Men and animals indigenous to one continent found in another by the first Europeans
Men
• Indians of California to Philippines (le page du Pratz – 1720s)
• Africans to N America (Ivan van Sertima)
• Polynesians to Madagascar
• A report on eight sites in Oregon where Chinese coins have been found over the years. Also Mongolian skulls were found at Raft Cove, just a little south of the NW tip (Cape Scott) of Vancouver Island. http://members.shaw.ca/jfrobinson/ABCR.htm – Bob Ward.
• Skeletons of Mongoloid people were found in Whitcher’s cave, situated about 6 miles from the coast between Port Elisabeth and Mossel Bay, near to where the Raymond Dart San drawings were found – Professor Alex Duffey
• Navajo guide told the history of the Navajo tribe and the Monument Valley, N. America. In 1995 or 1996 some tourists accidentally found 2 skeletons uncovered by erosion that were said to be Japanese. They were immediately covered again. Other local guides would not talk about it about incident or did not know anything. They appeared angry that it was known wanted to know who had regaled this information. (Enrico Altmann)
• In Aden there are Arabic records of a very big fleet of people coming from Indonesia collecting provisions in the 12th century on their way to Madagascar. These people were later pushed into the mountains of this island by invading African tribes, but are still living there, speaking a Malay language. Relationships between the Hadramauth and Indonesia, the Philippines and Indonesia go back to this period and still exist. It is no surprise that the Chinese followed the same route three centuries later.
(Wim van den Bosch)
• A reader comments how various Aboriginal groups on Vancouver Island look distinctly Chinese compared to their neighbouring natives. In addition, cave burials have been found along the west coast of Vancouver Island with distinctly Chinese relics. In size and stature, these skeletons are different from the statue of native peoples along the coast. – David Buchan
• Jack Loney, a prolific writer on wrecks around the Victorian Coast of Australia writes of the tradition among the local Yangery tribe of “yellow men” having once come among them, but when or where they came from no one could say. In later books this has been changed to white skinned aboriginals with different features to the local aboriginal population. More information on the traditions of the Yangery tribe would be greatly appreciated. (Steve Black)
• Reader worked on the Guadeloupean islands of Basse-Terre, Terre-de-Bas, and Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes) from 1999-2004. She sent in the following observations:
Although the evidence is anecdotal, there is a strong possibility of a Chinese cultural legacy on the Saintes. The traditional hats worn by Saintois, called Salako are definitely Asian in origin. Most historians trace them (although never with any evidence) to France’s history in “Indochina”–although that would mean that they weren’t introduced until the later colonial period. Why would these peculiar hats exist only on the Saintes? One would think that if they arrived from “Indochina,” with the French, that they would turn up elsewhere in the French colonies. They don’t even show up in greater Guadeloupe. A salako hat can be seen at this web address:
http://www.caribbean-direct.com/Les-Saintes-Direct/Local%20Culture/LSSlocalcultureM.html
“Salako” is also a language spoken in Borneo (as well as Kalimantan / Sarawak / Malaysia / etc.), an area which-to my knowledge-was never under French colonial administration. Additional anecdotal evidence includes skin color/ethnic markers. Saintois are remarkably lighter-skinned than Guadeloupeans, and many have “almond”-shaped eyes (the locals call them “amande”). Most people attribute the former to the fact that there was no history of plantation slavery on the Saintes, and that the population was much more French (European) than on the Guadeloupean mainland. The “yeux amandes” I’ve never heard explained, but it’s explained elsewhere in Guadeloupe by the lineage/blood of the Caribs. This would be a fascinating place to take DNA samples. As a final anecdote, I’ve met more than one person in mainland Guadeloupe who, when listing all of the origins of their lineage, include “Chinese.” Since there is no current Chinese population in Guadeloupe (the way there is, for instance, an [East] Indian population), this also strikes me as curious. In the Saintes, locals contradict the guidebooks and say that the Salako are “Chinese;” many say that the Chinese visited their islands at some distant point in the past. (Dov Stucker)
Asiatic chickens in South America.
