MONGOLIAN RACE. 



Fuegians. 



^-~: *S^V-* 



Patagonianf. 



With respect to the distribution of the 



Mongolian race, Dr. Pickering says : " The Arctic Region- 

 seem exclusively possessed by the Mongolian race; which besides is diffused through a greater variety of 

 climates than any other, and over a far larger area. This comprises about one half of Asia, and with a 

 slight exception all aboriginal America, or more than two-fifths of the land surface of the globe. Notwith- 

 standing the recent encroachments, the greater portion of the American continent is still inhabited by 

 Mongolian tribes ; and while some of them wander towards the north, further than civilised man has 

 hitherto been able to follow, others are still the nearest dwellers to the Southern Pole." 



The Patagonians are not, as has been supposed, of unusually tall stature; but they appear tall from 

 their peculiar mode of dress. They are all horsemen, but having no canoes they cannot pass the straits of 

 Magellan; the Fuegians (inhabitants of Terra del Fuego,) do this sometimes, when they are seized and 

 reduced to slavery. 



The Southern Watermen, or the Fuegians, are far less advanced in the art of navigation than then 

 northern brethren. Their canoes are smaller and inferior in construction. They are not known to venture 

 forth into the open sea ; and even the Falkland Islands, although so near the coast, appear to have remained 

 onvisited by them. 



The Fuegians go entirely naked, although snow is not unfrequent in their island. Still, the winters are 

 mild, and vegetation is no where checked by a season of cold. 



The Chilian aborigines have become assimilated to the Spanish in their customs and modes of living, and 

 the races are mixed to a considerable extent. 



In Peru, the aboriginal blood preponderates, but the political power is not largely shared by the original 

 stock. Some ancient customs are retained, and the language of the Incas still continues to be spoken 

 among portions of the Peruvian Indians. 



The islands and shores on tin north-west coast of America are inhabited by a maritime people, called the 

 Chinooks, who are like the Patagonians in appearance and habits. Dr. Pickering considers them as pos- 

 sessing, in common with other Mongnolian tribes, peculiar qualifications for reclaiming or reducing animals 



to the domestic state. 

 Ik en 



