23 
of the people of America and Asia^ I 
flatter myself, that the following sheets will 
justify this assertion, by the addition of 
new evidence to that which has been long 
since admitted. I have carefully endea- 
voured to make a proper distinction be- 
tween whatever indicates a community of 
origin, with what is the result of the analo- 
gous situation of nations, when they begin 
to improve their social state. 
It has hitherto been impossible to ascertain 
the period, when the communication between 
the inhabitants of the two worlds took place ; 
and how rash would be the attempt to 
point out the group of nations of the Old 
Continent, with which the Toltecks, the 
Azteeks, the Muyscas, and the Peruvians 
present the nearest analogies ; since these 
analogies are apparent in the traditions, 
the monuments, and customs, which per- 
haps preceded the present division of Asia- 
tics into Chinese, Moguls, Hindoos, and 
Tungooses. 
^ At the period of the discovery of the 
