106 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA 
present from a maritime kingdom in southern seas, a great turtle, three feet 
long by three feet wide, and very old, on whose back was written a history of 
the world, from its commencement to that time, which Yao ordered 
transcribed and preserved. Turtles have long had a peculiar religious signifi- 
cance in Japan, and also among American aborigines at Copan, where a splen- 
did stone altar of great antiquity, in the image of a similar tortoise, yet 
remains. 
Chinese culture, dwelling apart in the south-eastern extremity of Asia, 
has developed and retained distinctive national types, coldly conservative, 
while nations less peculiar, and perhaps more adventurous, rose, scattered, 
and passed away almost by scores. The isolation of their peculiar civiliza- 
tion must have resulted from the physical conformation of the spot they occu- 
pied, encircled by protecting ranges of mountains, and forbidding natural 
barriers. 
Eminent Chinese historians, after describing the fabulous and mythical 
ages, which are imperfect and idealized recollections of events, peoples, eras, 
and civilizations; and renowned individuals whose exact history had become 
confused, extinct or legendary, when their first authentic records of atcient 
history were penned; come to the reizn of men. Greek history appears lim- 
ited when looking beyond into Oriental records, and proves but a scanty 
stream leading to a broad ocean beyond. 
The deified rulers are naturally the most ancient, and are succeeded by 
demi-god descendents, in a sort of middle age. The advent of conquering 
heroes from a foreign soil, by introducing a new element into history, may 
have changed the national era. A careful study of the various ancient his- 
tories of the world has led me to infer, that, generally, rulers who are said 
to have descended from the gods, were merely successful invaders of the 
country where they died, and were there canonized or deified. Being born in 
a foreign land, no local record existed of their parentage, and it was easy to 
ascribe their origin to supernatural causes, while their death being among the 
people whose traditions have come down to us, was witnessed and recorded. 
All scholars experience difficulty in tracing up and locating ancient places, 
as most of them were given new and foreign names, by conquerors and 
explorers. Since the days of Tyre and Sidon, and the ancient and long 
continued sway of the South Arabians declined, and gave way to the rise of 
great monarchies in Western Asia and India, places have received new rulers 
and tuken new names. This is true throughout history, of all countries, and 
is more recently illustrated to us, in the saintly names given by Spanish and 
Portuguese explorers; or head-lauds and islands re-named for British seamen 
and their patrons. A less troublesome impediment to accurate identification, 
is found in translated names. * 
The progress of science, and linguistic and historic researches, continually 
supplements our knowledge of the mighty past, whose history must now be 
worked back by degrees, and every fact capable of yielding testimony, pre- 
served and utilized. Chinese records, extending to B. C. 3,588, may yet 
render valuable aid in perpetuating much that was destroyed in the lost libra- 
ries of Phoenicia, Chaldea, and Egypt. The first era of Chinese history is 
without dates, capable of being accurately fixed by any measure known to us 
