﻿NO. 19 NORSE VISITS TO NORTH AMERICA BABCOCK I45 



homogeneous. Now shall we say that the Skrellings were Eskimo., 

 or not Eskimo, because they were small, or dark, or big-eyed, or 

 ugly-haired, or what you will ? 



It is equally true that some of the greatest contrasts of the human 

 race are found among Indians. As to stature, the Patagonians and 

 Fuegians, near neighbors, offer an almost classic example. But we 

 do not need to go so far afield. The Caddo of Oklahoma, or near it, 

 are said to be little men ; the Osage of the same prairie region have 

 been called giants even by other Indians. The Zuni are usually 

 short ; the Nez Perces often tall. At the east it was the same. The 

 Iroquois and some Algonquian tribes towered over their neighbors. 

 Strachey 1 describes the Susquehannock as "a giant-like people," 

 the Wicomico as " of little stature and very rude " ; but they both 

 dwelt on rivers emptying into the same generous Chesapeake Bay, 

 and their conditions were identical. The few Micmac whom I have 

 seen appeared under medium height. The Nanticoke do not greatly 

 pass that standard. 



As to the other items, compare this description by Verrazano : ' 



The complexion of these people is black, not much different from that of the 

 Ethiopians. Their hair is black and thick and not very long ; it is worn tied 

 back upon the head in the form of a little tail. In person they are of good 

 proportions, of middle stature, a little above our own ; broad across the breast, 

 strong in the arms, and well formed in other parts of the body. The only 

 exception to their good looks is that they have broad faces ; but not all, for we 

 saw many that had sharp ones, with large black eyes and fixed expression. They 

 are not very strong in body, but acute in mind, active and swift of foot. 



Here in close juxtaposition we have the breadth of face, which 

 Brereton s and Gosnold also observed on Cape Cod ; the swarthiness ; 

 the large eyes, " middle stature," and such peculiarities of hair as 

 might well displease a Norseman or a Celt ; but who will take these 

 early Carolinians for Eskimo? On the other hand, he describes the 

 Narraganset Indians as tall and 



of very fair complexion ; some of them incline more to a white, others to a 

 tawney color ; their faces are sharp ; their hair long and black and sharp, their 

 expression mild and pleasant, greatly resembling the antique. 



But again he found the Maine Indians " rude and barbarous " and 

 " very different." They " made the most brutal signs of disdain." 



Similarly a southwestern Federal judge, lately deceased — a man 

 of strong intellect and keen perception, with no theories to sustain — 



X W. Strachey: The Historie of Travaile into Virginia, p. 41. 

 translation in Old South Leaflets. 



3 J. Brereton: A Briefe Relation of the Discoverie of the North Part of 

 Virginia by Gosnold. The Bibliographer, 1902. p. 33. Old South Leaflets, vol. 5. 



