THE
OF mm\m
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CALIFORNIA
ACADEMY
OF SCIENCES
•r^ Gift ^•■
Dorothy Dragonette
SOUTH AFRICAN M EDICI N E-M AN.
THE
Living Races
of mankind
A POPULAR ILLUSTRATED ACCOUNT OF
THE CUSTOMS, HABITS, PURSUITS,
FEASTS cr CEREMONIES OF THE RACES
OF MANKIND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
H. N. HUTCHINSON
B.A., F.R.G.S., F.G.S.
^ 1 J. W. GREGORY
i D.Sc, F.G.S.
R. LYDEKKER
F.R.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S., t»c.
ASSISTED BY EMINENT SPECIALISTS
Vol. II
WITH 309 ILLUSTRATIONS
A»/c l-j> F. 7-../.W
LONDON: HUTCHINSON ^ CO., Paternoster Row
31
1
CONTENTS OF VOL. 11.
Xlir. The Negro in General — The
Bantu Negroes ....
XIV. The Bantu of Eastern and
Western Africa
XV. The Equatorial and Nilotic
Negroes
XVI. The Soudanese and Guinea
Negroes, and the Abyssinian
and Etiiiopic Groups.
XVII. The Hajiitic and Semitic Eaces
of North Africa
XVIII. Europe : Eussia, Caucasia, Fin-
land, Lapland, Norway, Sweden,
AND Iceland ....
XIX. Greece and Isles, Turkey,
Bulgaria, Eumania, Servia,
Montenegro, Bosnia - Herze-
govina, Austria-Hungary, the
Gypsies .....
XX. Germany, Switzerland, Italy,
France, Spai.v, axd Portugal .
XXI. Denmark, Belgium, Holland,
Great Britain and Ireland
XXII. Arctic America and Greenland
XXIII. North America ....
XXIV. Central and South Amuuica
(including Micxico) .
48}
505
52»
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS, VOL. IL
Ova-Herero women .
A Swazi girl .
A Kaffir woman, Natal .
Three Kaffirs .
cliief of the Ba
liuanas .
Kha
Kaffir
Khai
A r\
Katfiis in fi-liiniL'-'Mstume
Zulu won. 11 t;ii'i'ling corn
Three Zulu gul, .
A Basuto girl . . .
Two Zulu girls
Usipebu's wives, Zululand
A Zulu witch-doctor
A Zulu girl .
Matal.ili w.irriors .
Maslinnas
TwM Mash
Chi.f T-,n
rtering
Nat
Coufiniiatiuii candidates, Nyasaland
Waganda scholars ....
Nubian Police, Uganda .
A Uganda man and woman in
native style ....
Wakwafi men of Kavirondo .
A group of Suk ....
Y'suk warrior, Karaniojo
Wabeni school-girls
Natives of Lumbwa
Wateita boys. East Africa .
An Elgon chief ....
Unyoro chiefs
An Unyoro girl (full-face) .
An Unyoro girl (profile)
A princess of Unyoro (full-face) .
A princess of Unyoro (profile)
A Monbuttu negress
Two Congo natives.
A Congo woman ....
A Congo man and woman .
A group of Congo men .
A Congo native, with primitive
stringed instrument .
A Congo warrior and his wife
A group of Congo natives dressed
for a war-dance
A Congo man in native canoe
Treaty-making, Kikuyu .
Wyaki and his brother chief,
Kikuyu
A group of Niara-niam natives
Niam-niani warriors
A Niam-niam girl ....
A Niam-niam witch-doctor .
A Niam-niam native
Typical women of the Equatorial
regio
Women and children of Equatorial
Africa . . . . •
Liberated slaves from Central Africa
A Central African chief and his
A Monfu woman ....
A Dinka girl (full-face) .
A Dinka girl (profile) . .
A Shilluk girl
A Shilluk man ....
Fajehi men and woman . .
A Bari girl . . . .
A Bari woman (side view)
A Ban «oinan (front view) .
A Madi man X>S
Madi women 35»
A Lango chief, showing peculiar
head-dress 360
The Mandingan lalenjch, or native
piano 361
Native carriers. Upper Mendi . 36?
An Upper Mciidi jiriiicoss . . 363
An Upi«T M.Mi.li rlii.f . . .363
An Ui.i»r ^\■u.\, rh,W in war-
Amazons !'l l>,',li-,nn '. '. 365-
NativHs ..■ \ II. Ita . . 30ft
A nati\. '' l:i..r.s, Niger
C,.:.-i !■■... . .367
A Dah..i,,. . .:. . . . . .308
I)ali..li.,\:.n Aiii;i/,..lis . . . 36!>
A |i,.li..i,i.M..i warri.ir . . . 37i>
A l>:.l)..|ii.i:,., .nan . . . .371
A V..nil.,i\v..ina.n .... .372-
A Yoruba man . . . .373
Somali children .... 374
Somali 375-
A Somali man .... 37ft
A Somali m:in and his wife . . 377
\„ \I.^-Mnl„ u'irl.^ . . .378
\ _i..;i. : \l.vssinians' ' '. .'WO
ll.iii -a' , ; . .. . 381, 3S:J.
A llaussa woman . . . .382-
A group of Haussa . . . 3S4
A group of Tuaregs, South Algeria '.'<So-
A Tuareg woman .... 3S&
A Tuareg man . . .387
Mixed tvi)e, Berber and Negru race,
Sahara 3SS
A Fellah woman . . . 38*
Two Nubian girls . . . . 3!W
Two Nubian d.ancing girls il'J
List oi Illustrations and Maps, Vol. 11.
A Nubian dancing-woman
An IJled-Nail (Algerian type)
An Uled-Nail woman, Biskra 394,
An Uled-Nail woman .
Uled-Nails and two Negro girls .
A Kabyle man ....
A Kabyle woman . . . 399,
Two Kabyle women, Algeria
Arab children at play .
Kabyle children ....
Street minstrels, Cairo .
An Algerian Moorish girl
A Moorish lady ....
An Arab man
An Arab camp
A Russian mendicant .
A Russian coachman
A group of Russian women .
A sergeant in the Russian army .
A Russian school ....
Tartars
A Russian nurse ....
Twi. danrers, Little Russia .
A Russian bride of the better class.
Map based (by permission) on Pro-
fessor Keane's language map of
Europe in "Stanford's Com-
pendium of Geography " .
Russian peasant in costume .
A Georgian woman, Caucasia
Caucasian soldiers ....
A Finlander .....
A Lapp child on reindeer
A Mountain Lapp ....
A family of Lapps ....
A Lapp woman ....
A Norwegian girl in bridal dress .
A liardanger girl ....
Hardanger jieasant women
A Swedish girl in bridal dress
A Telleinarken peasant .
An Icel.md woman ....
A Greek girl in national
A Greek girl .
A Greek soldier .
edlar
A Turk
A Tuiki
A Uumaiiiaii bride ....
A Rumanian daiiy-maid
A Montenegrin ....
National dance of Montenegro at
tlie present day : dancing the
Bosnian falconers .
A Bosnian belle
A native of Bosnia .
A Busni.an soldier .
A Btthemian woman
Chekhs ....
A Wend (front and back vi
Wend woman in fuU dress
Germans of Soutli Austria
H.inL-n.inn r,r,.n„t, .
A 11m.^..i..i:i
A pure Gypsy, Alsace (profile) .
A pure Gypsy. Alsace (full-face) .
A Bohemian Gypsy girl.
A little German boy
A German lady ....
Three Swiss girls ....
A Swiss man
A young woman of Bern
A S\viss girl in brid;d dress .
^n Italian man ....
The tarantelle in Naples
An Italian shepherdess .
An Italian monk
Young women of Valence
An Italian peasant-girl
wedding-dress .
A fisher-woman of Portel
An old Frenchwoman .
Two French peasants
A French fisherman
A Brittany boy
.\ Gy])sy of Granada
.A Spanish funcia nr/o, Granada
.\ Spanish ladv
Two Portuguese boys .
.\ Portuguese woman
A Danish bride
A Danish couple
A Danish fisher-girl
A Belgian peasant woman and her
draught-dogs
A native of the Ardennes
A Belgian man and his wife,
Ardennes
A family grpup of Marken people
A Dutch married woman, North
Holland
A Dutch man, Volendam
A Dutch peasant woman, showing
head-di-ess
.A maid-of-.-vU-work, Holland .
A Derbyshire yeoman .
A Lowestoft smacksman
A type of Knglish beauty
An English girl . . . .
A group of fishermen, Devonshire
vaif
A Welsh woman at her spinning-
wjieel
A Newhayen fishwife
In a Slietland crofter's home
An old Scot salt ....
Two old men of Skye .
A native of Jlourne
An old Irishwoman at her spinning-
wheel
An Irish peasant-girl
-A type of Insli beauty .
Greenland Eskimo in the snow .
A party of Greenland Eskimo
Eskimo, with their sleighs and
kayak
An Eskimo man ....
An Eskim.. woman.
I h ; .III.. I 111,, children .
\ I . I I i i;r>indmother
1 ii-i I . ■ I ■11,1 and North
An K..kn.„. t'l.i and child .
A party of Eskimo, with their tent
of seal-skill and bear-skin
-A North American Indian in full
A group of North American Indians
A North American brave
North American Indian chiefs,
with their wives and children
-A Chippewa Indian ...
Ma-gi-ga-bow (chief)
A Chippewa chief ....
"Cut-nose," a Sioux criminal
A North American Indian (pro-
A North American Indian (full-
face), with pipe-tomahawk
A North American chief, with
feather head-dress .
A D.akota-Siouan chief, thirty -eight
ye.ars of age, with piiie-toma-
A North American Indian chief
(profile)
A North American Indian, show-
ing mocassins . . . .
An American Indian and his wife
Indiiin " sun dance " (the making of
a brare)
A group of North American Indians
in full dress ....
North American Indisins dressing.
.\n Indian chief and his squaws .
.-Vn Indian hunter, with wapiti skull
North American Indians prepared
for a journey ....
An Indian tent in winter, with
.squaw carrying papoose (child)
A woman of Kiawa
A North American Indian smoking
tomahawk-pipe . . . .
Indian squaw and papoose (child) .
m;.
541
AgrcHip ■ \ \ ,:nilndi.ans 543
A Mail, i III Ih.ii.in 111 European
dre>,-, 544
North American Indians in camp 545
Guanajuato water-carriers, Mexico 546
A Hopi bride . . . . .547
Guatuso women and child, Costa
Rica ... . . 548
A Carib woman of Dutch Guiana,
with leg-bands . . .549
A Carib or Ackawoi woman (pro-
file), with spikes in lower lip
and ears 550
A Carib or Ackawoi woman (full-
f.ace), with spikes in lower lip
and ears 551
\ Carib man 552
A Carib woman .... 553
A Peruvian Indian, with orna-
ments in the lobes of the ears 554
Natives of Peru .... 55.t
A Gaucho of La Plata ... (356
Map showing distribution of South
American Indians . . . 557
A group of Sanapana men of the
Paraguayan Chaco . . . 558
A group of San.apana women of
the Par.aguayan Chaco . . 559
A party of Botocudos . . . 560
War Indians of the Lengua tribe 561
Lenguas of the Pai'aguayan Chaco 562
An encampment of Lengua Indians 503
A group of Lengua children,
Par.aguayan Ch.aco ... 564
Araucanians and tlieir children . 565
An Araucanian man . . . 566
A witch-doctor of Araucania . . 567
Civilised Araucanians . . . 568
A Chilian native and his wives . 569
An Araucanian beauty . . 570
A Tebuelche wDman and children,
dressed in guanaco robes. . 571
Mapuche natives of Ar.aucania . 572
A Fuegian man .... 573
A Tehuelche man . . . . 574
A Fuegian woman .... 575
Fuegians 576
CHAPTER XIII.
THE NEGRO IN GENERAL— THE BANTU NEGROES.
a. THE NEGRO IN GENERAL.
For the purposes of this chapter we shall accept the term Negro as the name of the dark,
frizzly- or woolly-haired peoples who occupy most of Africa, from the Sahara to the Cape. Their
range is interrupted by the scattered groups of pygmies in the Equatorial region and the
Bushmen in South-western Africa, and by immigrant tribes of other races who occupy North-
eastern Africa and extend southward along the coast to and beyond the Equator.
The main physical features of the Negro are his dark-coloured skin, woolly hair, and long
massive skull, with receding forehead and projecting jaws. The colour is not black, as is so
often stated ; for the blackest Africans are some Soudanese tribes, who are hybrids, and the
Somali, who are not Negroes at all. The predominant colour is dark brown, varying from dark
copper-coloured to yellowish brown or dark leddish brown. The colour in the same individual
varies from time to time, according to his condition of health, and as a rule it darkens with
age, new-born c'l-^dren being quite light in colour. The hair is generally short ; in transverse
section it is elli^jtical and not circular, so that it naturally coils into short curls ; it thus
appears woolly or frizzled. In most tribes the hair is very short, but in others it grows to
considerable length, and is twisted ..., . .,
into very elaborate designs. The
hair on the lower part of the face
is inconspicuous; the beard is
Sparse or absent, and the moustache
represented by a few hairs above
the corners of the mouth. The
skull and head characters are very
-ical of the Negroes, though
f vary greatly, owing to the
uence of intermarriage with
_.er races. The skull as a whole
IS massive, and the bones are
firmly fused together, so that the
•^m-es between them are in-
di. inct. The skull is long and
broadest at the back ; the forehead
receding; the nose is broad-based
and the nostrils are widely open.
80 that it appears wide and flat.
The body is well built, and the
height averages about 5 feet
7 inches. The proportions of the
limbs vary with the mode of life
OVA-UEliEKU WOMEN.
290
The Living Races of Mankind
and habits of the different tribes. Their muscular development is good, and on work which
depends onlv on muscle they excel the average Em-opean ; but in anything requiring judgment
they are easily beaten. The nervous system is not very sensitive, and the appreciation of pain
is dull. Operations can be conducted without anaesthetics which would be fatal to Europeans
even with their aid. Johnston describes a scene after one of the battles in British Central
Africa, in which "operations of the most terribly painful character are being carried on, and
the patients are smiling, with an occasional wince or grimace, but meantime plaiting grass with
their fingers or watching the application of the surgical implements with positive interest."
Dress varies from absolutely nothing, as in some of the people of Kavii-ondo, to the
complete clothing of the better-class Suahili. As a rule the dress is very simple : children are
usually nude ; women mostly have a narrow petticoat, covering from the waist to about the
knees ; men wear a narrow loin-cloth, which they frequently discard. In cold, wet districts, as
5 by Mr. B. E. Fripp.
OVA-HKREKO WOMIl
in the inland plateaux, a short skin cloak is used, which is hung over the shoulders to protect
the lungs. The skins worn by the Negi-oes are untanned, but are rendered soft by scraping
and beating. In South Africa the untanned hide of cattle is the principal material used for
clothing. In Northern Africa and along the coast skins are replaced by cotton-cloth. Some
of the Equatorial tribes make fabrics of plaited grass. Sheets of fig-bark, hammered until they
are soft and supple, are used in Uganda and some neighbouring countries.
The ornaments are as varied as the clothing; they mostly consist of iron and brass rings,
worn round the arms or legs, in the ears, nose, or lips. Brass beads hammered fi-om wire
and cowry-shells are sewn on the skin garments or on straps; rings of ivory are worn on the
muscles of the arm among some tribes, while head-dresses of feathers and fur are common,
especially among the warriors. The medicme-man of the tribe is generally fantasticaUy
arrayed in assortments of the most eccentric articles available.
"The body is decorated by colom'-tattooing and scar-tattooing or cicatrisation. True or
Photo hij a. ir. Wilson]
A SWAZI GIltL.
292
The Living!: Races of Mankind
coloui'-tattooing is eflected by making
small cuts in the skin, and then rubbing
in some dN'e or j^igment, usually charcoal-
Cicatrisation, which is more common, is
caused by repeated cuts at the same
place, so that the skin in healing becomes
thickened, and forms a projecting lump.
These scars are usually in simple lines,
but are sometimes worked into elaborate
designs; in their simplest form they are
caste or tribal marks ; but where best
developed, as among the Bangala of the
Congo, their object is personal adorn-
ment. The lobes of the ear and the lips
are often greatly extended by the insertion
of wooden disks, and the teeth filed to
points or some of them removed.
The typical Negi-o weapon is the
sjiear ; it varies from the light, barbed
tluiiwiiiL^-a^segai of the Zambesi tribes to
lilt' iiia»iM'. long-bladed, two-edged, heavy
t hru-t iiig->pear of the Masai. Bows and
arrows are widely distributed, and the
aiTows are often poisoned. Clubs and
knobkerries are used for war, civil execu-
tions, and hunting.
The dwellings are mostly huts of
bent sticks or poles, covered with thatch
or laced palm leaves. They ai-e usually
small, but the palaces of the chiefs of
A KAFFiB WOMAN, NATAL. the more Organised tribes may be very
large. The huts are mostly beehive-
shaped, but may be oval, square, or oblong. The nomadic tribes rely on temjjorary reed
screens or bivouacs, or huts of jDoles covered by skins. Where the Negroes have fallen mider
the influence of other races, stone buildings are sometimes erected. The huts are usually built
on the ground ; but in swamjjy districts they may be raised on piles, and where white ants
are troublesome the food-huts are perched like dovecots at the top of a single pole. The
huts are typically cii-cular ; but some square or oblong houses occur among the Guinea
Negroes and in East Africa.
The food of the Negroes consists mainly of vegetable products ; the chief cereals are the
native grains eleusine and sorghum or dhurra, and various introduced grains, such as millet,
rice, maize, and occasionally wheat; tubers, such as yams, sweet potatoes, and cassava or
manioc, and various pumpkins and beans are also largely used. Some tribes live almost
entirely on plantains and bananas, and others on the coast are largely dependent on the
cocoanut. The pastoral tribes have large herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and live on meat
and milk ; and some of them are forbidden by religious scruples from eating vegetable food.
Along the gi-eat rivers fish is an important article of diet, though some tribes avoid it
on considerations which are now religious, but which originally were probably sanitary.
Cannibalism is widely spread among the African Negi-o races, as it is among the Negroes of
Papuasia. The use of human flesh as food is almost confined to the Congo and Ogowe Basins;
but it is eaten as medicine or fetish over a much wider area ; as in such cases it is taken
secretly, it probably occurs more widely than is thought. Cannibalism, in fact, probably arose
The Negro in General
293
from suijerstitious motives. As Sir Harry Johnston says, " INlen will eat the flesh of lions to
make them brave, and the heart of a brave enemy is cooked and devoured by those who wish
to share his courage."
The social organisation of the Negi'oes is primitive, and usually patriarchal. In many
cases the people live in independent families or in isolated village communities, with an
elder over each. Groups of villages may unite under a committee of elders or under a chief.
Many chiefs may be subject to a principal chief or king, whose power may be upiield by a
feudal system or be an absolute despotism. In either case slavery is nearly always an
important element in organised states.
The character of the Negro is marked by extreme contrasts, the agricultural tribes differing
from the warrior castes of the organised military states. The Negroes are generally described
as indolent ; but they are capable of great exertion, and where they are protected they will
work steadily in their own way. They are certainly usually avaricious, but on an impulse
will act with noble generosity ; and their selfishness does not debar them from great feats of
self-sacrifice and devotion. As soldiers their sanguine disposition renders them naturally brave,
but in cases of reverse they are liable to panic; and though usually kind-hearted, in times of
excitement they are capable
of fiendish cruelty.
The Negro industries
belong to a low stage of
civilisation. Even as agri-
cultm-ists their methods
are crude. Thus the ground
is cleared by fire, is never
manured, and is broken up
by small iron hoes or pointed
sticks. Weaving is carried
out among the more ad-
vanced tribes, and most of
them extract iron by simjjle
hand-forges from grains of
oxide of ii-on collected from
stream-beds. Tanning is
unknown, except where it
has been learnt from Berlier
tribes, and the pottery is all
of the most primitive type.
Wood-carving is done with
knives, but the designs are
crude and the objects made
are always simple, except
when affected by non-Negro
influence.
The religion of the
Negroes is typically fetish-
ism, though it may be very
slightly developed. Ap-
parently all Negi-oes have
some idea of a supernatural
being, even if their ideas
be vague ; and they apply
their word for god to rain.
294
The Living Races of Mankind
storms, and other natural phenomena, or to anything
unexjiected. But all Negroes seem to have a lively
faith in the existence of spirits, and generally regard"
them as very numerous. Negroes refer to these
spirits in explanation of otherwise inexplicable events.
They believe that every natural agency has its own
individual spirit. Fetishism thus originates as a
form of Nature-worship, and is based on the attempt
to explain natural phenomena by attributing in-
dwelling spirits to all external natural agencies.
Such worship soon leads to the use of material
objects as symbols of the various natural agents;
and, as Bui'ton says, " Of course the symbol is con-
founded with the thing symbolised; and the statue
or picture, which the enlightened look upon as they
would a portrait or memento, becomes amongst the
vulgar an object of absolute worship."
Thus Nature-worship gradually leads to the use
of fetishes and fetishism. But the Negro respect
for fetishes is due to the belief that they are the
BicHDWAs abode of some spirit who can do its owner good or
harm. Fetishism varies greatly in the extent of its
influence on ditieient tnlies In East \frica it is less widespread and powerful than in West
Africa, wheie it is geneial, its puests ha\e great authority, and its ceremonies are accompanied
by human <;aciifices
The faith in spirits is the basis of the typical African judicial system — ordeal by poison
or torture. The test is theoretically an appeal to the spirits to decide a case when the
elders of the tribe have not sufficient knowledge of the facts to give a verdict.
The African Negroes may be divided into four groups. The Negroes living south of the
line from the mouth of the Juba on the east coast to the Rio del Eey near the mouth of the
Niger on the west coast are grouped together as the Bantu, on account of the general
resemblance between their languages. In West Africa, from the Eio del Key to Senegambia,
are the Guinea Negroes, who are continued eastward by the Negroes of the Soudan, these being
much affected by Hamitic influences. Between the northern Negroes and the Bantu are a
group of Equatorial Negroes, including the Kikuyu, Niam-niam, JMonbuttu, and Fans. The
fourth or Nilotic group occupies the upper basin of the Nile, and now extends south-east to
Kiliiua Njaro, owing to the southern advance of the Jlasai.
wHAMA CHILJ
THE 15ANTU AND HOTTENTOT NEGROES.
1. THE HOTTENTOTS.
At the period of the first European intercourse with South Africa the Hottentots were
one of the most powerful tribes in Cape Colony ; but they, like their allies the Bushmen,
have been steadily losing ground under the pressure of other tribes and European colonists.
Now the Hottentots — or, as they call themselves, the Khoi-Khoi— are numerically unim-
portant, being confined to a few small areas in South-western Africa. Their numbers are
estimated at about 40,000, which, however, includes many half-breeds. They occur in Griqua-
land East, in Griqualand West and British Bechuanaland, in Namaqualand, and sporadically
in Cape Colony. They belong to four surviving clans— the Namaqua on both sides of
the mouth of the Orange River, the Koraqua of the Xaal River and Upper Orange River,
the Griqua of Griqualand ^^'est around Kimberley, and the Gonaqua on the western borders
The Hottentots
?95
of Kaffraria. Of these four groups the Xamaqua are
of the Hottentots. The termination -qua, it may be added
The physical appearance of the Hot-
tentots is very distinctive. They have a r
yellowish-brown complexion, woolly hair, a
long head and triangular face, with a small
nose, high cheek-bones, and pointed chin.
They are of less than medium height, the
average being about 5 feet. The limbs are
slim and the bones small, so that the build
is rather efi'eminate ; and the body has
usually very fleshy, projecting buttocks.
These characters present a combination
of those of the Negro races and of the
Bushmen, the Hottentots being allied to
the latter by their colour, their broad faces,
small chins, and prominent cheek-bones.
They differ, however, from the Bushmen by
the general form of the skull and the
character of the hair. The Hottentots are
accordingly regarded as descendants of the
original Bushman race, modified by inter-
marriage with the Bantu.
The dress of the primitive Hottentots
consists of a string or belt of leather
wound round the waist, from which are
hung strips of fur and strings of beads and
shells, and of a kaross, or cloak of untanned
skin. Sandals are used on long marches.
As ornaments the women wear leg-rings of
leather, armlets of ivory and iron, brass or
shell earrings, and necklaces of shells, beads,
or fragments of ostrich eggs. Their original
weapons consisted of the assegai, which
had a 6-foot shaft and 6-inch iron blade,
various forms of knobkerries or throwing-
clubs, bows, and poisoned arrows. The
domestic utensils are clay pots and basins,
iron knives, horn and shell spoons, and
bone needles.
The huts are beehive-shaped, and built
of bent sticks covered with mats made of
rushes. They are arranged in circular
series, or kraals, the space inside being
kept for the sheep and cattle. The main
industry of the Hottentots is cattle-breed-
ing, milk forming an important element in
their food. This, however, they sujjplement
by growing maize and yams, spearing fish,
hunting, and collecting wild roots and
herbs. They are daring hunters, and
face lions single-handed and armed only
the purest living repi
is the masculine plural
esentati
suffix.
'^HE"
BROTHKR.
296
The Living Races of Mankind
with an assegai. They
formerly smoked dakica,
a species of wild hemp,
now mostly replaced by
tobacco.
The customs of the
Hottentots are often the
same as those of the
Kaffirs — as, for example,
most of the ceremonies
connected with the birth
of children ; thus they
carefully bury the
placenta, the mother
undergoes certain rites
of purification, and the
infant is smeared with
cow-dung. Circumcision
is performed when boys
are about nine years of
age. ISIarriages between
near blood-relatives are
forbidden ; the woman's
consent is asked, after
which the affair is settled
by purchase between the
bridegroom and his
fut ure father - in - law.
Polygamy was once
prevalent. The burial
customs are interesting:
the corpse is sprinkled
with blood, sewn up in
mats, and buried in a
sitting attitude facing
the east in an excavation made on one side of the grave. In filling up the grave, the earth
is therefore not thrown on the corpse.
These rites and the folklore of the Hottentots show their lively faith in a future life and
in the existence of spirits. Their folklore is extremely rich in tales of the " Uncle Remus "
type. Their language is allied to that of the Bushmen, but it contains only four regular clicks.
Its structm-e is very specialised ; for it has a gender, and shows whether nouns are masculine,
feminine, or neuter by the aid of suffixes ; it also has three numbers. But, as in some other
linguistic groups, the meaning of many words varies according to the tone of expression.
1 (.J/ G. ir. trrhon.
2. THE BANTU OF SOUTH AFRICA.
The Ova-IIerero.
As we have seen in the last section, the most powerful and most typical race of Hottentots
are the Namaqua of the lower part of the Orange Eiver. They have been reduced in numbers
by a struggle with a northern race, the Hereros, who are now the dominant people in German
South-west Africa. Between these two peojJes there was once a buffer tribe, known as the
Hill Damara, who were hybrids between the Namaqua and their northern foes ; but they were
298
The Living Races of Manlvind
%
^.
l)I)IN(. I ARl \
weak and disunited, and were powerless to resist the southward encroachment of the Hereros.
They now Hnger only in a few mountain retreats. The disappearance of the Hill Damara has
left the Namaqua and the Hereros face to face, and dm'ing the present century the native
history of the region which is now known as German .South-west Africa has been the story of
the fight for mastery between these tribes.
The Hereros are clearly a Bantu race of northern origin ; they invaded German South-west
Africa about a century ago, and now occupy the whole country from Ovam})oland to Walfish
Uay, with the excejition of the mountain recesses occupied by the Hill Damara. Their numbers
are estimated at about 70,000. Their southward progi-ess was stopped by the Namaqua, with
whom the Hereros have waged a long series of wars, with varying fortunes. In the middle of
the century the Hereros were defeated and one tribe annihilated; but after 18G0, by the
aid of some English eleiDhant-hunters and the advice of some German missionaries, the tide
of war turned in their favour.
The Hereros are a well-built race, and have been described as showing Caucasian features. The
skull is of moderate length ; the hair, though woolly, is rather long ; the nose is comparatively
narrow, the cheek-bones are not prominent, and the lips comparatively thin. The characters
of the head therefore show some foreign influence. The original mental peculiarities of the
people are masked by the result of a century of desperate war. They are said to be sullen,
cowardly, and suspicious, but to be less changeable and emotional than the Hottentots.
> The clothing of the tribe is of leather, nudity being legarded with extreme aversion. The
clothes of the women are a leather petticoat and a small mantle thrown over the shoulders :
both garments are decorated by bead, shell, and wii-e ornaments. The waist is encircled by a
girdle of leather strips ; on the legs and arms are rings of beads and wire ; while the head is
covered with a circular cap, with a series of wing-like ornaments like those on a berserker's
helmet. The weapons of the tribe are assegais, bow and arrows, and the knobkerry. The huts
aie of the beehive-shaped type, and are covered with skins. They are light and portable, for
they are moved frequently. The main industry is cattle-raising, but goats also are kept ; while
The Bantu of South Africa
299
some sections of the tribe have taken to agriculture, and collect wild roots and herbs. They
have many superstitions regarding food, and a strong horror of salt: they believe in witch-
craft ; and, like many of the Ivjuatorial Negroes, ha\ e a highly develo]iC(l tree-cult.
'i'lie (hainpo of Nortlii'rn (icrinan South-west Africa are a less interesting race. They
are Hantu, and are well built, tall, and intelligent. They are agriculturists in the main, but
own some cattle. The tribe numbers now about 100,000.
The Kaffirs.
The name Kaffir is now used by English wi-iters in Cape Colony for any South African
N'egro. liut the name is used historically and ethnographically for the Ama-Xosa or Ama-Kosa,
I he leading Bantu nation living south of Natal. The word Kaffir is of Arabic origin, and means
"infidel."' It was applied by the early settlers of the eastern part of Cape Colony to the
warlike natives of that region, just as it has been given in India to one of the turbulent hill
[leoples of the nortli-wcstern frontier. Kaffraria — which, like the Kaffiristan of India, means "the
country of the Kaffirs" — is bounded on the south-west by the Great ICei Kiver, which enters the
Indian Ocean near East London, and on the north by the southern frontier of Natal, and thus
includes the districts known as the Transkei, Tembuland, and Pondoland. The Ama-Kosa, who
inhabit this region, are a typical Bantu race. They are muscular but slim, and well jiroport idued ;
they stand about 5 feet 10 inches high. They are dark brown in colour, ha\e wodlly hair, a
broad nose, and thick lips. Intellectually they are brave, intelligent, submi.ssi\e to discipline
and quick pupils.
They dress in skins or blankets, and adorn their hair with feathers, strings of corals, and
metal beads. One section of the nation dresses the hair into a kind of cap: a grass ring is
jilaced over the crown of the head, and the hair is fastened to it by gi-ease ; as the hair grows
the ring is raise<l from the head, like a cap.
c,> i,ii.i4MJISU COEX.
300
The Living Races of Manl<ind
The chief Kaffir weapon is the assegai, but the men are expert also in use ol the
knohkerry. They jirotect themselves with large oval leather shields.
The Kaffirs dwell in temporary conical huts. They were mainly pastoral, and lived largely
on milk ; but they now gi-ow crops of maize, millet, and yams.
They believe in spiiits, and are said to worship those of their ancestors ; but they do not
apparently believe in any one supreme spirit or god.
Of the sub-groups of the true Kaffirs the most important is that of the Pondo, who live
on the borders of Natal in Northern Kaffraria. They are now settled and peaceful; their
numbers have accordingly increased greatly, and the tribe is now estimated at over 200,000.
Photo by a. W. Wilson]
THREE ZULU GIRLS.
I.i\ing among the Ama-Kosa is a people whose exact affinities are uncertain. They are
the Fingo of Fingoland — i.e. the southern part of Kaffraria, just north of the Kei l\iver.
In 1835, however, when they first placed themselves under British protection, they were settled
by Sir Benjamin d'Frban in their present home, between the Great Fish Eiver and the
Keiskaniina, and thus sa\ed fiom the Zulus, who were threatening to "eat them up." They
have no projicr tribal name, Fingo, imposed on them by the Zulus, simply meaning "Vagabonds."
The Beciu'anas.
id is a vast tract of country, bounded to the south by Cape Colony, to the north
Bed man
by the Zainbcfi, to the west by the Kal
the Transvaal, and the Orange Iviver ("olo
the country, but ethnographically the tern
hari Desert, and to the east by Southern Rhodesia,
y. These are the existing political boundaries of
includes parts of the adjacent territories, extending
riwlo (ly G. II'. IVilson]
A BASUTO GIRL.
302
The Living Races of Mankind
i
eastward across the Trans-
vaal and northward be-
yond the Zambesi. This
country was once in-
habited by Bushmen, who
have been dispossessed by
the invasion of a number
of Bantu tribes fi-om the
north, who are grouped
together as theBeehuanas.
At the pi-esent time the
most powerful tribe of
Bechuanas is the Bamang-
k t^^KLJB aa^i ^M^Hl Jj^^V^ wato, who are ruled by
r I^B^P^" SH W^^m^^^^^^ Ji 1 the well-known chief
Khama.
The various Bechuana
tribes are no doubt closely
allied in descent, but in
jiliysical appearance they
differ considerably. The
history of the various
tribes is a long record of
war and migration, during
which the tribal differ-
ences have been confused
by intermarriage and
the influence of different
modes of life.
'Ihe most remarkable
point on which all agree
is the maintenance of the
totem system. Even on
the disruption of a tribe
nmobi/G. w. ir,(.,o«] [Aba-.i.tn the new clan sometimes
TWO ZULU ciiiLs. adoj^ts a new totem.
Thus the Bamangwato
tribe was established as an offshoot from the Bakwena, whose sacred animal is the crocodile,
or kiuena. The founder of the Bamangwato was a chief named Kari, the great-great-
grandfather of Khama. Kari led off' a party of Bakwena, and they adopted as their totem
the small duiker antelope. (Similarly the Bakatla have as their sacred animal the Icalla or
monkey, the Barotsi the baboon, and the Batlaro the elephant.
The Bechuanas belong to the same group as the Kaffirs, but they are a smaller, less
muscular, less active race, with a darker colour; they are more peaceful, though when attacked
they have defended themselves with great bravery and skill. Thus the Barotsi have more than
once defeated attacks of British and Boer armies; and on the last occasion, when the jMatabili
invaded the country of the Bamangwato, they were defeated with heavy loss. The Bechuanas
are mild and kind in disposition, but they have on occasions committed massacres equal in
cruelty to those of the Zulus and Ama-Kosa. The early travellers described them as intelligent,
honest, and most industrious; but some later visitors to Bechuanaland have been less favourably
imjiressed by them. One recent traveller complains that " they are the stingiest, most begging,
grasping, and altogether disagreeable set of people that it is possibly ^p imagine. Although
■mj^
i>^^'
A^*^^
The Bantu of South Africa
303
possessing large herds of cows and goats, they will i;ot give a stranger a drop ot milk until
he pays for it."
The national dress of the Bechuanas is a skin cloak, or kaross ; women wear in addition
two or more skin aprons. They have elaborate ornaments of strung teeth, and beads, and
armlets of grass.
The chief weapons of the Bechuanas are the barbed assegai and oval hide shield ; but they
also use a two-edged dagger and knobkerries, and their wars with the Bushmen have forced
them to adopt the bow and arrow. The wooden handles of their daggers are beautifuUv
car\ed ; for in woodwork the Bechuanas are very skilful. They make spoons and cups, engra\ed
with animals and arabesque designs. Their pottery and basket-work are also superior to that
of most of the South African Bantu. The hut.s are conical, with extinguisher-shaped roofs
Photo by B. W. Caney^
IPEBn S WIVES, ZDLDLAND.
placed on low walls. The roof overhangs the wall considerably, and its outer margin is
supported by poles. In some of the huts these poles are connected by a lattice-work, so that
the huts are double-walled.
The main foods of the Bechuanas are the meat of cattle and goats, milk, and maize.
Marriage is based on purchase. The efiforts of the Cape Government to abolish this
system have been resisted by both sexes, and especially by the women, who are flattered by
the feeling that they are worth paying for, and fear that they would cease to be considered
and cared for if they could be had for nothing. As is the case with most tribes who believe
in totems, there are many restrictions on marriage, and the miion of cousins is j^rohibited.
After this brief sketch of the general customs of the Bechuanas, we need only consider
the distribution of the isrincipal tribes. The most southern representatives, the Batlaro and
the Eatlapi, live in the districts of Kuruman and Vryburg, north of Griqualand. To the north
3C54
The Living Races of Mankind
of Vryburg, on both banks of the Molopo
River, which divides Cape Colony from the
I'echu.uialand Protectorate, is the tribe of
flie Kaiolong; their chief settlement is at
M.ifekmg, and they extend far to the west into
the Kalahari Desert. In the same district,
hnt extending eastward into the Transvaal, is
the home of the Barotsi, which is still in-
liihited by one section of that tribe, though
!no--t of the existing B.irotsi live north of
the Zambesi. North of the jNIolopo IJiver
md west of the Transvaal boundary are the
r. mgwalvetsi, and the Bakwena, or crocodile
1 1 (iple, m whose territory was Livingstone's
Mii-Mon station at Kolobeng. Nortli of these
IK the Bakatla, or monkey people; and
I I \()nd them is the territory of the powerful
iiilio of Bamangwato, with their chief towns
I Miobhong and Palapye. Aroimd Lake
N.^imi 15 the clan of the Batwana, who are
iij ofTslioot from the Bamangwato, and are
iiou --lid to be blacker in colour.
'Ihe Bisuto are a section of the Bechuanas,
w ho now occupy the area between the Orange
l.i\er Colony, Natal, and the eastern extremity
I if ( ape Colony. In the mountain fastness
t I haba-Bossigo they were long able to
' Icit the attacks of the Boers and British.
The country was annexed to Cape Colony in
1871, but after a long war was transferred
^'^ <• ^ , ,"8 *'^ ^''® Imperial Government in 1884, and
, , ' """ I- now ruled by a chief named Lerothodi,
A /I i.\- >, . ,, ,,-,.,„ ,,,,. gmded by a British Administrator. The tribe
has given up its old political organisation
and tribal divisions, and has settled down to agricultural pursuits. The territory of Basutoland
is about 10,300 square miles, and the i:opulation was 220,000 at the census of 1891.
Closely allied to the Basuto are the Tonga of Tongaland, the country between Zululand
and Portuguese East Africa. The area is about 2,000 square miles, and it is occupied by
some 40,000 Tonga, who were subject to the Zulus until they recovered their independence
after the Zulu overthrow in 1879. A section of the same tribe lives in Portuguese territory
north of the Limpopo, where they were for a time subject to the Swazi of Gazaland. The
Tonga once ranged much farther northward than they do at present.
TuE Zulus.
Between Tongaland on the north and Natal on the south is the home of the important
tribe of the Zulus, the most warlike of all the Bantu and the most powerful nati\e race in
South Africa before their conquest in 1879.
Physically the Zulus are a robust and well-built race ; they are above the medium height,
light, active, and excellent runners. The jirevaihng tint is a dark chocolate brown.
The ordinary dress of the men consists of some strips of fur tied round the waist, while
the women wear a short skin petticoat. But the gala and royal dresses are very elaborate.
A ZULU GIBL.
305
3o6
The Living Races of Mankind
The Zulu weapon is the assegai, a light thrusting-spear, of which several are taken to
the field by each warrior. The body is protected by a long ox-hide shield, which is coloured
according to the regiment of the owner.
The ]\Iatabili.
In the territory of the British South Africa Company the most important tribe is the
Matabili, which occujdes the southern part of the region, now known as Rhodesia, around
Buluwayo.
In jihysical features the ^latabili are of the Zulu type. The men are powerfully built,
muscular, and about 5 feet 10 or 11 inches high. According to Selous, " the Matabili girls
are very pleasant to the eye, having most good-tempered-looking face.s, and fine, upright,
well-developed, dark chocolate-coloured figures." In political organisation, dress and domestic
customs, and in their handicrafts the jNIatabili also resemble the Zulus. Thus, according to
Selous, the costume of the women consists "of a small flap of goat- or antelope-skin in front
and another behind, or of a little fringe of umhentla (a soft fibre extracted from a kind of
grass) in front, and nothing at all behind." He adds that the Matabili huts are built on
the Zulu plan, with doors only about 2 feet broad and under 2 feet in height.
The chief festival of the Matabili (a great dance known as Inxwala, and celebrated at
the beginning of harvest) is worth describing. Selous, who was present on an occasion when
4,000 warriors took pai-t in the festivities, writes thus : " The men were all clothed in their
splendid war-dress of black ostrich-feathers, which consists of a sort of cajje of black feathers,
sewn closely together, covering their chests and shoulders, and built up over their heads in
Photo hy Mr. If. Elhrton Fry.
MATABILI WARRIOKS.
The Bantu of South Africa
307
MAbllONAS BAKTtKI>.C.
the form of a Highlander's bonnet, leaving only their faces exposed. From their waists hung
quantities of leopard and tiger-cat tails or monkey-skins, which with the indunas form
such a thick skirt that you cannot see their legs at all. Some of the indunas, instead of the
bonnet of feathers, wear a roll of otter-skin across their foreheads, in which is stuck a crane's
feather, which waves gracefully in the air. This feather war-dress is most becoming, and
makes even an undersized, ugly sa\'age look well ; and as the greater j)art of the Matabili are
physically a fine, tall race of men, they look magnificent. The young girls wear round their
hips the brightest-colom'ed calicoes that they can manage to get hold of, which never,
however, reach to their knees, the rest of their persons being nude. With their merry,
pleasant faces, and upright, stately figures, they formed the prettiest, if not the most imposing,
portion of the spectacle.
"The dancing lasted three days, during which time a great many oxen were slaughtered
for the assembled people, and immense quantities of beer were drunk. The third day was the
most interesting. In the large outer kraal the 4,000 beplumed warriors stood in a large
semicircle about six deep, all of them continually humming a slow chant, and every now and
then bringing then: right feet in unison to the ground with a stamp. At intervals, amidst
applauding shouts, some well-known brave, after being called upon by name, would rush out of
the ranks and show how he had killed his enemies, going through a jiantouiime of how he
warded off the hostile blows with his shield, and at last delivered the death-stab with his fatal
assegai. Every dowiiward thrust made with the assegai represented a life taken, and at every
stab the warriors all hummed out with one accord the word iee. One man I watched had
seventeen lives to account for, another fifteen, and so on.
"At last the king came from the inner kraa,l, and, advancing into the circle, stood in the
midst of his warriors, dancing quietly by himself. He was dressed in monkey-skins and black
ostrich-feathers, and really looked a king. His favourite sister, Ningengnee, was also within
the circle, splendidly got up for the occasion, being covered with a profusion of beads, coloured
calicoes, brass armlets, and silver chains. As she was immensely fat, her gambols were more
grotesque than graceful; and she was so short-winded that she was coqtinnally obliged to
3o8
The Living Races of Mankind
stand and rest with her hands on her thighs.
Presently the king walked in the midst of his
plumed army to the open giound outside the
kraal, and performed a portion of the ceremony,
which consists in throwing an assegai and then
running forward and picking it up again. As
he did this all the warriors ran forward as well,
striking the insides of their shields at the
same time with the butt-ends of their assegais,
and producing a noise literally like thunder."
The Mashonas.
The only important tribe in the British
South Africa Conn)any's territories south of
the Zambesi which has survived the Matabili
invasion is the Mashona. Thanks to the
abundance of safe retreats among the granite
hills of their country, they have escaped the
partial extinction that has befallen their neigh-
bours and cousins, the Banyai and Makalaka ;
but they have been so greatly reduced, that.
though they occupy 100,000 square miles
of territory, they only number about 200,000
persons.
The Mashonas are peaceful and indus-
trious; they are laborious agi-iculturists, and
raise large crops of grain, including maize and
rice. They keep herds of small cattle, flocks
of goats, and large numbers of fowls. Their
bouses are circular thatched huts, which are
perched for safety in the least accessible places
on the kopjes or granite crags : for the
]\lashonas were weaker than their enemies the
Matabili ; and as they had no military organi-
iwo M\-iin\A MKN. sation, but lived in small communities under
local chiefs, and never combined for defence,
they had no chance of successfully resisting the JMatabili raids.
The Mashonas are skilled smiths, and make excellent iron assegais, battle-axes, and hoes.
They play a musical instrument like the marimba of West Africa : the Mashonaland form of
this " piano " contains twenty iron keys on a small board, which is placed inside a calabash to
act as a sounding-board.
The Mashonas kill elephants either by hamstringing them when they are asleep with a
broad-bladed axe, or by stabbing them between the shoulder-blades with a very heavy assegai
from an ambush in a tree.
The People of Lorenzo Marquez.
Portuguese territories in East Africa south of the Zambesi are occupied by four groups
of Negroes. The dominant people are the Gaza, who are a clan of Zulus. They take their
name from a Swazi chief named Gaza, who was sent with a Zulu army to drive the Portuguese
from Delagoa Bay. In this attempt he failed. As he dared not return to Zululand, he led his
The Bantu of British Central Africa 309
army northward, cajiturfd Inhaiiibane, and attacked Sofala. He and his men then settled in
the Portuguese dominions, dispossessed the aboriginal Tonga, and formed the Gaza tribe. The
second section is now known as the Tonga, in which are included all the tribes of the southern part
of the Portuguese territory who are not Zulu in origin. These Tonga clans are all allied to
the Basuto, whereas farther to the north between the Tonga and the Zambesi are the
tribes of jSIutandi, Atavara, etc., who are allied to the Mashonas. The fourth section is the
tribe of the Balempa of Manicaland, who are said to owe their peculiar features, including
aquiline nose, red eyes, and fiery eyebrows, to the influence of Semitic blood.
3. THE BANTU OF BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA.
The region north of the eastern half of the Zambesi is occupied by a great number of
Bantu tribes, who have several marked featiii-es common to themselves and striking ditt'erences
from the Negroes of Southern Africa. They may be divided into four groups — viz. the
immigrants from the south, the natives of Nyasaland and Mozambique, the Bantu of German
East Africa, and the Bantu of British East Africa.
The Southekn Immigrants — Anuoni and Makololo.
Of the immigrants from South Africa the most important are the Angoni, who now live
on the western side of Lake Nyasa. They are hybrid Zulus, who settled in their present
home early in the nineteenth century. They were never pure Zulus, but an allied Kaffir clan,
which was subject to the great Zulu king Chaka, but retained its own chief. But at length
the Zulu tyranny became intolerable, and the whole tribe fled northward ; it crossed the
Zambesi just below the junction of the Luangwa, and marched up the valley of that river, west
of T^ake Nyasa, to the country south-east of Tanganyika. There the tribe settled, and thence
CHIEF UMGABE A_ND HIS FOLLOW
3IO
The Living Races of Mankind
at various times it sent out bands in difl'erent directions : one of these bands settled beside
the Victoria Nvanza, and its descendants are known as the Watuta : another struck south-
eastward to the eastern side of the Nvasa, where, mingling with the Wangindo, it formed the
tribe known as the Magwangwara. Later the main body of the Angoni moved southward,
and settled in the country along the western shore of Lake Nyasa. They conquered the
original Bantu inhabitants, over whom they rule as a military caste. They maintain then- old
Zulu raiding habits, and as such have been a very distm-bing element in Nyasaland.
" These Angoni were the terror and curse of all this country," says Lugard. " Swooping
down by night in their fantastic garb of war, with the unearthly yells, grunts, and groans
with which thev accompany their attack, they would fall upon villages and loot e\erything —
sheep, goats, fowls, and crops. Sometimes they would carry off captives of war. At othei
times they seemed possessed with a lust for
carnage only, and killed man, woman, and
child without distinction, leaving not a living
soul behind on the scene of their brutal
attack. These awful bm-sts of savage slaughter,
combined with their character for invincible
corn-age, the appalling sounds they utter, and
the garb they wear in war, have struck such
terror into the smTounding tribes that resist-
ance is rarely offered to an Angoni raid.
^^'hen the dread cry is raised that the Angoni
are coming, a blind panic seizes the helpless
villagers, and each thinks only of flight and
concealment, unless, as more often happens,
the surprise is complete by night, and there
is no time for escape."
It was mainly the liojie that they would
act as a check to the Angoni that led to the
establishment of the ]\Iakololo in the Shire
country. The INLakololo were mostly Bechuana
and Boloi people brought by Livingstone from
the Upper Zambesi and settled at Tete in
1856. At first there were only twenty-five;
but they were reinforced two years later and
armed by Livingstone, so that they might
protect the peaceful natives of the Shii-e
district from the raids of the Yao and Angoni.
The Makololo soon made themselves chiefs of
the district, and under their organisation and leadershij) the encroachments of other tribes and
of the Portuguese were successfully resisted. They were at first friendly towards the British,
but after their chief had been treacherously killed by a Emopean they became hostile to
all white men.
Photo by Mu
TWO NYASAI.
The Natives of Nyasaland.
The Bantu tribes of Nyasaland are now fairly well known, thanks in the main to the
careful studies of Sir Harry Johnston. The main tribe is the Wangindo, which includes
many sub-divisions.
The general characters and mode of life of the Nyasaland Bantu agree fairly closely among
the difi'erent tribes. The average height of the men is about 5 feet.''6 inches, the women being
about 0 inches shorter than the men. The head is tvpically Negro in type, and cases of the
Phot, I J S /J„ _ J
NATIVES OP EAST CENTRAL AFKICA IN FULL-DBESS COSTUJIE.
311
312
The Living Races of Mankind
f^' mongoloid, oblique, upturned eye, common
,j4^ among northern tribes, are here very rare.
Though free from intermixture with the non-
>.'egro races of Northern Africa, some of the
tribes show signs of Arab influence by the
considerable size of the beard.
Clothing among the jieople of this group
is very limited. Many of the tribes go
jiractically naked ; the men wear only a
brass ring round the waist, the women a
tiny bead work apron. But these tribes
behave modestly, and are moral ; whereas
the more extensi\ely clothed Wayao practise
obscene rites and dances, and are very
immoral.
Among personal ornaments, the most
conspicuous among the Bantu of Southern
Ivist Equatorial Africa is the petele, a disk
of wood or bone about an inch or more in
diameter, which is worn in the upper lip,
causing it to jmijcct forward like a bird's
liill. This is not found south of the
/..nnlii'si, except in a slightly developed
foil 1 1 among the Kanyai, who are no doubt
(ilt'-li(Mits of the Nyasaland Bantu, although
they now speak Mashona.
The Nyasaland natives are among the
ablest agriculturists in Africa. The main crops are bananas, jilantains, and beans ; various
forms of grains ; and also cassava or manioc, sugar-cane, melons, and pumpkins. Tobacco and
hemp are grown for smoking ; simsin and castor oil afford the chief supply of oils.
The belief in fetishism and witchcraft is widespread in East Africa, and is indicated by
the funeral rites.
Death is attributed, according to Johnston, to one of three causes : (1) the direct act of
God by some sudden accident or a widespread epidemic or some well-known and clearly
natural disease ; (2) death in warfare or by murder ; (3) by witchcraft, where the malady is
obscure or a man has been killed by some wild beast. The animal is said to be either
possessed by the witch or to be a human being in disguise. Sir Harry Johnston quotes one
striking instance of the native faith in such disguises. During the war with Mankanjira, a
famous Yao chief, a truce was arranged, so that the natives might consider the terms of peace
offered by Major Edwards, who was in command of the British forces. The Yao held a
council to consider the proposals, which were vigorously denounced by one of the councillors,
who advocated war to the bitter end. The conference was being held in the bush, and this
jingo speech was interrupted by a wild bull-buffalo charging into the party. The buffalo
singled out the spokesman and inflicted on him mortal injuries. The Yao declared that the
buffalo was Major Edwards himself; the terms were rejected, and war resumed with greater
bitterness on account of this supposed breach of the truce. Even after burial the body is
not considered safe from witchcraft, so that the grave is enclosed by a strong wooden fence,
to protect it from the witch who has caused the death, and who may come in the form of
a hyena to devour the body.
One interesting feature of Nyasaland burials is that the corpse is not allowed to touch
the ground of the gi-ave. The body is swung like a hammock from sticks at each end of the
grave, and is protected above bv a roof of sticks.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE BANTU OF EASTERN AND WESTERN AFRICA.
a. THE BANTU OF EASTERN AFRICA.
THE PEOPLE OF MOZAMBIQUE.
East of Nva^aland is the provi
possessions in East Africa. This
Makua, who are closely allied to
The Wayao, the Ajawa of I
Lujenda valleys, but have no\^
spread widely, are the domi-
nant people in ]Mozamhi(|ue.
I'hey have crossed into German
territory and Nyasalaiid, and
are steadily growing in jiow er.
The Wayao are intelligent and
industrious, but aggressive and
cruel, and they sometimes
practise cannibalism ; they are,
however, faitliful. and Li\ ing-
stone's devoted serwant Chuma
was a member of a Yao tribe.
The IMakua are a group of
clans, and are older settlers
in Mn/ambique. They are as
industrious as the Wayao, but
are hea\ier, more sluggish,
and less intelligent. Their
family sense is strong —
another point in which they
differ from the Yao, who have
almost a community of women.
2. THE B.\NTU OF GERMAN
EAST AFraCA.
The Wankonde.
North of Nyasaland and
Mozambique is German East
Africa, which is occupied by
many tribes, most of whom
are typical members of the
East African group, wear
nee of Mozambique, the northern part of the Portuguese
province is occupied by two dominant peoples, the '^'ao and
those of Nyasaland.
.ivinsjstone, who oriL,'inallv bved in the I pper Kiiuima and
WAGANDA SCHOLARS.
314
The Living Races of Mankind
the pelele or lip-plug, and
speak Bantu languages. The
Wankonde, though now in-
cluded in German East Africa,
were originally studied by
British travellers, who have
given detailed accounts of
them. The word nkonde
means a b.ar.ana, and the name
was given to the people on
account of the great extent
of their banana plantations.
Colonel Lugard, who
waged a long war against
the Arab slavers at Karonga.
hirgely to jirotect the
Wankonde, has given the
following description of the
tribe : " The country is densely
populated. The men go
naked, and the women also,
save for a few inches of
bark-cloth. The people (who from their word of salutation are often called ' Sokilis ') are very
friendly ; but their familiarity is sometimes rather trying — as when a savage, out of pure
goodwill, wanted to take my pipe out of my mouth to have his turn at a smoke, or when
my visitors insisted on my sharing their snuff. However, I defeated these by giving them
white pepper as the white man's equivalent ! The villages are \'ery large, and nestled for
mile after mile among groves of bananas. The huts are beautifully and very ornamentally
built, and are scrupulously clean ; even the banana groves are clean swept around the villages.
The soil is very rich. Like the Waganda, these Wankonde, though jiossessing great herds of
cattle, are largely agi-icultural, and live mainly on bananas, roots, and gi-ain. They owned
enormous herds of cattle, and for a few inches of the commonest calico milk by the quart or
gallon could be bought; eggs and fowls, and even goats and cattle, were excessively cheap."
The courage of the Wankonde is remarkable, though they are not able to face in the
open the firearms of the slavers. But, says Lugard, " on two occasions it transpired that a
single individual had gone by night, and, digging under the enemy's stockade, had pulled out
one or two poles, under the very noses of their sentries, and, squeezing through, had abstracted
a cow from inside and driven it off."
The Wankonde believe in fetish, and attribute all natural deaths to witchcraft. Accord-
ingly everybody, unless killed in battle, is subjected to a post-mortem examination, in order to
discover from the arrangement of the blood-vessels in the mesenteries to what form of witchcraft
the death was due.
s'UBIAN POLICE, UGANDA.
Wanyamwezi.
The Wanyamwezi are the main tribe or group in German East Africa, and owing to their
industry and commercial enterprise one of the most useful peoples in Eastern Africa, The
name is apparently of Sualiili origin, and is now said to be applied to a group of tribes living
in the highland country south of the Victoria Nyanza.
The Wanyamwezi as a race are tall and muscular. The colour of their skin is a dark
sepia-brown. The hair is 4 or 5 inches long, and is twisted into ringlets, or may be shaved
off except for a fillet in front and a tuft behind ; the small beaid may be retained, but the
moustache, eyelashes, and eyebrows are pulled out by the roots. The two front teeth are
The Bantu of German East Africa
315
chipped away to leave a triangular depression. The lobes of the ear are enlarged, but the
lip-plug is not worn. The typical tribal mark is a row of scars down the cheeks from the
outer ends of the eyebrows : a third row may run down the middle of the forehead to
the bridge of the nose.
The common di-ess consists of skin or cloth tobes and a short kilted petticoat. The
principal ornaments are necklaces of beads, shells, or disks cut from hippopotamus teeth, and
armlets of brass. The weapons are bow with barbed arrows, spears, assegais, knobkerries, and
small battle-axes.
The villages consist of oblong huts, with sloping thatched roofs continued as projecting
eaves. The walls are built of a kind of wattle and daub, supported by strong beams, which
are often carved and painted. The main articles of furnitm-e are a bedstead, a series of
clay pots for corn, grass mats, and corn-mill. At each end of the village is a large hut,
known as the iwanza, which are used as a kind of common rooms — one by the men, the other
by the women.
The Wanj'amwezi keep considerable herds of cattle, sheep, and donkeys, and they grow
crops of grain, sweet potatoes, and cassava. Their main food is jjorridge. They weave cloth
and baskets, and cut wooden bowls for milk.
At buth there are no ceremonies of special interest or significance. iNIarriage is by
purchase, and burial consists in throwing the body into the nearest waste land, to be devoured
by the hyenas and vultures. When the Arabs first entered the Unyamwezi country, there
were constant feuds over this rule, owing to the effort of the natives to prevent the pollution
of the soil by the burial of tlie dead.
The Wazaramo.
The Wazaramo occupy a tract of country, about 100 miles across in each direction, near the
Pkoto by Mr. A. B. Fishtr.
UGANDA MAM AND WOJIAN IN NATIVE STYLE.
3>6
The Living Races of Mankind
coast of the mainland
opposite Zanzibar.
They were described
by Burton as " an ill-
. nnditioned, noisy,
'"'isterous, violent,
Hill impracticable
race," and as being for
long " the ])rincipal
obstacle to Arab and
other travellers enter-
ing into East Africa."
He describes them as
having a lozenge-
shaped face, with
oblique eyes, a flat
nose, prominent jaws,
and thick projecting
lips. They train the
hair into numerous
small knobs, held
together by clay and
wAKWAFi MEN OK KAviRciNDo. castor oil. Their Only
garment is a cotton
L-loth, stained yellow ; but the chiefs wear a long white Arab shirt and an embroidered
cap. The weapons of the tribe are spears, bows, i)oisoned arrows, doubled-edged swords or
simcs ; muskets were introduced, but are now i)rohibited. The houses are oblong, and are
compared by Burton to " the humbler sort of English cow-house or an Anglo-Indian bungalow."
The walls are made of canes puddled with clay or of bark fastened against timber and bamboo :
the roof is thatched with grass, and has wide projecting eaves.
The main industry of the country is agricultural. Land is cleared by fires ; it is weeded
and lioed and seed planted before the rains. During the wet season copal-digging is the
main occupation of the people.
loin-
The Wadoa.
West of the Wazaramo is the land of the once powerful tribe of the Wadoa, a peoj)le
intere.sting as the easternmost of the Equatorial cannibals and for their remarkable linguistic
ability. Like most of the coast natives, their physical characters are variable, owing to inter-
mixture of foreign blood. They range in colour from black to light chocolate, and in size
from large and muscular to small and wiry. Their tribal mark is a pair of scars down both
cheeks, from the temple to the jaw. Many stories are current of their former cruelty and
brutality. Thus, according to Bmrton, " with each man are interred alive a male and a female
slave, the former holding a billhook wherewith to cut fuel for his lord in the cold death-world,
and the latter, who is seated upon a little stool, supports his head in her lap." But such
customs have been supjpressed since the German occupation of the country.
The Wakhutu, Wasagara, and Wagogo.
Close neighbours of the Wadoa and Wazaramo are the Wakhutu and Wasagara, who in
most respects resemble the Wazaramo. To the west of this gi-oujj live the Wasagara. a type
of the mountain tribes of the East African highlands. They are a tall, sturdy race, and vary
in coloiu- from nearlv black to chocolate. Their method of wearing the hair is interesting, as
The Bantu of British East Africa 317
it resembles that of the ancient Egyptians. Most of the head is covered with small stiff
ringlets, while what Burton called a curtain of pigtails hangs down behind. The warriors
fasten in their hair the feathers of vultures and bright-coloured birds. The lobes of the ear
are distended by the insertion of a disk of wood or metal ; and this is carried to such a
length that the loop may touch the shoulder. The clothing consists of a cotton loin-cloth or
a kilt of softened goat-skin : the wealthier women, like the Suahili of the coast, wear a long
tobe, reaching up to the arm-pits, and fastened tightly down across the chest.
Occupying the country for five marches west of the Wasagara are the Wagogo, a powerful
race, with most of the same characters. The distension of the ear-lobes is still more marked.
Burton describes them as " not an uncomely race ; some of the younger race might even
lay claim to prettiness. The upper part of the face is often fine, but the lips are thick
and the mouth coarse ; similarly the body is well formed to the haunches, but the lean calf
is placed peculiarly high up the leg. The expression of the countenance, even in the
women, is wild and angry ; and the round eyes are often reddened and bleared by drink.
The voice is strong, strident, and commanding." The members of this tribe are inquisitive
and bullying, but hospitable. They are expert thieves and very lazy, getting all the work of
their fields done by slaves.
Their clothing is more elaborate than that of their eastern neighbours, but their
ornaments of brass wire, beads, and ivory armlets are much the same. Their chief weapon
is the spear, which has a long and broad head, and a long tuliular neck for the insertion
of the handle. Two-edged swords, broader near the end, and bows and barbed arrows are also
carried. The huts, as usaal in this district, are square, and divided up by partitions into
several rooms.
3. THE BANTU OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA.
The Suahili.
The eastern part of British East Africa is occupied by a series of Bantu peoples of many
different tribes, of which we may consider four examples as types of the rest. On the coast
is the race of the Suahili, who range on the mainland from Somaliland to German East
Africa, and occupy the oif-lying islands from Patta near Lamu to Zanzibar. The Suahili are
GROUP OP SUK.
3i8
The Living Races of Mankind
not a definite tribe, but a hybrid race formed by the intermarriage of Arab settlers with the
original coast natives and with the Kegroes brought from the interior as slaves. The name
is derived from the Arabic word sahel, a coast.
The Arab influence in East Africa has been the gradual growth of perhaps 2,000 years.
Phcenician and Arabian merchants sailed down the East African coast in prehistoric times,
and no doubt established stations at various points of call. Seven centuries ago there was a
civil war in ^luscat, the south-east corner of Arabia ; the defeated faction, the Nabahani, were
expelled, and settled in the archipelago of Lamu. Three centuries afterwards the Portuguese
arrived on the coast, and began to establish stations and annex the country. Their encroach-
ments were resisted by the Nabahani, who waged a long conflict with the Portuguese for
mastery along the coast. In this struggle the Arabs were continually reinforced by fresh
arrivals from Arabia, and the new-comers settled in the country. In process of time the
Arabs intermarried with the coast Negroes, and their offspring formed the Suahili race. The
Negro element was much the larger, and was represented by so many different tribes that
the Suahili do not form a homogeneous people. The one important element of union is the
language, which is the lingua franca of Equatorial Africa, is known by members of most
of the inland tribes, and is intelligible to the Bantu peoples as far west as the Congo Basin.
It is probably the most important of the Bantu languages, and a few words may be devoted
to it as a type of the group. The first character that strikes a European is that the
beginning of the word is altered in declension instead
of the end. Thus the words ngema, jema, tvema,
vyema, etc., are all different forms of the word for
"good." Similarly the present, past, and future
tenses of the verb "to get" are mapata, napata,
and tapata. A " man " is mtu ; the plural " men "
is loatu. The second feature of the language is
the " concord," according to which all the variable
parts of speech in a sentence are modified by the
ado[)tion of a prefix similar to that of the noun. A
third character is the combination of several words
into one, so that a short sentence may be fused into
a single word, as in the Suahili riddle Hausimiki-
hausimami.
The Suahili are iMohammedans ; but they are
very tolerant, and one of their proverbs asserts that
^ / J^, ^^^^^^^HH^H a useful infidel is better than a useless believer.
J^ 9^_,^S0^^^^^H '^"^^ headquarters of the Suahili are the coast
jjfly ,^M^^"~ ' "s^^f^H towns, including Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Dar-es-Salaam,
^^ "^^ t? ^ ^ "^^ ,'^w^ ]\l(inibasa, Lamu, and Melindi, and on the Somali coast
if "*».'. '^^^ai l\i-inayu and Mogadoxo. The better-class Suahili
are merchants, and it is they who are mainly
responsible for the slave-raids in Eastern Tropical
Africa south of the Equator.
TiJE Wagikvama.
As ;in example of the primitive East African
coast triljes we may take the Wagiryama, who live
in the hilly uplands between Mombasa and the
Sabaki. As a race they are tall and slim, but
strong. They are agriculturists and not at all war-
like, and until recently had to leave their best lands
untilled, as they could not defend them from the
Photo by Mr. Ernest atdgc] [Ludboroiij/li.
Y'SDK WAREIOB, KAEANIOJO.
The Bantu of British East Africa
319
3 by Father Oaboniel
WABENI SCHOOL-GIRLS.
raids of the Masai. They live in strongly stockaded villages, frequently situated in a patch of
forest. Tlieir huts show a trace of Arab influence, as, unlike those of the ordinary East African
Bantu, they are often built with a gabled roof. The men wear only a small loin-cloth, made
of the tyjje of calico known as " Mericani " ; the women have a double-flounced petticoat
fastened round the waist and round the knees. Their ornaments consist of strings of red
and blue beads, anklets and neck-rings made of brass and iron wire and light steel chain. Their
main industry is agriculture, as they sell their produce in the coast towns for the calico, wire,
beads, and implements which they require.
They are a superstitious tribe, and fetish-worship is more conspicuous among them than
other British East African Bantu. The entrances to the fields are usually through an archway
hung with fetishes; small fetish-huts occur in most of the villages, and some conspicuous
trees are surrounded by a sacred belt, which the women and children are forbidden to enter.
The country is very liable to drought, and in places the people store up water in the
shells of a large snail common in the district. In the dry seasons the people sometimes
devote the whole night to fetching water from distant pools.
The Wapokomo.
The high plateau at the back of the belt of country inhabited by the Wagiryama is
occupied by the nomadic scattered families and small villages of the Wanyika and Waduruma.
The mountains that rise above the scrub-covered deserts of the Nyika are occupied by
the Wateita.
The scrub-covered coast plateau of British East Africa is broken by the valleys of the
Sabaki and the Tana rivers, along the latter of which dwell the Wapokomo, who represent a
320
The Living Races of Mankind
third type of British East African Bantu. They live only on the banks of the Lower Tana;
and as they are protected by the vast swamps of that valley, they have kept free from foreign
influence. As a race they are tall and \'ery powerfully built ; but they are cowardly, and dare
not defend themselves against the raids of the coast Suahili or the dangerous Somali tribes
to the north.
The dress of the j)eople is more limited than that of most of the coast natives. The men
wear a narrow cloth tied tightly round the loins ; the women wear a petticoat of many flounces,
covering from the waist to the knees. As a protection against the cold and wet they keep
the body anointed with castor oil, and the men colour themselves bright red by mixing ochre
with the oil. The principal ornaments are armlets and leg-rings of brass wire and long
strings of white beads. The hair is abundant ; it is dressed with mutton fat and oil, and
is twisted into curls about three inches long, which hang round the head lilie the ends
of a mop.
NATIVES OP LUMBWA.
Every Pokomo is armed with a broad-bladed spear, which is used for killing crocodiles,
reed-rats, and lizards. It is also used as a i)addle for propelling their dug-out canoes.
The tribe is agricultural, their only domestic animals being fowls and sheep. Their
principal foods are the plantain, cassava, beans, and maize; they also gi-ovv castor oil, simsin
oil, pumpkins, tobacco, and sugar-cane. From the last, and still more from the wild fig which
gi'ows along the banks of the Tana, they prepare an intoxicating beverage ; and when this is
in season, the population of whole villages may be found in a state of drunken stupor.
The Pokomo religion is a fetishism of which the rites are secret. Every man carries
about with him a charm, and every village has a fetish-shed, under which is bm-ied, as a
protection against the Somali, some such article as an empty bottle or an old meat-tin. The
elders of the villages form a secret society, something like those of the West African Negroes ;
the Pokomo society is known as Ngadsi, and it rules the tribe and keeps it on fi-iendly terms
with the di'eaded spirit "the Old Man of the Woods." The people make offerings of food
The Bantu of British East Africa
3?^
to this spLrit, which are appropriated by
the chiefs of the order. They ujihold theur
di-ead of the spirit by a drum, of wliich the
sound is louder than the roar of a lion ;
this, they say, is the voice of the Old Man
of the Woods. They have a certain faith
in a future life, though they think it will
not be so pleasant as the present.
The position of women in this tribe
is unusually favourable. They ha\e been
described as monogamous, and marriage
occurs much later than with the coast tribes.
The Pokomo have a proverb that the weak-
ness of the Suahili is due to the birth of
children by children. The women s}iend
most of their time in the villages, and do
little work in the fields and on the ri\er.
During seed-time and harvest they help
the men ; but they take the lighter part
of the tasks. When travelling on the river,
the paddling is always done by the men.
terms with the men.
The women, however, join in the dances on equal
The Wakamf
The Wakamba are the leading Bantu tribe along the line of the Uganda Eailway. The
original home of the tribe was in German East Africa ; but it migrated northward and settled
in the hills of Kikumbuliyu, Iveti, and Kitui. The Wakamba are a well-built race, tall,
muscular, but slimmer than the Pokomo. They are brave, though not aggiessive ; with their
light spears, bows, and poisoned arrows, they have held their hills against the attacks of
Masai, Kikuyu, and Somali. They are keen traders, and not only enjoy bargaining with
passing caravans, but send trading expeditions to the coast. They take down grain, tobacco,
ivory, gum, cattle, and sheep, which they exchange for beads, brass, cloth, and tools. In
trading they use many of the Suahili methods : for example, they measure the cloth by the
" hand " or by the length from elbow to finger-tip of an average man.
The Wakamba wear little clothing : the younger men wear only a flap of skin over the
shoulders; older men and women have a longer, loose mantle of cotton-cloth or skin. The
body is generally kept rubbed with oil and decorated with streaks of paint, usually a white
band across the face, enclosing the eye, and stretching from ear to ear. The upper incisor
teeth of the men are filed into pointed fangs.
Bows and poisoned arrows are the main weapons, but spears and si7ne8, or double-edged
swords, are also used. The chief ornaments are made of brass wire and big blue beads.
Agricultural work is mainly done with wooden implements, the ground being dug up with
pointed stakes and the clods broken by curved sticks. The people Uve in rectangular huts
with vertical walls and thatched roofs. These huts are collected into kraals, each of which
contains practically a family group. Each kraal has its own plantations, the boundaries of
which are marked by hedges, heaps of stone, or irrigation channels. In the plantations are
grown beans, plantains, pumpkins, maize, dhurra, and especially millet, which, boiled into
porridge, is the staple food of the tribe. Tobacco is grown for snufif; but smoking has been
learnt at the coast, and the practice is spreading.
The weapons and ornaments are made by a class of smiths. Grains of iron oxide are
collected from the stream-beds, smelted in charcoal furnaces, and wrought into spear- and arrow-
41
322
The Living Races of Mankind
heads and knives. Brass is purchased from trading
caravans, and worked into beads, earrings, and
bracelets. A small circular brass disk about an inch
in diameter is usually worn on the middle of the
forehead.
The produce of the plantations of each kraal is
the common property of its members : a share for
food is served out to each household and the rest
sold, the goods received in exchange belonging to the
whole kraal. Private property is said to be limited
to clothes and weapons.
The tribe is governed by meetings of the elders,
and though there is a chief over each district his
1 lower is limited. Punishments are only given after
conviction by a jury of elders, after the accused has
been confronted with his accuser and allowed full
opportunities for defence. Capital punishment is in-
flicted only for very serious crimes.
The religion of the Wakamba is jiriinitive. There
is a vague belief in a great spirit, known by the
Masai name Ngai. In times of drought offerings of
plantains, gi'ain, and beer are i:ilaced under sacred trees.
Circumcision is practised, but not as amongst the
.Masai and Kikuyu. All the Wakamba carry a charm,
liut they do not appear to have wooden human
images like the coast tribes. The medicine-men
appear to exercise comparatively little jjower.
THE PEOPLE OF UGANDA AND THEIR ALLIES.
On the north-western shore of the Victoria Nyanza
is the kingdom of Uganda, which is remarkable
among the states of Equatorial Africa for its central-
ised government and organised political institutions.
The main basis of the people of Uganda is Bantu ;
but in Uganda there are scattered gi-oups of a race
known as the Waluuna, who are Hamites allied to the Gallas. The political organisation of
I.Tganda is no doubt due to the conquest of this region by a race of Wahuma invaders.
Thus Speke, the first Eurojiean to visit Uganda, reported that " the government is in the
hands of foreigners, who had invaded and taken possession of the country, leaving the
agi-icultm-al aborigines to till the ground, whilst the junior members of the usurping clans
herded cattle." The conquerors no doubt came from the north-east, as appears from the
evidence of theii- physical structure and language.
Speke was so impressed by the resemblance of the Wahuma of Uganda to the Abyssinians
that he maintained that both those races and the Gallas were the same. And Lugard reports
a remark by Dualla Idris, the greatest of native caravan headmen, to the effect that the
Wasoga resemble the Abyssinians in dress and in many of theu customs— as, for instance, their
method of salutation.
The eastern origin of the Wahuma is, moreover, directly affirmed by native traditions.
Baker describes a remarkable Unyoro custom which survived until the coronation of its last
independent ruler, the now exiled Kabaregga. Before a new king succeeds to the throne he
has to sleep for two nights east of the Nile, and then march back by the path used by the
Ploto hy Mr. Ernest Gaten]
AN KI-GON CHIEF.
324
The Living Races of Mankind
invaders. On reaching the river, he crosses by boat to the exact landing-place " where the
original conqueror first set his foot upon the frontier."
The Wahuma invaders conquered not only Uganda, but a large tract of country west of
the Victoria Nyanza. There they established the empire of Kitwara, which has long since
been broken up into the recently independent states of Uganda, Unyoro, and Toru ; while its
political influence can be detected over a still wider area, as in Usoga, to the east of the Nile,
and in the Monbuttu (Mangbattu) country, west of the Albert Nyanza.
The Wag an da.
Uganda is the central and most important part of these Kitwara states. It is situated to
the north-west of the Victoria Nyanza, and its old capital of Mengo is now the administrative
centre for the much vaster region known as the British Protectorate of Uganda.
The population of Uganda has been estimated at from 800,000 to 5,000,000. The former
figure is probably the nearer the truth. ]\Iost of the people are typical Bantu Negroes, the
Wahuma being numerically insignificant. The Wahuma characteristics are recognisable only
in the chiefs or in some clans of cattle-herds living to the west of the Nyanza.
As a type of the Wahuma caste we may quote Speke's description of jNItesa, who was
king at the time of that traveller's visit :—
"The king, a good-looking, well-figured, tall young man of twenty-five, was sitting on
a red blanket spread upon a square platform of royal grass, encased in tiger-grass reeds,
scrupulously well dressed in a new mhugii [i.e. bark-cloth]. The hair of his head was cut
short, excepting on the top, where it was combed up into a high ridge, running from stem
to stern like a cockscomb. On his neck was a very neat ornament — a large ring, of beautifully
worked small beads, forming elegant patterns by their various colours. On one arm was
another bead ornament, prettily devised ; and
~- on the other a wooden charm, tied by a string
covered with snake-skin. On every finger and
every toe he had alternate brass and copper
rings ; and above the ankles, half-way up to
the calf, a stocking of very pretty beads-
Everything was light, neat, and elegant in its
way ; not a fault could be found with the
laste of his 'getting up.' For a handkerchief
lie held a well-folded piece of bark, and a
[liece of gold-embroidered silk, which he con-
stantly employed to hide his large mouth
when laughing, or to wipe it after a drink
of plantain wine, of which he took constant
and copious draughts from neat little gouid
cups, administered by his ladies-in-waiting,
who were at once his sisters and wives. A
white dog, spear, shield, and woman — the
Uganda cognisance — were by his side, as also
a knot of staif officers, with whom he kept
up a brisk conversation on one side, and on
the other was a band of inchiuezi, or lady
sorcerers.
