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THE 


JOURNAL 


OF  THB 


ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY 

OF  LONDON. 


SDITEI)  BY 

FBOFESSOB  HUXLEY,  LL.D.,  F.ILS.,  PBisiDiirT  op  tbb  Socibtt. 
GEOROB  BUSK,  Esq.,  P.ILS.  i     COL.  A.  LANE  POX,  Hon.  Sic. 

SIB  J.  LUBBOCK,  Bt.,  M.P.,  F.B.S.  I     HYDE  CLARKE,  Esq.,  Fob.  Sbo. 


Sub-Editor,  P.  W.  BUBLEB,  Esq.,  F.a.S. 


NEW  SERIES. 

Vol.  II. 

SESSION  1860-70. 


LONDON: 
TEtJBNEB  &  CO.,  60  PATEBNOSTER  BOW. 


1870. 


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Printed  bj  Tatlob  and  Fraxcib,  B«d  Lion  Gonrt,  Fleet  Street 

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CONTENTS. 


Pige 

Proceedings  at  the  Annual  Meeting  ix 

President's  Anniyersaiy  Address    xvi 

last  of  Fellows zzr 


L  On  the  proposed  Exploration  of  Stonehenge  bj  a  Committee  of  the 
British  Association.    By  CoL  A.  Lane  Fox,  F.S. A.,  Hon.  Sec 1 

IL  On  the  Chinese  Race :  their  Language,  Gk>Temmenty  Social  Institu- 
aonB,  and  Religion.  Bj  C.  T.  Gasdnsb,  Esq.,  F.R.O.S.  (With 
Appendices.) 5 

m.  On  the  Races  and  Languages  of  Dardistan.  By  Dr.  G.  W.  Lext- 
MBB,  M.A.    (Abstract)    81 

IV.  On  Quartzite  Implements  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  By  Sir 
Gbobob  Gbby,  KCB.    (With  Plate  L) 89 

V.  Note  on  a  supposed  Stone  Implement  from  Co.  Widdow,  Ireland. 

By  F.  ACHBSON,  Esq.    (With  a  Woodcut.) 48 

VL  Note  on  the  Stature  of  American  Indians  of  the  Ohipewyan  Tribe. 

By  Major-General  LbfboY;  R.A.  44 

VII.  Report  on  the  present  State  and  Condition  of  Prehistoric  Remains 
in  the  Channel  Islands.  By  lieut  S.  P.  Olivbb,  R.A.,  F.R.G.S. 
(With  Plates  H  to  X.,  Woodcut,  two  Synoptical  Tables,  and  Ap- 
pendix.)     46 

VUL  Description  of  and  Remarks  upon  an  ancient  Calyaria  from  Chinai 
which  has  been  supposed  to  be  that  of  Confucius.  By  Gbobgb 
BuBB,  Esq.,  F.R.S.    (With  Plate  XI.) 78 

IX.  On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades,  from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nine- 
teenth Century. — Part  IH.  The  Comans  and  Petchenegs.      By 

H.  H.  HowoBTH,  Esq 88 

X.  On  the  Eitai  and  Kara-Eitai.    By  Dr.  QtmtkV  Ofpbbt d7 

XL  Note  on  the  Use  of  the  New-Zealand  Mere.    By  Col.  A.  Lane 

Fox,F.S.A.,  Hon.  Sec.    (With  Woodcuts.) 106 

Xn.  On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains  discovered  in  New  Zealand,  and 
on  the  Nature  of  the  Deposits  in  which  they  occurred.  By  Dr. 
Julius  Haast,  F.RS.    (With  Plates  XH.  and  Xm.) 110 

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IV  CONTENTS. 

Page 

XIII.  On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians  geologically  considered.  By 
James  Bonwick,  Esq.,  F.RG.S 121 

XIV.  On  a  Frontier-line  of  Ethnology  and  Geology.  By  H.  H.  Ho- 
woBTH,  Esq 131 

XV.  Notes  on  the  Nicobar  Islanders.  By  G.  M.  Atkinson,  Esq.  (With 
Plate  XIV.)   187 

XVI.  On  the  Discoyery  of  Flint  and  Chert  under  a  submerged  Forest  in 
West  Somerset  By  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.R.S., 
F.G.S Ul 

XVII.  Report  on  Prehistoric  Remiuns  in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the 
Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.    By  the  Rev.  R.  J.  Maplston 146 

X  Vni.  Supplementary  Remarks  to  a  Note  on  an  Ancient  Chinese  Calva. 
By  Geobqb  Busk,  Esq.,  F.R.S 156 

XIX.  On  Discoveries  in  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire.  By  C.  Monk- 
man,  Esq.    (With  Plates  XV.  and  XVI.) 167 

XX.  On  the  Natives  of  Naga,  in  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands.  By  Dr. 
Jaoob 170 

XXI.  On  the  Koords.  By  Major  F.  Millinoen,  F.R.G.S.  (With  a 
Woodcut) 176 

XXn.  On  the  Westerly  Driftdng  of  Nomades,  from  the  Fifth  to  the 
Nineteenth  Century. — Part  IV.  The  Circassians  and  White  Eha- 
zars.    By  H.  H.  Howobth,  Esq 182 

XXTTT.  On  the  Aymaia  Indians  of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  By  David 
Fobbbs,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  &c.  (With  Plates  XVH.  to  XXITI. 
and  Appendices.) 193 

XXrV.  On  the  opening  of  two  Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales. 
By  CoL  A.  Lanb  Fox,  F.S.A.,  Hon.  Sec.   (With  Plate  XXIV.) . .  806 

XXV.  On  the  Earliest  Phases  of  Civilization.  By  Hoddbb  M.  Wxst- 
Bopp,  Esq.    (Abstract.) 824 

XXVI.  On  Current  British  Mythology  and  Oral  Tradition.  By  J.  F. 
Caicfbbll,  Esq.,  of  Islay 825 

XXVn.  Note  on  a  Cist  with  Engrayed  Stones  on  the  Poltalloch  Estate, 
Argyllshire.    By  the  Rey.  R.  J.  Maplxton.    (With  Woodcuts.)    840 

XXVm.  On  the  Tribal  System  and  Land-Tenure  in  Ireland  under  the 
Brehon  Laws.    By  Hobdbb  M.  Wbstbopp,  Esq 842 

XXIX.  On  the  Danish  Element  in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  York- 
shire.   By  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson 861 

XXX.  On  the  Brain  in  the  Study  of  Ethnology.  By  Dr.  C.  Donovan. 
(Abstract) 809 

XXXI.  The  Philosophy  of  Religion  among  the  Lower  Races  of  Alan- 
kind.    By  Edwabd  Bubnbtt  Ttlob,  Esq.,  Vice-President 869 

XXXIL  On  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.  By  Professor  T.  H.  Hitzlbt, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President 882 


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CONTENTS.  V 

Page 
XXXTTT.  The  Influence  of  the  Nonnan  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of 
Britain.    By  Dr.  T.  Nicholas,  M-A.,  F.G.S.,  &c 884 

XXXIV.  Note  on  a  suppoeed  Ogham  Inscription,  from  Bus-Glass,  Co. 
Cork.    By  R  Caulfibld,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  F.S. A.  (With  Plate  XXV.)  400 

XXXV.  Notes  on  the  Discoveiy  of  Copper  Celts  at  ButtiTant,  Co.  Cork. 

By  J.  P.  Phaib,  Esq 402 

XXXVI.  On  the  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Chief  Modifications 
of  Mankind.  By  Professor  T.  H.  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.RS.,  Presi- 
dent   (With  Chromo-lithographed  Map.) 404 

XXX VIL  On  the  threatened  Destruction  of  the  British  Earthworks 
near  Dorchester,  Oxfordshire.  By  Col.  A.  Lane  Fox,  Hon.  Sec. 
(With  Pkte  XXVI.)   412 

XXXVnL  Description  of  the  Park-Cwm  Tumulus.  By  Sir  John 
Lubbock,  Bart,  M.P.,  F.RS.,  &c.,  Vice-President  (With  Plate 
XXVn.) 416 

XXXIX.  On  the  Opening  of  Grime's  Grayes  in  Norfolk.  By  the  Rev. 
W.  Gebenwbll,  M.A.,  F.S.A.    (With  Plates  XXVni.  to  XXX.)  419 

XL.  On  the  discoveiy  of  Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  By  W. 
Boyd  Dawkins,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.RS.,  and  Profc  Busk,  r.R.S.,  &c. 
(With  Plate  XXXL  and  Woodcuts.) 440 

yiX  On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades,  from  the  Fifth  to  the 
Nineteenth  Century.— Part  V.  The  Hungarians.  By  H.  H.  Ho- 
woBTH,  Esq. 469 

Rbvibw: — 

Mr.  BoirwiCK  on  the  Tasmanians 95 

Notes  and  Qubbibs  : — 

The  Veddas  of  Ceylon 96 

Georgian  and  Sontal 96 

"Water"  in  Georgian  and  Turkish    96 

The  Meneam  of  Livingstone 192 

Turkish'*  Know  "and*' Sow"   192 

Amazons :  the  Woman  Question 366 

Fugitives  from  Troy 367 

Alleged  connexion  of  Madagascar  and  Caffre  Languages    867 

Perpetuation  of  names  of  Natural  Objects  by  Translators 367 

"Khan"  and  "Bey"    368 

The  Phoenix 476 

Dorchester  Dykes 477, 479 

IlTOKX 483 


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Tl 


LIST  OP  ILLUSTRATIONS  &c. 


/Vofi<»mMM--<!nu^  Map  of  the  Worlds  showing  the  Dis- 
trioution  of  the  Chief  Mooifications  of  Mankind^  to  illustrate  IVo- 
fesBor  Hvzlbt's  Paper    404 

•pi  .   J  J  QnarUite  Implements  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  to  illus- 
^^^  ^  1        trate  Sir  QBOBaB  Gbby's  Paper    89 

^  I  "^ews  and  Plans  of  PrehistoTic  Monmnents  in  the  Channel 
^  f         Islands,  to  illustrate  Lieut  Gliveb'b  Report   45 

-^j  J  Ancient  Calyaria  from  China,  to  Ulnstrate  Professor  Busk's 
-^  ]        Paper 78 

ypf  ( Stone  Imnlements  from  New  Zealan^  with  Geological  Map 
1^^'  <        and  Section  of  Locality  in  which  they  were  found,  to 


^™-  I        illustrate  Dr.  HxAST'staper ' '. . .  110 

-v-rvT  )  Ohjects  from  the  Nicobar  Islands,  to  illustrate  Mr.  Atkin- 
^'^^'\        soN'sNotes    187 

XV.  I  Stone  Implements  from  Yorkshire,  and  Geological  Sections, 
XVI. )         to  illustrate  Mr.  Monkman's  Paper 167 


^^'  I  Aymaza  Indians,  and  Ohjecto  of  Ethnological 
2^2*y  r         trating  Mr.  David  f  obbbs's  Paper   . . . . 


Interest,  iUus- 


y  y  III     I  WObUlK  JUX.   A/AViXr  f  VIJU>  AO  O  JETapOX'       108 

TTTV  J  ^™  ^^  Stone  Lnplements  from  Moel  Faben,  North  Wales, 
^^^^'  ]        to  iDustiate  CoL  A.  Lane  Fox's  Paper 806 

XXV.    Scratched  Stones,  illustrating  Dr.  Cattlfibld's  Note 400 

vvvi   J  I^l^n  and  Sections  of  the  Dorchester  Dykes,  to  illustrate  CoL 
^^^^'\        Lamb  Fox's  Paper    412 

vvvir  JI^IbQ  of  the  Park-Cwm  Tumulus,  to  illustrate  Sir  John 
-"^^^  ]        Lubbock's  Paper 416 

XXVnL    Plan  of  Grime's  Graves,  and  Figures  of  Ohjects  found  therein 
to                 and  in  the  neighhourhooc^  to  illustrate  Canon  Gbbbn- 
XXX.     (        wbll's  Paper    419 

yy^i    I  Skulls  from  Denbighshire,  to  illustrate  Prol  Busk's  portion 

I        of  the  Paper  on  Platycnemie  Men  in  Denbighshire  ....  440 


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vu 


WOODCUTS. 


Page 

1.  Stone  Implement  found  below  the  Bed  of  a  Riyer  in  Go. Wieklow . .     48 

2.  Stone  from  Le  Oouperon  Cromlech,  Jexaej,  originally  a  Side-pxopi 
now  the  Fifth  Oap-etone 61 

8.  Mere  with  straight  cutting-edge  resembling  that  of  a  Celt     107 

4.  Mere  resembling  Celt 107 

6.  Mere  of  Typical  Form    107 

6.  Stone  Club  from  Ireland  resembling  a  Mere 107 

7.  Figure  showing  Method  of  using  the  South- Australian  Celt 109 

8.  Mere,  attributed  to  Ancient  Peru    109 

9.  Bone  Club  from  Nootka  Sound    109 

10.  figure-group,  showing  costume  of  the  Eooids 179 

11.  Supposed  Ogham  Stone  from  a  Cist  in  Argyllshire 841 

12.  Axe-shaped  markings  on  Stone,  from  a  Cist  in  Argyllshire    841 

13.  Section  of  Perthi-Chwareu  Cave,  Denbighshire    441 

14  Phm  of  Perthi-Chwareu  Cave 442 

15.  Pkn  of  chambered  tomb  at  Cefri 447 

16.  Transverse  section  of  femur  from  Perthi-Chwareu   454 

17.  Transverse  section  of  a  normal  tibia   458 

18.  Transverse  section  of  extremely  platycnemie  tibia  from  Cro-magnon  458 

19, 20,  21.  Transverse  sections  of  platycnemie  tibiee  from  Gibraltar 458 

22,  23, 24.  Transverse  sections  of  ditto  fitmi  Perthi-Chwareu  459 

25, 26.  Transvene  sections  of  two  femom  from  the  Oefii  tumulus    ....  463 

27.  Transverse  section  of  femur  from  Gibraltar    464 

28.  Transverse  section  of  femur  from  Cefii  tumulus    464 


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YUl 


OOBBiaElfDA  ET  ADDEITDA. 

Pig*  196.  footnote,  <|^a«««nb  '« It  is  beliered."  inttrt  »hj  M.  lyOrbignj." 
w    1Mb  footaoteb  and  p.  806,  th«  word  Bfojo  Is  ao  spelt  aooording  to  the  oldeet  sothorilj,  (5«mi 

de  Leon;  the  oorreot  Qnecho*  spelling  ii»  howeyer,  Baja,  as  given  by  OsralMsa 
M    aaa,  fi)otnote,/>r  "  east  of  Aymaras"  reotf  •*  east  of  the  Aymuas." 
M     M    footnote,/>r  Pisaqoa  riotf  Fisagoa. 
«   M6,  line  8,ybr  good  reotf  great 
»    371,  line  8,/br  Tamargoal  rsoif  TamaragaL 
,*    276,  line  16,y&r  Toms  de  Babio  r^ad  Torres  Babio« 
m   966,  line  8  from  bottom,  fa  y^^Boors  read  py'iasro. 

•  «t     f»    9   »  H       ft   AwoiM  read  Ihtoigiii. 
„   887,linell,ybrdahlfwulahl 

„  S90,EisimlrashoaldbetraDsUted«'afarys«ai!p.'' 

m  888»Moll«moUeahoald  be  translated  "viMevmm/.*' 

»  9M,ybr  Oooooao  riotf  Oooooo. 

,»  90K  line  8  from  bottom,  fa  **»imaiiaee  read  kmanaeu. 

m  806,  line  16,ybrAlo6baaari£UIAlooba^. 

m     m     H   17,/br  Torres  del  Bnbio  ffwoi  Torres  Bnbio. 

m  888,  M    16  from  bottom,ybr  Btnqmrold  riotf  Btcaparola. 

M  889,  «    18   «    tqpb  4Ws  remote. 

„  881,  M     6   M    bottom,ybr  bard  reotf  herd. 

«  889;  M    19   w    bottom»ybr  Dewan  ritti  Dewar. 

•  889;  „    11   »    bottom,ybrMr8.r«»IHr. 

m  982,  »  10  »  bottom,ybr  Glendavad  rscMf  CHendameL 

M  888,  »  19  »  top,/>r  Camden  riotf  Oawdor. 

M  888;  M  9  »  bottom,ybr  Corral  riotf  CowaL 

M  88<  w  9  ^  top,ybr  Corral  riotf  CowaL 

w  886,  •  13  M  top,/^  Osmden  retuf  Cawdor. 

w  88^  M  14  »  topb/or  brawn  rioil  broom. 

M  8S6b  »  9  M  top,/>r  Davan  rMuf  Dewar. 

M  886^  »  16  „  top,/>r  deolaraiion  rscMf  deooration. 

m  887,  w  16  M  top,/or  IkTioohe  florm  ritti  fluioohe  flonn. 

»  887*  M  17  »  top,/or  ThabhsTit  riotf  Thabhairt. 

„  887,  M  81  M  top,ybr  Straparold  riotf  Btraparola. 

•  889;  ,»  11  »  top,ybr  aa  AiMoan  laogoage  rscMf  Afrisan  langosges. 


TOBBfTDEB. 

Chromo-lithographed  Map  of  the  World  to  fam  Ftontispieoe. 

Plate  n.  to  ISue  p.  69. 

Plate  Zm.  to  fSMe  p.  118. 

ThiB  other  Plates  may  be  bound  as  plaoed  in  the  Knmbers. 

The  dip  of  Errata  opposite  p.  886  to  be  eaneelled. 


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PROCEEDINGS 


AT  THS 


ANNUAL  GENERAL  MEETING 


OF  THB 


ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  LONDON. 

Preceded  by  a  Special  Oeneral  Meeting, 

May  24th,  1870. 

Professor  T.  H.  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.B.S.,  President, 
in  the  Chair. 

The  Honorary  General  Secretary  read  Articles  18, 19,  and  20 
of  the  Laws  of  the  Society,  in  accordance  with  which  the  Special 
Greneral  Meeting  had  been  convened. 

It  was  then  proposed  by  Mr.  H.  G.  Bohn,  seconded  by  Mr. 
F.  Hindmarsh,  and  carried  unanimously : — 

That  the  last  clauBe  of  Article  10  of  the  Laws  of  the  Society, 
whereby  **  Fellows  residing  permanently  at  a  distance  of  not  less 
than  twenty  miles  from  London  are  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  pay- 
ing a  subscription  of  only  £1  Is,  annually,"  be  repealed,  and  that 
all  Members  elected  after  the  date  of  the  present  Meeting  shall  pay 
an  annual  subscription  of  Two  Guineas  each. 

The  following  Report  of  the  Council  was  read  by  the  Honorary 
General  Secretary : — 

ANNUAL  REPORT,  1870. 

The  Council  is  enabled  to  make  a  satisfactory  report  of  the  pro- 
gress of  the  Society  during  the  past  year.     The  number  of  new 

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Members  shows  an  increase  upon  previous  years.  The  follow- 
ing names  have  been  added  to  our  list  since  the  Anniversary 
Meeting  of  1869  :— 


Sir  Walter  Elliot,  K.G.8.I. 
C.  T.  Gardner,  Esq.,  F.E.G.8. 
Joseph  Prestwich,  Esq.,  F.E.S. 
James  Bonwick,  Esq.,  F.B.O.S. 
J.  Smith,  Esq. 
Sir  William  Vernon  Guise,  Bart., 

F.L.S.,  F.G.S. 
The  Eev.  W.  A.  Jones,  F.G.S. 
The  Bev.  Bichard  Eirwan,  M.A. 
The  Bev.  Henry  H.  Winwood, 

M.A.,  F.G.S. 
Bobert  D.  Darbishire,  Esq.,  B.A. 
J.  W.  Jeffcott,  Esq.,  M.H.K. 
William  Long,  Esq.,  M.A. 
M.  Moggridge,  Esq.,  F.G.S. 
Dr.  Gustav  Oppert. 
John  Platts,  Esq. 
Major-G«n.  Alex.  Cunningham. 
Jonas  Hewitt,  Es^. 
The  Bev.  James  Simpson. 
Gteorge  Campbell,  Esq.,  D.C.L. 
Dr.  Nicholas,  M.A.,  F.G.S. 


The  Earl  of  Dunraven  and 
Mountearl,  K.P.,  F.B.S. 

David  Duncan,  Esq.,  M.A. 

J.  F.  M'Lennan,  ^sq. 

Henry  Baylis,  Esq. 

John  Edwards,  Esq. 

Lord  Bosehill. 

Walter  Morrison,  Esq.,  M.P. 

J.  W.  Barnes,  Esq. 

B.  L.  Nash,  Esq. 

Sir  Charles  Wentworth  Dilke, 
Bart.,  M.P. 

the  Bev.  A.  S.  Farrar,  D.D. 

Morton  Coates  Fisher,  Esq. 

Francis  Kerridge  Munton,  Esq. 

F.  Beresford  W  right,  Esq. 

Edward  Backhouse,  Esq. 

Capt.  Walter  Campbell,  B.E. 

B  S.  Newall,  Esq. 

E.  Bonavia,  Esq.,  M.D. 

P.   O'Callaghan,    Esq.,    LL.D., 
D.C.L.,  F.S.A. 


The  Council  regret  to  have  to  announce  the  deaths  of  Mr.  J. 
H.  Backhouse  and  Mr.  Thrupp^  Members  of  the  Society.  Four 
resignations  have  also  been  received  during  the  past  year.  De- 
ducting deaths  and  resignations^  this  makes  an  increase  of  83 
Members  during  the  past  year.  Dr.  Carl  Semper^  of  Wiiraburg, 
has  been  elected  an  Honorary  Member ;  and  Lieut.  Oliver,  B.  A., 
a  Corresponding  Member. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  papers  &c.  which  have  been 
communicated  to  the  Society  during  the  past  year : — 


1869. 


JWM  8. 


June2Si 
Nov.  9. 


By 


On  the  Permanence  of  Type  in  the  Human  Family. 
Major-G^n.  Sir  William  Denison,  E.C.B. 

On  CJromlechs  in  Nagpore.    By  Major  Pearce,  B.A. 

On  the  Cranium  and  its  Deformities  in  Belation  to  In- 
tellect and  Beauty.    By  Dr.  B.  King,  F.B.C.S. 

On  the  Proposed  Exploration  of  Stonehenge  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  British  Association.  By  Col.  liane  Fox, 
Hon.  Sec. 

On  the  Chinese  Bace,  their  Language,  Government, 
Social  Listitutions,  and  Beligion.  By  C.  T.  Cbrdner, 
Esq.,  F.B.G.S. 


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JVb0.  28.  On  Quartzite  ImplementB  from  the  Gape  of  Gbod  Hope. 

By  Sir  Gwrge  Qrey,  K.C.B. 
On  the  Bacea  and  Languages  of  Dardiatan.    By  Dr. 

Leitner,  M.A. 
Dee.  7.     On  a  Stone  Implement  found  beneath  the  Bed  of  a 

Biver  in  the  Co.  Wicklow.    By  F.  Adieson,  Esq. 
On  the  Stature  of  the  North-American  Indians  of  the 

Chipewyan  Tribe.    By  Major-G-eneral  Lefroy,  B.A. 
Beport  on  the  Prehistoric  Bemains  of  the  Channel  Is- 
lands.   By  Lieut.  Oliver,  BA. 
Dee.  21.  On  the  Meneam  of  Dr.  Livingstone.    By  Hyde  Clarke, 

Esq. 
On  an  Ancient  Galvaria  from  China.    By  Prof.  Busk, 

P.B.S. 
On  the  Eoords  and  Armenians.    By  Major  Millingen, 

F.B.G.S. 

1870. 

Jan,  11.  On  the  Use  of  the  Mere  or  Pattoo-pattoo  of  New  Zea- 
land.   By  Col.  Lane  Pox,  Hon.  Sec. 

On  the  Eitai  and  Kara-Eitai.    By  Dr.  Ghistav  Oopert. 

On  some  Prehistoric  Bemains  £com  New  Zeahmd.     By 
Dr.  JuHuB  Haast,  P.B.S. 
Jan.  26.   On  a  Collection  of  Clay  Models  of  Figures  by  a  Native 
Zulu.    By  Dr.  Hooker,  C.B.,  F.B.S. 

On  some  Stone  Mullers  of  similar  form  from  various 
Localities.    By  CoL  Lane  Fox,  Hon.  Sec. 

On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians  geologically  considered. 
By  James  Bonwick,  Esq.,  F.B.&.S. 

On  a  Frontier  Line  of  Ethnology  and  ecology.  By  H. 
H.  Howorth,  Esa. 

On  the  Nicobar  Islanders.     By  Q-.  W.  Atkinson,  Esq. 
Feb.  8.     On  the  Discovery  of  Flint  and  Chert-flakes  under  a  sub- 
merged Forest  in  West  Somerset.    By  W.  Boyd  Daw- 
kins,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.B.S. 

On  a  Stone  Hammer  from  the  Ancient  Copper^Mines  of 
Buy  Gomes  in  Portugal.  By  P.  "W.  JBudler,  Esq., 
F.Q-.S.,  Assist.  Sec. 

On  Prehistoric  Bemains  in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the 
Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.     By  the  Bev.  B.  J.  Maple- 
ton.     With  Introductorv  Note.    By  Dr.  A.  Campbell. 
Fdf.  22.   On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  m)m  China.    By  Prof.  Busk, 
F.B.S. 

On  some  Prehistoric  Bemains  from  recent  deposits  in 
Yorkshire.    By  C.  Monkman,  Esq. 

On  the  Natives  of  Naga,  Island  of  Luzon,  Philippine 
Islands.    By  Dr.  Jagor. 
Mar.  7.    On  the  Opening  of  Two  Cairns,  near  Bangor,  N.  Wales. 
By  Col.  Lane  Fox,  Hon.  Sec. 


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On  the  Earliest  Phases  of  Civilization.      Bj  Hodder 
Westropp,  Esij. 
Mar.  22.  On  Current  British  Mythology  and  Oral  Tradition.     By 
J.  F.  Campbell,  Esq.,  of  Islay. 

On  a  Cist  with  Inscribed  Stones  from  the  Neighbourhood 
of  the  Crinan  Canal.     By  the  Bev.  £.  J.  mpleton. 

Exhibition  of  StoneLnplements  from  England  and  lYance. 
By  W.  Topley,  Esq.,  P.Q.S. 
AfrU  12.  On  the  Ancient  Tribal  System  and  Land-Tenure  in  Ire- 
land.   By  Hodder  Westropp,  Esq. 

On  the  Danish  Element  in  tbe  population  of  Cleveland 
in  Yorkshire.    By  the  Eev.  J.  G.  Atkinson. 
April  26.  On  the  Philosophy  of  BeHgion  among  the  Lower  Baces 
of  Mankind.    By  E.  B.  Tvlor,  Esq. 

On  the  Brain  in  the  Study  of  Ethnology.     By  Dr. 
Donovan. 
M(w  10.  Address  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.    By  Prof.  Huxley, 
LL.D.,  P.E.S.,  President. 

On  the  Influence  of  the  Norman  Conquest  on  the  Eth- 
nology of  Britain.    By  Dr.  T.  Nicholas,  MiA. 

By  a  division  of  the  subjects  into  sections  as  arranged  in  the 
report  of  last  year^  the  follovnng  shows  the  number  appertaining 
to  each  section,  viz. : — 

General  Ethnology 7 

Biology 4 

Comparative  Psychology    1 

Sociology  12 

Archaeology  18 

Philology  1 

Reports  on  the  megalithic  monuments  of  the  Channel  Islands 
and  of  Argyllshire  have  been  received ;  others  are  in  course  of 
preparation^  and  will  be  communicated  to  the  Society  during 
the  present  year. 

In  conformity  with  the  arrangements  made  at  the  last  Anni- 
versary Meeting,  extra  sectional  meetings  have  been  appointed 
for  the  reading  of  papers  relating  to  Prehistoric  Archaeology,  on 
which  subject  a  large  number  of  valuable  papers  have  been  com- 
municated to  the  Society  during  the  past  year. 

Considerable  success  has  attended  the  publication  of  the 
Quarterly  Journal.  All  the  copies  of  the  torsi  number  which 
were  printed  (with  the  exception  of  a  few  copies  which  have 
been  reserved  for  Members)  have  now  been  sold,  as  also  the 
whole  of  the  copies  of  the  first  volume  of  the  new  series  in 
which  this  number  was  included.  The  Council  propose,  when 
the  funds  enable  them  to  do  so,  to  reprint  the  first  number,  and 
thus  to  continue  the  circulation  of  tbe  volume.     Meanwhile  a 


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XIU 

few  copies  of  the  first  number  have  been  retained  for  future 
Members^  who  will  thus  be  enabled  to  complete  their  series.  Lit- 
tle or  nothing  has  been  done  as  yet  in  the  way  of  advertise- 
ments ;  butj  judging  from  the  sale  already  effected,  there  appears 
to  be  no  reason  for  doubt  that  it  will  obtain  a  wide  circulation 
when  the  character  of  the  work  becomes  better  known. 

Following  the  precedent  of  last  year^  special  meetings  have 
been  appointed  for  discussion  of  subjects  calculated  to  interest 
the  public.  One  of  these,  held  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Museum 
of  Practical  Geology,  by  permission  of  Sir  R.  I.  Murchison, 
Bart.,  the  Director-General,  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  has  been  largely  attended ;  one  other  is  to 
be  held  in  the  same  place,  and  two  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Royal 
United  Service  Institution,  by  permission  of  the  Council  of  the 
Institution.  Cards  of  invitation  to  these  meetings  have  been 
printed  for  the  use  of  Members. 

The  accounts  of  the  Society  are  presented  as  usual,  and  show 
a  balance  of  j£120  5^.  4rf.  in  the  hands  of  the  bankers  on  the 
16th  inst. 

The  attention  of  the  Members  is  earnestly  directed  to  the 
advisability  of  increasing  the  number  of  new  Members.  The 
Council  have  already  been  enabled  to  make  considerable  addition 
to  the  number  of  maps,  lithographs,  and  woodcuts  in  the  new 
series  of  the  Journal ;  but  the  majority  of  the  papers  offered  to 
the  Society  are  upon  subjects  requiring  illustration,  and  they 
hope  by  enlarged  funds  to  be  able  to  meet  this  requirement  on 
an  extended  scale  in  the  future  numbers  of  the  Journal. 

After  this  Report  was  read,  the  Honorary  Treasurer  submitted 
his  account  (p.  xv). 

It  was  then  proposed  by  Mr.  Hyde  Clarke,  seconded  by  Mr. 
J.  W.  Flower,  and  carried  unanimously  : — 

That  the  Report  of  the  Council  and  the  Treasurer's  Account  be 
adopted. 

The  President  observed  that,  in  conformity  with  the  Laws  of 
the  Ethnological  Society,  the  property  of  the  Society  should  be 
vested  in  three  Trustees,  of  whom  the  Treasurer  is  one ;  but  it 
appeared  that  on  the  decease  of  the  original  Trustees  no  suc- 
cessors had  been  appointed. 

It  was  then  proposed  by  Col.  A.  Lane  Fox,  seconded  by  Mr. 
J.  Heywood,  and  carried  unanimously : — 

That  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  and  Mr.  W.  Spottiswoode,  be  elected 
Trustees  of  the  Ethnological  Society  of  London,  to  act  with  the 
Honorary  Treasurer. 

After  the  President  had  delivered  the  Anniversary  Address, 

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XIV 

(see  p.  xvi),  it  was  resolved^  on  the  motion  of  Dr.  B.  King, 
seconded  by  Col.  A.  Lane  Fox,  that  the  thanks  of  the  Society  be 
accorded  to  the  President  for  Ms  Address,  and  that  it  be  printed. 

The  following  resolution  was  then  proposed  by  Mr.  J.  Hey- 
wood|  seconded  by  Mr.  H.  O.  Bohn,  and  carried  unanimously — 

That  the  Pellows  present  hereby  express  their  conciirrence  in  the 
sentiments  of  the  President's  Address,  and  their  continued  desire  to 
promote  an  amalgamation  between  the  Ethnological  and  Anthropo- 
logical Societies. 

Mr.  J.  Heywood  and  Mr.  T.  M^K.  Hughes  were  appointed 
scrutineers  of  the  ballot  for  Officers  and  Council  for  the  following 
Session,  and  a  vote  of  thanks  was  accorded  to  the  six  retiring 
Councillors. 

The  ballot  having  been  open  one  hour,  the  report  of  the 
scrutineers  was  read,  and  the  following  gentlemen  were  declared 
duly  elected  as  Officers  and  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society 
of  London  for  the  Session  1870-71 : — 

Officers. 

Fresident—VTofe&BOT  T.  H.  Huxley,  LL.D.,  P.B.S. 

Fice-Presidenfs—Archihdld  Campbell,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.L.S. ;  Sir  John 
Lubbock,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.E.8. ;  Edward  Burnett  Tylor,  Esq. ;  Thos. 
Wright,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 

Honorary  Treasurer.— H.  Gt.  Bohn,  Esq.,  P.E.G.S.,  F.R.8.L. 

Honorary  General  Secretary, — Col.  A.  Lane  Fox,  F.Q-.S.,  F.S.A. 

Honorary  Foreign  Secretary.'^'Rjde  Clarke,  Esq.,  Ac 

Council. 

William  Blackmore,  Esq. ;  Professor  Q-.  Busk,  Esq.,  F.E.8. ;  Gteorge 
Campbell,  Esq.,  D.C.L. ;  J.  Barnard  Davis,  Esq.,  M.D.,  M.RC.8., 
F.E.S. ;  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  F.G.S. ;  John  Dick- 
inson, Esq. ;  Eobert  Dunn,  Esq.,  F.E.C.S. ;  J.  W.  Flower,  Esq.,  F.G.S, 
David  Forbes,  Esq.,  F.E.S.,  F.G.S.,  F.C.S.;  A.  W.  Franks,  Esq. 
M.A.,  D.S.A. ;  Eev.  Canon  Greenwell,  M. A.,  F.S.A. ;  A.  Hamilton 
Esq. ;  F.  Hindmarsh,  Esq.,  F.E.G.S.,  F.G.S. ;  T.  M*K.  Hugbes,  Esq.! 
M.A.,  F.G.S.,  F.S.A. ;  Eichard  King,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.E.C.S. ;  J.  F, 
M'Lennan,  Esq. ;  Sir  Eoderick  Impey  Murchison,  Bart.,  K.C.B. 
F.E.S.;  Eev.  Dr.  Nicholas,  M.A.,  F.G.S.;  S.  E.  B.  Pusey,  Esq 
F.E.G.S. 


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XVI 

ANNIVERSARY  ADDRESS. 
By  Professor  T.  H.  Huxlby,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President. 

When,  on  the  lamented  death  of  the  late  Mr.  Crawford  in  the 
spring  of  1868,  the  Chair  of  this  Society  became  vacant,  I 
attended  the  Meeting  of  the  Coimcil  upon  which  it  devolved  to 
elect  Mr.  Crawford's  successor,  for  the  purpose  of  asking  to  be 
relieved  of  my  duties  as  Councillor,  on  the  ground  that  other 
occupations  rendered  it  very  difficult  for  me  to  discharge  those 
duties  in  the  manner  in  which  I  considered  they  ought  to  be 
discharged. 

The  Council,  however,  did  me  the  honour  to  request  me  to 
accept  the  Presidency  of  the  Society;  and  they  urged  their 
wishes  with  so  much  unanimity,  that  I  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
persist  in  declining  it.  But  I  ventured  to  make  one  condition, 
and  this  was  that  the  Coimcil  should  heartily  agree  to,  and  assist 
in,  an  endeavour  to  bring  about  an  amalgamation  between  the 
Ethnological  and  the  Anthropological  Societies,  and  thereby  put 
an  end  to  a  state  of  affairs  which,  in  my  judgment,  was  not 
creditable  to  the  Members  of  either  Society. 

The  Council  readily  agreed  to  this  condition,  and  I  was  nomi- 
nated President.  The  day  after,  while  I  was  yet  considering  in 
what  way  best  to  commence  the  negotiations  with  the  Anthro- 
pological Society,  the  late  Dr.  Hunt,  at  that  time  President  of  the 
Anthropological  Society,  called  upon  me ;  and  (being  evidently 
fully  informed  of  what  had  taken  place  in  our  Council)  expressed 
his  readiness  to  cooperate  in  bringing  about  the  union  of  the 
two  Societies.  In  the  course  of  our  conversation.  Dr.  Hunt 
informed  me  that  Dr.  King  proposed  to  take  some  steps  in  this 
direction  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  on  the  26th  of  May. 
However,  nothing  was  done,  and  Dr.  Hunt  commences  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  which  I  received  from  him  three  days  afterwards, 
by  an  allusion  to  this  circumstance : — 

Ore  HouBe,  near  HastingB, 
May  28, 1866. 

Mt  dkab  Sib, — Dr.  B.  King  writes  to  inform  me  that,  after  con- 
sulting with  his  friends  in  the  Ethnological  Sode^,  it  was  thought 
best  not  to  make  any  proposal  at  the  Aieeting  on  Tuesday.  It  was 
thought  best  that  such  a  resolution  should  come  from  the  Council.  On 
the  whole  there  is  no  reason  to  regret  this ;  but,  after  our  conversation 
last  week,  I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to  write  to  inform  you  why  the 
subject  was  not  brought  before  the  Society,  as  I  believed  (when  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you)  would  have  been  done. 

Col.  Lane  Fox  writes  to  me,  to  say  that  he  has  suggested  to  you 
the  desirability  of  having  a  department  for  "  Prehistoric  arch£K>logy," 
as  he  translates  '*  Palfo-anthrapolo^,**     With  reference  to  tnis 


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Presidents  Address.  xvii 

suggestion,  I  may  mention  tbat  last  year  I  prepared  a  scbeme  for  a 
union  of  the  two  Societies  on  such  a  basis. 

This  question  is,  howoTer,  worth  discussing,  and  I  think  at  some 
future  time  such  a  scheme  might  be  worthy  of  full  consideration. 

On  the  whole,  however,  I  do  not  think  such  a  scheme  is  at  present 
either  practicable  or  desirable.  I  think  it  is  a  great  pity  to  separate 
the  different  branches  of  the  same  science.  The  Gheologiod  Society 
is  an  instance  of  the  good  effect  of  the  union  of  different  benches  of 
one  large  science. 

I  shim  be  in  London  on  Tuesday  next,  and  if  you  would  ere  then 
consult  with  your  iriends,  I  shall  be  ready  to  call  on  yon  at  12  o'clocK 
on  that  day.  If  there  is  any  chance  of  a  union  being  effected,  I  can 
then  bring  the  subject  before  our  Council  the  same  afternoon.  I 
mention  this  because  I  go  Away  for  m^  vacation  the  end  of  June.  I 
think  that  if  a  union  can  be  effected,  it  should  be  decided  on  before 
the  meeting  of  the  Association  at  Norwich,  in  August.  If  this  is  to 
be  done,  the  subject  must  be  discussed  at  once.  We  usually  print 
our  cards  for  each  year's  meeting  in  July,  and  this  is  another  rea- 
son why  action  should  be  taken  in  the  matter  at  once,  or  the  whole 
subject  left  over  until  the  beginning  of  the  next  Session  or  next  year. 
I  have  been  trying  to  effect  this  union  for  the  last  five  or  six  years, 
and  as  I  firmly  believe  that  the  longer  it  is  delayed  the  better  will  it 
be  for  my  own  wishes,  I  shall  not  raise  any  objections  to  a  delay  in 
this  matter. 

Both  Societies  will  soon  have  to  give  up  their  rooms  at  4  St.  Mar- 
tin's Place,  and  we  each  have  to  give  six  months'  notice.  We  may 
have  to  leave  at  three  months'  notice;  but  we  have  to  give  six  if  we  wish 
to  leave. 

I  think,  therefore,  that,  on  the  whole,  it  will  be  desirable  if  we 
can  meet  and  see  if  we  can  agree  on  terms. 

Our  original  rules  wene  based  on  those  Cf  the  Geological  Society. 
We  changed  this  for  those  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  and  Asiatic 
Society. 

These  details  might  be  settled  by  a  special  committee. 

It  will,  however,  be  advisable,  if  possible,  that  the  general  scheme 
should  be  settled  before  the  subject  is  brought  before  the  Councils. 
Each  Society  can  then  nominate  a  committee  to  ofScially  negotiate 
terms  of  union  on  the  basis  proposed. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  have  a  line  from  you  as  soon  as  convenient,  and 
I  shall  then  know  what  my  plans  for  Tuesday  next  will  be. 

Believe  me. 

Tours  very  faithfully, 
Professor  Huxley,  F.RS.,  Jamxb  Huht. 

President  of  the  Ethnological  Society, 

My  reply  to  Dr.  Hunt^s  letter  was  as  follows  : — 

Jermvn  Street, 

May  29, 1868. 

My  dsab  Sib, — I  quite  agree  with  yon  that  whatever  is  done  in  tho 
way  of  fusing,  or  attempting  to  fuse,  our  two  Societies  into  one  should 

b 


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xviii  Presidenfs  Address. 

be  done  ^uicklj.  There  is  not  much  time  between  now  and  Tues- 
daj ;  but  if  you  will,  as  you  propose,  do  me  the  favour  to  call  here  at 
noon  on  that  day,  on  the  chance  of  my  having  been  able  to  get  things 
into  some  sort  of  shape,  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  see  you. 

