s most dense
along the districts nearest to Asia; and among the Mexicans, whose
records of the past deserve credence, there is a constant tradition that
their Aztec and Toultec chiefs came from the northwest. Every where but
to the north, America is surrounded with a vast ocean unbroken by any
chain of islands that could connect it with the Old World. Most
probably no living man ever crossed this immense barrier before the time
of Columbus. It is certain that in no part of America have any authentic
traces been found of European civilization; the civilization of America,
such as it was, arose, as it flourished, in the fertile plains of
Mexico[221] and in the delightful valleys of Peru;[222] there, where the
bounty of nature supplied an abundance of the necessaries of life, the
population rapidly multiplied, and the arts became objects of
cultivation.

There is something almost mysterious in the total difference between
the languages of the Old and New World.[223] All the tongues of
civilized nations spring from a few original roots, somewhat analogous
to each other; but it would seem that, among wandering tribes, dispersed
over a vast extent of country, carrying on but little intercourse, and
having no written record or traditionary recital to preserve any fixed
standard, language undergoes a complete change in the course of ages.
The great varieties of tongues in America, and their dissimilarity to
each other, tend to confirm this supposition.

In various parts of America, remains are found which place beyond a
doubt the ancient existence of a people more numerous, powerful, and
civilized than the present race of Indians; but the indications of this
departed people are not such as to bespeak their having been of very
remote antiquity: the ruined cities of Central America, concealed by the
forest growth of centuries, and the huge mounds of earth[224] in the
Valley of the Mississippi and upon the table-lands of Mexico, their
dwellings and mausoleums, although long swept over by the storm of
savage conquest, afford no proofs of their having existed very far back
into those dark ages when the New World was unknown to Europe. The
history of these past races of men will probably forever remain a sealed
book, but there is no doubt that a great population once covered those
rich countries which the first English visitors found the wild
hunting-grounds for a few savage tribes.[225] Probably the existing race
of Red Men were t