F U S A N G. 
 
 
KIN PHD BY BALLAXTYNK AND COMPANY 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA 
 
 FUS ANG 
 
 ok 
 
 CHINESE BUDDHIST PRIESTS IN THE 
 FIFTH CENTUR Y. 
 
 CHARLES G. LELAND. 
 
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 anc 
 lira 
 
 LONDON : 
 TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 
 
 1875- 
 
 [All rights reserved.] 
 


 PREFACE. 
 
 IT is now more than a century since the learned French 
 sinologist Deguignes set forth, in a very ably-written 
 paper in the " Memoires de 1 Academic cles Inscriptions 
 et Belles Lettres " (vol. xxviii., 1761), the fact that he had 
 found in the works of early Chinese historians a state 
 ment that, in the fifth century of our era, certain travel 
 lers of their race had discovered a country which they 
 called Fusang, and which, from the direction and dis 
 tance as described by them, appeared to be Western 
 America, and in all probability Mexico. When De 
 guignes wrote, his resources, both as regards the know 
 ledge of the region supposed to have been discovered 
 and the character of the travellers, were extremely 
 limited, so that the skill with which he conducted his 
 investigation, and the shrewdness of his conjectures, 
 render his memoir, even to the present day, a subject 
 of commendation among scholars. Few men have ever 
 done so much or as well with such scanty and doubtful 
 material. 
 
 The original document on which the Chinese his- 
 
 268737 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 torians based their accoimt of Fusang was the report 
 of a Buddhist monk or missionary named Hoei-shin 
 (Schin or Shen), 1 who, in the year 499 A.D., returned 
 from a long journey to the East. This report was 
 regularly entered on the Year-Books or Annals of the 
 Chinese Empire, whence it passed, not only to the pages 
 of historians, but also to those of poets and writers 
 of romances, by whom it was so confused with absurd 
 inventions and marvellous tales, that even at the pre 
 sent day discredit is thrown by a certain class of critics 
 on the entire narrative. In 1841 Carl Friedrich Neu 
 mann, Professor of Oriental Languages and History at 
 the University of Munich, published the original narra 
 tive of Hoei-shin from the Annals, adding to it com 
 ments of his own elucidating its statements, and advanc 
 ing somewhat beyond Deguignes. This little work I 
 translated into English, under the supervision of Pro 
 fessor Neumann, and with his aid. I believe that, as 
 he revised and corrected the English version here given, 
 it may claim to be an accurate translation from the 
 Chinese text of the Year-Book, and that of Hoei-shin. 
 I have placed it first in this volume because it gives in 
 a much more perfect form than is to be found in the 
 memoir of Deguignes the original report on which the 
 entire investigation is based. It of course includes 
 Professor Neumann s comments on the monk s brief 
 narrative ; and as these embrace many remarks on the 
 
 1 Neumann gives the name as Hoei-schin ; Dr Bretschneider, as Hui- 
 shen. When not translating Dr Neumann, I have written it Ifoei-shin. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 possibility of passing by sea from the Chinese to the 
 American coast, I have thought it appropriate to place 
 next in the series a letter from Colonel Barclay 
 Kennon, who, as a prominent officer in the United 
 States Coast Survey, passed several years in the JSTorth 
 Pacific, during which time he surveyed and mapped, in 
 company with two colleagues, the entire coast, both on 
 the Asiatic and American sides. Colonel Kennon is 
 of opinion that the voyage supposed to have been 
 taken by the Buddhist monks is easily practicable, and 
 might be effected even in an open boat the vessel in 
 which he himself passed both summer and winter, and 
 in which he sailed more than 40,000 miles, having been 
 simply a small pilot-boat. To this I have added, in 
 further reference to certain remarks by Professor Neu 
 mann, a comment on the affinities between American 
 and Asiatic languages, and other subjects mentioned in 
 his text, i.e., the Mound-Builders and the Images of 
 Buddha. These are followed by extracts from, and 
 remarks on, a series of articles by M. Gustave d Eich- 
 tlial, contributed to the Revue Arckceologique in 
 1862-63, in which he defends Deguignes from an attack 
 which the well-known Orientalist Julius Heinrich von 
 Klaproth made upon the original memoir by the former. 
 I believe that -it will be admitted by all unprejudiced 
 scholars, that in these ably-written and very temperate 
 articles M. D Eichthal has fully vindicated Deguignes, 
 and has also contributed much very valuable material 
 to the subject. I am far from claiming that it 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 has been absolutely proved that Hoei-shin was in 
 Mexico, or that he was preceded thither by " five 
 beggar-monks from the Kingdom of Kipin." But it 
 cannot be denied that, as further researches have been 
 made, much which at first seemed obscure or impro 
 bable in his narrative has been cleared up. All that 
 Hoei-shin declares he saw is not only probable, but is 
 confirmed, almost to the minutest details, by what is 
 now known of Old and New Mexico. 
 
 All that seems fabulous in his story, he, like Hero 
 dotus, relates from hearsay ; but it is remarkable that 
 these wonders, which Professor Neumann was unwilling 
 to cite, all appear at the present day to be simply exag 
 gerations of facts which recent research has brought to 
 light. Among the objects seen and described by the 
 monk was the maguey plant, or great cactus, which he 
 called the Fusang, after a Chinese plant slightly resem 
 bling it, and this name (Fusang) he applied to the coun 
 try. His description of this plant, and of its many uses, 
 is very striking. Other things peculiar to Mexico, but 
 not known to China, were remarked, as, for instance, the 
 absence of iron, and the fact that copper, gold, and 
 silver were not prized, and were not used for money. 
 The manner in which marriage was contracted in 
 Fusang, according to his description, is not at all 
 Chinese I doubt if it be Asiatic but it exists in 
 more than one North American tribe, and something 
 very like it was observed by a recent traveller in New 
 Mexico. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I have in Chapter IX. called attention to a fact 
 which seems to have escaped both Neumann and Klap- 
 roth, though both were familiar with the literature on 
 which it is based. It is simply this, that the voyage of 
 Hoei-shin forms a portion of the somewhat extensive 
 literature of travel of Buddhist monks, the authenticity 
 of which has been vindicated by Stanislas Julien. Many 
 of these have been translated, and one of them, " The 
 Mission of Sung-yun," was recently published in Eng 
 lish. Sung-yun travelled only nineteen years after 
 Hoei-shin, and was in all probability a contemporary 
 who had met him at the Chinese court, where such 
 travellers enjoyed the highest consideration. Sung-yun 
 had been sent to India, or the West, by the Empress 
 Dowager Tai-Hau, of the Wei dynasty, and it is not im 
 probable that Hoei-shin had travelled to the East, in 
 like manner, by imperial order. It is evident that he 
 lived at a time when men of his stamp were in request 
 to go to the ends of the earth to spread the doctrines of 
 Buddha. eA\l*^l 
 
 In 1869, some one who had read or heard of Neu- ^ 
 mann s work onTEe Buddhist discovery of America, 
 placed in the " Notes and Queries on China and Japan," 
 published at Hong Kong, a request that those who 
 possessed information on the subject would send it 
 to that journal. The results were, however, trifling, 
 the principal communication thus elicited being an 
 article from Dr E. Brefcschneider, in which the writer, 
 while expressing his opinion that Hoei-shiu was a 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 "lying Buddhist priest," and a "consummate horn- 
 bug," brought forth nothing of consequence to prove such 
 very positive assertions. But as the paper forms a por 
 tion of the literature of the Fusang question, I have 
 included it in this volume. 
 
 
MEMOIR 
 
 OF 
 
 PROFESSOR CARL FRIEDRICH NEUMANN. 
 
M E M I R. 
 
 CARL FEIEDRICH NEUMANN, the author of the subjoined 
 memoir on the presumed early discovery of America by 
 Buddhist monks, was of Jewish family, and born Decem 
 ber 22, 1798, near Bamberg, Bavaria. He was intended 
 for commerce, but having studied history at the Uni 
 versities of Heidelberg and Munich, determined to de 
 vote his life to letters. Having become a Protestant, he 
 was appointed professor in 1822 at the Gymnasium of 
 Speier, whence he was dismissed in 1825 for Liberal 
 opinions in politics. He subsequently lived for several 
 years in Venice, Paris, and London, occupied with the 
 study of Oriental languages. Having distinguished 
 himself as a sinologist, he went in 1829 to China, 
 where he remained nearly two years, occupied in col 
 lecting Chinese books. In Canton he obtained a valu 
 able library of 10,000 volumes, which, after his re 
 turn, were ceded to the Bavarian Government. In 
 1838 he received an appointment as professor of the 
 Chinese and Armenian languages at the University of 
 Munich, where he also read lectures on mathematics 
 
xiv MEMOIR. 
 
 and modern history, which were very popular with the 
 students. Having known him well, both in public and 
 private, and pursued studies under his special guidance. 
 I venture to speak with confidence and respect of hi; 
 enormous learning, as well as his sound judgment it. 
 matters of scholarship. 
 
 Professor Neumann was the author of a number o ? 
 works in Latin, French, and English, as well as Ger 
 man, two oi" which received prizes from the Academic.-; 
 of Copenhagen and Paris. His principal books are the 
 following : 
 
 Rerum Cretaricum Specimen. Gottingen, 1820. 
 
 Ueber die Staatsverfassung der Florentiner, von Leonardus Are- 
 tinus. Frankfurt, 1822. 
 
 Historische Versuche. Heidelberg, 1825. 
 
 Me moires sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de David, philosopho 
 Armenien du cinquieme siecle de nctre 6" re, et principalement sur 
 ses traductions de quelques 6crits a Aristote. Paris, 1829. 
 
 The History of Vartan, and of the Battle of the Armenians, 
 containing an account of the religious wars between the Persians 
 and Armenians. By Elisseus ; translated by C. F. Neumann. 
 London, 1831. 
 
 The Catechism of the Shamans, or the Laws and Regulations 
 of the Priesthood of Buddha in China. Translated from the 
 Chinese, with notes and illustrations. London, 183]. 
 
 History of the Pirates who infested the Chinese Seas from 
 1807 to 1810. Translated from the Chinese original, with notes 
 and illustrations. London, 1831. 
 
 Geschichte der Armenischen Literatur. Leipzig, 1833-36. 
 
 Geschichte der Uebersiedlung von 40,000 Armeniern. Leipziir, 
 1834. 
 
 Russland und die Tcherkessen. Stuttgart, 1840. 
 
MEMOIR. xv 
 
 Gescbiclite des Englisck-Chinesiscken Kriegs. Leipzig, 1846. 
 In this comprehensive work, one division is entitled, " Nord 
 Amerika und Frankreich in China," in which the present and 
 future relations of Western America and Eastern Asia are de 
 veloped with great sagacity. A few years before his death, 
 Iskander (Alexander Herzen) wrote to me " The Pacific will 
 yet be the Mediterranean of the future." Those who look forward 
 to such developments of civilisation and commerce will find 
 this book of Professor Neumann s very interesting. 
 
 Die Yblker des Siidlichen Russland in ihrer geschichtlichen 
 Entwicklung. Leipzig, 1847. To this work was awarded the 
 prize of the Royal Institute of Paris. 
 
 Die Reisen des Venetianers Marco Polo, Deutsch von August 
 Biirk. Nebst Zusatzen und Verbesserungen von C. F. Neumann. 
 Leipzig, 1845. 
 
 Beitrage zur Armenischen Literatur. Leipzig, 1849. 
 
 Geschichte des Englischen Reichs in Asien. Leipzig, 1857. 
 
 Professor Neumann was one of the directors of the 
 German Oriental Association, and published in the first 
 number of tbeir magazine a biography of Dr Morrison, 
 the celebrated Protestant missionary to China. 
 
 I sincerely trust that the additions which I have made 
 to this work, in elucidation or in illustration of the idea 
 advanced, will be found to the purpose. They are the 
 result of much research, I may honestly say, of far 
 more than appears in this volume, as the subject, from 
 its obscurity, yielded only the proverbial grain of wheat 
 to the wearisome bushel of chaff. I also hope that it 
 is free from either reckless hypothesis or easy credulity, 
 and that nothing will be understood to be advanced 
 as being more than probable. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN, WITH COMMENTS BY 
 PROFESSOR CARL F. NEUMANN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 KNOWLEDGE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AMONG THE CHINESE, ... 3 
 
 CHINESE KNOWLEDGE OF LANDS AND NATIONS, .... 6 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 IDENTITY OF THE TARTARS AND NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS J OR, 
 
 THE ROAD TO AMERICA, AND THE PEOPLE IN IT, ... 7 
 
 TUNGUSE EASTERN BARBARIANS, . . . . . ." . 8 
 
 KAMTSCHATKA IN THE TIME OF TANG, 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 TAHAN OR ALIASK A, AND ITS DISCOVERY, . . , . , . 24 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF FDSANG, OR MEXICO, ...... 25 
 
 OF WRITING AND CIVIL REGULATIONS IN FUSANG, .... 26 
 
 THE KINGDOM AND THE NOBLES OF FUSANG, . . . ... 27 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, / " : ; , . . . . 27 
 
 AMAZONIA, 29 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 P.AGF 
 
 REMARKS ON THE REPORT OF HOEI-SHIN, 31 
 
 THE OLDEST HISTORY OF MEXICO, . ..... 33 
 
 THE RUINS OF MITLA AND PALENQUE, 34 
 
 FUSANG, MAGUEY, AGAVE AMERICANA, 37 
 
 METALS AND MONEY, 36 
 
 LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS, 3[ 
 
 DOMESTIC ANIMALS, . 4f 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHINESE AND JAPANESE IN KAMTSCHATKA AND THE HAWAIIAN 
 
 GROUP, 4f 
 
 THE FUTURE OF EASTERN ASIA, 4( 
 
 REMARKS ON THE TEXT OF PROFESSOR NEUMANN. 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FUSANG AND PERU, 49 
 
 LETTER FROM COLONEL BARCLAY KENNON ON THE 
 NAVIGATION OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NAVIGATION OF THE NORTH PACIFIC, (53 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REMARKS ON COLONEL KENNON s LETTER, 81 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TRAVELS OF OTHER BUDDHIST PRIESTS (FROM THE FOURTH TO THE 
 
 EIGHTH CENTURY A. D.), gr 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR RELATIONS 
 TO THE OLD WORLD. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 PAGE 
 AFFINITIES OF AMERICAN AND ASIATIC LANGUAGES, ... . . 99 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS AND MEXICANS, 110 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MAGES OF BUDDHA, . . . 119 
 
 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF THE NARRA 
 TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEGUIGNES, KLAPROTH, AND D EICHTHAL, . . . . . 125 
 
 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 T. SIMPSON AND DR E. BRETSCHNEIDER ; OR, EUROPEANS RESIDING IN 
 
 CHINA ON FUSANG, . 161 
 
: 
 
THE 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN 
 
 WITH COMMENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 PROFESSOR CARL F. NEUMANN. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 KNOWLEDGE OF FOREIGN COUNTRIES AMONG THE CHINESE. 
 
 " To retain laws and customs according to the tradi 
 tionary manner, and to extend these laws and customs 
 to other lands/ was the precept of the founders of the 
 Celestial Empire, as well as of other civilised nations. 
 " But this extension," they added, " is not to be 
 effected by the oratorical powers of single messengers, 
 nor through the force of armed hordes. This renova 
 tion, as in every other sound organic growth which 
 forces itself from within, can only take place when the 
 Outer Barbarians, irresistibly compelled by the virtue 
 and majesty of the Son of Heaven, blush for their 
 barbarism, voluntarily obey the image of the Heavenly 
 Father, and become men." 
 
 It will be readily understood that a race holding 
 such opinions would undertake no voyage of discovery, 
 and attempt no conquests. Not a single instance 
 occurs during the entire four thousand years of the 
 history of Eastern Asia, of an individual who had 
 travelled in foreign lands for the purpose of adding to 
 his own information or that of others. The journey 
 of Lao-tse the founder of the religion of the Taosse 
 
4- * 
 
 ^ THE WXX&A TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 to the West appears to be a tale deliberately invented 
 for the purpose of connecting his doctrine of the Primi 
 tive and Infinite Wisdom with that of " The Western 
 (Mountain of the Gods," or with Buddhism. The cam- 
 | paigns beyond those limits which Nature has assigned 
 to the Chinese Empire, were undertaken merely through 
 the impulse of self-preservation. Men were compelled, 
 in Central as in Eastern Asia, in Thibet as well as on 
 the banks of the Irawaddy, to anticipate the dangers 
 and invasions which, at a later period, threatened the 
 freedom of the Central Empire, and were frequently 
 obliged to send ambassadors or spies into different 
 Asiatic or European countries to obtain information 
 relating to their situation and nature, as well as the 
 condition of their inhabitants, which could guide them 
 in their subsequent warlike or diplomatic relations with 
 -the enemies of the Empire. 
 
 This land, so blessed by Nature, attracted not only, the 
 barbarian desirous of plunder, but also the merchant, 
 since certain productions, such as silk, tea, and true 
 rhubarb, were found only there. The Chinese Govern 
 ment as well as people, influenced by the precepts 
 of their wise men, received strangers graciously so long 
 as they implicitly obeyed, or in any manner evinced fear 
 and submission, and returned the presents which were 
 offered according to Oriental custom with others of 
 still greater value. All the discoveries and experiences. 
 all the knowledge and information which they thus ob 
 tained in their peaceful or warlike relations with foreign 
 
THE NARRA TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 nations, were generally recorded in the last division 
 of the "_Year-Books " of their own chronicles, forming, 
 in an historical point of view, an inestimable treasure. 
 In the first century of our reckoning, the pride and 
 vanity induced *by the Chinese social system were partly 
 broken by the gradual progress of Buddhism over all 
 Eastern Asia. He who believed in the divine mission of 
 the son of the King of Kapilapura, must recognise every 
 man as his brother and equal by birth ; yes, must strive 
 for the old Buddhistic faith has this in common witli 
 the Christian religion to extend the joyful mission of 
 salvation to all nations on earth, and, to attain this 
 end, must suffer, like the type of the God incarnate, 
 all earthly pain and persecution. So we find that a 
 number of Buddhist monks and preachers have at 
 distant times wandered to all known and unknown 
 parts of the world, either to obtain information with 
 regard to their distant co-religionists, or to preach the 
 doctrine of their Holy Trinity to unbelievers. The 
 official accounts which these missionaries rendered of 
 their travels, and of which we possess several entire, 
 considered as sources of information with regard to 
 different lands and nations, belong to the most in 
 structive and important part of Chinese literature. 
 From these sources we have derived in a great degree 
 that information which we possess regarding North 
 eastern Asia and the Western Coasts of America, during 
 centuries which have been hitherto veiled in the deepest 
 obscurity. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 CHINESE KNOWLEDGE OF LANDS AND NATIONS. 
 
 Pride and vanity form the basis upon which the 
 Chinese built their peculiar system of information re 
 garding other lands and people. Around " the Flower 
 of the Centre," as their sages teach, dwell rude un 
 civilised races, which are in reality animals, although 
 they have externally human forms. To these rough 
 brutes they apply all manner of abusive epithets, 
 assigning to them the names of dogs, swine, devils, 
 and savages, according to the four points of the com 
 pass whence they came. The occasional inquirers and 
 writers of history among the Europeans who have 
 thought it worth their while to cast a glance upon the 
 as yet fallow fields of Eastern and Central Asiatic 
 history, have blindly followed this limited system, which 
 rests upon the narrowest geographic limits, so that 
 races originally without connection were melted into 
 one and the same people ; as, for instance, the numer 
 ous tribes of the Tartar family. 
 
 1 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 IDENTITY OF THE TARTARS AND NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS ; 
 OR, THE ROAD TO AMERICA, AND THE PEOPLE IN IT. 
 
 THE Tunguse, Mongolians, and a great part of the 
 Turkish race, formed originally, according to all ex 
 ternal organic tokens, as well as the elements of their 
 languages, but one people, closely allied with the 
 Esquimaux, the Shrilling, or dwarf of the Norsemen, 
 and the races of the New World. This is the irrefut 
 able result to which all the more recent inquiries 
 in anatomy and physiology, as well as compara 
 tive philology and history, have conduced. All the 
 aboriginal Americans have those distinctive tokens 
 which forcibly recall their neighbours dwelling on 
 the other side of Behring s Straits. They have the 
 four-cornered head, high cheek-bones, heavy jaws, large 
 angular eye-cavities, and a retreating forehead. The 
 skulls of the oldest Peruvian graves exhibit the same 
 tokens as the heads of the nomadic tribes of Oregon 
 and California. The different American languages, as 
 has been already proved by Albert Gallatin in his 
 minute researches, have such an identity, that we can, 
 however varied the vocabulary, at once reduce them to 
 
8 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 one original source. 1 In fact, all researches as to the 
 manner in which America was first populated lead to 
 one inevitable conclusion. Since the earth has been 
 inhabited, these rude tribes dwelt in their separate 
 divisions of Asia and America. This rough mass has, 
 however, during the course of centuries, been separated 
 by different corporeal and mental formative influences 
 into different nations, each with peculiar bodily dis 
 tinctions, the natural consequence of higher mental in 
 fluences ; and various languages have been developed ; 
 yet all of these distinctions, whether of body or of 
 language, of manner or custom, present internal evi 
 dence of an original unity. This unity manifests 
 itself in their genealogies, the oldest historical system 
 of all nations by which the identity of the Turks, 
 Mongolians, and Tunguse is clearly proved. Among 
 these Tartaric hordes we find absolutely the same 
 relation as that which existed among the German 
 nations. The Ostrogoths and Visigoths, the West- 
 phalians, the northern and southern nations, belonged 
 originally, notwithstanding their different destinies and 
 culture, to the internal being of one and the same Ger 
 man race. 
 
 TUNGUSE EASTERN BARBARIANS. 
 
 All the numerous Tartaric hordes dwelling about 
 the north-east of the Central Empire were termed by | 
 
 1 Vide Memoires de la Soci<5t<5 des Antiquaires de 1 Amerique du Jx T ord, 
 Partie linguistique rapport fait a 1 Iustitut Ilistorique, par M. Antonio 
 Renzi, Paris, 1842, 8vo. 
 
THE NARRA TIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 9 
 
 the civilised natives of the South " Tonghu," " Eastern 
 Red Men," or savages, from which appellation we de 
 rive our word Tuuguse, 1 which has been subsequently 
 applied to an extremely limited portion of the entire 
 race. Among these Mongolian nations, many centuries 
 before Zenghis Khan (Tschinggs Chakan), the Mongo 
 lians proper were distinguished by the differently -written 
 name of Wog or Mog, and divided into seven hordes, 
 dwelling in different places, extending from the Corean 
 Peninsula to the distant north, over the river Amo to 
 the eastern sea ; that is to say, to the Gulf of Anadir 
 or Behring s Straits. The nomadic tribes dwelling more 
 directly to the north they termed Peti, or Northern 
 Savages, and many tribes were reckoned by them as 
 belonging either to the Tunguse or Peti. During the 
 course of many centuries the Chinese acquired a sur 
 prisingly accurate knowledge of the north-east coast of 
 Asia, extending, as their records in astronomy and 
 natural history prove, to the sixty-fifth degree of 
 latitude, and even to the Arctic Ocean. 2 Among other / 
 accounts, they tell us of a land very far from the Cen 
 tral Kingdom, whose inhabitants, termed Kolihan or 
 Chorran, sent during the latter part of the seventh 
 century ambassadors to the Court at Singan. This 
 land lay on the North Sea ; and still further to the 
 north, on the other side of that sea, the days were, so 
 
 1 In the " Shajrat ul Atrak," or Genealogical Tree of the Turks and 
 Tartars, translated by Colonel Miles, London, 1838, Tuny or Tungiis is 
 rendered " son of a Tartar." 
 
 2 Gaubil : Observations Mathematiques, Paris, 1732, ii. 110. 
 
io THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 long, and the nights in proportion so short, that the 
 sun set and rose again " before one could roast a leg of 
 mutton." 
 
 The Chinese were well acquainted with the customs 
 of these tribes, and describe them to us as resembling 
 the Tsohuktschi or Koljuschens 2 of the present day, 
 and other tribes of North-eastern Asia and North 
 western America. They had neither oxen, sheep, nor 
 other domestic animals, but there were tribes among 
 them which employed deer, which were there very nume 
 rous. These deer of which they speak were undoubt 
 edly reindeer. They knew nothing of agriculture, but 
 lived by hunting and fishing, as well as on the root of 
 a certain plant which grew there in abundance. Their 
 dwellings were constructed of twigs and wood, their 
 clothes were made of furs and feathers. They laid 
 their dead in coffins, which they placed in trees in the 
 mountains. 3 They were ignorant of any subdivisions 
 of the year. The Chinese were also as well acquainted 
 with those dwelling more directly to the east, as with 
 these inhabitants of the north. 
 
 The limits of the Chinese Empire extended, under the 
 
 1 Mantuanlin, bk. 348, p. 6. 
 
 2 Koljwtchi, or Koljiiki, signifies the peg or pin which those savages 
 wear in the under lip, and from which the name is derived. They were 
 subsequently termed by the Eussians, who possess the land, Galloches, 
 from the French word, merely in jest. In the course of time this name 
 supplanted the earlier term Koljuken, so that all are now known as 
 Kaloschen. 
 
 3 This is similar to the custom of many North American Indians of the 
 West. C. G. L. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. n 
 
 dynasty of Tsclien, in the time of David and Solomon, 
 to the Eastern Ocean. They knew and frequented the 
 numerous groups of islands in the Pacific Ocean, for the I 
 sake of trade. The natives inhabiting these islands sent, 
 on their part, messengers to the coast with presents, 
 which are registered in the Chinese annals. It also 
 frequently happened that China sent a portion of its 
 discontented or superfluous population to these thinly- 
 inhabited islands, as well as to Japan, Lieu-kuei, and 
 Formosa, of which we have accurate historical proofs. 
 The tribe of the Ainos, or Jebis, extending from Japan 
 to Kamtschatka, over the Kurilean and Aleutian, or Fox 
 Islands, to the distant north, where it touched upon the 
 nearly-allied Esquimaux, must naturally have astonished 
 the occasional colonists and merchants who found their 
 way thither, by a singular distinctive bodily phenomenon, 
 namely, an exceeding growth of hair on their bodies. 
 Such was the case, and they were termed Mau-scJdn^ 
 (or, according to the Japanese mode of pronouncing 
 Chinese writing, Mosiii) i.e.. Hairy People, and also, 
 from the great number of sej^rabs found in their region, 
 Hi-ai (in Japanese, Jeso), or Crab-Barbarians. 1 And 
 as these barbarians, like the inhabitants of the southern 
 islands, were in thejiabit of tattooing figures upon their 
 skin, they were also termed by the Chinese Wen-sckin, 
 or Painted People. In the course of time other names 
 were also added, but any one acquainted with the nature 
 
 1 Description of the Kurilean and Aleutian Islands (translated from 
 the Russian), Ulm, 1792, p. 16. 
 
12 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 of that part of the world and its inhabitants, readily 
 recognises, despite the varied appellations, the same 
 race of men in the Ainos. We are indebted to the 
 numerous embassies which in earlier times passed be 
 tween China and ^ Japan for the greater part of the 
 information contained in their Year-Books, relating to 
 the north and south-easterly islands and nations. These 
 embassies brought back with them many traditionary 
 accounts, which were strongly tinged with fable, and 
 yet not entirely devoid of truth. For instance, when 
 they speak of the land of Tschutschu, or dwarfs, very 
 far to the south of Japan, whose inhabitants, black 
 and ugly and naked, kill and devour all strangers, we 
 readily recognise the natives of Papua or New Guinea. 
 | The Ainos were first described, under the name of 
 ; Hairy People, in " The Book of Mountains and Seas," 
 a Chinese work, written in the second or third cen 
 tury, and richly adorned with wonderful legends. They 
 dwelt, according to this book, in the Eastern Sea, and 
 were completely overgrown with hair. 1 Some of these 
 people came, A.D. 659, in company with a Japanese 
 embassy, to China ; they are termed in the Year-Book 
 of Tang, " Crab-Barbarians," 2 after which this note 
 follows : " They had long beards, and dwelt in the 
 
 1 Schan-hai-king, quoted in the " Histoire des Trois Royaumes, traduite 
 par Titsingh." Klaproth Las, according to his custom, passed off the 
 translation as his own. Paris, 1832, p. 218. 
 
 2 Tang-schu, or, Year-Books of Tang," bk. 220, p. 18, v. Mantuanlin, 
 bk. 326, p. 23, v., where the report as usual is given. Tit sin gh : Annales 
 des Empereurs du Japon, Paris, 1834, p. 52. This is a remarkable coin 
 cidence in the Chinese and Japanese Year-Books. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HO El- SHIN. 13 
 
 north-east of Japan ; they laid bows, arrows, and deer 
 skins as presents before the throne. These were the 
 inhabitants of Jeso, which island had, not long before, 
 been subdued and rendered tributary by the Japanese." 
 The report of the Japanese embassy, in their own 
 domestic returns, is, however, much more copious and 
 satisfactory. The queries of the Heaven s Son of Tang, 
 and the replies of the Japanese ambassador, are there 
 narrated as follows : 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. " Does the heavenly Autocrat find him 
 self in constant tranquillity ] " 
 
 The Ambassador. " Heaven and earth unite their gifts, and 
 constant tranquillity ensues." 
 
 The Euler of Tang. " Are the Government officers well 
 appointed ? " 
 
 The Ambassador. " They have the grace of the Heavenly 
 Ruler, and are well." 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. " Is there internal peace 1" 
 
 The Ambassador. " The Government harmonises with heaven 
 and earth the people have no care." 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. " Where lies the land this Jeso ?" 
 
 The Ambassador. " To the north-east." 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. " How many divisions has it ?" 
 
 The Ambassador. " Three; the most distant we call Tsgaru, 
 the next Ara, and the nearest Niki. To the last belong these 
 men here before us. They appear yearly with their tribute at 
 the court of our king." 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. " Does this land produce corn ?" 
 
 The Ambassador. "No; its inhabitants live on flesh/ 
 
 The Ruler of Tang. l( Have they houses 1" 
 
 The Ambassador. "No; they live in the mountains, under 
 trunks of trees." 
 
14 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 This extract is from the Nipponki, or Japanese 
 Annals, from 661 until 696, which were collected in the 
 year 720. They embrace thirty volumes octavo. The 
 portions translated by Hoffman are to be found in 
 vol. xxvi. p. 9; of Siebold s " Japanese Archives," viii. 
 130. 
 
 Since this time, in the seventh century, many wars 
 Lave been undertaken against these northern border bar 
 barians by their more civilised neighbours, and generally 
 with success. But the inhabitants of Jeso always rose 
 again after a short time, drove forth the Japanese inva 
 ders from the land, and gave themselves up again to 
 their wild, original freedom, like their ancestors on the 
 neighbouring island. Even at the present day the 
 Japanese govern only a very small portion of Jeso, i.e., 
 the gold district of this remarkably rich island. Jeso 
 readily leads to an acquaintance with Kamtschatka, 
 which country was also described about the same period, 
 in the following manner : l 
 
 1 Vide Steller s Description of Kamtschatka, Leipzig, 1734, p. 3. All 
 that occurs here in quotation marks has been literally translated from 
 the Year-Books of Tang (Tang-schu, bk. 220, p. 19, v.) The part not 
 thus marked is drawn principally from Steller, and is added for explana 
 tion. The article of Mantuanlin (bk. 347, p. 5), may be compared with 
 the Year-Books of Tang. The article is indeed evidently borrowed from 
 the Tang-schu, but is much better arranged, and contains many original 
 incidents, on which account I have freely availed myself of it. The com 
 piler of the " Encyclopaedia of Kang-hi " (Juen-kien-hui-han) satisfied him 
 self (bk. 241, p. 19), as he frequently did, with merely transcribing from 
 Mautuaulin. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 15 
 
 KAMTSCHATKA IN THE TIME OF TANG. 
 
 Lieu-kuei (Loo-choo), or Hing-goci, as the Kamts- 
 chadales of the present day term their fellow-country 
 men dwelling on the Penschinisch Bay, is situated, 
 according to the Chinese Year- Books, fifteen thousand 
 Chinese miles distant from the capital, which, according 
 to the measurement of the celebrated astronomer Ihan, 
 in the time of Tang, gives about three hundred and 
 thirty-eight to one of our grades the Chinese grades 
 being rather smaller than our geographical. Now, 
 Sigan, the capital of China during the dynasty of Tang, 
 lies in the district Schensi, 34 15 34" north latitude, 
 and 106 34 east longitude from Paris. Peter and 
 Paul s Haven, on the contrary, according to Preuss, lies 
 53 59" north latitude, and 153 19 56" east longitude 
 from Paris. These are differences which the accounts 
 of the Chinese Year-Books establish in an astonishing 
 manner, and leave no doubt whatever as to the identity 
 of Kamtschatka with Lieu-kuei ; for it is certainly satis 
 factory if estimates of such great distances, drawn in 
 all probability from the accounts of half-savage sailors 
 or quite savage natives, should agree within two or 
 three grades with accurate astronomic results. 
 
 " This land lies exactly north-east from the Black 
 River, or Black Dragon River, and the Moko, and the 
 voyage thither requires fifteen days, which is the time 
 in which the Moko generally effect it." 
 
16 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 The Moko here alluded to are, beyond doubt, the 
 Mongolians, who governed in earlier ages, and even in 
 the time of Tang as far south as Corea, and in the 
 north as far as the other side of the Amur. The west 
 ern limits of this people are unknown. In the east 
 they dwelt, as our chronicle expressly remarks, as far 
 as the ocean, or the Pacific, from whence they could 
 very easily pass to the islands and to the American 
 Continent. That this was in reality effected, is evident 
 from their external appearance, as well as the affinity 
 between the Mongolian language and that of the Ame 
 rican Indians. The distance from Ocho-tock to the 
 opposite peninsula is about 150 German miles, and, in 
 fact, the natives generally require from ten to fifteen 
 days to make the voyage. 
 
 " Lieu-kuei lies to the north of the North Sea, 1 by 
 which it is on three sides surrounded. To the north 
 this peninsula touches upon the land of Jetschay, or 
 Tschuktschi, but the exact limits are not easy to deter 
 mine ; it requires an entire month to make the journey 
 from Kamtschatka to Jetschay. Beyond this the land 
 is unexplored, and no mission has as yet come from 
 thence to the Central Kingdom. Here are neither for- 
 
 1 In Tang-sclm an error of transcription occurs. Instead of Pe-hai, 
 North Sea, we have Schao-hai, "little sea." The correct reading is to be 
 found in the two encyclopaedias already quoted. Jetschaykno, a kingdom, 
 here " an excellent country ; " the Jetschay is only to be found in the 
 encyclopaedias. The arrogant Chinese love to write the names of foreigners 
 with names which indicate scorn aid contempt. Lieu-kuei, for example, 
 signifies " the devil who runs through," and Jetschay, " the devil s com 
 panion." 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 
 
 tified places nor towns ; the people dwell in scattered 
 groups on the sea-islands and along the shore, or on the 
 banks of rivers, where they live by catching and salting 
 fish. 
 
 Steller also assures us that the dwellings of the Itol- 
 men, or native Kamtschadales, are always situated on 
 rivers, bays, or the mouths of the lesser streams, and 
 especially in places which are surrounded by woods. 
 Fish in incredible quantities, and in great variety, are 
 found there, serving during the long winters as pro 
 vender for both men and cattle. These they prepare 
 in many ways, but principally by salting. Those living 
 still more to the north subsist almost entirely on the 
 same food, from which they receive the name Eskimantik 
 or Eskimo, i.e., " raw-fish-eating." 
 
 " They dwell in caves, generally dug tolerably deep 
 in the earth, around "which they lay thick, unhewn 
 planks." 
 
 This is applicable only to their winter dwellings ; 
 their summer habitations are built high in the air, 
 on posts like our dovecots. The Itolmen dig out the 
 earth to the depth of three or four feet in the form of a 
 brick, and to such an extent as the number of their 
 family may require. The excavated earth they pile to 
 the height of two or three feet around the pit thus 
 formed, and then roof it with pieces of bark or willow 
 sticks, five or six feet long, which they drive deep 
 within the pit into the earth, so that the tops are all 
 equally high. Between these sticks and the earth they 
 
1 8 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 generally lay dry straw, so that none of the earth may 
 fall through, nor any of the articles in the dwelling 
 become rusty or mouldy by direct contact with it ; then 
 they leave a shelf of earth around, about a foot broad, 
 and lay great beams thereon in squares, which they 
 support on the outside with planks and sticks stuck 
 into the ground, so that they may not give way exter 
 nally. Then they place over them four posts cut in the 
 form of forks, as high as they wish to have the lodg 
 ing in the middle. 
 
 Over this they lay again crosswise four beams, and 
 fasten them with thongs to the posts, upon which they 
 lay on every side the rafters. Between these rafters 
 they put thin sticks, and across these small pieces of 
 wood, quite close together ; this entire wooden roof 
 they cover to the depth of six inches with straw, shake 
 over it the remnant of the excavated earth, and tread 
 it down firm. In the middle of the house they make 
 the hearth between four thin posts ; of these posts, 
 two form the entrance, which is at the same time the 
 chimney. Opposite the fireplace they dig out an air- 
 passage from eight to twelve feet long, according to the 
 size of the house, which passes beyond the limits of the 
 dwelling itself. This is kept closed, except when they 
 are making a fire. To facilitate the admission of air 
 they build the roof of the air-passage in such a manner 
 that the wind continually strikes against it, and is 
 drawn in. If any one would enter, he must naturally 
 descend the door- chimney, which is done either by 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 19 
 
 means of a ladder, or the notched trunk of a tree. The 
 smoky atmosphere is very oppressive to a European, 
 though the natives support it without inconvenience. 
 The little children generally creep through the draft, 
 which also serves as a repository for cooking utensils. 
 In the interior, cubes of wood are placed, to indicate 
 the divisions of the separate sleeping-places. 
 
 " The climate, owing to fogs and heavy snows, is very 
 severe. The natives are all clothed in furs, which they 
 obtain by hunting. They also prepare a sort of cloth 
 from dog s-hair and different species of grass. In winter 
 they wear the skins of swine and reindeer ; in summer, 
 those of fish. They have great numbers of dogs." 
 