The  Ethnological  Council  meet  on  the  9th  of  June,  and  it  would 
be  very  convenient  for  me  to  be  in  a  position  to  put  before  them 
some  scheme  of  union  which  I  could  be  sure  would  have  the  assent 
of  your  Society. 

Your  very  faithfully, 
Br.  Hunt,  T.  H.  HuxLBf. 

President  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  London, 

To  this  letter  Dr.  Hunt  rejoined : — 

Ore  House,  near  Hastings, 
May  80, 1868. 

Mt  dsab  Sib, — In  reply  to  your  letter  of  yesterday's  date,  I  have 
pnt  on  paper  a  few  proposals  which,  if  they  receive  your  assent,  I 
will  undertake  to  submit  to  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Anthro- 
pological Society  on  Tuesday. 

In  reference  to  proposal  No.  Y.,  I  had  better  explain  that  we 
cannot  at  present  say  how  our  finances  will  stand  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  Our  de&ulters'  list  amounts  to  far  more  than  our  debts,  and 
we  have  a  stock  of  translations.  K  these  books  are  suddenly  thrown 
on  the  market,  we  shall  get  little  for  them,  and  there  may  be  a  loss 
— hence  the  insertion  of  tnis  proposal. 

I  am  alone  responsible  for  these  proposals.  In  drawing  them  up 
I  have  only  been  guided  by  a  desire  to  suggest  what  is  practicable. 

I  shall  myself  enter  into  negotiations  for  the  union  solely  anxious 
to  make  the  best  and  most  useful  Society  we  can.  I  do  not  think 
that  there  are  jtwo  interests  in  such  a  matter. 

Kyou  think  it  advisable  to  propose  that  the  future  Council  shall 
consist  of  an  equal  number  of  each  existing  councils,  or  to  suggest 
any  other  proposals  based  on  scientific  considerations,  I  shall  be  very 
glad  to  discustf  the  same. 

Believe  me, 

Tours  very  faithfully, 

Professor  Huxley^  F.E,S.  James  Hukt. 

Dr.  Hunt's  Proposals, 

Preliminary  Terms  of  Union^  which  have  received  the  sanction 
of  the  Presidents  of  the  Ethnological  and  Anthropological 
Societies,  and  submitted  by  them  to  their  respective 
Councils. 

I.  That  it  is  highly  desirable,  in  the  interest  of  science,  that  the 

Ethnological  and  Anthropological  Societies  should  be 
united. 

II.  That,  with  a  view  to  effect  such  union,  a  Committee  of  six 

(three)  Members  of  each  Council  be  nominated  to 


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Prerident^s  Address.  xix 

draw  up  terms  of  union  and  regulations^  and  nominate 
Officers  and  Council. 

III.  That  on  receipt  of  such  terms  of  union  and  regulations, 

by  the  respective  Presidents  of  the  two  Societies,  a 
General  Meeting  of  each  Society  shall  be  called  within 
fourteen  days  to  consider  the  same. 

IV.  That,  with  a  view  of  fSeusilitating  the  proposed  amalgamation, 

and  of  removing  obstacles  from  its  accomplishment, 
the  Committee  be  instructed  to  base  the  rules  of  the 
United  Society,  as  far  as  possible,  on  those  of  the 
Ethnological  Society ;  while  the  name  of  the  United 
Society  be  assimilated  to  that  of  (adopt  the  name  of) 
the  Anthropological  Society,  unless  a  better  can  be 
found. 

V.  That  a  sum,  not  exceeding  one-third  of  the  annual  income 

derived /rom  present  Fellows  of  either  Society,  shall 
be  put  aside  to  defiray  any  debts  that  may  exist  in  such 
Society. 

YI.  That  when  the  terms  of  Union  agreed  on  by  the  joint 
Committee  have  been  accepted  by  a  General 
Meeting  of  each  Society,  a  Meeting  of  the 
Councils  of  the  existing  Societies  be  called  to 
NOMINATE  Officers  and  Council  for  the  United 
Society,  and  to  fix  a  day  for  a  General  Meeting 
OF  the  Fellows  of  both  Societies. 

YII.  That  such  (a)  General  Meeting  {of  each  Society)  shall 

CONSIDER  AND  DECIDE  ON  THE  ORGANISATION  AND  NAME 

OF  THE  United  Society  [be  called  for  the  purpose  of 
accepting  the  terms  of  union  agreed  upon  by  the  before^ 
named  Committee) . 

VIII.  That  Professor  Huxley  be  President  of  the  Amalga- 

mated Society,  and  do  preside  at  such  Meeting, 
AND  THE  Officers  nominated  conduct  the  business 
OF  the  same. 

IX.  That  the  Councils  of  the  respective  Societies  undertake  to  use 

their  best  efforts  to  carry  out  the  recommendations  of 
the  Committee, 

The  document  submitted  to  me  by  Dr.  Hunt  is  here  printed 
SO  as  to  show  what  alterations  took  place  in  it  during  a  long 
conference  which  Dr.  Hunt  had  with  me  in  Jermyn  Street. 
What  remained  unaltered  is  in  ordinary  type;  what  was  struck 
out  is  in  capitals;  and  such  additions  as  were  made  by  myself, 
and  stand  in  my  handwriting,  are  in  italics. 

It  will  be  observed  that  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  propo- 
sition Dr.  Hunt's  words  ran  as  follows : — 

bi 

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XX  President's  Address, 

"  WhUe  the  name  of  tlie  United  Society  be  assimilated  to  that 
of  the  Anthropological  Society/' 

It  is  clear  that  I  might  have  accepted  this  proposition  as  it 
stood^  without  in  any  way  committing  myself  to  the  acceptance 
of  the  name  *' Anthropological ''  for  the  united  Societies. 
Strictly  construed^  in  fact,  the  word  "assimilated'*  excludes  the 
notion  of  the  acceptance  of  the  very  name  itself. 

But  seeing  the  ambiguity  of  the  phrase,  I  told  Dr.  Hunt,  in 
the  plainest  and  most  distinct  manner,  that  whatever  my  per- 
sonal opinions  might  be,  I  was  sure  that  any  proposition,  even 
to  "  assimilate*'  the  name  of  the  conjoined  Societies  to  that  of 
the  Anthropological  Society,  would  probably  meet  with  a  nega- 
tive firom  the  Ethnological  Council ;  and  that,  in  fact,  I  could 
not  go  to  the  Ethnological  Council  with  a  proposition  so 
worded. 

We  nearly  came  to  a  dead  lock  upon  this  point;  and  the 
difSculty  was  only  got  over  by  Dr.  Hunt's  acceptance  of  my 
suggestion,  to  add  the  words  "  unless  a  better  can  be  found." 

1  fiilly  explained  to  Dr.  Hunt  why  I  chose  this  form  of  words. 
I  imagined  (and  I  must  confess  I  still  imagine)  that  reasonable 
men  upon  both  sides  would  see  that  ''the  best  name  which 
could  be  found"  would  be  one  which  would  enable  the  Societies 
to  unite ;  and  that  any  name  which  should  be  an  obstacle  to 
that  union  would*  be  ipso  facto  not  ''the  best  name  which  could 
be  found." 

Dr.  Hunt  was  perfectly  well  aware  that  these  words  were 
added  on  no  other  ground  than  the  strong  objection  entertained 
by  Members  of  the  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society  to  the 
adoption  of  the  name  of  the  Anthropologic^  Society. 

A  Meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society  was 
held  on  the  9th  of  June,  having  been  summoned  as  soon  as  I 
knew  that  the  propositions,  as  amended,  had  been  agreed  to  by 
the  Council  of  the  Anthropological  Society. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  propositions  are  silent  respecting 
any  confirmation  of  the  acts  of  the  delegates  by  the  respective 
Councils.  Both  Dr.  Hunt  and  I  agreed  that  it  would  be  better 
that  the  Councils  should  give  their  delegates  full  powers ;  but  it 
was  obviously  impossible  that  either  he,  or  I,  should  do  more 
than  attempt  to  bring  this  about. 

In  my  case,  the  Council  required  the  delegates  to  report  and 
receive  confirmation  of  their  acts,  while  the  Anthropological 
Council  gave  its  delegates  full  powers. 

Under  these  circumstances,  I  felt  bound  to  put  our  position 
clearly  before  Dr.  Hunt,  before  the  meeting  of  the  delegates  took 

Slace.     I  did  so  in  the  following  letter,  dated  the  10th  (not  11  th) 
une,  1868,  in  order  that  Dr.  Hunt  might  judge  for  himself  how 

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President's  Address.  xxi 

far  the  understanding  between  us  had  been  kept;  and  that  if  he 
were  dissatisfied^  he  might  say  so. 

Jermyn  Street, 

June  10th,  1868. 

My  dxab  Sib, — ^I  had  no  time  to  write  to  you  yesterday  after  the 
meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society,  but  1  gave  Mr. 
Collingwood  a  copy  of  the  Besolution  which  the  Council  passed,  the 
names  of  the  Committee-men  appointed,  and  the  day  and  hour  of 
meeting,  viz.,  to-morrow  (Thursday,  llth  of  June)  at  4  p.m. 

After  a  very  long  discussion  the  Council  (which  was  a  very  full 
one)  determined  on  accepting  the  principle  of  the  terms  which  you 
and  I  had  discussed.  But  the  Committee  appointed  to  confer  with 
yours  was  requested  to  report  to  the  Council  oefore  finally  pledging 
the  Council  to  any  particular  line  of  action. 

I  think  the  Council  were  mainly  led  to  take  this  course  (in  the 
advisableness  of  which,  after  all  that  was  stated,  I  fully  agree)  by 
certain  facts  which  were  brought  forward  tending  to  show  that  the 
Anthropological  Society  is  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  financial  con- 
dition ;  and  unless  your  Committee  come  to  the  meeting  fully  pre- 
pared to  satisfy  ours  upon  this  point,  I  am  afraid  the  prospects  of 
amalgamation  are  not  very  bright. 

I  am,  yours  very  faithfully, 

T.  H.  HUXLKX. 

Dr.  Runt, 
President  of  the  Anthropologieal  Society, 

When  the  delegates  met  on  the  llth  of  June^  Dr.  Hunt  re- 
ferred to  the  contents  of  my  letter^  but  he  did  not  make  the  change 
any  ground  of  objection  to  the  opening  of  the  negotiations, 
which  accordingly  proceeded.  By  this  course^  Dr.  Hunt  barred 
himself  from  raising  any  objection  on  that  score  afterwards. 
There  is  no  allusion  in  my  letter  to  the  question  of  name^  the 
obvious  reason  being  that  the  propositions  which  I  had  read  to 
the  Ethnological  Council,  and  which  had  received  their  general 
approval,  left  the  question  of  name  entirely  open. 

But  so  far  from  there  being  **  no  anticipation  of  the  slightest 
objection  to  the  word  Anthropology/'  as  has  been  asserted,  I 
appeal  to  every  one  of  the  delegates  to  say  whether  this  was  not 
felt  to  be  the  great  and  prominent  difficulty, — ^a  difficulty  so 
great  that  it  was  referred  to  Dr.  Hunt  and  myself  to  deal  with 
at  a  separate  interview  on  the  following  day.  Dr.  Hunt,  in  fact, 
spent  somewhat  more  than  two  hours  with  me  on  the  12th  of 
June,  in  discussing  this  knotty  question ;  and,  at  length,  he  himself 
•^gested  *'  The  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  the  Science  of 
Man,''  as  the  title  of  the  new  Society.  I  accepted  the  name  at 
once ;  and  that  there  should  be  no  mistake,  wrote  it  down  and 
asked  Dr.  Hunt  to  put  his  signature  to  the  paper.  The  paper 
so  signed  lies  before  me. 


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xxii  Preaidenfa  Address. 

I  then^  at  Dr.  Hant's  request^  accompauied  him  to  see  Mr. 
Braybrook^  who  at  once  assented  to  the  proposed  name. 

The  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society  met  on  the  15th  of 
June. 

After  the  Meeting  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Hunt  as  follows : — 

26  Abbey  Place,  N.W., 

June  15th,  1868. 

Mt  deab  Sib, — ^I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  inform  you  that,  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Ethnological  Society  to-day,  Major- 
General  Balfour,  Mr.  Hyde  Clarke,  and  myself  were  fmmished  with 
full  powers  to  arran^  the  terms  of  union  of  the  Ethnological  and 
Anthropological  Societies,  and  to  organize  the  resulting  new  Society 
under  tne  title  of  "  The  Society  for  the  Promotion  of  tne  Science  of 
Man." 

We  have  arranged  with  Mr.  Braybrook  to  meet  your  Committee  at 
five  o'clock  to-morrow  afternoon,  m  order  to  arriye  at  a  final  settle- 
ment with  respect  to  sundry  points  which  still  reaaire  discussion. 

I  am,  yours  very  faithfully. 
Dr.  Hunt,  T.  H.  Huxlit. 

President  of  the  Anthropological  Soeieiy. 

It  will  be  obvious^  from  the  tone  of  this  letter,  that  I  imagined 
the  business  was  practicalljr  settled,  the  '^  sundry  points  which 
still  require  discussion'^  being  matters  of  detail  about  which  I 
was  sure  that  our  side  would  make  no  difficulty. 

But  when  our  meeting  took  place,  the  delegates  of  the  Anthro- 
pological Society  placed  in  our  hands  a  resolution  just  passed  by 
the  Council,  wluch  rejected  the  one  stipulation  upon  which  the 
delegates  of  both  sides  had  absolutely  agreed. 

The  Council  of  the  Anthropological  Society  had,  undoubtedly, 
a  l^al  right  to  act  in  this  manner;  but  that  it  did  thus,  with- 
out any  provocation  on  our  part,  break  off  a  treaty  which  we 
considered  to  be  virtually  concluded^  is  clear ;  and  that  it  dis- 
avowed the  acts  of  its  delegates  is  perfectly  obvious  from  the 
fact  that  Dr.  Hunt  and  Mr.  Braybrook  thought  right  to  resign 
their  offices. 

Considering  the  circumstances  under  which  the  negotiations 
were  broken  off  by  the  Council  of  the  Anthropological  Society, 
the  CouncU  of  the  Ethnological  Society  could  hardly  take  the 
initiative  in  any  further  movement  towards  amalgamation,  though 
they  have  always  expressed  the  utmost  readiness  to  re-open  iSie 
negotiations.  However,  when  Dr.  Beddoe,  the  present  Presi« 
dent  of  the  Anthropological  Society  was  elected,  J  thought  the 
oppOTtunity  a  good  one  for  bringing  the  state  of  affairs  privately 
under  his  notice,  and  I  therefore  took  the  liberty  of  addressing 
the  following  letter  to  Dr.  Beddoe: — 


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President's  Address.  xxiii 

Jttnuvn  Streoty 

May  18th,  1869. 

DsAB  Sib, — ^I  hare  not  the  good  fortune  to  be  penonallj  known 
to  70U,  but,  as  President  of  the  Ethnological  Society,  I  take  the 
liberty  of  addressing  you,  as  President  of  the  Anthropological 
Society. 

It  must  be  obyious  to  every  one  that  the  existence  of  two  Societies 
haying  identical  objects  is  a  waste  of  power ;  and  when  I  became 
President  of  the  IJthnological  Society,  it  was  on  the  clear  under- 
standing that  the  Council  of  that  Society  would  heartily  cooperate 
with  me  in  endeavourii^  to  bring  about  an  amalgamation  of  the  two 
Societies.  The  Council  fully  acted  up  to  this  understanding.  As 
you  are  doubtless  aware,  delegates  were  appointed  on  the  part  of 
both  Societies,  and  these  delegates  agreed  upon  terms  of  union.  But 
the  treaty  was  virtually  repumated  by  the  Council  of  the  Anthropo- 
logical Society. 

Without  presuming  to  challenge  the  right  of  the  Council  of  the 
Antluropological  Society  to  take  this  step,  I  very  much  regretted  it, 
for  two  reasons, — ^the  first,  that  it  put  an  end  to  an  arrangement 
which,  I  think,  would  have  worked  very  well ;  the  second,  that  it  pre- 
cluded any  further  advances  on  the  part  of  the  Ethnological  Society. 

Thrown  back  upon  its  own  resources,  the  Ethnologic^  Society  has 
passed  through  a  session  which,  I  think  I  may  venture  to  sa^,  shows 
that  it  is  in  full  health  and  vigour,  and  quite  capable  of  taking  care 
of  itself ;  but  this  gratifying  fact,  so  far  from  leading  me  to  wish  to 
perpetuate  the  present  state  of  affairs,  rather  causes  me  to  lament 
more  than  ever  the  division  of  energies  which  would  gain  so  much 
by  combination,  and  strengthens  my  desire  for  a  speedv  union  of 
tbe  two  Societies.  I  expressed  these  views  in  a  brief  address  which 
I  delivered  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Ethnological  Society  on 
TuesdajT  last ;  and,  as  the  Anniversary  Meeting  of  the  Anthropologi- 
cal Society  is  at  hand,  and  will  take  place  before  my  address  can  be 
published,  I  write  to  inform  you  that  I  have  done  so,  and  to  express 
the  hope  that  you  will  see  nt  to  exercise  your  own  influence  in  the 
aame  direction. 

Honourable  as  I  feel  the  position  to  be,  the  Presidency  of  a  Society 
is  one  which  makes  such  inroads  upon  the  time  of  its  holder  that,  as 
soon  as  union  is  effected,  my  great  desire  will  be  to  withdraw  from 
office,  and  to  see  the  Chair  of  3ie  new  Society  occupied  by  some  one 
who  can  devote  to  its  duties  the  time  and  the  attention  they 
deserve. 

I  hope,  therefore,  that  it  is  quite  clear  that  I  have  no  personal 
interest  to  serve  in  advocating  amalgamation. 

I  am,  yours  very  faithfuUy, 

T.  H.  HirxLKr. 
Dr,  Beddae, 
President  of  the  Anthropological  Society. 

I  received  a  courteous  reply  from  Dr,  Beddoe^  expressive  of 
general  good-will ;  but  I  am  not  aware  that  any  other  result  has 


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xxiv  President's  Address, 

followed  my  commimication.     On  our  side  we  are  ready  and 
willing^,  as  we  always  have  been^  to  discuss  terms  of  union. 

So  much  for  an  earnest  but  fruitless  endeavour  to  bring  about 
an  amalgamation  directly  with  the  Anthropological  Society.  But 
it  may  be  worthy  of  consideration  whether  it  is  wise  thus  to 
limit  our  efforts.  The  Anthropological  Society  is  only  one  of 
several  Societies^  the  spheres  of  activity  of  which  all  more  or  less 
coincide  with  those  of  the  Ethnologiod  Society.  For  example^ 
I  need  only  name  the  Society  of  Antiquaries^  the  Archaeological 
Institute^  the  Archaeological  Association^  and  the  Geographical 
Society.  The  loss  of  time^  money,  and  energy  involved  in  the 
absence  of  any  cooperation  or  harmonious  action  among  these 
Societies  in  respect  of  the  ground  common  to  all  of  them  is 
'  very  lamentable,  and  I  should  be  very  glad  to  see  something 
done  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  this  waste  in  future. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  inform  you  that,  in  accordance  with 
the  practice  which  has  now  prevailed  for  some  years,  ample  pro- 
vision has  been  made  for  the  fiill  representation  of  Ethnological 
and  Anthropological  science  at  the  meeting  of  the  British  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  at  Liverpool,  in  Sep- 
tember next ;  and  I  trust  that  the  Department  of  Section  D, 
which  will  meet  under  the  Presidency  of  Mr.  J.  Evans,  F.R.S., 
will  be  well  supplied  with  papers. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


rORTHB 

STUDY  OP  THE  HUMAN  RACE  IN  ALL  ITS  VAMETIBS.  AND  IN 
ALL  THE  PHASES  OF  ITS  HIST0B7  AND  PBOGBESS. 

4  ST.  MARTIN'S  PLACE,  CHARING  CROSS. 


OFFICERS  AND  COXTNCIL  FOB  1870-71. 

PROFESSOR  T.  H.  HUXLEY.  LL.D.,  P.R,S..  etc. 

ARCHIBALD  CAMPBELL,  Ebq.,  M.D. 
SIR  JOHN  LUBBOCK,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.R.S. 
B.  BURNETT  TYLOR,  Esq. 
THOMAS  WRIGHT,  Esq.,  MA.,  P.S.A 

fion.  Creatlurfr. 
HENRY  G.  BOHN,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.,  F.R.S.L.,  F.RA.S.,  btc. 

)^on.  (Knural  Secretary. 

COL.  A.  LANE  FOX,  F.SJL 

)^on.  dToreign  Sttretarp. 
HYDE  CLARKE,  Esq. 

P.  W.  RUDLER,  Esq.,  F.G.S. 

GEORGE  A  STRETTON,  Esq. 

Council. 
W.  BLACKMORE.  Esq. 
PROFESSOR  G.  BUSK,  RRS. 
G.  CAMPBELL,  Esq.,  D.C.L. 
J.  BARNARD  DAVIS,  Esq.,  M.D.,  P.R.8. 
W.  BOYD  DAWEINS,  Esq.,  M.A,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S. 
JOHN  DICKINSON,  Esq.,  F.G.S. 
ROBERT  DUNN,  Esq.,  F.R.C.S. 
J.  W.  FLOWER,  Esq.,  F.G.S. 
DAVID  FORBES,  Esq,  P.R.S.,  F.G.S. 
A.  W.  FRANKS,  Esq..  D.SA. 
REV.  CANON  GREENWELL.  M.A,  F.S.A 
A  HAMILTON,  Esq. 
F.  HINDMARSH,  Esq.,  P.G.S.,  F.R.G.S. 
T.  M^K.  HUGHES,  Esq.,  M.A,  F.G.S.,  F.S.A 
RICHARD  KING,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.RC.S. 
J.  F.  M'LENNAN,  Esq. 

SIR  RODERICK  I.  MURCHISON.  Bart.,  K.C.B.,  F.R.S. 
DR.  NICHOLAS,  MA.,  F.G.S. 
S.  E.  B.  PUSEY.  Esq.,  F.RG.S. 

c 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


LIST  or  FELLOWS 


THE  ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  LONDON. 


Members  who  have  paid  a  Composition  in  lieu  of  Stihscriptions  are  indi- 
cated by  an  asterisk  (♦)  prefixed  to  their  names. 

Members  who  have  contributed  Papers  which  have  appeared  in  the  Society^ s 
Publications  are  distinguished  by  a  dagger  (f)  prefixed  to  their  names. 


Date  of 
Election. 

1858.*Adams,  William,  Esq.    5  Henrietta  Street,  Cavendish  Square. 

1864.  Aitken,  Alexander  Muirhead,  Esq.     Calcutta. 

1862.  Alcock,  His  ExoeUency  Sir  Rutherford,  K.C.B.,  H.M.  Envoy 
Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  China. 

1862.  Amhurst,  W.  A.  Tyssen,  Esq.,  F.R.S.L.     DidUngton,  Brandon, 

Norfolk. 
1870.  Antrim,  the  Earl  of.     Christchurch,  Oaford. 
1865.»Arm8trong,  Sir  William,  Bart,  K.C.B.,  F.R.8.     The  Athenceum 

Club,  Pall  Mall. 
1853.»Arthur,  Rev.  William.    Methodist  College,  Belfast. 

1863.  Ashnrst,  W.  H.,  Esq.,   SoHcitor  to  the   General  Poet  Office. 

7  Prince  of  Wales  Terrace,  Kensington  Palace. 

1870.  Backhouse,  Edward,  Esq.     Ashhum,  near  Sunderland. 

1865.  Bagehot,  Walter,  Esq.     12  Upper  Belgrave  Street,  Eaton  Square. 
1861.»Baker,  John,  Esq. 

1866.tBaker,  Pasha  Sir  Samuel.     ffeadingJiam  Hall,  Bungay. 

1865.  Balfour,  Major-General  Sir  George,  C.B.     Athenceum  Club. 
1870.  Barnes,  J.  W.,  Esq.     Market  Place,  Durham. 

1866.  Bartrum,  John  Stothart,  Esq.,  F.R.C.S.     41  Oay  Street,  Bath. 
1870.  Baylis,  T.  Henry,  Esq.     3  The  Terrace,  Kensington   Gardens 

Square,  W. 
1854.tBeddoe,  J.,  Esq.,  M.D.    2  Lansdowne  Place,  Clifton. 
1869.tBell,  WiUiam  A.,  Esq.,  M.D.     Care  of  Dr.  Bird,  18  Hertford 

Street,  Mayfair. 


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XXYIX 
Dttte  of 
Bleotioo. 

1866 .♦fBlackmore,  Wm.,  Esq.    Founders  Court,  Lothbury,  E.G. 
1861.  Bohn,  Henry  G.,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.,  F.R.A.S.,  F.R.S.L.    Treasttbbb. 

Henrietta  Street,  Oovent  Garden,  W.C. 
1870.  Bonavia,  E.,  Esq.,  M.D.     9  Northunck  Terrace,  Maida  BUI,  W. 
1869.tBonwick,  James,  Esq.,  F.K.G.8.     13  Alfred  Eoad,  Acton. 
1844»Bracebridge,  Charles  Holt,  Esq.    Aihenceum  Cltd),  8.W. 
1866.  Braddell,  Hon.  Thomas,  H.B.M.  Attorney-General,  Singapore. 
1870.  Bragge,  William,  Esq.,  F.R.G.8.,  F.S.A.     SJdrU  HiU,  Sheffield. 
1845.*Brigg8,  Lieut.-General  John.     Oriental  and  Athenamm  Clubs. 
1869.tBrino,  Capt.  lindsay,  R.N.    All  Saints  Rectory,  Axminster. 

1868.  Brookes,  Henry,  Esq.     12  De  Beauvoir  Square. 
1861.  Burke,  Lnke,  Esq.     5  Albert  Terrace,  Acton. 
1861.tBarton,  Capt.  Ridiard  Francis,  H.B.M.  Consul,  Damascus.  Care 

of  Foreign  Office. 
1863.tBnsk,  George,  Esq.,  F.R.B.     Athenceum  dub;  and  ^2  Barley 
Strut. 

1866.tCampbell,  Archibald,  Esq.,  M.D.    Viob-Presidknt.    104  Lans- 

downs  Eoad,  Kensington  Park,  NoUing  Bill. 
1869.fCampbell,  George,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  lieutenant-Goyernor  of  Bengal. 
1870.  Campbell,  Capt.  Walter,  R.E.    Neweastle-upon-Tyne. 
1845.»Camps,  William,  Esq.,  M.D.     The  Hall,  Wilburton,  Ely. 
1870.  Camao,  H.  Bivett,  Esq.     Simlah,  India. 

1866.  Carpenter,  Frederick  Stanley,  Esq.,  D.C.G.    CareofMrs.Trygam 

Griffith,  Carreglwyd,  Bolyhead. 

1869.  Chambers,  C.  Harcourt,  Esq.     2  Chesham  Place.  S.W. 
1855.  Charlton,  William,  Esq.     Besleyside,  BeUingham,  Bexham. 
1844.»Child,  W.  D.,  Esq.     8  Hnsbury  Place  South.  E.C. 

1868.  Cholmondeley,  Colonel  the  Hon.  T.  J.    Abbots  Moss,  J^orthwich, 

Cheshire. 
1867.fClarke,  Hyde,  Esq.     Fobeion  Sbcbbtabt.   32  St.  Oeorge^s  Square, 

Pimlico.  S.W. 
1861.  Clavering,  Sir  William  Aloysins,  Bart.     AthtMeum  Club.  S.W. 

1860.  Colebrook,  Sir  Thomas  Edward,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.A.S. 

57  South  Street,  Park  Lane. 
1854.*Coleman,  J.  Sherrard,  Esq. 
1862 .♦Collins,  W.  W.,  Esq.     2  Bereford  Square,  Old  Brompton. 

1867.  Colonsay,  Right  Hon.  Lord.     New  Club,  Edinburgh. 

1861.  Copeland,  George  Ford,  Esq.,  M.R.C.S.     Bays  Bill,  Cheltenham. 
1845.*Comthwaite,  Rey.  Tullie.    Walihamstow,  Essex. 
1861.*Crawfurd,  Oswald  J.,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consul,  Oporto;  and  Foreign 

Office. 
1857.  Croker,  T.  F.  Dillon,  Esq.,  F.S.A.     9  PeUiam  Place,  Brompton. 

S.W. 
1845.*tCull,  R.,  Esq.,  F.S.A.     13  Tatristock  Street,  Bedford  Square. 
1855.  Cunliff,  R.,  Esq.     21  Carlton  Place,  Glasgow. 

1869.  Cunningham,  Major-General  Alexander.    Care  of  Messrs.  Henry 

8.  King  &  Co.,  65  ComhiU.  E.C. 
1860.*Cutler,  G.,  Esq.,  F.R.S.L.     Nelson  lerrace,  Sheffield. 


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XXYIU 
Date  of 
Blection. 

1858 .♦tDanieU,  G.  Wythes,  Esq.,  M.D.  38  Bmb^n-ough  Street,  Pindico. 
S.W. 

1869.  Darbishire,  Robert  D.,  Esq.,  B.A.,  F.G.S.     26  George  Street, 

Manchester. 
1856.tDavis,  J.  Barnard,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.R.C.8.,  F.R.S.    Shdton,  Staf- 
fordshire. 

1868.  Daw,  George  H.,  Esq.     ChisUhurst,  Kent. 
1869.tDawkiiis,  W.  Boyd,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.E.S.,  F.G.S.     Birch  View, 

Norman  Road,  Rusholme,  Manchester. 
1850.  De  Grey  and  Bipon,  Bight  Hon.  Earl.     1  Carlton  Gardens. 
1853.  Des  Ruffi^res,  C.  Robert,  Esq.,  F.G.S.    WUmot  Lodge,  Rochester 

Road,  Camden  Town,  N.W. 
1862.^Deyonshire,  His  Grace  the  Dnke  of,  E.G.,  F.R.S.    Devonshire 

House,  Piccadilly. 

1861.  Dickinson,  John,  Esq.,  F.G.S.    Athenceum  Clvh. 

1870.  Dilke,  Sir  Charles  Wentworth,  Bart.,  M.P.  76  Shane  Street.  S.W. 
1870.  Duncan,  Professor  David,  M.A.    Presidency  College,  Madras. 

1869.  Duncan,  Professor  P.  M.,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.     40  BUssington 

Road,  Lee,  Kent. 
1868.  Dunkin,  A.  J.,  Esq.    44  Besshorough  Gardens,  S.W. ;  and  DaH- 

ford,  Kent. 
1845.*tl>unn,  Robert,  Esq.,  F.R.C.S.     39  Norfolk  Street,  Strand.  W.C. 

1870.  Dunrayen  and  Mountearl,  the  Earl  of,  £.P.,  F.R.S.,  &c.  5  Buck- 

ingham  Palace  Gate,  PtnUico.  S.W. 

1862.  Eastwood,  J.  W.,  Esq.,  M.D.     BinsdaU  Park,  Darlington. 
1870.  Edwards,  John,  Esq.     1  Hare  Court,  Temple.  E.G. 
1869.tElliot,  Sir  Walter,  K.C.S.I.     Wolfeelee  Hawick,  NB. 

1863.  Erie,  Right  Hon.  Sir  William.     12  Princes  Gardens,  Hyde  Park. 
1866.  Euing,  William,  Esq.     209  West  George  Street,  and  Royal  Ex- 
change, Glasgow. 

1861.tEvans,  John,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.8.,  F.S.A.    Nash  Mills,  Hemd 
Hempstead, 

1863.  Fairbaim,  Sir  W.,  Bart.,  F.R.S.  Manchester. 

1870.  Farrar,  Rev.  A.  S.,  D.D.     The  College,  Durham. 

1861.tFarrar,  Rev.  F.  W.,  M.A.,  F.R.8.,  Assistant  Classical  Master  at 

Harrow.     The  Park,  Harrow-on-tTie-HiU. 
1870.tFi8her,  Morton  Coates,  Esq.     58  Threadnedle  Street.  E.C. 

1868.  Fitzwilliam,  W.  S.,  Esq.,  F.S.S.,  late  Member  of  the  Supreme 

Legislative  Council  of  India.     28  Ovington  Square. 

1869.  Flower,  J.  W.,  Esq.,  F.G.S.     Park  HiU,  Croydon. 
1869.*tForbes,  David,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.     11  York  Place,  Portman 

Square,  W. 
1851.*Fowler,  R.  N.,  Esq.,  M.P.     30  Comhill.  E.C. 
1861.  Fox,  Charles  Henry,  Esq.,  M.D.      The  Beeches,  Brislington, 

Bristol. 
1861.tFox,  Colonel  A.  Lane,  F.S.A.,  F.G.S.    Gbkekal  Secbetakt. 

10  Upper  Phillimore  Gardens,  Kensington.  W. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC  ' 


ZXliL 
Bate  of 

BleotioD. 

IS^.^Franks,  Augufltua  W.,  Esq.»  Director  of  the  Sodety  of  Anti- 
quaries.  Hie  British  Museum;  and  103  Victoria  Street^ 
Westminster,  8.W. 

1865.  Eraser,  Captain  Thomas.  Olago^  New  Zealand.  Care  of  J. 
Fraser  McQueen,  Esq.,  8  (M  Square,  Lineoln*s  Inn. 

1866.tFytche,  Major-General  Albert,  Chief  Commissioner  at  Martaban. 

1861.»Galton,  Captain  Douglas,  F.R.8.     12  CfTiester  Street,  Orosvenor 

Place. 
1862.tGalton,  Francis,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.  42  Rutland  OaU,  Hyde  Park; 

and  AihenoBum  Club,  Pall  MaU, 
1869.tGardner,  C.  T.,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.     3  St  Jamais  Terrace,  Pad- 

dingUm  ;  and  Shanghai. 

1861.  Gardner,  E.  V.,  Esq.    Sunhwry,  Middlesex. 
1846.*Gardner,  Peter,  Esq.     41  Inverness  Terrace,  Bayswater.  W. 

1862.  Gassiot,  J.  P.,  Esq.,  F.R.S.     Clapham  Common.  8. 
1865.»Gille8pie,  William,  Esq.     Tarhane  HiU,  Edinburgh. 

1860.  Gore,  Richard  Thomas,  Esq.     6  Queen  Square,  Bath. 
1868.tGreenwell,  Rev.  William,  M.A.,  F.8.A.,  Canon  of  Durham. 

1865.  Greg,  W.  R.,  Esq.,  Superintendent  of  H.M.  Stationery  Office. 

Princes  Street,  Westmimter.  8.W. 

1861.  Grey,  Lieut.  Henry,  R.E.,  R.N.,  HM.S.  *AJgerineJ 
1860.»tGrey,  Right  Hon.  Sir  George.     Aihencswn  Club. 

1869.  Guise,  Sir  William  Vernon,  Bart.,  F.G.S.,  F.L.S.  Elmore  Court, 
Gloucester. 

1862.  Guthrie,  James,  Esq.    3  Pognder's  Boad,  Clapham  Park. 

1869.  Hamilton,  Captain  Alexander,  R.E.    Bermuda. 
1863.*Hamilton,  Archibald,  Esq.    Southboraugh,  Bromley,  Kent. 
1853.  Hamilton,  Rowland,  Esq.     Calcutta;  and  32  New  Broad  Street. 
1869.  Harrison,  Charles,  Esq.     10  Lancaster  QaU,  Hyde  Park. 

1863.  Harvey,  John,  Esq.,  Borneo  Company.     7  Mincing  Lan€. 
1863.  Henderson,  Robert,  Esq.    RandaWs  Park,  Surrey. 
1855.  Hepburn,  Robert,  Esq.     70  Portland  Place.  W. 

1869.  Hewitt,  Jonas,  Esq.     Crown  Court,  Threadneedle  Street.  E.C. 
1844.*Heywood,  James,  Esq.,  F.R.S.     26  Kensington  Palace  Gardens; 

and  AthenoBum  Club,  Pall  MaU. 
1845.*Hindmar8h,   Frederick,  Esq.,  F.G.8.,  F.R.G.8.     4  New  Inn, 

Strand;  and  Townsend  House,  Barkway,  Herts. 
1863.  Hodgson,  Kirkman  Daniel,  Esq.,  M.P.    37  Brook  Street,  Qros- 

venor  Square  ;  and  Sparrows  Heme,  Bushy,  Herts. 
1868.tHooker,  Joseph,  Esq.,  C.B.,  M.D.,  F.R.S.,  Director  of  the  Royal 

Gardens,  Kew. 
1867.  Hotten,  John  Camden,  Esq.     174  Piccadilly. 
1856.tHoworth,  H.  H.,  Esq.    Derby  House,  EccUs,  Manchester. 
1869.  Hughes,  T.  M«K.,  Esq.,  M. A.,  F.G.S.,  F.S.A.    28  Jermyn  Street. 

S.W. 

1866.  Hunt,  John,  Esq.     156  New  Bond  Street.  W. 
1861.tHutchinson,  Thomas  J.,  Esq.,  F.R.G.8.,  F.R.8.L.,  F.A.8.L., 

H.B.M.  Consul  for  Rosario,  Argentine  Republic;  Yioe-Pr^ 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


Bate  of 


xzz 

sident  d'Honnenr  de  rinBtitat.  d'AMque,  Paris ;  Socio  £x- 
tranjero  de  la  Sociedad  Faleontologioa  de  Buonos  Ayres,  &o. 
&c.  Foreign  Office. 
1863.tHiixley,  Professor  T.  H.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.L.8.,  F.G.S.,  Pre- 
sident  of  the  Biitisli  Associatioii.  Pbbsident.  Mtueum  of 
Practical  Geology ;  and  26  Abl>ey  Place,  St.  JohvCs  Wood. 
N.W. 

1869.  Inman,  Robert  M.,  Esq.,  M.D.,  P.E.G.S.     Edinburgh  Home, 
West  Street,  Brighton. 

1869.  JeffcoU,  J.  M.,  Esq.,  M.H.K.,  High  Bailiff  of  Castletowii.    Ide 
of  Man. 

1866.  Johore,  His  Highness  the  Maharajah  of  Singapore.    Care  of  W. 

W.  Kerr,  Esq.,  21  St.  SwUhin's  Lane.  E.G. 
1869.  Jones,  W.  A.,  Esq.,  M.A.,  P.G.8.     Taunton. 

1868.  Kemahan,  Bey.  Dr.,  E.E.S.L.,  F.A.S.L.    50  Greenwood  Bead, 

Dalston. 
1845.*tKing,  Eichard,  Esq.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.8.,  L.S.A.,  F.A.8.L.,  Corr. 
Mem.  Eth.  8.  N.  York  and  8tat.  8.  Darmstadt,  Hon.  Eel.  Eth. 
8.  Paris,  H.M.  Medical  Inspector  of  Factories.    12  Buhtrode 
Strut,  Cavendish  Square.  W. 

1869.  Eirwan,  Bey.  Eichard,  M.A.     Gittisham,  Honiton. 

1868.  Laing,  8amuel,  Esq.,  F.G.8.    Brighton. 

1861.  Lang,  Andrew,  Esq.    Dunmore,  TeignmouOi. 

1867.  Langlands,  J.,  Esq.     Victoria,  New  South  Wales. 
1867.  Lawford,  Edward,  Esq.,  M.D.    Ldghton  Buxzard. 

1866.  Lennox,  Arthur  C.  W.,  Esq.,  F.G.8.     Care  of  Lord  T.  Cedl,  6 

Granville  Place,  Portman  Square.  W. 

1869.  Long,  William,  Esq.,  M.A.     West  Bay,  Wrington,  Somerset. 
1860.*Love,  Horatio,  Esq.      Upper  Norwood. 
1863.nLubbock,  8ir  John,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.E.8.   Yicb-Pbbsidbht.  High 

Elms,  Famborough,  Kent. 

1854.  McClelland,  James,  Esq.     32  Pembridge  Square,  Notting  HiU. 

1865.  Macfarlan,  John  Gray,  Esq.     Clyde  ViUa,  Anerly  HUl,  Upper 

Norwood. 

1870.  Madeay,  George,  Esq.     Pendhill  Court,  Bletchingley. 
1870.  McLennan,  J.  F.,  Esq.     81  2  rinces  Street,  Edinburgh. 

1867.  Maclnre,  Andrew,  Esq.     14  Ladbroke  Square,  Notting  HUl. 

1866.  McNair,  Major  John  Frederick,  E.A.,  Executiye  Engineer,  Sinn 

gapore.   Care  of  Messrs.  Codd  &  Co.,  31  Craven  Street,  Strand. 
1855.*Malcolm,  W.  E.,  Esq.     Bumfoot,  Langhohne,  near  Carlisle. 
1864.tMarkham,  dements  R.,  Esq.,  Hon.  1^.  Geographical  8ociety. 

21  Ecdeston  Square,  Pindico  ;   the  India  Office  ;  and  Oriental 

Club,  Hanover  Square. 

1862.  Marsh,  Matthew,  Esq.  Athenceum  Club  ;  and  Eamridge,Andover, 

Hants. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


XXXI 

Date  of 
Election. 

