L^£H '

i/s 6^>^

AN

INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS r

OR,

EVIDENCE THAT HWUI SHlN

AND

A PARTY OF BUDDHIST MONKS FROM AFGHANISTAN

gisrofrmb Jmerita

IN THE FIFTH CENTURY, A. D.

BY

EDWARD P. VINING.

" If Buddhist priests were really the first men who, -within the scope of written history and authentic annals, went from the Old World to the New, it will sooner or later be proved. Nothing can escape history that belongs to it." — LELAND.

NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

1, 3, AND 5 BOND STEEET. 1885.

£.109

COPYBIGHT, 1885,

BY EDWARD P. VINING.

TO

HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT,

AS A TOKEN OF APPRECIATION OF

THE CONSCIENTIOUS LABOUR BESTOWED UPON HIS "NATIVE RACES OF THE PACIFIC STATES,"

AND THE OTHER VOLUMES OF HIS HISTORIES OF THE PACIFIC STATES OF NORTH AMERICA,

THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.

t

vi PREFACE.

to explain are far outweighed by the evidence presented by the numerous details of the account which are proved to be true. The explanations suggested as to some doubtful points might seem more plausible if they were confined to that eluci dation of the difficulty which, upon the whole, appears to be its most probable solution. I have preferred, however, to note all possible explanations that have suggested themselves to me, believing that in some cases the truth which further investigation will reveal may possibly lie in some interpre tation which now seems improbable.

Errors will undoubtedly be found in this work, but I have hoped to excite sufficient interest in the question under ex amination to induce more competent scholars to bring the truth to light regarding those points as to which I have failed. I am confident, however, that, after the elimination of all errors, it will be found that the great mass of evidence that is presented that America was discovered in the fifth century of the Christian era remains practically untouched ; and that as a whole the work will be much easier to ignore than to answer by those who may differ from its conclusions.

All attempts to establish a truth which has not been gener ally received are met by the difficulty that it is almost impos sible to interest in the subject those who have formerly paid no attention to it, and that those who have studied it are strongly tempted by a natural regard for their own self-com placency to deny that there is anything more in the subject than they have been able to perceive for themselves. I, there fore, can not hope that my views will immediately meet with general acceptance; but that their truth will ultimately be recognized, I can not doubt.

Some quotations have been made at second-hand, and from authorities which I would not have given if I had had easy access to a better library than my own ; and some books which I desired to consult I have not been able to obtain. Due al lowance should be made for these facts.

It is proper that I should express my thanks for the kind responses which I have received to my applications for assist ance and information from many to whom I was unknown,

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGB

INTRODUCTORY . .. . . . . ; . .1

The birth of Buddha — His titles — His character — His religious belief — His universal charity — His life as a hermit — The discovery which he imag ined that he had made — Desire that all should share its benefits — His

..^command to evangelize the world — The compliance of his disciples — The dispersion from India — Countries visited — Traces of the religion in Europe — Also throughout Asia — And in Alaska — The wanderings of Buddhist priests — Few records preserved — Ease of journey from Asia to America — The Gulf-Stream of the Pacific — Shipwrecks on the Kurile and Aleutian Islands — Records of journeys of Buddhist priests — Their reliability and value — A Chinese record of a visit to an Eastern country — Reasons for crediting the account — Object of this work — Previous dis cussions of the subject — Plan of this work — The discovery made by de Guignes — Humboldt's views — Klaproth's dissent — The Chevalier de Par- avey's essays — Neumann's monograph — Leland's translation and com ments — Articles by MM. Perez, Vivien de Saint-Martin, d'Eichthal, Bras- seur de Bourbourg, Godron, Jones, Brown, Simson, Bretschneider, Adam, d'Hervey de Saint-Denys, Lobscheid, Channing M. Williams, and S. Wells Williams.

CHAPTER II.

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY . . . . . .18

Chinese voyages — Knowledge of foreign lands — Work of Li-yen, a Chinese v^ historian — The country of Fu-sang — The length of^the li— Wen-shin — Its identification with Jesso — Ta-han — Its identification with Kamtchatka —The route to Ta-han by land— The country of the Ko-li-han— The She- goei — The Yu-che — Description of Kamtchatka — The land of Lieu-kuci — The description of Fu-sang — No other knowledge of the country — The Pacific coast of North America — A Japanese map— The Kingdom of Women — Its description — Shipwreck of a Chinese vessel — American traditions — Civilization of American tribes on the Pacific coast— The Mexicans — Horses — Cattle — The fu-sang tree — Mexican writing — Man ner in which America was peopled-^Similarity of customs in Asia and AmericaV—Resemblances in the people — Charlevoix's story — Natives floated upon cakes of ice — The kingdom of Chang- jin — Voyages of other nations — The Arabs — Exploration of the Atlantic — The Canaries —Story of their king — The Cape Verd Islands — Conclusion. B

x CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

PAGE

KLAPBOTH'S DISSENT .

Title of de Guignes's article incorrect— Translation of the account of Fu-sang

Vines and horses not found in America— Route to Japan — Length of

the li Identification of Wen-shin with Jesso — Ta-han identified with

""""""Taraikai or Saghalien— The route to Ta-han by land— The Shy-wei— Lieu-kuei — Fu-sang south of Ta-han instead of c^i— Fu-sang an ancient name of Japan— Analysis of name " Fu-sang "—The paper mulberry- Metals— The introduction of Buddhism— Fantastic tales.

CHAPTER IV.

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT . . . . , . 49

America visited by Scandinavians— American tribes emigrants from Asia — Ancient Chinese maps — Researches antedating those of Klaproth — Let ter of Pere Gaubil — Ta-han — Licu-kud — Identification of these with Kamtchatka — Size of Fu-sang — Views of M. Dumont d'Urville — Length of the li — America lies at the distance and in the direction indicated — The Meropide of Elien — The Hyperboreans — The monuments of Guate mala and Yucatan — The Shan-hai-Tcing — Identification of the fu-sang tree with the metl or maguey — The Japanese Encyclopaedia says Japan is not Fu-sang — The banana or pisang tree may have been the tree called fu-sang — Grapes in America — Milk in America — The bisons of America — Llamas — Horses — Wooden cabins — The ten-year cycle — The titles of the king and nobles — The worship of images — Resemblance of pyramids of America to those of the Buddhists — An image of Buddha— The spread of the Buddhist religion — History of the Chichimecas — Resem blance of Japanese to Mexicans — Analogies of Asiatic and American civilizations pointed out by Humboldt — Credit due de Guignes — Appen dix — Ma Titian-tin's account — The fu-sang said to be the prickly poppy of Mexico — Laws punishing a criminal's family have existed in China — Chinese cycle of sixty years existed in India — Cattle harnessed to carts — The grapes of Fu-sang wild, not cultivated — Another Chinese custom in Fu-sang — The route to Ta-han — The route to Japan very indirect — Priests called lamas both in Mexico and Tartary.

CHAPTER V. DE PARAVEY'S NEW PROOFS . . .

De Paravey's researches preceded those of Neumann and d'Eichthal— Con nection between the Malay and American languages — Fu-sang located near San Francisco — Chinese picture of a native of Fu-sang — Spotted deer — Cattle-horns in Mexico— Horses— Nations of Northern Asia— Appendix ^. A — Buddhist monuments in America— A figure of Buddha in Yucatan — ^ The worship of Siva — The explorations of Dupaix — Foot-print in the rocks — The cause of eclipses— Pyramids — Appendix B — A Buddhist sanctuary near the Colorado River— The name Quatu-zaca— The Mexi cans emigrants from the north — Appendix 'C — An engraving of a native of Fu-mng— The natives of Oregon— The deer of America— Connection of American and Asiatic tribes — Pearl-fishing — The cochineal insect and the nopal — The people of Cophene — American place-names which ap pear to contain the name Sakya.

CONTENTS. xi

CHAPTER VI.

PAGl

NEUMANN'S MONOGRAPH . . . . . .78

The knowledge of foreign nations possessed by the Chinese — Their precepts

— The journey of Lao-tse — Embassies and spies — Knowledge derived from foreign visitors — Its preservation in Chinese records — The introduc tion of Buddhism — Its command to extend its doctrines to all nations — Chinese system of geography and ethnology — The unity of the Tartars and Red-skins — American languages — The Tunguses, or Eastern Barba rians — The Pc-ti, or Northern Barbarians — The Ainos^ or Jebis, and the Negritos — The Wen-shin, or Pictured-people — Embassies between China and Japan — The Country of Dwarfs — The Chinese " Book of Mountains and Seas " — Information given by a Japanese embassador — Kamtchatka, the Tchuktchi, and the Aleuts — Lieu-kuei — The length of the H — Licu- kuei, a peninsula — The land of the Jc-tshay — The natives of Kamtchat- ia — Their dwellings — Their clothing — The climate — The animals of the country — The customs of the people — The country of the Wen-shin identi fied with the Aleutian Islands — Ta-han, or Alaska — The kingdom of Fu-

^_*/pff nin^Jts inhabitantSj^Ihfi Amaggn^ — Fu-sang identified" with the western portion of America called Mexico — The fu-sang tree — Only one voyage made — Chinese accounts of Fu-sang — The distance from Ta-han, or Alaska, indicates that Fu-sang is Mexico— The oldest history of America — Successive tribes — The ruins of Mitla and Palenque — Some thing of earlier races to be learned from the condition of the Aztecs — Pyramidical monuments — If Buddhism existed in America, it was an im pure form — The myth of Huitzilopochtli — Thefu-sang, the maguey, or Agave Americana — Connection between the flora of America and that of Asia — Metals and money — Laws and customs of the Aztecs — Domestic animals — Horses — Oxen — Stag-horns — Chinese and Japanese in the Hawaiian group and in Northwestern America — Shipwrecks upon the American coast — The voyages of the Japanese.

CHAPTER VII. THE ARGUMENTS OF MM. PEREZ AND GODKON . . .104

Knowledge of America possessed by the Chinese— The Country of Women

— Other travelers relate incredible stories — Klaproth's argument — The account contained in the Japanese Encyclopaedia — Note denying that. Fu-sang is Japan — Weakness of Klaproth's argument — Identity of names of cities in Asia and America — American languages — Resemblance of the Tartars to the Aborigines of America — Similitude of customs — A Buddhist mission to America in the fifth century — The Chinese able to measure distances, and possessed of the compass — The musk-oxen and bisons of America — Horses — Names of European animals misapplied to American animals — The "horse-deer" of America — Vines — The diffi culty in identifying the fu-sang tree — Iron and copper in America and Japan.

CHAPTER VIII.

D'EICHTHAL'S "STUDY" . . . • 119

The Buddhistic origin of American civilization— The geographical relations between Northeastern Asia and Northwestern America— The memoirs of de Guignes and Klaproth— If Fu-sang was in Japan, there is no for the"" Country of Women "—The Japanese deny that

their country — De Guignes's map — The ease of a voyage Irom Asia t<

xii CONTENTS.

PAGE

America— The warm current of the Pacific Ocean— The Aleutian Islands —Voyages of the natives— The civilization of New Mexico— A white population— Cophene— Buddhism— Ho\v it is modified and propagated— Its absorption of the doctrines of other religions— Its proselytism— Its religious communities— The route from Cophene to Fu-sang— A. Bud dhist sanctuary at Palenque— Description of Stephens— An image of Buddha— The lion-headed couch— The winged globe— The aureola about

the figure Decadence in art — The altars upon which flowers and fruits

are offered — Reply to observations of M. Vivien de Saint-Martin — The two routes to Ta-han— That country located near the mouth of the Amoor River — Traces of Buddhism in that neighbourhood — Ease of voyage to the Aleutian islands— Klaproth's theory untenable — No other hypothesis remaining than that Fu-sang must be sought in America.

CHAPTER IX. COINCIDENCES NOTED BY HUMBOLDT, LOBSCHEID, AND PEESOOTT . 142

Extracts from the " Views of the Cordilleras "—Similarity of Asiatic and American civilizations — The struggles of the Brahmans and Buddhists — The divisions of the great cycles — The Mexicans designated the days of their months by the names of the zodiacal signs used in Eastern Asia — Cipactli and Capricornus — Table of resemblances — The tiger and monkey * found only in southern countries — The Aztec migration from the north — Resemblance between certain Mexican and Tartarian words — The cutting-stones of jhe Aztecs— The sign Ollin and the foot-prints of Vish- • — nTT^E%eTtrDf^r^TxTm:e~oT%Several nations— Changes resulting from changed circumstances and lapse of time — Analogies in religious cus toms — Analogy in the fables regarding the destructions of the universe — Lobscheid's reasons for thinking the American Indians to be one race with the Japanese and Eastern Asiatics — Similarity of customs — Tiles , — Anchors — The route from Asia to America — Shipwrecks of fishing- boats — Head-dresses — Languages — Religion — Customs — Marriage sol emnized by tying the garments together — Extracts from Prescott's " His tory of the Conquest of Mexico " — Analogies in traditions and religious usages — Disposal of the bodies of the dead — The analogies of science — The calendar — General conclusions.

CHAPTER X. SHORTER ESSAYS . . . . ... . 161

i " Where was Fu-sang? "—by the Rev. Nathan Brown, D. D.— Difficulties at tending a decision— Horses — Grapes — Reason for thinking Fu-sang more

I distant than Japan— Length of the ft— Distances of the route — Difficul ties attending Klaproth's theory— The military expeditions of the Japa nese — The introduction of the Buddhist religion — The Hans — Great Han — Identification of the fu-sang tree with the bread-fruit tree — Con clusion — Remarks of the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg — The paper and books of the Mexicans and Central Americans— Civilization of New Mexico — Chinese boats — Animals— Mr. LclandVFusang" — An earlier article— Who discovered America ?— J. Hanlay's essay — The fu-sang tree identified with the maguey— Metals — Resemblance in religion and cus toms—Also in features — Language — Civilization on Pacific coast — Letter of Mr. Th. Simson — The Mexican aloe— The fu-sang tree — Japan — Letter of E. Bretschneider, M. D. — Accounts of Fu-sang by the Chinese poets—" The Kingdom of Women "—Verdict of Father Hyacinth— The distance — Horses and deer— The fit-sang tree— The fung-tree — The pa-

CONTENTS. xiii

per mulberry— Metals— " The Kingdom of Women " and Salt Lake City— ** Fu-sang not Japan — Ta-han in Siberia — Envoys from Fu-sang — Contra dictory fancies — Mr. Leland's criticism— Letter of Pere Gaubil— Unre liability of Chinese texts — The peopling of Japan — Chinese knowledge of surrounding countries — Remarks of liumboldt — Letter of the Rt. Rev.

Channing M. Williams — The Chinese " Classic of Mountains and Seas "

Fabulous stories — Translation of extracts therefrom — Remarks of M. Leon de Rosny — Passage from Asia to America — The distance — Char acter of the Esquimaux — An article from a newspaper of British Colum bia — Discovery of Chinese coins in the bank of a creek— Evidence that they had been buried for a long time.

CHAPTER XI. REMARKS OF MM. VIVIEN DE SAINT-MARTIN AND LTTCIEN ADAM . 185

"An Old Story Set Afloat" — The route to Fu-sang— Identity of the Ainos with the Wen-shin — Ta-han near the mouths of the Amoor River — Route of Buddhist missionaries to the Amoor — Civilization of Buddhist origin — Pillars with Buddhist inscriptions — Necessity of accurate translation — Twenty thousand li signify only a very great distance — The fu-sang tree — Warlike habits — Lack of draught animals — Civilization of Mexico — Difficulty of the voyage — Conclusion — Remarks of M. Adam — Chinese acquainted with America — Ease of the journey — Travels of Buddhist monks — Points characteristic of American civilization — Ten-year cycle — The fu-sang tree — The fung tree — The hibiscus — The Dryanda cordata — The maguey, or agave — Zoological objections — Punishments — Slave children — Absurdities — Legend of Quetzalcoatl — He came from the East — The legend a myth — Colleges of priests — Practice of confession — The alleged figure of Buddha — The elephant's head — Lack of tusks — America for the Americans — Theory that ffwui Shan repeated the stories of_£h4- — - nese sailors — Remarks of M. de HelRaltTand Professor Joly.

CHAPTER XII.

D'HERYEY'S NOTES *. . . . .204

Bibliography — The name of the priest — The city of King-chcu — Ta-han— Lieu-kuci, a peninsula — Earlier knowledge of Fu-sang — The construction of the dwellings — The lack of arms and armour— The punishment of criminals— The titles of the nobles— The title Tui-ht found in Corea— The colours of the king's garments — The cycle of ten years — Peruvian his tory — The long cattle-horns — The food prepared from milk — The red pears — Grapes — The worship of images of spirits of the dead — Its ex istence in China— Cophene— The "Kingdom of Women"— The legumes used as food — Wen-shin — The punishment of criminals — The name Ta- han — The country identified with Kamtchatka — Two countries of that name — One lying north of China, and one lying east — Unwarlike nature of the people.

CHAPTER XIII.

D'HERVEY'S APPENDIX. . . . • '"

Difference between Hod Shin's story and other Chinese accounts— An earlier knowledge of Fu-sang — The poem named the Li-sao — The Shan- hai-king — The account of Tong-fang-so — The immense size of the coun try — The burninf of books in China — The origin of the Chinese — The writer Kuan-mei—The arrival of ~ffoei Shin in 499— The civil war then

xiv CONTENTS.

PAGE

raging— The delay in obtaining an imperial audience — The " History of the Four Lords of the Liang Dynasty "—An envoy from Fu-sang— The presents offered by him— Yellow silk— A semi-transparent mirror— This envoy was Hod Shin— The stories told by Yu-kie— The silk found upon the fu-sang tree— The palace of the king— The Kingdom of Women— Serpent-husbands— The Smoking Mountain — The Black Valley — The ani mals of the country — The amusement of the courtiers — The poem Tong- king-fu — The route to Fu-sang — Fu-sang east of Japan — Lieu-kaei — The direction of the route.

CHAPTER XIV. PROFESSOR WILLIAMS'S ARGUMENT . . . . . 230

" Notices of Fu-sang and other Countries lying East of China "—The ori gin of American tribes — The work of H. H. Bancroft— Mr. Leland's book — Ma Twan-lin — His " Antiquarian Researches " — Hwui-shin's story — Cophene — No later accounts of Fu-sang — The titles of the nobility — The ten-year cycle — Red pears — The fu-sang tree — No mention of pulque — Brocade— Fables — Account of the Shih Chau Ki — The article of the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys — Criticisms thereon — Pang-lai — The distance of Japan and Fu-sang — The name Fu-sang sometimes applied to Japan — Mention of the fu-sang tree in a Chinese geography — Expedi tions sent to search for Fu-sang — Comparison with Swift's " Voyage to Laputa " — The Kingdom of Women — Mention by Maundevile and Marco Polo of a land of Amazons — The country of Wan Shan — Tattooing — Its existence among the Esquimaux — Quicksilver — Two kingdoms of Ta Han — Lieu-kuci and the Lewchew Islands.

CHAPTER XT. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. — NATURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE . 249

Fu-sang wood — Nie-yao-kiun-ti—The Warm Spring Valley — The Shin I King — The kingdom Hi-ho-koue — The astronomer Hi-ho — The story of a Corean — An island of women — Pung-lai — An expedition to explore it — The colonization of Japan — Lang Yuen — The Kwun-lun Mountains — A statue of a native of Fu-sang — A poem to his memory — The tree of stone— Varying translations— The peculiarities of the Chinese language — The brevity and conciseness of the written language — Its lack of clearness — The meaning of groups of characters, or compounds — Proper names— No punctuation — Difficulty of translating correctly — Preparation of M. Julien — Illustrations of mistakes.

CHAPTER XVI. THE DESCRIPTION OF FU-SANG. . . . . 260

The Chinese authorities— Variations in the texts — The Chinese text — A literal translation— Parallel translations of eight authors— 'Hie date of — Hjaii^SMn's arrival in China— The location of Fu-sang— The fu-sang trees— The derivation of the name of the country— The leaves of the fu-sang tree— Its first sprouts— Red pears — Thread and cloth — Dwell ings—Literary characters— Paper— Lack of arms— The two places of

confinement — The difference between them — The pardon of criminals

Marriages of the prisoners— Slave-children— The punishment of a crimi nal of high rank— The great assembly— Suffocation in ashes— Punish ment of his family—Titles of the king and nobles— Musicians— The king s garments— The changing of their colour— A ten-year cycle— Lon^

CONTEXTS. xv

cattle-horns — Their great size — Horse-carts, cattle-carts, and deer-carts— Domesticated deer — Koumiss — The red pears preserved throughout the year — TO-P'U-T'AOCS — The lack of iron — Abundance of copper — Gold and silver not valued — Barter in their markets — Courtship — The cabin of the suitor — The sweeping and watering of the path — The ceremonies of marriage — Mourning customs — The worship of images of the dead — The succession to the throne — A visit from a party of Buddhist mis sionaries — Their labours and success.

CHAPTER XYII.

THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN, THE LAND OF "MASKED BODIES," AND-

THE GEEAT HAN COUNTBY . . . . . 301

The accounts of all these countries derived from the same source — The Chinese text— The location of the Kingdom of Women — Its inhabitants ™ — Tfreir long locks — Their migrations — Birth of their young — Nursing the young — The acre at which they walk — Their timidity — Their devotion to their mates — The salt-plant — Its peculiarities — A shipwreck — The women — A tribe whose language could not be understood — Men with puppies' heads — Their food, clothing, and dwellings — The land of " Marked Bodies " — Its location — Tattooing with three lines — The char acter of the people — Lack of fortifications — The king's residence — Water-silver — No money used — The Country of Great Han — Its location — Lack of weapons — Its people.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE LENGTH OF THE Li. — THE NAME "GEEAT HAN" . . 328

The direction from Japan in which Fu-sang lay — Variations in standards of measure — The Chinese li about one diird of a mile in length — The greater length of thcTjapanese li — Possibility of still another standard in Corea — Communication between Corea and Japan and between Corea and China — Chinese knowledge of the route to Japan derived from Corean sources — Fu-sang farther from " Great Han " than Japan is — Distances stated with at least approximate accuracy — The country of "Marked Bodies" identified as the Aleutian Islands — Allowances for changes and misunderstandings — Caesar's account of the inhabitants of Britain — Maundevile's repetition of the story — " Great Han " identified as Alaska — Land found in the regions indicated by Hwui Sh5n — Mean ing of the character "Han" — Nature of the Chinese characters — The manner in which they are compounded of two parts — Some characters in which the meaning is affected by that of both parts— Application of the character " Han " to a swirling stream and to the Milky Way — Hence its possible meaning of " dashing water " — Meaning of the name "Alaska" — The breakers of the Aleutian Islands — The population — A philological myth — The hypotheses upon one of which Hwui Shan's story must be explained— the explanation should be consistent.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE CUSTOMS OF THE LAND OF "MAEKED BODIES," AND OF GEEAT HAN ...

Necessity of examining the account in detail — The resemblance of the peo ple of the two countries— Their customs— Their languages— The marks upon their bodies — Tattooing with three lines — Existence of the custom

xvi CONTENTS.

PAGE

in America— The marks a sign of the position of their bearer— The merry nature of the people— Their feasts and dances— Their hospitality

Hospitality of the American Indians — The Iroquois — The Esquimaux

The Aleutians — Absence of fortifications — The chiefs — The decora tion of their dwellings — The Haidah Indians — Other Indian tribes from British Columbia to Alaska — Esquimaux fondness for ornamentation — Ditches — The dwellings of the people — Water-silver — Proof that ice is meant— Quicksilver — No country ever had ditches filled with quicksilver — The traffic by means of precious gems — No money used— Value of amber — The peaceful nature of the people — The punishment of crime — Summary of facts mentioned by Hwui Shan — Application of the doctrine of chances — The two countries bearing the name of Great Han.

CHAPTER XX. THE COUNTRY LYING IN THE REGION INDICATED BY Hwui SHAN . 360

The direction from China, Japan, and Great Han in which Fu-sang lay — The trend of the American Pacific coast — The distortion of the com mon maps — Mexico lies in the region indicated — The nations inhabiting Mexico in the fifth century — Their language — Traces of their beliefs and customs existing one thousand years later — Aztec traditions — The Tol- tecs — Their character — Their civilization — The time of their dispersion — Their language — The Pacific coast — The evidence of place-names — The *Y* Aztec language — Limits of the Mexican empire — The name of the coun try—The city of Tenochtitlan — The application of the name " Mexico " — First applied to the country — Early maps— Late application of the name to the city — Pronunciation of the word — Similar names throughout the country — Meaning of the syllable " co " — Varying explanations — Real meaning of the term — " The Place of the Century-plant " — Meaning of the syllable " ME " — Meaning of the syllable " xi " — Its meaning in other compounds — Other abbreviations — Appropriateness of the designa tion—The god Mexitli — Proof that he was the god of the century-plant — Reason that the Spaniards were misled as to the meaning of " Mexico."

CHAPTER XXI. THE FU-SANG TREE AND THE RED PEARS . . . 382

Connection between the name of the country and that of the " tree "—Ap plication to smaller plants of the Chinese character translated "tree" — Application of the term " tree " to the century-plant— Description of the

•"y SE& maguey, agave, aloe, oiicentury-plant— The leaves of the fu-sang—

Disagreement oFditterent texts— The t'ung tree— Evidence of corruption in the text— Conjecture as to original reading— Similarity of the young sprouts to those of the bamboo— Their edibility— Thread and cloth from the fiber of the plant— The finer fabric made from it— Variation in the —Manufacture of paper— The red pear— The prickly-pear— Resem blance of the century-plant to the cacti— Preserves made from the prickly- pears— Confusion in the Mexican language between milk and the sap of the century-plant-The Chinese "lo," or koumiss-The liquor made tronOhe sap i of thft century-plant— Its resemblance to koumiss— Indians lever use milk— Confusion in other Indian languages between sap and m'lk-^ ?amn" tbm name fu-sang-Variations in the characters with which it is written— The spontaneous reproduction of the century-plant -The decomposition of the character « sang "-The tree of the fergT wme-jar— The tree having a great cloud of blossoms— Blooming but once in a thousand years-The Chinese name of the prickly-plar— Kitel s definition of the term "fu-sang "—Professor Gray's statement

CONTENTS. xvii

CHAPTER XXII.

PACK

THE LANGUAGE OF FU-SANG .... . 403

Peculiarities of the Chinese language — Difficulty of indicating pronunciation of foreign words — Examples — Change in sound of Chinese characters — The pisang or banana tree — Names of countries terminated with KWOH — The character SANG — The character FU — The most distant countries at the four points of the compass distinguished by names beginning with FU — Mexican dialects — FU-SANG-KWOH and Me-shi-co — The title of

the king — Montezuma's title — Title of the noblemen of the first rank

The Mexican Tecuhtli, or Teule— The Petty TUI-LU— The NAH-TO-SHA, or Tlatoque — The title lower than that of Tecuhtli — Its meaning — Tran scription of foreign words by characters indicating both the meaning and the sound — TO-P'U-TA'OCS, or tomatoes — The grape-vine— The tree of stone — A Mexican pun — Danger of being misled by accidental or fancied resemblance.

CHAPTER XXIII. THE PEOULIAEITIES OF THE COUNTRY . . . . .418

The construction of the dwellings — Adobe walls — The " Casas Grandes " — Houses of planks — Lack of armour — Absence of fortifications — Literary characters — The pomp which surrounded the Aztec monarch — Musical instruments — The evanescence of Montezuma's pomp — Rulers accom panied by musical instruments — Tangaxoan — The king of Guatemala — The king of Quiche — Homage to the Spaniards and to the Spanish priests — The long cattle-horns — The Chinese measure called a HUH — Animals of the New World erroneously designated by the names of those of the Old World — Bisons — Their range — An extinct species — Its gigantic horns — The horns of the Rocky Mountain sheep — Use of horns by the Indians — Herds of tame deer — The lack of iron — The use of copper — Gold and silver not valued — Their markets — Barter — Customs attending courtship — Sprinkling and sweeping the ground as an act of homage — The customs of the Apaches — The fastened horse — The Coco-Maricopas — Serenades — Huts built in front of those of the parents — The length of the " year " — The punishment of criminals of high rank — The sweat- house, or estufa — Indian councils — Severe punishment of men of distinc tion — Custom in Darien — Punishment witnessed by Cortez — Smothering in ashes.

CHAPTER XXIV. THE NARRATOR OF THE STORY . . • 439

The condition of China at the time — The reign of a Buddhist emperor — The bhikshus, or mendicant priests — Their duties — Rules for their con duct — The name Hwui ShSn — Frequency with which the name Hwui occurs— Meaning of the characters— The nationality of Hwui Shan— Cophene — Struggle between Brahmanism and Buddhism — The route from India to China — The command that at least three should go to-

"" gether when traveling — Persecution in China in the year 458— The journey to America by water — Ease of the trip— Probability that Ilwui Shan was but slightly acquainted with the Chinese language— Yu Kie's criticism of Hwui Shan's statements — Causes of errors — Use of the term "water-silver" — Accounts given by first explorers seldom ^free from error — Absurdities narrated by other Chinese travelers — Pliny— Hero dotus — Marco Polo — Maundevile — Caesar — The unicorn — Elks without joints in their legs— The Icelandic account of Vinland— Difficulties in

xviii CONTENTS.

PAGE

the account — The Unipeds — The Zeno brothers — Ignorance of geography in the fifteenth century — Marvelous tales of early explorers — Allowances to be made — Hwui Shkn entitled to equal charity.

CHAPTER XXV. THE INTRODUCTION OF ASIATIC CIVILIZATION . . ' . .456

The former ignorance of the people — The introduction of Buddhism — The changes of a thousand years — The two places of confinement — Meaning of the character FAH — two species of prisons — One for those sentenced to death — The other for minor criminals — The Mexican Hades — The future abode of the Aztec hero — The sojourn but temporary — The dark and dismal " Place of the Dead," in the north — Confinement here eternal — The slave children — Treatment of illegitimate children and of orphans — Age at which children were taken to the temple — Boys at seven years of age — Girls at eight — Chinese custom of calling children a year older than they would be considered by us — The punishment of the family of a criminal — Mourning customs — Fasts — Funerals — Images of the deceased — Reverence of these images and offerings to them — The custom in China — The absence of mourning-garments — The king not fully crowned until some time after his accession to the throne.

CHAPTER XXVI. THE INTRODUCTION OF ASIATIC CIVILIZATION. — (Concluded.) . 470

The colour of the king's garments — Colours in Asia — Green and blue con founded — The dyes used by the Mexicans — Changes of the king's gar ments — Dresses of different colours for different occasions — Various species of mantles worn — Changes because of superstitious ideas — Length of the " year " — Divisions of the day — The marriage ceremonies — Chinese customs— Mexican customs attributed to Quetzalcoatl — Mexican weddings — The horse-carts, cattle-carts, and deer-carts — Difficulties of this passage — Explanations suggested — The introduction of the horse into America — Extinct species of horses in America— Indian traditions — Name may have been applied to some other animal — Mirage — The Buddhist descrip tion of the " three carts " or " three vehicles."

CHAPTER XXVII. THE COUNTRY OF WOMEN AND ITS INHABITANTS . „ . 487

Stories of Amazons— Account of Ptolemy— That of Maundevile— Marco K Polo— The Arabs— The Chinese— Similar stories in America— Explana tions of these accounts—4' Cihuatlan," the Place of Women— The account given by Cortez— Nuno de Guzman— The expedition to Cihuatlan— The monkeys of Southern Mexico— Their resemblance to human beings- Stones of pygmies— Classical tales— Pliny's account— That of Maunde vile— fhe worship of Hanuman in India— Chinese stories— The Wran^- hng People— The Eloquent Nation— The Long-armed People— « Chu-iu!» or the Land of Pygmies— Pygmies in America-Mexican monkeys— Their ig locks, queues, or tails— Their migration— Their bickering or chatter- -Their ruttmg-season-The period of gestation-The beginning of the year m China Tartary, and Mexico-The absence of breads-Nurs ing children over the shoulder—Young monkeys carried on their mothers'

-£ rT A°ng +a\- V1? back °f the head-A different translation sug- l~-£p. ^SE thmy can walk~That at which they become fully grown— Their timidity— Their devotion to their mates

CONTENTS. xix

CHAPTER XXVIII.

PAGE

THE COUNTRY OF WOMEN AND ITS INHABITANTS.— (Concluded.} . 505

The habit of standing erect — The colour of the inhabitants — Albinos

Aztlan, " the White Land " — The mountain Iztaccihuatl, or " the White Woman" — The Iztauhyatl, or "salt-plant" — The salt of the Mexicans and Chinese — References of Sahagun to the Iztauhyatl — An erroneous identification — References to it by Hernandez — The salt- weed — The sage brush — The characteristic vegetation of Mexico — Food of the monkeys — Cattle and game fattened upon the white sage — Its value in Asia— The Mexican rainy season — The preceding month of " hard times" — Difficulty of obtaining food at this season — Animals coming to lowlands in the spring to feed upon the early vegetation — A sweet variety of sage — The use of an herb to sweeten meat — Chinese description of monkeys — An Aztec pun — Shipwreck of a Chinese fishing-boat — Corean fishing- boats — Japanese vessels wrecked on the American coast — The laud reached thought to be that mentioned by Hwui Sh2n — The women of the country — The language that could not be understood — Heads like those of puppies — The Cynocephali — Their voices — Barking Indians — Their food — Their clothing — Their dwellings — The doorways.

CHAPTER XXIX. Yu KIE'S STATEMENTS REGARDING FU-SANG . . . .519

The envoy from the kingdom of Fu-sang — The commission of Yu Kie — Hwui Shan the envoy mentioned — Yu Kie's story — The presents given to the emperor — The custom of offering tribute — The yellow silk — The term applied to vegetable fibers — Sisal hemp — Its strength — Probability that the agave fiber would be brought home by a traveler — The semi- transparent mirror — Mexican obsidian mirrors — Nature of obsidian — The " Palace of the Sun " — The Chinese zodiac — Their horary cycle — Concave and convex mirrors — Obsidian mirrors peculiar to Mexico — The silk taken from the agave — Lack of cocoons — The seeds of the century- plant carried to Corea — The use of agave leaves as fuel — The ashes used for obtaining lye — The agave fiber steeped in an alkaline solution — The feast of Huitzilopochtli — Intercourse between Corea and China — The Corean records — Possibility that further information may be found in them — The palace of the king — The glitter of obsidian in the morning light — The Country of Women again — Serpent husbands — The expedi tion of Nuno de Guzman — The Smoking Mountain — Volcanoes — Hairy worms — The "nopal de la tierra "— The fire-trees— The fire-rats — The Black Valley— The Snowy Range— Huitzilopochtli— The intoxicating liq uor— The "Sea of Varnish"— Petroleum— Mineral springs— Hot springs — The extent of the land — Animals— Winged men — Birds that bear hu man beings.

CHAPTER XXX. MEXICAN TRADITIONS . . . • • • • ^36

Mexican hieroglyphics— The tradition regarding Wixipecocha— His arrival — His appearance — His conduct — His teachings — Persecution— His de parture—Survival of the doctrines he taught— The " Wiyatao "—Another version of the tradition— The written account preserved by the Mijcs — The " Taysacaa " — Identity of the term Wixipecocha with the name and title "Hwui Shin, bhikshu"— The Mexican language— Huazontlan— Quetzalcoatl— His history not a myth— The epoch at which he hved- His arrival — His garments — His attendants — Their knowledge of arts —

xx CONTENTS.

PAGE

Another account— Customs introduced— Religious penances— The founda tion of monasteries and nunneries— Belief that he was a Buddhist priest — Brahmanism and Buddhism — The worship of Siva — The religion of

Nepal The goddess Kali — The worship of Mictlancihuatl — QuetzalcoatPs

horror of bloodshed — The arts he taught — The calendar — His promise to return— His vow to drink no intoxicating liquor— His temptation and fall — His sorrow — Etymology of his name — Its true meaning not " the Plumed Serpent," but "the Revered Visitor" — Term applied to the priests of Nepal— The Mexican " Cihuacoatl " — The arrival of Quetzal- coatl from the east — Possible explanations — The crosses on his mantle — Explanation of occurrence of crosses in Yucatan — Intercourse with the West Indian Islands — The god Hurakan — Oracles and prophecies — Veneration of the cross in ancient times— Its occurrence in India and Egypt — Its use in Asia as a symbol of peace — The patchwork cloaks of the Buddhist priests — Buddha's commands — The mark of a foot-print in the rocks — Occurrence of such foot-prints in America and Asia — Veneration shown them.

CHAPTER XXXI. VARIOUS AMERICAN TRADITIONS. — BUDDHISM . . . ' .- 555

White and bearded men wearing long robes — The great numbers of coun tries in which such traditions exist — Non-intercourse between them — Traditions of Yucatan — Zamna and Cukulcan — The introduction of the alphabet — Attendants — The name Cukulcan — The three brothers of Chichen Itza — The buildings erected — The teachings of Cukulcan — His departure — The survival of his doctrines — Votan — His long-robed attend ants — Resemblance of name " Votan " to Asiatic perversions of " Gau tama" — The time of these visits — The "katuns" of Yucatan — South American traditions— The Muyscas — Their civilization — The arrival of a white stranger — His names — The arts he taught — His doctrines — The veneration of the people for him — Resemblance of his names to Buddhist titles— A Pachcheko — The Updsakas — The Chinese Ho Shang— Tradition of the Guaranis — Tamoi, Tamu, Tume, or Zume — His teachings — The impress of his foot-prints — The tradition in Paraguay — His promise to return — Adventure of the fathers de Montoya and de Mendoza — The Brazilian tradition — The great road — Foot-prints — Another tradition — The story in Chili — Tonapa in Peru — His appearance — His mildness — His teachings— His departure— Viracocha — The pyramids of Peru — Con, or Contice — The Buddhist decalogue — Avoidance of women — Buddhist practices— The dress of the priests — Hats not worn by the Indians — Resemblance of teachings of the American culture-heroes to those of the Roman Catholics— Resemblances between Buddhism and Roman Catholi cism — Their monasteries — Their doctrines — The costume of the Grand Lama — Belief in an early mixture of Christianity and Buddhism— A Cen tral American image — The calendar — The arts practiced by Buddhist priests — The art of casting metals — Sculptured vases.

CHAPTER XXXII.

EELIGIOTJS CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS . . . . . 574

The incongruity of the religious system of the Aztecs— The Toltecs— Con tentions between rival sects— Monasteries— The " Tlamacazqui " The

herb-eaters— Their asceticism— The monastery and nunnery attached to the chief temple of the city of Mexico— The duties of the devotees— The clothing— The discipline— The differences in rank— Other ascetics— Pro bation of candidates— Vows not for life— Married priests— The monas-

CONTENTS. ^

tery of the Totonacas — The pontiff of Mixteca — The title " Taysacaa "

Auricular confession — The practice of bearing a calabash — The dress of the priests — Continence — Prayers — Fasting — The early disciples of Sakya Muni — The Buddhist monasteries — Candidates for the priesthood — Edu cation of children — Food and clothing — Penances — Nunneries — Life of the inmates — Punishment of incontinence — Time for meals — Clothing of idols — Absence of vital points of Christian doctrine — Marriage of the priests — Vegetarianism — Failure of the Buddhists to strictly comply with the tenets of their religion — The eating of flesh — A curious anomaly in Buddha's teachings — Religious terms — The name Sakya — Its occurrence in Mexico — Otosis — Gautama — Guatemala — Quauhtemo-tzin — Tlama and lama — Teotl and Deva — Refutation of a negative argument — Religious tenets — The road to the abode of the dead — The divisions of the abode of the dead — Transmigration — Yearly feast for the souls of the dead — The tablet at Palenque — The lion-headed couch— Seated figures— An image of Quetzalcoatl — The story of Camaxtli — Preservation of his blonde hair.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE PYRAMIDS, IDOLS, AND ARTS OF MEXICO .... 597

Temples built upon truncated pyramids — Mounds antedating Aztec occupa tion — Speculations as to the date of their erection — The Place of the House of Flowers — The monuments of San Juan Teotihuacan — Their size — Their construction — Mexican "teocallis" — Their proportions — Re semblances to the pyramids of India — Pyramids found wherever Bud dhism prevails — The tumulus or tope — Its occurrence at Nineveh, in China, and Ceylon — Resemblances noticed by several authors — The tem ple of Boro-Budor in Java — The palace at Palenque — Dome-shaped edifices — The dome at Chichen — The construction of the pyramids — The layer of stone or brick — The layer of plaster — The false arch— Decora tive paintings — The priests the artists — The ornament upon the breast — The name Chaacmol — Cornices — Friezes — Representation of curved swords — An elephant's head as a head-dress — Other ornaments in shape of an elephant's trunk — The elephant the symbol of Buddha — The tapir — Remains of the elephant or mastodon in America — Their possible con temporaneity with man — Pipes carved in the shape of elephants — Their discovery — An inscribed tablet — The elephant-mound of Wisconsin — A Chippewa tradition — Ganesa — Teoyaomiqui — Their resemblance — The conception of Huitzilopochtli — The story of Cuaxolotl — Tezcatlipoca — The mirror held by him — Similar idols in Asia — The imprint of the hand — The cataclysms by which the human race has been destroyed — The cardinal points — Their connection with certain colours — The temples of Thibet — The palace of Quetzalcoatl — A small green stone buried with the dead — Sweeping the path before the monarch — The use of garments and dishes but once — The breech-cloth — Quilted armour — Suspension- bridges — Books — Marriage ceremonies and customs — Tying the gar ments together — Postponement of the consummation of marriage — Po lygamy — Children carried on the hip — Children's toys — The cakes used as food — A game — Practices of many Asiatic countries — Milk not used — Authors led to believe in a connection between Asiatic and Mexican civilization — Differences between the Mexicans and other American tribes — Erroneous criticism.

CHAPTER XXXIV. THE HISTORY OF JAPAN , . . • • • 623

Records reaching back nominally to 660 B. c.— Gaps in the history— Great age of sovereigns — A giant — Absence of exact dates — The introduction

xxii CONTENTS.

PAGE

of writing — Manufacture of paper — Chinese records of embassies — Men tion of a Japanese sovereign whose name does not appear in the Japa nese annals — Translation of extracts from the Japanese history — Inter course with Corea and China — Embassies — Wars — Introduction of Bud dhism — Titles of nobility — Copper, silver, and gold — Intercourse of Corea with Japan and China — The Chinese account of Japan — The route from China to Japan — The distance — Cattle and horses not raised — Tattooing — Clothing — Cities — Polygamy — Laws — Burial of the dead — The " Chi- shuai " — An envoy — A later embassy — A Japanese princess — The king dom of Kiu-nu ; that of Chu-ju — The Eastern Fish-People — A Chinese expedition to seek for P'ung-lai — Tan-cheu — Route to Japan — The divis ions of Japan — Titles of the officers — Embassies — Tattooing — Absence of writing — Mourning-garments — Buddhism — Route to Japan — Discovery of gold, silver, iron ore, and copper — The Country of Women — Reasons why Fu-sang can not have been situated in Japan — Consideration of other theories — Proof that Hwui Shan had visited some unknown land — Had the Chinese any earlier knowledge of America ? — The Shan Hai King.

