VAGARIES. . 39 



both them and stone in their buildings ; that their complexion, hair, and eyes were 

 like those of the Baroans of Chili; 1 that their stature was of the common size; but 

 that of their exterminators — a new and modern race, like the Gauls in the time of 

 Lucullus — was frightfully gigantic ; that those same marauders, who, from the 7th 

 to the 11th centuries of the Christian era converted the cultivated fields of Italy 

 into a wilderness, came hither also, searching through all the corners of the world 

 for plunder and subsistence ; and that the new comers into America worshipped a 

 spiritual God, without mounds, idols, or human sacrifices. 



All these things, and much more, the author claims to be able to prove respecting 

 the primitive inhabitants of the country watered by the Ohio and its branches ; 

 who came, as he believes, from the South, and had intimate connections with the 

 people of Mexico, and some intercourse with the Peruvians and Chilians. Antici- 

 pating that the reader may regard his programme as somewhat conjectural, he 

 declares that " it will soon be converted into real history." 



The writei*'s facility of belief is not limited to the necessary support of his 

 principal theory; but is extended to the accounts of pigmies, whose remains had 

 been disinterred in large numbers, and to the discovery of Roman coins, that must 

 have been buried before the age of Columbus, and to vestiges of the sanctity of the 

 number seven. 



Of a somewhat similar character, and not less remarkable, are the " Ancient 

 Annals of Kentucky," by Prof. C. S. Rafinesque — prefixed to Marshall's History of 

 that State, printed in 1824. 



Beginning with the origin of the human race, the learned Professor accepts the 

 tradition that mankind was created in Asia, and follows down the course of gene- 

 rations and migrations with surprising minuteness. Having reached the proper 

 period, he informs us that " the principal nations of the eastern continent, which 

 have contributed to people North America and Kentucky, were the Allans and 

 Cutans, who came easterly, through the Atlantic Ocean ; and the Iztacans and 

 Oghuzians, who came westerly, through the Pacific Ocean." 



The history of those two nations, and of their settlements in America, he divides 

 into five periods : " 1st. From the dispersion of mankind to the first discovery of 

 America, including several centuries. 2. From the discovery of America (by the 

 Atlans, Cutans, &c.) to the foundation of the Western empires, including some 

 centuries. 3d. From the foundation of those empires to the Pelagian revolution of 

 nature, including several centuries. 4th. From the Pelagian revolution to the 

 invasion of the Iztacan nations, including about twelve centuries. 5th. From the 

 Iztacan invasion to the decline and fall of the Atlan and Cutan nations in North 

 America, including about thirty centuries to the present time." 



The details of incidents in these periods are so fully recorded as to leave little 

 to be desired in the way of precise information. A chronological chart of events 

 happening in North America from the beginning, presents the succession of peoples 

 and empires, with a lavish profusion of names and pedigrees, and an air of intimate 



that is comparative!)' light, and of variable tints. 



