CIVIL HISTORY 



OF 



CHILI. 



BOOK I. 



CHAPTER I. 



Of the Origin, Appearance^ and Language of 

 the Chilians. 



The origin of the primitive inhabitants of 

 Chili, like that of the other American nations, is 

 involved in impenetrable obscurity; nor have 

 they any records, or monuments of antiquity, 

 that can serve to elucidate so interesting an 

 inquiry. Upon the arrival of the Spaniards 

 they were entirely unacquainted with the art of 

 writing, and their traditionary accounts are so 

 crude and imperfect, that they afford not the least 

 degree of rational information to the inquisitive 

 mind. Many of the inhabitants supfTose that 

 they are indigenous to the country, while others 

 derive their origin from a foreign stock, and at 



VOL. II. B 



