VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 
141 
is skilful in surprising the inhabitants of the deep, and is not even want- 
ing in the art of taking the larger Cetacea. Tlie Hyperboreans prefer 
the blubber of these animals to any other food ; they delight in the oil 
thence procured, and drink whatever escapes being consumed in their 
lamps during the long night of a Polar winter. Besiiles the flesh of the 
animals killed in the chase, they partake of the smoke-dried carcases of 
Dogs, Rein-deer, or Fish, till of which are most esteemed when putrid 
or dried rather than when fresh. They make a kind of bread, which no 
stomach but their own appears capable of digesting, witli the roasted and 
pounded extremities of Lichens, sucli as the Iceland Moss ( Celraria 
Idandica) and the Rein-deer Cenomyce (_Ccniinii/ce rangi’/arina), mixed 
with the hark of young Birches and Pines reduced to a coarse flour. Salt 
is seldom used by ther'n, and they have little taste for spiritous or strong 
drinks, while tliey delight in oil and milk. A few tribes, such as the 
Kamtchatdales, are acquainted, however, with the art of extracting an 
intoxicating beer from a species of Musliroom usually accounted poison- 
ous (Agaricus acris)^ which they drink under the name of Machcmior to 
an excess which often occasions death. 'L’hey build neither towns nor 
villages, and can hardly be said to exist in society. In their scattered 
huts, half-buried in the earth, the members of a polygamous family pro- 
miscuously reside, in the midst of smoke and the confusion of their do- 
mestic animals, w here the idea of modesty never enters. Next to the 
Hottentot in the unclcanliness of his person, the Hyperborean brings 
along with him a most insupportable odour. 
F. HOMO AMERIC.'tNUS.— AMERICAN INDIANS. 
Syn. Les Ameiucains. — C uv. Reg. Anim. I. 84. 
Race Am£eicaine Desm. Mam. 48. — Less. Mam. 23. 
Homo SAria.vs, Amebicanus Lin. Gmel. I. 22 vab. Amemcana. 
— Blumb. llund. et Abbild. 
' The enumeration which has been attempted in the preceding pages of 
the several races of mankind would now be com[)leto, had not the genius 
of Columbus, at the latter end of the 15th century, disclosed to Euro- 
peans the wonders of a western continent, which by a singular injustice 
now bears the name of another. The aborigines of every part of th.at im- 
mense region exhibit, with slight exceptions, the same pliysical charac- 
ters; and their innumerable dialects have those singular affinities and ana- 
logies, which fully establish the claims of the American Indians to be con- 
sidered a distinct and original race. There arc, however, important dif- 
ferences among them, which have led to their being subdivided into 
North American Indians {linrcalky^ and South .'Vmerican Indians (Aus- 
tralis). 
1. Robealis. — Nobtii Amf.bicak Indians. 
Syn. Homo Colombicus — Bory. Ess. Zool. II. 1 Fisch. Syn. Mam. 6. 
Colombiens — Dcsmoul. Tab. 
Icon. Blumb. Dec. Cran. I. t. 9, 10. 11. t. 20. IV. t. 38. 
North American. — Griff. Anim, King. 1. 
In this subdivision we include all those scattered friho.s of Red- Indians 
'vhom the progress of civilization is gradually confining within narrow 
limits, but who once peopled the Canadas, the territory of the United 
htates, the eastern part of Mexico, the Antilles or West India Islands, 
the mountain chain of the Andes, Terra Firma, and the Guianas, from 
Cumana to the Equator — under the names of Hurons, Sioux, Cherokees, 
Chippewas, Iroquois, .Arkansas, Illinois, Apalaches, Chicacas, Mohicans, 
Dneidas, Carribees, Mexicans or Aztecs, Peruvians, &c. fkc. 
The North American Indians, wherever they have not been coufound- 
with European or African blood, are tall, robust, and well made, 
stronger and more active than is usual with savages. Their limbs are not 
nteagre like the Australian, but well proportioned. The skull is of an 
^reeable oval shape, but with the forehead flattened to so remarkable a 
“'>gree, as induced the more early writers to imagine this depression of the 
‘orehead to be owing to the skilful application of bandages or planks to 
tae surface of the head. Although it may bo true that some tribes assist 
the natural peculiarity of the races, yet it is found among tribes who use 
no such art, such as the Me.xicans, and being usually considered as a great 
beauty by the latter, the Aztec gods and heroes are represented with an 
fixtreme depression of the forehead amounting to exaggeration.' The nose 
o the North American Indian is long, well-defined, and aquiline. The 
niouth is moderately cleft, the teeth are placed vertically in the gums, and 
'e lips are similar to those of a European. Their eyes are brown; their 
nir commonly black, straight, coarse, and glossy; of medium length, and 
seldom reaching beyond the shoulders. It is said never to become grey 
with advancing years. Tlie men have naturally but a scanty be.'ird, and 
in general pluck the hair very carefully wherever it appears. The colour 
of their skin is reddish, approaching to the hue of copper. The females, 
condemned to the severest drudgery, and almost reduced to the condition 
of beasts of burtiien. are not without tiieir charms in some of the moun- 
tain districts, though elsewhere they are in general of low stature, with 
high cheek-bones, prominent eyes, and flat bosoms; and their breasts, 
though often well made, are in general somewhat pendulous and flat. 
