208 
flames in Yucatan, and the loss of which book 
was so deeply lamented by Acosta, who was 
more learned and enlightened than his contem- 
poraries ? Is it certain, that the Toltecks, that 
industrious and enterprising people, who have 
several traits of resemblance with the Tchouds*, 
or ancient inhabitants of Siberia, were the first 
to introduce painting ? or had the Cuitlaltecks 
and the Olmecks, who dwelt on the elevated 
plain of Anahuac before the irruption of the 
nations of Aztlan, and to whom the learned 
Siguenza attributes the construction of the pyra- 
mids of Teotihuacan, already recorded their 
annals and their mythology in collections of 
hieroglyphical paintings ? We have not data 
enough to answer these important questions; 
the obscurity, that envelops the origin of the 
Mongul and Tartar nations, seems to extend 
over the whole history of the New Continent. 
The Codex Borgianus has been commented 
upon by the Jesuit Fabrega, of Mexican origin. 
During my last abode in Italy, in 1805, the 
Chevalier Borgia, nephew of the Cardinal, had 
the kindness to send for the Mexican manuscript 
with its commentary from Veletri to Rome. I ' 
examined them carefully : the explanations of 
P. Fabrega appeared to me often arbitrary and 
• Voyage de Pallas (traduction de Paris), tom. 4, p. 
282. 
