242 A HISTORY OF 



brown, or olive. The tincture of their skins partly seems to arise 

 from their dirty manner of living, being generally daubed with train- 

 oil ; and partly from the rigours of climate, as the sudden alterations 

 of cold and raw air in winter, and of burning heats in summer, shade 

 their complexions by degrees, till, in a succession of generations, they 

 at last become almost black. As the countries in which these reside 

 are the most barren, so the natives seem the most barbarous of any 

 part of the earth. Their more southern neighbours of America treat 

 them with the same scorn that a polished nation would treat a savage 

 one ; and we may readily judge of the rudeness of those manners, which 

 even a native of Canada can think more barbarous than his own. 



But the gradations of nature are imperceptible ; and while the north 

 is peopled with such miserable inhabitants, there are here and there 

 to be found upon the edges of these regions, people of larger stature, 

 and completer figure. A whole race of dwarfish breed is often found 

 to come down from the north, and settle more to the southward ; and 

 on the contrary it sometimes happens that southern nations are seen 

 higher up, in the midst of these diminutive tribes, where they have 

 continued for time immemorial. Thus the Ostiac Tartars seem to be 

 a race that have travelled down from the north, and to be originally 

 sprung from the minute savages we have been describing. There are\ 

 also Norwegians and Finlauders, 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 species seems to be that of 

 the Tartar race ; from whence, probably, the little men we have been 

 describing originally proceeded. The Tartar country, taken in gene- 

 ral, comprehends the greatest part of Asia ; and is consequently a 

 general name given to a number of nations of various forms and com- 

 plexions. But however they seem to differ from each other, they 

 agree in being very unlike the people of any other country. All these 

 nations have the upper part of the visage very broad, and wrinkled 

 even while 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 advanced forward, their 

 teeth of an enormous size, and growing separate from each other ; 

 their eye-brows thick, large, and covering their eyes ; their eye- 

 lids 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 strag- 

 lingly on the chin. They have large thighs, and short legs. The 

 ugliest of all are the Calmucks, in whose appearance there seems to 

 be something frightful. They all lead an erratic life, remaining under 

 tents of hair, or skins. They live upon horse flesh and that of camels, 

 either raw or a little sodden between the horse and the saddle. They 

 eat also flesh dried in the sun. Their most usual drink is mare's 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 suf- 

 ficiently long to form into tresses on each side of tlie face. The * 



