300 GOSSIP THE AFFINITY OF RACES. 



an affinity and identity of race, in most instances the skulls of the 

 remote stone age men, both in Europe and America, bear to each 

 other a strong resemblance. They were dolichocephalic, or long 

 headed. In some instances, more frequent however in the western 

 than in the eastern hemisphere, flattened or distorted in infancy by 

 compression. If there be any here who desire to become acquainted 

 with prehistoric man, I would refer them to a recent work by Sir 

 John Lubbock, entitled ' ' Prehistoric Times." The conclusion drawn 

 from customs of burial, is thus stated: — "There can be no doubt 

 that in the Neolithic stone age (^. e. the age which showed an im- 

 provement in the make of stone implements) it was usual to bury 

 the corpse in a sitting or contracted posture ; and in short it appears 

 probable, although far from being satisfactorily established, that in 

 Western Europe this attitude is characteristic of the stone age, 

 cremation of that of bronze, while those cases in which the skeleton 

 was extended may be referred with little hesitation to the iron age." 

 It only remains to say that the Caribs of the West Indies, (and all 

 the northern tribes,) had got no further than the Neolithic age at 

 the arrival of Columbus ; although the bronze age was at their door, 

 and would soon have been upon them in the extension of Mexican 

 civilization. 



I might adduce many other customs and ceremonies of the Caribs, 

 which would imply a connection at some remote period, and a com- 

 mon origin, with the most ancient races of the Eastern hemisphere ; 

 but time will not allow, even if it were not a trespass on your patience. 

 I may mention, however, in conclusion of these observations on a 

 most interesting people, now almost entirely extinct, that they prac- 

 tised to a certain extent the art of agriculture. Strange to say they 

 knew how to prepare cassava, by neutralizing the poisonous proper- 

 ties of the manioc from which it is made, by a process similar to that 

 employed on the coast of Africa. They also cultivated the maize, 

 which is an African cereal, although apparently indigenous in 

 America. Strangest of all was their habit of chewing the betel, 

 preparing it with calcined shells, after the manner of the natives of 

 the East Indies. By what mysterious means they had acquired this 

 proportion of knowledge, we shall never be able to ascertain ; but if 

 they did not possess it from the beginning, in common with the ancient 



