America Discovered by the Welsh in 1170 A.D Part 3

"Therefore it is supposed that he and his people inhabited part of those countries; for it appears by Francis Lopez de Gomara that in Acuzamil, and other places, the people honored the cross. Whereby it may be gathered that Christians had been there before the coming of the Spaniards; but, because this people were not many, they followed the manner of the land which they came to, and the language they found there. This Madoc, arriving in that western country, unto the which he came in the year 1170, left the most of his people there, and, returning back for more of his own nation, acquaintance, and friends to inhabit that fair and large country, went thither again with ten sails, _as I find noted by Guttun Owen_. I am of opinion that the land whereunto he came was some part of the West Indies."

It is worthy of observation that Hakluyt distinctly says that he derived his account from Guttun Owen, and, therefore, from the original sources themselves, as it has been shown that Owen secured perfect copies from the abbeys. Hakluyt does not refer to Lloyd and Powel as his authorities, because he was fortunate in gaining access to the writings from which they too had compiled their histories. Thus the historical veracity of Lloyd and Powel is, without design, sustained by the learned Hakluyt.

Another point that should not be pa.s.sed is in relation to the last sentence of the extract just given, wherein Hakluyt expresses his opinion that Madoc touched the West Indies. It will be understood that during the earlier discoveries that name--West Indies--embraced not only those islands which are now known by it, but also so much of the continent or mainland as had been occupied.

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who ascended the throne in 1558, the belief seems to have been universal that Madoc did sail and discover America; and most historical writers of the time have introduced the subject into their writings with the same credence that any other well-ascertained fact deserves.

Hornius, in his "De Originibus Americanis," gives an account of the same event. The following is an extract translated from the Latin:

"From hence he [Hakluyt] concludes that Madoc, with his Cambrians, discovered a part of North America. A cursory attention to the figure of the earth must convince every one that on this direction he must have landed on that continent; for beyond Ireland no land can be found except Bermuda to this day [1650] uncultivated but the extensive continent of America. As Madoc directed his course westward, it cannot be doubted but that he fell in with Virginia or New England, and there settled.

"Nor is this contradicted by its being said that the country was uninhabited and uncultivated; for that country is very extensive, and in our times, after six centuries, is but thinly peopled. Besides, that tract on which Madoc landed might be desert, and yet other places in the interior parts, possessed by the barbarous Chichimecas, might be populous, with whom the Cambrians mingled, and, the communication being dropped between them and their mother-country, they adopted the language and manners of the country. The traditions prevailing among the natives strongly confirm me in this opinion; for the Virginians and Guahutemallians, from ancient times, worshipped one Madoc as a hero.

Concerning the Virginians, see Martyr, decade vii. chap. 3; concerning the Guahutemallians, decade viii. chap. 5. Among them we have Matec Zungam and Mat Ingam; and why this should not be Madoc the Cambrian, whom the monuments in the country prove to have been in those parts, no reason can be given. As to antiquity, five centuries are sufficient, beyond which American traditions do not ascend."

In another part he says, "For when it is demonstrated that Madoc, a prince of Cambria, with some of his nation, discovered and inhabited some lands in the West, and that his name and memory are still retained among them, scarcely any doubt remains."

Peter Martyr, alluded to in the above extract, lived in the court of Ferdinand, King of Spain. He was the author of several works, among them the "Decades," which contain the references to Matec Zungam, or Madoc the Cambrian. He was at court when Columbus returned from his first voyage, and is considered good authority with respect to what he wrote about in those times. He distinctly affirms that some nations in America honored the memory of one Madoc when Columbus landed on that coast.

Our next quotation will be from "Letters writ by a Turkish Spy," who lived forty-five years undiscovered in Paris, giving an impartial account to the Divan at Constantinople of the most remarkable transactions of Europe from the year 1673 to 1682. They were originally written in Arabic. The author of this work, which caused a great sensation at the time, as well from the highly-interesting character of its contents as from the profound secrecy in which the name of the writer was long involved, was John Paul Marana, a native of Italy. He says, "This prince [Charles II.] has several nations under his dominions, and it is thought he scarce knows the just extent of his territories in America. There is a region on that continent inhabited by a people whom they call Tuscorards and Doegs. Their language is the same as is spoken by the Welsh. They are thought to descend from them.

