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I
THE
HUMAN KACE
i:i .1. ■^ If, I .
THE
HUMAN RACE
BY
LOUIS FIGUIEE.
ILLUSTRATED BY
TWO KTTNDRED AND FORTY-TriREE ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD,
AXD EIGHT CHKOMOLITIIOOKAPHS.
LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
BRAOBURT, BTAIO^ AND CO., PBQITXBB, WHITfBIAM.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
PAOB
GHAFTBR I. — Definition of Man — How he differs from other Animftln — Origin of Man — In what parts of the Barth did he first appear ! — Unity of Mankind, evidence in sapport — What is understood by species in Natural History — ^Man forms but one species, with its varieties or kinds — Classification of the Human Bace 1
CHAPTBB n. — General characteristics of the human race — Organic charac- teristics— Senses and the nervous system — Height — Skeleton — Cranium and face — Colour of the skin — Physiological functions — Intellectual cha- racteristics— Properties of human intelligence — ^Languages and literature — Different states of society — Primitive industry — ^The two ages of pre- historic humanity 21
THE WHITE RACR CHAPTER I.
EUROPEAN BRANCH . 41
TXUTOiaC FAMILY 41
LATIN FAMILY . • 66
SLAYONLAN FAMILY . . . • 113
ORKBK FAMILY 149
CHAPTER II.
ARAMEAN BRANCH 163
LIBYAN FAMILY
PERSIAN FAMILY OSOROIAN FAMILY . CIRCASSIAN FAMILY
163
SEMITIC FAMILY 163
190
203 203
▼i CONTENTS.
THE YELLOW EACE.
CHAPTER I.
PAQK
HYPERBOREAN BRANCH 20G
LAPP FAMILT 20ft
SAMOIEDE FAMILY 209
KAMT8CHADALE FAMILY 209
ESQUIMAUX FAMILY 211
TEMISIAN FAMILY • • 217
JUKAOHIRITE AND KORIAK FAMILIES 217
CHAPTER II.
MONGOLIAN BRANCH 218
MONGOL FAMILY 218
TUKOUSIAN FAMILY . • 223
YAKUT FAMILY • 223
TURKISH FAMILY 229
CHAPTER III.
SINAIC BRANCH 254
CHINESE FAMILY 256
JAPANESE FAMILY 302
INDO-CHINESE FAMILY 324
THE BEOWN EACE. CHAPTER I.
HINDOO BRANCH 33$
HINDOO FAMILY 339
MALABAR FAMILY 354
CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTER II.
PAOX
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH 355
ABTSSIKIAN FAMILY 355
FELLAN FAMILY 363
CHAPTER III.
MALAY BRANCH 3C5
MALAY FAMILY 365
POLYNESIAN FAMILY 380
MICRONESIAN FAMILY 400
THE EED RACE.
CHAPTER I.
SOUTHERN BRANCH 407
ANDIAN FAMILY 407
PAMPEAN FAMILY 419
GUARANY FAMILY 433
CHAPTER II.
NORTHERN BRANCH 452
SOUTHERN FAMILY 452
NORTH-EASTERN FAMILY 460
NORTH-WESTERN FAMILY 492
THE BLACK RACE.
CHAPTER I.
WESTERN BRANCH 495
CAFFRB FAMILY 495
Tiii CONTENTS.
WESTEfiN BRANCH— contmued ^^^^
HOTTENTOT FAMILY 498
NSORO FAMILY 500
CHAPTER II.
EASTERN BRANCH 618
PAPUAN FAMILY 518
ANDAMAN FAMILY . 531
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE WHITE RACE.
na. PAOB
1.— MBK AND WOMEN OF ANATOLIA 5
2. — SAMOIEDBS OF THB NORTH CAPE 7
3.— WAKE OF ICELANDIC PEASANTS IN A BARN .... 42
4. — ^WOMEN OF STAVANOER, NORWAY 43
5. — CITIZEN OF STAVANOER 44
6. — COSTUMES OF THE TELEMARK (NORWAY) 45
7.— WOMEN OF CHRISTIANSUND (NORWAY) 46
8. —BOY AND GIRL OF THE LAWERORAND (NORWAY) ' . . . 47
9, 10. — 8UABIANS (8TUTT0ARD) 48
11, 12. — SUABIANS (STUTTOARD) 60
13. — ^BAVARLINS . . . 52
14. — BADENEBS 53
15. — ENGLISHMAN . . • 63
16. — DRUIDS, GAULS, AND FRANKS 70
17.— FRENCHMAN 75
18.— CATTLE-DEALER OF CORDOVA 81
*
19. — ^NATIVES OF TOLEDO 83
20.— SPANISH PEASANT 84
21. — ^A MADRID WINE-SHOP 85
22. — SPANISH LADY AND DUENNA 88
23. — THE FANDANGO 89
24.— THE BOLERO 91
25.— FISH VENDORS AT OPORTO 92
26u — ROMAN PEASANT GIRL 94
X LIST OP ILLUSTEATIONS.
no. PAOB
27.— ROMAN PEASANTS 95
28. — TOUNO OERL OF THE TRANSTEVSRA 96
29.— STREET AT TTVOLI 98
30. — A CARDINAL ENTERING THE VATICAN 99
31. —EXALTATION OF POPE PIUS IX 100
32. — A MACARONI SHOP AT NAPLES 103
33.— NEAPOLITAN ICED-WATBR SELLER 104
34.— NEAPOLITAN PEASANT WOMAN . . . 104
35. — ITINERANT TRADER OF NAPLES 105
36. — AN ACQUAJOLO, AT NAPLES 106
37.— WALACHIAN 108
38. — L.U>Y OF BUCHAREST 110
39. — WALACHIAN WOMAN Ill
40.— NOBLE BOSNIAK MUSSULMAN 112
41.— RUSSIAN SENTINEL, RIGA 115
42. — RUSSIAN DEVOTEES, RIGA 117
43. — TRAFFIC IN ST. PETERSBURG 121
44. — A RUSSIAN TAVERN 122
45.— INTERIOR OF AN I8BA 123
46.— LrV'ONIAN PEASANTS 124
47.— TARTAR OF KASAK 125
48. — TARTAR OF THE CAUCASUS 126
49. — TARTAR OF THE CAUCASUS 127
50. — RUSSIAN NORTH-SEA PILOT . . 128
51. — OSTIAK HUT 130
52. — ISIGANE OF VOAKOVAR 131
53.— SLAVONIAN PEASANT 132
54. — A PEASANT OF ESSEK 133
55. — HERDSMEN OF THE MILITARY CONFINES 135
56.— WOMAN OF THE MILITARY CONFINES 136
57. — ORANZERS, AND THEIR GUARD-HOUSE 138
58. — T8IGANE PRISONER 139
59.— BOSNIAK PEASANT 142
60.— BOSNIAK PEASANT WOMAN 143
61. — BOSNIAK MERCHANT 144
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. xi
10^ PAOB
62. — WOMEN OF PESTH 146
63. — HUNOABIANS 146
64. — ^A HUNGARIAN GENTLEMAN 147
65. — HUNGARIANS 14S
66.~OREEKa OF ATHENS 151
67. — A GREEK HOUSEHOLD 153
68. — INTERIOR OF THE AGORA AT ATHENS 156
69.—fAtE OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER, ATHENS .... 169
70. — ALBANIAN WOMAN 161
71. — MOORISH COFFEE-HOUSE AT SIDI-BOW-SAID, NEAR TUNIS . . 164
72. — GRINDING WHEAT IN THE KABYLIA 169
73.— BL/LBYLE JEWELLERS 171
74.— KOPTS OF THE TEMPLE OF KRANAH 175
75.— A FELLAH WOMAN AND CHILDREN 177
76. — ^A FELLAH DONKEY BOY 178
77. — A LADY OF CAIRO 181
78. — ALMA OR DANCING GIRL 182
79. — WANDERING ARABS 185
80. — JEW OF BUCHAREST 186
81. — BBYROUT 187
82.— MARONITES OF LIBANU8 189
83. — HADY-MERZA-AGHAZZI 192
84. — PERSIAN TYPES 194
85. — PERSIAN NOBLEMEN 195
86. — PERSIAN WOMEN 196
87.— LOUTY AND BAKTYAN 197
88. — AN ARMENIAN DR.\WING-ROOM 200
89.— GEORGIANS 202
THE YELLOW RACE.
90. —LAPLANDERS 207
91. — ^A LAPP CRADLE 209
92.— SAMOIEDES 210
zii LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS.
no. PAOB
93.— BSQUIMAUX 8UMXSK SNGAMPMSMT 212
di.— BSQUIMAUX WINTXB ENCAMPMENT 213
95.— ESQUIMAUX VILLAOE 214
96.— ESQUIMAUX CHIEF 215
97.— ESQUIMAUX BIBB-GATOHEE 216
98.— TOUNa ESQUIMAUX 217
99.— A MONGOL TARTAR 219
00.— BUBIATS E800BTINO MISS CHBISTIANI 222
01.— MANCHU8 SOLDIERS 224
02.— YAKUTS 225
03.— A YAKUT WOMAN 227
04.— YAKUT VILLAOBRS 230
06.— YAKUT PRIESTS 231
06.— TURCOMAN ENCAMPMENT 234
07.— KIROHIS FUNERAL RITES 237
08.— A HAREM 241
09.— A HAREM SUPPER 243
10.— TURKISH LADIES VISITING 245
11.— A TURKISH BARBER 249
12. — TURKISH PORTER 251
13. — INDO-CHINESE OF STUNG TRENG 254
14. — ^INDO-CHINESE OF LAOS 255
15. — A YOUNG CHINESE 257
16.— CHINESE SHOPKEEPER 258
17.— CHINESE LADY 259
18.— CHINESE WOMAN 260
19.— mandarin's DAUGHTER 261
20.— CHINESE BOUDOIR 264
21. — CHINESE SITTING-ROOM 269
22.— OPIUM-SMOKERS 271
23. — CHINESE AGRICULTURE 273
24.— CHINESE FISHING 275
25. — THE CUSTOM-HOUSE AT SHANGHAI 277
26.— CHINESE BONZE 281
27. — CHINESE SCHOOLMASTER 283
LIST OF ILLUSTRAIIONS.
t LoooKonoiT
I PLAT .
130.— A CHnim jitnk
132.— CHnnBB Tuvmniaceia
133.~CEC<EBE rUKKKmHTS
134.— A CHiNm 00I7XT or jusncx 135.— .cHuixas soLDiXHi
13S.— CHtHISK TB007KB .
137.— THK ORU.T WAIX or CHINA
138. — JATAMBM
139.— A jAPANmi rATBMs .
140. — JAPAKESB aOLDmt .
142.— JAFA»£SE PAUKgUlN 311
11S.—TBM taIcoon's ocabds 315
lU.— A last or THB COtTBT 317
14(L— A KAMU TZMPLK, JAPAK S2I
146. — jAPAxm FAOODA 328
U7.— BctBMnB NOBLn 325
148.- BttBmai LADT 326
I4B. — WOMXH or BAKKOK 327
ISa— siAinsi DoKBiTto 328
ISl.— siAinsx Lu>]XB fiimfo 320
1S2.— TOMB or A BONZI, AT LAOS 330
164.— THI PBIHO-BOTAL OF SUM
THE BROWN RACE.
156.- BATim or etdkbabad . Iff7.— A BAHiAir or eiTBAT .
U8.— AB AOBD VMM
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
ISS.—A rARSU OINTLBMAH ICO.— BIR DALUt JUNO, K.B.I. . ISl.— HAUTCB OIRL OF BABODA 162. — A OOOLIE 0* THE OBATS 163.~FAOODA AT SIBKHIHGRAH 164. — PAIdUiqUIH
166.— NOUBRa OF THE WHITE NILE 167.— A NODML CHIBF .
169. — MALAY "KOSNING A MDCK"
172— JAVAKESB BAKCISO C
THE RED RACE.
179. — HDASOAfi, THIRTEENTH EMFEKOR OF THE IKCAS ISO. — COYA CAECANA, EMPKESa OF THE dCAS
181.— AN AMTia raniAK
162.— AH ANTIS INDIAN
1S3.— SDiaiEB SB&I> or THE ANTIS ....
184.— ANTia INDLAHa FIBBING
18^.— PEKU\1AN UTEBFEXTIR
187.— PKCHBBAT HDTB .... 18S.— FATAOONIAN .... 189. — A PATAOONIAH KORas EACBIFICE
LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS. xt
no. PAQB
190. —A BOLIVTAN CHIEF 426
191. — ^A BOAT ON THE RIO NSOBO 429
192. — EXAMINADOR OF CHILI 432
193. — ^A PARAGUAYAN MESSENGER 437
194.— BRAZILIAN NEGRO 440
195. — INDIAN WOMAN OF BRAZIL 441
196. — NATIVE OF MANAOS, BRAZIL 443
197. — BRAZILIAN NEGRESSES 445
198.— BRAZILIAN DWELLING 446
199. — ^NEGROS OF BAHIA 447
200. — NATIVES OF FRENCH GUYANA 449
201. — BOTOCUDOS 451
202. — INDIAN OF THE MEXICAN COAST' 453
203, 204.— INDIANS OF THE MEXICAN COAST 454
205. — MEXICAN INDIAN WOMAN 456
206. — MEXICAN PICADOR 457
207.— THE ROLDAU BRIDGE MARKET, MEXICO 458
208. — MEXICAN HATTER 459
209. — MEXICAN HAWKER 459
210.— CREEK INDIANS 463
211. — ENCAMPMENT OF SIOUX INDIANS 465
212. — SIOUX WARRIOR 466
213.— A SIOUX CHIEF 467
214. — CROW INDIANS IN COUNCIL 470
215. — PAWNEE INDL/LNS 473
216. ~ A CHAYENE (SHIENNES) CHIEF 475
217.— A YUTB CHIEF 477
218. — CHOCTAW INDIANS PLAYING BALL 479
219. — COMANCHE INDL/LNS 481
220.— A COMANCHE CAMP 482
221. — A BUFFALO HUNT 483
222. — MOHAWK INDIANS 485
223. — FLAT-HEAD INDIANS 487
224.— NAYA INDIANS 489
225.— A CROW CHIEF 491
•
xn LIST OP ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE BLACK RACE.
FIO. PAOB
226.— A CAFFBE 496
227. — NATIVE OF THE MOZAMBIQUE COAST 497
228. — ^THE HOTTENTOT VENQS 499
229.— A ZANZIBAR NEGRO 503
290. — ZANZIBAR NEGRESSES 507
23L— A NEGRO VILLAGE . 511
232. — nSHING ON THE UPPER SENEGAL 513
233. — A ZAMBESI NEGRESS 515
234 — THAKOMBAU, KING OF THE FIJI ISLANDS 520
235. — NATIVE OF FIJI 521
236.— NATIVE OP FIJI 522
237. — A TEMPLE OF CANNIBALISM 523
238.— A FIJIAN DANCE 525
239.— YOUNG NATIVE OF NEW CALEDONIA 527
240.— NATIVE OF NEW CALEDONIA 529
241.— ENCAMPMENT OF NATIVE AUSTRALIANS 533
242. — NATIVE AUSTRALIAN 535
243. — AN AUSTRALIAN GRAVE 536
THE HUMAN KACE.
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I.
Definition of Man — How ho differs from other Animals— Origin of Man — In what parts of the Earth did he first appear ?— Unity of Mankind, evidence in support — What is understood by species in Natural History — Man forms but one species, with its yarieties or kinds — Classification of the Human Race.
What is man ? A profound thinker, Cardinal de Bonald, has said : " Man is an intelligence assisted by organs." We would fain adopt this definition, which brings into relief the true attribute of man, intelligence, were it not defective in drawing no sufficient distinction between man and the brute. It is a fact that animals are intelligent and that their intelligence is assisted by organs. But their intelligence is infinitely inferior to that of man. It does not extend beyond the necessities of attack and defence, the power of seeking food, and a small number of affections or passions, whose very limited scope merely extends to material wants. With man, on the other hand, intelligence is of a high order, although its range is limited, and it is often arrested, powerless and mute» before the problems itself proposes. In bodily formation, man is an animaly he lives in a material envelope, of which the structure is that of the Mammalia ; but he far surpasses the animal in the extent of his intellectual faculties. The definition of man must therefore establish this relation which animals bear to ourselves, and indicate, if possible, the degree which separates them. For this reason we shall defiine man : an organized, intelligent being f endowed with the faculty of abstraction.
To give beyond this a perfectly satisfactory definition of man is
B
I
2 THE HUMAN RACE.
impossible : first, because, a definition, being but the expression < a theory, which rarely commands universal assent, is liable to I rejected witli the theory itself; and secondly, because a perfect! accurate definition supposes an absolute knowledge of the subjec of which absolute knowledge our understanding is incapable. ] has been well said that a correct definition can be famished b none but divine power. Nothing is more true than this, and wei we able to give of our own species a definition rigorously correc we should indeed possess absolute knowledge.
The trouble we have to define aright the being about to fon the subject of our investigation is but a forecast of the diflBculti€ we shall meet when we endeavour to reason upon and to classii man. He who ventures to fathom the problems of human nature physical, intellectual or moral, is arrested at every step. Eac moment he must confess his powerlessness to solve the question which arise, and at times is forced to content himself with merel suggesting them. This can be explained. Man is the last lin of visible creation ; with him closes the series of living being which we are permitted to contemplate. Beyond him ther extends, in a world hidden from our view, a train of beings of new order, endowed with faculties superior and inaccessible to on comprehension, mysterious phalanxes, whose place of abode eve is unknown to us, and who, after us, form the next step in th infinite progression of living creatures by whom the universe i peopled. Situate, as he is, on the confines of this unknown work on the very threshold of this domain, which his eye, if not hi thoughts may not penetrate, man shares to some extent the attr butes belonging to those beings who follow him in the econom of nature. Doubtless, it is this which makes it so difficult for n to comprehend the actual essence of man, his destiny, his origi and his end.
These reflections have been called for in order to supply a explanation of the frequent admissions of helplessness which w shall be obliged to make in this cursory Introduction, when w investigate the origin of man, the period of his first appearanc on the globe, the unity or division of our species, the classifies tion of the human race, &c. If to many of these questions w reply with doubt and uncertainty, the reader must not lay th blame at the feet of science, but must search for the cause in th impenetrable laws of nature*
INTRODUCTION. 3
And first, whence comes man? Wlierefore does he exist? To this we can make no reply, the problem is beyond the reach of human thought. But we may at least enquire, since this question has been largely debated by tlie learned, whether man was at once constituted such as he is, or whether he originally existed in some other animal form, which has been modified in its anatomical structure by time and circumstances. In other words, is it true, as has been pretended by various of our con- temporaries, that man is the result of the organic improvement of a particular race of apes, wliidi race forms a link between the apes with which we are familial* and the first man ?
We have already treated and discussed this question more fully in the volume which preceded this. We have shown, in "Primitive Man," that man is not derived, by a process of organic transformation, from any animal, and that he includes the ape not more than the whale among his ancestrj' ; but that he is the product of a special creation.
Nevertheless, whether its creation be special or the result of modification, the human species has not always existed. There is, then, a first cause for its production. What is this ? Here is again a problem which surpasses our understanding. Let us say, my readers, that the creation of the human species was an act of God, that man is one of the children of the great arbiter of the universe, and we shall have given to this question the only response which can content at once our feelings and our reason.
But let us summon questions more accessible to our compre- hension, with which the mind is more at ease, and upon which science can exercise its functions. To what period should we refer the first appearance of man upon the globe ? In "Primitive Man " we have answered this question as far as it can be. We have con- sidered the opinion of some writers who carry the first appearance of man as far back as the tertiary period. Rejecting this date on account of the insufficiency of the evidence produced, we, in common with most naturalists, have admitted, that man appeared for the first time upon our globe at the commencement of the quaternary period, that is to say, before the geological pheno- menon of the deluge and previous to the glacial period which preceded this great terrestrial cataclysm. To fix the birth of man in the tertiary period would be to travel out of facts now
B 2
4 THE HUMAN RACE.
within the ken of science, and to substitute for observation, conjecture and h}T)othesis.
By saying that man appeared for the first time upon the globe at the commencement of the quaternary period, we establish the fact, which is agreeable to the cosmogony of Moses, that man was formed after the other animals, and that by his advent he crowned the edifice of animal creation.
At the quaternary period almost all the animals of our time had already seen the light, and a certain number of animal species existed, which were shortly to disappear. When man was created, the mammoth, the great bear, the cave tiger, and the cervus megaceros, animals more bulky, more robust and more agile than the corresponding species of our time, filled the forests and peopled the plains. The fitst men were therefore contemporary with the woolly elephant, the cave bear and tiger ; tliey had to contend with these savage phalanxes, as formidable in their number as their strength. Nevertheless, in obedience to the laws of nature, these animals were to disappear from the globe and give place to smaller or different species, whilst man, persisting in the opposite dii'ection, increased and multiplied, as the Scripture has said, and gi'adually spread into all inhabitable countides, taking possession of his empire which daily increased with the progi-ess of his intelligence.
In ** Primitive Man " we have given the history of the fijrst steps of humanit}'.
We have traced the origin and progi-ess of civilization, from the moment when man was cast, feeble, wretched and naked, in the midst of a hostile and savage brute population, to the day when his power, resting upon a firm basis, changed little by little the face of the inhabited earth.
We shall not refer to this at greater length, since in " Primitive Man " we have ti*eated it fully, and in unison with the actual dis- coveries of science. But there is a very different problem to the solution of which we shall apply ourselves in the following pages. Did man see the light at any one spot of the earth, and at that alone, and is it possible to indicate the region which was, so to say, the cradle of humanity ? Or, are we to believe that, in the first instance, man appeared in several places at the same time ? That he was created and has always remained in the very localities he now inhabits? That the Negro was bom in the
6 THE HUMAN RACE.
burning regions of Central Africa, the Laplander or the Mon- golian in the cold regions to which he is now confined ?
To this question a satisfactory reply can be given by reference to facts furnished by natural histor}'. But in seeking a triumph, for our opinion we shall have to combat the arguments of a hostile doctrine. As we said in the early part of this Introduc- tion, we must ever be prepared to encounter difficulties, to dissipate uncertainties, and to vie with other theories in each point of the history of humanity which we may seek to fathom.
There is a school of philosophers who assert that man was manifold in his creation, that each type of humanity originated in the region to which it is now attached, and that it was not emigration followed by the action of climate, circumstances, and customs which gave birth to the different races of man.
This opinion has been upheld in a work by M. Georges Pouchet, son of the well-known naturalist of Rouen. But, one has only to read his essay upon la plurallte des races humaines, to be convinced that the author, like others of his school, as ardent in demolition as powerless in construction, having chosen to act the easy part of a critic, exhibits unprecedented weakness when called upon to supply a system in the place of that he contradicts.
If there existed several centres of human creation, they should be indicated, and it should be shown that the men who dwell there now-a-days have never been connected with other popula- tions. M. Georges Pouchet preserves prudent silence upon this question; he avoids defining the locus of any one of these supposed multiple creations. Such a faulty ai-gument speaks volumes for the doctrine.
We, on our part^ think that man had on the globe one centre of creation, that, fixed in the first instance in a particular region, he has radiated in every direction fi-om that point, and by his wanderings coupled with the rapid multiplication of his de- scendants, he has ultimately peopled all the inhabitable regions of the earth.
In order to demonstrate the truth of this proposition, we will examine what takes place in connection with other organized beings, that is to say, with animals and plants, and then apply this class of facts to man : this is observation and induction, the only logical process to which we can here resort.
' THE NORTH CAPB.
8 THE HUMAN RACE.
And what do botanical and zoological geography teach ? They show us that plants and animals have each their native locality, from which they but seldom depart, and that it would be impos- sible to cite any plant or animal which lives indifferently in all countries of the globe, without having been transported thither by human industry. The earth is, so to speak, divided into a certain number of zones, which have their particular vegetable and animal life. These are so many natural provinces, all of small extent, which represent veritable centres of creation. The cedar, peculiar to the mountains of Lebanon, existed in this region alone before it was transpoi-ted to other climates ; and the coflfee-plant had grown only in Ai'abia, before it was acclimatized in South America. We could quote the names of many vege- tables whose natural abode is very sharply defined, but these instances ai'e sufficient to exemplify the general rule of which we treat.
We need hardly say that animals, like plants, are attached to various localities which they rai'ely quit with impunity, since they have not the faculty of accUmatizing themselves at will. The elephant lives only in India and in certain parts of Africa ; the hippopotamus and giraffe in other countries of the same con- tinent ; monkeys exist in very few poilions of tlie globe, and if we consider their different species, we shall find that the place of abode of each species is very limited. For instance, of the larger apes, the orang-outang is found only in Borneo and Sumatra, and the gorilla in a small comer of Western Africa. Had man originated in all those places where now his different races are found, he would stand alone as an exception among organized beings.
Keasoning then by induction, that is, ai)plying to man all that we observe to obtain generally among beings living on the surface of the globe, we come to the conclusion that the human species, in common with every vegetable or animal species, had but one centre of creation.
Can we now extend our investigation and determine the par- ticular spot of the eailli whence man first came ? It is probable that man first saw the day on the plains of Central Asia, and that it was from this point that by degrees he spread over the whole earth. We shall proceed to state the facts which support this opinion.
INTRODUCTION. 9
Around the central tableland of Asia, are found the three organic and fundamental types of man, that is to say, the white, the yellow, and the black. The black type has been somewhat scattered, although it is still found in the south of Japan, in the Malay Peninsula, in the Andaman Isles, and in the Philippines, at Formosa. The yellow type forms a large portion of the actual population of Asia, and it is well-known whence came those white hordes that invaded Emope at times prehistoric and in more recent ages ; those conquerors belonged to the Ar}'an or Persian race, and they came from Centi*al Asia. We shall see later on, that the different languages of the globe resolve themselves into three fundamental forms : monosyllabic languages, in which each word contains but one syllable ; agglutuiative languages, in which the words are connected ; and inflected languages, which are the same as those spoken in Europe. Now, those three general forms of language are, at the present day, to be met with around the central tableland of Asia. The monosyllabic language is spoken throughout China and in the different states connected with that empire. The agglutinative languages are spoken to the north of this plain, and extend as far as Europe. And, lastly, inflected languages are found in all that portion of Asia which is occupied by the white race..
Around the central tableland of Asia, we thus find not only the three fundamental types of the human species, but the three types of human speech. Does not this, tlierefore, afford ground for presumption, if not actual i^roof, that man first appeai'ed in this very region which Scripture assigns as the birthplace of the human race ?
It is from this central tableland of Asia, radiating so to say, around this point of origin, that Man has progressively occupied every part of the earth.
Migration commenced at a very early i)eriod, the facility with which our species becomes habituated to every climate and accommodates itself to variations of temperature, taken in con- nection with the nomadic character which distinguished primitive populations, explains to us the displacement of the earlier inhabi- tants of the earth. Soon, means of navigation, although rude, were added to the power of travelling by land, and man passed from the continent to distant islands, and thus peopled the archipelagos as well as the mainland. By means of transport,
10 THE HUMAN RACK
effected in canoes formed from the trunks of trees barely hollowed out, the archipelagos of the Indian Ocean, and finally Australia, were gradually peopled.
The American continent formed no exception to this law of the invasion of the globe by the emigration of human phalanxes. It is a matter of no great difficulty to pass from Asia to America, across Behring's Straits, which are almost always covered with ice, thus permitting of almost a dry passage from one continent to the other. Thus it is that the inhabitants of Northern Asia have found their way into the north of the New World.
This communication of one terrestial hemisphere with the other is less surprising when we consider what modem historical works have shown, namely, that already about the tenth centui'y, which would be nearly 400 years before Christopher Columbus, navigators from the coast of Norway had penetrated to the other hemisphere. The inhabitants of Mexico and Chili possess most authentic historical archives, which prove that a most advanced civilization flourished there at an early period. Gigantic monu- ments which still remain, beai' witness to the great antiquity of the civilization of tlie Incas (Peru) and of the Aztecs (Mexico). It is reasonable to suppose that the inhabitants of America, who thus, advanced at a rapid pace in the path of civilization, descended from the hordes of Noi'them Asia which reached tlie New World by traversing the ice of Behring*s Straits.
To explain, therefore, the presence of man upon all parts of the continent, and in the islands, it is not necessary to insist upon the existence of several centres, where our species was created. If popular traditions went to show that all the regions now in- habited have always been occupied by the same people, and tliat those who are found there have constantly lived in tlie same l)lace8, there might be reason to admit the hypothesis of multiple creations of the human race ; but, on the contrarj^ traditions for the most part teach us that each coimtry has been peopled pro- gi'essively by means of conquest or emigration. Tradition shows that the nomadic state of existence has universally preceded fixed settlements. It is, therefore, probable that the first men were con- stantly on the move. A flood of barbarians, coming from central Asia, overflowed the Roman Empire, and the Vandals penetrated even into Africa. Modem migrations have been conducted on a still vaster scale, for at the present day we find America almost
INTRODUCTION. II
wholly occupied by Europeans ; English, Spanish and other people of the Latin race fill the vast American hemisphere, and the primitive populations of the New World have almost entirely disappeared, annihilated by the iron 3'oke of the conqueror.
The continent of Asia was peopled Uttle by little by branches of the Aryan race, who came down from the plains of Central Asia, directing their course towards India. As to Africa : that con- tinent received its contingent of population through the Isthmus of Suez, the valley of the Nile, and the coasts of Arabia, by the aid of navigation.
There is therefore nothing to show that humanity had several distinct nuclei. It is clear that man started from one point alone, and that through his power of adapting himself to the most different climates, he has, little by httle, covered the whole face of the inhabitable eartli.
The Bible proclaimed, long before the studies of modem anthropologists made it known, tliis principle of the unity of the human species. In like manner as the Bible opposed its mono- theistic cosmogony to the different cosmogonies of oriental or pagan antiquity, in Uke manner it opposes to the erroneous dogmas of the religions and philosophies of antiquity, this doc- trine sublime and simple in itself, that man, the last child of creation, rules it as its appointed head and by his moral power. Holy Writ, indeed, says to us: ** God has created tlie whole human race of one flesh.** *
There is another problem. Did the wliite, the yellow, and the black man exist from the first moment of the appearance of our species upon the globe, or have we to explain the formation of these three fundamental races by the action of climate, by any special form of nourishment, the result of local resources ; in other words, by the action of the soil, if we may use the expres- sion of a conscientious autlior, M. Tremaux ? t
Innumerable dissertations have been written with a view of ex- plaining the origin of these three races, and of connecting them with the climate or the soil. But it must be admitted that the problem is hardly capable of solution. The influence which a warm climate exercises upon the colour of the skin is a well known fact, and it is a matter of common observation that the white
* St. Panl at the Areopagus of Athens. Acts of the Apostles, chap. xviL ▼. 26.
f Origme et transformatioii de rhomme et des autres ^tres. 1 toL in 18. Paris, 1865.
12 THE HUMAN RACE.
European, if transported into the heart of Africa, or carried to the coast of Guinea, transmits to his descendants the brown colour wliich the skin of the Negro possesses, and that in their turn the offspring of Negroes, who have been brought into northern countries, become as they descend, paler and paler and end by being white. But the colour of the skin is not the only charac- teristic of a race ; the Negro differs from the white, less by the colour of his skin, than by the structure of the face and cranium, as also by the proportion of his members to one another. Is it not, moreover, a fact that the hottest countries are inhabited b}' people with white skins ? Such for instance are the Touaricks of the African Sahara, and the Fellahs of Egypt. On the other hand, men with' black faces are found in countries enjoying a mean temperature, as for instance, the inhabitants of California on the coast of the Pacific Ocean.
Let us conclude that science is unable to exi)lain to us the difference which exists between the different tj'pes of the human species, that neither tlie temperature nor the action of the soil furnish an explanation of this fact, and that we must limit our- selves to noting it, without further comment, in spite of tlie mania which prompts the savants of our day in a desire to explain eveiything.
We have now another question to consider. Should these white, j'^ellow, or black men, to whom we must add, as we shall see later on, those who are brown and red, all of whom differ one from anotlier in the colom* of their skin, in height, in then* physio- gnomy, and in their outward appearance, be grouped into different species, or are we to regard them merely as varieties of species — that is to say, races ? To fully understand this question and to form a judgment of what will result from it, we must as- certain what is imderstood in natural history by the word species^ and by the word race or variety of species. We will tlierefore commence by explaining the meaning of species in zoolog}%
The hare and the rabbit, tlie horse and the ass, the dog and the woK, the stag and the reindeer, &c., are not likely to be taken one for another. Yet how greatly do dogs differ among them- selves in size, in colom*, and in their proportions. What a difference there is between the mastiff and the Pyrenean dog! The same observation applies to horses. How different we find in size and outward appearance the lai*ge Normandy horse, the
INTRODUCTION. 13
London dray horse, or the omnibus horse of Paris, and the small Corsican or Shetland horses wliich we can carry in our arms ! And yet no one is mistaken in them : whether he differ in size, or in the colour of his hair, we alwa3's recognise a liorse, and never mistake him for an ass ; in the mastiff as well as in the bulldog, we shall always recognise a dog. However greatly a rabbit may varv in size and colour, it will never be taken for a hare. The Breton cow, slight and frail, is nevertheless as much a cow in the eyes of a fanner, and the rest of the world, as a full-sized Durham. The same reflection applies with equal force to birds. The turkey which exists in the wild state in America, certainly differs very much from the black or white turkey acclimatized in Europe ; but there is no mistake that both of them are turkeys, and nothing else.
The vegetable kingdom vdW furnish us with similar facts. Take, for instance, the cotton plant on its native soil in America, and you will find that it differs from the cotton plant cultivated in Africa and Asia. The coffee plant of the South American plan- tations is not similar to the same shrub which exists in Arabia, wlience it came in the first instance. Wheat varies mth latitude to a most extraordinary extent, &c. The cotton plant, however, is always the cotton plant, whatever be the soil upon which it grows ; the coffee plant and wheat are always the same vegetables, and one is not liable to be deceived in them. The action of cli- mate and soil upon vegetables, these same causes taken in con- nection with nutrition upon animals, and finally the mixture which has taken i)lace between different individuals, explain all these differences, wliich affect the external appearance, but not the t^'pe itself. *
We mean by specie^, when applied either to animals or vegetables, the fundamental type, and by variety or race the different beings which result from the influence of climate, of nutriment, and of mixture with mdividuals of tlie same species. The species dog gives bu'th to the varieties or races known under the names of bull-dog, spaniel, mastiff, &c. The species horse gives birth to the races or varieties known imder the names of the Arabian, English, Normandy, Corsican, &c. The species turkey produces the varieties known as the wild turkey, the black and the white turkey. In the vegetable kingdom, the cotton plant species produces the American and the Indian cotton ; the
14 THE HUMAN RACE.
bramble produces the innumerable varieties which are known to us as rose-trees.
But, the reader will say, how are we to distinguish race from species, and does there exist any practical means of deciding whether the animal under consideration belongs to a species or a race ? We reply that such a means does exist, which enables us to speak with certainty in every case. It is of importance that this should be made known in order that every one may test it for himself.
Take the two animals in question, unite them, and if that connexion of the sexes results in the production of another individual, capable of reproduction, this will indicate race or variety. If, however, the union of the two individuals is unpro- ductive, or the offspring is itself barren, this will indicate two individuals of different species.
In spite of observations and experiments made in the course of many thousand years, reproduction has never been procured by mixture of a rabbit with a hare, a wolf with a dog, a sheep with a goat. It is true that hybrids are obtained between the horse and she-ass, and between the ass and the mare, but it is well known that the individuals produced by tliis mixture, namely, the quadrupeds termed mtdes, are barren animals, incapable of reproduction with one another.
This rule is not confined to the animal kingdom, but it obtains also among vegetables. You can obtain artificial production from a pear tree by applying, with suitable precautions, the pollen of the flowers of one pear tree to the stamens of those of another. Fruit will be formed, and the seed which that produces will in its turn be productive. But if you attempt to perform the same operation between a pear tree and an apple tree, you will obtain no result whatever. This, again, is the practical method which enables botanists to distinguish varieties from species. The test of artificial fecundation between one plant and another, which it is desired to distinguish as regards their species, serves to solve the difficulties which are met in attempting to determine the position of a plant in botanical classification.
The word species therefore is not a fictitious term, a conven- tional expression invented by the learned to designate the classi- fications of living beings. A species is a group arranged by Nature herself. Fruitfulness or barrenness in the products of the
INTRODUCTION. 15
mixture are the characteristics which Nature attaches to variety or to species ; those groups therefore appear to us as though they had a substantial foundation in the laws which govern living beings, and we do but render in speech what we observe in Nature.
When, moreover, we reflect, we easily understand that if Nature had not instituted species the most complete disorder would have reigned throughout living creation. By intermixture the animal kingdom would have been overrun by mongrels who would have confused every type, thus permitting of no discernment in this crowd of incoherent products. The whole animal kingdom would have been given over to inextricable confusion. In like manner, if plants had been capable of infinite variety through the mixture of different species, brought about by the industry of man, or by the effect of the wind bearing through the air the fertilizing pollen, there would be nought but trouble and disorder among the vegetable population of the globe.
Species therefore has a necessary, providential, and fixed existence. Impossibility of union is the distinctive qualification which nature assigns to this group of living beings. Reproduc- tion is possible only between members of the same species, and the differences produced in their offspring by the soil, nutriment and surrounding circumstances, determine what we call race, or variety.
The principle which we have just enunciated, will in its application to man enable us to decide whether the individuals that people the globe, belong to different species of men, or simply to races or varieties; in other words, whether the human species is unique, and whether the different human types known to us, the white, black, yellow, brown and red-man, belong or not to races of the human species.
The reply to this question will doubtless have been anticipated. If we apply the rule stated above, all men that inhabit the globe belong to one and the same species, since it is a fact that men and women, whatever be their colour, can marry, and their offspring is always reproductive. The Negro and white female by their union produce mulattoes ; mulattoes and mulattresses are reproductive, as are also their descendants — ^marriages between members of the red or brown races are firuitful, and, what is more, the fecundity of the descendants of mongrels is superior to that of men and women of the same colour.
16 THE HUMAN RACE.
Unless, therefore, we regard men as a solitary exception among ,all living beings, unless we withdraw them from the operation of the universal laws of nature, we must come to the conclusion that they do but form a certain number of races of one and the same species, and all descend from one primitive unique species.
Men are brothera in blood : this principle of imiversal fititemity imposed by nature, may be placed side by side with the corresponding maxim suggested by the moral sense.
Those who deny the unity of the human species, polygenistSy or supporters of the plurality of human kind, base their arguments in favour of there being more than one specie^, upon the assertion that the distinction between the Negro and the white man is too great to permit of their possibly being classed together. But, between the lap-dog and the mastiff, the wild and tame rabbit, the spaniel and the greyhound, or the Shetland and Russian horse, there is a much greater difference than exists between the Negi'o and the white man. We are unable to state exactly, or to explain with any degree of accuracy, how it is that man, as he was first created, has given birth to races so widely different as the white, black, yellow, brown, and red which people the earth at the present day. We can but fui'nish a general explanation of what we see in the widely vary- ing conditions of existence, and inthe opposite character of the media through which man, for ages past, has dragged his existence, frequently with much diflSculty and imcertainty. If the dog, the horse, the rabbit, and the turkey, through the agency of himian industiy applied to them during a period of scarcely two thousand years, have given birth to so many varieties, how much more would man, whose appearance upon the globe is of such antiquity that we cannot assign to it even approximatively a date — man, whose fate it has been to pass through so many different climates, such various physical and social positions, expect to see his own type become modified and transformed ? We should, with more reason, feel surprised at finding that the differences between one variety and another are not much wider than they appear to be.
In order to avoid this argimient, there remains to the supporters of the plurality of human kind no alternative but to regard man as an exception in nature ; to assert that he has laws
. INTRODUCTION. 17
peculiar to himself, and that the principles which pervade the life of plants and animals can in no way apply to him. But man, who is an organized and living being, and is furnished with a body that differs but little from that of any mammiferous animal, is, so far as concerns his organization, subject to the universal laws of nature, and that of intermixture among the rest. Jt is therefore impossible to admit the question of exception raised by those who deny the unity of the human species.
The principle that the human species is one, and what follows •as a natural conclusion, namely, that all men who inhabit the ^arth are but races or varieties of this one species, wUl, there- fore, appear to the reader to be satisfactorily estabUshed.
These different races which originate in one species, the primitive type having been modified by the operation of climate, food, soil, intermixture and local customs, differ, it must be admitted, to a marvellous extent, in their outward appearance, -colour and physiognomy. The differences are so great, the extremes so marked and the transitions so gradual, that it is well- jaigh impossible to distribute the human species into really natural ^oups from a scientific point of view, that is to say, groups founded upon organic characteristics. The classification of the human races has always been the stumbling block of anthropology, and up to the present time the difficulty remains almost un- diminished.
A cursory examination of the various classifications which have been brought forward by the most important of those who have essayed the task will make this truth apparent to all.
Buffon, in his chapter upon man, a work which we can always read again with admiration and advantage, contents himself with bringing forward the three fundamental types of the human species which have been known from the first under the names of the white, black and yellow race. But these three types in them- selves do not^ exemplify every human physiognomy. The ancient inhabitants of America, commonly known as the Red-Skins, are entirely overlooked in this classification, and the distinction between the Negro and the white man cannot always be easily pointed out, for in Africa the Abyssinians, the Egyptians, and many others, in America thq Californians, and in Asia the Hindoos, Malays and Javanese are neither white nor black.
18 THE HUMAN EACE.
Blumenbach, the most profound anthropologist of the last century, and author of the first actual treatise upon the natural history, of man, distinguished in his Latin work, De Homine, five races of men, the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, Malay and American. Another anthropologist, Prochaska, adopted the divi- sions pointed out by Blumenbach, but united under the name of the white race, Blumenbach's Caucasian and Mongolian groups, and added the Hindoo race.
The eloquent naturalist Lac6pede, in his Histoire natureUe de VHomme, added to the races admitted by Bliunenbach the hyper^ barean race, comprising the inhabitants of the northern portion of the globe in either continent.
Cuvier fell back upon Buffon's division, admitting only the wliite, black and yellow races, from which he simply derived the Malay and American races.
A naturalist of reno^vn, Virey, author of VHiatoire natureUe du Genre humain, V Histoire naturelle de la Femvie, and of many other clever productions upon natural history and particularly anthro- pology, gave much attention to the classification of the human races. But he was not favourable to the unity of our species^ being led to entertain the opinion that the human species was twofold. This was the starting point of an erroneous deviation in the ideas of naturalists who wrote after Virey. We find Bory de Saint Vincent admitting as many as fifteen species of men, and another naturalist, Desmoulins, doubtless influenced by a feeling of emulation, distinguished sixteen human species, which, more- over, were not the same as those admitted by Bory de Saint Vincent.
This course of classification might have been followed to a much greater extent, for the differences among men are so great, that if strict rule is not adhered to, it is impossible to fix any limit to species. Unless therefore the principle of unity has been fully conceded at starting, the investigation may result in the admission of a truly indefinite quantitj^ ,
This is the principle which pervades the writings of the most learned of all the anthropologists of our age, Dr. Pritchard, author of a Natural History of Man, which in the original text formed ten volumes, but of which the French language possesses but a very incomplete translation.
Dr. Pritchard holds that all people of the earth belong to the
INTRODUCTION. 19
same species ; he is a partisan of the unity of the human species, but is not satisfied with any of the classifications abeady pro- posed, and which were founded upon organic characteristics. He, in fact, entirely alters the aspect of the ordinary classifications which are to be met with in natural history. He commences by pointing out three families, which, he asserts, were in history the first human occupants of the earth : namely the Aryan, Semitic, and Egyptian. Having described these three families, Pritchard passes to the people who, as he says, radiated in various direc- tions from the regions inhabited by them, and proceeded to occupy the entire globe.
This mode of classification, as we have pointed out, leaves the beaten track trodden by other natural historians. For this reason it has not found favour among modem anthropologists, and this disfavour has reacted upon the work itself, which, not- withstanding, is the most complete and exact of all that we possess upon man. Although it has been adopted by no other author, Pritchard's classification of the human race appears to us to be the most sound in principle.
M. de Quatrefages, in his course of anthropology at the Museum of Natural History, Paris, makes a classification of the human race based upon the three types, white, yellow and black ; but he appends to each of these three groups, under the head of mixed races attached to each stem, a number of races more or less con- siderable and arbitrary which were excluded from the three chief divisions.
The classification of M. de Quatrefages will be foimd in his Rapport 8ur les progres de VAnthropologie, published in 1867. * It is extremely learned aAd well worked out, but a classification which entirely passes by the simple mode of reasoning we shall adopt in the foUowing pages.
The classification of the human race which we propose to follow, modifying it where in our opinion it may appear to be necessar}', is due to a Belgian naturalist, M. d^Omalius d'Halloy. It acknowledges five races of men : the white, black, yellow, brown and red.
This classification Is based upon the colour of the skin, a characteristic very secondary in importance to that of organization,
♦ In 4* forming part of the Rapporti tur let progrh 4^8 Sciences et da Lettres en FroMct, publiihed under the axuiplces of the Minister of Public Instruction.
0 2
20 THE HUMAN RACK
but which yet furnishes a conyenient framework for an exact and metliodical enumeration of the inhabitants of the globe^ per- mitting a clear consideration of a most confused subject. In the groups, therefore, which we shall propose, the reader will fail to find a trul}' scientific classification, but will meet with merely such a simple distribution of materials, as shall permit us to review methodically the various races spread over every portion of the Earth's surface.
CHAPTER II.
General characteristics of the human race — Organic characteristics — Senses and the nervous system — Height — Skeleton — Cranium and face — Colour of the akin — Phjsiologfical functions — Intellectual characteristics — Properties of human intelligence — Languages and literature — Different states of society — Primitiye industry — The two ages of prehistoric humanity.
Before entering upon a minute description of each of the human races, we shall find it well to lay before the reader a generalization of the characteristics which are common to all.
Since man is an intelligent being, living in an organized frame; our attention has to be directed to the consideration of his organs and intellect, that is, in the first place, we must investigate the physical, in the second, the intellectual and moral elements of his constitution.
The physical characteristics bear but secondary- importance among those of the human race. Man is a spmt which shines within the body of an animal, and the only difficulty is to asceri- tain in what manner the organism of the mammalia is modified in order to become tliat of man ; to compare the hainnony of this organism with the object in view, namely the exercise of human intellect and thought. We shall see that the organs of the mammalia are greatly modified in the human subject, becoming, either on account of their individual excellence or the harmony of their combination, gi'eatly superior to the associations of the same organs among animals.
Let us first consider the brain and organs of sense. When we examine the form and relative size of the brain in ascending the series of mammiferous animals, we find that this organ increases in Tolnme, and progresses, so to say, toward the superior characteristics which it is to display in the human species. Disregarding certain exceptions, for the existence of which we cannot account, but which in no way alter the general rule, the
22 THE HUMAN EACE.
brain increases in importance from the zoophjrte to the ape. But, in comparing the brain of the ape with that of man, an important difference becomes at once apparent. The brain of the gorilla, orang-outang, or chimpanzee, which are the apes that bear the greatest resemblance to man, and which for that reason are designated anthropomorplwus apes, is very much smaller than that of man. The cerebral lobes in man are much longer than in the anthropomorphous apes, and their vertical measure is out of all proportion with the height of the cerebral lobes in apes ; this is what produces the noble frontal curve, one of the characteristic features of the human physiognomy. The cerebral lobes are connected behind with a third nervous mass called the cerebellum. The large volume of these three lobes, the depth and number of convolutions of the encephalic mass, and other anatomical details of the brain, upon which we are unable here to treat at greater length, place the brain of man very far above that of the animal nearest to him in the zoological s^cale. These differences bear witness in favour of man to an unparalleled intellectual develop- ment, and we should be better able to measure these differences, were we able to show in what the cerebral action consists, but this we are utterly unable to do.
The senses, taken individually, are not more developed in man than they are in certain animals; but in man they are cha- racterised by their harmony, their perfect equilibrium, and their admirable appropriation to a common end. Man, it will at once be admitted, is not so keen of sight as the eagle, nor so subtle of heanng as the hare, nor does he possess the wonderful scent of the dog. His skin is far from being as fine and im- pressionable as that which covers the wing of a bat. But, while among animals, one sense always predominates to the dis- advantage of the rest, and the individual is thus forced to adopt a mode of existence which works hand in hand with the develop- ment of this sense, with man, all the senses possess almost equal delicacy, and the harmony of their association makes up for what may be wanting in individual power. Again, the senses of animals are employed only in satisfying material necessities, while in man, they assist in the exercise of eminent faculties whose development they further.
Let us consider shortly in detail our senses.
Man is certainly better off, as regards the sense of sight, than
INTRODUCTION. 23
a large majority of animals. Instead of being placed upon different sides of his head, looking in opposite directions, and receiving two images which cannot possibly be alike, his eyes are directed forwards, and regard similar objects, by which means the impression is doubled. The sense of sight thus brings to his conceptions a complete image and solid idea of what surrounds him ; it is his most useful sense, the more so when it is guided in its application by a clear intellect.
The sense of touch in man reaches a degree of perfection which it does not attain in animals. How marvellous is the sense of touch when exercised by applying the extremities of the fingers, the part of the body the best suited to this function, and how much more wonderful is the organ called the hand, which applies itself in so admirable a manner to the most different surfaces whose extent, form, or qualities, we wish to ascertain !
A modem philosopher has attributed to the hand alone our intellectual superiority. This was going too far. We find enthusiasm allied with justice in the views expressed in the excellent pages which Galen has consecrated to a description of the hand, in his immortal work De vsu partium.
" Man alone," says Galen, " is furnished with hands, as he alone is a participator in wisdom. The hand is a most mar- vellous instrument, and one most admirably adapted to his nature. Bemove his hand, and man can no longer exist. By its means he is prepared for defence or attack, for peace or war. What need has he of horns or talons ? With his hand, he grasps the sword and lance, he fashions iron and steel. Whilst with horns, teeth and talons, animals can only attack or defend at close quarters, man is able to project from afar the instruments with which he is armed. Shot fi*om his hand, the feathered arrow reaches at a great distance the heart of an enemy, or stops the flight of a passing bird. Although man is less agile than the horse and the deer, yet he mounts the horse, guides him, and thus successfully hunts the deer. He is naked and feeble, yet his hand procures him a covering of iron and steel. His body is unprotected against the inclemencies of climate, yet his hand finds him a convenient abode, and furnishes him with clothing. By the use of his hand, he gains dominion and mastery over all that lives upon the earth, in the air, or in the depths of the sea. From the flute and lyre with which he amuses
£4 THE HUMAN RACK
his leisure, to the terrible instrumeuts by means of which he deals death around him, and to the vessel which bears him, a daring seaman, upon the bosom of the deep — all is the work of his hand.
" Would man without hands have been able to write out the laws which govern him, or raise to the gods statues and altars ? Without hands could he bequeath to posterity the fruit of his. labours, and the memory of his deeds? Could he (had man been created handless) converse with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle^ and the different great men, children of bygone ages ? The hand is then the physical characteristic of man, in like manner as^ intelligence is liis moral characteristic."
Galen, having shown in this chapter the general formation of the hand and the special disposition of the organs which compose it ; having described the articulations and bones, the muscles and tendons of the fingers; and having analyzed the mechanism of the different movements of the hand, cries, full of admiration for this marvellous structure :
" In presence of the hand, this marvellous iiistiniment, cannot« we well treat witli contempt tlie opinion of those philosophers who saw in the limnan body merely the result of a fortuitous con- course of atoms ! Does not everjihing in our organization most clearly give the lie to this false doctrine ? Who will dare to invoke chance in explanation of this admirable disposition ? No, it is no blind power that has given birtli to all these man'els. Do you know among men a genius capable of conceiving and exe- cuting so i)erfectawork? There exists not such a workman. This sublime organization is the creation of a superior intelligence, of which the intellect of man is but a poor terrestrial reflection. Let others offer to the Deity reeking hecatombs, let them sing hynms in honour of the gods ; my hymn of praise shall be the study and the exposition of the maiTels of the human frame! "
The sense of hearing, without attaining in man the perfection which it reaches in certain animals, is nevertheless of great deli- cacy, and becomes an infinite resource of instruction and pure enjoyment. Not only are differences of iatonation, intensity, and timbre, recognised by our ear, but the most delicate shades of rhythm and tone, the relations of simultaneous and successive sounds which give the sentiment of melody and harmony, are appreciated, and furnish us with the fii'st and most natural of the arts — music. Thus the perfection and dehcacy of our senses,.
INTRODUCTION. 25
which x>ermit of oiir grasping faint and slightly varying imjires- sionsy thie harmony of these senses themselves, their perfect equilibrimn, their capability of improvement by exercise, place us at a considerable distance above the animal.
Let us now pass to the bony portion of thie human body, and consider first of aU the head^ The head is shared by two regions, the cranium and the face. The predominance of either of these regions over the Qther, depends upon the development of the organs which belong to each.
The cranium contains the cerebral mass, that is, the seat of the intellect ; the face is occupied by the organs appertaining to the principal senses. In animals, the face greatly exceeds the cranium in extent ; the reverse is, however, the case with man. It is but rarely that with him the face assumes importance at the expense of the cranium — ^in other words, that the jaws become, elongated, and give to the human face the aspect of a brute.
We find in works upon anthropology some expressions which call for an explanation here ; they are frequently employed, since they enable us to express by a single term the relation which exists between the dimensions of any pailicular skull. The term dclickocephnlous (from the Greek loXv^ps, long, K€<^aA^, head,) is applied to a cranium which is elongated from front to rear, or, to express the idea numerically, the cranium whose longitudinal diameter bears to its vertical diameter the proportion of 100 to 68. A short cranium is styled hrachycephalous (from, ppaxvs, short, KC^oA^, head,) wliich term is appUed when the relation between the longitudinal and vertical diameters is 100 to 80.
The attribute of length or shortness of the cranium is of less importance than is generally beUeved. All Negroes, it is true, are dolichocephahus ; but it must not be supposed from this that the production backwards of the cranium is an indication of in- feriority ; since in the white race, heads are sometimes very long and sometimes very short. The North Germans are dolicho- cephalaus; those inhabiting Central Germany being brachycepha- lous. This characteristic cannot therefore be regarded as a criterion of intellectual excellence.
There is in the human face an anatomical characteristic of greater importance than any taken from the elongation of the eraninm ; that is, the projection forwards, or the uprightness of
26 THE HUMAN KACE.
the jaws. The term prognathism (from wpi, forward, and yviOo7, jaw,) is applied to this jutting forward of the teeth and jaws, and orthognathism (from SpSbs, straight, y/dtfo^, jaw,) to the latter arrangement.
It was long admitted that prognathism, or projection of the jaws, was peculiar to the Negro race. But this opinion has been forced to yield to the discovery, that projecting jaws exist among people in no way connected with the Negro. In the midst of white populations this characteristic is frequently met with ; it is occasionally found among the English, and is by no means rare at Paris, especially among women. Prognathism would appear to be characteristic of a small European race dwelling to the south of the Baltic Sea, the Esthonians, and which itself is but the residue of the primitive Mongolian race to which we have alluded in our work, "Primitive Man," as being the first race which, according to M. Pnmer-Bey, peopled the globe. It is probably the mixture of Esthonian blood with that of the inhabi- tants of Central Europe, which causes the appearance in our large cities of individuals whose faces are prognathous.
We cannot close our remarks upon the face without speaking of a curious relation between it and the cranium, which has been much abused ; we allude to the facial angle. By facial angle is meant the angle which results from the union of two lines, one of which touches the forehead, the other of which, drawn from the orifice of the ear, meets the former line at the extremity of the front teeth.
The Dutch anatomist Camper, after having compared Greek and Eoman statues, or medals of either nationality, assumed that the cause of the intellectual superiority which distinguished Greek from Eoman physiognomies was to be found in the fact, that, with the Greeks, the facial angle is larger than in Boman heads. Starting with this observation. Camper pursued his enquiries until it occurred to him to advance the theory that the increase of the facial angle may be taken in the human race as a sign of superior intelligence.
This observation was correct, insomuch as it separated men from apes, and carrion birds from other birds. But its application to different varieties of men, as a measure of their various degrees of intelligence, was a pretension doomed to be sacrificed to future investigations. Dr. Jacquart, assistant-naturalist in the Museum
INTRODUCTION. 27
of Natural History at Paris, calling to his aid an instrument he invented, by which the facial angle is rapidly measured, has, in our day, made numerous studies of the facial angle of human beings. M; Jacquart found that this angle cannot be taken as a measure of intelligence, for he observed it to be a right angle in individuals, who, with respect to intelligence, were in no way . superior to others whose facial angle was much smaller. M. Jacquart went so far as to show, that, in the population of Paris alone, the facial angle varies between much wider proportions than those imposed by Camper as charac- teristic limits of human varieties.
The measure of the facial angle, therefore, is far from bearing the importance which has long been ascribed to it ; but this does not go to prevent its application, with advantage, in ordinary cases, when races of men are required to be distinguished from one another.
Erect carriage is another of the characteristics which dis- tinguish the human species from all other animals, including the ape, by whom this position is but rarely assumed, and then accidentally and unnaturally.
Everything in the human skeleton is calculated to ensure a vertical posture. In the first place, the head articulates with the vertebral column at a point so situated that, when this vertebral column is erect, the head, by means of its own weight, remains supported in equilibrium. Besides this, the shape of the head, the direction of the face, the position of the eyes, and the form of the nostrils, all require that man should walk erect on two feet.
K our body were intended to assume a horizontal position, everything connected with it would be out of place : the crown of the head would be the most advanced part, and this would operate most detrimentally to the exercise of sight; the eyes would be directed toward the earth; the nostrils would open backward; the forehead and the face would be beneath the head. Moreover, the whole muscular system and all the tendons are, in man, auxiliary to erect posture, without mentioning the curves which occur in the vertebral column, and the exceptional formation of the limbs, &c.
J. J. Kousseau was, therefore, very far from right, when he contended that man was bom to go on all fours.
28 THE HUMAN RACE.
The height of men; as well as the colour of their skin, are characteristics which must not be overlooked, since they are of importance as distinctive attributes of different races.
And first, with regard to height, the differences which tins incident may present in the human species have been greatly exaggerated. Much allowance must be made in admitting what has been written with respect to dwarfs, and what has been alleged concerning giants. The Greeks beUeved in the existence of a people they called Pygmies^ but whose place of abode tliey always omitted to jjoint out. These were very small people, who were entirely liidden from view when they entered a field of standing wheat, and who passed much of their time in resisting the attacks of ' Cranes. The same * fable was revived in morel modem times, wiUi reference to a people supposed to Hve in tlie island of Madagascar, who were styled Kymes. But Pygmies and Kymes are equally fabulous.
Antiquity tells us of giants, but ^viihout forming tliem into a separate race. It is rather in modern times that the exist- ence of races of human giants has been put forward. In the sixteenth centmy, when Magellan had doubled Cape Horn and discovered the Pacific Ocean, a companion of this navigator, Pigafetta, gave an altogether extraordinary description of the Patagonians, or inhabitants of the Tierra del Fuego. He made giants of them. One of his successors, Leaya, adding yet more to the height of tlie Patagonians, assigned to these men a statm'e of from three to four metres.
Modern travellers have reduced to accurate proportions the exaggerated statements of ancient navigators. The French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny actually measured a large number of Patagonians, and fomid that their height, on an average, was about 1"* 73.
This, then, is about the limit of the height which is reached by the human species.
With reference to the extreme of smallness we are able to arrive at this by referring to the Bushmen who inhabit Southern Africa. An EngUsh traveller, Barrow, measured all the mem- bers of a tribe of Bushmen, and found that their average height was 1°^31.
The human species, therefore, varies in height to the extent of about 0"*'42, that is to say, the difference between the height
. INTRODUCTION. 29
of the Patagoniaiis and that of the Bushmen. It id well to make this observation whilst we are upon this subject, since the supporters of the theory of a plurality, of human races have invoked these differences in height in support of the multii)licity of the races of humanity. It is clear that, among animals, races vary in height to a much greater extent than tliey do with man ; there is, by comparison, a much greater difference in size between a mastiff ai;d a dog of the Pyrenees, than there is between a Bushman and a Patagonian.
As regards the colour of the skin of the human race, we find it necessary to say a few words, since we propose to take thia as the basis of our classification.
The colour of the skin is a very convenient, characteristic to fix upon in order to identify the various races, since this quality is peculiarly adapted to suggest itself thi'ough the eye. Its scientific importance must, however, by no means be exaggerated. Certain individuals, though they be members of the White or Caucasian Eace, may yet be very darkly tinted. Arabs are often of a brown colour, which nearly approaches black, and yet they possess the finest marks of the Wliite or Caucasian Race. The Abyssinians, although very brown, are not black. The American Indians, whom we rank as members of the Red Race, often have dark brown. or almost black skins. Among members of the White Race in northern latitudes, especially women, the skin has often a yellowish tint. We must add that the colour of the skin is often difficult to fix, since the shades of colour merge into one another. AU this must be said in order to show how difficult it is to form natm-al groups gf the innumerable types of our species.
It would be for. us now to speak of the physiological charac- teristics of the human race ; but our consideration of this subject will be liiyiited to a few words, since tlie condition of physiological functions is almost identical among all men, whatever be their race.
There is, nevertheless, an important difference, well worthy of note, presented by the nervous system when we compare the two extremes of humanity, namely, the Negro and the white European. In the white man, the nervous centres, that is the brain and spinal cord, are of much greater volmne than they are in the Negro. In the latter the expansions from these nervous
30 THE HUMAN RACE.
centres, that is, the nerves properly so called, have relatively a greater volume.
A similar difference, quite on a par with this, exists in the circulatory system. In the white man, the arterial system is more developed than the venous; the reverse is the case with the Negro. Lastly, the blood of the Negro is more viscous, and of a deeper red than that of the white man.
With the exception of these general differences, the great physiological functions proceed in the same manner among all races of men. The differences are not remarked except when secondary functions are compared, but these differences then assume proportions of some consideration.
Climate, customs, and habits are the causes of these variations in the secondary functions, which at times become so similar as to permit of confusion in the most opposite races. Let a member of the white race be thrown into the midst of wild Indians, become a prisoner of the red-skins, and share their warlike existence in the midst of forests, we shall see that the sense of sight, as also that of hearing, will attain in this individual the same perfection which they enjoy in his new companions. It is by virtue of the prodigious flexibility of our organism, and of our powers of imitation and assimilation, that the physiological functions of secondary importance become capable of such modification.
The intellectual and moral characteristics are those which take the lead in man. Not only are we unable to pass them over in silence in the general study of the human race, but much more importance must be assigned to them than to mere corporeal characteristics. If the naturalist, when he studies an animal, makes a point, when he has described his structure and organism, of considering his habits and manner of life, how much more should he, when treating of man, dwell upon his intellectual faculties, the stamp which so truly identifies our species.
Man makes use of language as the means of expressing his intelligence. If man is provided with the power of speech, which he has in common with no gther animal, it is owing to the fact that in him intelligence is infinitely more developed than in the animal. It is through the simultaneous conciirrence of all his senses that the faculty of speech is manifested in man ; and the proof of this is, that through the absence of one of his senses, he loses this faculty. What is meant by a person bom dumb ? It is
INTRODUCTION. 31
an indiyidnal similar in all respects to speaking man, but differing from him in this, that he came into the world perfectly deaf. The primary absence of the power of hearing has paralysed the child's intelligence with special reference to his imitative faculty, and in fact, the person called deaf and dumb is originall}' simply a person 6om dea/.
Language, then, is but the expression of the highest intelK- gence. ** Animals have a voice," says Aristotle, " but man alone speaks." Nothing can be truer than this statement of the immortal Greek philosopher.
It is well known how the languages and dialects spoken in the world have multiplied; and, indeed, nothing is more difficult than to classify all the languages and dialects that exist. This diffi- culty becomes more insurmountable when we consider that languages vary in course of time to a very considerable extent. The French of Babelais and Montaigne, who wrote at the time of the Kenaissance, is not very intelligible to us, and that of French chroniclers at the time of St. Louis can only be understood by studying it specially and with a dictionary. Modem Italians read Dante with great difficulty, and the same may be said for the English as regards their great writer Shakespeare. Languages then alter very rapidly, even though the people themselves remain stationary. The alterations are much more serious and rapid when two peoples amalgamate.
These considerations are sufficient to convey an idea of the problem which scholars have propounded in wishing to ascertain the language of primitive humanity. It may be said that such a . problem is incapable of solution. We must therefore despair of finding the mother tongue, and limit ourselves to those which are her offspring.
Upon a comparison of these last, it has been decided to assign to three fundamental groups all the languages which have been, and are still, spoken on the earth ; these are, as we have already said, monosyllabic, agglutinative and inflected languages.
Chinese is the most decided example of a monosyllabic language. Each word comprises but one syllable, and has an absolute meaning in itself. Recourse must be had to the compli- cated combination of a quantity of utterances in order to impress all modifications of thought, all distinctions of time, place, person, condition, &c. One marvels to hear that the Chinese language
82 TH% HUMAN BACK
comprehends such an immense number of words, that the life of a single man of letters is not sufficiently long to allow of his learning all. This apparent wealth is but the most utter poverty. This language, whose vocabulary is infinite, is simply detestable. To its imperfection must be attributed the smallness of the progress which the people of Asia have mad3 in the direction of intelligence and commerce.
Agglutinative languages, which are spoken by Negroes, as also by many people of the yellow race, are the first degree of l)erfection in human speech. In these the word is no longer unique ; variable terminations attached to each word modify the primitive expression. They contain roots and words whose function it is to modify these roots.
Th6 third and last degree of perfection in human speech is found in inflected languages. Those languages are so called, in wliich the same word is capable of modification a great number of times, in order to express the different shades of thought, and to translate changes of time, person, or place. Inflected languages are made up of a series of diffei*ent terms, the number of which is by no means large, but the modification of which, by means of adjuncts, or through the position they occupy, are indeed innu- merable. All European languages, and those spoken in Asia by people of the white race, are inflected.
If spoken language is the first -element which served to con- stitute human societies; fixed, that is icrittcn language, has been the fundamental cause of their progress. By means of writing, one generation has been enabled to hand down to the other the fruits of their experience and investigation, and thus to lay the foundation of primitive science and histor}\
The first forms of writing were mere mnemonic signs. Stones cut to a certain fashion, pieces of wood to which a conventional form had been imparted, and such like, were the first signs of written language. One of the most curious forms of mnemonic writing has been met with both in the Old and New Worlds ; it consisted in joining little bimdles of cord of different colours, in which were tied knots of various kinds. "Whoever ties a knot in his handkerchief in order to recall to mind some fact or intention, makes use, without knowing it, of the primitive form of writmg.
An advance in writing consisted in representing pictorially
INTRODUCTION. 33
objects which it was wished to designate. The wild Indians of North America still make use of these rough representations of objects, as a means of imparting certain information.
This very system is rendered more complete, when the design is supplemented by a conventional idea. If prudence is indicated by a serpent, strength by a lion, and lightness by a bird, we here at once recognize writing properly so called. This last form of writing is known as the symbolical or ideographic.
Symbolical writing existed among the ancients. The hiero- glyphics which are engraved upon the monuments of ancient Egypt, and those which have been found upon Mexican remains, ielong to symbolical writing.
And yet this is not writing in the true sense of the word, which does not exist until the conventional signs, of which use is made, correspond with the words or signs of the language spoken, and can actually replace the language itself.
By the alphabet, is meant the collection of conventional signs corresponding to the sounds which form words. The alphabet is one of those inventions which have called for the greatest efforts of the human mind, and it is not without good reason that Greek m3rthology deified Cadmus, the inventor of letters. The same admiration for the inventors of alphabets is, moreover, /exhibited among all ancient nations.
It is not only through its immense superiority as regards -extent and power, that the intelligence of man is distinguished Irom. that of the brute ; there is an attribute of intelligence which is strictly peculiar to our species. This is the faculty of abstraction, which permits of our collecting and placing together the perceptions of the mind, by that means arriving at general results. It is through this power of abstraction, that our intellect has created the wonders which are familiar to all ; that the arts and sciences have been brought to light and fostered by society.
In connection with the faculty of abstraction, we must allude to the moral sense, which is a deduction from that same property. The moral sense is a special attribute of human intelligence, and it may be said that through this attribute, man's intellect is dis- tinguished from that of animals ; for this characteristic is most truly peculiar to the mind of man, and is nowhere found among animals.
D
34 THE HUMAN RACE.
Among all people, and at all times, the difference between good and evil, truth and falsehood, has been recognized. The abstract idea of moral good and moral evil may certainly differ in different people : one may admire, what the other detests ; in one nation, that^ may be held in good repute, which, in another, is a criminal offence ; yet, after all, the abstract notion of evil and good, does not cease to exist. Observance of the right of property, self- respect, and regard for human life, are to be found among all nationalities. If man, in his savage state, occasionally casts aside these moral notions, it is in consequence of the social con- dition of the tribe to which he belongs, and must be regarded in connexion with the customs of war and the feeling of revenge. But, in a state of tranquillity and peace, which condition the philo- sopher and student must presuppose in framing their arguments, the notion of evil and good is always to be found. The forms which the feeling of honour dictates, vary for example in the white man and the savage, but the feeling itself is never eradi- cated from the heart of any.
The religious feeling, the notion of divinity, is another charac- teristic which has its origin in the faculty of abstraction. This sentiment is indissolubly allied to human intelligence. Without wishing, with an eminent French anthropologist, M. de Quatre- fages, to make of 7^eligiositi/ a fundamental attribute of humanity, and a natural characteristic of our species, we may say that all men are religious, that they acknowledge and adore a Creator, a Supreme God. Whether the statement that certain people, such as the Australians, Bushmen, and Polynesians, are atheists, as we are assured by some travellers, and whether the reproaches bestowed upon them in consequence of this, are well-founded, or whether it is the fact that the travellers who bore this testimony imderstood but little of the language and signs of these different people, as has been suggested by M. de Quatre- fages, are matters of relatively slight importance. The state of brutality of certain tribes, buried in the midst of inaccessible and savage countries, and the intellectual imperfection which follows, concealing from them the notion of God, are nothing when com- pared with the universality of religious belief which stirs in the hearts of the innumerable populations spread over the face of the earth;
Language and writing gave birth to human associations, and
INTRODUCTION. 35
later on, to civilization, by which they were transformed. It is curious to follow out the progressive forms of human association, and point out the stages which civilization has passed through in its forward march.
Primitive societies assumed thi'ee successive forms. Men were in the first instance, hunters emdjishers, then herdsmen, and lastly husbandmen. We say, populations were first of all hunters and fishers. The human race then inhabiting the earth, was but small in number, and this explains it. A group of men gaining their livelihood simply by hunting and fishing, cannot be com- posed of a very large number of individuals. A vast extent of tenitory is required to nourish a population, which finds in game and fish its sole means of subsistence. Moreover, this manner of living is always precarious, for there never is any certainty that food will be found for the morrow. This continual pre- occupation in seeking the means of subsistence, brings man nearer to the brute, and hinders him from exercising his intellect upon ennobling and more useful subjects. Hunting is, moreover, the image of warfare, and war may very easily arise between neighbouring populations who get their Hving in the same manner. If in these eventual collisions, prisoners are taken, they are sacrificed in order that there may be no additional mouths to feed.
So long, therefore, as human societies were composed only of hunters and fishers, they were unable to make any intellectual progress, and their customs, of necessity remained barbarous. The death of prisoners was the order of battle.
Societies of herdsmen succeeded those of hunters and fishers. Man having domesticated first the dog, then the ox, the horse, the sheep or the llama, by that means ensured his livelihood for the morrow, and was enabled to turn his attention to other matters besides the quest of food. We therefore see pastoral societies advancing in the way of progress, by the improvement of their dress, their weapons, and their habitations.
But pastoral communities have also need of large tracts of country, for their herds rapidly exhaust the herbage in one region, and they must therefore seek farther for pastures, in order that they may be sure of their food, when that is confined to flesh and milk. Pastoral populations were therefore of necessity nomadic.
D 2
36 THE HUMAN RACE.
In their reciprocal migrations, pastoral tribes frequently came Into collision, and found it necessary to dispute by armed force the possession of the soil. War ensued. Since the prisoners taken could be maintained with comparative ease by the con- queror on condition of their lending assistance, they were forced to become slaves, and it is thus that the sad condition of slavery, which was later on to extend in so aggravated a degree as to develop into a social grievance, had its origin.
The third form of society was realized as soon as man turned his attention to agriculture, that is, when he began to make plants and herbage, artificially produced, an abundant and certain source of nourishment.
Agriculture affords man certain leism-e time and tends to soften his manners and customs. If war breaks out, its episodes are less cruel in themselves. The captive can, without actually being reduced to slavery, be added to the number of those who labour in the fields, and in return for a consideration contribute to the wellbeing of the tribe. The Serf here takes the place of the slave ; a form of society, comi)osed of masters and different degrees of servants, becomes definitely organized.
Agricultural people, being relieved from the preoccupations of material existence, are enabled to foster their intelligence, which becomes rapidly more abundant. It is thus that civilization first took root in human society.
These then are the three stages, which, in all countries, mankind have of necessity passed through before becoming civilized. The progress from one stage to the next has varied in rapidity in proportion to circumstances of time and place, and of the country or hemisphere. Nations, whom we find at the present day but little advanced in civilization, were on the other hand originally superior to otiier nations we may point to. The Chinese were civilized long before the inhabitants of Europe. They were building superb monuments, were engaged in the cultivation of the mulberry, were rearing silkworms, manufac- turing porcelain, &c., at the very time when our ancestors, the Celts and Aryans, clothed in the skins of wild beasts, and tattooed, were living in the woods in the condition of hunters. The Babylonians were occupied with the study of astronomy, and were calculating the orbits of the stars two thousand years before Christ; for the astronomical registers brought by Alexander the Oreat
INTRODUCTION. 37
from Babylon, refer back to celestial observations extending ovei* more than ten centuries. Egyptian civilization dates back to at least four thousand years before Christ, as is proved by the magnificent statue of Gheffrel, which belongs to that period, and which, since it is composed of granite, can only have been cut by the aid of iron and steel tools, in themselves indicators of an advanced fbrm of industry.
This last consideration should make us feel modest. It shows that nations whom we now crush by our intellectual supe- riority, the Chinese and Egyptians, perhaps also the old inhabi- tants of Mexico and Peni, were once far before us in the path of civilization.
It is quite clear that manufactures have tended to hasten the progress of civilization. It is well worthy of remark that, accord- ing as the matter composing the material of these manufactures has undergone transformation, so the condition of society has progressed. Two mineral substances were the objects of primi- tive manufactures : stone and metal. Civilization was rough- he\Mi by instruments made of stone, and has been finished by those composed of metal. Modem naturalists and archaeologists are therefore perfectly right in dividing the history of primitive man into two ages : the stone age, and the metal age.
In our work " Primitive Man," we have followed step by step the course and oscillations of the primitive manufactiu'es of different peoples. We have first seen that man being without any other instrument of attack or defence save his nails and teeth, or a stick, made use of stones, and formed them into arms and tools. We then saw that he made himself master of fire, of which he alone understands the use. We then saw him, with the aid of fire, supply the heat which in cold climates the sun denied, create during the night artificial light, and add to the insufficiency of his form of diet, not to speak of the numerous advantages which his industry enabled him to gain by the application of heat.
As man progressed, the instrument formed merely of stone trimmed to shape no longer suflSced him ; he poUshed it, and even commenced to adorn it with drawings and symbols. Thus the arts found their origin.
Metals succeeded stone, and by their use a complete revolution was effected in human societies. The tool composed of bronze
38 THE HUMAN RACE.
enabled work to be done, which was out of the question when the agent was stone. Later on iron made its appearance, and from that time industry progressed with giant strides.
We have no occasion here to revert to the history of the development of the industry of man in prehistoric times. We shall confine ourselves to pointing out that this part of our subject is treated at full length in our work on '* Primitive Man."
To summarize what we have said : if man, in his bodily formation, is an animal, in the exalted range of his intellect, he is Nature's lord. Although we show that in him phenomena present themselves similar to those which we encounter in vege- tables and plants, yet we see him by his superior faculties, extend afar his empire, and reign supreme over all that is around him, the mineral as well as the organized world. The faculties which properly belong to human intelligence and distinguish man from the brute, namely, the abstractive faculties, make him the privileged being of creation, and justif}'^ him in his pride, for, besides the physical power which he is able to exert on matter, he alone has the notion of duty and the knowledge of the existence of a God.
After these general considerations we proceed to the descrip- tion of the different races of men.
We have said that we shall adopt in this work the classification proposed by M. d'Omalius d*Halloy, modifying it to meet our own views. We shall therefore describe in tlieir order :
1. The White Race.
2, The Yellow Race. 8, The Brown Race. 4. The Red Race.
6. The Black Race.
We would call special, observation to the fact that these epithets must not always be taken in an absolute sense. The meaning they intend to convey is that each of the groups we estabUsh is composed of men, who considered as a whole, are more white, yellow, brown, red, or black, than those of other races. The reader must therefore not be surprised to find in any
INTRODUCTION. 39
given race men whose colour does not agree with the epithet which we here employ in order to characterize them. In addition to that, these groups are not founded solely upon the colour of the skin ; they are derived from the consideration of other characteristics, and, above all, from the languages spoken by the people in question.
THE WHITE RACE.
This race was called by Cuvier the Caucasiany since that writer assigned to the mountains of the Caucasus the first origin of man. It is now frequently known as the Aryan race, jfrom the name formerly bestowed upon the inhabitants of Persia. The Caucasian or Aryan race is admittedly the original stock of our species, and it would seem that from the region of the Caucasus, or the Persian shores of the Caspian Sea, this race has spread into different parts of the earth, peopling progressively tlie entire globe.
The beautiful oval form of the head is a mark which dis- tinguishes the Caucasian or Aryan race of men from all others. The nose is large and straight : the aperture of the mouth moderate in size, enclosed by delicate lips ; the teeth are arranged vertically : the eyes are large, wide open, and sui'- mounted by curved brows. The forehead is advanced, and the face well proportioned : the hair is glossy, long, and abundant. This race it is from which have proceeded the most civilized nations, those who have most usually become rulers of others.
We shall divide the White Eace into three branches, corres- ponding to peoples who at the first successively developed themselves in the north-west, the south-east, and north-east of the Caucasus. These branches are the European, Aramean, and Persian. This classification is based upon geographical and linguistic considerations. M. d'Omalius d'Halloy admits a fourth branch, the Scythian, which we reject, since the people which it comprises belong more properly to the Yellow Race or to the Aramean branch of the White Race-
HU9UH RACE
SCAHDINAVIAn GREEK
WHITE OR CAUCASIAN RACE
CHAPTER I.
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
What we have just said with regard to the civilization and power of the white race applies with most force to the peoples who form the European branch.
Proceeding upon considerations grounded chiefly upon language, we distinguish among the peoples foi-ming the European branchy three great families : the Teutonic, Latin and Slavonic, to which must be added a smaller family, the Greek.
Although great differences exist between the languages spoken by the i>eoples composing these four families, these languages are all in some manner connected with Sanskiit, that is the language used in the ancient sacred books of the Hindus. The analogy of European languages with Sanskrit, added to the antiquity evidenced b}- tlie historical records of many Asiatic nations, and notably of the Hindus, brings us to the admission that Europeans first came from Asia.
Teutonic Family.
The i)eople comprised in the Teutonic family are those who possess in the highest degree the attributes of the white race. Their complexion, which is clearer than tliat of any other people, does not appear susceptible of becoming brown, even after a long residence in warm climates. Their eyes are generdly blue, their hair is blond ; they are of a good height and j)ossess well propor- tioned limbs.
From the very earUest times recorded in history, these people have occupied Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany and a portion of France. Tbey liave also developed themselves in the British
42 THE WHITE RACE.
Isles, in Italy, Spain, and the north of Africa : but in these last named countries they have eventually become mixed with people belonging to other families. What is more, these same people form at the present day the most important part of the white population of America and pceanica, and have reduced into sub- jection a large portion of Southern Asia.
"We shall divide the Teutonic family into three leading groups : the Scandinavians, Germans, and English.
3. — WAKE OP ICELASDIC PEASAKTS IS
Scandinavians. — The Scandinavians have preserved almost unaltered the typical characteristics of the Teutonic family. Their intelligence is far advanced, and instruction has been spread among them to such an extent, that they have given a strong impulse to scientific progress. The ancient poeras of the Scandinavians, which go back as far as the eighth century, are celebrated in the history of Eiuropean literature.
The Scandinavians comprise three very distinct populations : the Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes. To this group must be
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 43
added the small populiition of Iceland, since the language spoken by them is most similai- of all to tlie ancient Scandi-
The Feroe Isles are also inliabited by Scandinavians, and many Swedes are also met with on the coasts of Finland. But in other conntries, to which ui former times the Scandinavians extended their conquests, they have, in general, mingled with the peoples they subjected.
The Icelanders are of midtUe height and only of moderate pliTsical power. They are honest, faithful, and hospitable, and extremely fond of their native countiy. Their productions are small in extent, as they understand little more tlmn the manufac- ture of coarse stuff and the preparation of leatlier.
We give here some types of those people.
iig. S is a Wake of the peasants.
-44 THE WHITE RACE.
The Norwegians are robust, active, of great endurance, simple, hospitable, and benevolent.
In Norway few differences are found in the manners and customs of the different classes of society. Customs here are truly democnitic, the peasant plays the chief port in the affairs of the country. The popular diet dictates its will to the goreru- ment.
M. de Saint Blaise in liis work, Voyage dans lea Etats Scandi- naves, describes the Nonvegian ns a rough and moody but rehable character. One thing which struck him was the absence of sociability between the two sexes. They marry usually before attaining twenty-five years of age, when the woman devotes hersell" entirely to her husband and household affairs.
When the two sexes meet at meals, they separate immediately the repast is at an end. The result of this is a too familiar manner, on absence of constraint among the men, and a neglect
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 45
in the dress of the women wliich conti'asta strongly with their natural grace.
|
r -^7—-.: - |
|
|
.j^^<:^k^ |
In fignres 4, 6, 6, 7 and 8, we give types of the inhabitants of Norway.
40 THE WHITE BACE,
The Danes (the old Jutca or Goths) aie a people proud of theii- racCj and full of valour and stubbornness. The men are tall and strong; the women slender and active. Their hair is blond, their eyes are blue, and their complexion ruddy. The children are fresh and rosy, the old men liU>esome and erect in their walk. Their voices are good and vigorous, they speak in an energetic manner. We encounter in Denmark a strange mixture of democratic and feudal customs : perpetual entails are contrasted witli laws whose
(NORWAY).
object is equality. The working classes have an ardent desire to possess land in their own right.
There are in Denmark three classes of peasantry ; those who poBsesB both bouse and garden, those who possess merely a house, and those who only rent apartments. The first of these fumish their board with rich plate and utensils ; their wives and children go to work in the fields decorated with rings and bracelets.
The people therefore enjoy a considerable amount of comfort. Add to this a general degree of instruction, which extends even to the peasant's cottage, and which embraces notions of agricul- ture, geography, history and arithmetic. The civilization of
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 47
Demnark is, therefore, very considerable, and certainly gi-eater than that of France, England, Spain, and Italy.
Drunkenness is rarely met with iu Denmark, and maniage is considered sacred.
The marriages of the Fioniaii peasants last seven days. They dance and make merry tliree days before and three days after that on which the marriage takes place. The cerenionj' is per-
(nobwav).
fonned amid a flourish of trumpets. The bridegroom is elegantly dressed, the bride still more so ; she wears, moreover, a kind of diadem in which flowers are seen mingling with gold.
Germiina. — ^When wandering as nomadic tribes in the woods, that is, at the time of the Roman Empire, the ancient inhabitants of Germany much resembled their neighbours, the Gauls. They were men of large stature and vigorous frame, with white skins. Their hair, however, was usually red, while among tjie Gauls the ruling colour was blond. Their head was large, with a broad forehead and blue eyes. But the modem descendants of the old
48 THE WHITE EACK
inhabitants of GermaBy have undergone many modifications, ■which would render it difficult at the present day, to find, in ihe greater portion of that country, general characteristics based upon the structure of the bend, and the colour of the eyes or hair.
The modem inhabitants of Germany, the Germans, occupy a. very large portion of Germany proper and of Eastern Prussia, as weU as a broad band of country to the right of the Rhine. They
".^f^^*
(BTt-rTQABD).
nre found also in different parts of Hungary, Poland, Kussia, and North America. The Germans of the East and South having mixed much with the peoples of Southern Europe, do not repre- sent exclusively the Teutonic type ; some of them are met with who have brown hair and black eyes.
We give in the accompanjTng illustrations (figs. 9 to 14) some ij-pes and costumes of the inhabitants of Germany proper (Baden, Wfirtemberg, Suabia and Bavaria). The national cos- tumes of Alsace are also shown.
We shall borrow from a work, published in 1860 under the title *' Let RaceB Humaines et leur Part dans la Civiliiation" by Dr.
