Vlll. 
Travellers have usually recorded only those customs ol modem 
savages which they have chanced to observe ; and, as a rule, they 
have observed chiefly those which their experience of civilized 
institutions has led them to look for. Nor are there wanting 
instances in which the information thus obtained has been 
lamentably distorted in order to render it in harmony with pre¬ 
conceived ideas ; owing to this and other causes, the imperfections 
of the anthropological record surpass those of other sciences, and 
false theories are often built upon imperfect bases of induction. 
* * * * 
The rapid extermination of savages at the present time, and the 
rapidity with which they are being reduced to the standard of 
European manners, renders it of urgent importance to correct 
these sources of error as soon as possible. 
It is hoped that the questions contained in the following 
sections, each of which is the result of special study of the subject 
treated, may be a means of enabling the traveller to collect infor¬ 
mation without prejudice arising from his individual bias. To 
this end it is particularly requested that he will endeavour to 
answer the questions as fully as possible, not confining himself to 
a detailed account of those things which exist, but also, by special 
inquiries directed to the subject, endeavouring to determine the 
non-existence of others to which attention is drawn. 
* * * * 
