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136 as children of one family. With regard to the South American nations Prichard has not quoted any traveller, who has given any decided data whereby to judge of their relative affinities, but all concur in ascribing to them such strongly marked distinctive characteristics as to warrant our considering them proofs of distinct migrations from those parts of the Old World where we find affinities for them. The inhabitants of California show themselves allied to the Papuan nations, whence chance colonies of their progenitors had most probably found their way, as in South America other colonies had from the Polynesians. In my former paper I referred to respectable writers, Vater in Germany, Barton in the United States and Dr. Lang in England, who thought they had traced in their several languages the proofs of a common origin. To these I now will only add the authority of Ellis in his Polynesian researches, who considers the Araucanians to be of the same race as the New Zealanders. He says, numerous words in their languages are similar, as also their dress and many of their other characteristics. Vol. ii. p. 46. If these conjectures are correct, the positive proof cannot be far off from being proved, as we have sufficient knowledge of their languages to be able to compare them. At present I take the affinity for granted with respect to the western coasts of America, only stopping to meet the enquiry whether in such cases the tide of migration might be supposed to have set in from the East or the West, that is whether from America to the islands or from the islands to America. Those who would advocate the former supposition, might rely on the course of the winds and currents, as setting in from the East, but these though almost uniformly regular are frequently varied by storms in a contrary direction, by which if any canoes happened to be surprised, they would be inevitably driven to the Continent and once taken there find it difficult to return. That such occurrences have taken place in the history of every seagoing people may be easily remembered by every one. There is scarcely any voyager to be mentioned, however eminent his discoveries, who in the course of his voyagings has not come across the traces of some wanderer, who had preceded him and whose history is only heard of by the slightest incident. Columbus found the poop of a stranded vessel at Dominica, and the renowned Argonaut

Who first of man's aspiring line Launched the oared bark upon the deep

found the shipwrecked sons of Phrixus on the island of Ares preceding him in his course.