" The king's gait in retiring was intended
to be very majestic, but did not succeed in
conveying to me that impression. It was the
traditional walk of his race, founded on the
i
Photo by Richard Bvchta.
AN UNYORO GIRL (FULL-FACE).
The People of Uganda and their Allies
325
DNVOIiO CIKL (I'UOFIIE).
step of the lion ; hut the outward sweep of
the legs, intended to represent the stride of
the noble beast, appeared to me only to
realise a very ludicrous kind of waddle, which
made me ask if anything serious was the matter
with the royal person."
The dress of the Waganda consists of /
long robes of cloth made by beating the bark ,
of a species of fig-tree with wooden hammers.
But imported cotton has of late years been ,'
superseding the native material. Over the
bark-cloth mantle was worn a robe made
either of cattle or of small antelope-skins sewn
together. The whole body is covered, and
under Mtesa's rule the punishment for being
seen out of doors insufficiently clad was death.
In the court, however, the wonaen in irame- y
diate attendance on the king were all quite \
nude. Ornaments of beads and brass wire \
were extensively used ; but the ornaments
have changed, owing to increased communica-
tion with the coast. Tattooing and the filing
or extraction of teeth are unkno^vn. The old
weapons, bows and an-ows, ha\e been exchanged
for muskets and rifles.
The Uganda houses are large beehive-
shaped structm-es of thatch supported by posts.
The roof is double, which keeps the temperature lower than it otherwise would be.
The staple food is the banana, which is broken into flour and eaten as gruel or unleavened
cakes. Sweet potatoes, maize, millet, beans, and pumpkins are also largely used, while the
Arabs hare introduced tomatoes, papaw, and rice. Coffee is grown, and the berries are chewed.
The national religion is fetishism, but JNIohammedanism and Christianity have been
introduced and been widely adopted. The Christian missionaries belong to three parties: the
White Fathers of Algeria, a French Eoman Catholic mission ; the Mill Hill lathers, who
are English Catholics; and the Protestant missionaries, belonging to the Church of England.
The missionaries have been very successful in educational work. Before the introduction
of Christianity and Islam and the establishment of British control human sacrifices were
extensively offered for religious motives, while much life was squandered by the caprice
of the king.
Though the lives of strangers in Uganda were regarded as sacred, all the early tra\ellers
to the country were horrified by the waste of life. Thus Speke assures us that " nearly
every day, incredible as it may seem, I have seen one, two, or three of the wretched palace
women led away to execution, tied by the hand, and dragged along by one of the body-guard,
crying out, as she went to premature death, ' 0 my lord ! my king ! my mother ! ' at the
top of her voice, in the utmost despair and lamentation ; and yet there was not a soul
who dared lift hand to save any of them, though they might be heard privately commenting
on their beauty."
The king was an absolute despot, and was regarded as almost divine. Hence attendance
at court was almost a religious duty. It is, according to Speke, " the duty of all officers,
generally speaking, to attend at court as constantly as possible; should they fail, they forfeit
their lands, wives, and all belongings. These will be seized and given to others more worthy
of them, as it is presumed that either insolence or disaffection can be the only motive which
326
The Living Races of Mankind
would induce any person to absent himself for any length of time from the pleasure of seeing
his sovereign.
" All acts of the king are counted benefits, for which he must be thanked : and so
every deed done to his subjects is a gift received by them, though it should assume the
shape of a flogging or fine ; for are not these, which make better men of them, as necessary
as anything? The thanks are rendered by grovelling on the ground, floundering about, and
whining after the manner of happy dogs, after which they rise up suddenly, take up sticks —
spears are not allowed to be carried in court— make as if charging the king, jabbering as fast
as tongues can rattle, and so they swear fideUty for all their lives."
The Wasoga.
Several of the tribes adjacent to Uganda also show the influence of a Wahuma caste upon
a subject Bantu race. Thus east of Uganda, on the other side of the Nile, live the Wasoga,
who agree in most resjjects with the Waganda, but are blacker in colour, and contain a
larger proportion of Negro blood. They resemble the Waganda in stature and physique, in
the absence of bodily mutilations, and in the use of bark-cloth garments and of the banana
as the staple food. On the other hand, they ofifer a striking contrast to the naked people of
Kavirondo, their neighbom-s to the south-east. Lugard, in describing the Wasoga, remarks on
their superior type, adding that " their quick eyes and high foreheads bespeak a higher intelligence
tlian tlie Wakavirondo."
The Wasoga dress in long robes of bark-cloth, made by hammering the bark of fig-trees.
The costume consists of a long flowing mantle, which stretches from the shoulders or the waist
to the ankles. But, as is so often the
case with African tribes, morality does not
coincide with decent dress. Polygamy is
23revalent, and the chiefs number their wives
by the hundred.
The \illages are large and open, and
consist of circular huts, with high, conical,
thatched roofs : in the largest huts tlie roof
is sujiported on vertical walls, but in the
huts of the peasants the thatch-cone rests
upon the ground.
The main industry is agi-icultm-e, and
the staple food is the banana, which also
furnishes the chief native drink, a banana
beer or pomhe. Hemp is grown and
smoked in small clay i)ipes.
The Wanyoro.
t)n the side of Uganda opposite Usoga
is Unyoro, the country of the Wanyoro,
who are also a race of Bantu Negroes
modified by Wahuma influence.
Baker, coming from the north, was as
much impressed by the contrast between
the chaos of the Nilotic Negroes and the
feudal organisation in Unyoro, as Stanley,
coming from the south, was fascinated by
the difl'erence between the petty Bantu
^IS^^
Photo by Hid ill I
A PElNCtbb Oi L.N^ORO (1 ULL-KACE),
The People of Uganda and their Allies
327
^^■Millli
communities and the centralised govern-
ment of Uganda. Every district in Unyoro
was governed by a chief, responsible to the
king, and controlling a number of sub-
chiefs and a series of lower officials. In the
event of war every governor could apiiear at
the head of his contingent at short notice.
The Wanyoro appear to have been less
altered by the Wahuma than the Waganda,
for they retain the widespread Negro custom
of extracting the front teeth in the lower
jaw ; and they practise scar-tattooing, the
tribal mark being two rows of scars across
the forehead. They are a shorter race than
the Waganda, of a lighter and generally
redder complexion. Baker's description of
Kabaregga, who was king at the time of his
visit, shows the general characters of one of
the ruling caste. Kabaregga was said to lie
the sixteenth king since the conquest : —
"Kabaregga was about 5 feet 10 inches
in height, and of extremely light com-'
plexion. His eyes were very large, but
projected in a disagreeable manner. A broad
but low forehead and high cheek-bones,
added to a large mouth, with rather'
prominent but exceedingly white teeth,
complete the description of his face. His
hands were beautifully shaped."
In general culture the people resemble the Waganda, but are in some respects inferior.
Their huts, for example, are not so well built, and are beehive-shaped, thatched houses, sujaported
on a central pole. The chief town, Masinde was described by Baker as composed of several
thousands of such huts. The national weajion is the spear, instead of the bow and arrow; and
the dress consists of robes of bark-cloth.
The marriage system, as in Uganda, is unlimited polygamy, and tlie closest blood-relatives
may marry. Mohammedanism has been introduced and has made considerable progress, and
will probably limit this system. The national religion is fetishism, and human sacrifices were
recklessly offered, especially at the death of a king. The burial rites are described by Baker
as follows : " The body of the king is mummified by being roasted over a slow fire, and is
then laid out in state in a large hut. His successor plants his spear at the right hand of the
corpse as a symbol of his succession and victory over rival claimants. A huge pit is dug and
lined with bark-cloth. During the night before the burial the king's own regiment seizes a
number of people and brings the captives to the graveside. The body of the king is placed
upon the knees of a group of his wives, who sit at the bottom of the pit. The legs and arms of
the captives are broken with clubs, and they are thrown into the pit on to the top of the king's
body and wives. Earth is shovelled in and sttimped into a compact mass by thousands of the
people, while the shrieks of the victims are drowned by drums and shouts. The mangled mass is
buried and trodden down beneath a tumulus of earth, and all is still. The funeral is over."
Photo by Richnrd Bnchta.
A PKIKCESS OF nNYORO (PROFILE).
The Monbuttu, or Mangkattu.
West of Unyoro, in the basin of the Ubangi, the great north-eastern tributary of the
Congo, dwell the Monbuttu (Junker's Mangbattu), who are allied by some of their physical features
328
The Living Races of Mankind
and bv their political system to the Waganda group, but who by their language and by many
of their customs are akin to the Nilotic Negroes. The Monbuttu were first visited by
Schweinfurth, who estimated their numbers at about 1,000,000 and their territory at nearly
4,000 square miles. But their kingdom was overrun by Arab raiders, and they are now subjects
of the Congo Free State.
In physical character the Moiilmttu are remarkable for their light brown tint, light
greyish hair, long curved nose, and the somewhat Semitic form of the skull. Schweinfurth
described the king as a man with " small whiskers and a tolerably thick beard ; his perfectly
Caucasian nose offered a remarkable contrast to the thick and protruding Negro lips. In his
eyes gleamed the wild light of animal sensuality, and around his mouth lurked an expression
of avarice, violence, and love of cruelty that could with the extremest difficulty relax into a
smile." The king was autocratic, and the political organisation of the country similar to that
of Uganda before the British annexation. " The Monbuttu," says Schweinfmth, " are subject
to a monarchical government of an importance beyond the average of those of Central Africa;
and in its institutions it appears to correspond with the descriptions of Negro empires long
since passed away." At the time of Schwein-
furth's visit the king held his court in a palatial
hall 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, and with a
vaulted roof 40 feet high ; he sat at one end on
a throne, surrounded by his comliers, officials, and
marshals. He received taxes from his subjects,
and had a monopoly of the ivory.
The dress of the ^lonbuttu is simple : the
women have only a plantain leaf hanging down
from a narrow girdle ; while the men are wrapped
in a mantle made from the bark of a fig-tree.
The hair in both sexes is worn as a cylindrical
chignon. The women have bands of scars cut
across their breasts and back, and ai-e painted in
\arious designs. The ornaments worn consist of
chains of teeth and steel rings and copper neck-
laces. The weapons are curved swords, long-headed
spears, knives, daggers, bows and arrows. The
tools used include the spade for agricultm-al work,
axes for tree-felling, and adzes for carpentry and
hollowing out canoes, which are sometimes 40 feet
long by 5 feet wide.
The ordinary dwelling-huts are two-roomed buildings 30 feet long by 20 feet wide : the roofs
are overhanging, and are lined with plaintain leaves. The huts are placed in rows on the
banks of the numerous streams.
The staple food of the country is the plantain; but various grains, cassava, yams,
ground-nuts, and tobacco are also grown. The food is mixed with oil obtained from the oil-palm
and sesame. Tobacco is largely grown, and its foreign origin is clearly indicated by its name,
eh tobboo. Meat is obtained by hunting and fish by poisoning the streams with the juice of
the Tephrosia. Cannibalism was practised extensively. Schweinfurth reports that while he was
in the Monbuttu country a child was kiUed every day for the king's meal.
Weaving and tanning are miknown ; but the people are very skilful metal-workers and
wood-carvers; while the pottery, like the black earthenware of Uganda, is very superior to
that of the average African native.
The whole of the agricultural work is done by the women, who are treated by the men on
terms of equality. But polygamy is the rule, and the king's wives are numbered by the hundred.
Though many of the habits and institutions of the Monbuttu are similar to those of the
Photo by Richard Bu
JBUTT0 NKGRESS.
t-fM.
COXGO XATIVES.
42
330
The Living Races of Mankind
Wagaudu aud Wanyoro on the eastern side of the Nile, their language belongs to the group
sjjoken in East Soudan. The probable explanation of the characters of the jMonbuttu is that
they are Negroes allied to the Niam-niam, but altered by Wahuma influence. Though they
are therefore not Bantu, they may be included as the westernmost of the Kitwara states.
b. THE BANTU OF WESTERN AFRICA.
The west coast of Africa from the angle of the Gulf of Guinea southward fn Haniaraland is
occupied by Bantu tribes, who may be divided into two groups— the people of Angnla. and the
Bantu of the French Congo and the Cameroons. Inland is a third group — the tribes of the
Congo Basin.
The natis'es of the coast lands of the Portuguese province of Angola have been greatly
altered by foreign influences. The Angola tribes belong to three groups. The northern part
of the country for 120 miles south of the Congo is occupied by members of the race of the
Bakongo The southern coast legion is inhabited by the Abunda. The south-eastern or
uihnd section of \ngola is 0CLU[)i(.d by i gioup of tubes known as the Ganguella, or
st immeiei these danguelli mhdnt the bism of the I iba, a tributary of the Zambesi;
md
.tion (}f the 1 lee kiuwn ^s
the 1 ill
id I IS dominant in the Kasai, the great
southern tributary of the Congo.
The Bakongo, who occupy Northern
Angola, give their name to the Congo
Ivuei along which they extend far into
the mteiior. The Bakongo are divided
int ) se\(ral sections; close to the coast
th( u lie the Kabinda to the north of the
( n^o md the Mushikongo to the south
I it Inland they reach Stanley Pool,
hi \ II 1 which they are replaced by the
1 111(1 liud Bantu of the interior. Joliii-
I 11 pe lilts out that there are two different
I \ ] I among the Congo peoples : one of
: man. with
we'll- shaped
1..S,.. beard,
op of hair;
oosely-made
li ca'lves, a
I hair about
^ liead close
md eiisply curled. The farther you go
II t the interior, the finer the type be-
iiu Such men as the Bayausi of Bolobo
lie pel feet Greek statues in the develop-
iiiei t and poise of their forms, and two
] lilts about them contrast very favourably
with most of the coast races — namely,
I hill lighter colour, generally a warm
chocolate, and theii- freedom from that
oflensive smell which is supposed, wrongly,
to characterise most Africans. INIany other
details show the comparatively high status
of the Upper Congo races — their small
J
'A
1
whieh IS "a fine. tall,
dell. it. 1\ Miiall hands
r. et I hue face, liigh.
upright
and
thin n
\
}t
Ill u t I he. and a ple'iil
the .(h,r an ilhslia
itlll cr,:
pcd. h
>
h^UK with splay \'rr
leti. itmg chill, blubber
the flee and the wool
t. hi-li
lips.iio
The Bantu of Western Africa
33^
hands ami feet, their well-shaped le<js
with full calves, and their abundant IickN
of liair."
But if the c..a>t nu'iiilicrs ,,f i; .■
Congo tribes are ])liv>ically inlciini
the natives of the intcriur. tht>\- t-nnn" n-
sate for this by intelligence. Stanley
describes them as excejitionally shrewd in
trade. He purchased the site of the
Congo Free State station at A'ivi from
some of tlie Kabinda, and found they
drove a hard bargain.
"In the management of a bargain,"
said Stanley, "I should back the Congoese
native against Jew or Christian, Parsee or
Banyan, in all the round world. Un-,
thinking men may ].iThajis say cle\erness
at barter and shn'udiicss in 1 1 ade cunsort
not with their un>uplii>ticalr(i condition
and degraded customs. 'Unsojihistieated'
is the last term I should ever ai)ply to
an African child or man in connection
with the knowledge of how to trade
Applv the term, if vou please, to yourxlt
oi to a Ked In.hni but it i^ utt( il\
mtpjih, dil, t,> 1,1 \fn, 111 ind thi^ i.
him I 1m\, .(111 hild ,.t ( ight .lo
m<a( tin! s ..t ti id, in in hoiu thiu th,
cle\eiest ] uiojk m tinlii du thi (<iii_,
could do m I month ilieit i- i hill
boy at Bolobo iged m\ mined I nigeiiji
who would make more pioflt out of il
worth of cloth than an English boy of
fifteen would make out of £10 worth.
Therefore, when I write of a Congo nati\e,
whetlier he is of the Bakongo, Bayanzi,
or Bateke tribes, remember to associate him with an almost
shrewdness, and power of indomitable and untiring chaffer."
The tribes at the mouth of the Congo have been subject to foreign iiiHiipnces for so long
a time that they are less interesting ethnographieally than the more primiti\e races of the
interior. Between Stanley Pool and the coast races are the Bakongo. whom Jolmston has described
as intermediate between the pm-e Bantu of the interior and the Kaliinda: "Their skin is not
the dead coal-black of the coast tribes, but is often a warm chocolate or ruddy brown. They
do not practise much personal adornment, either by cicatrisation, tattooing, or painting the
skin with divers pigments. They are naturally a hairy race, especially about the face — some
of the chiefs wearing copious beards, whiskers, and moustaches — but on the body the i^ile is
jilucked out from the age of puberty, otherwise their bodies would be partially covered with
short curly hair. The two front incisor teeth are occasionally chipped; but this is not a
regular custom, as it is farther up the ri\er. In character the Bakongo are indolent, fickle,
and sensual. They dislike bloodshed as a general rule, and, save for certain superstitious
customs, are rarely cruel, showing kindness and gentleness to animals. When their passions
inconceivable amount of natur;
JJ'
The Living Races of Mankind
are excited, liO\ve\er, bv fear of witcheraft or a wish to re\enge graxe injuries, thev caii
become very demons of fanatical rage ; and the people, that in their calmer moments will
shudder at an abrasion of the skin in a friend or neighbour, will, when he is convicted of
sorcery, leap and shout with frenzied joy around his fiery stake while he frizzles alive."
The Bakongo ai-e often known as the Bafiort (properly Bafiot), which, howexer, is not a
clan or even a tribal name, but merely an epithet meaning " Black," applied to them by theii-
Bakongo neighbours. The name Bafiort is well known, owing to its adoption by Dennett in
his works on the folklore and customs of these peojile. The Bakongo tribe is imj)ortant in
connection with Negro religion, as it constitutes the fourth of IMiss Kingsley's four schools of
West African fetish. Its fetish "is mainly concerned with the worship of the mystery of the
power of the Earth." Every normal death is attributed to witchcraft ; some one is chai-ged
by the medicine-man, and the accused is compelled to submit to the poison ordeal. Phallic
worship is included among the rites of the tribe, and the transition from boyhood to manhood
is marked by a prolonged and elaborate series of initiation rites.
Passing from the Lower to the jMiddle Congo, we enter a region occupied by tribes of
pure Bantu stock. The chief tribes are the Bateke. about Stanley Pool ; the Eayansi or Byyanzi.
above the junction of the Kasai ; the Eangala, between the Ubangi and the Congo; and the
Balolo, in the great bend of the Congo. These people, says Johnston, "are pure Bantu, and
consequently greatly resemble other unmixed races of the same stock, such a.i the Ovambo,
the Balunda, and the jjeople of Tanganyika and Nyasa. They differ from more JS'egroid
Bakongo in having skins of a chocolate brown, and abo\e all, in their abundant growth of
hair. The beard, whiskers, and moustache are
always present, but are generally, in common
with the hair of the eyebrows and the eyelashes,
plucked out, from a prejudice against cultivating
hair an\^vhere but on the top of the head." The
body is extensively decorated with cicatrisation.
The characters of the skull vary considerably,
suggesting that even here there has been
a considerable intermixture of races. The nose
is usually flat, with widely opened nostrils,
Init 2)eople with a high nose are not unknowii.
The lips, again, are often thick and turned out-
ward, like those of the conventional " nigger,"
liut some of the people ha\e thin lips. The
cliin mav be prominent and lieavy, or weak
iiiul receding.
In mental characters the ^Middle Congo
natives are also more attractive than those of the
Lower Congo. The medicine-man is unimportant
or unknown : the people are not haunted by
poison ordeal or " pestered with initiation cere-
monies." In character, says Sir Harry Johnston,
" they are kindly, light-hearted, and full of sensi-
bility to beauty. Tliey are fond of colour and
of music, and indulge in dancing that has much
nif.miiiL; ami gi'acc. They are decidedly amorous
in (li>|Hi-ii inn, but there is a certain poetry in
tlii'ir let •! nigs which ennobles theii- love above
mere passion. Husbands are fond of their own
wives as well as thofc of other people, and many
a pretty family picture may be seen in their
CONGO MA.V AND WOMAN.
The Bantu of Western Africa ^t,;^
homesteads, when the father and niutlier rcinip with their children, or sit together in a
munching group round the supper-pot."
Clothing among the jNIiddle Congo tribes is very simple, consisting of a little gi-ass-cloth.
Ornaments of feathers and fur, shells, glass, and metal beads, are worn, and the skin is
decorated by stripes of paint or an extensive sei-ies of cicatrices. Sometimes this scar-tattooing
is decorative and covers the body, as among the Bangala : other peoples use it only as a
tribal distinction, such as the horizontal series of scars across the cheek-bones of the Eateke,
or the band across the forehead of the Bayansi. The dressing of the hair is very elaborate.
One favourite design, which is illustrated in a drawing of the head of an Mboko shown on
page 329, is an imitation of the horns of the bnllalo.
Tlie ordinary huts of the natives are formed of mats wo\en from a reedy grass or the
fibres of plants. That of the chief is constructed more skilfully of palm leaves, and is encircled
by a fence of reeds. The household furniture and utensils are of the most primitive type.
It is, however, by their arts and indastiies that the Middle Congo Bantu especially
excel. Herein they are superior to any of their neighbours. Their weapons are of tirst-
rate workmanshii). Their knives and spears are of well-tempered steel : the handles are
excellently carved, and inlaid with brass and metal slips. Th.eir furniture consists of stools
and ]iillows car\ed from single blocks of wood. I'heir pottery, though hand-moulded, is
gi-aceful in form. They are devoted to music, and play the drum or tom-tom, trumpets made
from antelope horns, the marimba or primitive piano, and a tive-stringed lyre. Their knives
are varied in shape, some being either throwing-knives or retaining traces of the shape ot
that weapon. Battle-axes are not used, but the weapon survives in a much decorated and
useless form as a symbol of authority.
All along the rivers the natives use canoes, which are often of great size. They are used
for war, transport, and iishing. The Congo and its tributaries abound in iish, and the natives
334
The Living Races of Mankind
are \erv expert in eatehiiig them ^vitll nets, spears,
traps, and lines. The Bavansi carry on a great trade
in smoked fish.
The main food, however, is vegetable, especially
the banana and plantain. Cassava, maize, and sweet
[lotatoes are also extensively grown. The domestic
animals are few, incUuling the goat, dog, pig. fowl,
autl rarely slieep.
South of the Balolo, who occupiy the region within
the gi-eat bend of the Congo about the lower course
of the Kasai and some of the other southern affluents,
follow the great nations of the Bakuba, Bakete, and
Baluba. The Bakete are probably the oldest settlers
in the district. They were broken up first by the
invasion of the Bakuba from the north-east: this
direction is indicated by the traditions among the
Bakuba, and is confirmed by many points of re-
semblance with the tribes of the North-eastern Congo
Basin. The Baluba. on the contrary, came from the
south ; they were the latest arrivals, and are the
dominant race in the Kasai Basin. They have been
(Icsrrilicd in ill-tail by \\'i<siiiunn. The nation may be
ili\iili'd iut.i two M'iti.in> : the Western Baluba, known
as the Bashihuige, are we:iker, more ugly, and more
mixed than the P^astern Baluba; the relation lietwcen
the two groups is analogous to that of the Western
and Easteiii I^ikongo. The main point of interest
about the r.a-liihm-v i< their cult of hemp ; the great
secret or religinus .-orii-ty in this nation is known as
the Bena-lviamba, or caste of the " sons of hemp."
This association apjiears to have gi'own out of
a general political and social movement which had
its rise about the year 1870, when a large section
of the Bashilange (properly Tushilange) became
divided into two hostile factions on the question
Portuguese from the west, Zanzibar Suahili from the
east) into their territory. The king having sided with the young or progressive party, the old
people, here as elsewhere "Conservatives," were defeated with great slaughter and driven
eastwards beyond the Lulua. Thus the barriers of seclusion were broken down, commercial
relations were established with the outer world, and the custom of riumba (bhang) smoking,
already prevalent on the Zanzibar coast, was introduced with many other innovations. it was
thus that the Tushilange justified the description given of them by Wissmann, who called
them "a nation of thinkers, with the interrogative 'why' constantly on their li[is."'
Social arrangements among the Upper Congo tribes depend on the conditions of public
safety. Polygamy prevails, every man having wives according to his wealth and rank. There
<are no nuptial ceremonies, and marriage is by pm-chase or captm-e, the bridegroom often
arranging the alliance by making his father-in-law a present, providing the bride with her
marriage outfit, and bearing the cost of a family feast. Funei-al rites are simplified by the
extensive practice of cannibalism : this is especially prevalent on the UpjDer Congo, where the
■dead are nearly always thus disposed of. Chiefs are as a rule formally buried, and the body is
supplied with various utensils, and a quantity of cloth, beads, or other article of currency.
These goods are broken or damaged either to ensure their dying and going to the spirit-world,
of admitting foreign traders (Ani.
■>.=ir>:T^' ^ i. _
^6 The Living Races of Mantcind
m
6BOBP OF COXGO NATIVES DIIESSED
or else, when deijosited on the gi-ave above-ground, to prexent them from being picked up
as " miconsidered trifles " by passing wayfarers. Several slaves are often killed and buried with
the chief, so that he may have the assistance of his former servants. Not infrequently the
bodies of the dead are desiccated by roasting, and then buried in the huts which they formerly
occupied. The interment is often delayed for a year or more, in order that all the relatives
may be present at the "wake."
CHAPTER XV.
THE EQUATORIAL AND NILOTIC NEGROES.
a. THE BANTU OF THE FRENCH CONGO.
Western Equatorial Africa, between the basins of the Congo and the Niger, comprising the
regions of the Ogowe, the Gabun, and the Cameroons, was probably once inhabited only by
Bantu Negroes. In the Protectorate of the French Congo the main Bantu tribes are the
Ashira, Okanda, Apingi, Apono, Ishogo, and the Ashango, whose numbers have now been
reduced by the invasion of the Fans, a people of doubtful Negroid affinities.
The tribes in this area belong to what JNIiss Kingsley calls the Mpongwe school of fetish,
in which the main idea is by the aid of charms to secure increased material prosperity.
The Ashira.
The Ashira, Okanda, Apingi, and Apono are closely allied tribes or sections of one great
nation occupying the upper basin of the Ngunie River, one of the tributaries of the Ogowe.
The Ashira live the nearest to the coast, and have been rapidly adopting the customs of the
coast tribes. Their original grass-cloth garments have been superseded by thin cotton-cloths,
which rapidly become dirty and ragged.
Their main food is the plantain, which is
grown in plantations of great extent : du
Chaillu estimated that one at the village
of Angouka contained some 30,000 trees.
Each tree bears a bunch which ranges
in weight up to 120 lbs. The general
customs of the tribe are the same as
those subsequently discovered among the
Okanda and Apono, who live farther inland,
and have doubtless preserved the primitive
systems less altered. But owing to their
closer intercourse with the coast tribes
the western Ashira are less shy, and more
is known of their religious beliefs. They,
of course, believe in fetish, and their
firm faith in immortality is shown by
their bm-ial customs. The cemeteries are
just outside the villages, and the body
is placed in a sitting posture on the
ground. In the case of a chief who died
while Paul du Chaillu was crossing the
district, the body was wrapped in a
European coat and placed beside an
umbrella, both of which articles had been
begged from du Chaillu. In addition
there was a chest containing plates, jugs.
338
The Living Races of Mankind
cooking utensils, the chief's favourite pipe, and some tobacco. A fire was kept burning beside
the body for some weeks, and a plate of food was provided daily.
The marriage limitations of the Ashira are interesting. All unions between blood-relatives
are prohibited ; but a man may marry all the wives of a deceased uncle or his step-mother.
The IsnoGO.
The Ishogo are described by du Chaillu as a tribe of fine men, superior in physique to
the Ashira and in mental qualities to the Fans, whom they resemble in bodily structure. They
live in the French Congo, on the mountains around the upper part of the Rembo River, south
of the Ogowe. They inhabit large villages of about 150 huts, arranged in well-planned streets.
The huts are large, and divided into several rooms ; they are provided with low wooden doors,
painted with coloured designs. The dress is limited to a small petticoat of grass-cloth. The
body is coloured red with a powder obtained from a native wood, and is ornamented by
an elaborate series of scars; the main tribal mark appears to be a few pea-shaped scars
raised between the eyebrows and the cheeks. Formerly the practice of pulling out the two
middle upper incisors and tiling the others to points was universally adopted. The most
remarkable personal adornments are the women's chignons, formed by plaiting the well-gi-eased
hair on to a cylindrical grass-work tower : the chignon is about 9 inches long, and rises from
the head either vertically or horizontally backward ; the rest of the head is shaved. The
men have the hair worked into flat flaps hanging round the sides of the head, while the
crown is sha\ed. In both sexes the eyebrows and eyelashes are all removed. The chief metal
ornaments are neck-rings and armlets of brass and iron, while the women also wear long
strings of beads. The Ishogo are very peaceful, and usually go unarmed ; the sword is their
chief weapon, but they have in addition spears, bows, and arrows. They are agriculturists,
and live mainly on plantains. Their chief industry is the weaving of palm fibres into
grass-cloth in primitive hand-looms and the plaiting of baskets. They grow tobacco, which is
smoked in pipes, and an intoxicating drink is made from jialm sajx
TBEAT\-JIa::i>C, KIKHI
The Bantu of the Frencli Congo
339
Like all West African Megroes,
they believe in fetishes, and have a
fetish-hut in the centre of the village
beside a sacred fig-tree. This tree is
planted at the foundation of the
village ; when it dies, the site is aban-
doned and a new village founded else-
where. The language of the Ishogo is
distinct from that of their neighbours
the Ashira, but is the same as that
of the Apingi.
The Ai'ono.
The Apono are tlie most inland
members of the Ashira group. They
are close neighbours of the Ishogo.
They seem to have retained more of
the primitive characters of the tribe
than their western allies. Like most
of the adjacent Negroes, they orna-
ment the body with a system of scar-
tattooing, their peculiar tribal mark
being a lozenge-shaped group of nine
prominences the size of peas, placed
between the eyebrows. The villages
of the Apono are large, well planned,
and clean. The people are brave and
warlike, and at the same time they
are industrious. They dig and smelt
nodules of iron ore, and work the
metal into spear-heads, triangular
arrow-points, and curved sword-blades.
Their spears have long, lance-shaped heads, and are used for thrusting and not throwing. The
arrow-heads are poisoned and loosely attached to the shaft, so that the latter falls off, while the
barb remains in the body. The chief weapon of defence is a round shield made of wicker-work.
Like the other sections of the Ashira, the Ajjono weave grass-cloth for clothing, and twist
their hair into elaborate horn-like or tower-like projections. They are mainly agricultural, and
have large groves of plantains, lime-trees, and palms. Their domestic animals include the
goat, fowl, and pig. They prepare great quantities of palm wine, and while the supply lasts
they habitually get drunk and are very quarrelsome, and their dancing and drinking festivals
are described as scenes of wild uproar.
BROTHKR CHIEF, KlKl
The Apingi.
The Apingi are a smaller and less sturdy race and are lighter in colour than the Apono.
They pull out two of the upper incisor teeth, and file the others and the lower incisors to
points ; but the custom is said to be slowly dying out. They have the same habits as the
Ashira, but are less industrious. Their methods in surgery, according to du Chaillu, are drastic ;
he describes an operation on a woman who was sufl'ering from leprosy and lumbago. In order
to cure the latter disease the woman's back was cut in many places with a knife, and quantities
of lime juice and pounded cayenne pepper vigorously rubbed into the wound. It is recorded
that the pati<^nt screamed, but not that she was cured. In another case an efl'ort was made
340
The Living Races of Mankind
surrounding trees.
to cure a chief by marking his body with chalk made from the bones of his ancestors, spitting
on the affected parts of the patient's body, and touching them with a burning grass torch.
Du Chaillu regards this medical use of fire as a kind of fire-worship. The same author has
given a graphic account of an ordeal at which three nephews of the Okanda chief were
compelled to drink poison on suspicion of having bewitched the chief. The accused men said
they were not afraid to drink the poison, for they were not wizards and would not die. The
poison was accordingly prepared, and the people of the village assembled to watch its effect.
" When the poor fellows were brought into the middle of the circle of excited spectators, it
was horrid to see the ferocity expressed in the countenances of the people; it seemed as
though their nature had entirely changed. Knives, axes, and spears were held ready to be
used on the bodies of the victims if they should succumb under the ordeal. A breathless
silence prevailed whilst the young men took the much-dreaded cups of liquid and boldly
swallowed the contents; the whispering of the wind could be heard through the leaves of the
But it was only of short duration. As soon as the poison was drunk, the
crowd began to beat their
sticks on the ground, and
shout, ' If they are wizards,
let the mboundou kill
them ; if innocent, let it
go out ! ' repeating the
words as long as the sus-
pense lasted. The struggle
was a severe one ; the eyes
of the young men became
bloodshot, their limbs
trembled convulsively, and
every muscle in their
bodies was visibly working
under the potent irritation.
The more acute their
sufferings became, the
louder vociferated the ex-
cited assembly. I was
horror-stricken, and, al-
Ph..h,7^,7h'.^.Z.i ,,^'daa ■ ^ though I would gladly
A GRonp OF NiAM-NiAM NATIVES, tiave fled from the place,
felt transfixed to the spot.
I knew that if they fell I should have no power to save them, but should be forced to see
them torn limb from hmb. At length, however, the crisis came — a sudden shiver of the body
and involuntary discharge — and the first intended victim had escaped. The same soon after
hai^jJened to the second and to the third. They gradually came back to their former state, but
appeared very much exhausted. The trial was over, and the doctor closed the ceremony by
himself drinking an enormous quantity of the jjoison, with a similar result to that which we
had witnessed in the young men, only that he appeared quite tipsy ; in his wild and incoherent
sayings he stated that the bewitchers of Mayolo [the chief] did not belong to the village —
a decision which was received with great acclamation. Mayolo rejoiced that the wizards did not
belong to his own people, and the whole peojale were wild with joy ; guiis were fired, and the
evening jiassed with beating of di-ums, singing, and dancing."
i,:j^
The Ashango.
Tlie Ashango are the dominant tribe in Ashangoland, a district in the French Congo,
south of the Ogowe. They are neighbours of the Ishogo, and have many of the same
342
The Living Races of Mankind
customs and similar physical structm-e ; but they speak a ditferent language, which is that of
the Ashira. The Ashango are described as a less peaceful and industrious tribe than the
Ishogo. Thus they always carry their swords, and usually also their spears and poisoned
arrows. They do not make any of their weapons, which they buy from tribes farther inland.
They make brass ornaments out of wire, but do not smelt iron. Their houses are larger than
those of the Ishogo, but the villages are less well arranged. They are less particular over
their hair and ornaments, but wear more clothes. They cultixate vast crops of gi-ound-nuts,
and nearly every hut has one or more hives of bees. They keeji flocks of poultry and herds
of goats, but the women and girls are not allowed to eat the flesh of these animals. The
people make palm wine and smoke tobacco in pipes which are 3 feet long. Their fetish rites
have been studied by du Chaillu, who has described a festival he was allowed to attend in
the village of Niembouai : "The idol was a monstrous and indecent representation of a female
figme in wood, which was kept at the end of a long, narrow, and low hut, 40 or 50 feet
long and 10 feet broad, and was painted in red, white, and black colours. When I entered
the hut, it was full of Ashango people, ranged in order on each side, with lighted torches
stuck in the ground before them. Amongst them were conspicuous two mbiiiti men, or, as
they might be called, priests, dressed in cloth of vegetable fibre, with their skins painted
grotesquely in various colours, one side of the
face red, the other white, and in the middle
of the breast a broad yellow stripe ; the circuit
of the eyes was also daubed with jiaint. These
colours are made by boiling various kinds of
wood, and mixing the decoction with clay.
The rest of the Ashangoes were also streaked
and daubed with various colours, and by the
light of their torches they looked like a troop
of devils assembled in the lower regions to cele-
brate some diabolical rite; around their legs
were bound white leaves from the heart of the
palm-tree ; some wore feathers, others had leaves
twisted in the shape of horns behind their
ears, and all had a bundle of palm leaves in
their hands. Soon after I entered the rites
began. All the men squatted down on their
haunches, and set up a deafening kind of wild
song. There was an orchestra of instrumental
performers near the idol, consisting of three
drummers with two drumsticks each, one harper,
and a performer on the sounding-stick, which
latter did not touch the ground, but rested on
two other sticks, so that the noise was made
more resonant. The two mbuiti men, in the
meantime, were dancing in a fantastical manner
in the mitldle of the temple, putting their bodies
into all sorts of strange contortions Every
time the mbuiti men opened their mouths to
speak a dead silence ensued. As the ceremony
continued, the crowd rose and surrounded the
dancing men, redoubling at the same time the
volume of their songs, and after this went on
for some time returning to their former posi-
tions. This was repeated several times. It
The Negroes of the Equatorial Belt
343
seemed to me to be a kind of village feast
At length, wearied out with the noise, and
being unable to see any meaning or any
change in the performances, I returned to
my hut."
6. THE NEGROES OF THE EQUA-
TORIAL BELT.
Scattered along the Equatorial zone between
Mount Kenya on the east and the Gabun
on the west is a group of isolated Negro
tribes, intermediate in character between the
Bantu and the Nilotic Negroes. The typical
and central tribe is that of the Niam-niam,
of the north-eastern corner of the Congo
Basin ; their allies probably include the
Kikuyu of British East Africa and the Fans
of the Gabun.
The Kikuyu.
On the southern slopes of Mount Kenya,
and extending south-westward to the edge
of the great Rift Valley that traverses British
East Africa, is a belt of undulating volcanic
country, once densely covered with forests.
This is the home of the Kikuyu, one of the
most powerful and successful of the agricul-
tural tribes in British East Africa.
They are a powerfully built, muscular
race, brave, but excitable. In general physical
characters they resemble the Masai. Their
colour is a dark chocolate-brown. They have
somewhat round heads, wide noses, thick lips,
small j)ointed chins, oval eyes, and high cheek-
bones. " The Kikuyu," says Lugard, " are a
fine, intelligent-looking race, with high fore-
heads and well-formed heads." The dress of
the warriors consists of a flap of skin hung
over the shoulders to protect the lungs.
The rest of the body is smeared with ochre
and oil. The elders wear a long leather mantle; the women usually have on an apron of
untanned leather hanging from the waist.
The ornaments of the tribe are earrings — including rings, studs, and short wooden rods in
the upper ear — and disks, and elaborate coils and rings of metal, by which the lower lobe of
the ear is greatly distended. The men have strong ivory or metal armlets on the ui)i)er arm,
which are said to strengthen its muscles. The warriors wear elaborate feather head-ornaments
like those of the Masai. Usually most of the head is shaved, but, as with the Niam-niam,
a patch of hair is left on the back of the skull ; the hair, if not shaved, is twisted into long
tags, which are lengthened by plaiting in vegetable fibres, and the whole is plastered with
red clav and oil.
The Ivikuyu weapons are leaf-shaped spears about 9 inches broad, with long wooden
> by Richard Biirf/ta.
A NIAM-NIAM WITOH-DOCTOR,
the women usually have on i
344
The Living Races of Manl^ind
Pnololv K hiid Bii
handles, heavy two-edged swords of the Arab pattern,
bows, and barbed or poisoned arrows. Tbe spearmen
carry long, heavy, oval leather shields of the same type as
those of the Masai ; they are about 5 feet long, and, like
those of the Masai, are decorated with heraldic designs.
Their huts are well built, and are circular, with
high walls and a conical roof.
The main industry of the Kikuyu is agriculture, and
they are the most skilful and industrious husbandmen
in British East Africa. The extent of their plantations
is enormous. "The cultivation of Kikuyu," remarks
f.ugard, " is prodigiously extensive ; indeed, the whole
country may be said to be under tillage." Their chief
crops are beans, millet, dhurra, plantains, sweet
potatoes, yams, sugar-cane, tobacco, and castor oil. The
Kikuyu once had many cattle, but the Masai and
the rinderpest have decimated the herds. They have
many sheep and goats, and every village has hives of
wild bees, for whom wooden hives made from hollow
logs of timber are hung in the trees.
The affinities of the Kikuyu are not well estab-
lished. Their nearest neighbours in the south and
east are Bantu, and on the north and west the Masai.
Their language is Bantu, but is different from that of
\ NiAM-NiAM NATivR. their Bantu neighbours. Their nearest affinities appear
to be with the Negro tribes of the group of the
Azandeh, or Niam-niani, of the Upper Congo. They may therefore be regarded as an eastern
outlier of the belt of Ivjuatorial Negroes, cut off from their western allies by the Masai invasion
along the line of the Kift Valley. It is possible that the tribe contains some Hamitic infusion,
in which case it may be described as Negroid rather than Negro.
The evidence for the affinity of the Kikuyu with the Equatorial Negroes rests on their
physical appearance, their mental characteristics, their general culture, and especially on their
religious rites. They circumcise in a remarkable manner, different from that of the East
African Bantu and similar to that of the Masai. They are intensely superstitious, and attach
great importance to fetish rules and religious observances. The Kikuyu have greater faith
in the sanctity of blood-brotherhood than the usual East African Bantu. Strangers are not
allowed to enter the country until the path has been sprinkled with the blood of newly killed
goats. The rite of blood-brotherhood as celebrated by the Kikuyu is as follows : — The stranger
and a Kikuyu elder sit side by side on the ground on a log of wood ; the arm of each is
slightly cut, and the blood smeared on to pieces of the liver of a freshly killed goat. The
weapons of the two men are placed together over their heads, and a knife is drawn backward
and forward along the weapons by a man who sings a wild incantation. While this is being
done the men exchange their pieces of liver and swallow them. After such a celebration a
stranger is safe from attack from the particular section of the Kikuyu nation with whom the
rite has been observed.
The Azandeh, or Niam-niam.
The most typical tribe of the Equatorial Negroes is that known as the Niam-niam,
Azandeh, or Zandey, which lives about the watershed between the Bahr-el-Ghazl and the
North-eastern Congo. They were once a powerful and numerous people, with a reputation for
ferocity. In appearance they are very unlike most of the surrounding tribes, for they have
a round, broad head and a circular face ; the eyes are almond-shaped and sloping, the nose is
JAL WUMEN OF THH EyUATOKIAL UEGI
345
546
The Living Races of Mankind
VOilEN AND CHILDREN OF EQUATORIAL AFRICA.
Hat and square, the lips very thick, and the chin round. The colour of the skin is of a.
chocolate-brown hue. As a race they are remarkably adroit and agile. Schweinfurth stated
that "nowhere in any part of Africa have I ever come across a people that in every attitude
and ever}' motion exhibited so thorough a mastery over all the circumstances of war or of
the chase as these Niam-niam. Other nations in comparison seemed to me to fall short in
the perfect ease — I might almost say in the dramatic grace — that characterised their every
movement."
Their dress usually consists of a mantle ot untanned leather or undressed skins, and strips
of the beautiful black-and-white skin of the Colobus monkey are frequently hung from the
girdle. The chiefs wear a head-dress of the skin of leopard or wild cat. The arrangement of
the hair among the men is very elaborate ; it is plaited into tufts, ridges, rolls, or knots ; or
into rays, connected at the end to a circular hoop. The body is stained red and further
ornamented by various scar-jDattems ; but the tribal mark is a set of squares filled with dots,
placed on the cheeks or forehead. Their ornaments consist chiefly of strings of the teeth of
dogs and other animals and of blue beads.
The Jsiam-niam are armed with lances, two-edged swords, knives, and large painted shields ;
but their peculiar weapon is the throwing-axe ; it is made of wood or iron and curved like a
boomerang, and is used for killing birds and game as well as in war. The huts are large and
well built : the roofs are as a rule simply conical, but they may be double-pointed ; the eaves
project beyond the walls, which are decorated with black-and-white patterns. About ten or a
dozen huts occur together in a circle round an open space, in which is a pole adorned with
trophies of war and the chase.
The Negfoes of the Equatorial Belt
547
The people practise both agriculture and hunting, the women being engaged in neld operations,
while the men pursue the quarry. The principal agricultural product is eleusine, which is eaten
as porridge, and from which, after malting, is prepared a very intoxicating beer. Crops of
cassava, sweet potatoes, and yams, and a little maize, are also raised. Tobacco is grown
extensively and smoked in clay j)ipes. Cattle are very scarce, but poultry and dogs abundant.
These food-supplies are supplemented by the practice of cannibalism. Piaggia, the first
European to travel in the country, witnessed the eating of the body of an enemy killed in
war ; and both Schweinfurth and Junker have collected conclusive evidence of cannibal habits.
Iron-working and the manufacture of weapons, pottery, basket-weaving, and wood-carving
are the main handicrafts.
Marriage is not based on purchase, but the chief selects a bride when a man applies for
one. The marriage is celebrated by a festival, during which the chief, accompanied by his
musicians, leads the woman to the house of her future husband. The chief on these occasions
is accompanied by the tribal musicians, who play on a primitive guitar, shake bells, and sing.
The burial rites retain a custom which is widely but sparsely scattered among Negro tribes ;
for the corpse, after being dyed red and adorned with feathers, is placed in a hole at one side
of the grave, so that the earth is not tlirown directly upon it. Men are buried facing the
east and women facing the west.
The Niam-niain have a profound belief in goblins and evil spirits, and, like many other
African tribes, think they especially haunt the forests. Auguries are consulted on all important
occasions.
The Fans.
About the year 1850 the tribes along the Gabun coast heard of the arrival in the interior
of a tribe of cannibals known as the Fans. These invaders at first held only a few villages ; but
LIBERATED SLAVES FltOil CE2<'T1{AL AFRICA.
348
The Living Races of Mankind
1 ■'^
#>^^^^^
P1^3
^v \ ^flP * I'y ^
- "'' ■ \
^^^^"^^ ^--^tx '.^Z^
CENTRAL AFRICAN CHI
during the following twenty years
tliey swept westward, destroying
many of the coast tribes, until
they became the leading people
on the Gabun coast. Paul du
Chaillu brought back some of
their skulls, which Sir Kichard
Owen described as showing greater
cranial capacity than the neigh-
bouring tribes. Lenz described
the Fans again in 1878, and in
recent times much light has been
thrown on them by the daring
journey and accurate ethnological
studies of ]\Iiss Kingsley.
The Fans in all probability
are allied to the Niam-niam.
Sehweinfurth has pointed out
tlie many points of resemblance
between the tribes in physical
appearance, dress, tribal organisa-
tion, and customs.
"They are," sa^'s Miss Kingsley, "bright, active, energetic sort of Africans, who by
their pugnacious and predatory conduct do much to make one cease to regret and deplore
the sloth and lethargy of the rest of the West Coast tribes."
They are on the whole of fine physique, and include magnificent specimens of the human
race. " Their colour," continues Miss Kingsley, " is light bronze ; many of the men have beards,
and albinoes are rare among them. The average height in the mountain districts is from
5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches, the difference in stature between men and women not
being great. Their countenances are very bright and exjiressive, and if once you have been
among them you can never mistake a Fan. But it is in their mental characteristics that
their difference from the lethargic, dying-out coast tribes is most marked. The Fan is full
of fire, temper, intelligence, and go ; very teachable, rather difficult to manage, quick to take
offence, and utterly indifferent to human life. I ought to say that other peojjle, who should
know him better than I, say he is a treacherous, thievish, murderous cannibal."
The huts of the Fans are small and lightly constructed, for the people change their
residences so frequently that they may be regarded as almost nomadic. ]\liss Kingsley has
described the best hut in one of the villages in which she stayed. The hut was fairly low ;
for, as she says, " I was as high as its roof-ridge, and had to stoop low to get through the
door-hole. Inside the hut was 14 or 15 feet square, imlit by any window. The door-hole
could be closed by pushing a broad piece of bark across it under two horizontally fixed bits
of stick. The floor was sand, like the outside, but dirtier. On it in one place was a fire,
whose smoke found its way out through the roof. In one corner of the room was a rough
bench of wood, which, from the few filthy clothes on it, I saw was the bed. There was no
other furniture in the hut save some boxes, which I presume held my host's earthly possessions.
From the bamboo roof hung a long stick with hooks on it, the hooks made by cutting off
branching twigs. This was evidently the hanging wardrobe, and on it hung some few
fetish charms."
The huts are usually placed in two opposite rows, the ends of the street thus formed
being closed by a guard-house ; but in villages with a river frontage there is a single row of
huts along the bank.
The main industries of the Fans are pottery, net- and basket-weaving, and iron-working.
Pholo bij IcWtjmti i' O'o.J
MOXFU WOMAN.
35°
The Living Races of Mankind
They especially excel in the last. They have clay furnaces and charcoal fuel, blown by a pair
of double bellows. The forge is a round cavity scooped in the gi-ound ; the anvil is a large
piece of iron ; and the hammers are solid iron cones, like pestles.
The Pan method of hunting — which Miss Kingsley has graphically described — is
unsportsmanlike. A herd of elephants is driven into an enclosure of felled trees, or such an
enclosure is made round a herd when it is at rest. The walls of the enclosure are smeared
with an evil-smelling mixture, the odour of which the elephants find so repellent that they
make no effort to bm-st through the enclosure. The elephants are then suj^plied with poisoned
plantains, or the pools in the enclosure are also poisoned. The poison is not fatal, but it
makes the elephants weak and drowsy. When it has had sufficient time to do its work, fires
are lighted round the fence, and the hunters steal into the enclosure and climb into trees,
from which the} shoot the elephants as they run past them.
The mun tiade aiticlei, of the Fans are rubber, which they collect in the forests, and
ivory. 'lhe\ lii\e an mteiesting coinage of iron imitation axe-heads, the circulation of which
is limited within the tribe.
Marriage is a matter of purchase ; but there
are many limitations, as blood-relatives are for-
bidden to marry.
Why they have no funeral rites is explained
by the prevalence of cannibalism, which is
certainly practised by the tribe. Miss Kingsley
remarks that, "although a prevalent habit, it
is no danger, I think, to white people, except
as regards the bother it gives in preventing
one's black companions from getting eaten. The
Fan is not a cannibal from sacrificial motives.
He does it in his common-sense way. Man's
flesh, he says, is good to eat, very good, and he
wishes you would try it. Oh dear no, he never
eats it himself, but the next-door town does.
He is always very much abused for eating his
relations, but he really does not do this. He
will eat his next-door neighbour's relations and
sell his own deceased to his next-door neighbour
in return ; but he does not buy slaves and fatten
them up for his table, as some of the jNIiddle
Congo tribes do. He has no slaves, no prisoners
your own conclusions."
Pholo bv Till
of war, no cemeteries, so you must dr
c. THE NILOTIC NEGROES.
In the basin of the Upper Nile, between Fashoda on the north and the Uganda Protectorate
and the Congo P'ree State on the south, dwell a series of Negro tribes who have been included
as the Nilotic group. They were originally regarded, from the supposed characters of their
language, as allied to the P\ilah of the West Soudan and to some Nubian tribes. These races
were, therefore, once associated as the Nubar-Fulah group. But Professor Keane has proved
that the physical characters of the people as well as their speech show that this association
was artificial, and the old group has been dismembered.
The only close allies of these Upper Nile Negi-oes outside the Nile Basin live in British
East Africa. They are the INIasai, Njempsians, and their allies, and the people of Ka\irondo, on
the north-east side of the Victoria Nyanza.
The Nilotic tribes may be considered in four groups : (1) the peoples of the Bahr-el-
Ghazl, including the Dinka, Dyur, and Bongo; (2) those of the main Nile Vallev and its
The Nilotic Negroes
eastern triDutaries, including tlie Bari, Sbilluk, Latuk, and Turk:i
and (4) the Masai and their allies.
. ; (3) the Kavirondo triDeo ;
The Dinka.
The Dinka are the most northern of the Nilotic Negroes, living in the basin of the
Bahr-el-Ghazl, the great south-western tributary of the Nile. They occupy the country around
the famous port of Meshra-er-liek, and range east and west of that place for about 400 miles.
They were once a powerful, numerous people ; but, like most of the tribes of that region,
their numbers have been terribly reduced by war and famine since the overthrow of Egyptian
rule in 1884.
The Dinka are a muscular, well-built people; their colour is a very dark brown,
although they often appear quite black, as they cover themselves with jiowiJered charcoal
mixed with oil. The head is of the orrlinarv
Negro type, long and narrow, contracting to the
top and back; the jaws are powerful and promi-
nent, and the lips thick and projecting. They
have not much hair, and the head is generally
shaved, a single tuft being left, to which some
feathers are often attached. Some of the men,
however, comb out their hair and train it into
stiff tufts, which stand out from the head like
spokes. The people have a reputation for cruelty
and bloodthirstiness ; but Schweinfurth retnarked
many instances of tenderness and compassion,
and of family affection and devotion.
The women are clad in a couple of aprons
of untanned skin, which cover from the hips to
the ankles, but the men go completely nude.
Both sexes break off the incisor teeth in the
lower jaw, while the men only are scar-tattooed.
The tribal mark is a series of raised lines radiating
from the top of the nose over the forehead and
temples. The women wear iron rings in ears
and lips, and heavy iron rings round their legs
and arms. Schweinfurth saw women who were '"'"'
each adorned with half a hundredweight of these
ornaments. The men wear massive ivory rings
round the biceps of the upper arm, bracelets of hippopotamus hide, and tails of various
animals. The men also wear head-dresses of ostrich feathers and caps made of white beads.
The favoiu-ite weapons of the Dinka are clubs and a bow-shaped instrument for parrying
the blows of their opponents' clubs. They have also spears, but no bows and arrows.
The Dinka live in large circular and conical huts about 40 feet in diameter ; the roofs are
made of straw and thatch, supported by a central tree trunk, and low walls of chopped straw and
clay. The huts are not grouped in villages, but in small clusters beside, the sheds and tethering-
grounds for their cattle, of which they have large herds. The cattle are humped, have small
horns, and are mostly white ; the other domestic animals are sheep, goats, and dogs — and one
might almost add snakes, which are protected and allowed to live in the roofs of the houses.
The presence of the snakes is possibly the explanation of the absence of poultry.
The principal vegetables cultivated are dhurra, yams, ground-nuts, tobacco, and simsin,
which is grown for oil. The food is ])re])ared with great care, and the Dinka are famous
as cooks.
iKL ^profile;.
The Living Races of Mankind
The 1)yvr.
South-wf^t of the Dinka country lies the territory of the
Dyiir, who are clearly a branch of the Shilluk, and retain many
of the characters as well as the language of that people. Dyur
is a Dinka term, meaning "wild men"; for the Dinka regard
the Dyur with contempt, as they possess no cattle. The Dyur
are a peaceful and industrious tribe, and are skilled workers in iron.
Physically they are tall and slim, and the jaws are less prominent
than in most Is'egi-oes. Their dress is limited to a short flap of
.-kin, which hangs down the back, and is susjjended from a string
round the waist. Their hair is cut short. The principal ornaments
are rings of brass and iron, worn in the nose, ears, and lips, or on
the limbs ; some of the last are large and elaborately ornamented :
the men wear a massive ivory ring round the upper part of the
Tlieir weapons are long lance-headed spears. The iron is
obtained by smelling in a small conical clay furnace, in which
the ore is melted by a charcoal fire. The fire is maintained by
natural draught, as bellows are not used. This work, as well as
the fishing and hunting, in both of which they are experts, is done
by the men ; while the women do all the agricultural and domestic
woric, and make the pottery and wicker-work vessels.
The Dyur are an atfectionate race, and nurse their babies in
long basket-work cradles. The dead are buried in mounils or
tumuli. Spitting, as with the Masai, is the principal salutation,
expressing friendship.
The Bongo.
South-west of the Dyur is the home of the great Bongo
nation, who formerly occupied a tract of country, 175 miles long
liy 50 miles broad, between lat. 6° and 8° N. They are a purely
agricultm'al peojjle, divided into a large number of independent
'■''"'"''■"^"•'""' '"''"■ village communities and clans, so that they were unable to olfer
A SHILLUK GiKL. much oppositlon to the old Arab slave-raiders against whom the
Dinka were long able to hold out.
The Bongo, as a rule, are of a reddish colour ; their average height is 5 feet 7 inches.
Their heads are short and round, their hair short, curly, and black, and kept short or in small
tufts se^jarated by shaved sjjaces. One striking feature in the Bongo women is the fatness of
the buttocks, similar to that once regarded as characteristic of the Hottentots and Bushmen.
The clothing of the tribe is very simple. The men wear a narrow girdle, from which there
usually hangs a strip of cotton-cloth or a flap of softened leather. The women content
themselves with a leafy twig or bunch of grass hanging from the girdle. At dances and
festivals the men wear a feather head-dress. Both sexes wear elaborate strings of beads, teeth,
claws, copijer rings, or fragments of roots. The women expand the lower ear and the lip by
the insertion of wooden disks, the size of which is gradually increased until the lip ^s five or
six times its normal width.
The weapons of the tribe are barbed and jagged lances, bows 4 feet long, and arrows
with 3-foot wooden shafts and tips poisoned by the juice of the giant Euphorbia.
The huts are built with great care and skill ; they are conical, and up to 20 feet in
diameter; they are made of plaited faggots, bamboos, grass, and clay. The entrance is very
low, and is closed by a swing-door. The floor is of beaten clay, and the people sleep on skins.
The Nilotic Negroes
353
On the extreme top of tlie lint is a straw platform, whieli oan be u.sed as a look-out post over
the stockiule by wliirli the flusters of huts are suri-onvided.
The Bong(j are agricultui-ists, and grow sorghum or dhurra, maize, and tobacco ; tliey
also eat the fleshy leaves of various shrubs, roots, and many varieties of fungi, which grow wild
in the rainy season. They hunt by beating and driving into snares and trenches ; but the
sup[)ly of game is limited, and the elephants have been exterminated. In the winter they
capture fish in nets and fish-pots. As a substitute for salt they collect an alkali from the
ashes of Grewia wood.
Their domestic animals are poultry, goats, and dogs.
The most skilful accomplishment of the B(jngo is their iron-working. They smelt iron
in charcoal furnaces blown by bellows. The iron is worked by a stone hammer on a stone
anvil, and is held dm-ing the process by a pair of green wood tongs. They prepare spear-
and arrow-heads, iron rings, belts and other ornaments, knives and razors, pincers for extracting
the eyelashes, and flat iron disks which had an extensive circulation as money. The Bongo
are also adepts at wood-carving.
Polygamy is allowed, but the number of wives is limited to tliiei'. Marriage is by
pui-chase, and any wife who proves barren may be divorced, and [lart of her ]iurcliase-money
may be reclaimed by the husband.
The biu-ial rites are interesting. The corjise is placed in a sack in a sitting jiosturc in
a grave of about 4 feet deep. Women are buried facing the south, and men looking toward
the north. The site is marked by a heap of stones surrounded by posts, many of which are
carved into human figures, while others have hom-like points. A similar system holds in
Madagascar. On the stone jnle is the drinking-vessel of the deceased. This fiict and the
intense fear of spirits and witches suggest a belief in immortality, which Schweinfurth. h(i\vc\cv,
denies. He further explains the wooden human images as memorial figures and not as ietishes;
but the accuracy of this suggestion is also doubtful.
The Latuka.
the eastern side of the Nile dwell sevei-a!
trilii's. ranging south-eastward from tiie
0
Nilotic tribes.
Shiihik <if the Lower Sobat and Fashoda to the
tribes of Karanioyo and Kamasia, on the western
wall of the East African Kift ^'alley.
One of the best known of these tribes is tliat
of tlie i.atnka. who inhabit the upper part of tlie
hasiii (if the Soliat. They have been well described
Ijy Sir Samuel Baker, who says that "the T.atuka
are the finest savages I have ever seen.'" Their
average height, according to Baker's measurements,
is 6 feet all but half an inch ; and their muscular
development is powerful. Baker considered them
different in appearance in the form of the head
from any other race of the Nile Valley, and it is
possible that they contain some intermixture of
Hamitie bhiod. For, according to Baker, "they have
high tuicheads, large eyes, rather high cheek-
liiiiies, mciiiths not very large, well shajjed, and the
lips rather full. They all have a remarkably pleasing
cast of countenance, and are a great contrast to the
other tribes in civility of manner. Altogether their
appearance denotes a Galla origin."
SHILLUK MAN.
45
354
The Living Races of Mankind
FAJELU MEN ASI
Their chief town, Tarran-
golle, contained about o,OuO
houses, which are either bell-
shajied or consist of a high
conical roof on a low, vertical,
circular wall. Each house is
surrounded by a stockade, and
a larger stockade svirrounds the
whole town. The passages
between the different com-
pounds are just wide enough
for the cows to pass in single
file ; so that, in case the outer
wall of the town is rushed, the
enemy could only drive off the
cattle slowly and along paths
which could easily be defended
and closed. The Latuka have
large herds of cattle, which are
driven into the towns every
night, where they are protected
from flies by the smoke of fires.
The dress of the men con-
sists only of a helmet, which is
made by interweaving some
unravelled bark with their hair until it forms a thick felt 1?^ inch thick. The front of this
hair helmet is strengthened by a band of copper, and another strip forms the crest. The
surface is then decorated with beads and the edge completed by a row of cowry-shells.
The women, on the contrary, wear the hair short. Their ornaments are strings of beads, a
fur tail, large earrings, and a long cylindrical crystal ornament, worn hanging from the lower
lip. The four front teeth of the lower jaw are extracted. Scar-tattooing is practised, the
tribal mark being a series of radial gashes over the forehead, temples, and cheeks. The men
do not tattoo.
The tribal weapons are the spear, an iron-headed mace, a spiked bracelet with projecting
knife-blades 4 inches long, and a sword. They carry hide shields 4| feet long by 2 feet wide.
Polygamy and purchase are the rules of marriage. The funeral rites are more characteristic.
The body is buried outside the man's hut, but inside his comjiound. Funeral dances are held
for some weeks, after which the body is exhumed, and the bones cleaned, packed in an
earthenware jar, and then placed in a cemetery near the town.
The Masai.
In the districts around the Latuka dwell other Nilotic tribes: to the west there are the
Bari, in the main Nile Valley; to the east there are the Turkana, between the Latuka and
Lake Rudolf; to the south-east are the Karamoj'o and Kamasia. These tribes are all people of
large stature, and according to Wellby the Tmkana frequently exceed 7 feet in height.
These people, however, are less important than the famous tribe of the jNIasai, who have
forced their way southward from the home of the Nilotic Negroes along the Rift Valley to
the slopes of Kilima Njaro in German East Africa. They now extend from that mountain for
about 300 miles northward. The jNIasai have been studied in detail by many observers, among
the earliest of whom were Fischer, Thomson, and Johnston. Thomson gave a graphic sketch of
the habits of the Masai, while to Johnston we owe a precise account of their physical structure
and language.
356
The Living Races of Mankind
"The physical appearance of the imregenerate robber Masai," says Sir Harry Johnston,
"is splendid. It is a treat to the anthropological student to gaze on such magnificent examples
of the fighting-man. It is an example of one side of our multiform nature pushed to an
exclusive and supreme develojiment. The Masai warrior is the result of the development of
man with a beautiful animal. To call him God-like, as we do the Greek ideals, would be
silly and inappropriate — as much so as seeing divinity in a well-bred race-horse or an Aldemey
cow. To compare him with the statues of Apollo is unfair to the one and the other. If you
could find Apollo represented with huge-lobed ears, fang-like teeth,
high cheek-bones, and a woolly crop, not to mention other peculiar
and ungraceful developments, then you might aptly compare bis
ideal representation with the living Masai. The full-grown Masai
of pure blood is generally 6 feet in height by the age of seventeen,
though at that time he is often a spindly and cumbersome and
ungi-aceful hobbledehoy. Three years, however, of an exclusi\f
diet of milk, blood, and half-raw beef-steaks, combined with a rigorous
training in warlike and athletic exercises, have developed him into
a sinewy, muscular man, of admirable proportions, broad of chest,
with a smallish head, a graceful neck, and limbs whose muscles
seem hard as iron. There is no fat on his body. I cannot say
that his hands and feet are always well shaped. Their faces are
somewhat Mongoloid in look at first sight. The rather narrow,
slanting eyes, the prominent cheek-bones, and the pointed chin
suggest that impression. On the other hand, the nose is often
beautifully shaped, with high bridge and delicately chiselled nostrils,
which obey sensitively the passing feelings of their owner, quiver-
ing and dilating with pride and rage, or widening and relaxing
with good-humour. Their heads are often singularly round and
broad for Africans. The hair is certainly longer and less frizzly
than among the true Negi-oes, though at the same time this may
be only due to the careful and continual combing out it undergoes,
and its straightening with a thick paste of clay and fat. It is after
all a Negro's wool, and is not longer nor more abundant, certainly,
than the regular Papuan crops of hair which the Bantu people of
the Upper Congo have been found to possess."
The ears are large, and the lobes are distended by ivory or
wooden disks, loops of iron chain, or brass wire coiled like
Catherine-wheels. The lips are thin, and there is a triangular space
filed between the upper incisors. The colour is a dull chocolate-
brown; but babies when first born are yellow.
The dress of the women and elders consists of long capes of
untanned, softened leather; but the warriors go naked except for
ornaments. Like the Kikuyu, the warriors may wear a flap of skin
over one shoulder and across the chest and upper part of the back,
probably to protect the lungs. They generally wear skin sandals,
except when in a turf-clad district. When going to war, the
warriors wear a head-dress of ostrich feathers arranged like an aureole. T
of the black-and-white fur of the long-haired Colobus monkey round
narrow strips of it round the waist and knees. They always have
placed their sword and knobkerry.
The commonest metal ornaments of the ^Nlasai are loops of iron
long spirals of wire along the lower arm, or great Catherine-wh-
Photo by Richard Buchta.
A BARI WOMAN (SIDE VIEW).
ey often have flaps
the shoulders, and
leather belt, in which are
ain round the neck,
1-like coils standing out
from the neck. The earrings are short loops of chain or small Catherine-wheel coils of brass
The Nilotic Negroes
357
wire. Bead necklaces are sometimes worn, but beads are more often used for ornamenting
the edges of their leather clothes. Anklets of iron wire, often with bells attached, are worn
when dancing.
The hair is generally twisted with short pigtails over the back of the neck, and shorter
tail-like processes over the rest of the head, with two larger tails hanging over the forehead.
The main weapon of the Masai is a huge, heavy thrusting-spear ; the head is long and
lance-shaped, the wooden handle is short and about 18 inches in length, and the head is
balanced by a long 4-foot spike at the lower end. The warriors
are also armed with short swords and a knobkerry made from
rhinoceros horn. They defend themselves with an oval shield
about 4 feet long, made of buffalo or rhinoceros hide, which is
painted with some heraldic pattern.
The houses are simple huts, formed by wattled stakes, plastered
with mud, and covered by skins. They are gi-ouped into circular
or roughly rectangular kraals, in which the cattle are herded at
night. The kraals are often large, and several may be grouped
together, especially during the dry season, when the Masai assemble
beside a lake or round a water-hole.
jNlilk and meat are the main food of the Masai. The warriors
are never allowed to touch vegetable food, and they acquire the
necessary salts by drinking the warm blood of living cattle. An
ox is stunned by a blow on the head ; a vein is opened, and the
young warrior drinks the blood as it spurts from the wound. In
the treatment of milk the Masai are very particular. To boil
milk in the Masai country is a deadly offence. And the warriors
are never allowed to mix their diet of meat and milk. They live
on meat at one period and on milk at another. Before they can
cjjange from one to another they must fast for a short time and
take a strong purgative to clear the system of any trace of the
other food, so that the milk may not be defiled. The food of
the elders and women is less restricted, and they are allowed to
take vegetable food when they can get it from their agricultm-al
neighbours.
Their domestic animals are cattle, both of the Asiatic humped
variety and the South African race without the hump. They
have large herds of donkeys, which drag their goods during their
periodical migrations. They have also sheep and goats.
Marriage is a matter of purchase, and, as among the Zulus, is
forbidden to the warriors. The elders generally have a couple of
wives. The unmarried women, known as dittos, live with the warriors
in kraals, where free love is the rule.
The Masai recognise the existence of various spirits, of whom
the chief is known as Ngai.
Burial is generally under a tree in a sitting position, with the
chin resting on the knees. The body is covered with stones; but
the cairn is weak, and the hyenas soon scent out the corjise and pull it from its tomb. A
certain belief in a future life is indicated by burial of a calabash of milk beside the corpse,
and by the fact that the name of the departed is never mentioned, lest the spirit should
regard it as a call and come back.
The political constitution is patriarchal. The men are divided into two classes— the elders,
or el-moru, and the warriors, or d-momn. The latter are trained for war-raids ; they have a
known series of war-paths, and they roam to enormous distances in order to capture the cattle
oio by Hiehard Buchla.
WOMAN (FRONT VlliW).
358
The Living Races of Manlvind
of Bantu tribes. In the villages they implicitly obey the elders, who govern the community.
Over the elders there are two chiefs— the Laibon, the great medicine-man of the tribe, and the
Beijan, or political chief. In their absence the kraals are managed by a kind of committee
of elders, of wliom the superior are the lygonani, or speaking-men.
The Njempsians.
On the islands of Lake Baringo and around its shores dwell a tribe of people who are
usually regarded as Masai altered by the loss of their cattle, just as the Bushmen of the Cape
were once thought to be Hottentots whose cattle had been taken by the Dutch. Similar
tribes of agricultural peojile allied to the Masai occur in other parts of Masailand, as on the
slopes of Kiliina Njaro. Such people are called Wakwafi. Those of Kilima Njaro are said by
Johnston to ditier from the Masai only in mode of life, except when the tribe has been
affected by the adoption of Bantu women as concubines. These Kilima Njaro Wakwafi are
therefore probably agricultural Masai ; but in regard to the natives of Njemps it is more
probable that they are the remnants of an older tribe, which has been broken up by the
.Masai invasion.
The Njempsians were described by Thomson as "singularly
honest and reliable," and as characterised by "their honesty,
their unassuming ways, and their charming unsophisticated
manners." The Njempsians are taller and slimmer than the Masai,
but have the same general features, high cheek-bones and fore-
heads, and often oblique eyes. They dress in long leather cloaks,
and wear brass armlets, bracelets, and leg-rings; they have
elaborate earrings similar to those of the Masai and Kikuyu, and
are armed with spears with short, broad blades. Their language,
though allied to that of the jNIasai, differs materially. They
have some similar religious beliefs : for in.stance, they will not
eat zebra or allow any part of the animal inside their villages
while the seed of their crops is in the ground. The writer
was once camped outside Njemps during a period of famine,
when his party had to be fed on zebra meat ; the people
accordingly refused to allow any of the men to enter the village
until they had fasted for several hours. But the Njempsians
are less fastidious in food than the jNIasai, for they eat fish and
even rats.
The Njempsians dwell in huts gi-ouped together in villages,
defended by a powerful stockade, and entered by a narrow gateway
that can be easily closed by a heavy beam. Their stajile food
is dhuiTa.
The Negroes ok Kavirondo.
In Kavirondo, on the eastern shore of the Vict(jria Nyanza.
is a group of tribes who are often grouped together as the
Wakavirondo, but who have been shown by Mr. C. W. Hobley to
include a considerable number of different races, including Bantu
and Nilotic Negroes. Hobley enumerates sixty tribes or clans in
this group, and says there are more. The peojile in the western
part of the country, along the shores of the lake, mainly belong
by Richard Buchia. to the Nilotic group, and are most nearly related to the ShuU.
A madi man. The people of the Nilotic g^oup are generally naked : the
The Nilotic Negroes
359
men near nothing but a few ornaments, of
which the most conspicuous is a spHt canine
tooth of a hippopotamus tied across the
forehead ; the women wear two small fringes
of fibre hanging from the waist. As is so
often the case with African tribes, morality
accompanies nudity. "The people," says
Hobley, " are very moral in their domestic
relations," and they are remarkably honest.
The women's ornaments are necklets, armlets,
and anklets of iron wire and beads, brass wire
being restricted to the chiefs.
The weapons are a thrusting-spear, ;i
small throwing-spear, a large round or oval
shield of untanned hide, and a two-edged
sword, wider near the end ; bows and arrows
are comparatively rare.
The main industries of the people are
cattle-breeding and agriculture. Millet and
eleusine are the two chief cereals. The tribes
grow beans and castor-oil seeds, and in some
places bananas. Tobacco and hemp are grown
for smoking. Iron-working is practised by
some tribes, who make iron hoes, which, in
addition to their intrinsic use, serve as a
currency. A cow is usually worth twenty
hoes. Pottery, basket-weaving, and the prepa-
ration of mats from papyrus stalks are the
other chief handicrafts.
After a child is born the medicine-man
is called in with his drum to ensure its
good luck, probably by frightening away evil
spirits. Four or six days after birth — the
former in the case of a girl, and the latter i \ i %
for a boy — the baby is carried from the
village by its mother and left on the road outside. The child is then picked up and restored
to its mother by another woman, who thereafter acts as its god-mother. This custom is
probably a survival from a period when infant exposure was practised ; the rite is adopted
earlier in the case of girls, as they were probably the earliest to be abandoned. The birth
of twins is welcomed and celebrated by great dances. One of the Bantu tribes, the Wakisesa,
circumcise, but otherwise this rite is not practised. Some of the front teeth are extracted as
soon as a child can speak.
Marriage is by purchase, and half the price of the bride is returned by the father-in-law,
should she die young. Polygamy is general, and each wife has a separate hut and plantation.
Burial customs vary greatly: the Bantu tribe of Ketosh simply throw the body into the
bush; whereas the people round the station at Mumia's bury the dead in a sitting position
below the floor of the hut, with the head above-ground and covered by an earthenware pot.
The grave is watched day and night for a month. After some years the grave is opened, the
bones are ceremoniously washed, and then reburied on the borders of Ketosh, whence the clan
is supjwsed to have come.
Among the peojjle of Kabras, according to Hobley, peace is ratified by the sacrifice of a
dog, which is tied to a post ; each end of the animal is held by one of the two parties to
36o
The Living Races of Mankind
the agreement, and a chief cuts the living
dog in two, assuring the assembly that
any one guilty of breaking the peace will
suffer the same fate.
The Laxgo Nation.
One of the chief nations of the late
kingdom of Unyoro are the Lango (^Langgo,
Longo) people, who, although often grouped
with the Nilotic Negroes, are really of
Galla stock and speech. They form, in
fact, an important link in the chain of
Hamitic peoples who extend from Galla-
land through Unyoro and Uganda south-
wards to Lake Tanganyika. Their territory,
which occupies both banks of the Somerset
or Victoria Nile between P'oweira and
ISIagungo, extends eastwards beyond Unyoro
proper to the valley of the Choi, one of
the chief upper branches of the Sobat.
They still preserve their Galla mother-
tongue amid the surrounding Bantu and
Negro populations, and are distinguished
by their independent spirit, living in small
family groups, and recognising no tribal
chiefs, except those chosen to defend the
common interests in time of war.
Tlie Lango peojile are specially noted
for the care bestowed on their elaborate
and highly fantastic head-dress. The
prevailing fashion may be described as
a kind of helmet, in which each lock of
hair is separately interwoven with diverse
coloured wools, the whole terminating in
an imposing superstructure of plumes,
tufts of feathers, wreaths of shells or
glass beads, or curved projections which resemble trumpets, but are intended to represent
buffalo horns. Whole years are spent on these sumptuous head-dresses, which even when
finished have to be constantly touched up and kept in repair by the native barbers. On the
other hand, the Lango women, who are amongst the finest and most symmetrical of the
Equatorial lake region, wear little clothing or embellishments beyond waist-bands, necklaces,
armlets, and anklets.
A LANGO CHIEF, SHOWIXG PECDLIAR HEAD-DRESS.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE SOUDANESE AND GUINEA NEGROES, AND THE ABYSSINIAN
AND ETII IODIC GROUDS.
a. THE SOUDANESE NEGROES.
The Soudanese Negroes occupy a belt of Africa between Senegambia and the western watershed
of the Nile; the area includes most of the Niger Basin and the Atlantic coast-lands from
the Senegal River to Calabar. The boundaries, however, are not sharply defined. To the
south the Rio del Rey divides the Soudanese Negroes from the Bantu; but the former group
is represented by colonies in the backwoods of the Bantu region. To the north-east the
Soudanese Negroes gradually merge with the Hamitic races, and to the north they become
inextricably mixed with the Berber tribes of Senegal. Even on the southern slopes of the
Atlas ^Mountains in Morocco there is a wide-spread people known as the Haratin or Black
Berbers, which shows that the Negro influence has extended even north of the Sahara.
The Mandingo, Timni, and Kru.
The Sarakole are interesting as
Mandingo, a race of Eastern origin,
Liberia. The Mandingo are clearly
Negroes; they have a Negroid face,
flat broad nose, widely open nostrils,
high cheek-bones, and projecting jaws.
