THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE AMERICAN LANGUAGES. 57 



SIXTH MEETING. 



Sixth Meeting, nth December, 1886, the President in the 

 Chair. 



Certain amendments to the Constitution and Regulations 

 were adopted. 



Exchanges since last meeting, 216. 



F. N. Kennin, B.A., Ernest C, Mackenzie and John H. 

 Horsey, were elected members. 



Mr. A. F. Chamberlain, B.A , read the following paper on 

 " The Relationship of the American Languages." 



I shall devote this paper to an inquiry into the arguments which 

 have been advanced in favour of the north-eastern Asiatic or Penin- 

 sular origin of the American Indians, and an endeavour to assign to 

 them an origin in other directions. That the question of American 

 Origins is still an open one is apparent. Thus, Prof Flowers, an 

 eminent ethnologist, says : " It is quite as likely that the people of 

 Asia may have been derived from America, as the reverse," (Pop. 

 Science Monthly, Jan., 1886) ; and, speaking for a sister-department 

 of the science of man, Horatio Hale, the distinguished American 

 philologist, declares that " Philologists are well aware that there is 

 nothing in the language of the American Indians to favour the con- 

 jecture (for it is nothing else) which derives the race from Eastern 

 Asia," (Indian Migrations as Evidenced by Language, 1883, p. 25). 



The Eskimo, the most northern of our American aborigines, have 

 in particular been claimed as being certainly northern Asiatic in 

 their origin. They seem, however, to possess in the most marked 

 degree, the characteristics of a very pi'imitive people. With regard 

 to their origin, their scanty mythology and their legendary lore fur- 

 nish us with no clue ; their religion is silent ; and no evidence of 

 i-ecent Asiatic origin can be gleaned fi'om an inquiiy into their 

 language. I insert here a short comparative vocabulary of those 

 Eskimo dialects which it seems certain have sprung from a common 

 stock. Though in many instances the affinities may not be striking, 

 they are still sufficient to bear out the idea of a common origin. 



