The sun., 1900-08-19

|
| people who, ~ rccent explorations prove, once
! Inhabited ArEentns and Patagonia The emen
ory Of thcs" pysmle' long Euryvsd thes @ 1ss as.
| reported TO have bean captured by the'Chlri-
! huanos in the Gran Chsoo.
| We pass to the question whether the so-called
| civilization Of the New World was indigenous
! or imported. Mr.. Payne deems indefenslble
the theory which regards the elements OF nd
vancsment found In the New World as derived
wholly or partially from Japan or China. and.
| possibly, through these countries from civil
| izatons still further Westward. This fantastic
idea. born or chronological speculation In its
crudest form, received In the last century from
n misunderstood record. found in the Chinese
annals by the photographer De Gu!gnes. an
impulse powerful enough to survive when
the mlsinterprctanOn had been decisivey
corrected. Our author considers II worth
notice chiefly ms illustrating the European ten
dency To- refer everything American to some
specific Old World source. A Spanish
theologian convinced himself Of the Jewish
origin of the American tribes, 50 ethnolosists
eagerly seized the idea OF a Chinese or Japa-
nese origin OF such culture aS Americans pos
sessed the latter suggestion. moreover. har-
monized with widespread belief that the
American tribes were OF a type specifically
different from and lower than Old World man,
IT, indeed they ranked "a men at all, and were
incapable Of working out the problems Of ad-
vancement for themselves.
For the history Of this illusion the reader Is
referred to Dr. Justin wnsor's Narrative and
Critical History Of America" only bare outline
OF II Is given in the book before us. The record
above mention : 'ound In the Chinese annals.
vouches for Ia. d oovery by BuddhIst mis-
sionsry of distan. country, named Fu-sang,"
In the nfth century Of the Christian era. This
country was supposed by De Gulgnes to have
been that part Of the New World now known
as British Columbia Others held that Fu-Sang
could have been none other than Mexico and
the origin Of American advancement was forth
with ascribed to q connection presumed 70 have
been founded on similar voyages. Mr. Payne
would not represent il ~ impossible that ships
may from time "a tlme have drifted hundreds
OF miles from Chinese and Japanese waters and
have brought back credible intelligence Of
lands previously unknown; and such vessels.
II Is admitted. may possibly have reached Kam-
tchatka, the Aleutian Islands and even the
peninsula OF Alaska. Won Tschudi. while sum
marily rejecting any Interpretation Of the
voyage to Fu-sang as tho foundation OF Ameri-
can advancement, concludes on the authority
OF the Chinese and japanese annals that In the
seventh and eighth centuries Of our era, II not
earlier, both Chinese and Japanese vesses aotu-
ally reached both Kamtchatka and Alaska.
Neither OF these. however. could have been Fu-
Sang. for Klaproth has shown its identity with
some island Of the Japanese group. Neither Of
them can be regarded az a promising starting
point for imported Advancement and the histor-
ical significance OF such voyages, II they ever
took place. may be measured by the fact that 80
reoenty as $50 years after the dlscovsry by
Columbus no Chinese vessel was known 10 have
crossed the Pacific to the New World.
What chiefly gave wide currency to the doc
trine Of imported Advancement was its adop-
ton by Alexander Won Humboldt, whose ao-
qIiremsnts as an AmerIcanist, Notwithstanding
his considerable attachments In the physical
sciences. were, at the time when he adopted
this doctrine, Of the scantiest description.
In his earliest publication. written soon after
his visit TO Me Xico. he suggested that some
OF those Asiatic priestly colonies whom mystic
dreams sometimes inpel to embark on long
voyages, may have been driven by storms
TO the coasts OF New California" and, In a
later work embodylng many interesting CLEAN
ings from American archaeology, mingled
with much that Is spurious. and some crude
speoulations OF his own. he adduced certain
imaginary resemblance between the calendars.
of China and Mexico. which have nothing what
ever In common, as substantial evidence Of bor-
rowed culture. He supplemented this by
other arguments, OF which the following are
fair specimens: The Mexican hieroslyph for
water resembles the Phpnicisn letter Mem
which has passed into the Greek alphabet;
the Mexican word "atl" Is itself preserved in
atelkusa the name given to their former dis
trict OF residence by the Hungarisns on the
lower Danube: the Maya names for their
twenty days are In several cases monosyTabic,
and appear to belong to the monosy ylabic dis
trlcts Of Eastern Asia; the Chinese termlna-
tion "tsin- occurs in many Mexican proper
names as Tonantsin. Acamapitsin.. &c.
Prof Tylor more plausibly insists on the
resemblance between an ancient Mexican game
OF hazard usually known as "patol" and the
modern Hindoo game OF "pachisi." as addi-
tional evidence to the same effect The exist
ence in both continents Of myths relating to
successive distinctions and renovations Of
nature and of tho art Of mixing copper with
tin to form bronze have also been thought 70
support the theory OF connection between
their populations In some stage OF culture ap-
pTeasbly adyanced beyond sayasery,, But as
myths in question seem to arise naturally
voich th,y are foun iol. The practic. Of mix
leo as In Cornwall In close proximity. tho looe o.
containing each often actually crossing each
other. and which probably have been fro m
early times both ncci .enthlly and purposely
ml1ei In sinelung, can scarcely be admissible
owl 'enca Of ethnc communication. Rather
from resrect for the names associated with
the arguments from calendars and hazard
games than. from any sense OF their real i'm
portance, Mr. PAYNE examines them closely
FIRST however, reviewing what Advocates OF
imported atvancement have left unnoticel,
namely, the peculiar vicena system OF
arithmetic on which the Mexican calendar
ana games of chance werc alike bnse
=
After rtfutiug ~ considerable l.ng;h the
arguments based uIon allt god resSmbances
In calendars and hazard games. Mr.. PAYNE pro-