1868.*Martin,  Bichard  Biddulph,  Esq.  Lombard  Street;  and  Clare- 
wood,  Bickley. 

1869.  Mason,  James  Wood,  Esq.  Care  of  Lovell  Kemp,  Esq.,  2Q 
Charles  Strut,  St.  James's. 

1867.  Maxwell,  Sir  P.  Benson,  Cliief  Justice.    Singapore. 

1854.  Mayer,  Joseph,  Esq.,  F.S.A.     Lord  Street,  Liverpool. 

1864.  Mayers,  W.  F.,   Esq.,    H.B.M.    Vice-Consul,     CanUm;    and 

Foreign  Office. 
18o6.*Mayson,  John  S.,  Esq.     Fallowfield,  Manchester. 
1861.  MiUigan,  Joseph,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.G.S.,  F.Z.8.,  F.L.S.,  M.R.A.8. 

15  Northumberland  Street,  Strand.  W.C. 
1864.»Milton,  Right  Hon.  Yisconnt,  M.P.     17  Qrosvenor  Street. 

1868.  Mitchell,  Albert,  Esq.     Elmstead,  Kent. 

1858.  Mitchell,  Alexander,  Esq.,  M.P.  6  Great  Stanhope  Street,  May 
Fair ;   Caroldde^  Berwickshire. 

1869.  Moggridge,M.,Esq.,F.G.S.  MonmotUhshire.    Care  of  Bey.  M.  W. 

Mof^gridge,  Long  Ditton,  Kingston-on-Thames. 

1868.  Moody,  John,  Esq.     St.  Maurice  Villa,  ffeworth  Boad,  Fork. 

1870.  Morris,  E.  Bowley,  Esq.     Gungrog  Cottage,  Welshpool, 

1869.  Morris,  Eogene,  Esq.     Birchwood,  Sydenham  Hill. 

1869.  Morris,  John,  Esq.  28  Avenue,  Bennett's  Park,  Blackheath. 
1870.»Morrison,  W.,  Esq.,  M.P.  21  Bolton  Street,  PieeadiUy.  W. 
1861.tMonat,  F.,  Esq.,  M.D.,  H.M.   Inspector-General  of  Prisons. 

Bengal.    Care  of  Lepage  &  Co.,  1  Whitefriars  Street,  Fleet 
Strut. 

1870.  Mnnton,  Francis  Kerridge,  Esq.,  F.B.G.S.     21  Montague  Strut, 

BusseU  Square.  W.C. 
I860.  Murchison,  Sir  Boderidc  Impey,  Bart,  K.C.B.,  D.C.L.,  Director- 
General  of  the  Museum  of  Practical  Geology,  President  of  the 
Boyal  Geographical  Society.     16  Bdgrave  Square.  S.W. 

1868.  Napier,  William,  Esq.     Ardmore  Lodge,  Spring  Orove,  Isle- 
worth. 
1848.*Na8h,  Davyd  W.,  Esq.     Cheltenham. 
1870.  Nash,  Bobert  Lucas,  Esq.     Craven  Cottage,  Finchley.  N. 

1868.  Neale,  J.  Donor,  Esq.  13  South  Square,  Qray's  Inn.  W.C. 
1870.  NewaJl,  B.  8.,  Esq.     Femdene,  Gateshead. 

1869.  Nicholas,  Dr.  Thomas,  M.A.,  F.G.S.    3  Craven  Strut,  Strand. 

W.C. 

1855.  Nicholson,  Brinsley,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Surgeon-Major,  Medical  Staff, 

Cork. 
1858.  Nicholson,  Sir  Charles,  Bart.,  F.B.SX.,  F.B.G.S.,  &c.    26  Devon- 
shire Place,  MaryMnme.  W. 

1870.  O'CaJlaghan,  P.,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  D.C.L.,  F.S.A.     Leamington. 
1869.tOppert,  Dr.  Gustay.     5  Adelaide  Square,  Windsor. 
1868.  Orton,  W.  Billing,  Esq.     ChorlUm-on-Medlock^  Lancashire. 

1867.  Osbom,  Captain  Sherard,  B.N.     119  Gloucester  Terrace,  Hyde 

Park  ;  and  Athenaum  Club, 

1868.  Ouyry,  Frederic,  Esq.,  Treasurer  S.A.     12  Queen  Anne  Street, 


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xxxu 

Dstoof 
BleotioiLi 

1862.  Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  E.C.B.9  Minister  Plenipotentiary,  Toddo, 
Japan.     The  Athenamm  and  Oriental  Clube. 

1 865.  Pereira,  Frandsoo  E.,  Esq.     Singq^pore. 

1862.  Perry,  Qerald  Baoul,  Esq.,  H.M.B.  Consul,  Stockholm. 

1864.  Petherick,  H.  W.,  Esq.     2  Denmark  Villa»,  Waddon  New  Road, 

Croydon,  Surrey. 
1862.tPliayre,  lieut.-Col.  Sir  Arthur,  Governor  of  Pegu,  British  Bur- 

mah  :  and  EJ.  U.S.  Club,  14  St.  Jamet^e  Square.  S.W. 
1869.  Platts,  John,  Esq.,  Inspector  of  Schools,  Central  India  ;  and  24 

Ifield  Road,  Weet  BrompUm. 

1868.  Pope,  George  K.,  Esq.     New  University  Club,  St.  Jameses  Street. 
1856.^Postlethwaite,  J.  J.,  Esq:     65  Besehorough  Street,  Pimlieo  ;  and 

Northend  Cottage,  Hastings,  Sussex. 

1869.  Prestwich,  Joseph,  Esq.,  E.R.S.    Shoreham,  Sevenoaks. 

1861.  Price,  Dr.  David  S.     Crystal  Palace.  S.E. 

1868.  Price,  Lorenzo  T.  C,  Esq.     11  Hockley  HtU,  Birmingham. 

1866.  Pulford,  Alfred,  Esq.     BroomhiU,  Hampton  Wick,  Kingston-on-- 

Thames. 

1865.  Puller,  A.  Giles,  Esq.     Toungsbury,  Ware,  Herts. 

1862.  Pusey,  S.  E.  B.  Bouverie,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.,  F.A.S.L.  7  Green  Street, 

Orosvenor  Square  ;  and  Pusey  House,  Farringdon,  Berks. 

1867.  Bamsay,  John,  Esq.     49  Dunhp  Street,  Glasgow ;  and  Islay, 

Argyllshire. 
1861.  Katcliff,  Charles,  Esq.,  F.R.S.L.,  F.R.G.S.,  F.L.S.,  F.S. A.,  F.G.S. 

The  Wyddrington,  Edgbaston,  Birmingham. 
1861.  Reid,  Lestock  R.,  Esq.    122  Westboume  Terrace  ;  and  AUienaum 

Club. 

1863.  Richardson,  Francis,  Esq.    Park  Lodge,  Blaekheath. 

1867.  Rogers,  George,  Esq.,  M.D.     Longwood  House,  Long  A^Uon, 
Bristol. 

1860.  Rolleston,  Professor  Geoi^,  M.D.,  F.R.S.     Oarford. 

1865.  R6nay,  Dr.  Hyacinthe.    Pesth. 

1870.  Rosehill,  Lord.     Easter  Warriston  House,  Edinburgh. 

1861.  Rowcroft,    Lieutenant  H.   C,    Bengal    Engineers.      Care    of 

Messrs.  S.  King  &  Co.,  Cornhill  E.C. 

1862.  Ryan,  Right  Hon.  Sir  Edward.     Garden  Lodge,  5  Addison  Eoad, 

Kensington. 

1864.  St.^air,  Rev.  George,  F.G.S.     104  Sussex  Boad,  Seven  Sisters* 

Eoad,  HoUoway.  N. 
1862.tSt.-John,  Spencer,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consul-General,  Hayti;  and 

Foreign  Office. 
1836.*Salomons,  Alderman  Sir  David,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.R.S.L.     26  Great 

Cumberland  Street ;  and  Broom  Hill,  Tunbridge  WeUs. 

1869.  Sanderson,  W.  Walbank,  Esq.     Boyal  Infirmary,  Manchester. 

1866.  Scott,  Thomas,  Esq.     Singapore. 
1855.*Scouler,  Professor  John.     Glasgow. 

1865.  Sheffield,  Right  Hon.  the  Earl  of.     20  Portland  Place:  and 

Sheffield  Park,  UekfieJd,  Sussex. 


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Date  of 

ElecUoiL 

1862.t8hortt,  John,  Esq.,  M.D.,  M.B.C.P.L.,  Surgeon  of  H.M.  MadraB 
Army,  Superintendent  Qeneral  of  Yaccination.  Madras  Frt- 
gidency. 

1862.  Showers,  lieut-Colonel  Charles  lioneL    Agra,  India. 

1869.  Simpson,  Bey.  James.     Kirkhy  StepJien,  Westmoreland. 

1861.  Smart,   Bath  Charles,   Esq.,   M.D.,   M.B.C.S.      Oruk  Eowe, 

Waterloo  Eoad,  Manchester. 
1860.^Smith,  John,  Esq.    Stroud  Qreen,  Upper  HoUoway. 
1869.  Smith,  Thomas  J.,  Esq.     Hessle,  Kingston-on-HtUl. 

1862.  Somervell,  William,  Esq.    Strathaven  House,  ffendon. 
1861.»t8pottiswoode,  WiUiam,  Esq.,  F.B.8.     60  Orosvenor  Place. 
1861.»Stanbridge,  W.  E.,  Esq.     Wombat,  Daylesford,  Victoria. 
1866.  Stepney,  Frederick  William  Cowell,  Esq.    8  Bolton  Street,  Pic- 
cadilly. W. 

1862.  Stevens,  N.  H.,  Esq.     14  Finshury  Circus,  E.C. 
1865.*Stewart,  Dr.  Alexander  Patrick.     74  Orosvenor  Street,  Orosvenor 

Square. 

1869.  Stewart,  Captain  Charles  Edward,  5th  Punjab  Infantry.     14 

Sussex  Gardens.  W. 

1866.  Swift,  Bichard  Levinge,  Esq.,  H.B.M.  Consul  at  Barcelona. 

Levinge  Lodge,  Richmond. 

1860.  Talbot  de  Malahide,  The  Bight  Hon.  Lord,  F.B.S.,  F.S.A. 
Aihenantm  Club,  Pall  Mall;  and  MoHdhide  Castle,  near 
Dublin. 

1867.  Tanner,  Bev.  James,  Junior  Chaplain  Madras  Ecclesiastical 

Establishment.     BeUary,  Madras, 

1865.  Temple,  Sir  Bichard,  E.C.S.I.,  Minister  of  Finance,  Calcutta. 

Indian  and  Oriental  Club,  Hanover  Square ;  and  India  Office. 

1863.  Tennant,  John,  Esq.    St.  BoUax,  Olasgow ;  and  Brookes  Club, 

London.  S.W. 

1866.  Thomson,  John,  Esq.     Singapore.    Care  of  John  Simpson,  Esq., 

52  North  Bridge,  Edinburgh. 

1863.  Thurlow,  Bev.  Edward.     Athenaum  Club,  PaUMall. 

1852.  Thumam,  John,  Esq.,  M.D.,  F.S.A.  Wilts  County  Asylum, 
Devizes. 

1870.  Tiddeman,  Bichard  Hill,  Esq.,  B.A.,  F.G.S.,  H.M.  Geological 

Survey.     28  Jermyn  Street.  S.W. 

1866.  Timmins,  Samuel,  Esq.,  F.B.G.S.,  F.B.S.L.  Elveiham  Lodge, 
Birmingham. 

1849.*Tuke,  T.  Harrington,  Esq.,  MJ).     Manor  House,  ChiswicJe. 

1867.tTylor,  Edward  Burnett,  Esq.  Yice-Pbesident.  Linden,  Wel- 
lington, Somerset. 

1864.  Wade,  Thomas  Francis,  Esq.,  Secretary  H.M.  Legation,  Peking, 

China:  and  Foreign  Office. 
1854.»Walker,  J.  S.,  Esq.     The  Bury,  Hunsdon,  Ware. 
1854.»Walker,  T.,  Esq.     Beulah  Eoad,  Tunbridge  Wells. 
1866.tWallace,  Alfred   Bussell,   Esq.      Holly  House,  Tanner  Street, 

Barking. 


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ZXXIV 

Date  of 
Eleotion. 

1862.  Warner,  Edward,  Esq.,  M.P.     49  Orosvenor  Place  ;  andHigham 

Hall,  Woodford,  Essex. 
1867.  Warren,  Thomas  T.  P.  Bruce,  Esq.     MUcham,  Surrey. 
1846.*Whishaw,  James,  Esq.,  F.S.A.     Oriental  Club,  Hanover  Square. 

1869.  Winwood,  Rev.  Henry  H.,  M.A.,  E.G.  8.     11  Cavendish  Crescent, 

Bath. 
1860.  Wood,  Samuel,  Esq.     Shrewsbury. 

1863.  Woods,  Eobert  Carr,  Esq.     Care  of  Messrs.  H.  8.  King  and  Co., 

Cornhill.  E.G. 

1870.  Wright,  E.  Beresford,  Esq.     Aldercar  Hall,  LangUy  Mills,  near 

Nottingham. 
1853.tWright,  Thomas,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.8.A.,  Hon.  F.A.S.L.,  &c..  Corre- 
sponding Member  of  the  Institute  of  France.  Vicb-Presidekt. 
14  Sydney  Street,  Brompton.  8.W. 


1866.  The  Library  Committee  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  London. 


LIST  OP  HONORARY  FELLOWS  OF  THE 
ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 

Agassiz,  M.  Louis.     Cambridge,  Mass.,  V.S. 

Aner,  Alvis.    Vienna. 

Baer,  Professor  von.    St.  Petersburg. 

Bastian,  M.  A.     Berlin. 

Bonaparte,  His  Highness  Prince  Louis  Lucien.     8  Norfolk  Terrace, 

Notting  Hill.  W. ;  and  Paris. 
Broca,  M.     Paris. 

Darwin,  Charles,  Esq.,  M.A.,  F.E.8.     Down,  Beckenham. 
D'Ayezac,  M.,  Membre  de  Plnstitut  &c.    42  Hue  de  Bac,  Paris. 
Dohne,  Eey.  J.  L. 
Edwards,  H.  Milne-,  M.D.     Paris. 
Folsom,  George,  Esq.    New  York. 
Hayden,  Prof.  F.  V.     Philadelphia. 

Henry,  Professor  Joseph.     Smithsonian  Institution,  Washingt<in. 
Hodgson,  B.  H.,  Esq.     The  Orange,  Wooton^under-Edge,  nearAlderley, 

Cheshire. 
Hunter,  W.  W.,  Esq.     Bengal  Civil  Service. 
fLatham,  R.  G.,  Esq.,  M.D.     Athenasum  Club. 
Layard,  Eight  Hon.  Austin  H.,  D.C.L.,  M.D.,  H.M.  Ambassador  at  the 

Court  of  Madrid. 
Leidy,  Dr.  Joseph.     Philadelphia. 
Lepsius,  Dr.  Bd.     Berlin. 
Leuckart,  Dr.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  and  Zoology  in  the  University  of 

Oiessen. 


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xxrv 

Lucae,  Dr.,  Professor  of  Anatomy  in  the  Senckenburg   Institute, 

FranJrfort'On-^'Main. 
Haury,  M.  Alfred,  Member  of  the  Institnte,  Paris, 
Meigs,  Dr.  J.  Aitken,  Librarian  of  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences, 

PMhdelphia, 
Miiller,  Professor  Max.     Oxford, 
Nicolncci,  Dr.  Giustiniano.     Naples. 
tNilsson,  Professor.     Stockholm. 
Otto,  Professor.     Copenhagen, 
Palgrave,  W.  Gifford,  Esq.     TrMzond. 
Perty,  Professor.    Berne. 
Phcebus,  Dr.,  Professor  of  Natoral  Philosophy  in  the  University  of 

Giessen, 
Pictet,  M.     Geneva. 
Qnatrefages,  M.  A.  de,Membre  de  Tlnstitat,  and  Professor  of  Ethnology. 

Jardin  des  HanteSj  Paris. 
Quetelet,  M.  L.  A.  J.,  Astronomer  Eoyal,  Brussels, 
Bawlinson,  Major-General  Sir  Henry,  K.C.B.,  E.R.S.    21  Charles  Street^ 

Berkeley  Square. 
Renan,  M.  E.,  Member  of  the  Institate,  Paris. 
Eoth,  Professor.     Heidelberg, 
Scherzer,  Dr.  Carl  Ritter  von.    Vienna. 
Semper,  Professor  Carl.    Wurzburg, 
Steenstrup,  Japetns,  Esq.     Copenhagen. 

Steinhaner,  Carl,  Director  of  the  Ethnological  Museum,  Copenhagen. 
Sutherland,  J.  P.,  Esq.,  M.D.    Natal,  SoiUh  Africa. 
Yogt,  Professor  Carl.     Geneva. 
Walther,  Dr.  Philipp  A.     Darmstadt. 
Wilkinson,  Sir  J.  Gardner,  F.R.S. 
Wrangell,  Admiral  Perdinand  yon.    St.  Petersburg, 


LIST  OF  CORRESPONDING  MEMBERS  OF  THE 

ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY. 

Appleyard,  Rev.  W. 

Baker,  W.  Bailey.     New  Zealand, 

tBollaert,  W.,  Esq.    21  a  Hanover  Square,  W. 

Clark,  Robert,  Esq. 

Firm,  James,  Esq.    Jerusalem, 

Friend,  Wm.,  M.A.,  LL.D.    Breslau. 

Fullner,  Monsieur  A.  D. 

Giglio,  Professor.     Pavia, 

Henderson,  Rey.  Alex. 

Inglis,  Rev.  John. 

Isenburg,  Rev. 

Jef&ies,  Edmund,  Esq.     KondosaUa,  Ceylon, 

fJones,  James,  Esq.    Amoy,  China, 

Enapp,  Rev.  J.  L. 


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ZZXVl 

tLockhart,  William,  Esq.,  M.R.C.S. 

Logan,  Alexander,  Esq.     Singapore. 

Macgowan,  Dr.     518  Broadway,  New  York. 

tMann,  Robert  James,  Esq.,  M.D.     6  Duke  Street,  Strand, 

Meadows,  Thomas  Taylor,  Esq. 

Miles,  William  Augustus,  Esq. 

tOliver,  Lieut.  S.  P.,  R.A.,  F.R.G.8.     40  ffauteviHe,  Guernsey. 

O'Riley,  Edward,  Esq.     Burmah. 

Patterson,  Edmund,  Esq.     Sydney,  New  South  Wales. 

Pickering,  Dr.  Charles. 

Robinson,  Edward,  Esq.,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Robinson,  G.  A.,  Esq.    Paris. 

Ross,  J.  G.  C,  Esq.     Cocoa  Island,  near  Java. 

Schwarcz,  Dr.  Julius. 

Swinhoe,  Robert,  Esq. 

Threlkeld,  Rev.  Mr.     Sydney. 

Turner,  Professor. 

Wienecke,  M.  Le  Docteur,  Officier  de  Sant^  de  S.  M.  le  Roi  des  Pays- 

Bas.     Batavia. 
Vaughan,  J.  D.,  Esq. 


*^*  FeUows  of  the  Society  are  particularly  requested  to  oommunicate 
any  change  of  residence  to  the  Assistant-Socretary  as  early  aa 
possible. 


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THE  JOURNAL 

07  THB 

ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OF  LONDON. 


Ordinary  Meeting^  Nov.  9th,  1869. 

Professor  Huxlet,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Members. — Sir  William  Vernon  Guise,  Bart.,  P.G.S., 
F.L.S. ;  Rev.  W.  A.  Jones,  F.G.S.;  Rev.  Richard  Kirwan, 
M.A. ;  Rev.  Henry  H.  Winwood,  M.A.,  F.G.S.;  Dr.  Gustav 
Oppert;  Robert  D.  Darbishire,  Esq.,  B.A.,  F.G.S. ;  J.  M, 
Jeffcott,  Esq.,  M.H.K.;  William  Long,  Esq.,  M.A.;  M. 
MoooRiDOE,  Esq.,  F.G.S. ;  and  John  Plaits,  Esq. 

Mr.  S.  Thompson  exhibited  a  collection  of  photographs  of 
Stonehenge  and  other  megalithic  structures. 

Col.  A.  Lane  Fox  exhibited  some  worked  flints,  which  he  had 
recently  found  at  Stonehenge ;  and,  at  the  request  of  the  Pre- 
sident, made  the  following  remarks  on  the  proposed  examination 
of  this  structure  : — 

I.  On  tfie  Proposed  Exploration  of  Stonehenoe  by  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  British  Association.  By  Col.  A.  Lane 
Fox,  F.S.A. 

It  may  perhaps  be  desirable  that  I  should  take  advantage  of  the 
opportimity  afforded  by  the  exhibition  this  evening  of  a  series  of 
admirably-executed  photographs  of  Stonehenge,  by  Mr.  S.Thomp- 
son, to  state  to  the  Society  the  steps  which  were  taken  this  year 
by  the  British  Association,  at  Exeter,  to  promote  a  systematic 
examination  of  this  monument,  with  the  view  of  determining, 
if  possible,  the  long-standing  question  of  its  origin  and  uses. 
Perhaps  no  better  illustration  could  be  given  of  the  unwarrant- 
able deductions  of  past  ages  than  by  quoting  the  long  list  of  opi- 
nions which  have  been  hazarded  upon  this  monument,  side  by  side 
with  the  fact  that,  up  to  the  present  time,  no  proper  exploration 
of  the  place  has  been  attempted.  Since  the  time  of  Henry  of 
Hmitingdon,  who  was  the  first  author  by  whom  Stonehenge  is 
VOL.  II.  /^^^^T^ 

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2  Col.  A.  Lane  Fox — On  the  Proposed  Exploration 

mentioned^  in  the  twelfth  century^  few  antiquaries  of  note  have 
written  without  giving  the  world  the  benefit  of  their  speculations 
upon  this  structure.  It  has  been  attributed  to  every  race  that 
has  contributed  to  the  population  of  these  isles,  not  even  ex- 
cepting the  Romans.  It  has  been  described,  in  turns,  as  a  place 
of  worship,  a  court  of  justice,  a  place  of  burial,  a  sanctuary,  a 
race-course,  or  a  hanging-place;  and  learned  reasons  have  been 
assigned  for  considering  it  an  observatory ;  but  I  am  not  aware 
that  any  of  these  conjectures  have  better  foundation  for  them 
than  the  old  legend  which  ascribes  the  origin  of  the  place  to 
Merlin,  who  brought  the  stones  from  Ireland  by  supernatural 
agency,  and  set  them  up  here.  To  the  best  of  my  Imowledge, 
no  attempt  has  been  made  to  remove  the  turf  and  examine  the 
soil  within  the  enclosure  for  those  relics  of  the  constructors 
which  afford  the  only  reliable  evidence  of  the  origin  and  uses  of 
such  structures.  All  the  tumuli  in  the  neighbourhood  have  been 
opened ;  and  a  small  tumulus  within  the  area  of  the  earthwork 
surrounding  the  standing  stones  has  been  examined;  but  as 
there  is  good  reason  for  supposing  this  tumulus  to  be  of  older 
date  than  the  earthwork,  its  contents  throw  no  light  upon  the 
monument  itself. 

Apart  from  the  question  whether  or  not  it  is  a  place  of  burial, 
which  would  at  once  be  set  at  rest  by  an  examination  of  the 
ground  within  the  enclosure,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive 
that  stones  of  such  great  magnitude  should  have  been  trans- 
ported to  this  place,  rough-hewn  probably  upon  the  spot,  and 
that  excavations  should  have  been  made  for  the  reception  of  the 
massive  uprights,  without  leaving  in  the  soil  trampled  beneath 
the  feet  of  the  constructors  some  traces  of  the  implements  em- 
ployed during  the  operations,  which  if  brought  to  light  would 
suffice  at  least  to  determine  the  period  and  degree  of  civilization 
of  the  people  who  erected  it. 

That  such  relics  might  be  expected  to  turn  up  if  the  soil 
were  properly  examined,  appears  probable  from  the  fact  of  my 
having  found  several  worked  flints  in  the  rubbish  around  the 
Trilithons,  during  the  short  visit  that  I  paid  to  the  spot  this 
year  on  my  way  to  Exeter.  Observing  that  two  or  three  bare 
places  had  been  scratched  in  the  soil,  apparently  by  animals,  at 
the  foot  of  the  stones,  I  examined  the  loose  earth  carefully,  and 
succeeded  in  finding  the  four  flints  which  are  exhibited  to  the 
meeting.  Two  of  these,  it  will  be  seen,  are  perfect  flakes,  hav- 
ing bulbs  of  percussion,  with  ribs  and  facets  at  the  back — ^points 
which  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  mention  are  now  admitted  by 
all  prehistoric  archaeologists  to  be  evidence  of  human  agency. 
Besides  the  flakes,  I  observed  numerous  small  splinters  of  flint, 
such  as  might  well  have  resulted  from  the  fracture  of  flint  tools. 


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of  Stonehenge  by  a  Committee  of  the  British  Auociation.    3 

had  such  been  used  in  the  process  of  dressing  the  great  blocks; 
but  upon  this  point  I  should  not  wish  to  hazard  a  conjecture 
without  examining  a  larger  quantity  of  soil  than  presented  itself 
upon  the  few  bare  spots  from  which  the  turf  had  been  removed 
at  the  time  of  my  visit. 

It  may  be  thought^  perhaps^  that  the  occurrence  of  flakes  in 
the  places  indicated,  proves  nothing,  because  the  soil  may  be 
everywhere  teeming  with  worked  flints  owing  to  the  abundance 
of  tumuli  in  the  neighbourhood.  This,  however,  is  not  the  case. 
As  cultivation  has  now  encroached  upon  the  plain  to  within  a 
short  distance  of  Stonehenge,  I  was  able  to  examine  a  field  close 
by  that  had  been  ploughed,  rolled,  and  subsequently  washed  by 
the  rain,  and  which  was  therefore  in  the  best  possible  condi- 
tion for  finding  the  flints,  had  there  been  any ;  but  I  failed  to 
discover  a  single  worked  flint  of  any  kind,  except  in  one  place 
where  a  small  tumulus  had  been  scored  by  the  plough;  here  I 
picked  up  as  many  as  twenty,  some  of  which  are  exhibited.  In 
all  the  tumuli  in  this  neighbourhood,  as  in  those  of  other  parts 
of  England,  evidence  of  the  practice  of  strewing  worked  flints 
upon  the  grave  is  observed ;  and  the  fact  of  finding  flakes  in  any 
number  in  Stonehenge  would  serve  to  connect  it  in  this  practice 
with  the  tumuli.  Now,  the  majority  of  the  tumuli  hereabout 
are  found  by  their  contents  to  belong  to  the  bronze  age ;  and  Sir 
John  Lubbock  has  inferred,  from  the  presence  of  an  unusual 
number  of  these  tumidi  within  a  radius  of  three  miles  of  the 
place,  that  Stonehenge  may  also,  with  great  probability,  be  at- 
tributed to  this  period :  the  flakes  tend  to  confirm  this  supposi- 
tion. Supposing,  however,  it  were  to  be  proved  hereafter,  as 
seems  not  impossible,  that  Stonehenge  belongs  to  the  bronze 
age,  it  would  not  necessarily  follow  that  the  stones  were  dressed 
with  bronze  tools.  I  am  inclined  to  think,  on  the  contrary,  that 
stone  or  flint,  used  with  sand  and  water,  would  be  the  more  Ukely 
materials  to  be  employed  for  the  purpose.  In  any  case,  the 
wear  and  tear  of  the  implements  must  have  been  considerable. 
Having  mentioned  my  discovery  to  Mr.  Stevens,  of  Salisbury,  I 
learnt  from  him  that  the  Wiltshire  Archaeological  Society  had 
applied  some  time  ago  to  Sir  Edmund  Antrobus,  the  owner  of 
the  property,  for  permission  to  make  the  necessary  excavations ; 
but  that  gentleman  had  been  unwilling  to  grant  permission,  on 
the  ground  that  the  examination  of  a  monument  of  such  great 
national  interest  ought  not  to  be  entrusted  to  a  local  society. 
It  therefore  appeared  to  me  desirable  that  the  subject  should  be 
brought  before  the  British  Association;  and  having  consulted 
Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Mr.  Evans,  who  concurred  in  my  sugges- 
tion, it  was  decided  that  this  should  be  done.  The  following 
gentlemen  were  therefore  appointed  by  the  Association  as  Mem- 
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4      Col.  A.  Lane  Fox — On  the  Exploration  of  Stonehenge. 

bers  of  a  Committee^  with  instruction  to  apply  to  Sir  Edmund 
Antrobus  for  permission  to  make  the  necessary  investigations, 
viz.,  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  F.R.S.,  John  Evans,  Esq.,  F.R.S., 
Geoi^e  Busk,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  E.  T.  Stevens,  Esq.,  and  myself. 
The  Committee  having  subsequently  met  and  considered  the 
necessary  measures  to  be  taken,  has  applied  in  due  form  to  Sir 
Edmund  Antrobus.  No  decided  answer  has  been  received  as 
yet  j  and  it  is  presumed  Sir  Edmund  is  anxious  to  take  the  gene- 
ral sense  of  archaeologists  on  the  subject  before  granting  per- 
mission. Under  these  circumstances,  it  appears  to  be  desirable 
that  I  should  bring  the  subject  to  the  notice  of  this  Society, 
which  has  at  all  times  taken  such  deep  interest  in  the  megalithic 
monuments  of  this  country,  with  the  view  of  affording  to  the 
Members,  should  they  feel  disposed,  an  opportunity  of  cooperating 
in  the  recommendation  of  the  British  Association.  There  are 
only  two  heads  imder  which,  in  my  humble  judgment,  any  valid 
objection  could  be  raised  to  the  proposal  of  the  Committee: — first, 
from  the  apprehension  that  the  excavation  might  endanger  the 
stability  of  the  monument ;  and,  secondly,  from  doubts  as  to  the 
competence  of  the  Committee  appointed  for  the  purpose.  With 
regard  to  the  first  objection,  I  think  there  is  no  reasonable 
ground  for  fear.  The  part  to  be  examined  would  be  the  flat 
surface  within  the  stone  circles,  which  it  would  only  be  neces- 
sary to  excavate  as  far  as  the  natural  surface  of  the  chalk ;  nor 
would  it  be  necessary  to  approach  anywhere  near  the  foundations 
of  the  Trilithons ;  no  trace  of  the  excavations  would  be  observable 
when  the  soil  and  turf  were  replaced.  It  might  also  be  desi- 
rable to  examine  the  ditch  of  the  earthwork  surrounding  the 
structure.  As  regards  the  competence  of  the  Committee,  I 
think  that,  as  a  very  humble  Member  of  it  myself,  and  having 
no  pretension  to  act  in  any  other  capacity  than  that  of  its  Secre- 
tary, I  may  safely  say,  of  those  associated  with  me,  that  it  would 
not  be  possible  in  all  Europe  to  find  four  persons  better  qualified 
for  the  undertaking  than  those  whose  names  I  have  mentioned. 
In  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Mr.  Evans  we  have  the  two  best 
authorities  of  our  age  upon  prehistoric  subjects ;  in  Mr.  Busk's 
hands  any  human  or  animal  remains  that  may  turn  up  will  be 
treated  with  that  great  scientific  knowledge  which  he  alone  is 
competent  to  devote  to  them,  while  Mr.  Stevens's  great  archae- 
ological experience  and  local  knowledge  render  his  services  in- 
dispensable in  any  properly-conducted  examination  of  Stone- 
henge. I  trust,  therefore,  that  with  a  Committee  so  constituted, 
backed  by  the  authority  of  what  has  been  aptly  termed  our  Na- 
tional Parliament  of  Science,  and  aided,  as  I  hope  we  shall  be, 
by  the  good  wishes  of  this  Society,  the  Society  of  Antiquaries, 
and  other   archaeological  Societies  of  London,   Sir  Edmund 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race.  5 

Antrobus  may  be  induced  to  accede  to  the  request  of  the  Asso- 
ciation^ and  thereby  to  settle  (if  science  and  observation  can 
settle)  a  question  which  for  seven  centuries  has  been  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  of  inquiry  ever  submitted 
to  the  judgment  of  archaeologists. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 

II.  On  the  Chinese  Race:  their  Language^ Government^  Social 
Institutions,  and  Religion.  By  C.  T.  Gardner,  Esq., 
F.R.G.S.,  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Consular  Service  in 
China. 

In  treating  of  the  Chinese  people,  the  points  to  which  I  am  most 
particularly  desirous  to  direct  attention  are : — their  extreme  anti- 
quity and  conservatism ;  the  phenomenon  they  afford  of  a  great 
modern  nation  possessing  the  characteristics  of  nations  long  since 
extinct ;  the  tenacitv  with  which  they  have  retained  the  roost 
ancient  principles  of  primitive  government,  and  the  skill  with 
which  they  have  adapted  them  to  the  requirements  that  arise  in 
ruling  a  vast  empire ;  and,  finally,  the  fact  of  their  having  dis- 
covered a  method  of  rendering  the  most  primitive  form  of  writing 
capable  of  expressing  the  abstract  truths  of  a  profound  philosophy 
and  the  fanciful  flights  of  a  fertile  imagination.  These  points 
render  China  a  most  promising  field  for  the  researches  of  the 
ethnologist. 

With  regard  to  the  written  characters,  Chinese  legends  state 
that  the  first  attempt  of  man  to  express  his  wants  by  means  of 
symbols  instead  of  by  words  was  by  tying  knots  in  string  at 
different  distances  apart.  It  is  said  that  about  2800  b.  c,  Fo-hi  in- 
vented the  following  eight  symbols  : — ;;^^^  heaven,  or  pervading 

principle, ""  "*  balance, .  water,  ^^earthqtuike,  ^  ^  wood, 

^-^  sacrifice,  ^  —  boundary,  and  ^  —  the  earth.  At  the  same 
Hme,  pictorial  representations  of  these  knotted  strings  were  taken 
to  represent  the  object  thereby  symbolized.  Another  Chinese 
legend  tells  us  that  the  most  ancient  forms  were  540  characters, 
formed  by  a  combination  of  the  knotted  strings  and  the  eight 
symbols,  made  in  the  form  of  birds^  claws  in  various  states  of 
tension,  and  that  these  540  characters  were  suggested  to  the 
inventor  by  the  marks  left  by  birds'  feet  on  the  sand.  Leaving 
legends,  we  find  that  the  Ghmese  themselves  have  from  the  most 
ancient  times  classified  their  characters  under  six  heads,  and  that 
this  classification,  although  made  in  times  too  remote  to  admit  of 
any  date  being  affixed,  yet  holds  good  in  the  present  day.  The 
six  divisions  are  as  follow : — ideographic,  figurative-combined, 
indicative,  reversed,  borrowed  or  metaphoiic,  and  phonetic  cha- 

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6  C.  T.  Oabdner — On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

racters.  This  grouping  closely  resembles  the  classification  of 
hieroglyphics  into  ideographic,  determinative,  and  phonetic. 
The  ideographic  group  of  hieroglyphics  would  correspond  with 
the  first  five  divisions  of  the  Chinese,  while  the  sixth  Chinese 
division  would  comprise  both  the  determinative  and  the  phonetic. 

So  far,  the  identity  of  the  principle  of  the  Chinese  character 
and  of  the  hieroglyphics  is  evident ;  but  a  slight  difierence  exists 
in  the  use  of  phonetics;  and  here,  curiously  enough,  the  Egyptian 
shows  a  greater  resemblance  to  the  alphabetic  system  than  the 
Chinese,  both  in  regularity  of  sound  following  its  proper  phonetic 
symbol,  and  in  form  of  writing. 

Mr.  Hunter,  in  his  learned  work  on  the  Aryan  and  non- Aryan 
languages,  of  Asia,  has  shown  a  wonderful  sonal  similarity  among 
the  various  languages  of  the  east  and  west.  I  may,  in  passing, 
remark  that  had  Mr.  Hunter,  in  the  part  devoted  to  Chinese, 
distinguished  where  the  variation  of  the  Chinese  dialects  was 
one  merely  of  pronunciation,  and  where  it  was  one  also  of  the 
word  used,  he  would  still  further  have  enhanced  the  value  of 
his  work. 

Still  it  is  sufficiently  evident  that  the  sonal  similarity  of  the 
Aryan  and  what  have  been  generally  called  non- Aryan  lan- 
guages is  deserving  of  attention.  It  is  true  that  a  theory  has 
been  advanced  to  explain  this  fact,  to  the  effect  that  human 
language  had  its  origin  in  the  imitation  of  the  cries  of  animals ; 
and  arguing  thus,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  that  all  human  beings, 
having  heard  lambs  bleat,  would  all  fix  on  the  same  sounds,  ma 
for  mother,  nndpa  {or  father;  but  it  may,  we  deem,  be  reasonably 
asked  why  all  the  human  race  should  have  selected  the  bleating 
of  sheep  to  express  affiliation,  and  not  have  taken  as  their  model 
the  lowing  of  kine,  or  the  whistlings  of  birds.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  I  think  it  would  be  possible  to  point  out  that  a  similarity 
also  exists  in  the  form  of  writing^. 

But  the  question,  of  course,  arises  whether  these  coincidences 
are  purely  accidental,  or  whether  they  are  small  links  in  a  chain 
tending  to  show  a  connexion  between  the  several  races. 

Originally  each  character  in  Chinese  expressed  an  idea.  These 
characters  are  either  simple  or  compound ;  but,  from  the  changes 
that  have  taken  place  in  the  Chinese  mode  of  writing,  it  is  difficult 
to  assert  with  exactitude  which  are  the  simple  characters  and 
which  the  compound.  Comparatively  recent  Chinese  lexicogra- 
phers discovered  the  fact  that  there  were  214  signs  which  occurred 
in  all  the  40,000  characters  of  which  the  language  is  composed. 
Each  of  these  214  signs  has  a  meaning  of  its  own,  as  a  separate 
character,  and  in  general  modifies  the  meaning  (not  the  sound) 

**  [The  author  exhibited  a  number  of  diagiams  intended  to  illuBtrate  the 
relation  that  he  sought  to  trace  between  certain  characters  in  Chinese,  Hebrew, 
Arabic,  and  Egyptian  hieroglyphic  writing.— Sub-Ed.] 

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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  ifc.        7 

of  the  compound  character  of  which  it  forms  part.  Thus^  a 
single  compound  character  will  represent  lion  or  tiger,  wolf  or 
fox-,  but  in  each  there  will  be  the  simple  character  which  stands 
for  dog.  Sometimes  a  character  is  formed  by  the  composition 
of  two  radicals,  each  of  which  gives  part  of  the  meaning  to  the 
composite  character ;  thus,  the  radiccd  meaning  one,  added  to  the 
radical  standing  for  great,  signifies  heaven;  while  the  radical 
htart,  added  to  the  radical  white,  denotes  fear.  Besides  the 
radicals,  there  are  some  seven  hundred  characters  which  may  be 
termed /^Aone/tctf;  these  added  to  the  radical  give,  to  a  certain 
extent,  the  sound  of  the  character  of  which  they  form  part ;  thus, 
cKing  (azure)  added  to  the  radical  signifying  water,  means 
clear  or  clean ;  to  the  radical  signifying  cart,  it  denotes  light  in 
weight;  to  that  signifying  heart,  it  measiB  feeling  or  emotion;  to 
that  denoting  sun,  it  implies  bright,  while  to  that  signifying 
words,  it  means  to  beg.  la  all  these  examples,  the  compound 
characters  are  pronounced  by  the  same  sound,  though  not  in 
the  same  tone,  as  the  original  phonetic  character,  ch'ing,  while 
the  radicals  to  which  it  is  joined  are  successively  pronounced, 
shui,  chi,  hsin,Ji,  yen.  The  same  phonetic  joined  to  the  radical 
muh  (the  eye),  signifies  translucent  or  clearly;  to  mi  (rice),  it 
signifies  semen,  and  is  pronomiced  ching  without  the  aspirate. 
With  this  double  system  of  a  radical  to  express  the  genus,  and 
the  phonetic  to  express  the  sound,  it  will  be  easily  perceived  that 
the  Chinese  written  language  possesses  a  greater  power  even  than 
the  Greek  or  Grerman  for  the  coining  of  new  words;  and  I  sup- 
pose it  was  in  reference  to  this  that  M.  Remusat  expressed  the 
opinion  that,  if  ever  a  universal  language  were  arrived  at,  it  would 
be  the  Chinese. 

There  are,  however,  two  things  in  the  very  nature  of  the 
Chinese  language  which,  I  think,  are  sufficient  to  prevent  the 
consummation  hinted  at  by  M.  Remusat.  The  first  is  the 
complicated  construction  of  the  Chinese  character.  At  a  very 
early  period  the  Chinese  discovered  the  inconvenience  of  the 
purely  pictorial  method  of  writing,  and  substituted  fixed  signs  to 
represent  the  thing  desired  to  be  expressed.  So  long  ago  was 
this  done  that  no  examples  can  now  be  obtained  of  writing  in 
the  ancient  pictorial  form.  Still  the  Chinese  character  passed 
through  many  intermediate  stages  before  it  became  fixed  in  its 
present  form.  In  some  of  the  more  ancient  of  these  intermediate 
stages  we  have  only  a  few  characters  preserved  to  us.  Each  new 
form  of  writing  has  been  an  improvement  on  the  one  that  pre- 
ceded it. 