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 49
Clavel, an interesting description of the customs of modem Germany : —
. " Impinging, at its south-western frontier, upon the Latin world, at its south-eastern frontier, upon the Slavonian world, and at its northern frontier, upon Scandinavia, Germany," says Dr. Clavel, ** does not admit of any very distinct definition. Throughout the whole periphery of this country there exists no identity either of customs, language, or reUgion. Its provinces on the frontiers of Denmark are half Scandinavian ; those bordering on Russia or Turkey are half Slavonic ; those which are neighbours of Italy or France are half Latin : the provinces which together represent the frontiers of Germany, form a zone more mixed and various than is possessed by the frontiers of any other nationality.
** It is only toward the centre of the country that we find in all its purity the blond Germanic type, the feudal organization and the numerous principalities which are its consequences. It is here that we find the conditions of climate which appear to pro- duce this race with blue eyes, red and white complexion, tail figores, and full, powerful frames.
" Whilst the Latin, glorying in the light of heaven, enlarges his windows, builds open terraces, and clears his forests that he may plant vineyards in their stead ; the German loves above all things shade and mystic retreats. He hides his house in the midst of trees, linuts his windows in size, and lines his streets with leafy elms; he reveres, nay, almost worships his old oak trees, endows them with soul and language, and makes of them the abode of a Divinity.
"In order thoroughly to enter into the German genius, we must wander among the paths of their old forests, observe and analyze carefully the eflfects of light and shade, springing up in ubiquitous confusion, intersecting confined and narrow per- spectives, lending isolated objects a brightness vividly con- trasting with the neighbouring obscurity, changing even the appearance of the face in their alternations, and forming dark backgrounds, illuminated by prismatic tints and glowing sun- beams. Pausing beneath the venerable trees, we must listen to sounds, re-echoed a thousand times, then dying away among the thickets, to give place to the rustling of aspen leaves, to the sighing of the firs, or to the harmonious murmurs of rivulets which force Uieir way amid the flags and water-lilies. We must inhale
B
K) THE WHITE RACE.
the &ir scented with the pungent odour of fallen leaves, or the exhilarating scent of the wild cherry blossom. It is only then that we come to appreciate the love of nature and the druidical tone which pervade German literature ; we understand Goethe's passion for natural history ; the poem of Faust becomes foil of meaning ; a feeling of melancholy creeps over the mind and leads as to the contemplation of things that are soft, sad, mysterious, fantastic, irref^ar, and original.
(dTUTTCAED).
"Being brought thus in contact with nature, the German is natural and primitive ; he sympathizes with the world's infancy. He easily goes back to the past and the consideration of olden times; but it is not in him to anticipate the future, and he regards progress with distaste. If he advances towards equality and unity, it is the ideal of the Latins which impels him. There is in him a resistance which forms part of his patient and cold nature. His movements are sluggish. His language is hardly formed. His Uterature, overflowing with imagination, is wanting in elegance and purity, it is not ripe enough for prose and unfit to form a book.
EUEOPEAN BRANCH. 61
" The plastic arts of Germany also possess the simplicity and variety which are produced by imagination ; but they are wanting in proportion, in purity of style and elegance ; they are capable of arranging neither lines nor colours; their productions often verge on the grotesque, or are marked by heaviness or pedantry, and they clearly are not the work of children of the sun.
" The Germans possess an ear which appreciates sound in a wonderful manner, and reduces with ease to melody the fleeting impressions of the Soul.
" . . . . He who possesses a strong and enduring constitu- tion brings to his means of action energy of will. His pro- jects are neither frivolously conceived, nor abandoned without good reason, and they are often followed out in spite of a thousand obstacles. This patient and continuous activity on the part of the Germans enables them to succeed in all foiins of industry, in spite of their subdivision and other hindrances resulting from their political constitution.
" When men are laborious, patient, and frugal, we may expect to see family life become strongly organized, and exercise a decisive influence upon national customs.
" Love, whose duty it is to bring together the sexes into a united existence, is in Germany, neither very positive, nor very romantic; it is dreamy in its character. It seeks its object in youth and speedily finds it ; faithfulness is then observed until the time for marriage arrives.
** Early engagements being admitted by custom, betrothed couples are seen together, arm in arm, among the crowd at public or private festivals, or in lonely woods, or in twilight seclusion. Pleasure and paiu they share with one another, happy in the conviction that their hearts beat in unison, and in the repetition, over and over again, of tender assurances. The calmness of their temperament and the certainty of belonging to one another some day, diminish the danger of these long inter- views. The young man respects the girl who is to bear bis name and rule his home with her virtuous example ; she, on her part, shrinks from a seduction which would dishonour her and compro- mise her friture life.
" Such customs cannot but meet with approbation. They
assure the future of a woman, and save her from coquetry. They
form a man for the performance of his duties as head of a family,
e2
THE WHITE BACE.
make him tlioughtful for the future, eave him £rom liceutionsDess, ?hich wears out the heart as well as the constitution, and lastly, render his love permanent by reducing it to habit.
" When the wedding-day, looked forward to for bo many years, arrives, the characters of man and woman have taken their re- spective stamp. The young people know each other ; they have no ground for suspecting deceit, for the singleness of their heart admits of only one affection.
" Evei'j'thing here' contributes to heighten the dignity of woman. From her girlhood, and during the years in which her beauty is blossoming, she feels herself an object of devotion— she is viiatresa. Whatever she grants, however slight the favour maj be, acquires a high value. The offering sanctified by her kiss is far more costly than gold ; the riband she has worn beooiOM equal to a decoration."
This picture of Germnn customs has special reference to the inhabitants of Central Germany, the Auatrians.
It is in the central portion of Germany that we meet with this patient activity, and the gentle manners described by Dr. Clavel.
14.— BADKNEBS.
64 THE WHITE RACE.
But these qualities are far from being the attributes of the inhabi- tants of the North and West. The Germans of the North and West appeared in their true character during the war of 1870, when a series of deplorable fatalities and mournful inconsistencies had delivered up unhappy France to the mercy of the invader. We then learnt how to appreciate this reputation for good-nature, simplicity, and gentleness, which was commonly attached to the inhabitants of the Ultra-Rhenic countries. The good-nature developed itself into an undisguised ferocity, the simplicity into dark duplicity, and the gentleness into haughty and brutal violence. The hated and jealous fury of the Prussians, who rushed upon France with tie avowedLtention of reduciijg her to impotence, and erasing her, if possible, from the role of nations ; their cold-blooded cruelties and shameless rapine, are so impressed upon the minds of all Frenchmen, that we need not recall them. Prussian barbarity attained the level of that prac- tised by the Vandals in the second century.
Our scholars have found some diflSculty in explaining the anomaly which existed between the ferocious conduct of the German armies, and the very opposite reputation enjoyed by our neighbours beyond the Rhine. Accustomed to regard the Germans as peaceful and gentle, sentimental and dream}^ we, in France, were painfully surprised to find facts contrast so cruelly with an opinion so generally entertained. An ethno- logical work, published in 1871 by M. de Quatrefages in the ^* Reviie dc8 Deux Mondes,''* has afforded a scientific explanation of this anomaly.
M. de Quatrefages has shown, by considerations at once linguistic, geological, ethnological, and historical, that the Prussians, properly so called, that is, the inhabitants of Pome- rania, Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, and Silesia, have but little in common with the German race — that they are not, in fact, Germans, but result from a mixture of Slavonians and Finns with the primitive inhabitants of those countries. The Finns overran, at a very early period, Pomerania and Eastern-Prussia ; later on, the Slavonians conquered the same territor}'-, as well as Brandenburg and Silesia. Certain Germanic tribes — to which add the results of a French immigration into Prussia, which took place under Louis XIV., after the revocation of the
* Issue of Feb. 15th.
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 65
edict of Nantes — must be joined to the stock of Slavonians and Finns, in order to make up the Prussian race as it at present exists. The ixorthem Slavonians possessed a well-known coarse- ness of manner, and were of large stature and powerful constitu- tion. The Finns, or primitive inhabitants of the shores of the Baltic, were characterized by cunning and violence, united to an extraordinary tenacity. The modem Prussians revive all these ancestral defects.
M. Godron, a naturalist of Nancy, who has very successfully studied the German race, says, " The Prussians are neither Ger- mans nor Slavonians : they are Prussians ! ** This fact is now clearly shown by the investigations of M. de Quatrefages. From an ethnological point of view, the Prussians are very different from the German populations, who are now subjected to the rule of the Emperor William under the pretext of German unity.
Two different written languages exist among the German people ; that of the Netherlands and German.
The Netherland language has given birth to three dialects — Dutch, Flemish, and Frieslaiidic,
The Dutch, in the seventeenth centur}^ were the gi'eatest maritime commercial people in the world, and founded at that period a certain number of colonies.
The Dutchman is by nature reserved and silent. Simplicity is the marked feature of his character. He possesses patriotic feeling in a high degree, and is capable of enthusiasm and devo- tion in the defence of his strange and cuiious territory, preserved from the sea by dykes and formidable constructions, and irri- gated by innumerable canals, which form the ordinary means of communication, and which link together the seas and the rivers, as well as the towns.
English.— The English may be considered as resulting from a mixture of the Saxons and Angles with the people who inhabited the British Isles before the Saxon invasion.
AVTience came and who were the Angles and Saxons ?
According to Tacitus, the Angles were a small nation inhabit- ing the regions next the ocean. The Saxons, according to Ptolemy, dwelt between the mouths of the Elbe and Schleswig. About the fifth century after Christ, the Angles and Saxons in- vaded the British Isles, and mingled with the inhabitants, who
56 THE WHITE RACE.
then comprised Celts, Latins, and Arameans. Daring the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, fresh invasions of Great Britain, by the Normans and Danes, added to this blood, already so mixed, another foreign infusion.
From this medley of different peoples has sprung the English nation, in whom are found at the same time, the patient and persevering character, the serious disposition, and the love of family life, introduced by the Saxons, and which is the peculiarity of the German nature, combined with the lightness and impres- sionability of the Celt.
The physical type which is the result of this mixture, that is, the English type, corresponds with the combination of races we have specified. The head is in shape long and high, and is in this respect to be distinguished from the square heads of the Germans, particularly those of Suabia and Thuringia. The English generally possess a clear and transparent skin, chestnut hair, tall and slender figures, a stiff gait, and a cold physio- gnomy. Their women do not offer the noble appearance and luxm*ious figiu'e of the Greek and Roman women; but their skins surpass in transparency and brilliancy those of the female inhabitants of all other European countries.
We borrow a few pages from the work of Dr. Clavel upon "Le« Races Humaines et leur Part dans la Civilisation,'' in order to convey an exact knowledge of the nature and customs of our neighbours across the Channel : —
"When he examines," says Dr Clavel, " the geographical posi- tion of England, a land possessing a humid rather than a cold climate, the observer pictures to himself beforehand that he is about to meet a people of imperious appetite, of a* vigorous cu*- culation, of a powerfully organized locomotive system, and a sanguineo-lymphatic temperament. The power of the digestive functions shows that the nervous system is unable to obtain dominion, and that there is a lack of sensibility : the frequent fogs, which destroy the perfumes of the earth, the stormy winds of the ocean, and the absence of wine, announce a poverty of sentiment and inspiration, and of the arts founded upon them.
" The level plains, which are as a rule met with in England, are not favourable to the development of the lower extremities, and it is a fact that the power of the EngUsh lies, not so much in the Hegs, as in the arms, shoulders, and loins. The fist is an
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 57
Englishman's natural weapon, either, for attack or defence ; his popular form of duel is boxing, while the foot plays an impoi-tant part in the form of duel which, in France, bears the characteristic name of Savate.
" This power in the upper regions of the body gives to an Englishman a peculiar appearance. In view of his brawny shoulders, his thick and muscular neck, and broad chest, we rightly divine the ready workman, the daring seaman, the inde-, fatigable mechanic, the soldier who is ready to die at his post but who bears up with difficulty against forced marches and hunger. His blond or reddish liau', his white skin and grey eyes, bespeak the mists of his country ; the barel}' marked nape of his neck, and the oval form of his cranium, indicate that Finn blood flows in his veins ; his maxillar}'^ power, and the size of his teeth, evidence a preference for an animal diet. He has the high fore- head of the thinker, but not the long eyes of the artist.
** The insidar position of England, its excellent situation upon the Atlantic, its numerous and magnificent seapoii towns, its watercom'ses and the facilities for conducting its internal naviga- tion, all suggest a large maritime commerce and the habits which accompany it. But neither the soil, the climate, nor the geo- graphical i^osition, can account for tlie aj^titudes imported by diflFerent races.
** The Englishman is two-fold — Celt and German — and it is only a superficial examination whicli can confound them.
** The Celt, whom in the absence of precise notions of an earlier population we have come to consider as indigenous, resembles the Neo-Latin races, and, above all, the French. He rarely exists collectively, except in Ireland, and* some momitainous districts of Wales and Scotland. His cranium and features indicate artistic aptitudes. He prefers Chiistianity in the Anglican Catholic form. Like the old Gauls, he delights in wine, laughter, gaming, dancing, conversation, raillery, and fighting. He is sj^irited and fond of joking, frank and hospitable ; but his versatility renders him incapable of steadily pursuing an entei*i)rise to the end, of careful reflection, or of thought for the futm'e. Through his powerless- ness to combine his powers and act collectively, he has become a prey to enemies, who were superior to him neither in number, courage, nor even in intelligence. Old and joyous England and Ireland became subject to the Dane, the Saxon, and the Norman :
58 THE WHITE RACE.
they lost their proverbial gaiety, their bards, their democratic tendency, and their civilization.
" The physical and moral differences between the modem conquerors of England were but slight. They all came from the coasts of the Baltic Sea, and all possessed the elementary cha- racteristics of the German and Scandinavian, and the aptitudes which they inherited from the old Sea Kings. They had, more- over, strength, which bade them regard conquest as a right, and take what they desired ; pride, which bade them hold up their head even against the storm ; individual initiative, which de- manded, above all things, personal liberty; a tenacity, that nothing discouraged ; an intelligence, capable of every subtlety ; a general sensuality, which converted the bodily necessities into a means of enjoyment ; a lack of sentiment, which pre-supposed a want of aptitude for art ; and, lastly, a temperament which was calm and robust under all circimistances.
" This type, which is still found among all branches of society, not excepting the aristocracy, has been modified by its combina- tion with the Celtic element, but it still remains predominant. The Saxon, as a rule, absorbs or destroys the other races ; we may say, he diinks in their vitality, but is unable to assimilate himself to their temperament.
" We must, therefore, expect to find the customs of England proper, more Scandinavian than Celtic. The pleasures of olden time have fallen off; the merry gossips of those days find no place but in literature ; raillery, when it comes from Saxon lips, is armed with sharp teeth, and tears away the morsel it attacks.
"When intelligence is averted from the ideal, and constantly directed towards the positive matters of life, it acquires the habit of considering in all things the question of profit and loss ; it becomes averse to waste, which destroys property unprofitably, and loves order, without which, material prosperity is impossible ; it guides the organic forces to productive industry, agriculture, and commerce, where they are fostered and matured ; and last of all, to speculation, which anticipates the greater part of the fruits of commerce, agriculture, and manufacture. The Saxon finds every- where the means of speculating, aided in his manoeuvres by the intri- cacy of his commercial laws. As a consequence of his phlegmatic temperament, he gives way neither to the snares of enthusiasm, nor to the deceptions of discouragement. He reasons aright, both
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 59
for the present and the future. In dealing craftily with his antagonist, he is well able to guard himself against the weaknesses of feeling. His face rarely^betrays his convictions, and his features are devoid of the mobility which would prove disadvantageous.
" Thus it is that the Enghshman joins subtlety to will ; hence his practical power. Being strong and able, he acquires a con- fidence in himself which easily degenerates into pride, and saves him from smallness of character. He is neither obsequious, nor prone to flattery ; he casts on one side the refinements of polite- ness, which he regards as humiliating in one who employs them ; he keeps his word, and considers that he would be dishonoured in breaking it ; but he makes the best of all his advantages. For him, life is a struggle for triumph, without regard for those who are unable to contend, and who succumb in the attempt. He asks no pity, and gives but little ; he cannot be called cruel, for cruelty is a form of weakness ; but he does not hesitate to oppress an enemy, when to do so would be productive of material advantage. In attaching to an Englishman the characteristic of indi^ddual initiative, which is met with among all the branches of the Germanic tree, we rightly expect to find liim fond of liberty, without which his powers would have no vent.
"But this Uberty would soon lead him to destruction, did he not join to it the spirit of propriety, and temper it with the love of order, which he acquires in his industrial and commercial pursuits.
" . . . . His arts are wanting neither in talent, observation, delicacy, nor himiour; they represent men and things with the most scrupulous accuracy; but they lac;k feeling, wannth, and ideality; they know not how to bring the passions into play, and are unable to soar above the descriptive. His stage is a failure, as is his music, both in themselves pure creations of feeUng ; and his architecture is governed by the nature of mate- rials, and the application of his buildings to the needs of life. This rage for practical convenience, which makes the London houses so unsightly, has also been instrumental in simplify- ing his language to amphibology, and curtailing the accent to such an extent as to create discord. When hannony in the means of expressing thought is wanting, the art of talking well is no longer exercised in conversation, but becomes concenti*ated in discourse. There is scarcely an intermediate between the
60 THE WHITE RACE.
latter form of speech, and incorrect conversation among indi- viduals. The result of this is, that the Englishman, on almost every occasion, expresses himself in speeches, which are listened to and commented upon with an imperturbable patience, but which have the grave fault of imparting to social relations a tone of pedantry and stifihess. As soon as that exists, there is no longer any room for fun and humour. Following out the spirit of formality, many things become no longer permissible, or cannot be dealt with except by reference to strict rules. Pro- priety, therefore, includes, over and above pure politeness, a number of conventionalities which in themselves constitute nothing less than a social tyranny. An act, which, everywhere else, would be regarded as perfectly natural, easily becomes food for scandal ; and in society, by far the gi'eater number of those one meets abstain from action, speech, or gesticulation. An icy reserve is the tone generally assumed.
" In such society as this, indiscretion and flippancy ai*e almost out of the question. But, although the English scorn a lie, they cannot speak the whole truth : they find it necessary to reserve a portion, and frequently the most im2)ortant part. The result is a peculiar fonn of hj-pocrisy which bears the name of cant, and which is really the bane of English society. Owing to this, social life is enclosed in a circle of intolerance which impairs to it a painful uniformity. Each person is obliged to do as every one else, to such an extent, that in the land of liberty, the spirit is oppressed and dejected to a degi'ee suggestive of suicide. Hence it is that so many Enghsh, in order to escape spleen, are forced to leave theu' country.
** The Englishwoman is tall, fair, and strongly built. Her skin is of dazzling freshness ; her features are small and elegantly formed ; the oval of her face is marked, but it is somewhat heavy toward the lower portion ; her hair is fine, silky, and charming ; and her long and graceful neck imparts to the movements of her head a character of grace and pride.
"So far, all about her is essentially feminine; but upon analyzing her bust and limbs, we find that the large bones, peculiar to her race, interfere with the delicacy of her form, enlarge her extremities, and lessen the elegance of her postures and the harmony of her movements.
" Woman moves about two centres, which are the head and
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 61
the heart. The latter deals mth bodily grace, roundness and delicacy of form, inspiration in feeling, devotion in love, sympathy, a manifold and undefinable seductiveness, a sort of divine radiance, which is grace, tenderness, and all that is charming. The former supplies intelligence, spirit, animation, and consistency of action.
"If all we see in an Italian or Spanish woman tells of the supremacy of heart, which Lord Byron loved so much, all in the Englishwoman reveals mental superiority. Her physical and mental powers are well balanced.
" There are few mental occupations in which a daughter of Great Britain cannot engage. She acquires knowledge with facility; she writes with elegance, and would be capable at a stretch of improvising a speech; she is witty and even brilliant; capable of dealing with abstract sciences; she can contend with the other sex in sagacity and depth ; yet her con- versation does not captivate. She lacks a thousand feminine instincts, and this lack is revealed in her toilette, the posture she assiunes, and in her actions and movements. She rarely possesses musical taste. Her language and song do not captivate the ear ; her appreciation of colour, form, and perfume, are at fault. She loves what is striking, and instead of attaining harmony, revels in discord.
"No aristocracy, can, with reference to ability, be compared with that of England. Having ensured the influence of wealth by seizing the land, and substituting in its possession the son for the father, by virtue of the right of piimogeniture, it has given the legislative power to the proprietors of the soU, through the mediimi of a House of Peers, whose prerogatives and domains pass to the eldest son, and of a House of Commons, the right to elect whose members is centred chiefly in the tenants of large proprietors. Where the nobility enjoy such privileges, royalty necessarily assumes a dependent position, and becomes merely an instrument. Positions of influence in the administration, the army, the magistracy, and the church, fall of right to families of distinction, who dispose of all the strength of the coimtry, and apply it for the benefit of their own caste. Taxation is organized in such a manner as to weigh chiefly upon the lower classes, while the produce falls to the advantage of the privileged class as emoluments.
62 THE WHITE RACE.
"... Before the British aristocracy could attain the import- ance it now possesses, many conquests were necessary, to which the substance of Spain, Portugal, Holland, and of a hundred and thirty millions of Indians, has fEdlen a prey. The attainment of this object, has, moreover, forced fifteen millions of English people to exist upon a daily stipend, when there is any stipend at all ; and, to aid it, the cannon has opened the frontiers of China to the opium trade, and to the products of manufactures which must either sell or succimib. The only material compensation for all these evils, is, that immense power is given to wealth. The culti^ vation of luxury, in every form, has increased tenfold the number of objects to be provided. The houses are crowded with a number of articles of furniture, the use of which is a science in itself; the tables are loaded with an infinite variety of dishes^ fruits, plate, and glass ; stuffs of a thousand different shades are offered to the caprice of fashion, to be used either in adorning the person, or in the decoration of apartments ; but for all that, the house is neither more beautiful nor more wholesome as an abode, the table is not more hospitable or more joyous, nor is the dress more elegant or warm; comfort stifles what is merely beautiful, which wealthy men always associate with a large outlay.
" Among the English aristocracy we must expect, neither the -exquisite elegance of the Latin aristocracy, nor the appreciation of art, which, in Italy, and even in France, gives birth to so many marvels.
" Wealth has been able to accumulate in the galleries of private persons, pictures and statues, the work of other nations, but has been quite unable to raise up a school of architecture, of paintings or of sculpture ; or even to assign a single division to music. Workers and statesmen abound in England ; but the condition of artists is bad in the extreme. A great poet emerges from the ranks of the nobility, and employs his talent in scourging the aristocracy, and laying bare the customs of his country. Eminent writers assign a philosophic value to the romance of gentle blood, and paint in the blackest colours the mercantile and feudal genius.
" The men of iron^ who have transformed England into a sort of freehold, seem to think themselves altogether different from the rest of humanity ; they pass through the midst of other populations without being influenced by the contact^ or modifying the etiquette
C.Q,)li)>!S&
1 5. — SHCUSUM A H.
64 • THE WHITE RACE.
•
which rules their excesses at table and in drinking, and which governs field sports and courtship. A word or gesture is sufficient to mark its author as of low breeding, and to jar upon the nerves of the nobility, which are susceptible of still greater irritation, when writers of ability venture to speak of lords as of simple mortals ; but this *scandal has been obviated in the fashionable novel, in ' which, amid a halo of ennui, aristocratic decorum shines forth.
"All this is productive of a meditated coldness and repulsive pride, which renders expansion and joviality impossible. Moral oppression and ennui permeate their whole life, and in the end render existence insupportable. These rich and powerful men become the victims of spleen,
" Those who find no relief in political struggles, seek in foreign countries change and diversion ; the more robust shai'e their time between the table, their horses, and their dogs ; they drink to a frightful extent; they unearth the fox, and follow him on horseback, clearing every object although at the risk of their neck, or else they travel a hundred leagues to see a thorough-bred horse run, and to risk upon him what would make the fortune of ten plebeians.
" Such a life as this can be led 0|ily in the country. It must therefore be noticed that the E^igUsh nobility pass nine months out of the year at their country seats, in the exercise of the gorgeous hospitality which is met with in all large oligarchies, and cultivating there the comforts of ease to a degree bordering on fanaticism.
" Beneath the. shade of feudality, exists a class of fanners, manufacturers, merchants, capitalists, and speculators, which consoles itself for the humiliations it experiences by those which, in its turn, it inaposes on the lower classes. This middle class, oppressed by that above, and menaced by that below it, pre- sents a singular mixture of timidity and resolution. Its existence, ever precarious, makes it easily susceptible of alarm, ready to }ield to the terms of the powerful, or to assume any character. Its enthusiasm and admiration are inexhaustible, when it foresees, in the conduct of its supenprs, some gain to itself; but the resist- ance it offers is most powerfully adroit when public affairs tend to do it harm. Danger hardly ever takes it by surprise, as its signs are seen from afar and anticipated.
** One would almost expect to find Israelitish traits of character in people who make the Bible their book of books ; who, while
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 65
undergoing extortion, still retain the feeling of dignity, who are passionately fond of money and whatever conduces to its posses- sion ; who risk that they may gain, and compensate one chance of loss by three chances of profit ; who respect the letter of the law more than its intention, and who employ commercial upright- ness as a clever means of making a fortune.
** In the middle class, the British aristocracy finds a means of keeping under the proletarian class, true representatives of the old Celts. These unfortunate men are reproached, with drunkenness, to which they fly as a means of forgetting their misfortunes ; with brutality, which exhibits itself in blows, injuries, prize fights, and cock-fighting ; with coarse sensuality, which feeds upon meat and beer ; with selfishness, which extends even to the glasses of drinkers ; and lastly, with stronger ciiminal desires than are met with among other civilized nations.
" But in spite of these vices, the sad fruit of misery, wretched- ness, and ignorance, they possess substantial virtues. The English workman has in his heart an innate feeling of generosity. He is gentle to the weak, and rude to the strong. Goodness charms him, and whatever is generous is sure to meet with his support. Although blinded by self-interest to the point of being altogether without a notion of justice, he can hardly be accused of avarice, since he gives cheerfully. His friendship is firm, although by no means demonstrative ; he Jieeps his word, and despises an untruth. Reverses redouble instead of causing him to abate his efforts ; he never despairs of what he undertakes, since he is ready to sacrifice all for success, even his life. He has none of the sordid vanities which stain the intermediate classes. For his country, which is to him less a mother than a step-mother, he entertains fin inexhaustible affection. To her he devotes his whole existence ; he is rewarded by his own admira- tion of her, and deludes himself so far as to call her * Jolly Old England.' "
Transplanted into the New World, the Englishman has already assumed a tj'pe varying somewhat from that we have described — the Yankees, as the Indians call them, that is to say, the silen men (Ya-no-ki), have lost in North America the general character and physiognomy which they possessed in the mother-country. A new type, moral and physical^ approaching more to that of the
66 THE -WHITE RACE,
Southern Bed Indians, has been formed among the inhabitants of North America, which type is exaggerated towards the West, where men are rougher and coarser than in the North.
Latin Family,
The Latin family originated in Italy, whence it extended its conquests over a large portion of Europe, Asia, and Africa, thus forming the Boman empire. At the present time the Latin languages are spoken only in certain portions of this vast empire, namely, in Italy, Spain, France, and some other countries in the south-east of Europe.
The people who belong to the Latin family are, in general, of a middle stature, with black hair and eyes, and a complexion susceptible of turning brown under the sun's action ; but they present many variations. They speak numerous dialects, which frequently become confounded one with another.
Among the people who form the Latin family are separately classed : the French, the Spaniards, the Italians, and the Moldo- WcMachians.
French. — The Franks proceeded from the mixture of the Gauls with the ancient inliabitants of the land, that is, the people who in olden times were indifferently called Aquitanians or Iberians, and of whom a few are still to be found in the Basque inhabitants of the lower regions 'of the Pyrenees, recognized at once by their language, which is that of the old Iberians.
But who were these Gauls, who, by combination with the national blood of the Iberians, formed the Franks ?
The Gauls were a branch of the Celts (or Gaels), an ancient race of men, who coming from Asia, at an early period overran and occupied a portion of Western Europe, more particularly that portion which now forms Belgium, France as far as the Garonne, and a part of Switzerland. Later on, the Celts or Oaels extended their conquests as far even as the British Isles. It was in the twelfth or tenth century before Christ that they invaded Gaul, and subdued the indigenous Iberian population.
Of their Asiatic origin the Celts preserved no more than a few dogmas of Eastern worship, the organization of a priestly sect, and a language, which, through its close connection with the sacred language of the Indian Brahmins, reveals the kinship which united these people with those of Asia.
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 67
The Celts were a nomadic people, and lived essentially by hunt- ing and pasturage. The men were very tall : their height being, it has been asserted, from six to seven feet. Many tribes dyed their skin with a colour extracted from the leaf of the woad. Others tattooed themselves. Many adorned their arms or breasts with heavy chains of gold, or clothed themselves in tissues of bright colours, analogous to the Scotch tartan. Later on they gave themselves up to greater luxury. Above their timic they wore the saya^ a short cloak, striped with purple bands and embroidered with gold or sUver. Among the poorer classes this saya was replaced by the skin of some animal, or by a cloak of coarse and dark-coloured wool. Others wore the simar, which is analogous to the modem blouse or the caraco of the Normandy peasants. The second article of dress worn by the Gaelic men, was a tight and narrow form of trouser, the braya. The women wore an ample puckered tunic with an apron. Some restricted their dress to a leathern bag.
Their weapons consisted of stone knives, axes furnished with sharp flint or shell points, clubs, and spears hardened in the fire. Celtic stone hatchets are common in the West of France.
The Celts were warlike and bold. They marched against the ■enemy to the sound of the karrnuv, a sort of trumpet, the top of which represented a wUd beast crowned with flowers. As soon as the signal was given, the front rank threw itself stark naked and impetuously into the struggle.
Leading a wandering form of life, the Celts constructed no fixed habitations. They moved from one pasturage to another in covered waggons, erecting simple cabins, which they abandoned after a few days. They sometimes took shelter in caves, sleeping upon a little straw, or the skins of animals spread upon the earth. More frequently, however, they ate and slept under the open sky. Fond of tales and recitations, they appear to have been in- quisitive and garrulous. Their habits were peaceful.
A branch of the Celtic family, the Cymris, who, like their pre- decessors, originally came from Asia, (Overran the fertile plains which extend from the moorlands at Bordeaux to the mouth of the Khine, their course being arrested toward the west only by the ocean, toward the east by the Yosges, and toward the south- east by the mountains of Auvergne and the last ridges of the
F 2
68 THE WHITE RACE.
Pyrenees and the Cevennes, The Cymris, or Belgians, brought with them the simplicity of the north, and having built towns, called upon the Gaels to join them.
These two groups, distinct in themselves although of the same race, lived apart in some countries, while in others they held supremacy. The Irish and the Highlanders of Scotland were Gaels. The Gaelic element also predominated in Eastern France. The inhabitants of Wales, Belgium, and Brittany belonged to the Cymrian branch; but the Romans confoimded these two races under the general name of Britons in Great Britain, and Gauls in Gaul.
We will briefly review the physical types, manners, and customs of the Gauls.
At the time when Julius Ccesar invaded and conquered tlie Gauls, they were distinguished as the northern, north-eastern, western, and southern Gauls. The first were remarkable for the abundance and length of their .hair ; hence their name of long- Jiaired Gauls. Those of the south and south-east were known as the hraya-tvearing Gavls.
The Gauls used artificial means of giving to their hair a bright red colour. Some allowed it to fall around their shoulders ; others tied it in a tuft above the head. Some wore only thicfi mustachios, others retained the whole beard.
When arming for battle, the Gauls donned the saya. They used afrows, slings, one-edged swords in iron or copper, and a sort of halberd, which inflicted terrible wounds. A metal casque, ornamented with the horns of the elk, buffalo, or stag, covered the head of the common soldier, that of the rich warrior being adorned with flowing pliunes, while figures of birds or wild beasts were wrought upon the crest. The buckler was covered with hideous figures. Beneath a breast-plate of wrought-iron the warrior wore a coat of mail, the produce of Gallic industry. He further adorned himself with necklaces ; and the scarves of the chiefs glittered with gold, silver, or coraL The standard con- sisted of a wild boar, formed of metal or bronze, and fixed at the end of a staff. •
The Gauls dwelt in spacious circular habitations, built of rough stones, cemented together with clay, or composed of stakes and hurdles, filled up with earth within and without. The roof, which was ample and solid, was composed of strong planks cut
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 69
into the form of tiles, and of stubble or chopped straw kneaded with clay.
The wealthy Gaul, besides his to?m residence, possessed a countr}' house. His wooden tables were very low, and in them excavations were made which answered the purpose of plates and dishes. The guests sat upon trusses of hay or straw, upon hassocks formed of rushes, or forms with wooden backs. They slept in a kind of press, formed of planks, similar to those which are met with in some cottages of Brittany and Savoy. They had earthen vessels, of delicate grey or black pottery, more or less ornamented, and brazen vases. They used horns as drinking- vessels.
The Gauls ate little bread, but a great deal of roast or boiled meat. As a rule, they tore with the teeth pieces which they held in their hands. The poor drank beer, or other less costly beverages ; the rich, aromatic wines.
The beauty of the Gallic women was proverbial. The elegance of their figure, the purity of their features, and the whiteness of their skins, were universally admired. To captivate these fierce men they made abundant use of coquetry. In order to heighten the freshness of their complexions, they bathed themselves with the foam of beer, or chalk dissolved in vinegar. They dyed their eyebrows with soot, or a liquid extracted from a fish called orphL Their cheeks they coloured with vermilion, and dressed their hair with lime in order to make it blond, and covering it with network, let it fall behind, or else turned it up crestwise. They wore as many as four tunics, one above the other, veiled their head with part of their cloak, and wore a mitre or Phrygian head-dress.
Any ordinary person who died was interred in a manner suitable to their sex and condition, with arrow-heads, hatchets, flint knives, necklaces, rings, bracelets, articles of pottery, i&c. The grave was marked by an unhewn stone, which was surrounded with herbs, moss, or flowers. These tombstones were raised up in the plains, by the way-side, and amid the deep shade of the forests. They were guarded by a statue of Tentates, one of whose cheeks was painted white, the other black.
When a chief died, his body was burnt. In order to do this, the body was placed upon a pile of resinous wood, with his weapons of war and of the chase, his charger and dogs, and some-
70 THE WHITE RACE.
times even, his slaves. While the flames devoured the body^ the bystanders uttered loud crieS| and the warriors clashed their shields. The half-calcined bones were enclosed in an urn of coarse earth, rudely ornamented with a few engravings or figures in bas relief. This urn w&s then deposited beneath a tumulus covered with turf. In southern Gaul it was placed beneath a funeral column.
In order to render complete the idea which we should wish to convey of the outward appearance of the GaulSi we must say a few words about the Druids.
The Druids were the priests of the Gauls, a clergy powerful by reason of their political duties and judicial functions. The Druids led a solitary life in the depth of oak forests and in secluded caves. They wore a distinctive dress, their robes reach- ing down to the ground. During religious ceremonies they covered their shoulders with a species of white surplice, and upon^ their pontifical dress was displayed a crescent which had reference to the last phase of the moon. Their feet were furnished with pentagonal wooden sandals ; they allowed their hair to grow long, and shaved off their beards. In their hand they carried a sort of white wand, and suspended from their neck an amulet of oval shape set in gold.
We said the Franks proceeded from the mixture of the Graula with the Iberian natives of the country, joined later on to the Bomans, the Greeks, and more recently still to the Alanians, the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Suevians. Having spoken of the Gauls, we shall now proceed to describe the Franks.
The Frank was tall in height, with a very white skin. Woe sparkling eyes, and a powerful voice. His face was shaven, save upon the upper lip, which carried a heavy mustachio. Qis hair, of a beautiful blond colour, was cut behind, and long in front* His dress was so short as not to cover his knees, and fitted tightly, showing plainly the form of the body. He wore a shoulder-belt, ornamented with nails, and plates of silver or inlaid metal. From his girdle hung an iron knife, an axe with short. handle and heavy keen iron head (battle-axe), a very sharp poU'^ derous sword, and a pike of medium length, the stout point of which was armed with several barbs or sharp teeth, turned back as in a fish-hook. Before going to battle, the Frank dyed his hair red*. The hair itself was frequently held together by a golden net, or a
16. — DRU1IM, OADLa, AHD VRAHKS.
72 THE WHITE RACE.
copper circlet ; at other times lie dressed himself with the spoils of wild beasts.
We are able to extract from historical recitals an exact idea of the Frankish woman. She was powerful, and wore a long robe of dark colour, or bordered with purple. Her arms were left un- covered, and her head was wreathed with flowering broom. Her looks, sometimes fierce, bespoke masculine vigour and a character which did not shrink from sanguinary conflict.
The Celtic and Iberian languages gradually disappeared among the Franks, being replaced by Latin dialects.
The Gauls and Franks, who were subdued by the Romans, re- ceived into their blood the Latin element, which rapidly increased. Restrained for a while by the invasions of tribes from the north and east, by Asiatic hordes of Mongolian race, among which we may name the Huns ; the Latin element again assumed the ascendant at the conmiencement of the sixteenth century ; men and manners, language and art, bore witness more and more to Latin influence : the fair hair and white skin of the Frank alter- nating with the black locks and brown skin of the Latin people. Thus it is that the French lost the athletic frame and vigorous limbs of the Gaul, gaining in their stead the suppleness and agility of southern nations. Thus also the French language be- came gradually formed, modified from Latin dialects.
The existence of a single written language renders it difficult to mark the characteristic distinctions among the French of the present day. We may however, distinguish the French properly 60 called, who inhabit the lower district of the Loire, and whose dialects are most akin to the written language ; the Walloons, in the north, whose pronunciation somewhat approaches that of Teutonic nations ; and the Romanians, in the south, where the dialects become confused with those of the Spaniards and Italians. The French of the interior are those who most re- semble the Celts ; those of the south possess the vivacity of the ancient Iberians or Basques; and those of the north have suffered still more from Teutonic influence, the effect of which is more especially appreciable in Normandy.
Owing to the diversity of his origin, and the different races of men which have been moulded into his type, not omitting also the effect attributed to the great geological variety of the soil of France, where samples of all parts of the earth are to be foimd, the
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 73
• Frenchman^ considered organically, possesses no peculiar physio- gnomy, which nevertheless does not prevent the complete identi- fication of his French nationality.
From a physical point of view, and setting aside certain ex- tremes, it may be said that the Frenchman is characterised, not 80 much by special features, as by the mobility and expression of these features. He is neither large nor small, yet his body is in all respects well proportioned ; and although he may not be capable of developing great muscular action, he is fully qualified to con- tend successfully against fatigue and long journeys. Agile and nervous, as prompt in attack as in parrying a blow, full of ex- pedient, supple, and cheerful, skilful both physically and morally, this is the character we shall easUy recognise in our typical soldier of the next page.
Considered intellectually, the Frenchman is distinguished by a readiness and activity of conception which is truly unsurpassed. His comprehension is quick and sound. A halo of feeling sur- rounds this intellectual activity. Add to this a very fair amount of reason, solid judgment, and a veritable passion for order and method, and you have the French character.
To this combination of various qualities must be referred the respect which the French nation entertain for science and art, the admirable order which is found in their museiuns, and the excellent preservation of their historical monuments. This also goes to explain their excellent organization for public instruction, both in art and science, the forbearing and kindly tone of their philosophy, which above all things seeks the practical rules which govern human action, their excellent judicial system and admir- able civil code, which has been copied more or less by all the nations of the New or Old Worlds.
Although the Frenchman respects science, loves the arts, and takes an interest in the productions of thought, it must be ad- mitted that he is loth to take any personal part in them. He is glad to make use of the practical applications of science, and grate- fully acknowledges the service they render him ; but he shims the idea of studying the sciences as such, and the very name of savant conveys to his mind a tiresome person. The sciences, which at the end of the last century brought so much honour to France, now languish. Scientific careers are avoided, and in the country of Lavoisier, Laplace, and Cuvier, science is visibly on the decline.
74 THE WHITE RACE.
To make science palatable to French readers, the edge of the cup must be coated with honey, and the preceptor must clearly comprehend what dose of the sweetened beverage he may administer, so as not to overtax the powers or present humour of his patient.
We may say the same of the liberal arts. The Frenchman takes delight in artistic works, in fine monuments and buildings, costly statuary, magnificent pictures, engravings, and all the productions of high art ; but he does nothing whatever to encourage them. France is at the present day at the head of the fine arts, and her school of painting is without a rival ; and yet her artists, whether they be painters or sculptors, must seek elsewhere an outlet for their talents.
In France, the people are content with rendering a formal homage to the merit of their works of art, and leave to the government the task of encouraging and propagating them.
This encouragement consists in an annual exhibition of their paintings and sculptures, entry to this exhibition being obtained only by payment. When it is over, the various works are re- turned to their authors, and medals of different value assist the public to appreciate the excellence of their productions.
In France, then, the people are, properly speaking, neither studious nor artistic : they merely profess great esteem for the arts and sciences, and render them homage without the least wish to know more of them or an attempt to further their cultiva- tion.
A very excellent quality of the French nation is its sociability* Whilst the English and Germans shut themselves up in their houses with misanthropical concern, the Frenchman prefers to share his dwelling, to inhabit a sort of hive, in which the same roof shelters a large nimiber of individuals of all ages and condi- tions. He can thus perform and exchange many services, and, while living his own form of existence, enjoy that of others. See how, in French villages, the houses are grouped together or placed back to back, or, in the large towns, those houses where fifty lodgers hardly separated firom one another by a scanty partition, have one common domestic, the porter, and you will at one recognize the instinct of sociability, and external affability, which is peculiar to the French nation. The readiness which each manifests to render the little services of life, to aid a
17.— rRBKCHKAir.
76 THE WHITE RACE.
wounded person, or assist in extricating his neighbour from emban*assment^ are all signs of the same praiseworthy spirit of sociability.
The delicacy of feeling and thought, the extraordinary taste for order and method, and the love of art, which characterize the French nation, are all to be encountered in their various indus- trial products. A feeling for art is essentially characteristic of French industry, and gives it that well-known good taste, distinction, and elegance, whicB are so justly appreciated.
Although he is neither student nor artist, the Frenchman knows therefore perfectly how to call science and art to his aid, demand their co-operation and inspiration, and transfer them with advantage into practice. Thanks to his instinct for order and method, he succeeds in drawing material profit from studious or sentimental subjects.
Having considered the bright side of the French nation, we will now see where they are deficient.
It is a recognized fact, that, among the French, one-third of the men and more than half the women can neither read nor write : this is equivalent to saying, that of the tliirty-eight mil- lions of individuals composing the population of France, fifteen millions can neither read nor write.
The French peasant does not read, and for a very good reason. On Sunday he has read to him extracts firom the Almanack of Pierre Larrivay, of Matthieu Laensberg, or some other prophet of the same cloth, who foretells what is about to happen on each day of the year ; and this is as much as he wants. La Bruyere drew of the French peasant in the time of Louis XIV. a forcible and sinister picture, which in many cases is true even at the present day : in the course of two centuries, the subject has altered but Uttle.*
The French artisan reads very little. Works of popular science, which for some years past have happily been edited in France, are not read, as is imagined, by the working classes: those who seek works of this class are persons who have already received a certain amount of instruction, which they desire to increase by extending it to other branches of knowledge; these, for
* " We meet with certain wild ftnimalB, male and female, scattered over the conntiy, black, livid, and dried np by the snn, attached to the soil which they tnm and nimmage alK)ut witb an insuperable obstinacy ; they seem to utter articulate sounds, and when they get upon their lej^, show a human face. And in fact, these, it seems, are men.'*
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 77
the greater part, include school-children, and persons, belonging to the different liberal professions, or engaged in commerce.
The bourgeois, who has some spare time, devotes a portion of it to reading, but he does not read books. In France, books are objects of luxury, used only by persons of refinement. The crowd, when they ^ee a man go by with a book under his arm, regard him with respectful curiosity. Enter the houses, even those of the most wealthy, and you will meet with ever}i;hing which is necessary for the comforts of life, every article of furniture which may be called for, but you will seldom or never find a library. Whilst in Germany, England, and Russia, it is thought indi- spensable, in France a Hbrar}'^ is almost unknown.
The French bourgeois reads only the papers. Unfortunately, French journals have always been devoted to politics. Literature and art, science and philosophy, nay, even commercial and current affairs, that is, all which go to make up the life and interests of a nation, are excluded with most jealous cai'e from the greater part of the French journals, to make way for political subjects. Thus it is that politics, the most superfluous and barren of subjects, have become among the French the great and only object of consideration.
The press which indulges in light literature is much worse* Its articles are foimded on old compilations. The bons-mots of the Marquis of Bievre are borrowed from Bievriwia, and laid at the door of M. de TiUancom*t; then Mile. X. des Varietes is made the heroine of an anecdote borrowed from the Ency- clopediana, and the trick is complete. The paper is sold at a sou, and is not worth a liard.
The papers are the chief means by wliich the French bom'geois stuff their heads with emptiness.
The weakness of instruction in France becomes still more apparent by comparison with that of other nations. Traverse all Switzerland, and in every house you will find a small library. In Fmssia it is a most rare matter to find a person who cannot read; in that country instruction is obligatory. In Austria every one can read. In Norway and Denmark, the lowest of the peasantry can read and write their language vnih accuracy ; while in the extreme north, in Iceland, that country given up to the rigours of eternal cold, which is, as it were, a dead spot in nature, prints are numerous* . We need not say that the English and Americans
78 THE WHITE RACE.
are far in advance of the French as regards instruction. Nay, more, all the Japanese can read and write, as also all the inhabi- tants of China proper.
Let us hope that this sad condition of things will change, when, in France, gratuitous and obligatory instruction has become the law.
Uninstructed and unambitious of learning, timid artisan and plodding husbandman though he be, the Frenchman has yet one ruling virtue. He is a soldier ; he possesses all the qualities necessary for war — ^bravery, intelligence, quickness of conception, the sentiment of discipline, and even patience when it is called for. If in 1870 a combination of deplorable fatalities forced the French to yield to the dictates of a people, who even yet wonder at their victory, the reputation of the French soldier for bravery and intelligence has in no way suffered by this imforeseen check. The day for revenge upon the barbarians of the north will come sooner or later.
■
Another peculiarity of the French nation is their spirit of criticism and satire. If, in the days of Beaiunarchais, everything in France closed with a song, nothing at the present day is complete without a joke.
There is nothing which the French spirit of satire has not turned to ridicule. In the art of the pencil it has created la charge, namely, the caricature of what is beautiful, and the hideous exaggeration of every physical imperfection ; on the stage it has introduced la cascade, a public parody bringing before the audience in an absurd manner, history, literatm^e, and men of distinction ; in the dance, it has given birth to the obscene and nameless thing which is composed of the contortions of fools, and which with strangers i)asses as a national dance.
The French woman is perfectly gifted in what concerns intelligence ; she possesses a ready conception, a lively imagina- tion, and a cheerful disposition. Unfortimately, the burthen of ignorance presses sorely upon her. It is a rare thing for a woman of the people to read, as only those of the higher classes have leisure, during their girlhood, to cultivate their minds. And yet even they must not give themselves up too much to study, nor aspire to honour or distinction. The epithet bos bleu (blue stocking) would soon bring them back to the common crowd — an ignorant and frivolous feminine mass. Moliere's lines in Les Femmes Savantes,
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 79
which for two centuries have operated so sadly in disseminating ignorance throughout one half of French society, would be with one voice applied to them.
With this ill-advised tirade, persons who think themselves perfectly right, stifle the early inclinations of young girls and women, which would induce them to open their minds to notions of literature, science, and art.
A question was once put forward whether we should permit our young women to share the education which the University affords to young men. We are speaking of the courses which were to have been held by the college of professors, according to the plans proposed by M. Duruy. But this attempt at the intellectual emancipation of young girls was very soon suppressed. Being barely tolerated at Paris, these courses were soon inter- dicted in the departmental towns, and woman soon returned to the knee of the church, or, in other words, was brought back to ignorance and superstition.
This want of instmction in the French woman is the more to be regretted, since, to an excellent intellectual disposition, she adds the irresistible gifts of grace and physical charms. There is in her face a seduction which cannot be equalled, although we can assign her physiognomy to no determinate type. Her features, frequently irregular, seem to be borrowed from different races ; they do not possess that imity which springs from calm and ma- jesty, but are in the highest degree expressive, and marvellously contrived for convejdng every shade of feeling. In them we see a smile, though it be shaded by tears ; a caress, though they threaten us ; and an appeal when yet they command. Amid the irregularity of this physiognomy the soul displays its workings.
As a rule, the French woman is short of stature, but in ever}^ proportion of her form combines grace and delicacy. Her extremities and joints are fine and elegant, of perfect model and distinct form, without a suspicion of coarseness. With her, moreover, art is brought wonderfully to assist nature.
There is no place in the world where the secret of dress is so well imderstood as in France, or where means are so admirably applied to the rectification of natural defects of form or colour. Add to this a continual desire to charm and please, an anxious care to attract and attach the hearts of others through simplicity or coquetry, good will or malice, the wish to radiate everywhere
80 THE WHITE RACE.
pleasure and life, the noble craving to awake grand or touching thoughts, and you will understand the universal and charming rule which woman has always held in France, and a great portion of the influence which she perforce retains over men and things.
All these qualities, which distinguish the women of the higher classes in France, are met with also among those of the working classes. Their industrious hands excel in needlework. They make their own clothing, and that of their children ; look to the household linen, make their own bonnets, and most effectually cause elegance and taste to thrive in the heart of poverty. The correctness of their judgment, their tact and delicacy, and their rare penetration, are of valuable assistance in commercial matters, where their just appreciation affords most useful aid to their hus- bands and children. In retail trade especially, do these qualities shine forth — order, sagacity, and patience. Their politeness and presence of mind charm the purchaser, who always finds what he {grants, and is always in good hiunour with himself and the articles he obtains.
The French women excel in household duties and in bringing up their children. These graceful and sweet young girls become mothers whose patience is inexhaustible, and make of their home the most perfect resting-place, and the best ^refuge from the sufferings and hardships of life.
Hispanians. — ^Under this name we include the Spaniards and Portuguese.
The HiSpanians result from the mixture of the Latins, with the Celts, whom they succeeded in Spain, and with the Teutons, who drove out the Romans.
Washed on three sides by the sea, divided from France on the north by the P}Tenees, and from Africa on the south by a narrow stretch of sea, Spain is crossed by ranges of mountains, which, b}- their various intersections, form valleys permitting only of difficult communication with each other. The mountains of Spain are one of the principal causes of the richness of this country. They contain a variety of precious metals, and the streamlets which flow from their summits fertilize the valleys and develop into large rivers.
The climate of Spain indicates the vicinity of Africa. The air during winter, is cold, dry, and sharp : during the summer it is
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
18.— CATTLE-DBAUtK OF COBDOV^
scorching. The leaves of the treea are stiff and shining, the branches knotty and contorted, the bark dry and nigged. The
82 THE WHITE RACE.
fruits mingle with their perfume a sharp and acid flavour : the animals are lean and wild.
Nature therefore in Spain is somewhat violent and rude, and this characteristic is peculiar to the people of the country.
The Spaniard, like the African, is in general of moderate height. His skin is brown, and his limbs are muscular, com- pact, and supple. In a moral sense, passion with him obtains the mastery ; indeed it is quite impossible for him to master or dissemble his feelings. He is not afraid to allow their work- ings to become evident, but, in their display, if they meet with curiosity or admiration, he passes all bounds and becomes a per- fect spectacle. A Spaniard always allows his feelings to be plainly perceptible.
This habitual weakness for scenic display which in a people possessing evil instincts would be excessively inconvenient, pro- duces in the Spaniard the best results, since at heart he is full of generosity and nobleness. It endows him with pride, from which spring exalted feelings and good actions ; emulation, which prompts him to outdo himself; a moral tone, generosity, dignity, and discretion. Nowhere are better understood than in Spain the regard due to age or sex, and the respect called for by rank or position.
The love of distinction, place, and grade is an inevitable conse- quence of this state of feeling.
The pride of the Spaniard renders him veiy tenacious as regards his honour. He brooks not insult, and seeks to requite it with bloodshed. His hand flies to the sword which is to avenge his honour, or the knife which is to settle his disputes (fig. 19).
In Spain arms are carried by all, and their habitual contact — too much neglected in other countries — ^imparts to each the desire for glory or the hope of playing a leading part in the world.
Such being his disposition, the Spaniard cannot fail to make an excellent soldier. Besides having taste and aptitude for the use of arms, he is vigorous, agile, and patient ; and therefore worthy to be named honorably in comparison with the French soldier* It is, however, difficult to presence discipline among these fiery and independent men. They are not always easy to command in time of regular warfare, and when times become troublesome, they be- come rapidly converted into gueriUas, a term which is almost synonymous with brigand.
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
19,— S4TIVK3
The use of arms being familiar to every SpaDiard, there is i great temptatioQ to nae them, and passion frequently creates ai
THE WHITE RACE.
opportanity. Therefore it 13 that Spain is essentially a land < civil war.
20.— STAKua rzuun.
On tlie most simple question arising, the peasant seizes his gun and rashes to an ambuscade, or joins a band of insurgents.
EtTBOPEAM BRAJJCH.
Political iusnrrections are an amusement to tliis impressionable and hasty people. In the twinkling of an eye bands of armed
men OTemin the conntry. The great want of discipline among ^ibe soldiers and non-commissioned officers, conduces to desertion
86 THE WHITE RACE.
to these irregular "bodies, and the result is that unhappy Spain is continually in a state of local insun*ection, the suppression of wliich invariably leads to bloodshed without producing any per- manent settlement.
The passion which a Spaniard evinces in all he does, is not wanting in his religion. His piety is exalted, and the violence to which this piety frequently leads him, has had mournful results. It is this religious fury which accounts for the cruelty of the Spaniards to the Saracens and Jews ; and which, later on, lit the faggots of the Inquisition, and produced the most savage intole- rance. Spain has burnt, in the name of a God of peace and love, thousands of innocent creatures ; and for the honour and good of the Catholic faith, has proscribed, strangled, and tortured.
This passionate exaggeration of Catholicism has proved the ruin of Spain in modern times. It is marvellous to see how this nation, so powerful in the sixteenth century, and wliich, under Charles V., dictated laws to all Europe, has fallen ; im^il at the present day, it ranks among the states of the lowest class in this part of the world. But it will be seen that the multiplication of convents, both for men and women, has had the effect of rapidly depopulating the countr}'; that the proscription of the Moors, the Jews, and lastly, of the Protestants, has proved destructive of productive industry ; that the courts of the Inquisition, and the auto-da-fe, have led to a feeling of sadness and mistrust among the people ; that the abuse of religion and its symbols, has produced a bigotry which can be likened only to idolatry; and that the fear of offending an intolerant and self-asserting religion, has arrested nil moral progress, and effectually set aside all development of science, which of necessity presupposes free investigation.
This is how progress, activity, and thought, have met with their end, and how material prosperity has become extinguished in that portion of Europe, most marvellously endowed with natural gifts. Thus it is that commerce has become a bye-word in a land, whose geographical position is unrivalled, and wliich possessed in the New World the most flourishing and powerful colonies ; and that literature and science, the two great words which indicate liberty and progress, have fallen away in the home of Michael Cervantes.
How is Spain to recover her former splendour ? What reme- dies must be applied to these crying evils ? We reply, religious toleration, and political liberty.
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 87
The type of the Spanish woman is so well, known, that we need hardly recall it. She is generally brunette, although the blond type occurs much more frequently than is usually supposed. The Spanish woman is almost always small of stature. Who has not ob- served her large eyes, veiled by thick lashes, her delicate nose, and well-formed nostrils. Her form is always imdulating and graceful ; her limbs are round and beautifully moulded, and her extremities of incomparable delicacy. She is a charming mixture of vigour, languor, and grace.
Love is the great object of the Spanish woman. She loves with passion but with constancy, and the jealousy she feels is but the legitimate compensation for the attachment she bestows.
The Spanish woman, faithful as a wife, is an excellent mother. Few women can equal her as a nurse, or in the attention and patience which are called for by the care of children. The mother lavishes upon her young family her whole life, and if she fails to instruct them, it is, alas ! that she lacks the power to do so ; for she is no better educated than the French woman, and, as re- gards ignorance, is a meet companion for her in every respect.
We have said that, in France, women exercise a very manifest influence upon the course of events. The Spanish woman is not, however, in possession of this useful influence. She commands the attention of those around her only during the short period of her beauty. When, arrived at maturity, her judgment formed by ex- perience, and her views enlarged by observation or practice, she might soothe the passion of her friends, assist them with her counsel, or unite them aroimd her hearth, the Spanish woman retires into obscurity, and the knowledge she has gained is lost to society.
Having thus given a general view of Spanish manners, we will say something with respect to the most characteristic physio- gnomies of this country.
The Moorish type is met with in a marked degree in the province of Valencia. The peasants have swarthy complexions. Their head-dress consists of a handkerchief in bright colours, rolled around the head and rising to a point : strongly reminding the observer of the turban worn by Eastern nations. They sometimes wear, in addition to this, a hat formed of felt and black velvet, with the edges turned up. On fete-days they don a vr(dBt<:oat of green or blue velvet, with numerous buttons formed of
8a THE WHITE BA.CE.
silver or plated copper. In lien of trowsers, they wear full drawers of white cloth, which reach as far as the knees, and are
22:— BPAHISB LASI A
kept up by a broad helt of silk or brightly striped wool. The hoae consist of guters, kept in place by means of a broad blae riband woood round the leg. A. long piece of woollen material.
EUBOPEAN BRANCH.
striped with bri^t colours, is thrown over the shoulders or wound round the body : this is the cloak.
The peasants are to be seen to best advantage in the market- place, whither they bring their oranges, grapes, and dates.
The women of Valencia are sometimes of remarkable beauty.
90 THE WHITE RACE.
Their black hair is rolled into bunches above the temples, and carried to the back of the head, where it forms an enormous chignon, through which passes a long needle of silver-gilt.
In some of the preceding cuts we have given the costumes of the inhabitants of Valencia, Xeres, Cordova, Toledo, and Madrid, as also types of Spanish physiognomy.
In Spain, dancing is a national feature. The dance scarcely varies in different provinces, but generally reflects the character of the people, who accompany it with songs and national melodies. They can hardly have enough of singing and dancing the Fandango (fig. 23), and the Bolero (fig. 24).
Portugal abuts on Spain, and its people merit some portion of our consideration.
The Portuguese women are frequently pretty, and sometimes actually beautiful. They have abundant hair, their eyes are earnest, soft, and penetrating, and their teeth excellent. Their feet are rather large, but their hands are very delicate. Their forms are well set, and strongly, though somewhat sturdily built ; their joints are small, their complexion sallow, their movements are confident. Their well shaped heads are well placed, and the modest ease with which they wear the short jupon and broad felt hat, imparts to these articles of dress a certain elegance.
The inhabitants of Ponte de Lima are of small stature, and possess fine vigorous forms. The country people are worthy of special notice, they make brave and steady soldiers, who are easily amenable to discipline, and robust and intelligent work- men.
There is nothing very noteworthy about the dress of the peasantry, except as regards that of the women. The petticoat is plaited, short, and sometimes rolled up, so as to expose to view their legs, which are usually bare. The bodice, which is famished with two or three silver buttons, displays the form. Being separated from the petticoat, it permits the chemise to puff out aroimd tlie body, while the sleeves of that garment are wide and usually worn turned up. The head-dress consists of a large black felt hat, frequently adorned with bows of ribbon, and almost always furnished with a white kerchief, the folds of which fall dojm over the neck and shoulders. Long earrings, and even necklaces and chains of gold, complete the picturesque costume in which yellow, red, and bright green, predominate.
25.— TisH-vBin>OBa i
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 93
The streets of Oporto are much enlivened by the appearance of the peasants in their various brilliant dresses, who there vend oranges, vegetables, cheese, or flowers.
Fig. 25 represents the costume of fishmongers at Oporto.
Italians, No part of Europe can be compared with Italy, for softness of climate, clearness of the sky, fertility of the soil, and pnreness of the atmosphere. The soil, wliich is very undulating, is watered by numerous streams, and permits largely of cultivation ; while the mountains conceal precious metals, and beautiful marbles. No country is better protected by nature.
On the north arises a broad barrier of stupendous mountains, while the remaining sides are protected by the sea. Along the coast are vast ports, with good harbours ; and lastly, this portion of Europe alone has the advantage of offering ready access to both Asia and Africa.
The fertility of the soil, the mild temperatm^e, and the large variety of natural productions which furnish good food, all indi- cate that Italy should possess a fine, vigorous, and intelligent population. And, indeed, the Italians possess these qualities.
We shall first examine rather more closely, the origin of this people, and the differences they present in various parts of the peninsula.
The Latin family which gave its name to the human group with which we are now concerned, had Italy for its home. In Italy, therefore, we should expect to meet with it. But we should be deceived were we to expect to find the pure Latin type among the modem Italians. The barbarian invasions in the north, and the contact with Greeks and Africans in the south, have wronght much alteration in the primitive type of the inhabitants of Italy. Except in Home, and the Boman Campagna, the true type of the primitive Latin population is hardly to be found. Tlie Grecian type exists in the south, and upon the Eastern slope of the Apennines, while in the north, the great majority of faces are Gallic. In Tuscany and the neighbouring regions are found ilie descendants of the ancient Etruscans.
'What most interests us is the primitive Latin population. This is met with, as we have said, in and around Borne, and in order to fiind it we must go there.
The features of the early Latin people can be imagined without
M THE WHITE RACE,
difficulty, by reference to busts of the Erst Roman emperors. We may thence Brrive at the foUowing characteristic features, as probably those of the ancient Italian races. The bead is large, the forehead of no great height, the vertex (summit of tlie cranium)
flattened, the temporal region protruding, and the face propor- tionally short. The nose, which is divided from the forehead by a marked depression, is aquiline ; the lower jaw is broad, and the chin prominent.
The modem population of Rome, without absolutely reproducing
06 THE WHITE EACE.
these features, still retain their beantifully pore characteristic lines.
In fig. 27, which represents a gronp of peasant men and women of Borne, we easily recognize these celebrated types of coante-
nance, so fiuniliar to every artist. The distinguishing marks will be easily seen in the Boman peasants, who, quitting their native country, seek their livelihood in France as models.
As one of these typea taken from nature, we would call the reader's attention to fig. 28, which represents a young Boman
EUROPEAN BRAJ^CH. 97
girl from the quarter on the banks of the Tiber called Transtevera, and also to fig. 29, which is a faithful portrait of peasants from around Rome.
It would be a fruitless task, were we, in studying the modem Bomans, to seek among them traces, more or less eradicated, of the old Roman blood.
In a population which has been so degraded, oppressed, and polluted as this, by ages of slavery and obscmnty, we should find nought but disturbance and chaos. We can make no refer- ence to family Hfe in this land of convents and celibacy, nor speak of intellectual faculties in a country where we see a jealous t}'ranny narrowing the minds of the inhabitants, and an authority that is seated in the blackest darkness, moulding body and mind in ignorance of morality and education. We should need the greatest power of penetration to find, in the eflfeminate and dege- nerate population of Modem Rome, the genius of the ancient conquerors of the world.
There are, however, reasons for hoping, that Rome, being now released from Papal authority, and having, since the year 1871, become the Capital of Italy and the resideuce of King Victor- Emmanuel, will gradually cease to feel the preponderance of the sacerdotal element.
Young Romans playing the favorite Italian game, la mora, with its usual accompaniment of gesticulations and shouts, is a very common street scene. The two persons pla}ing this game raise their closed fists in the air, and then, in letting them fall, open as many fingers as they may think proper. At the same time they call out some number. The winner is he, who, by chance, calls out the number represented by the sum of all the fingers exhibited by the two players. If, for ex- ample, I caU out ^re, and at the same time open two fingers, whilst my adversary displays three, which added to mine make Jive, the number called by me, I am winner. The arms of the two players are raised and lowered at the same time, and the numbers are called simultaneously, with great rapidity and regu- larity, producing a very singular result and one incomprehensible to a stranger.
La mora is played all over Italy.
But it is not alone in the city of Rome that the characteristic features of the ancient Latin race are to be found ; the traveller
THE WHITE RACE.
passing through the suburbs of the capital of the Christian 'World, Frascati or Tivoli, will still encounter vestiges of the old Latins hidden beneath the sad garments of misery. (Fig 29.)
It may be said that Rome at the present day is a vast convent. In it the ecclesiastical population holds an important position and Iplays an important part. This, it is, which imparts to the Eternal
100 THE WHITE RACE.
City its austerity, not to say, its public sadness and moral languor. We shall therefore close our series of picturesque views of the inhabitants of Modem Borne, by glancing at the costumes of the principal dignitaries of the ecclesiastical order, their representation in fig. 80 being followed by the reproduction of a well-known picture, representing the Exaltation ofPio IX. (fig. 81).
The Latin type, which physically if not morally is ihet with in a state of purity at Borne, and in the Boman Campagna, has, on the other hand, undergone great modification in the provinces of the North, as well as in those of Southern Italy. Let us first con-^ aider the Northern provinces.
Northern Italy, endowed to perfection with natural advantages, washed by two seas, watered by the tributaries of a large river, possessing land of extraordinary fertility, nourishes a race in which the Latin blood has mingled with that of the German and Gaul. In Tuscany and the neighbom*hood are, as we have said, the descendants of the old Etruscans, and further north are the offspring of Germanic and GalUc races.
The designs which adorn the tEtruscansai-cophagi, originally brought, it ifr said, from Northern Greece, have preserved the physical form and aj^eanmce of these people. They are bull^^ and of heavy make.
The men wear no beai*d, and are clothed with a timic which in some cases is thrown over the back of the head. Some hold in the left hand a small goblet, and in the right, a bowl. They repose in an easy postm-e, resting the body on the left side, as do also the women. The women wear a tunic, sometimes fastened below the breast by a broad girdle, which is furnished with a circular clasp, and a peplum which in many cases covers the back of the head. They hold in one hand an apple, or some fruit of the same appeazance, and in the other a fxa. This is the portrait of the Etruscan which has been handed down to us.
Tuscany, of all Italy, is that portion which most strongly represents the mildness, the order, and the industrious activity of modem Italy. The natural richness of the soil is there en* hanced by a capable system of cultivation. The arts peacefully flourish in this land of great painters, sculptors, and architects. The habits of the people, both of the upper and lower classes, are gentle and peaceful. There is here a state of general prosperity added to a fair amount of education. The poor man here, does
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 101
not, KS in other countries, foster a complfuning and hostile feeling against the rich ; all entertain a consciousness of their own
dignity ; all are affable and polite. The general good feeling is manifeated in yiotA and deed, und tlie religious t»;e is moderate
102 THE WHITE RACE.
and tolerant. Women are loved and respected, and this respect corresponds in religion with the worship of the Virgin.
At Florence and in Tuscany we meet that Italian urbanity, which, by the French, who are unable to understand it, is impro- perly termed obsequiousness. This attribute of the Italian is verj"^ far from servile; it comes from the heart. A universal kindly feeling welcomes the stranger, who experiences much pleasure among this conciliatory and friendly people, and with difficulty teai*s himself away from this happy country, where all seem bathed in an atmosphere of art, sentiment, and goodness*
Southern Italy will show us a very dilBFerent picture from that we have just described. The proximity to Africa has here much altered the physical type of the inhabitants, while the yoke of a loiig despotism has much lowered the social condition, through the miser}^ and ignorance it has produced. The mixture of African blood has changed the organic t^-pe of the Southern ItaUan to such an extent, as to render him entirely distinct from his nortlieni compatriots; the excitmg influence, which the mate has over the senses, imparting to his whole conduct a peculiar exuberance. Hence there is much frivolity and little consistency in his character.
In the town and neighbourhood of Naples we meet a combina- tion of the features we have just considered. Let us betake ourselves for a moment thither, and take a rapid view of the strange population, which from early dawn is to be met in the streets, singing, begging, or going about their day's work.
Fig. 82 shows us a shoi) of dealers in macaroni in the market- place {inercatello)y and fig. 83 the indispensable water-carrier.
The most favourable time for examining the great variety of types which imite in the population of Southern Italy, is on the occasion of the public festivals wliich are so numerous at Naples* This curious mixture may be investigated in the crowds of people who frequent the festival of Piedigrotta, where are to be found examples of every Greek and Latin race.
Here are to be seen the Procidan women (isle of Procida, near Naples), who still retain the ancient simai', the kerchief which falls loosely around the head, and the classic profiles with straight noses (fig. 84). In Southern Italy, these daughters of ancient Greece still wear the golden diadem and silver gii-dle of Homer's matrons. The Cajman woman throws around her head a veil similar to that
THE WHITE RACE,
of the Bibyls and vestals. The Abruzzan women wear their hair in knots in tixe manner shown in Greek statnes. The men of these parts, moreover, clothe themselves in sheepskins during the winter, and wear sandals, fastened with leatliern thongs. The Etruscans, the Greeks, the Romans, and even the Normans, have
FBASANT WOUAH.
left their traces in this counti^', whose population forms such a carious mixture.
Not less remarkable are, in this beautiful country, the peasantry of the mountains and the sea-coast. The most varying forms and the richest colours are to be met with, from the coarse cloth drawers and sliirt of the fisherman, to the brilliant cos- tume of certain of the Abruzzi, from the Phrygian cap of the Neapolitans to tlie peaked hat of the Calabrians — a slender.
EUROPEAN BBANCa
tall, and amibiimt people.
In the midst of this motley assemblage of every variety of dress and colour, the grace- ful acquajolo (fig. 86), that is, the stall of the dealer in oranges and iced water, forms a most picturesque object.
Walachianx, — From the consideration of the types of mankind in Italy, we naturally pass to those of their neighbours, the in- habitants of Walachia and Moldavia.
Under the title, Wala£hiajta or Moldo- WiUachians, are com- prehended the people of Walachia, Mol- davia, and some of the neighbouring pro- vinces.
The Walacliians proceed from the fu- sion of the Boman colonies, established by Trajan, and of some Greek settle- ■ ments, with the an- cient Slavonic inha- bitants of these conn- tries. The langoage ol this people corre-
THE WHITE EACE.
sponds with their triple origin, for it possesses the characteristics of Latin, Greek, and Slavonic.
ACqUAJOLO, AT KAfLBS.
Wahichia and Moldavia form the ancient Dacxa, The Walachians, originally subject to the kingdom of Bulgaria and
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 107
to that of Hungary, formed, in 1290, an independent state, the first prince of which was called Rodolph the Black, About 1350 one of their colonies occupied Moldavia under the leadership of a prince named Dragosch. But the Walachian state was never very firmly constituted, and in 1525 the battle of Mohacz reduced it finally under Turkish rule. The Turks did not disturb the internal government of the Walachians, but obliged their prince (hogpodar) to pay an annual tribute to the Porte, and to maintain Turkish garrisons in all their strongholds. But Walachia, being situated between the Ottoman empu'e on one side, and Hungary, Poland, and Russia, on the other, became the scene of most of the struggles between its formidable neighbours. It was tramj^led over by both Christian and Mussulman, and this temble situation resulted in ruin and exile to its unfortunate inhabitants. The hospodars who occupied the thrones of Walachia and Moldavia were appointed by the court of Constantinople, who sold this dignity to the highest bidder. The hospodai's were then only a species of pacha ; their court was formed after the pattern of those of the Byzantine emperors, but they did not j)ossess the military power of the Turkish pachas.
This situation has changed since 1849, when a treaty was con- cluded between tlie Porte and Russia. By the terms of this treaty, the dignity of hospodar was maintained during the life- time of its possessor. New events have happened, and, since the year 1860, the political protection of the Danubian Prin- cipalities is shared between Russia, the Porte, Prussia, and Austria* The Pi'ince of HohenzoUern, who now occupies the throne of Moldo- Walachia, is of Prussian birth.
The two principalities of Moldavia and Walachia enjoy their nationality and independence on condition of paying a yearly tribute to the Porte.
None of their forts are now to receive a Turkisii garrison.
The prince is assisted by a council formed of the leading boyards, and this council forms a high court of ai)peal for judicial afiEairs. In modem times, Couza was the best known prince of Walachia, although political events or popular discontent led to his early fall.
The public safety is attended to by a sort of indigenous poUce, commanded by the head spathar.
The inhabitants of Walachia are remai*kable for patience and
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 109
resignation; without these qualities, it would have fared hard with them during the calamities which have at all times befallen their country* They are men of a mild, religious^ and sober temperament. But, since they are unable to enjoy the result of their labour, they do as little work as possible. The milk of their kine, pork, a little maize, and beer of an inferior quality^ with a woollen dress, is all they require. On fete days, however, the peasants appear in brilliant costumes, which we represent here (figs. 87, 88, 89).
** The Walachians," says M. Yaillant, ** are generally of con* siderable height, well-made, and robust ; they have oblong faces, black hair, thick and well-arched eyebrows, bright eyes, small lips, and white teeth. They are merry, hospitable, sober, active, brave, and fitted to make good soldiers. They profess Christianity according to the rites of the Greek church. This people, which has so long inhabited countries devastated by warfare, shows at the present time a strong disposition to develop itself."
Towns are rare in Walachia, the country being still far in arrear of the surrounding civilization, in consequence of its political subordination to Turkey, and its bad internal organiza- tion* The country of the Danube, indeed, has practically but one hutge town, that is, Bucharest. There are thus, in this land, no centres from whence light could emanate ; it is in an incom- plete state of civilization, which can be improved only by an internal revolution, or by the collision which, sooner or later, must come, of its powerful adjacent empires.
" However,'* says Malte-Bnm, " nature seems to await human industry with open arms; there are few regions upon which she has kvished her gifts as she has here. The finest river in Europe bathes the southern frontier of these provinces, and opens a way into fertile Hungary, and the whole Austrian empire, offering, moreover, a communication between Europe and Asia, by the Black Sea ; but this is all in vain, for hardly a single vessel glides over its waves. Its rocks, its shoals, the Turkish. ganisons on its banks, and above all, the plague, inspire fear. Otiier fine rivers flow from the siunmit of the Carpathian mountainSy.and &Uinto the Danube ; but they serve only to supply fish during Lent, and, being left to themselves, menace the sur- rounding country, which, if better regulated, they would fertilize. The Aluta, Jalovitza> and Ardschis, are navigated only by flat-
—LADY or BUOKUtEBT,
EDBOPEAN BRAKCH. Ill
bottomed boats. Immense marshes encnmber the low parts of Walachia, and their exhalations produce a continuance of biliooB fevers. The most superb forests, in which splendid oaks grow side by side with beeches, pines, and firs, cover not only the
, bat many of the large islands in the Danube. These, 1 of being used in the construction of fleets, merely furnish the wood used in paving the streets or roads ; for idleness and ignorance find no means of raising the blocks of granite and msible, of which the Carpathians offer such abandonee. The
THE WHITE RACE.
summit of Mount Boutchez attainB a height of more than six thooaand feet, and all the mineral wealth of Transylvania seems to take its origin in Upper Walachia. Copper mines have been opened at Baya di Boma, and iron mines in the district of
^-^u;\l!l \U^
40.— noBu BOBNUX
Gersy, one especially in the neighbourhood of Zigarescht, where a bed of rocks presents the phenomenon of an almost continual igneooa fermentation.
" The Alata and o^er rivers bringdown nuggets of gold, which are collected by the BoUemians, or Ziguans, and which indicate
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 113
the presence of mines as rich as those of Transylvania; but no one thinks of looking for them. Only the salt quarries are worked, among which that of Okna Teleago furnishes 150,000 cwt. per annum. The cUmate, notwithstanding two months of hard winter and two months of excessive heat, is more favourable to health and agriculture than that of any of the adjacent countries. The pastures, filled with aromatic plants, supply nourishment even to the herds of neighbouring provinces, and could support even more than these. The wool of their sheep has already attained considerable value. It is estimated that Walachia contains two and a half millions of sheep, which are of three-fold variety — the zigay, with short and fine wool ; the zaskam, with long coarse wool ; the tatare, which forms a mean between the two foregoing varieties. Horses and oxen are exported. Fields of maize, wheat, and barley ; forests of apple, plum, and cherry trees ; melons and cabbages, excellent, although enormous, bear wit- ness to the productive nature of the soil. Many of its wines sparkle with a generous fire, and with care might be brought to equal the well-known Hungarian vintages. A thousand other natural advantages are found there, but they are of little avail to a people without energy or enlightenment.'*
Slavonian Family.
This family comprehends the Russians, Finns, Bulgarians, Servians, and Bosniaks, that is to say, the inhabitants of Slavonia ; and the Magyars, or Hungarians, the Croats, the Tchecks, the Poles, and the Lithuanians, that is, the people who inhabit the countries intervening between the Baltic and Black £eas.
Before describing these people individually, we shall give in a general manner the characteristics of the family to. which they all belong.
The Slavonian family includes the European peoples who have preserved in the greatest perfection the type of the primitive Aryan race. They are tall, vigorous, and well made, and while in this respect they recall the Caucasian type, they yet possess the most distinct marks of'the Mongolian type. The cheek bones are high, the nose is depressed at the root, and turned up towards the extremity, which is almost invariably thick. The oval form
114 THE WHITE RACE.
of the cranium is very marked ; the chest is of considerable cajja- cit}', and the shoulders and arms are large, but the lower ex- tremities are in proportion much smaller.
Mr. William Edwards has thus described the organic type of the Slavonians : —
*' The form of the head, viewed from the front, represents pretty nearly a square, since the height is about equal to the breadth, while the top is perceptibly flattened, and the direction of the jaw is horizontal. The nose is less long than the space between its basis and the chin : from the nostrils to the root, it is almost straight, that is, there is no decided curve ; but if such curve were appreciable, it would be slightly concave, so as to give the tip a tendency to rise ; the lower portion is rather broad, and the extremity rounded. The eyes, which are slightly hollow, are exactly in the same line, and if they present any marked cha- racteristic, it is that they ai'e rather small in proportion to the head. Tlie eyebrows, which are scanty, are nearly contiguous at the inner angle, wlience they are directed obliquely outwards* The mouth, wliich is small with thin lips, is much nearer the nose than the chin. A singular characteristic which must be taken in connection with the above, and which is very general, consists in the absence of beard except upon the upper lip.'*
It has been said that the Slavonians of tlie i)resent day are the old Scythians mixed with the Sainnatians, but their origin is not so simple as this. These people originally bore the name of Venedians or Servians, They occupied, at the commence* ment of the Chiistian era, the banks of the Danube and Hungary l)roper, whence they extended as far as the Dnieper and the Baltic. Their name of Serviuns is derived from a people men- tioned by Ptolemy, under the name of Scpgoi, who dwelt in the regions aroimd the Baltic (Paltis-Meotis), and belonged to the Sarmatian nation. The Sarmatians advanced by degrees from the banks of the lower Don, wliich was their country, to the centre of Poland, where they mixed with the Venedians. The Sarmatians were allied to the Scythians of Europe, who were an Indo- Euroi)ean nation, considered by Diodorus of Sicily, and Pliny, to have come originally from Media.
It will be seen that the rather comjilicated pedigree of the Slavonians, is connected with gradual displacements of Asiatic populations. This then explains the fact that they
RVSaUR SESTINBL, BIOA.
lie THE WHITE RACE.
possess the Caucasian type in a remarkable degree of purity, but altered by the admixture of Mongolian blood.
A certain love of separatism, and a tendency to rebel under the yoke of authority, have been the misfortune of these people. At an early period they separated into rival nationalities, possessing but little capacity for self-government. Anarchy was their political condition, and to this must be attnbuted the misfortunes of Poland and Hungary, nations which, at the present day, are almost effaced from the Map of Europe.
The Slavonians occupy a large portion of Eastern Europe; formerly they had advanced as far as the centre of Germany* The descendants of the German Slavonians are found in the Venedians of Lusatia, the Tchecks or inhabitants of Bohemia, and the inhabitants of Carinthia and Camiola. The purest type of the Slavonian race is to be found in the Servians, inhabitants of Servia, Herzegovina and Hungarian Slavonia. The Bosniaks and Montenegriners are also Slavonians. They formerly sent to Croatia colonists under the name of Uscoks (emigrants.)
The Croats are Slavonians who descended, about the ninth, century, from the region of the Carpathians in lUyria, and who absorbed the previous original Pannonian and Dalmatian popi&> lation.
A branch quite distinct from this great race, and which misiit be considered as forming a separate stock, is represented by the Lithuanians, a people whose mild and indolent nature would seem to imply a mixture at some remote period, with Finn, or, perhaps also, with Gothic blood.
Ilussia is occupied at the present day by a Slavonian race mixed with the Scandinavians and the primitive inhabitants of the soil. The Slavonians who occupied Poland spread from the banks of the Dnieper to the foot of the Oural mountains, while the immigration of the Yaregians, a Scandinavian people, brought a northern influence into this country. These Yaregians absorbed the Slevenians whom they found in this coimtry, and the Tchoudans who had summoned them. Under this twofold action arose the Eussian nation, which is mentioned by Greek writers for the first time in 839, and the elements of which were subsequently modified in various respects by the infusion of Turkish and Mongolian blood. Ilussia took its name from the country situate around Upsal, which was the native district of the
42.— KUBSIAN ttkTOTEES, RIUA.
118 THE WHITE RACE.
Scandinavian emigrants (Rios-Lagen, the Buotsimaa of the Finns).
The population of Bussia Major appears to be chiefly composed of a Finnish-Slavonic race. Among the inhabitants of Russia Minor (Cossacks of the Ukraine), the Polish element predominates. Among these Russians we shall find the stock of those who estab- lished themselves farther north in Russia Major, the population of which eventually absorbed them. The Bielo-Russians, or in- habitants of White Russia, who occupy the greater portion of the provinces of Mohilew, Minsk, Witepsk, Grodno, and Wilna, constitute a race intermediate between tlie Russians and the Poles.
The latter first appear in history with the d}Tiasty of the Piasts, about 860. The Slovachians, who extend to the north-west of Hungary as far as Austrian Galicia, belong, as well as the Tchecks, to this same Polish branch. The Ruthenians, settled to the north of Transylvania, proceeded from the mixture of the first Slavonians established in this country with the Poles who emigrated in the twelfth century from Galicia or Red Russia.
Such is the vast collection of populations united imder tlie name of the Slavonian family.
It is diflScult to analyze the habits of a race, which, for centuries, has been divided between oppression and slaver}'. We will, liow- ever, endeavour to do so, and shall commence with the Northern Slavonians.
The Northern Slavonian is, in general, gentle and patient. His sweet toned language caresses tlie ear and the mind with expressions full of tenderness. He treats his wife and children with the greatest kindness. Like the Arab, he loves a life of wandering and adventure beneath the open sky, and, like tlie Arab, he can bear the greatest fatigue. On horseback he crosses plains covered with snow, as the Arab crosses the burning sands of the desert. Music has a very moving effect on tlie Slavonian. It forms a means of translating his tenderness and his melan- choly ; it responds to the vague and cloudy impressions, to the yearnings, of his swelling heart. The Slavonian peasants culti- vate the voice, and men, rough and coarse in many other respects, compose melodies full of sentiment. The auditors press around
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 119
the singer, like the shepherds of ancient Arcadia, and tears of emotion and pleasure are seen rolling down the unkempt beards of these poor Danubians.
The Slavonians are less sensible to linear than to musical harmony. Thus it is that Russian ai'chitectiire can do no more than imitate the monuments of France and Italy. On the other hand, the taste for coloiu* attains with them a considerable development, a fact which is evidenced by the colours of their materials and furniture, and the decoration of their apartments. The sense of ornament is to be met with in the lowest villages of Russia, and the peasant who constructs liis house with the rough- hewn trunks of trees, does not omit to paint and carve his door, window, and roof.
This explains how tlie serf, when taken from his plough, is able, after a very short apprenticeship, to reproduce the delicate and artistic work of the Parisian jeweller.
We see, therefore, that the artistic aptitudes of the Slavonian are well developed, and that this race, in order to arrive at excellence in art, only requires the conditions of political liberty and individual independence.
From a moral aspect, the Noithern Slavonian obeys, above all, the inclination of his heart, rather than of his reason. Nor must the Russian be looked to for personal initiative, or philo- sophical or social innovations. He does not possess the instinct of Uberty, but he has, in a high degree, sympathy, col- lective action, and the equalizing tendencies which are its con- sequences.
This sentimental supremacy is manifested in the Orthodox religion which prevails in Russia, which imposes with authority its decisions, and the precepts of which are adckessed less to the reason than to bUnd faith.
By referring to this feeling of sjonpathy, we are enabled to famish an explanation of the facility with which an immense population, with bad police arrangements, bad administration, and without good means of communication, acts collectively, accepting the same faith, and obeying the same law. The minds of all in Russia seem to obey one single will and inspiration.
The Slavonian republics flomished from the sixth to the seventh century, during which time these people were happy, wealthy, and tranquil. Art and science flourished there under
120 THE WHITE RACK
the shelter of municipal liberty. But, although weU formed for peace, they did not possess the element of centralization which was necessary to enable them to withstand foreign aggression » They at last became a prey to the Mongolians and Germans, who brought with them a feudal form of government, and banished all prosperity by destroying the democratic element of equality. The inhabitants of Novgorod were reduced to an actual state of slavery, and Poland, devoted to deplorable political institutions, became, from that moment, a prey to the anarchy which was to bring about its fall.
