THE HUMAN SPECIES. 411 



in the then unclaimed marshes of the Delta, or had 

 resided some time on the coast of Palestine or Syria, 

 which was on many occasions considered as a portion 

 of Egypt. But on the banks of the Nile no civil war, 

 historically known, brought vanquished fugitives to the 

 north; they fled to Abyssinia, or westward towards 

 Cyrene. No true Egyptian was ever known to travel 

 northward, though Greek students and philosophers con- 

 stantly went in search of knowledge to the regions of 

 the Nile, or eastward even to the Indus. The slight 

 resemblance of the Greek Theban rites with those of 

 Egyptian Thebes, was more likely a consequence of 

 Hellenic importation ; and the Cadmean Python wor- 

 ship was derived from the same source as the Colchian 

 and the Celtic, that is, came direct from the east. 

 The alphabet was totally distinct, and the language of 

 Cadmus, if not Semitic, was allied to Sanscrit. 



The Pelasgi, more properly so called, had resided on 

 the coast of Asia Minor. If we take a Celto Scythic 

 dialect to have been in use among them, the tribal 

 names of Cranai in Hellas, as well as that of Cieropidae, 

 might have reference to their migratory life in boats, 

 while the general appellation may have indicated the 

 character they assumed of heroes or champions, it 

 being alike traceable in the Pelhevi, Pel wan, and the 

 Celtic Pulvan, although, if the denomination had a 

 more Gothic root, the Pelasgi would merely denote 

 skin clad Asi, nearly the same signification as that of 

 Seeapush Kaufir, and peltry wearing heroes a term 

 in later ages applied to the Goths themselves. The 



