'Cbe Conservative *
upon the Indian of the western coast ,
will be impressed that a Ohinanmn is
before him ; he who looks upon a China
man. either east or west , will pee an
Indian. There is the same high cheek
bone , straight , black and coaree hair and
the impassive face of each to bear testi
mony.
The picture here presented is a faith
ful representation of a terra cotta image
found in an excavation made by the
author of this paper , in the great pyra
mid of Oholula , Mexico. The image
was found in a condition that would
prevent any attempt at fraud ; it was
found in an excavation or trench made
in a lower terrace of the great pyramid
and in close connection with -mall objects -
jects of pottery. It is the face of a
Ohinaman. The theory is that these
images were made to represent the people
ple who participated in building the
pyramid. Whatever there may be in
this , the fact remains that the image
was found in the situation described.
Mexico a Land of Mystery.
Mexico is a land of mystery ; the
Aztecs , who came to the valley about
six hundred years ago were themselves
intruders , the successors of a race that
had flourished and fell many years be
fore the advent of the latter. The
Aztecs were not the builders of the
great pyramids at Teotihuacon and at
Oholnla. They came to the valley where
the Toltecs ( so called ) had flourished ,
appropriated the idols and sculpture of
the vanished people , made sacrificial
stones of the historical records of their
predecessors and built lowly teocallis in
imitation of the great structure in the
ancient Oity of the Gcdp , Teotihuacon.
Nearly one thousand years prior to
this , Qaetzalcoatl had introduced the
gentle religion of the Buddhists. We
have no means of knowing who had
been in the country before , but it seems
there were no human sacrifices , so far
as is known , until after the Aztecs had
taken possession of Anahuac.
No less a historian and scientist than
the great Humboldt , bears testimony to
the Qnetzalcoatl myth , if myth it be
and to the facts that give it a solid
foundation in American mythology. It
is to be said that tradition in nearly
every instance has a foundation of truth
no matter how improbable may be the
relation. The story of Qnetzalcoatl ap
pears in many places. Humbolt says of
him , that he was without doubt , the
most mysterious being of all the Mexi
can mythology. Hwui Shan , the rep
uted leader of the party of five Budd
hist priests , claims to have been associat
ed with him. He was a high priest , a
legislator and a man of great wisdom
The cult of Quetzalcoatl is well pre
served among all the nations and tribes
that were allied to the Aztecs and Tel
tecs. To this day the Qnetzalcoatl myth
is preserved in a belief among the
Pueblo Indians , who are cousins to the
Aztecs that he , Moutezuma , is to come
as he did once before in Mexico , to re
deem his people The names of Montezuma -
zuma and Quetzalcoatl are here inter
mingled and confused ; there is , how
ever , little doubt that the Qnetzalcoatl
cult is introduced in the name of Monte-
zuma.
There are images of Qnetzalcoatl in
Mexico that nearly resemble the image
of Buddha , as he is represented in China
and India. There are mounds in China ,
Japan and India that closely resemble
the mounds and pyramids of Mexico.
There are decorations in the buried
cities of Mexico , which , when uncov
ered , display wonderful resemblance to
Chinese and Japanese fresco work. The
figures as well as the colors are suggest
ive of the Orient.
It is not incredible that there has
been contact between ancient India ,
Japan and China with America. The
route of the Chinese explorer , Hwui
Shan , along the coast lines of Ana ,
across the North Pacific ocean , from one
Aleutian island to the other , each al
most in sight of the other , and thence
to the Alaskan border , sheds light on
the great problem. It is certain that
the tribes of Siberia crossed Bering
strait and it is not improbable that en
terprising explorers of that day pro
ceeded southward to the temperate
climes that invited their approach.
S. B. EVANS.
Ottumwa , Iowa.
WE WONDER.
It would be interesting to know what
the late George William Curtis thinks
of the modern Harper's Weekly , sup
posing that Journal of Civilization to
circulate where Mr. Curtis is at present.
Even as we view with alarm the display
of feminine undergarments in some oi
our contemporaries , so do we contem
plate with amazement the exhibit of
other worldly matters contained in the
Weekly ; and we are sometimes con
strained to wonder , Is this the Civiliza
tion which we represent among the
nations of the earth ? lu the current
number of that publication we reckon
up no less than ten advertisements o1
spirituous liquors of various kinds ,
besides solicitations in behalf of playing
cards , cigars , beautiful busts , improved
syringes , and other wares which were
esteemed monstrous naughty by Mr
Curtis , Dr. Holland and many of their
contemporaries.
Then there is a picture , given without
comment , of which the moral is by no
means clear to us. It represents an in
surance agent being tossed in a blanket
by the boys in a lumber camp. The idea
appears eminently feasible , but are we
to understand that the editor recom
mends so radical a course ? Is the
Weekly becoming incendiary ? Or is
this too an advertisement , planned in
the interest of the accident insurance
companies , designed to secure for them
an increased patronage on the part of
fire and life insurance agents ?
TOE NEOltO AND THE SUFFRAGE. -
The Abbeyville ( S. 0. ) Ethopiau ,
edited by Rev E. W. Williams , a negro ,
speaking of the social problem says :
"Prominent colored citizens of New | ?
York held a great mass-meeting at I
Cooper Union Octobers , and said that
negro disfranchisement was the para-
mount issue. They passed resolutions
protesting against the disfranchising of
negroes in Southern States ; calling on
congress to reduce the representation of
such states in proportion to votes cast ;
asking congress to pass laws for the en
forcement of the Thirteenth , Four
teenth and Fifteenth amendments to the
Constitution , and a force bill if neces
sary , protesting against lynching ; ask
ing the president to use military force
to prevent lynching.
"We think that we have lived long
enough to know that great mass-meet
ings held by colored citizens of New
York , however prominent they may be ,
to protest against the disfrancbisement
of the colored people of the south , mean
absolutely nothing but trouble for the
negroes of the south.
"That true life and existence which
we covet , and which all good people de
sire that the negro should have , will not
and cannot come to him by any legisla
tive enactment or by any constitutional
amendments.
"We would , therefore , say to the col
ored people of the country , that their
best interests are not to be found in the
sentiments set forth in the New York
meeting reported above. We will never
live to see the day when congress will
pass laws for the enforcement of the
Thirteenth , Fourteenth and Fifteenth
amendments , neither will there be a
force bill to prevent lynching passed by
congress.
"Onr advice to the colored people of
the country is to take no stock in such
delusive sentiments ; to do so would be
fatal to our own best interests ; our des
tiny as citizens of this great common
wealth is in our hands ; we may shape it
asve will without any special interven
tion of congress. We have had con
gressional enactments in our behalf , and
they are now and ever will be dead let-
ters , so far as any intervention of con
gress is concerned. This is sufficient to
teach us that our success cannot come
to us through such abnormal measures.
"The greatest blow the negro has ever
received , and one from whose damaging
effects he will never recover , was given
him by congressional enactments. It
was the unconditional imposition of the
right of franchise , for which' he was in
no way qualified. No government has
ever done a defenseless people a greater
injury.
" \Ve do not consider that those states
that have passed amendments to their
constitutions abridging the privilege of
some of the citizens in the exercise of the
right of franchise , have done the negro
half so great an evil as was done him by
the National Government when it im
posed this right upon him. "