vi THE ARYAN QUESTION 276 



and who could therefore be hardly lodged else- 

 where than on the frontiers of both Persia and 

 India that is to say, somewhere in the region 

 which is at present known under the names of 

 Turkestan, 'Afghanistan, and Kafiristan. Thus 

 far, it can hardly be doubted that we are well 

 within the ground of which science has taken 

 enduring possession. But the Uhlans were not 

 content to remain within the lines of this surely- 

 won position. For some reason, which is not quite 

 clear to me, they thought fit to restrict the home of 

 the primitive Aryans to a particular part of the 

 region in question ; to lodge them amidst the bleak 

 heights of the long range of the Hindoo Koosh 

 and on the inhospitable plateau of Pamir. From 

 their hives in these secluded valleys and wind- 

 swept wastes, successive swarms of Celts and 

 Greco-Latins, Teutons and Slavs, were thrown off 

 to settle, after long wanderings, in distant Europe. 

 The Hindoo-Koosh-Pamir theory, once enunciated, 

 gradually hardened into a sort of dogma; and 

 there have not been wanting theorists, who laid 

 down the routes of the successive bands of emi- 

 grants with as much confidence as if they had access 

 to the records of the office of a primitive Aryan 

 Quartermaster-General. It is really singular to 

 observe the deference which has been shown, and 

 is yet sometimes shown, to a speculation which 

 can, at best, claim to be regarded as nothing better 

 than a somewhat risky working hypothesis. 



