japanese the operation of the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, water, m\\ PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 235 in their active and passive exhibitions ; each one destroys its predecessor, and produces its successor, in a perpetual round of evolutionary forces. The mention of such an observance in Fu- sang seems to fix its location in Eastern Asia, where the sexa- genary computation of time has long been known. It was a curious usage, which would strike a priest familiar with the Chi- nese ritual. The same may be said of the worship of ancestral manes and images, and of the three years' mourning by the new king. The efforts to explain the big horns of the oxen, the red pears which will keep a year, and the vehicles drawn by horses, have each their difficulties if applied to anything yet known of the na- tions of ancient America along the Pacific coast, but may be applied to Northern Asia with -ome allowances. I think the red pears may denote persimmons, which are dried for winter use, and to this day form a common article for native ships' stores. The identification of the -tree fu-sang, on which the notice chiefly turns, is not yet complete. Klaproth refers it to the Hi- biscus rosa sinensis; but I agree with Dr. Bretschneider in mak- ing it to be the Uroussonetia papi/rifera, or paper-mulberry, a common and useful tree in Northeastern Asia. The use asserted to be made of the bark in manufacturing paper and dresses does not apply to the Hibiscus nearly so well, though that plant also produces some textile fibers, as doet; also another large tree not yet entirely identified, belonging to the family Tiliacese or lin- dens. The further statement, too, that its shoots are eatable like those of the bamboo, is inapplicable to the agave of Mexico as well as to the Hibiscus, the linden, or Broussonetia, none of which are endogenous. It is one of the inaccuracies of the de- scription, and can not be reconciled with either plant. The maguey made from the agave is better fitted for threads and cloths than for making paper. The fruit or berry of the Brous- sonetia is reddish, indeed, but no one would liken it to a li or pear. If the agave is intended, as Mr. Lelr.nd urges, it is very probable that Hwui-shin would have said something about the intoxicating drink called pulque, obtained from the leaves, rather than have likened them to the tung, as he has done. This icst tree is either the JEleococca or Pmolonia, both well known m China and Japan ; so that an omission to speak of the pulque be- comes rather an evidence against the agave being \\\q fu-sang tree. I 1 23G AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. i. The remark about the libers being woven into broca-ie is also true of the Broussonetia. A beautiful fabric is made in Japan by weaving them with a woof of silk ; but nothing of this sort could be made from the weak agave fibers. Moreover, the Broussonetia has not been found in Mexico, although Neumann thinks that it once existed there. . . . The word kin (|,^), ap- plied to the curious paper-silk brocade manufactured from the fu-sang bark, according to Ma Twan-lin's text, is also api^lied to embroidery and parti-colored textures. It is not so much the damask-like figure that is the essential point ; but among the Chinese the kin always has a variety of colors. This seems to have attracted the attention of Hwui-shin, and the remarkable iridescence of some specimens of this Japanese mulberry silk still excites admiration. Professor Neumann says that in the year- books of Liang he found the reading to be mien (j^), " floss " ; but the textual character kin has more authority in its favor, and is found in the Yuen Kien Lui ITan. He translates the sentence: " From the bark they prepare a sort of linen which they uso for clothing, and a sort of ornamental stuff." The word pii, here rendered linen, is now confined to cotton fabrics ; but the distinc- tion aimed at in the two terms used seems to have been that of a plain fabric and a brocaded one, like the Japanese nisiki. It may be added, lastly, that many fables have gathered around the tree and the country of Fu-sang, which increase the difliculty of their identification. For instance, the Shih Chau Ki, quoted in the native lexicon Pei-wCin Yin Mi, says : "The fu-sang grows on a land in the Pih Ilai, or Azure Sea, where it is abundant ; the leaves resemble the common mulberry {sang), and it bears the same kind of berries {shin, j^ ; the trunk rises several thousand rods {chang), and is more than two thousand rods in girth. Two trunks grow from one root, and lean upon each other as they rise ; whence it gets the name fu-sang, i. e., supporting mulberry."* The use of the technical word shin for the fruit of the fu-sang is a very strong argument for its being the Broussonetia, and shows that its aflinity to the silk mulberry {3Iorus) had been noticed. * This is evidently a philological myth ; as one of the meanings of the charac- ter FU is " to prop up, support," '^'^ the name Fu-sang was supposed to mean " the supporting mulberry," and the tale given above was probably invented to account for it. It appears, however, that there is a species of double maguey, or sang. Kung which and the PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 237 Since the publication of Mr. Leland's book, tlie Marquis d'Hervcy de Saint-Denys, who has succeeded Stanislas Julicn in the Chinese Professorship at Paris, has contributed a paper in the Transactions of the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles- Letters for 187C, which contains some additional notices of Fu- sang. Among these is an extract translated from the Lianrf /Sz* Kung Ki, or " Memoirs of Four Lords of the Liang Dynasty," which throws some light on the times in which Ilwui-shin lived, and the circumstances attending his arrival at King-chau. The marquis shows that it was just at the overthrow of the Tsi dynasty that the priest came as envoy from Fu-sang, and had to wait three years before the Emperor Wu-ti, of the Liang dy- nasty, could receive him. The section in Ma Twan-lin he justly regards as a copy of the official report made to his superiors by Yu Kieh, one of these four lords, obtained from Ilwui-shin, the envoy. It is quite unlike the usage in such cases that nothing is said in the official annals of the presents offered by him ; these, if they had come from America, would have been different from anything before seen, and therefore likely to be recorded. Such a list, however, did not necessarily fall within Ma's purpose when describing Fu-sang. The marquis notices some of the presents offered, which are spoken of in the " Memoirs of the Four Lords," and also some popular notions of that day conceniing Fu-sang. He identifies the envoy with the shaman Ilwui-shin, and con- cludes, with reason, that he was one of the five priests who went in the year 458 from Ki-pin. I have no copy of the Liang Sz* Kung Ki, and therefore quote his translation : " At the commencement of the year 502,* an envoy from the kingdom of Fu-sang was introduced, and, having offered different things from his country, the emperor ordered Yu Kieh to in- terrogate him on the manners and productions of Fu-sang, the history of the kingdom, its cities, rivers, mountains, etc., in that the plant aometimca throws out two flowering-stalks instead of one ; as Saha- gun refers to it in the following words : '"">'' " The god Xolotl took to flight and hid himself in a field of maize, where he metamorphosed himself into a stalk of that plant, having two lower portions with separate roots, which the labourers call lolotl ; but having been discovered among the maize, he fled a second time and hid himself among the magueys, where he changed himself into a double maguey, which is called mcxolotl (from metl, maguey, and xolotl )." — E. P. V. * This clause should read, "At the commencement of the years called iiai-l-icn" i. e., about the year 502.— E. P. V. i • ' 1 238 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. conformity to Ibo usage practiced at court whenever a foreign envoy visited it. The envoy from Fu-sang wept, and replied with a respectful animation, says the Chinese text, such as an old man would exhibit when he found himself in his own country after a long absence.* The presents which he offered consisted especially of three hundred i)ounds of yellow silk, produced by worms found on the fu-aany tree, and of extraordinary strength. The censer of the emperor, made of solid gold, weighed fifty catties (between fifty and sixty pounds), and three f threads of this silk hrld i; up without breaking. Among the presents was also a kind of t;emi-transparent stone, carved in the form of a mivruV; in ■ hich, when the sun's image was examined, the palace in tL 5un di .tinctly appeared. . . . " One day, ^ iiilc he was entertaining the court about foreign countries, the magnate Yu Kieh began to speak thus : ' In the extreme east is Fu-sang. A kind of silk-worm is found there, which is seven feet long and almost seven inches around. The color is golden. It takes a year to raise them. Oa the eighth day of the fifth moon the worms spin a yellow silk, which they stretch across the branches of the fu-sang , for they wind no co- coons. This native silk is very weak ; but, if it be boiled in the lye made from the ashes of fu-sang wood, it will acquire such strength that four strands well twisted together are able to hold up thirty catties. The eggs of these silk-worms are as big as SM-allows' eggs. Some of them were taken to Corea ; but the voyage injured them, and when they hatched out they were or- dinary silk-worms. The king's palace is surrounded with walls of crystal. They begin to be clear before daylight, and become all at once invisible when an eclipse of the moon occurs.' " The magnate Yu Kieh proceeded to say : * About ten thou- sand U northwest of this region there is a Kingdom of Women ; they have serpents for husbands. The serpents are J venomous and live in holes, while their spouses dwell in houses and pal- aces. No books are seen in this kingdom, nor have the people * The pamphlet, from vrhidi Professor Williams translated, might leave it to bo inferred that the phrase, " such as an old man would exhibit when he found him- self in his own country after a lonj^ absence," was contained in the Chinese text. It is, however, merely a comment, made by M. d'llervey de Saint-Denys. — E. P. V. + The word "three" should be "six."— E. P. V. \ This clause should read, " The serpents arc vot venomous." — E. P. V. PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 280 to be liim- tcxt. P.V. any writing. They firmly believe in the power of certain sor- ceries. The worship of the gods imposes obligations wl'.ieh no one dares to violate. In the middle * jf the kingdom is an island of fire with a burning mountain, , hose inhabitants eat hairy snakes to preserve themselves from the heat ; rats live on the mountain, from whose fur an incombustible tissue is woven, which is cleaned ])y putting it into the fire instead of washing it. North of this Kingdom of Women there is a dark valley ; and still farther ndrth are some mountains covered with snow whose peaks reach to heaven. The sun never shines there, and the lu- minous dragon dwells in this valley. West of it is an intoxi- cating fountain whose waters have the taste of wine. In this region is likewise found a sea of varnish whose waves dye plumes and furs black ; and another sea having the color ** milk. The land surrounded by these wonders is of great extei. , a. '. exceed- ingly fertile. One sees there dogs and horses o^ great stature, and even birds which produce human beings, liie males born of them do not live ; the females are carefully roared by their fathers, who carry them on their wings ; as soon as they begin to walk they become mistresses of themsel s. They are re- markably beautiful and very hospitable, but tiiey die before the age of thirty. The hares of that land are as big as the horses elsewhere, having fur a foot long. The sables are like wolves for size, with black fur of extraordinary thickness.' •' The courtiers were greatly amused with these recitals, laughing and clapping their hands, while they assured the nar- rator that they had never heard better stories. One minister in- terrupted Yu Kieh by a bantering objection : * If one can put any trust in the official reports collected in relation to this King- dom of Women, it might be all simply inhabited by savages who are governed \)y a woman ; there would then be no question re- specting this matter of serpents acting rs husbands. How would you then arrange this matter ? ' " Yu Kieh answered pleasantly, that he had nothing more to say on that point ; and then he went on from one strange story to another still more strange, in which one part truth was mixed with nine parts invention." The whole paper from which this extract is taken does credit to its author's researches into this matter, however much we may * For " In the middle " read "At the soutlu"-E. P. V. I il I! 240 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. >ifHi (liflFer from his inferences. On a previous page he adduces fur- ther proof from two early Chinese authors, who mention Fu- sang. One of them is Kiuh Yuen, who flourished about n. c. 300, and wrote the poem Le Sao, or " Dissipation of Sorrows," which has since become a classic among his countrymen. In it, the marquis says, ** he traveled in thought to the four quarters of the universe. On the north he perceived the land of long days and long nights ; on the south, the boundless ocean met his view ; on the west, he saw the sun set in a lake, perhaps the Tengiri-nor or the Caspian Sea ; on the east, in spite of the vast- ness of the Pacific, and of the idea which would naturally pre- sent itself to his mind as the sun rose from the abyss of waters, he beheld the far-off shores receive the beams of Aurora, and in a valley, on a land shaded hy the fu-aanff tree, he places the lim- its of the extreme east." lie also calls in another author to fortify the poet, namely, Tung Fang-soh, whose work, the Shin-i King, or " Record of Strange Wonders," was extant in the Han dynasty, but was af- terward lost. That now bearing his name has been manipulated by subsequent authors, and Mr. Wylie regards it as a production of the fourth or fifth century, and " the marvelous occupies so large a portion that it has never been received as true narrative." But the marquis does iiOt so regard it : " The works of Tung Fang-soh, which treat of regions most remote from China, have undergone some slight alterations at the dictum of the Chinese literati, who inform us that the alterations which they suspect date back to the fourth century after Christ. Their criticism, far from diminishing for us its authority, becomes, on the con- trary, a valuable testimony of its authenticity at that date. This it what it says : * East of the Eastern Ocean is the country of Fu-sang. "When one lands on its shores, if ho continue to travel on by land still further east ten thousand li, he will again come to a blue sea, vast, immense, and boundless.' I think that I hazard nothing in saying beforehand that it is impossible to apply these indications of Tung Fang-soh to any other country than America." Fu-sang and Pcing-lai are still used among the Chinese for fairy land, and ai*e referred to by the common people very much as the Garden of the Hesperides and Atlantis were among the ancient Greeks. In Hankow, when a shopkeeper wishes to praise PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. S41 the quality of his goods, ho puts on his sign that they are from one or other of these lands. The latter is perhaps the more eommon of the two, for it has become associated with the conqueror Tsin Ciii llwangti, who sent an expedition, about n. c. 220, easterly to find it and two other islands, called iSan jSien Shan, or Three Fairy Hills, where the genii live. Pung-lai is now the name of a district in the province of Shantung (better known from the prefectural city Tiingchau, west of Chef u), which com- memorates this expedition after the fairies. Nothing was more natural to people living along the Yellow River, in the days of Kiuh Yuen and Tung Fang-soh, when Shantung was inhabited by wild tribes, than to regard all that little known region in the utmost east as the abode of whatever and whoever were wonder- ful. To quote such legends as corroborative history or travel, needs the support of some authentic statement to begin with ; and Hwui-shin would be as likely to connect his account with something his hearers would recognize as existing in that direc- tion, as to make up a story. I do not infer that neither the Chi- nese nor Japanese of the sixth century had any knowledge of the American Continent from other sources, for it was as easy then for vessels to drift across the Pacific as they still do ; but they could not drift back again, and, when once landed anywhere between Alaska and Acapulco, the sailors were not likely to try a second voyage to reach their homes. There is, furthermore, an unexplained point how the name of the tree fu-sang came to be applied to the kingdom Fu-sang. If the Broussonetia be the plant denoted, and everything con- firms this deduction, one would have expected its identity or likeness to the chu shu, its Chinese name, to have been men- tioned. It is, however, quite as probable that the tree got its name from the country, for the manufacture of paper from its bark does not seem to have been known in the days of Kiuh Yuen. Yu Kieh's pleasant account of Fu-sang and its silk-worms tends rather to show that in his day it was a region which every one could people with what he chose. The use of silk among the people on the Pacific coast was, according to H. H. Ban- croft, mostly confined to the Mayas in Central America ; it was by no means a common product, and mostly used in combination with cotton. This reference by Yu Kieh, although so exagger- 16 mt HI 242 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMIJUS. atcd, tends to show that Fu-aang was rogarded as on tho western side of tlto Pacific Ocean ; and I am inclined to place it in Sag- halien Island. Do (tuij^iies lays much stress on tho alleged distance of Fu- sang from Ta-han, and ingeniously reduces tho 20,000 li, or 7,000 miles, to an actual estimate of tho road taken by Ilwui-shin (Le- land, J). 1^8) to get there. In tho introduction to his accounts of all these eastern countries, in chap. 324, Ma Twan-lin plact • the Flowery Land in tho center of tho universe, and then adds : '* East of China lies Wo-kwoh, a.'so called Japan ; east of Wo- kwoh, farther on, lies Fu-sang, abcut 30,000 li from China." These figures are much too hap-hazan' to depend on in settling this point, and carry less weight than s ich internal evidence as we can analyze. If compared with other distances applied to those regions by this author, we soon find hoAV voluoless they all are. No one in tho sixth century had any means of measuring long distances, or taking tho bearings of places, so as to make even a rough guess as to their relative positions, if ho had tried to make a map. For an illustration of this remark, see Dr. Bretschnei- der's article in " Transactions of North China Branch of tho Koyal Asiatic Society," No. X, 1870, where ho gives an example of Asiatic m.ap-makiiig in a. n. 1331, to show the divisions of the Mongol Emi)irc. It looks like a checker-board. The position of Fu-sang can not therefore be yet settled from these notices ; but we may, as the Marquis d'llcrvey do Saiut- Denys hopefully remarks, yet see tho day when the immense riches hidden and almost lost in Chinese books will be brought out, and something more definite on this head be discovered. I have only two other quotations to add. One is the name Ftishi-kohu, i. e., the kingdom of Fu-sang, an unusual designation, known to the Japanese themselves, of their own country or a part of it, and which would hardly have been applied to a land on the other side of the Pacific Ocean. The other is the men- tion found in the Ylng-hioan Chi JJoh, or " Geography of the World," by Su Ki-yU, tho late governor of Fuhkien, who wrote it in 1848. In speaking of the troubles in Corea caused by the ^Mongol invasion, and the ravages of the Japanese corsairs along the Chinese coast during the Ming dynasty, he proceeds to say : " But as the rising grandeur of our present Imperial house began to diffuse itself afar, its quick intelligence perceived that it ought Illihl PROFESSOIl WILLIAMH'S ARfJUMEXT. 2i.') name lation, or a land mcn- f the rote it y the along say: began ought first to RcatttT [as it wore] HlipH from i\\ofu-sntuj tree in tho Valley of SunriHO ; and thereby those lands (('orea and Japan) were awed into HiibmiHsion for many yearH, and our eastern frontier remained (juiet and protected ; neither of theHo nations presumed to en- croach on our posHCHsions." Tho Valley of Sunrise, used iu tho Shu King, or *' Hook of Records," is regarded as a synonym of ('(»rea, and tho /u-sfin;/ tree is here connected with that land. A few sentences on, (tovernor SQ quotes from another book, called "Records of Ten Islands or Regions" : '* In the sea toward tho northeastern shores lie Fu-sang, l*iing-kiu, and Ying-chau ; their entire circuit is a thousand li." Ho then adds : " I think that the story about these Three Fairy Hills arose from the exaggerated descriptions of our own writers, who used them to deceive and mislead men ; for really they were small islands, contiguous to Japan and belonging to it. If their ships of that period went to them out in tho ocean, why cotild not four people?) find them if they had searched for them?" Ho then relates the quixotic expedition sent by Tsin Chi Hwangti under Stl Fuh to find them, Avith several thousand men and women, none of whom ever returned. From this reference it may bo concluded that Governor S(l regarded Fu-sang and tho other two to belong to the Kurilc Islands near Yezo. Ho had access to many works in his own literature, and took unwearied pains to get at tho truth of what ho was writing about, by asking intelligent foreigners who were able to tell him. Among these were Rev. David Abcel (whose aid ho acknowledges), and M. C. Morrison, a son of Rev. Dr. Morrison, tho missionary. His opinion de- serves to he received as that of an intelligent scholar, though ho knew nothing of the question started by do Guignes. In reading the marquis's translation of Yu Kich's story, an English scholar can hardly fail to compare it with the " Voyage to Laputa " ; for that land was placed not far from Fu-sang by its clever discoverer and historian. Dean Swift, like Yu Kieh, drew on his imagination for his facts. The numerous references in tlu. " Voyage " to the people of China, their institutions, pecul- iarities, costumes, and manners, must have been derived or sug- gested in him by the writings of Semedo, Martini, Mendez Pinto, and other travelers in Asia before 1720, which were prob- ably in Sir "William Temple's library. But one would almost as soon think of quoting Swift's assertion in chapter iii of this " Voy- !(!■ In '" IJ! 244 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. I (. . i M 1 1 I n 1*^ s .. age " regarding " the two lesser stars or satellites which revolve about Mars," as proof that Professor Asaph Hall's discovery of 187G had been already known in Queen Anne's reign, as to seri- ously undertake from these Chinese authors to prove that thev knew the American Continent by the name of Fu-sang. [Then follows the translation of the account of the " King- dom of Women," which is given in full in the seventeenth chap- ter of this work. Professor Williams comments :] From this account, follow 'ag tliat of Fu-sang, we might con- clude that Ma Tvan-lin regarded Ilwui-shin alone as his author- ity for both of them, as he is quoted at thp beginning of each section. But the incident of a. r>. 508 may have been taken from the " History of the Liang Dynasty. " The mention of Tsin- ngan, however, as the residence of the shipwrecked man who found the Nil Kwoh, shows how. little dependence can be placed on the Buddhist priest's estimate of the distance or direction of either Fu-sang or Nil Kwoh from China. The only seaport of that day named Tsin-ngan was the present Pu-tien hien, identical with the prefectural city of Iling-hwa, situated between Fuhchau and TsUen-chau in the province of Fuhkien. This man was probably a fisherman, bound for the Pescadore Islands, who was driven off by a storm through the Bashee Straits into the Pacific Ocean, among the islands east of the Philippines. I think the priest is not responsible for the sailor's story, as it is omitted in the Yuen Kien Lui Han, and only the first part given. Tlie legend of the Nil Kwoh probably applies to two places. Sir John Maundevile * places his Lond of Amazoyne beside the Lond of Caldee where Abraham dwelt ; but his Yle of Nacume- ra, where "alle the men and women of that Yle have Houndes Hedes ; and thei ben clept Cynocephali," might be looked for where the " History of the Liang Dynasty " puts them as well as anywhere else. In his " Book of Marco Polo " (ed. 1871, vol. ii, pp. 338-340), Colonel Yule has brought together notices of the various legends which have appeared from time to time in Eastern Asia of this fabled land of females, to illustrate what the Venetian has reported in chapter xxxi about the " Two Islands called Male and Female," In his other admirably edited work, "Cathay, and the AVay Thither" (p. 324), he alludes to the report of Marignolli, about * " Maundevilc's Yoyago," cd. 'v IlalHwcU, 18a9, pp. 154, 197. PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 245 A. D. 1330, of a kingdom in Sumatra ruled by women. The first part of Ma's notice, which is certainly ascribed to the shaman, leads one to look northeasterly toward the Kurile Islands for people with so much hair ; and suggests a comparison with the inhab- itants of Alaska called Kuchin Indians, described in Bancroft's " Native Races " (vol. i, pp. 115, 147, sqq.). But it would not be worth while to spend much time in looking for this fabled land, had not the idea got abroad that its location would aid in identi- fying Fu-sang with some part of America. [Next comes Professor Williams's translation of the account of the Wiin Shdn, or the land of " Marked Bodies," found in the seventeenth chapter of this woi'k, as to which he says :] It is not certain whether marking and painting the body, or tattooing, is intended by this term icCm sJuhi ; but as the Chi- nese have a technical term, Jcing, Ijf, used in this extract * to de- note the process, it proves that tattooing must be here intended. This practice is less common among the islanders in the North Pacific than in the South, where a warmer climate enables them to show off their pretty colors and figures. The courses and distances from Japan here given would land us in Alaska ; but no weight can be attached to them in this quotation from the Liang records. The distinction of rank, indicated by the different lines de- scribed in this extract, is like that in force among the Eskimo tribes near Icy Cape, as described by Armstrong : " At Point Barrow the women have on the chin a vertical line about half an inch broad in the center, extending from the lip, with a parallel but narrower one on either side of it, a little apart. Some had two vertical lines protruding from either angle of the mouth, which is a mark of their high position in the tribe " (Bancroft, vol. i, p. 48). The practice of tattooing has been so common at various times among the Chinese, Japanese, and other inhabitants of Eastern Asia, that nothing can be inferred regarding the country here intended. The singular notice of filling the moat with quicksilver may be paralleled by Sz'ma Tsien's description of the wonderful subterranean tomb of the great conqueror Tsin Chi Ilwangti (b. c. 270) in Shensi, wherein he tells us that "rivers, lakes, and seas wet'c imitated by means * I am unable to find this chamcter in Ma Twan-lin's Chinese account of the country of " Marked Bodies."— E. P. V. II!: 24G AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ; i Ih Ml'\ of quicksilver caused to flow in constant circulation by mecLan- ism. [After giving the translation of the account of the country of Ta J/an, Professor Williams says :] In chapter ccxxxi of the Y'uen Kien Lui Ilan, a valuable Cyclo- paedia, compiled by orders of the Emperor Kanghi, and issued in 1710, this section is quoted verbatim from the N'an Shi of Li Yen-shau, the same source from which Ma Twan-lin got it. Though that history contains the records of the Liang dynasty (a. d. 502-557), it was not written till about one century after- ward, in the Tang dynasty ; and during that interval nothing more seems to have been learned about the lands of Fu-sang, Ta Ilan, or Nii Kwoh. Kor had Ma Twan-lin found anything in his day, six centuries afterward, to add to what the shaman Ilwui- shin reported ; while this Cycloprodia — the product of a com- mission of learned men who ransacked the literature of China to find whatever was valuable and insert it — contains just the same story, hoary with the twelve hundred years' rtpose it had had in the Nan Shi. To show the carelessness of these compilers in their work, in chapter ccxli another kingdom is described under the name of Ta Ilan, but not a word is added to indicate how two kingdoms should have had the same name. This last is equally vague with the first in respect to its identification, and reads as follows : *' The ' New Records of the Tang Dynasty ' say : * Ta Ilan borders on the north of Kuh; it is rich in sheep and horses. The men arc tall and large, and this has given the name Ta Ilan (i. e., Great China) to their country. This kingdom and Kuh are both conterminous with Kieh-kiah-sz' , and therefore they were never seen as guests [in our court]. But during the reigns Ching-kwan and Yung-hwui (a. d. G27 to 650) thoy presented sable skins and horses, and were received. It may be that they have come once since that time.' " The compilers of the Cyclopaedia abridged this extract some- what, for they do not refer to Lake Baikal, Avhere Ta Ilan joins the countries of the Kieh-Jciah-sz' , and Kuh, and thus help to identify it. The next section contains an extract of seven pages from the " New Records of Tang " about the Kieh-kiah-sz' , or Hakas, whom Klaproth regards as the ancestors of the Kirghis now dwelling in Tomsk. If half of this account be true, the i!|i| PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT. 247 Ilakas formed a powerful kingdom in the Tang dynasty, and their neighbors Ta Ilan and Kuh are to be looked for on the river Yenisoi, or more probably between the Angara and Vitim rivers. The effort of Professor Neumann to identify the first-named Ta Ilan with Alaska, simply because he places Wun Shan among the Aleutian Islands, and Ta Ilaa lies 5,000 U east of it, is based alone on reported distances that are mere guesses. Mr. Leland also refers to de Guignes's opinion that Ta Ilan meant Kamtchatka, and that "Wan Shan was Yezo, and adds this com- ment : " De Guigaes determined with great intelligence that the country of the Wen-schin, 7,000 li northwest of Japan, must be Jezo, from the exact agreement of the accounts given of that country by Chinese historians of the early part of the sixth cent- ury (Goei-chi and Vcn-hien-tum-hao, a. d. 510-.'515) with that of Dutch navigators in 1643. Both describe the extraordinary appearance of the natives, and speak of the abundance of a peculiar mineral resembling quicksilver " (p. 129). ]\tr. Leland has been misled, in regard to this agreement, by not knowing that these supposed historians are only the names of two books, viz., " Records of the Wei Dynasty " (a. d. 386 to 543), and the same " Antiquarian Researches " from which I have trans- lated these sections. He also assumes that Ilwui-shin and his predecessors went by sea, adding that this was "no impossible tiling at a time when in China both astronomy and navigation were sciences in a high sense of the word." [Then follow the accounts of the "Land of Pygmies," of the " Kingdom of Giants," and of the " Islands of Lewchew," none of which have any direct bearing upon the account re- garding Fu-sa)2ff, the " Women's Kingdom," or the countries passed on the way thither. Professor Williams continues :] In concluding these extracts from Ma Twan-lin's writings, I need hardly draw attention to the vagueness which marks them, when we look for any definite information. His long chapter on Japan bears more marks of well-digested information than any of those which are here given, and indicates constant inter- course between it and China. Mr. Leland quotes from several authors whatever will elucidate and uphold his theory respecting Fu-sang, and deserves thanks for his research in this interesting question. He has, however, been led astray by a similarity, or ^'1 248 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. II m an error in spelling, to confound Kamtchatkii yflih Lev\chew.* . . . Mr. Lelanrl has a note in which he say^ : ' It (ie.j the t'^- count of the kingdom of Lieu-kuei] is evidently Lorro ved fiom the I'ancj-sckii, but is much better arranged, and contains some original incidents, on which account I have freely availed my- self of it." I have no means of verifying this statement, and therefore am unable to say hoAv far Ma quoted from the " Iiistory of the Tang," and also to explain whether Kamtchatka was ever called Lieu-kuei, and what the Chinese characters for t'.is name are, or w^hether Lieu-kuei is a misprint for Liu-kiu or Lew- chew. The name of this insular kingdom has been written a dozen ways by foreigners ; it is called Riu-kiu by the Japanese, Doo-choo by the inhabitants, Low-kow by the Cantonese, and Lewchew by the Ningpo people ; but. it could never have been confounded with Kamtchatka by either of them. * It appears that Professor Williams was led to confound Liu-kiu (3^ JEjf^ or Lewchew, with lAeu-kuci (^ ^ — characters transcribed in Professor Will- iams's dictionary as Liu-kwei), a terra which seems, beyond tjucstion, to have been applied to Kamtchatka. The fact that he did not leari.< the- characters for the term Lieu-kuei is evidently the cause of his error: and in this case it was he, and not Mr. Leland, who was led astray by the similarity in sound of the two names, one of which was applied to the Lewchew Islands and the other to Kam- tchatka.— E. P. V. \\\m-' CHAPTER XV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATIOX. — NATURE OP THE CHINESE LAN- GUAGE. Fu-sang wood — NiS-yao-liun-ti — The Warm Spring Valley — The Shin I King — The kingdom Hiho-kouc — The astronomer Jli-ho — The story of a Corean — An island of women — I"ung-lai — An expedition to explore it — The coloniza- tion of Japan — Lang Yuen — The Kwun-lun Mountains — A statue of a native of Fu-sang — A poem to his memory — The tree of stone — Varying translations — The peculiarities of the Chinese language — The brevity and conciseness of the written language — Its lack of clearness — The meaning of groups of char- acters, or compounds — Proper names — No punctuation — Difficulty of trans, lating correctly — Preparation of M. Julien — Illustrations of mistakes. To the information regarding Fu-sang, which is contained in tlie quotations given in the preceding chapters, a few additional items may be added. Klaproth states'*** that some Japanese writers report that a blackish, petrified wood is found in their country, which is highly valued, and which is called fu-sang wood, or wood of the country of Fu-sang : that this country is Japan, which has received this name because of its beauty, in which it resembles the shrub fu-sang, which is, as is well known, the species of hibiscus which we designate by the name of rosa Sinensis. "" A passage of the Shan Ilai King, quoted by some Japan- ese authors, reads as follows : " In the vast space placed at the eastern extremity of the world is the mountain J^ie-yao-kiun-ti. It is there that the tree fu-sang grows. Its height is three hundred U. Its leaves re- semble those of mustard. Near this, to the east, is the valley Wtn-yuan-ku.''^ The Chinese words, " ^ie-gao-kiun-ti," are pro- nounced by the Japanese ^' I-yo-hun-te,^'* and the Japanese author adds that this is lyo, one of the four provinces of the island I! t nm^ m 250 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. of Si-l-olf. Tlie valley Wen-yuan-Jcit is also called T''ang-hu or "Warm S' rings." We read n another Chinese work, called Shin I Kin(/ : "In the eastern part of the world there is a mulberry-tree eight hund- red feet in height ; it covers a large space of ground, and its leaves are ten feet long and six or seven broad. Upon this tree there live silk-worms three feet in length, of which the cocoons furnish a pound of silk. The fruit of this tree is three feet and five inches long." The following passage is found in another chapter of ;he Shan Hal King : " Beyond the southeastern ocean, and between the Kan-shui, or the " Pleasant Rivers," is the kingdom of ///- ho-koue (or, according to the Japanese pronunciation of the char- acters, Ghi-ica-koJcf). There lived the virgin Ill-ho (Ghi-wa), who espoused 7\-tsiim, and gave birth to ten suns." The same book also says that Ili-ho {Ghi-wa) is the name of a kingdom among the countries of the east, which is also called "The Place where the Sun Rises." . . . A passage of the Shan Ilai King T^sang-chu, which is a com- mentai-y upon the Shan Jlai King, says : "In the days of the Emperor Ilwang-ti, Ili-ho ( Ghi-wa) was the astronomer charged with the observations of the sun. This prince having given him the country of Fu-sang, he embarked with his family, settled there, and gave this country the name of Hi-ho-koue ( Ghi-wa kokf), or the country of Hi-ho. He had ten children ; the boys were named Yen (in Japanese, Fiko), or the male sun ; and the girls Ki (in Japanese, Fime), or the female sun ; the sun being considered as the source of all 'ecundity." " So,"add3 the Japan- ese author, " a man, who in our days would be called Ko-sak, would at that time have been called Ko-fiko ; and a woman named Ouki-ne would then have been called Ouki-Jime. This ccuntry," he continues, "was also called Wa-kokf" (in Chinese, Jlo-koice). Wa {Ho), the second character of Ghi-ica, signifies tmnquillity and peace ; kokfmcz.^^ kingdom. Wa (in Chinese, Ho) :'8, even now, one of the names of Japan. Ki.'iproth also reports an incident which indicates that Ilwui Shun to\:\ in Corea, as well as in China, the story of his advent- ures, and that some recollection of his narration was preserved by the people, as the following story of a country inhabited by women recalls Hwui Shan's account of the "Kingdom of ADDITIONAL INFORMATIOX. 