WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 1/ 



ease for the uncounted diversity of birds, large and small, which live 

 in them — all disposed and ordained according as it appeared suitable 

 to divine providence for their propagation and preservation. 



Chapter VIII 



Discussing the Origin of the First Settlers of the Indies, and at 

 What Epoch They Arrived There, and by What Route. 



42. It seems bold, and even foolhardy, to venture into this wide 

 gulf of conjectures about the antiquity of the first settlers in the 

 Indies, to try and bring to light the point from which they started 

 and came there, since we have no knowledge or compass or guide for 

 tracing out certainty or truth in the matter ; for up to the present 

 time neither the saints nor ancient and modern authors on this sub- 

 ject, have written a word that is authoritative. To be sure, there are 

 varying opinions on the part of those who have written about this. 

 Genebrard, in book I of his "Chronology," states that they are de- 

 scended from the Hebrews ; the same is asserted by Father Maestro 

 Malvenda in his "Antiquities," book III, chapter i8, and by Fray 

 Gregorio Garcia, Candidate for the Master's Degree, of the Domini- 

 can Order, in his book which he called "On the Origin of the Indians," 

 and by many other saints and doctors. There are other opinions of 

 various writers expounding other theories, for which one can see 

 the reasons and arguments in the book on the origin of the Indians 

 written by Father Fray Gregorio Garcia ; as they do not fit in with 

 my purpose, I shall not recount them. 



43. But, through having traveled, seen and considered not only 

 the greater part of that New World of New Spain, Honduras and 

 Nicaragua, and all the Kingdom of Peru, but also the members of 

 the Indian tribes in general and in particular, their languages, social 

 conditions, usages, ceremonies, rites, superstitions, and idolatries, 

 about which I have made various conjectures and statements, I shall 

 speak to the best of my ability and present my theory of their 

 ancestry and where they came from. 



44. And now that we have reached this point, I would say first 

 that as soon as God our Lord had confounded the natural and holy 

 language into those referred to in the building of the Tower of 

 Babel, the Lord scattered them over all the countries of the world ; 

 and that the earth was then more closely connected and united, the 

 New World with the Old, or nearer together, for the sea had not 

 entered so far inland ; and that Japhet, son of Noah, was the first 

 to sail overseas when with his sons he colonized Europe and Spain. 



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