The chickens found by the Spanish and Portuguese arriving in South America were entirely different from those they had left at home. Amerind chickens laid blue-shelled eggs, had Asiatic names and were not used for food – rather for religious practices. They had different combs, feathers, spurs, sizes, shapes, legs, necks and heads and names – Malayan, Melanotic silkies, frizzle fowls and Cochin Chinese. As late as 1600 Mediterranean peoples did not have and did not know of the galaxy of Asiatic chickens found in the Americas. Asiatic chickens cannot fly; someone took them to the Americas before Europeans got there. (See Acosta for S. America, Coronado for Tiguex.) (Evidence from Bill Goggins).
Easter Island had chickens when Europeans arrived, as did Cook Islands. Hawaii (See Annexes XXII and XXIV for further details, not least their date of arrival).
Horses
Venezuela, Peru (Acosta); North America (bones and skulls); Mississippi drainage area and Canada.; Brazil (Confins cave); pictures/carvings of horses in Australia; Mexico (Jacutacato shroud); Yucatan and South America. (Trujillo and Ayacucho); Panama (Columbus); Tierra del Fuego (Sarmiento) (Evidence from Gerald Thompson, Katrina Van Tassell). Fraser Island Brumby(Australia), Carolines (Assateague ponies); Kaimanawa wild horses (New Zealand)); Peruvian Paso (Tassell). North and South America Bashkir curly ‘Tajikistan horses’(Al Cornett). Shastika tribe of California knew of horses, ‘Sa-to-Wats’ before being introduced by Spanish; name means ‘extremely small’ (Powers – James McBride); the Chickasaw pony and the Tennessee walking horse (Donald Panther-Yates); close associations between the Mongolian native horse and northern European / Norwegian horse breeds.
Traditional American historians attribute the emergence of the Plains Indians to horses imported after Columbus. However, it is clear that Natives had large herds at an earlier date. Some of the Indian horses have close similarities to Asian horses such as the Bashkir and Mongol mountain pony. Also, it seems that the Indians adopted the compact, composite, double-recumbent bow that was popular among the Mongolian cavalry. It was made by binding together pieces of horn – thus enabling Indians to manufacture bows in regions where suitable wood was unavailable. The development of a Native Horse Culture was already well established before the Spaniards brought their own horses into the Southwest – Gunnar Thompson
Ray White, DVM, a horse breeder and veterinary surgeon, was very strong in his belief that the American horse never was completely extinct as commonly believed, feeling that the Appaloosa of the Pacific Northwest was of Asian extraction. The Appaloosa, used almost exclusively by the Nez Perce Indians was, in Dr. White’s opinion, more of an Asian breed than Spanish, as are most Mustang – Austin J. Smith
A website visitor remembers reading an art book 30 years ago while doing research on the Nez Percé Indians. He does not have the reference anymore, but the author suggested the possibility that the Appaloosa horse, bread by the Nez Percé, was Chinese. This horse was a recognizable breed by the time Lewis and Clark passed through the area. These Indians were the only example of native American Indians that were breeding horses. They understood breeding the best stallions to the best mares and practiced gelding inferior stallions. All other native Americans caught their horses wild or stole them from each other. The Nez Percé horses were highly prized by their neighbours. They were known for their speed, endurance and surefootedness. They were short legged, stocky and had large heads and thick necks. Their spotted rumps are the defining characteristic today. All these characteristics were common with the “Heavenly Horse” from China – Charlie Snyder
Dr James P. Scherz interviewed a Menominee Indian named Pamita (can be found in “Ancient American, Archaeology of the Americas Before Columbus”). On asking ‘Did you get the little horses from the Vikings?’ he responded ‘No, from the Chinese…People from across the seas came to visit and we went there to visit’ (Joanna Bergeron)
An author agrees that the Chinese horse had to have come to the Americas before the Spanish horse. The Appaloosa patterns may have got into the Western mustang partly by way of spotted horses brought by Chinese traders touching the West Coast. Frances Haines’ classic book on the Appaloosa talks about this, and covers the subject of spotted horses in Chinese ancient art – (Patricia Nell Warren)
A reader points out that the changes in appearance, as shown in art, in both Chinese horses and native western North American horses could be used as further evidence to support the presence of early Chinese in North America. The so-called “leopard spot” Appaloosa horse is commonly thought to be of North American provenance – however, this horse with distinctive color pattern and body shape is also shown in Chinese art thousands of years old and the same horse also appears in early European art. (Miss Jan)
The Nez Perce Indian Reservation, Idaho has a 300-year-old Nez Perce dress that supposedly had Chinese beads on it. It is only about 300-350 miles from the west coast (Seattle area) and they are known to have traded with coastal tribes. That is also about the time they acquired horses (around 1700) from the Spanish via the Shoshone Indians who live a little further to the south east. So the beads could have come from either direction if not directly from the Chinese themselves. The Nez Perce are well known for horse breeding. It is said that they mix Spanish horses with horses from Mongolia/China. (David Classen)
A reader notes that Robert Howard, in The Horse in America, says how the first time that whites saw native American Indians in South Carolina and Georgia that they were mounted on Chickasaw horses. These were small, hardy horses – different from the European horses. As far as we know the origins of the Chickasaw horse have not yet been determined. Does anybody have any information to the contrary?
