Chapter 16

ABYSSINIAN.

TheAbyssinian.—This race inhabits the table lands of Abyssinia, and its extension into the interior. Dr. Pickering thus describes the appearance of three individuals of this race whom he met at Singapore—

MONGOLIAN.

"The hair was much alike in all three, and was crisped and fine, neither coarse enough nor in sufficient quantity to form a resisting mass. The beard of one individual was in pellets absolutely like the close wool of the Negro, but the prominence of nose, greater even than usually occurs in the white race, bore sufficient testimony to his purity of descent. The second individual had the face very much elongated, but the nose was not particularly prominent. The third had a straighter beard, which was black and grey in regular stripes. The complexion was the same in all three, and though very light, was by no means of a sickly hue, and indeed these persons might readily have been passed in the streets as belonging to the white race."

ESQUIMAUX.

TheMongolianrace, according to Pickering, includes the inhabitants of part of China and all the north-eastern parts of Asia, also the aborigines of North and South America, with the exception of a tract of land on the south-western coast, including what is now California, and part of the United States. This race is probably the most numerous in the world. The complexion of the Mongolian is decidedly yellowish brown, but rather pale withal (it is well seen in the Chinese); the head is flattened from before to behind, and expanded from side to side, so that in some well-marked cases the head is as broad as it is long, the eyes are drawn upwards at the outer angles, and appear wide apart, from the inner angle, being but little prolonged inwards, the cheek-bones are prominent; the eyes black, and the hair black and straight. The best specimens of this family are the Tartars and Chinese. The Chinese are highly skilful in most of the useful arts, especially in agriculture. Their history extends very far back, andprobably the longest series of recorded events in existence, being continuous for a period of about 4,000 years, during the whole of which time they have been in a state of civilisation nearly the same as they are at the present time.

The aboriginal tribes of America belong to this family. Dr. Latham derives their origin from the Esquimaux (or Eskemo), and their migration from north-eastern Asia, Kamschatka, and the Aleutian Islands, to the eastern or Pacific shores of America.

The Chinese and Tartars are of a decidedly yellow tint. The Americans are of a dark copper-coloured hue, hence their designation "Red Indians."

AMERICAN INDIAN.

HOTTENTOT FEMALE.

TheHottentot. This race inhabits the south of Africa, and parts extending thence into the interior; they are of a yellowish-brown complexion, small in stature, with hair consisting of small black knobs of a crisp sort of wool, separated from each other in such a way that the skin of the head may be distinctly seen between them. They are strictly nomadic, scarcely ever remaining in any fixed spot, but following the animals they hunt and kill for food, upon the flesh of which, with a few roots, they live.

Dr. Livingstone denies that they are very small in stature; speaking of the Bushmen, a tribe of the Hottentot family, he says:—"They are the only real nomads in the country,they never cultivate the soil, nor rear any domestic animals, save wretched dogs; they are so intimately acquainted with the habits of the game, that they follow them in their migrations from place to place, and prey upon them, and thus prove as complete a check upon their inordinate increase as the other carnivora. The chief subsistence of the Bushmen is the flesh of game, but that is eked out by what the women collect of roots, beans, or fruits of the desert."

MALAY.

TheMalayfamily are a coast-dwelling people, delighting in the water, and never found very far removed from it; they inhabit the southernmost coast of China, from Siam southwards, and all the adjacent islands. They are of a dark rich brown colour, with straight, coarse, black hair and scanty beard, which in some is quite wanting. Some of the members of this family are above the usual standard of height, such as the Polynesians and Tahitians. The moral character of the Malays, generallyspeaking, is of an inferior order. They are a race differing much, in some respects, from the Negro and Red Indian, being of peculiarly active temperaments; they exhibit considerable intellectual capacity, and are an ingenious people. It is extremely probable, from the fact of their being found in islands surrounded by others in the hands of the Ethiopic race, that they have pushed out the less active variety, and, in short, annihilated them; and it is likely that they will in turn suffer extinction at the hands of a superior variety, or a variety rendered superior by civilisation.

PAPUAN.

