ellers say about these things?

_Hunter._ Some think, that as the frozen regions of Asia, in one part,
are so near the frozen regions of North America--it being only about
forty miles across Behring's Straits--some persons from Asia might
have crossed over there, and peopled the country; or that North
America might have once been joined to Asia, though it is not so now;
or that, in ancient times, some persons might have drifted, or been
blown there by accident, in boats or ships, across the wide ocean.
Some think these people might have been Phenicians, Carthagenians,
Hebrews, or Egyptians; while another class of reasoners suppose them
to have been Hindoos, Chinese, Tartars, Malays, or others. It seems,
however, to be God's will often to humble the pride of his creatures,
by baffling their conjectures, and hedging up their opinions with
difficulties. His way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters,
and his footsteps are not known. He "maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the
inhabitants thereof."

_Austin._ Well, if you cannot tell us of the Indians in former times,
you can tell us of the Indians that there are, for that will be a
great deal better.

_Brian._ Yes, that it will.

_Hunter._ You must bear in mind, that some years have passed since I
was hunting and trapping in the woods and prairies, and that many
changes have taken place since then among the Indians. Some have been
tomahawked by the hands of the stronger tribes; some have given up
their lands to the whites, and retired to the west of the Mississippi;
and thousands have been carried off by disease, which has made sad
havoc among them. I must, therefore, speak of them as they were. Some
of the tribes, since I left them, have been utterly destroyed; not one
living creature among them being left to speak of those who have gone
before them.

_Austin._ What a pity! They want some good doctors among them, and
then diseases would not carry them off in that way.

_Hunter._ I will not pretend to give you an exact account of the
number of the different tribes, or the particular places they now
occupy; for though my information may be generally right, yet the
changes which have taken place are many.

_Austin._ Please to tell us what you remember, and what you know; and
that will quite satisfy us.

_Hunter._ A traveller[1] among the Indian tribes has published a book
called "Letters and Notes