158 THE PYRAMIDS. 



recall to his fold the " dispersed of Judah," will not for* 

 get " the outcasts of Israel." 



I feel tempted still to remark, that if the exact time in 

 which the American continent became peopled is a mat- 

 ter of uncertainty, the manner is not the less so, and as 

 long as we confine our speculations to the narrow limits 

 which the generality of theorists have adopted in their 

 hypotheses, the result must be unsatisfactory. 



That a vast continent, extending from the icy pole to 

 the 56th degree of south latitude, should have been peo- 

 pled either by the chance introduction of individuals by 

 rafts or canoes, from the shores of Asia, or some of the 

 islands at present found in the intermediate ocean — or 

 even by the passage of a strait almost within the limits 

 of the frigid zone, would appear preposterous, and im- 

 probable in the highest degree ; and these ideas become 

 ludicrous when applied to the introduction of animals of 

 every description ; many of which are incapacitated, from 

 their structure, for existing in such high latitude. 



The Mosaic account of the deluge, and of the manner 

 in which it pleased God to preserve the race of men and 

 of animals, puerile and incredible as the latter may ap- 

 pear to the freethinkers and neologists of the present day, 

 is, however, not the less worthy of credit by the philoso- 

 pher, as well as the simple-minded Christian ; and other 

 testimony to its truth than that of the Bible, if such be 

 necessary, may be culled from the belief and traditions, 

 of both the pagan nations of the eastern hemisphere, and 

 the central nations of America. 



In whatever locality it suited the designs of Providence 

 to bring together the various animals for their introduc- 

 tion into the ark, it must not be overlooked, that that part 

 of the globe on which the ark rested after the deluge, was 

 one which of all others was the most calculated to facili- 

 tate the replenishing of the surface of the earth with ani- 

 mals, to whatever climate they were attached, or what- 

 ever were their habits. 



To the north of the mountains between the Black and 

 Caspian seas, a cool and elevated plateau led to the lim- 