In  the  present  day  there  are  two  forms  of  writing — ^the  printed, 
or  official,  and  the  current  hand.  The  objection  to  the  printed 
or  official  is  the  difficulty  of  writing  it :  each  character,  unlike 
the  hieroglyphic,  occupies  the  same  space,  and  is  variously  formed 

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8  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

by  from  one  stroke  of  the  brush  up  to  as  many  as  sixty  or  more ; 
hence  the  lines  are  of  different  sizes^  so  that  a  man^  to  write 
Chinese  neatly^  must  have  considerable  powers  as  a  draughtsman^ 
and  even  then,  in  spite  of  the  terseness  of  the  Chinese  written 
language,  the  most  practised  Chinese  writer  would  take  more 
than  double  the  time  to  copy  a  Chinese  document  that  an  En- 
glishman would  occupy  to  copy  the  English  translation.  The 
objection  to  the  running  hand  is  twofold : — ^first,  that  we  lose  in 
it,  to  a  great  extent,  the  generic  nature  of  the  Chinese  character ; 
and,  secondly,  that,  from  its  being  a  kind  of  short  hand,  it  is  very 
difficult  to  decipher,  except  in  conveying  the  simplest  possible 
ideas :  hence  it  is  used  only  in  accounts,  memoranda,  and  small 
notes,  although,  for  purposes  of  ornament,  prefaces  to  books  are 
generally  printed  in  the  current  hand. 

Another  reason  that  will  prevent  the  Chinese,  ever  becoming  a 
universal  tongue,  is  the  impossibility  of  the  spoken  language  being 
identical  with  the  written.  I  have  before  remarked  that,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  expletives,  each  character  represents  an  idea; 
but  each  character  is  only  a  monosyllable,  and  in  Pekinese  there 
are  only  690  odd  sounds  to  represent  the  whole  of  the  written 
language.  Even  if  we  add  together  all  the  different  monosyllabic 
sounds  employed  in  the  local  dialects  throughout  the  empire,  we 
should  not  have,  I  believe,  more  than  1200.  To  obviate  this  diffi- 
culty, the  Chinese,  besides  the  sound,  have  invented  a  system  of 
tones  or  fixed  inflexions  of  the  voice,  in  which  each  character 
must  be  pronounced.  These  tones  differ  in  number  and  applica- 
tion :  thus,  in  northern  mandarin  there  are  four ;  in  the  southern 
mandarin  there  are  likewise  four,  though  not  precisely  the  same  ; 
in  Cantonese  there  are  eight ;  and,  I  believe,  in  some  dialects 
there  are  as  many  as  twelve  or  fourteen.  The  same  character 
pronounced  in  different  tones  has  different  meanings :  thus,  hao 
(to  love),  formed  of  the  two  radicals  mother  and  child,  means 
good  or  well  or  very  according  as  it  is  pronounced  in  different 
tones.  Still  in  Pekinese  there  are  in  common  use  as  many  as 
37  characters,  all  of  different  meanings,  with  the  same  sound 
chi,  and  pronounced  with  the  same  inflexion  of  voice;  hence,  did 
one  speak  as  tersely  as  is  intelligible  in  writing,  one  would  not 
be  understood.  Again,  the  Chinese  written  language  being  in- 
capable of  inflexion,  one  has  to  judge,  in  books,  by  the  context,  in 
great  measure,  as  to  the  case  and  number  of  the  substantives, 
and  as  to  the  tense  and  mood  of  the  verbs.  In  the  spoken  lan- 
guage this  difficulty  of  the  absence  of  declension  is  met  by  the 
construction  of  polysyllabic  words  formed  by  joining  together 
two  or  more  characters  :  thus,  fien  (heaven)  is  generally  called 
in  speaking  chHng  fien  or  azure  heaven;  jih  (the  sun),  jiA  tou 
or  sun's  head;  mu  (mother),  mu  chHn  or  mother-relation;  a  pcr- 


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their  LanguaffCy  GovemmerU,  Social  Institutions^  ifc.        9 

trait^  hsinff  lo  iu  or  a  picture  that  puts  in  motion  pleasant  remi^ 
niscences;  "  a  photograph/^  chao  hsiang  or  ray-of -light  likeness. 
Another  plan  is  that  of  adding  a  numeric  expletive :  thus^  san 
being  three,  one  says: — san  k^owjen,  or  ''three  mouth-men;" 
san  wei  kwan,  or  ''  three  persons  mandarins ;  "  san  kai  kwan,  or 
"  three  roof-offices ;  '^  san  ko  hsing,  or  ''  three  grain-stars;"  san 
ko  hsing,  "  three  names/'  &c.  Puns  and  verbal  equivoques  are 
thus  very  easy ;  and  many  Europeans  who  cannot  catch  the  dis- 
tinction of  tones^  sometimes  make  very  ludicrous  mistakes. 

I  have  already  made  some  observations  as  to  the  different 
forms  of  the  Chinese  character;  but  besides  these,  the  written 
language  or  literature  contains  six  distinct  styles  : — 

1.  Ancient  poetry.  4.  Despatch  style. 

2.  Ancient  classic.  5.  Descriptive. 

3.  Essay  style.  6.  Colloquial. 

The  first  two  styles  are  as  distinct  from  the  modern  language 
as  Latin  is  from  Italian.  In  them  are  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
sages,  which  have  to  be  learnt  by  candidates  for  examinations. 
These  ancient  books  have  been  translated  into  the  descriptive 
style ;  and  learned  native  commentators  often  differ  in  their  ren- 
dering of  many  of  the  difficult  passages.  The  third  style  is  used 
in  Imperial  edicts,  memorials  to  the  throne,  and  original  essays 
composed  on  a  given  subject,  or  themes.  The  despatch  style  is 
used  in  letters  and  despatches ;  the  descriptive  in  ordinary  works ; 
and  the  colloquial  in  romances,  and  in  reports  of  evidence,  where 
conversation  is  set  down  as  it  actually  occurred.  One  ethic  work, 
called  the  Sacred  Edict,  has  been  translated  into  colloquial. 

The  spoken  language  is  divided  into  two  great  branches,  Man^ 
darin  and  local  dialects.  The  Mandarin,  again,  may  be  divided 
into  two  branches.  Northern  and  Southern ;  the  Northern  is  the 
more  fashionable,  but  less  pure,  being  corrupted  by  Manchu 
lisps,  accents,  &c.  The  two  dialects,  however,  are  so  similar, 
that  a  person  acquainted  with  one  can  readily  understand  the 
other.  Mandarin  is  understood  and  spoken  more  or  less  all 
over  the  empire  by  officials,  respectable  shopmen,  merchants,  &c., 
and  is  itself  the  local  dialect  as  far  south  as  Shantung,  and  of 
many  individual  towns  in  other  provinces. 

The  local  dialects  are  endless  in  number,  and  are  some  of 
them  as  different  from  Mandarin,  and  from  each  other,  as  are 
English,  French,  and  Spanish — ^though,  like  these  languages,  they 
employ  the  same  system  of  written  characters.  It  is  by  no  means 
an  uncommon  occurrence  for  Ningpo,  Shangai,  Amoy,  Swatow, 
Hongkong,  Hakka,  and  Cantonese  men  to  be  obliged  to  resort  to 
what  is  called  ''  pijin  English  "  to  render  themselves  intelligible 
one  to  another. 

Sometimes  the  difference  of  dialect  is  merely  one  of  pronun- 


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10  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

ciation ;  but  sometimes  it  is  also  a  diflTerence  of  character  em- 
ployed. I  have  observed  that  where  the  Cantonese  employ  a 
different  word  from  that  used  in  the  Mandarin^  one  genertdly 
finds  that^  on  comparing  the  characters^  the  Cantonese  is  the 
more  ancient  word  of  the  two :  thus^  many  of  the  words  in  the 
ancient  classics  are  in  colloquial  use  in  Cantonese^  while  very  few 
are  in  vogue  in  Mandarin.  I  have  heard  that  the  Fokienese  is 
still  more  ancient ;  but  as  I  am  totally  unacquainted  with  that 
dialect^  I  cannot  vouch  for  the  fact. 

Many  are  the  difficulties  which  the  student  experiences  in 
reading  Chinese.  Among  these  may  be  noted : — ^the  absence  of 
inflexion ;  the  fact  that  many  words  are  substantives,  verbs, 
adjectives  or  adverbs,  according  to  the  context ;  the  absence  of 
punctuation,  and  the  want  of  any  distinction  between  a  word 
commencing  and  a  word  ending  a  sentence,  or  between  proper 
names  and  common  nouns. 

There  is  a  great  peculiarity  about  proper  names  in  China, 
namely  that  characters  forming  part  of  them  become  forbidden 
{chHn  tzUy  as  they  are  called).  No  man  may  write,  for  example, 
any  character  that  forms  part  of  either  his  mother^s  or  his  father^s 
name,  but  must  use  another  character  of  the  same  sound  and 
significance ;  and  where  such  other  character  does  not  already 
exist,  he  must  invent  one.  Any  character  forming  part  of  an 
Emperor's  name,  is  henceforth  forbidden  all  over  the  Empire : 
thus  ning  (peaceful)  was  originally  written  differently  from 
its  present  form,  but  being  a  character  entering  into  an  emperor's 
name  it  was  necessarily  changed.  Any  candidate  at  an  exami- 
nation writing  a  forbidden  character  would  at  once  be  plucked. 

Each  Emperor,  besides  his  own  name,  has  a  title  of  his  reign 
(nien  hao  as  it  is  called),  and  a  canonized  name  or  posthumous 
title  given  him  after  his  death  (called  miao  hao,  or  "  Temple 
name  ").  Hien  fung,  for  instance,  was  not  the  late  Emperor's 
real  name,  but  only  the  title  of  his  reign.  When  he  was  buried, 
he  was  canonized  under  the  posthumous  title  of  Wen  tsung  hsien, 
or  "  Illustrious  for  Literary  Ancestors.''  The  characters  forming 
part  of  the  title  of  reign  and  posthumous  title  are  not  forbidden. 

With  regard  to  the  proper  names  of  subjects,  every  Chinaman 
has: — a  surname,  which  he  derives  from  his  father;  a  name 
given  him  eight  days  after  his  birth  by  his  parents,  and  by  which 
he  is  only  addressed  by  his  closest  relatives ;  a  nickname,  some- 
times of  a  complimentary  character,  and  sometimes  the  reverse, 
by  which  he  is  addressed  by  his  companions ;  and,  lastly,  his 
literary  name,  which  he  has  assumed  at  the  examinations.  In 
speaking  to  a  man,  except  one  is  very  intimate  with  him  or  he 
is  a  servant,  one  addresses  him  by  his  patronymic,  with  the 
addition  of  Sien-Sang  (Mr.)  to  a  non-official,  Lao-yi  (Esq.), 


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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  ^c.      1 1 

Tai-yi  (Your  Honour),  Ta-hu-yi  (Your  Worship),  or  Ta-jen 
(Your  Excellence),  according  to  rank.  An  assistant-magistrate 
is  called  Lao-yi ;  a  magistrate,  Tat^yh^  a  prefect,  Ta^ou-yi,  and 
a  Taofai  and  his  superiors,  Ta-Jen, 

An  intimate  friend  is  always  addressed  by  his  literary  name. 
In  writing,  the  use  of  the  patronymic  is  not  so  common,  and  is 
seldom  us^,  except  in  addressing  strangers  and  in  official  cor- 
respondence. A  wife  is  generally  called  by  her  maiden  surname 
when  speaking  of  her  or  describing  her  in  official  documents  ,*  but 
in  addressing  her  it  is  more  complimentary  to  do  so  by  her 
husband's  patronymic ;  the  name  she  receives  from  her  parents 
is  used  in  about  the  same  way  as  a  lad/s  Christian  name 
in  England.  Chinese  proper  surnames  are  limited  in  number 
to  one  hundred.  No  persons  of  the  same  surname  are  allowed 
to  marry.  Tatars  have  other  surnames  besides  those  of  the 
Chinese.  Before  their  intercourse  with  the  Chinese,  their  system 
of  patronymics  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Parsees  and  Indian 
Jews ;  that  is  to  say,  each  Tatar  took  the  first  name  of  his  father 
as  his  own  surname.  Now,  however,  the  Tatars  have  adopted 
the  Chinese  custom  in  name  as  in  every  thing  else. 

In  Government,  while  preserving  the  most  primitive  form —  , 
the  patriarchal — ^the  Chinese  have  so  adapted  it  as  to  make  it  fit 
into  the  complications  that  must  necessarily  arise  in  the  social 
relations  of  a  highly  civilized  nation  numberiug  400  millions  of 
people.  Their  theory  of  government  may  be  thus  briefly  stated. 
The  emperor,  whose  title  is  "  Son  of  Heaven,^'  owes  obedience 
to  G-od  as  bis  father,  and  stands  in  loco  parentis,  as  regards 
authority,  to  the  whole  empire.  A  viceroy  stands  in  loco  parentis 
to  two  provinces ;  a  governor-general,  to  one  province ;  an  in- 
tendant  of  circuit  or  Taot'ai,  to  about  one  quarter  of  a  province ; 
a  prefect,  over  about  a  sixteenth  part  of  a  province ;  and  the 
district-magistrate,  over  about  an  eightieth  of  a  province.  The 
district-magistrate  occupies  the  positions  both  of  judge  of  the 
lower,  criminal,  and  civil  courts,  and  of  collector  of  the  revenue 
of  his  district ;  this  will  include,  in  weU-populated  provinces, 
about  400  square  miles,  and  in  less-crowded  provinces  about 
1000,  and  even  1500  square  miles.  He  is  assisted  in  his  duties 
by  a  stafi^  of  assistant-magistrates  and  candidates  for  entering 
the  government  service.  Each  magistrate's  district  is  subdivided 
into  what  the  Chinese  called  Ti  (literally  lands),  or  what  we 
may  call  parishes.  These  parishes  are  so  regulated  as  to  contain 
each  from  150  to  200  families,  and  are  of  greater  or  less  extent 
according  to  the  density  of  the  population.  For  each  parish, 
one  of  the  inhabitants  is  chosen  by  his  fellows  to  be  a  sort  of 
mediator  between  the  official  magistrate  and  the  people.  This 
person,  called  by  the  Chinese  the  ''  parish  security,''  is  generally 

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12  C.  T.  Gardnisk — On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

termed,  in  European  works  on  China,  a  "  mayor/'  His  office  is 
one  of  far  more  trouble  than  either  emolument  or  honour. 
Being  chosen  by  the  people,  these  mayors  are  a  great  guarantee 
for  liberty ;  and  in  case  of  riot  often  side  with  the  people  against 
the  authorities.  No  district-magistrate  would  attempt  to  carry 
a  measure  in  which  he  was  opposed  by  all  the  mayors  of  the 
district.  At  the  same  time,  the  magistrate  has  the  power  severely 
to  punish  any  mayor  for  a  lache  of  duty,  either  by  fine,  im- 
prisonment, or  flogging.  GeneraUy  speaking,  these  mayors  are 
more  the  mouthpieces  than  the  directors  of  public  opinion ;  they 
are  always  natives  of  the  place  of  their  duties,  while,  ft*om  the 
magistrate  upwards,  no  mandarin  is  allowed  to  hold  office  in  his 
native  province. 

The  Magistrate's  duties  are  those  of  a  registrar ;  he  has  to 
forward  the  government  mails,  put  down  disturbances,  etc.,  and 
is  considered  in  part  a  mediator  between  the  people  and  the  divini- 
ties. He  is  generally  addressed  l)y  the  title  o{  father  and  mother 
of  the  district ;  nor,  to  the  fervid  minds  of  an  eastern  people,  is 
this  title  meaningless. 

The  duty  of  the  Prefect  is  more  connected  with  public  works 
and  education,  though  he  is  often  deputed  by  the  Taot'ai  to  hear 
appeals  from  the  judgment  of  the  Chihien ;  but  even  in  those 
matters  most  connected  with  his  peculiar  sphere  he  is  by  no 
means  able  to  act  on  his  own  responsibility.  In  the  educational 
department,  such  as  for  instance  the  prefectural  and  government 
examinations,  he  is  assisted  and  controlled  by  a  board  of  un- 
official scholars,  one  of  whom  is  generally  appointed  a  local  pre- 
sident for  the  publication  of  government  works  of  instruction. 
In  the  public  works'  department,  such  as  the  mending  of  roads, 
building  of  bridges,  &c.,  he  is  aided  by  a  municipal  council, 
formed  of  the  presidents  of  the  various  leading  guilds  and  chief 
landed  gentry ;  and  the  prefect  does  little  more  than  give  his 
sanction  or  veto  to  their  deliberations.  The  Taot'ai,  though  a 
civil  officer,  directs  altogether  in  time  of  peace,  and  in  great 
measure  in  times  of  war,  the  military  and  naval  operations  and 
the  manner  of  fortification,  &c.  He  is  likewise  general  supe- 
rior to  the  prefects  and  Chihiens  in  his  circuit,  and  holds  courts 
of  appeal  firom  the  decisions  of  the  latter,  but  in  all  impor- 
tant measures  he  generally  consults  the  landed  gentry,  scholars, 
and  principal  merchants. 

The  Governor-General  exercises  a  general  supervision  over 
his  province,  and,  except  that  he  has  to  obey  the  instructions  of 
the  ministry  at  Peking,  is  almost  a  sovereign.  He  has  his  court 
and  secretaries  of  state  and  council  for  the  province,  corre- 
sponding with  those  of  the  sovereign  for  the  empire.  Attached 
to  his  court  is  a  provincial  judge,  whose  duty  it  is  to  hear 


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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  8fc.      13 

appeals  from  the  court  of  the  Taot'ai,  8tc.  The  Viceroy,  besides 
being  nominally  the  superior  of  one  governor-general,  often 
rules  another  province  himself  as  governor-general.  Attached 
to  the  court  of  the  Emperor  are  certain  officers  called  Censors, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  report  to  the  Emperor  in  cases  of  misconduct 
of  any  of  the  officials  or  courtiers. 

Such  is  the  government  of  sixteen  of  the  provinces.  The 
province  of  Pe-chi-li,  being  the  seat  of  the  Court,  is  governed 
in  a  slightly  different  manner,  so  as  to  bring  it  more  directly 
under  the  central  government.  The  province  of  Liaou-yang, 
which  is  beyond  the  Great  Wall  of  China,  but  which  was  en- 
closed l)y  a  palisade  soon  after  the  Manchu  conquest  of  China, 
having  been  the  original  seat  of  the  Manchu  Government,  still 
retains  to  a  great  extent  Tatar  traditions  in  its  government. 
In  all  the  other  provinces  of  China  the  military  is  subordinate 
to  the  civil  officer ;  a  general  has  often  to  receive  instructions 
from  a  civilian  nominally  far  his  inferior  in  rank.  Here,  how- 
ever, the  civil  authorities  are  under  the  military ;  here,  too,  the 
form  of  government  preserves  a  record  of  the  national  jealousy 
that  existed  between  the  Chinese  and  Manchu  races  at  their  first 
fusion — a  national  jealousy  which  has  now  entirely  disappeared. 
It  is  the  rule  that  while  all  the  military  mandarins  of  the  pro- 
vince must  be  of  Tatar  birth,  there  shall  to  each  officer  be 
attached  a  civilian  adviser,  who  shall  receive  emoluments  and 
rank  almost  equal  to  those  of  his  military  confrire,  and  that 
these  civilians  shall  be  exclusively  Chinese  by  birth.  It  is  a 
matter  of  remark  that  the  province  of  Liaou-yang  is  by  far  the 
worst  governed  of  the  whole  empire j  and  that  of  Pe-chi-li, 
though  not  nearly  so  bad,  is,  I  believe,  worse  governed  than  any 
of  the  other  provinces. 

Having  thus  given  a  brief  outline  of  the  administrative  govern- 
ment of  the  country,  I  proceed  to  describe  its  fiscal  system. 
Taxes  were  originally  raised  in  the  old  patriarchal  way — the 
tiller  of  the  ground  giving  a  proportion  of  his  crop  to  the  go- 
vernment. This  was  soon  commuted  into  a  fixed  quantity  of 
rice  per  mow  or  sixth  of  an  acre.  At  present,  this  land-tax,  or, 
as  it  is  called.  Government  Rice- rent,  is  payable  on  all  land — 
sometimes  in  rice  forwarded  to  Peking,  and  sometimes  in  money. 
This  land-tax  varies  according  to  circumstances,  from  a  few 
pence  in  hill-districts  to  £2  an  acre  in  large  towns. 

In  addition  to  land-tax,  the  public  revenue  receives  aid  from 
the  government  monopoly  in  salt,  and  from  export  and  import 
taxes.  When  these  latter  are  on  trade  carried  in  foreign  bot- 
toms, they  are  collected  by  the  aid  of  European  and  American 
gentlemen  in  the  Chinese  service,  on  the  same  principles  as 
in  western  nations;  while  those  on   trade  carried  in  native 

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14  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

bottoms  are  collected  by  Chinese  officials^  in  a  manner  more 
conducive  to  their  own  satisfaction  than  to  the  profit  of  the 
imperial  treasury.  These  import  and  export  duties  only  clear 
the  goods  at  the  port  itself^  further  duties  (called  transit  dues) 
having  to  be  paid  at  barriers  erected  on  the  road  between  the 
port  and  the  interior.  Lastly^  there  are  the  war-taxes^  collected 
in  various  manners^  the  product  of  which  should  in  theory  be 
applied  to  the  military  defences  and  expenditure  of  the  province 
in  which  they  are  required.  A  fixed  sum  is  estimated  as  being 
necessary ;  and,  after  consultation  with  the  different  presidents 
of  the  trading-guilds,  landed  gentry,  &c.,  the  authorities  decide 
as  to  the  sum  each  guild  shall  pay,  leaving  the  guild  the  power 
to  raise  such  sum  in  what  manner  it  may  see  fit.  The  money 
is  generally  raised  indirectly,  by  levying  a  small  tax  on  each  sale 
of  goods.  This,  with  the  transit  taxes,  cripples  trade  very  much, 
and  almost  annihilates  speculation.  It  has  a  further  injurious 
eflFect  on  the  wealth  of  the  country,  by  subverting  the  principle 
of  division  of  labour.  Thus  a  man  has,  as  it  were,  a  premium 
offered  him  for  growing  his  own  cotton,  flax,  wheat,  sugar,  &c. 
for  his  own  use.  Unsatisfactory  as  the  Chinese  fiscal  system  is 
in  a  commercial  point  of  view,  much  may  be  urged  in  its  favour 
in  a  sentimental  light.  The  peasant  who  is  able,  with  the  aid 
of  his  family,  to  support  himself  independently  of  any  circu- 
lating medium  is  naturally  a  much  more  intelligent  being  than 
the  artisan  whose  sole  qualification  is  perhaps  the  perfection 
with  which  he  makes  the  thirty-second  part  of  a  pin  ! 

Besides  these  Government  taxes,  Chinamen  in  towns  have  to 
pay  local  rates,  assessed  by  local  municipal  councils,  for  repairing, 
lighting  the  streets,  &c.  These  local  rates  are  generally  levied 
on  the  principle  of  a  percentage  on  the  rent  of  the  habitation. 

While  political  economists  may  deplore  the  backwardness  of 
the  Chinese  fiscal  system,  I  think  jurists  will  be  absolutely 
startled  at  hearing  that  a  nation  of  nearly  400  millions  has  ex- 
isted hitherto  quite  happily  without  any  Civil  Code  whatever.  I 
deem  it  very  probable,  however,  from  the  attention  the  govern- 
ment is  now  bestowing  on  the  civil  laws  of  European  nations,  that 
this  defect  will  soon  be  remedied.  Meanwhile  the  want  of  a 
civil  code  is  supplied  in  three  manners:  first,  by  imperial  edicts; 
secondly,  by  custom  and  the  sayings  of  the  sages ;  and,  thirdly,  by 
the  criminal  law.  With  regard  to  imperial  edicts^  the  Govern- 
ment at  Peking  publishes  daily  a  Gazette,  containing  lists  of 
promotions,  appointments,  memorials  to  the  throne,  national 
news,  and  imperial  edicts  or  ukases.  These  gazettes  often  con- 
tain imperial  decisions  with  regard  to  complicated  civil  cases, 
and  form  precedents  highly  useful  though  by  no  means  servilely 
followed.     Edicts,  too,  are  sometimes  repealed  by  edict,  and  are 


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their  iMnguage,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  ifc,      15 

sometimes  allowed  to  become  obsolete.  Local  custom  obtains 
much  more  force  in  China  than  it  does  in  our  courts ;  the  usual 
manner  of  conducting  trade  would  be  more  taken  into  conside- 
ration than  the  letter  of  written  documents,  while  ancient  say- 
ings and  wise  saws  go  far  in  modifying  a  legal  decision. 

Much  is  said  concerning  the  barbarous  nature  of  the  Chinese 
Criminal  Code,  the  torture  of  witnesses,  and  the  like.  Without 
reminding  ourselyes  that  it  is  not  long  since  we  did  the  same, 
I  shall  briefly  touch  upon  the  practice  of  putting  witnesses  to 
the  question.  With  Asiatics  verbal  truth  is  hardly  recognized 
as  a  virtue,  while  fidelity  to  one^s  friend,  clan,  or  guild  is  re- 
garded ;  consequently  giving  false  evidence  in  court  is  so  xmi- 
versal  that  it  is  impossible  to  attempt  to  punish  for  peijury 
except  on  the  spot.  Again,  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  witnesses, 
not  because  they  fear  the  torture  in  court,  but  that  they  are 
afraid  of  the  vengeance  of  somebody  who  may  fancy  himself  in- 
jured by  their  testimony.  Moreover  no  amount  of  evidence  is 
sufficient  to  convict  a  man  unless  he  himself  confesses  his  guilt. 
Hence,  when  a  case  is  clearly  made  out,  torture  is  resorted  to 
in  order  to  make  him  confess  and  thus  fulfil  the  requirements 
of  the  law. 

Though,  nominally,  in  China  there  are  no  such  things  as 
Court-fees  or  hired  advocates,  yet  the  necessary  bribes  and  pre- 
sents make  a  Chinese  law-suit  as  expensive  a  luxury  as  it  is  in 
England ;  and  this,  combined  with  the  absence  of  civil  laws, 
renders  the  judgment  in  any  given  case  almost  as  uncertain  as 
the  multiplicity  of  our  civil  laws  makes  it  in  our  own  country. 

To  obtain  an  appointment  under  Government,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  candidate  should  have  passed  with  success  several  com- 
petitive examinations.  There  are  four  principal  degrees,  Han- 
Un,  Chin-sze,  Chu-jen,  and  Hsiu-ts'ai.  A  fixed  number  of  these 
degrees  are  allotted  to  the  Chinese,  and  are  called  civil  degrees, 
and  a  fixed  number  to  the  Tatars,  and  called  military  degrees. 
The  lowest  degree  is  competed  for  at  the  prefectural  town,  the 
next  at  the  provincial  capital,  and  the  two  highest  at  Peking.  A 
fixed  number  of  the  lowest  degrees  are  allowai  to  each  province. 
Every  precaution  is  taken  to  ensure  fair  examination.  After 
obtaining  a  literary  degree,  the  candidate  has  to  exert  his  in- 
fluence in  order  to  obtain  a  nomination  to  purchase  a  civil  official 
post.  Of  course,  the  higher  his  literary  attainments,  the  less 
interest  he  requires  to  obtain  this  nomination.  Having  secured 
this,  he  has  no  difficulty  in  borrowing  the  necessary  money 
firom  his  friends — either  relatives  who  are  glad  to  pay  for  the 
honour  of  having  their  kinsman  in  a"  government  post,  or  specu- 
lative money-lenders  who  expect  an  exorbitant  interest.  The 
amount  of  the  government  purchase  is  enormous ;  and  when  in- 


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16  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race  .- 

creased  by  the  sums  which  it  is  customary  for  the  new  officer  to 
give  to  his  immediate  superiors^  the  total  is  something  astound- 
ing. Men  of  great  family  influence^  very  distinguish^  scholars^ 
and  those  who  have  performed  highly  meritorious  actions^  often 
receive  appointments  without  purchase. 

Military  appointments  are  given  without  purchase  and  irre- 
spective of  literary  attainments^  and  are  obtained  either  by  in- 
terest or  by  merit.  Men  whose  fathers  are  professional  thieves, 
beggars,  slaves,  actors,  executioners,  brothel-keepers,  or  barbers 
are  theoretically  not  eligible  for  government  employment.  The 
inhibition  relates  only  to  the  first  generation.  This,  so  far  as  I 
know,  is,  with  a  single  exception,  the  only  symptom  of  caste  in 
the  empire*. 

Mutual  dependence  of  man  on  man  is,  in  China,  carried  so  far 
that  even  thieves  and  beggars  have  their  trade-unions,  with 
boards  of  management  to  whom  they  give  an  implicit  obedience. 
This  system  of  almost  communism,  combined  with  the  genero- 
sity of  Chinamen  towards  their  relatives,  renders,  in  times  of 
prosperity,  pauperism  an  unknown  thing,  and  crime  (especially 
of  the  violent  kind)  exceedingly  rare.  In  times  of  adversity, 
however,  it  is  very  difierent.  Each  trade-union  can  naturally 
aid  only  the  members  of  its  own  body.  Famine  and  drought 
sometimes  leave  certain  villages  without  any  resource  but  that 
of  plunder;  and  those  who  have  been  plundered  have  no  other 
means  of  indemnifying  themselves  for  the  loss  they  have  sus- 
tained than  by  exercising  a  similar  violence  on  others ;  hence 
the  disordered  state  of  the  empire,  since  the  Government  has 
not  always  the  monetary  resources  to  relieve  the  distress  as  it 
arises,  nor  the  military  means  to  suppress  the  consequence  of 
that  distress.  In  this  respect,  our  foreign  trade  has  not  been 
an  unmixed  blessing.  Thousands  of  Chinamen  were  thrown  out 
of  employment  by  the  introduction  of  foreign  vessels.  One  may 
reckon  that  for  every  100  tons  of  foreign  shipping  employed  on 
the  China  coast,  30  Chinese  were  deprived  of  their  means  of 
living,  and  that  half  of  them  so  deprived  became  robbers  or 
insurgents.    The  introduction  of  railways  into  China  would 

*  The  exception  to  which  I  allude,  is  formed  hy  a  class  of  people  called 
the  To'pi,  or  *^  lazy  people.''  These  people  are  not,  as  is  generally  helieved, 
of  Chinese  race.  Some  legends  state  that  they  are  of  Mongol  extraction. 
They  exist  in  the  province  of  Che-kiang,  and  may  only  be  barbers,  ser- 
vants, actors,  &c.  They  are  obliged  even  to  button  their  dresses  in  a  dif- 
ferent way  from  those  who  have  the  birthright  of  freedom.  They  are 
forbidden  to  marry  with  respectable  people ;  and  any  one  taking  a  wife  from 
them  is  for  ever  polluted,  and  becomes  as  one  of  them.  Still  this  dis- 
quaJdfication  of  the  To-]^i  holds  good  only  in  the  Che-kiang  province ;  for 
when  they  have  crossed  into  other  provinces  they  can  merge  mto  respect- 
able citizens. 


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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  8fC.      17 

create  far  greater  distress ;  and  I  conscientiously  believe  that  the 
Chinese  government  is  not  as  yet  capable  of  coping  with  the 
complications  and  difiSculties  which  too  sudden  an  introduction 
of  railways  would  occasion.  Emigration  to  the  rice-fields  of 
South  America^  and  to  the  unoccupied  lands  in  Africa  and 
Australia^  together  with  a  good  military  organization^  wiU^  I  be- 
lieve, eventually  solve  the  question.  The  fear  of  such  sudden 
distress  makes  the  Government  averse  to  encouraging  any 
scheme  which  involves  taking  a  body  of  men  away  from  the  in- 
fluence of  their  family^  and  placing  them  in  any  position  where 
a  temporary  distress  might  render  them  desperate ;  hence  the 
discouragement  which  the  Government  always  shows  to  work- 
ing mines^  and  to  other  enterprises  which  would  vastly  increase 
the  national  wealth.  Hence^  too^  the  Government  shows  great 
readiness  to  appease  popular  fury  by  the  sacrifice  of  an  officer 
who  has  given  umbrage  to  the  people. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  the  sphere  of  the  executive  is  much 
limited  by  municipal  councils,  guilds^  and  trade-unions^  and 
that  the  officers  of  the  Government  are  often  prevented  from 
giving  effect  to  arbitrary  and  unjust  measures  by  the  dread  of 
popular  resentment.  Great  as  these  checks  are  on  the  auto- 
cracy of  the  authorities^  a  still  greater  exists  in  the  closeness  of 
famOy  ties,  the  enormous  power  of  the  head  of  the  household, 
the  willingness  with  which  his  dictates  are  obeyed  by  his  rela- 
tives and  dependents,  and  the  readiness  with  which  members  of 
the  same  family  assist  each  other.  The  clannish  feeling  is  so 
strong  that  a  wealthy  man,  instead  of  hoarding  his  money,  or 
spending  it  in  pleasure,  takes  a  pride  in  maintaining,  in  various 
degrees  of  dependence  and  subserviency,  a  number  of  followers. 
Every  shop  supports  a  far  greater  number  of  a  family  than  in 
England  we  should  imagine  possible ;  and  from  the  highest  guild 
down  to  the  lowest  trade-union,  family  interest  is  required  to 
get  a  man  admission  as  a  member.  The  head  of  the  family  is 
not  necessarily  what  we  should  call  the  representative  of  the 
house  genealogically ;  he  is  often  a  cadet  who  has  retrieved  the 
house^s  fortune,  and  to  whom  his  elder  has  voluntarily  yielded 
the  precedence.  Cadets,  too,  often  leave  their  own  family,  and 
form  a  branch  family  that  may  in  power  eclipse  the  family  from 
which  it  has  sprung ;  but  however  rich  and  powerfrd  such  cadet 
may  be,  and  to  however  low  a  state  the  elder  may  have  fallen 
(provided  there  has  been  no  crime  or  disgrace  connected  with 
the  affair),  the  cadet  will  always  verbally  treat  his  elder  as  a 
superior.  In  China  there  exists  a  system  which,  I  believe,  is 
peculiar  to  that  country — a  system  of  keeping  a  Ckia-pu,  or 
Family  Register,  in  which  are  entered  the  names  of  every  mem- 
ber, and  a  short  account  of  their  lives.     Some  of  these  registers 

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18  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race  .* 

extend  to  a  thousand  volumes ;  but  they  are  guarded  with  such 
secrecy  that  few  Europeans^  even  those  well  acquainted  with  the 
Chinese  character^  know  of  their  existence.  In  published  trans- 
lations of  Chinese  novels^  the  word  Chia-pu  has  been  misunder- 
stood. I  was  very  anxious  to  send  an  account  of  these  Chia-pu 
to  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867,  and  to  place  in  the  Chinese 
model  house  an  imitation  Chia-pu;  but  no  inducement  that 
I  offered  could  prevail  on  any  Chinaman  to  let  me  have  a  sight 
of  one. 

If  a  member  of  a  family  has  disgraced  himself,  a  family  conclave 
is  held ;  and  if  after  repeated  warnings  there  seems  no  hope  of 
amendment,  his  name  is  solemnly  erased  from  the  family  regis- 
ter, and  the  motives  of  his  punishment  duly  recorded.  From 
this  time  forth,  he  is  an  outcast,  can  get  no  respectable  employ- 
ment, and  has  either  to  emigrate,  live  a  life  of  crime  or  mendi- 
cancy, become  a  Buddhist  priest,  or  be  converted  to  Christianity. 
If  his  after-life  retrieves  his  character,  he  is  often  readmitted 
into  the  family. 

Connected  with  family  influence  is  the  position  of  women.  It 
is  a  common  mistake  regarding  this  subject  to  suppose  that 
women  are  considered  in  China  mere  animals.  Nothing,  in 
fact,  can  be  Airther  from  the  truth.  Marriage  is  fenced  about 
by  ceremonies  and  observances  more  stringent  and  minute  than 
it  is  in  European  countries ;  and  though  a  man  is  allowed  nomi- 
nally to  have  as  many  concubines  as  he  pleases,  he  is  allowed 
only  one  wife,  properly  speaking.  To  this  wife  he  is  generally 
married  at  the  age  of  sixteen ;  and  the  alliance  is  usually  con- 
cluded by  the  parents  of  the  young  people  through  the  means 
of  a  professional  matrimonial  agent.  Theoretically  a  man  has 
full  power  over  his  wife ;  practically  she  has  a  father  and  big 
brothers  who  will  not  allow  her  to  be  ill  used.     By  law,  daugh-  I 

ters  of  men  who  have  attained  the  lowest  literary  grade  can  only  I 

be  first  wives ;  but  this  law  is  often  evaded.  The  first  betrothal 
consists  of  the  reception  by  the  family  of  the  bride  of  a  present 
from  the  family  of  the  bridegroom ;  but  on  the  ceremony  of 
marriage  a  large  trousseau  and  dowry  are  generally  given  to  the 
bride.  The  husband  does  not  usually  interfere  with  this  dowry : 
moreover,  at  the  wife's  death,  her  wishes  as  regards  the  bestowal 
of  her  dowry  generally  receive  attention.  It  is  disgraceful  for 
a  wife  to  marry  a  second  time ;  a  concubine,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  generally  a  purchased  slave,  and  she  incurs  no  disgrace  in 
uniting  herself  to  another  master,  either  after  the  death  of  her 
first  master  or  after  her  divorce  from  him.  The  punishment  of 
a  wife  for  adultery  is  far  more  severe  than  that  of  a  concubine 
for  the  same  crime.  Again,  husband  and  wife  mutually  worship 
each  other's  ancestors. 


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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  ifc.       19 

Another  curious  fact  with  regard  to  women  in  China  is  that 
the  law  compels  a  father  or  slave-owner  to  provide  a  husband  or 
husband  master  for  his  daughter  or  female  slave  before  she 
arrives  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years^  unless  the  girl  goes  be- 
fore a  magistrate  and  declares  that  she  prefers  a  life  of  celibacy. 
Girls  frequently  do  this,  being  moved  thereto  either  by  religious 
motives  of  Buddhist  asceticism,  or  by  believing  that  in  thus 
doing  what  they  call  Haoh-shUi  (or  work  of  supererogation), 
they  may  bring  down  the  blessing  of  Heaven  on  their  friends, 
or,  finally,  in  order  that  they  may  live  with  their  parents  and  be 
a  succour  to  them  in  their  old  age.  Hence,  if  we  except  Bud- 
dhist nuns,  old  maids  are  unknown  in  the  country. 

The  concubines,  as  before  stated,  are  generally  purchased 
slaves;  but  slavery  is  not  confined  to  them.  The  condition  of  a 
slave  is  modified,  first  by  the  fact  of  the  absence  of  caste  in  China, 
secondly  by  the  slave  and  master  belonging  to  the  same  race,  and 
thirdly  by  the  natural  good  temper  of  the  Chinese  people.  The 
household  drudges  of  a  great  family  are  generally  slaves,  and  in 
most  cases  identify  themselves  with  the  interests  of  their  mas- 
ter's family,  living  with  them  on  terms  of  great  intimacy.  Field- 
labourers  are  sometimes  slaves.  Occasionally  a  childless  man 
purchases  a  boy  to  adopt  as  his  son  in  order  to  have  some  one 
who  will  sacrifice  to  his  spirit  after  death.  Slaves  are  generally 
treated  kindly ;  and  the  institution  of  slavery  acts  as  a  great  pre- 
ventive of  infanticide.  Connected  with  slavery,  I  may  be  allowed 
to  mention  a  curious  episode  which  came  under  my  own  obser- 
vation. In  the  course  of  my  ofl&cial  work  it  became  my  duty  to 
prosecute  an  Englishman  for  extorting  money  by  means  of 
threats  of  violence  from  a  poor  Chinese  family.  As  collateral 
evidence  I  brought  before  the  Court  a  pawn-ticket  of  the  same 
date  as  the  alleged  offence,  worded  in  Chinese  as  follows : 

Foo-SHENO  Pawnshop. 

June  14th,  1868. 

Article  Pawned   Young  girl,  5  years  old. 

Amount  advanced   7  dollars. 

Conditions Money  to  be  repaid  within 

,-  ^   ,  three  months,  or  property 

^  *    i  to  vest  in  pawnbroker. 

Child's  maintenance  to 
be  paid  by  borrowers  of 
the  money. 

