/ 
198 
ble than the hypothesis, according to which the 
ancient traditions of the Hebrews and Chris- 
tians passed into America with Scandinavian 
colonies, -formed since the eleventh century on 
the coasts of Greenland, at Labrador, and per- 
haps even in the island of Newfoundland. These 
European colonists undoubtedly visited a part of 
the continent, which they called Drogeo ; they 
were acquainted with the countries situate to 
the south-west, and inhabited bv cannibals col- 
lected in populous cities ; but, without examin- 
ing in this place whether these cities were those 
of the provinces of Ichiaca and of Confachiqui, 
visited by Hernando de Soto, the conqueror of 
Florida, it may suffice to observe, that the reli- 
gious ceremonies, the dogmas, and traditions, 
which st ruck the imagination of the first Spanish 
missionaries, were incontestably found at Mexi- 
co ever since the arrival of the Toltecks, and 
consequently three or four centuries before the 
navigation of the Scandinavians to the eastern 
coasts of the New Continent. 
The ecclesiastics, who, following the armies 
of Cortez and Fizarro, penetrated into Mexico 
and Peru, were naturally inclined to exaggerate 
the analogies, which they fancied they had re- 
cognized between the cosmogony of the Aztecks, 
and the dogmas of the Christian religion. Im- 
bued with the Hebrew traditions, comprehend- 
ing imperfectly the languages of the country. 
