quoted: "We fear that we shall have to stay here =clinging= to the rocks
until daylight. Our little Indian gathers a few dry stems, ties them in
a bundle, lights one end, and holds it up. The others do the same, and
with these torches we find a way out of trouble. =Helping= each other,
holding =torches= for each other, one =clinging= to another's =hand=
until we get footing, then supporting the other on his shoulders, so we
make our passage into the depths of the canyon. And now Captain Bishop
has kindled a huge fire of driftwood, on the bank of the river. This and
the fires in the gulch opposite, and our own =flaming torches=, light up
little patches, that make more manifest the awful darkness below. Still,
on we go, for an hour or two, and at last we see Captain Bishop coming
up the gulch, with a =huge= torch-light on his shoulders. He looks like
a fiend waving brands and lighting the fires of hell, and the men in the
opposite gulch are imps lighting delusive fires in inaccessible
crevices, over yawning chasms.... At last we meet Captain Bishop with
his flaming torch" (n. 65). And so the brilliant description continues.
What is all this but the =chuh yuen= of the ancient record? Here surely
is "an illumination of torches."
Torches and Climbing, say the Ancients.
Torches and Climbing, say the Moderns.
[Illustration]
We can readily understand why the ancient occupants of the stone houses
in the Grand Canyon, should have used the torches so liberally and
conveniently supplied by nature throughout the region where their light
is too often sadly or desperately needed. We have been informed by a
modern visitor that ruined cave habitations are to be seen along "lofty
and inaccessible ledges." And these dwellings "were reached by very
narrow, precipitous, and devious paths, and being extremely difficult to
attain by the occupants themselves, presented an impregnable front to
invaders."
Surely here torches would often come in handy.
Dr. Fewkes believes that the ancient occupants of the cliff or cave
houses chose hazardous sites in order to be out of the reach of enemies.
He says:
"The pressure of outside tribes, or what may be called human
environment, probably had much to do originally with the choice of caves
for houses. The experienced archaeologist also draws attention to
Jackson's remark that finger imprints answering to those of women, "may
still be traced in the mortar" of the dwellings (n. 66). Many interiors
indeed are covered with smooth plaster in which the impressions of small
and delicate fingers appear.
Of course, women and children formerly lived on the "inaccessible
ledges"; and sons, fathers, husbands, or brothers, away perhaps hunting
in distant glens or forests, were comparatively free from anxiety
concerning the condition of loved ones at home. And if savages with
tomahawks and scalping knives came stealing through ravines to the foot
of impregnable stairways, the mothers aloft, pressing children to their
breasts and looking down on baffled foes, must have felt something of
the emotion which throbs through the well-known lines, written indeed by
a woman,--
For the strength of the hills we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
Thou hast made Thy children mighty
By the touch of the mountain sod;
Thou hast fixed our ark of refuge
Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod;--
For the strength of the hills we bless Thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
And if in the darkness of night, the awaited signal or cry were heard
arising from the heart of the abyss, how quickly the doors would be
opened and ropes lowered and torches lighted to help the hunters to
their homes on high! Torches flaming and eyes gleaming. Lights flashing
in all directions. An illumination of torches. No wonder the Canyon was
noted for its =chuh yuen= and cave dwellings.
Lights, Climbing, and Caves, say the Ancients.
Lights, Climbing, and Caves, say the Moderns.
The account continues thus:
26. =Leang= (the principal, the chief; a bridge, a beam.)
27. =kien= (official writing; to mark; a slip of bamboo for making notes
on; a classifier of folios or sheets.)
28. =wan= (strokes, lines, literature, literary; a despatch.)
29. =Ta= (Great.)
30. =Hoh= (Canyon.)
31. =fu= (to spread abroad as decrees; to exact; to demand.)
A =leang= or chief is here referred to in connection with the Great
Canyon. The ruler is not exactly called the King or supreme head (=chwen
suh=). Indeed, we have been already informed that the head ruler was a
mere nurseling (at the time when he abandoned his Lute in the Canyon)
and such an infant carried about by the mother who had just brought him
into the world, among the cliffs and canyons, would evidently have been
unable to either write or issue decrees. Of course, however, a nominally
subordinate chief (or =leang=) might have attended to the details of
government and ruled or directed the movements of the Sun people in the
name of the infant King. Such a minister might have spread abroad
decrees or commands within the Canyon.
Are any writings to be seen on its walls?
