According to the only work which I have examined at first-hand, the Nachrichten von der Americanischen Halbinsel Californien (Mannheim, 1772; in the Mithridates, 1773), the anonymous author of which was a Jesuit missionary in the middle parts of the Peninsula, the languages of Old California were—

  1. The Waikur, spoken in several dialects.
  2. The Ushiti.
  3. The Layamon.
  4. The Cochimi, north, and
  5. The Pericu; at the southern extremity of the peninsula.
  6. A probably new form of speech used by some tribes visited by Linck.

This is what we learn from what we call the Mannheim account; the way in which the author expresses himself being not exactly in the form just exhibited, but to the effect that, besides the Waikur with its dialects, there were five others.

The Waikur Proper, the language which the author under notice was most especially engaged on, and which he says that he knew sufficiently for his purposes as a missionary, is the language of the middle part of the peninsula. How far the Utshiti, and Layamon were dialects of it, how far they were separate substantive languages, is not very clearly expressed. The writer had Utshis, and Utshipujes, and Atschimes in his mission, "thoroughly distinct tribes—lauter verschiedene Völcklein." Nevertheless he always speaks as if the Waikur tongue was sufficient for his purposes. On the other hand, the Utshiti is especially mentioned as a separate language. Adelung makes it a form of the Waikur; as he does the Layamon, and also the Cora and Aripe. Then there comes a population called Ika, probably the Picos or Ficos of Bagert, another authority for these parts. Are these, the sixth population of the Mannheim account, the unknown tribes visited by Linck? I think not. They are mentioned in another part of the book as known.

To the names already mentioned

add

and you have a list of the tribes with which a missionary for those parts of California where the Waikur languages prevailed, came in contact. Altogether they gave no more than some 500 individuals, so miserably scanty was the population.

The occupancies of these lay chiefly within the Cochimi area, which reached as far south as the parts about Loretto in 26° north latitude; the Loretto language being the Layamon. This at least is the inference from the very short table of the Mithridates, which, however little it may tell us in other respects, at least informs us that the San Xavier, San Borgia, and Loretto forms of speech were nearer akin to each other than to the Waikur.