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Show II I 2G6 TilE CRANIAL OIIARACTERIS'l.'ICS In this melancholy picture, nature is seen warring with herself. A people forced to protect themselves against the severity of an excessive climate by the consumption of a highly carbonaceous and stimulant diet, which, sooner or later, begets plethora and its attendant hcmonhagic tendencies, can scarcely be regarded as a normal people, harmoniously adapted to tho circumstances by which they arc surrounded. Yet such is the condition of hyperborean man. Hut hero a singular question presents itself. llave the Arctic tribes of men always been subjected to the inhospitable climate which, at the present day, characterizes tho North? Was there, in other words, a time when they enjoyed a climate as mild as that which sunounds their cranial analogues- the llottentots- who roam the plains of Kafirlaud in temperate Southern Africa ? To the recent r;pccnlations of climatologists, concerning the distribution of temperature about the I ole, and the probable existence of an open Polar Sea; to tho observations of the physical geographer relative to the gradual and progressive upheaval of the Arctic coast, and the climatic changes which necessarily accompanied such alterations in the rclaLion of land and water; and, finally, to the facts and theories adduced by the geologist to account for tho presence, in very high latitudes, of fossil remains, both animal and vegetable-whose living representatives thrive in tropical climates only,-must we look for a sol uti on of tho above curious question, which I introduce hero merely as one of a connected series of facts and arguments which seem to indicate that the Eskimo arc an exceedingly ancient people, whose dawn was probably ushered in by a temperate climate, but whose dis olution now approaches, amidst eternal icc and snow; that the early migrations of these people have been from tho north southwaruf: l, from the islands of tho Polar Sea to the continent and not fi·om the mainland to the islands; and that the present geographical area of tho Eskimo may be regarded as a primary centt·o of human distribution for the entire Polar Zone. To this subject I hope to return, in a more detailed manner, here- ~~ . We are now in Europe, upon tho terra damnata, so graphically described by Linumus, whore the Laplander offers himself for our inspection, as tho only European who in any way represents the Arctic type of cranium. '£he exact position of the Lapps in e]assi:fication, is still an open question. Prof. AG.ASSIZ classifies them with tho Eskimos and amoicd.es. "Wit~1in tho ~imits,'' sn.ys he, "of this (Arctic) fannn. we moot n. peculiar race of men, known 1n Amcnco. under the nBmc of Eskimnux, o.nd under tho names of LBplo.ndors, OF TJIE RACES OF MEN. 2G7 Samoicd<!s, and Tchuktshos in tho north of Asia. This race, so well known since the voyage of Captain Cook, and tho Arctic expeditions of ]~nglanLl o.nd RussiB, differs o.liko f1·om the Indians of North Amorico., from tho Whites of Europe, and tho Mot1gols of Asia, to whom they nro o.ujrtcont. 'l'bo uniformity of their clmrnctcrs along tho whole range of tho 1\ rctic seas forms ono of the most striking resemblances which those people exhibit to tho fauna with which they nrc so closely connoctcd."l:ID PmcrrARD, relying upon philological evidence- a very unsafe guide when taken alone- maintains that tho Lapps arc JJ'inne who have acquired Mongolian features from a long residence in Northern Europe. "On considore souvont los Lapons," observes D'ITAUOY, "comme appartcnant i1. ln famillo finnoi~e, i1. cause cles rapports que l'on a observes ontro lour lo.nguo ct cello dos l~innois; mais los camotcros natw·ols do ces deux races sont si diffcrents, qu'il mo semble indi~pon sablo do los s6parcr. D'un autre c8L6, tous los linguistcs ne sont pas d'accord sur l'rtn nlogio do cos lrtnguos, ct il est probable quo los ressemblo.nces so r6duiscnt t\ !'introduction, dans lo l11ngago des L1tpons, d'un cortBin nombro do mots finnois; offot qui 11 ordin~:~ircmcnt liou quand un pcuplo sauvugo so trouve on relation avec u.n pc11plo plus nvanc6." 100 LA'riTAM arranges them, along with Finns, Magyars, Tungus, &c., under the head of Tnranian Mongoliclro.l3l Dr. MoRTON objects to this association of Lapps and Finns, and very appropriately inquires "how it happens that the people of 1 eland, who arc of the unmixed Teutonic race, have for six hunch·cd years inhabited their polar region, as far north, indeed, as Lapland itself, without approximating in the smallest degree to tl1c Mongolian type, or losing an iota of their primitive Caucasian features?" 132 Indeed, tho fact that the Lapps, at a remote period, lived in Sweden, and even as far Hou th as Denmark, 133 in close juxtaposition with tho Finns, is sufficient to account for any resemblances in physical characters, which may be detected between the two. According to Mr. Brooks, the Laplanders and Finns "have scarcely a single trait in common. 'l'ho general physiognomy of the one is totally unlike that of the other; and no one who has ever seen tho two, could mistake a )j.,iulander for a Laplander." 134 IIc prococuf:l to state that they diftcr in mental and moral characters ; in tho diseases to which they are 120 Sketch of tho No.tural P1·ovincos of tho Animo.! World, a!ld their relation to tho dif-ferent 'l'ypes of Man, in Types of .!tfar1kind, p. lxi. 100 Des Races IIumainos, &c., p. 111, noto. 181 Op. cit., p. 101. 132 On the O.l'igin of tho Humo.u Species, Trjpes of Jlfor1kind, p. 822. 1:1a "Ils (les Lnpons) forment uno petite pcnplcLde oparse do.ns lo. Laponie, mais il paratt qu'ils out ct6 bcaucoap pins d6voloppes, car on trouvo dans la Sulldo ct do.ns lo Dancmo.rk des osscmcnts d'hommcs qui so ro.pprochent plus des Lo.pons quo des Scandinn.vcs." D'liALLOY, op. cit., p. 111. m A Winter in Lo.pland and Sweden. By Arthur do Capell Brooks, M.A., &c. I.on· don, 1827, pp. 630-7. |