THE Hl'MAN SPECIES. 365 



It is on and around the regions here slightly traced out, that 

 it becomes evident the filiations of the bearded stock should 

 not be viewed solely through the medium of disjointed texts of 

 ancient writers, far removed from the localities, but where they 

 first began ; for, in order to form a fair estimate of realities, it 

 is important to study the local geography, and to become 

 thoroughly conversant with the science of what is technically 

 denominated reading the ground, — that is, of grasping the 

 ;onditions of every topographical and geographical fact; of 

 •appreciating the consequences attendant on residing or migrating 

 across, up, or down, the current of streams; of toiling through 

 snow-clad regions, turning a long range, or finding an approach 

 to mountain passes, through marshes and forests, straits by 

 sea, and straits on land ; of migrations to be accomplished, not 

 by hunters, but by tribes who have their families and property 

 to carry with them, and must be able to find food in their 

 progress. In opening thus the book of nature, and learning 

 how realities should be dealt with, there remain many other 

 considerations to be kept in view, such as climate and seasons, 

 periods of frost, of ice, or of drought and monsoon winds. Still 

 more, in order to trace the march of ancient nations, it is 

 requisite to search for marks attesting man's handywork, in 

 evidence of his passage ; for troglodyte habitations, sepulchral 

 ruins, and piles of stones, tell also, and more forcibly, of by- 

 gone ages, than texts of mere individual authority ; nay, they 

 disprove them, and invalidate remote chronology. In 

 proportion as we may interpret rightly these documents of 

 nature and time, we shall understand human doings in thrt 

 infancy of society ; and when we also call to our aid the relig- 

 ious doctrines, the ancient poetical records, and the laws and 

 legends of a people, wc shall find, in general, sufficient data to 

 arrive at epochs in time often more trustworthy than the pre- 

 cise years affixed to events, obtained by reckoning backwards 

 certain astronomical facts, or reigns of kings, which chronolo- 

 gists themselves find means to advance or retard, in order to 

 31* 