251 Women," as well as the Chinese account of the sailors who were shipwrecked upon an island inhabited by women who resembled those of China. The incident is ^s follows : '"' The King Khl (of Wo-tsiu, one of the divisions of Corea) sent emissaries to look for Koung, to capture him, so that he might be punished. When they had reached the eastern coast of the country, they asked an old man if there were any people beyond the sea upon the east. He answered : " Some of the inhabitants of this country once embarked to go a-fishing, when they were as- sailed by a storm ; and, having been violently driven before the wind for ten days, they reached an island inhabited by people whose language thoy could not understand, and who had an ancient custom of drowning a young virgin in the sea at the seventh month." The same old man also stated that there was another country in the midst of the sea, inhabited by women, without any men. He said that, simply clothed in linen gar- ments, they threw themselves into the sea, and passed it by swim- ming. Their bodies resembled those of the Chinese women, and their garments had sleeves three fathoms long. Their country was in the midst of the sea of Wo-tsiu. The expedition above referred to occurred during the reign of the Wei dynasty, i. e., some time between 386 and 534 a. d."" As a place called P'vng-lai is fi-equently mentioned in con- nection with Fu-sang, the following statements regarding it may be of intei'est : In the year 219 b. c.,"" during'"' the epoch of the Japanese Dairi Ko-rei-ten-o, who reigned from 290 to 210 b. c, the Em- peror Shi-hwang, of the T'sin dynasty, reigned in China. He sent the skillful physician Slu-fii to the island of P'ung-lai to seek for the beverage of immortality. It is stated that, not hav- ing succeeded in this commission, he arrived at Japan, and died upon the mountain Fusi. The Chinese mythologists pretend that in the Eastern Sea there are three mountains (or islands) of the genii, called P'ung-laiy Fang-chang, and Ing-'-'',eii. They are inaccessible. To the first is also given the name of P\ing- tao, or the island of P'ung; it is said that they are covered with tabernacles, and with halls of gold and silver, which are used as the habitations of the genii. It is to these three islands that Tsin Shi Hioang Tl (the Emperor Shi Ilioang, of the Tsin dynasty) sent an expedition, mm nm 252 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. composed of some thousands of young people of both sexes, un- der the guidance of one llio-szu, to seek there for the remedy that confers immortality. The Chinese historians report that the fleet which bore them was shipwrecked, and that a single bark returned with the news of the disaster. It is seen that the Japanese annalists report the contrary. /Sln-fu was, according to their statement, one of the physicians of the emperor of China ; he introduced into their country arts and sciences which they had not before known, and the Japanese have therefore accorded divine honours to him. It appears that the Chinese tradition of the three fabulous islands, situated in the Eastern Sea, had its origin in the vague ideas which they then had of Japan, which is really composed of three large islands, which could only bo reached with difliculty by navigators as inexperienced as the Chinese must have been at that time. Other Chinese authors state that the island, or the mountain, of P'ling-lai is found near an island situated to the east of Cliang-houe, a district of T'ai-cheuy of the province of Che-Many. Mr. Mayers adds "*' that it is conjectured that this legend has some reference to attempts at colonizing the Japanese islands ; and M. de Rosny "" states that this expedition is mentioned by a number of Japanese historians. Klaproth mentions the fact that '*^' the Japanese proverbially apply the name P'ung-lai shan to all places where treasure is kept. In Professor "Williams's Dictionary, -'*' the term ^ ^, lang YUEx, is defined "Fairy-land." The characters mean a vacant or unoccupied pasture-field, or park ; and as it is a fact that there is much confusion between the Chinese accounts of "Fairy- land " and of Fu-sang, this may possibly be a reference to the vast plains of America, which, some centuries ago, were almost uninhabited. Mr. Medhurst '*" states that f^ ^ (pronounced Fu-satxg in the Mandarin dialeci , and Iloo-song in the Hok-keen dialect) is a kind of supernatuial mulberry-tree, that grows on the east of the Kicun-lun hill, toward the sunrising ; hence the common expression that the sun rises at Fu-sang. It is reported"" that the name lucun-lun is applied to a range of mountains, rendered famous in Chinese history and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. 253 legend, separating Thibet from Chinese Turkestan and the Des- ert of Gobi. It starts from the Pushtikur Knot, in latitude 30°, N., and runs along easterly nearly i»arallel between that and the u5th degree. At the 9'2(\ degree of longitude, E., in the middle of its course, it divides into two ranges, one declining to the southeast — the Bajinkara, or Snowy Mountains — and unites with the Yung Ling, or Cloudy Mountains. The other branch bends northerly, and, under the various names of Kilicn Shan, In Shan, and Ala Shan, passes tlirough Kansuh and Shinsi to join the Inner Iling-ngan range. The Kwim-lun range is the Olympus of China, and the supposed source of tlie yung-shwin. Professor Williams states that the term ICwim means "a peak beyond comparison," and adds that the Jvirwi-lun range is, like the Caucasus among the Arabs, the fairy-land of Chinese writers, one of whom says its peaks arc so high that wlien sun- light is on one side the moonlight is on the other."" The En- cyclopjedia Britannica "'* says that the name is derived from the Chinese geographers, and is probably a corruption of some Turkish or Thibetan word ; it appears to be unknown locally. The name having been adopted, chiefly on the initiative of Hum- boldt, before any correct geographical knowledge had been ob- tained of the region to which it was applied, it has been used with inconvenient want of precision, and this has encouraged erroneous conceptions. Little precise information is available on the subject. It is worthy of notice that the name ICtcun-lun is also applied to an island in the China Sea (Pulo Condor Island), probably in imitation of the Anamitic name Conor, or Koh- noong."^^ As the characters ^ ^, Kavun-luk, are composed of the radical for mountains, ^J, combined with the phonetics B ^^ KwuN-Lux, which, taken by themselves, mean ^^'^ "the canopy of the sky," it seems possible that the name originally meant "mountains reaching to the sky," and that it may have been ap- plied to more than one high range, somewhat as the general term "Alps" is applied in English. As in some cases Chinese characters terminating in nasals are intended to transcribe foreign words in which no nasal is found — as, for instance, Kiang-lang is written for the Sanskrit Kdla, and Thoiing-loung-mo for the Sanskrit drouma '"' — it does not seem impossible that, in case suflicient reason is found for believing i !! ! %\ ;^ : 254 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. the country of F«i-sang to bo identical with INfcxico, the name Jucim-lun, as applied to the mountain-range east of which Fu- sang is situated, may be used as the Chinese transcription of the Mexican word Quauhtla, meaning a mountain, or a range of mountains.'"'* As an illustration of the knowledge of the country of Fu- sang still preserved among the people of China, the following translation of an account given by JMr. Chung Nam Shan, of San Francisco, in September, 1883, may be found of interest : "Some fifty ?« east of Canton there is a temple named the temple of Po-lo, outside of the door of which there stands a statue of a man who came from the country of Fu-sang. Here lip lived for some years, and here he finally died ; and after his death he was deified and his statue placed at the door of the temple. He is represented as standing looking earnestly toward the east, with his right hand shading his eyes. At some later date a visitor to the temple wrote this stanza about him : ' Wlioro the sun rises, in the land of Fu-sang, there is my liome; Seeking glory and riclies, I came to tlio Kingdom of tlie Central Flower; Everywhere the cocks crow and the dogs bark, the same in one place as lu another, Everywhere the almond -trees blossom the same.' " The last two linos are intended to bo consolatory to a man that is homesick ; the assurance being that one place is substan- tially the same as another, and the conclusion being that it is therefore foolish to grieve for any particular place. The Chinese believe that in " Fairy-land " (between which mythical land and the coimtry of Fu-sang there is, as has been mentioned, more or less confusion in their traditions), or in the Kicun-lun mountains,"" there is a tree of stone,""' called k'i-kan, *' the agate gem " ; '"' piii-shu, *' the green-jade-stone tree," "" or LANG-KAN-siiu,'™ " the coral-troe " ; which myth it will here- after be shown may have originated from a pun, or accidental resemblance between two words of the Mexican language. Before entering upon the discussion of the account given by Ilwui Shan, it seems ntoessary to give his Gcory in full, in the original Chinese, as preserved for us by Ma Twan-lin, and place opposite to it the different translations that have been made by the Chinese scholars who have given the subject attention. This CO doring portant NATURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. 255 or licre- ental This course is necessary, as the (lisaj^reements as to tljo true ren- dering of various phrawes and characters arc numerous and im- portant ; and llwui Shan's report will often bo found to be true if a certain readintf, for which there is good authority, is adopted, while, if the versions of other translators are accepted, no confirmation of the statement can be found. It is evident that, in cases in which some live or six translat- ors differ radically as to the meaning of a certain clause, all but one arc ct.Ttainly mistaken as to its true meaning, and it may even be the case that no one of the translators has correctly ren- dered it. The present author, therefore, while admitting that he has no other knowledge of Chinese than such as he has been able to obtain from the study of a few Chinese-English dictionaries and grammars, during the time that he has been interested in the question as to the true location of the country of Fu-sang, will venture to give his own translation oi the account, differing in some points from the version given by any of the celebrated scholars who have preceded him. In all cases, however, the authorities will be quoted in full upon which he relies as justify- ing the changes in the translation ; and it is believed that these authorities will be found sufficiently plain and decided, as to the points in question, to enable all to see the reasons for the render- ing that is given. As, moreover, he has had the assistance of a number of native Chinese scholars, as well as of others who have made a study of the Chinese language, some one or more of whom he has consulted as to each doubtful point, he believes that his translation will be accepted as giving at least as accurate a rendering of the true meaning of the original as is found in any of the earlier versions. The principle has been adopted that, in all cases in which the Chinese text may be understood in two or more ways, one of which is true while the others are not, llwui Shun is entitled to that translation which brings his story into conformity with the truth. AVhilc there is certainly great danger, in attempting a translation from the Chinese under this principle, that the translator may fail to give the true meaning of the original text, it nevertheless seems plain that if the account be true, such a course will best bring out its truth ; while, if it be false, no in- genuity can twist it into a true description. The possibility of interpreting a sentence in several different > \r ^. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k // .<^ >..-^ V ^.'^ i! 1.0 1= 11.25 iii|M 121 Jf IK ^" £ Ki |2.0 U 1 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. I45S0 (716) 973-4503 :- A ^^' ^V^ ^^^ '4^ , . 6Ta •' Cease fighting now for a while, Let us call back the flowing waves. "Who opposed the enemy in time ? A single wife could ovorpowo" him ; Strean)ing witii blood, she grasped the mad offspring of guilt; She held fust the man, and threw him into tbe meandering stream. The Spirit of the Water, wandering up and down on the waves, Was astonished at the virtue of Ying. My song is at an end. Waves meet each other continually ; I see the water green as mountain Pcih, But the brilliant fire returns no more. How long did wo mourn and cry I " " I am compelled," says Professor Neumann, " to give a free translation of this verse, and confess myself not quite certain of the signification of the poetical figures used by our author." We will subjoin a less free translation : It'.i: •' The spirit of war has now ceased and vanished away ; Let us go back in thought, returning like the winding stream. Who was there that could then resist the foe, When but a single female was found to insult his power? With her blood she spat on the guilty wretch. Then, despising life, she sank in the curling waves. Her pure ice-like spirit now wanders over the stream. Her courageous soul with hesitancy lingers behind. " My song ended, I still loitered on the spot, and, casting a look on all around, I saw tbe hills retaining tneir blueness, and tbe sea its azure hue ; but the beacon smoke and the shadowing masts return no more. Long I stayed disburdening myself of sighs." An instance of a still more radical misunderstanding of the meaning of a Chinese sentence is given '" in tbe " Chinese Re- pository," vol. iii, p. 72. The quotations given above sufficiently show tbe difficulty sometimes experienced in comprehending the exact meaning of NATURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE. 259 a Chinese author, and hence it should not be considered as any reflection upon the scholarship and superior knowledge of the eminent gentlemen who have given translations of the Chinese account of Fu-sang, if the present author, relying partly upon the dictionaries and grammars of the language, and partly upon the views of native scholars, ventures in some cases to differ from his predecessors. Although knowing far less in regard to the Chinese language than i»ny of the celebrated scholars who have discussed Ilwui Shftn's story, it is possible that the greater length of time, and the more patient and careful study, which he has devoted to this particular account, may have counterbalanced this disadvantage, and may have enabled him to discover the true meaning of cer- tain phrases which have heretofore been misunderstood. 1! f ifiiH h CHAPTER XVI. THE DESCRIPTION OP FU-SANG. The Chinese authorities — Variations in the texts — The Chinese text — A literal translation -Parallel translations of eight authors — The date of Hwui Shilu's arrival in Cliina— The location of Fu-sang— The fu-sang trees— The deriva- tion of the name of the country — The leaves of the fu-sang tree — Its fii>t sprouts — Red pears — Tiiread and cloth — Dwellings — Literary characters- Paper — Lack of arms — The two places of confinement — The diflferonce be- tween them — The pardon of criminals — Marriages of the prisoners — Slave- children — The punishment of a criminal of high rank — The great assembly — Suffocation in ashes — Punishment of his family — Titles of the king and nobles — Musicians — The king's garments— The changing of their colour — — A ten-year cycle — Long cattle-horns — Their great size — Horse-carts, cattle- carts, and deer-carts — Domesticated deer — Koumiss — The red pears preserved throughout th3 year — To-p'u-t'aocs — The lack of iron — Abundance of cop. per — Gold and silver not valued — Barter in their markets — Courtship — Tl e cabin of the suito:' — The sweeping and watering of the path — The ceremonies of marriage — Mourning customs — The worship of images of the dead — The succession to the throne — A visit from a party of Buddhist missionaries — Their labours and success. The substance of the following account is found in the Z/iiYiff-shii"" or " Records of the Liang Dynasty," contained in the Nan-s/n, or "History of the South," written by Li Yen- shau,* who lived at the commencement of the seventh centurj'. The Nan-shi forms a portion of the Great Annals of China, the N'ien-rh-shi, or " Twenty-two Historians." Ma Twan-lin copied the account in his " Aiitiquarian Re- searches " ; but as Mr. Leland states "'* that he gives the report *' much more correctly," it is evident that he made such changes as he thought the truth to require. A number of points, as to which the different accounts vary, are noted by some of the trans- * See Klaproth's account, given in chapter iii, and that of Professor Williams, in chapter xiv. THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SAXG. 261 lators, but it is not likely that attention has been called to all tlie variations. As the present author has been unable to obtain a copy of any other than Ma Twan-lin's account, that alone is given ; but in a few important cases, in which Mr. Leland and tlie Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys have pointed out the difference between the text of Ma Twan-lin and that of the L'tang-shuy the character found in the latter is given in a note in the column headed " Definition." It would be interesting to compare the different Chinese versions of Hwui Shan's story, and such a comparison would undoubtedly do mucli to remove (littieulties and assist in bringing the truth to light ; when it would probably be found that most of Ma Twan-lin's " correc- tions," like those of some of our modern Shakespearean com- mentators, resulted only from a failure to understand the original text, and that it is necessary to reject them, in order to arrive at the true meaning of the author. The left-hand pages that follow contain the characters of Ma Twan-lin's text, with their sounds, and Professor Williams's defini- tions of their meaning, with a column showing the page of his dictionary upon which they are found. In the last column is given that English word which comes the nearest to expressing the meaning of the Chinese character; and, by reading these words in their order down the column, a literal translation of the story will be discovered, which will, in most places, be found intelligible — such English words as are necessary to show the connection with one another of the characters, and the ideas which they express, having been inserted in small type. Upon the opposite pages eight different translations will be found, being those of de Guignes, Klaproth, Neumann, de Ros- ny, Julien, d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, Williams, and the present author ; these being given in the order above-named, and an English version of the first six being presented instead of the original French or German of their authors. In making these translations it has been my intention to follow the forf?ign text as closely and literally as is consistent M'ith intelligibility and with justice to the translators. It will be seen that, in a number of cases in which my version of the Chinese text differs from that of the majority, I am nevertheless supported by some one or more of the scholars who have previously studied the subject. i-i h '■1 \ ■ , I Wm 202 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 2 8 4 6 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 IC n 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 ^ tfe i r ?■««. Houud. 144 FU 724 SANG 144 FU 724 SANG 491 KWOII 38 CUE 900 TS'I 1149 YUNG 1134 YUEN 1134 YU^N 634 NIEN 342 K'l 491 Kwon 1 1113 YIU 730 SUA 576 MAN 266 IIWUI •736 snAN 498 LAI 60 CHI 403 XING 48 CtlEU 789 sn\voH 1142 \UN DBriNCTION, To assiBt, support. The mulberry tree. Tnn»IatloD. Same as 1. Same as 2. A state, country, region. This, that ; indicates the sub- ject of the proposition. The name of a dynasty. Perpetual, eternal, final. The first, the commencement. Same as 9. A } ear. Ke, she, it, that, there. Same as 6. To have, to be, existence. Sand, gravel. ( Transcription •< of the San- A gate, a door. ( skritSramana. Intelligent, wise, mild. Deep, profound, learned. To come, to reach. To arrive, to, at. A thorny bush An islet, a dis- trict, a region. ' Name of a Chinese political district. To speak, narrate. To speak, say, circulate. FU- SANG. FU- SAN(} COUNTRY REGARDING : in tho roign of the TS'I dynasty. In thu yuan called EVERLASTING FOUNDATION, to the FIRST YEAR, THAT COUNTRY HAD a SHA. MAN named IIWUI SlllN who CAME TO KING- CHEU ond TOLD the following STORY : g O 1', a u y. Q y. y. ^ k! XJ 1-5 tri >> ^ M dy &4 ra NH » th a3 S d ij ha 1 l-H riv [£ ?• ■'! i THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 203 ^ y. c The following it) the account which has been prcBcrved for us. It was given by a priest who went to China in the year 4UD a. d. iu th»> reign of the Tey dynasty. Bi % ■J y, y. u o M H Q V'. In the first of the years young tjuan of the reign of Fe-ti, of the dynosty of Thai, a Chamen (or Buddhist priest) •'"lied //oei chin, arrived from the country of Fusanff at King-tchcou. He related what folUjws : Du.ing the reign of the Tui dynasty, in the first year of the years bear- ing the designation " Eternal Origin " (i. e., in the year 499 of our era), there came a Buddhist priest from this kingdom, who was called by his cloister-name of llocischin, i. e., "Universal Sympathy," to King-tncheu— an old name for ihe present district of IIu-Kuang and several adjoining districts — who said : (Xot translated.) The liingdom of Fu-sang (was made known to the Chinese) in the first ui year of the period Yong-Youen of the dynasty of the Thsi (499). In this ^ kingdom there was a Cha-men, named Hoci-chin, who came into the dis- ^ trict of King-tcheou. lie related that which follows : In regard to the kingdom of Fu-sang, the first year, gunff.yoven, of the dynasty of Tn, there was a Cha-men, or Buddhist priest of this kingdom, called Hoci-chin, who arrived at the city of King-tcheou, and who reported thu* which follows : In the first year of the reign Yung-yuen of the emperor Tung Ilw&n- hau, of the Tsi dynasty (a. d. 499), a Shaman priest named Ilwui-shin ar- rived at "ing-chau from the kingdom of Fusang. He related as follows : In the first year of the reign of the Ts'i dynasty, known by the desig- nation YrNO-YuEN, or "Everlasting Foundation" (i. e., in the year 499 A. D.), a Shpman, or Buddhist priest, named Hwni Shan, came to KiNO-CHEC from that country, and rarruted the following account regard- s& is situated at the cast of the country of Tai-kan. According to the authority of the work entitled Toimg-tien, Fou-s6 is dis- tant from the country of Tai-kan in an easterly direction about 20,OUO li. It is placed to the cat) of the " Middle Kingdom " (China). Many treci), called Fou-86-mok {Hibiscus rota sinensis), arc found there. (In Japanese, "song TBoi'Tsi Ni t'ou-86-MOK oNosi," " In hanc tcrram rou-80 [sic vocati] arborcs roulti sunt "), This kingdom is situotcd about twenty thousand li to the cast of the kingdom of Ta-han. This country is to the east of the Middle Kingdom. It produces a great number of fusang trees, Fusang is situated more than twenty thousand /( to the cast of the kingdom of Ta-han, and is equally to the cast of China. It contains many fu-sang trees, Fusang lies east of the kingdom of Ta-han more than twenty thou- sand li; it is also cast of the Middle Kingdom. It produces many fu- sang trees, Fl'-sako is situated twice ten thousand li (Chinese miles) or more to the east of the Great Han country. That land is also situated at the east of the Middle Kingdom (China). That region has many fc-sano trc . , and it is from ' ■ \ ]\l U«]tl AN iN(;i,()Ui()rs loi.rMiuis. t. ^ No. 1 ClmriM'i'r ''nv- Poiiiul. I ItiriNiTioN. Tritimliitliin. 4» a78 Hjr ii)i>nni« nf, ti» iisf, iiKiii);, tiik- in;;, lit Hcrvc Ollt''MH(l ham; M ^ lOHl YKII Tlic IfiivcM of plantH. LKAVKS AS ^ 837 8Z' liikc, appearing, n'HiMiililing. UKSKMItl.i: M M tt.'U TTNO Tin* luinioof R tree. (Ah (IiIh I'liaruotor ililTorri from t\w one givoti in tilt* Liiini/ Shu, till' true roailiii^t Im univrtaiii.) ami lliii 87 *» 91 oirii To bot^iii, thf flrst. KIIIST 58 ^ 742 suAxo To priMluoo, boar, prow, conip forth. sruoi'TH •r»> SO «P 2i»7 JC Ah, liko, to oqtial. LIKK 60 ^' 813 SICX The li'ntler sliootHof banilioo. < nAMUDO '( SHOOTS. 'I'lm 61 ES 401 KWOII Sanio an S. COrNTHY If 62 A 286 j\s A luinian boiiig. I'KOPLR 63 ^ 7«6 Slim To oat or drink, take focMi. EAT 64 ^ S3 cm Samo an 40. A pronoun in the acousativo. THEM «n(l llio (or a) 65 a 700 sum Fruit of plantH ; real, solid. FIU'IT which Id M *n 21)7 JC (^aino afl S9. LIKE 67 1!! S15 LI A poar. PKAU, OS iW 719 'im And, if, stilt, on tlio contrary. «LT ft'.» 3^^ 72 cniii A reddish carnation ; liglit-rcd colour. REDDISH. Thpy 70 ifi 980 Tsm To spin thread. SPIN' THREAD friiin 71 M: 342 K'l Same as 12. THEIR 72 & 679 FI Skin, leather, a surface, bark. BARK, d H O d Q Vi » < i C w u i U Q W n Q THE DKHCIMI'TION OK FlI-SANCJ. 207 friiin wlilfli liiiH ooiiH" tin* imiiip lM»nn« l»y tlio ooiintry. Tlic InivoH of tin- fiUDiii;/ nil- xillliliir to ihoHc of tlu" lice wlilt li the CIlilirHi- cull limif. Wlicii (licy HrMl appear, tlicy rcNcmiilc tlic HJiiMttM of tlio icciU ciillc<| liiiiiiltoor*, •ixl the I pli< of the country c«t them. The fruit liii-i the form of ii pfur, ami iiiclinea tuwurd rud in colour; from Uh hark lliey iniikc cloili, of which tlic IcavoH reni tlion^ tree (Puullowiiia impcriiilis). Wlicii they commence to i;row they are like the (edible) MiootH of the hnniboo. The inhahitantH cat them. The friiitH of this tree rcHenible pearH, but they arc red. They Hpin (the fibcrH of) the bark, ond it Ih from this fact that its name Ih derived. The leaveH of tlie fu- Mng tree arc similar to those of the long tree (occordinp to Leiand, the Dri/anda cordatn or Klaofo5 o H O xn h9 C5 I— I and other stuffs with which the people clothe themselves, and the boartls which are made from it • ■ employed in the construction of their houses. No walled cities are foi: . there. The people have a species of writing, and cloth anu clothing are made of it. Flowered stuffs are also manu- factured from it. Wooden planks are used for the construction of their houses, for in this country there are no cities, and no walled habitations. The inhabitants have a species of writing, and make paper from the bark of theytMa«^. and is used for clothing, and a species of flowered tissue is also prepared from it. The houses u'c made of wooden beams. Fortified places and walled places are unknown. Written characters are used in this land, and paper is made from the bark of the fusang. to make cloth, from which clothing is made. The planks of the tree are employed to build their houses. In this country there are no cities. The natives have a method of writing, and they make clothing {sic) from the bark of the fou-so tree. and from them make cloth to make their garments. They also make from them a species of brocade (sir). (The inhabitants) construct houses of planks. They have no walled cities. They huve a writing, and make paper from the (fibers of the) bark of the fu-sang. suitable for making clothing, and also thinner fabrics, which have the appearance of silk. The houses are constructed of planks. Neither for- tified cities nor walled enclosures are found in Fusang ; but the people have a method of writing, and make paper from the bark of the fu-san It (A M (H <=) 8 Ui 1 ^ < t \-> >^ Hi 1-1 f P» I TDE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 271 B Ed a a H O Pi < en O H a y. H n Q •—I and they love peace. Two prisons, one placed in the south and the other in the north, arc designed to confine their criminals, with this diti'erencc, that the most guilty They have no weapons or armies, and do not make war. According to the laws of the kingdom, there are a southern prison and a northern prison. Those who have committed crimes that are not very serious arc sent to the southern prison, but great criminals The people have no weapons, and carry on no wars. According to the regulations of the kingdom, there exist, however, a southern and a north- em prison. The petty transgressors are shut up in the southern, and the greater They have no offensive weapons or defensive armour, and do not wage wars between themselves. They have neither armour nor lances, and do not wage war. According to the laws of the kingdom, there are two prisons, that of the south and that of the north. Those who have committed a misdemeanour of small mag- nitude are confined in the southern prison ; and those who have committed a crime They have no soldiers, and no thought of making war. According to the laws of their kingdom, there exist a northern prison and a southern pris- on. Those who have committed crimes of little gravity are sent to the southern prison, while the great criminals There are no mailed soldiers, for they do not carry on war. The law of the land prescribes a southern and a northern prison. Criminals convicted of light crimes are put into the former, and those guilty of grievous of- fences They have no military weapons or armour, and they do not wage war in that kingdom. According to their rules (of government or of religion) they have a southern and a northern place of confinement. An oifendcr who has transgressed but slightly enters the eouthem place of confinement, but if he has sinned heavily i 272 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Character Page. Sound. DEFINRiOM. 121 38 cut Same as 6. 122 A 299 jun " " 116. 123 4t 709 POH " " 108. 124 m 1139 Yun " " 109. 125 m 1113 YIU " " 14. 126 ^ 748 SHE To remit punishment, par- don, forgive. 127 m 956 TSEH A rule, law, precept; be- cause, then. 128 M 135 FANG To lot go, liberate ; indulge ; to send away. 129 1*1 614 NAN Same as 107. 130 Wi 1139 YUH " " 109. 131 r^ 717 PUH " " 100. 132 133 134 133 136 it 748 38 956 135 709 SHE CHE TSEH FANG roH " " 126. " " 6. " " 127. " " 128. " " 108. The«e three wordi are not fo u n d in the text of Ma Twan-Un. They nro inserted hero on the authority of Mr. Kwong Ki Chiu. 137 Wt 1139 YUH " " 109. 138 ^ 941 TSAI " " 27. 139 4b 709 POH " " 108. 140 m 1139 YUH " " 109. • 141 m 88 cnifi " " 6. 142 ^ 614 NAN The male of the human spe- cies, a man, a son. 143 A 641 NO Women, a lady, a wife, young. 144 « 790 SIANG Mutually, together, to assist, to examine, look at. TranslatloD. HE ENTERS the NORTHERN PRISON. If he limy HAVE PARDON, THEN he Is SENT AWAY to (or possibly from the) SOUTHERN PRISON, but if there is NO PARDON for HIM, THEN he is SENT AWAY to the NORTHERN PRISON. The DWELLERS in the NORTHERN PRISON, THOSE MEN and WOMEN, when they (have) TOGETHER o o Q a H O f^ C( J w i4 y^ in /; < th g th « fir >^ V, 111 o tf H Q y, '"^ H sou P noi ^ tw< >*, are w > pri » par ^ reh Q CO '% int. t-i H P" e the ^ he O hin y* r fin( y* ^ noi cor «li THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 273 o H Q a H O ;3 >5 v. O y, H CO I— I arc placed in the northern prison, and arc afterward transferred into that of the south, if they obtain their pardon ; otherwise they are condenmed to remain all their lives in the first. They are permitted to are shut up in the northern one. Those who may receive their pardon arc sent to the first ; those, on the contrary, to whom it can not be ac- corded, are confined in the northern prison. The men and the women who arc shut up in the latter are permitted to in the northern prison, so that those who may be pardoned arc placed in the southern jail, while, upon the contrary, those as to whom this is not the case are confined in the northern prison. The men and women con- fined here for life are allowed to (Not translated.) in the northern prison. If the culprit obtains pardon, he is put in the southern prison, and if he does not obtain pardon, he is put in the northern prison. In the northern prison, which receives criminals of the two sexes, if a man and woman are confined in the northern prison, in such a manner that the southern prison receives those who may obtain pardon, while those who can not be pardoned are placed in the northern prison, from which they can never be released. Among the prisoners of the two sexes of the northern prison into the latter. Criminals, when pardoned, are let out of the southern prison ; but those in the northern prison are not pardoned. Prisoners in the latter he enters the northern place of confinement. If there is pardon for him, then he is sent away to (or, possibly, from) the southern place of con- finement, but if he can not be pardoned, then he is sent away to the northern one. Those men and women dwelling in the northern place of confinement, when they 18 ■ 1 1 : \ 1 ' i 1 ttii i ■ : l' . ■ii t ! : ■■ 274 AN INGLORIOCS COLUMBUS. 5 !■ ■■ No. Character. I'ago. Sound. 145 He 672 P'EI 146 4=, 742 SIllNG 147 ^ 614 NAN 148 A 647 PAII 149 m 827 SUI 160 M 1047 Wfil 161 n 640 NU 162 & 742 SHlNG 163 A 641 NC 164 X 413 KIU 155 m C27 SUI 166 /»!i 1047 Wfil 157 m 676 n 168 i\L 128 FAN 169 m 1016 TSUI 160 z 63 CHI 161 * 736 SillN 162 ^ 60 CHI 163 >!: 836 SZ' 164 X 717 PUH 165 ttl 98 CH'UH 166 M 484 KWfil 167 A 286 JlN 168 ^ 1113 YIU DEnUITlON. A mate, a companion, aa a wife; to pair, to mate, equal. Same aa 68. " " 142. Eight. A year of one's age, age, years, yearly. Same as 60. MAKE them A slave. SLAVES, but If they Same as 68. BEAR (or hove borne) " " 143. FEMALE children, at Nine, many, deep. NINE Same as 149. YEARS of ago they " " 60. MAKE them A maiil-acrvant ; an :icd female slave. unmar- < FEMALE \ SLAVES. The Same as 112. (To transgress, ) \ to commit a V GUILTY " " 114. ( crime ; guilty. one " «' 40. 'S The trunk, the body. BODY Same as 20. UNTIL (or at) Death, to die. DEATH does Same as 100. NOT Tr<>n8latlon. MAIK (d) and BEAR (or have borne) MALE children ; at EIGHT YEAR? 0* at;t> they To go forth, to go out. Honourable, noble, good. Same .9 62. " " 14. GO FORTH. When a NOBLE MAN HAS AN B Q a H O C< o Q t— ( Hi H g n Q CO l-H THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 275 ' Tn I If la I Y ill marry, but their children arc made slaves. When criuiinala arc found occupying one of the principal ranks in the nation marry each other. The male children bom from these unions arc sold as slaves at the age of eight years ; the girl« at the age of nine years. The criminals who are confined there never come forth alive. When a man of high rank marry. The boys born of these marriages become slaves when eight years old, but the girls not until they have passed their ninth year. When a man of high rank (Not translated.) have commerce with each other, and, if a boy is bom, he is enslaved at the age of eight years ; if a girl is born, she is enslaved at the age of nine years. The men who 'lavc committed a crime remain in prison until their death. When a nobleman marriages are permitted. The children which are bom of these unions become slaves, the boys at the age of eight years, and the girls at the age of nine years. When a person of elevated rank marry. Their boys become bondmen when eight years old, and the girls bondwomen when nine years old. Convicted criminals are not allowed to leave their prison while alive. When a nobleman (or an official) has mate (or have mated) and bear (or have borne) children ; the boys are made slaves at the age of eight years, and the girls at the age of nine years. The criminal (or the criminal's body) is not allowed to go out up to (or at) \he time of bis death. When a nobleman has •^l^p^; ■ 'j ^ ; , .■ i t -j 1 . . i :, IHBlfe i HH 1 y !| *^76 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. CbarMter. Page. Bound. DcriNITION. Translation. :i69 m 1010 TSUI Same aa 114. TRANSGRESSED, the COUNTRY IVO M 491 KWOII " " 5. m 172 A 286 839 jAn TA " " 62. " " 28. PEOPLE, in a GREAT 173 264 nwui To collect, asaemble ; an as- sembly, ni> ng. '.SSEMBLY, 174 176 ± m 1002 1016 TSO TSUI To sit, 8(iuat, kneel ; to sit in judgment on. Seme as 114. SIT In judfrment on the TRAySGRESSING 176 A 286 jlN " " 62. MAN, 177 178 1% 1118 323 YU K'ANG A preposition, id, at, on, with, by, to b«3 in, to oc- cupy a positijn. A ditch, excavation, pit; a tumulus. IN an j EXCAVATED ( TUMULUS. 179 Wi 924 TUI To front, opposite, to re- spond, a sign of the da- tive. IN FRONT OF 180 181 z 63 1090 cm YEN Same as 40. A feast, a banquet, merri- ment. niM they FEAST and 182 «t 1102 YIN To drink, to recei 'e, con- cealed. DRINK, and 183 » 129 FlN To separate, divide, share, distribute. SEPARATE from him 184 m 447 KCEH Parting or dying words, a farewell, to ta' 3 leave TAKING LEAVE of him 186 186 296 836 JOH SZ' Same as 110. " " 163. AS If tVom a DYING 187 m 684 PIEH To separate, divide, to part, to leave, a parting, moreover. man SEPARATING 188 n^ 1082 YEN A final affirmative particle. TRULY. 189 « 278 I Same as 49. WITH 190 Bi 260 HWUI Ashes, embers, lime, dust. ASHES they SURROUND 191 m 292 JAO To wind around, to be en- tangled in, to go about, to environ. 192 z 63 CHI Same aa 40. HIM ^ p o a H O o Q I— I p:; IS I— I THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANQ. 277 tho othor chiefs assemble around them ; they place them in a ditch, and hold a great feast in tlieir presence. They are then judged. Those who have merited death arc buried alive in ashes, commits a crime, the people assemble in great numbers. They sit down face to face with the criminal, who is placed in k ditch, and regale them- selves with a banquet, and take leave of him aii of a dying man. Then he ia surrounded by ashes. commits a crime, a great assembly of the people of the kingdom is called, and a banquet is held in the presence of the criminal, which takes place in an excavation. There they bestrew him with ashes, and take leave of him as of a dying person. (Not translated.) commits a crime, the inhabitants gather together in a great asser bly. The culprit is placed in a subterraneous place, and food and drink are placed before him ; then they take leave of him as when one takes leave of one that is dead. He is surrounded with ashes. commits a crime, the people of the kingdom assemble in great numbers, place the criminal in an excavation, celebrate a banquet in his presence, and take leave of him as of a dying man. Then ho is surrounded with ashes. been convicted of crime, the great assembly of the nation meets and places the criminal in a hollow (or pit) ; they set a feast, with wine, be- fore him, and then take leave of him. If the sentence is a capital one, at the time they separate they surround (the body) with ashes. committeJ a crime, the people of the country hold a great assemblage and sit in judgment on the culprit, in an excavated tumulus. They feast and drink before him, and bid him farewell when parting from him, as if takmg leave of a dying man. Then they surround him with ashes ' I 1 . i 7 1 1 1 ■ 1 b I ( a ■'i ; jm ^ |W«S fj,r-r- y?8 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ■ 1 i \i'.m No. Character. 193 IPl 1)5 m 100 m 107 ~. *^ 108 » 190 m 200 m 201 202 Wi 203 m 204 # 205 -R 206 iF 207 m 208 — ' 200 210 « 211 21?. 213 214 * 215 ^ 216 m Piffe. 842 1096 108 066 1006 736 702 020 721 108 050 735 394 1030 829 723 108 38 956 394 987 763 600 491 Bound. K'l CHUNG TSEII Yin siiAn FIXG TTI 'RII CHUNG TSEU siiAn KIH TSZ' SUN SAN CHUNG ch6 TSEH KIH TS'in SHI MING Kwon DariNiTioN. Same aa 12. Jno, tho first, tho same. Same as 120, To ropoat, to add, a time, n^^uin, a ela-ssi- fier of thickuens or layers. Same as 127. •' " 194. " " 101. To keep back. A screen-wall, a de- fence, to liide, to oxpel, to reject ; to spoil, as robbers. To retreat, draw back, abate, yield. Same as 32. " " 120. " " 127. " " 101. To effect, to reach to, to im- plicate, also, concerning. A child, a son, a boy, an heir. A grandson, a grandchild, suckers. Three, thrice, several. Same as 120. " " 6. " " 127. " " 205. Seven. An age, a generation ; the world; times, seasons. Same as 51. " " 6. Tranilution, TIIEHE. Ifof 0.