positivist--that De Sota had halted at the "precise" spot where these
crosses were found. But the spirit of negativeness that lurks in all
things said to be "precise" shows itself in that upon one of these
crosses is an inscription that has no meaning in Spanish or any other
known, terrestrial language:
"IYNKICIDU," according to Mr. Jones. He thinks that this is a name, and
that there is an aboriginal ring to it, though I should say, myself,
that he was thinking of the far-distant Incas: that the Spanish donor
cut on the cross the name of an Indian to whom it was presented. But we
look at the inscription ourselves and see that the letters said to be
"C" and "D" are turned the wrong way, and that the letter said to be "K"
is not only turned the wrong way, but is upside down.
It is difficult to accept that the remarkable, the very extensive,
copper mines in the region of Lake Superior were ever the works of
American aborigines. Despite the astonishing extent of these mines,
nothing has ever been found to indicate that the region was ever
inhabited by permanent dwellers-- "... not a vestige of a dwelling, a
skeleton, or a bone has been found." The Indians have no traditions
relating to the mines. (_Amer. Antiquarian_, 25-258.) I think that we've
had visitors: that they have come here for copper, for instance. As to
other relics of them--but we now come upon frequency of a merger that
has not so often appeared before:
Fraudulency.
Hair called real hair--then there are wigs. Teeth called real
teeth--then there are false teeth. Official money--counterfeit money.
It's the bane of psychic research. If there be psychic phenomena, there
must be fraudulent psychic phenomena. So desperate is the situation here
that Carrington argues that, even if Palladino be caught cheating, that
is not to say that all her phenomena are fraudulent. My own version is:
that nothing indicates anything, in a positive sense, because, in a
positive sense, there is nothing to be indicated. Everything that is
called true must merge away indistinguishably into something called
false. Both are expressions of the same underlying quasiness, and are
continuous. Fraudulent antiquarian relics are very common, but they are
not more common than are fraudulent paintings.
W.S. Forest, _Historical Sketches of Norfolk, Virginia_:
That, in September, 1833, when some workmen, near Norfolk, were boring
for water, a coin was drawn up from a depth of about 30 feet. It was
about the size of an English shilling, but oval--an oval disk, if not a
coin. The figures upon it were distinct, and represented "a warrior or
hunter and other characters, apparently of Roman origin."
The means of exclusion would probably be--men digging a hole--no one
else looking: one of them drops a coin into the hole--as to where he got
a strange coin, remarkable in shape even--that's disregarded. Up comes
the coin--expressions of astonishment from the evil one who had dropped
it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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