ThePapuanrace inhabit the Feejee Islands and the coasts of New Guinea; they are almost black, with a rough skin and thick woolly hair, which grows much longer than in the Negro, and which they wear curled up so as to form a resisting mass, and no bad protection against the blow from a club (their national weapon). Their height is above the average of Europeans. Fish and yams are their chief food.

TheNegrilloare nearly black in colour, short in stature, with projecting jaws and thick woolly hair, the nose not so flat as the Negro, nor the lips so thick; they inhabit the interior of New Guinea and a few islands in its locality, of which they appear to have been the aborigines, the central parts only being occupied by them; the coasts are inhabited by the Papuan and Malay races, who have driven the Negrillo aborigines from their former abode to the central mountains.

HINDOO.

TheIndianorTelinganrace inhabit the whole of Hindostan, and parts of Persia. The complexion is much the same as in the two preceding races (Negrillo and Papuan), and is so decidedly darker than in the Malayan, that by common consent it is called black, although, on comparison, the two differ widely from that of the unmixed Negro. The greater part of Hindostan is, however, inhabited by a mixed race, partly Persian, partly Arabian.

Pickering describes them as follows:—"The features approximated very closely to those of the White race, but in general the mouth appeared to be wider, the nose rather less prominent, and the lips sensibly thicker. The profile was less vertical than in the surrounding Malays, the lower part of the face projecting with a regular arch, as in the Mongolian, and there was a further correspondence with the latter race in the frequent instances of the arched nose. The beard occurred more frequently, and was more copious than in the Malay race; the hair was straight and fine, and I have never seen it any other colour than black."

TheEthiopiansinhabit the central and north-east part of Africa, Nubia, and the upper districts of the Nile. They are black, but their features are not far removed from the European, except in the fulness of the lips, and they are in some cases extremely handsome. The hair is black and crisp, but not completely woolly, and grows sufficiently long to be plaited, which is the usual mode in which it is worn by the females of this race.

AUSTRALIAN.

TheAustralians.—The natives of Australia are quite black, and have the nose and mouth very wide; the lips are thick, but not so much so as in the Negro; the hair is black and curly, but not woolly; the eyes are very small, deeply set, black, and keen; the lower part of the face does not project like that of the Negro. These make a wide distinction between the two races, although they have been confounded with each other.

NEGRO.

TheNegro.—This race appears to differ from the European more than any other. The skin of the Negro is quite black and shining, the hair black, closely crisped into a sort of wool, and never growing to any great length; they have but little beard, the nose is flat and broad, and the lips very thick and protruding, as is also the whole lower part of the face; the front teeth also project outwards, and the whole contour ofthe face and head is backwards, forming a gradually receding outline. They inhabit the interior and eastern parts of Africa conjointly with the Hottentot.

The preceding is a slight outline of the various races of men which inhabit the earth; their numbers are in the gross somewhere about a thousand millions, and it has been computed as follows, bearing in mind that these numbers are but a rude approximation to truth:—

European350,000,000Mongolian400,000,000Malay100,000,000Telingan80,000,000Negro50,000,000Ethiopian10,000,000Abyssinian30,000,000Papuan3,000,000Negrillo3,000,000Australian500,000Hottentot500,000

In examining the various tribes of animated nature, there is one great fact which impresses itself irresistibly upon our minds, namely, that they all form the handiwork of one Creator, and His Autograph is stamped everywhere. His care is also shown in the way in which animals are made to feed on all kinds of organic matters, and on each other; this has been the means of economising all the nutriment which exists on the earth, for, although it may not always be apparent, yet there is not a scrap or crumb ever wasted in nature; not a decayed leaf or blade of grass, not a leg of a fly, nor the wing of a gnat, nor any part or portion of organic matter, from the smallest animalcule to the huge carcass of the dead elephant, or the trunk of the giant pine tree which the hurricane has uprooted, but forms a feast for some of the smaller tribes of animated beings there placed by Providence to eat it. Millions of these, after devouring the waste-matters of organic existence, whether embedded in the soil or elsewhere (not accessible to larger creatures), themselves form the food for creatures of larger growth, as birds, fishes, &c.; these again form the food of Man, so that

"Nothing is wasted."

THE END.

Cloth, Gilt, Price Five Shillings.

UNIFORM WITH "OUTLINES OF CREATION."

THEBOY'S BOOKOFINDUSTRIAL INFORMATION.