 We know that the climate of Kamtschatka presents 
 remarkable differences. Districts situated at no great 
 distance from each other have at the same season a 
 different temperature. The southern part of the penin 
 sula is damper, darker, and more exposed to terrible 
 storm-winds, on account of its vicinity to the sea; but 
 the farther north we ascend on the Pensinischen Bay, 
 so much the milder are the winds in winter, and so 
 much the less rain falls in summer. In no land are 
 the fogs so frequent and so thick as in Kamtschatka, 
 nor is any country known where deeper snows fall than 
 between 51 and 54 of the peninsula. The natives, 
 therefore, naturally require the heavy sea-dog (seal) and 
 reindeer fur-clothing spoken of in the Chinese chronicle. 
 The women prepare from dried nettles and other grasses 
 a sort of linen which serves for all domestic purposes. 
 
20 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 Reindeer, black bears, wolves, foxes, and other animals 
 are found here in abundance, and are caught by a variety 
 of ingenious methods, which the Chinese have also de 
 scribed. Dogs, which they use instead of horses to 
 draw their sledges, are their only tame animals. It is an 
 error of the Chinese writer when he speaks of swine : 
 they would indeed succeed in this country, but in the 
 time of Steller they were as yet unknown. Even at 
 the present day several of the north-easterly Man- 
 tchou tribes clothe themselves in fish-skins, for which 
 reason they are termed by the Chinese Jupi, or Fish- 
 skins. These, like the Chadschen, belong to the 
 Aleutes. 
 
 " The people have no regular constitution; they know 
 nothing of officers and laws. If there is a robber in 
 the land, all of the inhabitants assemble together to 
 judge him. They know nothing of the divisions and 
 courses of the four seasons. Their bows are about four 
 feet long, and their arrows are like those of the Middle 
 Kingdom. They prepare from bones and stones a sort 
 of musical instrument ; they love singing and dancing. 
 They place their dead in the hollow trunks of trees, and 
 mourn for them three years, without wearing any mourn 
 ing-clothes. In the year C40, during the reign of the 
 second Heaven s Son of Tang, came the first and last 
 tribute-bringing embassy from the land of Lieu-kuei 
 to the Middle Kingdom." 
 
 Before the conquest of their land by the Russians, 
 the Kamtschadales lived in a sort of community, such 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 21 
 
 as is generally found among all primitive tribes, as, for 
 example, the early Germans. Every one revenged his 
 own wrongs with the readiest weapons such as bows, 
 arrows, and bone-spears. In war they chose a leader 
 wiiose authority ceased with it. In case of theft, where 
 the offender was unknown, the elders called the people 
 together, and advised them to give him up. When this 
 proved unsuccessful, death and destruction were gene 
 rally invoked upon his head by means of their Shamanic 
 sorcery. They divide the entire solar year into summer 
 and winter, but are ignorant of any division of time 
 into days and weeks, and few are able to count above 
 forty. They pass their time principally in dancing, 
 singing, and relating tales and legends. Their songs 
 and melodies, several of which are given in Steller, are 
 remarkably soft and agreeable. " When I compare," 
 says this excellent writer, " the songs of the great 
 Orlando Lasso, with which the King of France was so 
 much delighted after the Parisian Bloody Marriage, 
 with these airs of the Itolmen, I am compelled, so far 
 as agreeableness is concerned, to give the latter the 
 preference." The Chinese account of the three years of 
 mourning is groundless ; at least, when the Russians 
 first discovered Kamtschatka, nothing of the kind 
 existed. The sick were thrown, when beyond all hope 
 of recovery, to the dogs, even while yet alive, and any 
 thing like mourning or lamenting from their surviving 
 relatives was seldom even thought of. It is, however, 
 possible, if not probable, that since the seventh century, 
 
22 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 the manners of the Kamtschadales have much changed, 
 or deteriorated. 
 
 The situation of the Wen-schin, or Painted People, 
 if we are to credit the account regarding their distance 
 from Japan, must be sought for to the east of Kam- 
 tschatka, and within the Aleutian group of islands. 
 " The land of Wen-schin," says the Year-Book of the 
 Southern Dynasty, " is situated about 7000 Chinese 
 miles (or twenty of our geographical degrees) to the 
 north-east of Japan," l a direction and distance which 
 places us in the midst of the Aleutian or Fox group of 
 islands. It is not readily intelligible how Deguigne? 
 could seek and find these Painted People on the Island 
 of Jeso. 2 
 
 " Their bodies are usually covered with a variety 
 of figures of animals and the like. On the forehead 
 they have three lines : the long and straight indicate 
 the nobles, the small and crooked the common people." : 
 
 The Aleutian or Fox Islanders, before their conversion 
 to Christianity, not only cut, as is well known, a variety 
 
 1 Nausse, i.e., History of the Southern Dynasties, bk. 79, p. 5. The 
 same article is to be found in Leang-schu, i.e., in the Year-Book of Leang, 
 bk. 54, p. 19, and by Mantuanlin, bk. 327, p. 2. 
 
 2 Memoires de 1 Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, xxxviii. 
 506. This is not the only error which this writer, so excellent in other 
 respects, has made in this treatise. 
 
 3 While engaged on this re-edition of Professor Neumann s work (Lon 
 don, March 1874), I have frequently seen two very curious Chinese 
 figures, carved from wood, representing Aleutian Islanders. The faces 
 are smooth, but the garment, or external figure, ingeniously adapted 
 from some wood covered with a long fibre, gives them a very wild, hairy 
 appearance. C. G. L. 
 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 23 
 
 of figures upon the body, but also bored the cartilage 
 of the nose, and through it stuck a pin, upon which 
 they placed, on festive occasions, glass beads. The 
 women, for a similar purpose, bored the ear. More 
 over, they made cuts in the under lip, in which they 
 wore needles of stone or bone, about two inches long. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 AND ITS DISCOVERY. 
 
 DURING the dynasty of Leang, in the first half of the 
 sixth century, the Chinese often heard of a land 
 situated 5000 of their miles to the eastward of 
 the Painted People, who dwelt in the Aleutian Islands, 
 and named it Tahau, or Great China. The direction 
 and distance indicate the great peninsula Aliaska. 
 They probably named it Great China from their having 
 heard of the continent which extends beyond. It was 
 in a precisely similar manner, according to the legend, 
 that the Irish, who in earlier ages, long before the time 
 of Columbus, were cast away on the American shores, 
 named the country Great Ireland. 1 They reported that 
 the newly-discovered nation altogether resembled the 
 Painted People, but spoke an entirely different lan 
 guage. The Tahan bore no weapons, and knew nothing 
 of war and strife. 2 
 
 Beyond Aliaska the Chinese discovered, at the end 
 of the fifth century, a land which Deguignes, in fact, 
 
 1 Miinchener Gelehrte Anzeigen, viii. 636. This must Lave been 
 the land extending from the two Carolinas to the southern point of 
 Florida. 
 
 2 Leang-scliu and Mantuanliu, a. a. o. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 25 
 
 afterwards sought for on the north-west part of the 
 American Continent. The conjecture of that keen 
 witted scholar was subsequently fully verified, and 
 we are now able to determine those parts of America 
 described by the Chinese. The zealous inquiries 
 relating to a state of civilisation long passed away, 
 and to such of its remains as yet exist in the New 
 World, have led in our days to results of which the 
 inquirer of the eighteenth century could have had. no 
 intimation. We will now give a literal translation o 
 the Chinese report, and afterwards its explanation. 
 
 " During the reign of the dynasty Tsi, in the first 
 year of the year-naming, Everlasting Origin (A.D. 
 499), came a Buddhist priest from this kingdom, who 
 bore the cloister-name of Hoei-schiu, i.e., Universal 
 Compassion, 1 to the present district of Hukuang, and 
 those surrounding it, who narrated that Fusang is 
 about twenty thousand Chinese miles in an easterly 
 direction from Tahan, and east of the Middle Kingdom. 
 Many Fusang trees grow there, whose leaves resemble 
 the Dryanda cordifolia ; 2 the sprouts, on the contrary, 
 
 1 According to King-tschu it signifies "an old name." Kiug-tschu is 
 the sixth of the nine provinces which are described in the tax-roll of Ju, 
 which contains the sixth of the included divisions of the Annual Book. It 
 extended from the north side of the hill King. Compare Hongiugta, the 
 celebrated expounder of King in the times of Tang, with the already- 
 mentioned extracts from the Annual or Year-Book. 
 
 2 In the Leang-schu we find an error in the writing (a very common 
 
26 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 resemble those of the "bamboo-tree, 1 and are eaten by 
 the inhabitants of the land. The fruit is like a pear 
 in form, but is red. From the bark they prepare a 
 sort of linen which they use for clothing, and also a 
 sort of ornamented stuff." (With regard to this, the 
 Year- Books of Leang have a variation: instead of the 
 character KIN (11, 492 B.), meaning " embroidered 
 stuff," or embroidered and ornamented stuff in general, 
 we have MIEN, which signifies "fine silk.") " The houses 
 are built of wooden beams ; fortified and walled places 
 are there unknown." 
 
 OF W1UTING AND CIVIL REGULATIONS IN FUSANG. 
 
 " They have written characters in this land, and pre 
 pare paper from the bark of the Fusang. The people 
 have no weapons, and make no wars ; but in the arrange 
 ments for the kingdom they have a northern and a 
 southern prison. Trifling offenders were lodged in the 
 southern prison, but those confined for greater offences 
 in the northern ; so that those who were about to re 
 ceive grace could be placed in the southern prison, and 
 those who were not, in the northern. Those men and 
 women who were imprisoned for life were allowed to 
 
 occurrence in Chinese transcriptions) : instead of the character TONG (4, 
 233 Bas.), we have Tang (11, 444 B.), which signifies copper, and according 
 to which we must read, " Their leaves resemble copper," which is evi 
 dently an error. 
 
 1 This is the case also in China with the bamboo sprouts, on which 
 account they are called sun (7, 449 B.) ; i.e., the buds of the first ten days, 
 since they only keep for that time. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 2/ 
 
 marry. The boys resulting from these marriages were, 
 at the age of eight years, sold as slaves ; the girls not 
 until their ninth year.~^If a man of any note was found 
 guilty of crimes, an assembly was held ; it must be in 
 an excavated place." (Grube, Ger. "a pit;" possibly 
 within an embankment or circle of earth. C. Gr. L.) 
 " There they strewed ashes over him, and bade him fare 
 well. If the offender was one of a lower class, he alone 
 was punished ; but when of rank, the degradation was 
 extended to his children and grandchildren. With 
 those* of the highest rank it attained to the seventh 
 generation." 
 
 THE KINGDOM AND THE NOBLES OF FUSANG. 
 
 " The name of the king is pronounced Ichi. The 
 nobles of the first-class are termed Tuilu ; of the second, 
 Little Tuilu ; and of the third, Na-to-scha, When the 
 prince goes forth, he is accompanied by horns and 
 trumpets. The colour of his clothes changes with the 
 different years. In the two first of the ten-year cyclus 
 they are blue ; in the two next, red ; in the two follow 
 ing, yellow ; in the two next, red ; and in the last two, 
 black." 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 " The horns of the oxen are so large that they hold 
 ten bushels. They use them to contain all manner of 
 
28 THE NARRATIVE 0? HOE1-SHIN. 
 
 things. Horses, oxen, and stags are harnessed to their 
 waggons. Stags are used here as cattle are used in the 
 Middle Kingdom, and from the milk of the hind they 
 make butter. The red pears of the Fusang-tree keep 
 good throughout the year. Moreover, they have apples 
 and reeds. CjFroni the latter they prepare mats.j(L/N"o 
 iron is found in this land ; but copper, gold, and silver 
 are not prized, and do not serve as a medium of ex 
 change in the market. 
 
 " Marriage is determined upon in the following man 
 ner : The suitor builds himself a hut before the door 
 of the house where the one longed for dwells, and 
 waters and cleans the ground every morning and even 
 ing. When a year has passed by, if the maiden is not 
 inclined to marry him, he departs ; should she be willing, 
 it is completed. When the parents die, they fast seven 
 days. For the death of the paternal or maternal grand 
 father they lament five days ; at the death of elder or 
 younger sisters or brothers, uncles or aunts, three days. 
 They then sit from morning to evening before an image 
 of the ghost, absorbed in prayer, but wear no mourning- 
 clothes. When the king dies, the son who succeeds 
 him does not busy himself for three years with State 
 affairs. 
 
 " In earlier times these people lived not according to 
 the laws of Buddha. But it happened that in the second 
 year-naming < Great Light/ of Song (A.D. 458), five 
 beggar-monks from the kingdom of Kipin went to 
 
THE NARRA TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 2 g 
 
 this land, extended over it the religion of Buddha, 
 and with it his holy writings and images. They in 
 structed the people in the principles of monastic life, 
 and so changed their manners." 
 
 AMAZONIA. 
 
 The same Buddhist monk who gives this account of 
 the land Fusang, tells us of a country of women. 
 " This land," he writes, " lies about a thousand Chinese 
 miles in an easterly direction from Fusang, and is in 
 habited by white people with very hairy bodies." l The 
 entire story is, however, intermixed with so much fabu 
 lous matter, that it is not worth translating. It is, 
 however, worthy of remark, that since the earliest times 
 every civilised race which has left us written records of 
 its existence spoke of a land of women, which was 
 always placed farther and farther to the north-east, 
 until we find it ultimately placed in ^America. 2 It is 
 hardly necessary to say that such a land of women 
 could never have existed. It is, however, possible that 
 among various tribes here and there the women may 
 have had separate dwelling-places ; perhaps apart upon 
 an island, and held intercourse with the men only 
 from time to time. The Arabs, particularly Edrisi, speak 
 
 1 The reports are given in the Kansse, bk. 79, p. 5 ; Leang-schu, bk. 
 54, p. 49 ; and from these much more correctly in the Encyclopaedia of 
 Mantuanliu, bk. 327, a. A. 
 
 2 The Japanese have in their facelift an account of such a country. 
 C. G. L. 
 
30 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 of such an arrangement, but thought that this land of 
 women lay in an altogether different direction. 1 The 
 knowledge of the Arabs and Persians of the east and 
 north-eastern parts of the world extended only to Japan 
 and the eastern shores of China. " To the eastward 
 of Japan," asserts Abulfeda distinctly, " the earth is 
 uninhabited." 
 
 1 Edrisi, ii. 433, edition Jaubert. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 REMARKS ON THE REPORT OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 THE land west of the Indus, known to us at the pre 
 sent day under the names of Avghanistan and Beloo- 
 chistan, was converted, shortly after the death of the 
 Indian reformer Buddha, to his doctrine, which spread 
 the system of castes, and was founded upon the prin 
 ciple of universal love. 
 
 It bears in the reports of the Chinese Buddhists the 
 name Kipin, which appears in the different forms of 
 Kaphen, Kaphes, and Kaphante, in the description of 
 rivers and cities in Gedrosia and Arachosia by several of 
 the older writers. 1 Here the third leader of the religion of 
 the King s Son of Kapilapura had chosen his seat, 2 and 
 here his disciples flourished in great power, as their nume 
 rous monuments and ruins indicate, until the seventh and 
 eighth centuries, when the fanatic Moslem promulgated 
 the doctrines of their own prophet with fire and sword. 
 
 1 Mannert : Geographie der Griechen und Romer, v., Abtheilung ii. 
 19, 20, 53, und 55. 
 
 2 Vide History of Buddhism, which bears the title Tschi-jue-la, i.e., the 
 Indian Guide, iii. 5, v. 
 
32 THE NARRATIVE OF H OKI-SPUN. 
 
 To its holy city came many of the monks of Middle Asia 
 and China, and from Kophene again the religion ex 
 tended itself to many parts of the world, even to North 
 America and Mexico. 
 
 How these American lands were named by their in 
 habitants we know not, as seems indeed to be generally 
 the case with most new discoveries of this nature. We 
 know only that they received the name Fusang, which 
 was that of a tree common to these countries and 
 Eastern Asia, or, it would more probably appear, that of 
 an Asiatic tree resembling it in one or more particulars : 
 for it seems to be a natural and usual circumstance 
 to name a newly-discovered land after some striking 
 peculiarity of the kind. The Norsemen, who landed in 
 America five hundred years after these Buddhist priests, 
 named it in a similar manner Winaland Wine or 
 Vine land from the number of wild grapes which grew 
 there. On account of the great distance of the land 
 Fusang, no missionaries went there afterwards. And 
 yet the story of this land, so full of marvels, has not 
 yet disappeared from the memories of Chinese and 
 Buddhist inquirers into the wonders of the olden time. 
 ^"Many of them have frequently mentioned it in their 
 \ works, and have even drawn maps of it, 1 and taken 
 the pains, in their thoughtless, unreflecting manner, to 
 collect all the accounts which we have here given. Also, 
 at a later period, their mythical geographers and poets 
 often availed themselves of this piece of knowledge, and, 
 
 1 Fa-Uai-rirjan-Utu, i.e., More Certain Tables of Religion, i. 22. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 33 
 
 as was the case in the West 1 with the land of Prester 
 John, spun it out into all manner of strange tales. 
 But these beautiful and romantic fancies about the land 
 and tree Fusang can have no more weight with the 
 impartial seeker into the truth of historical tradition 
 than the legends of Alexander and of Charlemagne 
 with the student of Arrian and Eginhard. 2 
 
 The distance of the land from Tahan or Aliaska, 
 which extends, according to the estimate before given, 
 from the fifty-seventh to the fifty-eighth degree, leads 
 us necessarily to the north-west coast of Mexico, and 
 the vicinity of San Bias. Not less decisively do the 
 Buddhist- Chinese reports indicate this part of the 
 world. But before we can avail ourselves of these later 
 accounts of the Aztecs, a difficulty must be removed, 
 which would otherwise annihilate the complete mass of 
 proofs. 
 
 THE OLDEST HISTORY OF MEXICO. 
 
 The information given by our Buddhist travellers 
 goes back into times long anterior to the most remote 
 periods alluded to in the obscure legends of the 
 
 1 Vide Eelation des Mongols ou Tartares, by the priest Jean du Plan de 
 Carpin, Legat du Saint Siege Apostolique, &c., during tlie years 1245-47, 
 given in the notice published by the Socidte de Geographic, under the 
 above-mentioned title ; the travels of Sir John Mandeville, and Jacques 
 de Vitry ; the works of Matthew of Paris, Joinville, Marco Polo ; and more 
 particularly the old legend of Prestre Jehau, reprinted in " Le Monde 
 Enchautee," parM. Ferdinand Denis, Paris, 1843, p. 184. C. G. L. 
 
 2 Fi cZe Turpin s Chronicle, Warton ; "The Book of Legends," by 
 O Sullivan, Paris, 1842; also "The Romance of King Alisauder," 
 Weber s "Metrical Romances." C. G. L. 
 
34 THE NARRATIVE OF HO El- SHIN. 
 
 Aztecs, resting upon uncertain interpretations of hiero 
 glyphics. One fact is, however, deeply rooted in this 
 trembling soil of Old America : the races of barbarians 
 which successively followed each other from the north 
 to the south always murdered, hunted down, and sub 
 dued the previous inhabitants, and formed in course 
 of time a new social and political life upon the ruins 
 of the old system, to be again destroyed and renewed 
 in a few centuries, by a new invasion of barbarians. 
 The later native conquerors in the New World can, 
 of course, no more be considered in the light of ori 
 ginal inhabitants than the present races of men in the 
 Old World. 
 
 THE RUINS OF MITLA AND PALENQUE. 1 
 
 The ruins named after the adjacent places, Mitla and 
 Palenque, situated in the province Zzendales, near the 
 limits of the municipality of Cuidad Real and Yucatan, 
 have been supposed by enthusiastic scholars to possess 
 an antiquity anterior, by thousands of years, to the 
 coming of our Lord. Prejudiced and ignorant vision 
 aries have imagined this to be the home of all spiritual 
 cultivation, and even to have discovered here traces of 
 Buddhism. The Toltcks a word signifying architects 
 
 1 Antiquites Mexicaines, ii. 73, and Transactions of the American An 
 tiquarian Society, ii. On the subject of the early Mexicans, the reader 
 may consult Prescott s " History of the Conquest of Mexico," a work as 
 much distinguished by substantial erudition and critical tact, as by its 
 simple, truly historical statements. (Ebenso ausgezeichnet durch griiudliche 
 Gelehrsamkeit und kritischen Tact, wie durch einfache iicht geschichtliche 
 Darstellung.) CARL F. NEUMANN. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 55 
 
 appeared about the middle of the seventh, century, 
 and one of their literary productions, known as " The 
 Divine Book," existed, according to an unauthenticated 
 legend, until the time of the Spaniards. The Aztecs, 
 on the contrary, came to Anahuac, or " The Land 
 near the Water," during the reign of Frederick the 
 Second. 1 The savage invaders evinced at first the 
 greatest hostility to the religion and social institutions 
 of the conquered race, bu^jeelin_ ultimately them 
 selves the want of a regular system, they erected a new 
 edifice upon the old ruins. This may prove advan 
 tageous in an intellectual or intelligent (subjectiv)^ as 
 well as a material point of view, since we gan^thus 
 avail ourselves of JL knowledge of the laws^ manners, 
 and customs of the Aztecs, in order to obtain a clearer 
 conception of the condition of the earlier races who in 
 habited this land. 2 The most learned historian of New 
 Spain has already recognised in every particular, and in 
 connection with the results of the most recent inquiries, 
 the original affinity of the numerous Mexican languages. 
 The pyrarnidic-symbolic form of many of the Mexican 
 monuments appears, indeed, to have a resemblance with 
 the religious edifices of the Buddhists for places of 
 interment ; but neither their architecture nor orna 
 ments, according to Castaneda s drawings of Mexican 
 antiquities, indicate any East Indian symbol, unless we 
 
 1 The chronological accounts of the different authors contradict each 
 other ; those of the learned Clavigero always appear to be the most 
 correct. PRESCOTT, i. ii. 
 
 2 Clavigero, Storia Antica del Messico, i. 153. 
 
3 6 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 are willing to admit tlieir eight rings or stories as 
 such. 1 According to a Buddhistic legend, the remains 
 of Schakia were placed in eight metallic jars, and over 
 these as many temples were erected. 2 But if Buddhism 
 ever flourished in Central America, it certainly was not 
 the pure religion of Schakia as it now exists in Nepaul, 
 Thibet, and other parts of Asia, but a new religion, 
 built upon its foundations. For the missionaries of 
 Schakiamunis were in a manner Jesuits, who, the 
 more readily to attain their aim, either based their 
 doctrines upon, or intermixed them with, the existing 
 manners and customs. The myth of the birth of the 
 terrible Aztec god of war may possibly be a faded 
 remain of the old Indian religion. Huitzilopotschli 
 of Mexico was born in the same wonderful manner as 
 Schakia of India ; his mother saw a ball floating in the 
 air, but one of shining feathers, placed it in her bosom, 
 became pregnant, and gave birth to the terrible son, 
 who came into the world with a spear in his right hand, 
 a shield in his left, and a waving tuft of green feathers 
 on his head. Juan de Grijalva, the nephew of Velas 
 quez, was so much struck with the many instances of 
 a high state of civilisation, and particularly with the 
 magnificent buildings of Mexico, that he named the 
 
 1 These circles suggest tlie eight rings of Odin, preserved in the eight 
 arches of Norse towers. The ring of Odiii produced every eighth night 
 eight similar rings. It may be worth remarking in this connection, that 
 the small pot-bellied phallic images in gold found in the graves of Central 
 America, bear an extraordinary resemblance to a similar figure found iu 
 Ireland, and depicted on Etruscan vases. C. G. L. 
 
 2 Asiatic Researches, xvi. 316. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 37 
 
 peninsula New Spain, which term has since been ex 
 tended to a much greater portion of the New World. 
 
 FUSANG, MAGUEY, AGAVE AMERICANA. 
 
 We know that the flora of the north-western part of 
 America is closely allied to that of China, Japan,, and 
 other lands of Eastern Asia. 1 We may also assume that 
 the Fusang-tree was formerly found in America, and 
 afterwards, through neglect, became extinct. Tobacco 
 and Indian-corn seem always to have been as natural 
 to China as to the New World. 2 It is, however, much 
 more probable that the traveller described a plant 
 hitherto unknown to him, which supplies as many 
 wants in Mexico as the original Fusang is said to do 
 in Eastern Asia I mean the great American aloe 
 (Agave America.no), called by the Indians " Maguey," 
 which is so remarkably abundant in the plains of New 
 Spain. /From the crushed leaves, even at the present 
 day, a firm paper is prepared. Upon such paper those 
 hieroglyphic manuscripts alluded to by the Buddhist 
 missionary, and destroyed by the fanatic Spaniards, 
 were written. From the sap an intoxicating drink is 
 made. Its large stiff leaves serve to roof their low 
 huts, and the fibres supply them with a variety of 
 thread and ropes. From the boiled roots they prepare 
 an agreeable food, and the thorns serve for pins and 
 
 1 Prescott, i. 143. 
 
 2 A very doubtful assertion, as regards tobacco. Vide communications 
 in "Notes and Queries for China." C. G. L. 
 
38 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 needles. This wonderful plant, therefore, provides them 
 with food, drink, clothing, and writing materials ; being, 
 in fact, so fully satisfactory to every want of the Mexi 
 cans, that many persons, well acquainted with the land 
 and its inhabitants, have asserted that the maguey-plant 
 must/ "be exterminated , ere sloth and idleness, the two 
 gre&t impediments which hinder them from attaining a 
 higher social position, can be checked.- 
 
 METALS AND MONEY. 
 
 The use of iron, now found so plentifully in New 
 Spain, was, as the Buddhist correctly remarked, un 
 known in Mexico. Copper and brass supplied its place, 
 as was indeed the case at an early period in other 
 countries. The natives prepared, according to An 
 tonio de Herrera, two sorts of copper, a hard and a soft, 
 the former of which was used to manufacture cutting 
 tools and agricultural instruments, and the latter for 
 pots and all manner of household implements. They 
 understood the working of silver, tin, and lead mines ; 
 but neither the silver nor the gold which they picked 
 up on the surface of the earth, or found in the beds of 
 rivers, served as a circulating medium. These metals 
 were not particularly prized in that land. Pieces of 
 tin in the form of a common hammer, 1 and bundles of 
 
 1 Do not these hammer-shaped Mexican coins bear a resemblance to 
 the well-known shoe-shaped ingots of Sycee silver current in China ? As 
 regards the copper, recent discoveries indicate that it was brought by the 
 Mexicans from the shores of Lake Superior. The highest northern traces of 
 Mexican art and influence are, I believe, to be found in Tennessee. C. G L. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 39 
 
 cacao containing a determined number of seeds, were 
 the usual money. 
 
 LAWS AND CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS. 
 
 The laws of the Aztecs were very strict, yet in 
 the few remaining fragments of their hieroglyphical 
 pictures we find no trace of the regulations of the 
 land " Fusang." There existed, however, in the days 
 of Montezuma, an hereditary nobility, divided into 
 several ranks, of which authors give contradictory 
 statements. Zurita speaks of four orders of chiefs, who 
 were exempted from the payment of taxes, and enjoyed 
 other immunities. 1 
 
 Their method of marrying resembled that practised 
 at the present day in Kamtschatka. We have no 
 account of their mourning ceremonies, but know that 
 the king had a particular palace in which he passed 
 the time of mourning for his nearest relatives. 2 On 
 the festivals of the gods they sounded horns and trum 
 pets ; this may have been done by the companions of 
 the king, as to a representative of the godhead. 3 
 
 The Aztecs reckoned according to a period of fifty- 
 two years, and knew very exactly the time of the 
 revolution of the earth about the sun. The ten-year 
 cyclus spoken of in the Chinese report may have been 
 a subdivision of the Aztec period, or have even been 
 
 1 Prescott, i. 18. ~ Mithridates, iii. 33. 
 
 3 Berual Diaz : Historia de la Conquista, pp. 152, 153. Prescott, iii. 87, 97. 
 
40 THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 used as an independent period, as was the case 
 with the Chinese, who term their notations " stems." 
 It is worthy of remark that among the Mongols and 
 Mantchons these " stems " are named after colours, 
 which perhaps have some relation to the several colours 
 of the royal clothing in the cyclus of Fusang. 1 These 
 Tartaric tribes term the first two years of the ten-year 
 cyclus " green and greenish;" the two next " red 
 and reddish," ! and so, in continuation, yellow and 
 yellowish, white and whitish, and finally black and 
 blackish. It appears, however, impossible to bring 
 this cyclus of the Aztecs into any relation with those of 
 the Asiatics, who universally reckon by periods of sixty 
 years. 
 
 DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 
 
 The Aztecs had no beasts of draught or of burden. 
 Horses were not found in the New World. The report 
 of the Chinese missionary has, therefore, no connection 
 with the later Mexican reigns. Two varieties of wild 
 oxen with large horns ranged in herds on the plains of 
 the Kio del Norte. 3 These might have been tamed by 
 the earlier inhabitants, and used as domestic animals. 
 Stag s horns have been found in the ruins of Mexican 
 buildings ; and Montezuma showed the Spaniards, as 
 curiosities, immensely large horns of this description. 
 
 1 Gaubil : Observations Mathe"matiques, Paris, 1732, ii. 135. 
 
 2 The second couple being termed red agrees with that of the Fusang 
 cyclus. C. G. L. 
 
 1 Humboldt : Neuhispanien, ii. 138. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 41 
 
 It is possible that the stags formerly ranged from New 
 California, and other regions of North America, where 
 they are still found in great numbers, to the interior of 
 Mexico. To a native of China it must have seemed 
 remarkable that the Mexicans should have prepared 
 butter from, hind s milk, since such a thing has seldom 
 been done in China, either in ancient or modern times. 
 When the inhabitants of Chusan saw the English 
 sailors milking she-goats, they could not retain their 
 gravity. It is indeed possible that the Chinese have 
 described an animal similar to the horse with the 
 character Ma, or horse, for changes of this nature are 
 of frequent occurrence. 1 In such a manner many 
 names of animals in the Old World have been applied 
 to others of an entirely different nature in the New. 
 The eastern limits of the Asiatic Continent are also the 
 limits of the native land of the horse, and it appears 
 that it was first taken in the third century of our 
 era from Korea into Japan. But let the error in regard 
 to the American horses have come from what source it 
 will, the unprejudiced, circumspect inquirer will not be 
 
 1 It is usual for all ignorant or unscientific people to give to animals 
 for which they have no name that of some other creature with which 
 they are familiar. Thus the gipsies speak of a fox as a iceshni juckal, 
 or wood-dog; of an elephant as a ~boro nalkescro yry, or great-nosed 
 horse ; of a monkey as a bombaros, and a lion as a boro bombaros, or 
 big monkey, from their connection in menageries. Professor Neumann 
 was probably ignorant of the fact, to which I allude more fully in another 
 place, that the fossil remains of many horses found in America are of so 
 recent a period, according to Professor Leidy, that they were probably 
 coeval with man. C. G. L. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOE I- SHIN. 
 
 determined on account of it to declare the entire story 
 of Fusaug-Mexico an idle tale. It appears to me that 
 this description of the western coast of America is at 
 least as authentic as the discovery of the eastern coast, 
 as narrated in Icelandic sagas. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHINESE AND JAPANESE IN KAMTSCHATKA AND THE 
 HAWAIIAN GROUP. 
 
 A NUMBER of facts, taken from the occurrences of later 
 times, may be alleged to support the theory of a former 
 intercourse of China and Japan with the islands which 
 lie between those countries and America, and also with 
 the western coast of the latter. Even if the Chinese 
 and Japanese (to whom, with their knowledge of the 
 compass, such an enterprise would have presented no 
 difficulties) have never at any time intentionally under 
 taken a voyage to America, it has nevertheless hap 
 pened that ships from Eastern Asia, China, and Japan, 
 as well as those of Russians from Ochotsk and Karn- 
 tschatka, have been cast away on the islands and coasts 
 of the New World. 1 The earliest Spanish travellers and 
 discoverers heard of foreign merchants who had landed 
 on the north-west coast of America, and even assert 
 that they saw fragments of a Chinese vessel. 2 This 
 much we know, that the crew of a Japanese junk acci- 
 
 1 An account of a Russian ship cast away, A.D. 1761, on the coast of 
 California, may be found in the travels of several Jesuit missionaries iu 
 America, published by Murr, Nuremberg, 1785, p. 337. 
 
 2 Torquemada, Mou. Ind., iii. 7 ; Acosta, Hist. Nat. Amer., iii. 12. 
 
44 THE NARRA TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 dentally discovered a great continent in the East, re 
 mained there over winter, and safely returned home. 
 The Japanese have remarked that the land extended 
 further to the north-west, 1 They may have wintered 
 in California, and then coasted as far north as Aliaska. 
 Another Japanese vessel was wrecked about the end of 
 the year 1832 on Oahu, one of the Sandwich Islands, 
 concerning which the Hawaiian Spectator contained the 
 following observation : 2 " This Japanese vessel had 
 nine men on board, who were bringing fish from one 
 of the southern Chinese islands to Jeddo. A storm 
 blew them out into the open sea, where they were 
 driven about between ten and eleven months, until they 
 finally landed in the haven Waiala, in the island Oahn, 
 The ship was wrecked, but the men were brought safely 
 to Honolulu, where they remained eighteen months, 
 and then, by their own desire, were sent to Kam- 
 tschatka, whence they hoped to steal quietly into their 
 own country; for the barbarously cruel. Government of 
 Japan, 3 mindful of the artifices of the Portuguese 
 
 1 Kampfer : Geschichte von Japan, Lemgo, 17/7, i. 82. 
 
 2 Hawaiian Spectator, i. 296, quoted in Belcher s "Voyage Round tLo 
 World," London, 1843, i. 304. Also see "History of the Hawaiian or 
 Sandwich Islands, from the earliest traditionary period to the present 
 time," by James Jackson Jarvis, London, 1843. I have been personally 
 well acquainted with both these writers, and can commend their works u3 
 those of men of accurate observation. Jarvis states that, according to 
 the tradition of the islanders, several such vessels had been wrecked 
 upon Hawaii before the island was discovered by whites or Europeans. 
 C. G. L. 
 
 3 The reader will please to remember that all this was written thirty 
 years ago, before Japan had entered on the great race of civilisation. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 45 
 
 Jesuits, and continually fearing some plot on the part 
 of the neighbouring Russians, have forbidden even 
 the return of their own shipwrecked countrymen. As 
 the natives of Hawaii," so continues the Spectator , 
 " saw these foreigners, so similar to themselves in 
 external appearance, and in many manners and cus 
 toms, they were astonished, and declared unanimously, 
 6 There is no doubt on the subject ; we came from Asia. " 
 Another example of a Japanese vessel in America, and 
 of the unreflecting, jealous policy of the Dairi, is as 
 follows : During the winter of 1833-34, a Japanese 
 junk was wrecked on the north-west coast of America, 
 in the vicinity of Queen Charlotte s Island, and the 
 numerous crew, weakened by hunger, were murdered 
 by the natives, with the exception of two persons. The 
 Hudson Bay Company kindly took charge of these 
 survivors, and sent them, in 1834, to England, whence 
 they were forwarded to Macao. This was considered a 
 fortunate event, and the English hoped that the Japan 
 ese Government, mindful of such kind treatment of their 
 subjects, would show themselves grateful, and perhaps 
 remove the restrictions against all foreigners. In vain. 
 The ship that was to restore to the Japanese rulers their 
 subjects, and at the same time aid in the missionary 
 enterprise (Karl Giitzlaff being on board), was received 
 with a salute of cannon-balls, and obliged to leave, with 
 unfulfilled intentions, the shores of this inhospitable 
 land. 
 
 All of these facts show, however, and indeed suffi- 
 
46 THE NARRATIVE OF HOET-SHIN. 
 
 ciently, that the passage of Eastern Asiatics to the 
 western islands and shores of America is in the highest 
 degree possible. And it is also possible that the inha 
 bitants of these islands, in their weak boats, may from 
 time to time, accidentally or intentionally, have landed 
 upon the Asiatic Continent. " It is wonderful," says 
 the Jesuit Hieronymus d Angelis, the first European 
 who landed in Jeso (A.D. 1G1S), "how bold and expe 
 rienced are these people in the management of then 
 vessels. In their frail boats they often undertake 
 voyages of from two to three months duration ; anc. 
 however often they may be wrecked, still there are ever 
 new adventurers ready to take their place and run the 
 same risks.* 
 
 THE FUTURE OF EASTERN ASIA. 
 
 The pride and barbarism of the numerous countries 
 situated on the coasts of Asia and America, as well as 
 of the inhabitants of the islands lying between, have 
 forbidden hitherto any hope of a relation, commercial 
 or otherwise, between them and the more enlightened 
 world. Our age, however, which has broken through 
 so many obstacles, never again to be closed, will ulti 
 mately break the chains of Eastern Asia, and give a 
 world-movement (Weltbercegung) to the immense num 
 bers imprisoned there. When this- shall have been fully 
 accomplished and the beginning has already taken 
 place we can first hope for a regular, unbroken union 
 between the Eastern and the Western World. 
 
REMARKS 
 
 OX THE 
 
 TEXT OF PROFESSOR NEUMANN, 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FUSANG AND PERU. 
 