They are active, intelligent, and in-
dustrious ; and, like the Haussa of the
Niger Basin, they have managed to
acquire commercial supremacy over
the other tribes. Again, like the
Haussa, they were once also politi-
cally predominant, but have lost their
[)o\ver owing to Fulah inroads ; locally,
however, they still retain their former
position — as, for instance, among the
Serers of Senegal, where the chief
families are all INIandingan.
As an instance of Mandingan
intelligence may be cited the fact
that the Vei language, which belongs
to this group, has a written alphabet
comprising over 200 characters ; it has
been claimed that this script was in-
vented in the present century, but tlie
recent inquiries of Delafosse show that
it is at least several centuries older.
the most northern members of
now spread over the region between
the great tribe
the Senegal
of
and
3 by Mr. Aldridge.
THE MANDINGAN
361
362
The Living Races of Mankind
One of the best-known
tribes of the jMandingo are the
Mendi, who live in the pro-
tectorate of Sierra Leone.
The inhabitants of the town
and actual colony of Sierra
Leone are, however, mainly
Timni or Timneh; but the
population is unusually mixed,
as the colony was founded in
1787 as a home for freed
slaves. The original settlers
belong to many different tribes,
and the variations in feature
among the present Sierra
Leonese are extreme. The
mixture of races has even
affected the neighbouring
Timni, wVio, according to
Clarlc, vary in colour " from
jet black to light yellow, the
intermediate shades being
principally a coffee or in-
different black colour."
The secret societies, or
porro, which are widely scat-
tered and most typically de-
veloped in West Africa, though
they also occur in East Africa,
are especially powerful among
the Timni, and much of the
reliable information regarding
the aims and methods of these
societies has been obtained by
a study of this tribe.
South of Sierra Leone is
the State of Liberia, still in-
dependent, although partly dismembered by France. This state was founded as an asylum for
the freed American slaves, but its success has not been so satisfactory as could have been
wished. Eobinson, who visited it in 1894, declares that "the history of Liberia would indeed
be a most entertaining farce, were it not also a most significant tragedy." He remarks that
"the Liberians excel perhaps all the other inhabitants of the globe in their amazing self-
conceit," and tells us that their rulers had recently assured the French that they had decided
to remain neutral in the next European war. The main function of Liberia has been indeed
to supply good stories of Negro methods of administration, as when during the cholera scare
in Egypt they placed a ship in quarantine because it was going to an infected port.
The most important element in the native Liberian population is the Kru or Grebo,
who live along the Grain Coast, north-west of Cape Las Palmas. The name Kru is an
abridgment of Kru-boy, which is a corruption, not of " crew-boy," but of the proper native name
of Grebo. The Kru are among the most vigorous of Negro races, and they act as boatmen
and cargo-lifters all along the west coast, and are commercially invaluable. Thomson gave
them a bad name, but some later travellers and west-coast residents are loud in their praise.
NATIVE CARRIERS, nPPER MKNDI.
The Guinea Negroes
363
6. THE GUINEA NEGROES.
From Senegal to Liberia the Negro races have been so greatly influenced by contact with
EuroiDeans, especially English, French, and Portuguese on the one hand, and by Mohammedan
and Fulah invaders on the other, that they are ethnographically less instructive than the
Negroes of the Guinea Coast lands between Liberia on the west and the Eio del Rey on the
east, which, as shown by Sir H. H. Johnston, is the boundary between the Western and
the Bantu Negroes.
These Negroes of Guinea are the typical Negroes with thick lips, woolly hair, broad flat
noses, wide open nostrils, rece-
ding foreheads, projecting jaws,
and prominent powerful teeth.
The attempt has indeed been
made to restrict the name Negro
to the natives of this part of
Africa.
The natives of the Guinea
Coast may be divided into three
groups — the Tshi, the Ewe, and
the Yoruba-speaking people, who
have been described in three
separate monographs by Sir A.
B. Ellis.
THE TSHI TRIBES.
The 1''anti and Ashanti.
The Tshi, or, as Miss Kings-
ley would propose to spell the
name, the Cheuwe- speaking
people, form the westernmost
grouj), living mainly in the Cape
Coast Colony and the Ashanti
Protectorate. The two most
important tribes are the Fanti,
who dwell on the coast, and the
Ashanti, who occupy the hinter-
land. The Fanti are chocolate-
coloured, muscular people of j_
medium height ; they have round '"'""" ''-" -"' -■"•'"•'y
heads, with a long face, and a ^^ cppeb mendi chief.
nose less flat than that of most
Negro races. Dress is simple, consisting of a brightly coloured loin-cloth, which among married
women is increased to a wrap that covers from the breast to the ankles. The women have
elaborate arrangements of the hair, which is worked into a knob-shaped chignon, a pair of horn-
shaped projections, or a single spike like that of a unicorn.
The Ashanti, though in most respects closely resembling the Fanti, are less strongly built ;
but being more warlike and courageous, they are jjolitically more powerful. Whereas the
Fanti live in small villages, among the Ashanti there are some large towns, of which the chief
is Kumasi, or Coomassie. The P'anti are a tribe of village communities, whereas the Ashanti
formed a state with a centralised government, and were ruled by a king.
The religion of both Fanti and Ashanti is fetishism. Circumcision is practised, but not
U Aidridgt
3PPER MENDI PRINCESS.
3^4
The Living Races of Mankind
universally ; and cannibalism exists only as a
religious rite, as when the heart of a brave
enemy is eaten in order that his courage
may be inherited. Traces of moon-worship
are recorded by Ellis ; while totemism, which
is widely distributed in Afiica, is strongly
developed. The Tshi people are divided into
families, named after some animal or plant ;
there are the Leopard Family, Bush-cat
Family, Dog Family, Parrot P'amily, Plantain
Family, etc. The members of these families
are prohibited from eating their totem, or
animal after which they are named, though,
owing to the importance of the plantain as
food, the coast natives do not recognise the
rule as applying in that case.
There are many interesting customs
regarding birth, marriage, and death, but
want of space prevents us enumerating them.
THE EWE TRIBES.
West of Ashanti and the Fanti is a
region occupied by a group of tribes who
^^^^_^_^^ __ ^peak Ewe (pronounced Efe or Eh we).
.Most of the Ewe tribes occupy the German
Protectorate of Togoland and the French
temtory of Dahomey; but some, such as
the Awuna, Agbosomi, and the Krikor,
dwell under British protection round the
mouth of the Yolta Kiver.
The Ewe-speaking tribes are more in-
telligent and advanced than the Tshi ; for
in addition to local deities and spirits, like
those of the Tshi, there are some gods who are worshipped throughout the Ewe district.
.1/1-. Aldridgt.
UPPER MESDI CHIEF IN WAR-COST
The Dahomeyaxs.
The chief people of the Ewe group are the Dahomeyans. Burton, who visited Abomey,
the capital of Dahomey, in 1864, describes the king, Gelele, as a tall Negro, 6 feet in height,
" lithe, agile, thin-flanked, and broad-shouldered, with muscular limbs, well-turned wrists, and
neat ankles, but a distinctly cucumber-shaped shin. His hair, generally close shaven, is of the
peppercorn variety ; the eyebrows are scant, the beard is thin, and the moustachios thinner.
He has not his father's receding forehead, nor the vanishing chin which distinguishes the
multitude; his strong jaw renders the face 'jowly ' rather than oval, consequently the expression
is normally hard, though open and not ill-humoured, whilst the smile which comes out of it
is pleasant. His nails are allowed to attain mandarin length. His sub-tumid lips disclose
white, strong, and sound teeth, the inner surfaces being somewhat blackened by tobacco. The
nose is distinctly retrousse, quasi-Negi'o, anti-aquiline, looking in fact as if all the lines had
been turned the wrong way ; but it is not much flattened, nor does it wholly want bridge."
He was tattooed with the Dahomeyan tribal mark — three parallel cuts beside the eyebrows.
His dress was simple, consisting of short purple silk drawers reaching only half-way down
the thigh, and a loose white cotton-cloth edged with green silk. He wore gold-embroidered
366
The Living Races of Mankind
I late MUs Mary KingsUy.
NATIVES OF TH
■.'IGEB DELTA.
Moorish sandals, and a short
cylindrical straw cap, with a
band of purple ribbon round it.
His ornaments were a human
tooth and a blue bead on a thread
round his neck, an iron ring
round the right arm, and five
iron bracelets above and below
the elbow.
The most striking feature in
the military system of Dahomey
was the corps of Amazons (for
photograiih see page 3G9), which
was raised in 1729 owing to the
gallant behaviour of a number
of women who had been armed
in order to increase the apparent
size of a Dahomeyan army. At
first the Amazons were criminals,
but Gezo and Gelele improved
the status of the force by en-
rolling in it women who pleased
them. The women among the
Dahomeyans, thanks to their
having done the work of the
tribe for generations, are as
muscular and strong or even
stronger than the men. Ellis
>i^^-. estimated their number in 1890
jfll' at about 3,000.
The Amazons were divided
into five corps : the blunderbuss-
women; the elephant-huntresses;
the razor-women, armed with a
hinged sword about 18 inches
the infantry or line's women ; and the archeresses,
small knife. The last company
long that shut into its scabbard like a razor;
armed with a bow, a qui\'er of small poisoned arrows, and
was said by Ellis to be already extinct in his time.
Burton did not take the Amazons very seriously. The infantry, the main body of the
force, he describes as follows : " They are armed with Tower muskets, and are well supplied
with bad ammunition — bamboo fibre, for instance, being the only wadding. They have but
little ball practice. They manoeuvre with the precision of a flock of sheep, and they are too
light to stand a charge of the poorest troops in Europe. Personally they are cleanly made,
without much muscle ; they are hard dancers, indefatigable singers, and, though affecting a
military swagger, their faces are anything but ferocious — they are rather mild and unassuming
in appearance. They fought with fur}' with Gezo before Abeokuta because there was a jealousy
between them and their brother soldiers, and because they had been led for many years by
that king to small but sure victory. They fled, howe\-er, with the rest, when a little
perseverance would have retrieved the fortunes of the day."
Like the Fanti and Ashanti, the Dahomeyans have been notorious for the practice of human
sacrifices. Especially was this so during the last century. Captain Snelgrave in 1727 saw 400
prisoners executed in honour of the conquest of the ToiTo country ; the prisoners had their
The Guinea Negroes
367
hands tier! behind their backs, and they were led on to a stage, wliere a priest laid his hand
on their heads, uttered some words of consecration, after which the victims were decapitated by
a single sweep of a heavy broadsword. In the same year Whydah was conquered, and 4,000
natives were sacrificed as a thank-offering. Human sacrifices were also offered in Dahomey
at the Grand Custom, held
after the death of a king,
and were intended to supply
him with an adequate spirit
retinue, and at the Annual
Custom, intended to send the
dead kings some fresh slaves.
The last Grand Custom was
on the death of Gezo in
1858, when the sacrifices
lasted from July to October,
and 500 people were slain.
Most of the victims were the
king's personal attendants,
his chief eunuch, his wives,
and a supply of soldiers,
Amazons, and slaves. The
skulls were collected and
piled into pyramids, or used
to decorate the walls of the
palace. The corpse of the
dead king was buried in a
mausoleum, of which the clay
was kneaded with rum and
human blood. His relics are
treated with the highest
reverence.
In the present century
the number of the victims
has been diminished, and the
Annual Custom took different
forms in alternate years. One
year there was an Attoh cere-
mony, in which the victims
were stunned by being hm-led
from a high platform ; they
were then executed, and their
bodies thrown to the mob,
who mutilated and smashed
them with clubs. On the
next year there was a So-sin
ceremony, in which horses
were slain as well as men.
The Ewe religion is not
only practised in Guinea, but
has been carried across the
Atlantic by slaves, and some
of its rites survive in Ha}'ti.
368 The Living Races of Manlcind
Its West Indian title of Vaudoo is of Ewe origin, the
name meaning a superhuman spirit. The Fanti worship
of the python, and the superstitious awe of the silk-cotton
tree as the favourite abode of spirits, and other features
of Ewe religion, are now firmly established in some of
the West Indian islands.
THE YORUBA.
The third of the great groups of Guinea Negroes
are the people of Yoruba si^eech, whose territory
extends from the Niger Delta to Dahomey. The race,
according to its own traditions, has descended from
fifteen people who migrated from some eastern country
and settled at Ife. The Yoruba are more civilised and
juhanced than the Tshi or Ewe tribes, and their culture
-liows abundant traces of Haussa or Fulah influence.
Until the beginning of this century there was a powerful
Yoruba kingdom, which was overthrown by a Fulah
invasion in 1820.
Toe Egi!a.
One of the leading tribes is that of the Egba or
Egbado, of whose physical features Burton has given a
detailed description. According to Burton, the type is
Negroid — that is to say, Negro altered by Hamitic inter-
mixture— rather than true-bred Negro. The skin is
usually copper-coloured, but sometimes black, while some
of the chiefs are almost light-coloured. The lips are not
thick ; but the gums are blue, and the jaws are very
projecting. The nose is broad, with exjianded nostrils;
but sometimes it is hooked. The cheek-bones are high.
Blue eyes, so often seen among the Tuaregs, are unknown.
The hair is short, scant, and, as Burton describes it,
grows over the head like peppercorns. The women
dress it into a series of thin longitudinal ridges.
The dress of the Egba consists of loose cotton drawers fastened above the knees, while
the body is wrapped in a mantle thrown over one shoulder. The poorer people may wear
only a loin-cloth. Caps of various shapes and materials, including large hats of palm leaflets,
are generally worn.
Among the Egba the most noticeable ornament is a plug of coral in the left nostril. Scar-
and colour-tattooing are both in use. Burton describes some of the children as marked "from
head to foot with little gridirons of cuts, dyed dark blue by means of native antimony."
Scars are raised for the tribal mark, which among the Egba is a gridiron-shaped set of three
cuts or a multiple of three on each cheek. The free women have one, two, or three narrow
lines from the wrist up the back of each arm and down the back. The Yoruba mark is a set
of perpendicular lines running downward from the temple. The Efon have a large blue patch
between the cheek-bones and the ear.
The chief town in the Yoruba country is Abeokuta, which once included 100.000 inhabitants.
It is still a large city of narrow, irregular streets, intersecting at every possible angle : some
of the thoroughfares are broad and shady, and they are used for markets. The houses are of
stamped mud, with high-pitched roofs of thatch. At each angle there is a high, sharp gable
DAHOMEYAN BABT.
The Abyssinian and Ethiopic Groups
369
to throw off tlie heavy vain. The plan of the houses is a hollow square, containiug a series of
court-yards for the sheep and goats. ]\onnd each court-yard is a verandah, where the fires are
placed and cooking is done. There are from ten to twenty rooms in a house; each room is
from 10 to 15 feet long and about 7 or 8 feet broad. There are no windows, which would let in
the sun's glare and heat as well as the light. The number of inhabitants in these compound
houses is often large, amounting, according to Burton, to sometimes as many as 500. The
furniture is simple, consisting of wide cots and settees, rough eartlienware jiottery, grass bags,
and usually a gun.
In culture the Yoruba are intermediate between the Coast Negroes and the more skilled
natives of Haussaland. Their religion and domestic rites agree in the main with those of
their Tshi and Ewe allies. They have the same multiplicity of gods, and have special gods
for their trade castes ; thus the blacksmiths and armourers are under the protection of Ogun.
Shango is their lightning god, and, as among the Ewe, a fire supposed to have been caused
by lightning must not be put out. Burton tells us that at Abcdkula, a tiii^ due to carelessness
was attributed to Shan go ; accordingly an old man in the building wuuld have been allowed
to be burnt to death, had not a European, defying sacrilege, rushed to the rescue,
c, THE ABYSSINIAN AND ETHIOPIC GROUPS.
The Negro tribes occur only to the south of a line from the mouth of the Senegal River in
lat. 16° N. on the Atlantic coast to tlie mouth of tlie Juba on the E(inator in Eastern Africa.
J^%
Uts< 8 ytgrtlti. cL Zamhi aj
I he Living Races of Mankind
The Negro tribes along this dividing-line are altered
liy the intermixture of northern Caucasian races, and
are therefore spoken of as Negroids instead of as
Negroes. Striking instances of these mixed Negroes
occur in Senegambia, where they are formed by
the intermingling of Negro and Berber peoples, and
also in East Africa, where the Waganda are a Bantu
tribe altered by a band of Wahuma conquerors.
The Ctai.las.
The Gallas, ur, as they jiroudly call themselves,
the Oromo — i.e. " men," or " brave men " — once
dominated East Africa from Abyssinia to ^lombasa ;
but they are now broken up into a series of
separate tribes of little political importance. These
tribes occur in a belt neaiiy continuous round
South Abyssinia, and extend across the plateau east
of Lake Rudolf into the valley of the Tana.
The Gallas. warlike pastoral nomads, form the
most numerous branch of the Eastern or Ethiopic
Hanntes.
Tliat the Gallas as a race are Caucasians and
not Negroes is clear from their physical features.
The forehead is similar to that of many Em-opeans ;
the nose is thin and sometimes aquiline, while the
nostrils are straight; the chin is small and slightly
pointed ; the lips, thouc;h usually thick, are thinner
tlian in Negroes; the hair is long and frizzly; the
expression of the face is proud and intellectual ; in
fact, but for the very dark colour a Galla would pass
unnoticed in a European crowd.
The Galla women are fsimous for their beauty.
"'° ^ "" '" '' and they fetched the highest prices in the slave-
A riAHOiiEVAN uAiiRinR. marts of Cairo, Khartum, and Zanzibar. The men
are also handsome, but, owing to the style in which
tlipv dress their hair, appear wild and ferocious. Thus Harris, who studied the Gallas of Shoa,
described them as "tall and athletic, wrapped in a toga, their features fiery and savage, and
rendered still more ferocious by the thick bushy hair arranged in lotus-leaved compartments, or
streaming over the shoulders in long raven plaits." Krapf, who knew the Southern Gallas before
their overthrow, describes them as people of "a manly appearance, large and powerfully built,
but with savage features, made still more savage-looking and fierce by their long hair, worn
like a mane over the shoulders. They are principally of a dark brown colour."
The clothes of the Gallas are a long leather robe, which in the women is fastened round
the waist by a girdle decorated with coloured beads. The weapons of the tribe are spear,
two-edged sword, and round hide shield. The houses of the Southern Gallas are conical huts
of thatch ; but in the north the huts are surrounded by a low stone wall, and in the to^vns
they are mainly of stone.
The inhabitants have large herds of cattle and horses, and flocks of sheep and goats.
They are also agriculturists, and gi'ow maize, rye, and wheat ; and instead of the hoe of
their Bantu neighbours they use a wooden, iron-shod plough drawn by oxen. The staple foods
are meat and bread, and the be\"crages are beer and mead.
The Abyssinian and Ethiopic Groups
371
Coffee of excellent quality is grown in the district. The best-known industry of Harai
is its weaving of tobes, cotton garments, and sashes. These, according to Burton, " as fai
surjiass in beauty and durability the rapid produce of Euroi)ean inanufactoiies as the perfect
hand of man excels the finest machinery."
The Gallas are mainly Pagan.s, though the Wollo and some of the other northern clans have
been converted to Islam. The primitive religion was a fetish- or spirit-worship, including
veneration for serpents. The Gallas have a firm faith in omens, which are derived from the
examination of the entrails of slaughtered cattle and sheej). The auguries are drawn from
the arrangement of the intersecting lines in the layers of fat and membrane. Traces of
Mohammedan and Jewish traditions are found amongst the Gallas, partly no doubt derived
from their Abyssinian and Mohammedan neighbours. But amongst the Gallas of the Tana
Valley, who are further removed from these influences, there are traditions of the creation of
the world, and of a first man nameil Zadami (i.e. Adam), which may be part of their primitive
folklore.
The lowland country along
the south-western border of the
Red Sea, stretching inland from
the shore to the foot of the
Abyssinian highlands, is the
home of the Danakil, or Afar.
They are a Hamitic people,
allied to the Gallas, to the
Agau of Abyssinia, and to the
Somali, forming with them
and the Beja the Ethiopic
branch of the Hamitic race.
They are a tall, slim, handsome
race, with especially beautiful
women. They are brave and
warlike, and have practically
always maintained their iti-
dependence, which was
threatened by an Egyptian
invasion in 1875; but the
invading army under Mun-
zinger I'asha was annihilated.
The Danakil dress is a
loin-cloth and a tobe, or
toga. They frequently leave-
off the latter, for which they
have the excuse of living
in almost the hottest area
on the globe.
Their country is barren,
and contains many salt lakes,
which provide the main
Danakil revenue ; for the salt
is worked into small cakes
and exported to Abyssinia,
where it passes as currency.
The Danakil.
- P"
r
^M ^
riioto by K dunlhtr)
DAHOMEYAN MAU
372
The Living Races of Mankind
The assumed Arabian origin of the Danakil is true onl}^ of some of the chiefs, who have
been connected witli AraViia, and were at one time subject to the Slieikh of Mecca. But
these facts lend no support to tlie mistaken view that the Danakil and kindred Uallas are of
Arab (Semitic) descent. All are of Hamitic stock and sjiecch.
The Somali.
The peninsula to the east of the Galla country is inhabited by the Somali, who occupy
the whole of the " Eastern Horn of Africa," the great projection south of the Gulf of Aden,
and range southward^ as far as the Tana River. The Somali are allied to the Gallas, and are
clearly a Hamitic rare ; Imt to a limited extent tlie description of the Somali as a half-caste
race of Gallas and South Araliians is correct, although the Hamitic is unquestionably the
larger constituent element.
For an African race the Somali are decidedly handsome. The head is long and the
forehead lofty and noble ; the eyes are large and expressive ; the jaws, though prominent, are
not heavy ; the lips, though thick, are thinner tlian among Negroes. The cheek-bones are high,
and the nose straight, with a well-developed bridge, and the nostrils are small. The men are
tall and extremely slim, the limbs
being especially thin and bony. The
women are broader, shorter, and more
muscular, and they do most of the
manual work of the tribe. The colour
of the skin is very dark, and is some-
times coal black. The hair is long,
hard, and wiry, and grows in stiff
ringlets, which are dressed with butter
made from camel's milk, and often
trained into an enormous wig, ex-
tended out on each side of the head.
The first travellers who came in
contact with the Somali gave them
a very bad character, owing to their
supposed treachery, fickleness, and
cruelty. This reputation has been
supported by the following oft-quoted
passage from Buiton, whose experi-
ences of the Somali were unfortu-
nate : " They have all the levity and
instal)ility of the Negro character;
light-minded as the Abyssinians —
ilcM-iilu'd liy (i(il)at as c.instaiit in
and atf.'riionalc souls, Hiey [lass with-
out any apfiarent transition into a
slate of fury, when they are capable
of terrible atrocities. At Aden they
appear happier than in their native
country. There I have often seen a
Mian clapping his hands and dancing,
ciiildliki-. aliine to relieve the exuber-
ance of his spirits ! Have they be-
come, as the jNlouiJols and other
The Abyssinian and Ethiopic Groups
373
pastoral peoples, a melancholy race,
who will sit for hours upon a bank
gazing at the moon, or crooning some
old ditty under the trees ? "
But the injustice of the early
reports of Somali fanaticism and
hostility to strangers is now gener-
ally adinitti'd ; and though they have
on occa>i(iiis cDmmitted acts of dia-
bolical cruelty and are very excitable,
later travellers have been impressc<i
by their merits. The Somali are
certainly intelligent, skilful artisans,
devoted to men whom they trust,
and tolerant of discipline.
The weapons of the Somali are
a large spear with a leaf-shape blade,
a small throwing-javelin, a two-edged
dagger about 18 inches long, a club,
and a round hide shield about 18
inches in diameter. The spear is the
main weapon : it has a wooden liandlc
4 or 6 feet long, which ends bclciw
in a jioint, a ferrule, or a short irdu
spike ; the head is from 2 to 4 iiiclio
wide, about 8 inches long, with a
shaft, about a foot long; the liladi^
is often blackened by being made
red hot and then rulibed with a
piece of cow's horn. The northern
Somali sometimes fight on horseback,
and their horsemanship is excellent.
Most of the Somali are Moham-
medans, and adheif with fanatical
devotion to a somewhat corrupt form
of that religion. They wear the Moslem rosary of ninety-nine beads, and carry charms. One
of their devotions takes the form of a dervish dance round a fire, which they continue till
they throw themselves into the flames in frenzy or fliU into them in a mesmeric trance. They
will not eat meat unless the animal has been killed by a Mohammedan, or dedicated to Allah
by a prayer said over it in its dying moments ; and they have been known to starve to death
rather than touch Christians' food.
Their religion is, however, mixed with fetishism; for they swear by stones, they have
holy places and sacred trees, and trust justice to ordeals, making suspected criminals pluck
cowry-shells out of a pot of boiling water, walk over hot ashes, or drag a heavy red-hot iron
weight from a fii-e. The \'erdict is given the day after the ordeal, according to the appearance of
the burnt scar.
Polygamy is usual, and the men marry between the ages of fifteen and twenty. A man
usually marries a woman from another clan, as he thus gains protection from blood- feuds with
his wife's peoj^le. The women do all the menial work of the tribe, and some of them
usually accompany caravans on the march to make the grass huts, cook the food, and load
the camels. The men act as camel-drivers, hunters, and warriors.
Bm-ial rites are simple, especially since, being Mohammedans of the Shafeite sect, they
; TroSwvr of Anthropology, Natural HUtory Mu^eu
A YORUIiA MAN.
374
he Living Races of Mankind
a more handsome type. The Hahr (i;
descent from Sheikh Ishak. They havt
against their common enemy the Isa.
say no prayers over the dead.
Corpses are often buried in a
sitting position under stone cairns.
There are two main divisions :
the Hasiya, comprising the
Alijertins, Habr Gahr-Haji, Habr
Awal, Gadabursi, Isa, Habr Juni,
111 id others; and the Haxvija, of
wliich the chief members are the
Habr .Taleh, Habr Gader, Bad-
liailan, and Rer-Dolloh One of
the best known are the Isa, whom
lUirton describes as "childish
and docile, cunning and deficient
in judgment, kind and fickle,
4i"id-humoured and irascible,
u arm-hearted and infamous for
tiuelty and treachery. ' Traitorous
as an Isa ' is a proverb at Zayla,
where these Bedouins are said to
oiler a bowl of milk with the left
hand and stab with the right."
The Gadabursi are allies and
ncighbom-s of the Isa Somali,
li\ing between Zayla and Harar.
to the south-east of the Isa
-i,.,o/o„. i/ciuntry. They were said by
IJurton to be as turbulent as the
Isa, but less bloodthirsty, and of
llaji, who live to the south of Berbera. claim direct
blood-feud with the Halir Awal, but unite with them
The Abyssiniaxs.
The kingdom of Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is traditionally named after Ethiops, one of the mythical
twelve children of Gush, a grandson of Ham and great-grandson of Noah, who is supposed to
have migrated after the Flood from Ai-abia to Abyssinia. He settled at what is now the sacred
city of Axum, where his son Ethiops was born. This tradition probably has a certain basis of
truth ; for the nucleus of the Abyssinian people are Semites who crossed from Southern Arabia
and settled in the highland plateau of Abyssinia. There they acquired such influence that they
welded the various tribes of that region into a powerful confederation. The mixtm-e of races in
the Abyssinian peojile is illustrated by their name, which comes from Hahcsk, an Ai-abic word
meaning '• mixed." No name could be more appropriate ; for the Abyssinians are partly Semitic,
partly Hamitic, and partly Xegi-o. The dominant race has usually been Semitic. Since the
death of King John in 1888 the headshii) has been held by a Hamito-Semitic people. On
the western slopes of Abyssinia are some Negro tribes, such as the Shangallas ; in the plains
to the north of Abyssinia are the Beni-Amer, a mixture of the Abyssinian Tigrians and the
Nubian Beja; in the maritime plain around ^lassowa dwell the Shoho, who are Harnites and
speak a Danakil dialect ; in Central Abyssinia dwell the Ealashas, who are said to be Jewish in
race, as they certainly are in religion ; finally, in the forests to the south are a dwarf tribe, the
Doko, who may be Negrilloes. The .\i-abs rightly named the Abyssinians the " mixed."
The kingdom of Abyssinia was founded at a verv early date. According to the national
37G
I he Living Races of Manl^ind
tradition, the Queen of Sheba who visited
Solomon was the Abyssinian Queen Maqueda.
As a result of that visit the Queen gave birth
by Solomon to a son, who was named Menelik
David. He was sent to Jerusalem to be edu-
cated, and thence returned with a party of
Jewish priests, under Azariah, son of the high
priest Zadok, with tutors and servants, whose
descendants still live in the country as the
tribe of the Falasha. This enterprising
Menelik David brought back other treasures ;
for finding the gates of his father's temple
open on the day of his dej^arture, he walked
off witii the Ark of Zion and the Tables of
the Law ! In accordance with this tradition
tlif "Negus Negusti " or "King of Kings"
of Aliyssinia has for his second title "The
Li(in of the Tribe of Judah," and is regarded
as a descendant of Solomon. It does not
malter whether the ruler be a Semite oi
a llaiiiite; the king acquires his ancestors
when he acquires the throne.
The great antiquity of the Abyssinian
kingdom is proved by still existing inscrip-
tions ; for some of the monuments at Axum
are inscribed in Greek and Himyaritic. The
rude wealth of the early Abyssinian Court is
known from classical writers. An embassy
to tiie country was sent by the Eoman
Enqjeror Justinian in the sixth century. Ac-
cording to Uibli'iii. "the Negus, arrayed in barbaric pomp of gold chains, collars, and bracelets,
and surroundeil by his nobles ami musicians, gave audience to the ambassador of Justinian seated
in the open field upon a lofty chariot drawn by four elephants superbly caparisoned."
The original basis of the Abyssinian population was probably the Agau, a Hamitic race
driven southward from Nubia before the days of the Semitic invasion. These Agau survive in
some scattered communities, of which the largest lives to the south of Lake Tsana. The Falashas,
or " Abyssinian Jews," according to some authorities, are an Agau race ; but this origin is
claimed with greater probability for the Bogo of Northern Abyssinia, who worshijD serpents,
sacrifice to rivers, and amongst whom no man is allowed to look at or speak to his mother-in-law.
Politically, the most inqiortaiit people in Abyssinia are the Amliara, who live mostly in
the central region around Lake Tsana. In modi-in times they haxe generally been the
predominant nation, and their language. Amharic. is widely spnkcn liy cither tribes, such as
the Agau. At present, however, since King John was killed in battle witli the ^hihdists.
the Shoans, a southern race, have held the reins of power.
Historically, the chief rivals of the Amhara have been the Tigrians, whose capital is Adowa.
The Tigrians speak a dialect of Ghez, a primitive Semitic language introduced from South
Arabia in prehistoric times. The language is maintained in its archaic form by the Abyssinian
Church, and it is spoken in what is said to be a fairly pure form by the Haliabs, who live on
the Red Sea shore north of IMassowa.
The typical Abyssinians are the people of Amhara. They are a tall race, with a long
narrow head, an oval face, a high forehead, a thin and often aquiline nose, bright oval ej'es,
a pointed chin, a well-formed mouth, with thick and sometimes pouting lips, long frizzly or
SOMALI MAN.
The Abyssinian and Ethiopic Groups
^11
A SOMALI MAN AND UIS WIFF
silky hair, and small hands, feet, and limbs. The colour varies from light yellow to dark
brown. The race is tyi^ically Semitic ; but the occasional occurrence of a flattened nose, Negro
lips, and a jet-black skin shows that the Amharans are not free from Negro intermixture.
The Amharans are intelligent, and have bright, animated faces ; the main fault of the
people is that they are quarrelsome and inordinately vain. Some tame lions are kept loose in
the court of the Negus as a symbol of the power of the king.
The national costume of the men in Abyssinia is a long piece of cotton-cloth folded round
the body like a toga; under this is a loin-cloth or a pair of loose drawers ending a little
48
378
The Living Races of Mani<ind
above the knee. The coast tribes wear a long shirt with the drawers. The women have a
wide-sleeved chemise, tied round the waist by a narrow girdle, and a long tobe or sheet ol
cotton-cloth wrapped round the body.
The ornaments of the women are large studs of wood or metal in the ears, massive silver
bracelets and anklets with silver bells, necklaces of blue- and gold-colom-ed beads, and a string
of charms. They generally carry a twirling fan. The women paint extensively ; they remove
the hair from the eyebrows and mark there a line of dark blue ; the cheeks are coloured to
the eyes with a rouge made of ochre and fat.
The women usually wear the hair in rows of small curls ; and the men devote much
attention to their hair-dressing, frequently varying the arrangement. According to Harris,
••many hours are daily expended in arranging the mop into various and quaint devices. At
one time it is worn hanging in long clustering ringlets over the cheeks and neck, at another
frizzed into round matted protuberances ; to-day fancifully tucked and trimmed into small rows
of minute curls like a counsellor's peruke, and to-morrow boldlv divided into four large
lotus-leaved compartments." The hair is, however, sometimes worn quite short.
The old weapons are a curved, sickle-shaped sword, spear, and shield ; but firearms have
been introduced, and are now the national weapon, at least in the army. Slings and stones
are used in war ; throwing- clubs are used for hunting small game, while lions are killed with
the spear. Leopards are trained for hunting antelope.
The architecture varies greatly. The simplest huts are circular frameworks of twigs
plastered with mud. In the Alpine regions of Simen they
are of thick thatch surrounded by a thorn fence. In Sanafe
the houses are long and rectangular. The better class of houses
and those of most of the towns are built of stone cemented
by mortar; such houses are circular, built in two storeys, and
are all of stone, thatched with straw. Some of the older
builrlings are finer than any now built by the native Abyssinians.
Thus in Gondar, the chief town in the province of Amharp,
r|t^^/^jHfl^HH|B| are the remains of a seventeenth-century foitress which has
vj^y^B^l^pHHI been called " the Windsor Castle of Ethiopia." This, however,
^'//l^^^^B was liuilt by an European architect of red sandstone, with
|^^^« fif^^^^^^M battlements of black basalt, and contains a high central keep
1^^^^ H^^^^^B^ ^^^ ^ number of round towers connected by long galleries.
^^f^^ figT^^^^^ ' '^^ The most remarkable dwellings in Abyssinia are the mono-
WESI Ju\ ■"- »IB4ri|l lithic temples, which are hewn, out of single blocks of rock.
j^^w^jjj I At Lalibala there are several eh lurches cut in blocks of basalt;
and at Sokota, the chief town in the province of Wag, is
a similar church in granite. Monolithic columns occur in
\arious parts of the country, as in Wag, and at Axum, where
there is one 83 feet in height.
Agi-ieulture and the industries are neglected and pi-imitive,
though better conducted than in most of the Negro tribes.
As with the Arabs and the Gallas, the fields are jirepared for
sowing by a wooden plough, armed with an iron knife or lance-
liead, and drawn by oxen. The main products gi-own are
^^^^^^^^^ cereals, including barley. The grain is eaten as jjoifidge,
i^^_, ^^^^HBl-„ - °'" '" ^owc cakes or unleavened bread. Kaw meat is the
*^^^^^^ ' ' favourite food, and it is preferred when eaten warm from the
slaughtered beast and flavom-ed with its gall. As is known
fiom the accounts of Bruce, confirmed by later travellers, steaks
are cut from the flanks of live cattle, and the wounds are
AN ABYssrNiAu GiBL. healed. Beer brewed from barlev and mead from wild honey
Hi/ pennissioii of Ihc PrvfL^mor of Antkropologi/, JSatural /hstoiy Muacuiit, Pans.
A NATIVE OF ABYSSINIA.
379
38o
The Living Races of Mankind
-2:^1 .J. '^ r^'~i
\ f 1< I I C)l \M^M
are the chief intoxicating beverages. The Alivssinians are forced to abstain totally from the
use as drinks of either milk or cotfee, which grows wild. The use of tobacco is also forbidden,
and some rulers have discouraged smoking by cutting off the li[is of people found indulging
in that habit.
The most characteristic industries are filigree metal -working, leather-work and embroidery,
and the plaiting of straw mats, baskets, and bowls, which, as with the Gallas, are woven
sufficiently close to hold milk. Poetry is compiled by a class of minstrels who sing the
praises of the nobles. Pictures, usually highly coloured, decorate the churches. The style
of painting is Byzantine, and one remarkable featm-e is that good people are never rejiresented
in profile, which is reserved for demons, enemies, and Jews.
The ceremonies in connection with births are mainly remarkable for the union of
Mohammedan and Jewish rites ; for Abyssinian babies, when eight days old, are subjected to
both baptism and circumcision.
Marriage is a civil contract, though a religious ceremony is often added : a great feast is
indispensable. The father gives the bride a dowry, which remains her property, and unless
previously spent is retained by her if she be divorced or separated. jSI orals among the jjeople
are lax, and adultery is not uncommon ; if discovered, the woman gets a whipping. Polygamy
and concubinage on an extensive scale exist among the wealthy classes.
Burials are attended by a great feast, provided, as in some West African tribes, by presents
of food to the bereaved relatives. All the contributors expect invitations. Among the Shoho,
who are inveterate beggars, the hand of the corpse is left- outstretched above the grave.
The State religion of Abyssinia since the fourth century has been Christianity. The Church
The Abyssinian and Ethiopic Groups
381
is a branch of the Coptic Church of Egypt, and its head is the Patriarch of Alexandria. He
appoints the Abuna, or Prelate of Abyssinia, who must be a Copt. Ijut his influence is
controlled by the Echegheh, a native dignitary at the head of the religious orders. Both live in
Gondar, which is the ecclesiastical centre. The priests are allowed only one wife each, and
are not allowed to remarry. The creed of the Church is monophysite — that is, it holds to
the single and not the dual natiu-e of Christ. It also believes in the three births of Christ —
viz. His proceeding from the Father, His birth by the Virgin Alary, and His reception of the
Holy Ghost : that the last was a birth was settled by a sanguinary civil war. Fasting is one of
the iiractices of the <"liurch; and the priests are supposed to fast for nine months of the year.
The political organisation of the country is theoretically a despotism, limited by the weakness
of the central authority and the slowness of communications. There is a paid standing army
of about 70,000 men, with an unpaid militia of about 140.000 more. Nearly all the men have
rifles of some sort, and the army has eighty mountain guns.
The criminal code dates from the time of Constantine, but it appears to be arbitrarily
and sometimes cruelly enforced. In the time of King Theodore criminals at Magdala were
crucified, flayed, or hurled over a elilT. But the rule of the present king, Menelik of Shoa,
appears to be very superior to that of his predecessors in the administration of justice.
As an example of the Abyssinian Negro races we may take the Shangallas, who live in
the plains to the north-west of the Abyssinian plateau. They are a fierce, warlike race, and
are described by Plowden as people with light, slim legs, but powerfully built from the waist
upward. Their food is meat and wild honey, and they eat the carrion of animals slain by
Abyssinian ivory-hunters. They live in large caves in the rainy season, and at other times
bivouac in the scrub. Their religion is fetishism, and they are guided by omens drawn from
the flights of birds.
382
The Living Races of Mankind
The P'alashas.
One of the most remarkable races in Abyssinia
are the Falashas, who live around Lake Tsana in
the central provinces. Their name, which comes
from the Ethiopian word Falas, means " exiles."
They claim to be the direct descendants of the Jews
sent to Abyssinia as the retinue of Menelik, son
of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, reinforced by
those who fled from Palestine after the overthrow
of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. The Falashas were
once a powerful tribe occupying Simen, the high
mountain region of Abyssinia, and the adjacent
plains of Dembea. They were a turbulent race,
and a source of per^jetual trouble to the Tigrians
and Ainhanins. They were therefore driven from
tLie plains; but under a succession of Gideons and
Judiths they held their own in the mountains. In
the tenth centm-y, under a beautiful and ambitious
By pmahsionof Bcrr viidauj; na,nb,.rg. leader, Priucess Esther, they nearly subverted Chris-
A HAUssA WOMAN. tiauity throughout Abyssinia, and compelled the
Legitimist jirince to fly to Shoa. At length in the
seventeenth centm-y they were finally defeated, driven from the mountains, and compelled to settle
as a subject race in the provinces of Dembea, Gojam, and Woggera. They were estimated
in 1862 to number about 250,000, but according to later rejjorts there are only from 10,000
to 20,000 of them. Stern, who visited the tribe as a missionary, says that *-in physiognomy
most of the Falashas bear striking traces of their Semitic origin. Among the Tirst group we
saw at Gondar there were some whose Jewish featm-es no one could have mistaken who had
ever seen the descendants of Abraham either in London or Berlin. Their complexion is
a shade paler than that of the Abyssinians, and their eyes, although black and sparkling, are
not so disproportionately large as those which characteristically mark the other occupants
of the land."
The Falashas are very exclusive : intermarriage with members of another tribe or creed
is rigidly prohibited, and any intercourse with a Gentile entails elaborate penance and
pm-ification. They maintain the Jewish customs as prescribed in Leviticus. They observe the
Passover with the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb and the use of unleavened bread. They
celebrate the feasts of Pentecost, of Trumpets, and of Tabernacles by taking ofiferings to their
synagogues, where they hold commemorative services. Their synagogues, or tnesquids, are placed
in the middle of the villages and surmounted by a red earthen pot ; the building is divided
into three courts, entrance to which is regulated by the Levitical Law. The entrance faces the
east, and on the opposite side is a small enclosure containing the altar of sacrifice. The
priests undergo a long com-se of ascetic training. According to Stern, the Falashas are in
many ways superior to their neighbours. He describes them as " exemplary in their morals,
cleanly in their habits, and devout in their belief, and also industrious in the daily pursuits
and avocations of life. Husbandry and a few simple trades — such as smiths, potters, and
weavers — constitute the sole occupations in which they engage : commerce they unanimously
repudiate as incompatible with thefr Mosaic creed."
In connection with the claims of the Falasha peojjle to be regarded as of Jewish descent,
it may be stated that none of their priests have at present any knowledge of the Hebrew
language. Their Bible is the Gheez or Old Ethiopic version, which was made probably in the
fourth century, and is common to all the Abyssinian Christians.
.Apart from their peculiar religious rites and traditions, the Falashas differ little from the
384
The Living Races of Mankind
. J. W. Kolaiid.
GROnP OF HAUSSA.
surrounding Agao, Khamta, and other Hamitic peoples, who still speak rude dialects of the
old Hamitic tongue, and form the substratum of the heterogeneous Abyssinian populations.
Of these the most primitive are the Wito (Vaito), fishers and hunters of the hippopotamus,
who dwell round the shores of Lake Tsana, and present physical characters quite distinct fi'om
those of both the Karaites and Semites, by whom they are despised as outcasts. Their chief
distinguishing features are a retreating head, with the outer corners of the eyes and eyebrows
slojjing upwards, an aquiline nose curved like a hawk's beak over the upper lip, enormously
long chin, pointed ears, short woolly hair — altogether an aggregate of discordant characters
such as scarcely occur in any other known race. Yet the Wito women are described as really
beautiful, even according to Em-oiiean ideas. They are a harmless people, who keep aloof from
their neicrhbours. and live in little conical huts made of reeds taken from the lake.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE HAMITIC AND SEMITIC RACES OF NORTH AFRICA.
a. THE PEOPLES OF THE SAHARA AND SOUDAN.
The vast desert of Northern Africa, bounded by the Atlantic, the Mediterranean states, the
Nile Valley, and the Soudan, is the most sparsely populated region in Africa. Most of it is a
barren, waterless waste, where cultivation is impossible. But in places there are oases around
springs and wells, which render some regions habitable and trade routes practicable across the
deserts. The habitable areas are divided between two groups of tribes — the Tibbus in tlie
east, and the Tuaregs in the west.
The TIBBU.S.
p:thnograi)hically the Tiblni is the less important group. Its headquarters are among
the rockv fastnesses of the Tibesti Mountains, east of the caravan road from Fezzan southward
386
The Living Races of Manl<ind
to Lake Chad; but. its members roam
(j\c'r the eastern desert, and have settle-
ments in Fe/.zan on the north and in
I'xirku and Kanem to the south.
According to Denham's account, the
'I'lhhus of Gando are "never above the
middle size, slim, well made, with sharji,
intelligent, copper-coloured faces, large
pioiiiinent eyes, flat noses, large mouths,
.:iid teeth regular but stained a deep red
lioin the immoderate use of tobacco.
'11 le forehead is high." The combination
of a flat no.se with long crisp hair, a fairly
fall beard, and high forehead suggests
that the race is mixed. Most of it is
probably Hamitic. But the language
belongs to a group spoken by the Negi-o
peoples of the Soudan, and the tribe has
many customs in common with the Nilotic
Negroes ; thus it uses the same pattern of
scar-tattooing, a series of lines across the
temples, as do the Shilluk, and, like the
]Masai, it holds iron-workers in supreme
contempt. The Tibbus enforce the j^rohi-
1 lit ion of communication between a man
and his mother-in-law, which is widely
spread among Negro tribes. On the
other hand, they practise female circum-
cision, like the Somali and the Negroes
of the Slave Coast, which appears to be rather a Hamitic rite.
The men cover their faces with the Arab veil, but the women go half or more than half
naked. The main ornaments of the Tibbus consist of a series of charms. Their weapons are
spears and a knife shaped like a bill-hook. They ride camels, and the camel liarness shows
Ai-ab influence.
The Tibbus dwell mainly in roek-shelters, caves, or rough huts made by resting roofs of
twigs and palm tliatch on boulders. Tlieir staple food is dates, flour of dhurra, the stringy
innutritions fruit of the duin-palm. and goats' milk. But the food-supjily is generally
insufficient.
The Tuaregs.
The western tribes, which form the group of the Tuareg, belong to the Berber race, like
the Kabyles of Algeria, of which they are the purest representatives. They are intellectually
and numerically greatly superior to the Tibbus. The Tuaregs range westward from the Bilma
salt-pans on the Fezzan-Chad caravan road, between Twat on the north and the Niger on the
south, to the border of the Arab belt that runs south along the Atlantic coast from jNIorocco
to Senegal. The tribe is divided into three main groups : the Asgars, the most important
section, in the east ; the Haggars, in the west ; and the Kelowais of Air, who have been altered
by Negro intermixture, in the south-east.
The Tuaregs suffer from a bad reputation, owing to the massacre of the Flatters Expedition
and of some PVench missionaries who were thought to have completely won their confidence.
Some travellers, however, have found them friendly and honourable. Lieutenant Hourst. their
latest champion, remarks that "faults, many faults, of course they have. They are pnnul,
The Living Races of Mankind
they are fierce, they rob, and
they beg. One of their
peculiarities makes it very
difficult to deal with them —
they are very ready to take
ofl'ence. They are, moreover,
in constant dread of being
subject to servitude, and fear
invasion above all things.
Siile by side with all this,
liowever, many nol)le \irtues
must also be placed to the
cicdit of the Tuaregs. Their
courage is proverbial. The
defence of a guest is with
them, as with the Arabs, a
positive religion ; whilst their
steadfastness of character is
well known, and their jiowers
of endm-ance are absolutely
indispensable to their very
existence. Lastly — and here
I know what I say is contrary
to the generally received
opinion — the Tuareg is faithful
to his promises and hates
petty theft. ' Never promise
more than half what you can
perform ' says a Tuareg proverb,
and even in the opinion of
their cnnnies this is no idle
Physically the Tuaregs
are typical Berbers, and re-
semble the peoples of Southern
Em'ope. The men are tall
and slim, and their complexion
is fair until tanned by ex-
posure to tlje sun and sand
glare. Blue eyes are not un-
common. The women agree
in most respects with the
men, except in figure, which
is altered by artificial diet. According to Hourst, the won\en "are pleasing, sometimes even
very pretty. Delicate features, big eyes full of exinession, and very long black hair, parted in
the middle and plaited together at the back of the head, give them a charming ap)pearance ;
but tliey have absolutely no figures — they are just one mass of fat ; their arms are like the
jellies exposed for sale in pork-butchers" shops, and the less said about the rest of their bodies
the better."
The Tuareg dress consists of a tunic of lilack cotton reaching nearly to the ankles, a
l,\i;u TYPE, BERBER AKD NEGRO RACE, SAHAR.4
Photo by Lekegian d- Co.]
'i90
The Living Races of Mankind
Photo hy M PieiiePetU)
icspect to strangers: the men,
on tlie other hand, never take
it (itt, even at meals or dm-ing
-1( 1 1< The hair is shaved,
l)tit tht- men leave a ridge or
..MkM,,nih t.i keep tlie veil
1 u^ed oti' the head.
The main ornaments of the
I'liaiegs are small leather bags
(i>nt lining charms, which hang
1(11111(1 the neck. They also >vear
iH ( kl K-es of copijer beads. A
lone ring, usually of serpentine,
I i>itened on the left arm above
tUe wrist, is an ornament which
is also useful in hand-to-hand
hghtmg. The main weapon of
the Tuaregs is the dagger, hung
on the left wrist by a leather
loop in war they carry a
double-edged sword, an iron
lance, used either for thrusting
oi throwing, and a round
leather shield. Some of the
\\ I stern Tuaregs use bows and
allows.
The horses are small but
strong; their saddles are made
of wood covered with h-ather; the stiiruiis are very small, and only the big toe rests in them.
The camel is a more imjjortant domestic animal than the horse.
The dwellings of the Tuaregs are mostly of skins resting on a light woodeu framework ;
but straw huts are also used. They have a few towns, especially in the south. Thus most
of the people of Say are Tuaregs. But Say, though a large town, is very inferior to those of
the Haussa. The houses are mere straw huts with pointed roofs. There is but one mud
house, which is occupied by the chief. The stockade round Say is said to be also made of
straw. Some other Tuareg towns are better built : thus Ghat, which is five miles iir circumference,
consists of houses made of mud and date-jjalm timber.
The military system of the Tuaregs is feudal. Each head of a district has to maintain a
force of armed retainers ready for service whenever called for.
A Tuareg marries only one wife. The preferences of the women are consulted in
mari-iage, and a woman may refuse any suitor for whom she does not care. After marriage
her position is one of freedom, which is never abused, and of influence, which is always on
the side of refinement. The women are more cultured than the men ; and among one group,
the Asgars, most of the women can read and write. The men are generally attached to their
wives, and a good deal of the native poetry is devoted to the praise of women. Women,
moreover, hold property in their own right; and as they are not bound to contribute
to the household expenses, they are usually richer than their husbands. Daughters inherit
an equal share with the sons in the ordinary property of theLr parents, while whate\er has
been captured in war falls to the lot of the eldest daughter's eldest son.
Tlie domestic virtues of the Tuaregs are also illustrated by their treatment of their
slaves, a Negro caste known as the Bellates. According to Lieutenant Hourst, the slaves
are so attached to their masters that the French have not succeeded in detaching a single
The Peoples of the Sahara and Soudan
391
Bellate from lii.s allegianre : wlien taken prisoners, they escape back to their bondage at the
first opportunity.
The Tuareg religion is Islam modified by fetishism. The Tuaregs are very superstitious,
believe in demons and spirits, and never speak of the dead except as those who have disappeared.
They regard the cross as a sacred symbol.
The Fulah.
The physical characters of the Fulali race show that they are not Negroes, and they have
even been regarded as Malays, and some striking coincidences with Malayan culture exist in the
West Soudan. But the P'ulah are jimbahlv a Ilamitic race of Berber affinities, and possibly
are allied to the Tuaiegs.
Thev piesent an mterestmg comhni it Km of ]ih\^uil featuie^ The colour, as implied
>^f^^
Photo by Richard But
by the name Fulah,
oval, the nose is sti
straight or grows in
In mental chavuc
ight ciiestnut. The
nd delicate, and the
reddish, varying from reddish brown to a
lit and often aquiline, the lips are thin
M- ri„.,dets.
s thi'V differ no less markedly from the Negroes. Barth caUs them the
most intelligent of African races. All were formerly pastoral, but many have now settled down
to agricultural and industrial pursuits, in which they succeed by their shrewdness, pertinacity,
and diplomacy. As soldiers they are brave and disciplined, although Lieutenant Hourst tells
us that the Pulah of Fafa on the Niger, like the rest of the sedentary peoples whom he met,
live in abject fear of the Tuaregs. But their courage and discipline are demonstrated by
the fact that, though they are a minority of the population in Sokoto, they are politically
supreme. Their army is large, disciplined, and well equipped.
The Fulah language is described by Keane as " of distinctly Negro type." It uses
39^
The Living Races of Mankind
sutExes iu declension and adopts two genders, which are the "liunian" and the '-not human,"
instead of the usual divisions of male and female.
The two chief Fulah states are Sokoto and Gando, to each of wliich there are \arious
subject states, which have an even smaller percentage of Fulah people. Thus Eide and Nupe
on opposite sides of the Niger above the confluence of the Benue, and Borgu on the west
bank farther north, are subject to Gando. And the pro\'inces of Kano, Katsena, and Zaria to
the east and south-east of Sokoto, and Yakoba and Adamawa still farther to the south-east,
were formerly tributary to Sokoto. Blost of these groups are now comprised in British Nigeria,
the rest in the French Soudan or the German Kamerun.
The Haussa.
The Haussa are essentially a nation of traders ; they live in large populous towns, where
they carry on their numerous industries and handicrafts. The products are distributed over
most of Northern Africa. The Haussa language has become the medium of intercourse between
the different races of the "West and Central Soudan. It is spoken throughout the greater jjart of
the Niger Basin; and in most of the i:)rincipal commercial centres of Tunis, Algeria, Senegambia,
and the British west coast protectorates there are traders who know the language.
The Haussa language has been studied by many workers, including Dr. Eat and Dr.
Schcin. who compiled the first grammars and dictionaries, and Canon Kobinson, who has
investigated Haussa litei-ature. In the language about a third of the words are Semitic,
including all but one of the pronouns and most of the terms in commonest use; but owing
to its structure the language is believed by Robinson to belong to the Hamitic group, whereas
Professor Keane considers it to be Negi-o altered by Hamitic influence.
The relations of the three gi-eat languages of the West Soudan are admiralily expressed
by Cast in the remark that Arabic, Fulah,
and Haussa are respectively the languages
of religion, conquest, and commerce.
Though industrious and enterprising,
the Haussa are said to be cowardly. This
stateuient may be regarded as inconsistent
with the reputation for valour of om- West
African Haussa police ; but the men in
tliat force are not Haussa, but only Haussa-
>lii-al<ing Negroes. When some real Haussa
wi'ic once by mistake engaged for service
iu the Congo Free State, their natural
tiniidity was only too well illustrated.
Owing to then- lack of courage, the
Haussa were easily conquered by the Fulah,
who now rule over then\. The two races
an- easily distinguished. The Haussa are
darker in colour, shorter in statm-e, have
lunaijer noses, and more woolly hair- than
I he I''ulah. But in culture both peoples are
on the same grade, which for Africa is
very advanced.
The people dress in cotton, especially
in the blue-dyed cotton of Kano. The
chief garments are a long loose shirt
reaching to the knees and a pair of baggy
trousers. The men wear a straw cap, a
turban, or a fez. The head is generally
Photo by Hichard Suchta.
A NUBIAN DANCING-WOMAN.
The Peoples of the Central Soudan
393
Bhaved, except a tuft at the
back ; but the beard is long
and worn full. Leather
sandals of Moorish type are
made at Kano and Katsena.
Ornaments of embroidered
leather, rings and trinkets of
gold and silver of tasteful
design, and decorated jjottery
show the artistic sense of the
people. The chief weapons
are a long straight sworil,
which tapers steadily to the
point, and a long lance, with
a handle 8 or 10 feet long;
battle-axes, throwing-knives,
knuckle-dusters armed with
knife-blades, bows and arrows,
are also used. The P'ulah
wear suits of quilted armour.
The houses are usually
circular, and built of mud
walls with a conical thatched
roof; each house is placed
in a court-3'ard or compound.
The wealthier merchants and
chiefs dwell in two-storeyed
houses, comprising several
rooms, with a flat roof and
wide verandahs. The jJalace
at Kano, which is several
acres in extent, was designed
on this plan ; it consists of
a series of buildings made
of hardened mud, surrounding a large court-yard. The houses are collected into large towns,
which are the most remarkable feature of Haussaland. Each town is surrounded by a wall,
sometimes from 20 to 40 feet in height, pierced by gates and defended by towers.
For the purposes of trade there is a shell currency, the recognised medium of exchange being
cowries, of which 2,000 are equivalent in value to about eighteenpence. The religion of
the Fulah and of most of the Haussa is Islam; but it is not followed with fanaticism: in
Kano, for example, there is but a single mosque, which is small and neglected. In some
places, unfortunately, the religion has not saved the people from intemperance.
iN nLED-NAjfl, (ALGERIAN TYPE).
b. THE PEOPLES OF THE CENTRAL SOUDAN.
West of the " empire "' of Sokoto are the four states of the Central and Eastern Soudan,
Bornu, Baghirmi, Wadai, and Uarfur, which extend eastward from the Niger to the edge of
the Nile Basin in Kordofan, but have retained a mere shadow of their political independence.
The peoples of the four states are of very mixed origin. The main basis of the population
is Negro, mixed with Arabs, Berbers, Tibbus, and various half-breeds. The Arab influence is
greatest in Wadai and in the plains of Darfur, whereas the Negro element is strongest in
50
394
The Living Races of Mankind
W'adai, Baghirmi, and Bonm. The most typical
of the Soudanese are the people of Bornu, a
Negro nation with a strong Tibbu strain.
Bornu is ethnographically the most im-
I>ortant and interesting of the four states. The
ruling people are the Kanuri, who are clearly
Negroes somewhat modified by interminglings,
especially with the Dazas or Southern Tibbus.
They were conquered by the Fulah, but re-
covered their independence in a holy war
stimulated by the preaching of a native
Mahdi.
They have been described as timid and
peaceful, "with large unmeaning faces, fat Negro
noses, and mouths of great dimensions, with good
teeth and high foreheads." The men generally
shave their heads, but the women wear their hair
formed into three rolls, one on the top of the
head, and with two smaller rolls hanging down
over the ears. The tribal tattoo-mark is a series
of twenty scars running from the corners of the
mouth to the angle of the lower jaw and cheek-
bone. The national weapons are the spear, shield,
and dagger.
The country houses in Bornu are circular in
shape, and made of straw, woven grass mats, or
clay walls thatched with straw. But most of the
peojile live in towns, where the houses are larger
and better built. The houses of the better class consist of several walled courts, round which
are the apartments for the slaves ; the wives of the owner live in an inner court, where
there is a thatched hut for each of them. From this court a staircase leads " to the
apartments of the owner, which consist of two buildings like towers or turrets, with a
terrace of communication between them. The walls are made of reddish clay as smooth as
stucco, and the roofs most tastefully arched on the inside with branches and thatched on
the outside with gi-ass."
The towns are surrounded by walls 20 feet thick and from 30 to 40 feet high. The wall^
are pierced by four entrances, closed at night by massive wooden gates.
The people have few industries except agriculture. They grow grain croj)s, especially
millet and dhurra, which, boiled into porridge, is the staple food. Beans also are largely
grown. Fish is abundant in Lake Chad and the rivers which flow into it.
Baghirmi, to the south-east of Lake Chad, is the Soudanese state with the most Negro
blood in the people ; the population consists of Bornuese, Fulah, and Arabs, greatly altered by
the large class of Negro slaves.
In Wadai the Arab type is strongest, and it is mixed with Negroes, Fulah, and some
Tibbus. The people of Wadai are more fanatical and warlike than those of the other states
of this group. In addition to the usual weapons, the lance or spear, knife, and dagger-shaped
sword, the natives use the gun and revolver, and are protected by quilted armour like that
of the Fulah.
In the hills of Darfur live the Fur Negroes, who have adopted Islam, but retain their
old fetishes and Negro superstitions ; but unlike the Nilotic Negroes, to whom they are allied,
they neither tattoo nor remove the front teeth from the lower jaw. They are a brave race,
as the Egyptians learnt by experience.
l-koto l>y Keurdun Frcra]
AN ULED-NAlL WOMAN, BISKRA.
396
The Living Races of Mankind
c. THE PEOPLES OF
EGYPT AND NUBIA.
Egypt, as might be ex-
pected from its geo-
graphical position, is
inhabited by a mixture
of races. The basis of
the population consists
of Copts and Fellahin,
who are tbe lineal de-
scendants of the ancient
Egyptians.
The Coprs.
The Copts now live
mostly in Ui>per Egypt,
especially near Assiut
and around Eake Birket-
el-Qurun in the de-
pression of Fayum. In
this district many
villages are occuj^ied
solely by Copts, who
live as agriculturists ;
whereas in Lower Egypt
the}' are artisans,
traders, and scribes. As
the Copts are Christians,
they have been brought
into less intimate asso-
ciation with the Arab
section of the popula-
tion, and thus have re-
mained less altered than
the Fellahin by inter-
mixture of Semitic
blood. But though so
religion and race the
Copts have remained
pure, in customs and spirit they have been greatly altered. Thus Klunzinger tells us that
" the modern Copt has become from head to foot, in manners, language, and sjiirit, a iSloslem,
however unwilling he may be to recognise the foct. His dress is like that of the rest of the
people, except that he prefei-s darker materials." He wears a black turban ; in church he keeps
on his head-covering and removes his shoes ; in praying he faces Jerusalem, " and mumbles
out psalms by the yard in a regular paternoster gallop " ; he fasts periodically, and will not eat
pig, camel, or goose.
The Coptic Chm-ch itself has not escaped alteration by contact with Islam. It arose as
an ofishoot from the Greek in the fifth century after the Council of Chalcedon. Its heiui
is Patriarch of Alexandria, who is also the chief of the Abyssinian Chm-ch. The usages of
the Church have preserved many relics of primitive Christianity. The priests dress like the
h-hoto by Aei
JLED-NAlL
The Peoples of Egypt and Nubia
397
lavmen, and are deiiendent for support on the free-will offerings of the people, which are
generally given in kind. iSIarriage is forbidden to the priests after oi-dination, but they
are allowed to marry before that event ; and marriage bars their j)roinotion to only the
highest posts in the Church.
The Fellahin.
The Fellahin have been more altered by Arab and Berber influences than the Copts,
but in physique and cast of countenance the old Egyptian type is recognisable. They are of
middle height, on an average about 5 feet 6 inches high ; they have a broad forehead, straight
nose, which lacks the Semitic flattening at the tip, large black eyes, and thick lips. The
P'ellahin form the bulk of the Egyptian population, especially in the rural districts of the
Delta and Lower Egypt. The country Fellah wears a brown woollen sliirt. with large loose
sleeves, and usually has also a shawl over his shoulders. On his head is a tight-fitting white
cap or a red fez, covered by the turban. The townsmen, on the other hand, dress in cotton
instead of wool; they wear a loose cotton shirt reaching to the knees or the feet, and often
tied round the waist by a girdle ; beneath the shirt is a loin-cloth or a pair of short drawers.
The men of the upper classes have adopted Arab, Turkish, or European costumes. Their
women live in seclusion and never appear in public places except closely veiled. Klunzinger
has given a full account of their dress and ornaments. He tells us that they blacken their
eyelids with antimony and decorate their bodies by tattooing and paint. Their hair is bound
into slender tresses, some of which cover the sides of the head, and the rest hang freely
down the back. Their ornaments are elaborate and costly, being mostly made of gold. The
hair is fastened and adorned by golden pins and combs, and fringed with rows of ducats, tiny
398
The Living Races of Mankind
bells, and gold flakes ; the tresses are tied at the
ends by cords of silk adorned with spangles and
gold coins. The main article of dress is a loose
white robe, which extends from the shoulders
to the feet; it has no sleeves, but there are wide
side-openings from the arm to the knees. The
under-garments consist of a gauze chemise and
loose drawers fastened below round the knees or
ankles.
The life of the people is regular and uniform.
They all rise before the sun, say their prayers,
take a cup of coffee, and then hm-ry off to the
liazaar or the field. Business is mostly done in
the morning. At midday there is dinner, followed
liy a long siesta ; work is then resumed till
sunset, after which comes the principal meal of
the day. The main foods are flat cakes of un-
leavened bread made of flour paste baked over
a fire, beans and lentils boiled with ghee or
butter, fried fish, mutton, beef, or fowls. The
women have their household work, which consists
principally of cooking, washing, and sewing.
They make morning calls on other women, when
they smoke, drink coffee, tell stories, listen to
songs, or watch dancing. They can only walk
abroad veiled or under a canopy, but the large
court-yards of the houses afford them plenty of
open air. The lives of women in the harem are
thus passed neither in harsh slarery nor indolent
luxury, for they have their amusements as well
as their duties.
Polygamy is of course allowed to the Fellahin.
Divorce is easy, and is frequently due to a fit of
anger, and is often followed by remarriage. But
when the absolute form of divorce has been
used direct remarriage is illegal. This can only
be effected by the law of mostahill. The woman
^^ must marry another man, who can instantly
I , '■ i^r J divorce her, and then the first husband can
^f: ^.-- Jii'^ remarry her.
Marriage in the first instance is arranged
^^ ^ by the parents at an early age. Girls marry
tiioto ij) Ltgniad] [Algiers. at from twclve to fourteeu, and boys when
A KABYLE MAN. about three years older. The bride and bride-
groom do not see each other until a late
stage in the marriage proceedings ; but they can then, if they choose, stop the ceremony.
Marriage is not by purchase, but a relic of this system is preserved in the payment made
by the bridegroom's father to the father of the bride, which sum is, however, spent on
her trousseau.
After birth a child is kept in seclusion for seven days, during which time no man, not
even its father, is allowed to look at it, for fear of injury. On the seventh day the baby is
placed in a sieve and carried in procession through the whole house, accompanied by lighted
Photo hy Lrgrand]
A KABYLE WOMAN.
400
The Living Races of Mankind
tapers, while the midwife scatters
grain and salt as food for the wicked
spirits. The child is shaken in the
sieve to make it fearless, and it is
held up to the sun to sharpen its
eyes. If it be a girl, the house will
be filled with women invited by the
mother ; but if it be a boy, the father
also will have asked guests, and the
child is carried in its sieve to the
men's room, where the father sees
it for the first time. There it
is christened by the cadi sucking a
piece of sugar-candy and allowing the
fluid to trickle from his mouth into
that of the child, after which he pro-
nounces its name.
In addition to these two native
races, and to the Berbers, who live in
,x-^^». I ■ : 'feaiJ ., .^K^^-^ ^^^ Siwah Oasis, there are in Egypt
jr-wr V- i I , 3^ P^y ^!tjjjle^Btea. many foreigners, Arabs, Turks,
-^ ' ' ' IB^^^^" ^■^,»o»«a™ Armenians, and Jews. The main
commerce of the country and the
principal administrative appointments
are held by these people. But, with
the exception of the Aralis. these
races have remained as foreign ele-
ments. The Arabs, however, have
fused with the Fellahin to a con-
siderable extent, both by the adoption
of Egyptian women into their harems and owing to the influence of Arabised tribes on the
Egyptian borders.
Photo by Leroux]
TWO KABYLE WOMEN, ALGERIA.
The Nubians.
The country of Nubia, between Abyssinia and Egypt, is occupied by a number of Negro,
Semitic, and Hamitic tribes, altered by intermixture. The Semitic group occurs mainly in the
Nile Valley, while the Hamites range over the plains between the Nile and the Red Sea. As
a type of the former we may take the tribe of the Hamran Arabs of the Atbara, who are famous
as great hunters.
The Hamrans physically resemble the other "Arabs" of this region, except that they have
an extra length of long curled hair, worn parted down the centre. As a race they are neither
powerful nor tall, but light and active ; their average height is 5 feet 8 inches. Their
methods of hunting have been graphically described by Sir Samuel Baker, of whose account
the following is a summary.
Their main weapon is a straight two-edged sword about 3 or 3i feet long. When
used in hunting, it has a lashing of cord for about 9 inches round the upper end, so that it
can be held by both hands. The Hamrans hunt elephants either on foot or on horseback. In
the former case the hunters generally try to stalk the animal during its midday sleejj, and
with one blow of the sword cut off the trunk, whereby the elephant bleeds to death in about
an hour. Should it be impossible to catch the elephant asleep, they creep up behind and
sever the back sinew of the hind leg about a foot above the heel. This injury disables the
ele2ihant, and a cut can be given at the other hind leg with greater safety. The animal is
The Peoples of Egypt and Nubia
40 1
then left to bleed to death. Ihmting on horseback is the more common methoil. l^our men
usually hunt together. They follow a herd of elephants, and attract the attention of the animal
with the largest tusks. It is irritated into a series of charges, by which it is gradually detached
from the herd. dm- liuiitcr then rides close up to the head of the elephant, wliich, enraged
at such impu<lencf, makes a desperate charge. The hunter allows the elephant to keep almost
within reach of his horse's tail. While the whole attention of the ele[)hant is thus absorbed
two other hunters gallop close u[) to it ; one of them springs to the ground, and with one blow of
his heavy sword, held in both hands, severs the sinew of one of the hind legs. The elephant
is disabled liy tlir first prt^ssure of its foot upon the ground, for the enormous weight of its
body dislofati'> tin- j.iiiit, and the limb is useless. The hunter who has led the chase then
irritates the animal into atteini)ting another charge, during which it is compai-atively easy for
the other hunters to cut the sinew of the other hind leg. The animal tlien cannot move, and
slowly bleeds to death.
The rhinoceros is killed in much the same wav, thouGfh the chase is even more difficult
UlAB OHILDRE
and dangerous; tor the rhinoceros is swifter than the elephant, and can run well on three
legs; so it is not disabled by a single blow.
The Beja and the Ahabdeh.
TJje Semitic race is also represented by the Hassanieh and the Jalin of Khartum. The
Arab tribes, however, are clearly intruders, and the main element in the Nubian pojiulation
belongs to the race of the Beja.
As an example of the Beja we may take the Ababdeh, who dwell in the hilly
district about the frontiers of Upper Egypt and Nubia, between the Ked 8ea and the Nile.
They are Hamites, and differ physically from the Arabs of Sinai and Northern Egyj)!,
but they show many Semitic traces. Klunzinger describes the Ababdeh as varying in colour
from deep brown to black: "The face is a fine oval, not so long as among the Arabs; the
eyes large and nery ; the mouth and lips neither large nor small ; the nose straight, and rather
51
402
The Living Races of Mankind
short, hroad ami blunt, than long. The neck is long and thin ; the ears small and roundish ;
the hair naturally straight or curled, but not woolly— it is artificially twisted into cork-screw
ringlets and worn long and uncovered." Their dress in general resembles that of the Egyptian
peasant, consisting of a long coat or shirt and a loin-cloth. The women wear a long white
cotton robe, ftistened under the armpits and reaching to the feet, while one fold of it covers
the head like a veil. They wear necklaces of glass beads, brass earrings and nose-rings, and
buckles on feet and hands.
Their houses are tents of skins placed over poles. They live on milk and dhurra. They
keep herds of camels, goats, and sheep, in tending which most of their time is spent. Some
have settled on the shore and live largely on fish, and others have settled in the Nile
Valley, where they have become agriculturists. The number of the tribe is estimated at
about 30,000. They are jMohammedans and speak Arabic.
Among other members of the Beja group are the lladendowa, who live around Suakin,
and the Bishari, who live along the Abys-
sinian frontier.
The Nuua and Doxgolawi.
In the Nile Valley the IJeja are replaced
by members of the Nuba race, who probably
are a mixture of Hamite and Negi-o ; the
main Nile tribe of the Nuba is known as
the " Barabra," which includes.the Dongolawi
of Dongola, the people of the great Korosko
Desert, and the inhabitants of the Nile Valley
from Wadi Haifa to Assuan.
In structure they have more of the Negro
than either the Ilamrans or the Beja : the
average Dongolawi, for instance, have very
wavy hair, a thin beard, and widely op^^n
nostrils. But in many of them the Ilamil ic
type prevails, so that the nose is straight
and thin, the hair long, and the lips arc
thinner than in the Negro. But the Negro
characters become increasingly stronger as
the Nile is ascended.
These Nile Valley Baralira are a race
of peasants, who grow crops of rice and
dhurra in the naiTow belt of cultivable land
between the river and the desert. They
water their fields by tlie shadtif, which
consi.<ts of a long lever having arms very
unequal in length ; at the end of the longer
arm is a bucket, which can be lowered and
dipped into the river, and then swung up
over the bank. The Nile peasants are a
peaceful, gentle people ; but they are more
intelligent and active than the Egyptian
Fellahin. That they are capable of great
achievements is shown by the fact that the
Wahdi who in 1884-85 replaced Egyptian
misrule in the Soudan by a worse tyranny
The Peoples of Algeria and Morocco
403
was a member of the Dongolawi
clan.
d. THE PEOPLES OF ALGERIA
AND MOROCCO.
The peoples of Morocco and Algeria
may be conveniently considered
together ; for though the countries
are politically distinct, they an-
physically similar and their popula-
tions are ethnographically identiral.
The majority of the Moroccans and
Algerians are Berbers; the rest are
Arabs, IMoors, Jews, and Negroes.
The Beubicus.
The Berber is a Ilamitic race
which has been partly " Arabised."
But as all are Mohammedans and
many speak Arabic, they have often
been regarded as Arabs, a mistake
which has led to political disasters.
Some of the Berbers are even re-
garded as Shorfa, or descendants of
Mohammed, although they are
Hamites and not Semites. The
Berbers and Arabs are both Caucasian,
and physically offer many points of
resemblance ; but the differences are
important. The Berbers have a
shorter, less oval face, a broader nose,
which is rarely aquiline, a larger
mouth and jaws, a stronger build
of body, and a fairer complexion,
with sometimes blue eyes and
light-coloured hair. They are more
industrious, more inquisitive, and
less restrained than the Arabs, and their turn of mind is more practical than contemplative.
The Berber tribes are numerous ; they are said to number over 1 ,000 different clans in
Algeria alone. These clans are divided into three groups. The first is that of the Kabyles, or
Akbails, of the north, including the piratical Riffs. The second group includes the Sus around
Mogador and the Shulluhs of the Atlas. The third group comprises the Haratin, or Black
Berbers, of the southern slopes of the Atlas Chain.
As a rule the Berbers are peaceful and very industrious ; but there are exceptions. The
Riffs of the north-western coast of Morocco are turbulent and aggressive, and were once
notorious as pirates. It is said that the greatest insult that can be given to a Riff is to say,
"Your father died in his bed."
The costume of the Berbers is simpler than that of the Arabs. The men wear a cloth
tunic reaching down to the knees, while the women have a longer tunic fiistened by a girdle
round the waist, and a coloured cloth over the shoulders. The Arab veil is not worn. The
women are not secluded, and freely take part in open-air festivals and dances. The men
Photo hy Leroux]
KABYLE CHILDREN.
404
The Living Races of Mankind
liiive their liair cut, short, but the
heanl is allowed to grow to fair
length; they wear a fez, and the
women use a looser, fuller cap.
The main ornaments are elaborate
and sometimes nose-rings. The
tribal weapons are a straight
sword, guns of any pattern, and
smooth-bore cannon, made by
drilling out a cast block of metal.
The Berber houses are gener-
ally two-storej-ed buildings of
stone ; they are often crowded
together in the villages, which
are surrounded b}' a stone wall
or bank. In the country districts
the peo2:)le mostly dwell in tents
or beehive-shaped straw huts.
These huts simply rest on the
ground, and are moved about
from place to place. Two or three
men get inside each hut. lift it up,
and then walk otf with it to the
new site selected for the village.
Colville describes a Berber village
on the move as looking like an army
of gigantic snails on the march.
The Berbers are industrious agriculturists. They grow wheat and barley, which they
cut with the sickle, while the ground is prepared with a wooden, iron-shod jilough ; they also
grow maize, onions, beans and lentils, coS'ee, and various fruits, especially walnuts and olives.
They practise most of the primitive industries; they smelt iron ore, burn clay into tiles, spin
flax and cotton, and weave cotton and woollen fabrics, including carjiets ; they make pottery
and soap.
Politically they are gi-ouped into so/s, or associations, and into great confederations, or
kahails. The government of each community is by a council, or jcuuia, presided over by
an amina, or ma3'or, an office which is olti'ii hereditary.
Though Mohammedans, the Berbers are not very rigid in their religious observances.
Circumcision, for instance, is often neglected. They drink wine made from their own vines,
but abstain from imported liquors ; and they are usually monogamous.
Photo by Lekega
STREET MINSTRELS, CAII
The North African Arars.
