Chapter II: Part 2

The Virgin River enters the Colorado, and at the place of junction are the "resplendently =painted= temples and towers of the Virgin. Here the slopes, the serpentine ledges, and the bosses of projecting rock, interlarded with scanty soil, display all the colors of the rainbow, and in the distance may be likened to the =painter's pallete=. The bolder tints are of maroon, purple, chocolate, magenta, and lavendar, with broad bands of white laid in horizontal belts. (n. 47.)

Is this so-called "paint" =lavishly= "spread abroad"?

Certainly; one section of the mighty and wondrous gorge is known as "the =painted= canyon."

Of course the chasm is not really "painted" by artists or human agents, and we need not look for painted cliffs anywhere. Nevertheless modern observers echo the language of the ancients, and we are told today of "the =painting= of the rocks" and of "deep, =painted= alcoves" and "=painted= grottos" (n. 48.)

The term =yih= (see Williams' dict. pp. 781, 1092) is composed of the characters for "fluid" and "vessel," and signifies "A vessel full to the brim; ready to overflow, to run over; abundant; to spread abroad, to diffuse." As =seay=, the word which precedes =yih= in our Chinese note, signifies "to paint," we perceive how the additional term =yih= teaches that the =paint= made use of has been applied to extensive surfaces, so that it presents the appearance of having "overflowed" or "run over" the rocky walls and caverns dealt with.

Of course neither writing nor literal pictures could overflow or drench--and adhere to--walls or cliffs. But =seay yih= might cover the motion of applying =paint= in a most lavish, copious, overflowing manner. Here are cliffs so "rich with parti-coloring as to justify the most extravagant language in describing them."

It looks as though the gnomes on the job, in the Canyon, just emptied their paint-pots down dizzy cliffs and then went back for more. And such extravagance is in harmony with the symbols which stand for painting and vessels and spreading abroad or overflowing! Mineral paints were freely used and sometimes apparently with considerable care and skill. Thus we read of a red sandstone cliff "unbroken by cracks or crevices or ledges" exhibiting "extensive flat surfaces beautifully =stained= by iron, till one could imagine all manner of tapestry effects."

Here are painted imitations of tapestry.

It should further be remembered that there are actual picture writings spread abroad on extensive painted or stained surfaces. The author just quoted beheld ancient dwellings which "exhibited considerable skill on the part of the builders, the corners being plumb and square." And just here "there were also numerous picture writings." (note 49.)

An amazed visitor exclaims: "Grand, glorious, sublime, are the Pictorial cliffs of vermillion hue!"

"Pictorial" answers to =seay= (the 10th character in our list.)

Pictured and painted! say the Ancients.

Pictured and painted! say the Moderns.

We have seen that our Gulf (of California) has been called a =Puh-hai=, or "arm of the sea."

Professor Hoith, the celebrated student of Chinese, in his work on "Chinese History" (p. 49, footnote) says that a =puh hai= is "an estuary."

Webster says that an "estuary" is "an arm of the sea; a firth; a narrow passage, or the mouth of a river or lake, where the tide meets the current, or flows and ebbs."

Plainly our Gulf of California is a =Puh hai= or Estuary.

It may further be remarked that =Puh= is written in Chinese by putting together two characters, one standing for "water," and the other signifying "Suddenly; hastily; flurried, disconcerted, as when caught doing wrong; to change color, confused" (Williams' dict. p. 718.)

It is superfluous to say that our Gulf or Estuary is a very "confused" or "flurried" body of water. It is truly a =Puh-hai=.

Moreover, it "changes color." As though "caught doing wrong," it changes color and blushes at times a rosy red. This is the hue of multidunious veins: "A thousand streams rolling down the cliffs on every side, carry with them red sand; and these all unite in the canyon below, in one great stream of red mud" (n. 50.) But sometimes the color below Yuma is yellow or black (n. 51.)

