io6 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



and the skull slightly depressed at the top, but well developed at the sides. The face is flat, 

 with high cheek-bones; the nose is small, the mouth large with thick lips. The body is thick-set 

 and large. The long black hair, shaven in childhood, but never afterwards cut, is worn in 

 a sort of chignon at the back of the head. There is a curious swagger in the gait of the Anamite, 

 which has been described as theatrical, and it serves to distinguish him from, all the other 

 Indo-Chinese races. Another peculiarity is a greater separation of the big toe from the rest 

 than is found in any other people that walk barefooted. The name Giao-shi, by which 

 the Anamites have been known from ages before the Christian era, means "separated toes," 

 and some authorities regard this as a true racial characteristic; but as Mr. Keane points out, 

 it may be due to the stirrup used in riding, which is gripped in the cleft between the big 

 toe and the others. According to ancient Chinese chronicles, this curious feature was noticed 

 as far back as 2285 B.C. The Anamites appear to have intermarried with Malays, Chinese, and 

 Cambodians, so that many cross-breeds are to be found. 



It is impossible, even after making all due allowances for their surroundings, to speak 

 highly of these people, with their coarse and 'repulsive features. Morally they are the most 

 disagreeable of all the peoples of Indo-China. M. Mouhot says: "They are headstrong, 

 revengeful, deceitful, thieves, and liars. Their dirty habits surpass anything I have ever seen, 



and their food is abominably nasty, 

 rotten fish and dogs being their favourite 

 diet." Even Lord Curzon, who is favour- 

 ably disposed towards them, cannot deny 

 that they are tricky and deceitful; but, 

 on the other hand, he considers them 

 gentle and amiable. "They have," he 

 says, "the submissiveness without the 

 nerveless apathy of the Hindu; while 

 they possess industrial aptitudes, rendering 

 them diligent workmen, and an artistic 

 ingenuity which on the one hand makes 

 them excellent cooks, and on the other 

 inspires the various artistic productions, 

 such as inlaid work in mother-of-pearl, 

 embroideries, wood-carving, and jewellery. 

 Though not a courageous people in the 

 sense of inviting or voluntarily meeting 

 danger, they are very tenacious in re- 

 sistance, and make capital soldiers against 

 an Asiatic enemy. They are, moreover, 

 hospitable, polite, lively, sentimental, and 

 of easy temper. The women present two 

 types: the wife, or concubine, who is 

 merely the brainless instrument of her 

 master's pleasure, and the active and 

 business-like housewife, who toils hard 

 either in the fields or at the oar, and 

 who, in the upper ranks of life, frequently 

 takes to business and manages all her 

 husband's affairs." 



Polygamy is iiniversal among the 

 Anamese. They dispose of the dead by 

 burial, not by cremation. They show 

 A GROUP OF LAO PEOPLE. great outward respect for their superiors 



Fro 



