Rambles by Land and Water; or, Notes of Travel in Cuba and Mexico

by Benjamin Moore Norman

In the course of my explorations among these interesting and melancholy relics of by-gone ages, I discovered two very singular and grotesque looking images, which have given rise to no little speculation in my own mind. I have the pleasure of presenting, at the close of the chapter, correct drawings of these to the reader. The originals are deposited in the museum of the New York Historical Society. I had little doubt, when I discovered these images, that they once figured in the idolatrous worship of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country; but what place to assign them in that mysterious Pandemonium,—whether to call them god or devil, whether to class them with the deities that preside over the affections, or to give them rank with those of a more intellectual character, I have been utterly at a loss to conjecture. I have been somewhat inclined, of late, to lean to the opinion that they belong to the former class, as I found images of the same kind in use among the Indian women, who wore them suspended about their necks, and attributed to them something like a talismanic influence. They are especially relied upon in seasons of sickness,—but, whether supposed to have power to frighten away, by their pre-eminent ugliness, the ugliest shapes of disease, or to conciliate the genius of health, by awakening his sympathies for the dreadful ills which flesh is heir to, and the monstrous deformities in human frame, which are often the result of disease,—or whether the contemplation of them is intended to sustain and solace the sufferer, in any condition, however lamentable and hideous, to which she may have been reduced, by keeping continually before her eyes the representation of one more hideous and lamentable still, I was not able to determine; nor is it, perhaps, material to the interests of science or religion, or the melioration of suffering humanity in a more enlightened age, and among more civilized races of men, that this point should be settled beyond the possibility of a doubt; since it is by no means probable, even if it could be proved, by the most incontestable evidence of numberless personal certificates, and well authenticated cases of positive relief, or almost miraculous cures, that the ladies of our day, and in our highly favored country, could be induced to substitute them for the infallible, health-imparting, life-restoring panaceas, catholicons, medicated lozenges, sugar-crusted pills, vegetable anodyne restoratives, medicinal rejuvenescent cordials, magnetic rings, et id omnes genus, whose name is legion, promising immortal life and beauty to all who are so fortunate as to secure a seasonable share of their influence. It was not with any view to set up an opposition to this well disciplined army of the inveterate and the veteran enemies to the continued reign of death and disease in our world, that I brought home with me some of these remarkable images: nor is it with any hope of raising a successful competition with regularly-educated, duly licensed and long established physicians, whether of the old school or the new, whether they administer their homœopathic infinitesmals upon the point of a cambric needle, or shovel in their allopathic doses by the cartload, that I have ventured upon this learned and profound disquisition upon the remarkable discovery, which it was my fortune to make. And I beg leave here to give due and solemn notice to all the world, that, if this singular accident should chance to be the means of introducing a new epoch in American therapeutics, I hold myself, my heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, utterly and for ever exempt from all and singular the consequences and results thereof.

In the present use of these talismanic images, there is a very singular, and, I am inclined to think, an unexampled blending of the old pagan idolatry of the Indians, with the image worship of their newly adopted religion. They are all, as the reader is no doubt aware, regarded as converts to the Christian religion, under the instruction of the Priests of the Church of Rome. They are, for the most part, very scrupulous in observing all the customs and requirements of that church. The images I here refer to are hollow, with a small aperture near one of the shoulders. They are filled with balls, about as large as an ordinary pea, which are supposed to have been made of the ashes of victims sacrificed, in former days, to these gods. In this manner they were consecrated to demon-worship. Whether, in their present accommodation to a species of Christian idolatry, these balls are regarded as a substitute for "beads," or as "relics" of martyrs to a faith in an "unknown god" and an unknown form of worship, I am unable to say. I only know that the images, with their contents, are regarded with a profoundly superstitious interest, and relied upon in seasons of peculiar peril.

It may, perhaps, be thought, that I am making too much capital out of a very trifling circumstance, if I should say, that in the course of my meditations upon these ugly little demons, I imagined I had found in them, the means of solving one of the great problems which have divided and perplexed philosophers, ever since the discovery of our continent. But I deny "the soft impeachment;" I protest strenuously against the unkind imputation. If the falling of an apple led Sir Isaac Newton to the discovery of one of the great first principles and fundamental laws of nature,—if the clattering of the lid of his mother's tea-kettle, unfolded to the inquisitive mind of Watt, the powers and mysteries of steam, that semi-omnipotent agent in the affairs of our little world,—if the earth's profile, as sketched on the disc of the moon in an eclipse, convinced the sagacious mind of Columbus, that he could get round on the other side, without danger of falling off,—who shall presume to say, that this discovery of a pair of ugly little personages, belonging to the system of idol divinities of an unknown race of people, will not prove to the inquiring mind of some other, though less profound philosopher, the clue by which the great mystery of their origin shall at length be effectually solved?

