perched unperceived, and, being
all the rest, and could not fly
fresh and unexhausted,
another stroke, he was so tired.
succeeded in going the highest.
“Then,” says he, “I’m king of the
When the birds came down and
birds.” “You lie!” says the wren,
met in council to award the
darting up a perch and a half
prize it was given to the
above the big fellow. Well, the
eagle, because that bird had
eagle was so mad to think how he
not only gone up nearer to the
was done, that when the wren was
sun than any of the larger
coming down he gave him a stroke
birds, but it had carried the
of his wing, and from that day to
linnet on its back.
this the wren was never able to
fly farther than a hawthorn-bush.
For this reason the eagle’s
feathers became the most
honorable marks of distinction
a warrior could bear.
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Compare the following stories:
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THE
ASIATIC
STORY
.
THE
AMERICAN
STORY
.
In Hindoo mythology Urvasi came
Wampee, a great hunter, once
down from heaven and became the
came to a strange prairie,
wife of the son of Buddha only on
where he heard faint sounds of
condition that two pet rams
music, and looking up saw a
should never be taken from her
speck in the sky, which proved
bedside, and that she should
itself to be a basket
never behold her lord undressed.
containing twelve most
The immortals, however, wishing
beautiful maidens, who, on
Urvasi back in heaven, contrived
reaching the earth, forthwith
to steal the rams; and, as the
set themselves to dance. He
king pursued the robbers with his
tried to catch the youngest,
sword in the dark, the lightning
but in vain; ultimately he
revealed his person, the compact
succeeded by assuming the
was broken, and Urvasi
disguise of a mouse. He was
disappeared. This same story is
very attentive to his new wife,
found in different forms among
who was really a daughter of
many people of Aryan and Turanian
one of the stars, but she
descent, the central idea being
wished to return home, so she
that of a man marrying some one
made a wicker basket secretly,
of an aerial or aquatic origin,
and, by help of a charm she
and living happily with her till
remembered, ascended to her
he breaks the condition on which
father.
her residence with him depends,
stories exactly parallel to that
of Raymond of Toulouse, who
chances in the hunt upon the
beautiful Melusina at a fountain,
and lives with her happily until
he discovers her fish-nature and
she vanishes.
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If the legend of Cadmus recovering Europa, after she has been carried away by the white bull, the spotless cloud, means that “the sun must journey westward until he sees again the beautiful tints which greeted his eyes in the morning,” it is curious to find a story current in North America to the effect that a man once had a beautiful daughter, ‘whom he forbade to leave the lodge lest she should be carried off by the king of the buffaloes; and that as she sat, notwithstanding, outside the house combing her hair, “all of a sudden the king of the buffaloes came dashing on, with his herd of followers, and, taking her between his horns, away be cantered over plains, plunged into a river which bounded his land, and carried her safely to his lodge on the other side,” whence she was finally recovered by her father.
Games.—The same games and sports extended from India to the shores of Lake Superior. The game of the Hindoos, called pachisi, is played upon a cross-shaped board or cloth; it is a combination of checkers and draughts, with the throwing of dice, the dice determining the number of moves; when the Spaniards entered Mexico they found the Aztecs playing a game called patolli, identical with the Hindoo pachisi, on a similar cross-shaped board. The game of ball, which the Indians of America were in the habit of playing at the time of the discovery of the country, from California to the Atlantic, was identical with the European chueca, crosse, or hockey.
One may well pause, after reading this catalogue, and ask himself, wherein do these peoples differ? It is absurd to pretend that all these similarities could have been the result of accidental coincidences.
These two peoples, separated by the great ocean, were baptized alike in infancy with blessed water; they prayed alike to the gods; they worshipped together the sun, moon, and stars; they confessed their sins alike; they were instructed alike by an established priesthood; they were married in the same way and by the joining of hands; they armed themselves with the same weapons; when children came, the man, on both continents, went to bed and left his wife to do the honors of the household; they tattooed and painted themselves in the same fashion; they became intoxicated on kindred drinks; their dresses were alike; they cooked in the same manner; they used the same metals; they employed the same exorcisms and bleedings for disease; they believed alike in ghosts, demons, and fairies; they listened to the same stories; they played the same games; they used the same musical instruments; they danced the same dances, and when they died they were embalmed in the same way and buried sitting; while over them were erected, on both continents, the same mounds, pyramids, obelisks, and temples. And yet we are asked to believe that there was no relationship between them, and that they had never had any ante-Columbian intercourse with each other.
If our knowledge of Atlantis was more thorough, it would no doubt appear that, in every instance wherein the people of Europe accord with the people of America, they were both in accord with the people of Atlantis; and that Atlantis was the common centre from which both peoples derived their arts, sciences, customs, and opinions. It will be seen that in every case where Plato gives us any information in this respect as to Atlantis, we find this agreement to exist. It existed in architecture, sculpture, navigation, engraving, writing, an established priesthood, the mode of worship, agriculture, the construction of roads and canals; and it is reasonable to suppose that the, same correspondence extended down to all the minor details treated of in this chapter.
CHAPTER III.
AMERICAN EVIDENCES OF INTERCOURSE WITH EUROPE OR ATLANTIS.
1. ON the monuments of Central America there are representations of bearded men. How could the beardless American Indians have imagined a bearded race?
2. All the traditions of the civilized races of Central America point to an Eastern origin.
The leader and civilizer of the Nahua family was Quetzalcoatl. This is the legend respecting him:
“From the distant East, from the fabulous Hue Hue Tlapalan, this mysterious person came to Tula, and became the patron god and high-priest of the ancestors of the Toltecs. He is described as having been a white man, with strong formation of body, broad forehead, large eyes, and flowing beard. He wore a mitre on his head, and was dressed in a long white robe reaching to his feet, and covered with red crosses. In his hand he held a sickle. His habits were ascetic, he never married, was most chaste and pure in life, and is said to have endured penance in a neighboring mountain, not for its effects upon himself, but as a warning to others. He condemned sacrifices, except of fruits and flowers, and was known as the god of peace; for, when addressed on the subject of war, he is reported to have stopped his ears with his fingers.” (“North Amer. of Antiq.,” p. 268.) “He was skilled in many arts: he invented” (that is, imported) “gem-cutting and metal-casting; he originated letters, and invented the Mexican calendar. He finally returned to the land in the East from which he came: leaving the American coast at Vera Cruz, he embarked in a canoe made of serpent-skins, and ‘sailed away into the east.’” (Ibid., p. 271.) Dr. Le Plongeon says of the columns at Chichen: “The base is formed by the head of Cukulcan, the shaft of the body of the serpent, with its feathers beautifully carved to the very chapiter.