Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
When King John IV., in 1652, wished to enact a favourable code for the aborigines, the governors of Maranham and Para instigated the population of their respective governments to uproarious manifestations.
InA.D.1661, the Jesuits were expelled; inA.D.1679 reinstated. The interval was a time of sorrow to the Indians; the restoration a time of joy. The establishment of missions now began.
A settlement or village,Aldea, was founded in some favourable situation, and the Indians of the neighbourhood induced to put themselves under the tutelage of the resident and directorial father. They were then taught to cultivate the soil or to weave—taught as children, and, when the temper was not that of the wilder and more independent tribes, this training answered. They were also instructed in the Christian creed, the medium being the Tupi language. Their own dialects were numerous—too numerous to make the cultivation of them in detail practicable; and in eachaldeathe variety of such dialects was considerable, each being spoken by but a few individuals. To learn a difficult language for the sake of so few, was an unnecessary expenditure of time for the Jesuits; whilst Portuguese was a difficult language for the Indians. The surer plan, then, of taking the most prevalent Indian tongue and making it into a kind of common medium, a lingua franca, was devised. This prevalent tongue was the Tupi, and the name it took was the Portuguese one ofLingoa Geral—general language. UntilA.D.1757, theLingoa Geralwas used in the law-courts of Gram Parà. This state of things lasted tillA.D.1759, when the Jesuits were expelled; from Parà and Maranham as many as 112.
In 1718, the number ofaldeaswas asfollows:—
Officers called Directors took the places of the Jesuits. In many respects their orders were those of their predecessors. They were to teach and convert; but they were also to get some work out of the Indians in the way of public service,e. g., in the arsenals as pilots, as a kind of police in the case of Indian warfare and bush-ranging. And beside these points of difference, the Tupi, orLingoa Geral, was to be replaced by the Portuguese. In the localities where the intercourse with the whites was important, judges were appointed to settle disputes. Kidnapping however continued, and things went ill with the Indians until the separationof Brazil from Portugal; and they have gone ill since. The Indians and the negroes form the lowest part of the not elevated population of Parà, the half-blood between them (the Indians) and the whites being called Cafusos. Both the Cafusos and the full-blooded Indians are free, but they are not flourishing. They drink and live lives of idleness. They live, in short, much as all the coloured races when the whites are in contact with them.
This prepares us for the necessity of seeking the Indian in his unmodified state on the feeders of the Amazons, rather than the main stream. Mr. Wallace has described those of the Uaupés—which falls into the Rio Negro from the west, and lie just under the equator.
He remarks upon the extent to which they are a truly unsophisticated population, and also upon the extent to which they differ from the Indians lower down,i.e., between Barra and Para, the junction of the Rio Negro and Amazons, and the mouth of that latter river. His description (founded on personal observation) is one of the best we have. I quote it freely:—“All the tribes of the Uaupés,” he writes, “construct their dwellings after one plan, which is peculiar to them. Their houses are the abode of numerous families, sometimes of a whole tribe. The plan is a parallelogram, with a semicircle at one end. The dimensions of one at Jauarité were one hundred and fifteen feet in length, by seventy-five broad, and about thirty high. This house would hold about a dozen families, consisting of near a hundred individuals. In times of feasts and dances, three or four hundred are accommodated in them. The roof is supported on fine cylindrical columns, formed of the trunks of trees, and beautifully straight and smooth. In the centre a clear opening is left, twenty feet wide, and on the sides are little partitions of palm-leaf thatch, dividing off rooms for the separate families: here are kept the private household utensils, weapons, and ornaments; while the rest of the space contains, on each side, the large ovens and gigantic pans for making caxirí, and, in the centre, a place for the children to play, and for their dances to take place. These houses are built with much labour and skill; the main supporters, beams, rafters, and other parts, are straight, well proportioned to the strength required, and bound together with split creepers, in a manner that a sailor would admire. The thatch is of the leaf of some one of the numerous palms so well adapted to the purpose, and is laid on with great compactness and regularity. The walls, which are very low, are formed also of palm thatch, but so thick and so well bound together, that neither arrow nor bulletwill penetrate it. At the gable-end is a large doorway, about six feet wide and eight or ten high: the door is a large palm-mat, hung from the top, supported by a pole during the day, and let down at night. At the semicircular end is a smaller door, which is the private entrance of the Tushaúa, or chief, to whom this part of the house exclusively belongs. The lower part of the gable-end, on each side of the entrance, is covered with the thick bark of a tree unrolled, and standing vertically. Above this is a loose hanging of palm-leaves, between the fissures of which the smoke from the numerous fires within finds an exit. In some cases this gable-end is much ornamented with symmetrical figures painted in colours.
“The furniture consists principally of maqueiras, or hammocks, made of string, twisted from the fibres of the leaves of theMauritia flexuosa: they are merely an open network of parallel threads, crossed by others at intervals of a foot; the loops at each end have a cord passed through them, by which they are hung up. The Uaupés make great quantities of string of this and other fibres, twisting it on their breasts or thighs, with great rapidity.
“They have always in their houses a large supply of earthen pots, pans, pitchers, and cooking utensils, of various sizes, which they make of clay from the river and brooks, mixed with the ashes of the caripé bark, and baked in a temporary furnace. They have also great quantities of small saucer-shaped baskets, called ‘Balaios,’ which are much esteemed down the river, and are the subject of a considerable trade.
“Two tribes in the lower part of the river, the Tariános and Tucános, make a curious little stool, cut out of a solid block of wood, and neatly painted and varnished; these, which take many days to finish, are sold for about a pennyworth of fish-hooks.
“Their canoes are all made out of a single tree, hollowed and forced open by the cross-benches; they are very thick in the middle, to resist the wear and tear they are exposed to among the rocks and rapids; they are often forty feet long, but smaller ones are generally preferred. The paddles are about three feet long, with an oval blade, and are each cut out of one piece of wood.
Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
“These people are as free from the encumbrances of dress as it is possible to conceive. The men wear only a small piece of tururf passed between the legs, and twisted on to a string round the loins. Even such a costume as this is dispensed with by the women: they have no dress or covering whatever, but are entirely naked. This is the universal custom among the Uaupés Indians, from which, in a state of nature, they never depart. Paint, with these people,seems to be looked upon as a sufficient clothing; they are never without it on some parts of their bodies, but it is at their festivals that they exhibit all their art in thus decorating their persons: the colours they use are red, yellow, and black, and they dispose them generally in regular patterns, similar to those with which they ornament their stools, their canoes, and other articles of furniture.