\E WEIGHT, THEN ONE BODY (or person ) was HIDDEN AWAY, Ifof DOUBLE WEIGHT, THEN tho BODIES wore IMPLICATED of the CHILDREN and GRANDCHIL. DREN, Ifof TRIPLE WEIGHT, THOSE THEN were IMPLICATED SEVEN GENERATIONS, The TITLE of the COUNTRY 's u o u a H C4 tt e^ fo :i In U) >i y. ^* a ra w if y. >-■ y. 11 o Vi M Q y, 1 u If hJ nis ij •-s put >h' 1 U ish > cs reii tho 1— t Q his M W I ■< the ri wh fS the d per y , t-H CI'll y mc ma THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-8ANG. 279 Cd 'A y. u w o Q (73 <) I— I 1-4 and their posterity ifl punished according to tliu magnitude of the crime. For on oflfcnso of iittic gravity, the criminal iilonc Is puniHiicd, but for a groat crime, the cuiprit, hi.t sonx, and grandsons, are punixhi-d ; finally, for tlic greatCHt ofTenscH, Ids dei^cendauts to the Bcvintli generation arc included in the punishment. If the tranngrcflsor is of low rank, ho alone is punished ; if of higher rank, the punishment falls upon his cluldrcn and grandchildren also, and, if of the highest rank, the punishment reaches to the seventh generation. (Not translated.) If a man has committed a grave crime, ho alone Is cut off from society. If he has committed two grave crimes, the same punishment Is visited also upon his children and his nephews ; if he has committed three, this punishment is extended to the seventh generation. If the crime is only one of the first degree, the crim lal alone is pun- ished ; if the crime Is of the second degree, his children and grandchild- ren are punished with him ; and, finally. If the crime Is of the third degree, the descendants of the criminal to the seventh generation arc included in his chastisement. For crimes of the finit grade, the sentence involves only the person of the culprit ; for the second. It reaches the children and grandchildren ; while the third extends to th? seventh generation. there. For a single crime (or a crime of the first magnitude), only one person (the culprit) was hidden (or sent) away. For two crimes (or a crime of the second magnitude), the children and grandchildren were included in the punishment. For three crimes (or a crime of the third magnitude), seven generations were included in the punishment. ill 'li.i ! ! ; t 280 AN IN(JL()UIOL'S COLUMUUS. No. 217 218 210 S20 221 222 223 224 22S 220 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 230 237 238 239 240 CbarooUir S n A M m « A- I'lff*. Hound. 1043 WANG 1047 Wl5l 1096 YIII 84 S K'l 484 KWftl 286 JAN 879 TI 1095 YIII 88 Cllfi 1047 W^I 924 TUI 654 LU 879 TI 721 'RH 38 cut 1047 Wl5l 796 SIAO 924 TUI 654 LU 879 TI 723 SAN 38 cn^ 1047 Vitl 611 NAH DiriNiTiim. A klti)^, a rulur, royal, tu bo a king. ijaniv a.i 6(), One ; l)cnt ; often tmcd am a |u-(!iintic I'onn of — YIII, nifuning, one, tbo tirxt. Full, sbiiiulant, very, largo, nitnieruuH, itiuUltuUt'ti, a crowd of people. Same aa 100. " " 62. A Hcrie«, an order. Placed before figiireH, it forms the ordinal nuwbera. Same as 194. " " 6. " " 60. " " 179. A vesHcI for containing rice, a firo-pan, a grog-sliop, black. Same as 223. " " 82. " " 6. " " 60. Small, little, inferior. Some as 179. " " 228. " " 223. " " 208. " " 6. " " 60. To enter, to receive, to insert, within. Truuilutlon. KINO u MADK thu CHIEF oftb* MULTITUDES. TiM NODLE MEN of the FIRST rank, THESE ore MADE TUI- LU; of the SECOND rnnk, THESE ore MADE LITTLE TUI- LU; of the THIRD rank, THESE oro MADE NAU- t « D hit u u a d H 1 O of «; ani a \A f i < ^ cia ^ thi y, • 8 e: hoi M Q yi u ' H^ tho <-» >^ u > ' en u ton n a al ^4 fn. -t, ' >-i isc N.4 ►c r^ 6 r ^ Th NH > ruL 5« d H O BS tit u o u Q U n -(J THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-HANG. 2S1 Tho kin); bean the titio of nolilo Ychi, tlio nublei of the natiun after him arc tho grt-at tuil potty 'J'oui/-Ioh, oiid tlio Tho name of tlic king of the country is Y-khi (or Yit-k/ii). Tlio niil)I('(« of tlio flrHt eluMrt lire callud Toui'lou ; thoHo of the Hoi-ond, litlU Toui-Um ; and thoHo uf the third Tlio name of tho king i« prononncod "Irhi^^; tho nnhloo of tho first cloHH are called "7ui7u"; the secuiid cluss, ^'Little Tnilu"; und those of tho third class They give to their king the name of Kiki-ziii, that is to sny, " tho most honourable man," The king Is called I-ki. Tho nobles of the first class are tho Touilou ; those of tho second class, the lillle ToiiUou ; those of the third class, tho The king is called Y-ki. The nobility of the first class arc called toui- lou ; those of the second class, little toui-lou ; and those of the third class The king of this country is termed yueh-ki ; the highest rank of nobles is called tui-lu ; the next, little tui-lu ; and the lowest. The title of the king of the country is " The chief of the multitudes." The noblemen of the first rank are called " Tni-Ui'''' ; those of the second rank, " Little Tui-lu "; and those of the third rank. il- 282 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Character Page. Sound. Definition. Translation. 241 m 921 TUU To speak to one another, to talk. TUII 212 243 m 730 491 SUA KWOII Same as 16. " " 5. SHA. The COUNTRY 244 245 246 1043 207 1113 WANG IlING YIU " " 217. To step, to go to walk, to act, to do. Same as 14. KING, when ho WALKS abroad, HAS 247 m 434 KU A drum, to drum, to excite. DRUMS 248 « 409 KIOII A horn, a corner, to gore. HORNS 249 m 867 TAG To lead, to conduct. LEADING 250 m 1024 TS'UNG A clan, a family, posterity, to follow, followers. FOLLOWING. 261 342 K'l Same as 12. HIS 262 ^ 270 I II II hn CLOTHES 253 fi 727 SEII Air, manner, form, colour, hue, complexion, mode, sort, glory, beauty. COLOUR, 254 11 826 SUI To accord, to follow, to com- ply with, according to. ACCORDING TO the 255 ^ 634 NIEN Same as 11. YEARS' 256 iSt 307 KAI To change, to alter, to amend, to correct. CHANGES, 257 M 281 YIII The mutations or alterations in nature, as of the sun or moon; to change. IS CHANGED. The 258 tP 355 KIAH Same as 99. The first year of the cycle. FIRST and 259 Zi 1096 YIH Same as 219. The second year of the cycle. SECOND 260 261 ^ 634 995 NIEN TS'ING Same as 11. The green of plants or the blue of the sky. YEARS, they are BLUE (or green) ; the 262 w 699 PING The third of the ten stems. THIRD and FOURTH 263 T 903 TING The fourth of the ten stems. 264 ^ 634 NIEN Same as 11. YEARS, i/j w y* o Na- H-^ U) abr( o H c hH H Na C hon the •■J tiny y* Va "A'a «.) WH horr two y^ V* Wh( y 111 o Ate « the 1 are Na-t y H horn hJ the »-> 1-5 year (H na-h u trun > ec garn calk Q ping 1/5 ?5 no-c drur 1^ intl intl NAH O cede y 1 y. lit H C y< P o Q 5?5 >3 THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 288 Na-to-cha. The prince is preceded by drums and horns when he goes abroad. He changes the colour of his garments every year. Na tucha. When the king goes forth, he is accompanied by drums and horns. He changes the colour of his garments at different epochs. In the years of the cycle kia and i, they are blue ; in the years pinff and tinff, "A^a-to-scha." When the prince goes out he is accompanied by drums and horns. The colour of his clotlies is different in different years. In the two first of the ten-year cycle they are blue ; in the next two, When the latter walks abroad be is accompanied by drums and trumpets. At different periods of the year he changes the colour of his garments. In the cyclic years kia and i, they are blue ; in the years ping and ting, they are Na-to-cha. When the king goes forth, he is accompanied with drums and horns. The colour of his garments is changed according to the years. In the years marked with the cyclic signs Kia and I they are green ; in the years marked with the cyclic signs Ping and Ting they are na-to-cha. When the king goes abroad he is accompanied w ith drums and trumpets, which precede and follow hiu. He changes the colour of his garments according to the order of the years. In the years (of the cycle called) kia and y his garments are of a blue or green colour. In the years ping and ting they are ^f a no-ehasha. When the king goes abroad he is preceded and followed by drummers and trumpeters. The color of his robes varies with the years m the cycle containing the ten stems. It is azure in the first two years ; in the second two years it is NAH-To-SHA. The king of the country, when he walks abroad, is pre- ceded and followed witli drums and horns. The colour of his garments is changed according to the mutations of the years. The first and second years (of a ten-year cycle) they are blue (or green) ; the third and fourth years they are ■ ! m i j I ' ii : 284 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No, Character Page. 265 266 •267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 283 286 287 288 a 72 1063 337 634 252 321 806 634 706 287 483 634 218 1113 638 409 27 278 409 941 1065 60 771 721 Sound. cH'in wu KI NIEN HWANG kAng SL\ NIEX POH JiN KWEI NIEN noil YIU NIU KIOII CH'ANG I Kion TSAI wun CHI SUING 'RH DEriNIT10», Same as 69. The fifth of the ten stems. The sixth of the ten stems. Same as 11. The colour of earth, yellow. The seventh of the ten stems. The eighth of the ten sterna. Same as 11. White, clear, bright, pure. The ninth of the ten stems. The last of the ten stems. Same as 11. Black, dark. Same as 14. An ox, a cow, a bul!, cattle, some kinds of deer. Same as 248. Long, in time or distance, constantly, direct, straight, old, to grow, too heavy. Same as 49. " " 248. A year, to contain, to fill in, to bear. A thing, matter, substance, an article, goods. Same as 20. To bear, to sustain, to raise, to conquer, to excel, supe- rior, best, excellent, to add. Same as 32. Translation. RED; the FIFTH and SIXTH YEARS YELLOW; the SEVENTH and EIGHTH YEARS WHITE ; the NINTH and TENTH YEARS BLACK. They HAVE CATTLE- HORNS ; the LONG ones are USED of the HORNS TO CONTAIN THINGS. They REACH the BEST of them, to TWICE a. y. c T ^ o H c H red ; O final The as m y. 'A red ; <^ Jn oxen % the I 'A W 'A U2 o red, ( H O red; y. in the \A in th( have weigh >^ of a H > white jtn at tr^ is son Q XTl Hi. red ; t* two y hJ things ^ o M red; i white which best ilii THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 285 H p H O p- y. < u t<5 'A O Q 1-9 >^ (-( y. I— I The cattle of the country bear a considerable weight upon their horns. red ; in the years on and ki, yellow ; in the years Tcmg and s««, white ; finally, in those which have the characters jin and kouei^ they are black. The cattle have long horns, upon which burdens are loaded which weigh as much sometimes as red ; in the two following years, white ; and in the two last, black. The oxen have such large boms that they contain as much as ten sheepskins ; the people use them to keep all kinds of goods. red, etc. red ; in the years marked with the tigns Meou and Ssc, they are yellow ; in the years marked with the cyclic signs Keng and Sin, they are white ; in the years marked with the signs Jin and Kouei, they are black. They have cattle whose horns are very long, and who bear upon their horns a weight as great as of a red colour ; they are of a yellow colour in the years on and ki; of a white colour in the years kcng and dn; and of a black colour in the years jin and koud. Ox-horns are found in Fusang so large that their capacity is sometimes as great as two red ; it is yellow in the third ; white in the fourth ; and black in the last two years. There are oxen with long horns, so long that they will hold things — the biggest as much as red ; the fifth and sixth years, yellow ; the seventh and eighth years, white ; and the ninth and tenth years, black. They have cattle-horns, of which tlie long ones are used to contain (some of their) possessions, the best of luem reaching (a capacity of) twice t! iiit 286 No. Character. + 289 290 m 291 m 292 iiv 293 * 294 295 ¥ 296 m 297 ¥ 298 m 299 A 300 S 801 M 302 1m 803 ^ 304 m 805 -tr. 306 4^ 807 A^ 308 ^ 309 /^ 810 S5 811 # 812 * AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Page. 768 233 1113 671 89 633 39 562 89 491 286 1072 562 297 105 491 98 638 278 298 1047 663 1113 72 Bound. sHin UUH YIU (Same aa 14) MA CH'E NIU CH'E LUU CH'E KWOH JAN YANG Lun jOr CHUNG KWOH CH'UH NIU I ju Wlf.1 LOU YIU CH'in t)KnjIITIO». Ten. (From n peck measure and a horn.) The Cbini'Be bushel, holding ten pecks, or a picul, accordio); to some : but the conimoD table makes It measure five pecks, or half a picul. At Shan);hai the huh for rice holds only '2'()0 pints, and that for peas, 1-hO pint. The Ituddhists use it for a lull picul of liJ8^ lbs., 8V., but the Iliiulu drona, which the huh represents, weighs only T lbs. 11 oz., av. A horse, warlike, quick as a horse. A wheeled carriage, a cart. Same as 279. " " 293, A deer, especially the males ; stags which have horns. Same as 293. " " 5. " " 62. To nourish, rear, bring up, tame ; to raise, educate. Same as 296. " " 59. " " 38. " " 5. To rear, to feed, to raise, to domesticate. Same as 279. " " 49. Milk, milky, the breasts, the nipple ; to suck, to nurse. Same as 60. Cream, dried milk, racky [kou- miss] from mare's milk. Same as 14. " " 69. Translation. TEN times as much as an ordinary HORN-MEAS- URE. They HAVE HORSE- CARTS, CATTLE- CARTS, and DEER- CARTS, The COUNTRY 's PEOPLE RAISE DEER AS in the MIDDLE KINGDOM thev RAISE CATTLE. FROM MILK they MAKE KOUMISS. They HAVE the RED m M !25 thi O th( pa Q H tw § cai ^ rni < )-} w !zi ^ •< hei t3 hin S5 • if\ m O K fro H Q tWf !?; u ' »-H a rai U> t^ Th hui % als u inh n « ma zn Pi fiv( hJ of thf ^ 6 ter 'a^ cai as > ma I THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 287 'IM U2 & Q They arc harnessed to wagons. Ilorscs and deer arc also employed for this purpose. The inhabitants feed hinds, as in China, and from them they obtain butter. A species of red O < twenty ho (of 120 Chinese pounds). In this country they make use of carts harnessed to cattle, horses, and deer. They rear deer there as they raise cattle in China, and make cheese from the milk of the females. A species of red Horses, oxen, and deer are also harnessed to wagons. Deer are raised here as cattle are in the " Middle Kingdom," and from the milk of the hinds butter is made. The red o M n I— ( I— < The natives raise deer, as cattle are raised, and make creamy dishes from the milk of the animals. twenty ho (the ho is a measure of ten bushels). They have carts drawn by horses, cattle, and deer. The inhabitants raise deer as cattle are raised in China. They make cheeses from milk. There is a species of red hundred bushels. They are used to contain all sorts of things. Carriages also may be seen, to which horses, cattle, and deer arc harnessed. The inhabitants raise deer as cattle are raised in China ; the milk of the hinds makes part of their food. They gather the red five pecks. Vehicles are drawn by oxen, horses, and deer ; for the people of that land rear deer just as the Chinese rear cattle, and make cream of their milk. They have red ten times as much as the capacity of a common horn. They have horse- carts, cattle-carts, and deer-carts. The people of the country raise deer as cattle are raised in the Middle Kingdom (China). From milk they make koumiss. They have the red 1 'i 'Mill ' ■ ■ ■ iitiij J:| w if 288 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. CharactM. Pago. Sound. LI DEnNITION, Translation. 313 m 616 Same as 67. PEARS 314 m 404 KING The warp ; to pass through ; laws ; religious manuals. THROUGII- out the 316 =¥ 634 NIEN Same as 11. YEAR SIO ^^ 717 PUH " " 100. UN- 317 m 244 HWAI Going or gone to ruin, to spoil, to injure, to perish, spoiled, useless. SPOILED, and 818 3' 909 TO Same as 44. Many ; numer- TO 319 m 715 FU ous. The cat-tail rush, the cala- mus, or sweec-flag. P'U- 820 ^ 870 T'AO A peach, a nectarine, a flower- bud. T'AO- ea. 821 342 KI Same as 12. ITS 322 ^ 879 TI " " 36. GROUND In 823 u 1059 WU " " 85. DESTITUTE OF 824 325 « 893 1113 T'lEH YIU Iron, made of iron, firm. Same as 14. IRON, but It HAS 826 327 m 934 7P T'UNG PUH Copper, brazen, coppery. Same as 100. COPPER. They do NOT 828 ^ 484 KWEI " " 166. VALUE 829 4t 398 KIN Gold, gilded, yellow, precious. GOLD or 330 1101 YIN Silver, money, wealth. SILVER. Their 831 rb 762 SHI A market, crowded, vulgar, to trade, salable. MARKETS are 332 1059 WU Same as 86. DESTITUTE OF 333 ffl 1007 TSU Rent or tax in kind from fields ; rental ; income ; taxes. TAXES and 834 f* 433 KU To estimate, reckon, guess, think, set a price on ; value, worth, price. FIXED PRICES. When 836 342 K'l Same as 12. THEY 836 it 2G8 HWUN A bridegroom, a husband, to marry a wife. MARRY, U'i Cd 'A poo ^ 1-^ iriH U" c ant Q y, pea y. tier <; a The not y, J, > y. 9S h c « arc u c y pear grap >-9 habi U 1^ not > pear RYE grap tain 'All valu a fixec ui pear <1 are ( h4 not h4 fixec tS In c y y THE DESCRirilON OF FU-SANG. 289 n w pear is found there, which is kept for a year without spoiling ; also the iris, and peaches, and copper in great abundance. They have no iron, and gold and silver are not valued. He who wishes to marry a H O 'A pear Is found there which is preserved throughout the year. There are also many vines. Iron is lacking, but copper is found. Gold and silver are not esteemed. Commerce is free, and they do not haggle at all. The practices regarding marriages are as follows : pears of the fusang trees keep good throughout the whole year. In addi- tion, there are many apples and reeds, mats being made from the last. Tlierc is no iron in this country, but copper is found. Gold and silver are not valued, and do not serve as the medium of exchange in the markets. Marriages are concluded in the following manner : m c « o In thii country theie is no iron, but there is copper, arc not valued. In the markets no duties are levied. Gold and silver 1-5 pear which can be preserved for a year without spoiling. Thi arc many grapes. No mines of iron exist, but copper is very abundant. The in- habitants do not esteem either gold or silver. The public markets arc not subject to any duty. The laws relating to marriage are as follows . > I xsi y. pears which arc preserved for an entire year, and they also have many grapes. Their land docs not contain any iron, but they ha^e copper, ob- tained from their mines. Gold and silver among them have but little value. The markets arc free, and that which is sold does not have a fixed price. In regard to marriage, pears which will keep a year without spoiling ; water-rushes and peaches arc common. Iron is not found in the ground, though copper is ; they do not prize gold or silver, and trade is conducted without rent, duty, or fixed prices. In matters of marriage pears kept unspoiled throughout the year, and they also have tomatoes. The ground is destitute of iron, but they have copper. Gold and silver are not valued. In their markets there are no taxes or fixed prices. When they marry, 19 I. ; 290 AN INGLORIOCS COLUMBUS. No. 337 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 Sj5 856 857 858 859 860 Character. ^ ill Page. 123 966 790 1044 641 351 676 1037 Z Sound, FAH TSEII SI WANG NO KIA MAX WAX 1006 Tson 10C4 WUH 21 CK'AN 804 SIU 731 SUA 726 SAO 404 KING 638 NIEN 719 'RH 641 NC 717 pun 1131 YUEH 9S4 Tsin 443 K'C 63 CHI 790 SIANG Dkfi.nitiom. Translation. Same as 105. ) A rule, a pat- > tern to go " " 127. ) by. A son-in-law. It Is the RULE THEN for the Intfiiillni; SON-IN-LAW To go, formerly, past, the fu- ture. TO GO and the Same aa 143. WOMAN A liousehold, a family, a dwelling. DWELLING '8 Same as 10. DOOR Outside, beyond, foreign, to exclude. OUTSIDE Same as 82. TO MAKE " " 84. Morning, dawn. Evening, dusk, the last day of a month or year. HOUSE (or cabin). MORNING and EVENING he To sprinkle, to scatter, deep water. SPRINKLES and To sweep, to brush, to clean up, a broom. SWEEPS (the ground) Same as 314. " " 11. THROUGII- outa YEAR, " " 68. " ' 143. AND if the WOMAN is NOT " " 100. Contented, delightful, to agree to, willing. PLEASED with him. Eating, to go, now, soon, then, forthwith. THEN she To turn animals out of a field, to drive on, to lash, to or- dor people into their prop- er places. SENDS AWAY Same as 40. " " 144. HIM ; but if they are MUTUALLY S y. bu u am ev( Ui COE Q e 1 H O tlio « Ph niK 4^ I-! not M y, the y. ^ one IS the Icav t^ / Ui O ^ H Q Til V, H hous the p >-j sends fe the c i« W S 'A ing f woma the ei plea8( It IS doorc ing ui bids h it is tl side o: marry a year him ai THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG 291 'A O u Q H O UJ y. til O m O y, Hi 1-1 builds a house or cabin near that of the maid whom he desires to wed, ond takes care to spriniile a certain quantity of water upon the ground every day during the year ; he finally marries tlie maid, if she wishes and consents ; otherwise, he goes to seek his fortune elsewhere. He who desires to wed a girl, establishes his cabin before the door of the latter ; he sprinkles and sweeps the earth every morning and every night. When he has practiced this formality for a year, if the maid will not give her consent, he desists ; but if she is the nan builds himself a hut before the door of the house in which the one lives whom he desires ; morning and evening he sprinkles and clears the ground. When a year has passed, if the maiden docs not consent, he leaves her ; but if she (Not translated.) The future son-in-law goes into the family of the girl and constructs a house outside of her door; morning and night he waters and sweeps the place. If, at the end of a year, the girl feels no love for him, she sends him away ; but, if they are smitten with love for each other, the customs of the country are as follows : the suitor constructs a dwell- ing for himself before the door of the house in which dwells the young woman whom he seeks. Morning and evening he sprinkles and sweeps the earth in this place. At the end of a year, if the young woman is not pleased, she sends him away ; and, in the contrary case, it is the law that the (intending) son-in-law must erect a hut before the door of the girl's house, and must sprinkle and sweep the place morn- ing and evening for a whole year. If she then does not like him, she bids him depart ; but if she is it is the custom for the son-in-law to go and erect a house (or cabin) out- side of the door of the dwelling of the young woman (whom he desires to marry). Morning and evening he sprinkles and sweeps (the ground) for a year, and, if the young woman is not pleased with him, she then sends him away ; but if they arc mutually ' i 1 1 ii . ! i f 2'J2 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS, No. CbMTMter. Paga. Sound. DcriMiTioN. Tranilatloo. 361 Ift 1131 YUEII Suinc ns 856. PLKASEI), 862 7> 612 NAI But, it may ho, doubtless, TIIK.V jnoreover, if, tlion, there- they 863 m 71 CH'INO upon. To Hnisii, to couiplcte, to ac- COMPLETE complish. the 864 268 IIWUN Same an 330. MARKIAdK'. Tlu- MARRIAGE 860 208 IIWUiN " " 336. 866 m 620 LI An act, particularly on act of CEREMONIE.S worship, ccroiuony, rites, for tho nmiinurs. 867 i^ 839 TA Same as 28. In gen- MOST 868 ^ 878 TI To oppose, to sus- tain, to reach, to obtain. J eral, for the most part. PART are 869 m 1125 YC By, with, to, as, as if. AS In tho 870 ft» 105 CHUNG Same as 33. MIDDLE 371 m 491 KWOII " " 6. KIXGDUM the 872 n 933 T'UNG Topcther, all, identical, same, the same as. SAME. For a 873 m. 991 TS'IN To love, to approach, near. FATHER, intimate, a relative, a wife, MOTHER, kindred. The six ts'in WIFE, on are parents, brothers, wife, SON, n and sons. they 874 725 SANG To mourn, to lament for one's MOURN parents. 875 -t 987 Ts-m Same as 213. SEVEN 876 293 JEII A day, the sun, daily. DAYS, 877 ^^ 717 PUH Same as 100. NOT 878 * 766 SHin " " 63. EATING. For & 379 M 1007 TSU A grandfather, an an- ' GRAND- cestor, the first, the origin, to begin. A - grand- 880 3<: 147 FU A rule, a father, an father. FATHER ancestor, a senior, paternal. or grand- 881 # 605 MU A mother, a dam, the source of. MOTHER they 382 ^ 725 SANG Same as 374. MOURN 883 % 1060 WU A perfect number, five, the whole, all. FIVE 884 293 JEH Same as 376. DAYS a' 1 y, ^w r* , arc M ', U lesf u a p^ H l''"^' K "*'' ^ 81'Vi hI , euti U Y' com ''' ; . < wild S ' •• ■ r It IS f^ i on ( >-■ y, 7. c TI « tho i u A EX. they o y, y. THE DEscniniox ov fu-sang. 2l»3 C Tlic iiittrriagc o«'r«.'iiionii'!», for tliL' most l>art, nrc Hiiiiilur to thost; whidi arc jJiaitULMl in Cliinu. At the ikiitli of rclutivt.-, tliiy fii.-'t a griatcr or IcsM numltcr of dayo, according to the digruo of rclatioiifhij). plca-xed with him, he inurrius hor. The cercnionlcH of marriage arc nearly the rfanio as in China. At the dcatli of faflier or mother, tliey fast seven duy.-<. At tliat of a grandfather or grandiuotlier, they refrain from eating for tivc dayi<, 1 1 , 1 ^^^B^l j^' consents, the marriage is completed. The niarringc customs, on the < whole, resemble those of the " Middle Kingdom." When the parents die, 'A y. c u it is the custom to fast for seven days ; on the death if a grandfather, on either the father's or mother's side, five days ; The rules for the observance of the marriage ceremony are in general the same as tho.se of the Middle Kingdom (China). X they arc married. The ceremonies of marriage are in general the same as -; I those in China. If a father or mother dies, one fasts for seven days ; if it is a grandfather or grandmother, for five days ; the marriage is immediately celebrated with ceremonies which have much resemblance to those of China. At the death of father or mother, it is the custom to fast for seven days. The fast is for five days at the death 2 , of a grandfather or grandmother. 1-1 V, y. pleased with him, they are married. The bridal ceremonies are for the most part like those of China. A fast of seven days is observed for par- ents at their death ; five for grand-parents ; pleased, then the marriage is completed, the marriage ceremonies being for the most part like those of the " Middle Kingdom " (China). For a father, mother, wife, or son, they mourn for seven days without eating. For a grandfather or grandmother they mourn for five days iS imw 294 AX INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No, Cboraotar S8S 886 887 888 880 890 891 893 894 895 806 897 893 899 400 401 402 403 404 403 406 407 408 id m n Pift. 717 700 213 870 707 770 432 1031 680 723 293 717 706 750 1002 737 793 32 804 648 890 717 69 1017 Bound. PUII sum IIIL'NG TI roil snuii KU TSZ' MEI SAN JEH PUII sum SIIEII TSO shAn SIAXG CIIAO SIH PAX TIEX PUII CHI TS'UI DKriNiTioN. Trtnibtlon. Suiiiu UM 100. " " 03. An filler brother, a Hciiior. A yoHiigor brother, Junior, COUHUl!). A father's elder brother. A fatlicr'.t younger brother. A polite term for fomaloH. An elder Hiuter, a school-mid- treiiis. A younger sister, a sister, n girl. Same as 208. " " 376. " " 100. " " 63. To institute, establish, Bct up. Same as 174. A god, a spirit, divine, super- natural. Like, a fipun^, imnge, like- ncsH, a sti. uc, an idol, to reaemble. The dawn, morning, early. Same as 348. To honour, reverence, kneel to, salute. To enshrine as a god, to offer libations. Same as 100. To regulate, a rule, practice, mourning usages. A strip of sackcloth ancient- ly worn on the breast as a badge of mourning. NOT EATINc; ; f u 'A of y u G h-I iiie Li nig , and >* M It ^ tive U spii Q and m •< and sent u < 'A U3 y. y 'f: w i-H •-9 ;5 y. THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANO. 295 and during their prayers they eipogo the image of the deceased perton. They wear no mourning and only for three days at the doatii of brothers, sinters, uncles, aunts, and otiier relativt'H. Tlio images of npiiitis arc placed upon a Hjjeciea of pedcHtal, and pruyerd are uddreHned tu thcni morning and evening. for the death of nn elder or younger brother or slater, or an uncle or aunt, throe days. They nit then, from luorninf; until evening, before the image of the Hpirit, absorbed in prayer ; yet they have uo mourning (Not translated.) if it Is an uncle, or an aunt, or a sister, for three days. The image of the decea.sed per! 717 416 II 991 417 M 491 418 • 764 419 312 420 iS- 822 421 W 414 422 mm 4i\\ 1059 423 fi 153 424 m 123 425 * 831 420 i^ 839 427 m 599 428 721 429 ¥ 634 430 m 340 431 w 695 432 M 491 Sound. TIEH SZ' WANG LIII SAX NIEX PUII TS'IX KWOH SIII K'l sun KIU WU FUJI FAII SUNG TA MING 'RH NIEN KI PIN KWOII Defixition. Uadges of coarse white hemp, eii cloth woiu by niouruers at funeral':. To succeed to, lawfully; the expectant lieir, cliildren, heirs; to ei i])ioy ; here- after ; the f( llowing. Same as 217. To stand erect, estaljlished, to ?('t up, to succeed to or seat one's self on the throne. Same as 208. " " 11. " " 100. " " 373. " " 5. An affair, a matter, business, duties. Same as 12. Inelegant, uneducated, com- mon, vulgar. Old, venerable, formerly, an- ciently. Same as 85. Buddha. Same as 105, To dwell ; a feudal state ; the Sung dynasty. Same as 28. Bright, clear, the dawn, splen- dour. Same as 32. " " 11. A coarse carpet or felt rug, made of camel's hair. A stranger, a visitor, to en- tertain. Same as 5, Translation. MOri^NINd- BADGE.S. An INHERITING KING SEATED ON THE THRONE for THREE YEARS WITHOUT APPROACHING tlio COUNTRY AFFAIRS. THEY were IGNORANT FORMERLY, and DESTITUTE OF BUDDHA RULES; but in the SUN(^ dynasty. in tho period called " GREAT BRIGHTNESS," in tho SECOND YEAR, KI- PIN COUNTRY ul u p >5 c; 11 H* P tl t; A u o a s in ci tl Ph -«; tl hJ Ui (4 K' t< hi >5 th ^•^ B b( fr >^ ^< M. § yf H Si Q ga y. hi H s th i-> th i-s no gfi k ki of ft SP Q aj fill ] re >■ th A. m I— I u t5 H O ci U! S5 o U 5^. 1-1 u 1-5 ft Q «J 1-3 >'. THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 297 garments, and the prince who succeeds to his father takes no care regard- ing the government for three years after his elevation. In former times the people had no knowledge of the religion of /'o, but, in the year 458 A. D., in the Sum dynasty, from Samarcand The king does not occupy himself with the affairs of government dur- ing the three years which follow his accession to the throne. Formerly the religion of Buddha did not exist in this country, but in the fourth of the jears Ta-ming, of the reign of Hiao-wou-ti of the dynasty of Soung (458 A. D.), from the country of Ki-pin (Cophene), garments. The king who succeeds liis deceased father does not occupy himself with the affairs of the kingdom for the next three years. Of old, the method of living of these people was not according to the laws of Buddha. It happened, however, that in the second year of the years bearing the designation "Great Light," of the Song dynasty (458 a. d), from the kingdom of Kipiu, In the second year of the period called " ta-ming " (or great light), the year 458 of our era, under the reign of the emperor JJiao Wu-ti of the Sung dynasty, from the country of Ki-pin, garments. The heir to the throne remains three years without occupying himself with the affairs of the kingdom. Formerly they did not know the doctrine of Buddha. In the second year of the period Ta-ming, of the dynasty of the Song (458), from the kingdom of Ki-pin (i. e., Cophene, now the country of Caboul), garments are not worn. During the first three years of his accession, the king does not occupy himself with affairs of state. Formerly the religion of Fo was unknown in Fusang. It was only in the Song dynasty, in the second of the years ta-ming (458), that from the kingdom of Ki-pin fillets. The successor of the king does not attend personally to govern- ment affairs fov the first three years. In olden times they knew nothing of the Buddhist religion, but during the reign Taming, of the Emperor Hiao Wu-ti of the Sung dynasty (a. d. 458), from Ki-pin mourning-badges. A king who inherit- the throne does not occupy him- self with the affairs of the government for the first three years after his ac- cession. Formerly they were ignorant, and knew nothing of the Buddhist religion ; but during the reign of the Sung dynasty, in the second year of the period called Ta-ming (or " Great Brightness," i. e., in the year 458 A. D.), from the country of Ki-riN (i. e., Cophene, now Cabul), 'i i.-!* liil w 'f. 11 I. H t m 298 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Character. Pago. Sound. Definiticn. Translation. f^ had 433 27 CH'ANG To taste, to try. to essay, to prove. When preceding another verb, FORMERLY ^ it denotes past time, uaualiy. « formeriy, ever. 434 1113 YIU Same as 14. HAD 435 674 PI To compare, to corro- " gpoud, to equal, to bring into haruiouy, to select, each, every. A nien- PI- 436 fl) 416 K'lU A natural hilloclc, a high place, a hill with a hol- lowed or level top for ' dicant priest. K'lU, (mendicant priests) worshipers, a tumulus. 437 ^ 1060 WU Same as 383. FIVE 438 A 2S6 JlN " " 62. MEX, 439 m 1112 YIU To float, drift, swim, travel, rove about, to tiilio pleasure in, satis- fied, pleased. who VOYAGING 440 n 207 IIIXG Same as 245. WEXT 441 342 K'l " " 12. to THAT 442 s <91 KWOII " " 6. COUXTRY, and 443 549 LIU The flowing of water, to pass, to circulate, to dilfu.se, to make Ijnown, to shed, fluid, to select, to beg, a class, roving, vagrant. MADE KXOWN 444 932 T'UNG To permeate, go through, see THROUGH ^•mL^ clearly, to bring about, to suc- ceed, current, through, general. it »K complete. 445 « 153 FUH Same as 423. BUDDHA 's 446 m 123 FA II " " 105. RULES, and his 447 m 404 KIXG " " 814. RELIGIOUS BOOKS, and 448 793 SIAXG " " 401. LMAGKS, and TAU(mT 449 it 372 KIAO To instruct, to teach, command, precept, doctrine, a religious the sect, a party, a class. 450 ♦ 546 LING A law, a rule, an order, to COMMAXD command, an officer. to ffi ■ To become a priest. 451 98 ciruu Same as 165. (Hepburn, p. 424.) FORSAKE Forsaking home, surname, and the the i world to enter a 452 351 KIA " " 845. Buddhist monas- l tery. FAMILY, nnd its 453 155 FUXG The wind, a breeze, speech, man- MANNERS' ner, deportment, stylo, fashion. reformation, instruction, temper. 454 f& 822 sun habit. Same as 420, RUDENESS 455 M 828 SUI To accord with, then, thereon, FINALLY tinally. was 456 307 KAI Same as 25 3. REFORMED. m THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. 299 five priests went preaching their doctrine in this country, and then the manners of the people were changed. a H O Ph five pi-khieou, or priests, came to Fusang, and there spread abroad the law of Buddha, They carried with them their books and sacred images, and the ritual, and established monastic customs, and so changed the manners of the inhabitants. five begging monks came to this land, and there spread abroad the re- ligion of Buddha, with his sacred writings and images. They instructed the people regarding the rules of monastic life, and so changed the cus- toms of the people. m 1—1 1-3 O y. t-H five Buddhist priests repaired by sea to this country. They there dis- tributed the books of the law and the holy images ; they taught the pre- cepts of monastic life, and changed the manners of the inhabitants. five beggar priests went there. They traveled over the kingdom, every- where making known the laws, canons, and images of that faith. Priests of regular ordination were set apart among the natives, and the customs of the country became reformed. formerly, five men who were pi-k'iu (i. e., bhikshns, mendicant Bud- dhist monks) went by a voyage to that country, and made Buddha's rules and his religious books and images known among them, taught the com- mand to forsake the family (for the purpose of entering a monastery), and finally reformed the rudeness of its customs. 'ii o five bhikshu (mendicant priests) in their travels reached Fou-so, and com- menced to propagate Buddhism there. five bhikchous (religious mendicants) traveled into this country, and there spread abroad the law, the books, and the images of Buddha. Their doc- trine induced men to leave their families (in order to embrace a religious life). The manners of the inhabitants were then changed (i. e., the peo- ple immediately adopted the usages and the prineij)le8 of Buddhism). '\'l Mil! 300 AN IXGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Ilwui Shtin also gave a description of a country called " the Kingdom of AYomen," situated about on;^ thousand li east of Fu-sang. This story has always been rejected as a manifest absurdity, and its presumed falsity has been one of the most powerful arguments for casting discredit upon his whole account. For this reason, those who have accepted his statements regard- ing the country of Fu-sang have said as little as possible about his tale in regard to " the Kingdom of Women," and have dis- missed it with the statement that it was merely a description, given by him from hearsay, of a country that he had not visited, and tbat its absurdities should not be permitted to raise doubts as to the truth of his report regarding the country of Fu-sang, in which he had resided. Ilis description, which Avill be found, when rightly translated and understood, to be substantially true, and to furnish strong proof of the reliability of his statements, will be given in the following chapter ; and as the only clew to the location of Fu- sang is that it lies easterly from both China and the Great Han Country, and as all that is known as to the situation of this last- na.ned country is that it lies northeasterly from Wen Shun, the land of "Marked Bodies," the Chinese account of these two countries will also be given. CHAPTER XVII. THE KINGDOM OF WOMEX, THE LAND OF " MARKED BODIES," AND THE GREAT HAN COUNTRY. The accounts of all these countries derived from the feame source — The Chinese toxt — The location of the Kingdom of Women — T^ inhabitants — Their long locks — Their migrations — Birth of their young — Nursing the young — The ago at which they walk — Their timidity — Their devotion to their mates — The salt-plant — Its peculiarities — A shipwreck — The women — A tribe whose lan- guage could not be understood — Men with puppies' heads — Their food, clothing, and dwellings — The land of " Marked Bodies " — Its location — Tattooing with three lines — The character of the people — Lack of fortifi- cations — The king's residence — Water-silver — No money used — The Country of Great Han — Its location — Lack of weapons — Its people. The following account of the Kingdom of Women is ex- pressly stated to have been given by Hwui Shan ; but it does not appear to have been noticed that the reports in regard to the Great Han Country, and the land of "Marked Bodies," must also, in all probability, have been derived from the same source. These countries wei'e made known to the Chinese during the reign of the Liang dynasty. Now, it is known that Hwui Shan reached China just before the establishment of this dynasty, but that his account was not given to the emperor, and did not become generally known, until some time during its first years. Hence there can have been no earlier report, regarding Great Han, than that which he could have given ; and as in his account of Fu-sang he refers to Great Han, and in the description of this country the land of " Marked Bodies " is mentioned, it is almost impossible that he should not have been questioned as to these strange countries also. The accounts are short — such as would be incidentally given in a single report, in which the main interest centered upon another land ; and there is nothing to show that the Chinese ever heard anything more about them. Ljii ' ill 802 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. 467 458 460 4G0 461 462 Character. i 466 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 S 463 -^ 464 :{£ ik "f A # a Patfo. 641 491 641 491 205 736 1142 941 144 724 930 980 611 342 286 1146 682 936 75 727 738 377 706 735 Sound. NO KWOII N0 KWOH UWUI suAx YUN TS^I IV SANG TUNG TS'IEN LI K'l JlN YUNG MAO TWAN CniNG SBII snlN EIEH POH shIn DliFINITION. Same as 143. " " 6. Same as 143. " " 6. " " 17. " " 18. " " 24. " " 27. " " 1. " " 2. (( II 31. A thousand, many, an indefi- nite number. Same as 35. " « 12 " " 62. To receive, the oir, ] manner, conduct, The aspect the face, looks, or of one's nian- attitudo. ner (Med- Tho outward mien, ^ hurst, p.757). gait, style, man- The appear- ner, form, appear- ance, air, de- ancc, the face, meanour. like, similar to. Sproutlnp, the head, ' the origin, straight, direct, correct, up- Correct, In- right, modest, togi-lty, up- grave, decent. • right.elther Correct, proper, physlcolly straight, right, or morally, erect, exact, really, the Urst. i (Modhnrst. 