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the Egyptian mummies. On opening those of 

 the Guanches, remains of aromatic plants are 

 discovered^ among which the chenopodium am- 

 brosio'ides is constantly perceived : the corpses 

 are often decorated with small laces, to which 

 are hung little discs of baked earth, that appear 

 to have served as numerical signs, and resemble 

 the quippoes of the Peruvians, the Mexicans, and 

 the Chinese. 



As the population of islands is in general less 

 exposed to the effect of migrations than that of 

 continents, we may presume, that, in the time of 

 the Carthaginians and the Greeks, the Archipe- 

 lago of the Canaries was inhabited by the same 

 race of men, as were found by the Norman and 

 Spanish conquerors. The only monument that 

 can throw some light on the origin of the Gu- 

 anches is their language ; but unhappily there 

 are not above a hundred and fifty words remain- 

 ing, several of which express the same object, 

 according to the dialect of the different island- 

 ers. Independent of these words, which have 

 been carefully noted, there are still some valu- 

 able fragments existing in the names of a great 

 number of hamlets, hills, and valleys. The 

 Guanches, like the Biscayans, the Hindoos, the 

 Peruvians, and all the primitive nations, had 

 named the places after the quality of the soil 

 they cultivated, the shape of the rocks, the ca- 



