The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-04-03


America He deems It altogether probable that
tho people whom the Spaniards found in Ameri-
en- came by migration from the Old World. But
he considers 1t by no means probable that
their migration occurred within SO short o
period as five or six thousand years ago He
sets forth O series of observations and discov-
cries which have been made during tho last
half century. and which seem to show that
North America has boon continuously inhabit-
ed by human beings since the earliest pleisto-
conc times. II not earlier. Along with these an
Gent Americans lived somo terrestrial man.
mails that still survive. such as the elk reindeer
prairie wolf. bison. musk OK. and beaver: and
many that have long been extinct. such as the
mylodon. megatherium. megalonyx. mastodon.
Siberian elephant mammoth. at least six
or seven species OF ancestral horse. n huge
boar similar to the cave bear Of ancient Eu-
rope. a lion similar to tho European cave lion.
and tiger as large as the m odcrn tiger OF Ben
gol. The author Of this history Is inclined to
consider the Eskimos q remnant OF tho pleisto.
cone cave men. but hescarcoly deems our data
sufficient for determining whether tho Amerl-
can rcd men nre also descended from the pleis-
tocene inhabitants Of America. or have como in
some latcr wave OF migration from the Old
World. Tho Indians must. he thinks. be re-
garded as an entirely different stock from the
Esklmos. but 1t Is no loss certain that
the former. like the lattor. must have
dwelt upon American soil for very
long time. Mr.. Fiske cannot find
particle OF evidence to suggest any
connection or intercourse between aboriginal
America and Asia within any such period rs
tho last 10000 years. except In SO far as there
may perhaps now and them hsvo been slight
surges OF Eskimo tribes back and forth across
Dering Strait. The author Hlso concurs with
kha IN Oritv n tina mr. A icnp
ethnologists In affirming that all OF tho
aborigines south Of the Eskimo region. all tho
why from Hudson's Bay to Cape Horn. belong
20 one and the samo race 1t was formerly
supposed that the higher culture OF tho Aztecs
Gayhs. and Peruvians pointed to different
conclusion. but there Is now an increasing
disposition among scholars to RGree that the
warrior OF Anahuac and tho shepherd OF
Ne Andes were just simply Indians. and that
0hoar culture was no loss indigenous than
that OF the Cherokees or Mohnwks. Neither
in Mexico nor In Yucatau had tho aborig-
ines advanced beyond tho middle status OF
barbarism. as that stage OF social development
has been defined by Morgan. Indeed. In one
respect they were not 30 far advanced as the
European peoples referred to a correspond
ing status, because thoy had NOT yet
domesticated any animal except tho dog.
The case of Peru is acknowledged to
be anomalous md Is examined separator
~ and at length In this narrative. Under
the Incas the llama and alpaca have been do
nesticated. and tho sovereign. instead Of boz
ing Ike Montezuma-msrely war chief who
had acquired tina functions OF high priest
was true autocrat, uniting the powers OF war
ehiof. high priest. supreme judge and civil
administrator and legislator. Indeed. the Inca
sssmsto have held In the eyes OF his subiects
a position higher even than that OF o Caliph
and to nnd his true analogue in the traditional
Japanese conception OF the MikadO as an
actual incarnation OF the Deity. But although
ln many particulars the ancient Peruvians
esem to have transcended the upper stratum Of
Barbarian. yet they fail to meet the indispcn-
aabie condition OF civilization as defined BY
Morgan. viz. the possession OF q phonetic
alphabet Indeed. their quipus. or knotted
cords. were fur rudsr instrument OF record
than the Aztec picture writing. and OF course
cannot be compared with the Egyptian Hero
glyphics.
NJ. Fiske attributes the rapidity Of the con.
quest Of Mexico BY the Spaniards to the fact
thst the territory actually occupied BY the
Aztss confederacy wac not larger than tho
State Of Massachusetts II 10 true that the
As>ees levied tribute on adjoining tribes. but
thsy pads no effort 10 incorporate their terri-