Entered according to Act of Congress in the Year 1882, by HUBERT H. BANCROFT. In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. All Rights Reserved. FAME PREFACE TO VOLUME V. This volume concludes the NATIVE RACES OF THE PACIFIC STATES. During the year in which it has been going through the press, I have received letters. of encouragement from the most eminent scholars of Europe and America, and flattering commendations. from learned societies. None but an author can know the value of such cheering words. This, my first attempt, was made in a new field; the scope of the work was very extensive; the system and machinery by which alone it could be accomplished were untried; and the subject was not one of great popular interest. It was not, therefore, without misgivings that I sent it forth. 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 justsave 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. 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 Phoeni- cians-Votan's Travels-The Carthaginians-The Hebrew Theory -The Mormon Story-The Visits of the Scandinavians-Celtic INTRODUCTORY TO ABORIGINAL HISTORY. Origin and Earliest History of the Americans Unrecorded-The Dark Sea of Antiquity-Boundary between Myth and History-Primu- tive 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 Monu- ments of Antiquity—Use of Authorities and Method of treating THE PRE-TOLTEC PERIOD OF ABORIGINAL HISTORY. Subdivision of the Subject-Tzendal Tradition of the Votanic Empire -Votan's Book and its Contents as reported by Nuñez de la Vega, Cabrera, and Ordoñez-Testimony of Manners and Cus- toms, Religion, Languages, and Monuments of the Civilized Nations respecting the Primitive Maya Peoples-The Quiché Record, or Popol Vuh-Civilizing Efforts of Gucumatz and his Followers-Exploits of Hunahpu and Xbalanque-Conquest of |