294 



AN ANALYSIS OF THE; 



the earth. Lubbock,* in sjjeakiiig of similar outlines, ascribes their origin, very 

 happily we think, to the figure-head of some vessel which had been seen by the 

 native artist. 



The ship itself may become a part of the mythic system, if we are to credit 

 the following, — which is thought to refer to the first remembered appearance in 

 tlie Eiiplirates, of ships from a civilized country, and of the introduction into 

 Chaldea of the arts of civilizied life:t "In the first year there appeared an animal 

 destitute of reason, by name Oannes, whose whole body was that of a fish with 

 feet also similar to those of a man. * * * This being was accustomed to pass the day 

 among men, * * and when the sun was set * * * retired again to the sea, and passed 

 the night in the deep." We have abundant evidence that ships have at all times 

 impressed coast-haunting tribes with wonder. The Aztecs J called the vessels of 

 Cortez " water-houses," and faithfully recorded after their fashion, every particular 

 concerning them.§ 



As an illustration of the difficulty encountered by an artist in representing an 

 object with which he is not familiar, we may cite the following : 



It is well known II that when the Spaniards under Cortes landed on the coast of 

 Mexico, they were subjected to delays prior to their march to the capital. During 

 this time some of the natives hovering about the invaders, were observed sketching. 

 Fac-sirailes of these drawings are to be found in the Kingsborough Collec- 

 tion.^ We find among them figures of the soldiers, priests, ships, horses, etc. 

 The artists had apparently no difficulty in representing the warrior and the ]3riest, for 

 they differed from their own people only in color and costume. But the horse had 

 evidently puzzled them. It was a novel shape, and their conventional lines were not 

 mobile enough to receive it. It was natural, under the circumstances for them to 

 represent it as a puma (Fig. 19), for this figure they had repeatedly drawn. This 

 puma-headed horse might well have stood for some such expression as the following, 

 had written language been employed : " The soldiers are in part mounted upon 

 strange animals, whose necks and tails are furnished with long hair, and whose single 

 toe-nail of each foot is encased in a stone-like shoe." Afterward the horse was more 



* Prehistoric Times, p. 570, new edition, 

 f Preliistoric Nations, Baldwin, p. 186. 

 if Conquest of Mexico, Prescott, I, 304. 



§ Sir Walter Raleigh, following the prevalent belief of his times, thought that dog-headed men inhabited El 

 Dora-do, i. e., the Valley of the Amazon. Humboldt says of this statement, "that it was a gigantic lie." Kiugsley 

 (Miscellanies, Ticknor & Fields, 1859, p. 31) remarks that they were probably Indians, wearing animal masks, 

 probably from the Aguara-head. 



II Couqviest of Pern, Prescott, I, 304. f Codex Reminensis, p\ 3?, 



