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CHAPTER XXVIT. 



REMARKS ON THE EARLY MIGRATIONS OF THE HUMAN 



RACE. 



Having ended my narrative of the Beagle's voyage, I might 

 lay down the pen : but there are some reflections, arising out of 

 circumstances witnessed by myself, and enquiries since made 

 respecting them, that I feel anxious to lay before those who 

 take interest in such subjects ; and who will detect fallacies 

 which I J in a purblind search after truth, may have over- 

 looked. 



A few of these reflections bear on the origin and migration 

 of the human race : and, deeply feeling the difficulty of the 

 subject, as well as my comparative ignorance and inability, 

 I would beg that my remarks may be viewed solely as those of 

 a sailor who writes for the younger members of his profession 

 — not as the scheme of a theorist. 



Before mentioning the particular facts which have fallen 

 under my own observation, and made most impression on me, 

 in connexion with this subject, it may be well to defend myself 

 from any imputation of indulging hastily formed or capricious 

 ideas, by saying that from boyhood I have always taken in- 

 terest in observing the various countenances, heads, shapes, 

 sizes, colours, and other peculiarities of the human race ; especi- 

 ally of those varieties in which education has not masked the 

 mind, by teaching man to restrain or conceal his emotions. The 

 result of this attention to outward tokens, occasionally retained 

 more distinctly in my recollection by sketches, has been a con- 

 viction that external form, especially of the head and features, 

 is exceedingly dependent upon mind ; and that as the human 

 being is more or less educated, accustomed to better or worse 



