13. The Caribs and their neighbors, the Goajiros, Arawacks, \Varraus, Macusis, Paravilhanos, \Vapisianos, and others, principally in Guiana and Venezuela; 14. The Tuft' tribes, in Brazil, consisting of the Tecunas, piranhas, Jnris, Mundrucus, Muras, Manhes, Botocudos, Puris, Cambocos, Pata chos, Coroados, Guaranis, Guarajos, Omaguas, and others; 15. The Pampas Indians (Guaycurus, Tobas, Mbayas, Abipoues, Puel ches, Tehuelches, Fuegians, and Araucanian* i6. The Onichuas (Peru); and 17. Eastward from the Ouichuas the peoples of Bolivia (Chiquitos, Moxos, Antisans) and of North-eastern Peru (Panos, Maxurunas).
Of these races, 2 and 3, 4 to 9, and io to 12, respectively, belong more closely together.
Since we maintain the unity of these various peoples, we may be asked, Where was the original home of the Americans? Thirty years ago the supposition was that the Americans, strictly separated from all other peoples by both manners and language, had originated by natural development in America itself. To-day no one believes that. But whence they did come has not been determined. It is generally supposed that they migrated from the north, coming from Asia across Behring Strait; but this appears contradicted by the fact that peoples who become accustomed, as the northern Asiatics had, to a northern climate do not move southward again. Besides, the natural conditions of northern countries prevent such increase of population as would render emigration necessary. And further, the history of the cultivation of Indian corn seems to lead to the conclusion that the people who used it had spread from the south northward. We therefore feel justified in concluding that the Americans migrated from China or Japan across the Pacific Ocean at a very early period—during the latest diluvial formation. It is not neces sary to suppose that the migratory movements were intentional ; they were no doubt produced by causes such as are yet occasionally seen. Sometimes the ocean-currents were the cause, but more frequently the western winds, which arc very strong in winter and blow across the entire width of the Pacific Ocean. Examples are not rare of the endur ance of barbarous people and of their ability to sustain life on the ocean for long periods, while, on the other hand, there are instances of com paratively short passages across that immense body of water.
If, then, the original settlers of America were driven by the winds across the ocean from Asia, they most probably landed on the northern coast of South America, because the winds generally blow from the north west. That the population of the continent spread from that centre is shown by its equal distribution, which diminishes toward the extreme north and south, by the distribution of the maize, and by the develop ment in civilization of the tribes of Central America and North-western South America. If they came from Asia, it is probable that they sepa
rated from the ancestors of the great Mongolian family, which would account for their Mongolian resemblance. This resemblance will, how ever, on examination prove to be neither so great nor so universal as is generally thought. But can we suppose that the whole aboriginal people of America descended from one or a few drifting. canoes of people? The supposition is extravagant. Whole hordes must have separated from the original centre of the race in those early times, just as large bodies migrated in later times. That only a few should emigrate is not to be thought of for those times. As they migrated in communities, so in com munities they entrusted themselves to the sea, confirmatory examples of which are furnished by the settlement of Japan, the Malaysian Islands, Australia, and Polynesia. While many hordes perhaps perished, one may have reached America and gradually spread. Many thousands of years afterward the Namollos, an Asiatic tribe of the Eskimos, migrated back from the extreme north into Asia, taking advantage of the summer currents of Strait, which flow westward; and thus we find that small tribe with American language and customs wedged in between peoples of Asiatic origin. However, all these questions are shrouded in uncertainties which will probably never be cleared away.
Our opinion of the unity of all these peoples is based, first, on the language of the Americans, then on their physical condition, and finally on their entire manner of living.
the Americans from the region of the Eskimos down to Cape Horn are a unit. This unity is not manifest in the similarity of the words, but in the structure of the languages, and the latter is a sufficient proof of the relationship of the peoples. This construction is very singular. The verb either places the object between the person and the root—for instance, in Mexican "I eat meat," ni is 1, which pronominal form occurs only before the verb; is" meat," and qua is " to eat "—or it at least inserts an objective pro noun and repeats the subject: in I eat it " (c,ha," it"), the meat. In this latter manner most of the American languages pro ceed. This process is called polysynthelic, or, according to Humboldt, incorporative.