154 



may be discovered in these characters ; but 

 I much doubt whether the good monk, who 

 seemed to be but little interested about this pre- 

 tended inscription, had copied it very carefully. 

 It is somewhat remarkable, that out of seven cha- 

 racters there were none several times repeated ; 

 I have inserted them merely as worthy of engag- 

 ing the attention of the learned, who may here- 

 after visit the forests of Guyana. 



It is also remarkable, that in this savage 

 and desert country, where P. Bueno found let- 

 ters engraven in granite, are a great number of 

 rocks, which at considerable heights are covered 

 with figures of animals, representations of the 

 sun, the moon, and the stars, and other hiero- 

 glyphical signs. The natives relate, that their 

 ancestors, in the time of the great waters, came 

 in canoes to the top of these mountains : and 

 that the stones were then in so plastic a state, 

 that men could trace marks on them with their 

 fingers. This tradition indicates a tribe in a dif- 

 ferent state of civilization from that of the peo- 

 ple by which it was preceded, discovering an 

 absolute ignorance of the use of the chisel, and 

 every other metallic tool. 



From the whole of these facts it results, that 

 there exists no certain proof of the knowledge 

 of an alphabet among the Americans. In re- 

 searches of this kind we cannot be too careful 

 not to confound what mav be the effect of 