The name "Colorado" is a Spanish term conveying the idea of redness, and undoubtedly this hue predominates throughout the course of the boisterous stream; but other colors due to the dye or wash of variously painted cliffs, are also met with. Moreover a section may exhibit one color to-day and something different to-morrow. And so it is with the gulf, which receives the Colorado, and on which floating patches of color are frequently seen. Truly our Gulf or Estuary is remarkable for both its coloring, blue, red, etc., and its changes of color. In all respects it is plainly a =Puh-hai=.

Our Gulf or Estuary is also called a =yuen=. Farther on (see Chinese version) we read that the Canyon river produces or grows into (=shang=) a beautiful (=kan=) =yuen=.

This term =yuen= stands for a "gulf, an abyss; an eddy, a whirlpool or place where the back water seems to stop."

A whirling, violent, or impetuous body of water is evidently referred to. Fernando Alarchon, in 1540, found the Colorado "a very mighty river, which ran with so great a fury of stream that we could hardly sail against it.

One voyager tells how his ark, the "Emma" was "caught in a =whirlpool=, and set spinning about." Here is a =yuen=.

Again, "The men in the boats above see our trouble but they are caught in whirlpools, and are spinning about in eddies."

What have we here but =Yuen=--multiplied whirlpools?

Through "Whirlpool Canyon" and all the way to the Gulf, the waters dance around and about. We read of "dancing eddies or whirlpools." There are more than 600 rapids and falls in the Colorado (n. 52.)

The waters =waltz= their way and even furnish their own "rippling, rushing, roaring music." And we are in addition told of "innumerable cascades adding their wild music" (n. 53).

Surely the entire inlet traversed by the bore or reached by ocean tides is in precisely the condition of commotion which may well be designated by the term yuen.

We are informed that the =kan= (or beautiful) =yuen= approaches (=tsih=) with vapor (=hi hwo=) and bathes (=yuh=) the sun's place (=ji chi su=).

It is evident that the mighty stream which traverses the Great Canyon in the region beyond the Eastern Sea, should flow from a Bottomless valley to a Gulf, and reach to the Sun's Place. And we find that the current of the Colorado extends to the Tropical line of Cancer, which crosses and marks the mouth of the Gulf of California.

Vapor or fog is noticed in connection with the beautiful (even if restless or reeling) =Yuen=.

Are fogs a noticeable feature along the coast of California? If so, they might hide the entrance or mouth of the Gulf.

One visitor says: "Westward toward the setting sun and the sea," was a "filmy fog creeping landward, swallowing one by one the distant hills."

Again, we read of "hilltops that thrust their heads through the slowly vanishing vapor."

Here "you may bask in the sunshine of gardens of almost tropic luxuriance or shudder in =fogs that shroud the coast=" (n. 54.)

We need not wonder that such vapors should appear within the confines of the charming Gulf of California and at times veil its shores. A recent visitor says: "The island and mountain peaks, whose outlines are seen from the Gulf, had been somewhat =dimmed= by a light =haze=, appeared surprisingly near and distinct in the limpid medium through which they were now viewed. The whole panorama became invested with new attractions, and it would be hard to say whether the dazzling radiance of the day or the sparkling clearness of the night was the more =beautiful= and brilliant" (n. 55).

Hazy and Beautiful, say the Ancients.

Hazy and Beautiful, say the Moderns.

The haze is not dense enough to blind our eyes to the manifest fact that those people of old who were acquainted with the position of our Gulf of California, must also have been acquainted with Mexico and its inhabitants.

Tropical America was considered by its people to be particularly under the influence of the Sun. Uxmal was in "the Land of the Sun" (n. 56), and the Mexicans called themselves "Children of the Sun."

CAVE DWELLINGS IN THE GRAND CANYON.

It will be noticed that the 13th term in our list is =hueh=, which stands for cave habitation. Are such to be seen in our Canyon?