 SINCE the foregoing chapters were written, the author 
 my old friend and teacher has passed away, and the 
 prophecy with which his work ended has been sin 
 gularly fulfilled. China is now thoroughly opened, 
 and Japan, once proverbial for its exclusiveness, goes 
 beyond more than one European country in her zeal 
 to Europeanise. And I believe that time will show, 
 when the records of these countries shall have been 
 more carefully searched, that the same insight which 
 induced Carl F. Neumann to prophecy the speedy open 
 ing of the East, was not at fault when he declared, on 
 apparently slight data, his faith that in an early age the 
 Chinese had penetrated Western America as far as Mexico. 
 It should be especially observed that, in commenting 
 on the simple record of the old monk Hoei-Shiu, Pro 
 fessor Neumann judiciously reminds the reader that the 
 information given " goes back into a period long ante 
 rior to the most remote ages alluded to in the obscure 
 legends of the Aztecs, resting upon uncertain interpre 
 tations of hieroglyphics." One thing we know, that in 
 America, as in Asia or Europe, one wave of emigration 
 
 D 
 
So REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 
 
 and conquest swept after another, each destroying in a 
 great measure all traces of its predecessor. Thus in 
 Peru the Inca race ruled over the lower caste, and 
 would in time have probably extinguished it. But the 
 Incas themselves were preceded by another and evidently 
 more Drifted race, since it is now known that these 
 
 O / 
 
 mysterious predecessors were far abler than themselves 
 as architects. " Who this race were," says Prescott, 1 
 "and whence they came, may afford a tempting theme for 
 inquiry to the speculative antiquarian. But it is a land 
 of darkness, that lies far beyond the domain of history. 
 Problems as difficult, and far more unpromising, have, 
 however, been solved within a few years, and entire 
 literatures, histories, and languages have been exhumed, 
 literally from the soil. Let me instance, for example, the 
 earthen cylinders of Nineveh, of whose records it may 
 not only be said, " Dust thou art, and to dust slialt 
 thou return," but also, in the higher spirit of Chris 
 tianity and humanity, " and from dust thou shalt rise 
 again." Nullce latent ; , qua non patent. And there is a 
 possibility that even in this secret of secrets, Old Pern, 
 there lurks some slight possibility of elucidating the 
 question of the Chinese in Mexico in the fifth century. 
 For as the American waves of conquest flowed south, it 
 is no extravagant hypothesis to assume that the race 
 of men whom the monk encountered in " Fusang " may 
 possibly have had something in common with what was 
 
 1 Conquest of Peru, chap. I., i. 12, 13, edit. 1847. Vide note on page 
 60 of this work. 
 
REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 51 
 
 afterwards found farther south in the land of the Incas. 
 One thing is certain, that there is a singularly Peruvian 
 air in all that this short narrative tells us of the land 
 Fusang. Fortified places, it says, were unknown, 
 though there was evidently a high state of civilisa 
 tion ; and yet this strange anomaly appears to have 
 actually existed in ancient Peru, for Prescott speaks 
 of the system of fortifications established through 
 the empire as though it had originated with the Incas. 
 Most extraordinary is, however, the remark of the 
 monk that the houses are built with wooden beams. 
 Now, as houses, all the world over, are generally con 
 structed in this manner, the remark might seem almost 
 superfluous. However, the Peruvians built their houses 
 with wooden beams, and, as Prescott tells us, "knew no 
 better way of holding the beams together than tying 
 them with the thongs of maguey" -Xffow, be it re 
 marked that the monk makes a direct transition from 
 speaking of the textile fibre and fabric of th.3 maguey 
 to the wooden beams of the houses a coincidence 
 which is at least striking, though it be no proof. It is 
 precisely as though he had the maguey in his memory, 
 and were about to add it to his mention of the wooden 
 beams. ,And we may notice that this construction of 
 houses^was admirably adapted to a land of earthquakes 
 such as Southern America, and that Prescott himself 
 testifies that a number of them " still survive, while 
 the more modern constructions of the conquerors are 
 buried in ruins." 
 
52 REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 
 
 Most strikingly Peruvian is the monk s account of 
 the kingdom and the nobles. The name Ichi is very 
 like the natural Chinese pronunciation of the word Inca. 
 The stress laid on the three ranks of nobles suggests 
 the Peruvian Inca castes of lower grade, as well as the 
 Mexican ; while the stately going forth of the king, 
 " accompanied by horns and trumpets," vividly recalls 
 Prescott s account of the journeyings of the Peruvian 
 potentate. The change of the colour of his garments 
 according to the astronomical cycle is, however, more 
 thoroughly in accordance with the spirit of the institu 
 tions of the Children of the Sun than anything which we 
 have met in the whole of this strange and obsolete record. 
 And it is indeed remarkable that Professor Neumann, 
 who had already indicated the southern course of Aztec 
 or of Mexican civilisation, and who manifested, as the 
 reader may have observed, so much shrewdness in ad 
 ducing testimony for the old monk s narrative, did not 
 search more closely into Peruvian history for that con 
 firmation which a slight inquiry seems to indicate is by 
 no means wanting in it. Thus, with regard to the 
 observation 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 nation, whether pagan or Christian." Each month 
 had its appropriate festival, or rather festivals. The 
 four principal had reference to the sun, and comme 
 morated the great periods of his annual progress, the 
 solstices and equinoxes. Garments of a peculiar wool, 
 
REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 53 
 
 and feathers of a peculiar colour, were reserved to 
 the Inca. I cannot 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 astro 
 nomical 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. 
 
 I would, however, specially observe on this subject 
 of the cycles and changes of colours corresponding to 
 astronomical mutations, that Montesinos 1 expressly as 
 serts that the Peruvians threw their years into cycles 
 of ten a fact which has quite escaped the notice of 
 Neumann, who conjectures that the decade of Fusang 
 may have been a subdivision of the Aztec period, or 
 even have been used as an independent one, as was 
 indeed the case with the Chinese, who termed these 
 notations " stems." " It is worthy of remark," he adds, 
 " that among the Mongols and Mantchous these 6 stems 
 are named after colours, which, perhaps, have some 
 relation to the several colours of the royal clothing in 
 the cycles of Fusang. These Tartaric tribes term the 
 first two years of the ten-year cyclus, green and greenish, 
 
 1 Montesinos : Hemorias Antiquas, MS., lib. ii. cap. 7. Vide Prescott s 
 Conquest of Peru, bk. i. p. 128. 
 
54 REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF, NEUMANN. 
 
 the next red and reddish, and so on, yellow and yellowish, 
 white and whitish, and finally black and blackish."- 
 
 Peru, certainly, is not Mexico ; but I would here recall 
 my former observation that Mexico might have been at 
 one time peopled by a race having Peruvian customs, 
 which in after years were borne by them far to the 
 south. The ancient mythology and ethnography of 
 Mexico present in their turn a mass of curious, though 
 perhaps accidental, identities with those of Asia. And 
 both Mexico and Peru had the tradition of a deluge 
 from which seven prisoners escaped. In the hieroglyphs 
 of the former country, these seven are represented -as 
 issuing from an egg. 
 
 O GO 
 
 "We may note also that a Peruvian tradition declares 
 the first missionaries of civilisation who visited them 
 to have been white and bearded. " This may re 
 mind us," says Prescott, " of the tradition existing 
 among the Aztecs in respect to Quetzalcoatl, the good 
 deity, who, with a similar garb and aspect, came up the 
 great plateau from the east, on a like benevolent mission 
 
 1 Mr Hyde Clarke Las pointed out, in some remarks to which I shall 
 again have occasion to refer, that there are many curious circumstances as 
 to the use of colours in connection with numbers ; and that, for instance 
 in many of the prehistoric languages, the word for red and that for the 
 number two were identical. Very little can be inferred from this, and 
 nothing can be based upon it, but the coincidence, though slight, is curious, 
 and may serve as a basis for future observation. Red, it may be remarked, 
 is the second colour in the Fusang cyclus as mentioned by Hoei-shin. In 
 the symbolism of the Roman Catholic Church, blue and white are identi 
 fied in the Pope, but the Cardinals next him, or the second rank, wear 
 red. Red, as I have already indicated, was the colour both of the second 
 Tartar and second Fusang couple of years in the cyclus. 
 
REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 55 
 
 to the natives." In the same way the Aesir, Children 
 of Light, or of the Sun, came from the east to Scandi 
 navia, and taught the lore of the gods. 
 
 The Peruvian embalming of the royal dead takes us 
 back to Egypt ; the burning of the wives of the deceased 
 Incas reveals India ; the singularly patriarchal charac 
 ter of the whole Peruvian policy is like that of China 
 in the olden time ; while the system of espionage, of 
 tranquillity, of physical well-being, and the iron-like 
 immovability in which their whole social frame was 
 cast bring before us Japan as it was a very few years 
 ago. In fact, there is something strangely Japanese iu 
 the entire cultus of Peru as described by all writers. 
 
 It is remarkable that the Supreme Being of the 
 Peruvians was worshipped under the names of Pacha- 
 comae, " He who sustains or gives life to the universe," 
 and of Viraeocha, 1 " Foam of the Sea," a name strik 
 ingly recalling Venus Aphrodite, the female and 
 second principle of life in many ancient mythologies. 
 Not less curious (if authentic) is the tradition of 
 the Vestal Virgins of the Sun, who, it is said, were 
 buried alive if detected in an intrigue, and whose duty 
 it was to keep burning the sacred fire obtained at the 
 festival of Kaynri. 
 
 " Vigilemque sacraverat ignem 
 Excubias divuin seternas." 
 
 This fire was obtained, as by the ancient Romans, on 
 
 i To-day in Peru -white men are called Viracochas. "Myths of the 
 New World," by D. G. Brinton, M.D., New York, 1868, p. ISO. 
 
56 REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 
 
 a precisely similar occasion, by means of a concave 
 mirror of polished metal. 1 The Incas, in order to pre 
 serve purity of race, married their own sisters, as 
 did the kings of Persia, and of other Oriental nations, 
 urged by a like feeling of pride, and possibly in accor 
 dance with a faith in the physical law set forth a 
 few years ago in the Fortnightly and the Westminster 
 Reviews. Among the Peruvians, mama signified mother, 
 while papa was applied to the chief priest. " With 
 both, the term seems to embrace in its most comprehen 
 sive sense the paternal relation, in which it is more 
 familiarly employed by most of the nations of Europe." 
 
 It has been observed that, as in the case of the 
 Green Corn Festival ^f the Creek Indians of Georgia, 2 
 many striking analogies can be established between the 
 Indian tribes of North America and the Peruvians. 
 Gallatin has shown the affinity of languages between 
 all the American aborigines. It is possible that the first 
 race which subsequently spread southward, may with 
 modifications have occupied the entire north. 
 
 Let the reader also remember, that while the proofs 
 of the existence or residence of Orientals in America 
 are extremely vague and uncertain and I trust that it 
 
 1 The Liang-sze-kung-ki says that envoys from Fusang to China 
 brought, as tribute, square and circular mirrors more than a foot in cir 
 cumference. These were called "gems for observing the sun "possibly 
 metallic burning-glasses. Vide " Notes and Queries for China and Japan " 
 1870. 
 
 2 Vide " The Green Corn Dance," from an unpublished MS. by John 
 Howard Payne, author of "Home, Sweet Home," in the Continental 
 Monthly. Boston, 1862. 
 
REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 57 
 
 will be borne in mind that this admission has been 
 made sincerely and cheerfully and while they are sup 
 ported only by coincidences, the antecedent probability 
 of their having come hither, or having been able to 
 come, is stronger than the Norse discovery of the New 
 World, or even than that of Columbus himself would 
 appear to be. Let the reader take the map of the 
 Northern Pacific ; let him ascertain for himself the fact 
 that from Kamtschatka, which was well known to the 
 old Chinese, to Aliaska, the journey is far less arduous 
 than from China proper, and it will be seen that there 
 was in all probability abundant intercourse of some 
 kind between the continents. In early times, the 
 Chinese were bold and skilful navigators, to whom the 
 chain of the Aleutian Islands would have been simply 
 like steppiog-stones over a shallow brook to a child. 
 For it is a well-ascertained fact, that a sailor in an 
 open boat might cross from Asia to America by the 
 Aleutian Islands in summer-time, and hardly ever be 
 out of sight of land, and this in a part of the sea gene 
 rally abounding in fish, as is proved by the fishermen 
 who inhabit many of these islands, on which fresh water 
 is always to be found. Nor when in Aliaska would the 
 emigrant from Asia be deterred, during half the year at 
 least, by the severity of the climate. If the country be 
 not, as the late Mr Seward was jocosely said to have 
 declared, abounding in pine-apples and polar bears, 
 icebergs and strawberries, it is at least tolerably habit 
 able, as I know by the testimony of several friends 
 
58 REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 
 
 one of whom even wintered out there while searching 
 for gold and from a Russian - English newspaper 
 published in that remote country. From a number of 
 this newspaper, containing the advertisement of books 
 published by Nicholas Triibner of London, I infer that 
 a very fair degree of luxury, not devoid of erudition, 
 may now be attained in Aliaska. In short, to an enter 
 prising Buddhist monk, inspired with the zeal of a 
 missionary, this* journey to Fusang does not present 
 one half the difficulties which thousands of exactly such 
 monks undergo at the present day in their journeyings 
 over the vast and sterile plains and through the hostile 
 mountain ranges of Central Asia. I have, indeed, no 
 doubt that, even as I write, there is living, travelling, 
 and preaching, more than one such Eastern Cordelier, 
 bearing literally the very name of Hoei-shin, whose 
 journeyings have been as wide, as wild, and as weary 
 as those of him who long ago returned and told, like 
 King Thibault of Navarre, his story of lauds beyond 
 
 sea 
 
 " Outre mer j ay fait mon pelerinage, 
 Et sonlTert ay moult grande dommage," 
 
 and so passed away to a quiet cloister grave. The 
 bedesman sleeps among his ashes cold, little think 
 ing, before he died, that more than a thousand years 
 after his story had been told it would rise again 
 thousands of miles away, and go, for men to read, even 
 in Tahan itself. 
 
 Seriously enough, the only real marvel as regards the 
 
REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMAXX. 59 
 
 probability of the Chinese having been in Mexico 
 thirteen hundred years ago would be that they were 
 never there, and did not make the journey. When we 
 see a nation, as China once was, with a religious pro 
 paganda, sending missionaries thousands of miles be 
 yond its borders ; boasting a commerce, and gifted 
 with astronomers and geographers of no mean ability, 
 we must certainly believe that it made many discoveries. 
 And when we find its pioneers advancing for centuries 
 in a certain direction, chronicling correctly every step 
 made, and accurately describing the geography and 
 ethnography of every region on the way, we have no 
 ground to deny the last advance which their authentic 
 history claims to have made, however indisposed we 
 may be to admit it. One thing, at least, will probably 
 be cheerfully conceded by the impartial reader, that the 
 subject well deserves further investigation, which it 
 will obtain from those students who are occupied in 
 exploring the mysteries of Oriental literature and the 
 archaeology of both worlds. 
 
60 REMARKS ON TEXT OF PROF. NEUMANN. 
 
 NOTE TO CHAPTER VI. 
 
 I would not be understood as intimating that the civilisation 
 of Fusang was simply Peruvian. Some of the peculiarities 
 observed by Hoei-shin as, for example, the manner of wooing, 
 the exposure of the dead, and the possible origin of his Kingdom 
 of Women existed in a strongly-marked form among the Red 
 Indians ; others recall New Mexican or Aztec culture, as it may 
 have been ere driven south ; and there are, withal, Siberian - 
 Mongolian traces. But I cannot resist the feeling, which has 
 grown on me through years of study on this subject, that in the 
 fifth century the Buddhist monk visited a race combining 
 characteristics and customs which afterwards spread to the 
 south and east. All that he observed is singularly American, 
 and, from the tone of the narrative, was evidently new to the 
 missionary. Since Prescott wrote, many investigators have 
 declared that the civilisation once attributed entirely to the 
 Iricas, was derived by them from earlier races which they had 
 supplanted. Thus Thomas J. Hutchinson (" Two Years in 
 Peru, by T. J. Hutchinson, F.H.G.S., &c.," London, 1873) tells 
 us that the Chincas preceded the Yuncas, and that the Yun- 
 cas were conquered by the Inca Pachacutec so recently as the 
 fifteenth century of our era. Tradition also gives the names of 
 several races as preceding the Chincas in Peru. It is, however, 
 conjectured that, whatever the race may have been which occu 
 pied Peru, it took from its predecessors culture which they in 
 like manner had inherited. In endeavouring to find some 
 analogy between Fusang as described by Hoei-shin, and Peru 
 as described by Prescott, I by no means consider that the cus 
 toms attributed to the Incas were unknown before their time. 
 
LETTER 
 
 FROM 
 
 COLONEL BARCLAY KENNON 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NAVIGATION OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 

 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NAVIGATION OF THE NORTH PACIFIC. 
 
 IT will naturally have occurred to the reader that the 
 strongest proof which can be alleged in favour of the 
 journey of Hoei-shin and his Buddhist predecessors 
 to the Continent of North America is the demonstration 
 of the ease with which it could be performed. This 
 has indeed been largely shown by Professor Neumann, 
 and I am. happy in being able to state that more recent 
 researches have thrown additional light on this very 
 curious question. While writing the last pages of the 
 foregoing chapter, I was so fortunate as to meet in 
 London with Colonel Barclay Kennon, who is person 
 ally and practically familiar with every step which 
 Hoei-shin and his mysterious five predecessors must 
 have taken, he having been the navigating-officer in the 
 North Pacific, China Seas, and Behring s Straits, of 
 the United States North Pacific Surveying Expedition, 
 1853-56, Lieutenant John Eodgers commanding. This 
 gentleman was so kind as to take an interest in my 
 work, and obligingly communicated to me, in a letter 
 which I subjoin, such facts as he could recall in reference 
 to Professor Neumann s verifications. I trust that it 
 
64 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 will not be out of place for me to state that Colonel 
 Kennon, a graduate of Annapolis Naval Academy, 
 United States of America, was the first person who 
 ever made a cast of the lead for the first Transatlantic 
 cable, October 4, 1852, and in 1857 was, as Lieutenant 
 of the United States Navy, navigating-officer of the ship 
 Niagara, by which the first Atlantic cable was laid 
 although it cannot be denied that, as is the case with 
 too many beginnings, it came to grief. After the Civil 
 War, Lieutenant Kennon entered the Egyptian service 
 as Colonel. He is the inventor of the well-known 
 Counterpoise Battery, for the protection of artillery in 
 coast defence, and was decorated by the Khedive for the 
 construction of a fort on this principle. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that, as regards the 
 passage of the short distances between Asia and America 
 by the Aleutian chain, where one is out of sight of land 
 for a very short time, the vessels of North-eastern Asia 
 were formerly built for long voyages and oceanic navi 
 gation, and actually did sail for weeks together out on 
 the open sea ; that the compass was probably used by 
 them before the fifth century, and that at the present 
 day Japanese vessels are still rigged in a much more 
 sea-going style than Chinese junks, and are conse 
 quently capable of easier and more extended navigation. 
 
 The evidence offered in favour of the discovery of 
 America by the Chinese Buddhists of the fifth century 
 is very limited, but it has every characteristic of a serious 
 State document, and of authentic history. It is dis- 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 65 
 
 tinctly recorded amoDg the annals of the Empire. At 
 the time these journeys were undertaken, thousands of 
 monks, inspired by the most fanatical zeal, were ex 
 tending their doctrines in every direction ; and this they 
 did with such success, that though Buddhism has now 
 been steadily declining for many centuries, it still 
 numbers more followers than Christianity, or any other 
 religion on the face of the earth, for they are literally 
 counted by hundreds of millions. And as their doctrines 
 urged propagandism, it would be almost a matter of 
 wonder if some of the missionaries of the faith had 
 not found their way over an already familiar route. 
 
 LETTER from COLONEL BARCLAY KENNON, formerly of 
 the United States North Pacific Surveying Expe 
 dition. 
 
 " LONDON, April 3, 1S74. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, As regards the possible passage at an 
 early age of Chinese to the North American Continent, 
 I regret to say that I have devoted too little thought 
 to such a subject to be of use to you, beyond giving a 
 fair idea of the distances between point and point from 
 China to Japan, and thence, via the Kurile and Aleutian 
 Islands, to the Western Coast of America. I have at 
 present unfortunately no map, chart, or notes to guide 
 me or refresh my memory, and so must depend solely 
 upon it. Thus far, however, it has not misled me in 
 other respects, and it certainly should not in this case, 
 if it be considered that I was the sailing-master of the 
 
66 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 surveying schooner which was specially appointed to 
 follow, examine, and map out this route. 
 
 " After leaving Shanghai direct for Japan, a vessel 
 sights Alceste Island when about 200 miles from the 
 mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang, upon a branch of which 
 river, the AVoo-sung, Shanghae is situated. From Al 
 ceste Island to the Gotto Islands, which are directly upon 
 the Japanese coast, and two miles from its extreme 
 western end, the distance is about 120 miles. In 
 making this trip, a fair wind, with < plenty of it, 
 will very soon take a vessel from point to point. 
 The distance across from one point on the Chinese 
 coast is still shorter, or about 100 miles S. S.E. 
 from the Yang-tse-kiang. Many islands lie off 
 this point, which, being lost sight of at a distance 
 of twenty or more miles, will materially diminish the 
 time for being in the open sea. In fact, no ordinary 
 Chinese or Japanese fisherman would hesitate to make 
 these trifling voyages for so short a time out of sight 
 of land, and hundreds do make much more dangerous 
 ventures every day along the coast. From the Yang- 
 tse-kiang direct to the coast of Korea the distance is 
 less than a day s sail, or only eighteen hours by 
 coasting it, till we reach the Straits of Korea, when a 
 few hours take us over to the Straits of Krusenstern. 
 separated by islands, and thence direct to the Gotto 
 Islands. Or we may sail for the island of Oki, and cross 
 the straits (which received in our survey, and on our 
 map, the name of Rodgers Straits), which are from ten 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 67 
 
 to twenty miles wide, and thus reach the coast of Japan, 
 la either case, land is not long lost sight of, the open 
 sea distances being very trifling. 
 
 " Starting from Hong Kong Island, farther south, a 
 run of thirty- six hours takes us to the island of For 
 mosa. To the eastward of it, and in sight from each 
 other, are the Madjico Sima Islands, and to the eastward 
 of them are visible those of Amakirima. In full view 
 with these, again, the southernmost of the Loo-choo 
 Islands, dependencies of Japan, of which Shapa is the 
 capital, heaves in sight. Eunning north through this 
 group to the coast of Japan, one island is hardly below 
 the horizon before another makes its appearance, or in 
 a very few hours, the last being in sight when close to 
 the south-west end of Niphon, the largest of the Japan 
 ese Islands. These latter lie N.E. and S.W. ; so that 
 by following either coast-line until the Kuriles are 
 reached, land will always be in sight. The Kurile 
 Islands, stretching between the island of Matsumai 
 (the northernmost of the Japan group, and upon which 
 Hakododi, the chief port and town, is situated), and 
 Cape Lapatka, the southern extremity of Kamtschatka, 
 are in sight from each other, excepting possibly in the 
 Boussole Passage, which is forty or more miles in 
 width. A vessel in the centre of it will have the 
 islands marking its boundaries in sight; so that as 
 soon as the voyager passes from one land, he 
 immediately perceives the other. Kamtschatka, once 
 seen, is not easily lost sight of, as its high mountains 
 
68 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 are visible for more than a hundred miles. The highest 
 peak, just north of Avataka Bay, containing the harbour 
 and remains of the town of Petropaulski, is a volcano ; 
 and, if my memory does not mislead me, it is more than 
 18,000 feet in height, the line of perpetual snow begin 
 ning some distance below the crater, and terminating 
 at a point some thousands of feet above the sea-level. 
 This line, of course, offers a mark which can be seen 
 farther out at sea than would a mountain of the same 
 height, if entirely covered up to its summit. Proceed 
 ing along this coast to Cape Kronotski, which lies 
 north of Petropaulski, the distance to Behring s Island 
 is about 150 miles course, east. Fifteen miles only 
 from it is Copper Island, and about 150 miles south 
 west of it is Attou Island, the most -westerly of the 
 Aleutian group, which is an almost unbroken chain, 
 connecting with the American Continent at the penin 
 sula of Aliaska. 
 
 "Attou Island, situated in latitude 53 1ST., longitude 
 173 E. (in round numbers), has the pretty little har 
 bour of Tchitchagoff, which we surveyed with much 
 care, believing that it might prove useful at some future 
 day. Owing to the trouble and care with which this 
 work was done, the three islands standing off its en 
 trance were named after the vessel, Cooper ; the captain, 
 Gibson ; and myself. It may not be out of place to 
 state, that the schooner Fenimore Cooper was originally 
 a small New York pilot-boat of seventy-five tons, and 
 that for two years in these stormy Northern Seas I 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 69 
 
 spent a happy life on board of, and sailed upwards of 
 40,000 miles in her. After leaving New York she 
 went to Africa, Java, China, Japan, California, and 
 back to Japan, where she finally laid her bones to 
 dry. 
 
 " Next to Alton Island, and close to it, is Agattou 
 and Semichi ; and before losing sight of either of them, 
 Boulder Island, distant forty-five miles from Agattou, 
 heaves in sight. Kusha, the Island of the Seven Moun 
 tains all of which are volcanoes, either extinct or active 
 and Amtchitka come next. These are the Krysi or 
 Rat Islands. Next to Amtchitka, in the Andranof 
 group, is Tonago, volcanic, Adakh, Atkha, and Ammnak, 
 with other smaller islands between them, all in sight 
 one from the other. Adakh has a fair harbour for 
 small vessels, but is not inhabited. We were three 
 weeks there. In Atkha there is a not inconsiderable 
 settlement, and good anchorage. Here we found a Greek 
 priest, whose wife, a Georgian, was really beautiful, as 
 were their two daughters. At this time the Russian 
 War was at its height, and the supplies of these poor 
 people being exhausted, and themselves in great dis 
 tress, we found it a great pleasure to relieve them 
 particularly the ladies, who were the first we had 
 seen for many months. I need not say how delighted 
 they were to receive a good stock of sugar, coffee, tea, 
 medicines, and i canned fruit. 
 
 " Between Ammnak and Unalashka are, I believe, 
 eight islands. This group bears the name of the Fox 
 
70 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 Islands. The whole chain, from Attou to Unalashka 
 inclusive, is called the Aleutians, the easternmost of 
 which is very near the American mainland, or peninsula 
 of Aliaska. A few of these islands are inhabited, the 
 people bearing a strong resemblance to the Kuriles, 
 who, in turn, are like the Nootka Sound Indians, 1 whose 
 country is on the mainland to the eastward of the 
 peninsula of Aliaska, but which may actually be 
 reached either in a vessel or on foot by following the 
 coast-line. 
 
 " You wish to know if I can adduce any proofs or 
 probabilities that during the great period from the 
 fifth to the seventh centuries, when the world was so 
 abundantly busy in making converts to its several re 
 ligions, Buddhist priests passed by these islands. II 
 they did, they certainly could not have remained long 
 in them, and must have hurried to the more hospitable 
 shores of America. For there is literally not a tree on 
 these islands in fact, nothing resembling one, unless 1 
 except a few very small bushes, the tallest not more 
 than three feet high, with no branches larger than a 
 man s finger. From Aliaska a vessel could take the 
 roundabout course of following the coast-line to reach 
 
 1 I have verified by many inquiries the assertion that there is a con 
 tinuous line of likeness between the natives from the North-west Coatst 
 of America to the Asiatic Continent. " I find myself more and more 
 inclined to believe," says John D. Baldwin, in his "Ancient America," 
 . . . . " that the wild Indians of the north came originally from Asia, 
 where the race to which they belong seems still represented by the KoraLs 
 and Cookchees found in that part of Asia which extends to Behring s 
 Straits." C. G. L. 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 71 
 
 Sitka ; but a run of three or four days would, with, a 
 good breeze, make the trip on a much more direct 
 course and likewise a more sensible one by running 
 down among the islands of the group in which Sitka is 
 situated. 
 
 " From this place Vancouver s Island is soon reached ; 
 that is to say, in three or four days, with land in sight 
 nearly every hour of the time. Oregon is but a few 
 hours sail after this ; and by keeping in with the land, 
 any lubber of a navigator can see his way down the 
 coast to Cape Saint Lucas, the southern end of Cali 
 fornia, which is distant about 200 miles west of Maza- 
 tlan, Mexico. The prevailing winds are from the north 
 ward, or from the north-westward, with a current 
 (Kuro-suvo) setting to the southward. Vessels bound 
 down the coast, to the southward, make the run quickly 
 by keeping just outside the influence of the land-breezes ; 
 while those bound up the coast should profit by them 
 by sailing near the land. A small vessel, being able 
 to run close in, could anchor when the sea-breezes set in 
 during the day, but should lift her anchor at night, to 
 make her northings with those from the land. 
 
 " From what I have written, and from the result of 
 the most accurate scientific observation, it is evident 
 that the voyage from China to America can be made 
 without being out of sight of land for more than a few 
 hours at any one time. To a landsman, unfamiliar with 
 long voyages, the mere idea of being c alone on the 
 wide, wide sea, with nothing but water visible, even 
 
72 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 for an hour, conveys a strange sense of desolation, of 
 daring, and of adventure. But in truth it is regarded 
 as a mere trifle, not only by regular seafaring men, but 
 even by the rudest races in all parts of the world ; and 
 I have no doubt that from the remotest ages, and on 
 all shores, fishermen in open boats, canoes, or even 
 coracles, guided simply by the stars and currents, have 
 not hesitated to go far out of sight of land. At the 
 present day, natives of many of the South Pacific 
 Islands undertake, without a compass, and successfully, 
 long voyages which astonish even a regular Jack-tar, 
 who is not often astonished at anything. If this can 
 be done by savages, it hardly seems possible that the 
 Asiatic-American voyage was not successfully per 
 formed by people of advanced scientific culture, who 
 had, it is generally believed, the compass, and who 
 from an early age were proficient in astronomy. 
 
 " But though this voyage from the oldest portion 
 of the Old World historically speaking to the newest 
 portion of the New, can be made by remaining almost 
 constantly in sight of land, I do not recommend it ; 
 and I am sure that any man in any kind of a boat, 
 who had sufficient enterprise and patience to undertake 
 it, would have easily found the shorter route. But 
 there is a still stronger argument for the voyage across 
 having been undertaken, in this, that Chinese sailors 
 had long been travelling in a route of which this was a 
 mere continuation, and that not a very difficult one. 
 For, in reality, from Singapore in Malacca to Batavia 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 73 
 
 ill the island of Java, and to Shanghai in China, the 
 trip is almost an actual coasting one, the steamers 
 nowadays running from point to point. To a lands 
 man it is doubtless pleasant to see fresh islands every 
 day, but a sailor greatly prefers the open sea, until he 
 makes the land near his port. From Hakododi, Japan, 
 the arc of the great circle joining it with San Francisco 
 passes almost exactly beside the central island of the 
 Aleutians. This distance is about 4250 miles. One 
 objection to the route is this, the fogs about those 
 islands being actually ten times worse, in every way, 
 than those of London, they are avoided as much as 
 possible by steering farther south, or rather by running 
 more directly to the east. I may mention in this re 
 lation, that I had a Kamtschatka dog on board the 
 schooner, and found him more useful as a " look-out " 
 than a shipload of sailors could have been, since they 
 could have done literally nothing, while the dog seemed 
 strangely attracted towards the land, and when smelling 
 it, invariably stood with his head towards it, barking 
 aloud, so that we were more than once thereby warned 
 of its too close proximity. 
 
 " We have on our own coast, or that of the United 
 States of North America, the Gulf Stream, which, 
 flowing off to the eastward, and striking the shores of 
 Europe, falls on them, and on those of Africa, down to 
 about the equator, then running west to the coast of 
 South America, passes its northern shores up through 
 the Carribean Sea to between Yucatan and Cuba, and 
 
74 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 renews its course through, the Straits of Florida, and 
 again up our coast. Now in the North Pacific there 
 is another stream, called the Kuro-suvo, or Japanese 
 Current, which, passing up the south-east side of the 
 Japanese coast, flows off to the eastward until it 
 reaches California ; then running down that coast, 
 and that of Mexico and Central America, to latitude 
 10 N. (more or less), meets the Peruvian or Hum- 
 boldt Current, when both bear away to the west and 
 form the Northern Equatorial Current, which, extending 
 to the Ladrone Islands, in latitude 18, longitude 145, 
 turns towards the northernmost of the Lorchas Islands, 
 and finally completes the circuit on the coast of Japan. 
 It is much like the Atlantic Gulf Stream in many 
 particulars, and its current is quite as strong in certain 
 places, though the water in it is not so warm. This 
 current is of great utility to vessels bound to the east 
 ward, its counter-current being of course of correspond 
 ing advantage to those sailing westward. 
 
 " From what I know of the track across from Asia to 
 America, and from what I have seen of the Japanese and 
 Chinese, I have no doubt whatever that from very early 
 times they occasionally visited our American shores. 
 Assuming that they took the route which I have de 
 scribed, they would have been constantly in sight of 
 land ; and there is something in the nature and appear 
 ance of the frequently-recurring islands which would 
 naturally tempt farther exploration, and lead them on. 
 The weather is, it is true, cold at Behring s Straits 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 75 
 
 even in summer, but not one-fourth so cold as at 
 Matsumai, Japan, in winter. A Japanese vessel, run 
 ning up the Kamtschatka coast to the Bay of St 
 Lawrence in Siberia, would have, at the utmost, only 
 a day s sail, but probably less, to reach America; and by 
 going that distance farther north, her crew could see 
 land across Behring s Straits through the whole passage 
 during the summer season, it being then free from ice, 
 with an open sea and a moderate degree of cold. Nothing 
 is more likely than that such visits were made by fur- 
 hunters in former years; and as so many foreign countries 
 ]ay within such easy sailing distance, it is probable that 
 the Chinese and Japanese Governments especially the 
 latter issued edicts for the building of all vessels upon 
 a model which should very much limit their navigation, 
 and confine them to short cruises. 
 
 " Few would believe, who are familiar with the 
 Portuguese of the present day, or with their marine, 
 that this people once supplied the adventurous navi 
 gators who found their way to India by the way of the 
 Cape of Good Hope ; and yet it is less than three 
 hundred years since Vasco di Gama made that famous 
 cruise. He coasted, as the records of the voyage show, 
 and as the time spent would of itself prove ; and 
 it is quite likely that Chinese and Japanese did the 
 same thing until the sterns of their vessels were i stove 
 in by order of their Governments, to restrict them to 
 cruising nearer home. 
 
 " Columbus had a very different kind of work to do, 
 
76 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 for during the long cruise of many weeks which, he 
 spent at sea, he saw nothing whatever until the end 
 of his journey. Two of his vessels were much larger 
 than the little schooner in which I sailed so many 
 thousands of miles, and the Japanese junks with 
 which I am familiar were generally five times larger, 
 and with eight times the capacity of the little Fenimore 
 Cooper. There is certainly no reason why they could 
 not keep the sea as long as any other vessel. Columbus 
 had ( caravels/ which were more or less open, but this 
 is not the case with the Japanese junks, which are 
 entirely closed. 
 
 " It is of some importance in this connection to ob 
 serve, that when surveying the coast of Japan in 1854, 
 I found the Japanese charts to be invariably very cor 
 rect ; their latitudes, which came directly from ob 
 servations of the heavenly bodies, being particularly 
 so. Their longitudes, of course, did not agree with ours, 
 for we were ignorant of their starting-point or primary 
 meridian. The relative bearings and distances of places 
 one from the other, with the outlines of the coast, were 
 singularly accurate. 
 
 " The Japanese have doubtless very often made in 
 voluntary voyages of much greater extent, and far more 
 dangerous, than this from continent to continent. In 
 1849, when I was in the Sandwich Islands, I learned 
 that an American whaler had picked up a Japanese junk 
 about 2300 miles south-east of Japan, and had sent her 
 people to China on board a passing vessel, from which 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 77 
 
 country they doubtless found their way back to their 
 home. And I can distinctly remember that five years 
 ago, and two years since also a Japanese junks were 
 found among the Aleutian Islands, having been drifted 
 thither by the Kuro-suvo Current, and impelled by 
 westerly gales of wind. One was picked up on Adakh, 
 which is nearly half-way over to San Francisco. Had 
 these vessels been supplied with provisions, with such 
 a trip in view as that of crossing the Pacific, there was 
 nothing whatever to prevent their making it to and fro. 
 In 1854 and 1855, when I was last in Japan, I often 
 saw both women and children on board junks in which 
 they had been to the Loo-choo Islands. Those I met 
 with in the latter islands seemed to be as much the 
 habitual homes of their owners and families as are the 
 Chinese river-boats homes to those who inhabit them. 
 In China one sees many families which have for gene 
 rations been born and reared on board these little boats. 
 And at present the actual floating population on the 
 Canton river alone is estimated at over a million of 
 souls. 
 
 " I have always regarded the Sandwich Islanders as 
 cousins of the Japanese. There is quite enough in the 
 general appearance of the two races to justify one in 
 believing it. To me it seems as if some other blood 
 existed there, very largely mingled or alloyed with 
 Japanese, and the difference in manners, customs, reli 
 gion, and other forms of culture, is owing to the 
 Japanese element being in the minority. But suppos- 
 
78 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 ing them to have altogether descended from the 
 Japanese, and this is far from being improbable, 1 the 
 few who first landed there, and from whom the whole 
 group was peopled, found, in organising, voluntarily or 
 involuntarily, a new form of government and new in 
 stitutions, no more necessity to copy after their old 
 types than did the early settlers of America in framing 
 theirs. In fact, if they were exiles, like the first settlers 
 of Iceland and many other countries, their natural im 
 pulse would be to avoid forming anything like the 
 tyranny from which they had fled or were banished. 
 The Japanese have always had a highly-organised reli 
 gion, while the Sandwich Islanders had as nearly none 
 as was possible, and the melancholy history of their 
 degradation and decay under European culture seems 
 to indicate that they are incapable of receiving any. 
 As to the difference or non-existence of customs, we 
 have only to go to any of the i new countries of the 
 present day to see that the so-called habits and pecu 
 liarities of mankind, which once gave such interest to 
 
 1 It is a well-established fact, and one within rny own observation, that 
 the children of Irish parents in America, even in the first generation, change 
 materially from the ancestral Celtic type. This is especially remarkable 
 in the girls, even when born and bred in the backwoods. The face becomes 
 more oval, and the eyes darker (when not Gahvegian, or naturally dark), 
 and softer in expression. The pure, unmixed Pennsylvania German stock 
 retain the broad shoulders and heavy figure of their ancestors ; but the 
 hair is generally much darker, and the eyes, which are often very beautiful, 
 are, as in the Irish instance, larger. The same holds good, but in a less 
 degree, I believe, of the children of English parents. The child of 
 " Boston people," born in New Orleans, often becomes in the first genera 
 tion a Creole, pale, sallow, and with constantly cold hands. C. G. L. 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 
 
 79 
 
 elementary works on geography, are everywhere vanish 
 ing as guides to help one in tracing the origin of races ; 
 in fact, if civilisation at the present day, unlike the 
 ancient, were not accompanied by the spirit of anti 
 quarian research, and a passion for recording all that it 
 learns, the past would soon vanish as regards all races 
 without a written history. The differences in the mode 
 of life, and in many other things, between the United 
 States and England, are very marked. The Loo-chooese 
 also vary in many respects from the Japanese, although 
 their islands are in sight of each other, and the for 
 mer are dependencies of the latter. Napa-kiang, in 
 Loo-choo, is built of stone, while all the large Japanese 
 cities are of wood. Again, the manner of dressing 
 the hair varies entirely in these provinces, a matter 
 which, while small in itself, constitutes a very serious 
 difference in a race with which such trifles are of 
 almost radical importance. The Loo-chooese and 
 Japanese are the same people, but they build their 
 houses differently, simply because one country abounds 
 in wood and the other in stone ; and the difference in 
 the arrangement of the hair has doubtless been deter 
 mined by some law of climate, or caprice on the part 
 of a ruler either in fashion or politics the two being 
 in this country generally combined. 
 