CHAPTER XXXV. THE CHINESE " CLASSIC OF MOUNTAINS AND SEAS " . . . 643

Preface— SUH-CHU Mountain— The Mountain of Creeping Plants — Aspen Mountain — Hairy birds — The Foreign Range — KAN fish — KU-MAO, KAO- SHI, Lofty, Wolf, Lone, Bald, and Bamboo Mountains — K'UNG-SANG, TS'AO-CHI, YIH-KAO, and Bean Mountains — An excessively high peak — TU-FU, KANG, LU-K'I — KU-SHE, Green Jade-stone, WEI-SHI, KIT-FUNG, FU-LI, and YIN Mountains — SHI-HU, K'I, CHU-KEU, Middle Fu, HU-SHE, MANG-TSZ', K'I-CHUNG, MEI-YU, and WD-KAO Mountains — The Fu-tree (or FU-SANG)— North HAO, MAO, Eastern SHI, NU-CHING, K'IN, TSZ'-TUNG, YEN, and T'AI Mountains — The CHA Hill — The Great Men's Country — SHE-PI'S body— The Country of Refined Gentlemen— HUNG-HUNG— The Valley of the Manifestation of the Dawn — The Green Hills Country — The journey of SHU-HAI— The Black-Teeth Country— The Warm Springs Ra vine— FU-SANG— The Place where the Ten Suns bathe— An account of the Ten Suns— Yu-sm's concubine— The Black-Hip Country— The Hairy People's Country— A boat upon the sea-shore— The Distressed People's Country— K'KU-WANG— A great valley— SHAO-HAO— PI-MU-TI Hill— Place where the Sun and Moon rise— The Great Men's Country— Giants and dwarfs— The Great People's Market— The Little People— KUEH Mount ain—The Country of Plants— HOH-HU Mountain— The Mountain of the astern Pass— The Mountain of the Bright Star— The White People's Country— The Green Hills Country— The Nation of Courteous Vassals— 1 he Black-Teeth Country— Summer Island— The KAI-YU Country— CHEH- TAN and the Place of the Rising of the Sun— YU-KWOH— Qualdno- Mount ain— The Black-Hip Country— The Needy Tribe— King HAI— NU-CHEU— YEH-YAO-KIUN-TI Mountain— The Fu-tree — Warm Springs Valley— I-TiEN-su-MAN Mountain — The YING Dragon— The Mountain of the 1 lowing Waves.

CHAPTER XXXVI. COMMENTS UPON THE "CLASSIC OF MOUNTAINS AND SEAS" . . 669

T1ionsld rrof^1?^7 °f -the ™rld-Article by M. Bazin, Sr.-Its divis-

.roups of mountams-Taoists of the fourth century-The spirits

bonT Th v e*rth-?XtraVagancies of the work-First mention of the

or co7™ntedamiTar D'?COUrsQcs of Confucius-Thought to be apocryphal

- Tseu-hia — Sse-ma-ts'ien — Sse-ma-ching — Chao-shi —

CONTENTS. xxiii

Wang-chong — Tso-sse — The " Book of Waters " — Chang-hoa — Consider- ** ation of the western and southern kingdoms — Summaries of the geogra phy of Tu-yu — Lo-pi — Kia-ching-shi— Cheu-pang— Tsu-tse-yu — The En cyclopaedia of Tu-yeu — Conclusion of M. Bazin — The imperial academy of the Han-lin — The Shan Hai King read as a romance or pastime — Particularly by young men — Opinions of commentators — Notes — Gaps or omissions — The "Bamboo Books" — Length of the work — Xo transla tion heretofore made — M. Burnouf's intention to translate it — Change of opinion among scholars as to its value — Monsters mentioned by other writers — Tacitus — Men clothed in skins — A river with eight mouths — The compass — The T'ien Wu : Lord of the Water — Seals, sea-lions, and sea-otters — The Islands of the Flowing Stream — Cuttle-fish— Birds with hairy legs — Serpents as ear-ornaments — The Shan Hai King a compila tion of a number of distinct accounts — Regions mentioned twice or more — Description of Japan — The genii who once ruled the earth — The state of civilization — Tigers and bears — A poisonous insect — The Ravine of the Manifestation of the Dawn — The Hairy People — Fu-sang and the Black-Teeth Country — The Malay custom of blackening the teeth — The Philippine or Luzon Islands — The banana or plantain (pisany) — The "ten suns."

CHAPTER XXXVII. BECAPITULATIOX . . . . ... . 684

Summary of reasons for thinking that Hwui ShSn visited Mexico— The com mand of Buddha — The ease of the journey — The " silk " and mirror brought back by him — The belief of his contemporaries — Fu-sang must have been in Japan or America, and was not in Japan — Hwui Shan's story paralleled with accounts of the countries by other authors — The Country of Marked Bodies — Great Han — Fu-sang — The Country of Wom en — Summary of facts mentioned by Hwui Sh&n — The transparent mirror could not have been obtained elsewhere than in Mexico — The Mexican tradition of Hwui Sh&n's visit — Coincidences between Asiatic and American civilizations — Pyramids — Architecture — Arts — Religious structures — Religious customs and beliefs — Idols — Marriage ceremonies — Dress — Food — Books — Games — The working of metals — Suspension- bridges — The calendar — Civilized nations of America all upon the Pacific coast — Allowances to be made — Errors of first explorers — Hwui Shan not a Chinaman — Errors of manuscripts — Changes in language— Changes in customs — Our imperfect knowledge of Mexican civilization — The ar gument stronger than its weakest parts — Conclusion.

APPENDIX. LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND KEFERENCES . . • • 711

INDEX . .... 741

2 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

mentioned in history either under his family name of Gautama, or under the appellation of Buddha, "the Enlightened"; or, from the fact that he was of the race called Sakya, he is re ferred to as Sakya-muni, "the hermit of the Sakyas."

This prince, although handsome, strong, and heroic— sur rounded by pleasures and tempted by the most brilliant worldly prospects1278 — took little part in the sports of his mates, and used frequently to retire by himself into solitude, where he seemed lost in meditation.1890 Educated in the belief that death was immediately followed by a new birth, and that all living creatures were chained to a never-ending series of transmigra tions, he, as he grew in age, was more and more oppressed by the conviction that all is vanity, and that a man hath no profit of all his labour which he taketh under the sun. Possessed of wealth and power, and lacking no earthly good, but saddened by the knowledge that age must follow youth, and that death would soon put an end to all his possessions ; and believing that he must then commence a new life which death would again end, and that so for all eternity he must struggle on, being able to retain for but a moment all that seemed good to his eyes, and then being compelled to abandon it — the prospect thus stretch ing out before him so appalled him that he finally determined to devote his life to the endeavour to find some escape from this eternal series of deaths.

It was not for himself alone that he desired to find this relief, but for his dearly loved wife and infant child as well ; and, fur thermore, his heart was filled with an anxious yearning to be the saviour of mankind, no matter what the cost to himself might be.

Born at a time when tyranny and the oppression of the law of castes had become as intolerable in the civil world of India as the dogma of eternal metempsychoses had become in its relig ion ; 1879 when woman was looked upon, as she still is in Oriental countries, as but the plaything of the stronger sex ; when throughout the world the citizens of each petty nation consid ered all other tribes as barbarians or wild beasts — he, being the first of the human race 1882 to rise above the accidents of fate, looked upon all mankind as his brothers and sisters, and would fain save them all from the woe of the innumerable deaths that awaited them. High and low, bond and free, rich and poor, male and female, old and young, countrymen and foreigners,

INTRODUCTORY. 3

for all he felt the same tender pity, and no living creature was so mean as to be beneath his all-embracing love and sympathy.

Filled with this anxious devotion, he stole softly away from his home by night, and adopted the life of a Brahmanical her- \ mit. For years he tortured himself, often fasting until life was » almost extinct ; striving, vainly, but with an inextinguishable desire, to find the path which led away from eternal misery. Finally, light, as he believed, dawned upon him. Misery was merely the result of unsatisfied desire. If all desire could be extinguished, unhappiness would perish with it.

By sitting in a state of inward contemplation, it was possible to arrive at a condition of mind when, for a time, all surrounding objects would fade awray and be forgotten. In this state of ecstasy, neither hunger nor cold nor any bodily want could be the source of discomfort, for the mind would be so fixed upon its meditation that it would not know that these existed. Be yond this state, however, another condition could be reached, in which, after attaining to a forgetfulness of everything but self- existence, the abstraction would become so great that even the consciousness of self-existence would be lost. From this state of entire unconsciousness, a state neither of existence nor of non- existence, there would be no awakening forever. The dreary round of transmigrations would be forever over with ; the dreamless sleep would never end.

It was only after continual striving through myriads of ex istences that this end could be reached, but he who set out upon the path to Nirvana would never turn back ; and ultimately the extinction of consciousness, which was held to be the supreme good, would be attained.

There was only one thing of such importance that even the state of quiescence and meditation, which was the foretaste of the final beatitude, could be abandoned for it, and that was the desire to preach the glad tidings to others, that they too might set out upon the happy path. The love of one's neighbours was recognized as the most sacred law, and it was to be only by the exercise of this virtue that it should be possible to reach the rank of the perfect Buddha.1885 As he himself had come for self- sacrifice, and only by surrendering himself had learned how the world might be saved, so all who desired to follow him must tread in these footprints. Charity and love must extinguish all

4 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

egotism in the heart, and so fill the possessor with a spirit of devotion that he would surrender himself utterly, and forget everything personal, his own existence even, in order to save others.1896

In the Chinese liturgy there is recorded a vow of the Bod- hisattva Kwan Yin— the Great Compassionate Heart, or Mercy— which is characteristic of this religion : * " Never will I seek or receive private, individual salvation ; never enter final peace alone, but forever and everywhere will I live and strive for the universal redemption of every creature throughout all worlds. Until all are delivered, never will I leave the world of sin, sor row, and struggle, but will remain where I am." im

Buddha declared that the good news was for all the world ; and his disciples were commanded to hasten to preach it to every creature. " Let us part with each other," the legend reports him as saying, " and proceed in various and opposite directions. Go ye now and preach the most excellent law, expounding every point thereof, and unfolding it with care. Explain the begin ning and middle and end of the law to all men without excep tion"1*91 "Since the doctrine which I proclaim is altogether pure, it makes no distinction between high and low, rich and poor. Like water it is, which washes and purifies all alike. It is like the sky, for it has room for all ; men, women, boys, girls, rich and poor." 1892

This command was faithfully obeyed by his disciples. Max Milller states 196° that at a very early period a proselytizing spirit awoke among the disciples of the Indian reformer — an ele ment entirely new in the history of ancient religions. No Jew, no Greek, no Roman, no Brahman, ever thought of converting people to his own national form of worship. Religion was looked upon as private or national property. It was to be guarded against strangers. Here lay the secret of Buddha's success. He addressed himself to castes and outcasts. He promised salvation to all ; and he commanded his disciples to preach his doctrine in all places and to all men. A sense of duty, extending from the narrow limits -of the house, the vil lage, and the country, to the widest circle of mankind, a feel ing of sympathy and brotherhood toward all men — the idea, in fact, of humanity— were first pronounced by Buddha. In the * See Bell's " Catena," pp. 4C5, 406, and 409.

INTRODUCTORY. 5

third Buddhist council, the acts of which have been preserved to us in the " Mahavanso," we hear of missionaries being sent to the chief countries beyond India.

Some centuries after the days of Buddha, upon the death of Asoka, a powerful king of India, who had been an ardent devo tee of the Buddhist faith, his immense empire was dismem bered,1883 and, profiting by this opportunity, the Brahmans raised their heads, stirred up the smouldering hatred in the hearts of the castes that were formerly privileged, and by such aid recon quered the land which they had lost, and commenced a war of bloody persecution against Buddhism, which resulted in the complete expulsion of that sect from Central India. Ceylon, Burmah, Siam, and Gamboge gave them asylum. Some of the proscribed sect went even to the distant islands and founded a church in Java, which, judging from the ruins that still remain, must at one time have flourished. Others went to the north, were arrested by the deserts of Persia, and, after halting in Nepal, crossed the mountains, and carried their religion and their arts into China, whence they soon passed into Japan and Thibet.

This religion was introduced into China about A. D. 66,251J and reached Corea in the year 372. 1964 There is no part of Northern Asia to which it did not make its way. There is reason to believe that its missionaries penetrated into Europe. Mr. Leland mentions a Buddhistic image1717 discovered in an excavation in London, at a depth of fifteen feet, nine feet of which consisted of loose soil or debris of a recent character, but the remaining six feet were hard, solid earth, of a character which indicated a probability that the image might have been left a thousand years or more ago where it was found. Profes sor Holmboe has written a work 1555 in which strong grounds are adduced for believing that Buddhist devotees reached Norway, or at least that part of Europe which was then occupied by the ancestors of the Norwegians of to-day. Professor Max Miiller 195' refers to the existence of Buddhism in Russia and Sweden, as well as in Siberia, and throughout the north of Asia, and says that a trace of the influence of Buddhism among the Kudic races, the Finns, Lapps, etc., is found in the name of their priests and sorcerers, the Shamans — " Shaman " being supposed to be a corruption of ^ramana, the name of Buddha, and of

6 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

Buddhist priests in general. The suppression of the "r" is probably owing to the influence of the Pali, which shows a great delicacy,851 or, if the term is preferred, an extreme poverty, in the combinations of two or more consonants, and which always drops the letter " r " when it follows an initial consonant of a Sanskrit word.862 Thus, for instance,1897 the Sanskrit words "prakrama" and "pratikrama" became in Pali "pakkama" and " parikkama."

It is a singular fact that this word " Shaman," applied to a priest or magician, is found, not only throughout nearly every part of Asia, but that it passed over into America so long ago as to become so thoroughly incorporated into the Yakut lan guage of Alaska, that it and its derivatives were thought by Dall to have belonged originally to that language,1167 and he claims that those authors who have thought it to be an (East) Indian word are mistaken. The religious ideas of some of the tribes of Alaska strongly point to an earlier knowledge of some more or less impure form of Asiatic Buddhism, and thus indicate that the word was really borrowed from the disciples of that faith, and is not a mere case of accidental resemblance in sound and meaning. Pinart2045 says that the belief in metempsychosis is generally spread abroad among the Koloches ; they believe that the individual never really dies, and that apparent death is but a momentary dissolution, the man being reborn in another form: sometimes in the body of a human being, and sometimes in that of certain animals, such as the bear, the otter, or the wolf ; of certain birds, such as the crow or the goshawk ; and of certain marine animals, but principally the cachalot. Veniaminoff, in his great work, commits an error in saying that the Koloches do not believe in any other form of metempsychosis than a change into the body of another human being. This purely human metempsychosis is not exclusive, although it predominates.

Pinart also states that 2042 the primitive religion of the Ka- niagmioutes and the western Esquimaux in general appears to present an order of ideas much superior to those of the Koloches, or other American tribes. This religion, if the conjecture may be permitted, is the remains of a religious system now lost, but in dicating a very elevated order of ideas. . . . They divided the heaven into five regions, superposed one upon another. . . . We find in these different heavens, as we rise from one to another.

INTRODUCTORY. 7

successive transformations and purifications. Each individual, if he lives an honourable life and conforms to their religious ideas, can rise to the highest of these heavens by means of these dif ferent transformations. Every individual, in their belief, dies and returns to life five times, and it is only after having died for the fifth time that he quits the earth forever and passes into another existence.

It can not be denied that these dogmas are strikingly analo gous to those of the Buddhist faith, and, when added to other reasons for believing that this religion may have been preached in Alaska, the existence of these religious ideas, and of the Bud dhist designation for a priest, furnishes reasonable grounds for at least entertaining the question whether there was not some early communication of the Buddhists of Asia with America.

Even at the present day, the Buddhist priests, or lamas, of Central Asia, are divided into three classes, comprising not only2093 the religious, who devote themselves to study and ab straction, and become teachers and eventually saints, and the domestic, who live in families or attach themselves to tribes and localities, but also the itinerant, who are always moving from convent to convent, and traveling for travel's sake, often without aim, not knowing at alt where they are going. Prin- sep says that there is no country that some of these have not visited, and that when they have a religious or partisan feeling they must be the best spies in the world.

Hue also speaks1566 of those lamas who live neither in lama series nor at home with their families, but spend their time vagabondizing about like birds of passage, traveling all over their own and the adjacent countries, and subsisting upon the rude hospitality which, in lamasery and in tent, they are sure to receive, throughout their wandering way. They take their way, no matter whither, by this path or that, east or west, north or south, as their fancy or a smoother turf suggests, and lounge tranquilly on, sure at least, if no other shelter presents itself by-and-by, of the shelter of the cover, as they express it, of that great tent, the world ; and sure, moreover, having no destination before them, never to lose their way.

The wandering lamas visit all the countries readily accessi ble to them — China, Mantchooria, the Khalkhas, the various kingdoms of Southern Mongolia, the Ouriaughai, the Koukou-

g AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

noor, the northern and southern slopes of the Celestial Mount ains, Thibet, India, and sometimes even Turkestan. There is no stream which they have not crossed, no mountains they have not climbed.

It should be remembered that the journeys of these wander ing priests have been going on for more than two thousand years, and that, so far as known, no records of them have been preserved, except those which have been kept in China, and which will be mentioned a little farther on. Hence it is impos sible to define the limits which they may have reached ; but, if it is shown that the journey to America, from some of the regions (such as that at the mouth of the Amoor River), which it is well known that they did reach, is neither longer nor more difficult than many of the journeys that they undertook, this fact will give reasonable ground for the conjecture that they may, in some one or more instances, have even extended their wanderings as far as to the American Continent.

Mr. Leland, in his book, entitled "Fusang,"1715 embodies a long letter from Colonel Barclay Kennon, formerly of the United States North Pacific Surveying Expedition, in which the ease of the voyage from Northern Asia to Northern America is fully described. It is hardly necessary to quote additional au thorities, for the fact mentioned by Mr. Bancroft,103 that on the shore of Behring's Strait the natives have constant commercial intercourse with Asia, crossing easily in their boats ; but the facts mentioned by Captain Cochrane,1086 that two natives of a nation on the American Continent, called the Kargaules, were present at a fair held at Nishney Kolymsk, a town situated in Asia, on an island in the Kolyma River, and that large armies of mice1087 occasionally migrate from Asia to America, or in the other direction, make it evident that there is no great diffi culty in the passage.

Lewis H. Morgan calls attention to the fact that mi the Ja panese Islands sustain a peculiar physical relation to the north west coast of the United States. A chain of small islands— the Kurilian— breaks the distance which separates Japan from the peninsula of Kamtchatka ; and thence the Aleutian chain of islands stretches across to the peninsula of Alaska upon the American Continent, forming the boundary between the •North Pacific and Behring's Sea. These islands, the peaks of a

INTRODUCTORY. 9

submarine mountain-chain, are thickly studded together within a continuous belt, and are in substantial communication with each other, from the extreme point of Alaska to the Island of Kyska, by means of the ordinary native boat in use among the Aleutian islanders. From the latter to Attou Island the greatest distance from island to island is less than one hundred miles. Between Attou Island and the coast of Kamtchatka there are but two islands, Copper and Behring's, between which and Attou the greatest distance occurs, a distance of about two hun dred miles ; while from Behring's Island to the mainland of Asia it is less than one hundred miles. These geographical features alone would seem to render possible a migration in the primitive and fishermen ages from one continent to the other. But, su- peradded to these, is the great thermal ocean-current, analogous to the Atlantic Gulf-Stream, which, commencing in the equato rial regions near the Asiatic Continent, flows northward along the Japan and Kurilian Islands, and then, bearing eastward, di vides itself into two streams. One of these, following the main direction of the Asiatic coast, passes through the Straits of Behring and enters the Arctic Ocean ; while the other, and the principal current, flowing eastward, and skirting the southern shores of the Aleutian Islands, reaches the northwest coast of America, whence it flows southward along the shores of Oregon and California, where it finally disappears. This current, or thermal river in the midst of the ocean, would constantly tend, by the mere accidents of the sea, to throw Asiatics from Japan and Kamtchatka upon the Aleutian Islands, from which their gradual progress eastward to America would become assured. It is common at the present time to find trunks of camphor- wood trees, from the coasts of China and Japan, upon the shores of the Island of Unalaska, one of the easternmost of the Aleutian chain, carried thither by this ocean current. It also explains the agency by which a disabled Japanese junk with its crew was borne directly to the shores of California but a few years since. Another remarkable effect produced by this warm ocean-current is the temperate climate which it bestows upon this chain of islands and upon the northwest coast of America. These con siderations assure us of a second possible route of communica tion, besides the Straits of Behring, between the Asiatic and American continents.

10 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

The " Histoire de Kamtchatka " 1638 mentions a report that a Japanese vessel was wrecked upon Kituy, one of the Kurile Islands; and M. Pinart2038 states that a number of Japanese junks, borne by the currents, and probably by the great Ja panese current, the Kuro-siwo, or " Black Stream," have been shipwrecked upon the Aleutian Islands— one such case having occurred in 1871 : thus showing that if a boat were merely allowed to drift with the current along the eastern shore of Asia, it would pass by the way of the Kurile and Aleutian Isl ands, and, if not stopped by these, would soon drift to the American coast.

