AMBICA. 



out th* hair. Almt all the Indian* near Mexico, and some 

 _orth -wwt coast, wear mo*aemoa. An inference ha* been 

 that th* IMBJM* have a larger quantity of beard in proportion 

 r dMteaoe from the equator. The deficiency of beard doe* not 

 ^t, i-i^, u> the American*, nor i* it by any mean* a certein 

 for eome beardless race*, such a* the negroes of 



% of . 



OQMD, ! 7 robw*. ad of ootoMtl 

 TtM* 



character*. according to eon* 



to ertaMHisai B(JITT*T t -T* - ~ a-~t^. ~wl tlv.1 

 Asia. a. well a* th* Malay* and other*; but the 



lalay* a 



ot extend bejomd mere eotour. and cannot apply to the more essential 

 parte 4h* cranium, the hair, and th* profile. The great number of 



tribe, have 



it-si 



ignagw proves that a oonnderabl* portion of the American 

 long existed in that oavag* solitude in which they are till 

 iTVonMan 



Dr. Von Martius (' London Geographical Journal,' roL ii.) 

 the name* of more than 250 tribe*, aome of them 

 [ of T*ry amall number*, in the interior of Brazil : many of 

 i cub-divisions are, no doubt, closely related to one 

 nt splitting up of the Brazilian Indian* i* a 

 The want of a common language among ao 

 ib* may be th* effect of mm* great political convuluon, and 

 it i* at the aame time a oauae of gradual decay and extinction of 

 nee*. Tradition*, monument*, manner*, and curtoms e*m to indi- 

 cate MOM affinity with Ana ; but the communication*, if any, must 

 bar* been anterior to th* development of theicate of things prevailing 

 in the pr**ent day. 



In regard to the origin of th* American* numerou* conjecture* 

 hare been formed. It ha* been *uppa*od by one writer that America 

 wa* peopled from th* di*penion of the Iiraelite* by another, that 

 th* Egyptians wer* the anoMtor* of the Mexican* by *ome, that the 

 Carthaginian*, and by other*, that the ancient Celt*, made expedition* 

 to America. Indeed, what theory i* there, however absurd, that will 

 not meet with supporter*, a* long a* fact* are few and doubtful .' 

 Orotins ha* derived the North American population from the Nor- 

 wegian*; and th* theory of the purely Aiiatic origin of the American* 

 ha* met with nnmerou* opporten, among whom Vater of Berlin, in 

 hi* disoour** on th* ' Language* of America,' inverted in Adelung's 



Mithridatea,' UL, *ay* it i* a demonstrable fact, " that on the north- 

 we*t part* of America, in Greenland, and on the coast of Labrador, an 

 al*o to the went of it, in the vicinity of the Asiatic coast, there dwell* 



people which i* one and th* *ame race with the inhabitant* of the 

 north -out oua*t of Ania, and of the islands lying between the two 

 hemisphere*." Thi* u probable enough, but what doe* it prove as 

 to the great mua of the American population f In fact, the state of 

 our knowledge i* not such a* to warrant us in coming to any certain 

 conclusion on the subject What the real affinity of this race or race* 

 of men u to the rout of the great family of mankind, is a question 

 involved in ob*curity ; and speculation on this subject, without a larger 

 collection of facta, i* not likely to forward the discovery of truth. 



- America present*, both in the Northern and Southern continent*, 

 traces of the labour of man which perhaps belong to no race that 

 inK.hit.~4 the continent at the time of it* European discovery. In 

 the valley of the Ohio, and indeed in numerou* other part* of the 

 United State*, are found mound* of earth and fortification* undoubtedly 

 of high antiquity. Some of the** mound* are overgrown with ancient 

 tiee*, like a part of the primeval forest, a fact indicating an antiquity 

 of at least many hundred* of Tear*. The pyramid* of Mexico, the 

 i and the ! rrlicfn of Guatemala near Palenque, on the Usu- 

 i River, and th* work* of the Peruvian Indian*, are according 

 to some opinion* the work of race* anterior to any now existing ; 

 bat bow * more civilised race wa* compelled to yield to one leaf 

 advanced, to as to leave no truce* but what we see, i* a thing rather 

 difficult to comprehend. If we have learnt nothing else from inquiries 

 into th* history of man in America, wa have learnt at least to reject 

 th* unfounded hypoth**is of th* very recent peopling and formation 

 of that continent. On comparing the most accurate description* of 

 th* *xi*ting native, of widely-wparatod part* of this continent, we 

 find son* most marked difference* both in physical appearance, 

 language, and knowledge of th* useful arts. Whatever 

 r**tnhlanr* w* may discover, we find *l*o difference* quite 

 as striking. Yet theories and getMraluation* arc formed of the mo*t 

 plausible character, all tending wonderfully to simplify the subject 

 by systematic classifications and genual assertions. One, with great 

 Mf-oompoanre, will reduce all the languages (including those of 

 which w* know nothing) to a few great rUsiin ; and another again, 

 in two or three *ntettoe*, will either elevate to a high point of excel- 

 a* brute* and unfeeling aavages, all the inhabit- 

 of a cootoMot that Btretobe* slmost from pole to pole. Ignorance 

 of fact* is th* only source of all the** (weeping nrnnn* The love 

 of hasty generalisation i* one of the rtrong obstacle* to knowledge 

 which we of th* pra**at day have to guard against ; th* rapid aocu 



'- ..:". M... ..:. 



thiak IM ha. attain*! all th* aleoMOte for forming a complete mfam. 