686.) Same as 258. < The countenance, ( colour, beauty. Social delights, very, extreme- Clear, limpid, pure, neat, tidy. Same as 273. " " 161. Translation. WOMAN COUNTRY. WOMAN '8 COUNTRY, HWUI SHAN SAYS, IS SITUATED ttom FU- SANG EAST one THOUSAND LL ITS PEOPLE '8 MANNER of APPEARANCE is STRAIGHT ERECT. Their COLOUR Is a VERY PURE WHITE. Their BODIES o I— I c w p Pi a e 02 •< (-1 is pe wh i 1 cas (or PU! THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 303 m c P C5 P % p 73 I— I 1-3 I— I TIIE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. The inhabitants of this kingdom are white, THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN The bonze Hoei-chin has spoken in the following terms of a kingdom of women situated a thousand li from Fusang toward the east. The women of this kingdom have very regular features and very white faces ; but NO KWOH, OR KINGDOM OF WOMEN Concerning the Kingdom of Women, the shaman Hwui-shin relates : It is a thousand li to the east of Fu-sang. The bearing and manners of the people are very sedate and formal ; their color is exceedingly clear and white ; their bodies i|:!'.; THE COUNTRY OF WOMEN. Hwui ShSn says that the Country of Women is situated a thousand li east of Fu-sang. Its people's manner of appearance is straight erect (or, is very correct), and their colour is (or their countenances are) a very pure white. Their bodies I I ■ ' 1 1 ! I , t I '!=ii 301 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. I' ' No. Character Poge. Sound. Definitiok. Translation. 481 m 884 T'l The body, the whole person, tlin KuhHtaiio', u Holid, the esecntluls, THE WHOLE BODY m Induentlul, to ouiboUy. 482 1113 YIU Same as 14. HAS 48:J ^ 680 MAO The covering of animals or birds, aa hair, fur, feathers, or down. HAIR. Tho 484 M 121 FAII The hair of the head, numer- ous, grass, vegetation. UAIIl OF THE HEAD is 485 fi 27 CH'ANG Same as 281. LONG, 48U m 1051 WEI To suntaln, bear, allege, send off, confide to, a wrong, griuvaoco, the end, the last, really. the END reaching to tho 487 m 879 TI Same aa 86. GROUND. 488 *" 60 cm " " 20. AT tho 489 721 'RII <( II QO SECOND 490 723 SAN " " 208. or THIRD 491 n 1129 YUEII The moon, a lunar month. MONTH, monthly. 492 A 407 KING Orlplnolly formed of words obove a man, repeated, to indicate the bickering of the people ; ntrong, violent, bickering, testy, to bo quarrelsome, groat, abundant BICKERING, they 493 299 JUH To enter, to go into, to pro- ENTER gress, according to, an en- *Ua trance. the 494 * 781 snui Water, a fluid, clear, a stream, a WATER. trip from one place to another. an inundation, trivial, common. They gentle, low land, to wet, to Book. 495 fA 956 TSEIl Same aa 127. THEN 496 ii 287 JlN Pregnant (used BECOME only of women). Pregnant with child PREGNANT 497 m 736 shIn Pregnant, quick with child. J " (Hepburn, p. 811). WITH YOUNG In 498 662 LUH Six. SIX or 499 -b 987 TS'IH Same as 213. SEVEN 600 M 1129 YUEH " " 491. MONTHS thoy BEAR 601 m 14 CH'AN To produce, to breed, to bear. a birth, the natives, an es- their tate, an occupation. 502 f 1030 TSZ' Same as 206. YOUNG. The FEMALE 503 A 641 NC " " 143. ) \- Females. 604 286 jAn " " 62. ) PEOPLE '8 n y. T a tl o b w Q H n m ^ arf -13 the are ^ are gro d J »-i dOT fe5 l-H gra > fro the pos 23 H THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 305 fi They Imve hairy bodies and long locka tliat fall down to the ground. At the second or third month the women come to bathe in a river, and they become pregnant. They bear their young at the sixth or seventh month. have hairy bodies and long locks which fall down to the ground. At the second or third i jnth they enter the water, and they then become preg- nant. They bear their young at the sixth or seventh mouth. These women are hairy, and the hair of the head trails on the ground. In the spring they emulously rush into the water and become pregnant ; the children are born in the autumn. These female-men are hairy, and they have long locks, the ends of which reach to the ground. At .the second or third month, bickering, they enter the water (come down to the low lands or to the streams ? or, perhaps, " enter upon a mi- gration," the character shui meaning not only " water," but also " a trip from one place to another "). They then become pregnant. They bear their young at the sixth or seventh month (probably of gestation ; but possibly of the year). The female-people 20 j rFpfp- 1 1 1 V 300 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Charoctor Page. Sound, DKriNITIUN. Tranalntlon. 600 m 214 IIIUNG The thorax, the breast, the bosom, tho fcoliiigH, the heart, clamour. CHESTS 600 981 TS'IEN To advance, progress, in front of, before, in advance, for- merly, when, a ligiit ijlacli colour. IN FRONT 607 808 609 610 1059 298 191 176 WU JO IIIAO UEU Same as 85. " " 308. Tho nape, tho part which rests on tho pillow; a Hort or class, grunt, ftinds. Aftor, In timo ; too Into ; behind, In plncu; tliun, next un heir, to rciuuln, the secoud. A young man. ARE DESTI- TUTE OF BRKASTS, but tho NAPE OF TOE NKCK (or back of tho head) BEHIND 611 4^ 742 sniNG Same as 68. BEARS 612 * 580 MAO " " 483. HAIR- 613 m 317 kAn Root, orlffln. bcglnnlnfr, a base ; a classitlLT of thtnjfa lon(( and stiff, and even of ropes ; an organ. ROOTS; and tho 614 a 706 pon Same as 273. WHITE 615 =§ 580 MAO " " 483. HAIR 616 f¥ 105 CHUNG " " 38. MIDST 617 m 1113 YIU " " 14. HAS 618 619 67 298 CIIIU Juice, gravy, liquor, pleasing to the taste Same as 308. J Milii, JUICE (or Is plenslne to the taste). Thoy NURSE 620 "f 1030 TSZ' " " 206. their YOUNG for 621 H m 707 POH A hundred, many, all. ONE HUxVDRED 622 623 293 616 JEH nAng Same as 376. The moose; power, ability, sltill, capable, sliillf ul, may, can. DAYS, and they then CAN 524 525 n 207 723 IIING SAN Same as 245. " " 208. WALK, When THREE 526 m 836 SZ' Four, all, around, everywhere. or FOUR 527 4p 634 NIEN Same as 11. YEARS old THEN 628 m 956 TSEII " " 127. D'HERYEY. DE GCIOXES. I V 8 11 h b b y h n h «2 < d y, a tl b P THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 307 'A C M m Hi 0! 'A Instead of breasts thoy have white locks at the back of the licnd, from which there issues a liquor that serves to nourish their children. It is said that one hundred days after their birtli the children are able to run about, and when three or four years of age appear have no breasts upon their chests, but only hair of a white colour at tho back of tho neck, which contains milk. One hundred days after their birth the children commence to walk, and at the ago of three or four years they have a'-tained have no paps on their bosoms, but hair-roots grow on the back of their necks ; a juice is found in the white ones. The children are suckled a hundred days, when they can walk ; by the fourth year they are are destitute of breasts in front of their chests, but behind, at the nape of the neck (or back of the head), they have hair-roots (short hair, or a bunch of hair, or a hairy organ), and in the midst of the white hair it is pleasing to the taste (or there is juice). They nurse their young for one hundred days, and they can then walk. When three or four years old they become ■111' 'iisi 808 AN INGLORIOUS C0LUMHU3. No. 'Chanotor. Page. 020 630 631 632 683 634 635 630 637 638 630 640 641 642 643 644 645 646 647 648 549 550 651 A A lii * * rffj B^ 77 286 270 385 280 403 676 680 1054 26 142 706 108 056 1081 837 796 170 719 848 188 1053 198 Hound. DinwiTioN. CII'INO jAn I KIEN JAN KING PI FIEN CHANG FU sniii IlIEN TS'AO YEU SZ' SI^ IIAO •RII K'l niANG WEI CHANG Trutmlutlun. Samo as C2. 8amuBH8(W. f Aflult (Mcdlnirst. p. <10). 'I'u U^cutiiu Ik limn. " " O'i. I lllfplmrn, p. «4fl.) A Krowii-up piT- ion, fuU'Krown. A flrml pnrtli'ln. dcnotlnK tliat tlin Hl'llUC llllH hffll ftllly (•XpPCWH'tl, or thttl tlio Intuntlou la vury atniny. To RPC. to know, to observe, nn opinion, to ui>pcar. i (lU'pl)Urn, p. 115.)] A iiiun, u iiorKoli, inuU) or U'liiiili', ptoplo, mankind. A shy horac, to terrify, afraid, alarniud. To tlco from, to PdMpo, ovoid, to retire, to lildo awiiy. At or by tlio slile, defleoted, exros- »lvp,anl(le, partial. Before verba, niuat, will. To dread, vpnerftte, roupcpt. awo, devotion for, dread, timidity. A lino of ton fent. to j meaguro, .-.n elder. f^ To help, oflslst, a bus- \ husband, band, a man, a Bchulor. J Same as 63. Saltish, preserved, salted, bitter, rianta with herbaceous stems, herbs, vegetation, plants in general. Same as 54. " " 65. Deflected, inclined, depraved, corrupting. Tall herbs ; the Artemisia pe diculaiis ; Vitcx, or Amar- anthus; Tansy. Same as 68. Fume, vapour, steam, breath, air, spirit, temper, to smell. Fragrant, odoriferous, sweet. Taste, flavour, smell, relish. Same as 541. FULLY G1U)\VX, TRULY. SEEING HUMAN I1EIN(}, thoy are AFRAID, and FLEE TO ONE SIDE. Tboy VENERATE tholr HUSBANDS (or mates). Thoy EAT tbo SALT- PLANT; Its LEAVES RESEMBLE those of the SIE- HAO (a gpcclea of ab- Blnthe), BUT its ODOUR is more FRAGRANT and Its TASTE SALTISH. u CI u n 03 I— I ful aft ba ;^ ►H > by its ■ill \^\\ ♦ THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 301) 'llllfll I c n CO C5 1-1 nppoar fully prown. The women tnko fliplit at nl^jlit of a stranpcr, nnd tlicy lire very re.Hpectful toward their huahumis. Tliene people feed upon a plant which haa the tUHtu and odour of Halt, and which for thiH reaxon bears the name of the " nalt-plant." The leaven are Rimilar to thono of the plant which the Chlaouo cull nid'-hao, which iri u Hpccieu uf abijinthu. their full growth. The women take to flight rapidly at sight of a stranger. They have much respect for their husbands. A fragrant herb, of which the leaves resemble those of the plant aie-hao (a species of absinthe), and of which the taste is saltish, ia eaten in this country. fully grown. Whenever they sec a man, they flee and hide from him in terror, for they arc afraid of having husbands. They eat pickled greens, whose leaves arc like wild celery ; the odor is agreeable and the taste saltish fully grown. This la true ! When they see a human being, they are afraid, and flee to one side. They venerate (or are devoted to) their hus- bands (or mates). They cat the " salt-plant." Its leaves resemble (those of the plant called by the Chinese) the sie-hao (a species of absinthe or wormwood), but its odour is more fragrant and its taste is saltish. 1 i 310 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. - '^i No. Character. Pago. Sound. Definition. Translation. 562 % 525 LIANG A bridge, a beam, self-reli- In the reign of the LIANG ant, the principal, the Li- dynasty, under the 653 ^ 1061 WU ang dynasty. Military, martial, warlike. emperor WU- 664 ■^ 880 TI To judge, a god, a sovereign. TI Ileaveu, supreme. In the years des- ignated by the name 655 897 HEN Ileaven, the sky, a day, sea- TIEN son, celestial, God. 656 387 KIEN To examine carefully, an of- KIEN fice, to look down upon as (Celestial Protec- a god, to oversee. tion), in the 557 I - 562 LUH Same as 498. Six- 658 ¥ 634 NIEN " " 11. th YEAR, 659 m 1113 yiu " " 14. THERE WERE 660 2^, 990 T.^IN To increase, to grow, to at- TSIN- tach, to adopt. 561 3? A 620 NGAN Peace, rest, tranquillity, NGAN peaceful, calm, quiet. (the name of a place) 662 286 JlN Same as 62. MEN 663 917 TU To ford, to cross a stream or sea, to go through, to pass, a ferry-boat. CROSSING the 664 160 HAI The sea, an arm of the ocean, SEA. • ♦ a large river, marine, vast, great, oceanic. 00 > n 1047 Wfil Same as 50. BECAUSE OF the WIND 566 ,%i 155 FUNG " " 453. 667 * 817 SU To fell timber, a place, if, as CAUSING to, who, what, a cause, a final expletive. them to bo 668 n 683 r'lAO A whirlwind, swayed, whirled, blown about or rocked by BLOWN ABOUT, they the wind. 669 ^ 60 CHI Same as 20. REACHED 670 , 1095 YIII " " 194. A CERTAIN 671 m 866 TAO An island out at sea ; a hill (or the same) ISLAND on which birds can alight (or possibly " sea- in crossing seas. coast"). They 672 ^ 862 TlNG To ascend, to advance, to at- tain, as soon as, specially, at the time. WENT 573 i^ 622 NGAN A shore, bank, or beach ; the edffo ASHORE or bank of a stream, end of a journey. where there 674 ^ 1113 YIU Same as 14. WERE 575 A 286 jAn " " 62. PEOPLE zn >— t W Q THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 311 In the year 507 a. d., in the reign of the Lcam djTiasty, a Chinese ves- sel which was sailing the ocean was driven by a tempest to an unknown island During the reign of the emperor Ou-ii, of the Leang dynasty, in the sixth of the years called ticn-kien (507), some Chinese sailors of Tsin-ngan (now Fou-tcheou-fou [Fo-kien]), who were navigating the sea, were carried far out of their course by furious winds. They landed upon an island In the year a. d. 608, in the reign of Wu-ti, of the Liang dynasty, a man from Tsin-ngan was crossing the sea, when he was caught in a storm and driven to a certain island. On going ashore, he found it to be in- habited. In the reign of the Liano dynasty, under the enperor Wd-ti, in the sixth year of the period designated by the name TiiN-rjiEN, or " Celestial Protection " (i. e., in 507 a. d,), some men of Tsin-ngan, who were cross- ing the sea, were driven by the winds to a certain island (or the same sea-coast). They went ashore and found the inhabitants' hi I 812 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. I No. Character. Pago. 576 677 578 679 580 681 682 683 684 686 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 599 M tat m A m m A a: Pago. Sound. 437 KC 641 NC 956 TSEU 297 JO 105 CHUNG 491 KWOH 286 jlN 719 'RH 1083 YE\ Definition. 1126 717 425 193 614 956 286 736 719 829 876 342 771 297 452 YO PUH K'O IIIAO NAN TSEII jAx SHlN 'RII KEU T'EU K'l SniNCx JO K'CEN To dwell, dwellings, residence, the settled parts. Same as 143. " " 127. " " 59. " " 38. " " 6. " " 62. " " 68. A word, sentence, ' remark, speech, talk, reports. To talk with, to eon- verse, to tell, words, conversa- tion, discourse, language. Same as 100. Conver. sation, discus- sion. To be willing to do, can, to permit, able may. COULD be Light, clear, the dawn, intel- ligent, easy to perceive, to make to understand, to comprehend. Same as 142. UNDERSTOOD The MALES " " 127. " " 62. THEN had MEN " " 161. - BODIES " " 68. BUT A dog, pettv. contemptible ,a PUPPIES' puppy, a brat. The head, the front, the top, the first, the beginning. Same as 12. THEIR A sound, a voice or tone, a note in music, a cry, a wail, language. VOICES Same as 59. A dog, especially a large one. RESEMBLED those of DOGS Translation. DWELLINGS. The WOMEN THEN RESEMBLED the MIDDLE KINGDOM 's PEOPLE, BUT their LANGUAGE WORDS NOT HEADS. in H y. a V C! K u Q >< W 01 ^ fe H d( 02 Hi I— t I— ( l-H i THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 313 u "A C5 W Q h- 1 Hi Hi O I— < The women resembled those of China, but the men had a figure and a voice like those of dogs. The Chinese could not understand their lan- guage. of which the women resembled those of China, but of which the men had dogs' heads, and barked like dogs. It was impossible \.o understand their language. The women were like those of China, but their speech was unintelligible. The men had human bodies, but their heads were those of dogs, and their voices resembled the barking of dogs. dwellings. The women resembled those of the Middle Kingdom (China), but the words of their language could not be understood. The males had human bodies, but puppies' heads, and their voices resembled those of dogs 'iliP ' \ :l^ 314 AN INGLORTOCS COLUMBUS. No. Character. Page. Sound. Definition. Translation. 600 m 140 FEU The bark of a dog, to bark, to yelp, to howl, as canine animals do. BARKING (or howling). &01 342 K'l Same as 12. THEIR 602 #s 766 sum " " 63. EATIXG 603 ^ ■ii;3 YIU " " 14. POSSESSED 604 yb 795 SIAO " " 233. SIAO- 605 p. 874 TEU A wooden trencher, a dish, pulse, legumes, to measure out, a peck. TEU (little beans), 606 342 K'l Same as 12. THEIR 607 ^ 270 I " " 77. CLOTHING 608 Ita 297 JC " " 59. RESEMBLED 609 610 713 96 PU CHUH " " 74. To beat down hard, as a threshing-floor, to ram down the earth, to make chunam pavements or adobe walls. CLOTH (of linen or cotton). BEATING DOWN 611 612 + 920 1047 T'U Same as 43. " " 50. EARTH they MADE 613 £69 TS'IANG A wall, built of mud, stone, or brick. ADOBE WALLS. 614 342 K'l Same as 12. THEIR 616 ?g 200 IIIXG Form, figure, shape, contour, the body, manner, style, to appear. SHAPE was 616 Ib]| 245 HWAN To revolve, to encircle, to en- viron, to go around, a circle, a ball, round. ROUND, and 617 342 K'l Same as 12. THEIR 618 p 225 HU An inner door, a door having only one leaf, a hole, an opening. DOORS 619 im 297 JC Same as 59. RESEMBLED 620 W 875 TEU A hole, a burrow, a drain, loss, waste, damage, to dig a hole. BURROWS. m u o u w li b k w li w -...;« THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. 315 1 ' s f 1 U o 1-1 o SB These people fed upon small bcana, and had clothing made of a species of linen cloth ; and the walls of their houses were constructed of earth, built up in a circular form. These islanders fed upon small legumes, and had garments of a species of cloth, and constructed houses of a round shape from beaten earth, with a single opening as an entrance. Their food was email pulse; their garments were like cotton. The walls of their houses were of adobie, round in shape, and the entrance like that to a den. barking (or bowling). Among their food was siao-teu (" little beans " or kernels— possibly an attempt to both transcribe and translate the Jlexican word CEVTLi '8*8 or cintli,*"** meaning maize). Their clothing resembled linen (or perhaps cotton) cloth. Beating down the earth, they made adobe walls of a round shape, the doors of which resembled burrows. SHI 310 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Character. 621 622 623 624 625 6i6 627 628 620 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 640 641 642 643 644 Page. « it A Bh Sound. 1041 735 1041 735 525 769 1041 1082 941 1057 WAN shAn wAn shAn LIANG SHI AVAN YEN TSAI WO Dkfinition. Tmnslatlon. Same as 89. " " 161. :H: 491 KWOII 930 TUNG 709 POH 987 TS'IH 980 TS'IEN 1121 YCr 618 LI 286 jAn 884 T'l 1113 YIU 1041 WAN 297 jCr 756 SHEU 342 K'l Same as 89. " " 161. " " 552. Time, a season, an hour, a period, a Cliinese hour, a quarter of a year, while. To hear, to learn by report, hearing, fame, news, to state to, small, a noise. Same as 188. " " 27. The Japanese, yielding, trim- ming. Same as 5. " " 31. " " 108. " " 213. " " 468. " " 34. " " 35. 62. " " 481. " " 14. " " 89. " " 59. A wild animal, a beast, a hairy brute, a gamekeeper, brutal, violent. Same as 12. II 11 MARKED BODIES. Tho MARKED BODIES country, In tho LIANG dynasty's TIME, WAS RE- PORTED TRULY to be SITUATED from the JAPANESE COUNTRY EAST- NORTH SEVEN THOUSAND and MORE LI. Its PEOPLE 's WHOLE BODIES HAVE MARKS LIKE WILD BEASTS. THEIR cc g c 0)1 i-c P o » hi p — t^< y. ■< S di g ex >5 i'l dy iJ P no i-s (c. >> H k Oi tf H a ha (72 g << M 1^ d iTt; inl d t5 J tho hH k mo up I til . I THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES. 317 I— I p a 5< P a m S h3 I— I Vcn-chin is found seven thousand li from Japan, toward the north- cast. This country was made known about 510 or 620 a. d., its inhabitants having a figure similar to that of animals. The land of the Wenschin is distant from Japan in a northeasterly direction about seven thousand Chinese miles. The bodies of these people exhibit all kinds of figures, such as those of animals and the like. The kingdom of Ouen-chin was made known (to the Chinese) under the dynasty of the Liang (502-587) ; it is situated seven thousand li to the northeast of Japan. The men have lines (omch) upon the body {chin) like (certain) animals. During the Lcang dynasty, the following story was current regarding Ouen-chin : They live more than seven thousand li to the northeast of Japan. They have their bodies tattooed, and marked like those of certain animals. WAN SHAN, OR PICTURED BODIES. During the Liang dynasty (a. d. 502-556), it was reported that about seven thousand li to the northeast of Japan there was a country whose inhabitants had marks on their bodies, such as are on animals. MARKED BODIES. During the reign of the Liang dynasty (502 to 556 a. d.), it was reported that the country of " Marked Bodies " was situated seven thousand li and more to the northeast of the country of Japan. Its people have marks upon their bodies like (those upon?) wild beasts. 318 AX INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Clmrnctur 645 646 647 648 649 660 661 662 663 664 666 666 657 668 659 660 661 662 663 664 665 666 667 668 Pngo. ± 4^ i§- m m iff) SI 628 741 1113 723 1041 1041 839 70 38 484 1041 795 468 38 979 920 822 244 554 1065 157 719 979 207 Sound. NGOII Sn.VNG YIU SAN WlN WlN TA cniii cut KWlfil wAn SLVO K'CH CH]fi TSIEX T'U sun IIWAN LOII WUII FUNG 'RH TSIEN nixG Dekikitiom. Trimslntion. The forehead ; the front, or FRONT what is before ; a fixed or regular number or quan- tity ; what ought to be or (or forehead) is settled by law ; incessant. To go up, to exalt, upward, UPON top, above, facing, high, ancient, before, superior, they honourable. Same as 14. HAVE " " 208. THREE " " 89. MARKS. If tho " " 89. MAKKS are " " 28. LAKGE and To look ahead, straight, di- STRAIGHT, rect, true, exactly, a per- pendicular stroke, to straighten, to go direct. Same as 6. THERE " " 166. aro NOHLE ; but if tho " " 89. MARKS aro " " 233. SMALL and Crooked, bent, a bend, false, CROOKED, tortuous. Same as 6. THESE Light in estimation, mean, nro IGyoBLE. low, ignoble, worthless, to Tho discstoem, to deprecate. Same as 43. LAND " " 420. COMMON PEOPLE Joy expressed l)y tho ] niph- ly de- ■ lipht- cd, are MERRY, voice, jolly, merry, glad, pleased, to rojoieo. and P ensure, quiet, to rejoice REJOICE IN in, to tnko delifflit in, dissipation, music. merry. Same as 285. ARTICLES' A large goblet, full cum, abun- ABUNDANCE dant, plenteous, fer tile, pro- lific, plenty, copious. Same as 68. ALTHOUGH " " 659. POOR IN QUALITY. " " 245. TRAVELING 1 r u to D o u tai Q y. y, < cat M 'A r y, con 3 •-5 Th( chc r I ^ the w mai the 1 in larf peo <-3 to c i? seh I , ma tt 5?; of >-H ^A ROR > nat tha .,^.A.... THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 319 m Tlioy traced different lines upon their faces, the form of which served to distinguish the chief men of the nation from the common people. It was, for the rest, a fertile country, where all that is neccstiary to sus- tain life might be found in abundance. 'A 'A They have three lines upon the forehead ; the large and straight indi- cate the nobles, the small and crooked the common people of the nation. '/-, H W C5 'A Those who have three straight lines upon the forehead arc esteemed (or considered as noble). If the lines are small and crooked, they are scorned. The inhabitants live joyously. The various products arc abundant and cheap. The travelers who go through this country Upon the forehead they have three marks or lines. Those which have the marks large and straight are chiefs ; those who have only small crooked rrarks are of low condition. Their nature is merry. The productions of their country are abundant and cheap. The traveler They had three marks on their foreheads. Those whose marks were large and straight belonged to the honorable class, while the lower sort of people had small and crooked marks. It is a custom among this people to collect a great variety of things of a very poor sort to amuse them- selves. Those who travel In front (or upon their foreheads) they have three marks. If the marks are large and straight, they indicate that those who have them are of the higher classes ; but if they are small and crooked, then their pos- sessors are of the lower classes. The people of the land are of a merry nature, and they rejoice when they have an abundance, even of articles that arc of little value. Traveling u 320 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. No. Character, PO(fO. Sound. DeriMiTioN. Translation. 669 429 K'OU A guest, a visitor, an ac- quaintance, a curitoincr, a Htraiipcr, an alien, transi- tory, foreign. VISITORS do 670 717 run Same as loO. NOT 671 m 964 T.SI To take in both bands and PREPARE FOR offer to, to give, to send a THEIR JULR. present, to prepare things NEY IS for a journey, to supply. 672 524 LIANG Rations, soldiers' pay, food. FOOD, provisions, taxes in kind. and they 673 1113 YIU Same as 14. ILVVE m — < thflr 674 ^ 1001 WUII " " 84. DWELLING 675 f=. 112G YO The part of the house covered by the eaves, to cover, to shelter, wide, vast, terri- SHELTER. Thoy arc 676 M 1059 wu tory. Same as 86. DESTITUTE OP 677 m 77 CiriNG " " 86. FORTIFICA- TIONS and WALLED 678 m 492 KWOII " " 87. CITIES. The 679 m 491 KWOII " " 5. COUNTRY '8 680 T-: 1043 WANG " " 217. KING '» 681 m 817 SU " " 667. RESIDENCE 682 M 437 Kt " " 676 BUILDING is 683 m 767 sum To adorn, to paint, to orna- ment, to gloss over, to pre- tend, to excuse, a facing, an ornament. ADORNED 684 m 278 I Same as 49. BY MEANS OF 685 ^ 398 KIN " « 829, GOLD 686 m 1101 YIN " " 330, and SILVER 687 # 15 CHlN Whatever is noble, precious, or beautiful, rare, excel- lent, to prize. and PRECIOUS and 688 M 524 LI Elegant, fair, beautiful, flow- ery, bright, a pair, to de- pend on, to tie, a beam, a boat. BEAUTIFUL (objects) 689 ^ 292 JAO Same as 191. ABOUT the DWELLING. 690 S 1064 WUH " " 84. ^ >5 C3 ta^ U « U a \r. 5^ «!5 s t-l U J< ha 'A u Th d gol ., - wit Si o M > , ,■ ( : THE LAND OF ''MARKED BODIES. " 321 B w a Their towns or villages were unwalled. onianicated with precious tLiugs. The dwelling of the king was v. u 'A (Not translated.) 3 have no need to furnish themselves with provisions. Thoy have houses. The cities are not walled. The palace of the king is ornamented witli gold and silver. The exterior is all covered (literally, "surrounded") with precious substances of a great beauty. The inhabitants IJilltt Jccts) easily finds food [M. d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, on page 60 of his " Eth- nography," translates this passage : " The traveler has no need to carry food with him — the country furnishing it to him in abundance "]. The Ouen-chin have houses, but no walled cities. The habitation of their king is ornamented with gold, silver, and jewels. Surrounding (this habi- tation) en UK >-9 or peddle do not carry any provision with them. They have houses of various kinds, but no walled towns. The palace of the king is adorned with gold, silver, and jewels in a sumptuous man- ner. The buildings are surrounded visitors do not prepare food for their journeys, and they have the shelter of their (the inhabitants') dwellings. They have no fortifications or walled cities. The residence of the king of the country is adorned with gold and silver, and precious and beautiful objects about the dwelling. 21 jiihiliHi u 322 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. ... Cbftr«etor. P«ge. Bound. 691 /s) 1047 Wfil 092 M 983 TS'IEN 603 ^ 478 KWANT, 694 1095 YIII 695 * 25 CHAXG 696 W 709 sum 697 « 278 I 698 *1 781 snui 699 s& 1101 YIN 700 M 1124 YC 101 m 950 TSEII W2 m 649 IIIANG 703 n 1118 YC 704 * 781 SIIUI 705 m 1101 YIN 706 z 53 CHI 707 h 741 SHANG 708 ^^^ 762 SIII 709 m 1149 YUNG 710 # 15 ciiAn 711 » 663 PAO DinMiTioN. h^ainc as SO. The moot or fonic oround a town, a ditch to liiid water In, iriigiition, to dig out. nroiid, cxti'ttHivo, wide, cpa- ciouH, large, ample, utout, to enlarge. Same aa 194. " " 638. " " 05. Real, solid, hard, full, comiiact, to till, to cram. Same as 49. " " 494. ) V Quicksilver. " " 330. ) Rain, a shower, to rain. Same aa 127. " " 443. " " 177. As, to, to be- come. Same aa 494. " " 330. Quicksilver. " " 40. " To pass from one state to another." Same aa 646. " " 331. To use, to employ, to cause, useful, by, with, thereby. Same as 687. Precious, valuable, a gem, a coin, value, noble. Jewels, valu- ables. Tmoilatloo. 'I'llCV maRi; DITCH of a HRK.VDTU of ONE Ron (often ClilnoM ft'cf), which |« FILLKU BY MEANS OF WATER- SILVER. When It RAINS, THEN tlii> rain FLOWS UPON tho WATER- SILVER 'S SURFACE. In their MARKETS (or bartering) they USE PRECIOUS GEMS. ■J u a 'y, y. < w u U I th( hit m wit the 1 « nea y, •-< Wh ^ In val THE LAND OF "MAUKED HOUIES." 323 w a A ditch rniRlit be neon there which nppciircd to bo fiilod with quiclc- nilvcr, nnd tills matter, esteemed in eoniinerce, became iicniid and Howinp when it hud imbibed witter from the rain. M. de (luigneH adds, from another source: "They expoocd their con- deniiu' 717 733 :* 461 734 Sfe 45 735 E 155 Sound. TA IIAN TA HAN LLVNG SHI WAN YEN TSAI WlN SHlN KWOH TUNG WU TS'IEN YCr LI WU PING KWO PUH KUNG CHEN FUNG Definition. Translation. Same as 28. This character is composed of " water" and " hardship." Tho Mllljy Way. Tho large branch of tho Yans-tNZ Kiver. A Chi- nese; relatinff to China. The Han dynasty, which was named from the Duke of llan. Same as 28. " " 713. " " 552. " " 626. " " 627. " " 188. " " 27 " " 89. " " 161. " " 5. " " 31. " " 383. >' " 468. " " 34. " " 35. " " 85. " " 98. A kind of lanco, a javelin, a spear, weapons, war. Same as 100. " " 101. " " 102. " " 453. GREAT HAN. GREAT HAN. during tho LIANG dynasty's TIME, was REPORTED TO BE TRULY SITUATED from MARKED BODIES' KINGDOM EAST FIVE THOUSAND and MORE LI. Its people arc DESTITUTE OF MILITARY WEAPONS, and do NOT WAGE WAR. Their MANNERS' ^'r} THE GREAT HAN COUNTRY. 325 ^4 o At a distance of five thousand li from Ven-ckin, toward the east, 7a- han was found. The inhabitants of this country had no military weapons ; their customs In the times of the Leung dynasty, in the first half of the sixth century of our era, the Chinese heard of a land which lay five thousand of their miles easterly from the country of the " Pictured People," and named it " 7'a-/ja«," or " Great China." The people of Ta-han carried uo weapons, and knew nothing of war and strife. In their customs and usages, the people of Ta-han, on the whole, The kingdom of Ta-han was made known (to the Chinese) under the dynasty of the Leang (502-558) ; it is situated about five thousand li to the east of the kingdom of Oueu-chin. The inhabitants have no arms, and do not wage war. Their manners and their In the time of the Leang dynasty, it was said of the kingdom of Ta- han : This kingdom is situated to the east of the country of the Ouen-chin more than five thousand li. Its people have no arms, and do not wage war. Their manners t: TA HAX, OR GREAT CHINA. It was reported, during the Liang dynasty, that this kingdom lay more than five thousand li east of W&n Shan, diers or weapons, and never carry on war. The inhabitants have no sol- Their manners and AGE 1—4 GREAT UAN. During the reign of the Liang dynasty, Great IIan wag reported to be situated five thousand li or more to the east of the " Marked Bodies " country. Its people have no military weapons, and do not wage war. lit: I 1 I ■ )'' n. 326 AN INGLORIOCS COLUMBUS. No. 'Character. 736 737 738 n m 739 i ^ 740 I ;^ 741 742 743 744 745 740 PORO. Sound. 822 sun 700 PING 1125 YC 1041 WA\ 735 SiiAx 491 KWOII 933 TUNG 719 'Rll 1083 YEX 1126 Y& 281 I Definition. Same ns 420. Two together, both, with, and, even with, to coiupaio. Same as 309, " " 89, " " 101, " " 5. " " 372. " " 68. " " 584. " " 585. To divide, different, foreign, to oppose, a difference. Translatiun. RUDENESS is COMPARED WITH tbnt of tho MARKED BODIES COUNTRY tho SAME, BUT their LANGUAGE "g WORDS ore DIFFERENT. THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES.'' In all the forcgoir ^ translations the cliaracter sum (Xo. 006, page 322) has been renlered "filled." Its fundamental meaning seems to be " fruit," from which the secondary signification of "solid, hard, compact, full, crammed," was derived. "When used as a verb, it seems to me to mean " to solidify, to harden, to pack together, to cram " ; and, while it is applicable to the process of filling a confined space with solid substances or articles closely packed together, I doubt whether it can be used with pro- priety to express the filling of a receptacle with a liquid. It therefore appears to me that the word, when used as a verb, should be translated "to harden, to solidify, to make compact," rather than " to fill," and that the description of the country should be read (punctuating after characters Nos. 089, 095, 099, and 707): " The residence of the king of the country is adorned with gold and silver, and precious and beautiful objects about it. The dwellings consist of excavations of a breadth of one rod. These (dwellings) are made solid, hard, compact, or impervious THE GREAT IIAN COUNTRY. 327 W o >5 were essentially the same as those of the people of Vcn-chin, but they had a different language. resembled the "Pictured People." The two nations, however, spoke quite different languages. customs are the same as those of the kingdom of Ouen-chin, but the lan- guage is different. g I are the same as those of the Ouen-chin, but their language is different. S i o 'A customs arc the same as those of the 'NVtin bhiln, but their speech differs. The rudeness of their customs is the same as that of the people of the country of " Marked Bodies," but the words of their language are dif- ferent. by the use of water-silver [i. e., ice]. "When it rains, then tlie rain flows off from the surface of the water-silver." I should understand that llwui Shan meant to say that the walls and roof of the dwellings were made solid and impervious to either air or water by means of ice. The houses of this re- gion of the world are described by modern travelers as consist- ing of an excavation, with low, earthen side-walls, and a roof of earth thrown over beams and branches used for its support. If, now, water was poured over these walls and the roof, it would soon freeze, and render them compact and impervious to rain, so that " when it rained, then the rain would flow off over the surface of the ice." This translation suggested itself to me at so late a date that I have not had time to consult competent Chinese scholars as to the possibility of so rendering the passage. I have, therefore, followed former translators in the version which is discussed in Chapter XIX. I believe, however, that the Chinese text is sus- ceptible of the rendition given above, and that such a ver- sion removes all difiiculties in the account, and brings Hwui Shan's description into strict conformity with the truth. mmi CHAPTER XVIII. THE LENGTH OF THE LI. — THE NAME "GREAT HAN." The direction from Japan in which Fu-sang lay — Variations in standards of meas- ure — The Chinese U about one third of a mile in length — The greater length of the Japanese li — Possibility of still another standard in Corea — Communi- cation between Corea and Japan and between Corea and China — Chinese knowl- edge of the rout*. Japan derived from Corean sources — Fu-sang farther from " Great Han " than Japan is — Distances stated with at least approximate accu- racy — The country of " Marked Bodies " identified as the Aleutian Islands — Al- lowances for changes and misunderstandings — Caesar's account of the inliabit- ants of Britain — Maundevile's repetition of the story — " Great Han " identified as Alaska — Land found in the regions indicated by Hwui Shin — Meaning of the character " Han " — Nature of the Chinese characters — The manner in which they are compounded of two parts — Some characters in which the meuaing is affected by that of both parts — Application of the character " Han " to a swirling stream and to the Milky Way — Hence its possible meaning of " dashing water " — Meaning of the name " Alaska " — The breakers of the Aleutian Islands — The population — A philological myth — The hypotliesos upon one of which Hwui Shin's story must be explained — Tlic explanation should be consistent. Having thus given the Chinese accounts of the land of Fu- sang, and of the countries found upon the route from China to that region, together with the arguments of former writers as to their location, let us now examine the question for ourselves. Fortunately, there is no doubt as to the first of the countries ihat is named as lying upon the route. Long before the days of Hv ui Shan, the Chinese were acquainted with this kingdom of Japan, and, when it was mentioned by him, there was no neces- sity for describing its location. At a distance of over seven thousand II to the northeast of Japan, it was stated that the country of "Marked Bodies" was to be found. More than five thousand H to the east of this the land of "Great Han" was situated, and over twenty thousand 'i#jii THE LENGTH OF THE LI. 320 li easterly from this last-named country lay the land of Fu-sang. As it is expressly stated, however, that Fu-sang lay to the east of China, and as the greater part of the route from Japan to Great Ilan was in a northeasterly direction, it is evident that Fu-sang must have lain farther south than Great Han, and that its true hearing from this last country was southeasterly rather than east. With these explicit statements as to the direction of the route, there would be no difficulty in laying it down upon a chart, provided that we knew the exact length of the li. It is the case, however, that nearly all standards of measure were more or less indefinite when they were first established, and that, even after having been fixed with some degree of precis- ion, they have been subj^« \ to change in the course of cent- uries. The chief difficulty is found in the earlier stages of civili- zation, however. Crawfurd, for instance, in speaking of the Javanese, says that,'"* in countries where there are no roads, where the principal conveyance is by water, and where the paths are circuitous and little frequented, it is not reasonable to sup- pose that any determinate measure of considerable distances should exist. Such contrivances, although familiar to Europeans, are the result of much improvement and civilization. The In- dian islanders, in traveling, speak of a day's journey, which, with tolerable uniformity, may be reclvoned at twenty British miles. In another place he states that,'"' from their very nature, the measures of grain among the Javanese are indefinite, and hardly insure greater accuracy than we imply ourselves when we speak of sheaves of corn. In the same district they are tol- erably regular in the quantity of grain and straw they contain ; but such is the wide difference between the different districts or provinces that the same nominal measure is often twice — nay, three times — as large in one as in another. This difficulty usually ceases to exist, however, by the time that the state of civilization is reached which the Chinese had attained in the fifth century. Long before that time their stand- ards of measure had apparently become so well established that they have remained to the present time, with but le,.' other changes than those recently made by the Europeans. Bretschneider "* says : " Having often had the opportunity of comparing distances given by the Chinese with our measures, I . ! 