Russia took its origin from the submission of the Slavonian populations of the north, to the despotic centralization so powerfully organized by Peter the Great and his successors.
The Slavonians of the South, that is, the inhabitants of Slavonia, Servia, Bulgaria, Carniola, &c., differ sensibly from those of the North. A dry and mountainous country, filled, nevertheless, with sweet odours, a burning sim, a cleai* sky, and the various products of the soil, have rendered the race of Southern Slavonians dai-k, wiry, active, warlike, and chivalrous. Few men are stronger, physically or morally, than the Sla- vonians of the Ottoman Empire.
Tlie deplorable Turkish administration has been unable to change the precious qualifications of this people. Though con- tinually beaten down with the sword, they always rise again ; tlie least hope of independence nerves their heai-ts. The hospitality of the Southern Slavonians, their language brimming with poetry, and their national songs, all impart to them a fine and beautiful character. It may be safely affirmed that a brilliant civilization will arise among these people as soon as they are released from the Turkish yoke.
We will now shortly consider the principal populations whom we have classed imder the Slavonian family.
Russians. — The Bussians form the most important branch of this family. They may be subdivided into RiLSsians propeiiy so called, Rousniaksy and Cossacks,
The Bussians, properly so called, inhabit, almost exclusively, the central portion of Bussia, and are, moreover, disseminated throughout all the rest of the Bussian Empire, the immense extent of which is well known. In the Asiatic and American portions of
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 181
this vast empire, they form, not the majority, but the ruling section of the population.
Figs. 43 and 44 will convey an idea of the Russian physiognomy in the capital of tlie enipiie, St. Petereburg; fig, 43 represents
the dress of the townspeople, and the sledge which takes the plaoe of the cairinge during the long winters of tliis latitude ; fig. 44 represents the interior of an inn.
In Russian, the term Uba is applied to the dwellings of the peasuibry, which are almost always constructed of wood. A
122 THE WHITE RACE.
Itussian village usually consists of only one street, lined with isbas, more or less ornamented, according to the taste or fortune of the proprietor. The houses are almost always similar. Figure 45 shows the interior of this house.
In these houses everjthing is made of wood, except that
portion which suiTounds a gigantic stove k^pt alight during the whole winter. The furniture consists of forms placed along the walls, and which serve as beds for tlie whole family, who in winter however sleep apon tlie stove.
To tlie ceiling are suspended tlie provisions and candles. In
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 123
the comer of every room is an image of the Virgin Mary. Instruments of labour, cooking utensils, and domestic animals mingle, ivitliin the isba, in pictm-esque disorder.
The Russiftii peasant is intelligent, brave, hospitable, affable, and benevolent ; but he is wanting in cleanliness, and indulges to
excess m malt t,\ nt He ea a 1 rt of otto t ff lly
red falhng o er capac ous t ouse s nhi h are tu ked ii to heavy boots
His outer clothmg consists of the to h pa formed of a sheep b skin w th the wool on inl o-nntl tl next tie bo 1 His
124 THE WHITE RACE
low crowned hat has a broad turned up rim. The hat worn by peasants in the neigbboorhood of Moscow is pointed and almost without a lim.
Tlie women wear boots like the men : they also wear the touloupa, with a shawl and kerchief over the head and shoulders. It is only on fete days that this wretched costume gives place ti>
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aprons and shawls, of bright colour, and even embroidered in gold and silver. Tlie head-dresses are elegant, and vary in the different provinces,
The pleasures of a Russian peasant are always of a serious character. The quick and sparkling expansion and gaiety of Southern popidations are unknown to the inhabitants of these frozen regions.
EUBOPEAN BRAIfCH. 185
M. d'Hearyet, who has travelled in the Russian prorinces of the Baltic, informs us, that at Biga the houses are comfortable and well appointed ; that immense stoves preserve a temperature of 68" or more in vast apartments, yarded from without by double nindowB and double doors : that persons lenving the house envelop themselves in a fur robe, which leaves no form distin- guishable, HO that it is difficult to say whetlier the individual in
question is a man or woman : Uiat at night, the bed is small, low, furnished with one or two leathern mattresses and some sheets a little larger than napkins. They live in a hot-lionse atmosphere, the air of which is not often enough renewed.
The Cossacks form in Russia rather a mihtary caste than a distinct people. They seem to be descended from the Bousniaks mixed with other people, chiefly Circassians. They frequently have longer faces, more prominent noses, and are of greater height, than the Russians properly so called. Their principal settlement is upon the banks of the lower portion of the
126 THE WHITE RACE.
Don. They, however, rarely possess a fixed Tesidence, since the Cosisncks, spread throughout the entire Uussian Empire, act as light cavalry and border troops.
Figures 48 and 49 represent different types, taken from Nature, of Ct)ssacks who live in the Caucasus, along the frontiers which bound the Southern portion of the Bussian possessions.
Finns. — The Finns form small scattered populations which extend from the Baltic sea to tlie east of the Obi. The Finns
ore regarded as the remains of people once far more numerous, who have been conquered, repressed, carried off, or diiven back by Slavonians, Turks, and Mongolians. They lead the life of hunters and husbandmen, rather than that of warriors and nomads. Beddish, or, frequently red hair, a scanty beard, a complexion marked with red patches, bluish or grey eyes, sunken cheeks, prominent cheek-bones, a large occiput, and an angular frame possessing less beauty than that of the Europeans and Arameans, have been regarded as the original characteristics of the Finns : but in a large number of these people these characteristics are more or less modified. Among them are distinguished the Oatiaks,
EUEOPEAN BBANCH.
127
the VofjouU, the Finns of Siberia, the Finns of Eastern Russia, ami the Finm of the Baltic.
The Finns of Siberia form tiTO groups ; one in the South, the other in the North.
The fv)rmer is compose*! of certain i)eoi>le known under the
names of the Teleouts, Si^ais, and Kachintz, wliose langiirtge bears some general affinity to Turkish dialects ; these give tliem- selves up to hunting, fishing, and agriculture, and are subject to the Russian Empire.
The Northern group is formed of two people : the Ostiaks and the Voffouh who have retained Finnish dialects.
The Vogouls form only a very insignificant population dwell-
~^"€3rir T^iv
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 129
ing east of the Oural, and have undergone such mixture with the Turks and Mongolians as to have adopted to a great extent their characteristics.
The Ostiaks who dwell upon the banks of the Obi appear to have preserved in much greater perfection the characteristics of the Finns. They are a people devoted to hunting and fishing, with red hair, very uncivilized, and partly idolatrous.
Madame Eva Felinska, during an exile in Siberia, inspected, as far as possible, the Ostiak huts. These habitations were so foul, and gave forth such putrid miasmas, that, notwithstanding her curiosity, tliis lady was unable to remain in them more than n minute.
The Ostiaks cover their skins witli a layer of rancid fat, over which they wear a reindeer skin. They eat uncooked fish or game, this being their ordinary food. But from time to time they go with large buckets of bark to Berezer, where they collect, and devour as delicacies, the refuse of the kitchens. Fig. 51 represents an Ostiak hut.
The Finns of Eastern Russia comprise the Baakira, the TeptiarSy and tlie Metscheriaks of the Southern Oural: three small peoples who speak Turkish dialects mingled with Finnish words, and who exist in very much the same way. The Baskirs are the most numerous ; they are engaged in rearing horses and beea. Like the Cossacks tliey furnish bodies of cavalry to the Bossian army.
The Finns of the Volga comprise the Tchouvachians, Tchere- missians and Moadueinites, who likewise speak dialects interspersed with Turkish words : a short time siace they turned their atten- tion to husbandry.
Certain populations scattered through the governments of Perm, Vologda, Orenburg, and Viatka, are the remains of a people of some consideration, formerly independent, civilized, and com- mercialy whom the Bussians subdued, and to a large extent absorbed : these are the Permians.
The Finns of the Baltic, or Finns properly so called, have been long under the rule of Teutonic nations, and have generally preserved the characteristics of the family we have described above. Among them are distinguished the Livonians, EstlionianSy IscharianSf Kyndk, Ymea or Finlanders, and QuaineSy who are respectiyely the remains of the ancient inhabitants of Livonia,
130
THE WHITE BACK.
Esthonia, Ingria, Finland, and Carelia, where they are now mixed with the Slavonians and Teutons. During the last century the Quainea pushed forward to tlie extremity of Norwegian Lapland, of which they at present form the principal population..
BtUgarians, Servians, and BosnUiks or inhabitants of Flavinia. — In order to describe these, we need do no more thao refer to
the general facts which have been stated above with reference to the Southern Slavonians. We will merely borrow a few descriptions and ill^tratious from the work of M. George Perrot, a French writer, " Voyage ckez lea Slaves du Sud," published in 1870, and well known on account of the excellent history it contains of his travels in Asia Minor.
M. Geoi^e Perrot travelled through Slavonia, Croatia, Bosnia, And the strip of territory recently cleared to serve as a frontier to
13S THE WHITE EACE.
the Mussulman possessions, and which bears the name of Military Cortfineg.
M. George Perrot first of all gives us some tj'pes of the inhabitants of Slaroma, which we shall reproduce here Figure
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
133
54 represents a peasant from the neighbourhood of Essek, a town of Slavonia.
While halting at the borough of Vouka, situated a few leogoes
from Essek, M. George PeiTot thus describes the peasants of these parts.
" The majority of the men around us have haii' which is blond or of different shades of chestnut. Although much burnt by the son, they are not generally so dark as the Magyars. Many of the women, who are tall and slender, are really beautiful. Their
134 THE WHITE RACE,
eyes especially, which are bright and sparkling, and sometimes blue, though more frequently of a dark grey, are charming. The lower portion of their face is less agreeable ; the chin is usually prominent, and the Hps are rather thick.
" Their costume recalls that met with in the East. The men wear a slouch hat of black felt with the edges turned up, a linen shiit, and full trousers down to the ankle ; this in hot weather, when they are in working order, forms the whole dress. One or two loungers, who joined us, were more completely dressed than this.
* " They wore large boots of thick leather, and over the shirt a waistcoat of blue cloth, adorned in front, with white metal buttons, and behind, with embroider}' in yellow or white. On another occasion, when we were on the boat, we saw some men who, in addition to this, wore, over the waistcoat, a short cape or half-cloak, which did not fall lower than the waist, and of which, as a rule, the sleeves were allowed to hang loose. In winter, they add to these, warm robes of sheepskin or large mantles, which put me in mind of the rough overcoats worn by our waggoners.
"As to the women, they make me think of the Albanians of Attica. Tliis fine September afternoon, they are wearing a long chemise, embroidered with eyelet holes and coloured patterns ; this chemise, which leayes the neck very open, would reach to the ground, but in order to permit of freer movement in the fields or . at home, it is hitched up, and supported by a coloured girdle, wound two or three times round the body ; being thus held up, the chemise forms elegant and symmetrical folds, falling in front as low as the ankle, while behind, it extends to about half way down the calf of the leg. Over the head is thrown, in various fashions, a kerchief, which is usually white, but which on festive occasions is embroidered with silver and gold ; the ends of this fall down the back, or over the bosom, as may suit the taste of the wearer. When the best dress is donned, a cloth apron, the colour and pattern of which bear a resemblance to the carpets which I have met with in Servia and Bosnia, hangs down to the knees ; over the chemise is worn a species of waistcoat without sleeves, and ornamented with gold or silver embroidery. In winter, they guard against the cold by wearing over all a thick overcoat of sheepskin. All the garments worn bv the women are
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 136
worked by their own hands and busy fingers, during the long winter evenings."
M. George Perrot remained for rnther fi long period in tlie
provinces now called the Military Confines or Frontiers, and he describes the miserable state in which the Slavonian peasantry exist there, where they ore obhged to live side by side with wild hordes of Mussulman soldiers or pandours.
Figure 65 shows peasants of these districts returning irom pasture.
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 137
Figure 56 is given by the author as a t}^e of the Slavonian women who inhabit tlie Mihtary frontiers.
Let us quote a few more of this traveller's impressions.
** What struck me in all the villages of the Confines through which I passed, were the guard stations, before which loitered, or slept beside their guns, suspended on the wall, five or six Gninzcr. In summer, thej' weai* merely theii* trousers and sliu-t of coarse white cloth, and sometimes a soil of brown jacket with red facings, which they also wear for field work. In winter tliey are seen enveloped in tlieii* large hooded cloaks of red cloth ; and, thus equipped and armed, guard theii- flocks on tlie moors. The state furnishes them, for exercise and service, with guns similar to those used by regiments of the Une ; but when not on duty, many of them prefer long guns of Albanian manufacture or shape, with swallow-tailed stocks. These guns ai'e transmitted from father to son for several generations. Besides these, they wear in their gh'dles, one or two pistols, and a kind of dagger with a bone handle inlaid with coral or glass. In tliis guise they have rather the appeai*ance of Bosniak bachibozouks, than of civilized subjects of His Majesty Francis Joseph, constitutional Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary. Then* uniform, consisting of a blue trouser fitting close to the leg, and a vest of black or white wool, is only produced on field days, or in war.
"But what is it that tliese sentinels are guai'ding? This is just what I have never been able to imderstand. No enemy, from Belgrade to Sissek, was threatening; and these villages are exposed to BO more disorder than those of the neighboming provinces, where they dispense with all this armed exhibition. This, there- fore, is another of the useless and erroneous consequences of the military regime*: here are hands taken day after day from theii* labour in the fields, and with no greater advantage than that of acquiring the habits of idleness and drunkenness, usually con- tracted duiing the period of barrack-room inactivity.'*
In Fig. 57 we represent one of the militaiy stations of the Confines, with the guai'ds belonging to it, called Granzers.
** All those who have lived for some time among the Granzers, have been struck with their indolent apathy, their careless and continued idleness. For whose sake should they exhaust tliem- selves with work? Under the rules of their community, their wives and children are almost beyond want. As regards
138 -THE WHITE RACE.
themselres, to-morrow they may be torn &om their orchards and fields, to encounter death in Italy, or on some other frontier ; would it not be madness to expose themselves to priva- tion and fatigue in view of a future upon which they have no means of reckoning ? Besides this, does their property, which
they can neither render as valuable as they wish, nor sell or bequeath as they may think proper, belong to them safficiently to ^ve them any pleasure or profit in its improvement? They have maxims which accurately indicate their character; 'Go late to the field and return early, so as to avoid the dew ; — if Ood does
140 THE WHITE RACE.
not aid, what is the use of working ? ' Being accustomed to rely only, as they say, 'Upon God and the Emperor,' they refuse to re- cognize the advantages to be gained from any modem invention, better tools, or more advanced methods of cultivation. * Thus I found it, and thus I will leave it,' is a saying of which they often make use in speaking of their patrimonial domain.
" The only thing which, in spite of all the shackles which enchain and benumb their limbs, would have been able to arouse their minds and impart to them some desire for progi'ess, is in- struction. But ignorance is profomid in the Military Confines; the regimental schools that exist are very insufficient both in number and quality; in certain districts, especially in Southern Croatia, the villages are so distant from one another, that the children, who do not dwell in the borough where the school is, are imable, without difficulty, to go there at any time. Besides, why should the government do much as regards instruction ? It is clear, that, if the people of the Confines were better taught, they would be less resigned to their hard lot. If it rested entirely with the government, tlie schoolmaster w^ould be entu-ely banished from these parts.
" Upon the banks of the Danube and of the Save, where the Con- fines abut upon the river, which is continually traversed by packet- boats, ti'avellers, and merchandize, the people of the frontiers have nevertheless daily communication with the inhabitants of the neighboming provinces, and even with strangers. Tliis contact somewhat opens tlieir minds and suggests new ideas ; but it is chiefly in Southern Croatia, in the districts called Banal and Karlstadt, tliat the characteristic features of the Grdnzertcre most frequent and striking. There commences, soutli-east of Karl- stadt, what is termed the dry-frontier; this is no longer a water- course such as the Danube or Save, but aline purely conventional, forming the boundary between Austria and Turke}'.
^' Surprises and hand to hand combats were recently matters of frequent occmTence upon this fi'ontier, which is more difficult to define and to preserve ; at the commencement of this centurj% certain forts, and other places, such as Zettin, which the Turks assaulted in 1809 and 1818, were still the subject of dispute. Here, moreover, the Frontier territory is no longer from fifteen to twenty kilometres, but from five to six mjTiametres broad ; the people subject to the military regime, liere, therefore, form a
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 141
more homogeneous and compact mass. Cases of armed brigan- dage, and assassinations, which were very common in the whole of this comitry, are now becoming rarer; but theft is the crime which requires most fi'equent punishment. The ancestors of the Granzcra lived chiefly by plunder, and such habits ai-e not removed in a day."
M. Perrot made a journey in Bosnia, down the course of the river Save. He stopped in a borough of this province, of which he speaks thus : —
" After a visit to the Bosniak priest, we wandered about the town, where we made several small purchases with a view to smuggling. I replenished my pouch with a Bosnian tobacco which is by no means so good as that of Macedonia. I purchased a rug such as are worked also by the women of Slavonia and the Military Confines : this is not, like the tissues of Persia and Anatolia, thick and soft, but a rather thin and dry quality of cloth."
Here, also, in designs and in combination of colour, are found the same innate taste, and the same boldness which is met with usually in oriental workmanship. The Slavonian women, in Austria as in Turkey, would be no unworthy rivals of the Turcoman women, who, in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and from the high meadow-lands of the Taurus down to the low deserts of Persia, execute, beneath their black tents of goat or camel hair, those marvellous pieces of needlework, for which, at the present time, we pay so high a price.
The inferiority of the products of this domestic industry in Turkey in Europe, is attributable to the fact, that, here the women being within comparatively easy distance of large markets, filled with European wares, are enabled to procure there wools suited to their wants, already dyed by industrial processes : but it will be imderstood that the colours thus obtained, which are produced with a view to cheapness and variety, are far from possessing the fresh and dm*able tints of those colours, few in number, always the same, and almost all obtained from the animal and vegetable worlds, the secret of which has been handed down in the bazaars of the East, and under the tents of the nomadic tribes, from the time when Nineveh, Babylon, Susa, TjTe, and Sidon, were at the height of their prosperity.
** Our purchases at an end, we returned along the banks of the
U2 THE WHITE RACE.
Save and whiletheferrywasattemptmgtopassaherdofbullocks, which had just been purchased in Bosnia I amused myself by noting the picturesque mixture of costumes and types which the bank on which were most of the market people offered
" Here was a jobbing blacksmitli, who had set up his shop in the open air, hammering and putting in order the pots which were brought to him ; or sharpening with his hammer, the points of long iron clamps, used to connect the rafters of houses. His arrangemeots were most primitive. Two vertical posts snpported a
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 143
horizontal piece, upon which worked the lever, by means of which the bellows were set in motion. In &ont of the orifice by which the air escaped, a small anvil was fixed in the ground. Around the proprietor, seated on the ground, a number of tools were
scattered. The long shirt and puffed out trousers of the blacksmith appeared white by comparison with his skin, although he had probably worn them for some weeks ; his chest and arms were bronze coloured.
" A. little farther on, the most motley groups attracted and
THE WHITE RACE.
retained my notice. Here were Mussulmans, Bosniaks, Fandours f^iarding the market, their attitudes and costumes carrying me
'BOSK UK MBBCHAKT.
right away to the East, and recalling very old recollections. One of them wore a vhite turban, which displayed a husb of plaited
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 145
hair falling down his neck ; he stood erect, his hand supporting the butt end of his gun, which rested on his shoulder. A tapestried mantle, adorned with long flocks of wool, which is pecuUar to the frontiers of the two coimtries, was thrown over his shoulders. At his side was another Bosniak, who leant against a wall, clad in a
long cloak of red wool ; Ms feet were shod with Randals of tanned leather. Here a rich landoi\Tier of the neiglibouihood, whose name I really foi^et, was causing his servants to remove the cattle he had not succeeded in selling; there peasants were remount- ing their horses, whose gay and picturesijue harness I much admired."
Figures 59 and 60 represent, according to 11. Perrot, a Bosniok peasant m&n and woman, and figure 61, a Bosniak merchant. The Magyars are the natives of Hungary. The chief population
148 THE WHITE RACE.
of this coontry is composed of a people wlio ■ came from Asia under the atanej)! Magj'ars, and who were, it would seem, a tribe of the Huns. HnQgary is believed to have been popnlated by some of tlie savage compaQions of Attila, tlie terrible king of the Huns, known as- the " Scoui^ of God."
The Magyars are diHtinct from other people hi their language and costumes.
'i'hey are of medium height, with black hair. Their character is warlike, and their state of civilization is superior to that of the otiier branches of the Slavonian family.
In his " Causeries Gdographiquea," (from Paris to Bucharest,) M. Duruy has imparted to us his impressions on a journey to Pesth in 1861. The population appeared to him superb.
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
The women were remorkablo tliroiigh their bri^litncsH and decided attrnctions. In dress, tliey do not dit&?r much from tlie
• A cliomise giithcred in at tlie neck, with full sleeves richly Toiderpd. ami slightly tightened ut the wriBts, which are
148
THE WHITE RACE.
covered with lace ruffles ; a jncket body, eithei' red, black, or green, embroidered at the back mth fringes nnd silver buttons. Bets off a slender and supple form. A light, very ample, but often rather short petticoat ; a silken or velvet scarf thrown over one shoulder iL la hussni'de ; the national Iiigh brimmed hat sur-
mounted by a plume of feathers as head-dress ; well turned feet and ankles, in embroidered shoes, or sometimes in little spurred boots of red morocco, form the Hungaiian costume, represented in figs, 68, 64 and 65.
The markets wliich are held on tlie quays, have also peculiar features. You see there, says M. Duruy, gi-onps wldcli call to mind the savage hordes of Attila. M. Duruy almost believed he saw one of the companions of the " Scourge of God." This was apparently a kind of peasant, flat-nosed, round-eyed, with lai^e
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 149
projecting cheekbones, and hanging mustachios. He was dark, and dressed in a vest of sheepskin, and breeches of coarse cloth, supported at the waist by a scarf falling over his heavily-shod and spurred boots. A large hat, with the edges turned up, covered his head, and beneath it hung two long plaits of hair. The Magyar language is energetic, full of similes, and filled with guttural aspirations which seem derived from the Arabic, while certain soft and caressing intonations remind us of the Italian idiom* National feeling is brisk in the towns and throughout the country. In the latter, it is kept alive by Bohemian songs, and by stories told by the heads of families during the long winter evenings.
About the other races composing the Slavonian family, namely, the Croats, the Tchecks, the Lithuanians, and the Poles, we have nothing particular to remark.
In general, what we have said at the commencement of this chapter, applies to them with but little modification.
Thk Greek Family.
The Greek family comprises the Greeks and the Albanians. These races derive their origin from the ancient tribes known under the name of Pelasgians. The ancient Greeks founded many colonies on the shores of the Mediten^anean.
In the fourth centmy before Cln-ist, led by Alexander, they subdued part of Asia, and cai'ried their victorious anns into Egypt. But these conquests were ephemeral. The Greek empire was in its turn subjugated by other races, of whom the principal were the Romans, the Slavonians, and the Scythians.
In the present day the Greeks compose but a scanty population, concentrated in the Morea, or scattered in the neighbouring districts. The majority of the people of this race who inhabit the Asiatic continent have adopted even the language of their neighbours, and are merely reputed Greeks because they profess the Greek form of the Chinstian religion.
The ancient Greeks, civilized by intercom'se with Egyptian colonists, already afforded an example of advanced culture, at a time when the other European and Asiatic nations were still immersed in barbarism.
In spite of the misfortunes of a social decay destined to
150 THE WHITE RACE.
terminate in many centimes of subjection, the Greeks have preserved up to our own day the physical characteristics of their ancestors. Everyone knows that the most beautiful development of the brow, the finest shape of the human head, is that we find traced m the sculpture of ancient Greece. It had been supposed that the magnificent heads with the noble outlines, admired in the statues of the Greeks, were not the exact reproduction of nature, and that some features had been exaggerated in the direction of ideal beauty. But, in our own day, the skulls of ancient Greeks have been found whose proportions and whose general outlines demonstrate, that, among the artists of ancient Greece, sculpture did not surpass nature, but restricted its inspiration to types who actually lived.
The Apollo Belvidere can therefore be considered as a model, but slightly idealized by art, of the general physiognomy of the ancient Greeks. In liis ** Travels in the Morea," M. Pouqueville gives a description of the i)hysiognomy of the present Greeks, which enables us to judge of the surprising persistence of the most beautiful types, even in the midst of a social condition so deeply modified.
** The inhabitants of the Morea," says M. Pouqueville, " are generally tall and wxll made. Their eyes are full of fire, their mouth is admirably well formed and full of the most beautiful teeth. The women of Sparta are fair, slender, and dignified in carriage. The women of Taygetus have the gait of Pallas . • . . The Messenian girl is conspicuous for her jilumpness ; she has regular features, large eyes, and long black hair ; the damsel of Arcadia, hidden under her coarse woollen garments, scarcely allows the regularity of her figure to be perceived . . . ."
Here, besides, ai-e the characteristics displayed in their sculp- ture, and which, according to what we have said, may really be considered those of the Greek type.
A high forehead, rather a wide distance between the eyes, with tlie slightest possible depression at the top of the nose ; this last straight or shghtly aquiline ; large eyes, opening widely and surmoimted by a scarcely arched eyebrow ; a short upper lip, a small or mediima sized mouth delicately cut ; and a prominent and well rounded chin.
Fig. 66 represents the Greeks of Athens ; fig. 67 a Greek family and the interior of a house at Athens.
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
151
To give an idea of modem Greek mannei-s and types, we will borrowafewlinesfroniaiimteresting work by M. Prout, "Journey to Athens," published in " Le Tour du Monde " in 1862. Let
6G. — ORBEH^ OF ATIIIENS.
US first listen to this traveller speaking to us of the inhabitants of Greece : —
" If FaUmeseyer is to be believed, tliere are no more Greeks in Greece, only Slavonians ; it is beyond doubt that the inhabitants
153 THE WHITE RACK
of Thrace and of Macedonia cannot boast so immaculate an origin as the mountaineers of 01}Tnpus or of Magnus ; but it is equally certain that from Cape Malea to the Black Sea, and from Smyrna to Corfu, there are ten million indi^dduals who speak Greek,, mixed up with a population speaking Slavonic, and that in the plains of Athens, we easily distinguish the Albanian with the narrow temples and the prominent nose, from the Greek with the wide forehead and the high cheek-bones, although their dress is. exactly the same. To converse for an hour with the latter is sufficient to satisfy all doubt as to the authenticity of his origin.
** His qualities of mind have remained the same as in the days of Homer: he has stiU the same aptitude for thorough and rapid comprehension, the same facility of graceful and metaphorical expression. These qualities give to tlie Greeks so great a superiority over the other races of tlie East, that they are liked by none of them. The Turks reproach them with being suspicious and dissimulating, because they have opposed craft to force ; the Levantines accuse them of dishonesty in commercial transactions, because they themselves have taken lessons of them^ and have often surpassed their instructors.
" There is no greater bond of sympathy between them and the other nations on the shores of the Mediterranean. Serious and deliberate in disposition, the tone of their mind is foreign alike to raillery and to the rapidity of dramatic intensity. Their grief pursues a peaceful and elegiac course ; it is with them a latent sorrow, and not a sharp crisis leading to the ecstasies of madness* Whilst Cupid's weapons, in Naples or in Venice for instance, inflict terrible wounds, the arrows of the Athenian god neither keep his victims from repose nor from the pursuit of business. The Greeks have preserved their tragic intonation, and are the true children of that wild Orestes who died at more than eighty years of age from the effects of an accident. In their minds, action always takes its course with deliberation and gravity, not without a certain amount of colouring, but never widely straying from reality; interrogating and holding council with itself, and taking time for reflection before making ita decision.
*'It is astonishing to meet with these analytical and foreseeing tendencies, even among the most ignorant. Above alienations
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164 THE WHITE RACE.
they best understand the art of listening, and whilst saying a great deal are the smallest talkers in the world.
" Everybody is famihar with the Greek dress : the short pelisse, the skirt, which goes by the name of fystan, the small fez with its tufted tassel falling on the nape of the neck of the wearer, and the embroidered gaiter fitting tight to the leg. The sailors, instead of the fystan, wear a very wide pair of trousers, and stockings instead of gaiters. In winter the talagani, a long close-fitting cloak of lambskin, is added to the rest of the dress. The Greeks, generally speaking, tall slender men of regular features, wear this national costume in a very dashing manner^ Young Greece carries its dandyism a little to extremes by over pinching its waist, and exaggerating the width of its skirts. During the winter of 1858 it was the fashion to wear the entire beard. I trust that this fancy, which gave them the appearance of sappers in petticoats, has disappeared ; the finely trimmed mustachios, revealing the lips, are better suited to their delicately chiselled features as well as to then* refined and fanciful style of dress. But alas ! Athens eveiy day sees the pure gold of its ancient costume bartered for the dross of modern broadcloth fresh from the shelves of the tailor's shop. Athens now boasts seventy tailors and fifty shoemakers who make in the French style, whilst only six of the former, and three of the latter still work in the spirit of their national ti*aditions. There are sixty-two shops for the sale of female attire, but only three or four ladies are to be seen still faithful to their national dress (I except the maids of honom- to the Queen, who wear it by order), and even in their case one half has disappeared. The corsage cut down upon the neck and the taktikios (cap) of Smyrna stiU remain ; but the long narrow skirt has allowed itself to become swollen by the insinuating arts of conspiring crinoline. The style of dress in the islands is more commonplace, but the great quantity of garments worn one over the other remind one of the childish simplicity of the outlines of our own peasant women« I much prefer, in spite of its stifihess, the long Albanian robe worn by the women of the interior,
'' It is particularly at Agora that specimens of all the peasantry of the neighbourhood may be seen walking about in their picturesque costumes.
*'This Agora is not tlie ancient Agora of Ceramica; it is a
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 155
market-place, composed of worm-eaten sheds roofed in with ragged cloths, in which are exhibited produce of all sorts, &om the bursting figs of Asia Minor to the patent preparations of Parisian perfumers.
** On each side of tliis market-place stands a spectre of antiquity, the tower of the Winds, or clepsydrum of Andro- nicus, an octagonal monument engraved with passably mediocre figures, and the portico of Minerva Archigetis. Archaeologists after noticing the first, hasten across the spacious vestibule to visit the second, but those, who are indiflerent alike to the criticisms of Martins and of Leake, i)refer to pause on the threshold of the mai'ket, ^particularly in the early morning when the peasantry,
' Seated in their chariots of Homeric pattern,
Like the ancient Isis on the basso-relievos of Egina/
pour in from tlie liighways from Thebes and ^larathon. I have said tliat the men were distinguished for regulai* symmetry of countenance ; but the peasant women are simply ugly. Of middle height, robust, and sunburnt, they have no feminine attributes, in the meaning we give to the word. In commercial circles and among the Phanariots, who come principally from Asia, where the race has remained pure, there are, on the contrary, many really beautiful women to be seen. Oriental languor gives them a charm unknown in our country ; but they walk badly, and are wanting in that elegance of style which French women possess in such a high degree.
** They are rarely to be seen walking out, they seldom leave their houses where they busy themselves with domestic occupa- tions, and employ their leisure in reading romances, principaUy translated from the French.
** Although class distinctions are graduaUy disappearing, there are stiU in Athens two distinct sets of society ; the Phanariot, and the Greek, prgperly so called; the first already quite Europeanized, the second on the high road to become so. The Phanariot ladies are weU educated and speak French admirably. The others, whose information is extremely limited, have an instinctive good sense and a tact never at fault, by no means one of the least subjects of surprise to foreigners. ^\
^ I have heard it said that the price of the honesty
« •
EUROPEAN BRANCH. 157
of an English trader was a hundred pounds sterling, and that that of his Greek brother was less. Both are absurd state- ments. It is impossible to draw a hard and fast line in such matters ; opportunity makes the thief Strangers are every- where the natural prey of tlie sharper, but not more so at Athens than in any other part of the world. The only difference is that in that city they are more easily taken in, on account of the complication of the currency, this complication being another instance of Bavarian error. Rotlischild made an offer to the council of regency to effect a loan payable in coin similar to that struck at the French mint. The council decided that it was more ingenious, and above all more archaic, to shut theii' eyes to all known standards, and to reintroduce the drachma with its ancient weight. These badly executed coins were exported in ingots, and hopeless calculations about the smallest transaction are the result ; calculations in which the Austrian coins, ugly and disagreeable to tlie touch, play the piincipal jmil, to be finally parted with, with a sense of relief, to the trader, to whatever nation he may happen to belong.
** To have done with the subject of Greek probity, which has been so much called into question ; in tlie comitry the inhabi- tants are avaricious because they are poor, but they are honest. Travellers who jump to a conclusion fi'om tlieir experience of inn-keepers, porters, cabmen, etc., come to a wrong decision. These classes are everywhere the same. In Athens alone a remarkable self-possession, with a dignified manner, is found, instead of the familiar unpudence of ItaUan facchini, or the deceitful suavity of German attendants. It is worthy of remark that one is never assailed in the streets with the importunit}'^ of beggars. These are few in number, for with the Greeks it is a sacred family duty to assist its impoverished members, and the few that do beg, shrink from i)ublicity. Tlie streets of Athens have a peculiar physiognomy. The stranger notices there neither the noisy disturbance of the highways of Naples, nor the methodical activity of those of London. They are rather to be compared' with those of some of the jirovincial towns of France, where the leisured citizens sti*oll about, and retail to one another the gossip of the hour, remaining apparently permanent fixtures of the pavement. Athens has, on the whole, the appearance of a city where time dies hai*d ; tlie male population encamp them-
168 THE WHITE RACE.
selves during the day in the sunshine of the streets ; the shop* keepers while away the hours, one foot within, and the other without their doorsill ; and their customers intermingle the tedious arithmetic of barter with familiar conversation, or button- hole the passer to gossip about the mutual acquaintance that has just passed. Alexander's establishment, amongst others, is one of the principal head-quarters of news.
" Linger for an hour in front of the cafe of Beautiful Greece, where Hermes Street and Eolus Street intersect one another, you will see the whole Athenian world pass before you ; the nearest lounger will tell you their names. Here comes, the politician who is still in the market, there goes the statesman who has already obtained his price. That is Canaris, whose reputation is European, although his person is so pimy: there are Chriesis, Metaxas, Mavrocordato, Rangabe, Miaouli, the celebrities of yesterday and to-day. This man, treading as gingerly as if he stepped upon eggs, and throwing uneasy glances around him, is a Chiotian. As he passes, your cicerone scowls, for the Chiotians are not exactly beloved. Popular tradition declares that the Island of Scios was formerly settled by Jews, but this is erroneous, although the Chiotians have a Jewish appear- ance, and, like the children of Israel, are very successful in banking and commerce. Commercial aptitude has always been, in ancient times as well as to-day, the basis of the national character of the Chiotian. * Two reasons,' says M. Lacroix, * explain this tendency. The position of Scios, situated in the midst of the sea, between Europe and Asia, upon the great maritime highway of ancient commerce, naturally disposed its inhabitants to become traders ; while the nature of their island, whose stony soil is little suited to agriculture, rendered such a means of livelihood in part a necessity to them.'
" As the trader of Scios can be recognised by his appearance, so the Ionian islander can be distinguished by his speech. The torrent of his eloquence is heard towering above the voices of every group. I have a great admiration for the lonians. I do not say that human perfection is to be found in these numerous islands^ but wonderful natural qualities, in unison with the healthy civiliza- tion bequeathed to them by the Italian republics, are to be seen there. It is but the other day that the ingenious combination of Mr. Gladstone gave Europe an idea of the dignity of their
160 THE WHITE RACE.
chai'acter, the extent of their patriotism, and the wisdom of their mind. To this Greek good sense tliey add the fire of the Italian* Active, intelligent, good hearted and honest in their dealings, tliey attract at once the sjinpatliies of all.
*' This admixture of which the Athenian population is composed is a cmious study.
" On the Sunday, everybody leaves the cross roads in front of the Beautiful Greece to frequent the esplanade of Patissia (a cor- ruption from Pachiscliah) ; the men stroll about talking together, and the women, abandoning their household gods for this day only, follow a few paces beliind them. The crowd walks round and round a kiosk till a militar}' band placed there has finished playing, and then goes home ; not into the house, however, but into the streets, for during the warai summer nights nearly eveiy- bod}- sleeps al fresco. These sleepers adveilise their presence by a continual hum, which is a kind of internal monologue, an echo of the day's convei^sation, for the Greeks still remain the wittiest and the most eloquent cliatterei*s in the world."
"We place side by side with the Greeks the Albanians, whose language has some relation to Greek. Concentrated in the mountains of their country, they appear to be the lineal represent- atives of the ancient inliabitants of these districts. They are the descendimts of the ancient Hlpdans, mixed up with the Greeks and tlie Slavonians. Restricting themselves almost exclusively to the profession of anus, the Albanians constitute the best soldiers of the Ottoman ai-my. Their ninnbers scarcely reach two milUons, altliough Albania is of gi'eat extent and contains several rather important towns.
Albania, pait of Turkey in Europe, boimded on the north by Montenegro, Bosnia, and Sema, on the east by Macedon and Thessaly, on the soutli by the kingdom of Greece, on the west by the Adriatic and I(mian seas, constitutes the pachaliks of Janina, Ilbessan and Scutari. It possesses three seaports, Durazzo, Avlona, and Parga. The most important towns are Scutari, Akhissar, Berat, and Arta.
Semi-barbai'ians, pailaking more of the pirate and the brigand than of tlie cultivator and the labourer, the Albanians pass tlieir lives in a state of petty warfare among tliemselves.
They professed Chiistianity up to the fifteenth century, but after having under Scanderbeg gloriously resisted the Turkish
WHITE OR CAUCASIAN RACE
EUROPEAN BRANCH.
70. — Al,B4NlAit 1
invasion, they were forced to submit to the victorious Ottomans, who compelled the Albanians to embrace the reUgion of Mahomet.
1B2 THE WHITE RACE.
lu some parts of Albania tbe Greek church still surviTes. In the north, between the sea and the black Drin, the courageous tribe of the Mirdites practise the Roman Cathohc religion and enjoy liberty.
Fig. 70 represents the Albanian costume.
'■rru/^y'-
CHAPTER n.
ARAMEAN BRANCH.
CuviER has thought fit to give the name of Aramean (derived from the ancient appellation of Syria) to the race of people who inhabit the south-west of Asia and the north of Africa. Since primeval historic times, the Aramaic race developed itself in the south-west of Asia and the north of Afiica, and it has remained there up to our own day. It also extended its settlements to the south of Eui'ope, where it became assimilated to the inhabitants of that part of the world.
At a period when Europeans were immersed in the depths of ignorance, the Arameans successfully cultivated science and art. But lat«r, whilst progi-ess was making rapid strides amongst the Westerns, the Arameans on the contrary came to a halt ; so that the civilization of these Asiatic races is still pretty much the same as it was two thousand years ago.
Christianity sprang up amidst the Arameans, but it made few converts. Mahometanism and Buddhism attracted nearly the whole of this numerous race.
Four leading divisions are recognised among the Arameans : the Libyans, the Semitics, tlie Persians, and the Georgians and Circassians.
The Libyan Family.
The Libyan Family is composed of the Berbers and the Egyptians*
The Berbers. — The Berbers are the race which from very ancient times inhabited the mountains of the Atlas chain, or wandered amidst the deserts of the Sahara. The Berbers are split up into a great number of tribes, of whom the four prin- cipal are, the Kabyles, the Sheilas, the Touariks and the Tibbous.
H 2
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 166
The traveller in Kabylia is struck with admiration, for its lofty mountains, the gentle and pleasing undulations of its plains, and its valleys interlaced with the windings of countless streams. Its inhabitants are pastoral, agiicultural, and laborious. The head- dress of their women is fashioned to suit theii* habit of carrying on their head jars of great weight. They balance these by rigidly straightening their waists, round which they wind, some score of times, a girdle of coai*se woollen cords. Their gannent is simply a piece of woollen cloth fastened together by a couple of pins over the bosom.
The Kaybles are not, lilce the real Arabs, nomadic. They remain, on the contrary, faithful to one spot. Whilst the Arab inhabits a tent, removable at will, and in accordance with the requirements of his family, the Kabyle lives in a stone dwelling, and his homestead is a regular village. In truth, the Kabyle is not an Arab ; he is of African origin, a Berber, somewhat modified by the different races that have in tmn settled on the African shores of the MediteiTanean, but whose customs and physical characteristics liave always remained the same.
The Roman armies subdued the Kabyles dwelluig on the Mediterranean coasts, and di'ove them into the mountains. The principal aim of the successive Eoman governors in Africa, was to drain the countr}- of its resources to supply the insatiable require- ments of Rome, and the extravagant liberahty continually lavished on its citizens by the Emperors of this capital of tlie world. Rome thus accepted from Africa but slaves and labourers. Those of the conquered, who were imwilling to pass under the heavy joke of the Roman governors, abandoned the plains and retired to the mountains, inaccessible retreats, whose ravines and forests offered innumerable obstacles to the cruelty of centurions, and the rapacity of praetors. At a future period, led by enterprising chieftains, they sallied foii;h from these natural fortresses to assail and ultimately to definitively repulse the Roman power.
To give an idea of the Kabylia of to-day, and of its organization, we will quote a few details from "An Excui-sion to great Kabyha," published in 1867, in " Le Tour du Monde,'* from the pen of Commandant Duhousset, an officer in the French army.
"In Kabylia," he says, "the household composed of the members of one family is termed kharouba; each kharouba forming part of the village or deheray elects one of its members as
166 THE WHITE RACE.
a dhaman to represent it at the municipal council, and to defend its interests : in a word, to be responsible for it.
" The diflferent deheras are further united together under the name of arch.
** In each village authority is administered by an amin, elected by turns from each kharouba. It is the duty of this official to watch over the execution of the written laws, drawn up under the name of khanoun, and which are merely the recital of the customs handed down from time immemorial in Kabylia.
" The amin can pronounce no judgment, inflict no fine, without consulting the assembly (djemaa) of his assistants op dhamans, always chosen from the notabilities of the village. This tribunal chooses a secretary (khodja) intrusted with the duty of keeping a public register of its deliberations, and of carrying on all correspondence with the French authorities. The labours of the khodja are remunerated with perquisites of figs, olives, &c.
"The supreme command of the tribe is delegated by the French to an amin-el'Oumena, whose principal duty is the superintend- ence of his tribe in all matters concerning public order. He is not allowed to interfere in the internal policy of the villages, which govern themselves, each according to its own interpretation of the khanoun.
'' The djemaa possesses a mimicipal fund, kept in the hands of an ouhil (manager). Tliis fund is supplied by the fines inflicted by the municipal council and the native officials, and by the rates levied on marriages, births, and deaths.
" Each village is divided into two factions, or soff, generally hereditary foes. It is easy to imagine the serious nature of the outrages on public tranquillity, committed by these irreconcilable neighbours, when their mutual interests are at stake.'*
The elections are a constant source of disturbance in the Kabyle villages.
The way in which these villages ai'e laid out, their dwellings overlooking one another, makes these stiniggles very sanguinary ones. Some of the more lofty houses have crenelated parapets, the remainder are loopholed, and the djama (mosque) becomes, on account of the military importance of its upper storey, a regular fortress, assuring the victory to its fortunate possessors.
Everybody knows that the French conquered Kabylia in 1867. What most contributed to the submission of the Kabyles, was the
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 167
promise made to them to respect their customs and their communal elections. This promise was kept, and the respect shown to their local usages not a little contributed to consolidate the French conquest.
The Kabyle villages, seen from a distance, look picturesque, but on mixing with their inhabitants and entering their houses, the charm vanishes. The question immediately suggests itself how it is possible for any human beings to dwell in the midst of such imiversal neglect, and of such hideous filth.
" Every Kabyle," says M. Duliousset, '* is revoltingly dirty : there are no baths to be foimd in the whole of Kabylia of the Djujina. The children receive no care. The result of this neglect is frequent ophthalmia, sometimes complete blindness ; they are also often subject to cutaneous diseases, or worse hereditary affections, which these mountaineers hand down from generation to generation, continuing to exist in spite of them
the women, good mothers who suckle tlieir children up to
three or fom' years of age .... tlie men, industrious workmen and good agriculturists."
The Kabyles are independent in disposition, obser\^ant by natiu'e, and fond of labour: but they are inclined to be avaricious, revengeful, and quarrelsome. Some of their villages, as we have shown, are divided into two hostile camps, and in many cases, part of the communal land is set apart for warlike encounters, where all differences are settled by the yataghan and the match- lock. Divorce is one of the sores of Kabyle society.
It is well known that Kabyha is a rich, tranquil country, addicted to industry, and possessing a numerous population. Bat a few statistics will here have a peculiar interest.
There are in France eight departments with a smaller popula- tion than Kabylia ; these are, according to M. Duhousset, the Basses-Alpes, the Hautes-Alpes, the Cantal, Corsica, Lozere, the Basses-Pyrenees, the Hautes-Pyrenees, and Tam-et-Garonne. Three departments are smaller in extent ; the Rhone, the Seine, and Vaucluse.
The average population of France is 67-i^innr inhabitants to every square kilometre ; that of Kabylia is BT-iVinr- Looking, however, at the average population to every kilometre in each separate department, it appears that twenty-eight have a larger average than Kabylia, one an equal, and fifty-seven a smaller one.
168 THE WHITE RACE.
The agricultural productions of Kabylia are the ordinary fruits of African culture, especially the fig and the olive, to which must be added large crops of wheat. Figs are the principal article of food of the inhabitants, jind olives tlie staple of their agricultural industry.
During han^est-time the Kabyles cover their heads with an im» mense straw hat of a pointed shape, with a huge brim, fourteen inches in width, shading theii* face. A shirt, leaving the arms and legs bare, and a leather apron, similar to that worn by our black-^ smiths, constitute their dress. They reap their com and barley in small handfuls at a time, and very close to the ground, with a sickle. The tlu-ashing and winnowing is roughly done by oxen. M. Duhousset, who Avitnessed the harvest and the grinding of the com, gives the accompanying sketch (fig. 72) of the Kabyle flour- mills. Their oUve-mill is very similar to that used in the south of France, only their giindstones are turned by women, who fill the part assigned by us to horses or to a steam-engine.
In Kabyha particular care is bestowed on the cultivation of the fig, the principal article of food of the whole coxmtry. M. Duhousset took particular notice of the artificial fecundation of the fig-tree, a curious operation totally imknown in France.
The fig-tree, as well as the date-tree, is artificially fecundated in Kabylia ; in the case of the latter the male flower is merely superimposed on the female blossoms to impregnate them ; but with the former it is insects that carry the fertilizing dust. This process is termed caprijication.
** Caprification," says M. Duhousset, ** has been practised from time immemorial by all the inhabitants on the Mediterranean coast. This curious and important process seemed to me to deserve a special investigation. I have, therefore, collected a quantity of more or less plausible details and explanations of the manner in which it is carried out, and the advantages derived from this mode of cultivation.
** The dokhar is the fruit of the wild fig-tree. It is small,, flavourless, and bitter. It is not a very eatable species, and is not cultivated for the sake of food. It is precocious, and becomes ripe when the other figs, still green, have not yet attained their maturity. The tree which produces them — ^the caper fig-ti*ee — yields two or three crops in the year ; but it is only the first that is generally Pftde use of.
ARAMEAir BRANCH. 160
"When quite ripe, the dokhar is gathered, and arranged in small bunches {moulak) on a string. These strings are suspended to the boughs of the female fig-tree, towards the eud of June in the plains, towards tlie end of July on the mountains. From the stem of each dokhar, ivhen diy, issue a quantity of small winged
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insects, which introduce themselves into the fruit on the tree, instil a new life into it, and prevent it from falling.
" These insects, agents of this fecundation, are produced and developed in the fruit of the wild fig-tree, and leave it, as soon as arrived at maturity, to attach themselves to the female fig-tree.
170 THE WHITE RACE.
Their body is hairy, like that of the bee, which is known to fulfil an analogous mission towards certain flowers.
** These insects are of two kinds, black and red. The first, smaller than the second, do not carry like the latter a sting in their abdomen. The natives assert that the black insect alone plays a useful i)art in the caprification of the fig — ^the part played by the wind, the bii'd, or the hand of man in the instance of the date. A long experience attributes to it the privilege of preserving the figs from perishing and falling before they have become ripe. This custom has given rise to the well-known Kabyle proverb, 'He who is without dokhar is without figs.* The abundance of figs in every locality and imder every difference of climate depends upon that of the dokhar. • Sometimes, how- ever, the latter, although plentifiil, gives birth to but a small number of these preserving insects, as in 1868, when tlie crop was poor, the dokhar having produced but few insects.
** The Kabyles are convinced that one of these insects can pre- serve ninety-nine figs, but that the hundreth becomes its tomb. This is possibly only a popular prejudice ; but it is as well to cite it. Truth among primitive people becomes sometimes crystal- lized in the shape of a superstition, and tlie inexplicable pervades everything.
** Caprification takes i)lace at least once a year. When the dokhar is abundant it is prudent to repeat the process several times at slioil intervals, and it is most important tliat it should be performed at the proper moment, either in the autumn or in the spring, or the crop may become seriously endangered and partly lost.
" A rule generally observ^ed in the villages where the dokhar flourishes, is, that no one may sell it, under a penalty of a fine of two pounds, to a stranger, or even to an ally, before the gardens of his own locality have been copiously provided with the lu'ecious preservative.
" Previous to our rule the Kabyle tribes were continually at enmity witli one another, and the sale of the dokhar was then suspended and forbidden between them. As the fig is tlie prin- cipal and indispensable food of the inhabitants, this proliibitory measure was the siurest means of starving the enemy, or at least of occasioning liim serious inconvenience. It is, therefore, pro- bable that the different tribes frequently came to open blows in
AEAMEAN BRANCH. 171
order to procure by bloodshed what they were unable to obtain by purchase."
Copper and iron are rather abundantly foimd in Kabylia, and its inhabitants are expert in extracting these metals from their
ores. However, they are beginning to import metal goods from Europe.
With tools of their own manufacture, or with those of foreign importation, the Kabyles make a great many useful and impor- tant articles. Jewellers and armourers are frequently found in their nUages.
Fig. 78, from a sketch by H. Duhousset, represents the work-
172 THE WHITE RACK
shop of a Kabyle jeweller. The lathe of the Kabyle workman is used to make the wooden vases and the numerous utensils sold by the Kabyles all along the African coast. It is sufficiently noteworthy that the Kabyle turner only uses the vertical lathe, and seems ignorant of the horizontal oHe so convenient and so generally used in Europe.
The Sheilas dwell to the west of the Atlas, while the Kabyles are found to the east of these mountains. The former are tillers of the soil, laborious and i)oor. They are generally independents
The Touariks are a people distinct from the two preceding ones. They are nomadic. They wander in the deseii; of Sahara, and make continual raids into Egypt to carry oflF slaves. M^ Henri Duveyiier, who has published a detailed accoimt of the Touariks of the North, declares that they are hospitable and humane. They are generally considered to consist of rather formidable tribes, accustomed to scorn* the desert, stop caravans and plunder the laggards^ At any rate, it is a known fact that an ill-starred traveller, Miss Tinne, who had courageously explored parts of Asia and Africa, was assassinated in the desert in 1869 by some Touariks.
In French Africa the generic name of Moor is given to the Mussulman population (the Turks excepted) inhabiting Bai'bary and Sahara ; but in reality this name is only rightly applicable to two particular classes. The first of these is partly composed of the inhabitants of the ton^Tis, often supposed to be the descend- ants of the ancient natives of the country, that is to say of the Libyan family, but seeming on the contrary to be piincipally of Arab origin. The second comprises the tribes, most of them nomadic, who dwell in the south-west of Sahara, and who belong to either the Berber or the Ai*ab race.
The Egyptiuns. We now proceed to speak of the Egyptians, that unchanging race which seems to sliunber on, embalmed on a consei-vative soil, a vast hypogeum, where, for thirty centuries, generations, both of human beings and of domestic animals, have succeeded generations without any perceptible alteration. The work of Herodotus, the dialogues of Lucian, and the
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 173
writings of Ammianus Marcellinus, teach us that the ancient Egyptians, similar in all respects to those of our own day, had a brown coloured skin. Two contracts of sale, dating back from the time of Ptolem}-, give us particulars of the parties to it. The vendor is called fxeAayxpcoy (dark brown), and the buyer /xeXtxpwy (honey coloured). From all the documents and evidence we possess, it appears that several varieties in the colour of the skin existed among the ancient Egyptians, but that there was always one predominant hue. Paintings are found in the temples and the tombs, where the persons represented have a copper coloured, reddish, or light chocolate complexion. The faces of the women are sometimes of a yellower tint, merging into fawn colom\
Another faithful representation of the features of the ancient Egyptians is found in those of their paintings and sculptures that have descended to our ovm time. Their physiognomy shows a peculiar and remarkable type, as does also the shape of their bodies. According to Denon (Travels in Eg}7)t), the ancient inhabitants of the kingdom of the Pharaohs had full but refined and voluptuous figures, cabn and serene faces, soft and rounded features, long ahnond shaped eyes, half closed, languisliing, and raised at the outer corner, as if the glare and heat of the sun habitually fatigued them. Round cheeks, thick and prominent lips, a large but smiling mouth, and a dark reddish copper tinted complexion, completed the peculiar exin'ession of their counte- nance.
Blumenbach, after examining a lai'ge number of mummies, and comparing them with the productions of ancient art, established three leading types of ancient Eg}T3tians, including, with more or less deviation, all individual casts of face ; the Ethiopian, the Indian, and the Berber type. The fii*st is distinguished by a prominent jaw and a thick lip, by a broad flat nose, and by protruding eyes. This type coincides with the description given by Herodotus and other Greek writers, who assign to the Egyptian a black complexion and woolly hair. The second type is widely different. The nose is long and narrow, the eyelids are thin, long, and slanting obliquely from the top of the nose towards the temples ; the ears are set high in the head, the body is short and slight, and the legs are very long. This picture resembles the Hindoos from beyond the Ganges.
Such were the ancient people of Egypt. Its inhabitants of
174 THE WHITE RACE.
to-day are difficult to class from an ethnographic point of view. They must not be confoimded, as is often done, with the Arab race. The present Egyptians are the old indigenous or Berber race, modified by its fusion with new elements. This old indi- genous race is still to be met with in the countrj'', sparsely strewn, but quite recognizable. It is this small part of the population wliich bears the name of Kopts.
The Kopts, a race preserved by their religion from miscegena- tion, but feebly represent the primitive Egjrptians ; for ancient Egypt was conquered and subjugated, first by the Arabs, then by the Persians, then by the Greeks and Romans, and lastly by the Mussulmans.
The Kopts (fig. 80) are generally above the middle height; they are robust in stature, and the colour of their skin is a dull red. They have a broad forehead, a rounded chin, full cheeks, a straight nose with strongly curved nostrils, large brown eyes, a narrow mouth with thick lips and white teeth, high projecting ears, and extremely black beards and eyebrows. The striking resemblance of the Kopts to ancient Egyptian sculpture is a sufficient proof that this group of mankind is really the remnant of the ancient stock of Egjrpt, slightly altered by mixture with the other races that have successively occupied their country.
The Kopts became Christians in the second century. In the seventh century, at the time of the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, the Kopts numbered 600,000. To-day they only amoimt to 150,000, of whom 10,000 reside in Cairo. They venerate St. Mark as their principal patron. They go to communion regularly every Friday, lead a very austere life, and allow their priests to maiTy.
The Kopts have black eyes, and, in general, curly hair. Morose, taciturn, and dissimulating, they cringe to their superiors, hate their equals, and are arrogant to their inferiors. They excel as accoimtants in all kinds of business. They carry on exclusively certain industries, such as the manufacture of miUs, of apparatus for irrigation, and of jeweUery.
The Koptic language is the ancient language of the Pharaohs, mixed with w^ords from the Greek and other tongues. It is written in the Greek character. It is no longer grammatically taught, and is but little spoken. It is, however, still used in their form of worship.
ABAMEAN BRANCH.
S^ Jj^-i^**^^^
r THE TEMPLE or KKIKAH.
The Kopts enjoy rather a bad reputation in Egj-pt. Accom- plices in the Arab inraaion, and therefore tolerated by the
176 THE WHITE RACE.
followers of Mahomet, they were emploj'^ed by the Mamelukes to collect the taxes. Thieves and mendicant monks abound amongst them. Fig. 74 represents Koptic priests before the temple of Kranah.
The most unfortunate portion of the Egyptian population, the peasants and the labourers, the same workmen who have been so useful in constructing the Suez Canal, are called Fellahs.
From an ethnographic point of view, the Fellahs are descended from the primitive indigenous inhabitants, modified by admix- ture with the Arabs. Although they speak the Arab tongue, the coarseness of their features keeps them distinct from the Arabs. The soil of Egypt thus supports a singular admixture of races, and it is impossible now-a-days to point out one single pure type. This is a result of the miserable political state of the country- From the very first, Egypt has always been the prey of alien conquerors, who have succeeded one another in one long roll, each in their turn adding some new feature to those of tlie original inhabitants of the countr}% In ** Travels in Egj-pt," by Messrs. Gammas and Lefevre, imblished in the " Tour du Monde," we read the following observations on the Fellahs : —
" The Fellahs have but a feeble conception of the dignity of man and of then* own value ; the only answer they give to blows is a complaint. Sometimes, indeed, they rebel like a flock of sheep, but with a conviction that their efl'ort ^vill be of no avail. It is thus, at the times of conscription, they resist the soldiery ; but after a few have been killed, the rest allow themselves to be huddled on board the man-of-war, in which they are taken down the Nile to Cairo, the women and the young girls following them for some miles along the banks with cries and lamentations. A Fellah's existence is not essentially more unhappy than that of our peasant hinds. His disposition is rather cheerful than melancholy ; and eveiy circmncision, every marriage, is the excuse for a holiday, shared by the whole village. Their songs and their dances ai'e redolent of the spontaneous mirth instinctive in negroes. But with everything to render life agreeable, the consciousness of rights and obligations, that something that con- stitutes the freeman and the citizen, is wanting in them. The Fellah is fond of his home and of his hamlet ; but Egypt is for him neither a nation nor a fatherland. It is astonishing at first sight to notice this degradation of the hmnan species, so sad to
75.—* FELLAH WOMAK .
behold ; however, if the oppressive tyranny of the Mamelokes, the deep degradatiou of Egypt under the Greek and Roman dynasties, Mid the old caste htw, condemning the mass of the population to
THE WHITE BA.CB.
the Blftvery of the soil, are remembered, it is easy to nnderBtand why the Fellah, ground down onder the sway of the Pharaohs, stupefied under that of the Itomans, and crushed by Mussulman &taliBm, is slow to respond to the efforts and to the intellectoal
tendencies of the goTemment of Said Pacha. Since the Arab conquest, the soil has been legally the property of the sultans, the emirs, and the beys. The feudal system that once theo- retically existed amongst us was rigorously carried into practice in Egypt, The whole of the crop harvested by the Fellahs passed, with the exception of a modicum necessary for
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 179
their absolute existence, into the granaries of the land-owners. Now-a-days the Viceroy has abandoned the practice of monopoly ; he is aimous to change arbitrary rights into regular taxes ; he has yielded his just claims to the labourer, and assured to the peasant his right of succession to the fields he has watered with the sweat of his toil. But it takes a long interval to blot out the horrible stamp of their past slavery.
" The sailors of the Nile, sons and relations of the Fellahs, re- semble them in their ignorance, in their humility, in their contempt for life, and in their natural disposition to laughter, to song, and to the dance. But their wits are becoming sharpened by per- petual contact with strangers ; and their minds are busy on many things undreamt of by the Fellah."
The same travellers tell us, in speaking of Egyptian mar- riages : —
" Marriage in Egypt is not a public act strictly registered by the law. When the bridegroom and the bride's parents have come to an understanding, when the sum to be paid by the husband has been agreed upon (the wife brings no dower), the celebration of the union takes place before two witnesses. Some- times the cadi is apprized ; but this is a formality that is often neglected. In such a union, without any ulterior guarantee, the wife is but a purchased slave. When the husband tii*es of her he sends her back ; she can only claim a divorce on one single ground, for a reason considered by us also as a serious injury. No legal notice is taken of the birth of children, who are con- sequently placed in a precarious position until they are old enough to look after themselves. Their death is easily con- cealed ; and they occasionally perish by the hand of one of the other wives, rivals of their mother. A common custom allows the Nile sailors to have two wives, one at Girgeh, for instance, and another at Assouan. The husband passes a month with each of them in turns, as his business allows him. He brings with him a few piastres, a piece or two of blue cotton stuff, often some little seaman's venture, that the wife proceeds to dispose of on his departure. He receives in exchange the products of the place, that in turn go to swell the trade of the other wife. We had on board a cargo of earthenware, salt, and pipes. The sailors disembarked them here and there as they went up the river, expecting to find on their return stores of tobacco, dates,
N 2
180 THE WHITE RACE.
and horse-trappings. Polygamy looked at in this light is "pro- ductive ; but it loses ground notwithstanding every day, not amongst the poor only, but amongst the rich, who have in most cases but one legitimate wife at a time. Besides, there is but one real cause for polygamy — the premature old age of the women. When the men give up the practice of marrying mere children, who become rapidly worn out by the fatigues of preco- cious maternity, polygamy wiU cease to exist."
Fig. 77 represents the dress of a Cairo lady.
Almas, or Egyptian dancing-girls, are now-a-days scarcely more than a name in the country. It is difficult to find even one or two in Cairo. The last specimens are restricted to the town of Esneh.
The travellers from whom we have taken the above details, visited the town of Esneh, and there saw the dancing-girls. They give the following sketch of them.
"We were conducted into a building of forbidding aspect. The dancing-girls were grouped together in the midst of the apartment. They were all plain enough in the face, but young and well made. The hope of large gains had induced them to take extra pains with their dress. I still see their low-necked vests, their wide silk pantaloons, fastened above the hips with dazzling waistbands ; their inner tunic of gauze or flesh-coloured muslin; some with naked feet, others with long red or yellow Turkish slippers. Most of them wore necldaces and bracelets, and small coins hanging over their foreheads ; whilst at the back of their heads hung a small silk handkerchief, carelessly thrown on. The dance began with a series of attitudes, beseeching and graceful, then rapidly grew animated, till it expressed a pitch of deep passion. Their bosoms remained immovable, while they moved the rest of their bodies as if in a frenzy. A distribution of olives, of liqueurs, and a shower of small coins, won us a thousand blessings, and brought our evening to a dignified close. The almas do not meet every day with such a windfall ; and if they dance during the winter, they do not sing in the summer. The population amidst which they live cannot afford to remu- nerate their talents. Well versed in poses plastiques, but in- capable of aU work, they are reduced to all sorts of expedients, and to loans, which make them the slaves of the usurers. Their time is spent in smoking, in drinking aquavitie, and in consuming
THE WHITE RACE.
die omnipreBent coffee. The miseries of anch an existence daily decrease the number of almas, who, in the time of the Mamelukes,
DAJJCtHO-QIRU
were to be found eveiywhere in Egypt. Esneh is their last refuge, and was, no doubt, their birthplace."
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 183
The Semitic Family.
We have already said that the races who composed the Aramean branch kindled in Asia, at an early period in history, the torch of civilization. This observation is more particularly applicable to the nations of the Semitic family, of whom we are now going to speak. It is from this family, in fact, that sprang the nations so well known in ancient history, under the name of Assyrians^ Hebrews, Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Conquered by other races, the ALSsyrians, the Hebrews, the Phcenicians, and the Carthaginians have successively disappeared and are now almost entirely replaced by the Arabs.
We unite to the Semitic family the Arabs, the Jews, and the Syrians.
The Arabs. — The Arabs constitute the principal population of modem Arabia ; they also form a great part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Nubia, Barbary, and Sahara. They extend into Persia, and even into Hindostan.
Some of the Arabs are shepherds (Bedouins), others cultivate the soil; the former are nomadic, the latter sedentary. The Bedouins, children of the desert, perpetual wanderers, active and very temperate, are smaller and of a more slender appear- ance than the others, and support with ease the fatigues and privations of their mode of life. The agricultural Arabs, or fehles, are taller and more robust. The former have a wild and suspicious cast of countenance. The characteristics of the Arab race are, a long face, with a high-shaped head ; an aquiUne nose, nearly in a line with the forehead ; a retreating and small mouth; even teeth ; the eye not at all deep set, in spite of the want of prominence of the brow ; graceful figui*es, formed by the small volume of fatty matter and cellular tissue, and by the presence of powerful but not largely developed muscle ; a keen wit ; a lively intelligence ; and a deep and persevering mould of character. These characteristics show that they possess a remarkable superiority over other races, and Baron Larrey has found fresh evidence of this superiority in the shape of their head, in the convolutions of their brain, in the consistency of their nervous tissue, in the appearance of their muscular fibre and their bony
184 THE WHITE RACK
structure^ and in the regularity and perfect development of their heart and arterial system.
We see therefore that the Arah type is really an admirable one. This type, consistent and well defined as a whole, has, however, undergone considerable modifications under the influence of divers causes. The colour of their skin varies a good deal : their complexion is sometimes as white as that of Europeans of the most northern countries. In Yemen, Arab women have been noticed whose complexion was a deep yellow. In that portion, of the valley of the Nile contiguous to Nubia, the Arabs are black* In this same valley of the Nile, above Dengola, the Shegya Arabs are jet black, a bright clear black, a colour which the English traveller Waddington thought the most beautiful that could be chosen for a human creature.
** These men,*' says Waddington, " entirely differ from negroes in the brilliancy of their colour, in the quality of their hair, in the regularity of their features, in the gentle expression of their limpid eyes, and by the softness of their skin, which in this respect is not at all inferior to that of Europeans."
Amongst the Arabs who dwell in more temperate climates, hair more or less fail*, and blue or grey eyes have been observed. Aa a contrast, in the Libyan desert, tribes have been met with whose hair was woolly and nearly analogous to that of negroes. Taken altogether, the nomadic Arabs, who have faithfully adhered for many centuries to the same mode of life, exhibit, in spite of varying climates, the original mould of an exceptional beauty.
Fig. 79 shows a tent of nomadic Arabs.
•
The Jews. — Among the lesser nations with an affinity to the Semitic family, there is one remarkable by its historical im- portance, and by the manner in wliich it has managed to preserve its original type during the eighteen centuries in which it has been scattered all over the whole world : we mean the Jews or Israehtes.*
The Jews have preserved much of their own peculiar physio-
* French politeness has made bet^veen these two words a distinction which is too odd to allow US to pass it over. In France, a rich Jew is called an ItradUe, a poor Israelite is called a Jew. The Messrs. Rothschild are ItradUiak bankers ; but if by some im* possibility they lost their millions and went to live at Frankfort, in the Jew*8 quarter, in the old family hoase, which is still there, and which wc hare seen, they would become, like their ancestors, Jrvrhh traders.
188 THE WHITE RiCE.
gnomy. They are distinguifihed from the nations among Trhom they are dispersed, by pecoliar features easily recognized in many paintings of the great masters. Still they have «nded by adopting more or less the characteristics of the joatioiis mth whom they hare long resided. Under the sole iHt fluence of external circnm- stances and mode of life, the medley of races amongst vhich they have existed has little hy little altered their national type. In the north- ern parts of Europe the Jews have a white skin, blue eyes, and fair hair. In some por- tions of Germany many are to be seen with red beards ; in Portugal they are tawny- coloured. In those districts of India where they have been long settled, in Cochin for instance, on the Malabar coast, they are black, and resemble the natives so exactly in complexion that it is often difficult to distinguish them from the Hindoos.
Fig. 80 represents a Jew of Bucharest.
''^VS!
80.— JB
r BUCBABEST.
Syrians. — The ancient SjTians have, as a rule, become absorbed j in the races who have conquered them ; theu' language, however^ j is still spoken by the Christian population of Mesopotamia and J Chalden, the Sourianis and the Yakoubis or Chaldeans. '
BejTout, at tlie foot of tlie mountains of Libanus (fig. 81), is s town and port which is the commercial centre of all Syria. Thither 4 Libanus sends its wine and its silks ; Yemen, its coffee ; Hamau^ j its com ; Djebail and Lattakialt, their pale-coloured tobaccos ; i Palmj-ra, its horses ; Damascus, its arms ; Bagdad, its costly '\ stuffs ; and all £urope, the countless productions of its indostiy.
The very first glance at Beyrout shows how commerce prospers in that town. The Maronite in his gloomy and coarse garments.
188 THE WHITE RACE.
the Dmze in his white or parti-coloured turban^ armed with the most costly weapons^ the Arab displaying his picturesque rags, the Turk, the Greek, the Jew, and the Armenian, all hurry to and fro, jostling one another in the crowd. It is a regular Babel of language and costume : in which, however, the Christian element predominates.
But the streets of Beyrout, like all those of Eastern towns, are not in unison with such a brilliant panorama.
The houses are massive shells of stone ; the streets are narrow and steep, commimicating sometimes by timnelled passages; some of the broader ones are occupied by cafedjis, inside which squat- ting Arabs tranquilly smoke their chibouks, sheltered from the rays of the sun by awnings of coarse rush-matting hung above their heads. In the middle of the street the children roll about in the dust.
The Maroiiites and the Druzes are two lesser nations of Libanus, speaking, however, like most modem Syrians, the Arabic tongue.
The Max'onites are an influential but ignorant people. They derive their origin from a Christian monk of the name of Maroon, who lived towards the close of the sixth century, and died in the odoiur of sanctity. A convent was founded to honour his memory. A century later, one of his disciples, John the Maronite, espoused the quari'el of tlie Latin Christians against those of Greek descent, at that time making much headway in Libanus. The latter drew their inspiration from Constantinople ; the Maronites, on the contrary, imbibed theirs from Rome. A religious pretext was made use of to hide political differences. Jolm the Maronifee armed his moimtaineers, led them against the enemy, and Beimot the whole of Libanus right up to the walls of Jerusalem. Keepiii|[ within their moimtains, although comparatively few in number,' the Maronites preserved for a long time their independence. . It was not until 1588 that they were conquered by Ibrahim, Budu^ . of Cairo, and forced to pay a yearly tribute, which they $tSL continue to do.
In spite of this the Maronites, like all mountaineers, have kept their desire for independence. Persecuted by their masters, the Mussulmans; and by the Druzes, rivals raised up against them by the Eii<rlish, jealous, according to the French, of the latter*8
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ARAMEAN BRANCH. 193
almost everything, and only manufactures articles of primary necessity.
India, Bussia, and Afghanistan supply the Persians with most of their manufactured goods.
Persia, having been often invaded and occupied by foreigners, has necessarily a very mixed population. This consist of foui* classes :
1. The nobility, who fill all public posts.
2. The citizens of the towns, comprising the clergy, and the scholastic profession, who are a mixture of Persians, Turks,. Tartars, Georgians, Armenians, and Arabs.
8. The peasants, belonging to the old Persian stock.
4. The nomadic or pastoral tribes, composed of Persians,. to whom must be added the remnant of the ancient conquering classes of this coimtry. It is from this last class that spring the soldiers and all the military clique who constitute in Persia a real hereditary autocracy.
The religion of the ancient Persians was that of Zoroath, that is to say, necromancy. In the third and fourth centuries of the Christian era, Christianity made many converts in this land, alihongh at that time it was occupied by the Arabs. But from tiie commencement of the fifth centiuy the kings of Persia devoted their energies to crushing it out of their country, and Maho- metanism is now the predominant religion. A new sect, the $0§i$ti, taking rise in a province in Persia (Kerman), has made ntsaj converts throughout the kingdom. The votaries of this jM^r creed are deists, who only accept the Koran as a book of flpml precepts, and who repudiate the religious dogma that Hjihrnnrt drew from it..
:;JBg, 84 represents several Persian types ; fig. 85 gives an idea ollhe costly dress of the Persian nobility.
The author of a "Journey in Persia," Count de Gobineau, has well described the internal life of the Persians. We will a few extracts from his interesting book. Let us read, for , the chapter in which is described A dinner in Ispahan. "The table," M. de Gobineau tells us, ** laid for twenty guests, waa almost lost in the immense size of the place. The front of the theatre was open, supported by ten lofty columns painted in li^t colours ; the large curtain in use, white, with black designs embroidered on it, was stretched like an awniug over the nearest
0
THE WHITE RACE.
part of the gardens. The guests overlooked e large foimtftin of numiiig water and vast beds of plane tree3. Nomeroua seirants in motley dresses, and armed each according to his own fane; (gome of them carried a complete arsenal), stood in groups at the end of the terrace, or handed round the dishes, helping the guests.
84. — PKHSIAir T¥PE9.
The table had been laid out with the help of the European servants, a httle in the European manner, and a good deal accoid- ing to Persian customs. Its centre was occupied by a perfect forest of vases and cups, made of wood, or of blue, white, or yellow and red glass, and filled with flowers. The novelty of the thing to our hosts, lay in the spoons and forks : when by good fortmie,
ARAMRAW BRiNCH.
they managed to impale a piece upon their fork and carry it to their mouths without pricking themselves, it was the signal for a
burst of compliments. Theu- appetites were a LtOe eccentric. One of them filled his plate with mustard, and declared he had nerer tasted anything half so good As theu parade was greater
196 THE WHITE RACR
than the results, we begged them to help themselves in their own way. After much hesitation, they consented to hold on to the fork with the left hand while they picked up their food with the right.
" In the midst of the meal we heard a jingle of silvery bells, and saw four young boys, dressed as women, in pink and blue dresses spangled vnth tinsel, enter. They were dancers. They wore little gilt caps, from beneath which their long hair fell over their shoulders. The musicians were seated on the ground: one played on a kind of mandolin, another on a hand drum, and a third performed on an instrument with a quantity of strings stretched across a table, from which he drew, with some little sticks, sounds similar to those of the har^)."
M. de Gobineau tells us that Ispahan contains many men learned in various branches, rich and prosperous merchants, and men of property who live on their incomes. The town may be compared in size and tranquillity to Versailles.
Another chapter of M. de Gobineau's book is worth reading, that headed " Betrothal, Divorce, and a Persian Lady's Day."
The betrothed are usually very young. The youth is from fifteen to sixteen years of age, and the girl fi'om ten to eleven. It is unusual to find a woman of thi*ee-and-twenty who has not liad at least a couple of husbands, and often many more, so easily are divorces obtained. The women are kept strictly secluded in one of the inner apartments or enderoun, that is to say, no outsider, no stranger to the family, is allowed to enter it. But they are quite at liberty to go out from morning till night, and often indeed from night to morning. In the first place they go to bathe. They go to the bath with an attendant who carries a box full of toilet necessaries and the requisite articles of dress, and it is at least four or five hours before they return from it. After that they pay visits which they make to one another, and which occupy a similar interval. Their last method of killing time is the pilgrimage they make to the graves of their kindred, which are at no great distance in the midst of pretty scenery.
All Persian women are so carefully veiled, and dressed so similarly, as to their out-door garments, that it is impossible for the most practised eye to distinguish one from the other. Besides paying visits, the excursion to the bath, the shopping in Alb bazaar, and their pilgrimages, the women go out of doors
AKAMEAN BRANCH. 197
when it pleases them, and the streets are full of them. Unfortu- nately Persian women are rather in the habit of looking upon themselves as inferior irresponsible beings. Absolute mistresseB at home, they are extremely passionate and violent, and tlieir
tiny slipper, furnished with a sharp iron point lialf an inch long, often leaves very disagreeable marks on their husbands' faces.
The Persian in his turn spends half his time in the bazaar, and the remainder in paj-ing and receiving visits. This is how they take place.
The intending visitor sets out on horseback accompanied by as
198
THE WHITE RACE.
many of his servants as he can collect, the ^eloAir, vith the embroidered saddle-cloth across his shoulders, at his horse's head; nnd behind him the kalyandjy (masician) with his instmment. ^Vhen he tenches the door he ^"ishes to stop at, he dismounts.
He then vith bis servants m front of bim traverses one or two passages invariahlj low and dark and sometunes one or two courts before reaching the apartments of the master of the house. If his visitor is of higher rank than himself, the host comes to the door to receive him. If they are equals, he sends his sou or
ARAMEAN BRANCH. 199
one of his young relations to do so- The opening courtesies are extremely flowery, such as ** How came your lordship to conceive the compassionate idea of visiting this lowly roof? " ScCf
When they reach the drawing-room, they find all the men of the family standing in a row against the wall bowing to the new- comer. As soon as every one is seated, the visitor inquires of the master of the house, " If, by the will of God, his nose is fat." The latter replies : " Glory be to God ! it is so, by means of your goodness.'* This same question is sometimes repeated three or four times running. After a few moments of conversa- tion, tea, coffee, and sherbet are handed round. The great charm of this rather frivolous gossip is its exaggeration, and the witty and amusing turn given to it.
The Persians have a peculiar taste for calligraphy. Painting is an almost unknown art amongst them. They possess, however, a certain amount of artistic instinct, as is sho\\Ti by the richness and elegance of some of theii* monuments.
Fig. 87 shows the reader other t^i^es of Persian costume worn by different classes. The Louty and the Baktyan rei)resented in this sketch are members of a nomadic tribe, enjoying rather a bad reputation.
The Afghans inhabit the mountainous region lying to the north of the lowlands of the Pmijaub, that is to say, the basin of the Indus. Their climate is a charming one. The Afghans are fine muscular men with a long face, high cheek-bones and a prominent nose. Their hair is generally black. Their skin, according to the part of the country they mhabit, is dark, tawny, or white. They are an unpolished, warlike race, differing in customs and in language both from the Persians and the natives of India. They are subdivided into many tribes or clans.
The Beloochees, addicted to pastoral life, and primitive in their habits, move about from place to place, dwelling in tents which are constructed of felt on a slight framework of willow. They wander, with their flocks, about the table lands surrounding Kelat. They are to be found in nearly the whole of that part of eastern Persia, which, lying between Afghanistan to the north and the Indian Ocf an to the south, stretches westwards from the Indus to the great Salt Desert. They speak a dialect derived from the Persian.
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•ARAMEAN BRANCH. 201
The Brahnis are nomadic tribes found in the colder and more elevated parts of the high gi'ounds comprised within •the above geographical limits. They are short and thickset, "with round faces and flat features, and brown hair, and beards. The Beloochees, who live in lower and wanner regions, are, on the contrar}', fine tall men, with regular features and an expres- sive physiognomy. But those who dwell in the lowlands, close to the Indus, have a darker and almost black skin. The Brahnis bear the same relation to the Hindoos of the Punjaub that the Beloochees do to the Persians.
The Kurds, who occupy the lofty mountainous region, inter- sected by deep valleys, wliich is situated between the immense table land of Persia and the plains of Mesopotamia, are a semi- barbarous people, very different from the descendants of the Medo-Persians, though also si)rung from an Aiyan root. They are tall, with coarse features. Their complexion is bro^vn, their hair is black, their eyes small, their mouth large, and their coimtenances wild looking.
The Armenians of both sexes are remarkable for their physical beauty. Their language is nearly alUed to the oldest dialects of the Ar3'an race, and their history is connected with that of the Medes and Persians by very ancient traditions. They have a white skin, black eyes and hair, and their features are rounder than those of the Persians. The luxuriant gro\\1:h of the liaii* on their faces distinguishes them from the Hindoos.
Fig. 88 represents a drawing-room in an -:Vi'menian's house at Soncha.
The climate of Annenia is generally a cold one ; but in the valleys and in the plains the atmosi)here is less keen and the soil very fertile. Crops of wheat, wine, fruit, tobacco, and cotton are very plentiful there. Mines of gold, silver, copi)er, ii'on, and lead are found there, but these are but little worked. Ai'menian horses have the reputation of being the best bred in western Asia. Cochineal, an important production of this country, is verj'^ plentiful at the foot of Ararat. Excellent manna is found in the same districts* Armenian floreals are ver}^ abundant.
Armenia nowadays constitutes the pachaliks of Erzeroum, Kars, and Dijar-Bekr in Asiatic Turkey. Besides its indigenous
202 THE WHITE RACE.
population, it is inhabited by Turks, Kurds, Turcomans, and the remnants of other nations who formerly made raids into their country. The Armenian is distinguished by his serious, laborious, intelligent, and hospitable disposition. He is very successful in business. Fond of the traditions of his forefathers, and attached to his government, he has a good deal of sympathy with Eiu*opeans. He becomes easily accustomed to European customs, and learns our languages wiUi little difficulty.
The Christian religion has always been followed in Armenia, and Armenians are much attached to their church. But this is divided into several sects. The Gregorian (the creed founded by Saint Gregorj^), the Eoman Catholic, and the Protestant religions are all to be found in Armenia. The head of the first, which is the most numerous (it musters about four million worshippers), resides at Etchmiadzia, in Russian Armenia. There is another patriarch, who is nearly independent, at Cis, the ancient capital of the kingdom of Cilicia. The patriarch of the Catholics, who are fifty thousand in number, resides at Constantinople ; but a second patriarch {in partibus), whose juris- diction extends over Syria, Cilicia, and a part of Asia Minor, •dwells on Moimt Libanus. The Roman Catholics of Russian Armenia belong to the see of the Metropolitan residing in St. Petersburg. The head of the Protestant church, which contains from four to five thousand souls, dwells at Constantinople.
The Ossetines, who are the last branch of the Aryan race in Asia, inhabit a small portion of the chain of the Caucasian moimtains, populated for the most part by races distinct from the Indo- Europeans. They resemble the peasants of the north of Russia ; but their customs are bai'barous, and they are given to pillage.
M. Vereschaguine met with the Ossetines in his travels in the Caucasian provinces. A Cossack, with whom he had some trouble, belonged to this race. The villages of the Ossetines lie on the slopes of the mountains. On each side of the Darial Pass lofty walls, flanked by towers, are to be seen, reminding the spectator of the days of brigandage.
The Ossetine, contrary to the customs of all the other tribes of the Caucasus and of the Trans-Caucasus, uses beds, tables, and chairs. He seats himself, like most Europeans, without crossing his legs.
ABAMRAN BRANCH. S03
The Georgian FAsntr. The Georgian Family 13 gathered together on the southern
. — QBOBCtiLNS.
slope of the CaucaBus. The beauty of the Georgian women 13 prorerbial. M. Moynet, in his "Joumey to the Caapifin and
204 . THE WHITE RACE.
the Black Seas/' tells us that they deserve all their reputation. Their physiognomy is as calm and regular as that of the im- mortal type handed down to us in the ancient statuary of Greece. A head-band of bright colours in the shape of a crown, and from which hangs a veil passing under the chin, forms their head- dress. Two long plaits of hair fall behind, reaching nearly to their feet. Nothing can be imagined more graceful or more dignified than this head-dress. A long ribbon of the gayest hues serves them for a sash, and falls down the front of their dress to the ground. Out of doors they wTap themselves up in a flowing white cloth, which shields them from the sun, and which they wear with much grace.
The men are also generally handsome. They have preserved the Caucasian type untouched and unaltered. They wear rich dresses, embroidered with gold and silver, and carry costly, sparkling arms. They are brave and chivalrous, and are passion- ately fond of horses.
The Circassian Family.
The Circassian Family, collected in the Caucasian mountains, is composed of a population distinguished for their braverjs but very feebly civilized. The Circassian type has in the whole of the East a great reputation for beauty, and it deserves it. Most Circassians have a long oval face, a thin straight nose, a small mouth, large dark eyes, a well-defined figure, a small foot, brown hair, a very white skin, and a martial appearance.
In affinity with the Circassians are the Abases, who speak a dialect akin to Circassian. They are serai-barbarous, and live on the produce of their herds and from the spoil of their brigandage. Their features show no sign of Circassian grace. They have a nan'ow head, a prominent nose, and the lower half of their face is extremely short.
The Mingrelians, inhabitants of Mingrelia, a little kingdom on the shores of the Caspian Sea, resemble the Georgians in phy- sical appearance, in manners, and in customs.
THE YELLOW KACE.
The Yellow Eace has also been called the Mongol Mace, from the well-defined features of one of the famihes it comprises.
The principal characteristics which distinguish the individuals and the families belonging to the Yellow race, are, high cheek- bones, a lozenge-shaped head, a small flat nose, a flat countenance, narrow obliquely-set eyes, straight coarse black hair, a scanty beard, and a complexion of a gi'eenish hue.
However, all the members of the yellow race do not exhibit these distinct features. Sometimes they show but a few of them, whilst others of their characteristics would seem to identify them with the Caucasian group. It is thus very difficult to make the proper divisions in this race.
We will separate it into three branches — the Hyperborean, the Mongolian, and the Sinaic branches.
CHAPTER I.
HYPEEBOEEAN BEANCH.
The Hyperborean branch is composed of the various races inhabiting the districts in the vicinity of the North Pole, small in stature and possessing the principal characteristics of the Yellow Eace.