 " The islands of the Pacific are remarkably alike, 
 both as regards size and general appearance ; and as 
 Oceanica is to the leeward of Japan, and the resem 
 blance between their respective populations has occurred 
 
8o LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 to every sailor who has been in the two countries, it 
 is a very rational conclusion that these places have 
 been settled from the mainland by mariners blown 
 out of their course. Such mishaps occur every two 
 or three years at the present day, and such have 
 occurred for hundreds, and it may b.e for thousands, 
 of years. The ancient and confirmed habit of both 
 Japanese and Chinese, of taking women to sea with 
 them, or of traders keeping their families on board, 
 would fully account for the population of these islands, 
 even if they had been originally deserts. We have 
 only to suppose the same impulses and causes acting in 
 the more easily-travelled eastern direction, along the 
 Aleutian chain, in seas abounding with fish and easily 
 navigable, to conjecture whether such adventurers, 
 voluntary or involuntary, ever reached America from 
 Asia. The mere resemblance of immense numbers 
 of North American Indians to the so-called Mon 
 golian tribes is a sufficient answer to such a question. 
 Respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 " BARCLAY 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 REMARKS ON COLONEL KENNON s LETTER. 
 
 THE letter from Colonel Kenuon, and more particularly 
 the argument for the settlement of Oceanica from Japan, 
 are links in the chain of circumstantial evidence, showing 
 that in all probability the inhabitants of Eastern Asia 
 once passed to Western America. I myself have seen 
 Sandwich Islanders of the best class, well-educated 
 occupying, in fact, the position of ladies and gentlemen 
 who were not to be distinguished by me from the same 
 class of Japanese, only that the Sandwich Islanders 
 seemed to be rather the better-looking. Some of the 
 Pacific islands are even now uninhabited, which ren 
 ders it the more probable that those which are no : 
 derived their population from the country which lies, 
 as Colonel Kennon remarks, " to the windward. 
 Taking everything therefore into consideration, the 
 scientific character of early Chinese and Japanese navi 
 gation, the crowded state of the empires, which, despite 
 stringent laws, continually compelled thousands to 
 either live on the water, or seek a living by voyaging ; 
 the islands thousands of miles away which were pro- 
 

 82 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 bably peopled by them, and the great ease with which 
 the journey by the Aleutian Islands could be accom 
 plished, we have a chain of inductions which require 
 only the least fact to establish the whole as truth. 
 This fact is probably to be found in the record of the 
 journey of Hoei-shin. All that now remains is the 
 hope that, if curiosity and inquiry should be stimulated 
 by the publication of what is here given, further re 
 search may be made in China, or in its ancient records, 
 for clearer evidence. I have heard it said that it is 
 commonly related by the Chinese in California that 
 their ancestors had preceded them by many centuries 
 in that country, which tradition was once recorded in a 
 San Francisco newspaper. This may have originated 
 in some obscure version of the old story of Hoei-shin, 
 but then it is not impossible that there are sources of 
 information extant on this subject which were never 
 known to Europeans. 
 
 As regards the discovery of America by the Norse 
 men, while there is apparently good direct evidence to 
 establish what is now (popularly, at least) regarded as a 
 fact, the chain of general and presumptive evidence is 
 not so strong as that which indicates the probable 
 transit of Chinese or Japanese to Aliaska. It is true 
 the Icelanders were dauntless seamen and reckless 
 adventurers, and that the passage to Greenland pre 
 sented no great difficulty to them. But all these 
 conditions existed equally as regards seamanship, and 
 to a much higher degree as to the ease of the journey, 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 83 
 
 for Japanese or their neighbours. Scandinavia and 
 Iceland were never at any time more than thinly popu 
 lated ; but the teeming millions of Eastern Asia have 
 in all ages been proverbial. It is certainly true that 
 one fact is worth all the presumptive evidence which can 
 be imagined ; and it is equally true that the least fact 
 is entitled to peculiar consideration and respect when 
 heralded and supported on every side by probabilities. 
 "\Ihere is a class of very unscientific writers on 
 many subjects, but especially on Ethnology, who affect 
 a negative method in everything, and ridicule every 
 new thing as belonging rather to the realm of fairy 
 tales than to science. With these writers nothing 
 was ever derived from a strange source, or could have 
 come from anything of which they were ignorant. 
 This tendency is not inspired by truth, but by that 
 timidity rather than prudence which dreads failure or 
 ridicule, and contents itself with theorising and ar 
 ranging in the track of bolder minds and true dis 
 coverers. Opposition to or belief in what they regard 
 as "religion," has also much to do with this spirit 
 of denial, since many, and indeed far too many writers, 
 are guided in every department of science by a desire 
 to prove or disprove Christianity, rather than to find 
 out what is true. To them all the extraordinary coin 
 cidences of serpent-worship, monolithic groups, cups, 
 winged globes, or crosses in monuments, are merely 
 phenomena of an accidental nature, and the most natural 
 things in the world, such as must have occurred to 
 
84 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 everybody. In philology they are identical with that 
 very large class of unthinking and generally uneducated 
 people who deem it useless to seek for the origin of 
 cant words or popular phrases, so convinced are they 
 that such " catches" come spontaneously to people s 
 lips. " Everybody uses them, so they must have come 
 of themselves to everybody," said a man of this class 
 once to me. " A man can t help saying them." Now, 
 as much research in this field has convinced me that 
 every popular saying has a decided origin, popular 
 belief to the contrary, it seems most probable that such 
 very positive matters as religions and myths, which are 
 difficult to learn, are, with the customs which they 
 involve, more generally transmitted, however remotely, 
 than easily invented. A snake is a singular object, and 
 its motion on the ground is very much like the winding 
 course of a great river, and the island or islands so 
 generally found in the delta of a river naturally suggest 
 something held in the mouth of the snake; and yet I do 
 not think that the idea of a serpent with a ball at its 
 mouth is so very palpable a religious symbol, and one 
 so innate, that it should be the very first thing which 
 would occur as an emblem of the great deity of the 
 waters, to aboriginal Egyptians, to monolith-setters in 
 Brittany, to mound-builders in Ohio, to Peruvians and 
 Mexicans. In fact, I deem it not altogether impossible 
 that this poetical collocation of the serpent as a type of 
 a river, and the ball, simple and self-suggesting as it 
 is, has never occurred to many of my readers. It would 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 85 
 
 be preposterous to deny what Sir John Lubbock has all 
 but proved in " The Origin of Civilisation," that many 
 methods of worship have occurred independently and 
 spontaneously to savage races widely remote one from 
 the other. Yet, on the other hand, few impartial inves 
 tigators will deny that transmission has also been a 
 wonderful element in what Germans call culture. 
 
 If Buddhist priests were really the first men who, 
 within the scope of written history and authentic annals, 
 went from the Old World to the New, the fact is of 
 great value in itself, and one which must doubtless 
 lead the way to much important knowledge as to all 
 the early settlement or culture of Old America. And 
 if it be a fact, it will sooner or later be proved. Nothing 
 can escape History that belongs to it. Within a gene 
 ration Egypt and Assyria have yielded the greatest 
 secrets of their language and life to patient inquiry ; 
 every week at present sees the most wonderful conquests, 
 from the dreamy realm of myth and fable to that of 
 material record and fact. I do not know how or when 
 it will be, but I am persuaded that ancient America 
 will in time yield her Moabite stones and Rosetta 
 slabs to the patient inquirer. The records of Mexico 
 were carefully destroyed by wicked bigots, who, not 
 satisfied with exterminating a flourishing and happy 
 nation, sought to commit a double murder by killing 
 its past life. But it will be found again ; for science 
 will yet achieve that, and more. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TRAVELS OF OTHER BUDDHIST PRIESTS (FROM THE FOURTH 
 TO THE EIGHTH CENTURY). 
 
 PERHAPS the strongest link in the chain of circumstan 
 tial evidence which can be adduced to prove that Hoei- 
 shin and others penetrated to California and Mexico, 
 is one which has been almost neglected by Professor 
 Neumann, so lightly does he touch upon it. I refer to the 
 
 zeal with which/Buddhist monks wandered for centuries 
 t- - 
 
 forth from China, through regions so remote, and among 
 perils of so trying a nature, that the journey of Hoei- 
 shin and of his predecessors seems, when we study the 
 route, and allow that they probably travelled in summer, 
 comparatively a pleasure-trip, i The result of these 
 missionary enterprises was fortunately a large collection 
 of published "Voyages and Travels," several of which 
 are still extant. Of late years the interesting nature 
 of these works has caused the translation of several of 
 the more important into European languages ; and of 
 these I propose to make some slight mention, supposing 
 that a little account of such writings would be accept 
 able, as bearing on the character of the first discoverers 
 
LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON, ETC. 87 
 
 of America. For, little as we have of the record of 
 Hoei-shin, its general resemblance to that of the other 
 Buddhist missionary travellers is so striking, that no 
 one can fail to detect a marked family likeness. 
 
 Chief in the work of translation from these journals 
 is the celebrated Chinese scholar Stanislas Julien, whose 
 versions of Buddhist travels into French fill over 1500 
 octavo pages. From these works it is evident that it 
 was a special matter of pride among those missionaries 
 to excel their predecessors in the extent of their 
 journeys, and in the zeal or success with which they 
 distributed the doctrines and sacred images of Buddha. 
 References to these sacred images abound in Bud 
 dhistic works, indicating that immense numbers must 
 have been carried to all places where the missionaries 
 penetrated. One of these works of pious adventure is 
 the very interesting " History of the Life of Hiouen- 
 thsang, and of his Travels in India, from the year 
 629 to 645. Followed by documents and geographical 
 explanations, drawn from the original narrative. Trans 
 lated by Stanislas Julien, Member of the Institute of 
 France, &c. Paris, 1853." 
 
 " From the fourth century of the Christian era to the 
 tenth," says Julien, " the Chinese pilgrims who went 
 into the countries west of China, and particularly into 
 India, to study the doctrine of Buddha, and bring back 
 the books containing it, have published a great number 
 of narratives, itineraries and descriptions, more or less 
 
83 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 extended, of the countries which they visited 
 
 Unfortunately the greater part have perished, unless 
 they remain buried in some obscure convent in China." 
 Thus we cannot sufficiently regret the loss of " The 
 Description of Western Countries," by Chi-tao -an, 1 a 
 Chinese Shaman, who became a monk in 316, and con 
 sequently preceded Fa-Lien, who did not go forth until 
 the year 339 of our era. But the loss most to be 
 regretted is, unquestionably, " The Description of 
 Western Countries, in Sixty Volumes, with Forty Books 
 of Pictures and Maps," which, edited in accordance with 
 an Imperial decree, by many official writers, after the 
 memoirs of the most distinguished religious and secular 
 authors, appeared in the year 666, with an introduc 
 tion written by the Emperor Kao-thsang, the cost being 
 defrayed by Government. This work was entitled, 
 in the original Chinese, Si-yu-tchi-lou-chi-kouen, Hoa- 
 thou-sse-chi-kiouen (" A Description of the Western 
 Countries, in Sixty Books, with Forty Books of Illus 
 trations and Maps," as above). M. Stanislas Julien 
 was apparently not aware that a copy of this work was 
 kept in the Royal Palace at Pekin, as any book written, 
 though only in part, by an Emperor, would naturally 
 be, in accordance with Chinese custom. It was, how 
 ever, unfortunately burned in the " looting " of the 
 Summer Palace, in which perished such masses of valu- 
 
 1 Clu-tao -an-si-yu-tchi. Vide the Cyclopaedia Youen-kien-louai-han, 
 published in 710, bk. cccxvi. p. 10; and the life of this priest in Ching- 
 seng-tch ouen ; bk. ii. p. 1. 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 89 
 
 able historical and literary material, never to be re 
 covered. This work has been called a description of 
 the Chinese Empire, but from the exact account of 
 it which has been published, it was evidently the one 
 spoken of by Julien. In fact, a carefully-detailed de 
 scription of the Chinese Empire in the seventh century, 
 fully illustrated, must have been in great part quite 
 the same as " A Journey to the West," and it is not 
 likely that two works of such magnitude, and on almost 
 the same subject, were published contemporaneously at 
 such enormous expense as they must have involved. 
 " It would be worthwhile," Julien continues, " for the 
 Catholic missionaries who live near Nankin to seek for 
 this work in the valuable library of that city, where my 
 friend, the late Mr Eobert Thorn, former British Consul, 
 discovered, and persuaded me to copy, ten years ago, 
 232 volumes in quarto, of texts and commentaries, 
 which for centuries were to be found no longer in any 
 other Chinese library. At present there are only six 
 works of this kind i.e., Buddhist travels in the 
 original text, and duplicates of these are to be found 
 in France and Russia. Their names and dates are as 
 follows : 
 
 I. Memoir of the Kingdoms of Buddha. Edited by 
 Fa-hien, a Chinese monk, who left the Kingdom of the 
 West in the year 399 of our era, and visited thirty 
 kingdoms. 
 
 II. Memoir of Hoei-seng and of Song-yun, envoys to 
 
90 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 India in 518, by order of the Empress, to seek for 
 sacred books and relics. 
 
 III. Memoirs of Western Countries. Edited in the 
 year 648 by Hiouen-thsaug. This work was written 
 originally " in the language of India. It embraces a 
 description of one hundred and thirty-eight kingdoms ; 
 although, according to a Chinese authority, Hiouen- 
 thsang had only been in one hundred and ten." The 
 extraordinary number of countries visited by this mis 
 sionary, and his manifest desire to make his travels 
 appear as extended as possible, give a strong colour 
 of probability to the assertion that these monks 
 went wherever they could, and explored the remotest 
 regions, deterred by no dangers. Since they brought 
 the religion of Buddha to distant places in Siberia, 
 as the curious black Buddhistic books from that 
 country now in St Petersburg prove, and to Karnts- 
 chatka and the Aleutian Islands, nothing is more 
 probable than that such zealous propagandists should 
 have gone a step beyond, and have arrived in a part of 
 the North American Continent where reports of Aztec or 
 other civilisation must have lured them still farther on. 
 
 IY. History of the Master of the Law of the Three 
 Collections of the Convent of Grand Benevolence. 
 This work, the first editing of which was by Hoei-li, 
 continued and edited by Yen-thsang, both contem 
 poraries of Hiouen-thsang, contains the history of his 
 remarkable journey, accompanied by very interesting 
 biographical details wanting in the original narrative. 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 91 
 
 V. The History and the Journeys of Fifty-six Monks 
 of the Dynasty of Thang, who went to the West of 
 China to seek the Law. 
 
 VI. The Itinerary of the Travels of Khi-nie. 
 
 It is worth noting that the authenticity of the great 
 work of Hiouen-thsang, which has been impugned by 
 one or two European writers, has been triumphantly 
 vindicated by M. Julien. And there can be no doubt, 
 that in every instance these journeys were carried 
 out to the end proposed, and that the books are dona 
 fide narratives. They are as authentic as the accounts 
 of modern Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodist, or other 
 missionaries. It is true that, like Hoei-shin or Hero 
 dotus, these monks often narrate extravagant miracles 
 and marvels as they heard them ; and it maybe that they 
 lend too ready a faith to them as did Sir John Man- 
 deville, and most early travellers. But where they said 
 they had been, they had gone. This is apparent 
 enough. And there is no reason for rejecting the story 
 of Hoei-shin, any more than that of his contem 
 poraries, because he narrates hearsay wonders. 
 
 Another very interesting work of this school, which 
 will be found more readily accessible to my readers 
 than the somewhat rare and costly translations of M. 
 Julien, is " The Travels of Fah-hian, from 400 to 415 
 A.D.," and "The Mission of Sung-yun." Both of 
 these were Buddhist pilgrims from China to India, and 
 their two books, rendered into English by Samuel Beal, 
 
92 LETTER FROM COL, B. KENNON ON 
 
 have been published in one volume by N. Triibner, 57 
 Ludgate Hill, London. Of the character of these works, 
 something may be inferred from the motto taken from 
 the life of Gaudama, by the Eight Rev. P. Bigandet, 
 Vicar- Apostolic of Ava and Pegu, who declares, "It is 
 not a little surprising that we should have to acknow 
 ledge the fact that the voyages of two Chinese tra 
 vellers, undertaken in the fifth and seventh centuries 
 of our era, have done more to elucidate the history 
 and geography of Buddhism in India than all that has 
 hitherto been found in the Sanscrit and Pali books 
 of India and the neighbouring countries." This is 
 very strong testimony as to the general accuracy of 
 observation and truthfulness of the Chinese Buddhist 
 travelling monks, two of whom were probably contem 
 porary with Hoei-shin, and these he may have seen at 
 the court of the Empress Dowager Tai-Hau of the 
 Great Wei dynasty, who favoured such mission 
 aries, sending them afar to advance the faith. It 
 is far from unlikely that men so celebrated for the 
 extent of their travels, and occupied with precisely the 
 same pursuits, should have met and exchanged their 
 experiences. For Hoei-seng and Song-yun, who 
 travelled only nineteen years after Hoei-shin, were, 
 as we know, celebrated in their time, their journal 
 having been published by command of an Empress. 
 Therefore it is improbable that Hoei-shin was less cele 
 brated in his time at a court and in a country where 
 travellers and books of travel were, as we have seen, 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 93 
 
 duly appreciated, since an Emperor deigned to write 
 the introduction with his own Imperial hand to the 
 book of one Buddhist missionary monk, and then had 
 it published in the most magnificent manner at his own 
 expense. We may well call a. work magnificent, the 
 fame of which has endured for fourteen hundred years, 
 and must the more deeply regret its wanton destruction 
 by ignorant and reckless soldiers. 
 
 The credibility or importance of one of this class of 
 books is naturally enough upheld by that of the rest, 
 and the narrative of Hoei-shin, viewed in this light, 
 acquires additional probability. It is to be regretted 
 that Professor Neumann should have omitted as un 
 important, or as detrimental to the authenticity of his 
 text, that " fabulous matter " which, he assumes, is 
 not worth translating. Absurd fables occur abundantly 
 in the travels of Hoei-shin s contemporaries, as in those 
 of Herodotus ; but being merely given as reports, their 
 very existence may serve to establish an identity of 
 style with that of writers whom no one at the present 
 day regards as untruthful. The study of these Bud 
 dhist travels will convince the reader that their authors 
 were singularly alike in their caste of mind and manner 
 of observation, but unquestionably honest. They are as 
 simple as Saxon monks, whom they greatly resemble : 
 all their thoughts and phrases are distinct units. 
 
 It may be observed that Colonel Kennon s last re 
 mark in his letter is in reference to the " resemblance 
 of immense numbers of North American Indians to the 
 
94 LETTER FROM COL. B. KENNON ON 
 
 so-called Mongolian tribes." This resemblance lias 
 often been remarked by Americans. I was recently 
 indebted to the kindness of the Hon. Charles D. 
 Poston, late Commissioner of the United States of 
 America in Asia, for a work written by him entitled, 
 " The Parsees," which includes observations in India, 
 Japan, and China. In this book, the only comparison 
 made as to similarity of races is the following, in an 
 incident which took place " beyond the Great Wall : " 
 
 " A Mongolian came riding up on a little black 
 pony, followed by a servant on a camel, rocking like a 
 windmill. He stopped a moment to exchange panto 
 mimic salutations. He was full of electricity, and alive 
 with motion ; the blood was warm in his veins, and the 
 fire was bright in his eye. I could have sworn that he 
 was an Apache ; every action, motion, and look re 
 minded me of my old enemies and neighbours in Ari 
 zona. They are the true descendants of the nomadic 
 Tartars of Asia, and preserve every instinct of the race. 
 He shook hands friendlily but timidly, keeping all the 
 time in motion like an Apache." 
 
 I have italicised these last words, since they indicate 
 great familiarity with the Apaches, as well as the shrewd 
 observation which is characteristic of the writer. All 
 Indians do not closely approach this type, nor do all 
 Tartars. But it is not to be doubted that among the 
 " Horse- Indians " great numbers have a peculiarly 
 Mongolian expression, often approaching to identity, as 
 if there were a common blood, which, when developed 
 
NAVIGATION OF NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN. 95 
 
 in nomadic life on Asiatic steppes and Western Ameri 
 can prairies, had produced cognate results. This resem 
 blance is so strong, that most readers will be tempted 
 to inquire if there are any signs of philological affinity 
 connecting these races. What I have been able to 
 ascertain, which is also due to the researches of one 
 whom I have known personally for many years, will be 
 found in the following chapter. 
 

 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, 
 
 WITH THEIR 
 
 RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 
 
 THE DAKOTA LANGUAGE AND THE URAL-ALTAIC 
 TONGUES THE MOUND-BUILDERS 
 IMAGES OF BUDDHA. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 AFFINITIES OF AMERICAN AND ASIATIC LANGUAGES. 
 
 A VAST amount of research and ingenuity has been 
 employed in establishing resemblances between the 
 archaeological remains of Mexico and those of Central 
 America- and Peru, and the temptation to transfer many 
 of the assumed proofs or arguments to these pages is 
 naturally very great. I have, however, resisted it, 
 partly because this material is accessible to all who 
 are interested in the subject of the possible origin 
 of the American races, and partly because so much 
 of it is unscientific and fanciful, that a degree of dis 
 credit rests upon it. Many remarkable facts exist ; 
 but in truth, they exist thus far, like the record of 
 Hoei-shin, rather as an incentive to further research 
 than as clearly-defined historical monuments. A 
 remark recently made by Mr Hyde Clarke, when 
 officiating as chairman at a meeting of the Society of 
 Arts, 1 has, however, suggested to me some investigations 
 by a learned German, well known to me personally, 
 which I shall not scruple to reproduce, as they are 
 
 1 April 15, 1874. Vide Journal of the Society of Arts, April 17, 1874. It 
 was in commenting on a lecture on the " Symbolism of Oriental Ornament," 
 delivered by William Simson, F.R.G.S., that the remark in question was 
 made. 
 
ioo AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 appropriate to the subject of an affinity between Old 
 America and Asia. On this occasion Mr Clarke said 
 that the*" subject was so vast, it was impossible to deal 
 thoroughly with it ; but he might mention, that only 
 recently some of the monuments in the Indo-Chinese 
 Peninsula in Cambodia and Pegu had been found by 
 himself to greatly resemble in form those of Mexico 
 and South America ; and, at the same time, strong 
 affinities were discovered between the languages. He 
 had just discovered, also, that there was affinity between 
 the Akkad form of the earliest cuneiform inscriptions 
 (which remained even now almost without interpretation) 
 and the Aymara, in Peru, thus establishing one historic 
 chain from ( Babylon to the New World. 1 New facts 
 were constantly coming forward, and they all tended to 
 illustrate the same interesting and important doctrine 
 the unity which there had always been in the human 
 race, and the way in which progress had been carried 
 onwards from one generation to another, for the build 
 ing up of a system of civilisation which, when properly 
 applied, would contribute to the benefit of all." 
 
 It was the reference by Mr Clarke to the resemblance 
 between American and Asiatic languages which reminded 
 me of some comments by the distinguished linguist 
 F. L. 0. Koehrig, who, as the discoverer of a group of 
 
 1 As I have not examined this subject, I know nothing of these affinities. 
 I quote Mr Clarke s remarks on account of their general bearing on Ameri 
 can languages, and as an introduction to another writer. The existence of 
 ancient inscriptions in Peru is, I believe, as yet doubtful. 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 101 
 
 new tongues in Central Asia, and as the author of an 
 " Essay on Languages/ to which was awarded the prize 
 of the French Institute, is entitled to respect, the more 
 so as his views are quite free from anything visionary 
 or fanciful. In a monograph " On the Language of the 
 Dakota or Sioux Indians," published in 1872 at Wash 
 ington, "from the Report of the Smithsonian Institu 
 tion," he speaks as follows : 
 
 " So far as we know, the Dakota language, with several 
 cognate tongues, constitutes a separate class or family among 
 American-Indian languages. But the question at present is, 
 Whence does the Dakota, with its related American tongues, 
 come ? From what trunk or parent stock is it derived ? Ethno 
 logists are wont to point us to Asia as the most probable source 
 of the prehistorical immigration from the Old World. Hence, 
 they say, many, if not all, of our Indians must have come from 
 Eastern or Middle Asia ; and in considering their respective 
 tongues, one must still find somewhere in that region some 
 cognate, though perhaps very remotely-related, set of languages, 
 however much the affinity existing between the Indian tongues 
 and these may have gradually become obscured, and in how 
 many instances soever, through a succession of ages, the old 
 family features may have been impaired. But they further 
 allow, of course, that these changes may have taken place to 
 such an extent that this affinity cannot be easily recognised, and 
 may be much, even altogether, obliterated. 
 
 "When we consider the languages of the great Asiatic Con 
 tinent, of its upper and eastern portions more particularly, with 
 a view of discovering any remaining trace, however faint, of 
 analogy with, or similarity to, the Dakota tongue, what do we 
 find ? Very little ; and the only group of Asiatic languages in 
 which we could possibly fancy we perceived any kind of dim 
 and vague resemblance, an occasional analogy, or other perhaps 
 
102 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 merely casual coincidence with the Sioux or Dakota tongue, 
 would probably be the so-called ( Ural-Altaic family. This 
 group embraces a very wide range, and is found scattered in 
 manifold ramifications through parts of Eastern, Northern, and 
 Middle Asia, extending in some of its more remote branches 
 even to the heart of Europe, where the Hungarian and the 
 numerous tongues of the far-spread Finnish tribes offer still the 
 same characteristics, and an unmistakable impress of the old 
 Ural-Altaic relationship. 
 
 " In the following pages we shall present some isolated 
 glimpses of such resemblances, analogies, &c., with the Sioux 
 language as strike us, though we need not repeat that no con 
 clusions whatever can be drawn from them regarding any affinity, 
 ever so remote, between the Ural-Altaic languages and the Da 
 kota tongue. This much, however, may perhaps be admitted 
 from what we have to say, that at least an Asiatic origin of the 
 Sioux or Dakota nation and their language may not be altogether 
 an impossibility. 
 
 " In the first place, we find that as in those Ural-Altaic lan 
 guages, so in a like manner in the Sioux or Dakota tongue, there 
 exists that remarkable syntactical structure of sentences which 
 we might call a constant inversion of the mode and order in 
 which ive are accustomed to think. Thus, more or less, the 
 people who speak those languages would begin sentences or 
 periods where we end ours, so that our thoughts would really 
 appear in their minds as inverted. 
 
 " Those Asiatic languages have, moreover, no prepositions, 
 but only Compositions. So, likewise, has the Dakota tongue. 
 
 " The polysynthetic arrangement which prevails throughout 
 the majority of the American -Indian languages is less prominent, 
 and decidedly less intricate, in the Dakota tongue than in those 
 of the other tribes of this continent. But it may be safely 
 asserted that the above-mentioned languages of Asia also con 
 tain, at least, a similar polysynthetic tendency, though merely 
 in an incipient state, a rudimental or partially-developed form. 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 103 
 
 Thus, for instance, all the various modifications which the fun 
 damental meaning of a verb has to undergo, such as passive 
 condition, causation, reflexive action, mutuality, and the like, 
 are embodied in the verb itself by means of interposition, or a 
 sort of intercalation of certain characteristic syllables between 
 the root and the grammatical endings of such a verb, whereby a 
 long-continued and united series, or catenation, is often obtained, 
 forming, apparently, one huge word. However, to elucidate this 
 further here would evidently lead us too far away from our pre 
 sent subject and purpose. We only add that postpositions, 
 pronouns, as well as the interrogative particle, &c., are also 
 commonly blended into one with the nouns, by being inserted 
 one after the other, where several such expressions occur in the 
 manner alluded to, the whole being closed by the grammatical 
 terminations, so as often to form words of considerable length. 1 
 May we not feel authorised to infer from this some sort of 
 approach, in however feeble a degree, of those Asiatic languages 
 through this principle of catenation to the general polysyn- 
 thetic system of the American tongues ? 
 
 " We now proceed to a singular phenomenon, which we should 
 like to describe technically, as a sort of reduplicatio intensitiva. 
 It exists in the Mongolian and Turco-Tartar branches of the 
 Ural-Altaic group, and some vestiges of it we found, to our 
 great surprise, also in the language of our Sioux Indians. 2 
 
 " This reduplication is, in the above-mentioned Asiatic lan 
 guages, applied particularly to adjectives denoting colour and 
 external qualities, and it is just the same in the Dakota lan 
 guage. It consists in prefixing to any given word its first 
 syllable in the shape of a reduplication, this syllable thus occur 
 ring twice often adding to it (as the case may be) a p. &c. 
 
 " The object at least in the Asiatic languages alluded to- 
 
 1 Such intercalations are, in a measure, almost analogous to the usual 
 insertion of the many incidental clauses in long Latin or German sen 
 tences, if we are allowed that comparison. 
 
 2 This reduplicatio intensitiva is not uncommon iu Hindustani. C. G. L. 
 
104 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 is to express thereby in many cases a higher degree or increase 
 of the quality. An example or two will make it clear. Thus 
 we have, for instance, in Mongolian, Mara, which means black ; 
 and KHAp-Mara, with the meaning of very black, entirely black ; 
 tsayan, white, TSAp-tsagan, entirely white, &c. ; and in the Turkish 
 and the so-called Tartar (Tatar) dialects of Asiatic Russia, kara, 
 black, and KA.p-kara, very black; sary, yellow, and SAp-sary, 
 entirely yellow, &c. 
 
 " Now in Dakota we find sapa, black, and with the reduplica 
 tion sAp-sopa. The reduplication here is, indeed, a reduplication 
 of the syllable sa, and not of sap, the word being a-a-pa, and not 
 sap-a. The p in SA.p-sapa is inserted after the reduplication of 
 the first syllable, just as we have seen in the above, kara and 
 KAp-kara, &c. 
 
 " In the Ural-Altaic languages m also is sometimes inserted 
 after the first syllable ; for instance, in the Turkish leyaz, white, 
 and VEmrbeyaz, very white, &c. If we find, however, similar 
 instances in the Dakota language, such as 6epa, which means 
 fleshy (one of the external qualities to which this rule applies), 
 and C"EM tepa, <fcc., we must consider that the letter m is in such 
 cases merely a contraction, and replaces, moreover, another labial 
 letter (p) followed by a vowel, particularly a. Thus, for in 
 stance, 6om is a contraction for 6opa, gam for gapa, ham for 
 hapa, skem for skepa, om for opa, torn for topa, &c. So is 6em, 
 in our example, only an abridged form of cepa ; hence m stands 
 here for p or pa, and belongs essentially to the word itself, while 
 in those Asiatic languages the m is added to the reduplication of 
 the first syllable, like the KAp in p-kara, &c. We have there 
 fore to be very careful in our conclusions. 
 
 " The simple doubling of the first syllable is also of frequent 
 occurrence in Dakota ; for instance, yi, brown, and gigi (same 
 meaning); S ni, cold, and snisni; ko, quick, and koko, <fec. 
 
 " There are also some very interesting examples to be found 
 in the Dakota language which strikingly remind us of a remark 
 able peculiarity frequently met with in the Asiatic languages 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 105 
 
 above adverted to. It consists in the antagonism in form, as 
 well as in meaning, of certain words, according to the nature of 
 their vowels ; so that when such words contain what we may call 
 the strong, full, or hard vowels viz., a, o, or u (in the Con 
 tinental pronunciation) they generally denote strength, the male 
 sex, affirmation, distance, &c. ; while the same words with the 
 weak or soft vowels, e, i, the consonantal skeleton, frame, or , 
 groundwork of the word remaining the same express weak- i 
 ness, the female sex, negation, proximity, and a whole series of 
 corresponding ideas. 
 
 " A few examples will demonstrate this. Thus, for instance, 
 the idea of father is expressed in Mantchoo (one of the Ural- 
 Altaic languages) by ama, while mother is erne. This gives, no 
 doubt, but a very incomplete idea of that peculiarity, but it will 
 perhaps be sufficient to explain in a measure what we found 
 analogous in the Dakota language. Instances of the kind are 
 certainly of rare occurrence in the latter, and we will content 
 ourselves with giving here only a very few examples, in which the 
 above difference of signification is seen to exist, though the 
 significance of the respective vowels seems to be just the reverse, 
 which would in nowise invalidate the truth of the preceding 
 statement, since the same inconsistent alteration or anomaly 
 frequently takes place also in the family of Ural-Altaic languages. 
 
 " Thus we find in the Dakota or Sioux language, hEpa^j, second 
 son of a family, and hApa?j, second daughter of a family ; c"ij, 
 elder brother; c"u?j, elder sister ; ci^ksi, son ; cu?/ksi, daughter, &c. 
 Also, the demonstratives KOTJ, that, and KI?J, this, the (the defi 
 nite articles), seem to come, in some respects, under this head. 
 
 " To investigate the grammatical structure of languages from a 
 comparative point of view, is, however, but one part of the work 
 of the philologist ; the other equally essential part consists in the 
 study of the words themselves, the very material of which lan 
 guages are made. We do not as yet intend to touch on the 
 question of Dakota words and their possible affinities, but reserve 
 all that pertains to comparative etymology for some other time 
 
106 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 The identity of words in different languages, or simply their 
 affinity, may be either immediately recognised, or rendered evi 
 dent by a regular process of philological reasoning, especially 
 when such words appear, as it were, disguised, in consequence of 
 certain alterations, due to time and to various vicissitudes, whereby 
 either the original vowels or the consonants, or both, have be- 
 ^corne changed. Then, also, it frequently happens that one and 
 the same word, when compared in cognate languages, may ap 
 pear as different parts of speech, so that in one of them it may 
 exist as a noun, and in another only as a verb, &c. Moreover, 
 the same word may have become gradually modified in its 
 original meaning, so that it denotes, for instance, in one of the 
 cognate languages, the genus, and in another, merely the species 
 of the same thing or idea. Or it may also happen that when 
 several synonymous expressions originally existed in what we 
 may call a mother language, they have become so scattered in 
 their descent, that only one of these words is found in a cer 
 tain one of the derived languages, while others again belong to 
 other cognate tongues, or even their dialects, exclusively. 
 
 " The foregoing is sufficient to account for the frequent failures 
 in establishing the relationship of certain languages in regard to 
 the affinity of all their words. On this occasion it will be enough 
 to mention in passing, as it were, one or two of the most 
 frequently-used words, such as the names of father and mother. 
 In regard to these familiar expressions, we again find a surprising 
 coincidence between the tongues of Upper Asia or, more ex 
 tensively viewed, the Ural-Altaic or Tartar-Finnish stock of 
 languages and the Dakota. 
 
 "Father is in Dakota ate; in Turco-Tartar, ata ; Mongolian 
 and its branches, etsti, etsige ; in the Finnish languages we meet 
 with the forms attje, aid, &c. they all having at = et as their 
 radical syllable. 1 Now as to mother, it is in the Dakota 
 
 1 This also exists in Old German, atti or c.tti being still used in Sualda 
 for father. C. G. L. 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 107 
 
 language ma ; and in the Asiatic tongues just mentioned it is 
 ana, aniya, ine, eniye, &c. 
 
 " Again, we find in the Dakota or Sioux language tar t in, which 
 means to appear, to be visible, manifest, distinct, clear. Now 
 we have also in all the Tartar dialects tan, tang, which means 
 first light ; hence dawn of the morning. 1 From it is derived 
 tani, which is the stem or radical part of verbs, meaning to 
 render manifest, to make known, to know ; it also appears in 
 the old Tartar verb stems, tang-(la) meaning to understand ; 
 and in its mutilated modern (and Western) form, any- (la], with 
 out the initial t, which has the same signification. We may 
 mention still mama, which, in Dakota, denotes the female breast. 
 We might compare it with the Tartar meme, which has the same 
 meaning, if we had not also in almost all European languages 
 the word mamma (mama) with the wry same fundamental 
 signification, the children of very many ditferent nations calling 
 their mothers instinctively, as it were, by that name, mamma, 
 mama.* 
 
 " We may also assert that even in the foundation of words 
 we find now and then some slight analogy between certain 
 characteristic endings in the languages of Upper Asia and the 
 Dakota tongue. Thus, for instance, the termination for the 
 nomen agens, which in the Dakota language is sa, is in 
 Tartar tsi, si, and dchi ; Mongolian, tchi, &c. We also find in 
 Dakota the postposition ta (a constituent part of ekto, in, at), 
 which is a locative particle, and corresponds in form to the 
 postpositions ta and da, and their several varieties and modifica 
 tions in the greater part of the Ural-Altaic family of languages. 
 
 1 Din (day) Hindu ; Saxon, dagian ; English, dawn. C. G. L. 
 
 2 e.g., Mamma, a breast or pap, Latin, having also the meaning of "a 
 child s word for mother." Ma, or mamma, occurs in seven African lan 
 guages ; ma or amma in nine non- Aryan languages of Europe and Asia ; 
 ama once in North Australia ; hammali in Lewis Murray Island ; mam 
 ma once in Australia ; and amama among the Hudson s Bay Esquimaux. 
 Vide Sir J. Lubbock s " Origin of Civilisation." C. G. L. 
 
io8 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 The same remark applies in a measure to the Dakota postposi 
 tion e, which means to, toward, &c. By means of such post 
 positions the declension of nouns is effected in the Ural-Altaic 
 languages. The Dakota cases of declension, if we can use this 
 term, amount likewise to a very rude sort of agglutination, or 
 rather simple adding of the postpositions to the nouns. 1 There 
 can be here no question of a real inflection or declension, since 
 there is throughout only a kind of loose adhesion, and nowhere 
 what we might call a true cohesion. The postpositions are in the 
 written language added to the nouns, without being conjoined to 
 them in writing (except the plural ending pi), as is also the case 
 in the Mongolian language, the Turco-Tartar dialects, and other 
 tongues of this class. 
 