The  mother  of  the  family  had  pawned  her  own  child  to  obtain 
the  money  needful  to  satisfy  the  extortion  of  the  Englishman. 
The  Chinese  are  in  general  a  kindly-disposed  people,  as  is 

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as 

=1 

Ah 


20  C.  T.  Gardner— On  the  Chinese  Race  : 

proved  by  the  great  number  of  their  Benevolent  Institutions. 
Among  the  chief  of  these  is  the  Government  plan  of  dissemi- 
nating a  long  moral  work  called  the  Sacred  Edicts  which  is  an 
ethicid  discourse  on  the  five  cardinal  duties  between  children 
and  parents^  husband  and  wife^  senior  and  junior  relatives^ 
friend  and  friend^  people  and  government.  By  law^  this  Sacred 
Edict  has  to  be  read  once  a  year  to  aU  the  subjects  of  the  em- 
pire. Again^  Chinese  genti^  often  subscribe  towards  printing 
and  disseminating^  as  advertisements^  exhortations  to  the  people 
to  lead  a  moral  and  virtuous  life.  Buddhists  have  a  regular 
Tract  Society,  for  inculcating  their  tenets. 

At  Peking  some  of  the  empty  granaries  are  put  at  the  dispo- 
sal of  beggars  and  the  extreme  poor  as  gratuitous  lodgings. 
In  times  of  famine,  the  Chinese  Government  distributes  rice 
gratuitously.  Soup-kitchens  are  established,  and  benevolent 
merchants  and  gentry  associate  to  sell  food  to  the  poor  at  cost 
price.  In  times  of  plague,  Government  and  private  individuals 
give  free  theatrical  representations  and  displays  of  fireworks  to 
the  people,  in  order  to  distract  their  minds.  At  Pakwan  afid 
many  other  places  there  are  free  schools.  At  Hangchow,  there 
is  a  hospital  for  the  blind  and  infirm,  with  'their  families,  con- 
taining 2000  inmates,  with  a  statf  of  forty  medical  men  who 
give  gratuitous  advice  and  medicine.  Free  lodging  is  given; 
but  the  patients  are  provided  with  light  work  in  order  to  pay 
for  their  own  food.  Societies  for  the  prevention  of  infanticide 
are  common  all  over  the  empire.  These  societies  both  issue 
good  books  and  establish  foundling  hospitals,  where  the  children 
of  the  poor  are  received.  Another  institution  common  to  the 
empire,  with  local  committees  and  managing  boards,  is  that  for 
the  burial  of  the  uncoffined  dead. 

It  is  notable  that  there  exists  a  society  for  collecting  waste 
paper  on  which  there  are  any  written  characters.  The  Chinese 
in  their  reverence  for  literature  have  a  superstitious  respect  for 
any  thing  containing  writing.  Hence,  in  every  town  which  I 
have  visited,  there  are  little  boxes,  above  which  is  written  a 
request  to  the  passer-by,  asking  him  to  deposit  in  it  any  waste 
paper  that  he  may  be  possessed  of,  bearing  written  characters, 
in  order  to  avoid  ^he  literature  being  trampled  in  the  dust. 
The  Chinese  avoid  using  printed  paper  as  wrappers.  Again, 
during  the  late  war  the  Government  being  greatly  straitened 
for  money  on  account  both  of  the  Tai-ping  war  and  of  our  ex- 
pedition, were  urged  to  the  resource  of  greatly  depreciating  the 
coinage,  and  issued  a  quantity  of  iron  cash,  which,  however,  the 
people  refused  to  receive,  and  threw  away  in  quantities.  As 
on  each  coin  four  characters  were  engraved,  a  benevolent  asso- 
ciation started  into  existence  and  paid  for  their  collection,  in 

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their  Language,  Government,  Social  Institutions,  ^c.      21 

order  to  prevent  their  being  trodden  in  the  mud^  and  thus  got 
together  many  cartloads  of  them,  which  they  afterwards  melted 
into  a  monument  to  commemorate  the  event. 

The  Chinese  Religion  shows  signs  of  antiquity  similar  to  those 
already  seen  in  its  language,  government,  and  institutions.  The 
worship  of  ancestors,  and  the  deification  of  national  heroes  con- 
stitute the  religion  of  all  classes.  With  regard  to  ancestral 
worship,  there  are  evidences  to  prove  that  at  one  time  there  was 
human  sacrifice  to  the  manes  of  the  departed.  From  early 
times,  figures  made  of  wicker  and  covered  with  painted  paper 
were  substituted,  and  are  still  in  use  over  the  empire,  being 
burnt  at  funeral  obsequies,  with  similar  images  representing 
horses,  mules,  carriages,  &c.  These  are  supposed  to  afford  at- 
tendants to  the  deceased,  suited  to  his  rank  in  the  next  world  ; 
and  gilt  and  silvered  paper  made  up  in  the  form  of  specie  (i.  e. 
shoes  of  sycee)  being  burnt  in  a  similar  manner,  are  supposed 
to  give  him  the  means  of  keeping  up  state,  bribing  the  infernal 
judges,  and  so  forth.  Among  the  more  intelligent  natives  of 
the  present  day  these  usages  are  practised  only  because  dictated 
by  all-powerful  custom ;  while  the  ignorant  still  believe  in  their 
efficacy.  Again,  the  Chinese  believe  that  all  disease  is  caused 
by  maleficent  spirits  of  departed  men,  who,  having  no  posterity 
to  offer  sacrifices,  and  yet  possessing  the  same  need  of  food  as 
when  sojourners  on  earth,  are  compelled,  vampyre-like,  to  prey 
upon  the  health  of  the  living.  Hence  the  Chinese  have  insti- 
tuted a  yearly  service  called  the  Foo-ying-k'ow,  or  "  appeasing 
the  burning  mouths.'' 

Confucianism,  commonly  called  a  religion,  is  in  reality  merely 
a  system  of  ethics.  The  grand  master,  chief  of  conservatives, 
would  not  interfere  with  the  religion  sanctioned  by  custom; 
and  as  his  mind  was  too  intelligent  to  believe  in  its  fables,  he 
careftdly  abstained  from  discussing  them  in  his  precepts,  though 
invariably  adopting  the  customary  rites  in  his  practice. 

Buddhism,  which  has  a  greater  power  to  adapt  itself  to  cir- 
cumstances than  even  Roman  Catholicism,  has,  instead  of  trying 
to  make  a  tabula  rasa  of  former  creeds,  simply  reared  a  super- 
structure, and  only  endeavoured  to  engraft  its  legends,  morals, 
and  philosophy  on  the  ancient  stock ;  hence,  in  a  measure,  its 
great  success.  Its  hard  dogmas  are  not  preached  to  any  but 
the  adepts.  To  the  ignorant,  a  material  heaven  and  hell  is 
spoken  of,  the  latter  with  all  the  apparatus  of  torture  used  in 
the  Chinese  prisons.  Nor  in  this  matter  are  mere  words  em- 
ployed :  in  many  of  the  Buddhist  temples  are  rooms  with 
painted  figures  representing  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  in 
the  next  world.  Pictures  of  these  are  sold,  and,  coming  to  Eng- 
land under  the  name  of  "  Chinese  punishments,"  have  tended. 


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22  C.  T.  Gardner— 0«  the  Chinese  Race : 

more  than  any  thing  else^  to  disseminate  the  idea  that  the  Chi- 
nese are  a  cruel  people. 

Mahomedanism  and  Christianity^  by  demanding  a  renuncia* 
tion  of  superstitious  practices  dear  to  the  Chinese^  have  had  as 
yet  only  a  limited  influence.  But  it  may  be  observed  that,  un- 
derlying all  belief  in  a  multiplicity  of  gods  and  deified  heroes, 
there  has  ever  been  a  notion,  more  or  less  vague,  of  a  Supreme 
Being  {'Pien),  who,  when  made  a  subject  of  thought,  has  been 
sometimes  confounded  with  nature,  but  sometimes  also  regarded 
as  a  personal  being — ^a  hearer  and  answerer  of  prayer. 

So  much  for  the  past  and  present  of  the  Chinese  people.  It 
is  not  difficult  to  prophesy  their  future.  Inch  by  inch  they  are 
disputing  possession  of  new  worlds  with  the  Auglo-saxon  race. 
Their  industry,  economy,  and,  above  all,  their  clannishness 
make  them  formidable  competitors  with  us  in  the  labour- 
market.  Probably  this  competition  will  end  in  a  compromise. 
John  Chinaman  will  occupy  to  himself  the  torrid  regions,  but 
will  be  found  utterly  unsuited  to  work  in  cold  climates — ^not 
from  lack  of  industry,  but  from  lack  of  energy.  The  frigid 
zones  will,  I  think,  be  monopolized  by  the  Saxon  race,  who 
have  plenty  of  energy,  perseverance,  and  endurance,  but  not  so 
much  patience  as  is  possessed  by  the  Chinese. 

APPENDIX. 

I.  On  Chinese  Mythological  and  Legendary  History. 

Native  legends  state  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  world  China 
was  governed  for  several  millions  of  years  by  a  great  number 
of  princes.  The  first  was  Pan-ku,  or  Huen-tun,  the  Chinese 
first  man.  Then  came  the  Tien-Hwang,  or  Celestial  King,  with 
thirteen  successors,  each  of  whom  reigned  18,000  years.  These 
were  followed  by  the  Ti- Hwang,  or  Earthly  King,  with  eleven 
successors,  each  of  whom  reigned  18,000  years.  Next  came 
Jen-Hwang,  or  Human  King,  with  nine  successors,  reigning, 
some  say,  1,100,760  years,  whilst  others  say  90,000.  After 
the  Jen- Hwang  and  his  successors  came  the  Emperor  Yu-chao 
(the  name  signifying  ''he  that  hath  a  nest^').  In  his  time 
men  were  in  a  stage  of  savagery,  eating  fruits  and  raw  animal 
food.  Yu-chao  taught  them  to  make  huts  of  the  branches 
of  trees  and  of  leaves.  The  next  Emperor,  Sui-jfen  (or  "  firc- 
by-friction  man''),  observed  in  hut-building  that  wood  was 
combustible,  and  taught  men  to  cook  their  food,  instead  of  eat- 
ing it  raw ;  he  also  taught  them  a  system  of  writing  by  tying 
knots  in  string  at  different  distances.  The  lengths  of  the  reign 
of  Yu-chao  and  Sui-jSn  are,  as  may  be  expected,  a  disputed 
point.     Next  came  Fo-hi,  who  is  said  to  have  invented  the 


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their  Language^  Government ,  Social  Institutions,  Sfc,        23 

Pa-kwa  (or  eight  symbols)  previously  given  (p.  5),  to  have  dis- 
covered the  existence  and  use  of  metals  and  also  of  musical  in- 
struments, to  have  instituted  marriage,  to  have  divided  the 
Chinese  into  one  hundred  family-names,  to  have  forbidden  mar- 
riages between  persons  of  the  same  family-name  (a  law  which 
still  exists),  and  to  have  invented  a  system  of  chronology  of 
cycles  of  sixty  years — ^a  system  even  now  existing  among  the 
Chinese :  a  key  to  this  system,  made  by  myself,  and  a  compara- 
tive table  with  the  Christian  era,  compiled  by  Mr.  Mayers,  will  be 
found  in  Appendix  II.  But  the  most  wonderful  work  attributed 
to  Fo-hi  was  the  design  for  a  written  language — ^namely,  that 
all  writing  should  be  composed  of  a  picture  of  Sui-jSn's  knotted 
string  and  his  own  eight  symbols,  and  that  they  should  be 
formed  according  to  six  rules  coinciding  with  the  six  divisions 
into  which,  as  I  have  stated,  the  Chinese  divided  their  written 
characters. 

With  Fo-hi  commences  exactitude  of  dates ;  thus  Fo-hi  is  said 
to  have  reigned  from  2953  to  2838  b.c,  or  115  years,  commen- 
cing from  &22  years  ago.  Fo-hi  also  instituted  religious  cere- 
monies, such  as  sacrifices,  and  extended  the  Chinese  dominion 
from  Shansi  to  Honan  and  Shantung.  After  Fo-hi  came  Yenti 
or  Shen-nung ;  he  set  apart  peculiar  places  for  sacrifice,  removed 
the  capital  to  Shantung,  instituted  the  use  of  wheat,  rice,  peas, 
&c.,  and  discovered  what  plants  were  poisonous  and  their  anti- 
dotes. In  his  reign  first  arose  rebellions  and  wars,  and  he  accord- 
ingly demanded  military  service  from  his  subjects.  He  is  said 
to  have  reigned  from  2838  to  2698  b.c,  or  140  years,  and  was 
finally  deposed  by  Hsien-yuan,  also  called  Hwang-ti  and  Yew- 
hsiung,  whose  acts  were  as  follow : — ^the  invention,  by  a  subject, 
of  540  characters  made  in  the  form  of  bird^s  claws,  and  of  other 
characters  called  the  ^^  tadpole-head  characters  /'  the  institution 
of  punishment  by  public  decapitation ;  the  invention  of  brick- 
making;  the  builc[Lng  temples  and  palaces;  the  use  of  bows, 
arrows,  military  standards,  &c. ;  the  invention  of  a  new  musical 
instrument ;  and  the  discovery  of  copper.  In  his  reign,  silk- 
weaving  and  textile  fabrics  were  introduced,  as  also  the  use  of 
carts  and  carriages  on  rollers.  He  established  a  tribunal  of  his- 
torians— some  to  write  down  facts,  and  others  to  report  speeches. 
He  divided  the  then  existing  empire  into  chow  of  860,000 
families ;  each  chow  comprised  10  sze  of  36,000  families  each, 
each  sze  10  tu  of  3600  families,  each  tu  10  y  o{  360  families, 
each  y  5  /t  of  72  families,  each  li  3  pong  of  24  families, 
and  each  pong  3  tin  of  8  families.  His  astronomers  disco- 
vered the  fact  that  19  solar  years  contained  235  lunar  months. 
In  his  time  state-robes  were  first  used.  After  a  reign  of  100 
years  (2698  b.c  to  2598  b.c),  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 


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24         •       C.  T.  Gardner— On  the  Chinese  Race : 

Shao-hao^  who  is  said  to  have  instituted  the  present  prevailing 
custom  that  civil  mandarins  should  wear  on  their  dress  the 
figure  of  a  bird^  and  military  mandarins  that  of  a  beast :  the  prac- 
tice of  sorcery  and  magic  commenced  in  this  reign.  Shao-hao 
reigned  84  years  (2598  b.c.  to  2514  b.c.)j  and  was  succeeded  by 
Chwan-hu^  a  grandson  of  Hwang-ti,  who  reigned  78  years,  fix)m 
2514  to  2437  b.c  The  only  thing  important  to  note  in  this  reign 
is  that  it  is  said  that  the  existing  custom  that  makes  the  Em- 
peror the  intermedium  between  heaven  and  the  people  was  now 
first  introduced.  To  him  succeeded  Ti-ku,  or  Kao-sin,  grandson 
of  Shao-hao,  and  great-grandson  of  Hwang-ti.  It  was  he  who 
first  established  public  collies :  he  reigned  70  years,  from  2437 
to  2367  B.C.  Poems  said  to  have  been  written  in  his  reign  are 
preserved  in  Chinese  classics.  After  Kao-sin  succeeded  Ti-chih, 
who  reigned  9  years,  2367  to  2358,  after  whom  came  Yao*, 
who  was  a  son  of  Kao-sin :  born  ten  months  after  the  death  of 
the  father,  by  an  immaculate  conception,  he  was  exposed  on  the 
mountain  by  his  mother,  who  feared  a  charge  of  incontinence ; 
but  he  was  spared,  nay,  succoured,  by  the  wild  animals  of  the 
forest. 

Chinese  history  up  to  this  time  I  imagine  to  be  mythologic, 
an  attempt  as  it  were  to  account  for  the  existence  of  the  human 
race  generally — ^though  of  course  occasional  traits  of  national 
ideosyncrasy  show  themselves,  and  national  pride  has  fixed 
upon  known  localities  as  the  theatre  of  the  different  events  said 
to  have  occurred.  It  is  for  others,  better  acquainted  than  I  am 
with  the  early  myths  of  mankind,  to  state  whether  any  analogy 
can  be  found  between  these  myths  and  those  of  other  nations. 

We  now  come  to  the  Chinese  legendary  history : — Yao  from 
2357  to  2255,  Shun  from  2255  to  2205,  and  Yu  from  2205 
to  2197 — a  period  in  all  of  160  years.  To  other  previous 
emperors,  Chinese  history  had  ascribed  the  invention  of  nearly 
all  the  great  material  appliances  and  customs  in  use  up  to 
the  time  of  Confucius.  While,  therefore,  history  preceding  the 
time  of  Yao  describes  the  deeds  of  rulers,  after  Yao  to  Yu 
we  have  instead  of  deeds  their  moral  discourses.  There  is  a 
notable  exception  to  this  rule  in  the  fact  that  to  Yao,  Shun, 
and  Yu  (especially  the  latter)  is  ascribed  the  clearing  of  the 
primaeval  forest  of  Shan-hsi,  Shen-hsi,  and  Honan  to  as  far 
south   as   Shao-hsing  in  the  province  of  Ch£-kiang,      Now, 


Other  chronologists  give : — 

Fo-hi B.c.  2862-2737 

Shen-nung. .  B.C.  2737-2697 
Hrien-yuan  B.C.  2697-2697 
Shao-hao  . .  b.c.  2697-2613 
Chwan-hu. .  B.C.  2613^2435 


Kao-sin B.C.  2435-2365 

Ti-chih B.C.  2366-2367 

Yao    B.C.  2357-2266 

Shun B.C.  2256-2206 


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their  Language,  Government ,  Social  Institutions,  8fC/       25 

though  we  may  not  credit  all  that  Chinese  historians  have  said 
of  Yu,  and  though  works  which  must  necessarily  have  occupied 
many  centuries  are  by  the  Chinese  said  to  have  been  executed  in 
the  reigns  of  Yao,  Shun,  and  Yu,  yet  the  existence  of  Yu 
is  an  undoubted  fact.  An  inscription  containing  his  very 
words,  and  probably  also  the  fac  simile  of  the  characters  in 
which  those  words  were  written,  is  still  existing;  but  it  is  a 
noteworthy  fact  that  the  mountains  therein  mentioned  as  the 
scene  of  his  labours  are  all  in  Shan-hsi,  a  province  in  the 
north-west  of  China,  bordering  upon  Artous  Mongolia,  anciently 
called  Serica.  These  four  mountains  are  situated  between  40^ 
and  32°  N.  lat.,  and  108"*  and  114"*  E.  long.  We  may  therefore 
reasonably  condude  that  the  colonization  of  the  southern  pro- 
vinces and  the  clearing  of  the  primaeval  forests  were  effected 
after  the  time  of  Yu.  Two  things  are  worth  mentioning— one 
being  that  before  the  time  of  Yu  the  monarchy  was  elective. 
Yu,  however,  was  the  founder  of  the  first  Chinese  dynasty ;  and 
nineteen  of  his  descendants  sat  on  the  throne.  Again,  an;er  the 
time  of  Yu  we  have  no  account  of  kings  living  and  reigning 
beyond  the  number  of  years  that  modem  experience  shows  to  be 
probable.  Close  upon  Yu's  time,  too,  was  the  first  eclipse  re- 
corded by  the  Chinese,  viz.  that  which  took  place  b.c.  2127. 

From  these  records  I  think  we  may  not  unreasonably  make 
the  following  hypotheses : — First,  at  some  time  before  2300  b.c. 
colonists  with  some  civilization,  such  as  the  art  of  writing  in  a 
rudimentary  form,  existed  or  came  to  the  north-west  of  China; 
and,  secondQy,  these  colonists  were  not  in  a  sufficiently  civilized 
state  to  preserve  any  records  or  even  legends  available  for  his- 
toric uses  earlier  than  the  time  of  Yu,  say  2250  b.c,  at  which 
date  they  must  have  been  a  long  time  in  the  country,  as  no  le- 
gends are  in  existence  showing  how  they  first  arrival.  If  we 
allow  that  the  human  race  is  of  a  common  origin,  it  is  an  inter- 
esting problem  to  determine  when  the  Chinese  first  separated 
firom  the  common  stock,  and  whether  the  Tolboth  Beni  Noah 
throws  any  light  on  the  subject.  While  we  take  lat.  40°  and 
long.  108°  as  the  principal  point  of  ingress  of  the  Chinese  race 
into  their  present  country,  we  must  remember  that  it  is  proba- 
bly not  the  only  point  of  ingress,  but  it  is  in  all  likelihood  the 
most  ancient,  and  the  only  one  where  we  can  fix  an  approximate 
date,  viz.  fix)m  b.c  2800  to  b.c  2300. 


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26 


C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race : 


II.  On  Chinese  Time. 


m 


(YiH  Chow.) 

A  cycle  of  sixty  years. 


Ten  Heavenly  Characters, 

a*bcdefghij 
Twelve  Earthly  Characters. 


1 


m 


p    q 


Year  of 

Year  of 

Year  of 

Year  of 

Year  of 

Year  of 

Year  of 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

Cycle. 

1  ak 

11  au 

21  as 

81  a  q 

41  a  0 

51  am 

1  ak 

2  bl 

12  bv 

22  bt 

32  br 

42  bp 

52  bn 

8  cm 

13  ck 

23  cu 

38  C8 

43  cq 

53  CO 

4  dn 

14  dl 

24  dv 

34  dt 

44  dr 

54  dp 

5  eo 

15  e  m 

25  ek 

35  eu 

45  es 

65  e  q 

6  f  p 

16  fn 

26  fl 

36  fv 

40  ft 

56  fr 

'M 

17  go 

18  hp 

27  gm 

28bn 

87frk 
38  hi 

47  pu 

48  hv 

67  ffs 

68  It 

9i8 

19  iq 

29  io 

39  im 

49  ik 

59  iu 

10  jt 

20  jr 

30jp 

40  j  n 

60jl 

60  jv 

SuppoBing  the  system  of  cycles  to  have  existed  in  4004  b.c.  (which 
it  did  notf),  that  year  would  have  been  the  fourteenth  of  the  cycle ; 
thence  it  is  easy  to  find  out  any  date,  as  the  first  year  of  the  cycle 
would  fall  as  follows : — 


Female. 

Male  and 
Female. 

Male  and 

Female  in 

conjmiction. 

No  Gender. 

Mal& 

B.C.  4017 

8957 

8897 

3837 

8777 

8717 

3657 

8697 

3537 

3477 

3417 

3357 

3297 

3237 

3177 

8117 

8057 

2997 

2937 

2877 

2817 

2767 

2697 

2637 

2677 

2517 

2467 

2397 

2337 

2277 

2217 

2167 

2097 

2037* 

1977 

1917 

1857 

1797 

1737 

1677 

1617 

1567 

1497 

1437 

1377 

1317 

1267 

1197 

1137* 

1077 

1017 

957 

897 

837 

777 

717 

667 

697 

637 

477 

417 

367 

297 

237 

177 

117 

57 

A.D.4 

*  The  letters  are  given  only  to  denote  the  order. 

t  Either  2037  B.C.  or  1737  b.c  was  probably  the  commencement  of  the 
Cycle. 


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their  Language y  Government y  Social  Institutions,  Ifc.       27 

The  year  1  a.d.  is  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  cycle ;  the  first  year  Mis 
as  follows : — 


Male  Axid 

female  in 

conj  unction. 

No 
Gender. 

Male. 

Female. 

Male  and 
Female. 

A.D.4 

804 

604 

004 

1204 

1604 

1804 

64 

364 

664 

964 

1264 

1564 

1864 

124 
424 
724 
1024 
1324 
1624 
1924 

184 

484 
784 
1084 
1884 
1684 
1984 

244 
544 
844 
1144 
1444 
1744 
2044 

By   denoting   gender 
of  cycle  of  60  years 
the  Chinese  educe  a 
cycle  of  300  years. 

The  present  year,  1870,  is  consequently  the  seventh  year  of  cycle 
without  gender.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  in  the  cycle  in 
Tibet,  1870  is  the  fifth,  not  the  seventh  year  of  cycle ;  that  is,  a 
discrepancy  of  two  years  has  crept  in  between-  tne  Chinese  and 
Tibetan  cycles. 

JSjeg  to  Animal  identified  with  gears  of  Cycle,  or  Cgcle  of 
twelve  gears. 


I 

13 

25 

37 

49 

year  of  cycle, 

a  mouse. 

2 

14 

26 

38 

50 

ff           fj 

ox. 

3 

15 

27 

39 

51 

f*             n 

tiger. 

4 

16 

28 

40 

62 

ff             f} 

hare. 

5 

17 

29 

41 

63 

V                   V 

dragon. 

6 

18 

30 

42 

54 

»>             *j 

serpent. 

7 

19 

31 

43 

55 

ft             ij 

horse. 

8 

20 

32 

44 

56 

}}             Ji 

sheep. 

9 

21 

33 

45 

57 

9f             n 

ape. 

10 

22 

34 

46 

58 

9}             yt 

bird. 

11 

23 

35 

47 

59 

it             tf 

dog. 

12 

24 

36 

48 

60 

99                    99 

hog. 

Having  thus  mentioned  the  formation  of  cycles,  I  proceed  to  the 
formation  of  the  year.  This  consists,  in  China,  of  twelve  lunar 
months  of  alternately,  or  nearly  alternately,  twenty-nine  and  thirty 
days ;  hence  new  moon  always  rails  on  the  Ist  of  the  month,  and  fuU 
moon  on  the  15th  or  16th.  To  approximate  lunar  to  solar  time, 
seven  intercalary  months  are  added  m  the  course  of  nineteen  years. 
The  month  is  aivided  into  three  periods — the  first  ten  days,  second 
ten  days,  third  nine  or  ten  days  according  to  the  leujc^th  of  the 
month.  The  division  of  time  into  weeks  of  seven  davs  is  unknown 
in  China.  It  is  evident,  from  what  I  have  stated  above,  that  235 
lunar  months  make  nearly  nineteen  years ;  hence  the  Chinese  have 
235  astronomical  names  of  months,  which  names  are  used  in  judicial 
astrology,  and  form  two  of  the  eight  characters  exchanged  in  the 
ceremony  of  marriage. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


28  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race, 

Discussion. 

Thk  President  referred  to  the  similarity  between  certain  Chinese 
customs  and  those  of  the  Polynesians,  such  as  the  exclusion  of  a 
word  occurring  in  the  name  of  a  great  chief.  In  like  manner,  the 
prohibition  of  marriage  between  persons  of  the  same  surname  is  a 
custom  common  to  the  Chinese  and  the  Australians.  He  alluded  to 
the  popular  but  erroneous  notion  that  the  Chinese  were  physicallr 
identical  with  the  Mongols,  and  pointed  to  the  fact  that  althoura 
both  had  long  black  hair  on  the  head,  and  only  scanty  hair  on  the 
face,  yet  the  Chinese  had  a  long  skull,  with  fairly  developed  brow- 
'  ridges,  whilst  the  Central  Asiatic  had  a  broad  skull  deficient  in 
brow-ridges. 

Capt.  8HERARD  Osborne,  E.N.,  said  that  he  was  not  competent 
to  pass  an  opinion  upon  any  of  the  points  alluded  to  in  the  paper 
beyond  that  of  the  social  organization  of  the  Chinese  people.  On 
that  point  Mr.  Gardner's  paper  appeared  to  him  a  very  perfect  pho- 
tograph of  the  condition  of  a  race  that  had  attempted  to  extend  the 
patriarchal  and  plirental  system,  which  serves  to  control  a  family,  to 
the  government  of  400  millions  of  people.  That  it  was  a  success  he 
disputed,  though  it  might  be  interesting  and  strange.  The  Chinese 
systems  of  education,  morality,  and  government  were  incapable  of 
meeting  the  wants  of  to-day,  or  of  securing  the  progression  and  hap- 
piness of  that  mighty  people  in  their  inevitable  contact  with  Euro- 
pean civilization.  Mr.  Gardner  bore  somewhat  hard  on  the  effect 
which  contact  with  a  superior  civilization  had  produced  on  the  con- 
dition of  the  Chinese  race,  and  had  depreciated  that  progress  which 
was  as  inevitable  as  it  was  good.  Capt.  Osborne  joined  issue  with 
him  there,  Chinese  civilization  and  self-government  were  of  them- 
selves incapable  of  progress  beyond  a  certain  point,  which  seemed  to 
be  reached  about  every  200  years,  when  there  was  a  general  up- 
heaving of  the  masses,  horrible  rebellions,  and  frightful  destruction 
of  human  beings.  Then  the  land  relapsed  into  a  state  of  torpor, 
and  peace  reigned  again  in  China.  Such  had  been  her  past  history. 
The  remedy  for  this  was,  no  doubt,  Emigration ;  but  whence  came 
that  new  institution  ?  When  the  speaker  first  went  to  China,  thirty 
years  ago,  it  was  death  by  the  laws  of  the  country  for  the  poorest 
creature  to  emigrate.  They  are  wiser  now ;  but  thanks  to  whom  ? 
why,  to  European  example  and  English  pressure.  So  with  all  else  we 
offer  them.  The  steamship  they  have  already  accepted.  The  railway 
and  engineering  talent  of  Europe  is  just  what  China  now  most  needs. 

They  are  excellent  in  aU  that  they  have  put  their  hand  to,  and 
the  speaker  knew  no  limit  to  what  the  people,  unhampered  by  their 
wretched  government  and  laws,  were  capable  of  becoming.  In  front 
of  them,  across  the  Pacific,  lay  land  whither  they  were  going  in  tens 
of  thousands.  Around  them  on  every  side  were  countries  wild  and 
hostile,  which  they  had  already  colonized  or  would  shortly.  As 
colonists  their  powers  of  self-government,  and  the  ease  with  which 
they  formed  petty  organizations,  were,  in  such  wild  lands  as  Borneo 
and  Malaya,  a  great  advantage  against  the  idle  and  hostile  races 
which  they  were  superseding.     It  was  there,  as  compared  with  wild 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


Discussion.  29 

Malays  and  savage  Dyaks,  that  the  Chinese  system  of  goyemment 
shone ;  but  it  would  not  bear  comparison  with  even  tlie  worst  of 
European  rule  for  large  communities  in  modem  days. 

It  nad  been  said  that  the  introduction  of  railways  near  Shangai 
wotdd  throw  thousands  of  Chinamen  out  of  employ,  and  perhaps 
drive  them  to  become  mere  banditti ;  but  Capt.  Osborne  repied  bv 
referring  to  the  great  inundations  of  the  Yellow  River,  through  which 
it  had  been  computed  that  many  millions  of  Chinese  had  been  either 
starved  or  driven  to  beggary.  European  engineering  skill,  if  in- 
troduced, would  probably  have  averted  these  inundations,  and  would 
thus  have  saved  all  these  unfortunate  beings. 

Mr.  BowLAi^D  Hamiltok,  in  reference  to  Capt.  Osborne's  re- 
marks that  the  rebellions  of  the  Chinese  were  caused  by  the  want 
of  any  means  of  subsistence  being  found  for  the  people  in  case  of  any 
great  catastrophe,  stated  that,  in  1859,  one  of  the  worst  of  the  rebel- 
lions (that  of  the  so-called  Nienfi,  who  ravaged  Shantung  speciallv) 
was  understood  to  have  arisen  from  the  abandonment  of  the  works 
to  retain  the  Hwang-Ho  after  they  had  been  carried  away  by  a  great 
inundation.  Some  30,000  people  were  then  said  to  have  been  thus 
thrown  out  of  employment ;  and  no  other  means  of  gaining  a  sub- 
sistence were  open  to  them,  nor  were  there  any  imperid^or  pro- 
vincial resources  applicable  to  meeting  so  great  an  evil :  hence  the 
wretched  people  had  no  other  means  of  saving  their  lives  than  by 
plundering  the  neighbouring  cities.  He  believed  that  two  great 
evils  in  China  were  the  want  of  a  **  Poor  Law,"  and  inadequate  tax- 
ation. For  any  great  disaster  beyond  the  newer  of  private  or  local 
benevolence,  there  were  no  means  of  remedy  provided  by  the  law ; 
and  as  regarded  taxation,  though  no  doubt  the  people  paid  heavily, 
yet  no  adequate  amount  ever  came  to  the  genend  or  imperial  trea- 
sury. 

The  moral  state  of  the  people  showed  a  marked  coincidence  with 
this  social  condition.  The  feeling  of  fidelity  to  the  village  or  guild 
was  very  strong ;  but  the  conscience  of  the  people  did  not  rise  to  the 
perception  of  Uieir  hisher  duties  to  the  state  or  to  its  courts  of  law. 
W  ith  a  vast  extent  of  empire,  showing  many  excellencies  in  detail, 
there  was  no  power,  moral  or  material,  to  meet  great  difficulties  or  to 
bring  imperial  resources  to  meet  imperial  necessities. 

The  Eev.  Prof.  Suhmsbs  expressed  his  opinion  that  if  the  language 
of  China  were  viewed  apart  from  the  written  characters  by  which  it 
was  expressed,  and  then  compared  with  the  languages  of  the  neieh- 
bouring  nations,  some  common  points  of  resemblance  would  be  dis- 
covered, especially  in  the  construction  of  phrases  and  sentences,  as 
well  as  in  the  forms  of  words  and  idioms.  The  Chinese  language 
was  more  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  philologist  than  it  was 
generally  deemed  to  be ;  and  in  this  opinion  the  speaker  was  borne 
out  by  the  assertion  of  a  very  learned  Sanskrit  scholar,  who  be- 
lieved that  Chinese  should  form  the  basis  and  starting-point  of 
philological  study.  With  regard  to  the  similarity  of  constructions, 
be  found  resemblances  between  the  Chinese  and  Tibetan,  and  even 
the  Sanskrit. 

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80  C.  T.  Gardner — On  the  Chinese  Race. 

Mr.  Htde  Clabkb  said  be  felt  bound  to  differ  from  bis  friend 
Mr.  Hunter  aa  to  tbe  bjpotbesis  tbat  tbe  Chinese  is  tbe  original 
language  from  wbicb  tbe  Aryan  languages  bave  been  practicallj 
denved.  It  was  necessary  to  be  particularly  cautious  in  draw- 
ing conclusions  of  this  kind ;  for  tbere  is  no  language  wbicb  will 
not  offer  suggestions  of  similarity  witb  otbers.  IGs  learned  friend 
Prof.  Summers  bad  naturally  referred  to  tbose  wbicb  be  bad  found 
between  Cbinese  and  tbe  Aryan  languages.  He  bimself  bad  found 
remarkable  coincidences  between  Osmanli  Turkisb  and  Englisb ; 
but  no  one  could  suppose  tbat  eitber  language  bad  exercised  an  in- 
fluence  on  the  other  in  these  details. 

Mr.  Ghu^ner  had  referred  in  bis  paper  to  an  interesting  subject — 
tbe  relation  of  tbe  Cbinese  characters  to  those  of  the  other  ancient 
nations ;  and  be  might  have  added  examples  from  the  cuneiform,  thus 
extending  tbe  field  of  relationship.  At  the  same  time  the  propagation 
and  distribution  of  ideographic  and  phonetic  signs  bave  no  necessary 
connexion  witb  any  affinity  of  language  as  between  the  Cbinese  and 
any  other  stock ;  nor  do  they  justify  the  impression  that  the  Cbinese 
were  tbe  inventors,  since  they  perhaps  received  them  from  another 
and  an  earlier  race.  On  tbe  other  nand,  they  do  not  prove  that 
ideographic  writing  was  obtained  by  all  the  nations  at  one  common 
centre,  because  the  earlier  systems  of  writing  were  most  likely 
propagated  from  nation  to  nation,  as  at  a  later  period  the  Phos- 
nician  alphabet  is  said  by  tradition  to  have  been  communicated  by 
Cadmus  to  the  Greeks.  Tbe  distribution  of  tbe  system  of  writing 
is  a  comparatively  late  ethnological  phenomenon,  one  much  posterior 
to  tbat  of  any  community  of  language. 

The  President  had  referred  to  illustrations  of  corresponding  facts 
to  those  adduced  by  Mr.  Gardner;  and  such  must  be  famiBar  to 
all  of  them.  He  had  witnessed  many  such  instances  on  tbe  other 
side  of  Asia ;  and  even  details  like  the  applications  of  names  and  the 
influence  of  women  bad  their  parallel  in  the  Osmanli  and  other 
eastern  empires.  We  bad  a  recent  instance  of  tbe  literary  name  in 
tbe  case  of  our  visitor,  the  late  Puad  Pasha,  Euad  being  the  literary- 
name.  Such  illustrations  might  be  multiplied.  While  making  this 
observation,  wbicb  goes  chiefly  to  this  extent — ^that  a  similar  state  of 
society,  or  of  circumstances,  will  often  bring  about  similar  institu- 
tions, it  must  nevertheless  be  borne  in  mind,  as  a  practical  result  of 
ethnological  teaching,  tbat  tbe  government  of  a  country  must  be 
conducted  in  relation  to  tbe  habits  and  customs  of  tbe  natives.  In 
this  respect  such  researches  as  tbose  of  Mr.  Gardner,  and  the  dis- 
cussions wbicb  they  receive  at  tbe  hands  of  men  of  science,  are  of 
particular  value  in  their  bearing  on  the  art  of  government,  and  in 
our  diplomatic  and  commercial  relations  with  various  races.  Of  this 
influence  the  Government  of  India  is  showing  evidence,  and  tbe  ex- 
ertions of  Mr.  Hunter,  Mr.  Gardner,  and  otbers,  all  contribute  to  a 
better  understanding. 

Mr.  Clarke  remarked  tbat  be  bad  observed  linguistic  afflnities 
between  tbe  languages  of  tbe  S6urs  and  tbe  Thugs  of  India  and 
tbose  of  the  Koriaks,  &c.,  and  also  between  tbose  of  the  Japanese  and 


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Dr.  Leitner — On  the  Races  and  Languages  of  Dardistan,    31 

Loo-Chooans  and  the  Tamil  group.  If  these  be  true,  then  the 
Chinese,  as  intrusive  on  their  intervening  area,  will  be  later  in  time, 
and  their  descent  irom  the  Tibeto- Chinese  centre  comparatively  late, 
and  perhaps  within  the  historic  period.  In  such  case  they  may  have 
inherited  the  civilization  of  earlier  occupants.  They  would  occupy 
in  China  a  position  corresponding  to  that  of  the  Aryans  in  India. 


Ordinary  Meeting,  November  28rd^  1869. 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.B.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Member. — ^Major-General  Alexander  Cunningham. 

Dr.  Leitner  exhibited  a  portion  of  his  collection  of  objects  of 
ethnological  interest  from  Dardistan  and  Tibet.  He  then  made 
a  verbal  communication  on  the  Dards^  of  which  the  following  is 
an  abstract : — 

III.  On  the  Races  and  Languages  of  Dardistan. 
By  Dr.  G.  W.  Leitner,  M.A. 

The  author  commenced  by  giving  an  account  of  his  tour  in  1866^ 
which  extended  from  the  beginning  of  May  to  the  last  week  in 
October.  During  this  period  he  passed  through  Lahul^  Zans- 
kar,  Ladak^  Little  Tibet,  Kashmir,  Astor,  and  Ghilghit.  Find- 
ing the  ordinary  passes  closed,  he  discovered  with  much  difficulty 
a  passage  into  Ladak  through  Lahul  and  Zanskar  by  crossing 
the  Shingun  and  Marang,  instead  of  by  following  the  usual  route 
by  the  Bara-lacha  and  the  Lachalung.  He  thus  reached  Ladak 
in  the  middle  of  May,  one  month  before  the  arrival  of  the  post, 
and  long  before  the  passes  are  considered  open. 

In  visiting  the  Abbot  of  Pugdal  in  Zanskar,  Dr.  Leitner  found 
him  willing  to  undertake  the  safe  conveyance  of  any  European 
to  and  from  Lassa.  It  was  in  the  huge  cavern-monastery  of 
Pugdal  that  the  Hungarian,  Csoma  de  Coros,  spent  five  years  as 
a  lama  in  order  to  learn  Tibetan.  Among  the  good  effects  of 
his  life  here,  may  be  mentioned  the  abolition  of  the  use  of  the 
prayer- wheel. 

Dr.  Leitner  referred  to  the  exertions  of  the  Maharajah  of  Kash- 
mir in  promoting  the  advance  of  Hindooism,  a  fact  opposed  to 
the  general  idea  that  this  faith  is  never  proselytizing.  During 
this  tour  the  author  discovered  a  people  called  the  Brokhpd,  of 
pure  Aryan  origin  and  traditions,  living  side  by  side  with  the 
Tibetans. 

As  the  Maharajah  of  Kashmir  held  some  Chilasi  prisoners,  it 
was  considered  by  the  Punjab  Government  that  the  services  of 


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82  Dr.  Leitner — On  Dardistan, 

Dr.  Leitner,  when  in  Kashmir,  might  be  utilized  for  the  purpose 
of  collecting  information  regarding  these  people.  It  was  sug- 
gested that  there  might  be  some  connexion  between  Chilas  and 
the  Kaylus  or  Olympus  of  the  Hindoo  gods.  Failing,  however, 
to  obtain  the  required  information  in  Kashmir,  Dr.  Leitner  felt 
it  to  be  his  duty  to  cross  the  frontier,  although  the  country  was 
then  engaged  in  war  with  Kashmir.  He  accordingly  advanced 
to  Ghilghit,  thus  going  four  marches  beyond  the  furthest  point 
previously  attained  by  any  European  traveller.  In  this  way  he 
dispelled  the  illusion  regarding  the  inaccessibility  of  Dardistan, 
or  the  country  lying  between  Khagan  and  the  Hindoo- Koosh. 
The  Dards  inhabiting  this  country  were  previously  regarded  as  a 
ferocious  people,  and  even  as  cannibals.  They  are  a  remnant 
of  an  ancient  and  pure  Aryan  race;  and  their  languages  were 
probably  spoken  long  before  Sanskrit  was  developed  into  the 
language  of  literature. 