Howard later in his book mentions that in the early years of the colonies, wild ponies (small like Chinese horses) only 13 to 13 1/2 hands high and 600 to 700 pounds roamed the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. In 1670 tobacco planters near Williamsburg complained about bands of wild horses. It is thought that these wild bands were ancestors of those now on Chincoteague. We are interested in finding out about any research carried into these horses’ lineage – Charlotte Harris Rees
Dogs
Chinese Ship’s dogs: Mexico (Acosta and Sahagun), South America, Peru, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Pacific (further details to be provided), Falklands, Tahiti (Captain Cook), New Zealand (Captain Cook and Crozet 1771) (Gossett p. 158); Santo Domingo (Acosta); Wool dogs – Washington State & British Columbia; Kuri dog to New Zealand? (Evidence from Elizabeth Flower Miller, Philip Mulholland, Greg Autry, Bernard Chang); Manchurian dog (tai tai) to Mexico (Xoloitz Cuintli); Chihuahuas were really Chinese dogs that were imported into Mexico by merchants. One of the supporting theories is that the Asians dwarfed animals and trees and may similarly have reduced the size of the Chihuahua. The flat furry tail, an important part of the Chihuahua is also common to other Asian breeds of toy dogs.
From Rhodesian Ridgebacks by Frank C. Lutman M.S. pages 11 and 12 (T.F.H.
Publications) “…The Hottentot Hunting Dog is considered to be extinct in Africa, but dogs with ridges are still found in Cambodia and on the island of Phu Quoc in the
Gulf of Thailand. Both are believed to be descendants of the Hottentot Hunting Dog, transplanted along the thousand-year-old trade routes of seafaring merchants and slave traders. The Phu Quoc dog, by its island isolation, has retained its genetic identity and is considered to resemble exactly its ancestor, the Hottentot Hunting Dog…” – Nick Pawley
The Basenji dog of Central Africa resembles the Australian and Thai dingos, and it was long thought Polynesians brought them from the Malay Archipelago to Madagascar. However recent DNA analysis suggests basenjis are closely related to dogs of Japan and China.
Mexico (Acosta and Sahagun), South America, Peru, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Pacific (), Falklands, Tahiti (Captain Cook), New Zealand (Captain Cook and Crozet 1771) (Gossett p. 158); Santo Domingo (Acosta); – Washington State & British Columbia; Kuri dog to New Zealand? (Evidence from Elizabeth Flower Miller, Philip Mulholland, Greg Autry, Bernard Chang); (tai tai) to Mexico (Xoloitz Cuintli); were really Chinese dogs that were imported into Mexico by merchants. One of the supporting theories is that the Asians dwarfed animals and trees and may similarly have reduced the size of the Chihuahua. The flat furry tail, an important part of the Chihuahua is also common to other Asian breeds of toy dogs.From by Frank C. Lutman M.S. pages 11 and 12 (T.F.H.Publications) “…The Hottentot Hunting Dog is considered to be extinct in Africa, but dogs with ridges are still found in Cambodia and on the island of Phu Quoc in theGulf of Thailand. Both are believed to be descendants of the Hottentot Hunting Dog, transplanted along the thousand-year-old trade routes of seafaring merchants and slave traders. The Phu Quoc dog, by its island isolation, has retained its genetic identity and is considered to resemble exactly its ancestor, the Hottentot Hunting Dog…” – Nick PawleyThe of Central Africa resembles the Australian and Thai dingos, and it was long thought Polynesians brought them from the Malay Archipelago to Madagascar. However recent DNA analysis suggests basenjis are closely related to dogs of Japan and China.(e) – domesticated otters, trained to fish, found in New Zealand, South Island – (Gossett p. 151); found in Ireland (Harrington/ Dunton: Ted Jeggo evidence)Otters around the Isle of Skye – could they have been brought there by the Chinese fleets? – more research needed (Margaret Lindsay)
Australian dingo to Carolina (wild dog)?
