122 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



disappeared ; and though the partial population of the 

 bearded form had been overwhelmed by the Mongolia, 

 it is in turn now fast receding, and the woolly haired, 

 brought in chiefly by modern navigation, it may be 

 foreseen, will ultimately secure to itself a vast homo- 

 geneous region, without other change in characters 

 than slight intermixture, advancing education, and local 

 circumstances, can effect. 



Although, on debatable ground, a race may be dis- 

 lodged, evidence of their having had possession of it 

 remains in the population of the more inaccessible moun- 

 tains and forests ; and this fact is still oftener observable, 

 when distinct races of the same type have contested the 

 tenure of the soil. We see both these cases repeatedly 

 exemplified in all the more isolated mountain systems, 

 for the chains are guides to further progress. It is 

 shown in the Neelgherries, the Crimea, the Karpa- 

 thians, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Atlas, and even 

 in the group of Northern South America all the resi- 

 dence of very different tribes, driven to take refuge in 

 them at various periods ; and a single ridge or valley 

 often separating people totally distinct, in religion, 

 language, and aspect : the conditions of their several 

 states of existence, often produce a more certain and 

 impressive history of the transactions in foregone ages, 

 in a given country, than its best chronicles afford. 



Thus, the temporary tenure of Caucasian tribes, the 

 Kintomoey, Scythi, Yuchi, Yeta, and Sacae, are the 

 overlapping nations in the north r east of the centre, and 

 in north-western Asia, is proved by their insulation or 



