form of the Fuegians is peculiar, the head and body being particularly large, and the extremities unusually small; but the feet are broad though short. This peculiarity, no doubt, is owing to their mode of life, etc. From the same cause, want of exercise, this is the form of the Esquimaux and the Laplanders. The Fuegians have generally straight, long, and jet black hair, scanty beard, a broad face, black, angular Chinese eyes, copper complexion and small stature. In the work just cited, there are several interesting descriptions of particular individuals of this tribe, as follows. "The complexion of this man was dark, his skin of a copper color, the native hue of the Fuegian tribes, the eyes and hair black,-this is universal, as far as I have seen, and predominant throughout all the aborigines of America, from the Fuegians to the Esquimaux." And again, "the features of this individual were rounder, than they generally are among those of his nation, the form of whose countenance resembles that of the Laplanders and Esquimaux. They have broad faces with projecting cheek bones; the eyes of an oval form, and drawn towards the temples." The stature of the Fuegians is generally from four feet ten inches to five feet six inches, and their figures are similar to those of the Esquimaux.† The Patagonians afford a striking instance, of the exaggerated and gross inaccuracies, which pervade many of the accounts of the Indian tribes. Indeed it is but recently that the * "We have observed," says Dobrizhoffer, "some resemblance in the manners and customs of the Abipones, to the Laplanders and people of Nova Zembla." Vol. ii. p. 2. Voyages of King and Fitzroy, vol. i. pp. 75, 216; vol. ii. pp. 175, 215; vol. iii. p. 142, etc. Byron's Trav., p. 59. fanciful stories which had been propagated concerning the stature of these natives have been disproved; and a careful examination of all the authorities, together with the observation of recent voyagers, has satisfactorily shown that their height has been greatly over-estimated. The medium stature of this race appears to be from five feet ten inches to six feet. Falkner, however, bore impartial and correct testimony. "The Patagonians, or Puelches," he says, " are a large bodied people, but I never heard of that gigantic race, which others have mentioned, though I have seen persons of all the different tribes of southern Indians." The color of the Patagonians is a rich, reddish brown, rather darker than copper, the head is long, broad, and flat, the forehead low, the face of a square form, the eyes small and often obliquely placed, the nose rather flat, but sometimes aquiline, the hair long, lank, and black, and the beard thin.* Proceeding to the north, the nomade Pehuenches and the Araucanians, according to Mr. Poeppig, "belong to the same branch of the great copper-colored, or Patagonian race." The Araucanians are of a reddish brown or copper color, are finely shaped and muscular, and have small black eyes, a broad face, flattish nose, coarse black hair, and no beard. One tribe it has been thought offers an exception to this description, the Boroanes, or Borea Indians living near Valdivia, in Chile. Some of them are said to have light eyes, a fair complexion and red hair.‡ Frezier disposes of this objection, for he says, in speaking of those who are thus distinguished, "these are descended * King and Fitzroy, vol. i. p. 103; vol. ii. pp. 134, 135. Stevenson, vol. i. p. 3. Frezier, pp. 69, 70. Molina, vol. i. p. 234; vol. ii. p. 4. King and Fitzroy, vol. ii. pp. 402, 465. Molina, vol. ii. p. 4. from the women taken in the Spanish towns they destroyed ;' his statement is fully confirmed also by Ulloa, who traces this diversity to the same cause.† The present Peruvian Indians, who are of the same race as the ancient inhabitants, are described as of a copper color, with high cheek bones, small black eyes set widely apart, hair coarse and black, without any inclination to curl, beard scanty, nose somewhat flattened, small stature, and the feet small: these characters are of general prevalence among all the natives. The Bolivian Indians, according to Dr. Ruschenberger, are dark copper-colored, the nose is flattened, and the eyes are obliquely placed. In general, the same physical description will apply to the numerous hordes of Brazil.