Page:Here and there in Yucatan - miscellanies (IA herethereinyucat00lepl 0).djvu/118



HE nations that peopled the American continent prior to the coming of the Spanish conquerors are all spoken of as Indians. The word Indian immediately calls up a vision—at least in the mind's eye of many people—of a dark-skinned savage; not overburdened with clothing, but elaborately tatooedtattooed [sic] and smeared with paint, a towering ornament of gaudy feathers on his head, a tomahawk in his hand.

It seldom occurs to those who have not seriously considered the matter that there is no reason why this large continent should not have been inhabited by as great a variety of people as the lands on the other side of the globe, since it was equally suitable for the human race.

Nevertheless, all scientific discoveries made up to the present time tend to prove that such was in fact the case. The "noble savage" had his place, and there was abundant space left for the sage. They dwelt in different latitudes; those of greater civil-