A  great  exception,  however,  is  to  be  found  in  the  Khajunah 
(the  language  spoken  by  the  people  of  Hunza  and  Nagyr),  which 
apparently  bears  no  resemblance  to  any  other  known  language. 
The  only  attempt  at  inflection  consists  in  certain  prefixed  gut- 
turals. It  would  seem,  however,  that  the  verb  to  be  resembles 
an  Aryan  form;  but  it  may  have  been  introduced  at  a  late 
period.  The  Hunza  people  speaking  this  language  are  known 
as  the  mountain-robbers  of  Kunjut. 

Although  the  Dards  have  no  written  character,  they  have  pre- 
served orally,  in  songs  and  stories,  some  most  interesting  frag- 
ments of  history  and  mythology.  Dr.  Leitner  concluded  by 
reading  a  Dardu  legend  which  he  had  committed  to  writing, 
and  which  professed  to  give  an  historical  account  of  the  origin 
of  Ghilghit.  In  this  legend  it  was  stated  that  a  race,  believed  to 
be  aborigines,  were  once  ruled  over  by  a  monster  who  indulged 
in  cannibalism.  At  a  certain  time  three  fairies  appeared  on  a 
mountain,  and  ultimately  delivered  Ghilghit  from  the  oppressor. 
After  his  death,  an  annual  festival  was  held  in  commemoration 
of  the  deliverance. 

Discussion. 

The  Presidskt  inquired  as  to  the  physical  characters  of  the  Siah- 
p6sh  Kafirs,  who  haid  been  described  as  a  fair-haired,  blue-eyed 
people.  The  author  replied  that  they  were  certainly  &irer  than  the 
Kashmirs,  and  that  one  of  the  Kafir  youths  who  stayed  with  him  had 
blue  eyes. 

Mr.  Trxlawitt  Sa-UNDSRs  was  desirous  of  obtaining  some  infor- 
mation on  the  natural  conditions  of  these  Ghilghit  valleys,  especially 
of  the  north-eastern  branch,  including  Bunza  and  Nagar  or  Nagayr. 
The  latter  valley  was  often  alluded  to  by  the  name  of  Kunjut,  espe- 
cially with  reference  to  the  depredations  made  by  its  people  upon 


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Discussion.  33 

carayana  trading  to  Yarkand  from  Badakshan  on  the  west  and  Ladak 
on  the  south. 

It  is  remarkable  that,  although  Kunjut  is  surrounded  by  peaks 
25,000  feet  in  height,  it  is  occupied  by  a  permanent  population ; 
while  at  the  same  time  the  adjoining  valleys  on  tbe  east,  which  form 
a  part  of  the  Shigar  basin,  are  filled  by  the  most  formidable  glaciers. 
The  Biafo  glacier  was  found,  by  Captain  Godwin- Austen,  extending 
from  the  frontier  of  Nagyr  eastward  for  fifly  miles.  The  causes  of 
these  distinctions  have  yet  to  be  explained. 

It  was  with  great  pleasure  that  Mr.  Saunders  had  heard  of  the 
willingness  of  the  Lama  Abbot  of  the  monastery  of  Pugdal  in  Zan- 
skar  to  enable  a  qualified  European  to  reach  Lassa.  Having  in 
view  the  promotion  of  negociations  at  Peking  for  the  removal  of  the 
absolute  prevention  bv  the  Chinese  Ghovemment  of  European  inter- 
course between  Britisn  India  and  the  Chinese  dominions,  Mr.  Saun- 
ders regarded  such  an  exercise  of  the  Lama's  influence  as  highly  desi- 
rable, and  deserving  of  the  attention  of  Q-overnment. 

Mr.  ErvENQToir  begged  to  be  allowed  to  speak  on  the  subject  of 
his  frient  Mr.  Cooper's  journey  through  China  into  Tibet.  Me  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  ]S£r.  Cooper  at  Hong  £on&;  after  his  return, 
and  understood  that,  furnished  with  passes  from  the  Chinese  author- 
ities, he  met  with  no  opposition  from  the  Maudarins  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  his  journey  through  China ;  but  after  leaving  Chma  and 
Penetrating  into  Tibet,  he  was  robbed  and  turned  back  by  the 
'ibetans;  upon  his  return  through  China  he  met  with  kindness 
from  the  Chinese.  British  subjects,  he  believed,  found  no  difficulty 
in  obtaining  the  requisite  passes,  which  enabled  them  to  travel  through 
China  with  few  obstacles  from  the  authorities ;  but  were  passes  to 
be  obtained  from  Peking  authorizing  British  subjects  to  travel  in 
Tibet,  it  is  considered  very  doubtful  whether  they  would  thereby 
be  rendered  secure  from  hindrance  and  ill-usage  at  the  hands  of  tribes 
only  nonunally  subject  to  the  Chinese  Emperor. 

Mr.  Htde  Clajslke  confirmed  the  statements  of  Dr.  Leitner,  that, 
as  far  as  his  own  investigations  had  gone,  there  are  no  known  conge- 
ners of  Khajunah ;  and  he  agreed  with  him  that  the  verb  ''  to  be  "  was 
not  Aryan,  but  that  the  resemblance  was  casual.  The  numerals  in 
many  groups,  as  in  the  Indo-European,  the  Semitic,  and  the  Malay, 
are  typical  and  can  be  traced  through  each  member  of  the  group ; 
but  in  the  TJgro-Tatar  this  Ib  not  the  case,  and  there  is  more  than  one 
type  of  numerals.  This  may  be  the  case  with  the  Khajunah,  which 
possibly  belongs  to  some  group  in  which  the  numerals  are  un- 
conformable. With  regard  to  the  other  leading  radicals,  he  hoped  he 
should  not  be  misunderstood  when  he  stated  that  they  appeared  to 
bear  some  resemblance  to  Yenisseian.  In  the  case  of  a  member  dis- 
severed at  a  very  andent  period,  the  variations  of  type  are  always 
found  to  be  considerable.  A  very  interesting  question  for  investiga- 
tion is  whether  there  is  any  ethnological  connexion  between  the 
Khajunah  and  the  Dardi  stocks,  and,  in  such  case,  whether  the  Dardi 
tribes  have  not  lost  the  Khajunah  language  and  assumed  the  later 
Aryan. 

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34  Dr.  Lkitner — On  Dardisian, 

Br.  Campbell  said  that  through  Dr.  Leitner's  kindness  he  had 
been  enabled  to  inspect  the  whole  of  his  collection  at  the  India 
Office,  of  which  a  small  portion  only  was  then  exhibited.  It  ap- 
peared to  him  that  the  articles  of  clothing  and  of  domestic  use 
clearly  indicated  that  they  belonged  to  a  Tibetan  people,  and  that 
the  symbols  of  religious  worship  were  decidedly  Buddhistic.  This 
was  worthy  of  note,  as  the  great  body  of  the  people  in  Ghilghit,  Chi- 
tral,  and  Chilas  were  described  by  Munphool  Pundit  in  1867,  and  by 
Dr.  Leitner  himself,  as  Mahomedans  of  tne  Sunni  and  Shia  sects.  Dr. 
Campbell  greatly  regretted  that  General  Cunningham  (whose  account 
of  Ladak  and  I)ardistan  had  been  frequently  referred  to  by  Dr. 
Leitner)  was  not  present ;  but  Munphool  Pundit's  report  was  valuable 
as  confirming  Dr.  Leitner's  account  of  the  country  and  people  ho 
had  visited*.  Begarding  the  Siah-Posh  Kafirs,  said  by  the  Pundit 
to  have  blue  eyes,  ruddy  complexion,  and  fair  hair.  Dr.  Leitner  hesi- 
tated to  give  his  assent.  Sir  Alexander  Bumes,  who  described  the 
Kafirs  in  1831,  saw  one  boy  only  of  this  remarkable  tribe ;  "  his  com- 
plexion, hair,  and  features  were  quite  European,  his  eyes  were  of  a 
bluish  colour,"  and  *'  some  of  his  words  were  Indian."  9o  that  in 
respect  of  language  Dr.  Leitner's  account  agreed  with  Bumes's. 

Dr.  Leitner  laid  great  stress  on  the  advancement  of  Hindooism 
in  Dardistan,  and  on  the  authoritative  efforts  of  the  Maharajab  of 
Kashmir  to  spread  his  own  religion  in  that  country,  and  he  depre- 
cated the  Maharajah's  action  in  this  direction.  Dr.  Campbell  was 
quite  familiar  with  a  similar  advancement  of  quasi-Hindooism  in 
Nipal,  where  the  Government  was  strictly  Hindoo,  and  all  classes  had 
to  look  to  Hindoos  as  the  sources  of  honour  and  preferment.  Among 
the  various  tribes  of  Nipal  who  are  not  Hindoos  there  is  a  constant 
increase  of  Hindoo  observances  in  religion  and  social  usages,  although 
no  forcible  means  are  ever  used  to  produce  it. 

Dr.  Campbell  was  greatly  pleased  to  hear  the  flattering  tribute 
paid  by  Dr.  Leitner  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Csoroa  de  Cords. 
The  speaker  knew  De  Cords  well ;  there  never  was  a  more  modest 
and  single-minded  man,  or  a  more  devoted  scholar.  He  came  to 
Darjeeling  as  his  last  hope  of  getting  to  Lassa ;  but  on  his  way  there 
from  Assam  he  caught  jungle-fever  and  died.  Dr.  Campbell  said 
he  should  have  great  pleasure  in  communicating  what  Ih*.  Leitner 
had  said  of  De  Coros  to  his  fellow  townsmen  of  Pesth,  where  his 
memory  was  held  in  great  veneration. 

Dr.  Leitner  did  not  believe  in  the  stories  of  cannibalism  told  of 
some  of  the  tribes  of  Dardistan ;  and  they  might  not  be  true ;  but  as 
it  appeared,  from  the  historical  account  he  had  read  of  the  foundation 
of  a  new  dynasty  in  Ghilghit  on  the  destruction  of  a  tyrant  and 
cannibal  ruler,  that  there  was  some  slight  foundation  for  them, 
Dr.  Campbell  said  it  was  not  surprising  that  the  charge  had  come 
down  to  present  times. 

•  [An  Extract  from  this  Report  follows  the  Discuasion. — Sub-Ed.] 


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MuNPHOoL  Pundit — On  Gilffit,  Chitral,  and  Kashmir.     85 

The  following  Extract  from  a  Communicatiou  by  Munphool 
Pundit  to  the  Political  Department,  India  Office,  1867,  is  printed 
by  permission  of  Dr.  A.  Campbell*. 

Relations  between  GUgit,  Chitral,  and  Kashmir. 

Oilgit  is  a  small  mountainous  country,  traversed  by  a  river  of  that 
name  and  lying  to  the  south  of  the  Kara  Koram,  or  Trans-Thibetan 
range,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Indus. 

It  is  about  100  miles  lon^  from  north  to  south,  with  a  mean 
breadth  of  26  miles.    Its  area  is  therefore  about  2500  square  milesf. 

Tasin,  a  subdivison  of  Chitral-bala  (Upper  Chitral),  borders  on 
Gilgit  in  the  west,  Hunza  and  Nagri  in  the  north  and  north-east, 
Danl  (Chelas  and  Hasura  or  Astor  across  the  Indus)  in  the  south 
and  south-east,  and  Balti  in  the  east. 

The  Gilgit  river  is  one  of  the  principal  mountain  feeders  of  the 
Indus.  Its  upper  course  is  formed  of  two  principal  branches,  the 
Tasin  and  Parasot  rivers.  The  former  rises  in  north  latitude  87° 
and  east^longitude  73°,  at  the  point  where  the  Kara  Koram  merges 
into  the  Hindu-kush.  The  source  of  the  Parasot  is  in  36°  10'  north 
latitude  and  72°  40'  east  longitude,  on  the  eastern  face  of  the  range 
which  gives  rise  to  the  Chitral  or  Kunar  river.  After  a  separate 
course  of  75  miles  each,  the  two  streams  join  above  Eoshan,  in  lati- 
tude 36°  20'  and  longitude  73°  30',  and  take  an  easterly  course  for 
25  miles  to  Gkk)kuch,  where  they  are  joined  by  the  Chatarkun  river 
from  the  north.  Thence  to  the  town  of  Gilgit  its  course  is  east- 
south-east  for  50  miles,  below  which  it  receives  the  joint  tribute  of 
the  Hunza-Nagri  rivers.  It  continues  the  same  course  for  about 
30  miles  further,  to  its  junction  with  the  Indus,  below  the  defile  of 
Makpon-i-Shang-Bong.  The  general  direction  of  the  stream  is  to 
the  east-south-east,  and  its  whole  length  not  less  than  180  miles. 
The  minimum  discharge  is  probably  2(W0  cubic  feet,  or  even  morej. 

The  valleys  in  Gilgit  are : — Gilgit  in  the  south  and  south-west, 
Chaprot  in  the  north,  Bakrot  in  the  east,  and  Sai  and  Gor  in  the 
south-east,  &c.  And  the  forts  or  walled  habitations : — in  the  north, 
Barr,  Badlus,  Chaprot,  Chalat,  and  Nummul,  along  the  right  bank  of 
the  Hunza  river ;  in  the  north-west,  Bargu,  Shakeyot,  and  Sherot,  in 
the  Gilgit  valley,  the  largest  in  the  counhy,  in  the  direction  of  Fayal 
and  Yasin;  in  the  south,  Gilgit,  Danyur,  Naupur,  Shakwar,  and 
Manor ;  in  the  south-east,  Nanrot,  Chakarkot,  Jagote,  Domat,  Sai, 
and  Got  ;  in  the  east.  Sanagahr,  Bakrot,  Hamusal,  Ziaj,  <&c. 

The  people  of  Gilgit  are  Shia  Musalmans ;  and  the  whole  country 
is  now  supposed  to  contain  not  more  than  1000  houses. 

Its  produce  in  grain  and  fruits,  viz.  rice,  barley,  apples,  pomegra- 
nates, apricots,  walnuts,  peaches,  figs,  and  grapes,  barely  suffices  for 
home  consumption. 

•  [This  document  is  reprinted  without  anyattempt  to  reconcile  the  spjelling 
of  proper  names  with  that  followed  in  Dr.  Leitner^s  communication. — 
SuB-lSt).] 

t  Cunningham's  'Ladakh/  p.  3d.  X  ^&^-  PP-  ^,  ^^^ 


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86  MuNPHooL  Pundit — On  GVffii, 

Gilgit  is  22  marches  distant  from  Kashmir  (the  road  between  the 
two  places  lying  in  a  north-westerly  direction,  through  Hasura  aud 
Bunji,  old  dependencies  of  Kashmir),  8  from  Yasin,  4  from  Gaokuch 
(chief  place  in  Payal,  an  old  dependency  of  Yasin),  22  from  Kashkaro 
(capital  of  Lower  Chitral),  ana  6  from  Daril. 

Hunza  (also  called  Kunjut)  and  ^aefri,  two  small  Shia  districts, 
adjoining  Gilgit  in  the  north  and  north-east,  and  lying  along  the 
opposite  banks  of  the  Hunza  river,  are  ruled  by  two  different  Chiefs, 
IL&jas  Ghazanfar  and  Zahid  Jafar,  at  variance  with  each  other,  who, 
as  the  following  narrative  will  show,  are  closely  mixed  up  with  the 
question  of  the  Gilgit  frontier.  Hunza  is  supposed  to  contain  1500 
nouses,  and  Nagri  about  4000* : — 

The  country  of  Chitral,  divided  into  Upper  (bala)and  Lower  (payan), 
and  held  by  two  different  branches  of  an  ancient  family  of  rulers,  is 
bounded  on  the  north  and  north-west  by  the  Hindu-kush  range  (con- 
tinuation of  the  Trans-Thibetan  or  Kara  Koram  range),  which  divides 
it  from  the  Pamer  steppes  in  the  north,  and  the  Wakhan,  Zebak,  and 
Sanglich  districts  of  Badakhshan  in  the  north-west ;  west  and  south- 
west by  Kafiristan ;  south  by  the  Pranshi  (Laspur)  range  of  moun- 
tains ;  east  by  Gilgit  and  the  wild  independent  tracts  of  mountainous 
country  known  by  the  provincial  names  of  Shanaki  and  Kohistan — 
the  former  (Shanaki)  comprising  the  districts  of  Hodar,  Dodshal, 
Gibrial,  Daril,  Tandr,  Komi,  Palas,  <S:;c.,  inhabited  by  different  tribes 
of  Dards  speaking  the  Bard  dialect ;  and  the  latter  (Kohistan),  a  part 
of  Yaghistan,  contains  the  districts  of  Khundeyah,  Guryal,  Dothoin, 
Halail,  Dubair,  Samangyal,  Munji,  Bandkhar,  &c.,  peopled  by  Afghans 
who  speak  the  Pashto. 

The  valley  of  Chitral,  running  in  a  south-westerly  direction  through 
the  whole  length  of  the  country  (Upper  and  Lower  included),  and  into 
which  numerous  smaller  valleys  and  defiles  open  out,  is  traversed 
throughout  by  a  river  called  Chitral,  after  the  name  of  the  country, 
and  Khunar,  from  the  circumstance  of  its  joining  the  Kunar  or 
Kama  river  at  Chaghan  Sarai,  aplace  in  Kunar,  whence  the  united 
stream  falls  into  the  Landa  or  KTabul  river  at  Jalalabad,  8  marches 
below. 

The  Chitral  river  takes  its  rise  from  a  lake  called  Chittiboi,  at  the 
foot  of  the  Chitral  Pass,  over  the  Kara-Koram  or  Trans-Thibetan 
range,  between  Chitral  and  the  Pamer  steppes.  This  lake  is  some- 
times closed  with  avalanches  from  the  pass. 

Chitral-bala  lies  along  the  upper  course  of  the  river,  and  Chitral- 
payan  on  the  lower. 

The  chief  places  in  the  former  are — Mistuch,  Yasin  (seats  of  divi- 
sional governments),  Chitarkun,  Payal,  Gaokuch,  Yarsh-gum ;  and  in 
the  latter,  Chitral  or  Kashkaro,  Suget,  Baruz,  Drus,  &c. 

The  population  consists*  of  Musalmans,  both  Sunni  and  Shia»  and 
Kafirs.  The  Sunnis  inhabit  the  southern  portion  of  the  country, 
and  the  Shias  the  northern  and  north-western  tracts,  adjoining  the 

*  The  two  districts  (Hunza  and  Nagri)  have  an  area  of  1672  square  miles. 
(Cunningham's  'Ladakh/  p.  38.) 


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Chitral,  and  Kashmir.  37 

Sbia  districts  of  Wakhan,  Zebak  and  Sanglich  in  Badakhsan,  and 
G-ilgit,  &c.  The  Kafirs  are  confined  to  a  tract  bordering  on  Eiifiris- 
tan,  to  which  it  formerly  belonged,  now  under  Chitral-payan. 

The  rulers,  professing  Stinniism,  have,  ever  since  the  introduction 
of  Islamism  into  Central  Asia,  been  carrying  on  the  singularly  hor- 
rid practice  of  selling  their  own  subjects  into  slavery.  I'ollowin^  a 
doctrine  of  their  own  creation,  that  the  "  Sharah  "  (Muhammacuui 
law)  permits  the  Sunni  to  make  slaves  of  Kafirs  (unbelievers), 
amongst  whom  they  include  the  Shias*,  they  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  capturing  their  Shia  and  Kafir  subjects,  as  well  as  Siahposh  E!afirs 
or  others  kidnapped  or  forcibly  brought  away  from  the  adjacent 
countries  of  Kannstan,  Oilgit,  &c.,  and  sellins  them  into  slavery  to 
slave-dealers  from  Badakhshan,  Kundus,  Turkistan,  Balkh,  Bukhara, 
and  Afghanistan,  &c.,  receiving  their  price  in  cash  and  goods.  Cri- 
minal and  political  offences  amount  the  Shia  and  Kafir  subjects  of 
Chitral  are,  as  a  general  rule,  punished  by  enslavement  of  the  offen- 
ders themselves,  their  children,  or  other  grown-up  relations.  Some- 
times whole  families  are  sold  away  in  groups.  The  Sunni  population, 
professing  the  same  &ith  as  their  rulers,  and  protected  by  the  Sharah, 
are  free  from  all  such  servile  bonda^  and  transfer. 

The  slave  forms  one  of  the  principal  items  of  revenue  of  the  Chi- 
tral rulers.  The  annual  tribute  which  they  pay  to  the  Chief  of  Ba- 
dakhsan,  to  whom  they  owe  a  sort  of  allegiance,  is  made  in  slaves. 

The  Chitral  slave  girls  and  boys  are  the  most  prized  of  all  the  dif- 
ferent descriptions  of  slaves  brought  to  the  Turkistan  market,  ex- 
cepting, perhaps,  the  Irani  (Persian),  for  their  superior  beauty  f, 
docility,  and  fidelitv.  The  Chitrali,  perhaps,  is  equally  faithful  with 
his  brother  slave  of  Africa,  the  negro  (Habashi— Abyssinian),  whose 
devoted  attachment  to  his  master  is  proverbial  in  the  East.  The 
Kafirs,  distin^shed  bv  their  whiter  skins,  redder  complexion,  blue 
eyes,  light  hair,  and  roDuster  form,  are  the  most  untractable  and  re- 
vengeful of  all  the  other  descriptions  of  slaves  in  Central  Asia. 

Combining  great  physical  strength  with  desperate  courage,  inured 
to  chase  and  war,  from  the  nature  of  their  country,  their  social 
habits  and  institutions,  and  the  constitution  of  their  government, 
which  is  purely  patriarchal,  divided  into  numerous  patriarchies,  split 
by  hereditary  feuds  into  factions,  the  Kafirs  have  not  only  success- 
fully repulsed  the  occasional  predatory  incursions  of  their  Musalman 
neighbours,  the  Afghans,  the  Chitralis,  and  the  Badakhshis,  but  con- 
stantly retaliated  by  making  raids  on  all  the  tracts  bordering  on 
their  own.    These  marauding  excursions  have,  of  late  years,  ceased 

*  The  Shia,  though  professing  Islam,  is  looked  upon  by  the  Sunni  in  the 
light  of  a  Kafir,  and  termed  "Rafazi''  (heretic).  Throughout  Turkistan 
(Bukhara  in  particular)  Shias  are  not  tolerated.  Whilst  there,  they  are  con- 
sequently obbged  to  hide  their  belief,  and  conduct  themselves  in  all  outward 
forms  of  religion,  as  well  as  social  intercourse,  like  Sunnis. 

t  The  ChitraUs  bear  a  strong  resemblance,  m  their  physiognomy,  features, 
and  colour,  to  the  hill-neople  of  Chamba  ana  Kangra.  Their  beau^  consists 
in  symmetry  of  form,  olack  eyes,  and  hair.  The  Shias  shave  their  beard, 
and  wear  short  hair,  Uke  natives  of  India. 


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Google 


38    MuNPHooL  Pundit — On  Gilgit,  Chitral,  and  Kashmir, 

in  the  direction  of  Badakhshan  and  Chitral,  since  the  eBtablishment 
of  friendly  relations  between  the  border  Eifirs  and  the  rulers  of 
those  countries ;  but  the  former  stiU  continue  to  infest  and  plunder 
the  caravan  routes  in  the  yicinity,  and  over  the  mountain  passes  of 
Durah  and  Lahauri  *. 

The  mutual  dissensions  amongst  the  Kafirs  drove  the  Kafir  tribes 
now  under  Badakhshan  and  Chitral-pajan  to  submit  to  foreign 
yokes. 

Death  is  the  only  punishment  the  Kafirs  inflict  on  their  Musalmap 
captives.  All  Kafir  slaves  who  manage  to  escape  back  to  their  native 
country  (Kafiristan  Proper)  are  allowed  to  revert  to  their  faith  and 
social  rights  and  privileges  by  their  brethren. 

The  price  of  slaves  throughout  Turkistan  generally  varies  from 
600  to  100  Muhammad  Shahi  rupeest.  It  is  generally  paid  partly 
in  cash  and  partly  in  goods,  and  rarely  wholly  in  cash. 

The  Chitralis  speak  a  peculiar  dialect,  called  Chitrali ;  the  mercan- 
tile and  the  higher  classes  speak  Persian  also. 

The  town  of  Chitral,  called  Kashkaro,  or  Kashkar  by  the  Afghans, 
capital  of  Chitral-payan,  is  the  chief  place  of  commerce  in  the  coun- 
try. It  is  situated  on  the  two  caravan  routes  between  India,  Ba- 
dakhshan, and  Yarkand,  which,  if  cared  for,  can  be  made  to  connect 
more  closely  the  north-western  frontier  of  India  with  Western 
Turkistan  through  Badakhshan,  and  Eastern  Turkistan  through  the 
Pamer  steppes,  by  the  shortest,  the  directest,  and,  perhaps,  the 
easiest  of  all  the  lines  of  communication  now  in  use.  The  only  dan- 
gerous portion  of  the  route  is  the  country  of  Yaghistan  (Bajour  and 
Swat,  including  Dir),  between  Peshawar  and  Chitral. 

Caravans  of  petty  merchants  now  pass  through  Kashkaro  annually, 
between  Peshawar,  Yaghistan,  and  Afghanistan,  on  the  south-east 
and  south  west,  and  Badakhshan,  Kundus,  Balkh,  Turkistan,  and 
Kolab,  a  principality  in  Bukhara,  on  the  north-west,  and  Eastern 
Turkistan  on  the  north-east. 

Mistuch  and  Yasin,  in  Chitral-bala,  are  also  resorted  to  by  traders 
for  the  purchase  of  slaves.  The  former  lies  .on  the  caravan  route 
leading  to  Yarkand,  7  marches  up  the  Chitral  river  from  Kashkaro ; 
the  latter,  lying  between  Mistuch  and  Gilgit,  is  about  15  marches 
from  Kjishkaro,  and  6  or  7. from  Mistuch. 

Trade  in  Chitral  is  chiefly  carried  on  by  means  of  barter  C*  mar- 
chah'*).  The  Peshawaris,  |he  Afghanistanis,  and  the  Yaghistanis, 
both  Hindu  and  Musalman,  exchange  Bahadarkhel  salt},  English 
and  Indian  piece-goods,  grocery,  haberdashery,  Bajour  iron,  for  Har- 
tal (orpiment),  Chitral  woollens  (blankets  and  choghas),  and  falcons. 
The  merchants  irom  the  north-west  bring  horses,  Bukhara  and  Kho- 

*  The  easiest  and  consequentlv  the  most  frequented  passes  on  the  caiavan 
route  from  Peshawar  to  Badakhshan.  The  former  (Durah)  lies  over  the 
Hindu-kush  range,  between  Chitral  and  Badakhshan,  and  the  latter  (Lahauri) 
between  Yaghistan  and  Chitral. 

t  A  Muhanmiad  Shahi  rupee  is  equal  to  1  rupee  and  3  annas  of  English 
money  at  Peshawar. 

X  ux  the  Kohat  district  of  the  Punjab. 

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Sir  George  Grey — On  Quartziie  Implements,  39 

kand  silks,  cloaks  of  Eussiaa  broad-cloth,  and  Badakhsliaa  salt*, 
cotton  cloth,  and  degchoans  (iron  cans,  cast  after  the  Bussian  style), 
&c.,  for  the  purchase  of  slaves  and  Chitral  woollens  (cloaks,  blan- 
kets, and  stockings).  The  trade  between  Yarkand  and  India,  or 
Afghanistan,  through  Chitral,  is  confined  to  certain  adventurous 
Afghans  only :  natives  of  Yarkand  seldom  or  never  take  this  route. 

Chitral,  as  already  stated,  is  held  by  two  different  branches  of  an 
ancient  femily,  descended  from  a  common  ancestor,  "  Kathor."  The 
branch  in  possession  of  Chitral-bala  is  caUed  the  ''  Khushwaktia," 
from  Khushwakt,  an  ancestor  of  the  present  incumbents ;  that  holdinc; 
Chitral-payan  goes  by  the  name  of  the  "  Shahkathoria,"  after  Shah 
Kathor,  grandfather  of  thQ  present  ruler,  Aman-ul-mulk.  The  two 
branches  not  only  rule  over  their  respective  countries,  independently 
of  each  other,  but  are  generally  at  variance  with  one  another. 


Sir  George  Grey^  K.C.B.^  exhibited  a  collection  of  quartzite 
implements  from  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope^  and  the  honorary 
Secretary  read  the  following  extracts  from  letters  on  the  subject. 

IV.  On  CluARTZiTE  Implements  from  the  Cape  op  Good  Hope. 
By  Sir  George  Grey,  K.C.B. 

Extract  of  letter  from  Thomas  Holdin  Bowker,  Esq. : — 

Tharfield;  near  Bathurst, 
July  8th,  1860. 

"  I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  acquainted  with  any  of  the 
gentlemen  who  have  taken  an  interest  in  our  South-African 
antiquities  (for  we  have  such  things).  In  the  year  1858  I  was 
the  first  to  recognize  the  ancient  stone  arrow-  and  spear-heads, 
since  found  scattered  all  the  way  from  Tharfield  to  East  London, 
the  Bashee,  the  Orange  Free  State,  and  to  the  Cape  Flats  and 
Green  Point.  An  account  of  the  discovery  of  these  implements 
appeared  in  the '  Somerset  and  Bedford  Courant,'  and  was  taken 
over  and  published  by  the  Anglo- African  newspaper  in  Graham's 
Town ;  since  then  I  nave  sent,  through  Mr.  Layard,  a  parcel  of 
them  to  Professor  Owen,  of  the  British  Museimi.  I  also  sent  at 
his  request,  through  Mr.  Commanding-General  Bamet  in  Gra- 
ham's Town,  a  considerable  number  to  General  Lefroy,  who 
received  them  safely.  My  late  mother's  cousin.  Lord  Bedes- 
dale,  at  Vernon  House,  St.  James's  Park,  has  also  a  select  parcel. 
One  curious  fact  concerning  these  rude  weapons,  early  attracted 
my  attention,  which  was  this  :  no  South-African  tribe  has  ever 

*  From  the  mines  of  Ealaogan  in  Mashhad  and  in  Farakhar,  both  districts 
of  BadftkhfthaTi, 


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40  Sir  Oeobge  Grey — On  Quartzite  Implements. 

been  discovered  in  the  use  of  them^  not  even  upon  their  being 
first  visited  by  Europeans^  nor  have  they  been  found  among  any 
tribe  in  the  far  interior^  though  they  may  use  them  (as  do  the 
Hottentots  and  Kaf&rs  of  the  present  day^  together  with  our- 
selves) for  the  purpose  of  striking  fire.  I  always  use  them  for 
striking  fire  when  hunting  or  takuig  wild  boars.  I  am  strongly 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  they  are  the  sole  remnant  or  record- 
ing evidence  in  stone  of  a  race  of  human  beings  that  inhabited 
South  Africa  in  times  far  anterior  to  the  advent  of  either 
Hott«ntots^  Kaffirs^  or  Bushmen.'' 

Extract  of  letter  from  Dr.  W.  G.  Atherstone : — 

Graham's  Town, 
September  14th,  1869. 

"  I  sent  to  you  by  Mr.  Maturin  (Controller  General)  a  small 
box  of  stone  arrow-heads  Sec.,  from  Tharfield,  which  Mr.  Holden 
Bowker  gave  me  for  you,  and  which  I  intended  to  have  enclosed 
with  some  of  my  own  collections ;  but  Maturin  left  before  I  could 
get  mine  ready.  We  found  kitchen-mounds,  with  fragments  of 
pots,  with  the  little  bits  of  quartz  incorporated,  exactly  like  those 
found  in  the  Danish  kitchen-mounds.  I  also  found  parts  of  a 
human  skeleton,  a  sacrum  and  pelvis  (female),  but  so  decomposed 
that  most  of  it  crumbled  to  pieces  in  getting  it  out.  The  bones 
stuck  forcibly  to  the  tongue,  and  must  have  lain  buried  there 
beneath  the  shell-heaps  for  centuries.  I  have  written  an  account 
of  this,  and  of  the  arrow-heads  at  the  Kleenemand  and  Eiet 
rivers." 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  L 

Hgs.  1  &  2.  Stone  objects  found  at  Tharfield,  neai  Bathursty  Lower  Albany, 
Gape  of  Good  Hope — "  probably  ear-rings,  or  rather  buttons  for  insertion 
into  the  lobe  of  the  ear.      Natural  size. 

Tig.  8.  Quartzite  Implement,  found  at  Tharfield,  Gape  of  Good  Hope.  Hali"- 
size. 

Discussion. 

Snt  Oeoboe  Gbsy  said  that  he  was  not  aware  of  any  existing 
race  using  or  having  used  stone-implements  in  that  part  of  South 
Africa  from  which  these  stone  implements  came.  Tne  Hottentots 
and  Kaffirs  (of  various  races)  use  iron  implements,  and  are  well  ac- 
quainted with  processes  for  manufacturing  iron.  The  Bushmen  use 
bone-headed  arrows  dipped  in  a  deadly  poison. 

Kthe  stone  implements  laid  before  the  Society  were  manufactured 
by  a  now  extinct  race,  or  by  one  now  amalgamated  with  the  Hotten- 
tots and  Kaffirs,  they  must,  he  thought,  date  back  to  a  distant 
origin ;  for  it  is  probable  that  the  Hottentots,  an  iron-manufacturing 
people,  occupied  the  country  of  the  Kaffirs,  where  these  imple- 
ments are  found,  before  the  Kaffirs  ;  for  mountains  and  rivers  in  that 
country  still  bear  Hottentot  names.    The  Kaffirs  of  that  district 


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Joum.  Et^o.  Soc  PI 


Fx^  1. 


"Na,t.  Size 


Fis    2. 


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STONE   IMPLEMENTS    «e.     FROM       THE      CAPE      OF       GOOD     HOPE. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


Discussion.  41 

hare  also  adopted  into  tHeir  language  two  of  the  Hottentot  clicks, 
which  are  not  found  in  the  Kaflir  class  of  languages. 

The  Kaffirs,  themselves  an  iron-manufacturing  people,  have  occu- 
pied the  country  where  these  implements  are  found  for  many  gene- 
rations— ^at  least  fourteen  (which  they  account  for),  and  may  have  been 
there  for  a  much  longer  time ;  and  as  they  succeeded  the  Hottentots 
in  the  country,  these  stone  implements  apparently  date  from  a 
remote  epoch. 

Col.  Laitb  Fox  said  that  amongst  the  interesting  relics  exhibited 
by  Sir  G-eorse  &rey  he  noticed  one  or  two  types  that  were  new  to 
him ;  one  of  these  was  a  small  disk  about  1^  inch  in  diameter  and  § 
inch  thick  (PI.  I.  fig.  2) ;  it  appeared  to  be  a  water-worn  pebble 
roughly  ground  on  the  circumference.  Such  disks  were  usually 
supposed  to  have  been  used  as  hammer  stones :  he  thought,  however, 
that  this  was  too  small  to  be  used  for  such  a  purpose,  and  that  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Bowker,  that  it  may  have  been  used  for  insertion 
into  the  lobe  of  the  ear,  was  a  very  reasonable  one. 

Quartzite  implements  from  the  Cape  have  been  exhibited  and  de- 
scribed to  this  and  other  societies  by  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  Mr.  Busk. 
The  majority  of  those  now  exhibited  are  of  the  same  character  as 
those  already  known  to  us  from  the  same  locality,  and  do  not  call  for 
any  special  notice ;  there  is  one  form,  however,  which  merits  parti- 
cular attention,  from  its  resemblance  to  the  palseolithic  or  drift  type 
of  this  country  (fig.  3)  :  it  is  6  inches  in  length,  4  in  greatest  width, 
and  from  1^  to  2  inches  thick  at  the  large  end,  of  a  pointed  oval  form, 
the  greatest  width  being  at  the  thick  end ;  the  small  end  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  sides  are  trimmed  to  a  cutting  edge ;  the  thick 
end  is  roughly  rounded,  or  the  natural  surface  of  the  stone  at  this  end 
has  been  lefl  untouched.  This  type,  indeed,  is  not  unknown  to  us  as 
occurring  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Blope ;  for  one  other  implement  of  this 
form  was  sent  over  oy  Mr.  Layard  some  time  ago*.  As  we  have  now 
seen  two  implements  of  this  form  amongst  the  comparatively  few 
specimens  that  have  been  sent  from  the  Cape,  it  is  reasonable  to 
assume  that  it  is  typical ;  and  being  identicsu  with  those  from  the 
river-drift  of  this  country,  it  may  have  been  used  in  the  same  manner. 
It  would  be  interesting,  therefore,  if  it  could  be  ascertained  whether 
there  is  a  corresponding  difference  of  age,  and  whether  the  deposits 
in  which  the  drift-type  implements  occur  at  the  Cape  are  older  than 
those  from  which  the  other  implements  are  derived.  Some  of  the 
other  implements  approach  to  the  form  of  arrow-heads,  and  corre- 
spond to  the  "  surface-type  "  of  Europe,  which,  with  the  exception  of 
the  flakes,  never  occur  in  the  same  deposits  as  the  paleolithic  or  drift 
type  implements.  In  India,  Mr.  Bruce  Foote  has  shown  that  imple- 
ments of  the  drift  type  composed  of  quartzite,  and  so  identical  with 
these  implements  from  the  Cape  as  to  be  undistins^uishable  from 
them,  are  found  in  "  Laterite  deposits  "  of  great  antiquity,  overlain 
by  surface-deposits  containing  implements  corresponding  to  the 
•*  surface-types  "  of  Europe.     The  two  cases,  in  India  and  in  Europe, 

*  A  drawing  of  this  was  exhibited,  taken  from  a  cast  in  the  Bntish  Museum ;  the 
original  was  returned  to  the  Cape. 


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42  Sib  George  Geey — On  Quartzite  Implements. 

are  parallel ;  it  is  therefore  of  interest  that  the  Gape  deposits  should 
he  examiued  with  reference  to  this  point,  and  it  is  to  he  hoped  that 
those  gentlemen  who  have  already  done  such  good  service  hy  sending 
us  these  specimens  will,  before  long,  be  able  to  give  the  JSoeiety  some 
more  detailed  geological  evidence  respecting  them. 

As  regards  the  drift-type  implements  of  Europe,  it  has  been  usual 
to  classify  the  larger  forms  under  two  heads — the  long  spear-headed 
form,  and  the  oval  form.  No  doubt,  as  this  classification  has  been 
laid  down  and  accepted  by  high  authority,  it  must  stand  for  the  pre- 
sent. But  the  speaker  cbubted  whether  it  was  the  best  that  could 
be  devised :  the  two  forms  pass  so  imperceptibly  into  each  other  by 
connecting  links,  that  it  is  impossible  to  draw  any  hard  and  fast  line  of 
separation  between ;  and  there  is  evidence  to  show  that  the  form  of 
implements  depended  on  the  form  of  the  flint  stones  out  of  which 
they  were  made.  When  the  fabricator  found  a  long  flint,  he  made  it 
into  a  long  spear-headed  implement ;  and  from  an  oval  stone  he  con- 
structed an  oval  implement :  this  was  shown  to  be  the  case  by  some 
half-finished  implements,  in  which  the  original  shape  of  the  stone  was 
left  untouched  on  one  side,  whilst  the  chipping  process  was  completed 
on  the  other — thus  showing  the  correspondence  between  the  worked 
implement  and  the  unworked  stone*.  He  thought  that  if  a  difference 
in  the  design  of  the  fabricator  could  be  determined,  it  would  aflbrd 
a  better  means  of  classifying  the  implements  than  differences  arising 
from  the  accidental  shapes  of  the  flints ;  such  differences  of  design  he 
thought  might  be  traced.  Some  of  these  implements,  whether  of  the 
long  spear-headed  form,  or  of  the  oval  form,  were  thick  and  rounded  at 
the  large  end,  where  the  natural  surface  of  the  stone  was  often  left 
untouched ;  the  Cape  implement  exhibited  was  of  this  form :  these 
were  well  adapted  to  be  held  in  the  hand.  Others  were  chipped  te  an 
edge  all  round ;  and  these  were  ill-adapted  for  holding  in  the  hand,  as 
the  chipped  edge  would  chafe  the  hand.  He  had  eh^where  given  his 
reasons  for  believing  that  this  form  led  by  degrees  to  the  use  of  the 
celt,  in  which  the  cutting  edge  was  at  the  large  end.  This  type  might 
have  been  used  in  a  handle,  whilst  the  other  might  have  been  held  in 
the  hand.  If  a  different  use  could  be  assigned  to  these  implements,  it 
would  afford  clear  ground  for  a  distinct  classification ;  but  of  course  it 
was  purely  hypothetical  to  speak  of  the  uses  of  these  ancient  weapons. 
Classification  should  be  based  upon  observation,  and  not  upon  conjec- 
ture. In  the  one  case,  an  edge  was  formed  upon  the  sides  and  small 
end  only ;  in  the  other  the  edge  continued  all  round  the  periphery  of 
the  tool ;  and  in  thus  distinguishing  them,  whatever  might  have  been 
the  uses  to  which  they  were  put,  a  distinct  difference  of  design  might 
be  recognized  on  the  part  of  the  fabricator.  He  thought  also  that 
geological  evidence  would  bear  out  this  classification.  The  round- 
ended  types  are  peculiar  to  the  drift ;  it  may  be  said  that  they  never 
occur  in  more  recent  deposits,  although  an  approximation  to  them  is 
occasionally,  though  rarely,  met  with  amongst  surface  implements ; 
but  the  spear-headed  outline  is,  as  the  term  it«elf  implies,  common  to 
ail  periods  in  which  flint  spear-heads  were  used. 