“They pour the juice of a tree, which stains a deep blue-black, on their heads, and let it run in streams all down their backs; and the red and yellow are often disposed in large round spots upon the cheeks and forehead.
“The use of ornaments and trinkets of various kinds is almost confined to the men. The women wear a bracelet on the wrists, but none on the neck, and no comb in the hair; they have a garter below the knee, worn tight from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, which they consider a great beauty. While dancing in their festivals, the women wear a small tanga, or apron, made of beads, prettily arranged: it is only about six inches square, but is never worn at any other time, and immediately the dance is over, it is taken off.
“The men, on the other hand, have the hair carefully parted and combed on each side, and tied in a queue behind. In the young men, it hangs in long locks down their necks, and, with the comb, which is invariably carried stuck in the top of the head, gives to them a most feminine appearance: this is increased by the large necklaces and bracelets of beads, and the careful extirpation of every symptom of beard. Taking these circumstances into consideration, I am strongly of opinion that the story of the Amazons has arisen from these feminine-looking warriors encountered by the early voyager. I am inclined to this opinion, from the effect they first produced on myself, when it was only by close examination I saw that they were men; and, were the front parts of their bodies and their breasts covered with shields, such as they always use, I am convinced any person seeing them for the first time would conclude they were women. We have only therefore to suppose that tribes having similar customs to those now existing on the river Uaupés, inhabited the regions where the Amazons were reported to have been seen, and we have a rational explanation of what has so much puzzled all geographers. The only objection to this explanation is, that traditions are said to exist among the natives, of a nation of ‘women without husbands.’ Of this tradition, however, I was myself unable to obtain any trace, and I can easily imagine it entirely to have arisen from the suggestionsand inquiries of Europeans themselves. When the story of the Amazons was first made known, it became of course a point with all future travellers to verify it, or if possible get a glimpse of these warlike ladies. The Indians must no doubt have been overwhelmed with questions and suggestions about them, and they, thinking that the white men must know best, would transmit to their descendants and families the idea that such a nation did exist in some distant part of the country. Succeeding travellers, finding traces of this idea among the Indians, would take it as a proof of the existence of the Amazons; instead of being merely the effect of a mistake at the first, which had been unknowingly spread among them by preceding travellers, seeking to obtain some evidence on the subject.
“Tattooing is very little practised by these Indians; they all, however, have a row of circular punctures along the arm, and one tribe, the Tucános, are distinguished from the rest by three vertical blue lines on the chin; and they also pierce the lower lip, through which they hang three little threads of white beads. All the tribes bore their ears, and wear in them little pieces of grass, ornamented with feathers. The Cobeus alone expand the hole to so large a size, that a bottle-cork could be inserted; they ordinarily wear a plug of wood in it, but, on festas, insert a little bunch of arrows.
“The men generally have but one wife, but there is no special limit, and many have two or three, and some of the chiefs more; the elder one is never turned away, but remains the mistress of the house. They have no particular ceremony at their marriages, except that of always carrying away the girl by force, or making a show of doing so, even when she and her parents are quite willing. They do not often marry with relations, or even neighbours,—preferring those from a distance, or even from other tribes. When a young man wishes to have the daughter of another Indian, his father sends a message to say he will come with his son and relations to visit him. The girl’s father guesses what it is for, and, if he is agreeable, makes preparations for a grand festival: it lasts perhaps two or three days, when the bridegroom’s party suddenly seize the bride, and hurry her off to their canoes; no attempt is made to prevent them, and she is then considered as married.
“Some tribes, as the Uacarrás, have a trial of skill at shooting with the bow and arrow, and if the young man does not show himself a good marksman, the girl refuses him, on the ground that he will not be able to shoot fish and game enough for the family.
“The dead are almost always buried in the houses, with theirbracelets, tobacco-bag, and other trinkets upon them; they are buried the same day they die, the parents and relations keeping up a continual mourning and lamentation over the body, from the death to the time of interment; a few days afterwards, a great quantity of caxirí is made, and all friends and relatives invited to attend, to mourn for the dead, and to dance, sing, and cry to his memory. Some of the large houses have more than a hundred graves in them, but when the houses are small, and very full, the graves are made outside,
“The Tariánas and Tucános, and some other tribes, about a month after the funeral, disinter the corpse, which is then much decomposed, and put it in a great pan, or oven, over the fire, till all the volatile parts are driven off with a most horrible odour, leaving only a black carbonaceous mass, which is pounded into a fine powder, and mixed in several large couchés (vats made of hollowed trees) of caxirí: this is drunk by the assembled company till all is finished; they believe that thus the virtues of the deceased will be transmitted to the drinkers.
“The Cobeus alone, in the Uaupés, are real cannibals: they eat those of other tribes, whom they kill in battle, and even make war for the express purpose of procuring human flesh for food. When they have more than they can consume at once, they smoke-dry the flesh over the fire, and preserve it for food a long time. They burn their dead, and drink the ashes in caxirí, in the same manner as described above.
“Every tribe and every ‘malocca’ (as their houses are called) has its chief, or ‘Tushaúa,’ who has a limited authority over them, principally in war, in making festivals, and in repairing the malocca and keeping the village clean, and in planting the mandiocca-fields; he also treats with the traders, and supplies them with men to pursue their journeys. The succession of these chiefs is strictly hereditary in the male line, or through the female to her husband, who may be a stranger: their regular hereditary chief is never superseded, however stupid, dull, or cowardly he may be. They have very little law of any kind; but what they have is of strict retaliation,—an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; and a murder is punished or revenged in the same manner and by the same weapon with which it was committed.
“They have numerous ‘Pagés,’ a kind of priests, answering to the ‘medicine-men’ of the North American Indians. These are believed to have great power: they cure all diseases by charms, applied by strong blowing and breathing upon the party to becured, and by the singing of certain songs and incantations. They are also believed to have power to kill enemies, to bring or send away rain, to destroy dogs or game, to make the fish leave a river, and to afflict with various diseases. They are much consulted and believed in, and are well paid for their services. An Indian will give almost all his wealth to a pagé, when he is threatened with any real or imaginary danger.
“They scarcely seem to think that death can occur naturally, always imputing it either to direct poisoning or the charms of some enemy, and, on this supposition, will proceed to revenge it. This they generally do by poisons, of which they have many which are most deadly in their effects: they are given at some festival in a bowl of caxirí, which it is good manners always to empty, so that the whole dose is sure to be taken. One of the poisons often used is most terrible in its effects, causing the tongue and throat, as well as the intestines, to putrefy and rot away, so that the sufferer lingers some days in the greatest agony: this is of course again retaliated, on perhaps the wrong party, and thus a long succession of murders may result from a mere groundless suspicion in the first instance.