It has already been mentioned that records have been pre served in China of a number of journeys made by the devo tees of the Buddhist religion. The "Encyclopaedia Britanni- ca"1 !11 gives the following list of clerical travelers, the accounts of which are now known to us, and adds : " The importance of these writings, as throwing Tight on the geography and history of India and adjoining countries, during a very dark period, is great."

Shi Tao-an (died A. D. 385) wrote a work on his travels to the " western lands " (an expression applying often to India), which is supposed to be lost.

Fa Hian traveled to India in 399, and returned by sea in 414.

Hwai Seng and .Sung Yun, monks, traveled to India to col lect books and relics, 518-521.

Hwen Tsang left China for India in 629, and returned in 645.

To which should be added :

" The Itinerary of Fifty-six Religious Travelers," compiled and published under imperial authority, 730 ; and

" The Itinerary of Khi Nie," who traveled (964-976) at the head of a large body of monks to collect books, etc. Neither of the last two has been translated.

The Rev. Mr. Edkins1271 says that both Fa Hian and Hwen Tsang will be admitted by every candid reader to deserve the reputation for patience in observation, perseverance in travel, and earnestness in religious faith, which they have gained by the journals and translations they left behind them.

It should not be forgotten that these men were influenced by the same motives which actuate our Christian missionaries of recent times. They went, seeking not for glory or riches for

INTRODUCTORY. n

themselves, but either to preach their faith, in accordance with Buddha's command, in countries in which it was not known, or to meet their brethren in foreign lands, or that they themselves might obtain more complete information as to the details of the teachings of their master than they could find in their own country. Hence it may fairly be claimed that the accounts of these men, wTho braved all dangers from a devotion to their re ligious duty, are entitled to far more than the ordinary degree of credit, and that their statements should be very carefully weighed before we undertake to reject them or to brand their authors as romancers. We can well afford the same degree of charity toward them that was shown by Sir John Maundevile 1836 in darker days than our own :

" And alle be it that theyse folk han not the Articles of cure Fythe, as wree han, natheles for hire gode Fey the naturelle, and for hire gode entent, I trowe fulle, that God lovethe hem, and that God take hire Servyse to gree, right as he did of Job, that was a Paynem, and held him for his trewe Servaunt. And there fore alle be it that there ben many dy verse Lawes in the World, yit I trowe, that God lovethe alweys hem that loven him, and serven him mekely in trouthe ; and namely, hem that dispysen the veyn Glorie of this World ; as this folk don, and as Job did also : And therf ore seye I of this folk, that ben so trewe and so f eythe- f ulle, that God lovethe hem."

With this prelude, as to the motives which have led the fol lowers of Buddha to undertake numerous, difficult, and hazardous journeys to countries previously unknown, and as to the degree of credence to which their accounts are, as a rule, entitled, we come to the object of this book.

There is, among the records of China, an account of a Bud- vf dhist priest, who, in the year 499 A. D., reached China, and stated / that he had returned from a trip to a country lying an immense distance east. In the case of the other travelers to whom we , have referred, the accounts which we possess of their journeys were either written by themselves or their followers ; but, in the i case of Hwui Shan, the interest excited in his story was so great yKw that the imperial historiographer, whose duty it was to record the principal events of the time2417 (each dynasty having its official chronicle concerning the physical and political features of China and the neighbouring countries1306), entered upon his

12 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

official records a digest of the information obtained from this traveler as to the country which he had visited. It is this offi cial record, or rather a copy of it, contained in the writings of Ma Twan-lin, one of the most celebrated scholars that the Chi nese Empire ever knew, which is discussed in this work.

It is certainly no more than reasonable to start with the pre sumption that the account may be true, and that the story should not be rejected as false because of any slight difficulties, which further investigation might remove.

All the reasons which lead us to accept the accounts of other Buddhist missionaries apply with equal force to this record, and we have, in addition, the fact that Hwui Shan succeeded in convincing the Chinese Emperor, and the scholars by whom he was surrounded, of the truth of his tale, and that he also ob tained the belief of the people of China and of all Eastern Asia so thoroughly that even now, after the lapse of some fourteen centuries, there is scarcely a man in China, Japan, or Corea, who does not have at least some slight knowledge of the account of the marvelous land of Fusang that was visited by him. The fact that he obtained such universal credence is certainly one of some weight. An impostor would not be likely to be so suc cessful. Among those whom Hwui Shan convinced were many c.areful scholars and bright, intelligent men, who knew well how to weigh and sift evidence, and who would have found the flaw in his story if one had existed.

It is the object of this book to show that the land visited by Hwui Shan was Mexico, and that his account, in nearly all its *. details, as to the route, the direction, the distance, the plants of the country, the people, their manners, customs, etc., is true of Mexico, and^f^n^other country in the world ; such a multitude of singular facts being named, that it is inconceivable that such a story could have been told in any other way than as the result of an actual visit to that country. It is true that there are a few difficulties to be surmounted ; but the author believes that he has succeeded in removing a number upon which some of his prede cessors have stumbled, and that the few that remain can not outweigh the immense volume of evidence that is presented as to the general truth of the account.

After giving translations of all that is known to have been written in French or German upon the subject, and also includ-

INTRODUCTORY.

13

ing a full statement of substantially all that has been written about it in English (with the exception of Mr. Leland's book — which the reader is recommended to obtain, if he has failed so far to do so, and if he finds the subject at all interesting), the original Chinese account will be given, with copies of the several translations that have heretofore been made, and with a new translation by the present author. Each statement made by Hwui Shan will then be carefully examined in connection with the histories of Mexico, to see whether the statement was or was not true of that country prior to the time of its conquest by the Spaniards.

After a full discussion of his account, the histories of Mexico and other parts of America will be examined to determine, if possible, whether any traditions as to his visit, or any results of his teachings, still lingered in the country at the time when the Spaniards, more than a thousand years later, entered it, and whether any such coincidences were found in the civilization of these two regions of the world, in their customs, religious be liefs, arts, architecture, etc., as to lead to a reasonable presump tion that they may have had an early connection with each other. As it has been claimed that the country visited by Hwui Shan may have been located in some part of Japan, its history will also be reviewed for the same purpose. The book will con clude with a consideration of the question as to whether the Chinese had any earlier knowledge of America, or any further information regarding it than that which was given them by Hwui Shan.

The first detailed information which was given to European scholars, as to the existence of this account among the Chinese records, was afforded them in an article published by M. de Guignes, in the " Literary Memoirs extracted from the Registers of the Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres," Vol. XXVIII, published in Paris in 1761, and entitled "Investigation of the Navigations of the Chinese to the Coast of America, and as to Some Tribes situated at the Eastern Extremity of Asia"; 14: a translation of which article is given in the following chapter.

It would appear, however, that de Guignes must have given some earlier account of his discovery of this relation, among the Chinese books which he had read in preparing for his great work upon the " General History of the Huns, the Turks, the

14; AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

Mongolians, and other Western Tartars," as (unless there is an error in the date) we find a letter written by the Pere Gaubil1409 to M. de 1'Isle, dated at Pekin, August 28, 1752, in which he mentions M. de Guignes's discovery of this account, but states his disbelief of the reliability of the Chinese works from which his translations were made. An extract from this letter is given in Chapter X.

V Philippe Buache,1543 in a work entitled "Considerations Geo- graphiques et Physiques sur les Nouvelles Descouvertes au Nord de la Grande Mer," published at Paris in 1753, in which he cor rectly advanced the opinion of the existence of the Strait of Anian (since called Behring's Strait), evidently borrowed from de Guignes, when he stated that in the year 458 a colony of Chi nese was established on the coast of California, in a region called Fusang, which he placed at about 55° north latitude. Her-' vas,1543 in commenting upon this statement, says that this colony has not been found, and that it is certain that none of the lan guages which are spoken along that coast, between the forty- ninth and sixty-fourth degrees (a number of the words of which are to be found in the account of Cook's third voyage), have any close connection with the Chinese language.

Alexander von Humboldt, in his "Views of the Cordille ras,"1 '2 mentions a number of surprising coincidences be tween the Asiatic and Mexican civilizations, of such a nature and of such importance as to lead him to the conclusion that there must have been an early communication between these two regions of the world ; but he makes no reference in this work to the history brought to light by de Guignes ; and in his "Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain" he says1607 that, according to the learned researches of Father Gaubil, it ap pears doubtful whether the Chinese ever visited the western coast of America at the time stated by de Guignes.

^ No further attention seems to have been paid to the subject until the year 1831, when M. J. Klaproth published, in Vol. LI of the "New Annals of Voyages," an article entitled "Re searches regarding the Country of Fusang, mentioned in Chi nese Books, and erroneously supposed to be a Part of Amer ica,"1 47 in which he took the ground that the country mentioned Chinese account was probably located in some part of Japan. A translation of this article is given in Chapter III.

INTRODUCTORY. ,~

For some reason, which it seems difficult to explain, Klap- roth's assertions and assumptions (for of argument there is but little, and that is partly based upon mistaken premises) seem to have been generally accepted as a settlement of the question. «

This did not deter the Chevaliejxdfi^a£avey, however, from ^T publishing2015 two pamphlets,2017 one in 1844 and the other at a somewhat later date, in which he argued that the country of Fusang should be looked for in America, and not in Japan. Translations of these pamphlets are given in Chapters IV and V. De Paravey also published two other essays,2011 in which he at tempted to prove that the natives of Bogota must have derived from Asiatic sources such partial civilization as they possessed.2012 /

The next to discuss the subject was Professor Karl Friedrich K Neumann, who published his views in the " Zeitschrift fur Allgemeine Erdkunde," Vol. XVI of the new series,1966 under the title of " Eastern Asia and Western America, according to Chinese Authorities of the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Centuries." Mr. Leland published a translation of this opuscule in his book, entitled " Fusang," and a translation is also given in the present volume, Chapter VI.

Since that time, articles upon the subject have followed each other so thick and fast that it is difficult to give a complete list of them. I

In 1850 Mr.J^la»d 172° published a resume of the arguments W upon this subject, in the New York " Knickerbocker Maga- ' zine " ; and in 1862 this was republished, with additions, in the New York " Continental Magazine." In 1875 Mr. Leland pub lished a much fuller work, entitled " Fusang, or the Discovery of America by Chinese Buddhist Priests in the Fifth Century." This treats the subject at much greater length than any other work, and hence it is impossible for the present author to do more than refer to it ; but it adxlucesjnuch new and valuable evidence as to the true location of Fusang, and well merits care ful perusal.

In 1862 M. Jose Jkcez2026 published a "Memoir upon the Re lations of the Americans in Former Times with the Nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa," one section of which related to the knowledge of America possessed by the Chinese.

In 18651277M. Gustave d'Eichthal published a "Study con- r\

cerning the Buddhistic Origin of American Civilization." n

AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

In the same year M. Vivien de Saint-Martin,2458 in a chapter of his " Geographical Annual " for that year, entitled " An Old Story Set Afloat," combated the idea that the Chinese had any early knowledge of America.

In 1866 the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg, in the work en titled "Ancient Monuments of Mexico,"763 argued against the views of the author of the " Geographical Annual."

In 1868 Dr. A. Godron, President of the Academy of Sci ences at Nancy, published, in the " Annals of Voyages of Geog raphy, History, and Archaeology,"1411 an article entitled "A Buddhist Mission to America in the Fifth Century of the Chris tian Era."

According to the "American Philological Magazine" for August, 1869, the Rev. N. W. Jones published in his " Indian Bulletin " an able argument to show that the Chinese Fusang was America.

In the same number of the " American Philological Maga zine " there appeared an article 85° upon the subject, by the Rev. Nathan Brown, under the heading, " Where was Fusang ? "

In May, 1869, a letter upon the subject from Mr. Theos. Simson 1719 was published in the " Notes and Queries for China and Japan"; and in October, 1870, a letter by E. Bretschneider, Esq., M. D.j"4 was published in the " Chinese Recorder and Mis sionary Journal." Both of these letters were copied by Mr. Le- land in his work.

At the first session of the International Congress of Ameri canists, held at Nancy in 1875, M. Lucien Adam read an argu ment against the identification of Fusang with America.

These various articles, some of them more or less condensed, are, with the exception of the argument by the Rev. N. W. Jones (of which I have been unable to find a copy), given in Chapters VII to XI of this work.

In 1876 M. the Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys published a " Memoir regarding the Country known to the Ancient Chi nese by the Name of Fusang " ; 1544 but as his views, and the exceedingly valuable new material that he presents, are given more fully in his notes to his translation of Ma Twan-lin's work, entitled " Ethnography of Foreign Nations," and as, moreover, much of the " Memoir " is quoted by Professor Williams in his comments upon it, it has not seemed necessary to copy the " Me-

INTRODUCTORY. 17

moir" in this work. The substance of the notes upon the " Ethnography " is, however, given in Chapters XII and XIII.

Mr. Bancroft, in his "Native Races of the Pacific States,"404 gives Klaproth's translation of the story of Fusang, and com ments briefly upon it.

Professor S. Wells Williams presented to the American Ori- / ental Society, on October 25, 1880, an article entitled "Notices ' of Fusang and Other Countries lying East of China," in which he urges some new grounds for adopting the conclusion of Klap- roth that Fusang should be decided to have been located in Japan. This article, slightly condensed, is copied in Chapter XIV.

The last article on the subject is contained in the " Maga zine of American History," for April, 1883, in which there is given a letter from the Rt. Rev. Channing M. Williams, refer ring to the accounts of Fusang contained in the Shan Hal King, the Chinese classic of lands and seas. This will be found in Chapter X ; and a translation of all that portion of the Shan ffai King which relates to Eastern regions will be found in Chapter XXXY.

An extract from the Introduction to the " Grammar of the Chinese Language," by the Rev. W. Lobscheid, 1759 in which many singular coincidences are mentioned between the civiliza tions of Mexico and China ; and some extracts from Mr. Pres- cott's " History of the Conquest of Mexico," in which he ex presses his conviction of a connection between the civilizations of the two countries, are also given (in Chapter IX), as having a bearing upon the subject.

CHAPTER II.

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERT.

Chinese voyages-Knowledge of foreign lands-Work of Li-yen, a Chinese histo rian—The country of Fu-sang— The length of the li- Wen-shin— Its identifi cation with Jesso— Ta-han— Its identification with Kamtchatka— The route to Ta-han by land— The country of the Ko-li-han— The She-goei— The Yu-che— Description of Kamtchatka— The land of Lieu-kuci— The description of Fu- sang— No other knowledge of the country— The Pacific coast of North America —A Japanese map— The Kingdom of Women— Its description— Shipwreck of a Chinese vessel— American traditions— Civilization of American tribes on the Pacific coast— The Mexicans— Horses— Cattle— The fu-sang tree- Mexican writing — Manner in which America was peopled — Similarity of cus toms in Asia and America— Resemblances in the people— Charlevoix's story —Natives floated upon cakes of ice— The kingdom of Chang-jin— Voyages of other nations — The Arabs — Exploration of the Atlantic — The Canaries — Story of their king — The Cape Verd Islands — Conclusion.

Investigation of the Navigations of the Chinese to the Coast of America, and as to some Tribes situated at the Eastern Ex tremity of Asia — by M. de Gruignes.ul5

THE Chinese have not always been confined within the bound aries which Nature appears to have established to the country in which they dwell ; they have often crossed the deserts and the mountains which shut them in on their northern side, and sailed the Indian and Japanese seas which bound their kingdom on the east and the south. The principal object of these voyages has been, either commerce with foreign nations, or the intention to extend the limits of their empire. In these voyages observations have been made that are important, as well in regard to history as to geography. Several of their generals have rectified the maps of the countries which they reconnoitered, and their histo rians have reported some details as to routes, bearings, and dis tances, which can be made useful.

In the enumeration of all the different foreign nations that

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. ^9

the Chinese have known, it appears that some of them must have been situated easterly from Tartary and Japan, in a region which was included within the limits of the American Continent.

A knowledge of this region of the world could have been obtained only by means of a cruise that is very remarkable and unusually daring for the* Chinese — who have always been con sidered as but mediocre sailors, hardly capable of undertaking long voyages, and whose vessels are constructed of so little strength as to be poorly adapted to resisting the hardships of a sail over a distance so great as that from China to Mexico. These voyages have appeared to me to be so important, and to have so intimate a relation with the history of the tribes of America, as to induce me to devote myself to collecting and placing in order all that could contribute to their elucidation.

I intend this memoir to establish the voyages of the Chi nese to Jesso, to Kamtchatka, and to that part of America which is situated opposite the easternmost coast of Asia. I dare flatter myself that these researches will be the more favourably received, inasmuch as they are novel, and rest wholly upon authentic facts, and not upon conjectures, such as those which we find in the works of Grotius, Delaet, and other writers who have investi gated the origin of the American tribes. It is surprising to see v that Chinese vessels made the voyage to America many centuries before Christopher Columbus — that is to say, more than twelve hundred years ago. This date, anterior to the origin and the es tablishment of the Mexican Empire, leads us to inquire whence these nations, and some other nations of America, received that degree of civilization which distinguishes them from the barbar ous tribes of the continent.

Li-yen, a Chinese historian, who lived at the commencement of the seventh century, speaks of a country called Fit-sang, more than forty thousand li distant from China, toward the east. He says that, in order to reach it, one should set forth from the coast of the province of Leao-tong, situated to the north of Pe-ltin, and that, after having traveled twelve thousand li, one reaches Japan ; that from that country, toward the north, after a voy age of seven thousand li, the country of Wen-shin is attained ; that at a distance of five thousand li eastwardly from the last the country of Ta-han is found, from which Fit-sang may be reached, which is at a distance of twenty thousand li from Ta-

20 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

han. Of all these countries we know no others than Leao-tong, a northerly province of China, the point of embarkation, and Japan, which was the principal halting-place for the Chinese vessels. The three other places at which they arrived in suc cession are Wen-shin, Ta-han, and Fu-sang. I shall show that the first must be understood as Jesso; and the second as Kam- tchatka, and that the third must be a country situated near Cali fornia. But before examining this route particularly, I wish to give an idea of the li which the Chinese geographers employed as the standard for measuring the distance between these places. It is very difficult to determine the true length of this measure. To-day, two hundred and fifty li make a geographical degree, which gives ten li to each French league of about three English miles. But the length of the li, like that of the French league, has varied under the different imperial dynasties and in the dif ferent provinces of the empire. Pere Gaubil, who has made able researches concerning the astronomy of the Chinese, does not dare to attempt to prove the true length of this measure. He informs us that the majority of the scholars of the reign of the Han dynasty maintained that a thousand li, measured from the south to the north, gave a difference of an inch in the length of the shadow of an eight-foot hand of a sun-dial, when measured at noon. The scholars of later days have believed this deter mination to be wrong, because they have been guided in their judgment by the measure of the li in use in the times in which they lived. If we cast our eyes upon the li adopted by the astronomers of the Liang dynasty, which flourished at the com mencement of the sixth century, we find a material difference, since two hundred and fifty li, measured from the north to the south, give a similar difference in the length of the shadow. In order to judge of the distance of the countries by the statement as to the number of li between them, it is therefore necossary to know the length of the li at the time of the author. We may be assured that he has considered the length of this measure, and has given the distances with precision. The difficulty in deter mining the length of the li may be avoided by considering the report of the same author regarding two places that are well known. The distance which is reported from the shore of Leao- tong to the island of Tui-ma-tao is seven thousand li. In con formity with the length of the li established by this distance,

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 21

the twelve thousand U from. Leao-tong to Japan terminate at about the center of the island, near Meaco, which is the capital, and which then bore the name of Shan-ching, or the City of the Mountain. Wen-shin, which is found seven thousand li from Japan toward the northeast, can not be anything else than Jesso, situated to the northeast of Japan, and at which the seven thousand li terminate. A Chinese historian, who has given us a very curious memoir concerning Japan, has furnished us with additional proofs. In speaking of the limits of this empire, he says that to the northeast of the mountains which bound Japan is placed the kingdom of the Mao-jin, or of hairy men, and be yond them that of Wen-shin, or the country of painted bodies, about seven thousand U from Japan. The first are the inhab itants of Matsumai; the latter are their neighbours on the north, the people of Jesso, which, as a consequence, must be Wen-shin. This country, according to the Chinese historian, was made known about 510 or 520 A. D., its inhabitants having figures similar to those of animals. They traced different lines upon their faces, the form of which served to distinguish the chief men of the nation from the common people. They exposed their condemned criminals to wild beasts, and they deemed those innocent from whom the animals took flight. Their towns or villages were unwalled. The dwelling of the king was orna mented with precious things. They added, again, that a ditch might be seen there which appeared to be filled with quicksilver, and that this matter, esteemed in commerce, became liquid and flowing when it had imbibed water from the rain. It was, for the rest, a fertile country, where all that is necessary to sustain life might be found in abundance.

