John Russell Bartlett

“ Unlike Egypt, who has left so many records of her greatness, of her knowledge of the arts, and of her advancement in civilization, in the numerous and wonderful monumental remains in the valley of the Nile, the Assyrians were supposed to have left nothing, no existing monuments as evidences that they ever had an existence, save in the vast and misshapen heaps along the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, believed to wash the spots where the great cities of Nineveh and Babylon once stood. ”

“ Brooke's government, among a barbarous people, whose intercourse with foreigners had been confined to the Malays and Chinese, is most remarkable. Possessed of an independent fortune, of the most enlarged benevolence; familiar with the language, manners, customs and institutions of the people by which he is surrounded, with a mind stored with knowledge acquired from extensive travel and intercourse with various rude nations, he seems to have been prepared by Providence for the task which he has attempted, and which has thus far been crowned with success. ”

“ It is, however, really no more singular than that scholars in all Christian nations understand each others' music and arithmetic, after they have learned those sciences and the mode of notation.
The diversity of pronunciations tends naturally to break up the nation into small communities, and the Chinese owe their present homogeneity and grandeur in no small degree to their written language; for, however, a man may differ in his speech, he is sure that he will be everywhere understood when he writes, and will understand every one who writes to him. ”

“ Brooke observes that "they have no idea of a God, and though they have a name for the Deity, (Battara, evidently of Hindoo origin) , with a faint notion of a future state, the belief seems a dead letter among them. They have no priests, say no prayers, make no offerings to propitiate the Deity; and of course have no occasion for human sacrifices, in which respect they differ from all other people in the same state of civilization, who bow to their idols with the same feelings of reverence and devotion, of awe and fear, as civilized beings do to their invisible God." ”

“ It is evident, how [142] ever, that one sound of a character is no more correct than another; for there being no sound in any character, each one calls it as he has been taught, while all give it the same meaning, exactly as Europeans do with the numerals. Of course, no one can read or write Chinese before he has studied it, and the apparent singularity of people from China, Japan, and Annam all being able to communicate by writing but not converse by speech, is easily explained by the different sounds they give the characters. ”

“ The written language is a singular and most difficult mixture of Chinese characters, with the syllabic symbols adopted by the Japanese, rendering its perusal a great labor, more so than that of Chinese, because Chinese must first be mastered. The spoken language is polysyllabic and harmonious, and possesses conjugations, tenses, cases, &c., to facilitate its perspicuity, and increase its variety of expressions. The arts in which they chiefly excel are in the manufacture of silken and linen goods, copper-ware, lackered-ware, porcelain and basket work. ”

“ The region which forms the subject of the memoirs just alluded to, is doubtless one of the most interesting fields for exploration of any on the African continent. The languages spoken by the several nations between the two oceans, which are here separated by a space of sixteen or seventeen hundred miles, in a direct line, are believed to belong to one great family, or at least to present such traces of affinity, that an expedition, if sufficiently strong, aided by interpreters from the Zanzibar coast or the Monomoezi tribes, might traverse the continent without difficulty. ”

“ Among the Arabs this word Sahara does not convey the idea which the world has generally given it, of a desert or uninhabitable place, but the contrary. Like every country, it presents some excellent and luxuriant spots, others of a medium quality as to soil, and others entirely barren, not susceptible of cultivation. By Sahara, the Arabs mean a country of pastures, inhabited by a pastoral people; while, to the provinces between the Atlas mountains and the sea, they apply the name of Tell, meaning a country of cereals, and of an agricultural people. ”

“ Brooke at Sarawak, in Borneo, his kindness to the natives, and the destruction of the pirates by the British, will no doubt gain for them throughout the Archipelago, a name and an influence which the jealousies of other nations cannot counteract. The natives of these islands except those of the interior, are strictly a trading and commercial people. Addicted to a seafaring life, and [59] tempted by a love of gain, they traverse these seas in search of the various articles of commerce which are eagerly sought after by traders for the European, India, and Chinese markets. ”

