B 505: Lecture on the Aborigines of Australia and papers on Wirradhurrei dialect, 1837-1840 - Page 13
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to discuss trace certain resemblances amongst them in some
of these to some of the American tribes,
although,
[Believing?] shall
show
us I shall
afterwards en-
[deavour?] to
show they were
originally not
so ignorant
as they are now,
But in all probability they came originally
from Asia & might have been a mixed
& somewhat degenerate race then. although I believe Their is
between the [Americas?] & the Indian Ocean a chain of numerous islands smaller & greater we may
say more than one chain connecting their
Australia with Asia India & other parts of Asia in
general. Their is, for instance New Guinea
the Celebes, the Philippines, Caroline islands & Borneo (Ceylon)
nearer still we find the connecting links
of islands such as Timor, Java, Sumatra
& the Malay islands leading close to Peninsulas with smaller ones in
discovering, the difficulty would not be great to come here by their [indecipherable.]. Nor is the distance so great
from Africa by way of Madagascar &
the Mauritius as to render it impossible that
some propitious winds might have [indecipherable]
some boats or canoes in safety to there shores,
and thus if in no other way we might account
for the [indecipherable] & [base?] of African [indecipherable].
have of supposed to exist in some of the
islands & partly in Australia. Whether the
original inhabitants left their orig former
country in sea from necessity in search of
new habitations, or by accident over-
ruled by Providence to people this country