Indigenous Races of the Earth

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24G TilE CHANIAL CliARACTERIS'l'ICS Tho facts attesting tho pertinacity with which the distinguishing physical characters of tho diftcront races of mou maintain themselves through long periods of time, and under very varying coudi Lions, are as numerous as they aro striking. Tho Arabian type of men, as seen to-day upon tho burning plains of Arabia, or in tho fertile regions of Malabar, Ooromandol, and the islands of tho Indian Ocean, is idon tical with tho representations upon the Egyptian monuments, where, also, we find :ligures of the prognathous Negro h ad, difl.cring not a whit from that type as it now exists. From their original homo in Palestine, the Jews have been scattered abroad through countries diHcring most widely in climatic and geographical fcatures, 96 and, in many instances, have departed from their primitive habits of life, yet under every sky, and in every latitude, they can be singled out .fi·om amidst other human types. In the streets of San Francisco or Lon­do ·n, on the arid wastes of Arabia, and beneath a cloudless Italian sh:y, tho pure unmixed J ow presents us with the same facial linea­ments, and the same configuration of skull. "J'ai en occasion," writes GOBINEAU, "d'examinor UU homme appartenant a cotto dor­niore categorie (Polish Jews). La coupe de son visage trahissait parfaitcmont son orig1ne. Sos youx surtout etaient inouhliables. Oet habitant du Nord, dont les ancetres directs vivaient, depuis plusicurs glmerations, dans la neige, semblait avoir ete bruni do la veille, par les rayons du sol oil Syrien." The Zingan-i or G'ypsies everJ":here preserve their peculiar oriental physiognomy, although, according to BoRROW, there is scarcely a part of the habitable world whore they arc not to be found; their tents being alike pitched on tho. heaths of Brazil, and the ridges of the llimalay.an hills ; and tholl' language heard at Moscow and Madrid, in the streets of Loudon and Stamboul. Wherever they are found, their manners and cus­toms are virtually tho same, though somewhat modified by circum­stances; tho l~uguago they speak amongst themselves, and of which they a~·e pa~-t10ularly anxious to keep others in ignorance, is in all coun.triOs.one and.the same, but has been subjected more or loss to modificatiOn ; thmr countenances exhibit a decided family resem­hl_ ance, but a:·e da~·ker or fairer, according to the temperature of the cl~mato, but 1~va~1ably ~arker, at least in Europe, than the natives of the countr1es m which they dwell, for example, England and 911 W~ fin~ them scattered n~ong t~10 entire African Coast, from Morocco to ~gypt., and appermng mother pa~ts of th1s contmont, numbering, according to Weimar, somo 504,000 souls. ~ Mcsopotam1a and Assyria, Asiatic Turkey, Arabia, IJindostan China 'l'urkistnn lho Pt·ovmce of Iran; ~ ~ussin, Polnnd, European Turkey, Germany, Pr~ssin, Netherlands: Franco, Italy, Great Br1trun, and America, thoy are numbered by thousands. OF TilE RACES O:F' MEN. 2J7 Russia, Germany and Spain.07 The physical characters of the present AssY,rian nations identify them with those who anciently occupied the same geographical area, and who arc :figured on the monumouts of Persopolis, and tho bas-reliefs of Khorsabad. "Notwithstanding tho mixtures of race during two centuries," says Dr. PICiomiNO, "no one has remarked a tendency to a development of n now rnco in the United Strttcs. In Arabia, where the mixtures nrc more complicated, nnd hnvo been going on from time imme­morial, the re8ult docs not appear to have been different. On the Egyptian monuments, J wns untLblc to detect any chango in tho races of tho human fn.mily. Neither docs written history nlford evidence of lbe oxtinclion of one physical race of men, or of tho development of nnother previously unknown." os The population of Spain, like that of France, consists of several races ethnically distinct from each other. From these difl:eront strata, so to speak, of the Spanish people, have boon derived the iuhaui Lantf:! of Central and South America. Of these settlers in the New W odd, ilUMDOLD1' thus speaks: "The Andalusittns nnd Cnrrn.rians of Vonczuola, tho Mountaineers and Disoaynns of Mexico, the Cntalonin.ns of J3uonos Ayres, ovinoc considornblo differences in their aptitude fo1· ng!'iculture, for lhc mechanie11larts, for commerce, and for all objects connected with iutcl­loctnal development. Each of these races bas preserved in tho Now as in lhc Old World, t!Jo Rh (tcles thnt oonstiluto its natioMl physiognomy; its asperity or mildness of chrtractcr; its freedom from sordid feelings, ot· its excessive love of gain; its social hospitality, or it::! tn.ste for solitude. . . . . In tho inhttbilants of Cnrncc~ts, Santa F6, Quito, 11ncl Uuenos Ayres, wo still recognise the foaturos that belong to lhe race of tho first settlers." oo A remarkable instance of thi.s permanence of physical character is shown in tho Maragatos or Moorish Goths, whom, BoRRow informs us, are perhaps tho most singular caste to be found amongst the choquorcd population of Spain. "They have," sn.ys ho, "their own peculiar customs and dress, and never intcrmnrry with tho Spnnin.rds. . . . . There can be little doubt that lhoy nrc a remnant of lhoso Goths who sided with tho Moors on tb<>ir invasion of Spnin. . . • . It is evident that lheir blood has nt no time mingled with that of tho wild children of tho desert; for scarcely nmongst tho hills of Norway would you find figm·cs n.nd faces more cssontinlly Gothic thnn those of tho Mn.rngntos. 1'hcy nrc strong athletic men, but loutish nnd honvy, nnd their fentures, though for lhc most part well formed, nrc vncnnt nnd devoid of expression. 'l'hcy aro slow and plain of speech, nnd those eloquent and imaginative snllios, so common in tl1o conversation of othet• Spn.nin.rds, seldom or novor escape them; thoy llll.vo, moreover, n conrso, thick pronunciation, and when you l1car thom spOBk, you almost imagine that it is some German or English poasnnt nttcmpting to express himself in tho Jnnguago of tho Pcninsul~t."lOO True to their Golhic character, lhey have mnnaged to monopolize almost the entire commerce of one-half of Spnin. Tboy thus accumnlBte groat wealth, nnd nro much bettor fed tbnn the parsimonious Spaniard. Like men of a more northern clime, they nro fond of spirituou~ liquors nnd rich meats. 97 1'he Zincali; or, An Account of tho Gypsies of Spain. Dy Goo. Don·ow. Now York, 1851, p. 8. 98 Rnces of Mon. U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. IX.,l848, p. 845. 9fl Personal Narrntive. IOO Bible in Spain, Chap. XXIII.