 "In pointing out these various resemblances of the Sioux 
 language to Asiatic tongues we in nowise mean to say that we 
 are inclined to believe in any affinity or remote relationship 
 among them. At this early stage of our researches it would be 
 wholly preposterous to make any assertions as to the question 
 of affinity, &c. All that we intended to do was simply to bring 
 forward a few facts, from which, if they should be further cor 
 roborated by a more frequent recurrence of the phenomena here 
 touched upon, the reader might perhaps draw his own con 
 clusions, at least so far as a very remote Asiatic origin of the 
 Dakota language is concerned. Further investigations in the 
 same direction might possibly lead to more satisfactory results. 7 
 
 I am confident that few readers will object to the 
 length of this citation, or to its character, since it cer 
 tainly illustrates forcibly, in several respects, the present 
 condition of all our conjectures, or knowledge, if I may 
 so call it, of the early relations between America and 
 Asia. There is enough in it, as in the narrative of 
 
 1 Declension by means of postpositions also occurs in the Gipsy or Korn- 
 uiauy language. C. G. L. 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 109 
 
 Hoei-shin, to amply warrant research, and to encourage 
 labour in the direction pointed out ; but it would be in 
 the highest degree rash and arrogant to assume, on no 
 better grounds than the two present, that America was 
 settled by the Mongolian race. Indeed, I cannot too 
 warmly commend Mr Roehrig s extreme caution in ad 
 vancing his observations. Nevertheless, I think that 
 they indicate a most decided possibility of an Eastern 
 origin ; and with regard to Hoei-shin, I believe there is 
 good ground for probability. And in all such cases, 
 one discovery strengthens the other. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE MOUND-BUILDERS AND MEXICANS. 
 
 THERE is as yet great confusion in our knowledge of the 
 different races of ancient America. For, admitting thai, 
 the Sioux language, or any North American Indian lan 
 guage, presents traces of Asiatic derivation, this would 
 simply prove that the Sioux came from Asia. But if 
 would not explain the origin of the Aztec race, nor 
 would it cast the least light on the nature of the Mound- 
 Builders, or tell us who or what the people were whom 
 Hoei-shin found, possibly in Mexico. With regard to 
 these early races, some observations by an American 
 writer may not be deemed out of place r 1 
 
 " Centuries before the Red Indian appeared on the Northern 
 Continent, a race (perhaps of a kindred stock) of higher civilisa 
 tion dwelt on the western prairies. The Mound-Builders/ as 
 they are appropriately called, left their remarkable lines of earth 
 works from the Lower Mississippi to the Ohio. These structures, 
 on which successive forests of various growths have flourished 
 and died, still survive, and surprise the stranger by their intri 
 cacy, skill, and the evidences of vast labour which they display. 
 
 1 Ne\v York Times. 
 
AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES. 1 1 1 
 
 Some are temples, some burial-places, some are fortifications, 
 some are gardens, some are representations on a gigantic scale of 
 the forms of animals and birds, for what purpose it is difficult to 
 explain. Among these structures are mounds in the form of 
 truncated pyramids, which seem to be the first suggestions of 
 the pyramidal and terraced structures in Central America and 
 Mexico, which, perhaps, formed the highest material works of 
 this mysterious race. They must have conducted an inland 
 commerce over a vast territory, and obtained or purchased mica 
 from the North Carolina mountains, copper from Lake Superior, 
 obsidian from Mexico, specular iron from Missouri, and salt from 
 Michigan articles which the Red Indians never possessed, except 
 by accident. They understood a rude agriculture, and the arts 
 of weaving and of moulding pottery and figures of animals. 
 They even at times melted copper, and used it in instruments, 
 though they never seem to have done this with iron. The forms 
 of their skulls, and the evidences from their arts, show a milder 
 and more cultivated race than any the whites have ever known 
 north of Central America. Who they were, whence they came, 
 of what blood or stock, is hidden in the mists of a far antiquity. 
 They spread their busy life, and left their traces over the whole 
 Central West, perhaps existing there as long as the Anglo-Saxon 
 race has existed, and then they perished their only history 
 being written on the ground, a record obliterated by the growth 
 of forests for uncounted centuries, but now partly deciphered by 
 a people of whom they never dreamt. Before even the Mound- 
 Builders, lived a lower and more primeval race, the companions, 
 in all probability, of the fossil animals, a race whose skulls are 
 just being discovered near Chicago, and whose contemporaries 
 have left their stone implements beneath the volcanic deposits of 
 the Sierras. This prehistoric and primeval man belonged to 
 tribes as low and degraded as the present Australians ; indeed, 
 of a type more nearly approaching the simian than any hitherto 
 discovered (with the single exception of that of the * Neander 
 thal skull.)" 
 
ii2 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 The extinction of such a vast and widely-spread race 
 as was that of the Mound-Builders, in all probability by 
 the fierce and powerful Eed Indian, indicates an im 
 mense extent of time. For as by no possibility could 
 any mere migrations from Asia have sufficed to sweep 
 them away, it follows that their exterminators must 
 have long been growing in numbers before they could 
 effectually put an end to them. The writer from whom 
 I have quoted remarks, probably with truth, that the 
 Mound-Builders were a milder and gentler race than 
 their successors, and far more intellectual, as is shown 
 by their skulls. The thoroughness with which this 
 numerous and widely-spread people were extermin 
 ated, and the fact that no tradition of them has ever 
 been found among the Red Indians, indicate a very 
 remote age as the period of their disappearance. And 
 yet it is quite certain that if, as Hoei-shin asserts, the 
 mild and highly-refined religion of Buddha ever took 
 root among early Americans, it must have been with such 
 people as the Mound-Builders who practised some vast 
 and dreamy Nature-worship, which would render them 
 peculiarly susceptible to the teachings of the monks. 
 For that they did practise some such religion would 
 appear from this, that since works like theirs were 
 in every other part of the world invariably erected 
 under the influence of belief, it is very unlikely that 
 they formed structures many miles in length, employ 
 ing probably the labour of millions, for mere amusement. 
 It must have been either among such a race, or by 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 113 
 
 highly- civilised Aztecs, that the monks were welcomed. 
 But it is most unlikely that Buddhism ever made any 
 mark upon the Aztec monarchy itself, or upon the 
 fierce Tolteks. Had it done so, we should find its 
 traces -to this day. There is a wonderful leaven in 
 Buddhism ; it penetrates deeply wherever it goes ; it 
 changes strong and energetic faiths ; it even blended 
 intimately with the vigorous Greek element in Northern 
 India. 
 
 Meanwhile antiquarians are constantly collecting 
 new facts, which indicate a mysterious knowledge 
 by the Mexicans of many phenomena of the so-called 
 Old World. Even while writing, I learn that Senor 
 Jose Ostiz de Tapia has now in New York a museum 
 of Mexican antiquities, which is said to be by far 
 the most important ever yet made. This gentleman, 
 who has been for many years investigating the arch 
 aeology of Central America, has collected many thou 
 sand objects. One of these is a remarkable stone 
 image, said, according to Indian tradition, to be that of 
 Cucumaz, the God of the Air. "It is cut from a 
 block of chocolate-coloured porphyry, is about two feet 
 high, and about eighteen inches in diameter. The shape 
 is that of a feathered serpent in a solid coil, from whose 
 widely-distended mouth the head of a woman emerges, 
 her arms and legs appearing between the coils. This 
 is supposed to represent the creation of woman. The 
 type of her face bears no likeness to that of any 
 race which ever lived in Mexico, but much resembles 
 
 H 
 
U4 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 the sculptured faces found in Egyptian ruins. Another 
 singular curiosity, that also appears to connect the New 
 with the Old World in prehistoric times, is an image 
 cut from a black stone in the likeness of a negro. Not 
 only are the features of the true Ethiopian type, but 
 the shape of the head and the conformation of the 
 figure. Both these small statues are admirably carved 
 and finished, although their worshippers were certainly 
 ignorant of the use of iron." 
 
 So were the ancient Egyptians ; but, like the Mexi 
 cans, they had copper, which the latter, as it has been 
 proved, brought from Lake Superior; and the Egyptians 
 made bronze as hard as iron, an art but recently 
 rediscovered. Yet all such testimony requires thoroughly 
 scientific treatment. The day has gone by when 
 loose hearsay evidence and wild conjecture passed 
 current for very fair archaeology or ethnology. The 
 man who cannot absolutely prove a fact beyond all 
 suspicion of forgery, exaggeration, and chance coin 
 cidence, must be satisfied to offer his conjectures very 
 modestly, and merely with the hope that they will 
 attract the attention of others who may deem the hint 
 thus given of sufficient importance to develop by 
 further investigation. Discoveries like those of the 
 Spanish archa3ologist may be multiplied ad infinitum. 
 But they prove nothing beyond an antecedent proba 
 bility. And as I have kept this strictly in mind 
 through every sentence of this work, having specially 
 selected the illustration by Mr Roehrig on the affinities 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 115 
 
 of the languages in preference to others, on account of 
 its cautious spirit, I trust that I may not be accused of 
 positively believing that the " discovery " of America 
 by Buddhist monks is an established fact. 
 
 It is, however, more than merely probable that we 
 shall yet make very important discoveries as to the 
 Mound-Builders of America. An immense stock of 
 their remains are still buried, and, in the present 
 rudimentary state of the arch geology of prehistoric man, 
 little has been done very little with the mate 
 rial which has been gathered. The following brief 
 notice from the Saturday Review of a recent work on 
 the subject, sums up in reality nearly all that is known 
 of the mysterious race which once covered such an 
 immense extent of American soil with works strikingly 
 like those of the Old World : 
 
 "No one," says the reviewer, " will long remain in uncer 
 tainty whether the Mound-Builders were or were not the ances 
 tors of the tribes who succeeded them in their possession. Ths 
 author of Prehistoric Eaces J is in no such perplexity; nor do 
 we think that any one who compares the two "will long remain 
 in uncertainty. The vast size of the mound-works, their enor 
 mous number, and their elaborate formation, imply conditions 
 wholly unlike those described in the volume already noticed. 
 They imply not a thin population of free hunters and warriors, 
 obtaining a fairly comfortable but uncertain sustenance by the 
 chase and fishing and a scanty agriculture, but a vast nation, 
 
 1 Prehistoric Races of the United States of America, by Y. AY. 
 Foster, LL.D., author of the " Physical Geography of the Mississippi 
 Valley," &c. Chicago : Griggs & Co. ; London : Trubner & Co., 1873. 
 Saturday Review, Aug. 30, 1874. 
 
n6 AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES, WITH THEIR 
 
 well fed by the labour of a portion only of its available numbers, 
 and therefore able to spend immense toil on such constructions ; 
 governed, probably, by powerful princes able to dispose of the 
 exertions of their people at their pleasure ; and, if Dr Foster is 
 right, an extensive empire under a single rule, able to rely on 
 the frontier defences for the security of the interior. We have 
 lately noticed other works on this subject, and it will therefore 
 suffice to state in this place that Dr Foster s book is one of the 
 best and clearest accounts we have seen of those grand monu 
 ments of a forgotten race, and to note its peculiar merits. The 
 most important of these is the distinct judgment expressed on 
 the purpose of these works. They may be divided into three 
 classes : the animal mounds, or imitations of animal forms, in 
 rude bat gigantic earthworks, chiefly to be found in Wisconsin, 
 to which it is difficult to assign any object, except one of religion 
 or commemoration ; those which, square or round in shape, 
 appear to have been intended as the foundations of temple obser 
 vatories for the worship of the heavenly bodies, or of dwellings 
 (often crowded together in such numbers that we can hardly 
 assign any but the latter purpose), and yet not entrenched ; and 
 those works which are distinctly entrenchments, often containing 
 mounds of the second class. It is possible, we suppose, that the 
 mounds of the second class may have been separately stockaded, 
 and in that case they would have been easily defensible ; but 
 where several are found near together with no entrenchments 
 connecting them, it is difficult to think that defence was their 
 primary purpose. On the other hand, the earthworks which 
 enclose great spaces of land generally appear, by their form and 
 location, to have been fortifications; and Dr Foster observes 
 that they rarely appear in the centre of the region occupied by 
 these monuments, but rather on its northern border, where the 
 empire would be chiefly exposed to the incursions of warlike 
 enemies. To the question, what has become of the builders, the 
 author replies by citing traditions of the earlier and more civi 
 lised possessors of Mexico, which indicate that they once occu- 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 117 
 
 pied a much more northerly settlement, and were driven thence 
 by conquering enemies. The absence of any relics of stone 
 buildings on the mounds, compared with the grand stone ruins 
 of Mexico, forms an obstacle to the identification of the earlier 
 Mexicans with the Mound-Builders ; but it is barely possible that 
 a people who built entirely with wood in an alluvial country 
 might learn to erect vast buildings of stone in one of a different 
 character. And a long period may have elapsed between the 
 ejection of the Mound-Builders and the Aztec conquest of Mexico 
 a period sufficient to account for great changes in the habits 
 of the emigrant race. For we know, at least, that two succes 
 sive forest growths have covered many of the mounds since they 
 were abandoned, each of which must have occupied centuries, 
 and may have occupied almost any length of time. The Indians 
 appear to have had no tradition of the Mound-Builders, no story 
 of their conquest, no legend even to account for the existence of 
 the mounds. Our fathers found them here when they came is 
 surely not the sole reminiscence of a great war, and of the con 
 quest of a civilised people and a fortified empire, that would 
 linger among the children of the conquerors. Such an answer 
 seems to imply either the interposition of a second race and a 
 second extermination, or an enormous lapse of time, sufficient to 
 extinguish the very memory of such a history as always lingers 
 longest in the minds of a warlike race a history, too, of which 
 the monuments were always under their eyes." 
 
 Assuming these deductions as representing the state 
 of our knowledge of the Mound -Builders, it would 
 seem more probable that they preceded the present 
 inhabitants in Western America by hundreds, or even 
 thousands, of years, than that they were known to the 
 Buddhist priests whom we suppose may have visited 
 their land. It is possible though it is as yet anything 
 but capable of demonstration that the civilised races of 
 
1 1 8 AMERICAN ANTIQ UITIES. 
 
 old New Mexico, as we still see them represented 
 in the Pueblos, were descended from the Mound- 
 Builders, and that their ancestors were exterminated 
 or driven to the south by a rude, fierce, semi-Mon 
 gol race, which, derived from Asia, gradually changed 
 its characteristics with climate and intermixture, until 
 it became the present Red Indian. For it is very 
 certain that thousands of American Indians, parti 
 cularly those of short stature, or of the dwarfish tribes, 
 bear a most extraordinary likeness to Mongols. A 
 closer study of the Indians remaining in New Mexico 
 would throw light on this question. Meanwhile, it may 
 be temporarily assumed that, as nearly every point in 
 Hoei-shin s narrative seems to agree more or less 
 with something known of the Mexican, Peruvian, or 
 New Mexican history or legends, it was not with the 
 old Mound-Builders that the monks came in contact. 
 
CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 IMAGES OF BUDDHA. 
 
 THE reader may recall that in the record of Hoei-shin 
 he speaks particularly of the images of Buddha, in con 
 nection with the holy writings and religion of that great 
 reformer, as having been taken to America in the year 
 458 by his five predecessors. I mention this, that in 
 case any other inquirer may investigate this subject, he 
 may pay particular attention to the discovery of such 
 images, or to possible imitations of them, in America, 
 and among its monuments. For to present the sacred 
 likeness of Buddha to the eyes of the world was held 
 to be of itself almost enough to convert unbelievers. 
 To say that these images were made by millions would 
 be no exaggeration. When, in the year 955, the 
 Emperor She-tsung placed severe restrictions on the 
 Buddhist religion, more than 30,000 temples were de 
 stroyed, and a mint was established for the purpose of 
 converting such of the images, &c., as were made of 
 precious metals, copper or bronze, into money. Again, 
 in the persecution of 845, " the copper images and 
 bells were melted down and made into cash." It is 
 
1 2 o A ME RICA N A NTIQ UITIES, I VITII THEIR 
 
 then probable, that wherever anything could be carried 
 these compactly-formed images were taken. 
 
 Professor Neumann speaks of Buddhist emissaries 
 having penetrated to Europe. It is not unlikely, and 
 I am reminded of it by the fact that I was very recently 
 shown a Buddhistic image found in digging for the St 
 Pancras Railway above Midland Yard, about the month 
 of December 1872. It was discovered 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. The character of the latter, 
 and comparisons with similar excavations, judged by 
 the ages of coins found, indicate a probability that the 
 image may have been left where it was discovered 1000 
 years ago, or more. I regret that it was impos 
 sible for me to obtain this relic for some national 
 museum or other institution, and also that it had been 
 broken, by being ignorantly used as a child s toy, 
 though it was quite perfect when first discovered. 
 The man who dug it up spoke of fragments of similar 
 images having been found ; but owing to his ignorance, 
 nothing whatever can be inferred as to whether they 
 were Buddhistic or not. 
 
 Images resembling the ordinary Buddha have been 
 found in Mexico and Central America, but they cannot 
 be proved to be identical with it. Their attitude 
 is an extremely natural one for any man not encum 
 bered with tight nether garments to assume in a warm, 
 climate ; indeed, it is the ordinary sitting position of 
 
RELATIONS TO THE OLD WORLD. 121 
 
 all men who are not accustomed to chairs. At a grand 
 ball given by the Khedive at Cairo, in 1873, I saw 
 several native gentlemen, after sitting down on chairs, 
 forgetfully draw their feet up under them, and sit in 
 precisely the manner of Buddha. 
 
THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 DEGUIGNES, KLAPROTH, AND D EICHTHAL. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DEGUIGNES, KLAPROTH, AND D EICHTHAL. 
 
 THE reader has probably inferred, from the allusions to 
 Deguignes in Professor Neumann s work, that the 
 Chinese discovery of Fusang is no novelty to the world 
 of science. More than a century ago that sagacious 
 and sensible savant discussed in the " Mernoires de 
 1 Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres" (vol. 
 xxviii., 1~61) ? " Les Navigations des Chinois du 
 cote de 1 Amerique, et sur plusieurs Peuples situes a 
 1 extremite de 1 Asie Orientale," and endeavoured to 
 confirm the memoir by Hoei-shin. The Chinese scholar 
 Klaproth attempted to refute Deguignes, but employed 
 arguments which, a more recent writer, D Eichthal, 
 with the aid of far more extended and accurate infor 
 mation, has in turn refuted. It is true, Deguignes 
 was no more able to absolutely prove that Hoei- 
 shin and his predecessors were in California, than 
 we are at the present day. But he did his best, 
 by adducing such testimony as he could collect ; and 
 we have at least the satisfaction of knowing that 
 something has been added to it, and that more may 
 
126 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 be contributed, until at last the work shall be com 
 pleted. 
 
 A thorough history of the question would have 
 made it proper to begin with Deguignes, or rather 
 with Kampfer (bk. i. c. iv.), who speaks so positively 
 of the great Eastern Continent beyond Kamts- 
 chatka, discovered by the Japanese. But as the trans 
 lation by Neumann from the Chinese original is more 
 complete, and as he has succinctly set forth the whole 
 question as it was in his time, I judged it best to 
 give preference to the translation of his work, and 
 then add the letter of Colonel Ken n OH, which refers 
 directly to so many statements made by Neumann 
 a course which will not seem out of place to those 
 who will bear in mind that Colonel Kennou, who 
 has accurately surveyed and mapped every mile of the 
 North Pacific, and every acre of its shores on either 
 side, is therefore as practically familiar with the 
 possibilities of the route as any man can be. The 
 importance of his testimony at the present day, and 
 the advanced state of our geographical knowledge, 
 will appear to those who will consult the curious 
 Japanese map brought to Europe by Kampfer, and 
 given by liim to Hans Sloane, representing the North 
 Pacific ; or the almost as erroneous chart of the same by 
 Philippe Buache, which is given with a facsimile of the 
 former in Deguignes Memoir (" Memoires de Lit. et 
 de FAcademie Roy ale des Inscriptions et Belles Let- 
 tres," vol. xxviii., 1761). Having done this, I propose 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 127 
 
 to present in a condensed form an examination of the 
 whole subject as it appeared in 1864 to M. Gustave 
 d Eichthal, a scholar well known for his learning and 
 enthusiasm in Greek literature and other subjects. 
 But before passing to the work of M. G. d Eichthal, I 
 shall touch on a few points in the excellent article 
 by Deguignes, which should not be neglected. He 
 himself regarded the facts which he had collected 
 as authentic, and not as mere conjectures, like those 
 indulged in by Grotius, Deliiet, and others, rela 
 tive to the early settlement of America of which 
 latter I may observe, that the reader who is de 
 sirous to know what they are, can find them all 
 appropriately set forth and commented on in living s 
 " Knickerbocker History of New York," a most fitting 
 receptacle for theories which by their absurdity have 
 become the legitimate property of the humorist. 
 Deguignes attempted honestly and modestly to adhere 
 to observation and probability, and the result is that 
 his ideas have been, in part at least, confirmed, and the 
 arguments of his opponents proved unsound. 
 
 His first step was to show that Li-yen, a Chinese 
 historian who lived at the beginning of the seventh 
 century, speaks of a country named Fou-sang (Busang) 
 which was more than 40,000 li east of the eastern shore 
 of China. To reach it, " one must depart from the 
 province of Lea^-tong, north of Pekin, and that after 
 travelling 12,000 li, the traveller would reach Japan ; 
 and thence to the north, after a journey of 7000 li y 
 
128 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 arrive at the country of Yen-chin " (Wen-schin, the 
 Painted People). " Five thousand li from this country, 
 towards the east, is Ta-han, which is 20,000 li from 
 Fou-sang." As Deguignes remarked, " Of- all these, 
 we only know the Leao-tong, the northern province of 
 China, whence vessels sailed ; and Japan, which was the 
 principal station for Chinese vessels. The three other 
 points on the journey are the Ven-chin country, 
 Ta-han, and Fou-sang. I hope to show that the first 
 is Jeso, the second Kamtschatka, and the third a place 
 about California." 
 
 The next step was naturally enough to determine 
 what was the length of a li in China in the fifth cen 
 tury. But this was difficult ; for, as Deguignes 
 remarks, " Although at the present day 250 li make 
 a degree, they have varied in the past, not only 
 under different dynasties, but in different provinces. 
 Father Gaubil, who made deep researches in Chinese 
 astronomy, did not venture to decide this measure. He 
 tells us that the greater portion of the literati under the 
 reign of Han maintained that a thousand li, drawn 
 from south to north, made a difference of an inch of 
 shadow at noon on a dial of eight feet. Those who 
 succeeded them thought that this measurement was in 
 correct, since they judged according to the standard of 
 the li in vogue in their own time. But if we cast our 
 eyes on the li adopted by the astronomers of the dynasty 
 of Learn, who flourished at the beginning of the sixth 
 century (" Observations Astronomiques du Pere Gaubil," 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 129 
 
 vol. ii.), we shall find a considerable difference, 
 since their 250 li from north to south give in like 
 manner an inch in difference But uncer 
 tainty may in this case be avoided by observing that 
 from Leao-tong to the island of Toni-ma-tao is fixed 
 as a distance of 7000 li, and, in accordance with the li 
 thus established, the 12,000 li from Leao-tong to Japan 
 end in the centre of the island, about Mea-co, its 
 capital." 
 
 Deguignes determined, with great intelligence, that 
 the country of the Wen-schin, 7000 li north-west of 
 Japan, must be Jeso, from the exact agreement of the 
 accounts given of that country by Chinese historians of 
 the early part of the sixth century (Goei-chi and Ven- 
 hien-tum-hao, A.D. 510-515) with that of Dutch navi 
 gators in 1643 (" Ambassade des Hollandois an 
 Japon," vol. i. p. 10 ; " Recueil des Voyages au Nord," 
 vol. iii. p. 44). Both describe the extraordinary 
 appearance of the natives, and speak of the abundance 
 of a peculiar mineral resembling quicksilver. " Five 
 thousand li from this country, to the east, lies Tahan. 
 The manners of the people here were like those of 
 Wen-schin, but they spoke a different language." 
 
 I trust that it will be specially observed by those 
 who think the journey from China to Aliaska im 
 probable, on account of the dreariness of the country 
 and its great discomfort, that the old travellers 
 cited by Deguignes speak of the Chinese navigators 
 as habitually passing through many Tartar tribes, 
 
130 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 crossing the Great Desert of Chamo, passing over the 
 ice of a great lake in the country of Ko-li-han, and, 
 north of it, through a chain of mountains, where the 
 nights in summer were so short that one could hardly 
 roast a leg (or breast) of mutton between sunset and 
 sunrise. But the degree to which the dreariness of a 
 country will deter a traveller must depend upon the 
 traveller himself. Colonel Kennon, in his letter, 
 speaks of the years which he passed in a little pilot- 
 boat, on probably the very route traversed by Hoei-shin, 
 as the happiest of his life; while, as to the land, Lieu 
 tenant Cochran, who in 1823 had the hardihood to go 
 on foot from St Petersburg to Kamtschatka, found the 
 latter country delightful, and speaks with pleasure of 
 the entertainments there. It is true that he there wooed 
 and won a wife, an incident of all others most likely to 
 convey sunshine into what all writers agree is the fog 
 giest country in the world. It is, however, to be as 
 sumed, that Hoei-shin and his predecessors went by sea 
 no impossible thing, at a time when in China both 
 astronomy and navigation were sciences in a high sense 
 of the word. Deguignes, speaking of the winds and 
 currents, as Colonel Kennon does, says that the Chinese, 
 in order to avoid the shores, " took the wind from the; 
 north of Japan, and in the Sea of Jeso sailed to the east ; 
 but at the Strait of Uries the current bore them rapidly 
 to the north." Therefore they entered the Strait of 
 Uries, beyond which they found many islands, which 
 extend to the most northern point of Kamtschatka, 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HO El- SHIN. 131 
 
 and where also terminate the 5000 li between Jeso and 
 Tahan. The account of the different people inhabiting 
 the North of Asia on the route to America, as given 
 by Deguignes from several old Chinese historians, is 
 far more detailed than that in Neumann. From this 
 and other circumstances, I infer that Professor Neumann, 
 though he cites Deguignes, had read his work with but 
 little care. Deguignes apologises for his long and 
 detailed account of these tribes, their manner of life 
 and habits ; but to the interested reader this will appear 
 to be one of the strongest links in the chain of evidence, 
 since no one on perusing it can doubt that the Chinese 
 were perfectly familiar with the entire northern country 
 to the very edge of America, and had been so for many 
 generations. Deguignes does not appear to have re 
 flected that the naif and manifestly truthful accounts of 
 all these different tribes by old historians strengthen 
 his arguments, since he tells us that he has omitted 
 most of them. It is worth noting that he cites from 
 Yen-hien-tum-kao and Tam-chu that " the Chinese 
 travellers who intended to visit Tahan took their de 
 parture from a city north of the river Hoam-ho, 1 towards 
 the country of the Ortous 2 Tartars. This town, then 
 called by the Chinese Tckung-cheou-kiang-tching, must 
 be the one now known as Piljo-tai-hotuu." This men 
 tion of the route as that which was usually followed 
 indicates that there was in those days much travel in 
 that direction ; and we find a reason for it when we 
 
 1 Hoang-hoin. 9 Ordos or Hotas. 
 
132 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 learn that at an earlier period the chain of islands from 
 Asia to America was incredibly rich in furs, and that 
 at a time when furs were in extraordinary demand in 
 Europe and the East, a demand which lasted until the 
 fifteenth century. We are told, for instance, that the 
 principal charge brought against a Turkish sultan of that 
 time, when his subjects rose in rebellion, was that he had 
 spent millions in purchasing sables, this fur being sup 
 posed to be possessed of virtues as an aphrodisiac. To 
 secure this luxury any sum was given ; and it is said that, 
 so far back as the fifth century, the Che-goei tribes, who 
 lived on the north banks of the Amur, were principally 
 occupied in fishing and in hunting sables. This fur-hunt 
 ing extended over the Aleutian Islands, which, as D Eich- 
 thal remarks (Revue Archaologique, 1862, vol. ii. p. 197), 
 were inhabited before their conquest by the Russians 
 (1760-1790) by a numerous and prosperous population. 
 " As we leave the North," says Maury (Revue des Deux 
 Mondes, April 1858), " the facilities of crossing by short 
 voyages increase, and the natives seem to find more and 
 more attraction in them. With nothing but a leafy 
 branch for a sail, the boat-load, consisting generally of 
 a man, his wife and children, dashes out seawards as 
 soon as a favourable wind blows, and proceeds at a fast 
 rate." The Russians have long had establishments 
 on the islands of St Paul and St George, whence they 
 send vast quantities of furs ; and Colonel Kennon 
 has frequently, while conversing with me, spoken of the 
 beautiful quality of many which he saw, but which he 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 
 
 133 
 
 was unable either to purchase or accept as a gift, owing 
 to a special request from the Eussian Government that 
 he would not take one away. Whatever he needed for 
 food or stores was supplied with great generosity, but 
 no furs could be touched. I have called special atten 
 tion to the furs of this region, since, as they were once 
 much more abundant there than at present, and that at 
 a time when it was more the fashion to wear them, 
 we have a satisfactory reason to account for the 
 Chinese having at one time been familiar with the 
 island route to America, and for their having gradually 
 abandoned it. I am not aware that any special stress 
 has been laid on this as evidence, but to my mind it 
 fully accounts for the tone of the old writers cited by 
 Deguignes, who appear to speak of going to America, 
 not as if it were a legendary exploit, which had once or 
 twice been achieved in the early dawn of history, but 
 rather as a common incident. 
 
 Tam-chu states that it is fifteen days travel from the 
 Che-goei, or sable-hunters of the Northern Amur to 
 the east, where are found the Yu-tche, a race derived 
 from the Che-goei ; and that a further journey of fifteen 
 days brought the traveller to Tahan. But, he adds, 
 people also reached Tahau by sea, sailing from 
 Jeso. After careful examination, Deguignes deter 
 mined that the only country 20,000 li east of China, to 
 which the name and conditions of Fusang could pos 
 sibly be applicable, must be California or New Mexico. 
 
 " The Chinese historians add to the account of Hoei- 
 
134 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 shin that of a Kingdom of Women, which is 1000 li 
 farther east." It has been ingeniously suggested by 
 M. D Eichthal, that as the term women was formerly 
 applied to entire tribes in North America, the monk 
 may have heard something of them. Thus the Dela- 
 wares, having given up their arms to the Six Nations, 
 and become proteges of the latter, were formally en 
 titled women, and accepted the name at a grand con 
 gress of the tribes. As for the absurdities connected 
 with this legend of the women, as given by Hoei-shin, 
 it is sufficient to say that he uses the term "it is said " 
 in reference to the statement that the children of this 
 woman-realm appear matured at the age of three years. 
 Had he pretended to have visited the country, he would 
 not have given as a matter of hearsay what he must 
 certainly have observed. And as he was also told that 
 these women suckled their babes from the backs of 
 their heads, Deguignes, with his usual sagacity, re 
 marks, " It is easy to see by this narrative that the 
 women fed their children par dessus leurs epaules 
 over their shoulders as is done in many places in 
 India." The following, from the historians Nan-su and 
 Ven-hien-tum-kao, is not without interest, as showing 
 that from an early age Chinese vessels were driven by 
 storms to America: " In the year 507 (A.D.), under 
 the dynasty of Learn, a Chinese vessel sailing in these 
 seas was blown by a tempest on an unknown island. 
 The women resembled those of China, but the men had 
 faces and voices like dogs. These people ate small 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 135 
 
 beans, wore dresses made of a kind of cloth, and the 
 walls of their houses were built of earth, raised in a 
 circle. The Chinese could not understand them." If 
 we make allowance for the dogs faces on the well- 
 known ground that the Chinese are particularly given 
 to applying the word dog to all people whom they re 
 gard as savages, it will be found that the description 
 applies with marvellous exactness to those New Mexican 
 Indians who held a middle place between such highly- 
 cultivated people as the Pueblos and the wilder and 
 ruder tribes. The resemblance of the women to those 
 of China is a matter of common remark ; and 
 one of my own earliest observations, as a boy, was 
 the extraordinary likeness of Afong-Moy, a Chinese 
 woman who visited America many years ago, to an 
 ordinary squaw. This likeness is always, however, 
 more striking in half-breed Indian women, and in those 
 of light complexion, and the Pueblos are very much 
 lighter than other Indians. 1 The enormous consumption 
 of beans (frijoles), the cloth (which was very beauti- 
 fully made by the Pueblo- Aztecs, from early ages), and 
 especially the circular walls of earth, all identify these 
 Indians with those of New Mexico. 2 These people, as 
 well as the Indians of Louisiana (Chevalier de Tonti, 
 
 1 Captain H. C. Leonard, who has resided for twenty-five years among the 
 Chinooks, and who is familiar with all the North-western tribes, fully con 
 firms this statement relative to the general resemblance of their squaws 
 to Chinese women. 
 
 2 For an account of their dwellings, vide Johnson s "Cyclopaedia," 
 X.Y., 1874. 
 
136 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 u Voyage au Nord "), had a curious habit of howling and 
 roaring terribly to express respect and admiration, and 
 this may account for the voices like dogs spoken of by 
 the Chinese. 
 
 De ( mignes has collected some curious instances from 
 
 O O 
 
 old writers which seem to prove that Chinese merchants 
 frequently found their way to Western America. Thus 
 George Home 1 (1. 6, c. 5), relates that beyond the 
 tribes which dwelt west of the Hurons, there came in 
 great vessels strangers who were beardless. Fr. 
 Yasquez de Coronado states that he found at Quivir 
 vessels with gilded poops ; and Pedro Melendez, in 
 Acosta, speaks of the wrecks of Chinese vessels seen 
 on the coast, " And it is beyond question that foreign 
 merchants, clothed in silk, formerly came among the 
 Catacualcans." All these reports intimate that the 
 Chinese once traded in Northern California, about the 
 country of the Quivir. And there is, moreover, ground 
 for asserting that, at one time certainly, the most 
 civilised tribes in North America were those nearest 
 China. It is generally assumed that the intelligent 
 and almost refined Pueblos of New Mexico are the de 
 scendants of Aztecs who fled to the north after the 
 Spanish invasion ; but the traditions of the Aztecs 
 themselves declare that they came from the north, and 
 it is probable that the Pueblos have always been where 
 they are. Delae t (bk. vi. c. xvi. and xxil) says that 
 near New Mexico were people who dwell in houses 
 
 1 Vide Delaet, bk. vi. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 137 
 
 several stories high, with halls, chambers, and stoves. 
 They wore skins and cotton cloths, but, what is 
 unusual among savages, had leather shoes and boots. 
 Every district had its public criers, who announced the 
 king s orders, and idols and temples were everywhere. 
 Baron de la Hontan ("Memoires sur 1 Amerique") 
 speaks of the Mirambecs, who inhabited walled towns 
 near a great Salt Lake. These people made cloths, 
 copper hatchets, and other wares. 
 
 Charlevoix (" Histoire de la Nouvelle France ") 
 narrates two incidents, which, though almost incredible, 
 are at least worthy of consideration. One of these is 
 that Father Grellon, after acting as missionary for 
 some time in Canada, went to China, and thence to 
 Tartary, where he met a Huron woman whom he had 
 formerly known in Eastern America. Another Jesuit, 
 returning from China, also declared that a Spanish 
 woman, originally of Florida, was found by him in 
 Tartary, to which country she had come by an ex 
 tremely cold northern route. 
 
 It is said that the walrus and seal hunters of the 
 mouth of the river Kocoima, in Siberia, are often carried 
 out to sea on vast floating fields of ice, and occasion 
 ally drift to the opposite American shore, which is not 
 far distant. Most of my readers will recall the 
 wonderful preservation of the crew of the Polaris, 
 which, with women and children, drifted for many 
 months on an ice-cake. Indeed, many wild animals, 
 also like men engaged in hunting, may in this way 
 
138 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 have been transported from one continent to the 
 other. 
 
 These are substantially the points advanced by De 
 guignes, 1 an excellent Chinese scholar, and a careful 
 writer. It was while making researches for a history 
 of the Mongols that he found in the works of old 
 Chinese historians the materials for his theory that 
 America was peopled from the North- west. In 1831 
 Julius Heinrich von Klaproth, a distinguished scholar, 
 attacked Deguignes in a work entitled " Recherches sur 
 le Pays de Fou-sang mentionne dans les Livres Chinois, 
 et pris mal a propos pour une partie de 1 Amerique " 
 (" Nouvelles Annales des Voyages," t. xxi. cle la 
 deuxieme serie, 1831). By this work, according to 
 Gustave d Eichthal, Klaproth did much harm. There 
 was an authority attached to his name which made it 
 easy for him to render ridiculous the ideas advanced by 
 Deguignes. There is a popular tendency especially 
 in France to ridicule everything Chinese; and in 
 England the mere idea of Chinese metaphysics awakens 
 a smile in the readers of Dickens, though scholars know 
 that Chinese Buddhists may be fairly said to have 
 exhausted every refinement of thought known to d 
 priori or pantheistic methods. In ninty-nine cases out 
 of a hundred, the sneering critic who negatives has it 
 all his own way with the public for a time, and for 
 more than the present time he does not care. The 
 
 i Histoire Generale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mongoles, et des autres 
 Tartares Occidentaux, Paris, 1756-58, 4 vols., par Joseph Deguigues. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SH1X. 139 
 
 refutation of Klaproth now appears worthless ; he 
 produces nothing new, and attacks Degmgnes entirely 
 " out of himself." He begins with a plausible quibble, 
 by accusing Deguignes of being false to his title. " In 
 the Chinese original," says Klaproth, " which Deguignes 
 had before his eyes, there is nothing said of the navi 
 gation undertaken by the Chinese to the land of 
 Fusang; but, as may be seen further on, it turns upon 
 a notice of Fusang as given by a Buddhist priest 
 who had been there." Klaproth says " a native of 
 the country," and by the country he means Fusang. 
 But in a German version of the same passage, given by 
 Neumann in a more recent work (" Ost-Asien uud 
 West- America, Zeitschrift fiir allgemeine Erdkunde," 
 April 1864), the (or this) country refers to China. 
 Now Deguignes really wrote, according to his title, on 
 the navigation or voyages of Chinese to America, and 
 he says very little of the record of Hoei-shin, beyond 
 quoting it.- Deguignes tells us nothing of a Chinese 
 original in his title, he only adduces the narrative as 
 confirming his other researches ; and Klaproth appears 
 fully convicted of a shrewd, unscrupulous trick, such 
 as a petty Bohemian might have recourse to in some 
 notorious journal, whose ideal of criticism is to make a 
 writer appear personally ridiculous. After this he 
 makes a vigorous attack on Deguignes estimate of 
 the length of the Chinese li in the fifth century, which 
 ends in nothing, since he thinks that the Chinese of 
 that time had no means of estimating distances at 
 
140 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 sea. The remark is that of a man accustomed to 
 believe that distances cannot be measured at sea with 
 out all the appliances and training of modern science, 
 while the truth is, every captain of a Yankee coaster 
 knows that it can be done not very accurately, it is true, 
 but approximative^ or tolerably well with the simplest 
 instruments, such as any sailor can make. But as D Eich- 
 thal observes, the 20,000 li from Tahan to Fusang are 
 probably merely arbitrary. The travellers found that, 
 going at the same average rate, it took them more than 
 twice as long to get from Tahan to Fusang as from 
 Leao-tong (north of Pekin) to Tahan. The obvious and 
 natural way to measure Hoei-shin s 20,000 li from 
 Tahan to Fusang is by the li assigned to the preceding 
 distances, and according to this standard the estimate 
 is accurate enough. 
 
