After long and frequent consideration of these things, it appears most probable to my mind, that the savages of Paraguay derived the knowledge and worship of the Pleiades from the ancient Peruvians; who, although they venerated God the creator and preserver of all things, (under the name of Pachacàmac,) are nevertheless said to have adored the sea, rocks, trees, and, what is of most importance to the present subject, the Pleiades, whom they called Colcà. The Inca Manco Capac, their ruler and chief lawgiver, afterwards substituted new superstitions for old ones. He decreed, that divine honours should be paid to the sun. To it alone divine veneration and sacrifices were paid, though the moon also, which they call the consort of the sun, and certain stars, which they call the handmaids of the moon, were honoured with silver altars and adoration to a certain extent, but inferior to that paid a divinity. Amongst the stars they thought the Pleiades worthy of a distinguished place, and chief honour, either from the wonderful manner in which they are placed, or from their singular brightness. After the Spaniards obtained dominion over Peru by force of arms, it is credible that the Peruvians, to avoid this dreadful slavery, stole away wherever they could, and that many of them migrated into the neighbouring Tucuman, and thence, for the sake of security, into the deserts of Chaco, close by; where, amongst other superstitions they may have taught the inhabitants a religious observance of the Pleiades. But since the Abipones, you will object, cannot even express the name of God in their native tongue, and respectfully address the evil spirit by the title of their grandfather, why did they not learn from the Peruvians the name and worship of God, with a hatred and contempt for the evil spirit? The latter certainly entertained such a reverence for the God Pachacàmac, that they thought it a part of their religion not to utter his name except on very important occasions, and whenever they did, to accompany the mention of it with great marks of reverence. On the other hand, they held the devil, whom they called Cupay, in much contempt. Why did not the Peruvians impart that reverence for God, and contempt for the evil spirit to the Abipones, at the same time that they instructed them in a religious observance of the Pleiades? Because vice is more easily learnt than virtue, as healthy persons are sooner infected by the sick, than sick ones cured by the healthy. Yet, if you persist in denying that the knowledge of the Pleiades was brought from Peru, I will oppose you no longer; but what hinders us from believing that it crept into Paraguay from the neighbouring Brazil, where the Tapuyas, formerly a fierce and numerous nation, greatly venerated the rise of the Pleiades, and worshipped those stars as divinities with singing and dancing. As no memorials are at hand from which any thing determinate can be elicited