The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1873-12-18
America Previous to it's Discovery by
Christopher Columbus.

hon 0e0rge .. DoutWeii, oi MusSacbu-
sets, in q lecture, began by stating that
America must have been known to the an
clients, but that, on account of the difficult
ties which then existed of interchanging
ideas and preserving them, link had evil
IDENTIFY been dropped in the great chain of
evidence which has since been taken up,
without, however, effecting satisfactory
connection. From evidence which has been
collated and examined by scientific men, we
can safely affirm that all parts of the world
we're populated as soon as they became in
habitable.
After giving some theories about the di.
visions of the human family based on the
color of the complexion, the formation of the
body and the growth of the hair, the speaker
proceeded to prove that from the specimens
of architecture and mining which have been
discovered on this continent we can naturally
infer that the civilization of the old countries
was transplanted here at an early date. In
the vicinity of Vera Cruz, in Mexico, there
are to be found the ruins Of cities and towns
buried beneath the earth which gives evi.
dences of an enlightened civilization and
which silently wait for an interpreter to
chronicle their history. In California there
are extensive mines, at the bottom Of which
have been found specimens of human bones
and affairs for worship, whose formation plain.
ly indicate that they were erected by
Europeans. In the Lake Superior regions,
too, mines have been discovered which show
anmistakably signs of European skill, equal
if not superior tolthat which now exists.
Mr.. Boutwell, gave three reasons for the be-
lief that the population of America was not
Indigenous, and that this continent was
visited by Eastern mariners at an early age
If the worlds history. The sphericity ofthe
earth was known in the time Of Herodotus,
md was taught by his disciples it was hand
ID down from generation to generation, SO
hat Columbus made it the basis of his
;heory. The mariners compass is not new
invention, but belongs also to the ancients.
u-hts -history, siiudes 70 -sn-
,trumenr in the possession Of tho Indians,
Rhich always pointed due north, and it is
natter of history that in the fourth century
# our era the Chinese mariners used the
needle. Then, again, the enter
orises of the, ancient mariners was equal to
passage over the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean.
In the sixth century, the Phonicians had
70 far progressed in the knowledge Of nsviga-
ion that they occupied the Black Sea, the
Mediterranean, and even as far as the Bal
.ic Sea I; they had become familiar with the
into the Indian Ocean, had obtain
ID possession of ports along the coast, and
we're familiar with the tides and changes OF
he sea. Their ships were known to be away
for three years at time, and as they had so
far perfected navigation as to be able to sail
$50 miles per day, the distance which they
could travel in a threa-years' cruise must
have been considerable. Their great success
was in voyages after silver and gold, and as
The mines of Spain and England could not
possibly yield the large supply which they
exhibited, we can easily infer that
another and a more prolific land had been
discovered, whose existence they were un-
willing to disclose, lest Its treasures should
be utilized by their neighbors. 1t IS well
known that they made their ordinary drink
ing vessels, and even the anchors OF their
ships from silver, and this further proves
that they had more extensive mines than
those which existed in Spain and Africa.
He further proved the possibility Of these
hardy mariners having reached the American
coast, from the fact that various instances OF
sea-faring men having been carried by the
currents and deposited on islands in the
Pacific Ocean existed. We are also led to
believe that the Old World contributed the
inhabitants of the western hemisphere, from
the fact that there is striking similarity be-
tween the Asiatic and the American abort
gines The southern portion of Asia is
thickly populated by an industrious people,
while the north is overrun by savage hordes,
who live in a nomadic life, which would in
dicate that emigration prevailed in that Sec
ton and. as the distance to the northern
shores of the American continent is but
short, it is clear that the exodus was in that
direction. The inhabitants ofthe same de-