330 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. came to the conclusion that we make no considerable er -or in tak- ing three Chinese U of our days as equal to one English mile; and it can be proved, from ancient itineraries of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, that the length of the Chinese li has not changed since that time." The " Chinese Repository " '""says that there is great difficulty in estimating the Chinese li, or mile. It appears, by the " His- tory of the Ming Dynasty," that the measures have varied under the different dynasties. The Chinese have never been able to measure distances by astronomical observations. It may be doubted whether they have ever taken the trouble to measure roads. On those which are prepared for the emperor, and at great expense, the number of li is written up all along the road ; but it is a fact that those li are not all of equal length. The traveler, when inquiring the distance from one place to another, is told so many li, and it is often added, " They are great or small." It is admitted that in the north the /* are longer than in the south. It would appear that popular tradition has determined their nu.iiber. A geography, printed by order of government, states that from Canton to Pekin the distance is 8,185 li. As the positions of Can- ton and Pekin are known, it seems that they might serve to esti- mate the Chinese li; but there is no doubt that the windings of the road are included in those 8,185 li. Now, the routes in China, both by land and water, wind without end ; so that there seems no way of estimating the li with precision. However, it is generally believed that there are two hundred li to a degree of latitude. In another place it states that '" the li, or mile, is an uncer- tain measure. Its common measure is 316^ fathoms, or 1,897^ English feet, and it is the usual term in which length is estimat- ed. The Chinese reckon 192| li for a degree of latitude and longitude (for a degree of a great circle — say, 65 miles — this is 1,918 feet) ; but the Jesuits divided the degree into 250 li, each li being 1,82G English feet, or the tenth part of a French league, which is the established measure at present. A li, according to this measurement, is a little more than one third of an English mile. A long article on the true length of this standard of meas- ure '"'* is also given, in which the same general conclusion is reached- -that the li is about one third of an English mile. THE LENGTH OF THE LI. 331 R^musat, in a note upon " The Pilgrimage of Fa Hian,'""' makes the statement that the length of the shei(, or cubit, is variously estimated : sometimes at two cJdh (O'GIO metres) ; sometimes at one chih and two tsun (0'4575 metres). Four sheu make one kxmg (bow), and three hundred kung make one li. According to this calculation the li would be either 549 or 732 metres. Prinsep says that'"" a li is not quite one third of a mile ; for two hundred li equal a degree of latitude, or some sixty-nine statute miles. Professor Williams states that ""* a discrepancy exists regard- ing its precise length, owing to the various measures of the chih. It is usually reckoned at 1,825*55 feet, English, which gives 289 li to an English mile. This is based on the esti- mate of 200 li to a degree ; but there were only 180 li to a de- gree before Europeans came, which increases its length to 2,028*38 feet, or 2*0 li to a mile, which is nearer the common estimate ; and Summers '^"^ says that the li, or Chinese mile = Sl&J- fath- oms = 1,897^ English feet: 192^ /» = 1 degree of latitude or longitude, according to the Chinese ; but the Jesuits make 250 U = 1 degree, each li being = 1,826 feet, or ^ of a French league. It will not be necessary to quote other authorities upon the subject ; but, at the risk of being tedious, it seemed best to give the foregoing, for the purpose of showing that, after all that has been said as to the uncertainty as to the true length of the li, there is really but little disagreement as to what that length was before the coming of the Jesuits, and that if it be estimated at one third of an English mile the result will be very close to the truth. The Chinese li is sometimes stated to be equal to three hun- dred and sixty (double) paces, and a comparison of this number with the one thousand (double) paces which was the original basis for the length of our mile, gives substantially the same result. Attention should be called, however, to the fact that, just as there is a great difference between the lengths of the English mile, the German mile, and the nautical or geographical mile, so there is a great difference between the standards of distance used in Japan and China, respectively, and there is some reason for thinking that still another standard may have been used in Corea. 332 AN INGLORIOrS COLUMHUS. Tho Japanosc and Coroans, who tlo not use the letter ** /,'» substitute " r " for it, and j)ronounee the word •' r/," instead of "//." Tho same eharactcr is used by them when writing the word, however, that is used by the Chinese for the " //." Klaproth'*" says that the ri of Corea, which is the same as that of the Mantchoos in China, contains only three and a half Japanese vmtsis, and, as the Japanese ri contains thirty-six vuUsin, ten Corean ri are hardly equal to one Japanese ri. This last standard is equal to about three English miles ; and if Kli'^)ic'h is correct in his statement that the Corean ri or li is li«t» ■ an\o as the Chinese, its length is about one third of a mile. V • nt, (. one place,'"* says, however, that thirty Corean !f equal thrc Engl: '• niiles; and if his statement can be relied upon, this reduces the C orean li to about one tenth of a mile. About a century after the visit of Ilwui Shiln, Li Yen-shau, who copied the official records of the story of the Buddhist priest, also gave an account of the country of Japan, in which (or in the copies which the Chinese now have) the distance from the port of I,o-la)iffy in western Corea, to Japan, is stated to be twelve thousand li. As the actual distance to the capital of Japan is not more than fifteen hundred miles, it follows either that there is a serious error in his account, or else that the // used as a standard must be only about one tenth of a mile in length. This statement of Li Yen-shau's has been the cause of nearly all the misunderstanding as to the true position of the coun- tries described by Ilwui ShSln. No other instJince seems to occur in the Chinese records in which the length of the li varies mate- rially from one third of a mile ; yet from this single instance, of a standard apparently only one tenth of a mile in length, used by a writer who lived long after the days of Ilwui Shtin, his whole story has been discredited, and an effort has been made to show that the distance which he described as twenty thousand li was in reality only the trifling distance between the island of Saghalien and Japan. It will bo shown in one of the following chapters that the chief early intercourse of the Japanese was with the people of Corea. These in turn were frequently visited by the Chinese. Klaproth'"' says that there was constant communication between the two countries, and that Corea paid tribute to China through- out the fifth and sixth centuries. Their histories also show that THE LENGTH OF THE LI. 333 when the Chinese visited Japan it was by way of Coroa. It is therefore evident that the Chinese relied upon the Coreans for information as to the route to Ja\ anation of the great distance that is named will be foi. .'I euhcr in one cause or the other, there seems little room to doubt. Whatever the cause of the error in the d* cription of the route to Japan may have been, Ilwui Shftn, •■hen describing the length of his journey, to the representative J the Chinese em- ])eror, could not have meant by the word li anything else than the distance then called a li by the Chinese — that is to say, about one third of an English mile. He certainly can not be blamed for his failure to foresee that a century after his death his story Avould be confused with another account, in which there would be either a serious error or else in which another standard of distance Avould be used. Those who have placed Fu-sang in Japan have either ignored so many difficulties, or disposed of them so satisfactorily to them- selves, that the trifling discrepancy that^ according to their views, the distance from Japan to Great Han was twelve thousand li (of a length never used elsewhere in Chinese accounts), while the distance from Great Han to Japan (Fu-sang) was twenty thousand li, seems unworthy of notice. In addition to the difficulty which a number of former in- vestigators have found in determining, approximately, the length of the li, the second objection is raised that Ilwui Shan, or the mythical Chinese voyagers who have been sup- posed to have visited the country of Marked Bodies and Great Ilan, could not have had any means of determining with accu- I, i: '. 334 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. racy tho distances which they traveled or the direction of their voyage. Admitting that the distances and the direction may not bo accurately given, it certainly does not follow that they arc not a reasonable approximation to the truth. Surely there was no greater difficulty in those days than there is now in making a rough estimate, with reasonable accuracy, as to the distance traveled and the general direction of the course. Of all tho men who sail the seas, it is doubtful whether there is one who, if he had pursued a southerly course of a thousand or twelve hundred miles, could be so egregiously mistaken as to believo that he had sailed seven thousand miles easterly ; and if it be as- sumed that llwui ShUn attempted to describe his journey in good faith, it certainly ought not to bo taken for granted that he was liable to make so gross a blunder. Klaproth says "" that the navigators who visit thie Japanese Islands estimate even the distances which they have themselves traveled only approximately. It is evident, however, that they do estimate them approxitnatelt/, and would not be likely to bo guilty of such stupidity as calling south, east, and thinking one mile to be seven. The "Chinese Repof-itory," '"" when referring to distances reckoned in " days' journeys," says that " the day's journey is usually considered one hundred li, a little more or less " ; and it is not improbable that the Buddhist traveler, when journeying along the shore or paddling from island to island, estimated each day's journey as about this distance. However this may have been, there can be no question that a man possessed of courage, persistency, and hardihood sufficient to carry him through a journey of forty-one years, in countries previously unknown, can hardly have lacked the amount of knowledge necessary to enable him to distinguish between east and south, or be- tween one mile and half a dozen. "When he says that the country of Marked Bodies lies twenty-three hundred miles northeasterly from Japan, we may grant that this is a mere estimate. Possibly the distance was only two thousand miles, or it may have been twenty-five hundred ; the course, also, may have varied a few degrees from northeast ; but if we are to as- sume that he may have meant a country less than five hundred miles from Japan, and lying directly north, we assume that he TOE LENGTn OF THE LI. 335 was cither grossly ignorant or thoroughly dinlionest, and in either case it would be useless to examine his story further. Let us for the present, however, proceed upon the assump- tion that he may have been honest and intelligent, as ho must have been brave and resolute, and see whether his story is or is not true. If wo sail from Japan, in a northeasterly direction, for a distance of some two thousand miles, where do wo find our- selves ? Not in the island of Jeseo, but among the Aleutian Islands, Do these islands or their people correspond with Ilwui Shan's account ? If they do, we have a strong proof that his story is true. If they do not, it is useless to look elsewhere for the country described by him, and his story may be dismissed as false. Allowance must be made, however, for the changes that bave taken place in the fourteen centuries that have elapsed since the time of his travels. It could not be expected that all the customs mentioned by him should have come down to the present day, or that those which still exist should bo found identical in all respects with the form which they had so long ago. It is also to be presumed that those which have survived will bo found, in many cases, scattered among tribes now living at some distance from the region inhabited by their ancestors fourteen hundred years ago. Caesar's account of the people of Gaul and Britain antedates by only some four centuries Hwni Shiin's story of the lands visited by him ; but if we had no other means of proving that Cajsar actually visited western Europe and England than a com- parison of his account with existing customs, his credit would suffer as has oxir Buddhist priest's. "When speaking of the people of Britain, he says"* that they do not consider it right to eat the hare, the domestic fowl, or the goose, and adds that '" " most of the inhabitants of the interior do not sow grain, but live upon milk and flesh, and clothe them- selves in skins. All the men of this country dye themselves with woad, w^hich gives them a bluish colour, and makes their appear- ance in battle more terrible. Their hair is long, and all parts of their body are shaved except the head and upper lip. Ten or twelve have their wives in common, usually brothers with their brothers, or parents with their children ; but the offspring 330 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. arc conHidcrcd tho children of him by whom tho maiden was first eH|)()UHod." It is a curious illustration of tho persistency with which hit). torical talcs survive, and of the fact that even tho most incredible are fre(iuently founded upon some warped or perverted truth and hence are deserving of study in order that the truth which they contain may bo separated from the error, that Sir Jolin Maund( vile, returning to England some twelve centuries later, with his mind tilled with marvels — not only those which he had himself seen in tho Orient, but iilso all that ho had been able to gather from others regarding the countries still farther cast — should have brought back to IJritain the story which hud started from it so long before. The t.\le had survived, but tho location of tho land had been forgotten, and hence it was sup- posed to be situated in tho distant East. IMS t< Beyonde that Yle, is another Ylc, where is gret mul- tytude of folk ; and thei wolo not for nothing eten Flescho of Hares, ne of Ilennes, ne of Gees ; and yit thei bryngen forthe y now, for to seen hem and to beholden hem only. But thei eten Flesche of alio other Bestes, and drynken Mylk. In that Contre thei taken hire Doughtres and hire Sustres to hero Wyfcs, and hire other Kynneswomcn. And gif there ben 10 or 12 men or mo dwcllyngo in an Hows, the Wif of everyche of hem schalle ben comoun to hem alio, that duellen in that Hows." Returning again to the account of the Buddhist traveler, it will be seen that he says that, about sixteen hundred miles east of the land of "Marked Bodies," there lay a country called Great Hax. At about that distance east of the center of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska is found ; and if his story is true, Great Han was located in or near Alaska. It should first be noticed that here are two instances in which land exists in the Pacific Ocean, just where he says it is to be found. A glance at a map will show how unlikely it is that he would be right as to the existence of land in a certain direc- tion, and at a certain distance, if his story were but a figment of the imagination. "With all the islands in the Pacific Ocean to choose from, those who attempt to locate Fu-sang elsewhere than in America, can do so only by ignoring both the distance and the direction. If any other li than tho true one is used, and if the bearings mentioned by Hwui Shan are preserved, the THE NAML: "CiUKAT MAN." 837 viul of the route will fall into the fatliomlt's.s (Upths of the Tu- cifif. Tlio name of the easternmost of the two countries Is given as -J^, 'V\ ((freiit), ;9|, Han. The last eharactcr heiiij^ made up of two parts, meaning respeetively "water" an anv to le what- ever might be applied (oven with special fore. , ay to nom* poiL'.r to tl e history of Fu-sang, " the Land of the Rising Sun," A sprinkling of Sanskrit, and a reference to the clouds surroundiiifr the rising sun as " cows " or " herds," would make the argument complete. As it is reasonable to presume, however, that not more than nine tenths of early history is a variation upon the sun-myth theme, let us assume that the story of Fu-sang is aiuong the few early tales that have some claim to other foundation. In such case it is but reasonable to ask that the story as a whole should lead to some one of the three conclusions bofoie mentioned. A portion of the story should not be accounted fur by one hypothesis, and another of its statements by a different theory, wholly inconsistent with the first. It is not proper, for instance, to arrive at the conclusion that there was no such land as Fu-sang, and then in the next sentence attempt to prove lL„t there was a land of Fu-sang, but that it was located in Japan. The author will attempt to show that the thh*d theory is the true one. It is not necessary to remove every cujection ; some difficulties will unquestionably remain unsolved. But the true point to be decided is as to which one of the possible theories offers the fewest and least serious perplexities. If it be shown that Ilwui Shan describes a particular region In America, with its characteristic plants, and mentions peculiar customs or its people, such as are not known to have ever existed elsewhere ; if truth after truth is told, of a nature such as could never have been imagined if Ariuuhia had not actually been visited — a point will soon be re • Lv d when even explanations that would otherwise seem improbable may be accepted in regard to some few difficulties that present no other solution. If it requires infinitely more explanation to account for Ilwui Shan's story upon either the first or second theory than it does upon the third, then the third may be considered as established with reasonable certainty. In the following pages an effort will be made to show that this is the case. some CHAPTER XIX. THE CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OP "MARKED BODIES," AXD OP GREAT HAX. Nccassity of examining the account in detail — The resemblance of the people of the two countries — Their customs — Their languages — The marks upon their bodies — Tattooing with three lines — Existence of the custom in America — The marks a sign of the position of their bearer — The merry nature of the people — Their feasts and dances — Their hospitality — Hospitality of the American Indians — Tlie Iroquois — The Esquimaux — The Aleutians — Absence of fortifications — The chiefs — The decoration of their dwellings — The Ilaidah Indians — Other Indian tribes from British Columbia to Alaska — Esquimaux fondness for ornamentation — Ditches — The dwellings of the people — Water-silver — Proof that ice is meant — Quicksilver — No country ever had ditches filled with quicksilver — The traffic by means of precious gems — Xo money u;-ed — Value of amber — The peaceful nature of the people — The punishment of crime — Summary of facts mentioned by Ilwui ShSn — Application of the doctrine of chances — The two countries bearing the name of Great Ilan. Marsdex, in his edition of the " Travels of Marco Polo," *™ states that while much ingenuity has been shown, on the one side, in pointing out what seem to be improbabilities, defects, and inconsistencies in his work, and, on the other, in defend- ing it upon general principles, little has hitherto been done, by editors or commentators, toward an examination of the particu- lar details, with the view of bringing them to the test of mod- ern observation ; and yet it is upon the unexceptionable evi- dence of their consistency with known facts, rather than the strength of any argument, that the reader is expected to ground bis confidence in the intentional veracity of the author. This criticism seems equally true in regard to the Chinese descriptions of eastern lands ; and this chapter will therefore be devoted to an examination of "the particular details" of the account of the Countries of Marked Bodies and Great Han, in order to show " their consistency M'ith known facts." f 344 AN INGLOKIOUS COLUMBUS. I. — The kudexess op the customs (of the people of the two coiintrii -) is the same, but their languages aue ini-. FERENT. Latham says '"" that the inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands properly so called (i. e., of liehring's and Copper Islands), of tlie Rat Islands, of the Andreanowsky Islands, of the PrebUlowiini Islands, of Unalaska, and of Kadiak, are all Esquimaux ; a fact which numerous vocabularies give us full means of asccrtainiiicr. In respect to the difference of speech between particular islands there is external evidence that it is considerable. The people of Atka have a difficulty in understanding the Unalaskans, and vice versa. Again, the Kadiak vocabulary, as found in Lisianslvv, differs very notably from the Unalaskan of the same author ; indeed, it may be doubted whether the two languages are mu- tually intelligible. Dall states that '"^ the language of the western Innuit differs totally in the vocabulary from that of any Indian tribes, while there are many words common to the Greenlanders and the Behring's Strait Esquimaux. On the other hand, the words of tlie language of the Aleutians are in very large part quite dissimilar to those of the most adjacent Innuit. There is more difference in this respect between them and the Innuit of Kadiak than ex- ists between the Greenlaiidic and Behring's Strait dialect. Never- theless, the Aleutian language is clearly of the Innuit type, and is only entitled to rank as a branch of the Orarian stock. While Langsdorff repeats, almost verbatim, the words of Ilwui Shan : " The inhabitants of Kadiak are but slightly dif- ferent from those of Univ^n,«Ka. In general the people are some- what taller and more robust, but otherwise they are undeniably of the same race. The langnage is (liferent. The customs, man- ners, methods of living, means of sustenance, and the clothing, hoxcever, are almost exactly the same.'''' '™' II. — The PEorLE have m>rks upon their bodies like ■■rVrLT^ beasts. It does not seem quite certain whether Ilwui Shan meant tb';t tiie marks were like those upon anima' '., or that they were pictuH'^^ of wild beasts, or merely that the people resembled animals from the fact that their bodies were marked. If it is meant that the marks were representations of wild blasts, the Ilaidah Indians, of Queen Charlotte's Islands, who CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 345 live not far from Alaska, and who may have moved from a still nearer neighbourhood during the last fourteen centuries, ex- actly meet the description. They seem to be intruders in their present location, as Swan states that there is a'"^* marked differ- ence in their manners and customs from the Indians of the main- land, lie adds that a singular ^*''^ custom which prevails among them, and which seems to be a distinctive feature of this tribe, is that of tattooing their bodies with various designs, all of which arc fanciful representations of animrJs, birds, or fishes, either an attempt to represent in a grocesquc form those which are known and commonly seen, or their mythological and legendary crea- tions ; he says aibo that "" each of the people will have on some part of the body a representation in tattooing of the particular figure which constitutes his or her family name or connection. Tlie chief will have all the figures tattooed on his body to show his connection with the whole. If it is merely meant, however, that the people resembled wild beasts rather than men, because their bodies were marked or tattooed, it is not necessary to look farther than to the tribes now living in Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Bancroft says that,"' were these people (the Esquimaux) satisfied with what nature has done for them, they would be passably good-looking. But with them, as with all mankind, no matter how high the degree of intelligence and refinement attained, art must be applied to improve upon nature. The few finishing-touches neglected by the Creator, man is ever ready to supply. Arrived at the age of puberty, the great work of im- provement begins. Up to this time the skin has been kept satu- rated in grease and filth, until the natural colour is lost, and until the complexion is brought down to the Esquimaux standard. Now pigments of various dyes arc applied, both painted out- wardly and pricked into the skin. John Ledyard, who visited Unalaska with Captain Cook, stated that, among the people whom they sa'^ '"^ both sexes had undergone the usual face painting and ornamentation ; and Langsdorff mentions that'*'*' tattooing was very customary in former times in the Aleutian Islands, especially among the women. They punctured the chin, the neck, and the arms. III. — In front (or upon tubib foreheads) tiiey have THREE MARKS. m 346 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Richardson says : '°* " The women tattoo their faces in bUio linos, produced by making stitches with a fine needle and thread smeared with lamp-black." Beechey reports that, betwoon Kotzebue Sound and Icy Cape,"*' " all the women were tattooed upon the chin with three small lines.^^ Armstrong states that,"" at Point Barrow, the women have on the chin a vertical line about half an inch broad in the center, extending from the lip, with a parallel but narrower one on either side of it, a littlo apart. Choris assures us that,'"* on Behring's Isle, men as well as women tattoo ; many men having the face tattooed. Coxe mentions that '"* the women of the Aleutian Islands were orna- mented with different figurcf^ sewed into the skin, and that '"" the faces of the women of the Fox Islands were marked with blackish streaks made Avith a needle and thread in the skin ; and Bancroft says that '"* young Kadiak wives secure the affection- ate admiration of their husbands by tattooing the breast and adorning the face with black lines ; while the Kuskoquim women sew into their chin two parallel blue lines. This custom seems to have spread over a large portion of Northwestern America. Ross says that all the Esquimaux women met by him'"' were tattooed to a greater or less extent, chiefly oti the brow, and on each side of the mouth and chin ; this ornament consisting in lines alone, without any peculiar figures, and thus conforming to the usages of the Northwestern Esquimaux of America, as they have been described by different voyagers. Mackenzie, after mentioning that "" the Chepewyans have a tradition among them th.at they originally came from another country, inhabited by very wicked people, and had traversed a great lake which was narrow, shallow, and full of islands, where they had suffereil great misery, it being always winter, with ice and deep snow, adds that "" both sexes have blue or black bars of from one to fou.' straight linos on their cheeks or forehead, to distinguish the tribe to which they belong. lie also asserts that"" the men of Itoth the Slave and Dog-rib tribes of Indians have two double linos, either black or blue, tattooed upon each cheek, from the ear to the nose, and that some of the Knistc- naux women ''" tatoo three perpendicular lines, which are some- times double, one from the center of the chin to that of the under lip, and one parallel on either side to the corner of the mouth. CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 317 Powers remarks that the Karok""*" squaws tattoo in blue three narrow fern-leaves perpendicularly on the chin, one falling from each corner of the mouth, and one in the middle, and that the Wintun"" squaws all tattoo three narrow lines, one falling from each corner of the mouth, and one between. IV. — Ik the marks auk lakge and straight, they indicate THAT TIIOSB WHO HAVE TIIEM APE OF THE HIGHER CLASSES ; BUT IP THEY ARE SMALL AND CROOKED, THEN THEIR POSSESSORS ARE OP THE LOWER CLASSES. Armstrong states that at Point Barrow some of the wom- en '°* " have two vertical lines protruding from either angle of the mouth ; which is a mark of their hiyh 2}ositiun in the tribe." V. — The PEOPLE op the land are op a merry nature, AND THEY REJOICE WHEN THEY IIAVK AX ABUNDANCE, EVEN OF articles that ARE OP LITTLE VALUE. It is singular that nearly every traveler to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands has mentioned this peculiarity in the disposi- tion of the people, by which they are clearly distinguished from the taciturn and phlegmatic tribes occupying otlier portions of the American Continent. Bancroft states that"*' the Aleuts are fond of dancing. Langsdorff asserts that"*" the character of the people of the island of Unalaska is in general kind and good-natured, sub- missive, and obedient. Dall states "" that originally the Aleu- tian tribes were active and sprightly, and that,"*' like most of the Innuit tribes, they were fond of dances and festivals, which, like those of Norton Sound, were chiefly celebrated in December. Food was then plenty, and the otter-hunting season did not commence till a little later."" "Whole villages entertained other villages, receiving the guests with songs and tambourines. Successive dances of children, naked men beating their rude drums, and women curiously attired, were followed by incantations from the shamans. If a whale was cast ashore, the natives assembled with joyous and remarkable ceremonies. They advanced and beat drums of different sizes. The caroass was then cut up, and a feast held on the spot. This peculiarity seems to be shared by the Kamtchatkans, for it is stated of them that '^" they pass their time in singing and dancing, and in relating their intrigues, and the greatest 848 AN INGLORIOUS CGLUMliUS. misfortuno that they can sufTcr is to bo dcprivej of these amusements. VI. — TuAVEMNd VISITORS DO NOT rRKI'AUK FOOD FOU Til Kill JOURNKYS, AND TIIKY HAVE THE 8IIELTER OF THEIR (thk I\. HAIUTANTS') DWELLINGS. JJy referring to tlie seventeenth chapter, it will bo seen that some of the former translators of this passage have thought that reference was made t(» " a fertile land, where all that is neces- sary to sustain life may be found in abundance"; to a country where " the various products are abundant and cheap," and where " the travelers who pass through it have no need to fur- nish themselves with j>rovisions." The Marqnis d'llervcy do Saint-Denys renders the first clause of the paragrai)h above (pioted, " The traveler easily finds food"; and in another place translates the same clause, " The traveler has no need to carry food with him (the country furnishing it to him in abundance)." The version of this passage by Professor Williams will bo seen, however, to agree in its main features with that given by the present author. The statement of the Chinese account is, that "travelinur visitors do not prepare food for their journeys"; and the in- ference of former translators, that the reason is that " the coun- try furnishes it in abundance," is merely an inference, and hap- pens to be erroneous. The true reason is, that the people, although poor, are so hos- pitable that they supply travelers freely with all that they them- selves have. This complete hospitality, which is carried to such a point that it is considered to be a right of the traveler to share freely of all that may be found in the dwellings that he enters, and that there is no thought on either side that it is an act of mere courtesy, is characteristic of the aborigines of the Ameri- can Continent ; as it existed throughout all of North America, at least, and was probably found in South America also ; while it is doubtful whether the same universal and complete hospi- tality has existed anywhere else in the world. So accustomed were all or nearly all of the tribes of America to this hearty welcome in every house that they entered, that Mr. Stephen Badger, in a letter to the Massachusetts His- torical Society, published in 1798, complains that '* the Indians are strangely disposed and addicted to wander from place to CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OF ♦'MARKED HOIHES." 349 place, and to make excursions into various parts of tlio country, and Monu'times at no small distance from their proper homes, without anything on hand for their sujtport in their perambula- tions, as for this they depend, with unanxious concern, upon the charity and compassion of others. Mori^an says that''^" one of the most attractive features of In- dian society was the spirit of hospitality by which it was per- vaded. Perhaps no people ever carried this principle to the same de;.';ree of universality as did the Inxpiois. Their houses were not ou]y oj)en to each other, at all hours of the day and of the night, but also to the wayfarer and the stranger. Such entertainment as their means afforded was freely spread before him, with words of kindness and of welcome, lie states again that,'"''' among the Irocjuois, hospitality was an established usage. If a man entered an Indian house in any of their vil- lages, whether a villager, a tribesman, or a stranger, it was the duty of the women therein to sot food before him. An omis- sion to do this would have been a discourtesy amounting to an affront. If hungry, he ate ; if not hungry, courtesy required that he should taste the food and thank the giver. This would he repeated at every house he entered, and at whatever hour in the day. As a custom it was upheld by a rigorous public senti- ment. The same hospitality was extended to strangers from their own and from other tribes. Upon the advent of the Euro- pean race among them it was also extended to them. Quotations follow from *' Smith's History of Virginia," from the Rev. John Heckewelder, from Lewis and Clarke, and from many others, to show that this hospitality is universal among the Indian tribes. In another place ''^' Morgan gives the following anecdote in illustration of the difference between the hospitality of the In- dians and that of the whites : Canassatego, a distinguished Onondaga chief, who flourished about the middle of the last century, said, in a conversation with Conrad Wciser, an Indian interpreter : " You know our prac- tice. If a white man, in traveling througli our country, enters one of our cabins, we all treat him as I do you. We dry him if he is w^et, we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat and drink that he may allay his hunger and thirst ; and we spread soft furs for him to rest and sleep on. We demand nothing in return. But if I go into a white man's house at Albany, and ask ^, ■ ^ Aii^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // U/ A ,V rA 1.0 I.I 11.25 ■AS 12.8 |50 *"* lis 12.2 I: 9 US. 12.0 IE U 11.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 24 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSSO (716) 879-4503 f\ t \ :\ ^\ Wk\ 4^ ^ A ^ %' 'I! i Ni \ il^lwil .350 AN INGLOKIOUS COLUMBUS. for victuals and drink, they say, * Where is your money ? ' And if I have none, they say, * Get out, you Indian dog f* " Mackenzie speaks particularly "" of the generosity and hos- pitality of the Knistenaux ; and Ross"** mentions several in- stances "" in which he had " ample proof of the hospitality " ""^ of the Esquimaux whom he met. To return to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands : Dall mentions a case of great kind-heartedness shown to him by two of the natives of Alaska."" He says again of the Aleutians that"" hos- pitality was one of their prominent traits. Quoting from Veniaminoflf, he says "" that it is the custom of the Aleutians for the successful hunter or fisher, particularly in times of scarcity, to share his prize with all, not only taking no large share, but often less than the others ; and if he has forgotten any one at the distribution, or any one arrives too late, he shares the remainder with him. All those in need of assistance hasten to meet the returning hunter at the landing, and sit down silently by the shore. This is a sign that they ask for aid ; only the infirm or orphans send persons to represent them : and the hunt- er divides his prize, without expecting thanks or restitution. Continuing his quotations from the same authority, he adds : "" " The Aleuts are not inhospitable, but they practice hospital- ity in their own way: They meet all strangers at the landing- place, though rarely saluting them by word or sign, except where they have learned the custom, dai'y becoming more uni- versal, from the Russians. If the stranger has a relative or inti- mate friend, he goes to him ; if not, no one will invite him, but all are ready to receive him : he can choose his quarters himself. Then he is entertained in the best manner ; the woman of the house ta'ces care of his clothing, mending his kjimlayka, or what- ever stands in need of repair ; but she is not obliged to receive him, as was formerly customary. They never think of asking their guest for anything, but let him stay as long as he may ; they even provide him with food of every kind tcJien he departs.''^ The duplication by Veniaminoflf, in the clause in italics, of the statement given in the Chinese account, should be particularly observed. Bancroft says that "' the Aleuts are given to hospitality ; and Coxe mentions that "" when the natives of the Fox Islands are on a journey, and their provisions are exhausted, they beg from m CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 351 village to village, or call upon their friends and relations for assistance. VII. — They have no fortifications or walled cities. This is so well known to be true of the Aleutians and Alas- kans, that no quotations upon the subject will be necessary. VIII. — The residence of the king (or kings) of the COUNTRY la adorned with gold and silver and precious AND BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS ABOUT THE DWELLING. I'irst, as to the ruler, Bancroft states that,"" in the Aleu- tian Islands, every island, and, in the larger islands, every village, has its toyon,* or chief, who decides differences, is exempt from work, and is allowed a servant to row hb boat, but in other re- spects possesses no power. The houses of the chiefs are not now decorated in the Aleu- tian Islands as described in the account, but some remnants of such decoration still exist in Alaska, and, by going a little way down the American coast, wo find, among the Ilaidah Indians (who, as has already been stated, seem to be intruders in their present position, and who may have migrated from the Aleu- tian Islands or their neighbourhood duii/g the last fourteen hundred years), carvings and decorations which recall the de- scription given above. As it is mentioned, a little farther on in the account, that, in their birters, precious gems are used (as the standard of value, instead of gold and silver), it is evident that, at the time when the residence of the chief was adorned with gold and silver, these metals were used merely as ornaments. After their value as the medium of exchange with foreign nations was learned, it is not likely that the outside of any dwelling would long be covered with them, and they would, therefore, soon be replaced with other decorations. Swan, in his account of the Ilaidah Indians, gives an engrav- ing which he says "" is intended to represent one of the carved posts or pillars which are raised in front of the houses of the chiefs or principal men. These pillars are sometimes from fifty to sixty feet high, elaborately carved, at a cost of hundreds of * This word, which is found with the same meaning, and witli but slight changes in sound, throughout Eastern Asia, and in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska, is a proof of an early communication between the two continents. — E. P. V. Iti'l li^-: «■■ 352 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. blankets ; some of the best ones even costing several thousand dollars : consequently, only the most xoealthy individuals of the tribe are able to purchase the best specimens. These pillars arc carved out of a single cedar-tree, the back hollowed so as to re- lieve the weight when raising it in a perpendicular position. They are deeply and firmly set in the earth, directly in front of the lodge, and a circular opening n-" the ground constitutes the door of entrance to the house. The Chimsean Indians, at Fort Simpson, and the Sitka tribes, have this style of carved posts, but they set them at a shi rt distance from the front of tht'ir houses. The figures carved on these posts are the family totems, or heraldic designs of the family occupying the house ; and as these Indians build large wooden lodges, capable of containing several families, the carvings may be said to indicate the family names of the different occupants. The chief or head man owns the house, and the occupants are his family and relatives. Dall mentions similar '"- high posts, curiously carved, as being frequently erected before the houses of the Thlinkeets, and says that they are sometimes placed directly in front, so that an en- trance is made through the block or log, which is often of enor- mous size. The Niskah or Naas Indians, of British Columbia, have elabo- rately carved poles in front of many of their houses. Some of the houses have their fronts built in the form of an animal's head. The front of one of their houses is described as shaped like a wolf's head, the nose being the porch, and the mouth the door."" A chief's rank is marked by the height of the pole erected in front of his house (on which the crest which distin- guishes his division of the tribe is carved); and no offense leads to more frequent quarrels than the attempt on the part of a chief to put up a pole higher than his rank warrantt^."