This description agrees with what we read in the accounts of those who have explored the island of Jesso. The Japanese, who were formerly sent there by an emperor of Japan, found hairy men there who wore their beards in the manner of the Chinese, but who were so rude and brutish that they would not receive any instruction. When the Hollanders discovered Jesso, in 1 643, the same barbarians were living there that had been described by the Chinese and Japanese, and their country appeared to abound in mines of silver. But that which agrees the most remarkably with the account of the Chinese is, that the Hollanders found there a mineral earth which glistened in the sun as if it consisted

22 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

of silver. This earth, mixed with a very friable sand, they found where water had been placed. It is this which the Chinese had taken for quicksilver. These proofs, and the situation of Wen- shin, and its distance from Japan according to the Chinese writers, do not permit us to doubt that it must be the island of Jesso. At a distance of five thousand li from this country, toward the east, the ancient Chinese navigators found Ta-han. They declared that the inhabitants of this country had no military weapons ; that their customs were essentially the same as those of the people of Wen-shin, but that they had a different language. At almost exactly the distance of five thousand li, indicated by the Chinese, we find upon our maps the southern coast of an island which Don Jean de Gama discovered when going from Mexico to China. Because of the agreement as to distance, I at first believed that this coast was that of Ta-han y but the details of the route which was taken to reach that country by land, a route which can not be reconciled with the island of Gama, which is said to be separated from Asia, has compelled me to seek else where for the true location of the country, and to place it in the easternmost part of Asia. The statements of our navigators who have sailed these seas have contributed not a little to confirm me in this opinion. They have remarked that, in the route from China to California, they usually took the wind carrying them to the north of Japan and into the sea of Jesso, from which they sailed to the east, but that at the Strait of Uries the current car ried them rapidly toward the north. Thus the Chinese, for the purpose of keeping close to the coast, have entered into the Strait of Uries, beyond which they have found a number of islands which extend as far as the southernmost point of Kamtchatka, where the five thousand li, the distance between' Jesso and Ta- han, also terminate ; that is to say, they have reached the port of Avatcha, at which the Russians recently embarked, to attempt the discovery of the western coast of America, and whence they have taken the route of Captain Spanberg, who was commis sioned by the Russian empress, in 1739, to reconnoitre the coast of Japan. But, in order to leave no doubt as to this point, I believe that we should be able to show by the route indi cated by the Chinese author that Ta-han is more to the north than the place discovered by Gama, and that it forms a part of Siberia,

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 23

I shall not examine in full detail all the Tartarian tribes men tioned by the Chinese historian, but shall confine myself to speaking only of those that are situated in the easternmost part of Asia, and shall devote myself to relating the customs of the inhabitants, so that they may be compared with those of the nations whom I place in America, and that it may be conclu sively shown, by the differences which are found, that these last can not be placed in Kamtchatka. Moreover, this circumstantial account has seemed very interesting to me, because of the infor mation that it gives in regard to the condition of Eastern Siberia.

The Chinese travelers, who desired to reach the country of Ta-han, set forth from a city situated to the north of the river Hoang-lio toward the country of the Tartar Ortous. This city, which the Chinese called Ckung-sheu-kiang-ching, must be the same as that which now bears the name of Piljotaihotun. The great desert of Shamo was then passed, and Caracorum was reached, which was the principal encampment of the Iloei-ke^ important Tartarian tribes, from which they came into the coun try of the Ko-li-han and of the Tu-po, situated to the south of a large lake, upon the frozen surface of which the travelers were obliged to cross. To the north of this lake, great mountains were found, and a country where the sun, says one, is not above the horizon longer than the length of time that it takes to cook a breast of mutton. This is the singular expression of which the Chinese author makes use to describe a country situated very far to the north. The Tu-po, neighbours of the I£o-li~han, have their dwelling-places upon the south of the same lake. These people, who do not distinguish the different seasons of the year, shut themselves up in cabins made of interlaced brush- wood, where they live upon fish and birds and other animals which are found in their country, and upon roots. They neglect to feed herds, and do not apply themselves at all to the cultivation of the earth. The richest among them clothe themselves in the skins of sables and of reindeers, others being clad in birds'-feathers. They attach their dead to the branches of trees. They thus leave them to be devoured by wild beasts, or to fall from putrefaction, which is a practice also found among the Tunguses who live in the same country.

Another Chinese historian informs us as to where we may look for the true abode of the Eb-li-han, which appears to us Ux

2± AN" INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

be the same as the country of the ICerkis or Kergis. He men tions the rivers Obi and Angara under the names of 0-pu and Gang-ko-la. We must conclude from this that the lake placed to the north of the Ko-li-han is the famous Lake Baikal, which those who come from Russia, or from Siberia, to China, are obliged to cross upon the ice when they arrive there in winter. The Chinese employed eight days in crossing it. Less time is taken at present ; but it is still as dangerous as ever, because of the force of the winds and the abundance of snow. It follows from this account that the country of Ko-li-han is that of the KerJcis, a warlike people, who lived among the mountains, and who have been regarded as the ancestors of the Circassians, who, among themselves, call themselves l&rkez, and who live to the north of Georgia, where they have finally penetrated. The an cient country of the Kerkis is situated in the provinces which we now call Selinginskoy and Irkutskoy, between the Obi and the Selinga. This is what it was necessary to determine in order to arrive at an exact knowledge of the route which led to Ta-han. Upon leaving the country of the Ko-li-han, one comes into that of the She-goei. These people are situated to the east of Lake Baikal and of the country of the KerJcis, upon the north ern bank of the river Amoor. From the detailed description which has been preserved for us by the Chinese historians, it may be seen that these barbarians extended in the north of Siberia along the Lena River up to the neighbourhood of the sixtieth degree. This important tribe was divided into five principal hordes, which appeared as so many different nations. The first, called Nan She-goei, that is to say, Southern She-goei, were situ ated to the north of the Tartarian Niu-che and Khi-tans, in the vicinity of the river Amoor, in a country marshy, cold, and ster ile, where no sheep were raised, and where but few horses were found, but which produced swine and cattle in great numbers, and even a greater number of wild beasts, from which the in habitants protected themselves with difficulty. The barbarians were clothed in hog-skins, and at the summer solstice they re tired into the midst of the mountains. They had wagons cov ered with felt, such as are used by the Turks, which were drawn by cattle. They built their cabins of wood, with some reeds. Their writing was by means of small pieces of wood, and the manner in which they disposed them expressed their different

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 25

ideas. He who wished to marry, commenced by carrying away the destined bride by force, and afterward sent a present of cattle or horses to her parents. After the death of her hus band, the laws of the country compelled the woman to pass the remainder of her life in widowhood, and the family continued the mourning for three years, as is the custom among the Chi nese. The corpses of the dead were placed upon piles of wood and abandoned. The other branches of the same nation con sisted of the She-goei of the north (which were called Po She- goei) and the Great She-goei. They were clothed in fish-skins, and had no other industry than fishing and hunting sables, and during the winters they retired into caverns. At the north of the last there lived another nation, whose excursions carried them to the Arctic Ocean.

This is the account given by the Chinese historians of the ancient inhabitants of the north of Asia, across whose country those who wished to go to Ta-han were obliged to pass. In fact, after having left the country of the She-goei and traveling east ward for five days, the Yu-che are found, a people who derive their origin from the She-goei ; from there, after ten days' jour ney toward the north, the country of Ta-han is reached, which is the terminus of the route which I have undertaken to exam ine. Ta-han may be reached by sea also, as I have shown above, and by setting sail from Jesso ; from which we must necessarily conclude that the country of the Yu-che, which makes part of Siberia, is situated toward the river Ouda, which discharges itself into the Sea of KamtchatJca, and that Ta-han, placed to the north of the Yu-che, is the easternmost part of Siberia, and not the island of Gama, which is entirely detached from the conti nent, and is situated more to the south and nearer to Jesso.

This part of Siberia, called Kamtchatka, is the region which the Japanese call OJcu-jesso, or Upper Jesso. They place it upon their maps to the north of Jesso, and represent it as being twice as large as China, and extending much farther to the east than the eastern shore of Japan. This is the country which the Chi nese have named Ta-han, which may signify " as large as China," a name which corresponds with the extent of the country and to the idea which the Japanese have given us of it. But, ac cording to the more detailed accounts given by the Russians, the country is a tongue of land which extends from north to

V\

J

26 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

south, from the Cape of Suetoi-noss as far as to the north of Jesso, with which several writers have confounded it. It is a part of Siberia which is separated from the rest by a gulf of the Eastern Sea, which runs from the south to the north. Toward the northern extremity it is inhabited by very savage tribes. Those who live in the southern part are more civilized, and have much in common with the Japanese, which has occasioned the belief that they were originally colonists from that country. It is probable that their commerce with the Chinese and Japanese, who traded upon their coasts, has contributed to render them more friendly and affable than those of the north, to whom these two civilized nations penetrated but very rarely.

The southern part of Kamtchatka, or Ta-han, has also been known to the Chinese by the name of Lieu-kuei. Formerly, the Tartars who lived in the neighbourhood of the river Amoor reached the country after five days' navigation toward the north. The Chinese historian reports that this country is surrounded by the sea upon three sides, that the people dwell along the coast and in the neighbouring islands, and that they have their dwellings in deep caverns and woody thickets. They make a species of cloth from dog-hair. The skins of swine and reindeer serve for their clothing during the winter, and fish-skins during the summer. The weather of the country is cold, because of the fogs and snows which they have in abundance. The rivers are frozen over, and several lakes are found, supplying fish, which the people salt in order to preserve them. They have no knowl edge of the division of the seasons. They love to dance, and wear their mourning-garments for three years. They have large bows, and arrows pointed with bone or stone. In the year 640 A. D. the king of this country sent his sons to China.

These long details have been necessary to arrive at an exact understanding of the situation of the country of Fti-sang, which is the utmost limit of the navigations of the Chinese. The fol lowing is the description of it which their historians have pre served for us. It was given by a priest who went to China in the year 499 A. D., in the reign of the T£i dynasty :

" The Kingdom of Fu-sang is situated twenty thousand li to the east of the country of Ta-han. It is also east of China. It produces a great number of a species of tree called fu-sang, from which has come the name borne by the country. The leaves of

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY.

27

ihefu-sang are similar to those of the tree which the Chinese call fung. When they first appear, they resemble the shoots of the reeds called bamboos, and the people of the country eat them. V The fruit has the form of a pear, and inclines toward red in colour ; from its bark they make cloth and other stuffs, with which the people clothe themselves, and the boards which are made from it are employed in the construction of their houses. No walled cities are found there. The people have a species of writing, and they love peace. Two prisons, one placed in the south and the other in the north, are designed to confine their criminals, with this difference, that the most guilty are placed in the northern prison, and are afterward transferred into that of the south if they obtain their pardon ; otherwise they are con demned to remain all their lives in the first. They are per mitted to marry, but their children are made slaves. When criminals are found occupying one of the principal ranks in the nation, the other chiefs assemble around them ; they place them in a ditch, and hold a great feast in their presence. They are then judged. Those who have merited death are buried alive in ashes, and their posterity is punished according to the mag nitude of the crime.

"The king bears the title of noble Y-chi ; the nobles of the nation after him are the great and petty Tui-lu and the Na- to-sha. The prince is preceded by drums and horns when he goes abroad. He changes the colour of his garments every year. The cattle of the country bear a considerable weight upon their horns. They are harnessed to wagons. Horses and deer are also employed for this purpose. The inhabitants feed hinds as in China, and from them they obtain butter. A species of red pear is found there, which is kept for a year without spoiling ; also the iris, and peaches, and copper in great abundance. They have no iron, and gold and silver are not valued. He who wishes to marry, builds a house or cabin near that of the maid whom he desires to wed, and takes care to sprinkle a certain quantity of water upon the ground every day during the year ; he finally marries the maid, if she wishes and consents ; other wise he goes to seek his fortune elsewhere. The marriage cere monies, for the most part, are similar to those which are prac ticed in China. At the death of relatives, they fast a greater or less number of days, according to the degree of relationship, and

28 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

during their prayers they expose the image of the deceased person. They wear no mourning-garments, and the prince who succeeds to his father takes no care regarding the government for three years after his elevation. In former times the people had no knowledge of the religion of Fo; but in the year 458 A. D., in the Sung dynasty, five priests of Samarcand went preaching their doctrine in this country, and then the manners of the peo ple were changed."

The historian from whom Ma Twan-lin has copied this rela tion adds that there was no knowledge of the country of Fu- sang before the year 458 A. D., and, up to the present time, I have not seen any other than these two writers who speak of it with full details. Some writers of dictionaries, who have also made mention of it, content themselves by saying that it is situ ated in the region where the sun rises.

This account informs us that Fa-sang is twenty thousand li from Ta-han or Kamtchatka, a distance almost as great as that from the shore of Leao-tong to Kamtchatka. So, in setting forth from one of the ports of this last-named country, as that of Avatcha, and sailing eastward for a distance of twenty thousand li (which presents to us a great expanse of sea), the route termi nates upon the westernmost coast of America, not far from the spot where the Russians landed in 1741. In all this vast waste of waters we do not find any land, not even an island, to which the distance of twenty thousand li could be applied, and we can not suppose that the Chinese had followed the coast of Asia and landed upon its most easterly extremity, and there found the land of Fu-sang. The excessive coldness of the weather which exists in Kamtchatka and the neighbouring northern regions renders them almost uninhabitable. The distance is far from sufficient, and the unfortunate inhabitants appear to be given over to barbarism, when their customs are compared with those of the people of Fu-sang.

In vain we flatter ourselves that we know the western coast of America perfectly ; we know nothing of the country situated to the west and northwest of Canada. Our first geographers, from conjectures, as to the foundation of which we are ignorant, have prolonged the western shores of America so that they ap proach Asia, supposing that they are not separated, otherwise than by a strait to which they have given the name of Anian. Fran-

/

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY.

29

9ois Gualle, who endeavours to prove the existence of this strait, calls our attention to the changing of the currents and the waves, and to the whales and other Arctic fish that are found in the north ern part of the Pacific Ocean ; but, since the publication of M. de PIsle's map of this part of the globe, we have learned the results of the explorations of the Russians, who, without giving us the contour of the coasts of America with precision, have made known to us, in general, that the coast of California trends toward the west and approaches quite near to that of Asia, leaving noth ing between the two countries except a strait of small width, re establishing the shape of the American Continent as it was given by the earliest geographers, apparently from a knowledge more exact than we have thought, and which has been lost to us.

The Japanese, who have also cultivated the arts, and naviga tion in particular, appear not to have been ignorant of the situa tion of the countries which lie to the north of their empire. Kaempfer claimed to have seen in Japan a map, made by the people of that country, upon which they represented Kamtchatka, which extends farther east than Japan. Upon the eastern shore, opposite to America, there is a gulf of a square form, in the mid dle of which a small island is seen ; farther to the north a second may be perceived, which appears to touch the two continents with its two extremities. Upon a map which this celebrated traveler brought to Europe, and which has passed into the collec tion of the late M. Hans Sloan, along the eastern coast of Kam chatka a strait is seen, and beyond it a large country which is America. In the northern part of the strait is an island which extends toward the two continents. M. Hans Sloan has wished me to call attention to this curious map, and Mr. Birch, Secre tary of the Royal Society of London, has sent me an exact copy of it.

This map agrees quite closely with our old maps of America, and with the new discoveries of the Russians. No island is seen where M. de 1'Isle has placed the coast which the Russians have discovered ; but, in the neighbourhood of this strait, America ap pears to advance considerably, and to form a long tongue of land which extends nearly to Asia. I am led to believe that this coast must form part of the continent of America, from the fact that M. de 1'Isle states that a large number of the inhabitants came to meet the Russians with boats similar to those of the Green-

30 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

landers or Esquimaux, which indicates some relationship be tween the people, and at the same time a connection of this land with America. In this case it is readily seen that the Chinese could reach Fu-sang much more easily than would otherwise be possible, for they could follow the coasts almost all the way.

I think that I have given sufficient proof that, at a distance of twenty thousand li from Kamtchatka, there is found a land where Fa-sang may be placed ; that this land is that of the continent of America, from which it results that Fu-sang is situated in this continent. The Chinese historians speak also of a country a thousand li farther east than Fu-sang. They call it the " King dom of Women." But their account is filled with fables, similar to those which our first explorers have related concerning newly discovered countries.

"The inhabitants of this kingdom are white. They have hairy bodies, and long locks that fall down to the ground. At the second or third month the women come to bathe in a river, and they become pregnant. They bear their young at the sixth or seventh month. Instead of breasts, they have white locks at the back of the head, from which there issues a liquor that serves to nourish their children. It is said that, one hundred days after their birth, the children are able to run about, and appear fully grown when three or four years of age. The women take flight at sight of a stranger, and they are very respectful toward their husbands. These people feed upon a plant which has the taste ^ wnich f°r this reason bears the name of the ves are similar to those of the plant which the Chinese call Sie-hao, which is a species of absinthe."

It is easy to perceive from this tale that, as is the custom in several places in the Indies, the women of the country nursed their children over their shoulders, and the fable reported above must have originated from this practice.

We also find in the same authors that, in the year 507 A. D., in the reign of the Liang dynasty, a Chinese vessel, which was sailing the ocean, was driven by a tempest to an unknown island. The women resembled those of China, but the men had a figure and a voice like those of dogs. These people fed upon small beans, and had clothing made of a species of linen cloth, and the walls of their houses were constructed of earth built up in a cir cular form. The Chinese could not understand their language.

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 31

There is room for the belief that the beans that are mentioned are grains of maize ; and the Chevalier de Tonti, in his accounts of Louisiana, reports that the Taen9as, when speaking to their king, have the custom of making a great howling, by means of which they intend to show their respect and admiration for him. A similar practice among the people of the last-mentioned island may have led the Chinese to say that their voices resembled those of dogs. *

We can not doubt at present that the Chinese had penetrated very far into the ocean toward the south, sailing back and forth across it, and that, in consequence, they had sufficient boldness and experience in navigation to enable them to sail to California direct. The examination of the route which they took, and the distances which they have given, prove that they went there in the year 458 A._p. In fact, we find some traces of this commerce in our own accounts. George Home tells that, at the west of the country of the Epiceriniens, neighbours of the Hurons, there lived a people among -whom there arrived foreign merchants who had no beards and who were carried by large vessels. Francisco Yasquez de Coronado states also that, at Qui- vira, vessels were found of which the sterns were gilded ; and Pierre Melendez, in Acosta, speaks of the wrecks of Chinese vessels seen upon the coast. It is also an unquestionable fact that foreign merchants clothed in silk formerly came among the Catualcans. All these accounts, added to those which we have adduced, become so many proofs that the Chinese traded at the north of California, near the country of Quivira. We may also notice, as a necessary consequence of such commerce, that, of all the American tribes, the most civilized are situated near the coast which faces China. In the region of New Mexico there are found tribes that have houses of several stories, with halls, chambers, and bath-rooms. They are clothed in robes of cotton and of skin ; but that which is most unusual among savages is, that they have leather shoes and boots. Each village has its public criers, who announce the orders of the king, and idols and tern-

* The Chinese geographers have also made mention of an island, called Kia-y, which is situated to the east of Japan. In the year 659 some of these islanders came to China with the Japanese. The Japanese map, which has been sent to me by M. Sloan, places the island of Kia-y to the east of Japan and of Jesso, in the midst of twelve other smaller islands.

32 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

pies are seen everywhere. Baron de la Hontan speaks also of the Morambecs, who lived in walled cities situated near a great salt lake, and made woolen cloth, copper hatchets, and various other manufactures. Some writers have maintained that the civilized people situated to the north are the remnants of the Mexicans who took flight at the time when Hernando Cortez penetrated into Mexico, and who fled to the north and founded several considerable kingdoms, among others that of Quivira. Although this conjecture appears not to be devoid of some foundation, we read, nevertheless, in Acosta, that the Mexicans themselves, a long time before the Spanish invasion, came to Mexico from the north, which leads me to believe that the Chi nese who landed in northern America had contributed to their civilization. The foundation of the Mexican Empire does not date back of the year 820 A. D., a time several centuries later than the navigations of the Chinese, of which the first occurred in 458. The people who inhabited Mexico before 820, and who bore the 'name of Chichimecas, were savages, who retired into the mountains, where they lived without laws, without religion, and without a prince to govern them. About the year 820 the Nahuatalcas, a wise and civilized nation, came to Mexico, from which they drove the inhabitants, and there founded the power ful empire which the Spaniards destroyed. The Nahuatalcas did not bring from the north the custom of sacrificing human victims. These barbarous sacrifices were not instituted until after their arrival in Mexico, and upon the occasion of a circum stance which is related in full by Acosta.

Before terminating this essay, it is necessary to make some remarks regarding the description of the country of Fu-sang, and to reply to some objections that may be raised, particularly as to the occurrence of horses, which have not been found in an^-part of America. The great advantages which are derived from the possession of these animals would appear to be sufficient to in sure their preservation. We observe upon this subject that all nations do not seem to have been equally persuaded of their use fulness. Tartary, which is filled with horses, is near to Siberia, where, in several places, they have not been found at all, and where the dog or the reindeer is used instead. Nevertheless, horses could have been taken to these places — no difficulty, such as that of crossing the sea, preventing their transportation — and

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 33

these tribes have known of them among their neighbours without having made use of them. Possibly the Chinese vessels formerly carried a few of them to America, and some tribes then used them. But it is well known to what a point the savages of Amer ica carried their cruelty toward conquered tribes. Their wars caused frequent migrations and the complete annihilation of several nations, and consequently the destruction of the usages which these exterminated tribes may have received by means of commerce. Finally, no one undertakes to guarantee all that is contained in the relations of Marco Polo, of Plan Carpin, and of Rubruquis. These ancient travelers have sometimes wan dered from the truth ; and yet we can not, merely upon this ac count, sweepingly condemn all of their statements. The Chinese traveler may have allowed himself to be deceived by something that he saw, and may have applied the name of horses to certain animals of the country of Quivira and of Cibola, which resembled them in size, and which the Spaniards have called sheep, on ac count of the wool that they bear.* In the same way we have given the names of European animals to several animals of America, notwithstanding the fact that they are of a different species. In regard to the cattle mentioned in the account : since we have discovered the country of Quivira, Hudson's Bay, and the Mississippi, a species of cattle has been found with large horns, so that no difficulty remains regarding this point, and we may conclude that the Chinese navigators landed to the north of California, where they found these animals.