“ The Dutch and Chinese are still the only nations allowed to trade with the Japanese, and the news brought by the latter people of the troubles they have lately gone through with their foreign customers, has probably only more strongly convinced the siogoun and his ministers of the propriety of their seclusive policy. Nor is there much reason to doubt that the Chinese and Japanese have avoided the fate of the natives of Luçonia, Java, and India, by shutting out foreigners from free access and intercourse with their people, and owing to their seclusion, have remained independent to this day. ”

“ While the Bedouins have wandered with their camels and their flocks, unaspiring, unimproving, they have looked across the gulf and beheld the Egyptian overthrown by the Persian, the Persian by the Greek, the Greek by the Roman, and the Roman in his turn by a daring band from their own burning deserts. They have seen empires grow up like Jonah's gourd. War has swept away some; the varieties and luxuries of peace have brought others to the ground ”

“ The language in which they are written has been found to exhibit close affinities both to the Sanscrit and to the Zend, and is now termed by philologists the Old Persian. The system of writing is alphabetic, that is to say, each character represents a single articulate sound; whereas that of the other two species is at least in a great measure syllabic, which renders the task of decyphering them much more difficult.
For our knowledge of the second variety of characters on the Persian trilingual tablets, we are indebted to the labors and sagacity of Professor Westergaard. ”

“ Rice and fish are the staples of food; vegetables are used in great abundance, but meats only sparingly. The habits and sports of the people are influenced so much by the peculiar notions attending a feudal society, such as adherence to the local prince, and maintenance of his honor, wearing coats of arms, privileged orders, and hereditary titles, that there is little similarity in the state of society in Japan and China, notwithstanding a similar religion and literature. The Japanese were called the Spaniards of the East by Xavier, [137] and the comparison is good at this day. ”

“ In reading a Chinese book, a good Japanese scholar makes a kind of running translation into his own vernacular, sometimes giving the sound, and sometimes giving the sense, and the katakana is used in the latter case, to indicate the tense, or case of the native word. Having the Chinese language as well as its native stores to draw from, the Japanese is both copious and flexible, and by its syllabic construction, also euphonious and mellifluous, in these respects being far superior to the Chinese. ”

“ M. Carette, in his exploration of this region, has also discovered the false notion long imbibed in relation to it. "The Sahara," says he, "was for a long time deformed by the exaggerations of geographers, and by the reveries of poets. Called by some the Great Desert, from its sterility and desolation, by others the country of dates, the Sahara had become a fanciful region, of which our ignorance increased its proportions and fashioned its aspect. ”

“ The Japanese have never paid tribute to China, but have been invaded by her armies, and in their turn have ravaged the eastern coasts of the continent. The isolated policy their rulers have adopted, has prevented our tracing those philological comparisons between their original language and those of Siberia or central Asia, which would elucidate its origin. The Japanese up to the time of the sixteenth daïri, named Ouzin Tenwo, had no written character, all the orders of government being proclaimed viva voce. ”

“ After Europe had awoke from the intellectual slumber of the dark ages, the Arabs were long regarded only as objects of religious and political abhorrence. The discovery of the route to India by the Cape of Good Hope, at the close of the fifteenth century, by diverting the channel of Indo-European traffic from the Red Sea, left the countries bordering upon it in such a state of solitude, that when better feelings began to prevail, there was no means of obtaining any direct information respecting them. ”

“ In many do we see a zeal and devotedness, an endurance of hardships, of the most severe privations, and often martyrdom itself, which has never been surpassed in the annals of missionary enterprise. Neither François Xavier, nor Ignatius Loyola, so famous among the pioneers of the Eastern missions, ever exhibited a greater zeal or devotedness than we now witness among the Catholic missionaries in Thibet, China, Corea, the islands of the Eastern Archipelago and Oceanica. ”

“ By this discovery, a vast progress has been made in the ethnography and history of ancient Africa. Two facts of the greatest consequence have been established by it:—That the Libyan language was that of Numidia, at the early period of its history, when the Phœnicians were settled there; that the Numidians of that early day, used their own peculiar letters for writing their own language. To these facts, may be added another of no less ethnographic value; that the present Numidian or Berber race of the great Sahara, who are called Tuarycks, make use of these identical letters at this day. ”

