de Sahagun's _History of New Spain_ was lost; but at the meeting of
the _Congres des Americanistes_, in Madrid, in 1881, a part of it,
at least, was exhibited. This work almost belongs to aboriginal
literature, for a considerable portion of it, notably the third, sixth
and twelfth books, treating, respectively, of the origin of the gods,
the Aztec oratory, and their ancient history, are mainly native
narratives and speeches, taken down, word for word, in the original
tongue. Spanish scholars could not render a greater service to American
ethnology and linguistics than in the publication of this valuable
monument.

There is, also, or, at any rate, there was, in the Royal Library at
Madrid, a Mexican hieroglyphic work, "all painted," with a translation
apparently into the Nahuatl tongue.[25] I would inquire of the learned
linguists of Spain whether that document cannot be unearthed. And
further, I would ask whether all trace has been lost of the writings of
Don Gabriel Castaneda, Chief of Colomocho, who wrote, in Nahuatl, an
account of the conquest of the Chichimecs by the Viceroy Antonio de
Mendoza, in 1541. That Manuscript was last heard of in the library of
the Convent of San Ildefonso, in Mexico.[26] Perhaps it would tell us who
the Chichimecs were, about which there is disagreement enough among
ethnologists.

Of the strictly hieroglyphic records I shall not take account. Their
interpretation is yet uncertain, and, as linguistic monuments, they
have, at present, no standing.

Equal, or superior, in culture, to the Aztecs were the Maya tribes.
Their chief seat was in Yucatan, but they extended thence southwardly to
the shores of the Pacific, and westward along the Gulf coast to the