That the work had been so planned as to embody practically all information extant on what I had come to regard as an important subject, and that the plan had been faithfully executed, I thoroughly believed. But that others would, to any great extent, share my opinion; that the subject would interest so many classes of readers; that mine would be so quickly and cordially recognized by men of science and letters throughout the world as a work worth doing and well done; and that it would be at once accorded a place in literature, I had not dared to hope. The leading journals of England, France, Germany, and the United States, have deemed the volumes as issued worthy of extended reviews; and criticism for the most part has been liberal, and just--save a tendency to what might seem, to a mind less prejudiced than mine, extravagant praise. Minor defects have been fairly pointed out; and in the few instances where fault has been found, either with the plan or its execution, one critic condemns what another approves, so that I am led to believe no serious error of judgment has been committed. I cannot here make proper acknowledgments to all to whom they are due; but let those who have manifested their kind good-will, and those who have not, so long as they feel it, accept my grateful thanks. San Francisco, November, 1875. CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME. CHAPTER I. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS. PAGE. Spirit of Inquiry in the Middle Ages -- Unity of Origin -- Flood Myths -- Aboriginal Traditions of Origin -- Culture Heroes -- China -- Japan -- Hindustan -- Tartary -- The Egyptian Theory -- The Phœnicians -- Votan's Travels -- The Carthaginians -- The Hebrew Theory -- The Mormon Story -- The Visits of the Scandinavians -- Celtic Origin -- The Welsh -- Scotch -- Irish -- The Greeks and Romans -- The Story of Atlantis -- The Autochthonic Theory 1 CHAPTER II. INTRODUCTORY TO ABORIGINAL HISTORY. Origin and Earliest History of the Americans Unrecorded -- The Dark Sea of Antiquity -- Boundary between Myth and History -- Primitive Annals of America compared with those of the Old World -- Authorities and Historical Material -- Traditional Annals and their Value -- Hieroglyphic Records of the Mayas and Nahuas -- Spanish Writers -- The Conquerors -- The Missionaries -- The Historians -- Converted Native Chroniclers -- Secondary Authorities -- Ethnology -- Arts, Institutions, and Beliefs -- Languages -- Material Monuments of Antiquity -- Use of Authorities and Method of treating the Subject 133 CHAPTER III. THE PRE-TOLTEC PERIOD OF ABORIGINAL HISTORY.