53 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



of the aborigines were dependent for their very existence. Unsuited to the restraints 

 and trammels of civilised life, and displaying a marked inaptitude for agricultural pursuits, 

 the "red man," even in these reserves, is steadily diminishing in numbers; and there is 

 every prospect of his ultimate disappearance. The late Eev. J. 0. Dorsay has, however, 

 recorded the fact that in some districts of the Western States there has been a tendency for 

 the red population to become absorbed in the white element. But this absorption has in 

 all cases come to pass by the natives ceasing to be Indians and becoming members of civilised 

 society. "In Minnesota," for instance, "all persons of mixed blood that is, of white and Indian 

 descent are recognised as citizens. The same is true in other states; and the privilege is 

 extended to those who are not mixed bloods. Also, under present homestead laws, Indians are 

 becoming citizens by going off their reserves." 



And here it is important to observe that, from the very remote epoch when America 



received the ancestors of its aboriginal popula- 

 tion (apart from the Eskimo) till the date of 

 the Spanish conquest, no immigrations of any 

 sort took place from the Old World. It is true 

 that an occasional vessel, with its crew, may 

 have been stranded at long intervals on the 

 American shores; but, in spite of all statements 

 to the contrary, it is perfectly clear that such 

 occasional handfuls of foreigners could have left 

 no permanent trace on the aboriginal popula- 

 tion of the New World. 



Accordingly, till the Spanish conquest, the 

 natives of America were completely isolated 

 from the rest of the world. As mentioned in 

 the preceding chapter, one of the most striking 

 features connected with the American aborigines 

 is the extraordinary uniformity in physical 

 characters and appearance presented by them 

 from one extremity of their habitat to the other; 

 so marked, indeed, that the different stocks of 

 the northern half of the continent are to a 

 great extent distinguishable by linguistic rather 

 than by physical characters. Nor is this re- 

 semblance by any means confined to physical 

 characteristics; it is equally noticeable in mental 

 temperament and in speech. It is true, indeed, 

 that the native American stock languages are 

 wonderfully numerous, yet all these are but modifications of a single linguistic type, which is 

 perfectly distinct from all the tongues of the Old World. In no other part of the world has 

 a single physical and linguistic type anything approaching the vast distributional area which it 

 possesses in America. 



Passing on to the consideration of the physical appearance and characteristic features of 

 the American aborigines in general, we may first of all call attention to the striking similarity 

 in the physiognomy of the two sexes; this being so great that strangers, on beholding for the 

 first time the large series of photographs of heads displayed in the anthropological series at 

 the Natural History Museum, are quite unable to distinguish between the men and the women 

 without reading the labels. This is, no doubt, for- the most part due to the fashion of wearing 

 the hair long and pendent in both sexes, and to the absence of moustaches and beards in the 

 men. The hair is, indeed, one of the characteristic features of the American Indians; that on 

 the scalp being black, lank, coarse, and frequently very long. In its coarseness, length, and 



' b'j Mi. II'. Hint] /'/,</./</.////'./. 



AN AMERICAN INDIAN AND HIS WIFE. 



