hey
are supported only by coincidences, the antecedent probability
of their having come hither, or having been able to come, is
stronger than the Norse discovery of the New World, or even
than that of Columbus himself would appear to be. Let the
reader take a map of the Northern Pacific; let him ascertain
for himself the fact that from Kamtschatka, which was well
known to the old Chinese, to Alaska the journey is far less
arduous than from China proper, and it will be seen that there
was in all probability intercourse of some kind between the
continents. In early times the Chinese were bold and skillful
navigators, to whom the chain of the Aleutian Islands would
have been simply like stepping-stones over a shallow brook to
a child. For it is a well ascertained fact, that a sailor in
an open boat might cross from Asia to America by the Aleutian
Islands in summer-time, and hardly ever be out of sight of
land, and this in a part of the sea generally abounding in
fish, as is proved by the fishermen who inhabit many of these
islands, on which fresh water is always to be found."[543:1]

Colonel Barclay Kennon, formerly of the U. S. North Pacific surveying
expedition, says:

"From the result of the most accurate scientific observation,
it is evident that the voyage from China to America can be
made without being out of sight of land more than a few hours
at any one time. To a landsman, unfamiliar with long voyages,
the mere idea of being 'alone on the wide, wide sea,' with
nothing but water visible, even for an hour, conveys a strange
sense of desolation, of daring, and of adventure. But in truth
it is regarded as a mere trifle, not only by regular seafaring
men, but even by the rudest races in all parts of the world;
and I have no doubt that from the remotest ages, and on all
shores, fishermen in open boats, canoes, or even coracles,
guided simply by the stars and currents, have not hesitated to
go far out of sight of land. At the present day, natives of
many of the South Pacific Islands undertake, without a
compass, and successfully, long voyages which astonish even a
regular Jack-tar, who is not often astonished at anything. If
this can be done by savages, it hardly seems possible that the
Asiatic-American voyage was not successfully performed