180 



A HISTORY OF 



we have been describing. There are also 

 Norwegians andFinlanders, of proper stature, 

 who are seen to inhabit in latitudes higher 

 even than Lapland. These, however, are 

 but accidental migrations, and serve as shades 

 to unite the distinct varieties of mankind. 



The second great variety in the human spe- 

 cies, seems to be that of the Tartar race ; 

 from whence, probably, the little men we have 

 been describing originally proceeded. The 

 Tartar country, taken ingeneral.comprehends 

 the greatest part of Asia ; and is, consequent- 

 ly, a general name given to a number of nati- 

 ons, of various forms and complexions. But, 

 however they seem to differ from each other, 

 they all agree in being very unlike the people 

 of any other country. All these nations have 

 the upper part of the visage very broad, and 

 wrinkledevenwhile yet in their youth. Their 

 noses are short and flat, their eyes little, and 

 sunk in their heads ; and, in some of them, 

 they are seen five or six inches asunder. 

 Their cheek-bones are high, the lower part 

 of their visage narrow, the chin long and ad- 

 vanced forward, their teeth of an enormous 

 size, and growing separate from each other; 

 their eyebrows thick, large, and covering 

 their eyes ; their eyelids thick, the face broad 

 and flat, the complexion olive coloured, and 

 the hair black. They are of a middle size, 

 extremely strong, and very robust. They 

 have but little beard, which grows straggling 

 on the chin. They have large thighs, and 

 short legs. The ugliest of all are the Cal- 

 mucks, in whose appearance there seems to 

 be something frightful. They all lead an er- 

 ratic life, remaining under tents of hair, or 

 skins. They live upon horse flesh, and that 

 of camels, either raw or a little sodden be- 

 tween the horse and the saddle. They eat 

 also fish dried in the sun. Their most usual 

 drink is ^.lares' milk, fermented with millet 

 ground into meal. They all have the head 

 shaven, except a lock of hair on the top, 

 which they let grow sufficiently long to form 

 into tresses, on each side of the face. The 

 women, who are as ugly as the men, wear 

 their hair, which they bind up with bits of 

 copper, and other ornaments of a like nature. 

 The majority of these nations have no religi- 

 on, no settled notions of morality, no decency 

 of behaviour. They are chiefly robbers; 



and the natives of Dagestan, who live near 

 their more polished neighbours, make a traf- 

 fic of Tartar slaves who have been stolen, and 

 sell them to the Turks and the Persians.. 

 Their chief riches consist in horses, of which 

 perhaps there are more in Tartary than in 

 any other part of the world. The natives are 

 taught by custom to live in the same place 

 with their horses, they are continually em- 

 ployed in managing them, and at last bring 

 them to such great obedience, that the horse 

 seems actually to understand the riders inten- 

 tion. 



To this race of men, also, we must refer 

 the Chinese and the Japanese, however dif- 

 ferent they seem in their manners and cere- 

 monies. It is the form of the body that we 

 are now principally considering ; and there is, 

 between these countries, a surprising resem- 

 blance. It is in general allowed, that the 

 Chinese have broad faces, small eyes, flat 

 noses, and scarce any beard ; that they are 

 broad and square shouldered, and rather less 

 in stature than Europeans. These are marks 

 common to them and the Tartars, and they 

 may, therefore, be considered as being deriv- 

 ed from the same original. " I have observ- 

 ed," says Chardin, " that in all the people 

 from the east and the north of the Caspian 

 sea, to the peninsula of Malacca, that the lines 

 of the face, and the formation of the visage, 

 is the same. This has induced me to believe, 

 that all these nations are derived from the 

 same original, however different either their 

 complexions or their manners may appear : 

 for as to the complexion, that proceeds entire- 

 ly from the climate and the food ; and as to 

 the manners, these are generally the result of 

 their different degrees of wealth or power." 

 That they come from one stock, is evident 

 also from this, that the Tartars who settle in 

 China, quickly resemble the Chinese ; and, 

 on the contrary, the Chinese who settle in 

 Tartary, soon assume the figure and the man- 

 ners of the Tartars. 



The Japanese so much resemble the Chi- 

 nese, that one cannot hesitate to rank them 

 in the same class. They only differ in being 

 rather browner, as they inhabit a more south- 

 ern climate. They are, in general, described 

 as of a brown complexion, a short stature, a 

 broad flat face, a very little beard, and black 



