SOMETHING ABOUT THE VARIOUS NATIONS

illustrious heroes, in comparison with which the great murderers sink into insignificance. When the tribe Asia have been united under one leader, war and des been the object of the association. Unrelenting slaug the distinction of age or sex, and universal destruction the progress of their conquests, unattended with any of institutions capable of benefiting the human race, unm any act of generosity, any kindness to the vanquished, or symptoms of regard to the rights or liberties of mankind.

gress of Attila, Zengis-Khan, and Tamerlane, like the deluge nado, and the hurricane, involve everything in one sweeping

The Ethiopian, or black variety, called also the Negro rac fined to the South of the Atlas mountains. The individual compressed scull, flattened nose, projecting jaws, and thick li

forehead is long, narrow, and slanting. The cheek bones project; the chin recedes. There is also great difference between this race and the European. The fore-arm is longer; the trunk of the body more slender; the knees seem further apart; and the feet are directed outward; while the bones of the leg are more convex in front; the calves high; the feet are flat and broad; the heel long; the hands and toes long and narrow; the hair of the head is curly, and resembles wool. The dark coloured races exhibit

in general a great acuteness of the external senses. Among the wild tribes belonging to this race, the members are trained from their earliest years to the pursuits of the chase. The astounding perfection of their sight, hearing, and smelling must be referred to their constant use of these organs. The moral and intellectual character of the Negro is said to be inferior to that of the European; but Peter Parley does not know how to admit this, as it seems to him that the race who tears the African from his native soil to make him a slave,

who brands him, scourges him, and degrades him in every possible manner, for no other earthly reason than that of having the power, sinks as low in the scale of human degradation as human nature can

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go; and to talk of Negro inferiority while such a blot remains fixed like the handwriting of Satan upon a nation pretending to liberty, is one of the oddest and most ridiculous things in the history of civilized humanity.

Barbol, in his work on Guinea, says :- "The blacks have sufficient sense and understanding, their conceptions are quick and accurate, and their memories tenacious; for although they can seldom read or write they never fall into confusion or error in the greatest hurry of business or traffic. Their experience

and strong, the beard scanty.

of the knavery of Europeans has put them completely on their guard in transactions of exchange; they carefully examine all our goods piece by piece to ascertain if their quality and measure are exactly stated, and show as much sagacity and clearness in all their transactions as any European tradesman could do."

The American variety resembles in many points the Mongolian. The forehead is low; the eyes deep; the face broad, yet, the face is not flattened, the nose and other parts being more distinct and projecting; the mouth is large and the lips rather thick; the skin of a dusky red; the hair black, straight,

This race includes all the Americans with the exception of the

Esquimaux, who, with the Greenlanders, may be said to form a transition from the American to the Mongolian variety. The frozen climates to the north of the two continents, and the impenetrable forests of America, are still inhabited by savage hunters or fishermen; and as we pass along through the extended districts of North and South America, we find a considerable variety in the various

tribes; in some parts they are of short and stunted stature, and in others of gigantic height. In some parts the common stature is not more than 4 feet 10 inches; and in others upwards of 7 feet. The Patagonians, who occupy the south-eastern part of South America, have been the most celebrated for their colossal stature, and really seem to be the tallest human beings in the world.

As regards the origin of the Americans, it is assumed that all the ancient people of America emigrated from the same quarter or had a

common origin; they seem to have come from the eastern parts of Asia. They strongly resemble the Mongolian and other similar races, and the dialects of the Samoiedes are found through a large portion of the new world; while the mythology of Asia may be traced with confidence from one end of this vast continent to the other. A universal tradition also prevails among the tribes that they have proceeded from the eastward.

The Malay variety has the head rather narrow; the bones of the face large and prominent; nose full and broad; large mouth; hair black; the skin is of a brownish or tawny tint; and the hair is more or less curled or wavy. The inhabitants of the peninsula of Malacca, of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, and the adjacent Asiatic Islands of the Molucca, Ladrone, Phillipine, and Caroline groups; of N Holland, Van Dieman's Land, New Guinea, New Zealand, and