*  [One  of  these  unfinished  implements  was  exhibited  at  the  Meeting. — Sub-Ei>.] 


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F.  AcHESON — On  a  supposed  Stone  Implement  from  Wicklow.  43 

Mr.  BoTD  Dawkins  considered  that  the  implement  referred  by 
CoL  Lane  Fox  to  the  palaBolithic  type  (fig.  3),  was  merely  a  roughly- 
chipped  form  not  necessarily  connected  with  thepalseolithic  implements 
of  Europe.  Such  a  rude  approximation  to  a  dril't-type  is  presented  by 
worked  flints  which  he  found  on  the  South  Downs,  between  Brighton 
and  Lewes,  along  with  polished  stone  axes.  A  somewhat  similar  form 
he  has  also  seen  from  iS^ew  Zealand.  The  implements  at  the  Cape 
occurring  over  so  wide  an  area,  seem  to  have  been  dropped  under  the 
same  conditions  as  those  on  the  present  land-surface  of  Great  Britain 
and  France,  and  cannot  be  referred  to  any  well-defined  European 
standard  of  archeeological  time.  In  his  opiaion,  all  that  can  safely  be 
predicated  about  them  is,  that  they  belong  to  what  Mr.  John  Evans  calls 
"  the  surface-period."  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins  also  defended  the  present 
classification  of  the  drift-implements,  on  the  ground  that,  although  all 
the  types  had  been  found  in  the  gravels,  with  one  exception  at  the 
Brixham  cave,  none  of  the  spear-heads  of  the  drift  had  been  found  in 
any  palseolithic  cave. 


Ordinary  Meeting^  December  7th^  1869. 
Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Member : — Jonas  Hewitt,  Esq. 

Mr.  F.  AcHEsoN  exhibited  a  supposed  stone  implement  found 
in  the  washings  of  a  gold-bearing  stream  in  Wicklow,  and  the 
honorary  Secretary  reaid  the  following  note : — 

V.  Note  on  a  supposed  Stone  Implement  ^rom  Co.  Wicklow, 
Ireland.     By  F.  Acheson,  Esq. 

In  reply  to  your  request  for  a  description  of  the  supposed  stone 
implement  I  found  in  the  Wicklow  gold-mines  (Fig.  1),  I  beg  to 

Fig.  1. 


say  that  it  was  obtained  at  a  depth  of  about  twenty  feet  below 
the  bed  of  the  gold-mining  river,  near  Wooden  Bridge,  Co.  Wick- 
low, while  sinking  a  shaft  in  search  for  gold. 

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44  Major-Gen.  Lefbx)y — On  the  Stature  of  Chipewyan  Indians. 

The  surface-stratum  of  the  bed  of  the  river  consisted  of  a 
layer  of  slaty  gravel,  about  four  feet  in  thickness,  which  overlay 
a  bed  of  stiff  yellow  clay,  about  twelve  feet  thick,  which 
had  vertical  sedimentary  layers  of  gravel  parallel  to  each  other, 
and  of  a  lunar  shape,  appearing  to  indicate  that  the  clay  had 
been  tilted  up  into  a  vertical  position. 

Below  the  clay  was  a  stratum  of  dirty  slate  gravel,  and  sand, 
from  six  to  eight  feet  in  thickness,  which  lay  upon  the  bed- 
rock of  slate ;  the  lower  portion  of  this  last,  lying  upon  the  rock, 
is  called  the  ^'  washing-sand,''  on  account  of  its  containing  the 
gold. 

While  washing  this  latter  stratum  of  gravel,  between  the  clay 
and  the  rock,  and  testing  it  for  gold,  the  above-mentioned  piece 
of  stone  was  found  in  the  last  washing-box  by  the  man  engaged, 
who  used  it  for  stirring  up  the  auriferous  sand  in  the  washing- 
bowl.  Observing  this,  I  asked  him  where  he  obtained  that 
stone,  as  I  noticed  its  remarkable  shape,  when  he  immediately 
informed  me  that  he  took  it  out  of  the  last  of  the  washing-boxes  j 
and  on  subsequently  questioning  him  he  persisted  in  this  state- 
ment. 

I  need  not  enter  upon  any  description  of  the  stone  and  its 
appearance,  as  it  is  in  your  possession.  I  would  only  add  that 
the  accompanying  gravel  is  very  little  water- worn. 


The  honorary  Secretary  then  read  the  following  note : — 

VI.  Note  on  the  Stature  op  American  Indians  of  the 
Chipewyan  Tribe.    By  Major-General  Lbproy,  E.A. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  station  of  Lake  Athabasca  was  visited  during 
my  residence  there,  in  December,  1843,  by  a  large  party  of 
Chippewyan  Indians,  from  what  are  termed  the  Barren  Lands, 
the  region  lying  to  the  north  and  east  of  that  great  lake.  These 
Indians  are  very  rarely  seen  within  the  precincts  of  the  trading- 
posts;  they  subsist  principally  on  the  reindeer,  of  which  the 
Barren  Lands  are  the  great  breeding-ground,  and  they  represent 
an  uncontaminated  Indian  stock.  Nothing  could  exceed  die  wild 
appearance  of  the  party  now  referred  to,  clothed  as  they  were 
from  head  to  foot  in  reindeer-skin  dresses,  and  with  scarcely  any 
articles  of  European  manufacture  about  them.  I  forget  what 
they  came  for, — ^probably  a  little  scarlet  cloth,  axes,  and  tobacco- 
no/  gunpowder,  as  they  possess  very  few  guns,  and  still  rely 
principaUy  on  that  ancient  instrument  the  bow-and-arrow.  To 
the  great  terror  of  many  of  them,  I  subjected  the  whole  to  the 
mysterious  '^  medicine^'  of  standing  against  a  wall  and  having  their 
stature  recorded  :  this  is  unfortunately  the  sole  physical  datum 

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Lieut.  Oliver — On  Channel-Island  Remains. 


45 


collected^  and  perhaps  the  only  one  they  could  have  been  in- 
duced to  yield.  Having  had  the  note  lying  by  me  for  many 
years,  I  venture  to  submit  it  to  the  Ethnological  Society  as  a 
bare  fact,  worth  recording  for  its  rarity,  perhaps,  and  one  to 
which  the  early  disappearance  which  too  probably  awaits  the 
race  may  give  a  future  interest.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  mean 
height  of  33  adult  males  of  this  subarctic  tribe  was  barelv  under 
5  feet  7  inches,  and  that  the  only  woman  who  could  be  induced 
to  stand  up  was  5  ft.  5*9  in.  Six  growing  lads  of  uncertain 
ages  averaged  5  ft.  2*8  in.  There  were  several  individuals 
who  would  be  called  tall,  even  in  this  land  of  tall  men. 


Height*  cf  Ohipeioyan 

Indiant,  meatured  in 

1843. 

Adult  Male 

TAd*. 

Woman. 

ft.  in. 

ft.  in. 

fl;    in. 

ft.  in. 

1. 

5  111 

18. 

5  6-7 

5    4-7 

6  6-9 

2. 

5  10-4 

19. 

5  6-6 

5    4-6 

3. 

5  10-0 

20. 

5  6-6 

5    4-4 

4. 

5     9-7 

21. 

5  6-5 

5    2-3 

6. 

5    9-2 

22, 

5  6-5 

5    2-2 

6. 

6    90 

23. 

5  6-4 

4  10-4 

7. 

5    8-8 

24. 

5  61 

8. 

5    8-8 

25. 

5  5-8 

9. 

6    8-5 

26. 

5  5-8 

10. 

5    8-0 

27. 

5  5-7 

11. 

5    7-9 

28. 

5  5-0 

12. 

5    7-8 

29. 

5  50 

13. 

5    7-5 

30. 

5  4-5 

14. 

5    7-5 

31. 

5  3-7 

15. 

5    7-2 

32. 

5  2-8 

16. 

6    7-1 

33. 

6  1-5 

17. 

5    7-1 

ATenge. 

5  6-96 

6    2-8 

6  5-9 

Lieutenant  Oliver  II.A.,  then  read  extracts  from  the  following 
Eeport : — 

VII.  Report  on  the  Present  State  and  Condition  of  Prehis- 
toric Remains  in  the  Channel  Islands.  By  Lieut.  S.  P. 
Oliver,  E.A.,  F.R.G.S. 

Introduction. 
It  is  only  lately  that  public  attention  has  been  turned  to  the 
present  unprotected  state  of  our  national  monuments  and  relics 


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46  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

of  past  age8  in  this  country,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Isite  first 
Commissioner  of  Works  (Mr.  Layard)  the  Society  of  Antiqua- 
ries have  akeady  been  preparing  a  list  of  all  historical  and 
regal  monuments,  throughout  the  kingdom,  to  which  the  Impe- 
rial protection  should  be  extended.  Meantime,  in  consequence 
of  Sir  John  Lubbock's  appeal  after  the  late  destruction  of  the 
Great  Tolmaen,  the  Ethnological  Society  appointed,  in  March 
1869,  a  committee  to  investigate  and  inquire  into  the  present  state 
and  condition  of  all  prehistoric  structures  and  remains  in  the 
British  isles,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  the  extension  of  the 
State  guardianship  over  them. 

Being  quartered  in  Guernsey,  I  offered  to  report  upon  the 
existing  prehistoric  structures  in  the  Channel  Islands  (although 
strictly  speaking  this  Anglo-Norman  archipelago  can  hardly  be 
included  among  the  British  isles);  and  my  services  having  been 
accepted  by  the  Committee,  I  give  the  following  as  the  result  of 
my  inquiries. 

A  protective  supervision  of  such  prehistoric  structures  is 
nowhere  more  needed  than  in  the  Channel  Islands,  and  the 
urgent  necessity  for  legislation  on  this  subject  has  long  been 
acknowledged  by  the  most  thoughtful  island-archaeologists,  who 
have  before  attempted  again  and  again,  although  hitherto  in- 
effectually, to  interest  their  fellow-islanders  in  the  preservation 
of  such  relics. 

The  wholesale  destruction  that  has  taken  place  within  the 
last  half-century  in  these  islands  is  beyond  belief.  In  Jersey, 
for  instance,  out  of  fifty  Celtic  stone  structures  mentioned  by 
Poingdestue  but  very  few  remain.  The  finest  cromlech  was 
presented  to  a  popular  governor  on  his  leaving  the  island ;  and 
of  the  four  cromlechs  ruined  vestiges  alone  remain,  two  having 
been  restored  {?)  after  the  ideas  of  a  Reverend  amateur ! 

In  Alderney  the  navvies  employed  on  the  Admiralty  Works 
have  amused  themselves  with  smashing  up  all  the  megaliths  that 
they  could  lay  their  hands  on. 

In  Herm  the  quarrymen  of  a  granite-company  have  in  Eke 
manner  destroyed  most  of  the  cap-stones  of  the  numerous  crom- 
lechs and  circles  which  abound  in  this  small  island. 

In  Serk  but  one  insignificant  portion  of  a  lust  alone  remains 
extant,  where  doubtless  there  were  originally  numbers. 

In  Guernsey  alone,  hitherto,  has  that  watchful  archseologist, 
Mr.  Lukis,  interfered  to  put  a  stop  to  ignorant  and  wanton  de- 
molition, and  even  here  often  without  success. 

Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  all  these  drawbacks,  there  are  few 
localities  (Brittany  excepted)  in  which  the  sepulchral  stone  struc- 
tures of  the  neolithic  period  can  be  studied  with  greater  ad- 
vantage than  in  this  small  archipelago,  and  in  fewer  places  have 

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in  the  Channel  Islands,  47 

these  relics  of  the  Celtic  race  been  more  leisurely  and  systema- 
tically examined  by  such  experienced  archseologists  as  Mr. 
Lukis  and  his  sons :  considering  that  sixty  years  ago  Mr.  Lukis 
commenced  studying  prehistoric  remains,  and  was,  I  believe,  the 
first  exponent  of  their  sepulchral  character,  he  may  be  rightly 
termed  one  of  the  patriarchs  of  the  present  school  of  prehistoric 
archaeology.  The  remains  in  the  Bailliewick  of  Guernsey ^  which 
includes  Aldemey,  Serk,  and  Herm,  have  more  especially  been 
explored  and  minutely  examined  by  the  above-mentioned  gen- 
tlemen, and  the  results  published  ifrom  time  to  time  in  the 
'  Archseologia ; '  whilst  by  the  liberality  of  the  same  veteran  the 
sites  of  various  cromlechs  in  Guernsey  have  been  purchased  to 
ensure  their  protection. 

It  is  also  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  numerous  remains 
which  have  survived  the  onslaught  of  the  quarrymen  in  Herm 
are  for  the  present  safe  in  the  hands  of  one  proprietor,  Major 
Montague  Fielden,  who  undertakes  to  preserve  them.  I  wish  I 
could  report  the  same  of  those  in  Jersey  and  Aldemey,  which,  I 
am  sorry  to  say,  are  in  a  most  precarious  situation. 

In  pointing  out  such  prehistorical  structures  as  stand  in 
need  of  protective  supervision,  it  is  with  the  utmost  diffidence 
(being,  indeed,  beyond  my  province)  that  I  would  venture  to  offer 
any  suggestion  as  to  the  nature  of  the  authority  under  which 
such  supervision  should  be  exercised,  and  more  particularly 
since  the  peculiar  insular  jealousy  of  any  Imperial  interference 
with  the  unique  laws  of  property  extant  in  the  Channel  Islands 
renders  any  such  suggestion  a  matter  of  great  delicacy.  I  trust, 
however,  that  the  results  aimed  at  by  the  present  inquiry  may 
be  sooner  or  later  obtained  through  the  influence  of  the  President 
and  Council  of  this  Society. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  point  out,  although  much  to  be  re- 
gretted, that  the  neolithic  vestiges  now  to  be  protected  are 
more  rare  and  less  perfect  than  they  would  have  been,  could  this 
protection  have  been  afforded  to  them  sooner ;  and  we  now  pay 
severely  the  penalty  for  this  inattention  on  the  part  of  our  fore- 
fathers. Such  few,  indeed,  now  remain  for  examination  as  have 
escaped  the  wreck  and  annihilation  of  ever-extending  agricul- 
tural and  engineering  operations^  whilst  barely  one  exists  which 
has  not  been  more  or  less  pillaged  by  the  mere  treasure-seeker — 
the  excavations  (those  by  Mr.  LuJris  excepted)  having  been 
conducted  carelessly,  unsystematically,  without  care  or  record, 
and  thus  caused  an  irreparable  injury  to  the  cause  of  science. 
Perhaps,  however,  these  monuments  have  still  worse  enemies 
than  the  treasure-seeker  and  navvy,  viz.  those  "  modem  Goths,'' 
as  Earl  Stanhope  rightly  denominates  the  injtuUcious  restorers. 

Still,  even  after  dl  this  great  amount  of  unprincipled  dilapi- 

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48  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

dation  and  so-called  restoration,  there  remain  in  the  Channel 
Islands  many  noble  megalithic  structures  and  other  remains  of 
immense  prehistoric  importance,  for  the  protection  and  care  of 
which  it  is  now  proposed  to  demand  the  guardianship  of  the 
State. 

I  proceed  to  detail  the  various  structures,  commencing  with 
those  in  Guernsey ;  and  I  have  also  drawn  up  a  synoptical  Chart 
or  Table,  arranged  according  to  the  various  parishes,  by  which 
at  a  glance  can  be  seen  those  that  are  in  most  danger  and  their 
relative  importance.  The  classification  and  nomenclature  fol- 
lowed is  that  proposed  by  Dr.  F.  C.  Lukis,  and  to  be  found  in 
vol.  XXXV.  pp.  S32--258  of  the  'Archaeologia.' 

GUEBNSEY* 

Vale  Parish. 

No.  1.  The  large  chambered  cromlech  on  L'Ancresse  Common 
stands  on  the  summit  of  Le  Mont  de  la  Varde,  or  Mont  St. 
Michel*;  and  the  structure  bears  the  name  of  UAutel  des 
Vardes.  It  was  first  discovered  in  August  1811,  when  a  regi- 
ment of  Mostemars  arrived  in  Guernsey  during  the  French 
Revolution  for  protection.  The  regiment  was  stationed  on  this 
hill,  and  raised  a  rampart  around  their  camp  by  using  the  grass- 
turf  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  thus  exposed  the  cap-stones  of 
the  cromlech.  Sir  John  Doyle,  who  was  Governor  at  the  time, 
caused  the  cromlech  to  be  partially  excavated  by  a  party  of 
soldiers,  and  worked  down  to  the  deposit  at  the  western  ex- 
tremity ;  but,  as  some  of  the  stones  appeared  dangerous  to  the 
working-party,  the  excavation  was  discontinued,  and  the  sand 
soon  drifted  in  and  filled  the  interior.  The  same  year  Mr.  F.  C. 
Lukis  made  a  partial  examination  of  the  monument,  but  also 
soon  desisted  in  consequence  of  the  carelessness  of  the  workmen 
employed  by  him.  '^The  employment  of  paid  workmen  to  do 
this  kind  of  work,''  said  the  Rev.  W.  C.  Lukisf,  *'  which  should 
be  done  by  the  archaeologist  himself,  is  always  unsatisfactory ; 
no  one  should  undertake  digging  who  fears  blistering  his  hands, 
whilst  the  eye  of  the  explorer  should  be  directed  to  every  spade- 
full  of  earth.'' 

*  This  hill  is  a  rocky  elevation,  in  great  part  covered  by  the  sand  which 
forms  the  surface  of  the  nlain  or  common  of  L'Ancresse.  By  the  constant 
action  of  the  wind  upon  tne  plain  and  elevated  parts  of  this  neighbourhood, 
by  which  the  silt  is  thrown  up,  this  structure  might  be  again  covered  en- 
tirely with  sand.  It  is  to  this  covering,  indeed,  that  we  owe  the  preserva- 
tion of  this  and  other  Celtic  remains ;  for  no  mode  of  interment,  says  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  can  be  conceived  more  favourable  to  the  conservation  of  monu- 
ments for  mdefinite  periods  than  their  burial  by  drifting  sand. 

t  At  the  Meeting  of  the  Ripon  Scientific  Society,  January  19, 1865. 


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in  the  Channel  Islands.  49 

In  the  summers  of  1837  and  1838,  however,  a  full  and  systematic 
examination  of  the  interior  of  this  cromlech  was  conducted  by 
Messrs.  F.  C.  Lukis,  sen.,  P.  C.  Lukis,  jun.,  Eev.  W.  C.  Lukis, 
Thomas  Harvey,  and  two  assistants — ^when,  after  considerable 
labour,  the  cromlech  was  emptied  of  its  accumulated  sand,  and 
its  primaeval  contents  exposed.  This  large  cromlech  (see  plan, 
PL  VII.  fig.  1)  is  45  feet  in  length,  at  its  western  extremity 

15  feet  wide,  and  8  feet  high  beneath  the  largest  cap-stone: 
firom  this  point  it  gradually  contracts  on  all  sides  towards  the 
eastern  end,  the  supposed  entrance  being  barely  3  feet  high. 
This  space  was  covei^  by  five  larger  and  two  smaller  blocks 
of  granite  as  cap-stones ;  of  these  the  five  larger  alone  remain 
m  situ.  The  western  stone  is  much  the  largest,  and  is  about 
17  feet  long,  lOJ  feet  wide,  by  4^  feet  in  depth.     The  next  is 

16  feet  long,  the  third  being  smaller,  and  thus  they  gradually 
<iiminish  in  size  to  the  eastern  end.  They  are  not  in  contact ; 
and  the  supporting  side-props,  seventeen*^  on  the  north  and 
fifteen  on  the  south  side,  preserve  different  relative  heights  in 
the  same  proportion. 

It  is  surrounded  by  the  remains  of  a  circular  peristalith  60  feet 
in  diameter,  and  which  probably  marked  the  site  of  a  wall  sur- 
rounding the  tumulus  which  is  supposed  to  have  originally 
covered  this  sepulchral  vault.  Approaching  to  this  circle  from 
the  north  and  north-west  are  traces  of  a  stone  causeway  in  a 
serpentine  form.  One  can  be  traced  from  the  north  240  feet, 
and  from  the  north-west  78  feet. 

On  the  north-west  side,  adjoining  the  large  western  chamber, 
is  a  side-chamber,  where  one  of  the  original  side-  supporting  up- 
rights has  been  moved  back  at  a  later  period  to  form  a  supple- 
mentary kist. 

It  is  needless  to  give  more  than  the  above  outline  of  the 
construction  of  this  cromlech,  as  it  has  been  described  in  the 
'  Archseologia,'  vol.  xvii.p.254,  and  its  contents  fully  detailed  and 
illustrated  by  Dr.  F.  C.  Lukis  in  vol.  xxxv.  of  the '  Archseologia,' 
pp.  232-258.  This  structure  may  be  quoted  as  illustrating  the 
want  of  State  protection.  In  consequence  of  the  seventh  or 
smallest  cap-stone  being  removed,  Mr.  F,  C.  Lukis  obtained 
from  the  Royal  Court  of  Guernsey  a  right  to  prevent  persons 
from  doing  any  more  injury  to  this  noble  cromlech.  This  au- 
thoritative interference  has  thrice  been  exercised  with  effect; 
but,  unfortunately,  only  last  year  the  sixth  cap-stone  was  violently 
thrown  down  and  broken  by  persons  unknown.  At  present  this 
cromlech  is  in  no  immediate  danger,  although  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Clos  du  Y alle  claim  the  right  of  removal  of  stone  from 
the  common.  It  is  possible  that  some  restriction  upon  this 
*  Including  the  large  western  block. 

VOL.  II.  J5^  J 

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50  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

right  might  be  made  by  the  Royal  Court  in  reference  to  this 
and  other  Celtic  structures  in  the  neighbourhood. 

No.  2.  About  the  centre  of  the  common  at  L'Ancresse^  and 
to  the  southward  of  the  last-mentioned  cromlech^  is  a  small 
Kist-vaen  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preservation  (PI.  III.  fig.  1,  and 
PL  VII.  fig.  5).  It  was  first  discovered^  surveyed,  and  drawn 
in  1811,  by  Mr.  Lukis.  In  1837  this  place  was  cleared  out,  and 
the  brambles  removed,  by  Mr.  Lukis,  when  a  few  pieces  of  well- 
marked  pottery  were  found,  which  differed  from  that  found  at 
the  cromlech  on  the  hiU  {vide  '  Journal  of  Association,'  vol.  iii. 
p.  342) .  In  1838  Mr.  Lukis  made  a  closer  examination  of  this 
kist-vaen,  as  also  of  the  remains  of  a  similar  structure  ten  or 
twelve  yards  to  the  eastward.  The  stones  had  been  greatly  dis- 
turbed, and  the  cap-stone  of  the  latter  removed  a  great  many 
years  back — ^at  least  eighty  years  ago. 

In  1840,  still  farther  search  was  made,  by  Dr.  F.  C.  Lukis  and 
J.  W.  Lukis,  Esq.  The  floor  of  the  kist  near  the  northern  prop 
exposed  two  well- formed  celts,  Nos.  58  and  59  of  Coll.  Antiqua;' 
these  instruments  were  most  perfect  and  beautiAilly  polished, 
the  stone  being  a  fine-grained  diorite  containing  streaks  and 
spots  giving  it  a  porphyritic  character.  One  is  of  a  finer  tex- 
ture, containing  streaks  of  a  darker  colour;  and  about  a  dozen 
celts  similar  to  this  have  been  found  in  Guernsey*:  whence 
these  had  been  imported  it  is  at  present  impossible  to  say.  A 
plan  (PL  VII.  fig.  6)  is  given  of  this  kist-vaen,  drawn  by  J.  W. 
Lukis,  Esq.  The  largest  cap-stone,  which  is  of  a  peculiar  shape, 
and  about  14  feet  long,  is,  happily,  still  in  position,  and  forms  a 
picturesque  object. 

No.  3.  To  the  eastward  of  the  great  cromlech,  and  situate  in 
a  hollow  near  a  pool  called  La  Mare  aux  Mauves,  is  another  Kisty 
on  the  property  of  Mons.  Falla  of  des  Rocques  Barries  (PI.  III. 
fig.2,  andPl.  VIILfig.  1). 

Twenty-four  feet  to  the  westward  is  a  large  stone,  which  per- 
haps may  have  been  the  western  block  of  a  cromlech  to  which 
this  kist  and  adjoining  chambers  were  but  adjuncts  (compare 
plan,  PL  VIII.  fig.  1,  with  that  of  Du  Thus,  PL  VII.  fig.  2) .  Only 
one  cap-stone,  on  six  small  supporting  props,  remains.  This  was 
examined  by  Mr.  F.  C.  Lukis  in  1844,  and  found  to  have  been 
greatly  disturbed.  When  the  neighbouring  Martello  towers  were 
built  the  workmen  are  supposed  to  have  removed  many  stones 
from  this  kist  f. 

No.  4.  About  100  yards  from  the  above-mentioned  kist  to 
the  north-east  are  the  remains  of  another  Kist-vaen,    It  was 

*  Mr.  F.  G.  Lukis  has  found  one  specimen  of  a  similar  celt  at  Bonno,  in 
the  Morbihan,  likewise  imported, 
t  See  '  Aichsdological  Journal,'  vol.  i.  p.  222. 


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in  the  Channel  Islands.  51 

almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  workmen  at  the  erection  of  the 
Martello  tower  close  by.  Some  flints  and  stone  mailers  were 
found  here. 

No.  5.  Not  far  from  Bordeaux  harbour^  near  the  estate  known 
by  the  name  of  Paradis,  is  a  locality  termed  DuThus  or  De-hus, 
which  was  purchased  of  Jean  Hubert  (as  appears  from  a  deed  in 
the  possession  of  the  heirs  of  Mons.  Jean  De  Havilland)  on  the 
23rd  of  April  1770,  for  the  sum  of  56  livres  16  sous  Toumois, 
or  about  £4  Is.  Here,  close  to  the  road,  is  situate  a  magni- 
ficent cromlech,  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  UAutel  du  Di- 
huSy  or  UAutel  du  Grand  Sarazin.  This  cromlech  is  still  par- 
tially surrounded  by  the  tumulus  which  originally  entirely  co- 
vered it,  round  the  verge  of  which  a  stone  circle  existed  60  feet 
(the  usual  size)  in  diameter,  of  which  circle  but  four  or  five 
stones  remain.  This  cromlech  consists  of  a  large  western 
chamber,  about  15  feet  square,  supporting  three  large  cap-stones, 
the  largest,  at  the  west  end,  being  16  feet  6  inches  long  by  11  feet 
8  inches  broad.  The  second  cap-stone  is  broken,  and  a  prop 
(see  plan,  PI.  YII.  fig.  2)  has  been  added  to  support  it.  There 
are  seven  cap-stones  altogether  to  the  main  avenue,  which  is 
divided  into  three  main  chambers  by  evident  dividing-blocks, 
and  hence  may  be  termed  "  Tripartite  J* 

The  most  interesting  belongings  of  this  cromlech  are  un- 
doubtedly the  unique  side-chambers  marked  A,  B,  C,  D  in 
Mr.  J.  W.  Lukis's  plan  (PL  VII.  fig.  2)  of  which  A  and  B  are 
quite  covered,  and  C  partially,  with  cap-stones.  These  lateral 
chambers,  or  side-kists,  contained,  when  examined,  curious  and 
unique  forms  of  interment*.  Two  of  these  are  to  the  north  of 
the  main  structure,  the  smaller  one  to  the  east,  marked  B,  con- 
taining two  kneeling,  or  crouching,  skeletons.  The  eastern- 
most kist  of  the  two  to  the  south,  marked  D,  contained,  when 
opened,  three  separate  floors  or  layers  of  interment.  These  are 
minutely  described  in  the  '  Archaeologia'  f-  The  central  point 
of  the  peristalith  is  in  the  main  western  chamber.  The  eastern 
extremity  of  this  cromlech  is  closed  by  a  large  stone  on  the  edge 
of  the  road  which  runs  by  it.  This  cromlech  is  safely  protected 
by  the  proprietors. 

No.  6.  Le  Tombeau  du  Grand  Sarazin  (PI.  VIII.  fig.  2). 
Once  a  simple  kist  in  the  centre  of  a  fiirze-field  belonging  to  the 
estate  called  Paradis,  proprietor  Mr.  J.  Collas.  It  was  most  un- 
happily damaged  by  workmen  who  wanted  stone  for  repairing  the 
bam  of  the  proprietor,  and,  unknown  to  him,  partly  destroyed,  in 
1810.  In  1838  it  was  examined  by  Mr.  Lukis,  and  human  bones 
were  found  under  the  remains  of  the  cap-stone.     From  the  in- 

*  See  '  Archseologiay'  vol.  xzxv.  p.  232,  &c. 
t  Association  Journal,  voL  iv.  p.  323. 

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52  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

terior  nearly  twenty  jars  and  vessek  were  removed.  These  urns 
have  invariably  the  base  rounded.  No  change  in  the  state  in 
which  it  which  it  was  left  by  Mr.  Lukis  has  taken  place^  and  the 
proprietor  is  willing  to  preserve  it. 

The  urns  and  jars  are  in  Mr.  Lukis's  Museum;  they  are 
tolerably  perfect.  One  rude  celt  was  founds  and  a  piece  of 
opalized  sponge. 

No.  7.  La  Roche  qui  sonne  (PL  V.  fig.  1 ;  PI.  VIII.  fig.  3). 
The  remains  of  this  cromlech  are  to  be  found  nearly  buried  be- 
neath the  rubbish  of  a  quarry  which  has  been  opened  near  it 
since  its  examination  by  Mr.  Lukis.  Many  stones  are  extant 
in  this  neighbourhood  which  originally  belonged  to  this  crom- 
lech. It  is'  said  to  have  been  the  largest  in  the  island^  consist- 
ing of  five  or  six  cap-stones  evidently  lying,  in  conformity  with 
others  in  this  parish,  east  and  west.  The  remains  were  dis- 
covered by  Mr.  Lukis  and  his  sons  in  1837,  nearly  covered 
by  a  large  hedge,  which  had  been  planted  over  the  only  re- 
maining cap-stone  of  this  once  celebrated  cromlech.  By  per- 
mission of  Mr.  Jean  Henri,  the  thornbushes  and  hedge  were 
removed;  and  a  fine  cap-stone  about  14  feet  in  length  was 
discovered  resting  on  two  props  on  the  south  side  (see  PI.  VIII. 
fig.  3).  Several  urns  and  vessels  were  removed  from  beneath 
it,  as  also  a  bracelet  of  silver  and  brass,  and  another  of  jet*, 
together  with  many  good  polished  muUers  and  grinding-stones 
and  fragments  of  pottery.  The  ground  on  the  western  side  of 
this  stone  was  explored,  and  found  to  consist  of  broken  granite 
(or  '^  spalls,"  as  they  are  named  by  quarrymen),  being  the  evi- 
dent signs  of  the  destroyed  portions  of  the  cromlech,  said  to 
have  been  broken  up  for  building  the  farm-house  called  Belval^ 
which  stands  in  front  of  this  structure  on  the  south  side  of  the 
highroad.  It  should  be  remarked  that  this  building,  shortly 
after  completion,  caught  fire  by  some  mysterious  means  and  was 
burnt  down — a  sure  judgment,  as  it  is  thought,  for  the  de- 
secration which  had  been  committed  by  the  destruction  of  the 
cromlech ;  this  event,  however,  ensured  the  preservation  of  the 
remaining  portion  of  this  once  magnificent  cromlech.  Among 
the  Mbris  of  the  western  portion  the  fragments  of  pottery  dis- 
played superior  workmanship  in  pattern  and  material.  The 
above  feelings  on  the  sacrilege  committed  by  the  proprietor  still 
act  on  the  minds  of  the  superstitious  peasants  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, the  more  so  since  a  ship  laden  with  stones  from  this 
cromlech  was  wrecked  and  all  hands  lost.  This  monument  still 
belongs  to  the  Henri  family,  and  is  in  imminent  danger  of  being 

*  After  writing  the  above  we  found  a  small  celt  of  fibrolite  in  possession 
of  a  cottag^er  near  the  Roche  qui  sonne,  where  he  dug  it  up  two  years  since. 
It  is  now  m  liLr.  Lukis^s  possession. 

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in  the  Channel  Islands.  53 

entirely  destroyed  by  the  quarrymen  who  are  at  work  close  by 
the  spot;  but  Mr.  Henri^  the  proprietor^  is  disposed  to  pre- 
serve it  if  possible.  This  is  the  last  of  the  Celtic  structures 
to  be  described  in  the  Vale  Parish. 

St.  Sampson^s  Parish. 

No.  8.  On  the  Hougue^  or  hill^  to  the  rear  of  the  Parsonage^ 
several  stone  graves  have  been  destroyed.  Hand-bricks  and 
glass  amulets  of  the  Romano-Gallic  (?)  period  were  found. 

No.  9.  On  the  Vieille  Hougue  in  the  same  parish^  a  demi- 
dolmen  was  discovered  and  preserved  for  some  years.  Bones 
and  pottery  were  found  beneath,  and  several  stone  celts  in  its 
neighbourhood.  The  stone  itself  was  broken  up  by  the  quarry- 
men*  in  1860,  after  the  death  of  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Isemonger, 
who  had  preserved  it  during  his  lifetime. 

No.  10.  A  Menhir  called  La  Chaise  au  Pritre  and  La  Chaise 
de  St.  Bonix,  near  the  above-mentioned  demi-dolmen,  has  re« 
centlv  been  destroyed  f.  Two  fine  celts  were  at  its  base.  The 
vicimty  of  these  monuments,  where  several  stone  instruments 
have  been  obtained,  bears  the  name  of  "  Les  terres  du  Dis  "  J. 

No.  11.  On  the  hill  called  Les  Monts,  or  at  present  De 
Lancey  Hill,  formerly  stood  a  Menhir  nearly  due  south  of  the 
afore-mentioned  Chaise  de  St.  Bonix,  and  in  sight  of  it,  which 
was  known  as  La  Pierre  pointue.  When  the  chevauchi  went 
through  the  island,  with  the  authorities  of  the  ancient  Court  de 
TAbbaye  de  St.  Michel,  the  cavalcade  and  the  pions  were  enter- 
tained, and  dances  were  performed  around  this  menhir.  The 
proprietor,  Mons.  Blampied,  regretted  the  destruction  of  the 
menhir,  which,  however,  interfered  with  buildings  then  being 
erected  on  the  site. 

No.  12.  On  L'ilet,  opposite  to  Vale  Church,  there  still  exists 
the  hollow  space  where  a  kist  once  stood.  It  is  supposed  to 
have  been  destroyed  in  1801> — ^when  the  embankment  called 
Arnold's  Bridge  was  built,  and  the  Braye  du  Valle  was  recovered 
from  the  sea.  Several  stone  celts  have  been  obtained  in  this 
vicinity. 

No.  13.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Bonceval  several  stone 
troughs,  rubbers,  and  stone  celts  have  been  discovered;  and 
there  was  a  small  religious  house  (now  destroyed)  on  the  spot 

*  Nearly  a  dozen  celts  found  in  this  neigbourhood  are  in  Mr.  LuIob's  pos- 
seesion. 

t  Destroyed  in  1864  byDymond,  the  quarryman^  after  he  had  engaged  to 
preserve  it 

X  The  word  Dw  is  interesting  to  the  archfleolosist,  and  is  here  found  in  its 
proper  place,  on  Celtic  ground.  The  Gauls  and  Britons  believed  that  they 
were  descended  from  "  i>M,"  t.  e.  from  the  earth.  The  Qermans  believed 
themselves  to  have  sprung  from  '*  Tuesco,^^  or  '^  Thiu,*^ 

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54  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

known  as  Pulias^  where  still  a  wall  of  some  building  may  be 
seen.  The  lands  are  situate  on  La  Yingtaine  de  L'Epine^  to 
the  north-west  of  the  hill  called  Les  Vardes^  and  not  far  from 
highwater-mark.  A  considerable  quantity  of  hand-bricks  and 
pottery  has  been  found,  particularly  on  a  small  hougue  known 
as  '^  Le  camp  sauvage/'  belonging  to  St.  Laine  du  Yangrat. 

No.  14.  The  singular  rock-pillar  known  as  La  Rocque  Magii^ 
was  destroyed  three  years  ago  by  quarrymen.  This  is  the  more 
to  be  regretted,  as  geologically  it  was  evidently  connected  with 
the  raised  beach  in  this  part  of  the  parish. 

No.  15.  Near  Grand-Bock  Battery  some  pottery  and  stone 
rubbers  have  been  found. 

Catel  Parish. 

No.  16.  Near  the  Houmet  Battery  the  small  sea  cavern  called 
the  Creux  des  F6es  has  nothing,  so  to  speak,  of  human  work 
about  it,  although  often  spoken  of  by  the  country-folk  as  con- 
nected with  other  ancient  remains. 

No.  17.  Yazon  Bay  produces,  like  the  Bay  of  Cabo,  consi- 
derable beds  of  submarine  peat,  in  which  pottery,  stone  celts, 
and  one  portion  of  a  stone  bangle  have  been  found. 

St.  Saviour^s  Parish. 

No.  18.  Richmond  Point  and  Le  Crocq.  This  hill,  originally 
known  as  Le  Mont  nouvS,  has  still  a  menhir  in  good  order, 
and  the  debris  of  a  stone  kist  on  the  point  of  Le  Crocq.  Several 
stone  celts,  pottery,  and  clay  beads  have  been  found.  On  the 
coast  here  broken  vessels  and  handbricks  are  frequently  dis- 
covered. This  menhir  is  about  10  feet  in  height  (PI.  YI.  fig.  3) . 
One  fine  celt,  with  a  button-head,  was  found  near  it  by  Le  Sieur 
Le  Breton  of  the  Jennies,  and  is  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  F.  C. 
Lukis. 

No.  19.  Le  Tripled  Cromlech  stands  on  a  hill  known  by  the 
name  of  Catioroc,  probably  a  corruption  of  "  Quoit  en  rocq.'' 
This  was  examined  by  Mr.  Lukis  in  1839-40,  and  described  by 
him  in  the  '  Archaeological  Journal,'  vol.  i.  p.  222. 

This  cromlech  is  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Bonamy  Maingy 
(PL  lY.  fig.  1;  PI.  YII.  fig.  4).  There  are  three  cap-stones :  the 
westernmost  one  has  slipped  firom  its  position ;  and  underneath 
this  undoubtedly  some  relics  may  yet  be  obtained.  The  second 
cap-stone  is  in  situ  on  its  props,  whilst  the  third  cap-stone  is 
partly  broken,  and  a  large  fragment  lies  underneath  it.  There 
are  six  stone  side-props  on  both  the  north  and  side-stones, 
besides  the  western  slab.  It  is  doubtful  if  the  stones  shown  in 
the  plan  formed  part  of  a  peristalith ;  but  there  are  evidences 


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in  the  Channel  Islands.  55 

of  a  side-chamber  on  the  south  side.  It  is  proposed  to  further 
explore  this  structure. 

No.  20.  About  two  hundred  yards  to  the  eastward  of  the 
above-mentioned  cromlech^  under  a  watch-tower^  there  were 
formerly  four  stone  ffraoes.  These  were  explored  by  Mr.  Lukis 
in  1840^.  They  were  found  to  contain  iron  knives^  swords^  and 
daggers^  as  well  as  fictile  vessels. 

No.  21.  On  the  promontory  of  I/E£e  another  cromlech  has 
been  left^  bappily  without  sharing  any  of  the  ravages  caused  by 
the  hand  of  man.  It  stands  near  the  road  which  leads  to  the 
small  island  of  Lihou  (PL  YII.  fig.  3).  At  present  it  consists 
of  two  large  cap-stones^  which  measure  about  20feet  across;  these 
cover  a  considerable  chamber  supported  by  fifteen  side-props. 
At  the  eastern  entrance  are  five  side-props  uncovered,  but  an 
apparent  cap-stone  lies  partially  covered  with  turf  on  the  south 
side  of  the  entrance.  Like  all  the  others  in  Guernsey,  this 
structure  is  orientated,  and  is  nearly  covered  by  the  original 
tumulus ;  hence  the  interior  presents  the  appearance  of  a  dark 
and  gloomy  cavern,  and  is  used  as  a  stable  for  cattle.  The 
popular  name  is  the  Oreiuc  des  Fees. 

Seven  of  the  stones  forming  the  original  peristalith  yet  remain. 

