y 



CHAPTER IV. 



FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION. 



IN the early stages of social organization, 

 men became divided into tribes. A vast 



number of tribes have existed at one time or 

 another. A few of those tribes have advanced 

 from savagery to civilization and have become 

 organized into nations ; others still remain as 

 tribes at the present time; while the remainder, 

 and by far the larger number, have become ex- 

 tinct. As examples of extinction it is only 

 necessary to mention the disappearance of 

 Indian tribes in North America, and the dis- 

 appearance of other tribes in other parts of the 

 world invaded by the white man. But the 

 white man is not the sole cause of tribes be- 

 coming extinct. Neighboring tribes frequently 

 exterminate each other by warfare, the stronger 

 killing off the weaker. In South America, 

 Humboldt saw a parrot which was the sole 

 living thing capable of speaking the language 

 of an extinct tribe. 



56 



