Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/265

Rh and by a passage of not more than twenty-four or thirty-six hours. The north-west winds, which during a great part of the year blow in these latitudes, favour the navigation from Asia to America, between latitudes 50° and 60° north.”

The question of the early independence of Guatimala has been defended by Don Domingo Juarros with considerable zeal; and he has brought forward various arguments to prove that his country never was subjected to the Mexican sovereigns, although he acknowledges that a very considerable emigration took place from that kingdom at a very early period. Leaving this unimportant question to be decided by those who take more interest in the matter than strangers can be expected to feel, we shall try to gather from the early chronicles of Guatimala the true state of civilization at the period of the conquest. In this inquiry the researches of the worthy priest above alluded to, will be found highly valuable.

The romantic history of the noble Incas of Peru, and the sympathy which, notwithstanding the tyrannical character of the man, has been excited for the fate of the unhappy Montezuma, has thrown a more than common interest about the aborigines of the new continent, which makes us