A PRIMEVAL MOTHER TONGUE 



China, the Tungusians, and the Mongols of 

 central Asia are undoubtedly united by phys- 

 ical bonds of descent from one and the same 

 primeval yellow race. 



The inference from this is that there never 

 was a primitive Mongolian mother tongue in 

 the sense in which there was a primitive Aryan 

 mother tongue. The common ancestors of 

 Japanese, Chinese, Tungusian, and Mongol 

 never at any time lived together in one great 

 society, welded into a unit by community of 

 language, traditions, and customs, as was the 

 case with the common ancestors of Roman, 

 Teuton, and Hindu. On the contrary, the ab- 

 original yellow men must have roamed about 

 in detached tribes, like the blacks of Australia 

 or the red men of America, with half-formed 

 languages fluctuating from generation to gener- 

 ation, diverging with great rapidity, and speed- 

 ily losing all traces of their origin. Ensconced 

 within convenient mountain barriers, one series 

 of these yellow tribes worked out its peculiar 

 language and civilization in the rich hill-country 

 and along the great navigable rivers of China. A 

 second series of tribes, moving without reference 

 to these, and at a very much later date, formed 

 a permanent community in the islands of Japan. 

 While the remainder of the race have led a no- 

 madic life down to the present day ; now and 

 then engaging in combined activity for a gener- 

 '53 



