APPENDIX TO CASE OF GliEAT BRITAIN. 305 



zation, and it becomes more reDiarkable, as tlie idiom is ofteu confined 

 to so small a circle. 



If we look at tbem ethnograpbically we shall find two principal groujis 

 or races, the lirst scientifically known as Esquimaux, and the second as 

 Indians, By another nomenclature, which has the sanction of authority 

 and of usa<^<', they are divided into Esquimaux, Aleutians, Kenaians, 

 and Koloscliians, bein^Q' four distinct groups. The Es([uijiiaux and Aleu- 

 tians are said to be I\longolian in origin. According to a doubtful theory 

 they passed from Asia to America by the succession of islands beginning' 

 on the coast of Jajtan and extending to Alaska, which for this purpose 

 became a bridge between tlie two continents. The Kenaians and Kolo- 

 scliians are Indians, belonging to known American races; so that these 

 four groups are ethnographically resolved into two, and the two are 

 resolved popularly into one. 



There are general infiuences more or less ax)plic.able to all these races. 

 The climate is peculiar, and the natural leatures of the country are 

 commanding. Cool summers and mild winters are favourable to the 

 huntsman and fisherman. Lofty mountains, volcanic forms, large riv- 

 ers, numerous islands, and an extensive sea-coast constitute the great 

 book of Nature for all to read. None are dull. Generally they are 

 quick, intelligent, and ingenious, excelling in the chase and in naviga- 

 tion, managing a boat as the rider his horse, until the man antl the 

 boat seem to be one, (Some are very skillful with tools, and exhibit 

 remarkable taste. The sea is bountiful, and the laud has its siqiplies. 

 Erom these they are satisfied. Better still, there is something in their 

 nature which does not altogether reject the improvements of civiliza- 

 tion. (Jnlike our Indians, they are willing to learn. By a strange 

 superstition, which still continues, these races derive their descent from 

 different animals. Some are gentle and pacific, others are warlike. All 

 I fear, are slave-holders; some are cruel task-masters, others in the 

 interior are reputed to be cannibals. But the country back from the 

 sea-coast is still an undiscovered secret. 



(1) Looking at them in their ethnographical groups I begin with the 

 UfiquinxcHx, who popularly give their name to the whole. They nund)er 

 about 17,000, and stretcli along the indented coast from its eastern limit 

 on the Erozen Ocean to the mouth of the Copper Elver in 0<P north 

 latitude, excluding the Peninsula of Alaska, occui)ied by the Aleutians, 

 and the Peninsula of Kenay, occupied by the Keuaians. More power- 

 ful races of Indian origin, following the courses of the great rivers 

 northward and westward, have gradually crowded the Esquimaux from 

 the interior, until they constitute a belt on the salt water, including the 

 islands of the coast, and especially Kodiak. Their various dialects are 

 traced to a common root, Avhile the prevailing language betrays an 

 afiiuity with the Ksqnimaux of Greenland, and the intervening country 

 watered by the Mackenzie. They share the characteristics of that 

 extensive family, which, besides spreading across the continent, occu- 

 pies an extent of sea-coast greater than any other people of the globe, 

 from which their simi)le navigation has sallied forth so as to give them 

 the name of Phoenicians of the North. Words exclusively belonging to 

 the Esquinuiux are found in the dialects of other races completely 

 strangers to them, as Phamician sounds are observed in the Celtic 

 speech of Ireland. 



The most known of the Russian Esquimaux is the small tribe now 



remaining on the Island of Kodiak, which from the beginning has been 



a center of trade. Although by various intermixture they already 



approach the Indians of the coast, losing the Asiatic type, their speech 



S. Ex. 177, pt. 1 20 



