The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1869-09-16

any idea of them. Why then should not
the Chinese have been equally or more in
advance of us in navigation The state
ly ruins of Baalbec, with gigantic arches
Facross the streets, whose erection would
puzzle our most modern engineers the
pyramids and other such remains of stu
pendous works, point to state of civiliz-
alton and the existence of arts and scien-
ces to times of which European histori-
ans give no account.
/ @One fact eorroborative of the idea that
the Old World, or at least some of the
inhabitants Of Asia, were once aware OF
the existence of America before it's discov-
cry by Columbus, is that many of the Ara
bian ulenag with whom | have conyersed on
this subject, are fully convinced that the
ancient Arabian geographers knew of
America, and in support of this opinion
point to passages in old works in which a
country to the west of the Atlantic is
spoken Of An Arab gentleman, friend
of mine, General Hussein Pasha, in a
work he has just written on America,
called Nessr-EZ- Id6ir, quotes from
Djeldeki and other writer's to show this.
There Is, however, among Chinese rec
ords, not merely vague references to the
country to the west of the Atlantic, but a
circumstantial account of its discovery by
the Chinese long before Columbus was
born. A competent authority on such
matters, j. Hunlay, the Chinese interpre-
ter in San Francisco, has lately written
an essay on this subject, from which we
gather the following startling statment
drawn from Chinese historians and geo.
graphers. Fourteen hundred years ago
even America had been discovered by the
Chinese and described by them. They
stated that land to be about 10000 miles
distant from China. About 500 years af-
ter the birth of Christ, Buddhist priests
!, repaired there, and brought back the
news that they had met with buddhists
idols and religious writings in the coun-
try already. Their descriptions, in many
respects, resemble those of the Spaniards
a thousand years after. They called the
country "Fusany," after tree which grew
; there, whose leaves resemble those of the
bamboo, whose bark the natives made
clothes and paper out of, and whose fruit
they ate.
These particulars correspond exactly
and remarkably with those given bv the
American historian, Prescott, about the
the Aztecs prepared pulp for paper
making out of the bark of this tree. Then
even its leaves were used for matching :;
its fbres for making rope it's roots yield
ed nourishing food, and its sap, by
means Of fermentation, was made into an
} intoxicating drink. The accounts given
J by the Chinese and Spaniards, although a
thousand years apart, agree in stating
Z that the natives did not possess any iron,
& but only copper that they made all
their tools, for working in stone and met
ais, out ola mixture of copper and tin !;
and they, in comparison with the nations
, of Europe and Asia, thought but little of
the worth of silver and gold. The relig-
? GUS customs and forms of worship present
; ed the same characteristics to the Chinese
1, fourteen hundred years ago as to the
!. Spaniards four hundred years ago.
) There is, moreover,a remarkable resem
blance between the religion of the Aztecs
and the Buddhism of the Chinese, as we'll
as between the manners and customs of
; the Aztecs and those Of the people of
: China. There is also great similarity
between the features of the Indian tribes
of Middle and South America and those
. of the Chinese, and, as Haulay, the CHI
: nese Interpreter of whom we spoke above
states between the accent and most of the
: monosyllabic words of the Chinese and
L Indian languages. Indeed, this writer
s gives a list of words which point to a
close relationship and infers therefrom
t that there must have been emigration
from China to the American continent at
most early period indeed as the official
t accounts of Buddhist priests fourteen
e hundred years ago notice these things as
existing already. Perhaps now old rec
ords may be recovered III China which
: may furnish full particulars of this ques-
ton. 1t is, at any rate, remarkable and
contirmative of the idea of emigration
from China to America at some remote
!. period, that at the time of the discovery
f of America by the Spaniards the Indian
+ tribes on the coast of the Pacific, oppo-
}, site to China, for the most part, enjoyed
2 a state of culture of ancient growth, while
!. the inhabitants of the Atlantic shore
|, were found by Europeans in state of
: original barbarism. If the idea of Amer
n lea having been discovered before the
q time of Columbus be correct, it only GOES
e to prove that there is nothing new under
s the sun and that Shelley was rigt in his
; bold but beautiful lines "Thou canst
J. not find one spot whereon no city stood.
|, Admitting this, who can tell whether civ
: ilization did not exist in America when
/ we We're plunged into barbarism and
D stronger still, whether the endless march
Y of ages in rolling over our present cult
1 vation may not obllterate it,and sever the
i two homispheres once again from each
!, others reeognizance Possibly, man is
e destined, in striving after civilization, to
/ be like Sisyphis, always engaged in roll
ing up a stone which ever falls down