It is certain that when the Spaniards first conquered Mexico they were surprised to hear the inhabitants discourse of a strange people that formerly came thither in corraughs, who taught them the knowledge of G.o.d and immortality, instructed them also in virtue and morality, and prescribed holy rites and ceremonies of religion. 'Tis remarkable, also, what an Indian king said to a Spaniard, viz., that in foregoing ages a strange people arrived there by sea, to whom his ancestry gave hospitable entertainment, in regard they found them men of wit and courage, endued also with many other excellencies, but he could give no account of their original or name. The Welsh language is so prevalent in that country that the very towns, bridges, beasts, birds, rivers, hills, etc., are called by Welsh names. Who can tell the various transmigrations of mortals on earth, or trace out the true originals of any people?"

Sir Thomas Herbert visited Persia and many other countries about 1626, and in connection with his travels mentioned Madoc's emigration to the West. He states that Madoc embarked at Abergw.i.l.l.y, and first reached Newfoundland, whence, coasting along, he in time came to a convenient place for settlement; that, after recruiting the health of his men, and fortifying the spot he had pitched upon, leaving a hundred and twenty of his crew, he returned to Wales, and conducted back to his new home a fleet of ten barks, and found but few of those he left remaining. With the aid of Einon and Idwal, he soon put things in order again, and waited vainly for the arrival of other emigrants from Wales, of those who were to have followed him; but none came, owing to the wars with England. Sir Thomas concludes by saying that "had this voyage of the Prince of Gwynedd been known and inherited, _then had not Columbus, Americus Vespucius, Magellan, nor others, carried away the honor of so great a discovery, nor had Madoc been defrauded of his memory, nor our kings of their just t.i.tle to a portion of the West Indies_."

CHAPTER V.

THE NARRATIVE OF REV. MORGAN JONES.

In the year 1740 there appeared in the "Gentleman's Magazine," London, England, a very remarkable narration, written by Rev. Morgan Jones. It is as follows:

"These presents may certify all persons whatever, that in the year 1660, being an inhabitant of Virginia, and chaplain to Major-General Bennet, of Mansoman County, the said Major Bennet and Sir William Berkeley sent two ships to Port Royal, now called South Carolina, which is sixty leagues to the southward of Cape Fair, and I was sent therewith to be their minister. Upon the 8th of April we set out from Virginia, and arrived at the harbor's mouth of Port Royal the 19th of the same month, where we waited for the rest of the fleet, that was to sail from Barbadoes and Bermuda, with one Mr. West, who was to be Deputy Governor of said place. As soon as the fleet came in, the smallest vessels that were with us sailed up the river to a place called the Oyster Point.

Here I continued about eight months, all which time being almost starved for want of provisions, five others, with myself, travelled through the wilderness till we came to the Tuscarora Country. Here the Tuscarora Indians took us prisoners, because we told them that we were bound to Roanoke. That night they carried us to their town, and shut us up close, to our no small dread. The next day they entered into a consultation about us, which after it was over, their interpreter told us that we must prepare ourselves to die next morning. Whereupon, being very much dejected, and speaking to this effect in the British tongue: Have I escaped so many dangers, and must I now be knocked on the head like a dog? then presently an Indian came to me, which afterwards appeared to be a war-captain belonging to the sachem of the Doegs (whose original I find must needs be from the old Britons), and took me up by the middle, and told me in the British tongue I should not die, and thereupon went to the Emperor of the Tuscaroras, and agreed for my ransom and the men who were with me. They then welcomed us to their town, and entertained us very civilly and cordially four months, during which time I had the opportunity of conversing with them familiarly in the British language, _and did preach to them three times a week in the same language_, and they would confer with me about anything that was difficult therein. At our departure they abundantly supplied us with whatever was necessary to our support and well-doing. They are settled upon Pontigo River, not far from Cape Atros [Hatteras]. This is a brief recital of my travels among the Doeg Indians.

"MORGAN JONES, "Son of John Jones, Basaleg, near Newport, County of Monmouth.

"I am ready to conduct any Welshmen or others to the country.

"NEW YORK, March 10, 1685-6."

It appears that the origin of this narration came about in the following way, as described by Charles Lloyd, Esq., of Dol y Fran, Montgomeryshire, in a letter which he has written. He says, "My brother, Dr. Thomas Lloyd, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, having heard of Rev.

Morgan Jones's adventures, and meeting him in New York, desired him to write them out with his own hand in his house; and to please me and my cousin, Thomas Price, of Llanvyllin, he sent me the original. Mr. Jones was living then within twelve miles of New York, and was contemporary with me and my brother at Oxford. He was of Jesus College, and called there 'Senior Jones,' by way of distinction."

