26 TRANSACTIONS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [VoL. V. 



in nature an adequate explanation of it. The woodpecker itntsif) is 

 fire-coloured ; therefore to it must be ascribed the cause of the raging 

 flames. Its congener, the tsWkdn, is fond of crying for rain: tcan I tcan ! 

 Who else then could have been instrumental in extinguishing the fire? 

 This is what is called fiction ; it widely differs from the part of the tra- 

 dition above commented on. 



But, a reader may object, if such a characteristically Jewish tradition has 

 found its way even into far-off America, must not the aborigines who 

 now relate it be assigned a similarly Jewish origin } Now, has not this 

 theory been exploded long ago ? To which I beg to answer : — 



To conclude from this single fact to a Jewish or simply Semitic origin 

 for our Indians, would be to outreach the premises. On the other hand, 

 to pretend that their ancestors have had no intercourse, direct or indirect, 

 even possibly by intermarriages, with a population of Semitic descent is, 

 I think, more than could consistently be done. I am not here to discuss 

 the origin of the D^nes, a question on which, I repeat, I have no fixed 

 convictions ; but I may be permitted to remark that several peculiarities 

 of their mode of life, their customs, their language, and even some of 

 their mythological allusions ^ would assign them a mixed origin. As the 

 question at present stands, they cannot be considered as autochthonous 

 on the American continent; several of the traditions of the Eastern Denes 

 point to a western region as the place of the tribes' birth. Now, west of 

 their present territory you are confronted by the North Pacific Coast. 

 If the aboriginal hordes crossed from Asia to America, a journey entail- 

 ing but very little difficulty, what would prevent their having been in 

 contact with populations initiated into the theogony of the Jews and the 

 principal points of their wonderful history? It is well known that the 

 world-wide dispersion of that nation does not date from the destruction 

 of Jerusalem by the Romans, Clannish as they are, the Jews have, from 

 time immemorial, been more or less cosmopolitan. Even before the 

 famous Babylonish captivity, they were to be found throughout the 

 larger part of the Asiatic continent. In 719 B.C., Salmanassar, king of 

 the Assyrians, had transported the inhabitants of Samaria into the most 

 remote village of Media. In 6^6 B.C. Assaharaddon distributed the 

 remnant of the kingdoms of Syria and Israel over Persia, Media and the 

 distant provinces of the East. Dispersed after the captivity of Babylon 

 over the whole of the then known Asia, the Israelites of the ten tribes 

 proceeded in numerous caravans to Persia, India, Thibet and even China. 

 Their first migration into the latter country appears to have taken place 

 over 2000 years ago under the dynasty of the Khars. They numbered 



^ See first part of tliird legend. 