The people belonging to the Hyperborean branch are nomadic, and their only domestic animals are the dog and the reindeer. They are spread over a vast surface, but are few in number. They support themselves by hunting and fishing. They are passionately fond of strong drinks, and their civilization is of a very rudimentary character.
Some of these people might perhaps be more properly classed under the Mongolian branch. Possibly some even should be classified in tlie White Eace, for they have lost, under the influences of cUmate and of their mode of life, the distinguishing charac- teristics of the Yellow Eace. As it is very difficult to make a natural classification of these people, we will retain that set up by M. D'OmaKus d'HaUoy.
This naturalist distinguishes, amid the people who compose the Hyperborean branch, seven families, taking the affinities of language as a basis. These are the Lapp, the Samoied^^ the Kamtschadale, the Esquimatuv, the lenissian, the Jukaghirite, and the Koriak families.
The Lapp Family.
The Laplanders are thin and short, but pretty strong and active. Their head is disproportionately large. They have a roimd skull, wide cheek-bones, the broad flat Mongol nose, a protruding forehead, and goggle eyes. Their complexion is a
HTPEEBOBEAN BRANCH. 207
yellowish brown, and their hair is usually black. This cnrioua race of men is divided into two distinct classes, the nomadic Laplander and the sedentary Laplander.
The sole property of the former is his herd of reindeer. He takes these to the high grounds, and after spending the months
■LiPUNBERS.
■of June, July, and August there, returns in September to his Trinter quarters. In his journeys to and fro, he ases the reindeer as beasts of burden. When the ground is covered with snow, he harnesses these useful quadrupeds to his sledge. (Fig. 90.)
Dogs are also used as draft animals in Lapland. On the borders of the scanty forests of Lapland and Siberia, the in- habitants of these barbarous countries may often be seen gliding rapidly by on a sledge drawn by doga.
208 THE YELLOW RACK
The usual life of the nomadic Laplander is about as wretched as can well be imagined. A tent stretched on four uprights is his abode summer and winter. The fire-place is in the middle of the tent, and the smoke escapes through an opening in the top. Five or six reindeer skins stretched roimd the fire form the beds of the whole family, to which the surrounding smoke serves as the only curtain. Their furniture consists of an iron pot and a few wooden pails. The Laplander carries in his pocket a horn spoon and a knife. He often, instead of wooden pails, makes use of the bladder of the reindeer. In them he carries the milk mixed with water which is his dail}^ beverage. Whenever he sets out on a journey, he harnesses a pair of reindeer to his sledge.
This nomadic race, which formerly occupied a part of Sweden, is now much diminished in numbers. Thirty years ago theii" number, counting aU that could be found in Russian, Norwegian, and Swedish Lapland, only came to twelve thousand.
The sedentar}" Laplander is usually some poor reindeer proprietor, who having ruined himself, and being unable to continue the life of a wandering herdsman, becomes a beggar or a servant. If he has still a little money left, he settles down on the sea coast, and tm-ns fisherman, while his wife spins wool. His existence in the midst of men of a different race is then a solitaiy one. He is a regular pariah, despised by both Swede and Norwegian. His hut, his dress, his customs, are all different to those of the people amongst whom he has taken shelter. His children are not allowed to marry into any of the neighbouring families, and he is utterly and entii-ely alone amid strangers.
In his " Travels in the Scandinavian States," M. de Saint- Blaize tells us how he suddenly fell in with an encampment of Laplander in the night time. A hundred deer, whose immense antlers, interlaced the one with the other, produced the effect of a little forest, were grouped around the camp fires. Two yoimg Laplanders and some dogs watched over the safety of the whole. Hard by were the tents. An old Laplander and his wife offered the traveller some reindeer milk. It was very oily, and reminded him of goat's milk.
The same traveller tells us that when on a journey a Laplander's wife gives birth to a child, she places it in a piece of hollow wood with the opening fenced in with wire to give play to the baby's
HYPEBBOEEAN BRANCH.
head. This log with its precious contents is then placed on the mother's buck and she rejoins the rest. When they halt, she
hangs this kind of wooden chrysalis to the bough of a tree, the wire protecting the child from the teeth of wild animals (fig. 91).
The Samoiede Family.
The Samoiedes are a wandering race, spread over both sides of the great Siberian promontory ending in Cape North. Some of their tribes are also to be met with pretty far to the west, to the east, and to the south of this region. They support themselves by hunting and fishing on the borders of the Frozen Ocean. They hear much resemblance to the Tunguses of whom we shall speak later. Their &ce is flat, round and broad, their lips are thick and tamed np, and theii* nose is wide and open at the nostrils. Their hair is black and coarse, and they have but little on their &ce. Most of them are rather under the middle size, well proportioned and rather thick set. (Fig. 92.) They are wild and restless in disposition.
The Kamtschadale Fasqlt.
"We can only just make a note of the Kamtschadales, with whom the navigators of the Arctic seas have been for a long time acquainted. They inhabit the southern portion of the peninsula that bears their Uame. They are short men with a tawny skin.
THE YELLOW RACE.
black hair, a meagre beard, a btoad face, a short flat nose, small deep-set eyes, scaDty eyebrovs, immense stomachs, and thin
More to the South, in the Kourile Islands, and on the adjacent continent, we meet with a race differing widely from the pre-
-SAUOIEDES.
ceding one. Tliey are the inhabitants of these islands, and are called Amos, Tliey are of short stature, but their features are regular. The most remarkable of their physical characteristics is tlie extraordinary development of their hair. They are the hairiest of men, and it is this peculiarity that makes us sUude to them. Their beards cover their breasts, and their arms, neck, and back are covered with hair. This is an exceptional pecu- liarity, particularly with men of the Mongol type.
HYPERBOREAN BRANCH. 211
The language spoken by the Amos, is strikingly like that spoken by the Samoiedes and by some of the inhabitants of the Caucasus. Their bodies are well formed and their disposition is gentle and hospitable. They live by hunting and fishing.
The Esquimaux Family.
Greenland and most of the islands adjacent to this portion of the American continent are inhabited by a people that have received the common name of Esquimaux and who constitute a very numerous family.
The principal and the most numerous tribes of the Esquimaux family belong to the American continent. But as they are quite dii^tinct from the other inhabitants of this continent, and as they have a much greater resemblance to the people of Northern Asia, and to the Mongols, it is here that we mention them.
The head of the Esquimaux has a more pyramidal shape than that of the Mongols of Upper Asia. This is owing to the narrowing of the skull. Such an outward sign of degradation reveals at once the moral and social inferiority of these poor people. Their eyes are black, small and ^vild, but show no vivacity. Their nose is very flat, and they have a small mouth, with the lower lip much thicker than the upper one. Some have been seen with plenty of hair on their face. Their hair is usually black, but occasionally fair, and always long, coarse, and unkempt. Their complexion is clear. They are thick-set, have a decided tendency to obesity, and are seldom more than five feet in height.
During a journey undertaken by Dr. Kane of New York to the 82nd degree of northern latitude, this bold explorer spent more than a year amongst the Esquimaux who live at Etah, the nearest human abode to the North Pole. Men, women, and children, covered only by their filth, laid in heaps in a hut, huddled together in a kind of basket. A lamp, with a flame sixteen inches long produced by burning seal oil, wanned and lighted the place. Bits of seal's flesh, from whence issued a most horrible ammo- niacal odour, lay upon the floor of this den.
Fig. 98 represents the summer encampment of a tribe of
Esquimaux, and fig. 94 a winter one. Fig. 95 represents a
Tillage, that is to say, a collection of huts made of blocks of snow
p 2
21S THE YELLOW RACE.
which shelter from the excessive cold these disinherited children of Nature.
The seals from the bay of Beusselaer provide the Esquimamc with food during the greater part of the year. More to the south, as far as Murchisoii'B channel, the whale penetrates in due season. The winter famine begins to cease when the sun reappears.
Jannaiy and February are the months of hardship ; during the latter part of March the spring fisheries recommence, and with them movement and life begin anew. The poor wretched dens covered with snow are then the scenes of great activity. The masses of accumulated provisions are then brought out and piled up on the frozen ground : the women prepare the skins to make shoes of, and the men make a reserve store of harpoons for the
HTPEBBOEEAN BRANCH.
213
winter. The Esqtiimaux are not lazy. They hunt with a good deal of pluck, and are often forced to bide their game in excava- tions that tlie wild beasts may not get at it. Their consump- tion of food is very great. They are large eaters, not from greediness, but of necessity, on account of the extreme cold of these high latitudes.
MQniMACX WISTEft BNCAMFMBKT.
Fig. 96 represents, according to Doctor Kane, the chief of an Esquimaux tribe.
Doctor Hayes, in his " Journey to the Open Sea of the North Pole," published in 1866, has described the Esquimaux type. A broad £ace, heavy jaws, prominent cheek bones, a narrow fore- liead, small eyes of a deep black, thin long lips, with two narrow rows of sound teeth, jet-black hair, a Uttle of it on the upper lip
214 THE YELLOW RACE.
and on the chin ; small in statore but stoutly built, and a robust constitution of a vigorous kind; such are the diBtinguishing characteristics of the people of the far north.
The Esquimaux style of dress seemed, to the learned traveller, pretty much the same for both sexes ; a pair of boots, stockings, mittens, trousers, a waistcoat, and an overcoat. The father-in- law of one of his travelling companions wore boots of bearskin
95. — ESQVIMAVX
coming up to the knee, whilst those of his wife reached much Iiigher, and were made of seal leather. Their tronsers were ii:tde of sealskin, their stockings of dogskin, their mittens of sealskin, and their waistcoat of kidskin with the fur inside.
The overcoat, made of the skin of the blue fox, does not open in front, but is put on like a shirt. It ends in a hood covering the head like the cowl of a monk. The women cut their coat to a point, in order to confine their hair, which they gather together on the top of the head, and tie up in a knot as close and as hard as a stone, by means of untauned straps of sealskin. This is fiho^ni in fig. 93.
HYPERBOREAN BRANCH. 815
Seal -hunting is the chief occupation of the Esquimaux. The
seal is a providential animal to the wild inhabitants of tlie -shores of the Frozen Ocean of America, as tlie reindeer is tlie
THE YELLOW RACE.
godsend of the Laplanders, inhabitants of the shores of the same seas in the north of Europe.
The eggs of the seabirds, particularly of the penguin, are a
97.— BSQCriH&UX BIBD-CATOHBEt.
second source of food to these people. The Esquimaux run all sorts of risks to gather the eggs of these birds on the steep and giddy cliffs where their nests are found (fig. 97).
The Esquimaux can only coont up to ten, the number of their
HYPERBOREAS BRANCH. 217
fingers. They have no system of notation, and can assign no date to past events. They have no annals of any kind or sort, and do not even know their own age.
Temisian Fauelt.
A people more generally known under the name of Ostiaks ol Temi»ia. They speak a very different language from that of the Ostiaks of the Obi whom we have already mentioned as belong- ing to the 'White Bace.
JuKAGHnUTE AND KoKIAK FAMILIES.
These ore wandering people, becoming more and more absorbed in the Russian population. They live on the shores of Behring's Straits, or in the interior, and much resemble the Samoiedes in their customs and in their language.
CHAPTER n.
MONGOLIAN BRANCH.
The peoples belonging to this ethnologic branch exhibit the characteristics of the Yellow Bace in the most prominent manner. They are fond of a nomadic life, and have at different periods made wide conquests ; but they have, as a rule, become absorbed in the races they have overcome. The Mongols are still, how- ever, the rulers of the Chinese Empire. They belong either to the Buddhist or to the Mahometan faith.
This branch is divided into three great families, analogous with the differences in their language : the Mongols, the Tunguses, and the Turks. We may add to them a fourth family, the Yakuts, for these latter possess the physical characteristics of the Yellow Race, and speak a Turkish dialect.
The Mongol Family.
The most decided features of the Yellow Race are particularly prominent in the Mongol family. Its members have a larger head, a flatter face and nose, and smaller eyes than those of the other families. Tliey have a broad chest, a very short neck, round shoulders, strong thick-set limbs, short bow-legs, and a brownish-yellow complexion. The most nomadic of the Mongol family live under the rule of the Russian and the Chinese Empires.
Fig. 99 represents a Mongol Tartar.
Three principal nations are to be found in this family : the Kalmuks, the Mongols proper, and the Buri'ats.
Kalmuks. — M. Vereschaguine, in his "Journey in the Caucasian Provinces," has described the nomadic Kalmuks whom he met
MONGOLIAN SRANCH. S19
■mth on the frontier separating the Caucasus from the district of the Cossacks of the Don. Travelling villages are found on these dreary and monotonous steppes. The habitations of which these villages are composed consist of tattered tents. These contain, mixed up in nn incredible confusion, boxes, cases.
lassoes, saddles, and heaps of rags. A hearth is the onlj sign of a fireplace. During the heat of summer, the children of both sexes, Qp to the age of ten, run about almost entirely naked. In winter, in the midst of their terrible snowstorms, and when the thermometer is below ' zero, tliey remain for days together huddled up in their tents beneath heaps of their clothing. - A Kahnok's dress consists of a shirt, of a bechmet, of a wide pair of tronsere, of red leather boots, and of a square cloth cap
220 THE ITELLOW RACE.
with a broad border of sheepskin fur, generally ornamented with an immense knob on the top. The more wealthy wear into the bargain an ample and lengthy dressing-gown. The women do not, like the men, wear a belt round their shirt ; their hair falls from beneath their cap in several plaits tied up with ribbons of different colours.
Cunning, trickery, fraud, and theft, are the staple occupations of these nomadic tribes. The mother supports her child without the father troubling himself about it, and it grows up in a state of neglect.
The food of the Kalmuks is extremely primitive. Boiled flour, diluted with water and cooked up with pieces of horseflesh, forms the staple of their culinary art. They are fond of tea, and drink a great deal of it, but they season it so highly as to entirely lose its flavour. They are downright di*unkards into the bargain, and in this respect the women and the children are not a whit behind the men. They sometimes spend whole days in gambling with greasy and ill-assorted cards.
The Kalmuks ai'e capital horsemen. They also breed and break-in camels, which they sell in the Tiflis market.
Mongols proper. — The Mongols proper, or the Eastern Mon- gols, wander in the steppes of Mongolia. They are divided into numerous tribes, of which the most important have received the name of Khalkas,
Mongolia may be divided into two parts, as distinct by tlieir political proclivities as by the nature and produce of their soil.
The southern part, an arid district, is only inhabited in the vicinity of the Chinese frontier, where numerous tribes of Mongol origin, direct tributaries of the Cliinese Empire, are to be found. The northern division, entirely populated by Khalkas tribes, is fertile.
The Khalkas are subdivided into two castes : the Buddhist priests, and the black men who allow their hair to grow. The latter possess an aristocracy, leading like the rest a pastoral life, from whom are selected the chiefs of the tribes, chosen by election. The Khalkas could bring into the field at least fiffy thousand horsemen ; but they are wretchedly armed with worth- less Chinese double-edged sabres. These are notched or spiral- shaped. Their other weapons are short spears, arrows, match-
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. . 221
locks with queer-shaped breeches, shields stuffed with sheets of leather, and coats of wire mail.
The life of a wandering Khalkasian is very uneventful. He begins his day by going round his flocks, and mounted on a horse which is never unsaddled, and which has spent the night fastened to a stake at the door of his tent, he gallops after the animals that have strayed away ; then he bends his steps to a neighbouring camp to gossip with the herdsmen it contains. Betuming home, he squats in his tent for the remainder of the day, and kills time by sleeping, drinking tea diluted with milk or butter, or by smoking his pipe ; while his wives draw water, milk the cows, collect fuel, make cheese, or prepare wool and the skins of various animals for clothes and shoes.
The Khalkas, hospitable and sober, possess the primitive virtues of the Yellow Race ; but they are unacquainted with either commerce or manufactures. The only tilings they produce are felt stuffs, a little embroidery, and some poorly tanned skin and leather. They dispose of their raw produce to Bussian and Chinese traders, who cheat them as much as they can. The payments ai*e made in blocks of tea, five blocks being an equivalent to one ounce of Chinese silver. This tea is com- posed of the coarsest kind of leaf and of the small twigs of the herb.
The duU and contemplative existence of the Khalkasian has few events to interrupt it. It is broken only by a pilgrimage, by a funeral followed by long festivities, by the arrival of a few travellers, or by a marriage. This last is, as among the ancient patriarchs, only a species of barter in which the girl is sold by her father to the highest bidder, and is an excuse for a week's rejoicing, in which all concerned revel in orgies of meat, tobacco, and rice brandy.
The Buriats, — Miss Lisa Christiani, in the course of her travels in eastern Siberia, received the chiefs of some Buri'at tribes who had made known their desire to pay her their respects* She met on the following day, on the banks of the Selinga, an escort, sent by the Buriats in her honour, composed of three hundred horsemen, dressed in splendid satin robes of various colours,, and wearing pointed caps trimmed with fur ; they carried bows and arrows in their shoulder-belts, and bestrode richly
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 223
caparisoned horses (fig. 100). It was in this manner the traveller made her first acquaintance with this tribe.
At the time Miss Christiani fell in with them, the Buriats were celebrating the obsequies of one of their principal chiefs. The travellers were present at the funeral service and ceremonies, which were performed in a Mongol temple, and afterwards at the games which took place according to their ancient custom. These games included archery, wrestling, and horse and foot races. A banquet followed, at which roast mutton, cheese, cakes, and even some capital Champagne were served to the guests.
The Buriats number about thii-ty-five thousand men, dwelling in the mountains to the north of Baikal. Their herds and flocks constitate their wealth. Their religion is Shamanism, a species of idolatry very prevalent amongst the inhabitants of Siberia. Their supreme God inhabits tlie sun ; he has under his command a host of inferior deities. Amongst these barbarous people woman is considered an unclean and soulless being.
The Tungusian Family.
The Tungusian family consists of two divisions : the Tunguses to the north, and the Manchus to the south-east.
The Tunguses, — The Tunguses, who are scattered in Siberia from the Sea of Okliotsk to lenissia and to the Arctic Ocean, are nomadic, and live on the produce of their hunting and fishing. Daouria to the north of China is their native country. Those who live under the Russian government are classified, according to the domestic animals constituting their principal resources, as dog Tunguses, horse Tunguses, and reindeer Tunguses.
The nomadic Tunguses of Daouria were described at the close of the last century by the Russian naturalist Pallas, the same who found on the shores of the Lena the antediluvian mammoth, still covered with its skin and coat of hair, the discovery of which cansed so much excitement in Europe.
•
Manek&s. — Fig. 101 represents the type of this race. We do not think it necessary to speak of them.
The Yakut Family. The countenance of the Yakuts is still flatter and broader than
SS4
THE YELLOW RACE.
that of the Mongols. Their long black hair flows ostorally round their head, while but little grows on their facea : they keep one tress veiy long, to which they tie their, bow to keep it dry
■iiaiioh6b soLDiKRa.
when they are obliged, in the course of their wanderings or whilst out hunting, to swim across deep rivers.
We will take a few detuls about the country of the Yakuts aud its inhabitants from the interesting travels of Ouvarouski, repub- lished in the "Tour du Monde." The land of the Yakuts has two different aspects. To the south of Yakutsk, it is covered
THE HUMAN RACE
M0N60(.IAN ESQUIMAUX
YELLOW OR MONGOLIAN PACE
MOXaOLIAN BRANCH,
2i3
with lofty rocky mountains ; to the west and to the noi-th, it is a plain on which grow thick anil buahy trees. It contains number- less streams of considerable depth and width. The inhabitants, however, content themselves with boats made of planks or wooden and bark canoes, only capable of holding two or three persons. The reindeer is the principal means of conveyance used by the Yakuts.
The severity of the cold is verj- great in this countrA- — greater.
perhaps, than in any other part of Siberia. Its population is not more than two hundred tliousand. The Yakuts (figs. 102 and 103) are stoutly made, though only of middle height. Their counten- ance is rather flat, and tlieir nose is of a corresponding width. They have either brown or black eyes. Tlieir hair is black, thick, and glossy. They never have any on their faces. Their complexion is between white and black, and changes three or four times a year ; in the spring, from the action of the atmos- phere ; in the summer, from that of the sun ; and in winter, from the cold and from the effects of the heat of their fires. They
226 THE YELLOW RACE.
would make bad soldiei*8, as their peaceful disposition forbids them from ever fighting ; but they are active, lively, intelligent, and affable. In their encampments their provisions are at the sendee of ever}' traveller who seeks their hospitality. Let his stay last a week, or even a month, there is always more, than enough for both himself and his horse. They are fond of wine and tobacco, but they endure hunger and thirst with remarkable patience. A Yakut thinks nothing of working for tliree or four days without either eating or drinkmg.
But let us quote Ouvarouski, the author of the description of the customs of the Yakuts.
** The land of the Ytdvuts,'' says this traveller, ** is so extensive that the temperatui'e varies very much. At Olekminsk for instance, wlieat tluives capitall}^ because there the white frost comes late ; at Djigansk on the contraiy, the earth alwap remains frozen two spans below the surface, and the snow begins to fall in the month of August.
** The Yakuts are all baptised in the Russian faith, two or tlu'ee hundred of them jierhaps excepted. They obey the ordin- ances of the church and go annually to confession, but few receive the sacrament, because tlie}' are not in the habit of fasting. They neither go out in the moniing nor retire to rest at night without saying their devotions. When chance has befriended them, they thank the Lord ; when misfortime overtakes them, they regard it as a 2)unishment inflicted by the Almighty for their sins, and, with- out losing heart, patiently await better times. In spite of these praiseworthy sentiments they still preserve some superstitious beliefs, paiiicularly the custom of prostrating themselves before the devil. AVhen long sicknesses and murrains prevail, they cause their shamans to practise exorcisms and sacrifice cattle of a particidar colour.
" The Yakuts are very intelligent. It is sufficient to hold an hour or two's conversation with one of them to understand his feelings, his disposition, and his mind. They easily comprehend the meaning of elevated language, and guess from the very beginning what is about to follow. Few even of the most artful Russians are able to deceive a Yakut of the woods.
** They honour their old men, follow their advice, and consider it ^vrong and unjust to offend and irritate them. When a father has several children, he gets them married one after tlie other.
UOSGOLIAN UlUKCH. 227
buililB a house for tliem next to his own, and shares witli tbem his cattle and his pi-operty. Eveii when sepRmted fi-om theii-
parents their children never disobey them. When a fiithcr has but one son he keeps him with him, and only separates from him
228 THE YELLOW RACE.
if he loses his wife and marries a second who brings him other children.
" The wealth of a Yakut is estimated in proportion to the number of cattle he possesses ; the improvement of his herds is his first thought, his principal wish ; he never thinks of putting by money till he has succeeded in this object.
"Anger is acclimatized among all nations; the Yakut is no stranger to it, but he easily forgets the grudge he may owe to- any one, provided the latter acknowledges his wrong and confesses himself to blame.
" The Yakuts have other failings, which must not be attributed to an innate bad disposition. Some of them live on stolen cattle, but these are only the needy ; when they have taken enough to feed them two or tliree times from the carcase of the stolen beast, they abandon the rest ; tliis shows that their only motive is hunger, from which they have suffered perhaps for months and years. Besides when the thief is caught, their princes (kinres, from the Russian kniaz) have him whipped with rods, according to ancient custom, before everybody. The man who has undergone this punishment carries its degradation with him to the day of his death. His evidence can never be again listened to, and liis words are of no weight in the assembUes where the people meet to deliberate. He can be chosen neither as prince nor as starsyna (from the Russian starchina, ancient). These customs prove that theft has not become a profession among the Yakuts. The tliief is not only punished, but never regains tlie name of an honest man.
" Let a Yakut once determine to master some handicraft, and he is sure to succeed. He is at one and the same time a jeweller, ji tinker, a farrier, and a carpenter ; he knows how to take a gun to pieces, how to carve bone, and, with a little practice, he can imitate any work of art he has once examined. It is a pity that they have no instruction to teach them the higher arts, for they are quite capable of executing extraordinary tasks.
" They are wonderful shots. Neither cold nor rain, neither hunger nor fatigue, can stop them in the pursuit of a bird or an animal. They will follow a fox or a hare for two entire days without minding their own fatigue, or the exhaustion of their horse.
" They have a good deal of taste and inclination for trade, and
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 22i)
are so well up in driving a hai*d bargain for the smallest fox or «able skin, tliat they always get a high price for it.
" The gun-stocks that they manufacture, the combs they cut and ornament, are works of gi-eat finish. I may also remai'k that their oxhide leather bottles never get foul, even if they are left for ten years full of liquid.
'* Many of the Yakut women have pretty faces ; they are -cleaner than the men, and like the rest of their sex are fond of <lre8S and fine things. Natm-e has not left them without charms. They cannot be called bad, immoral, or light women. They pay the same honom* to their fatlier and mother, and to the aged parents of their husband, as they do to the Deit}'. Their head and their feet they never allow to be seen stripped. They never pass the right side of the hciu-th, and never call their husbands' relations by their Yakut names. The woman who is unlike this description is looked upon as a wild beast, and her husband is considered extremel}" unlucky.'*
Fig. 104 represents a Yakut village and villagers.
The Yakuts profess Shamanism, an idolatrous religion practised hy the Finns, by the Samoiedes, by the Ostiaks, by the Buriats, by the Teleouts, by the Tunguses, and by the inhabitants of the Pacific islands. Shamanists worship a supreme being, the creator of the world, but indifferent to human actions. Under him ai'e male and female gods : some good, who superintend the government of the world, and the destinies of humanity ; the others evil, the greatest of whom (Chaitan, Satan) is considered to be nearly as powerful as the supreme Being. Religious venem- tion is also paid to their ancestors, to heroes, and to their priests, called SluLinans ; these latter in their ceremonies practise a gi-eat deal of sorcer}'.
Fig. 105 represents some of these Shamans.
The TuiiKisu Family.
The people belonging to the Turk or Tartar family suc- ceeded in founding, in very ancient times, a vast empire which included a paii; of central Asia from China up to the Caspian Sea. But the Turks, attacked and conquered by the Mongols, were subdued and driven back towards the south-west, that is to say to the south of Europe. There they became in their turn
THK YELLOW HACE.
conqtieroi-s, mul overcame, nfter Liying it waste, a portion of Sotithcni I'lnrope.
Tlie Tui'ka had originally red hair, gn^enisli-grev eyes, and a Mongolian cant of countenance. But these characteristics linrc
MONGOLIAN BBANCH.
disappeared. It is only the Turks who now-a-dnys dwell to the north-east of the Caucasus who possess the characteristics of tlie
-VAKDT rniBsi?.
Mongols. Those who are settled to the south-west exhibit the featares peculiar to the white race, with black hair and eyes.
232 THE YELLOW RACE.
The fusion of the former with the Mongols, of the second with the Persians and the Arameans, explain these modifications. The Turks, more than all nations, manifest the deepest zeal for Mahometanism, and show the greatest intolerance for the followers of other creeds.
The Turkish family comprises rather a large number of races. We shall consider here only the Turcomans^ the KirghiSf the Nogays, and the Osnianlis.
The 2\ircomans. — The Turcomans wander in. the steppes of Turkestan, Persia, and Afghanistan. They stray as far as Anatolia to the west. The tribes who dwell in this last district have the shape and the physical characteristics of the White llace ; those who inhabit Turkestan show in their physiognomy the admixture of Mongol blood.
The Turcoman is above the middle height. He has not strongly developed muscles, but he is tolerably powerful and enjoys a robust constitution. His skin is white ; his countenance is round ; his cheek bones are prominent ; his forehead is wide, and the development of the bony part of the skull forms a kind of crest at the top of the head. His almond-shaped and neaiiy lidless eye is small, lively, and intelligent. His nose is usually insignificant and turned up. The lower j^art of his face retreats a little, and his lips are thick. He has scanty moustachios and beard, and his ears are large and protruding.
The Turcoman's dress consists of wide trousers falling ovei" the foot and tight at the hips, and of a coUarless shirt open at the right side down to the waist, falling, outside the trousers^ half- way dovm the thigh. Outside these an ample coat is fastened round the waist by a cotton or wool belt. It is open in front and slightly crossed over the chest. Its sleeves are ver}- long and very wide, a little skull-cap is worn instead of the hair, and is covered with a kind of liead-dress called talhac, made of sheep skin, in the shape of a cone witli a slightly depressed summit. His shoes are a sort of slipper, or simply a sandal of camel or horse skin fastened to the foot by a woollen cord.
The type is more strongly defined in the Turcoman women than in the men. Their cheek bones are more prominent, and their complexion is white. Then* hair is generally thick but very short ; and they are obliged to lengthen their tresses with
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 233
goat-hair loops and stiings, to which they fasten glass beads and silver pearls.
We will not describe their dress, but will only observe that they weai* a round cap on their head, to w^hich they fasten a silk or cotton veil falling backwards. The whole is surrounded by a kind of turban of the breadth of three fingers, on which are some little squares of silver. One end of the veil is brought under the chin from right to left, and is fastened, by a little silver chain ending in a hook, on the left side of the face.
Trinkets, necklaces, bracelets, and chains play such a pro- minent part in the adornment of the Trnxoman women, that a dozen of them togetlier drawing water make as much tinkling as the ringing of a small bell.
The men wear no ornament.
Fig. 106 represents a camp of nomadic Turcomans.
M. de Blocqueville, who pubUshed in 1866, in the " Tour du Monde," the curious account entitled "Fourteen months* captivity among the Tm*comans,'* describes as follows the habits of these tribes : —
** The Turcomans keep close to their tent a sheep or a goat, which they fatten and kill on special occasions. The bones are taken out and the meat is cut up and salted ; some of it is dried and acquii-es a high flavour much liked by the Turcomans ; the rest, cut into smaller pieces and placed in the animal's i)aunch, is kept to make soup out of. They collect the bones and other leavings, and stew them down in a pan so as to have some broth to offer on festivid occasions to their friends and neighbom's. The intestines fall to the childi-en's share, who broil them on the coals and spend whole days in sucking and pulling about this half- cleansed offal.
'* Women are treated with more consideration by the
Turcomans than by other Mussulmans. But they work hard, and every day have to grind the corn for the family food. Besides this, they spin silk, wool, and cotton ; they weave, sew, mill felt, pitch and strike the tents, draw water, sometimes do some wash- ii^gj dye woollen and silk stuffs, and manufactm^e the cai-pets. They set up out of doors, in the fine weather, a very primitive loom made of four stakes firmly fixed in the ground, and, with the assistance of two lai'ge cross pieces on which they lay the woof, begin the weaving, which is done with an iron implement com-
SM THE YELLOW RACE.
posed of five or six blades put together in tlie shape of a comb. These carpets, generally about three yards long and a yard and a half wide, are durable and well made. Eveiy tribe or family has
its on-n particular pattern, wliicli is handed dottii from mother to daughter. The Turcoman women tire necessarily endowed with a strong constitution to be able to bear all this hard work, during which, they sometimes suckle their cliildren, and only eat a htUe
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 235
dry bread, or a kind of boiled meat with but little nourishment in it. It is esi>ecially tiu'ning the gi'indstone that wears them out and injures their chest.
" In their rare intervals of leisure they have always got with them a packet, of wool or of camel's hair, or some raw silk, that they spin whilst they are gossiping or visiting their neighbours ; for they never remain quite idle like the women of some Mussul- man countries.
** The man has also his own kind of work ; he tills the soil, tends the crops, gets in the han-est, takes care of the domestic animals, and sometimes starts on plundering expeditions in order to bring home some booty. He manufactures hand-made woollen rope ; cuts out and stitches together the harness and clothing of his horses and camels ; attempts to do a little trade, and in his leisure moments makes himself caps and shoes, plays on the doutar (an instrument with two striugs), sings, drinks tea, and smokes.
" These tribes are ver}- fond of improving themselves, and of reading the few books that chance throws into their hands.
" As a rule the children do not work before their tenth or twelfth year. Their parents up to that age make them learn to read and write, Those who are obliged to avail themselves of their children's assistance during the press of summer labour, take care that they make up for lost time in the winter.
"The schoolmaster, moUah (priest or Liiin of letters), is content
m
to be remunerated either in kind, with wheat, fruit or onions ; or in money, according to the parents' position. Each child possesses a small board, on which the mollah writes down the alphabet or whatever happens to be the task ; this is washed off as soon as the child has learned his lesson.
" The parents satisfy themselves that their children know their lessons before they set out for school : the women in particular are vain of being able to read. The men sometimes spend whole days in trying to understand books of poetrj' which come from Khiva or Boukhara, where the dialect is a little different to their own.
" The Turcoman moUahs spend some years in these to^vns to enable themselves to study in the best schools.
" All these tribes are Mahometan and belong to the Sunnite sect. The only external difference between them and the
236 THE YELLOW RACE.
Persians of the Scliiite sect, who recognise All as Mahomet's only successor, consists, as is well known, in their mode of saying their devotions and of peifoiming their ablations.
*' Whilst at their prayers, they keep tlieir arms crossed in fix>nt of them fi'om the wrist upwards only, instead of keeping them by their side like the Persians.
** Although they follow pretty regularly the precepts of their religion, they show less fanaticism and ostentatious bigotry than most other Easterns whom I have seen. For instance, they will consent to smoke and eat with Jews.
" Every Tm'coman has an affection for his tribe, and will devote himself, if need be, for tlie common weal. Their proper and dignified manners are far beyond a compaiison with those of their neigh- boui's — even tlie inhabitants of Boukhara and Khiva, whose morals have become coiTupted to a painfid degi'ee. I have seldom seen <paiTels and disturbtuices amongst tlie Turcomans. Sometimes I have been present at very lively tmd animated discussions, bat I never heard any low abuse or bad language as in otlier countries. Tliey are less hai'sh towards their women, and show them more consideration and respect than do the Pei*sians.
** AMien strangers ai'e present, the women pass an end of their veil mider tlieir chin and speak in a low voice, but they are saluted and respected by the visitor's, and enter into convereation with them w^ithout any harm being thought of it.
**A woman can go from one tribe to another, or make a jouniey along an unfrequented road, without having to fear the least insult from anv one.
"When a Turcoman pays a visit he makes his ap2)earance in one invariable manner. He lifts the door of the tent, bowing as lie enters, then comes to a stop and di'aws himself u^) to his full heiglit : after a pause of a few seconds, during which he keeps his eyes iixed on tlie dome of the tent, probably to give the women time to cover tlieir chins, he quietly pronounces his salutation without making tlie slightest gesture. After exchanging ci^dlities and inquiiies about the health of relations and friends, the master of the tent begs the visitor to take a seat on the caii)et beside him. The wife then offers liim a napkin with a little bread, or bread and water, or some sour milk, or a little fruit. The stranger discreetly only takes a few mouthfuls of what is offered to him."
238 THE YELLOW RACE.
The Kirghis. — The Kirghis (fig. 107) are a nomadic tribe. They inhabit the tract of countr}' situated on tlie frontiers of the Eussian and Chinese empires. They wander to and fro on wide spreading x^ains from lake Baikal to the borders of the Siberian steppes*
They travel armed, and always prepared, either for war or for the chase. As wild beasts attack men when by themselves, they nearly always travel on horseback in troops.
For tlie matter of that, the Kirghis never get oft" their horses. All business is settled, and all merchandise is bought and sold, on horeeback. There is in a to\vn, by name Shouraiahan, where tlie sedentary Kirgliis reside, a market-place where buj-ere and sellers do all their business without leaving the saddle. The Kirghis are much below the middle height. Theii* countenances are ugly. Haidng scarcely any bridge to their nose, the space between their eyes is flat and quite on a level with the rest of their face. Their eyes are long and half closed, the forehead l)rotrudes at the lower part, and reti*eats at the top. Their big pufiFy cheeks look like two pieces of raw flesh stuck on the sides of their face. They have but little beard, tlieir body is»not at all muscular, and their complexion is a dark brown.
The Kii'ghis are sometliing like the Uzbeks, a race whom we can only just mention, but tlie latter, living in a temperate climate, are tall and well made, while the former, under the hifluence of a rigorous one, are short and stunted.
Both these people possess a ceilain kind of civilization in si)ite of their nomadic habits. In the districts m which they are in the custom of travelling, they have established relays of hoi-ses, a very necessary adjunct to tlieii* mode of Ufe.
The Nogaijs, — The Nogays, who once constituted a i)owerfuI nation on the shores of the Black Sea, are now scattered among other peoples. Many of them still wander in nomadic tribes, on the steppes between the banks of the Volga and the Caucasian moimtains. Others who have settled down ai*e tillers of the soil or artisans. Such are those to be met with in the Crimea or in Aistracan. M. Vereschaguine came across some Nogays on the Caucasian steppes. This Bussian ti^aveller says that they are l)eaceful and laborious, and more capable of becoming attached to
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 239
the soil than the Kalinuks, whom they resemhle a great deal in their mode of life and in theii* habits and customs.
The Osmanlis. — Tlxe most important membei*s of the Turkish family are now the Osmanlis. The OsmanUs were the founders of the Tm'kish Empire and the conquerors of Constantinople.
A tendency to a nomadic mode of life is a strong instinct with this race. It degenerated as soon as it settled down anywhere, and this perhaps is the cause of the decline of the Turkish nation, which at present inhabits south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor.
The residence in Em^ope and the civilization of the Osmanli Turks date from tlic Hegira of Mahomet in the seventh century after Christ.
Physically speaking, their outlines would seem to ally them to the Caucasian race. This was the reason that the}' were so long classified among the White or Caucasian race ; but most modern anthropologists place them in the Yellow Ilace.
^The head of the Osmanli Turks is nearly round. The fore- head is high and broad : the nose is straight, without any <Iepression at its bridge or widening at the nostrils.
The Tiu'kish head does not resemble the Em-opean head. It has a peculiar abrupt elevation of the occiput. Its proportions, however, are very good. Mongol descent can be traced in its shape, but scarcely in a perceptible manner, if the features of the face alone are to be taken into account.
The Tm-ks, in general, are tall, well made, robust men, with a rough but often noble physiognomy, a slightly tawny complexion, and brown or black hair. Their carriage is dignified, and then* natural gravity is still fmlher increased by the ample folds of their dress, by their beard, by their moustachios, and by that imposing head-dress, the turban. They are the most recent of all the races of Asian descent who have become Europeanized, and they still preserve, especially in Tm'key in Asia, the habits, the costumes, and tlie beUef that distinguished them three centuries ago.
Now, as then, the Turks, like Easteras in general, restrict themselves to a frugal and principally vegetable diet. They drink no wine. Bodily exercises, such as riding on horseback and the use of arms, develope their strength. Their hospitality is dignified and ceremonious. They are small talkers, are much
240 THE YELLOW RACE.
given to devotion, at least to its outward and visible signs ; and they dwell in quiet unpretending houses surrounded by gardens. The Turk is a stranger to the feverish life of our European capitals. Lazily reclining on his cushions, he smokes his Syrian tobacco, sips his Arabian cofiFee, and seeks from a few grains of opium an introduction into the land of dreams.
Such is Turkish life among the higher classes. The common ]r)eople and the laboiu'ere have none of these refinements of existence. Yet the lower classes ai'e less imhappy in Turkey^ and in the East in general, than are those of Eiu*opean nations. Eastern hospitality is not an empty word. A wealthy Mussul- man never sends empty away the \vretched who seek his assistance. Besides, it takes so little to support these temperate healthy people, and the earth so plentifully supplies vegetable produce in the East, that poor people can always find food and a roof to cover tliem. The Caravanserai are public inns where travellers and workmen are lodged for nothing ; and the hospitality shown to the unfortunate wa^-farer by the country land-owners is really patriarchal.
Polygamy is less in vogue in Turkey and in the East than is supposed. A Turkish woman being a very expensive luxury, that is to say, being in the habit of doing nothing and of spending a great deal, it is only very rich Mussulmans that can allow themselves the pleasm^e of supporting more than one wife* Sometimes, indeed, the bride's parents insert a clause in the mari'iage contract, by which the husband gives up his right as a Mahometan to possess four wives.
Besides their legitimate wives, the wealthy and the great keep a collection of Georgian and Circassian slaves in the lonely sets of rooms, closed by Eastern jealousy to all prying eyes, which are called hirems and not seraglios. It is only within these isolated apartments that Turkish women, whether wives or concubines, allow their faces and arms to be seen. Out of doors they are always wrapped up in a triple set of veils, w^hich conceal their features from the keenest eye.
Mahomet permitted women to abstain from taking part in public prayer in the mosques. It is therefore only in the interior of the harem that any gathering of Mussulman women can take place. It is there, too, that they give one another parties and entertainments.
UONOOLIAN BRANCH.
An erroneous impression of the Turkisli woman's position is prevalent in Europe. Many European women would be glad to
ezehangfl tlieir lot in life and their liberty for the supposed daver; of the Turkish women. Of course we are only alluding
242 THE YELLOW RACE.
here to their material position, and not speaking from a moral point of view.
The Turkish lady is bom to total and complete idleness. A young girl who, at fourteen years of age, can not only sew fEdrly, but can actually read, is considered a very well educated person. If she can also write, and is acquainted with the first one or two rules of arithmetic, she is quite learned. The woman of the middle classes never condescends to trade, she is ahmys idOe. Even the poor woman rarely works, and then only when it suite her.
The Turkish woman then, to whatever class she may happen to belong, is a votary of the far niente. To drive away ennui, the wealtliier make or receive visits or frequent parties. In llie harems of the rich, each lady receives her friends in her om room. There they talk, sing, or teU one another stories. Tbtf listen to music, they go to pantomimes, to dances, and waOk-ift the gardens. They pass the long hours agreeably by tfikiwgjjiiliMi together, by swinging in hammocks, by smoking the ^firgpjlhfr and by giving elegant little dinner parties.
An evening party in a harem (la Kalva) is rather M^i^n^ occurrence, for night festivities are not among Tifiiririiilmnij ljii|iri No man is present at these parties. As the guests amijii^vie lady of the house begs them to be seated, and places thcsn aide by side on a divan with their legs crossed under them, or Ift^Tijjyftg on one knee. Coffee and a tchibouk with an amber montlipiBee are handed round. SmaU portions of fruit jeUy are served on • silver embossed dish. Each guest, after a little cexBfQomaat hesitation, helps herself with the only spoon in the didl, et^ which everybody uses. Each then puts her lips to a. Iil|i^ tumbler of water which follows the jelly. ^,
General and animated conversation then begins. The sudds of the lady of the house seat themselves so that every one ean see them, and begin to sing, accompan}dng themselves on the harp, on the mandolin, on little kettledrums, or on tambourines. After- wards other young girls go through a kind of pantomimic dance. When the music and the dances are over, they play games of cards, and the party winds up with a supper (fig. 109).
Pleasure out of doors has other attractions. The Turkish ladies of the middle class frequent the bazaars and pay one another visits.
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 243
There are three kinds of these visits : visits that have been announced beforehand, unexpected visits, and chance visits. The last are the most curious. Several ladies collect together and go
about in the different quarters of the to^vn, paying visits to people whom they have never seen (fig. 109),
Walking parties in Constantinople are regular picnics. On Sundays and Fridays people leave town provided with all sorts of refreshments. The sultans have constructed on some of the public walks overhanging terraces, which overlook pieces of water
244 THE YELLOW RACK
and form level plots of ground. Tumblers and conjurors, musicians and dancers give performances on these terraces. Picturesque knots of women clad in their white yaachmacs^ which cover the whole face and only reveal the nose, are to be seen there. Long flowing overdresses of a thousand different hues envelope the rest of their figure.
The Turk may be lazy, but he is not at all unsociable, and many of his characteristics indicate a great deal of gentleness. Like the Indians and the ancient Egyptians, the Turks, and Easterns in general, have a great repugnance to the killing of animals. Dogs and cats abound and swarm in the streets of the large towns, but no measures are ever taken to prevent the multiplication and the running wild of these animals. In Constantinople flocks of pigeons fly hither and thither and levy, on the barges laden with wheat, a species of black mail that no one disputes with them. The banks of the canals are thickly peopled with aquatic animals, and their nests are safe even from the hands of children, in our country such cruel enemies to their broods. This forbearance is extended even to trees. If it is true that in China tlie law requires every land owner who fells a tree to plant one in its stead in another spot, it is equally true in Turkey that custom forbids an avaricious land owner from depriving either town or country of useful and wholesome shade. The wealthy townsmen make it a point of honour to embellish the public promenades witli fountains and with resting places, both of which, on account of the frequency of ablutions and of prayers required by the Mahometan religion, are indispensable. Those who can only perceive in the Turkish nation coarseness, ignorance, and ferocity, have been deceived by the pride natural to a Mussulman, which is made the more offensive by his silent and sometimes abrupt manners ; but the basis of the Mussuhnan character contains nothing to offend. The Turks are only what it is possible for them to be with their lamentable institutions and their faulty laws.
Their law we know is simply despotism, which is carried out from the sultan down to the lowest official, unchecked by anj;.. guarantee of equity or of justice to individuals. The Bultaat;'*- (padishah, meaning great lord) appoints and dismisses al? pleasure every dignitary and every official : he is the master of their fortunes and of their life. But anarchy is rife in the
246 THE YELLOW RACE.
kingdom^ and the sultan's authority is not always obeyed. Pachas have attacked and annihilated the troops sent to drive them from their governorships ; others have been known to dis- patch to Constantinople the head of the general sent to crush and degrade them.
The pachas are the governors of the provinces. Their rank is reckoned by the number of their standards or tails. They unite under one head the military and civil power, and by a still greater abuse, they are deputed to collect the taxes. They would be absolute sultans in their own provinces if the law did not leave the judicial authority in the hands of the cadis and the ndibs.
A pacha with three tails has, like the sultan, the power of life and death over all the agents he employs, and even over all who threaten public safety. He keeps up a military force, and marches at their head when called on by the sultan. A pacha has under his orders several beys, or lieutenant-governors.
The interior organization of Turkey may be described as a military despotism. The Turkish nation continues to administer its conquest as if it were a country taken by assault ; it leads the life of an army encamped in the midst of a conquered state. Everybody and everjiihing is the property of the sultan. Christians, Jews, and Armenians are merely the slaves of the victorious Ottoman. Tlie sultan graciously allows them to live, but even this concession they are obliged to purchase by paying a tribute, the receipt for which bears these words: "In purchase of the head.'*
The same principle is carried out in regard to land. The Turks have no proprietary rights; they merely enjoy the usu- fruct of their possessions. Wlien they die without leaving a male child, the sultan inherits their property. Sons can only claim a tenth part of their paternal inheritance, and the fiscal officials are ordered to put an arbitrary value on this tenth part. The officers of the Sta# do not even enjoy this incomplete right; at their death everything reverts to the sultan.
Under such laws, it is not to b^ wondered at if nobody cares to undertake expensive and lasting works. Instead of build- ing, people collect jewels and wealth easy to carry off or to conceal.
MONGOLIAN BRANCH, 247
The sultan, like a man embarrassed with such an abuse of power, shifts the cares of government on to the shoulders of the grand vizier.
The grand vizier is the lieutenant of the sultan. He is the conmiander-in-chief of the army, he manages the finances, and fills up all civil and military appointments.
But if the power of the grand vizier is limitless, his responsi- bility and the dangers he incurs are equally great. He must answer for all the State's misfortunes and for all public calami- ties. The sword is always suspended over his head. Surroimded by snares, exposed to all the tricks of hatred and envy, he pays with the price of his life the misfortune of having displeased either the populace or the highest officials. The grand vizier has to govern the country, with the assistance of a state council (divan) composed of tlie principal ministers. The reiss effendi is the high chancellor of the empire, and the head of the corpora- tion of the kodja, or men of letters. This corporation, which has managed to acquire a gi'eat political influence, contains at the present time some of the best informed men of the nation. The duty of watching over the preservation of the fundamental laws of the empire is entrusted to the uleina, or corporation of theological and legal doctors.
These laws are very short : they consist only of the Koran, and of the commentaries on the Koran drawn up by ancient pundits. The members of this corporation beai* the title of idemas, or effendis. They unite judicial to religious authority ; they are at the same time the interpreters of religion, and the judges in all civil and criminal matters.
The mufti is the supreme head of tlie ulema. He is the head
of the church. He represents the sultan's vicar, as caliph or
successor to Mahomet. The sultan can promulgate no law, make
no declaration of war, institute no tax, without having obtained a
fetfa^ or approval fi*om the mufti.
The mufti presents every year to the sultan the candidates for the leading judicial magistracies; these candidates are chosen from the members of the ulema. The post of mufti would be an excellent counterpoise to the authority of the sultan, if the latter had it not in his power to dismiss the mufti, to send him into exile, and even to condemn him to death.
The foregoing political and judicial organization seems at first
248 THE YELLOW RACE.
sight very reasonable, and would appear to yield some guarantee to the subjects of the Porte. Dishonesty unfortunately prevents the regular progress of these administrative institutions. The venality of officiab, their greed and their immorality, are such, that not the smallest post, not the slightest service, can be obtained without making them a present. Places, the judges' decisions, and the witnesses* evidence are all bought. False witnesses abound in no country in the shameless way they do in the Turkish empire, where the consequences of their peijury are the more frightful, since the cadi's decision is without appeal* Justice is meted out in Tm*key as it was meted out three hundred years ago among the nomadic tribes of the Osmanlis. After a few contradictory pieces of evidence, after a few oaths made on both sides, witliout any preliminary inquiry, and without any advocates, the cadi or simply the naib, gives a decision, based upon some passage of the Koran. The penal code of this ignorant and hasty tribunal merely consists in fining the wealthy, in inflicting the bastinado on the common people, and in hanging criminals right out of hand.
Yet Turkey possesses a kind of system of popular representa- tion. The inhabitants of Constantinople elect ayams, real dele- gates of the people, whose business it is to watch over the safety and the property of individuals, the tranquillity of the town, to oppose the unjust demands of the pachas, the excesses of the military, and the unfair collection of taxes. These duties are gratuitously performed by the most trustworthy men among the inhabitants. The ayams undertake all appeals to the pacha, when there exist any just grounds of complaint, and if he does not satisfy them, they carry their appeal to the sultan.
Every trade and handicraft in Turkey possesses a kind of goild or corporation which imdertakes to defend the rights of the association and of its individual members. The humblest artisan is protected in all legal matters by this corporation. It is unnecessary to say that the corporation enforces its rights before the judges by pecimiary means.
It is a great mistake to imagine that the Mussulman religion predominates in Turkey. In Turkey in Europe, not more than a quarter of the population profess the creed of Mahomet. The remainder are Christians, subdivided into the leading sects of that faith. The Greeks, the Servians, the Walachians, and tlie
MONGOLIAN BRANCH.
inhabitants of Montenegro belong to the eastern Greek Church. The Armenians are numerous, and are the more powerful on
acGoont of their known character foi austentj nnd honesty Other rehgious communities, such as the Jakobites, called hopta
260 THE YELLOW RACE.
in Egypt, the Nestorians, and the Maronites, have some influence, from the unity which reigns among their diiBTerent sects ; the Druzes, for instance, defy the Mahometans to their very face. There are more Jews in Turkey in Europe, than in any other country.
All these brotherhoods, excepting the Druzes and the Maronites, were formerly deprived of the free right of worship, were liable to marks of ignominy, and were handed over, defence- less, to injustice. But in the beginning of our century, an edict of the sultan declared all his subjects, regardless of their religion, equal in the eyes of the law.
Mahometanism, which prevails in Turkey, and in the greater portion of the East, dates from the 610th year of <tnr era. Its principal doctrines are purification, prayer, and fieusting. The fasting takes place in the month of Ramazafiy a month which is the Mussulman^s Lent, and during which all food must be abstained from in the daytime. It is followed by the festival of Beyram, during which the faithful are allowed to make up for their preced- ing abstinence. A legal clmrity is instituted by their creed. It consists in giving every year to the poor a fortieth part of their movable property. Another religious injunction is the pilgrim- age to Mecca, which every Mussulman is obliged to undertake at least once in his lifetime.
Their devotions take place five times a day. Friday is the day of rest for the Maliometans, as Sunday is that of the Christians, and Saturday that of the Jews.
Mahometanism has inherited from the ancient Arabs the praetice of circumcision. Mussulman^ are forbidden to drink in- toxicating drinks, but are allowed to marry four wives, and to make concubines of their female slaves. Their religion deprives them of all liberty of will, as it tells them that everything that can happen, either for evil or for good, is settled beforehatid. It is this fatalism that paralyzes all individual enterprise, and pre- vents the march of progress.
Mahometanism has not been more exempt than other creeds from schisms, which have brought to pass religious wars always so terrible in their consequences.
Its precepts, which have their advantages from a religious point of view, have many disastrous consequences when we regard man- kind's physical constitution. The interdict on the use of wine,
MONQOLIAN BRAIfCH.
for instance, has given rise to the secret coDsomption of alcoholic drinlcs, and to the public use of opium.
The TnrkS) although their literary civilization is still in its infant^, posBess a system of public education. The mosques of
252 THE YELLOW RACE.
Constantinople^ of Broussa, and of Adrianople, have colleges attached to them. Young men are sent from all parts of the Mussulman empire to these colleges, where they receive some amount of education. When they have finished their course of study, in which the commentaries on the Koran play the prin- cipal part, and when several examinations have tested their proficiency, the pupils receive tlie title of mudir or professor. All civil and judicial posts are monopolized hy this educated class.
But in Turkey, what knowledge there is, remains absorbed among a small quantity of individuals ; no channel exists for the free intercommunication of ideas.
Their kodjas, or writers, have indeed given their fellow country- men a large number of works, much esteemed by them — ^works on the Arabic and Persian languages, on philosophy, on morality, on Mussulman history, and on the geography of their country. But these writings, whatever their value, never reach the mass of the nation. There are but few printing presses in Turkey; the cop3rist*s art, such as it existed in Europe in the middle ages, still flourishes there. The state of literature in Turkey shows us what modem civilization would have become in Europe, without the assistance of the printer.
With this general want of literary and scientific knowledge, we naturally expect to find Turkey far behindhand in art, in manu- factures, and in agriculture. The latter, in fact, is in a sad state throughout the whole extent of the Ottoman empire. Manufac- tures exist in a few towns ; in Constantinople, in Salonica, in Adrianople, and in Rustchuk. Their principal manufactures are carpets, morocco leather^ a little sUk, tliread and swords. Their commerce consists in the export of their raw produce ; such as wool, silk, cotton, leather, tobacco, and metals, particularly copper ; wine, oil, and dried fruit are also largely exported. The Turks are good cloth manufacturers, gunsmiths, and tanners. Their works in steel and copper, and their dyes, are equal to the best articles of European manufacture.
The Greeks, who are very numerous in Turkey, follow all kinds of trades and callings. They make the best sailors of the Otto- man empire, while the Armenians are its keenest traders. The latter travel all over the interior of Asia and India ; they liave branch estabUshments and correspondents everywhere. Most of
MONGOLIAN BRANCH. 253
them, while pursuing some mechanical art, are at the same time the bankers, the purveyors, and the men of business of the pachas, and other great officials. Jews show in a less favourable light in Turkey than in Europe ; any business suits them, if they can make something out of it.
Figs. Ill and 112 represent two common Turkish types — a barber and a street porter.
CHAPTEK ni.
SINAIC BRANCH.
The nations belonging to the Sinaic branch (from the Latta Situe, ChineBe) have not tlie features of the Yellow Race ao well defined as those belonging to the Mongolian branch. Their nose is less flattened, their figures are better, and they are taller.
They early ncquired ratlier a high degree of eivilization, but they have since remained stationary, and their culture, formerly one of the most advanced in the world, is now veiy second rate compared to the progress made by the inhabitants of Europe and America. Chemical and mechanical arts were early practised and carried
256 THE YELLOW RACE.
very far by nations belonging to the Sinaic branch. Living under a despotic government, and accustomed to abjectly cringe to those in authority, this race developed a peculiar taste for ceremony and etiquette. Their language is monosyllabic, their writing is hieroglyphic, and these facts perhaps account for the scant progress made by their civilization in modem times.
The Sinaic branch comprises the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Indo-Chinese families.
The Chinese Family.
The Chinese, amongst whom, out of all the Yellow Race, civili- zation was the first to develop itself, have the following charac* teristic features. Width and flatness in the subocular part of the face, prominent cheek bones, and obliquely set eyes. Their features as a whole iiartake of the type of the Mongol race : that is to say, they have a broad coarse face, high cheek bones, heavy jaws, a flat bridge to their nose, wide nostrils, obliquely set eyes, straight and plentiful hair, of a brownish black colour with a red tint in it, thick eyebrows, scanty beards, and a yellowish red complexion.
They constitute the principal population of the vast empire of China, and extend even further. Many have settled in Indo* China, in the islands of the Straits, and in the Philippine ifilanda. China in four thousand years has been governed by twenty-eight dynasties. The emperor is merely an ornamental wheel in the mechanism of the Chinese government, the councillors possess- ing the real power. Centralization plays a powerful part in the administrative organization of the coimtry. The emperor's authority is founded on a secular and patriarchal respect, bound- less in its influence. Veneration for old age is a law of the state* Infirm old men, too poor to hire litters, are often seen in the streets of Pekin, seated in little hand carriages, dragged about by their grandchildren. As they pass, the young people about receive them respectfully, and leave oflf for the moment their play or their work. The government encourages these feelings by giving yellow dresses to very old men. This is the highest mark of distinction a private individual can receive, for yellow is the colour reserved for the members of the imperial family.
Their respect for their ancestors is also carried very far by the
SINAIC BRANCH.
Cbioese. They practise a kind of family worship in their honour.
There are many different creeds in China. Tlie Buddhist faith, so widely spread in Asia, is the most general; hut the higher
THE YELLOW RACE.
classes follow the precepts of ConAicius. But great religions toleration exists in the Celestial Empire. The men of the higher
1 16.— CHINZilB SBOFKKBPnW
classes afifect a well founded contempt for the external forms of worship, and the mass of the people do not attach much import-
SINAIC BRANCH.
anee to them. Many widely differing creeds are i side thronghoat the whole empire.
The Buddhist priests are called BoDzea.
1 side by
The poflition of women is in China a humble one. She is CMtsidered inferior to man, and her birth is often regarded as a The young girl lives shut up in her Other's house.
280 THE rELLOW RACE.
she takes her meals alone, she fulfils the duties of a senrant and is considered one. Her calling is merely to ply the needle and to prepare the food. A woman is her father's, her brother's, or her hnsband's property. A young girl is given in marriage without being consulted, without being made acquainted with her future husband, and often even in ignorance of his name.
The wealthy Chinese shut their wives up in the women's apart-
ments. When their lords and masters allow them to pay one another visits, or to go and see their parents, they go out in hermetically closed litters. They live in a wing of the building, reserved for their use, where no one can see them.
It is otherwise amongst the poorer classes. The women go out of doors with their face uncovered ; but they pay dearly for this privilege, for they are nothing but the beasts of burden of their husbands. They age very rapidly.
Polygamy exists in China, but only on sufferance. A man of rank may have several wives, but the first one only is the legiti* mate one. Widows are not allowed to remarry. Betrothals often take place before the future husband and wife have reached the
SINAIC BRANCH.
age of puberty. A betrothed girl who loses her betrothed can never marrj- another.
uo.~m*mda»in'
A marriage ceremony at Pekin takes place aa follows. The bride goes in great state to the dwelling of the bridegroom, who
262 THE YELLOW RACK
receives her on the threshold. She is dressed in garments embroidered with gold and silver. Her long black tresses are covered with precious stones and artificial flowers. Her face is painted, her lips are reddened, her eyebrows are blackened, and her clothes are drenched with musk. Many of the Chinese women have the complexion and the good looks of Creoles ; a tiny well shaped hand, pretty teeth, splendid black hair, a slender supple figure, and obliquely set eyes with a piquancy of expression that lends them a peculiar charm. The drawback to their appearance is their lavish use of paint, and their small crippled feet.
The Tartar and Chinese ladies composing the court of the Empress, as well as the wives of the officials residing in the capital, do nothing to distort their feet, except to wear the theatrical buskin, in which it is very difficult to walk. But a Chinese woman of good middle class family would think herself disgraced, and would have a difficulty in getting a husband, unless she had crippled her feet. This is what is done to give them a pleasing appearance. The feet of little girls of six years of age are tightly compressed with oiled bandages ; the big toe is bent under the other four, which are themselves folded down imder the sole of the foot. These bandages are drawn tighter every month. When the girl has grown up, her foot presents the appear- ance of a closed fist. Women with their feet mutilated in this manner walk with great difficulty. They move about with a kind of skip, stretching out their arms to keep their equi- librium.
Another of their conventional points of beauty is to wear their finger-nails very long. For fear of breaking them they cover them with little silver sheaths, which they also use as ear- picks.
A quantity of toilet accessories gives a peculiar appearance to the costume of the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. Fans, parasols, pipes, snuff-boxes, tobacco-pouches, spectacle cases, and purses, are all hung at the girdle by silken strings. The use of the fan is common to both sexes, of all classes.
The kang, at once a bed, a sofa, and a chair; some mats stretched upon the floor; and a few chairs or stools with cushions on them, are to be found in every room of a Chinese house. The interior of these dwellings is a true citadel of sloth. The China-
SINAIC BRANCH. 263
man squatted on his mat, dallying with his fan and smoking his pipe, is amused at the European who actually takes the trouble to use his legs.
To give a more exact idea of domestic Chinese life, we will give a few extracts from the interesting travels of M. de Bour- boulon, a French consul in China, travels edited by M. Pous- sielgue, and published in the '* Tour du Monde '* in 1864.
" A Chinese palace," says M. Poussielgue, *'is thus laid out :
more than half the site is taken up with alleys, courts, and gardens
crowded with rock-work, rustic bridges, fishponds full of gold fish,
aviaries stocked with peacocks, golden pheasants, and partridges
from Pe-tche-li, and especially a quantity of painted and varnished
porcelain and earthenware jars, containing miniatiu-e trees, vines,
jessamines, creepers and flowers of all kinds. The principal room
on the ground floor opens on to the garden; a piece of open
trellis work separates it from the sleeping apartment. The
ground floor also comprises the dining-room, the kitchen, and
sometimes a bath-room. Wlien there is a second story, called
leou, it contains beds and Imnber rooms. The entrance-hall is
invariably sacred to the ancestors and to the guardian spirits of
the family. In every room the kang, which serves as a bed, a
sofa, or a chaii* ; and thick mats, laid upon the floor, are to be met
with. ' The actual furnitm-e is scanty ; a few chairs and stools
made of hard wood, with cushions placed on them ; a small table
in red lacquer work ; an incense burner ; some gilt or enamelled
bronze candlesticks ; flower stands and baskets of flowers ; some
pictures drawn on rice paper; and finally the inevitable tablet
inscribed with some moral apothegm, or a dedication to the
ancestors of tlie master of the house. There are no regular
windows ; a few square openings, i)ierced in the side wall where
the rooms oi)en on a court or garden, or inserted beneath the
double beams supporting the roof where the apartment might be
overlooked from the street or from tlie neighbouring houses,
allow a dim light to penetrate through the cross laths of their
wooden lattices which serve as fixed blinds to them (figs. 120
and 121).
" The wealthy, abandoning themselves to a luxurious idleness, spend half their existence in these secluded chambers; it is almost impossible for a European to procure admittance to them, for communicative as the Chinese are in business, at festivals, or
264 THE YELLOW RACE.
at receptions, they are extremely re3er\'ed on all points concem- in;^ tlieir domestic life.
" Physical idleness is carried to an enormous extent in China ; it is considered ill bred to take walks, and to use the limbs.
Nothing surprises the natives more tlian the perpetual craving for
exercise that characterizes Europeans. . Squatted on their hams, they light their pipe, toy with their fans, and jeer at the European passers-by, whose firm measured footsteps carry them up and down the street. It is necessary' to make excuses for coming neither on horseback nor in a palanquin, when paying an official visit, for to do so on foot is a sign of but little respect for the person visited.
" The palanquin is in constant use. Large depots of these.
SINAIC BRANCH. 265
where one can always be hired at a moment's notice, are estab- lished in Peking. A palanquin carried by six coolies costs about a piastre per day ; with four coolies half a piastre ; with only two, ft hundred sapecas. The French Legation keeps twenty-four palanquin pollers, dressed in blue tunics with tricolor collars and facings. Palanquins are usually open both in front and behind ; they have a small window at the side, and a cross plank on which tlie passengers sit.
" The rage for gambling is one of the curses of China; a curse that has begotten a thousand others, in all ranks and at aU ages. One meets in the streets of Peking a quantity of little itinerant gaming stalls ; sometmies consisting of a set of dice in a brass cup on a stand, sometimes a lottery of little sticks marked with niunbers, shaken up by the croupier in a tin tube. We saw crowds round these shaq)ers, and the i^assing workman, yielding to the iiTesistible temptation, loses in an hour his day's hard earnings. The coolies attached to the French army used to thus lose their month's pay the day after they got it ; some of them having pledged their clothes to the croupiers, who do a little pawnbroking into the bargain, had to make their escape amid the jeers of the mob, and used to return to camp with nothing on but a pair of di^awers.
** Cock and quail fighting are still practised as an excuse for gambling by the Chinese, who stake large sums on the result. The wealthy and the mercantile classes are just as mveterate gamesters as the common people ; they collect in the tea-houses and spend day and night in i)laying at cards, at dice, at dominos, and at draughts. Their cards, about five inches long, are very narrow, and are a good deal like ours, with figures and pips of diflferent colours marked on them. The game most in vogue seems to be a kind of cribbage. Their draughtsmen are square, and the divisions of the board are round. Their dominos ai-e flat, with red and blue mai'ks. They i)lay at draughts also with dice, a sort of backgammon. Professional gamblers prefer dice to any other game, as it is the most gambling of all. When they have lost all their money, they stake tlieii* fields, tlieii* house, their children, their wives, and, as a last resort, themselves when they have nothing else left, and their antagonist agrees to let them make such a final stake. A shopkeeper of Tien-tsin, who was minus two fingers of his left hand, had lost them over the dice
266 THE YELLOW BACE.
box. The women and children are fond of playing at shuttlecock ; it is their favourite game, and they are very expert at it. The shuttlecock is made of a piece of leather rolled into a ball, with one or two metal rings round it to steady it ; three long feathers are stuck into holes in these rings. The shuttlecock is kept up with the soles of their slippers, which they use instead of battle- dores ; it is very seldom allowed to fall.
*' Gambling, which paralyzes labour, is one of the permanent causes of their pauperism, but there is another, still more disastrous — dissipation. The thin varnish of decency and restraint with which Chinese society is covered, conceals a widespread corruption. Public morality is only a mask worn above a deep depravity surpassing all that is told in ancient history, all that is known of the dissipated habits of the Persians and Hindoos of our own day.
'* Drunkenness, as understood in Eui'ope, is one of the least of their vices. The use of grape wine was forbidden, centuries ago, by some of their emperors, who tore up all the vine trees in China. This interdiction having been taken oflf under the Manchu dynasty, grapes are grown for the use of the table, but the only wine that is drunk is rice wine or samchow. A spirit as strong as our brandy is extracted from this as well as from coarse millet seed. It induces a terrible form of intoxication. The abuse of it by our soldiers in the Chinese campaign caused a great deal of fatal dysentery in the anuy.
" The tea-houses also sell alcoholic liquor, but the eating- houses and the taverns drive the largest trade in it.
" We cannot speak of the process of the manufacture of tea, nor of the vast amount of labour it employs : the subject properly belongs to southern China ; we will only say that the use of tea is as common in the north as in the south. The moment you enter a house, tea is offered to you — it is a sign of hospitahty to do so. It is given to you in profusion ; the moment your cup is empty, a silent attendant fills it, and your host will not permit you to mention the subject of 3'our visit till you have drunk a certain quantity. The tea-houses are as nimierous as cafes and taverns in France ; the elegant manner in which they are furnished, and their high charges, distinguish some from others. The rich trader and the idle man of fashion, not caring to mix with the grimy handed workman or the coarse peasant,
SINAIC BRANCH. 267
only frequent those houses that have a fashionable reputation. Tea houses can be recognized by the large range at the end of their rooms, fitted up with huge kettles and massive tea pots, with ovens and stoves supplying with boiUng water immense caldrons a^ big as a man. A singular kind of time-piece is placed above the range ; it is made of a large moulded bar of incense divided oflf by equidistant marks, so that the lapse of hours can be measured by its combustion. The Chinese can thus literally use the expression, "consuming the time.'* Morning and evening the rooms are full of customers, who for two sapecas, the price of entrance, can sit there and discuss their business, play, smoke, listen to music, or amuse themselves by looking at the feats of tumblers, jugglers, and athletes. For the two sapecas they have also the right to drink ten cups of tea (certainly extremely small ones), with which, on trays covered with cakes and dried fruits, a crowd of waiters keep running to and fro.
" One day," says a letter of M. X., a French oiKcer in the 101st Regiment of tlie Line, ** we determined to dine a la chinoise in a Chinese eating-house. Our coolies arranged beforehand that the price was to be two piastres a head, a large sum for this countr}', where provisions are so cheap. As a i^reparation for dinner, we had to thread our way through a labyrinth of lanes, crowded with dens in which crouched thousands of ragged beggars, poisoning the atmosphere with their exhalations. At the entrance to the open space in front of the eating-house stood a quantity of heaps of refuse, composed of old vegetable stalks, rotten sausages, and dead cats and dogs, and in every hole and corner a mass of filth as disagreeable to the nose as to the eye. It required a strong stomach to retain an appetite after running the gauntlet of such a horrible mess. A few tea di'inkei's and card i^layers were seated at the door, and seemed to care very little for the pesti- lential character of the neighbourhood. We tried to be equally courageous, and after admiring two immense lanterns which adorned the entrance, and the sign inscribed in big letters, * The three principal Virtues,* we ventured to hope that honesty would prove one of them, and that the tavern keei)er would give us our money's worth.
" Our entry into the principal room created a little excitement, for, accustomed as tlie Chinese are to see us, we still, in the quarters of the town where Europeans seldom venture, cause a
268 THE YELLOW RA.CE.
certain amount of curiosity, not unmixed with alarm. Two square tables surrounded by wooden benches, on which had been placed, as a particular favour, some stuffed cushions, had been prepared for us. The waiters thronged round us with red earthen tea-pots, and white metal cups ; there were no spoons ; boiling water was poured on a pinch of tea leaves, placed at the bottom of the cups, and we were obliged to drink the infusion through a small hole in the lid. When we had got thi'ough this ordeal like regular Chinamen, we called for the firet course, which consisted of a quantity of wretched little lard cakes, sweetened with dried fruit ; and for hors-d'oeuvre, a kind of caviare made of the intestines, the livers, and the roes of fish pickled in vinegar, and some land shrimps cooked in salt water; these were really nothing but large locusts. This dish, however, found in most warm countries, was not at all bad. We did not get along very well \\dth the first course, which was immediately followed by the second. The waiters placed on the table some plates, or rather saucers, for they were no bigger, and some bowl-shaped dishes, full of rice dressed in different ways with small pieces of meat arranged in pyramids on top of it. Chop-sticks accompanied these savoury dishes. What were we to do ? Nobody but a regular Chinese can help himself with these two Uttle bits of wood, one of which is usually held stationan* between the thumb and the ring finger, while the other is shifted about between the fore and middle fingers. The natives lift the saucers to theii* lips, and swallow the rice by pushing it into their mouth with the chop-sticks, but we tried to accomplish this in vain, and all the more so, that our fits of laughter prevented us from making any really earnest attempt. It was, hoAvever, impos- sible for us to compromise the dignity of om- civilization by eating with our fingers like savages, and happily one of our number, with more forethought than the rest, had brought with him a travelling case holding a spoon, and a knife and fork. We then each in turn dipped the spoon into the bowls before us, with an amount of suspicion, however, that i)revented the proper appreciation of the highly flavoured messes they contained. At last some less mysterious dishes, in quantity enough to satisfy fift}'^ people, made their appearance ; chickens, ducks, mutton, pork, roast hare, fish and boiled vegetables. White grape wine and rice wine were at the same time handed to us in microscopic cups of painted porcelain. None of the beverages were sweet, not even the tea,
SINAIC BRANCH. 269
but to make up for it they were all boiling hot. The meal was brought to a close by a bowl of soup, which was really an enormous piece of stewed meat swimming about in a sea of gravy.
" Satiated rather than satisfied, we should Iiave preferred some more Chinese dishes ; some swallows' nests, or a stew of ging-
atng roots, but it appears that sucli delicacies as these must be ordered for days beforehand, and paid for by their weight in gold. We swallowed a glass of tafia, a liquor which is becoming quite fashionable in Chinese eating-houses, and lighting our cigars looked about us. The day was drawing to a close ; the tavern rooms, which were at first nearly empty, were filling with customers, who after furtively scanning us, betook themselves to their usual
270 THE YELLOW RACE.
occupations. The waiter kept calling out in a loud Yoice the names and the prices of the dishes that were ordered, and these were repeated by an attendant standing at the counter behind which sat the master of the place. Some shop-keepers were playing at pigeon fly; one held up as many of the fingers of both hands as he thought fit, his antagonist had to guess im- mediately how many, and to hold up simultaneously exactly the same number of his own. The loser paid for a cup of rice wine.
" The room was beginning to reek with a nauseous odour, in which we recognised the smell of opium smoke. It was the hour for that fatal infatuation. Smokers with saUow complexions and hollow eyes, began to disappear mysteriously into some closets at the end of the room. We could see them lying down on mat beddings, with hard horsehair pillows."
Fig. 122 shows one of these closets kept for the use of opium- smokers. The utensils and paraphernalia necessary for the pre- paration and lighting of the opium pipe, lie on the table.
Agriculture has in China reached a remarkable degree of per- fection. It is the great source of the wealth of the country ; it is the progress it has attained that allows the Celestial Empire to support such an immense population in a relatively confined area. The profession of agriculturist is consequently held in great respect. We will quote M. Poussielgue on tlie subject :
" Towards the end of March, 1861," says that writer, " Prince Kong, the Imperial regent, proceeded in great state to the Temple of Agricultm'e, on the outskii-ts of the Chinese part of the town of Peking, and, after offering sacrifices to the guardian Deity of mankind, who encourages their labour by giving them the gifts of the earth, put his own hand to the plough, and turned up several furrows ; a crowd of notabilities, ministers, masters of the cere- monies, the great ofl&cers of state, three princes of the Imperial family, and a deputation of labourers accompanied the Emperor's representative. As soon as Prince Kong had finished ploughing the plot of ground reserved for him, and marked out with yellow flags, the three Imperial princes, followed by the nine chief digni- taries of the empire, took their turn at the plough, tiU the whole field was covered with farrows, in which mandarins of lesser rank scattered the seed, whilst labourers covered with rakes and rollers the sacred germs entrusted to the ground. During the
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S71
-whole ceremony, choirs of music made the atr resound with their harmony.
" This intellectual patronage> this ennobling of agriculture, has had immense results. No country in the world is cultivated
with so much care, or perhaps, \nth more success than China. It does not contain a square inch of waste ground.
" In the province of Pe-tche-li, where land is very much cut up into small lots, agricultural operations are conducted on a limited Bcalet but the intelligent manner in which they are carried out, makes up for the inconveniences of this parcelling out. But few
272 THE YELLOW RACE.
villages are seen there, but in compensation for their absence a quantity of farms and farm-houses nestle here and there under the shade of lofty trees. The buildings take up but little room, and so economical are the peasants of the soil, that they place their hayricks and their wheat sheaves on the flat roofs of their dwell- ings. Fig. 123 represents their system.
" If, however, they are saving of the soil, they are not sparing of pains. Thanks to the abundance and cheapness of labour, they have been able to adopt a system of cultivating the earth in alternate rows, and thus never to let the ground lie fallow, but to have a succession of crops during the whole summer. Between the rows of the sorgho [holcus sarghum), which reaches a height of ten or twelve feet, they sow a plant of lesser growth, the smaller kind of millet, which thrives in the shade of its gigantic neighbour. When they have reaped the sorgho, the millet, exposed to the rays of the sun, ripens in its turn ; they plant rows of beans in tlie midst of theii' maize fields, and the former ripens before the latter, of slower growth, is big enough to choke them. They plant the earth they dig out of their draining trenches with castor-oil or cotton plants, whose large green leaves make a kind of liedge to the cornfields. And when the soil is baiTcn and full of stones they plant it with the resinous pine, or with the cathse, an oily plant that flourishes on the poorest gi'ound.
" Nothing is more stirring than the picture presented by the wide plains of Pe-tche-li at harvest time. The toil of the husbandman has brought forth its fruit ; the crops of all kinds fill to overflowing the granaries ; threshers, winnowers and reapers, with crowds of gleaning women and children, fill the air with their joyous songs, as half stripped beneath the glowing sun, with their pig-tails wound around their heads, they zealously toil on from daybreak to night fall, only leaving off for a few moments to swallow an onion or two, or a handful of rice, to take a few whiffs at their pipe, or to vigorously fan themselves when the heat becomes unbeai^able, and the perspiration is running down their stalwart limbs.
" Water in this province is as little neglected as the land.
'^ Pisciculture is practised on a large scale and in the most intelligent manner. When spring returns, a quantity of vendors of fish spawn perambulate the country to sell this precious spat
274 THE YELLOW RACE.
to the pond owners. The eggs, fecundated by the milt, are carried about in small barrels full of damp moss. These spawn- sellers are followed by hawkers of yoimg fiy, skilful divers who catch in very fine nets the new bom fish reposing in the holes in the river beds. These &y are reared in special ponds, and dis- seminated when they have grown bigger in the lakes and larger pieces of water. The Chinese have succeeded in rearing and preserving in artificial basins the most interesting and most pro- ductive species of their rivers. In the immense lakes close to the Temple of Heaven at Peking, they rear gold fish, a kind of bream weighing sometimes as much as twenty-five pounds, carp, and the celebrated kia-yu, a domestic fish. Morning and evening the keepers bring herbs and grains for the fish, which greedily eat them, and which soon reach a considerable size, thanks to this fattening diet. A lake managed in this way is a greater source of revenue to its owner than the most fruitful fields.
** The sea-shore at the mouth of the Pei-ho is covered with parks to hold the fish at low water. These are made of several lengths of blue cotton stuff stretched on a cane fi-amework, which is fastened to a quantity of small stakes. This framework folds in any direction like the leaves of a screen. A drag net is also used by the inhabitants of the coast. Soles, sea toads, bream, gold fish, whiting, cod and a quantity of other fish are caught in the gulf of Pe-tche-li. Many cetaceous fish are also found there, dolphins, several kinds of sharks, amongst them the tiger shark {Squalus tigrinus), whose striped and spotted skin is used in several manufactures, and a large species of turtle.
"Eiver fishing, with which we are better acquainted, is followed in several ingenious fashions. There is trained cormorant fish- ing, fly fishing, harpoon fishing, rod fishing, and net fishing; dams are also placed across the streams at the travelling periods of migratory fish. The Pei-ho, crowded with fishermen, presents a most lively appearance ; on its surface you see large boats containing whole families ; the women occupied in mending the nets, in making osier fishing-rods, in cleaning and salting the day's catch, and in carrying in vases the fish they wish to keep alive ; the little children, with their waists girdled with a life belt of pigs' bladderSi running about and climbing like cats up the masts and the rigging; the men dropping their large nets perpendicularly into the water, and easily raising them again by
SINAIC BRANCH.
a piece of ingeniouB mecIiaDisin consisting of a wooden cotrnter- poise on vhich they lean the whole weight of their body (fig. 124), others watching their nets lying at the bottom of the stream,
their whereabouts indicated by the wooden floats that are bobbing up and down here and there ; others again descending the river with the current and harpooning the larger fish with a harpoon fastened to the wrist by a strong cord. To avoid alarming
276 THE YELLOW RACE.
their prey, they have invented a kind of raft, made of a couple of beams fastened together with wooden rungs ladderwise ; the stem is pointed, and in the stem, which is square, a paddle is kept with which they steer themselves. By a wonderful piece of equilibrium they manage to keep in an upright position, their feet on different rungs, with one hand stretched out grasping the harpoon, and their head extended to catch a sight of the fish as it sleeps in the sunshine on the top of the water. It is a stirring sight to see five or six fishermen abreast, descending with the current on these frail barks. They wear a broad-brimmed straw hat, and their clothing consists of a waterproof jerkin of woven cane, and a pair of drawers made of small pieces of reed stitched together. Their naked arms and legs are muscular and bronzed, their countenance is resolute, and its calm expression shows that they are inured to danger. Although it often happens that the harpooned fish, more i)owerful than the harpooner, makes the latter lose his balance and tumble into the water, when his only means of safety lie in cutting the rope fastened to his wrist to save himself from being dragged under, accidents are seldom heard of, for all are excellent swimmers. At night a strange noise is heard on the river, lighted up with resin torches ; the fishermen rush about the stream beating wooden drums to drive the fish towards the spots where they have stretched their nets."
Living is veiy cheap in China, o^ving to the skill of the agricultural laboui*ers and that of the artisans and mechanics. A whole family can cook its meals with one or two pounds of dried grass, which costs about a penny a pound. Fire-places are very little used, except in the more northern provinces; but warm clothing is worn when the climate makes it necessary. The dwellings have a low pitch, so that with the coal found in many of the provinces, with the pnmings of the trees, and with the roots of the mountain shrubs, their inhabitants can cheaply procure the fuel necessary to warm themselves with.*
There is a great scarcity of forests in China, as the country has been entirely denuded to support its teeming population. Grazing fields are equally scarce, so that butcher's meat, beef or mutton, is dear. The inhabitants however get along without it, thanks to the numerous streams, rivers, lakes, and canals which intersect China, and swarm with fish. Fishing does not take
* Simon, Beport of the Acclimatization Society, March, 1869.
278 THE YELLOW RACE.
place in the streams of running water alone. Fish are caught in the rice fields, and even in the pools caused by the heavy rains, so rapid is the production of these animals.
A kind of fish exists in China which multiplies at such an astonishing rate, that it produces two broods in a month, this fish is consequently not more than a penny and the dearest tenpence a pound. All kinds of fisheries are carried on — ^net, rod, otter and cormorant fishing. It is thus that animal food for four hundred millions of inhabitants is provided.
Pigs, ducks, and chickens are also a great resource. Pork has become such a general article of food, that its cost is higher than that of beef, although the latter is much the scarcest.
The ducks are foimd in flocks of three or fom* thousand on the lakes and pieces of wa£er. They are watched by children in a kind of small canoe. Sometimes the drakes bring the ducklings to the water, keeping guard over them from the bank, and recalling them when necessaiy with a shai-p piercing cry which the young ones perfectly understand.
Thjere is a large trade in ducks. They dry them by putting them between a couple" of planks like plants; and they are sent in this guise to the most remote parts of the empu*e. Dogs of a particular breed, reared for the market in the southern provinces, are prepared in the same way, but only for the consumption of the very poorest classes. Goats and sheep are also rather largely made use of for food, but not to such an extent as pigs, ducks and chickens.
It may be seen therefore that the Chinese have learnt how to supply the place of the larger kind of butcher's meat.
Vegetables however form the staple of their food. This explains how it is possible for four himdred millions of inhabi- tants to exist in a country whose acreage is not more than four or five times that of France. Chinese horticulture contains eighty diflferent kinds of vegetables, and out of these eighty, at least twenty-five constitute a direct article of food for man. But the most precious of all is rice, and the Cliinese spare no pains in perfecting its cultivation. In aid of this cultivation they have sacrificed their forests, dug immense lakes, and even pierced lofty mountains. For its sake they collect the water of both stream and river, and direct its course from the mountain's foot over the soil they wish to irrigate. Perhaps no greater or more grandiose
SINAIC BRANCH. 279
work exists in the whole world than the gigantic hydraulic system which, throughout the whole of China, from the west to the sea coast, directs the flow of its waters, and pours them over the fields of every tiller of its soil.
This great work was carried out four thousand years ago, but public gratitude has not forgotten its promoter. They still point out not far from Ning-po, the field where the little peasant used to work who after accomplishing his enterprise became the great emperor Yu. All the inhabitants of the canton where he was bom are considered as his descendants or as those of his family, and are exempt from taxation ; and the anniversar}' of his birth is celebrated every year in a special temple with as much zeal as if the benefits he has bestowed were things of yesterday.
The Chinese do their best not only for rice, but for every kind of produce, or to put it better, for the earth itself, the earth that brings it forth. Agriculture to the Chinese is more than a calling, it is almost a religion. The Chinaman repeats to himself these words of the old Persian law : ** Be thou just to the plant, to the bull, and to the horse ; nor be thou unmindful of the dog. The earth has a right to be sown ; neglect it and it will curse thee, fertilize it and it 'will be grateful to thee. It says to him who tills it from the right to the left, and from the left to the right, may thy fields bring forth of all that is good to eat, and may thy countless villages abound with prosperity." It adds again, " Labour and sow : the sower who sows with purity obeys the whole law.'*
When the earth therefore does not produce abundant crops, the Chinese lay the blame on themselves. They purify them- selves and fast. Confucius, besides, has said : " If you wish for good agriculture, be of pure morals.***
The soil in China yields as much as ten thousand pounds of rice to every acre. Such a result says a great deal for their rural morals. While occupied in making the earth yield so plentiftdly, they have no time for evil thoughts or actions. A moralist has said, " There can be no cultivation without public order. Justice is begotten of the furrow. Ceres, who at Thebes and at Athens brought men together and made the laws, is the reflecting mind of men who till the soil." t How could
* Simon, Beport of the Aodimatization Society, March, 1869.
t Idem.