“ Our dominions now extend from ocean to ocean, and we talk of the great advantages we shall possess in carrying on an eastern trade; but how greatly would our advantages be increased by having a depot or colony on one of the fertile islands contiguous to China, Java, Borneo, Japan, the Philippines, &c. An extended commerce demands it, and we hope the day is not distant when our government may see its importance. ”

“ The American Missionaries at the Gaboon, (Western Africa) , with a view of establishing a mission in the Pong-wee country have been preparing a grammar of the Pong-wee language, the peculiarities of which are such as to deserve notice. The Missionaries call it "one of the most perfect languages of which they have any knowledge. It is not so remarkable for copiousness of words as for its great and almost unlimited flexibility. ”

“ Every enquirer into the origin and purposes of the monuments and ancient remains of the Mississippi valley has regretted the limited number and poorly attested character of the facts, of which the public are in possession, respecting them. The practical investigations made from time to time by various individuals, have not been sufficiently thorough and extensive, nor have they developed sufficient data to warrant or sustain any definite or satisfactory conclusions. ”

“ From the high character of all the parties, great hopes are entertained of the result of this journey. They are all men of extensive learning, and familiar with the languages, manners and customs of the East. [29]
A project is on foot in London and a prospectus has been issued for a new Expedition of Discovery to penetrate the interior of Africa from the eastern side. Many advantages are presented by beginning the work of exploration here; among them, the populousness and civilization of Eastern Africa, which is in general superior to that of the western coast. ”

“ On the Arabian side we find society much what it was four thousand years ago; for amidst the children of Ishmael it has undergone but trifling modifications. Their tents are neither better nor worse than they were when they purchased Joseph of his brethren, on their way to Egypt; the Sheikhs possess no other power or influence than they enjoyed then; the relations of the sexes have suffered little or no changes; they eat, drink, clothe themselves, educate their children, make war and peace, just as they did in the day of the Exodus. ”

“ The doctrines inculcated in the Zendavesta are "the existence of a great first principle. Time without beginning and without end. This incomprehensible being is the author of the two great active powers of the universe—Ormuzd the principle of all good, and Ahriman the principle of all evil. Ormuzd is the first creative agent produced by the Self-Existent. He is perfectly pure, intelligent, just, powerful, active, benevolent,—in a word, the precise image of the Element ”

“ At Persepolis it is known are extensive ruins, chiefly belonging to a large edifice, with every indication that this edifice was originally a royal palace. History and tradition supported this belief; and the general character of the sculptures and architecture, together with the inscriptions, would carry its origin back to a period some centuries before the Christian era. It was doubtless the work of one of the great monarchs of Persia; of Cyrus, Cambyses, Xerxes, Darius, or some other with whom history is familiar. ”

“ The wealthy Hindoos cling to their ancient religion with greater tenacity as it totters towards its downfall, than when in its most flourishing state. Alarmed at the innovations which European civilization and Christianity have made, they are printing by subscription, a series of popular religious books in monthly numbers, on their doctrines, rites, superstitions and idolatry. ”

“ But, strange to say, whenever a testimony has escaped the destruction of time, instead of being greeted with a benevolent though discerning curiosity, the unexpected stranger is approached with mistrustful scrutiny, his voice is stifled with severe rebuke, his credentials discarded with scorn, and by a predetermined and stubborn condemnation, resuscitating antiquity is repelled into the tomb of oblivion. ”

“ The Manchus are now the dominant race, but some of the tribes near the sea and in Taraka island, bear no tributary relations to them, if indeed they are much acquainted. Since the conquest of China, the Manchus have gone on steadily improving this part of their possessions by stationing agricultural troops at the principal ports of observation, and collecting the hunters around these points as much as possible. Criminals are also constantly banished there, who carry with them their arts, and by their industry both maintain themselves and set an example to the nomads. ”