120 AMERICAN RACES. 
The natives of America may be divided into two 
great classes. To the first belong the Esquimaux of 
Greenland, Labrador, and Hudson’s Bay, and the in- 
habitants of Behring’s Straits, Alaska, and Prince 
William’s Sound. The eastern and western branches 
of this great family, the Esquimaux proper and the 
Tschougages, are united by the most intimate simi- 
larity of language, although separated to the im- 
mense distance of eight hundred leagues. ‘The in- 
habitants of the north-east of Asia are evidently of 
the same stock. Like the Malays, this hyperborean 
nation resides only on the seacoast, They are of 
smaller stature than the other Americans, lively 
and loquacious. Their hair is straight and black ; 
but their skin is originally white, in which respect 
they essentially differ from the other class. 
The second race is dispersed over the various re- 
gions of the continent, from the northern parts to the 
southern extremity. They are of larger size, more 
warlike, and more taciturn, and differ in the colour 
of their skin. At the earliest age it has more or 
less of a coppery tinge in most of the tribes, while in 
others the children are fair, or nearly so ; and certain 
tribes on the Orinoco preserve the same complexion 
during their whole life. Humboldt is of opinion 
that these differences in colour are but slightly in- 
fluenced by climate or other external circumstances, 
and endeavours to impress the idea that they depend 
on the original constitution. 