I will not answer for it, that my theory in this case shall be as far fetched, ingenious or elaborate, as many others that have gained the favor and support of learned and worthy names. I only engage to make out as good a case as some of my predecessors in the same wide field;—those, for example, who have undertaken to show that the abroginal inhabitants of America, are the descendants of Abraham and probably the lost ten tribes, who were carried away into Assyria, in what is termed the first captivity under Shalmaneser. These learned theorists have considered their case fully, and incontestably made out, when they have discovered ten words in a thousand of the language, to bear some distant, and, in many cases, fanciful resemblance to words of the same import in the ancient Hebrew; or when they have traced, in their religious rites and usages, some slight analogies with the imposing ceremonials of the Mosaic ritual. In drawing their sage conclusions from these attenuated premises, they have not troubled themselves to consider what an overwhelming effect it would have upon their theory, to weigh the nine hundred and ninety words in a thousand, which have not the most distant resemblance to the Hebrew, or the multitude of idolatrous rites, and heathenish mummeries, which were utterly and irreconcilably at variance with the spirit and letter of the ancient Scriptures. It is easy enough to make a theory, and to support it manfully, as long as you can keep your eyes shut to every fact that militates against it. But alas! the great majority of such creations vanish as soon as the eyes are opened, even as the pageant of a dream vanishes before the morning light.

But, not to lose sight of my own good theory, let us return to my little images, and to the thoughts which they have suggested, in relation to the long agitated, and still unsettled question of the origin of the first inhabitants of this continent. In the first place,—I take it for granted, that the new world, as it is called, was peopled from the old. For, no one who takes the Bible as his guide, will suppose that more than one pair was created, or doubt that the residence of that first pair, and their immediate descendants, was in Asia. And if any one rejects the testimony of the Bible, my argument is not intended for him.

In the second place,—it will be admitted that a close correspondence in the forms of worship, and in the appearance and character of the objects of worship, is one of the best grounds for supposing a similarity of origin in any two races of people. There is scarcely any thing of which nations are more tenacious, and by which they can be more safely recognized and identified, than the forms and ceremonies of their religion. Strange and inexpicable as it is, they change oftener and more easily in matters of Faith, than in matters of Form. Nearly three thousand years ago, it was laid down as a principle not to be questioned, that the religion of a people, especially of idolaters, was not liable to sudden and voluntary change. Pass over the isles of Chittim and see, and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be any such thing. Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Now, to bring these principles to bear upon the object I have in view, let it be observed,—First, that, in the mythology of all the pagan nations, in Asia, many of the idols they worship, are the most monstrous and hideous deformities imaginable. Ugliness, in every conceivable shape, is deified. Secondly,—some of the ugliest of these deities are distinguished for their obesity. Thirdly,—as an example of these, take Ugnee, the regent of fire, among the Hindoos, who is represented as a very corpulent man, riding on a goat, with copper colored eye brows, beard, hair and eyes. His corpulency is held by the Brahmins, as an indication of his benevolence, and his readiness to grant the desires of his worshippers. Fourthly,—among the idols of China, some are described as monstrous figures, hideous to behold. Among the number is Gan, who has a broad face, and a prodigious great belly. Fifthly,—Fottei, who is sometimes called Miroku, one of the best, and most prominent of the Japanese deities, is represented with the same deformity, a huge distended belly. Another circumstance, not inapposite to our purpose is this, that the worshippers of Miroku, in Japan, expect to receive from his benevolent assistance, among other good things, health, riches, and children.

Now, put these facts together, and associate with them the facts of the existence of similar images of worship among the natives of America, and of the reliance of those natives upon them for aid in times of sickness, and will it not go far to prove a positive relationship between them and the inhabitants of Hindostan, China, or Japan? I trust no one will presume to dispute it, after the pains I have taken, and the learning and research I have displayed in proving it. The problem of ages may be considered as settled. It is no longer a vexed question.

The reader will be pleased to observe, that the Japanese god Miroku, is expected to give to his votaries health and children. Does not this last circumstance bear with unanswerable weight and significancy, upon my position; and prove, beyond the possibility of doubt or peradventure, that the Aborigines of America, emigrated from Japan? The images which I have discovered, and which form the subject of this erudite disquisition, are worn, as I have before remarked, by the women of America, in the time of sickness. Now, it is an established fact, that, in all nations and in all ages, the one great and laudable desire of woman is, that she may be blessed with children. For this she suffers, and for this she prays. The reliance, therefore, of the women of Japan and the women of America, upon these ugly-looking, corpulent little demons, to assist them in attaining this one prevalent, paramount desire, establishes the sameness of their origin, and leaves no lingering doubt in my mind, and, of course, none in the mind of the intelligent and candid reader, that, wherever the men of those almost exterminated races may have come from, they certainly brought their wives from Japan.

If it were desirable to go farther to prove my point, I might allude for strong confirmation, to the fact, as laid down in an old writer, that the Chinese claim to have discovered America, more than two hundred years before Columbus attempted to cross the Atlantic. It was in the year 1270, that China was overrun by the Tartars; and it is given out, that a body of one hundred thousand inhabitants, refusing obedience to their new masters, set sail, in one thousand ships, to find a new country, or perish in the enterprise. The origin of Mexico is thus accounted for. And nothing is more natural than to suppose, that, in making up so magnificent an expedition, they would find some of their Japanese neighbors desirous to accompany them.