“I cannot make out that they have any belief that can be called a religion. They appear to have no definite idea of a God; if asked who they think made the rivers, and the forests, and the sky, they will reply that they do not know, or sometimes that they suppose it was ‘Tupánau,’ a word that appears to answer to God, but of which they understand nothing. They have much more definite ideas of a bad spirit, ‘Juruparí,’ or Devil, whom they fear, and endeavour through their pagés to propitiate. When it thunders, they say the ‘Juruparí’ is angry, and their idea of natural death is that the Juruparí kills them. At an eclipse they believe that this bad spirit is killing the moon, and they make all the noise they can to frighten him away.
“One of their most singular superstitions is about the musical instruments they use at their festivals, which they call the Juruparí music. They consist of eight or sometimes twelve pipes or trumpets, made of bamboos or palm-stems hollowed out, some with trumpet-shaped mouths of bark and with mouth-holes of clay and leaf. Each pair of instruments gives a distinct note, and they produce a rather agreeable concert, something resembling clarionets and bassoons. These instruments however are with them such a mystery, that no woman must ever see them on pain of death. They are always kept in some igaripé, at a certain distance fromthe malocca, whence they are brought on particular occasions: when the sound of them is heard approaching, every woman retires into the woods, or into some adjoining shed, which they generally have near, and remains invisible till after the ceremony is over, when the instruments are taken away to their hiding-place, and the women come out of their concealment. Should any female be supposed to have seen them, either by accident or design, she is invariably executed, generally by poison, and a father will not hesitate to sacrifice his daughter, or a husband his wife, on such an occasion.
“They have many other prejudices with regard to women. They believe that if a woman, during her pregnancy, eats of any meat, any other animal partaking of it will suffer: if a domestic animal or tame bird, it will die; if a dog, it will be for the future incapable of hunting; and even a man will be unable to shoot that particular kind of game for the future. An Indian, who was one of my hunters, caught a fine cock of the rock, and gave it to his wife to feed, but the poor woman was obliged to live herself on cassava-bread and fruits, and abstain entirely from all animal food, peppers, and salt, which it was believed would cause the bird to die; notwithstanding all precautions however the bird did die, and the woman got a beating from her husband, because he thought she had not been sufficiently rigid in her abstinence from the prohibited articles.”
Few ethnological phenomena deserve more attention than the re-appearance of similar customs in the distant parts of the world, where, however, the physical conditions are alike.
Borneo and the Uaupés country, both are under the equator; and the same mode of building large houses for joint occupation prevails in both.
Observe, too, the use of the blow-pipe; it appears equally on the Amazons and in Borneo.
The details of the group before us are asfollows:—
The tattoed and painted individual with the skull of a slain enemy on a pole, is a Mundrucu, of the River Tapajos, the most formidable, numerous, and independent of the Brazilian Indians.
When a Mundrucu has slain an enemy, he cuts off his head, extracts the brain through the occipitalforamen, washes the blood away, fills the skull with cotton, and then converts the whole into a kind of mummy, by drying it before the fire. The eyes he gouges out, and he fills up the orbits with colouring matter. Thus prepared, the head is placed outside his hut. On festive occasionsit is placed at the top of a spear. Such is the history of the head of an enemy. Those, however, of friends and relations are preserved, and kept—though with certain differences of detail. Thus, on certain days dedicated to the obsequies and memory of the dead, the widow of the deceased takes his skull, seats herself before the cabin, and indulges either in melancholy lamentation, or in fierce encomium—the assembled friends meanwhile dancing round her.
The one behind is a Mura; the Muras being a numerous tribe, and from the vast extent of country over which they are spread, or rather scattered, a tribe whose number seems greater than it is. Settled habitations they have none; but, just as necessity or inclination takes them, they wander from wood to wood, from stream to stream. Taking the different divisions of them altogether, their number may amount to between 6000 and 7000 “bows,” (this “bow” meaning “fighting-man;”) the rest of the population being in proportion. This gives us from 20,000 to 30,000 persons. The lower Madeira was their original area, but the lower Madeira was vexed and harassed by tribes of the powerful and hostile Mundrucus; and the Mundrucus and Muras are ever at war with each other. At present the Mundrucus are the superior population. They are bigger in body, and they are more closely allied to the Portuguese. Indeed the Portuguese used them as a sort of military police against the Muras; who fear them so much that the presence of a single Mundrucu on board Von Martius’ canoe terrified a whole family of Muras.
The incursions, then, of the Mundrucus dispersed the Muras of the lower Madeira over vast districts on the Solimoes, and on the Rio Negro. Here they are formidable as pirates. The Muras, with their associates, the Toras (or Torayes), harass the navigation of the Amazons, where the settlers and traders know them as theIndios de Corso, and attempt their extermination accordingly. When the stream gets narrow, and the current strong, and the canoe has to labour slowly against the stream of a mighty river, the Mura places himself on the banks, and lies in wait,turéin hand. Theturéis an instrument, half wood and half reed, made out of the bamboo, the transverse septum of which is pierced in its centre. Here is inserted a second piece of cane, split. Theturéis heard at a considerable distance, and the watchman that blows it has a tree for a watch-tower. Theturé, too, is the instrument to which they dance, and sing, and drink, at their festivals.
Less formidable than they once were, the Mura is still shy,indocile, intractable, and impracticable as a labourer. Nothing but liquor will tempt him; and liquor tempts him but little in the way of work. He hunts skilfully, and he fishes skilfully; but he is rarely provident enough to economise the results of any successful exertions for the future. He gorges himself when he is in luck, and starves when out of it; he thinks of the passing time only.
As a general rule, the Indians of the Amazons neither respect the female sex, nor vex themselves with jealousy on account of them. The Muras are said to be exceptions. The number of wives is two or three, and of these the youngest is the favoured one. The other is little more than a domestic drudge. To win them, the Mura must have fought at fisticuffs; for a battle of this kind always takes place whenever a young lady becomes marriageable. Those who enter into the list for possession, fight, and the winner carries her off.
Their language is harsh and guttural, and their speech is accompanied with gesticulation. It is peculiar, at least it is different from theLingoa Geral, which but few Muras understand. It has been stated that the Mundrucus are their chief enemies. Besides these there are the Mauhes, and the Catauxis—hostile also.
