190 
' ing Azteck paintings, and in copying those he 
was unable to purchase : his friend Gama, au- 
thor of several astronomical memoirs, bequeath- 
ed him all the most valuable hieroglyphical ma- 
nuscripts he possessed. In the new continent, 
as well as in every other country, private indivi- 
duals, and those not the most opulent, become 
the collectors and preservers of objects, which 
are worthy the protection of governments. 
In the kingdom of Guatimala, or in the in- 
terior of Mexico, I know of no persons ani- 
mated with the same zeal as Alzate, Velasquez, 
and Gama* The hieroglyphic paintings are 
now so scarce in New Spain, that the greater 
part of the well informed men who reside there 
have never seen any ; and among the remains 
of the collection of Boturini there is not a single 
manuscript so fine as the Codices Mexicani 
of Veletri and Rome. I have however no doubt, 
that several objects of importance to the study 
of history may be still found in the hands of the 
Indians, who inhabit the province of Mechuacan, 
the Intendancies of Mexico, Puebla, and Oaxaca, 
the peninsula of Yucatan, and the kingdom of 
Guatimala. In these countries the nations, who 
were emigrants from Aztlan, had reached a 
certain degree of civilization ; and a traveller, 
who, understanding the Azteck, Tarasck and 
Maya languages, could obtain the confidence 
of the natives, might still collect, three cen- 