** Fondness for ornamentation is shown by both the Alaskans and Aleuts, their boats being frequently "" inlaid very prettily with lozenge-shaped pieces of gypsum. The same love for such ornamentation, which led to the deco- ration of their houses, is still shown in many smaller matters. Langsdorff says that "" the Aleutian, who but seldom has an op- portunity of obtaining a piece of good wood a few inches in diam- eter, when he obtains a suitable piece, occupies himself for weeks together in shaping it into a board so made that, when it has CCSTOMS OF THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 353 been soaked in water for some little time, it can be bent evenly and uniformly. He then attempts to gradually bring together the two corners of the little board, which he has previously given the form of a semi-oval, and sew them together with sinew- tliit'ad, by which means a pyramidical cap is made. If he is successful in this work, which is not always the case, for the board often either breaks or bends unevenly, he paints it with coloured earth and ocher, brought from the far distant crater of the volcano, and adorns it with figures labouriously carved from wah'us-tusks, without any tools worthy of the name. He also decorates it with glass or amber beads, obtained from the Rus- sians, and with the bristles from the muzzle of the sea-lion, which to a certain extent take the place of the ornamental plumes used by Europeans ; the Aleutians placing a high value upon a bunch of these bristles — which are the trophies of a successful hunter — as each sea-lion has but four. IX. — TllEY MAKE A DITCH OP A BREADTH OP ONE ROD (of ten Chinese feet, or nearly twelve English feet), which is filled WITH WATER-SILVER. AVhEN IT RAINS, THEN THE RAIN FLOWS UPON THE SURFACE OP THE WATER-SILVER. As the Chinese seldom punctuate their writings, it is uncer- tain whether the clause " about the davelling," which in the present translation was used as the closing member of the pre- ceding phrase, may not really be the opening clause of the pres- ent sentence ; in which case the ditch above mentioned should be considered as surrounding the house or houses, either of the ruler or of the people. Coxe says that the inhabitants of some of the Aleutian Isl- ands "" livo in holes dug in the earth, but elsewhere ''" explains his meaning more clearly by saying that their "" dwellings are hollowed in the ground, and covered with wooden roofs, resem- bling the huts in tl ? peninsula of Kamtchatka. These are de- scribed as "" surrounded by a wall of earth, or by a palisade. Langsdorff states that "'* the dwellings of the Unalaskans consist of pits, which are covered with a roof of earth thrown over them, upon which, after they have stood for a few years, high grass grows, so that a village then resembles a European church-yard with high grave-mounds. He adds that,""' although the dwell- ings of the inhabitants of Kadiak are in most respects like those of the Unalaskans, they differ somewhat, from the fact that more 28 :,tl! t liil ' I '^ ' /I IH (54: AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. wood is used in their construction. These houses, half-buriod in tlie earth, although without stoves, are warm enough in tlie winter to protect their inhabitants from the cold. It is evident from these quotations that the earth, excavatctl within the walls of the dwelling, is thrown 'ip about them out- side and upon the roof. Those who have had occasion to erect tents know that one of the most essential precautions to secure comfort is to dig a small trench about them, to carry away any rain that may fall ; and in a country so intolerably "" rainy as is Alaska,"** it would seem as if a ditch about the houses were an absolute necessity. Ilaj'den describes the cabins or huts of the Arikaras "** in very much the same language as that used above in picturing the dwellings of the Alaskans, and adds : " Around the house, on the outside, a small trench is dug, to carry away the rain." No such ditches are described as existinj^ in Alaska, however, although Petroff states that*"* storms and tides often inundate the swampy shore on which their ■/urtlysub- terranean dwellings are built, and, filling them with water, drive the inmates out ; while Dall also concurs in the statement that "" their underground houses are, in summer, full of water. It is not certain, however, that Hwui Shiin meant to say tliat the ditch or ditches sunounded the houses. All that can be de- rived with certainty from his words is, that somewhere in the country he saw one or more ditches filled with a substance suf- ficiently remarkable to be, in his opinion, worthy of mention. He describes this substance as " water-silver." Now, although this tc-m usually means quicksilver"*' (and it has therefore been so translated by all others), yet here it seems to be impossible that it can have been used otherwise than as a descriptive phrase for ice. We, who see every year the wonderful transformation of water into a solid crystalline substance, easily forget the sur- prising nature of the change to one who has not be«". accustomed to it. The king of Siam could believe all the marvelous tales of foreign lands that were told to him, until this transformation was mentioned. Then his credulity was taxed too far, and lie announced his disbelief, and the reasons for it. " Water," said |jg 1038 « jg j^ fluid, and a fluid is not a compact body ; therefore, water can never appear in a compact form, and all the fables about ice, snow, and hail are unworthy of credit." Now, although ice is occasionally formed in Northern China, CUSTOMS OF THE LAN'D OF "MARKED BODIES." 355 the temperature is seldom low enough *** to form it at Canton ; aiul, as it is seen throughout the most of China and other coun- tries of Southern Asia, it is merely a thin and easily melted cake, differing widely from the glittering and immensely thick mass which is formed in the ditches in the Aleutian Islands. It is therefore not surprising that Hwui Shun should have spoken of the great thickness of ice seen in this country. The character ciu* in the phrase, may possibly be used, not in its most common sense, as a mere particle indicating the relations to each other of the words between which it is placed, but in its original sense as a verb, meaning"" "to proceed, to go to,"'*" "to proceed to,'' or, as Professor Williams defines it, "to pass from one state to another," and it seems not impossible that Ilwui Shan may have meant that the rain passed from the state of a fluid into that of the " watc-' silver." The passage is very obscure, and many educated Chinamen have confessed that they were unable to decide with certainty as to its meaning. Had it been the intention to say that the ditches were filled with quicksilver, there is'**' a character'^" (^, hung) meaning quicksilver, which could have been used instead of the compound "water-silver." This would have placed the meaning beyond question, and the nature of the Chinese language is such that it will hardly permit two characters to be used when one would fully express the meaning. It is possible that the original term may have been "icy- silver," as 7JC, PiXG, ice,*"* differs by only one dot from y^, siiui, icater. It seems more likely, however, that Hwui Sh&n wished to distinguish between this hard, solid, transparent ice of the Arctic regions, and the thin crusts, scarcely deserving the name, which were all that could be seen in China ; and, in order to do so, he used a compound analogous to a number of others existing in Chinese. Quartz crystal is, for instance, called'"* shui-tsing, " water - crystal," or'"* shui-yuh, "water-gem." This last term was also applied to glass,'"* " because it is clear as water and hard as a gem," when that substance was first introduced in China a few centuries ago. "Water-silver" is as appropriate and natural a term for ice as the other compounds above named are for the substances to which they are applied. It should be again insisted that Ilwui Shiin is fairly entitled * See chap, xvii, character No. 706. ■ L t tl ilPiP i 1 I < J56 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. to that trjuiHLition of his account which will make his story con- form with the truth, provided that such a translation is possible. If ho wore relying upon his imagination, innumerable statcnu'iits would be made which no possible ingenuity could harnionizr with the truth. If "water-silver" is translated "ice," all ditll- culties vanish, and his account becomes sinijjle and truthful. If it is translated "quicksilver," we become involved in manifest absurdities, as, for instance : " "When the ditch is filled with (juiok- silver, and the rain Is allowed to flow oflF from the quicksilver, the water is then regarded in the markets as a precious rarity." This should not be understood as an imputation upon the stliol. ar.'hip of the late Professor Williams, the depth of whose learn- ing, and whose thorough acquaintance »^'ith the Chi.iese language- are too well known to need mention. His translation is Smithsonian Institution from the Aleu- tian Islands, was one rude amber head, evidently of native make, on a sinew thread. The amber was obtained from the lignite bods, which are reported on the islands of Amchitka, Atka, and Uiialaska, and may exist elsewhere. \Vc know that ambor was held in great esteem by the early natives, and extraordinary value set upon it. This bead, therefore, may havi represented in value a good many sea-otter skins. Amber is among the articles included by the Chinese under the general term *' gems," and its value in China was formerly very great.'" XI. — TiiEY (the pjople c' Great Ilan) have s., military WE.VroNS, AND DO NOT WAGE WAR. This well characterizes the peaceful Esquimaux, and is a statement that it would be impossible to make with truth regard- ing any of the tribes of Northeastern Asia. XII. — He who has committed a petty crime is scourged. He who is accused of a crime deserving death is thrown to wild beasts to be devoured. jp the accusation 18 ca- umnious, the beasts keep at a distance from him, it is said (instead of devouring him) :, then, after a night (of trial), he IS SET AT LIBERTY. This statement was copied by the Marquis d'llervey de Saint- Denys from the Chinese "History of the South." Ma Twan- lin, for soiTie reason, did not think it best to include it in his acoount. The white bears and other large wild beasts, which once existed in the Aleutian Islands, have long been extinct. Xo trace of the custom above referred to can therefore now be I'ound in those islands, and the most that could be expected to have survived lo the present day would be some dim trace, to be found among the nearly allied tribes of Kamtchatka or Alaska. The author fancies that he has seen an account of the aban- donment to wild beast.% by the Alaskans, of some alleged witch- es ; but if so, he is unable to find it again. Possibly the night of trial through which their medicine-men pass before assuming the office, whei, alone in the forest or plains, they wait for their i ! .« !! ™' 358 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. guardian spirit to appear to them in the guise of some wild ani- mal, may bo a trace of the ancient custom. Something of the kind may still exist in Kamtchatka, as it is stated that those who have committed a theft '"* are rekaseil, for the first offense, by returning what they have taken, and hy living isolated from dealings with their countrymen, without being able to expect any help from them. If it be considered that any difficulties in the foregoing ac- count are not satisfactorily explained, let it be asked again, Which one of the possible theories upon the subject is accum- panied by the fewest and least serious difficulties ? Is it possible that Ilwui Shiin could have told the following truths, except as the result of an actual visit to America by way of the Aleutian Islands ? 1. Land was to be found in the Pacific Ocean, some twenty- three hundred miles northeasterly from Japan. 2. Some sixteen hundred miles farther east, land was again to be found. ' 3. The journey could bo continued easterly, for some six thousand miles at least, and land would still be found. 4. The second of the countries mentioned by him was known as a " great " land ; and it not only \sly east of the first coun- try, but was so extensive that it also lay to the east of China. 5. The people of the first two countries were alike in their customs, but their languages were different. 6. The people of the first of the countries tattooed their bodies. 7. They had the custom of tattooing some portion of the face with three lines. 8. These lines indicated the position of their owner in the tribe. 9. The people were of so merry and joyous a nature that the fact was worthy of notice. 10. They were so hospitable as to furnish their visitors, not only with shelter, but also with food for their journeys. 11. They had no fortifications or walled cities. 12. They had no military weapons and did not wage war. 13. The dwellings of their chief men were curiously adorned, externally. 14. The ditches in their land were filled with some singular some BIX CCSTOl.J OF THE LAND OF "MARKED BODIES." 359 substance to which the term "water-silver" could bo applied, and this substance was in some way connected with the rain. 13. Gold and silver were not used as the standards of value, but their place was filled by " gems." If it be assumed that there is just one chance out of two that each one of these statements would bo true as to any newly discovered land, then the probability that they would iill be true is as one to the fifteenth power of two, or one to over thirty-two thuusand, a proportion which makes it practically impossible that the story can have been imaginary. It will readily bo ad- mitted that there is no more than one chance out of two that any one of the fifteen statements above referred to would be true of an unknown region, and it is evident that of some of them the chance is not one in a dozen. The probability that such a story, if invented by one who knew nothing of the region, would prove, upon exploration, to be true, instead of being one in thirty-two thousand, is really, therefore, but one in millions, and it is easier to accept almost any difficulty, as to one or two of the points, than to believe that the account was imaginary, or that it related to any other country. D'Hervey (see Chapter XII) has clearly explained the difficulty into which earlier writers had been led by confounding the two regions called Ta Han, or Great Han — one to the north of China (and hence on the Asiatic Continent), and the other to the east or northeast (and hence on the American Continent). This con- fusion between the two countries, which caused de Guignes and other writers to look upon the Asiatic Continent for Hwui Shiln's Great Han country, has been the chief cause of the desperate attempts to locate Fu-sang, also, somewhere else than in America. iij \ "- • . i ■ •,■ • ; . i ' ' 1 i f t CHAPTER XX. THE COUNTRY LYINd IV THE REGION INDICATKn BY inVl'I gHAN. The tlircctlon from Cliiim, .Inpiin, and Great Ilan in wliich Fii-sun;; lay — Tlio truiiil of the American I'acilic coast — The distortion of the conniion maps — Mexico lien in tlie region indicated — The nations inliiil)itinft Mi'xico in ilio fiftli century — Their lan<5(iaf;e — Traces of tlieir beliefs and customs existing; one tlioiisnnd years iater— 'Aztec traditions — Tlio Toltecs — Tlieir character— Their civilization — The time of their dispersion — Their longuoge — The I'acitic coast — The evidence of place-names — The Aztec language — !-iinits of tiu' Mexican empire — The name of the country — The city of Tenochtitlan — Tiie application of the name "Mexico" — First applied to the country — Kaily maps — Late application of the name to the city — Pronunciation of the word — Similar names throughout the country — Meaning of the sylloble " co " — Varying explanations — Real meaning of the term — "The Place of the Centu- ry-plant "—Meaning of the syllabic "mk" — Meaning of the syllable " xi "— Its mconing in other compounds — Other abbreviations — Appropriateness of the designation — The god Mexitii — Proof thot he was the god of the century- plant — Reason that the Spaniards were misled as to the meaning of " Mexico." Having, in the preceding chapters, arrived at the conclusion that the country referred to by Hwui Shiin under the name of "Great Han " was located in the region now known as Alaska, let us continue the examination of his story, and endeavour to identify the land which he calls the country of Fu-sang. His first reference to it is as follows : I. — Fu-SANO IS SITUATED TWICE TEN THOUSAND LI OR MORE TO THE EAST OP TIIE GrEAT HaN COUNTRY. Til AT LAND IS ALSO SITUATED TO TIIE EAST OP THE MiDDLE KlNGDOM (China), Attention should first be called to a fact, already noticed, that, as the greater part of the route from Japan to the Great Han country bears in a northeasterly direction, the route from the land of Great Han to a country lying to the east of China can not be directly east, but must lie somewhat southerly. Probably but few realize how the western coast of America THE COUNTKY INDICATED HY IIWUI SUAn. T.Ol trentlH toward tho ooHt. Wc nro so aooiMtomod to ootiHwlcr tlio top of our inapa m the north, iind tho hottoiii as thtt Koiitit, aiitl to think, half unconHciouMly, that a perpendicular line upon the map represents a true north and sojith line, that, when we see tlie usual maps of North America drawn tipon the enstoinary projec- tion, in which, in order to represent the rounding surface of tho earth upon a plane surface with as little distortion as possihle, the westerly meridians are drawn sloping from near the center of the upper nnirgin of tho map toward the lower left-hand corner, we forget that these sloping lines are tlie true meridians, and learn to consider the western coast of America as bearing almost north and south. If Ilwui Shiin ha!8 <( , meanings •"" " a year," " a comet," and " a turquoise." Now, wo find, in Molina's Aztec Dictionary,"'* the following words : " jLimmictia, to choke or smother the plant of wheat, or anything similar. " Ximmatlaliztli, a sapphire, a precious stone. " XippacJioa, to cover anything with herbs, or to choke the plant of wheat, or anything similar." In these words the doubled consonants indicate, merely, that the preceding vowel is short, and it is necessary to reject one of the two in order to arrive at the true etymology. The root mic, which occurs in the first word, conveys the idea of death, and is connected with miqul, to die ; *** tia is a verbal termina- tion. Jlictia means " to kill," and xi-mictia, if we are right as to the meaning of the first syllable, would mean " to kill a plant." This is practically the definition given by Molina. The third word is compounded from xi and the verb pachoa,^''" meaning " to rule over, to govern, to set upon eggs like a hen." Here, again, the idea of overshadowing, or covering over, ex- pressed by pachoa, when combined with the idea of plants or herbs expressed by xi, produces the definitions given in the dic- tionary. In the second case, the syllable xi means a turquoise ; Uztli is a grammatical termination, and the matla of xi-matla-liztU is connected with the word matla-Un,^^"^ meaning "an obscure green colour." The whole word, therefore, means a turquoise of an obscure green colour. In these cases there seems no possibility of doubt as to the fact that xi is an abbreviation of xihuitl. Two other cases may be cited in which this word is abbreviated to tz and z, just as, in the diflferent forms of mexcalU, it is reduced to x, s, or z. OUi is the Aztec name for India rubber,"'* while metzolli means "" "the marrow or soft part of the maguey." Here me means the maguey, olli the soft elastic portion, and the tz can mean nothing else that plant. We also find meztallotl,^^^^ "the white heart of the maguey before it throws out its shoot," and metol- lotl,'^^^^ " the marrow or soft part of the maguey." It is diflicult to explain why the inserted z in the first word docs not aflFect the meaning, on any other theory than that it means plant. Another case in which the termination huitl is dropped in a compound is seen in the word qiianimaitl,^^^ " a branch of a tree," of which TOE COUNTRY INDICATED BY HWUI SIIAN. 379 the part maitl means a hand or arm — in this case, a branch — while the syllable qua can be nothing else than the abbreviated representative of the word qicahuitl, a tree. From these illustrations, drawn from the Mexican language, it appears to be established beyond any reasonable question that the term "Me-xi-co" (pronounced by the Aztecs Me-shi-co) means "the Place of the Agave-plant," or "the Region of the Century-plant. That this is an appropriate designation, and one which would very naturally be given by any people coming into the country from beyond its borders, will be admitted by all who have visited it. The plant is peculiar to the country ; it grows throughout nearly all portions of the land ; its peculiarities are such as to in- stantly attract attention ; and, as will be explained in the follow- ing chapter, it may be claimed to be of greater value to the inhabitants than any and all other plants growing in the country. There is, therefore, reason to believe that if Ilwui Shan visited the region which he claimed to have explored, he reached the country now known as Mexico, and then probably called by the same name ; this appellation, as we have seen, being derived from that of the most useful and remarkable plant which is found there. The connection between the term Mexico and the name of the god Mexitliy or Iluitzilopochtll, may be explained by suppos- ing him to have originally been a deification of the century- plant. " They manufactured so many things from this plant called maguey,"" and it is so very useful in that country, that the devil took occasion to induce them to believe that it was a god, and to worship and offer sacrifices to it." (" Spiegazione delle Tavole del codice Mexicano," in Kingsborough's "Mex. Antiq.," vol. v, pp. 179-180.) His name of Huitzilopochtli — which has been supposed to be derived from Huitzitzilin, or, as Molina spells the word, Vitzitzi- Un,™'^ « t]jQ humming-bird," and the root ojyoch, found in the word opochmaitl,''^^ " t\\Q left hand" {maitl meaning "hand")» and which he was said to have been given because he had a fringe of humming-birds' feathers adorning his left leg — seems rather to have been derived from Huitzla,^^^ " a thorny place or a thorny plant," and the root 2^och, with the termination tli, as 3 ■ HE J'^" " M It !fl ^M rf^H n 1 Hi' H 1 1 : ' 380 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. found in tel-pochtli"* " a yovLth" and ich-pochtli,*^^ " 3. maiden," and to have meant "the Ever-youthful One of the Thorny Plant." The termination pochtli occurs in the name of the god (?-joocA THE FC-SANO TREE AND THE UED PEAUS. 8S0 sion and c'ontrnn(U>(l that thcHc changoH are proved, or anything more tliun merely jmssiblo. It in elaimed, liowever, that unlesH Honie Huch eliangeH took place, the variations in the texts can not be exphiined ; and that it in now impracticable to decide with certainty as to tho character originally nsed. The fact that the loaves of the cent- ury-plant do not at all resemble those of the t'l'nu tree is thcro- fore no proof that the fu-sang tree was not the century-plant In llwui Shrill's next statement we tlnd a detail regarding which there is no dispute, which makes it absolutely inij)ossiblo that the original description of tho plant can have rei»rc8cnted that its leaves resembled those of the I'lNd tree. This is the fact that "the first sprouts are like those of the bamboo." Now, tho bamboo is an endogenous plant, and the first s|)rout8 of nearly all endogens have a similar general character, but differ widely from those of the exogens. No mulberry, no t'uno tree (if this is cor- rectly identified by any of the authors above named), ever exhib- ited a " first sprout " which even the most careless observer could consider as at all resembling that of the bamboo, while this com- parison might be made with justice as to tho sprout of almost any endogenous plant. Fig. 13, a copy of anotner illustration of the 'Rh-ya, gives a picture of these bam- boo-sprouts. It is not difficult to find specimens of the cent- ury-plant in almost any of our cities, and young sprouts may frequently be found push- ing up around them. If the reader will take the trouble to examine some of these, he will see that the illustration of bamboo-sprouts will answer nearly as well for those of the century -plant. The resemblance is very close and very striking. Ilwui Shftn would hardly have been likely to mention these shoots, however, if it were not a fact that their groat number about the elder plants is such as to attract attention. M. Jourdanct, FlG. 13. — Bamboo-aprouts. [[FT'' mi 390 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. in his notes upon £:ihagun, says that, '"' at an advanced period of the plant's development, eight or ten shoots grow up about it ; while Bartlett"' and Squier'"' agree in the statement that "an infinity of shoots " springs from the decaying roots of the old plants, and that no known plant multiplies with greater facility. Our Asiatic traveler noticed a second point of resemblance to bamboo-shoots, however, and that lay in the fact that they were edible. Professor Williams states that '"" the tender shoots of the bamboo are cultivated for food, and are, when four or five inches high, boiled, pickled, and comfited. Crawf urd says that"^' the young shoots of the bamboo are, with the natives of the In- dian Islands, a frequent, favourite, and agreeable esculent vege- table, and may be either boiled, or used with vinegar as a pickle. The " Chinese Repository " gives the following account : ™ "The young and tender shoots of the bamboo are used as a vegetable for the table in different ways ; if cut as soon as they appear above the ground, they are almost as tender and delicate as asparagus. They are white and palatable, and when in this state are used as pickles, as greens, as a sweetmeat, and as a medicine. The fondness for these young shoots is so general that they are made articles of commerce, and are sent to the capital and all parts of the empire. They are cured by exposing them, when fresh, to steam, and afterward drying them. They often fonn a part in the feasts of the rich, and constitute an im- portant article of diet for the priests. These young shoots are artificially cultivated during the most part of the year. All classes use the pickle, as a relish, with rice and other vegetable dishes." The statement of Clavigero,"™ that, from the trunk of the century-plant and the thickest part of the leaves, roasted in the earth, an agreeable food is obtained, has already been quoted. Bancroft mentions the maguey-plant, Agave Mexicana, among the articles on which the natives of New Mexico rely for food,'" and also names "roasted portions of the maguey stalks and leaves'""" among the articles of food used by the natives of Mexico. General Crook, in his report to the Government of his expedition against the Mescalero Apaches (who take even their name from the " mescal," before referred to — a species of agave), states as one of the reasons which make it almost impossible to capture them, that "*' " the agave grows luxuriantly in the mount- %%m THE FC-SANG TREE AND THE RED PEARS. 391 ains, and upon this plant alone the Indians can live." M. God- ron says that "'^ they not only eat the tender roots of the plant, but also the central shoot, keeping its soft and fleshy consistence. It is reasonable to believe that the young and tender shoots would be included among the parts of a " soft and flleshy consist- ence," and so would be eaten with the rest. Other authors do not mention them particularly, as they would form only a small portion of the food derived from the plants, but Ilwui Shan would be led to refer specially to them, because of their resem- blance to the edible shoots of the bamboo. The Chinese text says that the people of the country spun thread from the bark of the fu-sang tree, from which they made cloth, of which they made clothing, and that they also manufact- ured a finer fabric from it. In the case of most exogenous fiber-producing plants, it is from one of the layers of bark that the fiber is derived, and those who are accustomed to seeing flax, hemp, or the paper-mulberry, naturally learn to associate fiber with the "bark," and to speak of it as derived therefrom, even in the case of endogenous plants, which have no true bark, and in which the fiber is scat- tered through the stems and leaves. The Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg, for instance, makes the statements that "' the Cak- cbiquels made gannents from the hark of trees, and of magueys, and that '" nequen is a species of coarse hemp which the Mexi- cans draw from the hark of the aloe, or maguey. Dr. Brinton, also, after mentioning that three Central Ameri- can codices, described by him, were all*** written on paper manufactured from the leaves of the maguey-plant, refers to the statements of old writers, who said that the books of the Mexi- cans were made of the hark of trees. In Ma Twan-lin's text, the clause which I have translated, " They also manufacture a finer fabric from it " (the thi*ead), reads, " They make kin, |^, from it " (the thread). The term kin is defined as meaning " embroidered stuff, or embroidered and ornamented stuff in general."'"* Professor Williams (p. 399 of his dictionary) defines it as a kind of thin brocade, and in the article, copied in Chapter XIV of this work, says that the word is applied to embroidery and parti-coloured textures. It is not so much the damask-like figure that is the essential point, but among the Chinese the km always has a variety of colours. , 1 ijl M* m m m Is • h.n 392 AX INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Mr. Lelantl says, however,"'* that the *' Year Books of tlie Liang Dynasty " have, instead of kix, the character miex (evi- dently 1^), which signifies fine silk. This ''Register of tlio Liang Dynasty" is the original authority on the subject, and, in case of a variation in the texts, its reading is entitled to at least as much attention as that of Ma Twan-lin. Hepburn defines the character miex, " cotton, floss silk," '^" and says that the "Tree-MiEx," j^ |$> is a kind of cloth, mado of the bark of the mulberry, worn in ancient times."" Professor Williams defines the word, " soft, cottony, like fine floss or raw silk, drawn out, prolonged, extended, as a thread or fiber." It is therefore probable that in the time of Hwui Shan the term was applied to some species of soft textile fabric, made from the fiber of the paper-mulberry, of a finer quality than the usual coarse material manufactured from it, and if the word was so used in his days, he would naturally apply it to a similar ma- terial made from the agave fiber. As to the manufactures of the Mexicans, McCulloh says : "" " From the maguey they made two kinds of cloth, one of which was like hempen cloth, and a finer kind which resembled linen,''^ Clavigero states that'"*' "from the leaves of the pati* and of the qiietzalichtU (species of maguey), they drew a fine thread, with which they made cloth as good as that made of linen, and from the leaves of other species of maguey they derived a coarser thread similar to hemp." This account is repeated by the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg.'" Sahagun, also, when speaking of the merchant who deals in mantles made from the fiber of the maguey, says : ''^'* " Some of those which he sells are of light tissue, similar to those Avhich are used for head-dresses, such as the finely woven mantles of the single thread of the nequen, and those which are made from the twisted threads of this plant. He also sells others of coarse texture, very closely woven, and still others coarse and thick, made either from the pita, or from the thread of the maguey." The Chinese account says that paper, also, is made from the bark of the f u-sang ; and the following quotations regarding the paper manufactured from the fiber of the agave, maguey, or century-plant will be of interest in this connection. Bancroft says : "' " Paper, in Aztec amatl, used chiefly as a * Pcrhapg a typographical error. The pita u probably meant. — E. P. V. THE FU-SAXa TREE AND THE RED PEARS. 393 raatcrial on which to paint the hieroglyphic records, was made for the most part of maguey fiber, although the other fibers used in the manufacture of cloth were occasionally mixed with those of this plant. The material must have been pressed together when wet, ard the product was generally very thick, more like a soft pasteboard than our paper. The surface was smooth, and well adapted to the painting which it was to bear. Certain gums are said to have been used for the more perfect cohesion of the fiber, and the amatl was made in long, narrow sheets suitable for rolling or folding." The Cavalier Boturini,* a collector of Mexican relics, in- forms us "" (yet from sources which he has omitted to quote) : " Indian paper was made from the leaves of the maguey, which, in the language of the natives, was called metl, and in Spanish pita. The leaves were soaked, putrefied, and the fibers washed, smoothed, and extended for the manufacture of thin as well as thick paper." "* Squier makes the following statement : '"* " The fiber of the maguey is coarser than that of the Agave Sisilana, but it is, nevertheless, of great utility, and is extensively used. The an- cient Mexicans painted their hieroglyphical records and ritual calendars on paper made from the leaves of this plant, macerated in Avater, and the fibers deposited in layers, like those of the Eg} ptian cyperus (papyrus), and the mulberry of the South Sea Islands ; and in modern times the fibers are used for a corre- sponding purpose. Indeed, the paper made from the raaguey is so much esteemed for its toughness and durability, over that made in the United States and Europe, that, in 1830, a law was enacted by the Mexican Congress requiring that no other kind of paper should be used in recording the laws, or in the execu- tion of legal documents." He adds "" that Mr. Brantz Mayer, in his work, " Mexico as It Was and as It Is," p. 313, observes : "The best coarse wrap- ping or envelope paper I have ever seen is made in Mexico, from the leaves of the Agave Americana. It has almost the tough- ness and tenacity of iron." Ilwui ShSn's account says that the people of the country ate a fruit which was like a pear in appearance, but which was red. The *Cavaliere Lorenzo Boturini Benaducci, " Idea de Una Nueva Ilistoria Gene- ral y Catalogo del Musoo Historico," Madrid, 1746, p. 95. 394 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Iff ■ If- m> character siiiii used to designate the fruit, indicates that it did not have a nut or kernel,"*' as, if it had, the term kwo '^" would probably have been used instead. The connection is such that it is naturally inferred that the fruit referred to was that of the fu-sang. This seems the most probable meaning of tlio text ; and yet I hardly think it entirely certain that the meaninir may not have been that the people ate a fruit — instead of t/ie fruit (of the fu-sang). The fruit referred to can be nothing else than the well-known prickly-pear, otherwise called the woc orld as to which all of these statements are true, and there therefore seems no escape from the conviction that Ilwui Sh&n either visited Mexico himself, or else derived his information from some one who had been in that country. This chapter will be concluded with an account of the charac- ters used by the Chinese in writing descriptions of Fu-sang, or of the fu-sang tree, and with a reference to Chinese traditions regarding the existence of a *' tree " having the most striking peculiarities of the century-plant ; traditions which may be founded upon the verbal statements of Ilwui Shan, which would naturally be fuller and more complete than those embodied in the official record. The name fu-sang is usually written in Chinese with the two characters ^ ^, of which the first means "to assist, to sup- port, to defend " ; and the second indicates the mulberry. It is probable that the characters are used only as phonetics, but there is a possibility that their signification was borne in mind and that the name was intended to mean "the useful mulberry," or " the defensive mulberry " ; the term " mulberry " being applied to the plant on account of the similarity between the uses made of its fiber and those to which that of the paper-mulberry was applied. As to the appropriateness of the term "useful," as applied to the agave, there can be no question ; and if the first character is considered to mean "defensive," or "defending," rather than " useful," this would also be appropriate, as it was, and still is, a custom in Mexico to use the agaves as a defensive ■ '■ % 400 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. hedge;"* their strong and numerous spines rendering it impos- sible for animals, or men, to force their way through it. In some cases the character ^0, which is also pronounced vi- is used instead of the first of the two given on the last page.' " In one instance the character jj^, su, is used instead of ^, sang. This is in the phrase, [ll ^ ^ j^, shan yiu fu-su, which Pro- fessor Williams translates, "the hills produce mulberries." Tlie first two characters mean, "the hills produce" (or "the island produces "), and the term " mulberries " must therefore be his translation of the last two characters. He adds the statement that this ancient name vv-sv is probably the same as fu-sanm;. The last character, su, is composed of a " plant," and " to revive," and means, " to resuscitate, to revive as when wilted, or from apparent death, to breathe again, to rise from the dead." The compound fu-su might therefore be translated, " the useful res- urrection-plant," or " the useful plant that rises again when ap- parently dead." This definition might well be applied to the century-plant, for it reproduces itself spontaneously.""" It perishes after efflo- rescence,'*" but an infinity of shoots then spring from the decay- ing roots, and no plant multiplies with greater facility."' The character ffi^, sr, the phonetic of the word j^, su, men- tioned above, is, on account of its meaning, used for writing the last syllable of the name Jesus (Je-su).'"