JEWrSTI DESCENT OF THE INDIANS. 07 



whereof Esdras speakesin his fourth booke, in this manner : LTB - T - 

 ec And whereas thou sawest that he gathered an other pe-ace- 4 Es(lr- xiiif 

 able troope vnto him, thou shalt know those are the ten 

 tribes, which were carried away captives out of their own 

 land in the time of king Ozeas, whom Salmanazar, king of 

 the Assyrians tooke captives, and ledde them beyond the 

 river, so were they brought into an other land ; but they 

 tooke this counsell to themselves to leave the multitude of 

 the heathen, and go forth into a farther countrie, where 

 never mankind dwelt, that they might there observe their 

 statutes, which they could not keepo in their owne land ; 

 and they entred by the narrowe passages of the river 

 Euphrates, for then God shewed his wonders, and stayed 

 the springs of the flood untill they were passed over; for 

 the way vnto that countrie is very long, yea, of a yeere and 

 a halfe, and this Eegion is called Arsareth ; T then dw.elt they 

 there vntill the latter time, and when they come forth 

 againe the most Mightie shall hold still the springs of the 

 river againe, that they may goe through ; for this cause 

 sawest thou this multitude peaceable/ 2 Some will apply 

 this text of Esdras to the Indies, saying, they were guided 

 by God, whereas never mankinde dwelt, and that the land 

 where they dwelt is so farre off, as it requires a yeere and a 

 halfe to performe the voyage, beeiiig by nature very ,jeace- 

 able. And that there are great signes and arguments 

 amongst the common sort of the Indians, to breed a beleefe 

 that they are descended from the lews ; for, commonly you 

 shall see them fearefull, submisse, ceremonious, and subtill 

 in tying. And, moreover, they say their habites are like 

 vnto those the lewes vsed ; for they weare a short coat or 

 waste-coat, and a cloake imbroidered all about; they goe 

 bare-footed, or with soles tied with latchets over the foot, 

 which they call ojatas. 3 And they say, that it appears by 



1 Ararat, or Armenia. a Esdras^ xiii, 89 to 47. 



3 Usii.ta. The Quichua word for sandals. 



F2 