The supplementary elements in the population of jNIorocco and Algeria may be grouped
into classes, excluding the Europeans and some remains of Boman colonies. The most
important intruders are the Arabs, who conquered Algeria and Morocco in the seventh and
eleventh centuries. They are still politically predominant in Morocco, and were so in Algeria
until the French occupation. The Arabs live mainly in Western Algeria and Morocco. The
latter country ranks next to Arabia as the most sacred land of the Ai-atis, and its sultan is
head of the Western Mohammedans.
The Arabs are widely scattered in Algeria, but are most numerous in the west. They
form numerous clans, most of which are prefixed by the word " Aulad " or " I'led," such as
The Peoples of Algeria and Morocco
405
" Uled-Nai'l," Arabised Beibers living to the west of Biskra. Some Berber clans have, however,
also adopted the term, so that it is not altogether distinctive of the Arabs.
The Arabs of Northern Africa retain the physical appearance, customs, and mode of life
of their ancestors, and do not call for special remark, except to notice the points of contrast
between them and the ISIoors and Berbers. Thus the women differ from the Berbers by their
use of the adjar, or veil. The lower-class women wear a loose wide-sleeved linen mantle, tied
round the waist by a cord like that of a monk. Out of doors they wear a long robe coming
from the head to the feet ; the face is then hidden either by a fold of this garment or a
special veil, and usually only one eye is
left exposed. They wear a profusion of
ornaments, large earrings, bead and coral
necklaces, and metal anklets. They
dye their hands and nails yellow with
henna, and blacken the eyebrows with
powdered antimony.
The jMoors.
AUied to the Arabs are the Jloors,
or town-dwelling Arabs. They are
fairer in complexion tlian the comitry
Arabs, which may be ]iaitly exiilaiiifii
by the fact that many arc descendants
of the Aloriseos expelled from S})aiii,
who had absorbed Spanisli lilood.
The floors are a cultured and
intellectual race, with far less reserve
than is alTected by the Arabs. I>eared
describes the lower-class floors as
people of extraordinary vivacity and of
inexhaustible spirits, with a keen sense
of humour and inimitable powers of
mimicry.
The national dress is white. Men
wear an embroidered shirt fastened down
the breast by many buttons and loops,
a pair of loose drawers, and a large-
sleeved coat. Out of doors a red fez
on the head, a pair of yellow slippers,
and a long wrap of cotton or silk in
warm weather and a thick woollen
cloak in winter are also worn. The
costume of the women is often elabo-
rate, and is described by Gaskel as
follows: "A coloured jacket, embroi-
dered with gold or silver, is worn over
a white muslin chemisette. A pair of
wide cashmere trousers, of blue, yellow,
or green colour, beautifully worked,
meet the vest at the waist, where a
handsome silken sash or girdle is folded
round them. Sometimes a scarf or an algkbian moobisu gibl.
4o6
The Living Races of Mankind
other drapery, fastened in front, is
made to fall gracefully over the lower
part of the person behind, forming
a train on the floor, leaving, however,
one leg, adorned with a massive silver
anklet, uncovered, whilst the points of
the feet are tijjped with tiny JVIorocco
slippers. Half a dozen bracelets on
eacli arm are the fewest they wear,
whilst the rich deck themselves with
pearls, diamonds, and precious stones.
Such as cannot afford an expensive
parure cover, if they do not adorn,
their persons with all procurable pieces
of old or even modern coins, gold or
silver, which fall in long necklaces as
low as the waist. Amongst Turkish
money we have seen the effigies of
Queen Victoria and his Holiness the
Pope. The jingle made at every
movement by these bits of metal is
music to the ear of a ^Moorish lady.
Dyes and perfumes, which are the
delight of all women of the East, are
in especial favour with the ladies of
Algeria. jNloorish women in jjarticu-
A MooBisH LADY. ^^^,^ ^^^ couteut with trying to deepen
the colour of the darkest of black
eyebrows, are dissatisfied when they do not extend and meet in an uninterrupted line across
the forehead— a mistake of nature they correct by the aid of art."
]Moorish architecture is the finest in Africa, and a typical house has been thus described
by Colville : " As the house in which I found myself is a fair specimen of a Moorish
habitation, I give a somewhat detailed description. The most important feature is the
court-yard, which is entered from the street by a narrow passage. It is generally paved with
pretty tiles and partly roofed in ; the upper rooms overhang it to the extent of about 6 feet,
supported by jiillars. There is always a stream of running water in some pait of the court,
often a pretty fountain. Out of the court three or four long narrow rooms open by high
Moorish archways. These are closed by large carved wooden gates, having a smaller or postern
door in one of them. The floors of the rooms are tiled, and are fi-equently sm-rounded by a
tiled dado ; the walls are whitewashed, the ceilings often beautifully ornamented with arabesques
in gold and bright colours. The upper floors are reached by one or more narrow dark
staircases, usually much out of repair. They are nearly all at different levels, and are very
puzzling to find one's way about. One of the rooms in my house could only be reached from
the upper floor. The room which I occupied at the far end of the court was overlooked by
a gallery, of which, although I wandered all over the house, I could find no entrance. The
room to the right of the main staircase was some 12 feet above the level of the court, yet
there was no doorway to indicate that any room was beneath it. On the second floor was a
doorway opening on to the stahr, or house-top. Here the women sit and talk, safe from male
intrusion, for the stahr is tabooed to the lords of creation."
The principal INloorish foods are cakes of barley flour and buttermilk, and a kind of
porridge made of flour rolled into small granules like Italian paste ; this is generally flavoured
with rancid butter, which is made in a goat-skin bag, tied at the mouth and rolled and
4o8
The Living Races of Mankind
Fkolo by Legrand
kneaded about on the floor until the milk is churned. A kind of sausage, made of minced
meat plastered round a wooden stick and toasted over a charcoal fire, is also an imjiortant
national food. These sausages are prepared and sold in special cookshops, wldch abound in
all the Moorish towns. Bread is mostly used by the women, who are fattened before
marriage by being crammed like poultry with finger-shaped jiellets of soft bread. Tliis course
of treatment lasts for some twenty days. Tea is the national beverage ; spirits and wine
are made from grapes, figs, and dates. Tobacco is smoked.
Leared, for some years a doctor in JMorocco, thus describes a jNIoorish dinner-party : " The
company sit in a circle, cross-legged, on the floor. Sometimes, indeed, an apology for a table
a few inches in height is placed in the centre. Upon this or on the floor a huge case
made of straw sewn together and decorated with coloured leather-work is placed. A conical
cover of the same material fits over the case, and when the former is removed a wooden
bowl or tub filled with kuskudu [a kind of porridge] is displayed. Before eating every one
sa3-s grace for himself by exclniining 'Bismallah ! '— 'In the name of Allah!' Each person
then thrusts the fingers of his right hand into the smoking mess, and, taking up a considerable
quantitv-, forms it into a sort of ball or lump, and then by a clever jerk tosses it into his
mouth, which the serving hand is never allowed to touch. The left hand is never used in
eating. From this it will be seen that the etiquette of the ^Moorish dinner-table is quite as
exacting as the correspondiag etiquette among ourselves. After each meal water and napkins
are brought for the hands."
The JMoors are all Mohammedans, but their creed is not free from Negro superstitions.
Thus the word "five" is never mentioned at the Morocco Court, the number being expressed as
" four plus one." The lex talionis, the law of a tooth for a tooth, is still part of the Moorish
jurisjirudence. An English merchant at Mogador, who was accused of having knocked out
two teeth from a beggar, was compelled to allow two of his own teeth to be extracted;
but as the charge was false, he was compensated by the Government,
CHAPTER XVIII.
EUROPE ;
RUSSIA, OAUGASTA. FIXLAXD. LAPLAND, NORWAY,
SWEDEN, AND ICELAND.
RUSSIA.
Of all the peoples constituting the Slavonic branch of the so-called Caucasian type, the
Russians are the most conspicuous and the most powerful. They inhabit an empire more
than twice as large as Em-ope (ix.ciMling 9,000,000 square miles in extent), with a population
estimated in 1897 at 129.211. li:',. ,,f whom about 100,000,000 are in Russia itself. In
appearance Russians of the present day <lo not suffer by comparison with any other people
in Europe. iMirmerly they were of soiiirwliat heavier build and full average stature, w-ith a
swarthy skin, small deep-set eyes, darlc hair, heavy beard, and moustache. Hotli figure and
face, however, liave lieen greatly changed and improved by intermixtuii' willi tiir Sraii(liiia\ ian
and other races. The Russians are now frequently referred to by etlinologists as sup[ilying
some of the best examples of tlie highest Caucasian tvpe.
The peasants are remarkable for thi-ir power of <"iiiiiuing both extreme cold and extreme
heat. When a coachman takes his master or mistress to a theatre, he never thinks of going
home and returning at the appointed hour.
He does not even walk about, stamping liis
feet and swaying his arms to keep jiinisclf
warm, as English cabmen do ; hour aiter hour
he sits placidly on his box. Though the cold
be of an intensity never approached here,
even in our severest winters, he can sleep as
tranquilly as the idle lazzaroni in Naples at
midday.
Once a week the Russian indulges
in a vapour bath, an occupation usually
reserved for Saturday afternoon. In some
parts of the country the jjeasants take then
vapour bath in the large household oven
in which the family bread is baked. The
temperature is raised to the extreme limit
of human endurance, such as few English
people could boar.
Sir ]). .Macki-nzie WaUace, describing
among liis exiioricnces in Russia a vajoour
bath, says : " I only made the experiment
once ; and when I informed my attendant
that my life was in danger from congestion
of the brain, he laughed outright, and told
me that the operation had only begun.
jNIost astounding of aU," he continues,
" the peasants in winter often rush out
4IO
The Living Races of Mankind
RUSSIAN COACHMAN.
of tlie bath and roll themselves in
snow ! "
jMuch of the sentiment and disposition
commonly regarded as ^lart of the national
character is due to outside influences, and
does not appear to be inherent. His cunning.
indolence, intemperance, instability, and
reckless prodigality are the outcome of a
^ j^ — ^ S^^^^m too rapid change from a simplicity which
mt ^ ^^^^^1 ^^® quite patriarchal to a higher stage of
^-^Bt ^ ^l^^^^l civilisation, which is often of a very artificial
."^^^ISbi ^, J^^^ ^m^^B character. Broadly speaking, the Russian of
\ 1 ^ht f^" nitSSiVk ^H tlie interior, where the truest types of the
race are to be found, is simple-minded, of
a cpiick disposition, by nature more prone
to good than to evil, with unlimited faith in
(iod, almost as strong a belief in fatalism
or chance, and a remarkable trust in the
wisdom, power, and rectitude of the Czar.
In spite of the Nihilists and their sensational
linings, the revolutionists are but a very
Muall minority of the people. The Russian
is strongly attached to old customs and
established institutions. He is naturally
conservative, and to that cause his loyalty
to the Czar is largely due.
Living in towns develops the seamy
side of the Russian character; it weakens respect for the sovereign, and breeds discontent.
These feelings are foreign to the bulk of the peojile, who are the more typical Russians. They
see in the Czar the " ftither " of his people as well as their master. They submit willingly,
even gratefully, to a despotism which would move others to rebellion. They like to be ruled
firmly, and the Czar who excites their genuine admiration must be as absolutely autocratic as
Nicholas I. when he decided how the railway from INIoscow to St. Petersburg should be
constructed. During the preliminary survey for this undertaking the Emperor heard that the
officers entrusted with the task had received inducements to make it wind about so as to
enhance the value of several estates and reduce that of otliers. It seemed almost hopeless to
decide on the most practicable route. The Autocrat of all the Russias determined to cut the
Gordian knot in true Imperial style. When the minister laid the maps before him, and
explained that certain long detours were necessary owing to natural difficulties in the way,
the Czar took uj) a ruler, and, placing it on the map, drew a straight line from one terminus
to the other, 400 miles apart ; then in a tone which precluded discussion he said, " You
will construct the line so ! " The line was so constructed, and remains a magnificent
monument of his power.
The Russian is a sociable being; but he is also impro\id('nt. and accepts with comparative
indifiVrence the smiles or frownis of fortune. Long-continued work on one task he dislikes.
His gi'eat desire is to finish the work on which he is engaged as quickly as possible, that he
may the sooner enjoy himself in dancing, sleeping, doing nothing, or perhajjs even in getting
drunk. Thrift and economy have no place in his moi-al system. The gravest defect in the
Russian character is dishonesty. Highway robbery and murder are indeed rarer in Russia
than in some countries claiming to be more highly civilised ; yet greed for other's property,
so often glaringly revealed in official classes, jjervades nearly all gi-ades of society. Turning to
the bright side of the Russian character, one finds that the peasants of the north commonly
Russia
411
display an enterprising, independent, and self-reliant spirit, which proves that they arc by no
means the submissive automata they have been frequently held to be.
Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace, K.C.I.E., relates that he was once waiting at a post-
station for the horses to be changed, when a boy appeared, dressed in a sheep-skin wrap,
with a fur cap and gigantic double-soled boots. All these articles had been made on a
scale adapted rather to future requirements than to present needs. He must have stood in
his boots about 3 feet 8 inches, and could not have been more than twelve years of age; but
his appearance showed that he had already learned to look on life as a serious business. The
boy wore an important air, and his little brows were as anxiously knit as if the cares of an
emjiire weighed upon his young shoulders. He filled the responsible office of driver of the
^lost-car, but found it necessary to leave the putting in of the horses to larger and older
specimens of humanity. He watched closely, however, to see that everything was done
properly. When all was ready, he climbed up to his seat, and at a 'signal from the station-
keeper shook the reins, artistically flourished the whip, and dashed off at a pace rarely attained
The Living Races of Manl<ind
I'koto by J. Dazuiio] IMosvow.
SERGEANT IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY.
by post-horses. He had the faculty of emittuig a peculiar sound
— something between a whir and a whistle — that aj^peared to
have a magical effect on his team. The road was rough, and
at evei-y jolt the young driver was shot upwards into the air ;
but he always fell again into his proper position, never for a
moment losing either his self-possessinn nr his lialance, and at the
end of the jom-ney it was found that they had Ijeen carried over
the rugged way at the rate of fourteen miles within each hour.
A remarkable instance of the energy and enterprise claimed
fill the Russian working classes of the north was supplied to an
lMiL;lish traveller in the country just after he had expressed a
(liiulit as to their industry. He was in the province of Kostroma.
One part of it has a special reputation for tm-ning out carpenters
and stove-builders. Another part, he was sm-prised to learn,
sends yearly to Siberia — not as convicts, but as free labourers —
a large contingent, consisting almost entirely of tailors and
workers in felt. A bright-eyed youth of sixteen or seventeen,
who was among the apprentices accompanying one of these
liands, informed him that he had already made the journey twice
and intended to go every winter. " Because you always bring
home a i)ile of money, I suppose?" inquired the traveller.
'■ Nitchtvo I " gaily replied the young fellow, with an air of
self-confidence and pride. ('■ Kitchevo," it may be remarked,
is equivalent to the phrase " Right you are, sir," which would
liave been used by a British working lad to express emjjhatic
assent.) '-Last year," the youth continued, "I brought home
three roubles!" "There! Can you now say our people are
not industrious?" exclaimed the Russian to whom the English-
man had exjjressed that opinion a few minutes before. " A
Russian peasant goes all the way to Siberia and back for three
roubles and his food ! Could you get any Englishman, young
and strong, to work at that rate ? " " Perhaps not," the
traveller replied evasively. He could not help thinking, how-
youth were required to go in the depth of winter from Land's
id back again, jjerforming the double journey in cai'ts and on foot,
time and labour, something more than three roubles, or.
ever, that if an Engl
End to John o' Groat;:
he would expect, as fair pay for h
in our money, seven and sixpence.
A people numbering as man}' millions as the Russians must of course differ widely in
characteristics. In Russia, as in most other countries, wealth has a demoralising tendency.
The even temper, kind heart, and loyal disposition, which seem to be his natural characteristics,
are apt to disappear as the viovjik rises in the world. The Russians are tolerant of strangers
in their midst, but not imitative. A Russian village in the middle of German villages does
not appear inferior in the eyes of a Russian. To him it is as natural that Germans should
live in larger houses as that the bii-ds should live in nests. It never occm-s to him that
he should build on the German model. The other is German ; he is Russian — and that
is enough.
The Russians first appear in the light of history about the middle of the ninth century.
The exceptional energy and vitality of the race will be seen by comparing their present
position with their state at that period. Then they were comprised in a few small tribes on
the banks of the Elbe, the Danube, and the low country lying south of the Baltic. They
were frequently assailed by more powerful neighbouring tribes. In order to escape extermina-
tion, they offered the leadership of their clans to three brothers, members of a warlike
RUSSIAN SCHOOL.
414
The Living Races of Mankind
Scandinavian family in friendly relations with the Slavs. Rurik and his brothers willingly
accepted the posts offered. Under their command the Russians beat back the tribes which
invaded their lands to drive off the flocks and herds at that time forming their sole wealth.
Gradually they acquired power and overcame the neighbouring jieoples. They absoi-bed within
their own society the tribes they defeated, annexed their lands, and constantly carried on the
slow but certain process of extension till their empire reached its present size.
Others affirm that the Russians were practically slaves until the emancipation of the serfs.
The Russians themselves declare that serfdom was in no sense slavery ; that the nation did
not in the past, and could not possibly in the future, submit to slavery ; in short, that
slavery never existed in Russia. It is impossible, however, for any one who considers the
subject dispassionately to avoid the conclusion that the serfs were to all intents and purposes
domestic slaves — chattels sold and bought in open market within the 2)resent century.
Sir D. JMackenzie Wallace quotes from The Moscow Gazette of 1 801 : " To Be Sold : three
coachmen, well ti'ained and handsome ; and two girls, the one eighteen and the other fifteen
years of age, both of them good-looking and well acquainted with various kinds of handiwork.
In the same house there are for sale two hairdressers: the one, twenty-one years of age, can
read, write, play on a musical instrument, and act as huntsman ; the other can dress ladies'
Russia
415
and gentlemen's liair. In tlie same house are sold pianos and origans." Tliis advertisement is-
undeniably suggestive of slavery as an institution of the country. A little further on in the
same paper a first-rate clerk, a carver, and a lackey are offered for sale. The reason assigned
by the vendor is superabundance of the articles named. In some instances human beings
were classed with cattle : " In this house one can buy a coachman and a Dutch cow about to
calve." The style of the advertisements and the frequent recurrence of the same address-
show plainly that there was at that time a regular class of slave-dealers openly carrying on
business in liuinan beings — Eussians buying and selling their fellow-countrymen, and in Russia.
The ciistuiiic worn by men in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and other large cities is like that
of London. Pai-is. ami tlic centre and west of Eamiic i^i'nerally. It is not specially characteristic.
In the more retircil pro\inci's. hi)\v('\ci-. tlic ) pic si ill cling to what may be regarded as the
national garb. Tin- comuKincst iicad-ciivcring is a black or grey fur cap, with a brim drawii
down so low on the forehead as frequently to touch the eyebrows. The whole body is covered
by a long, loose, shapeless dark blue or brown great-coat from the shoulders to the heels.
The favourite outer garment of the peasantry is made of shee^^-skin, which is greasy enough
to keep out rain or snow, and woolly enough to preser\e warmth ; while the feet and legs are
encased in heavy top-boots that reach to the knees. In some cases the wearer desires more
ease than he can enjoy while closely covered from chin to feet. Then, beneath the folds of the
great-coat, you may catch sight of the red blouse or the broad red sash and velvet breeches
which were common among the people in the country districts before town fashions tabooed the
picturesque in favour of ugliness. As a rule, the dark, long outer ganuent conceals everything
else on the person of the ordinary Russian. ]\Ien who have attained any grade in society
above that of constant labour evince a passion for uniforms. Nearly all who can be classed
as gentlemen appear in some specially regulated
dress, either military or civilian. Even they, with
hardly an cxcc-pl imi, wear over all the heavy riding-
cloak, without wliicli a gentleman's dress is held to
be incomplete. In the hottest days of summer, as
well as during the Arctic cold of a Russian winter,
rich and poor, old and young, encumber themselves,
as far as their means will allow, with large fur cloalvs
and caps, which they constantly wear.
The Russian peasant's food is generally of the
simplest kind, and seldnm ini-liidcs flesh. It is not
that he dislikes animal food ; but such luxuries as
beef, mutton, and pork are too expensive for ordinary
use. The Russian is hospitable, and takes pride in
a reputation for the quantity and quality of the food
he occasionally sets before his guests. On a holiday
there is always as great a variety of dishes on the
table as he can afford. In the house of a thriving
peasant will be found not only the universal greasy
cabbage soup, and a dish, made from buckwlieat,
called kasha, but also mutton and piprk— perhaps
even beef. During the meal light lieer is supplied
in unlimited quantity, and vodka, a distilled spirit
representing to the Russian every exhilarating drink
from champagne to gin, is frequently handed round.
When the repast is at an end, all at the table rise
together. Turning towards the jiicture or small
statue — the icon of the house— on its little triangular
shelf or shrine in the corner, tliey bow gravely,
) by J. Daziaro] [Mo.
A RUSSIAN NURSE.
The Living Races of Mankind
crossing themselves repeatedly. Thus do they
give thanks to God for the good things en-
joyed. The guests then say to their host,
" Spasibo za khleh za sol " (" Thanks for
liicad and salt") — the customary acknowledg-
iiH'iii of hospitality in Eussia. The host
rcspiiuds, "Do not be displeased. Sit down
once more for good luck." All comply with
this request, as an expression of their friendli-
ness and goodwill. The vodka is handed
round again, and in all probability the feast
will be supplemented by an intemjjcrate
carouse. The Kussian misses no ojiport unity
to drink deep and drown trouble in the flow-
ing bowl.
The use of tobacco is universal in Eussia.
Both sexes smoke. No public, and hardly
any private, dining- or drawing-room is free
from tobacco. Ladies, when travelling, will
draw from pocket or satchel a little cigarette-
case, and have no scruple in asking the first
male stranger they meet to " oblige them with
a light." Princess Gagarine, however, denies
tliis ; she says, " It is generally thought that
in Eussia all women smoke. As a matter of
fact very few do, and those few are nearly all
middle-aged. Their generation thought it was
the thing to smoke. In the 'seventies the writings of Tolstoi, Tourgueniev, Dostoievsky, who
were then at their best, produced some quite unexpected changes in society."
In spite of the stories of Eussian ferocity and inhumanity, repeated and generally believed
for more than half a century, no people are more humane than the Northern Slavs, and
none are more generously hospitable. A stranger is entertained with pleasure, and all is
done to make him feel one of the homely family circle. The beggar, the benighted tra\eller,
the fugitive from the tyranny of a too oppressive master — all are made equally free of what
the household has to offer.
The Eussians are a religious people. The Orthodox Greek Chm-ch is the State Church;
but dissenters from its teaching, as well as Eoman Catholics, Mohammedans, Buddhists, and
■others, are tolerated to a certain limited extent. Eeligion is supposed to be absolutely free.
The Czar is the political head of the National Church, and membership of that Church is
accordingly almost identical with nationalit}'. Hence the public observance of rites and
ceremonies by Eussians of all classes. That people may not be prevented from i:ierforming
their devotions by having to walk too far, there are little chapels open, like shops, at the street
comers, often facing one another in the same street. In Moscow these open chapels are more
numerous than beer-houses and gin-iaalaces in London. In addition to the chapels there are
4cons, put up in nearly every wall, over many doors, in the bazaars, the exchange, every public
■office, and almost every shop. These are beset with worshippers nearly every hour from
morning till night. ]\Ioscow is an exceptionally pious place, as the Eussians there, more purely
Slavonic than the inhabitants of St. Petersbm-g, are more pious than Eussians elsewhere.
In Eussia marriage does not disqualify a man for the office of priest. It is true that a
fitringent law of the Greek Church forbids a priest to marry. A man cannot legally take
unto himself a wife after he has been admitted to clerical orders, but a married man is as
eligible for ordination as an unmarried man.
ITLE RUSSIA.
Caucasia
417
CAUCASIA.
To-day the Caucasus is still full of races diffeiing in religion, language, aspect, and character ;
but it will only be jMssible to mention here the more im[iovtant tribes.
The Svans, or Svanithians, inhabit the Upper Inghur \'alley in South-western Caucasus,
forty miles long by about fifteen in width, shut in ou all sides by glacier-crowned ridges.
The only access from the outer world is by a narrow, and at times impassable, ravine, or over
lofty mountain passes. Nominally subject to Eussia, as are all the Caucasians, these people are
practically independent, and left to govern themselves as they jilease. Though only 14,000 in
number, they successfully resist in their mountain fastnesses every attempt of the Kussians to
collect taxes fi-om them. This is the more remarkable when we remember that they are in a
.state of jjerpetual feud with one another, village against village, family against family. There is
no Organisation among them ; each man rules over his wife and children, and cares nothing for
his neighbour. Doubtless the nature of their country
has contributed to form the wild and savage character
of this people. Herr Eadde, the eminent botanist,
who spent several weeks among them, thus sums up
the result of his experiences : " Amongst the Svans
intelligent faces are seldom found. In their counte-
nances insolence and rudeness are prominent, and
hoary-headed obstinacy is often united to the
stupidity of savage animal life. Amongst these
people individuals are frequently met with who have
committed ten or more murders, which their standard
of morality not only permits, but in many cases
commands."
The appearance of the people does not create a
favourable impression on a stranger. Their clothes are
tattered and shabby, the Caucasian style being uu-
distinguishable in the collection of rags. INIen are
seen wearing sheep-skin caps turned inside-out — an
arrangement which, while it shades their eyes, adds
to the ferocity of their appearance. The women are
said to be uniformly ugly, and their costume a mere
shapeless bundle of rags.
The men and women, even small boys, are all
armed with daggers. ]\Iany have pistols attached to
their belts, or guns, in sheep-skin covers, slung acios>
the shoulder. The children run about nearly naked.
Some of the girls have faces more savage in appearance
and expression than those of the boys.
Wives are bought, or if the intending husband
is too poor, the bride must be carried off by foice.
Eemains of churches found here and there testify to
the effort of Queen Tamara to introduce Christianity
in the twelfth century, but her work has not left
much mark on the character of the people. They aie
highly superstitious, and believe that some of their
number have the power of foretelling the future.
The Lesgkians inhabit Daghestan, on the north- photo by a. jso-^amasm] ist. t^enomy.
eastern side of the Caucasus main ridge, and extend a Russian beide of the better class
53
Caucasia
,41.9
to the Caspian Sea. Including some minor
allied tribes, they number not less than 590,000.
Physically the Lesghians are one of the
finest races in Caucasia. As the Caucasians hold
the highest rank in the ethnological divisions of
mankind, the Lesghians are consequently one of
the finest races in the world. Their long and
fierce wars with Russia amply prove that thej'
are courageous. At the same time there is a
proneness to abuse all the power they possess or
may acquire. They gained the greatest distinc-
tion they have won in modern times by the
heroic resistance they offered to the advance
of Russia for over twenty years. Their leader
was the warrior-prophet Bhamyl (Samuel), who
was a Lesghian, and not a Circassian, as has
been generally believed.
There is nothing specially striking in the
dress of the men. The chodka, or close-fitting
fi-ock-coat, extending below the knee, and
usually confined round the waist with a belt,
is almost universally worn. Its grey colour is
relieved by trimmings of fur. The general
head-covering is a cap of cloth or fur, some-
times shaped like a hemisphere, and sometimes
of fantastic height. Socks knitted in tasteful
patterns, and often with a gold thread running
thn^ugh them, and leather slippers with pointed
t(»'s. are part of, the costume of the well-
dressed. The women also wear a close-fitting
coat, with long baggy trousers, gaudy in colour.
A blue shift and low cap like a fez form part
of their attire.
The Lesghians are naturally most abstemious.
The conditions under which they live would
not admit the use of luxuries, even if their
inclination tended towards them. Though badly
fed and poorly clothed and generally bare-
footed, these mountaineers are hardy and strong.
Sickness and fatigue are almost unknown to
them.
Although Christianity is said to have been
their religion at one time during the IMiddle Ages, they are now fanatic;
Their women, however, rarely veil the face.
The Georgians, who occupy the centre of Transcaucasia, are the principal, and till the
arrival of the Russians they were the dominant, race in the country. It has long been
generally admitted that, of all the Caucasian peoples, the Georgians, whom the Russians
call Grusians, most nearly correspond to the ideal type of physical beauty. They have tall,
powerful figures, are clear-skinned, with brown or black hair, and dark or grey eyes. Their
physiognomy is strongly marked, owing to the broad, low forehead, jarominent nose, and
full, oval face. " They are certainly a splendid race to look at, these Georgians, both men
and women," says INIr. Bryce, recounting his impressions during a visit to Tiflis, their
Photo by the P/,oloUi,ome Co ]
RUSSIAN PEASANT IN COSTUJIf
jMohamniedans.
420
The Living Races of Mankind
capital. Every one has heard of
the Georgian beauties. Regular,
finely chiselled features, clear com-
plexions, large, liquid eyes, and
erect carriage, combining natural
dignity with voluptuousness, are
their general traits. They are
numerous and influential in all the
harems of the East, and their blood
flows in the veins of Turkish,
Egyptian, Persian, and Tartar
grandees. The Georgian ladies
are, however, deficient in vivacity
and expression. The men are
sufficiently good-looking, but with
a shade of effeminacy in their
faces, expressive of their moral
character. The Georgians are
sim[ile and hospitable people; they
love ease, and will not weary mind
or muscle unnecessarily.
Georgian intelligence is not
high. Their brains are generally
befuddled with excessive wine-
drinking. Few of the humbler
classes are able to read and write ;
many even of the higher are in
the same state of ignorance. Pic-
turesquely attired, they lounge
away their time with music,
dancing, and idling.
The Circassians ceased to
A oMiivi.iw \MiM\s c\Lc'\.>i\ exlst as an independent nation
when their country was occupied
by the Eussians in 18G4. Before that time they numbered 300,000 in the valleys and defiles
of the Western Caucasus, east of the Black Sea. i^ow, owing to emigration, they cannot
muster more than 123,000.
It has long been an axiom of ethnology that the Circassians are a magnificent race. Poets
and writers of romance have made the charms and virtues of Circassian ladies the subject of
their art. Mv. Barkley, however, formed a less favourable opinion. He saw nothing to admire
in the women except their hands and feet. He acknowledged, however, that the men are
magnificent, and are to the rest of the human race what Arab horses are to humbler steeds.
" Just as a pretty Circassian girl is rare, so a plain Circassian man is seldom to be met
with. No people have more beautifully shaped heads, more perfectly chiselled features, or sharper,
more intelligent, and yet bolder expressions. They are quick and active in every movement,
and as restless as a weasel (an animal they greatly resemble in character) ; but the most
notable parts about them are their hands and feet. I observed hundreds of them, and never
saw one that an English girl of sixteen might not envy for shape and size."
The Circassian is energetic in his movements. He is always in a hurry. He never
saunters, but goes so rajaidly that he may be known at a distance by his short, sharji step,
erect carriage, and general bearing, suggestive of gi-eat vitality. Tliough energetic and active,
he hates work. He has no scruple in helping himself to the fruits of other people's labour.
422
The Living Races of iVlanl<ind
Robbery is not regarded a'- i
crime among the Circassians, but
as an honoiu-able calling lor <i
free man. The Bulgarian^ and
others among whom the\ sctthd
soon found it necessarv to t '
strong measures to prot( c t 1 1 i
crops and flocks.
The Circassians aio inc i]i-
able of intellectual exeition It
follows that science, hteuituu,
and art were, and still <iie iin
known to them. The \ii^dom ol
their sages preserved from genti i
tion to generation in ])io\cih-
maxims, and stories, the Ic^encU
preserved in verse, and the
practical knowledge each man
could acquire during his lifetime
constituted all the knowledge the
race possessed. The bo\s and
youths were taught to ride, '^hoot,
fence, and hunt, but not to
respect truth. Audacious, hiiig
was regarded as a useful aicom-
plishment. The sole end of
education was to train tlu \()Uiijf
for the perils and haiMKhips of
a mountaineer's life.
Turning to marriage cu-toms,
we find that the bride w i^ genci-
ally bought and carried oif bv
force from her parents. ]Man\ ot
the girls were sold into the h lum-
of Eastern pashas and prince^ It
is said that the Circassian mmkus
welcomed this practice at <i meui>
of escaping from the liie of tod
and hardship which would otherwi
religion of the race.
^^m
nw
.-CYMi
>e have been in store for them. Mohammedanism
the
The once prevalent idea that nearly all the European peoples belonged to the various branches
— Teutonic, Celtic, Slav, Hellenic, Italic — of the Ai-yan family has long been exploded. We
now know that account must also be taken of several non-Aryan groups, notably the Finns,
who form the bulk of the inhabitants of Finland, and were formerly widely diffused over the
greater jDart of Northern and Eastern Europe.
Finland, a grand duchy of the Eussian Empire, has a population of 2,000,000 full-blooded
Finns, besides nearly 500,000 Russians, Swedes, and Lapps. The P'iuns are accounted a
stalwart people, blond in general and with blue eyes. The Teutons, through the Scandinavians,
have influenced them for centuries, and it is to the Scandinavians that they owe their first
knowledge of the metals bronze and iron. Thi-re is a great deal of Swedish blood in the
Finland
423
people, and many speak the Swedish language. Their own national tongue is, however, being
rescued from the obscurity into which it had been forced in tlie centuries during which the
f'inns were Swedish subjects.
The Finns are not wanting in intellectual vigour. This is seen from the important
contribution they have made to the world's literature in the Kcdevala, an epic poem,
embod^'ing their ancient mvths and traditions, preserved in Runes, or ballads, which have
been orally handed down from times long prior to the dawn of history. In the first quarter
of the iiresent century Ldunrot undertook the collection of the Runes, sifted the miscellaneous
and often fragmentiuy material, and put together the national heroic poem, which is now classed
by some enthusiasts with the works of Homer and the great epics of India and Persia.
The early J'inns were chiefly hunters and fishermen. The dog was their most important
domestic animal, although they were acquainted in early times with the reindeer, horse,
and ox, but not with the pig, sheep, or goat, which were introduced about a.d. 1000. Their
agriculture was limited, barley and rye being the only grain crops cultivated. They lived
in tents made of hides stretched on poles, and in huts consisting of holes dug in the earth,
with only the roof above-ground, many of which are still common sights in Finland to-day.
They wore skins, which they stitched together, using as needles small, sharp bones ; they also
had sledges and snow-shoes.
With regard to religion, though a few belong to the Greek Church, the bulk of the people
are Lutherans. Though they are clear-minded and intelligent, among the lower classes
Christianity has not entirely driven out old superstitimis and belief in sorcery and magic. A
curious veneration of the bear is general among them. Frsus takes rank as a kind of divinity.
He is lord of all the spirits, and endowed with sui)ernatural power and wisdom. The sorcerer
is credited witli power to make good or bad weather by spells and incantations, and is half
nolo b,i the Ph
A LAPP CHILD O.N' KE
The Living Races of iVlanl<ind
man, half woman. lie can
take his eye out and eat it,
or allow a bullet to be shot
tln-ough his head and feel none
tlie worse ! We are told " his
demeanour is that of a maniac ;
his utterance becomes vel le-
nient ; he foams at the mouth,
and his hair stands up straight,"
when the spirit possesses him.
If is surprising to find such
licliefs common among people
who are exceptionally intelli-
gent, who have schools
throughout the land, a national
press, and are industrious,
shrewd in trade, polished in
manners, and prosperous.
LAPLAND.
The country of the Lajips,
which belongs partly to Russia
and i^artly to Sweden and
Norway, lies almost wholly
within the Arctic Circle.
Though few in number, they
are a distinct race, and interest-
ing for two reasons. In the
first place, their origin is so
ancient as to be hardly trace-
able ; secondly, they still live
under primitive conditions
which have undergone little
change during the last thousand
years. At one time they
enjoyed a great reputation for
witchcraft, and English seamen
used to go to Lapland to " buy
a wind " from the natives.
Some writers derive the name
from Lap, or Lapp, an old
Swedish word for "enchanter."
The latest estimate of the population puts it at between 28,000 and 30,000; but it is
impossible to ascertain the precise number of a people of whom half are wanderers. Statistics
show that, of the estimated total, 25,000 live in Lapmark and Finmark, which are provinces
in the extreme north of Sweden and Norway respectively. That would leave about 4,000 to
inhabit Eussian Lapland, including the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic Sea.
It was the custom some years ago to speak of the Lapps as dwarfs. This is not quite
the case, although they are certainly the shortest people in Europe. It appears, from a large
number of measurements that have been made, that the average height of the men is about
4 feet 11 inches, and of the women 4 feet 7 inches. A striking feature among the Lapps is
the shortness of their legs and arms. Small feet are universal. The shape of their faces
MOUNTAIN LAPP.
Photo by Valentine d: Sons, Ltd.}
426
The Living Races of Mankind
LAPP WOMAN.
helmet on
reveals certain ]\Iongol characteristics, and
it is now generally admitted that, originally
of ^longol stock, the characters of the yellow
race have been largely obliterated by cross-
ing with the Caucasian type. Professor
Keane says, "The Lapp still retains the
round, low skull, prominent cheek-bones,
and somewhat flat features of the Mongol."
Yellow and reddish tints are noted in the
colour of the skin. No other coloured race
contains so many men of very light hue as
the Lapps, ^lany of the women have deHcate
complexions and rosy cheeks, and Du Chaillu
describes the appearance of freshly washed
specimens as positively dazzling. The Lapjj
language is a member of the Finnish branch
of the Mongolo-Tartar family.
The diliereut tribes are bound together
by hardships which are the common lot.
Some are hunters, some fishermen ; others,
again, herdsmen of deer. All have to
struggle equally hard for existence. They
are, however, cheery and contented. They
endure with indifference and even manage
to enjoy hard conditions of life under
which more civilised peojiles could not
possibly exist.
The dress of the Lapps has now almost
lost its old Arctic character, and assumed
that of the northern Europeans with whom
alone they communicate. Coarse woollen
stuffs are gradually but certainly taking the
place of skins. But in winter both men
and women wear reindeer-skin with the
hairy side in. The men's head-gear is a
huge, four-cornered cap ; while that of the
wooden frame. In summer men and women
women somewhat resembles
are clad only in a long shirt of ivadmal with sleeves reaching to the wrist, and as a
rule the old national costume is better preserved by the Mountain Lapps than by those of
the seaboard. In summer they wear tight-fitting trousers of reindeer-skin, shoes of leather
turned up at the toes, and a woollen shirt. They are nomads, and on their journeys wear
a strong belt with a knife in it. This belt is occasionally adorned with bear's teeth after a
successful hunting expedition. They carry leather bags on theu- back for provisions. Where
Em-opean influence is most strongly felt, the dress becomes more like that of the Norse
peasant, the women wearing a woollen under-garment, and over that another reaching to the
knees, with red and yellow stripes on its lower border. An ornamental belt, with knife and
scissors, girds the waist; and the dress is completed with blue stockings.
The weapons of the Lapps who do not live by fishing are the bow, knife, and bear-spear.
The bow, about 6 feet in length, is usually made of bii'chwood and fir, fastened together
with fish-glue, and is further secured and strengthened by being bound all over with birch-
bast. Some of the bows are thick, and show none of the elegant work which other
semi-wild peoples lavish on their weaiions. They use blunt arrows for shooting fur animals
Norway
427
when it is desired not to injure tlie skin. The bear-spear has a strong blade, and is stoutly
made, so as to contend successfully with the strength and ferocity of the game against which
it is used.
The dwellings of the Lapps are still most primitive. Those of the Coast Lapps are often
mere earth-huts, made of turf with a few sticks in support, or of timbers leaning together
covered with turf, without windows, and with not a foot more sjjace than is absolutely necessary.
In some of the more permanent settlements on the coast they live in log-huts modelled on
those of the Norwegians. The nomad Lapps, who depend for support on the reindeer, pitch
their tents wherever pasture can be found. The skins formerly used to cover these tents are
now replaced by a coarse woollen stuff, which, being loosely woven, allows a little ventilation,
and is very durable, lasting twenty years and more. The cloths, in two pieces laced together,
are stretched over a frame of poles, the door being formed liy a piece of sail-cloth. In the
tent, which often covers only 70 square feet, the inmates, with their dogs, huddle together
on the reindeer-skins strewn on the floor, in the middle of which is a fire of juniper-
wood under a kettle hung by an iron chain. The fin-nitm'e is scanty, but always includes
one or two skin sacks, to hold
small articles for domestic
use, besides reindeer-paunches,
and reindeer-calf or goose-
skins, in which are kept
coagulated blood and a prepa-
ration like sausage-meat.
The reindeer and the dog
are the only animals they
use. The former is easy to
tame, gives little trouble, and
is allowed to pasture at will ;
but the females do not pro-
duce much milk. The Lapps
make only a little butter, but
a good deal of cheese. The
reindeer is the most valuable
of their possessions, since it
is used for drawing sledges
and riding, and also supplies
food and clothing.
The Lapps are Christians.
They impress strangers by
their sincere devotion; but,
as in the case of the Finns,
their religion has not entirely
freed them fr-om belief in
magic.
NORWAY.
The Norwegians, with the
Swedes, Danes, and Icelanders,
constitute the Scandinavian
or Norse branch of the Teu-
tonic stock, which belongs to
the Caucasian type. Though
inhabiting the same peninsula
Photo by Soitrene Peraen]
A NORWEGIAN
IRL IN BRIDAL
428
The Living Races of Mankind
^ A \^'
P» ^HH||HHHH|HI|[^^^^H|HB9| and under the same sovereign as the Swedes,
n^^SHBkR^^^^S^^^^B^^^HJ|B the Norwegians are in many ways different.
^^^^^^H The population of Norway was 2,135,500 in
«o<)^HHP|H 1897. The best authorities no longer hold
■^ '"flK^"^ ' the view that the whole of the Scandinavian
Peninsula once belonged to the Lapps, who
were driven north by the Scandinavians.
The Norwegians are not of exceptional
lieight, but are thickly and strongly built.
The bonde, or farmer, who may be taken as
fairly representing the Norse character, is
manly, self-possessed, and brave. Beneath
his rough exterior he has a kindly heart.
Outwardly cold, he is easily moved to anger
or affection. He is kind to his family and
considerate to his beast. Being industrious
and resourceful, he is clever at all kinds
of handicrafts. When building his house,
he fells his own trees in the forest, and is
his own carpenter. As occasion requires, he
can turn tanner, harness-maker, blacksmith,
shoemaker, or miller. Along the coast the
Norwegian can build boats, and is an expert
fisherman. In the mountains he hunts the
bear, wild reindeer, and brings down the
[itarmigan.
Like other nations in Northern Europe,
the Norwegians imitate the styles of London
and Paris in their dress. But fashions do
not change so rapidly as in warmer climates,
and a style which once becomes popular
may last for generations.
For the men the characteristic dress is
a short round jacket, much like that known
to us as the " monkey-jacket," buttoned
below the neck only. It is ornamented
with two rows of metal buttons, which, in
the case of well-to-do peasants, are often
made of silver. The material of the jacket
is thick homespun cloth. They have waistcoats to match, with smaller buttons, and knee-
breeches, at one time invariably of leather, but now of homespun cloth. Their legs are
covered with coarse woollen stockings, and the shoes are generally ornamented with buckles.
The head-dress is usually a round skin cap; but in some parts of the interior they wear tall,
cylindrical felt hats, strikingly like those till recently worn by Welsh women.
The full costume of the women is distinctly national and jjicturesque, though it is now
rarely seen except at fancy-dress balls and on similar occasions. It consists of a dark skirt
of green or blue, and a bodice of scarlet, edged with ribbons or gold lace, over a muslin shirt,
with full sleeves, and much pleated in front. The married women have caps of exquisite
white muslin, but the unmarried go bare-headed. Round neck and waist are worn specimens
of fine, old filigree silver-work, heirlooms which have often been in the possession of the same
family for many generations.
Du Chaillu gives an interesting description of the peculiar dress worn by the people of
Photo by the Photochrome Co.]
A HAEDANGEIt GIRL.
43°
The Living Races of Mankind
Saetersdal, a valley in the
south of Norway. They
are not typical Norwegians,
being the tallest and most
powerful people, not only
of Norway, but the whole
peninsula. Their average
height is 5 feet 10 inches,
but men who exceed 6 feet
2 inches aie perhaps more
often met with than in
any other part of
f^candinavia. Their food
and accommodation are of
the plainest kind. The
men wear pantaloons ex-
tending up to the arm-
pits. Above these, and
covering only the upper
part of the breast, they
wear a short vest adorned
with silver. The women
^^^_^_M ^^ -"^mi^^mms. ^ , have the shortest dresses
^^B^^i J L^ "^ W^^ ^"^^EHtolte ''' Norway. Their dark
^^^^F,^ m JB^r M ^7 ^^^^W J blue-black woollen skirts,
^Br f J fiPyt / "^ffljldi trimmed with three or
^K 1 1 ttiflP^ ^^B ^''^^'^ brightly coloured
HT <<^\^ / w ■ -^ bands, end just below the
W ±4||^ * 4 =i knee. This costume shows
F 1 ^/Fy^V ^^ ^ -_ ' >■ the well-shaped limbs, of
which they are very proud.
The bodices are trimmed
with bright metal orna-
ments, frequently of silver.
Sometimes they have
round their waists hand-
somely worked belts of
burnished copper. These
people, however, often sleep on sheep-skins without a particle of clothing over them.
In no country in Europe are the duties of hospitality held more sacred than in Norway.
Even beggars are not allowed to go away without an offer of food. It is a curious custom of
the Norwegians that a guest shall eat alone. In the room devoted to his use the table is
covered with a fine white cloth, and the best forks and spoons are set out. After the meal is
served, the mistress of the house, who waits ujion the guest, leaves him alone, returning once or
twice to m-ge him to jjartake heartily of the food. Should the guest, after a day or two, insist
on breaking the national rule, he will be allowed to eat at the plain board with the family and
farm-hands. He may then decline to use the sUver sjsoon, and ask for a wooden one. The
Norwegians take pride in these rude spoons. Each member of the family has his or her own,
with the owner's initials carved on the handle. The guest may, like the others, plunge his
spoon into the large dish of grod^ or porridge, made of barley-meal or rye-meal, the Norwegian's
daily dish, and helj) himself to the accompanying sour milk. Potatoes are also a staple of daily
food. Fish, which is plentiful along the coast, and butter and cheese are also freely eaten.
k.^5f'>eiai
SWEDISH GIRL IN BRIDAL DRESS.
Sweden
431
In the Norwegians, who are nearl
religious sentiment is deep and sincer
all memliers of the Established Lutheran Church, the
without fanaticism or bigotry.
SWEDEN.
The Swedes, who occupy by far the larger portion of the Siuik
in 1898 nearly 5,063,000, and are steadily increasing. 'I'lirv :irc
The Swedes are physically a fine race, and are said to lia\e
any European nation. The typical " good old English gentleman
iiia\ian Peninsula, numbered
>f Teutonic origin,
he highest average height of
has been described as a fair
representative of the Swede in face and figure. The Swedes have not taken much part in the
military and commercial activity of the great European Powers during the present century.
Their comparative isolation has probably tended to develop the national character and preserve
their physical characteristics imchanged through successive generations.
Their dress is in essentials like that which is common throughout Europe between the
forty-fifth and the sixty-tiitli degrees of latitude. The costume of the women, however, has an
individuality of its own. Until recently hat or bonnet was unknown to the ladies of the
interior. Even now at a country church on Sunday one may fail to see a single hat or
bonnet among the women of the congregation. A black silk handkerchief is the favourite
wear for ordinary use. In winter this may be replaced by a knitted three-cornered woollen
tippet. Black, indeed, is the hue
genei'ally adopted for church dress in the
country, and it sets off to advantage the
fair hair and skin of the wearer.
The food of the Swedes is simple
and wholesome. Soil and climate are
unfavourable to the cultivation of wheat,
but rye grows well, and rye-bread is the
statf of life for the Swedes. It is found
everywhere, on the king's table as well
as in the jieasant's hut. Sour milk, solid
and firm as jelly, is second only to the
rye-biead in importance as an article of
diet. It is placed in the centre of the
table in a large wooden disli. The creamy
surface is sprinkled with lirown sugar and
ginger, and the family and guests, if
there are any, mark out with their big
wooden spoons in a V-shape what each
considers a fair projDoi-tion. A few words
of grace are said, and the meal begins.
An interesting institution has been
established among the Swedes from remote
antiquity, and is still common. It is
called " foster-brothering," and in some
respects reminds one of the comradeship
of the ancient Greeks. Two men, in-
spired by ardent mutual esteem, desire
to be as brothers to each other. A pro-
posal is made by the elder or the more
important socially ; and when the other
assents, the ceremony is performed. Each
pours out a glass of drink. They then
stand up ; vow that from that liour each
A TELLEMARKEN PEAS
432
The Living Races of Mankind
will regard the other as himself, promote his
interests, protect him, and avenge his injuries;
and declare that no difference of fortune shall
interrupt their true brotherhood. Clasping the
left hands together, they touch glasses, and
drink simultaneously. This act is considered
as solemnly sealing the compact.
ICELAND.
nthropo(0(jical Collection hi the M:
AX ICELAND WOMAN.
I
^■^ ^ftb^aiSIJ^^^^L. ' ■^ '^"^ inhabitants of Iceland are Scandinavians,
1^ ^,^ISB/B^nj^^^^^ ■'^Jm being descended from Norwegians who occupied
W ^Sr^^^St^^^^^Kj^ "--^^S ^^® island early in the tenth ceiitmy. They
^"^^ "V^^^BB^^^^^^^ V .ii#«W therefore belong to the Teutonic branch of the
Caucasian family, of which they are amongst
the purest representatives. Their speech also
is the most archaic of all living Teutonic
tongues, having changed little from that of the
early Norse settlers.
It is somewhat difficult to present a cor-
rect description of the Icelander. In physical
characteristics he does not compare favourably
with his fellow-Scandinavians. The face is round
or square rather than oval; the forehead often
rises high ; the malar bones stand out strongly,
while the cheeks fall in. Perhaps his most characteristic feature is the eye, which is nearly
always hard, cold, and expressionless. The stony stare has caused the women to be described
as generally ill-featured. The colour is clear grey or light blue, seldom brown, and never
black. The younger people have a fresh, pink-and-white complexion. The hair has seldom
the darker shades of brown, but in different persons shows all shades from decided red to pale
yellow. The Icelanders have thick, clumsy bodies, apparently too long and heavy for the legs,
which, if short, ai'e sturdy, while the feet are large and flat. The tread is heavy and the gait
ungainly, although women, when young, are sufficiently light-footed and graceful.
The people are reserved and dignified in their intercom'se with each other as well as
with strangers, but cannot be described, with some hasty observers, as morose. How-ever distant
in appearance, the temperament is really both cheerful and even animated, combined with a
frank, unstudied manner, which, however, often betrays an almost excessive self-esteem. Their
directness in criticising and ridiculing other people's weaknesses has, in fact, created an imjiression
that they are boorish and ill-natured. They have strength of intellect, joined with penetration
and shrewdness. Lovers of liberty, hospitable, truthful, they are exempt from most vices, except
the national failing — drink. In their secluded, insular home they have preserved many usages
and traditional beliefs, betraying in this respect a conservative spirit comparable to that of the
Hindus. The Icelanders have emigrated largely during recent years, and the energy, industry, and
intelligence they display in American cities and other places are highly creditable to them.
The men dress in breeches, jackets, and vests of strong cloth, with from four to six rows
of bright metal buttons. The fishermen wear overalls, coarse, smooth waistcoats, and large
paletots of sheep-skin or leather made waterproof by coating with grease or fish-oil. There is
nothing specially remarkable in the women's costume.
The food of the Icelander consists, now as ever, mainly of fish. In summer he fares on cod's
head boiled ; in w^inter, on sheep's head soused in fermented vinegar, or sour milk, or in juice
of sorrel. Wheaten bread he eats only on high days and holidays ; the ordinary bread is of
dark rye-flour, which is procured mainly from Copenhagen, and kneaded into broad, thin cakes.
CHAPTER XIX.
GREECE AND ISLES, TURKEY, BULGARIA, RUMANIA, SI^RVIA. MONTENEGRO.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY, THE GYPSIES.
GREECE AND ISLES.
Greece forms the end of one of the peninsulas i^rojecting from the south of Europe into
the Mediterranean. It is naturally divided into three parts, — the mainland portion, bounded
on the north by Turkey ; the Peloponnesus, or Morea, connected with the mainland by the
narrow isthmus of Corinth ; and the islands which mainly lie east and south-east of the
peninsula, with the Ionian Islands on the west. In 1896 the population was 2,433,806,
distributed over an area of 25,000 square
miles.
The modern Greeks have been the
subject of much dispute among ethnolo-
gists. It is generally admitted, however,
that the coast and island Greeks of Asia
Minor have kept their blood comparatively
pure. By some writers it has been main-
tained that the Greeks of the present day
are Slavs speaking a corrupt form of
Greek. Slavonic settlers advanced into
the Peloponnesus from time to time, and
have left their influence in dress and cus-
toms. They were, however, swamped by
the inhabitants, and it is much more
probable that the Greeks hellenised the
Slavs than that the Slavs slavonised the
Greeks. Another race influence which has
been exaggerated is the Turkish. In the
days of their supremacy the Moslems
filled their harems with Grecian beauties,
but in this case also Greece may be said
to have influenced Turkey rather tlian
Turkey Greece. After the War of Inde-
pendence many of the Phanariot * Greeks
of Constantinople, who were remarkably
pure specimens of their race, returned
to Greece. The classic type may still be
seen in many parts of the country, such
as Patras, and especially in the islands.
In appearance the average Greek is
of medium height, spare, and well pro- piwto by a. nkmnaueti lAthem.
portioned, with oval face, long straight a greek girl in national costume.
* The Phanariot Greeks were so called from Phanar, the suburb of Constiintinople chiefly inhabited by them.
4.33 .=;.'>
434
The Living Races of Mankind
nose, white regular teeth, eyes full of animation,
short upper lip, and small hands and feet. He is
clever and energetic, and of a cheerful tempera-
ment, but has an unenviable reputation in matters
of business, and his name is often regarded as
synonymous with "cunning rogue." His faults are
in no small measm-e due to a long period of sul>
jection to the Turks. The Greeks take a passionate
delight in politics, and are intensely proud of their
nationality, a trait which has helped to preserve
their racial purity. They are hospitable, temperate,
and thrifty. The moral tone, however, is low ; and
although many of the m-ban populations are well
ulucated, illiteracy still largely prevails in the
luial districts. In 1896 about 30 per cent, of the
leciuits could neither read nor write, and 15 per
tent, could read only.
The spoken language of Greece differs con-
■-iderably from the classical type, and Slavonic
influence has made itself felt in the introduction
of new words and forms. In writing, however,
scholars and literary men do their best to follow
classical models. A well-written newspaper article
is quite intelligible to an English reader who
has not forgotten his school or college teaching.
It is naturally in the more distant villages that
the manners and customs specially characteristic of
the Greeks are to be found. The national dress,
which has been adopted from the Albanian, consists
of a short white kilt. Round the waist is worn a
wide leathern belt, with a pouch containing pipe,
tobacco, flint and steel, and a long knife. The
poorer countrymen wear white woollen leggings,
descending like gaiters over the shoes. Over the
shirt, which has loose hanging sleeves, is worn a
short jacket, and a red cap with long silk tassel
knot a handkerchief round the hair. The di-ess
varies in small details in different localities. The costume of the peasant women is also of
the Albanian type. They wear a short white jacket, with wide sleeves, plain or embroidered
with silk, over which is a long sleeveless coat, reaching to the knee, of white wool, trimmed
with red, blue, or black cloth, and embroidered with a similar colour at the corners. The skirt
is also white, and has extra embroidery of wool or silk for feast days. A yellow handkerchief
is knotted round the face on working days; but veils of silk and muslin, with a string of coins
across the forehead, are worn on full-dress occasions.
The social life of the Greek peasants abounds in symbolism and ceremony. The newly
born infant is washed with an infusion of myrtle leaves in lukewarm wine, and then generally
covered with a layer of salt. In the island of Rhodes an elaborate ceremonial is practised. On
the eighth day after the birth the child receives a final aromatic bath of the wine and myrtle
infusion, and is then placed by the midwife in a cradle surrounded by lighted tapers. Another
child, who must be the eldest of a family, goes up to the babe, touches its lips with honey,
and says, " Be thou as sweet as this honey." In Cyprus, when an infant's first tooth ajipears,
the friends of the familv assemble. Songs are sung to celebrate the event, and the child is
jmpletes the costume. Some simply
Greece and Isles
435
bathed in water and boiled wheat. Thirty-two of the boiled grains are then strung upon a
thread and stitched to its cap or bonnet, to promote the safe cutting of the other teeth. In
Athens, among the poorer classes, it is customaiy to cover the new-born babe with a dress
made from one of the father's old shirts. Under the pillow, if the child be a boy, are placed
a black-handled knife, a gold coin, and a gospel. In the case of a girl ornaments and jewels
are placed instead of a knife. These articles are significant of the gifts it is hoped life will
bring — courage, wealth, and piety.
There are numerous observances in connection with marriage. In one district after the
feast the newly wedded pair stand on a wooden press or on the sofa, while the rest of the
company surround them, singing or making speeches in their honour. Eice and cotton-seed
are thrown after them as they leave the bride's house to go to the bridegroom's cottage.
His mother, standing at the door to receive them, holds a glass of honey and water in her
hand. From this the bride drinks, in order that her words may thenceforth be as sweet as
honey. The lintel of the door is smeared with the remainder of the liquid, that strife may
never enter that dwelling.
There are several interesting burial customs. For example, in the funeral procession several
bearers walk in front, carrying the coffin with open lid, and with the corpse exposed, propped up
on a pillow, and dressed as if for a festival. Boys carrying the cross and banners of the Church
follow. Then come the priests in their
bright robes, and one or two pro-
fessional mourners in jjlain clothes, who
sing a sort of low, wailing lamentation
as they pass along. Until a few years
ago high digiaitaries of the Church
were borne to the grave sitting erect
on the episcopal chair, and dressed
in the full canonicals of their office
This would seem to indicate the high
antiquity of the custom of bm-ying
the dead uncovered. At the grave a
pillow filled with earth is put under
the head of the corpse, and the lid of
the coffin, which is made of the lightest
material, is put on, when the body is
lowered into the grave. In Cyprus tlie
pillow is not stuifed with earth, but
with flowers and leaves of the lemon-
tree ; and a dish of flour or grain is
interred with the deceased, as a pro-
vision for the last, long journey. When
the earth is filled in, the wooden bars
on which the coffin is carried by the
four or sis bearers are stuck upright in
the ground, and a candle is left burning
on the gi-ave. After a death the house
is left unswept for three days, and it
is important that the broom which is
then used should be burned immedi-
ately. In Northern Greece the women
of the family in which death has oc-
curred dress in white for mourning,
and keep the head uncovered, with the
GREEK SOLDIER.
436
I he Living Races of Mankind
hair hanging down. The doors
of the house where the body
lies are left open, and the
neighbours come in and out
as they please.
Our sjiace will permit of
but a very few words on the
Albanians, who are remotely
akin to the Greeks, being a
ninnant of the Thraco-Illyrian
i^ioup. To the Turks they are
known as Arnauts, a corruption
of Arvanites, which is the By-
zantine form of Albani ; but
the national name is Skipetar,
i.e. "Highlanders." There
are two main divisions, the
northern Ghegs, and the
southern ToSKS, the former
the ruder and finer race, the
latter more cultured, and
more akin to the Greeks in
speech and religion. Most of
the Ghegs are Mohammedans,
the rest Catholics of the Latin
rite, and these come more in
contact with the Slavs than
with the Greeks. As a race
the Albanians are handsome,
with high forehead and well-
cliiselled features. Their
women and children also have
a reputation for remarkable
beauty. They are active and
hardy, as might be expected
^ TURK. of a mountaineering people,
and they supply valuable
recruits to the Turkish army. As enemies they are cruel, but as friends they are true and
hospitable. Thev are independent and intractable, but have never attempted to develop an
organised state, being still constituted in small tribes or clans without national cohesion.
Their dress varies according to local divisions; but the chief features of the national
costume are a gold-embroidered vest, bright sash, leathern pouch, containing pistol and
yataghan, and the national kilt. The Albanian women wear a good deal of gold embroidery
on their dress. They are for the most part veiled. The Mii'dites, a sub-division of the
Ghegs, are Eoman Catholics, but despised by the rest of the clansmen as traders and hucksters.
Their position under the Tm-kish Government has been compared to that of the Jews in
mediaeval Europe.
TUKKEY.
The European Turks are chiefly confined to Constantinople and the neighboming maritime
di.stricts, where they number probably not more than 2,000,000. They belong to the Osmanli
438
The Living Races of Mankind
branch of the widesjiread Turki people, who
undoubtedly formed originally one of the
main divisions of the Mongolo-Tartar family.
But by fi-equent admixture with Caucasian
races the European Turks have lost nearly all
their iSIongolic characteristics, and may be
classed in the sub-division of the Caucasian
type which is distinguished by dark complexion
and dark hair. They are of full build, with
stately carriage and grave and dignified manner.
The peasants especially are well built, strong,
and possess great capacity for endurance.
In temperament the Turkish peasant is
quiet, submissive, and generally ignorant and
imijrovident. His mode of life is simple, and
he is sober in his habits, his coffee and
chibouque being almost his only enjoyments.
His house, though clean, is badly built and
comfortless. The peasant women, some of
whom have regular European features, do nearly
all the household and much of the farm work.
The Turks of the upper class have almost
entirely adojited the ordinary European style
A RUMANIAN BRIDE.
of costume. A frock-coat buttoned up to the
throat, trousers, and fez form their usual attire,
the fez alone representing an Oriental element.
The peasant still wears his prodigious turban,
and seldom exchanges it for the fez. As a rule,
he is worse clothed than the Christian peasant.
As among the Greeks, many curious customs
are observed on the birth of a child. They are
mostly directed to averting the ill effects of the
hazar — the evil eye. Charms, amulets, prayers,
and incantations are all employed for this pur-
pose. If cloves, thrown into a brasier, should
burst, the evil eye has evidently exerted its
influence; and to avert the threatened danger
some hair from the head of the mother and
child must be cut and burned, and the mother
and child fumigated with the smoke thus pro-
duced. The slightest indisposition in children
is put down to the evil eye.
Early marriages are the rule among tin-
Turks. Men marry in their eighteenth year,
and girls at twelve or thirteen. Polygamy is
almost unknown among those of the poorer class.
JJIANIAN DAIRY
Bulgaria
439
and they seldom seek divorce.
An old maid is absolutely un-
known among the Mohammedans
in Turkey. The preliminary
negotiations for marriage are
undertaken for the young people
by their parents. The dowry is
given by the bridegroom, the
bride being expected merely to
furnish her outfit. The husband
has no right over his wife's
property. The Turk has only
to say, " Cover thy face ; thy
nekyah [marriage contract] is in
thy hands," when she ceases to
be his wife and must leave his
house instantly. Her dowry still
remains to her, and this is a safe-
guard against hasty divorce. The
marriage contract is religious as
well as civil, and is made verbally.
When concluded, the bride and
bridegroom are not allow-ed to see
each other till after the duhiin,
or celebration of the wedding
feast, which may extend over a
few weeks or even months. No
messages or communications of
any kind are allowed to pass
between the wedded pair. When
at length the duhun is ended,
they meet possibly for the first
time. A .MuML-\i..ji:i-\.
The iMoslem regards the
approach of death with stoical indifference. Kismet (destiny) and eJjel (which menns the time
of death) are decreed unchangeably by Allah. The dying man appears perfectly resigned to
his fate, which no power can alter. The Turks do not keep their dead long miburied.
The eyelids of the corpse are pressed down and the chin bandaged. The body is then undressed
and laid on a bed called the " couch of comfort." with the hands stretched by tlie side and
the feet tied together. A veil is then laid over the body ; and if it be that of a man, it is
can-ied on a stretcher into the court-yard to be washed. This is a religious ceremony, and is
performed by an Imam and two subordinates. The lower part of the body is kept covered,
and it must be handled with great care and gentleness, otherwise those engaged may draw
upon themselves the cui-se of the dead.
BULGARIA.
The Bulgarians are found not only in Bulgaria proper, lying between the Danube and the
Balkan Mountains, but also in Eastern Kumelia, south of the Balkans. Since 1885 the two
provinces have been united, and Eastern Eumelia is now known as South Bulgaria. The total
population is 3,376,467.
Although they speak a Slavonic tongue and are now ranked among the Slavonic peoples,
440
The Living Races of Mankind
PEKSENT DAY
THE " HORA.
the Bulgarians are, like the Turks
and the .Magyars, of ]\[ongolo-
Tartar origin, being descended
from the Finno-Ugiian branch of
that di\-ision. Even the Slavonic
dialect, adoi>ted with Chi-istianity
in the ninth century, still shows
traces of this connection.
The Bulgarians of the present
day are on the whole of smaller
btature than their neighbours the
Servians. They are, however,
powerfully built, and carry the
head erect. Both men and women
are broad-shouldered, wide-
chested, and large-limbed. They
are dark-skinned, black-haired,
and black-eyed. The complexion
is muddy, and the features are
generally coarse and ill-formed,
the Tartar element thus still
showing itself in the physiognomy.
Their long subjection to Turkish rule has rendered them less aggressive than they were
in their heroic age. Indeed, the Bulgarian of the present day is remarkable chiefly for
stolidity. He is quiet, but determined. The peasants are fairly prosperous, and are a peace-
loving and hard-working folk. They have no great liking for strangers, towards whom they
are reserved and undemonstrative.
The prevailing styles in dress are European rather than Oriental, and there is little to
remind one that this was till a comparatively few years ago a Turkish country. The peasants
dress in sheep-skins, with their legs swathed round with woollen cloth, tied on with strings
at the ankles and calves. The women wear a kind of embroidered jacket of many colours,
hanging loosely down to the knees. Underneath is an embroidered flannel petticoat, falling
almost to the sandalled feet. The head is covered with a turban, bound in folds round
the hair. The turban is generally white, and to it are attached two long tails, which stream
down the back. Among the younger women the hair is fi-equently decked with strings
of coins.
The following account has been given of the best class of houses in which Bulgarians
live. Every house is one-storeyed. Inside the wall enclosing the house and gi'ounds are wooden
sheds and stables, with plots of open ground, half waste, half kitchen-garden. Pigs, fowls, and
ducks strut about round the cottages, where they seem as much at home as the human
occujjants. The kitchen is also the living-room, and behind it is a sleeping-room, with a
bedstead for the head of the family. The sons and daughters sleep on mats stretched upon
the floor, which is of hardened mud ; while the fm-nitm-e consists of wooden tables, benches,
and chests, with crockery and household utensils of the commonest kind. There is, however,
a good deal of rough comfort. Everything is kept in good order; and the cookery, if plain,
is at all events clean and palatable.
On market days the peasants troop into town fi-om the country, with their long heavily
laden waggons, formed of a pole with planks on each side, and drawn by oxen or butfaloe.^.
Men and women tramp along together, the men in front, the women behind. They seldom
speak to each other. The women carry the household burdens, while the men walk unloaded,
as did their Eastern forefathers before them. Smoking is not common among the men ,
and although on festivals they indulge freely in wine, drunkenness is not often seen. The
Rumania
441
Bulgarians are as a rule sober and quiet. Street quarrels, rows, shouts and cries of any kind,
are of rare occurrence ; even children in the street play in silence.
The country is governed by a prince, elected by the National Assembly, with a popular
legislature. It acknowledges the suzerainty of the Porte; but this is little more than nominal.
The bulk of the population belongs to the Orthodox Greek Church ; but there are large
numbers of ^lohamniedans, Jews, Uoman Catholics, and Protestants.
RUMANIA.
To the ethnologist the Eumanians are perhaps the most interesting of the Balkan peoples.
The kingdom of Rumania, comprising the united provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia, wa;^
recognised as an independent princijDality in 1878, and was promoted to the dignity of a
kingdom in 1881. The population is estimated at over .5,800,000, but it must be remembered
that this does not include more than half of the Rumanian people ; quite as many of the
race are to be found in adjoining territories.
Physically the Rumanians are characterised by dark skin. l)lacl< hair, and black eyes. It
may or may not be the case that they have been influenced in this respect by an infusion of
gypsy blood. Gypsies are to be found in great numbers in Rumania. The Rumanians are
well built and muscular, and are altogether a fine race.
In the cities French manners prevail, and the moral tone is decidedly lax. The people are
mostly agriculturists, and in the country they are primitive, lazy, and inclined to be suspicious
of strangers, though hospitable. The artistic sense is well developed, and some of the designs
of their textile fabrics and household utensils seem to date from Roman times.
The men generally wear a long blouse of coarse, white linen, drawn in at the waist by a
number of cords passed round the body or a wide belt. The trousers are made of the same
material as the blouse. Some wear boots, but sandals are most usually worn, the cords used
to keep them on their feet being wound some distance up the leg. Hats of common felt or
cheap cloth are commonly worn, but a high cylindrical hat of sheep-skin is the national head-
dress. In winter the coarse linen blouse is replaced by a garment of sheep-skin : and when
%i
^..
r^
hM'
riotoi 1 1 1 , , ,
442
The Living Races of Mankind
wrapped in this, the Kumanian is impervious to
snow or frost. The women usually wear a kerchief
folded over the head and fastened under the chin.
The upper part of the body is clothed in a loose-
fitting jacket or bodice, sometimes white, but often
of some showy material. The lower limbs are
covered with a skirt, which is generally of a darker
material than the jacket, though sometimes bright
and showy in colom-. This is the every-day dress
of the Rumanian peasant. The Sunday and holiday
dress is natm-ally more elaborate in colour.
The Eumanian peasant is frugal in his diet,
which consists principally of milk, eggs, maize,
porridge, and pig's flesh. Drunkenness is common,
however.
The dwellings in some of the rural districts
are still of a rude type, consisting in great
measure of pits dug in the earth and then covered
with more or less art. A large hole is dug deep
in the ground. Often it is lined with clay. From
the surface of the ground, or from a wall raised a
foot or two above the soil round the edge of the
pit, a roof is formed of branches and twigs. In
the centre of this a hole is left for the smoke.
Sometimes a simple doorway at one end gives
entrance, and the occupants descend to the floor
tt- M ■"•«"■ « U^^ either by steps or on an inclined plane, while at
pf '*f-r'^ •" _^ f ^^ \ tsSl the end opposite the door a window is often
inserted. There are two rooms, in which the entii-e
family live ; and as animals share the accommoda-
tion, dirt and disease are widespread. ^larsh fever
is especially jorevalent. Yet there are some who
maintain that these dwellings are not unhealthy.
They were originally constructed in this way in
order to escape the notice of the marauding bands
which from time to time overran the Danubian
territories. They were formerly surrounded by trees,
which have been cut down for firewood. The spirit
of conservatism causes many peasants, otherwise
well to do, to prefer these underground dwellings
to the modern cottages found in the villages of the
higher lands.
The Kumanian women, like the women in
several other Continental countries, do most of the
work that is done in the fields, and are said to be
more industrious than the men. They are even
called on to do the work of navvies, and toil with
the men in making roads, digging out railway-
cuttings, and in heavy labour generally. ISIen may be seen working in the fields with square-
bladed spades, while the women use an implement with a heart-shaped blade and a handle as
long as a broomstick.
Of the amus?ments of the Eunianians, the most striking is the hora, or national dance.
I 63/ F. Topiq]
A BOSSIAN BELLE.
The Living Races of Mankind
The following description has been given
by an eye-witness. After the dancers
had gone one or two paces in pairs,
moving in a circle, the men separated
from the women. The latter then
moved singly round the men, as if they
were seeking some object dear to them.
The men then drew together, and moved
their feet like marching soldiers; next,
using their long sticks, they made
irregular springs and uttered loud cries,
as though engaged in battle. The
women wandered about like shadows.
At last the men with joyful gestures
rushed towards them, as though they
iiad found them after great danger, led
them back into the circle, and danced
with joy and animation.
This dance is said to be illustra-
tive of the conquered condition of the
people. ]\I. de Eichard, whose interest-
ing account appeared in 1 805, describes
it as a complete poem. "Who knows,"
he continues, " of what long-forgotten
incursion of the barbarians it is pre-
served as a reminiscence ? "
SERVIA.
As in the case of the Rumanians, the
Ser\ians are by no means to be found
only in the country to which they give
tlieir name. There are Servians in
Austria-Hungary, for instance, and in
Herzegovina. Servia, which is separated
from Hungary by the Danube and Save,
has an area of 19,050 square miles,
and tlie population was estimated at
2,314,153 in 1895.
The Servians are physically a stalwart race. They are hospitable, energetic, and brave.
Though proud, quick-tempered, and apt to fight on comparatively slight occasion, tliey are
fond of social intercourse, and cling to old customs and old beliefs.
Their dwellings are of the poorest kind, consisting merely of mud-huts, which are
usually small, low, and without anything in the way of ornament. The Servian farmer
could afford a more pretentious house if he chose. Centuries of oppression under Turkish rule
drove the people to conceal whatever wealth they jiossessed ; and this habit, now become a
second nature, accounts for the lack of ostentation in the Servian manner of living.
The Servians are thoroughly democratic in their institutions ; each family owns the ground
it tills, so that in the country day-labourers are scarce. Few will consent to become house-
hold servants, and cooks and men-servants come mostly from Croatia or Hungary. When a
farmer is unable, with the help of his family, to gather in all the produce of his land, he
ajiplies to his neighbours, who will readily come to his assistance, but would be insulted
by the offer of money. They act on the principle of service for service, and expect in a
A EOSMAN SOLDIEU.
^n (fe-
NATIVE OF BOSNIA.
446
The Living Races of Mankind
similar emergency to receive help in their turn. All Servians are proud, and are equal
under the King. There is no aristocracy, and the middle class, merchants, shopkeepers, and
others, are few. The Servian -who works in the field does not recognise a superior in the
better-dressed and better-educated official.
There is no pauperism in the country. The old and sick are maintained by their
neighbours in the rural districts, and in the towns by the commune or the workmen's
associations.
Education is compulsory and free, and is making rapid strides. There are schools in every
village. Not only do children of all classes receive free education, but very poor children
obtain a small allowance from the Government to sujjport them during the time they must
study in the secondary and higher schools. When they can do so, poor students eke out this
allowance by doing work of some kind in the houses of their richer fellow-students. In this
way low birth and poverty are no barrier to the attainment of the highest administrative
and official positions.
The Servians are an
eminently pious race. The
fasts of the Church are rigidly
observed, and the peasant
never fails in the morning
to invoke a blessing on the
coming day. Every family
in Servia has its patron saint.
The care of this patron saint
is committed to the sons, and
not to the daughters, who
concern themselves with the
saints allotted to their futm-e
husbands. The feast of the
patron saint is an ancient
custom, going back to the
times when the patriarchal
family lived together under
the same roof. It is prac-
tised everywhere even at the
present day, the busy towns
not excepted, and it lasts
several days. The house is
decorated with branches and
flowers, and the nearest rela-
tions meet at a banquet
presided over by the head of
the family. A loaf made of
the finest wheaten flour is set
in the centre of the table.
A cross is hollowed out in the
middle of the loaf, and in the
centre is fixed a candlestick
with three branches, all of
which are lighted in honour
of the Trinity. A prayer is
said, in which the blessing
of God is invoked upjon the
ElIIAJ.' WOJIA>".
Montenegro
whole family. Dessert follows with toasts and
songs, and the party give themselves up to
merry-making.
]\IONTENEGRO.
The little Balkan state which is known by
this name — literally the " Black jMountain " —
occupies an area of not more than 3,630
square miles, with a population of about
230,000. Beyond the low and narrow coastal
fringe washed by the Adriatic, the country
rapidly becomes a maze of peaks, crags, ravines,
and gorges. The peaks range in height from
6,500 to 8,000 feet. The mountains are in
places heavily timbered, and also afford good
pasturage for sheep, goats, and cattle.
The IMontenegrins have been called the
flower of the Slav race. They are tall, well
formed, and handsome. The women, however.
who have to do nearly all the hard work in
the home and on the farms, while the men
hunt, fight, or idle, .soon contract a worn ami
aged appearance, and lose their good looks
early in life. The ^Montenegrins are brave
and warlike, simple in their manners, and
honourably celebrated for their honesty and
their chastity. The honour of women is sacred
and safe among them. They are polite and
hospitable, and may be regarded as one of the
most picturesque peoples of the present day.
The people live in little villages consistir
there is not a single group of dwellings whicl
Cettinje, the capital.
