Whilst perusing Observations météorologiques et physiques sur St.-Domingue. Description du Rio-del-Oro, ou Rivière d'Or de Christophe Colomb. Découverte des mines d'or par cet amiral. Renseignemens sur les trésors du cacique Caonabo. Origine des peuples d'Amérique. Description de leur berceau. Ages des deux mondes. Numéro 6 / . Par un cultivateur de la Haute-Saône on Gallica, we came across an interesting allusion to "Taino" oral traditions conserved in Puerto Rico centuries after the conquest. Of course, one cannot take this claim at face value from the anonymous author, but it is interesting that he claims to have heard from people in Puerto Rico that oral traditions, passed down through song, mentioned a bearded people who visited the island before the Spanish. However, since we do not a clear date when this was written (sometime in the late 1700s or beginning of the 19th century) and it is not clear who wrote this, it is difficult to explore this. Where in Puerto Rico did he hear this? Who told him this? When exactly was he in Puerto Rico? Wouldn't someone like Abbad y Lasierra have been in a better position to report on this tradition, assuming it is true?
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