XL

On the afternoon of the fifth day they drew rein on a high, shelving,

terracelike stretch of ground overlooking a broad valley, and almost

opposite the chief Tewana village which nestled at the foot of the

Sahuaripa range, running north and south until lost on the horizon.

Back of the village a cataract flung itself downward over the mountain's

side into the valley, its clouds of spray reflecting innumerable rainbow

tints in the sunshine. Great forests, abounding in wild animal life,

clothed the mountain's slopes.

It was a peaceful, fruitful valley upon which they gazed; the land where

Chiquita formerly dwelt. The grass grew knee-deep in the meadows.

Willows and water-birch and sycamore and alders and poplars,

interspersed with pines and oaks, grew in clusters along the banks of

the broad, rushing stream that ran between them and the distant village

whose low, vine-clad walls glowed golden and rose and purple and gray in

the rays of the afternoon sun. The diminutive city was a mass of trees

and foliage and seemed a part of the landscape; so small were the houses

and so harmonious its setting. Fields of flax and melons, and beans and

squash, and corn and tobacco, and small orchards and vineyards already

harvested, dotted the valley close to the meadows which bordered the

tree-fringed stream. Herds of horses and cattle and flocks of sheep and

goats, intermingled with wild herds of deer and antelope, browsed on the

meadows and slopes above the river where they stood. Wild ducks and

geese and swan swam in the river, and grouse and wild turkeys and quail

and plover roamed the forests and uplands. There was no promiscuous

killing of wild animals allowed among the Tewana; they were shared in

common like the domesticated animals. Innumerable canoes, used for

fishing, were drawn up on the banks of the river.

The Tewana were an independent, self-supporting people. At all seasons

of the year were heard the sounds of the hand-loom and the smith's

anvil--the fashioners of iron and precious metals. The weavers of cloth

and baskets, and potters and tanners fashioned their wares in the open

in the shade of their walls and trees.

The life these people led, free from the harassing cares and anxieties

of the White man, was almost ideal. During the spring and summer months

they tended their fields, and after the harvests were gathered in the

autumn and the surplus produce stored in public granaries, they engaged

in the chase; hunting only with the bow and spear--camping in the open,

in the forests and plains until the advent of winter. During the ensuing

months, until the coming of spring, the children were instructed by

their parents in the industrial arts; taught the traditions of their

people, and how to read and write, and to observe the courses of the

stars and to forecast the weather and predict the nature of the seasons.

With the coming of the seedtime, they entered the fields with their

elders and learned to sow and tend and reap the crops.

Thus, by the time the child had attained the age of sixteen, he was

thoroughly conversant with all that was necessary to meet the demands of

life. He became an independent, self-supporting unit, while his constant

contact with nature not only revealed the latter's secrets and the laws

governing natural phenomena, but developed him physically and

spiritually as only nature can. All orphaned children were adopted by

the different families, and consequently, there were no outcasts or poor

and ignorant among the people.

Every house was surrounded by a small plot of ground sufficient to

supply the family with fruit, poultry, grain and vegetables; from two to

three acres in extent. Their herds were held in common and permitted to

run at will like the deer; requiring but little care.

The Tewana only produced enough to feed and clothe themselves. The use

of money was forbidden among them, and trade and barter limited

practically to the individual who, desiring something particular from

his neighbor, procured the latter an equivalent in return.

They regarded material things as merely a means to an end, and

considered it a disgrace for any one to accumulate wealth; for it was

noted that one's spiritual development declined in the same ratio that

his material possessions increased. Like the land, they held the forests

and minerals and waters and animals in common. These were the sacred

things, the gift of nature, and could not be bartered or sold. In their

eyes, only the depraved soul of a peddler ever could have conceived the

idea of turning them into merchandise. Naturally it had taken centuries

of evolution to create this attitude--but they had attained. There was,

however, no need of wealth. Since they enjoyed the earth's natural

resources in common, there was enough and an abundance for all; placing

the high and the low on a footing of material equality.

Four months' energetic labor was all that was required to produce the

annual necessities of life, allowing the individual the greater portion

of his days to devote to the development of his natural capacities.

There were no idlers, the women sharing the responsibilities of life the

same as the men. All contributed their services to that which was

required for the good of the community; the maintenance of aqueducts and

roads in the towns and the guarding of the herds. Aside from these

slight duties, the individual was free to follow the bent of his

desires. Those who refused to contribute such services were driven from

the community and became nomads, but such instances were rare; all

preferring to enjoy the benefits which civilization, combined with the

greatest amount of liberty, bestowed upon the individual.

Opposite the chief _pueblo_, on the same side of the river occupied by

themselves, stood the ruins of another town in a fair state of

preservation. It differed greatly in appearance from the one opposite.

It was compactly built, resembling more a modern Mexican town than the

pure type of Indian _pueblo_. In answer to the Captain's inquiries

concerning it, Chiquita smiled and said: "Originally there were sixty

_pueblos_, averaging from two to three thousand inhabitants each; the

number of inhabitants to which the size of our towns are limited. Owing

to the new ideas that were introduced among us by the priests and

traders that were permitted to visit us from time to time, many of our

people sought to establish a new order of things; like that prevailing

throughout the greater part of the world to-day. But in order that I may

make clear what I am about to say, I must first tell you, that the

Tewana are as quick to recognize and encourage talent and genius as were

the ancient Greeks--that there are many artists among my people who have

developed their arts to a high degree of perfection--poets, painters,

sculptors and musicians.

