MAN 
hard mode of living, they are feldom attacked hy 
ficknels, and all arrive at extreme old age; and 
even their old Men are fo vigorous, that it is 
fometimes difficult to diftingiiifli them from the 
young. Blindnefs, however, is very frequent 
among them, and is perhaps the only malady to 
which they are fubjeft. As their eyes are perpe- 
tually dazzled with the refleftion from the fnow 
in winter, autumn, and fpring; and as they are in- 
volved in fmoke during fummer; few of them re- 
tain their fight after being advanced in years. 
From the foregoing defcription, which is in a 
great meafure applicable to all the hyperborean 
nations, it is evident that this whole race of peo- 
ple may be confidered as diftincSt from any other. 
Their long continuance in a climate the moft in- 
hofpitable, their being obliged to fubfift on food 
the moft coarfe and ill prepared, the favagenefs of 
their manners, and their laborious lives, have all 
contributed to diminifli their ftature and deform 
their bodies. In proportion as we approach the 
north polcj the fize of the natives appears to dimi- 
nifh : the higher the latitude, the more diminutive 
the inhabitants; till we arrive at thofc latitudes 
which are deftitute of every human creature. 
The miferable natives of thefe regions feem fit- 
ted by nature to fupport the rigours of their fitua- 
tion. As their food is but fcanty, and at beft 
precarious, their patience in hunger is amazing; 
a Man who has been without food for the fpace 
of four days, can manage his little canoe amidft 
the moft furious waves, and calmly fubfift in a 
tempeft that would quickly dafli an European 
boat to pieces. Nor is their ftrength inferior to 
their patience 5 and both equally claim our admi- 
ration. One of their women will carry a piece of 
timber, or a ftone, nearly double the weight of 
what an European could lift. The fable tin6lure 
of their fkins feems partly to originate from their 
dirty manner of living, being generally daubed 
with train-oil; and partly from the rigours of their 
climate, as the rapid tranfitions from the cold and 
raw air in winter to the burning heats in fummer 
fhade their complexions by degrees, till, in a fuc- 
cefiion of generations, they at laft become almoft 
black. As the countries in which they refide are 
die moft barren, fo the natives feem to be the moft 
barbarous of any on the face of the earth. Their 
more fouthern neighbours of America treat them 
with the fame contempt that a poliflied nation 
v/ould a favage one; and we may thence form 
fome idea of the rudenefs of thofe manners which 
even a Canadian can account barbarous. 
But the different gradations of nature are im- 
perceptible; and while the north is peopled with 
fuch wretched inhabitants, on the frontiers of 
thefe regions are fometimes traced Men of larger 
ftature and more compleat conformation. A 
whole race of the dwarfifli breed is frequently ob- 
ferved to defcend from the north, and fettle more 
to the fouthward; and, on the contrary, it fome- 
times happens that fouthern nations are feen 
higher up, in the midft of thofe diminutive tribes, 
where they have kept their refidence time imme- 
morial. In this manner the Oftrac Tartars feem 
to be a race which have travelled down from the 
north, and to be originally fprung from the dimi- 
nutive favages already described. There are alfo 
Norwegians and Finlanders, of proper ftature, 
who inhabit higher latitudes even than Lapland : 
thefe, however, are but accidental migrations, and 
fcrve as fliades to unite the diftindl varieties per- 
ceptible in the human race. 
The Tartars, from whom the higher hyperfoo- 
rean nations are probably defcended, feem to form 
the fecond great diftindion in the human fpccks. 
The Tartar country,' taken in a general yicw, 
comprehends the greateftpart of Afia, and is cori- 
fequendy a common appellation given to a num- 
ber of nations of various figures and complexions. 
But though there are fome fliades of diverfity in 
each of them, they all agree in being very dilTlmi - 
lar to the people of any other country. The 
upper parts of the vifages of all thefe nations are 
very broad, and wrinkled even in early youth ; 
their nofes are fliort aftd flat; their eyes are fmall 
and lunk in their heads, in fome tribes five or 
fix inches afundcr; their cheek-bones are high; 
the lower parts of their vifages are narrow; their 
chins are long, and advanced forwards; their teeth, 
which are of an enormous fize, grow feparate from 
each other; their eye-brows are thick and large, 
and cover their eyes; their faces are broad and flat^ 
their complexions are olive-coloured; and their 
hair is black : they arc of a middling ftature, ex- 
tremely ftrong, and robuft ; ^heir beards are thin 
and ftraggling; their thighs are large ; and their 
legs are fiiort. The Gaimucs are the moft deform- 
ed of all; and in their appearance there is fome- 
thing really frightfully forbidding. They all lead 
an erratic life, remaining under tents conftru£led 
with hair or fkins. They live on horfe-flefh, and 
that of camels, either raw or a little fodden : thev 
alfo eat fifli dried in the fun ; and their moft 
ufual beverage confifts of mare's milk fermented 
with millet, ground ia a powder. All the Men 
ftiave their heads, except a lock of hair on the 
top, which they fuffer to grow fufficiendy long to 
form into trefi^es on each fide of the face; and the 
Women, who arc blefi"ed with few perfonal charms 
more than the Men, wear their hair, which they 
fillet up with bits of copper, and other fimjilar 
ornaments. 
The majority of thefe nations have no religioirs 
inftitutions, no fettled notions of morality, nor 
any decency in their behaviour. They profefs 
robbery as an art: and the natives of Dageftan, 
who live in a more polifhed vicinity, make a traf- 
fic of Tartar flaves who have been ftolen, and fell 
them to the Turks and Perfians. Their chief 
riches confift in horles, of which perhaps they pof- 
fefs more than any people in the world. They are 
habituated to live- in the fame apartments with 
thefe favourite animals ; and fpend lb much time in 
training them, that at laft they bring thern to 
fuch amazing docility, that they feem actually to 
underftand the very intentions of their owners. 
To this extenfive race of Men the Chinefe and 
Japanefe muft alfo be referred, however dif- 
ferent they feem in their manners and cuftoms. It 
is the figure of the body that now claims our at- 
tention ; and between the natives of thefe coun- 
tries a furprizing rcfemblance may be obferved. 
It is generally allowed, that the Chinefe have broad 
faces, fmall eyes, flat nofes, and fmall beards; 
and that they are broad and i'quare-fiiouldered, 
and rather inferior to the Europeans in ftature. 
Thefe are marks which entirely correfpond with 
thofe of the Tartar tribes, and they may therefore 
be confidered as being fprung from the lame ori- 
gin. Chardin obfcrves, that in all the people 
from the eaft and north of the Cafpian Sea to the 
peninfula of Malacca, the lines of the face and 
the formation of the vifage are the fame. Flence 
we may conclude, that all thefe nations are de- 
fcended from one common ftock, however dif- 
ferent 
