Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-11-02
By Martha Rect.

than 2,500 years in the interior reacbes of the dark continent, is the story of the Falasha, the Black Jews of Abyssinia.
 The threads of the tale may have become a bit frayed even lost per hap. in the dust of the years. But folklore. native legend, rumors that drifted like whispers from far-traV- cling caravans, ancient tracerV on nottery and scroll through the cen turies-these had been gradually wo- ven into the skin of fact so that his tory of the wanderings of this tribe of Israel had been just about estab- lished when the great war dfe" US sndden curtain of silence between the outside world and the hlntelland or the Negus.
 The finding of these people thou sands of miles from the lands from which their forefathers migrated back in the dim ages, their strange adher- ence to the religious rites and thelr teachings in Palestine even though they no longer speak Hebrew, thelr queer combination of purely semi- tic cast of countepance with skins that are burned nearly as black as the native by the suns of Africa these were only few of the facts related by Dr. Jacques Faltlovltch, lecturer of the University of Geneva, Switzerland, while in this city. The story of the Falasha constitutes one of the most fascinating chapters Tn the relief work for Jews the world over, as financed by the American Jewish Relief committee and cooper ating agencies.
 The coming to Asyssinia Of the Falasha. "exiles". in the native ton que. dates way beyond the tradition of the people of the Negus, and the Falasha themselves without authen- tic records of their migration. They did not know, at least up until few years ago, that they are descen- dents of the Jews of old, but their half-forgotten folk-legends are bas- ed on the wandering, hundreds of years ago. of their ancestors from a country far to the north. This journey into Africa followed closely the destruction of the first temple in what to them is almost mythical country. They believed, however, that they were all that remained of the great nation from which they were separated and in this belief, they continued, their religious wor- ship and customs. And these rites and customs are those of Abra- ham, Isaac and Jacob.
 Like Haggard Story.
 "Look not upon me because l am black" they cry, "my skin is black only because it has been so burned by the sun!" said Dr. Faitlovitch.
 The story of the wanderings of the Black Jews as the Geneva scien- tist tells it has some of the mys- tery of a Haggard tale. The fact that these people, tucked in the fur thermost corner of the country about which so little is known, are hum dreds of miles from outside commit nication adds an additional thrill or two to the story.
 Explorers, hunters and even mis- sionaries from time to time had brought down to the coast queer ac- counts of strange people who look ed for all the world like Jews, but whese, skin was as black sas' the. na- tives. They dwelt sin the little ham, lets and the sombre mountains of Ethiopia, rugged country shut in a small world of their own. But it was not until perhaps hundred years ago that any definite record of these people was unearthed. This was at Assuan on the lower Nile. Some ancient pottery inscriptions told strange story of certain peo- pie ssfrom the north" whose skins were white. They had passed through the country of the Egyptians hun dred of years ago before and the in- scriptions were some of the peti- tions they had presented to the Per sian and Egyptian emperors asking permission to travel into the interior and to trade.
 The discovery of the pottery con- nected another link in the story ot the ages that had its origin in Pales- tine. <s
 Tradition, legend based on fact SC slim as to make the whole account almost sound like myth, has it that some 2.500 years ago certain mum. ber of Jews left Palestine and jour. neved into Egypt. Whether or mol this was one of the so-called 'los' tribes" is a matter of conjecture Dr. Faitlovitch said. because there is nothing definite upon which to sub stantiate the fact. How and wh, they travelled out of Palestine i. equally vague.
 Whether the ancestors of the Fal asha followed in the train of tn, queen of Heba upon her return It, Egypt after her visit to King Solo mon of whether they had drift ed first into Arabia and were thel taken as, war prisoners into Abyssin ia in the sixth century is problematic al: Certain it is, said the, Genev scientist. that the Falasha travele into Abyssinia throueh Egypt as tn pottery records at Assuan attest.
 Then the. wanderers were los again in the mists of time.
 Explored Haunts.
 Christian missionaries returnin