28 



that inhabit the north of the Isthmus of 

 Panama. The annals of the Mexican em- 

 pire appear to go as far back as the sixth 

 century of our era, since at that period we 

 find the epochas of the migrations, the 

 causes which produced them, the names of 

 the chiefs descended from the illustrious 

 house of Citin, who led, from the unknown 

 regions of Aztlan and Teocolhuacan, the 

 northern nations into the plains of Ana- 

 huac. The foundation of Tenochtillan, 

 like that of Rome, goes back to the heroic 

 ages ; and it is only from the twelfth century 

 that the annals of the Aztecks, like those of 

 the Chinese, and the people of Thibet, give 

 an uninterrupted account of secular fes- 

 tivals, the genealogy of their kings, the 

 tributes imposed on the conquered, the 

 foundation of cities, celestial phenomena, 

 the minutest events even which have in- 

 fluenced the state of societies in their 

 infancy. 



Though no traditions point out any 

 direct connexion between the nations of 



