January 24, 1901] 



NA TURE 



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the Yue-tchi, and a part of them, under Maues, founded a 

 kingdom in the Panjab, where they quickly appropriated 

 Hellenic culture. 



The Sakas appear to have been mesaticephalic ; the height of 

 the head was rather low, they had straight eyes, a well-formed 

 nose, straight, projecting chin. Ujfalvy remarks that they were 

 not true Scythians, as the Aryan element was outweighed in 

 them by another strain. They are nearer to the typical 

 Parthians, but they are not Tatars. 



For two thousand years they have persisted, and in the 

 Balti of to-day Ujfalvy recognises the direct descendants of the 

 Sacae who, about 90 B.C., invaded India from the north over the 

 Karakoram passes, since, in their physical features, the Balti 

 strikingly resemble the effigies on the rock carvings or on the 

 coins of the kings of the Sacse. The Pamir countries of the 

 Chugnan and Sirikol still retain Sacian linguistic traces. 



The Chinese annalists inform us that the Yue-tchi were located 

 in eastern Turkestan, south of the Celestial Mountains, but 

 being invaded by the Hiung-nu in 201 and 165 B.C., they fled to 

 the west and spread over Sogdiana and Bactria, and dispossessed 

 the Ta-hia (Tadjiks). The annalist thus speaks of the inhabitants 

 of Sogdiana,: " Sunken eyes, prominent nose and bushy beard, 

 they excel in trade," just like the living Tadjiks. The primi- 

 tively nomadic Yue-tchi became sedentary and prosperous in 

 this fertile country. In B.C. 25 Kieu-tsieu, or Kudschula, whom 

 the Greeks called Kadphises, the prince of the Kuei-schuang 

 (Kushan), one of the five tribes of the Yue-tchi, conquered the 

 four other tribes, and, crossing the Hindu Kush, invaded 



Fig. 2. — Coin of Jayatu Mihirakula (Mo-hi-lo-kiu-Io of the Chinese 

 Anna/s), last King of the Hunas ; 515-544 A.o. 



Kophen (Ki-pin of the Chinese Annals), the country of the 

 Asascides, and took possession of Kab-il. His son Kadaphes 

 conquered most of Northern India, and this empire lasted till 

 towards the commencement of the fifth century of our era. 

 The Chinese Annals tell us that Ki-to-lo (Kidara of the coins) 

 chief of the Great Kushans, yielded before the incursions of 

 the Ephthalites, crossed the Paropamisus and settled at 

 Gandhara, in the Valley of Kabul. Towards 475 a.d. the 

 Ephthalites, or White Huns, conquered Gandhara, forcing the 

 Kushans to retire in the Chitral and up to Kashmir. After the 

 defeat of Mihirakula, the last Huna king, the Kushans preserved 

 their power in these regions till the ninth century of our era. 



The Kushans appear to have been a brachycephalic folk with 

 a normal head, high forehead, straight eyes, powerful Semitic 

 nose, full mouth, with a somewhat Semitic cast of countenance, 

 but not in the least Mongolian ; there was a full beard. These, 

 according to Ujfalvy, are Tatars and not Mongols, the true 

 Scythians of Hippocrates; with Keane ("Man, Past and 

 Present," p. 322) we may call them a Turki people. 



They were a gifted and powerful people, and, in consequence 

 of their high political endowments and their adaptability, they 

 played a predominant part alike in Bactria and North-west India, 

 and to a large extent contributed to the formation of the present 

 racial type north and south of the Hindu Kush, and especially 

 so among the Dards of the Himalayan Valleys. 



The Hoa or Ye-tha, originally a small people located to the 

 north of the Great Wall of China, were hunted from their terri- 

 tory by the Yuan- Yuan (or Avars ?) and fled to the west, and 



NO. 1630, VOL. 63] 



eventually invaded Transoxiana (425 A.D. ) and founded a great 

 empire as far as North-west India. The invasion of Europe by 

 Attila (430 A.D.) and that of the Caucasus by the Kidarite 

 Huns were the result of the same pressure of the Yuan-Yuan. 



