396 



HISTORY OF 



who settle in Tartary soon assume the figure and the manners 

 of the Tartars. 



The Japanese so much resemble the Chinese, that one can- 

 not hesitate to rank them in the same class. They only differ 

 in being rather browner, as they inhabit a more southern cliiu^ite. 

 They are, in general, described as of a brown complexion, a short 

 stature, a broad flat face, a very little beard, and black hair. 

 Their customs and ceremonies are nearly the same ; their ideas 

 of beauty similar ; and their ai-tificial deformities of blackening 

 the teeth, and bandaging the feet, entirely alike in both coun- 

 tries. They both, therefore, proceed from the same stock ; and 

 although they differ very much from their brutal progenitors, 

 yet they owe their civilization wholly to the mildness of the 

 climate in which they reside, and to the peculiar fertility of the 

 soil. To this tribe, also, we may refer the Cochin Chinese, 

 the Siamese, the Tonquinese, and the inhabitants of Arracan, 

 Laos, and Pegu, who, though all differing from the Chinese and 

 each other, nevertheless have too strong a resemblance not to be- 

 tray their common original. 



Another, which makes the third variety in the human species, 

 is that of the southern Asiatics ;* the form of whose features 



• In the southern A&iatic, or East-Indian islands, there are two very dit. 

 ferent races of men ; the first have a strong- resemblance to the African Ne. 

 groes, in the black colour, woolly hair, and general form of the face and skull. 

 Their language, however, is difl'erent, and they have a copious beard. They 

 have been considered as the aborigines of those islands, some of which they 

 occupy altogether, but in others are found only in the mountainous and in. 

 terior regions. They are met with in Sumatra, in Borneo, in the Moluccas, 

 and the Philippines. They entirely occupy the Great Andaman Island, which 

 Colonel Symes visited on his voyage to Ava. He describes the natives as 

 very short, with slender limbs, large bellies, high shoulders, and large heads 

 with woolly hair, flat noses, and thick lips. They are in a state of the must 

 destitute misery and utter barbarism. Their persons, except in regard to 

 beard, bespeak a descent from central Africa, but even conjecture can scarce- 

 ly imagine when or how. 



The rest of the people of these Indian islands are of a lighter colour, have 

 the face more oval, the hair long, and superior figures. In their organiza. 

 tion, language, and manners, they approximate to the natives of Malacca. 

 They usually occupy the sea-coasts of these islands, but some of the smaller 

 ones are entirely inhabited by them. 



The Continent or Island of New Holland, for it will bear either of those 

 appellatives with propriety, is certainly inhabited by various sets of people, 

 as far at least as difl'erencea of general appearance, language, and territory 

 constitute variety ; but from our hitherto imperfect knowledge of this im. 



