The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-11-23

centuries before the Christian era;
they were acquainted with the prop
critics of thc magnetic needle, and
used a kind of mariners compass.
There is abundant evidence to show
the accurate knowledge possessed by
the Chinese Of the costs Of the North
ern Pacific as far AS Kamtschatka, of
which country full accounts arc given
by their writers in the sixth and sew
cnth centuries. The distance of
China from kamtschntka Is glyon
with greet exactncss: and mention is
made Of the Aleutian Isles to the east
Of the latter, and Of the custom Of
painting their bodies, practiscd by
the inhabitants of those islands, Il
custom which has continued to the
present day. But yet further, at the
end Of the fifth century, the Chinese
discovered a country lying a great
distance to the Southeast of Alaska
which there seems to be good reason
for placing in Mexico or Central
America. The evidence Of this dis
covcry is;bascd on the report of aBud
dhist priest named Hoci-S Shin, which
was entered on the official annals OF
the Empire, Hoei Shin had return
ed to China from long Journey 70
the East in 400 a. d. The long
and arduous pilgrlmngrs undertaken
BY those BudAhists, for the purpose Of
acquiring more accurate know
ledge of the original sources Of their
religion, and Of propagatln& It III all
new regions. are we'll known. Some
of these pilgrims were away from
their country rs much as ~
years at a time.
The Chinese annals refer to a per
iod anterior, by more than ten
centuries, to the conquest OF Mexico
bv the Spaniards. 1t is astonishing
how many of the particulars in the
Chinese record agree very closely
with we'll kuoyl facts q bout the early
inhabitants of the district Of .Amcrl-
ca in question. lioci-Shin states
that the people had a monarchical
government, with different orders Of
mobility, as was the case in all the
Ccntral.\merican States of which we
have any knowledge. He speaks Of
their Reckoning time by cycles OF
years, which we knoN to have been
the practice of the .Aztccs. who
borrowed it from their predecessors.
He mentions also the custom of ac-
companviny royal professions with
the sound of horns and trumpets,
which also prevailed in Mexico. The
houses were built Of wood, as was the
case with all tho Central American
peoples: the stone buildings, Of which
ruins remain, being invariably palaces
and temples. Iron was unknown in
the country, IA fact which evidently
struck the Chinese trhyenr with sur
prise, as unusual in a land which had
attained SO high a degree Of civiliza-
ton, and which exact V corresponds
with what we know of the early civ
iliZcd races of America, none of
whom had discovered the art Of
working iron. Copper, silver. and
gold were known, but were not held
in much value, and were not used as
mediums of exchange. This, also, is
consistent with established facts re-
garding tho Mc:icans and their kin
dred nations, who did not attach
much value to the precious metals,
nor employ them as money, but used
for that purpose pieces of tin and
bundles OF cacao seeds. Tie most
striking point of coincidence, how
ever, .'hctwccn the narrative Of Hoci
Shin and the customs Of the inhabi
tants of Central America, is his &C,
count of a plant which was employed
for various purposes by the people
he described. The description which
lie gives corresponds very exactly
with the features and properties of Il
very remarkable american plant
quite unknown in Asia. This is no
other than the Magrey, or American
Aloe, which, as is well known, was
turned to a variety of uses by the
Mcxicans and their kindred nations.
Hos- Shin indicates nearly all these