A more exact description of the tree called fu-sang would contribute toward enabling us to determine the region more definitely. All that is said of it agrees rather with some tree of America than with any that occurs in the frozen land of Kam- tchatka; and the uses that are made of it, such as the manufact ure of the stuffs, the cloth, and the paper spoken of in the^ account, appear to indicate a civilized people inhabiting a tem perate country, such as that in the neighbourhood of Calif ornia^ rather than a country like Kamtchatka, the inhabitants oT which retire into caverns, and are clothed in skins, and are too barbar ous to make cloth or paper, or to have letters or true literary characters for the expression of their ideas — a thing unknown

* " These animals," says Acosta, " are of as great use to the Indians aa asses are among us, and are used to carry heavy burdens." 3

34 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

even to several nations in the southern part of Kamtchatka, who, as we have previously observed, are, from their southerly location, much nearer to China than Fu-sang can be supposed to be, if we locate it in the northern part of Kamtchatka, or any where upon the northeastern coast of Asia ; in America, on the contrary, and particularly among the Mexicans, there is found a species of writing which consists not of alphabetical characters, but hieroglyphic characters or representations of ideas, such as the oldest characters of China were.

Be it as it may, it is not my design to produce a multitude of conjectures as to the people of Fu-sang and as to the Ameri cans. I confine myself to that which appears to me to be sol idly confirmed. The Chinese penetrated to a country very far from the shores of the Orient. I have examined the distances stated by them, and the length of the standard of measure used by them, and they have led me to the coast of California. I have concluded from this that they have known America since the year 458 A. D. In the countries near to the spot where they landed were found the most civilized nations of America. I have thought that they are indebted for their civilization to the commerce which they have had with the Chinese.* This is all that I proposed to establish in this essay.

It is now easy to perceive the manner in which America has been peopled. There is much probability that several colonies have passed to it from the north of Asia, in the place where the two continents are the nearest together, and where a great island that extends from the east to the west, and which appears to unite them, renders the passage still easier. They may have reached it either by means of the ice, which in these seas some times lasts two or three years, as we have seen examples in our own days, or by the help of the canoes in use among the Green- landers and other northern barbarians living in the easternmost part of Siberia.

A certain agreement in the manners and customs which are found among the Tunguses and the Samoyedes with those of the tribes of Hudson's Bay, of Mississippi, and of Louisiana, adds a

* George Home, 1, iv, c. 13, goes further. He affirms that the Mexicans are a colony of Chinese who came into America in 1279 A. D. with their emperor named Ti-pun, after the conquest of China by the Mongols. But this statement is erroneous, since Ti-pun with his fleet was swallowed up by the waters.

DE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 35

new force to these reflections. It is known that in general all the nations of the same country are distinguished by peculiari ties of countenance, and by an exterior, that proclaims their com mon origin. Such are the Chinese, for example, who are easily recognized among other nations. The nations of Europe have a long and bushy beard, while that of the Chinese, the Tartars, and the people of Siberia is but slight ; in which point they re semble the Americans, from which it might be inferred that these last came from Tartary. In examining the animals, we are compelled to make the same reflection. Several are found in America which are not met with elsewhere, except in the north of Asia — as the hairy cattle, and the reindeer, so common in Siberia and in the northern part of America.

A number of additional facts can also be stated which con firm the ease of the passage. We extract them from Charlevoix, who reports that Pere Grellon, after having laboured for some time in the missions of New France, went from there to China, and thence to Tartary, where he met a Huron woman whom he had known in Canada. She had been captured in war, and taken from one nation to another until she had reached Tartary. Another Jesuit, upon returning from China, related also that a Spanish woman from Florida, who met with the same misfortune, after having passed through extremely cold regions was finally met in Tartary.

However remarkable these accounts may be, it is neverthe less not impossible to reconcile them with geography. The women reached the shore of the sea that washes the western coast of America, whence they first passed by canoes to the island that is found in the strait, from which they landed upon the continent of Asia, and finally, taking the route from Ta-han, to which I have referred, they approached China.

There is room for the belief that this is one of the ways by which America has been peopled ; but it is not at all likely that it has been the only one on the side of the north. Some among the writers who have investigated the origin of the Americans have made some conjectures upon the subject which seem not to be destitute of foundation. At the mouth of the river Kolyma, in Siberia, is found a thickly peopled island, which is often frequented by those who come to hunt for the fossil ivory of the mammoth, which is more beautiful than that of the

36 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

elephant, and is used for making different objects. They arrive there, with all their families, by crossing the ice, and it frequently happens that, surprised by a thaw, they are carried away upon large cakes of ice toward the opposite point of America, which is not very far distant. That which seems to give more weight to this conjecture is the fact that the Americans who inhabit this country have the same physiognomy as the unfortunate island ers, who, from too great a desire for gain, expose themselves to the danger of thus being transported to a strange country. It can not be doubted that floating ice has sometimes carried men, and, even more frequently, animals, to neighbouring countries. Great cakes of ice, detached from more southerly lands, have been seen to arrive upon the coast of Iceland, laden with wood and with animals, of which the Icelanders take so great advantage that they neglect the interior of the island, and remain more willingly upon the coast, in order to be on hand to profit by them. It is in this manner that a number of ferocious animals have pene trated into regions where men would never wish to have brought them.

I conclude, from all these observations, that a part of Amer ica has been peopled by the barbarians who inhabit the north of Asia. Adding also that the commerce of the Chinese has not only carried new inhabitants to them, but has also contributed much to the civilization of the American people, and to give them a knowledge of the, most useful arts. And if, upon the evidence of the Japanese map, we place the kingdom of Chang- jin to the south of the Strait of Magellan, it is certain in that case that the Chinese and the Coreans have known the southern part of America ; that their navigators have frequented it ; and that by this means they have civilized the Peruvians, among whom certain arts flourished, and who felt themselves not to be barbarians in anything.

Other nations, less civilized than the Chinese, have also had means for reaching America no less easily at the south. Those who have populated the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the Moluccas, and the Philippines, are connected with the inhab itants of India and of China ; they have been from island to island in their canoes ; they have penetrated successively to New Guinea, New Holland, and New Zealand, immense countries of which we do not know the extent. In that way they have ap-

BE GUIGNES'S DISCOVERY. 37

preached the American Continent. Some of them may have reached the islands which are found between the tenth and twen tieth degrees of south latitude — islands so near to each other that they form, as it were, a chain, which they could have fol lowed. They have been peopled one after another, until those most distant from their original starting-point, and the nearest to America, have received their colonies.

Perhaps the same reasoning might be applied to some parts of Europe. The British Islands, Norway, Iceland, and Green land may have been the places of passage of American colonies, and, as these regions became more thickly peopled, some of the inhabitants would go to seek new and more distant habitations. But without stopping here to make conjectures regarding the navigation of the ancients, history furnishes us with a proof that civilized nations have attempted to discover new lands to the west of Europe, and to penetrate far into this vast sea. It is true of the Arabs.

It is known that under the dynasty of the Ommiades these tribes made the conquest of a part of Africa. Thence, under the leadership of Tharic, they passed into Spain, which they re duced to a province of their empire ; but after the Ommiades had been destroyed in Syria, a prince of that house escaped the general massacre made by the Abbassides, and fled to Spain, where he was proclaimed caliph, and founded a powerful mon archy, which was destroyed by other princes coming from Africa. These possessed the greater part of Spain, until they were driven out by the Christians. It was during the reign of the Arabs in Spain that some of their sailors, setting sail from Lisbon, where they then were masters, embarked upon the gloomy sea or West ern Ocean, with the intention of penetrating as far as they could toward the west, and of discovering the islands and lands which existed there. But their enterprise did not meet with the suc cess with which they flattered themselves. After eleven days of navigation before a favourable wind, they found a thick sea, which exhaled a bad odor, where they met a number of rocks, and where the darkness commenced to make itself perceived. They were not so bold as to penetrate any farther. Making sail then to the south, they, after twelve days of navigation, ex plored the Canaries, where they met a man who spoke Arabic. They traveled about among the islands, and landed upon one,

38 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

where they were stopped by the islanders. Questioned by the king of the country as to the object of their voyage, they an swered him that their design had been to penetrate to the end of the world. The king informed them that his father had ordered some of his subjects to make the same attempt, but that, after having sailed the sea for a month without discovering anything, they had returned to the Canaries. These strange voyages of the Arabs, and particularly that of the inhabitants of the Cana ries, cause us to suspect that others of the islanders, equally bold and more fortunate, may have reached America ; since they had the courage to abandon themselves, with their vessels, to the mercy of this vast sea, although they had no knowledge of the compass, and, as we regard them, were but little skilled in the art of navigation.

Other Arabs, and the people of Senegal, knew also at the same time of the Cape Verd Islands. We have not found in any writer that the Arabs penetrated any farther. Nevertheless, they approached at least this near to the lands of America, and, if they were not bold enough to sail directly to it, some of those who sailed the sea may have been carried by the tempests to the islands of the Azores, which are in the same degree of latitude, where pieces of wood and dead bodies from America are often found. It is this which gave birth to the belief of Christopher Columbus that there must be, and were, lands near the Azores.

After this recital, we see that even the most barbarous people have had sufficient skill in the art of navigation to reach very distant islands, and, as a necessary consequence, to go even as far as to America ; but it is not my intention to exhaust the subject. We shall not be able to succeed in doing that until after we have obtained an exact knowledge of all the globe, and have discov ered all the southern lands. I must stop with having collected the facts which are scattered in the Chinese geographies con cerning the voyages of the Chinese in the South Sea and to America, and with having made, in consequence, some reflections concerning the passage of colonies to America.

CHAPTER III.

KLAPROTH'S DISSENT.

Title of de Guignes's article incorrect — Translation of the account of Fu-sang — Vines and horses not found in America — Route to Japan — Length of the li — Identification of Wen-shin with Jesso — Ta-han identified with Taraikai or Saghalien— The route to Ta-han by land— The Shy-ivd — Li&i-kuei — Fv^sang south of Ta-han instead of east — Fu-sang an ancient name of Japan — Analy sis of name " Fu-sang " — The paper mulberry — Metals — The introduction of Buddhism— Fantastic tales.

Researches regarding the Country of Fu-sang, mentioned in Chinese Books, and erroneously supposed to be a Part of America.— By J. Klaproth.™

THE celebrated de Guignes, having found in Chinese books a description of a country situated a great distance to the east of China, and thinking it probable that this country, called Fu- sang, must be a part of America, set forth this opinion in an essay read before the Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, entitled " Investigation of the Navigations of the Chinese to the Coast of America, and as to some Tribes situated at the Eastern Extremity of Asia."

It should be first observed that this title is incorrect. Noth ing is said in the Chinese original, which de Guignes had before his eyes, concerning any voyage undertaken by the Chinese to Fu-sang, but, as is shown farther on, it is simply a question of a description of this country, given by a priest who was a native of it, and who had come to China. This notice is found in that part of the Great Annals of China * entitled Nan-szu, or " His-

* These are the Nan-eul-szu, or the "Twenty-two Historians," of which the works form a collection of more than six hundred Chinese volumes, and which should not be confounded with the annals entitled T'ung-kian-kang-mu, which are known in Europe by the meager extracts which Pere Mailla has given in twelve volumes, in 4°.

40 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

tory of the South." After the destruction of the dynasty of Tain, in 420 A. D., China was overwhelmed with troubles, which resulted in the establishment of two empires, one in the northern provinces, the other in those of the south. The last was succes sively governed, from 420 to 589 A. D., by the four dynasties of Sung, Tsi, Liang, and Cfiin. The history of the two empires was written by Li-yan-cheu, who lived about the commencement of the seventh century. This is what he says about Fu-sang :

" In the first of the years yung-yuan, of the reign of Fe-ti, of the dynasty of Tsi, a shaman (or Buddhist priest), called Hoei Shin, arrived from the country of Fu - sang at King - cheu* He related what follows : Fu-sang is twenty thousand li to the east of the country of Ta-han, and equally to the east of China. In this country there grow many trees called fu-sang,\ of which the leaves resemble those of the fung (Bignonia tomentosa), and the first shoots those of the bamboo. The people^ of the country eat them. The fruit is red and of the shape of a pear. The bark of this tree is prepared in the same way as that of hemp, and cloth and clothing are made of it. Flowered stuffs are also manufactured from it. Wooden planks are used for the construction of their houses, for in this country there are no cities and no walled habitations. The inhabitants have a species of writing, and make paper from the bark of ilaefu-sang. They have no weapons or armies, and do not make war. According to the laws of the kingdom, there are a southern prison and a northern prison. Those who have committed crimes that are not very serious are sent to the southern prison, but great crimi nals are shut up in the northern one. Those who may receive pardon are sent to the first ; those, on the contrary, to whom it can not be accorded are confined in the northern prison.]; The men and the women who are shut up in the latter are per mitted to marry each other. The male children, born from these unions, are sold as slaves at the age of eight years ; the

* King-clieu is a city of the first order, situated upon the left side of the great Kiang, in the present province of Hu-pe.

\ Fu-sang in Chinese, or, according to the Japanese pronunciation, Fouls-sob, is the shrub which we call " Hibiscus rosa Chirunsis"

t De Guignes has very badly translated this passage, as follows : " The most guilty are placed in the northern prison and afterward transferred into that of the south if they obtain their pardon ; otherwise they are condemned to remain all their lives in the first."

KLAPROTH'S DISSENT. 41

girls at the age of nine years. The criminals who are confined there never come forth alive. When a man of high rank com mits a crime, the people assemble in great numbers. They sit down face to face with the criminal, who is placed in a ditch, and regale themselves with a banquet, and take leave of him as of a dying man.* Then he is surrounded by ashes. For an offense of little gravity the criminal alone is punished, but for a great crime, the culprit, his sons, and grandsons are punished ; finally, for the greatest offenses his descendants to the seventh generation are included in the punishment. The name of the king of the country is Y-k'i (or 7tt-k*t)J The nobles of the first class are called Tui-lu ; those of the second, little Tui-lu ; and those of the third, Na-tu-sha. When the king goes forth, he is accompanied by drums and horns. He changes the color of his garments at different epochs. In the years of the cycle Ma and y \ they are blue ; in the years ping and ting, red ; in the years ou and ki, yellow ; in the years keng and sin, white ; finally, in those which have the characters jin and kuei, they are black.

" The cattle have long horns, upon which burdens are loaded which weigh as much, sometimes, as twenty ho (of one hundred and twenty Chinese pounds). In this country they make use of carts harnessed to cattle, horses, and deer. They rear deer there as they raise cattle in China, and make cheese from the milk of the females. || A species of red pear is found there, which is preserved throughout the year. There are also many vines.4*

* Do Guignes translates the last words by " He is then judged." f De Guignes has wrongly read " Y-chi."

\ The years 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, and 51 of the cycle of sixty years bear the char acter Ida; the years 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, and 52 have the character y.

Ping, 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, and 53; ting, 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, and 54.

Ou, 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, and 55 ; Id, 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, and 56.

Kmg, 7, 17, 27, 37, 47, and 57 ; sin, 8, 18, 28, 38, 48, and 58.

Jin, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, and 59 ; kuei, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60.

1 De Guignes translates : " The inhabitants feed hinds, as in China, and from them they obtain butter."

* In the original, To-p'it-t'ao. De Guignes, having decomposed the wor< p'u-t'ao, translates: "A great number of iris-plants and peaches are found there." Nevertheless, the word p'u alone never means the iris ; it is the r

of rushes and other species of marshy reeds which are used for making ^mats. T'ao is, in fact, the name of the peach, but the compound word p'u-t'ao, in Chinese, signifies the vine. At present, it is written with other characters— u e.,

42 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

Iron is lacking, but copper is found. Gold and silver are not esteemed. Commerce is free, and they do not baggie at all.

" Their practices regarding marriage are as follows : He who desires to wed a girl establishes his cabin before her door ; he sprinkles and sweeps the earth every morning and every night. When he has practiced this formality for a year, if the maid will not give her consent, he desists ; but, if she is pleased with him, he marries her. The ceremonies of marriage are nearly the same as in China. At the death of father or mother they fast seven days. At that of a grandfather or grandmother they refrain from eating for five days ; and only for three days at the death of brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, and other relatives. The images of spirits are placed upon a species of pedestal, and prayers are addressed to them morning and evening.*

" The king does not occupy himself with the affairs of gov ernment during the three years which follow his accession to the throne.

" Formerly the religion of Buddha did not exist in this coun try, but in the fourth of the years ta-ming, of the reign of Jfiao-iou-tiy of the dynasty of Sung (458 A. D.), five pi-k'ieu, or priests, of the country of Ki-pin (Cophene), came to Fu-sang, and there spread abroad the law of Buddha. They carried with them their books and sacred images and the ritual, and estab lished monastic customs, f and so changed the manners of the inhabitants."

^ ^, but Iffc yji is the ancient orthography of the times of Han, which pre vailed until the tenth century of our era.

The vine is not a native of China, its seeds having been imported by the cele brated General Chang K'ian, sent into the western country in the year 126 B. c. He traveled through the Afghanistan of our days, and the northwestern part of India, and returned to China after thirteen years' absence. The term p'u-t'ao is not native to China, any more than the object which it designates. It is probably the imperfect transcription of the Greek ptrpvs. The Japanese pronounce it bou-do. They usually give to the vine the name of yebi-kadzoura, composed of yebi, a sea craw-fish, and of kadzoura, a general name of climbing plants which attach themselves to neighbouring trees.

* De Guignes translates : " During their prayers they expose the image of the de funct person." The text speaks of shin, or genii, and not of the spirits of the dead.

f In the original, ^ }f{, ch'K-kia— that is to say, "to leave one's house or family," or " to embrace a monastic life." DC Guignes has not translated this pass age, with the exception of the beginning.

KLAPROTITS DISSENT. 43

The circumstance that vines and horses are found in the country of Fu-sang is sufficient to prove that it could not be any part of America, these two objects having been brought to the continent by the Spaniards, after the discovery of Chris topher Columbus in 1492. But other reasons, drawn from the Chinese books, explicitly oppose the supposition that Fu-sang should be identified with any part of the New World. We have seen, from the account of the priest Hoei Shin, that Fa- sang was twenty thousand li to the east of Ta-han. De Guignes has erroneously taken this last country for Kamtchatka. He bases this hypothesis upon another passage of the Nan-szu, in which the author says that, in order to go to Ta-han, the traveler sets out from the western shore of Corea,* coasts along this peninsula, and, after having gone twelve thousand li, arrives at Japan ; that from there, after a route of seven thousand li toward the north,.he comes to the country of Wen-shin, and that, five thousand li from the last, toward the east, the country of Ta-han is found, from which Fu-sang is distant twenty thou sand li.

In olden times the Chinese vessels which sailed to Japan crossed the Strait of Corea, passed before the isles of Tsu-sima (in Chinese, Tui-ma-tao), and landed in some port of the north ern coast of the great island of Niphon. We must, therefore, conclude that the distance mentioned in the route much exceeds the reality. It should also be remembered that the ancient Chi nese did not have any means of determining the length of their journeys at sea. Even if we admit the maritime li of the fifth century to have measured four hundred to the degree, the dis tance of twelve thousand li of coasting between the mouth of the Ta-t'ung-Jciang, in 38° 45' N. latitude, upon the western coast of Corea, and the middle of the coast of Niphon, upon

* De Guignes translates the passage : " Sets out from the shore of the province of Lcao-tong, situated to the north of Pckin." But, in the first place, this prov ince is not to the north, but to the northeast of Pekin. Next, the Chinese text says that they set forth from the district of Lo-lang, which is situated not in Leao-tung, but in Corea, and of which the capital is the present city of P'ivg- jang (in d'Auville's map, Ping-yang\ situated upon the northern bank of the Ta-t 'wig-Hang, or P'ai-shue, a river of the province of P'ing-ngan, which, in great part, in the time of the dynasty of Han, formed the district of Lo-lang. P'ing-yang was the residence of K'i-isu, the first Chinese prince who was estab lished in Corea, about the year 1122 before our era.

44 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

the Japanese Sea, is, nevertheless, more than twice too great ; the distance between the two points, in coasting, is not more than fifty-six hundred li, of four hundred to the degree. It, therefore, results that the li of the Chinese route measure about eight hundred and fifty to the degree.

The same account estimates the distance between the Ja panese port and the country of Wen-shin as seven thousand li, or a little more than eight degrees of latitude. This distance conducts us, however, by following the contour of the coast of the Japanese Sea, exactly to the northern part of Niphon and to the southern point of the island of Jesso. The country of Wen- shin, or " Tattooed People," is, in fact, found there ; for the Ainos, who then occupied both the northern part of Japan and the island of Jesso, have even to this day the custom of painting the face and the body with different figures.

The distance from the country of Wen-shin to that of Ta-han is, according to our account, five thousand li, or about six de grees of latitude. This brings us exactly to the southern point of the island of Taraikai, erroneously called Saghalien upon our maps. The identity of this island with Ta-han is confirmed by another account, which describes the route from the northern part of China to the last-named country.

