1S17.1 



Original Inhabitants of Amtrica, 



527 



That lliey were similar in their origin 

 and cliaractcr to tlie present inhabitants 

 of the Pacific Islands and of Austral 

 Asia, is argued from various circum- 

 stances : — 



2. The sameness of texture in the 

 |Jlain cloth or matting that enwraps the 

 mummies, and that which our navigators 

 bring from Wakash, the Sandwich Is- 

 lands, and the Fegees. 



2. The close resemblance there is be- 

 tween the feathery mantles brought 

 now-a-days from the islands of the South 

 Sea, and those wrappers which surround 

 the mummies lately disinterred in the 

 western states. The plumes of birds 

 are twisted or tied to the threads, with 

 peculiar skill, and turn water like the 

 back of a duck. 



3. Meshes of nets regularly knotted 

 and tied, and formed of a strong and 

 even twine. 



4. Mockasons or coverings for the 

 feet, manufactured with remarkable 

 ability, from the bark or rind of plants, 

 worked into a sort of stout matting. 



5. Pieces of antique sculpture, espe- 

 eiaily of human heads and of some other 

 forms, found where the exterminated 

 tribes had dwelt, resembling the carving 

 at Otaheite, New Zealand, and other 

 places. 



6. Works of defence, or fortifications, 

 overspreading the fertile tract of country 

 formerly possessed by these people, who 

 may be supposed capable of constructing 

 works of much greater simplicity than 

 the morals or burial-places, and the 

 liippas or fighting-stages of the Society 

 Islands. 



7. As far as observations have gone, a 

 belief that the sh:ipe of the skull and the 

 angle of the face in the mummies cor- 

 respoml with those of the living Malays. 



I reject therefore the doctrine taught 

 by the European naturalists, that the 

 man of Western America diflers in any 

 material point from the man of Eastern 

 Asia. Had the Robertsons, the Bull'ons, 

 the Raynals, the De Pauws, and the 

 other speculators upon the American 

 characterand the vilifiersof the American 

 name, procured the requisite information 

 concerning the hemisphere situated to 

 the west of us, they would have disco- 

 vered that the inhabitants of vast regions 

 of Asia, to the nuniher of many millions, 

 were of the same blood and liueage with 

 the undervalued and despised poi)ula- 

 tion of A merica. 'J'he learned Dr. W il- 

 liamBon has discussed this point with 

 great ability, 



I forbore to go further than to ascer. 



tain by the correspondences already 

 stated, the identity of origin and deriva;- 

 tion to the American and Asiatic na- 

 tives. I avoided the opportunity whicU 

 this grand conclusion afibrdcd me, of 

 stating that America was the cradle of 

 the human race; of tracing its colonies 

 westward over the Pacific Ocean, aud 

 beyond the sea of Kamschatka, to new 

 settlements; of following the emigrants 

 by land and by water, until they reached 

 Eiuepe and Africa; and lastly, of fol- 

 lowing adventurers from the Ibrmcr of 

 these sections of the globe to tlie planta/- 

 tions and abodes which they found and 

 occupied in America. I had no inclina- 

 tion to oppose the current opinions rela- 

 tive to the |)lace of man's creation and 

 dispersion. I thought it was scarcely 

 worth the while to inform an European, 

 that, on coming to America, he had loft 

 the new world behind him for the pur- 

 pose of visiting the Old. It ouglit, 

 nevertheless, to be remarked, that tlic'r« 

 are many im])ortant advantages derived 

 to our reasoning from the present uiau- 

 ner of considering the subject. Tl« 

 principles being now eslaljlishcd, they 

 will be supported by a further inductioji 

 of facts and occurrences, to an exte^rt 

 and an amount that it is inii>ossib!e, a^ 

 this moment, fairly to estimate. And 

 the conclusions of Jefferson, Lafon, aud 

 others favourable tothe greater anti<iuily 

 of American population, «ill be daily 

 reinforced and confirmed. 



Having thus given the history of Ihess 

 races of man, spreading so extensively 

 over the globe, I considered the humaa 

 family under three divisions: 



First, the Tawny man, compre- 

 hending the Tartars, IMalays, Chiiiese, 

 the American Indians of every tribe, 

 Lascars, and other people of the same 

 cast and breed. From these seemed to 

 have proceeded two remarkable varie- 

 ties; to wit, — 



Secondly, the W/iile man, inbabitiny 

 naturally the countries in Asia and En- 

 rope situated north of the MediternineaM 

 Sea; and, in the course of his adven- 

 tures, settling all over the world. 

 Among these I reckon the Greenlanders 

 and Esquimaux. 



Thirdly, the Black man, whose proper 

 residence is in tiie regions south of the 

 Mediterranean, particularly toward tlie 

 interior of Africa. The people of Papua 

 and "\ an Dieuien's Land seem to be of 

 this class. 



It i.s generally supposed, and by many 

 able and ingenious men too, tliat extet- 

 aal physical causes, uud ths combjxiiition 



of 