"These artists, especially, became imbued with the new ideas, and

instead of continuing to create for art's sake only, as had been the

custom of their fathers, embellishing their houses and articles of use

with their artistic creations, or spreading their poetry and music and

national sagas abroad after the manner of the Minnesingers of old, they,

with the others who had become affected, began to adopt new customs--to

build churches and temples in which to worship and preserve their arts,

and sought to introduce money and taxation and all that they entail

among the people in order that the new institutions might be maintained.

"The disaffection became widespread, affecting about half the people.

The White Cloud and my father did all in their power to persuade the

renegades, as they were called, to return to the old ways again;

maintaining that God dwelt in the open, not in temples, and that the

works of man which entailed the burden of taxation for their

maintenance, depriving man of his freedom, were not worth retaining.

That it was not economy, but extravagance to maintain them, and an

unnecessary waste of energy; for the instant man, in his material

evolution, goes beyond the procuring of the necessities of life, he

becomes immeshed in the creations of his own world and a slave to them.

But in vain. They refused to listen to the wisdom of their words and

only laughed in answer to their pleadings. Whereupon, the most terrible

battles ensued; costing the lives of fifty thousand of our best fighting

men and women; for among us, the women, like the men, are warriors, and

quite as capable of self-defense. They likewise take part in all our

games. In fact, they receive the same training in all things as the men

in order that they may be equally fitted to bear the responsibilities of

citizenship.

"Our women are trained for battle, not particularly to make warriors of

them, but for the same reason that the Greeks placed athletics before

all else. Not that they considered athletics superior to the other arts

and sciences, but without physical perfection, they realized there could

be no proper mental poise, no balance between mind and body. When you

see our youth, our young men and women, contest for the honors in our

games and military exercises you'll realize the truth of this. The

entire nation gathers together once a year to witness these sports and

exercises and judge the skill of the contestants. No Olympic games ever

surpassed them. You shall see wonderfully beautiful men and women, the

result of their training. Men and women who grow naturally from the

ground up, like the tree or the flower. Believe me, your people don't

know what it is to really live, to taste of the true joys of life; they

only exist.

"Owing to the terrific loss we sustained during the rebellion, we were

forced to make terms with the Mexican Government and pay an annual

tribute like the rest of her people. It was my first introduction to

battle. I don't think I shall ever forget those terrible days of

slaughter. No quarter was shown, for we knew that defeat meant the

extermination of our race. There ought to be about a hundred thousand of

us left," she continued. "Twenty _pueblos_, in all were destroyed, and

may their ruins long continue to stand as monuments of the folly of

men!"

"But how about your schools and hospitals and asylums and prisons?"

asked the Captain.

"Men who lead natural lives have no need of such things," she answered.

"Nature is all sufficient and has provided all things for man's proper

development. The man or woman who can not instruct a child in the things

that are worth knowing and necessary to meet the demands of life, is a

barbarian and only half civilized. Once a man becomes civilized, the

civilizing process ends. A man's spiritual growth is not dependent upon

his inventions, his sciences or his arts, but is a thing apart from

mental growth. If this were not so, his hope of ultimate deliverance

would be a delusion. Contagious diseases were unknown to us until

introduced among us by white men. As for criminals, they are very rare

among us. When all men have an equal opportunity in life there is no

incentive to commit crime. Acts that are the result of sudden fits of

passion, are not the acts of criminals, but the righting of a supposed

wrong done the individual. But even these are rare. Should any one

transgress the law, he is punished, not imprisoned. Only a fool would go

to the trouble and expense of keeping a man imprisoned. A delinquent is

punished so severely that he will not transgress the law a second time;

for a second serious offense against society is punished usually with

death. From what I have told you, you can gather that we are not the

savages the world imagines men to be who lead a natural existence. You

can see how easily we, with our knowledge and theirs, could lead them to

the light."

"Is there nothing between the picture your people present and the world

we know?"

"Nothing! What else could there be? After the final appraisement of

things has been taken and they have been weighed in the balance and

adjudged, this is the condition that must confront mankind, for no other

condition offers man such unlimited scope for the development of his

higher nature. What you see is the true picture of the delivered man.

The Golden Age, or the Garden of Eden is no myth. Men once were free and

remained so until they gave way to desire and established for themselves

a world of delusion in which there is no permanency either of thought or

possession. The traditions of all nations and all peoples, from time

immemorial, tell of this state when men were free. They also predict

the destruction of present-day society. The Utopias and Golden Ages

depicted by poets and dreamers, though beautiful to dwell upon in fancy,

are of the tissue of dreams. They will not bear analysis. They are

merely other names for different forms of bondage; the same old romantic

fallacies which we are forever meeting in works of fiction."

"And how long shall the world we know continue until the new

dispensation comes to pass?"

"Until men overcome the fear of death! Then shall they be born anew and

come into their rightful heritage. Then shall they grasp the spiritual

significance of the Golden Age as voiced by the Prophet: When first the

foundations of the Earth were laid; when the morning stars sang together

and all the Sons of God shouted for joy, for we are they!"