 A carrful eiammalton of facts a* they rapidly increase should teach 



only of late y*ar* that the rtndy of the native race* of Am*rioa 

 ha. b**B prosMuted in a manner lik.ly to lead either to probable 

 r*-eJt* or to accurate knowledge of faote which may perhaps piwrent 



AMERICA. tM 



u* from coming to any result* at all. It is only when the white man 

 ha* destroyed or debased a huge portion of the inhabitants of the 

 New World, that he begin* to inquire with more eager interest into 

 the character and history of hi* predecessors in the po**o**k>n of the 

 soil Races of men have i undoubtedly disappeared before the encroach- 

 ment*, more or lea* rapid, of the white man, oven in Europe, and the 

 ante prooes* ha* taken place in the New World, and is now taking 

 place in Australia. The white man covet* the fertile lands which the 

 native only roam* over in punuit of pray, or partially cultivate* ; and 

 the process of the occupation of the land when once begun by the 

 European colonist, especially those of the Teutonic stock, is only 

 limited by the nature of the soil and the climate. The native gradually 

 recedes and disappears, till the white man ho* reached the boundaries 

 of agricultural occupation, or till climate arrest* his progress. Thus, 

 in North America, where the exclusive habit* of the white colonist are 

 intolerant of all mode* of life but that which he prescribe*, the Indian 

 and he are mutual enemies ; and the disappearance of the aborigines 

 ha* regularly continued, till from the Atlantic to the AUeghany or 

 Appalachian system scarcely a vestige of the primitive races worth 

 noticing is found ; from the Appalachian to the borders of the lower 

 Mississippi the same history i* rapidly in progress, and the western 

 limits of the white man'* rule mutt be the rude plains which he 

 cannot cultivate. The Indian ha* only been preserved in the two 

 America* where ho ha* mingled with the white man, and partly 

 adopted his habit* ; or where impenetrable unwholesome forest*, or 

 cold inhospitable regions, have protected him, or where, as in the case 

 of the Araucanos of Chili, his own courage has saved him from exter- 

 mination. The islands of the Columbian Archipelago present tin- 

 singular spectacle of a whole race of people that has disappeared 

 within the limit* of recent and authentic history ; their place is occu- 

 pied by the white man of Europe as the master, and the black man 

 of Africa as the slave or labourer ; and who can say what may be the 

 future revolutions in the history of these new occupant* I 



Political IHritioni. ffortk America is politically divided into the 

 republics of the United States and Mexico, the British and Russian 

 possessions, and the countries still possessed by native tribes. 



The more northern regions consist principally of the north-western 

 coast discovered by the Russians, and called Russian America ; the 

 region adjacent to Greenland, called North Devon ; the various 

 islands and portions of mainland west of Damn's Bay and Davis's 

 Strait ; the country about Hudson's Bay, the eastern part of which 

 comprehends the whole of Labrador, inhabited by Esquimaux similar 

 to the Greenlandors ; and Greenland, subject to Denmark. The 

 population of Danish America is stated at 17,000, that of Russian 

 America at 66,000 ; but the population of these regions is not known 

 with any sort of accuracy. The inhabitants neither of these nor of 

 the western and central regions, still occupied by aborigine*, fall 

 properly within the limits of a political description. 



The provinces immediately under the British Government in North 

 America are bounded on the north by the Hudson's Bay territories, 

 and on the south by the United State*. They comprise the provinces 

 of CANADA, NEW BRUNSWICK, NOVA SCOTIA, CAPE BRETON, and 

 PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, which are under a captain-general, who is 

 governor-in-chief, and NEWFOUNDLAND, which is under a governor, 

 who is also commauder-in-chief. [HUDSON'* BAT TERRITORIES ; 

 VANCOUVER ISLAND.] The extent of these possessions, in square miles, 

 is about 2,425,000, and the present population may be computed at 

 2,515,000. 



The republic of the UNITED STATES of America extends from the 

 British Possessions to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific Ocean. Washington, in the district of Columbia, is the 

 eat of the federal government Extent, about 8,260,000 square 

 miles : population, 23,191,074 in 1850. 



The present republic of MEXICO, extending from the 16th to the 

 33rd degree of north latitude, comprises about 1,230,000 square 

 mile*, and about 7,200,000 inhabitants. It was formerly under 

 the dominion of Spain, and comprehended the two California*, and 

 the intendancie* of Mexico, Pueblo, Vera-Cruz, Oaxaca, Merida, 

 Vallodolid, Guadalaxara, Zacateca*, Guonaxuato, San-Lnis-Potosi, 

 Durongo, and Sonora, and the province* of New Mexico, Cohahuila, 

 and Texas. 



Oatlrol Amrriftt, formerly one federative state, is now divided into 

 the following five republics, and one kingdom : 



8q. Mile.. Population. 



Guatemala 111,000 935,000 



Kan Salvador 14,000 365,000 



Honduras 310,000 



Nicaragua 49,000 396,000 



Corts Rica 17,000 140,000 



Mowjuito Klpf'"" 1 23,000 6,000 



Total 103,000 2,192,000 



>'-.ii/A America comprises the following states : 



Tin- most northern part, formerly Columbia, consisted of Spanish 



, but is now divided into the following three republics : 

 New (iranada . 380,000 .quart milci ; 3,200,000 inhabitant". 

 Vnmurla . . 774.000 1,150,000 



Ecuador . . . 325,000 600,000 