In the times of the T'ang dynasty the Chinese had estab lished three fortified cities to the north of the northernmost curve described by the Hoang-ho, which surrounded upon three sides the present country of the Ordos, called for this reason Ho-t'ao, or " Enveloped by the River." One of these cities, sit uated between the two others, bore the name of Chung-sheu- kiang-ch'ing, or "the Central City, which Protects the Sub missive People." It does not now exist, but its site, -which can be determined with precision, was in the country now occupied by the Mongol tribe of Orat, upon the northern bank of the Hoang-ho. To go by land to the country of Ta-han, the trav eler set forth from this city, and traversed the desert of Gobi, or Shamo, and arrived at the principal encampment of the Hoei- hh'e, situated upon the left bank of the Orkhou, not far from its sources, and the same place where the Mongolians afterward constructed their first capital, Caracorum. From there he reached the country of the Ko-li-han and of the Tu-p'o, sit uated to the south of a great lake, upon the ice of which he

EXAPROTH'S DISSENT. 45

must cross in winter. We know from other indications that the lake is that of Baikal. To the north of this lake, say the Chi nese relations, high mountains are found, and a country where, says one, the sun is not above the horizon longer than during the little time that it takes to cook a breast of mutton. The Tu-po, neighbours of the Ko-li-han, inhabit the country to the south of the lake. Another historian informs us what is the true abode of the l£b-H-han, and we know that this country is the same as the ancient country of Kirkis, or Kerghiz, situated between the 0-pu (the Obi) and the Ang-Jco-la (the Angara). Upon leaving the country of the Ko-li-lian, and traveling to the east, we enter into that of the Shy-wei.

The Shy-wei include a great number of tribes that do not appear to belong to the same nation, for the Chinese accounts mention several who speak a different language from that which the others use. Nevertheless, the greater part of the Shy-wei are of the same origin as the Khi-tan and speak their idiom, which is identical with that of the Mo-ho ; the latter are, to all appearances, the Mongols. The others belong to the Tunguse race. The most southerly Shy-wei live in the vicinity of the river Nou, an affluent upon the right of the upper Amoor. After having left the country of the Shy-wei^ who live to the east of the Ko-li-han and of Lake Baikal, and marching for fifteen days to the east, we find the Shy-wei called ;§ JD, Ju-cfie, who are probably the same people that other Chinese authors call jit id) Ju-che — that is to say, the Djourdje, ancestors of the present Mantchoos. From there we advance for ten days toward the north, and enter into Ta-han, surrounded by the sea upon three sides.

This country, called also Lieu-kiiei, therefore can not be other than the island of Taraikai, as we have already ascertained by following the route by sea laid down by Li-yan-sheu. De Guignes has wished to consider Kamtchatka as Ta-han ; but it is impossible to reach Kamtchatka from the eastern bank of Lake Baikal within thirty days, this time being barely sufficient to go across a country where there are no roads, from the eastern point of Lake Baikal, by way of the country of the Mantchoos and along the Amoor, to the great island of Taraikai, situated before the mouth of that river.

The identity of Ta-han and the island of Taraikai, once

46 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

demonstrated, prevents all further search for the country of Fu- sang in America. We have seen that the navigators, who went from the eastern coast of Corea to Ta-han, traveled at first twelve thousand, then seven thousand, and again five thousand li, or in all twenty-four thousand li (or, according to our calcula tion, twenty-nine and a half degrees of latitude), in order to reach that country. Fu-sang was twenty thousand li (or twenty-three and a half degrees) to the east of Ta-han or Taraikai, and so nearer h'y four thousand li than the latter country was to the eastern coast of Corea. If we adopt the letter of the relation, and seek for Fu-sang to the east of Ta-han, we fall into the great ocean, for the opposite coast of America in the same latitude is not less than four times as distant.

We must therefore reject the entire tale as to Fu-sang as fabulous, or else find a means of reconciling it with the truth. This may be found by supposing the indication of the direction •as toward the east to be incorrect. Now, the route by sea which conducts us to Taraikai indicates this as being the constant di rection ; whereas the traveler at first goes to the south to double Corea, then, upon entering the Japanese Sea, he directs his course to the northeast, and finally changes this course for one more northerly, in order to follow the channel of Tartary to a point south of Taraikai. We may therefore presume that one sets sail from that country, and that at first one goes directly east, in order to pass the Strait of Perouse, by skirting the northern coast of Jes- so, but that, upon arriving at the eastern point of this island, the course turns to the south and leads us to the southeastern part of Japan, which was the country called Fa-sang. In fact, one of the ancient names of this empire is Fu-sang (Hibiscus rosa Chi- nensis), and the Japanese books say that it was applied to their country because of its beauty.

If we analyze the two syllables which compose the word "fu- sang," we find that the first, Jfe/w, signifies "to help, to be use ful," and that the second, |j|, sang, designates the mulberry. The word therefore signifies, the useful mulberry. This circumstance leads me to think that there is some mistake in the Chinese ac count preserved in the JVan-szu, and that it confounds the hibis cus, or the " Rose of China," with the paper-mulberry (Morus papyrifera), for the description of the tree in question applies rather to this last than to the hibiscus ; in fact, the bark of the

KLAPROTH'S DISSENT. 47

paper-mulberry furnishes to the Japanese all the productions which the Chinese account attributes to the true fa-sang. The bark is employed to make paper, stuffs, clothing, cordage, wicks, and several other useful things.

Among the other productions of Fu-sang, as we have already remarked, the vine and the horse did not exist in America before the arrival of the Europeans, but they are found in Japan. The copper of this country is celebrated as an important article of export. Iron is, even now, rare in Japan, and consequently more valued than copper. According to mythological traditions, horses and cattle were produced from the eyes of the spirit Ouke-motsi- no-kamiy and the other domestic animals issued from his mouth. As to the vine, it appears that that is older in Japan than in China, where it was not introduced until the second century be fore our era ; for, according to the Japanese traditions, grapes were produced from a tress of black hair thrown down by Iza- naki-no-mikote, the last of the seven celestial spirits that reigned in the country.

The single difficulty which remains is that which concerns the introduction of Buddhism. According to the Japanese annals, this religion was not diffused throughout the empire until 552, the date that it was carried from Fiak-sai, or Pe-tsi, a kingdom situated in Corea, to the court of the Dairi. Never theless, as this belief had been introduced in 372 into the king dom QiKao-li, or Ko-rai, and in 384 into Fiak-sai, and the Japan ese had had intercourse with the two countries for a long time, it is not at all improbable that Buddhism had found disciples in Japan before the way into the palace of the Dairi was opened to it.

Finally, I will call attention to the fact that the country of Fu-sang has furnished the Chinese poets with innumerable op portunities for giving fantastic descriptions of its marvels. The authors of the Shan Hai King * and the Li-sao,\ as well as Hwai-nan-tz, I Li T'ai-pi, \\ and other writers of the same kind,

* The Shan Hai King, the Chinese " Classic of Lands and Seas," is described in chapter xxxvi of this work.

f The Li-sao is a celebrated poem written by Kiu Yuen in the third century u. c.

\ Hivai-nan-tz is one of ten eminent writers of antiquity, who are associated together under the designation -of the " Ten Philosophers." He was the grandson of JTau-ti, of the Han dynasty, B. c. 189. He wrote upon the origin of things.

1 Li T'ai-pi is one of the most popular of the Chinese poets. He lived during the reign of the T'ang dynasty.

48 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

have used them freely. According to them, the sun rises in the valley of Yang-Jcu, and makes his toilet at Fu-sang, where there are mulberries several thousand fathoms high ; the people eat the fruit, which gives to their bodies the colour of gold, and endows them with the power to fly in the air. In an equally fabulous notice of Fu-sang, which dates from the time of the Liang dy nasty, there is a statement that the silk- worms of the country are six feet long and seven inches in breadth ; they are of the colour of gold, and lay eggs of the size of swallows' eggs. I spare the reader the rest of these fables.

CHAPTER IV.

DE PARAYEY'S SUPPORT.

America visited by Scandinavians — American tribes emigrants from Asia An-

cient Chinese maps — Researches antedating those of Klaproth — Letter of Pere Gaubil — Ta-han — Lieu-kuei — Identification of these with Kamtchat- ka — Size of Fu-sang — Views of M. Dumont d'Urville— Length of the li — America lies at the distance and in the direction indicated — The Meropide ;

of Elien — The Hyperboreans — The monuments of Guatemala and Yucatan

The Shan-hai-king — Identification of the fu-sang tree with the metl or ma-, guey — The Japanese Encyclopaedia says Japan is not Fit-sang — The banana or pisang tree may have been the tree called fu-sang — Grapes in America — Milk in America— The bisons of America — Llamas — Horses — Wooden cabins —The ten-year cycle— The titles of the king and nobles— The worship of images — Resemblance of pyramids of America to those of the Buddhists— An image of Buddha— The spread of the Buddhist religion— History of the Chichimecas — Resemblance of Japanese to Mexicans — Analogies of Asiatic and American civilizations pointed out by Humboldt — Credit due de Guignea — Appendix — Ha Twan-lin's account — The pi-sang said to be the prickly poppy of Mexico— Laws punishing a criminal's family have existed in China — Chinese cycle of sixty years existed in India— Cattle harnessed to carts — The grapes of Fu-sang wild, not cultivated — Another Chinese custom in Fu-sang — The route to Ta-han — The route to. Japan very indirect — Priests called lamas both in Mexico and Tartary.

America under the Name of the Country of Fu-sang— by M. de Paravey.™*

THE scholars of Iceland and Denmark have shown that the Scandinavians, long before Columbus, visited the northeastern portion of America, and there found wild vines and grapes ; . and that they even penetrated to the south as far as to what is now known as Brazil. Before these modern researches, the il lustrious Buffon, in his " Discours sur les Varietes de TEspece Humaine," took the ground, as M. de Humboldt has also recent ly done, that the tribes of Northwestern America, and even oi 4

50 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

Mexico, had come from Tartary and Central Asia ; and, relying upon the new discoveries of the Russians, he traced the route followed by the Asiatics, holding that they reached the north western portion of California by way of Kamtchatka and the chain of the Aleutian Islands. Upon his side, M. de Guignes, examining the books of China, and by them throwing a light upon the origin of all European nations, found among them a very remarkable memoir regarding the country of Fu-sang, or the country of the Extreme East. He availed himself of the light thrown by the Russians and the latest geographers upon the extreme northeastern countries of Asia, and, in his scholarly work, he proved, as far as it was then possible to do so, that the country of Fu-sang, known in the year 458 A. D., rich in gold, silver, and copper, but destitute of iron, could be nothing else than America.

All the maps, rough and purposely altered as to the size of foreign countries, that we have been able to find in the books or collections relating to China, and anterior in date to the exact maps of the Celestial Empire, which were finally made by the aid of the corrections of the missionaries at Pekin, show, in fact, to the east and northeast of China, beyond Japan, marked under one of its names, Ji 0 , pen ^ (" Origin of the Sun "), a con fused mass of countries, delineated as small islands, undoubtedly because they were reached by sea ; and among these countries, of which the size is purposely reduced, is marked the cele brated country of Fu-sang, a country of which many fables have been related in China, but which, in the account translated by M. de Guignes, is presented in a light so entirely natural that it can not be considered otherwise than as one of the countries of America, even if it is not, as we think possible, intended for the entire Continent of America.

We had not known of the old Chinese maps, drawn up so as to present Europe and all of Asia, outside of China, as very small countries, until our visit to Oxford in 1830. We then copied them at the Bodleian Library, and our scholarly friend, Sir George Stanton, afterward gave us one of these imperfect maps.

Upon returning to London, we there sought and found the Chinese text of the account translated by M. de Guignes ; for the works in which it is found are monopolized at Paris by cer tain students of Chinese. We copied this text, and showed it to

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 51

Mr. Huttman, then secretary of the English Asiatic Society. He recognized in it, as we did, a description of America, or of one of its parts, and, in the surprise which he felt, he communicated, probably, with M. Klaproth regarding our researches, for we were at London again when this Prussian scholar published, in the "Nouvelles Annales des Voyages," in the year 1831, a pretended refutation of the memoir of M. de Guignes, a refutation which he addressed to us, together with a letter of equal length, which we may some day publish. Neither this letter nor this printed article changed our convictions as to the justice of the views of the learned M. de Guignes. We declared them to M. Klap roth, and, as he himself undoubtedly felt the feebleness of the arguments by which he had endeavoured to prove that this ac count of Fu-sang should be understood to refer to Japan, he afterward, on this account, as we suppose, wishing to convert M. von Humboldt to his false ideas, caused the insertion, in Vol. X of the " Nouveau Journal Asiatique de Paris," of the letters of the late Pere Gaubil, in which this learned mis sionary, without disputing this story, discusses the ideas of M. de Guignes, and, not knowing anything then of the maps of which we have spoken, appears to be unwilling to admit that America, under the name of Fa-sang, or under any other name, had been really known to the Buddhists or shamans of High Asia since the year 458 A. D.

Since that time, however, we have endeavoured to prove, by an exact calculation of the distance in lit given in this account, translated from the Great Annals of China, regarding the country of Fu-sang, and by discussing the route traveled to reach it, that this country, even following the views of M. Klaproth and of Father Gaubil, concerning the Chinese names given to the coun try so distant from Kamtchatka, could not be found elsewhere than in America.

According to the shaman or Buddhist monk who made Fu- sang known to the Chinese in the year 499 of our era, this coun try was at the same time to the east of China, and equally to the east of a semi-civilized land known in the Chinese books by the name of the country of Ta ;fc, Han g|, or of the " Great Hans," a name applied first to the Chinese dynasty of the Hans, founded in 206 B. c., after that of the Tsin.

But, according to the Chinese accounts regarding this coun-

52 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

try of Ta-han— which could be reached either by sea, by setting out from Japan and sailing to the northeast, or by land, by set ting forth from the sharp bend toward the north which is made by the great river Hoang-ho, into the country of the Mongols, and passing to the south of Lake Baikal, and then, going the same distance to the northeast— this country, very distant from China, could not be any other than Kamtchatka, also called the country of Lieu-kuei, or "Place of Exile" (lieu, $£) "of the Vicious" (kuei, &), in other Chinese geographies.

Father Gaubil, in these same letters, published by M. Klap- roth, admits this to be the country of Lieu-kuei, for it is said that the fact that this country is surrounded by the sea upon three sides, as Kamtchatka is, and the distance at which it is placed in the geography of the Tang dynasty, also published by this learned missionary, both agree in confining the land of Lieu-kuei to this extreme point of northeastern Asia. It should also be noticed that M. Klaproth himself, in the memoir which we refute, when discussing the position of the country of Ta-han, declares that this land has also been called the country of Lieu-lcuei ; and since, according to Father Gaubil, this place is Kamtchatka, the country of Ta-han must answer to the southern portion of Kamtchatka, and not to the great island of Saghalien or Taraikai, which is found at the east of Tartary, opposite the mouth of the Yellow River, the island in which M. Klaproth attempts to place it in his " Researches regarding Fu- sang"

It is, also, in Kamtchatka that the celebrated M. de Guignes places the country of Ta-han, which the Chinese books, such as the Pian-y-tien, the great " Geography of Foreign Nations," a valuable work, of which a copy is possessed by the Royal Li brary at Paris, represent as inhabited by barbarous men of great stature, and with hair very long and in wild disorder.

And when the shaman Hoei Shin, coming from the country of Fii-sang to China, and landing at Klng-cheu, in the prov ince of Hu-pe, upon the left bank of the great river Kiang, said that "Fu-sang is at the same time to the east of China and to the east of the country of Ta-han" or of Kamtchatka, it is evi dent that he indicated a very great extension of this country of Fu-sang, from north to south ; since Kamtchatka, even in its niost southerly part, is very distant to the northeast from China,

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 53

even from its northern boundary, and still farther from the river Kiang; he speaks, therefore, not of an island; not even of one as large as Japan; but of a continent of great extent, such as North America.

So, when we had communicated the memoir of M. de Guignes, and its pretended refutation by M. Klaproth, to the celebrated navigator M. Dumont d'Urville, whose unfortunate loss science still deplores, this scholar, who, before his last voyage, had, in accordance with our advice, commenced the study of the geo graphical books preserved in China, could not restrain a smile of pity upon seeing that M. Klaproth had, by main strength, at tempted to change this vast continent into a simple province of Japan, a country which he himself points out under its true name, in another passage of the Great Annals cited by M. de Guignes, and where the route is described leading by sea from Corea to the country of Ta-han. In order to reach that region, the route touches the country of TFb, or of Japan, which was already well known to the Chinese in all its parts. The route, continuing toward the north, touches at the country of Wen-shin (the island of Saghalien) ; then turning to the east, Ta-han or Kamtchatka is reached, otherwise called Lieu-kuei. It is evi dent that no other land than North America, east of Asia, is suf ficiently large to be at the same time to the east of Central China and of Kamtchatka : this was not plainly said by M. de Guignes, but he evidently perceived it, and the distance also at which Fu-sang is placed from the country of Ta-han or Kamtchatka, in the account of the shaman, completes the demonstration.

In fact, he stated this distance of Fu-sang easterly from Ta- han at twenty thousand U, and, as the length of the li has fre quently been changed in China, M. Klaproth tries, by supposing the length to be very small, to make this distance reach only as far as Japan ! But, as the direction toward the east still incom modes him and causes him to fall into the ocean, because of the admission which he makes that Ta-han must be the island of Saghalien, he without further ceremony changes this direction and turns it around toward the south ; and in this way, by add ing one false supposition to another, he arrives at the conclusion that the southeastern part of Japan is this country of Fu-sang; again assuming that this country had been but recently discov ered by the Chinese.

54. AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

But Father Gaubil, upon whom he otherwise relies, could un deceive him and set him right as to the real length of the li. In his "Histoire de la Dynastie des Tang," a dynasty that reigned shortly after the epoch when the accounts of Ta-han and of Fu- sang were inserted in the Great Annals, he said that "fifteen thousand li are reckoned as the distance between Persia and the city of Sy-ngan-fu," then the capital of China (see "Memoires concernant les Chinois," Vol. XV, p. 450). Persia is designated in these books as the kingdom of Po-sse, and its capital was formerly near Passa-garde and Shiraz or Persepolis.

Now, toward the northeast, the geographies of the Tang dy nasty reckon fifteen thousand li also as the distance from Sy- ngan-fu to the country of Lieu-kuei (ib., Vol. XV, p. 453) — which, according to M. Klaproth, is the same as the country of Ta-han— & country surrounded by the sea upon three sides, and which Father Gaubil asserts, as we have said, to be Kamtchatka. If, therefore, we set a pair of compasses upon a terrestrial globe, placing the points upon Sy-ngan-fu, then the capital of China, and Shiraz or Persepolis, the capital of Po-sse (or Persia), and then, keeping one point upon the first-named city, swing the other around to the northeast, it will be found to reach to the southern part of the land of Kamtchatka, thus proving the accu racy of the stated distances.

The length of the li during this epoch is therefore fixed ; hence, one third of the above-named distance represents five thousand li, and, adding this to the length of the fifteen thousand li above described, the distance of twenty thousand li, which the account of the shaman affirms as extending toward the east from the country of Ta-han to that of Fu-sang, from which he had come, can be reckoned with great accuracy.

If, then, with the compasses we lay out upon the globe this distance of twenty thousand li, setting one point upon the south ern end of Kamtchatka (which answers to the country of Lieu- Jtuei or of Ta-han), and swinging the other point toward the east, we should, if Fu-sang is America, reach at least the western coast of this new continent, a coast which, although long known to the Asiatics, has, by a sort of fatality, been the last to be ex plored by Europeans. Now, in fact, this is just where the point of the compasses will reach, and this confirms both the conject ures of Buffon and the assertions made by M. de Guignes, based

DE PAPvAVEY'S SUPPORT. 55

upon the very incorrect maps which were all that could then be obtained ; for the arm of the compasses thus reaches to a point north of the mouth of the Columbia River, not far from Califor nia.*

This scholar could not then arrive at the same precision that is possible for us, since, we repeat, the exact outlines of the northwest coast of America near the Aleutian Islands, and even those of the country of Kamtchatka, had not, in his days, been fully established ; but his merit was on that account even the greater, in being the first to recognize the true value of the li at that epoch, and to find, in the geographies of China, which had been so rarely consulted by European scholars, countries so un known to us as Kamtchatka, and the vast American Continent; known from ancient times by the wandering tribes of Central Asia, but which have only recently been made known to us, by the admirable and persevering efforts of an illustrious genius.

By the aid of the same books preserved in China, and which, unfortunately for Europeans, have not been translated, although we have possessed them for more than a century, we can show that the Meroplde of Ellen is North America ; for the invasion of the country of the Hyperboreans, of which this author speaks, can not have taken place elsewhere than from North America into Kamtchatka, and extending as far as to the banks of the great Amoor River, a region in which, according to the old Chinese books, there lived a multitude of tribes of which the names are scarcely known in Europe to this day, although very curious and all significant.

From the most ancient times, having undoubtedly received colonies from Greece and Syria, these happy Hyperboreans sent to the temple of Apollo at Delos sheaves of the grain which they harvested.

Herodotus and Pausanias name to us the nations which passed these offerings from hand to hand to Greece, and when to what we have said are added the accounts of the same nations which are given in the Chinese books, we can not avoid the conviction that the true land of the Hyperboreans — that is to say, of the tribes of the northeast — can not be situated elsewhere than upon the Amoor River, and in the neighbourhood of Corea,

* In his later essay M. de Paravey corrects this statement, and names San Francisco as the point that is reached.— E. P. V.