An explorer already in part quoted, says: "At last we meet Captain
Bishop with his flaming torch.... On a broad shelf we find the ruins of
an old stone house, the walls of which are broken down, and we can see
where the ancient people who lived here--a race more highly civilized
than the present--had made a garden, and used a great spring, that comes
out of the rocks, for irrigation. On some rocks near by we discover some
curious etchings" (n. 67).
Here are cliff writings.
Again, on the brink of a rock 200 feet high stands an old house. Its
walls are of stone, laid in mortar, with much regularity.... On the face
of the cliff, under the building and along down the river for 200 or 300
yards, there are many etchings."
Here are writings "spread abroad" within the =Ta-hoh= or Great Canyon.
Not painted on the cliffs, but cut into the stone! Beyond the reach or
malice of savage tribes, they doubtless furnished directions to friendly
clans, telling where certain companies had moved, and so forth.
"On many of the tributaries of the Colorado I have heretofore examined
their deserted dwellings.... Sometimes the mouths of caves have been
walled across and there are many other evidences to show their anxiety
to secure defensible positions. Probably the nomadic tribes were
sweeping down upon them, and they resorted to these cliffs and canyons
for safety.... Here I stand where these now lost people stood centuries
ago, and look over this strange country."
The former chief of the Ethnological Bureau also says that at the mouth
of the Colorado Chiquito he discovered some curious remains, such as
ruins and pottery, also "etchings and hieroglyphics on the rocks."
Some of the cliff or cave dwellings are singularly impressive. Baron
Nordenskiold, says of one, called the "Cliff Palace," that it well
deserves its proud name, "for with its round towers and high walls ...
deep in the mysterious twilight of the cavern, and defying in their
sheltered site the ravages of time, it resembled at a distance an
enchanted castle."
And Chapin exclaims: "Surely its discoverer had not overstated the
beauty and magnitude of this strange ruin. There it was, occupying a
great oval space under a grand cliff wonderful to behold, appearing like
an immense ruined castle with dismantled towers" (n. 68).
And yet Dr. Fewkes very rationally refuses to regard it as a
"palace"--occupied merely by a king and servants or else officers of
state managing an empire. Of course some nook within sheltered its
ruler. But it is merely a pueblo--set within a cave. One French visitor
says: "Il est probable que Cliff-Palace n'abritait pas moins de 500
personnes" (n. 69).
At this rate it would have required forty such structures (or equivalent
clusters of apartments) to shelter, say, 20,000 individuals.
There is mention of cave dwellings in connection with the Great Canyon;
and as Sun people with a supreme ruler (although but a suckling) are
represented as climbing within the chasm, with the aid of torches, we
expect to find curious remains in connection with the caverns. Nor are
we disappointed. Here are mouths of caves walled up for defensive
purposes. Here are ramparts, towers, and fortified structures classed
with castles.
We are informed that decrees were spread abroad in the Canyon; and
searching for the ancient inscriptions, we find that they are cut into
the cliffs. This shows that the former dwellers were able to cut and
work stone; and abundant remains of masonry are at hand to sustain this
deduction.
The personality of the =ju=, or suckling ruler, remains to be
investigated, and should yield curious--most surprising--results; but,
of course, reasonable, logical critics will not for an instant confound
such an inquiry with that just finished. Even absolute failure to
unearth the facts with regard to the Prince and his royal mother, can
not shake the plain fact that we have actually found an account of the
Grand Canyon, the Colorado River, and the Gulf of California, in an
ancient Chinese book.
PIMO AND THE CASAS GRANDES
It may further be remarked that the Chinese paragraph which immediately
follows the account of our Canyon, mentions a place called "Pi-mo."
This is its pronunciation in Canton, but in Shanghai, where =mo= is
accorded the sound of =mu= (see Williams' dict. p. 1154 and p. 1186,
column 6) =Pi-mo= would be called =Pi-mu=. Now, this Pi-mo or Pi-mu is
said (see existing translation) to be situated in the "south-east corner
of the desert beyond the eastern sea.
Proceeding eastward until the "Eastern Sea," which washes the coast of
China, is crossed, the modern investigator reaches California and
Arizona. And here, in the region or basin of the Colorado, he finds a
place still called "Pi-mo." It is in Arizona, with a "desert" of
sand--the desert of California and Sonora--to its west and south, and a
region of running streams, grass, and forests to its east. =Pimo= is
itself in the "desert"--in a "south-east corner of the desert beyond the
Eastern Sea." It is entirely dependent on artificial irrigation for its
limited power to support human beings.
Here are ruined buildings whose origin is shrouded in mystery and around
or about which controversies have raged for centuries.
