CHILDREN OF THE SUN. TRIFLES AND TRAVELS.

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1923, Page 4

CHILDREN OF THE SUN. TRIFLES AND TRAVELS.

In an essay not long ago, the late Dr W. H. Hi vers discussed a theory with regard to the origin of civilisation which has obtained a good deal of support among tin 1 newer school of ethnologists. It is, in brief, that civilisation had its beginnings somewhere in the north of Africa. Thence it spread southward and eastward, leaving its traces everywhere, crossing the I’acilie, ami finally reachTwg .North and South America. It- re-

presentatives were proficient mu igatnr.s, although in many eases. - uh.-e----(jUently. the art was entirely lost. 1 hey made these tremendous journeys in search of substances which still draw men to the ends of the earl h. and m those days had also a religious or magical significance.

This is the theory which .Mr W. J. Perry. Header in Comparative Religion io the University of Manchester, elaborates in a fascinating hook. "The Children of the Sun.” Stated in its simplest terms, the problem is this: A vast trace, extending from Egypt to America by way of the Bast Indies, contains relics of ancient civilisations of a very high order. In the sands oi Kgypt, in tiie jungles of fnida, Cambodia, and Java, on remote Pacific islands, in the swatr.ps of Cautemnia and Yucatan, in the uplands of Mexico and Peru, are to he found ninnnments ami traces of a peculiar form of social organisation possessing a close resemblance to each other. These places, moreover, are inhabited by communities differing very greatly in their standards of culture. Some ol them are so primitive as to he "food-gatherers” as distinct Imm "food-producers. I hev have not advanced to the stage ol pro during their food by agriculture. or with l hi’ aid or domesticated animals. Are we to believe Dial these people

evolved their civilisations spontaneousIv and iud- pondouily Is ii not more reasonable to suppose Flint the latter were derived from a common source? Mr Perry has aerumnlat.d a large body of evidence, which seems to point almost conclusively to this view.

.Mr Perry postulates an archaic civilisation which had its origins in Ivgvpt, culminating in the fsi.xth Dyn-

asty, and which slowly hut surely made its way eastward by the mule already mentioned, leaving its vestiges everywhere. Then he proceeds m apply this iheorv to Hie ascertained laris, whieh ii is in wonderfully well. An interesting feature of the bool; is the sketch maps, in which by symbols the presence of four 1 lungs is indicated. These

are remains o! archaic civilisation * monuments, implements, and ,-oiorlh), t f.uis of the dual organisation pro \ inusly mierred m (whereby the ruling power was split up into two parts, sacred and secular, or belonging to 1 lie -ky and In the underworld’, gold and pearls. Throughout the premised path of the art-hair civilisation these tilings are found in conjunction, 'those old time Argonauts -ought gold and pearls not only because ihev were inirin.-i----i-allv beautuui and valuable, but hecause they were thought t.. possess life-giving properties. It thi - Dieoiw can he nceep!-d it will help to explain many mysteries. Take, lor example, Ea-ler Island, with its huge monolith--and it- great terraces fashioned out o 1 itnnien.se blocks oi stone transported Horn di-tant (pianies. What manner of man made these? Certainly mil the modern Faster Islanders. Mm they would present no difficulties to a people that had built the Pyramid-. I< i’ morelV a eoitiridrucr that 1 lie lace et the statue of Amenhoteo l\ in the * British Museum hears rpiite a striking re-emhliUH-e to the eharaeleristie fae< 111 the Faster l-land statues? The process of di-semination ol this: archaic culture was. ol course, a good j mil oil'. Il tool; ilmn-and- oi year- , m reach America, where ti e Maya. | in ili-ation in tiuaien.ala reached it' z.cvith in " > first period. just alter t he j beginnug of our era. Ihe loiter, j Aztec, and the I lien icvili.-al ion- of i Mexico and Peru respectively were still later. Tie' level of culture of some of these eailv American cultures was extraordinarily high. The Mayas. tor instance, reared massive pyramids, and liiul lnu.-t elaborate irrigation works. They were master- ol many an.- and crafts. Their earliest inscriptions contain recondite astronomical ob-a-i' . a.t ions and mathematical calculations expressed in a graphic system of exceeding intricacy. Their calendar was almost as accurate as our own, and IV." snpeiior to anything that the cla-se-il culture of L recce or Homo rail -ho.r [tiit now all has gone. Xoihiug i- l-lt save ilie silent ruins tenanted only by tlie erentnres of th.o forest and half covered with tmnical vegetation. The account of these vanished civilisations. once so brilliant., now diseernahle only in a tew relies and monuments. makes the reader wonder what js in store I'm- our own. Ylitli the passing lII’ years is il doomed to perish utterly, another discard in the m,die-- changes of time?' The Mayan -age who pondered the stars no doubt, thought that his civilisation would he a- ciuhiriug as they were. The arehiloci - nil,, planned tin* stately city oi Angkor did not 'lrenin that their ciduin would ere long disappear. In our own n-n we have seen a great civilisation destroyed. After tile downfall el Hie lloman Fhnpire T-.urnne relapsed into i la- -euii-barhansin of the dark ages. Centnlies had to elap-e before it achieved a degree of culture eomuar- j able to that of Ihe Romans. AYlmt fare awaits our own civilisation ? Tn the i heart of TTppor Assam eauseways, can- | als. the ruins of magiiilieenl buildings, ; and raised roadvravs ai*i' to he found j everywhere. The country is sparsely; inhabited by natives of a very low or-j Lei- of civilisation. Of it a traveller has written:—“'The contemplation oU these ruins. surrounded by almost impenetrable jungle, which Ims overgrown the once fertile and well-cuHi- ! vated fields of a people that has passed nwav, is calculated to strike one with , an intense desire to learn the history in" those terrible events which robbed: a feitile land of a vast and indus- j trious population, converting it into a j wilderness of swamps and forests." j AYill history repent itself, and will some j observer in time to come speculate ini a similar fashion over the ruins ot one j civilisation?