Numerous =tung= (see 12th term,) in the shape of caves or holes are undoubtedly there, but in addition the old account notices =hueh=. Have such been found?

One explorer says: "Even more remarkable than the stupendous walls which confine the Colorado river, are the ruined cave habitations which are to be seen along the lofty and inaccessible ledges, in which a vanished race long years ago evidently sought refuge from their enemies.... They 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" (n. 57.)

Explorers decending into the =ta-hoh= come forth to-day with accounts of gardens and irrigating streams, pictured cliffs, and cave dwellings,--in complete agreement with the ancient record.

Following the term =hueh= we find a 14th, called =han=, which stands for dry, heated air; too dry; parched as by drought; crisp.

Is there =han=, or dry heated air down in the Canyon?

One visitor entered the Grand Canyon "in the morning while darkness yet covered the scene, but even then it was oppressively hot, and as the sun got higher I felt as though I had been thrust into a dutch =oven= and the mouth stopped up.... But, despite the terrible heat ... I was compelled to wonder and admire ... the gorgeous cliffs and rock walls showing all those varied colorings," etc. (n. 58).

It was the "terrible heat" which compelled the Ancients to resort to irrigation in order to raise some food for themselves and little ones. Destitute of water, the soil is scorched and barren.

It is said that "there are about 700 square miles of arable land between the mouth of the Gila and the 35th parallel of N. latitude," along the Colorado. And "in the valley" of this stream, where it is joined by the Gila, "are traces of ancient irrigating canals, which show that it has once been cultivated." And along the connected Gila are irrigating works of remarkable construction and undoubted antiquity--antedating the arrival of the Spaniards by centuries.

Where the soil is actually irrigated or cultivated the response of nature is most gratifying and encouraging. We learn with regard to the Colorado valley, that "portions are cultivated by the numerous tribes of Indians who live along its banks, affording them an abundance of wheat, maize, beans, melons, squashes," etc. (n. 59).

Such ground would be well worthy of attention; but the attitude of "the numerous tribes of Indians" along the Colorado might interfere with the plans of newcomers and even compel the latter to live in caves or on ledges easily defended. And it is certain that soil insufficiently watered presents a distressingly sterile aspect in the neighborhood of the Colorado.

One traveler, already quoted, says with regard to a wide section, that "the whole scene presented the most perfect picture of desolation I have ever beheld, as if some Sirocco had passed over the land, =withering= and =scorching= everything to crispness" (n. 60.)

Notice this word "crispness" used by our author. Turned into Chinese it becomes =han= (crisp)--the very term applied in the ancient record to the condition of the soil unwatered within the Canyon. It is curious how the old and new visitors agree in their descriptions of the interior of the mighty gorge, where vegetation is withered or dead.

Scorched and Crisp! say the Ancients.

Scorched and Crisp! say the Moderns.

The Canyon should be hot, and one of our own visitors says: "The sun shone directly up the Canyon, and the glare =reflected from the walls= made the heat intolerable (n. 61.)

The word =han= has, unfortunately enough, a perfect right to appear in the old record. Following it we find additional terms:

15. A compound character consisting of the signs for "Sun" (=Jih=) and "People" (=Min=.)

16. =lung= ("used for =nagas= or snake gods;" "a dragon," "imperial." "It is often used for a man.")

17. =chuh= ("the illumination of torches; a candle; a light; to give or shed light upon, to illumine")

The statement seems to teach that the Sun People--the men--were using torches to illumine the depth of the hot Canyon.

We have already been informed that a =ju= or suckling, who was yet a supreme King (like perhaps the last Chinese Emperor of the Manchu dynasty, in 1912 A. D.) and a Child of the Sun, was down in the abyss, so we are prepared to hear that his subjects--some Sun people--were down there too.