The use of theparicáis one of the characteristic customs of the Muras. Theparicáis a powder. It is made from the dried seeds of a kind of Inga. It is a narcotic stimulating in the first instance, sedative or depressing afterwards. Once a year there is aparicáfeast, where the “snuff” is indulged in to excess, and where the additional stimulants of dance, and song, and fermented liquors are superadded.
The other Indians are from the northern bank, on the frontier of Brazil and Bolivia. They cannot be said to represent any particular tribe. If they give an idea of the general character of a South American Indian of the parts in question it is sufficient. All the current descriptions are of this general character. The figures before us approach, however, theTicunasIndians of Osculati, the nearest. Ticunas, however, is a term of a somewhat lax import; inasmuch as it means any of the Indians who use the Ticunas poison, or come from the country which produces it.
Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
Weapons, &c., from the Amazons.
These are from casts taken from life during Sir R. Schomburgk’s expedition. All belong to the great Carib stock, and speak dialects of the widely-spread Carib language.
This is a point of importance. InBrazilthe predominant language is the one alluded to under the name ofTupi—the basis of theLingoa Geral(General Language) orLingua Franca.
In other respects, the leading characteristics are the same, or similar; the details being more or less different. Some tribes, for instance, flatten the head, or tattoo the body; which the others do not. Some burn, others bury the dead. With the Carabisi, for instance, in ordinary cases the hammock in which the death took place, serves as a coffin, the body is buried, and the funeral procession made once or twice round the grave; but the bodies of persons of importance are watched and washed by the nearest female relations, and when nothing but the skeleton remains, the bones are cleaned, painted, packed in a basket and preserved. When, however, there is a change of habitation they areburned; after which the ashes are collected, and kept.
TheMacusi, on the other hand, buries his dead in a sitting posture without coffins, and with but few ceremonies.
The Arawak custom is peculiar. When a man of note dies, his relations plant a field of cassava. They lament loudly. But when twelve moons are over, and the cassava is ripe, they reassemble, feast, dance, lash each other cruelly, and severely with whips. The whips are thenhung upon the spot where the person died. Six moons later a second meeting takes place; and this time the whips areburied.
This group gives us the general character of the more typical North American Indians, rather than the details of any particular division; the chief sources being the portraits in McKennedy’s Gallery, and some well-executed daguerreotypes taken at St. Louis, and kindly placed at the disposal of the Crystal Palace Company by Mr. Fitzherbert of New York.
The prominence of the features, along with the red or coppertinge of the skin, characterises the Americans before us. This contrasts them with the Eskimo. Their size, on the other hand, distinguishes them from the majority of the South American tribes. Nevertheless, the size decreases as we go southward; and the Eskimo configuration (along with the Eskimo habits) is approached as we move westward of the Rocky Mountains.
Nine-tenths, and perhaps a larger proportion of the Indians of the northern half of the United States are referable to one of three great groups—theAlgonkin, theIroquois, theSioux; each of which falls into divisions and subdivisions.
I. TheAlgonkinis the greatest; greatest in respect to the number of its divisions and subdivisions, greatest in respect to the ground it covers, and greatest in respect to the range of difference which it embraces.
The whole of the Canadas, with one small exception, the whole of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward’s Isle, was originally Algonkin, as were Labrador and Newfoundland to a great extent.
To the Algonkin stock belonged and belong the extinct and extant Indians of New England, part of New York, part of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, part of the Carolinas, and part of even Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Pequods, the Mohicans, the Narragansetts, the Massachuset, the Montaug, the Delaware, the Menomini, the Sauks, the Ottogamis, the Kikkapùs, the Potawhotamis, the Illinois, the Miami, the Piankeshaws, the Shawnos, &c. belong to this stock—all within the United States.
The Algonkins of British America are asfollows:—
1. TheCrees; of which theSkofiandSheshatapúshof Labrador are branches.
2. TheOjibways; fallinginto—
a.TheOjibways Proper, of which theSauteursare a section.
b.TheOttawasof the River Ottawa.
c.The original Indians of LakeNipissing; important because it is believed that the form of speech calledAlgonkin, a term since extended to the whole class, was their particular dialect. They are now either extinct or amalgamated with other tribes.
d.TheMessisaugis, to the north of Lake Ontario.
3. TheMicmacsof New Brunswick, Gaspé, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, and part of Newfoundland; closely allied tothe—
4.Abnakiof Mayne, and the British frontier; represented at present by theSt. John’s Indians.
5. TheBethuck—the aborigines of Newfoundland.
6. TheBlackfoots, consisting ofthe—
a.Satsikaa, orBlackfoots Proper.
b.TheKena, orBlood Indians.
c.ThePiegan.
To these must be added numerous extinct tribes.
II. TheIroquoisclass has been larger than it is now, many of its members being extinct. It still, however, contains theWiandots, orHurons, of the parts between Lakes Simcoe, Huron, and Erie; the once famous and formidableMohawks, theSenekas, theOnondagos, theCayugas, theOneidas, and theTuskaroras.
III. To theSiouxclass belong the Assiniboins of the Red River, and the Osages of Arkansas; tribes widely distant. It is the great Sioux to which nine-tenths of the Valley of Missouri originally belonged—Sioux, whose original hunting-grounds included the vast prairie-country from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi, and who again appear as an isolated detachment of Lake Michigan; Sioux, known under the names of Winebagoes, Dahcotas, Yanktons, Tetons, Upsarokas, Mandans, Minetaris, Missouris, Osages, Konzas, Ottos, Omahaws, Puncas, Ioways, and Quappas.
None of the Sioux tribes came in contact with the sea. None of them belonged to the greatforestdistricts of America. Most of them hunt over the country of the buffalo. This makes them warlike migratory hunters; with fewer approaches to agricultural or industrial civilisation than any Indians equally favoured by soil and climate.
It is the Iroquois, the Sioux, and certain members of the Algonkin stock, upon which the current and popular notions of the American Indian, theRed Man, as he is called, have been formed.
Greenland is occupied by the same family that occupies the coast of Labrador. It does more. It extends all along the northern coast of North America; all along the shores of the Arctic Sea, both east and west. It extends to Russian America, and beyond it to the other side of Behring’s Straits, and to the Aleutian Islands. Hence, there are certain members of the family to which the Greenlanders belong in Asia.
The general name for this isEskimo, a word, which, likeMalayandMongol, is used in a general, as well as a particular sense. It denotes a large family, and it means the special occupants of the coast of Labrador, and the coast of the Arctic Sea.
The Eskimo is the only family common to the Old and the New World.
The large Greenland tent, with its furniture, and a canoe, is from one of the few ethnological museums in existence,—that of Copenhagen; from which it has been liberally and courteously supplied to the Crystal Palace. The details are due to the skill and care of Professor Thomsen of that capital.
