the cration from shinar
TRANSCRIPT
P R E FA CE .
I‘HE following pages w ere , fo r the most
part, delivered a s lectures to working
m e n in the schoolroom at Cavers,Roxburgh
shire,but were of necessity stripped of many
t echnicalities that would have been unsuitable.
The migrations of the human race,the
law s that regulate the ocean currents, as
w ell as those of the atmosphere, and the
unity of the human race,were the ' chief
subjects dwelt upon,together with personal
adventures at d ifl'
e re n t places visited during
eight years’ cruising on the Pacific and
A ustralian stations .
x i ii PREFA CE.
What I have written has been the result
of many years’ careful study. Mr. Prescott,
speaking of the much - vexed question respect
ing the origin of the American nations, calls
it that pan s asin omm which has called
forth so much sense, and nonsense, on both
sides of the water ; and will continue to
do so,as long as a new relic or unknow n
hieroglyphic shall turn up, to irritate the
n erves of the antiquary.- Crz
°
tz'
ca l a n d H ist.
Essays, p. 2 2 7 .
Whether these pages are to be classed
under the head of sense or nonsense,I
must leave the reader to j udge ; but in
examining the various authors (a list of
whom is given), I have endeavoured to
collect as many fa cts as possible, hOpin g
thus to arrive at some probable conclusion
as to what nation o r people of the Old
Continent first trod the shores of the New .
In a previous volume,I have shown
PREFACE . ix
young students the necessity of holding fast
to the Bible as the revealed word of God ;
a n d in these days of ever- increasing sceptical
intellectualism,when human reason is exalted
a n d worshipped, and when the oracles of
the Living God are deliberately set aside, it
is necessary again and again to put them on
their guard .
New theories are always being launched
o n the troubled sea of speculation , without
being brought to the balances of the Sanc
tuary,where alone they can be measured,
weighed,and proved ; and the Proceedings of
the British A ssociation, unfortunately, from
time to time only give an impetus, l ike a
hydrau lic ram ,in assisting these wre tched craft
o ff the stocks, where they would assuredly
have stuck fast, if not thus aided , to the
everlasting chagrin of their builders .
The late Dr. Norman Macleod, whom
n obody would call narrow - minded , once ad
PREPACE .
vised some of these would - be scien tific
gentlemen to rewrite the first chapter o f
Genesis,somewhat after this fashion
I . The earth was without form and void .
2 . A meteor fell on the earth .
The result was fish , flesh, and fow l.
From these proceeded the British A sso
cia tio n .
A n d the British A ssociation pronounce d
it all tolerably good .
This is a fair specimen of the condescen d
ing manner in which some men write and
speak of the word of God .
Bishop Colenso has just published the
seventh part of his “Exam ination of the
Pentateuch ; and a more blasphemous a n d
silly work could hardly have been sent
forth by even Tom Paine : Voltaire wou ld
certainly have treated it with the utmost
contempt as unworthy of serious notice .
PREFACE . xi
The true Christian does not allow him
self to be carried away by arguments how
e ver specious, o r theories however plausible,
but.
is content to believe the testimony of
Jesus Christ Himself, when He said ,“There
is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in
w hom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses,
ye would have believed me,fo r he wrote
of me . But if ye believe n o t lzis w ritin g s ,
lzow sha ll ye be lieve my w ords (John v .
45— 47 )
If the following pages shall in any degree
cause the student to examine fo r himself
the writings of those learned men who
believe in the word of God,a n d who are
a s truly scientific as their Oppon ents who
write again st it,and thus prevent him from
abandoning his judgment blindfolded into
the hands of sceptics and free - thinkers,I
shall be more than satisfied,feeling co n
vin ced that no really unprejudiced person,
PREFACE.
seeking for light and guidance from th e
Holy Spirit,will be able to resist the testi
mony of the word of God, which liveth
and abideth for ever.
’
( 1 Peter i .
G . P.
April, 1 879.
WORKS EXAM INED .
SirC. L ye ll’s Prin ciple s ofGe ology.
A n tiquity ofMa n .
A n sted’s A n cie n tWorld.
E llis’s Polyn e sia n Re se arche s .
Co o k’sVoyage s.
M arkham’s Cuzco a n d L ima .
M a lte Brun ’s Trave ls.
Be e chy’sVoyage s.
K o tzebue ’sWa llace ’s
M aury’s Physical Ge ography o fthe Se a .
Humboldt’s Cosmos.Asia tic Re se arche s.
A n tiquitie s o fAmerica .
H e ere n’s H istorica l Re se arch e s.
Squier a n d Davis, A n cie n t Mon um e n ts o fthe MississippiVa lle y.
Ca tlin ’s North America n In dia n s.
Pre scott’s H istory ofMe xico.
nPeru.
Rivero a n d Tschudi, Peruvia n A n tiquitie s.
Macke n zie ’s Trave ls in North America .
L ord Kin g sbo rough’s A n tiquitie s ofMexico.
Stephe n s’Ce n tral America a n d Yuca ta n .
xiv WORKS EXAMINED .
Mollha use n ’s Diary.D avis’s Chin a .
Huc’s Tartary.
H erodotus.
Faber’s Hora Mo sa ica .
D e la fie ld’s A n tiquitie s ofAmerica .
Eadie ’s Orie n ta l H istory.A da ir’s North America n In dia n s.
Southey’s Bra z il .
Roya l Ge ographica l Socie ty’s Proce edin gs.
Morton ’s Cra n ia American a .
Prichard’s Physica l H istory ofMa n kin d.
Roya l Physical So cie ty’s (Edin burgh) Proce edin gs.
Turn er’s Con ge n ita l Deform itie s ofthe Huma n Cra n ia .
Bern ard Davis o n the N e a n dertha l Skul l.Wilson ’
s Prehistoric Ma n .
M ax Muller’s Scie n ce ofL a n guage .
Farrar’s Fam ilie s ofSpe ech.
Bra ce’s Ma n ua l ofEthn ology.
Kirk’s Ag e ofMa n .
Russe ll’s Po lyn e sia .
Pre scott’s H istorica l Essa ys .
Taylor’
s Na tura l History ofSocie ty.
Da w son ’
s N e w a n d Old Worlds.
Dougla s’ Errors ofRe ligion .
SirW. Jon e s’ Origin ofFam ilie s an d Na tion s .
Brya n t’s A n a lysis ofA n tie n t Mythology.
Ham ilton Smith’s Na tura l H istory ofMa n .
Ra w lin son ’s A n cie n t Re se arche s.
Smith’s A n cie n t H istory.
EXPL ANATION OF MAP .
The three co loured stars in As ia Min or in dica te the
coun try from w he n ce radia te d th e thre e son s of Noah ;
a n d o f them w a s the w ho le ea rth overspre a d. ” (Ge n .
ix. 19 A cts xvu.
JAPHETH (e n largeme n t), ye llow .
SHEM (po sse ssion ), blue .
HAM (he a t),
Red arrow s (un fe a thered) show th e TRADE WINDS.
(fe a thered) COU NTER TRADES .
Black arrow s (fe a there d) show the D IRECTION o r
CURRENTS.
Ye llo w lin e s de n ote the Arya n - spe akin g n a tion s
Blue Sem itic
Red Tura n ia n
w ith the e xception of the Phoe n icia n s, w ho spoke a
Semitic la n gua ge .
The dotted lin e s repre se n t the probable tra cks o f
migra tion .
CO N TEN TS .
PAGE
1 . INTRODU CTION
TIIE DISPERSION FROM SHINAR
EARLY M IGRATIONS To AMERICA
EARLY M IGRATIONS To AMERICA (co n tin ued)
TIIE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF MEXICO
VI . THE ANCIENT INHABITANTS OF PERU
VI I . CRAN IAL PECU LIARITIES OF THE AMERICAN
NATIONS
VI I I . CONCLU SION
IN TROD UCTION .
HE Holy Scriptures, God’s revealed word
to man,inform us that the human race
proceeded originally from one pair,namely
,
Adam and Eve. The Holy Spirit, speaking
by Moses,says
,A dam called his wife’s name
Eve,because she w a s the mother of all living ”
(Gen . i ii . A lso, after the destruction of
this race by the deluge, except eight persons,
which fact is attested by Job,Isaiah
,St . Paul
,
an d St . Peter, and above all by our Saviour,
w e read, the sons of Noah,that went forth
o f the ark, were Shem, and Ham,and Japheth
a n d Ham is the father of Canaan. These a re
the three sons of Noah and of them was the‘
w hole earth overspread (Gen . ix . I 8 ,
Later on,the same Spirit
,speaking by St.
7THE AU G/CA T104VFRO.” SH IN/1R.
Paul , says,
“A n d hath made of one blood all
nations of men , for to dwell on all the earth ;
and hath determin ed the times before ap
pointed,a n d the bounds of their habitation
(A cts I 7 ,
Thus to every thoughtful and de vout mind
the fact is fo r ever settled as to the unity of our
race,and the investigations of men of lea rn
ing and research have but tended to prove this
from time to time .
It is,however
,the fashion among a certain
class of shallow minds to throw overboard
these plain and explicit statements, and to
treat with contempt those gran d truths con
ta in e d in the Bible . To such me n it is useless
to appeal to the labours of Sir \V. Jones and
Dr. Prichard,o r to the works of Paley
,Bryant
,
or Faber,because they are willingly ignorant
,
”
and boldly se t forth t/ceories and opin io n s with
a s much assurance a s if they were fa cts and
The sceptical geolog ist, e th n o lo gist, o r com
para tive anatomist, like his brother theologian ,
INTROD UCTI ON .
condescend to tell us that these learn ed men
we have mentioned were very well in their
day, but that n o w ,with o ur superior l ight and
know ledge,the results of their investigations
a re quite antiquated in fact,the science and
theology of these gentlemen,like the College
of Surgeons in Mol iere’s play of “The Mock” gDoctor, proceed on an entire new principle. ’
Much nonsense has been written on this new
principle, but there is nothing n e w under the
sun : men have cavilled at the Divine state
ments,and at those whose investigations in
science have proved them correct,from the
earliest times ; but in the present day they
seem to have grow n somewhat bolder,and
make assertions with as much confidence and
gravity as if they were stating serious facts ;
and the result is,young students are entrapped
into the belief that they have an undoubted
and established authority fo r what they say,
and which is of course taken fo r granted when
Professor is prefixed o r appended
to their name s.
6 THE M IGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
The discussions upon arrow- headed flin ts,
ancient pottery,bo nes of extinct animals, and
human skulls,have been very ingenious, and
occasionally amusing,but the arguments o f
those who are endeavouring to prove that
the human race existed upon this earth five
hundred thousand years ago, a re not o nly far
from convincing,but in many instances simply
childish.
The Darwinian theory has its devoted fo l
lowers, who go to far greater lengths than
Mr. Darwin himself.
A gain , the A tomic theory is one of the
purest conjecture ; but, nevertheless, those who
believe that by some happy accident life was
conveyed to this planet in some che mical com
bination, are very numerous ; not that many
perhaps have really examined the matter very
closely, but have been content to take fo r
granted the monstrous statements which have
from time to time been advanced in its favour.
It often happens that pupils will outrun their
masters, and be quite content to take his hints
IN TROD UCTI ON
fo r assertions, and to dogmatize where he
only had advanced a conjecture.
Nevertheless,it is certain that Sir John
Lubbock,Professor Huxley, Mr. Darwin ,
and
Sir C . Lyell,together with many other learned
men,have much to answer for in leading the
youth of this country away from the solid
ground of true belief,into those dangerous
quicksands of speculative error which can only
end in the shipwreck of all their best hopes
when the day comes in which these dreams will
be put to the test, and when these miserable
cobwebs of so - called science will be swept away
by the judgment of the Great Day.
The Bible was not given us as a text - book
for astronomy, geology, o r chemistry,but to
teach us our duty to o ur Creator,and to tell
us of the glorious salvation wrought for us
by o ur Saviour Jesus Christ,for all those w ho
believe in and accept Him as their Redeemer
and A dvocate ; but, at the same time, it is
equally certain that al l true scie n ce will but
confirm and establish what God has deigned
8 THE MIGRA TION FROJI SHINAR.
to reveal to us,fo r the Scripture cannot be
broken and despite all tha t ha s been written
against it,all the insinuations and sneers
launched in opposition to its truths,
“the
word of o ur Go d shall stand for e ver.”
Speculative philosophy, l ike speculative theo
logy, grows every year more wild but a s true
science is unfolded by careful and laborious
re search, as each thre ad of the seemingly
tangled skein is patiently unravelled,so surely
do we find the works of God corresponding
with His word .
A well - balanced mind is content to examine
and wa it, until fre sh facts are accumulated
which warrant its arriving at some satisfactoryconclusion .
Perhaps no instance is more indicative o f
warning in late years than that given by the
famous Neanderthal skull, o r calvarium, and o n
which such a hasty verdict has been given by
some who would certainly not have accepted
such solitary and unsupported evidence on any
point affecting their o w n interests.
t o THE MIGRA TION FRO! ! SH IN/IR.
too e arly o ssifica tion of a suture , the deve lopme n t o f theskull is arre sted in the diame ter perpe n dicular to tha tsuture .
”— Tbc N ea n dertha l Skull I ts peculiar Co nforma tio n expla i n ed a n a tomica lly .
A n d yet, on this, and on some other equal ly
unsupported geological data,the human race
is to be thrown back into the dark mists o f
unknown centuries,even to so remote a period
as the M ioce n e epoch
The progressive development of animals a n d
plants may or may not be true, but until some
more satisfactory evidence is forthcom ing tha n
we have at present, we must state our firm
conviction as to the falsity of the whole theory .
But be this as it may,none of these specula
tions hold good as to man : man stands alo ne
and distinct from the other creations of Go d ,
and,as Professor Hitchcock truly observes
,
Could a sin gle e xample be produced in w hich a
human embryo stopped a t a n d be came an in se ct, o r a
fish , or a mon key, there m ight be some pla usibility inthe supposition . But it is a s certa in to be come a ma n
,
a s the sun is to rise a n d se t a n d, therefore , the human
con ditio n re sults from la w s a s fixe d a s tho se tha t regula tethe moveme n ts ofthe he ave n ly bodie s.
IN TRODU CTI ON . I t
It is astonishing how much me n will take
for granted in the writings of others when
coinciding with their own opinions, and the
encomiums that have been lavished on “The
A ntiquity of Man ,” if bestowed solely on the
study and research it contains,would be fair
enough , but when applied to the conclusions
at which Sir Charles Lyell arrives are lament
able in the extreme . If the learned author
had been a devout believer in the Bible,all
his w onderful research and carefully gathered
evidence would have been used on the side
of truth but, unfortunately, the reverse is the
case,and his admirers and followers are blinded
as to the many absurdities that his work co n
tains. These have been ably exposed by Dr.
Kirk, of Edinburgh, in his work called “The
A g e of Man .
” In it he shows the fallacy of
th e conclusions that Sir Charles arrived at and
lays ba re, with no unkind hand, many of the
glaring inconsistencies and defective reasoning
of the late great geologist.
One in particular,The argument from the
I : THE JI IGRA TION FRO.” SH INAR.
growth of Peat,is a fair specimen of the way
plain facts are distorted to suit a preconceived
t heory.
The accumulation (growth is an incorrect
w ord to use) of peat has been made to serve
the purpose of throwing back the existence of
the human race long anterior to the seven
thousand years of the Bible account : indee d,
what with the deposits in caverns, and fra g
ments of pottery, with an occasional skull or
two,man roamed the earth somewhere abo ut
five hun dred thousand years ago, according to
the computations o f these learned men . Let
the following facts speak fo r themselves
To give the re ader a n in te llige n t view o f th e a rgu
m e n t w hich sprin gs from the pe a t, it is n e ce ssary toe xpla in its forma tion . The re is a large Cla ss o f pla n tsw hose roots are n a tura lly con verte d in to carbon ,
.
a s
the pla n ts themse lve s grow o n the surfa ce of la n d or
w a ter. If you take upo n e of the se pla n ts w ith a go odlon g portion of its root, you fin d tha t th e low er portion - fl
o f tha t root ha s be come bla ck, o r, in other w ords,ha s
be e n carbon ized. It is this black substa n ce , or carbon,
w h ich forms the spe cia l in gre die n t in a ll re al pe a t .Whe n this ha s be e n forme d by the n a tura l grow th of
the pe a t - pro ducin g pla n ts, it ha s the effe ct of car
INTROD UCTION . I 3
bo n iz in g , to a gre a t e xte n t,a ll vege table substa n ce s
aroun d w hich it ga thers . Eve n‘the he art of o ak
’
tha t ha s got imbedde d in it be come s black a s coa l,
a n d is pre serve d a s a substa n ce w h ich is a lmoste n tire ly compose d of carbon . There is thus a doublein cre a se se cured fo r the ma ss
,w hich is a ll regarde d a s
a grow in g pea t. So lon g as the pe a t- producin g pla n tsare grow in g o n the surfa ce , the se are addin g the ircarbon ized roo ts to the bulk be n e a th ; a n d so lon ga s the ir stems a n d other proportion s, toge ther w itha ll addition a l vege ta ble ma tter tha t may m in gle w iththe se , are fa llin g or floa tin g in to the bog, so lon g thepe a ty a ccumula tion in cre a se s in volume .
I t w ill be carefully observe d here,tha t the pe a t i tse lf
(w he n on ce fa irly formed by the carbon izin g o f its
livin g producers) do es n o t g row . It n o more doe s so
tha n the kin dred substa n ce of co a l grow s in the m in e,
o r the bed in to w hich the m in e is drive n .
If the pla n ts o n its surfa ce are remove d, or killed,
in a n y w ay, a n d n o further supplie s ofvege table ma tterare in troduced, the pe a t must rema in a s it is w ithoutfurther in cre a se . It is con seque n tly un true , in strictla n guage , tha t pe a t grow s,
’ though it is true tha t it isin cre a se d, a s it is produce d, by the grow th ofvege ta tiono n its surfa ce .
Fa ilin g to observe this very obvious truth, a s w e
sha ll se e , le d SirCharle s L ye ll, a n d his Fre n ch frie n d,M . Boucher de Perthe s, in to a very ludicrous m istake .
Whe n the bla ck or carbon ace ous ma tte r, w hich is
properly ca lle d pe a t, ha s be e n forme d, it m ixe s e a silyw ith w a ter, makin g tha t ye llow , or brow n , or bla ck, or
14 THE AI IGRA TION FROllI SHIN/IR.
m iry, so as to cause the m ixture to be like thick tarin appe ara n ce .
“I n a part ofRe n fre w shire , w ha t the coun try pe ople
ca ll grule pea ts are formed o ut of this mixture , bybe in g simply lifte d in portio n s be tw e e n the tw o ha n ds
,
a n d la id in order o n the turf, to be baked by the he a tof the sun . In this sta te pe a t mo sse s, like o ther liquidso r semi - liquids, ‘
se e k the ir leve ls,’ a n d flo w from highero n to low er be ds, a s the forma tion of the surfa ce a llow s .
He n ce a de e p hollow is fille d, n o t o n ly by the grow tho f the pe a t- pro ducin g pla n ts o n the surface o f the
w a ter or marsh immed ia te ly above , but from the flo w
of pe a t from higher to low er groun d. This cause s the
surfa ce of vast region s of pe a t to b e quite fla t, w h ilethe bottoms o n w hich they lie are very far from be in gso . It cause s a lso the thickn e sse s of the same mass o f
pe a t to be extreme ly un e qua l.“It a ccoun ts, too, for beds of pe a t passin g do w n the
mpin g be a ch, a n d ge ttin g be n e a th the se a , w here n o
pe a t- producin g vege ta tion ever gro w s.
“It se ems n e arly in cre dible tha t a ma n of SirCharle sL ye ll’s scie n tific sta n din g should a llow himse lf to re a sona s if he w ere profoun dly ign ora n t of a ll the se obviouscon dition s of pe a t forma tion .
For example , w he n spe akin g of a n a ccumula tion of
pe a t, of w hich he make s a very gre a t de a l, h e sa ys‘The w orkme n w ho cut pe a t, or dredge it upfrom the
bottom of sw amps or pon ds, de clare tha t in the courseo f the ir live s n on e of the hollo w s w hich the y haveformed, or cause d by e xtra ctin g pe a t
,have ever be e n
refilled, eve n to a sma ll exte n t. The y de n y, therefore ,
IN TRODUCTI ON 1 ;
tha t the pe a t grow s. This, a s M. Boucher de Perthe sobserve s, is a m istake , but it implie s tha t the in cre a sein o n e ge n era tion is n o t very a ppre cia ble by the un
scie n tific.
”— A n tiquity ofM a n , p . I 10 .
O n ly le t us n ote th is,” says Dr. Kirk, “a s a spe cim e n of the adva n ce d kn ow le dge a n d mode o f re a sonin g by w hich the Bible is to be remove d from the
be lief a n d con fide n ce ofma n . The w orkme n w ere
right,a n d the y properly use d the la n guage , pe a t doe s
n o t grow .
’ The ‘un scie n tific happe n ed, in this ca se
,
to have re ta in e d the ir common se n se , but the scie n
tific w ere w ron g— the ‘educa te d ha d a llow e d the ir
w its to g o w ool- ga therin g ! A n d ye t the se are the
ge n tle a w e are in vited to follow w he n w e le ave the
B ible , in order to e n joy the privilege of adva n ce dvie w s ’ — T/ze A g e of M a n , pp. 67
—70 .
It is but fair to the memory of Sir C . Lyell
to state that he candidly acknowledged his
error to ProfessorKirk .
The absurd conclusions at which many have
but too readily arrived, owing to hasty and
preconceived judgment, are clearly i llustrated
by Dr. Duns, in a paper read by him
before the Royal Society of Edinburgh on
the 1 7 th March , 1 862,and four years before
Dr. Kirk wrote the “The A g e of Man .
” I t
goes far to show the need of caution and
16 THE I’ll /ORA T1ON FROJI SH IN /IR.
modesty in advancing theories about peat
accumulations .
The following extract is an account of a
landslip that took place in Scotland
A bout 7 AM . on Monday, A ugust 1 2 , 1 86 1 ,
a young man about to cross the A uchin g ray
moss, Lanarkshire, heard all around him a
noise like that of the se a
“L ookin g up the moss to the w e st, he w a s surprise da n d a larmed to n otice , a s he sa id, the w hole bo g sin kin ga n d risin g in a w avy w ay fo r some m in ute s
,a n d the n
bre akin g upw ith a loud
Dr. Duns visited the place a few day later,
and made the following observations“The a re a se t in motion may be roughly e stima te d
a s about 300 fe e t broad a t B B, a n d 1 320 in le n gth from A
o n the w e st to A d o n th e e a st. I n its course it me t w ithe leva tion s a t C C. The most form idable of the se lie s o n
the n orth side . This gave the flo w a dire ction to th esouth, a n d le d to the deposit of the ton gue marked D
,
w hich is about 1 60 fe e t lon g by 1 10 fe e t broa d, a n d is
ma de upofma sse s o fpe a t from 1 foot to 4 fe e t thick.“Whe n the so il se t in motion by th e slip re a che d the
e xtreme south o f the ton gue ma rke d D, it aga in turn ed
n orth,a n d
,be n din g n orth by e a st, it me t a pla n ta tion of
Scotch firs, w hich stre tche s from the highw ay dow n tothe stre am w hich dra in s the moss.
I 8 THE MIGRA T1ON FROM SHIN/IR.
A fe w of the tre e s have be e n carried severa l yardsforw ard, a n d n o w sta n d in a n upright po sitio n , a s ifthey had n o t be e n moved from the ir pla ce . Some
have be e n vio le n tly thrust top do w n w ards in to the
un derlyin g clay. Others have be e n place d horizo nta lly ou the edge o f arre ste d lumps ofpea t. The flo wa t this poin t covered part of a n other corn fie ld. A
little to the n orth of A d,it fille d a w hin sto n e (trap)
quarry 15fe e t de e p a t F. A t the n arrow n e ck E E, the
de pth o f the flo w w a s more tha n 1 2 fe e t . Turn in g thisn e ck, it me t the L imeridge ra ilw ay— a min era l trafficbra n ch of the Slama n n a n lin e— sw ept part of it aw ay,covered a large portion of it, a n d did much damage toa third corn fie ld lyin g n orth- e a st of the lin e .
Turn in g from the L imeridge ra ilw ay, the flow filleda sma ll n a tura l ba sin , marke d G G. Ma n y of the lumpsleft here w ere of gre a t size . On e me a sure d 7 fee t by
4 fe e t, a n d w a s n e arly 6 fe e t de ep . A t H, o n the e a st
o f this ba sin , gre a t qua n titie s offlow w ere carrie d in toBin n iehill Burn . As the stre am a t this poin t is co n fin edby ste ep ba n ks, the floa ted pe a t must have be e n 6 fe e tde ep, judgin g from the tra ce s it left o n both side s.
A t 1, it e n tered the haugh de scribe d (by a youn g lad)a s w ide a s Clyde a t Bro omie law bridge .
’
The n ext pla ce favourable to the flo w spre adin g,
o ccurs in the haugh (fla t groun d n e ar a river) oppo siteBin n ieh ill House , w hich stre tche s dow n in the dire ctionof the Avon , o n the e a st of Slama n n a n village . Here
it covere d the highw ay a t tw o poin ts, a n d left in ma n ypla ce s about 2 fe e t of pe a t o n the top of soil w hichhad be e n un der cultiva tion .
