Brazil, declares that America has
been peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites, and as to the
Israelites he says, nothing is wanting but circumcision, to constitute a
perfect resemblance between them and the Brazilians.

The Reverend Mr Beatty, a very worthy missionary, says, "I have often
before hinted, that I have taken great pains to search into the usages
and customs of the Indians, in order to see what ground there was far
supposing them to be part of the ten tribes, and I must own, to my no
small surprise, that a number of their customs appear so much to
resemble those of the Jews, that it is a great question with me, whether
we can expect to find among the ten tribes, wherever they are at this
day, all things considered more of the footsteps of their ancestors than
among the different Indian tribes."

Monsieur de Guignes, an old French historian, in speaking of the
discoveries made in America, before the time of Columbus, says, "These
researches, which of themselves give us great insight into the origin of
the Americans, lead to the determination of the route of the colonies
sent to the continent;" and he proceeds to give reasons for his belief,
that the greater part of them passed thither "by the most eastern
extremities of Asia, where the two continents are only separated by a
narrow strait, easy to cross."

Beltrami, in his discovery of the sources of the Mississippi, after a
full and interesting account of the Indians, says, "Different authors
have brought them hither from all parts of the world. I was at first
induced to join with those who derived them from the Hebrews. It seemed
impossible for me to doubt that, by so doing, I should be building on an
impregnable foundation." He then proceeds to prove their Asiatic origin
by many interesting facts.

The late Earl of Crawford and Lindsay, published his travels in America,
in 1801. "It is curious and pleasing," says he, "in reading the travels
of those who have been among these people, to find how their customs
comport with the laws of Moses;" and after describing at length their
religious rites and ceremonies, his lordship emphatically observes, "It
is a sound truth, that the Indians _are_ descended from the ten tribes;
and time and investigation will more and more enforce its
acknowledgment."

It is, however, in Mexico and Peru, that we must look for the most
enlightened and the most wealthy of the Indian race. On the
representations of Monte