TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 175 



Whilst wintering at Repulse Bay on the Arctic circle in 1846-47 and 1S53-54, 

 I had an opportunity of observing the manner in which boulders are taken up and 

 transported by ice. 



In the early part of winter, when the sea-ice has attained considerable thickness, 

 it adheres at low water to any stones it may rest upon, and as the tide flows, raises 

 these from the ground. As the ice increases in thickness, these stones, some of them 

 3, 4, or 5 feet in diameter, are gradually imbedded in the ice, which attains a depth 

 of 8 feet or more. 



In the spring the surface-ice wastes away by the combined action of thaw and 

 evaporation, whilst it is still acquiring fresh thickness underneath. 



In the month of June, the boulders, which in the autumn were under the ice, now 

 appear on its surface, and may be floated off to great distances, when the ice is broken 

 up whilst still strong, by the action of winds and currents. 



On the Aborigines of the Arctic and Sub- Arctic Regions of North America. 



By Dr. Rae. 



Remarks on some of the Races of India and High Asia (in connexion with 

 Casts exhibited). By Robert von Schlagintweit. 



Mr. Robert de Schlagintweit gave a short sketch of the aboriginal tribes of Cen- 

 tral India, as also of the race inhabiting the country between the Karakorim and 

 Sayan Shan, which go by the name of the Turks. He also presented, in illustra- 

 tion of his remarks, some metal casts* of native faces taken from life. The tribes 

 composing the population of the mountain regions of Central India are the Kols, 

 the Gods, the Bils, and the Santals. 



In physical conformation these people differ most distinctly from either Hindoos 

 or Mussulmans. In their religious observances also, and the habits of domestic life, 

 they have nothing in common with their neighbours. The language originally 

 spoken by them is now almost entirely lost, and it was only with great difficulty 

 that we could collect from old people any remains of their former idiom. 



Though there exist many affinities amongst the four tribes above mentioned, yet 

 each preserves its peculiar and characteristic features. The complexion is remark- 

 ably dark, nearly approaching the colour of Negroes ; the mouth is extremely large, 

 though the lips, which are scarcely ever parallel to each other, are not very fleshy; 

 the nose is broad and flat, and the hair, which is generally shaved off or cut very 

 short, stands out, stiff and straight. Though at first glance these tribes may show a 

 superficial resemblance to the African race, yet a closer examination will disclose 

 characteristic differences, especially with reference to the lower part of the head, 

 which is more prominent and considerably stronger with the Negroes. By some 

 ethnographers a remote affinity with Australian tribes has been pointed out ; but 

 the likeness, on closer comparison, proves merely an apparent one. 



The mountainous countries inhabited by the Kols, Bils, and Santals are, for the 

 greater part, covered with dense jungles, and at certain seasons of the year become 

 so unhealthy as to prove extremely dangerous for everyone except the natives them- 

 selves, — a most remarkable instance of the fact, that some human tribes are capable 

 of living under conditions altogether fatal, or nearly so, to others. 



Cultivation can only be carried on to a very limited extent ; and the inhabitants 

 chiefly occupy themselves in cutting clown trees, and in hunting the wild animals 

 with which their country abounds. 



The clothing of this rude people is very scanty, consisting merely of a small piece 

 of unbleached cloth for the loins, and another piece of the same wound round the 

 temples, so as to leave a great part of the head exposed to the powerful rays of the 

 sun. They have no shoes, but sometimes wear a kind of sandal made of rough 

 wood, and shaped to the foot, with another small round covering of wood at its 

 upper end, to afford a hold for the toes. 



Their sole weapons are axes, in the use of which they display considerable expert- 



* These casts are a selection from Messrs. de Schlagintweit's collection of 275 headr, 

 published (1859) by T. A. Barkt at Leipzig. 