IN TRODUCTI ON . I9
On visitin g the district la st mon th, I n oticed tha tth e part marke d D o n the pla n ha s a lre a dy begun tolose ma n y of the chara cte ristic marks of disturba n ce ,a n d is fa st a ssum in g a ll the appe ara n ce s o f a re gularlyfo rme d gradua l de posit.
N o w , w ere m in in g or other opera tion s to le ad toth e Ope n in g up of this sixty o r seve n ty ye ars he n ce , thesurfa ce ge ologist m ight fin d in the se ction ma te ria ls forge n e ra liza tio n s ofthe most startlin g kin d.
A section made to the surfa ce of the trap w ouldreve a l the follow in g poin ts,— blue clay
, severa l fe e t ofpe a t
,a grey soil havin g embe dde d in it the stra w a n d
g ra in s o f the common o a t, a n d, o n the tapofa ll, pe a t,
say six fe e t thick.
P e a t, the observer m ight affirm ,is deposited a t the
ra te of o n e foot in thickn e ss in thre e hun dred ye ars.
This la yer sho w s a ll the evide n ce s of gradua l depositthrough lon g ce n turie s ! Six fe e t in thickn e ss, it te llsthe in tere stin g ta le o f e ighte e n hun dre d ye ars.
OurCa le don ia n forefa thers must the n have be e n muchm isre pre se n te d by the Roma n s. A t the period of the
Roma n in va sion the Ce lts could n o t have be e n rudesavage s. Proofs are before us w hich w ould sa tisfy themost sceptica l. They w ere devote d to a griculture .
H ere are distin ct tra ce s of A ve n a sa tiw z ! Tha t ironin strume n t embedde d in the gre y soil— a rude form
, n o
doubt, of our highly polished a n d curved barrow - tooth— be ars w itn e ss to con siderable progre ss in the usefularts
Such re a son in g is n o t un common,ba sed o n da ta
a lmost a s re liable a s those furn ished by the Auchin gra y
20 THE MIGRA TION FROIVSHINAR.
la n dslip.— Edin burg h N ew Phi losophica l fourh a l , vo l.
xvi No . 1 , July, 1 862.
The works of Dr. Lawrence and Colonel
Hamilton Smith on the Natural History of
Man , together with some others of less note,
have done much harm in the unbelief they
display regarding the most explicit statements
of the Bible and although written some years
ago,have nevertheless been too often used as
text - books by those whose opinions un fo rtu
n a te ly coincide with theirs in tacitly assuming
the Holy Scriptures are only partly inspired,
and that consequently the accounts contained
in them are not worthy of credence.
The former celebrated anatomist o f the
Royal College of Surgeons in London,in his
lectures alluding to the difference in the races
of mankind, asks the questions,“A re these
all brethren Have they descended from one
stock ! or must we trace them to more than
one ! a n d, if so , how many A dams must we
admit
He then quotes the opinion of Voltaire,who
INTROD UCTI OI’V. 2 I
he deems of far greater credit than Moses,and
adds
The Mosa ic a ccoun t do e s n o t, how ever, make it quiteclea r tha t the in habita n ts of a ll the w orld de sce n de dfrom Adam a n d Eve . More over, the e n tire or eve n
partial in spira tion of the various w ritin gs comprehe n dedin th e Old Te stame n t, has be e n a n d is do ubted by ma n ype rson s, in cludin g le arn ed divin e s, a n d distin gu ishe do rie n ta l a n d biblica l scholars. — N a tura l H istory ofM a n
,pp. 209
— 2 13.
Colonel Smith does not so openly impugn
th e Bible account,but he unmistakably
’
lets us
k now his Opinion . He says
“A lthough the existe n ce ofma n upon the fa ce of the
e a rth, to a very remo te perio d, ca n n ot be de n ied, it stillrema in s a que stion in systema tic zoology, w he ther ma nkin d is w ho lly derived from a sin gle spe cie s, divide d bys tro n gly marke d varie tie s, or sprun g succe ssive ly or
s imulta n e ous ly from a ge n us havin g n o le ss tha n thre edi stin ct spe cie s, syn chron isin g in the ir cre a tion , orproduced by the ha n d of n a ture a t d iffere n t epochs, e a cha da pted to the pe culiar con dition s of its perio d, a ll eud ow ed w ith the pow er of in termix in g a n d reproducin gfi lia tio n s, up to a certa in exte n t, in harmon y w ith the
in termedia te lo ca tio n s w hich circumsta n ce s, soil, clima tea n d fo od n e ce ssita te .
— Na tura l H istory of the H uma n
Now,if there had been several centres o f
22 THE M IGRA TION FROM SHIN/IR.
creation,to which pair do es the account in
Genesis refer ! Which A dam and Eve is there
mentioned Did all the pairs of human be ings
thus placed in difl'
e re n t parts of the earth fall
into sin by disobeying God’s command,and
were they all driven forth from their re
spe ctive Edens ! Suppo sing these questions
answered satisfactorily, there is stil l the
Deluge to get over, which swept away all
these races.
I have pointed out in a previous book the
insuperable difli cultie s that exist in accepting
these theories, even on purely exegetical
grounds,and altogether apart from that faith
w hich is necessary to understand the Divine
records ; an d I am not intending to go over
the old ground,except so far as quoting a fe w
passages that bear on the subject . The unity
of design throughout the whole Bible is so
marvellous, that’
those who rej ect it on the
grounds of its being a human composition , a n d,
consequently, not divinely inspired, must be
credulous indeed .
INTR OD UCTION . 23
Ca n any of these sceptics point out a n y
monuments,inscriptions, or records, that dis
prove a single statement in the word of God !
No t one ; or they would most certainly
parade them incessantly before us in triumph ;
but not one single circumstance can be brought
forward. On the contrary,every monument
,
inscription,and record, so far as we have
been enabled to decipher them, have only
confirmed its truth,and in the most t e
markable manner ; nay, more— they have
actually Cleared up some of the Scriptural
diflicultie s which had for so long perplexed
us.
A n d yet we are asked to throw overboard
the word of God,and cling to the statements
of men,who
,although possessed of great
talents,have set themselves in direct opposition
to the Bible !
I t is insulting to our reason and common
sense,to say nothing as to the utter shipwreck
ofour faith,and of everything we hold dear, to
expect us to cast adrift from those moorings
24 THE AIIGRA TI ON FROJI SH INA R.
so firm and secure, fixed on the Rock of A ges,
and to drift away,without chart, compass, or
rudder, on the dark and unknown sea of un
belief.
I I .
THE DI SPERSION FROM SH INAR.
HE most ancient genealogical tree of the
human race is found in the fifth chapter
of Genesis the generations of A dam and
the next one that is given,namely, in the
tenth Chapter, together with the first chapter
in the first book of Chronicles,will be the
o n e we now have to consider. The descend
an ts of Noah were destined by God to over
spread the w hole ea rth . Be ye fruitful,and
multiply and replenish the earth A n d
yo u, be ye fruitful, a n d multiply ; bring forth
abundantly in the earth,and multiply therein
(Ge n . ix . 1,
We must go back to this old family record
for any true and reliable information we want
in regard to the descendants of Noah.
28 THE AI IGRA TION FRO.” SHINAR.
It has been well pointed out that a careful
study of ancient history,based on the biblical
account,wil l show that the material civil iza
tion of the world was beg un by the race of
Ham, put to the highest uses by the race of
Shem,and
,if the phrase may be allowed
, popu
la riz ed and made the handmaid of e nergetic
progress by the race of Japhe th, to w hom
Noah’s prophecy gave the highest development
of worldly greatness .” Smith’
s A n tieut'H istory,
p. 48 .
The post- diluvia n s were n o t to co nfine
themselves to any one particular district,as
they evidently wished to do : thus the A lmig hty,
to frustrate their intention , gave to each family
a different language,or three distinct offsho o ts
from the original tongue in which they had
spoken.
The researches of learned philologists co n
firm this,
showing that in course of years
branch dialects issued from these three.
Cuvier classes them a s Caucas ian, Mongolian ,
and Ethiopian .
THE DISPERSI ON FROM SHINAR. 29
Prichard by cranial formation , as Oval o r
elliptical,Pyramidal, and Prognathous.
Colonel Hamilton Smith classes them as
1 . Be arded type ; 2 . Beardless type ; 3. Woolly
haired type.
Dr. Latham,while making seven divisions
,
classes them under three heads, as A tla n t idze ,
Iape tidae, and Mo n g o lidm.
In like manner,with regard to lang uage,
Sir William Jones classes them as Sanscrit,
Arabic, Sclavo n ic or Tartarian . Professor Max
Mul ler, as A ryan, Semitic, and Turanian .
These authorities all agree that the human
race sprang from three bra n ches of o n e pare n t
Sir W. Jones remarks,
First, tha t the various la n guage s of the w orld are
trace a ble to thre e primitive on e s tha t the se are e sse n
tially differe n t in the ircon struction from e ach other but
tha t a ll the lan guage s ofA sia a n d of the w orld fin a llyresolve themse lve s in to the se . Se con d, tha t the severa ln a tio n s ofma n kin d are
,in a similar ma n n er, foun d to
have de sce n ded from thre e distin ct ra ce s, or fam ilie s.
A n d,thirdly, tha t there is amme rea so n for be lievin g
tha t those severa l tribe s ofma n kin d, a n d those severa l
30 THE AIIGRA TION FROA! SHINAR.
primitive la n guage s, are cle a rly trace d to , a n d are foun dto have ema n a ted from,
a n cie n t Ira n — a n importa n t district, a n d w hich is ge o graphica lly the same a s thatde scribe d in the Scripture s a s the pla in s of Shin ar.
Orig i n of Families a n d N a tio n s, vo l . ii i., pp. 34, 53,
The fallacy of supposing that difl'
e re n t pairs
of human beings were originally place d by the
A lmighty in different localities, is apparent to
e very devout and intelligent mind . The Bible
not only most distinctly teaches the contrary,
but the learned researches of men,whose
w ritings cannot be g a in saye d, also testify that
all races of men a re bre thren ; that we are
of one blood and that our common father
w a s made in the “l ikeness of God,
” a little
lower than the ange ls and instead of being
created in a low, savage, and barbarous state,
he w a s, on the contrary, endowed with the
greatest intelligence, moulded in perfect sym
metry and physical beauty,— in fact,the last
,
and certainly most wonderful, of the Creator’
s
handiwork .
Following the Septuagint text,which was
THE DISPERSION FR sHINA R. 3:
alw ays quoted by our Lord and His apostles,
w e fin d that the period during which the ante
di l u via n s possessed the earth was 2 232 years
an d by the light of the fourth chapterof Genesis ,
We fin d that they had made no inconsiderable
Pro gress in the arts and sciences
The a tta in me n ts of the a n tediluvia n s in the arts,
M 3f s Dr. Co x,“appe ar to have be e n con siderable . The
8m e ltin g of me ta ls is me n tion e d, a n d a sort of com
1“u n ity, (a s w e un dersta n d th e sa cred historia n ,) w ho ,
ill t he time ofTuba l-Ca in , the seve n th in de sce n t fromAd a m
, w ere artificers in bra ss a n d iron (Ge n . iv.
A t the same perio d, a n d in the same fam ily, w e re ad°f a remarkable proficie n cy in the scie n ce ofmusic, a n dth e terms used are probably ge n eric ; the w ord w hichWe ren der ‘ harp me a n in g a ll strin ge d in strume n ts, a n dth e other, re n dere d ‘ orga n
,
’a ll w i n d in strume n ts.
Jo s ephus,” he con tin ue s,ha s some le arn e d fablin g o n
th e skill ofSe th in the scie n ce of astron omy ; hierog lyPh i e pillars of his erection be in g, a s tha t historia n sta te s,e l 'flta n t in his o w n time . Certa in it is, tha t of a ll the
fe i e n ce s a stron omy appe ars to have be e n e arly kn ow n"1
grea t pe rfe ction . The a strology of the Cha ldma n sY e s the daughter of the true scie n ce , w e ca n n ot doubt
,
If its other pare n t w a s superstition ; a n d the H in doo°b $erva tio n s w hich have be e n re ce n tly made kn ow n to“S
, argue a very e arly a cqua in ta n ce w ith the he ave n s .
Th e most un equivoca l proof, how ever, o f the sta te of
a t i t ediluvian scie n ce , is foun d in the ce lebra ted w ork of
32 THE AI IGRA TION FRO/l! SHIN /IR.
Noah, the buildin g of the ark. This ve sse l, re cko n in ge ighte e n in che s on ly to the cubit, by w hich it is de scribed,w ould be of the e n ormous burde n of to n s, equa lto about the burde n of e ighte e n of ourfirst - ra te me n - of
w ar. No w , though the comma n d to co n struct such a
ve sse l in the hea rt of a co n tin e n t m ight w e ll be , a s itw a s , divin e , a n d some dire ctio n s w ere a ppe n de d to the
comma n d re spectin g its size a n d structure, w e a pprehe n d
tha t n o person w ho ha s n o t be e n profe ssio n a lly accus
tomed to ship- buildin g, in our o w n time s, w ould verysuccessfully e n gage in the task of the pa triarch, upo nhis in struction s ; a n d w e have n o re a son to suppo sethere w a s a n ythin g supern a tura l in his skill .”— SacredH istory a n d Biog raphy, p . 36.
We may consider it certain that Noah a n d
his three sons were in possession of whatever
learning and knowledge then existed on the
earth. Moreo ver, we can well believe tha t that
preacher of righteousness,” on receiving the
command of God to prepare the ark,was suf
ficie n tly well skilled to direct those about him
in the execution of the work.
A dam died in the year of the world in
the renovation of the earth from its chaotic
state, Gen . i . 9 30 , and would consequently
be contemporary with Lamech,the father of
34 THE M IGRA TION FROM SH IN A R.
up in one short sentence from the word of
God : God sa w the w ickedn ess of ma n w as
g rea t in the earth, a n d tha t every imag in a tion
of the thoug hts of his hea rt w as o n ly evil co n
tin ua lly (Gen . vi .
Even after the Divine wrath had been
poured out upon a guilty world, and the
Deluge had swept aw ay these races, we find
Ham,the youngest son of Noah, no better
than he w a s before. Sin dwelt within the
ark,and soon its effects were seen in those
who,we are told , were of one language a n d
of one speech and thus it came to pass that
from the plains of Shin ar the Lord scattered
them abroad from thence upon the face of all
the earth ”
(Gen . xi .
In Genesis xi . 1,w e read that the whole
earth w a s of one lan guage and of one speech.
”
What language was this ! Was it the same
as that spoke n by Jehovah to A dam when He
walked with him in Eden in the cool of the
day
Many philologists who scout the idea that
THE DISPERSI ON FROM SH INA R. 35
Hebrew was the primitive tongue of mankind ,
simply on account of the comparative po om e ss
of its construction , its utter vagueness and
mistiness,its almost penurious absence of moral
and temporal d istinctions,” would point to the
more perfect A ryan a s being more worthy of
the language first given to man by his Creator,
w hile some would have us believe that A dam
derived h is speech from imitating the cries of
the different animals around him !
It is extraord inary that the author of the
Life of Christ should say,
“Whe the r ultima te ly a ll la n guage s are n o t dia le cts o f
on e— w he ther m ille n n iums ba ck, in the impe n e trablen ight o f age s, there eve r w a s a period w he n a ll the
repre se n ta tive s of th e e n tire huma n fam ily (if such
repre se n ta tive s the re w ere ) e xpre sse d themse lve s in the
same forms o f spe e ch— is a que stion w hich w ill ce rtain ly n ever be se ttled, a n d w hich a s certa in ly there isn o shadow of lin guistic evide n ce to prove .
”— Fami lies
qfSpe ech, p. 56.
Surely Canon Farrar must have forgotten
the verse quoted above in Genesis xi . 1,and
the history of the dispersion from Babel .
The matter ha s been settled by God H im
36 THE M IGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
self, and placed on record , and all the philo
lo g ists in the world cannot disprove it.
It however by no means follows that A dam
w a s given a language that to us seems the
most perfect,one bit more than he w as given
a suit of broadcloth, o r a handsome modern
residence to dwell in . He w a s clothed with
the skins of beasts, coats of skins,” and other
wise placed in a position to labour and earn
his bread by the sweat of his brow,whether
by agriculture or by hunting, and it is there
fore more probable that his la n guage and that
of the antediluvians w a s of the simplest form,
in fact,belonging to what we should c lass
under the head of Turanian,perhaps approach
ing the monosyllabic Chine se, o r the a g g luti
nating Samoydic, from which in process of time
w a s born the stately Semitic a n d the flexible
a n d more perfe ct A ryan .
A s we have alre ady se en , the present
languages a re classed under three heads,
namely,Turan ian , Semitic, a n d A ryan . Some
confusion has arisen with rega rd to the former
THE DISPERSI ON FROM SH INAR. 37
name, as it cannot be said to belong to a
family,a s a multitude of languages and dialects
are included under this class but it is a name
that has been adopted fo r want of a better
the term A llophylian , however, used by
Prichard, can easily be bracketed with it, as
indicating the languages spoken by the human
family that cannot be classed as eitherA ryan
or Semitic .
The following a re the three classes of
speech
From “lord,
” in the Sa n scrit, or the
w ord AR, to plough,” — con sistin g o fARYAN
the I n die a n d Ira n ic ton gue s, a n d
be lon gin g to the fam ily of Japhe th.
Con sistin g of those la n guage s spoke n
SEM ITICby th e ra ce s tha t spra n g from Shem
,
viz .
, Elam,A sshur, Arpha xad, L ud,
a n d Aram .
So ca lled from Tfirfin, the barbarous
TU RANIAN, coun trie s “outside ”or be yon d Ira n
or a n d the Arya n s,— co n sistin g of a ll th eALLOPHYLIAN other la n gua ge s, a n d sprin gin g from
both Ham a n d Japhe th.
(Se e Map.)
38 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHIN/IR.
Professor Max Muller, in speaking o f the
science of language, says,“I t leads us up to tha t highe st summit from w he n ce
w e se e in to the very da w n o f ma n’
s life o n e arth, a n dw here the w ords w hich w e have he ard so ofte n from the
days of our childhood A n d the w hole e arth w as of
o n e la n guage a n d of o n e spe e ch — assume a me a n in gmore n a tura l, more in te lligible , more co n vin cin g, tha nthe y everhad before .
”— Vo l. i.,p. 409.
It would be well for those who have got
far ahead of the Bible, (if we are to judge
by their language) to ponder over the above
passage from the work of the greatest l iving
philologist.“Whe ther,” says Mr. Sm ith,“the Tura n ia n ra ce w a s
n e arer to the Hamitic or to the Semitic family,is o n e
o f the most difficult problems ofEthn o log y. The mostprobable o pin ion se ems to be tha t the Tura n ia n w a s the
stage of Spe e ch w hich th e differe n t ra ce s carrie d w iththem w he n the y first left the ir primeva l se a ts ; tha t itw a s deve loped by the ra ce o fHam
,w ho , a s the e arlie st
Cultiva tors o fscie n ce a n d art, w ould be the first to re quiren e w fo rms ofla n guage , in to the stage se e n in the Ham iticdia le cts of A frica a n d Southern A sia ; a n d tha t the sew e re aga in mod ifie d , by con ta ct w ith Semitic ra ce s, in tothe forms ofspe e ch ca lle d Semitic. The Arya n la n guage sse em to have pa sse d o ut o f the Tura n ian stage by a stillmore dire ct proce ss.
”— A n cie n t H i story , p . 54.
THE DISPERSION FROM SH INAR. 39
This opinion is fully endorsed by Dr. Daw
son, o f Montreal,in his interesting papers
contributed to the L e isure Hour of 1 8 7 4. He
says,
“The time is probably approa chin g w he n it w ill bea dm itte d tha t a ll la n guage s are radica lly the same , a n d
tha t the y a ll have the ir roots in those archa ic forms o fspe e ch to w hich w e apply the term Tura n ia n . Whe n ce
this un ity of spe e ch ! Ca n it have sprun g from the in depe n de n t grow th o fthought a n d la n guage in ma n yce n tre s ,o rfrom the slow deve lopme n t o f spe e ch through coun tle ss ge n e ra tion s of sem i - bruta l a n d semi - articula te m e n
Doe s it n o t ra ther poin t to the forma tion o f la n guage a t
n o very dista n t da te chron ologica lly, a n d amon g ra tion a la n d thoughtful be in gs
,a n d a lso to a time w he n the e arth
w a s of‘o n e ton gue a n d o n e spe e ch
If this be a correct view , it at once clears
aw ay a multitude of philological cobwebs that
have been spun by different writers a s to the
origin of the Basque language in Spa in , the
Otomi of North America, and the Guara n e e
of South America .
Thus the ancient Basques,o r Iberians
,who
are found surrounded by A ryan - spe aking
nations,are in all probability of the same
origin as the Firms and Laps in Northern
40 THE M IGRA TI ON FRO.” SHINA R.
Europe,and the remains of one great family
,
now classed as Turanian,that anciently e x
tended all over Europe.
Taking the plain of Shinar (Gen . xi . 1 — 9) a s
o ur starting- point,we find the people engaged
in the s ingular project of defeating,if poss ible
,
the Divine command,Be ye fruitful a n d
multiply,and replenish the earth
,by bui lding
a city and tow er,
“lest we be scattered abroad
upon the face of the whole earth .
”
We know the result of their impiety,and
an interesting fragment in the Sibyll ine oracles
shows how wide ly w as the ca use of the dis
persio n o f the human race known
But w he n the judgme n ts o fthe A lmighty Go dWere ripe for e xe cution w he n th e Tow e rRose to the skie s upon A ssyria ’s pla in
,
A n d a ll ma n kin d o n e la n guage on ly kn e wA dre ad comm ission from o n high w a s give nTo the fe ll w hirlw in ds, w hich w ith dire a larmBe a t o n the Tow er, a n d to its low e st ba seShook it co n vulse d. A n d n o w al l in tercourse ,By some occult a n d ove rrulin g pow er,Ce a se d amon g me n : by uttera n ce they strove
,
P e rplex’d a n d a n xious, to disclose the irm in d
But the ir lip fa il’d them a n d,in lieu ofw ords
,
42 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
and south - east, while the younger son of Noah
remained about the locality of Shinar.
Nimrod , his grandson , the so n of Cush, built
the city of Babel,after wards called Ba bylon .
Thus we find both the Egyptian and Baby
Ionian ki n gdoms, the first on record, and marked
by their massive buildings, were originally
Hamitic,and for many years quite d is tinct
from either A ryan or Semitic influence.
But this did not last the Hamitic races
were under the curse : Cursed be Canaan ;
a serva n t of serva n ts sha ll he be un to h is
brethre n Blessed be the Lord God of
Shem ; a n d Ca n a a n sha ll be his serva n t, God
shall enlarge Japheth , and he shall dw ell in
the ten ts of Shem ; a n d Ca n a a n sha ll be his
serva n t .”
How complete ha s been the fulfi lment of
this wonderful prophecy, let history attest, to
the everlasting confusion of all in fide ls.
Since the fall of the two first monarchies
founded by the Hamites,namely, Babylon and
Egypt, we hear no more of them as a great
TIIE DISPERSI ON FROM SHINAR. 43
people : the A ryan and Semitic families come
i n on a ll s ides and take possession ; the pure
H amites disappear, and become incorporated
w i th their more powerful brethren, who take
t he lead in the world’s civil ization .
The two nations that were most advanced
i n civilization in A merica at the time of the
Co n quista , were the Mexicans and Peruvians ,but they had been prece ded by at least one, if
n o t more, nations that had passed away, but
who had left indisputable evidence that they
were in considerable advance of those n omadic
tribes that were found in possess ion of the
country by the Spaniards, not on ly in archi
tecture,and in the w orking of metals
, but in
general civilization .
We shall find that they possesse d several
po ints of similarity to some of the A siatic
n ations , a s well a s to those of Egypt, all
po inting to a common origin .
The Indians who roamed the splendid
country through which flows the Mississippi
and Ohio in North A merica,the Gi la and
44 THE III IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
Colorado in Centra l , and the Amazon a n d
Orinoco in South America, were rude ba r
baria n s,destitute of civil ization ,— their hand
against every man,and every man’s hand
again st them .
Not so those people who had gone before
them ; their remains were everywhere to be
found scattered throughout a vast extent of
country,in much the same way as the remains
of Roman encampments and earthenware are
found in Britain ; and Mr. De lafie ld, of the
Historical Society of Ohio, remarks that “a
map of North A merica,delineating each of
these ruins in situ,would exhibit a connexion
between the various groups of ancient walls,
by means of i n termediate mounds, a signal on
which, by fire o r otherw ise,would transmit with
ea se a n d telegraphic despatch the annunciation
of hostile approach o r a call fo r assistance .”
The earthw orks at Marietta consist of
mounds and walls of earth in diffe re nt forms.
The largest enclosure contains forty acres,
surrounded by an earthen wall thirty - six feet
THE DISPERSION FROM SHINAR. 45
broad at the base, and in some places even
n o w ten feet high . Circular mounds are seen
thirty feet in diameter and five feet high.
Some of these mounds display great skill in
engineering. One at Miami ha s bastions and
curtains which have been declared by compe
tent military authorities to be in accordance
with the proper rules of fortification .
I n the Mammoth mound in Virginia, vaults
were found contai n ing skeletons , with ivory
ornaments of peculiar construction about six
inches long, nearly two thousand ivory beads
(wampum), copper bands, a n d fragments of
isinglass. The ivory ornaments were similar
to those found in the graves of the Egyptians
a n d Peruvians.
Fragments of earthenware and plates of
copper have been taken from some of these
mounds, quite different from those in use
among the present Indians.