The ijrincijDal business of the Montenegrins for many generations apparently has been to
fight the Turk. At the present day the chief occupation of the people is agriculture. They
cannot be said to display any keenness in adopting new methods. Farming is conducted by
them on very much the same principles which their remote ancestors probalily considered
satisfactory. It cannot be denied that the ]\Iontenegrin regards the arts of peace as ratlier
derogatory, and a very poor substitute for the livelier pursuit of war. This is a not uncommon
trait in half-civilised mountaineers all the world over. One has only to remember the
Albanians and the Afridis, for example — not to mention Scotch Highlanders.
The Prince of Montenegro, altliough absolute in theory, is far from being an arbitrary or
irresponsible governor. In making new and administering the ancient laws of his little state,
he is assisted by a council and ministry of six members. The patriarchal form of government
really prevails in the State as well as in the separate families. The Prince decides all matters
in dispute, and the tree of justice under which lie sits and dispenses law and equity to all
comers free of cost is a well-known institution, A few years ago an English member of
Parliament found himself in the course of his travels at Cettinje, and was much imj)ressed
by the simplicity and efficiency of this patriarchal mode of legal procedure. The real statute-
book is national custom.
The JMontenegrins are making rapid strides in the direction of a higher civilisation.
[ of small stone houses. In all jNIontenegro
can be correctly designated a town, except
448
The Living Races of Manlvind
Education is becoming more general, and new roads have Iseen
constructed. Every male person above the age of seventeen
has to serve in the army, which can muster about 35,000 men.
Not more than 150 are on permanent service. These form the
bodvguard of the Prince. It is not necessary to maintain
soldiers or police constantly on duty in ^Montenegro, where
crime is almost unknown.
The Montenegrins have the poetical faculty, but that they
are not necessarily a literary people may be inferred from the
fact that the first bookshop in this ancient country was opened
as recently as 1879. They have always had more to do with
the sword than with the pen. " Every man, dressed in the
picturesque costume of his tribe, carries his pistol and yataghan
in his gii-dle," says one who has
lived among them. When war
breaks out, the schoolboy and the
veteran will be found equally eager
for the fray.
It has been said that courage
and energy, with other kindred
virtues, may be seen in their
highest perfection among the Montenegrins. When a girl is
born, the mother says, "I do not wish thee beauty, but
com-age. Heroism alone gains the love of men." Two incidents
of the war of 1879 illustrate the devoted heroism of which
Montenegi-in women are capable, and the desperate steps they
will take to avoid contamination by submitting to a foe. A
Turk named ]Mehmed Pasha carried away a jNIontenegrin girl,
the beautiful Yoka. They were in the mountains. The girl
implored her captor to desist
from his endearments, which
were doubly disgraceful as they
Photo hy A. Otto] [Alun
WEND (FRONT AND BACK VIEW).
the presence
of the
were
Tmkish soldiers. The road they
had to traverse was only a
narrow ledge of rock above a
precipice. Overcome by emotion, ,, x full dress.
she sank to the gi'ound. Mehmed
seized her in his arms. She embraced and clung to
him. Suddenly she tm-ned and drew him to the edge
of the rock. Clinging to him with all her force, she
dragged him with her over the precipice into the deep
abyss, where their bodies were subsequently found. The
other incident occurred in a frontier village. The men
had left the village to join the main body of their forces.
Soon after thek departure the Turks entered the place.
The women • took refuge in an old tower, where they
defended themselves like Amazons. The only weapons
they had were old guns, and successful resistance was
hopeless. The women and children heaped the powder-
barrels together. When eventually some fifty Turks
dashed into the tower, a torch was applied to the powder,
Bosnia= Herzegovina
449
there was a terrible explosion, and the
buried in the ruins.
lictorious Turks as well as the heroic women were
The inhabitants of these two Tur
many characteristics in common.
and speak the same language.
IIOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA.
dsli provinces, which are now administered by Austria, have
They are of the same race — the Servian branch of the Slavs —
if tlie 1!,
ruK
Bosnia.
)snians is suggestive of pride, activity, and endurance,
uiliiie nose, deep-set bright eyes uiidrr luisliy brows,
at once dignified and handsome. Tlicy arc warlike,
and <'iijoy the reputation of being sti-;ugl it forward.
Oriental in their iiospitalhy. From the moment
t he is your friend. ]<'rii'nilshi[) is as sacred as
often made in church before a priest, or in the
The prevalent physical type
Of moderate height, with oval fa,(
black hair, and black moustache, (
independent, and jealous of tlicii
trustworthy, and sincere, as well
you have shared a meal with your ho
hospitality. Compacts of friendship are
presence of others. The pair then exchange their weapons and give each other the kiss of
peace. There is a legend that two of these ado]ited brotliers fell in love with the same
woman, and rather than quan-el willi cacli dthcr. killed lier.
Costume differs according
to locality. A large white
turban, brown vesi Inaided
with black, wide-tlowing
trousers of a deep red colour,
and gaiters form the dress of
a well-turned-out man. An
almost indispensable feature
is the leatlier girdle or silken
sash, in which, among other
articles, he carries a knife,
tobacco, and a long cherry-
wood pipe.
The food of the Bosnian
peasant consists principally
of flour made from maize and
a kind of black wheat, mixed
with milk. They distil from
the fruit of the plum-trees
which are to be found growing
round the houses of even the
poorest a kind of spirit, which
is their chief solace in life.
The shops in Brod, an
ancient Bosnian town, are
typical of those seen in
nearly all the Balkan countries.
At night they are closed with
two large shutters placed
horizontally. When a shop
is opened, the upper shutter
is drawn in, and forms the
ceiling. The lower falls oat- germaks of south austhia.
450
The Living Races of Mankind
ward, and becomes the counter. On this the
pniprietor takes his seat among his goods,
and waits for his customers.
In the to^Tns the houses are square
and roofed with wood. When not used as
a shop, the ground-floor often serves as a
stable. The house is divided into two parts,
each with a separate entrance. One part is
occupied by the women, the other by the
men. The peasants live in mud-huts, which
are covered with thatch or lime-tree bark,
and consist mostly of one apartment, which
swarms with pigs, goats, fowls, and children.
There is no chimney, and the smoke gets
out as best it can.
There are three forms of marriage. The
first is by capture. When he has carried
off his beloved, the captor placps her in the
women's department of his house ; but she
tkoLo by CiUtleron ex Tarlntj Ji,',i<iji^,<i
HUNGAKIAJJ PEASANTS.
is yet only his betrothed. Preparations for the
formal marriage extend over a week. The bride's
parents usually appear violently opposed to the match
at first, but end by consenting, as their daughter
would be disgraced if she returned home unmarried.
Another method is called "at sight." The bride-
groom is allowed to see the girl face to face at least
once before making up his mind. If he decides u>
have her for his wife, he sends her a ring, on whiili
his name is engi-aved. This amounts to a contract
to marry. Festivities are kept up for a week befon'
the bride is taken to her husband's home. Tin'
third form is merely a business transaction, and
obtains only among the rich. The man-iage i-
arranged by the parents without the bride and
bridegi-oom ever having seen each other. When a
death takes jjlaee, the members of the family meet
together. The body is washed; the nose, mouth, aiiil
ears are stuffed with wadding to prevent e\-il spirit -
from entering. The corpse is then buried, wrapped
in a white slii-oud, and not enclosed in a coffin.
A SOUTH AUSTRIAN PEASANT.
^"^ ^^H ,.'' 'jK^
■x«,
:i ^g^
y
B-^^^HI1\ V i
i^
. B
H
■ *^ ^' S^
1
4S2
The Living Races of Mankind
Till recently most of the Bosnians were ]\Iussnlinans
are Orthodox Greeks, 548,000 Moslem, and nearly all
The Bosnian Mohammedans do not practise iiolygamy,
of the Christian customs which prevailed in the days
that of their Turkish conquerors. Should a child fiiU il
hastens to the nearest monastery to order masses. W
Greek monks to have the Bible read over his head. "
"Unknown Hungary," wliere he speaks of Bosnian ciistc
secretly conducting a pope to pray over tlio tomb of his
; now (1901) the majority (673,000)
tlie rest (334,000) Eoman Catholics.
and have remained iiiithful to many
before they changed their creed for
I in a JMussulman family, the father
hen he is ill himself, he goes to the
At nightfall," says Victor Tissot in
ms. '• one may often see a young bey
father."
Herzecovin.'
Herzegovina
province of Bosni
X rockv. limestone region, and of a far more rugged nature than tlie sister
The Herzegovinans are tall and broad-shouldered, and generally of darke.
complexion and of greater personal bravery than the Bosnians. In form and character they
approach more nearly to the
IMoutenegrin tyiie. In the
Yalilanitza district especially
tho men are of powerful
build, independent, and de-
liant. Tlieir features resemble
those of the Italians more
than the (ireeks. The women
aie taller than their Bosnian
sisters, and they are generally
believed to be more handsome
■111.' .Ill— ,,l tlie Herze-
go\inHns ir.scniblc's the jNIonte-
negrin rather than the Bosnian
style.
In Bosnia the walls of
the houses and the dividing-
walls between fields and
gardens are made of wood.
In Herzegovina the buihlings
I iintain hardly any wood. The
I louses in Yablanitza are to
a great extent built of black-
and-white scorified lava, and
are roofed with slabs of slate.
The social customs of the
Herzegovinans are similar in
most i-espects to those of the
Bosnians. The more truculent
characteristics of the former
are no doubt largely due to
the sterner nature of their
country.
As in Bosnia, the
i\Ioslem has ceased to be
the dominant faith. In the
Yablanitza district the
JKGAEIAN WOMAN FROM SZIKOK.
Austria= Hungary
453
women have not adopted the Mohammedan custom
of veiling the face, although it is strictly observed
in other parts of the country.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
The dual monarchy has for the ethnologist no mean-
ing whatever. It is merely a political expression.
The population, returned in 189G at 41,058,000
(excluding the jieople of Ijosnia-Herzegovina), con-
sists of a great variety of races, haxing nothing in
common except their allegiance to Francis Joseph in
his dual capacity of iMnperor of Austria and King
of Hungary. Thus there are 18,704,000 Slavs,
including the ('hekhs and Slovaks of Bohemia,
i\Ioravia. and llniig;n y. tlie Polos and Hulhenians of
Silesia, iiMil (lalicia. I he SI, ,\ ..|i,.s, S.'il.s. and Croats
of Siavonia, IJukovina, ("roal la. and 1 »aliiiat ia. There
are also 8,628,000 Germans, 7,435,000 Magyars,
2,015,000 Rumanians, and 081,000 Italians.
It will be readily understood that, from the point
of view of race, it is out of the question to speak of
either an Austrian nation or air Austrian language.
The characteristics of some of the peoples whicli
make up this political tower of Babel are dealt with
elsewhere. Space will allow of only a very brief
survey of the leading features of the rest.
Austria.
Under this heading come most of the races just
enumerated, Hungary comprising chiefly Magyars,
Germims, Rumanians, Croats, and other Slavs. The
Austrian of Vienna is of Teutonic stock, and German
is the official language. The ju-ople of the cajiital
are characterised by lc\ity, ami \'>\r of gaiety may
be said to be the pi-evailing note. Their indolence
and lack of energy may be attributed partly to the
enervating life of a great city and partly to Oriental
inlluenees. The women aic celebrated for vivacity
anil Iniglifness of di-|io>il ion, and physical beaut y
and womanly grace ai'e present in all classes. It
is notably among tiie working classes that their good
qualities are apparent. A devoted and capable wife is a mim. \i:ian
generally found under the roof of the Austrian workman.
The Chekhs, who belong to the Slav family of nations, may be reckoned among its f^ne^t
specimens, and are noted for their high intellectual qualities. Their keen sense of nationality
and the stubbornness with whi.'li (hey cling to their language have been a source of difficulty
to the Austrian Government. German is tlie otHcial hmgiiage of the empire, but the people
of Bohemia have never sulunitted to the disuse of tlieir own, and their rejiresentatives in the
Austrian Parliament have always insisted on its use. A few years ago the Eniperor, yielding
to their demands for its recognition, caused his ministers to decree that it should be placed
on an equal footing with German. The wrath of tlie German party in the State was kindled,
and the decree was rescinded. At the moment of writing the Chekhs are once more carrying
454
The Living Races of Mankind
1"'
prcM
on a determined agitation, and it s-eems that the "Langnages question
thorn in the side of the Austrian <io\ernment.
The Chekhs are reputed to be in(histrious and excellent workers, and have
talented musicians.
The Moravians are so closely akin, in race, language, and customs, to the Bohemians, that
they call for no special mention.
The Poles are found jjrincipally in the Russian Empire, wliere there are about 10,000,000;
but a large number of them are under the Austrian Crown. They appeared under the name
of Lekhs about the seventh century of this
era, and by some writers are supposed to have
been a Norse tribe which overcame and amal-
gamated with a Slavonic people. They may
be regarded as one of the numerous sub-
divisions of the great .Slav race. rhysically
they are of medium height, the Poles of the
south being generally of darker comiilexinn
than those of the north. The}^ have always
been distinguished for braver}', polite manners,
and great intellectual gifts. Their women arc
handsome and vivacious.
HUNUARV.
Before dealing with the IMagyars, wlm
constitute the great majority of this kingdom,
a few words ought to be devoted to the in-
habitants of Croatia and Slavonia, which form
an annexe of the Hungarian Crown.
The Croats are a branch of the Slav race,
and are closely akin to the Servians. They
differ in being Eoman Catholics and in using
the Latin alphabet for their two dialects —
the Sloveno-Croatian and the Serbo-Croatian
(Brown). The author here referred to, in his
interesting account of this people, describes
them as having for their physical character-
istics black or very darlc brown hair, and
greyish or blue eyes, with a countenance
suggestive of cruelty and suspicion. They
are lazy and intemperate, but good-humoured
and hospitable. Their women, who do most
of the work, are both ignorant and super-
stitious, and do not rank high in the scale
of civilisation. They are noted for the beauty of their costume, which i
white tunic, scarlet waistcoat, and red sash or belt of leather with
among the various articles of attire, which differ in every village,
colours and silver ornaments is displayed every wlicre.
The Slovaks, who are found associated with the Ixuthenians in ^Moravia an
carefully to be distinguished from the Slovenes, who are numerous, especially
and Slavonia. They are a pastoral people, and are generally regarded as hard
contented.
The Magyars sjjring fi-om the Ural-Altaic stock. At the close of the ninth century of
our era a horde of mixed Turkish and Finnish origin entered Hungary, and it is from these
i- :;,.., u:,jiucul ColUcUoH in the Mitsium di
PURE GYPSY, ALSACE (PROFILE).
usually radiant. The
beautiful patterns are
A love of gorgeous
Galicia. are
in Bukovina
working and
The Gypsies
455
immignuits that the Hungarians descend. "An indefinalile Oriental air may be noted in most
Magyars of good family. The fact that the structure of the jNIagyar language is Ugro-Finnish^
while it contains ISlongol and Turkish words, and has in more recent times borrowed from German
and Sla\onic, points to a good deal of mixture in the composition of this people " (Ratzel).
Physically they are accounted one of the handsomest races in Europe. They have a
manly, upright carriage and an energetic air. Their frames are tall, athletic, and robust.
Their eyes are intensely black, the nose straight, the teeth white and regular, and the hair
bushy. Their women are even better-looking than the men. The IMag^^ars have pushed
.^^,.^..^,>,.^^,..,.;,..,.^ .- ,11— their way into the front rank of nations by
^^^^^^^^^^ their physical strength, bravery, and strong
^^H^^P^ patriotic sentiment, which engenders a vanity
^^^^^^g liordering on self-conceit. Their hospitality
^^^^^B" ^tflWiPill^ ''^ proverbial, and has brought many wealthy
^^^^HP" ^l^^l^jlUl^k families to the verge of ruin. Trade and the
^^p^^^ ^ ^^ industries have in recent years been greatly
Bp ^m M <leveloped.
E^ Hr '^'iSl* "^ ^^ 1"he national dress is exceedingly pictur-
(■S([np. Its juiiicipal characteristics are the
hiniilii, (a lciiit( (inter cloak), long boots, and
^, ~ 3~ spurs. A Hungarian nobleman attached to
Hp the Austro-Hungarian Embassy in London
He ^ attracted universal attention at a levee at
^K *iit ' 'a^^^^/i '^*' •^'^'"^^''^ '■'■ f^^^ years ago by the magnifi-
1^ \ > 2tfy^^ fence of his attire.
^H»|«'!^- , M ^KTM s ^ Hungarian wedding is a remarkable
^HF I Uj) ^BR/^ '^ ceremony. The feast lasts for several days.
^^V m Mt ^Kj^^ " After the wedding ceremony is ended, the
^m M m^ ^^^^hIB bridegroom's friends, headed by a band of
V ^M)^^L. ^^^^I^lb musicians, come to fetch the bride, who, thus
W ^k|^^^M^^^^^^^^^ escorted, goes to her new home ; here, as
f '^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 well as during the ^^rocession to the church,
firearms are discharged and other noisy
demonstrations made by the guests, who
afterwards sit down to the table and prolong
the feast far into the night. It is the
custom — and a curiously suggestive one it is —
for each guest to dance in turn with the
bride, and then to give her a few kreutzers
(or pence), in exchange for which he receives
a kiss. Each guest also brings a present,
which consists of a fowl, a pigeon, some fruit,
or other articles of provender. This is duly
handed to the bride, who, by accejjting it, binds herself to dance with the donor " (Brown).
The dominant religion of the Austro-Hungarian Empire — or rather of the various races
composing it — is the Roman Catholic. The members of this Church numbered, in 1898,
32,240,000. There are also 4,268,000 Protestants, 3,178,000 members of the Greek and
Armenian Churches, and 1,870,000 Jews.
PUEE GYPSY, ALSACE (FULL-FACE).
THE GYPSIES.
leave of the peoples of Central Europe, a few words may apjiropriately be
Before tak
devoted to the Gypsies, who are here found in larger numlio
world, over which they wander at large.
than in any other part of the
45^
The Living Races of Mankind
liem fioin
The Gyp-ies are iindDubtedly of Hindu
origin, as is clearly shown by the structure
of their language. They first appeared in
Europe early in the ]\Iiddle Ages, when
they were believed to have come originally
from Egypt. This theory is now exploded,
and survives only in the name by which they
are known in some places. Their language
bears traces of all the countries through
which they have passed at different times,
so that it may be said that they have no
language and no country of their own. They
ha\e adopted whatever country has suited
their taste, and have absorbed a little of its
speech into their original dialect. Wherever
they are found, they are strangers and out-
casts, and have no part in the government
or national life of their adopted country.
Physically the Gypsy of pure blood is
strongly suggestive of an Eastern origin.
His bright black eyes, oval face, black hair,
and dai'k brown complexion render him
easily recognisable wherever he is seen. His
mental characteristics are not such as to
earn for him the respect of his fellow-men.
He leads a shiftless, vagrant life, and his
propensity for thieving is ineradicable. Of
religion the Gypsies have little, and they
are generally as ready to adopt that of the
country they find themselves in, whenever it
suits their convenience, as to borrow from
its language or its hen-roosts. Although
their moral conceptions are not of a high
order, they have certain beliefs and super-
larbarism.
v in the various regions in wliich they live. Everywhere they
ours in their dress and for glittering ornaments. They have no
heir pursuits are such as can be best carried on in a life of
metal-workers, and in making baskets and brooms, they show
olut(
Their customs (litf
dispkiy a passion for bright c.
liking for sedentary life, and
movement. As tinkers and
much skill.
A good description of the Gypsies of Bosnia is given by Tissot, who says : " Their com-
plexion is as brown as old leather. They have keen black eyes and oval faces, and their long
curly hair falls in oily masses over their shoulders ; their figures are athletic and muscular ;
they lead a vagabond and wandering life, braving carelessly the inclemency of the seasons under
their tents of ragged cloth, and too often exercising the calling of brigands and thieves.
I must tell you further that the Bosnian Gypsy women are often of a rare beauty, and
know how to make the most of their charms. As dancing-women and ballet-girls they enter
the harems, distracting the hearts of the beys and pashas, and they are often to be met in
public places dancing in picturesque costumes on a piece of carpet. The Tziganes were for
long the only people who worked the rich mines of Bosnia, but they contented themselves
with dragging a fleece of wool in the bed of the torrents, and picking out the spangles of
gold wliich in some streains are found in abundance."
CHAPTEE XX.
GERMANY, SWITZERLAND, ITALY, FRANCE, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL.
GERMANY.
The Germanic or Teutonic stock forms the basis of the Scandinavian, Dutch, and to some
extent the British peoples. In the previous chapter we have aheady pointed out that a large
number of Germans are to be found in Austria-Hungary. The Teutons form one of the
principal branches of the Aryan family of nations. But in the every-day use of language
we generally mean by the word "German" a person who owes allegiance to the Kaiser,
or Emperor, of Germany. Its significance is therefore rather political than scientific. The
German Empire is a confederacy of five-and-twenty states, dating from the year 1871, with
more or less independence in their internal affairs, presided over by the King of Prussia, who
bears the title of Kaiser, or Emperor. The united provinces of Alsace-Lorraine, annexed
after the Franco-Prussian War, now form part of the empire, being administered as a kind
of Crown colony.
In the year 1805 the German people
numbered 52,246,589, but at the present time
the population is probably not far short of
55,000,000. Kacially the Germans may be
divided into two great branches, corresponding
to the two very different physical divisions of
the land. To the south and west of the
Hartz Mountains Germany consists of high
tablelands and valleys ; to the north and east,
of a vast tract of lowland country, in which
the only important elevation is the Teuto-
burger Wald.
The inhabitants of the southern portions
of the empire are generally known as the
High Germans, while those who dwell in
the low-lying regions of the north are called
the I>ow Germans. The former are also
known as Swabians, the latter as Saxons.
There is a well-marked distinction in the
physical type of these two branches of the
race. The Swabians represent that portion
of the Teutons which, in its early migrations,
disijlaced a Celtic people at one time settled
in the mountainous part of the country.
They are darker than the Northern Germans,
and perhaps this may be accounted for by
partial fusion with the conquered Celts, who ,
had in their turn already absorbed a dark
race of the time of the New Stone Age —
icht
[Ik
LIT
TLE
BEKMAN BOY.
58
458
The Living Races of Mankind
that is. a Neolithic people, to use the
scientific term. The Saxons, on the other
hand, have for the most part the blue
eye.s and light hair which are generally
taken as typical of the modern German.
The Germans, however, ai-e no exception to
the rule that all European peoples are so
mixed that none of them can be resolved
into their primary Celtic, Teutonic, Scandi-
navian, or Slav elements. The Slav element
is indeed prominent in Germany, although
the purely Slavonic inhabitants are slowly
but surely becoming Teutonised. Of these,
the Letto-Lithuanic people in the extreme
north-east of the empire are a sort of
connecting-link between Russia and Germany,
as they are found in large numbers in the
western provinces of Russia. This race may
be described as handsome, well built, and
fair, with blue eyes and clear white skin.
They are mostly Protestants, and bear a
great reputation for piety. It is said that
nothing is ever allowed to keep them away
from church on Simday. They retain, how-
ever, a gi-eat number of pagan superstitions
which were blended with their Christianity.
The Wends of Lusatia are another survival
[Beritn. wliose name, supjwsed to mean " Wanderers,"
has been identified with that of the ancient
Veoieti (Venetians). They still retain the
however, is destined in time to give way to the German
speak. In the provinces of Silesia and Posen there are as
many as 2,920,000 Western Slavs, nearly all Poles, with a few of the kindred Cassubs and
Mazms. These last, being Protestants, are natm-ally more susceptible to German influence.
About 50,000 Chekhs, on the Bohemian frontier, are under German sway, as are the
Schleswig Danes. The P^rench are numerous, especially in Lorraine, where are also a few
Walloon communities. Nor must the Jews be omitted, who number about 1 per cent, of
the population, and exert a powerful influence on the art, literature, music, and finance of
the country.
Before we can arrive at anything like a correct estimate of the mental characteristics and
temperament of the typical modern German, it is necessary to take into consideration the
immense influence which the State has exercised in modifying the national chai-acter. One
of the chief agencies by which this has been brought about is of course the arm}^ ]\Iilitary
training is compulsory and universal. The Germans of the upper class devote as much time
and serious attention to the profession of arms as English gentlemen do to politics, or the
various pursuits of country life, such as hunting, shooting, fishing, or racing. A German
officer, as a rule, lives for nothing but his work, and his one ambition is to become as
proficient therein as possible. The consequence is that Germany now possesses the finest
army in the world. Nor is it by the army alone that discipline is taught; the State controls
the education of the citizen, directs the jjost and the railways, and assists trade and commerce
by encouraging technical instruction and subsidising gi-owing industries and transoceanic
shipping. Everywhere and over everything the influence of the State makes itself felt.
Photo by y. Scheu
GERMAX LADY.
old dialect known as Sorb, which,
which they are rapidly learning to
Germany
459
It is perhaps not too much to say that Germany is the most thoroughly organised and
completely drilled nation in Europe. It would obviously be outside the scope of the
present work to inquire into the advantages or defects of German methods from the stand-
points of statecraft and of commerce. Yet their influence in moulding the character of the
German citizen is of the utmost importance, as has already been pointed out by more than
one thoughtful English observer. In travelling about Germany, the writer has been pleased to
note the absence of that rowdy behaviour so frequently seen in the streets of London.
Education, both in the public or national schools and in the universities, is systematic
and thorough. It differs from our English system in two respects. In the first place, it is
ojjen to men in every rank of life, and the average German has acquired a far greater amount
of scholastic knowledge than the average Englishman on leaving school. In the second place,
it is directed almost exclusively to training the intellect, and has little or no effect on the
J Iwtu by 1/it Phutachiuiii Cu ]
TliUKii SWisa UIllLS,
460
The Living Races of Mankind
manners or the morals of the pupil — a defect which cannot be justly ascribed to the training
of an English gentleman. The masters at our pulilic schools have undoubtedly exercised a
strong influence for good on the boys committed to their care, and the same may be said
of many of our private schools.
What are tlie mental characteristics of the German? From the excessive militarism of
his country he acquires a somewhat brusque and off-hand manner, which is especially marked
in members of the aristocracy. His educa-
|BPV|i^ - tion, with its tendency to specialism at an
I^K early age, makes him learned and naiTow,
^^^L and lacking in the graces which a more
^^^K^^ ,_rr '-^'"~"'^^- —^-MC _^i ' general culture and wider training might
Hjj^^^ ^ V - ^..,«w bestow. The constant interference of the
^_^ ^f ^tif^,__ — ^■Hfll^^l State in his domestic and business concerns
■P^ Ma«»L_ ^T*^^" i^^^^H '^ '^l'* ^'^ weaken his independence and rob
^ la- F^ ^ V ^^HKI him of individuality and character. Behind
hi> acquired conventionality, however, he is
honourably distinguished for loyalty to the
I'atherland and his friends, as well as for
kindly disposition and family aflection. Kot
the least attractive characteristic of the
German is his fondness for music, which
does much to soften his asperity of manners.
A strong vein of sentimentality has often been
noticed in the Teutonic disposition, although
it is kept well in hand by discijjline and
training. A cm-ious instance of this was
related by the correspondent of an English
newsjjaper during the Franco-Prussian War.
When the Germans entered Paris, a good deal
of looting and violence took place. An officer
broke into a house, and, entirely disregarding
the trembhng occupiers, sat down at the
piano in one of the rooms and ran his
fingers over the keyboard. Presently he broke
out into a plaintive melody which celebrated
the charms of his lady-love. The performance
affected him to tears. He was able, however,
to master his emotion sufficiently to call in
his orderly and direct him to have the instru-
ment packed up and sent to Germany ! He
then left the house without so much as a
word to his unfortunate hosts. The Germans
are, as a rule, frugal and unostentatious in
their habits. jNlere wealth has less social jjower
among them than in England. It will not buy
the entree into high society. Class distinctions
are well marked, and even the jioorest nobleman of a long line is recognised as a far superior
being to the wealthiest parvenu. In this respect Germans take themselves very seriously. To
omit the von, denoting gentle birth, before the name of an untitled gentleman would cause
him to feel much aggrieved. Even official titles are guarded by their possessors with the same
strong jealousy. Wives are addressed in such a way as to show that they share in the
official title— e.g. " Mrs. General " or " Mrs. Stationmaster."
[Xufktoiu
SWISS MAN.
YOUNG WOMAN OF BERN.
462
The Living Races of Mankind
: Photochr:
A SWISS GIRL IN
while the lenui
are by creed and exti
Domestic life in Germany is apt to
strike the stranger as decorous, but distinctly
dull. Women are by no means badly edu-
cated, but they are not expected to share
the intellectual or business interests of their
husbands. Their proper sphere, e\en in
the ujjper classes, is supposed to be the
kitclien and the nursery. jMany are expected
to attend a chinrch regularly ; hence the
saying one so often hears in Germany,
" Kirche, Kinder, Kiiche," which means
" Church, childi-en, and kitchen." Although,
on the whole, German wives are well treated
by their husbands, they are often little better
than a kind of upper servants. A German
gnl is not expected to have a higher
amliition in life than to become in due
time an efficient Hausfrau. The Germans
are fond of amusement, although their
pleasures are of a mild nature. In youth,
howe\er, they are much given to fencing
and other gymnastic exercises. Even duelling
is encouraged in the highest quarters, being
still a noticeable feature of student life. The
present Emperor, however, has checked it to
some extent among the officers of the army,
owing to the scandalous frequency with which
thc-e •■affairs of honour" occm'red. In
holi(la\ time they throng the public gardens
and listen to the excellent military bands for
which Germany is famous. Here they will
sit for hours at the small tables which hold
the e\ ei-re[)lenished glass of Munich, Pilsener,
or other beer, and smoke cigars made in
Germany, and therefore inexjjensive.
It is reckoned that about 63 per cent,
of the inhabitants of the empire are Protes-
tants and oG per cent. Koman Catholics,
SWITZEKLAM).
The union of the Swiss people as a nation is entirely political, and in an ethnogiaphical
sense there is no such thing as a Swiss nation. Then- country has an area of only 15,976
square miles, and in the year 1898 the census showed a population of rather less than 3,120,000.
In this small compass, however, three if not four distinct nationalities ha\e their home. In
the vaUey of the Upper lihine as far as Basle (or Bale), and in the vaUey of the Ijijier
Rhone as far south as Sitten, the people are of Teutonic stock, speaking a German patois.
They are sprung from the Alemanni, one of the Teutonic tribes which descended on the Roman
Emp)ire. The German Swiss are by f;\r the most numerous, being about three-sevenths of
the entire population. Part of the Upper Rhine Valley and the slopes of the Jura in the
west are known as French Switzerland. Here the people are descended from the Biu-gundians.
Switzerland
463
Though the Burgundians were also one of the German tribes which coiitributeil to the break up
of the power of Rome, their descendants now speak the French tongue in tlie district which
comprises Neuchatel, Geneva, the Valais, and the Pays de Vaud. In the basin of the Po —
canton of Ticino — the people are Italian and speak the Italian language.
Besides these three main groups there is a small fragment which may be described as an
ethnical survival, destined in language, at any rate, to disappear before the German or Italian
elements by which it is surrounded. This fragment comprises the Rhaeto-Eomance people,
living in the Grisons and the hilly region between the upper tributaries of the Rhine and the
banks of the Upper Inn. They are believed to be descended from the Rhnetians, an ancient
tribe which had settled in the district before the German or Teutonic migration, and even
before the Romans, who had already conquered and mixed with the primitive inhabitants.
Their language is the Rumonsh, which has two dialects, the Rumonsh proper, spoken on the
Vorder Rhine and in some parts of the Hinter Rhine, and the Ladin of the Engadine and
the valley of the Inn. Both represent in a somewhat modified form the Latin spoken by the
Roman peasant of the time of Livy. But however interesting the Rumonsh-speaking race may
be from the ethnogiaphical point of view, its members are numerically unimportant. According
to the latest returns (1898), 2,150,000 of the inhabitants of Switzerland were of German,
700.000 of French, 170,000 of Italian, and 38,000 of Rumonsh speech. While French is
stationary, Italian appears to be encroaching
on the German and Rumonsh territories.
The various nationalities found in
Switzerland are held together by a con-
federacy, or union of twenty-two cantons,
each of them quite independent in its
local administration, somewhat in the
manner of the United States of America.
It follows, from what has been said, that
the Swiss must present a variety of types,
both physically and mentally. Not only
have the racial differences to be taken
into account, but also the difference in
character and manners which we should
expect to find in a country where every
little commune is practically free to go
its own way without interference from its
neighbour.
Physically the Swiss may be described
as well built and hardy, with a vigorous
physique, due to plain living and mountain
air and an outdoor life. They are sober,
frugal (quite as much from necessity as
from choice), cleanly, and fairly honest,
except where rich English and American
tourists offer an irresistible temptation to
ask exorbitant prices. The late Mr. Ruskin
spoke in his " Modern Painters " of the
sad deterioration that had taken jjlace
already at that date in this respect ; and
his wise words of warning might be equally
applied to Scotland, or even Norway.
Education flourishes, and technical instruc-
tion is well attended to. The C^anton an Italian man.
464
The Living Races of Mankind
Vaud has been called the paradise of peasant-proprietors, and here the agricultural Swiss may
perhaps be seen at their best. In contrast with their French neighbours the Vaudois are
thrifty and intelligent in their husbandry. Their cottages are not only picturesque, but
scrui:)ulously clean. They supplement the living they obtain from the soil by such industries
as clock- and watch-making. In this business they have shown their extraordinary aptitude for
delicate and minute workmanship. In La Vallee, the centre of the industry, the inhabitants
are said to have taken to this employment on account of the hard winters and short summers,
which made a purely agricultural life rather precarious. Agricultm-e, which can alone be carried
on in the valleys, is not sufBcient to support the whole community; and even with the rapid
growth of their commercial industries the Swiss are obliged to go abroad in large numbers
and look for employment in other countries. As servants, coiuriers, hotel-keepers, and waiters,
they are found in nearly every great city of Europe and America. In the summer months
the country is invaded by a large army of tourists, who contribute largely to the supjjort of
the people. In spite, however, of their financial difficulties the Swiss are free from pauperism
as it is known in England. They set a good example to the rest of the world by assisting
each other in times of distress. Every commune has its fund out of which the children of
parents who have died have their education paid for, and the old folk who are past working
are maintained from the same soivrce. The smallness of the commune makes it easier for
public opinion to enforce a high standard of self-respect.
Each canton has its own manners and its own institutions. Taken as a whole the Swiss
are undoubtedly democratic. As in Greece, there are no hereditary titles, and the only trace
of anything approaching to an aristocratic state is to be found in the canton of Bern. Here
many of the citizens are descended fi-om the lords of Bern who ruled that republic in former
days with the majesty of the doges and princes of Venice and Florence. These are held by
their less illustrious brethren in great honour. But although a democratic people, the Swiss
are conservative in clinging to old customs. The little commune of Gersau, now incorporated
in the canton of Schwvtz (from which Switzerland takes its name), was at one time an
466
The Living Races of Mankind
AN ITALIAN MONK.
luimi to take iii
18.57, when
independent state. The memory of its grander
days is kept alive by an interesting ceremony
which takes place annually. On a certain
Smiday in May the people meet together
under the presidency of the chief magi.strate
(wlio is glorious on this occasion by reason of
being girt with the sword of state), elect the
various administrative functionaries, and dis-
cuss generally the affairs of the commune.
Tlie Swiss have always been ])ron(l of
their independence, and have clung teiiacionslv
to their liberty. In this they were aided by
tlie conformation of their country, which
offers a natural barrier to invasion. Wlien
tirst forming part of the Holy Koman Empire,
I he forest cantons re\olted against the Emperor
Albert in 1313. From motives of prudence
subsequent sovereigns favoured their spirit of
indejiendence. It was not until their defeat
of the forces of Charles the Bold in 1477
that the Swiss attained to a full conscious-
ness of national existence. The Emperor
.Maximilian made a final elfort to reduce their
growing pride, but after a protracted struggle
he was forced in 1500 to recognise their
[iractical independence by treaty, aUhoiigli it
was not until the Peace of 'NN'estphalia in 1(148
that the Swiss Confederation was recognised
liy the world at large as a sovereign inde-
pendent state. That the Swiss are still pre-
pared to guard and, if necessary, fight for their
freedom is shown by the attention jjaid to
military training, which is obligatory on every
male subject of the State. The last occasion
on which the Swiss were nearly being called
a war with Prussia seemed by no means
By the Tieaty of Menna the Prussian Crown retained certain rights of sovereignty over
the canton of Neucliatel, and ajipointed its governor, although in all other respects the peo2)le of
Neuchatel enjoyed the full liberty of Swiss citizenship. This anomaly gave rise to a consider-
able amount of friction, which ruliiiiii;i( cd in a threat on the part of the King of Prussia of a
military occupation of the canton. This the Swiss Confederation would have certainly resisted.
The matter was. however, ultimately settled without recourse to arms.
The legislative power of the Confederation is vested in a Federal Assembly, which consists
of two chambers — a National Council of 147 members, and a Council of States of forty-four
members. The executive power is in the hands of a Federal Council composed of seven
members. This body, which is elected by the Federal Assembly, is pre.sided over by the
President of the Confederation, who is the head of the State for the time being, and holds
office for a year only. Some idea of the modest scale on which the Swiss pay their
national servants may be gained from the fact that the highest salary, that of the President,
is only £540.
In Switzerland the adherents of the Koman Catholic Church are estimated at 40 per
Photo hy Livy Bros.]
YOUNG WOMEN OF VALENCE.
468
The Living Races of Manl<ind
Photo by Pilotti J: Porpel\
AS ITALIAN PI A^'^N
cent, of the population, and
the Protestants as 59 per
cent. In 1888 the Jews
numbered 7,400. Geneva,
long noted for its manu-
factui-e of watclics. was (he
home of Rousseau and
Neeker, and has been a
chief stronghold of Calvinism
since the sixteenth century.
ITALY.
To some extent the political
relations during the last
three decades have been
much the same in Italy as
in Germany. Before 1870,
when its unity as a kingdom
was first achieved, it was
divided into a number of
separate states. Italy at
the present day comprises
the states of Sardinia, the
Two Sicilies, the Pontifical
States, tlie Lombard and
N'cnctian pio\inces formerly
belonging to the Austrian
Empire, the duchies of
Tuscany, Parma, and
Modena. With a total area
of 114,410 square miles, it
has a population estimated
in 1900 at 31,856,000.
'""» It would be hoiieless
to attempt to arrive at a
just estimate of the racial
scrib.e him as Latin would merely be
a classical name. When Italy first
me of a number of tribes destined
wliicli I lie people of Latium gave
inipdiiii'.il of these early inhabitants.
elements of which the modern Italian is composed. To
an easy means of getting o\-er the difficulty by giving hi
emerges into the light of history, it is seen to be the
afterwards to be absorbed in a grea,t linguistic family
their name. Ihe Umbro-Sabellian group were the mos
although their arrival in Italy was comparatively late. The Latin race, with which the Greek
was closely allied, was probably the advanced-guard of the great Aryan migration into
Southern Europe. The Etruscans were established in Italy some time prior to the arrival of
the Latins, and have left a deep impression, both as regards physical character and mental
culture, on the Italian race. In later times they were associated more particularly with the
portion of Italy now known as Tuscany, but there can be little doubt that they once
extended over a much wider area. They were a non-Aryan people, and have been classed
by some writers with the Iberians, as a survival from Neolitliic times. Others have put
forward the untenable view that the Etruscans were a In-anch of the Finno-Tartars. In
appearance they seem to have been small and dark-. They attained to a high degree of
Italy
469
culture, and reuiains of tlieir inscriptions and monuments have been found in abundance.
Thev gave a good deal of trouble to tlie Roman people in early days by their warlike habits
and character, but in the end were conquered. Even the Gauls had at an early date settled
in X<3rth Italy. The Ligurians are considered to have been an older non-Aryan race. In
the south and in Sicily the (ireek element has combined with another pre-Aryan race, the
lapygian, while Phcniician settlers from Africa helped to I'reate still more variety. When
the Eoman Empire fell to pieces, Italy was swept by havbarie Irilies whieli brought Slav
and Teutonic blood into the nation. Huns, Bulgars, and others of ?di>iig(>l and Ugrian origin
gave an Oriental touch to the blend. In her later history the land has seen foreign dynasties,
Spanish, Austrian, and French, exercising their sway. How far these waves of foreign
immigration have modified the physical and mental attributes of the old Italian people it
is iiu[)Ossible to say. That they must have influenced its moral character is practically
certain. Taking the Italian as he is to-day, we naturally expect to find dift'erences of type
in the various states which have been but lately welded into one. Space, however, will admit
of our noticing only so:ne of the more important characteristics.
The Italians are a remarkably handsome race, with well-formed, symmetrical features and
limbs. An average Italian makes a better model for the painter than the average member
of any northern race. Owing to Celtic and Teutonic influences, the Italian of the north is
of a lighter complexion than his brother of the south. hi Genoa blond representatives of
et with. The dark hair and rich colouring of the Southern
the race may frequently be
Italian are generally accepted
The Italians are an ag:
dispo>ition, they have been pi
(■<sit lilies of bad government, "jipr
high taxation into a state of |h
misery. In the north the cultivat
olive and the silk industry are tli
means of supporting life, and
peasants are industrious, and ha\
character for steadiness and sobriet
iiltural
g tl'P
ieoi)le.
niged by
ssioii, and
\erty and
on of the
' principal
here the
■ a belter
' than the
ue Latin ty^ie.
Thougli natur
perful and patient
fickle southerner. The Lombards weie at one
time celebrated for commercial and industiial
energy, and this character the jieople of to-da>
still retain. In Milan the townsfolk aie
more reticent and thoughtful than the idle
people of Naples. The lot of the i)edsant
throughout Italy is extremely hard He has
received no assistance in the sha])e of intelli-
gent government in his el'lbrts to (ope with
difficulties. The Campania, which in . I issi, il
times was a rich tract of corn land, h is
on account of neglect, become maishy and
malarial, and its unhappy cultivators find their
rough sheep-skin garments afford but scanty
protection against the poisonous night air. It
is perhaps in Naples and Sicily that the
degradation of the people from maladminii--
tration is most apparent. Things are much
better now than they were under the Lourbon
rule, but the conditions both in town and
country are still far from what they ought phoioby m. nenhaKd)
to be. In Naples the visitor may see little a fishu:
IAN OK PORTEL.
470
The Living Races of Mankind
but what is picturesque and pleasant, but in the poorer quarters of the town disease,
pestilence, filth, and dirt exist in their most repulsive forms. Sicily barely conceals beneath
the smiling exterior of her fair vineyards and orange-groves the extreme destitution of her
peasantry. It is here that secret societies like "La Mafia" flourish.
If ItaHan morals compare unfavourably with those of colder northern races, one can easily
perceive some of the causes at v?ork. Although passionate and deceitful, the Italians are
warm-hearted, generous, and hos^Ditable. For a good-natured people, their cruelty to animals
is, at first sight, extraordinaiy ; but it must be remembered that the bigoted and uneducated
Latin of the lower orders, whether Italian or Spaniard, regards it as superfluous to bestow
kindness on beasts which have no souls to be saved. Italians of all classes are noted for their
charming manners, keenness of wit, and vivacity of expression. The intellectual gifts of the
race are considerable, but they do not exhibit any of that stolid earnestness which we associate
with the Teutonic peoples. Facility is one of their chief characteristics. In dress they show
a natural instinct for arrangement and effect. In matters of diet they are extremely frugal.
But little meat is eaten; polenta (maize porridge), with bread and vegetables, forms the staple
meal of the northern peasantry. A genial climate enables the southerner to exist for an
incredible time on a little fruit and some bread and wine. The Italians are fond of amusement,
and tlie carnival still forms one of their national institutions.
The -State religion of Italy is the Roman Catholic. The fusion of the PaprJ dominions
in the secular kingdom of Italy has deprived the Pope of all territorial power; and although
he still rules over the Vatican, his jiosition in Home is only that of a foreign prince. There
is a Protestant community of
Waldenses, numbering about
'J0,000, in the district of Pinerolo
in the Cottian Alps.
FRAKCE.
The French people are connected
geographically and by language
with tlie Italians. In the year
1896 the population of France was
08,517,975, and the annual increase
is so slight that these figures are
probably not far short of the actual
number of inhabitants at the
present moment. In early historic
days the land was peopled by the
Ciauls, a branch of the Celtic
stock. Some older race was there
before them, the race which erected
the wonderful stone circles, dol-
mens, and avenues of upright
stones seen in Brittany. Archaeolo-
gists are inclined to think that
these prehistoric builders are re^jre-
sented at the present day by the
Basques or Iberians ; but these
questions cannot be discussed here.
The reader who wishes to follow
up this subject may refer to the
present writer's " Prehistoric Man
and Beast."
AN OLD FBKNCHWOMA.N
TWO FKE.NCU FEASi
471
47-
The Living Races of Mankind
After Ciesar had invaded aud fonquered Gaul, Komau civilisation transformed the country. It
was not the policy of the conquerors, however, to fuse with the conquered, and from Kome
France received only her language and her laws. France was afterwards overrun by tribes of
Teutonic stock, Goths, Burgundians, and Franks, from the latter of whom the French have
acquired the name they now bear. Later came the Normans, a Scandinavian people. Thus it
will be seen that the French are a Latin people in language only, while the ethnic basis is
undoubtedly Celtic, with a tinge of Teutonic and Scandinavian elements in their composition,
fn tlie south-east of France Greek colonisation had gained a slight footing centuries before
the Roman conquest, filarseilles, Antibes,
and Nice were, with one or two other
places, the sites of their settlements.
Two physical types have been noticed
in France. In the north there are people
of tall stature, light hair, light eyes, and
o\al-shaped head. These are generally
taken to represent the purely Celtic Gaul
unmixed with the pre-existing inhabitants,
though possibly they owe these character-
istics to the Teutonic and Scandinavian
elements that have been mentioned.
South of the Loire the average stature
is lower, the head rounder, and the eyes
and hair dark. This phenomenon is ex-
phiined to be due to the persistence of
I lie Ilicriiui type. It must be admitted,
however, that the highly civilised races
of Western Eui'ope have undergone so
many racial transformations that it is
imjiossible to analyse them with minute
.Mentally the French are characterised
by the vivacit:y and quickness which are
the typical traits of the Celtic intellect.
They share with the inhabitants of
Southern Europe generally tlie habit of
temperame in diet, which is due in a
large measure to the lighter strain under-
gone by the system than it is subjected
to in the more bracing climate of the
North.
It is from the lionrgeoisie — the great
middle class — and the peasantry that we
get the most typical Frenchman. In the
various political catastrophes that have
befallen France the aristocracy have 2)ractical]y disaj)peared as a social force. The jwssession
of a title is of little assistance to its owner in obtaining State employment, and the few
remaining rejjresentatives of noble families, for the most part impoverished and retired, exercise
hardly any influence on the character of the country at large.
The bourgeois, however — a name which co\'ers professional men, merchants, tradesmen,
and public functionaries — is the central figure in French life, at all events in the towns.
Frenchmen of this class are by no means wanting in alert intelligence and the power of
forming independent and shrewd judgments They are, however, terribly afflicted with a
France
473
desire for uniformity, at any rate in outward conduct. Their li\es are regulated entirely with
a view to observing les convenances, which means that they are more conventional and subservient
to the opinions of their neighbom-s than e\en the corresponding classes in our own country.
Thrift is one of their most important characteristics. They have a horror of debt, and it is
almost second nature to a Frenchman to economise and live within his means, however small.
This trait in their character sometimes appears ridiculous, but it has done much to restore
France to the great position among nations which she came near to losing altogether after
the Franco-Prussian War. Ostentation in dress or style of living is rarely seen. On the other
hand, the French are generous in setting before strangers the best they have to ofi'er. Consequently
the tempting variety of the dishes and the simplicity with which they are served, combined
with the good taste and absence of stiffness sho-svn by his hosts, procure for the guest in a
tyjiical French house far more enjoyment than he would experience in a more showy mansion.
We are rather apt to suppose that the frequency with which the French have changed
their forms of government is due to fickleness and levity of disposition. This, however, is
not altogether true. The ordinary Frenchman troubles himself very little about politics, and
makes the best of whatever reijime he may
happen to be living under for the moment, lie
as far too much concerned in the care of his small
fortune to wish for social upheavals. Polities
he leaves to the professional politician and the
journalist.
Until 1882 France was badly ofi' in the
matter of education, and this accounts to some
«xtent for the lack of depth and knowledge dis-
played in the easy rattle of French conversation.
Now, however, education is general and com-
pulsory. Primary instruction is given in the
-communal schools found everywhere throughout
France, while secondary education is j^rovided in
lycees or colleges. Higher education of the kind
afforded by English universities is to be obtained
in the "academies," of which there are sixteen.
Technical training is also supplied, and the whole
system of education is under the direction of a
Minister of Instruction.
The lycee is eminently a republican institu-
tion. Boys of all grades meet on a footing of
equality. They wear; a plain, dark uniform, and
their life is conducted on semi-military principles.
Although the teaching is of excellent quality,
there is none of the training in manners which
is found in English public schools. The State
■does not aim at turning out gentlemen, and
recognises no class distinctions. Lycees and
compulsory service in the army supply the country
with a monotonous type of citizen, and establish
a cut-and-dried pattern to which everybody and
everything must conform. The college, on the
other hand, is slightly more aristocratic in its
methods. It is the last stronghold of clericalism
in France. Instruction is given by priests, and
the sons of the nobility are generally sent to a brittany boy.
CO
Photo bu Wtilaal.
474
The Living Races of Mantcind
these schools. ^lore attention is paid to
manners, and the pupils are more strictly
looked after than in the lycees. The rela-
tions between the sexes are regulated with
less freedom among the French than in
most civilised countries. Girls and boys do
not come much into contact with each
other. Until she is married, the young
girl is kept in strict seclusion. Marriages
are arranged by the parents of the young
cou])le, and are generally business trans-
actions. When a young man wishes to
marry, his parents look out for a suitable
wife among their friends, and arrange the
matter of the lady's dowry for him. Every
girl is expected to bring something into
the common stock of married life. Although
it must not be supposed that these marriages
turn out badly as a general rule, there can
be no doubt that the system tends to
make French women rather insipid. Until
marriage their minds are almost a blank,
and even after it their conversation, full
of sparkle and Celtic gaiety as it often is,
lacks depth and character.
The P^-ench peasant must next occupy
our attention. France is the largest wheat-
producing country in Europe, and the land
is held by a vast number of small i>yo-
prietors, each farming a minute portion.
This arises from the system oi partage for<}L
At the death of a proprietor his property
is divided among his children, so that it
is seldom possible to find large holdings-
anywhere. Even if a man by saving and
diligence add to his small estate, the in-
exorable laws of nature — and the Eepublic —
soon reduce it to tiny proportions. The
French peasant is industrious and frugal.
He is, as a rule, intensely ignorant of every
thing that goes on outside his little sphere
fe, which is of tiie narrowest and most conventional type imaginable. Such intelligence
as lie has— and he is not without considerable native shrewdness — he concentrates entirely
on his life-long struggle to win a scanty subsistence from the soil. His ownership of his little
plot gives him a sturdy independence which saves him from the degradation in which the
agricultural classes of other countries are so often sunk. His dwelling is .of the poorest
description — an unplastered hut of at most two rooms, bare and frequently far from clean.
Meat he seldom tastes. Life is chiefly supported on a soup made of vegetables and scraps
of bacon, and on bread and milk.
The blue blouse is the universal dress of the French lower classes, even in to-i\nis, where
the postman goes his rounds usually dressed almost exactly like the peasant in the fields.
Education is doing much to raise the intellectual level of the peasants, and before very long
JYI'SY OF GRANADA.
of
Spain
475
the narrowness of their outlook may be expected to disappear. The brigliter members of the
family often become priests, and this tends to raise the standard of culture throughout the
class. Like the bourgeois, the peasants form a very stable element of the community; and
political changes, of which they are often entirely unaware, find no sympathy in them. They
are conservative to the backbone; and so long as they are left to go their way undisturbed,
empires, monarchies, and republics may succeed each other without affecting the character of
the people. It is only when their life is made absolutely intolerable by oppression and
taxation that they stir themselves to political activity, ^^■hat they are capal^le of when roused
in this way, the Kevolution of 1789 has shown the world.
In religion the French are generally Eoman Catholic, the peasants, especially in Brittany
and Normandy, being devout and rather superstitious. The old noble families are Roman
A SPANISH -'FANDANGO,'
Cathohc; but among the bourgeoisie, whose educatio
good deal of indifference to religious forms, and free-t
660,000 Protestants, and the Jews numbered 87,000.
is almost entirely secular, there is a
iking is common. In 11)00 there were
SPAIN.
To the same extent and in the same manner as the French the Spaniards are a branch of
the great Latin family of nations. The Roman conquest gave to Spain her language and her
institutions, without peireptihly inodifying the physical attributes of the population.
Sjmn occupies, with I'ditiigal, the great peninsula south of the Pyrenees. The lion's
share, at least five-sL\ths of the whole tract, falls to the former country, with 17,550,216
inhabitants, according to the estimate of 1887.
Although it is now under one king and government, Spain formerly consisted of a
4/6
The Living Races of Manlvind
number of separate kingdoms, and even at the present time the people of the different
pro\'inces have their distinctive dialect, customs, and national characteristics. Before glancing
at these subdivisions, it will he well to give some account of the racial elements found in
the country.
According to a generally accepted theory, before the Aryan migration there existed in
Europe at a p)eriod known as the Xeolithic Age a race of small, but sinewy, dark-haired
people. These were the Iberians. Wilhelm von Humboldt, who originated the theory, believed
that they were scattered throughout Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Southern France, and the British
Isles. Spain was the last stronghold of these people, who were conquered by and fused %vith
the immigrant Celts, and thus produced the Celtiberian race. The Basques, who are found
principally in the north-west of Spain, although there are a few over the French side of the
Pyrenean border, are considered to be the direct representatives of these Neolithic Ibei-ians.
Taking the ethnic basis at the time of the Eoman invasion to be Celtiberian, we find
that Spain has been influenced by considerable admixture with other races. Greece and
Carthage both established colonies on her shores. Teutonic invaders gained a footing —
Alani in Catalonia, Suevi in Galicia
Vandals in Bsetica, and Visigoths
in Castile — though of course their
influence must not be confined by
too hard and fast a rule to jwi'ticular
localities. It is, however, in the
long dominion of the Moors that
we find the most important modifica-
tion of Spanish characteristics. The
Arabs and Berbers who crossed to
t'pain from Africa under the name
of ]\Ioors (the ]\lauri of the Koman
v.riters) intermarried with the jieople,
and have left their traces on the art
and rich architecture of the country.
The Moors were finally driven out,
but their blood still shows itself in
the people of certain districts. These
are the descendants of the Morescoes,
the Spanish ]Moors who escaped the
terrors of the Inquisition by adopting
the creed of their Spanish mothers.
Tlie Gypsies have also contributed
to the ethnical amalgam.
The people of Andalusia in the
south are muscular, but incorrigibly
idle. They are good-natured, con-
tented, clever, and distinguished for
gallantry to the fau sex. The Cas-
tilians may be taken as the repre-
sentatives of the proud hidalgo of
history and fiction. They are digni-
fied and solemn, and the mainte-
nance of an intense ceremoniousness
may be taken as their most notable
characteristic. Too proud to work,
they are past-masters in the art of
GYPSY OF GRA^
SPANISH LADY.
478
The Living Races of Mankind
starving pompously. The Aragonese, being reserved and
suspicious, are accounted hard to govern, though of a less
re\engeful nature than their ^'alencian neighbours. The
Catalonians in the north-east, are enlightened and energetic,
and make good jtractical tillers of the soil. The con-
sideiable element of Teutonic blood in their composition
mav ha\e made them more vigorous than some of their
less mdustiious neighbours. Thi' iiilialiitants of the Balearic
Islands aie of mixed origin, with a language like that of
Catalonia, Valencia, and Provence in France, being a
blanch of the Langue d'Oc. Their literatm-e is rich,
especially in poetry ; but the language is being gradually
displaced by the Castilian dialect. They are remarkably
honest, courteous, and hospitalile.
It IS, however, in the north-western provinces of Spain
that we hnd the most vigorous physically of the Spanish
latp. 01 lather races. The Asturian makes a good house-
hold --eixant, is accommodating, and markedly honest.
The Galuian, who has been called the helot of the
peninsula, is uncouth and unjiolished, but always ready
to undeitake rough work of any kind. As labourer,
aitisan, coachman, groom, or porter he is invaluable, being
clean, sober, hard-working, and faithful to his employer.
n\(i idiiucuisi i(i\s jj^g Basques, who have already been mentioned as a
probable pre-Aryaij survival, are slim but wiry, and are
a hardy mountaineering folk. In temperament they are lively and independent, but extremely
hospitable and courteous. They make excellent farmers, and those who have settled in America,
l)articulaily in the Argentine Eepublic, have shown themselves good colonisers. The Basque
wonifii are exen more handsome than the men, and possess, as a rule, attractive features
and a graceful carriage. The language of the Basques is peculiar to themselves, and is
unlike that spoken liy any other peojjle. The ditficulty of learning it is increased by its great
variety of forms.
Allowing for the local variations, we may describe the physical type of the Spanish
people as consisting for the most part of a medium-sized but compactly built frame, capable
of more endurance tlian it would at first sight appear to possess. The hair is dark and the
complexion olive or sallow. In disposition the Spaniards are brave, gay, and quick to anger.
They are inclined to take life easily^ and generally ready to make the best of things. Their
manners are pleasing and gracious. Quarrelsome and ready with the knife as they often are,
their wrath will generally subside if they are not goaded into ungo\'ernable passion by a needless
fanning of the fuel of contention. Perhaps the least attractive feature in their character is
the cruelty disiilaycd in the treatment of animals. As has been suggested in the case of the
Italians, a narrow and bigoted view of their religious obligations may have much to do with this.
Fanaticism and superstition play a much larger part than intelligence in the religion of
the lower classes especialW. All classes, however, show their indifi'erence to animal suffering
in the enthusiasm evoked by the national pastime of bull-fighting, in which bulls are worried
to madness, horses disembowelled, and sometimes men killed, without any protest from the
public ojjinion of the country.
Spanish ladies are kept in more seclusion than anywhere outside the Eastern countries.
Bright eyes and pleasant voices are generally to be numbered among their charms. Their
beauty, which comes early to maturity, is not so lasting as that of their northern sisters.
Their lives lack variety, and a natm-al indolence, coupled with a \ery superficial education and
much ignorance, makes prolonged pleasure in their conversation inipossilile.
Portugal
479
y for developing the
irrefore, that the work
lie share of attention,
1 in a country where
itial robbiner of the
The entrance of more vigorous nationalities into the arena of competition has ousted Spain
from the great position she once held as an imperial power. The war with America in 1898
may be said to have brought her colonial history to a close. Cuba, Puerto Kico, and the
Philippine Islands were given up to America ; while in the following year the Ladrone, Caroline.
and Pelew Islands were ceded by purchase to Germany. Her over-sea possessions now consist
only of Fernando Po and Annabom in the Gulf of Guinea, the Canary Islands, a strip of
territory on the west coast of the Sahara, and some settlements on the north coast of jMorocco.
Sjjanish influence will, however, long lie felt all over the world. The language is spoken ove"-
a lai-ge portion of the earth's surface. Nearly the whole of Central and about half of South
America are Spanish in speech, and to some extent in blood. The Spaniards have amalgamated
freely with the black races with wiiicli they have come into contact, and it must be acknowledged
the result has not, on the whole, made for the moral improvement of the human family.
In their own country the Spaniards of the lower classes are sunk in poverty and ignorance.
Their methods of agriculture are antiquated, and their lot is made harder by burdensome
taxation. The solution of economic and social problems is scarcely attempted by their rulers.
The Spanish Parliament is filled with politicians who make speeches of extraordinary eloquence
to one another. If a counti-y could be governed by rhetoric, Spain would be among the most
fortunate. Oratory is a gift in which the Spaniard is seldom wanting. He is by nature
an incessant chatterer, and parliamentary life gives him an i
rhetorical art of which he gladly avails himself. It is not sur|
of administration, with its prosaic details, should receive less tl
amid all this clamour of fluent tongues. Bribery and corrupt i(
the officials are poor and depend largely for their living
Government and the governed. If the country is backward, howe\er, there are signs that
the low-water mark has been reached and the tide is beginning to turn. The spread of
railwavs has done much to quicken the trade of Spain, and foreign capital and foreign
enterprise have been largely introduced of late years.
France and Great Britain, and more recently Germany and
America, have been thus instrumental in awakening the
Spaniards from their economic slumber. The land is being
brought more and moi-e into cultivation ; and its mineral
wealth — lead, copper, and iron— is being more actively
developed. It is unlikely that the Spaniards will again
take so j^rominent a place among the nations as they
formerly held ; but with improved education and more
intelligent development of their material resources there is
no reason to suppose that "the decadence of the Latin
races," which they are popularly held to typify, is so irre-
trievable as it appears at first sight.
PORTUGAL.
The Portuguese occupy a narrow strip of land on the
western side of the Iberian Peninsula, amounting only to
about one-sixth of the whole territory which lies south
of the Pyrenees. In 1890 they numbered 5,082,247, in-
cluding the inhabitants of the Azores and Madeira.
The division of the inhabitants of the peninsula into
two nations, Spanish and Portuguese, is historical and
political rather than ethnical. jMuch of what has been
said of the former will apply to the latter people. As
with the Spaniards, the basis of the Portuguese is Iberian,
480
The Living Races of Mankind
rOBTUGUESE
afterwards modified by fusion witli the Celts into Celt-
iherian. The Greeks and Carthaginians doubtless formed
sporadic settlements in the west as well as in the east 01
the peninsula. The Eomans spread their institutions and
language here as AYell as in Spain, and the Teutonic
tribes mixed their blood with the Romanised Celtiberians
of Portugal as well as with the Romanised Celtiberians of
Spain. The jMoors have influenced the Portugue.se quite
as much as they have the Spaniards, and many of the
e\ery-day phrases heard in Portugal are dii-ectly traceable
to an Arab source. One element in the mixed composition
of this people deserves especial notice. In the days of
liei colonial activity Portugal had an extensive trade with
\fiica and India, and slaves were largely imported into
tlie country. A pronounced Xegro type has been frequently
noticed among the Portuguese in certain districts, and
this im\ be attributed to the readiness of the Portuguese,
no le»s than the Spaniards, to mix with the inferior races
with which they have come into contact. How far the
Jews may be said to have influenced the physical charac-
teristics of the race it is diflScult to say, but travellers
have remarked on the prevalence of the Jewish type of
features in Portugal. In spite of mediaeval oppression
the Jews have flourished amazingly in the peninsula, and
at the present day the Spanish or Portuguese Hebrew is looked on as the aristocrat of his race.
Physically the Portuguese cannot be said to be as handsome as the Spaniards. Their
features are generally irregular and their frames ill-knit. The complexion is sallow and dull.
In the north the peasants are much darker than in the south, and their hair is often jet-black.
On the other hand, many impartial observers are inclined to think that the women are more
attractive than their Spanish sisters. Theii- eyes are especially fine, being full and lustrous,
while their dark hair and regular white teeth add much to their charm.
In charactai-, too, the Portuguese are in many respects the more pleasing of the two
peoples. The former possess a kindlier temperament, which shows itself particularly in the
treatment of animals.
The Portuguese are of a bright and careless disposition, and are more talkative even than
the Greeks or Italians. In this i-espect they are true sons of the South. The guitar is a great
outlet for their exuberant feelings, and a good deal of spare time in country districts is whiled
away by the soothing strains of this instrument. Frugality is a leading characteristic of the
people, as indeed of all the southern races. Dried cod-fish forms one of the principal articles
of diet among the peasantry, and the olla-podrida may be said to be the national dish. This
consists, as a rule, of pork or ham, olive oil, and onions or garlic, stewed into a savoury, if not
altogether nutritious, mess.
Agriculture forms the principal occupation of the people. They are. howe\er, extremely
backward and unenterprising. The same methods of husbandry are handed down from one
generation to another ; and being for the most part ignorant and uninformed, the j)easants
have little notion of making the best use of their fertile soil. Education, however, is spreading
and the Government are believed to be alive to the necessity of stimulating the people by
general and technical instruction. The manufacturing industries, of which hardware is perhaps
the most important, are steadily improving, and the foreign trade is increasing. Of this, about
one-third is in the hands of the British. There is a considerable demand for British goods in
Portugal, so that we may claim to be more or less instrumental in the gradual awakening of
the Portuguese to a more acti\e industrial life.
CHAPTER XXI.
DENMARK, BELGIUM, HOLLAND, GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
DENMARK.
Physically the Danes are a yellow-haired and fair-skinnei
Scandinavian branch of the Germanic family; they are of
and limbs well jirojiortioned and strongly
knit.
Although an otl'shoot of the fiermnnic
family of nations, tiie most characteristic
intellectual traits of tlie Germans are so
much modified in the Danes that tliey
fail to be distinct ixo. The Danes are as
courageous, iiuhistrious, and persevering as
any people in Eurojie. Judicious and
practical in the general affairs of life, they
are in science solid and earnest thinkers.
On the other hand, one finds a quick sus-
ceptibility and a degree of vivacity seldom
or ne\er apparent in the ordinary phleg-
matic Datchnian. who may be regarded as
the typical rei)resentative of the racial stock.
The celeiirated geographer Malte-Brun,
himself a Dane by birth, has sketched tlie
character of his countrymen. He cannot
be charged with attributing to them
imaginary virtues or concealing their
shortcomings in his picture. " It may lie,"
he says, "that the humidity of tlie air and
the quantity of flesh and fish they con-
sume have contributed to make tliis nation
heavy, i^atient, and difficult to move. In
former times insatiable conquerors, they are
now brave, but peaceable ; little enter-
prising, but i^lodding and persevering;
modest and proud, but not over-assiduous.
They are cheerful and frank among com-
patriots, but somewhat cool and ceremonious
towards foreigners. Imitators of other
nations, we also find them discriminating
observers. Constant, romantic, and careful
of their cherished aims, they are ca|iable of
a rush of enthusiasm, but rarely of Hashes
of inspiration. Although bound by strong
peojiie, belonging
inm height, wit
482
The Living Races of Mankind
ties to their native soil and to
tiie interests of the fatherland,
they are not jealous enough of the
national glory ; and though accus-
tomed to the calm of a monarchy,
enemies of servitude and despotism.
This is the portrait of the Danes."
There is nothing which calls
for special remark in the Danish
costume. In the towns the people
are always ready to follow the
lead of Paris in the way of fashion.
Consequently the apparel to be
seen in a street of Copenhagen
is, in make and material, very
much the same as that which is
generally disjilayed on the houle-
\arils of the French capital or in
tlie streets of London.
Denmark has made surprising
]in)gress in the last thirty years.
Hit loss of territory in the war
with Germany has been compen-
sated for by the development of
her internal resources. Less than
a century ago she wa>i one of the
]oorest countries in Europe. In
] roportion to her size she is to-day
among the richest, and can boast
of possessing the most cultured,
tlirifty, and self-reliant peasantry
in Kurojje.
Denmark has justly been de-
scribed as the [laradise of peasant-
proprietors. Nearly two-thirds of
her jiopulation make their living
from the land, about half being their own masters. A sixtli of the whole area is owned by
about 150,000 agricultural labourers, some 35,000 being only small cottars. About a third is
in the hands of small freeholders. Landlords with farms of more than 275 acres possess a
sixth. The remarkable success of Danish agi-iculture is chiefly due to the excellent system
of general and technical education, and to co-operative enterprise. A brief sketch of the
leading features of agricultural and educational institutions in Denmark may be of some interest.
It will afford an illustration of the way in which the energetic and practical qualities of a
nation may be brought out and turned to the best advantage. We have here a lesson much
needed in England to-day.
Scattered about throughout the country are butter-factories. Of these there are altogetlier
more than 1,200. They are controlled by large co-operative associations. The formers who
belong to these associations act under uniform regulations. Eules, to which they must strictly
adhere, are laid down for their guidance in the feeding and tending of their cows. The object
aimed at is twofold. In the first jjlace, it is sought to ensure excellence of quality in the
products of the dairv — milk, cream, and butter; and. secondly, to facilitate the distribution of
these articles in the most expeditious and economical manner. The farmers send their produce
Photo by Hansen d-
Denmark
483
nore remunerative manner than
as a bonus among the farmers
been found to work that it has
to the butter-factories and centres of distribution. The associations tlien undertake to send it
to its destination. In this way the individual farmer is spared the waste of needless competition
and the co>t of lian>it to the markets, while he is assured of a ready sale for his wares. The
expenses of distiibution are borne entirely by the associations, which are naturally able to
export butter in large quantities to otlicr countries in 1
agriculturists acting independently. The profits are divid
who belong to these associatimis. So well has the systt
lately been introdaced with im small success in Ireland.
Education, on sound and sensible lines, supplements the work of the co-operative
associations. The foll.-chojd-ula; or peojjle's high schools, play an important part in preparing
the Dane for a life of intelligent industry. They are a sort of continuation schools in which
young ])eoi)le of both sexes who have passed through the elementary schools may receive
instruction throughout part of the year. The sessions are so arranged as not to interfere with
their wage-earning work. There are about, eighty of these schools, attended by some 8,000
pupils. These are drawn from the lower
classes, and their ages vary from eighteen to
twenty-tive and even more. History and
gtMii;ra[ili_v, physics and nicclianics, and other
scientific Milijects are tauglit in the high
scliools. I'fchnical inst nut ion is given, and
every effort made to i-ijuip tlie scliolar for the
path he has chuM'n in life, lie may, for
example, learn much of the science of farming
in the butter-f ictory attached to the school.
Since the peasant does not, as a rule, seek
to leave the class in which he is born, his
education is a practical ad\antage, placing
him in the front rank of lundpeaii agri-
culturists. The course of traininu" uudiMgone
in these schools generally lasts for two ses>ions,
at a total cost to the pupil of £24. This
sum covers all his expenses of living as well
as instruction. A small subsidy from the Slate
enables these institutions to offer this educa-
tion at such a moderate figure.
Throughout the country education, even
in the schools of the higher class, is remark-
able for its cheaj^nessno less than its efficiency.
This is largely on account of the State aiil
which it receives. Ileyoml a few of the
private institutions, the only schools whirl,
are without assistance from the (io\ernni( ni
are the friskoler, or free schools. These are
so called because the parents are allowed to
choose the subjects and course of teachin.;
the pupils are to have. The Danish nation
is convinced of the value of good tiaiinng
for its youth. Every child, no matter what
its social position may be, is thus given an
opportunity of growing up to be an intelli-
gent and capable member of its class, whether
artisan, agricultural, or gentle. Taken in the
484
The Living Races of Mankind
aggregate, the Danes may he hoiiourahly distinguished as the best-instructed people in Europe.
That amounts to saying broadly that they are the best-educated jieople in the world. It is
exceedingly doubtful whether there can be found in the whole country an indi\idual Dane,
man or woman, in jiossession of the normal faculties, who is unable to read and write.
Another attribute of these people is their natural prirle. Each man estimates his own
worth and his individual rights as high as those of any other member of the community. Yet.
though belief in the innate dignity and the natural equality of men is deeply rooted in their
minds, they divide society into grades and ranks. Each rank possesses rights and privileges, duties
and exemjrtions, the absolute pi-ojiriety of which is not challenged by members of the other
classes. The first great distinction established is that between the nobles and the citizens. This
severance of the people into two great classes is not dependent on the possession of wealth.
The owner.ship of a million kroner would not ennoble one man ; the lack of a single coin would
not disrank another. No matter how wealthy a person may be whose family has not been
graded with the titled class, he is regarded as distinctly inferior in rank, although the noble
may be as poor as the proverbial church mouse. The citizen who owns money, merchandise,
ships, enterprise, and skill may gain all kinds of honorary titles, from councillor-at-law to
Privy Councillor; his breast may be covered with all the crosses, stars, ribands, and orders of
the State, which, though rarely bestowed on commoners, are by no means impossible to attain :
even so, he must not, with all these distinctions, entertain any hope of being raised into the ranks
of the nobility. Chi the other hand, the nobility, comprising the two grades of count and baron,
are \-ery numerous. In by far the gi-eatest number of cases they may be described as pitiably
Plioto by Nmrdein Frcns]
BELGIAN PEASANT WOMAN AND UER DKAUGUT-DuCIS
Belgium
485
poor. Counts and barons in society arc jilcntifiil as
pebbles in a brook. One reason for this is tliat
every son in a noble's family bears his fatiier's
title, even if he do not inherit any of his properly.
The penniless inheritor of a barren title hands
it on to his descendants. In the same way
all the daughters are countesses and baronesses.
Similarly the country gentleman, or better class of
former, holds himself aloof from the peasant-pro-
prietor ; and the people of the towns are also a class
apart. These sharp social distinctions have at any
rate their good side. Each man is contented with
his lot in life, and does not seek to be anything
but what he is. The State wisely fosters this sjjiril,
by enabling him, as we have seen, to take a pride
in the intelligent ])erformance of his work.
At one time the Danish peasants were serfs.
In 1788 serfdom was abolished, and pr(l\i^iclns
were made enabling the people to accjuire for
themselves the land on which they had up to
that time worked in a condition little above that
of slaves.
Nearly all the Danes are in religion earnest
Lutherans. Other creeds are tolerated to the
fullest extent, but not 1 i)er cent, of the inhabi-
tants lielcmg to any other than the Danish
Lutheran State Church.
BELGIUM.
The little kingdom of Belgium has an area of
11,373 square miles, being about one-eighth of
the size of Great Britain. It makes up for its
small dimensions by being the most densely populated country in Eurojie. In 1898 the popu-
lation was 0,670,000. There is no such thing as a Belgian race of peojile, though there is a
Belgian nation. In the days of Julius Caesar the country was inhabited by the Belga?, and
formed part of what was afterwards known as Gallia Belgica. The Belga3 appear to have
differed in dialect, institutions, and laws from the Celts of the other parts of Gaul. They
are described by ancient writers as "fair" Celts. This epithet, as well as their distinctive
attributes, would seem to point to considerable admixture with the Germans, if indeed they
are not to be regarded as a Celtic-speaking German tribe.
At the present day the population of Belgium is partly of Celtic and partly of Teutonic
origin. Tlie Floiiiings are still as clearly Teutonic as they were a thousand years ago, while
Celtic characteristics are as unmistakably apparent in the Walloons, who are descended from
the ancient Belga-. Both sections are members of the same Church, and have other interests
in common. Yet, though subject to one king and governed by the same code of laws, they
have not become so thoroughly blended as to jiroduce a distinct national type.
The men are of medium height, muscular, and of upright bearing. The Walloons in the
southern provinces are nearly as brisk in deportment and as polished in manners as their
French neighbours. The Eleming.s, who inhabit the western and northern provinces, are
endowed with greater vivacity than the Dutch, whose land borders theirs and wl)o belong to
the same race.
\
1
X"
]
.M
1
NATIVE OF THE ARDENNES.
486
The Living Races of Mankind
French is the official huiguage of the country. About 45 per cent, of the inliabitants
speak Flemish, 41 per cent. French, while 11 jier cent, speak both French and I'leniish.
There is nothing in the prevalent costume of the Belgians to distinguish it from that
which may be seen in the streets of London or Paris. Apart from the capital, however, their
cities still maintain characteristics which do not change with the caprice of fashion. The
observer is forcibly convinced that they grew into existence in the romantic past, when the
conditions of life were unlike those that prevail in the nineteenth century. What were held
to be the most ]irominent characteristics of six historic Belgian cities were mentioned in
monkish verses composed many centuries ago. Those characteri.stics are said to remain to some
extent at the present time. The Latin lines, translated, proclaim : Brussels rejoices in noble
men ; Antwerp in money ; Ghent in hatters ; Bruges in pretty girls ; Louvain in learned men ;
and ]\Ialines in fools. Hatters were said to be characteristic of Ghent because of the frequency
with which the king found it necessary to humiliate some of the ever-turbulent citizens, by
condemning them to traverse the streets under guard, with manacles on their wrists and heavy
iron chains on their necks. The reason for distinguishing the people of Malines as " mostly
fools" is the story that once, when they saw the moon shining through the cathedral tower,
they thought the cherished building was on fire, sounded the alarm, roused up the watch,
and did all they could to extinguish the conflagration by means of pumps, hose, and buckets
of water. The Flemings, in what they considered an improved version of the poem, called
the luxurious inhabitants of Brussels "chicken-eaters"; the citizens of Ghent "hat-bearers";
the people of Louvain "cow-shooters," because they once fired upon a herd of cows, mistaking
them for the enemy ; and the citizens of Malines " moon-extinguishers," with reference to their
action in saving their cathecbal from supposed fire.
