V 

 j 



25 



strength, and even superior intelligence *. It 

 is worthy of remark, that, at the arrival of the 

 Portugueze, the Brazilians designated their ma- 

 gicians by the name of caraibesf. We know, that 

 the Caribbees of Pari ma were the most wander- 

 ing people of America ; perhaps some wily indi- 

 viduals of that nation acted the same part, as 

 the Chaldeans of the ancient continent. The 

 names of nations are easily annexed to particu- 

 lar professions ; and when, in the time of the 

 Caesars, the superstitions of the east were intro- 

 duced into Italy, the Chaldeans came as little 

 from the banks of the Euphrates, as our Egyp- 

 tians or Bohemians (who speak a dialect of 

 India) came from the banks of the Nile or the 

 Elbe. 



When the continent and the neighbouring 

 islands are peopled by the same nation, we may 

 choose between two hypotheses ; supposing that 

 the emigration has taken place either from the 

 islands to the continent, or from the continent 

 to the islands. The Iberians (Basques), who 

 were settled at the same time in Spain and in 

 the Mediterranean islands;}:, afford an instance of 

 this problem ; as do also the Malays, who ap- 



* Vespucci says : " Charaibi magnae sapientiae viri." 

 Grijn. Nov. Orb., p, 145. On the word cannibal, see vol. v, 

 p. 425. 



+ Laet t p. 543. 



I Wilhelm von Humboldt, Urbewohner Hispaniens, p. 1 67. 



