(_Chinese_,) Schein-en, “To shine,” (_German_,) Sun (_English._)—Yun, “Fog, Cloud,” Ying, “Shadow,” Wan, “Evening,” (_Chinese_,) On.n, “A Cloud, To cloud over,” (_Hebrew._)—Wang, “To hope.” (_Chinese_,) Chwannawg, “Desirous,” (_Welsh._)—We, “Taste,” (_Chinese_,) Chwae-th (_Welsh._) CHAPTER VII. ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICAN TRIBES. _Identity of the American Tribes with the Nations of the other Continents. High Mental and Moral qualities of the North American Indians. Views of Cooper, Du Ponceau, and Catlin. Clear nature of the proofs derivable from Language of the Identity of the N. A. Indians with the European and Asiatic Nations. Catlin’s views as to the Identity of the Mandans, a Tribe of N. A. Indians, with the Welsh. Union in the Dialects of the N. A. Indians, of Greek, and other Indo-European and Tartar Inflections, with the Pronouns of the Hebrew and the Welsh. Close Approximation of these Dialects to the Greek and other European Tongues, and to the Languages of the North of Europe and Asia._ That the Tribes of the American Continent are descended from the same stock as the Asiatic and European nations is a proposition with respect to which the evidence contained in Appendix A must, I conceive, be felt to be conclusive when combined with Dr. Prichard’s proofs that the Physiology of the Human race in different countries is the result of climate and other external agencies. As regards the mental and moral qualities of the native American nations, there seems to be no solid ground for the inference maintained in some quarters that they are a different, because in these respects an inferior, race. It is impossible to peruse Mr. Catlin’s living picture of the manners and social habits of the North American Indians without being deeply impressed with the conviction that these Tribes, both intellectually and morally, are as highly gifted by nature as those nations who have inherited the blessings of a refined civilization. That the same remark applies to the more Southern American populations, such as the Mexicans and Peruvians, may be shown by an appeal to numerous considerations. In this place, however, I shall confine my observations to the Septs generally termed North American Indians, the original inhabitants of the United States and the regions in the same latitude. This race of men has been thus described in a celebrated work of fiction, which owes its chief interest to the vivid portraiture it exhibits of Indian life and manners.(136) “It is generally believed that the Aborigines of the American continent have had an Asiatic origin. There are many physical as well as moral facts which corroborate this opinion, and some few that would seem to weigh against it.