Smelting works have been found in the
present county of Washington, with large trees
grow ing on and around them, and situated
46 THE JI IGRA TION FROM SH INAR
among hills abounding in iron ore. But at
the conquest the Indians knew nothing of iron .
The Rev. Mr. Harris remarks,“In some of
these mounds have been found pla tes of copper
rive ted tog ether, Copper beads, various imple
ments,and a very curious hin d of porce la in .
The Indians regard them with as much sur
prise as we do.
Sculptured stones have also be en found,
which no one can decipher, as well as weapons
of brass,which the learned Humboldt remarks
are indications that those very countries have
formerly been inhabited by industrious nations,
which are now traversed only by tribes of
savage hunters.”
A gain, we se e in the ruined cities of Central
A merica rema ins of a more polished people
than existed at the time of its discovery,
although not so dissimilar as those of North
A merica while in South America the remains
of massive architecture attest the grandeur the
Indians of Peru had attained in that art pre
vio us to the arrival of the Incas .
THE DISPERSION SH INA R. 47
We shall have occasion to show,a s we
proceed, the connexion between these early
r aces ; and that, so far from being indigenous
t o the soil,as some writers have stated
,they
w ere of the same blood a s the rest of the
h uman family. There is no essential difference
b etween a re d skin and a white o r a black
o n e .
Dr. Prichard arrives at the following con
e lusions,after summing up the investigations
o fmodern anatomists,that there is no organic
difference between the skin of the European
and that of other races of men that gives
reason to imagine a diversity of species in
mankind ; but, on the contrary,that tran
sitio n s take place,to a certain ex tent, inde
pendently of the agency of climate and the
principal causes of variatio ns, from the con
ditio n s of structure be longi n g to one race to
those which characterise the other.
”— N a tura l
Hist . ofM a n,chap . x .
,p. 84 .
We shall find that by applying the test of
lan guage and religion,as well as comparing
48 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
the similarity that exists in the different
manners and customs of the nations of the
Old and Ne w Continents, that a common
identity can be satisfactori ly established be
tween them .
A ll nations that have been found scat
te red abroad on the earth, have some tradi
tion regarding their religion , o r that of their
ancestors, that are similar to the accounts
we find in the opening chapters of the book
of Genesis. Now it is not possible that the
accounts of the creation of the world, of the
first man and woman , the temptation of the
devil in the form of a serpent, the couse
quent fall and the expulsion from Paradise,
together with the account of the Deluge and
its subsequent events, could have been kept
secret, o r that the various nations, when they
were scattered abroad , should not have pre
served many fragments of these accou n ts.
It would be egregious folly to imagine
that Noah and his fam ily w hen they left
the ark were rude savages,o r that events
50 TIIE M IGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
Being in the Brahma of the Hindo os ; the
Belus of the Cha ldma n s ; the Ormuzd of the
Persians ; together with Co n amongst the
Peruvians,and Tezcatlipoca of the Mexicans.
In like manner, the temptation and fall
of o ur first parents are pictured in the
poisonous serpent— Kali - naga,
o r Kaliya,of
the Hindoos ; the serpent god Naga,or
Nachash,in Chaldaea ; the serpent A hriman
of the Persians,who stung to death the first
man ; together with the Chinese dragon, and
the serpent of the Mexicans, and the Scandi
navian Midgard serpent .
Likewise,we have no difficulty in tracing
the Deluge. Poh i was the Noah of China ;
the Fish - A vatar of Vishn o u, Sa tyavra ta of
H in do o sta n , was saved in the ship A rgha ;
in Chaldae a,Xisuthrus w a s preserved
,with
his wife and chi ldren in an immense vessel
w ith all sorts of an imals ; the man - bull of
Persia was also saved in an A rg , and lan ded
on Mount A lbo rdi the Osiris of Egypt, w ho
entered his ark on the seventeenth day of the
THE DISPERSION FROM SH INAR. 51
month A thyr (which exactly corresponds to the
d ay and month in Genesis, namely, the seven
t e e n th day of the second month, Jyar or
Zif) ; and we have also Co x - cox,o r Te zpi, in
Mexico, w hose description is identical with
that o f Noah.
A gain,the destruction o f the Tower o f
Babel, a n d the confusion of tongues, is repre
sented in the Hindoo writings by the sacred
mount Meru, by the tower of Belus in Cha ldma ,and by the pyramid of Cholula in A merica.
In fact,we find all the ancient nations
adoring a Supreme Being,although under
different names,and their cosmogonies e n
ve lope d in fables. We find sacrifices, and
in some cases marriage,instituted traditions,
more or less obscure, respecting the early
history o f our race,together with the de
struction of the an imal world by a deluge ;
an d we are therefore justified in coming to
the rational conclusion that all these tradi
tions emanated from one source,namely
,the
Hebrew inspired writings.
52 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
Mr. Faber truly says,
Ha d a sin g le pe ople o n ly give n a n a ccoun t o f th ecre a tion some w ha t re semblin g tha t of Mose s
,o r pre
serve d a tra dition tha t o n e o f the ira n cie n t kin gs e scape dfrom the w a te rs o f a de luge , w e m ight the n w ith justice con clude tha t the former of the se coin cide n ce s w a s
mere ly a ccide n ta l, a n d tha t the la tter re la te d e n tire lyt o a partia l in un da tion . But w he n w e fin d tha t n e arlya ll the paga n cosmogon ie s be ar a stron g like n e ss toe a ch other, though differe n t de itie s may be re pre se n te dby differe n t n a tion s, a s comple tin g the w ork ; a n d w he nw e mee t w ith some tra dition o f a de luge in everycoun try, though the pe rson s save d from it are sa id
,in
those various a ccoun ts, to have re ign e d in various districts w ide ly separa ted from ea ch other ; w e are co n
stra in e d to a llow tha t this ge n era l con curre n ce o f be liefcould n ever have o rigin a ted from mere a ccide n t.”
H ora ’ M osa ica , chap. ii .,p . 19 .
With regard to some natural ists who insist
that man ha s gradually ascended the scale
of organization , that he ha s from some
un know n period struggled from something
low er than the ape,through long cen turies
,
to what he'
is n o w ,we ca n only say that
such miserable theories are on ly fit for the
brains that boast of such a n ancestry.
Professor Ma x Muller asks,
THE DISPERSION FROAI SH INA R. 53
Whe re,the n
,is the differe n ce be tw e e n brute a n d
m a n ! Wha t is it tha t ma n ca n do, a n d o f w hich w e
fin d n o sign s,n o rudime n ts, in the w hole brute w orld !
I a n sw er w ithout he sita tion : the o n e gre a t barrierbe tw e e n the brute a n d ma n is L a n g uag e . Ma n spe aks,a n d n o brute ha s ever utte re d a w ord. L a n guage is
o ur Rubicon,a n d n o brute w ill dare to cross it . This
is o ur ma tter- o f- fa ct a n sw e r to those w ho spe ak o f
de ve lopme n t ; w ho thin k the y discove r the rudime n tsa t le a st o f a ll huma n fa cultie s in ape s ; a n d w ho w ouldfa in ke e p ope n the possibility tha t ma n is on ly a morefavoured be a st, the triumpha n t con que ror in the primeva lstruggle fo r life .
”— Scie n ce of L a n g uag e , L e cture ix .,
p. 367
But we have higher testimon y than this .
The word of God tells us, So God created
man in H is ow n imag e , in the imag e of God
cre a ted H e him male and female created
He him (Gen . i .
St. Paul says,“A dam is the figure of Him
that was to come (Ro m. v.
A gain, quoting the eighth Psalm, the same
apostle says,Thou madest him (man) a little
lower than the angels ; Thou crownedst him
with glory and honour, a n d didst se t him
over the works of Thy hands (Heb. i i.
54 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
In the following pages we shall have
occasion to notice ho w ma n, w hen left to
himself,always sinks to deeper degradation
,
and final extinction , and that the savag e
never rises in the so cial scale unaided.
53 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
soil of Yucatan, and ove rshadowed by the
gigantic forest trees that have sprung up
amidst their courts and temples, sufli cie n t ly
testify that a race far advanced in civi liz a tion
once possessed the country, and rule d over
those lands where now in many place s a n
almost impenetrable wilderness exists . This
circumstance,however, is n o t pecul iar to
A merica , for w e have but to glan ce a t the
O ld Continent to find similar examples, par
t icularly in India ; but w e possess mo re o r
less in formation with regard to these remains
of civilization in A s ia through the medium
of the Hindoo and other records. In l ike
manner, the past magnificence o f Egypt a n d
A ssyria have been g radually unfolded by
means o f their graven monuments,but it
does not seem probable that the tablets of
hieroglyphics at Palenque, Copan, and Quirig ua
wil l be so soon or so easily deciphered.
In all probability it is upon the Ce ntralA merican monuments that any future dis
coverie s regarding the primitive races,belon g
EA RLY MIGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 59
i n g at least to that part of the continent,
mainly depend, for at present we have little
m ore than tradition to guide us, although there
a re many indications that may serve to show
us the right quarter towards which to direct
o ur gaze.
The gigantic and time - worn memorials of
these mysterious people are surely deservin g
a more minute investigation than has yet
been bestowed on them. Mr. Stephens, in
his interesting work,describes them a s being
worthy of comparison with those existing in
Egypt or India !
Fe w and slender are the links of the chain
that connect the primitive races of the n e w
continent with their brethren of the old : still
they exist,although no western Rosetta - stone
has a s yet been discovered that may enable
us to decipher the mysterious hieroglyphics of
Pa lenque and Copan , and it will be a matter
o f the greatest difli culty, if indeed it be now
possible, to break through the spell which
fo r centuries has e nveloped with doubt and
60 THE AI IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
uncertainty those interesting monuments of
ancient civilization .
It is n ecessary, while examining the different
conjectures that have been made as to the
early migrations of the three typical races of
the human family, to bear in mind that it is
possible the geographical aspect of our planet
has undergone considerable alteration during
even the historic period of some four thousand
five hundred years ; and although we have
satisfactory evidence that fe w of the great
mountain ranges o r large rivers have under
gone any material change since the un iversal
deluge, sti ll we have ample data to satisfy us
that many tracts of land have been the scene
of tremendous convulsions through the agency
of volcanic eruptions,when rivers have been
diverted from their courses,and turned into
different channels,va st portions of land up
heaved,and
,on the other hand
,large tracts
of coun try submerged .
We se e instances of these disturbing causes
at the temple of Puz z o li,at the ruins of
EA RLY M IGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 6 1
Maha ba lipura n , together with ancient Cutch
in India.
O ld Callao was sunk beneath the waters of
the Pacific during the terrible earthquake in
1 7 46 .
In 1 7 6 2 , a large river in India dried up, and
sixty square miles of land sunk down,along
the Chittagong coast,while at the same time
a large tract was raised at Cheduba, a n d in
the island of Ramree .
A ccordin g to the a ccoun ts o fthe Chin e se a n d Japa n e sechron iclers, severa l volca n oe s have rise n from the b ed of
the se a o n the coa sts o f Japa n a n d Core a durin g the
historica l period. I n the ye ar 1 007 a roar of thun de r
a n n oun ce d the appe ara n ce o fthe volca n o o fTo in mo ura
o r Taulo, o n the south ofCore a ; a n d the n , after seve n
days a n d seve n n ights ofprofoun d darkn e ss,the moun ta in
w as se e n . It w a s n o le ss tha n four le ague s in circumfere n ce , a n d tow ere d up like a block of sulphur to a
he ight ofmore tha n a thousa n d fe e t. More tha n this,
the ce lebra ted Fusi Yama itse lf, the highe st moun ta in inJ apa n , is sa id to have be e n uphe ave d in a sin gle n ight
from th e bosom ofthe se a , tw e n ty- o n e a n d a ha lfce n turie sa g o .
”— Paper re a d by M r. II . H ow a rth before the R1.
Geo . Soc. , vo l . xliii. , p. 256 .
In the N ew Z ea la n d Hera ld of October 1 4,
62 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
1 8 7 8 , information has been received from
Lieutenant Hom e,of H M . Schooner Sa n dfly ,
respecting the harbour of Port Resolution ,
Tanna,in the New Hebrides, and given to
him by the Rev. Mr. Neilson,the resident
missionary
On the 10th Ja n uary, 1 87 8, there w a s the ve ry severee arthqua ke , the la n d o n the n orth shore ris in g sometw e n ty fe e t or more . O n the 14th February there w a s
a n other very severe shock, w he n the same la n d rosea n other tw e lve fe e t, as n e ar a s he co uld ca lcula te a lsoa re ef e xte n din g about tw o hun dre d yards in a n orthe asterly direction from Cook’s Pyramid, a w a sh a t a ll
sta te s of the tide ; a t the same time the sma ll b ay to
the n orth of this harbour w a s filled in e n tire ly by the
fa llin g forw ard in to the se a o fupw ards of a hun dre d a n dfifty acre s of e arth a n d rock, makin g the coa st lin ea lmost stra ight, a n d about a hun dred a n d fifty fe e t high.For thre e square m ile s to the n orthw a rd of Port Re solutio n , it is o n e ma ss of loose e arth a n d rock
,w ith
n umerous ho t - sprin gs. The harbour is much con tra cted,
a n d the da n gers much in cre a se d. Whe n the se con dshock took pla ce , there w a s a surf from tw e n ty to thirtyfe e t high, ra ise d by the la n d fa llin g in to the se a ; thisrushe d in to the harbour, takin g everythin g before it.”
When visiting Tanna in March 1 869 , I
noticed the elevation of the coral beds some
EARLY MIGRA TI ONS TO AMERICA . 63
forty feet above the sea level,showing they
had been upheaved . The volcano of Ya so w a
was, as usual, in full activity, an explosion
taking place with great regularity every five
and a half minutes,when large pieces of rock
a n d a quantity of Cinders were ejected .
The earthquake of 1 8 2 2 raised the coast of
Chili,about Conception
,two and a half feet ,
and Captain Fitzroy found dead mussels ten
feet above high - water mark — Da rw in’
s N a t.
Voyag e , p. 3 1 0 . The harbour of Wellington ,
New Zealand,was raised four and a half feet
by the earthquakes of I 855.
There are two buried temples near A van
tipura,in Cashmere
,which according to Sir
C. Lyell must have sunk down at some period
not later than the fourteenth century.
Professor A nsted,in alluding to the changes
oflevel in A sia,says
,
The se cha n ge s are o fcompara tive ly re ce n t da te,ma n y
ofthem havin g gon e o n eve n durin g the historic period.
Probably much o f the lo w la n d ofCe n tra l A sia ha s on lyat a very re ce n t perio d emerged from the se a .
”
5
64 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R .
’
A gain he remarks,
A cha in of isla n ds, n e arly co n tin uo us, may the n have
e xiste d in w ha t is n o w ca lled the North Pa cific Oce a n ,brin g in g the isla n ds e a st a n d south of the Ph ilippin esin to close re la tion w ith Austra lia , a n d, w ith the Archipe lago, exte n din gma n y hun dre d mile s to the e a st of thatcon tin e n t ; w hile Austral ia may a lso have be e n the ne xte n de d w e stw ard a n d n orthw ard be tw e e n the tro pics.
”
A n sted’s A n cie n t World
, chap. xiv., pp. 315, e tc.
In connexion with this last conjecture, i t is
not a little remarkable that some of the South
Sea Islanders state that their is lands w ere
formerly all united in one large continent, but
that the gods in anger destroyed it, and
scattered them over the ocean .— Ellis
’
s P oly
n esia n Researches, vol . i i ., p . 40 .
The disruption of an isthmus like Suez or
Panama would have the effect of checking the
migration of tribes in earlier times, while the
drying - up of some large river, or even one
of its tributaries, would force whole tribes to
abandon that part of the country and move in
another direction in search of water.
In like manner,the disappearance of islands
in an ocean would have the effect of isolating
66 THE JI IGRA TION FROJI SH INAR.
A lthough the inhabitants be long to the same
race a s the Sandwich Islanders, Tahitians, and
New Zealanders, (fo r Cook found them speak
ing the same language,and having similar
features and colour,) they possessed only four
canoes,and these so small a s to be incapable
of containing more than four persons . Mr.
Clements Markham says,“Captain Cook
,i n
writing of these remains,might be describin g
the temple of Pachacamac,o r the ruins of
Tiahua n uco , so marked is the resemblance.”
Cooh’s Voyag es, I 7 7 4 Cuz co a n d L ima , chap . i.,
p . 1 8 .
These facts are the more singular when we
consider this island lies within the belt of the
south - east trade w ind , which canoes would have
to encounter in order to get to the eastward
tow ards the mainland , being in lat. 2 7°
8' S.
and,moreover
,it is out of the influence of the
south equatorial current .
Ships com ing from the northward which are
bound fo r Chilian o r Peruvian ports,after
passin g Easter Island , seldom get their heads
EARL Y M IGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 67
towards the coast much before lat. 3 making
a slightly curved course from lat.
But n otwithstanding the voluntary transits
d ifferent races may have made,and did make
,
owing to unsuccessful wars,increase of numbers
,
o r from a spirit of enterprise,we have well
authenticated instances of members of the
Polynesian family having performed forced
voyages,drifting about in canoes
,owing to
being blown o ff their own coasts,and having
landed hundreds of miles distant from whence
they started .
Malte - Brun says : in 1 696 , two canoes
con taining thirty people were thrown by
storms and contrary winds on the Philippine
Islands,eight hundred miles from their
home s.
Captain Be e chey gives an interesting account
of three canoes, with natives from A nao,o r
Cha in Island, in the South Pacific, being d is
persed by the monsoon to several uninhabited
islan ds : he found them six hundred m iles from
the ir own home, and took them back ; but
68 THE M IGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
many had pe rished, during their involuntary
voyage,from hunger.
Kotzebue tells us that Kadu and three of
h is countrymen were driven from Ulea ; they
drifted about fo r eight months,sustain ing
themselves with rain water and fish,and were
eventually cast upon the islands of A ur,their
distan ce from home in a direct line being n o
less than fifteen hundred miles.
In 1 7 2 1 , two canoes, one of which contained
twenty - four and the other six persons,men
,
women,and children
,were drifted from an
island called Farro ilep, to the island of Gua
ham,o n e of the Marians
,a distance of two
hundred miles.
Captain Be e chey discovered forty natives of
Tahiti,cast on a desolate island
,and named
by him Byam Martin Island ; and while Mr.
Ellis w a s at Tubai,a canoe from Tahiti
,bo und
to the Paumotu o r Pearl Islan ds,had drifted
on shore with some of the islande rs — Vol. i.,
P 55
In 1 7 6 7 , Pitcairn Island w a s uninhabited,
EA RL Y M IGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 69
but in 1 7 89 the mutineers of the Boun ty
reached there from Tahiti with several women,
and when H .M .S . Brito n touched there in
1 8 1 4, forty - six people were found on it,and
some infants . In 1 8 25there were sixty - six
and in 1 8 3 1 , whe n moved to Tahiti at their
own request, there were e ighty - seven ; while
in 1 855, when I visited them ,they numbered
many more,and the youn ger portions of the
community were shortly after taken to Norfolk
Island . A gain,in 1 8 20 ,
a can oe arrived at
Maurua, close to Borabora (Society Islands),
that had been nearly three weeks at se a,and
driven from Rurutu,one of the A ustral Islands
,
more than seven hundred miles to the south
east,and this was w ithin the influence of the
south - east trade win d. There is only o n e w ay
of accounting fo r this, namely, by supposing
the canoe to have be en swept dow n a cross the
south - ea st trade, and to the southward,when
it reached the calmbelt of Capricorn and thecounter current ; and then , e ncountering the
n orth- west and westerly winds, w a s driven back
70 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
into the trade. Or she might have been driven
across the trade wind to the northward, and so
have got into the counter equatorial current,
which carried he r w estw a rd until she again
got into the influence of the trade.
We were set N . 7 3°
W.,fifty
- three miles
in twenty - four hours, in H .M .S . A mphitrite , on
the 3o th December, 1 854, by this counter
current,while on the passage from the Sand
wich Islands to Ra ite a (Society group).
On the most dista n t solitary isla n ds discovere d inre ce n t ye ars, such a s P itca im
’s, o n w hich the mutin e e rs
o f the Boun ty se ttled,a n d o n Fa n n in g
’s Isla n d, n e ar
Christma s Isla n d, m idw ay be tw e e n the Socie ty a n d Sa n dw ich Isla n ds, al though n o w de sola te , re lics of formerin habita n ts have be e n foun d. Paveme n ts of floors,foun da tion s of house s
,a n d ston e e n tra n ce s have be e n
discovered a n d ston e adze s o rha tche ts have be e n foun da t some distan ce from the surfa ce .
”
A n d with regard to the traditions of the
Society and Harvey islanders, and their in
voluntary voyages in canoes, the same writer
says,
“Ifw e suppose the popula tion o fth e South Se a Isla n dsto have proce ede d from e a st to w e st, the se eve n ts illus
EARL Y MIGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 7 1
tra te the mea n s by w hich it m ay have be e n a e com
plished ; for it is a strikin g fa ct tha t every such voyagere la ted in the a ccoun ts of voyagers, pre serve d in the
tradition s of the n a tive s , or of re ce n t occurre n ce , ha sin variably be e n foun d, from e a st to w e st , dire ctlyopposite to tha t in w hich it must ha ve be e n
,b ad the
popula tion be e n a ltoge ther derived from the Ma laya nA rchipe lago .
”— E llis’s P o ly n esia n Rese a rches, vo l. iv. ,
pp. 1 24— 1 26.
Bishop Selw yn has given h is opinion (and
we co uld have no better o n this subject) that
the larger groups of islands in the vast Pacific
Ocean seem to have acted like great nets,
and caught the stray canoes that had been
drifting about before the storm . The migra
tions which took place, he remarks,were not
always accidental,fo r in the Caroline Islands
the natives started o ff in swarms in their
canoes to find a new home, their former homes
having become too crow ded .
The Sandwich islanders it is almost certain
came from the Georgian group, and the Ne w
Zealanders came from the Sandwich Islands to
the Navigators’ ; and in the memory of their
ow n traditions, according to Bishop Selw yn ,
7 2 THE JI IGRA TION FROJI SHINA R.
thirty o r fo rty gen erations back,came to
New Zealand .
”
But the Pacific Islands are in habited by tw o
distinct races of men,to w hich w e shall have
occas ion to refer.
\Va lla ce me ntions tw o instance s, in 1 6 8 2
and 1 684,w hen some Esquimaux w ere driven
to se a in their can oe s and reached the Orkneys
in safety .
But the most sig n ificant instance on récord,
and nea rer in approach to o ur subject , is th e
fa ct that on ly a fe w years ago a Japan e se junk
w a s picked up on the A merican coas t ne ar
the mouth of the Columbia river, a n d an othe r
w as driven ashore on the Sandw ich Islands.
These vessels must have be en driven o ff
their o w n shores w hile coasti n g,the Japa n ese
having no trade w ith other pe ople at that
time,and carrie d to the places where they
w ere foun d by the prevail ing w esterly w inds
and the “Black stream,
”
o r J apan current.
Professor Maury,speaking of th is current,
says,
74 THE M IGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
much the same course a s the Gulf Stream in
the A tlantic,but does not possess either the
ve locity o r high temperature of the latter.
Looking at the probable means of early
transit on the A tlantic side,we find the nearest
communication with A merica is by the Faroe
Islands and Iceland .
The Scandinavian manuscripts inform us
that a s far back as AD 8 75, voyages were
made between Iceland and Scandinavia,when
a settlement was founded by the Northmen,
and from w hence they reached Greenland in
the year 9 8 3. But the Esquimaux,long
previous to this date, had spread along the
northern sho res,a s the Scandinavian a dve n
ture rs found them inhabiting Greenland,and
w ere told by them that another nation existed
further south, and occupied a large portion
of land . They described them a s altogether
d ifferent from themselves ; that they wore
white clothin g, carried lon g poles with cloth
on them, and uttered strange cries.
Humboldt says that “in the oldest sagas,
EARL Y M IGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 75
th e historical narrations of Tho rfiun Karlsefn e ,
and the Icelandic L a n dn ama books,these
southern coasts between Virginia and Florida
a re designated by the name of the White
Men ’s Land .
”— Cosmos, vol. i i ., p . 2 36 .
In the beginning of the tenth century,
Gun n bjo rn ,the son of Ulf Krake
,a Norwe gian
,
discovered some large rocks due - west from
Iceland (the Skerries).
In 9 8 2 A .D .,Erick the Re d
,with his father
,
being outlawed fo r murder,fled w estward
,and
found land which he called M idj okul ; and
then he sailed in a southerly direction,seeking
fo r the nearest habitable land . The following
year he came to Ericksfio rd . In 9 85
h e went back to Iceland,and in 9 8 6 returned
,
a n d settled in this land,which he called
Greenland .
This account is taken from a most inte
resting paper, called The Site of the Lost
Colony of Greenland determined,and Pre
Columbian Discoveries of A merica confirmed ,
from fourteenth - century documents,by R . H .
76 THE IIII GRA TI ON FROM SH INA R.
Major, and Secretary F.R.G.S read
9 th June, 1 8 7 3. This paper contains an
account how one Nico lO Zeno,a member of
one of the noblest and most ancient families
in Venice,set forth in the early part of the
fourteenth century on a voyage of discovery
into the n orthern seas . He w a s wrecked on
what he describes as the island of Frisla n da,
and rescued from the wreckers by the chie f
called Zichmmi.
A long account is given of his adventures,
which had fo r many years been doubted,but
which Mr. Major proves to have been accurate.