Of course, for the greater part of the twenty-four hours, the darkness, particularly in the cave dwellings should be most intense. One visitor, quoted already, tells of "darkness thicker than that of Egypt." Such gloom should be particularly and painfully felt by "Sun People," and we are not surprised to find that they made use of torches or artificial lights. Singularly enough, the chasm, as though remorsefully conscious of the blackness of its character, produces no end of dried-up vegetable stems or stalks fit to be ignited and used as firebrands. These it places convenient to your hand, as though to invite inspection.

Indians today are in the habit of using such torches. We are informed that "the custom still prevails among them of carrying a firebrand," which was noticed by Spanish explorers in the 16th Century, "and induced those discoverers to give to the river the name of Rio del Tizon" (n. 62).

It will be noticed that the ancient Chinese account connects lights, or "an illumination of Torches" (=chuh=), with the very stream which the Spaniards of a later age, and of their own accord christened the Rio del Tizon.

A Torch-lighted stream, say the Chinese.

A Torch-lighted stream, say the Spaniards.

The author or explorer last quoted says with reference to Indians dwelling on the banks of the Colorado, that "the custom still prevails among them of carrying a firebrand in the hand in cold weather," which was noticed by the Spaniards.

Of course the flaming brands may well be used in winter to warm those who hold them, but the Ancients who inhabited the cave or cliff houses (which they built and which are now more or less in ruin, according to exposure or original inherent strength) might have used the =chuh= or torches as =lights=. These torches are mentioned in connection with excessive =heat=, and it would be absurd to suppose that the Sun People of old desired a still higher temperature. But mention is made of cave dwellings, and such are actually there; and we can readily understand why the ancient dwellers in the cave houses should have frequently used the ready-to-hand torches when climbing to their dark and break-neck abodes.

Even today the =chuh= or torches are used as =lights=. The withered stalks or stems, so abundant in the Canyon, are a melancholy illustration of the scorching power of the sun within the chasm. We have not forgotten the fact that the Chinese term =han= is used in the ancient text and that it stands for the "crispness" of scorched or dried up plants. An actual visit to the =Ta-Hoh= or Great Canyon referred to, shows that it is this =han=--or withered, scorched and crisp--vegetation which provides no end of torches (=chuh=) for dwellers in the vicinity. One stumbling visitor uses the following language: "We struck for it ... through the thick night, the guide occasionally lighting a =torch of grass=" (n. 63). Unable to directly or steadily illumine the angles or recesses of the Canyon, the bright and clear-headed sun does the next best thing and raises a bounteous harvest of firebrands. Nature here concentrates her attention on the task of serving the necks (rather than the bellies) of her children, and presents them with a crop of seasoned and brilliant torches. Certain it is that most efficient firebrands are raised here in profusion and constitute such a unique feature of the stream that in order to distinguish it from others in the region, the Spaniards called our river the Rio del Tizon. Torches have lighted the Canyon in the past and they now throw light on the ancient record.

Mentioned in connection with withered vegetation and intense heat, the natural inference is that the torches were used to =light= the steps of dwellers in the Canyon. Of course they might in winter have been used, like other vegetable produce, as fuel, but the old record now before us does actually connect the =chuh= or torches with a high scorching temperature; and our impression or deduction is that they were used as lights amid the blackness of the chasm.

And the Torches (=chuh=) are used as lights still. One explorer says: "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."

Observe that these torches (or =chuh= as the Chinese would call them) were not ignited to =warm= the explorers. They were held aloft to find or light the way among perilous cliffs. Without their aid it would have been madness for the explorers to move. Practically they were as men born blind, but the Indian guide, with knowledge derived from the depths of antiquity, obtains the necessary torches and light at his elbow. With one withered and hot stem he ties together a number, lights them and then finds the way out of trouble for both himself and his bewildered party. What have we here but a duplication of the "illumination of torches" referred to in the ancient record?

17. =chuh= (the illumination of torches; a candle; a torch.)

18. =yuen= ("to lead or take by the hand, to cling to; to pull up higher, to drag out; to put forward; to relieve, to rescue")

19. =yiu= (have, has; to get.)