280 • THE YELLOW RACE.
Chinese agriculture be possible without a system of law, when for the success of its rice fields it is so dependent on water, which is so easily cut oflF, for the very essence of its fruitful- ness. The uninterrupted distribution of its waters, in the midst of such an immense rural population, is a symptom of great lionesty and fairness among the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire.
Thus we see that patience, gentleness, justice and benevolence are the predominant Chinese qualities. The Chinese have been often reproached with being atheists ; but the devotion of labour, the purifications and the atonements to which they submit at the smallest warning from Heaven, free them from this reproach.
The Bonzes, the priests of the Buddhist faith, are treated by the Chinese with great respect. If this nation is not really a very religious one, at least it venerates and resx)ects the ministers of religion.
Fig. 126 shows the usual dress of the Bonzes.
Education is widely spread in China ; schools abound there. Chinese literature, without possessing very numerous works worthy of remembrance, has produced a good deal worthy of esteem.
The Theatre is a recreation much sought after by the people and by the educated classes.
We will make a few extracts on these points from the travels of M. de Bourboulon, edited by M. Poussielgue, which we have already quoted : " Their Book of Rites,** says M. Poussielgue, " directs that the education of the cliild of wealthy parents shall commence from the hour even of its birth, and bids the mother take great precautions in choosing its nurses, whom it only tolerates. A child is weaned the moment it can lift its hand to its mouth. At six years of age the elementary principles of arith- metic and geography are taught him; at seven he is separated firom his mother and sisters, and no longer allowed to take meals with them ; at eight the usages of politeness are instilled into him ; the following year he is taught the astrological calendar ; at ten he is sent to a public school, where the master teaches him to read and write and to calculate ; between the ages of thirteen and fifteen he receives music lessons and sings moral maxims instead of his hymns ; at fifteen, come gymnastics, the use of arms, and riding ; finally at twenty years of age, if he is considered worthy
YELL'i.voK ^\:::r(i:.]
8INAIC BRANCH.
of it, he receives the virile cap, and changes his cottoD clothing for Bilk garments and furs; he is also generally married at this age.
"The Chinese schoolmasters (fig. 127) are rejected men of
letters who have not succeeded in passing the examinations for civil employment. They make their scholars call out their lessons in a loud voice, and seem to have long since appreciated the value of the system of mutual instruction. They chastise culprits with their pigtails and with cat-o* -nine-tails, striking
282 THE YELLOW RACE.
them heavy blows on the hands and on the back. Moral penalties are also inflicted; a writing fastened to his back holds up the idle schoolboy to public contempt. The poorest class of children are taught gratuitously in the schools.
''The importance attached by the Chinese to the writing, the reading, the grammar, and the thorough knowledge of their lan- guage, springs from its inherent difficulties.
" The ancient Chinese writing was ideographic, that is to say, it represented objects by drawn characters, similar to the Egyptian system of hieroglyphics, instead of being phonetic, that is, com- posed of signs corresponding with the sounds of the spoken lan- guage. Their primitive characters, two hundred and fourteen in number, were rough figures imperfectly representing material objects. Ideographical writing, the "use of which by semi- barbarous peoples is easily explained, must be rather awkward for civilized men desiring to express abstract ideas. The Chinese have ingeniously modified their characters, so as to render them capable of satisfjdng the wants of their growing civilization. Anger was represented by a heart imder a bond, a sign of slavery ; friendship by two pearls exactly alike ; history, by a hand hold- ing the emblem of equity. As it was soon found that these ingenious figures were no longer sufficient, they were combined in an infinite number of ways ; they were altered and multiplied to such an extent, that it takes all the science of an old man of letters to recognize the designs of the primitive writing in the present characters, which are more than forty thousand in number. It is in this way that their modem writing was gradually formed, an emblematic writing which does not correspond with the spoken language, the one solitary exception to the rule among all civilized nations.
'' It is therefore easily to be understood that to read and write the Chinese language is a science exacting severe study from natives of the country, as well as from foreigners : besides, even its grammatical rules vary very much. There are three kinds of style : the ancient or sublime style, used in the old canonical books ; the academical style, which is adopted for official and literary documents ; and the common style.
''The Chinese attach much importance to an elegant hand- writing, a clever calligrapher, or to use their own expression, a clever brush, is worthy of their admiration. Captain Bouvier and
SINAIC BRANCH. 883
one of the iuterpreterB of the French legation, were one day pay- ing a visit to Tchong-Iouen, one of the leading officials of Peking ; his son, a mandarin with the blue button, a young man of twenty- two, and already father of a child — that is to say of a son, for girls
do not count for anything — was present in the reception-room. Tchong-louen, wshing to give an idea of his son's precocious ac- complishments to hia visitorB, sent for a lai-ge cartoon in which the youth had traced ia splendid outlines, the word longevity, and
fi84 THE YELLOW RACE.
showed it to them with as much pri^e as if it had been the certificate of some noble action or a literary work. The rooms of every house contain similar cartoons, himg upon their walls as we in Europe hang paintings.
" The appearance of Chinese writing is very odd ; the cha- racters are placed one under the other in vertical lines, and run from right to left ; in a word, on this point as in many others, the Chinese proceed in a manner diametrically opposed to ours. The position in which the characters are placed is besides very important; for instance, the Emperor's name must be written with two letters higher than the others, to omit this would be to commit treason. Everybody is familiar with Chinese or Indian ink. It is with this substance, diluted in water and used with a brush, that the Chinese trace the letters of their writing, holding their hands perpendicularly, instead of placing them horizontally, on the paper.
" Their spoken language is much less difficult ; it is composed of monosyllables, the union of which, in an infinite nimiber of ways, expresses every possible idea. I must not forget the accents which give a difference of tone and expression to the mono- syllabic roots. The language of the south differs sufficiently firom that of the north to prevent the natives from understanding one another without the assistance of the brush. Moreover, everj*^ province has its i)ai'ticular dialect.
" In spite of the difficulties presented by the reading and writ- ing of the Chinese character, China is doubtless the land in which primary instruction is most widely spread. Schools are found even in the smallest hamlets whose rustics deprive themselves of some of their gains, in order to pay a schoolmaster. It is ver}" seldom you meet with an entirely uneducated Chinese. The workmen and the peasants are capable of writing their own letters, reading the government bills and proclamations, and making notes of their daily business. Teaching in the primary schools has for its basis, the San-tse-king, a sacred book attributed to a disciple of Confucius, which sums up in a hundred and sixty-eight lines all acquired knowledge and science. This little encyclopaedia, properly explained and commented on by the teacher, suffices to give Chinese children a taste for positive knowledge, and even to give them the desire of acquiring a wider education. There are also colleges in the large towns where the children of the
286 THE YELLOW RACE.
men of letters and of the mandarins receive a complete educa- tion. Such among others is the Imperial College at Peking.
" The citizens of the Celestial Empire enjoy thorough liberty of the press, but at their own risk and peril. The government, which has no right to forbid any publication, revenges itself after- wards by inflicting the bastinado on the authors of the pamphlets and the virulent satires that daily appear attacking it. A great quantity of small portable printing-presses exists among private individuals who both use and abuse them. There is no country in the world where the walls are so thickly covered with bills and advertisements.
" The Chinese have practised the typographical art from, time immemorial ; but as their alphabet is composed of more than forty thousand letters, they could not make use of moveable type ; they restricted themselves therefore to carving on a piece of hard board the characters they required, to wetting these characters with ink and to striking off a number of copies, by applying different sheets of paper to the board. Their binders, in opposition to ours, make these leaves up into a volume by fastening them together by their edges. A note in the preface generally mentions the place where the boards that printed the first edition of the work have been deposited.
" There are in Peking several daily papers, amongst others the Official Gazette, a government print, the subscription for which is a piastre quarterly. This print, published in pamphlet shape, is a rectangular publication containing a dozen pages, with a like- ness of the philosopher Meng-tsen on the cover. It contains a summary of all public matters, and all leading events, the peti- tions and memorials addressed to the Emperor, his decrees, the edicts of the viceroys of the provinces, judicial ceremonies and letters of pardon, the custom-house tariffs, the court circulai', the news of the day, fires, crimes, &c., and finaUy the incidents, fortunate or imfortunate, of the war against the rebel Tae-pings. It even acknowledges the Imperial defeats, a piece of frank- ness worthy of notice by the official organs of Europe and America.
" The Chinese have a traditional and quasi-religious respect for the preservation of all printed and written papers ; they are care- fully collected and burnt when read, so as to put them beyond the reach of profanation. It is even asserted that societies exist who
SINAIC BRANCH. 287
pay porters to go from street to street with enormous baskets to pick up fragments. These new kind of rag-gatherers are paid for saving the waifs and strays of human thought.
" Art like literature has been carried to some extent in an utili- tarian and manufacturing sense. But imaginative art, the ideally beautiful, is a thing a Chinese does not understand.
" While acknowledging the skill with which the Chinese have written on social economy, on philosophy, on history, and on all moral and political science based on experience and logic, we must note the scarcity of their purely literary works. It must not however, be concluded that China, unlike every civilized country, does not possess plenty of poets, novelists and dramatic authors ; but their little esteemed and badly remunerated productions are ephemeral. To-day an ode, something appropriate to the moment, is written, it is recited or played in the midst of applause, and to-morrow nothing remains of it.
" Theatrical propensities are nevertheless very strongly de- veloped among the Chinese, and the cause of this forgetfulness, this neglect is that they are ashamed of attaching too much importance to a futile amusement. The managers of the theatres are generally the authors of the pieces they represent, or at any rate they modify them according to the exigencies of the actors and the suitability of the costumes. There are no permanent or authorized theatres in Peking : the government only allows their temporary construction in the open spaces of the town for a limited period during public festivals. Theatrical representations, however, take place in many of the tea-houses, which are analogous to oiu* music-halls, and in nearly all the dwellings of the wealth}', who, every time they hire a company of actors to celebrate a family anniversary, take care, with an eye to popularity, to allow the public free ingress into that part of their house reserved for the auditorium.'*
" I have just been present,'* relates M. Treves, " at a theatrical representation given by the secretary of state Tchong- louen in the gardens of his palace in the Tartar town, in honour of the new year. The theatre was something like those con- structed in Paris on the esplanade of the Invalides on the-occasion of the Emperor's fete : it was an ample quadrilateral building in the shape of a Greek temple, supported on either side by four columns painted in sky-blue, golden, and scarlet stripes, and with
288 THE YELLOW RACK
a proscenium covered with carvings and decorations. The stage, much wider than it was deep, was a wooden platform raised about six feet above the level of the rest of the building. An immense screen shuts off the back passages, where the actors dress them- selves and get themselves up. There was no scener}% only two or three chairs and a carpet. The circular hall reserved for the audience, very large in proportion to the stage, was paved with white marble ; it was not roofed in, and the only shelter for the spectators was the shade cast by the large trees of the garden (fig. 129).
" We took our places on a reserved platform, placed expressly for us in front of the stage ; on either side were boxes with bamboo blinds whence the wives of our host and those of his guests looked on at tlie play : to prevent their being seen, they wore veils of silk net. The guests of lower rank were seated in the first row, on chairs grouped round small tables capable of accommodating four or five people. Behind them I could see a swarm of human heads ; these were the public who crowded and pressed together to enjoy the spectacle for which they were in- debted to the munificence of the illustrious Tchong-louen. At Peking as in Paris, the common people willingly undergo for the sake of amusement the fatigue of standing, without any means of resting themselves, for hours together. A few indulgent fathers had two or three children perched upon their backs, and upon their shoulders, but I could not see a single woman.
" At a signal given from our dais, the orchestra, placed at one wing of the stage, and consisting of two flutes, a drum and a harp, began a charivari which took the place of an overture ; then the screen opened, and the actors all appeared in their ordinary dress, and after bowing so deeply that their foreheads touched the groimd, their leader advanced to the edge of the stage and com- menced a pompous recital of the dramas they were going to perform."
Here the writer gives a description of the pieces represented, which were kinds of allegories and historical pageants. Besides these regular theatrical representations, there are in Peking many acrobatic troops, male and female rope-dancers, and itinerant circuses.
Marionettes, absolutely identical with those in Europe, are seen in China. Which nation is their inventor ? The name by which
SINAIC BRANCa
they hare passed from time unmemorial in France, ombret chinoises, seems to prove that their origin is Chinese.
Hidden hy ample drapery of blue cotton stuff, the man who Doves the puppets stands on a stool. A case representing a
290 THE YELLOW RACE.
little stage is placed on his shoulders and rises above his head, while his hands work without revealing the mechanical means he uses to impart the movements of players to these tiny automatons.
We will end our account of the Chinese with a glance at their administration of justice and their judicial forms. We again {VLoie from M. Poussielgue ;
" There is a direct relation in China between the penal judicial code and family organization. If the Emperor is the father and the mother of his subjects, the magistrates who represent him are also the father and mother of those they rule over. Every out- rage against the law is an outrage upon the family. Impiety, one of tlie greatest crimes foreseen and pimished by the law, is really nothing but a want of respect for parents. This is how the penal code defines impiety. ' He is impious who insults his nearest relations, or he who brings an action against them, or who does not go into mourning for them, or who does not venerate their memory, or he who is wanting in the attention due to tliose to whom he owes liis existence, by whom he has been educated, or by whom he has been protected and assisted.* The punishments incuiTed for the crime of impiety are temble ; we intend to speak of them later.
** In thus carrj'ing the feeling of what is due to family ties into the region of politics, the Chinese legislators have created a governmental machinery of prodigious power, wliich has lasted for thirty centuries, and which, neither the numerous revolutions and d}Tiastic changes, neither the antagonism of the northern and southern races, neither the immense territorial extent of the empire, neither religious scepticism, nor finally the selfish creed of materialism developed to excess by a decayed and stationaiy civilization, have been able to destroy, or even seriously to distm'b.
** Amongst the supreme courts that sit at Peking, is the Court of Appeal or Cassation (Ta-li-sse). Next to it come the assizes held in the chief towns of each province, and presided over by a special magistrate bearing the title of Commissary of the Court of Offences. A second magistrate of inferior rank exercises the duties of public accuser at these assizes. In towns of second and third importance inferior tribunals exist which have but one judge, the mandarin or the sub-prefect of the department. The
SINAIC BRANCH. 291
pomshments that can be awarded by the latter are limited ; when the crime deserves a greater chastisement, the prisoner is sent to the assizes held in the eliief town of liis province : if this tribunal sentences him to denth, the proceedings must be sent to the Comt of Appeal at Peking, where a final decision is pro- nounced at the autumn sittings. Thus no provincial tribunal lias
the power of sentencing a prisoner to death ; although in special cases, such as an armed insun-ection, a governor can be invested with extreme power, similar to that conferred in Europe by martial law. Finally there are in every part of the empire, courts of information where the sub-prefect, in the course of his quarterly circuit, has to hear what is taking place, decide differences, and deliver moral lectures to the public ; but this excellent institution
292 THE YELLOW RACE.
has fallen into disuse in consequence of the relaxation of govern- mental authority and the carelessness of the mandarins.
*' The result of this judicial organization is that the sub- prefect is invested with the entire correctional power within the limits of his civil jurisdiction, a very faulty state of things, which has been the cause of enormous abuses.
" There are no advocates in China, and, as has been seen, very few judges. Consequently the mode of administering justice is very summary, and the guarantees enjoyed by a prisoner amount to nothing. His friends or relations can, it is true, plead in his favour, but it is of no use, unless it happens to suit the mandarin at the head of the tribimal. As for the witnesses, they are liable to be flogged with a rattan, accordingly as their evidence is agreeable or not. Generally spealdng, the long-winded wit- nesses are the most disagreeable to the mandarin who has a mass of matters to settle, and whose time does not allow him to enter into petty details. In point of fact the prisoner's acquittal or con- demnation depends upon the subaltern officers of the court, who prepare the proceedings in a manner favom^able to the prisoners or the reverse, accordingly as they have received more or less money from his friends.
*' If there is something to be praised in Chinese jurisprudence, the way in which the punishments are earned out is on the contrar}^ shocking. Man is considered as a being sensitive only to physical agony and to death ; Chinese legislators have not sought to restrain liim by his honour, by his pride in himself, nor even by his self interest. The penal code consists mainly of the bastinado, inflicted with a thick bamboo cane, with the thick end or the thin one, and consisting of from ten up to two hundred blows, as the ciime is trifling or serious, or as the object stolen is of little or of great value. The bastinado is given immediately in presence of the tribunal. The most common punishments, are, after the bastinado, the cangue, the pillory, imprisonment and perpetual exile into Tai-tary for mandarins who have committed political offences. We have mentioned that the High Court of Appeal alone can decide on a death sentence ; but the sufferings inflicted by the orders of the inferior tribunals are so homble, the executioners are so ingenious in varying the tortures witliout causing death, the management of the prisons is so hateful, and finally a man sentenced to the cangue, the piUorj', or the cage is
294 THE YELLOW RACK
exposed to such honible anguish, that when the death-warrant arrives from Peking, the unfortunate wretch goes cheerfully to the scaffold, as if his last day were really the day of his deliver- ance.
" Capital punishment, horribly varied in bygone days, is now only inflicted in three ways ; strangulation, decapitation, and the slow death by stabbing.
** Strangulation is effected by means of a silken cord that two executioners pull at each end, or by an iron collar tightened by a screw, very much like the garote at present used in Spain. Stran- gulation by the silken cord, is reserved for the princes of the Imperial family ; the iron collar is used to destro}', in the silence of the prison, those whose death it is desired to conceal.
^* In public, the only mode of execution is decapitation, applied to all vulgar crimes. The preparations for this mode of death are very simple, and its action very rapid, owing to the temper and weight of the swords, and the skill of those who wield them. The guillotine never attained tlie lightning-like rapidity of the satellites of the dreaded Yeh, the viceroy from whom the Anglo- French delivered the ]>rovince of Canton ; they could strike off a hundred heads in a few moments. Their master used to boast that their skill was derived from a hundred tliousand subjects of experiment he had furnished them with in less tlian two years.
" The slow death of stabbing is inflicted for the cnmes of trea- son, parricide, and incest. Tlie preparation for this mode of punishment must double the miseries of the condemned convict. Securely tied to a post, his feet and hands fastened with ropes, his head is placed in a kind of pillory, wliile the magistrate dele- gated to witness the execution of tlie sentence, draws from a covered basket a knife, on tlie handle of wliicli is written the part of the body in w^hicli it is to be inserted. This lion*ible torture is continued until chance selects the heart, or some other vital part. We hasten to add, that generally the convict's friends pm'chase the connivance of the magistrate, who takes care to draw at the very first ventm'e, the knife intended for the jnoi-tal blow.
"It is little wonder that the Chinese accustomed to such penalties, and to the hideous and frequent spectacles they afford, should early become inured to the idea of death, and that even
SINAIC BRANCH. 295
their women and children should possess in the highest degree the passive courage wliieh enables them to meet it with c»lmnesFt. For many of these poor people, death is only the welcome termi- nation of a miserable and painful existence,
" I had the curiosity to be present at one of the last sittings of the Court, and at my request a place was reserved for me, where I could see without being seen.
132.— CHISESB I
" The hall of justice had nothing remarkable in an architectm'al sense. It was surrounded by a lofty wall, nearly as high as the prinoipal edifice. The first court is enclosed by buildings used as prisons. I saw some boxes made of enormously thick bamboo bars placed at a little distance apart, in which prisoners were shut up d^u^ng the night.
"In this court a crowd of wretched creatures with emaciated limbs, livid faces, and barely covered with a few loathsome rags, lay sweltering in the sun. Some were fastened by the foot witli an iron chain to a weight so heavy, that they were unable to stir it, and staggered round it like caged wild beasts, continually turn-
296 THE YELLOW RACK
ing in a space of a few feet. Others had their anna and legs shackled together, so that they could only move about in short jumps, which must have been very painful to judge by the expres- sion of their faces.
" One of these prisoners had his left hand and right foot fas- tened in a board a few inches in width ; a poUceman di'agged liim forward by an ii-on cliain fastened to a Iicavy collar clasped round
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hia neck, whilst another flogged him from behind, to make him go on. This wretched creature crept along with great difficulty on the leg that was still free, liis body bent double in the most painful position (fig. 132).
" In another comer of the court, other prisoners were under- going the punishment of the cangiie. I also saw a painful sight, a thief btuied alive in a wooden cage.
" Imagine a hea^-j- tub upside down, under which a human being is made to crouch; his head and his hands are shpped through tlu-ee round holes, made so excessively tight that lie cannot remove them ; the weight of the cage presses on his
SINAIC BRANCH. 2»7
shoulders, whatever moveraent he makes he must carry- it about with him. When he wishes to rest, he can only crouch upon his knees in a most fatiguing position ; when he wishes to take exer- else, he can hardly lift the weight of the tub (fig. 133). One
shrinks from attempting to realize tlie existence of a man con- demned to a month of such a punishment. The miserable sufferer I saw, being unable to either eat or drink by himself, his wife had undertaken to help him ; she was standing close to the cage feeding him with rice and some httle pieces of pork, which she
298 THE YELLOW RACE.
pushed into his mouth with chop-sticks. From time to time, she wiped with an old piece of cloth the livid countenance of her husband, which was running down with perspiration, whilst her little child, slung to her back with a strap, smiled in its utt^r ignorance of miseiy, and played with the curls of its mother's flowing hair. This sight affected me deeply, and I hurried on to avoid making a protest against such atrocity.
" The entrance to the hall of justice is embellished with an ex- ternal portico, on which some mythological scenes are painted in glowing colours.
** Presently the folding gates opened witli a loud creaking, and admitted the crowd that had gatliered in the first court. At the end of the large hall on a raised dais, I perceived Tchong-louen in his ceremonial costmne, surrounded with his councillors and the subaltern officers of justice. In fi-ont of him, on a table covered with a red cloth, were the records of criminal proceedings, brushes xmd saucers for the Indian ink, a bookcase containing the codes and the books of jurisprudence that might have to be consulted, and a large case full of painted and numbered pieces of wood. Behind the mandarin stood his fan-bearer, and two cliildren richly dressed ill silk, who held over his head the insignia of his dignity. On the twelve stone steps that ascended to the dais were posted, first, the executioner, conspicuous for his wire hat, and his red dress. He leant his right hand upon an enormous rattan cane, wliile his left wielded a curved sword ; then came his assistants and the jailors carrying different instruments of torture which the}'^ clashed noisily together, Avhilst continuing at measured intervals to utter homble yells, intended to throw terror into the minds of the prisoners. All round the hall stood police soldiers, in the red tasselled Man- chu cap, armed with a short spear, and with two swords sheathed in the same scabbai*d. Red draperies inscribed with various sentences, and lanterns representing different monsters were hung around the walls. In short, the whole scene was got up to impress the eager and curious mob, which crowded thickly beneatli the overhanging side galleries, with the imposing spectacle of the 8}Tnbols of justice, as represented in fig. 134.
" I witnessed from the place reserved for me behind the judg- ment seat the trial of half a score of robbera. I will not attempt to describe the scenes of torture that followed their repeated denials of guilt. When a prisoner persisted in asserting his
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29!)
innocence, the judge tossed to tlie executioner one of the painted sticks or counters lying in tlie case on the table before him, and OQ which was marked the number of blows or the description of torture to be inflicted. This was immedintelv carried into effect
under the eyes of tlie judge and registrai-s who made careful notes of the half avowals uttered by the ^'ietilu in the midst of his screams of agony."
Military matters are but little attended to in China. Tina sceptical and timorous nation is no believer in military glory and
300 THE YELLOW RACE.
power. Oui' campaigns in China showed the vahie of a Chinese army. General Cousin Montauban, since Count de Palikao, cut numbers of them to pieces, after one or two skirmishes, in wliich the Chinese fled as hard as they could the very moment they perceived a nniform.
ISLUS TROOFRR.
A nation of four hundred miUion inhabitants was conquered by six thousand Frenchmen. The unworthy cowardice of the Chinese explain the fact that they have always been an easy prey to conquerors.
SIKAIC BRANCH. * 3OI
In Chinese military matters we will restrict ourselves to repro- dacing their uniforms. Fig. 135 represents that of their infantry, and fig. 136 that of their momited troops,
The real army of the Chinese nation is the care with which it holds itself aloof from foreigners, and the manner in which it forbids them access to its territory. Retrenched behind its wall, it is happy in its own way and does without soldiers. The system seems a good one, since it has succeeded for so many centuries.
Tlie wall of Cliina, which rifrorously excludes all strangers fn)ni the empire, is no mere metaplior. It is a solid reality. Fig, 137 gives a view of the Great Wall taken near Peking.
The Marquis de Moges, an attache of the embassy when M. GroH was French Ambassador in China, has wittily summed up, in his account of his travels, the contrast between Chinese and Western civilization. " In China," he says, " the magnetic needle points to the south ; — the cardinal points are five in number ; — the left hand is the place of honour ; — politeness requires you to keep your head covered in the presence of a superior, or in that of a person whom you wish to honour ; — a book is read from right to
302 THE YELLOW RACE.
left ; — fruit is eaten at the beginning of dinner and soup at its close ; — at school, children learn their lessons aloud and repeat them all together ; — their silence is punished as a sign of idleness ; — and finally, a title of nobility conferred upon a man for some signal service rendered to the state, does not descend to his posterity, but goes backwards and ennobles his ancestors."
The Japanese Family.
Japan, consisting of a large island, that of Nipon, and seven other smaller islands, of which the principal are Yesso, Sitkokf, and ICiousiou, is inhabited by an industrious and intelligent people. The Japanese, whilst resembling the Chinese in many points, difier from them in many others, and ai'e far superior in a moral point of view to the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire.
The written character of Japan is the same as that of China, and its literature is not a distinctive one, but entirely Chinese. The two creeds of Buddha and of Confucius j^revail in Jajian as they do in China. The worship of these creeds is carried on in both countries in similar pagodas, and tlieir ministers ai'e the same bonzes with shaven heads and long gi^ay robes. The buildings and the junks of both nations are identical. Theii* food is the same, a diet of vegetables, principally rice, and fish, washed down by plenty of tea and spirit. The coolies cany then* loads in exactly the same manner in Japan and in China, at Nangasaki and at Peking, and make the streets resound with the same shrill measm^ed cries. The Japanese women wear their hair as the Chinese women used to do before they adoi)ted the fashion of i)ig- tails, and the townspeople in Yeddo, as in Nankin, seclude them- selves in tlieir houses, which are impeiTious both to heat and cold.
But the resemblance stojis there. The Japanese, a warlike and feudal nation, would be indignant at being confounded with the seiwile and crafty inhabitants of the Celestial Empii'e, who despise war, and whose sole aim is commerce. A Chinaman begins to laugh when he is rej^roached with inmning away from the enemy, or when he is convicted of having told a lie ; such matters give him little concern. A Japanese sets a different value on his Hfe and on his honour ; he is warlike and haughty. A Japanese soldier always confronts his enemy. To deprive him of
SINAIC BRANCH. 303
his sword is to dishonour him, and he will only consent to take it back stained with the life-blood of his conqueror. The duello, unknown in China, is carried out in a terrible fashion among the Japanese. The islander of Nipon disembowels himself with a thrust of his own sword, and dares his adversarj^ to follow his example. The Chinese race live in a state of disgusting and perpetual filth ; every Japanese, on the contrary, without distinc- tion of ranli or fortune, takes a warm bath ever}^ other day. Of a jovial and frank disposition, and of great intelligence, they are always desii'ous of knowing what is going on in the world, and ever anxious to learn ; whilst the Chinese, on the other hand, shut themselves up behind their classic wall, and recoil from everji-liing that is strange to them. These characteristics show that the Japanese are a far superior race to the Chinese.
A few i^eculiarities, more especially found in the inhabitants of the sea coasts, the fishermen and the sailors, separate the Japanese pliysical type from that of the Chinese. The former are small, vigorous, active men with heavy jaws, tliick lips, and a small nose, flat at the bridge, but yet with an aquiline profile. Their hair is somewhat inclined to be curlv.
The Japanese are generally of middle height. They have a large head, ratlier higli shoulders, a broad chest, a long waist, fleshy hips, slender short legs, and small hands and feet. The full lace of those who have a very retreating forehead and particularly prominent cheek-bones is rather square than oval in shape. Their eyes are more i)rojecting than those of Europeans, and are rather more veiled by the eyelid. The general effect is not that of the Chinese or Mongolian type. The Japanese have a larger head than is customary with individuals of these races, their face is longer, their features are more regular, and their nose is more prominent and better shai)ed.
They have all thick, sleek, dark black hau', and a considerable quantity of it on their faces. The colour of their skin vaiies according to the class they belong to, from the sallow sunburnt complexion of the inhabitants of southern Europe to the deep ta^vny hue of that of the native of Java. The most general tint is a sallow brown, but none remind you of the yellow skin of the Chinese. The women are fairer than the men. Amongst the upper and even the middle classes, some are to be met with with a perfectly white complexion.
301
THE YELLOW RACE.
Two indelible features distinguish the Japanese from the European type. Their half-veiled eyes, and a disfiguring hollow in the breast, which is noticeable in them in the flower of their youth, even in the handsomest figures.
Both men and women have black eyes, and white sound teeth.
Their countenance is mobile and possesses great variety of expression. It is the custom for their married women to blacken their teeth. The national Japanese costume is a kind of open dressing gown (fig. 138), which is made a little wider and a little more flowing for the women than for the men. It is fastened round the waist by a belt. That, worn by the men, is a n
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305
silk sash, thnt, by the women, a broad piece of cloth tied in a peculiar knot at the back.
The Japanese wear no linen, but they bathe, as we have said, every otiier day. The women wear an under- garment of red silk crape.
In summer, the peasants, the fishermen, the mechanics and the Indian coolies follow then' calling in a state of almost complete nudity, and tlie women onlv wear a skirt from the waist down-
wards. 'Wlien it rains they cover themsebes with capes made of titraw, or oiled paper, and with hats made, shield shape, of cane bark. In winter the men of the lower classes weai-, beneath tlieir ktrimon or dressing-gown, a tight fiting vest and pair of trousers of blue cotton stufi', and the women one or more wadded cloaks. The middle classes always wear a vest and trousers out of doors.
Pigs. 188, 1S9, 140, and 141 represent different Japanese types.
Their costume generally differs only in the material of which it is made. The nobility alone have the right to wear silk. They
306 THE YELLOW RACK
only wear their costlier dresses on the occasions of their going to court or when they pay ceremonial visits. All classes wear linen socks and sandals of plaited straw, or wooden shoes fastened by a string looped round the big toe. They all, on their retom to their own house, or when entering that of a stranger, take off their shoes, and leave them at the threshold.
The floors of Japanese dwellings are covered with mattings, which take the place of every otlier kind of furniture.
A Japanese has but one wife.
The Japanese have a taste for science and art, and are fond of music and pageants. Their manufactures are largely developed. They make all sorts of fine stuffs, work skilfully in iron and copper, make capital sword-blades, and their wood carvings, their lacqaer-work, and their china, enjoy a wide reputation.
SINAIC BRANCH. 307
Political power is divided between an hereditary and despotic governor, the Tdicoon, and a spiritual chief, the Mikado.
The creed of Buddhism, that of the Kamis, and the doctrines of Confucius equally divide the religious tendencieg of the Japanese.
We will give a few details on the interesting inhabitanta of -fapan, &oin the account of a visit to that country written by M. Humbert, the Swiss plenipotentiary there, which was published in 1870 under the title of " Japan."
308 THE YELLOW RACK
M. Humbert was present at the ceremonies which took place on the occasion of an official visit paid by the Taicoon to the Mikado, and he gives the following account of it : —
'* While I was in Japan, it happened that the Taicoon paid a visit of courtesy to the Mikado.
" This was an extraordinary event. It made a great sensation, inspired the brush of several native artists, and gave resident foreigners a chance of seeing a little more clearly into the reciprocal relation of the two powers of the empire. Then* respective position is really one of considerable interest.
** In the first place, the Mikado has over his temporal rival the advantage of bulh and the prestige of his sacred character. Grandson of the Sun, he continues the traditions of the gods, .the demi-gods, the heroes, and the hereditary sovereigns who have reigned over Japan in an uninterrupted succession since the creation of the empire of the eight great islands. Supreme head of their religion, under whatever form it may present itself to the people, he officiates as the sovereign pontiff of the ancient national creed of the Kamis. At the sunmier solstice, he offers sacrifices to the earth ; at the winter solstice, to heaven. A god is specially deputed to watch over his precious destiny ; from the shrine of the temple he inliabits at the top of Mount Kamo, in the neighbourhood of the Mikado's residence, this deity watches night and day over the Dairi. And finally at the death of a Mikado, his name, which it has been ordained shall be inscribed in the temples of his ancestors, is engraved at Kioto, in the temple of Hatchiman ; and at Isye, in the temple of the Sun.
"It is indubitably from heaven that the Mikado, botli theo- cratic emjieror and hereditary sovereign, derives the authority which he exercises over his people. Though now-a-days, it must be acknowledged, he scarcely knows how to employ it. However, from time to time it seems proi)er to him to confer pompous titles, which are entirely honorary, on a few old feudal nobles who have desen^ed well of the altar. Sometimes also he allows himself the luxury of openly protesting against those acts of the temporal i)ower, which seem to infringe on his prerogatives. This is the course he took with special reference to the treaties made by the Taicoon with several western nations ; it is true that he finally sanctioned them, but that was because he could not help himself.
SINAIC BRANCH. 309
*' Now the Ta'icoon, as everybody knows, is the fortunate successor of a common usuq>er. In fact, the founders of his dynasty, subjects of the then Mikado, robbed their lord and master of liis army, his navy, his lands, and his treasure, as if they were desirous of dej)riving him of any subject of earthly anxiety.
** Possibly the jVIikado was too ready to fall in with their plans. The offer of a two-wheeled chariot drawn by an ox, for his daily drive in the pai'ks of his residence, doubtless a considemble privilege in a country where nobody uses a conveyance, should not have persuaded him to sacrifice the manly exercises of archery, hawking, and himting the stag or wild boar. He might likewise, without making himself absolutely invisible, have spai'ed himself the fatigue of the ceremonious recei)tions where, motion- less on a raised platform, he accepts the silent adoration of his courtiers prostrated at his feet. The Mikado, now, they say, only commimicates with the exterior world through the medium of the female attendants intrusted with the care of his person. It is they who dress and feed him, clothing him daily in a fresh costume, and serving his meals on table utensils fresh every morn- ing from the manufactory which for centuries has monopolized their supply. His sacred feet never touch the gi'ound ; his countenance is never exposed in broad daylight to the common gaze ; in a word, the Mikado must be kept pure from all contact with the elements, the sim, the moon, the earth, mankind, and himself.
*' It was necessary that the interview should take place at Kioto, the holy town which the Mikado is never allowed to leave. His palace, and the ancient temples of his family are his sole personal possessions there, the town itself being imder the rule of the tem- poral emperor ; but the latter dedicates its revenues to the ex- penses of tlie spiritual sovereign, and condescends to keep up a permanent garrison within its walls for the protection of the pontifical thi-one.
*' The i^reliminaries on both sides having been carried out, a proclamation announced the day when the Taicoou intended to issue forth from his capital, the immense and populous modem town of Yeddo, the head-quarters of the political and civil govern- ment of the empire, the seat of the Naval and Military Schools, of the Interpreters' College, and of the Academy of Medicine and Philosophy.
310 THE YELLOW RACE.
" He was preceded by a division of his army equipped in the European manner, and, while these picked troops, infantry, cayaky, and artillery, were marching on Kioto by land along the great Imperial highway of the Tokaido, the fleet received orders to set sail for the inland sea* The temporal sovereign himself, em- barked in the splendid steamer, the Lycemoon, which he had pur- chased of the firm of Dent and Co. for five hundred thousand dollars. Six other steamers escorted him; the Kandimarrah, notorious for its voyage fi'om Yeddo to San-Francisco to conve}' the Japanese embassy sent to the United States; the sloop of war, the Soembing, a gift from the King of the Netherlands ; the yacht Emperor, a present from Queen Victoria ; and some frigates built in America and in Holland to orders given by the embassies of 1859 and 1862. Manned entirely by Japanese crews, this squadron left the bay of Yeddo, doubled Cape Sagami and the promontory of Idsou, crossed the Ijinschoten straits, and coasting along the eastern shores of the island of Awadsi, dropped its anchors in the Hiogo roadstead, where the Taicoon disembarked amid larboard and starboard salutes.
" His state entry into Kioto took place a few days later, with no military parade but that of his own troops, as the Mikado possesses neither soldiers nor artillery, with the exception of a body-guard of archers, recruited from the families of his kinsmen or of the feudal nobility. Indeed, he can hardly afford even on this moderate scale, the expenses of his court; and his own revenue being insufficient, he is obliged to accept with one hand an income the Taicoon consents to pay him out of his own private purse, and with the other, the amounts that the brethren of a few monastic orders yearly collect for him, fi'om village to village, in even the furthest provinces of the empire. Another circumstance that assists him to support his rank, is the disinterested abnega- tion of many of his high officials. Some of them serve him with no other remuneration but the free use of the costly regulation dresses of the old imperial wardrobe. On their return home, after doffing their court costume, these haughty gentlemen are not ashamed to seat themselves at a weavers' loom or . an em- broidery frame. More than one piece of the rich silk productions of Kioto, the handiwork of which is so much admired, has issued from some of the princely houses, whose names are inscribed in the register of the Kamis.
SINAIC BRANCH.
'' These drawbacks did not prevent the Mikado from inaugurating
the day of the interview, by exhibiting to his royal visitor the spectacle of the grand procession of the D^iri. Accompanied by hia archers, by his household, by his courtiers, and by the whole
of his pontifical staff, he left liis palace by the southern gateway, which, towards the close of the nintli centurj', was decorated by the historical compositions of the celebrated painter-poet, Kose Kanaoka. He descended along the boulevards to the suburb
312 THE YELLOW EACE.
washed by the Yodogawa, and returned to the castle through the principal streets of the town.
** The ancient insignia of his supreme power were carried in state at the head of the procession ; the mirror of his ancesti*ess Izanami, the beautiful goddess who gave birth to the sun in the island of Awadsi; the glorious standard, the long paper streamers of which had waved above the heads of the soldiery of Zinmou the conqueror ; the flaming sword of the hero of Yamato, who overcame the eight-headed hydra to which virgins of princelj' blood used to be sacrificed ; the seal tliat stamped the fii*st laws of the empire ; and the cedar wood fan, shaped like a lath and used as a sceptre, which for more than two thousand years has descended from the hands of the dead Mikado to those of his successor.
" I will not stop to describe another part of the pageant, in- tended doubtless to complete and enhance the effect of the rest, namely the banners embroidered with the armorial beaidngs of all the ancient noble families of the empire. Perhaps they were intended to remind the Taicoon, that, in the eyes of the old terri- torial nobility, he was nothing but a parvenu ; if so, the parvenu could smile complacently at the thought, that the whole of the Japanese grandees, the great as well as the lesser dai'mios, are, nevertheless, obliged to pass six months of the year, at his Court in Yeddo, and offer him their homage in the midst of the nobles of his own creation.
" The most numerous and the most pictm'esque ranks of the procession were those of the representatives of all the sects who recognise the spiritual supremacy of the Mikado. The dignitaries of the ancient creed of the Kamis are scarcely distinguishable, as to dress, from the high officials of the palace. I have already described their costume, it reminds the spectators that the Japanese possessed originally a religion without a priesthood. Buddhism, on the contrar}-, which came from China, and rapidly spread tluroughout the emi)ire, has an immense variet}' of sects, rites, orders, and brotherhoods. The bonzes and the monks be- longing to this faith composed in the procession endless ranks of devout-looking individuals, with the tonsure or with entirely shaven heads, some of them uncovered, and some wearing curiously shaped caps, mitres, and hats with ^vide brims. Some of them carried a crozier in their right hand, others a rosary, others again,
SINAIC BRANCH. 313
a fly-brush, a sea-shell, or a holy water sprinkler made of paper. They were di'essed in cassocks, surplices, and cloaks of every shape and hue.
*' Behind them came the household of the Mikado. The pon- tifical body-guard in their full dress, aim beyond everything at elegance. Leaving breast-plates and coats of mail to the men-at- aiTUs of the Taicoon, they wear a little lacquer-work cap, orna- mented on both sides with rosettes, and a rich silk tunic trimmed with lace edgings. The width of their trousers conceals their feet. They are equipped with a large curved sabre, a bow, and a quiver full of aiTows.
*' Some of the mounted ones had a long riding- whip fastened to their wrist by a coarse silken cord.
** A great deal of brutaUty is too often hidden beneath this imposing exterior. The wildness and the dissipation of the 3'oung nobles of the Japanese pontifical couii; have supplied liistory with pages recalling the worst period of papal Rome, the days of Caesar Borgia. Conrad Kramer, the envoy of the Dutch West Indian islands to the court of Kioto, was allowed to be present in 1626 at a festival held in honour of a visit of the temporal emperor to his spiritual sovereign. He relates that the following day, coi^pses of women, young girls, and children, who had fallen victims to nocturnal outrages, were foimd in the streets of the capital. A still larger number of married women and maidens, whom curiosity had attracted to Kioto, were lost by their husbands and parents in the turmoil of the crowded streets, and were only found a week or a fortnight later, their families being utterly unable to bring their abducers to justice.
** Polygamy being a legal institution for the Mikado only, it was perhaps natural for him to make some display of his prero- gative. It costs him sufficiently dear. It is the abyss hidden with flowers that the first usurpers of the imperial power dug for the feet of the successors of Zinmou. It is easy to imagine the c}Tiical smile on the lips of the Taicoon as he saw the long row of the equipages of the Dairi making its appearance.
** A pair of black buffaloes, driven by pages in white smocks, were harnessed to each of these cumbrous vehicles which were made of precious woods and glistened with coats of varnish of different tints. They contained the empress and the twelve other legitimate wives of the Mikado seated behind doors of open lattice-
314 THE YELLOW RACE.
work. His favourite concubines, and the fifty ladies of honour of the empress followed close behind, in covered palanquins*
'' When the Mikado himself leaves his residence, it is always in . his pontifical litter* This litter, fastened on long shafts, and borne by fifty porters in white liveries, can be seen from a long distance off towering above the crowd* It is constructed in the shape of a mikosis, the kind of shrine in which the holy relics of the Kamis are exposed* It may be compared to a garden summer-house, with a cupola roof with bells hanging all round its base. On the top of the cupola there is a ball, and on top of the ball there is a kind of cock couchant on its spurs, with its wings extended and its tail spread : this is meant as a representation of the mythological bird known in China and Japan under the name of Foo.
" This portable summer-house, glistening all over with gold, is so very hermetically closed that it is difficult to believe that any body could be put inside it* A proof, however, that it is really used for the high purpose attributed to it, is that on each side of it are seen walking the women who are the domestic attendants of the Mikado. They alone have the privilege of surroimding his person. To the rest of his court as well as to his people, the Mikado remains an invisible, dumb, and inapproachable divinity. He kept up this character even in the interview with the Taicoon.
"Amongst the group of buildings that constitute the right of Kioto to be styled the pontifical residence, there is one that might be called the Temple of Audience, for it is constructed in the sacred style of architecture peculiar to the religious edifices of the faith of the Kamis, and it bears like them the name of Min. Adjoining the apartments inhabited by the Mikado, it stands at the bottom of a large court paved and planted with trees, in which are marshalled the escorts of honom* on high and solemn festivals.
" A detachment of officers of the artillery and of the body- guards of the Taicoon (fig. 143), and several groups of dignitaries of the Mikado's suite drew up successively in this open space.
" The women had retired to their own apartments.
" Deputations of bonzes and different monastic orders occu- pied the corridors along the surrounding walls. Soldiers of the Taicoonal garrison of Kioto, ported at intervals, kept the line of the avenue which led to the broad steps reaching up to the front
of the building. Up thia avenue the courtiers of the Mikado, clad in mantles with long trains, passed with measured tread, m^esti-,
316 THE YELLOW RACE.
cally ascended the steps, and placed themselves right and left on the verandah with their faces turned towards the still closed doors of the great throne room. Before taking up their position they took care to lift the trains of their mantles and throw them over the balustrade of the verandah, so as to display to the crowd the coats of arms which were embroidered on these portions of their garments. The whole verandah was soon curtained with this brilliant kind of tapestry.
"Presently the sound of flutes, of sea-shells and of the gongs of the pontifical chapel, proceeding from the left wing of the building, announced that the Mikado was entering the sanctuary. A deep silence fell upon the crowd. An hour passed away in solemn expectation, whilst the preliminaries of the reception were being performed. Suddenly a flourish of tnunpets announced the arrival of the Taicoon. He advanced up the avenue on foot and without any escort ; his prime minister, the commanders in chief of the army and navy, and a few members of the council of the Court of Yeddo, walked at a respectful distance behind him. He stopped for a moment at the foot of the great staircase, and immediately the doors of the temple slowly opened, gliding from right to left in tlieir grooves. He then ascended the steps, and the spectacle which had held in suspense the expectation of the multitude at last unveiled itself to their eyes.
" A large green awning of cane-bark fastened to the ceiling of the hall, hung witliin two or three feet of the floor. Through this narrow space, could be perceived a couch of mats and carpets, on which the broad folds of an ample white robe spread tliem- selves out. This was all that could be seen of the spectacle of the Mikado on his throne.
*' The chinks in the i)laits of the cane awning allowed him to see everything without being seen. Wherever he directed his gaze, he perceived nothing but heads bent before his invisible majesty. One alone remained erect on the summit of the stairs of the temple, but it was one crowned with the lofty golden coronet, the royal s}Tnbol of the temporal head of the empii'e. And even he too, the powerful sovereign whose might is boundless, when he had reached the last step, bent his head, and sinking slowly, fell on his knees, stretched his arms forward towards the threshold of the throne-room, and bowed his forehead to the very groimd.
SINAIC BRANCH. 317
" From that moment, the ceremony of the inteiiiew was ftccomplished, the aim of the solemnity vias gained. The Taicoon had openly prostrated himself at the feet of the JMikado.
" The inteiTiew at Kioto, had for its result two facts. By the
firet, the bending of the tnee, the temporal sovereign showed that he continued to be the traditional obedient son of the high pontiff of the national religion ; but, by the second, that is to say by accepting this act of homage, the theocratic emperor formally recognised the representative of a dj-nasty sprung from a source alien to the only legitimate one."
318 THE YELLOW RACK
As the art of war is of some importance in Japan, we quote a few details from M. Hxmibert, on the equipments and the uniforms of the Taicoon's soldiers.
"The common soldiers are/* M. Humbert tells us, "inhabi- tants of the mountains of Akoui. They return to their homes after a short service of two or three years. Their uniform is made of blue cotton stuff, striped with white across the shoulders, and consists of a tight-fitting pair of trousers, and a sliirt Uke that worn by the followers of Garibaldi. They wear cotton socks, leather sandals, and a waist-belt supporting a large sword in a japanned scabbard. Their cartridge-pouch and their bayonet are slung to their right side by a baldric. Their get-up is completed by a pointed hat, sloping at the sides, and made of lacquered cardboard ; but tliey only wear it when on guard or at driU.
" As for the muskets of the Japanese troops, they have all, it is true, percussion-locks, but they vary both in calibre and in make, according to where they happen to come from. I saw four dif- ferent kinds in the racks of some barracks at Benten, which a Yakounine did me the favour to show me. He showed me first a Dutch sample musket, and then one of an inferior quality manufactured in some workshops that had been started in Yeddo to turn out arms copied from this sample ; he then pointed out an American gun ; and finally, a IMinie rifle, the use of which a yoimg officer was teaching a squad of soldiers in the barrack- yard."
The dress of the Japanese soldiery is cm-ious in this respect, that it reproduces and preserves the whole military paraphernalia of European feudal times. A helmet, a coat-of-mail, a halberd, and a two-handed sword, such are the equipment of the better class of soldiery.
Fencing is held in high esteem in the Japanese army. The men are very clever at this exercise, which keeps up their vigour and their skill. Even the women practise it. Their weapon is a lance with a bent piece of iron at the end of it. The ladies learn how to use it in a series of regular positions and attitudes. The Japanese Amazons can also skilfully make use of a kind of knife, fastened to the wrist with a long silken string. When they have hurled this weapon at the head of their enemy, they draw it back again by means of the cord. The men also hurl the
8INAIC BRANCH. ai9
knife, but without fastening it to their wrist, and in the same way as they practise throwing the knife in Spain.
The Japanese nobles carry very costly weapons. The temper of their sword-blades is matchless, and their sword-hilts and scabbards are enriched with finely chased and engraved metal ornaments. But the chief value of their swords lies in their great age and reputation. In old feunilies, every sword has a history and tradition of its own, whose brilliancy corresponds with the blood it has shed. A maiden sword must not remain so in the hand of its purchaser. Till an opportunity turns up of dyeing it with human blood, its possessor tries its prowess on living animals, or better still, on the corpses of executed criminals. The executioner, having obtained permission, hands him over two or three dead bodies. Our Japanese then proceeds to fasten them to crosses, or on trestles, in a coiurtyard of his house, and practises cutting, slashing, and thrusting, till he has acquired enough strength and skill to cut a couple of bodies in two at one stroke.
The sword, in Japan, is the classical, the national weapon. Nevertheless, in process of time, it will have to give way to the new improved firearms. In spite of the traditional prestige with which the Japanese nobility still endeavour to surround the former old-fashioned weapon; in spite of the contempt they affect for military innovations; the rifle, the democratio ixrm of arms, is becoming more and more used in Japan. This weapon will inaugurate a social revolution that will put an end to the feudal system. The rifle will cause an Eastern '89 in Japan.
We have said that two creeds are followed in Japan, the Buddhist faith and the religion of the Kamis. The latter, with its ancient rites, has been replaced, however, nearly throughout the empire by the former.
We quote some of M. Humbert's remarks on Buddhism.
*'Our imagination can hardly conceive," says this traveller, *' that nearly a third 6f the human race has no religious belief but that of Buddhism, a creed without a God, a fSuth of negation, an invention of despair.
'' One would wish to persuade oneself that the multitudes who follow its doctrines, do not understand the faith they profess^ or at least refuse to admit its natural consequences. The idolatrous
320 THE YELLOW RACE.
practices engrafted on the book of its law seem in fact to bear witness that Buddhism has neither been able to satisfy or destroy the religious instinct innate in man, and germinating in the bosoms of all nations.
" On the other hand, it is impossible not to recognize the influence of the philosophy of final annihilation in many of the habits and customs of Japanese life. The Irowa teaches the school children that life disappears like a dream, and leaves no trace behind. A Japanese, arrived at man's estate, sacrifices with the most disdainful indifference his own life or that of his neigh- bour, to appease his pride, or for some trifling cause of anger. Murders and suicides are of such every-day occurrence in Japan, that there are few families of gentle birth who do not make it a point of honour to boast at least one sword that has been dyed in blood.
" Buddhism is, however, superior in some respects to the creeds it has dethroned. It owes this relative superiority to the justice of its fimdamental axiom, which is an avowal of a need for a redeeming principle, groimded on the double fact of the existence of evil in the nature of man, and of an universal state of misery and suffeiing in the world.
" The promises of the religion of the Kamis had all reference to this life. A strict observance of the niles of purification would l)reserve the faithful from the five great ills, which ai'e the fire of heaven, sickness, poverty, exile, and early death. The aim of their religious festivals was the glorification of the heroes of the empire. But were patriotism idealized and exalted into a national creed, it would still be true that this natural feeling, so precious and so aj^propriate, could never suffice to satisfy the soul and answer its everj^ craving. The human soul is more boundless tlian the world. It needs a beUef to raise it beyond the eaiih. Buddhism to a certain extent met these aspirations, which had been hitherto neglected. This circmnstance alone will explain the success with which it is propagated, in Japan and elsewhere, by the mere force of persuasion. At all events we may well believe that it is not its abstract and philosophical form that
§
has made it so popular, and nothing is a better proof of this than its present state.
** The bonzes Sinran, Nitziten, and twenty or thirty others, have made themselves a reputation as founders of sects, each of
SINAIC BRANCH. 321
which is distinguished by some pecnUarity worthy of rivalling the ingenious invention of Foudaiisi.
" Thus one particular brotherhood has a monopoly of the patronage of the great family rosary. It must be explained that a
Buddhist rosary can only exercise its power if its beads are properly enumerated. Now in a numerous family there is no guarantee against errors being committed in the use of the rosary; whence the inefficiency it is sometimes accused of. Instead of indulging in recrimination, however, the plan pursued is to seod
322 THE YELLOW RACE.
for a bonze of the Order of the Great Rosary to set matters right again.
" This good man hastens up with his instrument, which is about as big as a good-sized boa-constrictor, and places it in the hands of the family kneeling in a circle, whilst he himself, standing ill firont of the shrine of the domestic idol, directs operations with & bell and a small hammer. At a given signal, father, mother, and children, intone with the whole force of their lungs the prayers agreed upon. The small and the large beads of the rosary and the strokes of the hammer fall with a cadenced rhythm that inspires them. The rosary ring grows excited, their cries become passionate, their arms and hands work like machinery, the perspiration sti-eams do^vn them, and their bodies get stiff with fatigue. At last the close of the ceremony leaves everybody breathless, exhausted, but radiant with happiness, for the inter- ceding gods must be satisfied !
" Buddhism is a flexible conciliating, insinuating religion, wjbich accommodates itself to the bent and the habits of the most different races. From the very first, the bonzes in Japan managed to get themselves entrusted with some of the shrines and small chapels of the Kamis, in order to protect them in the enclosures of theii* sanctuai'ies. They hastened to add to their ceremonies spnbols borrowed from the ancient national faith . and in short, for the i^urjiose of better fusing the two creeds, they introduced into their temples, Kamis deities invested with the titbs and attributes of Hindoo divinities, and at the same time, Hindoo gods transformed into Japanese Kamis. There was nothing inadmissible in these exchanges, wliich were ex- plained in the most natural manner by the dogma of transmigra- tion. Thanks to this combination of the two creeds, which received the name of Rioobou-Sintoo, Buddhism has become the prevalent religion of Japan.
" . . . . Within their temples the bonzes officiate at the altar, in the sight of the people, beyond the sanctuary which a veil separates from the crowd. The latter are only directly addressed by them in preaching, and only on the special festivals consecrated to this practice.
" They are only allowed to go in procession at certain periods of the year, and then only in the presence of the government officials who superintend public pageants.
SINAIC BRASCH.
" The pastoral portions of tlieir duty have been cat down to such naiTow hinits that I can only find one word to applj to the
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duties that remain. They are simply the duties of a mute. In fact, the bonzes perform the aacramental ceremonies that the
:C BRANCH.
women wear besides a scarf across from tlic delicacy of Iier features, a elve ti) twenty need but little envy tlie
lu- stutuaiT.
Lonntelv fond of trinkets. Piovided tliev
■ live rual or falhc. They 1 tli«ir c'liiM' 'i' viag», braecletw,
' owl mlwi """■ *l>«n on 'bcir
i ill. I
3Sf4 THE YELLOW RACE.
Japanese of all sects are accustomed to see accompany the last moments of the dying. They arrange the funeral procession, and provide, according to the wishes of the relatives of the deceased, for the burial or for the burning of his remains, and for the consecration and protection of his tomb.*'
The Indo-Chinese Family.
The people of Indo-China, whom we consider to belong to the Tellow Bace, have a darker complexion than the Chinese and the Japanese. Their stature is smaller, and their civilization is less developed. They are generally of an indolent disposition.
To this group belong the Burmans, the Annamites and the Siamese.
The Burmans and the Annamites. — The Burmese are a nation which has made a good deal of progress in civilization. In this respect the Annamites are not behind them. The physical, moral, and political characteristics of these two nations have no particular point of interest to engage our attention. We content ourselves with showing the reader (figs. 147 and 148) the types and the costumes of the inhabitants of the Burmese Empire.
The Siamese, — The population of the kingdom of Siam, which amounts to nearly five millions, scarcely includes two millions of Siamese.
The Siamese, according to the travelling notes of M. Henry Mouhot, a French naturalist, are easily recognized by their effeminate and idle appearance, and by their servile physiognomy. Nearly all have rather a flat nose, prominent cheek-bones, a dull unintelligent eye, broad nostrils, a wide mouth, lips reddened by their habit of chewing betel, and teeth as black as ebony. They aU keep their heads entirely shaved, except just on the top, where they allow a tuft to grow. Their hair is black and coarse. The women wear the same tuft, but their hair is finer and carefully kept. The dress of both men and women is by no means an elaborate one.
Figs. 149, 150, and 151 give an exact idea of the type and mode of dress of the Siamese. A piece of cloth, which they raise behind, and the two ends of which they fasten to their belt, is.
SINAIC BRANCH. 328
their only garment. The women wear besides a scarf across their shoulders. Apart from the delicacy of her features, a
Siamese girl of from twelve to twenty need but little envy the conventional models of our atatuai'y.
The Siamese are passionately fond of trinkets. Provided they
fjlitter, it matters little whetlier they are real or false. They cover their women and their children with rings, bracelets, annlets, and bits of gold and silver. They wear them on their amis, on their legs, round their necks, in their ears, on their bodies, on their shoulders, everywhere they can place them. The king's son is so covered with them, that the weight of his clothes and jewellery is heavier than that of his body.
326 THE YELLOW RACE.
The greatest conjagal harmoDy seems to prevail in Siamese fEuuilies. The wife is not kept secluded as in China, but shows herself everywhere. As a shadow to this pictui-e, we must add that parents have a right to sell tlieii- cliildren as slaves.
The Siamese liave retained intact all the superstitions of the
148.— BtlBMEaE
Hindoos and the Chinese. They helieve in demons, in ogres, in mermaids, &c. They have fiith in amulets, philtres, and in soothsayers. They support a kinp, a court, atiA a seraglio, with its numerous progeny. A second king possesses also his palace, his army, and his mandarins. Between these two kings and the people intervene twelve different ranks of princes, several classes
328 THE YELLOW RACK
of miiuBterB, five or six of mandarins, and an endless series of govemora and lieuteuant-goTemorB, all equally incapable and rapacious.
Like all degraded and servile nations, the inhabitants of Siam devote a great part of their existence to games and amusements.
M. Mouhot visited Udeng, the present capital of Cambodia. The houses of this town are made of bamboo, sometimes of
ISO.— SIAMBS8
planks. The longest street is nearly three-quarters of a mile long. The tillers of the soil and the hard-working classes, as well as the mandarins and tlie other employes of the government, dwell in the suburbs of the town. M. Mouhot met at every moment mandai'ins in litters or in hammocks followed by a swarm of slaves each carr}'ing something; some, a red or yellow umbrella, the size of which is an indication of the rank and quality of its owner; others, boxes of betel. Horsemen, mounted on small active horses caparisoned in a costly manner and covered with
330
THE YELLOW RACE.
little bells, and followed by a pack of sla\ea begi-imed with dust and sweat, often took their turn m the panorama He also noticed some light carts drawn by a couple of small but swift oxen. Elephants too, movnig maje&ticjil]\ fonvaids with out-
stretched ears and trunk, and stopped occasionally by the numerous processions which were wending their way to the pagodas to the sound of boisterous music.
The town of Bankok, the capital, was formerly called Siam, whence the name of the country.
332 THE YELLOW RACE.
An absolute sovereign, looked upon as the incarnation of Buddha, rules over the kingdom of Siam, which is divided into four provinces ; Siam, Siamese Laos, Siamese Cambodia, and Siamese Malacca. At one time a tributary of the Burmese Empire, the kingdom of Siam recovered its independence in 1759, and in 1768 even increased its territory by conquest.
There are scarcely any manufactures in Siam, but commerce still flourishes there, although less vigorously than formerly. The Siamese exchange their agricultural produce, their wood, their skins, cotton, rice, and preserved fish, with the Chinese, the Annamites, the Burmese, and esijecially with the English and Dutch possessions. Elephant's tusks are also an important article of barter, and elephant-himting is the calling of many of the natives.
The country is rather feilile. It is an immense plain, hilly towards the north, and intersected by a river, the Meinam, on the banks of which are placed its principal towns. Bankok is situated on this river, not far fronj its mouth in the gulf of Siam, and is consequently the principal port of the whole kingdom, the head- quarters of its entire trade. The periodical overflowings of the Meinam fertilize the whole of its basin.
Art and science are not entirely neglected in the kingdom of Siam. It is one of the few Asiatic countries which possess a literature of its own and some artistic productions.
Although the Buddliist religion prevails in Siam and is the state religion, yet diff'erent sects are tolerated there, and Chris- tianity can reckon two tliousand five hundred disciples.
Fig. 154 represents the young prince-royal.
The Stieng savages ai-e subjects of the king of Siam. Theii* stature is a little above the average. They are powerful, their features are regular, and their weU-developed foreheads show intelligence. Their only clothing is a long scarf. They are so much attached to their moimtains and forests, that when away from their own coimtry they are frequently seized with a dan- gerous kind of home-sickness.
These Siamese aliens of civilization work in iron and ivors' : and make hatchets and swords which are sought after by collectors. Their women weave and dye the scarves they wear. They cultivate rice, maize, tobacco, vegetables, and fruit-trees. They possess neither priests nor temples, but they acknowledge the
SINAIC BRANCH.
existence of a Supreme Being The fame they can spare from then: fields they de^ote to hunting and fiehing Indefatigable in
334 THE YELLOW EACE.
the chase, the; penetrate with extraordinary rapidity the densest jangles. The women appear to he as active and aa untiring as the men. They use powerful cross-bows with poisoned arrows to shoot the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the tiger. They are fond of adorning themselves with imitation pearls of a bright colour, which they make into bracelets. Both sexes pierce their ears, and widen the hole every year by inserting in it pieces of bone and ivory.
THE BEOWN RACE.
With M. d'Omalius d'Halloy we class in the Brown Race a. great variety of peoples who have nothing in common but a complexion darker than that of the White and Yellow races, and whom we are led to believe the product of the mixture of these two with the Black Race. This theory accounts for one portion of the Brown Race possessing White characteristics, while the other has a gi-eater resemblance to the Yellow Race.
The Brown Race forms three branches or geographical groups, viz. —
1. The Hindoo branch.
2. The Ethiopian branch. 8. The Malay branch.
We will proceed to describe the principal peoples belonging to these tliree branches.
CHAPTER I.
HINDOO BRA.NCH.
The peoples composing the Hindoo branch have been frequently classed in the White Bace. In fact, their, shape, their language, and their institutions partly correspond to those of Europeans and Persians, but their darker and sometimes black skins distinguish them from either.
The civilization of the Hindoos was, in the earliest historic times, already far advanced ; but for many centuries it has remained stationary, or has gone backwards.
Most Hindoos practise the creed of Brahma, a religion aprung up in their own land. A few have embraced Mahometanism, others have become Buddhists.
The most striking feature of Hindoo society is its division into castes. These castes, originating ages and ages ago, have always been the principal obstacles to the development of civilization. How can progress, talent, or remarkable works be expected from men whom society forbids ever to emerge from the conditions of their birth ?
These castes are four in number. The Brahmin caste, whose members are devoted to the practice of religious rites, to the study of the law, and to teaching. The Rajpoots or Cshatriyas, who are professional soldiers. The Banians, who are agricul- turists, cattle breeders, and traders. Lastly, the Sudras, who follow various callings, and who are subdivided into many sub- castes corresponding to as many different handicrafts.
Each caste has its peculiar religious observances. Its mem- bers cannot intermarry with those of other castes, and must always follow the profession in which destiny has placed theii- parents.
The descendants of those, who, by improper marriages or
HINDOO BRANCH. 337
otherwise, have forfeited their caste, form an inferior caste, known under the name of Varna-Sancdra. Finally below even this last
division come tlic Pariahs, beings cursed by destiny, who exist in the most deplorable state of moral abjection.
The Hindoos are well made, but tiieir limbs are far from
THE BIIO^VN RACE.
robust. They have em&ll hands and feet, a high forehead, black
HINDOO BRANCH. 339
eyes, well arched eyebrows, fine bright black hair, and a more or less brown skin, which, in the south of India, and particularly among the lowest classes, is sometimes black. Ethnologically speaking, there are two families in the Hindoo branch : — the Hindoo family, and the Malabar family.
Hindoo FAsoLy.
The HiTidoo family constitutes the greater part of the population of northern Hindostan. The dialects spoken in this
country have generally some relation to Sanskrit. The colour of the skin, in the higher classes, is fair enough, but becomes darker among the lower castes.
340 THE BROWN RACK
Among the people belonging to the Hindoo family we may name the Sikhs, a warlike people, remarkable for the beauty of their oval countenances ; the Jats, the Bajpoots, and the Mah- rattas ; the Bengalese, a peaceful people, devoted to trade, and the Cingalese, or inhabitants of the island of Ceylon.
An accomplished traveller, M. Alfred Grandidier, has published in the " Tour du Monde," in 1869, the account of a " Voyage dans rinde." We learn from him a few general facts that perfectly sum up the social condition of the India of to-day, especially that of the central portion of the peninsula, for it would perhaps be diflScult to generalize on the- manners and customs of the whole of India, of which the population amounts to more than a hundred and eighty millions, and the superficies to that of the whole of continental Europe with the exception of Russia.
India is, in fact, divided into three distinct basins ; that of the Indus, that of the Ganges, and the i^lain of the Deccan, con- stituting Central India. Tliis last is classic India, that is to say, the only part of the country thoroughly known to Europeans. M. Grandidier' s travels were in the Deccan, to which refer the remarks we are about to quote : —
'* The Hindoos of the Deccan," says M. Grandidier, '* resemble the Ar^'an (Caucasian) race in the oval shape of their head, in the formation of their cranium, and in their facial angle. Tliey are distinct from it, however, in colour. Theii' bodies are frail ; the low caste native is thin and slight, but makes up for his lack of strength by his activity and lightness. His skin varies from a light copper colour to a dark brown; his hair is a fine glossy black, and grows i^lentifully on his face.
** Gentle and timid, the Hindoo is wanting in perseverance and firmness; gifted with a rapid comprehension, he is yet in- capable of any sustained efibrt. A double yoke, from time immemorial, has weighed him down ; caste distinctions and a foreign sway have made him a flexible creatmre, possessing more prudence and cunning than energy and uprightness ; more keenness of wit than nobility of soul.
** A lively imagination, never subdued by a rational education, has brought him under the influence of the gross superstitions sanctioned by the Hindoo religion, with its train of ignoble divinities. The timidity of his character has preserved him from the violent fanaticism of the Mussulman, but his religion is very
HINDOO branch:
dear to him, and the belief of the lower classes is at least a sincere
one.
34^ THE BROWN RACE.
" Sivaism, to which belong most of the inhabitants of the Dec- can, is so priceless in their eyes, that they value it far beyond their lives. They repose an ardent and lively faith in the most absurd doctrines. This form of religion pleases their imagination by its fantastic dreams and by its poetic materialism, and its ceremonies amuse them, while gratifying their passions.
** The paucity of their wants tends to render them improvident, and their lively and childish imagination, feeding on the smallest and vaguest facts, which they poetise and exaggerate in their own manner^ developes in them a dreamy and indolent mode of life. .
" Their doctrine of metempsychosis still further increases the natural tendency of their mind, and helps to cause their almost incredible mental inaction, which nothing can surprise or stimu- late. The only lever that can move the masses must be one attacking their religious faith.
" The dress of the Hindoos is the dhoti, a long scarf of cloth rolled round the figure, passing under the legs and fastened be- hind the back. This garment leaves the legs and the upper part of the body imcovered. The upper classes w^ear a short sliirt (angaskah) and a long white robe (jamah). Their head is always covered with a turban, of different size and colour, according to their caste. Few Hindoos wear shoes, sandals being in almost universal use. The women weai* the choli, a little jacket with short sleeves, just covering the bosom, which it supports, and tlie sari, a large piece of cloth which they fold around them, and threw coquettishly over the shoulder or the head. Tliis graceful draper}' recalls the chlarayde worn by the Diana of Gabies.
"This dress of the Hindoos is, as a rule, tasteful, and suited to the climate and to their mode of life. Although each caste, each sect, has its own pai'ticular method of wearing it, it is still, all over India, the most uniform and the most characteristic feature of tlie 2)opulation.
"Both sexes are passionately fond of jewellery ; womenof the very poorest class often wear gold rings set with pearls in theii' noses. Their arms are covered with silver, copper, and glass bracelets. The large toes of their feet are adorned with rings, and tlieii* legs with heavy metal bangles. As for their ears, they literally droop beneath the weight of the golden earrings with which they are laden; and their lobes are pierced with large holes, often nearly an inch in diameter, into which are introduced gold ornaments in
HIBDOO BRANCH. 34S
tlie shape of small wheels, replaced on working days by pieces of rolled leaves. This custom has actually reached Polynesia.
"Hindoos turn all their little capital into jewellery. This habit springs from a medley of vanity and superstition, the latter
leading them to consider trinkets as talismans against spells and witchcraft.
" It was also, under the ancient Mogul dynasty, a means of preserving their property from the rapacity of Mussulman tyrants, whose religion forbade them to appropriate women's chattels.
344 THE BROWN KACE.
" The Hindoos are very tenacious of their prerogatives, and India has frequently been convulsed by sanguinary struggles occasioned by some one of its castes refusing to conform to traditional custom. Terrible conflicts have, ere now, been caused by an inferior caste attempting to wear slippers of a certain shape, the privilege of a higher one, or because it wished to use, in its religious rites, certain musical instruments hitherto reserved for the worship of the superior divinities.
"The Hindoos may lay claim to a refined politeness and elegant manners ; but the smallest concession in the respect to which their social position entitles them, the least relaxation in the prescribed etiquette are considered a sign of weakness and an avowal of inferiority.
" The conversational formulae used towards a native Yory according to his station. Nothing is easier than to affi'ont theii* susceptibility. Never speak to an Oriental of his wife or of liis daughters. To do so, is contrary to custom. To use the left hand in bowing, in eating, or in drinking, is to ofier an insult; the right hand alone is reserved for the higher uses, and the left, the ignoble hand, is used for ablutions.
** In Europe, it is a sign of respect to uncover the head, in the East, to take oif the turban is a disrespectful act. On entering a house, conversely to us, they keep their heads covered, but leave their shoes at the threshold. This habit seems to me a most sensible one. A white cloth is stretched on the floor of their apartments, on cushions placed on which they sit cross-legged. It appears to me that shoes were invented to preserve the feet from the roughness of the ground, from the mud and from the dust of the roads. Are they not then objectionable, or, at any rate, useless in the interior of a well-kept house ?
" When paying a visit, the Hindoo waits imtil his host bids him adieu. They very properly suppose that a visitor can be in no hurry to leave the friend whom he has purposely come to see. The host, on the contrary, may have urgent business claiming his immediate attention. The forms of this dismissal vary : — ' Come and see me often,* or 'Remember that you will always be welcome.* Presents of flowers and fruit generally terminate these visits, and betel is invariably handed round.
" The usual food of the Hindoo is very simple, and their meals are of but short duration. Rice boiled in water, and curry (a
HINDOO BRANCH.
MB
compound of vegetaUeB, ghee — a sort of clarified batter, Bpu»>» and Bafion), sometimes e^s or milk, a little fish, and occasionally coarse meal cakes, bananas, and the fruit of the bread tree, fonn the morning and evening meal of rich and poor. The leaves <ii the banana tree are used instead of plates and dishes. In eating
161.— NADTCR OIIEL or BABODA.
Tegetables and rice, fingers are nsed instead of spoons and forks; and the meat is torn by the teeth in defiault of the absent knife* An European is rather likely to be disgusted with the sauoe trickling down the chins and the fingers of the guests at a Hindoo meal. Water is the prevailing drink, and but little use is made of arrack (a spirit extracted from the palm tree).
" Faithful observers of their religious iigunctions, vhich fbrbid Uiem to tooch t^niimtj fbod under pain of being mfilndfld frtnn
ZiQ THE BROWN RACE.
society and from the bosom of their families, the high caste natives never eat meat ; as for the Pariahs, they eat all kinds of animals, and are very fond of arrack.
" Betel is incessantly used all over India. In hot countries, where the inhabitants lead a sedentary life, their digestion becomes sluggish, and can neither receive nor absorb the same quantity of nourishment as it does in Northern countries. The vegetable diet of the Hindoos is not very rich in azotic matter, and its continual use would cause an internal formation of gas, without the alkaline stimulant used by all the inhabitants of India to prevent its development. This stimulant is the astringent areca nut, which they chew with a little lime placed on a betel leaf.
" This mixture dyes the lips and the tongue red ; it is pernicious in its effect on the teeth, but it is certainly useftd to the digestive functions.
" Tobacco, rolled in a green leaf and lighted like a cigarette, is the universal method of smoking.
** Many different languages are spoken in India. Philologists have enumerated as many as fiftj^-eight, but not more than ten have an alphabet and literature of their own. Sanskrit, a dead language, is more or less mixed with all the dialects of India. In the north it forms their incontestable basis, but in the south it is merely grafted on to pre-existing tongues, and frequently but faint traces are foimd of it. All the alphabets seem to have been invented separately, but they have been improved by the regular and philosophical an-angement of the DcvanagrL This is the name of the Sanskrit alphabet, the most perfect of all. The living languages have a very simple gi'ammatical construction.
** Hindostani, which is spoken in the province of Agra, is the most cultivated and the most generally employed of all Indian languages. It has received a large Persian element since the Mussulman conquest. Besides the local dialect of each district, Hindostani is everywhere spoken by the educated classes, and by all professing the Mussulman faith.
" The ties of caste replace in India the ties of family. Hindoos love their wives and children ; but tliis affection is subordinated to their caste duties. Expulsion from the family is principally caused by violation of reUgious ordinances or by the illicit con- nection of high caste women with men of a lower rank. The Brahmins and the Sudras, and even the Pariahs themselves, are
HINIX)0 BRANCH. 347
divided into a number of sub-castes, a member of one of wliich
i-r
162.— A coouE OP Tint c
can neither eat, drink, nor intermarry with one of another. If a Hindoo becomes degraded, if he loses his caste, he is disowned
348 THE BROWN RACE.
by his relations; his wife is considered a widow, his children orphans ; he must expect no assistance, no pity, from those who hitherto have surrounded him with the most considerate care.
"Europeans are ranked with Pariahs on account of their daily habit of eating beef. It is true that the Brahmins consent to shake hands with an European, but on their return home after doing so, their first care is to undress and perform their ablutions so as to purify themselves from the stain of such an impure contact ; it is even asserted by them that the mere gaze of a Pariah is enough to cause contamination.
*' Every village in the Deccan is composed of two parts, sepa- rated by an interv^al of a few yards. These ai'e two distinct quarters, one reserved for the men of caste, the other, surrounded by hedges, allotted to the Pariahs. These miserable beings ai-e not allowed to enter the streets of the village without the consent of the inhabitants, and they must only presume to draw water in the wells set aside for their particular use. Where the Pariahs have no special wells, they place then* chatties by the well-sides of the men of caste, and await humbly and patiently the alms ofiering of a few glasses of water. It is always the women that attend to this household care.
** The higher castes often make the Paiiahs presents, which they invariably place on the gi'ound, for fear of contracting by mere physical contact the moral leprosy with which in their eyes the Pariahs ai-e aflfected. A person of caste never accepts a gift from the hands of a Pariah.
"If on the one hand the high^caste natives are physically and intellectually superior to the Pariahs ; on the other hand the latter are more laborious, more docile, and more accessible to European influence. In the Presidency of Madras they consti- tute the best and the most sohd nucleus of the native English army.
" If I wished to enumerate all the subdivisions of caste based on the conduct, the calling, and the occupation of every one, if I described in detail the clothes and the ornaments which vary ad infinitum according to caste, if I attempted to recite all the existing prejudices about food and the daily minutiae of life, I should fill several volumes.
" The same tendencies are met with everywhere. The desire of making a figure in the world, and the ambition for command
HINDOO BRANCH.
without having taken the necessary trouble to become worthy of it. Yet the existence of caste has always prevented the forma- tion of a really homogeneous nation. Caste is ' the cause of the sharp rivalries, the endless hostilities, that have always been
fatal to national independence, andj facilitated the invasions of strangers.
" Besides the social consequences we have mentioned, the Hindoos believe in religions ones. Their different castes cannot here below receive the same education, nor be^initiated into the
860 THE BEOWN RACE.
game mysteries. These differences, according to the dogmas of Siva, are to extend into the next world."
The preceding paragraphs refer to the inhabitants of the Deccan. It would be too tedious to describe the other popula- tions of the peninsula/the Bengalese, the Bajpoots, the Mahrattas, &c. We will merely say a few words about the Cingalese, or inhabitants of the island of Ceylon.
The Cingalese are entirely Indian in figure, in language, in manners, in customs, in religion and in their government. Their features are not widely different from those of Europeans, but they differ from them in their colour, in their height, and in the proportions of their bodies. The hue of their skin varies from light brown to black. Black is the usual colour for their eyes and hair. They are shorter than Europeans, but well made, with well defined muscles. Their chests and their shoulders are broad, their hands and feet small. Their hair grows in large quantity and to great length, but they have little on their faces. Their women are, as a rule, well made.
The attractions which a lady ought to combine in order to be a perfect beauty are, according to a Kandian fop, as follow : her hair should be as bushy as the tail of a peacock, long enough to reach the knees, and gracefully curled at the ends ; her eyebrows arched as the rainbow, eyes blue as sapphires, and her nose like a hawk's beak ; her lips must vie with coral in redness and lusti'e, and small, even, and closely-set teeth, resembling jessamine buds, should complete the picture.
Ceylon, as everybody knows, is indebted for its great prosperity' to its coffee plantations, a large trade being earned on between the English and its inhabitants, who enjoy a well-earned reputa- tion as cultivators of that shrub.
" The Kandians," says M. Alfred Grandidier, " possess more robust constitutions, less feeble limbs, and features not so effemi- nate as their countrjTnen of the coast ; their lusty shoulders, broad chests, and short but muscular legs, are a proof of the effect which climate can produce on the development of the human frame.
" The habits of the mountaineers have imdergone scarcely any change in consequence of the foreign influences which have impressed a complex character upon the manners of the people nearer the sea. Their primitive customs, originated by the imperious necessities of life, are still found in existence among
HINDOO BRANCH. 351
them ; and they have none of the timidity and servility which are the attriljutes of the dwellers in the maritime districts. The feudal state in which they have long lived has preserved in them an energy and independence rare among Indian populations. The configuration of the country enabled them, in fact, to retain their fi'eedom more easily than theii* brethren of the northern plains, either when aggression came from their own ruler or from foreign inti*uders ; but, nevertheless, that indolence still prevails among them which comes naturally to every people who are not obliged to contend against any material obstacle in order to supply themselves with the necessities of life. The t}Tanny of their masters, whether chiefs or kings, has unhappily accustomed them to h}7)ocrisy, and made them \indictive.
" Whilst the Cingalese of the coast liave applied themselves to trade and industry, those of the high regions always show re- pugnance to such occupations. They have invariably shimned any connection with foreigners ; and so great, even at the present day, is their desii'e to withdraw as much as possible from asso- ciation with the English settlers, that they conceal their villages m the middle of the jungle, and at a distance of some hundreds of yards from the least frequented paths. A rice-field in the midst of forests, or a glimpse of the tall tops of cocoa-trees, alone indicate tlie presence of human beings in places that would other- wise be thought uninhabited. In countries like these, where natm*e has accumulated so many of lier treasures, the relations of man with man, which assuredly conduce to the happiness of all, are not indispensable ; and the natives love a solitude, where they enjoy benefits of every land in profusion.
^' The Cingalese of the hills have a traditional respect for their chiefs, and a deep attachment to ancient usages. Their costume difi'ers fi'om that of the inliabitants of tlie plains, insomuch that they do not habitually wear the vest, this garment being, in fact, exclusively reserv^ed for their nobles, who assume it on grand occasions ; their hair is allowed to grow to its full length, and is not confined by a comb. Sumptuary laws and religious injimc- tions settle in other respects the clothing suitable to each class, the greater part of these laws being, to the present day, still in force among the Kandians, in spite of the abolition of castes which has been decreed by the English administration.
" The length of the frock-like petticoats worn by men and
36S THE BROWN RACE.
women both in the high and low lands, and which seem to be the p&rt of the national costume to which the greatest importance is attached, was formerly proportioned according to the social position of the individual.
" The pariahs were not permitted to let this skirt come lower than the knee, and males and females of inferior caste had the breast uticovered. Among the chiefs themselves a difference existed, and still exists, as to the method of wearing the comhoy.
After rolling it twice or three times round the hips nnd legs, they form with it round the waist a more or less bulky girdle, the dimensions of wliich depend upon their rank. The nobles are also distinguished from the lower orders by their extraordinary headgear, consisting of a sort of round, flat, wliite linen cap, like that worn' by tlie Basque peasantry, while the lower classes merely surround the head with a silk handkerchief, leaving none of it bare except the top. The king alone possessed the privilege of wearing sandals. Prohibitions, such as one against wearing
HINDOO BRANCH. 353
gold and silver chains or ornaments, are still scrupulously observed by the Kandians, who strenuously resist any encroach- ments of the inferior castes."
M. GuiUaume Lejean has published some interesting parti- culars of his travels in Cashmere and the Punjaub. It is not om* intention to foUow the learned wanderer in his rapid journeys across Hindostan, but we should like to draw attention to a novel oi^inion which has been expressed by him as to the ethnology of the Indian population.
]\I. Lejean believes that he has re-discovered in Hindostan the Aryans, that is to say, the primitive people from whom the Aryan or Caucasian race is descended. The features of these peoples, our own genuine ancestors, are regular and of an European type. Their comj^lexion is not browner than that of the inhabitants of Provence, Sicily, or Southern Spain. This statement does not ai)ply to the lower castes, whose skin grows darker and darker, until it reaches the soot}' tint of the Nubian. The country people have long and slightly wavy hair, blacker and more brilliant than jet. Though not effeminate in appearance, the race is de- ficient in muscular vigour, an effect attributed by the traveller to the torrid heat of the climate. The women are generally of middle height, with pleasing but expressionless countenances of little originality ; their eyes are large, black, and submissive, and their hands delicatelv beautiful.
In the opinion of M. Lejean, the fine, symmetrical heads, small, well-foimed hands, and regular features of the natives of Scinde, remind one completely of the white European race, and allow us to identify the inliabitants of that part of Asia with the ancient Ar}'ans, who were the colonizers of primitive Europe, and who springing, as is said, from the regions of Persia, spread themselves over our o^vn continent and that of Asia.
This is an opportime moment for alluding to a race, sprung seemingly from Hindoos of the lower classes, which had pro- bably abandoned its own land, and from which those detached groups that traverse the entii'e globe, without ever fixing them- selves anpvhere, or ever losing their peculiar characteristics, derive their origin. Under this category come the wandering tribes, commonly known in different languages, as Gipsies, Bohemians, Zingari, Gitanos, &c., who wander over countries either as beggars or in pursuit of the lowest callings. These
A A
364 THE BROWN RACK
Gipsies and. Bohemians, who are especially numerous in the South of France, and enjoy a considerable repute as horse- clippers and tinkers, who are invariably vagrants, and now and then thieves, appear to be descended from low-caste Hindoos. They are travelling Pariahs. Such, at least, is the opinion enter- tained by some modem ethnologists.
Malabar Family.
The Malabar Family inhabiting the Deccan differs in many respects from the Hindoo, and the peoples included in it are very dark and sometimes black in complexion. This branch is divided into three piincipal di^dsions : the Malahars proper, who dwell in the country of that name ; the Taviyls, in the Camatic ; and the Telingas, in the north-east. Neither the language nor the customs of the tribes composing this group, exhibit pecu- liarities sufficiently important to induce us to stop to describe them.
CHAPTER II.
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH.
The Afncan jiopulutioiis wliich we class with the Browu Race have a i-esemblaiice in the fonnation of the body to those of the Wtite Race, but their skin is darlier in colour, being iiitenuediate between that of the Negro and that of tlie Wliite. The natives constituting this branch have never Attained to any appreciable degi'ee of civi- Uzation, au<l thei-e is a complete void of positive notions as to their origin or migi-ations, wliile even the different languages in use among them, are partly unl£no\v'n to us. We shall distinguish in the Etliio- pian branch, two great families, the Ahi/ssinuiii and the Fcllan.
Abyssinian Family.
That portion of Eastern Africa whicli bears the iCi.— abvssinias.
name of .\byssinia, con- tains several tribes, speaking different languages. These tribes are ranked by many ethnologists as belonging to the White Race, and their complexion, though darker invariably than that of the European, is fairer than that of the negro. Their hair, which is generally frizzled, their lips usually thick, and their nose less flat
ass THE BBOWN RACE.
than that of the Negro, are so many characteristics which assign
to them a plnce intervening between the Black and the "WTiite races. These tribes doubtless spring iirom a union of black
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH. 357
inhabitants, aborigines of the country, with the Orientals who conquered them.
We shall instance among the principal groups belonging to this family, the Ahyssinians, the Barabras, the T'lbhous, and the Gallas, about any of whom, with the exception of the first named, little is as j^et known.
