﻿THE 
  POLYNESIAN 
  RACES. 
  173 
  

  

  which 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  driven. 
  The 
  Bushmen 
  

   of 
  South 
  Africa 
  are 
  another 
  case 
  in 
  point- 
  

   It 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  clearly 
  ascertained 
  that 
  they 
  

   belong 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  race 
  as 
  other 
  tribes 
  who 
  

   are 
  far 
  less 
  degraded, 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  

   simply 
  the 
  descendants 
  of 
  outcasts 
  driven 
  to 
  

   the 
  woods 
  and 
  rocks 
  * 
  So, 
  again, 
  among 
  the 
  

   great 
  islands 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific, 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  

   Van 
  Diemen's 
  Land 
  were 
  the 
  most 
  utterly 
  

   degraded 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  Polynesian 
  races. 
  

  

  With 
  these 
  facts 
  staring 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  face, 
  

   connecting 
  themselves 
  in 
  an 
  obvious 
  order 
  

   with 
  causes 
  which 
  we 
  know 
  to 
  be 
  all 
  

   operating 
  in 
  one 
  direction, 
  is 
  it 
  not 
  absurd 
  

   to 
  argue 
  that 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  these 
  outcasts 
  

   of 
  the 
  human 
  family 
  can 
  be 
  assumed 
  as 
  

  

  * 
  Prit 
  chard's 
  " 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  Man," 
  vol. 
  ii. 
  

  

  