Sketches From Oldest America 



have continued living in their primitive condition 

 until the present awakening. 



Should the geologist inform the villager that 

 North America was once under water, only the 

 tops of the highest mountains extending above the 

 one great ocean, like so many islands, and that then 

 the ocean currents carried their warmth to the Pole, 

 the Tigara man would reply: "Yes, in very old 

 times only three mountain-tops extended above the 

 ocean, and it was at a very remote day that my 

 ancestors first appeared." 



Should the evolutionist inform the villager that 

 man did not at first stand in an erect position as at 

 present, but went round on his hands and feet; that 

 the sperm whale originated from an animal akin to 

 the bear; and that other great changes have taken 

 place among the various members of the animal 

 kingdom, the Tigara man would again reply: 

 "Yes, the earliest men did not have their lower 

 extremities developed for walking; the Bow-head 

 whale originated from an animal similar to the deer, 

 while another member of the whale family, called 

 the Killer, armed with large teeth instead of baleen, 

 originated from an animal akin to the wolf; the 

 deer of old was a hornless and carniverous animal, 



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