The history of the Belgians is thickly studded with episodes, each of which illustrates
the bold, generous, freedom-loving spirit by which they were animated. The people are
Belgium
487
reasonably proud of their past. The bravery, intelligence, and energy by whicli tliey won
distinction when the sword was the arbiter of fortune are strong as ever in the Belgians, but
are now exercised under conditions widely different from those of the past. They excel in the
arts of peace, as formerly they were proficient in the arts of war. They now present an
attractive picture of a prosperous, peacealile, rich, and tlinrouglily comfortable little nation.
Belgium is essentially a manufacturing country. .'Machincrv. iron am! steel, glass, cottons and
linen, are some of its principal manufactures, while lace is, from its associiition with the name
of the capital, perhaps its best-known product. The Socialists appear to be very numerous.
and probably the sucial edifice is not very secure just now.
The Belgians still practise at Ostend one of their ancient rites exin-essive of their
appreciation of the sources which contribute to wealth and comfort. Ostend is the second
port of Belgium, a railway terminus, and station for the Dover mail-boats and London
steamers. Several religious and popular festivals are held there in the summer months. The
most interesting is the procession on St. Peter's Day, the 29th of .lune. It recalls the
ancient ceremony of marriage with the sea at Venice. In presence of a vast concourse of
fishermen and their famib'es, and as m;iny of the summer visitors as clioose to witness the
imposing ceriMuony, the sea is solemnly blessed.
Education is as backward in Belgium as we have just seen tliat it is advanced in
Denmark. In 189G it was estimated that nearly 27 per cent, of the population were unable
to read.
The religion of tlie country is Roman Catholic. Nearly all the inhabitants at least
nominallv profess this faith.
Fkoto by P. U. Finchuml
A FAMILY GROUP OF MABKEN PEOPLE.
The Living Races of Mankind
HOLLAND.
The Dutch people are mainly descended from
the Germanic branch of the gi-eat European families
of nations. Teutonic hordes overran the country at
different times. The latest of these were the Franks
and the Saxons, who became the dominant peoples
about the thii-d century. Holland has been the
home of freedom from the earliest times to which
historic records ascend, and the persecuted in other
lands sought refuge there at different periods.
Portuguese and German Jews in great numbers found
safety there. On many occasions also Britons,
Scandinavians, and P'renchmen settled in the Nether-
lands in large numbers, and were finally absorbed
in the population. The result is that the original
Dutch type of race has been so much modified
tliat it is now difficult to trace the distinctive
[Tht Hacixit. physical traits of the Teuton among the Dutch.
1RTH HOLLAND. Holland is a maritime country, containing
12,648 square miles. The land is flat and low,
intersected by numerous canals and connecting rivers. In the Middle Ages it formed part of
the Low Countries, and at the present day it has the alternative name of Netherlands. In
1898 its population was returned at .5,075,000, showing that, after Belgium and Saxony, it is
the most densely peoj)led country in Europe.
In character the Dutch are brave, stubborn, and honest. Taciturn and cold in their manner,
the}' are particularly reserved towards strangers, and at the same time remarkably blunt and
outspoken. They are as a rule hearty feeders. Even among the poorer classes starvation is
less common than in any other civilised country. Salt herring is one of the most highly
esteemed of their articles of diet. Smoked eels may also be mentioned as a favourite dish.
They are usually sold from barrows in the street, with pickled cucumbers and hard-boiled
eggs. Gin and tobacco are consumed freely, but their ill efifects are counteracted by the
open-air life of the people and the hard work they get through. It is chiefly at the kermis,
or fairs, which play a large part in the life of the Dutcli, that intemperance shows its
usual signs.
The well-known Dutchman of the caricaturist, the man with wide breeches and a build
which requires all their amplitude, is nowadays seen more frequently in pictures than in the
streets of Dutch towns, although he is far from being extinct. The town-dweller is rather
spare of lialiit, but his wife generally makes up in her comfortable proportions for his lack
of flesh. The Hollander is fond of his home. A farmer's house can generally boast of
good furniture, while the citizens frequently live in a luxurious style.
The Golden Age of Holland was the fir.st half of the seventeenth century. At that time
the carrying trade of the world was in the hands of the Dutch, while Amsterdam was regarded
as the most important commercial centre. In their long wars with Spain they gradually
succeeded to the Portuguese possessions which had fallen to the Spanish. In Cromwell's time
and in the earlier part of the reign of Charles II. the English were engaged in a protracted
struggle to i)ut down Dutch monopoly. England in turn acquired the supremacy of the sea,
and replaced Holland as mistress of a great colonial empire. The Dutch still retain considerable
possessions in the East Indies.
With such a past history it is not surprising to find that the Dutchman is fond of
travel, and takes a broad interest in the doings of the outside world. He is consequently
much less narrow and pedantic than his natural characteristics would lead one to suppose.
Holland 489
The commanding position that Holland at one time held among the nations of the world
sun-ounds the stolid Hollander of the jjresent day with a halo of romance. Hallam has said
of the Dutch: "A great people, a people fertile of men of various ability and erudition,
a people of scholars, philosophers, historians, and poets." When we remember the great
names of Scaliger, Grotius, and Rembrandt, we cannot but feel that this encomium is deserved.
The late Professor Thorold Rogers was not less enthusiastic in his eulogy. He claimed that
the revolt of the Netherlands from the dominion of Spain and the success of Holland were the
beginning of modern civilisation, the Dutch, in his opinion, having taught Europe everything
which it knows, — surely a jiaradoxical statement !
Many of the old Dutch customs are no longer practised, yet the p)eople still retain
certain usages. For example, in several towns the birth of a child is made known by the
exhibition of a placard (pink for a girl and blue for a boy), gaily decorated with silk and
lace, outside the mother's dwelling. Then the friends of the family as they appear are
entertained with mulled wine and cinnamon cakes. All festivities in Holland are attended
with a good deal of heavy feasting.
A betrothal is an elaborate affair. Before the wedding comes off, printed circulars are
sent to the friends of the bride and bridegroom, and receptions are held, at which the couple
are seated on decorated chairs, on a i:>latform under a canopy of evergreens. The parents and
near relations sit on each side of them, so as to form a semicircle. The visitors, admitted
one at a time to this audience, deliver set little speeches, with appropriate allusions to the
coming event, and then retire to partake of the good things provided for their entertainment.
As in other Teutonic countries, the different periods of married life are divided into the
copper, the silver, and the golden stages. The first begins at twelve and the last after fifty
years of wedlock. Each is celebrated in a pleasing way, by friends offering presents made
of the metals from which these epochs are named.
Dr. Brown mentions several curious marriage customs prevailing among the peasants
of North Holland. In Drenthe, he tells us, it was usual for the wedding guests to be
summoned by two bachelors, who carried wands gaily decorated with ribands. On arriving at
each house, they repeated a number of doggerel verses, the burden of which was generally the
bill of fare at the coming feast. At one time no citizen was allowed to marry out of his
native town, except on payment of a heavy fine.
" When a death occurs in a Dutch family,"
says the same authority, "aanspreken, a sort of
'mutes,' dressed in black-tailed coats, black knee-
breeches, silk stockings, shoes with silver buckles,
white ties, and enormous cocked hats, with rosettes
at the side, and two long jaieces of ribbon hanging
down their backs, go from house to house announcing
the mournful news. At the funeral there is usually
much feasting, and in the festive province of Drenthe
so freely were all comers regaled that the vagabonds
collected from all parts of the country, until a death
in a wealthy family was invariably followed by a
drunken orgie. In some parts of Zeeland a quan-
tity of straw used to be iilaced on the doorstep of
the house where the sad event had occurred, the
size of the heap) being regulated by the j)osition of
the deceased. After the interment the straw was
burnt, this custom being, it has been suggested, a
survival from earlier days, when the dead were
cremated." P*"'" ''.'' ■"• •'■ ■"'• Sleinmmz) ITIu Hagw
The majority of the inhabitants of Holland, a dutch man, volendam.
490
The Living Races of Mani<ind
about three-fifths, belong to the Dutch
Reformed Church ; the remainder are Roman
Catholics and Jews, these being centred
principally in the large towns, such as
Amsterdam, where there are 70,000.
GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
England.
The reader will hardly need to be told that
many races have gone to the making of the
Englishman as he is to-day. Much learned
controversy has been expended on the question
whether the Celtic or the Teutonic element
predominates in his comi^osition. The anthro-
pological researches of the late Profe.ssor
Huxley led him to the conclusion that the
English are " vastly less Teutonic than their
speech." It will be sufficient for the purpose
of this work to give some account of the
various peoples — Iberian, Celtic, Teutonic, and
Scandinavian — which have left their mark
attempting to make any contribution to what
DUTCH PEASANT
the inhabitants of this country, without
a very complicated j^roblem.
It is generally conceded that when
Julius CiPsar landed in Britain he found a
population of Celtic origin and speech, who
were supposed to have crossed from Belgic
Gaul, and to have absorbed a pre-existing
race. This race was a remnant of the
Neolithic Iberians, a people characterised by
dark hair and short stature, of whom the
Basques in Spain and France are regarded
as the living representatives. The Celts
were, on the other hand, tall and fair.
Professor Huxley accounted for the fair and
dark types of the modern Englishman by
attributing the former to the Celtic and
Teutonic races, and the latter to the pre-
Celtic inhabitants. The Celtic stratum of
these islands may be divided into two
sections — the Cymric and the Gaelic.
The Welsh and the Cornishmen belong
to the Cymric branch, while the Gaels
comprise the Erse of Ireland, the Manx,
and of course the Gaels of the Highlands
of Scotland.
It is from Ca?sar that we get the first
authentic account of these primitive inhabi-
tants. He describes the Cantii, the people
of Kent, as being more civilised than the
rest, from their constant intercourse with
their brethren of Continental Gaul. He also
England
491
describes the men as painting themselves with woad, wearing skins, and as having moustaches,
but no beards.
The Romans themselves apparently did not mix with the Britons. Their position was
that of a military garrison, somewhat similar to that of the English in India and Egypt.
Nest in order come the Scandinavian and Teutonic elements. The constant harrying of
our coast by northern pirates, Norsemen and Danes, and the recurring hordes of Angles,
»Saxons, and Jutes, brought fresh blood into the people among whom they formed settlements.
The Norman Conquest added another layer of Celtic and Latin and Teutonic stock. From the
reign of Stephen to that of Edward III.
Flemings were introduced and settled
here from time to time, while Dutch,
French, and other refugees sought refuge
in this land of freedom. When it is
remembered that all these peoples have
intermingled in the narrow compass of
our shores, it will be admitted that it
requires some courage to attempt to
resolve the physical and mental charac-
teristics of the Englishman into their
original racial elements. It is a truism
of science that chemical fusion of various
substances results in a product which
differs materially from its constituents.
In the same way it may be said that
this motley amalgam of races has pro-
duced a type which has well-marked
characteristics of its own.
Physically the English are among
the finest of the civilised races. Their
tall stature they owe to the Saxon and
Scandinavian elements in their composi-
tion. The fair complexion, blue eyes,
and florid aspect so often seen among
them are also inherited from the
same sources. They are remarkable for
vigour of body and power of endurance.
Their constitutional energy is probably
greater than that of any other people,
and shows itself in a fondness for out-
door life. The national enthusiasm for
sport and athletics is a combination of
the Celtic love of amusement and the
Scandinavian delight in bodily prowess.
From the Celt the Englishman probably derives some of his mental alertness, sociability, wit
and humour. Patience, reserve, love of adventure, and a certain coldness of manner must
be ascribed to the Teutonic part of his ancestry. In fact, there are few of his mental
characteristics which cannot be traced to one or other of these great stocks. At the same
time it must be admitted that the English temperament has moulded the leading qualities of
the various races from which it is drawn into a type which is as markedly distinct as the
English physique.
The EngUsh character has been largely developed by its historical surroundings. In the
days of the Plantagenets England was very far from being the centre of a great colonial
A DERBYSHIRE
492
The Living Races of JVlankind
LOWESTOFT SMACKSMAN.
empire. Her manufactures were then in a
state of infancy, if indeed they can be said
to have existed at alL Her principal source
of revenue was the wool which she exported
to Flanders. A writer of the fifteenth century
describes the English as " being seldom
fatigued with hard labour " and leading a
. spiritual and refined life. Indolent and con-
templative, the Englishman of this epoch is
said to have been pre-eminent in urbanity
and totally devoid of domestic affection.
England first began to show a little more
energy when the Flemish manufacturers
transferred their industry to this country,
after it had been ruined in the religious
wars of the Low Countries with Spain.
The discovery of the New World, the adven-
tures of the Elizabethan Age, our long wars
with Holland resulting in our acquisition
of the carrying trade of the world, must
all be taken into account, when we examine
the mental characteristics of the race.
Without these external influences it is prob-
able that the Englishman of to-day would
not ha\e improved upon the prosaic person
he is described to have been by the fifteenth-
century writers. On the other hand, his
Viking ancestors no doubt supplied him with the physical energy to avail himself of the great
ojiportunities which offered themselves. At the beginning of the sixteenth century he seems to
have already developed a trait which is regarded with disfa\'our by his critics and with a certain
amount of complacency by himself. In the year 1500 a Venetian traveller wrote : " The English
are great lovers of themselves and of everything belonging to them. They think that there
are no other men than themselves and no other world but England; and whenever they see
a handsome foreigner, they say that he looks like an Englishman, and it is a great pity he
should not be an Englishman ; and whenever they partake of any delicacy with a foreigner,
they ask him whether such a tiling is made in his country." It would appear from this that
the indefinable trait in the national character which is aptly described as " insularity " is by
no means a recent development. " To see ourselves as others see us " is often wholesome, but
seldom pleasant. However, one great critic who made the English character his special study
speaks in terms of the highest enthusiasm. Ealjih Waldo Emerson, the American writer, has
summed up the race as the best the world has seen. The English love of fair play, common
sense, and practical ability are the features that he singled out for praise. " Pretension and
vapoming are once for all distasteful. They keep to the other extreme of low tone in dress
and manners. They^ avoid pretension and go right to the heart of the thing. They hate
nonsense, sentimentalism, and high-flown expression ; they use a studied plainness. Even
Brummel their fop was marked by the severest simplicity in dress. They pride themselves
on the absence of everything theatrical in the public business, and on conciseness and going
to the point in private affairs. But it is in the deep traits of race that the fortunes of nations
are wi-itten ; and however derived — whether it was a more gifted tribe or mixtm-e of tribes, the
air, or what circumstance, that mixed for them the golden mean of temperament — here exists
the best stock in the world, broad-fronted, broad-bottomed, best for depth, range, and equability,
men of aplomb and reserve, great range and many moods, strong instincts, yet apt for culture ;
Pholo by Lafayctti
A TYPE OP ENGLISH BEAUTY.
494
The Living Races of Manl<ind
war-class as well as clerks ; earls and trades-
men ; wise minority as well as foolish
AN ENGLISH
majority ; abysmal temperament, hiding wells
of wrath, and glooms on which no sunshine
settles; alternated with a common sense
and humanity which hold them fast to every
piece of cheerful duty ; making this tem-
perament a sea to which all storms are
superficial ; a race to which their fortunes
flow, as if they alone had the elastic organi-
sation at once fine and robust enough for
dominion ; as if the burly, inexpressive, now
niute and contumacious, now fierce and sharp-
tongued dragon, which once made the island
light with his fiery breath, had bequeathed
his ferocity to his conqueror." Even in the
national failing of " insularity" Emerson sees
a lilessing in disguise. " But nature makes
nodiing in vain, and the little superfluity
of self-regard in the English brain is one
of the secrets of their power and history.
l"'or it sets every man on being and doing
wliat he really is and can. It takes away
a dodging, skulking, secondary air, and
encourages a frank and manly bearing, so
that each man makes the most of himself,
and loses no opportunity for want of pushing.
A man's personal defects will commonly have with the rest of the world precisely that impor-
tance which they have to himself. If he makes light of them, so will other men."
Wales.
The inhabitants of Wales belong almost wholly to the Cymric branch of the Celtic race. The
Welsh is a distinct nationality, with a language and literature of its own and a population
of 1,519,103. When the Saxon invaders of England drove the Celts inland from the eastern
coasts, the latter entrenched themselves in the wilds of Cornwall and the mountain-fastnesses
of Wales. The Norman conquest of England by no means involved that of Wales, which,
from its natural formation, presented a series of impregnable fortresses to the primitive
weapons of that time. William the Conqueror had to leave the task of its subjugation
uncompleted to his successors. Henry II. and John met with very doubtful success in their
i-epeated efforts to subdue the troublesome province. It was not till the reign of Edward I.
that its independence was finally crushed by the defeat of its Prince, Llewellyn, in 1283, when
the English monarch was aided by the internal dissensions into which the country was thrown.
Edward created his son, who had been bom at Carnarvon, Prince of Wales, and that title has
ever since been borne by the eldest son of our sovereigns.
Physically the Welsh are, on the average, of shorter stature than the other peoples of
the United Kingdom. Dark hair is almost universal with them. These two attributes go far
to prove the assertion that the Cymric Celt intermingled freely with the original Neolithic
inhabitants of these islands.
In their mental characteristics they possess all the liveliness, romance, and eloquence of
the Celtic temperament. The strong sense of nationality by which they have always been
possessed has been kept alive and fostered by their separate language and literature. Prizes
are given at their annual meetings — the Eisteddfods — for original poems and compositions
Scotland
495
which are recited on these occasions. Cymric is the every-day tongue of the people, and many
of them can spealv nothing else. Magazines and newspapers are published in the national
language, and scholars and poets encourage the people to maintain it against the invidious
encroachment of Enghsh. The Welsh are a musical people ; and the harp, on which they
have from time to time iiroduced excellent players, may perhaps be considered their national
instrument.
In costume they possess no particularly striking features, unless it be the quaint form of
tall hat worn by women in country places.
Large numbers of the people belong to the religious body known as Calvinist Methodists,
but the Establishment is a branch of our own Church. Christianity was introduced into Wales
not later than the year 400, though the exact date is unknown. British Christians, driven
from their homes, sought a refuge in the security of this mountainous country, and at once
ided it into ecclesiastical divisions. The four Welsh Sees of St. David, IJandaft, St. Asaph,
1 liaiigor are thus of great antiquity.
Scotland.
The inhabitants of Caledonia, to use the ancient name of this country, may be roughly divided
into Highlanders and Lowlanders, with a joint population of 4,025,647. The former are Celts,
while the latter are Saxons, being for the most part of the same race as the P]nglish on the other
side of the Border. Shetland and Orkney and a great part of the east coast are Scandinavian.
It need hardly be remarked that at the present day a pure Teuton or a pure Celt— or, for that
matter, a pure specimen of any of the great original races of mankind — is practically unknown.
The most that can be stated with certainty is that the various countries of the world have
clearly defined characteristics, which entitle their inhabitants to be regarded as representatives
496 The Living Races of Mankind
of one or other of the great racial stocks, in spite of admixture with other peoples. With
this limitation, the North of Scotland may be described as Celtic ; the South, as Teutonic and
Scandinavian. In physical and mental characteristics the Lowlander has all the attributes of
the stock from which he is descended. He is distinguished for prudence in business transactions,
reserve, thrift, and steadiness. With all his admirable qualities he is, however, less interesting
from the point of view of the ethnologist than his fellow-countryman in the Highlands. Almost
pure specimens of the Gallic type, so far as appearance goes, are to be met with here and
there even at tlie present day. According to ancient writers, the Gauls were tall of stature,
very fair, and red-haired, or at least fair-haired. Red hair is an almost universal character of
the Scotchman of the extreme North, and red- or yellow-haired men form the majority of the
population. At the same time people with dark hair, grey eyes, and dark complexion are
seen even in the most exclusively Gaelic regions. This is to be explained partly by the
absorption of the original Neolithic population, and partly by the intermixture that must of
necessity have taken place with later immigrants. The Highlander has also the mental
characteristics of the Celt, which declare themselves in his romantic temperament, aristocratic
tendencies, and fidelity to the head of his clan. P'amily pride is a pleasing weakness of the
Scottish Celt, and he glories in being able to trace his descent fi om some gi'eat chieftain of
historical or even mythical origin. Brand-new titles and great
wealth unaccompanied by good birth have little or no glamour
for him. On the other hand, he will never cease to reverence
the head of his clan, however involved his finances may become.
In his eyes a laird who cannot afford to live on the land of
liis fathers is a grander person than a mere millionaire. The
pride of clan is fostered to a certain extent by the great annual
i|;itherings which take place in the autumn in diflerent High-
I iiid centres, when bag-pipes, reels, and games all testify to the
strength of national sentiment. Each of the great clans, too
— the Fraser, Stuart, Murray, Gordon, Cameron, and the rest —
has its distinctive tartan. JSIany of the great noblemen wear
the kilt, and their households and dependants follow suit. The
[iresent Duke of Atholl may sometimes be seen on a Sunday
morning marching to church at the head of his retainers, wear-
ing the red tartan of the Murray clan. There is doubtless
*" ' ■ .\^, ",'p '"'°" much that is artificial in these national manifestations. They
are picturesque, however, and serve to keep alive a popular
sentiment which has a strong and real basis. Of late years, we are sorry to say, the influence
of rich Englishmen and Americans has become greater, and there is a grave fear lest the
Highlanders now employed as gillies and mere dependants of rich sportsmen should lose some
of their pristine virtues.
The Gaelic tongue is spoken by about 10 per cent, of the Scottish population, but the
Gaelic-speaking area is diminishing. The spread of English education is gradually ousting
the old language from its place. The Gaelic language has a strong similarity to the Celtic
dialect of the Irish. There are certain differences in the pronunciation, grammar, idioms, and
vocabulary; but in all essential points the language of the Highlanders bears a closer
resemblance to that spoken in Munster and Connaught than Low Dutch to High Dutch.
J'olk-lore, superstitions, and a belief in " second sight " are characteristic of the Scottish
Celt. The people are musical, and rejoice in the possession of many ballads. In the Hebrides,
the islands off the west coast, ancient forms of land tenure are still extant. The crofters of
these islands occupy the land on what is known there as the " run-rig " system. This term
is Gaelic for " common-division." A " constable," elected by the people of the town-land, has
the duty of looking after the whole community. He appoints the parish shejjherds and
herdsmen; he controls the time and the amount of work done by the people; he looks after
Pkoio by the Photochrome Co.]
WELSH WOMAN AT HEK SPINNING-WHEEL.
497
The Living Races of Mankind
the I'diids, and sees that each in-
habitant keeps his part in repair ;
he sees that the flocks and herds
are tended in the common pasture ;
and is, in fact, the chief executive
officer of the township. The crofter
who is chosen for this important
office removes his shoes and stock-
ings, uncovers his head, and, taking
xiine earth in his hand, swears in
I lie presence of Heaven to be faithful
I 'I his trust. There are various modi-
I leaf ions of this primitive system,
luit they are all based on a mode
of hmd tenure — namely, agriculture
III common — which still exists in
Millie parts of Ireland, Wales, and
even England, in the shape of com-
monable rights of pasture, turbary,
and the like. They go back to a
time when the land was regarded,
not as the absolute property of the
cliief of the tribe or clan, but as
giving sustenance to all its members.
Sir Henry Maine, in his work on
ancient law, points out that in a
patriarchally governed society the
eldest son succeeds to the nominal
proprietorship of its property, but
has correlative duties not involved
in the conception of proijrietorship.
Koman jurisprudence, like our own
law, regarded the possession of
property as equivalent to absolute
ownership, and refused to take
notice of the liabilities which it was
formerly supposed to entail.
The Presbyterian is the Estab-
lished Church in Scotland, having
superseded the Episcopal Church in
that position at the Eestoration in H>88. Its members are estimated at about half the
whole population of Scotland. Another important religious body is the Free Church, which
split off from the Establishment in 1843. It is based on the spiritual independence of the
Church, and claims the right of each congregation to elect its own minister. The Episcopal
Church numbers over 44,000 communicants.
Pholo bj, Alex. Iiiffl
iWHAVEN FISHWIFE.
IliELAND.
In 1891 the population of Ireland was returned at 4,704,750. The numbers have been
rapidly decreasing since the year 1845, when they were almost double of what they now are.
Famine and consequent disease, and the great impulse given by stress at home to emigration,
are accountable for the decrease. The inhabitants are in great measure of almost pure Celtic
stock. The Teutonic element is represented by the English and Scottish settlers in Ulster,
Ireland
499
Leinster, and parts of Minister ; but as their introduction is comparatively recent in the history
of nations, and confined to particular localities, they may for the purposes of ethnological
classification be left out. The typical Irishman is a Celt, and jjossesses in a marked degree
the physical and mental qualities of that race. Food, climate, and changed conditions of life
account for the modifications of the racial character, wherever they are found. Many of the
Irish of the present day have the red or yellow hair and tall stature which characterised
the Celt in ancient times. The black hair seen especially in Western Ireland is generally
explained by the persistence of Neolithic blood in the people, who have doubtless absorbed the
pre-existing race. Dr. Brown sums up the average physical characteristics of the Celts. They
are, he says, rather broad-headed, of great cranial capacity, middle-sized, generally vigorous
in constitution, and rather short-sighted, large-chinned, round-faced, with great naso-frontal
depression, fresh-coloured complexion, neck rather short, shoulders and chest broad, auburn
hair, and eyes with grey iris — though these typical eyes are not often seen — and with a dry,
nervous temperament. Many of these attributes are seen in the Irish.
As a race the people are noted for their lively imagination, enthusiasm, and quickness
of intellect. They are warm-hearted, and easily roused to anger, but as easily pacified. Their
worst enemies cannot deny their conspicuous valour on the battle-field. They are wanting in
the capacity for p:itirnt effort and the steady determination of the Teutonic nations. Their
mental qualities make rather for individuality of character than for national greatiiess. Ireland
has had her full sliare in producing men of mark and distinction in all branches of public
life. The question of the capacity of the Irish for self-government has divided English
political parties of recent years. It is claimed, on the one hand, that they are incapable of
sinking private differences in the common cause. On the other, it is urged that the national
sentiment is strong enough to counteract this defect.
The Irish, like the Scottish Celts — and, we might add, in a lesser degree the Welsh
Photo by Valentine d- Sous, L
I.N A SHETLAND CK(
500
The Living Races of Mankind
and tlie Cornish — have spread into
every land, and influenced the people
of every country among whom they
have settled. In America, and
especially in the United States, they
run rivalry with the Teutons from Ger-
many and Scandinavia in supplying
the greatest number of immigrants. As
yet they have not ceased to be a separate
body in the nation, but in time they
will amalgamate with the rest of the
po[>ulation, and thus form a superior
race. To the sturdy good-sense, manly
self-reliance, quiet resolution, natural
aptitude for self-government and
organisation, which characterise the
one, are added the quick intellect, the
vi\id imagination, the warm feelings,
the poetical susceptibilities, and the
genuine refinement of manner which
are rarely acquired by the Teuton,
hut come as a gift of Nature to
the Celt.
In our leading colonies, Canada
aiid Australia esjjecially, the Ii'ishman
has taken his place side by side with
other representatives of the United
Kingdom, and is often found in the
legislature and cabinet. Colonial
premiers have sprung as frequently
from the Celtic as from the Teutonic
/■iiotobi,G. II'. II, [Aba-ueen. stock. That the Irish should do so
AN (HI) SCOT SALT. much better out of their country than
at home is a fact which goes far to
show that the admirable qualities of the race only need favourable conditions in which to
assert themselves.
The L'ish peasant is for the most part unenterprising, improvident, and desirous of taking
life easily. These traits are partly inherent in his tenrperament. Yet it must be remembered
in his defence that until recent years very little has been done to encourage him to cultivate
the soil in a more productive manner. His temperament is serene and cheerful under all
ditficulties. Throughout Ireland a high standard prevails with regard to the treatment of
women, and chastity is a feature of social life of which the Irish may be justly proud.
The Erse tongue, which we have seen to have much in common with the Gaelic of
Scotland, is still spoken by a considerable number of the people. In parts of Connaught,
INIunster, and Donegal in the extreme north-west, as many as 38,000 of the people were unable
to speak English in 1891.
Little is known of the history of Ireland before the fifth century, when it was converted
to Christianity. Irish missionaries founded monasteries in the western islands of Scotland,
fona is a monument of their religious activity during the four succeeding centuries after the
conversion of Ireland. Politically the L-ish Celts of this period seem to have been split up
into tribes, headed by various petty princes, without any common leader. Their want of union
made them an easy prey to the Scandinavian pirates who descended on their shores, and
Photo hy Valentine d- Sons, Lt<
TWO OLD MEN OF SKYK.
502
The Living Races of Mankind
finally to the English. Even so, the conquest
of Ireland, begun in 1170, was not synony-
mous with its pacification, and was not
really completed till the sm-render of Limerick
in 1691. Since the abolition of the national
parliament in 1800, the Irish members are
returned to the Imjierial Parliament at
Westminster.
In his diet the Irish peasant is remark-
ably frugal. Under-feeding is general, and
stirabout, or porridge, with potatoes and
buttermilk, form the chief fare. Tea is drunk
in enormous quantities, and of formidable
strength. The visitor who enters a cabin
in Donegal will generally see a pot of tea
simmering on the smouldering peat fire,
which never goes out, summer or winter,
night or day. Tea is often the only ex-
traxagance which the poorer classes in the
north allow themselves. They pay a very
high i)rice for it, often four-and-sixpence
tlie pound. A good deal of the prevalent
insanity is traced to excessive tea-drinking.
If a young woman's fiance dies, it is
a common practice among the peasantry for
lier to solemnly ''give back her promise."
"We had given one another a /i«?)f/-promise,"
said an old woman, speaking of her dead
lo\ er. •• and I had to go, when he was dead,
an' take him by the right hand, afore
witness, to give back my promise." A belief
in the fairies, once so prevalent, still lingered
on in some parts of the country not long ago.
As an example of this kind of folk-lore, we
may mention here that the country people
used to say that if a man, at his marriage,
unbuttoned one button of the right knee, the fairies could not harm him in any way.
In some parts of Ireland — the "]\Iullet of jMayo," for instance — there is a strange survival,
namely, the wedding dance with a straw mask, and in pails of Leitrim with a straw petticoat.
On this subject the writer consulted the Rev. W. S. Green, an authority on these matters, who
writes from Dublin Castle as follows : " The Wedding iSIasks to which you refer are used by
the 'Strawboys' (or Clagheras) at weddings. A gang of nine visits the home on the evening
of the wedding. The ' captain ' dances with the bride, and the others with the other girls.
They leave in a short time, and another gang arrives. It is unlucky if their identity is
recognised. In the west of this country it is still much in vogue, but dying out in other
parts. I have heard that a similar custom exists in Wexford."
The "wake" is a well-known institution in L-eland. When a death occurs, the relatives
of the deceased abandon themselves to several days of extravagant grief, ending in an equally
extravagant orgie, in which they are joined by their friends.
The Irishman, like the Afridi, loves a fight for its own sake, quite apart houi its cause,
ivhich is often forgotten. In this respect he differs materially fi-om the Latin races, which
treasure up grievances until a fitting opportunity presents itself for revenge.
-IIUdMVV Al IILK SI']
603
504
The Living Races of ManUind
The prevailing religion is Konian Catholic, 75
per cent, of the pojiulation professing that failli.
The Protestant Church of Ireland has over GOO.onn
members. It '»-^is at one time the State Chunli.
but was disestablished and disendowed by an Act
passed in 1869. Another influential religious body
is the Presbyterian Church, which numbers over
444,000 members.
-^
E LsLE Ol' j\IaN.
the I'rilish Isles for America, we
u the .Manxmen, who are partly
\i\al, for they belong mainly
<ion of the race. There is also
a Norwegian element, which has mixed with the
original Celtic stock. The Isle of ]\lan has an area
of 145, o25 acres and a population of 55,598. The
Before leavii
must briefly men
another Celtic :
to the Gaelic d
■*e<
-AXr-OIRL.
■api(.
Pholo br/ lafajietU]
TYPE OF IKlSb liKAOTY.
ianguag(\ win
out of ^^e, i^ similar in many
respects to tiie (i.u'lic spoken in
Scotland and li.'l.nd. Many of
the old Coltic supeistitions still
^ur\i\e, and a belief in the evil
eye may stdl be found in the
more remote parts of the island.
Man has its own legislature,
consisting of a (io\ernor and
Council and the House of Keys.
The two houses are known as the
Tynwald, which is the linea!
descendant of the folk-moot
([leople's parliament) wdiich used
to meet on the Tynwald Hill.
After a Bill has passed the Legis-
lature and recei\ed the Koyal
assent, it does not become law
until it is promulgated in the
English and Manx languages on
the Tynwald Hill.
CHAPTER XXII.
ARCTIC AMERICA AND GREENLAND.
Previous to the great wave of immigration from Eui-ope which set in soon after the Spanish
discovery (for discovery it practically was) and conquest of America, the whole of the inhabited
or habitable portions of the New World and Greenland were populated by aboriginal tribes
more or less distinct from those found in other regions of the globe, and, for the most
part, presenting a remarkable similarity in physical characters to one another. With the
exception of the Eskimo of Greenland and Arctic America, which, as is shown below, are
markedly distinct from the other races of the New World, all these peoples were by the
Spaniards called " Indians " ; and Indians, frequently with the distinctive prefix North or South
American, they have ever since remained. Properly of course they, and they alone, have an
hereditary claim to be designated Americans ; but that title is now assumed by the white
inhabitants of the United States, with whom, as with all other settlers of European descent,
and also the African Negroes imported into many of the countries of the New World, we are
not here concerned.
That by far the greater poition of the aboriginal population of America was derived from
Eastern Asia, and that the migration took place by way of Bering Strait, is now generally
admitted by all capable of forming a trustworthy opinion ; the migration having taken place
at a comparatively remote ejwch, when there was probably still a land connection between the
eastern extremity of Asia and Alaska. Opinions are, however, still divided as to whether the
Eskimo arrived by the same route ; an alternative idea being that their ancestors reached
the present habitat of the race by a presumed land connection between Flurope and Greenland
by way of Iceland. If the
latter be the true view, the
Eskimo must of course have
had a very different origin
from the typical Indians of
North America ; and it has
been sought to trace their
ancestry to the early inhabi-
tants of North-western Eurofie.
Sir William Flower is, how-
ever, very strongly of opinion
that the Eskimo form -'a
branch of the typical North
Asiatic Mongols, who, in their
wanderings northwards and
eastwaiils arniss tlic Aiiiciicaii
t'outiiH-iif, iMilaIrd aliiio>l a>
perffct ly as an islaiiil pujiula-
tion would be, hemmed in on ^
one side by the eternal polar Hiololy O,-. W.T.armfdl, of the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.
ice, and on the other by hostile gbkrnland eskimo in the snow.
5o6
The Living Races of Mankind
tribes of American Indians, with which they rarely, if ever, intermingled, have gradually
developed characters most of which are strongly expressed modifications of those seen in their
allies, who still remain on the western side of Bering Strait." A very similar view is taken
by Baron Nordenskiold, who regards the Chukchis and Koryaks of North-eastern Asia as the
nearest relatives of the Eskimo ; remarking that the Koryak " race, settled on the primeval route
between the Old and New Worlds, bears an unmistakable stamp of the Mongols of Asia and
the Eskimo and Indians of North America." But the Danish investigator Dr. Kink, in regard-
ing Alaska as the original home of the Eskimo, appears decidedly in fa\-our of the western
origin of the race. In this connection it may be mentioned that it is the Eskimo of Greenland
who present the characteristics of the race (especially the long head, whereby they differ from
the round-headed Chukchis and Koryaks) in the most marked degree. And it is quite a
legitimate inference that this long-headed character has been gradually developed the faither
and farther the race departed from its presumed place of origin in the north-eastern pro-
montory of Asia. On the other hand, those who maintain the European derivation of the
Eskimo urge that it is jireci^ely the l(ing-headed confoi-mation of the Greenlanders which lends
such strong support to their views.
This, however, is not the place
in wliich to discuss in detail a
question bristling with difficulties
and perplexities ; and having thus
laid before our readers in an im-
partial manner the leading points
of the two conflicting views, we
pass on to the consideration of the
peoj)le themselves.
The name Eskimo is the
modern Danish form of the older
IVench Esquimaux ; the latter being
derived from Wiyaskimowok (raw-
llesh-eaters), applied to these people
hy their neighbours the Cree Indians.
< )ther forms of the same word occm-
in Abenaki, Ojibwa, and other
Algonquian dialects. In Alaska
PholobyMr. iy.lirn,] irhiU.U.I,./ua. j^,,fj ot]|pj. ^^^^^^ ^f tljgjj. westem
A r..RTy OF (iUKENLAND ESKIMO. habitat the Eskimo call themselves
Innuit (the people) ; the same name
reappearing on the Asiatic side of Bering Strait, where a few Eskimo colonies exist, in the
form of Yu.it. In Greenland Karalit is the native name of the race.
Exclusive of the Koryaks and the Chukchis (Tuskis), who were regarded by some authorities
as an Asiatic branch of the race, the Eskimo have a wider geographical range than any
other aborigines ; their habitat extending, discontinuously, fi-om the eastern shores of Greenland
to Bering Strait — a distance of over 5,000 miles. Northwards they extend to Grinnel-land,
where Lieutenant Greely mentions having found traces of them at Cape Sabine; and similar
evidence of a very northward extension has been met with on the east coast of Greenland.
On the eastern side of America the Eskimo extend as far south as about 50° N. lat.,
in Labrador ; on the shores of Hudson Bay their southerly limits lie between 55° and 60°,
while on the Alaskan side of Bering Strait the latter parallel forms their approximate boundary.
With the exception of two localities on the western side of America, where some Indian tribes
descend to the shore to fish, the Eskimo form the only aboriginal inhabitants throughout this
vast extent of country. The Aleutian Islands, forming the continuation of the south-western
peninsula of Alaska, are inhabited by a somewhat aberrant branch of Eskimo— the Aleuts.
riuilus (.y M. Pierre. Petit]
ESKIMO, WITH TUEIR SLEIGHS AND
507
5o8
The Living Races of Mankind
Apart from the int^ular liabitat of many of the Kskimo, and the complete separation of those
of Greenland from those dwelling on the American mainland, the tribes inhabiting the
continental areas are more or less completely isolated from each other. And this separation
renders the striking general uniformity in the physical characters of the entire race only the
more remarkable. By Dr. Rink the Eskimo have been subdivided into the following sections :
(1) those of East Greenland; (2) those of West Greenland, who, as far as lat. 74° N., are the
subjects of Denmark, and are comparatively civilised ; (3) the Eskimo of Northern Greenland,
who are the most uncultured of all ; (4) the Labrador Eskimo, for the most part fairly
civilised; (5) the Central Eskimo, ranging from Hudson Bay, some 2,000 miles, to beyond the
outlet of the Mackenzie River ; and (6) the Western Eskimo, from Barter Island to the extreme
western limits of Alaska.
s classification was
le I'^skimo were snp-
tnicts situated within
distance (fifty miles
hore, if not on the coast
ubsist entirely by fishing,
xplorations have, however.
At the time when
ina(l(.. the wliole of th
posed to be dwellers in
a comparatively short
or so) of the
itself, and to
Wore recent
brought to light the existence of several
inland tribes, who live by hunting, and,
unlike the coast people, have more or less
intercourse with the Indians, with some of
whom they have indeed almost completely
amalgamated. To this intermingling i>
doubtless due the existence of at least three
types of Eskimo in Alaska.
As regards the present number of the
Eskimo there are no sufficient data on which
to form even an approximate estimate. Some
years ago it was indeed roughly estimated
that the total number did not exceed 50,000 ;
but it is very doubtful if even this can be
regarded as a fair approximation to the real
state of the case. When a census was
made in 1870 of the population of that portion
of West Greenland under the Danish Govern-
ment, the number of Eskimo was recorded " ' "
as 9,588; that of the Europeans being an iskhk. man.
237. The population was then distributed
among 176 different winter stations, of which only one had more than 300 inliabitants ;
while in fifty-eight the number did not exceed five-and-twenty. At that time the entire native
population of Greenland was considered to be not more than about 10,000. Since the Danish
occupation the native population is known to have diminished ; and as some years ago its
numbers appeared to be nearly stationary, it is unlikely there has been any subsequent
increase. In Labrador, where there were six INIoravian missionary settlements at the time of
writing, Dr. Packard states that the number of Eskimo in ISGO was about 1,400. In a letter
to the same writer from London, dated 1887, it is stated that the nunilier of Eskimo on the
strip of coast from Hamilton Inlet to Ungava, in Labrador, was estimated at 1,500. "The
race," says the writer, "is comparatively pure, but there are some half-breeds, for the Hudson
Bay Company's employes and other settlers have married Eskimo women. . . . Thirty years ago
the number under charge of our missionaries was about 1,200, I expect pui-ely Eskimo; now
it is about the same, including settler families " It should be added that in the Danish
Arctic America and Greenland
509
settlements on the west coast of Greenland there are likewise a consideraiile proportion of
half-breeds.
In general appearance and physiognomy, as well as in dress and the mode of doing the
hair, the Eskimo are very like the Chukchis and Koryaks ; so much so, indeed, that a traveller
visiting the Arctic regions for the first time would doubtless experience some difficulty in
clearly distinguishing lid ween them. All, when pure bred, jDossess the long, lank, jet-black
hair distinctive ot iAlongdldid races in general; while the cast of countenance is likewise
distinctly jMongoloid. In stature the Eskimo are decidedly short ; although the appearance of
shortness is somewhat enhanced by the nature of the dress. The late Dr. Robert Brown, in
the article published in the ninth edition of the Encydopcedia Britannica, was indeed
inclined to believe that these people are taller
than is generally supposed to be the case;
stating that the height usually ranged
between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 10
inches, while in rare instances it reached
as much as C feet. This estimate appears,
however, somewhat too high, and may have
been partly based on the measurements of
half-breeds or due to local peculiarities. For
instance, in Science for July 29, 1887, Mr.
W. A. Ashe gives measurements taken from
sixty famiUes (number of individuals not
stated) of Eskimo living at North Bluff, on
Hudson Strait ; the average of these working
out to a mean height of 5 feet 3-9 inches
for the men, and of approximately 5 feet for
the women. On the other hand, Norden-
skiold speaks of the Eskimo of Port Clarence
as of average height. In both sexes the feet
and hands are unusually small; but the
muscular development is strong, although
the men frequently show an early tendency
to put on fat. When cleansed from the
grease and dirt with which it is generally
begrimed, the skin, which has a peculiar oily
feeling to the touch, not unlike that of fat
bacon, is pale ochry brown in colour; a
red tinge frequently showing through it on
the cheeks of the children and younger
women. The latter are always fresh-looking; but after marriage the women disregard
appearances, soon becoming wrinkled, and, from their sedentary habits, bow-legged. In spite
of the broadly oval shape of the flat face, with its fat cheeks, and the ]\Iongoloid obliquity
of the eyes (chiefly due to a pecuHarity in the conformation of the upper eyelid), the
physiognomy of the Eskimo is by no means displeasing, even to the European eye ; — more
especially as the face is always ready to break into a laugh. After early maturity the men,
owing to their active out-of-door life, are, however, decidedly better-looking than the women.
The forehead, which is not high, and also somewhat retreating, is partially concealed by the
hair ; which, in the case of the men, is generally cut off straight across the forehead midway
between the eyes and the crown, although in the females allowed to grow longer and hang
down in irregular wisps. The remainder of the scalp-hair is permitted by both sexes to grow
to its full length, and in the n)en hangs down to the shoulders. In the women this hair may,
however, either be formed into a pair of long plaits hanging down each side of the head, after
AN ESKIMO
5IO
The Living Races of Mankind
the Chukchi fashion, or. as in Greenland, may be gathered up into a large projecting knot at the
back of the head. The latter fashion is well displayed in the bust of a female Eskimo from
Frederikshaab, Greenland, exhibited in the Natmal History Museum at South Kensington ;
the bust of a male placed alongside showing the distinctive features of that sex. In the
Greenland Eskimo the size of the back tuft of hair forms a subject of emulation among the
fair sex ; but the constant strain to which the hair is exjiosed by this method of dressing
causes it to fall ofl" or become thin, especially on the sides of the bead, at a comparatively early
age. As in all members of the Mongoloid stock, the development of hair on the face is
scant ; the men usually displaying only a very slight moustache, no whiskers, and frequently
little or no traces of a beard. In the neighbourhood of Bering Strait Baron Nordenskiold
states, however, that some of the men grew a scanty beard, while a few had attempted the
American " goatee."
As already mentioned, the Eskimo differ from Chukchis and Koryaks by the greater length
and naiTowness of the head ; this feature, and likewise the unusual height of the head,
attaining its greatest development in Greenland. Like all savage races who do not spoil
them by filing or other ill treatment, the Eskimo have excellent teeth, which, however, owing
to the natm-e of their food, are in old age worn down almost or completely to the edges
of the gums.
In regard to tlie lialf-breeds met with on the east coast of Greenland, Ur. Hink writes
as follows : " On first arriving in Greenland, one is surprised at seeing kayak-men with light
hair and perfectly European physiognomy and stature, while as to their language and habits
they are as jjerfectly European. Others again, and indeed the greater part of the half-breeds,
resemble South Eurojjeans. Notwithstanding this intermixture, the Eskimo features are still
by far the most prevalent, exhibited chiefly in a low stature, remarkably small hands and feet,
and a brown complexion."
The Eskimo are by no means long-hved
folk. Dr. Packard states that at the time
he visited the colony at Hopedale the oldest
person was a woman of seventy ; — and she
a picture of ugliness. Three only were of
the age of sixty ; and, generally S23eaking,
a man becomes prematurely old by the
time he is fi\e-and-forty, being at that age
worn out by the hardships of the autumnal
seal-fishing.
Civilisation, too, or what goes for such,
seems to induce an undue mortality, partly
owing to a more indoor life. At Hopedale,
for instance, the population in the summer
of 1864 was about 200; but it was reported
that during the previous March no less than
twenty-four had succumbed to cold. Since
at Okkak twenty-one had died, and the same
number at Nain, over a tenth jiait of the
native population of these stations fell
victims to chest-diseases in the course of a
single montli.
As regards dress, the leading feature is
the great similarity existing between the
costumes of the two sexes ; the women wear-
(,,cniM,oiik MiMiioD.ep ^t, F,ih ,,>an iug trouscrs, and a jacket very similar to
PAIR ot ESKIMO BOYS that of the men. It has been suggested
Arctic America and Greenland
THUEE ESKIMO OHILUKEN.
that this similarity has been brought about by the narrowness of the entrance to the huts,
which would not suffice to admit a woman clad in petticoats of a thickness suitable to
a severe climate. Be this as it may, in the olden days the garments were made entirely
of "shamoyed" skins, such as those of seals, reindeer, polar bear, (l(m. nv Arctic fox, sewn
together with sinew thread. In the Danish settlements in (jreenlaiid it liiis. Iidwever, become
the fashion to furnish the jackets with a cotton covoriiig. whili^ (■(ilniircil materials of
Eurojiean make are likewise used for other garments, cspi'iially in the case of thi' female
sex. Men, too, frequently have their outer dress madr nf (■dllcni talirics. wliicli in summer
may be used also for trousers. Somewhat similar changes ha\'e also been made l;iy the Eskimo
dwelling at the Moravian missionary-stations in Labrador ; many of the women wearing an
old calico skirt over the original dress. Nor is this all, for in the (ireenland settlements
fashion has tended to curtail the length of the jackets of the fcinalcs. ami to discard the
flaps by which they were originally iirolonged both in front and licliind. And as there was
always probably a certain amount of difference in this respect lirtwccn widely sundered tribes,
it will be understood that the following account of the original iv^kinm (lres.s i,s more or
less general.
The outer garment is a jai'ket. u>;nally longer in the case of the women
of the men: it fits tightly to the body, and its only openings ahoxe are tlicis(
and hands. The men's jacket is furnished with a hood, used in cold wcallicr
head. On the other hand, the jacket of the women has a ni
«7»ow<— employed as a cradle for the child; while it has
short; but it is iiiiich longer am.mgllie Laliiador Kskiiiio ]■,
reached the .nouncl. The trousers, wliicli inav he either titrht-li
n in tliat
the head
covei- the
lio,,d— tlie
dent Haji,
1-1 V alnH>st
The Living Races of Manl<ind
winter an Eskimo used t
bad the fur inside, while
Gi-eenland fur jackets witl
^f tl
th.
he wiiiiien reach only
he knees or a little
iw. are attached to
neatly made boots of seal-
skin ; these latter being
so well suited to the
climate that they are
adopted by nearly all
Europeans who visit the
E^kini.. Th, tiouMi.
of the \\c)nun nin Ik
(It ((lilted \Mtli the ntck-
-Ivui (if the eidei du(_k oi
with tiimmmtjs of em-
Inn, hud 1( ithd whil.
Wmim (iieenlaud aie yeneialh
SlHi d}ed of \aiiou-i colouis.
' leach abo\e the knees,
where they are sometimes
cut very wide. During
alidve description, one of whicli
anls. In the south of Danish
(inling to Dr. Kink. Ion-- since
e the}' are also made of greater
provided with two
he other it was turned
hairy side (lutwards ha\(
disappeared, although they are still retained in the north,
length. In addition to the above-mentioned garments, the Eskimo sometimes wear vests or
shirts made of the skin and down of sea-birds, as well as socks made of reindeer-fawn leather.
Occasionally, too, jackets ai-e made of bird-skins, with the feathers outside ; the British Museum
possessing a beautiful specimen from Port Clarence, Alaska, the material of which appears to
be chiefly the wonderfully soft and warm breast-skin of the eider-duck. In this neighbourhood
Baron Nordenskiold describes many of the natives as wearing European clothes ; while others
were clad in trousers of seal- or reindeer-skin, and a light, soft, often beautifully ornamented
pesk of suslik*-skin : an (i\ercoat made of pieces of gut sewn together being frequently worn
over the latter in rainy weather. In all respects .the Eskimo are neat workers, and their
clothes form no exception to this rule. Formerly the sewing was always done with the afore-
said sinew thread and a bone needle, but a steel implement now frequently replaces the latter.
Except in the middle of summer, the boots require to be changed whenexer they are
wetted, else tlun' Would freeze as lianl as a Iward. Among the ]i(i(irer classes hi Daiiisli
(IreeiilaiKl. who appear to he anioiigst the nwst wretched of tlie whole race, this precaut ion
is, however, by no means always taken. These jieojile, indeed, serve to show the extreme
hardihood of the Eskimo, and their indifference to intense cold, even when insuflKciently
clad. Dr. Eink, for instance, writes of them as follows: "How far they surpass the European
in hardiness and endm-ance is more clearly to be seen at the poorer stations when tlie winter
is imusually severe, even in the opinion of the natives. Persons may be seen dresxd hkhc
like poor people in Southern Europe than Eskimo, riiildren are seen in rags which searcely
cover their nakedness; their boots being frozen (piite hard and stiff, dii account of not being
taken ofl' for several weeks."
As might be expiected, the Eskimo are by no means remarkable for their attention to
personal cleanliness, having an inbred horror of water as a cleansing agent. It is staled.
hers befor
however, that the babies are sometimes licked clean by their
beint
lilt t(
ito the bai
of feathers which serves alike for mattress and blankets
* Commonly miscalled marmot.
As
nits
Arctic America and Greenland
513
and persMial adoinmeiit. the women, as in the neighbourhood of Port Clarence, niav have a
few lines of tattooing on the chin. The Aleuts and some of the true Eskimo, to the southward
of the ^Mackenzie Kixer. insert a large disk of bone or other substance into the lower lijj, after
the fashion of their southerly neighbours, the Thlinkit Indians, from whom the custom was
probably derived. Dr. Dall has, however, remarkt-il tliat no hunter exposed to the icy hla>ts
and cold winter of the northern districts of the Mskiiuo liabitat could have possiblv tolnatcd
such an ornament; since it would have rendered the strip of flesh above the incision lialjle to
freeze, while it would have been an intolerable annoyance in other respects. Accordingly, we
find in the more northern districts two small disks, one situated at each corner of the mouth
on tlie line of the lower lip, replacing the large central Aleut plate. The holes in the lip
among the Port Clarence Eskimo are about a quarter of an inch in length ■ and the labrets
consist of large pieces of bone, glass, or stone. " These ornaments," writes Baron Noi-denskiold,
•• were often removed, and then the edges of the large holes closed so much that the face was
■''..not greatly disfigured. ."Many had in addition a similar hole forward in the lij:). It struck
me, however, that this strange custom was about to disappear completely, or at least to l)e
Europeanised by the exchange of holes in the ears for holes in the mouth. An almost
full-grown young woman had a large blue glass
bead hanging from the nose, in whose partition
a hole had been made for its suspension ; but she
was very much embarrassed, and hid her head in a
fold of her mother's peslc, -when this piece of grandeur
attracted general attention. All the women had
long strings of beads in the ears. They wore
bracelets of iron or copper, resembling those of the
Chukchis."
The coast Eskimo, who ha\e been longest
known to Europeans, are both hunters and fisher-
men, obtaining the gi'eater amount of their food-
supply from the sea, and subsisting almost entirely
on animal substances. Indeed, with the exception of
a few roots, seaweed, and berries, the Eskimo in their
original savage state used practically no vegetable
food at all. In Danish Greenland, however, a certain
amount of imported vegetable food, such as breath
barley, and peas, is consumed by the natives. And
Dr. Eink estimates the average daily consumption
of food per head in these settlements to comprise
2 lbs. of flesh and blubber, H lb. of fish, together
with a certain amount of shell-fish, berries, seaweed,
and other indigenous vegetables, to which must be
added about 2 ozs. of imported food. If this
allowance was constant throughout the year, it
would doubtless be amply sufficient ; but in the
winter supplies are only too apt to run short, and
it is a mistake to suppose that every indixidual
obtains anything like this quantity daily throughout
the year. When, however, food is to be had in
abundance, an Eskimo has not the slightest hesita-
tion in consuming at least 10 lbs. of meat and fat
at a single sitting. Frozen flesh is usually devoured
raw, but fresh meat is sometimes boiled. Blood.
as well as the half-digested nutriment taken from
G5
..\XD ESKIMO GRA>
The Living Races of Manl<ind
IParu
ESKIMO BELLE.
the r-tdiuacli (.)f the reindeer, likewise form items in
the menu. It is a common belief that blubber
constitutes an important article of diet ; but this
is a mistake, as the substance in question is far
too valuable to be thus disposed of, having to be
stored up for use as fuel and lamp-oil dm-ing the
dreary winter.
Vn tlie other hand, the natives of the interior
of Alaska, such as the Xushegagmuts of the
Nushegak Basin, who are in constant communica-
tion with the Athabascan Indian tribes, are to a
great extent hunters of land L;ani('. although they
also capture fresh-water fish. 'IIh-,' inland Eskimo
sliow in many districts unnn>takalil(' signs of crossing
with their Athabascan neighbours; and Dr. Rink
has been enabled to divide the Alaskan representa-
tives of the race into the following tbree sections.
Firstly, we have the tall, cadaverous-looking inhabi-
tants of Kotzebue Sound, who have always a hungry
appearance, and whose food includes fish, ptarmigan,
and susliks. In marked contrast to these are the
tall and well-built Nualoks of the inland high-
gi'ounds, who live on the flesh of the reindeer, the
Alaskan big-hom sheep, and various birds, supjjle-
mented to a certain extent by fish. Lastly, there
are the short, stumjiy Eskimo of the Arctic coast,
who probably represent the jnu-e-bred race, whose food consists of whale, seal, and reindeer
meat. In Greenland the musk-ox is largely hunted.
In the com-se of the preceding paragi-aphs most of the animals which afford the food-supply
of these hardy peojile have been already mentioned. It may be added that, while occasionally
they feast on the stranded carcase of a right-whale, a rorqual, or a hump-backed whale (locally
known as kepokak), their more usual cetacean prey comprises the white whale or beluga,
conspicuous fi-om its glistening cream-coloured hide, and the narwhal, both of which are
harpooned from the kayak, or canoe. In addition to these they take several species of true
seal, such as the Greenland, or harji-seal ; while in the neighbourhood of Bering Strait they
come in contact with the eared seals, or sea-bears and sea-lions, the slaughter of which is,
however, placed under stringent restrictions at the present day. Whale-skin (inatak) forms a
favourite article of diet.
Of all Es!:imo inventions, the aforesaid kayak is perhaps the most peculiar and
characteristic, and is absolutely essential to the very existence of the shore-dwelling tribes.
Although differing locally to a certain extent in botli size and construction, it is to be met
with from Bering Sea to East Greenland, but only attains its highest development in the
latter country. It may be described as a shuttle-shaped canoe, covered with hahdess seal-skin
tightly stretched over a framework of wood or whalebone, or both.* The kayak is decked
over, after the manner of a Rob-Roy canoe, leaving only a space sufficient to admit the body
of the kayaker, who, when settled in his frail ci-aft, closes the interval between himself and
the deck- cover so tightly, that the whole concern may tmrn over without admitting any water
to the interior. One of these canoes in Greenland measures about 18 feet in length by 2 feet
in breadth ; and since its weight is not more than half a hundredweight, a man on landing
can take it in one hand and carry it up the beach with ease. In addition to the occu2>ant,
* The Britisb Museum has two kayaks of which the framework is of wood lashed together with whalebone, which
is employed like leather thong. The frame is, however, said to be often made of whalebone alone.
DISTRIBUTION OK ESKIMO AND NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
The Living Races of Mankind
ESKIMO YOUTH.
one of the^e canoes will carry a load of about 200 lbs.
In Greenland the kayak may have its framework
constructed of whalebone ; but in Labrador the
material is spruce. In consequence of this difference
the Labrador \essel is of broader and clumsier build,
although at the same time more stable. The kayaker
propels his canoe with a double-bladed paddle, the
ends of which are tipped with bone. To withstand
the icy sea a special waterproof dress is necessary for
kayakmg ; this consisting of a jacket made of gut
or skin, and furnished with mittens, so that only
the face of the wearer is exposed to the elements.
During still weather or in sheltei-ed bays a half-
jacket alone is often worn ; this sufficing to protect
rhe occupant as far as the arm-pits when a wave
dashes over his vessel.
Although steel or iron has in recent years largely
tended to supi)lant the use of bone or chipped stone
for sjieav- and harpoon-heads, it is pi-obable that in
most parts of Eskimoland the former were the
original materials. Beautiful specimens of such stone
and bone lance-heads, as well as those made of iron,
are to be seen in the ethnological galleries of the
British ^luseum ; and it is with such weapons that
the kayaker kills his prey. Both in the case of
the harpoon and the lance the head is detachable
pull, so as to remain fixed only to the line or cord with which it is
provided. In the case of the lance the other end of the cord is attached to the shaft, so as
to form a kind of hinge. But iu the large harpoons the shaft becomes completely freed, so
that the head is attached only to the line, the other end of which terminates iu a large
inflated bladder. This bladder marks the com-se of tlie whale or seal, and enables the kayaker
to follow and dispatch his prey by lance-thrusts.
But the kayak is by no means the only vessel which the ingenuity of these adventurous
people has succeeded in devising, as there is also the much stouter and more capacious umiak.
or women's boat, largely emploj-ed in the movement of the tribes from one hunting or fishing
station to another. These, which are also covered with skin, are perfectly flat-bottomed, and
vary from 25 to 37 feet in length, with a lieam of about 5 and a depth of 2A feet. In
Greenland the larger vessels w'ill carry a load of about 3 tons, while the much more numerous
smaller kinds will take only about half that weight. Since the framework and thwarts alone
are of wood, even the larger umiaks can be transported o\erland without much difficulty by
a party of eight or ten men. The flexibility of these boats enables them to withstand the
shock of the w-aves remarkably well, although their owners are careful to avoid subjecting them
to such .strains as much as possible. Although liable to be cut through at once by the
sharp edges of floating ice, the natives are such adepts in steering that they will take the
umiaks across arms of the sea in which scarcely anv- large spaces of open water are visible.
When in use, the skin on the bottom of the umiak becomes almost transparent, thus
2)ermitting the motion of the water to be seen by the occupants. Although in tlie south the
skin covering requires an annual renewal, in the north of Greenland it will last for at least
a couple of years.
Mention has akeady been made of harpoons and lances ; it mu^t be added that the heads
of ordinary-sized si^ecimens of the latter, when made of the usual black stone, are about
3 inches in length, and have beautifully chipped edges. In using the harpoon, the kayaker
bv the first sidewf
Arctic America and Greenland
517
is providi^d witli ,1 '• tlirnwpv." ficnn wln'cli tlic \v(';i|
end of the line lu^inu- ,liM.,iua-vd at tl„. same 111
cai)tured is a|.pr..aclird within aliout li.) feet. \V
drawing out the cdilcd-uii line with li^;lit niiit,' spcci
no hope of «iving Lis life. If, however, all goes '
womided animal; and, following this, the kayakc
lance from the " thrower." This operation is gen
is ihscharged ; tiie bladder at the other
■nt. Usually the seal or whale to be
struck, the animal immediately dives,
-lididd till' line become fouled with the
. till- paiiilliT is capsized, with little or
. thr bladder indicates the track of the
iliHii within striking distance, hurls his
Iv repeated several times, the lance on
li,..
ig-k
becoming disengaged and floating on the water; tinally, when the victim has
iglily exhausted, it is approached and dispatched with the short stabbing-spear
Othi'r weapons are the bird-spears, which also liave a bladder atfaelierl. and are likewise
provided with additional points along the sides, which often jirove effectual should the head
happen to miss. There is also a small but effectual bow; the stone arrow-heads for which
are niaiiiifaetiued by taps from a hammer made of the hard, jade-like stone known as nephrite.
A'ery iiofeWDithy is the existence of a throwing-string, made of a number of sinews weiglited
with wahus-i\(iry kiiiilis ; when these strike the bird at which they are hurled, they wind theni-
sel\c> round its legs in the same fashion as the bolus of the Indians of the Parapa'^. Chipped
flint scrapers, mounted in ivory or wooden handles, are used by the Eskimo for cleaning and
dressing skins; and they have likewise stone chisels. For catching salmon and other fish
they use a kind of spinning-tackle, made in the shape of a beetle; they also make double
or trelile 1 ks. with ]ioints of either Ikiiic or wire, as well as a b.me sinker, with tisli-
hooks. A lishing-rod. with a line and float, is likewise employed; luit to describe this and
many other instruments in detail would far exceed the linuts of our sjiace. To protect their
eyes from the glare of the snow in summer, the Eskimo employ wooden spectacles, or goggles,
which are fastened to the head of the wearer by means of finely plaited thongs of sinew.
I5asin->liape(l lamj.s of soa].stoiie. famished with
wieks of moss, ami h-il by a supply nf whale- or
seal-hhihliei. ale imli-pen-alile articles in an Eskimo
hdusehdld ; withdiu whieh. indeed, life would be
absdlutely imiMis-ihle in f luve dreary regions," as they
supply both light and heat. The age of these lamps
must date from a very remote epoch, and must
ajiparently have originated in more southern lands ;
since, it has been very justly argued, without their
aid the Eskimo could never by any possibility have
reached his present home.
But Eskimo ingenuity is by no means restricted
to the production of purely utilitarian articles, these
people also displaying remarkable skill in carving
ornaments in bone and ivory. The favourite designs
are the heads of animals, although at times the
whole body may be portrayed ; and not only are
these designs notable on account of their fidelity to
nature, but likewise from the beauty and finisli of
their execution. Such articles may be inspected
in great numbers and variety by the visitor to the
etlmological galleries in the British Museum ; and
a few of the more striking types are depicted in a
plate in Baron Nordenskiold's "Voyage of the Vegti."
Among these are the buttons or clasps attached to
their carrying-straps, which are carved in walrus-
The Living Races of Mankind
i\oi\ to ie{ie--ent the heuK oi join beiis md ^eiK Otliei c iumii^ stiips (wliaLi b\ the way,
lie mxde of hide -with \ loop it one end thiough which the button at the othei is passed)
ha\e the button oi handle mxde in the foim of an entiie '.eal Iheie are also caived ivoiy
tiaias. 01 coionets, lepiesenting the heads of animals, for the ladies ; as well as combs of the
same material. The glass and ivory buttons inserted into the lips have been already mentioned.
Nowadays most of the coast Eskimo manage to secure a supply of matches (as many of them
also do of European fire-arms), but formerl\' light was obtained by means of pyrites and flint,
or by the fire-drill", the bow of the latter being frequently made of walrus-ivory, richly
ornamented with figures of various kinds.
Hitherto no mention has been made of the well-known Eskimo dogs and the sledges they
draw ; but, in Greenland at any rate, these form a most important element in Eskimo life.
The dogs are handsome, albeit decidedly wolfish-looking creatures, brutally treated by their
masters, and generally subsisting on the refuse and offal of the encampments. The runners of
the sledge are made of a pair of boards about 6 feet in length, held together by cross-bars
forming the seats ; the structure being completed by two upright poles at the hinder end,
used to mount by, and also to steer the sledge on occasions when the driver is following on
foot. Elasticity, and consequent fi-eedom from liability to destruction by bumping against
rocks or hummocks, is afforded by the whole structure being bound together with thongs of
reindeer-hide. For the material to build his sledge the Eskimo is indebted to the sea ; large
cjuantities of drift-wood being cast up on the shores of the countries inhabited by the race.
Eight dogs will draw a load of about 500 lbs., at a pace averaging fom- or five miles an hour ;
but on perfectly smooth ice as much as sLxteen miles an hour may be covered by a team in
good condition.
As regards dwelling-places, the Eskimo enjoy the luxury of having summer habitations
totally different, both in position and in structure, from those of winter. Tlie change is,
however, not so much a matter of luxury as of urgent necessity ; the summer thaw rendering the
F,0M Frinee Itol,
520
The Living Races of Mankind
filth and refuse accumulated during winter absolutely insupportable when melted. Moreo\er,
the necessity of fishing and hunting renders an easily movable dwelling-place most important
am-ing the summer and autumn. Although in certain parts of Eskimolaud huts built of snow,
with sheets of ice for windows, are not uncommonly constructed for winter use, in Greenland
these are known only by tradition, and a more jjermanent kind of building is in vogue. The
winter huts, or ighis, of the Greenlanders are partially subterranean structm-es, wretched
enough according to European ideas, but by no means ill-adapted to the natiu-e of the climate
and the simple wants of their owners. •• ( )n account of their being formed of stones
alternating with sods," writes Dr. Rink, ••tlit' walls are liable to subside; but then the roof,
consisting of turf spread over driftwcKxl. will fullow them, and the whole, being cemented
together by moisture and frost, will be perfectly impenetrable by wind. The windows', made
out of seal-entrail, only admit a scanty portion of daylight ; but during the greater part of
the winter-time the sun is absent, and when the days are lengthening daytime is mostly
passed in the open air. The dweUing-room of the original houses had no chimney or fire-
place at all, but the lamps served at once for lighting, heating, and cooking. A small kitchen
is sometimes found as a side-room close by the door. Ventilation is afibrded chiefly by the
long and narrow doorway which aflbrds the entrance to the house. On first entering, one has
to descend, while at the farther end a step upwards at once leads into the room itself. . . .
By properly adapting the length and width of the house-jjassage the necessary ventilation is
afforded, there having been scarcely any door at all in the house, only a loose skin curtain
being occasionally used to close the entrance. A vent-hole was made in the roof; and the
enormous difference between the temperature outside and inside explains how so little as
Arctic America and Greenland
100 cubic feet of space per inmate
could suffice. In the only room in
the house a bench or ledge runs
along the wall opposite to the win-
dows, and is divided by the help of
low screens into separate stalls or
recesses for the families. The walls
are hung with skins, and the floor
is jDaved with flat stones." To this
excellent account it should be added
that from the roof is suspended the
lamp; while on suitable supports
from the same are hung the spare
harpoons, lances, etc. The heat of
the interior prevents water freezing ;
and the centre of the floor is con-
sequently in most cases occupied by
a more or less dirty and offensive
pool. In the Danish settlements
in Greenland, as well as in parts of
Labrador, houses of a much sujierior
description to the above are now
frequently erected ; but as these are
of Euro^iean origin, they require no
detailed mention in this place.
Generally the dogs are allowed to
shelter themselves in the entrance-
tunnel ; but sometimes even this
protection is denied them, and they
are compelled to brave the terrors of
an Arctic winter night.
It has been incidentally men-
tioned that an Eskimo house in Green-
land is the abode of two or more families ; but this is a custom confined to that country, other
Eskimo having a house for each family. Throughout the greater part of Eskimoland public
buildings of any description are totally unknown ; but council-chambers have been said to exist
in Labrador. "U'ith the return of the sun the winter-huts are everywhere discarded for the skin-
tents in which the summer and autumn months are passed. These tents are single-poled, and
of the familiar bell-shape ; but a very large open space is left at the entrance, which is framed
with wood, upon which the covering is stretched. The cover is double, and formed of seal-skins,
neatly sewn together. To exclude draughts and wet, the lower edge of the tent is affixed to
a raised ring of stones and turf. A curtain made of seal-gut closes the entrance to the tent ;
this material being sufficiently translucent to afford a good .=ui)ply of light to the inmates.
A firejjlace is constructed out side
The following suiiiiiiary of the yearly life of the Labrador Eskimo is taken from an
account given by a Moravian missionary. From May till December the various families are
scattered along the coasts at their fishing-stations. When the men return in INIay from
reindeer-hunting, they proceed to the islands near the shore for sealing; and here they
remain till the end of June, when the coast ice has melted. Going back in their kayaks to
their winter-quaiiers, the men then bring up their larger boats (now often sailing-vessels), in
which they take their families for trout-fishing np the rivers ; after which follows the great
harvest of the cod-fishery. In autumn reindeer-hunting is resumed, while from November till
niaparte's ColUcttoa.
AMERICAN BRAVE.
522
The Living Races of Manl<ind
Christmas is the period ot the autumnal seal-fishery. At this time the men eudearour to
capture the seals in their kayaks by driving through the thin ice, or to take them in nets.
So soon as the bays and straits become blocked with ice, net-sealing is of course impossible ;
and the Eskimo then turn their attention to those seals which have been shut up in the
bavs. By Christmas they are once more settled in their winter-houses, and it is at this time
of the year that the missionaries obtain mo?t access to these people.
Sealing from the kayak has been aheady mentioned as fully as space permits, but no
reference has yet been made to sealing on the ice. When the sea in autumn is frozen over
during calm weather, the surface of the ice becomes quite smooth and unbroken, so that the
seals below are quite cut ofl' from the
air. Consequently each seal has to
keep open a small breathing-hole, the
edges of which are gradually raised,
while the surrounding ice is kept thin
and assumes the form of an inverted
bowl. Approaching the hole in boots
with the hairy side outwards, the
hunter has to steal up and stab his
victim before it has time to become
alarmed. This mode of capture is
however, only practicable in autumn
on the rare occasions when perfectly
smooth ice is formed ; and in winter
sealing involves a weary waiting
{maupok) in intense cold at the larger
permanent breathing-places. The seal
being certain to hear the least noise,
the only plan is to take up a position
at the hole, and there, it may be in
a temperature of 20° below zero, await
in perfect stillness its rising, which
mav not occur for hours.
In regard to their general character
most tra\ellers who have \'isited them
speak fairly well of the Eskimo. It
is true that they have been charged
with a jironeness to lie and thieve;
but such accusations Dr. Rink considers
to be ill-founded, at any rate in Green-
land. In Alaska Baron NordenskioM
describes them, after the disappearance
of the first mistrust, as friendly and
accommodating, honourable in their
dealings, although given to begging and to much haggling in making a bargain. The position
of the women aj^peared in nowise inferior to that of the men ; and the children, in spite of
having no bringing-up at all, would be described as well brought-up. The liking for spirits
seemed less strong than among the Chukchis. In this pailicular instance all the natives seen were
heathen, but in Labrador they have been to a great extent civiUsed and Chi-istianised, and the
majority are able to read, write, and cypher. Although their memory is remarkably good, ii
is in the latter accomplishment that they display the least readiness and proficiency. Their
love of music is very marked ; and in many of the Mora\-ian stations in Labrador the harmonium
or organ is played by a native, while the singing is rendered by an Eskimo choir. As mighi
524
The Living Races of Mankind
have been expected from their cleverness in carving, they readily learn drawing, as well
as map-making. Their sense of the ludicrous and comic is very highly developed, so that
they are prone to mimic personal peculiarities, as they are to imitate foreign customs and
amu-ements, such as dances or games. Gambling, however, though carried on to a small
extent, cannot be de^cribed as an Eskimo vice. When Nordensldold arrived at Port Clarence,
a number of Eskimo came on board prepared to sell or barter their property. "Anxious
to procure as abundant material as possible for instituting a comparison between the house-
hold articles of the Eskimo and the Chukchis," writes the Baron, "I examined carefully
the skin bags which the natives had with them. In doing so, I picked out one thing after
the other, while they did not object to my making an inventory. One of them, however,
showed great unwillingness to allow me to get to the bottom of the sack, but this just
made me the more curious to ascertain what precious thing was concealed there. I was
urgent, and went through the bag half with violence, until at last, in the bottom, I got
a solution of the riddle — a loaded revolver ! " In Greenland, at any rate, when the
Eskimo offer an article for sale, they leave it to the purchaser to fix the price ; and they
also show a marked aver^ion to bind themselves by a written contract.
Although decorous and
decent when in public, the
morality of Eskimo in private
life is not of a high order;
and in this res2:iect the women
are said to be considerably
worse than the men. It is,
however, satisfactory to learn
that in this and several other
respects contact with civilised
people appears to have led
to the improvement of the
native.
Xo Eskimo possesses a
large amount of personal
property ; habit and the
necessities of their mode of
life compelling those who
possess food to share it with
those who are destitute. This
custom has conduced to the
general stagnation of the
race and the improvidence
by which it is characterised.
From these and other indica-
tions many travellers have
been led to conclude that
perfect individual equality
prevailed, and that there
were no such things as grades
in rank or chiefs. Later
researches have shown, how-
ever, that, in some districts
at any rate, this is a mistake ;
KoiandBonupc^rusciucu.n. Dr. Rink remarking that
xoRTH AMERICAN INDIAN (PROFILE). " each larger houschold com-
Arctic America and Greenland
525
prising several families has a chief as
conscientiously venerated and obe^'ed
as are heads of communities or magis-
trates elsewhere."
Like other native American
languages, the Eskimo tongue is of
what is termed the jiolysvnilu-l ic
type, and preserves an i^xhadidiuarv
uniformity of iDronuncialiim and
structure throughout the habitat of
the race. Judging from the follow-
ing sample quoted by Dr. Eink, it
does not appear by any means a
desirable language to learn or to use :
" Suerukame — autdlasassoq — tusara-
miuk — tuningingmago — iluaringilat "
= " They did not approve that he
(a) had omitted to give him (/;)
something, as he (a) heard that he
(b) was going to depart on account
of being destitute of everything."
Happily such appalling words are
not in every-day use, but still they
may and do occur. A considerable
amount of literatui'e has been printed
in their own language for the Eskimo
of both Greenland and Labrador ;
and two Eskimo have distinguished
themselves as authors.
In comparison with the natises of
other parts of America, the Eskimo
have few customs and ceremonies in connection with birth, marriage, and death. Indeed, in
their original primitive condition birth and early childhood seem to have had no special
ceremonies connected with them, although at the mission -stations the christening of a child
is now generally followed by a party, while birthdays are likewise ol:)served as occasions of
rejoicing. Carnival meetings are also held to congratulate the boys on the cajitm-e of their
first seal or other large game.
In regard to marriage the bride was always taken by force from her father's family in
the old days ; but as Christianity spread this custom passed more and more into disuse, until
it is now completely abandoned in all districts where civilisation has been introduced.
Generally the marriages are now negotiated by the priests in the settled districts of Greenland,
the suitor naming his sweetheart to his own jjriest. It appears to be the etiquette for the
prosjjective bride to pretend comjalete indifference to the offer of her suitor, and she generally
accepts him only under the plea of conforming to the wishes of her si^iritual adviser.
Naturally such a practice has put considerable power in the hands of the priesthood, but it
is seldom that this power is abused. At all the missionary-stations marriages are now
solemnised according to the rites of the Christian Church ; and there are no nuptial festivals
of jjurely native origin to chronicle.
