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Show 1. 3G4 TilE CRANIAL CIIARACTERISTIOS "Tho ft~co flttt, rtnd vory brond botwoon tho zygomrttio arobos; the forol1oad depressed, rtnd tho nosnl openings amplo: tho occiput romarkrtbly prominent, so that tho distance botweon tho oxtornal ocoipital protuberauoo and tho superior incisors is equal to nine inches." Tho amoiedcs present us with a conformation of the cranium approximating more closely to tho Eskimo than any of the tribes just mentioned. They arc conterminous with the Tun gus of NorthJ~ astorn Asia, on tho one hand, and the groat Tchuclic or U grian trib s of European Russia, on the other. PALLAS says of them, "ils out levi ago pl£it, rond, ot large." . . . . "Tis ont do largos levres rotrons6cs, le noz large et ouvcrt, pen do barbe, et lea chcvcux noire ct mclcs." TooKE ascribes to them" a largo head, flat nose and face, wiLh the lower part of the face projecting outwards; they have large mouths and ears, little black eyes, but wide eyelids, small lips, and little feet." 121 " Of all tho tl'ibes of Siberia," says LATllAM, "the , n.moi des are nom·cst to the Eskimo or Grccnlandcrs in their physical appearance." 126 BLUMlJJNDAOll tells us that a Samoicde cranium in his collection, bears a striking resemblance to tho skulls Fig. 18 · of native Greenlandors, two of which are SAMo:mnJ:. (Decades, Tab. LlV.). figured in the IJecades. Tho resemblance is shown in the broad, flat face, depressed or flattened nose, and general shape or conformation of tho skull. The nasal bonos arc long and narrow. This head is represented in Fig. 13, reduced from Tab. LIV. of Blumenbach's series. Of all the N orthcrn or Arctic races of men, thus hastily passed in review, tho Eskimo alone appear to exhiuit the pyramidal type of cranium in its gr atest intensity. Viewed in conjunction wiLh tho following statements, this apparently isolated and acci.d ntal fact acquires a remarkable significance.-On the shor s of Greenland and the banks of Hudson's Straits, along the Polar coast-line of Amcri a, and over tho feozen tundras of Arctic Asia, on tho desolate banks of the Lena and Iudigirka, and among the deserted Isles of Now Siberia -visited only at long intervals by the daring traders in fossil ivory -everywhere, in fact, throno·hout the Polar Arch, arc found the same primitive graves and rude circles of stones, tho same stone axes and fragments of whaloboue rafters- the ancient and mysterious 1 ~< Russia, llf., p. 12, quoted iu Crania Americann, p. 51. 126 Vo.rietios of Mttn, p. 207. OF TilE RACES OF A£EN. 2C\G vestiges of a people presenting, in general, the same physical characters, speaking dialects radically the same, and cliffcring but little in manners and customs-a people once numerous, but now gradually hastening on to extinction. Arctic navigators speak of tho diminishing numbers of the Eskimo, and Siberian hunters toll of the eli appcn, rance of entire tribes, such as tho Omoki, "whose hcartbs wore once more numerous on the banks of the .Lena than tho stars of an Arctic night." r:l.'hc earlier whalers who dared tho northern waters of Bailin's Bay, often allude to the gr at numb rs of the natives seen on the land in this region, and from tho recent intrepid seekers of the ill-fated ir John Franklin, we learn that the traces of these people increase in numbers with tho latitude. Thus, according to OsnoitN, tho northern shores of Barrow's trait and Lancaster Sound boar numerous marks of human location, whereas, upon the southern side, they arc comparatively scarce. He tons us, also, that from the estuary of the Cor pormino to the Groat Fish River, the Eskimo traces are less numerous than on tho north shore of Barrow's Strait..126 Again, the traditions of the EsHmo point to the north as their original home. Erat>mus York spoke of his mother as having dwelt in the north; while tho inhabitants of Boothia told Ross that their fathers fished in northern waters, and described to him, with considerable accuracy, tho shores of North Somerset. When Sachcuso told tho natives of I rincc Regent's Bay, that he came from a distant region to tho south, they answered "That cannot be; thoro is nothing but icc thoro." 127 So, the natives of North Baffin's Bay wore ignorant of the existence of numerous individuals of thch· own race, living to tho south of M ]ville's Bay. According to Egcdc and Cl'antz, tho southern ERkimo of Greenland consider themselves of northern origin. r:l.'heir traditions speak of remote rcO"ions to tho north, and of beacons and landmarks sot up as guides upon the frozen hills of that dreary Janel. In connection with these fhct , consider fol' a moment tho unfavorable physical conditions to which the Eskimo is exposed. GUYOT thus forcibly alludes to these conditions : "In tho Frozen Regions," says h~. "man contends with a niggardly and sovoro nature; it is a desperate struggle for lifo 11nd dc11th. With dilliculty, by foroo of toil, ho succeeds in proviuing a miscmblo support, which saves him from dying of hunger nnd hnrclship, tlul'ing the tedious winters of that climrlto." And tlgnin, "1'ho man of the Polar Regions is the boggnr, ovorwholmcd with suffering, who, too happy if ho but gain his daily brcttd, lms no loisuro to think of anything moro oxaltod." 128 12a A1·ctio .Tonl'llrtl; or, Eighteen Months in tho Polar Regions. By Lieut. S. Osborn. m Ross's FirHt Voyage to 13nffin's lltty, p. 84. m E11rth and Man. By Arnold Guyot, Boston, 1850, p. 270. |