The Hoa sovereigns had the family name of Ye-ta-i-li-to 

 (Ephthalites) which became the name of the dynasty ; this was 

 abridged to Ye-tha. Unlike the Yue-tchi they remained nomads, 

 and, as the Chinese annalists inform us, they practised poly- 

 andry. Their empire lasted till 557 A.D., when the Tu-kiu 

 (Turks), profiting by the troubles that had fallen on the Hoa or 

 Huna, seized the government. After their defeat, the Ephtha- 

 lites did not disappear from Turkestan but retired to the east, 

 while another portion mixed with Kushans south of the Oxus. 



The Chinese annalists give various interesting accounts of 

 this people. The Hoa migrated with their flocks and did not 

 live in towns. The women took a good standing ; brothers 

 took a wife in common, and the women wore a horn on their 

 headdress for each husband that they had. The people were 

 cruel, valiant and bellicose, and had strict laws. 



According to the coins the three kings of the Hiinas (the 

 White Huns or Ephthalites of India) were absolutely hairless, 

 the face has a savage expression, the eyes appear somewhat 

 oblique, the nose is large, jaw powerful, neck fleshy, ears 

 immense and in two of the kings recall the legendary pointed 

 ears of Attila. The occipital region of the head is deficient, 

 the vertex being produced into a truncated cone ; this remark- 

 able shape must have been the result of artificial deformation, 

 which greatly exaggerated the natural brachycephaly. They are 

 still Tatars, but approach the Mongolian type. 



Polyandry was one of the most characteristic traits of the 

 Hoa, and it still persists in the regions which formerly belonged 

 to their empire. The employment of the horned headdress, 

 which was formerly associated with polyandric . practices, still 

 exists among the inhabitants of Kafiristan. 



There are still many problems awaiting solution among the 

 intricacies of Asiatic ethnology, and it may be that some of the 

 foregoing conclusions will require emendation, but there can be 

 little doubt that the brilliant researches of C. de Ujfalvy have 

 paved the way to a clearer comprehension of the ethnic affinities 

 of various ancient historical peoples, and his papers in PAnthro- 

 pologie. Tomes ix. (1898) and xi. (1900), and in the Archiv fiir 

 Anthropologie, Bd. xxvi. (1899), are full of references to the 

 labours of his distinguished fellow-workers, Drouin, Percy 

 Gardner, de Lapouge, Maspero, Rapson, Specht, Stein and 

 others. Alfred C. Haddon. 



THE CURRENTS IN THE GULF OF 

 ST. LAWRENCE. 



'T^HE result of investigation of the currents in the Gulf of St. 

 ■'■ Lawrence, by the Survey of Tides and Currents, has been 

 issued recently in the form of a pamphlet by the Department of 

 Marine and Fisheries, Canada. These investigations were car- 

 ried on by Mr. W. Bell Dawson, in charge of this Survey, and 

 were made during the summer months of 1894, 1895 and 1896 ; 

 and they are supplemented by information collected personally 

 by him from captains of vessels, fishermen and others having a 

 long experience in the Gulf. The examination of the currents 

 was made chiefly along the lines of the leading steamship routes 

 which traverse the Gulf. It thus comprises the more open area 

 of the Gulf rather than the estuaries and straits in which stronger 

 tidal streams occur locally. 



In the investigations a steamer was employed. It was 

 anchored in positions carefully selected for the purpose in view. 

 These were in all depths, up to 250 fathoms. The steamer thus 

 served as a fixed point from which to observe the behaviour of 

 the current. The observations of the current and of the force 

 and direction of the wind were continuous day and night. 

 Both the surface current and under-currents were investigated, 

 current-meters, registering electrically, being chiefly used for the 

 purpose. Temperatures and densities were also obtained at all 

 depths, to 200 fathoms ; and these indications were found of 

 much assistance in tracing the movement of the water. For 

 fuller descriptions of the methods and appliances employed, 

 some of which were specially adapted to the conditions in the 

 Gulf, the reports of progress issued from year to year by this 

 survey must be referred to. 



With regard to the general circulation in the Gulf area, the 

 investigations point to its being, broadly speaking, a movement 