He says,
“The Ze n o docume n t is n o w show n to be the la test
in existe n ce , a s fa r a s w e kn ow,givin g de ta ils re spe ctin g
the importa n t lost e a st colon y of Gre e n la n d, w hich ha s
be e n so a n x iously sought for.
”
A mong other things,he mentions the
existence of an islan d betw een Iceland a n d
Greenland , and Mr. Major says,
I n the 1507 edition of Ptolemy,is a most va luable
m ap of the w orld, made by a Germa n n am e d Joha n n
Ruysch, a map w hich w ould be emin e n tly rem arkable
EA RLY M IGRA TI ONS TO AMERICA . 7 7
as a n e n graved map if on ly for its very e arly da te , butit is pre - em in e n tly so from the fa ct tha t it is the firste n grave d mapo n w hich America is la id dow n .
”
A n d it is on this map that the destruction of
the island laid down on Zeno’s chart is noted
as having taken place in the year 1 456 , by
volcanic eruption , where n o w exists a shoal
full sixty miles lon g from north to south,and
about twenty- five miles from east to west,
soundings being marked on it from tw enty
five to a hundred fathoms .
A fter the Norsemen had been some time
in Greenland, the Skroe llin g s (Esquimaux), who
came from Northern Siberia, invaded Green
land in the middle of the fourteenth century,
and slaughtered all the Norsemen .
Ivar Bardse n w a s sent to succour the sister
colony,and to drive away the Skroe llin g s .
He found,however, on arriving there, neither
Christian n o r heathen,but only some cattle
running wild,which his people took on board
their vessels and returned home.
It is still a matter of doubt whether Iceland
7 8 THE hI IGRA TION FROM SH INAR .
i tself did not receive its first inhabitants from
A merica,as in the oldest chronicles of that
island the first inhabitants are cal led “Wes t
men,who had come across the sea.”
The ancient Irish accounts all agree in
stating that letters a n d the arts of civi lizatio n
were introduced into their country by a people
called Phe n ia n s, who evidently were of a d if
fe re n t stamp from those foolish people who
have borrowed this name in the present day,
and by their silly attempts at rebellion have
done so much to check the prosperity of
their country. The ancient Phe n ia n s are sup
posed to have come from the Mediterranean to
Spain,and then to the British islands. It would
be interesting to know whether these early
settlers were a Phoenician or a Carthagin ian
colon y.
The extracts given by Heeren from the
Carthaginian commander H imilco,of the coun
trie s o fEurope beyond the Pillars of Hercules,
mention the IEstrymn ide (Scilly) Islands,” also
the Ho ly Island (once so called), which lie s
EARL Y M IGRA TIONS TO A IMERICA . 7 9
expanded on the se a, the dwelling of the
Hibernian race.
But it“
is poss ible the Carthaginians may
have been driven into that se a which H imilco
describes a s having himself been on fo r four
m onths ;“fo r here n o win d wafted the bark
,
so motionless stood the indolent wave. Se a
weed abounds,a n d re tards the vessel in he r
course ; while mon ste rs of the deep swarm
around .
We could not have a Clearer description of
the Sargasso Se a” westward of the Canary
Islands ; but he spe aks again of the sea
beyond the Pillars,on Europe’s coast
,
” into
which he says no ship ha s yet ventured,
”
and where “thick fogs rest on the waters.
”
H e ere n’
s Ca rthag e H ist. Rese arche s,vol. i., App.
,
p. 50 2 .
A most interesting account from another
Scandinavian MS . makes mention of a vessel
that was driven o ff the coast of Iceland in the
year AD . 999 , boun d fo r Sweden ; she w a s
reported to have been lost with all on board,
80 THE M IGRA TI ON FROI'
PI SHINAR.
but some time after another vessel from Iceland
met with contrary winds and strong north - east
gales, which drove her on an unknow n coast ,
w here the people on board discovered thei r
own countrymen whom they had supposed lost
at se a . One year later, Lief Eiricksso n (Lief,
the son of Eric the Re d) discovered A merica
Proper,about the coast of Rhode Island and
Connecticut,naming it “Vinland the Go od .
Cosmos, vol . i i . , p. 60 3.
The Pha en icia n s were un doubtedly the ear
liest maritime people of the old continent, and
we have seen them establishing colonies in
the countries north of the Straits of Gibraltar,
and working tin mines in Spain , Britain, and
probably Ireland and as the compass was then
unknown , (at least in Europe,) their voyages
were performed by coasting along the shore.
But they were not long in discovering the rich
peninsula of India by way of the Re d Sea ;
and in the reign of Pharaoh - Neco they dis
covered the passage round the Cape of Good
Hope,twenty - one centuries before the Portu
82 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
is now covered with the water of the river.
H umbo ldt’s Rese a rche s, vol . i., p. 152 .
The sketch given,in the work of Messrs.
Squier and Davis,of a flint knife from a
Scandinavian barrow,and of a hornston e o n e
taken from a mound in Ohio, togetherwith a n
obsidian knife from the pyramid of Teotihuacan
in Mexico, all exhibit the most marked resem
blance.— A n cie n t M o n ume n ts of the M ississ ippi
Va lley ,chap. xiii ., p. 2 15.
A gain , there is no doubt but that the Welsh
colony under Prince Madoc that sailed from
that country in ten vessels in the latter part
of the tw elfth century, reached the shores of
A merica. They could not have been the“white men south of the Esquimaux
,as the
latter had been spoken of four hundred years
before. Madoc probably reached the shores
of Florida,and established himself and com
panions on the banks of the Mississippi and
Ohio,travelling by degrees to the interior of
the continent,where their remains are now
found . Catlin,who gives a very minute
EARLY M I GRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 83
description of the Mandan tribe of Indians
(now extinct), says that he believes them to
be the remains of this lost colony,as he traced
them down from nearly 48°
N . to the junction
of the Ohio with the Mississippi, a distance of
eighteen hundred miles. He found theirremains
and fortifications on the Ohio, a hundred and
twenty miles eastw ard of the present town of
Cin cinnati . He remarks
The se a n cie n t fortifica tion s, w hich are very n umerousin tha t vicin ity, some of w hich e n close a gre a t ma n ya cre s, a n d be in g built o n the ba n ks of the rivers, w ithw a lls in some pla ce s tw e n ty or thirty fe e t in he ight
,w ith
covere d w ays to the w a ter, evin ce a kn ow ledge of the
scie n ce offortifica tion s, appare n tly n o t a ce n tury behin dtha t ofthe pre se n t day, w ere evide n tly n everbuilt by a n yn a tion of savage s in America , an d pre se n t to us in co n
te stable proof of the former e xiste n ce of a pe ople veryfo r a dva n ced in the arts of civiliza tion , w ho have , fromsome cause or other, disappe ared, an d left the se imperisha ble proofs of the ir former e xiste n ce .
”-Ca tlin ’s N orth
A merica n I n dia n s, vo l. ii ., p . 259.
The well - built huts of the Mandans,their
canoes, so similar to the early Welsh coracle,
together with their superior manufacture of
pottery, their l ight hair and eyes, show un
84 THE MI GRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
mistakably their close connexion in early times
with a more civilized race ; and the follo w in g
list of Mandan and Welsh words give co n
e lusive evidence that Prince Madoc with h is
followers reached this country.
ENGL ISI-I. MANDA N . WE LSH .
Tho se o n esNo ,
o
o rThereIs n o t
Ma o o rPa n a e ther
IPe n e ta Yspn d ma w rf
The old documents also mention a country
called Huitrama n n a la n d,o r
‘Whitema n ’
s land,
’
and supposed to be the country of North and
South Carolina,Georgia
,and Florida.
To act as a grea t chief; head or prin cipa l ; sovere ig n o r
supreme .
1 The Grea t Spirit.
Hw us (masc. )Ho n a (fem. )t a i Hyn a
Na g o cs
NaeNa
86 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
ice ; they landed at the mouth of a river
(the Coppermine where the land w as ful l
of Copper.
Mackenzie says this pe ople evidently came
from the western coast, and spread eastward ;
and a tribe of them is known to exist on
the upper part of the Sa ska tchiw in e river.
The most powerful of all appear to have
been the great A ba ton n ation,of which the
A lgonquins, the Chippeways or Oj ibbe w ays,
Pawnees, Choctaws, Hurons, Delaware s, a n d
Cherokees, form a part. The name A baton
s ign ifies men w ho l ive about the g reat fall .”
This is the fall of St. A nthony, on the n orth
branch of the Mississippi,and to the westward
of Lake Michigan .
The Delawares , many hundred years ago,
lived in the western part of the continent,
and migrated from thence about the same
time as the Iroquois or K iste n aux,which
means chief of men .
” Mackenzie found
the whole of the country between the great
lakes and Hudson’s Bay inhabited by them.
e
EARLY M IGRA TIONS 1 J AMERICA . 87
The Delawares and Iroquois both met
on the banks of the Mississippi, and drovethe inhabitants
,the A llig ervi, or A lle g ha n s,
who dwelt on the eastern side of the river,
out of their territory,after many bloody
battles had been fought,the A lle gha n s re
treating down the river.
In like manner,the Cheyennes
,the remnant
of a powerful nation,were driven by the Sioux
across the Missouri. The Sioux formed part
of the Da co tah nation,o r“the nonpareils,
the Pica n aux,Blood
,Blackfeet, and Foxes
belong to this people . The Sioux Indians
display the least aptitude fo r civilization , or
for a fixed place of abode ; and from their
general appearance there is much to remind
us of the nomadic hordes of Tartary. They
ultimately drove the Cheyennes into the Black
hills,at the upper end of the Cheyenne river ;
and it was the circumstance of their being
found in that locality that made the French
traders give them that name. The original
name of the parent tribe w a s Shaw ay,which
88 THE IIIIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
Washington Irving states l ived on a branch
of the Re d River that flows into Lake Win
n ipe g .
The North American Indians,although so
similar in their general appearance,are n ever
the le ss very diverse in many of their manners
and customs. Fo r instance,we find the
Ch inooks,belonging to the Waka sh nation
,
in Oregon and Vancouver’s Island , compre ss
ing the heads of their children, and buryin g
their dead ; while the Tucko li burn theirs ,
and do not flatten the skull ; a n d yet both
a re found to the west of the Rocky Moun
tains,and not far from each other. The
Tucko li say they migrated from the sea
coast,and they are totally distinct from the
surrounding tribes .
Enough has been said to show that com
mun ica tio n had taken place between the two
continents through the medium of Iceland
a s early a s the ninth cen tury of o ur e ra,
and that at that time A merica was found
in habited by two different people, namely,
90 THE M IGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
was obtained by Mr. Bullock from the co l
lection of the unfortunate Bo turin i, repre
senting the history of their j ourneys — A n ti
quities of A merica , p. 96.
Humboldt is of opinion that the Toltecs
derived their origin from the Huns.
A dair,who lived forty years among some of
the tribes,assures us their origin is Israel itish .
Cabrera labours to show that the Phe nicians
first peopled A merica.
Sandoval endeavours to prove that the n e w
continent received its first inhabitants from
Ceylon and India.
Lord Kingsborough, in his magnificent work
of nine folio volumes, is quite a s positive as
A dair that they are of Hebrew origin .
Co lun io assigns them a Gaelic origin , while
Charron assures us they are of Celtic ex
traction .
Robertson is of Opinion , with Humboldt,
that we must look fo r their ancestors among
the Tartar tribes of A sia.
To the impartial and delightful pages of
EARLy M IGRA TI ONS TO AMERICA . 9 1
Prescott, together with the keen judgment
of Humboldt, a s well a s to the interesting
works of Dr. Wilson,and Professor Daw son
of Montreal,we are most indebted in o ur
endeavours to arrive at some satisfactory
conclusion .
A t one stage of our investigations w e
imagine the right trai l ha s been struck,only
to lose it again after a short time ; those
circumstances deemed so similar with regard
to two nations of the Old and New Conti
ments at the commencement, will be met
by equally dissimilar ones a little further on ,
severing fo r the time all the imaginary ties
of relationship . Still,a s here and there the
print of the mocassin, o r a broken tw ig,will
d irect the I n dian on the w ar- path in pursuit
of his object,
so we have corresponding
indications of being on the right track ; a n d
although actual proof is often wanting, we
nevertheless by patient investigation are able
to arrive at a fair and reasonable conclusion .
We turn first of all to the two nation s of
92 THE M IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
the New \Vorld who were found at the timeof the conquest by the Spaniards, the centres
of civilization in North and South A merica,
namely, those of Mexico and Peru .
IV.
EARL Y MIGRA TIONS TO AMERICA .
(Co n ti n ued )
N the map that accompanies this volume
will be seen the routes by which the early
voyagers probably passed from the Old to the
Ne w Continent. We know for certain that
the Northmen discovered Greenland,and the
land farther south, in the latter part of the
tenth century of o ur e ra ; and that they found
the Skroe llin g s, or Esquimaux, there before
them,with the account of sti ll another race of
“white men ” further south . These Skroe llin g s
being of the same race a s the Samoyedes of
Northern A sia,must have come across either
by Behring’s Straits o r by the same way as
the Northmen themselves. The former way
is the most probable, a s their stations ca n be
traced on the northern shores of Siberia and
96 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
on Bank’s Land and the Parry Islands in
North A merica. Mr. Markham says,
“It is at
least certain that when Eric the Red planted his
l ittle colony of hardy Norsemen at the mouth
of one of the Greenland fio rds,in the end of the
tenth century,he found the lan d apparently
farmore habitable than it is to - day.
We also know that the Welsh colony unde r
Prince Madoc reached the shores of A merica,
probably about Florida, in the early part o f
the twelfth century. But it is to a fa r
earlier migration than either of these that
we have to look. Who were these wh i te
men that had reached A merica before th e
Scandinavians
When we look to the maritime exploits of
the Phoenicians,their voyages to the Bri t ish
islands for tin,together with their circum
navigation of A frica,we see the probable
earliest discoverers of the Ne w World from
the A tlantic s ide.
The port of Ga de s (Ca diz)” says He ere n , must b eregarded a s the chiefplace , a n d a s the n e w startin g - po in t
,
98 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
same belief in an undiscovered quarter of the
globe.
The fien d,alluding to the vulgar superstition
entertained of the Pillars of Hercules, thus
addresses his companion
Kn ow tha t this the ory is fa lse h is barkThe darin g marin ersha ll urge far o ’e rThe w e stern w ave , a smooth a n d leve l pla in ,Albe it the e arth is fa shion ed like a w he e l.Ma n w a s in a n cie n t days ofgrossermould,A n d Hercule s might blush to le arn ho w farBeyon d the limits h e had va in ly se t ,The dulle st se aboa t soon sha ll w in g herw ay.
Me n sha ll descry a n otherhem isphere ,Sin ce to o n e common ce n tre al l thin gs te n dSo e arth, by curious mystery Divin e ,We ll- ba la n ced, ha n gs am id the starry sphere s.
A t ourAn tipode s are citie s, sta te s,A n d thron ged empire s, n e
’erdivin e d ofyore .
But se e , the sun spe eds o n his w e stern pa th,To glad the n a tion s w ith e xpe cted light.”
Ca n to xxv. , sta n za s 229, 230 .
Ye s,long previous to the Scandinavian d is
cove ry of the“good vinland , the Phoe nicians
had in all probability crossed the A tlantic in
those latitudes w here a fishin g - smack can run
with the greatest ease, and where the gentle
EARL Y MI GRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 99
trade winds and the equatorial current com
pensate the sailor for the hardships he has e n
dured o ff Cape Horn, o r in the Bay of Biscav.
Colonel Hamilton Smith alludes to the
similarity that existed between some of the
Carib institutions, together with words in their
language,to those of the Phoenicians — N a t .
H i st , p. 259 .
We find a very close resemblance between
the Phoenician characters and those of Central
A merica, and a glance at the accompanying
table will show this.
There has been considerable doubt amon g
philologists how to class the Phoenicians
w hether a s Hamites o r Semites ; but with
regard to the la n g uag e there can be no doubt
that it w a s a Semitic one, and most closely
allied with the Hebrew ; the language of the
Carthaginians must therefore also be of the
same branch.
But in the tenth chapter of Genesis we read
that Canaan begat Sidon , his first - born,the
oldest of the Phoenician states, and this would
A A!“
100 THE MI GRA TION FROM SHINAR.
consequently class the Phoenicians as Hamites,
and not Semites.
Dr. Farrar says,“If the Phoe n icia n s w ere in de ed pure Semite s, they
form a most sin gula re xce ption to the ge n era l pe culiaritie so fthe irra ce . L ittle ofw ha t w e have sa id re spe ctin g th eSem itic ra ce in ge n e ra l, a pplie s to them . U n like the irn a tion a l kin dred
,the Phoe n ician s w ere e n erge tic, the y
w ere e n terprisin g, the y w ere artistic, the y w ere grosslyimmora l, they w ere fre e ly polythe istic. I n short, the yw ere a lmost e ve rythin g tha t the other Semite s w ere n o t,
a n d scarce ly a n ythin g tha t the other Semite s w ere . If
the y w ere a pure ra ce , the y w ould go far (a s do th e
Me xica n s in America ) to shake to its very foun da tion sthe con ception of in eradicable ra ce - distin ction s w hichhave lon g preva iled amon g so ma n y e thn ologists. The
argume n t aga in st the ir be in g Sem ite s is in part derive dfrom the fa ct tha t the te n th chapter o f Ge n e sis cla sse sthem amon g the childre n of Ham Pe rha ps the
true solution of the difli cultie s w hich me e t us in fin din gthem posse ssed of a civiliza tion w holly un like tha t o ftheother pe ople w ho spoke the ir la n guage , lie s in the fa ctin dica ted in the book ofGe n e sis by the fra tern a l re la tiono fHam to Shem perha ps , in fact, w e may a ssume tha tthere w a s a t a n e arly period a close in tercourse a n d
rapid in tercha n ge of re la tion s be tw e e n the de sce n da n tsof Ham a n d those of Shem, a n d tha t, in con se que n ce
,
the Hamite s some time s a dopte d the la n g uag e o f the
Semite s w hile they re ta in ed te n de n cie s a n d in stitution s o f
a w holly differe n t chara cter.”— Fami lies of Spe ech, p. 10 1 .
102 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
became the seco n d inhabitants of Canaan,a n d
Morefore the Ca n a a n ite s of the Bible itistory w ho
w ere devo ted to de stm otio n .
The curse of Noah w as on Canaan,the so n
of Ham . Ham was nevertheless the founder of
the two great ancient civilizations, Egypt and
Babylonia , while the blessing pro nounced on
Shem w as delayed fo r a long period . The
curse on Canaan did not come into operation
fo r four hundred years, showing the goodness
a n d se verity of God.
Thus in the earliest times we find un
mistakable evidence of the H amitic race being
the civil izers of the human family ! It w a s
not till the kingdoms of Egypt and Babylon ia
sank,that the A ryan and Semitic nations
,
descended respectively from Japheth and Shem,
took the lead in the progress of mankind .
A lphabe tic w ritin g, a stron omy, sculpture , n aviga tion .
agriculture , pla stic art , a n d te xtile in dustry, se em ,a ll 0
them,to have had the ir origin from Egypt a n d Ba bylo r
— M izra im a n d N imrod, both de sce n da n ts of H am .
”
Ra w li n so n ’s A n oie n t Resea ro/zer, vo l. i . p. 75.
I n the Canary Islands trace s have be en d i
EARL Y M IGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 103
covered of a race that bore,in some respects
,
a stron g resemblance to both the Egyptians
and Phoe nicians.
These an cient people, called Guanches, are
supposed to have been of Semitic origin,and
their traditions state they were descended from
a great and powerful people .
Their crania are similar to those found near
Lake Titicaca in Peru . They embalmed their
dead like the Egyptians and Peruvians .
These Guanches made a gallant resistance
against their invaders in the beginning of the
fifteenth century. They are described as of
great stature, but of very simple habits.
It is undeniable that the Carthaginians, who
sprung from the Phoe nicians, found a n A siatic
population already settled in North A frica when
they arrived, probably about B.C. 2400 o r 2 300 ,
as they continued paying a tax o r tribute fo r
the site of their city of Carthage .
Mr. Smith says,
The se n a tion s, the Maxya s, w ere a bra n ch of the
gre a t'
Berberra ce , w hich w a s spre ad— the n a s n o w — o ver
104 THE MIGRATION FROM SH INAR.
the w hole o fNorth Africa , be tw e e n the chai n ofthe A tlasa n d the se a . The y w ere ofAs ia tic origin , a n d be lon ge d,like the t n icia n s, to the Sem itic fam ily. The y suppla n ted, a n d drove back in to the in terior, the Africa n ra ce s
of the L ibya n s a n d Gae tulia n s. Sa llust ha s pre served acurious tradition , w hich w a s tra n sla te d to him from the
Pun ic bo oks of Kin g Hiempsa l, ofthe immigra tion o fthe
n e w se ttle rs from A sia . The y formed, he sa id, a portion
o f the army, composed ofvarious race s, w hich Hercule sled abroad to se ek a dve n ture s. Whe n the he ro died inSpa in , his follow ers w ere sca ttere d a n d bodie s o f them,
con sistin g of Mede s, Persia n s, a n d Arme n ia n s,
w ere
tra n sport ed by the irships to the n orthern shore s o fAfrica .
Here the Mede s a n d Arme n ia n s, m in glin g w ith the
L ibya n s n e ar the shore s of the We stern Oce a n , foun dedthe n a tion o f the Mauri , or Ma ure ta n ia n s the P ersia n s,m ixin g w ith the more w arlike Ge tulia n s o f the ce n tre ,be came the a n ce stors of the rovin g Num idia n s
,a n d
e stablished the most pow erful of th e n a tive kin gdoms,Numidia , the sce n e of tha t famous w ar w hich the h is
toria n re la te d.”— S n zitlz’s A n cie n t H istory ,vo l. ii.
,p. 389.
Prichard says,“the extension of this race
(Berber) through the Canary Islands is a
curious and interesting discovery of modern
times.
’ His conclusions are as follows
O n the w hole , the evide n ce appe ars to show tha t theBerbe r is a He brae o - Africa n ton gue , like the Ghyz a n d
the Amharic. With a n e n ormous differe n ce ofvo cabu
lary, its pervadin g ge n ius is thoroughly the same ; a n d,
106 THE MIGRATION FROM SHINA R.
in the remains of the language of the Guanches
to prove their descent from the Berbe rs,a n d
gives twenty - one words in both languages.
Vol . p. 36 .
The word Chara ibe , or Carib, means ‘ war
like people,’ and a remnant still remains on the
island of St. Vincent. The Caribs of the isles
were a fine, handsome race ; their tradition
states that their ancestors came from the
mainland,and killed all the males, but saved
the females.
The Carib w ome n spoke a differe n t la n guage fromtha t of the ir husba n ds, be cause the Caribs ha d kille dth e w hole ma le popula tion o f the Ara w ake s, a n d marrie dthe irw ome n a n d some thin g similar se ems to have take npla ce amo n g some tribe s in Gre e n lan d.
”— M a x M fi ller,
Scie n ce of L a n g uag e , quotin g Herva s. , Ca ta logo i., pp.
2 1 2 a n d 369.
The Caribs closely resembled the Go ahiro s,
and it is very probable that the marauders
were these people. The Go ahiro s who inhabit
the country between the Rio de la Hecha
and the Gulf of Maracaibo,are
,according to
Sull ivan,the only original tribe in the torrid
EARL Y MIGRATIONS TO AMERICA . 107
zone that retains its liberty. They bear a great
resemblance to the Caribs, being fierce and
u n tamed,and they differ from the other tribes
in appearance .
A gain,the Natchez tribe
,which formerly
e xisted in Florida, but is now extinct, had a
tradition that their forefathers came from the
ris ing sun across the big salt lake, that the
voyage was lon g, and that they were nearly
perishing with hunger when they reached
A merica. They buried their dead in a crouch
ing posture, the chin resting o n the knees and
Stephens foun d all the corpses in Yucatan
buried in the same manner. We shall also
see that in Peru the mummies were found in
the same posture .
Both Humboldt and Rivero refer to the
story of Votan,the personage mentioned in
th e Indian MS . of Chiapa (Central A merica),
who called himself a chivim ,
”
o r serpent, and
lord of the sacred drum,
” called in the Chiapa
language Tapa n a/tua sec.
Humboldt remarks the similarity of the
108 THE JI IGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
great calendar stone of the Mexicans, and the
representations cut upon it, to the Kala, o r
g od of Time, amongst the Hindoos, and to the
Moloch of the Phoenicians, from which very
country there can be but little doubt A merica
received a portion of its first inhabitants .
”
Researclze s in A n t . A merica ,vo l. i. , p. 1 7 6 .
We therefore think it highly probable that,
from the opposite shores of North A frica, one
o f the first streams of human migration found
its way to the A ntilles, and thence to Florida,
a s well as to the coast of Brazil, and in course
of time dispersed itself along the great water
highways of the A mazon and Orinoco,and
through the Isthmus of Panama to Central
America. On the Pacific s ide, we have seen
the Skroe llin g s (Esquimaux) advancing by the
northern coasts from A sia to A merica .
Behring’s Straits form the nearest communi
cation by which the A lle g ha n s, Toltecs, Chichi
mecs,and A ztecs came across from A s ia to the
great lake country of A merica. If the country
of A ztalan is re ally the “lake country,
” then
1 10 THE MIGRATION FROM SH INA R.
z a tio n ; a n d, o n the other ha n d, w hile they be ar som e
slight affin ity to the la n guage s o f the Old World in theformer particula r, they have n o re sembla n ce to themw ha tever in the la tter.
