26 



pear indigenous in the peninsula of Malacca, 

 and in the district of Menangkabao in the 

 island of Sumatra*. The archipelago of the 

 great and little West India islands forms a 

 narrow neck of land, broken parallel to the 

 isthmus of Panama, and heretofore joining the 

 peninsula of Florida to the north-east extremity 

 of South America. It is the eastern shore of an 

 inland sea, which may be considered as a basin 

 with several outlets- This singular configuration 

 of the land has served to support the different 

 systems of migration, by which it has been at- 

 tempted to explain the settlement of the nations 

 of the Caribbean race in the islands, and on the 

 neighbouring continent. The Caribbees of the 

 continent admit, that the little West India is- 

 lands were anciently inhabited by the Aruacas-}-, 

 a warlike nation, the great body of which is still 

 found on the shores of Surinam and Berbice. 

 They assert, that the Aruacas, with the excep- 

 tion of the women, were all exterminated by 

 some Caribbees, who came from the mouths of 

 the Oroonoko. They cite, in support of this 



* Crawfurd, Irid. Archipel., vol. ii, p. 371. I make use 

 of the word indigenous, autocthoni, not to point out a fact of 

 creation, which does not belong to history ; but simply to 

 indicate, that we are ignorant of the autocthoni having been 

 preceded by any other people. 



f Arouaques. The missionary Quandt (Nackrickt von Suri- 

 nam, 1807, p. 47) calls them Arawachcs. 



