TKANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 121 



extent as to threaten to choke them altogether.' " The Cardoon of the Argentine 

 Republics is another remarkable instance of the same fact. We may therefore 

 safely assume that if Australia, New Zealand, or South America had ever been 

 peopled by a race of herdsmen and agriculturists, the fauna and flora of these coun- 

 tries woidd almost inevitably have given evidence of the fact, and differed much 

 from the condition in which they were discovered. We may also assert on a 

 general proposition that no weapons or instruments of metal have ever been found 

 in any coimtry inhabited by savages wholly ignorant of metallurgy. A still 

 stronger case is afforded by pottery. Pottery is not easily destroyed ; when kno-mi 

 at all it is always abundant, and it possesses two qualities ; namely, those of being 

 easy to break, and yet difScult to destroy, which render it very valuable in an 

 archfeological point of ^dew. Moreover, it is in most cases associated with burials. 

 It is, therefore, a veiy significant fact, that no fragment of pottery has ever been 

 found in Australia, New Zealand, or the Polynesian Islands. It seems to me ex- 

 tremely improbable that an art so easy and so useful should ever have been lost by 

 any race of men. Again, this argument applies to several other arts and instru- 

 ments. I will mention only two, though several others might be brought foi-ward. 

 The art of spinning and the use of the bow are quite unknown to many races 

 of savages, and yet would hardly be likely to have been abandoned when once 

 known. The absence of architectural remains in these countries is another argu- 

 ment. Archbishop Whately, indeed, claims this as being in his favour, but the 

 absence of monuments in a counti-y is surely indicative of barbarism and not of 

 civilization. The mental condition of savages seems also to me to speak strongly 

 against the "degrading" theory. Not only do the religions of the lower races 

 appear to be indigenous, but I have elsewhere pointed out that, according to 

 almost imiversal testimony of all writers on savages — merchants, philosophers, 

 naval men, and missionaries alike — there are many races of men who are alto- 

 getlier destitute of a religion. The cases are perhaps less numerous than they are 

 asserted to be, but some of them rest on good evidence. Yet I feel it difficult to, 

 believe that any people which had once possessed a religion would ever entirely 

 lose it. Religion appeals so strongly to the hopes and fears of men — it takes so 

 deep a hold on most minds — it is so great a consolation in times of sorrow and sick- 

 ness — that I can hardly think any nation would ever abandon it altogether. Where, 

 therefore, we find a race which is now ignorant of religion, I cannot but assume 

 that it has always been so. I will now proceed to mention a few cases in which 

 some improvement does appear to have taken place. According to M'Gillivray, 

 the Australians of Port Essington, who, like all their fellow-countrymen, had 

 formerly bark canoes only, have now completely abandoned them for others hol- 

 lowed out of the trunk of a tree, which they buy from the Malays. It is said 

 that the inhabitants of the Andaman Islands have recently introduced outriggers. 

 The Bachapins, when visited by Burchell, had just commenced working iron. 

 According to Burton, the Wajiji negroes have recently learned to make brass. In 

 Tahiti, when visited by Captain Cook, the largest moral, or burial-place, was that 

 erected for the then reigning Queen. The Talaitians, also, had then very recently 

 abandoned the habit of cannibalism. Moreover there are certain facts which 

 speak for themselves. Some of the North American tribes cultivated the maize. 

 Now the maize is a North American plant ; and we have here, therefore, clear evi- 

 dence of a step in advance made by these tribes. Again, the Peruvians had do- 

 mesticated the llama. Those who believe in the diversity of species of men may 

 endeavour to maintain that the Peruvians had domestic llamas from the beginning. 

 Archbishop Whately, however, would not take this line. He would, I am sure, 

 admit that the first settlers in Peru had no llamas, nor, indeed, any other domestic 

 animal, excepting probably the dog. The bark cloth of the Polynesians is another 

 case in point. Another very strong case is the boomerang of the Australians. 

 With one doubtful exception this weapon is known to no other race of men. We 

 cannot look on it as a relic of primeval civilization, or it would not now be confined 

 to one race only. The Australian cannot have learned it from any civilized visitors 

 for the same reason. It is therefore, as it seems to me, exactly the case we want, 

 and a clear proof of a step in advance^a small one if you like — but still a step made 

 by a people whom Archbishop Whately would certainly admit to be true savages. 

 The rude substitutes for writing found among various tribes, the wampum of the 



