s from the north-west coast of America swept that nation away, and
have ever since maintained possession of this country, until white men
have thinned their ranks, and gradually encroached upon, and usurped a
great part of their territory.

The only opposition made to the general declaration of travellers, that
the Indians are of Jewish descent, is, that they are red men, and are
beardless. Now, take the olive complexion of the Jews in Syria, pass
the nation over the Euphrates into a warmer climate, let them mingle
with Tartars and Chinese, and after several generations reach this
continent, their complexion would undergo some shades of hue and colour;
and as to beards, they cannot grow while they are continually plucked,
as is the Indian custom. The colour proves nothing against their
origin. Take our fellow-citizens on our eastern borders, and compare
their florid colour with the sickly hue and sallow complexions of those
living on the southern shores, in the palmettoes and everglades, and we
shall see a marked distinction, and yet they are members of the same
family.

Du Pratz, speaking of the traditions of the Natches tribe, relates that
in answer to the question, "Whence come you?" their reply was, "All that
we know is that our fathers, to come hither, followed the sun, and came
from the place where he rises. They were long in their journey; they
were nearly perishing; and were brought to this wilderness of the sun
setting without seeking it." Souard says of the Indians of Surinam, on
the authority of Nasci, a learned Jew residing there, that the dialect
of those Indians common in Guinana is soft, agreeable, and regular, and
their substantives are Hebrew. "Their language, in the roots, idioms,
and particular construction, has the genius of the Hebrew language, as
their orations have the bold, laconic, and figurative style of the
Hebrew prophets."

The Reverend Mr Chapman says of the Osages, "it is their universal
practice to salute the dawn of every morning with their devotion." A
custom always prevailing among pious Jews.

Malvenda and Acosta both affirm, that the natives had a tradition of a
jubilee, according to the jubilee of Israel.

Dr Beatty, in speaking of the festival of the first-fruits by the
Indians west of the Ohio, says, "at this ceremony _twelve_ of their old
men divide a deer into twelve parts, and these men hold up the venison
and fruits with their faces to the east, acknowledging the b