t disputandum_, and so forth.

It is a queer country, this Amherstburgh country: French Canadians as
primitive as Pere Adam and Mere Eve; Indians of the old stock and of
the new stock, that is to say, very few of the former, but a good many
of the latter; owning both to French and to British half parentage;
negroes in abundance; runaway slaves and their descendants, a mixture
of all three; and plenty of loafers from the United States. In fact,
it would seem as though Shem, Ham, and Japhet, had all representatives
here, for Europeans and Americans of every possible caste are
exhibited along this frontier, only I did not either see or hear of an
Israelite; but some antiquarians contend that the Indians are a
portion of the lost tribes. Their Asiatic origin is more decided. The
feather of an eagle stuck in the warrior's hair is nothing more than
the peacock's plume in a Tartar's bonnet. Then there is the
patriarchal mode of government in the nations. Polybius says that the
Carthaginians (Africans, by the way) scalped their enemies. The
Kalmucks pluck out their beards, so do the Indians. The
Pottawotamies, and most of the more savage tribes, like the Asiatics,
look upon women as inferior in the scale of creation. White is a
sacred colour, as in many parts of Asia. An Indian never eats with his
guest, but serves him. Their nomadic life, their choice of war-chiefs,
the difficulty of pronouncing labials, the use of the battleaxe or
tomahawk, which is absolutely Tartarian, the worship of the Good and
the Evil Spirit, form other points of resemblance. West says, that the
emblems of the Indian nations are similar to those of the Israelitish
tribes, and the Tartars fight under _totems_ of the wolf, the snake,
the bear, &c., in the same way. The belief in a future state and in
transmigration is similar, and the use of charms or amulets common to
both Asiatics and Indians of America. The cross-legged sitting
posture, and the Tartarian contour of the face and head, are very
remarkable. I once saw an Indian chief, whose countenance was
perfectly and purely Asiatic, and that of the Ganges rather than
Mongolian. The shaven crown and single lock of hair are Asiatic and
Chinese; and tattooing is common to both sides of the Pacific. A
thousand other instances may be cited; but the strongest proof of all
is the discovery of vast ruins in Mexico, which, as it is well known,
contain indubitable proofs of a common origin of the people who buil