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 Ingram's information. Further inquiry has failed to discover a single one of these words in use in Mexico. The consonants, b, d, f, g, r, s, do not exist in the Mexican language, and even if there were a few chance resemblances, these prove nothing when philology is decisive against the Celtic origin of the Mexican tongue. The indiscreet zeal of Welsh enthusiasts must indeed cover their cause with ridicule, when we find hem claiming Caucasus, Caspian, Crimea, Danube, Berlin, Alleghany, Potomac, America, as Welsh words! Herbert was followed by Howell, who actually quoted the lines of Meredydd, which we have given above, as the epitaph on Madoc, discovered in the West Indies. For this purpose he mistranslated them. He added that Madoc had embarked at Milford Haven, and emphasised the fact that his voyage gave England a claim to America. It thus leaks out there were political reasons for putting forward the story, as about the close of the sixteenth century Englishmen were anxious to find any pretext to excuse their trade with the new countries.

Other historians have told us the exact length of Madoc's voyage; that he was, before it, the commander of his father's fleet; that he defeated the English in 1142 off the Menai Straits, and that he left Wales because of disputes as to the succession to the throne. Not one of these statements rests upon any good foundation.

The stories of travellers did, it is true, give some countenance to the tradition — if indeed they did not lead to its origin — in the first instance. For if there were Welsh customs, Welsh language, or Welsh remains to be found on the American continent, the claim of Madoc would be substantiated triumphantly. And thus when one after another the testimonies of voyagers and settlers poured in, to the effect that amongst the Indians there were tribes speaking Welsh, the belief in the tradition grew stronger and stronger. After Ingram, who does not appear to have been a wilful liar, came others who cannot be acquitted of the wish to deceive. A clergyman, the Rev. Morgan James, professed to have actually been amongst the Welsh speakers. His story is to this effect. In 1669 he was sent with two ships by the Governor of Virginia to explore the country in the neighbourhood of what is now Port Royal.