Ahyssinians, — Most authors place this people in the White Race and the Semitic family. There is, in fact, reason to believe that Abyssinia was many times overrim, and perhaps civilized, by the nations of Western Asia ; but the colour of their skin, which is very much darker than that of the Ai'ameans, is a proof that the conquerors intermamed with the conquered, and that from this imion the present Abyssinian race has sprung.
According to Dr. Eiq^pel, there are two predominant types existing among the people of this country, the more widely spread approacliing to that of the Arabs, while the second approximates closely to the Xegi'o.
The Abyssiiiians fonning the first group, are finely formed, showing resemblance to the Bedouins in feature and expression of countenance. Their peculiar characteristics are, an oval face, a long, thin, finely cut nose, a well proportioned mouth with lips of moderate thickness, lively eyes, regular teeth, slightly crisp or smooth hair, and a middle stature. Most of the people dwelling on the high mountains of Samen, and the plains sun-ounding Lake Tzana, belong to this branch, which also includes the FalceshaSy or Jews, the Garnants, who are idolators, and the Af/ows.
The second type is chiefly distinguishable by a shorter and broader nose, slightly flattened ; thick lips ; long eyes, with little animation in them ; and very curly and almost woolly hair, which is so close, that it stands straight out from the head. A portion of the population along the coast, in the province of Hamasen and other neighbouring districts, belongs to this second group.
The results of Baron Larrey's comparison of the Abyssinian with the Negro, are, that the eyes of the former are larger and of a more agreeable look, and have the inner angle slightly more inclined. In the Abyssinian the cheek-bones and the zygomatic arches are more prominent than in the Negro ; the cheeks form a more regular triangle with the angle of the mouth and the comer
ana the brown race.
of the jaw ; the lips are thick without being tui-ned out like a. Negro's; the teeth are handsome, well set and lees projecting; and the alveolar ridges are not so prominent. The complexion
of the Abyssinian ia not so black as that of the Negro in the interior of Africa. Baron Larrey adds, that the features iihioli he has described above, belonged to the genuine Egyptians of olden times, and that they are to be found in the Iieada of Egyptian statues, and above all in that of the Sphinx.
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH.
Id the accotmt which he pablished in 1866, <rf his jouin^ through Abyssinia two years preTioosly, M. OniUaimie Lejean
has given considerable information as to this part of AMca ai its inhabitants, and the Tictotiotu enterprise undertaken 1
360 THE BROWN RACE.
England in 1866, afforded an oppoi-tunity of establishing the accuracy of the French traveller's statements.
At the moment when the British expedition was directed against him, the army of the Abyssinian potentate, the Negus Theodorus, numbered about 40,000 men. The infantry carry a spear, shield, and long curved sabre, and they attack their enemy impetuously at close quarters. The light cavalry is excellent. The horsemen, when charging, let go their bridles, fight with both hands, and guiding and urging their horses with leg and knee only, make them perform the most prodigious feats. Each man has a sword and two lances ; ths latter always hit the mai-k, and their wound is deadly. They are used like javelins, and are about two yards long. Every horseman is followed by an attendant retainer, whose duty it is to da^h among the enemy, sword in hand, in order to recover his master's weapon, and bring it back to him. These horsemen charge headlong against an infantry square, making their horses bound into its midst over the heads of the soldiers, and then backing them in order to break its formation.
The skirmishers are Tigre moxmtaineers, of cool, resolute courage, and their aim is remarkably good.
The Emperor Theodorus seldom occupied his palace. His real capital was his camp, which he kept incessantly moving from one end of his dominions to the other. He maintained strict discipline in his household and on his stafi*, among the members of which the bastinado was often liberally used.
Two fifths of the Abyssinian population are in the seiTice of the wealthier classes, and probably there is no country in the world where servitude is more widely spread. A person pos- sessed of an income equal to £160 a year, keeps at least eight dependants. M. Lejean had no fewer than seventeen attendants during his journey, and his travelling companion, an Englishman, as many as seventy.
The religion of this coimtry forms a rare exception in Africa, as the inhabitants are Christians. The head of the Abyssinian church is styled the ** Abouna," and his theocratic powers are almost boimdless. King and pontiff entertain a mutual hatred of one another, each dreading his rival and keeping close watch upon his movements. Whichever of the two possesses greater courage and energy gains the upper hand.
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH.
Monka and priests are comiiiou in Abyesinia.
Tlie nativeB take a decoction of kotisso once a month as a cure for the tapeworm. The fact is, that in consequence of some local circumstances, the meat used in the countrji is full of cystSt which, getting into the stomach along with the food, generate i the intestines this troublesome guest that must be got rid of from time to time. This remedy for tapeworm has been recently m introduced into Europe.
Barabras. — The Barabras are the natives of Nubia. They I occupy that part of the valley comprised between the southern I frontier of Egypt and Sennaar, that is to my. Nubia.
This race differs widely from the Arabs, and all adjoining I nations. They dwell on the banks of the Nile, and, wherever thi 1 soil is found favourable, plant date trees, sink wells for irrigatloDf I and sow various kinds of leguminous plants.
Blumenbach was forcibly stnick with the resemblance of tbti 1 Barabras to the figures and paintings to be met with on the J different monuments of ancient Egjpt. This people, like the] Egyptians, have a reddish black skin, but of a much darker tii^ I The characteristic features of the i)m'e Barabras are oval anft^ somewhat long faces, with aquiline noses, very well formed aikd slightly rounded towards the point, lips thick without bdag protruding, a receding chin, thin beard, animated eyes, very onrij' but never frizzled hair, a body perfectly in proportion and usually of the middle height, and lastly a bronze-coloured skin.
The Barabras are classed in three groups, each of which 1 dialect of its own, namely, the Noubaa or Nubians, the A'cMOiUyl and the DongouUihs ; all of whom inhabit the Nile valley.
According to Burckhardt the Noubaa differ in many reapect»J from the Negroes, especially in the softness of their skin, which is I very smooth and flexible, while the palm of a genuine Negro's hand is rough and as hard as wood. Their noses, too, are leal flat, their lips less thick, and their cheek-bones less prominei than those of .a Negro. Fritchard's opinion is that the Barabrasf probably migrated from Kordofao.
A description of thia iBce is also to be found in the " VoyagQi en Egypte," by MM. Hemri Camnur and Andri Lefevre, byi whom the conntry wae txfita^i in 1660, aad from its pages w» I take the following «
362 THE BROWN RACE.
"We ai'e in Nubia, and Arabic is no longer spoken. The inhabitants, though usually inoflfensive, have nevertheless a war- like gait; the dagger hanging by a strap to their arm, their ironwood bow and their buckler of crocodile hide are the tokens and protectors of their liberty. Their rulers obtain notliing from them except by force.
" The moment the river recedes, these vigorous husbandmen dispute with it for the fertilizing slime which suffices for a fourfold harvest.
'* Do not imagine that they labour : it is enough for them when they have sown pinches of com in shallow holes, for nature does all the rest.
** So favoured a climate, as may well be imagined, does not impose on the Nubian the inconvenience of ha\4ng to wear clothing. The majority cany nothing more upon them than a few weapons and their dusky skins. The women's costumes are oddly fashioned. They stain their lips and twist their hair into numberless tmy plaits, which are not re-made eveiy da}-. Egj-ptian females would look on them as indecent, for allowing the lower part of tlie face to be seen ; and more than tliat even, the girls, uj) to the time of their marriage, wear no covering beyond a narrow girdle. The villages are rather near each other, and seldom consist of more than fifteen or twenty earthen huts, having flat roofs thatched with palm branches. In front of the cabins are ranged, as at Dolce for instance, large jars, in which the com is kejit stored.
** Ruins belonging to all ages and every ancient divinity are to be found in Nubia."
The inhabitants of Eastern Nubia are merely wandering tiibes who traverse the country included between the Nile and the Red Sea; the dwellers in the northern part are known as the Ahahdehs.
The Bicharyehs spread themselves as far as the Abyssmian frontiers, and the Hadharebs are still more to the south, reach- ing to Souakin on the Red Sea. The Souakins belong to the last-named race.
The Bicharyehs are savage and inhospitable, and it is asserted that they drink the still warm blood of living animals. They ai-e chiefly nomadic, and maintain themselves on the flesh or the milk of their flocks. All travellers agree in representing them as fine men with regular features, large, expressive eyes, light, elegant
ETHIOPIAN BRANCH. 363
frames, and a dark chocolate-coloured complexion. Their method of wearing the hair is very curious. Those who possess it in sufficient length to reach helow the ear, allow it to hang in straight, tangled locks, each of which terminates in a curl. This lieadgear is impregnated with grease, and is so much matted that there would be a difficulty in getting a comb through it. They refrain, besides, from touching it, and in order not to spoil its aiTangement are always provided with a bit of pointed stick, like a large needle, which they put into requisition whenever scratching becomes necessary.
The head-dress of the Souakins is equally extraordinary, and the scratching pin is also an obligatoiy accompaniment of their toilet.
Tlie Ababdehs have hair from two and a half to three inches long ; tlieii' lips are slightly thick, their noses rather long, and in complexion they are almost black. They are nomadic, and live in the same wav as the Bedouins.
2'lhbous, — The Tibbous, who wander over the country to the east of tlie Sahara, have been looked upon as belonging to the Berber family, but their complexion is darker and they do not speak the Arab tongue. Their noses are aquiline, theu' lips but slightly thick, they have intelligent faces, and are of slender build. Their acti\ity is very great and they are addicted to robbing caravans.
Galkis, — The Gallas are strangers to civilization, the majority scattered over the plains which extend to the south of Abyssinia, leading a pastoral and nomadic life. They are divided into a gi'eat many independent tiibes, being kept imited, however, by origin and language. They are warlike, cruel, and given to plunder. Their colour is very handsome and their hair usually curly or woolly ; they have coarse, short features and large lips. Islamism has been embraced by a few tribes, but the greater number remain attached to the old African Paganism.
Fellan Family.
The FeUans, who are also called Fellatahs, Pouls, or Peuhls, have not been long known except by some tribes who inhabit
364 THE BBOWN RACK
Senegambia and who sometimes penetrated the Soudan. Their skin is extremely dark, inclining sometimes to a reddish, and sometimes to a copper colom*, but being never really black; they have rather long hair, smooth and silky ; their nose is not flattened ; the shape of their face is oval ; their stature tall and slight ; the extremities of the limbs delicate and small ; their step light and commanding.
We class among the Fellan family the people dwelling in the western part of Africa, such as the inhabitants of Nigritia and Bambara.
The capital of Nigritia, Sego or Segou, is a tolerably large town situated on the Niger.
Probably many other nations of Western Africa ought to be placed side by side with the Fellans and a comparison should also be established between them and the people of Madagascar, the Owas.
All these races difier from the Negroes, although dwelling on the confines of the country belonging to the latter branch, with which some authors erroneously confound them, but the physical characteristics that mark them as distinct are well-established.
CHAPTER III.
MALAY BRANCH.
This branch approaches closely to the Indo-Chinese. The races composing it are of medium height, regularly made and with well-proportioned limbs ; their skin varies from an olive-yellow to a brown hue, and their hair is smooth, black, or occasionally brown. They appear susceptible of civilization and are often divided into regular nations.
Dumont d*Urville has distinguished among these races three divisions which he has designated by tlie appellations of Malay$^ Polynesians, and Micronesians ; and these gi'oups will be treated here as so many families.
Malay Family.
The Malay family, which inhabits Malaysia and the peninsula of Malacca, is made up of a vast number of nations, the widely varied characteristics of which partake more or less of those of the Indo-Chinese, the Hindoos, and even the Negroes. We shall specify in this family the Malays, Javanese, Battas, Bugs, or Bougis, the Macassars, Dyaks, and Tagals.
Malays. — The Malays constitute the most numerous and remai'kable branch of this family. They are spread over the peninsula of Malacca, the islands of Java, Borneo, Sumatra, and Celebes, and in the Moluccas, etc. This group of islands was formerly known as the Indian Archipelago, and owes its name of Malaysia to the naturalist Lesson.
The chief characteristics of the Malays are a lithe and active body, medium stature, somewhat slanting eyes, prominent cheek' bones, a flat nose, smooth glossy hair, and a scanty beard.
366 THE BROWN RACE.
Their limbs are elegantly formed and their hair is black and curling. The flatness of their noses is attributable to an arti- ficial cause, as, immediately on the birth of an infant, this feature is compressed until the cartilage is broken, for a broad flat face is considered a point of beaut}', and a projecting nose would be looked on as a snout. Their lips are deformed by the inordinate chewing of the betel leaf, and become ulti- mately repulsive in appearance on account of their exaggerated redness and the extravasated blood beneath their surface. The yellow colour of their skin is heightened still more by artificial means, for it is regarded as an attraction, and is the aristocratic tint ; daily rubbing with henna or turmeric bring it to a sal&on tinge. The natural complexion of the women is pale and duU ; brown is predominant among the men. The jirinces and digni- taries stain a dark yellow every part of the body exposed to view.
A Malay's clothing is of a very light description, consisting, both for men and women, of two large pieces of stuff skilfully arranged and confined at the waist by a scarf. Princes and moneyed persons alone wear a kind of di'awers.
The indolence of the Malays is excessive. With the excep- tion of the slaves, no one works. The}' are in fact an utterly demoralized people ; murder, pillage, and outrage are famiUar to them, they possess neither honour nor gratitude, and have no resi)ect for their j^ledged word. Play is with them a passion, a frenzy. They gamble away their property, their wives and children, everything, in fact, except their own persons. They ai'e victims of opium and the betel plant. Nevertheless some laws have existence among them, for murder and robbeiy are punish- able by fines and corporal punishments.
The Malays of the Malacca peninsula are not, like the inhabi- tants of the Archipelago, violent, passionate, and lazy. They are an energetic, provident, trading, industrious race, but quite as rapacious and as tricky as the others. Like the inhabitants of Malaysia, too, they are prone to vengeance, and when under the influence of opium this sentiment becomes inflamed, and turns into a kind of fury, directed not only against the person of the offender but also against harmless passers-by. The Malay who is a prey to this double paroxysm of oj^ium and frenzy, snatches up a sharp weapon, dashes forth furiously.
MALAY BRANCH. 367
shouting "Kill! Kill!" and strikes everyone who crosses his path.
The police of the countr}' employ a small body of very strong nncl active men whose special duty it is to seize these raging maniacs. They hunt the miserable wretch tlirough the streets, and liaving caught liim by the neck in a kind of fork, tlirow him on the ground and pin him there until n sufEicient reinforcement
arrives to enable tliem to tie him hand and foot, when he is brought before a court of justice and nearly always sentenced to deutli (fig. 1G9).
Jiivanese. — These people, who inhabit tlie island of Java, are rather light in complexion, and bear a close resemblance to the Indo-Chinese. For the following information about the popula- tion of tliis wonderful and splendid country, we are mdebted to il. de Molins, wlio made a stay of two years there, and whose notes have been arranged and published by M; F. Coppee, in tlie " Tour du Monde."
368 THE BROWN RA.CR
The stranger traversing Batavia, the chief town of Java, cannot be an uninterested obseiTer of the motley crowd perpetually renewing itself before his eyes. Among the number- less half-clothed men he sees none but brawny shoulders and wiry, muscular frames. He is struck by the dull, dark brown complexion of the Indian, whose hue appears to vary with the district where he happens to be located ; for his skin which seems brick-red on the sea coast assumes a violet and pinkish tinge near masses of vegetation, and becomes almost black in a dusty region. The perfectly naked children gambolling in the fuU rays of the sun look like fine antique bronzes, so gi'aceful are theii* attitudes and so faultless their mould. The Malay in his turban, tight-fitting green vest, and grey petticoat striped with whimsical patterns, has quite a handsome head. His face is oval with eyes of almond shape and a thin, straight nose ; the mouth is shaded by a slight, glossy black moustache and liis high broad forehead is admirably formed. All do not perhaps possess so many advantages, but they are without exception finely made, with beautiful black, smooth, and silky hair.
The Javanese wear hats of bamboo, the plaiting of which is perfect. These are of all patterns, large and small, round, pointed, or made in the shaj^e of shields, extinguishers, or basins. Their costume varies ; some of the men wear Ai-ab vests and wide trousers ; some would be naked but for a sort of di-awers ; while a few swathe their loins in a piece of Indian calico which dis- plays the form ; and others are clad in a very narrow petticoat that produces a most picturesque effect. The natives make all then* garments out of a broad piece of stuff manufactured in the country, the devices and colours of which manifest extraordinaiy variety and astonishing taste.
The women's head-dress consists of a handkercliief which is tied and arranged in a more or less artistic manner.
At Soiu'abaya the traveller mingled in the thi'ong, composed of a sprinkling of Chinese, Malays, and natives of Madm-a, but throughout which the Javanese element predominatede The typical costume of the coimtry may be said to consist of the long-folded sahrong, a very close-fitting vest, and a kind of sun- shade on the head, covered in blue cloth interwoven with gold and silver thread, and lined with red. The colours used here are not very gaudy, and the priests may at once be recog-
THE HCMIS RACE
■
I
/
« p
MALAY BRANCH. 369
nizeii by tlieii- ample turbans tmA white muslin vests. A few
palanquins were moving about through the crowd ; those of the
Javanese are formed of a
hammock suspended from
a bamboo cross-stick and
sheltered from the raj's of
the sun by a httle roof of
bamboo or palm-leaf miit-
ting. Long boats luden
with cargo and liavinf*
gracefully curved pro^^■s
were passing up and down
the river.
On fete days all the components of this motley
multitude are drawn toge- ^^^^^^^^^\\ ^^ >
ther by the iierfonnnncea of the Javanese bayaderes, or dancing girls (fig. 172).
When visiting the ceme- tery M, de Molins saw tlie native Prince of Soera- baya, who had come there to pray at the tomb of his forefathers. His ex- cessively simple costume was only distinguishei] from that of ordinai-y Java- nese by a loop of dia- monds stuck in the verj" small turban enveloping hia head, and by a beauti- ^ gold clasp fastenmg the belt of his sahrong.
In the Javanese Kam- pong our traveller saw copper articles; such as betel-roll boxes, bowls, and water vases; which were ornamented in charming and fantastic taste with engraved arabesques representing the Sowers, fruits.
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MALAY BRANCH. 371
and animals of the country ; and he was struck with surprise at the goldsmiths being able to form such marvellous trinkets with tools of the most primitive description. He went to see one of the large manufactories where are made the curious salirongs worn by the inhabitants, the shades of colour in which rival those of the most valuable cashmeres in brilliancy, liarmon}', and richness. The process of making these fabrics is a slow and difficult one. A fine sahrong is worth more than £4 and does not exceed two and a half yards in length by one yard in width.
In one of his excursions M. de Molins met a wedding pro- cession. The happy couple, who belonged to two equally rich families, were in a very pretty palanquin surmounted by a canopy ornamented with palm leaves and a trellis-work of bamboos and reeds. The garments of the newly married paii' were of red silk brocaded with gold embroidery, and their heads, necks, arms and hands were covered with jewellery. Children ran alongside and in front shouting and making the air resound with the noise of gongs, tom-toms, and cymbals (fig. 173). Four men in yellow breeches, with blue and white girdles, their hips adorned by long pointed strips of blue and yellow silk, and their heads bound with a tightly-fitting turban of the same colours, carried at the end of long poles, bright, waving bouquets made of tiny rosettes of blue, yellow, and white paper attached to thin canes. Relatives, friends, and all those who expected to partake of the repast which was generously provided, followed the palanquin.
Ceremonies of different kinds precede tliis solemn procession ; and for several days before it takes place the betrothed couple are obliged to submit to a public exhibition and general hubbub, and are condemned to remain nearly completely motionless and in almost total abstinence, lest they should in any way damage their clothes.
This marriage festival is the grand occasion for displaying all the resources of Javanese culinary art. The fruits are served at the beginning of the banquet, and steamed rice only slightly cooked forms the principal dish.
The feast would be a sorry one, if the bill of fare did not include pickles, salt fish dried in the sun while alive, half-hatched eggs also salted, a hash of meats perfumed with roses and jessa? mine, the seeds of varioas plants, and slices of cocoa-nut rolled
B B 2
THE BROWN RACE.
in pimento. The fii-st time n European tastes these dishes he feels a dreadful sensation of burning, which passes from the mouth to the stomach and seema to be ever increasing. Bn{ people soon appear to gi'ow accustomed to these spicy ragoats ;
and M. de Molina aaya that in a abort time this kind of cookery, vhich greatly tends to stimulate the appetite, becomes indis- pensable.
During this gentleman's stay at Soerabayn, the Butch Governor- General of Java was there on bis tour of inspection of the island, which takes place every iive years. High fes- tivities bad been ordered for the reception of this exalted iiersonage, and M. de Molins gives us a sketch of the princea
MALAY BRANCH. 373
who were present at a grand revel. The skin of many was blue ; their perfectly delicate and regular features bore the me- lancholy stamp peculiar to Orientals, and their movements were full of ease and grace. Their salirong, woven in silk of the most beautiful shades, was fastened at the waist by a flowing girdle that fell over extremely tight pantaloons, and sparkled witli gold embroidery ; their chest, shoulders, and arms were left naked, and had been thickly coated mih safeon-coloured powder for the occasion. Their head-gear consisted of a truncated cone, either blue, red, or black, braided with gold or silver lace ; and their eai's were adorned with a kind of wing, in goldwork of the most exquisite finish and lightness. The princes were accom- panied by the officers of their suite, among whom the Umbrella- Bearer was conspicuous. The enormous sunshades carried by those functionaries bear a double resemblance to a shield and a lance, and are at once warlike-lookmg and foppish. They are gilt or silvered, gi^een, blue, or black, and produce the most imcommon efiect.
Battas. — The Battas, who inhabit the island of Sumatra, exhibit a very singular mixture in their habits, as they unite with ideas of order and civilization practices quite as ferocious as those of the most savage people.
Boiigis and Macassars. — The Bougis and Mankasses (Mang- kassars, which Europeans have turned into Macassars) occupy the Celebes Islands, and are renowned for their courage.
The former nation is looked on as tlie most ancient and enlightened race in the Celebes group. Not only have they a secret and sacred language, but a second idiom which is familiar to all classes, and in addition a written tongue. They possess a system of writing, and even a literature. These men are up- right, faithful to their promise, and thoroughly loyal in diplomatic and commercial dealings. Their mere word is of more value than the most solemn oaths of the inhabitants of Java, Sumatra, and Borneo.
Tagales. — The Tagales and Bissayes who dwell in the Philip- pines ; the former in Luzon, and the latter in the centre group ; speak dialects very different from those of the Malays, properly
374 THE BROWN RACK
so-called. The anonymous author who has described the voyage of the Austrian frigate Novara, has supplied us with some details as to the varied and amusing aspect of the population of Manilla, the chief town of Luzon.
The padres, in long black soutanes, and spout-shaped felt hats^ stroll under the shade of the palm trees; Christian Brothers jostle Confraternities of the Virgin and Fathers of the Con- ception and of the Nativity. Make way for grey, yellow, and brown-frocked monks, and for those who discipline themselves with hair shirts and w^hips ! Galley-slaves, chained two and two^ are quietly mo\-ing liither and thitlier with pails of water. Charming senoritas, mostly Spanish half-bloods, with mantillas falling like a cascade of black lace along their raven and glossy tresses, in which green leaves and scarlet blossoms intertwine, compel us to admii'e their listless mien and their well-arched eye- brows shading their almond-shaped eyes. After the half-breeds, come the native Tagales, of pure or of mixed blood ; Chinese women ; and little negresses selling fruit and bouquets, or loung- ing about with cigarettes in their mouths.
The Tagales whom M. de Molins saw at Manilla, were small and weak. Theii* faces were by no means disagreeable, their colour a little lighter than that of other Malays, and then* hair black without being woolly. The combinations of this race with the Negi'oes and Chinese, ai)peared to him most interesting.
Many travellers have described the natives of the PhiUppines. They are well-made men, of elegant, easy figure, and medium stature. Their feet and hands are small, exhibitmg extreme delicacy at the point where they join tlie limbs. They have oval faces, with small but regular noses, well-coloured lips, and teeth that are long and white imtil they become spoiled by chewing the betel-leaf. The men's hair is silky and curled; that of the women, soft, fine, and glossy.
The brown tint of the complexion is very changeable among these islanders, vaiying from the dark shade which belongs to those living in the open air, such as fishermen, himters, and tillers of the soil, to the fair skins of the upper and sedentaiy classes. That portion of the people which has not been subjected to foreign influence is ingenious, industrious, and active. The men are warlike, and make excellent boat-builders. Their jimks made of plaited bamboo, and manned by a couple of hundred
MALAY BRANCH. d75
warriors and rowers, spread such powerful sails and possess such speed, that they are the envy of the Spanish ship-builders.
Dyaks. — There are some tribes living in the vicinity of the people of whom we have just spoken and especially in the interior of the countries of which the Malays occupy the coasts, who are generally distinguished by the name of Alfusus. They have been often regarded as members of a separate stock, and a connexion has even been traced between them and the black race, but the greater part of these tribes ought to be considered as forming part of the Malay family. Among them are the Dyaks, a nmnerous people inhabiting the interior of Borneo, and the Turajas who dwell in the Celebes Islands.
The Dyaks (fig. 174) have well-made bodies, and the women's faces are mild and agreeable in expression, but the men's far from attractive. The constant warfare which they carrj' on with the Malays of the coast may be the cause why their featm'es become ultimately so changed imder the combined influences of fear, passion, and revenge.
The Dyaks who occupy the plains, and those living on the borders of rivers or in the woods, may be separately classed. Both groups are of similar statm'e, possess featm'es alike, and the same lank, black hair, with large curls, which is however never woolly or frizzled ; but those occupying the dense forests rising from the river banks have fairer complexions. Mutual hatred has been sworn between the two races, and they abandon them- selves to incessant conflicts, and have ever to be on their guard against terrible surprises in which many heads are cut ofi^. No Dyak would venture to present himself to a girl, without being able to show her the head of an enemy who had been overcome and sacrificed by him. A warrior's renown depends on the number of heads he has acquired, and skulls dried in the fire form the ornaments and trophies of his hut.
These cutters off of heads are very cleanly, and bathe twice a day regularly. They have extremely severe laws, by which murder, outrage, and robbery are pimished in the same way. They profess great veneration for old age as well as towards the dead. Their chronological system is based upon the yangas, or ages, as among the Hindoos, and they believe the present to be the age of misfortune. Their notion is, that some day during an eclipse of
376 THE BROWN RACK
the sun or moon, a dragon will devour the stars ; conseqaently whenever such phenomena occur, they make a terrific uproar in order to scare the monster away, a i^roceeding which has been invariably successful !
In her travels along the rivers Lappas and Kapouas (western side of Borneo) Madame Ida Pfeiffer visited a tribe of independent Dyaks, who are called '* Head- Cutters " by the English and Dutch. She saw an immense cabin about sixtj' yards long, in the verandah of which fabrics made of cotton or of plaited bark of trees, splendid mats and baskets of ever}' shape and size, were displayed. Drums and gongs hung on the walls, and large piles of bamboos, bags of rice, and diied pork, showed that the Dyaks had exhibited all their wealth for the occasion.
Nor were tlieir own persons by any means forgotten. They had loaded their necks down to the breast with glass beads, bears' teeth, and shells ; brass rings covered the lower part of their legs, reaching half-way to the knee, their arms were adorned in the same way to the shoulders, and similar decora- tions were in their ears. Some wore a sort of red stuff cap, em- bellished with pearls, shells, and little flat bits of brass ; others had wound round their lieads a fillet fonned of a piece of bark, the deeply fringed ends of which stuck out like feathei's. A man decked out in this fashion, covered with ornaments from head to foot, presents a rather comical appeiu-aiice.
The women had fewer adornments ; they wore no earrings, nor bears* teeth collars ; a few displayed some glass beads ; but more were satisfied with an incalculable number of brass or leaden rings.
Madame Pfeiff'er, while among the Dyaks, witnessed a sword- dance, which was executed in the most skilful and elegant manner.
Tliis travelled lady also visited another tribe located higher up the river, where she observed the same things, and in addition saw two human heads lately cut off. When showing them to Madame Pfeiffer, the Dyaks spat in their faces, and the children cuffed tliem, and spat on the ground.
The shocking custom of decapitation owes its origin to super- stition. If a rajah falls ill, or sets out on a journey among another tribe, he and his subjects imdertake to sacrifice a human head in case of his recover}' or safe return ; and should he die,
MALAY BRANCH. 377
they chop off a skull or two. The heads which they have sworn to immolate must be obtained at any cost. The Dyaks hide
themselves in the long jungle grass, behind felled branches of trees, or under the dry leaves, and lie in wait for entire days. If anybody, man, woman, or child, comes in sight, they shoot a
378 THE BROWN RACE.
poisoned arrow at him, and rush like tigers on tlieir pref. one blow the liend is severed from the body, and ])laced in a little basket reserved for tliis puri>ose, and omameutod vith human hair.
These assassinations frequently give rise to bloody wars ; for the tribe, a member of whicli has been thus sacrificed to the Iaw of chance, takes up arms, and never lays them down until the most teiiible reprisals have been exacted. Severed heads are borne back in triumph and solemnly hung up in the place of honour, tlie retaliation being celebrated by festirities which last for a month.
On one occasion, when Madame Pfeiffer had been received with profuse respect by a tribe, slie found a fi-eshly cut off heaA suspended over her bed, along with othei-s already dried. Sha could not close her eyes. She felt in a perfect fever at being': thus encompassed by frenzied men, at being smothei-cd by the odour of these human remains, and at being lulled to rest by the sinister sound of skulls jangled togethei- by the wind.
Yet in spite of choi>pecl-ofF heads and festoons of buman skulls, this lady considers the Dyaks to be honest, prudent, and endowed with some good qualities. She i)laces them higher ii the scale than tlie other tribes with which she liad au opportuni* of coming in contact. Their domestic life, whicli is truly archal in its nature, is alluded to by herwitli pleasui'e, as are theii- morality, tlie love they bear theii- ofi'spring, and the res- evinced by tlie children towards their parents.
The independent Dyaks are richer than tliose living buI)- sement to the Malay yoke. Tliey cultivate rice, maize, tobacco, and sometimes the sugar cnne ; find in the woods Dami resin which answers Ughting puriioses, and gather large harveste of sago, yams, and cocoa-nuts. Some of tliese jiroductioiis are exchanged by them for pearl beads, brass, salt, and cloth. Their houses, or huts, are clean and well-kept (fig. 175).
A Dyak can take to himself as many wives as he plenses, but he usually contents himself .with one, whom lie treats well and does not burden with work. Their habits are purer and better than those of the Malays. They have no system of writing. Madame Ifeiffer did not see among tlieni eitlier temples or idola, priests or religious sacrifices.
380 THE BROWN RACK
Polynesian Family.
The tribes included by Dumont d'Urville under the name of PoljTiesians inhabit the entire eastern part of Oceania, namely, the Sandwich Islands, the Marquesas, the Friendly and Society groups, the Low Archipelago, New Zealand, etc.
The people of all these bear the close^st affinity to each other. Their complexion is olive, verging on brown, but not copper- coloured ; they are tall in statm^e, and have sinewy limbs, high foreheads, black, livel}', and expressive eyes, and but slightly flattened noses. Their lips ai'e generally larger than those of the whites, but they nevertlieless have handsome mouths and splendid teeth. Their hair is black and frizzled. Throughout the whole vast expanse occupied by them they speak the same language.
Most of the tribes belonging to the Pol^-nesian family are thorough savages, but their stock is diminishing day by day, and the final result of neighbouiing civilization will be to replace the native element by European races. Meanwhile, the most cruel customs prevail among them, and even cannibalism is practised by some.
" Taboo " holds universally an impoiiiant place among the populations of Oceania.
Tliis word expresses a state of interdiction, during which the object struck with it is 2)laeed imder the immediate control of the divinity. No man can infringe upon its power without becoming exposed to the most disastrous consequences, tliat is, unless he has impaired its action by certain fonnalities.
Thus, the piece of ground consecrated to a god, or which has become the burial place of a chief, is " tabooed," and they place under the same spell a canoe which they desire to render safer for long voyages. To fight in a spot subjected to '* taboo " is forbidden, and in order to prevent certain productions from be- coming scarce, they are placed under similar protection. Au}-- one guilty of robber}' or other crime, commits a fault against " taboo," and the man who touches the dead body of a cluef or anything he was in the habit of wearing, falls imder a like ban, which time alone can remove, etc.
AVe sliidl allude chiefly to the aborigines of New Zealand, giving also some details about the natives of the Sandwich Islands, as well as about the Tongas, or Friendly Islanders.
1£ALAT BBANOfl. 961
New Zealanders. — The inhabitants of New Zealand, sometimes designated by the name of Maoris, are tall, robust, and of athletic £rames. Their stature is generally from five feet seven inches to five feet eight inches, seldom lower, and their skin scarcely di£Eer8 in colour from that of the people of the South of Europe. The expression of their countenance almost always indicates a gloomy ferocity. The face is oval, the forehead narrow, the eye large^ black, and full of fire. The nose is sometimes aquiline, but oftener broad and flat, the mouth wide, the lips big, and beneath them rows of small, beautifully enamelled teeth.
The New Zealanders wear their hair long and falling in scattered locks over the face; chiefs alone take the trouble to comb it back on the head in a solitary tuft. It is rough and black, and seems occasionally reddish, because some individuals sprinkle it with powdered ochre.
Women who are not slaves possess strong vigorous figures, and are rarely imder five feet and a few inches in height. The young girls have a broad face, masculine features, coarse lips frequently stained black by tatooing, a large mouth, flat nose, and uncombed hair hanging about them in disorder. Their bodies are disgust- ingly filthy, and impregnated with an odour of fish or of seal oil^ which is revolting in the extreme.
They possess a few advantages as a set-off against the repul- siveness of this picture. The teeth of a New Zealand female are of excessive whiteness, and her black eyes beam with intelligence and fire, but household work and the birth of a family soon cause these attractions to disappear. The women have, moreover, the most deeply-rooted dirty habits. A thick layer of mud covers their bodies, which are nearly always smeared with seal or porpoise oil. Both sexes are capital swimmers.
There is little difference between the costume worn by males and females. The natives know how to weave very elegant textures from the fibres of the Phormium tenax (or New Zealand flax), and a broad mat of this material floats carelessly over their shoulders and body, while another is wrapped round the waist, descending to the knee. In winter they throw over the former garment a thick, heavy doak generally made from the peelings - of a kind of osier, but which, in the case of chiefs, consists of dogskins sewn together. These fiibiics are also varied in design^ some being smooth and without any pattern, while others are
382 THE BROWN RACE.
covered with veiy delicate ornamentation. The slave girls stick untlireshed slips of tlie Phormium tenax in their skirts, thus giving immoderate fuhiess to their bodies.
A wamor's rank and bravery are denoted by a great number of little pins made of bones or green talc, which are worn across the breast at the edge of the matting. The original use of these articles was to scratch the head and kill the insects on it.
Like all the other races, tlie New Zealanders have a fancy for personal ornaments. They like to stick plumes in their hair, and a tuft of soft white feathers is thrust into the ears. Their unkemi)t locks are seldom covered by any kind of head-dress; but Lesson, the naturalist, from whom we derive these detailsy saw a few young girls in whom a coquettish taste was more developed, and who wore gi'aceful wreaths of green moss.
The women adorn themselves with shell necklaces, from which little dried hippocamps are sometimes suspended. They are ver}' fond of blue glass beads of European make. The most precious ornament of this people, however, consists of a green talc fetish, which hangs on the breast attached to some portion of a human bone. There are religious ideas connected with this amulet, and it is worn by men only.
One of tlie Zealanders' superstitions is to fasten a shark^s sharp tooth to one of their ears, with the point of which the women lacerate their bosoms and faces when they happen to lose a chief or one of their relations. The greatest value attaches to these objects when they have been handed down from ancestors, and have become "tabooed," or sacred; the happiness of a native's whole existence seems bound up in their possession ; yet they are rated as completely worthless w^hen derived from a slain enemy.
Tattooing plays an important part among tlie New Zealanders, and they submit annually to the painful operation which it requii'es. This marking usually covers the face all over, and, as it is renewed very often, produces deep furrows stamped in regular lings, that impaii; the oddest expression to the countenance. Circles, one within the other, are also punctured on the lower part of the loins, and the women have a broad zone of lozenge- shaped figures engraved round then* waist. Deep black lines are cut in the lips, and a design like a spear-head is traced at the angles of the mouth and in the middle of the chin. The young
MALAY BRANCH.
176.— SBW ZEALAND CHIBF.
men draw large flies on their noses, Btaiuing them black, and the girls sketch simihtr insects in blue. None but slaves and persons of the lowest class are withoat tattooing of some sort, and it is
384 THE BROWN RACE.
considered a downright disgrace to have the skin in its natural state.
In a region subject to the terrible stonns of the Southern Hemisphere, the dweUings ought to be, and are in fact, small and low. Villages are never found in a plain, because there they might be surprised and pillaged, but are situated in steep localities difficult of access ; the huts cannot be entered except on all fom's ; families sheltered by them, sleep huddled together on the straw in a narrow space ; and there is no furniture inside, beyond a few carved boxes, and some red wooden vessels thickly covered with designs.
The industry for which these islanders are chiefly noted, is the manufacture of matting ; we have ah-eady alluded to the beautiful materials made from the fibres of the Phomnium tenax by the women and girls.
The soil of New Zealand does not, like that of Equatorial Asia, furnish a large supply of edible substances. The basis of the inhabitants* food consists of the root of a fern ti'ee, resembling our Pterin, which covers all the plains. The natives catch a large quantitj^ of fish in the bays along the coast, and dry or smoke the greater i)ortion of it, in order to guard against famine in time of war, and to be provided with sustenance whenever the fury of the elements makes it impossible for them to launch their boats. Em'opeans have introduced several vegetables among them, which gi'ow readily in the easily tilled and fertile land.
Their cookery is as simple as thek food ; they drink nothing but piu'e water, and hate strong liquors. Their victuals are laid on the ground, and each one eats with his fingers ; the warriors, however, sometimes use instruments, made of human bones, and Lesson bought from one of them a fom'-pronged fork, fashioned from the large bone of a man's right arm, minutely carved, and adorned with many raised ornaments in mother-of-pearl.
New Zealand canoes are remarkable for the carving which embellishes them. Most of these boats are hollowed from the trunk of a single tree, and are generally about forty feet long» Lesson measured a specimen, made in this way from one piece^ the depth of which was three, the breadth four, and the length sixty feet. They are painted red, and have their sides festooned with birds' feathers. The stem rises to a height of about four feet, and is covered with allegorical carvings ; the prow exhibits a
MALAT BRANCH. 885
hideous head, with mother-of-pearl eyes and a tongue pro- truding i;6 an inordinate extent, in order to show contempt for an enemy. These canoes are capable of holding about forty warriors. The oars are sharp pointed, and can be used, in case of need, as weapons against an unforeseen attack. The sails consist of reed mats, coarsely woven, and triangular in shape.
Although they are eminently warlike, the New Zealanders possess no great variety of destructive implements. Arrows are unused by them: a paton-paton, or tomahawk, of green talc, which is fastened to the wrist by a strap of hide, is the weapon above all others with which they smash or scalp the skull of theii* enemy. They rush headlong one against the other, and conquer by dint of sheer weight and force. The badge which betokens a priest's functions is a heavy whalebone stick, covered with carvings. Their tokis are hatchets, also made of talc, with carefully worked handles decorated with tufts of white dog's hair. A great many of their clubs are of extremely hard polished red wood.
In latter days the numerous tribes inhabiting the islands resorted to by English and American whalers, receive firearms in exchange for the fresh provisions with which they supply the European vessels.
The chant of the New Zealanders is solemn and monotonous, made up of hoarse, drawling, and broken notes. It is always accompanied by movements of the eyes and well-practised gestures that are very significant. Most of those chants turn upon licentious subjects. Their dance is a pantomime in which the performers seldom move from one place, and consists of postures and motions of the limbs, executed with the greatest precision. Each dance has an allegorical meaning, and is appli- cable to declarations of war, human sacrifices, fimerals, &c.
The only musical instrument that Lesson saw in the hands of the New Zealanders was a tastefully worked wooden flute. The language of these tribes is harsh : some poems of high antiquity have been transmitted to them by oral tradition. They possess a religion, a form of worship, priests, and ceremonials. Mar- riages are made by purchase ; a chief who had some dealings with the crew of the ship to which Lesson belonged, had bought his wife for two firelocks and a male slave.
0 0
386 THE BROWN RACE.
The friendship which the aborigines of the same tribe entertain for each other is very warm, and Lesson has depicted for us the strange manner in which they evince it. When one of them came on board, and met there an intimate whom he had not seen for some time, he went up to him in solemn silence, applied the end of his own nose against that of his friend's, and remained in that attitude for half an hour, muttering some confused sen- tences in a doleful tone. They then separated, and remained for the rest of the time like two men utter strangers to each other. A similar formality was obsen^ed by the women among themselves.
No race cherishes the desire of avenging an insult longer than that of which we are sketching an account ; consequently, eternal hatreds and frequent wars desolate their islands.
The loss of a cliief is deeply felt by tlie whole tribe. The funeral obsequies last for several days : should the deceased be of high rank, captives are sacrificed who will have to attend him in the other world, and the women, girls, and female slaves tear their bosoms and faces with sharp sharks* teeth. Each tribe forms a sort of republic. The districts are ruled by a chief who has a special kind of tattooing, and who is the most generally esteemed for bravery, intrepidity, and prudence.
Lesson declares that the New Zea landers are openly and cyni- cally cannibals ; that they relish witli extreme satisfaction the palpitating flesh of enemies who have fallen at their hands, and regard as a festival the day on which they can gorge themselves with human flesh. A cliief ex2)ressed to Lesson the pleasure which h6 experienced in eating it, and indicated the brain as being tlie most delicate morsel, and the buttock as the most substantial.
After a \dctory the bodies of the chiefs who have been killed in the fight are prepared for serving uji at this horrible banquet. The head belongs to the victor, the fleshy paints ai'e eaten by the men of the tribe, and the bones are distributed among them to be made tools of. Common warriors are scalped, chopped into pieces, roasted, and devoured. Their heads, if they had any reputation, are sold to the Europeans in exchange for a httle powder.
A chief's head is preserved. If the victorious clan wishes to make peace it sends this trophy to the defeated tribe. In case
1CALA.Y BRANCH. 887
the latter raises loud shouts, a reconciliation will take place, but should it preserve a gloomy silence, it is a sign that preparations are being made to avenge the chief's death, and hostilities are recommenced. When a tribe has regained the head of its chief it preserves it religiously and venerates it ; or else, knowing that it will bring a respectable sum, sells it to the Europeans.
M. Hochstetter during a recent voyage visited these same islanders. A chief of Ohinemuta, named " Pini-te-Kore-Kore " came to see the travellers. He was attired in European fashion, wore a cloak and straw hat, and carried a white banner which bore in blue letters the inscription, ''Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis." He was a Christianized chief, and modified as to exterior appearance. He had been brought up at the missionary school, was about tliirty years of age, and tattooed only on the lower part of the face. He had acquii*ed much fi*om his French masters both in manner and demeanour, and being extremely communicative gave M. Hochstetter some curious particulars about the horrible wars to which his forefathers had devoted themselves.
For the last thirty years the conflicts have not been carried on as they were formerly, that is to say, they consist no longer in a series of duels, as it were, but of musketry firing kept up by bodies of troops, from a distance, in the European style.
The traveller had occasion to pay a visit to the Maori king *'Potateau-te-Whero-Whero," before the door of whose dwelling was posted a solitary sentinel clad in a blue imiform cloak with red facings and brass buttons, forming the whole guard of the palace. About twenty persons were assembled in a hut, where his Majesty, who was blind and bent double, sate upon a straw mat. His face, though overloaded with tattooings, was fine and regular, and a deep scar on his forehead bespoke him as a warrior who had taken part in severe battles. He was wrapped in a blanket of a dark brown colour. Like Homer*s Nausicaa, the daughters of this supreme chief of a proud and warlike race were engaged in washing. His son, seated near him, was a young man with black and sparkling eyes.
The Maori tribes had risen in rebellion a few years previously,
with a desire of founding a national govermnent as soon as they
had recovered their independence. But the natives were overoome
0 0 2
388 THE BBOWN RACK
after much bloodshed, and fell again under the yoke of their former ruler. "*
Tongas. — The inhabitants of the Tonga or Friendly Islands resemble Europeans, but their physiognomy presents such varied expressions that it would be difficult to reduce them to a characteristic tj^e. At the first glance flatness of the nose seems a distinguishing mark of their race, but according as we examine a large nimiber of individuals we find the different shapes of that organ grow more numerous. It is the same witli the lips, which are sometimes fleshy and sometimes thin. The hair is black; but brown and light chestnut are also to be met with. The colour of the complexion is equally changeable. Women and girls of the better classes who avoid the rays of the sun are but little coloured ; the others are more or less dark.
The population of these islands has been carefully described by Dumont d'Urville in an account of the voyage which he made in command of the Astrolabe, during the years 1826, 1827, 1828, and 1829.
** The natives of the Tonga Islands," he says, ** are in general tall, well-made, and of good propoilions. Their coimtenances are agreeable and present a variety of features that may be compared with those obseiTable in Europe. Many have aquiline noses and rather thin lips, wliile the hair of nearly all is smooth. Finally, tlie colour of theii* skin is only slightly dark, especially among the chiefs. Women may be seen whose tall stature, stately step, and perfect forms are united to the most delicate features and a neai'ly white or merely dusky complexion."
Cook and Forster had previously affirmed that the women of the Tonga Islands might serve as models for an artist.
In their first dealings ^vith Europeans these aborigines displayed themselves in the most favourable light. Tasman, Cook, Maurelle, and Wilson bore witness to their gentleness, politeness, and hospitahty ; Cook even gave the name of " Friendly " to their islands. The crew of the Astrolabe was at first led astray by these appearances ; but the natives gave many and repeated proo& that at the very moment when they were overpowering the navigators with caresses and mai-ks of friendship, they were meditating how to attack and plunder them.
These men are also endowed with a force of character and
MALAY BRAJ^CH. 389
energy by no means common. Their bravery often approaches the most reckless temerity, and they do not recoil an inch from the greatest danger. They possess, nevertheless, a general tone of suavity and courtesy, and a natural ease of manner, which no one would in the least expect to find among a people verging so closely upon the savage state. Their intelligence is more deve- loped than that of the Tahitians. They treat their wives with kindness, have great love for their childi'en, and profess deep respect for old age.
They make canoes which are remarkable for their propor- tions and the elegance and finish of their handiwork ; carve whales* teeth for necklaces, and incrust their various instruments witli the same material ; know how to construct houses, as w^ell as stone vaults for the biurial of their chiefs ; and trace delicate chasings on their clubs with a sharpened nail fastened in a handle. The cuUnary art lias advanced to a higher degree among them than among any other of the Pol^Tiesian islanders. They prepare from thiii:y to forty different dishes, consisting of pork, turtle, fowl, fish, bread-fruits, bananas, cocoa-nuts, &c., mixed according to certain processes, and dressed in different methods. The peasants till the land by means of stakes flattened and sharpened at the extremity, and furnished a little way from the end with a stirrup for supporting the foot.
Tlie manufacture of cloth, mats, and reed baskets is the special occupation of the women. In order to make the cloth in most common use, they take a certain quantity of the inner bark of the paper-mulberry tree properly prepared, beat it flat, stain it with difterent vegetable colours, and print patterns of all kinds upon it. Mats of the finest quality are woven from leaves of the Pandanus ; others, stronger, are made from the bark of a kmd of banana- tree ; those resembling horsehair are worn by the common people in the canoes to protect them against wet. Mattings of other descriptions, ornamented in different patterns, and formed from the young leaves of the cocoa-tree, are used to preserve the walls of their buildings against the inclemencies of the weather.
Women of a certain rank amuse themselves by making combs, the teeth of which are formed from the ribs of cocoa-leaves. The manufacture of thread appertains to females of the lower classes, and the material for it is extracted from the bark of the banana- tree.
390 THE BBOWN BACE.
These islanders tattoo their bodies in various places, especially the lower part of the stomach and the thighs, with designs which are really elegant and present a vast variety of patterns, but they leave the skin in its natural state. Their tattooing never exhibits deep incisions and does not seem to be a sign of distinction or of warlike prowess. The women only tattoo the palms of their hands.
Their houses are neatly and solidly built ; the master and mistress sleep in a division apart, while the other members of the family lie upon the floor without having any fixed place. The beds and theii* covering are composed of matting.
The clothing of the men, like tliat of the women, consists of a piece of cloth six feet square, which envelopes the body in such a way as to make a turn and a half roimd the loins, where it is confined by a belt. Common people are satisfied with wearing an apron of foliage, or a bit of naiTow stuff like a girdle.
The natives of the Friendly Islands bathe every day. Their skin, besides, is constantly saturated with perfumed cocoa-nut oil. ^Vhen preparing themselves for a religious feast, a general dance, or a visit to the residence of a personage of high rank, they cover tliemselves with oil in such profusion that it drips firom their haii\
The ornaments of both sexes consist of necklaces composed of tlie red fruit of the Pandanus, or fragrant flowers. Some of them hang from their necks little shells, birds' bones, sharks' teeth, and pieces of caiTed and polished whalebone or of mother-of- pearl, and high up on the ai'm they wear bracelets of the last material or of shells. They have also mother-of-pearl or tortoise- shell rings, and hanker greatly after glass beads, especially those of a blue colour. The lobe of their ears is pierced by large holes for the reception of small wooden cyUnders about three inches in length, or of little reeds filled with a yellow powder used by the women as paint.
They have flutes and tom-toms for beating time. The most ordinary form of the former instrument is a piece of bamboo closed at both ends and pierced by six holes, into which they blow with the right nostril while the left is stopped with ^e thumb.
Their chants are a kind of recitative which has for its subject some more or less remarkable event; or else consist of words
MALA.T BRANCH. 301
intended to accompany different descriptions of dances or ceremonies.
The inhabitants of these islands recognize a host of divinities, who possess among themselves various degrees of preeminence. Of these gods, those of elevated rank can dispense good or evil in proportion to their relative powers. According to the natives' notion the origin of these divine beings is beyond the intelligence of man, and their existence is eternal.
" Taboo " reigns as despotically in these islands as it does in New Zealand.
There is a barbarous ceremony in use here> by which a child is strangled as an offering to the gods and to gain from them the cure of a sick relation ; the same rite also takes place when a chief inadvertently commits a sacrilege which might draw down the anger of the divinities upon the whole nation.
In other cases, they cut off a joint of the little finger in order to obtain the recovery of a parent who is ill, and consequently crowds of people may be seen who have lost in succession the two joints of the fourth finger of each hand, and even the first joint of the next.
Charms and signs occupy a prominent place in the religion of this people. Dreams are warnings from the divinity; thunder and lightning are indications of war or of some great catastrophe.
Sneezing is an act of the worst possible omen. A chief was near clubbing to death a traveller who had sneezed in his presence at the moment when the native was going to fulfil his duties at his father's tomb.
Tahitians. — Tahiti and the whole group of the Society Islands are almost exclusively inhabited by the same branch of the Malaysio-Polynesian race. The people of these islands have become celebrated in France by the charming and interesting accounts of their manners apd habits, which have been pub- lished by Bougainville. We have taken the details which follow from Lesson, tiie naturalist, who made a somewhat lengthened stay in this island.
llie natives of Tahiti are all, with scarcely an exception, vezy fine men. Their limbs are at once vigorous and graceful, the muscular projections being eveiywhere enveloped by a thick cellular tissue, which roundB away any too prominent develop-
392 THE BROWN RACE.
ment of their frames. Their countenances are marked by great sweetness, and an appearance of good nature ; their heads would be of the European type but for the flatness of the nostrils, and the too great size of the lips ; their hair is black and thick, and their skin of light copper-colour and very varying in intensity of hue. It is smooth and soft to the touch, but emits a strong, heav}' smell, attributable, in a great measure, to incessant rubbings with cocoa-nut oil. Their step wants confidence, and they become easily fatigued. Dwelling on a soil where alimen- tary products, once abundantly sown, harvest themselves without labour or effort, the Tahitians have preserved soft eflTeminate manners, and a certain childishness in their ideas.
The seductive attractions of Tahitian women have been very chaimingly painted by Bougainville, Wallis, and Cook, but Lesson assm-es us, on the contrary, that they are extremely ugly, and that a person would hardly find in the w^hole island thirty passable faces, according to our ideas of beauty. He adds, that after early youth all the females become disgusting, by reason of a general flabbiness, which is all the greater because it usually succeeds considerable stoutness. There is room for believing that the good looks of the race have deteriorated in consequence of contagious diseases since the first European navigators landed in this island, a very fortunate one in the magnificence of its vegetation and the mildness of its temperature.
Tahitian girls before marriage have full legs, small hands, large mouths, flattened nostrils, prominent cheek-bones and fleshy lips ; theii' teeth are of the finest enamel, and their well-shaped prominent eyes, shaded by long, fringed lashes, and sheltered by broad black eyebrows, beam with anima- tion and fire. Too early marriage and suckling, however, very soon destroy any charms which they may possess. Their skin is usually of a light copper-colour, but some are remarkable for their whiteness, pailicularly the wives of the chiefs.
Family ties are very strong among the Tahitians. They have great love for tlieir children, speak to them with gentleness, never stiike them, and taste nothing pleasing without oflFering them some of it.
The women manufacture cloth, weave mats or straw hats, and
UALAT BRANCH. MS
take Cttre of the honse. The men build the hats, hollow canoeB, plant trees, gather frnits, and cook the victuals in ondergroand ovens. Essentially indolent, the Tahitians generally go to bed at twilight.
All the members of the family live haddled together in the same room, on mats spread apoa the ground ; chiefs, alone, re-
177. — NATIVX
posing upon similar textures stretched on frames. The siesta is also one of their habits, and they invariably sleep for three hoars after noon.
Flesh-meat, fimits, and roots constitute their nsnal sustenance; but the basis of their food is the fruit of the bread-tree. They venerate the cocoa-tree.
Their ordinary drink is pure water. They have an unrestrained fancy for European garments, and seek by every imaginable meani to get themselves coats, hats, silk eravats, and especiaUy shirts. Bat as they do not possess snfficient of our ouuiu&otareB to
394 THE BROWN RACE.
dress themselves completely in our style, they frequently exhibit a sort of motley attire. The women when within-doors are almost naked ; some pieces of cloth, skilfully arranged and half-covering their bosoms, form a kind of tunic, while their feet are bare. They have a great liking for c^aplets of flowers, and bright blossoms of the Hibiscus Rosa sinensis, or China rose, adorn their foreheads. They pass through the lobe of their ears the long tube of the white and perfumed corolla of the gardenia, and protect their faces from the fiery rays of the sun with small leaves of the cocoa-tree.
The chief employment of the Tahitians is the manufacture of cloth. By very simple means they form fabrics from various barks, with which they clothe themselves in a manner as ingenious as it is comfortable. The paper-mulberry tree, the bread-tree, the Hibiscus tiliaceus, &c., are the plants of which they generally use the inner bark. They dye these stufls with the red juice extracted from the fruit of a species of fig-tree, or in canary- yellow.
Their garments are not the only things which these people embellish in brilliant colours and with difi*erent patterns. They have a passionate love for tattooing, but, nevertheless, do not bear a single device on their faces. The parts on which they trace indelible marks are the legs, aims, thighs and breast. Every- thing leads to the conclusion that tattooing, which is forbidden by the missionaries under the severest penalties, was, and is doubtless still, the symbol of each individuaFs functions and the emblazon- ment of the armorial bearings of families, for its designs are always varied.
The Tahitians of former days consti'ucted canoes ornamented with very carefully executed emblematic canings, but since iron tools have taken the j^lace of their imperfect implements, tliey do not give signs of the same pains in adorning their workmanship. Their ancient weapons are also greatly neglected since they have acquired firearms. Heretofore, they had long spears with pointed ends, slings formed from the husk of the cocoa-nut, basalt axes of perfect shape, and files made out of the rasp-like skin of a skate.
They have a passionate love for dancing. The instrument they use for beating the measure is a drum, the cylinder of which consists of a trunk of a tree scooped very thin. The dog-skins which constitute the drum-head are stretched by ribbons of
MALA.Y BRANCH. 305
bark. They blow with the nose into a little reed Ante haviog three holes at its open end, and one only at that which is fur- nished with a diaphragm, and produce deep, monotonous tones from it.
The Tahitians are hospitable, and display great civility in guidiDg travellers in the middle of the woods, and in their mountains. Christianity has modified their habits a little. They attend the Protestant churches because they are obliged to do so, but they have little religion. Among themselves property is sacred ; that of strangers is, however, eagerly coveted.
We cannot dwell here upon the sanguinary human sacrifices which their priests formerly commanded the natives of this isknd to offer up, nor upon their coarse mythology. The English missionaries of the Beformed Church have long since caused &ese fiendish customs to disappear.
Pomototians. — The Pomotouans, who inhabit the low, flat islands known to geographers and mariners by the name of the Dangerous Archipelago, are constituted in a physical point of view like the Tahitians, to whom they bear a close resemblance, but they do not possess the benevolent character nor the affectionate manners of the latter. Their look is fierce, and the play of the features savage. They cover their bodies and faces with tattooing, the figures of which consist of lozenges and numerous circles, and their nakedness seems quite to disappear beneath the mass of these designs. As the islands they inhabit are poor in alimentary productions, they only think of repelling by force any navigators who attempt to enter into communication with them. Deriving as they do their daily sustenance from the sea, they are daring sailors and skilful fishermen. They form, from a very hard wood, javelins that are somtimes fifteen feet long, and ornament them with carvings executed with much taste ; their paddles are also engraved in very graceful patterns, as well as their axes, which are cut with coral. The women wear on their throats pieces of mother-of-pearl, which are shaped roimd and notched at the edges, making brilliant and elegant necklaces*. Our spirituous liquors are frantically sought after by the natives.
Marquesana. — The aborigines of the Marquesas are closely allied to those of the Society Islands, having sinular features and
396 THE BROWN RACE.
a colour which presents like varieties. Cook affirmed that they excelled perhaps all the other races in the nobleness and elegance of their forms, and the regularity of their lineaments. The men are tattooed from head to foot and appear very brown, but the women, who are only lightly marked, the children, and the young people, who are not so at all, have skins as white as many Europeans. The men are in general tall, and wear the beard long and arranged in different ways. Their garments are identical with those of the Tahitians, and made from stuffs of the same materials.
Sandivichians, — The colour of this people is that of Siena clay, slightly mixed with yellow. Their hair would be magnificent if they allowed it to grow, for it is as black and shining as jet. Their manners are pleasing. They usually shave the sides of the head, allowing a tuft to grow on the top, which extends down to the nape of the neck in the form of a mane. Some, however, preserve theii* hair entire, and let it float in very graceftilly twisted locks about their shoulders. Their eyes are lively and full of ex- pression ; their nose slightly flat and often aquiline ; their mouth and lips moderately large. They have splendid teeth, and it is consequently a great pity when they extract a few on the death of a friend or benefactor. Their chests are broad, but their arms show little muscle, while the thighs and legs are sinewy enough, and their feet and hands excessively small. They all tattoo their bodies or one of their limbs with designs representing birds, fans, chequer-work, and circles of different diameters. The same superstition that deprives them of their teeth at tlie death of a relation or of a friend also imposes upon them the obligation of cauterizing eveiy part of their bodies with a red-hot iron.
The women are not so well-made as the men, and their stature is small rather than tall, but their ample shoulders, and the smallness of their hands and feet, are generally admired. They have a great love for coronets of green leaves. Princesses and ladies of high rank have reserved to themselves the exclusive right of wearing flowers of vacci passed through a reed. Hardly any of them use more than one earring, but they have a passion for necklaces, and make them of flowers and fruits.
These details are derived from Jacques Arago, who published under the title, ** Voyage autour du Monde,'' an account of the long and remarkable journey which he made in 1817, and the three
1CALA.Y BRANCH. 887
following years, on board the French correttesy Wranie and La Physieienne, commanded by Freycinet.
In a letter dated from Owhyhee, as was also that from which the preceding information has been taken, the same traveller gives us the following sketch of the '' palace " of the Sovereign of the Sandwich Islands, as well as of its occupants.
It was a miserable thatch hut, from twelve to fifteen feet in breadth, and about five-and-twenty or thirty feet long, with no means of entrance but a low, narrow door. A few mats were spread within, on which some half-naked colossi— generals and ministers— were lying. Two chairs were visible, destined on ceremonial days for a huge, greasy, dirty, heavy, haughty man — the king. The queen, but half-dresaed, was a prey to the itch and other disgusting maladies. This tasteful and imposing interior was protected by walls of cocoa leaves and a sea-weed roof, feeble obstacles to the wind and rain.
M. de la Salle in his account of the voyage of the Bonite (1886 and 1837), states that the natives of the Sandwich Islands generally possess good constitutions ; that their slender and well- formed figures are usually above middle height, but far from equalling that of the chiefs -and their wives, who seem from their tall stature and excessive corpulence to have a different origin from the common people. These exalted personages appear in fact to be descended from a race of conquerors, who, having subjugated the country, established there the feudal system by which it is still oppressed. The same author adds that the Sandwichians have mild, patient dispositions, are dexterous and intelligent, and capable of bearing fatigue with ease.
Such is the state of misery in which the lower classes live, that the unfortunate wretches have scarcely what will keep them from dying of starvation. This distress is not the result of idleness alone; the ever increasing exactions of the chiefs harass and discourage the labourer.
The voyagers in the BonUe when drawing near the Sandwich Islands, could thiok of nothing but the pictures of them which Captain Cook has left us ; of those wild, energetic, kind, simple men ; those warriors in mantles of feathers ; those women full of grace and voluptuousness ; of whom the English explofrer has given the most alloiing desoriptioiis. They were first pleased by
398 THE BKOWN EACE.
the neat and elegant shapes of the canoee as well as hj the expertness of the awinunerB. They beheld the islanders as naked as in the days of Cook, without any other attire than the tradi- tional "maro;" but these men didnotnowcome, by way of salute, to crush their noses against those of their visitors ; they were
profuse of handshaking all round, in the English fasJiion, and nfTected the airs of gentlemen. Bananas, potatoes, and other fresh prorisiona had been brought on board by Oiem, but when, as in olden times, they were oifered necklaces, bracelets, and ear-rings, the savages no longer showed the genuine admiration and fierce eagerness which were looked for from them. After a disdainful glance thrown at the beads, they asked for clothes and iron. These men had ceased to be the artless islanders of the time of Captain Cook !
One of the officers of the Bon'ite, M. Vaillant, was invited to
1CALA.T BRANCH. 9M
come on shore by a district chief, named Kapis-Lani, who happened to be a woman. Her toilet did not in the least resemble that of the natives, consisting of a white muslin robe confined at the waist by a long blue riband, a silk kerchief rolled about her neck, and a head-dress of hair fastened by two horn combs.
The former customs of the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands have been completely modified, from every point of view, by the English missionaries, who, in order to gain their object have availed themselves of the weapon heretofore so powerful in the hands of priests and of kings, — "taboo."
Formerly, when a ship arrived, a multitude of women used to come to take it by assault, either in canoes or swimming, contending among themselves, per fas et nefas, for the bounties of the strangers : the missionaries declared the sea " tabooed " for the softer sex.
In order to restrain the laxity of morals, wives were proclaimed " tabooed " for everj^one except their husbands, and unmarried girls " tabooed " for all. It was necessary to proscribe the passion for strong drinks, and consequently brandy, wine, and
other liquors were struck with the same interdiction.
*
We should add that these reformers did not limit themselves to the moral authority of " taboo," but supported it by the stick and hard labour on the roads.
By such means they have succeeded in altering the external and public behaviour of the natives, but not in uprooting vice among them.
We shall borrow a few features firom the picture which M. Yaillant has sketched of his walk in a village of Hawaii.
Scarcely had he arrived when he heard himself called from the interior of a large cabin in which were assembled about thirty persons, who invited him to enter.
The dwelling was built of straw, and along its walls calabashes, cocoa-nuts, and a few fishing utensils were to be seen hanging in confusion.
A single apartment usually answered all purposes, but it was separated into two parts. Some mats spread upon the ground at one side indicated where the occnpants slept; the ground oppo- site was bare, and in the latter division the hearth was placed.
400 THE BROWN RACE.
The officer seated himself on the matting in the same way as hia hosts, who suiTounded him and overpowered him with questions. Men and women, moreover, without giving a thonght to decency or tlie civilization introduced by the English mission- aries, put themselves perfectly at their ease, and were content with the very simple uttii'e of their forefathers ; the " maro " formed the whole extravagimee of theii\ toilette.
The most apparent result of the efforts of tlie missionazies is that tlie natives of the Sandwich Islands are for the most part able to read and write. These perfectly naked savages possess a prayer-book, a treatise on arithmetic, and a bible.
Any little presents whit-h people liked to offer them were accepted by the women with gratitude ; after a few coquettish advances, in case a person pressed tliem closely, tliey uttered slowly and distinctly, the word, *' taboo."
When out-of-doors tlieir costume consisted of a piece of cloth which they (kapcd around them not ungracefully ; but they did not appear veiy pretty to the eyes of the voyagers in the Bonite,
The governor of Hawaii, Kona-Kcni, was a man of goodly presence and pleasing face ; his height was almost gigantic and his corpulence enormous, so much so that he could scarcely support liimself upon his legs. His wife received M. Vaillant. Slie reclined on a heap of mats forming a bed rjiised a foot above the ground, and was covered from head to foot in a loose gown of blue brocaded silk. Her proportions also were immense. Laid heavily on the piled-up mats lier prodigious mass reminded him of a seal basking in the sun. Around the bed of tlie lady pai'amount, were ranged, squatted on mats, the numerous dames forming the couil of Kona, and who were clad in loose robes of cotton stuff with colom-ed flowers. Tlieir head-dresses consisted of hair only, in the American style. Two of them were provided with fly-flappers, whieli they waved incessantly round Kona's head. The governor wore a straw liat, a vest and shirt of printed calico, gi*ay trowsers, and had his neck bare.
MiCRONESLVN Fa^IILY.
The Micronesian Family inhabits the small islands lying to the north-west of Oceania, that is to say the ai*chipelagos of the Marianne (or Ladrone) Islands, as well as of the Caroline and
THK "ILMA-S" BACE
AavSSinrAN HINDOO
BROWN RACE
1
I
. I
W
'I
II
MALAY BEiLNCH. 401
Mulgrave gronps, &c. According to Dnmont d'Urville these tribes differ from those dwelling in the east by having a daricer skin, thinner face, less widely opened eyes, more slender forms, and altogether distinct dialects, which vary from one gronp to another. Their manners are gentle. They do not recognize " taboo."
We shall avail ourselves of some interesting details which Lesson has given of the Caroline islands, mentioning in the first place what he has told us concerning the Gilbert group.
A solitary canoe containing three men ventured to approach his corvette, and it was only after prolonged hesitation that these individuals made up their minds to go on board. They had lank and miserable limbs ; a dark colour, and broad, coarse features ; tlieir hair was cut close by means of a shell, and neither beard nor moustache was apparent. The only covering they wore was a little round cap of plaited dry leaves of the cocoa tree, and a roughly-made mat with a hole in the middle, for the protection of the shoulders and breast. Their stomachs were bound round with twists of a rope formed from the husk of cocoa-nuts.
Lesson and his companions were the fii*st Europeans whom the natives of the island of Oualan had seen. They made a ring round the voyagers, touched them with their hands, and over- whelmed tliem with questions. This race is generally of low stature. The men have high and narrow foreheads, thick eyebrows, small oblique eyes, broad noses, large mouths, white teeth, and bright red gmns. Their black imfrizzled hair is long, and their beard far from abimdant. They possess rounded and well-formed limbs, and a hard, light bronze-coloured skin. They are spiritless and effeminate.
The women and young girls have agreeable coimtenances, their black eyes being full of fire, and their mouths furnished with superb teeth ; but their figures are badly formed, and they have hips of immoderate size. They go about in almost complete nudity. Both sexes have a habit of making a large hole in the right ear, for the purpose of placing in it everything that people give them, and sometimes articles very unfit for ear- rings, such as bottles. Girls usually fill it with bouquets of pancratium, a plant of the amaryUis fEomlyf and often detach, a
9 B
402 THE BROWN RACE.
few of these sweet-smelling flowers, and try to pnt them into a traveller's ears, while smiling graciously. The men also wear chaplets of brilliant flowers or arum stalks.
These aborigines do not make use of any kind of garments as a protection against the frequent rains of their climate, but they shield their heads from the sun with a broad arum leaf.
The chiefs seem to trj^ not to expose themselves so much to the influences of the heat, and are whiter and better made than tlie other islanders. The patterns of their tattooing are their sole mark of distinction ; they fasten feathers, however, in the knot which confines their hair, and whenever persons give them nails they stick them around their forehead, arranging them regularly like a diadem. The women appeared chaste ; na}- more, the men were anxious to keep them out of the strangers' sight, a feeling all the more remarkable because quite at variance with the usual habits of the South Sea Islanders.
Oualan was governed at that time by one chief only, whom the people encompassed with extraordinary reverence, never pro- nouncing his name without veneration.
The prerogatives of the chiefs appear to rest upon religious ideas. They differ in general from the people by an erect carriage, a more imposing and solemn manner, as well as b}' the better executed tattooing whicli indicates their rank. A great many chiefs rule in the districts of the island, and appear to hold absolute rights over property, and, it may be, over persons.
As regards industry, the only manufactm-es for wbich the natives of Oualan are remarkable are cloth and canoes. They draw tlireads from the leaves or the stems of the wild banana tree {Mtisa teatUis), which they know how to dye in red, yellow, or black, and with which they make stuffs that are not greatly in- ferior to Phiropean textures.
They build their boats with hatchets fonned of stone or shell, and notwithstanding the imperfection of these implements, give to their work a finish of finical nicety. The body of the canoe is lioUowed from a single tree, sometimes a very big one. They l)olish the wood with trachyte, or by means of large rasps made from the skin of the sea-devil. These little vessels ai'e propelled by oars, without either sails or masts.
Lesson, in alluding to the people of the Mac-Askill Islands, who bear the closest analogy to the inhabitants of Oualan both in
MALAY BIIANCH. 403
j>Iij'sicnl chai'acterislies and the state of their industry, remarks on the taste which some snvages tUsplay for flowers as an adorn- ment of the person. There were j'oung females in these islands who wore on theii' heads crowns of Ixora, the corollas of which fire a brilliant crimson ; a few had passed through the holes in tlieii' ears leaves of flowere exhaling the fragrant odom- of violets, and white blossoms were twined in the hair of others. Tbesa ornaments, adds the learned traveller, posaeseed a charm more easy to feel than to express.
THE BED KACE.
This race is sometimes designated as the American, because in the fifteenth century it formed in itself alone almost the whole population of the two Americas. But Europeans, and especially the English of the United States, constitute, at present, the greatest part of the inhabitants of America. They have to a certain extent monopolised the name of " Americans," so much so that people generally call the nations of the Red Bace Indians, a title which was given to them by the Spaniards, in the time of Christopher Columbus, in consequence of that strange mistake of the great Genoese navigator, who discovered the New World without knowing it, that is to say, while imagining that he had simply found a new passage by which to reach the ** Great Indies," in Asia.
The denomination of Red Race is, besides, a defective one, in so much that several tribes ranked in this group have no shade of red in their colour. This division is, in fine, rather imperfect from an ethnological point of view, but it i)ossesses the advantage of fixing geographically the habitat of the nations included in it.
The American Indians approach closely to the Yellow Race belonging to Asia, in their haii*, wliich is generally black, rough, and coarse, in the scarceness of their beard, and in their complexion, which varies from yellow to a red copper colour. Among one portion of them the very prominent nose and large open eyes recall to mind the White Race. Their forehead is extremely retreating, but no other race have the back part of the head more developed, or broader eye-sockets. Though usually hospitable and generous, they are cruel and implacable in their
XEDB BSD BACK Ml
resentmentSy and make war for the most MyoIoos causes. Two ci these nations, the primitiye Mexicans and PemvianSi had formed^ founded wide empires, and had attained a somewhat advaiiced civilizationy though lower than that of Europeans of the same epoch. But these monarchies having been swept away by their Spanish conquerors, progress was checked. The Indians whu escaped the destruction of their race, and submitted to the Tictors, are now no better than husbandmen or artisans, while as for those that remained independent, they wander in the woods and the prairies, and are the last representatives of man in the savage or semi-savage state. They live in the forests* and savannahs, on the produce of their hunting and fishing ; their wives are kept by them in a state of the greatest abjectness, and are loaded with the heaviest labour ; while certain tribes still continue to offer human sacrifices to their idols.
A fact which deserves notice is, that the Indians who were already settled and who were husbandmen when the Spaniards arrived, speedily submitted to the strangers, but never has it been found possible to tame those who have shown themselves, fircmi the fifteenth century to this day, rebels to foreign influence, and who have preferred to become masters of the forest solitudes rather than accept the yoke and customs of the Europeans. More* over, the number and population of the wild tribes of the two Americas diminish every year, especially in the north, a result attributable to their continual wars, the ravages of the small-pox, and, above all, to the fatal passion of these savage nations for brandy.
Anthropologists have taken great trouble to discover the real origin of the Indians of America, and to establish their affinilfy with the other human families, but up to the present their studies have led to no satisfactory result. The Indians cannot be accQ- rately brought into connection with either the White, Yellow, or Brown Race ; nor on the other hand can the mingling of these three groups be explained, nor the American Indian be recog- Bked as a determinate origiBal type.
The great differences, both in the shape of the skull and the colour of the skin, which are known to exist among the Indisii tribes, proclaim numercms crossings. Many drcumstanees profo that in yery remote times some Euiopesns made their msf into America 1^ the aorfhi and tiiftl th^ tomA there oeM or
406 THE RED RACE.
many native races, whom they partially overcame, and with whom they are mingled to the present day. The degree of ciyilization that had been reached by the Mexicans and Peruvians of old, when Colmnbus landed in the New World ; tlie American tradition which holds that the founders of their empires were foreigners ; the existence on the Northern continent of ruins annoiincing a state of things at least as far advanced as that of the NahuatJi and the Quichuas, (the former Mexicans and Peruvians) ; such are the facts whicli establish that a blending formerly took place between the primitive Indians and Northern Europeans. *
The shape of the body peculiar to the Indians of the north- east, has equally led to the sui>position that they reckon some Europeans among their ancestors, an idea which ai^peai-s all the more admissible, because in the tenth centmy the ancient Scandinavians undoubtedly had relations with America.
Consequently, the original race which has peopled the Western Hemisphere is almost impossible to be traced. Probably the population which existed in the New World before the arrival of the Europeans was made up of several types diiferent from those that are extant at present in the otlier regions of the globe, types having a great tendency to modify themselves, and which were obliterated whenever they came in contact with the races of Europe. But to re-ascend back to tliis piimordial population would now be impossible.
In commenting on the tribes of the Red llace, we shall separate the Indians who inhabit North America from those dwelling in the southern continent, for certain characteristics mark these two groups ; in other words, we shall distinguish in the Ked Hace two divisions — the southern bi'anch and the northern branch.
CHAPTER L
SOUTHEKN BRANCH.
The nations of the southern branch of the Red Race have affinity to those of the Yellow Race. Their complexion, which is often yellowish or olive, is never so red as that of the noi*them Indians ; their head is usually of less length and theii* nose not so prominent, while they frequently have oblique eyes.
We intend to divide this branch into three families, named respectively tlie Andiaii, Pampeariy and Gunranu
Andian Fa>uly.
This family contains three different peoples : — firstly, the QulchiLOs ; secondly, the Aiitis Indians; and thirdly, tlie Aratt- canians.
The characteristics which the ti'ibes belonging to this group possess in common are an olive-brown complexion, small stature, low retiring forehead, and horizontal eyes, which are not drawn down at the outer angle. They inhabit the western parts of Bolivia, Peru, and tlie State of Quito. These countries were completely subjugated by the Spaniards in the sixteenth centur}', and the natives converted to Chi'istianity.
We shall notice in the fii'st division, Quichuas or ancient Incas, the Aynmras, the AUicamas, and the Changos.
Quichuas or Incas. — The Quichuas were the principal people of the ancient empire of the Incas, and they still constitute almost half the free Indian population of South America. In the fifteenth century the Incas were the dominant race among the nations of Peru, speaking a language of their own, called Quichu.
The former Incas, those who lived before the Spanish invasion.
408
THE EED BACK.
were possessed of a certain degree of civilizalion. They had calculated exactly the length of the solar year, had made rather considerable progress in the art of sculpture, preserved memorials of their history by means of hieroglj'phics, and enjoyed a well- organized government and a code of good laws. Oratois, poets, and musicians were to be foimd among them, and their figurative melodions lan- guage denoted prolonged cul- ture. Their re- ligion was im- pressed to the highest degree with a devo- tional character. They recognized a God, the su- preme arbiter and creator of all things. This divinity was the sun, and superb temples were raised by them to its honour. Their religiou and their man- ners breathed great sweetness. The fierce Spfinlsh conquerors en- countered this mild, inoffensive race, and never rested until they had annihilated with fire and sword these unsophisticated, peace- able men, who were of more worth than theu- cruel invaders.
Figs. 179 and 180 represent types of Incaa drawn from the genealogical tree of the imperial family, which was published in the " Tour du Motide," in 1863.
According to Alcide d'Orbigny, the naturalist, who baa given a perfect description of this race, the Quichuas are not copper- coloured, but of a mixed shade, between brown and olive ; their average height is not more than five feet two inches, that of the females being still lower. They have broad, square shoolders, and an excessively full chest, very prominent, and very long.
F.MPEBOB OF THB IKCAS.
souTHxmr bbakoh.
4t»
Their hands and laet are small. The eraniom and features of this people are strongly characteristic, constitnting a perfectly diatinet type, which bears no resemblance to any but the Mexican. The head ia oblong from front to back, and a little compressed at the sides ; the forehead slightly ronnded, low, and somewhat retreating ; yet the sktdl is often capacions, and denotes a rather large development of the brain. The &ce is g^erally broad ; the nose always prominent, somewhat long, and so extremely aqoi- Itne, as to seem as
if the end were ■ -r.-s"-'^ *•"
bent over the upper lip, and pierced by wide very open nos- trils. The size of the mouth is large rather than moderate, and the hps protrude , although they are not thick. The teeth are "' '
invariably hand- some, and re- ISO.— coya main good dur- ing old age. Without being receding, the chin is a little short ; indeed it is sometimes slightly projecting. The eyes are of moderate size and frequently even small, fdways horizontal, and never either drawn down or ap at their outer angle. The eye- brows are greatly arched, narrow, and thin. The colour of the ludr is always a fine black, and it is coarse, thick, long, and extremely smooth and straight, and comes down very low at each side of the forehead. The beard is limited to a few straight and scattered hairs, which appear very late across the upper lip, at the sides of the mouth, and on the point of the chin. The conntenanee of these men is regular, serious, thoughtful, and even sad, and it might be said that they wish to conceal their thooghts beneath the still, set look of their featores* A pretty fue is seldtan seen among the women. An ancient vaae has been found on which ia a painting of aa
410 THE RED BACK
Inca, who is in every way so entirely like those of tlie present day as to prove that during four or five centuries the lineaments of these people have not undergone any perceptible alteration.
The Aymaras bear a close resemblance, so far as physical cha- racteristics are concerned, to the Quichuas, from whom, however, they ai*e completely separated by language.
They formed a numerous nation, spread over a wide expanse of countr}% and appear to have been civilized in very remote time^. We may consider the A}'maras as the descendants of that ancient race which, in far-off ages, inhabited the lofty X^lains now covered by the singular monimients of Tiagnanaco, the oldest city of South America, and which peopled the borders of Lake Titicaca.
The Aymaras resemble the Quichuas in the most remarkable feature of their organization, namely the length and breadth of tlie chest, which, by allowing the lungs to attain a great develop- ment, renders these tribes particularly suited for living on hi^ mountains. In the shape of the head and the intellectuMl faculties, as well as in manners, customs, and industry, both peoples may be compared, but the architectui'e of the monuments and tombs of the fonner race diverges widely from that of the Incas.
Two nations inferior in immbers to those of which we have just spoken, may be mentioned here ; they are tlie Atacamas, occupy- ing the western declivities of the Peruvian Andes, and the ChaiigoSy dwelling on the slopes next the Pacific. Both one and the other are like the Incas in physical characteristics, but the colom* of the skin of the Changos is of a slightly darker hue, being a blackish bisti*e.
A.nti8. — The Antis Indians comprise many tribes, namely, the Yuracares, Mocetenes, Tacanas, Maropas, and Apolistas, races which inliabit the Bolivian Andes. Their complexion is lighter than that of the Incas, they have not such bulky bodies, and their features are more effeminate.
The accoimt which M. P^ul Marcoy has given in the ** Tour du Monde " of his travels across South America from the shores of the Pacific to those of the Atlantic, is accompanied by several
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 411
sketches representing Antis Indians and some wandering hordes which belong to the same group ; and we have reproduced a few
of these drawings in our pages, the first two (figs. 181 and 182) being types of the heads of these people. We also derive from the same source the following details as to this race.
The Antis is of meclium stature and well-proportioned, witli rounded limbs. He paints his cheeks and the part round his eyes with a red dye, extracted from the rocou plant, and also colours those parts of his bodv txpced to tht airwith the black ol genipa His co\eriugconsisti of a long, sack shipcd flock, ivoveu hj the women, as is '
also the wallet, IM.— an antis Indian.
in tile shfipe of
a hand bag, carried by him across his shoulder, and containing his toilet articles, namely : — a comb made with tlie thorns of the Chouta palm ; some rocou in paste ; half a genipa apple ; a bit of looking-glass framed in wood ; a ball of tliread ; a scrap of wax ; pincere for extracting bail's, formed of two mussel- sliells ; a snuff-box made from a snail's shell, and containing very finely giound tobacco gathered green ; an apparatus for gi'ating the snuff, made of the ends of reeds or two arm bones of a monkey, soldered together with black wax at an acute angle ; sometimes, a knife, scissors, fish-hooks, and needles of European mauufactiu-e.
Both sexes wear their hair hanging down like a horse's tail, and cut straight across just over the eyes. The only trinket they carry is a piece of silver money flattened between two stones,
4iS THE BED BACE
which they pierce ynih a hole and hang from the cartilage of their nosttils. For ornaments they have necklaces of glass beads, cedar and st\Tnx berries, skins of birds of biilliuit plumage, tucana's beaks, tapir's claws, and even vanilla IiiisIlS strung upon a thread.
Tlie Aiitis almost nln-uys build their dwellings on the banks of a water-course, iso- lated and half hidden by a screen of vegeta- tion. The huts are low and dirty, and perraded by a smell like that of ^nld beasts, for the air can scarcely circulate in them. In the fine season of the year sheds take the place of closed<i)p huts (fig. 183).
The weapons used by the Antis are clubs and bows and arrows. ,-- F i she nneu capture their
--'' prey in tlie running
182.— AS AKTis iNuiAs. streftms with arron
barbed at the ends, or having three prongs like a trident. Other darts, with palm- points or bamboo-heads, are employed by the hunter for birda and quadiiipeds.
The Antis occasionally poison the waters of the creeks and bays by means of the Meiikpermiim cocculus. The fish become instantanoousi}- intoxicated ; Uiey first struggle, then rise belly tipx>ermost, and come floating on tlie surface, where they arc easily taken with the hand (fig. 184).
The earthenware of this people is coarsely manufactured, aud is painted and glazed. 'I'hey live in families, or iu separate couples, and have no law beyond their own caprice. They do not elect chiefs, except in time of war, and to lead them against an enemy. The girls are mai-riageable at twelve years of age, and accept any husband who seeks them, if he has prenously made some present to their pai'ents. They prepare their lord and
SOUTHERN BRANCH.
«13
master's food, weave his clotbes, look after and gather in the crops of lice, maiiioc, maize, and other cereals ; cany his baggage on a journey, follow him to battle, and pick up the arrows which he has discharged; they aJso accompany him in
the chase or when fishing, padtUe bis canoe, and bring back to their dwelling tlie booty gained from an enemy, and the game or fisb which has been killed ; and yet, notwithstanding this severe work and continual bondage, the women are always cheerful.
They use a large earthea vessel to cook the fish caught
414 THE BED BACE.
in the nearest stream, or the game killed in the ac^joinisg forest.
When one of this nation dies, his relatives anil friends assemble in hia abode, seize the corpse (which is wrapped in the loose
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 413
sack-like frock usually worn ) by the bead and feet, and throw it into the nver They then wreck the dwelling break the deceased 3 bow arrows and pottery scatter the ashes of his hearth de-v astate his crops cut down to the ground the trees which he baa planted and finally set fire to his but The pi ice is
tlieiiceforth reputed impure, and is shunned by all passers-by ; vegetation very soon reasserts its sway, and the dead is for ever effaced from the memory of the living.
