358 THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF 



But in new-born cliildren the color is much paler, so that they hardly can be 

 distinguished from white children when presented for baptism; yet it appears 

 soon after birth, and assumes its dark tinge in a short time. The hair is black 

 as pitch and straight, and seldom turns gray, except sometimes in cases of 

 extreme old age. They are all beardless, and their eye-brows are but scantily 

 provided with hair. '1 he heads of children at their birth, instead of being cov- 

 ered with scales, exhibit hair, sometimes half a linger long. The teeth, though 

 never cleaned, are of the whiteness of ivory. The angles of the eyes towards 

 the nose are not pointed, but arched like a bow. They are well-formed and 

 well-proportioned*people, very supple, and can lift up from the ground stones, 

 bones, and similar things with the big and second toes. All walk, with a few 

 exceptions, even to the most advanced age, perfectly straight. Their children 

 stand and walk, before they are a year old. briskly on their feet. Some are tall 

 and of a commanding- appearance, others small of stature, as elsewhere, but no 

 corpulent individuals are seen among them, which may be accounted for by their 

 r.i.iimer of living, for, being compelled to run much around, they have no chance 

 01 icrowing stout. 



in a country as j)oor and sterile as California the number of inhabitants can- 

 not be great, and nearly all would certainly die of hunger in a few days if it 

 were as deni^ely populated as most parts of Europe. There are, consequently, 

 very few Californians, and, in proportion to the extent of the country, almost 

 as few, as if there were none at all ; yet, nevertheless, they decrease annually. 

 A person may travel in different parts four and more days M'ilhout seeing a 

 single human being, and I do not believe that the number of Californians from 

 the promontory of St. Lucas to the llio Colorado ever amounted, before the 

 arrival of the Spaniards, to more than forty or fifty thousand souls.* It is 

 certain that in 1767, in fifteen, that is, in all the missions, from the 22d to the 

 31st degree, only twelve thousand have been counted. But an insignificant 

 popidation and its annual diminution are not peculiar to California alone ; both 

 are common to all America. During my journey overland along the east side 

 ot the Californian gulf, from Guadalaxara to the river liiaqui, in the IMexican 

 territory, a distance of four hundred leagues, t I saw only thirteen small Indian 

 ^-illages, and on most daj-s I did not meet a living soul. Father Charlevoix, 

 before setting out on a journey through Canada or New France, writes in his 

 first letter, addressed to the Duchess of Lesdiguieres, that he wotdd have to 

 travel sometimes a hundred and more leacrues without seeiu": any human beings 

 besides his companions. | 



With the exception of Mexico and some other countries. North America was, 

 even at the time of the discovery, almost a wilderness when compared with 

 (xcrmany and France ; and this is still more the case at the present time. 

 Whoever has read the history of New France by the above-named author, or 

 has travelled six or seven hundred leagues through Mexico, and, besides, ob- 

 tained reliable information concerning the populaiion of other provinces, can 

 easily form an estimate of the number of native inhabitants in North Auierica; 

 and if the southern half of the New World does not contain a hundred times 

 more inhabitants than the northern part, which, relying on the authority of men 

 who have lived there many years and have travelled much in that country, I 

 am far from believing, those European geographers who speak in their books of 

 300 millions of Americans are certainly mistaken. Who knows whether they 



•WasLiugton, Irving states they liad numbered from 25,000 to 30,000 souls AvLen the first 

 missions were established; ou what authority I do not know. — Adccnlurcs of Captain Bon- 

 neville, (cd. of 1851,) p. 3.32. 



i Sliinden. — I translate this word by "league," though the French //ewe is a little longer 

 than tiie German stumle. 



t Jlistoiie de la Nouvelle France, par le P. de CharleToix. Paris, 1744 ; vol. v, p. 66 



