CHAPTER 20.. Indian Population of the Country Lying Between the Great Lakes of

Indian population of the country lying between the great lakes of Nicaragua and the Pacific.--Discovery and conquest of Nicaragua by the Spaniards.--Cruelties of the Spaniards.--The Indians of Western Central America all belonged to one stock.--Decadence of Mexican civilisation before the arrival of the Spaniards.--The designation "Nahuatls" proposed to include all the Mexican, Western Central American, and Peruvian races that had descended from the same ancient stock.--The Nahuatls distinct from the Caribs on one side and the Red Indians on the other.--Discussion of the question of the peopling of America.