The relics that have been thought to prove their former presence in the continent, are neither numerous nor important. One of these is the Dighton Rock, of which I have had occasion to speak before, in connection with the Phœnician theory.[I-228] In 1824, a stone engraved with Runic characters was found on the island of Kingiktorsoak, on the western coast of Greenland.[I-229]
SCANDINAVIAN THEORY.
Priest is strongly inclined to believe that a glass bottle about the size of a common junk bottle, "having a stopple in its nuzzle," an iron hatchet edged with steel, the remains of a blacksmith's forge, and some ploughed-up crucibles, all found in the town of Pompey, Onondaga County, New York, are of Scandinavian origin.[I-230]
Brasseur de Bourbourg has found many words in the languages of Central America which bear, he thinks, marked Scandinavian traces; little can be proven by this, however, since he finds as many other words that as strongly resemble Latin, Greek, English, French, and many other languages. The learned Abbé believes, moreover, that some of the ancient traditions of the Central American nations point to a north-east origin.[I-231] Viollet-le-Duc is struck with the similarity that existed between the religious customs and ideas of the ancient Northmen and of the Quichés as expressed in the Popol Vuh.[I-232]
A WELSH COLONY IN AMERICA.
We come now to the theory that the Americans, or at least part of them, are of Celtic origin. In the old Welsh annals there is an account of a voyage made in the latter half of the twelfth century,[I-233] by one Madoc, a son of Owen Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. The story goes, that after the death of Gwynedd, his sons contended violently for the sovereignty. Madoc, who was the only peaceable one among them, determined to leave his disturbed country and sail in search of some unknown land where he might dwell in peace. He accordingly procured an abundance of provisions and a few ships and embarked with his friends and followers. For many months they sailed westward without finding a resting-place; but at length they came to a large and fertile country, where, after sailing for some distance along the coast in search of a convenient landing-place, they disembarked, and permanently settled. After a time Madoc, with part of his company, returned to Wales, where he fitted out ten ships with all manner of supplies, prevailed on a large number of his countrymen to join him, and once more set sail for the new colony, which, though we hear no more about him or his settlement, he is supposed to have reached safely.[I-234]
THE AMERICANS OF WELSH ORIGIN.
The exact location of Madoc's colony has only been guessed at. Baldwin says it is supposed that he settled 'somewhere in the Carolinas.' Caradoc, in his history of Wales,[I-235] has no doubt that the country where Madoc established his colony was Mexico; this he thinks is shown by three facts: first, the Mexicans believed that their ancestors came from a beautiful country afar off, inhabited by white people; secondly, they adored the cross; and thirdly, several Welsh names are found in Mexico. Peter Martyr affirms that the aborigines of Virginia, as well as those of Guatemala, celebrate the memory of an ancient and illustrious hero, named Madoc. Harcourt, in the preface to the account of his voyage to Guiana,[I-236] says that that part of America was discovered and possessed by the Welsh prince, Madoc. Herbert, according to Martyr, says that the land discovered by the prince was Florida or Virginia.[I-237] Catlin is inclined to believe that Madoc entered the Mississippi at Balize and made his way up the river, or that he landed somewhere on the Florida coast. He thinks the colonists pushed into the interior and finally settled on the Ohio river; afterwards, being driven from that position by the aboriginal tribes, they advanced up the Missouri river to the place where they have been known for many years by the name of Mandans, "a corruption or abbreviation, perhaps, of Madawgwys, the name applied by the Welsh to the followers of Madawc." The canoes of the Mandans, Mr Catlin tells us, which are altogether different from those of all other tribes, correspond exactly to the Welsh coracle,[I-238] the peculiarity of their physical appearance was such that when he first saw them he "was under the instant conviction that they were an amalgam of a native, with some civilized race," and the resemblance that exists between their language and Welsh, is, in his opinion, very striking.[I-239] There have been several reports that traces of the Welsh colony and of their language have been discovered among the native tribes, but none of them seem entitled to full credit. The best known report of this kind, and the one that claims, perhaps, the most respectful consideration, is that of the Rev. Morgan Jones, written in 1686, and published in the Gentleman's Magazine for the year 1740. In 1660 the reverend gentleman, with five companions, was taken prisoner by the Tuscarora tribe, who were about to put him to death when he soliloquized aloud in Welsh; whereupon they spared him and his companions, and treated them very civilly. After this Mr Jones stayed among them for four months, during which time he conversed with them familiarly in the Welsh language, "and did preach to them in the same language three times a week."[I-240]
A certain Lieutenant Roberts states that in 1801 he met an Indian chief at Washington, who spoke Welsh "as fluently as if he had been born and brought up in the vicinity of Snowdon." He said it was the language of his nation, the Asguaws, who lived eight hundred miles north-west of Philadelphia. He knew nothing of Wales, but stated that his people had a tradition that their ancestors came to America from a distant country, which lay far to the east, over the great waters. Amongst other questions, Lieutenant Roberts asked him how it was that his nation had preserved their original language so perfect; he answered that they had a law which forbade any to teach their children another tongue, until they were twelve years old.[I-241]