THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION OF MAN. 585 



always assuming the common origin of the human race, be at 

 least as far advanced as were our ancestors when they spread 

 over the earth's surface. 



What, then, must have been their condition ? They were 

 ignorant of pottery, for the Esquimaux, the Polynesians, the 

 Australians, some North and South American tribes, and 

 many other savage races, have none even now, or at least had 

 none until quite lately. They had no bows and arrows, for 

 these weapons were unknown to the Australians and New 

 Zealanders ; their boats for the same reason must have been 

 of the rudest possible character ; they were naked, and igno- 

 rant of the art of spinning ; they had no knowledge of agri- 

 culture, and probably no domestic animal but the dog, though 

 here the argument is weaker, inasmuch as experience is more 

 portable than property. It is, however, in my opinion, most 

 probable that the dog was long the only domesticated animal. 

 Of the more unusual weapons, such as the boomerang, blow- 

 pipe, bolas, etc., they were certainly ignorant. The sling and 

 the thro wing -stick were doubtless unknown, and even the 

 shield, as it is only used in war, had probably not been 

 invented. The spear, which is but a development of the 

 knife-point, and the club, which is but a long hammer, are 

 the only things left by this line of argument. They seem to 

 be the only natural and universal weapons of man. 



We might be disposed to wonder how man was at first able 

 to kill game ; but we must remember that if man was unskil- 

 ful, animals were unsuspicious. The tameness of the birds 

 on uninhabited islands is well known; the wariness of animals 

 and the skill of man must have increased almost pari passu. 



The same argument may be applied to the mental condition 

 of savages. That our earliest ancestors could have counted 

 to ten is very improbable, considering that so many races now 

 in existence cannot get beyond four. On the other hand, it 

 is very improbable that man can have existed in a lower con- 



