The Topeka state journal., 1906-02-17
Travelling Companion Relates
the GlOries of the Trip.
A HERD OF ELEPHANTS.
The Kansan's ''SermOn" on the
Origin Of Humanity.
After Seeing the Apes Thinks
Nan Is a Cousin.

Man Is a Cousin.
Wednesday. January 3.
At sea again, en- route to Calcutta,
after respite Of seven days The
.Samai'' is a larger and newer boat
than the "Simla, and has twin
screws, but it is slow; we will not
reach Calcutta until Tuesday. Twin
screws do not mean increased speed.
breaks, the other can be used in get
ting the ship into port. When the
shaft of a single screw ship breaks,
it floats about helpless until aid ar
rives.
I have an upper-deck cabin on the
''SamaH, with my old friend Mr..
Moffatt, the Englishman with whom I
roomed on the "Simla." He secured
the more desirable room, and asked
that I be put in with him. I asked
him today how he managed to get the
best of everything when travelling.
When you go into a hotel, or on
board ship" he replied .the clerk
or the steward looks you over, and
/ decides what you will probably stand,
in the way of discomfort. In every
hotel, and on board every ship, there
are certain undesirable rooms The
I clerks and stewards are always try
/ ing to give them out to meek people.
/ Don't be meek; don't submit. That's
/ all know about it. Raise a row; if
hyOu don't get what you think you are
/ entitled to, take it to the manager of
! the hotel or the captain of the ship
/ On routes of travel, travellers are
looked upon as victims. All can
recommend is. don't be a victim
Five of the passengers on the "Sam-
ali started from San Francisco No
vember 4. and have been together
ever since. knew good many of
the others on the "Simla,' so we are
quite we'll acquainted. One of nv ac-
/ quaIntances spent his time in CevlOn
| IN visiting the buried cities. whereas 7
spent most of my time in Colombo.
resting up. I regret now that I did
not accompany him as me trim Is
easily made; no hardships. as is gen
orally supposed. My friend saw
nerd of wild elephants, thousands of
monkeys and a great many deer. He
says the buried cities cover a tract rf
sixteen by thirty-four miles. ana maj
they are very remarkable: he saw-
runs OF buildings and towers that must
/ nave been three or four hundred feef
high.
The extinct countries and races bava
always been very interesting to me: few
people realize the great age of the world.
1t IS fairly well esta ablished that in GER
| tain places seven buried cities may he
found; one on top of the other. So much
time has elapsed since the first citv was
bullt, deserted, and covered up bv the
dust of ages, that six other cities have
been built on the same site and in tr7r,
become ruined, deserted, and covered up.
Ancient Egypt and Babylonia have
always been known, with some tradi-
tional echo of their greatness; but of an
+ empire called Khita nobody had ever
heard for two thousand years. or dream
ed, so completely had it been lost and
/ covered up. Modern research has
brought out the fact that the Khita.
or Hittites, were for centuries a wa r
% 7~f7I Icv-r- -,
: large territory which contained many
different people, and not only far more
powerful than the Hebrews but able
to cope with the greatest rulers of
Egypt and of Babylonia. At the height
Of their power, the empire of the Hit
tites extended over Syria and the
whole of Asia Minor, with q fortified
capital on the Euphrates, and its most
westerly outposts on the distant Egean
sea. These people were powerful for
many centuries; then they became
luxurious and quarrelsome. and were
succeeded by a simpler and more pa
triotic people; as the Russians have
lately been humiliated by the Japa-
nese.
The Arabs created an empire great
er than that Of Rome, extending from
beyond India to the Atlantic. and en-
bracing the richest nations in Asia
Africa and Europe. COrdova, Bag
dad and Damascus when the Moslem
, caIlpnS Tui60 IN Inem, were the most
brilliant capitals in the world and the
civilization then develoDed contained
? the germs of much of the modern
science and philosophy. The capitals
| named are now interesting only as
: relics, and the Arabs are no longer
, a great power; the successor of Ma
hOmet is known as 1.-The Sick Man; -
because he is weak as compared with
the strong rulers and nations about
him. Yet the Mohammedans once
seriously threatened France. Ger.
; many and Great Britain; but fol-
1 the victory of Charles over the No
. hammedan invaders, perhaps the
Koran would now be taught in Eng.
land and America. as the sacred book
In the map of western Asia ther,
is a long valley seen, separating the
deserts of Northern Ara bia from tht
Median mountains, on the western
3 frontier of Persia. During all mod
ern history and as far back as the timC
of ancient Greece and Rome, this re
4 gion has been a scene of desOlatiOI
e and waste, yet it was one of the mos
@ important centres of population ant
4 wealth, crowded for countless cen
t turies with various races. and the sea
- of perhaps the Oldest of extinct civ
! ilizatiOp. But climates change, in
d the course of many years, and fruit
a fuI countries become deserts. A IA
Y nous quotation is the hint of MacaU
e lay that at some future time, New
d Zealander may visit the rum OF 81
d PauI-s and marvel at buried London
II as we moderns marvel at buried ant
n ruined Memphis and Thebes. Ye
the prediction is one of the proba
~ biIities Of the millions of years to come
When we think of the wonders the pas
has accomplished, we cannot but adml
81 that the possibilities of the future ar
+ still greater. Kansas was once in tn
tropics: it win certainly become
frozen. deserted region. regain it
T. on, raerafa climate. and be Q1SCOVeTe
bv future races as new country.
And these new settlers. II they dig dee
B enough. may discover the unmistakab bl
q history of the present civilization.