THE HUMAN SPECIES. 185 



their origin, point to the north-west, with the excep- 

 tion of the extinct Flatheads, whose history is wholly 

 unknown. They have propelled each other east and 

 south, although certain tribes of the most ancient re- 

 sidents in the south-east, and Patagonian regions, may 

 form exceptions; and there are traditions, even in 

 Mexico, of marine strangers from the east ; for man 

 soon passed from fishing on the lake, or paddling in a 

 stream, to adventure his person beyond the surf of seas 

 and, when it served his purpose for coasting, trusted to 

 the simplest materials to support his weight. Cata- 

 marans of three dry pieces of wood, and a staff, with 

 flattened ends, for oars, have been in use for uncounted 

 ages, on the rolling seas of Madras ; and models like 

 them are often dug out with the bones of ancient 

 Peruvians, where the inhabitants have similar breaking 

 rollers to encounter. Coracles, made upon a frame of 

 twigs, with the skins of seals, oxen, and horses, belong- 

 ed to most nations of the Old Continent ; birch kaicks 

 to the Arctic people of both ; and canoes of solid wood, 

 hollowed out, to every portion of the globe. When 

 these had attained a certain bulk and adequacy of struc- 

 ture, a family might transport itself from one end of 

 the world to the other in a few seasons, merely by 

 coasting. Thus did the messenger of Vasco de Gama 

 pass, in an open boat,* from Diu, in the East Indies, 



* It is supposed that lago Botello used a pattemar, or 

 Cutch native boat, in this daring voyage. The vessel was 

 half decked; but only 16i feet long, 9 broad, and 4$ in 

 depth. 