”
But there is an exception in the Otho mi
language, which w a s widely spoken ; and they
appe ar,in conjunction with the Totonacs
,to
have inhabited the country before t/te a rriva l
of the Cn icn ime cs.
Dr. Prichard remarks on the Othomi a s a
very remarkable people, from the circumstance
that,while all the other known languages of
A merican are polysyllabic, and abounding with
complicated constructions, the Othomi,a s it
has been proved by a late writer,a native of
Mexico,Don E. Naxera
,was a monosyllab ic
dialect. “It would seem to be long to the
same family of languages with the Chinese
and Indo - Chinese idioms.
”
N a t . H ist. of M a n,
vol . i i ., p. 51 2 .
This circumstance, coupled with the accoun t
given by De Guignes, in a translation m ade
from the Chinese annals, of a voyage that had
been made by them to Foo - sang,a country
EARL Y MIGRA TI ONS TO AMERICA . 1 1 1
which by its geographical position must have
been the north - west coast of America, in the
fifth century A .D.,proves that intercourse had
taken place between the Chinese and A merica
about AD . 458 , as it was in that year five
bonzes from Samarkand are said to have
preached Buddhism to the newly discovered
Americans.
The historian Robertson considers the
Othomie s to have been the residue of the
original inhabitants of North America,— that
is, of its first inhabitants ; if this be the
case, they must have been identical with the
A lle gha n s, or Mound - builders.
But further proof of communication between
the tw o continents is found in the striking
similarity that existed in the zodiacal signs of
the A ztecs and the Tartar nations .
Mr. Prescott says,
“The symbo ls in the Mon golia n ca le n dar are borrow e dfrom a n ima ls. Four of the tw e lve are the same a s the
Aztec ; thre e o thers are a s n e arly the same a s the dif
fere n t spe cie s o f a n ima ls in the tw o hem isphere s w ouldallow ; the remain in g five refer to n o cre a ture foun d
1 12 THE 1WIGRA TION FROJI SH INA R.
in A n ah n a c. The re sembla n ce w e n t a s far as it could.The similarity o f the se con ve n tion a l symbols amon g thesevera l n a tion s of the Ea st, ca n hardly fa il to carrycon viction of a common origin for the system , a s regardsthem . Why should n o t a similar co n clusion be a pplie dto the Azte c ca le n da r, w hich, a lthough re la tin g to da ysin ste ad ofye ars, w a s, like the A sia tic, e qua lly appropria tedto chro n ologica l use s, a n d to tho se o f divin a tion ! ”
M exz'
co , vo l. i i. , p. 487 .
The cycles of the A siatic nations differed,
how ever, from the A merican ; thus, the
Mexican,fifty
- tw o years.
Peruvian , none .
Hindoo,s ixty years.
Chinese,
Egyptian,
Chaldae an,
Persian,
But the A ztec number of lunar months of
thirteen days, contained in a cycle of fifty- two
years,corresponded precisely with the number
of years in the great Sothic period of the
Egyptians, namely, 1 49 1 ,— a period in wh ich
the seasons and festivals came round to the
same place in the year ag ain .
THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.1 14
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EARL Y MIGRA TI ONS TO AMERICA . 1 15
A ndes,and which have left so many terraces
,
particularly in Chili, are still in operation , and
though perhaps reduced in force and frequency
from what they once were, are nevertheless stil l
felt in the te rrible throes of those active
volcanoes which are so numerous on the coast,
an d which extend across to the Sandw ich
Islands and j apan, and along the whole coast
of Kamchatka .
Mr. Ellis says,
The n a tive s of the e a stern part of N e w Holla n d, a n dthe in tertropica l isla n ds w i thi n 30
° E ., in cludin g NewCa le don ia , the New Hebride s, a n d the Fij is, appe ar to b eon e n a tion , an d in a ll probability came origin a lly from the
Asia tic isla n ds to the n orthw ard,a s the ir skin is bla ck
,
an d the ir ha ir w o olly a n d crisped, like the in habita n tsof the moun ta in ous parts of the Asia tic isla n ds. But the
in habita n ts of a ll the isla n ds e a st o f the Fijis, in cludin gthe Frie n dly Isla n ds a n d N e w Ze a la n d, though theyhave ma n y chara cteristics in commo n w ith the se , havea n umber e sse n tia lly difl
'
ere n t .”— P o lyn esia n Researclzes,
vo l. iv.,p. 432.
The New Hebrides,lying north and south
,
appear at some time o r other to have been the
meeting- place of people of different types.
1 16 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
The vast number of islands that are scatte red
o ver the North and South Pacific Oceans have
bee n divided into five groups,by Mr. Crawford,
n amely,
1 . Ma la isia : this includes the East I n dian
islands,comprisin g the Philippines, and Sumatra ,
Java,Ce lebes , and Born eo ; inhabited by Malays.
2 . Melan esia : New Guinea,New Brita in ,
Solomon Islands,and Ne w Hebrides ; inhabited
by a dark,woolly- haired race.
3. A ustralia ; inhabited by a black race
with straight hair.
4. Micronesia : Pe lle w,Ladrone
,Ban abé,
and several small groups east of the Phil ippines,
extending from abo ut 1 32°
E. to 1 7 8°
W.
longitude ; and from 2 1°
N . to 5°
S . latitude ;
inhabited by a mixed race.
5. Polynesia : East Pacific islands, as the
Navigators’,Friendly
,Society, Sandwich groups,
and New Zealand ; inhabited by a race like
the Malay.
With regard to the last - named group, Mr.
Ellis thinks that the Sandwich Islands were
1 18 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
Indians. Their language,however
,is decidedly
of A siatic origin .
It is generally admitted that the Malay,
Melanesian,and Polynesian
,are all descended
from one stock ; and the Micronesians are a
mixture o f all three, a s their language proves.
The resemblance between the Ind i ans of
Central A merica and the Polynesians is very
marked,and the stone images and platforms
found on many of the islands are so similar to
those of Peru,that there seems good reason for
believing the eastern islands of the Pacific were
peopled at one time from A merica,though
now fused with a Malay element .
The pyramidal structures of many of the
temples in the South Sea Islands lead one
insensibly to A merica.
The large building in A tehum was 2 7 0
feet long, 94 feet wide, and 50 feet high
a flight of steps led to the summit. The
outer stones of this pyramid , composed of
coral and basalt, were laid with great care ,
and hewn or squared w ith immense labour,
EARL Y MIGRA TIONS TO AMERICA . 1 19
especially the corner- stones. Houses for the
priests were in the enclosure, as well as for
those who kept the idols .
Ruins of temples are found in every dire c
tion,on the summit of hills and in groves.
A gain, in the Society group, the heads of
the children were compressed,not however for
beauty,but to add terror to their aspect when
they should become warriors. The forehead
and back of the head were pressed upwards.
Like the Peruvians, they embalmed their
dead at the Society and Georgian groups .
They did not last long, l ike the South A meri
can mummies, as the humidity o f the soil
preve nted this, but the bones were afterwards
buried,and the skull preserved .
The system of ta boo is generally regarded
as having its origin in A sia. It w a s change
able and arbitrary,though connected with
religion . Mr. Russell remarks that a piece
of land,a single tree
,a whole herd or a
single animal, a house or a w hole island,
could be tabooed.
1 20 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
This at first sight appears very arbitrary,
but the more I examined into this singular
custom when among the different islands, the
more convinced w as I of its reason and
usefulness,when not the result of caprice.
Fo r instance, when at Nukahiva (Marquesas
Islands) all the chickens were under taboo
in the Hapa valley, and not a soul dared
touch one ; and upon making inquiries I
ascertained that there had be en a great run
upon them by some whaling vessels a fe w
weeks back, and if precautions had not been
taken they would have had none left .
I have known a stream in New Zealand,
connecting two lakes,tabooed in like manner,
and putting us to great inconvenience, but
why w a s this ! It w a s the breeding season
of the different water- fowl,and the chiefs
showed their wisdom in not allowing them
to be disturbed . Our fishing A cts, a n d laws
with regard to the killing of game only at
certain seasons,are only ta boo under a dif
fere n t guise.
1 22 THE MIGRA TI ON .FROM SHINAR.
came origin a lly from America , or tha t tribe s of th e
Polyn e sia n s have , a t some remo te period, foun d the irw ay to the co n tin e n t.”— P obfn esia n Researclzes, vo l . i i.p . 48 .
Mr. Russell also remarks that, n o tw ith
standing the obscurity which continues to
hang over the subject, when all the circum
stances are duly weighed , it may not seem
unreasonable to conclude that the southern
islands have be en colonized both directly,
through the medium of the Malay establ ish
ments on either side of Torres Straits,and
also by means of ca sual migrations into the
northern parts of A merica, and a subsequent
departure from the same continent in a lowe r
latitude.” Russe ll’
s P olyn esia , p. 36.
1 26 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
spicuo us part by burning a numerous collectio n
of these paintings ; and well may the a cco m
plished American historian doubt which had
the strongest claims to civilization, the victors
o r the vanquished .
It appears that the Toltecs remained in
the Mexican valley fo r four centuries, and
then mysteriously disappeared,owing to their
being reduced by pestilence and unsuccessful
w ars — P resco tt’
s JVI exico , vol. i., chap. i .
A ccording to Fuentes,the chronicler of the
kingdom of Guatemala,the kings of Quiche
and Ka chique l were descended from the
Toltecs, who when they came into the latter
country found it entirely inhabited by people
of different nations.
The manuscript of Don Juan Torres,the
grandson of the last king of the Quiches,
and obtained by Fuentes from the historian
Father Francis Vasques,states that the Toltecs
themselves were descended from the house of
Israel ! who after the exodus from Egypt fe l l
into idolatry. In fear of Moses,they se parated
A NCIEN T MEXICO. 1 27
from him under a chief named Ta n ub , and
crossed from one continent to the other, (in
what manner is not mentioned,) to a place
they called the seven cavern s,
” not far from
the Mexican lake, and where they founded
the city of Tula. From the Hebrew chief
Ta n ub sprang the kings of Tula and Quiche.
The fifth monarch, it is said, was directed by
an oracle to leave Tula with all his people,
who had multiplied exceedingly : they took
a southerly direction,and, after wandering fo r
some years,settled near the lake A titlan in
Guatemala,and built a city, calling it Quiche.
A nother document, from a person calling
himself Votan , and sa id to have been found
in a cavern in charge of certain Indians of
Soconusco, in Central America, was destroyed
by another Spanish bigot, named Nun ez de
la Vega,in 1 690 ; but a copy is reported by
Doctor Pablo Felix de Cabrera to have been
in the hands of Don Ramon de Ordo fie z y
A quiar in Ciudad Real.
Votan says he travelled from one continent
1 28 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
to the other, (ho w he does not say,) a n d had
met seven families of the Tz equil (his own)
nation he also states that he led seven other
famil ies from a city he calls Va lum Votan,
but he doe s not mention on which continent
this city was. He says he is a serpent, fo r
he is a ckivim, which Cabrera th inks means
Givim,o r H ivim, i .e .
,a descendant of Heth
,
the so n of Canaan . The city of Tripoli was
anciently called Chivim, therefore he thinks
the expression of Votan, interpreted, would
mean,I am a Hivite of Tripoli
,a city
which he calls Va lum Votan . Cabrera thinks
that the thirteen serpents mentioned by Votan
are the thirteen Canary Islands !
Mr. Stephens, in h is work on Central
A merica and Yucatan , mentions that another
manuscript in the possession of the Indians
of San A ndres Xecul,relates that when
Montezuma,emperor of Mexico
,was taken
prisoner by Cortez, he sent a private ambas
sador to his ally and relation K icah Tanuh,
king of Quiche, for assistance, stating that
1 30 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
Humboldt remarks that Votan reminds us of
the Scandinavian Wodan , or Odin, whose name,
according to Bede, gave kings to a great
number of nations.— Humboldt
’s Resea rc/ze s,
vol. i., p. 1 75.
A t present we have to trace the A ztec
migration after their arrival in A merica, and
we at once pass from mere conjecture to
some certainty, as according to Prescott this
migration commenced from the country of
A ztalan , about A .D. 7 7 8 , and continued during
a period of four hundred and sixteen years,
until they reached the Mexican lake. Whether
we shall ever ascertain with certainty where
the country of A ztalan was situated in which
the A ztecs first settled on arriving in A merica,
is doubtful,but Humboldt places it about
the North A merican lakes, in lat . 42°
N.
“A tl signifies “water
,
” and thus A z ta la n s,
o r A ztecas,would mean people of the
lakes.
”
He gives the following places as the ir
halting stations
ANCI ENT MEXICO. 13 1
1 . Place of humiliation , called“the grot
toes.”
2 . Place of fruit trees.
3. Place of herbs and broad leaves.
4 . Place of human bones.
5. Place of eagles.
6 . Place of precious stones and minerals.
7 . Place of spinning.
8 . A nother place of eag les, called Qua n ktli
Tepec.
9 . Place of walls, o r the seven grottoes.
1 0 . Place of thistles, sand, and vultures.
1 1 . Place of obsidian mirrors.
1 2 . Place of water.
1 3. Place of the divine monkey, Te o z o
moco.
1 4 . Place of the high mountain,called Cho
pa ltepe c, o r mountain of locusts .
15. Came to the vale of Mexico, and saw
an eagle perched on a cactus tree.
The country passed through is supposed
to be that of the present Ohio, Mississippi ,
an d I llinois and they state the cause of their
1 32 THE MIGRA TION FRO/ll SHINA R.
migration to have been owing to warriors
from the n or”: and n ort/t - ea st driving them
south by force of arms.
If their “Divine book,Te o amo x t li
,which
is said to have been in existence at the time
of the conquest,should ever come to light
,
we may hope,and not before, to arrive at
some satisfactory conclusion . It is said this
book was compiled by a Tezcucan doctor
towards the close of the seventh century,and
gave an account of their religion, arts, and
sciences,a s w ell as a history of their migratio n
from A sia
I t w a s,how ever, never seen by a Europea n ,
and Mr. Prescott evidently disbe lieves in its
existence .
If their Toltec predecessors journeyed over
the same countries, o r some portion of them,
then the seven caverns ” ment ioned in the
Torres MS . may be identical w ith the seve n
grottoes in the A ztec account ; and if the
former document be authentic, we can the n
account fo r the disappearance of the Tolte cs
1 34 THE M IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
ca n n ot but a sk, amo n gst w hom should the se ruin s haveorigin a ted, but amon gst the a n cie n t ra ce s, w ho
,durin g
a jo urn e y tha t la ste d force n turie s, w ere doubtle ss makin gprogre ss in civiliza tion ; a n d w he n they left o n e ha ltin gpla ce to build n e w dw e llin gs e lse w here , a pplie d the
e xperie n ce the y had gradua lly a cquired to th e improvem e n t ofthe irmode ofarchitecture . In this ma n n ermay
perhaps be expla in ed the difl'ere n ce be tw e e n the m ere
he aps ofruin s o n the little Colora do , the be tterpre servedCa sa s Gra n de s o n the Gila , a n d the temple s a n d otherhighly artistic structure s foun d in Mexico.”— M o
'
lllza use n ’s
D ia ry of a youm y from t/te M ississippi to tire Co asts oftlze P acific, vo l. ii. , pp. 7 7
— 79.
If Humboldt read the Toltec paintings
aright, they would appear to have come from
the north - west of the river Gila,from a place
called Huchuct lapa lla n , about the year 544
of o ur era ; at which period, the total ruin
of the dynasty of Tsin had occasioned great
commotions among the nations in the east of
A sia ;“thus if the Toltecs named the cities
they built in A nahuac after those they were
obliged to abandon in the unknown northern
country , then, if we shall at any time discover
in North A merica a people acquainted with
the names of Huchuctlapa lla n , A ztlan, Tco co l
AN CIEN T MEXICO. 135
huacan,A mag n eme ca n , Tehuajo , and Copa lla ,
their origin will be ascertained .
”— Humbo ldt
’
s
Resea rcbe s , vol . i., p . 1 7 0 .
With regard to the Hebrew origin of
some of the A merican nations,advocated so
strongly by Lord Kingsborough and A dair,
we know that the deepest obscurity still
enshrouds the lost ten tribes of Israel,as
only those of Judah and Benjamin return ed
to Jerusalem on the invitation of Cyrus in
536 B.C.
The ten tribes probably spread through the
East, as Gro sier makes mention of a large
body of Jews that had reached China 200 B.C.
and Mr. Davis, in his work on China, quotes
a letter from the Jesuit Pére Gozani regarding
a people called by the Chinese Taio - kin - kaio
(the sect that divides the sinew), in allusion
to the practice of circumcision .
A gain, the A ffgha n s call themselves the
Beni - Israel,have strongly marked Jewish
features,and several very similar customs to
the ancient people of God, although their
136 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
lan guage is not a Semitic o n e,but an A ryan
dialect called Pushtu .
The Kare e n s,formerly masters of Burmah
,
are also very like the Jews but we must class
their language under the head of Turanian or
A llophylian .
The head - dress of bufl'
a lo horns found in
use by n early all t he chiefs and braves of
the n orth - w estern tribe s of North A merica,
reminds us of the Jewish keren,
” a symbol
of power and command (Deut. xxxiii . 1 7 ;
Job xvi . and Catlin says this head
dress is only used o u great occasions,and is
emblematical of dignity and strength among
them .
” Ca tlin ’
s N ortlt America n I n dia n s,vol. i.
,
p . 1 04.
The rite of circumcision that existed among
some of the North American tribes long ago,
is interesting, but not convincing, a s we know
that rite existed among the Egyptians, Ethi
opia n s, and Colchians from time immemorial,
according to Herodotus — Euterpe , 1 04. The
Phoenicians and Syrians learnt it from the
138 THE M IGRA TION FROM SH IN/1R.
nations, many of whom were his servants,
(Hagar, Sarah’s maid , was an Egyptian ,) and
travelling a s he afterwards did into Egypt, we
can understand ho w it came to pass that the
rite of circumcision spread to the neighbouring
nations .
There is little doubt but that the worship
of the Phallus among the Greeks at the festival
of Bacchus (E n ter/ n , on which occasion
Plato says he has seen the whole city of A thens
drunk a t once, as well a s the obscene worship
of the L in gum in India,originated from the
corruption of the Hebrew rite by the Egyptians
and Phoenicians. Consequently we cannot take
it as evidence that because circumcision existed
among certain tribes in North America,that
therefore they were Jews .
But at the same time we must confess to
many extraordinary similarities that did exist
between several of these tribes and ancie nt
Israel . The following are perhaps the most
singular.
The Indian high - priest wears a breastplate,
ANCIEN T MEXICO. 1 39
made of a white conch - shell, and around his
head,either a wreath of swan feathers
,o r a
long piece of swan skin doubled,so as to show
only the snowy feathers on each side. These
remind us of the breastplate and mitre of the
Jew ish high - priest. They have also a magic
ston e which is transparent,and which the
medicine- men consult ; it is most jealously
guarded even from their own people, and
Adair could never procure one . Is this an
imitation of the U rim and Thummim !
A gain,they have a feast of first - fruits, which
they celebrate with songs and dances, repeat
ing,Halelu— Halelu— A le luiah ,
”— and then ,
A le luiah— Ha le luiah— A lelu -
yah, with great
earnestness and fervour. They dance in three
Circles round the fire that cooks these fru its on
a kind of altar,shouting the praises of Yo He
Wah (Jehovah
These words are only used in their religious
festivals ; and they have no image of the
Supreme Being from Hudson’
s Bay to the
Mississippi .
140 THE III IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
In examining the ponderous volumes of
Lord Kingsborough, rich as they are in detail
of the manners, customs, and hieroglyphic
MSS. of the A ztecs, w e cannot but perceive
a very strong bias in favour of establishin g
the lost tribes of Israel on the A merican
continent.
H e mentions the following coincidences as
the most remarkable .
The Me xican chronology being based upon
that of the Toltecs, their computation of time
began in the year called Ce Te cpa tl, o r On e
Flint.” This corresponds with one of the Na c
sha tras o rLunar Houses of the Hindoos, called
Razor’ This is significant enough when w e
remember the A ztec knives were made of fl int
o r silex.
The sun stood sti ll fo r one entire day,in
the year seven rabbits,
” which in the A ztec
chronology corresponds with the year 2555
after the Creation , and which is only two years
different from the date assigned by Usher a n d
Blair to Joshua’
s command on that memorable
142 THE AI IGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
Dupaix, is shaped like a canoe — Vol . vi i i . , pp .
24— 26 .
The old Sabae an worship, originating from
the Chaldae an shepherds,appears to have been
the religion of the Toltecs. A ccordin g to
Veytia , their earl iest temples were dedicatedto the sun
,moon
,and stars. The moon they
regarded as the wife of the sun, and the stars
a s his sisters. The statue of the sun, described
by Bo turin i, was situated on the largest pyra
mid of Teotihuacan,and that of the moon on
an inferior o n e ; several of smaller dimeh
s ion s being dedicated to the stars. The A ztec
traditions state they found these temples on
their entrance into A nahuac, and that the prin
cipa l ones w ere re - dedicated to To n a tiuh,the
sun,and Me z tli, the moon .
— P resco tt’
s M ex ico,
Book i., chap . vi ., and note.
We now come to notice an historical event
which influenced more than one nation of the
new world.
In the ele venth ce ntury of o ur e ra,certa in
w hite men with lon g flowing beards,made
A NCIENT MEXICO. 143
their appearance on the A merican continent.
Que tz a tco a tl in Mexico, Mango Capac in Peru ,
and Bochica in Brazil,all gave laws
,and in
tro duce d a new religion to the inhabitants of
these countries, which they engrafted on that
which already existed .
The former of these personages, Que tz a t
co a tl,first claims o ur attention . He arrived
in the Mexican valley and taught the
Toltecs agriculture and . the art of working
metals,remaining amongst them twenty years
he then re - embarked in h is canoe on the
A tlantic Ocean fo r the unknown land of Tlap
allan,promising to return at some future time
zo itlz lt is a tte n da n ts . Tlapallan , according to
Dupaix, signifies re d country,” on account of
the colour of the soil, and he supposes the
country about Sonora and California to be
that of Tlapallan .—A n tiqn ities ofM ex ico , p . 2 7 .
But as this would take us to the Pacific and
n o t the A tlantic coast, it is difl’
icult to accept
this statement of his.
There is,however
,no doubt but that this
144 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
pe rsonage appe a red among them, for it w a s
ow ing to his last words that the handfu l of
Spania rds under Cortez ever obtained a fo oting
in the country. The Mexican emperor,Monte
zuma,in several signs believed he read the
down fall of his empire, and that the de
sce n da n ts of Que t z a tco a t l were about to take
possession of the land ; and the first question
that greeted the Spa niards was, whether they
had come from the Ea st,so deeply rooted in
their minds was the promise of his return .
In like manner, the Tezcucan king, Neza
hua lpilli, when advised by the astrologers to
take away the life of his infant son,who
,
they predicted,would league himself with his
father’s enemies,replied
,the time had arrived
w hen the sons of Que tz a tco a tl were to come
from the East to take possession of the land .
”
Presco tt’
s M ex ico , Book v.,chap . vii .
A splendid pyramid w a s erected at Cholula
to him by the Toltecs, according to some
accounts, but I am inclined to think the temple
on its summit only w a s dedicated to him, as
146 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
Babe l. Humboldt gives the following account,
taken from a Mexican MS . in the Vatican
library
Before the gre a t in un da tio n , w hich to ok pla ce fourtho usan d e ight hun dre d ye ars after th e cre a tion of the
w orld, the coun try ofA n ahuac w a s in habited by gia n ts .
A ll those w ho did n o t perish w ere tra n sforme d in to fishe s,save seve n , w ho fled in to cavern s. Whe n the w a terssubsided, o n e of the gia n ts, Xe lhua , surn ame d the Archite e t, w e n t to Cholula , w here , a s a memoria l to the
moun ta in Tla loc, w hich had served a s a n a sylum tohimse lf a n d his six bre thre n , he built a n artificia l hill inform of a pyramid. He ordere d bricks to b e m ade inthe provin ce of Tlama n a clo , a t the foot of the SierraCo co tl ; a n d to con vey them to Cholula , he pla ce d a fileo fme n , w ho pa ssed them from ha n d to ha n d. The godsbehe ld w ith w ra th this e difice , the top o f w hich w a s tore a ch the clouds. Irrita te d a t the darin g a ttempt ofXe lhua , they hurled fire o n the pyramid n umbe rs o f thew orkme n perishe d ; the w o rk w a s discon tin ue d
,a n d the
mon ume n t w a s afterw ards dedica ted to Que tz a tco a tl,the god of the a ir.
”— H umbo ldt’s Rese a rc/zes, vo l . i .
p. 96.
A t the time of the conquest,this pyramid
w a s still called “the mountain of unbaked
bricks,” and Faber tru ly says
,if the Spanish
priests had been the authors of this legend,
we may be morally certain that the pyramid
A NCIENT MEXICO. 147
of Cholula would never have been pronounced
to be a studied copy of the diluvian mount
Tlaloc .
This pyramid has a broader base than any
other edifice of the kind on either continent .
be in g tw ice a s lo n g a s t/ze g re a t pyramid of
C/te ops . But a smaller one that existed to the
east of Cholula, and nearer the Mexican Gulf,
had six stories,and w a s, according to Hum
boldt,more tapering than any othermonument
of the kind in A merica . It had three stair
cases leading to the top,and was built entirely
of hewn stone .
