Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1873-01-07
Legends OF Old America.

ries which amused our youth shoulC
perish and be forgotten. Yet there
was always something pleasant, anc
even fascinating, in the fairy tales o.
travel which has struck the imagina,
tiOns of our ancestors and there is
still charm in any evidence which
goes to show that Pliny and Polo and
the author of Sinbad's voyages were
not liars, but romantic enthusiasts
retailing pOetical and inferior kind
Of truth about facts which have since
become familiar. 1t is fortunate,
therefore, that the industry of boook.
worms, and perhaps the influences OF
national vanity, have kept alive some
Of the histories Of discovery (valueless
in themselves which startled or anus.
ed our forefathers. Among these are
the legends relating to American dis
coveries, with which this sketch is
concerned; and we may, perhaps, ac-
count for their preservation by the
fact that the more modern the histo-
ry of a nation, or the more meager it
may be in details of ancient great
ness, the more eagerness will be
shown to collect and elucidate the
smallest scraps of legend which can
give Importance to the memory of
older generations. 1t is proposed, in
this essay, to describe very shortly
some of the principal stories about
the pre- Columbian America. which in
the hands of Danish and American
antiquarians have acquired an exag-
gerated Importance their value lying,
as it appears, midway between the
the Difference whichithey received at
first, and the increduIity which after
wards prevailed as to the facts on
whice, undoubtedly, they are bas-
ed.
The existencs of world in the
West had. of course, been suspected
long before the discovery of America.
We may put aside the legend of the
great island Atlantis which Plato
heard from the Egyptian priests, and
with which, in latter times, were in
corporated all the fantastic stories
which were brought home by the first
travellers among the negro tribes;
but one or two of the stories which
Roated about in old times are curious
enough to be still worthy of notice
An ancient German chief was re-
ported to have sent as a choice pres
ent to the Consul Metellus certain In
dians, who, loosing their course, and
being battered up and down with con-
trary winds, were shipwrccked in the
North Sea, and taken alive. Some
commentators will have it that these
we're some Of our own British ances-
tors SO be-painted and disguised with
wUad as to be mistaken for eastern
savagos. However this may be, the
story reminds us of another, told in
modern time by Bembo, the Venetian
historian, with reference 10 the recent
discoveries of Columbus.
A French ship, sailing in the Mar
row Seas, is said to have picked up a
canoe built of osiers and bark; in
this we're seven swarthy men, whose
faces were peculiarly broad, and tat
tooed, or stained, with violet color
their dress was of fishes skins, and
their crowns were woven of reeds,
and twisted in the shape of ears. -
-'Flesh they ate raw, and they drank
blood like wiEc," Six of them soon
died: but the survivor is said to have
lived for long time in the retinue OF
the French king.
How legends of this kind Origina-
ted, 1t IS not easy to say. Some, per-
haps, were mere impOStures, and 9TH
ers created by the desire of believing
in the Fortunate Islands Lying be
yond the sunset like the enchanted
land which Irish fishermen have pro
fessed to see shining on the horizon
west of Arran. Some may have had
a real foundation. Many secrets of
the sea must have become known to
the bold sailors who traded between
Carthage and the Tin IslaRds and
Amber Coast. They certainly claim
ed some knowledge of lands in the
Atlantic, which, perhaps, were the
Azores; and other discoveries may
have been made
When the Phunician sailors far astray
Had brought uncertain notices away
Oflslands dreaming in the Middle Sea.
Their pilots we're bold enough to
explore the recesses of the ocean
without compass or astrolabe; and |
fanciful writers have depicted the in
cidents of the possible voyage:
Wales was the home of other le-
gendS of this kind, and the bards we're
fond of singing of the famous voya-
ges, which were called the Three
Disappearances." The first was the
sailing of Merlin and his companions
in the ship of glass; the second was
the voyage of Gavran the discoverer,
who went in the fifth century to search
the western ocean for the ''gwerdonau
Hon. the Green Islands famous in
British songs; the third was the voy-
age of Prince Madoc. the hero of
Southey'S somewhat tedious epic.-t
lie sailed In the year ll70, and after
some time, came back with glowing
accounts of the new world across the
waters, so that many ships were fitted
put to accompany his second voyage
hey never were heard of again. and
his was the ''third disappearance"
rhe question regarding the fate of
Nadoc's crews was once considered
enough. to be discussed in
councils Of state. Queen Elizabeth's
minister's ale said TO have debated
whether title to the Spanish Main
night not be rested upon Madoc's
of the new world; but the !
laim was never prosecuted, either .
rom its inherant absurdity. or Ito
,orrow the historians courtly phase)
because the queen was not of that !
L ! 4