sini, who travelled in South America, the
learned Rabbi Menassah Ten Israel, as I have said before, wrote his
famous work _La Esperanza de Israel_, which he published in Amsterdam,
in _1650_, endeavouring with great zeal to prove, that the Indians in
North and South America were the descendants of the missing tribes; and
Cromwell, to whom the work was dedicated, was greatly interested in the
evidences produced on that occasion. Montesini, travelling through the
province of _Quif_ found that his Indian guide was a Jew, and pursuing
his inquiries, discovered that immense numbers lived behind the
Cordilleras. Francis, the name of his guide, admitted to Montesini,
that his God was called _Adonal_, and that he acknowledged Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, as his ancestors, and they claimed to have descended
from the tribe of Reuben.

Acosta contends that they have a tradition relative to the deluge; that
they preserve the rite of circumcision; they offer the first-fruits, and
in Peru they eat the Paschal Lamb; they believe in the resurrection, and
clothe the dead with the richest equipage. Lopez de Gomara says, that
some of them, and not all, are circumcised. Acosta continues, "the
Mexicans point out the various stations as their ancestors advanced into
their country, and it is precisely the route which they must have held,
had they been emigrants from Asia."

Menassah Ten Israel declares, that the Indians of Mexico had a
tradition, that their magnificent place of worship had been built by a
people who wore their beards, and were more ancient than their Incas.
In the Universal History of 1748, it is affirmed, that the Mexicans and
other American Indians rend their garments, in order the more
effectually to express grief--the Hebrew custom at this day.

Lopez de Gomara states, that the Mexicans offer sacrifices of the
first-fruits, and, when Cortez approached Mexico, Montezuma shut himself
up for the space of eight days in fasting and prayer. Emanuel de Moreas
and Acosta say, that the Brazilians marry in their own tribes and
families; and Escorbatus affirms, that he frequently heard the southern
tribes repeat the sacred notes _Ha-le-lu-yah_. Malvenda states, that
several tomb-stones were found in St Michael's, with ancient Hebrew
characters.

When the Spaniards invaded Mexico, the Cholula was considered a holy
city by the natives, with magnificent temples, in which the High Priest
Quetza-colt preached to man, and would pe