Puberty conmiences at an early age. 
The Indians, who wander over the extensive country situate between 
the Pacific Ocean and the Alleghany Mountains, in a state of savage in- 
dependence, seem destined soon to undergo an inevitable extermination." 
The warlike tribes of the Sioux, wdio traffic largely with the Anglo-Ame- 
ricans in furs, appear to have emigrated from the north-west They use 
symbolical writing, like the Mexicans. The Chippeways are of a more 
pacific character, but passiotiately devoted to the abuse of spiritous 
liquors, which the avidity of the fur-dealer supplie.s in large quantities- 
Hieroglyphics are likewi.se in use with this tribe. The Meuomenics have 
a fiiiC expressive countenance, much intell gence, and a patriarchal sim- 
plicity of matiners. Some considerable progress has been made in ugri- 
cnltnre and domestic manufactures by the Cherokee.s, who employ Negro 
slaves to execute the niost laborious parts of their employments. Among 
the numerous tribes who wander between the sources of the Missouri 
aud the frontiers of Mexico, we find a great diversity of language, niau- 
ners, and customs; yet there are some points in wdiich they exhibit a re- 
markable similarity to each other. They wander from place to place, 
occasionally building huts or permanent lodges for hunting the Buffalo, 
tlie flesh of wliich forms their principal sustenance. Many nations go 
almost naked, though in general their dress consists of a robe of Buf- 
falo skill, attached to the shouldfr.s ; an apron covering the waist and 
middle ; and a rude form of boots called mocassins, attached to the legs. 
The females wear a cloak like the males, with an under garment of elk 
or deer-skin, reaching down to the knees. Feathers are worn on the 
heads of the chiefs, while various rude ornaments and showy garments 
distinguish their d.nys of state. It is considered highly ornamental to 
paint the face red and black ; their bodies are also painted during tlieir 
warlike expeditions. Some tribes bore their noses, and weai different 
kinds of pendants: others slit their ears and load the helices with brass 
wire, so that the extremities almost drag on the shoulder. Horses are 
extensively used by the Indians of the plains westward of the Mississippi, 
hut are seldom found to the eastward, where the difficult nature of the 
country renders it impassalile to Horses.' 
The North American Indian is reserved and circumspect in all his 
words and actions, and nothing over induces him to betray the emotion 
of the moment. His tliirst for vengeance is excessive, and cannot be 
eradicated.* The same peculiarities of character extend to the Mexican 
Indians, who are melancholy, grave, and taciturn, when tlicy are not 
under the influence of intoxicating liquors. Even the children of the 
Indians at the age of four or five years display a remarkable contrast to 
the W bites at tliese early ages, and deliglit to throw an air of mystery 
;uid reserve over their most trifling observations. But when once tile 
state of repose, in which the Indian liabitually indulges, is disturbed, the 
transition to a violent and ungovernable state of agitation is at once both 
sudden and terrific." 
Tlie Mexicans and Peruvians had made considerable progress in the 
arts and sciences, before the barfiaroiis persecutions of the Spaniards 
plunged them into a state of poverty and degradation. They had a most 
correct knowledge of the true length of the year, and the construction of 
the calendar ; they framed geograpliical maps of their own country ; they 
constructed woods, canals, and enormous pyramids, the sides ol whicli 
were accurately directed to the four cardinal points.' Their civil and 
military hierarchies and tlieir feudal systems presented a complicated and 
intricate form, indicative of no very modern origin. They cultivated no 
other grain than the maize (Zca), and they knew no preparation of milk, 
although the females of two species of tlie Ox might have contributed an 
abundant supply. Tlie Mexicans still preserve a peculiar taste for paint- 
ing and sculpture, as well us for flowers, with which they delight in or- 
n.omenting tlieir persons and dwellings. 
Some wild tribes of Mexican hunters .still preserve a savage independ- 
ence. The Apnchecs are a warlike and industrious nation, dreaded by 
the Spaniards, wlio are coinpelled to oppose a large force to their depre- 
dations. 
Much ingenuity has been employed hi tracing affinities and analogies 
between the languages of North America and the north-east coast ol Asia, 
but without leading to any satisfactory result. 
9 Vues dcs Cordillieres et Monuraens des Peuules indigenes do I’Amerique, 2 vols. folio, 181 1. 
" Major Pikf.’.s Travels. 
’ Hodgson’s Letters from North America. 
5 tad Clarke s Travels. These ofBeers penetrated for the first time across the continent of America to the Pacific Ocean, 
tjodnians American Natural Ilistorr. Philadelphia, 1826. Vol. I. p. 2J. 
36 