A reader visited Fraser Island, Australia, 4 years ago to see the wild dingoes. He was told that the dingoes are the purest bred in Australia, that they arrived over 500 years ago by a Chinese shipwreck and they have been wild there ever since. No other dogs are allowed on the island, so they are the purest breed – Walter Brennan
Otters – domesticated otters, trained to fish, found in New Zealand, South Island – (Gossett p. 151); found in Ireland (Harrington/ Dunton: Ted Jeggo evidence)
Otters around the Isle of Skye – could they have been brought there by the Chinese fleets? – more research needed (Margaret Lindsay)
Giraffes and zebras from Africa, and kangaroos from Australia to Chinese Emperor’s zoo.
Mylodons ? Dusky Sound (Gossett, p. 148) Vancouver Island ?; Gympie ?. China?; there are C-14 dated specimens of the Mylodon from Hispaniola and Cuba that appear to be roughly 500 ybp. A starting reference is in Hall & Kelson, Mammals of North America. If the Spanish did encounter any surviving Mylodon, they were most likely to be taken as “bears,” which have no fossil record in the Caribbean – Dr. John T. Thurmond
Discovery of South America by JH Parry (1979) – the book includes illustrations of the “ant bear” and sloth from travellers who toured the jungles in 1648 – Ant Bear of South America, Colombia. There is also mention of “Tapirs as tall as a man” Cabral 1539 exhibition – Gunnar Thompson
Camels to Peru (Acosta).
Pigs from Sulawesi/Java to British Columbia (babirousa); Asiatic or Chinese pigs (tatu) to Brazil (Sao Paulo & Minas Gerais – Pirapetenga), Mexico (cuino), New Zealand (kune kune) and Futuna Island.
A lot of research has been done into feral pig populations in Australia recently. Most particularly this relates to the different sub species present, and specific parasites carried by these pigs. It is interesting to note that there is strong speculation that many of these species are believed to be derived from Chinese or ‘Asian’ pigs, and are definitely not descended from European pigs. Many of these colonies are now believed to have been established well prior to European settlement. Research is ongoing. Equally interesting is research on parasites recovered from non-European pigs in the Cape Tribulation area of Queensland which are not otherwise present in Australia – Joel Murray
There existed in the Canary Islands in abundance before the arrival of the first Europeans a breed of black pig, very different to those brought by the first Europeans, which today exist only on Palma – J.Sanabria Díaz
Fulvous tree duck from Bengal to Madagascar, Brazil and Venezuela (see para 19).
Hippopotamus from Africa to China (Beijing Museum – ‘Western Han c. 208 BC’)
Water buffalo to South America (Marajoara Island)
Elephants
From Africa / India (Note: Authority / junks built to accommodate them (Terry 1665, p. 137) to:
Mexico:
(i) Mexico City (Clavigero 1 – p. 84, Vega ii p. 394)
(ii) Culican (Lat 230 30’) Ambassador despatched to Montezuma (Ranking – Supp.)
Colombia:
(i) Bogotá (Ranking J, p. 23)
(ii) Choco near Granada (Ranking 396 and Captain Cochran’s Journal ii, p. 390.
Mississippi/Missouri
Mr Stanley captured and taken by elephant over mountains west of Missouri.
Ranking p. 401. Elephant bones 360 30’ N 83000’ W; 32050’N 80010’ W.
Chile
Tarija (220 S – Ranking Supplement)
Elephants on Chinese ships – Polly Midgley.
Monkeys to Virginia (ochana hoen) and Washington State (Columbia River) (W Strachey and Willard Bacon).
