54 MAMMALIA. 
mingled their blood with that of those they conquered, many traces 
of which may still be found among the inhabitants of lesser Tartary. 
It is to the east of this Tartar branch of the Caucasian race that 
the Mongolian race begins, whence it extends to the eastern ocean. 
Its branches, the Calmucs, &c. still wandering shepherds, are con- 
stantly traversing the desert. Thrice did their ancestors under 
Attila, Genghis, and Tamerlane, spread far the terror of their’name. 
The Chinese are the earliest and most civilized branch not only of 
this race, to which they belong, but of all the nations upon earth. 
A third branch, the Mantchures, recently conquered, and still 
govern China. The Japanese, Coreans, and nearly all the hordes 
which extend to the north-east of Siberia, subject to Russia, are also 
to be considered, in a great measure, as originating from this race; 
and such also is esteemed the fact, with regard to the original inha- 
bitants of various islands of that Archipelago. With the exception 
of a few Chinese literati, the different nations of the Mongoles are 
universally addicted to Buddism, or the religion of Fo. 
- The origin of this great race appears to have been in the moun- 
- tains of Atlai, but it is impossible to trace the filiation of its diffe- 
rent branches with the same certainty as we have done those of the 
Caucasian. The history of these wandering nations is as fugitive as 
their establishments, and that of the Chinese, confined exclusively to 
their own empire, gives us nothing satisfactory with respect to their 
neighbours. The affinities of their languages are also too little 
known to direct us in this labyrinth. 
The languages of the north of the Peninsula beyond the Ganges, 
as well as that of Thibet, are somewhat allied to the Chinese, at 
least in their monosyllabic structure, and the people who speak 
them have features somewhat resembling other Mongoles. The 
south of this Peninsula, however, is inhabited by Malays, whose 
forms approximate them much nearer to the Indians, whose race 
and language are extended over all the coasts of the islands of the 
Indian Archipelago. The innumerable little islands of the southern 
ocean are also peopled by a handsome race, nearly allied to the In- 
dians, whose language is very similar to the Malay; in the interior 
‘of the largest of these islands, particularly in the wilder portions of 
it, is another race of men with black complexions, crisped hair, and 
negro faces, called Alfourous. On the coast of New Guinea, and in 
the neighbouring islands, we find other negroes, nearly similar to 
those of the eastern coast of Africa, named Papuas ;(1) to the latter, 
(1) With respect to the various nations of the Indian and Pacific oceans, see 
the dissertation of Messrs Lesson and Gartigt in the Zoologie du Voyage de la — 
eo . Ce rn is , 
i 
Pie. 
