[Footnote g: With the progress of discovery some resemblance has been
found to exist between the physical conformation, the language, and
the habits of the Indians of North America, and those of the Tongous,
Mantchous, Mongols, Tartars, and other wandering tribes of Asia. The
land occupied by these tribes is not very distant from Behring's Strait,
which allows of the supposition, that at a remote period they gave
inhabitants to the desert continent of America. But this is a point
which has not yet been clearly elucidated by science. See Malte Brun,
vol. v.; the works of Humboldt; Fischer, "Conjecture sur l'Origine des
Americains"; Adair, "History of the American Indians."]

[Footnote h: See Appendix, C.]

The social state of these tribes differed also in many respects from all
that was seen in the Old World. They seemed to have multiplied freely
in the midst of their deserts without coming in contact with other races
more civilized than their own. Accordingly, they exhibited none of those
indistinct, incoherent notions of right and wrong, none of that deep
corruption of manners, which is usually joined with ignorance and
rudeness among nations which, after advancing to civilization, have
relapsed into a state of barbarism. The Indian was indebted to no one
but himself; his virtues, his vices, and his prejudices were his own
work; he had grown up in the wild independence of his nature.

If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and
uncivil, it is not merely because they are poor and ignorant, but that,
being so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlightened men.
The sight of their own hard lot and of their weakness, which is
daily contrasted with the happiness and power of some of their
fellow-creatures, excites in their hearts at the same time the