first American civilization. In these regions, the great city attributed
to Votan,--Palenque,--the ruins of whose magnificent temples and palaces
even yet astonish the traveller, was one of the first products of this
civilization.

With regard to the much-vexed question of the origin of the Indian
races, M. de Bourbourg offers no theory. In his view, the evidence from
language establishes no certain connection between the Indian tribes and
any other race whatever; though, as he justly remarks, the knowledge of
the languages of the Northeast of Asia and of the interior of America is
yet very limited, and more complete investigations must be waited for
before any very satisfactory conclusions can be attained. The similarity
of the Indian languages points without doubt to a common origin, while
their variety and immense number are indications of a high antiquity;
for who can estimate the succession of years necessary to subdivide a
common tongue into so many languages, and to give birth out of a savage
or nomadic life to a civilization like that of the Aztecs?

In the passage of man from one hemisphere to another he sees no
difficulty; as, without considering Behring's Strait, the voyage, from
Mantchooria, or Japan, following the chain of the Koorile and the
Aleutian Isles, even to the Peninsula of Alaska, would be an enterprise
of no great hazard.

The traditions of the Indian tribes, as well as their monumental
inscriptions, point to an Eastern origin. From whatever direction the
particular tribe may have emigrated, they always speak of their fathers
as having come from the rising of the sun. The Quiche, as well as the
Chippeway traditions, allude to the voyages of their fathers from the
East, from a cold and icy region, through a cloudy and wintry sea, to