1896-97-] THE DEN]£s OF AMERICA IDENTIFIED WITH THE TUNGUS OF ASIA. 207 



the advent of the Othomis, or the vanguard of the Tungus, to America 

 may be placed about the year 700 A.D. 



Malte-Brun says: "The Othomi, or Hia-Hiu, is one of the most 

 widely spread languages of the Mexican republic, since it is spoken in 

 all the State of Oueretaro, and in part of those of San Luis de Guan- 

 axuato, Michoacan, Mexico, Puebla, Vera-Cruz, and Tlaxcala. 

 According to Clavijero, the country of the Othomis began in the 

 northern part of the valley of Mexico, and extended as far as the 

 mountains, which are about ninety miles from the capital. Among 

 inhabited regions which were numerous is to be remarked the ancient 

 and celebrated city of Tula, founded by the Toltecs, and that of Xilote- 

 pec, which, since the Spanish Conquest, became the Othomi metropolis. 

 This nation is regarded as one of the most ancient in Anahuac ; having 

 retained its savage state during several centuries, it had the reputation 

 of being the rudest of those of the land. The Othomis, says Father 

 Sahagun, were naturally heavy, rude, and unskilful, and so celebrated 

 for indolence, that it was customary to say instead of ' Ah ! the clumsy 

 fellow!' — 'He is like an Othomi.'" It was only towards the fifteenth 

 century that the Othomis began to live in society, as subjects of the 

 kings of Tezcoco ; they then founded several villages. A large number 

 of those who had persevered in their savage ways gave much trouble to 

 the Spaniards before they were subdued ; this did not take place until 

 towards the seventeenth century. 



The Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg writes : " There is reason to believe 

 that the Othomis occupied the mountains and valleys of Anahuac a 

 considerable time before the Nahoas and the tribes afterwards known 

 by the name of Toltecs. Rude and barbarous in their persons 

 as in their customs and language, leading a hard life, preferring the 

 mountains to the plains, the Othomis have preserved, since the farthest 

 removed period of Toltec tradition, the same manners and the same 

 idiom, without ever becoming absorbed in the nations settled beside 

 them, who persecuted them more than once, and have themselves 

 passed away without leaving a trace behind. Their language, rough as 

 themselves, is monosyllabic, embracing every kind of sound, but 

 destitute of grace, exhibiting, nevertheless, in its simplicity something 

 majestic that savours of antiquity. It calls itself Hiang-Hiung,' that 

 is to say, the language that endures and is permanent, and the name 

 ' Othomi ' which those who speak it bear, expresses in a touching way, 

 their condition of dependence and misery in the course of many ages 

 ' never quiet.' Whence came the Othomi ? Through what countries 

 did they pass before descending to Mexico ? What is this language 



