ASIA. 



889 



are poor in oysters. Two divers are attached to each stone, and go down alternately. The 

 period allotted for this operation continues from 5 to 6 hours. 



15. Tribes of Jlsia. Were we to arrange the population of Asia into classes distinguished 



by color, we should say that 3 races of 

 mankind inhabited this continent ; the 

 White, the Yellow, and the Black. The 

 latter are few in number ; and we may 

 therefore consider the 2 other as dividing 

 this part of the world between them. 

 The white race occupy nearly the whole 

 of Western Asia ; the yellow race in- 

 habit the rest. In some instances the 2 

 races have become blended together, and 

 it would be difficult to say to which race 

 their descendants belong. In the white 



Inhabitants of Asia. 



race we would class all the Caucasian tribes, the population of Asiatic Turkey, of Arabia, of 

 Curdistan, of Persia, of Afghanistan, the Bucharians, Armenians, Georgians, Turcomans, 

 Uzbeks, Kirghis, the Hindoos, the inhabitants of Nepaul, of Ceylon, and the Maldives, and 

 several tribes of Asiatic Russia, such as the Yakutes, the Voguls, the ]-'ermians, the Syrians, 

 the Tchouvaches, the Morduins, and the Ostiaks of the Obi. The yellow race would com- 

 prehend the Calmucks, the Khalkhas of Central Asia, the Samoiedes, the Lamutes, the You- 

 kaghirs, the Tchuktchis, and the Koriaks, all of Asiatic Russia ; the Mongols and Tongou- 

 ses, who hve as nomades, in Asiatic Russia and China ; the Mandshous, the Coreans, the Jap- 

 anese, the Chinese, the Annamites, the Siamese, the Birmans, and the Tibetans. The Malays 

 seem to be a mixed race of Whites and Yellows. The Negroes belong to Malacca, Ceylon, 

 Andoman, and Nicobar, and are of the Papuan race. 



Hassel estimates the 4 great races of Asia as follows ; it must be understood, however, that 

 this embraces the Asiatic Islands, which we include in Oceanica. 



Caucasian Race 

 Mongolian Race 



164,000,000 

 291,000,000 



Malay Race 

 Ethiopian Race 



24,000,000 

 1,000,000 



Attempts have also been made to classify the Asiatic nations according to their languages, 

 and the following principal groups have been marked out from this point of view. 1 . The 

 Semitic family of nations embraces the ancient Chaldaeans, Aramseans, and Phenicians, the 

 Jews, Arabs, and Armenians. 2. The Turkish group comprises the Ottomans or Osmanlis, 

 the Turcomans or Truchmenes, the Uzbeks, Kirghises, the Nogais, the Yakutes, Karakal- 

 paks, and several other tribes, improperly called Tartars. 3. The Mongol stock consists of 3 

 great branches, the Mongols proper, the Buriates, and the ffiloths, comprising several nations ; 

 the Calmucks belong to the last named. 4. The Tungouses consist of numerous branches in 

 eastern Asia, the most conspicuous of which are the Mantchoos or Mandshous, who are now 

 the ruling race in China. 5. The Persian family comprises the Persians proper or Tadshiks, 

 the Afghans, Kurds, Beluches, the Ossetes, Bucharians, &c. The ancient Zend was proba 

 bly the mother of all the Persian languages. 6. The Hindoo stock comprises most of the in- 

 habitants of Hindostan, which has, however, been repeatedly overrun by northern tribes, Per- 

 sians, Turks, &c. 7. The Chinese are the bulk of the population of China, but it is not sat- 

 sfactorily ascertained, whether this race has any affinity with the Japanese and Coreans, in the 

 east, and the Tibetans, Burmese, Siamese, &c., on the w^est. 8. The Caucasian group in- 

 cludes the Georgians, Suanians, Mingrelians, &c., but the Lesghians, Circassians, Abassians, 

 and Mitsjekhians, of the same region, seem to be of different origin. 9. The Samoiedes. 

 10. the Jenisseans. 11. The Fennic tribes, including the Voguls and Ostiaks. It. The 

 Youkaghirs. 13. The Koriaks. 14. The Tchuktchis. 15. The Kamschadales, inhabit 

 ing Siberia, are, perhaps, of distinct stock. 



16. Population. The population of Asia has already been stated to amount to 400 or 500 

 millions ; but different estimates carry it still higher and lower than those numbers, some mak- 

 ing it about 380, and others 600, millions. So of the different countries, the population of 

 China is by some accurate writers reduced to 170,000,000, by others raised to 380,000,000. 

 The following statement? must therefore, be looked upon as verv uncertain 

 I 12 



