1892.] 



99 



[Brinton. 



from Nicaragua, we enter a territory which was at the discovery 

 occupied by nations whose traditions and linguistic affinities 

 pointed to the higher latitudes of North America. Such was the 

 Nahuatl tribe, who occupied the islands and southern shores of 

 Lake Nicaragua, and the Mangues, who peopled the borders of 

 Lake Managua. 



The latter were closely related to the Chapanecs of Chiapas, 

 speaking the same tongue with slight dialectic variations. One 

 band of the Mangues, about four hundred in number, was found 

 by the early explorers among the Guaymis, one of the Costa Rican 

 tribes whose language has marked affinities to the Chibcha idioms 

 of New Granada. The close relations thus established between the 

 two stocks reappear in the Mazatec language, spoken .in the district 

 of Teutitlan del Camino, State of Oaxaca. 



Availing myself of a MS. vocabulary of this language, furnished 

 me by M. A. Pinart, I have shown that it is essentially a Chapanecan 

 dialect, but with a strong infusion of Costa Rican, and especially 

 Guaymi, elements, and presents the most northern example of the 

 influence of South American upon North American languages.* 

 The following examples will illustrate the similarity: 



The Mazatecs were a people of considerable culture, celebrated 

 for their religious fervor, and for the important temples and sanctu- 

 aries established in their country, prominent remains of which still 

 exist. 



* See a paper by me in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, January, 

 1892, entitled "The Mazatec Language and its AfiBnities." 



