The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-09-16
AWORlD MYSTERY
Early Civilization of the Twin
Continents OF America.
THE SECRET OF THE PACIFIC.

| A Riddle Still Unsolvsd ls the Origin
Of the Ancient Toltscs, Aztsos, Mayas
| and ineas--Ths Enigma That Turks
| In Their Ruined Monuments.
1.-THE Secret Of the Pacific" Is the
title of a book which deals with one
Of the great mysteries of the world
the origin of the aborigines Of the Amer
lcas. The author-C. Reginald Enock.
#. r. G. S.-answers his own ques-
uon. What do we mean by the secret
of the Pacific" thus:
"Set between the worlds mightiest
oceans, the Pacific and the Atlantic,
lies that greatest Of all islands, the
twin continents of America. A great
mystery still shrouds these twin con-
tinents. a riddle still unread. for whose
solution the world may be said to have
waited 400 years. What Is this mys-
terry?
History win have us believe that
until the end of the fifteenth century
these great seas had roared defiant. un-
crossed by man. with the exception.
grudgingly admitted. of some shadowy
mortimer from Europe. and that these
great continents have been unvisited
ever since the world began. Yet scat
tered for thousands OF miles through
out the forests and desertsIof these
twin continents are the remains of CIV
ilized empires which once hourished
there-the ruined temples. palaces,
pyramids and habitadons 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 | have ventured TO term the
secret Of the Paciic 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
origin7 What was their connection
with each other7 Had they any link
with the old world7 Did they in old
en- times draw inspiration and knowl-
edge from Asia. Egypt. Babylon7 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?
ut has been my lot TO traverse. ut
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 rs 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 nourished we must seek to
gather up those threads which some
have conjectured lead to Asia.
What are the monuments left by
these ancient peoples, and what are
the evidences Of their cIvillzationsf
For 1000 miles or more they lie upon
the western American littoral and Cor
dllleras and seem to extend In isolated
patches across the Pacific ocean IN a
northwe path to Asia. Ike vast STEP
ping stones between the old world and
the new. In the rock ravines and
scorching mesas of Arizona and Call
fornia. wiidernesses whose trails were
frst mapped out by the bones Of hardy
explorers. are the abandoned habita-
lions Of the cIiff dwellers.
ION the high slopes and tablelands
Of Mexico are strange pyramids and
mysterious courts and quadrangles.
with carved stone halls about them. a
puzzle to the beholder. In the dense
troplc forests Of Yucatan are the sculp-
tured facades of palaces and pyramid
temples of exceeding beauty and In
genulty. ruined and abandoned or sur
rounded here and there by the waffle
huts of half savage Indians
IN Central America sculptured
stelae Of great beauty and popularity
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 cunningly wrought temples and Inn
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 OF the lncas 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 girt Pacific 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 hlstory-e
history which 50 far we have not been
able TO inscribe IN the general plan OF
human record This then. h the Sc
cret OF the Pacific"