rawn from the gods who inhabited the same river valley. The
Phenicians were a maritime people; they were the first navigators who
reached the great seas. Their gods resembled those of the Assyrians
and Chaldeans, but their character resembled the seas over which they
roved; they did not originate, but they transported the products and
inventions of the ancient world.

The Hebrews had a national character which seemed to have been
narrowed down to a small compass by their isolation and by their
history, but their religion was as grand as the mountains of the
desert, and their poetry as beautiful as the scenery along the river
Jordan, which ran as a great artery through their land. It was a holy
land which gave impress to the Holy Book. The effect of scenery upon
human character is also illustrated in the case of the ancient
inhabitants of America. This land was isolated from the rest of the
world for many centuries--perhaps for thousands of years. It is
supposed that up to the time of the discovery the tribes were
permanent in their seats.

Each tribe had its own habitat, its own customs, its own mythology and
its own history. The effect of scenery must be considered, if we are
to understand the peculiarities which mark the different tribes. Some
imagine that the Indians are all alike, that they are all cruel
savages, all given to drunkenness and degradation and only waiting
their opportunity to wreak their vengeance upon helpless women and
children. Those who know them, however, are impressed with the great
variety which is manifest among them, and are especially convinced
that much of this comes from the scenery amid which they have lived.
The Eastern tribes may have had considerable sameness, yet the
Algonquins, who were the prairie Indians, and the Iroquois, who dwelt
in the forest and amid the lakes of New York, differed from one
another in almost every respect, and the Sioux and Dakotas, who were
also prairie Indians, differed from both of these. They were great
warriors and great hunters, but had a system of religion which
differed from that of any other tribe.

The Sioux were cradled amid the mountains of the East, and bear the
same stamp of their native scenery. They resemble the Iroquois in many
respects. The same is true of the Cherokees, who were allied to the
Iroquois in race and language. They were always mountain Indians; but
the Southern tribes were very different from either. They were a
people who w