Preserving the Languages spoken by Uncivilized Natiofis. 99 



these islands ; at least in the total absence of alphabetic writing 

 these imperfect attempts must not be wholly lost sight of. 



With respect to the second part of Dr. Lang's views, 

 namely, that America was peopled by the Polynesian race, it 

 must I conceive be admitted, that although the Doctor has 

 found more plausible reasons in its favour than might have 

 been anticipated, and has also more successfully met objections 

 which at first might be regarded as insuperable, there is, ne- 

 vertheless, too great a chasm in the proof, both as respects 

 the transport of individuals to the continent of America from 

 the distant islands, and still more with respect to the connexion 

 to be found between the very numerous American languages, 

 and the very few or perhaps even the single one belonging 

 to the Polynesian Islands, for us to receive his views in this 

 respect as anything more than a conjecture which he has inge- 

 niously rendered in a good degree probable. There is unques- 

 tionably a similarity between the form of the head which pre- 

 vails amongst the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands and that 

 exhibited by the skulls of Peruvians and other South Ameri- 

 cans. This interesting fact had often forcibly attracted my 

 attention long before I had any idea of Dr. Lang's views. 

 Heads, of the form here alluded to, do not however exhibit 

 the universal character of the American heads. Skulls have 

 been found in ancient places of sepulture presenting so very 

 remarkable a form that one or more distinguished naturalists 

 have regarded it as an irrefragable proof that the skulls in ques- 

 tion belonged to a totally distinct branch of the human race. 

 I must confess that my views are decidedly at variance with 

 the views of those naturalists, and avow my conviction that 

 there is very adequate internal evidence that this peculiarity 

 of form is the result of artificial causes applied to modify the 

 shape. The position of the foramen magnum as compared 

 with the facial angle, the lateral distortion of the head, and the 

 situation of the greater part of the cerebral mass, go far to 

 support my assertion. It is further to be observed that heads 

 having somewhat of this remarkable form are found in com- 

 pany with other heads in which no distortion has taken place, 

 but which, on the contrary, exhibit the character before alluded 

 to as resembling that of the South Sea Islanders, whilst at the 

 same time there are other reasons for inferring that the dis- 

 torted and undistorted heads belong to the same race. Recent 

 skulls exhibiting precisely the same character as to form, but 

 with respect to which there is not only stronger internal evi- 

 dence of distortion, but also the well-ascertained particulars 

 as to the mode in which this distortion is produced, are met 

 with over a wide extent of country quite in the North of North 



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