1. For theTibetans, &c.,Turner’s Embassy; Works on the Himalayas, byThomsonandHooker;Cunningham’s Ladakh.
2. The Aborigines of India, byB. Hodgson; Papers in Asiatic Researches; Transactions of the Asiatic Society; Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, &c. &c.
3, 4.Marsden’s Sumatra;Raffles’ History of Java;Craufurd’s Indian Archipelago; Papers in Journal of the Indian Archipelago;Sir James Brooke’s writings.
5.Jukes’Voyage of Fly;McGillivray’s Voyage of Rattlesnake; The Papuans, byWindsor Earl; Works ofCollins,King,Mitchell, &c.; Journal of Indian Archipelago; United States’ Exploring Expedition.
6. Travels in Abyssinia byJohnstone,Harris,Mansfield,Parkyns, &c.
7.The Negroes, &c. Medical History of the Niger Expedition, by Dr.McWilliam; On the Natives of Old Calabar, by Dr.Daniell.
8.Licshtenstein’s Travels;Galtonin Journal of Geographical Society;The Caffres and Bushmen.
9, 10, 11, 12. Travels of PrinceMaximilianofNeuwied, ofSpix, andVon Martius;Sir R. Schomburgk, in Geographical Transactions;Wallace’s Travels on the Amazon;Squier’s Nicaragua.
13.North American Indians.—Archæologia Americana, Vol. ii.; Transactions of American Ethnological Society; Works ofSchoolcraft,Squier, &c.; Smithsonean Contributions to Knowledge.
14. Papers by Dr.Kingon the Industrial and Intellectual character of the Eskimo, in Transactions of Ethnological Society; Accounts of the Arctic Expedition, byParry,Ross, &c. &c.
For Ethnology in general—Prichard’s Natural History of Man, five volumes; Ditto, one volume.
The large Greenland hut, boat and furniture, kindly supplied by the Curator of the Ethnological Museum at Copenhagen (Professor Thomsen) reached us after the present pages were in print.
Animals and plants are not scattered indifferently over the earth’s surface, but are grouped together in assemblages of different kinds. The animals and plants of the British Isles, for example, are wholly distinct from those of the West Indies, and these again from the East Indian kinds. Naturalists, after a long study of the distribution of organised beings, have been enabled to divide the earth’s surface into provinces, each characterised by its peculiar set of inhabitants. The assemblage of organised beings in each province exhibits, when vieweden masse, a general aspect, orfacies, independent of its being composed, in part, of kinds of creatures different from those found in any other province. This facies depends on combinations of colour, sculpture, texture, and often minute and insignificant characters, when regarded separately, but when presented in coordination, becoming of importance through their constancy and their influence in determining the leading features of a fauna or flora, or both combined. Even when comparatively few of the characteristic animal and vegetable types of a province are brought together, within a limited space, some notion may thus be conveyed to the spectator of thefacies, or aspect of life in that region. This has been attempted in the arrangement of the Geographical Garden in the Crystal Palace.
Organised beings are distributed over the earth and in the seahorizontallyandvertically. On their horizontal distribution depend their geographical life-provinces; on their vertical distribution, their arrangement in altitudinal and bathymetrical zones or belts. If we ascend any high mountain, we rise through successive belts of vegetation, each frequented by its favourite form of animal life. We are reminded during our ascent of the successive faunas and floras that we should pass amongst, were we proceeding from the mountain’s base to the pole. If the mountain be sufficiently high, we at length reach a region where all life ceases. So likewise in the sea—if we explore the depths of ocean, and commence our examination on the borders of the shore, we shall find that the animal and vegetable population of the waters are not dispersed indifferently through their depths, but occupy successivelevels, or zones. If we go deep enough, vegetable life first disappears, and animal species become so few, comparatively, that we cannot but conclude that we are approaching a point beyond, or rather below which all is desert.
As yet, no attempt has been made in the Crystal Palace to display the zones of altitude, though it is quite possible to do so, by means of a miniature mountain encircled by belts of alpine vegetation, amid which the characteristic animals of the zones might be placed in relative order of elevated dwelling-places. This may be looked forward to, as a worthy object for carrying out hereafter. A slight and partial indication of the phenomena of distribution of marine animals in depth, is exhibited in cases representing the sea-population of a few regions; especially the British, the West Indian, and Australian seas. In these the spectator will observe that the law of distribution in provinces holds good among marine animals as among terrestrial. And if we regard the peculiar features of the contents of the West Indian case, contrasting it with that filled with British sea-animals, a striking example of the difference offacies, or general aspect, in a temperate province as contrasted with a tropical one, is too evident not to attract our notice. Differences of the same kind are displayed in the contrasts of form and colour presented by the birds of different regions, inclosed in the cases placed at intervals among the plants, and always in connection with the other illustrations of the portions of the globe to which they belong.
The Boar-hunt, one of the relics of the Great Exhibition of 1851, placed beyond this Court, must be accepted as a type of Europe—a region so familiar to all, that no space has been spared for its fuller illustration. TheOld WorldCourt is consequently devoted to African and Asiatic illustrations. The several provinces of Africa are fairly typified, but those of Asia, great and important though they be, have, for the present, an inadequate share of space assigned.
The southernmost portion of this Court is occupied by the south extremity of Africa; to this we pass southwards through the northern African provinces of Egypt and Barbary, brought into unavoidable proximity with the tropical countries of Asia. Central and Eastern Africa follow, the latter having affinities with Asia through Arabia.
The visitor when beside the North African section of the Court must suppose the proximity of Southern Europe, and by doing so, bear in mind the close affinity that exists between the mass of vegetation that he then sees around him, and the floras of Italy and Spain.
The yak and Ovis Ammon stand as representatives of the central regions of Asia. The former is a characteristic animal of Tibet, and does not thrive except at high elevations. Here, too, is placed the Bactrian camel. The vegetation among which these animals are grouped is mainly Himalayan, and may be regarded as representing the flora of the verge of this great province.
Beyond the northern bounds of the Central Asiatic region, we pass rapidly amid European types, mingling, as we proceed eastwards, with Boreal American forms. The vegetation, like the animal life, puts on a mixed aspect, and one of a transatlantic character. In the main, the Siberian fauna and flora are linked with those of eastern Europe.
The arctic portion of Asia presents the characteristic assemblage of polar animals, white bears, seals, walruses, narwhals, dolphins, gulls, and cormorants, whilst along the shores range reindeer, arctic foxes, lemmings, ptarmigans, and snowy owls; more inland, wolves and otters, with fur-bearing animals abound. This is the linking region of the Old and New Worlds.