20. =Ta= (Great.)

21. =Hoh= (Canyon.)

22. =hao= (a mark, classed, a signal.)

23. =wei= (said or declared; has; in the place of.)

24. =wu= (no; without; destitute of.)

25. =te= (bottom.)

It appears that within the bottomless =Ta-hoh= or Great Canyon (see words 19 to 25) there is an illumination of torches (=chuh=) and a pulling up higher, or a dragging about and clinging to (=yuen=).

Climbing is here referred to. The Sun people seem to have found locomotion difficult and hazardous within the chasm.

The modern explorer who reached the irrigated garden plots and houses of the ancient occupants, was himself compelled to resort to much climbing. In one place he says: "I find I can get up no farther, and cannot step back, for I dare not let go with my hands, and cannot reach foot-hold below without. I call to Bradley for help.... The moment is critical. Standing on my toes my muscles begin to tremble.... I hug close to the rock, let go with my hand, seize the dangling legs, and with his assistance, I am enabled to gain the top" (n. 64.)

It will be seen by the intelligent reader that the forgoing performance is covered by the term =yuen= (No. 18) used in the ancient record. There was a =rescue= by Bradley, and the desperate adventurer, a chief of the Ethnological Bureau, was "pulled up higher," even to "the top" of the cliff. All this constitutes =yuen=; and without intending it, our modern climber--calling to Bradley for help--is a most eloquent and lucid commentator on the ancient statement in the Chinese text.

But this climbing should be accomplished in connection with =chuh= (No. 17--the illumination of torches). Is it true that there is climbing by torchlight (not =moonlight=, gentle reader) within the chasm?

Light is thrown on the ancient text by a statement already in part 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.

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?

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."

Remember that our own government has erected numbers of forts on hilltops throughout the South-west expressly for the purpose of holding such tribes as the Navajoes and Apaches in check. (And in addition we are furnishing the red men with supplies.) But in the 11th century there were no Congressional appropriations, no detachments of troops hurrying down from Washington to preserve order. Yet the ancestors of our savage tribes were certainly there. And although the warrior chieftans immediately around the young queen appear to have been filled with jealousy of each other, it is certain that they were united as one in devising for the princess a calm or sure retreat which no barbaric host could take by assault. From its base the savage ranks would reel, or break into foam like waves of the sea.

Aloft in this secure retreat she gave birth to =Mo=.

Who was his father?

The American General already referred to, supplies his own report of the Pimo interpreter's words:

"All he knew was a tradition amongst them, 'that in bygone days, a woman of surpassing beauty resided in a green spot in the mountains near the place where we were encamped. All the men admired and paid court to her. She received the tributes of their devotion, grain, skins, etc., but gave no love or other favor in return. Her virtue and her determination to remain unmarried were equally firm. There came a drought which threatened the world with famine. In their distress, people applied to her, and she gave corn from her stock, and the supply seemed to be endless. Her goodness was unbounded. One day, as she was lying asleep with her body exposed, a drop of rain fell on her stomach, which produced conception. A son was the issue, the founder of a new race which built all these houses'.... The houses of the people (the agricultural or sedentary Pimos) are mere sheds, thatched with willow and corn stalks" (n. 85.)

This report is more rational than the other in so far as it represents the multitudinous houses of stone or adobe as being reared by a "race" rather than by a "boy"! But, of course, the "son" could not have been the "founder" of his mother or of her ancestors. It is further apparent that the infant could not have been either the builder or inventor of the house or stronghold in which he was born.

Of course it is an impossibility to get at the exact truth in relation to the mysterious birth. The unwedded lady's own account ought to constitute a sufficient explanation, and would--but for the unfortunate historic fact that no mother has ever been known to tell her children the truth about their production. Even Christian mothers lie precisely like Pagans in this respect, and are just as thorough-going humbugs as Hannah in the temple, when questioned for details. They will tell a poor helpless, green, inquiring child, for instance, that they found him in a cabbage, when the actual truth is that they got him from a stork. We therefore unanimously dismiss their worse than useless testimony as that of a shameless pack of preposterous deluderers.

