| OCR Text |
Show BASIS OP AMERICAN HISTORY [ 1500 ported a numerous population, but the great intervening portion of the continent was probably thinly peopled. It is not likely that the Indians north of Mexico numbered much more than fnia, hnndr<^ thousand when the whites appeared. The decrease during the four centuries that have elapsed since the discovery, while not rapid, except in certain cases, has nevertheless been constant. The government statistics indicate a present Indian population for the area named of something less than four hundred thousand, but it must be remembered that this enumeration includes a very large proportion of mixed bloods. In certain regions like the Pacific coast imperfect assimilation of civilized methods of life and consequent unhygienic conditions, coupled with the ravages of many diseases of white introduction, are causing a rapid decrease in the Indian population; and with the death rate markedly higher than the birth rate, its early extinction in that section is inevitable. In other regions, such as the southwest, the Indian seems to be more nearly holding his own, though even there much of his apparent success in the struggle is due to the inclusion of mixed bloods in the census. In general,- it is clear that he is slowly but surely giving way. Statistics from Mexico are scanty, but the indications are that the native population in that country is not losing ground. The map also brings out the < act that liflguistic and cultural limits do not coincide except in the |
