Semi-weekly Windham County reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1897-1901, 1901-10-01

The Ancient Discoveries of America
An important work whose publica
titon is announced for today at l'ari
is the "Discovery of America by
Henry Vignaud, first secretary OF tn'
United States embassy and long al
official of the Americanist society
there. Its purpose as he states 1t in ar
interview is to show that for the last
four centuries we have been deceiveo
by fraud which hides the real begin
|pings of Columbus project, that the
famous chart and documents ascribed
to Tosanelliti, the learned Florentine
astronomer were fabricated and that
Columbus design was not founded on
any scientific basis but on positive in
formation as to the existence of land to
the westward. He may have some fresh
proofs to offer, but if so they can be
only contirmatory of what was we'll
established before. There was a
plenty of record evidence even in that
i
age of ignorance of the existence Of
America, which Columbus was likely
to have come across in his travels
abuut Europe--not only from the
700 years before him, but from at
least two Welch expeditions ahd per-
haps Irish, and from very full knowl-
edge of the ancient world on the sub
iect.
Not to mention the reasons for
believing that the Phoenicians visited
these shores hundreds of years before
the Christian era, the Lest Atlantis
theory, as Plato got it from the An
cient Egyptians, once 50 laughed at, is
now we'll established by soundings of
the ocean bed that Indicate continent
now submerged, stretching from the
Caribbean sea to near Europe and
Afrcia, by scientific comparisons OF
fora and fauna showing their identity
on the Canary and other islands with
this side, and by skull measurement ts
on these islands and in North lest
Africa, identifying their ancient peo-
Pile so closely with our CARTS, as we'll
as by the tradition preserved 10 all
the Mexican and Central American |
literature so far as it has come down
to US, that such a catastrophe occurred |
in the dim past and that these coun-
tries we're peopled by those who es.
capped from it, The story HIS both
Plato and Diodorus Seculus tell it,
includes not only the A tlatn,S but
great continent beyond it to the west.
ward, and Plato tells about people
rom these lands, the "Atlantidae'
hat overan and conquered large
part of Europe and we're finally beaten
back by the Greeks long before the
lawn of written history. 1t is more
han theory, therefore, supported by
discoveries in recent years in Brazil
pointing with geological comparisons
o civilized life 300 years B G as we'll
Is by all the ruins of unknown antiq
lity in Peru and NJ eyico and Yucatan,
hat the Americas we're the homes of
reat peol les and the seat of great civ.
lizations long before they were known
n Asia or Eurcpe-and naturally a..
o as geologically, America is the
ldest of the continents But besides
II this, 1t is now proved conclusively
hat the Chinese and japanese knew
nd visited and traiicked with our !,
'acific coast under the name of Flu
ang" full thousand years before
columbus journey. The wonder is,
OF that Columbus get hold of sume =
ling of all this, but that it should :.
ave so long been believed that his "
as an original discovery. y