140 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



is that savages are utterly unteachable." 

 His opponents, fixing their eyes on the 

 more advanced tribes, say, " See how clear 

 it is that men once savage can invent and 

 practise useful arts." Whately says, " Prove 

 to me, first, that these Mandans had ever 

 been as savage as their neighbours; and 

 secondly, that they had raised themselves." 

 Sir J.* Lubbock replies that on the conditions 

 laid down by Whately no such proof is 

 possible. If any record could be found of 

 the former condition of the Mandans, the 

 very existence of such a record would prove 

 former contact with civilized peoples, and if 

 such contact were proved, Whately would 

 attribute to such contact the improvement 

 which is observed. On the other hand, if 