The original was given to Dr. Thomas Lloyd, and transmitted to his brother, as mentioned above; subsequently it came into the possession of Dr. Robert Plott, through Edward Lloyd, A.M., keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, the former having maintained in his writings his implicit belief in Madoc's emigration and Mr. Jones's narrative. Rev.

Theophilus Evans afterwards communicated the narration to the "Gentleman's Magazine." He was a Welsh clergyman, vicar of St. David's in Brecon, and well versed in the history of his nation. It is to be regretted that other accounts of the travels of Mr. Jones among the Doegs of the Tuscaroras, which were published at an earlier period, have not been preserved, inasmuch as they would materially a.s.sist in more fully establishing the veracity of the writer. As it is, however, it does not appear that his truthfulness has ever been questioned. He was an educated man, a graduate of Oxford, and not likely to be mistaken or led into an easy credulity. He is explicit as to the mode of his rescue, while engaged in prayer and deploring his wretched fate, the time he remained among them, his conversing with them and explaining anything difficult between them,--nothing unreasonable to expect, after the lapse of so many centuries,--his preaching to them three times a week. All these things, taken in connection with his accurate description of the location of this tribe, must impress the candid reader that this clergyman gave a recital of unvarnished facts.

At the time Mr. Jones was captured, the Tuscaroras inhabited a range of country that extended from Virginia down into the Carolinas. They comprised several branches, known as Doegs, Chowans, Meherrins, and Nottoways, who dwelt along the rivers bearing some of their names. They were often called the Southern Iroquois, because they were chiefly kindred in dialect with the main body of that mighty confederacy, the Five Nations, or Iroquois proper. They made frequent incursions into the territory of the Carolinians, by whom they were severely defeated in 1712: large numbers were taken prisoners, while the remainder fled northward and formed the sixth nation of the celebrated Iroquois Confederacy. Iroquois was a term applied to this confederacy by the French; Mingoes was the name given to those composing it by the great Algonquin race of red men, by whom they were largely surrounded, and with whom they were almost incessantly engaged in b.l.o.o.d.y and decimating wars.

The Five Nations called themselves Konoskioni, or "Cabin-Builders." The territory they occupied when Europeans obtained a more general acquaintance with them, which embraced New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, and portions of the Carolinas, evidently had not been in their possession a very great length of time. From all that can be ascertained, they came from the west, in an easterly direction, crossing the Nauraesi Sipu (Mississippi), and made war upon another nation, called the Alligewi or Alleghanians, destroyed their works, and drove them into the interior, the conquerors taking possession of the eastern country. Now, who were these Alligewi? That they were expelled from the lands held by the Five Nations there can be no doubt; that they moved westward is equally certain. But who were they? They were supposed to be whites. McCulloh, in his "Researches on America," says that an exterminating war appears to have taken place between the barbarous natives (Iroquois) and their more refined and civilized neighbors, ending in the nearly total destruction of the latter, the few survivors of whom fled to happier climes; and to these aboriginal whites, perhaps, the Mexicans were indebted for their refinement and knowledge. Traces of these Alligewi are found throughout those portions of the country of the Eastern States once held by them, afterwards by Iroquois. Their line of march westward may be clearly traced by the earthen fortifications they threw up for purposes of defence against their savage and wily enemies.

Almost without exception the traditions of the red men ascribe the construction of these works to white men. Some of them belonging to different tribes at the present say that they had understood from their prophets and old men that it had been a tradition among their several nations that the eastern country and Ohio and Kentucky had once been inhabited by white people, but that they were mostly exterminated at the Falls of Ohio. The red men drove the whites to a small island (Sandy Island) below the rapids, where they were cut to pieces. _Kentuckee_, in Indian, signifies _river of blood_. Some of the fragments of the ancient tribe of the Sacs expressed astonishment to a gentleman at St.

Louis that any person should live in Kentucky. The country, they said, had been the scene of much blood, and was filled with the _manes_ of the butchered inhabitants, who were white people.

The westward movements of the tribes which were overpowered and displaced by the Iroquois are distinctly marked, and show that a European civilization had some influence in directing the construction of those lines of defences along the largest valleys and streams of the countries through which they pa.s.sed, until, arriving at the Ohio, they made a vigorous stand, with the resolution not to be driven any farther into the interior. This will account for the much greater number of earthen defences found along the Ohio, and, besides, agrees with the traditions of the red men. When, however, defeated here, after a residence extending over many years, the remnants of those tribes which survived the b.l.o.o.d.y battles fled up the Missouri.

