XXvi INTRODUCTION. 
cular, are of deep and intense interest. But, 
while I regret that the researches detailed in 
the succeeding pages do not afford decisive an¬ 
swers to these inquiries, I have the satisfaction of 
believing that they have some bearing upon the 
question of the present existence of the ancient 
colonies. As such, I am anxious that they may 
be the means of calling the public attention more 
strongly to the fate of this interesting people, 
with the hope that those in office, who have the 
power of ordering the needful investigations, may 
be induced to pursue the requisite steps for ob¬ 
taining information concerning them. And this 
I would urge, not simply as an object of curiosity, 
but with a view of restoring them to the privi¬ 
leges and advantages of that Christian intercourse 
and fellowship, of which they have been so long 
deprived. 
That these colonists were exterminated at the 
time of their separation from the rest of the 
world, may be shewn to be extremely improbable, 
from a variety of considerations. 
In respect to their destruction by the “ black 