 " The two agree in placing Wen-schin in the island 
 of Jeso, situated 7000 li from the point of departure on 
 the coast of Niphon. There, in fact, is the country of 
 the Wen-shin or Tattooed People. The Amos, who 
 then occupied the northern part of Japan, or the island 
 of Jeso, are still accustomed to paint their bodies and 
 faces with different figures. But here," continues 
 D Eichthal, " all agreement between the two writers 
 ceases. Deguignes thinks that Tahan, which is, accord 
 ing to the Chinese account, 5000 li from Jeso, must 
 be Kamtschatka. In this conclusion he has against 
 him, it is true, the important sum-total of the distance ; 
 but on the other hand there are many arguments in his 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 141 
 
 favour, which we shall proceed to examine. Klaproth 
 holds, however, that Tahan is simply the island of 
 Krafto or Tarai-kai, the southern point of which is 
 found, according to his calculation, exactly 5000 li 
 from the northern point of Niphon. To arrive at this 
 conclusion, as the distance is only six degrees, Klaproth 
 is compelled to adopt the measurement of 850 li to a 
 degree, which he had just before rejected." He had 
 said that the distance between the West Coast of Corea, 
 and the middle of Niphon is, according to Deguignes, 
 too great. " It would suppose for the li a length of 
 850 to the degree, whereas, at the highest, it cannot 
 be more than 400." 
 
 " But to continue. If the island of Tarai-kai is 
 Tahan, we cannot find Fusang 20,000 li to the east, 
 for the nearest land in this direction is 90 distant. 
 By taking the story literally, says Klaproth, and 
 by seeking Fusang east of Tahan, we fall into the 
 Pacific Ocean. But as Fusang must be found some 
 where, and as it was a foregone conclusion with Klap 
 roth that it must not be found in America, he assumes 
 that, having arrived at the southern point of Tarai-kai, 
 one should sail first to the east in order to pass the 
 Strait of La Perouse, coasting along the northern shore 
 of Jeso, but that, having arrived at the north-east point 
 of the same island, he would sail to the south, and 
 thus arrive at some part of the South-east Coast of 
 Japan, where Fusang would be found. 
 
 It will probably occur to the reader that this would 
 
142 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 be taking a deal of pains to destroy an adversary s 
 argument, and weaving a very tangled web. Yet as 
 the last word always has weight, this argument of 
 Klaproth held its own for many years, and still holds 
 it with many people. It is true, as D Eichthal remark^ 
 that by proceeding in this style Klaproth put himself, 
 in the most arbitrary manner, in direct opposition to 
 the very letter of his text, which says nothing at all 
 about sailing up and down and coasting around islands. 
 " But this is not the only objection which can be urged 
 against him. In the first place, nobody in Japan ever 
 heard of Fusang. The details given with regard to it do 
 not suit Japan in the least. One circumstance is decisive. 
 Not only does the narrator put Fusang 20,000 li east of 
 Tahan, but he speaks of a country of women 1000 li from 
 Fusang. But 1000 li to the east of Japan must be in 
 the sea." It is to be regretted that Klaproth asserts 
 that Fusang is an ancient name of Japan, but without 
 citing any authority on which to support such a serious 
 and very material statement. His arguments have been 
 answered not only by D Eichthal, but by Sr. Jose Perez, 
 in an article in the Recite Oricntale et Amdricaine, No. 
 4, pp. 189-195. For a Chinese, even in the sixth 
 century, to place in Japan such a marvellous country 
 as Fusang was popularly supposed to be, would have 
 been quite as absurd as if a French traveller of the 
 fourteenth century had assured the world that he had 
 found in England an immense region inhabited by 
 giants. For popular belief very soon clothed Fusang 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOE1-SHIN. 143 
 
 with incredible marvels, as we shall see anon ; and 
 Klaproth supposes this possible of a country which 
 was at the time constantly exchanging embassies with 
 China, and conveying to the latter, as the reader 
 may recall from Neumann s work, detailed accounts 
 of all its provinces, and of their- inhabitants. As 
 Klaproth admits, Fusang soon became a fairy-land, 
 which Chinese poets loved to adorn with the fantastic 
 and marvellous. " The authors of Chan-hai-king, of 
 the Li-sao, Hoai-nan-tsu, Li-pe-tai, and others, have 
 found in it an inexhaustible resource. According to 
 them, the sun rises in the valley of Yang-kon and 
 makes his toilet in Fu-sang, where there are mulberry- 
 trees many thousand rods high. The natives eat the fruit, 
 which makes their bodies shine like gold, and confers 
 on them the ability to fly. " Such fables are not placed 
 in a neighbouring country. They require for plausibility 
 great distance, and entirely strange circumstances." 
 
 Again, the narrative declares that Buddhism was in 
 troduced into Fusang A.D. 458, but it did not find 
 its way into Japan, officially at least, until 552. How 
 then could Fusang, admitting that it existed, have 
 been a part of Japan ? 
 
 " But to throw full light on the question," says 
 D Eichthal," we should study the second itinerary, that by 
 land from China to Tahan, given by Deguignes and Klap 
 roth. We shall now do so ; and if accused of delaying 
 too long over these documents, we reply that in them 
 we find, as Deguignes and Klaproth himself had clearly 
 
144 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 seen, a leading element in the question, and a decisive 
 argument from the geographical point of view for the 
 existence or non-existence of ancient communications 
 between Asia and America. 
 
 " The traveller by land from China to Tahan went 
 from the upper course of the Hoang-hoin, in the north of 
 China, passed through the country of the Ordos or 
 Ho-tas, traversed the desert of Cobi, and arrived at the 
 principal camp of the Hoei-khe Turks, on the left bank 
 of the Orchon, not far from its source, where Kara- 
 korum was afterwards placed. Thence he journeyed 
 to Lake Baikal, crossed the country of Ko-li-han, 
 the ancient home of the Kirkis or Khirghiz, and 
 turning to the east, came to the Chy-we i. The 
 most southern of these lived near the river Onoii, 
 flowing from the right of the Upper Arnoor (Amur). 
 By travelling fifteen days to the east, or in the direction 
 of the Amoor, were found the Chy-we i Youtche, pro 
 bably the same people whom other Chinese authors 
 call Youtchy, that is to say, the Djourdje, the ancestors 
 of the present Mongols. From this point, finally, ten 
 days journey to the north brought the traveller to 
 Tahan, surrounded on three sides by the sea, and also 
 called Lieu-koue i. 1 
 
 " We should have under our eyes the work of Degui- 
 gnes, to realise with what care he has discussed every 
 part of this journey. Then, having reached the final 
 point, he reasonably remarks, that as one travels by 
 
 1 Klaprotk, pp. 62, 64 ; Deguignes, pp. 508-510. 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. -145 
 
 land all the way to arrive at Tahan, it cannot be an 
 island, yet that it must be a maritime country accord 
 ing to the first route, since they also went thither by 
 sea ; and basing his statement on the two views, he 
 places the point de recontre of the two itineraries in 
 Kamtschatka," 
 
 "The southern part of Kamtschatka, or Talian," says 
 Deguignes, " was known to the Chinese under the name 
 of Lieou-kouei. Of old, the Tartars who lived near the 
 river Amoor reached it after fifteen days sailing to the 
 north (Deguignes traces this navigation on his map). 
 Chinese historians relate that this country is surrounded 
 by the sea on three sides. In the year 640 (A.D.), the 
 King of Lieou-kouei sent his son to China. 1 Accord 
 ing to the most accurate descriptions which the Russians 
 have given of it, this country is a tongue of land 
 extending from north to south, from Cape Sultoi- 
 noss to the north of Jeso, with which many writers 
 have confounded it. It is partly separated from the 
 rest of Siberia by a gulf of the Eastern Sea, which 
 passes from south to north. Towards the northern ex- 
 
 1 These details regarding Kamtschatka are reproduced in an article by 
 Professor Neumann, " Ost-Asien und West- America, Zeitschrift fur allge- 
 meine Erdkunde " (April 1864). Professor Neumann, says D Eichtbal, 
 gives his citations as from Steller s " Beschreibung von dem Lande Kam 
 tschatka" (Leipzig, 1830), but they were originally drawn from Chinese 
 works. In Neumann s statement, the envoy of the son of the king of 
 Lieou-kouei, in China, is mentioned in this manner " In the year 640 
 of our era, in the time of the second Emperor of Tang, the Empire of the 
 South received the last embassy and the last tribute from the country of 
 Lieou-kouei" (p. 316). I have throughout used Deguignes original work 
 in verification of D Eichthal s articles. C. G. L. 
 
 K 
 
146 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 tremity it is inhabited by very ferocious people. Those 
 who live towards the south are more civilised. It is 
 very likely that their commerce with the Japanese and 
 Chinese merchants who traded on their shores has con 
 tributed to make them milder and more sociable than 
 those of the north, among whom these two more refined 
 races rarely come" (p. 511). 
 
 It is only after discussing the two routes, and 
 settling the common point or limit as we have seen, 
 that Deguignes undertakes to determine the position o: ? 
 the country of Fusang. " This long detail," he declares , 
 " was necessary for an exact knowledge of the situatior. 
 of the country. The Chinese narrative informs us that: 
 Fusang is 20,000 li distant from Tahan or Kam- 
 tschatka. Thus, by leaving a port in the latter coun 
 try, such as Avatcha, and sailing east for 20,000 li, the 
 voyage ends on the most western shore of America, or 
 about the place where the Russians landed in 1741. In 
 all this immense extent of ocean there is no land nor 
 island to which the distance of 20,000 li applies. Nor 
 can we, on the other hand, suppose that the Chinese 
 followed the coast of Asia, and, touching its most 
 eastern extremity, there placed the land of Fusang. 
 The excessive cold which prevails in the north of 
 Kamtschatka, renders this supposition untenable." 1 
 
 "When Deguignes wrote," adds D Eichthal, " the 
 
 1 Both Klaproth and Bretschneider Lave left out of sight the fact that 
 Fusang as described must have been a temperate, if not a warm climate. 
 C. G. L. 
 
THE NARRA TIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 147 
 
 solution which he proposed was not, however, so simple 
 or evident as it may appear to us to-day. At that 
 time the geography of the North Pacific was just begin 
 ning to be cleared of the darkness in which it had been 
 so long enveloped. Behring had discovered, in 1728, 
 the strait which bears his name ; he had found, in 1741, 
 some of the Aleutian Isles, the promontory of Aliaska, 
 and the northern extremity of the American side ; but 
 he had not been able to make exact surveys. Deguig- 
 nes, at least, did not possess them ; and to prepare the 
 singular map, designed by Philip Buache, which ac 
 companies his memoir, the illustrious academician had 
 recourse to a Japanese chart. 
 
 " Since M. De PIsle," he says, " published a map of 
 this part of the world, we have obtained from Russia 
 information which, without giving with accuracy the 
 contour of the American coasts, teaches us generally that 
 the coast of California runs towards the west, and 
 approaches considerably that of Asia, leaving between 
 the continents a narrow strait, agreeing with the shape 
 which the first geographers gave to America, probably 
 from more exact knowledge than we suppose, and which 
 is now lost." Thus the map of Asia, published by 
 Sanson in 1650, gives, between Asia and America, near 
 the place of Behring s Straits, the Strait of Ainan, as 
 it was then called. This strait disappeared on Guil- 
 laume de 1 Isle s map of 1723, but reappeared in the 
 same map re-edited in 1745, and again in 1762, cor 
 rected by new documents. This information was con- 
 
148 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 firmed by Japanese charts, especially by one which Mr 
 Hans Sloane, President of the Royal Society of London, 
 had communicated to him, and which he placed before 
 his paper in the " Memoires de 1 Academic des Inscrip 
 tions et Belles-Lettres." " It agrees on the whole," he 
 declares, " with our old maps of America, and with the 
 Russian discoveries." " On this map, about the part 
 discovered by the Russians, America seems to advance 
 considerably, and form a tongue of land which extends 
 to Asia (the promontory of Aliaska). In this case it is 
 intelligible that the Chinese found it much easier to reach 
 Fusang, since they thus had a coast to follow almost all 
 the way." 
 
 "It was," says M. D Eichthal very truly, "with a 
 kind of prophetic instinct, or, if you will, with extreme 
 shrewdness and sense, that Deguignes traced, on the 
 map made by him, the route which was probably followed 
 by those whom he calls navigateurs chinois to get to 
 .America. The details are naturally very imperfect, and 
 Behring s Island is the only one given of the Aleutians. 
 On the other hand, the promontory of Aliaska is out of 
 all proportion too great, both in length and breadth. 
 There is an entire absence of all astronomical verifica 
 tion ; nevertheless, the general * lay of the land is 
 correct, as recent discoveries have confirmed. We have 
 under our eyes three very important documents, Les Ren- 
 seignements Statistiques et Ethnographiques sur les 
 Possessions Russes a la cote Nord-ouest de 1 Ameriqne, 
 by Rear-Admiral Wrangel (* Statistical and Ethno- 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 149 
 
 graphical Communications as to the Russian Posses 
 sions on the North-west Coast of America) ;* an analysis 
 of the work of Father Wenjaminow on c Les Isles (Aleou- 
 tiennes) du District du Unalaska/ by F. Lowe (from 
 the periodical Archiv fiir die mssenschaftliche Kunde 
 von Russland, 1842, 8th Part) ; and the critique of a 
 memoir by Maury, on the facilities of passing from the 
 North-east Coast of Asia to the North-west Coast of 
 America (Revue des Deux Mondes, April 1858). All 
 of these works agree in demonstrating the ease of this 
 communication, and that of settling on the North-west 
 Coast of America. The climate of all this region, even 
 at the 60th degree of latitude is, for its elevation, very 
 mild. The chain of the Aleutian Isles and the pro 
 montory of Aliaska form, as it were, a barrier which 
 exclude Polar influences. On the other hand, the 
 great warm current of the Pacific Ocean, observed by 
 modern navigators, 2 contributes to raise the temperature. 
 Observations, carefully collected, have shown that at 
 Sitka the average temperature is 7. 39 Centigrade, or 
 5. 91 Reaumur, with, it is true, slight differences between 
 summer and winter : even in winter the sea is never 
 closed. In a word, according to the unanimous testi 
 mony of navigators, there is not on the face of the 
 
 1 In the original edition, " Statistische und Ethnographische Nachrichten, 
 gesammelt von Contre- Admiral von Wrangel," St Petersburg, 1839. This 
 is the first part of the collection called "Beitrage zur Kentuiss des Rus- 
 sischen Reichs, &c., herausgegeben von K. E. von Baer und von Hel- 
 merseu." C. G, L. 
 
 2 Vide Letter from Colonel Barclay Kennon. 
 
ISO THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 globe such a change of climate as is experienced in 
 passing from Behring s Straits to the Pacific Ocean." 
 
 All that has been said of the extreme facility with 
 which the natives of the North Pacific pass from Asia 
 to America has, however, according to M. D Eichthal, 
 nothing to do with the question of Chinese or Japanese 
 navigation between the continents ; and therefore, he 
 thinks that here Deguignes erred, and said too much, 
 when he entitled his memoir " Des Navigations des 
 Chinois du cote de rAme*rique." It seems to me that 
 this is stretching courtesy to Klaproth to affectation. 
 Deguignes believed, from several sources, that Chinese, 
 merchants as well as missionaries, had found their 
 way to California. On this hypothesis he wrote his 
 book, and demonstrated the route which they must 
 have followed, and therefore he had a full right to 
 say that its subject was on the " navigations " of 
 the Chinese from the American coast. He could not, 
 unfortunately, give the log-books and diaries of the 
 skippers who took Hoei-shin and his predecessors 
 across ; though, if he had, Klaproth s would not have 
 been wanting to impugn their authenticity. 
 
 It will be remembered that Deguignes lays stress on 
 the high culture of the early dwellers in New Mexico. 
 So far as the limited information of his time extended, 
 he found in that country the point of departure and the 
 first theatre of American civilisation, and he believed, 
 according to D Acosta, that, instead of the inhabitants of 
 this region having been refugees from Mexico, they are 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 151 
 
 the remains of a primitive civilisation from which the 
 Mexicans drew their culture ere they wandered south. 
 D Eichthal appeals to ancient works not known to 
 Deguignes, and also to the most recent, as verifying 
 this theory. These are the " Narrative of the Journey 
 of Cibola in 1540," by Castaneda de Nagera, Paris, 
 1838, given in the collection of " Voyages, Relations, 
 et Memoires Originaux, pour servir a 1 Histoire de la 
 Decouverte de 1 Arnerique, par Ternaux Compans ; " 
 the " Reports of Explorations and Surveys to ascertain 
 the most practicable and economical route for a railroad 
 from the Mississippi River, made under the direction 
 of the Secretary of War in 1853-54," especially in vol. 
 iii. ; " Report on the Indian Tribes," by Lieutenant A. 
 W. Whipple, Thomas Ewbank, Esq., and Prof. W. W. 
 Turner; and also the "Personal Narrative of Explora 
 tions, &c.,"by John Russell Bartlett, New York, 1854. 
 In these works may be found, not only indubitable 
 proof of the former highly-advanced civilisation of New 
 Mexico, but remarkable indications of apparent affinity 
 with Chinese culture. Deguignes was in the right 
 when he suggested that the oxen seen by Hoei-shin 
 were probably bison. We might add the statement, 
 that in Fusang stags were raised as cattle are in 
 China, and that cheese was made from hind s milk, 
 " as appears from Popol-Yuh, the Sacred Book of the 
 Quiches," by M. I 1 Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg 1 (In- 
 
 1 B. de Bourbourg is a writer who must be cited with great caution, 
 but he is probably right in this instance. C. G. L. 
 
152 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 troduction, p. 40). He was also strictly right in assert 
 ing that the vine was .known there, and that iron was 
 
 O / 
 
 not, but that copper was used, and that gold and silver 
 (owing, doubtless, to their abundance) were of no 
 value. All these facts were strictly applicable to 
 Mexico, and they were not collectively applicable to 
 any country then known to the Chinese. Of his own 
 knowledge Hoei-shin relates no marvels ; what he tells 
 us of the existence of a white race is fully confirmed by 
 tradition and the traces still existing of such people. 
 Lieutenant Whipple says there are white Indians at 
 Zuni, the principality of the old kingdom of Cibola, 
 although they are exceptions. They have, he says, light 
 or auburn hair. The first Indian seen by Father Nic,a, 
 in 1539, is described as a man of light complexion. 
 Indians of this type have since existed. And Catlin 
 remarks that, on seeing the Mandans, one is tempted 
 to exclaim, " These are no Indians." There are num 
 bers of them whose colour is as light as that of half- 
 breeds, and among the women " are many who are almost 
 white, and who have grey eyes, or blue and hazel " 
 (Catlin, " Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, 
 and Conditions of the North American Indians," fourth 
 edition, London, 1844, vol. i. p. 93). And as some 
 uncertainty may exist as to the relative colour of a 
 half-breed, I would explain that it is often not darker 
 than that of a Chinese, and is much clearer, the cheeks 
 being generally rosy. I have seen the whole of Cat- 
 lin s portraits of Mandans, and, like all Americans 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIX. 153 
 
 who have been in the West, am familiar with Indians, 
 both of fall and mixed blood, and am quite sure that such 
 an expert as General Whipple, whom I have known per 
 sonally very well, never mistook a half-breed for a real 
 Indian. The extraordinary lightness of the Mandan 
 women is a phenomenon which can only be accounted for 
 by their belonging to an entirely different stock from 
 the other tribes. The men had very long hair ; braves 
 who were 6 feet 2 inches high had it trailing for two 
 or three inches on the ground. 
 
 All these facts agree very well with the assertions 
 of Hoei-shin, and M. D Eichthal, wiith great sagacity, 
 points out that even the two prisons, situated one 
 in the north, the other in the south ; the one for 
 great criminals destined to endure lifelong punish-__ 
 ment, the other for trivial offenders.xfoincide with 
 the ideas as to future punishment held by some In 
 dian tribes, and especially by the Mandans. Catlin 
 tells us (vol. i. p. 157) that these people believed that 
 their hell, which, like that of the Norsemen, was a 
 cold one, desolate and horrible, covered with eternal 
 ice, was situated far to the north, while the happy 
 hunting-grounds, or their paradise, lay in the south. __ 
 
 We may, perhaps, even dispense with supposing that 
 the ox^n seen by Hoei-shin were bison, if we admit 
 that domestic cattle may have existed in America, and 
 been exterminated. Thus, in the " Relation de Choses 
 de Yucatan de Diego de Landa," the author tells us 
 that an Indian chief named Cocom showed him one 
 
154 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 day an ancient book containing the picture of a common 
 European cow, and told him it had been prophesied 
 that when such beasts should come into the country, 
 the worship of the gods would cease " Cessario el 
 culto de los Dioses, y que se avia cumplido, porque los 
 espaiioles truxeron vacas grandes." It is true that 
 this may have been a mere trick of the Indian to flatter 
 the Spaniard. 
 
 D Eichthal has vindicated Deguignes as regards the 
 statement that hinds (biches) were domesticated in 
 Fusang, and that cheese was made from their milk, by 
 citing from the "Popol-Vuh" (Introduction, p. xl.) 
 " Milk was known to the Mexicans, who were accustomed 
 to milk bison-cows and tame hinds, and make cheese." 
 The statement appears to have been taken from Cas- 
 taneda. 
 
 " The analysis which we have made of the work of 
 Deguignes," says D Eichthal, " shows how he availed 
 himself of the different geographical and historical 
 documents consulted by him, especially the Chinese 
 narrative of Fusang. There is, however, in this rela 
 tion a point which has escaped him; he did not, 
 and in fact could not, understand who or what those 
 priests were who, in the 458th year of our era, carried 
 their doctrines to the country of Fusang ; nor did that 
 other priest, who, forty years later, wrote of that 
 country." " Formerly," says Deguignes, " these nations 
 had no knowledge of the religion of Fo. In the year 
 458 A.C., under the dynasty of Sum (Sung), five bonzes 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SH1N. 155 
 
 of Samarcand carried their doctrines into this country : 
 then the manners changed" (p. 523). 
 
 For Deguignes, as for all men of his time, the reli 
 gion of Fo was simply one of the national religions of 
 China. Its identity with Buddhism was, I believe, 
 not even suspected. But how could those pretended 
 Chinese bonzes have come from Samarcand? Deguignes, 
 it appears, did not even ask himself this question. 
 
 In the time of Klaproth, ideas were more advanced. 
 The identity of the religion of Fo and Buddhism was 
 now acknowledged ; and the passage in question is 
 much better translated " Formerly the religion of 
 Buddha did not exist in those countries. It was in the 
 fourth year, la-ming, of the reign of Hiao-wou-te, of 
 Souang (458 A.C.), that five pi-khieou, or priests of the 
 country of Ki-pin (the ancient Kophen) 5 went to Fusang, 
 and there spread the law of Buddha. They took with 
 them books, holy images, ritual observances, and estab 
 lished habits of monasticism which altered the manners 
 of the inhabitants." 
 
 The land of Ki-pin, the ancient Kophen, is now 
 called JBokhara, the country of Samarcand. Samar- < 
 cand, indeed, at the time of which we are speaking, 
 was one of the great strongholds of Buddhism. It was 
 in the centre of Asia, one part of it touching Persia, 
 another Turkestan at the opening of all the roads 
 which led from that central point to the northern fron 
 tier of China, and to the north-east of Asia and the 
 shores of the Pacific. If Klaproth had admitted that 
 
155 THE ADVOCATES AND OPPONENTS OF 
 
 Fusang was in America, lie would have found in this 
 indication an excellent setting-out-point for studying 
 the institutions and monuments of America, and their 
 relations with Asia. ; He could the more easily have 
 done so, because at that time the journey of Humboldt 
 to New Spain, and also the " Views of the Cordilleras 
 -and Andes," had already appeared, and in those works 
 numerous affinities between the various civilisations of 
 America and Eastern Asia were plainly shown. But 
 by his determination to place Fusang on the South-east 
 Coast of Japan, Klaproth not only lost the benefit of 
 the revelations on the subject of Buddhism furnished by 
 the Chinese document, but also found it a stumbling- 
 block. As we have already remarked, he was led to 
 fix the introduction of Buddhism into a Japanese pro 
 vince in the year 458 of our era, whereas he knew and 
 owned that the establishment of Buddhism in Japan 
 did not take place until the year 582. Besides, we 
 must remember that in Klaproth s time the history of 
 Buddhism, though clear, was still very incomplete. 
 The great works of Hodgson, of Turner, of Burnouf, 
 and those which are derived from them, had not yet 
 appeared. That which Deguignes could not even ima 
 gine, that which even Klaproth could have accomplished 
 but imperfectly, is now easy. " By summing up all 
 that we now know of the internal development and 
 the distant propagation of Buddhism, we can well under 
 stand what may have been the result of its teaching in 
 America, and can judge, from this point of view, 
 
THE NARRATIVE OF HOEI-SHIN. 157 
 
 the institutions and monuments of ancient American 
 civilisation." 
 
 Such is, in brief, the substance of M. D Eichthal s 
 vindication of Deguignes against the attack of Klap- 
 roth, though it would be but just to say that he has 
 added to it a mass of valuable information which should 
 be read by all who take an interest in the subject. Let 
 me, in conclusion, add a word in sincere praise of the 
 very moderate tone of his defence. Those who have 
 read the bitter accusations which other writers have, 
 in a spirit of honest indignation, hurled against Klap- 
 roth, will understand and fully agree with me. 
 
THE 
 
 LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 T. SIMSON, AND DR E. BRETSCHNEIDER. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 T. SIMSON AND DR E. BRETSCHNEIDER ; OR EUROPEANS 
 RESIDING IN CHINA ON FUSANG. 
 
 IN the " Notes and Queries on China and Japan," 
 published at Hong Kong, there appeared in No. 4, 
 April 1869, this communication: 
 
 " BUDDHIST PRIESTS IN AMERICA. 
 
 " I see the following statement in a recent home paper : 
 " Professor Carl Neumann, of Munich, a diligent student of 
 Chinese antiquities and bibliography, has discovered from the 
 Chinese Year-Books that a company of Buddhist priests entered 
 this vast continent, via Aliaska, a thousand years before Columbus, 
 and explored thoroughly and intelligently the Pacific borders, 
 penetrating into the land of Fusang for so they called the 
 Aztec territory, after the Chinese name of the Mexican aloe. 
 
 u Perhaps some of your numerous contributors may be able 
 to verify the learned sinologue s discovery, and for that purpose 
 I beg to submit it to further inquiry. Y. J. A. 
 
 " SHANGHAI, March, 24, 1869." 
 
 In consequence of this request by Y. J. A., there 
 appeared in the next number of the " Notes and 
 Queries for China and Japan " the following letter : 
 
1 62 THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 BUDDHIST PHIESTS IN AMERICA (vol. iii. p. 58). Under 
 this heading, a querist in the last number of Notes and Queries 
 submits to inquiry a statement of Professor Carl Neumann of 
 Munich, respecting the supposed entry of Buddhist priests into 
 the American Continent some thirteen hundred years ago, and 
 their passage into the land of the Aztecs, which they called 
 Fusang, after the Chinese name of the American aloe. 
 
 " Now, in the first place, this statement, if true, inferential^ 
 proves much more than it asserts ; the Mexican aloe is a native 
 of Mexico only, and it is manifest, therefore, that if these sup 
 posed Chinese travellers named the country after the Chinese 
 name of the Mexican aloe, that plant must have been well 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 China, and we must allow a considerable 
 period for it to have become so well known as to suggest to the 
 travellers a name for a newly-discovered or, as it must needs 
 have been in this view, a rediscovered country. This considera 
 tion takes ns 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 Fusaug 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 should now call the Northern 
 and Central Provinces. Does the Mexican aloe grow in that part 
 of the country at all 1 I am inclined to think not, though I 
 cannot speak positively upon the point. In Canton it is said by 
 the Chinese to have been introduced from the Philippine Islands, 
 and is called Spanish (or Philippine) hemp, its fibres being some 
 times employed in the manufacture of mosquito nets. 
 
 " But the Fusang (or, more correctly, the Fusang j^fc ^ 
 
 * /\ .^-xfv.. 
 
 tree), as described in Chinese botanical works appears to be a 
 malvaceous plant ; at any rate, whatever it may be, it certainly 
 is not the Mexican aloe, or anything similar to it. 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 163 
 
 " The land of Fusang is described by Chinese authors as 
 being in the Eastern Sea, in the place where the sun rises. Con 
 sidering the geographical limits of China at the time referred to 
 (some 1300 years ago), surely we need not look further than 
 Japan for a very probable identification of the Fusang country 
 according with this description, which indeed appears to be em 
 bodied in the more modern name Jih-pen-kwoh, Japan, which is 
 translatable as the Country of the Rising Sun. It is a matter 
 of fact, too, that Buddhism was introduced into that country 
 some 1300 years ago ; and this by no means extraordinary event 
 is a very much more probable version of the incident referred 
 to than the marvellous story given by Professor Neumann. 
 
 " CANTON. THEOS. SIMSOX." 
 
 The note of Y. J. A., of March 24, 1869, refers rather 
 vaguely to a statement in " home papers," by which 
 I infer that American journals are to he understood. 
 In 1850 I published in the New York Knickerbocker 
 Magazine, for the first time, my version of Professor 
 Neumann s little work ; and in 1862 republished in the 
 Continental Magazine (N.Y.), which I then edited, the 
 greater portion of it, with additions of my own. It is 
 probable that the paragraph from the " home paper " 
 cited by Y. J. A. originated in an erroneous inference 
 drawn from a hasty perusal of one of these articles. 
 It is therefore needless to comment on Mr Sinison s 
 ignorance of the work which he attacked. His in 
 ference that the giving a name to the maguey by the 
 Buddhist monks infers a long previous acquaintance 
 with the plant, indicates a very slight knowledge of the 
 manner in which names are generally given by new- 
 
164 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 comers to a strange country, as Professor Neumann has 
 indeed intimated. In North America the number of 
 names thus applied, or misapplied, is incredibly large. 
 For an instance nearer home, we may take our own 
 English gipsies, who call a dog a jackal (juckal), 
 a swan by the Persian word for a pelican (sdkka or 
 scMu\ and small grain by the Hindu word for rice 
 (shali-giv, Hindu shalita). Hoei-shin did as the Ameri 
 cans and gipsies have done ; having no word for a natu 
 ral product which was new to him, he heedlessly gave 
 to it the name of a familiar plant which he fancied re 
 sembled it. The fact that the plant known to Chinese 
 botanists as the Fusang is malvaceous, and unlike the 
 maguey, conflicts in nothing with the probability that 
 Hoei-shin saw the great American aloe. What the 
 fancied point of resemblance may have been, or what 
 kind of a Chinese Fusang-plant he had in his mind, 
 is of comparatively slight importance. The main 
 point, and the one steadily ignored by all who have 
 ^-opposed the views of Deguignes and Neumann, is 
 this : did not Hoei-shin see in the land of Fusang, and 
 afterwards describe no matter by what name a re 
 markable plant, which is to-day the characteristic plant 
 of the region which he is supposed to have visited. The 
 geographical questions raised by Mr Sirnson, and the 
 possible identity of Japan with Fusang, have been too 
 carefully considered by M. D Eichthal to render a 
 further discussion of them necessary. 
 
 As for the possible antiquity of the name Fusang, 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 165 
 
 as applied to the maguey, taking us " back into the 
 age of stone or bronze perhaps, which is beyond the 
 intended scope of the querist s quotation," it should be 
 remarked that the ages of both stone and bronze existed 
 contemporaneously for many centuries on the North 
 American Continent until it was settled by Europeans ; 
 and further, that the age of stone continues to exist 
 among a few tribes, as I have acquaintances who 
 not many years ago witnessed the process of making 
 flint arrow-heads among the Indians of Oregon. I 
 can remember having, when a boy, occasionally seen, 
 among sheaves of arrows bought from the Indians of 
 the plains, a few which were flint-tipped, though these 
 were rare, most of them appearing to have heads made 
 from iron hoops. It is therefore evident, that by trans 
 ferring the period when the name Fusang was given to 
 the " age of stone or bronze " by no means removes the 
 intended scope of the querist s quotation into an era 
 so remote and obscure as to defy research. 
 
 The discussion of the question on its native soil, and 
 in its fatherland, China, did not, however, end here. 
 In the fifth number of the Chinese Recorder and 
 Missionary Journal, vol. iii., published at Foochow, 
 October 1870, there appeared an article entitled 
 "Fusang; or, Who Discovered America?" by " E. 
 Bretschneider, Esq., M.D." It was as follows : 
 
 " In the May number of the Chinese Recorder there is an 
 article reproduced from the Gentleman s Magazine, in which it 
 is sought to be proved that the Chinese had discovered America 
 
1 66 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 as early as 500 A.D. Simultaneous with this there appears 
 in Notes and Queries (vol. iv. p. 19) a short notice on the 
 same subject, in which it is desired to collect and publish all 
 notices concerning Fusang, by which name the Chinese of that 
 time are said to have called the newly-discovered America. 
 
 u This supposed discovery of America by Buddhist priests 
 has already been the subject of remarks in Notes and Queries 
 (vol. iii. pp. 58, 78). Moreover, this is no new view. The first 
 who advanced this hypothesis was the well-known French sinolo 
 gist Deguignes. ( Vide his Recherches sur les Navigation des 
 Chinois du cote de 1 Asie, Mein. de l Acade"mie des Inscriptions, 
 &c., vol. xxviii. pp. 505, 52G). Klaproth, in his work 
 4 Aimales des Empereurs du Japon, 1834, p. 4, has already 
 pointed out the mistakes into which Deguignes has fallen. 
 
 " Mr Taravey published two brochures on the same subject. 
 1 L Amerique sous le nom de Pays de Fusang, a-t-elle e"te" connue 
 en Asie des le cinquieme siecle de notre 6re, dans les -grandes 
 annales de la Chine. The other brochure is entitled L Ame 
 rique sous le nom de Fusang. Nouvelles preuves que le Pays 
 de Fusang est FAmerique. I have not read these disserta 
 tions. They are quoted by Andrae and Ceiger, 1864, in the 
 Bibliotheca Sinologica. I am also equally unacquainted with 
 the article of Mr Neumann." (To thisDr Bretschneider appends 
 as a footnote " Since writing the above, I have learned 
 with regret of the death of this eminent Oriental scholar.") 
 " I believe, however, that the Chinese notices about Fusang 
 are all derived from one and the same source, and each 
 and all rest upon the statements of a lying Buddhist priest, 
 Hui-shen, who asserts that he was in Fusang. His stories are 
 found in the History of the Liang Dynasty (502-550 A.D.), 
 chap, liv., and are reproduced by Ma-tuan-lin, and in other 
 historical works. 
 
 " The History of the Liang Dynasty refers, in the same chapter 
 in which Fusang is spoken of, to a number of countries, chiefly 
 islands, which must be placed in the same category as Fusang 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 167 
 
 that is to say, the intelligence regarding these countries rests 
 upon rumours and fables. In order to be able properly to 
 estimate the accounts relating to Fusang, I shall refer shortly 
 to these countries. The historian of the Liang dynasty speaks 
 first of the land of the dwarfs (Chu-ju-kuo), lying to the south of 
 Japan. Here, probably, the islands of Leu-chew are meant, whose 
 inhabitants are really of little stature. These accounts regarding 
 the dwarfs are reproduced from the history of the posterior Han. 
 The Chinese first became acquainted in the year 605 A.D. with the 
 Leu-chew Islands. The lands of the naked men (Lo-kuo), and the 
 black-toothed men (Hei-chi), were reached in a. year by a sea- 
 voyage in a south-easterly direction. The latter intelligence is 
 also reproduced from the history of the Han, and seems to be 
 an allusion to the nations which chew betel-nut. Ten thousand 
 li south-west from this is a country of islands inhabited by 
 black nasty people with white eyes. Their flesh is nevertheless 
 very well tasted, and those who sail thither shoot them in order 
 to eat them. Wen-shen, the country in which the people tattoo 
 themselves, lies 7000 li north-east from Japan. The inhabitants 
 make large lines upon their bodies, and especially upon their 
 faces. By a stretch of the imagination, we might suppose the 
 North American Red Indians to be here meant. It is known, 
 however, that the Japanese have also the custom of tattooing 
 themselves. 
 
 " Lastly, the country Tahan is mentioned as 5000 li east of 
 the above. War is here unknown. 1 According to this informa 
 tion, we should look for Tahan somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, 
 or still further east. The historians of the Tang dynasty, 618- 
 907, however, assign this land to a place in the middle of 
 Siberia. The following is found in the fj* fH* chapter 259 b. 
 
 " The land Tahan is rich in sheep and horses. These, and 
 likewise the men, are of great stature. Hence the name Tahan. 
 
 1 This statement is made from other sources regarding the Esquimaux 
 by Sir John Lubbock, " PrekUt. Civ." 
 
168 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 At the lake Kien-hai (Baikal, according to Father Hyacinth), 
 the countries of Kie-kia-ssu and Kii. The first, according to 
 Klaproth ( Tableaux Historiques de 1 Asie ) and others, were the 
 Hakas, the ancestors of the present Kirghises, and dwelt in the 
 present Siberian government of Tomsk and Yenissey. They 
 formed at the time of the Tang dynasty a powerful country. 
 The country of the Kii is described as richly wooded. No 
 grass, much moss. There are neither sheep nor horses. On this 
 account stags are used as domestic animals, and harnessed to 
 carts (sledges). They are fed with moss. The people are 
 clothed with stag-skins. The Chinese historian adds to this, 
 that the people of Tahan had no early intercourse with the 
 Chinese. It was only in the first half of the seventh century that 
 envoys from there came to the Chinese court, and brought sables 
 and horses. According to the above, Tahan must have been a 
 country on the Lena and Yenissey rivers. 
 
