Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/222

 2io On the defcent of the American Indians from the Jews.

next to the folar orb, they dejfied and worfhipped thunder, believing it proceeded from a man in heaven, who had power over the rain, hail, and thunder, and every thing in the aerial regions ; and that they offered up facri- fices to it, but none to the univerfal Creator. To prefer the effect to the ac knowledged prime cauie, is contrary to the common reafon of mankind, who adore that object which they efteem either the mod beneficent, or the moft powerful.

Monfieur Le Page Du Pratz tells us, he lived feven years among the Nachee Indians, about one hundred leagues up the Mifiifippi from New- Orleans ; and in order to emulate the Spanifh romances of the Indians, in his performance, he affirms their women are double-breafted, which he par ticularly defcribes : and then following the Spanifh copy, he affures us, the higheft rank of their nobles is called funs, and that they only attend the facred and eternal fire, which he doubtlefs mentioned, merely to introduce his convex lens, by which he tells us with a great air of confidence, he gained much efteem among them, as by the gift of it, he enabled them to continue their holy fire, if it mould cafually be near extmgnfhed. According to him, the Chikkafah tongue was the court language of the Mifiifippi In dians, and that it had not the letter R. The very reverfe of which is the truth, for the French and all their red favages were at conftant war with them, becaufe of their firm connection with the Englifh, and hated their national name -, and as to the language, they could not converfe with them, as their dialects are fo different from each other. I recited a long firing of his well-known ftories to a body of gentlemen, well fkilled in the languages, rites, and cuftoms of our Eaft and Weft-Florida Indians, and they agreed that the Koran did not differ more widely from the divine oracles, than the accounts of this writer from the genuine cuftoms of the Indian Americans.

The Spanifh artifts have furnimed the favage war-chieftain, or their Em peror Montezuma, with very fpacious and beautiful palaces, one of which they raifed on pillars of fine jafper ; and another wrought with exquifite Ikill out of marble, jafper, and other valuable ftones, with veins glittering like rubies, they have finifhed the roof with equal fkill, compofed of car ved and painted cyprefs, cedar, and pine-trees, without any kind of nails. They fhould have fnrnifhed feme of the chambers with fuitable pavilions

and

�� �