The group of the Tiger-hunt indicates some of the zoological features of the low country and jungles of India and the warm regions of Asia. The tiger is indeed one of the most characteristic animals of the Tropical Asiatic provinces, as is also the Indian elephant. The one-horned rhinoceros, the Indian hyæna, humped oxen of various kinds, a few peculiar deer, the scaly ant-eater, the bonnet-monkey, the Hoonuman (Semnopithecus entellus), and the wanderoo, are all well-marked and conspicuous Indian mammals. Some of the larger quadrupeds are common to Europe and Africa. The birds of India are numerous, and often very beautiful.
By bamboos and orange-trees, and a few forms of vegetation capable of cultivation under the conditions and within the space of our Garden, a very slight indication indeed is afforded of the general Indian flora. But in the back-ground of theIndian group, the rich assemblage of Indian rhododendrons and azaleas, theJuniperus recurvaand theFicus elastica, serve to represent one of the most beautiful floras in the world, that of the mountain ranges of India, whilst on its eastern-side, camellias, tea-plants, Carphon laurels, and magnolias exemplify the change in Asiatic vegetation with the great Chinese province.
The portion of this continent, north of Sahara, west of the Libyan desert, and including the chains of the Atlas, is clothed with a very different vegetation, and peopled by a distinct set of land animals from those occupying the greater and more characteristic African regions. In many respects, it has more affinity in its natural history and features with the southern countries of Europe, especially Spain and Sicily, than with Africa. Even its most characteristic mammal, the Barbary ape, has apparently an indigenous stronghold in Gibraltar. The wild boar, genet, porcupine, and fallow deer, the last alone of its tribe in Africa, indicate European affinities, whilst southern relations are marked by a few forms of antelope and by the lion. Some small rodents are peculiar. The traveller passing from temperate Europe to Barbary, sees in the domesticated camel and many plants—the date-palm, the opuntia, and the agave—distinguishing and peculiar features of its landscape; yet none of these is an original native of the region. Even the date-palm belongs properly to the countries south of the Atlas. The truly characteristic plants—such as the carob, fig, and palmetto, are all of Mediterranean types and South European forms. The sea that separates Europe and Africa has an uniform population nearly throughout; and, in the main, is not more than a colony of the Atlantic.
Egypt is a truly African province, and is linked by many of its productions with Nubia, Abyssinia, and the countries that border on the Indian Ocean. The crocodile and the hippopotamus, now confined to the higher portions of the Nile, are essentially African types. The fishes of the Nile have close affinities with those of the rivers of the Senegal streams. Among them the polypterus is remarkable for its approach to the ancient and extinct forms of ganoids. From Sennaar, southwards, we find the elephant and one-horned rhinoceros. Monkeys, species ofCercopithecus, occur in the same region.
In the highlands of Shoa, the undulating surfaces of the table-lands are covered with green bushes of euphorbia; lions and hyænas are common. In the lower country of the Danakils, palms abound, with acacias and aloes; and the wart-hog, small antelopes and guinea-fowls, are among the animals. Crocodiles and hippopotami haunt the streams and marshes. On the plains are the Koodoo antelope and zebra; ostriches are hunted below the Galla country, and leopards and buffaloes abound.
Taking the vegetation from the north southwards, not a few conspicuous plants are distinctive of successive districts; thus, the date-palm, the papyrus, and the bean of Pythygoras may be cited for Egypt Proper; the doom, the coffee, and acacias to the more southern provinces. Some curious affinities with South African vegetation are indicated by Abyssinian species of pelargonium and protea.
There is a close relationship between the natural history of the Eastern African region and that of Arabia; so near, indeed, that in many respects we may regard these provinces as subdivisions of one great region. Many of the most striking plants are common to both, and the same may be said of not a few characteristic animals. The Red Sea, that separates them, proves, when its animal and vegetable inhabitants are explored, to be only a colony of the great Indian Ocean marine province, the most extensive of all the natural-history regions of the ocean, and the most varied in its contents. These are remarkable for brilliancy of colouring and beauty or singularity of shape and sculpture, as well as for the richness of the fauna in the number of generic and specific types.
Western Africa within the tropics constitutes in many respects one vast natural-history province, extending far into the interior and towards the eastern coasts. This wide-spreading region is capable of being subdivided, and the steaming districts along the coast from Senegal to Congo present numerous peculiarities that are not seen in the inland portions. These latter again vary considerably in features of surface, and the animal and vegetable population must change more or less accordingly. But throughout this portion of the African continent there range not a few of the large quadrupeds, and doubtless of the smaller ones and other tribes along with them. The African elephant, the hippopotamus, the two-horned rhinoceros, the phascochœrus, or wart-hog, the lion and the jackal, are examples; although the Great Desert cutsoff the range northwards of several of them. Among birds, the ostrich and theVultur kolbiiare instances.
The most conspicuous zoological peculiarities of this region are manifested by quadrumanous and edentate quadrupeds. This is a country of monkeys, and of very remarkable ones. The thumbless apes (Colobus) are concentrated here. The various herds ofCercopithecusare chiefly members of this region: the mandrills are all belonging to it, and the baboons abound. The African orang-outang is a native of Guinea; and three species of chimpanzee are found on the same line of coast.
The edentata of this region are confined to the countries in the neighbourhood of the coast, and though few are highly peculiar. There are species of the genusManis, the scaly ant-eater, or pangolin. In the presence of these extraordinary quadrupeds along the western shores of Africa we seem to have a relation with the New World shadowed out; one that is also indicated by a few analogies among the plants. At the same time, by similar indications, a relationship of analogy with the Indian region may be traced. Thus, there are curious resemblances between the flora of Congo, that of India, and of the islands of the Indian Ocean. These similitudes are the more remarkable since the physical features of the country between the western and eastern coasts are such as scarcely to admit of any continuity of like vegetation or animal population. With the flora of South Africa that of the west has but very slight connection.
A number of antelopes, though as we go northwards the species are less numerous, manifest the distinguishing feature of the group of African ruminants. In our group the harnessed and Isabella antelopes typify this character.
