Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-09-12
AWORLD MYSTERY
Early Civilization of the Twin
Continents of America.

title of a book which deals with one
of the great mysteries of the world
the origin Of the aborigines OF the Amer
icas- The author-C. Reginald Enock,
F. R. G. S.-answers his own ques-
ton. What do we mean by the secret
of the Pacific?" thus:
set between the worlds mightiest
oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic,
Hes that greatest of all islands, the
twin continents Of America. A great
mystery still shrouds these twin con-
tiuents. a riddle still unread, for whose
solution the world may be said'to have
waited 400 years. What is this mys-
terry?
History will have us believe that
until the end OF the fifteenth century
these great seas had roared defiant, IN
crossed by man, with the exception.
grudgingly admitted. OF some shadowy |
mortimer from Europe. and that these
great continents have been unvtsited |
ever since the world began Yet scat |
tered for thousands Of miles through |
out the forests and deserts Of these |
twin continents are the remains of civ
ilized empires which once 10urtshed
there-the ruined temples, palaces,
pyramids and habitations Of peoples
and nations who rose, fell and rose
again ages before the caravels OF the
vikings and the conquistadores turned
their prows toward the setting sun.
What l have ventured to term the
secret of the Pacific is the mystery sur
rounding the ancient civilization of the
Americas. the homes Of the Toltecs,
the AZtecs. the Mayas, the Incas and
their predecessors. What was their
origin? What was their connection
with each other? Had they any link
with the old worId7 Did they in old
en- times draw inspiration and knowl-
edge from Asia, Egypt, Babylon2 II
not. and they sprang unaided from
their own soil and created their own
culture. what are or were the condi-
lions of their Independent develop
ment?
1T has been my lot to traverse, at
least in part. those great regions OF
North and South America forming the
western world which we have erro-
neously termed 'new'-the ancient
world of America before Columbus.
My travels have taken me upon the
trails of Cortes and PiZarro. trails
which in some cases are almost as re-
mote and difficult today as they were
when first traversed by the white man
from Europe and the horse first ascend
ed the Andes.
But to these journeyings we must
add other incursions through space
and time, both real and conjectural.
which will take us from Mexico to
Egypt. from Peru to Babylon. from the
American shores to the strange islands
of Polynesia. From those broad re-
giOns where the Toltec. the Aztec and
the Inca fourished we must seek to
gather up those threads which some
have cOniectured lead to Asia.
What are the monuments left by
these ancient peoples. and what are
| the evidences Of their civilizations?
For 1000 miles or more they lie upon
the western American littoral and Cor
dilleras and seem to extend in. isolated
patches across the Pacific ocean in a
northwest path to Asia. like vast step
ping stones between the old world and
the new. In the rock ravines and
scOrchinS meSas of Arizona and Cali
fornia. wiidernesses whose trails were
first mapped out by the bones of hardy
explorers. are the abandoned habita-
tions of the cliff dwelIers.
ION the high slopes and tablelands
OF Mexico are strange pyramids and
mysterious courts and quadrangles.
with. carved stone halls about them,
puzzle to the beholder. In the dense
trOpic forests of Yucatan are the sculp-
tured facades of palaces and pyramid
temples of exceeding beauty and in
genuity. ruined and abandoned or sur
rounded here and there by the waffle
huts Of half savage Indians.
I'm Central America sculptured
steIae of great beauty and peculiarly
protrude strangely from the jungle
while far away below the equator.
along the scorchinG coast line of Peru
and amid the bleak tablelands and
snow crowned ranges of the Andes.
are cunniDgly wrought temples and i'm
! pregnable fortresses. which could only
have been fashioned under the man
dates of ruthless new world pharaohs
or devout American Solomons.
I'm the Mexican desserts and by the
waters OF the mysterious Lake Utica.
ca o. the treas the sun god and the
moon god held sway. and centuries ago
unnumbered ancient worshipers raised
| great temples to the unknown God
Deepening the mystery still. there
arise strange and grim upon solitary
sea grit Pac fic islands IN the track of
the setting sun colossal images and
fortresses whose origin no man can
conjecture. Here, in brief. are the
chapters, written in stone. Of some
great and perhaps universal histOry-a
history which so far we have not been
able TO inscribe in the general plan of