THE ABOKIGIHES OE GHIAHA. 
THE letter-press which accompanies these views has been hitherto confined to the description of the stupendous scenes of nature, and 
magnificent landscapes in which Guiana abounds ; but the aboriginal inhabitants, those untutored beings, the miserable remnant of 
numerous tribes who peopled Guiana when the first Europeans landed, have not received that attention which I am so anxious 
to give to them ; as it is, the nature of the work, and the limits which have been prescribed to it, scarcely permit me to do more 
than dwell upon them in general terms. The two remaining plates are therefore particularly intended to show the aboriginal inhabitant 
in his domestic character, combined with the landscape which surrounds him ; and the following remarks I hope may serve as a sketch 
of the manners and customs of a race, which, although termed savage, is yet interesting from its primitive condition. 
History informs us, that at the discovery of America by the Spaniards in the fifteenth century, the Europeans found it inhabited by a 
race of men, who were externally distinguished from all other nations of the known world by peculiarities of structure, and internally by 
their mental condition, and who, although the greatest analogy existed between them in manners, habits, and occupation, were nevertheless 
divided into a vast number of tribes, speaking different languages. So great was the similarity in their appearance, that accurate 
observers, who saw the aborigines of America in provinces far removed from each other, and differing in climate and productions, 
were struck with their surprising resemblance in figure and aspect. Pedro de Cicca de Leon, who had an extensive knowledge of the 
Indian tribes, says, “ The people, men and women, although they are of such a vast multitude of tribes or nations, in such diverse 
climates, appear nevertheless like the children of one family.” 
Whence arises then the discordance of languages between different tribes, and which appears to be more considerable in the 
New Continent than even in Africa? According to the researches of Seezen, Vater, and de Humboldt, there are at least five hundred 
different American tongues. Alexander von Humboldt, great alike as a traveller, a philologist, and a natural philosopher, ascribes their 
differences “ to the configuration of the soil, the strength of vegetation, the apprehensions of the mountaineers, under the tropics, of 
exposing themselves to a burning sun,” all of which he considers as obstacles to communication, and contributes, as he thinks, to the 
remarkable variety of dialects. 
This is not the proper place in which to inquire into the cause of the above variety, a cause which must continue to operate as 
long as these languages depend upon oral delivery, and consequently are liable to corruption ; but there exists a grammatical analogy, a 
similarity in their general structure, which make it evident, that however they may differ as dialects, they have a common origin. 
To guide the inquirer, however, through the intricacies of this labyrinth, to give him a notion whence that language, and the people 
who speak it, originated, there is not a vestige of history, not a thread of tradition to afford a clue ; and all our knowledge in this 
respect depends upon hypothetical reasoning. The opinions, which at present have been adopted with regard to tliis subject, may 
be divided into three conjectures : — 
I. Whether they be indigenous to, or coeval with, the Continent which they inhabit ? 
II. Whether they be of Asiatic origin, first peopling the South Sea Islands, and then emigrating to the Continent of America? 
III. Whether they arrived across Behring’s Straits and the Alcoutski Islands in the nortliern part of America, and from thence 
spread over the Continent ? 
Many scoffers have attempted to establish the h^’^pothesis, that the first germs of the development of the human race in America, 
can be sought for nowhere but in that quarter of the globe ; but unless it can be proved that the laws of nature are in direct violation 
with Mosaic records, which expressly say that “ God has made of one blood all the nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,” 
we must still appeal to that Holy Book for interpretation. 
The Bible and Profane History corroborate the narrative that ancient Egypt and Hindostan were invaded by a powerful tribe, 
who introduced their peculiar customs into the conquered country, built temples and pyramids, and covered them with hieroglyphics. 
Historians here allude to the Cushites, who, after having erected a splendid empire, were dispersed by the Almighty. They are traced 