56 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

countries having an alphabet, and very anciently civilized or colonized.

Through the Hyperboreans, in connection with the ferocious tribes of North America, tribes which Elien described under the name of Ud%ipog, or " Warriors," the Greeks of ancient times, who had carried the culture of the cereals to the banks of the Amoor, therefore obtained some knowledge concerning Fa-sang, or the Eastern World, that vast continent which, explored from the western side by the Phoenicians of Egypt, and afterward by the Carthagenians, received the name of Atlantis.

The flowery imagination of the Asiatics embroidered with fables these accounts of a world so distant, and which could only be reached by incurring very great dangers ; but the curious monuments of Palenque in Guatemala, and those not less impor tant which M. de Waldeck sketched in Yucatan, demonstrate positively the ancient relations between Central Asia, India, and Europe, and America, or Meropide, the true land of Fu-sang.

The Shan-hai-Jcing, an old mythological geography of Chi na, the Li-sao, and other Chinese books, relate fables also regard ing the valley of Tang-Jcu, or of the Hot Springs, from which the sun appears to issue ; it rises then in the country of Fa-sang, where the mulberries grow to a prodigious height. It is said that the people of Fu-sang eat the fruit of these mulberries in order to become immortal, that they can fly in the air, and that the silk-worms of these trees, enormous also, inclose themselves in cocoons of monstrous size.

All these fables are founded upon the name sang, |p:, of the mulberry, which enters into " Fu,-sang" the Chinese name of America ; and this can be explained from an examination of the Mythriac monuments, sculptures of Eastern Asia, in which there may always be observed upon the right the sun rising behind a tree such as the mulberry. This is nothing else, in fact, than the representation of the hieroglyphic character preserved in China to express the East, a character which is pronounced tong, jf[, and which is formed by drawing the symbol of the sun, Q ji, be hind that of a tree, fa mo ; the sun in rising showing its disk, in fact, behind the trees.

Tacitus, in his " Germanicus," relates fables, also, in regard to the country where the sun sets, in explaining the sparkling when its fires penetrate the ocean ; but his admirable work has

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 57

been none the less constantly read and consulted since his time, and these marvelous tales have not caused the denial of the existence of the region of which he speaks.

But the account of the shaman Hoei Skin regarding Fu-sang offers none of these fables ; and, if it places a tree of this name in America, it describes it as a plant having red fruit in the form of a pear, a shrub, of which the young shoots are eaten ; and of which the bark is prepared like that of hemp, of which cloth, clothing, and even paper are made : for the inhabitants of this country had a method of writing, says this account, and, in fact, books and a species of writing are found in America, in Mexico, and elsewhere.

In the Chinese botanical books the name of fu-sang, which may be translated as "the serviceable, useful mulberry" (these adjectives conveying the meaning of "fu"), is given now to the Jcetime, or hibiscus rosa sinensis, a plant brought from Persia to China, as we learn from Father Cabot, and which has been grafted upon the mulberry.

But M. Klaproth, by some mistake, has been led to see in this plant the paper-mulberry, of which, in fact, cloth and cloth ing are also made ; while others find in it the metl or maguey of Mexico, but badly described ; for this plant also gives cloth and paper, it furnishes a sort of wine and food, and is pre-eminently useful.

In truth, this name Fu-8ang expresses only the name of the Extreme East, for in the ancient hieroglyphic geography the Cen tral Kingdom is called, as it now is in China, Chong-hoa, or "the Central Flower," and the four cardinal countries have the name of the Sse-fu, or " the Four Auxiliary Countries," composed of the four principal petals of the nelumbo, the mystic flower, the flower of the middle, the sacred lotus, type of ancient Egypt and of the earth, par excellence.

India offers this geographical symbol to us again, and the ancient Chinese maps call the countries of the north, Fu-yu ; those of the south, Fti-nan / those of the west, Fu-lin (that is to say, the Ta-tsin, the Roman Empire) ; and, finally, those of the east, Fu-sang. Now, to the east of China there is no other ex tensive land than America ; and, if Jeipan lias ever been also given this name of Fu-sang, it is because it is to the east of China ; but the Japanese Encyclopaedia, which should have been

58 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

consulted by M. Klaproth, who attempted to support his opinion by this name erroneously applied to this country, says that it is not the true country of Fu-sang.

The banana, the pi-sang tree of the Malays, may also be one of the trees called fu-sang, for these trees, as well as the flowers of the nelumbo, or rose-lotus of Egypt, where the young Horus is seen to spring— that is to say, where the sun is born, are types of the East, All this, we repeat, is merely a natural series of symbols employed in the ancient and hieroglyphic geography, which is too little studied.

The account translated by M. de Guignes also places many pu-tao, or grapes, in the country of Fu-sang. M. de Guignes translated the two characters separately, understanding pu to mean the iris, and tao the peach. M. Klaproth has properly rectified this, but with singular thoughtlessness he forgets that the forests of North America abound in several species of wild vines, and that the Scandinavians placed the country of Vin-land (the Land of Vines) in the northeastern part of the continent. He therefore denies the existence of the vine in America, and, relying especially upon this passage, he concludes that Fu-sang must be Japan, where the vine, as he says, had existed for a long time, although in China it had not been intro duced from Western Asia until the year 126 before our era. It can therefore be seen how feeble his attempted refutation of M. de Guignes is, even when the last is mistaken ; and his memoir, as a whole, offers no more forcible arguments.

When the shaman said that iron was lacking in Fu-sang, but that copper was found, and that gold and silver were not valued (because of their abundance, no doubt), he repeats what Plato said of Atlantis, and what has been reiterated in all accounts regarding America ; a celebrated river of the northern part of this continent bears the name of the Coppermine River, and copper is also very abundant in Peru.

It is also stated that the inhabitants of Fu-sang raised herds of deer and made cheese from the milk of the hinds; and in the Chi nese and Japanese Encyclopaedias, as also in the Pian-y-tien, when the figure of an inhabitant of Fu-sang is given, he is drawn, in fact, as engaged in milking a hind having small round spots, and in the two Encyclopaedias this is given as forming the char acteristic peculiarity of this country of Fu-sang. Philostratus, in

DE PAKAVEY'S SUPPORT.

59

his " Life of Apollonius," mentioned tribes in India who raised hinds for their milk, and the thing is not so common as to fail to be remarked, but herds of hinds have also been found in America in our days ; for Valmont de Bomare, in the article entitled " Deer," says : " The Americans have herds of deer and of hinds running in the woods throughout the day and at night re-entering their stables. Several tribes of America have no other milk," he adds, " than that obtained from their hinds, and of which they also make cheese."

It appears, therefore, that he translates by these words what JEToei Shin said in 499 A. D. concerning the nations of Fa-sang • and in calling attention to the fact that this usage formerly ex isted in India, it was not without design, for the same shaman affirms that the religion of Buddha (an Indian religion) had been carried to the country of Fin-sang, in the year 458 of our era, by five monks of Ky-pin> or of Cophene, an Indian country. He says that the tribes, from that time converted by them, had nei ther military weapons nor troops, and, like the Argippeans (of whom Herodotus speaks), that they did not make war ; he adds, finally, that they had a species of writing and worshiped images — that is to say, that they were true Buddhists.

That which is said regarding the cattle with long horns that carried heavy burdens upon their heads, and of carts to which horses, cattle, and deer were harnessed, offers, as it appears, the only difficulty ; but the bisons with manes and with enormous heads, found in North America, may have been the cause of this eiToneous statement, and, but for the evasion of the description, the Chinese name Ma, which is applied to horses, asses, and camels, and which forms the radical of useful animals of this nature, might be given, even although it were wrongfully, to the llamas and alpacas already domesticated perhaps in South America, which also was included in Fa-sang.

It may be possible, moreover, that horses had been introduced before this epoch into Northwestern America, which is hardly known even in our days, and where tribes are mentioned which use them ; and where teams of reindeers, like those of Kam- tchatka, may also be seen. It is true that it has been supposed that these horses are descended from those brought to Mexico by the Spaniards ; but this has not been proved : and even if we suppose them to be of European origin, an epidemic or a de-

GO AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

str active war may, since the fifth century, have destroyed the domesticated horses brought to Fu-sang by the Tartars and the Buddhists of Asia.

The people of Fa-sang had no other habitations than villages of wooden cabins, such as have been found near the Columbia River, to the northwest of California ; and, to obtain a wife, the young men of the country were obliged to serve their be trothed for an entire year. Now (in the "Collection of The- venot"), this is precisely what Palafox says of the American Indians, whose manners he describes ; and this custom also ex ists in the extreme northeastern countries of Asia, countries from which America may be reached, as we have said.

Other details of their customs seem to be borrowed from the Chinese civilization, especially the cycle of ten years, or perhaps even of sixty years — as M. de Humboldt has in fact described among the Muyscas of the plateau of Bogota, in South America, the usage of the cycle of sixty years and of institutions analogous to those of the Buddhism of Japan. The cycle of Fa-sang ', bear ing the names of the ten Chinese Kans, served to mark the suc cessive colours of the king's garments, colours which were changed every two years, just as is prescribed for the Emperor of China by the chapter yue-ling of the Lil-ki, or "Sacred Book of Rites."

But the so-called Chinese cycles, which gave their alphabets to the most ancient nations of Syria, Phoenicia, and India, as well as to those of Greece, as we have elsewhere shown (see our " Es say upon the Common and Hieroglyphic Origin of the Figures and of the Letters," Paris, 1826; and the article, entitled " Japan ese Origin of the Muyscas," in the " Annales de Philosophie Chretienne," Vol. X, page 8, where the figures of the cycles may be found), may have been carried to Fu-sang quite as well from Central Asia, or from India, as from China, as they were never unknown to the Buddhists or shamans.

We might also discuss the sound of the titles given to the king and nobility of the country of Fu-sang / but these discus sions would carry us too far, and we will merely call attention to the fact that the title of the king was I-ky, a sound which seems connected with the name of the Jfic-sos, the pastoral kings of Egypt who came from Asia, and the last syllable with Ric, the name of the Gothic kings, who also came from the north of Asia ; and possibly also with that of Cacique* the title

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. Cl

of the chiefs of the islands of America, and with that of the Arikis, or kings of the islands of Oceanica.

We will therefore confine ourselves to discussing the conclu sion of this account of Fit-sang.

" Formerly," says Hoei Shin, " the religion of Buddha did not exist in this country ; but in the Song dynasty (in 458 A. D. — a precise date here), five Pi-kieu, or priests of the country of Ky-pin (a country in which Father Gaubil sees Samarcand, and M. de Remusat sees the ancient Cophene, near India), came to Fu-sang, carrying with them their books and sacred images, and their ritual, and established monastic customs, and so changed the manners of the inhabitants."

Accordingly, Hoei Shin, a shaman himself, who came to China in 499, forty-eight years after this conversion of the peo ple of Fu-sang, declared that then the people of that country worshiped the images of spirits at morning and night and did not wage war.

It is said that proselytism is one of the duties of the Bud dhist priests and monks. It is therefore not surprising to see them set forth from Central Asia, and cross the seas and the most dangerous countries, in order to convert the savage tribes of America, a country already well known to them and to the Arabs and Persians of Samarcand.

This can no longer be considered doubtful, since M. de Wai- deck has sketched an old temple or monastery of Yucatan, a large square inclosure accompanied by pyramids analogous to those of the Buddhists of Pegu, Ava, Siam, and the Indian Ar chipelago, and which can be studied in all their details.

A multitude of niches, in which the figure of the celebrated god Buddha sits with crossed-legs, exist in Java, all around the ancient temple of Boru Buddha ; and upon examination of the temple of Yucatan, of which M. de Waldeck has published beautiful drawings, we find there the same niches in which sits the same god Buddha, and also find other figures of East Indian origin, such as the frightful head of Siva, a flattened and de formed head which surmounts each of these niches.

We can not affirm, however, that these temples of Yucatan were as old as the account of Fa-sang, as we have no description of other buildings in this country than wooden cabins ; but, per secuted by the Brahmans of India, the Buddhists may have been

02 AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

compelled, at several different times, to seek an asylum in Fa- sang, or America, and possibly even went to Bogota and as far as to Peru, where the manners of the people have been found to be so gentle and so analogous to those of the Buddhists.

In the same manner they civilized the wild tribes of the In dian Archipelago, and of the countries between India and China, and built temples and pyramids such as those of which we find the remains, as in Java, or those which are still standing and venerated, as in Pegu and Siam.

China received the Buddhist religion soon after the com mencement of the Christian era, under Ming-ti, of the Han dy nasty ; Corea in the year 372 A. D. ; Fa-sang -, as we have said, in the year 458 ; and Japan, finally, not until 552, when the Japa nese received it from Corea and from the kingdom of JPe-tsi, a land situated in the neighbourhood of the Amoor River and of Corea, and an ancient center of civilization.

It is from Corea, say the Chinese books, that the country of Ta-lian can be reached, from which, sailing to the east, one ar rives at America — that is to say, at Fa-sang. On the voyage one touches at Japan, and, without doubt, sails along its shores in order to reach the island of Saghalien upon the north, from which the route turns to the east toward Kamtchatka or Ta-han.

But in the curious " History of the Chichimecas," published in the collection of M. Ternaux, Ixtlilxochitl, the author, a na tive American, says that the Toltecs came by sea from Japan to America, landing upon the northwest coast, and in a country having a red soil, such as that near the Gila River, where also an ancient monument is mentioned, called the House of Motecu- zuma.

He had seen in Mexico the Japanese sent to Rome by the missionaries ; and in these modern Japanese he recognized the features and the costume of the Toltecs of whom he spoke ; now he fixed their migration in the fifth century of our era. He is therefore found to be in perfect accord with the Chinese accounts, concerning the different voyages to America ; for Ja pan, as we have already said, is situated upon the route by sea from Corea to the country of Ta-han, the southern part of Kamtchatka, situated in a high latitude, and where, as it is said, the prevailing winds are from the west and the northwest, so

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT.

63

that they would naturally carry a vessel toward Fu-sang, or North America, a country situated to the east.

The Buddhistic monuments of Yucatan ; the history that has been preserved of the migration of the Toltecs from Japan to America ; the Chinese accounts of the country of Ta-han, and of the vast country of Fu-sang, which were given by the Buddhists who left this country of America, and arrived at China by way of Japan : all are therefore in perfect accord. This passage, ly way of Japan, explains, moreover, how, as we showed in 1835, in an article entitled " Dissertation sur les Muyscas," inserted in the " Annales de Philosophic Chretienne," cited above, and also published separately, at Paris, under the title " Memoire sur 1'Origine Japanoise des Peuples du Plateau de Bogota," the numerals and many words of the language of the Muyscas, a tribe living upon the plains of Bogota, are found also in the present language of the Japanese.

Just as the Scandinavians, at a much later date, descended from the northeastern coast of the New World, and from Vinland, where they established a settlement, as far as to Brazil in South America, where their monuments have been found, so, a thousand years before the Spaniards, but landing upon the northwestern coast, the Buddhists of India (then persecuted by the Brahmans), the colonies of Japan and of the nations living upon the banks of the Amoor (the ancient country of the Hyperboreans), may have penetrated to Mexico, to Yucatan, to the country of Guatemala and to Palenque, to the kingdom of Cundinamarca, and finally to the rich and civilized kingdom of Peru. The celebrated M. von Humboldt has very well shown the connection of race, of civilization, and of cycles, manners and usages, which unites the tribes of these last countries to those of Tartary and of Asia ; but, by following Father Gaubil (to whom America was but little known) and M. Klaproth, in denying the identity of America with Fu-sang, he deprived himself of the most powerful argu ments in support of his views, and could not fix any precise date for these migrations.

We hope that, if he reads this short memoir, he will render more justice to the truth of the discoveries of the celebrated M. de Guignes, the profound sinologue from whose works M. Klap roth drew a great part of his learning, and which, upon that ac count, the latter should not so greatly traduce.

64. AN INGLORIOUS COLUMBUS.

We have wished, in this brief extract from our researches regarding America, to render justice to this learned and mod est author of the " History of the Huns." As he was, so are we, oppressed by contemptible coteries ; but we hope that some day more justice may be shown to the researches which have oc cupied our best years.

CHEVALIER DE PARAVEY. August, 1843.

APPENDIX

Gives M. Klaprottis article as far as the end of the translation of the Chinese account of Fu-sang ; and M. de Paravey adds the following additional notes :

1. The celebrated Ma Twan-lin, so esteemed by M. Remusat, has also given this account (of Fu-sang} in his Wen-hien-tong-lcao, with some variations in the readings ; and it is this which has been translated by M. de Guignes. It is also repeated in the celebrated Chinese Encyclopaedia, entitled Yuen-lden-tui-han, in which we found it in London in 1830, and in the Pian-y-tien, or " Geography of Foreign Nations " ; and copies of all these highly esteemed works exist in Paris.

2. M. de Paravey, in regard to the characters Jfc |jj| (Fu-sang), has observed that Father Goncalves, in his highly esteemed Portuguese- Chinese Dictionary, translated the name Fu-sang by Papula cornuda, the argemone, or prickly-poppy of Mexico. This learned missionary, there fore, considered it a plant or shrub of America ; and this single definition may be considered as proving that the country of Fu-sang corresponds to some part of Mexico.

3. The laws of Fu-sang, which punish the children and descendants of a great criminal, have existed in China from time immemorial, and also in the countries of Asia which are tributary to China.

4. M. Klaproth recognizes the existence in Fu-sang of the Chinese cycle of sixty years ; but the researches of Father Souciet show that it existed also in India, and, in the "Journal Asiatique," of Paris, M. de Paravey has shown that it commenced in India and in China in precisely the same year. The Buddhists of India, or of the northern part of Cen tral Asia, may therefore have carried it to the country of Fu-sang, in America, and to Mexico.

5. In India, it is said, there are cattle which are harnessed to carts ; and in Kamtchatka there are reindeer, a species of stag, which draw sledges.

6. In the text, M. Klaproth, in spite of all that he says in his foot-

DE PARAVEY'S SUPPORT. 65

note, should, as we have stated in oar memoir, translate the words »M. tao (which he writes phou-thao) by "grapes," and not by the word " vines," which, among us, conveys the idea of culture. The woods of North America, in its northern and northwestern parts, abound in wild grapes, as the shaman says ; but cultivated vines were not found in Amer ica, and the text, in fact, does not say that they were.

7. The custom which required the king not to occupy himself with state affairs during the first three years of his reign was also an ancient custom in China and in Indo-China.

8. In support of his ideas, M. de Guignes has translated another pass age of the Nan-szu, which gives the route by sea from Corea to the country of Ta-Tian. M. Klaproth also translates this passage, which gives the distance from Ping-yang, the ancient capital of Corea, to Japan as 12,000 li; from that country to the land of the Wen-shin as 7,000 li; and from the last-named region to the country of Ta-han, 5,000 li.

In applying to this route by sea the same scale (as to the length of the li) which is found from the stated distance between Persepolis and Sy-ngan-fu, M. de Paravey found in fact that the distance between the mouths of the Amoor River, or the end of the island of Saghalien (which was the country of Wen-shin), and the southern part of Kamtchatka, or the land of Ta-Jian, is by this route 5,000 li; and he also found 7,000 li to be the distance between Yedo, the capital of Japan, and the mouths of the Amoor River.

The description of the route is therefore exact in these two parts ; and if it first states 12,000 li as the distance by sea between Japan and the capital of Corea, situated upon its west coast (which is evidently too great a distance), it is because the route to Japan first led to the Lieu- Ueu Islands, which are in fact situated 5,000 li from Japan and 7,000 from Corea : either this detour must be allowed, or else the length of the li must be regarded as very small; but Ta-han is none the less in Kam tchatka. And in all the hypotheses it is impossible that Japan, here de scribed by its own name, and a country perfectly well known, could have contained Fu-sang, as M. Klaproth wishes to prove.

9. A single word, when it is well chosen, amounts sometimes to a demonstration. In the Dictionary of the Language of Mexico, by the Pere Molina, a dictionary of which a copy is preserved in the British Museum at London, we have found that the word lama, or tlama, expresses the title of the " medicine-men " among the Mexicans ; and no one is ignorant that in Thibet and Tartary the lamas, or Buddhist priests, are at the same time the physicians of these countries (so little known) through which lay the route from India to Fu-sang.

CHEVALIER DE PAEAVEY. March 7, 1844. 5

CHAPTER V. DE PARAVEY'S NEW PROOFS.

De Paravey's researches preceded those of Neumann and d'Eichthal— Connection between the Malay and American languages— Fu-sang located near San Fran cisco Chinese picture of a native of Fu-sang — Spotted deer — Cattle-horns in

Mexico— Horses — Nations of Northern Asia — Appendix A — Buddhist monu ments in America— A figure of Buddha in Yucatan— The worship of Siva— The explorations of Dupaix— Foot-print in the rocks— The cause of eclipses — Pyramids — Appendix B — A Buddhist sanctuary near the Colorado River — The name Quatu-zaca — The Mexicans emigrants from the north — Appendix C— An engraving of a native of Fu-sang— The natives of Oregon— The deer of America — Connection of American and Asiatic tribes — Pearl-fishing — The cochineal insect and the nopal— The people of Cophene— American place- names which appear to contain the name Sakya.

New Proofs that the Country of Fu-sang mentioned in the Chi nese Books is America.

To the Proprietor of the "Annales de Philosophie Chretienne " : SIR : Until we have in France