The vegetation of intertropical Africa varies considerably in different districts, on account of the striking difference in the mineral constitution of the soil, and the elemental peculiarities of the seaward and inland districts. Palms of several kinds are abundant along the coast countries, and among them the most prominent is theElais guiniensis, a palm-oil species. As a group, however, although playing so prominent a part in the West African landscape, the number of kinds of palm is small, when compared with the vast number of individuals. ThePandanus candelabrum, one of the screw-palms, is a conspicuous tree. Mangroves clothe the sides of swamps and the deltas of rivers. Towards the inner country the greatAdansonia digitataorBaobab, the largest tree in the world, becomes frequent, and ranges westwards to the boundariesof Abyssinia. The great tree-cotton, orBombax, is also characteristic. Among the herbaceous plants that range along the western coasts of Africa, one of the best known and prettiest is theGloriosa superba.CinchoniaceæandMalvaceæare among the tribes of plants that attain a considerable development.
There are few tracts of land on the earth’s surface so distinctly marked by zoological and botanical peculiarities, and by a striking aspect of fauna and flora as South Africa. Its mountains—and they attain considerable elevation, as much as 10,000 feet in some instances—its low grounds, sandy plains, and deserts called Karoos, if not everywhere adorned with a luxuriant vegetation, are singularly prolific in remarkable and interesting plants, and are the resorts of numerous quadrupeds, many of them of considerable dimensions. In its mammalia and its flowering plants we recognise the prominent and distinctive natural-history characteristics of the region.
One baboon,Cynocephalus porcarius, and aCercopithecus, are the only monkeys of the Cape region, and though peculiar as species, are rather to be regarded as links of the fauna of the South African with the general fauna of Africa. In this light, too, must the carnivora be regarded, although numerous and prominent; for the most conspicuous, the lion for example, are common to a vast extent of the African continent. The hyæna genus, however, may be regarded as having its metropolis in this province. Some of the conspicuous pachyderms also appertain to the general African group, such as the elephant, the hippopotamus, the two-horned rhinoceros, the Ethiopic hog, and the zebra. Here is the country of the gnoos and other antelopes, of quaggas, lions following in the track; some of the antelopes may be seen in herds of hundreds.
Here we are out of the region of palms; nor are large trees of any kind very distinctive of the South African flora. There are no vast forests, arborescent plants are scarce, but instead, there are great tracts of bush, composed, in the Caffrarian districts, for the most part of succulent and thorny shrubs; leafless columnar euphorbias, some of them shaped like great candelabra and occasionally towering to thirty or forty feet, and fleshy aloes with threatening weapon-like leaves and tall standards of handsome flowers, give a strange and bizarre aspect to the Bush-country vegetation, and cover with prickly thickets the steep sides of the ravines that furrow and separate the long flat ridges of hills. Here grow theZamiahorrida, the crane-like Strelitzia, prickly kinds of acacia, everlasting-flowers in great variety, and ice-plants. One of the latter, theMesembryanthemum edule, or Hottentot fig, is the only native fruit, and a bad one at best.
The mention of Cape plants at once suggests to the lover of flowers a number of beautiful natives of the South African region: Cape lilies, various sorts of corn-flags, ixias, lobelias, oxalidiæ, peculiar orchids, pelargoniums, diosmeas, polygalas, and heaths, of the last in wondrous variety. The curious little pachydermatous quadruped,Hyrax capensis, is a specific peculiarity; so also is the quagga. It is the group of the hollow-formed ruminants that give the grand distinguishing feature to the South African fauna. The beautiful family of antelopes attains its maximum here, nearly one half of the total number of species being South African. The gnoo, the eland, the harte-beest and spring-bok, are some of those most familiar on account of their dimensions or beauty: the abundance of antelopes compensates for the absence of deer. The Cape buffalo (Bos caffer) is another distinctive ruminant; and the giraffe, though ranging far to the north, is a conspicuous member of the southern fauna. The sand-flats around the Cape are bored by peculiar moles of the genus Bathyergus, and one of the most curious of African animals, the Cape ant-eater,Orycteropus capensis, one of the few members of its order existing in the Old World, is confined to the province from which it derives its specific appellation. The ornithological peculiarities of the Cape are not so striking.
Many of the animals mentioned are now becoming scarce, or to be seen only far in the interior. The elephant, rhinoceros, and hippopotamus are rapidly disappearing through the persecution of the hunter. On the high open table-lands of the interior immense multitudes of quadrupeds congregate especially; and the proteaceæ, equally distinctive of this flora, abound most in the western districts of the colony, and are especially numerous on the sandy plains. One of the most beautiful of orchids, the famousDisa grandiflora, is a plant of Table Mountain. Among remarkable plants may be mentioned, the waxberry,Myrsia cordifolia, a shrub, the berries of which are thickly coated with wax; and the well-known monstrous-lookingTestudinaria elephantipes. The much-cultivated and familiar great White Arum,Calla Æthiopica, is common in wet places.
It is worthy of note, that whilst the animals, both quadrupeds and birds, of South Africa have many relations with those of Western Africa within the tropics, the plants belong to completelya different series, and are connected with the flora of the rest of Africa only by eastern relations. In some features of the flora there is a curious analogy manifested with the Australian types.
The coasts of the Cape have a marine population as peculiar and striking in their way as the terrestrial, and constitute a well-marked sea-province, the eastern limits of which are to the south of Natal, where the great Indo-Pacific region meets that of the Cape. Among shell-fish, the limpet tribe has its chief congregation of species here.
We enter theNew Worldby the cold regions of the extreme south—the home of penguins. Here we find forms of animal and vegetable life representative of those that inhabit the Arctic regions and their borders. The most southerly arborescent vegetation is seen in Hermit Island near Cape Horn, where stunted forests of antarctic and evergreen beeches grow. The same phenomenon is exhibited of multiplication of individuals and paucity of species to which attention will be called in the notice of the extreme north. The southernmost of all flowering plants is a grass, theAira antarctica, a native of the South Shetland islands.
By the Chilian auraucarias, the fuchsias, calceolarias, and petunias, some of the peculiar features of the vegetation of the southernmost regions of South America are indicated. Many of our most beautiful and familiar garden plants come from these provinces. In the high regions of the Andes of Chili, as well as further towards the equator, lives the chinchilla, famous for its fur, at an elevation of between 12,000 and 14,000 feet—guinea-pigs are found of peculiar kinds, and the llama, which ranges to a height of 1800 feet.
