The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1869-09-11
Fnfo1n,ation.

Discovery OF Am lea by the Chimes
There are, among Chinese records merely
vague references TO country west ~ At!1R
tic, but circumstahtial account OTIS sco1
by the Chinese long before ColumvfS IN
A competent authority on Sud md ter y
danley, the Chinese interpreter in NPEsa(b'
CO, has lately written essay On this sub14pt'
from which we gather the following startling
statements, drawn from Chinese historians and
geographers
Fourteen hundred years ago even American
had been discovered by the Chinese. and describ.
by them. They stated that land to be S0,vO0
Chinese miles distant from China. About 900
years after the birth of Christ Buddhist priests
repaired there, and brought back the news that
they had. met with Buddhist idols and religious
writings in the country already. Their descrip-
tione, in many respects, resemble those lofithe
Spaniards Thousand years after. They cslled
the country .Fusany," after tree which rev
there. whose leaves resemble those Of the BAN.
boo, whose bark the natives made clothes and
paper of, and whose fruit they ate These par.
ticulars correspond exactly and remarkably. with
those given by the American historian, Prescott,
about the maqusy tree in Mexico He states
that the Aztecs prepared a pulp for paper made
out of the bark of this tree. Then, even its
leaves were used for matching its fbers nopr-
ishlng food, and its sap by means OF fermenta-
tion, was made into an intoxicating drink. The
accounts given by the Chinese and Spaniards,
although thousand years apart agree In stating
that the natives did no. possess any iron, but
only copper; that they made ali their tools fof
working in stone and metals out of mixture 81
copper and tin; and they, in comparison with
the nations of Europe and Asia thought but lit,
tie of the worth of gold and silver. The relig.
GUS customs and forms of worship presented tue
same characteristics to the Chinese 1850 years
ago as TO the Spanlards 400 years ago. glak sat
There is, however, a remarkable resemblance
between the religion Of the Aztecs as well as
between the manLers and customs of the Aztecs
and those of the people of China. There is alss
q great similarity between the features of the
Indian tribes Of Middle and South America and
those of the Chin'-e, and as Hanlay, the Chinese
Interpreter, of whom we spoke above, states, be.
tween the accent and most OF the monosyllabic
words of the Chinese and Indian languages
Indeed. the writer gives list of words which
point to close relationship and infers there.
from that there must have been emigration
from China to the Continent at most early pc
Rod indeed, as the official accounts of the Bud.
dhist priests 400 yearo ago notice these thugs
as existing already. Perhaps now old records
may be recovered in China which NAV furnish
full particulars of this question q. .s'5om 1y
1t is, at any rate, remarkable and confrmativs
of the idea of emigration from China to America
at some remote period, that az the time of the
discovery Of America by the Spsniards, the In.
dian tribes on the coast of the Pacific, opposite
to China, for the most part enjoyed state of
culture of ancient growth, while the inhabitants
OF the Atlantic shore were found by Europeans
in state of original barbarisrn. II the idea OF
America having been discovered before the time
of Columbus be correct it goes to prove that
there Is nothing new under the sun, and that
Shelley right in his bold but beautiful lines
"Thou csnst not lind one spot wherein no oity |
Stood" Admitting this, who can tell whether
civilization did not exist in America when We
were plunged in barbarism and, stranger still,
whether then the endless march Of ages in roll.
ing over our present cultivation may not obliter-
ete it, and sever the two hemispheres once again
from each others cognizance? Possibly, man is'
destined, in striving for civilization, to be like
Sisyphus, always engaged in rolling stone
which never falls down GentLep.ht's Maqu.,ne.