One visitor, an American officer, states that his General "asked a Pimo,
who made the house I had seen?" The house was one of the Casas Grandes
in the neighborhood of Pimo. Who had made it? was now the question. The
reply was: "It was built by the son of the most beautiful woman who once
dwelt in yon mountain; she was fair and all the handsome men came to
court her, but in vain; when they came, they paid tribute, and out of
this small store she fed all people in times of famine and it did not
diminish."
Moreover, "at last she brought forth a boy, who was the builder of all
these houses."
The Pimo Indian "seemed unwilling to talk about them, but said there
were plenty more of them to the north, south, west, etc." (note 70.)
[Was the royal suckling or Prince ever carried down into the neighboring
Grand Canyon by the beneficient being, his mother? Was he a =shao hao=
(as the Chinese might say) or little Child of the Sun? Did he ever see
the Cliff Palace? Were he and his people connected with the cave and
cliff-dwellings? And when he retired from the Canyon did he fail to take
with him a Lute?]
If the royal suckling (or =ju=) of the Chinese account ever actually
lived in the neighborhood of the Grand Canyon, or in the vicinity of
Pimo, and was connected with a restless or troubled nation of Cliff
Dwellers or stone-house builders, why should not the Indians have some
traditional, even if but hazy recollection of both the suckling and his
imperial mother? The forefathers of the Pimos must have beheld them, and
it is difficult to suppose that the ancient legendary knowledge has
completely evaporated from the aboriginal memory. As we have learned the
construction of the Casas Grandes at Pimo is connected with the advent
or movements of an intelligent, even if harassed race of Builders who
owed allegiance to a Princess or her child. And if it is a fact that in
a time of famine the royal lady fed the ancestors of the Pimos, we
wonder not that the nation has enshrined her image within its ceaseless,
throbbing heart. The hill-top on which she gave birth to her suckling is
remembered to the present hour and was pointed to by the Pimo
interpreter when telling the American General about the merciful being
who fed the hungry in a time of famine (and perhaps had relieved or
cheered his own ancestor.)
Let us not overlook or snub the fact that Pimo--the Pimo of "the region
beyond the Eastern Sea" is actually mentioned in the same breath with
the Grand Canyon and the Gulf. It is represented by characters numbered
9 and 10 in the extract from the ancient Chinese volume, now set before
the patient and intelligent reader who appreciates or perceives the
difficulties connected with the present investigation.
The last column (reading from right to left) consists of 12 characters,
which express the following sense:
=Ta=--=Hg=--east--south--corner--=has=--=shan= (mountain or
height)--called--=Pi mo=--=ti=--=kiu=.
The 11th term, =ti=, stands for "place;" and a =kiu= is a level-topped
hill. As it is also called a =shan= (see No. 7), the =kiu= should be a
prominent eminence having a level space on top.
The name =Pi-mo= is expressed by putting =Pi=, which signifies "skin" or
"case," along with =mo=, which simply stands for "mother."
A mother, or a maternal case is connected with the =Pi-mo kiu= or
level-topped hill. Is such an eminence to be seen in the vicinity of
Pi-mo? Has it a flat summit? Are there any signs that it was inhabited
by the queen of the Builders? The Pimo Indian told the general that on
the hill-top in the vicinity--in the Lower Gila Valley--a female ruler
gave birth to a child. Is there any foundation for the legend? Where is
her house?
[Illustration]
Referring to the structures in Arizona, an observer draws particular
attention to one "comparatively intact in the lower Gila valley."
He says: "The hill on which it is built rises abruptly from the
surrounding lowlands to the height of a full thousand feet. Near the
northwest corner the ancient strategists began at a height of thirty
feet, carving a narrow pathway to the summit. Here an irregular stone
staircase has been made, passable by one person at a time. At intervals
watchtowers were constructed, from which huge boulders could be hurled
down upon the advancing foe.
"The road makes three complete circles above the hill before reaching
the upper =level=." [Here is a =level=-topped hill or =kiu=.] "Here
another monument of early fortitude inspired by the love of life
presents itself. There is, perhaps, three acres of =level= rock on the
summit. For a depth of nearly two feet the entire =plateau= is covered
with rich soil 'packed up' from below. When one pauses to think of the
immense labor involved in carrying this mass of earth up the irregular
winding stone staircase, a feeling of admiration springs up for these
simple patient people."