Whether the A ztecs,on arriving in Mexico
,
improved on these structures that they found
left there by the Toltecs, o r whether the
pyramidal form of temple w a s their own kind
of architecture, it is certain that the builders
of the Cho lula n pyramid had no knowledge of
the arch, as the chamber discovered when
making the road from Puebla to Mexico was
built of stones overlapping each other, simila r
to t/ze ruin s discovered by Stephens in Central
148 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
A merica, and which also ha s been found in
several Egyptian edifices.
In the structure of the pyramidal teocallis,
or houses of Go d, in Mexico, we find the
strongest resemblance to that of Belus in
Chaldae a ; and Humboldt remarks,
It is impo ssible to re a d the de scriptio n s w hich Herodo tus
, orDio dorus Siculus, have left us of the temple ofJupiterBe lus, w ithout be in g struck w ith the re sembla n ceoftha t Babylon ian mon ume n t to the te o ca llis ofMex ico.”
— Humbo ldt ’s Resea rclzes, vo l. i. p. 82.
There were several hundreds of the se in
Mexico, and all of a pyramidal form . On the
top w a s the stone of sacrifice, and two towers,
the sanctuaries of the presiding deity, together
w ith the altars containing the sacred fire,which
w a s never allowed to go out except once in
fifty- two years, the duration of the A ztec
cycle .
The numerous remains of mounds of earth
w hich lie (o r did so formerly) over the country
of Virginia,Florida
,a n d all over the Missis
sippi ’valley,are very similar to the Mexican
O IICS.
150 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
in the year of the conque st it e xceeded a
hundred thousand .
The companions ofCorte z, we are informed,counted no less than a hundred and thirty
six thousand skulls in o n e of the buildings
kept for the heads of those that fell in sacri
fice . Bernal Diaz himself says he counted
a hundred thousand,all piled a n d arranged in
order.
For like examples w e have to go to A sia,
when Timour a n d other Tartar kings piled
up skulls in vast numbers,
- n 0t, however, to
commemorate religious sacrifices,but as trophies
of their conquests.
The former,on one occasion
,ordered seventy
thousand from Ispahan,a n d ninety thousand
from Bagdad,to be piled in the form of a
pyramid ; and one of the caliphs, in like
manner,caused an immense number of skulls
to be collected and piled in an apartment of
the convent of Saba.
In their rites of sepulture we are at a loss
for any comparison between any one particular
ANCIENT MEXICO. 15:
nation of the old continent, a s in Mexico the
dead were as often buried as burned . The
monarch was generally burned ; his ashes
being deposited in a golden vase with some
jewel or precious stone, which forcibly reminds
us of a like ceremony among the Hindoos.
A gain ,in Tartary the bodie s of rich people
are burned, while those of the poorer class
are interred .— a
’
s Ta rtary, chap . i ii . , p. 7 0 .
Sometimes the A z tecs buried the de ce ased
together with all his treasures,while slaves were
alw ays sacrificed a t the death of a noble .
A custom very similar to the Chinese
existed among the A ztecs, na mely, that of
strewing the body with pieces of white paper.
In China this ceremony occurred in spring
and autumn,when the tombs of relations were
visited .
The A ztecs were only cannibals at their
religious festivals . We do not find them
banqueting on human flesh,like the ferocious
Goths,the Polynesian islanders
,o r the Nootka
Sound chiefs,merely to gratify their degraded
152 THE M IGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
appetite ; but the body of the victim was se rved
up a s a religious fea st,together with delicate
and choice viands,and attended by both
sexes, who, as Mr. Prescott remarks, conducted
themselves with all the decorum of civilized
life.
We cannot trace this strange custom to
any other nation,although a faint resemblance
is found in Tahiti,when at a certain ceremony
the eye of the human victim w a s offered to
the king by the priest,who appe ared to e a t
it, but invariably passed it to an attendant .
E llis’
s P olyn es ia n Rese arc/Ies, vol . i., p . 336 .
The war god of the A ztecs,called Huitz ilo
po tchli, was supposed to have been born of
a virgin , like Buddha in India, and Sammon
codon in Siam . This tradition,derived from
the early promise of a Messiah to the Jews,
was perpetuated amongst the primitive nations,
by means of the Hebrew prophecies,frag
ments of which had crept into the Sibylline
oracles,that a Deliverer w a s to be born of a
virgin .
154 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
an age. Their cycle o f fifty- two years was
denoted by a wheel .
A ccording to Humboldt,a serpent with its
tail in its mouth, forming a circle, surrounds
the wheel , and denotes by four knots the
four indications, or‘tla lpilli.
’ This emblem
is simila r to the serpent, o r dragon,which
among the Egyptians and Persians represents
the century, a revolution, or a vum .
’
The same learned author shows the re
markable resemblance between the Tartar and
Mexican zodiacs
MANTCHOU - TARTARS. MEXICANS.
Pars— Tig er. Oce lo tl— Tig er.
To chtli— Hare , rabb it.Mo g a i
— Serpe n t. Co hua tl— Serpe n t.Pe tchi— Ape . Oz oma tli— Ape .
Noka i— Do g . I tzcuin tli— Do g .
Tuka i— Bird , he n . Qua n htli— Bird, e ag le .
“If,” says he ,“w e con sult the w orks compo se d a t thebe gi n n in g ofthe con que st, by Spa n ish or In dia n authors,w ho w ere ign ora n t eve n of the e xiste n ce o f a Tartarzodiac, w e sha ll se e tha t a t Mexico, from the seve n thce n tury o f o ur era , the da ys w ere ca lle d tiger, dog, ape ,hare or rabbit, e tc.
,a s throughout the w hole ofEa stern
A sia the years still be ar the same n ame in the Thibe tan ,
ANCIENT MEXICO. 155
Ma n tchou-Tartar, Mo n go l, Ca lmuck, Chin e se , Japa n e se ,Corea n , a n d a ll the la n guage s ofTon quin a n d CochinChin a .
”— Humbo ldt’s Researches, vo l. i., pp. 289, 345.
But the Mexicans had calculated their year
with such nice ty as to come nearer the mark
than the Europe an nations.
Their epoch w as reckoned from our year of
A .D. 1 09 1 , and soon after they had migrated
from A ztlan . The calendar of the priests,
which they constructed fo r themselves,and
which was called a lunar reckoning,— although
,
a s Mr. Prescott points out, it had no accom
moda tio n to the revolutions of the moon,— cor
responded precisely with the number of years
in the g reat Gothic period of the Egyptians,
namely, 1 49 1 , when the seasons a n d festivals
came round.
to the same place in the year
again.
Like so many of the nations of the old
world, the A ztecs had the serpent worship
engrafted in their religious system the coat
pa n tli,” or wa ll of serpents, enclosed the area
in which stoo d the g reat teocalli o fMexico.
156 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
The goddess Cio aco a tl, or ‘ se rpe nt- w oman ,’
the first goddess that brought forth , and by
w hom sin came in to the w orld , had doubtless
the same origin as the serpent Typhon of
the Egyptians, the A hriman of the Persians,
who stung to death the first ma n, to gethe r
w ith the Naga, or Na chish, of Chaldae a, a n d
the Kali - naga of the Hindoos.
A ll these traditions emanated from one
source,and
, a s I have pointed out in Scrip
ture Facts and Scientific Doubts,” are but
corrupt offshoots of the true patriarchal and
Mosaic accounts of the temptation and fall of
o ur first parents through the medium of the
serpent that old serpent the devi l.”
The hieroglyphic paintings of the Mexicans
represent the four cycles, or ages, in which
famine,fire
,wind, and water are successive ly
depicted as de stroying the human race ; a n d
are similar to the four ages of the Hindoos,
and mentioned in the Bha g avita Po ura n a .
Mr. De lafie ld thinks they refer to real a n d
not imaginary events,namely
,
158 THE DISPERSION FROM SHINAR.
however,prove s them to be ge nuine, and fre e
from priestly cookery.
Enough ha s be e n now said to show that
analogies existe d, more or less clear, between
the Mexica ns and some of the A siatic nations
and it is almost certain that the early tribes,
such as the Toltecs and Chichimecs, migrated
from some locality north of A nahuac, probably
the region of the Great Lakes, but not farther,
as A dair agrees with Squier and Davis that
no ancient buildings, pyramidal mounds, or
tumul i,exist north of the Lake country .
A long the valley of the Mississippi,however
,
and particularly in the present state of Ohio,
these remains lie thick, te n thousa n d tumuli
having been discovered in Ross county alone
and they are, or rather were, scarcely less
numerous in Virginia,while larger pyramids
a re found of great size : that in the vicinity
of Miamisburg h, Montgomery county, Ohio, is
6 8 feet in perpe ndicular height,and 852 feet in
circumference at the base,containing 3 1
cubic feet. A nother at Cahokia,I ll inois
, a
ANCIENT MEXICO. 159
truncated pyramid, was 90 feet high,and
upwards of feet in circumference,having
a level summit several acres in extent.
It appears a lso probable that these early
nations came originally from the shores of
A sia ; and although it is a favourite and con
ve n ie n t plan to land the lost tribes of Israel
in A merica, . still we have good grounds fo r
thinking a portion of them may with reason
be included amongst the numerous tribes that
in course of time found their way through
Persia and Chinese Tartary to the Ne w Con
tin e n t .
VI.
THE AA’CIENT INHABITA N TS OF PERU .
HEN we consider the wise,firm
,and
politic sway of the Peruvian Incas,
their admirably regulated empire,their laws
and institutions which provided fo r the
meanest of their subjects,and contrast them
with those of the fierce A ztec emperors,who
governed more by the sword than by justice
and policy,and who made their vassals
tremble at the remotest corner of their
empire, we see that the two nations had
but little in common, if indeed they were
acquainted with one another.
But it is necessary to bear in mind that
the early history of Peru, l ike that of Mexico,
is clearly divided into two parts. In the
latter country,the peaceful and industrious
164 THE AIIGRA TI ON FROAI SHINAR.
Toltecs appear first, a n d the conquering
A ztecs follow them, engrafting their religion
on that of Que tz a tco a tl ; so in like manner
in Peru,we find on the western o r Pacific
side of the A ndes a similar revolution when
the Incas subdued the tribes around the
shores of Lake Titicaca, the ancient worship
o f the Sun being re - established by Manco
Capac.
The ancient edifices on Lake T iticaca were
in existence at a period long prior to the
Incas ; and. l ike the A ztecs in Mexico, they
superseded a more ancient race. The pyra
mids of Cholula and Teotihuacan,Toltecan
monuments, were found by the A ztecs when
they arrived on the Mexican plateau,and
both they and the remains on Lake Titicaca
w ere anciently dedicated to the Saba an
worship . Mr. Markham says,
“It seems cer
tain,from various emblems found carved
upon the ruins,and from tradition , that the
w orship of the Sun and Moon was established
amongst the A ymaras for ages before the
166 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
It is worthy o f notice that Manco Capac
in Peru, Que tz a tco a tl in Me xico, and Bochica
in Brazil, all appear abo ut the same time on
the American continent. A n d it will be
remembe red that the discovery of the middle
and southern pa rts of North A merica by
the Scandinavians, which w e have previously
noticed , occurred about the same time, as
the earliest date assigned to Manco Capac’s
arrival was about 1 0 2 1 A .D. ; but these early
adventurers had reached the coast of New
fo un dla n d, under Bjarm H erjulfso n and Lief
Ericson,abo ut 9 86 or 1 000 .
That both the A ztecs and Peruvians were
visited by stranger reformers is certain ; but
whether they both came from the same
quarter is not so certain, fo r while we find
Que tz a tco a tl inculcating only the sacrifice of
fruits and flowers among the Toltecs,there is
every reason to believe the Incas introduced
human sacrifices into Peru, for previous to
their arrival w e do not find any trace of
it,either among the Collas, Aymara e s, or
ANCIENT PERU . 167
Chinchas. A s Que tz a tco a tl departed from the
Toltecs, so probably did Manco Capac from
the Aymara e s, after havin g established a form
of government based on their religion,and im
parting to them the blessings of civilization .
Rivero says,
Our m in ute a n d rece n t in ve stiga tio n s g o to provetha t the In ca s do n o t derive the ir origin from. the
legisla tor above n amed (be his n ame Man co Capa cor a n y o ther) by a succe ssio n of blo od, but from a
n a tive family established in the ro yal dign ity by thestra n ger reformer.”— P eruvia n A n tiguities, p. 67 .
Mr. Markham is also of this opinion .
A fter dividing the ancient empire of the
Incas into five regions, namely, Yn ca , Collao,
Chin cha suya , Quitu, and Yunca, he divides
the Yuca region into the six following tribe s,
Y n ca s, Canas, Quichuas, Chancas, Huancas,
and Ruca n a s. He says,
The above six n a tio n s w ere clo se ly a llied, a n d se em
to have a commo n origin . The Yn ca coun tryw as boun de d o n the w e st by the pre cipitous gorge of
the Apurima c, a n d o n the e a st by the Pa n cartampu
river. N orth a n d south it exte n de d a lo n g the va lleyo fVilcamayu, w hich pa ssed through its ce n tre , fi om
Queque sa n a to the fortress ofTampu.
168 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
“It thus co n siste d of a rich a n d fertile ce n tral va lley,e n joyin g a n Ita lia n clima te , a n d yie ldin g corn a n d fruitin abun da n ce , a n d a moun ta in ous tra ct o n e ither sidew ith pa sture s a n d rugge d he ights. Cuzco is o n the
w e stern highla n d, be tw e e n the ce n tra l va lle y a n d the
Apurimac. The district is about seve n ty m ile s by sixtym ile s in e xte n t.
The proper n ame for the aborigin a l pe o ple of thistract is Yuca . A ll the chiefs, or ra therhea ds ofAy llus,or lin e age s, w ere ca lle d Yuca s, a n d it w a s n o t un tilla ter time s tha t the n ame w as a ssumed a s the spe cia ltitle of the roya l family.”
He further remarks tha t there is n o evide n ce for
the be lief tha t the Yn ca s origin al ly came from a dis
ta n ce .
”— P aper read before the RI. Geo . Soc.
,July 10,
1 87 1 .
Mr. Markham also goes into a somewhat
long dissertation on what he calls “the
blunder ” of authors calling the Collao natives
by the name of A ymara,but it is only a
few years ago since he himself made the
same mistake.
It is, however, now ascertained that the
people of the Collao were not called A ymaras
at or before the Spanish conquest ; that the
real A ymaras were a small Qu ichua tribe
living in a part of Peru remote from the
1 70 THE AI IGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
dynasty, w hich is ma nifestly to o long fo r only
fourteen sove reigns. It is generally supposed
that Manco Capa c did not reig n more than
two hundred and fifty years before the coming
of the Span iards,— perhaps abo ut the close of
the thirteenth century.
In Peru,wives and dome stics were sacrificed
a t the tombs of their lords, a n d at the funeral
obsequies of the Inca Huayna Capac, a thousand
men alone are said to have been slain ; and
Sarmie n to says four thousand victims suffe red
on that occasion .
The Egyptians a n d Chinese appear to be
the only nations of the Old Contine nt that
w ere exempt from the barbaro us custom of
human sacrifice ; there is, however, a tradition
that a young virgin was annually sacrificed to
the Nile,and Josephus a sserts the Hindoos
anciently offered up a youth or maiden to the
Ganges. In Peru,young virgins and chi ldren
were sacrificed to the Sun , but only on extra
ordinary occasions ; and the immolation of
human bein gs appears to have be e n reserved
ANCIENT PERU . 1 7 1
chiefly fo r their funeral ceremonies, like the
ancien t Scythians ; the Peruvians were n o t
cann iba ls, l ike the A ztecs.
Both the Pharaohs and Incas were elabo
rately emba lmed . The latter mon a rchs, with
their Coya s (queen s), were foun d in a wonder
ful state of preservation ; so that when the
Span ia rds removed some of these royal
mummies from Cuzco to Lima, they appeared
as if but just dead . They were found de
posited in the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco,sea ted o n their thrones while theirCoyas were
placed in ' that part of the edifice dedicated
to the Moon, which w as considered the wife of
the Sun . Their intestines were hermetically
sealed up in jars of gold .
The corpses of the common people were not
embalmed , but were universally found in a
sittingposture, the head generally resting upon
the ha n ds, which were placed on the kn ees.
In Eg ypt, however, the bodies are found in a
recumbent posture.
We le a rn from Hero dotus that the Scythian
1 72 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SH INAR.
kings were embalmed ; a n d a t their funeral
o bsequies, one of the royal concubines w as
strangled,a n d, together with the prin cipal ser
vants and horses, buried with him — M elpa
me n e , 7 1 , etc .
We find again a great similarity that existed
between the Peruvians a n d Egyptians in the
system of caste : all occupation descended
from father to so n . But the most singular
resemblance to the Egyptians was that of their
Penates,called Ca n opa s by the Peruvians, and
Ca h opa , o rCa n oba , by the latter! They were
used precisely fo r the same purpose, the
sepultures of both people containing them .
P eruvia n A n tiquities, p. 1 7 2 , and Note.
A gain in Peru, as in China and Egypt, the
Inca combined the oflice of high - priest and
monarch.
The ancient Pharaohs exercised the functions
of the priesthood ; but as the empire became
extended, this was impossible, and the monarch
had recourse to deputies,still retaining
,how
ever, the chief regulation of the rites and
1 74 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
a sma ll po rtion o f it in smaller vessels of gold.
A young llama w as then sacrificed , ge nerally
o f a bla ck colour, a n d auguries sought for in
its entrails .
It is difficult to ascerta in the truth with
regard to the kindling of the sacred fire by
means o f a burnished meta llic mirror— whether
it was done a t this fea st of Raymi, or a t that
celebrated a t the verna l e quinox ,a t w hich
time the In ca w ent through the ce remony of
inauguration for those youths who w ere e ligible
fo r the honour o f bearing arms, and had
passed an examination,having arrived at man’s
estate . They had their ears bored with a
golden bodkin ; and after kissing the hand of
the monarch, received from h im richly orna
me n ted sandals, and woollen drawers, together
with a girdle fo r the loins. A ll these cere
monies have great resemblance to those of the
ancient Persians.
A gain, we find a similarity to the Persians,
Egyptians, and A ssyrians in the incest practised
by the Peruvian monarchs. The Coya,or
ANCIEN T PERU 1 75
legitimate queen, w as his sister ; it could not
be otherwise,— as a son of the Sun he co uld
not ally himself to a mere mortal a n d yet the
Incas found it agreeable to have several hun
dred concubines picked from the most beautiful
of the Virgins of the Sun, by whom they con
descended to beget a numerous posterity,some
o f them leaving as many as three hundred
chi ldren .
Incest existed in Egypt long be fore the
Ptolemies ; and, according to Heeren,this
custom probably arose from a desire to pre
vent strangers from succeeding to the throne.
— H istorica l Resea rches, vol . ii ., p . 332 and
Ed die’
s Orie n ta l H ist., chap . iv., p . 156 .
In vain do we seek in the few hieroglyphics
that have been found on the Peruvian monu
ments for similarities with those of any other
nation . They,like the A ztecs
,had no alpha
bet the quzppus, consisting of knotted coloured
threads, was principally used by them. This
method of conveying signs by different coloured
thread was not original in Peru, and it is sup
1 76 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
po se d w as in tro duced by the first Inca , Man co
Capac. The colo ured threads compo sin g the
quippus had difl'
ere n t me a n ings thus,ye llow
sign ified gold white, silver; red , soldie r, w ar;
gree n , maize , etc. ; but so insufficien t w e re
they to express the in te l l igence sent from a
distan t province, that the quippu- cama z oc (de
ciphere r of quippus) w a s always n ecessary to
accompany them . The word guzpu signifies a
knot and appea rs to be similar in use to the
w ampum belts o fthe North American In dians.
This practice , acco rding to Humboldt, was
in use among the ancient A siatic tribes,and
also among the Canadians.
The wampum belt'
s described by Catlin
consisted of various coloured shells,cut into
l ittle bits, and strung on deer’s sinews
,some
times worn round the n eck,but a lso interwoven
with the waist - belt.
A mong some of the North A merican tribes,
the keeper of the wampum answered to the
decipherer of the quippus in Peru .
A dair says of the tribes adjoining the
1 78 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INAR.
the only one. It is sa id the Incas had a
secret language of their o w n , but th is is
generally doubted, as no traces of it have yet
been discovered . A few words of the Quichua
have been seized hold of by different writers as
resembling corresponding ones in the Sanscrit,
Hebrew,Chinese, and Carthaginian , but without
much result.
The A ymara lang uage of Bolivia very much
resembles the Quichua, and Rivero con siders
them to have the same root.
The Puquina language, spoken in some of
the valleys on the coast, is radica lly different
from a n y other A merican idiom . This fact is
not confined to the Puquina,fo r the Guara n e e
race are found in Paraguay, with a language
almost monosyllabic, and which, according to
Professor Leoni Levi, bears a close analogy
w ith the Chinese . H o w came they,” he asks
,
to be in the centre of South America A re
they remnants of the Inca race of Peru ! ”
The Quichua language has several dialects,
namely,the Quiten o, the Lamana, the Yunca,
ANCIENT PERU . 1 79
and some others. In the south of Peru is the
Cusque fio s,“which alone,
” says R ivero, should
be taken as the standard by the student . It
is the pure Quichua.
I t must be borne in mind that the empire
of the Incas extended far beyond the present
republic of Peru. It stretched to the south
into Bolivia, Chili, and the A rgentine Republic,
and on the north to Ecuador.
But the Incas could never succeed in making
progress south of the Maypo cho river, and the
Spanish conquerors A lmagro and Valdivia fa i'e d
no better when attempting to subdue the A rau
ca n ia n s of Chil i, and they were acknowledged
independent from sheer necessity.
On crossing the Chilian A ndes by the U s
pallata pass,in 1 858 , I passed the
“Inca ’s
Lake,
” about ten thousand feet above the sea
level,and on the A rgentine side bivouaced by
the Inca’s Bridge.”
A ccording to Velasco, the Incas, on arriving
with their conquering legions at Quito, were
astonished to find a dialect of the Quichua
1 80 THE MIGRA TI ON FROAI SH INAR.
spo ken there, although it was unknown over
much of the intermediate country ; a singular
fact, if true, adds Mr. Prescott — Co n quest of
P eru, vol. i., p. 1 15, and Note.
The Quichua language w as the language of
the court,the capital
,and the surround
ing country,— the richest and most compre
he n sive of the South A merican dialects.
”
A lthough Von Tschud i, Pickering, Turner, and
others,have done much to unravel the multi
tudin o us skein of lang uages and dialects of
South America, much still remains to be done,
a n d we strongly suspect that the number of
radically different lan guages will be found to
be small .
I t is remarkable that neither the Peruvians
n o r Mexicans ever discovered the use of iron ,
which was so plentiful about them ; in this
respect they resembled the Egyptians , whose
instruments fo r cuttin g stone w ere composed
only of copper and sile x . R ivero found those
in Pe ru to contain from five to ten pe r cent .
of the latter substance in the different chisels
1 82 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SH INAR.
The Peruvians acknowledged that the ruin s
of Lake Titicaca existed long before the
coming of Manco Capac . But R ivero is wron g
in saying they knew how to construct the arch,
and,singularly enough
,quotes Mr. Stephens’
work on Yucatan in support of his opinion,
when the very reverse is the case. The
nearest approach to the arch w a s the tw o
sides risin g and meeting each other, and
then covered with a coping - stone at the
top .
In all the ancient ruins in A merica, whether
North o r South, n o true arch with its keyston e
ha s yet been discovered . The early Theban
caverns we re partly arched in like manner, but
the Egyptians themselves never attained to
the true one .
Heeren traces the Egyptian architecture to
its true source,namely
,in Meroe in Ethiopia
,
where comparing the pyramidal architecture of
that country to Egypt, he says,
We sha ll se e a n other proof of w ha t ha s a lre ady be e npartly e stablished ; n ame ly, tha t w ha t had its rise in
ANCIENT PERU . 1 83
Ethiopia w a s perfected in Egypt, o f w hich w e sha ll stillse e further proofs.
— Heere n’s H ist. Researche s, vo l . i. ,
P 394
The description given by Ciega de Leon of
the temples that existed on the island of
L ampun a , cannot fail to strike the readerwith
its resemblance to those buildings so graphi
cally described by Mr. Stephens in Yucatan.
The obscurity of the interior,the hide o us
sculptures covered with hieroglyphics, together
with the large sacrificial stone o r altar in the
centre,are all similar ; coupled with the fact
that a statue at Quirigua, near Copan, in
Central America, twenty feet high, with the
front part resembling a man, and the back part
a w oman , was exactly identical to another
image found in Peru about two leagues from
the town of H ilavi,where a sculptured stone
three times the height of a man,represented
a male figure on one side facing the west,and
a female on the other looking east. Wil l it
be believed that the Jesuit A rriaga employed
more than thirty persons for three days to
1 84 THE AI IGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
demolish this most inte re sting monume nt
See a description of both in Stephens’ Yuca ta n ,
vol . i., chap. vii . , and R ivero’s P eruvia n A n t ,
pp. 1 6 7 — 246 .
The Inti - huasi,o r House of the Sun, at
Cuz co, show s a superiority o ve r a n y other
building on the New Contine nt, a n d Sarmiento
says he had never see n throughout Spain ,
except in Toledo and Cordova, anything to
be compared w ith its walls,and the laying of
its stones.
