CHAPTER XXIII. 



NORTH AMERICA. 



SOUTHWARDS of the Arctic tract occupied by the very distinct Eskimo tribes described in the 

 preceding chapter, the whole of the vast Continent of America, from British Columbia, 

 Vancouver Island, and Newfoundland and the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the north, 

 to the extremity of Patagonia and the island of Tierra del Fuego in the south, was, up to 

 the time of Columbns's arrival, peopled by American Indians, some of whom were then living 

 as nomad savages, whiles others inhabited populous cities and had acquired many of the arts 

 and habits of civilised communities. In one way or another the aborigines since that epoch 

 have steadily tended to disappear or wane before the gradual advance of the white races, or 

 to become lost as a pure type by more or less complete fusion with the lattor. The manner 

 in which the irresistible spread of the Caucasian 

 races over the continent has been brought about, 

 and the concomitant disappearance or fusion of the 

 native tribes, have, however, varied greatly in different 

 parts of America. The ancient Aztecs, Mayas, and 

 Peruvians were practically wiped out as distinct 

 nations by the Spanish conquest; while at an early 

 date the aborigines of the West Indian islands dis- 

 appeared, and were replaced by African Negroes. In 

 many other parts of Central and South America the 

 more civilised aborigines became more or less amalga- 

 mated with the Spanish and Portuguese immigrants, 

 thus giving rise to the present mixed races of the 

 countries in question. On the other hand, in the 

 greater portion of North America a very different 

 state of things has occurred. For the most part 

 the original inhabitants formed nomad tribes sparsely 

 scattered over the open prairies; and for a long 

 period those in the interior were but little affected 

 by the European settlements on the east coast. 

 Moreover, with the exception of the French Canadians, 

 the immigrants have mingled but little with the 

 natives, so that a sharp line of demarcation has 

 continued to divide the white races from the " Red- 

 skins." Gradually, however, the latter .have been 

 driven farther and farther back, till they are now 

 mostly restricted to definite " reserves," where they 

 are supported by the Governments of the United 

 States and Canada. And here it may be men- 

 tioned that of late years an important factor in the 

 retirement of the Indians from large areas in the 



North-west has been the practical extermination of // // .i/,.. \\. /i,,, n ,nuud,////,i<i 



the American bison, an animal upon which thousands A NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN, SHOWING MOCASSINS. 