 "The above-mentioned Buddhist priest, Hui-shen, who 
 arrived in China towards the end of fifth century, relates : 
 
 " The kingdom of Fusang lies 20,000 li east from Tahan, and 
 directly east from China. The name of the country is derived 
 from the tree of this name (Fusang), which grows there in 
 abundance. Its leaves resembles those of the tree T ung. The 
 young sprouts are like those of the bamboo, and are eaten. The 
 fruit resembles a pear, and is of a red colour. Cloth is made 
 out of the bark, and paper is also prepared from it. The houses 
 are built of planks. There are no cities. Arms and war are 
 unknown. There are two prisons in the country for light and 
 confirmed criminals. Carts drawn by horses ; oxen or stags are 
 employed. The deer are their domestic animals, like cows in 
 China. A fermented drink is prepared from their milk. Mul 
 berry-trees exist, and red pears, which can be preserved for a 
 whole year. Grapes thrive also. Silver and copper have no 
 value there. There is no iron, but plenty of copper. They 
 possess writings. The inhabitants of Fusang were formerly 
 ignorant of the Buddhist religion. Five priests from Ki-piu 
 
THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 169 
 
 (Cabul) went there in 458 A.D., and carried with them the holy 
 books and the faith. I pass over the wonderful descriptions 
 which Hui-shen gives of the customs, clothing of the sovereign, 
 punishment, &c., in Fusang, as unessential, for I believe that no 
 conclusions can be drawn therefrom. The translation of these 
 details is found in Klaproth s Annales des Empereurs du 
 Japon/ v. 
 
 " The above is the Chinese intelligence about Fusang, which 
 sprang out of the fifth century, and, I believe, the only informa 
 tion we possess. In later times, the Chinese poets, who seem 
 to be gifted with a much livelier imagination than some of our 
 savants, have further developed and richly embellished those 
 reports with regard to the land of Fusang, and have made out of 
 it a complete land of fables, where mulberry-trees grow to a 
 height of several thousand feet, and where silk-worms are found 
 more than six feet in length. The statements about Fusang 
 given by M. Le"on de Rosny in his Variety s Orientales, from 
 a Japanese Encyclopsedia, are probably borrowed from the 
 Chinese. I have not, however, read M. Rosny s work. (Cf. 
 Notes and Queries, vol. iv. p. 19.) 1 
 
 "In order to place the credibility of the Buddhist priest 
 Hui-shen in the proper light, I will yet mention what he 
 further relates of his journeys. He asserts, namely (loco citato), 
 that there is a kingdom 1000 li east of Fusang in which are no 
 men, but only women, whose bodies are completely covered with 
 hair. When they wish to become pregnant, they bathe them 
 selves in a certain river. The women have no mammae, 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 Chinese had discovered America 1300 years ago. Neverthe- 
 
 1 M. de Rosny s extract from the Japanese Cyclopaedia is simply an 
 abridgment of the account by Hoei-shin. C. G. L. 
 
i;o THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 less, it appears to me that these sinologues have not succeeded in 
 robbing Columbus of the honour of having discovered America. 
 They might have spared themselves the writing of such learned 
 treatises on this subject. It appears to me that the verdict 
 passed upon the value of the information of the Buddhist monk 
 Hui-shen by Father Hyacinth is the most correct. This well- 
 known sinologue adds the following words merely after the 
 translation of the article Fusang out of the History of the 
 Southern Dynasties : Hui-shen appears to have been a consum 
 mate humbug. (Cf. The People of Central Asia/ by F. Hyacinth.) 
 
 "I cannot, indeed, understand what ground we have for be 
 lieving that Fusang is America. We cannot lay great stress 
 iipon 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 frequently in 
 Asia as in America. Mention is also made of horses in Fusang. 
 This does not agree at all 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 
 the tree Fusang is synonymous with the Mexican aloe. Mr 
 Sampson has already refuted this error. (Notes and Queries, 
 vol. iii. p. 78.) 
 
 " According to the description and drawings of the tree 
 Fusang given by the Chinese, there is no doubt that it is 
 a Malvacea. In Peking, the Hibiscus rosa siniensis is designated 
 by this name, while Hibiscus syriacus is here called Mu-kin. 
 These names seem to hold good for the Avhole of China. The 
 description which is given in the Pun-tsao-kang-mu of both 
 plants (xxxvi. p. G4 and 65) admits of no doubt that by the tree 
 Fusang, Chu-kin, Chi-kin, Ji-ki, is to be understood Hibiscus 
 rosa siniensis. It is also mentioned that this tree has a likeness 
 to the Mu-kin (Hibiscus syriacus). Its leaves resemble the 
 mulberry-tree. Very good drawings of both kinds of Hibiscus 
 are found in the Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-k ao (xxxv. pp. 58 and 34). 
 The Buddhist priest Hui-shen compares the tree Fusang with the 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 171 
 
 tree Tung. Under tliis name the Chinese denote different 
 large-leaved trees. In the Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-k ao (xxx. p. 46), 
 the tree T ung is represented with broadly ovate, cordate, entire 
 great leaves, and with great ovoid, acuminate fruits. Hoffman 
 and Schultes ( Noms indigenes des Plantes du Japon et de la 
 Chine J ) have set down the tree Tung as Paulownia imperialis. 
 This agrees quite well with the Chinese drawing. 
 
 " The tree Tung must not be confounded with the Yu-t ung 
 tree (synonyma Ying-tsu-t ung, Jen-t ung), from whose fruit is 
 furnished the well-known and very poisonous oil, Tdng-yj 
 which the Chinese employ in varnish and in painting. It should 
 be the Dryanda cordata, according to others Elaeococca veru- 
 cosa. I have not seen the tree, but it is known to occur very 
 abundantly in Central China, and especially on the Yang-tse- 
 kiang. There is a Chinese description in the Pun-tsao (xxxv. 
 p. 26), and a drawing of it in the Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-k ao 
 (xxxv. p. 26). 
 
 "Finally, there is a tree which the Chinese call "VVu-t ung 
 (synonyme Chen). This tree has already been mentioned by 
 Du Halde ( Description de 1 Empire Chinois ), as a curiosity, in 
 which the seeds are found on the edges of the leaves. This 
 phenomenon is also described in the drawing of the Chi-wu- 
 ming-shi-tu-k ao (xxxv. 56). Compare further the description 
 in the Pun-t sao (xxxv a, 25). It is the Sterculia plantanifolia t 
 a beautiful tree with large leaves, lobed so as to resemble a hand, 
 which is cultivated in the Buddhist temples near Peking. The 
 Chinese are quite right in what they relate about the seeds. The 
 seed-follicles burst, and acquire the form of coriaceous leaves, 
 bearing the seeds upon their margin. 
 
 " The leaves of all the trees just now mentioned allow them 
 selves to be compared, as is done by the Chinese, with those of 
 Hibiscus, or other plants of the Malvaceous family, but have not 
 the slightest resemblance with the Mexican aloe or maguey tree 
 (Agave americana), which has massive, spiny-toothed, fleshy 
 leaves. Mr Hanlay (Chinese Recorder, vol. ii. p. 315), of San 
 
172 THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 Francisco, cannot, therefore, succeed in proving that the Bud 
 dhist priest Hui-shen understood by Fusang the Mexican aloe. 
 
 "Finally, I have to mention a tree which, as regards its 
 appearance and usefulness, corresponds pretty much with the 
 description given by Hui-shen of the Fusang-tree. , I am speak 
 ing of the useful tree Broussonetia papyrifera, which grows wild 
 in the temperate parts of Asia," 1 especially in China, Japan, Corea, 
 Manchuria, &c., and is, besides, found on the islands of the 
 Pacific, while, as far as I know, it does not occur in Ame 
 rica. The leaves of this tree are remarkable for their vary 
 ing very much in shape. The same tree produces at once very 
 large and quite small leaves. They are sometimes entire, some 
 times many-lobed. The fruit is round, of a deep scarlet colour, 
 and pulpy. It is a well-known fact that, in the parts where this 
 tree grows, its bark is used for the making of paper and the 
 manufacturing of clothing material. From ancient times it has 
 been known to the Chinese under the name Ch u (synonyma 
 Kou, KOU-SANG, Kou-shu. Cf. Pun-t sao-kang-mu, xxxvi. 10). 
 An excellent engraving of the tree is found in the Chi-wu-ming- 
 shi-tu-k ao (xxxiii. 57). Ilui-shen, in his botanical diagnosis, 
 perhaps made a mistake with regard to the Fusang-tree, and con 
 founded Broussonetia ivith Hibiscus. 
 
 "Just as, little as the Mexican aloe does the non-existence of 
 iron in the country Fusang prove that America is to be under 
 stood, for there were many countries in ancient^imes which 
 possessed copper, but where the art of working iron was unknown. 
 The Chinese report also that the natives of the Leu-chew Island 
 did not possess iron, but only copper. 
 
 " Mr Hanlay (I.e.) appears to have received the discovery of 
 America by the Chinese with the greatest enthusiasm. Perhaps 
 I have furnished him, by means of the above notice about the 
 kingdom of women, which Hui-shen visited, a new proof for his 
 
 1 Saghalien, where Mr Bretsclmeider would put Fusang, can hardly be 
 called temperate. C. G. L. 
 
THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 173 
 
 view of the case. Fusang lies, according to Hui-shen, directly 
 east from China more than 20,000 li, thus about the situation 
 of San Francisco at the present day. The celebrated women s 
 kingdom lies 1000 li still further towards the east, thus about 
 the country of Salt Lake City, where, at the present day, the 
 Mormons are, which, if not a women s country, is nevertheless a 
 country of many women, and where to the disgrace of the 
 United States prostitution is carried on under the mask of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 " I do not agree with Mr Sampson (Notes and Queries, vol . iii. 
 p. 79) in supposing that Fusang must be identified with Japan, 
 
 ff 7JC Ji-pen, the land where the sun rises ; for Japan has been 
 ivell known to the Chinese since several centuries before, our era, 
 under another name. I avail myself of this opportunity to add 
 a few words about the earliest accounts which the Chinese have 
 of Japan. This country was primitively known to them under 
 the name Wo, which occurs for the first time in the history of 
 the posterior Han, 25-221, chapter 115. I cannot afford to 
 give here a translation of the whole article, and shall, therefore, 
 only touch upon some of the most important points. The king 
 dom Wo, it is said, is situated on a group of islands in the great 
 sea, south-east of Han (in the south-western part of Corea), and 
 is composed of about a hundred principalities. Since the con 
 quest of Chas-sien (Corea) by the Emperor Wu-ti, 108 B.C., 
 about thirty of these principalities entered into relations with 
 China. The most powerful of the rulers has his capital in Ye- 
 ma-t ai. It is mentioned that neither tigers and leopards, nor 
 oxen, horses, sheep, and magpies exist. As far as I know, this 
 last remark is not true at present, at least, as far as horses and 
 oxen are concerned ; it is true, however, that sheep cannot thrive 
 in Japan, and the attempts of Europeans to acclimatise them 
 have been, until now, unsuccessful. 
 
 " In the reign of Kuang-wu, A.D. 25-58, envoys came from 
 the Wo-nu with presents to the Chinese court. They stated 
 that their country was the southernmost of the kingdom. 
 
174 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 " The history of the Sui dynasty, 589-G18, chapter 81, gives 
 also the name Wo to Japan, and contains an extensive article on 
 this country. The chief place of the kingdom is called here Ye- 
 mi-sui. 
 
 " The name Ji-pen is given to Japan by Chinese historians, 
 for the first time, towards the end of the seventh century. I 
 entertained until now the opinion that the Japanese, who, as 
 everybody knows, use these same signs for the name of their 
 country, but pronounce them Ni-pon, had borrowed this name, 
 together with the art of writing, from China. (Chinese writing- 
 was introduced into Japan A.D. 280 ; Buddhism, A.D. 552.) (Cf. 
 Klaproth, Annales des Empereurs du Japon, ix. and p. 20.) 
 For Japan could appear only to the Chinese (or any other people 
 on the continent of Asia) as the country where the sun rises. 
 This, however, does not seem to be the case, according to infor 
 mation derived from Chinese sources. In the history of the 
 Tang dynasty, G1S-907, chapter 259 , Japan is at first described 
 under the ancient name Wo. Then follows the description of 
 the kingdom Ji-pen, of which the following is said : Ji-pen is 
 of the same origin as Wo. It lies on the boundaries of the sun, 
 therefore the name. It is also related that the name Wo was 
 changed .by the Japanese, for the reason that they found it in 
 harmonious ; others say that Ji-pen was formerly a small state, 
 and that Wo, in later times, was incorporated in Ji-pen. The 
 people who came from Ji-pen to the court boasted of the power 
 of their country, but the Chinese did not put faith in their 
 words. They told that this kingdom extended 1000 II in all 
 directions, and that it was bordered on the west and south bv 
 the great sea, and on the north and east by high mountains. 
 Beyond the mountains live the Mas-jen, the hairy men. This, 
 beyond doubt, refers to the Amos, well known for being hairy in 
 appearance. 
 
 " The above information removes all doubts as to the Japanese 
 origin of the name Ji-pen, and the use of it at first for the desig 
 nation of the largest of the islands, and afterwards as the name 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OP FUSANG. 175 
 
 of the whole empire. Ye-ma-t ai, as the Chinese called the chief 
 town of Japan, seems to designate the province Yamato, in which 
 the emperors had their residence in ancient times. It is difficult 
 to say anything of the origin of the name Wo. It is probable 
 that the Chinese invented it, and that the Japanese afterwards 
 adopted it. I find in a Japanese historical map of Japan the 
 
 characters r^ as designating the province Yamato. This 
 province is designated by these characters on all the historical 
 maps up to the beginning of the eighth century, whereas on the 
 
 modern maps that province is called -^^ ^tTj Talio. 
 
 " Allow me to observe also, in relation to the above-mentioned 
 history of the posterior Han, a Nu-wang-kuo, a country of women, 
 is spoken of in the southern part of Japan. This statement is 
 confirmed by the Japanese annals. (Cf. Klaproth, Annales des 
 Empereurs du Japon, p. 13.) The Japanese call this country 
 Atsowma. 
 
 " The land Tahan, according to the foregoing observations, 
 must have been a province in Siberia. Fusang is said to lie to 
 the east of Tahan. Supposing, then, that a country, Fusang, 
 really existed, and was not an invention of a Buddhist monk, it 
 does not necessarily follow that it is to be sought on the other 
 side of the ocean. Let me here observe, that this monk men 
 tions in no place in his account having passed over a great sea. 
 Klaproth, in assuming that Fusang is meant for the island of 
 Saghalien, is, I believe, more near to the truth than the other 
 sinologues. 
 
 " In Notes and Queries (vol. iv. p. 19) there is a passage cited 
 out of the Liang-ssu-kung-ki, that the kingdom of Fusang had 
 sent envoys to China. That would, of course, prove that the so- 
 called country of Fusang had political intercourse with China, 
 but it makes it more unlikely that America was here meant. We 
 will, therefore, in the meantime, still consider Fusang as a terra 
 incognita nee non dubia, and bestow upon Mr Buiiinghame the 
 double honour of having been the first American Ambassador at 
 the Chinese court, and first Chinese Ambassador in America. 
 
176 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 " The contradictory fancies about China that originate in the 
 brains of European literati are truly astonishing. Some main 
 tain that the Chinese discovered America 1300 years ago, while 
 a well-known learned Frenchman, Count Gobineau, has some 
 years ago asserted that the Chinese have immigrated from 
 America. In his Essai sur I Ine galite des Races Humaines, vol. 
 ii. p. 242, Count Gobineau says : ( D ou venaient ces peuples 
 jaunes ? Du grand continent d Ame"rique. C est la rdponse de 
 la physiologic comme de la linguistique. 
 
 " All these unfounded hypotheses have much the same value 
 as the supposed discovery of America by the Chinese. 
 
 "PEKIN, 13th June 1870." 
 
 As a Chinese scholar, familiar with the histories -of 
 the country, and as a resident in Pekin at the time of 
 writing the foregoing letter, Dr Bretschneider is en 
 titled to an examination in detail. Beyond all doubt, 
 no writer whatever on the subject of Fusang, whether 
 Deguignes, Neumann, or D Eichthal, has expressed him 
 self so positively on the question. A true disciple of 
 the learned Klaproth, he with great ingenuity directs 
 his chief energies less to the subject of dispute than to 
 impugning the honesty or sense of his opponents. 
 
 In the beginning, Dr Bretschneider disposes of all 
 that Deguignes alleges, by declaring that " Klaproth 
 has already pointed out the mistakes into which the 
 latter has fallen." By this effective summary, those 
 who have not read Deguignes and Klaproth are fully 
 informed in a few words of the greater part of the 
 argument as it appeared to Dr Bretschneider ; and as 
 he had not read Professor Neumann s or other works on 
 
THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 177 
 
 the subject, he is, of course, relieved from the awkward 
 responsibility of answering many statements which 
 would perhaps have interfered with his own theories. 
 As he makes no mention, indeed, of M. Gustave 
 d Eichthal, we must conclude that he either had never 
 heard of the articles which had appeared several years 
 before in the Rdme Archceologique, or passed them by as 
 trifles unworthy his attention. 
 
 " The Chinese notices of Fusang," says Dr Bret- 
 schneider, " are all derived from the same source, and 
 each and all rest upon the statements of a lying 
 Buddhist priest." He does not deny, or he rather 
 admits plainly, that the steps towards Fusang are laid 
 down faithfully enough until we reach Tahan. Ko one, 
 indeed, can well deny this who has read Deguignes 
 with any care. But the credibility of Hoei-shin is 
 utterly destroyed, according to Dr Bretschneider, 
 firstly, by the stories embroidered by Chinese poets on 
 his narrative hundreds of years after the monk was in 
 his grave, and, secondly, by the story of the Kingdom 
 of Women. 
 
 I have already observed that Hoei-shin says nothing 
 of having visited this Kingdom of Women, but speaks 
 of it as being a thousand li east of Fusang. In our 
 day, it is no longer the fashion to utterly discredit the 
 older travellers because they gilded and illuminated 
 their texts with arabesque marvels, especialty when 
 they only told the tales as they were told to them. 
 Judged by such a standard, all the travels of Buddhist 
 
 It 
 
I 7 8 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 monks to the West must be entirely thrown out of 
 history, Herodotus set down as the father of lies, and 
 every one of the Old World pilgrims discredited with 
 him, In fact, the falsus in uno falsus in omnibus 
 ground no longer obtains in criticism, and allow 
 ance is now made for the simple credulity of twilight 
 times. Scholars do not usually announce their per 
 sonal opinions as overwhelming arguments, or call 
 names, and it is to be regretted that a man of Dr 
 Bretsclmeider s erudition should have informed the 
 sinologues who differ with him that a they might have 
 spared themselves the trouble of writing such learned 
 treatises on this subject." That he likes this method 
 of argument by inspiration spiced with personality 
 appears from his evident admiration of Father Hya 
 cinth, who, as he tells us, merely added to the article 
 " Fusang " the following words " Hui-shen appears to 
 have been a consummate humbug." 
 
 Dr Bretsclmeider adduces the story of the Kingdom 
 of Women as a reason for discrediting Hoei-shin. Yet, 
 when it strengthens his own position, he informs us that 
 a country of women was believed to exist in Southern 
 Japan. 
 
 " Neumann," says Dr Bretsclmeider, " appears to 
 base his hypothesis on the assumption that the tree 
 .Fusang is synonymous with the American aloe." As 
 he confessedly had not read Professor Neumann s work, 
 it was hardly fair to judge by hearsay, or to inform 
 his public (even under the shield of an " appears ") 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 179 
 
 what Neumann s " hypothesis " was. The reader of 
 these pages is aware that Professor Neumann by no 
 means based his belief in Hoei-shin s narrative simply 
 on the maguey plant. " Mr Sampson," says Dr Bret- 
 sehn eider, " has already refuted this error." Mr Sim- 
 son had, it is true, fully proved that Hoei-shin gave to 
 the maguey a name not now applicable to the Chinese 
 plants which bear it. But neither Mr Simsou nor 
 Dr Bretschneider disproves the main fact that Hoei- 
 shin described a very singular Mexican plant not 
 known in Asia. The pictures which have been made 
 by Chinese botanists since the fifth century are very 
 little to the purpose. It seems to have escaped the notice 
 of all writers that Hoei-shin, while he calls the tree a 
 Fusang, says it resembles the T ung, 1 a very different 
 plant, the leaves of which, though in other respects un 
 like those of the maguey, are large. This indicates that 
 by the word Fusang we are to understand some Ameri 
 can term, which to the Chinese sounded like one alrea ly 
 familiar to them. And it is remarkable that one point 
 and that, indeed, the principal one in the Fusaug con 
 troversy has been overlooked by every writer on the 
 subject, from Deguignes to Bretschneider, which is, that 
 Hoei-shin, while he calls the tree a Fusang, states that its 
 
 1 A cactus in ancient Mexican was called tuna, and the Ccic cs globosce 
 bears the name of visnago (vide Berthold Seeman s "Die Volksnamen der 
 Amerikanischen Pflanzen," or " Popular jSTames of the Plants of America "); 
 but I have not been able to learn that there is any old Mexican name for 
 the maguey in the least resembling Fusang. Inquiry might be made 
 among the Pueblos. 
 
i So THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 leaves resemble those of another plant, and its sprouts 
 those of yet another. It is not remarkable that, with these 
 qualifications left out of sight, neither Mr Simson nor 
 Dr Bretschneider could find the mysterious plant among 
 the Fusang-trees of China. Nothing can be more plain 
 than that, while giving to the American plant a name like 
 that of one in China, the monk by no means meant the 
 latter. " The sprouts," he says, " on the contrary, 
 resemble those of the bamboo-tree." Yet in the face 
 of this statement, Mr Simson and Dr Bretschneider 
 assert, as if it were an argument, that the maguey plant 
 is not the Fusang when the monk had taken pains to 
 say the same thing, and even to emphasise his denial. 
 But, as a concluding paragraph on this subject, Dr 
 Bretschneider informs us that there is a Chinese tree 
 not the Fusang but Kousang which strikingly resem 
 bles it, and then naively remarks that this was per 
 haps the one seen by Hoei-shin. The correction will 
 be cheerfully admitted by all who believe it possible 
 that the Buddhist monk was in America ; and I avail 
 myself of the opportunity to declare that Dr Bret 
 schneider, whatever his peculiarities of criticism may 
 be, is undoubtedly a good sinologist, and deeply learned 
 in Chinese botany, and that his learning has, in this 
 respect, done much for the cause of Hoei-shin, while his 
 arguments pro contra have not injured it in the least. 
 Hoei-shin in all likelihood did make a mistake in con 
 founding Broussonetia with Hibiscus ; but so that there 
 is in China a Kousang, very much resembling what the 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSAXG. 181 
 
 monk chose to call Fusang, we can ask no more. Dr 
 Bretschneider honestly admits that Hoei-shin saw in 
 Mexico a plant to which he gave a wrong name, and 
 corrects this error. To an unprejudiced critic these 
 botanical blunders of the old monk, obscured in all 
 probability by provincial terms and errors of copyists, 
 so far from invalidating the main facts, actually confirm 
 them ; and in this instance, where Dr Bretschneider is 
 inspired by positive science, he makes an admission 
 favourable to the credibility of Hoei-shin. 
 
 It is, however, strange that so learned a man should 
 assert that because there were in ancient times many 
 other countries where iron was unknown, therefore 
 Hoei-shin s observation that it was not used in Fusang 
 must go for nothing. Iron was known to all the civilised 
 countries with which Hoei-shin was acquainted what 
 his ideas of Lew-chew were we cannot ascertain and 
 when he found in Fusang an apparently civilised race 
 without iron, and not using gold or copper for money ^ he 
 naturally recorded these peculiarities. It is remarkable 
 that this was the case in Mexico. Four statements are 
 here made one relative to a plant, and three to metals 
 all of them true as regards America, and not one of 
 them confirmed as regards China or India in the fifth 
 century. According to Dr Bretschneider s argument, 
 the most accurate account of the inhabitants of America, 
 and their customs, must be set down as proving nothing, 
 whenever anything similar can be proved of other coun 
 tries in ancient times. 
 
i82 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 Dr Bretsclineider states that Hoei-shin declares lie 
 visited the Kingdom of Women ; but, as I have already 
 shown, the monk uses the term "it is said" with 
 reference to the great marvel of this country the ex 
 traordinary manner of suckling the children which he 
 would not have done had he witnessed it. And here 
 we are again indebted to Dr Bretsclineider for another 
 inadvertent, yet most important, admission. For, as 
 he declares, Fusang lies according to Hoei-shin 
 more than 20,000 li directly east from China, about the 
 situation of San Francisco; and that the Women s King 
 dom, if it existed, must have been where the Mormons 
 now dwell. Now the question on which the whole 
 turns is really this, and nothing more : Did Hoei- 
 shin mean that there was a country on the spot where, 
 as is now known, land exists ? The monk had a perfect 
 right to state his distances, and here Dr Bretschneider 
 clearly admits that the distance was accurately esti 
 mated. It may be remarked, by the way, that pros 
 titution has literally no existence in Utah, being 
 vigorously repressed by the Mormons, and that our 
 author has evidently been strangely misinformed as to 
 the country. It is carried on, he says, under the mask 
 of the Christian religion, an assertion which would be 
 perfectly true if applied to Berlin or Paris, or in fact to 
 any German or French city where it is legalised by the 
 Government, but which cannot be said of the United 
 States of America, and least of all of Utah, where the 
 people are not Christians at all. It would be insultin^ 
 
THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 183 
 
 to a scholar like Dr Bretsclmeider to insinuate that he 
 does not know the difference between prostitution and 
 polygamy. I prefer to believe that he wrote under a 
 misapprehension of Mormon institutions. If, however, 
 we are to understand from Dr Bretschueider s text that 
 he alludes to the American Government as wearing a 
 mask of the Christian religion, I would say, as an 
 American, firstly, that the expression is needlessly 
 offensive ; and secondly, that as there is no connection 
 whatever in the United States between Church and 
 State, it is devoid of truth. 
 
 " Klaproth," says Dr Bretsclmeider, " in assuming 
 that Fusang is meant for the Island of Saghalien, is, I 
 believe, more near to the truth than the other sino 
 logues." What then becomes of the perplexing Coun 
 try of Women but just now in Utah, and at another 
 time in Japan ? If anybody s statements and measure 
 ments are to be accepted, they are certainly those of 
 Hoei-shin himself, and they are plain enough " Twenty 
 thousand li east of Tahan " Tahan being plainly 
 Siberia, as Dr Bretsclmeider admits, when he finds it 
 convenient to do so, for the sake of a bitter word 
 against America. 
 
 A passage cited from an old Chinese chronicle asserts 
 that envoys once went from Fusang to China. This, 
 Dr Bretschneider allows, would prove that Fusang 
 had intercourse with the Celestial Kingdom, " but," 
 as he declares, " makes it still more unlikely that 
 America was here meant." In explanation, I will 
 
1 84 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 cite the passage as given in the " Notes and Queries fur 
 China and Japan." 
 
 " The Liang-sze-kung-ki says that envoys from Fu- 
 sang brought as tribute gems for observing the sun/ 
 like square and circular mirrors, more than a foot in 
 circumference, and transparent like glass. Looking at 
 the reflection of the sun in them, one could see very 
 distinctly and brigjitly the palace in the sun." 
 
 This refers distinctly enough to something very like 
 those curious metallic mirrors made in China, and 
 common even in London, by means of which characters 
 or pictures on the back are seen by reflecting the sun s 
 rays on the wall. But in any case, if such mirrors 
 were ever brought to China, they were much more likely 
 to have come from sun-worshipping Mexico, where 
 metal and other work was made with great ingenuity, 
 than from Siberia, or even from Japan itself at that 
 time. But it is still utterly incomprehensible why 
 the proving that Fusang sent ambassadors to China 
 
 1 The ancient Peruvians are said by Prescott to have relighted their 
 sacred fire when it was extinguished by means of a concave mirror of 
 polished metal. This connection between mirrors and the sun, whether 
 Chinese or Peruvian, is at least curious. Not only Peruvians, but many 
 of the North American nations, preserved a sacred fire in fact, the Pue 
 blos of New Mexico still keep one burning, and it is not many years since 
 the Chippeways extinguished theirs. I have in my possession a common 
 burning-glass, which I once dug out of an old Chippeway grave ; and it is 
 to be observed that burning-glasses, which were in great demand from the 
 traders by the Chippeways while they worshipped the sacred fire, are 
 now no longer called for. This is not owing to the introduction of 
 matches, for (as is proved by the contents of several tobacco-bags in my 
 possession) the Chippeways generally use flint and steel to obtain a light. 
 C. G. L. 
 
THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 185 
 
 should (t make it still more unlikely that America is here 
 meant." There is no reason to arbitrarily assume that 
 ambassadors could not come from America. But Dr 
 Bretschneider treats this as his most conclusiv.e argu 
 ment ; indeed, as the only conclusive one, since he 
 immediately declares, " We will therefore still consider 
 Fusang as a terra incognita nee non dubia" 
 
 In brief, Dr Bretschneider asserts -that there was no 
 Fusang, it being all the invention of a lying priest 
 but that it was in Siberia. There was never 
 any such place, but still Mr Simson is wrong in 
 placing it in Japan, and Klaproth is right in declaring 
 it was at Saghalien. There was no Fusang-tree either, 
 but the monk who saw it meant the JT0z*-sang, describ 
 ing more accurately, however, a Mexican plant. Klap 
 roth refuted Deguignes and exposed his errors by proving 
 that Fusang was also in Japan ; only in Dr Bretschn ei 
 der s opinion it was elsewhere. And it is certainly 
 curious that the writers who utterly discredit the very 
 existence of Fusang, and all that is said of it, have 
 each a theory as to where it really was. 
 
 To verify history is the chief object of scholarship, 
 just as to investigate Nature is the aim of science. 
 Every year sees the former more guided by the latter, 
 and it is well that it should be so, even as it is well 
 that parents who, as they grow old, look more and more 
 into the past, should be tenderly guarded by their vigor 
 ous children. To prove who first from the Old World 
 explored the New is no trifling problem in history, and 
 
1 86 THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 
 
 I am well assured that the investigation of the record 
 of Hoei-shin will by no means rest where it is. What 
 we want is not to establish a favourite fancy, but to 
 ascertain the truth. It does not appear to many people, 
 whose opinions are entitled to respect, that the story of 
 Hoei-shin is settled. Liars above all, lying travellers 
 are never brief, and had Hoei-shin been " a consummate 
 humbug," he would have hardly left such a concise 
 narrative as is given in the Annals. Time will proba 
 bly show whether these Buddhist monks ever existed, 
 and whether they ever were in America 
 
 " The truth, which long in darkness lay, 
 Will come with clearness to the day." 
 
 And if their story be proved a misrepresentation, or 
 a myth founded on some old fable, we may at least get 
 from the inquiry set afoot a clue to its source, and 
 hints, or perhaps solid information, as to the great 
 mystery of the early settlement of America. We are 
 still groping in darkness as regards the past: the 
 wonderful discoveries of the last fifty years may well 
 teach us this. 
 
 It is the impulsive it may be the credulous spirit, 
 loving marvels and novelty, which awakes these re 
 searches, and the negative, doubting, and incredulous 
 inquiry which tests them. I trust that in this book 
 both the believers and disbelievers in Hoei-shin s nar 
 rative have been honestly represented. If I have 
 inadvertently spoken harshly of Klaproth and his dis 
 ciple Bretschueider, I can only say that my severest 
 
THE LA TEST DISCUSSION OF FUSANG. 187 
 
 words are like flattery itself compared to what others 
 have said in print of both these scholars. As it is, I 
 cannot resist the honest conviction that both have, by 
 their opposition, kept the question from subsiding into 
 oblivion, and unwittingly brought forth, if not positive 
 proofs, at least a mass of probabilities in favour of 
 Hoei-shin before which their opposition was trifling. 
 
 The truth is, that the vindication of Hoei-shin is of 
 little importance in itself compared to what lies behind 
 it and what it may lead to. I refer to those early ages 
 peopled by strange and cloudy forms ages not without 
 gleams of barbaric splendour hinted at in the account 
 of the embassies bearing mirrors in which could be seen 
 " the palace of the sun " perhaps that very Palace of 
 the Sun itself known so well to the Mexicans. Should 
 the investigation lead to anything positive relative to 
 the early settlement of America, and to the action or 
 reaction of the Old World and the New, the little jour 
 nal of the humble priest, who did not even claim to be 
 the first from beyond sea whose footsteps had fallen in 
 the Golden Land of Fusang, may well be allowed to 
 pass into oblivion, if nothing more occurs to confirm its 
 authenticity. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 IN the text of Professor Neumann s work, there is an extract 
 from the NippontJci, or Japanese Annals (from 661 until 696), 
 relative to the Ainos, or inhabitants of Jeso. As anything con 
 cerning these inter-continental races is of interest in connection 
 with the subject of this work, especially when it refers to any 
 possible affinity between America and Asia, I append the fol 
 lowing from the London Times (Xov. 1874) : 
 
 THE AINOS OF JAPAN. Mr De Long, lately United States Minis 
 ter in Japan, made the following statement in his lecture at Sacra 
 mento : " The Japanese estimate their population at about 
 40,000,000. This I think an over-estimate by from 10,000,000 to 
 15,COO,000, although their reckoning is supported by their census 
 returns. There is found inhabiting the island of Jeso and the 
 Kurile Islands a race of men called by the Japanese l Ainos/ or 
 1 hairy men. This appellation they well sustain, as they have full, 
 flowing, black beards, reaching, in many cases, below the middle of 
 the breast. We are told that they are the aborigines of Japan, ori 
 ginally occupying all of the islands embraced in that group ; and 
 Japanese history records the fact that Jimoo Tenno, the first Japa 
 nese emperor, with some followers, came from heaven in a boat, 
 landed at or near Nagasaki, on the Island of Sikoke, from whom 
 sprang the present Japanese nation ; that gradually they beat back 
 and destroyed the Aino race,- as we have done the Indian, until the 
 nation attained its present greatness, and the aborigines sank to 
 their present weak condition. This is all the Japanese know of their 
 origin and their race. Nothing interests their leading men more 
 than a study of their probable origin, as they treat with levity the 
 
1 90 APPENDIX. 
 
 legend recorded in their country. The embassy which accompanied 
 me to Washington brought with them a large collection of stone 
 beads, arrow-heads, and other evidences of the stone age. These 
 they brought for the purpose of comparing them with similar relics 
 found in our own and other countries. The embassy studied with 
 great regard such Indians as we met, and such relics as could be found 
 at Salt Lake City and other places. Iwakura assured me that the 
 appearance of our Indians, their dress, costume, and weapons, were 
 identical with such ornamentation as their geologists had discovered 
 upon rude images marking the stone age in Japan ; and he further 
 remarked to me that he would be almost prepared to believe they 
 were akin, but for the circumstance that our Indians could not be 
 civilised. The Ainos form, in my mind, a curious subject of reflec 
 tion. They seem to bear no relation in customs, language, or 
 appearance to either the Japanese, Chinese, Manchoos, or othei 
 Oriental nations. They are extremely kind, mild-mannered, skilful 
 as hunters and fishermen, intelligent, and brave. Crime is almost 
 unknown among them, yet they are so completely savage or bar 
 barous that they have no idea of their origin, no mode of reckoning 
 time, no knowledge of the value of money, nor even proper names. 
 They call their children One, Two, Three, &c. Their mode of 
 saluting a superior is to sit down upon the earth cross-legged, bow 
 the head, and, placing their hands together with the palms upward, 
 raise them three times toward their faces, as if in the act of casting 
 dust or water upon themselves, after which they complacently stroke 
 their long black beards with both hands three times. This mode of 
 salutation, I believe, is analogous to that of the ancient Hebrews, 
 while the beard and physiognomy of the people, in my mind, 
 strongly resemble that nation. Ancient mining works of a very 
 extensive character are found upon the island of Jeso, where these 
 people live, and are mentioned by Professor Pompelly, who resided 
 there for a period, while in the service of the Japanese, in his work 
 entitled < A Tour Around the World. " 
 
 This interest of the Japanese in early America, and their belief 
 that their ancestors had something in common with it, is possibly 
 more deeply seated than Europeans are aware of. In his " New 
 Japan," Mr Samuel Mossman, author of " China and its His 
 tory," &c., writes as follows on this subject : 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 191 
 
 " There is evidence to show that some of the early Japanese 
 navigators, driven by the terrible typhoons that sweep over their 
 waters, had entered the great North Pacific drift current flowing to 
 the east as observed by Krusenstern and Kotzebue and reached 
 the coasts of California and Mexico. They could not return 
 again to their native land against the current, so those involun 
 tary explorers were in all probability the founders of the Mexican 
 dynasties, of which the famous Montezuma was among the last 
 monarchs. When Cortes arrived in Mexico, he was received by 
 the king and his sages as one whom they expected from the land 
 of their ancestors in the far distant west. Hence it may be said 
 that the Japanese were the first discoverers and founders of 
 America. Even at this day, the remnants of the aboriginal races 
 of California and Mexico have been recognised by intelligent 
 natives from Japan as descendants of their ancestors, whose boats 
 had been carried by currents or driven by tempests from their 
 native shores." 
 
 This is an interesting subject, and I regret that more conclu 
 sive proofs than those hinted at by Mr Mossman cannot be given. 
 As the Japanese are, however, intelligent scholars, it is to be 
 Loped that among their traditions or literature something may 
 be found confirming the belief that their ancestors carried civili 
 sation to America. 
 
 It has been recently discovered that the Indians of Aliaska, 
 until within a century, made mummies of their dead, and 
 deposited them with arms and carved work in caves which were 
 carefully closed. Should it ever be found that this custom pre 
 vails, or ever did prevail, among the Ainos, it would be another 
 presumptive link not without value towards establishing the 
 chain of evidence referring to the ancient union of the Old World 
 with the New. 
 