Mr Arthur Kovner has seen much of the world, and as a member of the Consular service, has been stationed in some out-of-the-way corners of the globe. He has already described some of his experiences in a lively volume.

"People and Places,'’ and he continues the tale in “Trifles and Travels." The author lias pertinaciously wooed the goddess of luck with varying .sneer--. and many are the all-night sittings in which he has partieip tted. He tells us of a duel at ecarle lie had at tiie Reform Club in Hy/lncy with (he Prime Minister of a neighbouring dominion "He was considered the best player in that Imnii-piiel'e. and mane member.- who di.-approved ol my ioolhardiiiesn. fur I was not only young but- looked considerably mere juvreil" than I wa.in venturing to com pete with one ol such notorious skill, l"it the club am! went home to bod. On the following evening, when those friends returned, my opponent and I were Still dealing and assiduosly ioiit jimjng our game, and so it went on far into the second night, while arms ached from elbow to wrist. But lours for me bad been misplaced, lor though through interior play. I threw away game after game, so astounding was my luck that when we decided to close I 'was considerably to the good, and no one congratulated me more henrtj|v mi rnv unexpected success than the eldcrlv ' ; ;p feting loser." Alter, .this enrollin' !', it i- -aid. the politician s wife appeared at official entertainments with her liera of jewels reduced hv one row. High slake- were the rule at this Club. Air kry/.rr mention- that on one occasion he saw the hearer of a name very well-known in Svdncy, write out a eheijUe of C-l-’TJ) | .IL-Uie' eusl of one evening's amusement! 1 Ml- K’evxrr was in Australia in tin.' i early ’ Eighties, and writes most «»>- j nreeiat ivelt oi his treat meut. * - i mad*' ho-is ,-u friends, am! had a rovai | lime. No d'ltdit since then Australn; I has changed' h- declares, but he is at ! In-- uigiiie how much could be I improved upon. dhe le.p.-e ol ff.in has diminished his reenlle: nous I Australian spelling, but «' can lmI give him for failing to gia p n:r inI i ri.-aeies I*, "thai good name. ’ \\ ooli loiiiMooioO. "Aliihury" i- h-- venial. • in Melhoiirna he -aw th- Cup. an.d dl-l iugili -’h"(l lii’u-elt at L. :u” s - 1 ’ bad dinner ai the ">l i augely-named town.-!; Wagga Wagga. wlnch ml eres i* si him as F-ing the dwelling pin,.,. ~f ihe '! ieliboi lie elm lim id.. lie ~ . 1,,.,.., *,u a lliveriim station, and iii the Line M-umaius admired Qie \ lev, lr >m HovernmciU s Lm'PIn M*-:iei \ i lo' ia there was a. snort,,j wa 1 nr. Inn when lie > ■mplam- ! of the i.xek of tub- lie wa'. sib need 1)v ilit 1 int.»uni:iUon *«N;D i> l! ' Gnw.noi. I o! ( { | ,; i u . will* iiitfl hw'n s‘:,.v,nithere, did not have a hath for Hirer weeks. In Sydney he was presenl at the opening of P' im'r AlL'ei hospital, nod the burning oi the Gardci! I auue. and so Mr K-vz.-r gossip- genially aim,ll what- he has -ecu and non - i" Australia. New Zealand. Maiava I Bor Fueador. war-1 inm >i':u", ami i-i-i'where in a iheeri'ul and eiiteiTaiiiing 1 hroiiicle. • Jts •xxaattzrx. ■fTBSTYtr. 7 WJIfS