a treacherous and relentless foe. If we examine the many instances in the early history of the country (for it is from that only that we can judge) in which the two races were opposed, we shall not find a single one which did not originate in European aggression ;-a fact which may excite our shame, but which evidence places beyond denial. To enter into an enumeration of cases would be an endless task, and one which, however interesting to an admirer of Indian character, would doubtless be tiresome to the general reader; and I content myself, therefore, with an assertion of the fact, which a careful examination of American history will well sustain.

In any sketch of a peculiar people, it is well to endeavour, in the first instance, to obtain some idea of their origin: though this, in the present case, will be a matter of some little difficulty, as the point is one which has occasioned much dispute. The honour, if honour it be, of having first supplied inhabitants to the New World, has been severally assigned to five different nations:-the Greeks, Tartars, Scandinavians, Sandwich Islanders, and Jews; and a variety of evidence has been produced in support of the claims of each, to enumerate which would require more space than the limits of this paper will allow, and I shall not therefore venture on the attempt; but I may be permitted to state, as my own conviction, that the Indians are, as has been supposed by many, the last remains of the ten lost tribes of Israel. In personal appearance, though time and climate have doubtless done much, they still retain the Jewish cast of countenance; but this is the weakest ground which we have for the opinion I have stated; nor could we expect a perfect retention of all the characteristics of the people when we consider the circumstances which we find recorded in history, and which gives us the only clue which we possess to their actual fate. We are told in 2 Esdras xiii., that after they had passed beyond the river Euphrates, the ten tribes took counsel together that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and go into a far country, never yet inhabited by men; that they entered in at the narrow passages of the Euphrates, when the springs of the flood were stayed, and "went through the country a great journey, even a year and a half." Now the rate at which so vast a company could travel, would not exceed twelve miles a day; and this continued for six thousand miles-the distance from Assyria to Behring's Straits-would just occupy the year and a half mentioned by Esdras. During this journey, however, they would probably intermingle, in some degree, with the nations through which they

passed, and this would tend much to diminish the distinctness of their personal national characteristics.

As, however, the peculiar mark of the Jewish nation was their religion, we should naturally look for some traces of this in any who assumed to be their descendants; nor shall we look in vain among the North American Indian tribes. They all worship one supreme Spirit, whom they call by various names; having, however, like the Jews, one appellation, which they use only in the most sacred rites, and this is "Je-ho-wah," evidently identical with the Jehovah of the Israelites. They use also in their sacred dances, the words "Meshehah," and "Shilu," together with many other phrases, of evidently Hebrew origin. They have their ark, which they allow no one to open, and which they carry to battle, placing all faith in its power; and we are told by Adair, that three persons having had the profanity to look into the ark, were punished with blindness,—the penalty which was threatened among the Jews for daring to look into the Holy of Holies. They have a great day of atonement, abstain from the use of blood, of swine's flesh, of fish without scales, and other creatures deemed impure by the Mosaical law; and compel the brother to marry his brother's widow, if he should die childless: in all these cases, strictly adhering to the practices of the Jews.

Such general evidence as this, coupled with the fact, that it affords a solution of what has hitherto been a problem of no small difficulty-the actual fate of the ten tribes, would be almost sufficient; but we have one or two facts of a more minute nature, which bear strongly upon the subject. If, in addition to a general resemblance, such as I have just mentioned, we found among any people one peculiar ceremony, preserved in some of its most minute points, which originated among, and was practised by another, we should, I presume, be justified in concluding that they were in some manner connected; and such is actually the case here.

Some years ago, when the Seneca Indians inhabited the spot now occupied by the town of Rochester, in the state of New York, the leading members of the nation met to celebrate a religious ordinance, not peculiar to themselves, but performed occasionally by many of the tribes. Two dogs, as nearly white as possible, were carefully selected from among those belonging to the tribe, and killed at the door of the council-house by strangulation, as the slightest effusion of blood would destroy the efficacy of the victim. The dogs were then painted fantastically of various colours, and

suspended at the height of twenty feet, in the middle of the village, and the ceremony then commenced; the five, seven, or nine days of its continuance, being marked by feasting and dancing. Two selected bands, one of men, and the other of women, ornamented with trinkets and feathers, and each person furnished with an ear of corn in the right hand, danced around a fire, regulating their steps by rude music; several men clothed themselves in skins, and scattered the embers from the fire around, for the purpose of driving away evil spirits; and the whole concluded with the conveyance, by the chief medicine-man, or priest, of the sins of the tribe into the persons of these two dogs. If any one will take the trouble to compare this with the account given in Leviticus xiv. 7—22 of the ceremony of the scape goat, he cannot but perceive how striking the resemblance is, and how well the North American Indians have preserved the peculiar religious practices of their

ancestors.

