420 THE ORIGIN OF TRADITION 



moment put aside differences in mental and physical characters, 

 fertility is relative for our purpose only to the amount of skill 

 and such other elements of tradition as may be in existence. An 

 area, which is very fertile for a race with some agricultural skill, 

 may be far from fertile for a race with a knowledge only of hunting 

 and fishing, and the presence of minerals obviously adds nothing 

 to the fertility of an area to a race lacking knowledge of their use. 

 The country inhabited by the Eskimos, who maintain a standard 

 of living that, relative to the standard achieved by many races, 

 is far from low, would be wholly infertile to a race not possessed 

 of the peculiar skill distinctive of Eskimo culture. 



It should be noticed that, so far as fertility is dependent upon 

 animal and plant life, the fertility of different regions of the 

 world's surface has varied in the period covered by the emergence 

 of man, not merely relatively but absolutely. There have been 

 climatic changes of which the glacial periods were the most 

 remarkable. There have been changes in the boundaries of seas, 

 such as the Mediterranean, which have profoundly affected the 

 fertility of the neighbouring regions. The Sahara at one time was 

 certainly not as barren as it is now. In any survey, such as that 

 we are going to make, which was at all detailed, such changes 

 would have to be taken into account. But in what follows they 

 may be disregarded. 



It may be observed here that in certain areas there is a destruc- 

 tive element in the total make-up of the surroundings. The 

 variable climatic conditions of Australia and India which have 

 been noticed in another connexion are of importance also in this 

 respect. The hurricanes of New Caledonia are another example. 

 So too are all those features in the Central African environment 

 which destroy the products of man's handiwork.^ This destructive 

 element is only an exaggeration of certain features which charac- 

 terize all areas ; nevertheless where these features are exaggerated 

 important results follow. There may be, for instance, two areas, 

 otherwise equally fertile ; but if the destructive element is impor- 

 tant in one area, it is probable that so high an economic stage 

 will not be reached or maintained there as in the other, and 

 further, for the same reason, there will be less tendency for any 

 advance in tradition to be made. The reason for this will be clear 

 when wo have examined the influence which fertility has upon 



I See Cureau, loc. cit., p. 253. 