It is probable that the Pimo princess may have been secretly wedded or united to some man whom she really loved and preferred to all others. Yet an open avowal of such preference might have caused his death or might have turned the love of rival suitors into hate and brought about the ruin of the already sufficiently perplexed and troubled nation.

But would not the birth of the infant have revealed all?

Certainly, but in the present instance the Queen seems to have contented herself with the announcement that she had got her child from Heaven. Her friends, including doubtless the priests, at once spread abroad the story that the infant--the Child of the Sun--was of celestial origin. This tale may not have completely satisfied the numerous rival claimants for the lady's hand. But how disprove it? And why assail or shake the authority of the beautiful young queen? Why not draw closer together, bury their mutual animosities or rivalries and face the murderous hordes thronging the passes of the Rocky Mountains and slopes of the Mississippi Valley? Why not grasp at the hope--embodied in the suckling born on the hilltop--that Heaven had furnished a leader, a reincarnated divinity of the wandering nation, who would guide the despairing people onward to new fields of national glory and prosperity.

It may of course be said that such predictions were never realized, but it is certain that they were cherished. Even the Mokis, Tunis and Pimos still regard =Mo-ti= as immortal and await his return. He is "the demigod of their earliest traditions, watching over them from Heaven and waiting to come again to bring to them victory and a period of millenial glory and happiness" (n. 86.) And, of course, those who actually followed the leader =Mu= must have felt strongly the ties of affection and veneration. And who were the people who got across to Mongolia with accounts of our Grand Canyon, Gulf and Continental Tree--crowned with its wreath of multiplied suns?

[Doubtless the notion that our =Mu-te= (or =Te-Mu=) was of divine origin, had a surprising, stimulating effect. Curiously enough, Asiatic writers notice a =Te-mu= (=Te-mu-dzin= or =Temugin=) who arose in Tartary in the early part of the 12th century, and therefore might be regarded as the contemporary of our =Mu= born at Pimo about the year 1100. Some say this Tartarean conqueror was called Timour or Temur-chi, and his origin is wrapt in mystery. One account treats him as a demigod, but other statements assume that a divinity was his remote ancestor. He is said to belong to the race that broke out of Irkena Kon (or the mountain valley), situated in some out of the way and dangerous region. Personally this =Mu= came from a distant land. Some historians whose time is valuable readily find Irkena Kon in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea, but others declare that it must be situated in the direction of the Arctic Ocean!

[In his old age, in or about the year 1153, this supposed demigod had a child born to him. The name of Temudzin or Temugin was bestowed upon the infant. When thirteen years old his father--the demigod--died, and the extensive empire which the parent had established fell into political pieces. Gibbon, in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. LXIV, says that the young prince Temugin could only claim authority over about 12,000 families. We should never overlook this fact when contemplating his career. Every incident in his history is known. His name has resounded through the world. He rose to be a mighty conqueror. He became Jenghiz Khan--King of Kings--grandsire of Kublai Khan, ancestor of Tamerlane and the Great Moguls, and of no end of Persian or Moslem Sultans or Kings.

[The immediate followers of Jenghiz Khan always declared that success awaited him because he was the son of a God. Petis de la Croix denounces such a claim as a piece of "insolence," yet it might better be regarded as a form of delusion. But notice the victorious lengths to which this delusion carried believers. And the notion promulgated at Pimo, in the midst of crowding calamities,--that the royal infant was a Son of Heaven,--might have been intended to console and stimulate a despairing nation. And the spiritual stimulus appears to have transported its believers to such lengths that aboriginal Americans seem to have lost track of the demigod, and know not from what point he may return.