It could hardly be expected that the Jews should have brought over with them any documents, after so long a captivity as that to which they were subjected; and it would be still less likely that they should have preserved them to the present day, having lost, most probably, in the corruptions to which their language were naturally subject, the power of reading the Hebrew in its pure state: and it would therefore hardly be considered as an insuperable objection to my theory, that we now find among the Indians no relics of Jewish literature; but even here we are not entirely destitute. A gentleman of Pittsfield, in Vermont, found one day in his grounds, what appeared to be a thick leather strap, which he threw aside as worthless rubbish. His curiosity, however, led him, some time afterwards, to examine it; and he discovered that this strap consisted of two pieces of hide, firmly sewn together with the sinews of some animal, being also gummed over to render it water-tight; inside were four folded pieces of parchment, of a dark yellow hue, and containing some kind of writing. The neighbours, coming in to see the strange discovery, tore one of the pieces to atoms, in their eager desire to gratify their curiosity; but the other three were sent to the university of Cambridge (Massachusetts), where they were examined, and found to contain Hebrew inscriptions, the three being severally quotations from Deut. vi. 4-9, Exod. xiii. 11–16, and Deut. xi 13-21; these being the very passages which, as Calmet informs us, the Jews were accustomed to write on their phylacteries.

Dr. Smith, in his View of the Hebrews, a clever and valuable work, tells us that an old Indian chief stated to a clergyman with whom he was conversing, that his forefathers had, not long since, possessed a book which they constantly carried with them, but having lost the knowledge of reading it, they buried it with an old chief of their tribe.

These circumstances, taken in connexion with the facts I have already stated, can hardly fail to convince a candid and impartial reader, that the American Indians are the last remaining descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel; the evidence, on the point, appearing to be as strong as can well be imagined or described. The only really important objection, indeed, which has been urged to this supposition, is, that we find among them no traces whatever of the Sabbath,-an institution so peculiarly Jewish, that we can scarcely imagine it to have been lost; but when we remember that the very reason for which the Israelites suffered such grievous captivity was the non-observance of all the precepts of the law, (2 Kings xvii. 2-6,) and this, when they were surrounded by all the external semblances of their religion; can we wonder that such should have been, to a still greater degree, the case in a far distant country, and after having endured a captivity of a hundred years? The life of a savage, continually abroad on hunting and predatory excursions, and rarely at home for any continuous time, is peculiarly unfavourable for the retention of any institution such as that of the weekly Sabbath; so that, even had the Jews preserved it until their arrival in the continent, we may readily imagine how soon it would fall into disuse.

The Indian's notion of a future state is peculiar, poetical, and highly characteristic of the customs and habits of the people. They believe that the soul (of the immortality of which they seem to have no doubt) will, after death, repair to a vast hunting-ground, in the regions of the blest, and there spend the countless hours of eternity in the pleasures of the chase. Acting upon this belief, their custom is to bury with their important chiefs, a supply of hunting implements, that they may be prepared for a full enjoyment of these celestial delights; and, indeed, the favourite horse is not unfrequently killed for a similar purpose. Many among the more civilized and christian nations of the world, might draw a profitable lesson from this custom of the poor Indian, who thus prepares himself, so far as he is able, to fulfil what he believes to be the purpose of his Creator.

Nothing can be more erroneous, than the notion that the Indians depend entirely for subsistence upon the chase, or that they have derived the knowledge of agriculture which they possess from the Europeans who have settled among them. When General Wayne destroyed the settlements of the Miamies and Wyandots on the Miami river, in 1794, he says, in his despatch, "Never have I beheld, in any part of America, such immense fields of corn as possessed by these Indians ;" and though it is true that the tillage is now on a very small scale, and generally committed to the squaws, still the tribes depend partly on this for their subsistence.

Before any hunting excursion takes place, a council is held, in which the subject is submitted to the tribe, and their decision taken as to the place which shall be selected for the purpose. The principal chief first proposes a certain spot, as the best adapted, having been careful previously to ascertain the general wishes of the tribe, and this usually meets with a ready assent; but if any other locality should be proposed, the matter is discussed, and the opinion of the majority decides the question. These savages, indeed, set an example to their more civilized brethren, which might be imitated, on many occasions, with singular advantage. Each speaker carefully abstains from any uncourteous expressions towards his opponents; and the audience, believing that every one has a just right to his own opinions, however absurd they may appear, and however opposite to their own, give no evidence of disapprobation, but listen with patient and courteous silence to the arguments which he may have to adduce.

The skill of the Indians in the chase has been so often spoken of, and so highly praised, that nothing on this point can boast of novelty. Their power of using the bow is extraordinary, an arrow often passing entirely through the body of a buffalo, and falling on the other side, and in some instances, wounding another animal; a feat which, to one accustomed to the present style of European archery, is rather difficult of belief; but one which a short residence among this singular people will give many opportunities of witnessing and admiring. So much, however, has been said, and so ably, on this point, by Mr. Catlin, in his late valuable work on the North American Indians, and the public have become so well acquainted with the hunting customs of this singular people, through the medium of his interesting gallery, that I should be here trenching on already well occupied ground, were I to say more; but, to those who desire more copious information on