The fortress of Cuzco,which was built during
the reign of the Inca Pachacutec,o r his son
Yupanqui,of huge po lyangular stones, fitted
so perfectly, that no mortar or cement w a s
n ecessary . These immense stone s were quite
rough,except at the joints
,which were polished.
Some of them were fifty fee t in length, twenty
two in height, and six in width . Only in the
ruins of Baalbek do we find such gigantic
masonry.
The roads and canals made by the Incas were
the wonder and admiration o f the Span iards,
186 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
to ma rk the exact time of the summer a n d
winter solstices by the sun’s shadow. But they
were deficient in any astronomical calculation s
which were of importance.
Similar ceremonies to baptism,confirmation
,
and extreme unction were in existence amon g
the ancient Peruvians,and
,like the cross dis
covered in the island of Cozumel,Gulf of
Mexico, which was dedicated to Tlaloc , the
god of rain ,” puzzled the Spanish priests not
a little.
A few days after the birth of the child, the
father and mother,with the a ma uta (priest),
w ashed it with water,pronouncing some mys
tical words, in order to conjure away all evil
influences that might in future be exercised
over it.
Confirmation was the second naming of the
child w hen it had arrived at the age of puberty ;
fe asting and dancing followed this ceremony ,
the hair and huger- nails being cut o ff,and
offered to the family Can opus, o r household
gods. In l ike manner,before their principal
A NCIENT PERU . 1 87
feasts,they confessed their sins
,having pre
vio usly fasted several days, when penance was
enjoined .
The ceremony of extreme unction was
nothing more than the priest muttering some
words over the dying person,in order to drive
away the devil,or any other evil spirit that
might be hovering about.
The former rite,resembling baptism
, w a s
also pract ised by the A ztecs and although it
had no reference to the Christian ceremony,
it w a s doubtless derived from A sia,as the
Egyptians, Hindoos, and Persians all had a
similar rite .— P resco tt
’
s M ex ico , Book i., chapter
ii i and App. ; P resco tt’
s P eru P eruvia n A n ti
quities, pp . 1 80— 1 8 2 .
These purely pagan ceremonies ought not
to have surprised the Spaniards, at least the
intelligent portion of them,by their similarity
to their own rites : if they had only taken the
trouble to examine the source they sprang
from,they would have found them identical
in that respect .
188 THE MIGRA TI ON FROllI SH INA R.
It is a well - known fact that when Caprini,w ho w as sent by Pope Innoce nt IV. , in 1 246,
to the East, examined the rites and ceremonies
of the Chinese Buddhists, he w as astonished
at their simila rity to the Romish one s ; a n d
again in 1 253, when Rubrug n is reached the
court of the Great Khan , he also was struck
with the marked resemblance in the forms of
worship of the Lama and the Pope .
Tha t they should coun t the irprayers,” says Gutz lafl'
,
by me a n s of a rosary ,a n d cha n t masse s for bo th the
livin g a n d the de ad ; tha t the y should live in a sta te ofce liba cy, shave the ir he ads, fa st, e tc.
, m ight be perhapsa ccoun ted fo r a s a mere coin cide n ce o f errors in to w hichme n are pron e to fa ll but the ir adora tion ofTie n - ho w ,
Que e n of He ave n ,’
(ca lle d a lso Shin gm o o,
‘the Holy
must be a te n e t e n grafted upon Buddhism fromfore ign tra dition s.
”— Davis’s Chi n a , cha pters xii. , xiv.
We ca n trace an analogy between the Chinese
goddess Tien - how and the Carthaginian virgin
goddess Coe lestis, also Urania and the Moon ,
a n d who is probably alluded to by the prophet
Jeremiah in chap . vii . 1 8 , and chap . xliv. 1 7 — 25,
of his prophecy ; this Queen of Heaven is
doubtless identical with the Greek Iphigenia,
190 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
crept into the early Church,and how error
a fter error sprang from this amalgamated
worship until the whole culminated in Popery,
is a matter of history, and a most interesting
study for the unbiassed student .
A ccording to the Litany of the.
Tibetan
Buddhists, Godama professed to have taken
upon himself the nature of man , in order to
suffer for the good of all living beings ; and
that,when h imself free from sin
,he also
desired to free the world from sin .— See hymn
translated by Csoma Karo si,P rin sep
’
s Tibet,
P 1 53~
If,a s some suppose, the Buddhist religion
eman ated from the t e n tribes of Israel,carried
captive into the regions about the Caspia n
Sea,then we can understand how the promise
of a deliverer became engrafted o n the Jewish
worship,intermingled a s it had become with
the pagan worship of Baal , A shtoreth , Milcom ,
and other heathen de ities. The Jewish pro
phe cie s relating to the Messiah were in all
probability better understood and appreciated
ANCIENT PERU . 19 1
by them when in captivity than they ever
were in the days of prosperity ; and like their
brethren who returned under the edict of Cyrus
to Palestine, idolatry was for a time at least
abandoned,until, by the constant intercourse
with the surrounding heathen nations,paganism
again took firm root among them .
It ha s been pointed out that the Peruvians
had one Buddhistic notion prominent in their
creed , namely, the successive incarnations of
Deity in the persons of their rulers. Dr.
Cooke Taylor says,
There is a perfe ct sim ilarity be tw e e n the a ttribute so f the In cas of Peru an d the L ama s of Tibe t. It
de serve s to be a dded , tha t in the provin ce s w here the
empire of the In ca s w a s n o t e stablishe d, huma n sa crifice s w ere a s commo n a s in Mex ico .
”— Na t. Sta te ofSoci e ty , vo l. i. , p. 302.
The Sakai (Buddhists) arrived in India
about a hundred years after the return of the
Jews from A ssyria to Palestine : this would
consequently be 436 B.C.,reckoning from 606
,
Usher’s date for their being carried into
captivity.
192 THE hI IGRA TION FROM SHIN A R.
Their remains may be traced from Bactria,
a d istrict of Persia, clo se upon the eastern
borders of the Caspian Sea, where the Isra elites
were carried away captive by Hoshe a, king
of A ssyria , who placed them“in Halah and
in Habor by the river of Gozan,and in the
cities of the Medes (2 Kings xvu. through
Mongolia and Tibe t to China,and thro ugh
India to Ceylon,Burmah
,Siam
,and the
is lands of Formosa and Japan .
In Cashmere , the Sakia n e ra , or the new
religion of Prince A soka,appears to have
commenced about 30 7 B.C.
“It should be remembered,” says Dr. Moore
,
“tha tBuddhism ,
a s it n o w e xists in In dia,Ceylon
,a n d the
In do -Chin e se territorie s,doe s n o t fa irly repre se n t tha t
form of it w hich origin a ted w ith Sakya . It ha s be e ncorrupte d by various paga n a ddition s
,a n d ha s a ssumed
shape s a ccordin g to the idola trie s it ha s e n coun tere d,un til a t le n gth but little o f the origin al cre e d appe arsin its pure form . Fo r in sta n ce
,th e ce liba cy o f the
prie sts of Buddha is n o w un iversa l, a n d yet , a ccordin gto the ir ow n records, it appe ars tha t Sakya himse lfw a smarrie d tw ice , a n d tha t he gave his disciple s pre ceptscon cern in g the qua litie s w hich should de term in e the irchoice o f a w ife .
”— The L ost Tribes, p . 198.
194 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R .
those tribes that hunt and fish on their banks ;
a n d the time may not be far distant when
the remnants of a once polished people will
be brought to light,and the true origin of
the Inca race of Peru be no longer a question
of doubt.
To the enterprising traveller no subject ca n
be more interesting than such a search,and
we shall look with confidence to men like
Chandless, Church, and Simson , together with
the members of the South A merican Mission,
w ho will be actuated by very different feeling s
from those of the Romish bigots at the time
of the Spanish conquest,who destroyed all
the valuable manuscripts and interesting monu
ments they could possibly collect together, and
vied with each other in the magnitude of these
l iterary bonfires . A n ything like light and
truth w a s to them in tolerable, being utterly
foreign to their nature ; and whether i t w a s
wantonly destroying a valuable monument ,
consuming a pile of h ieroglyphic pai n tings, o r
roastin g a fe w dozen Indians before breakfast,
ANCIENT PERU . 1 95
these wretches appear to have been equally
in their element ; and we cannot wonder at
the Indian noble at the stake replying to his
Christia n tormentors, who were as usual urging
their blasphemous dogmas upon him at the
last moment, that he would prefer remaining
out of heaven if he thought he would meet
any Spaniards there.
VI I .
CRANIA L PECU L IARITIES OF THE
AMERICAN NA TI ONS .
NE of the most singular customs that
prevailed on the A merican continent was
that of compressing the heads of the children
it w a s not, however, universal ; but most of
the Indian tribes both in North and South
A merica practised it.
The only people on the Old Continent
addicted to this singular custom, were the
Macrocephali,on the shores of the Euxin e.
In Tahiti the heads of youths were com
pressed,and the Caribs also appear to have
done the same ; but while in Tahiti it was
to strike terror into the enemy, in A merica
it was considered a mark of beauty.
This strange custom was doubtless be
que a thed to them ,and has been retained in
200 THE III IGRATION FROM SHINA R.
memo ry o f a race that posse ssed elo ng a ted
heads, and which possibly may be the same
as tho se whose high - n o sed profi les and re
ceding foreheads are still se en depicte d on
the Cen tral American ruins,— a race
,perhaps
a master o n e , that has passed a w ay.
The extraordinary flat - crown ed and elon
gated crania discovered by Mr. Pentland in
Bolivia w ould tend to le ad to this conclusion
and a lthough it is the opin ion of some
anthropologists that these Titicaca n skulls
had never been subject to a rt ificial pressure,
it has since been conclusively proved,to my
mind at least, that they have .
Dr. Prichard,a high authority on this
subject,says
,
“The custom w as very ge n era l throughout North a n dSouth America , a n d the same practice preva ile d amo n g
the a n cie n t Peruvia n s ; co n seque n tly, it is more tha n
probable tha t the a n cie n t skulls ofTitica ca o w e d the irstra n ge con figura tion to a proce ss w hich w e kn ow is
capable of e xpla in in g the phe n ome n a , tha n tha t theyco n stituted a n origin a l ra ce , a circumsta n ce of w hichw e have n o o ther evide n ce tha n tha t derive d from the
shape of the cra n ium . Profe ssor Scouler ha s give n
202 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SH INA R.
of these skulls are natural, and have not been
artificially subject to pressure.
A ccording to them,three distinct races ia
habited that part of the South A merican co n
t in e n t before the coming of the Incas. The
first, called the Chin cha s , dwelt between the
tenth and fourteenth degrees of south lati
tude,and occupied the shores of the Pacific
a s far inland a s the Cordilleras. The skulls of
this race are only some times found artificially
flattened .
The second race,M . D
’
Orbig n y calls the
Ayma ra es they inhabited the Peru - Bolivian
plateau,and it is said that in this race com
me n ced the dynasty of the Incas ; the ir
cran ia exhibit a peculiarity different from the
other,particularly in their remarkable arch .
The third race is called the H ua n ca s, which
i n habited the territory between the Cordilleras
a n d the A ndes,and extended from the ninth
to the fourteenth degree of south latitude.
There is not so much positive information
about this race as the other two,but the
CRANIA L PECU L IARITIES . 203
characteristic formation of their cran ia distin
guishe s them from the others by the depressed
frontal bone.
Von Tschudi says,Tho se philo logists are un do ubtedly in error w ho
suppo se tha t the differe n t phre n o logica l a spects offere dby the Peruvia n ra ce w ere exclusively artificia l. Thishypothe sis re sts o n in sufficie n t groun ds its authorscould have made the ir observa tion s sole ly o n the cra n iaof a dult in dividuals, a s it is on ly a few ye ars sin ce tw o
mummie s of childre n w ere carrie d to En gla n d, w hich,accordin g to the very e xa ct de scription of Dr. Be llamy,be lon ged to the tribe o f Aymara e s. The tw o cra n ia
(bo th of childre n scarce a ye ar or tw o old) had, in a ll
re spe cts, the sam e form a s those of adults. We our
se lve s have observe d the same fact in man y mummie sof childre n of te n dera g e , w ho , al though the y ha d clothsabout them, w ere ye t w ithout a n y ve stige or appe ara n ceof pre ssure of the cra n ia .
More still the same forma tion of the he a d pre se n tsitse lfin childre n ye t un born ; an d of this truth w e havehad con vin cin g pro of in the sight o f a foe tus, e n close din the w omb of a mummy of a pregn a n t w oma n
,w hich
w e foun d in a cave of Huichay, tw o le ague s fromTarma , a n d w hich is a t this mome n t in our co lle ction .
Profe ssor D’Outrepo in t, of gre a t ce lebrity in the depart
me n t o f obste trics, ha s a ssured us tha t the fo etus is o n e
of seve n mon ths’ ag e . It be lon gs, a ccordin g to a verycle arly defin ed forma tio n of cra n ia , to the tribe of the
Hua n cas .
”— P eruvia n A n tiyn ities, p . 35.
204 THE MIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
I have quoted this a utho rity a t le ngth to
show how easy it is to bui ld a theory o n
a solitary and isolated point. This a lle g ed
proof would not be con clusive a s to the
n a tura l formation of this race,even supposin g
this foe tal cranium to have been the normal
condition of the child when so found . But
when we consider the manner in which the
Peruvians buried their dead,the whole case
falls to the ground .
In common with a ll the A merican Indians,
they invariably placed their corpses in a
crouchin g posture , w ith the kn e es dra w n up to
the chin,a n d the w ho le positio n con stra in ed
a n d un n a tura l , thus rendering it more tha n
probable that the pressure in this way exerted
on the abdominal region of the mother imme
d ia te ly after death must have produced the
e longated formation of the foe tal head described
in this solitary instance,the unn atural position
of the corpse rendering it certain that an
undue pressure,and that of a very consider
able nature,must have been brought to bear
206 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
We find the Indian tribe s round South
Carolina, a n d a ll the way to New Mexico,
following the same custom
To effect this, they fix the te n der in fa n t o n a kin do f cra dle , w here h is fe e t are tilted above a fo ot highertha n a horizo n ta l po sitio n h is he ad be n ds back in to ahole ma de o n purpo se to re ce ive it, w here he he ars thechief part ofhis w e ight o n the crow n of his he ad upona sma ll bag of san d, w ithout be in g in the le a st able tomove himse lf. The skull, re semblin g a fin e cartila gi
n ous substa n ce ia its in fa n t sta te , is ca pable of takin ga n y impre ssio n — A da ir
’s A merica n I n dia n s
, p. 8 .
This is somewhat similar to the way in which
the Chinoo ks compress the head , which is don e
by placing a board upon the frontal bone.
While in Vancouver’s Island , a mother held
her infant up fo r me to sketch, the flatten ing
bandage having been just removed . It is co n
side re d a mark of beauty and distinction , and is
confined almost entirely to the sons of chiefs .
This custom may have descended from the
old A turia n Paltas o r Flatheads, now extin ct
in Peru and Brazi l, but recognizable on the
sculptures of Palen que in Central A merica, a n d
still practised by the mise rable remnants of a
CRANIAL PECU L IARI TIES . 20 7
once powerful and prosperous nation who have
wandered further to the northward .
In Tahiti,the forehead and back of the head
were pressed upward : this practice has been
discontinued for many years in the Society
group, but it will be necessary to remember
that it did once e xist .
Catlin found the M in a tare e s, in North
America, with very receding foreheads a n d
aquil ine noses,but they did not compress their
children’s heads. He says,
I re co lle ct to have se e n in severa l publica tion s o n thea n tiquitie s ofMexico, ma n y rude draw in gs made by thea n cie n t Mexica n s, o fw hich the sin gularpro file s of the sepe ople forcibly remin d me , almost
'
brin gin g me to thecon clusio n tha t the se pe ople may be the desce n da n tsof the race w ho have be que a thed those curious a n d
in explicable rema in s to the w orld, a n d w ho se sca ttere dremn a n ts, from dire a n d un kn ow n n e ce ssitie s of thosedark a n d un ve ile d age s tha t have go n e by, a t havebe e n jo stled a n d throw n alon g thro ugh the hide ous a n d
almo st impe n e trable labyrin ths of the Ro cky Moun ta in sto the place of the irde stin a tio n w here they n o w live .
”
Ca tlin ’s North A merica n I n dia n s, vo l. i . p . 193.
It is also well known that the Natchez tribe,
who migrated from Mexico at two different
208 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
pe rio ds, a lso flattened the heads of their
children .
On examin in g the cra n ia from the North
America n mo un ds, and comparing them w ith
so me of those found in Peru, great similarityis obse rvable, espe cially in the flattened occiput,but there is n o proof that this pecul iarity arises
from anything but artificial cause s.
The question w ill naturally be a ske d, A re
these an cien t and pe culiar crania found only
in the highlands of Peru !
A n essay by Dr. Warren , of Boston , U .S.,
answ ers this conclusively ; and an extract is
quoted by Mr. De lafie ld in his work on
A merican A ntiquities
The cra n ia foun d in the se moun ds a n cie n tmoun ds ofNorth America ,) differfrom those ofthe e xistin g I n dia n s, from the Cauca sia n a n d Europe an
, a n d, in
fa ct, from a ll ex istin g n a tion s, so far a s the y are kn ow n .
The forehe ad is broader a n d more e leva te d tha n the
Europe a n ; the orbits are sma ll a n d regular : the jaw sa re se n sibly prom in e n t, le ss so tha n in the I n dia n
, but
m ore so tha n in the Europe a n , ow in g prin cipa lly to a
gre a ter bre adth of the pa la tin e pla te o f the os pa la ti .But the mo st remarkable appe ara n ce in the se he ads is
2 10 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
A t four or five mo n ths th is bo n e is re gularly un itedto the o ccipita l, a n d the un io n begin s a t the middle of
the suture , an d a dva n ce s by little a n d little to w ards bo thside s although eve n after a year it is n o t foun d com
ple te ly effe cted, but in the m iddle o n ly : a furro w show sthe trace of the suture this furro w is n o t o blitera tedeve n a t the mo st adva n ced ag e , a n d may be e asilyrecogn ized in the cra n ia of a ll the se ra ce s.
Dr. Be llamy w as the first w ho made me n t ion of thisbo n e , w hich he had o cca sion to remark in o n e of the
mummie s before me n tio n ed. Amo n g the n umerouscra n ia w hich w e had the Opportun ity to e xam in e inPeru, w e have had the me a n s of co n vin cin g ourse lvestha t this suture is in variably foun d e itherope n , or closedin part, or comple te ly un ited to the occipita l bo n e , a n dw e ll in dica ted by a furrow very cle arly marke d .
It is a circumsta n ce w orthy ofthe a tte n tion o fle arn eda n thropologists, tha t there is thus foun d in o n e se ctionof the huma n ra ce a perpe tual a n oma lous phe n ome n onw hich is w a n tin g in a ll othe rs
,but w hich is chara cteristic
of the rum in a n t a n d carn ivorous a n ima ls.”— P eruvia nA n tigui ties, p 37 .
A fter such a positive and minutely de scribed
characteristic, I w a s hardly prepared to find it
most flatly contradicted by several learned me n,
one of whom , Dr. A rchibald Smith,had resided
at Lima fo r a considerable time.
While in Peru, I took with my o w n hands a
skull from an ancient hua ca near the ruins of
CRAN IA L PECU L IARI TIES. 2 1 1
Pachacamac the lower part of the mound had
fallen out,and several skulls we re easily obtain
able . The one I got had no mark of any
interparietal suture,although a ridge did exist
across the lower part of the occipital bone,but
which is simply that caused by muscular action,
traces of w hich may be found to exist, more o r
less distinct,in the crania of every race of man
,
and has nothing to do with any o ssified suture
whatever.
Dr. James M‘Ba in of Edinburgh kindly gave
me his opinion on this skull, and the following
are extracts from a paper read by him before
the Royal Physical Society of Edinburgh in
A pril 1 863.
A fter detailing the opinions of Dr. Tschudi
and Signor Rivero o n Peruvian crania, together
w ith Dr. Bellamy’s notice to the British
A ssociation in 1 84 1 , and the allusions made
by Colonel Hamilton Smith and Dr. Lund on
the same subject,he said,
The skull in my po sse ssio n appe ars to have be lon ge dto a youn g perso n , the suture s be in g ope n a n d distin ct,
2 12 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SH INAR.
a n d o n ly fourte e n te e th be in g prese n t in the upper
ja w .
“The o ssa w ormia n a e xte n d in the lin e of th e lambdo ida l suture , from a n in ch above the po sterior in feriora n gle of the parie tal bon e , a n d are n e arly a n in ch inbre adth . The skull be lon gs to the bra chyce pha lic type,a n d is somew ha t progn a thous.
The o ccipiti- fro n ta l diame ter is 611; in che s, the in terparie ta l diame ter is 5§ in che s, a n d the vertica l he ight,m e asure d from the m iddle ofthe sagitta l suture in teriorly .
to the an teri or edge of the o ccipita l forame n , is about
5in ches .
Th e horizon ta l circumfere n ce of the skull, exte n din gfrom the glabe lla a lon g the uppermargin ofthe squamoussuture
,a n d over the o ccipita l pro tubera n ce , is 195in ches.
The skull, w ithout the lo w er jaw ,w e ighs 2 15oun ce s of
m ille t se e d, the a n terior portion 105oun ce s, a n d the
posterior 26 oun ce s, w hich is n e arly in the ra tio of o n e
to thre e .
“It is un n e ce ssary to e n ter in to further de ta ils, a s the
above are sufficie n t fo r compariso n w ith othe r cra n ia .
”
He went on to say,
“I have thus briefly referred to the authoritie s a n d
sta teme n ts upon w hich the hypo the sis of a distin ct ra ceo fma n ha s be e n foun ded, a n d hitherto pre tty ge n era llya ccepted. The chief oste ologica l chara cters are the
pe culiar fla tte n in g of the skull, a n d the a ssertion of the
con sta n t pre se n ce of a n in terparie ta l bon e , o r o s I n ece ,
a s it is term ed by Vo n Tschudi, in complime n t to then a tion in w hich the pe culiarity is said a lo n e to be foun d.
214 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
On examining the cran ia ma rked ‘Pe ruvian ’
at the Muse um of the Royal College of
Surgeons in Lo ndon , I foun d o n ly o n e had
an open suture e xtending the whole way
a cross the o ccipital bo ne , as describe d in
the foregoin g quotation from Peruvian
A ntiquities ; a n d it is n o t a little sing ular
that the only Peruvian skull in the British
Muse um,labe lle d Lima, posse ssed the same
chara cte ristic. The he ight of th is bone
(wormian, super- o ccipital, or inte rparie tal
from the base to the apex, is in the former
skull 2 inches, and in the latter 1 6 inches ;
the frontal bones in both skulls are apparently
artificially flattened .
It will be seen that the statements of Signor
R ivero and Dr. Tschudi are based on e x cep
tio n a l cases, and that the desire to establish
a distinct race of man as having at one time
inhabited the highlands of Peru is untenable.
We see that some few of the Peruvian crania
do possess this remarkable characteristic ; but
so far as I have been able to ascertain,it is
CRA NIAL PECULIARI TIES. 2 15
n o t found in a n y o f the elongated Titicaca
skulls,where it might with most reason be
suspected to exist.
But this peculiarity is n o t confined to
Peruvian skulls o nly. Those who have care
fully examined Dr. Morton’s work o n Crania
A mericana ” will have noticed the same feature
in a Cayuga skull (Plate 35) of North
A merica, which tribe formed o n e of the
Iroquois nation , whose cautiousness and cun
n ing were proverbial even among the sur
rounding Indian nations. This skull has the
occipital bone divided in a horizontal dire ction,
the suture being a s distinctly marked as any
of those previously alluded to.
A Cla tsap skull (Plate 46) also exhibits
the same feature : this cranium ha s been
evidently subjected to unequal pressure, a
greater forde having been used on the right
side of the frontal bone.
A Chinook skull (Plate 43) and a Huron
(Plate 37 ) also present the same peculiarity ;
but the suture,although dividing the occipital
2 16 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
bo n e ho riz o n ta lly, is situa te d highe r uptowards
the un io n o fthe parie tals.
But we have furthe r pro of tha t this
chara cteristic is n o t pe culiar to a n y pa rticular
race of ma n , which ha s be e n so con fide ntly
asse rte d ; for Mr. Turn er, the Se nio r De mon
stra to r of A n atomy in the Un ive rsity of
Edin burgh , states in a pape r to the Edin burg h
M edica l j ourn a l of July a n d A ugust 1 8 65, on
the Cong e n ita l Deformit ie s o f the Human
Cra n ium,
”
tha t this in terpa rie ta l bo n e is n ot
confi n ed to A rn erica n cra n ia .
Varia tion s,” he sa ys,“a lso o cca sio n a lly o ccur in the
mode of o ssifica tio n o f the cerebra l part of the occipita lbon e itse lf. On e of the be st kn ow n of the se co n sists inthe pre se n ce of a tra n sverse suture exte n din g from o n e
side o f the lambdo ida l suture to th e oppo site , a n d
se para tin g the w ho le , or a gre a t part, ofthe supra - spin ousfrom the cerebe llar port ion of the occipita l bo n e . The
in terparie ta l bon e thus formed w a s a t o n e time suppo sedto be a characteristic fe a ture of the Peruvia n cra n ia
,
a n d w a s n am e d byVo n Tschudi, in a ccorda n ce w ith thisvie w , as I n ca . But it is n ow kn ow n tha t this o pin ionw a s ba se d o n imperfe ct observa tion for n o t o n ly is the
i n terpari e ta l bo n e of exceptio n a l occurre n ce eve n in the
P eruvia n shull,but it may ex ist a s a n i n d ividua l
peculia rity i n the cra n ia appare n tly of me n of a ny ra ce .