But who were these Alligewi, or Alligenians? The word is strikingly familiar to the Welsh ear, with its double _l_, and corresponds with the Welsh words _alii_, mighty, and _geni_, born, or "mighty born."

Although the Tuscaroras, among whom Mr. Jones lived and preached, were supposed to be akin to the Iroquois in language and finally confederated with them, it is altogether probable that they were more anciently a branch of the Alligewi, who could not be driven from their soil. These Tuscaroras were lighter in color than the other tribes, and so noticeable was this peculiarity that they were generally mentioned as _White Indians_. Emanating from this source, many travellers subsequently applied the t.i.tle to tribes through whose boundaries they pa.s.sed in the West and South. Doubtless they had a common origin.

They stated that their ancestors were Welsh. If the objection is made, how they could have lost traces of European civilization so soon, it may be recollected that the buccaneers of St. Domingo had in thirty years forgotten all knowledge of Christianity. Such radical differences as exist between the white and red races could not have been lost without the lapse of centuries; while their languages would undergo, more or less, some marked modifications. Dr. Williams, writing upon this subject in his "Enquiry," published in 1791, says, "When it is considered that Mr. Jones's visit to these nations was nearly five hundred years after the emigration of Prince Madoc, it can be no wonder that the language of both Mr. Jones and the Indians was very much altered. After so long a period, Mr. Jones must have been obliged to make use of words and phrases in preaching Christianity with which they must have been altogether unacquainted. Besides, all living languages are continually changing: therefore, during so many centuries, the original tongue must have been very much altered, by the introduction of new words borrowed from the inhabitants of the country. Though the language was _radically_ the same, yet Mr. Jones, especially when treating of abstract subjects, was hardly intelligible to them without some explanations. We are told that the religious worship of the Mexicans, with all its absurdities, was less superst.i.tious than that of the ancient and learned Greeks and Romans. May we not conclude that the Mexicans derived some part of their religious knowledge from a people enlightened by a Divine revelation, which, though very much corrupted in the days of Madoc, yet was superior to heathen darkness?"

Many of the names mentioned by Mr. Jones in his narrative seem to have a Welsh origin, and bear a precisely similar sound to words in that language.

_Pontigo_--a name applied to a river in that country where he found them--seems derived from Pont y Go, "The Smith's Bridge," or Pant y Go, "The Smith's Valley;" a smith dwelling beside a river or bridge being sufficient to originate such a name. Dr. Robertson says, in his "History of America," vol. ii. p. 126, that "the Indians were very ignorant of the use of metals; artificers in metals were scarce, and on that account a name might be given to a bridge or valley where one dwelt." Doeg Indians might be a corruption of Madog's Indians. The majority of those who have had any convictions on this subject have believed that Madoc first landed with his colony somewhere in New England, and that they then moved down the coast and inhabited portions of the country between Virginia and Florida. New England has some vestiges of European civilization which were there before the Pilgrim Fathers landed. The celebrated round tower at Newport, Rhode Island, about the origin of which tradition and history are silent, is certainly constructed on the same principle as Stonehenge, England, and many other Cambrian memorials. It conforms exactly to the Druidic circle. Its materials are unhewn stone. It rests upon eight round columns, twenty-three feet in diameter, and twenty-four feet in height. Any person familiar with Cambrian and Scandinavian archaeology will not hesitate to attribute the construction of this tower rather to the Cambrian than to the Scandinavian navigators.

A letter written by Charles Lloyd, Esq., of Dol y Fran, in Montgomeryshire, already mentioned, published in 1777 by Rev. N. Owen, jun., A.M., in a pamphlet ent.i.tled "British Remains," strongly confirms Mr. Jones's narrative, and the truth of Madoc's voyages.

Mr. Lloyd says that he had been informed by a friend that a Mr. Stedman, of Breconshire, about thirty years before the date of his letter, was on the coast of America in a Dutch bottom, and being about to land for refreshment the natives kept them off by force, till at last this Stedman told his fellow Dutch seamen that he understood what the natives spoke. The Dutch bade him speak to them, and they were thereupon very courteous; they supplied them with the best things they had, and told Stedman that they came from a country called Gwynedd (North Wales), in Prydain Fawr (Great Britain). Prydain was the son of Hugh the Mighty, and supposed to have been the first to establish government and set up royalty in the isle of Britain, and the island was called by his name.

