can't find the right cable for my ext. hard drive...

I bought a new Macbook recently, and was hoping to transfer information from an external hard drive I purchased 3 years back. I used this hard drive to back up my ibook G4.
My problem is, the ext. hard drive and my old ibook connected with a 6pin to 6pin firewire cable, but now that Macbooks do not feature a firewire port, i am looking for a cable I can use with USB. Does anyone know if such a thing exists? I tried looking for the specific cable I think I need, but with no luck. Can anyone suggest a specific cable and adapter combo I might be able to use??
Thanks so much!

If you are looking for a Firewire to USB cable I don't think there is such a beast. I am sure others will correct me if I am wrong. If the iBook can boot it;s probably easiest to connect the teo computers by ethernet cable, enable file sharing on both machines, and pass the files that way.

Unfortunately, my ibook is pretty much dead, otherwise good suggestion. All of my original files are stored on the ext. hard drive and I'd like to have them on my new Macbook.
So something like this wouldn't work?:USB to IEEE 1394 Firewire + 6 Adapters Cable Travel SET - eBay (item 120516444794 end time Jan-11-10 17:46:50 PST)
Very tech-challenged, as you might be able to tell.
Thanks for your help.

What is the brand and model of your external? I know there were some externals with just a Firewire port but most have a USB port also.

If worst comes down to worst, purchase a cheap external enclosure with USB 2.0 and put the drive in it. Be sure you check your drive in the other external's case and see if it's IDE or SATA before you get that new case.

I would suggest one of the many cables out there for testing hard drives externally, but I am sure you want to keep your external drive and continue using it with your new machine.

These are nice for testing drives without ripping open a machine.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/U2NV2SPATA/

It is a Lacie mini FW HD, only firewire available. Bought it in '06.
Why, oh why did they remove the firewire port from the newer macs?

If I told you why a lot of people might be upset so I will refrain. I feel the way you do and so do many others. They could have put in a Firewire 800 port like the 13" MBP as there adapters from FW 400-800.

I was going to purchase that same drive you own but did not thinking the USB port might also come in handy down the road.

And to boot, it was a Mac employee who encouraged me to buy this particular brand and model in the first place.

oops missed dtravis7 response,
Clay