INTRODUCTION. 39 



damp forests rarely penetrated by the sun's rays, they arc almost 

 white, and those tribes are the fairest who dwell in the thickest 

 woods. 



The Araucanian branch defended the mountains of CI ill from the 

 Spaniards; the fishing tribes of Tierra del Fuego arc referred by 

 D'Orbigny to the Araucanian r 



Of the Mediterranean group, the Paiagonians comprise the tribes 

 of tliis name, and races extending from the Straits of Magellan to 

 ad latitude, including the wandering tribes of the Pampas; 

 they are th'- nomadic nations of th< N > World, fierce warriors, 

 iltnre and all tin' arts of civilization. Their com- 

 plexion is darker than that "t' most Smith Americans ; they have 

 long been celebrated for their tall athletic forms; the stature of the 

 most southern is the greatest; it diminishes as we go northward. 



The agricultural and fishing tribes inhabiting the central prov- 

 inces of .South America arc called by the Spaniards, Chiquitos ami 

 Moxos. 



The vast region of South \e. .if the river Paragua 



inhabited by two great families of nations, tie' Guarani of Paraguay 

 and the Tupi of Brazil, and the Caribbees in the countries bordering 

 on the Gulf of Mexico. According to D'Orbigny, the following is 

 their characteristic description : "Complexion, yellowish; stature, 



middle; forehead t so much arched as in other races; eyes, 



obliquely placed, and raised at tl nter angle.' 1 These traits 



approximate them to the nomadic races of II Spix and 



Von Martins thought the Caribbees rery like the Chinese. 



Having thus given th.' anatomical and external characteristics of 

 tic various human races, and drawn from them the conclusion that 

 all are varieties of :i single species, he adds testimony which he 

 thinks corroborative from their physiological and psychological char- 

 acters, lie remarks that the average duration of human life is 

 nearly the same in all the rao - ; al any rate, there is the same ten- 



dency to exist for a definite lime, which may he shortened in some 

 cases by peculiarities of climate and external circumstances. The 

 progress of physical development and tin? periodical changes of tin; 

 constitution are the same, as also the natural and vital functions; he 

 mentions the temperature of the body, the frequency of the pulse, and 

 the periodica] changes in the female, eex. In all these great regula- 

 tions of the animal economy, mankind, white and black, are on the 

 same footing by nature. A comparison of the races with respect to 

 . nts, (and he compares the American and the black 

 races with the white.) shows that all have the same inward feelings, 

 desires, and aversions ; the same susceptibility of improvement in 



