Hi Dan and Shulem, I've been enjoying the discussion. Wanted to jump in with something somewhat related that has intrigued me for the past few years. I've been curious about Martin Harris' visits to Samuel Mitchill in 1828. Dan, as you may know, Mitchell's hypothesis was that the mound builders of North America were Malays that fought a great battle of extinction with another race just a few miles southeast of Palmyra.
Richard Bennet seems to think that Mitchell was interested in what Harris had to say because he saw confirmation of his Malay hypothesis in the characters that Harris delivered to him. (source)
It hasn't yet been touched by Mormon historians or apologists, but in the same decade the Book of Mormon was published, a British diplomat stationed in Kedah (Malaysia) began publishing accounts from his journal of a text called the Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, which spins a fantastic foundational myth of a half-Middle Eastern half-Malay warrior chief named ...
dun
dun
dunnnn
Maroni