Neither is there much to be said with regard to burial and funeral ceremonies. In the
old days the bodies of deceased members of a tribe were carefully buried on the summits of
low hills beneath stone-heaps of considerable size. Mr. Holme, who discovered about seventy
old Eskimo sepulchres on Eskimo Island, twelve miles west of Eigolet, in Labrador, describes
From Prince Roland Bnaapai it i ColUition.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN (FULL-FACE), WITH PIP
526
The Living Races of Mankind
tbem as follows : " These gi-aves were much in the oixlinary Eskimo custom, not being under-
ground, although the soil was by no means deficient, but consisting of rough unliewn blocks
of stone heaped together in an oblong form ; the inside measurements being 2 feet by lA foot.
JMany of them had been disturbed by bears or wolves, but in most of them a skull and bones
were lying." Dr. Packard, too, speaks of finding at Hopedale, Labrador, in 1864, two ancient
Eskimo tombs on the summit of a bare hill. The skeletons lay in what appeared to be a
natural fissure in the rock, covered over with a few slabs of stone ; the site of the graves being
indicated by a vertical pole inserted into the fissure.
The missionaries seem to have regarded this
ancient mode of sepulture as savouring of paganism,
.>^'"'' and accordingly took effectual measures to ensure its
aljolition. The new method of burial seems, however,
to lie by no means an improvement on the old plan.
The soil being rocky and frozen, interments after the
European custom are, especially in winter, very diffi-
cult to carr}' out in a proper manner; the consequence
lieing that the burial-grounds are fre(|uently in an
extremely unsatisfactory condition. Bofun' lnuial the
bodies are either sewn up in skins or placed in rude
wooden coffins; after which they are merely cmrrcd
over, frequently in an imperfect manner, with sods
and stones. Originally it was the custom after a
death for the members of the family to abstain for
a period from labour of all kind, and at the same
time to neglect their hair and dress. It was likewise
a universal custom to avoid using the tools or weapons
of the deceased, and also to refrain from wearing his
or lier clothes. The former customs are still more
or less observed in Greenland, or at any rate were
so a few years ago ; but in regard to the latter the
imported institution of a sale by auction is considered
to break the spell.
Like their language, the primitive religion of the
Eskimo exhibited a remarkable uniformity through-
out the entire area inhabited by them. The leading
idea is the government of the whole world by super-
natural beings termed inuas, or owners. Apparently
the soul was regarded as the inua of the body. The
general scheme of the Eskimo religion and cosmogony
has been tersely summarised by the late Dr. E. Brown
" '"""j^E^pi^p'ggss " " as follows: "The earth and the sea rest on pillars,
and cover an under-world accessible by various
mountain-clefts, or by various entrances from the sea. The sky is the floor of an upper-
world, to which some go after death ; while others — good or bad — have their futme home in
the under-world. Here are the dwellings of the arsissut, the people who live in abundance.
This upper one, on the contrary, is cold and hungry; here live the arssartut, or ball-players,
so called from their playing at hall with a walrus-head, which gives rise to the aurora
borealis. The mediums between the inua and mankind are the avrjakuks, or wizards, who
possess the peculiar gift of angakunek — or the state of ' being angakok ' — which they have
acquired by the aid of guardian spirits called tornak. who again are ruled by turnasid;
the suj)reme deity or devil of all." A kind of witchcraft, termed kusiunek or ?lisinfk, is
believed to be the cause of sudden sickness or death.
F,-o„i Prince RolaadBonaparlcs ColUcUon.
A UAKOTA-SIOUAN CHIEF, THIRTY KIGHT YEARS OF AfJE WITH PIPE-TOMAHAWK
527
52i
The Living Races of Mankind
The inferior beings of
this theocracy are far too
numerous for mention in this
place ; but it may be observed
that divine rewards and
punishments are considered
to be meted out to a gi-eat
extent in the present ; the
conception of the scheme of
future prizes and penalties
lieing but very imperfectly
grasped. Under the influ-
ence of Christianity all their
old-world beliefs are, of
course, rapidly passing into
oblivion, although some of
the names have been crystal-
lised by the missionaries
transferring them to the
Fiiblical powers of good and
evil.
Formerly the Eskiuiu of
Greenland, as well as those
of other countries, had their
own national songs and
dances, which were used at
fi'stivals ; but these, too, have
lieen for the most part re-
placed by Em-opean substi-
& fl^HIITf HM^ — ^jpi f^WT^I^lBV^^B tutes. From old sketches it
1 hI^mUh It '* ^ JK^tSmW^^^ appears that at these festivals
I t^^K^Kui im^ti ' ^ ^^■H^^H group was formed, in the
t^- — ■HHHHI.^HHh&^i^ 1 "j^^HBBE centre of which stood the
chief performer, who sang to
the accompaniment of a
drum, gesticulating and
dancing simultaneously. On some occasions the song was intended merely for the amusement
of the company, who probably moved round in a circle singing the refrain. On other occa-
sions a satirical or "nith-song" was chanted against a second performer, who was upbraided
for neglecting the kayak-hunt, or some other pursuit.
Of other customs only a brief reference can be made to a few. Formerly the customary
salutation when two people met was by rubbing noses together; but in the Greenland
settlements, except to caress children, this practice has been entirely abandoned, and there is
now no national mode of salutation. Generally when a guest arrives at or leaves a house nothing
whatever is said, although occasionally the salutation imivdluaritze (live well) may be pronounced ;
while a European may be warned not to knock his head against the doorway {apornialinatit).
Very curious is the reluctance of Greenlanders to jjronounce their own names. When asked their
name, they generally get a comrade to answer the question. Amulets and magic spells {serratit)
were and are still held in gi-eat estimation ; a curious circumstance being that the commonest
Em-opean ai-ticles, such as coffee-berries and scraps of newspapers, are fi-equently regarded as
the most effectual amulets or charms.
; Prince Roland
A KOUTH AMEEICAX INDIAN CHIEF (PEOFILE).
CHAPTER XXIII
NORTH AMERICA.
Southwards of the Arctic tract occupied by the very distinct Eskimo tribes described in the
preceding chai'ter, the whole of the vast Continent of America, from British Columbia,
Vancouver Island, and Newfoundland and the shores of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the north,
to the extremity of Patagonia and the island of Tierra del Fuego in the south, was, up to
the time of Columbus's arrival, peopled by American Indians, some of whom were then living
as nomad savages, while others inhabited populous cities and had acquired many of the arts
and habits of civilised communities. In one way or another the aborigines since that epoch
have steadily tended to disappear or wane before the gradual advance of the white races, or
to become lost as a pure type by more or less comjjlete fusion with the latter. The manner
in which the irresistible spread of the Caucasian
races over the continent has been brought about,
and the concomitant disappearance or fusion of the
native tribes, have, however, varied greatly in different
parts of America. The ancient Aztecs, Mayas, and
Peruvians were practically wijjed out as distinct
nations by the Spanish conquest; while at an early
date the aborigines of the West Indian islands dis-
appeared, and were replaced by African Negroes. In
many other parts of Central and South America the
more civilised aborigines became more or less amalga-
mated with the Sjianish and Portuguese immigrants,
thus giving rise to the present mixed races of the
countries in question. On the other hand, in the
greater portion of North America a very ditferent
state of things has occurred. For the most part
the original inhabitants formed nomad tribes sparsely
scattered over the open prairies ; and for a long
jieriod those in the interior were but little affected
by the European settlements on the east coast.
Moreover, with the exception of the French Canadians,
the immigrants have mingled but little with the
natives, so that a sharp line of demarcation has
continued to divide the white races from the " Red-
skins." Gradually, however, the latter have lieen
driven farther and farther back, till they are now
mostly restricted to definite " reserves," where they
are supported by the Governments of the United
States and Canada. And here it may be men-
tioned that of late years an important factor in the
retirement of the Indians from large areas in the
Noi-th-west has been the practical extermination of
the American bison, an animal upon which thousands
52fl
nolo hi/ Mr. n: ruu]
[Philadelplim.
NORTH AMKRICAN IKDIAX.
SHOW!
XG MOCASSINS.
fi7
53°
The Living Races of Mankind
of the aborigines were dependent for their very existence. Unsuited to the restraints
and trammels of civilised life, and displaying a marked inaptitude for agricultural pursuits,
the " red man." even in these reserves, is steadily diminishing in numbers ; and there is
every prospect of his ultimate disappearance. The late Eev. J. 0. Dorsay has, however,
recorded the fact that in some districts of the Western States there has been a tendency for
the red population to become absorbed in the white element. But this absorption has in
all cases come to pass by the natives ceasing to be Indians and becoming members of civilised
society. '• In jNIinnesota," for instance, " all persons of mixed blood — that is, of white and Indian
descent — are recognised as citizens. The same is true in other states ; and the privilege is
extended to those who are not mixed bloods. Also, under present homestead laws, Indians are
becoming citizens by going off their reserves."
And here it is important to observe that, from the very remote epoch when America
received the ancestors of its aboriginal popula-
tion (apart from the Eskimo) till the date of
the Spanish conquest, no immigrations of any
sort took jilace from the Old World. It is true
that an occasional vessel, with its crew, may
have been stranded at long intervals on the
.\merican shores ; but. in spite of all statements
to the contrary, it is perfectly clear that such
occasional handfuls of foreigners could have left
no permanent trace on the aboriginal popula-
tion of the New World.
Accordingly, till the Spanish conquest, the
natives of America were completely isolated
from the rest of the world. As mentioned in
the jjreceding chapter, one of the most striking
features connected with the American aborigines
is the extraordinary uniformity in physical
characters and appearance presented by them
from one extremity of their habitat to the other ;
so marked, indeed, that the different stocks of
the northern half of the continent are to a
gi-eat extent distinguishable by linguistic rather
than by physical characters. Nor is this re-
semblance by any means confined to physical
i-uoiobv .v.. 11 Kna] I ■ characteristics ; it is equally noticeable in mental
A.N A.MEKicAN INDIAN AND uis u;ii.. temperament and in speech. It is true, indeed,
that the nati\'e American stock languages are
wonderfully numerous, yet all these are but modifications of a single linguistic type, which is
perfectly distinct from all the tongues of the Old World. In no other i)art of the world has
a single physical and linguistic type anything approaching the vast distributional area which it
possesses in America.
Passing on to the consideration of the physical appearance and characteristic features of
the American aborigines in general, we may first of all call attention to the striking similarity
in the physiognomy of the two sexes ; this being so great that strangers, on beholding for the
first time the large series of photographs of heads displayed in the anthropological series at
the Natural History Museum, are quite unable to distinguish between the men and the women
without reading the labels. This is, no doubt, for the most part due to the fashion of wearing
the hair long and pendent in both sexes, and to the absence of moustaches and beards in the
men. The hair is, indeed, one of the characteristic features of the American Indians ; that on
the scalp being black, lank, coarse, and frequently very long. In its coarseness, length, and
532
The Living Races of Mankind
absence of all trace of wave or curl, it may be compared, indeed, rather to tlie mane of
a horse than to the locks of the Caucasian races ; its straightness being due to its almost
perfectly circular (instead of more or less elliptical) cross-section. The face, like the body, is
practically devoid of hair; such stray hairs as do make their appearance being artificially
removed. As regards the colour of the skin, there is considerable local variation, but it may
be described generally as coppery or yellowish brown, although in the natives of some of the
tropical forest districts like those of Amazonia it is light bro\\-n, while in the dwellers of some
of the high gi-ounds it is dark brown. The lips and nose do not in general differ to any
great extent from the European type; the latter being generally large, with a well-marked
bridge, and nearly straight, or even slightly aquiline in profile. JNIore characteristic is the
distinct lateral prominence of the cheek-bones, which are often also proportionately high ; but
in some cases the formation of this part of the face does not differ essentially from the
Caucasian type. The forehead is retreating, and marked by distinct brow-ridges, which attain
their greatest de-
velopment in certain
skulls from Patagonia.
The eyes, which are
almost invariably
black in colour, are
small and rather deep-
set, while in form
they are round without
distinct trace of obli-
quity in their setting.
The limbs present no
distinctive differences
from the Caucasian
type. As a rule,
American Indians are
of tall stature, the
average being gi\-en
at from 5 feet 8
inches to 5 feet 10
inches ; but in some
districts of both North
and South America
A GROUP OF soRTH AMERICAN INDIANS IS FULL DRESS. g feet, Or eveu morc.
is reached, while on
the plateau of Peru, as well as in Alaska and Tierra del Kuego, the height sinks to less
than 5h feet. The characters of the skull do not enter into the scheme of the present
work, but it may be mentioned that both long-headed and rounded types of Americans are
met with in both divisions of the continent. These have been taken to indicate different
sources of origin from the Old World, but it may be questioned whether this view has sufficient
evidence for its support.
Pei-ha^JS the best short definition that can be given of American Indians is that they are
copper-coloured or yellowish brown, beardless people, with lank black hair, and without the
oblique eyes, broad and flat faces, or small and concave noses of the Mongols. Obviously they
have no affinity with the Negroid branch of mankind ; while the character of the hair and the
absence of a beard sej^arate them widely from the Caucasian branch. On the other hand, in
the character of the hair and their smooth faces they show a distinct approximation to the
ISIougol type. From the typical ]\longols they are, however, at once distinguished by the
retreating forehead and the strongly developed brow-ridges, as well as by the general cast of
North America
533
feature, especially the usual
absence of obliquity in the
setting of the eyes, and bold
development of the nose. As
a rule the latter feature is of
what is known as the busque
shape — that is to say, its pro-
file is formed by two straiglit
lines diverging at an obtuse
angle from the bridge. It
should, however, be mentioned
that occasionally American
Indians are seen with more
or less distinct traces of the
characteristic " jMongol fold "
above the eyes, which are
themselves contracted and
oblique.
Clearly, then, it is with
the Mongoloid branch that the
aborigines of America display
the most marked resemblance ;
and this is just what might
have been expected to occur
from the geographical distribu-
tion of the two groups. All
persons most competent to give
an opinion on the subject are
NORTH AilEKICAS I^UIA-NS DKESSIMG.
practically in accord as to the existence of a relationship of some
kind between the
Asiatic ]\Iongols on
the one hand and the
American Indians on
the other. But as
to the degree of this
relationship there is
some diversity of
opinion, one school
regarding the latter
as a branch of the
Mongoloid stock, while
another regards them
as entitled to rank as
a separate branch by
themselves. Seeing,
however, that some
kind of j\Iongoloid
relationship is ad-
mitted by both, it is
evident that the differ-
ence of opinion is only
. ,. , "- __ - '''s:X: . ■". as to the degree of
AN INDIAN CHIEF AND HIS SQUAWS. such relationship;
534
The Living Races of Mankind
> tj/ Mr. W. Rail]
AX INDIAN HUNTER, WITH
and, in any case, the whole question is not one
with which we are here gi'eatly concerned.
Having said thus much as to American
Indians in general (whose characteristic type of
countenance should become famiUar from a
careful study of the portraits illustrating the
present and adjacent chapters), attention must
now be concentrated on those inhabiting the
northern half of the continent which forms their
home. And here a great difficulty presents
itself at the very outset. The number of tribes
is so great, and their j^hysical differences are so
slight (indeed, as already mentioned, the differ-
ences are in most cases linguistic and cultural
rather than physical), that it is impossible to
describe them all within the limits at our disposal.
Fortunately, however, these almost countless tribes
may be grouped under a number of main linguistic
stocks, or families, as they are indifferently
called ; and as a few of these are of much larger
size, and therefore of greater importance, than
the rest, it is on certain of the former that atten-
tion may be chiefly concentrated. Omitting,
then, all mention of many of the minor stocks —
which, by the way, are chiefly concentrated on a narrow strip of territory on the Pacific border
of the continent — we have the following main stocks, with some of their more important tribal
divisions, viz. : —
1. Athabascan, or Athapascan, comprising the Kuchins, Chippewyans, Apaches, and
Navajos.
2. Algonquian, including the Delawares, Abenakis, Chippewas or Ojibwas, Crces, Shawnees,
Sac and Foxes, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, and Arapahoes.
3. Iroquoian, represented by the Hurons, Eries, jMohawks, Tuscaroras, Senecas, Cayugas,
Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cherokis.
4. Slouan, with the Dakotas, Asiniboins, Omahas, Crows, lowas, Osages, Catawbas, and
Monakans.
5. Shoshoneaii, comprising the Pawnees, Kiawas, Comanches, and Utas.
(i. Muskhogean, represented by the Creeks, Choctaws, Chicasas, Seminoles, and Apalachis.
7. Pueblo, including the Zuiii, Tegua, Jemez, and Hopi or Moki.
To treat each of these seven main stocks with the same detail would obviously be waste
of space, seeing that in many respects several of them have more or less the same
customs and manners. Among the first six, the Siouan group is the one selected for special
consideration, mainly on the ground that it has been the subject of an elaborate study by
the officials of the United States Board of Ethnology. On the other hand, the Pueblo Indians,
as displaying a totally distinct grade of culture, and being the only North American aborigines
who build and inhabit houses, claim a special notice, which forms the concluding portion of
the present chapter.
Commencing with the Athabascan and Algonquian stocks, we find that the various tribes
grouped under these headings originally occupied considerably more than half the total area of
Xorth America. The Athabascan territory extended across the country from Southern Alaska,
across the lake and river from which it takes its name, nearly to Port Nelson, on the western
shore of Hudson Bay ; its northern boundary thus impinging on the southern frontier of the
Eskimo. From Port Nelson their southern boundary ran westwards to the Kocky ^Mountains,
i36
The Living Races of Mankind
forming a curved line which reaches a? far north a? lat. (lO" in the middle of its course,
while farther west it falls as low as oO\ Along the western coast may be traced a few
outliers of Athabascans, which appear to indicate the line of migration followed by this
people as they extended into Arizona, New ^Mexico, and Texas, where they were formerly found
in considerable numbers. So different are the predatory southern tribes, such as the Apaches,
Navajos, and Lipans, from their northern kinsmen, the Kuchins, Chippewyans, Hare Indians,
etc., that, were it not for their common speech, they would scarcely be recognised as members
of the same stock. Tlie northern tribes live a nomad life, protected by the Government of
Canada, many of them acting as trappers and hunters for the Hudson Bay Company. Their
numbers are estimated at only about 10,000, whereas the southern tribes, who now live in
special reserves, were reckoned some years ago at 23,000. ^Ir. F. W. Hodge, who has specially
studied the Apaches and Navajos, states that the latter still retain traditions of their arrival
from the north in their present home, which probably took place before the close of the
fourteenth century, at which epoch the Apaches were already settled in New Mexico. It was
not, however, till about three centuries later that they became sufficiently powerful to harass
their Pueblo neighbours.
Even larger than the Athabascan territory is the area originally inhabited by the great
Algonquian (or Alkonkin) stock, which included that portion of Labrador not occupied by
the Eskimo, and thence stretched westward across the continent south of the Athabascan
boundarv to the Rockies. To the southward their distribution narrowed so as to form a
truncated triangle, bounded on the west by the jMississippi and to the east by the Atlantic
sea-board ; Southern Tennessee on the former side, and Cape Hatteras, in North Carolina, on
WIXTER, WITH SQUA
PAPOOSE " (CHILD).
North America
537
the latter, forming
their approximate
southern limits. It
is true that iu
certain parts of this
area there are
isolated outliers occu-
pied by Iroquoians,
Siouans, etc. ; but
these need not con-
cern us here, except
so far as to state
that the Iroquoian
colony, which occu-
pied the area ex-
tending from Lakes
Ontario and Erie to
Pennsylvania and
Maryland, took an
important part in
the British and
French conflicts in
America. From the
extent of their
territory it might
naturally be con-
cluded that the
Algonquians were
the most numerous
of all the aboriginal
stocks of North
America ; and this,
as a matter of fact,
is the case. At the
present time, when
they are supposed
to form about a
fom-th of the total Indian population, their numbers are estimated at fully 95,000, of which
60,000 are subjects of the Dominion of Canada.
In Labrador this stock is represented by the so-called Montaignais (Mountaineer) Indians
of the French Canadians. The true Algonquians, forming the tribe from which the whole
stock takes its name, are now found in Ontario and Quebec, and are stated not to exceed
5,000 in number. On the other hand, the Chippewas, or Ojibwas, whose home is the region
of the great lakes, have survived in much greater numbers, being estimated at over 30,000
individuals. The next tribe in point of numbers is that of the Crees, who are situated
more to the north-west, occupying Manitoba and the tract between Lake Winnipeg and
Hudson Bay. The Crees have been recently put down as numbering 17,000 individuals.
Among the central tribes may be mentioned the Abenakis, Mohigans, Delawares, and
Naticokes, who originally occupied the area between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Chesa-
peake Ba}'. The most celebrated of these are the Delawares, who, together with the Sac
and Foxes and the Shawnees, are now gathered on reservations in New York State and
Indian Territory, where they collectively muster not much over 4,000. Many other tribes,
Photo by Rodoch
OP KIAWA.
53^
The Living Races of Mankind
■among whom it must suffice to mention the Powhatans, formerly inhabiting the east coast,
have long since been completely exterminated. It may be added that it was with the
Delawares, or Lenni-Lenape, who were then subject to the Iroquois, that M'illiam Penn
made his celebrated treaty.
Passing on to the Iroquoians, we find them occujiying a prominent position in history as
the deadly foes of the Algonquians, whom, in spite of their smaller numbers, they would
probably have succeeded in conquering, bad it not been for white intervention. In the region
of the St. Lawrence, which seems to have formed their original home, the northern Iroquoians
were divided into two hostile divisions, of which the western was formed by the Hm-ons and
Eries or Wyandots, and the eastern by the true Iroquois. These constituted the celebrated
"confederation of the five nations," comjorising the Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, Onondagas,
and Senecas, — a union which was strengthened by the admission in 1712 of the Tuscaroras
from North ( iirolini. luther by wars or by the introduction of European diseases, many of
these tribes have been swept away ; the Hurons
and Eries being kept in remembrance only
by the lakes of the same name. In Virginia
and the Carolinas the Iroquois were represented
by the Cherokis, forming a southern division
of the stock ; these people have, however, now
been transported to Indian Territory, where,
together with the Choctaws, they are estimated
to number something like 27,000. A miserable
remnant of 20,000 now alone rej^resents the rest
of the once powerful Iroquoians, who were of
a decidedly higher type than their Algonquian
neighbours.
We now come to the important group of
the Siouans, whose territory was inferior in
extent only to that of the Athabascans and
f ^ ^^M ■» :^H|^^^^^H^^kJ^ Algonquians. The name Siouz, from which the
K Bm M^^aKf^^^^^^^^^ik adjective Siouan is derived, aj^pears to have been
•^ ^^K-^ ..^HM SBM^^^^^^^^^^^ originally a term of contempt applied by the
forest-dwelling Algonquians to their brethren of
the plains. " The Indians of the Siouan stock,"
writes Mr. W. J. McGee, "occupied the central
portion of the continent. They were pre-
eminently plains Indians, ranging from Lake
JMichigan to the Kocky Mountains, and from
the Arkansas to the Saskatchewan, while an
outlying body stretched to the shores of the
Atlantic. They were typical American barbarians, headed by hunters and warriors, and
groujied in shifting tribes, led by the chase or driven by battle from jilace to place over their
vast and naturally rich domain, though a crude agiicultiu-e sjirang up whenever a tribe tarried
long in one spot. No native stock is more interesting than the great Siouan group, and none
save the Algonquian and Iroquoian approach it in wealth of literary and historical records ; for
since the advent of white men the Siouan Indians have jjlayed striking roles on the stage of
human development, and have caught the eye of every thoughtful observer."
In former times they were represented as far south as the coast of the Gulf of jMexico by
the Biloxi tribe. To mention all the numerous tribal subdivisions would be merely wearisome,
and the reader must accordingly be content with the following main groups. Best known of
all are the Dakotas (Friendlies), celebrated in Longfellow's "Hiawatha," who before their
isolation in Indian Territory and other districts of the States, occupied a large area in the
340
The Living Races of iVlanl<ind
heart of the continent, and
have more than once dared
to try the issue of war with
the American Government
ilm-ing the last infty years.
The Asiniboins (Peoijle-who-
cook-with-stoues), although
hostile to the Dakotas, are
included by JMr. McGee in
the same group with the latter.
Next come the Omahas (Ui>
stream-people), with whom are
included the Osages; these
being followed by the lowas,
and these latter by the
Winnebagos. Following these
are the jNIandans, who have
gained an evil reputation
through Catlin's account of
the atrocious cruelty of their
ceremonies ; in 1 804, accord-
ing to Lewis and Clark, this
tribe was reduced to three
villages in the Fort Berthold
reservation in North Dakota.
The Hidatsa are best known
by their near relatives the
Crows, now restricted to the
Crow reservation in jNIontana.
The above-mentioned Biloxi,
of the Gulf coast, have been
transported from the original territory, and survive partly in Louisiana and partly in Lidian
Territory, where they are mixed with Choctaws.
Very brief mention must be made of the Shoshonean (Snake) stocli. which includes the
well-known Pawnees, who in Catlin's time formed a powerful and warlike tribe numbering
some 10,000 or 12,000, and living on the Platte Kiver about 100 miles from its junction with
the INIissouri. The Kiawa tribe dwelt more to the south-west, on the flanks of the Kockies.
To the same stock belong the Comanche and Uta tribes, rude nomad peoples, formerly
inhabiting the states of JNIontana, Idaho, Oregon, and thence southwards to Utah, California,
and Texas. Possibly it was Shoshonean hordes who, about the sixth century of our era,
overthrew the comparatixcly cixiliscd tribes of the Mexican Plateau.
Lastly, we have the .Muskhogcan stock, whose typical representatives the JMuskhogis are
better known as Creeks ; this name being derived from the numerous inlets jjenetrating
their territory on the coast of the Gulf of JNIexico. This stock also included the Chicasas and
Choctaws (properly Chatas = Flat Heads), who formerly poiiulated most of the country on the
Mississippi nearly to its confluence with the Ohio. The Apalachis form another tribal division
of this stock. ]\Iore distinct are the Seminoles (pro^jerly Isty-Semole ; that is, "Wild JMen), who
occuj^ied Florida, whence they expelled a now extinct tribe.
Doubtless this enumeration, brief and imperfect as it necessarily is, of the leading divisions
and tribes of North American Indians will be found somewhat wearisome to the reader ;
nevertheless, without this the subject could not properly be treated. We now proceed to the
more interesting subjects of the physical appearance, clothing, ornaments, food, occupations,
AGED INDIAN WOMAN.
North America
541
dwellings, and the moral and intellectual characters of the foregoing groups of North American
Indians ; after which allusion may be made to some of their customs and feasts. And here a
great difficulty presents itself, our space being so limited and the number of tribes so great.
Under these circumstances the only course is to restrict our observations to a few tribes,
whose mode of life must be taken as more or less typical of that of the rest. It may be
well to premise that previous to the Spanish discovery (the word is used advisedly) of the
New World the aborigines were totally unacquainted with the sheep, the ox, and the horse ;
the only large animals serviceable to man (exclusive of the numerous species killed for the
sake of their fur) being deer of various kinds, the bison, and, in the south, the pronghorn, or,
as it is commonly called, antelope. When once introduced, the horse appears to have spread
with remarkable rapidity ; so rapidly, indeed, that our chief acquaintance with most tribes is
subsequent to its introduction. And since these wild people, as soon as they acquired this
valuable animal, became essentially equestrian in their mode of life, it is obvious that Indians
as we know them must have differed profoundly in their general mode of life fi-om their
forefathers of the pre-equine days.
As regards dress and dwellings, we cannot do better than quote ni extenso the excellent
account given by Lewis and Clark (1804-6) of the Teton Okandandas, a small tribe of the
Siouan stock then inhabiting both banks of the Missouri between the Cheyenne and Teton
affluents. After mentioning that the men shave their heads, with the excej^tion of a tuft on
the crown, which is allowed to gi-ow to its full length (a custom peculiar to this and certain
other tribes), the authors write as follows : " In full dress the men of consideration wear a hawk's
ntOl-p OF MIC-MAC
542
The Living Races of Mankind
Photo by Mr. W. Rau\
DAKOTA-SIOUAS SQUAW.
feather or calumet feather, worked witn porcupine-
quills, and fastened to the top of the head, from
which it falls back. The face and body are
generally painted with a mixture of gi-ease and
coal. Over the shoulders is a loose robe or
mantle of buffalo [_i.e. bison] skin dressed white,
adorned with porcupine-quills loosely fixed so as
to make a jingling noise when in motion, and
painted with various uncouth figures, unintelli-
gible to us, but to them emblematic of military
exploits or some other incident. The hair of
the robe is worn next to the skin in fair weather,
but when it rains the hair is put outside, and
the robe is either thrown over the arm or
wrapped round the body, all of which it may
co\er. Under this in the winter season they
wear a kind of a shirt resembling ours, made of
either skin or cloth, and covering the arms and
body. Kound the middle is fixed a girdle of
cloth or dressed elk [wapiti] skin, about an inch
in width, closely tied to the body ; to this is
attached a piece of cloth or blanket or skin,
about a foot wide, which passes between the legs,
and is tucked under the girdle both before and
behind. From the hip to the ankle he is
covered by leggings of dressed antelope-skins,
namented by little tufts of hair, the produce of
The winter mocassins [i.e. boots]
with seams at the sides 2 inches in width,
the scaljis taken in war, which are scattered down the leg.
are of dressed bufl'alo-skins, the hair being worn inwards, and soled with thick elk-skin parch
ment ; those for summer are of deer- or elk-skin, dressed without the hair, and with soles of
elk-skin. On gi-eat occasions, or whenever they are in full dress, the young men drag after
them the entire skin of a polecat fixed to the heel of the mocassin. Another skin of the
same animal, either tucked into the girdle or carried in the hand, serves as a pouch for
their tobacco, or what the French traders call hois rouU. This is the inner bark of a
species of red willow, which, being dried in the sun or over the fire, is rubbed between
the hands and broken into small pieces, and used alone or mixed with tobacco. The
pipe is generally of red earth, the stem made of ash, about 3 or 4 feet long, and highly
decorated with feathers, hair, and porcupine-quills. The hair of the women is suffered to grow
long, and is parted from the forehead across the head, at the back of which it is either
collected into a kind of bag or hangs do\vn over the shoulders. Their mocassins are like
those of the men, as are also the leggings, which do not, however, reach below the knee,
where they are met by a long loose shii-t which reaches nearly to the ankles; this is fastened
over the shoulders by a string, and has no sleeves, but a few pieces of the skin hang a short
distance down the arms. Sometimes a girdle fastens this skin around the waist, and over
all is thrown a robe like that worn by the men. Their lodges [wigwams, or houses] are very
neatly constructed; they consist of about 100 cabins, made of white buffalo-hide dressed, with a
larger one in the centre for holding carnivals and dances. They are built round, with poles
about 15 or 20 feet high, covered with white skins. These lodges may be taken to pieces,
packed up, and carried with the natives wherever they go by dogs, which bear great burdens."
Naturally the dress described above varies to a certain extent with the tribe. Among
the chiefs of certain tribes the feather head-dress, which is generally made from eagles'
feathers, attains an inordinate de\-elopment, forming a kind of "tail," hanging down the back
North America
54:
from the head to the heels, with the line of feathers forming a crest down the back. In a
remarkably fine specimen exhibited in the ethnological galleries of the British Museum, the
front of the head-piece is ornamented with a pair of slender horns cut from those of a bison,
while over the forehead is a tiara of the claws of the grizzly bear. Such head-dresses are
known to have been used by the Mandans, Sioux, and Asiniboins. The ordinary members
of a tribe had of course garments of a simpler type, commonly comprising a loin-cloth,
mocassins, leggings, and robe, which were for the most part made of skins, although several
of the tribes had acquired the art of making simple fabrics of bast, rushes, and other vegetable
substances. As intercourse with Europeans increased, cotton and woollen fabrics were gradually
introduced ; and now, with the extermination of the bison, blankets replace the robe of
bison-hide. Not the least noteworthy feature connected with the Indians of the North-west is
LoMi FLAlHt
their capacity for withstanding the most intense cold with a very scanty supply of clothing,
many of them going about half naked even in mid-winter. An old Indian, when questioned as
to the reason of this capacity for withstanding cold, replied that, as the faces of Europeans
were capable of bearing exposure to aU weathers, his own people could go about in a half-clad
condition because their persons were " all face."
P'or bedding robes of fur and mats of rushes were chiefly used ; some tribes e\en using
rude bedsteads. Among the Siouans the habitations of the forest-dwelling tribes were usually
of the above-described tent-like tyi)e, covered with bark, rush-mats, skins, or even bushes.
On the other hand, the triln'.s wandering on the open prairie made earth-covered lodges for
winter, and bison-skin tents, or tipts, for summer use. Simple as were all these types of
dwelling, a regular routine plan was followed in their construction ; special importance being
attached to the employment of thirteen supporting-poles.
544
The Living Races of Mankind
PholobJj Mr T\ Ri
[Plaladdphia.
IAN IN EUEOPrAN DRESS
As regards personal adornment and orna-
ments, the practice of painting the face has
been ah'eady mentioned; this painting of the
face and body being to a large extent symbolical.
The various forms of this type of decoration
may be best realised by inspecting the platei*
in Catlin's well-known volumes on the North
American Indians ; in which work may also be
seen the different kinds of head-dress and other
ornamental garbs assumed during the war-dances
and other ceremonials. In addition to painting,
tattooing was fairly common among the western
Siouans and ceitain other tribes. The employ-
ment of human scalps as articles of adornment
was to proclaim the prowess of the wearer in
battle, while the claws of the grizzly bear indi-
cated his success in the chase. Frequently
bangles and earrings, and more rarely nose-rings,
were worn ; while bone or shell lip-ornaments
were in use among some of the tribes of the
North-west Pacific coast. Special attention must
be called to the use of the shell-beads forming
the celebrated ivampum, which were used both
as articles of personal adornment and as a
medium of exchange. These were generally
made from clam-shells, and took the form of
elongated or ci"ar-shaped beads, sometimes of considerable size; they might be employed
either of their natural colour or stained of various colours, and were threaded on strings and
worn as necklaces or belts ; a wampum belt being a badge of friendship. Wampum was little
used by the Missouri Siouans, and not at all by the tribes of the North-west. Pearls too — for
the most part obtained from the fresh-water mussels which swarm in many of the North
American rivers — were largely employed as articles of personal adornment ; vast quantities of
them having been discovered in the ancient mounds of the Ohio Valley.
Orio-inally most of these implements and weapons were made of stone, wood, bone,
buckshorn, or horn; but native copper seems to have been used at an early period in the
neighbourhood of Lake Superior, and in recent times metal has more or less completely
replaced the more primitive material. A'ery characteristic of American aborigines is the
tobacco-pipe, which as the caUmet, or pipe-of-peace, played an important part in the settlement
of tribal disputes, and was never smoked except on occasions of ceremony. Among the Siouan.
tribes pipes were car\ed from a special sacred stone (catlinite), quaiTied in the central districts
of the habitat of the family. They were frequently carved in the form of the tomahawk or axe-
thus symbolising lx)th peace and war. In modern times pipe-tomahawks, manufactured in Europe,
came into vogue, and could be used either as an axe or as a pipe; the blade of the former
making one extremity of the head, and the bowl of the latter the other, the perforated
handle serving as the stem. But by far the most complex pipes were those formerly, and
to some extent still, manufactured of black slate by the Haida tribe of Queen Charlotte-
Islands, on the North-west Pacific coast. They were cut out of a solid slab of stone, and
car\'ed into the images of various animals in such an elaborate and complicated manner that
it is often difficult to discover the course of the tube, into one aperture of which was probably
inserted a movable bowl and into the other a reed. As already indicated, a mixture of tobacco,,
bark, leaves, etc., known as kinni-kinic, was the material smoked.
As regards implements of war and the chase, the bow and arrow were to the Nortb
^•^:--?- ■^.' v\'^^•^.v. -; , .fS«^
E3i> ^^
,^
69
546
The Living Races of Manl<ind
American Indians what the blow-pipe is to his distant cousin of Guiana, or the bolas to the
native of the Argentine pampas. Among the tribes of the prairies the bow is a feeble-
looking instrument, remarkable for its shortness, though capable of driving an arrow well
through the massive hide of the bison at close quarters. Stone tomahawks were the original
type of axe, but even in Catlin's time these were replaced by metal weapons made in
Sheffield ; and the same is true of the war-club, which was originally of wood with a spike
of bone or iron, but was subsequently exchanged for a brass-studded European article.
Similarly Sheffield steel scalping-knives, with ornamental sheaths, were substituted for the
primitive stone-bladed implements. A lance or spear was also frequently used. Boomerangs
from New jNIexico are shown in the British Museum. Long pointed snow-shoes were used in
winter by the Chippewyans and Siouans.
Among the tribes ilwelling on the coast or large rivers, the canoe (which, by the way, is
another native term) was the characteristic aboriginal vessel, which, however, varied considerably
in construction in diflerent districts. The best known, and at the same time the most
graceful, is the birch-bark canoe of the Chippewyans and other northern tribes. But among
many of the Siouans, as well as the Sac and Foxes among the Algonquians, the cauoe was
dug out from a log, although so thinned down as to be very Hght. Again, among the Siouans
the Dakota squaws (women) made broad coracles of bison-hide, in which they transported
themselves, their families, and their goods. These vessels were, however, despised by the men,
who preferred to make their journeys by land.
Of the picture-writing practised by the North American Indians, limits of space allow
merely the bare mention, but it was once largely used. In addition to this there was a
"sign-language," by means of which information was conveyed through pantomimic gesture;
some of the Siouans displaying extraordinary proficiency in this mode of communication. Mats
and baskets of remarkably neat manufacture were made by the women of all the tribes, the
Vancouver Islanders excelling in this respect ; while embroidery with quills and beads on
buckskin or bark was also a familiar art, as
was the making of wooden bowls. On
journeys water was, however, generally carried
in bags made from the stomaclis of deer
and other animals.
Although the Indians of the country
eastwards of the Mississippi grew maize,
beans, pumpkins, melons, gourds, tobacco,
and sunflowers, agriculture was not jiractised
at all by the majority of the tribes, who
obtained such vegetable food as they required
from wild plants and trees, and devoted their
energies to the pursuits of hunting and fish-
wig. Previous to the introduction of the
horse the dog was the sole domestic animal
possessed by the aborigines of the districts
under consideration; in addition to being
used as a beast of burden and draught, dogs
were also eaten as food, although by the
time of Lewis and Clark, to whom it was
ofl'ered, such meat appears to have been used
only on special occasions of ceremony. But
the great food-supply of many tribes, espe-
cially those of the Siouan stock, was the
»i [r!.,:;deij.hia. bisou, some depending entirely upon this
GUANAJUATO wATEB-cARuiERs, MEXICO. auinuil alike for food, clothing, and the other
North America
547
necessaries of life. In the census of 1880 the
number of Indians depending upon the bison in
the territories under the United States Govern-
ment was given as 74,758, of which 30,561 were
Sioux. But this enumeration took no account
of many thousands of Indians settled in the
Indian Territory and other districts of the south-
west, who drew a large supply of meat and robes
from the chase of the bufi'alo, notwithstanding
the fact that they had been induced by Govern-
ment to take extensively to agriculture. Within
the territories of the Dominion Government
there were likewise hosts of natives depending
upon that animal; and in the winter of 188G-87
many of these suffered severe privation, owing to
the unexpected cutting off of their supplies by
the bison's extermination.
For more than half a century the chase of
the bison by the Indians of the prairies was con-
ducted on horseback ; the slaughter of the former
animal being ac<.ciiiipli>li(nl at first by bows and
arrows, but in later years with firearms. In I7t)()
Carver describes smiie tif tlie Indians hunting the
bison, but makes no mention of the employment
of horses, although these were already in the
p(isses>i(ii] of some of the tribes. Lewis and
('\:\vk icfer to the Teton Sioux as being well-
known licirse-stealers in 1804, and it was about
this date that some of the Algonquians acquired
this animal, which was in common use among
the Siouans in 1832. It is noteworthy that the
Dakota name for the horse is the equivalent of dog, witl
or mystery.
While the men were in the field hunting or fighting, the squaws remained at home to
do the work of the camp, such as cooking, dressing hides, making clothes and baskets,
preparing dried meat (pemmican), or building coracles. Among those tribes who cultivated
maize and vegetables, this work also fell to the women's share.
To the moral and intellectual character of the North American Indians space admits of
only the briefest reference. A reserved and moody temperament is highly characteristic of
the typical North American Indian, who on all occasions endeavours to preserve an impassive
external demeanour, which is often maintained even while undergoing intense bodily agony.
It is considered, however, that this outward show of dignity is in most cases due rather to
ostentation and vanity than to innate pride. It must not, however, be supposed that Indians
never laugh; when among tlieir own family, they do so heartily. Cruelty of disposition to
their enemies is also a ilislinetive trait, although this was much more noted among the tribes
to the east of the .Mississippi than in those beyond. Towards one another, and especially
towards the women and children, a kindly and affectionate disposition was displayed by the
members of a tribe, although never in a demonstrative manner. Intellectually the North
American Indian may be ranked below his Mongol cousin ; the development of his intellect
seeming to become arrested after childhood. They appreciate music, the usual instruments
being the rattle, flute, and drum; the latter among the Siouans being a skin bottle or bag
of water. It appears that the North American Indians invented a flageolet of hard wood or
Miueum, Chicago.
an atftx indicating size, sacredness,
543
The Living Races of Mankind
cane before they had any knowledge of the European instrument. Good specimens from the
Cocopa, Sioux, Creek, Ajiache, and otlier tribes are found in the U.S. National Museum.
Sports, such as racing and dancing, were freely entered into, while games of chance were also
appreciated, plum-stones serving as dice among some of the prairie tribes. Apache playing-
cards made of skin are exhibited in the British Museum. The cruel rites by which the youths
of many tribes were admitted to the rank of warriors need only bare mention.
The tribal system was maintained in great perfection; each tribe being governed by a
paramount chief, under whom were minor chieftains. A very complex social system was also
developed, into the details of which it is impossible to enter here. It may be observed,
however, that, in the opinion of American anthropologists, the clan system — that is to say, the
calculation of descent from the mother's side— was just being merged in the gens, or system
of paternal descent, about the time that the natives came under European influence. " Every
clan in a tribe," writes Mr. J. W. Powell, " receives a special name, which has come to be
known as its totem. Thus in a tribe there may be a buffalo clan, a cloud clan, a wind clan,
an eagle clan, and a parrot clan, with others. Sometimes the clan name is the common name
for all persons in the clan, but more often there is a group of names signifying suine real oi
|?i/ „/-:.■>
^■f'Wj^
■^■^-;^
rUoto by Wilj'.id Ell.
iUAICSO WOilEX A>'D CHILD, COSTA RICA.
North America
549
mythological characteristic of the animal or objed
taken as the totem. P'or example, in the buttalc
clan tliei-e may be a name signifying 'sitting
bull,' another 'standing bull,' still another 'mad
butfalo ' ; and names taken from the mythology
of the buffalo may be used. The clan name,
or totem, is used to distinguish the members of
one clan from the members of another. It is
never used in the first and second persons, but
always in the third person. In direct address the
kinshij) name expressing relative age must always
be used. Uncles in the clan are addressed as
fathers, cousins in the clan as brothers and sisters."
The so-called tahoo and such-like prohibitions
are used chiefly in connection with marriage ;
marriage among iiiiMiihers of the sunic clan or
gens being prohibited. ^ ery curimis is the prolii-
bition of communication between cliildren-in-law
and jjarents-in-law. The names of the wife's
parents, for instance, are never uttered by the
husband ; while the husband and the father-in-law
always avoid entering the same lodge, so far as
possible, and never even look on each other if
they can help it. Similarly the wife never addresses nu^hynmhi^ [f at i .
her father-in-law. The adoption of these customs a carti! \ m\n Lt uuich ( uiana
in European society might be conducive to family «nH leg-bands.
peace and quietness !
A plurality of wives is clearly of advantage to a good hunter, since, if he possess but one
squaw, her whole time must be devoted to houseliold work, so that she is unable to dress
furs and such-like, whereby her husband cannot accumulate jaroperty. Such may be one
reason which has conduced to the general existence of polygamy among North American
tribes ; another, perhaps, being the superabundance of women, owing to the frequency of inter-
tribal wars. Marriage is almost universally arranged by the purchase of the bride, with or
without her own consent, from tlie father. In the case of an unwilling bride marriage by
capture may have to be resorted to. Young people may, however, form mutual attachments
which are stronger than tribal law; in such cases their only course is to abscond and live
together in solitude as man and wife. If they maintain themselves there till the birth of a
child, the marriage becomes ipso facto legalised ; and it is in this way alone that a " love
match " can be effected.
As regards the dead, corpses among the !Maiidans were exposed on scaffolds, wliere they
were left till the bones were clean and dry ; these latter being collected and buried, while
the skulls were arranged in large circles on the open prairie, each jilaced on a bunch of wild
sage. During the exposure of the bodies the scaffolds were frequently visited by the weeping
relatives. The dead, too, were supplied with food ; while in the case of a murdered man the
corpse was often provided with a rope with which to bind his murderer in the next world. In
curious contrast to this attention to the dead was the practice of exposing the aged and feeble
(even when they were chiefs) to death by starvation, which formerly prevailed among the
Missouri Siouans.
Another curious practice prevalent in Catlin's time on the lower parts of the Columbia,
and much earlier among the Choctaws and Chicasas, was that of flattening the heads of infants.
The unfortunate children were laid in a narrow wooden cradle, at the upper end of which
was a lid working on a hinge, this being jjressed down upon the forehead and there fixed.
550
The Living Races of Mankind
J bn D-r. Shrtnreich]
NN'ith regard to the prevalence of witch-
craft, all that space allows us to say is that
there was a body of men, and sometimes
women also, who were known as medicine-
men, shamans, or priests, whose province it
was to control all religious ceremonies and
to act as diviners. Under their control lay
all ceremonies connected with war, hunting,
fishing, and gathering the fruits of the earth ;
while it was likewise a part of their duty to
regulate the climate and to conti-ol the good
and evil destinies of the peojde under their
charge. The chief shamans are men ; but
all the people are bonded together under
shamanistic societies.
Unfortunately, space allows of only the
most cursory allusion to the so-called " ghost-
dance religion," which spread over the Western
United States between 1889 and 1892, and
was closely connected with the great Siouan
rebellion of that time. In the devotees of
this cult the normal mental processes were
suspended and the ordinary bodily functions
dominated for hoiu-s or days. Indians usually
docile and contented suddenly became morose
and bloodthirsty, while peaceful tribes on an
instant broke into rebellion against the para-
mount j)0wer. The peculiar mode of thought
characteristic of Indians generally, their habitual appeal to the unknown for the explanation
of simple facts, together with their habit of peopling their natural surroundings with ghostly
imaginations, doubtless, as JNIi-. J. Mooney well remarks, rendered them peculiarly susceptible
to the advance of the new cult. In the curious and numerous ceremonies connected with
the ghost-dance hypnotism played no inconsiderable part. Between thirty and thirty-five
different tribes, numbering about 65,000 individuals, appear to have come under the influence
of this strange cult, which died out as suddenly as it appeared.
Turning to the religious belief of the tribes under consideration, it will be a shock to
many of our readers to learn that the belief in an all-powerful "Great Spirit" is an utter
fallacy, due to a misapprehension on the part of the early students of Indian mythology.
Among the Siouan tribes the creation and control of the world and its inhabitants were
ascribed to rvakanda, just as among the Algonquians it was attributed to manito— the mighty.
"Yet," writes Mr. McGee, "inquiry shows that wakanda assumes various forms, and is rather a
quantity than a definite entity. Thus, among many of the tribes, the sun is wakanda — not the
wakanda or a wakanda, but simply wakanda ; and among the same tribes the moon is wakanda,
and so is thunder, lightning, the stars, the winds, the cedar, and various other things ; even a
man, especially a shaman, might be wakanda or a wakanda. In addition, the term was applied
to mythic monsters of the earth, air, and waters ; according to some of the sages the gi-ound
or earth, the mythic under-world, the ideal upper-world, darkness, etc., were wakanda or
wakandas. So, too, the fetishes and the ceremonial objects and decorations were wakanda among
different tribes. Among some of the groups various animals and other trees besides the
specially wakanda cedar were regarded as wakandas; as abeady noted, the horse among the
prairie tribes was the wakanda dog. In Uke manner many natural objects and places of striking
character were considered wakanda. Thus the term was applied to all sorts of entities and
CABIB OR ACKAWOI WOMAN (PROFILE),
SPIKES IN LOWER LIP AND EARS.
North America
551
ideas, and was used indiscriminately as substantive and adjective, and with slight modification
as verb and adverb. Manifestly a term so protean is not susceptible of translation into the
more highly differentiated languages of civilisation. Manifestly, too, the idea expressed by the
term is indefinite, and cannot justly be rendered into spirit, much less into Great Spirit."
Thus ends a myth crystallised into the English language by the poem "Hiawatha"!
The so-called Pueblo (= Village) Indians of the ilat table-lands (mesas) of Arizona and New
Mexico differ so remarkably in their culture, habitations, and general mode of life from all the
tribes hitherto considered that they must be noticed separately. It is not that they form a
single linguistic or ethnical stock-group, like those above mentioned, because the Hopi, who
inhabit seven villages in North-eastern Arizona (Tusaya), are undoubtedly a branch of the
great nomad Shoshonean stock of the prairies, who have taken to a settled life. The reason
for the association of all the Pueblo tribes is to be found rather in the general similarity of
their customs, ceremonies, culture, traditions, and dwellings; in all of which respects they
stand on a much higher platform than do their northern and eastern neighbours. In these
respects, indeed, they appear to constitute in some degree a connecting-link between the latter
and the still more cultured tribes of Mexico and Peru. It has further been suggested that
a more or less intimate connection exists between the Pueblo Indians and the Algonquian
mound-builders of the Ohio Valley. But this is not accepted by other writers, who regard
the mounds, the Pueblo structures, and the Maya-Aztec monuments as of independent
local origin.
Be this as it may, it is evident that the so-called cliS-dwellers of the Canyon de Chelly,
in Arizona, form only one development of Pueblo culture. In addition to the Tusayan Hopi,
already mentioned, who are commonly designated (by a vile term of abuse) Moki by their
neighbours, the Pueblo Indians are divided
into three groups, severally known as the
Tanoan, Keresan, and Zuiiian. Each of these
speaks a different stock-language ; and the
whole of them number about 10,300, and
occupy about thirty distinct villages, or
puehlos. With the exception of the Zuiii,
who inhabit a single pueblo in New Mexico,
each of these stocks is subdivided into
numerous tribes. And although as a matter
of convenience all the Pueblo Indians have
been brigaded in a single group in the
table given on i^age 334, it will be manifest
that the subdivisions of these groups really
correspond to the stock-groups of the less
cultured tribes.
All the Pueblo tribes dwell, or rather
dwelt, as regards some of them, in jiermanent
buildings, some of which were remarkable
for their size and complexity. A writer
in Scrihner's Magazine, when describing
the cliflf-dwellings of the Canyon de Chelly,
says that the " mysterious mound-builders
fade into comj^arative insignificance before
the grander and more ancient cliff-
dwellers, whose castles lift their towers
amid the sands of Arizona and crown the
terraced slopes of the Kio Mancos and the
Hovenweajj. ... In size and grandeur of
The Living Races of Mankind
conception the}' equal any of
the present buildings of the
United States, if we except
the Capitol at Washington,
and may without discredit
be compared to the Pantheon
and the Coliseum of the Old
World."
Another writer, Mr.
Mindelftr, says that "the
whole I'ueblo counlry is
covered with the remains in
single nxims and groups of
rooms, put up to meet some
immediate necessit}'. Some
of these may have been built
centuries ago, some are only
a few years or a few months
old. yet the structures do not
V ditiV-r l'r')m one another; nor,
Wl Jf on the other hand, does the
-^1^ Jg similarity imi)ly that the
^HBg^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Bjfe builder of the oldest example
■^ i^^^^^^^lllPwBB^B^B^B » or
,-^^M^^^^^^^^^^ ^^B^^^M llFri "' descendants of to-day— both
^Hfljvi^^^V '^^^^B wK^' utilised the material at hand,
^^^^^M I^^^^B '^^^m ^W <in>i each accomplished his
^^H^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hjtf as are
■^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ locally caUed, were cajiacious
enough to contain the whole
tribe who built them. But
the object of this book is to describe living men and their customs rather than the buildings
of past ages.
The Pueblo Indians themselves, as shown by three life-like busts in the Natural History
Museum, are decidedly good-looking people, some being lighter-coloured than others, and
grey hair not uncommon among the elders. Like American Indians in general, they never
become bald. In both sexes the hair is confined by a fillet of red cloth across the forehead,
passing round the head ; while the body is enveloped in a blanket gracefully draped over
the shoulders.
By ipetim.^sion of iht Projeisor of Anthropology, Ni
A CAKIB MAH.
The iwo photographs of Tt
Indians were kindly supplied by Mr. J. G. Eeid. of Lima.
CHAPTER XXIV.
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA (INCLUDING MEXICO).
Previous to the extermination, or reduction in numbers, of many tribes by the Spanish
conquest, there appears to have been a continuous transition from the natives of North America
to those inhabiting the southern half of the New World ; some of the tribes of Central
America being nearly related to certain North American stocks, while others came closer to
those of South America. And even at the present day, when many of the links have been
snapped, the South American natives are, in regard to physical characters, very similar to their
northern kinsmen ; so much
so, indeed, that the distinc-
tions between them are due
more to differences in customs,
culture, and language (which
latter is, however, essentially
of the same general type) than
to variation in physical char-
acters. The general physical
similarity of all the Central
and South American tribes is
the more remarkable when
the great physical differences
presented by diSerent parts of
the immense country they
inhabit are taken into con-
sideration. From the tropical
forests of Brazil to the snow-
clad i^eaks of the Andes, and
from these, again, to the open
pampas of Argentina, the wilds
of Patagonia, and the hail-
swept shores of Tierra del
Fuego, the aboriginal inhabi-
tants present a singularly
slight degree of divergence
from one common type.
As we have seen in the
last chapter, the North Ameri-
can aborigines, with the
marked exception of the Pueblo
Indians, present a great general
similarity in their common
mode of life and degree of
culture ; none of them, in their
original state, having advanced a cabib woman.
554
The Living Races of Mankind
beyond a condition of semi-har-
barism. In Central and South
America, on the other hand, a
very different state of things
occurs ; some of the native tribes,
like the Aztecs and Incas, having
reached a comparatively high
grade of civilisation ; while others
were plunged in the lowest depths
of savagery. Cannibalism, for in-
stance, was much more prevalent
in the south than in the northern
half of the New World ; and seems,
moreover, to have come more
naturally to the people, being
pi-actised when other diet was
available, whereas in the nortli
it was generally resorted to only
under the pressure of dire necessity.
Inequality of cultural development
may accordingly be considered as
\ery characteristic of the aborigines
of Central and South America.
And here it may be noticed that
it was the more cultm-ed nations
that fell the easiest prey to the
Spanish conquerors ; many of them
being in such an artificial condi-
tion of society that tjieir organi-
sation seemed to crumble to pieces
of its own accord at the first
shock of invasion. On the other
hand, the less cultured races have
tended to persist, either in their
original condition or by a more or less complete blemling with their conquerors, in a manner
which forms a gi-atifying contrast to the fate of the majority of the tribes of North Amei-ica.
A further cause of satisfaction is afforded by the spread of Christianity among the South
American natives. This is exemplified very strikingly in a table published about fifty years
ago, in which the total number of Christianised natives was estimated at more than 1,500,000,
while those remaining in original barbarism were set down at less than 100,000.
The number of tribes in Central and South America being so great, little good would
be gained by attempting to enumerate them all ; and attention will accordingly be concentrated
on some of the more important or interesting groujis, which must serve as samples of the
whole assemblage.
ESTS IN THE LOBES
CENTRAL A3IERICA.
Under this name may be included the states of Lower California and Mexico, together with
Yucatan, British Honduras, Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Kica, and
Panama. The West Indies, too, may be affiliated to Central America; but as their aboriginal
population has been swej^t away, they need claim no special attention here.
By far the most interesting of the Central American populations are those groups
Central America
555
respectively known as the Nahuatlan and the Huaxtecan ; the former comprising the Aztecs
and the Pipils, and the latter the Mayas, Quiches, and Pocomans. The Nahuatlan group may
be regarded as characteristic of the Plateau of Mexico, or Anahuac, as it used to be called,
whereas the Huaxtecan stock attains its main development in Yucatan and Guatemala. Curiously
enough, however, the typical Huaxtecs are a JMexican peojjle dwelling in the states of Vera
Cruz and Tamaulipas, while the Nahuatlan Pipils occur as far south as Nicaragua.
Since it is the object of the present work to describe existing rather than exterminated
peoples, our mention of the Nahuatlan Aztecs must be very brief. As the result of modern
researches, it appears that the Nahuatlan stock was an offshoot of the southern Shoshoneans
of North America, and that the Aztecs established their famous empire, whose capital was
Tenochtitlan (the modern city of Mexico), about the fifteenth century by the overthrow of the
earlier Chichimecs, who also belonged to the same stock. The fall of the Aztec Empire before
the Spanish conquerors in 1520 is a well-known historical fact ; and it only remains to mention
that during its brief existence this empire was infamous for the hideous cruelty of its so-called
religious rites, in the celebration of which thousands of victims are said to have been
immolated at a time. Their religion, such as it was, appears to have been borrowed from the
Mavas ; but, in accordance with the tierce Aztec nature, the gentle JMaya deities became
transformed into the incarnation of demons.
Passing by still earlier tribes with the bare mention that the splendid ruins of Mitla attest
the high degree of civilisation of the pre-Aztec Zapotecs, another Mexican tribe, reference must
be made to the Seri Indians of the Sonora district of North-western Mexico, on account of their
being more savage than other tribes to the northward of the Isthmus of Panama. Mr. McGee,
who visited them in 1 895, states that " most of their food is eaten raw, they have no domestic
animals save dogs, they are totally without agriculture, and their industrial arts are few and
rude." A greater contrast to the Aztec and Maya civilisations could scarcely be imagined !
Although the Aztecs and their language have largely disappeared from the modern
representative of their ancient cajiital. the city of Merida, in Northern Yucatan, which stands
NATIVES OP PERU.
556
The Living Races of Mankind
on the site of Ti-hoo, the ancient iMaya capital, is at the present day to a great extent
Mayan still. Even the old style of building is retained, the houses in the suburbs being built
at an elevation of a yard or so above the level of the roadway, while the difierent streets are
indicated by images of various birds representing the old Mayan minor deities. The Mayas
are a people of delicate and almost feminine physiognomy, and of equally gentle disposition.
Nevertheless, they held out stubbornly against the Spanish conquerors ; and in a narrow strip
of country between Yucatan and British Honduras a remnant of the Mayas has survived all
the wars which have convulsed this part of the American Continent. There seems, indeed, a
tendency for the Spanish settlers and half-breeds to become absorbed in the native stock ;
while, with the exception of the Campeachy district, the old Maya-Quiche dialects are tending
to regain the ascendency in Yucatan and Guatemala. Even nominal Christians retain many
of the old ^lava rites ; the descendants of the national astrologers still practising the ancient
divinations, forecasting the future, and predicting good or
bad harvests by the stars. The old tutelary deities have,
however, assumed the names of Christian saints, although
their attributes have become more or less modified; and the
doctrine of the transmigration of souls still holds its position,
as is exemplified by the jsractice of chalking the road from
the house to the grave of a recently deceased i^erson, in
order that the soul may be able to find its way at the
jiroper time to enter the body of a new-born child.
But the chief interest connected with the Ma3'a-Quiche
civilisation centres on the system of reckoning time; and
in this connection we cannot do better than quote from the
report of the Director of the U.S. Bureau of Ethnology :
•• Most of the American tribes had advanced to the stage
of graphic symbolism, and were thus on the threshold of
writing when the New World was discovered by Columbus.
Among many of the tribes the art was rudimentary, and
limited to crude pictography. The pictographs were painted
or sculptured on cliff-faces, boulders, the walls of caverns, and
other rock-surfaces, and even more frequentlv, although less
liermanently, on trees, as well as on skins, bark, and various
artificial objects. . . . Among certain Mexican tribes, also,
autographic records were in use, and some of them were
much better differentiated than any within the present area
of the United States. The records were not only painted
and sculptm-ed on stone and moulded in stucco, but were
inscribed in books or codices of native parchment and paper.
Among the plains Indians the calendars are simple, consisting
commonly of a record of winters and of notable events occurring either during the winter or
during some other season of the year ; while the shorter divisions are reckoned by ' nights '
(days), ' dead moons ' (lunations), and seasons of leafing, flowering, or fruiting of plants, migrating
of animals, etc. ; so that there is no definite system of reducing days to lunations or lunations
to years. Among the Pueblo Indians calendric records are inconspicuous or absent, though
there is a much more definite calendric system, which is fixed and perpetuated by religious
ceremonies; while among some of the Mexican tribes there are elaborate calendric systems
combined with complete calendric records. The perfection of the calendar among the
Maya and Nahua Indians is indicated by the fact that not only were 365 days reckoned
as a year, but the bissextile (leap year) was recognised — indeed, some astronomers have
regarded the calendar of ancient Mexico as even more accurate than the Julian calendar of
early Christendom."
[Paris.
>F LA PLATA.
MAI' SIIOWINU DlSTUIilU'l
The Living Races of Mankind
J^^Vvi'^v
fe
) bi/ M iian -Martin
With this quotation we must reluctantly leave ]\Iexico and Central America proper to
pass on to —
THE GUIANAS AND VENEZUELA.
The extermination of nearly all the aborigines of the West Indies has made a break in what
was once a comjjlete connection between the natives of the northern and southern halves
of the New World. The Cebunys of Cuba, the West Indian Caribs, and the Lucayans of
the Bahamas were some of the links between the more northern tribes and the Caribs
of the Guianas and the Arawakan group of Venezuela and the neighbouring districts. The
Indians of British Guiana and adjacent territories having been treated in great detail by Mr. im
Thurn, somewhat more sjDace may be devoted to them than to their neighbours. Venezuela
and the Guianas, it is scarcely necessary to say, occupy the north-eastern extremity of South
America, and are forest-clad or savanna tropical countries. The aborigines found in these
territories are divisible into three great groups, or branches, respectively named Warrauan,
Arawakan, and Caribean. The first of these comprises only the Warrau tribe ; the second
embraces the Arawak, Atorai, Maypure, Wapiana, Vaura, Mahinacu, and Layana tribes ; while
the third includes the true Caribs, Bakau-is, Nahuquas, Pamellas, Galibis, Calinas, Arecunas,
Macusis, and Ackawois. Although distinguished by language, the members of these groups
and tribes present but slight physical differences from one another, so that it requires a long
residence among them before such points of distinction become recognisable. The Warraus
are the shortest and weakest of all, their bodies being long in proportion to their limbs, their
expression of countenance gloomy and morose, and their colour apparently very dark; the
latter featm-e is, however, chiefly due to the amount of dirt with which the skin is covered.
The members of the Arawakan group are taller and better-proportioned, the Arawaks themselves
being only slightly sui)erior in height to the ^^'arraus, whereas the Wapianas are unusually
tall for Indians, their bodies being slightly and well built, and their features regular and
The Quianas and Venezuela
559
fine. In all Arawakans the skin is much lighter than in the Warraus, partly omng to
its natural colour, and partly to the cleanly habits of these people. The tribes of the
Caribean group are all characterised by the darkness of the skin, the degree varying in the
different tribes. The true Caribs are rather taller than the Arawaks, with well-knit frames,
and coarser, although distinctly powerful features. The Ackawois are shorter and slighter in
body; their general ii]i|ii';naiicc. jierhaps owing to their habits, hciiig decidedly wretched. The
Macusis are still darker iliaii the true Caribs and Ackawois, luil taller, slighter, and better-
made; while their features are more regular, and their expression, although timid, is bright
and intelligent. Darkest of all are tlie Arecunas, who in build and feature are very like the
Macusis, although they are more powerful and fierce.
The Warraus, who are timid people of filthy habits, originally dwelt in houses built
on poles in swamps and on the seashore, and are the great canoe-builders for tlieir inland
neighbours. The Arawaks are the cleanest and most civilised of all, many of them speaking
English, wearing European clotlies, and being Christians. Although their original habits have
been much modified, they still dwell in houses of the primitive type, and still maintain their
hereditary hatred of the Caribs. The Wapianas, Atorais, and kindred tribes are the great
middlemen or traders of the districts they inhabit, and are likewise the canoe-builders for the
coast tribes. Unlike their neighbours, they eat the cassava, which is the staple vegetable
food of all the tribes, in the form of rough meal (farine), rather than of bread or cakes;
in this respect they resemble tlie Brazilian natives. Although all the members of the Caribean
stock are fiercer and more warlike than their neighbours, these attributes attain the maximum
ria.lol.^.M.S.,,, .1/,,
A GROUP OF SANAPANA WOMEN OP THE PARAGUAYAN CIIACO.
56o
The Living Races of Mankind
development among the
true Quibs. The Caribs
are further peculiar in
tliat they are often found
scattered irregularly
among the other tribes ;
they are the great pottery-
makers of the country,
although this manufac-
tuie is shaied to a small
degree by the Ackawois,
who, indeed, supply all
their o'.vn needs, and are
thus independent of the
otjier tribes. Although
\crv similar in customs
Photo by A de S Correa
A PARTY OF BOTOCnnOS.
Mil. I laiiLjuih^r,., the iretitie
Alaru>is staiiil in awe of
their bolder neighbours
the Arecunas.
As regards physical
features, Guiana may be
divided into the coast
region, next the forest region, and farther inland still the savanna districts, which pass south-
wards into the great sa\'annas of Brazil. The northern coast region, in the neighbourhood
of the sources of the Orinoco and nearest the West Indies, is inhabited by the Warraus,
next to whom come the Arawaks. The forest region is almost exclusively populated by the
Ackawois, although a few single settlements of true Caribs (who <are more abundant elsewhere)
are found here also. In the savanna region the Arecunas, Macusis, and Wajiianas (with whom
dwell the Atorais) are found to the north in the neighbourhood of the Orinoco, while farther
south their place is taken by other tribes, \^''ith the exception of the Atorais and a few
others who live among their neighbours, each tribe inhabits a distinct although ill-defined
tract of territory. Naturally, the "forest" and "savanna Indians" diiJer more or less markedly
from one another in their mode of life. It is further important to notice that, whereas the
Warrauan and Arawakan stocks appear to be truly indigenous to the country, the Caribeans
are to be regarded in the light of immigrants; their original home, according to the latest
in\estigations, being the highlands of Matto Grosso, in the interior of Brazil.
A very curious difference between the native and immigrant stocks is that the former
make their hammocks (which, by the way, are very chai-acteristic of South American Indians)
from the fibres of a palm, whereas the immigrants employ cotton for this purpose.
As regards physique, the Indians under consideration are characterised by their sleekness
and their tendency to run to fat at an early age; this being due to their cassava diet. The
features are often more Mongoloid than is the case with the tribes of North America ; the
ex}iression is mostly gentle, and the eyes are habitually downcast. Although capable, at a
pinch, of undergoing a long spell of protracted labour, the Indians of Guiana are a physically
weak race, and require to recuperate after unusual toil by a rest of several days in their
hammocks. In their original condition most of them — the Ackawois, for example — are
characterised by the practical absence of dress, the women wearing a fringed apron, and the
men a strip of cloth between the legs. Even when European clothes have been adopted,
these are found irksome, and are often doffed when away from the settlements. Both sexes
wear the hair long and parted in the middle ; they never become bald, and light yellow hair,
which in these Indians represents the grey locks of Europe, is of rare occurrence. Indeed,
The Guianas and Venezuela
561
they are a short-lived people, becoming aged at forty, and but rarely surviving till sixty.
Cleanliness is a pleasing feature of the majority; this being due to the frequent baths, which
are always taken just after a meal. In swimming the legs are scarcely bent out, but are
drawn straight under the body, and then shot backwards.
Flattening the head of infants, which formerly prevailed among the Caribs, is still
practised by a littIe-kno\vn tribe on the Essequibo. "Among the true Caribs," writes Mr. im
'fhurn, " a two-inch-broad belt of cotton is knitted round each ankle and just below each
knee of very young female children ; and this band is never throughout life removed, or if
removed is immediately replaced. The consequence is that the muscles of the calf swell out
to an abnormal degree between these bands, while those jjarts of the leg which are actually
constricted remain hardly thicker than the bone. . . . The arms are more rarely constricted in
the same way. Of the other Carib tribes, the iSIacusi and Arecuna women have one such con-
striction above each ankle, but not the second below the knee. . . . The true Carib and Ackawoi
women, and more rarely those of other tribes, pierce one or more holes in their lower lips,
through each of which they pass, point outward, a jDin or sharpened piece of wood. What
the object of this may be I do not know, as kissing is unknown among Indians ; but the
effect is that the lips are protected by a dangerous-looking row of spikes. Similarly the men
pierce one hole just under the middle of theu- lower lips, through which they pass the loop
of a string, fastening it inside the mouth, to which is attached a bell-shaped ornament,
hanging down over the chin ; and they jjierce the cartilage of the septum of their noses,
from which they suspend a half-moon-shaped ornament. The ears, too, of men, and sometimes
of women, are pierced, and pieces of stick or straw passed through the openings."
Y^
H'.^^
WAR INDIANS OF THE LENGUA TRIBE.
562
The Living Races of Manl^ind
LENGDAS OF THE PARAGUAYAN
Sandals, cut from the leaf-stalk of a imlm, are occasionally worn ; and although speedily
destroyed by use, can be quickly replaced. As regards ornamental dress, this is worn by some
tribes habitually, and by others only on special occasions. Painting is frequently employed,
and often so extensively and in such a tasteful manner as to convey the impression that the
person so adorned is fully clothed. Tattooing is, however, rare, and chiefly confined to the
production of small tribal marks at the corners of the mouth or on the arms. It is true that
the bodies of most Indians are scored with straight scars, but these have been produced for
surgical purposes. Kecklaces of jDeccari (pig) tusks and a pair of armlets are worn by most
of the men, who also often twist strings of colom-ed seeds or beads round their ankles and
wrists. Of the nose-pieces, those of a crescent or cheese-knife shape are peculiar to the Carib
stock, and the cu-cular to the Wapianas. Specimens of jMacusi and other feather head-dresses
may be seen in the British INIuseum. Eegarding these Mr. im Thurn writes as follows :
" Beautiful crowns of feathers, of two shapes, the colours varying with the tribe to which each
Indian belongs, are worn on the head. Several strings of cotton hang from the back of these
down to the heels, where they are finished off with skins of toucans, fire-birds, cocks-of-the-
rock, and other such bright-colom-ed birds, or with tassels made of iridescent beetles' wings,
which tinkle like tiny bells at each movement of the bearer. . . . Ruffs made of the long
tail-feathers of macaws are fastened on to the shoulders so as to stand out almost at right
angles to the body. Very short mantles of woven cotton, from which hang long cotton cords,
ornamented at frequent intervals with tufts of white down, are occasionally worn ; but the art
of making these is said to have been lost. Collars made of white heron [egret] feathers, or
the black feathers of the cm-assow bird, are sometimes worn, especially by those engaged in
races." Such decorations are, however, mainly confined to the male sex, the women seldom
wearing either feathers or teeth, except tusks of agoutis, although they load themselves with
ropes of seeds and beads. Children, on the other hand, are decorated much like their elders,
although special kinds of seeds are used for their necklaces, while in the case of teeth-necklaces
these are made from the tusks of the jaguar.
Unlike the natives of Argentina, the Indians of the Guianas and Venezuela travel either
on foot or in canoes. In hunting, which forms the chief occupation of the men, dogs are
employed ; these being stated to be cross-breeds between two fox-like wild species. Fish are
caught by poisoning the water, by shooting with am)ws, by nets, traps, or hook and line. Very
beautiful are the fish-arrows, which are shot fi-om a bow, the head frequently becoming
The Quianas and Venezuela
563
detached from the shaft, but remaining fixed to a line, at the other end of which is a float.
A very heavy tyjie of arrow is employed for shooting the river-tortoises, whose eggs form such
an important item in the diet of the Indians of the Orinoco ; while yet other descriptions
are resijectively used for big game and birds. Very characteristic are the deadly arrows
tipjaed with oitrali poison. The points of these arrows, which are more or less jagged,
are in the form of long, narrow strips of wood ; these are carried separately in a bamboo quiver,
and only insei'ted in the reed shaft immediately before use. The blow-pipe, which in Guiana
is restricted to the savanna tribes, is a very characteristic South American iuaplement, consisting
of a bamboo tube from 12 to 16 or more feet in length, through which is blown a small dart.
The daits consist of splinters of wood, tipped with ourali, 5 or 6 inches in length, and are
carried in a quiver, together with the jaw of a small fish (perai) and a basket of cotton
or other fibre. '•^Vhen game is seen," to quote once more from Mr. im Thuni, "one
of the darts is placed between two of the sharp teeth of the perai, and twisted sharply
round in such a way that a very small portion of the point is almost but not quite se\ered
from the main part ; this is in order that the point may break off in the body of the animal,
that the dart may again be used. A little of the fibre is then wound round the other end
of the dart — i.e. the dart is 'feathered' — care being taken not to destroy the balance. The
dart is then inserted in the blow-pipe, aim is taken, the dart is blown, and the bird almost
invariably falls. The certainty with which an Indian can take aim with these hugely long
weapons, even when supported by only one hand, is really wonderful. The range of the
weapon is as much as from 40 to 50 feet." The men are the hunters and fishers, and spend
the days on which they are at home lying idle in their hammocks, smoking cigarettes and
talking. All the house-work, tilling the gi-ound, sowing and reaping the crops, grinding the
•cas.sava, etc., falls to the share of the women.
As regards dwellings, the Warraus, as aheady mentioned, used to build houses supported
on poles on the low and swampy coast-lands ; but, under the security afforded by good
government, these have fallen to a gi-eat extent into disuse, although a few are still constructed.
The Arawaks, Ackawois, and true Caribs of the forest districts, where there is shelter from cold
winds, build houses consisting merely of a roof with suitable supports. On the other hand,
the INIacusis, Arecunas, and Wapianas of the o^ien savannas construct substantial dwellings
with thick walls of clay, and a thatch of palm-leaves. Space does not allow of reference to
the interior economv of these houses, but it mav be mentioned that the inhabitants alwavs
/ / '. ' /
K
>1
A\ ENCAMPMENT OF LENGUA INDIWS
564
The Living Races of Mankind
e Sov.tfi Aourican Missionary Hociettf.
A GROUP OF LEXGUA CHILIiREX, PARAGUAYAN CHACO.
sleep with a fire so close beneath their hammocks that the flames seem to lick their bare
bodies.
Like all American aborigines, the Guiana Indians are prone to self-torture ; and no man
can receive full rights of tribalship till he has undergone some hard ordeal. These tortures are-
also submitted to in order to ensure success in hunting and fishing ; and are inflicted not
only on the hunters themselves, but likewise on their dogs. A brush of fibres attached to »
long string is, for example, pulled through the nose into the mouth ; irritating hairy cater-
pillars are rubbed into the limbs till a painful rash ensues ; or the victim may be tormented
in various ways by the bites of venomous ants, or with red jjepper.
The clan system is, or was, strictly followed among the Arawak tribes, the descent being
exclusively in the female line, and no intermarriage with relations on the maternal side-
permitted. Accordingly, a person may take a husband or a wife from his or her father's
family, or from any other family save that of the mother. And when an Arawak takes a-
wife, he forthwith domiciles himself with his father-in-law, for whom he works ; thus
absolutely identifying himself with the family of his bride. There are. however, stiU some
traces in Guiana of marriage by capture. Boys and girls are betrothed at an early age.
but the nature of the bargain for a wife is still obscure ; and, in general, marriage ceremonie^^
are dispensed with. That curious custom of the couvade, according to which it is the husband
who, on the birth of a child, takes to his hammock, where he is carefully tended by the
relatives and fed on a special diet, is universally prevalent. Although Arawaks when old and
useless are allowed to take to their hammocks, where they are somewhat grudgingly served
with food, they receive little else in the way of attention. When death comes, the relatives
usually exhibit slight evidences of grief, but will sometimes indulge in loud lamentation and
cut their hair. Usually the body of the deceased is wrapped in his own hammock, and
interred in a palm-leaf-lined grave ^-ug in the middle of the house. Properly the corpse
«hould be placed in a sitting posture, or, among the Ackawois, in the standing position ; but
Fhotos by il. Pierre fctu]
ARAUCANIANS AND THEIP. CUILLI.E.N.