These people who thus treat their dead so badly, profess an equal disdain for the aged, for whom they reserve the refuse of their . food, their worn-out rags, and the worst place at the hearth.
416 THE RED RACK
Their religion is a jumble of theogonieSy in which howerer are recognizable a notion of the existence of a supreme God, the idea of the two principles of good and evil, and finally, a belief in reward or punishment on leaving this life.
The manners of these tribes are, as may be seen, a somewhat singular medley ; fi'ee will is the ruling law and, as it were, the wisdom of their race, which lives tmfettered in the bosom of nature.
The Antis Indians have a soft smooth idiom, which they speak with extreme volubility in a low, gentle tone that never varies.
Arau<:anians. — These tribes spread themselves over the western slopes of the Andes, from 80 degrees south latitude to the extremity of Tierra del Fuego, and also occupy the upper valleys and plains situate to the east of the Cordilleras.
The Araucanians constitute two nations, namely, the people who properly bear that name, indomitable warriors, whose heroism is celebrated in the history of the Spanish conquest of Peru : and the Pecherays, who inhabit the most southern link of the American mountain chain.
According to A. d'Orbigny, both these races present a great similitude as regards their j^hysical characteristics, which consist of a head that is large in proportion to the body, a round face, prominent cheekbones, a broad mouth, thick lips, a short, flat nose, wide nostrils, a narrow retiring forehead, hoiizontal eyes, and a tliin beard.
Fig. 186 is a representation, after Pritchai'd, of one of those Araucanian Indians who may be considered as fonning the least barbarous of the independent native tribes of South America,
These people do not, in fact, lead the nomadic existence of Indians. Being protected by thick forests from tlie attacks and invasions of the Americans, they build what are real houses with wood and ii'on, and theii* customs denote a rudimentary civiliza- tion.
A Perigueux attorney has rendered the Araucanian nation celebrated in France. He had succeeded in getting himself chosen as its king, and when chased away by the Peruvians came to relate his Odyssey in Europe, returning afterwards to re- conquer his tmstable throne. Orelie, the First of the name, has
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 417
Recording to rumonr recovered at present his lofty position among the Indians of Araucania. AVe wish him a tranquil
The Peekerays inhabit the coast of Tierra del Fuego and both shores of the Straita cf Magellan The life they lead and the ice covenng all the interior of the hilly country they occupy force them to remain exclusively on the borders of the sea
Their colour is olive or ta^Tiy thej are well built but of clumsy figure and then legs bowed fiom continually sitting crosb legged give them an unsteady gait Their pleasant natural smile gives indication of an obliging disposition.
Being essentially nomadic thej do not foi-m themselves into commumties but mo\e about in small numbers, by groups of two or three famihes living by hunting and fisliing, and changing their resting-place as soon as they have exhausted the animals and shell-fish of the neighbourhood. Dwelling in a region which is
418
THE RED RACE.
split np into a mnltitude of islands, they have become navigators, and coDtinually traverse every shore of Tierra del Fuego as well as of the countries situated to the east of the strait. They build large boats, twelve to fifteen feet long and three feet broad, from the bark of trees, with no other implements than shells or hatchets made of ttint.
Their huts (fig. 187) are covered over with earth or sealskins
and some fine morning the wliole family will abandon them and take to their canoes with tlieir numerous dogs. The women plj their oars, while the men liold themselves in readiness to pierce any fish they perceive, with a dart pointed by a sharpened stone. When in tliis way they arrive at another island, the women, having placed their little vessel in safet}', start in search of shell- fish and the men go hunting with the sling or the bow. A short stay is followed by a fresh departure.
These poor people are thus incessantly exposed to the dangen of the sea and the inclemency of the seasons, and yet they are, it may be said, without clothing. The men's Moulders are barely
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 419
covered with a scrap of sealskin, whilst the whole apparel of the women consists in a little apron of the same material.
Notwithstanding this rude existence, the Pecherays display some coquetry. They load their necks, arms, and legs with gew- gaws and shells, and paint their bodies, and oftener their faces, with different designs in red, white, and black. The men occasionally ornament their heads with bunches of feathers. All wear a kind of boot made of sealskin.
Like all other tribes who subsist by hunting, the Pecherays have among themselves frequent quarrels, and even petty wars, that last only a short time but are continually renewed.
They share their food with their faithful companions, the dogs ; it consists of cooked or raw shell-fish, birds, fish, and seals, and they eat the fat of the latter raw. They do not, like the inhabitants of the North Pole, pass the most rigorous period of the winter underground, but pursue their laboiu's in the open air, protecting themselves as best they can against the cold which prevails on these shores, notwithstanding the deceitful name of Tierra del Fuego. This *' Land of Fire," by reason of its proximity to the South Pole, is, dui-ing the greater part of the year, a region of ice.
The women are subjected to the roughest labours. They row, fish, build the cabins, and plunge into the sea, even during the most intense cold, in their search for the shell- fish attaclied to the rocks.
The language of the Pecherays resembles that of the Patago- nians and the Puelches in sound, and that of the Araucanians in form. Their weapons and their religion, as well as the paintings on their faces, are also those of these three neighbouring nations.
Pampean Family.
The rather numerous tribes of South America who compose this family are frequently of tall stature, with arched and pro- minent foreheads overhanging horizontal eyes which are some- times contracted at the outer angle. They inhabit the immense plains or PampaSy situated at the foot of the eastern slope of the Andes. They rear great numbers of horses, and consequently the men, like the tribes who roam over the steppes of Asia, are nearly always mounted.
B X 2
420 THE RED RACK
The peoples comprised in this family are : the Patagoniaru, properly so called; the Puelches, or the tribes of the Pampas to the south of the La Plata river ; the Charruas, in the vicinity of Uruguay ; the TohaSy LenguaSy and Machicuys, who occupy the greater part of Chaco ; the Moxos, the Chiquitos, and the Mataguayos ; and finally the famous Abipoous ; the centaurs of the New World. We can only speak of some of these groups.
Patagonians. — Under this name we include, besides the Pata- gonians proper, several other nomadic races resembling them, who are found, some to the north, and others to the south, of the La- Plata. The latter wander over the pampas which stretch from that river as far as the Straits of Magellan ; while the northern tribes, who bear a physical resemblance to the genuine Patagonians, inhabit that portion of the country com- prised between the Paraguay river and the last spurs of the Cordilleras, and which stretches northward as far as the twentieth degree of latitude, including the inland plains of the province of Chaco.
The Patagonians are the nomads of the New World. They furnish the horsemen who scour its vast arid tracts, living under tents of skins, or who hide in its forests, in huts covered with bark and thatch. Haughty and unconquered warriors, they despise agriculture and the arts of civilization, and have always resisted the Spanish arms.
These savages have darker skins than most of those in South America. Their complexion is an olive-brown ; and among the men composing them we find the tallest stature as well as the most athletic and robust frames. The tribes dwelling furthest south are the tallest, and the height of the others diminishes as the Chaco region is approached.
As has been stated in the introduction to tliis work, the stature of this people has been heretofore greatly exaggerated. M. Alcide d'Orbigny, who resided for seven months among many distinct divisions of the Patagonians, measured several individuals in each. He assures us that the tallest of all was only five feet eleven inches in height, and that the average is not above five feet four.
M. Victor de Rochas, in the account he has given of his
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 421
voyage to Magellan's Straits, has proved in a similar manner that the stature of the Patagonians is by no means extraordinary. He found them possessed of a brown complexion ; coarse straight black hair, little beard ; serious countenances — those of the men being manly and haughty, and the women's mild and good — and regular but coarse features. The hands and feet of the females were small.
Broad, robust bodies, stout limbs, and vigorous constitutions characterise all the tribes in question, the women as well as the men. The Patagonians proper have large heads and wide flat faces with prominent cheek-bones.
Among the nations of Chaco, which we shall speak of fmllier on, the eyes are small, horizontal, and sometimes slightly contracted at the outer corner ; the nose is short, flat and broad, with open nostrils ; the mouth big, the cliin short, and the lips thick and prominent ; they have arched eyebrows, Uttle beard, long straight black hair, and gloomy countenances, frequently of ferocious aspect.
Though the languages of these races are essentially distinct, they have a certain analogy between themselves ; all are hai'sh, guttiu'al, and difficult of pronunciation.
The details which follow are derived from the narrative of a traveller, M. Guinard, who spent three years in captivity among the Patagonians. Fate threw him into the hands of the tribe of the Poyuches, who wander along the southern bank of the Eio Negro, from the neighbourhood of Pacheco Island.
AVhether these nomadic Indians live in the \dcinity of the Spanish Americans or in the solitudes of Patagonia, beneath the outlying woody spurs of the Cordilleras, or on the bare, wild soil of the Pampas, they lead identically the same life. Their occu- pations are the chase, tending their domestic animals, horseman- ship, and the use of the lance, the sling, and the lasso.
Theii* dwellings consist of hide tents, carried by these savages from place to place in their migrations. Their costume is composed of a piece of some sort of stuflF with a hole in the middle to pass the head through, and their waist is girt by another fragment of smaller size. A cloth rag is tied rotmd their head, separating tlie hair in front, and allowing it to fall in long waves over the shoulders. They carefully pluck the hair from every part of their bodies, without even sparing the eyebrows.
422 THE BED BACE.
Tlieir faces are pninted witli volcanic caiilis wliioh the Arnu- canians bring tLcni, the colours varying according to taste, but red, blue, black, iiud ivhito have the preference. The women wear a frock nilli holes for their heads, arms, and legs ; tbef pill) out tlieii' Iiair and eyebrows like tlie men, and paint their faces, the utrange and hard expression of uhicli is cnliauced
by ornaments of coarae beads. I'.racolets and hijuare enr-riiigii complete their toilette. They can tlnow the lauee and the lasso witli as much ease as the men, and ride on horseback like them. 51. Guinard learned bow U* manage the horses anil use tlte weapons of tliis people, for tliey made )iim join in tlieir »and» and fiuanaro hunts.
The chief occnpatiun of these Indians is, in fact, tlic cliase, and they devote themselves to it all through the year. The Chrn-elche/; one of the Patagoniau tribes, who have no horses, pursue tlieir game on foot.
On their return from hunting tJie Patagonians abandon tlieni-
. P&TAOOKIAN HOBSB
424 THE RED RACE.
selves to gambling and debauchery. They cheat at play and become intoxicated to madness, when they fight among them- selves with fury. Two religious festivals are observed by them during the year, on which occasions tliey dance and indulge in fantastic cavalcades.
A custom of piercing their children's ears exists among these people, and the ceremony which then takes place is analogous to that of baptism. The child is laid on a horse, which has been thrown down by the cliief of the family or tribe, and a hole is solemnly bored through the little lobe of his ear.
Let us add that the existence of a new-bom infant is submitted to the consideration of the father and mother, who decide upon its life or death. Should they think fit to get rid of it, it is smothered, and its body carried a short distance, and then abandoned to wild dogs and bii'ds of prey. If the poor little one is judged worthy to live, its mother nurses it until it is three years old, and at four yeai's of age its eai's are solenmly pierced, as described above.
The Patagonians in their religious ceremonials, sacrifice to the Deity a young horse and an ox given by the richest among them. When these animals have been thrown on the ground, with theii' heads turned towards the east, a man rips open the victim (fig. 189), tears out the heart and sticks it, still palpi- tating, on the end of a spear. The eager and curious crowd, with eyes fixed on the blood flowing from the gash, draw auguries, which are almost always to their own advantage, and tlien retire to their abodes, under the belief that God will favour theh' undertakings.
Marriage among these nations is a traflSc, a barter of various articles and animals for a wife. The woman, moreover, is burdened with work, whilst the man takes his ease, whenever he is not hunting or engaged in minding the cattle.
The Patagonian wlio dies in his own home is buried with pomp. His body, covered with his handsomest ornaments, and Avith his weapons laid beside it, is stretched on a winding-sheet of skins. They then wrap it in these skins and tie it on the back of his favourite horse, whose left leg they break. All the women of the tribe join the wives of the deceased and utter piercing shrieks. The men, having painted their hands and faces black, escort the body as far as the place of burial, where horses
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 425
and sheep are sacrificed to serve as food for the dead during his journey into the next world.
Tobas, Lenguas, and Machicuys, — These three tribes, which must, as we have said, be included in the Pampean family, are termed collectively the Indians of the Grand Chaco, or Great Desert. It will not be uninteresting, in order to give an example of the customs of the wild South American races, to quote here some pages in which an account of his visit to the Grand Chaco nations is related by Dr. Demersay in his travels in Paraguay.
" lleduced at the present day to very small numbers and, indeed, almost extinct, the remnant of the Lengua nation," says Dr. Demersay, ** lives to the north of the river Pilcomayo, in union and amalgamated witli the Emmages and Machicuys, within a short distance of the Quartel. Their actual enemies are the Tobas, who are allied to the Pitiligas, Chunipis and Aguilots, and who constitute a numerous horde on the other side of the Pilcomayo.
*' The remnants of the Lenguas are more especially joined and mingled with the Macliicuys : in fact, they no longer form more than a dozen families, and the Mascoyian cacique is theirs as well.
** There are j)a7/cs or doctors, among the Lenguas, who administer nothing to a sick person beyond water or fruit, and who practise suction with the mouth for wounds and sore places. They interlard this operation with juggleries and songs, accompanied by gourds (porongos), shaken in the invalid's ears. These porongos are filled with little stones, arid make a deafen- ing clatter. The payes are also sorcerers, and read the future as well as heal the sick.
** Some girls, but tlie custom is not general, tattoo themselves in an indeUble way at the age of puberty, an event which is always marked by rejoicing. This festival consists of a family gathering, during which the men intoxicate themselves with brandy, if they can obtain some by barter, or with a fermented liquor (chicha) extracted from the fruit of the algaroho.
** The tattooing of the women consists of four narrow and parallel blue lines, which descend from the top of the forehead to the end of the nose, but are not continued on the upper
THE RED RACE.
lip, iis well as of in-egulai' rings traced on the cheeks and chin as far as the temples.
" Both sexes pierce their ears when extremely young, and pass tlirongh them a bit of woo<l, the width of which they keep inces-
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 427
santly increasing, so that towards forty years of age the holes are of enormous dimensions. I measured several of these orifices, and found their average length to be two inches and a half, whilst their diameter was somewhat less considerable. The pieces of wood are solid, iiTegularly rounded, and about an inch and three-quarters in thickness at their widest part. The Lenguas often replace them by a long fragment of the bark of a tree, rolled spu'ally like a wire spring. This ear-ring is called a burbot e.
** The Lenguas comb theii* hair, which they cut at the top of the forehea\l, forming a lock which is drawn backwards, passing over the left ear, until it falls into the mass collected and tied behind with a riband or a woollen string. This body of hair, which is always black, straight, and generally very fine and even silkv, tlieu falls between the shoulders. The women do not always dress their hair in this way; I saw many who allowed it to hang in loose disorder. Moreover, though they may sometimes coiiib it, no one can say that these people take cai'e of their hair ; their extreme filthmess argues to the contrary, for nothing can possibly be seen dirtier than this nation, which in this respect closely resembles the others.
** The weapons of the Lenguas consist of a bow and arrows,
which they cam- behind their backs bound up in a hide ;
they have also an axe, called by them acharjij, borne m a
similar manner. They carrv in their hand a mahana, or
staff, made of hard, lieavv wood ; and to these is also added a
* . . . '
si^ear tipped with u*on, and they sometimes have the bolas and
the lasso. They are excellent horsemen, riding barebacked with
their wife and cliildren, all on the same animal, and all, women
and men, sitting in the same way. They use no bit, contentmg
themselves with a piece of stick ; they make reins from the
fibres of the caraguata.
" Their olive brown colour, darker than that of the Tobas,
tlieir prominent cheek-bones, small eyes, broad flat faces, slightly
depressed noses, wide mouths, and large lips, give to the counte •
nance of these savages a peculiar look which is not a little
enhanced by a pair of ears that come down to the base of
the neck, and with some individuals as far as the collar bone.
The Lenguas, like all Indians, become hideous as they grow
old.
428 THE RED RACE.
*^ A few weeks had passed since my excursion in this directioni when, as I was returning to Assumption from a fresh journey into the interior of the country, I heard tliat the Quartel had been tbe object of a completely unforeseen attack on the part of the Cliaco tribes, and that, after an encounter in which two TtiiIimm had lost their lives, the troops had been able to recover the stolen cattle and to take some x>nsonci*s, who were immediately sent on to the capital, where they were confided to the keeping ol the guard at tlie cavalry baiTack near the arsenal and port. A more favourable opportunity could not have offered for continuing and completing my ethnological studies, so the next day I hastened to the building.
** On arriving there I found a dozen Indians loaded with ironSf seated here and there in the centre of a narrow court. Th^ were covered with dirty European garments, in tattered ponehoip or draped in antic|ue fasliion with wretched blankets. Two boyif one eight and the other fifteen years old, were among the prison- ers, and all seemed sad and dejected. They preserved a profound silence, which I had some trouble to make them break.
*' Side by side with the Lenguas, whom I had seen at the Quartel, tliere were some Tobas and ^lachicuys ; but althon^ known to the first, my interpreter questioned them in vain as to the motive of their attack.
*' The Tol)as are generally of tall and erect stature. I measured three of them, and found tlieii' height to be respec- tively, 5 feet 10| inches, 5 feet 8i inches, and 5 feet 6^ inches. Their muscular system is developed, and their well-formed limbsj like those of all the other nations of the Chaco, are terminated if hands and feet which would cause envy to an Em'opean.
*' They have an ordinary forehead, which is not retreating; lively eyes, larger tlian those of the Lenguas, and narrow thin eyebrows. The iris is black, and they do not pluck out their eye- lashes. Their long regular nose is rounded at tlie end, where it Lccomes shVhtly enlarged, and tlicir mouth, which is a little tnmed up at the angles, is better proportioned and smaller than that of the Lenguas, and is furnished with fine teeth, which are pre- served to a very advanced age. Tliey are also without promi- nent dieek-boiios, and their faces are not so broad as that of the otlier nation.
** 'I'lio Tobas seem to have renounced the use of tlie harbote,
430 THE RED RACE.
wliioli at the time of Azara tliey still wore, and none of them had any scar on the lower lip. Their ears were not pierced. They allow their hair to grow, letting it float freely without being tied; a few, however, cut it straight across the forehead, a habit which is even practised by some of the women.
" The colour of their skin is an olive brown, not so dark as that of the Lenguas, and contains no yellow tint ; but I confess to the great difficulty there is in expressing shades so varied in hue.
"Nothing could draw the prisoners from their taciturnity; tlieir countenances remained impassive, cold, and serious during all our questioning. A winning smile and intei^esting face are attributed by some travellers to the women while still young ; but their features deteriorate at an early age, and, like the men, they gi*ow into repulsive ugliness. Their breasts, which are of moderate size and well formed at first, lengthen to such an extent as to enable tliem to suckle the children carried on their backs.
** The Toba nation occupies, or, to speak more accunitely, overruns a considerable extent of the Chaco plains. We meet its members on the banks of the Pilcomavo, from its mouth to the first spurs of the Andes, where they come in contact witli the Chiriguanos, with whom they are often at war.
"Being usually nomadic, the Tobas occupy themselves in fishing and hunting ; their weapons consist of arrows, 7U(ikana$, long spears witli iron points, and the holas. Some of their tribes, more settled in their habits, add the produce of agri- culture to that of the chase, by cultivating maize, manioc, and potatoes.
" The children of both sexes wear no covering ; men and women roll a piece of cloth round their loins, or envelope them- selves in a cloak made from the skins of wild animals. Necklaces and bracelets of glass beads or small shells form the orna- ments of the females, while in some tribes the men twine round their bodies long white rows of beads, composed of little frag- ments of shells rounded like buttons, and strung together at regular intervals."
Machicuys. — Dr. Demersay does not share the opinion ex- pressed by M. d'Orbigny that the Machicuys may be nothing
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 431
more than a tribe of the Tobas, whose language they perhaps speak. According to the first-named traveller, the tongues of the two nations are difierent, and other distinctions separate them.
'* The Machicuys,'* says Dr. Demersay, "are more sedentary in their habits, are greater tillers of the soil, and are endowed with less fierce manners than the Lenguas, but they resemble them in the extraordinary dimensions of the lobe of the ears as well as in their weapons and method of fighting. Azara says that they differ in the shape of their barbote, which is said to resemble that of the Charruas. To reiterate an observation we have already made, we say that none of the Machicuys we have seen showed any marks of the opening intended for the reception of this savage ornament, which they are abandon- ing, after the example of the Brazilian Botocudos, whilst certain tribes of the ancient continent religiously preserve it. In the same way the Berrys, a black nation on the borders of the Saubat, a tributary on the right bank of the Nile, pierce their lower lip, in order to insert a piece of crj^stal more than an inch long.
** In height, formation, and proportions the Machicuys are similar to the Lenguas, and like them they have small eyes, broad faces, large mouths, flat noses, and wide nostrils. Their hair is allowed to hang loosely, and its thick curls partly cover their faces and fall on their shoulders.
** The language of these nations, like that of all the Indians of the Chaco, is strongly accentuated and full of sounds that require an eff'ort to be forced from the nose and throat ; it contains double consonants extremely difiicult to pronounce.'*
Moxos and Chiquitos, — The interior and, to some extent, central regions of South America lying north of tlie Chaco, have been called by the Spaniards the " Provinces of the Moxos and Chiquitos," from the names of the two principal families of Indian race living in these countries.
The Moxos inhabit vast plains, subject to fi'equent inundations and overrun by immense streams, on which they are constantly obUged to navigate in their boats. They are the ichthyophagists of the river districts of the interior.
The land of the Chiquitos is a succession of mountains incon-
THE RED RACE.
aiderable in height, covered with forests and intersected by numerous small rivers. They are husbandmen and hsTe fixed
The Chiquitos hve in clans, each of which has its own Uttle
village. The men go about naked, but the women wear a flowing garment, which they like to ornament. These Indians are gifted with a happy disposition and amiable manners ; they are sociable, hospitable, inclined to gaiety, and passionately fond of danc- ing and music. They have become permanently converted to Christiani^. Their physical characteristics include a lai^e and
SOUTHERN BBAKCH. 438
spherical head, ahlost always circular, a ronndy fall &ce, promi- nent cheekbones, a low, arched forehead, a short nose, slightly flattened and with narrow nostrils, small horizontal eyes, full of expression and yiyacity, thin lips, fine teeth, a mediocre mouth, little beard, and long black, glossy hair, which does not whiten in extreme old age, but grows yellow.
The manners of the Moxos are strongly analogous to those of the Chiquitos. Their colour is an olive brown, and their stature of the average height. They have not very vigorous limbs, their nose is short and not very broad, their mouth of medium size, their lips and cheekbones but little prominent ; their face is oval or round, and their countenances mild and rather merry* This race dwells on the confines of Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil.
Before the conquest these tribes were established on the banks of the rivers and lakes. They were fishers, hunters, and more especially agriculturists. The chase was a relaxation for them ; fishing a necessity; husbandry afibrded tliem provisions and drinks. Their customs, however, were barbarous. Superstition made a Moxos sacrifice his wife in case she miscarried, and his children if they happened to be twins. The mother rid herself of her offspring \f it wearied her. Marriage could be dissolved at the will of the parties to it, and polygamy was frequent. These Indians were all, more or less, warriors; but tradition and writings have only preserved for us the memorials of one single nation, the members of which were cannibals and devoured their prisoners. The counsels of the missionaries have modified the manners of this people, without removing all its savage usages.
Both the Moxos and the Chiquitos have broad shoulders, extremely full chests, and most robust bodies.
Each of these two races includes a certain number of hordes which we see no necessity for alluding to particularly here, for their half wild habits resemble those of the tribes we have just commented on ; and for similar reasons we shall pass over in silence the other races ranked in the Pampean family, and * whose names have been enumerated in a preceding page.
GUARANY FaMILT.
The Quarany Family is spread over an immense space, from the Rio de La Plata as far as the Caribbean Sea. Its principal
F F
434 THE RED RACK
charncteristics consist of a yellowish complexion, a little tinge witli red, a middle stature, a very heavy frame, a but slight] arched and prominent forehead, oblique eyes turned up at tl outer angle, a short, narrow nose, a moderate-sized mouth, thi lips, cheekbones without much prominence, a round, full faci
\ effeminate featm^es, and a pleasing countenance.
! D'Orbigny has established two divisions only in this fanul;
namely, the Gnaranis and the Botocudos,
!
i Gnaranis, — At the period of the discover}' of South America, a
j that portion of the continent lying to the east of the Paragua
;■ imd of a line drawn from the sources of that river to the delta <
j the Orinoco, was inhabited by numberless indigenous nation
i belonging to two gi'eat families. One of these families was thi
of the Guaranis, diffused over the whole of Pai'aguay, and allie with the wild tribes of Brazil ; the other included the race occupying the more northern provinces, and extending to th gulf of Mexico. The Indians appertaining to both these famihe ^ strongly resemble each other in features as well as complexioi
\. and d'Orbigny attributes to them the same physical t^'pe, on
'! mai-ked by a yellowish colour, medium height, foreheads thj
l; do not recede, and eyes frequently oblique and always raised fl
; the (Miter angle.
! The entirely exceptional aptitude whicli the Guarany natio
has evinced for entering on the patli of social improvement
renders it one of tlie most interesting in South America. Th
Southern Gnarnnls, or natives of Paraguay, include at the sani
^ time the tribes who have submitted to the sway of the mission*
f in the establishments which the Jesuits have formed in th
comitry, and others who still roam in freedom throughout th
forests of that province. Besides the Guaranis, properly so calle<
: who are all Christians, and inhabit thirty-two rather extensiv
I villages situated on the bordei's of tlie Parana, the I.^araguaT
and the Uruguay rivers, there exists a certain number of wil
hordes belonging to the same race, who remain hidden in tli
depths of the woods. These tribes bear names derived in mos
' instances ft'om tliose of the rivers or mountains in whose vicinit
J they dwell, and among the principal of them are mentioned th
TopaSy TobatinguaSy Cayugu<i8, Gadigxies, Magachs, etc. M. Demersay, who has visited the Jesuit establishments in Para
SOUTHEBN BRANCH. 435
goajy also trayersed the forests inliabited by the wild races' of which we are speaking, and the results of his observations were published by him in the "Tour du Monde" in 1866. We shall avail ourselves here of those parts of his narrative which refer to the savage nations of Paraguay.
" The history of the American races," says M. Demersay, " might be comprised in a few pages. Some have accepted the semi-servitude which the conquerors imposed on them; the others, more rebellious, preferred to struggle, and have been destroyed ; those who stiU struggle will also perish. The nations which chose subjection rather' than death, have, by mingling their blood in strong proportions with that of the Europeans, only dis- appeared as a race in order to enter as an integral and sometimes ^ dominant element into the American nationalities. The great family of the Guaranis forms the most striking example of this intimate fusion offered to the notice of the ethnologist.
"But in its midst, side by side with the unsubdued hordes of the Grand Chaco, so remarkable for their fine proportions, there exists yet another tribe, small in numbers, whose ranks grow thinner every day, and which on the eve of its disappearance, hsif' bequeathed intact to the present generation, along with its complete independence, its creeds, its customs, and the glorious traditions of its ancestors.
" At the time of their discover}', the Payaguas, as this valiant race is called, were divided into two tribes, the Oadigues and the Magachsy who lived on the banks and numerous islands of the Rio Paraguay, towards 21** and 25® S. latitude. Their dwelling places were by no means fixed ; masters of the river and jealous of its control, they started from Lake Xarayes, and made distant excursions on the Parana as far as Corrientes and Santa Fe on one side, and to Salto Chico on the other.
" A rather rational etymology which has been proposed for the name of these Indians, is that of the two Guarany words * pai * and ' aguaa,' which signify, ' tied to the oar/ a meaning quite in imison with their habits. In the term ' Paraguay,' applied as the denomination of the river, before it became the name of the province, some have wished to perceive a corruption of 'Payagua,* a likely enough derivation, and one which seems to us highly admissible.
"Whatever there may be in this supposition, the value of
F FS
436 THE BED RACK
which we shall not discuss here, this unconquered and crafty nation was during two centuries the most redoubtable adyersaiy of the Spaniards. The writers on the conquest, the works of Azara, the ' Historical Essay ' of Funes, and numerous docu- ments preserved in the archives of Assumption, contain a recital of their daring enterprises.
"... AVhat their numbers were in the first half of the XYItli century it is impossible to say with certainty; but the oU narratives, which do not seem on this point to deserve the reproach of exaggeration more than once and with justice attributed to them, estimate them as no fewer than several thousand combatants. In Azara's time the entire tribe scarcely reckoned a thousand souls, and at the present day it cannot count two hundred.
"Their stature is remarkable, and unquestionably surpassei that of most nations of the globe. The measurements of eight individuals, taken at random, would justify the application of this epithet to the Payaguas, as they gave me an average of 5ft, Sin. The women's height is no less stiiking : that of four females over twenty was — the first and second, 5 feet ; the third, 5 feet 2 inches^ and the foiu'th, 5 feet SJ inches ; or an average of 5 feet 1 J inches. Many conclusions may be drawn fi'om this double series of measurements. On comparing the average stature of the Pay- aguas with that of mankind in general, which physiologists agree in fixing at about 5 feet 6 inches, it will be seen that the diffe- rence in favom* of the former is no less than 3 inches. And fuilher, if we place in compai'ison the measurements taken by accurate travellers of the races which pass for the tallest on the globe, of tlie Patagonians for instance, we find that their averaga height as stated by M. d'Orbigny is 5 feet 7 inches, Consequenti^f the Payaguas actually suq)ass by two inches the height of a raoa vliich has from time immemorial been regarded as fabulously ^^r
" The Payaguas are invariably lanky, none but the women ever showing signs of corpulence. Their shoulders are broad and the muscles of their chests, arms, and backs display a development produced by constant use of the oar, for they live in their canoes; but, as a species of compensation, the predominance of the pro- portions of the upper limbs causes the Ibwer extremities to appear slight and meagi'e.
" Their skin, smooth and soft to the touch, like that of the
SOUTHERN BRANCa
natives of the New Continent, is of an olive-brown shade, which it would he difficult to define more accurately. It seems some*
438 THE BED RACE.
what lighter than that of the Guaranis, and does not exhibit the same yellowish or Mongolian tints.
" The Payaguas carry their massive heads erect, and have an abundant supply of long, straight, or slightly curly hair, which they cut across the foreheads, and never comb, allowing it to grow and fall about them in disorder. The young warriors alone partly gather it at the back of the crown where it is tied by a little red string, or by a strap cut from a monkey skin. A similar custom obtains among the Guatos of Cuyaba, who, we may say inci- dentally, have more resemblance to this nation than to theGuaranis, though a learned classification has placed them side by side with the latter. Their small, keen eyes, a little conti*acted but not turned up at the outer angle, have an expression of cunning and shi-ewdness, and the lines of the long slightly roimded nose recall the Caucasian conformation to the mind. Their cheekbones are but little prominent ; their lower lip protrudes beyond the upper, thus imparting to theii* gi'ave and impressive countenances an expression of scornful pride, well in keeping with the character of this unsubdued race.
" The women when young are well-propoi-tioned without being slight, but they fatten early, their features become deformed, and their figures grow squat and dumpy. To atone for this, however, theu' hands and feet always retain a remarkable smallness, although they walk barefooted and take no care whatever of their persons. I have also observed this delicate formation, a distinc- tion which Em'opean ladies covet so much, among the tribes of the Chaco, who are, T\dth the Payaguas, the finest in America. Their hair is allowed to float about the shoulders and is never confined.
*' A young girl on emerging from childhood undergoes tattooing. By means of a thorn and the fruit of the genipa, a bluish streak, about half an inch wide, is drawn perpendiculai-ly across the forehead and down the nose as far as the upper lip ; and when she marries this stripe is prolonged over the under Up to below the chin. Its shades vary from violet to a slate-coloured blue, and its marks are indelible. Some women add other lines to this, as well as designs traced with the flaming tint of iiie[urucu; this latter fashion, however, though general half a centm-y ago, and which Azara describes minutely, has become more and more uncommon.
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 439
** The Payaguas go about naked in their tents (toldos), but out of doors they wear a small cotton garment encircling them from the pit of the stomach to just below the knee. This piece of cloth which they lap round their bodies in the style of the chiripa of the Creoles, is one of the few produc- tions of their ingenuity. Its manufactm*e devolves upon the women, and they make it with no other help than that of their fingers, without using either shuttle or loom. Some others content themselves with a short shirt, devoid of collar or sleeves, rather lilie the tipoy of the Guarany. Nevertheless the use of clothing seems to become every day more famiUar to all of them ; and amongst those I saw roaming through the streets of Assumption not one was satisfied, as in former times, with covering his limbs with paintings representing vests and breeches.
'* Other ancient customs have also disappeared, such as that which the men had of wearing, as the case might be, either the barbote or a little silver rod analogous to the temheta of the wild Guaranis or Cayaguas. Others are only resumed at rare intervals or at certain epochs, on which solemn occasions long tufts of feathers fixed on the top of the head are seen to reappear, and all manner of fanciful patteras tattooed in bright colours on face, arm, and breast ; as well as necklaces of beads or shells, and lastly bracelets of the claws of cajnvaras, rolled roimd wiist and ankle. But the tradition of this elaborate ornamentation has been religiously preserved by the paye or medicine-man of the tribe.
** The Payaguas live on the left bank of the Rio Pai'aguay. They never take up their abode on the oj^posite side, where the Indians of Chaco, with whom they are always at war, would not be slow to attack them. Theu* principal hut (tolderia) is erected on the river's edge, and consists of a large, oblong cabin from twelve to fifteen feet liigh, and made with bamboos laid on forked poles and covered over with implaited cane mats. Jaguar or capivaras' skins are spread on the ground for beds, and weapons and fishing and household utensils hang on the posts sustaining the frail roofing of the dwelling, or lie pell-mell with earthen vessels, in a comer.
'* . • • The very limited occupation of this people constitutes nevertheless their sole resource, for they are perfectly ignorant of
440 THE RED RACE.
liaabandiy, and cultivate neither maize, potatoes, nor tobacco. They are fishermen, spend their lives on the water, and become early in life very expert sailors. Sometimes they are to be seen in the stem of a canoe, letting it iloat with the current while watching their lines ; at another, standing upright in a row, they bend to their oars in good time and make the litUe craft
fly along witJi tlie swiftness of au aiTow. Their boats are from five to a little over six feet in lengtli, and between two and a half to three feet wide ; they are hollowed from the trunk of a tlmbo, and terminate in a long tapering point at each end.
" Their paddles are sharpened like lances, and form in their hands very formidable weapons, to which must be added bows and arrows, as well as the macaita. They are cruel in warfare, and grant no quarter except to women and children. Their method
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 441
of fighting shows no peculiarity. They attack the Indians of the Chaco by falling upon them unawares and endeavouring to surprise them, but they take good care not to move far from the rivers, for tliose tribes of famous horsemen would soon overcome them in the open country.
" This nation, as the reader has doubtless surmised, lives in a
state of absolute liberty and complete independence of the government of the Paraguayan Republic, which imposes neitlier tax nor statute labour upon it, but on tlie contrarj' pa3's tlie Paya'guas for any services that ai-e exacted of them, whether as messengers on tlie river or as guides in the expeditions directed against the wild hordes that wander along the right bank.
"... Being desirous to become acquainted with, and to be able to sketch at my ease, in the midst of all the savage luxoi^' of his garb, the individual who was enti-usted with these func-
442 THE RED RACE.
tions, I contrived to get him to come to my house arrajed the emblems of his high dignity and accompanied by some oth Indians. The promise of a certain quantity of his beIov< liquor, coupled with the prospect of an evening's drunkepneG speedily pot the better of his reluctance.
" On the day named the paye came to see me. He was an o man, somewhat bent with years, but with nothing repulsive in 1 countenance, notwithstanding the disfiguration of the feature which is always prematiu-e and so remarkable among the native His hail* was still black and confined in a fillet bordered wi beadwork, over which was a tuft of feathers, while nandu plum waved behmd his head ; a necklace of bivalve shells was on 1 neck, and from it hung, as a trophy, a whistle made from the an bone of an enemy. He was quite naked beneath his sleevele and coUarless vest which consisted of two jaguar-skins, and wo sti'ings of cai)ivaras' claws round his ankles. Finally, his rig hand contained an elongated gourd, and he held in his left a loi tube of hard wood, which I had some difiiculty in recognizing a pipe.
" The curtain rises. The sorcerer gave the pipe to 1 companion, whose duty consisted in lighting it, and, taking again, inhaled several puffs which he blew noisily into the calaba through the orifice bored in it ; then, without removing it frc his lips, he begim shouting, sometimes slowly and sometini rapidly, uttering alternately the syllables 'ta, ta', and *to, 1 ' to', with extraordinaiy, inexpressible, reiterations of voice a
piercing yells. He gave way at the same time to violent conU tions, and executed a measm*ed series of leaps, now on o foot, and now on both joined together. This peifonnance d not last any length of time, and on a pretext of fatigue he ^ not long without commg to a stand-still. A bumper was ind pensable in order to set him on his legs again, and the monotone chant immediately recommenced.
** My drawings being finished, I at last broke up the sitting the geneml satisfaction of my guests, and dismissed them, havi first pmThased his pipe and whistle from the paye. The fom article was made of hard and heavy wood and covered wdth regu J tracings engraved on the surface witli a good deal of skill.
p was about a foot and a half long, ornamented witli gilt nails, a
■ pierced by a tube which was widened at one end and terminal
BOUTHEBH BRANCR 448
at the other by a month-piece. This pipe is also to be found among other neighbouring nations, as well as among the Tobas and IbUacos on the banks of the Pilcomayo. It gives an idea of those enormom oigazB made iraia a roll of palm or tobacco leaves, which played so important a part in Brazil, in the ceremonies of the Tapinambas, and among the Carsibs of the Antilles, on all occasions when the qoestion of peace or
war had to be decided, when the shades of ancestors were to be conjnred up, etc., and which the first navigators mistook for torches."
The Western Qvaranw include the tiibes known by the names of Guarayis, Chirignanos, and Cirionos, the firat of which have been converted by the Jesuits. Between the province of the Chi- quitos end that of the Moxos there are still some hordes of wild Ooarayis. The uncivilized Chirignanos are barbarians, very formidable to their neighbours. The natives of a hundred and taxty villages of the Andes, comprised between the great Chaco river and that of Mi^yo, in the province of Santa Cms de la
444 THE RED RACE.
Sierra, speak the Guarany language in all its purity. The barbarous Cirionos, among whom a dialect of that tongue is in use, dwell to the north of Santa Cruz.
The Eastern Guaranis of Brazil include the Brazilian abori- gines. The general language of the countr}* does not seem to differ more from Guarany, than Portuguese does from Spanish. The CaryiSy Tameyiy Tapinaquis, Timmimnes, Tabayaris, Tupin- amh'iSj Apontisy Tajngoas, and several other tiibes occupy the maritime distiicts situated to the south of the mouth of the Amazon, speaking the Tupi tongue with little or no altera- tion.
During their voyage to Brazil, of which an account was published in the " Tour du Monde," in 1868, M. and Madanie Agftssiz visited many Indian tribes, and examined tlieir habita- tions in the midst of the Avoods. We extract a few pages from their description.
**We aiTive at the sitio,'* writes Madame Agassiz, "and disembark. These dwellings are usuall}' located on the banks of a hike or river, Avithin a stone's throAv of the shore in order that fishing and bathing may be better within reach. But this one Avas more retired, beuig placed nt the extremity of a pretty by-path winding beneath the trees, and on the summit of a little hill, the slopes of which at the other side plimged into a broad and deep ravine thrtnigh wliich Howed a rivulet. The gromid bevond rose undulatinpf in uneven lines, on which an eve ac- customed to the unifonnly flat country of the upper Amazon ciumot rest without i)leasure. Wait for the time of the i"ams, and the brook, swollen by the increase of the river, will almost bathe the foot of the house, which, from the top of the little eminence, at present commands the valley and the embanked bed of the tiny stream. Great, consequently, is the difference between the ai)peai'ance of the same jdaces in the dry and the Avet seasons. The residence consists of several buildings, the most remarkable of which is a long open hall in Avhich the brancas (whites) of Manaos and of the neighbourhood dance when they come, as is not infrequent, to spend the night at the sitio, in high festiA'ity.
" I learned these particulars from the old Indian lady who did me the honours of the house. A low wall, from three to four feet in height, skirted this shed. At its sides and along
SOUTHERN BRANCH. 445
tlie whole length were placed raised wooden Beats, and both ends were closed from floor to roof by thick blinds made of glittering palm-leaves, as fine as they were handsome, and of a pretty straw colour. In a comer we found an immense embroidery loom (Penelope's was doubtless like it), which was occupied at the moment by a hammock of palm fibre, an unfinished work of the ' senliora dona', or mistress of the
house, who allowed me to see the way in which she used the machine. She squatted herself on a little low bench, in front of the frame, and showed me that the two rows of cross tlireads were separated by a thick piece of polished wood in the sliape of a flat rule. The shuttle is thrown between these two tlu-eads and the woof is drawn close by a sharp blow of the tliick rule. I was then led to admire some hammocks of vai-ious colours and textures which were being arranged for the accom- modation of the visitors, and whilst the men set oflf to bathe in
448 THE BED BACK
tlie brook, I went tJirougk the rest of the lodge with our hostess and her daughter, a verj- pretty Indian. The direction of erery- thing devolves on the elder of the two ladies; the master is absent, as he holds a captain's commission in the army operating against Faraguar.
" On the same carcfiilly-kept piece of ground where the hall I have described is situated, tliere are several casinhas or small buildings, more or less close to each other, which are covered with thatt'h, and merely consist of a single apartment (fig. 198). Then conies a larger cottage, with earthen walls and bare floor, containing two or three rooms, and with a wooden verandah in front. This is the private abode of the senhora. A little lower don'n the hill is the manioc sifting-bouse, with all its apparatus.
199.— KE0R03 0
448 THE RED RACE.
No place could be better kept than the courtyard of this sitio, where two or three uegresses have just been set to work with brooms of thin branches in their hands.
" The manioc and cocoa plantation surrounds these buildingB^ with a few coffee trees peeping out here and there. There is a difficulty in judging of the extent of these fiArmSy as they are in'eguhir, and comprise a certain variety of plants ; manioCy cocoa, coffee, and even cotton being cultivated together in confusion. But tliis pai*t of the estate, like all the rest of the establishment, seemed lai'ger and better cared for than those usually seen. As we were departing, our Indiim hostess brought me a nice basket iilled with eggs and ahacatys^ or alligators pears, according to the local name. We retm*ned home just in time for the ten o'clock meal, which draws everyone togetlier, both idlers and workers. The sportsmen had returned from the forest, laden with tuoimas, parrots, paroquets, and a great variety of other birds, while the fislieniien brought fresh treasures for M. Agassiz.
" We left the dinner-table, and while taking coffee under the trees, the president proposed an excm'sion on the lake at sunset. .... The little craft glided between the glowing sunset and the glitter of the deep sheet of water, seemmg to borrow its hues from each. It raj^idly drew near, and was soon quite close, when a burst of joyous shouts broke forth, and was merrily responded to by us. Then side by side the two boats descended the stream together, the guitar i)assiiij^ from one to the other, as Braadlian songs alternated with Indian airs. Nothing could possibly be imagined bearing the natiiaial impress more strongly marked, more deei^ly imbued Avith tropicnl tints, more characteristic, in line, than this scene o\\ the lake. When we arrived at the landing- place the rosy and gold-tinged mists had become transformed into a mass of white ov ashen-grey vapour, the last rays of the sun were fled, and tlie moon was shining at its full. In ascending the gentle slope of the hill, someone suggested a dance on the <:jrass, and the young Indian girls formed a quadrille. Although civilization had mingled its usages with their native customs, there were yet many origuial traits in their movements, and this con- ventional dance was deprived of much of its artificial character. At length we retm^ned to the house, where danciug and singing recommenced, whilst grc>u])s seated on the ground here and there
450 THE RED RACE.
laughed and chatted, all, men and women, smoking with the same gusto. The use of tobacco, almost universal among females of the lower class, is not altogether confined to them. More than one senhora delights to puff her cigarette as she rocks in her hammock during the warm hours of the day.*' Fig. 200 repre- sents some natives of French Guyana, who closely resemble the Brazilian negroes we have just mentioned.
The Ouragas are affiliated to the Brazilio-Guarany race, with a few other tribes very closely allied to them. They form one of the nations most widely spread over the northern parts of South America. They were formerly in possession of the banks and islands of the Amazon river for a distance of five hundred miles from the mouth of the Rio Nabo.
The Caribbee race has a close affinity to the Guarany. The Indians Avho have given their name to tliis group, one of the most numerous and extensivelv scattered of the southern continent, are those celebrated Caribs who in the sixteenth centm'y occupied all the islands from Porto Rioo to Trinidad, and the wliole of tlie Atlantic coast comprised between the mouth of the Orinoco and that of the Amazon, that is to say, as far as the Brazilian frontier.
The TamanacB belong to the same family, and live on the right bank of the Orinoco, but their numbers are at the pre- sent day greatly reduced. The same remark applies to the Arawacs or AraocaSy to the Guaranns, who ai'e said to build their houses upon trees, to the Guayquerias, Ctnnanogott, Phariagots, Chagmas, &c. Humboldt has written of the latter : —
"The expression of countenance of the Chaymas, withont being harsh and fierce, has in it something sedate and gloomy. The forehead is small and but little prominent; the eyes arc black, sunken, and lengthy, being neither so obliquely set nor so small as those of the Mongolian race. Yet the comers per- ceptibly slant upwards towards the temples ; the eyebrows are black or dark brown, thin, and not much arched ; the lids fringed with very long eyelashes ; and their habit of drooping them, as ii heavy with languor, softens the women's look and makes the eye thus veiled appear smaller than it really is."
SOUTHERN BBA2TCH.
4SI
The BotocndoB (fig. 201) who dwell roimd the Bio Doce. in Brazil, hare been cannibalB, and are atill to the i^esent day the most savage of all AmericEins. They wear collars of hninaB teeth as ornaments. Perpetually wandering and completely naked, they take a pleaaore in adding to their natural ugliness, and impart a more repulsive appearance to their countenances by a habit they have of slitting their under lip and ears, in order to in- troduce " borbotea " into the openings thus made.
In his "Travels inBrazil," M. Biard saw some Boto- cudos. One, who seemed to him to be the chief, carried, like bis companions, in an opening in the lower lip, a " barbote " consisting of a bit of wood somewhat larger 201.— Borocniwa.
than a five -shilling piece.
He made use of this projection as a little table, cutting up on it, with the traveller's knife, a morsel of smoked meat which had then only to be sUpped into his mouth. This method of utilizing the lip as a table struck^M. Biard as thoroughly original. The comrades of this Botocados had also large pieces of wood in the lobes of their ears.
CHAPTER n.
NORTHERN BRANCH.
The members of the North American Branch present more decided dififerences among themselves than those in the southern division, so far as race is concerned, but their characteristics are merged one in the other. Nevertheless, the popuhitions inhabit- ing respectively the south, the north-east, and the north-west can be considered as forming so many distinct families, which we shall pass in review in succession.
Southern Family.
The southern family of the Northern Branch still preserves much resemblance to tlie families of the southern branch which we have just been considering. The complexion of its members is rather fair, the forehead depressed, and the figure tolerably well proportioned.
This group embraces a great number of tribes speaking different languages, peculiar to the central part of the northern contuient. The principal among tliese nations are the A::t^c8f or primitiA'e Mexicans, and the Moi/a and Lenca Indians.
Aztecs. — ^\Vhen the Sj^aniards landed in Mexico, they found there a people whose customs were far removed from those of savage life. They were very exi)ert in the practice of diiferent useful and ornamental* arts, and their knowledge was ratlier extensive, but thorough cruelty could always be laid to their charge.
The Aztecs were intelligent and hard-working cultivators. They knew how to w^ork mines, prepare metals, and set precious stones as ornaments. Superb monuments had been erected by
NORTHERN BRANCH. US
them, and they possessed a written langoage which preseired the meawrials of their history. Those who dwelt in the region of the present Mexico were advanced in the sciences ; they were pro- foundly imbued with the seutiment of religion ; and their sacred ceremonies were full of pomp, but accompanied by expiatory sacrifices revolting in their barbarism. They carried their annals back to very remote antiquity. These amiab were traced in
;!U2.— I»DIAH or THE
historical paintings, the traditional explanation of which was imparted by the natives to some of their conquerors, as well as to a few Spanish and Italian ecdesiasUcB.
The principal events recorded in these archives relate to the migrations of three different nations, who, leaving the distant regions of the north-west, arrived snccessively in Anahnac. They were the ToUeei, Chielamecaa, and NahaaiAaeat, divided into seven distinct tribes, one irf which was that of the Aztecs, or Mexicans. The country whence the first of
4M THE RED RACE.
these people came was called Haehuetlapallan, and they
203, S04.— INSIINS or TBK MEXICAN COAST.
commenced their exodus in the year 644 of our era. Pestilence
NORTHERN BRANCH. 455-
decimated them in 1051, and they then wandered southwards, but a few remained at Tula. The Chichimecas, a barbarous race, an-ived in Mexico in the year 1070, and the incursion of the Nahuatlacas, who spoke the same language as the Toltecs, took place ver}'^ soon afterwards. The Aztecs, or Mexicans, sepai-ated themselves from the other nations, and in 1325 they founded Mexico. In a word, the former inhabitants of Mexico were immigrants from a country situated towards the north, on the central plateau of Anahuac, and their successive migrations had continued during several centuries long prior to the discovery of America by the Europeans.
The ancient portraits of the Aztecs and the faces of some of their divinities are remai'kable for the depression of the forehead, from which results the smallness of the facial angle — a peculiarit}" which appears to have belonged to the handsome type of the race.
The aboriginal Mexicans of our owoi time are of good stature and Avell i^roj^ortioned in all tlieir limbs. They have narrow fore- heads, black eyes, white, well-set, regular teeth, thick, coarse, and glossy black hair, thin beards, and are in general Avithout any hairs on their legs, thighs, or arms. Tlieir skin is olive coloured, and many fine young women may be seen among them Avith extremely light complexions. Their senses are very acute, more especially that of sight, which they enjoy unimi)aired to the most advanced age.
The native Indians forming j^ail of the Mexican population are characterized by a broad face and flat nose, recalling somewhat the lineaments of the Mongolian cast of countenance. They may be judged of from Figs. 202, 203, 204, and 205, which represent aborigines of the interior and coast of Mexico.
M. Eoude, who has published the narrative of his travels in the state of Chihuahua, brought back accurate drawings illustrative of the usages and customs of the population of the Mexican capital.
The ladies envelope themselves very gracefully in their rehossOy with w^hich they cover the head, partly hiding the face, and only allowing their eyes to be seen. Among the wealthy this rebosso is generally of black or white silk, embroidered with designs in bright and gaudy colours. Women of the lower classes wear a rebosso of blue wool dotted with little white squares. Their
456 THE EED RACE.
petticoat is eliort, and its lower part embroidered with wtnsted work. The ftivourite colour for this latter garment among common people is glaring red.
The men's costume (fig. 206) is ncher and more varied than that of the women. On Sundays it is laced with silver ; white trowsers are indispensable, and they are covered by imother pair made of leather, open nlong the sides from the waist downwards, and ornamented with a row of silver buttoDs. A China crape sash is wound round the waist, and the vest is of deerskin or velvet with silver embroidery. The sombrero has t very broad brim, is made of straw or felt, and decorated with • thick twisted band of black velvet or of silver gilt lace. The sarape is spangled with striking colours and with varied patterns, and the men possess a special talent for draping themselves gracefdlly in it.
.NORTHERN BRANCH. »7
The place above all others where the popular life of the inhabi- tants of Mexico should be studied is in the markets (fig. 207). There may you see Indians, Creoles, and foreigners, beggars in rags and rich citizens, black frock coats, embroidered deer- skin jackets, threadbare uniforms, soldiers, muleteers, porters, monks of all shades, shod and shoeless Carmehtes, all elbowing each other fnitornaily. There IJiisil throws the lengthening
shadow of his fantastic head-gear on the wall of the neighbour- ing church ; there dealers in hats, i)oultry, or wooden trays offer their wares to buyers ; there pretty fiiiit and flower girls, tidy servant maids of some decent house, or winsome Chinas with sparkling eyes, pass to and fro draped in their rebosaos. They bear on the upturned palms of the left hand, on a level with the shoulder, and in the most artistic manner, a basket full of green plants, or the gi-aceful red earthenware cantaro painted and glazed, and filled with water.
Through this noisy crowd the water-carrier (aguador), clothed in leather, treads his way with short steps, bearing on his back an
THE BED RACE.
enormous red earthen jar, fastened by means of two handles and a broad strap to hia forehead, which is protected by a little cap
n; ^JULSi
of leather ; another band passing across the top of tlie crown supports a second and much smaller i>itcher, hanging before him at bis knees.
NORTHERN BRANCH.
If a person wishes to become acquainted with Mexico, it is among tlie lower orders that he must study the country. The people are good ; eager for knowledge, notwithstand- ing the want of instruction, and full of energj' in spite of their long bondage. He need be on his guaid against the higher classes only, a small minority spoiled by the priests, whose influ- ence is all-powerful. The ignorance of the monks, who swarm in this land, is doubled by an intoler- able vanity that inspires them with antipathj- to all progress.
The people of Mexico are verj' simple in then habits. Broth {pilcker ) and the national dish fri joles (beans), form the ordi nary fare of the middle class, to which a stew of spiced duck is sometimes added. They allay then thirst with pure water con tained in an immense glass which holds from one to two quarts. This ilagon is placed in the centre of the table, and is the only one that appears on the board, from which decanters and bottles, and very often even knives and forks, are ban-
460 IHE RED RACE.
islied. Each in turn steeps his lips in this cup, returning it to its place or passing it to his neighbour. Besides, Mexicans in general do not drink except at the end of the meal. In the evening the circle is swelled by a few friends ; guitars are taken down from the wall, and some simple ballads are sung to mournful airs, or they dance to the same measure.
The Aztecs, or primitive Mexicans, like their predecessors, the Toltecs, were, as we have said, strangers in Anahuac. Before their arrival this plateau had been inhabited by diflferent races, some of which had acquired a certain degree of civilization, whilst otliers were utterly barbarous. The Aztecs spread themselves extensively in Central America.
The Olmecas are mentioned among the most ancient tribes, and tliey are supposed to have peopled the West India Islands and South America. This nation shared the soil of Mexico with the XicalaucaSy Coras , Tepanecas, Tarascas, MixtecaSf Tzapotecas, and the Othomis. The last named and the Totonacs were two barbarous races occupying the country near Lake Tezcuco, pre- viously to the coming of the Chichimecas. WTiilst all the other known languages of America are polysyllabic, that of the Otiiomis is monosyllabic.
Fai*ther to the north, and beyond the northern frontiers of the Mexican empire, dwelt the Hiuixtecas, The Tarascas inhabited the wide and fertile regions of Mechoacan, to the north of Mexico, and were always independent of tliat kingdom. Their sonorous and harmonious tongue differed from all the others. In civilization and the arts they advanced side by side with the Mexicans, who were never able to subdue them ; but their king submitted without resistance to the rule of the Si)aniards.
Moyas and Lcncas. — These are tribes which still live in a wild state in the forests situated between the Isthmus of Panama and that of Thuantepec, but an inquiry into their . manners and customs would offer no features of interest. The life of savage nations exhibits an imiformity which greatly abridges our task.
North-eastern Family. In the fifteenth century the North-eastern family occupied
KOBTHEBN BRANCH. 461^
that immense expanse of North America which is comprised between the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Momitains/ but all its nations are now reduced to a few far from numerous tribes, confined to the west of the Mississippi.
The distinguishing qualities of the red race are strongly marked among these groups. A complexion of a light cinnamon-colour, a lengthened Ifead, a long and aquiline nose, horizontal eyes, a depressed forehead, a robust constitution^ and a tall stature constitute their principal physical characteristics, to which must be added senses sharpened to an extraordinary degree. They have a habit of painting their bodies, and especially their faces, red. Their disposition is proud and independent, and they support pain with stoical courage.
Almost all these Indian tribes have already disappeared in consequence of the furious war waged upon them by the Europeans. Those that lived in olden times on the declivities of the mountains facing the Atlantic are very nearly extinct* Among such are the Hurons, Iroquois, Algonquins, and the Natchez, rendered famous by Chateaubriand, and the Mohicans, whom Cooper has immortalized.
We cannot speak detailedly here of these different nations, but in order to give an idea of them we shall open Chateaubriand's ** Voyage en Amerique," and, having quoted a few lines from ity we will make the reader acquainted with the pith of the observa* tions made in our own day in these same countries by contem* porary travellers.
Speaking of tiie Muscogulges and the Simnioles, Chateaubriand writes in the following terms :—
'' The Simnioles and the Muscogulges are rather tall in stature t and, by an extraordinary contrast, their wives are the smallest race of women known in America ; they seldom depass a height of four feet two or three inches ; their hands and feet resemble those of an European girl nine or ten years old. But nature has com« pensated them for this kind of injustice : their figure is elegant and graceful ; their eyes are black, extremely long, and frOl of languor and modesty. They lower their eyelids with a sort of voluptuous bashfulness ; if a person did not see them when they speak, he would believe himself listening to children uttering only half** formed words."
The great writer passed along the borders of the lake to which
463 THE RED RACK
its name has been given by tlie Iroquois colony of the OnondagoM^ and visited the " Sachem " of that people : —
" He was," says Chateaubriand, " an old Iroquois in fhe strictest sense of the word. His person preserved the memoiy of the former customs and bygone times of the desert : large, pinked ears, pearl hanging from the nose, face streaked with various colom*s, little tuft of hair on the Hop of the head, blue tunic» desk of skins, leathern belt, with its scalping-knife and tomahawk, tattooed ann, mocassins on his feet, and a porcelain necUaee in his hand."
The following is the sketch of an Iroquois : —
" He was of lofty stature, with broad chest, muscular \&g^ and sinewy arms. His large round eyes sparkled wilk independence; his whole mien was that of a hero. Shining on his forehead might be seen high combinations of thought and exalted sentiments of soul. This fearless man was not in the least astonished at fireaiins when for the fii*st time they were naed against him ; he stood fii*m to the whistling of bullets and the roar of cannon as if he liad been hearing both all his lifet and appeared to heed them no more than he would a stomu As soon as he could prociu*e himself a musket, he used it better than an Eui'opcan. He did not abandon for it his tomahairiCy his knife, or his bow and arrows, but added to them the carbine, pistol, poniard, and axe, and seemed never to possesB luins sufficient for his valour. Doubly aiTayed in the murderoiu weapons of Europe and America, with his head decked with bimches of feathers, his ears pinked, his face smeared black, his arms dyed in blood, this noble champion of the New World became as formidable to behold, as he was to contend against, on the shore which he defended foot by foot against the foreigner."
With this temble portrait Chateaubriand contrasts the blithe countenance of the Huron, who had nothing in common with the Iroquois but language : —
" The gay, sprightly, and volatile Huron, of rash, dazzling valour, and tall, elegant figure, had the air of being bom to he tlie ally of the French."
We now come to travellers of our own day. Fig. 210 is a sketch of the costiunes of the wild Indians dwelling at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Missouri, and who bear the name of Creeks.
464 THE RED RACK
In his travels through the United States and Canada, M. H» Deville had an opportunity of visiting an establishment of Iroquois, These savages were remarkable for their reddish colour and coarse features. They wore round hats with broad brims, and robed themselves in Spanish fashion in a piece of dark clotli.
The manufacture of the native coverings for the legs and feet forms the principal occupation of the women, and under the pretext of purchasing some of tlieii* handiwork M. Deville entered several Iroquois dwellings.
Divested of tlie tliick mantle worn by them out of doors, the women had assumed a long, coloured smock-frock with tight-fitting^ pantaloons that reached to the ankles, and their varnished shoea allowed coarse worsted stockings to be seen. Earrings and a gold necklace constituted their chief ornament. Their hair i» drawn up to the top of the head and tied there in a knot. Ta say that their features are agi'eeable would be untrae, but in eai'ly youth their figiu-es are rather handsome. Work, order, and cleanliness reign in their household. Their brothers and husbands are wood-cutters, steersmen, or conductors of rafts.
The same traveller met with some Chipjyeway Indians on the heights of Tiake Pepin. Their stature was tall, but they had coarse features, and a skin of a very dark reddish colour. Half their face was covered by a thick layer of vermilion extending as far as their hair, which was plaited over the crown. They wore long leather gaiters, tied at the sides by innumerable thongs^ and over a sort of tattered blouse was thrown a large woollen blanket, which completely covered them. One individual, armed with a long steel blade shaped like a dagger, had stuck his pipe in his hail-.
In his " Voyage dans les Mauvaises Terres du Nebraska," M. de Girardin (of Maine-et-Loire) describes his journey across pail of the Missomi basin occupied by some free and wild Indians.
He brought back with Iiim sketches and illustrations of those tribes, the principal among which are the Blnckfeet, and the Dacotas, or SionXy and was present at a grand council of the latter nation. The chiefs of the various clans, clad in their most brilliant costumes, harangued the warriors, whilst a score of young braves, without any other covering than a tliick coat of vermilion
NOETHERN BRANCH.
4«i
or ochre, made their eteeds curvet and executed numberless fanciful manoeuvres. The horses were painted yellow, red, and white, and had their long tails decked with bright-coloured feathers.
An immense tent, composed of five or six lodges of bison-skins, was erected in the centre of the camp. The chiefs and principal warriors formed a circle, in the midst of which the agent, the
governor of Fort St. Pierre, and his interpreters were stationed. According to Indian custom, the grand chief ht tlie calumet of peace, a magnificent pipe of red stone, the stem of which was a yard long and adorned with feathers of every hue. After some impassioned orations the council refused the travellers permission to pass over their territory in order to reach that of the Black- feet.
Fig. 211 represents the encampment of these Indians visited by M. de Girardin : fig. 212 is a sketch of one of their horsemen, and fig. 218 a likeness of a Sioux warrior, all irom the pencil of the same gentleman.
M. de Girardin happened to go to another camp, that of an old-
466 THE BED RACE.
chief of the same tribe. It consisted of five or six tents, conical in shape, and made of bison -skins. Kemarkable for 'their white- ness and cleanliness these habitations were covered with odd paintings which portrayed warriors smoking the calumet, horses, stags, and dogs. Numerous freshly scalped locka were hanging at the end of long poles. At the side of each tent, a kind of tripod suppoi'tcd qoirers, shields of ox-hide, and spears embellished with
212.— SlOtlX WABBIOK.
brilliant plumage. A few young warriors of strongly marked features, with aquiline noses and herculean forms, bat hideously daubed in black and white paint, were engaged in firing arrows at a ball which was rolled along the ground or thrown into the air.
The chiefs made the travellers seat themselres on skins of bears and bisons, and conversed with the interpreter, whilst M. de Girardin remained exposed to the curiosity of the young folks, women, and children. The girls ventured so far as to search his pockets and extract from them his knife, pencils, and note- book. The moat inquisitive, a fine girl with very soft eyes
NORTHERN BRANCH. 4tfr
and magnificent teeth, perceiving he had a long beard wished to
213.—^ BIODX CBIBT.
e berself that he was not shaggy aU over like a bear, irhen
468 THE BED RACE.
the traveller took it into his head to put a little powder into the hand of the pretty inquisitor and lit it by means of a glass lens, an incident -which gave a tremendous fright to the assemblage.
During a journey to the north-east of America in 1867, M. L. Simonin had an opportunity of visiting a Sioux village, and we avail ourselves of a few of his descriptions. It consisted of about a hundred huts, made with poles and bison skins, or pieces of stitched cloth. The entrance to them was by a low narrow hole covered over with a beaver skin, A fire blazed in the centre of each hovel, and around it were pots and kettles for the repast. The smoke which escaped at the top rendered this abode intolerable, Beds, mattresses, cooking utensils, quarters of wild bison, some raw, others dried and smoked, were scat- tered here and there. Half-naked children, girls and boys, scampered about outside, as well as troops of dogs that con- stituted at once their protectors, tlieir A'igilant sentinels, and their food.
M. Simonin went inside many of the huts, where warriors were silently playing cards, using leaden balls for stakes. Others, accompanied by the noise of discordant singing and tam- bourines, were playing at a game resembling the Italian **mora," the score of which was marked with arrows stuck in the ground. Some tents, in which sorcery, or *' great medicine," was being practised, were prohibited to the visitor. The women were sitting in a ring round some of the wigwams, doing needle-work, ornamenting necklaces or mocassins with beads, or tracing patterns on bison skins.
Some old matrons were preparing hides stretched on stakes, by rubbing them with freestone and steel chisels set in bone handles. The squaws of the Sioux, on whom, moreover, all domestic cares fall, are far from handsome. They are the slaves of the man who purchases them for a horse or the skin of a bison. The great Sioux nation numbers about thirty-five thousand in- dividuals.
' The same gentleman from whom we have just been quoting, was enabled to make some observations among the CrowSy a tribe of Prairie Indians who are neighbours of the Sioux. Their features are broadly marked, their stature gigantic, and their frame3 athletic, while, according to M, Simonin, their majestic
NORTHERN BRANCH. 469
countenances recall the types of the Roman Caesars as we see them delineated on antique medals.
The traveller was admitted into the hut of the chiefs, where the ** Sachems " were seated in a cu'cle, and as he touched their hands successively, they uttered a guttural " a hou," a sound which serves as a salutation among the Red Skins. He smoked the calumet*
These men* had their cheeks tattooed in vermilion. Thej were scarcely covered; one had a woollen blanket, the next a buffalo hide or the incomplete uniform of an officer, while the upper part of another's body was naked. Several wore collars or eardrops of shells or animals* teeth. Hanging from the neck of one was a silver medal bearing the effigy of a President of the United States, which he had received when he went on a mission to Washington in 1853 ; and a horse, rudely carved in the same metal, adorned the breast of another of theii* number.
M. Simonin was afterwards present at a council of the Crow Indians, but we do not intend to give any report of this conference of savages, of which, however, the reader may form some idea by casting a glance at fig. 214.
In dealing with the relations existing between the wild Indians of North America and the civilized inhabitants, that is to say, the Americans of the United States, M. Simonm enters into some interesting reflections which we believe we ought to reproduce.
" A singular race," says M. Simonin, ** is that of the Red Skins, among whom Nature has so lavishly apportioned the finest land existing on the globe, a ricl# alluvial soil, deep, level, and well watered ; still this race has not yet emerged from the primitive stage which must be everywhere traversed by humanit}' at the outset — the stage of hunters and nomads, the age of stone ! If the Whites had not brought them iron, the Indians would still use flint weapons, like man before the Deluge, who sheltered himself in caverns and was contem- porary in Europe with the mammoth. Beyond the chase and war, the \nld tribes of North America shun work ; women, among them, perform aU labour. What a contrast to the toiling, busy population around them, whose respect for women is so profound ! This population hems them in, completely surrounds them at the present day, and aU is over with the Red Skins if they do not consent to retire into the land reseiTed for them.
NORTHERN BRANCH. 471
*' And even there will industry and the arts spring up? How poorly the Red race is gifted for music and singing is well known: the fine arts have remained in infancy among them; and writing, unless it consists in rude pictorial images, is utterly unknown. They barely know how to trace a few bead patterns on skins, and although these designs are undoubtedly often happily grouped and the colours blended with a certain harmony, that is all. Industry, apart from a coarse preparation of victuals and the tanning of hides and dressing of furs, is also entirely null. The Indian is less advanced than the African negro, who knows at least how to weave clotlis and dye them. The Navajoes, alone, manufacture some coverings with wool.
" The free Indians of the Prairies, scattered between the Missouri and the Rocky Mountains, may be reckoned at about a hundred thousand, while all the Indians of Noi*th America, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, are estimated at four times that nimiber. These calculations may possibly be slightly defective, statistics or an}^ accurate census being quite wanting. The Red men themselves never give more than a notation of their tents or lodges, but the assemblage of individuals contained in each of these differs according to the tribe, and sometimes in the same tribe ; hence the impossibility of any mathematically exact com- putation.
'* In the north of the Prairies the great family of the Sioux numbering thirty-five thousand is remarkable above all others. The Crows, Bigbellies, Blackfeet, Sec, who occupy Idaho and Montana, form, when taken altogether, a smaller population than the Sioux — probably about twenty thousand. In the centre and south, the Pawnees, ALrapahoes, Shiennes, Yutes, Kayoways, ,Comanches, Apaches, &c., imited, certainly exceed forty thousand in number. The territories of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico are those which these hordes overrun. The Pawnees are cantoned in Nebraska, in the neighbourhood of the Pacific Railway, and the Yutes in the * parks ' of Colorado.
" These races possess many characteristics in common ; they are nomadic, that is to say, they occupy no fixed place, live by fishing, or above all by hunting, and follow the wild buffalo in its migrations everywhere.
" A thoroughly democratic regime and a sort of communism control the relations of members of the same tribe with
4n THE RED RACE.
each other. The chiefs are nominated by election, and for a 2)eriod^ but are sometimes hereditary. The most courageous, he who has taken the greatest number of scalps in war or has slain most bisons, the performer of some brilliant exploit or a man of superior eloquence, all these have the right to be chosen chiefs. As long as he conducts himself well a chief retains his position; if he incur the least blame his successor is appointed. Chie& lead the tribes to battle, and are consulted on occasions of diffi- culty, as are also the old men. The braves are the lieutenants of the chiefs, and hold second command in war. There is no judge in the tribes, and each one administers justice for himself and applies the law at his own liking.
/' All these nations hunt and make war in the same manner, on horseback ; with spear, bow and arrows, in default of revolvers and muskets, and using a buckler as a defence against the enemy's blows. They scalp their dead foe and deck themselves with his locks ; pillage and destroy his property, carry away his women and children captives, and frequently subject the van- quished, above all any white man falling into their hands, to hoiTible tortui'es before putting him to death.
** The squaws to whom the prisoner is abandoned exhibit the most revolting cruelty towards him, tearing out the eyes, tongue, and nails of their victim ; burning him, chopping off a hand to- da}', and a foot to-mon*ow. When the captive is well tortured, a coal fire is lighted on his stomach and a yelling dance per- formed round him. Almost all Red Skins commit these atro- cities phlegmatically towai'ds the Whites when engaged in a struggle with them.
" Tribes often make war among themselves on the smallest pretext, for a herd of bisons they are pursuing, or a prairie where they wish to encamp alone. They have not indeed any place reserved, but they sometimes wish to keep one so, to the exclu- sion of eveiy other occupant. Nor is it uncommon for the same tribe to split itself into two hostile clans. A few years ago the OgallaUas when maddened by whisky fought among themselves with guns, and have been broken up ever since into two bands, one of which, the * Ugly-Faces,' is commanded by Red Cloud, and the other, by Big-Mouth and Pawnee-Killer.
** The languages of all the tribes are distinct; but perhaps a linguist would recognize among them some common roots, in the
NOBTHEBH BRANCH. 473
same way as in our own day tliey have been found to exist
between European tongues and those of India. These languages
474 THE BED RACE.
all obey the same grammatical mechanism ; ihey are * aggluti- native,' or * polysynthetic/ and not * analytic * or * inflected/ that is to say, the words can be combined with each other to form a single word expressing a complete idea ; but relation, gender, number, etc., are not indicated by modifications of the substan- tive. I pass over the other characteristics which distinguish agglutinative from inflected languages. The dialects of the Bed Skins have not, or seem not to have, any affinity in the different teims of their vocabulary, which is, besides, often very limited.
'' In order to comprehend each other the tribes have adopted by common accord a language of signs and gestures which approximates to that of the deaf and dumb. In this way all the Indians are capable of a mutual understanding, and a Yute, for instance, can converse without difficulty for several hours with an Arrapahoe, or the latter with a Sioux.
** The Whites are not acquainted with the languages of the Prairie Indians, or know them very badly. Frequently, there is but one interpreter for the same tongue, often a very poor one, merely understanding the idiom he has translated, not speaking it. Many, a fortiori, are not able to wi'ite the language which they interpret. Neither Dr. Mathews, John Richard, nor Pierre Chene could spell for me in English characters the names of the Crow chiefs. How would it be in the case of the Arrapahoes or Apaches, whose strongly guttural speech is only accentuated by the tips of the lips ?
*' In all tliis it must be understood that I speak only of the tribes of the Prairies, and not of those who lived in olden times on the declivities of the mountains overlooking tlie Atlantic or skirt- ing the Mississippi, The majority of the latter are, as is known, extinct, the Algonquins, Hurons, Iroquois, Natchez and Mohi- cans, and it is also well to avow that France has contributed in a large measure to their disappearance.
" The residue of these tribes, which I shall term Atlantic — Delawares, Cherokees, Seminoles, Osages, and Creeks — ^is now cantoned in the reserves, especially in the Indian Territory, where little by little the Red Skins are losing their dis- tinctive characteristics. Histories and authentic documents regarding all these races are extant, whilst only very little is known up to the present concerning those of the Prairies.
NORTHERN BRANCH. 476
The greater part of the legends and traditions with which
216.— A CUAYBNE (SHIRNHES) CfllEF.
people endow them are only due to the invention of traTellers.
476 THE RED RACE,
** It is towards a new territory analogous to the one josi mentioned) and bordering upon it, that the Commissioners of the Union have recently pushed back the five great nations of the south ; while they intend to indicate a reserve of the same kind in the north of Dacota to the Crows and the Sioux, if they find them well disposed to accept it«
** And then, people may say, what will become of the Indians? For this is the question which every one asks when he hears the Bed Skins spoken of. If the Prairie tribes go into the reserves^ the same will happen to them which has befallen those of the Atlantic borders; little by little they will lose their customs, their wild habits ; they will yield insensibly to the sedentary and agricultural life, and, step by step — ^last phase, of which the first example remains to be seen — their country will pass from the rank of a territory to that of a state. Arrived at this final stage the Indian will be altogether blended with the White ; after a few generations he will not perhaps be more distinguishable from him than the Frank is discernible from the Gaul among us, or the Norman from the Saxon in England.
** But if the Indian does not submit ; if he will not consent to be cantoned in the reserves ? Then must ensue a death-struggle between two races differijg in colour and customs, a merciless war of which, unfortunately, so many examples have already been seen on the same American soil. Where are now the Hurons, Iroquois, and Natchez, who amazed our ancestors? The AJgonquins, who had no limits to their territory, where and how many are they to-day ? All have gradually disappeared by disease or warfare.
** The war which will break out this time will be short, and it will be final, for in it the Indian will finally sink. He has on his side neither science nor numbers. Undoubtedly, by his ambushes, by his flights, by his isolated and totally unforeseen attacks, he bewilders scientific warfare, and the most able strategists of the United States, with General Sherman at their head, have been beaten by the Indians, who have gained no small share of glory against the WTiites. But the next war will be no longer one of regulars but of volunteers. The pioneers of the ter- ritories will arm themselves, and if the Red man demands tooth for tooth, eye for eye, the Whites will inflict upon him the inflexible penalty of retaliation, and the Indian will disappear for ever."
NORTHERN BRANCH. In the narrative of his travels from the J
317.— A VDTB CHIKF.
of the Pacific Ocean, made in 1853, M. MoUhausen has given
478 THE RED RACE.
various details concerning the remnants of the nearly extinct Atlantic tribes.
The Choctaws, to the number of twenty-two thousand souls, are spread over the regions bordering on Arkansas on the east, the plains inhabited by the Chicksaws on the south, and those occu- pied by the Creeks on the west, while their neighbours to the north are the Cherokees.
The vast plains which adjoin the Choctaw territories, are used for the pastimes of the Indians, and especially for their game of ball or tennis. The Choctaws, Chicksaws, Creeks, and Cherokees are passionately attached to this amusement. A challenge borne by two able performers usually gives rise to the festival, and having arranged the day for the contest, the players dispatch their heralds to all quarters. These emissaries are tattooed horsemen, accoutred in a fantastic style. Carrying a ceremonial racket, they repair from village to village and hut to hut, proclaiming throughout the entire tribe the names of the individuals who have proposed the match, and making known the day of the struggle and the place of meeting. As each of the actors is accompanied by his relatives, half the nation is often found assembled at the appointed locality on the eve of the solemn day, some to take part in the fray, and the others to bet upon the result. This game (fig. 218) is a tremendous tussle, a general scrimmage in which almost the whole tribe is engaged.
Between the Canadian border and Arkansas, sprinkled with flourishing farms, is the fertile domain of the Creek Indians. It is not so long since the warriors there covered themselves with whimsical tattooing ; but progress has to-day penetrated into these savannas, and these same Indians to-day read a newspaper printed in their language.
Like the Choctaws, the Creeks formerly inhabited Alabama and Mississippi, which they ceded for a pecimiary consideration to the American government. Their numbers do not amount to more than twenty-two thousand.
A similar estimate may be made of the Cherokees^ who have abandoned New Georgia for higher Arkansas.
Further off are the Shawnees, a nation which is reduced to about fourteen hundred members, and yet was once one of the most powerful in North America. They were the first to oppose resistance to the encroachments of civilization, and hunted from
480 THE RED RACK
everywhere have strewn the bones of their warriors along their route.
The Delawares, who have diminished to the insignificant total of eight hundred individuals, originally inhabited the eastern parts of the States of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Their fate resembled tliat of the Shawnees ; being ever obliged to subdue new territories which they were afterwards compelled to yield to the government. Driven from the plains which con- tained the tombs of their forefathers, deceived and betrayed by the strangers, the Delaware Indians have repelled Christian missionaries. Placed at tlie extreme limits of civilization, on the very border of virgin nature, they devote themselves fearlessly to their adventurous propensities. They go to hunt the grizzly bear in California, the buffalo on the plains of Nebraska, the elk at the sources of the Yellowstone, and the mustang in Texas, scalping a few crowns on their way. A Delaware only requires to see a piece of land once, in order to be able to recognize it after the lapse of years, no matter from what side he may approach it ; and wherever he sets his foot for the first time, a glance suffices to enable him to discover the spot where water should be sought for. These Indians are admirable guides, and on their services, which cannot be too dearly paid for, the existence of a whole caravan often depends.
Comanchcs, — The great and valiant nation of the Comanche Indians, which is divided into three tribes, overruns in every direction the vast expanse of the Prairies : outside those green savannahs they would be unable to live. Those of the north and of the centre are ever hunting the bufialo, and the flesh of that animal constitutes almost their sole sustenance. From the most tender childhood till advanced age they are in the saddle, and a whip and bridle render the Comanche the most expert, agile, and independent of men. They gallop in thousands over the Prairies hanging to the sides of their steeds, and directing their arrows and spears with marvellous skill at their mark. They plnme themselves on being robbers, attack the establish* ments of the Whites, lead men, women, and cliildren away prisoners, and carry off the catUe.
Fig. 219 represents two Comanche Indians ; fig. 220, one of their encampments, and fig. 221, a bufialo hunt among the same tribe.
NORTHERN BRANCH. 481
Apaches. — The Apache nation is one of the most numerous of New Mexico, including many tribes, several of which are not even known by name.
The Nai-ajoe^ belong to this gi'oup. Thej' arc the only
219.'-C0UAKCIIB
Indians of New Mexico who keep large Hocks of sheep and pursue a pastoral life. They know how to weave the wool of their flocks, of which they manuiacture thick blankets fit to compete with the productiona of the west, twisting bright colours into these rugs in a way that imparts to them a very ori^al appearance. Their deerskin leggings are made with the
4U2
THE ItED RACE.
utmost cnre, an<l have thick soles itud a pointed end, shaped like a benk, u necessary precaution against the tliomy cactus plants witli whicli tlie soil bristles. Their heml-geai- consists of a leathern cap in tlie funn <if n hdmet. ndomeil by a bmich of cock's,
eagle's, or vultnre's fcntliei-s. In addition to bows nnd arrows, they can-y long lunccs whicli they handle very skilfully as they dash along oq tlieir fleet steeds.
In the last rank of the Apache nation arc to be placed the tribes of tlie Cosiiiuou and Vanipm/s, thievish, savage, an<I suspicious hordes with whicli it has been found impossible' to
484 THE RED RACE.
establish any relations, and who are natives of the mountains of Sau Francisco. Cedar-berries, the fruit of a species of pine-tree, and the grass and root of a Mexican plant, constitute their means of subsistence, for they are wretched hunters*
Within sight of the Bio Colorado M. Mollhausen encountered some Indians belonging to the three tribes of the ChimehivebSp Cutchanas and Pah-Utahs, who bear a resemblance to each other. Their complexion was dark in colour, their faces striped with bistre, and their black hair hung down their backs in locks which were confined with wet clay. They were of fine stature, and perfectly naked but for a waistband. They bounded forward like deer to meet the travellers, and their expression of countenance was frank, kind, and merry. Their women on the contrary were small, thickset, and chimsy, but their large black eyes and pleasant mannei*s gave them a certain charm.
The travellers also fell in with the Mohawk Indians (fig. 222), men of herculean forms who were tattooed from the roots of the hair to the sole of the foot in blue, red, white and yellow, and with eyes that glowed like coals under this layer of paint. Most of them wore vulture's, magpie's, or swan's feathers on the top of their heads, and carried large bows and spears in their hands.
Mr. Catlin made numerous excursions among the Indian tribes of the plains of Columbia and Upper Missouri, and we shall quote presently his remarks concerning the Nayas and Flat'IIcads.
Both these nations dwell to the west of the Bocky Moun- tains, occup}dng all the countr}' situated roimd Lower Columbia and Vancouver's Island. The latter tribe derives its name fi-om the singular custom which exists among them of flatten- ing their cliildi'en's heads at their birth.
The Flat- Heads (fig. 223) live in a region where very little in the way of food is to be found except fish, and their lives are spent in canoes. The artificial deformity which constitutes the national characteristic is to be found more especially among the women, with whom it is almost universal; but it is only a question of fashion, and does not appear to have any perceptible effect on the functions of the organs, for persons whose heads have been compressed seem as intelligent as those who have not undergone this strange operation.
NORTHERN BRANCH.
Jlr. Catlin says i —
" In the course of the year 1853 I found myself on board the
Sally Anne, a little vessel flying the star-spangled flag, which haT- ing made a few trading cruises along the coast of Kamtschatlw
486 THE BED RACE.
and Russian America, was on her way to land in British Columbia several passengers who had been attracted thither by the reputation of the auriferous deposits newly discovered in that country.
" On the third day from our entry into Queen Charlotte's Sound, the long and magnificent strait separating Vancouver's Island from the continent, we got into the long-boat to go on shore, and amved at the village of the Nayas, The Indians had been informed of our visit and were all assembled in their huts ; the chief, a very dignified man, being seated in his wigwam, with lighted pipe, ready to receive us. We squatted ourselves on mats spread upon the ground, and whilst the pipe was being passed round — this is the first ceremony on such occasions — hundreds of native dogs — ^haK wolves, — ^which had followed in oui* track, completely invaded the approaches to the wigwam, barking and howling in the shrillest and most mournful manner. The sentinel whom the chief had stationed at the door to prevent anyone entering without permission, dis- charged an arrow at the leader of the band, i)iercing him to the heart, a proceeding which calmed the rest of the pack, which was then dispei*sed with many blows of oai*s by the Indian women. We were not a little emban-assed at having no other way of ex- pressing our thoughts than by signs, yet we seemed to under- stand each other perfectly, and we gathered that the chief had sent to a village at no gi-eat distance in search of an inter- preter who ought very soon to arrive. I recommended my companions not to breathe a word before his ai'rival as to our object in visiting the locality, and in the meantime did not myself lose an instant in endeavouring to rouse the interest of our hosts.
" I motioned to Caesar to bring me the portfolio, and having seated myself beside the chief, opened it before him, while I gave an explanation of each portrait ; he expressed no great surprise, and yet took an evident pleasure in examining them. I showed him several chiefs of the Amazons, as well as others of the Sioux, Osages, and Pawnees. The last likeness was a full-length one of Caesar, on seeing which he could not resti'ain himself from bursting into the most tremendous fits of laughter, and turning towards the subject of it who was sitting opposite, signed to him to approach, gave him a grasp of the hand and made him
NORTHERN BKANCH. 487
place himself beside him. These drawings excited great anima-
tion in the assemblage ; three or four under-chiefa were &tvta.w«*
488 THE BED RACE,
to see them, and the chiefs wife and their young daughter came close to us for the same purpose.
''One detail of their toilette attracted Caesar's attention: a man had a roimd slip of wood inserted in his imder lip and the chiefs daughter also carried a similar ornament. Like Gffisar, my companions were ignorant of this strange and incredible custom, and contemplated the Indians thus adorned, with the utmost astonishment.
