142 Dr Morton on the Distinctive Characteristics of the 
The intellectual genius of antiquity justly excites our ad- 
miration and homage ; but in vain we search its records for 
the physical traits of some of the most celebrated nations of 
past time. It is even yet gravely disputed whether the an- 
cient Egyptians belonged to the Caucasian race or to the Ne- 
gro; and was it not for the light which now dawns upon us 
from their monuments and their tombs, this question might 
remain for ever undecided. The present age, however, is 
marked by a noble zeal for these inquiries, which are daily 
making man more conversant with the organic structure, the 
mental character, and the national affinities, of the various 
and widely scattered tribes of the human family. 
Among these, the aboriginal inhabitants of America claim 
our especial attention. This vast theatre has been thronged, 
from immemorial time, by numberless tribes which lived only 
to destroy, and be in turn destroyed, without leaving a trace 
of their sojourn on the face of the earth. Contrasted with 
these were a few civilized communities, whose monuments 
awaken our surprise without unfolding their history; and he 
who would unravel their mysteries may be compared, in the 
language of the poets, to a man standing by the stream of 
time, and striving to rescue from its waters the wrecked and 
shattered fragments which float onward to oblivion. 
It is not my present intention even to enumerate the many 
theories which have been advanced in reference to the origin 
of the American nations; although I may, in the sequel, in- 
quire whether their genealogy can be traced to the Polyne- 
sians or Mongolians, Hindoos, Jews, or Egyptians. Nor shall 
I attempt to analyse the views of certain philosophers who 
imagine that they have found not only a variety of races, but 
several species of men, among the aborigines of this continent. 
It is chiefly my intention to produce a few of the more strik- 
ingly characteristic traits of these people, to sustain the posi- 
tion that all the American nations, excepting the Esquimaux, 
are of one race, and that this race is peculiar, and distinct 
from all others. 
1. Physical Characteristics. It is an adage among travel- 
lers that he who has seen one tribe of Indians, has seen all, 