566
The Living Races of Manl<ind
nowadays it is seldom that the grave is dug of sufBcient depth to admit of this. Certain
possessions are also bmied with the body. On the completion of the interment a fire is
lighted over the grave, the praises of the deceased are chanted, ^yith dancing, singing, and
drinking; and the house is then finally deserted. Dancing and feasting are. moreover, indulged
in on many occasions, when a large quantity of the national beverage (paiwari) is always
consumed. Invitations to these paiwari feasts are sent to the neighbouring tribes ; and the
performance may take the shape of either wrestling or dancing, the dancers carrying specially
decorated sticks. Formerly the whip-dance, in which each performer was armed with a
macquarie, or fibre whip, with which at stated intervals he slashed his partner's legs, was
a favom-ite diversion.
BRAZIL, PARAGUAY, ETC.
3IANY of the tribes mentioned in the preceding
section extend southwards into Brazil, the interior
(if which, as already mentioned, appears to have
been the birthplace of the Caribs. It remains,
however, to state that the Arawakan stock has a
still greater southern extension, reaching to the
head-waters of the Paraguay River in lat. 20° S.
A totally distinct Brazilian stock is the Gesan.
in which are included the Camacans and the
notorious Botocudos; the latter resembling the Eskimo
in the long and narrow shape of tlieir heads.
In the Goyaz district, lying due west of Bahia,
are a large number of Gesan tribes, sometimes
collectively known as Tapuyans. They comprise
the Kayapos or Suyas, of the district between the
Araguaya and Xingu rivers, and likewise the Akuas
or Cherentes, of the U^jper Tocantins. The Boto-
cudos, on the other hand, inhabit the Serra dos
Aimores, on the coast, whence they are frequently
known by the name of Aimores. Although of late
}ears considerably improved by missionary exertions,
they were formerly among the lowest of the American
peoi^les — so low, indeed, that they had not even
reached the level of a stone age, all their imple-
ments, weapons, and household utensils being made
of wood or bone. They wandered naked through the
primeval forests of their native home, without dwellings of any kind, and sleeping on the
bare ground or among the ashes of their last camp-fires. In addition to the flesh of
such larger animals as they could manage to kill, their food consisted of grubs, frogs,
snakes, honey, roots, berries, and fruits ; these being frequently consumed raw, but sometimes
cooked in large bamboo vessels. Feuds were constant between the different tribes, and the
bodies of the slain were always devoured by the victors, while their heads were set on stakes
and employed as targets in archery jwactice. Among their most prized ornaments were collars
and necklaces made of the teeth of those whom they had devom-ed in their cannibal feasts.
Even among such degraded creatures as these the sacredness of the marriage tie — for the period
the union lasted — was, however, strictly observed. In other respects the women had but a i)oor
time, being frequently belaboured with heavy clubs or slashed with bamboo knives b}' their
lords and masters. As to their religion, if such it could be called, the sun was regarded as
the source of all things good, and the moon of all evil. Demons, which could be frightened
P/wlo by M. Pierre FetU]
AN ARAUCANIAN MAN.
Brazil, Paraguay, etc.
567
away by shooting arrows, were supposed to be the cause of storms and ecUpses; and fires were
kept burning over newly made graves to scare evil spirits.
Another Brazilian stock-group is that of the Guaranian, or Tupi-Guaranian, as it is often
termed ; the Tupi tribes occupying a very large jMrtion of Eastern Brazil, while Guarani pjeoples
are found about the head-waters of the main stream of the Amazons and its tributary the
Madeira, as well as in Paraguay and Uruguay. Both languages are near akin ; but as the Tupi
tongue was chosen by the missionaries as the lingua franca for a large tract of countries,
it has been adopted by some tribes not properly belonging to the section. Among the Tupi
tribes one df the mu4 icmarkable was that of the Omaguas, or Flat-heads, who were found
on the left liaiik of tlie Amazons as far as Peru and Ecuador. Originally they extended all
over the country between the Putumayo and Tunguragua or Upper jNIarauon rivers; and they
are still well represented on the head-waters of the Japura, in Ecuador and Colombia. Their
near neighbours are the Tacunas and Tacanas, with the former of whom they were constantly
at feud. The Tacanas occupy the country bordering the Madre-de-Dios and Beni, head-
tributaries of the Madeira in Northern Bolivia. Still farther south on the last-named river we
enter the country of the Naquinoueis, or
Chiquitos (Dwarfs), as they are called by
the Spaniards ; the latter name being de-
rived from the extremely small size of the
entrances to their houses, which, when found
abandoned, were supposed by the conquerors
to be the abodes of pygmies. Like certain ■ .' ^
South American tribes, the Tacunas believe ' 7-
in the existence of good and evil principles,
which are for ever striving one against the
other for the possession of the souls of men.
Curiously enough, the Chiquitos are said to
have no numerals above one ; yet they are
an industrious peoj^le, cultivating cotton,
indigo, and sugar, and manufacturing copper
boilers for refining the latter. Farther
south, in the Gran Chaco country, lying
well within the Parana Watershed, the
Chiquitos are replaced by the savage Tobas.
between the Pilcomayo and Vermejo rivers,
and by the Matacos, or Mataguayos, on the
latter. The Tobas are said to present a
distinctly European cast of countenanci'.
but are specially distinguished by theii
relatively short limbs and strongly developed
chest.
Of the Southern Guarani, who form the
substratum of the Paraguayan nation, some
still wander in a more or less aboriginal
condition through the forests of the Parana,
while others have adopted Christianity. Some
years ago the Christianised Guarani inhabited
thirty-two large towns on the banks of the
Parana, Paraguay, and Uruguay rivers ;
while among the uncivilised tribes were
reckoned the Chiriguanos, Tobatinguas, and
Payaguas.
IrTi
WITCH nnCTOR OF ARAUO
568
The Living Races of Mantcind
r — ^j^ai^^^* ^ IHE NORTHERN ANDES.
^^/ _^ "'■'*' -•'■■'—'■ r.EFORE taking into con-
MT ' V >iileration the tribes to the
W I ' ' Miuth of the Rio de la Plata,
..' \ ' a few words must be said in
;> ' _ , regard to those of the northern
|iortion of the chain of the
Andes, extending from
, ^ / A-^ A ■■ v\^\ ''"lombia, through Ecuador,
Peru, and Bolivia, to Chili.
Since, however, our knowledge
^i' '*/ i ^'^ '^^Ikfl^^^ ~^ ^IBIIIHI^B "^ mS'iiy of these tribes
W' ' I ■ it ^^ -^^^^^r 1 I k. ^^^^^^HH^ '*'^"' ^ol^ly supplied by his-
tory, the mention of them
will be very short. Through-
out this area the natives at
the time of the Spanish con-
quest had attained a high
ilegiee of civilisation, which
ijl' was in some respects on a
le\el -with that of Central
America at the same period,
although in others markedly
inferior. Hence the whole
area has been not inaptly
termed by Professor Keane
• the cultural zone." On the
I ilateau of Bogota, in Colombia,
I lie cultured peoples were
represented by the Muyscas,
• T Chibchas, who had de-
veloped a well-organised
system of government and
other institutions. The cul-
tured area was, however, but
limited, as in the immediate
neighbourhood were other members of the Muyscan stock, commonly known as Ranches, still
living in primitive barbarism, being without government, wearing no clothes, and practising, it is
said, cannibalism. The Muyscan Empire — in which the high priest occupied a very prominent
position — was a highly artificial and unstable state of societ_y, which crumbled to pieces at the
first shock of invasion.
Some distance to the south of the Muyscan Emjjire was the still more important Quechuan,
or Inca, dominion, which comprised nearly the whole of the Andes proper, extending from the
equator in the neighbourhood of Quito to the Rio JIaule in Central Chili. The total
length of the territory was about 2,500 miles, and its average breadth some 400 miles ; the
area thus being about 1,000,000 square miles, with a population of 10,000,000. The Quechuas,
or Incas, were the dominant race ; and although their language has been superseded by
Spanish in the seaport and other large towns, it still maintains its hold in the coimtry
districts. Nearly allied are the Quitus and the Chinchas; but the Bolivian Aymaras were
more distinct. These latter were the builders of the stupendous ruins of Tiahuanaco, on the
southern shore of Lake Titicaca, situated on the confines of Peru and Bolivia. Titicaca was
Southern Chili and Argentina.
569
subsequently incorporated in the Inca dominion, with the result that the Aymaran divinities,
ritual, and traditions were likewise assimilated by the Quechuan Incas. In their elevated
home the Incas succeeded in breeding from the wild guanaco two domesticated varieties —
namely, the alpaca and the llama; the former being raised for its wool and flesh, while the
latter was used for carrying burdens. Gold, silver, copper, and lead were worked in the Potosi
mines, although iron was unknown. On the highlands they cultivated the potato, and on the
lower grounds maize ; and their cloth of alpaca wool was of excellent quality. With the
remark that both Quechuas and Aymaras differed considerably in physical features from their
Guaranian neighbours, we must pass on to mention that the Antisian group occupied the true
Antis, or Andes, which forms the third chain of the Cordillera of Peru and Bolivia. Reference
must also be made to the pre-Inca Chimus, the presumed builders of the great Temple of the
Sun at Ghimu, the modern Truxillo, on the coast of Northern Peru. The Ivaro, or .Tivaran
Indians of Ecuador, are in the habit of removing the skull and contracting the head-skin of
their deceased relatives until it becomes scarcely larger than the fist, the form of the features
being retained.
With these too brief remarks on the inhabitants of tlie "cultui-al zone," we proceed to
the consideration of tlie tribes inhabiting —
SOUTHERN CHILI AND ARGENTINA.
The effete civilisations above mentioned were limited to the southward by the Rio Maule, which
enters the sea below the city of Talca, in Central Chili ; and as we have also seen that the
Guaranian tribes extended on the opposite side of the continent to the Rio de la Plata, there
remain for consideration those inhabiting that portion of America lying south of these points,
together with those of part of Northern Argentina.
CHILIAN NATIVE AND HIS WIVES.
72
570
The Living Races of Mankind
vSouth of the Eio i\l;uile the aborigmes called themselves Moluche, or " warrior-people,"
the affix che in the Araucanian language denoting "people." They are, however, more
generally known by their Spanish title of Araucanians (rebels), a name due to their independence
and intolerance of foreign dominion. In Chili, however, the Araucanians, although retaining a
modicum of freedom, are fast allies of the republic. As to the exact sense in which the term
Moluche, or Araucanian, is employed, there is, however, some difference of usage. Properly
speaking, the sections known as Picunche, Pehuenche, Huilliche, and Puelche, respectively
meaning North, Central (from the Pehuen district). South, and East tribes, are but divisions of
the jSIoluche. Of these, the term Puelche rightly includes those IMoluches which extend
eastwards of the Cordillera into Argentine territory as far as Mendoza, but it has also been
extended to embrace the Pampas Indians of Buenos Aires, and thus all the aborigines as far
south as the Rio Negro. The Araucanians have not only no central government, but no tribal
chiefs ; the head of each family being the chief of
all his descendants. Custom seems, indeed, to be
the only force which impels the members of the
various tribes to collect together for mutual self-
defence or other purposes ; after which they rapidly
disperse to their scattered dwellings. The spirits
of departed INIoluche are supposed to dwell in the
]\lilky Way) whence they watch over their kindred
below ; this ancestral supervision being apparently
the main bond of union between the tribes. Most
Araucanians are of a distinctly lighter shade of com-
plexion than the Peruvian tribes. From the greater
part of the Pampas of Buenos Aires the Indians
have been swept away by Em'opean colonisation ;
their places being at first taken by the Gauchos, or
half-breeds, who are themselves fost disappearing
before the tide of foreign immigi-ation. Both
Gauchos and Indians are essentially horsemen, the
introduction of the horse having profoundly modi-
fied tlie original mode of life of the latter, of
wliicli little is really known. So ingrained is the
habit of riding among both peoples, that it is a
common saying in Argentina that an Indian or
Gaui-ho will walk a mile to catch a horse in order
to vide a quarter of a mile. Both are well clothed ;
the poncho, or blanket with a liole cut in the centre,
through which the head is thrust, being the garment
donned over others in bad weather. Both are experts
in the use of the lasso and tolas ; the former being
a rope with a running noose at one end, and the
latter either two or three balls fastened together by
strings and hurled at animals. After mentioning
that the union between man and horse is less
marked in the Gaucho than in the Pampas Indian,
Mr. W. H. Hudson observes that the savage nature
of the latter brings him nearer to the level of the
animal he rides. " The Indian horse is more docile,
lie understands his master better; the slightest touch
of the hand on his neck, which seems to have
developed a marvellous sensitiveness, is sufficient
'^ i %■
AH ABAUCA_N'IA>; BEAUTY
Ml
\
1 1
572
The Living Races of Manl<ind
tn guide him. The Gaucho
laliciurs to give his horse
' a silken mouth,' as he aptly
calls it : the Indian's horse
lias it from biilh. Occa-
sionally the Gaucho sleeps
ill the saddle : the Indian
can die on his horse." It
>liould be added that Gauchos
are for the most part of
Spanish origin on the paternal
iiid Indian on the maternal
-iile; being half-breeds, they
demand no fm-ther notice
litMe. Pampas Indians, like
the Patagonians, confine their
lung hair by a fillet passing,
across the forehead, round
the head.
To the south of the Rio
Xegro we enter the country
of the Patagonians, or
'IVhuelches (Chuelches), as
they are called by their
Araucanian neighbours ; a
people celebrated for their
tall stature, and, in former
days, for the fierceness and
cruelty of their disposition.
There are various tribal
groups of these people, into
the consideration of which
it will be unnecessary to
enter here ; but it may be
mentioned that originally they were divided into the Northern Tehuelches, who ranged some
distance south of the Chubut Eiver, and the Southern Tehuelches, who inhabited all the country
south of the Eio Chico, aud thence extended into Tierra del Fuego. Of late years, however,
these divisions have been swept away by the migrations of these wandering jieople. It is
suggested by Keane that the Tehuelches are descended from a numerous nation of gigantic
aborigines, who inhabit the Brazilian states of Mat to Grosso and Goyaz, and have long been
known to the Portuguese settlers as Bororos. The Tehuelche language is perfectly distinct from
both the Araucanian and the Puelchean of the Pampas Indians.
Writing of the Tehuelches, Darwin says that "their height appears greater than it really
is, from their large guanaco [skin] mantles, theii- long flowing hair, and general figure ; on
an average their height is about 6 feet, with some men taller and only a few shorter ; and
the women are also tall; altogether they are certainly the tallest race which we an}'where
saw. In features they strikingly resemble the more northern Indians whom I saw with
Rosas, but they have a wilder and more formidable appearance ; their faces were much painted
with red and black, and one man was ringed and clothed with white like a Fuegian." On
the other hand. Captain Musters, who made a long journey through the heart of Patagonia,
puts the average height at not more than 5 feet 10 inches. Individual men of 6 feet 4
and 6 feet 10 inches have been measured. In general physique the Tehuelches accord with
MAPOCHE KATIVES OF AEAUCANIA,
Southern Chili and Argentina
573
their height; the muscular development of the arms and chest being extraordinary, while
as a rule they are well proportioned throughout. Captain Musters especially notices the high
instep; a feature so developed that a Tehuelche with whom he had arranged to barter a
pair of London-made boots was quite unable to get them on. Their powers of walking and
of abstaining from food for long periods are remarkable; a party of them on one occasion
walking a distance of over forty miles within twelve hours without once touching food. Their
features are decidedly jileasing, the eyes being bright, and the nose aquiline and well
formed. Very characteristic are the prominent ridges over the eyebrows ; above which the
forehead is somewhat retreating. When cleaned from paint and dirt, the complexion of
the men is reddish brown, and has been compared to the colour of Devon cattle. All hairs
on the face — sometimes including even the eyebrows — are carefully eradicated with tweezers;
and the long tlowing hair of the scalp, which is confined by a cloth fillet, is carefully
dressed. Grey liair is rare, although the occurrence of snow-white locks has been recorded.
The hair of the women scarcely equals in length that of their lords, and is plaited into a pair
of long tails ; these,
among the unmarried,
being lengthened on
festive occasions with
horse-hair ornamented
with blue beads and
terminating in silver
jjendants. Although
not ageing prema-
turely, when old the
women become really
hideous. Unlike the
men, they never walk,
but perform all their
journeys on horseback
"The dress of tiie
men," writes Captain
Musters, consists of a
chinpa, or undei-
garment, round the
loins, made of a poncho,
a piece of clot li, or
even of a gu<inaK)
mantle. ... All otlii i
garments are supplnii
by the capacion- iimI
warm skin - ni.uit le.
whicli, worn with the
fur inside and tlie
painted side out, will
keep the wearer diy
for a considerable time
in the wettest weather.
This is often dispensed
with in the chase ; but
if worn when riding, is
secured at the waist by
a belt of hide, or leather
Pluito by I>r. Paul Eyades, from
' Mission Scientiflque du Cap Born.'
A FnEGIAN MAN.
574
The Living Races of Mankind
if it can be obtaiiied. . .
When sitting by the fireside,
or even when walking about,
the furred part of the mantle
is generally kept over the
mouth — as the Tehuelches
aver that the cold wind causes
sore gums — a habit which
assists in rendering their
guttural and at all times rather
unintelligible language more
difficult of comin-ehension to
the novice. Their pot7-o boots,
or buskins, are made from
the skin of a horse's hock,
and occasionally from the
leg of a large puma, drawn
on up to the knee and
fastened round the foot. It
is thus worn for a day or
two until the boots have taken
the shape of the foot, when
the leather is cut at the tot-s,
and se\\ii up to fit. When
the sole i.s worn, or in very
wet or snowy weatlier, hide
overshoes are worn besides,
and the footprints thus made
are really large enough to
carry the idea of giants' feet,
and partly explain the term
' Patagon,' or large feet,
ai^plied to these Indians by
their Spanish discoverers."
''■ ' In riding, the boots are
A ii.iiLLLciii, -MA-N. securcd with garters, which
are ordinarily made of bright-
bands, but in the case of chiefs are of hide ornamented with large silver
ition to the fillet binding the hair, hats are worn when procurable.
The mantle of the women is fastened at the throat by a large broad-headed silver
pin, by a nail, or by a thorn, according to the circumstances of the wearer; beneath this
being a kind of loose shirt, made of some calico stuff, and reaching from the shoulders
to the ankles. A broad belt, ornamented with the favourite blue beads and bosses of silver
or brass, serves to confine the mantle when travelling. The boots are like those of the men,
with the excejition that the hair is left on the hide of which they are made. In spite
of the severity of the climate the children are generally suffered to run about in a state
of nudity till between six and eight years of age, and always jirefer to be barefoot. Never-
theless, they are pi-ovided with small mantles, as well as with boots made of soft shamoyed
leather from the fore-legs of the guanaco. Both sexes are fond of ornaments, and smear
their faces with jjaint ; the latter substance being more rarely applied also to the body,
and being said to prevent the skin chapping. The ornaments of the women take the
form of necklaces of blue beads or silver, as well as of large square earrings fastened,
coloured woven
buckles. In ad
Southern Chili and Argentina
575
to i^rnall rings passed through the lobes of the ears. By the men silver is used, when
circumstances permit, to adorn their pipes, knife-hilts and sheaths, belts, and horse-trappings ;
silver spurs and stirrups being added by those who can afford such luxuries. Although the
beads are imported, the silver ornaments are hammered out of the dollars taken in commercial
transactions.
During their frequent journeyings the babies are carried in wicker and hide-thong cradles,
made to fit on their mothers' saddles ; these cradles, in the case of affluent families, being
ornamented with brass bells or silver plates. The paint used for the face and body on ordinary
occasions is made of ochre and black earth mixed with guanaco marrow ; but on special occa-
sions white paint and powdered gypsum are employed. In their ceremonial dances the men,
who are clothed in nothing but a loin-cloth, decorate their heads with the plumes of the
rhea, or South American ostrich, and wear a belt, to which are affixed brass bells, across one
shoulder. Bathing forms a regular part of the morning toilet ; notwithstanding which Tehuelche
garments swarm with vermin. Any hairs that may be brushed out during the toilet, as well
as all nail-parings, are scrupulously burnt.
The Tehuelches dwell in capacious tents made of guanaco-hide ; but as to describe these
would exceed the limits of our space, our readers may be referred to one of the plates illustrating
Lady Florence Dixie's " Across Patagonia." The opening of the tolclo, as the tent is called,
is directed away from the prevailing wind, and a fire lighted just in the entrance. The
furniture com {rises a few bolsters, made out of old j^onchos, and one or two horse-hides to
serve as curtains. An iron spit forms the most imjDortant cooking utensil, but some times
an iron pot may be added ; while armadillo-shells or wooden platters, in which to hold
broth, may also form a })art of the equipment. In the old days, at least, the flesh of the
rhea formed the favourite food, guanaco-flesh, as well as that of the pampas deer, being
less esteemed. Blood is on all occasions
drunk eagerly ; and marrow and fat,
in the absence of farinaceous food, form
essential articles of diet. Horse-flesh seems
to be chiefly eaten at dances and other
ceremonies. The chief weapons used in
hunting are the bolas and the lasso ; of
the former there are two types, one, the
chume, fitted with two balls and employed
in rhea-hunting, and the other, called
yackiko, furnished with three balls and used
for taking the guanaco. Formerly the balls
were made of stone, the most ancient type
being distinguished by having a deep
groove chiselled round it ; but other sub-
stances are now employed. Guanaco and
rhea are caught by being struck round the
neck, although cattle and horses are balled
round the hind-legs. Flint arrow-heads are
met with in many parts of Patagonia.
TIERKA DEL FUEGO.
liEAViNG the continent of South America,
our brief remaining space must be devoted to
the inhabitants of the desolate and storm-
swept island to the south of the Strait of
Magelhaen. The typical Fuegians are properly a koegian woman.
576 The Living Races of Mantcind
known as Yahgans, and speak a dialect dis-
tinct from all the continental tongues ; in
addition to this there is a second dialect
known as Alakaluf, which may be distantly
related to the Araucanian, and also a third
— the Ona — which seems nearer to Pata-
gonian. Great differences are observable in
the accounts given of the Fuegians by diiferent
observers — as, for instance, Fitzroy and Darwin
on the one hand, and more recent travellers,
like Dr. P. Hyades, of the French exj^edition
to Cape Horn, on the other. It has been
suggested that such discrepancies are in great
pan due to the alteration in the manners of
the natives by the English missionaries ; and as
the older accounts are more likely to portray Photobp nr.ravt n!i.,.i.>,jn,„Liitc" m,>.,„;i '^cunujiqiit^iucwi, nom.
the original habits of the people, the following fuegians.
notes are culled from Darwin's narrative.
In stature the Eastern Fuegians are compared by the last-named writer to the Patagonians;
the three young men seen by him being about 6 feet in height. Their skin is of a dirty
coppery-red colour ; and at the time of Darwin's visit the only garment of the men on the
east coast was a mantle of guanaco-skin, with the hair outside, loosely thrown over the
shoulders. An old man forming the fourth of the party had a fillet of white feathers bound
round his head, partly confining his long and tangled black hair. Across his face ran two
broad bars of paint — namely, a red one reaching from ear to ear and including the upper lip,
and a second of chalky white running above and parallel to the first, so as to include the
eyelids. The rest of the party were ornamented with streaks of charcoal jiowder. According
to the figures published by Dr. Hyades, two of which we have been permitted to reproduce,
white and red are now the colours most in vogue. Their language has been compared to a
man dealing his throat ; but even in this manner few Europeans could produce such hoarse,
clicking, and guttural sounds as are uttered by Fuegians.
These people formerly subsisted almost exclusively upon shell-fish, and consequently were
compelled fi-equently to shift their place of abode. Nevertheless, the large dimensions of
the shell-heaps, which often amount to many tons in weight, indicate that they returned at
intervals to the same spots. Unlike the Patagonians, they dwell in huts, or wig\vams. which,
although used only for a few days, require some trouble to build. These huts consist of
some broken boughs stuck in the ground, and roughly thatched on one side with a few bundles
of grass and rushes. Even such wretched shelter against the inclemency of a severe climate
was not, however, always available, Darwin mentioning an instance where three naked Fuegians
spent the night on the ground. It has been already mentioned that the tribes on the east
coast wear a guanaco-skin mantle ; among those of the west coast the place of this is taken
by seal-skins, while some of the central tribes wear an otter-skin, or some other small covering,
which is barely sutficient to cover the back as far down as the loins, being laced across the
chest by strings, and shifted from side to side according to the direction of the wind.
Watxoii "t Vincy, Id., London and Ai/Usbu
INDEX
Ababde
A.lu d
Vby&s
1 tl 0] 0 (ao ps, 309, 374
0 It e {see C It n
ores
(sc H-irj V u)
Arnants and
Ale t 0(j
Al e 1 s a 1 Moors 403—408
AIo Wo (tl e T ga veitl er god). 13
A 1 X a or A Kosa {sec liaifir), :
Pb
itrle ''8b
o}i 40
Al acl et, 3r
Al g 7 3 D 40
Apono 337 33J
Apparel (see Dress)
Appearance of (Ac .— Abalxlch,
Admiralty Islanders, 34;
212; Akka, 274; Albanians," 43G ;
Amazons of Dahomey, 366 ; Amhr
(Abyssinians), 376 ; Anamites,
AfglK
And-vman IsHndeis, 109 ; Apmgi, 3"9 ,
in, Timni r,3, Todas 186, 189
Aribiins,
241
Ala^lc^nl■ln'5, 570 ,
longan 1 Tini SS Imkana
Airaemm=
, 2(,i
, Austialiins, 49—07,
354 I 1 1 T 1 \ ddis
IJakontio,
'..1
, B ikn mdo, 270 ;
172, \\ 1 1 W n8.
Lilempi,
273, liiv
30'),
Bmtu, jU, Batwx,
Wag 1 W 1 1 Warn
n 1
>f B ,1 ,ho^ -0 ^ Beeh
buttu W / 314,
nam '
1
Wanjoi , W ipjl m 320,
403 1
1 JS4 ',
Wasa^Hi olO, UelJi, Ui, Wito
rhd 1
1
140,
384, Yakuts, 231, Zulus 30 J
Bui, 1
l,ur-
Aiatangata 20
me c II
1
Uiio^a,
Aiabians, 241, 303
208, (
Aiabs of Noith Africa, 404—408
Cue I
4j4,^'D*o'
A.1 xgonese, 47S
mejiu
1 1 371; Danes,
Al iny^kas (a division of Brahmanas), 20o
4bl \>
1 _S(i Diuss,
\i I i< inians, 570
1
' 1
1 1
\ US 550
\ ii uca and Greenland, 505—528
lOO
j 1
1
nd SMthern Chili, 509-575
1
. nts)
I 381 ; Germany, 458 •
'
1 11^ Switzerland, 466
jbj, I
1 1m,
A7toJ^\ vrrina, 246; Bush-
H-im.
"OS II
II ID,,
men t T.'i; J;ipan, 150,
Latul
45S
Milu
42, ^1
buttii
iiegiiii
2SJ
Gum
Ii lin
and Algonquian stoeks,
537, 538
tmonial sacrifice), 307
\tui
Austral Islands, 20
A.ustlah^ 4')— 07
Austria Hungary, 453, 456
Azandeh {see Niam-niam), 3
Aztecs, 529, 5j4, 555
itioit(orBiriot), 332
ime 02 04
t ■> I Gypsies), 74
Svans 117
431, Shiss
manians 0^
II lajiks 222, Ti^
Iibbub, 3bG, Tibet ma,
577
Ldhtiins, 238
Bakise, 271
Bakongo, 330, 331
57S
The Living Races of Manlvind
Bakuba, 334
Eakwando, 270
Bakwena, 302, 304
Balempa, 309
Balolo, 332
Baluba, 334
Baluchis, 216
Baluchistan, 212
Balunda, 330
Bamangwato tribe, 302, 30 1
Bangola, 332
Bangwaketsi, 304
Bantu, 205, 2S6, 294, 296—299, 332
„ of British Central Africa, 309, 312
„ „ Eastern Africa, 313—330
„ „ French Congo, 337—343
„ and Hottentot Negroes, 294—290
„ of South Africa, 290—309
„ West Africa, 330—330
Banyai, 308, 312
Bara, 283, 284
Barabra, 402
Barolong, 304
Barotsi, 302, 304
Bari, 350, 354
Bashilange (or Tushilange), 334
Basques, 476, 478
Basuto, 304
Batavia, 83
Bateke, 332
Batlapi, 303
Batlaro, 302, 303
Battas (inland hill people of Sumatra), 84
Batwa, 271, 275
Batwana, 304
Bayansi of Bolobo, 330, 332
Bazimba, 286
Bear worship, 231
Uechuanas, 300, 302
Bedouins, 245, 248
Begging Erahmans, 210
Beja, 374, 401—402
Belgium and Belgians, 485—487
Bellates (slaves), 390
Bena-Riamba (a secret society of Congo
district), 334
Beni-Amer, ,374
Berber tribes, 205, 361, 370, 388, 393, 403—
404
Berikimo, 281
Betsileo, 283, 286
Betsimisaraka, 283
Bhils, 184
Birth of Children amonntl —\\\ mis
380 ; Chinese, 13t 1 M 11
Dutch, 489; Esluii
398; Greeks, 434 4
Hottentots, 296 Ku I 1
Nilotic group, 359 lui) 4 s
Bisayan (one of the chief tribes of Philip
pine Islands), 84
Bishari, 402
Bismarck Archipeligo, 31
Bison of North Amei ici, 529
Blood-brotherhood rite among the Ivil uju
344
Blow-pipe of South Amencins 503
Bod-yul, ICl
Bogo, 376
Bokhara, 221, 222
Bolivian Aymaras, 568
Boloi, 310
Bon, or Bonba (an eaily Tibetan creed),
104, 106
Bongo, 350, 352
Borneo, 28, 77
Bornuese, 394
Bosnia-Herzegovina, 449 453
Bourgeoisie of France, 472 473
Brahmanas (a division of tlie Vtda) 21)4
205
Brahmans' caste, 182, 203, 212
Brahuis, 216
Brazil, 500, 567
Brooke (Rajah) in Sarawak, 80, 82
Brunei, Sultan of, 77
Buddhism, 138
Bugis (inhabitants of Celebes), 77
Bulgaria, 439, 441
Burden of an Australian woman, 54
Burial Customs of the: — Abyssinians, 380 ;
Arabs, 247 ; Ashira, 337, 338 ; Batwa,
280; Bongo, 353; Bosnians, 450; Chins,
113, 116; Dutch, 489; Dyas, 80;
Dyur, 352; East African natives, 312;
Esldmo, 525, 52li ; Fans, 350 ; Fijians,
7; Giliaks, 234; Greeks, 435, 436;
(^uianas, 564, 506; Hottentots, 296;
Hova, 288; Irish, 502; Karens, 119;
Latuka, 354 ;
isai, 357 ; New
Niam-ninm, 317;
ghiz-Kazaks,
Liu-kiu, 100 ;
Guinea people, 2
Nilotic group, ?."'•: X'-fli Xir-n-'nii
Indians, 51:i : ' " ■■• ■ ".' ' ■ T' ■
Islanders, sil ,
287; Shan., 1 ■ . , , , , ". Ml .
Somali, 373, '.'u 1 ; I'.ui.iIl, :^.>, ; 'I'l
betans, 165 ; Toiik':nis, 14 ; Turks, 439 ;
Upper Congo natives, 334, 335 ; Ved-
das, 176; Wadoa, 316; Wanyamwezi,
315 ; Wanyoro, 327
Buriats, 223, 224, 225
Burma, 110—120
Bushmen of South Africa, 265, 2C0
Buttons (as an insignia of rank of Jlan-
darins), 129
Cachalot teeth (used for necklets), 2
Caledonia (or Scotland), 495
Calendars of South American Indians, 556
Cambodia, 97, 98, 108
Cangue (a Chinese instrument of torture),
132
Cannibalism among the: — Andaman Island-
ers, 171; Ashanti, 363; Australians,
58 ; Battas, 84 ; Celebes Islanders, 77 ;
Fans, 350 ; Fanti, 363 ; Fijians, 4, 0 ;
Maoris, 46 ; Monbuttu, 328 ; Negroes,
292, 293 ; New Caledonians, 41 ; New
Ireland natives, 32 ; Niam-niam, 347 ;
Pygmies, 278 ; Solomon Islanders, 37 ;
South Americans, 554 ; Tasmanians,
70 ; Upiier Congo people, 334 ; Wayao,
313
Canoes of the — Admiralty Islanders, 30 ;
Andaman Inlanders, 170 , Australians,
V, Bantu 333, Eskimo 514, 510; in-
li il it lilt jf Madagascar, 287 ; Mon-
1 Noith American Indians,
jn Islanders, 37; Tas-
( lu isians ^1,0 417
C l^ Uo I'- J 8
( iltlts 77
felticiarib 4jS 469 470 4-3 476,490,498
Ctnti\l \raeii(.a 5o4— i 8
ftyl n( fc\eddas) 172
fhillfaus 2o8
Lhai iLter ( ic Disposition)
f haiactiiistics of Belgian cities 486
ClnssT 1 Kukib (or 1 aksatte), 116
Chekhs 4j3 4o4 4j&
( h uv. ( f Tbhi) 303
40
( 1 nil 1-1 14(1
( 1 inese national cohesion 123
( 1 ms, 112
(Jhippewyans (or Ojibwas), 530, 537, 540
Chiquitos, 507
Chukchis, 234, 500
Cicatrisation (see Tattooing)
Cincalle, 281
Circassians, 420, 422
Clans of Scotland, 496
Classes of Araliiau sor-i.-ty, 245
Classitir,,'.,:^ ,,i \hh:in types, 205, 206;
Click i'l i'l I. ".':;>'. ■■■^:!'
Club-hiin 1 l',i|iii.iM,, 28
Clothes {see Dress)
Cochin-China, 104
Coffee (discovery of), 245
Coinage (see Money)
Confucianism, 137
Congo tribes, 330, 331
Cook (or Hervey) Islands, 20
Copts, 390
• ' ' •'• also Marriage Customs)
' —Barabra, 402; Berbers,
11. I iiiiH-se, 110, 111; Dyas, 79;
Ivurii:, 119; Sakais, 96
Cduvaile custom, 564
Creeks, 540
Crees, 537
Cremation [see Burial Customs)
Croats, 453, 454
Cultivation among the: — Abyssinians, 378 j
And.amans, 170 ; Apono, 339 ; Ashango,
342 ; Bongo, 353 ; Danes, 482 ; Dinka,
351; Druses, 249; Dyas, 79; Finns,
423 ; Gallas, 370, 371 ; Hottentots, 295
Ibhogo, 338; Kaffirs, 300; Kanuri
391 : Karens, 119 ; Kikuyu, 344
Mil' '1-1 ■>: • Mi-'iMPT^ "iW;Maoris,
II li M - \. -iitos, 88
Ni i.ople, 359
>.\ 1 ' 1 1 1 I 1 ' ^ iiinnlsland
manians, 70 ; Turks, 257 ; Wagiryama,
318 ; Wakamba, 321 ; W.ankonde, 314 ;
Wanyamwezi, 315 ; Wapokomo, 320 ;
Wasoga, 320 ; Wazaramo, 310
Customs (see Habits)
Cymric race, 490, 494
Czar of all the Russias, 410
Dacoits (Burmese), 111
Dahomevans, 304 — 308
Dakk.a, 296
Dakotas, 538, 546
Dalai Lama (the head of Buddhism), 138,
165
Danakil, 371, 372 (see Afar)
Danees of the ;— Apono, 339 ; Batwa, 278,
280 ; Chins, 112 ; Eskimo, 528 ; Guianas,
5(J0 ; Hairy Ainu, 154 ; people of India,
178 : people of Java, 83 ; Khasis, 197 ;
Batukii, 354 ; Malays, 75 ; Matabih,
3(i0 ; Rumanians, 443, 444 ; Sakais, 90,
91 ; Society Islanders, 20 ; Solomon
Islanders, 38 ; Somali, 373 ; Tas-
manians, 71; Wayao, 312
Dazas, 394
Death (sec Burial Customs)
Death-rate o/<Ae.— Australians, 51 ; Maoris,
42; New Caledoni.ans, 42; North
American Indians, 530; Tasmanians,
70
Deer-hunting among the Ostiaks, 231
Delawares, 537, 538
Denmark and Danes, 481, 485
Dhuramoolan, 62, 04
Dinka, 350, 351
Dinner party of Moors, 408
Discovery of Australia, 67, 08
Disposition of the: — Admiralty Islanders,
36 ; Afghans, 212 ; Afridis, 214 ; Akka,
274 ; Albanians, 436 ; Amharans, 377 ;
Anamites, 106 ; Andaman Islanders,
170; Apono, 339; Arabs, 241, 242;
Armenians, 260, 261 ; Ashango, 342 ;
Ashanti, 363 ; Australians, 66, 67 ;
Austrians, 453; Bakhtians, 238; Ba-
kon^o, 331 ; Baluchis, 216 ; Bantu, 332 J
Index
579
4 3 1
hur ^
Geo
200 -i
HiryA 1
2j0 H
45 H 11 pe
linders 4'!2 I
Itil an 4
M-v^ya s 4 o II
Jb 74 Ma 1
30b Mo gol
44 448 M
Negioes 293
■^0 Ne V Irel 1
nam 34b ^J I
An er can In 1
4''8 Parss IJ I I
454 Polynes I
Eajputs IJ i 1
3 ans 400 41 I 8
Samoans 17 t h
men 4)6 Se I
gallas 38 SI
bomal 3 2 3
Suah 1 290
464 Taj ks 2 1 I
188; Tuaregs, 3^o ; luiignsis, L'J..-,
Turki, 217; Turks, 2M, 207, 438;
Usbegs, 221 ; Veddas, 174 ; Wagogo,
317; Wakamba, 321 ; Wankonde, 314;
Wapokomo, 320 ; Wayao, 313 ; Waza-
ramo, 316; Welsh, 494, 495; Yakuts,
231
Division of: — Borneo people, 77 ; Eskimo,
508 ; Guianas, 558 ; Indian races, 177 ;
Italian nation, 408 ; Malay races, 73,
74 ; North American Indians, 534 ;
Swiss nation, 402
Dobos (or tree-huuses), 28
Doko, 280, 374
Dongolawi, 402
Dra vidians, 177, 178, 180, 186
Dress of the : — Ababdeh, 402 ; Abyssiniaiis,
377, 378 ; Admiralty Islanders, 3j ;
Al banians, 436 ; Andaman Islanders,
s, 202 ;
440
Arabs, 242, 244 ;
Ashira, 337; Austin
333; Batwa, L'7ii;
Berbers, 403, in ,
Bongo,
garians,
208; ri.
396; (
Danak i
Dyur, :
511, 51:
500; 11:^: '. ■ III., :.:i-J.
393; II. i. : ' li , , 1.:^;
HiUi i ; I , . .',,'. II . - Ml.. I.,
Japanese, 148, ' 150 ; ' Ju.-uigs,' 184;
Kaffirs, 299; Karens, 119; Khasia,
193; Kikuyu, 343; Kirghiz-Kazaks,
218 Koreans 158
Koti
189 La o
3b0 Lapp 4 P
Lat 1
a 354 L
gha 41 T
U 1
1 Man-yars
455 Al
3 b Mata
bl
Moor 40o
40b ^
C ledon ana
41 ^
2b Nev
1 1 1
\ V Z la d
1 4 44
N
ir
N 1 o 1
J
Nj 1
\ 1 \
4
1 t
1
I 1 41
Nj 1 1
1 0 t k
•> 0 1
4 P
''ob 1
P
a 41
1
11
^aete d 1 p
Samo n 17
102 S et 1 1
Isla le
Svan
Tu I
las 1 W 1 W
319 \\ 1 \\ 1 I 1
Wanlonde 31' \\a yam vez 315
Wanyoro 3 7 Wa] ok on o 3''0 Wasa
g-i a j17 Waso^a 3''6 Wazaran o
lb \\elsl 49j Z 1 304
/ J n 1 I a 0 le — Al > s a
A 1 r Itj I 1 le 34
\| 4 13 Lerb
till II B t " 4
111 1 I Geo
II 1 -1 1 la n t e
1 II 1 t 1 J Mo
t, 1 144 Mo 43b Nev C le
do ana 42 Nev Gu nea jeoile
b N am n am 34 Ru a a s
4 1 R ans 41 j ban oyedes 230
98 Sue et I 1 de a 0
I IbO Wapol o o 3 0
Iiuicii, 488—490
Dwelli-ngs of (Ae .—Ababdeh, 402 Abys-
sinians, 378 ; Admiralty Islanders, 35 ;
Andaman Islanders, 170 ; Apono, 330 ;
Arabs, 244; Ashanti, 363; Asia MiiiM,
peoples, 258 ; Australians, 50, ... ,
Bantu, 333; Beehuanas, 303; Btrl.. i ,
404 ; Bhils, 186; Bongo, 352; Busiii:iii-,
450 ; Bulg;iriana, 440 ; Bushmen of
South Africa, 269 ; Chins, 112 ; Dinka,
351; Doko,_280; Dyas, 79; Egba,
368, 309 ; Equatorial pygmies,
518, 520, 521 ; Eans, 348 ;
Eskii
354; M ■.,■-:, ■ . : -, Ma-
shon^i-, . '. M . , M iil.uttu,
328; M. 1 ■ ! : \| . , -rins,
447; M... . ^ l"i; ; N. i.> , - 'i' ; New
Guinea ii.itivts, 2.S ; Ni-w Ireland
natives, 32; Niam-niam, 34G ; Njemp-
sians, 358 ; North American Indians,
■., I'.. das,
,:i,.i . , 220;
Wagugu, 317 ;
rule, 314; Wan-
., 327; Wasoga,
; Wito, 384;
E r o an ents (s Ornaments)
Li to a 0 g tie .—Belgians, 487 ;
Da es 4S3 484 French, 473, 474;
Ger a 8 "jj 200 ; Servians, 440 ;
Sva 4b
Fgl a (or Egb lo) Ob
]< g (o I f ) 04
1 fe 1 1 d Lg> 1 1 s 90—400
El 1 1 ant 1 u t o an ong the Mashonas,
308
h I eror of CI a 1 9
I gland and L gl shn en, 490—494
1- q t r 1 Neg oes 2ro, 294, 343
I 1 1 ijgn es 2 "
(Ne Hebrdes), 39
Innu t Yu t, or Karalit), 505 —
I I dlS
i on of mankind, 122
\ 1 nan lahiiulers, 170,
I l.iii,... .'.L'^: l.'ijiana.
Yakuts,
Dya head-hu
Dyaa, 78
Formosa), 158
1 I i\ 347—350
1
I e sts ot 01 s 11
Feat es (s e A] I e nee)
1 ellah n 3Jb
Fetishism, 200, 293, 312, 314, 319, 332, 337
339, 342
Fiji Islands, 1—8
Finger-rings {see Ornaments)
Kini'.i 300
linli.hl and Finns, 422-424
Imiii .V, king of Tongans (death), 14, 15
I II. .■,..i>liippers, 196, 203 _
I'l liiii^' by Hairy Ainu, 155
Fleiuiiigs, 485
Folk-lore of: — Bushmen of South Africa,
270 ; Hottentots, 290
Food of <Ac.— Ababdeh, 402 ; Abyssinians,
378 ; Admiralty Islanders, 35 ; Anam-
itea, 106 ; Andaman Islanders, 170 ;
Arabs, 244 ; Ashira, 337 ; Australians,
50, 58 ; P.antu, 334 ; Beehuanas, 303. ;
Gallas, 370 ; Giliaks, 232 ; Guianas,
559; Icelanders, 432; Irish, 502;
Italians, 470 ; Kanuri, 394 ; Kirghiz-
Kazaks, 218 ; Kotas, 189 ; Kurumbas,
190; Malagasi, 287; Maoris, 44, 40;
Masai, 357 ; Monbuttu, 328 ; Mongols,
142; Moors, 406, 408; Negritos, 87;
Negroes, 292 ; New Guinea people, 28 :
Niam-niam, 347 ; Njempsians, 35S ,
North American Indians, 546, 547 ;
Norwegians, 430; Ostiaks, 230;^Pata-
guese.
442;
Wanyamwezi
Wasoga, 326
ans, 237; Portu-
.'M.i.'t, ■_>78; Rumanians,
M . 110; Sakais, 90;
i, .lias, 381; Society
.!i, 373; Sweden,
m; ; T.i,Us,257;Vedd.a',
1, 325; Waktmba, 321 •
315 ; Wap- iomo, 320 ■
58o
The Living Races of Mankind
Formosa, 158
Foster-brothering (a Swedish custom), 431
France and French, 45S, 470—475
Friendly Islands (see Tonga)
Fuegians, 576
Fulah, 391
Funeral rites [see Burial Customs)
Fur Kegroes, 394
Philip
Gadabursi, 374
Galician, 478
Gallas (or Oromo), 265, 370
Gambling amongst : — Mala}
pine Islanders, 86
Games (see Amusements)
Ganguella, 330
Gauchos, 570
Gauls, 470, 490
Gaza, 308, 309
Gelele (king of Dahomey), 3C4
Georgians, 419, 420
Germans, 453, 457—402
Gersau (annual ceremony in) 4C0
Ghegs, 436
Ghez (a Semitic language), 3"6
Ghoorkas, 196
Ghost dance (religion of iSoith A.merican
Indians), 550
Giao-shi (or Anamites
Gilbert Islanders 11
Gihaks 232
Gond=! 186
Gondwam l^r
buttu 3'"s
Moors 4(s
40 4 4 4
106
Great 1 114 4
Grel 1
Gree 4 —4
Guad tl u 1 1 u 1
Guaraman obi
Guebres ancient fire worshipper* 238
Guianas 5o8— 5b6
Guinea Negroes, 265, 292, 294, 363—309
Habits of the : — Admiralty Islanders, 36 ;
Afghans, 212 ; Akka, 274 ; Albanians,
436 ; Anamese, 106 ; Andaman Island-
ers, 170; Apingi, 339; Arabs, 241;
Armenians, 262 ; Bakwando, 271 ; Beri-
kimo. 281 ; Betsileo, 284 ; Bosnians,
449 ; Erahmans, 20G, 208 ; Buriats, 221 ;
Cfl.-i--, 77: rn-r-n-inn^ 12". 12-':
160; Magi;',,
gols, 142, 14 1
Moors, 40J :
293; Ne(^.
New Ireland
; M .12; Mon-
. 447,448;
- : . : . - , ; Negroes,
.,1 i...i;.c^, 28, 30;
iNew Ireland natives, 32; North Ameri-
can Indians, 549 ; Norwegians, 428 ;
Obocgo, 271 ; Polynesians, 10 ; Portu-
guese, 480 ; Russians, 409, 410, 411, 412 ;
Sakais, 90; Servian.?, 444^146: Siamese,
98; Sioux, .?".': ; '^; i:ii -i ! . 47S ; Swiss,
463, 404 : T 7" : Tibbus,
386; Toda , ■ i '...-ans, 10;
Tunguses, 2_ . ; i ,17 ; Turks,
257; Usbe-.-, 2J2 ; \",... ., 174.
Habr Awal, 374
Habr Gahr-Haji, 374
Hadendowa, 402
Haggars, 386
Hal (chief god of Gilbert Islands), 11
Hai Haik or Ilaiken (nvtional name of
Irmenians) 200
Ha,r or the — A.bibdeh 4(i. VI \ inian=i
"6 37S A.dmir It\ T I
Akki 2 4 Inamit
I hnJeis 1-0 \]
_41 VrniPnnn "(
Vti . 1 1 11
Ci It 4 1 Dih II I I
ool Doko 280 1 1 I
368 Eskimo oOO 1 1
lelHhin 397 Fiji in 1 I 1
ralH« 3-0 Gihak 2 Cond ISI
( unm jOO Guinea natives 363
Hiii\ \inu lo3 Hamrans 400
Hiu 1 "1 Heier 2T^ Hctteiit t
I II I 1 T 1-
\iimniuii 41 Ntith \meiK-in
Indians o30 o32 Nyasaland natnes
312 Obongo 271 Persians 236
Puljnesnns 10 bakais 88 SO
Siimese 9s bulomon Islanders 37
buuah 72 Tajils 222 Tasmanian=.
( s Todas ISO Tuaregs 388 390
^\ ihuma o24 \^anyamwezi, 314
Wapokomo, 320 ; Wasagara, 317 ;
Wazaraaio, 316 ; Wito, 384
Hairy Ainu, 147, 152—158
Ilakas, 113— 117
llamites, 322, 344, 353, 360, 361, 372, 401,
403
Hamitic (division of Caucasian race), 265
Hamrans, 400
Hantus, 92
Haratin (or Black Berbers), 301, 403
Hare Indians, 536
Hasiya, 374
Hassanieh, 401
Haussa, 392, 393
Hamja, 374
Head-hunting among the; — Celebes, 77 ;
Dvas, 76 ; Malays, 75 ; Maoris, 40
TTr'irv,-.. 21',i-254, 458
H . ' * ! "- :th African Bushmen, 208
! I : . , 2 ! - , (' also Greeks)
T.;.
20
II,: •. a. -..,,-_■.»!. 11
Uifinni or. — the Armenians, 201; the
Hebrews, 251, 252 ; HoUand, 488, 489 ;
Ireland, 500—502; Italy, 468; the
Mongols, 140, 141 ; Spain, 476 ; Smt-
zerland, 406 ; the Tasmanian blacks,
OS, 69, 70 ; Wales, 494
Hitomo (a Japanese under-garment), 150
Holland and Dutch, 488—490
Honolulu (capital of Sandwich Islands), 24
Hopi, 551
Horaia i;;-^v.;i;, -ian,;,;,), 443, 444
Hur.,^'- - \ ■' \ inaii Indians, 547:
Hott. ;.■ N _, . _,a-2'J6 "
HottLii;^:.,. 2i.,.5
House-hutus uf Malagasi houses, 2S7
House-moving among Berbers, 404
Houses (see Dwellings)
Hova, 265, 283, 284
Hungarians, 454
Hunting among the : — Bongo, 353 ; Bush-
men of South Africa, 269; Eskimo,
522 ; Fans, 350 ; Forest pygmies, 277
Guianas, 562, 503 ; Hamrans, 400, 401
Hottentots, 295; Jungle folk, 190
Obongo, 272
Iberians, 408, 470, 470, 490
Iceland and Icelanders, 432
Ikongo, 286
Incas, 554, 569
India, 176—211
Indian Armenians, 262
Indios, 84
Industries (see also Manufactures) i
Abyssinians, 380 ; Apono, 339 ;
333 ; Bechuaiias. 303 ;
Berbers, 4i
371 ; Fski
Fans, 348.
456; He..:
■fthe.—
Bantu,
1.S, 487;
T-i'
.M..
I'r^
Initiation of Australian youths, 62, 64
Into.\icating drink (see Drinking Habits)
Inxwala (a Matabili dance), 306-308
Iranians (or Persians), 196, 235, 238
Ireland and Irish, 498 — 504
Iroquoians, 537, 538
Isa, 374
Ishogo, 338
Islam, 247
Italy and Italians, 408—170
Jakuns, 88
Jalin of Khartum, 401
Japan and Japanese, 144
Jats, 192
Java, 83
Jews (sec Hebrews)
Joshiwara, 148
Juangs of Orissa, 184
Jungle folk, 190
K
Kabinda, 330, 331
Kabras (a peace ceremony), 359
Kabyles (see Berbers), 403
Kachins, 111, 112
Kaffirs, 299, 300
Kafiristau, 216
Kalmuks, 223, 224
Kamasia. 354
Kamchadales. 235
Kamilaroi tribe of New South Wales, 66
Kanakas, 24, 41
Ivandjur (the Lamaist sacred book), 160
Kanuri, 394
Karamoyo, 354
Karens, 118, 119
Karons, 25
Kashmiris, 196
Kavirondo (people of), 290, 326, 350. 35)
.3.58—300
Index
5S1
K&yak (an Kskimo oanoe), 514, 516
Kelowais of Air, 386
Kethuba (a Hebrew marriage institutio
;iini (or Hottentots), 204—296
s, I'.il
,1 Xugroes, 294, 343
0 (a Japanese flowing robe), 150
z-lCazaks, 218
:. 439
\ ing by New Zealanders, 10
ins (or Kols), 177, 183, 184 [see al
iinjsandBhils)
ir.ii
s, 1.'31, 506
•,sVl44, 218
ICuki (lull men), 112
Kurds, 235, 238, 261
Kurumbas, 190
Lala (a Hawaiian game), 10
Lamaiserai, 106
Lamaism (a form of Buddhism),
164
Land tenure in Hebrides, 496—198
Lango nation, 360
Language — Ababdeh, 402 ; Afgh'
Ashango 342; \iKtnliin W-
376,
Icehi
338,
420
Mans
328,
Amti
250,
Sakii
Soil,
Lan y ^
Laos 131
apl lad Lapps 424
( Tabmani\nbUck),7t
of El
1 4
41
4 !
L ku ( J< ] a „ ne it), 2
Lia s J 0
Lukul 1 I 18
Lomla 1 -1 J
T 00 cl 00 1 1 I IS
Love story of 1 a 10, 17
Low A cl I el o 24
Low Germans (ur baxons), 407
Lowlanders of Scotkmd (or Saxons), 49,"
Loyalty Islands, 2U
Luris, 235, 238
Lushai, 112
M lol b 10
M 1 n 1
Mxhgisi the 286
Milay PemnsuU 88—96
Alalajb 26 73—96 265 266 282
M ilietoa (a Samoan chief) IS
Mini, 11
M 11 ch 1 btool (bee Tunguses) 22j
Mindans o40
Mil ianns 129
\r 1 ( 1 ! tants of Celebes) 77
ho Industries) of.—
Dyur 3j2 Pij ails, 1 ;
Ivotas 16J Malagasi,
A I
tl o Comtslup) ol
4j3 ] I 11
cassi I 1 4VJ
Dya I s'
Tan I ' 7 ,
rioi 1 I 474
Greels 4 II ne\
Islandeis „ I _ .4
Hottentots I I o
Ilongotes " I Iv I ns
119 Kl 1 1 I k ks
^20 1 1 I Is, 190
Latul 'Vegritos, 87
New 1 1 New Guine 1
nati 1 1 natut
40 Ne 1 I \
347 Noith \ 1
Papians 29 I
ers 48 Russiii
Santa Cru? le 1 41 ^ lu^
Siamese 100 iaulomon Is iu leis, o7,
iS Somah 3''3 , Tahiti (Society)
Isknler=! '>S Tasmin ans, 71,
I Tnrls 4oS 430 Uppei
I ts 3^4 \ eddas, 176
1 ^Vanyoro, 327
M I I
Ml 1 2
Missaciescf \ men us 6
Matab h 6
Mayan cnili ition 5jj 5j0
Ma\as 5 '9
Mazurs 4j8
Mcdici ciien of — Austril:
nesia 11 12
Melhitar "63
Melanesia 2j
Mendi 3( ^
M 111 ( t s( cE
1/ I 0 A
I lie (1 in ) 1 \ V He
rides peoi le SJ Nilotic group, 35
Philippine Islanders, 86 , Sandwii
Islanders, 24 ; Society Islanders,
22; Solomon Islanders, 37; Tong:
16; Waganda, 325; Veddas, 174
Mo
Mo
Mo
Mo
lawk
ucho
laste
ilmtt
.,538 '
570
ies of Armenia,
. Negroes (or M
ih,' P:,,Hs, :r„
263
liigijat
tl), 2
11,31
93
M.
Mn
^!'':
in>l Aiiiri
'!'!!i«m
583
nsof
Aby
M.
Al.
;"\i''::
mten
s, 4ii
egrins,
.-408
417-
149
.lotic
Moravians, 454
Moros, 84
Mortloek Islands, 11
Moslem religion, 240
MostahiU (law of), 393
Mound-budders of America, 551
Mushikongo, 330
Music of (Ae .—Admiralty Islanders, 36;
Bantu, 333; Eskimo, 522; Germans,
460—462 ; Mashonas, oOS ; North
A^mei lean Indians, 547, 548 ; Sakais,
)2 Scotch, 496 , Siamese, loi ; Welsh,
4Jj
540
K
Nails (length of, m Si am), 93
Nam aqua, 291, 29o, 296, 298
Nitionil cohesion of the Chuiese, 122
Nats (a „'uai ban spmt), 103
NaNaj s 5,0
N..llets( ^Onnnients)
^ 1^ ' \ r 1 iboiigm l1 inhabitant.-
I 1 1 nd, 87
Mwub) 43
(01 Azandeh), 294, 343,
Oath-taking with Chins, 118
Obongo, 271
Okanda, 337
('/,( A./c mth (/,c.— A.-tas, 8^
()/i/«m-sm(jii;i(/.— M.ilays, 75; Sia
Oi-ang Benua, 73, 8bi
Urang Laut, 73
5^2
The Living Races of Mankind
Orang Malayu, 73
Ordeals (trial by) among the Apingi, 340 ;
Somali, 373
Origin of the : — Abyssinians, 374, 370 ; Af-
glians, 202 ; Australians, 50 ; Belgians,
48o ; Bogo, 376 ; Bralimans, 203 ; Chi-
nese, l:;2; Chinese i.)--tail. VS, ;
I)a.l,;il,il, :■;:■. h.,l..i, I-: I ■ .:.-ii.
4'.l'i. !■■: , I '■ ; I
Indians, 549 ; Sakais, 91 ; Samoans,
19 ; Siamese, 100 ; Solomon Islanders,
37; Somali, 373; Veddas, 176; Wa-
soga, 326
Polynesians, 8 — 24
Pondo tribe of KalErs, 300
Ab^
Afr
Reindeer and ]
"AbvssinKll
■Ababdeh, 402;
. ; Anamese, 107 ;
u,.!,-. L'G3, 2G4;
;'^'"\"
,: 1.', il , N . ^-
77 ;' Bn
Burials,
4s.i'; i;..
1 1 ■-'.
266 ; Cai
Sua!: , .■:-
1
peu-:i'i. r,
ta.li^. i-l ; 1
1 ; Wahuma, 322
4l>"; !■-
\ ^ •.
..leh, 402; Abys-
ilty Islanders, 34 ;
r.:
Ara!.-.\'ll ;'
Ari'>^
Mf North Africa.
r.-
405; Asliaiig
> '.'A''
.\'i-M,.:v l;^. -^ ;
!"■: '
Bantu, 333;
Bara,
j^i ; 1'. ■■■ 1, ■'■; .
1 •.; ; 1 i
Berbers, 404
Benl
K' . ■;- : r.
1
352 ; Ijushui
n iif >
iia
Mu
buttu, 32S; Moors, 406; Nilotic
Negroes, 359; Negroes, 290; New
Guinea natives, 28 ; New Zealand
natives, 32, 34 ; Niam-niam, Sll.'i ;
Njempsiaus, 358; N^iih Ai:.i:.ui
Indians, 544; X.-. ,
312; Patagonians, .>,.-. -
Sakalava, 2^6; Sin '- ; ^^ ! ■
monlslander . . 7: I ~i.;Torlas,
188; Tuar.- : , \ 173; Wa-
ganda, 32. 7 : \. .1;!; Wa-
gogo, 317; \\ a: : : I, -'! ; \\ apokomo,
320
Oromo, 370
Ostiaks, 230
Ovampo, 299
Painting bodies of Sakais, 89
Palestine, 249
Panches, 5G8
Pantheism, 11
Pantshen Lama, 165
Papuans, 25 — 48 (see also New Guinea)
Parialis (or outc.ists), 182
Parsis, 196, 238
Patagonians (or Tehuelcnes), 572
P.nbnns (or Afghans), 213
Patuas (see Juangs), 184
/'aumota, 20
Persia and Persians, 235—240
Peruvians, 529
Petele (a Bantu ornament), 312
Philippine Islands, 84, 86
Pictures {see Art)
Picture-^v^iting of Bushmen of South Africa,
269 ; of North American Indians, 546
Pigtail or queue of Chinese (origin of), 125
Pilanjana, or palanquin (a Malagasi
vehicle), 287
Pitcairn Island, 23
Plongge (a knotted stick, used as an Aus-
tralian magic wand), 61
Poisoned arrows of Bushmen of South
Africa, 269, 278
Pokomo (see Wapokomo)
Poles, 454, 458
Polygamy with the : — Abyssinians, 380 ;
Anamese, 106 ; Bongo, 353 ; Fellahin,
398 ; Hottentots, 296 : Latuka, 354 ;
Moubuttu, 328 ; New Ireland natives,
32! Nilotic group. 359; North American
Japan. 144: Java. .^ .
Kamchadales, 235 ; 1\
Khasis, 197; Kor-a
234; Kotas, 189; La
ghians, 418 ; Luris. :
M.ashonas, 308 ; U"'.
goliaus, 140 : M
Xestorians. 23.^: ^t
84; Pondo, 300;
•bio Indians, 551 ;
,->ia, 409; Sakais.
:Mimatra, S3 ; Sweden, 4cl ; owitzer- |
land, 462; Syria, 24S ; Tahiti, 20;
Tibet, 161 ; Tonga of South Africa,
304; Tunguses, 223; Turkestan, 217;
Turkey, 436 ; Turkomans, 220 ;
Uganda, 324; Wales, 494; Yakuts,
223
Porro (or secret societies of West Africa),
362
Portugal and Portuguese, 479, 480
Powhatans, 538
Praying-wheels of Tibetans, 168
Present-making of Society Islanders, 22
Priests of Polynesians, 11
Proverbs of Malays, 77
Pueblo group of Nortli American Indians,
534
Pueblo Indians, 551, 552
Pueblo structures, 551
Puelche, 570
Pygmies, 263, 260, 280
Qajar {see Persia), 235
Quechuas, 508
Queue or Chinese pig-tail (origin of).
Raids of Angoni, 310
Rajput caste, 182, 192, 208
Rank among the: — Anamese, 107; Aus-
tralians, 58 ; Burmese, 110 ; Chinese,
129; Danes, 484, 485; Eskimo, 524,
525 ; Germans, 460 ; Malagasi na-
tives, 288; Maoris, 46; Persians, 236;
Siamese, 98 ; Society Islanders, 22 ;
Solomon Islanders, 37 ; Swiss, 464 ;
Tasmanians, 71
Red Karens, 119
Redeeming the first-born (custom of Jews),
252
Reincarnation of a Lama spirit, 165, 166
; Copts, 396 ;
) ; Druses, 249 ;
26; Ewe, 364:
liaus, 470;
>IJ0 ; Kal-
5;Khonds,
liz-Kazaks,
an's, 4lV;
J Liu-kiu,
I.7.S; Mon-
-ritos, 87;
.\merican
lans, 431 ;
; Parsis,
-lans, 10 ;
moans, 18;
•tvh, 498;
I " • . ; ' . ; i uaregs,
■.V.n : I :_,.. I -\,.S3, 222;
A7m ;.,-. 1,... \' .,,. .;j.7;^Wagir-
\atu..i. i.l:) . \\ .vk.^....*.v, ..JJ; Wanyoro,
327 ; Wapokomo, 32U, 321 ; Welsh, 495 ;
Yakuts, 232
Religious festivals of the : — Ashango, 342,
343; Belgians, 487; Kalmuks, 223;
Tongans, 13
Rhaitians, 463
Riffs, 403
Ring {see Ornaments)
Ritual of Armenian Church, 264
Robinson (Augustus) and Tasmanian
blacks, 09
Rosary of Tibetans, 168
Rumania and Rumanians, 441-444, 453
Russia and Russians, 409 — 110
Russian post-car, 411, 412
Ruthenians, 454
Saans {see Bushmen), 200
Saba (or North British Borneo), 77
Sacred animals (killing of, by Hindus), 211,
212
Sacrifices with the : — Chins, 114, 116;
Dahomey ans, 366, 307 ; Fijians, 6, 7 ;
Klionds,191; Negroes, 294; Polynesians,
11 ; Sakalava, 287 ; Waganda, 325 ;
Wanyoro, 327
Saetersdal (people of valley of, Norway),
430
Sakais, 88
Sakalava, 283, 280, 287
Sahara and Soudan, 385—394
Samoa, 17—20
Samoyedes, 226—230
Sandwich Islands, 24
Santa Cruz (or Queen Charlotte) Islands,
41
Sarawak (Raj of), 77
"Sarongs," 88
Saxons (or Low Germans), 457
Scandinavians, 422, 408. 472, 481, 491, 405
Scars self-inflicted by the Fijians, 2 {sec
also Tattooing)
Scotland and Scotchmen, 495—408
Sealing by Eskimo, 51C, 522
Semangs, 88, 94
Semitic, 248, 250, 266
Serers of Senegal, 361
Servia and Servians, 444—447
Senecas, 538
Sh,
138,
Arabian tribe), 245
Shangallas, 374, 38
Shans, 97, 08, 101
Sheikh (a head of ;
Shereefs, 245
Shiah sect, 240
Shilhik, 351
Shintoism, 152
Shoho, 374, 380
Shops in Bosnia, 449, 450
Shoshonean stock, 540
ShuUuhs, 403
Siam and Siamese, 97—101
Siberia, 222, 235
Sikhs, 192
Singpos, 111, 112
Siouan group of North American Indii
534, 537, 538
Siva ("the destroyer"), 204, 205
Siyins, 113
Slaves and S'nv-r-! rn'-
246; llnr-- . H"-
people MM
Negrue.-, -.'■ . I. .
Tuaregs, :■:'«. :Vl , Ti
Slavs, 453, 404, 4.jS
Slovaks, 454
Slovenes, 454
Smoking in Russia, 410
Society Islands (or Tahiti)
Solomon Islands, 37
Somali, 265, 372-374
Sorcery {see Superstitions)
So-sin (ceremony of sacrifice), 367
Soudanese Negroes, 361, 362
Souruka (a Solomon Islander's dance), 38,
39
Southern Chili and Argentina, 569—575
Spain and Spaniards, 475—479
Stahr (a housetop of Moorish houses), 400
State of Fulah, 392
Straits Settlements, 96
Suahili, 317
Sudras (caste of), 182
Suicide anion!/ the .—Chinese, 134; Maoris,
46
SuiDMiii, -J-, s:;
Sui' : (Ac— Australians, 60,
1.1 : r : ; ! , il,nis,116,117,118;East
Ah I ,in|" "I' . -, :U2; Kijians, 8; Finns,
4L'.;, 4:i4; iTiliaks, 234; Hereros, 299;
Irish, 502 ; Kikuyu, 344 ; Lapps, 427 ;
Manxmen, 504 ; ^longols, 143 ; Moors,
408; Niam-niam, 347 ; North American
Indians, 550 ; Scotch, 496 ; Spaniards,
478 ; Svaus, 417 ; Tasmanians, 72 ;
Tuaregs, 391; Turks, 43S; Wagiryama,
319
ic .—Arabs,
, 101, 102;
Maoris, 46 ;
414, 415;
ans, 220
lll.l.U^, 1. ,1,
'llbttlns, Ibl, rjb
Tana dtl Fuego, 576
Tien Ts7P (titl." of ChinLse Empeioi),
129
1 1 1 111 Vichipelago), 7.
7 1 1 , III) ; Persia, 236
,76
Taboo (or tapu), 48, 509
Tagal (one of the chief tribes of the Philip-
pine Islands), 84
Index
Tahiti (Society Islands), 20, 22, 23
Tai, 98, 101
Taisaka, 283
Tajiks, 222, 235
Taksatte (or Chas^arl Kukis), 116
Tamem(orskiit), 119
Tanala, 28\ 2s7
Tanisi, 283
Taoibm, 137
T.iitais, 122
lismania, 67—72; discoiery of, 67
II 1 333; Bet
I 111; Dmka,
,1,1 1 513; Fella-
hin, , I I 1 iniosans, 158;
Friin ll\ I 17; Gondb,
180 ,( . 1 1 I \ Amu, 154 ;
Isho^'o, , 1 I , IjO ; Kanuri,
394 , Latuki, .ol , Liu kiu, 160;
Malijs, 75; Maoiis, 44; Negrois, 20(1,
292 ; N cw Ireland people, 32 ; New
Guinei natues, 30; Niam mam, 346;
Samoans, 17 ; Society Islanders, 22 ;
Solomon Islanders, 37; Tibbus, 3S6 ;
Todas, 188 ; Tongans, 12— 17; Wanyoro,
583
Ton, -I, .!il4, 309
r.,ii„'kiiig, 104
ToituiL^ and Punishments among the —
Alnssiunns, 381 ; Chinese, 132
Toskb, 4,>6
Tottms, 58, 302, 348, 349, 364
Tow Tow (\Tongan:ehgiousfestival), 13,14
Tiadinff at the —Congo tubes, 331; Wa
kaniba, 321
Truganina (a Tasmanian black woman), 70
Tbhi, 30 \ 304
Tsongkapa (one of the heads of LamaiMii ),16 J
Tuaie^s, 3S5, 386— o91
Tubuai, 20
Tungubtb, 225
TuJk\n i', 351, 3 ,4
TuiLestan, 217-221
Tuike\ and Tuiks, 2j(;, 4 .0—439
Turkomans, 217
Tuscaroias, 538
Tubhilange {see Bashilange)
Tynwald (legislatuie of Isle of Man), 504
Tziganes, 456
Uganda (king of), 324, 325
Uled-Nail, 405
Umiak (an Eskimo canoe), 516
Usbegs, 221
Vaishyas (caste of), 182
Valencians, 478
\'apour baths of Russians, 409, 410
Vaudois, 464
Vazimba, 280
Vedas (hymns), 200, 202, 205
Veddas of Ceylon, 172
Venezuelan people, 658—566
A'ishnu ("the preserver"), 204, 205
Vodka (a Russian drink), 415
Wadai people, 394
Wadoa, 316
Waganda, 265, 324, 326
Wagiryama, 318
317
Wahuma, 322, 326
Wakamba 321
Wake (an Irish funeral custom) 502
Wikhutu ne
\\ al isesa - 0
A\akwah 8
^\ ales and the W Ish 4J4 495
A\alloonb 4 S 4Sd
Wambuttu 2~
W an lei 11 o 2Si
W an^in 1 10
Wankjnk olo ni
■\\ xnjamwezi 314 ol5
Wanyoro "
Wapianas 5 >8
Wapokomo 319
TI I r ( (/ — Austiahans 5-
1 tho A.U1 ) an 1 Mil
\a
12 13
/iia 1
15
10
Ilia
200
Al \
s nnns
378
'Vpono,
»
\iabb
'44
Vbl aiig
1 o42
Aus-
trala
nb o4
Lilwandc
271;
Pant
1 3''3
b'^
a 2S4
Bee
luanas.
r 1
4
' '^
k
\ fi ica'
2b°8"''
1
d2;
Iski
lUs,
3^0
II
•3;
Heic
a
i hogo.
008
Ivathib
Ml
, Kani
ii%n, Ki-
343
344
Lapps
426
, 427;
Lati
a 354
Malagabi
286
Masai,
Monbuttu
s >
lit
s 87 1
Negi
oes 292 \
41;
New Guinea
1
1 land
nati\
es 32
4
Ni-
lotio
Noit
^.t I
\
11
Ij 540j
Ob 1
1
^8
Patd-
LTa'i
1
1
Svans,
417
1
1 1
086;
Tua.
\
1
\\
nda.
325
\\
\\
1
o21;
Wan\
W
o27;
;xif.dchildie
ot -the 4
1 Vial IX
ith Mil a 4
I I G ill lb *70 ;
I ks 234, the
1 18b the
1 1J8 Ireland,
the Juaii„b IM Kashmir, 196;
Khasis 197 the Kirghiz Kazaks,
584
The Living Races of Mankind
220 ; Kore.i, IDC ; the Kotas, ISO ; the
Lango, SCO : the Latuka, 354 ; the
Malays, 70 : the Monlj.ittu, 3JS ; the
djaus, 0 17 ; tlie IV
the Tuaregs, 388—390 ; Turkey, 438 ;
the Wambuttu, 275; the Wapokomo,
Yahgans, 576
Yakkos, 172
Yakuts. 2Z\
Yao, 310, 312, 313
Yoruba people, 303, 3C8
Zambesi tribes, 292
Zandej' (see Niara-niam), 344
Zulus, 304—306
NOTE
The Editor (Eov. H. X. Hutchinson) wishes to offer his sincere thanlcs to those travellers, ethnologists, and
others who have helped him to crrry out his scheme. AVithout their kind co-operation the work
of collecting photographs from all parts of the world could not have been done in the time. The
pictures reproduced in this book are but a selection from the large collection which has been formed —
probably the most complete collection at present existing in Great Britain. By submitting proofs of
photographs to ethnologists before going to press, the Editor has been ablo to eliminate not a few
mistakes made by photographers, owing to the careless way in which they put titles to their photographs,
regardless of scientific accuracy. Half-castes are a trouble to collectors of types. The Editor's special
thanks are clue to Professor Kcane, F.E.S., for general supervision of much of the text and titles of
photographs, and to Mr. William Crooke, author of "The Tribes of the North-west i'rovinccs," etc., for
similar kind help in the chapters dealing with India.
When travelling abroad in search of photographs, the Editor received much kind help from travellers,
professors, and others. In Paris Prince Poland Bona])arte was kind enough to show his very fine collection
of photographs, and to give permission to reproduce some of his types of North American Indians. In the
same city Prof. Hamy, Dr. Vernaux, Pre*' Gaudry, and Dr. Topinard all rendered valuable assistance. Dr. J.
Szombathy, of Vienna, most kindly sent the Editor a number of his valuable photographs of Samoyedes ;
Drs. Paul and Fritz Sarasin also sent some of their unique photographs of the Veddas of Ceylon ; Prof.
Gustav Fritsch has sent some rare photographs of Bushmen ; Dr. Paul Hyades (editor of the " Mission
Scientifique du Cap Horn ") has sent many Fucgian types ; Dr. Ehrenreich, photographs from South America;
Dr. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden, supplied most valuable Papuan types from his well-known albums. The
Editor is also indebted to Dr. von Luschan and Dr. Stuhlmann (Berlin) ; Dr. Schmeltz (Leyden) ; Dr. Amel
(Budapest); M. Labbe and M. le Baron de Baye (Paris); and the Anthropological Collection of the Museum
de Paris; Dr. Obst (Leipzig); Prof. Brinkmann and Herr Karl Hagenbeck (Hamburg).
In England special thanks are due to the Anthropological Institute, the South American Missionary
Society, Dr. Grenfell of the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, the London Missionary Society, the S. P. G.,
and the Universities' Mission to Central Africa. Sir Hugh Low, K.C.M.G., most kindly lent his unique
collection of Dyaks from Borneo. The Poyal Geographical Society kindly gave permission to make use of
their large collection, from which the Editor selected a number of valuable types from Central Asia, collected
by E. Delmar Morgan, Esq., F.E.G.S. Messrs. Spencer and Gillen kindly allowed the Editor to select some
examples from their large and unique collection of Central Australians. Dr. E. W. Felkin, F.E.G.S.,
kindly lent the whole collection of invaluable photographs taken by the late Mr. Eichard Buchta in
the region of Khartum. Mr. Henry Balfour, of Oxford, has also helped the Editor in many ways.
The following ladies and gentlemen have all contributed photographs,
photographers their names are all given under the photographs reproduced :-
case of profes.sional
Admiral Sir William Acland, Bart. Eev. A. B. Fisher.
Mr. J. Alklridge. Mr. Ernest Gedge, F.E.G.S.
Mr. Stowell Ashwell (Antananarivo). Dr. F. H. H. Guillemard, F.E.G.S.
Mr. James Baker (Clifton), F.E.G.S. Sir W. C. Hillier, K.C.JLG.
Dr. Bcddoe, F.E.S. Jfr. H. C. V. Hunter, F.E.G.S.
Mrs. Theodore Bent. Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B.
Mr. W. P.. Bland. The late Jliss Mary Kingsley.
Jlrs. E. T. Cook. The Eev. W. G. Lawes (New Guinea).
Mr. Thomas Child. Mr. J. J. Lister (Cambridge).
Mr. H. Z. Danah. Ilr. G. C. Morant, F.E.G.S.
Eev. E. E. Nickisson.
Miss Palmer.
Mr. E. Phillips (Bristol).
Mr. J. G. Eeid (Lima).
.Air. E. J. Eobertson.
Mr. W. J. Eoland.
]\rr. H. W. Eolfe.
Colonel Sir Edward Boss, K.C.M.G.
Mr. H. Warington Smyth, F.E.G.S.
The Bishop of Tasmania.
^>Q^
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