APPENDIX. 439 



stories to salve up its own disastrous history, and the mere literary 

 capacities of the man to put his materials in order, is propounded 

 and examined in connection with the contemporary traditions and 

 languages of other tribes. These traditions had been communi- 

 cated to the Pennsylvania Historical Society, in 1816, and were 

 l^ublished under the special auspices of Mr. Duponceau, in 1819. 

 From the internal evidence of the letters themselves, the critic pro- 

 nounces them to be reproductions of Mr. Duponceau himself; and 

 it is an evidence of the aptness of this deduction to be told that 

 Mr. Gallatin admitted {vide my Personal Memoirs^ p. 623), that the 

 letters of Mr. Heckewelder had all been rewritten previous to 

 publication. It could no longer be a subject of admiration to 

 philologists, that from such imperfect sources of information, that 

 distinguished scholar should have pronounced the opinion that 

 the Delaware language rather exceeds tlian flills short of the Greek 

 and Latin in the affluence of syntactical forms and capacities of 

 expression. Trans. Hist, and Lit. Com., Am. Pliilo. /Soc, vol. i. p. 415. 



XXII. 



A Letter on the Origin of the Indian Race of America, and the Prin- 

 ciples-of their Mode of uttering Ideas; addressed to John Johnston, 

 Esq., late of St. Marfs Falls, Michigan. By Dr. J. McDonnell, 

 of Belfast, Ireland. 



Belfast, April 16, 1817. 

 My Dear J.: I feel always as if I am guilty of some great crime, 

 in not writing to you. 



An account came to Sir Joseph Banks, of very curious rocks, 

 with odd stripes and colors, having been seen, this last war, by 

 sailors on the lakes, I think on Lake Superior.* Pray keep up 

 your thoughts to the geography of rocks. I got some lately from 

 Bombay, exactly ditto with our Causeway .f 



I shall ever regret the not having seen your daughter. I think 

 it likely that mingling the European blood and character with 

 the Indian might bring out some superior traits of character. 

 Lest my letter should altogether fail of presenting any useful 

 point, I must jDut some questions to you that would be worth 

 something if answered. 



,* Most probably this idea arose from the very marked precipices of the coast 

 denominated Pictured Rocks. H. R. S. 



f The Giant's Causeway, on the Coast of Antrim. 



