58 
case if they had descended from the Jews), it would 
certainly have been perpetuated on the island by the 
influence of a principle common to all men, namely, 
a love of ease, and a wish to avoid labour. Neither 
have they any kind of vehicle going on wheels. These 
circumstances will, it is presumed, carry their origin 
back to a much earlier date than the Jewish history, 
or that of any of the civilized nations of antiquity, 
will admit of:—and had either of them been known 
to the original inhabitants, their essential value would 
have insured their transmission to succeeding gene¬ 
rations. The knowledge of letters, too, was unknown 
till within the last three hundred and fifty years, when 
it was introduced into some of the provinces by 
the Arabs, who conquered the island. And, to con¬ 
clude this negative evidence, the language which is 
spoken universally throughout the island (with only a 
provincial difference), bears no analogy to the Hebrew, 
but is a “ mixture of Arabic and Greek, being agree¬ 
able to the latter in the manner of speaking, in the 
order and conjunction of nouns and verbs active, and 
in being extremely copious.” 
Another opinion that has been advanced, is, that 
they owe their origin to one of the immediate descen¬ 
dants of Ham, the son of Noah; or, probably, to 
some part of Abraham’s family, which was numerous. 
This supposition appears to be much better supported 
than the former, being, in many respects, favoured by 
the habits and manners of the Madegasses. Their 
religion is evidently the most ancient in the world, 
