The most enthusiastic supporter of the Phœnician, or Tyrian, theory, is Mr George Jones. This gentleman has devoted the whole of a goodly volume to the subject, in which he not only sustains, but conclusively proves, to his own satisfaction, whatever proposition he pleases. It is of no use to question, he demolishes by anticipation all possible objections; he "will yield to none," he says, "in the conscientious belief in the truth of the startling propositions, and the consequent historic conclusions." The sum of these propositions and conclusions is this: that after the taking of the Tyrian capital by Alexander, B.C. 332, a remnant of the inhabitants escaped by sea to the Fortunate Islands, and thence to America. The author does not pretend that they had any positive foreknowledge of the existence of a western continent; though he believes "that from their knowledge of astronomy, they may have had the supposition that such might be the case, from the then known globular character of the earth." But they were mainly indebted for the success of their voyage to the favoring east winds which bore them, in the space of a month straight to the coast of Florida.[I-147] "There arrived in joyous gladness, and welcomed by all the gifts of nature,--like an heir to a sudden fortune, uncertain where to rest,--the Tyrians left the shore of Florida and coasted the gulf of Mexico, and so around the peninsula of Yucatan and into the Bay of Honduras; they thence ascended a river of shelter and safety, and above the rapids of which they selected the site of their first city,--now occupied by the ruins, altars, idols, and walls of Copan!"
The more effectually to preserve the secret of their discovery and place of refuge, they subsequently destroyed their galleys and passed a law that no others should be built. At least, this is Mr. Jones' belief--a belief which, to him, makes the cause "instantly apparent" why the new-found continent was for so many centuries unknown to Asiatics or Europeans. It is possible, however, the same ingenious author thinks, that, upon a final landing, they burned their ships as a sacrifice to Apollo, "and having made that sacrifice to Apollo, fanatical zeal may have led them to abhor the future use of means, which, as a grateful offering, had been given to their deity. Thence may be traced the gradual loss of nautical practice, on an enlarged scale; and the great continent now possessed by them, would also diminish by degrees the uses of navigation."[I-148]