”
2 18 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
On o n e side is repre se n ted the ruin ed city, a n d o n
the other the bust of the Hun n ish lea der in profile , w iththe same form of he ad a s tha t show n in the suppo sedAvar(Hun ) skulls.”
Se veral of these skulls have be e n found
in Savoy, o n e n ear Lausanne , a n d a n o ther
in Fuersbrun n in A ustria. On e a t Villy, in
Savo y, e xhibits the profi le w ith the sing ular
vertical e longation which appears to have
constituted the ideal type of masculine be auty
among the A siatic followers o fA ttila , a s among
the Natchez,the Peruvian s, and o the r tribes
and nations of the Ne w World .
”
Speaking of their bestial deformity , these
fierce A vars “became a synonym for inhuman
monster, under the various forms of German
H un n e , Russian Obri, French Bulg ar, or Boug re ,
and the English Og re . Such were the people
w hose macrocephalic, o r rather obliquely de
pressed skul ls, are believed to have be en
recovered , in recent years, in Switzerland,
Germany,and on the shores of the Euxine,
presenting strange abnormal proportions, so
s ingularly corresponding to those of the Ne w
CRANIA L PECULIA RITIES. 2 19
World,that the experienced traveller and
physician, Dr. Tschudi, has claimed o n e of
the most chara cteristic of them ‘
a s no true
European discovery, but a lost relic from some
a n cie nt P eruvia n tomb. No t to Europe,how
ever,do they really belong, but seemingly to
the nomad Mongols and Ugrians of the great
steppes of Northern A sia, in the vast wilds of
which we lose them as they spread away
eastw a rd towards the Oko tsk Sea, the A leutian
Islands, and Behring’s S
’
traits.” — Prehistoric
M a n,vol . ii ., pp. 300
— 302.
A gain, let it be borne in min d that a
posthumous compression is by no means an
impossibility,when the corpse w a s placed in
a particular soil w itho ut coffin o r protection,as
a perfectly symmetrical skull is the exception,
and not the rule.
In Dr. Morton’s large collection of skulls,
there is but one that can be called symmetrical
in those classed Peru.
’
Dr. Wilson, in his able and interesting
work on Prehistoric Man,quote s the follow
220 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
ing remarks from Dr. Me igs, w ho divide s the
A merican cran ia into thre e prima ry classe s
1st . The pro tubera n t o cciput, w hich is e xhibitedamon g the n a t io n s of the New World by the Esquima ux
, Chippew ays, Huro n s, an d more or le ss amon gthirty- six differe n t America n tri be s or n a tio n s.
2n d. The vertical ly fla tte n ed o cciput he a ssign s a s
more o r le ss preva le n t am on g sixte e n tribe s, a n d characteristic of the majority of the Moun d- builders.
3rd . The full a n d ro un der o r g lo bular o cciput cha
ra cteriz e s n in e America n n a tio n s o r tri be s, a n d o ccurs
occa sio n a lly in a gre a t n umber.
But the fin a l summary of Dr. Me igs go e s eve n
further tha n this ; a n d tre a tin g, a s it do e s, n o t so le lyof the America n , but of the huma n o ccipital forma tion ,it very efle ctually de a ls w ith all the orie s ofra dical diversitie s of huma n varie tie s o r distin ct spe cie s, in so far
a s this importa n t subdivision of oste ologica l evide n ceis con cern ed, by affirm in g, a s the re sult of o bserva tion sma de o n e leve n hun dred a n d tw e n ty- five huma n cra n ia ,tha t there is a marked te n de n cy of the se forms to
gradua te in to e a ch other, more or le ss in se n sibly. Non eof the se forms ca n be sa id to be lon g exclusive ly to a n y
ra ce or tribe . No n e of them , therefore , ca n b e re gardeda s strictly typica l ; for a chara cter orform to be typicalshould be exclusive a n d con sta n t . ’ — Vo l. ii .
,p. 265.
Independent of the fusion of different families
of the human race,and the consequent variety of
cranial formation which must be the inevitable
222 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
tha t they artificially flatten e d the skull, and
w ere in a n a dvan ce d sta te of civil izat ion as
compa re d to the o ther races w ho succe eded
them ; a n d it is highly probable that the pre
se nt In dia n tribe s in both North a n d South
A merica w ho flatten the skull are descended
from that pe o ple whose singular profiles are
portrayed on the tablets ofCentra l A me rica .
W u
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VII I.
CONCLUSION .
N endeavouring to arrive at some sort of
conclusion regarding the early migrations
of the nations of the O ld Continent to the
Ne w, we cannot fail to be struck with the
many singular analogies that are presented
to us,an d it is a matter of astonishment that
so many writers have persisted in looking
only to one quarter— namely, A sia— as the
country from whence A merica received her
first inhabitants.
First, with regard to language, we must
class the A merican n ations generally under
the now commonly called Turanian,o r, more
strictly speaking, A llophylian,although we
find slender traces here and there of A ryan
dialect s. These nations,distinct for the most
15
226 THE AIIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
part from either A ryan or Semitic affinities,
were nomads,and their remains are foun d
in Europe as well as A sia by their numerous
tumuli, containing hunting implements, such
as flint arrow- heads and bone knives,together
with fragments of pottery. They were gen e
rally ignorant o i agriculture,and subsisted by
hunting and fishing.
A ccording to Mr. De lafie ld and Dr. Dawso n ,
the A lle gha n s and To lte ca n s are the oldest
North American people of whom we have a ny
re cord .
In North America , says Dr. Da w son , a comparative ly civilized a n d w e ll - deve loped ra ce w ould se em to
have ha d pre ce de n ce of a ll others,— a sta teme n t w hichw e sha ll fin d may apply to Europe a lso, n o tw ithsta n d
i n g the mythica l n o tio n s of a pa leo lithic ag e of barba
These A lle g ha n s, o rMound - builders,a s they
have been calle d,ca n be traced right acro ss
Siberia by their tumuli and mural de fe nce s ;
a n d Mr. De lafie ld believes them to have be e n
Cushites .
Whe n found in America, they inhabited the
228 THE M IGRA TION FROIII SHINAR.
fragments of pottery that have been found in
the mounds attributable to the To lte ca n s a n d
Central A mericans .
Two very distinct types are found in the
old mounds of North A merica,
one sho rt
and high, with a respectable frontal develop
ment another,low - browed
,and retreating in
the frontal aspect .”
Two forms of skull are also foun d in Peru,
one rounded o r globular, the other elongated.
These elongated crania are declared to be the
oldest of the two races,but both are clearly
of the Turanian class .
Mr. Brace, speakin g of the Turanian s, says,
though generally Mongol in features, they are
sometimes foun d clearly resembling Negro es,
and at others almost A ryan in physical
beauty.— M a n ua l of E thn o logy,
p . I I 3.
This is accoun ted fo r by the fact that
on ly a portion of the fam ily of Ja pheth co n
stitute the A rya n prope r, n ame ly, the south
ea stern bran ch which ema n a te d from the
fertile region of Ba ctria n a , of w hich the I n dia
CONCL U SION . 229
and Iranic fami lies are the representatives,and
from which sprang the now dead languages o f
the Sanscrit and Zend respectively.
It is a common popular sta teme n t,” says Dr. Daw son ,tha t a ll the la n guage s of the America n co n tin e n t arein n umerable , a n d mutua lly un in te lligible . I n a verysuperficia l se n se this is true , but profoun d in ve stiga tio nshow s tha t the la n guage s ofAmerica are e sse n tia lly o n e .The ir gramma tica l structure , w hile very complex , is o n
the same ge n era l prin ciple s througho ut. Further,a very slight acqua in ta n ce w ith the se la n g uage s is suffr
cie n t to show tha t they are con n e cte d w ith the o lderla n guage s of the e a stern con tin e n t by a gre a t va rie tyof the more perma n e n t root w ords, a n d w ith someeve n in gramma tica l structure . So persiste n t is thisco n n e xion , tha t page s m ight be filled w ith modernEn glish, Fre n ch, or Germa n w ords w hich are a llie d tothose of the A lgo n quin tribe s, a s w e ll a s to the olde stto n gue s of Europe a n d the Ea st.” - The N ew World
a n d the Old (L eisure H our, p . 7 96.
These A lgonquin tribes it is almost certain
came into A merica from the south - east, and
therefore by the A tlantic ; and I believe them
to have been the Berber tribes of North
A frica, who were afterwards followed by the
Phoenicians and their Carthaginian descend
ants. (See Map.)
230 THE AI IGRA TION FROhI SH INA R.
It is ascertained that the Finnic and Tartar
d ialects (A l lophylian or Turanian) resemble
the A ztec,but neither the Knisteneaux or
A lgonquin languages have any words endin g
in tl therefore,says Mr. Dawson ,
both in la n g uage a n d re ligion , such spe cial afl'
in ities
a s exist con n e ct the A lgon quin tribe s w ith the Arya nrace s, o r ra ther w ith the Pe la sgic e leme n ts w hichformed the fron t of the Arya n w ave , a n d w ere perhapsas much Tura n ia n a s A rya n . I n like ma n n er, the
same in dica tion s con n e ct the To lte ca n s, Peruvia n s, a n dA lleg ha n s w ith the so uth ofA sia . Still, a ll the se e leme n tsmust have be e n n e arer to e a ch other tha n the y havebe e n in historic time s, w he n the e arly m igra tion s to
America took pla ce .
” The N ew World a n d the Old,
p . 527 .
Thus it is more than probable that A merica
received its first inhabitan ts when the Turania n s
w ere sti ll in the ascen dant a n d the traces of
A ryan words that are foun d in the language s
of some of the tribe s,like the A lgonquin
and Othomi, must be the result o f a later
migration ,but probably lo n g before the o n e
w e know took place in the ten th century AD .
by the Sca ndin avian s,a n d again by the Welsh,
232 THE IIIIGRA TION FROM SH INA R.
as bo th pe ople se em to have been driven
from their country by the fiercer tribes that
poured in from A sia. They retreated so uth
intoCentral A merica, and some travellers thin k
that their descendants still survive . Capta in L.
Brine, R .N . ,
in a pape r read before the Royal
Geographical Society in 1 8 7 0 ,
“On the Ruined
Cities of Central A merica,” remarks,
It is on ly in the in terior, a n d in the se cluded va lleys
amon g th e moun ta in s, a n d in the districts adjace n t tothe a n cie n t ruin ed citie s, tha t the de sce n da n ts of the
aborigin al Tolte can ra ce are to be foun d a n d the se canbe tra ce d partly by la n guage , partly from a pe culiar typeof fe a ture , but chiefly by the w on derful persiste n cy w ithw hich the y re ta in certa in a n cie n t superstition s a n d certa in
household usage s. There is quite sufficie n t evide n ce toe n able it to be cle arly a ssume d tha t the de sce n da n tsof those a dva n ce d ra ce s w hich ra ise d the temple s of
Pa le n que a n d U xma l, a n d w hich built the fortre ss a n d
moun ds ofthe in terior, are still e xistin g in the n e ighbourhood.
“With re spe ct to the affin itie s,” he con tin ue s,“be tw e e nthe Pa le n quia n a n d M e xica n hieroglyphics w hich havebe e n so much de n ied
,it se ems to me impossible for a n
impartia l in ve stiga tor n o t to a dm it tha t gre a t sim ilaritiesdo exist. I n fa ct
,there ca n be n o doubt but tha t the
builders ofthe ruin ed citie s o fCe n tra l America,a n d the
builders ofthe gre a t a ltars a n d Te o - ca lli ofMe x ico, w ere
CONCL USI ON . 233
origin a lly of cogn a te race s un der slightly differe n t co nditio n s ofciviliza tio n .
”
It must be remembered that any difference
tha t may exist between the hieroglyphics of
Central America and those of Mexico,has
been pointed out by Mr. Stephens in his work
on Yucatan,as consisting in the former being
cut o n sto n e, while the latter are dra w n on the
Ag ave M ex ica n a , as seen in Lord Kings
borough’s collection .
He further says,in regard to the bui ldings
and monuments,
The y are n o t the w orks of a pe ople w ho have passe da w ay, a n d w ho se history is lost, but of the same race s
w ho in habite d the coun try a t the time of the Span iards’
con que st, or of some n o t very dista n t proge n itors.”
Yuca ta n , vo l. ii. , p. 445.
Gulin do says that Copan was a colony of
Toltecas. Its king held dominion of the
country extending to the eastward from that
of the Magas, o r Yucatan, and reaching from
the Bay of Honduras nearly to the Pacific,
containing on an average about ten thousand
square miles, now included in the modern
234 THE AI IGRA TION FROM SH INA R .
states of Honduras, Guatemala, and Salvador,
and possessing several populous and thrivi n g
towns and villages . The aborigines of this
kingdom still use the Chart i lan guage, being
a mixture of the Toltec dialect with some
other still more ancient in those parts.
If a purely A ryan or Semitic people had
reached America alone, there would be little
d iffiCulty in tracing their origin , as in all
probability they would have possessed a
w ritte n la n g uag e . But we find no w ritten
language in either North or South A merica,
only hieroglyphic paintings,quippus
,w ampum
,
and totems ; and consequently the dialects
are not only multitudin ous,but ever- changin g
and increasing : thus it is not uncommon to fin d
in close proximity to each other,and he arin g
all the marks of a common an cestry,tribes
not able to understand each other.
The same is the case in the New Hebrides
in the South Pacific,where in a cluster o f
islands lyi n g within thirty o r forty miles only
from each othe r,the lang uages are quite dif
236 THE III IGRA TION FROIlI SHI NA R.
again fell un der the yoke of a stil l more savage
tyranny than that from which they had
escaped, and had exchanged their A ssyrian
masters only to be found as slaves in the
train of those Mongol chieftains who eve n tu
ally passed over to the Ne w Continent and
the islands of the Pacific Ocean .
Notice has been made of the re turn in g
current of migration among the islands of
the Pa cific,— namely, from ea st to w est . It
is possible that the n o w isolated group of
the Sandwich Islands,in the North Pacific
,
w ere peopled from A sia in the first instance ,
and then afterwards from A merica ; be this
a s it may, there ca n be little doubt that the
Marquesas, Society group, and New Zealand
received a considerable portion of their in
habitants from the Sandwich Islands,and that
Ea ster Island caught stray can oes from th e
Society Islands, o r direct from the main lan d
of A merica. We thin k the latter the mos t
probable, from the circumstan ces already m e n
t io n e d in a previous chapter,and that a
CONCLU SION . 237
continuous chain of islands probably existed
right across the South Pacific.
It is supposed by Prichard that the differ
e n ce s in the New Zealanders may be caused
by the mixing of the Polynesian on a Papuan
stock,and which latter existed on the islands
previously : thus the darke st of these people
would be descended from the aborigines.
With regard to South America,and more
especially the empire of the Incas,there are
unmistakable evidences of an early migration
from A frica. But at the same time there is
an equal similarity in many of the Peruvian
and Muscaya n customs that point to A sia.
The be arded white men ,” when they ap
pe are d amongst the primitive inhabitants of
Bolivia and Peru,who had spread to these
elevated regions up the great rivers A mazon
and Orinoco,taught the people a religion
and gave them a form of government very
analogous with that of Japan and Tibet.
Iraca , in Bogota, the city where the reformer
Bochica is last heard of, w as— like Cholula to
238 THE AIIGRA TION FROM SHINA R.
the Mexicans,and Pachacamac and Cuzco to
the ancient Peruvians and Incas— a holy city.
There were two chiefs in Ira ca ,— a temporal
one, and the pontiff, like in Japan . The w ord
sua , or z uha , denotes in the Muscaya n lan guage
both the day and the sun . It was one of the
surnames of Bochica,and the word sue , meaning
a European o rwhite man,is derived from it.
H umboldt’
s Resea rches, vol. i i ., pp. 1 0 7 — 1 1 0 .
Prescott remarks that the calendar of the
Musyca s was very similar to that of the A ztecs .
We cannot fail to observe many similarities in
the prim itive inhabitants of both North, Central ,
and South A merica. The mark of the red ha n d
men tioned by Stephens a s bein g found on the
Central A merican ruins,w a s also noticed by
Catlin among several North A merican tribes .
He also mention s that some of the fig ures
sculptured on the w alls of Chichen It z a,
'
in
Yucatan , are very similar to those discovered
o n the stone dug up in the Plaza at Mexico ,
w he re the great teocallis, in the time o f
Mon tezuma,stood .
240 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINAR.
It is very remarkable that the obe lisk from
Luxor, n o w a t Paris, has sculptured on it the
same figures as are found on the tablets of
Palenque in Central A me rica, viz.,— a king, o r
god,seated on a throne . holding in one hand
a rod grasped in the middle, having o n its top
the figure of a small bird . The arm holding th is
is extended tow ards a person resting on one
knee before him, and offering from e ach of
its hands that which is either food,drink, o r
ince nse, to the one on the throne . The head
ornaments are of the most fantastic description .
The same,although much larger, but w ith
out variation , is cut in the stones of the ru ined
city of Central America in many places.
This circumstance , combined with their e la
borate system of embalming, the identical us e
of the Ca n opa , o r household deities, a n d
the similarity of architecture, together wi th
the unnatural practice of incest , — point to a n
early intercourse, if not relationship, betw e en
the Peruvians and the Egyptians, o r a race o f
people very closely al lied to the la tter.
CONCLUSION . 241
But all these customs could only have be e n
en g rafted on much earl ier ones which the
Incas found in existe nce w hen they crossed
the A ndes, just as we have seen the worship
of Pachacamac superse ded by that of the
Incas themselves .
There is o n e point which has been much
insisted upon by some recent scientific writers
that must not be left unnoticed in these co n
cluding remarks ; and that is, the oft- repe ated
assertion that the human race has gradually
developed from a very low type,something
akin to the ape.
We should much like to know on what
grounds these w riters base their belief. The
authority of Holy Scripture is dead against
them,and in like manner the testimony of
the earliest tra ces of ma n w hich ha ve hitherto
be e n discovered , po in ts to a directly opposite
If we had not the light of the sacred pag e
to g uide us in this matter, we should n ever
the le ss have to confess that when a tribe or
1 6
242 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
n ation is found in a savage or barbarous
sta te, it is because it has deg e n era ted from its
primitive condition , and not that it is slowly
emergin g from barbarism.
This can be proved .
Look at the Portuguese penal colony in
Fernando Noronha ; the Spaniards of unmixed
blo od in Equador ; the A rabians in Socotra
a n d Nubia ; the Irish in Sligo and North
Mayo and the We dda s of Ceylon — all these
are instances,in the historic period, how soon
a people withdrawn from the blessings of
religion and civi lization,and subject during
successive generations to hunger and ig n o
rance, the two great bruta liz ers of the human
race,” will rapidly degenerate.
On the other hand,it is proved that rel igio n
and civil ization will elevate and ennoble the
The negro, for instance, in a state of freedom
and in contact with a pure religion,becomes
improved in every respect ; and the testimon y
244 THE JI I GRA TION FROM SHINA R.
po ssibility of a mira culous interposition with
rega rd to the posterity o f Canaan , o f whom
it w as sa id , Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of
serva n ts shall he be unto h is brethren,”— and
this is three times repeated .
Professor Kitchen Parker, says
The se race distin ctio n s of chara cter to ok pla cerapidly, I have n o doubt. YourYa n ke e is a go o d sub
specie s a lre ady, a n d a fin e n ew type he is— good luck tohim but he ha s lost for ever the full form , fre sh colour,m ild expre ssio n , a n d quie t se lf- po sse ssion oftha t ha ppie stof al l bre e ds, the A n glo- Saxon .
”— Tra n sa ctio n s of the
Victoria I n stitute ,Vo l . x. ,No. 37 .
But,apart from these considerations, wh e n
we examine the most ancient remains of o ur
race that have yet been discovered in the ca ve s
of Europe,what do we find ! Men of splen d id
physique , and of a high intellectual type.
One of the oldest skeletons, that of Cro
Magnon,belongs to an old man six fee t in
height— the skull very long, but of pro por
t io n a te breadth, so that Dr. Dawson remarks,
The bra in w a s o f gre a ter size tha n in avera g e
modern me n , a n d the fron ta l region w a s large ly a n d w e lldeve loped. I n this re spe ct, this most a n cie n t skull fa ils
CONCL USION . 245
utterly to vin dica te the expecta tio n s of those w ho w ouldregard prehistoric me n as approachin g to ape s.”
This, it will be seen, is no abnormal skull like
the Neanderthal, which we have before noticed ,
but that of a man of a high organic type.
The same testimony is before us in the
ancient skeletons of other caves,as those of
Lesse and Dordogne,men who hunted and
fished in Southern France,and from certain
indications a re supposed to have been con
temporary with the last peri od of the mammoth
in Europe. Certain it is that these cave - men
hunted the reindeer, the bear, and probably
the mammoth,as their bones are found
mixed together. There is, however, some
doubt whether . these remains may not be
antediluvian,as they are found in many ln
stances washed together with sand and gravel .
Whether this is the case or not,we nowhere
find man in a low,debased form, or with any
characteristics approaching the ape ; on the
contrary,the very reverse is the case.
The g iga n tic pa laeo lith ic me n ofthe Europe an cave s,”
says Dr. Daw so n , are more probably repre se n ta tives of
246 THE M IGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
tha t fearful a n d po w erful ra ce w ho filled the a n tediluvia nw orld w ith vio le n ce , a n d w ho re a ppear in postdiluvia ntime s a s the A n akim a n d tradition al gia n ts
,w ho co n
stitute a fe a ture in the e arly h istory o fso ma n y co un trie s.
Perhaps n othin g is more Curious in the reve la tion s a s
to the mo st a n cie n t cave - me n tha n tha t the y co n firmthe o ld be lief tha t there w ere gia n ts in those days
(Ge n e sis vi.
The same evidence is repe ated in the most
ancient skeletons of America. Prof. Swallow,
of Missouri,informed Dr. Dawson that he
had opened two buria l - mounds in that state,
on which vegetable soil two feet thick had
accumulated,and around which six feet o f
alluvial silt had been deposited .
” In this
alluvium w a s found the tooth of a mastodon .
Fe rha s”sa
'
5Dr. Da w son n o America n in term e n ta 3
ca n lay cla im to gre a ter a n tiquity, a n d the bon e s ofburie dcorpse s had be e n re solve d almost e n tire ly in to dust . Y e t
e arthe n ve sse ls foun d w ith them show ed the Alleg h a n
type of fe a ture s, a n d the on ly skull se cured w a s o f th e
same type .
”— The N ew World a n d the Old,p . 1 85.
That bones of men and animals are fou n d
m ix e d to gether in great confusion in certa in
caverns,and under circumstances that lead to
the con clusion that w ater w a s the agent that
248 THE MIGRA TION FROM SHINAR.
when the waters abated, they returned again
into the bowels of the e arth from whence they
had issued ! A n d if so, doe s it not follow as
a na tural consequence that the remains of men
and animals were washed into caverns by the
currents that w ere then put in motion on this
aw ful occasion
Professor Challis, considers that the
separation of the neolithic age from the palae
o lithic, a s Indicated by geological phenomena,
was caused by a cataclysm identical with the
Deluge of Scripture.”— Paper read A pri l 5,
1 8 7 5, Tra n sa ct io n s of the Victoria I n stitute,
Vol. x .,No . 37 .
But at the same time I do not think w e
have to go back so far fo r many of th e
breccia that have been found,as they may b e
equally accounted fo r by the action of rive rs
that have rolled through these caverns a n d
deposited their burden in them,a s witness the
Sicilian caves ; and Professor Kirk points o ut
that the very alterations w hich change a
system of caverns from being the bed of a
CONCL USI ON . 249
running stream to be the comparatively dry
bed of a fossiliferous deposit,as we have seen
,
occur in a week, o r even in a day, as the effect
of an earthquake, and cannot possibly indicate
anything a s to the age of the relics they
enclose .— Ag e of M a n
,p. 1 67 .
Thus we find the remains of man 011 both
continents indicating the truth of the Bible
statement,that God made man upright ; but
they have sought out many inventions (Eccle s o
vii . 29) that God created man in H is own
image (Gen . i. that he fell from his high
estate,and although permitted to discover (o r,
w a s perhaps divinely taught) many useful arts
(Gen . iv. 2 1,
still God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart w a s only evil continually (Gen . vi .
In these pages we have not once spoken
o f faith— that faith without which it is impo s
sible to please God (Heb. ix. We have
appealed to common sense alone ; but there
i s a limit even to common sense— a boundary
250 THE MIGRA TI ON FROM SHINA R.
l ine over which reason cannot pass. It is just
here that faith in the revealed word of God
ste ps in and ofl'
ers to be our g uide . This
faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and must
be asked fo r; but we know that it will n o t
be asked for in vain (Luke ii. When,
therefore, we are exercising the measure of
reasoning powers that God has given us, we
at the same time cling with childlike faith
to the truths of His word— and His word
is truth (John xvii. — then,and not til l
then, shall we find that the crooked shall
be made straight,and the rough places plain .
(Isaiah xl.
The unity of o ur race is indubitably marked
with one sad stamp,namely
,sin , and which is
the birthright of every child that is born but
let us thank God fo r the wondrous remedy H e
has provided fo r all who wi l l accept it— the
sacrifice of His beloved Son Jesus Chris t
when,on the cross of Calvary, the just suffered
fo r the unjust ; where justice and mercy m e t,
justice being satisfied , and mercy flowing o ut