Shellfish from Pitcairn to New Zealand
Sikka deer: thousands of wild Japanese deer in Maryland, USA (Craig Hudson)
Blue Magpie (Cyanopica cyanus) found only in southern Spain / Portugal and China (Ferry Van Mansum)
The extinct Quagga (aka Kwagga) or “Cape Horse”, an apparent mutation of the Burchell’s or Plains zebra. The last surviving Quagga was shot by hunters in the 19th Century although some skins and biological material have been preserved in various museums across the world including the Iziko Museum in Cape Town. This controversial zebra sub-species has been the subject of intense debate and an ongoing programme of selective breeding from extant zebra populations in an effort to re-create the Quagga and the interesting colour aberration that has come to characterise this so-called zebra sub-species. Given the assumed presence of Chinese horses among the livestock on the fleets, and the possibility of exploratory trips into the Cape hinterland early in the 15th Century by Chinese explorers, it may be possible to hypothesise that a few horses could have escaped and bred with the zebra population As such this might easily account for the small but obvious populations of atypically coloured zebras described by early European explorers into Southern Africa.
Australian Wood Rat – These curious rats are confined solely to Bahia Honda Key, FL, and are now a protected species because of their small numbers and isolated location. Maybe the Australian wood rats were on a Chinese Junk that sank or was marooned on the Key. Maybe they were pets of the crew or kept as gifts or for the zoo in China. Can anyone help us to find out more about these strange creatures? – W. Todd Robertson
Bats
New Zealand has bats (DNA linked to Peruvian Sea Bats) which are alleged to have “migrated” from South America by being caught in a sea storm off Peru and thus swept to NZ – a bit fanciful some might say! Perhaps the Chinese fleets had unwanted passengers? – Louis Hissink M.Sc. M.A.I.G.
Elephant bird aka Vouron Patra (Aepyornis maximus) – this was an huge flightless bird, much similar to the Moa of New Zealand. Despite its originating in Madagascar, eggs and a skull of the elephant bird were found in Australia in 1968. For more information on the find please visit the following link: http://www.answersingenesis.org/docs/2462.asp
It appears Fra Mauro Came across the bird as well in his travels. Here is a full translation for the Venetian text of Fra Mauro’s map of 1459, describing the ship or junk from India (he draws accurate pictures of Zheng He’s junks on that map) returning from the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope [page 91 of HB version of 1421.] “… They made the return to the said Cabo de Diab [Cape of Good Hope] in 70 days and drawing near to the shore to supply their wants, the sailors saw the egg of a bird called Roc, the egg being as big as a seven gallon cask, and the size of the bird is such that from the point of one wing to another was sixty paces and it can quite easily lift an elephant or any other large animal. It does great damage to the inhabitants and is very fast in flight…” [Translation Crone at page 32.]
Spanish moorhen found in New Zealand on the arrival of the Europeans – how did this get there? We know that the Chinese had been to Spain – Mulanpi.
Rhinoceros
African Bronze rhinoceros sculpted in western Han period. There is a saddle tied around this rhino. There is also a Mo = Tapir. This bronze sculpture unearthed in the Royal tombs of Han Guo of China of the Warring States era is skilfully designed, lively, complex technical achievement according to the experts. There is a Chinese lady sitting on its back carrying a pole attached to a round dish on top. This art is held in Shen Xi province museum. If China did not have tapirs just as it does not have rhinos, Zhou Chinese must have sailed to continents afar to fetch these animals, just like the giraffes delighting the Ming Royal courts (Mr Lin)
There is also a legend popular in Oregon historical circles that a rhino was found on a Pacific Northwest beach (USA), that was being transported back to China but was there due to a shipwreck (Byard Pidgeon)
Alligators
Article about alligators states that the species of alligator found in the South Eastern United States is also found in but one other place on the planet; an isolated area along the Yangtze River in China. In every aspect other than size, they are identical though found 12,000 miles apart. Perhaps this is not an anomaly of nature. (Robert Richards)
A reader, commenting on the works of Heironymous Bosch, says how in his “Garden of Earthly Delights” (c. 1504) he depicts platypus and kangaroos, years before the first Europeans “discovered” Australia. Furthermore there is what appears to be an Australian magpie (gymnorhena tibicens) in the painting as well – Tony Magrathea
Koalas – Reader claims that a porcelain piece in the China exhibit in the British Museum (case
number 33) that is identified as the “Dancing Bear” is clearly a koala bear. Any more information on this piece would be appreciated
View map: The Piri Reis map
Related galleries: Flora and fauna, Cave art
