HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA.-Extent of the American aboriginal race-Speculations as to their origin—Identity of origin among all mankind-First peopling of America-Proximity of the old to the new continent-Comparative antiquity of the eastern and western races-Date of the original peopling of America-Native origin of American civilization-Want of connection in the aboriginal histories of North and South America-Antiquity of the Mexican annals— Primitive American legislators—Asiatic origin of the American race— Ancient American tribes-The Toltecs-Their migration from the northwest-The Chechemecas-The Aztecs-Legend of Quetzalcoatl— Foundation of Mexico-Cosmogony and religion of the Mexicans— Toltec tribes in the United States-Traditions of these people.
THE American aboriginal race, although the smallest in point of numbers among the primary divisions of the human species, occupies the largest space of territory on the surface of the globe. It extends across the northern and southern hemispheres, from sixty-eight degrees of northern, to fifty-five degrees of southern latitude. It is the only race which has fixed its dwelling-place on the burning plains bounded by the ocean, as well as on the ridges of the mountains, where it roams over heights twelve hundred feet loftier than the peak of Teneriffe.
The origin of the American Indians has been a theme that has exercised the ingenuity of many profound and learned writers, and has given birth to a multitude of interesting researches, as well as fruitless speculations. So long