PEUtClrAi/ DIALECTS. 
317 
go disguised in different dialects of the same tongue, as 
not to be recognizable ; for the tribes into which a nation 
is divided, often designate the same objects by words alto- 
gether heterogeneous. Hence it follows that we readily fall 
into mistakes, if, neglecting the study of the inflexions, and 
consulting only the roots (for instance, in the words which 
designate the moon, sky, water, and earth), we decide on the 
absolute difference of two idioms from the mere want of 
resemblance in sounds. But, while aware of this source of 
error, travellers would do well to continue to collect suck 
materials as may be within their reach. If they do not 
make known the internal structure, and general arrange- 
ment of the edifice, they may point out some important 
parts. 
The three languages now most used in the provinces of 
Cumana and Barcelona, are tho Chayma, the Cumanagota, 
and the Caribbee. They have always been regarded in these 
countries as different idioms, and a dictionary of each has 
been written for the use of the Missions, by Fathers Tauste, 
liuiz-blaneo, and Breton. The Vocahdario y Arte de la 
Lengua de los Indies Chaymas has become extremely scarce. 
The few American grammars, printed for the most part in 
the seventeenth century, passed into the Missions, and have 
been lost in the forests. The dampness of the air and the 
voracity of insects* render the preservation of books almost 
impossible in those regions : they are destroyed in a short- 
space of time, notwithstanding every precaution that may 
be employed. I had much difficulty to collect in the Mis- 
sions, and in the convents, those grammars of American 
languages, which, on my return to Europe, I placed in tho 
hands of Severin Vatcr, professor and librarian at the 
university of Konigsberg. They furnished him with useful 
materials for his great work on tho idioms of the New 
World. I omitted, at the time, to transcribe from my 
journal, and communicate to that learned gentleman, what 
I had collected in the Chayma tongue. Since neither Father 
Gili, nor the Abbe Hervas, has mentioned this language, 
I shall here explain succinctly the result of my researches. 
On the right bank of the Orinoco, south-east of the Mis- 
* The termites, so well known in Spanish America under the name of 
tomege n, or ‘ devourer,’ is one of these destructive insects. 
