Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-11-25


] This is the tradition that Johnston
! finds in the orient He then turns to
! America, to the legends OF. the Toltecs
! AID the Aztecs. The period Of Aztec
| history which embraces the tenth ceu-
| tury before Christ or thereabouts, is
| commonly known rs the Votanic peri
| cd owing to the arrival at that time
/ &C a good or super man known as Not-
an This Votan. according to tie Able
Brasseur de Bourberg's translations of
early Aztec documents, arrived on the
| Pacific Coasts about 1000 b. C., accom-
| panied by seven ships. This was just
ut the time that Solomon and Hiram
were beginning their three-year expe-
ditions to the Land of Ophir.
/ The personnel OF these expeditions,
i Johnston points out, was peculiarly
conglomerates. First, there was the
shipmen of Hiram and the servants of
Solomon. In addition, the scientist be-
lievos. there We're certain mercenaries,
recruited from two warrior races
of the time-the Scythians and the
| Thracians. 1t was the custom of both
the Phoenicians and the Jews to hire
such mercenaries. Johnston finds the
possibility of their presence of these
planning certain points.
This, then, is the evidence. At about
1000 B. c. he finds three great ships of
Tharshish leaving the Red Sea ON
three-year voyage to the mysterious
land of Ophir; at about the same time
he finds the traditional founder of Az
tee civilization landing on the shores
of America The ships bring back so
st - Il ~,
the streets of Jerusalem. America is
the only known country where silver
could then have been obtaind in such
quantities.
1t is thus assumed that the three
great ships OF Tharshish were bound
for America. Johnston turns next to
the course they may have followed.
The way lay clear from the lied Sea
to the Straits of Babelmandeb, then
PASSED around the coast of Arabia in
to the Persian Gulf and continued
along the west side Of the Bahrein Is
lands to the mouth of the Euphrates.
and down tie east side of India.
Thence the logical way to America
was. and still is. by way of Java, SUI
matra, Torres Straits, the Caroline Is
lands Tonga. Samoa, Kappa, Tahiti
Johnston that the Phoenicians took
this route; therefore. he has looked for
traces of them, not only in Central
America. but everywhere along the
way The evidence which he found
forms the true basis of his theory.
Some of the traces are scythian,
some Thracian. some Phoenician, some
Hebrew This he explains by the mix
ell character of the expedition. The
Scythians and Thareians, he thinks,
were left in charge ofthe way stations;
the Phoeneciahs and Hebrews gov
erned and colonized the newly discov-
cred Ophir itself
A Scythian deity was Tahiti, the god
dess of the hearth. Tahiti is the native
name of the island of Tahiti. Other
gods we're Papeus, Apia, Apollo, Venus,
Urania. Hercules and Mars. The names
Of these deities. with legends similar to
those of Scythia, are found, in various
FORMS throughout the Island group
which includes Tahibi.
The Scythians always fought on
horseback. used the bow and arrow and
scalped their victims. So did the In
dians of North America They did not
bathe in water, but affected something
resembling a vapor bath. This custom
is found among the natives of Tahiti.
They painted their bodies and traced
their ancestry lack TO wild animals
This. also, will be recognized as char
acteristic of the North American Ipdi-
an. They were cannihals. So are some
of the islanders IN Tahftian or Society
group
Now for the Thracians. The Thra-
clans tatooed themselves. So doSthe So
ciety Islanders. The Thracians fought
with the spear and javelin. So do the
Society Islanders. In fact, every char
acteristic of the inhabitants OF the mid
cd and forcible influence Their num-
eric skill, cosmogeny, astronomical
knowledge and religion is declared by
Johnston clearly to be Phoanician;
their traditions-an example being the
story Of Adam and Eve--to be with
equal clearness. Hebrew.
Leaving the islands, and turning to
Mexico which is the point where the
original discoveries of America are sup
posed to have landed. Johnston finds
architecture which is plainly Phoeni-
clan; laws which are Hebrew, and Gus
toms which are either Scythian or
Thracian. He does not merely make
the assertion; he states Instances and
quotes authorities. Such theories may
be hard to prove, but the author paints
new romance in the story of the
| world.-St. Lo1 is Post Dispatch.
ST. AlBANS.