The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-06-16

{ in close range. OF the almost infinite pro-
ducts Of the vegetable kingdom every va
riety is at hand. This is a condition no
where else 10 be found on the habitable
globe. II was previously unknown 10 ex-
ist- The Vale OF Cashmere Is a Little world
in itself.
II is even more prolific in species than
the outside world. The investigations into
the extraordinary conditions Of the place
which have been made BY Dr. W l. Ab-
bott Of Philadelphia have already produced
results that have astOnished naturalists-
DR.. Abbott is a wealthy and enthusiastic
( traveller and explorer. and the National
Museum Washington has just been en-
riched by a collection OF specimens which
he has sent from the lands Of Cashmere OF
which hardly anything had been previous
ly known.
These specimens only recently arriV ed
at Washington and have not yet been cata-
loEued and mounted. But already enough
is known about them 10 excite discussion
in scientific circles as TO their import
ance and as to that of the reports from DR..
Abbott, which are sure 20 follow
The collection which has been sent %
Washington includes ancient written doc
uments that antedate the dawn OF hist0-
~. whose translation, coming as they
do from this spot where the race oriSi-
mated, may yield startling information.
I
ments amulets weapons, queer vessels
whose use is mysterious and uncertain.
masks of weird and striking oddity sus-
gestive of idolatry and religious ihstru-
ments used to-day as part of supersti-
ton that was hOary with age before
Christianity was born.
But most important Of all among the
specimens which DR. Abbott has sent from
the far lands Of Cashmere arc those that
relate to natural history. There is notn-
ing ancient about these. They are thor
oughly up TO date, having come from birds
and animals which he killed himself Ana
it is by this collection of natural history
specimens that it is known that this
strange land produces not only species
known to science, but others that are az
solutely new.
Here. where the human race originated,
where animal life in its infinite variety
is believed 70 have been brought into ex-
istence by the magic hand OF the Crea-
tor as part of the six days work that
made the world, living specimens are
found that appear never TO nave strayed
from this original site. one of the most
singular creatures whose remains have
been sent by Dr. Abbott to the National
Museum, is a cat of a species that is alb
solutely new to science. The naturalists
at the National Museum have thus far
been unable TO account for il. It does
elaborate cat schedules which science has
thus far arranged.
This cat which Dr. Abbott killed in
the strange land of Cashmere, is much
larger than any cat hitherto known Its
legs are very thin and its body very long.
The body, as shown by the skin, which.
accompanied the specimens, is Of a whit
ish tint, fecked with brown spots, except
the head. The head of this singular cat
is striped.
As with cats, so with rats. Cashmere
has produced a new specimen to puzzle
men of science DR.. Abbott sent several
specimens of these Cashmere rats, which
are unlike anything hitherto known. 1t
has been suggested that the function of
the peculiar cat above referred to was to
chase the queer odd-snaped rat, which
will soon be exhibited a the National
Museum, and the naturalists 90 not doubt
that there is some mysterious connection
between tho two If the strange rat had
strayed from the plateau of Cashmere
to the outside world, it is believed the
cat would have followed it,
The civilized rat which we had pre-
viously known is no Stranger to Cash
mere, and all known varieties of cats
are also found there. In the rabbit fam
lily there are several skins among the
Abbott collection now at Washington
that are believed 10 come from species
that is absolutely new.
Here, then, are animals which science
has known nothing about, found in re-
mote part of the Himalayas, where ali
species were supposed to have originated
and whence they spread to all parts of
the earth. These are species that never
spread, but which have for centuries on
centuries remained at this one spot. Is
not this, it has been asked, proof of the
statement that the varieties were created
n 1a of xs-nf oh oil
this identical spot?
But even more curious and interesting
than the natural history specimens in
this collection are those that relate to the
people of this strange land, who know
nothing of the world, who actually live
in the clouds in a miniature world of their
own, and who have rude civilization that
was old when the pyramids were built in
Egypt. Among the most valuable of
these is a sacred book or Bible, written in
strange tongue, which an antiquarian
and scholar will now set about to decipher
The age of this book is unknown but,
coming from a people whose manners
and customs have never changed for
whom time has not existed, it is sup
posed TO antedate all written records
1t is asked whether this book NAV not
tell the story of creation. as people living
upon the site of that mighty event
handed it down from generation to gene
ration.
May not here at last be an authentic
story of the tragedy of the Garden of
Eden, more detailed more specific, more
instinct, with convincing proofs of truth
than that which saw the light Derhaps
thousands of years later?
This book, to whose translation many
are now looking for solution of these
problems, consists simply of two narrow
boards. between which are laid about 100
narrow, loose leaves. On these leaves are
inscribed mysterious records of a religion
about which nothing is known The boa rds
are about feet long and inches wide.
and the strange book of primitive shane
makes bulky volume
Other curiosities of religious nature
which enter into the Abbott collection are
prayer wheels and curiously carved prav
ish stones, which are found on the table
lands in heaps. The prayer wheels carr,
the prayers of these people round and
round, being sometimes driven by water
49,
Observation-Disclosures