It is plain that there is a =level=-topped hill (or =kiu=) in the
vicinity of Pimo. And it is directly connected in Indian tradition with
the movements of a race of builders who reared "all these houses," and
were directed or governed by a beneficient being who here gave birth to
a remarkable prince. But it is enough at present to observe that the
Chinese symbols connect Pimo--the Pimo of the "region beyond the Eastern
Sea"--with a Mother, or notable Birth. And when the American General--in
our region beyond the Eastern Sea--inquires at Pimo for information,
concerning its now silent and forsaken ruins, the Pimo interpreter
instantly responds by raising his arm and pointing to the hill of the
royal birth.
The Hill of the Maternal Case is there, say the Chinese.
The Hill of the Maternal Case is Here, say the Pimos.
The hill is prominent or lofty and quite level on top. It is in truth a
=kiu= (pronounced like our own word cue) and holds aloft some
impregnable dwellings and also a green spot or abandoned garden--clay
having been carried aloft a thousand feet by devoted Builders in part to
raise flowers for the young mother. But, of course, her own bud was the
brightest of all. And every one told her so. And what a wide view from
the summit! And how cool the air up there! How different from the
blazing Canyon (with its hidden or abandoned Lute.)
"The General asked a Pimo, who made the house I had seen? 'It is the
Casa de Montezuma', said he; it was built by the son of the most
beautiful woman who once dwelt in yon mountain; she was fair--"
Notice here the name "Montezuma."
The Casas Grandes at Pimo were fortunately seen by Spanish explorers in
the 16th century, and "the Indians then assigned them an age of no less
than 500 years." (note 71.)
Of course the Casa Grande Montezuma (or Builder Prince of the 11th
century) could not have been the Montezuma who was overthrown by Cortez
in the 16th century. As well confound William of Normandy with William
of Holland, because each was a William! Let fools do that!
One writer says with regard to the legends of the sedentary Indians,
that "the name of Montezuma runs through all of these--not generally
referring to the king whom we are accustomed to identify with that name,
but to the great chief of the golden or heroic age." (n. 72)
There are noticeable variations in the name or title of the ancient
king. Thus one Spanish explorer speaks of "the Casa Grande, or palace of
=Moc=-te-zuma" (n. 73.)
Here we have =Moc= (or =Mok=, as it is by others spelled) instead of
=Mon= (ti-zuma.)
Another authority furnishes the spelling =Mo=-te-cuh-=zoma=, and adds,
that it is "found written also =Moc=-te-zuma, Mu-teczuma, Mo-texuma" (n.
74.)
Notice the three different spellings or sounds--=Mo=, =Mu=, and =Mok=,
prefixed to "=te-zuma=...."
The title =te= or =ti= (or =te-cuh=) signifies warrior or lordly ruler
(n. 75.) As for =suma= it is said to mean "sad, angry, or severe." [But
SOMA may include an allusion to the water of immortality and embrace the
notion of divine descent.]
=Mok= (the =te-zuma=) =Mo= or =Mu= were names or titles bestowed on the
11th century Builder Prince who was connected with the construction of
the Casas Grandes in the Pimo section, and was born on a prominent
hill-top there. He was =Mok=, =Mo= or =Mu=.
Turning to the Chinese account we find that the royal =ju= or suckling
connected with the region of the Grand Canyon and Pimo, was likewise
known as =Mu=. (note 76.)
In addition, the suckling is repeatedly called a =ti= (or =te= as it is
just as often spelled.) And this, so far, agrees with the title of the
Pimo infant, whose name is frequently said to be =Mu-ti= (zuma.)
A =Mu-ti=, say the Chinese.
A =Mu-ti=, say the Pimos.
According to the Chinese record, the imperial (=ti= or =te=) heir
apparent (or =yuen-tsz=) suckling or baby (=ju=) whose estate or
patrimony (=chan=) was =Loh-ming= (name of a region) lived or resided
(=ku=) as the tender, delicate youth (=yao=) =Mu=.
Here we see that the heir apparent the ju or baby was both =Mu= and a
=ti=. The old account connects the infantile ruler with a region called
Loh-ming. We need not delay to ascertain the position of this province
or land; enough now to observe that wherever it was, the =ju= and =ti=
lived there (or lived some where) as the pleasing and tender =Mu=.
The baby was =Mu=.
This name, like some of our own names, such as Grace, Patience, Clement,
is frequently used as an adjective. It may stand for either "beauty" or
"majesty," but it is also, at times, a surname. (note 77.)
As already seen, the Great Canyon with the connected bottomless abyss,
in the region beyond the Eastern Sea, is connected with the Sun and Moon
Shan. And on this Shan is "the Great Men's Country" (see existing
translation.) Now a Chinese comment (note 78) informs us that the
=forts= of the entirely great =Mu= formerly held or possessed this Great
Men's Country (which is on the Sun and Moon Shan.)