'' The chiefs daughter wore a magnificent mantle of mountain- sheep's wool and wild-dog's hair, marvellously interwoven with handsome colours in the most intricate and curious patterns, and bordered all round with a fringe eighteen inches deep. The making of this robe had occupied three women during a year, and its value was that of five horses. The bowl of the pipe which the chief passed round, was of hard clay, black as jet and highly polished, and both it and the stem were embellished with sketches of men and animals carved in the most ingenious manner. I have seen several of these pipes, and have had many in my possession, with their eccentiic designs representing the garments, canoes, oars, gaiters, and even the full-length likenesses of their owners. These designs of the Nayas are di£ferent from all those we saw among the other tribes of the conti- nent. The same ornaments are found on their spoons, vases and clubs ; on their earthenware, of which they make a great quantity ; and on everything else manufactured by them. Up to the present these figm*es are inexplicable hierogl}^hics to us, but they possess great interest for archeologists and etjnnologists,
** I did not find in this Nay a Chief the same superstitious dread which the Indians of the Amazon and of other parts in the south of America evinced when I asked them to have their portraits taken; on the conti-ary he said of his own accord to me: * If you tliink any of us worthy of the honour, or handsome enough to be painted, we are ready ! ' I thanked him ; Caesar went for my box of colours and my easel, and I began his likeness and that of his daughter, for he had told me how much he loved this child, add- ing that it was his rule to have her almost always with him, and that he thought I should do well to draw them together, both on the same canvas. I agreed to his request, telling him at the same time how much I appreciated such natural and noble feel- ings on his part.
NORTHERN BRiNCH. 48»
, ... As we neared the village a great crowd came to meet
ns, and I noticed that the throng, especially the •wwass^L, stoafit^a"-
m THE BED RACE.
themselyes to the steps of Caesar as he marched solemnly along, his tall figure drawn up to its fiill height, and with the portfolio on his back. So large were the numbers for so small a village, that I asked the interpreter to explain what this signified. He told me that the news of our arrival and the atti^action of the dance which was sure to take place in the evening had drawn and would still draw a vast concourse of Indians from the adjoining districts. At sunset we partook of a meal of venison in the chiefs wigwam, and afterwards set ourselves to smoke imtil night came on. Then in the midst of dreadful yelling, barking, and singing, we saw about a dozen flaming torches approaching the hut in front of which the dance of masks now began. Grotesque is an imperfect word to convey an idea of the incredible eccentricities and buflfooner}^ that took place before us, and Caesar was seized with such a fit of laughing as to be ahnost choked. Picture to yourself, fifteen or twenty individuals, all full-grown men, masked or tricked out in the most extraordinary guise, while many spectators, placed in the first rank, were costumed in similar style. A great medicine man was the conductor of the revels and the most wliimsical of all. He represented the ' King of the Bustards,' another was * Monai'ch of the Divers,* a third, ' Doctor of the Rabbits ; * and there were also the * Brother to the Devil,' the 'Thunder-Maker,' the * White Book,* the ' Night-travelling Bear,' the * Soul of the Caribout,' and so on, until the names of every animal and every bird were entii-ely exhausted. The dancers' masks, of which I procured several, are very ingeniously made. They are cleverly hollowed from a solid block of wood in such a way as to fit the face, and are held inside by a cross-strap which is taken between the teeth, thus enabling the voice to be counterfeited and dis- guised ; they are covered, moreover, with odd patterns in various colours. With the exception of that of the leader of the dance, all these masks had a round piece of wood in the under lip, to recall the singular custom which exists in the country. Enter- tainments of tliis description are not confined to the Nayas, for I have witnessed similar recreations in many other tribes in North as well as South America.
** They also slit the cartilages and lobes of their ears, lengthen them, and insert little billets as ornaments. Those in the hp are principally worn by the women, though some of the men
NORTHERN BRANCH. 491
hare adopted this fashion, which becomes more and more in
CHOW cniEF.
Togue among both sexes as the coast is asitccA^^ ■watXN*-
492 THE BED RACE.
The same may be said of the masks, which are to be found as far as among the Aloutis. All the women have not the lip pierced , and those who have do not carry the wooden ornament except on certain occasions, at settled periods, when they don full dress. They remove it when eating and sleeping or if they have to talk much, for there are plentj^ of words which cannot be pronounced with this inconvenient trinket.
** The lip is perforated at the earliest age, and the aperture thus formed, though almost imperceptible at first when the ^barbote' is taken out, is kept open and grows larger daily."
The same traveller had the pleasure of again meeting the Crows, but as we have already spoken of the Indians of this tribe, we shall content ourselves with reproducing here his very picturesque costume of one of their chiefs (fig. 225),
Mr. Catlin twice visited the Mandan Indians in the course of the siunmer of 1832. The solitary village in which they were collected, to the number of two or three thousand, was on the left bank of the Missouri, at a distance of about 1400 miles from tlie city of St. Louis. Of medium stature, and comfortably clad in skins, all wore leathern leggings and mocassins elegantly embroidered with porcupine silk dyed in various colours.
Each man had his tunic and his mantle which he assumed or laid aside according to the temperature, and every woman her robe of deer or antelope skin. Many among them had a very fair skin, and their hair, which was silvery gray from childhood to old age, their hght blue eyes and oval faces, doubtless testified to an infusion of white blood. Almost all the men adopted a curious fashion, peculiar to tliis tribe ; their hair, long enough to reach the calf of their legs, was divided into matted locks, flattened and separated by hardened birdlime or by red or yellow clay.
North-Western Family.
The Indian tribes composing the Nm^th-Westem family of the North American Branch, are less warlike and cruel than those of the east. They take no scalps. Their stature is not so tall, their face broader, their eyes more sunken, and their complexion browner. M. d'Omalius d'Halloy cites in this group the Koliouges
NOBTHEBN BBAKOH. 403
(from 60° to 5(f N. lat.), the Wakischea or Nootkana (Island of Nootka and neighbouring coasts), the Chinooks (mouth of the Oregon), and the Tvlarenos^ or Indians of Califomia.
A detailed description of these different American tribes would be devoid of interest ; in fact, we should be only able to repeat with but little alteration what has been said in previous pages concerning the manners, habits, customs, &c., of the last remain- ing savages who still people the interior of the North American forests.
In connection with the aboriginal inhabitants of California, we must direct the reader's attention to the fact, that the Califor- nians have a skin of such a deep reddish-brown that it seems black. This colour is certainly exceptional among the primitive inhabitants of America, but the characteristic is so pronounced in the present instance, that we felt that we could not avoid pointing it out, although it may be opposed to the classification which we have adopted, placing in the Red Eace all members of the human family proper to America. This exception is one of the inconveniences of classification to wliich we must submit, without however endeavouring to conceal it.
THE BLACK RACE.
The Black Bace, as considered in the vaidous peoples consti- tuting its type, is distinguished by its short and woolly hair, com- pressed skull, flattened nose, prominent jaws, thick lips, bowed legs, and black or dark brown skin. Its members are confined to the central and southern regions of Africa and the southern parts of Asia and Oceania. The blacks found in America are the descendants of African slaves transported into the New World by Europeans.
The peoples belonging to the Black Bace present great variations. Some have the type altogether peculiar to the Bace we have just characterized, while others show a tendency to approach the Yellow and the White Baces. The inhabitants of Guinea and Congo are quite black, but the Cafires are only ex- cessively brown and resemble Abyssinians. The Hottentots and Bushmen ai'e yellowish, like the Cliinese, though at the same time possessing the features and physiognomy of the Negro.
As striking varieties are, therefore, observable in the Black Bace as in the White, and a rigorous classification of it is consequently very diflicult to establish ; but as we coincide in that which has been suggested by M. d*Omalius d'Halloy, we shall separate the Black Bace into two divisions, the Western and the Eastern Branches.
CHAPTER I.
WESTERN BRANCH.
We shall notice three families in the Western Branch of the Black Race, those of the Caffires, Hottentots, and Negroes, These general groups comprise an immense number of tribes, many of them still unknown, constituting a population of about fifty- two millions.
Caffre Famua'.
The Caffres who inhabit the south-east of Africa form, so to speak, the stepping-stone or intermedium between the brown and the black nations. Their hair is woolly, but their com- plexion is not so dark nor their nose so flat as those of a Negro. Possessing more aptitude for civilization than the other black races, they are associated together in large communities, each of which obeys a chief, and though half wandering in their habits, occupy some very populous towns, of considerable extent, and resembling vast camps. Their clothing is \evj scanty, being reduced in the men's case almost to a cloak, whilst the women are better covered in leatheiii garments.
The Caffires have great herds of cattle and devote themselves to agriculture. They cultivate maize, millet, beans and water- melons ; make bread and beer, and manufactm*e earthenware, are able to utilize metals, employ iron and copper, and know how to turn both into tools and ornaments. They believe in a Supreme! Being as well as in the immortality of the soul, but pervert their religious sentiments by divers superstitions.
The various tribes of this great feunily possess physical ehaite- teristics in common which are not to be found in other African nations. Gaffires are &x taller and stronger; they have wbH*
4£6 THE BLACK RACE.
proportioned limbs, a brown skui, black and woolly bur ; tbe elevated forehead and tbe projecting nose of the European with the thick lips of the Negro, and the high prominent cheekbones of tbe Hottentot. Their language is Eonorous, sweet, and har- monious, with a rumbbng in its pronunciation.
16.— A CAFPRK.
We class with this family :
1. The Southern Cafii-es, who include the Amakisas, Ama- thymbas, or Tamhoukis, Amapendas, and other tribes ;
2. The Amazulas, Vatwas, and some other warlike wandering hordes who have lately advanced southward into the interior ;
8. The inhabitants of Delagoa Bay, who bear a closer resem- blance to the Negroes ;
4. The Bechuanas and all the numerous tribes situated towards the north and in tbe interior, speaking a langoage of their own, called Sickuana.
WESTERN BRANCH. 497
The Bechoana nations are the most advanced of these four groups. The traveller Livingstone, who made a long stay in tlieir countrj', has given excellent descriptions of them in his "Expedition to the Zambesi." They have made progress in arts and civilization, inhabit large towns, have well-built houses.
r-^'
till the soil, and know how to preser\'e one year's crop until the next. Their features tend towards an approach to those of Europeans.
In the region of the Tammahas, not far from JIarhow, a town of ten thousand inhabitants, fields of corn several hundred acres in extent, testify to a rather forward state of agriculture and industry.
The MaraUi cultivate sugar and tobacco, make knives and razors, construct their houses in masonry, and ornament them with pilasters and mouldings.
We moat also affiliate to the CaSres, the inhabitants of the
498 THE BLACK RACE.
Mozambique coast, that is to say, that portion of the east coast of Africa between the mouth of the Zambesi and Cape Delgado, Fig. 227 represents a t3T)ical native of this district,
Hottentot Family.
The Hottentots, whom the Dutch colonists call Bosjesmans or Bushmen, inhabit the southern extremity of the continent. Their skin is of a dark yellowish hue, and it is only in conse- quence of their features and conformation, which are those of Negroes, that the Hottentots are placed in the Black Race, for if their colour is considered, they should be ranked in the Yellow one.
Prior to the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by European navigators, the Hottentots formed a numerous people, whose little tribes lived happily and tranquilly under the patriarchal rule of their chiefs or elders. Composed of from tliree to four hundred individuals only, these hordes roved about with tlieir flocks and assembled in villages, the houses of which being con- structed of branches of trees and reed mats, were taken asunder on the signal of departure, and removed by oxen to the site of the new encampment selected by the chief. The wildest of them had for covering a cloak of sheepskins sewn together, and their weapons were a bow and poisoned arrows. This people were active and intrepid hunters, and they found an opi)ortunity of proving to the Europeans that they were brave in war. Their cruel invaders, the Dutch, cxtenninated the majority of these tribes, others were violently divested of their possessions and hurled back into the forests or the deserts, where their wretched descendants still live.
The Hottentots or Bushmen seem to be the lowest of man- kind, as much by their physical characteristics as by the inferiority of their intelligence. They are of small stature, yellowish complexion, and repulsive countenance. Prominent foreheads, small sunken eyes, extremely flat noses, and thick pro- jecting lips, form the distinctive features of their face. In con- sequence of their miserable state of existence, they become worn out and decrepit early in life. They delight in personal adorn- ment, and deck ears, arms, and legs with beads, and with iron, -copper, or brass rings^ The w6men colour the whole or part
WESTERN BRANCH. 4S9
of their &ces ; for all covering, they throw over their shoulders a kind of sheepskin mantle.
We give here {fig. 228), as an accurate Epecimen of the Hottentot race, the portrait (from a cast in the French Museum of Natural History) of a woman of that country, who died at Paris
in 1828, and who was known hy the name of " The Hottentot VenuB." The phj-sical specialty which rendered her remarkable, and which consisted in a considerable development of the pos- terior muscles, was merely an individual anomaly, and does not permit of any general conclusion being drawn from it as a characteristic of tlie Hottentot race. The skeleton of this female is preserved entire in the Museum, where a oast of the whole body, coloured as in life, may also be seen.
The Boshman's dwelling is a low hut or a circular cavity. They formerly lived in a species of natural caves among the rocks,
K K s
600 THE BLACK RACE.
and a few individuals, even to the present day, occupy these same dens, which convey to us a perfect idea of man's habitations at the time of his first appearance on the globe.
These wild beings have never been seen engaged in any other occupation than that of making or repairing their weapons and their barbed or poisoned arrows. In times of scarcity, they eat herb-roots, ants' eggs, locusts, and snakes. Their language is a mixture of chattering, hissing, and nasal grunts.
As regards physical type, the Hottentots are small, but well- proportioned, and erect without being muscular. They are generally extremely ugly. Their nose is usually flat, their eyes long and narrow, very wide apart from each other and with the inner angle rounded as among the Chinese, whom the Hottentots resemble besides in some other respects* Their cheekbones are high set and very prominent, and form almost an equilateial triangle with their sharp-pointed chin. Their teeth are very white. The women sometimes possess pleasing figures in early youth, but later on their breasts lengthen immoderately, their stomach becomes protuberant, and sometimes the hind part of their body is covered with an • enormous mass of fat. This inclination was visible to an exaggerated excess in the case of the "Hottentot Venus;" but as we have said, she merely constituted an individual exception, and it would be erroneous to set it down as a general characteristic of the whole Hottentot family.
Negro Family.
The Negroes occupy a large part of Central and Southern Africa. Senegambia, Guinea, a portion of the western Soudan, the coast of Congo, along with the immense extent of country, as yet almost entirely unknown, which is comprised between Congo on the west and the coasts of Mozambique and Zanzibar on the east, are the dwelling-places of the Negroes, properly so called.
Guinea and Congo are the classic homes of the Negro. There live the representatives of this race, with the most characteristic and repulsive features. The belief is, that, as the incursions of Asiatic and European populations into Africa were always effected by the Isthmus of Suez and the Bed Sea, the aboriginal blacks were thrust back more and more towards the west of the
WESTEBM SBANOH. SOL
continent. The inhabitants of Guinea and Congo would con- sequently be the descendants and contemporary representatiyes of the primitiTe black stock.
Negroes are also to be found in the numerous islands of the Southern Ocean ; New Guinea, New Britain, New Caledonia, Australia, Madagascar, &c., &c. In the last named large island^ a vast Negro kingdom is in existence, governed by a queen, who sent ambassadors to England and France at the commence- ment of the present century. Finally, there are Negroes in the United States, and in the West Indies. From 1848, when slayery was declared abolished in the French possessions, the blacks have been free in those colonies, and the gradual emanci- pation of the Negroes which has taken place since, both in the American and Spanish territories, has completely relieved them from bondage.
We proceed to study the Negroes, firstly as regards organiza? tion, and then from the intellectual and moral stand-point.
The physiognomy of the Negro is so strongly distinctive that it is impossible not to recognize it at the first glance, even if the individual should have a fair skin. His protruding lips, low fore- head, projecting teeth, woolly and half-frizzled hair, thin beard, broad, flat nose, retreating chin, and roimd eyes, give him a peculiar look amongst all other human races. Several are bow- legged, almost all have but little calf, half-bent knees, the body stooped forward, and a tired gait.
The masticatory muscles are more powerful in the Negro than in the White, on accoimt of the greater length of the jaw. Their occiput is flatter than that of the White, and the great occipital hole placed further back. Dr. Madden has noticed skeletons of Negroes in Upper Egypt, showing six lumbar vertebrsB instead of five, a fact which explains the length of their loins and shambling gait. The hips are less prominent than in a white man. We may add that in this race the trunk is not so broad as in the other human fieunilies, the arms are slightly longer in proportion, and the legs rather perceptibly bent, with flat and high placed calves.
The bones of the skull and those of the body are thicker and harder than in the other races.
The bony cavity of the pelvis is much narrower in the Negro than in the European, but it is broader towards the os sacrum, renders deliyery easy to a Negress. Accurate measursf-
602 THE BLACK RACE.
ments show the upper portion of the pelvis to be a fourth wider in the European than in the Negro.
The thighs also differ in the Negro and the White, being yery perceptibly flattened in the former.
The foot participates in this general ugliness of the limbs. Flat feet, which are sufficient to exempt from militar}' service among the French, are not only no deformity in the Negro, but a normal characteristic. Instead of forming that curve which imparts elasticity to the whole frame, the imder part of the Negro's foot is flat, thus rendering it less fitted to support the body on marches. So apparent is this malformation in the black, that they say of him in America, ** The sole of liis foot makes a hole in the sand;'* and it is easy, in consequence, to distinguish by a mere look the footprint of an European from that of a Negro. The first only shows the marks of the toes and heel, while the other is the im- press of the entire sole, from one end to the other. Besides, the foot of the Negro is large and narrow, with wide divisions, between the toes, while the nails ai-e so sharp and pointed, that they resemble claws.
The complexion of the skin is one of the most apparent, though not most characteristic, attributes of the Negro race. The belief was long entertained that the colour of the blacks resulted from the prolonged action of the sun on their bodies, but observation has shown that such is not the case, and that their extremely dark hue by no means depends either on the intensity or brilliancy of the solar rays. * White men are to be found in the central parts of Africa, in the Soudan and the Sahara, for instance, as well as among the Touaricks, whilst black tribes exist in countries subject to the most rigorous cold, such as Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand. In another direction, too, quite close to tlie white Icelanders and Norwegians, j)eoi)le with ver}*- dark skins may be seen, like the Laplanders ; and in California, a country of cold latitude, the aborigines are, as we have stated, almost black.
The black colour resides in an oily, greasy principle, termed pigmentum nigrum (black pigment), which is deposited in a layer in the mucous tissue on the cuticle. This penetrates into the hair, dyeing it black, and diffuses itself throughout the entii'e system even to the membranes surrounding the brain. This black mucous net-work a2)pears to protect the akin from the violent action of an African sun, and preserves
westebV branch.
it from those inflammations which are called sun-strokes in our climate.
Crossing with the White griiduallj- diminishes the Negro's colour, and in proportion to the preponderance of black or white
504 THE BLAC& RACE.
in its progenitors, the offspring presents various gradations of complexion. The following are the names which according to Valmont de Bomaire are given in the colonies to the issue of the union of the two races : 1. The child of a white man and a Negress, or of a Negro and a white woman, is called a mulutto, who is neither black nor white, but of a blackish yellow hue, and who has short and frizzly black hair. 2. The offspring of a white man and a mulatto woman, or of a Negro and a mulatto woman, is termed a quadroon, who, as regards colour, is a mixture of three-quarters white with one-quarter black, or three-quarters black with one-quarter white. In the first case the complexion is fairer ; in the second, darker than that of a mulatto. 8. A white man and a fair quadroon, or a Negro and a dark quadroon pro- duce an octoroon, seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, or seven-eighths black and one-eighth white. 4. The child of a White and an octoroon, or of a Negro and a dark octoroon, is in the one case almost entirely white, in the other, nearly quite black.
Valmont de Bomaire adds, that in succeeding mixed genera- tions (the union with the white man taking place in Europe, and that with the black man, in Senegal) the complexion would grow lighter or darker, until at last a white or a black being was brought into the world. Such is the course of physical influences and the causes of deterioration or relapse in the coloiu: of the human species. Only four or five generations of mixed blood are required in order to render the Negro stock white, and no more are wanted to make the white black. The union of a mulatto with a quadroon or octoroon woman will produce, as may be understood, other hues approaching to white or black in proportion to the pro- gression described above. The progeny of a black and a quad- roon is termed " saltatras *' in the colonies ; the word signifies ** a leap-backwards " or a return towards the black race.
Crossings of the Negro with individuals of the Yellow or Eed Kaces, with Asiatic Indians or American red-skins, beget offspring of varied shades of colour, bearing differ^it desig- nations according to the cpimtries. These men of colour are seen in many islands of Pol^oiesia. Possessing neither the intelligence of whites nor the submissiveness of blacks, despised by the former and hated by the latter, they constitute an equivo- cal caste, with no settled position, and less disposed to labour than revolt.
WESTERN SBANCH. fiOS
The colour of his skin takes away all charm from the Negro's comitenance. What renders the European's face pleasing is that each of its features exhibits a particular shade. The cheeks, forehead, nose, and chin of the White have each a different tinge • On the contrary all is black on an African visage, even the eye- brows, as inky as the rest, are merged in the general colour ; scarcely another shade is perceptible, except at the line where the lips join each other.
The skin of Negroes is very porous, so much so that the pores show visibly ; but it is far from hard in all cases, being in some instances quite the reverse, smooth, satiny, and extremely soft to the touch.
The most unpleasant thing about a Negro's skin is the nauseous odour it emits when the individual is heated by perspir- ation or exercise ; these emanations are as hard to endure ad those which some animals exhale.
A Negro's hair is quite peculiar. Whilst that of a White is cylindrical, the Black man's is fiat. It is also short and crisp, like the wool of a sheep, and in contradistinction to the abundant supply of Europeans, the women among whom can even trail their locks on the ground, it only attains the length of a few inches. The beard, also, is very scanty and scarcely covers the upper lip.
The eye of the Negro differs also from that of the white ; the iris is so dark as almost to be confounded with the black of the pupil. In the European, the colour of the iris is so strongly marked as to render at once perceptible whether the person has black, blue, or grey eyes. Nothing similar in the case of the Negro, where all parts of the eye are blended in the same hue. Add to this that the white of the eye is alwaj'S suffused with yellow in the Negro, and you will understand how this organ, which contributes so powerfully to give life to the countenance of the White, is invariably dull and expressionless in the Black Race.
Nature adapts the Negro to the torrid countries he inhabits. His constitution is in general Ijmphatic and lethargic. His slow, sluggish gait and invincible laziness provoke Europeans, who cannot understand so much indolence. The relaxation of the limbs of the Negro betrays itself by his inertia and drowsiness, as well as by the flabby flesh of the women (Fig. 280).
Negroes are much less subject than Europeans to the influence
606 THE BLACK RACE.
of stimulants. The strongest spirit, mm, pepper, tlie most irritant spices, only feebly rouse their inert palate. Their soft, thick, oily skin, smooth and hairless, is encrusted beneath the epidermis, as we have said, with a black mucous deposit which gives it its colour. This viscid film envelopes the nervous ramifi- cations beneath the cuticle, thus blunting the sensibility. The fine and delicate skin of the European experiences horrible tor- tm'e under the lash ; but even when he is torn by leathern thongs, the bleeding weals of which are sometimes, in an excess of barbarity, rubbed \^dth pepper and vinegar, the Negro supportsr this cruel usage with indifference. Some blacks are seen joining the dance after this punishment, as if nothing had happened.
Before speaking of the brain and understanding of the Negro, we should make some remarks on the facial angle observed in tliis race. We have said that a relatively exact judgment may be formed from the size of this angle as to the value of a race of mankind, from the intellectual point of view.* The more obtuse the angle, the gi*eater indication does it afford of noble and' lofty sentiments ; the smaller it is, the nearer the head approaches to that of animals. A prominent forehead is the sign of a developed intellect, whilst protruding jaws reveal brute instincts. Consequently, the facial angle increases or diminishes according as the forehead or the jaws project forward. The facial angle of Euroi)eans is about 7Gi degrees, sometimes reaching 81. An angle of 90 degrees, that is to say a right angle, is found in the ancient statues of Greece. But bv reason of his retreating forehead and prominent jaws the Negro only exhibits a facial angle of from 61 J to 63 degrees, approaching that of the monkey, which in those of the sj^ecies to which the orang-outang and gorilla belong, is of 45 degrees.
This proportionate weakness of intelligence, revealed to us by. the smallness of the facial angle in the Negro, is confinned by an examination of his brain. The labours of anatomists of oar own day have established that not only is it the bulk of the brain which con-esponds relatively with intellectual activity, but thai the genuine indication revealing the superiority of mind in man consists in the number and depth of the furrows or circumvola- tions of the brain. Now the outUnes and windings of the cerebral mass in the European are so numerous and deep tliat
* Sec Introtluction, p. 2G.
508 THE BLACK RACE.
they can scarcely be measured, whilst the complications in the head of the black are, as regards the same qualities, less by one half. The brain of a Negro is also perceptibly smaller than that of a White. It is the front part especially, that is to say the cerebral lobes, which is so much larger in the European, and hence the fine arch of the forehead peculiar to the White or Caucasian race.
The intellectual inferiority of the Negro is readable in his coun- tenance, devoid of expression and mobility. The black man is a child, and like a child he is impressionable^ fickle, easily affected by good treatment, and capable of self-devotion, but capable also of hatred in some cases, as well as of working out his revenge. The people of the Black Bace living in a free condition in the interior of Africa, demonstrate by their habits and the state of their mind that they can hardly get beyond the level of tribe life ; and on the other hand such difficulty is experienced in many colonies, in endeavouring to induce the Negroes (so indispensable has the guardianship of Europeans become to them) to maintain among themselves the benefits of civilization, that the inferiority of their intelligence, compared with that of the rest of mankind, is a fact not to be disputed.
Several instances might doubtless be adduced of Negroes who have surjiassed Europeans by their capacity of mind. Generals Toussaint Louverture, Christofle, and Dessalines w^ere no ordinary men, and Blmnenbach has preserved to us the names of many illustrious blacks, among whom he mentions Jacob Captain, w^hose sermons, and theological ^vritings, in Latin and Dutch, are truly remarkable. It is not from individual cases, however, but from the whole, that a judgment must be an-ived at, and experi- ence has proved that the Negroes are inferior in intelligence to all known races, not even excepting the savage people of America and the Oceanian islands.
The Negro tribes would be excessively numerous if their children lived, but negligence and laziness cause a notable pro- portion of their offspring to perish. The continual wars, too, in which they indulge against each other, equally impede the spread of their species, and notwithstanding the fertility of the soil in a gi-eat part of Africa, the improvidence and carelessness of the natives bring on real famines which decimate their numbers.
WESTERN BBANOH. 600
Another cause of depopulation that happily becomes less im- portant ever}*^ day is the trade which the blacks themselves are most eager to keep up. They sell their children for a packet of beads or for a few flasks of " fire-water."
Thought grows sad as it carries itself back to the time, not yet yery remote, when Negro traffic and slavery, which to-day form the exception, were the universal rule along the whole coast of Western Africa. Negroes then were torn ruthlessly from their country and transported to other climes to be reduced to bondage, or in other words to sacrifice life and strength for their master^ and in serving him, to exhaust themselves by toil without gaining as much pity as is extended to beasts of burden. With our animals, in fact, repose succeeds fatigue and food restores vigour ; whilst, in colonies subject to Europeans, dread of punishment, the lash, and the most shocking usage, subdued the Negro to foroed labour.
This horrible traffic having excited universal indignation for half a century', most States decreed its abolition. France by laws passed between the years 1814 and 1848, definitively emancipated the slaves in all her possessions, and since 1860 or so, almost the whole of America has followed this example. Cruisers are now kept permanently on the coasts of Africa both by England and France, which renders the slave trade, if not impossible, at least difficult and dangerous for the grasping, barbarous men who are not afraid to devote themselves to it stiU.
This commerce, against which European nations have effected so much, nevertheless reckons as its partizans the Negroes themselves. The tribes are, in fact, incessanUy waging war on each other in order to take prisoners and sell them to the traders who pay prohibited visits to their shores. Even now, convoys of captives, chained together by means of forked sticks, are too often to be seen traversing the forests on their way to a slave- ship moored in some unfrequented creek.
Since the almost general abolition of slavery, many Negro tribes have been remarked to live in better accord among them- selves. Fathers have some little love for their children, as they no longer entertain the hope of selling them for a bottle of mm or a glass necklace !
This bondage of the Negroes is not, we may add, a social
i
610 THE BLACK RACK
institution of recent date. The Bomans possessed black slaves, and had been preceded by the Egyptians in a custom which, at a period yet more remote, prevailed among the AssjTians and Babylonians. Three thousand years ago the Arabians and Turks carried off Negroes. They ascended the Nile in large vessels, collecting, as they went, the blacks that were delivered up to them in Nubia and Abyssinia, and returning to Lower Egypt with this cargo of human cattle, sold it for slaves.
A cruelty which occasionally approaches ferocity is the sad Attribute of some African tribes. Molien said of the inhabitants of Fouta-Toro, that those Negroes had derived nothing from civilization but its vices, and the same reproach is applicable to 8ome of the modem tribes. The natives of Dahomey, a Negro kingdom extending along the shores of the Gulf of Guinea, distinguish themselves among all other blacks by their callous and revolting inhumanity. To kill arid slay is to them a pleasure, which anyone who can indulge in it rarely denies himself, and the post of executioner is sought for by the richest and most powerful in the land as affording an opportunity for the most coveted enjoyments. To form an idea of a similar excess of savagery and depravity, the shocking account should be read in the ** Tour du Monde," narrated from personal experience by Doctor Eepin, who passed through Dahomey in 1856. We cannot attempt to reproduce here the picture of such cold-blooded barbarity.
The Negroes impose heavy labours on their women. Among them the wife is merely a helper in toil, a servant the more. Making flour and bread, tilling the groimd, and the most fatiguing occupations, are tlie Negress's lot in her own country; and it has been said, perhaps rightly, that the former slavery was possibly a benefit to her, as she at any rate changed tyrants. The Negress grinds the corn by placing it in a hollow stone and crushing it with a round flint, the flour falling through a hole in the stone and being received in a mat laid on the floor.
The religious notions possessed by the Negroes are very dim ; they doubtless believe in a supreme God, in a creator; but addict themselves in excess to the practices of fetishism. Their fetishes are a kind of secondary divinities, subordinate to the great God, master of nature. Each person chooses for fetish whatever he likes — fire, a tree, a serpenti a jackal, water, a hog, down to a
WESTERN BRANCH. 5LI
piece of wood shaped by tlie hand of man. The worship of the serpent is in mueli favour among the inhabitants of Dahomey. They construct tents and dwelhngs for tliese reptiles, rear them in great numbers, and allow them to rove about wherever they please. Immediate death would follow any attempt to kill or pursue the fetish seipents.
Belief in the power of chance or destiny predominates among these rude men. They feel that events do not depend on their own will, but upon some hidden infiuence which directs every- thing, and which it is necessary to render favourable to them. Hence the magicians and soothsayers whose duty it is to avert ■evil fate or hurtful destinies, and hence also the incalculable quantity of fetishes. Each Negro has his own, to which he offers sacriiice so long as he obtains something from it, and
512 THE BLACK RACK
which he abandons the moment he recognizes its uselessness* Lamentable effect of the natural degradation of these races !
The sad defects of the Negro in his savage state should not cause his aptitudes to be forgotten. When he has been snatched from tribe life, or freed from the chains that weighed him down, the black manifests qualities which deserve to be brought into relief.
Let us remark firstly, that the Negroes, or the mulattoes result- ing from their tmion with the whites, are often gifted with an extraordinary memory which gives them a great facility for ac- quiring languages. They are not slow to appropriate the lan- guage of the people amidst whom they are placed. They speak English in North America, Spanish in the Central and Southern parts of the New World, and Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope. They can even change their tongue with their masters. If a Dutch Negro enters the service of an Englishman, he will abandon his former idiom for that of the latter, and wiU forget his old mode of speech. Nay more, their memory sometimes retains widely diverse languages at the same time. Travellers have met negro traders in the centre of Africa, having connections with different nations, who expressed themselves in several tongues, and understood both Arabic and Koptic as well as Turkish.
The towns inhabited by the Negroes resemble European cities sometimes so much as to be mistaken for them ; there is only a difference of degree in their civilization and knowledge when com- pared with those of Europe. Towns, properly so called, in the interior of Africa are however very much scattered, but travellers bring to light fresh information concerning the country ever}' day, and the future will perhaps reveal to us particulars about the civilization of Central Africa, of which we have as yet hardly a suspicion.
Negroes are not bad accountants ; they calculate mentally with great rapidity, far surpassing Europeans in this respect.
The industrial arts are pursued with some success by many black tribes* ton can be extracted from its ores easUy enough to admit of the trades of founders and blacksmiths being carried on in every Negro village, and some excellent handicrafts- men in both these callings are to be foimd in Senegambia and several of the interior regions.
514 THE BLACK RACE.
Fermented drinks, such as beer, sorgho wine, &c., are also manufactured with considerable skill.
Negroes possess the talent of imitation to a very remarkable extent. They seize hold of and are able faithfully to mimic a person's particular characteristics or behaviour if they show any ludicrous peculiarities, Negro humour is also generally gay and pleasant. They like to laugh at their masters and overseers, the children of the house, &c., and delight in making themselves merry at their expense.
Yet this imitative faculty inherent to blacks, does not go so far as to endow them with any artistic talents. Drawing, painting, and sculpture are unknown to Negroes, and it is impossible to infuse into them the smallest capacity for such subjects, either by lesSon or advice. Their temples and dwellings are, in fact, only deco- rated with shapeless scratches ; Africans of the present day are utterly unskilled in drawing and sculpture.
Negroes, if thus obtuse to the plastic arts, are on the contraiy very easily affected by music and poetry. They sing odd and expressive recitatives at their festivals and sports, and in some Negro kingdoms a caste of singers is even to be met with, which is alleged to be hereditary, and whose members are also at the same time the chroniclers of the tribe.
Musical instruments are rather plentiful among the Africans. In addition to the drum, which holds so prominent a place in the music of the Arabs, they use flutes, triangles, bells, and even stringed instruments, with from eight to seventeen strings, the latter being supplied from the tail of the elephant. They also possess instruments fashioned from the rind of cucumbers, forming a sort of rude harp. The Mandigoes who live on the banks of the Senegal, about the middle of its course, have a species of clarionet, from four to five yards long.
** The Negroes," says Livingstone, in his '* Expedition to the Zambesi," '* have had their minstrels ; they have them still, but tradition does not preserve their effusions. One of these, appa- rently a genuine poet, attached himself to our party for several days, and, whenever we halted, sang our praises to the villagers in smooth and harmonious numbers. His chant was a soi-t of blank verse, and each line consisted of five syllables. The song was short when it first began, but each day he picked up moi*e information about us, and added to the poem, until our praises
VESTEBH BRANCH, HS
grew into an ode of respectable length. When distance from home compelled him to retom, he expressed his regret at leavii^; va, and was, of course, paid for his useful and pleasant flatteries. Another, thongh leas gifted son of Apollo, belonged to our ovn party. Every evening, while the others were cooking, talking, or sleeping, he rehearsed his songs, which contained a history of
233.— A ZAUBESI HEOKES.'^
everything he had noticed among the white men, and on the Journey. In compoBing, extempore, any new piece, he was sever at a loss ; for, if the right word did not come, he didn't hesitate, bat eked ont the measure with a pecoliar mosical sound, mean- ing nothing at all. He accompanied his recitations on the mum, an instrument held in the fingers, whilst its nine iron keys are pressed with the thumbs. Persons of a musical tnm, too poor to buy a MUM, may.be aeea playing vigoionsly on a sabstitat^mad«
516 THE BLACK RACE.
of a number of thick sorgho-stalks sewn together, and with keys of split bamboo. This makeshift emits but little sound, but ^ems to charm the player himself. When the sausa is played with a calabash as a sounding board, it produces a greater volume of sound. Pieces of shell and tin are added to make s^ jingling accompaniment, and the calabash is profusely oma« mented.'^
The music of the Negroes is not confined, it may be remarked, to simple melody. They are not satisfied with merely playing the notes simg by the voice, but have some principles of harmony. They perform accompaniments in fourths, sixths, and octaves, the other musical intervals being less familiar to them, except when sometunes employed to express irony or censure. The advanced state of music amidst the Negro tribes is all the more noticeable from the fact that among ancient European races, among the ancient Greeks, at the most brilliant epoch of their history, for instance, no idea whatever prevailed of harmony in music.
The faculties of the blacks can consequently in certain respects become developed, and it is established that Negroes who live for several generations in the towns of the colonies, and who are in peri)etual contact with Europeans, improve by the connection, and gain an augmentation of their intellectual capacities.
To sum up, then, the Negro family possesses less intelligence than some others of the human race ; but this fact affords no justification for the hateful persecutions to which these xmfor- tunate people have been the victims in every age. At the present day, thanks to progress and civilization, slavery is abolished in most parts of the globe, and its last remnants will not be slow to disappear. And thus will be swept away, to the honour of humanity, a barbarous custom, the imhappy inherit- ance of former times, repudiated by the modem spirit of charity and brotherhood; and with it will vanish the infamous traffic which is called the slave-trade.
No little time will, however, be needed in order to confer social equahty on the enfranchised Negro. We cannot well express the scorn with which the liberated blacks are treated in North and South America, They are hardly looked on as human beings, and notwithstanding the abolition of slavery', are in- variably kept aloof from the white population. Centuries will
WESTERN BRANCH.
be reqiiired to eS&ce among Americana this rooted prejudic* which France herself has liad some trouble in shaking off, s an edict of Louis XIV. cancelled the rank of any noble who allied himself with a Negress, or even with a mulatto woman.
The general assuagement of manners and customs will ulti mately, it must be hoped, entirely obliterate these distinctions, t cruel and unjust to the unliappy people whom a fatal destiny has condemned to a state of perpetual martj-rdom, without their Laving dune anything to deserve it, beyond coming into the world beneath an African sky.
CHAPTER n.
EASTERN BRANCH.
The Eastern Blacks, who have also been called Melanesians and Oceanian Negroes, inhabit the western part of Oceania and the south-east of Asia. Their complexion is very brown, some- times increasing in darkness until it reaches intense black. Their hair is frizzled, crisp, flaky, and occasionally woolly. Their features are disagreeble, then* figures of little regularity, and their extremities often lank. They live in tribes or small divisions, without forming themselves into nationalities.
We shall divide them into two groups, one, the Papuan Family, composed of peoples among whom the characteristics indicated above, are the most developed ; the other, the Anda- man Family, made up of tribes which more resemble the Brown Race, and probably result from a mixture of it with the Black one.
Papuan Family.
The Papuan Family seems to dwell only in small islands or on the coasts of larger ones. Two groups of peoples are observable in it, one, resembling the Malays, consists of the Papuans, who inhabit the New Guinea Archipelago, and the other, resem- bling the Tabuans, occupies the Fiji Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Solomon range. We proceed to say a few words as to the manners and customs of these different sections of the Black Race.
Papuans. — ^A remarkable feature presented by the Papuans, is the enormous bulk of their half-woolly hair. Their skin is dark brown, their hair black, and their beard, which is
THC HfVAN RACK
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THE BLACK RACE. 619
scanty, is, as well as their eyebrows and eyes, of the same colour. Though they have rather flat noses, thick lips and broad cheek- bones, their countenance is by no means unpleasant. The women are more ugly than the men, their withered figures, hanging breasts, and masculine features render them disagreea- ble to the sight, and even the young girls have a far from attractive look.
Lesson considered the Papuans fierce, inhospitable, crafty men, but the inhabitants of Havre de Doresy and generally of the northern part of this Oceanic region, as far as the Cape of Good Hope, seemed to him of great mildness and more disposed to fly from Europeans than to hurt them. He tliinks, nevertheless, that the Negroes in the south of New Guinea, pushed back into that part of the island, and whom no inter- mixture has altered, have preserv^ed their savage habits and rude independence. The state of perpetual hostility in which they live renders their character distrustful and suspicious. Never did Lesson visit a \dllage, in a small boat manned by a fair number of men, that women, children, old men, and warriors did not take to flight in their large canoes, canning off" with them their movables and most precious effects. He adds, that by good treatment and plenty of presents, people may succeed in making way with them, may be able to lull their uneasiness and establish friendly relations. The coloured Plate accompanying this i^art of the work represents a native of the Papuan Islands.
Vitians, — The first accurate infoiTaation about the Viti or Fiji Islands is due to Dumont d'Urville. Mr. Macdonald, an assistant-surgeon on board the EngUsli ship Herald, has pub- lished an account of his visit to Fiji, and from it we extract the following i)articulars.
Thakombau (fig. 234), the king, was a man of powerful and almost gigantic stature, with well-formed limbs of fine propor- tions. His appearance, which was further removed from the Negro type than that of other individuals of lower rank, sprung from the same stock, was agreeable and intelligent. His hair was carefully turned up, dressed in accordance with the stylish fashion of the coimtry, and covered with a sort of brown gauze. His neck and broad chest were both un-
THE BLACK BACK
covered, and his naked skin might be seen, of a clear black colour. Near him was his favourite wife, a rather large woman with smiling features, as well as his eon and heir, a fine child of from eight to nine years old. His majesty was also surrounded
234.— THAKOMBAU, KING Ot THE FIJI ISLAND.
at respectful distance by a crowd of courtiers, humbly clinging on their knees.
In the course of his peregrinations, Mr. Slacdonald was present
kt a repast, consisting of pork, ignames, and taro," served in
wooden dishes by women. Freshwater shell-fish of the cj-prin^
* The natiTe iDbstitiite for bmul.
EASTERN BRAlfCB.
621
Jdnd completed the banquet. The broth was very savoury, but the meat insipid. During the conversation which followed, the traveller became convinced that gossip is a natural gift of the Fijians. Figs. 235 and 236 represent types of these people. The Fijians are fond of assembling to hear the local news,
or to narrate old legends. Respect for their cliiefs is always preserved unalterable among tliis people, turbulent in their behaviour, depraved in their instincts, and familiar with mm-der, robbei^', and lying. The homage paid to their chiefs makes itself manifest both by word and action ; men lower their weapons, take the worst sides of the paths, and bow humbly as -one of the privileged* order passes by. One of the oddest forms
fiS2 THE BLACK RACE.
taken by this obsequiousness is a custom in accordance with which every mfenor who sees his chief tnp and &11, allows himself to stumble m hia turn in order to attract towards himself the ridicule wluch such an accident might have the effect of drawing upon his superior
The different classes or castes mto which the Fijian population
SATIVB OF RJI.
is divided, are as follows : 1, sovereigns of several islands ; 2, chiefs of single islands, or of districts ; 3, village chiefs, and those of fisheries ; 4, eminent warriors, but bom in an inferior station, master carpenters, and heads of turtle-fisheries ; 6, the common people ; and 6, slaves taken in war.
The horrible custom of eating humau flesh still e^ts in Fiji ; the missionaries have succeeded in bringing about its disappear- ance in some pai-ts of the island, but it remains in the interior
EASTERN BRANCH, 523
districts, concealing itself, however, and no longer glorying in the number of victims devonred! Cannibalism does not owe its existence among tlie Fijians, as in most savage tribes, to a feeling of revenge pushed to the utmost limits ; it arises there from an
especial cra\-ing for human flesh. But as this choice dish is not sufficiently abundant to satisfy all appetites, the chiefs reserve it exclusively to themselves, and only by extraordinaiy favour do they give up a morsel of the esteemed delicacy to their inferiors. The engraving (fig. 297) is taken from a sketch made by
524 THE BLACK RACE.
the missionary Thomas Williams, of a sort of temple used on occasions of cannibalism in Fiji. The four persons squatted in front of the edifice are victims awaiting their doom, and whose bodies will afterwards serve for the feast of these man-eaters.
Mr. Macdonald discovered that the custom of immolating widows is still in full vigour in one of the districts of the island.
Dancing is the popular diversion of the Fiji Islands. The chant by which it is usually regulated is of monotonous rhythm, its words recalling either some actual circumstance or historical event. The dancers' movements are slow at first, growing gradu- ally animated, and being accompanied by gestures of the hands and inflections of the body. There is always a chief to direct the performers. A bufi'oon is sometimes brought into the ring whose grotesque contortions bring applause from the spectators.
Two bands, one of musicians, the other of dancers, take part in the regular dances of the solemnities at Fiji (fig. 288) ; the first usually numbers twenty, and the other from a hundred and fifty to two hundred, individuals. These latter are covered with their richest ornaments, carry clubs or spears, and execute a series of vai'ied evolutions, marching, halting, and running. As the entertainment draws towards its close their* motions increase in rapidit}', their action acquires more liveliness and vehemence, wliile their feet ai'e stamped heavily on the ground, until at last the dancers, quite out of breath, ejaculate a final ^* Wa-oo ! *' and the antics cease.
NeiC'Calcdonians, — The inhabitants of New Caledonia belong to the branch of Oceanian Negroes. This island, hidden in the Equinoctial Ocean, is a French possession, and has been marked out for the reception of tliose Communist insurgents and incen- diaries arrested in Paris in June 1871, after the " seven days* battle *' who were sentenced to transportation by the courts- martial. We are indebted to MM. Victor de Hochas and J. Gamier for some valuable details concerning the population of the colony.
The aborigines of New Caledonia have a sooty-black skin; woolly, crisp hair and abundant beard, both black ; a broad, flat nose deeply sunk between the orbits ; the white of the eye blood- shot ; large, turned-out lips ; prominent jaws ; a wide mouth ; very even and perfectly white teeth ; slightly projecting cheek*
626 THE BLACK RACK
bones ; a high^ narrow, and ' convex forehead ; and the head flattened between the temples. Their average stature is at least as tall as that of the French, their limbs are well-propor- tioned, and their development of both chest and muscles is generally considerable.
The men are not very ugly, many even showing a certain regu- larity of feature ; and some tribes on the east coast are better favoured than the rest in this respect. Figs. 239 and 240 convey a fair idea of the male population.
The ugliness of the women is proverbial. With their shaven heads and the lobes of their ears horribly perforated or pinked, they present a revolting appearance, even when young in years. The rude toil and bad treatment to which they are subjected bring upon them premature old age. They suckle their children for a long period, for three years on the average, and sometimes for five or six.
Like all savages, the New- Caledonians possess an exquisitely keen sense of sight and heai'ing. They are active and capable of exerting considerable strength for a short effort, but have no lasting power. Their inability to support fatigue for any length of time doubtless arises from tlie nature of their nourishment. They swallow really nothing bej'ond sugary and feculent vegetable food, seldom eating meat, the true source of the sustainment and recuperation of strength. Their island suppHes the New-Caledo- nians with no quadmx^eds which they can capture for sustenance, and they possess no weapons suitable for killing birds.
The quantity of eatables these people can gorge at a single meal is wonderful, quite three times as much as an Eiu^opean would be equal to.
M. Gamier visited the village of Hienghene. Its chief came to meet the travellers and presented to them his eldest son, while numbers of naked warriors, with blackened chests, beards, and faces, stood round in a silent and motionless group. They might have been taken for bronze statues were it not for their dai'k and sparkling eyes which followed the smallest gesture of the visitors.
At a signal from the chief, several youths dashed forward and in a few seconds showered down from the cocoa-trees a hail of nuts, the pulp of which in the liquid state is the most agreeable drink imaginable for allaying thirst.
EASTERN BRANCH.
Tlie Tillage of Hiengliene is one of tl e most considerable in the island Its dwellings are shaped like beeluieb and are crowned
with a rude statue Burmoiinted by r quantity of shell-fish or sometimes by skulls of enemies slain in war.
528 THE BLACK RACE.
These cabins have a single opening, very low and narrow. In the evening they are filled with smoke in order to banish the mosquitoes ; the narrow aperture is then shut and the occupants lay themselves down to sleep on mats, whilst the smoke, by reason of its lightness, remains floating over their header^ but to sit upright without being half smothered by it is impossible.
Great numbers of aborigines dwell along the sea-coast. They came on board M. Gamier's vessel in crowds, bringing provisions and shell-fish, and examining everjiliing with the greatest attention.
The natives of this tribe are of a fine type. M. Gamier noticed among the visitors several men admirably built, and with a perfectly developed muscular system; but he nevertheless re- marked as a general defect of the New Caledonians, that they have too thin legs in comparison with their bodies, and calves placed higher than in Europeans.
Whether from habit, or in consequence of anatomical formation, these people assume positions at everj^ moment which woidd fatigue us terribly. They sit down on their heels for whole days, and when they climb up into a cocoa-tree, or rest themselves by the way, place themselves without any effort in postures thiA • are really sui-prising.
The singular fancy which some of these tribes have for clay^ has been already noticed, and M. Gamier convinced himself of the reality of the fact. The earth in question, is a silicate of magnesia, greenish in coloui\ It is ground by the teeth into a soft, fine dust, by no means disagi*eeable in taste. The habit of eating this clay, is, however, far from general ; women only, in certain cases of illness, take a few pinches of it.
M. Gamier had an opportunity of being present at the pilou'pilmi, a dancing festival which takes place on the occasion of the igname harvest. On a piece of high but level ground, overlooking a vast plain, were seated the chiefs and old men ; the crowd were assembled below, and in front of them was piled a huge heap of ignames. Thirty or forty youngsters, selected fr*om the handsomest of the tribe, advanced and each took a load, and then ascended the plateau in a body, all dash- ing at full speed to lay their burdens at the feet of the chiefs. Then, still ininning, they returned to the great mass of ignames to carry away a fresh cargo, and so on xmtil the whole pile dis-
240,— S4TIVE OF SBW CUEDOHIA.
530 THE BLACK RACE.
appeared. They were pursued during this wild race by the yelling crowd, bounding around them with brandished weapons. Every European would have been interested in this strange spec- tacle ; but a painter or a sculptor would have never grown weary of admiring the forms of the young performers : finer artistic models have seldom '* posed " in any studio.
This fete was interrupted by a mock fight, during which the warriors, either in complete nudity or with gaudy cloths tied round their waists, wlm-led their weapons about as they kept bounding, yelling, and taunting their adversaries. The old withered men, whose hands could throw neither stone nor javelin, animated the corn-age of the young people and showered insults on their opponents.
We are unable to retrace in its entirety, the curious and graphic description which M. Gamier has given of this contest, but a scene of cannibalism at which he was present, is too dramatic to be passed over.
Near a large fire sat a dozen men, in whom the traveller recognized the chiefs he had seen in the morning, and pieces of smoking meat surrounded with ignames and taros were laid on broad banana leaves before them. The bodies of some unfor- tunate Avretches killed dimng the day, supplied the materials for this ghastly banquet, and the hole in which their limbs had just been cooked was still there. A savage joy was pictured on the faces of these demons. Both hands grasped their horrid food. An old chief with a long white beard did not seem to enjoy so formidable an appetite as liis comrades. Leaving aside the thigh-bone and the thick layer of flesh accompanying it which had been served liim, he contented himself with nibbling a head. He had ah-eady removed all the meaty parts, the nose and cheeks, but the eyes remained. The old epicure took a bit of pointed stick and thrust it into both i)upils, then shook the homd skull imtil bit by bit he brought out the brain ; but as this process was not quick enough, he put the back of the head into the flames, and the rest of the cerebral substance dropped out with- out diflSculty ! . . . .
EASTERN BRANCH. 631
AxDA^L/LN Family.
We comprise in tlie Andaman Family those Eastern blacks "who i^ossess the characteristics of the Negro race strongly marked. These nations are as yet but little known. The inhabitants of New Guinea, the aborigines of the Andaman Isles, in the bay of Bengal, the blacks of tlie Malacca peninsula, those dwelling in some of tlie mountains of Indo-China, the natives of Tasmania, and, finally, the indigenous population of Australia are included in this gi'oup.
Among all these people the facial angle does not exceed 60 degi'ees ; tlie mouth is very large, the nose broad and flat, the arms short, the legs lank}', and the complexion the colour of soot. The women are i^ositively hideous.
The tribes which form these groups are, in general, numerous and subject to the arbitrary authority of a chief. Language is extremely limited among them ; they possess neither government, laws, nor regularly established ceremonies, and some do not even know how to construct places of abode.
In order to convey to the reader an idea of the people composing the Andaman Family we shall give a glance at the inhabitants of the Andaman Isles and also at those of Australia.
Andamans, — The dwellings of the Andamans are of the most rudimentary kind, being hardly superior to the dens of wild beasts. Four posts covered with a roof of palm-leaves constitute these lairs, which are open to every wind, and ** ornamented " with hogs' bones, turtle shells, and large dried fish tied in bunches.
As for the inhabitants themselves, they are of an ebon black.
They seldom exceed five feet m stature ; their heads are broad
and buried between their shoulders ; and theii* hair is W00II3', like
that of the African blacks. The abdomen is protuberant in a
great many cases, and their lower limbs lank. They go about in
a state of complete nudit}', merely taking care to cover the entire
body with a layer of j^ellow ochre or clay, w hich protects it from
the sting of insects. They paint their faces and spiinkle thqir
hair with red ochi'e.
Their weapons are, however, manufactured with much clever-
u u 2
532 THE BLACK RACR
ness. Their bows, wliich require a very strong pull, are made of a sort of iron-wood and gracefully shaped. Their arrows are tipped witli fine points, some of them barbed, and they shoot them with much skill. They handle expertly their short paddles, marked with red ochre, and hollow their canoes with a rather rude implement foimed of a hard and sharp stone fastened to a handle by means of a strong cord made from vegetable fibres.
The Andamans are ichthyophagists, for the seas which wash their islands abound in excellent fish and palatable mollusks. Soles, mullets, and oysters constitute the staple of their food, and when during tempestuous weather fish runs short, they eat the lizards, rats, and mice which swarm in the woods.
Though not cannibals, the Andamans are nevertheless a most savage race, who do not even exist in a state of tribedom, but w-ho are merely gathered into gangs.
The bitterest contempt has been lavished on these rude inhabitants of the islands of Bengal, and people have been willing to consider them as brutes of the worst cruelty, and most extreme ugliness ; but more recent observation, and the few facts which we have mentioned, show that this estimate should be somewhat mitigated.
Australian Blades. — We have arrived at the black people who occupy 2)art of Australia, and take advantage of some valuable in- formation concerning them, found in M. H. de CasteUa's " Souvenirs d*un Squatter Franfais en Australie," and which was acquired by the author's personal experience of these uncouth beings.
The wild state in which the aborigines of Australia exist is the result of the poveiiy of their country, which a£fords no other source of sustenance than animals. True, these abound there ; kangaroos, squirrels, opossums, wild-cats, and birds of all kinds are so numerous, that the. natives need, as it were, only stretdi out their hands in order to take them. In this mild climate they can live without any shelter.
According to M. de Castella, the Negroes of Australia are not so ugly as they have been represented. Among the men whom he examined, some were tall and well made. Their slow, loung- ing gait, was not devoid of dignity, and the solemnity of their step reminded one of the strut of a tragedian on the stage.
534 THE BLACK RACE.
The Australian blacks recognize family ties. None of them have more than one vnte, but they do not many within their ovra particular tribe. They live encamped in bands, and now that they are reduced to small numbers, in entire tribes. They do not build permanent huts, but protect themselves in summer from the sun and hot winds merely by a heap of gum-tree branches, piled up against some sticks thrust in the ground. Wlien winter comes on, they strip fi'oni the ti'ees large pieces of bark, eight or ten feet high, and as wide as the whole circumference of the trunk, forming with these fragments a screen, which they i)lace nt the side whence the rain is blowing, and alter if the wind happens to change. Squatted on the. bare earth, in the opossum skin which serves the double purpose of bed and clothing, each of tliem is placed before a hearth of his own. Fig. 241 is an engraving taken from a photograph of Australian natives.
The Australian Negroes of the j^resent day have gmis, and employ little axes for chopping their wood and cutting bark, but it .is not so long since the* only weapons they possessed were made of hard wood, and their hatchets consisted of sharp stones fastened to the end of sticks, like the flint instruments used by men before the Deluge. There is in fact little or no diflference between the people of the age of stone, and the Negi'oes of Australia, and consequently an acquaintance with the wild manners and customs of these races has been of great advantage to natm*alists of our day in throwing liglit upon the history of primitive man.
M. H. de Castella was gi'eatly struck by tlie agility of the Australian blacks in climbing gum-trees whose stnught stems are often devoid of branches for twenty or thu-ty feet from their base, and are besides too thick to be clasped. "When by perfect prodigies of acrobatism the native reached the wild cats and opossums' nests, he seized the animals, and thi-ew them to liis wife.
This wife earned everything ; her last-bom in a reed basket hanging from her neck, the slaughtered game in one hand, and in the other a blazing gum branch, to light the fire when the family took up fresh quarters. The man walked in front, carr>'ing notliing but his weapons ; then came the wife, and after her, theii* children according to height.
A batch of Australian blacks is never, by any chance, to be met
EASTERN BRANCH. 639
wulking abrenst, even when in great numbers, and if a whole tribe is crossing the plains, only a long black file is to be seen moving above the liigli grass.
M. de Castella was a spectator of the curious sight which eel- fishing affords among these nntives. Holding a spear in each
hand, witli which to rake up the bottom, they wade through the water up to their waists, balancing and regulating their movements to the even measure of one of their cliants. ^Mien an eel is transtixed by a stroke of one lance, they pierce it in another part of the body with the second, and then, holding the two points
THE BLACK RACE.
apart, throw the fish upon the ground, the quantity which they take in this manner being enormous. They dispense
with saucepans and cooking ntsnsils of nil kinds in the pre- paration of their meals, simply placing tlie game or tish on blight coals covered over with a little a^h^s.
EASTERN BRANCH. 637
Ever}'one has heard of the skill with which savages navigate their rivers in bark canoes, but the people of whom we are now speaking render themselves remarkable above all others by their adroitness in guiding their little crafts over the rapids. Only two persons can sit in their boats, while a spear suj^plies the place of an oar, and is used with astonishing dexterity.
No one acquainted with this kind of barbarous life will be surprised to hear that the blacks of Australia are diminishing at a wonderfully quick rate. Of the whole Varra tribe, formerly a numerous one, M. de Castella could find no more than seven- teen individuals.
What most struck the author of an account of a journey from Sydney to Adelaide, which appeared in the ** Tour du Monde," in 1860, was tlie small nmnber of aborigines which he met in a distance of more than two hundred and fifty miles. Sturt and Mitchell, in the middle of the present century, had visited tribes on the higher tributaries of the Murray river, which then consisted of several hundred persons, but M. de Castella found them only represented by scattered groups of seven or eight famished in- dividuals. Fig. 242 portrays one of the types sketched by this gentleman.
Mitchell has given a description in his ''Travels," of the ''groves of death" — those romantic burial-places of the Aus- tralians— but the writer in the ** Tour du Monde " found them no longer in existence. The tombs of the natives at the present day are as wild and rude as themselves. In the bleak deserts of the land of the West four branches driven into the ground and crossed at the top by a couple more (fig. 243), supi^ort the mortal remains of the Australian aborighial, whose only winding sheet is the skin of a kangaroo.
INDEX.
AnABDEHS, 362
Abases, 204
Abipones, 420
Ahoniw, 360
Abiuzzans, 104
Abstraction, a faculty of man, 1
Abyssinians, 3i5/>, 357
Abyssinian Christians, 360
— Family, 355
— religion, 360
— soldiers, 360
— type, 355, 357 AvJtwjij^ 427 Acquajolo, 105 Afghans, 190, 190
Africa, original population of, 11
— populations of, 355 Agglutinative languages, 9, 32 Agora, 154
Agows, 357
Agricultural stage of Man, 35
Aguilots, 425
Ainos, 210
— type, 210 Alauians, 70
Albanians, 149, 152, 160, 161, 162
Alfusus, 375
Algon(piin3, 460, 472
Alphabetic writing, 33
Aluti River, 109
Amakisas, 496
Amapeudas, 496
Amathvmbas, 496
Amazulas, 496
American Indians, 404, 416, 460, 471
— type, 65 Amvif 166 Amin-el'Oumcva^ 166 Anahuac, 452
Ancient Chinese writing, 2S2
— Egyptians, 173
Ancient Etruscans, 93, 101
— lllyrians, 160
— Incas, 408
— Mexicans, 405, 454
— Peruvians, 405
— Persian type, 191 Andaman Family, 532
— Islanders, 532 Andian Family, 407 An (I ask all ^ 342 Angles, ^r> Annamites, 324
Antis Indians, 407, 410, 411
— customs, 412, 413, 414, 415
— religion, 416
— type, 411 Apaches, 47<>, 4S1 Apolistas, 410 Apontis, 444 A([uitauian5J, 66 Arab type, 184 Arabs, 183
— nomadic, 184
— Shegya, 184 Aramaic Race, 163
Aramean Branch of "White Race, 40, 163
— civilisation, 163 Araocas, 449 Arapahoes, 470 Araucanians, 407, 416 Arcadians, 150 Arch, 166
Ardschis River, 109 Aristocracy, English, 62 Armenians, 190, 201
— in Turkey, 253 Armenian population, 202
— religion, 202
— type, 201 Artisans, French, 76 Aryans, 353
HO
UCDEX.
Aiyan Bacc, 10, 40
Asia, original population of, 11
Assyrians, 188
Atacamas, 407, 410
Athens, 157
Athenian type, 160
Australian aboriginals, 588
— native customs, 581, 586
— native tombs, 538 Ayams, 248 Aymaras, 407, 410 Aztecs, 451
Bakttax, 199
Bambara, 864
Banians, 886
Bankok, 880, 382
Barabras, 357, 361
Barabra t3rpe, 861
Barbotes, 428, 432, 440, 450, 492
Baskirs, 129
Bavaria, 48
Batavians, 868
Battas, 865, 878
Bechnanas, 497, 498
Bedouins, 183
BtghUig, 191
Behring's Straits, 10
Beloochees, 199
Bengolese, 340
Berbers, 163
Beyram, 250
Beys, 246
Bible, unity of Man iioclaimeJ in tlie, 11
Bicharyehs, 362
Bielo-liussians, 118
Big-Bellies, 470
Blackfeet Indiuns, 404
Black Race, 495
Bohemians, 112
Bol<is^ 427
Bolero y 90
Bonzes, 259, 280
Bosniaks, 113, 130, 141, 142, 143, H5
Botocudos, 435, 449
Bougis, 365, 373
Brahminisin, 336
Brahmins, 836
Brahnis, 201
Brain of the ope, 22
— of man, 22
— of the negro, 508 B]-azi!ian Indian customs, 448
Bnudb'an Indian dwellings, 447
British Isles, 55
Brown Race, 885
Bucharest, 109
Buddhism, 163, 807, 319, 820, 322, 382
Bulgarians, 118, 180
Burgundians, 71
Buriats, 218, 221
Burlat customs, 223
Burmans, 824
Burmese, 824
Bushmen, 499
Cadis, 246
Caffro Family, 496
— type, 496, 497 Calabrians, 104 Califomian Indians, 493 Cambodian customs, 829 Campagna, The, 93 Cangiu, 296
[ Cannibalism, Fijian, 523, 5J4
— Maori, 886
— New Caledonian, 531 Caper fig-tree, 163
, Capital punishment in China, 294 Caprification of the fig- tree, 168, 16:\ 170 Capuans, 108 Caravanserai, 240 Caribbean Grouj), 450 Caribs, 450 Carinthia, 116 Carniola, 116
Caroline Islanders, 400, 401 Carpathian Mountains, 109 Carthaginians, 183 Caryii, 444 Caste, 847, 848 Caths^, 272 Caucasian Bace, 40 Cayuguas, 485 Celtic type, 57, 67
— weapons, 67 Celts, ee, 67 Chaldeans, 186 Changos, 186
Characteristics of Man, Intellectual, 30
— of the White Kace, 40 Charruas, 420
Chaymas, 450 Chen-elches, 422 Cherokees, 478 Chichimecas, 452
INDEX.
511
Chicksaws, 478 Chimehwebs, 484 Chinese agriculture, 271
— army, 300
— centralization, 256
— civilization, 36, 301
— corruption, 266
— court of justice, 295, 296, 298, 299
— customs, 262
— dinner, 268
— drama, 287
— eatinf;-liousc, 267
— education, 280, 2S1, 2S4
— Family, 256 ~ feet, 262
— fishing (river), 274, 275, 276
— fishing (sea), 274
— food, 278
— gambling, 265
— idleness, 264
— interior, 263
— irrigation, 271>
— juri.sj>rudonc'p, 200
— language, 2S4
— law courts, 200, 2:U
— - literature, 257
— marionettes, 2S8
— marriages, 261
— opium smoking, 270
— pisciculture, 274
— polygamy, 2Gu
— printing, 286
— punishments, 2:^2, 2'.>4--2:>:;
— religion, 257
— religious toleration, 2'S
— rice fields, 273
— tea houses, 206, 207
— theatres, 2S8
— type, 256 -- ^Yoraen, 259
— writing, ancient, 282
— writing, modem, 282, 2S3, 284 Chinooks, 493
Chiotians, 158 Chippeway Indians, 463 Chiquito.s, 420, 43i, 433, 434 Chiriguanos, 444 Choctaws, 478 Choh\ 342 Chunipis, 425 Cinp;alese customs, 351
— costume, 351
— of the coast, 351
Cingalese of the hills, 351
— type, 350
— women, 350 Circassian Family, 163, 204
— slaves, 240
— type, 204 Circulator)' system of Man, 33 Cirionos, 444 Civilization, Aramean, 163
— Chinese, 36, 301
— Egj-ptian, 36
— progress of, 37 Classification of Man, Rlumcnbach's, 1$
— — Bory de Saint Vincent's, 13
— — Buffon's, 17
— — Cuvier's, 18
— — Demoulins', 18
— — d'Omaliusd'Halloy.-', 19
— — de Quatref;iges' , 19
— — l^cepede's, 18
— — Pritchaixi's, 18 _ __ Virey's, 18
— of the Human liace, 17, 38 Clavel's *' Races Humaines," 48, 5> Comanches, 480
Confucius, doctrines of, 258, ro; Coras, 459 Cossacks, 120, 124
— of the Ukraine, 118 Cosninos, 482
Cranium, brachycephalous, 25
— dolichocephalous, 25
— of Man, 25 Creation, animal centres of, 8
— of ^lan, cause of, 3
— — in the quaternary peiiol, 3
— — manifold, 6
— — special, 3
— one human centre of, 6, 8
— vegetable centres of, 8 Creek Indians, 462, 478 Croats, 113
Crow Indians, 468 Cshatriyas, 336 Cutchanas, 484 Cymri, 67
Dacfa, 106 Dacotas, 464 Datri, 313 Dalmatians, 116 Danes, 42, 46 Danube, 109
£42
DmqIUti PriDcipalitiea, IDT
Daourin, TiingiiBtB of, 283 Seccan, MO l)eccait Hindocw, S40 Definition of Mnn, 1
— of Race, 12, 13,14
— 0fSpeQieB,12, IS, 1*
DeUirare^ 474, 480 Denmsrlc, 46 J>hnmari, 160 Dheli, 3i3 Divan, £47 Djama, 166 I^tlodat, 198 lifjanua, ISS DoUur, 168 DoDROiUalis, SSI Pruirts, 71 Dnzea, 188, 250
tell I
.■,55
Djak cuitfliTifl, 370, STS
— head- cutters, S76
— BUperBtitions, 376 Dyalts, 366, 375
EAiTEBii Nnbians, 362 Egyptian civilization, 36
— ilantinj; giria, 180
— iiiamngea, 175
— polygamy, 180
— Kailora, 179
— lype, 173 Egyptians, aiicitnt, 173
moJcrn, 174 Emmagcii, 42C Endrrmm, 106 Enfilit*, 42
— orirtocracy, 62
— middle class, 64
— l3Te,56,66,C7,65,6n,61, 62,63,
64, 65
— ivomcn, GO. 61
— workint; class, 05 Eatlioniana, 120
Esqiiiioniut customs, £11,215, 213, 216, 217
— dress, 214
— Family, £06, 211
— type, 211 Etruxcana, andctit, 101 Etniscau sarcopliagi, 101 Eoropean Bnsch tWIiiie Race), 40
Facial angle, 26
— — of th« Negro, EOS FaUtbu, S5T
Fandango, BO
FehlM, 183
FelUhs, 176, 177, 178, 179
Fellans, 356, 3S3, 364
Fellataha, 363
Fc{fa, 247
Fetishes, 512
Fez, 1G4
Fiji, king of, 520
Fijian cannibalism, G23, 524
— dances, S26
Fijiaua, fi20, 6£1, 522, 523, 624, yii Fiolandera, 129 Finns, 113, 12S, 129
— of Eastern Kusua, 127
— of Silesia, 127
— of the Bailie, 127 Flathead Indians, 486, 4SG Flcniifili luntTiuge, 6S Fondaiai, 321
Franks, 71 Frank type, 71
— artisans, 76
— bourgeois, 77
— peasant, 76
— Koldier, 78
— type, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80
— women, 71, 79, 80 F, i..ii.lly Ulim.K-iN, 388 FticBlfliiilic laiijru,.^',', E5 Fundamental languages of SJnn, 9 F'jstan, 154
GAT)iarEs, 435, 436 Gaels, 68 nalUs, 357, 363 (iollic customs, 69
— type, fi7, 6S, 73 Gomants, 367 Uaula, 68
Georgian Family, 163, 203
— Klarea, 240
— type, 204
— womeu, 204
' Geimnnic type, SO, 51, 52, G3, SS
Germans, 42, 47 \ Gholaums, 191 I Giag-tmg root, 269 j Ooths, 71
|
Grand Chaco. 425 Grand yhln, 247 GriiiiEBr, 137, HO, 1*1 Greek chorch, 249 |
[nfle,:tcd Inngnngos U, 32 InteEigenfo of Man, 1 — of brutes, 1 loniiiii^. 158 |
513 |
|
|
— Funlif, 41, 149 |
""•?V.. ... .„ |
1S4 type, 153, 1S3 Or««k< in Tnikey, !52 GrovM of De«t}i, G3S Gnanni, 407, 431, 439, Hi Onutuuu, 449 Ouniijr lauKOBge, 444
— typa, «S OoBrtjri, 444 Onstoa of Cajabft, 43S Ouafqnniaa, 4S0
Eadhailbbs, 3SS
240
», 400
Hebrem, 1S9
Btgira, 239
Hiftblaiidcra, 63
Hindooi, 339
Hindoo cutee, 33fl, 346, 347, 34S
— chUBCteristics, 340
— civUimtion, 336
— cnstoma, 344, 31S
— food, 345
— ornaments, 342
— religion, 342
— society, 836
— typo, 339 HindAstani, 34S Hupanians, 80 Hospodars, 107 Hottentots, 499 Hottentot tjrpe, 499, 501
— Venoi, SOO HuBKtecas, 4S9 Hnngariani, 48, 113 Huns, 72, 14S UuroDB, 460, 4 S3 Hyperborean Branch (Yellow Bacc
206
Ibebiahb, 6S
IceUndnt, 4S
leniMiBii Famify, S06, S17
Indian ptOM, Nortli Kmnkm, i\
— laagiiiVM (iHt), SM .
— tenftMT, 478, 418 Indo-ChinMt Aadlr, SM
Iroqnoia, 462, 468, 472 /«i«,121 lachoniana, 129 Italians, 66 Italian climate, 63
— type, 94
Jakobites, 249
JaloTitza Siver, 109
Jamah, 842
Japanese, 25S, 302, 304, 306, 812, 329 '
— Bonzea, 302, 320, 321, 322, K»
— cbaracterls&s, 302, 308
— costume, 304, 305, 806
— government, 307
— literataro, 302
— manufactures, 306
— religion, 302, 307
— soldi era, 303
— type, 304
— waapona, 313, 319
— writing, 302 Jala, 340
Javanese, 365. 367, 369
— costume, 368
— dancing girls, 369
— princes, 369
— .triuketa, 371
— weddings, 371 Jews. 183, 184, 186 Jukagliinte Family, 206, 217
Eabtleb, 163- Kabyle agricnltnre, 168
— typo. 165, 167 Kabjlia, 165, 171 Kachiutz, 127 Kakim, 1»I Kaliongea, 493 Kalmuks, 218 Kalmnk customs, 219
— type,219 Kalva, La, 242 Saigam^S, 198 Kuni^ 807, SIS
— nljglon, SaO, »t KMHtodMdda Aidr. 9H^ M* ' -^
— tj^tta .- ■ (
64i
DfDEX.
Kandians, 850 Kang^ 262 Kayoways, 470 Eenoasy 861 KeOkhoda, 101 Khalkaa, 220 Rhalkaaian cnstoms, 221
— type, 221 Khanotm^ 166 Khanmba, 166 XhtHff'a, 166 King of F\ji, 520 Kioto, 810 Kirghis, 282, 288 Kodjuy 247
Kopts, 174^ 175, 176 Koptic language, 174 J^oran, 247
Kodak famUy, 206, 217 Koitsso, 861 Kurds, 190, 201 Kymes, 28 Kyrials, 129
Ladroxe Islanders, 400 Languages, agglutinative, 32
— inflected, 82
— monosyllabic, 81 Laplanders, nomadic, 20S
— sedentary, 208 Lapp Family, 206, 207
— customs, 208
— type, 206
— women, 209 Latins, 49, 66, 72 I^tin Family, 41, C6, 93
— type, 66y 72 Lencas, 459
I^iiguas, 420, 425, 426, 427, 428 Libyan Family, 168 Lithuanians, 118, 116 Livonians, 129
HacAskill Islandeh-s ^02
Macassars, 865, 373
Macedonians, 152
Machicuys, 420, 428, 430, 432
Madagascar, 864
Magachs, 485, 486
Magyars, 118, 146, 147, 148, 149
Magyar type, 149
Maharuif 427
Maliometanism, 163, 198, 250
I
Mahrattas, 840
Malabar Family, 889, 854
Malay Branch (Brown Race), 865
— customs, 866
— type, 865, 866 Malaysia, 865
Man, agricultural stage of, 25
— birthplace of, 8
— brain of, 22
— carriage of, 27
— colour of, 29
— cranium of, 25
— definition of, 1
— divine origin of, 24
— fundamental languages of, 9
— types of, 9
— hand of, 23
— hunting stage of, 35
^ — intelligence of, 1, 30
— language of, 31
— moral attributes of, 33
— nervous system of, 29
— organization of, 21
— origin of, 3, 4, 8
— original migrations of, 9
— pastoral stage of, 35
— primitive societies of, 35
— senses of, 22
— stature of, 28
— unity of, 16
— 'WTiting of, 32 Manchiis, 223
^landau Indians, 492, 493 ManiUa, 374
^lanufactures, primitive, 37 Maoris, 381 Maori cannibalism, 386
— chiefs, 387
— costume, 381
— customs, 382, 38G
— dances, 385
— language, 385
— religion, 385
— type, 381
— weapons, 385
— women, 381 Maratsi, 498 Maroy 898 Maronites, 188, 250 Maronite manuscripts, 190 Maropas, 410 Marquesans, 895 Mataguayos, 420
INDEX.
646
Melanesians, 519 Mesopotamians, 186 Messenians, 150 Metscheriaks, 129 Mexicans, 452
— ancient, 405, 454
— modern, 454, 455, 456, 458 Mexican Indians, 454 Micronosians, 365, 400, 401, 402 Mikado, 308, 309, 310, 311, 312, 313,
314, 316, 317 Military Confines, 132, 140 Mingrclians, 204 Miridites, 162 Mixtecas, 460 Mnemonic writing, 32 Moadueinites, 129 Mocdtenes, 410 Mohawk Indians, 484 Mohicans, 460, 472 Moldavians, 106 Moldo-Walachians, 66, 105 Mongolian Branch (Yellow Race), 205, 218 Mongols, 218, 220 ilongrels, 15 Montenegriners, 110 Moorish type, 87 Moors, 172 Morciy Lay 97 Moscas, 432, 434 Moyas, 459 Miidir, 252 Mu/ti, 247 Mulatto, 505 Mnlgrave Islanders, 401 Muscognlges, 461 Mutualis, 190
Naiiuath, 406
Nahuatlacas, 453
Naibs, 246
Natchez Indians, 460, 472
Navajoes, 481
Nayas Indians, 485, 486, 488, 490, 492
Neapolitans, 104
Negroes, 361, 501
Negro, brain of, 508
— characteristics, 606, 508, 609, 612,
614, 616, 616, 617
— cross breeds, 606
— cruelty, 612
— facial angle o( 608
— imitative talent of, 616
egro memory, 614
— music, 616, 616
— religion, 612
— slavery, 610
— type, 502, 503, 604, 605 Negus Tlieodoms, 360
Nervous system of the White Man, 29
— of the Negro, 30 Nestorians, 250
New Caledonians, 526, 527, 530
New Caledonian cannibalism, 531
New Zealanders, 381, 382, 384, 385, 386
Nigritia, 364
Nogays, 232, 238
Northern Branch (Red Race), 451
— nortli-eastem Family of, 459 ,
— north-western Family of, 493
— soutlicrn Family of, 451 Northern Italians, 101 Norwegians, 42, 44 Noubas, 361
Nubians, 361, 362
— Eastern, 362 Nubian customs, 362
— niins, 362
Oceania, 380 Oceanian negroes, 519 Octoroons, 505 Olmecas, 459 Organization of Man, 21 Origin of coloured Races, 11
— Man, 3, 4, 8 Orthognatliism, 26 Osages, 478 Osmanlis, 232, 239 Osse tines, 190, 202 Ostiaks, 129
— of Temisia, 217 Othomis, 460 Oualan, 401
Ouhil, 166 Ouragas, 449 Owas, 364 Owhyhee, 397
Pacha, 246
Padishah, 244
Pah-Utahs, 484
Pai-agTum, 436
Palanquins, 264
Pampas, 419
Pampean Family, 407, 419
N N
1146
INDEX.
Pandoora, 144
PannoniaiiB, 116
Papaaii Family, 519
Papnans, 520
Paragaay, 485
Parana, 435
Pariahs, 887, 846, 848
Patagonians, 420, 421
Patagonian customs, 421, 422, 424
— sacrifices, 424
— suture, 28, 420 PiU(m-paUni, 885 Pawnees, 470 Payagoas, 487, 488, 440 Payagnasian customs^ 440, 441
— stature, 487 Payeg, 425, 441, 442, 448 Pecheiays, 416, 417, 418, 419 Pei-Ho river, 274
Peking Imperial College, 286
Pennians, 129
Persians, 168
Persian customs, 194, 195, 196, 198, 199
— Family, 190
— government, 191
— manufactures, 191
— population, 198
— religion, 198
— type, ancient, 191
— type, modern, 161
— visits, 199
— women, 197 Peruvians, ancient, 405, 408
— modem, 408, 409 Peulils, 863 Phanariots, 155 Phariagots, 450 Philippine Islanders, 374 Phuenicians, 183 Piasts, 118 Pilou-pUoUy 528 Pitiligas, 425
Poles, 48, 113
Polygenists, doctrines of, 16
Polynesian customs, 880
— Family, 365, 380 Pomotouans, 895 Populations of Africa, original, 11
— America, original, 405
— Asia, original, 11
— Europe, original, 40, 41 Portuguese, 80, 90
— type, 90
Portuguese women, 90 Ponls,868 Proddans, 108 Prognathism, 26 Prussians, 54
— type, 54 Puelches, 420 Pygmies, 28
Quadroons, 505 Quarries, 129 Quichuan type, 408 Quichuas, 406, 407
Race, Black, 495
— Brown, 885
— definition of, 12, 13, 14
— Red, 404
— White, 80
— YeUow, 205 Races, Human, 88 Rajpoots, 886, 340 Bamaxan^ 250 BebosaOf 454
Red Indian characteristics, 470, 471, 486, 492
— languages, 472
— type, 460 Rdss effendi, 247 Rivobon-Sinton, 322 Roman peasants, 96 Romanians, 72 Romans, 93 Rousniaks, 120 Russian type, 123
— women, 124 Russians, 113, 120, 121, 122 Russianit (Bielo-), 118 Ruthcnians, 118
Sagaris, 127 Sahara, 172 Sahrang, 868, 371 SaUatraa, 505 Samchow, 266 Samoiede Family, 206, 209 Sandwichians, 896, 897 Sandwichian morals, 899
— type, 896
— women, 896 Sanskrit, 846 8an49e'kingt 284
Sarmatians, 114 Sazans, 65 Saion tjpe, 18 Scaiidinnrinns, 41 SohiitB sect, 238 Sciiide, natives of, 353 Scythians, 111 Seminolca, 47S Skmhl- Family, 183 Semitics, 163 Senses of anLmals, 22
— of Man, 22 Seraglio, 240 Seirians, 113, 114, 130 Shah, 191
Shaniuiisni, 223, 329 Shamans, 229 ahawnecs, 480 Shegya Arabs, 164 Sheilas, 163, 72 Shiennes, 470
324, 3.
,331
— apiL'uUnre, 332
— Caniboilia, 331
— costnme, 325
— govemnicnt, 328
— Mahiccit, 331
— po|iuhitioii, 3'J4
— type, 324 Sichiiaiia laii;:pi3^(<, 497 Siklis, 340 Simnioleq, 460
Sinaic Bmnch (Yellow Race), 205, 2£4 Sioux, 464
— tiwtoiiis, 484, 465, 466 SiTaistii, 342
Skin of Man, colours of, 29 Slavonian Family, 41, 113 Slavoziiaiii, ll8
— northern, 118, 119
— aouthem, 120
Slavonian tjiw, 13, 114, 118, 110, 133 AVOlrtiiH, 134
Slovacbians, 118
Soff, 188
Sosists, I S3
Sounkina, 383
Sounanis, 13S
Southern Braueh (Red Race), 407
— Italians, 103
— Italian type, 103 Spaniards, 66, SO
I Spanish ilances, 90
— inquisition, 88
— intolerance, 88
\ — type. 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 67, 88
I - women, 87
I Spartans, 150
■ Siial}ias, 107
I SpcciM, definition of, 12, 13, 14
I Stature of Man, 28
', Stieng savages, 332, 334
! Sudnis, 336
i Suerians, 71
' Simnite sect, 236
Swedes, 42
Symbolical writinj,', 33
SyriniiB, 183, 186
T,ibo«, 380, 391, 300
Taliayari, 444
Tacaiias, 4Il)
Tadjiks, 190
Tagalfi, 305, 373
TtthitiauB, 301
Tahitiac customs. 393, 391, 39E
— tyiKi, 391, 39-1
Taiuo
t, 30J
309, 310, 311, 312, 3!3, 316, 317 Talctil-ian, 154 Talaijiinl, 154 TamanacH, 440 Tnmboiikics, 407 Tamej-i, 4*4 TiiiiiiualiBfl, 498 Tamuls, 354 Tapij!oas, 444 Tapinacjui, 444 Tarascas, 459 Talan, 112
Tattooing, 382, 300, 425, 438 Taygetana, 150 Tcii^cks, 3 TeiieroniiKsi T^lioudaiia, Tchourathijins, 128 Telcouta, 127 TeUnguB, 354 Teinbeta, 440 Tepanecas, 450 Teptiara, 129 Terra del Fuego, *1H Territory, Indian, 478, 478 Teutonic Family, 41 ThiaciMM, 1S2
us, 120
548
INDEX.
nbboas, 168, 857, 863
Tibbon type, 868
Tigr^ moantaineeiB, 860
Hmmimnea, 444
TobM, 420, 425, 428, 430
Tobatingnas, 485
Toki8,885]
Toltecs, 452
Tongaa, 888
Tonga cnstoma, 889, 890, 891
— typo, 888 Topaa, 485 Totonacs, 460 TonarickiB, 168, 172 Touloupa, 123 Tolarenos, 498 Tungoses, 218, 223
X- of Daouria, 228 Tongosian Family, 223 Tupi language, 444 Tupinambi, 444 Tur%ja8, 875 Turcomans, 232 Turcoman customs, 234, 235, 23fi
— religion, 235 -- type, 232
— women, 232, 232, 234 Turks, 218, 239, 244, 248
Turkish administration, 246, 247, 248
— agriculture, 252
— corruption, 248
— customs, 240, 242, 243, 24 4, 246
— education, 252
— Family, 229
— Jews, 250
— law, 244
— literature, 251, 262
— manufactures, 252
— polygamy, 240
— religion, 248
— temperance, 239
— type, ancient, 230
— type, modem, 231, 239
— women, 240, 241 Tuscans, 101
Tuscan type, 101 Tzapotecas, 459
Vlema,2i7 United States, 65 Uruguay, 435 Uscoks, 116 Uzbeks, 238
Valencians, 87 Vampays, 484 Varcgians, 116 Yama-Sancdra (caste of), 337 Varra tribe, 538 Vativas, 497 Venedians, 114 Vogouls, 127, 129
Walachianb, 105, 106, 111, 113 Walacbian minerals, 112
— type, 109
Wall of China, Great, 301 "Walloons, 72
Western Branch (Black Kace), 490 Western Guarani, 444 Writing, alphabetic, 33
— Chinese, 282, 283, 284
— symbolical, 33 Wurterabergers, 48
XlCALAUCAS, 460
Yakoubis, 18fi
Yakuts, 218
Yakut customs, 226, 227, 228
— Family, 223
— religion, 226
— type, 224, 225
— women, 229 Yankees, 65 Yaschmac, 244 Yeddo, 309 Yellow Race, 205 Yuracaurcs, 410 Yutos, 470.
, Zaskam, 112 < Ziguana, 112 ' Zingari,353 Zoroath (religion of), 193.
BRADBURY, RVANS, AND 00., PRUmnS, WHITRFRIAR8.
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