A RETROSPECT AND A FORECAST. 21 
in the exceptional position of being superior to those who use it. Finnic and Hungarian 
have considerable literatures, and are well adapted for poetry. The Basque, which, not 
merely in Europe, but in the entire eastern hemisphere, is a speech apart from all around 
it, has a peculiar interest for us from its affinities with some of the native tongues of this 
continent. Of these, Mr. Strong, in his “North Americans of Antiquity,” says that the 
number is estimated at thirteen hundred, and Mr. Hubert Bancroft, in his “ Native Races 
of the Pacific States,” has classified six hundred distinct languages between northern 
Alaska and the Isthmus of Panama. But of these many are only dialects. Of all the 
American tongues, the greatest antiquity is assigned to the Maya-Quiché, of which the 
characteristics are said to be “ flexibility, expressiveness, vigour, approximating to harsh- 
ness,” while it is also described as rich and musical in sound. As an instance of the 
extremes to which some theorists carry a favorite hobby, it may be mentioned that Dr. 
Plongeon sets down one-third of the Maya tongue as pure Greek! That which is now 
known as the Hihua, and is in use among the Indians of Peru, is important on account of 
the civilization of which it was once the medium, as is also, for a like reason, the Nahua 
or Aztec. Of three important northern languages, Canadian clergymen have recently 
published original dictionaries or revised editions of old ones. These are the Otchipwe 
(or Ojibway) Dictionary (with grammar) of Bishop Baraga, published in an improved form 
by Father Lacombe, the Dictionary (with grammar) of the Cree language, by the same 
authors, and the Abbé Cuoq’s “Lexique de la langue iroquoise.” The value of these 
works to the philologist, and to those engaged in mission work on Canadian territory, can 
hardly be over-estimated. Professor Campbell, of Montreal, has prepared a comparative 
vocabulary of American Indian and East-Asian tongues and dialects, which is printed as 
an appendix to his interesting lecture on the “ Aborigines of Canada.” Dr. G. M. Dawson’s 
vocabulary of the Haida Indians of the Prince Charlotte Islands is another valuable contri- 
bution to our store of knowledge. He suggests that the syllable #7 or h/, prefixed to many 
words, probably in most cases represents the article. It occurs to me that it might also 
indicate some kinship with the languages of Mexico, of which this literal combination is a 
marked feature. A tradition has long prevailed (see Bartlett’s “ Personal Narrative, etc.”, 
Vol. IL, p. 283,) that the Aztecs or Ancient Mexicans migrated from the north to the 
valley of Mexico, and made three principal halts on their way thither. On this point, Mr. 
Bartlett says that “no analogy has as yet been traced between the language of the old 
Mexicans and any tribe at the north in the district from which they are supposed to have 
come; nor, in any of the relics, or ornaments or works of art, do we observe a resemblance 
between them.” Now, as will be seen by Dr. G. M. Dawson’s account of the Haida 
Indians, and by the accompanying illustrations, they surpass all the other northern tribes 
in “construction, carving and other forms of handiwork,” and he entertains a hope that 
they may be enlisted in other and more profitable forms of industry. If, then, the 
feature of their language just mentioned can be proved to indicate a relationship with 
that of the Aztecs, there would certainly be some ground for the belief that they are a 
fragment of the original northern stock from which, according to so many writers, the 
conquering Mexicans were derived. 
Were any of the American languages adapted to the needs of a higher civilization, or, 
had not the Spaniards in the 15th and 16th centuries interrupted the spontaneous advance 
of the aboriginal empires in the paths of progress, might they, unaided, have reached a 