 Since these chapters went to press, I have conversed with a 
 gentleman holding the rank of General in the United States 
 regular army, who has not only passed many years in active 
 
I 9 2 APPENDIX. 
 
 intercourse with, a great variety of Indian tribes, but lias had 
 many opportunities of studying Mongolian types. Among his 
 observations were the following : Having asked him if he had 
 ever observed a resemblance between lied Indians and Tartars, 
 he replied that he had, but that it was more marked in some 
 tribes than in others. On inquiring in which tribe it was most 
 apparent, he promptly replied the Sioux. Another gentlemai 
 who was present confirmed the resemblance, and commented 01 
 the former great extent of the Dakotahs. On asking General 
 
 how he accounted for this likeness being stronger in the. 
 
 Indians of the Plains than in the Chippeways, he replied witl. 
 substantially the same suggestion as that which I have given ai, 
 the end of Chapter IX. of this work that all Red Indians, aiic. 
 many Eastern Asiatics, had a common Mongol origin, which ii. 
 the nomadic and equestrian life of the Plains, had redevelopec. 
 itself into a type somewhat resembling that existing in the 
 steppes of Tartary. He also declared that, in all Pied Indian 
 tribes, there is a really extraordinary resemblance of squaws to 
 Chinese women. This is recognised by both Indians and Chinese 
 when they meet as they now very frequently do in California 
 and Oregon. My informant had been interested and amused at 
 seeing the prompt intimacy which often ensued on such ren 
 contres. Chinese and Red Indian women have in common a 
 very peculiar custom, not found among Aryan races. Many 
 of my American readers will understand to what I allude. I 
 am inclined to believe that Nature manifests herself in these 
 affinities. Once, at an English boat-race on the Thames, I saw 
 a group of gipsies eyeing with intense interest a very dark and 
 very well-dressed gentleman. As I approached, one of them 
 muttered to me in his language, " Eya ma pensa tu te adoio rye 
 se JKomanis ? " ("Master, don t you think that gentleman is 
 gipsy?") I was under the impression that it was a wealthy 
 Jew from India, who lived in the neighbourhood, and told the 
 Petulengo there was no gipsy blood there. But I found after 
 wards that the dark gentleman was really Hindoo. An old 
 
APPENDIX. 193 
 
 gipsy woman, when she saw the Shah, declared positively there was 
 something Kommany in him; "she knew it well enough." And 
 as she herself used half-a-dozen Persian words in saying so, I 
 thought her partly right. Gipsies fraternise very readily with 
 natives of India, but not with Jews ; nor have I ever heard of 
 Chinese or Red Indians regarding mulattoes as of their blood 
 with the exception, perhaps, of " Jim Beckworth," whose asser 
 tion must, however, be taken with allowance. General 
 
 recognised the custom of love-making described by Hoei-shin in 
 Fusang as common to several Red Indian tribes, though it does 
 not at present, at least last so long among the latter as it did 
 in the days of the monk. A month is generally sufficient, in these 
 degenerate days, for the suitor to reside near his love ; but the 
 higher the pretensions of the girl, the longer must he continue 
 his residence. 
 
 My informant had lived among the Pueblos. He was positive 
 that there were among them virgins appointed to keep the sacred 
 fire burning, but added, that there were male priests also charged 
 with the same duty. He had remarked that the Indians of. the 
 North-west Coast frequently repeat in their well-known black- 
 stone carvings the dragon, the lotus-flower, and the alligator, 
 specimens of which he had recently given to a well-known pro 
 fessor at Oxford. 
 
 It is difficult to touch on the resemblance of Xorth American 
 Indians to inhabitants of Asia, without becoming involved in the 
 differences of opinion between what Daniel Wilson calls the 
 American school of ethnologists, and others in Europe. Accord 
 ing to the former, to use the words of Wilson, the American 
 aborigines are affirmed " to constitute one nearly homogeneous 
 race, varying within very narrow limits from the prevailing type, 
 and agreeing in so many essentially distinctive features as to 
 prove them a well-defined, distinct species of the genus Homo. 
 Lawrence, Wiseman, Agassiz, Squier, Gliddon, Nott, and Meigs, 
 might each be quoted in confirmation of this opinion, and espe 
 cially of the prevailing uniformity of certain strongly-marked 
 
 H 
 
I94 APPENDIX. 
 
 cranial characteristics ; but tlie source of all such opinions is the 
 justly-distinguished author of the Crania Americana, Dr 
 Morton of Philadelphia." Mr Wilson holds that this idea of a 
 nearly absolute homogeneity pervading the tribes and nations of 
 the Western Hemisphere, through every variety of climate and 
 country, is so entirely opposed to the ethnic phenomena wit 
 nessed in other quarters of the globe, that it is deserving of the 
 minutest investigation. The marked differences which have 
 been found to exist among the men, as among the fauna peculiar 
 to the Western Hemisphere, are explained by Agassiz as " an 
 indefinite limitation between species/ or " a tendency to split 
 into minor groups running really into one another, notwithstand 
 ing some few marked differences" ("Indigenous Races of the 
 Earth," p. 14). Mr Wilson holds that recent researches indicate 
 radical differences among the aborigines of America ; and that, for 
 instance, tried by Dr Morton s own definitions and illustrations, 
 the famous Scioto Valley skull essentially differs from the Ameri 
 can typical cranium in some of its most characteristic features. 
 And Mr Wilson further claims that, of a great number of ancient 
 American skulls examined by him, very many exhibited an un 
 mistakable difference from the so-called typical skull of Morton, 
 while a general uniformity is traceable in a considerable number 
 of Mexican crania, " but not without such notable exceptions as 
 to admit of their division also into distinct dolichocephalic and 
 brachycephalic groups." When it is recognised, as both Morton 
 and Agassiz have done, that there are marked differences between 
 American aboriginal skulls differences as great as are allowed 
 for different races in Europe it does not establish their identity 
 to declare they all " run into each other," and are all variations 
 from the Scioto Mound skull. This, which is characterised by 
 Morton as the perfect type of Indian conformation, to which the 
 skulls of all the tribes, from Cape Horn to Canada, more or less 
 approximate, presents two-thirds of its cerebral mass in front of 
 the meatus audiiorius extcrnus; whereas, in the elongated Peru 
 vian skull, unaltered by artificial means, this is almost exactly 
 
APPENDIX. 195 
 
 reversed, showing, by the proportions of the cerebral cavity, that 
 fnlly two-thirds of the brain lay behind the mealus auditorius. 
 The reader who is interested in this subject may consult Mr 
 Wilson s "Prehistoric Man" (London, Macmillan & Co., 1862), 
 for the arguments on either side. Non nobis tanta componere, 
 lites. But neither view affects the probability of Hoei-shin s 
 having visited America, nor the fact that there are at pre 
 sent regular links of likeness between the American Indians 
 of the North-west Coast through the Aleutian Islands to Asia. 
 That Dr Morton himself had no prejudices on this subject 
 is evident, since he, with the late Albert Gallatin, having read 
 in the MS. my translation of Professor Neumann s work, ex 
 pressed a great interest in it, and manifested no opposition to 
 the opinions advanced, excepting, indeed, that Dr Morton said 
 to me, in conversation on the subject, that such authority as 
 that of Chinese annals seemed obscure and doubtful. Professor 
 Neumann, as may be seen on referring to his text, fully accepted 
 Dr Morton s views of an entire unity between all the American 
 Indian tribes, but apparently held the opinion that, at some very 
 early age, they had a common origin with certain Asiatic races. 
 At present only one thing is certain, that our knowledge is far 
 from being sufficiently advanced to enable us to decide a question 
 which, when carried out, may involve that of the origin of man. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ACOSTA, 136 
 
 Affinities of American and Asiatic languages, 99 
 
 Agattou and Semitchi Islands, 69 
 
 Agave, americana, 37, 162, 171 
 
 Age of stone or bronze, 162, 165 
 
 Ainos or Jebis, extent of the race, 11 ; called Crab Barbarians, ib. ; when 
 
 first described, 12 ; called Hairy People, ib. ; embassy to Japan, ib.; 
 
 wars against Japan, 14; images of, 22; paint themselves, 140; 
 
 same as Mao-jen, 174. Vide Appendix. 
 Akkad, 100 
 
 Albert Gallatin on American languages, 156 
 Alceste Island, 66 
 Aleutian or Fox Islands, 11, 22, 70 
 Aliaska on the early maps, 148 
 Aloe, Mexican, known in China, 162 
 Amakirima, 67 
 Amazonia, 29 
 Ambassadors from Fusang, 184 ; Ambassade des Hollandais, 129 ; first 
 
 Japanese to China, 173 
 America, how first populated, 8 ; formation of American races, ib. ; 
 
 their unity, ib. 
 
 American coast, castaways on, 43, 76 
 Amur or Amoor River, 132 ; Tartars on the, 145 
 Anahuac, 35 
 
 Ancient races of North American Indians, 100 et seq. 
 Ancient records of Mexico, 86 
 Ancient vessels of North-eastern Asia, 64 
 Androe and Geiger, 166 
 
198 INDEX. 
 
 Antecedent probability that Orientals went to America, 59 
 
 Aztec god of war, 36 ; computation of time, 39 
 
 Aztecs declare they came from the north, 136 ; later accounts of, 33 
 
 " Archiv fiir die wissenschaftliche Kunde von Russland," 149 
 
 Arrow-heads made of flint, 165 
 
 Atsowma, 175 
 
 Attou Island, 68 
 
 Avatcha, 146 ; Bay of, 68 
 
 Aymara, Peruvian, 100 
 
 BAY of St Lawrence, Siberia, 75 
 
 Baikal, Lake, 144 
 
 Bartlett, John Russell, 151 
 
 Beans, Mex can (frijoles), 135 
 
 Behring s Straits or Anadir, 9 
 
 " Bibliotheca Sinologica," 166 
 
 Bigandet, Father R. R., 93 
 
 Bison and oxen, 153 
 
 Black Dragon River, 15 
 
 "Book of Mountains and Seas," 12 
 
 Brasseur de Bourbourg, L Abbe, 151 
 
 Bretschneider, Dr, his opinion of Hoei-shin, 165 ; his discussion of Fusang, 
 
 ib. ; his opinion of all who believe in Fusang, 169 ; he approves 
 
 of Father Hyacinth s expression, 170 ; Reply to Dr Bretschneider, 
 
 176 ; summary of his argument, 185 
 Broussonetia papyri/era. 172, 180 
 Buache, Philip, his map, 126, 147 
 Buddha, images of, 119 ; attitude of, 120 
 Buddhism, 4 ; its influence in partly breaking Chinese exclusiveness, 5 ; 
 
 in Fusang, 28 ; its extension, 31 ; introduced into Fusang, 143 ; its 
 
 progress, 113 ; not understood by Deguignes, 155; introduced into 
 
 Japan, 156, 163 
 Buddhist priests in America, discussed by Simson, 162 ; monks, 5 ; 
 
 Trinity, ib. ; writings an important part of Chinese literature and 
 
 history, 65 ; travels of, 87 
 Burlinghame, 175 
 Burnouf, works of, 156 
 
INDEX. 199 
 
 CACTUS, in ancient Mexican, tuna, 119 
 
 California, coast of, 147 ; Chinese merchants there in early times, 150 
 Cape San Lucas, 71 
 Carpin, Jean du Plan de, 33 
 Catacualcans, 136 
 Catlin, 152 
 
 Cban-hai-king on Fusang, 143 
 Chamo, great desert of, 130 
 Charlevoix, " Histoire de la Nouvelle France," 137 
 Che-goi tribes, sable hunters, 132 et seq. 
 Chicago, ancient skulls from, 111 
 Children, change in appearance of, in new climates, 78 
 Chinese precepts relative to the outer world, 3 ; early embassies, 4 
 reception of envoys, ib. knowledge of foreign countries, 6 
 pride and vanity, ib. ; acquire knowledge of North-eastern Asia, 9 
 Chinese and Japanese in Kamtschatka and the Hawaiian group, 43 
 et seq. ; Recorder and Missionary Journal, 165 ; Chinese poets, 169 
 Chippeway perpetual fire, 184 
 Chi-tao-an, 89 
 
 Chi-wu-ming-shi-tu-k ao, drawing of Hibiscus in the, 170 
 Chu-kon, Kon-sang, Kon-shu, 172 
 
 Chu-kin, Chi-kin, Jiki, synonyms for Hibiscus rosa siniensis, 170 
 Chy-wei Youtche or Youtchy, 144 
 Cibola, 152 
 
 Clavigero, Storia Antica del Messico, 35 
 Clarke Hyde, Mr, 99 
 Cocom, Indian chief, shows picture of a cow ; ancient prophecy told by 
 
 him, 154 
 
 Cochran, Lieutenant, 130 
 Colours applied to cycles of time, 40 
 
 Columbus, 75 ; his vessels, 76 
 
 Continental Magazine (N.Y.) for 1862 contained a portion of the 
 present work, 163 
 
 Cooper, Fenimore, name of vessel, 68, 76 
 
 Copper in Fusang, 28, 38 
 
 Criminals in Fusang, 46, 47 
 
 Currents, the Japanese, 74 ; the Peruvian or Humboldt Current, ib. 
 
200 INDEX. 
 
 D AcosxA, 150 
 
 Dakota or Sioux language, 101 ; affinity with Ural-Altaic languages, 
 
 102 ; resemblance of Dakotasto Tartars, 192 
 Dead placed in trees by the Tunguse, 10 
 Deer, 10 
 Deguignes, Klaproth, and D Eichthal, 125 ; Deguignes determined that 
 
 "Wens bin. was Jeso, 129 ; old writers cited by, ib. ; his account of 
 
 the different people on the route more detailed than Neumann s, 
 
 131 ; determined that Fusang was New Mexico, 133 ; remarks on 
 
 Kingdom of Women, 134 ; his argument, 138 ; wrote according 
 
 to his title, 139 ; on the second itinerary, 143 et seq. ; traces the 
 
 route, 148 et seq. ; cited by Bretschneider, 166 
 D Eichthal, his memoir, 125, 127 et seq. ; his defence of Deguignes, 125 
 
 et seq. ; observations on Aleutian Islands, 132 ; on distance from 
 
 Tahan, 140 
 
 De Laet, 127 ; describes Pueblo Indians, 136 
 De Landa, Diego de, on Yucatan, 153 
 De Long, Mr, on the Ainos and Japanese, 188 
 Delaware Indians called women, 134 
 De Tlsle, M. Guillaume, 147 
 " Description of Western Countries," a Chinese work destroyed in Pekin, 
 
 89 
 Distance between Corea and middle of Niphon, 140 ; from China to 
 
 Fusang, as claimed by the believers in Hoei-shin, fully admitted by 
 
 Dr Bretschneider, 182 
 
 Djourdje, ancestors of the present Mongols, 144 
 Dogs, swine, devils, and savages, Chinese names for races of the north, 
 
 south, east, and west, 6 ; dogs in Kamtschatka, 20 ; dog smelling 
 land, 73 
 
 Domestic animals in Fusang, 40 
 Dryanda cordata, 171 
 
 EASTERN and Central Asiatic History, 6 
 
 Edrisi, 30 
 
 Elceococca verucosa, 171 
 
 Empress Tai-Hau of the Wei dynasty, possibly the patroness of Iloei- 
 
 shin, 6 
 Esquimaux, 11 
 
INDEX. 201 
 
 Ethnology, accuracy in, 114 
 Ewbauk, Thomas, 151 
 
 FA-HIAN, 89, 90 ; Travels of, 92 
 
 Fa-kiai-ngan-litu, i.e., More Certain Tables of Religion, 32 
 
 Feathers, ball of, seen by Mexican goddess, 36 
 
 Fishermen, Chinese and Japanese, 66 
 
 Flying natives of Fusang, fable of, 143 
 
 Florida, Straits of, 74 
 
 Flower of the Centre, name for China, 6 
 
 Fogs in Kamtschatka, 73 
 
 Formosa, 11, 67 
 
 Foster, Y. W., LL.D., 115 
 
 Fox Islands, 11, 70. 
 
 Fruit preserved, 69 
 
 Furs in the Aleutian Islands, 132 
 
 Fusang, kingdom of, 25 et seq. ; latest discussions of, 142, 161 ; Fu 
 sang- tree, 45, 162; malvaceous, 164; envoys from Fusang to 
 China, 175 ; not in Japan, 142, 173 
 
 Future of Eastern Asia, 46 
 
 GALLATIN Albert, 7, 56, 195 
 
 Garments and colours peculiar to the King of Fusang, 27 
 
 Gaubil, " Observations Mathematiques." 9, 40 ; researches in Chinese 
 
 astronomy, 128 
 Gentleman s Magazine, 165 
 Geographers, early, probably possessed information relative to the North 
 
 Pacific Ocean now lost, 147 
 
 Gipsy names for animals, 41, 164 ; affinities with Hindoos, 192 
 Gobineau, Count, his ideas as to ancient America, 176 ; regards it as the 
 
 world s cradle, 176 
 Goei-chi (A.D. 510), 129 
 Gold in Fusang, 28 
 Good Hope, Cape of, 75 
 Great Ireland, 24 
 
 Green-corn festival of the Creek Indians, 56 ; dance of the, ib. 
 Grellon, Pere, finds a Huron woman in Tartary, 137 
 
202 INDEX. 
 
 Grijalva, Juan de, nephew of Velasquez, 36 
 Greek priest and family in Atcha, 69 
 Grotius, 127 
 
 HAKODODI, 67 
 
 Han, history of the later, 173 ; in Corea, ib. 
 
 Hanley, Mr, 172 
 
 Hawaiian Spectator, 44 
 
 Hei-chi, black-toothed men, 167 
 
 Herrera, Antonio de, 38 
 
 Hiao-wou-te of Souang, reign of, 155 
 
 Hibiscus rosa siniensis, called Fusang in Pekin, 170 ; Hibiscus 
 syriacus, ib. 
 
 Hieronymus d Angelis, 46 
 
 Hinds domesticated in Fusang, 154 
 
 Hiouen-thsang, life and travels of, 88 
 
 " Histoire des Huns, des Turcs, des Mongoles," &c., par Joseph Deguignes, 
 138 
 
 History and journeys of fifty-six monks of the dynasty of Thang, 92 
 
 History of the Master of the Law of the three collections of the Convent 
 of Grand Benevolence, 91 
 
 Iloai-nan-tsu, the, on Fusang, 143 
 
 Hoam-ho River, 131 
 
 Hoang-hoin, 144 
 
 Hodgson, works of, 156 
 
 Hoei-shin, Hoei-schin, Hui-shen, name how written, vi. ; verification of 
 his assertions, 187 ; narrative as translated by Professor Neumann 
 from the Chinese, and revised by him, 3 meaning of the word, 25 j 
 his journey, 58 ; his route, 130 ; his description of the American aloe, 
 172 ; he confuses plants, ib. ; Hui-shen, "a lying priest," according 
 to Bretschneider, 166 ; narrative of Hoei-shin as given by Bret- 
 schneider, 168 
 
 Iloei-khe Turks, 144 
 
 Hoei-li, 91 
 
 Hoei-seng and Seng-yung, memoir of, 93 
 
 Hoffmann, 14 
 
 Hong-ing-ta, the expounder of King in the times of Tang, 25 
 
INDEX. 203 
 
 Hong Kong Island, 67 
 
 Hontan, Baron de, 137 
 
 Home, George, 136 
 
 Horses in Fusang, 41, 51, 170 
 
 Hing-goci, native name for Kamtschatka, 15 
 
 Huitzilopotschli, 36 
 
 Humboldt, " Views of the Cordilleras/ 156 ; " New Spain," 40 
 
 Hyde Clarke, 54 
 
 Hyacinth, Father, 170 
 
 ICHI, the King of Fusang, 27 ; Ichi and Irica, 52 
 
 Identity of Tartars and North American Indians, 7 
 
 Ihan, the celebrated astronomer, 15 
 
 Incas, 50 ; going forth of, 52 ; ritual of, ib. ; garments of, their colours, 
 
 53 ; married their own sisters, 56 
 
 Indian women of North America greatly resemble the Chinese, 135 
 Iron in Fusang, 28, 172 
 
 Irving, Washington, " Knickerbocker History of New York," 127 
 Islands in the Aleutian Chain, Boulder, Kusha, Amtchitka, Krysi, or Rat 
 
 Island, in the Andranof group, Tonago, Adakh, Atkha, Ammnak, 69 
 Itolmen, or natives of Kamtschatka, 17 ; dwellings of, ib. ; clothing, 19; 
 
 music, 20 
 
 JAPAN, Notes and Queries on China and, 161 ; coast of, 66, 74; Ainos 
 in, 140 ; as it was, 54 ; not Fusang, 142 ; Buddhism introduced, 
 143, 156 ; Broussonetia in, 172; origin of name, 174 
 
 Japanese year-books, 12 ; annals from 661 until 696, 34 ; facetiae, 29 ; 
 junk, 44 ; Government, 45, 75 ; junk wrecked, 45 ; vessel in Ame 
 rica, ib. ; charts, 76 ; junk picked up, 77 ; resemblance of, to Sand 
 wich Islanders, 77 ; religion, 78 ; navigation, 81 ; early discovery of 
 America by, 126 ; Wenshin N.W. of Japan, 129; maps, 147 
 
 Jean du Plan de Carpin, 32 
 
 Jeddo, 4 
 
 Jeso, 14 ; sea of, 130 
 
 Jesuit missionaries, 43 
 
 Jetsehay, 16 ; Jetschaykno, ib. 
 
 Juan de Grijalva, nephew of Velasquez, 36 
 
204 INDEX. 
 
 Juen-kien-kui-han, 14 
 Jipen, 174 
 
 KALOSCHEN, 10 
 
 Kampfer, the first who spoke of America as known from early times to 
 the Japanese, 126. 
 
 Kamtschatka, 11, 34; in the time of Tang, 15 ; distance from Sigan, 
 the capital of China, ib. ; description of, by Steller, ib. ; identity 
 with Lieu-kueij ib. ; dwellings, 19 ; climate, ib. ; habits of the 
 people, ib. 
 
 Kang-hi, encyclopaedia of, 14 
 
 Kao-thsang, the Emperor, 89 
 
 Kapilapura, King of, 5 
 
 Kara-korum, 144 
 
 Karl Gutzlaff, 45 
 
 Kennon, Colonel Barclay, his assistance, G3 ; letter from, C5 ; brief memoir 
 of, 94; his personal knowledge of the North Pacific, 126 et scr[. ; 
 on furs, 133 
 
 Khi-nie, itinerary of, 92 
 
 Khirgiz or Kirkis, 144 
 
 Kien-hai Lake or Baikal, 168 
 
 Kie-kia-ssu, countries of, 168 
 
 Kingdom and nobles of Fusang, 27 
 
 King-tsclm, 25 
 
 Kipin, five beggar monks from, introduce Buddhism into Fusang, Kipin, 
 and Beloochistan, 31 ; Kipin, Kophen, Bokhara, 155. 
 
 Klaproth, Julius von. 125 ; passed translation from the Chinese as his own, 
 12, 174 ; attempted to refute Deguignes, 125 et seq. ; " Rccherches sur 
 le Pays de Fou-sang," 138 ; ridicules Deguignes, ib. ; thought Tahaii 
 was Kamtschatka, 141 ; argument against Deguignes, ib. ; contradicts 
 his text according to D Eichthal, 142, 156 ; according to Bretsch- 
 iieider, he refuted Deguignes, 166; "Tableau Historiques," 168; 
 his disciple, Bretschneider, 176 ; severely judged, 183 
 
 Knonotski, Cape of, 68 
 
 Knickerbocker Magazine for 1850 contained the first English version of 
 Neumann s work on Fusang, now given in this volume, 163 
 
 Ko-li-han, or Choran, country of, 130 
 
INDEX, 205 
 
 Kong, the Hill of, 25 
 
 Kou-li-han, country of, 144 
 
 Kousang plant resembles the maguey, 180 
 
 Kocoima walrus-hunters often carried on ice-fields from the Asiatic to 
 
 the American shore, 1 37 
 Krusenstern, Straits of, 66 
 Ku, country of, 168 
 Kuang-wu, reign of, 173 
 Kurile or Aleutian Islands, 11, 65, 67, 132 
 Kuro-suvo, or Japanese current, 71, 74 
 
 LADROXE Islands, 74 
 
 Lao-tse, 3 
 
 La Perouse, Strait of, 141 
 
 Leang, dynasty of, 24 ; Leang-schu, 25 
 
 Leao-tong, northern province of China, 128, 140 
 
 Leg of mutton, time measured by roasting, 10 
 
 Lew-Chew, Loo-Choo, natives of, without iron, 172 
 
 Li, Chinese measure of distance, 128 ; in the fifth century, 140 ; twenty 
 
 thousand li from Tahan, 141 
 Liang dynasty, history of, 166 
 Liang-ssu-kung-ki, passage from the, stating that ambassadors went from 
 
 Fusang to China, 175, 184 
 Liang-sze-kung-ki, the, 184 
 Lieu-kuei. its situation, 15 ; meaning of the word, 16 ; king of, sent 
 
 his son to China, 145 
 Life of Gaudama, 93 
 Li-pe-tai on Fusang, 143 
 Li-sao, the, on Fusang, 143 
 Li-yen, a Chinese historian, speaks of Fusang, 127 
 Loo-chooese and Japanese, 79 
 Lorchas Islands, 74 
 
 MADJICO Sima group, 67 
 
 Maguey or Agave americana, 37, 162, 171 
 
 Malvacea, Fusang-tree, 170-180 
 
 Mamma or ama, found in many languages, 107 
 
 Mandans, 152 ; their heaven and hell, 153 
 
2 o6 INDEX. 
 
 Mandeville, Sir John, and other travellers, 33 
 
 Mantchou tribes dressed in fish-skins, 20 ; Jupi, ib. 
 
 Mao-jen, the hairy men, or Ainos, 12, 174 
 
 Ma (or Man) tu-an-lin, 12, 14, 24, 166 
 
 Marriage in Fusang, 46 
 
 Marvels and romances of Fusang, 32; marvels narrated by Hoei-shin , 
 
 94 
 
 Matsumai, 67 
 
 Maury (vide Revue des Deux Mondes, April 1858), 132 
 Man shin, Mosin, 11 
 Melendez, Pedro, 136 
 "Memoirs de 1 Academic des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres," 22, 125, 
 
 126, 148 
 
 Memoirs of the kingdoms of Buddha, 90 
 
 Merchants, foreign, clothed in silk among the Catactialcans, 136 
 Metals and money, 38 
 Mexican antiquities, 113; god of air, ib. ; monuments, pyramidal 
 
 form of, 35 ; money, 38 ; nobility, four orders of, 39 
 Metals and money in Fusang, 38 
 Miles, Colonel, translator of the " Shajrat-ul-Atrak," his translation of 
 
 " tung," 9 
 
 Milk known to ancient Mexicans, 154 
 Mirambecs, Indians near the Great Salt Lake, 137 
 Mirrors brought from Fusang, 184 ; Peruvian mirrors, ib. 
 Mitla and Palenque, ruins of, 34 
 Moko or Mongolians, 16 
 Mongols, Mongol or Mog, 9 
 Mongolian, affinity of languages to Dakota Indian ; a Mongol resembles 
 
 an Apache, 95 
 Montesinos, 53 
 
 Mormonism not Christianity, as stated by Dr Bretsclmeider, 184 
 Mormon country, 173 
 
 Morton, Dr S., his views of American Indians, 194 
 Moslem, 31 
 
 Hossman, S., on the early Japanese, 190 
 Mound-builders, 110 ; character of, ib. 
 Mourning for the dead in Fusang, 28 
 
INDEX. 207 
 
 Mu-kin, 170 
 
 Mulberry-trees in Fusang, 143 
 
 Mummies in Aliaska, 192 
 
 " Miinchener Gelehrte Anzeigen," 24 
 
 NAGERA, Castaneda de, 151 
 
 Naked men, lands of, 167 
 
 Names, how given by newcomers into strange lands, 164 
 
 Nan-su, the historian, 134 
 
 Narrative of Hoei-shin, with comments by Professor C. F. Neumann, 1 ; 
 
 as given by Bretschneider, 165 
 Na-to-scha, nobles of Fusang, 27 
 Nausse or history of the southern dynasty, 22 
 Navigation, early Chinese, 64 
 Neumann, Professor C. F., memoir of, vi. ; education and life, ib. ; his 
 
 works, xiv. ; his work on Fusang, 3 ; Neumann not read by Dr 
 
 Bretschneider, but attacked by the latter, 178 
 New Spain, 36 
 New Mexico, early seat of ancient Mexican civilisation, 151 ; Indians of 
 
 New Mexico, 135 
 
 Niga, Father, saw white Indians, 152 
 Nineveh Library, discovery of, 50 
 Niphon, 67 
 
 Northern California, Chinese traded with, in remote times, 136 
 Norsemen in America, 32 
 
 North American Indians, resemblance of, to Mongolians, 80 
 Notes and Queries on China and Japan, request in, for information on 
 
 Fusang, 173 ; on Fusang, 161, 166 
 Nu-wang-kuo, 175 
 
 ODIN, EIGHT RINGS OF, 36 
 
 Onon, the River, 144 
 
 Orchon, left bank of, 144 
 
 Ordos or Ho-tao country, 144 
 
 Oregon, 71 
 
 " Ost-Asien und West Amerika, Zeitschrift fiir Allgemeine Erdkunde," 
 
 April 1864, an article by Neumann which refers the nativity of 
 
 Hoei-shin to China, 139 
 
208 INDEX. 
 
 Ostrogoths and European nations, 8 
 Oxen in Fusang, 40 
 
 PACHACOMAC, 55 
 
 Pacific Islands to the leeward of Japan, 79 
 
 Papua or New Guinea, 12 
 
 Paravey, his two works on the Fusang question, 166 
 
 Parsees, the, 95 
 
 Pears in Fusang, 28 
 
 Pe-hai, North Sea, and Schao-hai, Little Sea, 16 
 
 Perez Jose, in Revue Orientale et Americaine, 142 
 
 Peru and Fusang, 49 et seq. ; Peruvian Incas, 50 ; houses, 51 ; cycles, 
 
 53 ; traditions of the Deluge, 54 ; of the good Deity, ib. ; Peruvian 
 
 and Chinese policy alike, 55 ; graves, 7 
 Peter and Paul s Haven, 15 
 Peti or northern savages, 9 
 Pictures by Chinese botanists, 179 
 Pi-kliieou or priests of Buddha, 155 
 Piljo-tai-hotun, 131 
 Polaris, crew of, 137 
 Popol Vuh, 151, 154 
 Posten, Hon. C. D., 95 
 Postpositions, 107 
 
 "Prehistoric Races of the United States of America," 115 
 Prescott, "History of Mexico," 34, 37 
 Prester John, 33 
 Prisons in Fusang, 46, 153 
 
 Probability of voyages made by ancient Japanese, 74 
 Prostitution or polygamy in Utah, 182 
 
 Pueblo Indians of light colour, 135 ; cloth, ib. ; dwellings, ib. 
 Pun-tsao, 171 
 Pun-tsao-kang-mu, 170 
 
 QUIVIR, 136 
 
 RED Indians and Chinese, affinities between, 192 
 
 " Relation des Mongols ou Tartares," by Jean du Plan de Carpin, 33 
 
 Remarks on the text of Professor Neumann, 49 
 
 1. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 209 
 
 Renzi, " Memoires de la Societe des Antiquaires, Partie linguistique," 
 
 " Reports of Explorations and Surveys for the Pacific Railroad," 151 
 
 Revue des Deux Mondes, 149 
 
 Revue Archceologique, 132 
 
 Roehrig, F. L. 0., 100 
 
 Roger s Straits, 66 
 
 Romances of Fusang, 143 ; poets who have written on it, ib. 
 
 Rosny, Leon de, 169 
 
 Russian establishments on St Paul and St George, 132 
 
 SAGHALIEN, Fusang according to Bretschneider, 175 ; not in a tem 
 perate climate, 172 
 Sakka, Sakku, a swan, 164 
 Salt Lake City, 173 
 
 Samarcand, a stronghold of Buddhism, 155 ; Bonzes from, ib. 
 San Bias, 33 
 Sanson, his map, 147 
 Sandwich Islanders resemble Japanese, 77 
 Saturday Review, 115 
 Schakia, religion of, 36 
 Schan-hai-king, 12 
 Schensi, district of, 1 5 
 
 Shajrat-ul-Atrak, or genealogical tree of the Turks and Tartar*, 9 
 Shapa, capital of Loo-choo Islands, 67 
 Siebold, " Japanese Archives," 14 
 Sigan, the ancient capital of China, 15 
 Silver in Fusang, 28 
 
 Simson Theos., 161 et seq. ; approved by Dr Bretschneider, 179 
 Simson, William, F.R.G.S., 99 
 Sitka, 71, 149 
 Sloane, Hans, 148 
 Song, Great Light of, 28 
 Stags in Fusang, 28 ; stag-horns, 40 
 Stanislas, Julien, 88 et seq. 
 Steller, " Description of Kamtschatka/ 1 4, 1 7 
 Stems, Mongol and Mantchou, 40 
 Stercu lia plan ta n if oil a , 171 
 
 o 
 
210 INDEX. 
 
 Sultoi-Noss, 145 
 
 Sum or Sung dynasty, 145 
 
 Sun makes his toilet in Fusang, 143 
 
 Sung-yun, the mission of, 92, 93 ; probably contemporary with Hoei-shin, 92 
 
 TAHAN, means Great China, 24 ; distance, 33, 57, 127, 129 ; five thou 
 sand li between Jesso and Tahan, 131 ; travellers route to, ib. ; 
 reached by sea, 133 ; Tahan to Fusang, 166 ; 20,000 If, 140 ; route 
 to, 144, 146 ; envoys from, first came to China in seventh century, 
 168 ; according to Bretschneider in Siberia, 175 
 
 Tai-IIau, Empress Dowa.ger, 93 
 
 Tam-chu, route to America, 131, 133 
 
 Tang dynasty, history of, 167, 174 
 
 Tang-schu or year-bcoks of Tang, 12 ; ruler of Tang, 13 ; Kamtschatka 
 described in the time of, 15 ; error in Tang-schu, 16 
 
 Tapia, Senor Jose Ortiz, 113 
 
 Tarai-kai, was it Tahan ? 141 
 
 Tartars Hades, 8 ; Tartar cycle and its colours, 53 
 
 Tattooing by Wen-shin and by North American Indians, 167 
 
 Tchitchagoff, 68 
 
 Tchung-cheou-kiang-tching, 131 
 
 Temperature of Bhering s Straits, 74 ; of Matsumai, 75 
 
 Ternaux Compans, 151 
 
 " The devil who runs through," i.e., Lieu-kuei, 16 
 
 " The devil s companion," i.e., Jetschay, 16 
 
 Thorn, Mr Robert, 90 
 
 Time measured by roasting legs of mutton, 130 
 
 Tolteks, 35, 113 
 
 Tomsk, 168 
 
 Travellers, the old, not now entirely discredited because they narrated 
 marvels, 178 
 
 Tschen, dynasty of, 11 
 
 Tschuktschi or Koljuschens, 10, 16 
 
 Tschu-tschu or Land of Dwarfs, 12 
 
 Tuilu, nobles of Fusang, 27 
 
 Tuna, Mexican word for cactus, 179 
 
 Tung, the tree, 171 
 
INDEX. 211 
 
 Tungiise, Turks. Mongolians, &c., identical with the Esquimaux races, 7 ; 
 
 Tungese Eastern barbarians, 8 ; geographical situation of, 9 ; cus-. 
 
 toms, 10 
 Turner, Professor TV. TV., 151 ; works of, 156 
 
 " UNIVERSAL Compassion," meaning of the name Hoei-shin, 25 
 Uries, Strait of, 130 
 
 VASCO de Gama, 75 
 
 Vasquez, Fr., de Coronado, 136 
 
 Vancouver s Island, 71 
 
 Ven-hien-tum-kao, the historian (A.D. 515), 131, 134 
 
 Vessels driven by storms to America from Asia, 134 
 
 Vestal virgins in Peru, 55 ; among the Pueblo Indians, to keep their 
 
 fire burning, 195 
 Vine known in Mexico, 152 
 Viracocha, 55 
 
 Visnago, Cactce globosce, 179 
 Voyages can be made from China to America in sight of land, 71 
 
 WENJAMINOW, Father, "Sur les Isles Aleoutiennes du District de 
 
 Unalaska," 149 
 
 Wen-shin or Painted People, 11, 22 ; the country of the, same as Jeso, 140 
 " Western Countries, Memoirs of," edited by Hioen-thsang, 91 
 Western Mountain of the Gods, 4 
 TVhipple, Lieutenant A. TV., report by, 151 
 White aborigines in Mexico, 152 
 Winaland or Vineland, 32 
 
 Wilson, Daniel, LL.D., " American Ethnology," 193 
 Wo, ancient name for Japan, 174 
 Women and children, Japanese and Chinese, go to sea with head of 
 
 family, 77 
 Women, Kingdom of, in Fusang, 29 ; situated 1000 li east of Fusang, 
 
 134 ; tribes of aborigines in North America called women, ib. ; 
 
 story of the Kingdom of Women only given as a report by Hoei-shin, 
 
 ib. ; not in Japan, 142, 169 ; no rnammce, ib. ; suckle children, 
 ib. ; kingdom, where situated, 173, 182, 286 ; in Japan, 17-"> 
 
2 1 2 INDEX. 
 
 Wo-nu, envoys from the, 1 73 
 
 Woo-sung River, 66 
 
 Wog or Mog Mongolians, 9 
 
 Wrangell, Rear- Admiral, " Les Renseignements, &c., sur les Possessions 
 
 Russes," 1 48 
 
 Writing, Chinese, introduced into Japan A.D. 280, 174 
 Wu-ti, Emperor, 173 
 
 YAMATO or Ye-ma-t ai, 175, 280 
 
 Yang-kon, Valley of, 143 
 
 Yang-tse-kiang, 66 
 
 Year-books of the Chinese Empire, 5, 15 ; of the Southern dynasty, 22 ; 
 
 year-books of Leang, 22, 26 
 Ye-ma-t ai, 173 
 Yenissey, 168 
 Yen-thsang, 91 
 
 Y. J. A. inquires in Chinese Notes and Queries as to Fusang, 161 et 
 
 seq. 
 
 Yucatan, 73 
 
 Yu-tche, a race derived from the Che-goei, 1:33 
 Yu-t ung tree, 171 
 
 ZENGHIS Khan or Tschinggs Chakan, 9 
 Zuni, white Indians at, 152 
 
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