ding to the
sense. But since that always occasions difficulty, those who know our
characters are studying how to write their own language in these. All
of them have now adopted our way of writing, with the lines from
left to right; for formerly they only wrote vertically down and up,
placing the first line to the left and running the others continuously
to the right, just opposite to the Chinese and Japanese, who although
they write in vertical up and down lines, continue the page from the
right to the left. All that points to a great antiquity; for running
the line from the right to the left is in accordance with the present
and general style of the Hebrews; and the style of running the lines
vertically from the top to the bottom, is that of the oldest nation
of the Chinese--which doubtless greatly resembles the method of the
Hebrews, whose characters have much resemblance to theirs. Those of
the Moro Arabs resemble those of the Syrians. Diodorus Siculus, [11]
who wrote in the time of the emperor Caesar Augustus, in making mention
of an island which lay in our middle region, or torrid zone (whither
Iamblicus [12] the Greek went in the course of his adventures), says
that they do not write horizontally as we do, but from top to bottom
in a straight line; and that they use characters which, although
few in number, make up in their use for many, for each one has four
different transformations. Consequently, one may see that that method
of writing, and the characters of those nations, are very old. [13]

93. Before they knew anything about paper (and even yet they do in
places where they cannot get it), those people wrote on bamboos or
on palm-leaves, using as a pen the point of a knife or other bit of
iron, with which they engraved the letters on the smooth side of
the bamboo. If they write on palm-leaves they fold and then seal
the letter when written, in our manner. They all cling fondly to
their own method of writing and reading. There is scarcely a man,
and still less a woman, who does not know and practice that method,
even those who are already Christians in matters of devotion. For
from the sermons which they hear, and the histories and lives of
the saints, and the prayers and poems on divine matters, composed
by themselves (they have also some perfect poets in their manner,
who translate elegantly into their language any Spanish comedy), they
use small books and prayerbooks in their language, and manuscripts
whic