THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 41* 



4M- 



CHAP. III. 



Origin of Characters or Letters — Ethioplc thejirjl Language — How and 

 why the Hebrezv Letter was formed, 



TH E reader will obferve what I have already faid con- 

 cerning the language of Habefh, or the Mingled Na- 

 tions, that they have not characters of their own ; but when 

 written, which is very feldom, it mufl be by ufing the 

 Geez alphabet. Kircher, however, fays, there are two cha- 

 racters to be found in Abyffinia ; one he calls the Sacred 

 Old Syrian, the other the Vulgar, or Common Geez charac- 

 ter, of which we are now fpeaking. But this is certainly a 

 miftake ; "there never was, that I know, but two original 

 characters which obtained in Egypt. The firft was the 

 Geez, the fecond the Saitic, and both thefc were the oldefl 

 characters in the world, and both derived from hierogly- 

 phics. 



Although it is impoflible to avoid faying fomething 

 here of the origin of languages, the reader mull not -expect 

 that I fhould go very deep into the falhionable opinions 

 concerning them, or believe that all the old deities of the 



3 F 2 Pagan 