*^ The character ^, saxg, is sometimes decomposed into its two parts, and written ^^ ^, joii muii, " the joh tree," which Pro- fessor Williams describes '*" as a " divine, self-existing tree, which grows in Fu-sang," and it can be nothing else than another term for the fu-sang tree. We find in the Chinese dictionaries '"' the character /|(g, xm (composed of a ti'ee and a larffe xcine-jar), which is described as " a fabulous tree, said to be a thousand feet high ; it flowers once in a millennium, and perfects its fruit in nine more." This charac- ter, and the description, seem to have grown from some exag- geration of the peculiarities of the agave, which is a tree, or plant which fills a large wine-jar with its sap ; which towers above all °*^ surrounding plants, and which, although it does not require either a millennium to develop its blossoms (as the Chi- nese legend has it), or a century '"' (as our own popular tradi- tions have it — hence the common name of " century -plant "), THE FU-SANG TREE AND THE RED TEARS. 401 still does not blossom for quito a number of years — the exact time of flowering varying with localities and climate."" Hepburn '"' gives a word or j)hrasc, which in Japanese is pronounced Udonge, and in Chinese yiu-t'an-iiwa, the charac- ters meaning, " a great cloud of blossoms," which he defines as the name of a fabulous flower, said to bloom but once in a thou- sand years. Here again a tradition seems to have been pre- served of some description that Ilwui Shfln gave of the century- plant, for its flowering-stalk rises to the height of forty feet or upward, and throws out branches on every side, like those of a candelabrum, so as to form a kind of pyramid, each branch sup- porting a cluster of flowers, greenish-red "" (in some species) or yellow"' (in others). It is therefore evident that no plant better deserves the appellation of " a great cloud of blossoms." The Chinese call the prickly-pear '^'* |[1| ^ ^, sikn-jIx-ciiano, "the palm of the fairy people's hand.""'" The first character, which is translated " fairy," is composed of a man and a moimtain, or island, and hence may have originally meant the inhabitant of some mountain, island, or region beyond the sea. Many of the Chinese legends called fairy stories relate to such a region, and it is just possible that they knew that the prickly-pear was a na- tive of such a trans-oceanic land. In Eitel's Chinese Dictionary "" I very unexpectedly came upon the following definition : " j^, Fu, in the phrase, ^^p ^, Fu-SANO : a divine tree found in the East (Japan) ; a tree {Affave Chinensis) found in Corea." It is evident that the location of the fu-saxg tree in Japan, in the first part of the definition, is founded upon the opinion, enunciated by Klaproth, that the country of Fu-saxg must have been situated in Japan. But how does Eitel come to describe the term as being applicable to a species of agave ? The agaves are all natives of America, and it does not seem possible that, if they had ever been introduced into Corea, they could have sur- vived for any length of timi' in so cold a country. Professor Gray informs me that botanists do not know of any plant or tree called the Agave Chinensis, or Agave Sinensis, and that he has every reason to believe that no species of agave exist in that coun- try. Mr. Yu Kill Clum, a gentleman connected with the Corean embassy, who remained in this country after the other members had returned home, was shown a picture of the agave, when he 26 likiltl 'f 402 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. said that no such plant was to bo found in Coroa, and also took occasion to say that tho statcmentH of thoso who attempted to locate Fu-SANO in Corca or Japan woro false. I am, therefore, uncertain as to tho authority which Mr. Kitil had for saying that tho term fu-8AN(1 was applied to a species of agave growing in Corea ; but it is certainly strange that of all the plants in the world ho should have named tho one described by Ilwui Shan. !( CHAPTER XXII. Will THE LANQUAQE OP FU-SAXO. Peculiarities of the Chinciio language — Difflculty of indicating pronunciation of for- cign words — ExampIcH — Change in sound of Chinese characters — Tho pisang or banana tree — Names of countries terminated with kwoh — The character BANC! — Tho character rv — Tho most distant countries at tho four points of tho compass distinguished by names beginning with rv — Mexican dialects — Fl'-sano-kwoii and Hc-shi-co — The title of tho king— Montezuma's title — Ti- tie of the noblemen of the first rank — Tho Mexican Tocuhtli, or Teulo — Tho Petty Tni-LU — The NAB-TO-Bni, or Tlatoque — The title lower than that of Tccuhtli — Its mcanin;^ — Transcription of foreign words by characters indi- cating both the mr ling and tho sound — To-p'f-TA'ocs, or tomatoes — The grape-vine — The tree of stone — A Mexican pun — Danger of being misled by accidental or fancied resemblance. Ix the precediug chapters the fu-sang tree has been identified with tho agave, and the country of Fu-sang with Mexico, and tho question will naturally arise, why the term "Fu-sang" should have been used as tho transcription or translation of the word " Mexico." Before attempting to answer this question, it will be neces- sary to examine some of the peculiarities of the Chinese lan- guage, and of the transliterations which it adopts for other for- eign proper names. On this point the testimony is unanimous, that "' it is as im- possible for the Chinese to render the correct pronunciation of words of other languages by their hieroglyphs as it is to indi- cate the exact pronunciation of Chinese characters by European spelling. One will find, in the different manuals for learning the Chinese language, the most detailed directions for pronounc- ing Chinese characters. In Romanizing Chinese sounds, not only all European letters and ciphers are laid under contribution, but, besides this, the letters are marked with strokes, crotchets, ao- 404 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. cents, etc. This is a vain trouble. No Chinese will understand the words pronounced by Europeans according to these rules. According to Crawfurd,"^" the articulation or pronunciation of the Chinese is so imperfect, and so utterly unlike that of all the rest of mankind, that it is only by mere accident that tlicv ever pronounce a foreign word rightly. Professor AVilliams says, in reierence to this subject:'^" "If it is difficult for us to ex- press their [the Ch'nese] sounds by Roman letters, it is still stranger for the Chinese to write English words. For instance, ' baptize,' in the Canton dialect, becomes pa-p'i-tai-sz! ; * flannel ' becomes fat-lan-yin ; ' stairs ' becomes sz'-ta-sz / * impregnabU' ' becomes im-jn-luJc-na-pu-U, etc." So, also, in the transcription of Sanskrit words, " Aurva " becomes Yu-liu ; "° " Kakshivat," Kla- 1c a . ■"' "Udaye," Yau-to-i;''' and " Visvamitra," Pi-she-jw.'^' Max MUller remarks that '■ ' " the Chinese alphabet was never mtended to represent the sound of words. With such a system of writing it was possible to represent Chinese, but impossible to convey either the sound or the meaning of any other lan- guage. Every Sanskrit word, as transcribed by the Chinese Bud- dhists, is a riddle which no ingenuity is able to solve. Who could have guessed that Fo-to, or, more frequently, Fo, was meant for ••I?'icdha'? Ko-lo-keou-lo for 'Rahula,' the son of Buddha? ro-lo-ral for * Benares ' ? Tcha-U for ' Kshattriya ' ? Siu-to-lo for ' SAdra ' ' Fan, or Fan-lan-mo, for * Brahma ' ? " A? instances of the difficulty of identifying foreign words which the Chinese have attempted to reproduce in their charac- ters, the following are given, as specimens of a much longer list which was pr spared, but which it would be wearisome to insert at length : Forelgfn Word. Chinese Transcription. Foreign Word. Chinese Transcription. Russia Ngo-lo-sz.'5i' Tak-kat."« i Ila-la-ho-lin, usu- \ ally abbreviated to ( Ho-lin.'«' Pu-su-man.'*'' Tan-too-loo.'oo^ Sz-me-li.»='3* France Fah-lan-si."!' Tasnil Macassar Barkoul Bokhara Constantinople . . Kashgar Azora Bang-ka-sat."^* Pa-le-kwan."*"* P'u-hua.'" Ki-sze-da-ni,'" Ila-she-ko-urh.'osi A-ko-lap.'o"3 Kak-tsze '""^ Caracorum Mussulman (writ- ten by Plano- carpin " Bes- sermin ") Dcntro Casa Craddhavarma . . grideva Atch^rya Ch e-Ia-t'o-po-m . ' ''^ Chi-li-ti-p'o.'«^' Ngo-tcbe-li-ye."" Siberia THE LANGUAGE OF FU-SA^G. 405 transcription. The last three words are from the Sanskrit, and some imper- fections in the transliteration might be expected, from the fact that the Sanskrit books from which the names were taken were translated fourteen centuries ago, and that the powers of the Chinese characters used to repre;^ent the syllables of these words have changed in the mean time.'"* The other words in the table are, however, of comparatively recent adoption, and show how imperfectly, even when they are first chosen, the Chinese characters represent the sounds which they are intended to transcribe. When to this original imperfec- tion is added that produced by the fact that, since the days of Ilwui Shan, the sounds attached to the characters have b een in a state of slow but constant flux,'^*' it may be admitted that the present sounds, fu-sang, of the characters ^ ^ may be very far from representing the pronunciation of the foreign word which they were so long ago chosen to express. As a further illustration of the changes produced in the sound of tbe Chinese characters in the course of centuries, it may be noticed that Sanskrit syllables, pronounced in all of the follow- ing ways, i. e., 9ya, ye, 9a, yi, chya, yva, dja, djha, dha, dya, dhya, and tcha,'"" were, some fourteen or fifteen centuries ago, transcribed by Chinese characters all of which are now pronounced CUE (the ch like the English sh). The foregoing statements illustrate the extreme difficulty of attempting to decide with certainty as to the sounds which the characters now pronounced fu-sang were originally intended to represent. My own opinion is that, long before the Christian era, the Chinese had obtained some imperfect knowledge of the Philippine Islands, or some of the neighbouring islands, upon which the plan- tain, or banana (called in Malay '*'*' the pisatif/^^"), grew, and that there were then numerous popular stories and traditions regard- ing this " Land of the Pisang,^'' and of the wonderful pisang-tree to be found upon it, far away to the east or southeast, and that the characters ^ ^, fu-sang, the " useful mulberry," or {^ ^, FU-SANG, the "supernatural mulbery," or j^^ ^, fu-sang, the "distant mulberry-tree," were adopted as both describing the tree and transcribing its name. My reasons for this opinion will be given in a following chapter. For the present, I will merely say that if, when Hwui Shan reached China, from a distant $ 406 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. eastern country, which derived its name from a wonderful plant or tree growing in it, the fact was that the Chinese already had a number of vague traditions regarding a land situated in the east and taking its name from a remarkable tree, they would be very likely to consider the two countries as identical ; and if the characters which they had adopted for expressing the name of this land, already vaguely known, could, by any possibility, be considered as representing the sound of the name of the country mentioned by Hwui ShS,n, the likelihood that they would consider the two regions as one and the same, and therefore use foT the name of the newly discovered land the characters already applied to the other eastern country, would be much in- creased. Absurd as it may appear at first sight, I think it very prob- able thai the Chinese, having the characters Fu-sang, already well known as the name of an eastern country, took these charac- ters, with the addition of |g, kwoh,"^" meaning country, and used them to transcribe the name " Mexico " of the country that had been visited by Hwui Sh&n. It should first be mentioned that in Chinese the names of coun- tries are usually followed by this word kwoh, or, as it is some- times written, kwo, " kingdom." ""* Mei kwoh, ^ ^ (the Fertile or Beautiful Country), is used as the name of the United States of America,*"'* and is unquestionably an attempt to trans- literate the word "America," the character kwoh representing the final syllable "ca" of America. As the Chinese have no characters which have the sound either of " a " or " ri," both these syllables have been omitted. Great Britain'^' is called ^f; "ijp P, Ta-ying-kwoh (the Great YiNG Land, or the Great Excellent Country). Here the ;^, ta, " Great," is taken from the first word of the name Great Britain. YiNG-KWOH represents " England," the syllable ting being in- tended for the " Eng " of England, and the last syllable, " land," being translated by kwoh. The character ^, kwoh, country, being so near, both in sound and meaning, to the terminal syllable " co " (meaning at, in, place, or region) of " Mexico," it is of all the characters in the Chinese language the one which would most likely be chosen to transcribe that syllable. There is, therefore, no diflSculty, so far as the final syllable is THE LANGUAGE OF FU-SANG. 407 concerned, in believing that Fu-sang-kwoh may have been used by the Chinese as the transcription of Me-xi-co. Now, as to the middle syllable : this, as we have already seen, was pronounced by the Mexicans " shi." Can the character ^, now pronounced sang, have ever been used to represent this sound ? In some dialects of the Chinese, the character has prob- ably been pronounced substantially as it now is, for two thousand years or more ; but in other dialects the sound has, as probably, been quite different. This character is now usually pronounced so by the Japanese ; but Professor Williams (see Chapter XIV of this book) says that the Japanese pronunciation of Fu-sang- KWOH is Fu-SHi-KOKU. Here the middle syllable is pronounced exactly as the Mexicans enunciated the corresponding syllable of the name of their country. His authority for this pronun- ciation is not stated, but there are other evit^onces that the character was sometimes given nearly this sound. It may be noted that the use of a character having a terminal nasal is not always a proof that the transcribed syllable has such a nasal. M. Julien says "" that kiang-lang was written for the Sanskrit Mia, and t'oung-loung-mo for the Sanskrit drouma. In this last word, the letters ng must be dropped, leaving t'ou- Lou-MO, which was as near as the Chinese seemed able to come to drouma. So, too, we find "" Man-lah-kia written for Ma- lacca, and Meng-kia-saii for Macassar. It has already been stated * that, when referring to the fu- sang tree, the character ^ is sometimes decomposed into its two parts and '"* written ^^ ;fc, " the joh tree." The first part is the " phonetic " of the character ^, and is supposed to give to it its sound. It is seen, however, that, when written separately, the character is pronounced joh (j given the French pronuncia- tion, like zii), and not sang. Attention was also called, in the same connection, to the fact that a character pronounced su is sometimes substituted for sang. The Sanskrit word sramana, applied to a Buddhist priest, is not only written in Chinese with characters pronounced sha-man, but also H f% SANG-MAN,'"' and p f% shi-man."" Here the character ^, sang, is used as the equivalent of other characters pronounced sua and sin. * See page 400. 408 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. Mm m In view of the illustrations already given of the imperfection with which Chinese characters frequently represent the sounds which they are intended to transcribe, is it beyond the bounds of possibility that the character usually pronounced sang, but fluctuating in sound at different times or in different dialects toward so, su, siii, sha or zhoii, may have been considered by the Chinese as a sufficiently good representative of the xi (or SHi) of Mc-xi-co ? As to the first syllable, M. de Paravev claims that, as a coun- try in the extreme north was known as « u-yu (^ ^),^^" one in the extreme south as Fu-nan (^ ^)>*^" ai^d one in the extreme west as Fu-LiN (^ f|c),''^™ the Chinese adopted this fourth ru, in Fu-SANG, as being properly expressive of a country at the ex- treme east. In the Chinese San-fuh-tsi,"" a term applied to a icingdom in the island of Sumatra, and which is probably intended to rep- resent the same name for which we have adopted the word " Sumatra," the Chinese character run seems to be equivalent to our syllable " ma." M. Julien finds the character ^, fu, written for the Sanskrit bh4 in Subhilti, and for bo in B6dhisattva."'« He also finds other characters, now pronounced fu, written f or joa in Vachpa,'"' and for vC in Vetala,"" as well as for pic and pH. It is therefore evident that, of the characters now pronounced Fu-sArG-KWOH, the first may have been intended to represent any of the sounds fu, fu, pu, pu, bo, bhu, pa, or ve ; the second to represent sang, so, su, shi, sha, or znoii ; and the third to rep- resent Kwoii, Kwo, or CO. Now, let it be borne in mind that there have undoubtedly been some changes in the sound of Mexican words during the last fourteen centuries ; that different dialects varied in their pronunciation ; and that one language is mentioned by Busch- mann as closely connected with the Mexican, which substituted V for the Mexican m, and which would therefore pronounce " Me-shi-co " as " Ve-shi-co." With this allowance, is it impossible that the characters now pronounced Fu-sang-kwoh, and which at one time, or in some particular dialect, may have been pronounced Pa-sha-co or Ve- siii-co, may have been taken as the representatives of the Aztec word " Me-shi-co," or of a possible variant " Ve-shi-co " ? All this is not given as absolutely proving that the term Fu- TDE LANGUAGE OF FU-SANG. 409 ronounce PANG-KWOH was uscd for " Mexico," but merely as indicating that the connection is not as distant as it appears at first sight, and that any argument drawn from the apparent dissimilarity of the words can have but little weight. ]VIy own opinion is, as already stated, that when Ilwui Shiln related his adventures to the Chinese, and told that this distant eastern land derived its name of " Me-shi-co " from a remarkable "tree" growing there, they immediately inferred that the coun- try was the same of which they had before heard as Fu-sang- Kwoii ; believing that the possible sounds of these characters were near enough to those ' the name of the country visited by him to make it probable (when other circumstances were taken into consideration) that the country was the same. Having thus referred to the subject of language, let us now consider that portion of Hwui Shan's story in which he gives a number of the words of the language used in the country which he visited. IV. — The title of the king of the country is "the The noblemen of the first CHIEF OF the multitudes. RANK ARE CALLED " TUI-LU " ' ; those of the second rank, PET- TY TUI-LU " ; AND THOSE OP THE THIRD RANK, " NAH TO-SHA The first clause is translated by others, "The king is called 'noble Y-chi,' ' T-kki,' ' Yit-Jchi; ' I-chi; ' I-li,' * Y-1ci; or ' Yueh-ki' ^^ / and if it wore not for the translation by de Rosny of the Japanese form of the story, in which he says, "They give to their king the name of KiJci-zin, that is to say, ' the most honourable man,^ " I should have lelt more hesitation about ren- dering the title as "Chief of the Multitudes." It appears to me that the two characters should have been reversed, so as to read, " K'l-YiH," instead of " Yih-k'i," if this were the meaning ; but a number of educated Chinamen, whom I have consulted on the subject, all concur in the statements that the characters as they stand mean " the chief of the multitudes," and can have no other meaning, and that, while they are not quite sure whether the characters should be translated or transliterated, they are of the opinion that it was not the intention to use them merely as phonetics, and they therefore thmk that they should be trans- lated as above. Moreover, the meanings of the characters, taken separately, are so exactly those of the worus of which the title of the Mexican ruler was composed, that I can not doubt 410 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. 5-1 that the characters were intended by Hwui Shiin as its transla- tion. The first character, yiii, 2»» naeans, " one, bent, the first " (Williams's Dictionary, p. 1096), and the second, k'i, |i|$, "full, abundant, very, large, numerous, multitudes, a crowd of people" (Williams's Dictionary, p. 345). Medhurst "'" also gives the mean- ing " great." This character is composed of a city, or region, and to worship, and was probably first adopted as a representa- tion of the assembly of the people, when they gathered, once a year, to witness the public worship of the Supreme God by the emperor. Hence its first meaning would be, " the people, the multitude," from which the meanings " numerous," " abundant," " full," " large," and " great " would subsequently be evolved. In Hwui Shan's time the word may have been in the first stage, and have meant distinctively " the people." The title of the Mexican emperor is seldom mentioned by historians, and is in fact so rarely referred to, that some authori- ties even state that the Mexican language has no word for em- peror."® Nevertheless there are occasional references to Monte- zuma's title, which is given as " Chief of Men," *"' " Tlaca-tecuh- tli." '" This title is composed of " tlaca-tl," a man, or, in the plural, men or people, and " tecuhtli," the title which will be next considered, and which is equivalent to " lord " or " chief." The compound therefore means " Lord of Men " or " Chief of the People." Sebastian Ramerez de Fuenleal, Bishop of San Domingo, in a letter to the Spanish empress,""* dated Mexico, November 3, 1532, said : " Montezuma bore the title of Tecatecle Tetuan Intla- catl, and this is the title which they also give to your majesties ; its meaning being * Wise and Powerful Lord.' " The good bishop evidently knew but little of the Mexican language. The first word is a compound of " teca," meaning nation, tribe, or people,* and " tecle," which is one of the numerous variations '"* of the title given in the last paragraph as " Tecuhtli," meaning lord '"' or chief. No such word as tetuan is found in the Aztec diction- aries, but teuan is defined as " our," and this is probably the word meant, " Intlacatl " is a compound of " in," nearly equiv- alent to the English " the," and " tlacatl," " man or people." Here the meaning is substantially the same as that of the title given * The names of most of the Mexican tribes end in " teca," or its abbreviation, *' tec," as, for instance, the •' Az-tecas " or Aztecs, tlie " Tol-tccas " or Toltecs. THE LANGUAGE OF FU-SANG. 411 in the last paragraph, " chief " and " people " being found in both, the whole meaning literally, " the Nation's Lord of our People." Let us now examine the statement of Hwui Shin, that the noblemen of the first rank are called Tui-lu, ^Jt- The first character is not used in transcribing Sanskrit words, but it does not seem to have been subject to much, if any, fluctuation in sound. The second character is used to represent the Sanskrit syllables lo, rd, ru, lu, rH and /n, "^' and when written with a small square (or " mouth ") at the left — which does not affect its sound — for Iri, r of (liftlcult noccHHibility, whoro there aro a multitiulo of iirboiirs of tlio prapi'-viiu'H of this country." To this Btatiiiunt tho translator aropriate, f»»r our path brought us soon into a great treeless meadow, where we were fearfully burned by the sun, and the game grazed in such numbers, and were so fearless, that wo soon killed more than twenty. In reply to the question how this happened, we learned that the people honoured these animals as holy, and neither killed nor frightened them." A letter written by the Adelantado Soto, regarding the ex- ploration of " Florida," says that the Indians asserted that,""' at a distance of five days' journey, fowls would be found in abun- dance, as well as guatiacos shut up in parks, and tame deer which were kept in herds. This report was probably without founda- tion however. XI. TUK GROUND IS DESTITUTE OP IROX, BUT THEY HAVE COPPER ; GOLD AND SILVER ARE NOT VALUED ; IN THEIR MARKETS THERE ARE NO TAXES OR FIXED PRICES, It is not certain that Neumann does not express the real meaning of the narrator in his rendering, ** Gold and silver are not valued, and do not serve as the medium of exchange in their markets." Nearly every writer on the history of the Aztecs mentions the fact that the use of iron, though its ores are abundant in the country, was unknown to the natives,"" while copper could be obtained in abundance.*'' Gold, silver, copper, tin, and lead were the metals known to and used by the Nahuas. The latter, however, is merely mentioned, and nothing is known about V here it was obtained or for what purposes it was employed ; '"' w.'iile tin also was but little used, and has never been found in any great quantities. S.ihagun makes the following statement : " There is gold in this country, which is found in mines. There are also silver, copper, and lead. They are procured in different ])la('es, in the ravines, or in the rivers. Before the Spaniards came to New 432 AN IXGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. IS Spain, no one eared to search for either silver or lead. The na- tives sought only for gold in tlie rivers."*-'* Preseott says that the Mexicans were as well acquainted with the mineral as with the vegetable treasures of their kingdom. Sil'-er, lead, and tin they drew from the mines of Taxco ; cop- per from the mountains of Zacatollan.'"" Cui)i)er-mines are mentioned"' at Santa Rita del Cobre, in what is now New ]Vrexico, rot far from the Mexican boundary The copper wai formerly sent to the city of Mexico ; but it is stated that " there is no longer a market in the city of Mexico as other mines have been found much nearer." Copper was for- merly exported in considerable quantities from Sonora, and silver and golil are among the exports from that state."* As to their markets: we are informed that'*^' a very large square was set apart in all the principal cities of the kingdom for the exhibition and sale of the various articles of merchandise brought to market. Though these bazars were attended every ^^'^Yi yt-'t every fifth day was considered the principal or proper market-day,*'" and, to suit the convenience of the various mer- chants that constantly visited these marts, the adjacent cities held their j^rincipal market on such days as Avould not interfere with those of their neighbours. The number of persons col- lected together at such timos in the city of Mexico has been es- timated by the Spanish conquerors at forty or fi^ty thousand. They made their purchases and sales by barter, each giv- ing that of which he had an excess for such goods as he might need.-"* Still, regular purchase and sale were not uncom- mon, particularly in the business of retailing the various com- modities to consumers. Although no regular coined money was used, yet several more or less convenient substitutes fur- nished a medium of circulation. Chief among these were nibs or grains of the cacao, of a species somewhat different from that employed in making the favourite drink, chocolate.*"' XIT. — AVlIKN THEV MARRY, IT IS TIIK Cl'STOM FOR TIIK futUre sox-iN-i,AW TO r.o and kiject a iiousk (or cabin) outsidk of THE DOOR OF THE BWEI.I.nrG OF THE YOUNG AVOMAX whom he desires to marry. Mormxg axd evexing he sprinkles axd SWEEPS the ground for a year, and if the young woman is NOT PLEASEo with him, SHE thex sends him away ; BUT if they ARE MITUAI.LY PLEASED, THEN THEY COMPLETE THE MARRIAfiE. The na- ntcd with kingdom. SCO ; cop- Cobro, in joundary. ; but it is f 3Ioxioo, r was ft)r- and silver k'ery large kingdom ?rchandise Jed every or proper 'ions mcr- ?ent cities t interfere rsons col- been es- msand. each giv- he might nncom- lous com- d money tutes fur- n'cre nibs from that iiK future TTSIDE OF whom he vLES AXD VOMAX IS r IF THEY ARRIAGE. THE PECULIARITIES OF THE COUNTRY, 433 ■^m The sprinkling and sweeping of the ground is evidently an act of homage, the dust being laid and the stones and other ob- stacles removed as a preparation of the road upon which the bride walks. When the jjrince Cacumatzin, lord of Tezcuco, and a nephew of Montezuma, came to visit Cortez, as soon as he alichted from the litter in which ho was borne, some of his serv- ami ran before him to sweep the ground upon which he was about to tread.'^*' This homage rendered to their chiefs was also, if we may believe Ilwui Shan, shown to the prospective bride; and this, together with the entire freedom of choice left to the young woman, shows a state of civilization and a regard for woman very different from anything existing in China or other Asiatic countries, cither at the time or since. This custom does not appear to have existed among the Aztecs at the time of the Spanish conquest, it having been extirpated by causes to be here- after considered ; but, scattered among the neighbouring tribes, we find, even among those which are usually considered the most savage and degraded, certain usages of courtship which seem to have been founded upon the same motives and feelings, and to be the survivals of substantially the same custom, as that men- tioned by Ilwui Shan. Cremony states that "^ the Apache girls are wholly free in their choice of husbands. Parents never attempt to impose suitors upon their acceptance, and the natural coquetry of the sought-for bride is allowed full scope until the suitor believes his " game made," when he proceeds to test his actual stand- ing. In the night-time he stakes his horse in front of her roost, house, hovel, encampment, bivouac, or whatever a few slender branches with their cut ends in the ground and their tops bound together may be termed. The lover then retires, and awaits the issue. Should the girl favour the suitor, his horse is taken by her, fed, and secured in front of his lodge ; but should she decline the proffered honour, she will pay no attention to the suffering steed. Four days comprise the term allowed her for an answer in the manner related. A ready acceptance is apt to be criticised with some severity, while a tardy one is regarded as the extreme of coquetry. Scarcely any one of them will lead the horse to water before the second day, as a hasty perform- ance of that act would indicate an unusual desire to be married ; nor will any suffer the fourth day to arrive without furnishing 1%. 1 i m IISBMJJ ' imi Mh ' >i \Mi ^'"^ I ml 434 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMHUS. the poor animal with its requisite food and drink, provided they intend to accept the suitor, for such a course would render them liable to the charge of extreme vanity. As the horse has been introduced among the Apaches since the time of the Spanish conquest, and as it is not likely that tlu; custom above referred to can have spontaneously originated since that time, we are forced to the inference that it must be a changed form of some custom which formerly existed anion"- them, and this may have been substantially the practice men- tioned by our Asiatic explorer. It is to be noticed, however, that the present custom of the Apaches, instead of showing a willing- ness upon the part of the young man to wait upon and care for his intended wife, requires service from her. Among the Coco- Maricopas, however, there is an evident desire to jjlease the young woman. Among these Indians, when a man desires to marry,"' and has made choice of a girl for his wife, he first en- deavours to win over her parents by making them presents. The fair one's attention is sought by another process. To do this, he takes his flute, an instrument of cane with four holes, and, seat- ing himself beneath a bush near her dwelling, keeps up a plaint- ive noise for hours together. This music is continued day after day ; and, if no notice is at length taken of him by the girl, he may "hang up his flute," as it is tantamount to a rejection, li the proposal is agreeable, the fair one makes it known to the suitor, when the conquest is considered complete. It can hardly be disputed that there is a singular coincidence between this custom and that which is mentioned by Hwui Shan. In Yjicatan it was the custom for newly married pairs to live, during the first few years after their marriage,"*" in cabins built in front of the house of their father or father-in-law. Although I can give no good reason for it, beyond a belief that a year is a greater length of time than such a courtship would be likely to have been continued, I can not refrain from expressing my opinion that Hwui Shan meant to indicate some other length of time, by the word translated " year," than the period of twelve months, although this is certainly the only meaning that the character now has. The " week " of five days, referred to in the account of the " markets," would be a much more probable length of time for the young woman to put the patience of her suitor to the tes,+. THE PECULIARITIES OF THE COUNTRY. 435 » XIII. — "When a nobleman has committed a crime, the PEOPLE OP THE COUNTRY HOLD A GREAT ASSEMBLAGE, AND SIT in judgment on the culprit, in an excavated tumulus. They FEAST AND DRINK BEFORE IIJM AND BID HIM FAREWELL wlicn parting from him, as if taking leave of a dying man. Then THEY surround HIM "WITH ASHES THERE. The character whicli I have translated "an excavated tumu- lus " has been rendered " a ditch," " an excavation," " a subterra- neous place," and "a hollow or pit." The usual character for a ditch, excavation, or hollow, is Jj^, k'ang (composed of earth and the phonetic k'ang) ; but the one used in this case is pjj (composed of a mound and the same pho- netic), and means not only a ditch, excavation, or valley, but also a tumulus.^^^'' Hence I have translated it as above stated. Of all the characters in the Chinese language, there is none which gives a better representation of the singular structure referred to in the following quotations : " The sweat-house,"' or, as the Spaniards call it, the esUtfa, assumes with the Pueblos the grandest proportions. Every vil- lage has from one to six of these singular structures. A large semi-subterranean room is at once bath-hotise, town-house, coun- cil-chamber, club-room, and church. It consists of a large exca- vation, the roof being about on a level with the ground, some- times a little above it, and is supported by heavy timbers or pillars of masonry. Around the sides are benches, and, in the center of the floor, a square stone box for fire, wherein aromatic plar ts are kept constantly burning. Entrance is made by means of a ladder, through a hole in the top, placed directly over the fire-place, so that it also serves as a ventilator, and affords a free passage to the smoke. Usually they are circular in form, and of both large and small dimensions. They are placed either witi/n the great building, or under ground in the court without. In some of the ruins they are found built in the center of what was once a pyramidal pile, and four stories in height. At Jemes the estufa is of one story, twenty-five feet wide by thirty feet high. The ruins of Chettro Kettle contain six estufas, each two or three stories in height. At Bonito are estufas one hundred and seventy-five feet in circumference, built in alternate layers of thick and thin stone slabs. In these subterranean temples the old men met in secret council, or assembled in worship of 486 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBLo. their focls. Here are held dances and feytivili* j, isoclal inlrtr- cours), and mourning ceremonies." " Each pueblo ^" contains an estufa, which is used both as a council-chamber and a place of worship, where they practice such of their heathen rites as still exist among them. It is built partly under ground, and is considered a consecrated and holy place. Here they hold all their deliberations upon public affairs, and transact the necessary business of the village." (Davis's "El Gringo," p. 142.) " In the west end of the town (S. Domingo) is an eatuffa, or public building, in which the people hold their religious and political meetings. The structure — which is built of adobes, ia circular in plan, about nine feet in elevation, and thirty-five feet in diameter, and with no doors or windows laterally — has a small trap-door in the terrace or flat roof by which admission is gained." (Simpson's "Jour. Mil. Recon.," p. 62.) Morgan mentions these estufas at Taos,'"* Pintado,"" Peii- asca Blanca,"" and other pueblos ; "^* and they are also referred to by Bancroft,'''' Bell, '"' and Wheeler,*^' and in fait by all who have written about the natives of New Mexico, Arizona, and Northern Mexico. The " gi'eat assembly," or council, is diiitinctively American, and among nearly all the American tribes it m as the custom to settle all important public matters at such ini'etings. Morgan says (referring particularly to the Iroquois, thougb the statement is equally true of most other American tribes) that it "'" is a singu- lar fact, 'esulting ivcv .' ;■ structure of Indian institutions, that nearly every transact.' >n .'hether social or political, originated or terminated in a council. This universal and favourite mode of doing business became interwoven with all the affairs of public and private life. Immediately on the commission of a murder"^* the affair was taken up by the tribes to which the parties belonged. If the criminal belonged to one of the first four tribes, and the deceased to one of the second four, these tribes assembled in separate councils, to inquire into all the facts of the case. Had it chanced tliat both parties belonged to one of the four brother tribes, a council of this division alone would convene to attempt an adjustment among themselves. Bandelier says of these coun- cils among the Mexicans, that '" the council of the kin exercised power over life and death. THE PECULIARITIES OF THF COUNTRY. 