Information is next furnished concerning the largest Walrusses, and it
is plain that the polar region is referred to. The account is quite
clear, as any Chinese scholar can see, now that we have pointed out the
position of the passage.
It might seem advisable to prove that the haunt of the Walrus was known
to the ancient Chinese writers who have furnished accounts of America,
but it is unnecessary to do this, seeing that the phenomenon of Ten
Suns, which is only visible at the Arctic Circle, is referred to in the
ancient books. Moreover, as we have learned, appearances of five or
seven suns (or moons) shining simultaneously in the sky, are distinctly
connected with the Sun and Moon Shan. It was therefore known that the
mountain system of North America, stretches upward--like the Branches of
a Tree--from the vicinity of the Grand Canyon to the Polar region, or
place of the Ten Suns. And from a point here, the shores of
North-eastern Tartary or Asia can be seen without even the aid of an
opera-glass.
It now appears that in the remote past there was a ruler named =Mu=
dwelling in the mountainous land which stretches from the Grand Canyon
to the Arctic Ocean. His domain was on the Sun and Moon Shan.
And he had fortified dwellings or forts.
Where, today, are the remains of the ancient strongholds?
One observer says with reference to the cliff-dwellings, that they "have
the appearance of fortified retreats. The occupants, on account of
"decending hordes devised these =unassailable= retreats.... The builders
hold no smallest niche in recorded history. Their aspirations, their
struggles and their fate are all unwritten, save in these crumbling
stones, which are their sole monuments and meagre epitaph. Here once
they dwelt. They left no other print on time." (note 79.)
The "unassailable retreats" noticed by this melancholy writer may well
be some of the strongholds of Mu and his followers or warriors. The
ancient pueblos (or Casas Grandes) are of great strength. When the
"ladders are drawn in, the various sides present a perpendicular front
to an enemy, and the building itself becomes a =fortress=." Further,
"The strength of the walls of these structures was proved during the
Mexican war, when it was found that they were impregnable to
field-artillery." (note 80.)
The Spanish soldier, Castenada, in the 16th century said with regard to
the Pimo Casa Grande, that "it seemed to have served as a fortress."
(note 81.)
Now, =Pimo=--represented by the symbols for a maternal case and hill--is
mentioned on the very page of the Chinese book which notices our Grand
Canyon. Then, we are told that cliff-dwellings were here and a Sun
Prince (at first a mere =ju= or infant) called =Mu=, and that he or his
followers erected forts or fortresses.
And here we find no scarcity of ancient strongholds.
And when we ask the Indians for the name of the ruler who governed the
now decaying strongholds, their answer is--=Mu=.
The very title in the Chinese book.
=Mu=, say the Ancients.
=Mu=, say our Indians.
It may be said that some of the latter pronounce the title =Mo=. One of
our philologists speaks of "Montezuma, or more correctly,
=Mo=tecuhzoma." (note 82.)
Another authority says: "Montezuma, or more correctly, =Moc=tezuma."
(note 83.)
In his account of the Casa Grande, the old time Spanish traveler, Padre
Garces, says: On this river is situated the house which they call
=Moc=tezuma's. (note 84.)
It is evident that the two pronunciations =Mo= and =Mok= are preferred
to =Mon= (tezuma) and that =Mu= has also its advocates.
Curiously enough, these three sounds =Mu=, =Mo=, and =Mok=, are likewise
applied to the one character by the Chinese literati.
The identical symbol which Williams calls =Mu= is in another dictionary
(see Bailley's, iii, p. 246) termed =Mo=.
Morrison (vol. IV, p. 600-1) says that the two sounds =Mu= and =Mo= are
both applied, and that in Canton this selfsame character is called
=Mok=.
It thus appears that the builder or ruler of the fortresses in the
region beyond the Eastern Sea, might be called =Mu=, =Mo=, or =Mok=.
And in the region referred to--"the region beyond the Eastern Sea"--we
find many strongholds or forts (as well as cave-dwellings;) and when
antiquarians inquire of the Indians for the name of the ancient Builder
Prince, they are variously informed that he was the glorious =Mu=, =Mo=,
or =Mok=.
If the royal infant (or =ju=) became in process of time a ruler of
fortresses (=tai=) which "formerly held the Great Men's Country" (on the
Sun and Moon Shan) would be surprising to find that he himself had been
born within the shelter of a =tai= or fortress? And what is the
fortified hill at Pimo but a fortress? He counts it as the first of the
forts of =Mu= or =Mo-ti= in "the region beyond the Eastern Sea."