The rich regions of Brazil and Tropical America are typified by some of their most characteristic vegetable forms, and by not a few of the most striking members of their mammalian fauna, as well as birds of exquisite hues and strange shapes. Among the latter, the toucans and humming birds are singularly striking. This is the great central home of the New World monkeys, contrasting with and representative of those of the Old World, but constitutingan entirely distinct group. Their nostrils placed far apart and flattened, the number of their teeth, and the prehensile tail,—a fifth hand,—with which so many of them are endowed, give them an aspect very different from their relatives over the Atlantic. In the vast forests of Brazil they revel among the palms, Barringtonias and monkey pots, whilst, on the ground below, the giant ant-eater, and many another creature equally strange, prowls around the shade. The jaguar, puma, and ocelot, which take the place of the great cats of the Old World, the agouti and capabara, the sloth and coati-mundi, all present themselves in this compartment. The American tapir is here, and in the more western portions of the ground, are placed crochet-deer, and theRhea americana, the ostrich of the west. The llama marks the region of the Andes, and in the New World represents the camel of the Old.
Birds of beautiful plumage, and vegetation of singular and fantastic forms, mark the separating region of Central America. The cactus tribe of plants, the yuccas, and the great aloe or rather agave give a peculiar and striking aspect to this region. Yet of the larger forms of animal life there is little to display. Before long we may show the strange sea-cow, or manatee, as coming within the bounds of this province, and a glance at the West Indian marine case will serve at once to indicate the richness and beauty of the fauna of seas and shores. The number and curious variety of its sponges, the elegance and rich painting of its shell-fish, the odd shapes of its fishes, and the presence of striking forms of reef-building corals, all, however, different from those of the Indian seas, cannot fail to impress its peculiarities on the thoughtful visitor.
Along the southern verge of this province is the country of that most exquisite of water-lilies, the greatVictoria: on secluded lakes, among luxuriant forests, and in the reaches of the mighty rivers that flow tranquilly among them, this beautiful plant flourishes indigenous.
Between the Central and the Arctic Provinces are the wooded regions ofNorth America, where the vegetation of Canada passes into that of the United States, and is bounded on the western side by Oregonian fauna. A wide range has to be illustrated in a small space, and we are obliged to bring together in close proximitythe countries of the pines and the palmettos. The Canadian porcupine, Wapiti deer, elk, beaver, raccoon, Virginian opossum, and Virginian deer stand here as representatives for the States and neighbouring countries. Shrew moles (Scalops aquaticus), starnoses (Condylura cristata), musk-rats, bony pikes and limuli would be effective additions, and highly characteristic. The fauna and flora of the United States, though in great part peculiar, are in many of their members curiously representative of the vegetable and animal life in the corresponding portion of the Old World; in not a few instances form replaces form. At the same time, the differences are not to be overlooked, and in the presence of the opossum, of some of the fishes and certain invertebrate animals, we seem to have indications of claims to a superior antiquity on the part of the so-called New, over the boasted Old World.
TheBarren groundsthat skirt the polar regions of North America, and which include the country to the east of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the great lakes, constitute a region of low hills with rounded summits, and more or less precipitous sides, separated by narrow valleys. They are bare of trees, except near the margins of larger rivers; a few stunted willows, dwarf birches and larches, are occasionally met with, but the greater part of the surface is covered with lichens only. The brown bear, the glutton, the ermine, the Canadian otter, the wolf, the zibet, the arctic hare, the reindeer, and the musk-ox, are characteristic quadrupeds. Between this district and the northern shores of Lake Superior is a belt of wooded land, where the elk, squirrel, beaver, &c., occur. On the prairie lands that belong to the next section are the great bison or American buffalo, peculiar deer, and the grisly bear. Towards the west, and along the Rocky Mountains are found the American goat (only on the highest ridges), and the pretty prong-horned antelope. The distribution of most of these large animals is determined by the vegetation, and that in a great measure by the disposition of the water-sheds.
To realise our conceptions, we ought, before quitting the Geographical Garden from the north, to find ourselves surrounded by masses of ice and snow. Let us picture in our minds long lines of hoary coasts, the dark rock occasionally breaking through itsfrosty covering, the deep green waves tossing masses of ice, and bearing up towering and fantastic icebergs, whose cleft and cavernous sides are beautiful with intense blue shadows. Great whales sport among the waters, their black masses, here and there, breaking the monotony of colours. Myriads of glancing jellyfishes, iridescent beroes, and pearly molluscs, give animation to the transparent waters. Flocks of sea-birds fly in every direction, watching the fishes that supply them with abundant food; seals rest on the icy platform, and nearer the land the great white bear, beautiful as strong, prowls along the verge of the shore. A scene such as this cannot be realised ever at Sydenham, but we can indicate some few of its characteristic elements. The imagination of intelligent visitors must supply the rest.
The Arctic Province is represented only in one geographical Court, that of the Western or New World. The one indication must serve for all the regions that border the icy seas. Indeed there is no forcing in this arrangement, for the entire Arctic fauna is characterised by prevailing monotony. Myriads of individuals of the prevailing species, mostly dull in hue, or at least deficient in brilliant colouring, whether they belong to the earth, the air, or the sea, compensate for the paucity of different kinds. White and grey, in the air; dull browns in the sea, are the prevailing tints. Some bright flowers during the summer season, break the modest rule by their gaiety. Throughout the icy seas, from Greenland round by Spitzbergen to Behring’s Straits, and along the labyrinthine coast of Asiatic America to Greenland again, the same marine animals are diffused. This is the region of the salmon genus, all the species of which radiate, as it were, around the Arctic province.
By the polar bears and a group of Arctic birds an indication of this northernmost of faunas is afforded. The various foxes of the Arctic shores, the dogs of the Esquimaux, the walrus with its human head, whalebone and finner whales, were their bulk admissible, would fill up the group with more completeness. The reindeer serves to indicate the boundary of the province, and stands as a representative of the verge of these realms of ice and snow.
The vegetation and much of the animal population of the Indian islands, both on the land and in the sea, constitute a passage betweenthe floras and faunas of Asia, and those so exceedingly peculiar, when regarded apart, of Australia. The group of islands connected with New Guinea—mountainous, forest-clothed, hot and moist in their climate—especially exhibit this passage. Spice-trees and numerous forms of palms mark differences; the presence of casuarinæ, gum-trees, and melaleucas, resemblances. A few species of Australian types are highly suggestive of the same relation.
The ourang, the Malay tapir, and bears, and the flying-squirrels, with a rich array of birds, illustrate the zoology of the Indian Archipelago; while that of Australia and Tasmania are indicated by the kangaroos, duck-billed platypus, Tasmanian wolf, and echidnas, with many of the singular and strangely peculiar birds of this most remarkable zoological province, where we seem to have the lowest conditions of the vertebrate type, assembled as if to indicate a rudimentary stage in the world’s history. The vegetation—typified here by Banksias and other proteaceous shrubs, epacridiæ, gum-trees, and many more forms as striking and peculiar—indicates a corner of the earth set apart.
BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.