§ The Mongul physiognomy is more striking in these tribes, than in those of any other part of America. Prince Maximilian describes one of these Indians as "distinguished from all the rest by his Calmuck physiognomy;" but the same characters are of almost universal prevalence. Passing further to the north, but little variation from this type can be found in the tribes inhabiting Guiana and Colombia. Humboldt has termed the complexion of the Chaymas and other natives of this region, a dull brown or brown-red, inclining to a tawny color, and he adds that they resemble the Monguls, by * At Valdivia, the native race has been thought to resemble the Hindoos.--King and Fitzroy, vol. ii. p. 398. Frezier, p. 70. Ulloa, vol. ii. p. 287. Ruschenberger, pp. 217, 380, etc. Ulloa, vol. i. pp. 281, 417. Stevenson, vol. i. p. 376. § Graham's Voyage, p. 294. Henderson's Brazil, pp. 208, 211. the form of the eye, their high cheek bones, their straight hair, and the almost entire absence of beard.* The natives of the West India Islands at the discovery consisted of two classes, differing slightly in appearance, and more considerably in manners and character. The Charibs, who occupied the small islands of the southern part of this group, were of a fierce, cruel, and indomitable disposition. The Arrowauks, who resided in the larger and northernmost islands, were of a milder character, and appear to have possessed more of the arts of civilization. The Charibs were of a tawny or dark brown complexion, middling stature, robust and muscular, with small black eyes, long straight black hair, scanty beard, and flat retreating foreheads. The Arrowauks were taller than the former race, and of a reddish brown color, their foreheads were flat, though not so retreating as those of the Charibs, the hair was straight, black, and lank, the beard scanty, the eyes black, cheek bones prominent, the face broad and the nose flat.† The Mexican Indians have generally "a swarthy and copper color, flat and smooth hair, small beard and squat body, long eye, with the corner directed upwards towards the temples, prominent cheek bones and thick lips." Clavigero says, that the moral and physical qualities of the Mexicans proper, were the same as those of the adjacent nations, so that the description of the one is equally applicable to the rest; he considers the color of the skin, however, as olive.§ According to Humboldt, * Pers. Nar., vol. iii. p. 223. Temple's Travels, p. 67. Smyth's Nar., pp. 210, 223. Edward's Hist. West India Islands, vol. i. pp. 36, 63. Arch. Am., vol. i. p. 371, 372. Pol. Ess., vol. i. p. 105. § Hist. Mex., vol. i. p. 78. the Aztec and Otomite tribes have more beard than the others, and many of them wear small mustaches. The aboriginal inhabitants of Upper California, when first observed by the early Spanish travellers, were of the same stock as those living in the adjoining peninsula. Though the different tribes varied in some unimportant particulars, they bore a general resemblance to each other; and though some are described as of a diminutive size, they were usually of ordinary stature. They were of a darker color, than the natives of the more southern provinces, their lips were large and projecting, noses broad and flat, foreheads low, beard scanty, and hair straight and black;-long beards, it is said, have occasionally been observed.* This was one of the localities where American negroes have been placed, an idea which the following passage from Venegas may possibly dispose of. "It is known," he says, "that some ships have left Mulattoes and Mestizoes at Cape San Lucas." "Father Juan de Forquemada, tells us that the Californians showed no manner of surprise, at the sight of negroes, there being some of that cast among them, the race of those who had been left by a ship from the Philippine islands.”† The nations near the mouth of the Columbia river generally resemble each other in their physical appearance. Their stature is diminutive, "the complexion is the usual copper-colored brown of the North American tribes, though rather lighter than that of the Indians of the Missouri;" the mouth is wide and the lips are thick, the nose is wide at the extremity, and low between the eyes, the eyes are generally black, the face broad, * Forbes' California, pp. 180, 183. La Perouse. Beechey, pp. 304, 337. Handy's Trav. in Mexico, p. 289. † Hist. California, vol. i. pp. 58, 94; vol. ii. pp. 238, 354. |