ByELISHA NOYCE.AUTHOR OF "OUTLINES OF CREATION."

ILLUSTRATED WITH THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE ENGRAVINGS, BYTHE BROTHERS DALZIEL.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

Examiner, July 3. 1858.

"This book contains a brief and very clear summary of information for young readers upon the natural products used in the arts, and the arts by which they are converted to Man's use. It tells the main facts that relate to every manufacture, and describes the various kinds of apparatus and machinery—chains, cranks, valves, wheels, steam and other engines, fire-arms, stills, thermometers and barometers, ploughs, thrashing-machines, &c., as well as the more notable kinds of engineering work. To make the brief descriptions as effectual as full ones, they are very freely illustrated with good woodcuts by the Brothers Dalziel. Whatever is described is shown not only by plans and diagrams, but frequently also by little pictures that are very interesting and effective. The illustrations, we should add, are not copies of copies, but new and direct sketches from the things they represent. Among efforts to produce cheap volumes of useful information for the young, we account this one of the most successful."

Art Journal, August.

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Illustrated London News, July 3.

"This work, by Elisha Noyce, with 365 illustrations by the Brothers Dalziel, is calculated to do much good. The object is not only to please, but to instruct; and, although written ostensibly for the young, it may be read with advantage by all who desire to possess a knowledge of things in everyday use. The information throughout is conveyed in a clear and understandable form; this, combined with its pictures on every page, is well calculated to make the mind familiar with many objects that as a rule have hitherto been but imperfectly realised to the young. The book is admirably adapted to assist those who are about to make choice of an occupation, and this of itself would make it a welcome addition to the numerous works written for the information and guidance of the rising generation. The book is published by Ward and Lock."

Dispatch, July 4.

There is really a great deal to recommend this book to the attention of the public as one especially adapted for the entertainment and the instruction of the young. The subjects themselves embrace the whole arcana of the material universe, the mineral and vegetable products of the earth, their properties, manufacture, and varied convertibility to the service and uses of man. Three hundred and sixty-five first-class engravings, from the pencils of the Brothers Dalziel, and most of these being illustrative of the finished machinery of Woolwich Arsenal, and drawn by permission of the authorities, add to the value of the matter incorporated in these pages, while in almost all other forms the industrial arts, with their varied apparatus and machinery, are ably and fully described. It is a true "Boy's Book," and merits the amplest circulation possible for it to attain.

Daily Telegraph, July 20.

The title of Mr. Noyce's book sufficiently explains its object, and we have only to say that it answers its purpose. It is clearly and amusingly written, and embraces a large variety of useful subjects, which it treats in a full, though, at the same time, a concise manner. The book is illustrated with three hundred and sixty-five excellent engravings by the Brothers Dalziel.

Leeds Times, July 31.

The author's object in the elegant-looking issue before us, as described by himself, is to convey to the youthful reader a knowledge of the materials, processes, and apparatus made use of in the various examples of industry and skill constantly before our eyes. No fewer than 365 wood-cuts by the Brothers Dalziel are appropriately interspersed with the letterpress, thus enabling the reader to clearly understand what otherwise would of necessity, in some cases, be almost incomprehensible. The work is clearly and ably written, and even the intelligent adult must possess a large fund of general knowledge who can truthfully affirm that he has derived no information from its pages.

Norfolk News, Aug. 7.

The title of "The Boy's Book" has been applied to more than one, two, or three subjects; but to none more appropriately than to this, which is really and truly "The Boy's Book of Useful Knowledge." The author has observed the happy medium of saying neither too little nor too much—of neither wearying the patience of his young readers by long and needless details, nor of disappointing their curiosity by unnecessarily brief and insufficient descriptions. If we are not greatly mistaken, the book will soon become a general favorite with the young, and we should strongly recommend it as a text-book of general information to Educational establishments. It is beautifully got up, and its value is considerably enhanced by the superior wood engravings of the Brothers Dalziel, which speak the language of explanation as plainly to the eye as does the letterpress to the understanding.

LONDON: WARD & LOCK, 158, FLEET STREET.

Transcriber's NotesVariations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical errors which have been silently corrected.

Transcriber's Notes

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical errors which have been silently corrected.

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