437 As to the punisljinciit of noblos, the following quotation from Sahagun"'* is pertinent : "Drunkenness was punished in two ways. If a great lord, or a man of distinction, was guilty of this crime, he was hung for its first commission, and his body Avas finally dragged along the public highway and thrown into a certain river. If the drunkard was of a lower class, he was sold into slavery for his first fault ; but, if it occurred ? second time, he was hung. In regard to this difference in the punish- ment, the king said that he who was the most elevated in rank merited the most rigorous treatment." "" Solis also states that '^" capital punishment was the penalty for any failure of integrity in the ofticers of the law. In Darien "'' a constable could not arrest or kill a noble ; consequently, if one committed a crime punishable with death, the chief must kill him with his own hand, and notice was given to all the people by beating the large war-drum, so that they should assemble and witness the execution. The chief, then, in presence of the multitude, recited the offense, and the culprit acknowledged the justice of the sentence. This duty fulfilled, the chief struck the culprit two or three blows on the head with a macana until he fell, and, if he was not killed, any one of the spectators gave him the finishing-stroke. Cortez gives the following account of the infliction of capital punishment by an assemblage of the people : '"^^ " When one o*^ the natives of Tlascala stole some gold of a Spaniard, . . , thiCy placed him at the base of a structure resembling a theatre, whk-h stands in the midst of the market-place, while the crier wont ' the top of the building and with a loud voice proclaimed hi.-i offense ; whereupon the people beat him with sticks until he was dead" ; and the Abb6 Brasseur de Bonr])ourg says thai,'"" if a chief of the Teo-Chichiraecs was guilty uf adultery, he was, put to death by his vassals. I am not aware that the custom of inflicting the death pen- alty by smothering the culprit in ashes ever existed elsewhere, yet this singular punishment survived in Mexico up to the time of the Spanish conquest. Bancroft states that"' in Tczcuco criminals of a certain class were "bound to a stake, completely covered with ashes, and so left to die." Clavigero mentions that'"" the laws published by the celebrated king Nezahual- coyotl provided that a man guilty of a certain heinous crime 438 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. fli should be " s iffocated in a heap of ashes" ; and Sahagun boars his tostimoi y to the sanae practice in the following words : ""' " A person guilty of a certain grave crime was (by the laws of Nezahualcoi/otl, one of the worthiest kings of Mexico), after other punishment, finally abandoned to the boys of the village, who covered him with ashes, and with a pile of wood, to which they set fire. His accomplice was also buried under a pile of ashes, and there died of suffocation." To my mind the singular facts mentioned in thir, paragraph ; the custom of calling councils ; the practice of holding them in an excavation or an excavated tumulus ; the power of life and death lodged in such a council ; the custom of meting out a heavier penalty to a criminal of the higher classes than was visited upon one of lower rank ; and the remarkable method of inflicting capital punishment by suffocation in ashes — are suf- ficient to prove that ITwui ShS,n actually visited America, if no further evidence were to be found in any of bis other statements. )ii CHAPTER XXIV, THE NAKRA.TOR OF THE STOBY. The condition of China at tho time — Tlie reign of a Buddhist emperor — The bhik- shus, or mcnili'^ant riiests — Their duties — Rules for their conduct — The name llwui Shan — Frequency with which the name Hwui occurs — Meaning of the characters — The nationality of Hwui Shin — CophSne — Struggle between Brahmanism and Buddhism — The route from India to China — The command that at least three should go together when traveling — Persecution in China in the year 458 — The journey to America by water — Ease of the trip — Proba- bility that Hwui ShSn was but slightly acquainted with the Chinese language — Yu Kie's criticism of Hwui Shin's statements — Causes of errors — Use of the term " water-silver " — Accounts given by first explorers seldom free from error — Absurdities narrated by other Chinese travelers — Pliny — He- rodotus — Marco Polo — Maundevilc — Caesar — The unicorn — Elks without joints in their legs — The Icelandic account of Vinland — DiflBculties in the account — The Unipeds — The Zeno brothers — Ignorance of geograpliy in the fifteenth century — Marvelous tales of early explorers — Allowances to be made — Hwui Shin entitled to equal charity. Before entering upon an examination of other statements re- garding the land of Fu-sang, it Avill be best to consider the circumstances under which the account was first given, and learn what we can of the original narrator. The Chinese text has the following upon the subject : XIV. — In the first year of the reign of the ts'i dynasty known by the designation yung-yuen (or " Everlasting Founda tion," i. e., in the year, 499 a. d.), a shaman (or Buddhist priest) named hwui shan, came to king-cheu from that country and told the following story regarding th' country of fu sang (or ru-8AN6-KWon). ... In the second tear of the reign of the sung dynasty, in the period called ta-mixg (or "Great Brightness," i. e., in the year 458 a. d.), five men, who were pi-k'iu (i. e., bhikshus, or mendicant Buddhist monks), who WERE FORMERLY fl'Om the COUNTRY OF KI-PIN (i. C., Co- ph^ne), WENT by a voyage to that country. 440 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. The Marquis d'llervey has, in the notes contained in the thir- teenth chapter of this work, given a full and vivid description of the unhappy condition in which Ilwui Shan found China, when he reached it from Fu-sang. He was obliged to remain in the country some two or three years, until, as the result of the civil war then raging, the old dynasty of the Ts'i was overthrown, and the Liaxo dynasty was established in its place, its first em- peror being known as Wu-ti. This monarch became so groat a devotee of Uuddhism'" that he retired to a monastery, like Charles V, but, having been persuaded to resume his crown, he thenceforth employed his time in teaching the doctrines of this religion to his assembled courtiers.'"' Prior to his time, IJuddhism had been discarded by the Chi- nese, but in his reign it again revived.'"^' Ma Twan-lin mentions a Hindoo who, about a. d. 502, translated into Chinese some Ijuddhist Shastras of the Great Development school.'"' In 506 a Buddhist priest, named Sanga Pala, introduced into China tlie first alphabet for writing Sanskrit words,"** and the reign of tlis emperor was particularly distinguished by the arrival in China, from India, of Ta-mo (Bodhi-dharma), the twenty-eighth of the patriarchs of the Buddhist religion, and by the extraor- dinary prosperity of this faith under the imperial favour.'*'* We are not informed as to the circumstances under which he became converted to Buddhism ; but it seems not impossible that the story of Ilwui Shan's adventures in its behalf may have had a share in attracting his attention to the subject. The Chinese term pi-k'iu is a transcription of the Sanskrit word hhikshu, " mendicant," "^^ which was applied to those monks who professed to obtain their sustenance by alms,'*** begging above to sustain their intellectual life, and below to support their visi- ble body. Those who have devoted themselves to this kind of life have to practice twelve kinds of observances, named t'eu-t'o, from a Sanskrit word ■\\h;ch signifies to shake one's self, because these disturbances help to clean away the dust and the foulness of vice.'^'* The mendicant should shun all causes of disturbance ; eschew vain ornaments ; destroy in the heart the germs of cu- pidity ; avoid pride ; and, in purifying his life, search for supreme reason, rectitude, and truth. The twelve observances which are recommended to them with this view have reference to the four THE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 441 actions or manners of being, named wei-yi ("gravity," or " that which should be done gravely"), namely, to walk, to Htand, to sit, and to lie down. The following is extracted from a book specially treating upon the twelve observances, and entitled 8111- kll-t'eu-t'o Kinu : 1. The mendicant should dwell in a place which is a-lan-jo {dranyaka), that is to say, a tranquil j)hvce, a place of repose. This is the means of avoiding disturbance of spirit, of escaping the dust of desire, of destroying forever all the causes of revolt, and of obtaining supreme reason, etc. 2. It is requisite that he always beg his subsistence (in Pali, ^nndapdtika), in order to extinguish cupidity. The mendicant should accept no man's invitation. lie should beg the nourish- ment necessary for the support of his material body and the ac- complishment of his moral duties. He ought to recognize no diflference in the food obtained, whether it be good or bad ; nor to feel resentment if it bo refused him : but always to cultivate the equanimity of a perfect spirit. 3. In begging he should take his rank (in Pali, vdthdpantari) without being attracted by savoury meats ; without disdain for any one, and without selection between rich and poor : with pa- tience should he take his rank. 4. The mendicant who occupies himself with good works should thus reflect : " It is much to obtain one meal ; it is too much to make an early repast (breakfast), and a second (after midday). If I do not retrench one of these, I shall lose the merit of half a day, and my spirit will not be entirely devoted to reason." He therefore avoids multiplicity of meals, and adopts the custom of making one [eJca 2^dnika). 5. The food which the mendicant obtains shall be divided into three portions : one portion shall be given to any person whom he shall see suffering from hunger ; the second he shall convey to a desert and quiet spot, and there place it beneath a stone for the birds and the beasts. If the mendicant fall in with no person in want, he must not on that account himself eat all the food he has received, but two thirds only. By this means his body will be lighter and better disposed, his digestion quicker and less labourious. lie can then without inconvenience apply himself to good works. When one eats with avidity, the bowels and the stomach enlarge, and the respiration is impeded ; noth- V Mm 442 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. \nrr is more Injurious to tho procjross of reason. This fiftli ob- serv.anee is called, in Sanskrit, kfi o 7 ^ z!^ SS / Hiotographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STIEET WEBSTER, N.Y. MSEO (/i6)«72-4->03 444 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. In the account of the travels of the Buddhist monk Fa Hian, we find among the names of the priests who accompanied him, or whom he met, those of Hoei King, Hoei Ying, Hoei Wei,'"' Hoei Kian,"" and Hoei Tha.'^* We find the same surname also in the case of Hwui-sheng, a priest who, in the year 518, accom- panied Sung-ytln, who was sent to India for Buddhist books by the prince of the Wei country."" The name Shan (or, as it is spelled by other authorities — and even by Professor Williams himself, elsewhere than in his dic- tionary — Shin) means "deep, profound, learned." The Chinese call the Pacific Ocean the " Shin " sea, i. e., the " Deep " sea."^ According to Hepburn,"" the Japanese use the character with the meaning " to grow old, to grow late " ; and it therefore probably once had that signification in Chinese. An interesting question now arises as to the nationality of Hwui Shan. The text says that he was from " that country," meaning the country of Fu-sang, for the Chinese character d^, k'i, here translated " that," is equivalent in this connection to the Latin "ille."""" From the nature of the substantive verb /^, tiu, which expresses his connection with Fu-sang, it may possibly be in- ferred, however, that he was not a native of the country, but merely a traveler who had visited it and returned from it. Summers says of the Chinese substantive verbs that there are several""' which vary according to th: uature of the case in which they are used and the connection of the subject with the predicate in a sentence. The logical copula "is" is ex- pressed by the verb shi. It denotes either that the predicate is, or that it is generally supposed to be, an attribute of the subjec' 1) ■' nature. . . . The verb wei, " to do, to exist, to be- come," is also used as a substantive verb, but only when the notion of becoming something by mere conventional arrange- ment is implied, not, as is the case with shi, when the relation between the subject and predicate is a natural consequence. In " fire is hot" use shi; in "the Yellow River is the boundary" use wei. Also, especially before designations in the predicate, "he is (wei) a slave." . . . When the substantive verb im- plies location, the verb tsai, " to exist, or consist in," is used ; and when the possession of some attribute, the verb yiu, " to have " : e. g., in " he is here " use tsa'i, in " this is polite " use THE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 445 yiu. . . . The verb yiu means to have some quality as an ac- quired possession or as an accident, " to happen to be." He says, again,**" the substantive verbs are variously used, accord- ing to the logical relation of the subject and predicate in the sentence. Thus ahi, " to be," means " is " where the simple copula alone is required, the predicate being natural to the subject. 17?^ " to have," means *' is " when the notion of the property having been acquired is intended, as in " he is rich." His explanation of the different shades of meaning inherent in these verbs, is repeated"'" in several places.'*" According to these reiterated statements as to the power of the various substantive verbs, it would appear that llwui Shan's connection with the country of Fu-sang, which is expressed by the verb Tiu, was an acquired, or accidental connection, and not one to which he was bom. I must confess, however, that my confi- dence in this conclusion is somewhat shaken by the fact that this s?me verb yiu is used to indicate the connection of the five Buddhist priests with Coph6ne ; and there can hardly be a doubt that in their case it is meant that they were natives of that land. The different authorities do not agree as to the exact location of Coph^ne, although there is no doubt as to its having lain northerly from India. One of the notes tc the Pilgrimage of Fa Hian says that '•"* Coph6ne is the country watered by the Cophes. Rennell supposed the affluent of the Indus, so named by the ancients, to be identical with the CowmuU ; Saint Croix believes it rather to be the Merhamhir. The syllable " Cow " is probably a remnant of the ancient appellation. Ki-pin, which Chinese authors confound with Cashmere, and which de Guignes baa taken for Samarcand, supposing the latter to be identical with Kaptchak, corresponds with the country of Ghizneh and Candahar. It is celebrated in Chinese geography, and appears to have been a flourishing seat of Buddhism. A second note by another commentator says, however,'*** that the Cophfene of the ancients is not, as Rennell and the French editors suppose, the Gomal (not CowmuU), an inconsiderable mountain-stream, dry all the year except at the season of the periodical rains. The Cabul River is the only one that corre- sponds with the accounts given of the Cophfene by the historians of Alexander, particularly Arrian, who describes it as falling into the Indus, in the country of Peukelaotis, and carrying along 1 446 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. with it the tributary waters of the Malantus, Suastus, and Gara- CU8. ("Indica" iv, 11.) M. Pauthier says that the country of Cophdne is Cabul,'"** and that the Chinese have given it succes- sively"" the names of Kia-ahe-nii-lo (Cashmere), Tsao, Ko- shi-mie, and Sa-ma-eul-kan (Samareand). Edkins says in one place that it is the same as the modern Cabul,'"* and in another that it is stated to be Candahar ; "** and F. Porter Smith says that *'** it is a part of Afghanistan, whose capital is said to be 12,200 /* from the Chinese city of Si-ngan-fUy and that in some Chinese works Kl-pin is said to be Samareand. The priests of Coph6ne were noted for their zeal, and priests from that country were the most diligent of any in translating their scriptures in China.'" In the fifth century a struggle in India between Brahmanism and Buddhism ended in the overthrow of the latter in the land of its birth,"" and its devotees sought in distant lands a refuge from the intolerance of their persecutors. The extensive inter- course that then began to exist between China and India may be gathered from the fact "" that even Ceylon sent an embassy and a letter to the Chinese emperor Sung Wen-ti. The journey is one of almost incredible difficulty and peril ; the route pass- ing through deserts and across a number of the highest mountain ranges of the world, through passes far above the limits of perpetual snow and along frightful precipices. Notwithstand- ing these perils, however, and the fact that hostile and savage tribes infest many portions of the country through which the road passes, still, more or less communication has been kept up between the two countries since that time. The Arabic ac- count of voyages made to China in the ninth century states that "" some of those who made the journey mentioned having seen in China a man, who bore a leathern packet of musk upon his back, who had come from Samarkand, having traveled the distance on foot. The fact that there were five priests in the party which went to Fu-sang was in accordance with a rule of their religion which required that in going to a distance at least three should be in company,"" and it was, therefore, the common practice for Bud- dhist priests, in the performance of their pilgrimages from town to town, and from teiiiple to temple, from India to China, and from China to India, to associate themselves in companies."" ; 1 1. THE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 447 Although it may bo a mere coincidence, it seems worthy of notice that, in the year 458, the year in which this party went to Fu-sang, a conspiracy was detected in China in which a chief party was a Buddhist priest. An edict issued on the occasion by the emperor says that among the priests, " Many are men who have fled from justice and taken the monastic vows for safety. They take advantage of their assumed character to contrive new modes of doing mischief. The fresh troubles thus constantly occurring excite the indignation of gods and men." " The con- stituted authorities," it is added, *' must examine narrowly into the conduct of the monks. Those who are guilty must be i)ut to death." "" It seems not unlikely that the examination then com- menced amounted to a severe religious persecution, and this may have caused some party of priests from Coph^ne, who had already settled in China, or who, more probably, reached China from Co- ph5ne at this time, to travel on beyond this land of persecution, and so finally to reach America. The Chinese character ^, tiu, translated " by a voyage," contains the radical " water," and therefore means properly " to travel by water — ^to float, swim, or drift," although it has come to have the secondary meaning of traveling, roving about. It seems most likely, however, that fourteen centuries ago it would have been used in its original meaning, and this character, to- gether with the statement that Japan, the country of " Marked Bodies," and the Great Han Couiitry were on the route to Fu- sang, in'licates that the party went by boat, along the coast, by way of the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, and thence down the American coast. The voyage in an open row-boat or canoe is not only prac- ticable, but its difiiculties and perils are hardly to be compared with those of the overland journey from India to China. The ease of the trip from Asia, along the Kurile and Aleutian Islands, to Alaska, and the fact that the natives constantly pass back and forth between the two continents in the slightest of boats, scarcely ever being out of sight of land while making the trip, have been mentioned in the first chapter of this work. The remainder of the voyage, along the American coast, is even easier. The excur- sion from Oregon to Alaska can scarcely be termed an ocean trip. Out of a total distance of more than a thousand miles, there are hardly one hundred and twenty miles of open sea voyage. 448 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. m Tho remainder of the journey, on account of the remarkable formation of the coast, is through a continuous archipelago, serving as a breastwork against the storms and billows, and af- fording quiet passageways through deep, narrow channels and reaches, skirted on either side with well-wooded banks, high, rocky shores, and towering islands.'*** The text does not say explicitly that Hwui Sh'An was one of the five monks who made this voyage together, but this was most probably the case. If so, he must have been a young man when he started (and hence can have spent but little time, if any, in China), and quite an elderly man when he reached China, on his way back home, forty-one years later. When he gave his account to the representative of the Chinese emperor, he had probably been in China not more than some two or three years. It seems a reasonable supposition that, in this length of time, he could not have learned to speak and write Chinese perfectly, and hence his story was probably told, as best he could tell it ; in disjointed and ungrammatical phrases ; by the use of such Chinese written characters as he had become acquainted with ; by signs and rude drawings, to eke out his meaning when he was ignorant of the proper word to use. Yu Kie, the officer who took down his story, probably held long colloquies with him ; many questions may have been asked on one side and explanations attempted on the other, which were not fully understood. It is evident, from the story narrated by Yu Kie, and given in the thirteenth chap- ter of this work, that Hwui Sh8,n told him much which he either realized that he did not comprehend or else which he did not fully credit. The story of the land of Fu-sang, as we have it in Ma Twan-lin's text, is therefore the result of Yu Kie's criticism of Hwui Sh&n's statements. In many places it may contain the account of the latter just as he gave it, in imperfect Chinese, and by the use of characters which did not exactly express his real meaning, if construed strictly in accordance with the grammatical rules of the Chinese language. In other cases Yu Kie probably wrote down the substance of the understanding that he had reached on the particular point in question, after hold- ing a long colloquy on the subject with Hwui Shan. If this theory is true, Yu Kie arrived at quite a complete comprehension of Hwui Shin's statements, and showed much discretion and ittif THE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 449 judgment in the digest of his story, which he entered in the coun- try's annals ; and yet there is just such an amount of confusion and disconnection in the account as would be the natural result of a conversation between two men of different nationalities, who were able to understand each other but imperfectly ; while it is noticeable that the various points, as to Avhich the story is not strictly true of America, are points in which the truth is, as it were, travestied. The account was written down nearly a hundred years before printing was invented in China,'*" and the liability of errors in copying manuscript is very great. The numerous variations in the several texts show that the original account has been more or less corrupted. When allowance is made for these corrup- tions and for misunderstandings of the text, it is not surprising that, as to some of the details, the glimpse which we get of the far off land of Fu-sang is si.oh as would be obtained of a distant landscape through a window of old and imperfect glass — glass streaked and faulty when first placed in position, and now dimmed and cracked by unnumbered storms, and obscured by the dust of centuries. There is imperfection and distortion in the view, and yet it is evident that we are looking at a real landscape, the handi- work of nature, and not at a mere human invention. To the causes above mentioned should be attributed the use of the term " water-silver " for ice ; the connection of the ac- counts of the fu-sang tree and of the red pears, in such a way that the latter may be supposed to be the fruit of the former, and the statement that koumiss was made from *' milk," without any explanation of the peculifvr nature of the milk. Yu Kie seems to have understood that the milk was that of the does to which Hwui Shan had referred in his statement that the people of Fu-sang raised deer as cattle were raised in China ; and yet there seems to have been some attempt on the part of Ilwui Shftn to set him right, for he reverts to the vegetation, and immediately makes a statement — otherwise disconnected— regarding the red pears. There are other instances of misunderstandings ; of statements which seem to be connected with others near which they stand, and which are untrue in that connection, and yet true if they are allowed to stand by themselves ; but upon the whole Yu Kie showed such good judgment in what he accepted and rejected, 29 450 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. .'.i tiV that the official account as given us by Ma Twan-lin ia as good a description of a newly discovered land as any that we have ; for it must be borne in mind that the tales which are toUl by first pxi)lorcrs are seldom free from mistakes, even though the discoverer of the formerly unknown region be a man of intelli- gence, M'ho strives to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Possibly some errors may have arisen from misunderstandings by llwui Shftn himself. It is not to be expected that he alone among explorers would fail to narrate some tales on hearsav to give in some cases his erroneous inferences instead of the facts upon which his inferences were founded, or to exaggerate or misunderstand some strange phenorae'^on that he had seen. Fa Ilian is not denounced as a " lying Buddhist priest " be- cause modern travelers fail to find the " venomous dragons," mentioned by him, " which dart their poison if they happen to miss their prey." '*" Other Chinese mediteval travelers refer to two-headed snakes,"* describe the ostrich as feeding upon fire,"' mention "dragon-horses with scales and horns," ^^ and eagles which lay eggs from which dogs are hatched out ; "" and yet there is no question that they actually visited the countries which tlioy attempt to describe. Some of these travelers heard of the cot- ton-plant : this bears " wool," and hence may be considered as a vegetable-sheep."" From this simple fact the following mprvol- ous tale gradually grew in neighbouring lands, and was gravely narrated by the travelers : " The * sheep planted on hillocks ' are produced in the western countries. The people take the navel of a sheep, plant it in the ground and water it. "When it hears thunder it grows, the navel retaining a connection with the ground.""' Is the whole Svjry of the traveler who gives an account of this nature to be rejected because of his credulity? Not at all. The critic who will take the trouble to separate the true from the false, and to extract from the false the kernel of truth which lies concealed in it, will learn much which would never be other- wise discovered. Pliny tells many a maiTclous tale, and yet mixes many valu- able facts with his accounts. Herodotus was for centuries de- nounced as the " father o': liars " by critics who were too igno- rant or too indolent to f.r d the truth in his history. "When ho told of a land in whicL the air was filled with feathers,"" he m ':t:ill'jli TUE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 451 hillocks' are himself detected the fact that this was merely a figurative de- scription of snow ; but when he mentioned a land in which it was said that men were found who slept sir months at a time, '"' he could not credit the tale, although it is now evident that the Arctic region, with its long night of nearly six months' dura- tion, was the land which was described. The value of his his- tory is but little lessened by the tales which ho repeats of mon- sters with dogs ' heads,""^ of winged serpents,'"* and of ants larger than foxes.'"' It is well kncvn that for a long period after the clo3> of the thirteenth century, when an account of the travels of Marco Polo, of Venice, first made its appearance and was circuiated, in manu- script, the information it gave of countries till that time unheard of, and of manners incompatible with every idea that had been entertained of the tarbarian-j of Tnrtary, was treated with levity or ridicule by the generality of his countrymen, and read with suspicion by the best-instructed persons in every part of Europe ; '"' and yet the general truth of his account is now recognized by all scholars, notwithstanding his description of the rukh, or roc, of the Arabian Nights, a bird so large and strong as to seize an ele- phant with its talons and to lift it into the air ;'*'* of oxen '*"^ as large as elephants ;"" of men with tails,"" and of dogs the size of IH05 asses. Sir John Maundevile repeats Pliny's accounts of the land in- habited by peoj>le having but one foot,"*^ of the Cynoccephali, '*^' of the one-eyed people,'^ of the Androgynes, and others, and also repeats other wild stories that he has heard, such as those re- garding two-beaded geese, and hens without feathers, but having wool, etc. ; and yet Maundevile repeated his marvels in good faith, and added much to our knowledge of the condition of Asia during the middle centuries. Caesar's accounts of his military expeditions are not discred- ited because he ii. lulges in a few wonderful tales, such as the following : * There is a\. or of the form of a deer, from the middle of the forehead of which, between the ears, there rises a single horn higher and straighter than the horns of any of the animals known to us, and, from its summit, palm-like branches are widely spread out. The appearance of the male and female is the same, and the form and size of their horns are similar." "* i • ^*^:^iib f I! : il 452 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. "There arc also animals that are called * alcea^ (elks), of which the figure and the varied skins resemble those of the duor but their size is somewhat greater ; they shed their horns, and their legs are without joints or articulations. They do n(jt lie down to rest, and, if they fall down, or are thrown down by any accident, they are not able to rise. The trees serve tlicra for beds ; they lean against them, and thus, slightly recliniiig, they take their rest. When the hunters discover from their tracks the places to which they are accustomed to resort, tlioy either undermine all the trees at the roots, or they cut into tliera 80 far that the upper part has only the appearance of standing firmly, and, when the animals lean against them, according to their habit, the weakened trees are overthrown by their weight, and they fall to the ground together." •" Any one who has seen deer, antelope, or elks, cantering along at a little distance, will easily discover the grain of fact upon which this ridiculous story is based. These animals leap so nimbly that the slight fraction of a second during which their legs are bent is too short to enable the eye to detect the motion, and the animals appear to be bounding along stifif-legged, as if they were thrown forward by springs. One seeing them leaping along in this style would imagine that " their legs are witl mt joints or articulations." Caesar evidently reached this conclu- sion ; but then came the question, How, then, could they lie down to sleep, or rise again, being down, without levers to lift them up ? Imagine imperial Csosar asking tbis question of some griz- zly, bare-lirabed Gaul, and unsuspectingly writing down the out- rageous reply of the fun-loving barbarian, who dared to gravely jest with the conqueior of the world ! The accounts of the discovery of " Vinland " by the North- men or Icelanders, about the year 1000 a. d., are now generally believed, and, undoubtedly, with good reason ; and yet there are many difHculties in the stories that have never been explained away. They speak of finding " wheat," *"' but do not describe it as being remarkable in any way ; *'^ and they make no mention of maize, unless it is considered as thus referred to. They say that no snow fell during the winter,"" and that cattle found their food throughout the winter in the open field, thus describ- ing the winters as very different from those which now occur In this country. They describe Rhode Island or Massachusetts i*H T.iE NARRATOR OF THE STORY. 458 as being inbabitcil, not by Indians,*'" but by Esquimaux,"" and this at a time when the Esquimaux had not reached Green- land.'"" Four names are given "" which seem never to havo been identified with any American language. They state that the " Skrellings " had a sort of war-sling. They elevated on a pole a tremendously large ball, almost the size of a sheep's stom> ncli, and of a bluish colour ; this they swung from the pole upon land and over Karlsefne's people, and it descended with a fearful crush, striking teiror into the Northmen as they fled along the river.*"* Schoolcraft, to be sure, states that,"'" many generations ago, the natives used to sew up a round bowlder in the skin of an animal, and hang it upon a pole which was borne by several warriors, and which, when brought down suddenly upon a group of men, produced consternation and death ; but there is strong reason for believing that the Northmen's account was his only authority for the statement, as it is certain that nothing of the kind is mentioned by any other writer. Finally, we come to the following description of a nation of one-legged men : "" " It chanced one morning that Karlsefne and his people saw opposite, in an open place in the woods, a speck which glittered in their sight, and they called out toward it, and it was a Uni- pod {Einfoetinffr, from ein, one, and fdtr, foot), which there- upon hurried down to the bank of the river, where they lay. Thorvald Ericson stood at the helm, and the Uniped shot an arrow into his bowels. Thorvald drew out the arrow, and said : ' It has killed me ! To a rich land we have come, but hardly shall we enjoy any benefit from it.' Thorvald soon after died of his wound. Upon this the Uniped ran away to the northward ; Karlsefne and his people went after him, and saw him now and then, and, the last time they saw him, he ran out into a bay. Then they turned back, and a man sang these verses : ' The people chased A Uniped Down to the beach. Behold he ran Straight over the sen — near thou, Thorfinn ! ' They drew off to the northward, and saw the country of the Unipeds." n Jf t 454 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. It is a curiouH fact that, in Cliark'voix,'"* wi? find an arcount of UnipctlB. (See Shoa'H edition, vol. i, p. 124.) NcvcrtlK-k^s, their mention by tl>e Nortlinien would Neein to riMjuin soine ex- planation. Whether this is forthcoming ov not, the account con- tains 80 much that is true, and whicli eouUl not, by any posni. bility, have been guessed by one who ha ^' ' 458 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS. This character faii (often spelled fa) is used by the Bud- dhists as a technical term for the translation of the Sanskrit word " Dharma," signifying — Ist, morality or virtue ; 2d, the law or the moral code ; and, 3d, the material effects or the phe- nomenal world/" The "Three Precious Ones" are Buddha, the personal teacher ; Dharma, the Law or body of doctrine ; and Sanglm, the Priesthood.'"* There are three treasures, i. e., Buddha, the Laio, and the Church."" This Avord Dharma has various meanings, but is usually to be understood in the sense of " truth." It is not un- frequently translated " the law " ; but this interpretation gives an idea contrary to the entire genius of Buddhism. The Dharma is therefore, emphatically, " the truth." '*** In the Pali canon there is a remarkable book called Dham- ma-pada, which was evidently of great authority in the Buddhist church. The Chinese translation of this is called the fa-kiiku KING, the character fa being used as the translation of the Pali word Dhamma (the Sanskrit Dharma).^^ Beal translates fa by the phrase "system of religion," in the sentence, "Venerable sir, what system of religion (fa) has engaged your mind during your contemplation to- night?""* Edkins translates the phrase fa-siiex " the embodiment of the (religious) law," ""* and c'hu-kia fa (see characters Nos. 451 and 452, Chapter XVI), " the monastic principle." '"* Other in- stances of the use of this character in a religious sense are in the compounds " Buddha's faii," for the rites and ordinances of Bud- dhism ;"" *' to develop fah," meaning to dFsseminate or propa- gate religious doctrine ; "" " fah conversation," for preaching a discourse on religious subjects ; "" " fah clothing," for a garment worn by Buddhist priests ; "" " fah assembly," for an assembly of Buddhist priests ; "" and " fah body," meaning shaven-headed, like a Buddhist priest."'* This technical use of the character by the Buddhists seems to make it probable that Ilwui Shiin, a Buddhist priest, would em- ploy the word in this religious sense ; particularly as he might have used some other character, if it had been his intention to speak of the laws of the government. On investigating the history of the Aztec empire, however, Tr THE INTRODUCTION OF ASIATIC CIVILIZATION. 459 we find that the statement is substantially true, no matter whether fah is understood to refer to law or to religion. They had two species of prisons : one similar to ours, which was called Teilpilojan, for debtors who refused to pay their debts, and for those who had not merited the punishment of death ; and the other, smaller, which was called Quauh calli, made like a cage, for the prisoners who were to be sacrificed, and for those who were guilty of capital crimes.""* The Abb6 Brasseur de Bourbourg"" and Mr. Bancroft *" follow Clavigero in this statement. There is no indication as to whether it was the custom to build the prison for those condemned to death in the northern part of the town, and the other place of confinement in the south- ern part, unless such an indication is given in the fact that, in the only case in which the location of this prison for condemned criminals is mentioned, the one for the city of Mexico is said to have been situated " over a mile northwest-by-north of the cen- tral plaza of Mexico." (" Hist. Verdad.," pp. 70-71.) «' If FAH is understood to refer to religious belief, however, then the " prisons," or " places of confinement," must be the supposed abodes of the spirits of the dead. The usual term for *' Hades," '*" or the place in which the Buddhists suppose the spirits of the wicked to be punished, is ti-yuh, or " earth's prison." "*' The Roman Catholics designate purgatory by the phrase lien YUH, "fire-separating prison."*"" The characters ti-yuh, or "earth's prison," which are usually applied to "Hades," are sometimes also used '"^ to designate a jail.'" The future abode of the Mexicans had three divisions,'"** to which the dead were admitted according to their rank in life and manner of death.'** . . . The Aztec hero was borne in the arms of Teoyaomiqui herself, the consort of Huitzilopochtli, to the bright plains of the Sun-house, in the eastern part of the heavens, where shady groves, trees loaded with luscious fruit, and flowers steeped in honey, vied with the attractions of vast hunt- ing-parks, to make his time pass happily. Here also awaited him the presents sent by aflFectionate friends below. Every morn- ing, when the sun set out upon his journey, these bright, strong warriors seized their weapons and marched before him, shout- ing and fighting sham battles. This continued until they reached the zenith, where the sun was transferred to the charge of the S! '■ iii 1