Mr. Lloyd said that Mr. Stedman found these Welsh Indians along the coast between Virginia and Florida. Furthermore, this gentleman said that a Mr. Oliver Humphreys, a merchant, who died not long before the date of Mr. Lloyd's letter, told him that when he lived at Surinam he spoke with an English privateer, or pirate, who, being near Florida, careening his vessel, had learned, as he thought, the Indian language, which his friend said was perfect Welsh.

It is to be regretted that Rev. Morgan Jones and these others could not have given more of the traditional history of these Indians; but what they have recited is explicit. Here is no collusion, no attempt to meet the tradition concerning Madoc, for they, in all probability, knew nothing about it.

If the Welsh Indians could be identified as descendants of Madoc's colony, or if the Alligewi could be ascertained to have been the Welsh, the discovered traces of civilization, Christianity, and the arts might partly be referred to their instrumentality. They may have contributed to swell the tide of population, and aided in constructing those forts and works which so much resemble those of their own country. Our American mounds agree in the minutest particulars with those described by Pennant as found during his "Tour in Wales."

This is the opinion of De Laet, Hornius, Mitchel, and others.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NARRATIVE OF REV. CHARLES BEATTY.

In a "Journal of a Two Months' Tour," written by Rev. Charles Beatty, A.M., and dedicated to the Earl of Dartmouth, London, 1768, the author presents a sketch of a visit to some of the inland parts of North America during the year 1766. He was accompanied by a Mr. Duffield. Mr.

Beatty was a missionary from New York, and travelled several hundred miles in a southwest direction from that city. During his tour he met several persons who had been among the Indians from their youth, or who had been taken captives by them and lived with them several years.

When at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains, Pennsylvania, he stopped at the house of Mr. John Miller, where he met with one Benjamin Sutton, who had been taken captive by the Indians, had been in different nations, and had lived many years among them. He informed Mr. Beatty and his companion that "when he was with the Choctaw nation or tribe of Indians, at the Mississippi, he went to an Indian town a very considerable distance from New Orleans, whose inhabitants were of different complexions,--not so tawny as those of the other Indians,--and who spoke Welsh. He said that he saw a book among them, which he supposed was a Bible, which they kept carefully wrapped up in a skin, but they could not read it; and that he heard some of these Indians afterwards in the lower Shawanese town speak Welsh with one Lewis, a Welshman, who was a captive there. This Welsh tribe now live on the west side of the Mississippi, a great way above New Orleans."

At Tuscarora Valley--a name, be it remembered, the same as that of the tribe among which Rev. Morgan Jones found those speaking Welsh--Mr.

Beatty met with another man, named Levi Hicks, who had been a captive from his youth. He said that he "was once attending an emba.s.sy at an Indian town on the west side of the Mississippi, where the inhabitants spoke Welsh (as he was told, for he did not understand them); and our Indian interpreter, Joseph Peepy, said he once saw some Indians, whom he supposed to be of the same tribe, who talked Welsh. He was sure that it was Welsh, for he had been acquainted with Welsh people and understood some words.

"Mr. Sutton farther told us that he had often heard the following traditions among them; that of old time their people were divided by a river, and one part tarrying behind; that they knew not for certainty how they first came to this continent, but account for their coming into these parts near where they are now settled; that a king of their nation left his kingdom to his two sons; that the one son making war upon the other the latter thereupon determined to depart and seek some new habitation; that accordingly he set out accompanied by a number of his people, and that after wandering to and fro for the s.p.a.ce of forty years they at length came to the Delaware River, where they settled, three hundred and seventy years ago. The way, he says, they keep an account of this is by putting a black bead of wampum every year since on a belt they had for that purpose. He farther added that the king of that country from whence they came, some years ago, when the French were in possession of Fort Duquesne (Pittsburg), sent out some of his people in order, if possible, to find out that part of their nation that departed to seek a new country, and that these men, after seeking six years, came at length to the Pickt Town, on the Ouabache River, and there happened to meet with a Delaware Indian named Jack, after the English, whose language they could understand; and that by him they were conducted to the Delaware towns, where they tarried one year, and returned; that the French sent a white man with them, properly furnished, to bring back an account of their country, who, the Indians said, could not return in less than fourteen years, for they lived a great way toward the setting sun. It is now, Sutton says, about ten or twelve years since they went away."

Dr. Williams, who wrote upon this subject, thought that these traditions referred to the unsettled state of North Wales, the departure of Madoc, and his travels before he finally settled.

It would not be surprising if Mr. Beatty's Indian interpreter, Joseph Peepy, had been among Welsh people in Pennsylvania, for large colonies of Welsh settled, in early colonial days, in and around Philadelphia.