In  1840  a  regular  examination  of  this  cromlech  took  place  by 
Mr.  F.  C.  Lukis  and  his  sons.  They  found  that  this  structure 
had  been  filled  with  stones  and  rubbish  by  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  soldiers  at  L'Er^e  Barracks,  to  prevent  his  men 
from  hiding  themselves  within ;  and  the  whole  of  this  rubble 
had  to  be  removed. 

The  late  Mr.  Bonamy  Maingy  made  an  agreement  to  pur- 
chase the  Creux  des  Fees,  as  the  cromlech  formed  part  of  the 
line  of  demarcation  between  two  proprietors.  Mr.  Corbin  of 
Les  Adams  claimed  a  share  of  the  cromlech  on  the  side  of  his 
field.  At  a  meeting  of  the  parties  on  the  field  it  was  agreed 
that  compensation  should  be  granted  to  Mr.  Corbin;  and  £7 
was  paid  by  Mr.  Lukis,  and  a  new  Hue  or  limit  was  accordingly 
laid  out.  This  property  of  the  cromlech  was  then  formally  made 
over  to  the  Boyal  States  of  Guernsey,  as  shown  by  the  records. 

No.  22.  On  a  neighbouring  point,  where  a  battery  was  built 
many  years  since,  a  kist  or  cromlech  was  destroyed.  The  name 
De  JTntset,  or  TussitSy  sufficiently  designates  some  ancient  re- 
mains having  existed  there. 

St  Peter" sAn-the-Wood  Parish. 
No.  23.  On  the  road  towards  the  menhir  which  is  next  men- 
tioned, near  the  estate  of  Les  Paysans,  a  tumulus  once  existed 

*  'AichaDological  Joamal,'  vol.  i.  (Association),  p.  905;  ibid.  vol.  viii. 
(Association),  p.  64. 


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56  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

over  a  stone  structure^  and  was  known  by  the  name  of  Creux 
des  Faias.  Mr.  Lukis  obtained  leave  to  excavate  this,  but^  on 
his  arrival  at  the  spot^  found  that  the  proprietor  had  been  b^ore 
him  and  entirely  emptied  the  kist  in  search  of  tresor  trouvS. 

No.  24.  A  fine  menhir,  called  La  Longue  Pierre  (PI.  VI. 
fig.  1.),  stands  on  the  estate  of  Les  Paysans.  Mr.  Mansell  will 
preserve  it. 

St.  Andreufs  Parish, 

No.  25.  A  tumulus,  named  La  Houffue  Fauque,  in  this  parish 
is  being  gradually  removed  by  the  proprietors  when  they  re- 
quire earth.  Here  portions  of  several  celts  and  rubbers  have 
been  picked  up  by  Mr.  Lukis,  and  on  the  tumulus  an  iron  qpur 
was  found.  The  name  is  a  corruption  of  ^'  humus/'  earth,  and 
"foctis/'  a  hearth.  This  and  the  following  have  generally  been 
considered  to  have  served  as  watch-stations. 

St.  Martin's  Parish. 
No.  26.  A  tumulus  similar  to  the  above  has  qIso  been  nearly 
destroyed.  Its  name  is  La  Houffue  Hatenai.  The  proprietor 
informed  Mr.  Lukis  that,  when  a  lad,  he  remembers  his  father 
digging  out  some  urns  firom  this  mound.  Hatenai  is  an  Arabic 
term  for ''  knoll ; "  but  how  it  became  incorporated  into  the  old 
Guernsey  dialect  it  is  impossible  to  determine. 

Torteval  Parish. 

No.  27.  Tumulus  or  cairn  near  Pleinmont  Point.  A  low 
cairn  on  the  summit  of  the  highland,  supposed  to  have  been 
destroyed  when  a  flag-staff  was  required  to  be  erected  on  that 
point.  Several  celts  and  stone  instruments  have  been  found 
here. 

No.  28.  In  Rocquaine  bay  is  a  small  island  known  as  Le 
Chateau  de  Rocquaine,  or  Fort  Grey.  In  the  foundations  of 
this  fort  numerous  urns  and  other  vessels  were  found ;  but  no 
account  remains  of  its  antecedents. 

St.  Martin's  Parish. 

No.  29.  At  Jerbourg  Point,  pottery  has  been  found  in  vari- 
ous parts.  Stone  instruments,  flint  knives  and  arrow-heads, 
have  been  discovered  in  the  earthworks,  which  extend  from  Bay 
Portelet  on  the  west  to  La  Baie  des  Murs  near  Le  Bee  du  Nez 
on  the  eastern  shore,  and  are  in  the  collection  of  Mr.  Lukis. 

In  Jacob's  '  Annals  of  the  Norman  Isles,'  it  is  stated  (p.  47y) 
that  there  is  a  smaller  Druids'  altar  in  the  Yale  Churchyard. 
This  must  be  an  error,  as  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind ;  but  a 
large  boulder  near  the  west  end  of  the  church  has  been  thought 


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in  the  Channel  Islands.  57 

by  the  vulgar  to  bear  a  resemblance  to  an  altar.  In  the  parish 
of  St.  Peter  Port,  no  stone  remains  are  to  be  now  found, 
although  the  names  of  several  places  near  the  town,  stiU  retained, 
are  sufficiently  significant,  and  above  a  dozen  celts  and  stone 
instruments  have  been  found  in  the  parish  within  the  last  fifty 
vears.  The  following  are  some  of  the  old  names  still  revered 
by  an  ancient  and  rude  people : — 

1.  La  Pocquelaye. 


1.  La  Longue  Pierre. 

2.  La  Petite  Longue  Pierre. 


2.  La  Pocquelaye  du  has. 

8.  La  Grande  Pocquelaye. 

4.  La  Pocquelaye  Normanville. 

Les  Bocquettes,  on  which  a  windmill  existed  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth.  It  fell  into  bad  repair;  and  application  was  made 
for  its  reconstruction  on  La  Pierre  de  Uhyvreusey  probably  a 
menhir.  This  mill  stood  where  Victoria  Tower  now  stands. 
Near  De  Havilland  Hall  is  an  estate  called  Les  Grands  Cour- 
tils ;  and  on  part  of  it,  overlooking  La  Grande  Pocquelaye  and 
Le  Longue  Bocque  and  Rocquettes,  is  a  spot  to  which  the  term 
Le  Trifled  is  still  attached.  In  this  neighbourhood  indications 
of  some  structures  have  been  observed ;  and  three  or  four  celts 
and  an  amulet  from  this  locality  are  in  the  museum  of  Mr. 
Lukis.  There  are  also  traces  of  small  props  or  menhirs  in  the 
direction  of  this  Trepied ;  and  it  appears  as  if  there  were  some 
connexion  between  this  spot  and  La  Tintel-lais  field,  where  two 
stone  axe-heads  were  found.  This  spot,  Le  Trepied,  can  be 
seen  from  the  opposite  hill,  called  La  Rocque  a  Vor,  where  four 
fine  axe-heads  were  discovered.  Several  stone  graves  were 
opened  by  Mr.  Isemonger  in  the  parishes  of  St.  Sampson  and 
the  Yale,  about  the  year  1842 ;  but  no  account  of  them  or  their 
locality  exists.  Several  of  the  stone-mills,  or  querns  and  mul- 
lers,  firom  them  are  in  Mr.  Lukis's  Museum. 

Herm. 

Before  the  year  1838,  the  island  of  Herm  was  not  known 
to  possess  any  ancient  remains.  In  that  year,  however,  Mr. 
Lukis  paid  a  sketching  visit  to  the  little-frequented  spot ;  and 
his  experienced  eyes  immediately  detected  indications  of  stone 
structures,  of  which  the  cap-stones  had  been  removed^  by  the 
quarrymen  then  engaged  upon  the  spot.  Five  or  six  sites  were 
noted  by  him  at  the  time ;  and  as  soon  as  leisure  permitted,  he 
set  to  work  to  explore  these  localities.  It  was  not  until  1841 
that  he  was  able  to  commence  this  examination,  when  he  ob- 
tained a  portion  of  the  farmhouse,  through  the  kindness  of  Mr. 
P.  Falla,  then  proprietor. 

The  principad  sites  are  mostly  in  the  north  half  of  the  island. 

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58  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

on  three  hills^  called  respectively  Le  Monceau,  Le  Grand  Monceau, 
and  Le  Petit  Monceau,  and  on  the  sandy  plain  at  their  foot. 

On  the  10th  August^  1841^  Mr.  Lukis  and  his  party  com- 
menced exploring  the  kist  on  the  Petit  Moncean,  not  far  from 
the  stone  circle  (PL  X.  fig.  3).  The  numerons  masses  of  bones 
discovered  in  this  kist  appear  to  have  been  brought  thither  and 
deposited  within  it^  after  the  maceration  of  the  bodies  dse- 
where.  This  likewise  appears  to  have  been  the  case  in  another 
kist,  where,  under  one  of  the  large  stones  lying  within  the  area 
of  a  small  peristalith,  or  circle,  were  found  dry  sand,  limpet- 
shells,  and  ten  adult  skulls,  arranged  in  two  sets  of  five  at  either 
end,  and  disposed  in  an  accurately  quincuncial  order.  During 
Mr.  Lukis's  absence,  these  skulls  were  despoiled  of  their  teeth 
by  an  enterprising  dentist  who  happened  to  be  a  guest  of  the 
proprietor.  He  found  the  enamel  to  be  of  such  superior  quality 
that  he  thought  they  would  make  excellent  false  teeth ;  and  it  is 
therefore  not  improbable  that,  after  having  done  their  duty  in  a 
Celtic  skull,  they  may  have  performed  a  second  tour  of  duty  in 
an  Anglo-Saxon  one. 

The  two  cromlechs  on  the  sandy  plain  were  soon  after  un- 
covered, in  which  bones  and  pottery,  in  fragments,  with  several 
urns  in  excellent  order,  were  discovered.  The  circle  or  peristalith 
on  the  western  side  of  Le  Petit  Monceau,  with  the  cromlech  on 
Le  Monceau,  and  several  others  on  the  Mielles,  or  sandy  plain, 
were  likewise  examined,  and  planned  out,  and  described  in 
Mr.  Lukis's  '  Collectanea  Antiqua,'  under  the  article  "  Herm.'' 
In  all  twelve  localities  sepulchral  remains  were  discovered. 
Over  many  of  these  the  sand  has  again  drifted,  obliterating  all 
but  the  bare  tracings  of  them.  Amongst  others  remaining 
visible  is  a  portion  of  a  large  circle  tolerably  defined,  with 
approaches  to  it  somewhat  similar  to  the  one  at  L'Ancresse, 
Guernsey ;  within  its  perimeter,  to  the  N.E.,  is  the  kist  (PI.  V. 
fig.  2,  and  PI.  X.  fig.  6).  It  would  occupy  too  much  space  in 
this  report  to  describe  each  structure  separately  and  minutely. 
A  list  of  them  is  therefore  given  in  the  synoptical  chart  {vide 
also  plans  in  PI.  X.) . 

There  is  a  large  kitchen-midden,  portions  of  which  are  being 
continually  washed  away  by  the  tide ;  and  this  has  lately  been 
described  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Flower,  F.G.S. 

Two  smaller  specimens  of  these  middens  are  to  be  fotmd  in 
Jedthou,  also  on  the  coast,  but  at  a  higher  elevation. 

Serk. 
In  Serk  there  remains  only  a  small  portion  of  what  was  onoe 
apparently  a  kist.     Situate  in  Little  Serk,  i.  e.  the  southern- 
most portion  of  the  island,  almost  cut  off  by  the  Coup^  from 


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in  the  Channel  Islands.  59 

the  mam  island^  these  few  stones  still  exist  near  some  old  tin- 
and  copper-mines  now  abandoned.  In  digging  near  an  old  em- 
bankment— ^perhaps  an  ancient  fortification — several  celts,  mul- 
lets, &c.  of  rude  type  have  been  found.  They  are  mostly  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  W.  Collings,  the  present  Seigneur  of  the 
island^  who  takes  the  greatest  interest  in  archaeology. 

Jersey. 
St  Martin's  Parish. 

No.  1.  Cromlech  at  AnnevUIe  (PI.  II.,  and  PL  VIII.  fig.  4). 
Up  to  the  year  1848,  the  only  visible  portion  of  this  megalithic 
structure  was  a  single  huge  flat  block  of  granite,  measuring  15 
feet  long,  10  ft.  wide,  and  3  ft.  in  thick,  situated  apparently  on  a 
heap  of  rubbish,  and  known  to  the  country-people  under  the  name 
of  the  Pocquelaye  or  "fairy  stone."  During  the  year  1848,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Fauvel,  at  that  time  the  proprietor,  commenced  exca- 
vations around  and  under  this  stone,  removing  the  accumulated 
earth  and  soil  of  what  perhaps  had  formed  an  artificial  tumulus. 
This  large  block  of  stone  was  then  found  to  be  a  cap-stone, 
resting  upon  five  large  side-blocks  (only  four  of  which,  however, 
it  actually  touched)  arranged  in  a  semicircular  position,  whilst 
four  other  similar  blocks  almost  completed  the  circle,  forming 
the  large  western  chamber  of  a  cromlech*. 

Adjoining  the  large  chamber,  there  now  remain  vestiges  of 
two  secondary  chambers  which  were  at  the  same  time  uncovered, 
whilst  a  smaller  cap-stone  was  thrown  down  and  other  blocks 
of  stone  displaced  by  the  ruthless  searchers  for  treasure-trove. 
What  vessels  or  instruments  were  found  during  this  search,  I 
have  been  unable  to  discover ;  but  I  believe  I  am  right  in  stating 
that  the  majority  of  relics  found  were  sold  to  the  British  Mu- 
seum ;  whether  they  can  be  identified  there,  or  not^  I  cannot  say. 

Things  remained  in  this  state  until  last  year,  when  the  Vicar 
of  Yeddingham  (Yorkshire),  with  the  assistance  of  labour  from 
the  neighbouring  Naval  School,  proceeded  to  further  excavate 
the  mound  still  surrounding  the  cromlech^  and  proceeding  east- 
ward uncovered  several  more  chambers,  with  an  avenue  of 
smaller  stones,  apparently  leading  to  the  large  western  chamber. 
In  common  with  all  the  Channel-Island  cromlechs,  this  structure 
exhibits  intentional  orientation.  The  general  features  of  this 
monument  are  readily  comprehended  from  the  accompanying 
plan  and  elevation,  and  will  be  seen  to  correspond  closely  in  form 
and  dimensions  with  the  neighbouring  cromlech  at  Mont  Vh6 
in  the  adjoining  parish  (PI.  VIII.  fig.  5).    The  dimensions  of 

*  Is  it  not  possible  that  originally  this  circle,  11  feet  in  diameter,  was 
eomplete,  with  a  second  cap-stone  similar  in  proportions  to  the  one  above 
mentioned  to  cover  it  in  ? 


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60  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

the  cromlech  are  as  follow  : — Extreme  length  44  feet^  diameter 
of  western  chamber  11  feet,  breadth  of  eastern  avenue  8  feet, 
height  of  side  blocks  at  west  end  5  feet  6  inches,  diminishing 
gradually  at  east  end  to  4  feet  and  3  feet  6  inches.  The  origincd 
walls  of  the  central  portion  of  this  cromlech  (which  I  take  origi- 
nally to  have  been  of  a  bottle-shape,  like  that  at  Mont  UbS) 
have  apparently  been  disturbed  by  subsequent  comers,  who  have 
made  side-kists  from  the  blocks  which  formerly  were  part  of  the 
main  body  of  the  structure.  In  some  of  these  side-kists  parts 
of  human  skeletons  were  found.  The  Rev.  G.  F.  Porter,  not 
satisfied  with  the  simple  exposure  of  the  stones  of  which  this 
elaborate  structure  consists,  judged  it  necessary  to  restore  the 
dilapidated  ruin,  and  the  small  cap-stone  was  replaced  as  nearly 
as  possible  in  its  original  position.  One  stone  was  lying  pro- 
strate some  feet  away  from  where  it  now  stands.  The  Messrs. 
Fauvel,  who  were  present  when  it  was  thrown  down,  differed  as 
to  the  spot  on  which  it  originally  stood ;  but  ultimately  it  was 
resolved  to  re-erect  this  stone  in  the  position  where  it  now  rests^ 
in  accordance  with  the  views  of  the  younger  Fauvel. 

At  the  narrow  eastern  entrance  to  the  cromlech  were  found 
portions  of  two  exterior  circular  walls  (shown  in  PL  II.  and 
PI.  VIII.  fig.  4),  the  inner  one  arranged  so  as  to  allow  an 
entrance  to  the  eastern  avenue.  Both  these  walls  were  mostly 
pulled  down  and  built  up  again  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Porter ;  and  four  small  vertical  stones  were  found  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  inner  wall,  probably  part  of  it.  Only  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  inner  wall,  where  it  joins  the  eastern  entrance  to  the 
cromlech  on  the  north  side,  is  left  intact ;  the  outer  wall  has, 
unfortunately,  been  broken  so  as  to  break  the  circle,  and  the 
two  ends  (if  I  may  so  express  it)  turned  inwards,  so  as  to  allow 
of  easy  entrance  by  visitors  {ladies  I  presume),  who  otherwise 
must  have  had  to  climb  over  this  wall  of  loose  stones.  For- 
merly, no  doubt,  there  were  two  circles,  but  whether  concentric 
or  excentric  it  does  not  appear  easy  to  decide ;  at  present  the 
larger  portions  of  them  are  still  covered  over  with  soU. 

No.  2.  In  the  same  parish,  is  the  small  cromlech  Le  Coupe- 
ron,  which  stands  on  a  small  promontory  between  Douet  de  la 
mer  and  Saie  harbour.  Close  to  it  is  a  small  battery  and  maga- 
zine, built  during  the  French  war,  and  in  the  construction  of 
which  it  is  to  be  feared  that  many  of  the  stones  then  composing 
the  cromlech  were  broken  and  used.  It  is  described  in  Falle's 
'  History  of  Jersey,'  as  follows  : — ^^  It  consists  of  twenty-one 
stones,  set  on  end  in  the  form  of  an  oval.  Within  this  oval 
are  fourteen  others,  in  two  straight  rows,  seven  of  a  side,  which 
sustain  three  large  flags,  lying  close  and  touching  one  another, 
and  may  be  supposed  to  have  made  one  altar  18  feet  in  length.'' 


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61 


The  next  record  I  find  of  this  cromlech  is  a  drawing  by  Mr. 
Lukis,  made  about  1848,  with  marginal  notes  (PL  IX.  fig.  3), 
when  it  apparently  consisted  of  an  outer  circle,  10  paces  long  by 
4  broad,  containing  twenty-two  stones ;  the  cromlech  itself  had 
then  eleyen  props  supporting  three  cap-stones,  and  two  other 
stones,  whether  cap-stones  or  not  was  doubtful.  Mention  is  made 
also  of  two  stones  at  the  south,  and  one  at  the  north  end ;  but 
what  portion  of  the  cromlech  these  formed  seems  undecided. 

Last  year  this  cromlech  was  examined,  cleared,  and  restored 
through  the  exertions  of  the  Rev.  G.  F.  Porter*.  The  follow- 
ing comparative  Table  shows  the  diflferent  states  of  the  cromlech 
as  described  by  Falle,  Lukis,  and  Porter : — 


Enumaration   of  stones  composing  tho  i 
cromle<^,  according  to    | 

Falle, 
1820? 

Lukisy 
1848. 

Porter, 
1869. 

Number  of  cap-stones    j^^S^' •;;;;;  [ 
\  north  side 

3 

"¥ 

7 

*2i" 

8 
2 

ii  " 

22"' 
3 

7 

10 
9 

1 
18 

Number  of  props  <  south  side 

( west  side    

Outer  circle    

Other  fltones.  doubtful 

Total    

38 

41 

45 

Mr.  Liukis  has  drawn  my  attention  to  the  cap-stone,  as  now 

Kg.  2. 


Original  side-prop,  now  fifth  cap-itonef  of  Le  Coiiperon  cromlecb,  Jenej. 
placed  fifth  from  the  western  end.     His  son  has  observed,  on 

♦  See  Appendix,  p.  08.  rf^n^n]o 

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62  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

examination,  that  this  atone  (see  woodcut,  fig.  2,  and  plan,  PI. 
IX.  fig.  2)  has  been  carefully  hollowed  out  by  the  hand  of  man, 
and  in  every  way  resembles  similar  stones  which  have  formed 
props  or  dividing-stones  of  chambers  in  the  Brittany  cromlechs 
— two  stones,  each  with  a  semicircular  aperture,  forming  an 
entrance  through  which  it  would  be  possible  to  crawl.  If  this 
theory  be  true,  which  I  doubt  not,  then  this  stone,  which  is  now 
a  cap-stone,  could  not  originally  have  been  a  cap-stone.  Whe- 
ther the  restored  cromlech  (PL  IX.  fig.  2)  is  a  good  represen- 
tation of  the  original,  it  is  not  for  me  to  judge. 

St.  demenfs  Parish. 

No.  8.  Cromlech  at  Mont  Ub6  (PI.  V.  fig.  4;  PL  VIII. 
fig.  5) .  The  side-props  and  partition-stones  of  this  cromlech,  for 
years  past,  have  alone  survived  the  general  demolition  of  such 
structures ;  nor  can  I  find  any  record  of  the  cap-stones  being 
recognized  as  such.  It  is  probable  that  they  were  regarded  as 
natural  boulders,  and  broken  up  by  the  successive  proprietors, 
ignorant  of  the  irreparable  damage  they  were  committing.  Mr. 
Rami^,  the  present  proprietor,  however,  caused  excavations  to 
be  made  in  1848,  by  which  the  original  plan  of  this  Celtic 
sepulchre  was  clearly  defined*  (PL  VIII.  fig.  5).  This  monu- 
ment stands  on  the  side  of  a  gently  sloping  hill,  at  present  cul- 
tivated as  a  market-garden — greatly  to  the  disgust  of  the  tenant, 
whose  potato-plants  are  trodden  down  by  the  tourists  who  visit 
the  cromlech. 

On  comparing  the  plan  taken  this  year  with  the  one  drawn 
by  Mr.  Lukis  when  first  denuded,  the  absence  of  several  stones 
(shaded  on  the  plan)  is  at  once  observable,  and  serves  as  an 
additional  illustration  to  show  how  these  ancient  remains,  unless 
carefully  watched,  are  liable,  as  it  were,  to  melt  away  impercep- 
tibly and  by  degrees. .  Indeed  it  is  wonderful,  considering  that 
twenty  years  have  elapsed  since  these  stones  were  uncovered, 
that  so  many  remain ;  for  it  is  manifestly  the  interest  of  the 
market-gardener  to  have  these  huge  stones  removed;  and,  no 
doubt,  ^m  time  to. time  he  and  his  predecessors  have  gradu- 
ally destroyed  them,  one  by  one,  in  hopes  of  ultimately  demo- 
lishing the  entire  structure. 

Of  the  four  chambers,  which  (when  first  discovered)  were  well 
defined,  it  will  be  seen  that  only  one  remains  intact.  Another 
is  indicated  by  two  pillars,  whilst  the  stones  which  marked  out 

*  Of  the  same  type  as  the  cromlech  called  the  Pocqnelaje  at  Anneville. 
The  dimensions  of  this  cromlech  are  as  follow :—  Extreme  length  42  feet, 
i.e,  2  feet  shorter  than  the  one  at  Anneville;  hreadth  of  western  chamber 
lOi  feet;  eastern  avenue  4  feet ;  height  of  pillars  6  feet  at  west  end,  at  east 
end  5  feet,  and  4  feet  6  inches. 


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lit  the  Channel  Islands.  63 

tbe  remainder  have  totally  disappeared.  The  lower  half  only  of 
an  upright  pillar  remains^  the  workmen  having  already  com- 
mence breaking  this  pillar  when  Mr.  Lukis  was  fortunately 
enabled  to  put  a  stop  to  the  proceeding. 

The  stones  at  the  eastern  chamber  have  been  removed^  and 
others  substituted^  probably  from  one  of  the  western  chambers^ 
so  as  to  block  the  entrance  at  the  time  when  this  cromlech  was 
used  as  a  pig-stye. 

From  an  inspection  of  the  original  plan,  there  appear  to  have 
been  several  side-kists,  similar  to  those  existing  on  either  side  of 
the  cromlech  of  Du  Thus  in  Guernsey. 

Mr.  Lukis  has  drawn  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
summits  of  the  stone  pillars  have  been  undoubtedly  worked 
and  shaped  by  hand,  probably  to  adapt  them  to  the  proper 
height  for  the  superincumbent  cap-stone.  I  cannot  but  regard 
the  exterior  slab  on  the  south  side  as  a  stone  to  block  up  the 
entrance  into  the  tomb,  through  which  subsequent  interments 
may  have  been  made,  or  periodical  visits  effected  for  the  purpose 
of  replenishing  the  offerings  of  food  to  the  dead*. 

I  am  informed  that  there  were,  and  most  likely  still  are, 
traces  of  a  peristalith;  but  there  were  no  signs  of  it  when  I 
visited  the  spot,  and  the  ground  being  under  cultivation  pre- 
vented verification  of  the  fact.  The  proprietor,  Mr.  C.  W. 
Bamie,  will  certainly  preserve  these  interesting  remains  during 
his  lifetime. 

No.  4.  In  an  orchard  belonging  to  Mr.  Le  Jeune,  dose  by 
the  above-mentioned  cromlech,  there  is  a  small  menhir,  known 
to  the  neighbourhood  under  the  name  of  La  Pierre  Blanche, 
which  calls  for  no  especial  notice. 

St.  Heller's  Parish. 

No.  5.  Ville-Nouaux  Cromlech. — Close  by  the  much-fre- 
quented thoroughfare  of  St.  Aubin's  Road,  on  the  right-hand 
side  on  leaving  St.  Heller's,  after  passing  the  first  martello 
tower,  is  the  locality  known  by  the  name  of  Ville  Nouaux. 

Here,  in  a  piece  of  waste  land,  over  which  the  sea-sand  has 
drifted  in  heaps,  here  and  there  covered  with  sparse  vegetation, 
a  ballast-hole  was  formed ;  and  as  the  sand  was  carted  away  to 
the  shipping,  some  large  granite  stones  were  half  exposed,  two 
of  them  being  dragged  away  from  their  positions  and  **  cracked 
up''  as  road-metal  for  the  adjoining  highway.  Fortunately  the 
ballast-hole  fell  into  disuse  some  three  years  since,  and  the  other 
stones  remained  unnoticed. 

In  May  1869  these  stones  were  examined,  and  found  to  form 

*  Compare  similar  apertures  at  Le  Couperon,  Ville  Nouaux,  Jersey  (PI.  IX. 
fig.  1),  Herm  (PI.  X.  fig.  1),  &c 


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6  A  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

a  portion  of  a  megalithic  structure^  from  the  interior  of  which 
the  accumulated  sand  and  soil  were  carefully  removed,  by  leave 
of  M.  de  Quetteville,  the  proprietor. 

As  now  exposed  to  view,  this  cromlech  appears  to  be  an  elon- 
gated alUe  couverte,  nearly  due  east  and  west,  measuring  35  feet 
in  length.  Its  sides,  about  4  feet  apart,  are  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble parallel,  although  there  are  indications  of  the  avenue  being 
narrowed  towards  its  eastern  extremity,  as  we  should  expect  to 
find.  The  side-blocks  of  stone  average  from  4  to  5  feet  in 
height,  and  number  eleven  on  the  northern,  and  seven  on  the 
southern  side,  the  western  end  being  closed  by  a  fine  single  slab. 
The  interstices  between  these  blocks  are  roughly  filled  up  with 
irregularly-shaped  smaller  stones,  evidently  built  in  to  prevent  the 
exterior  earth  and  soil  of  the  superimposed  tumulus  from  falling 
into  the  sepulchral  grotto  (PL  V.  fig.  3;  PL  IX.  fig.  1). 

There  must  have  been  formerly  at  least  nine  cap-stones ;  of 
these,  two  have  been  removed,  as  observed  above,  whilst  the 
whole  fabric  appears  to  have  been  tilted,  with  an  inclination 
to  the  south,  probably  caused  either  by  the  unequal  pressure  of 
the  accumulated  sand-drift  on  the  northern  side,  or  by  the 
removal  of  the  ballast  from  its  southern  supports.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine  whether  all  the  cap-stones  are  in  their  original 
positions,  or  whether  some  of  them  have  not  slipped  between 
the  side  blocks  from  their  summits. 

On  the  south,  side,  under  the  second  cap-stone,  between  two 
props  is  an  aperture  which  I  consider  to  indicate  a  similar  in- 
tention as  the  one  mentioned  in  the  account  of  the  Mont-Ub£ 
cromlech.  The  sixth  cap-stone  has  evidently  slipped  down,  so 
as  to  form  a  partition-wall  between  the  eastern  and  western 
portions — ^indeed,  so  much  so  as  to  make  it  almost  doubtful 
whether  it  is  a  cap-stone  or  really  a  dividing-block.  I  think  the 
supposition  that  it  is  a  cap-stone,  however,  the  more  likely.  On 
removing  the  sand-drift,  at  a  depth  of  2  feet  a  fine  black  soil  was 
reached,  and  this  was  removed  carefully ;  but  the  usual  layer  of 
limpet-shells  (so  universally  met  with  in  the  cromlechs  through- 
out the  Channel  Islands)  was  wanting,  indicating,  according  to 
Mr.  Lukis,  that  the  interments  are  of  a  secondary  period. 

At  a  depth  of  4  feet,  in  the  north-west  comer,  fragments  of 
pottery  were  first  found,  red  and  black,  and  a  pavement  of  flat 
sea- worn  pebbles  apparently  indicated  the  bottom  of  the  vault. 
As  Mr.  Lukis  has  found  several  layers  of  interments  with  simi- 
lar pavements  in  the  Guernsey  cromlechs,  it  is  not  improbable 
that  lower  layers  and  remains  may  yet  be  found  on  further  search 
being  made.  As  the  work  proceeded,  groups  of  urns,  in  sets 
of  three,  were  discovered ;  along  the  north  side  nine  of  these 
were  preserved  more  or  less  perfect;  in  one  case  a  smaller  urn 

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in  the  Channel  Islands.  65 

was  enclosed  within  a  larger  one.  Some  of  these  urns  were  in 
a  fine  state  of  preseryation ;  and,  with  the  exception  of  two*,  they 
are  all  in  the  possession  of  the  owner.  It  must  be  observed  that 
all  these  nms,  when  discovered,  were  surrounded  hj  flat  stones 
placed  vertically  around  them,  and  above  them,  so  as  to  form 
small  kists;  but  they  were  so  disarranged  that  it  was  almost  im- 
possible to  determine  the  exact  way  in  which  they  had  been 
placed.  Some  of  the  jars  seemed  purposely  inserted  in  the 
intervals  between  the  side-blocks. 

Nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  cromlech  was  a  flat  stone  in  a  ver- 
tical position,  and  close  to  it  was  found  a  small  stone  amulet 
with  two  holes  drilled  through  it.  Here  and  there  the  earth 
about  it  was  discoloured,  as  if  with  decomposed  bone ;  but  there 
were  no  very  significant  traces  of  osseous  interment.  No  marks 
or  holes  have  been  found  on  any  of  the  stones  composing  this 
cromlech.  Much  yet  remains  for  examination  concerning  this 
structure,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  exterior  chambers 
may  be  found ;  for  the  eastern  extremity  is  still  covered  with 
sand. 

No.  6.  The  celebrated  cromlech  which  formerly  stood  on 
the  present  site  of  Fort  Regent  was  removed  to  Henley-on- 
Thames,  and  needs  no  further  allusion  here. 

St.  Brelade's  Parish. 

No.  7.  On  a  farm  belonging  to  Mr.  Ramie,  in  the  wild 
part  of  the  island  known  as  Vingtaine  de  la  Moye,  is  a  fine 
menhir  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Le  Quesnel.  A  curious  fact 
may  be  noticed  relative  to  this  monolith,  viz.  that  it  is  so  neatly 
balanced  that  when  the  wind  blows  high  it  shakes  distinctly,  so 
that  an  iron  ring  was  driven  into  the  top  in  order  to  make  fast 
a  guy,  to  steady  it,  when  a  small  windmill  used  to  be  fixed  to 
the  top.  By  scraping  away  the  earth  accumulated  at  its  base 
the  flat  edge  of  a  spade  can  be  passed  underneath  the  centre  of 
this  monument,  between  it  and  the  flat  rock  on  which  it  stands. 

Although  Mr.  Rami6  is  willing  to  preserve  this  monolith,  if 
possible,  yet  the  ground  within  a  few  feet  is  being  quarried,  and 
so  little  control  apparently  can  be  exercised  over  the  quarrymen 
that  any  day  Mr.  Ramie  may  find  this  fine  landmark  destroyed. 

No.  8.  About  half  a  mUe  from  Le  Quesnel,  and  directly 
above  La  Corbiere  Point,  is  a  fine  single  stone  Dolmen,  called 
the  Table  des  Marthes.  It  measures  12  feet  by  6  feet  by  3  feet. 
It  is  supported  on  two  small  cairns,  and  Mr.  Ahier  found  some 
bronze  instruments  beneath  it:  he  does  not  say  what;  but 
probably  they  were  wedges.     A  great  deal  of  the  granite  on  the 

•  Two  urns  were  given  by  Mr.  Quetteville  to  the  Rev. F.Porter,  who  was 
present  at  the  exhumation. 

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66  Lieut.  Oliver — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

surface  of  the  ground  about  here  is  being  broken  up,  and  at 
any  time  this  dolmen  may  disappear. 

Besides  these,  there  are  several  more  obscure  remains  which 
may  here  be  briefly  alluded  to,  such  as  indications  of  tumuli, 
viz. : — Le  Bequi  near  Plemont,  in  St.  Ouen ;  the  mound  under  the 
tower  called  La  Hougue  Bie,  in  St.  Saviour's ;  and  another,  also 
in  St.  Saviour's,  near  the  highroad,  not  far  from  the  church. 
Again^  there  is  another  conspicuous  rock,  falsely  called  a  menhir, 
on  the  Quenvais. 

There  is  some  rumour  of  a  trilithon  called  the  PrS  des  irois 
roches  having  existed  close  to  the  sea  at  St.  Ouen ;  but  I  could 
find  no  trace  of  it,  nor  could  I  find  any  one  who  knew  of  an 
alignment  said  to  be  extant  some  years  ago  at  Vinchelez  de  Bos, 
So  also  I  am  informed  that  a  dolmen  was  discovered  at  St.  Ouen 
in  1839,  on  les  Monts  Orantez,  in  a  field  called  la  Grande  Place. 

There  now  exists  a  doubtful  demi-dolmen  in  the  northern  part 
of  Trinity  parish,  called  the  Roche  h  la  F6e,  close  to  the  sea,  east 
of  Petit  Port  ^  but  I  was  unable  to  visit  it.  The  name  certainly 
indicates  a  Celtic  monument. 

At  Dicq,  Havre  de  Pas,  it  is  said  that  a  circle  and  cromlech 
formerly  existed ;  but  this  is  all  built  over.  So  also  the  name  of 
La  Pocquelaye,  at  Bouge  Bouillon,  indicates  the  existence  of  a 
cromlech  in  by-gone  days. 

A  rocking-stone  is  stated  to  have  formerly  stood  at  Les  Landes 
Pallot,  in  St.  Saviour's  Parish ;  and  there  is  a  stone  worth  exa- 
mining on  Mr.  T.  Lerrier's  farm  at  Grouville. 

The  Rocque  Berg,  or  ^'  Witches'  rock,"  is  simply  a  rock  on 
which  are  said  to  be  the  marks  of  cloven  hoofs ;  they  are  merely 
the  holes  caused  by  the  decomposition  of  the  softer  portions  of 
the  granite. 

I  ought  not,  perhaps,  to  omit  mention  of  certain  caves  said  to 
exist  in  the  hill  over  the  Couperon  cromlech.  They  are  noticed 
by  Falle  as  follows : — '^  In  the  side  of  the  same  hill  are  caverns 
wrought  leading  into  one  another,  the  entrance  3  feet  high  and 
2  wide;  but  for  what  use  intended  I  am  imable  to  say."  From 
this  accoimt  it  appears  as  if  they  were  artificial ;  but  no  one  in 
their  neighbourhood  appeared  to  know  of  their  locality,  and  my 
own  visit  was  too  brief  to  allow  of  a  systematic  search;  they 
may  be  worth  examining. 

Alderney. 

Aldemey  has  suffered  almost  more  than  the  neighbouring 

islands  as  to  the  destruction  of  its  megalithic  structures.     Mr. 

May,  who  has  for  many  years  been  in  charge  of  the  Admiralty 

works  in  connexion  with  the  breakwater  in  this  island,  writes  to 


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in  the  Channel  Islands,  67 

me^  "  For  many  years  past  this  island  has  been  infested  with 
the  genus  homo,  species  ^  navvy/  who  make  it  their  business 
on  Sundays  to  destroy  all  such  landmarks  as  those  you  are  look- 
ing for/' 

And  he  is  quite  right ;  for  hardly  any  remain^  with  the  excep- 
tion of  part  of  a  cromlech^  near  Fort  Tourgie,  called  the  "  Druids' 
altar/'  and  two  dilapidated  cromlechs  by  Corblets  Ray.  At 
least  fivQ  cromlechs  and  six  tumuli  (chambered)  are  described  as 
existing  in  1847  by  Mr.  Lukis*.  But  since  that  account  was 
written^  the  island  has  been  covered  with  modem  fortifications^ 
and  almost  all  vestiges  have  been  removed.  I  have  given  a  list  of 
such  remains,  but  I  am  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  report  more  fully 
on  them,  from  the  fact  that  during  my  brief  visits  to  this  island 
I  was  more  or  less  employed  on  military  duty,  and  was  unable  to 
afford  the  time  necessary  to  make  a  more  careful  search  to  iden- 
tify the  few  remains  existing.  Many  of  the  instruments  found 
in  Aldemey  are  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Lukis ;  and  I  picked  up 
a  portion  of  a  celt  myself  in  a  ploughed  field  near  the  nunnery. 

Conclusion. 

There  are  numberless  points  of  interest  connected  with  these 
megaUthic  remains,  which  are,  however,  beyond  the  province  of 
the  present  paper ;  but  perhaps  I  may  be  allowed  to  observe 
how  much  I  was  slruck,  during  my  examination  of  these  monu- 
ments, by  the  remarkable  resemblance  they  bear  to  the  mono- 
liths and  stone  tombs  which  I  had  seen  in  Madagascar,  and  which 
are  erected  by  the  hill-tribes  of  Hovas  even  at  this  very  day. 
Choosing  the  natural  cleavage  of  the  rock  (generally  granite), 
where  adapted  for  their  purpose,  they  light  fires  of  dung 
along  the  line  indicated,  and  then  dash  water  onto  the  heated 
stone,  which  is  thus  split,  and  a  huge  mass  detached.  By  means 
of  strong  levers,  and  on  rollers  of  hard  wood,  with  the  help  of 
ropes  made  from  the  rofia  and  other  palm-fibres,  they  manage 
to  move  these  rocks  over  diflScult  ground  to  their  position.  A 
whole  tribe  of  some  five  hundred  men  will,  perhaps,  be  engaged 
in  moving  one  such  stone.  Similarly  I  have  recognized  an 
affinity  with  the  aboriginal  Indian  tombs  in  Central  America. 
Figs.  2  &  3,  PI.  VI.,  represent  a  rudely  carved  stone  now  forming 
a  gate-post  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Martinis  Parish,  Guernsey, 
which  reminded  me  irresistibly  of  the  stone  idols  which  I  had 
seen  on  the  island  of  Momotombita  in  the  Lake  of  Managua — 
the  head,  shoulders,  and  arms  alone  being  represented,  the  re- 
maining portion  being  unhewn  and  rough. 

In  conclusion,  however,  my  sole  object  has  been  to  give  as 

•  See  ArcbjBologia,  Journal  of  Association^  April  1847,  *'  Antiquities  of 
Aldemey." 

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68  Lieut.  Olivbr — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

faithful  an  epitome  as  possible  of  all  the  information  I  have  been 
able  to  collect  as  to  the  present  state  and  condition  of  the  pre- 
historic remains  in  the  Channel  Islands ;  nor  at  present  do  I 
offer  any  suggestions  as  to  the  means  to  be  employed  to  preserve 
those  that  remain  intact.  But  I  cannot  conclude  without  men- 
tioning that  this  Report  ought  rightly  to  be  considered  rather  as 
Mr.  Lukis's  than  my  own ;  for  it  is  to  Mr.  Lukis  that  I  owe  the 
majority  of  notes^  plans^  drawings^  &c.^  in  fact^  the  whole  materiel 
for  this  paper^  which  has  mostly  even  been  put  together  under 
his  personal  superintendence.  Any  credit^  therefore^  that  it  may 
deserve  is  attributable  to  him^  whilst  I  must  blame  myself  alone 
for  the  shortcomings  and  faults — ^which  I  trust  will  be  dealt 
with  leniently,  in  consideration  of  my  inexperience. 

APPENDIX. 

The  Opening  and  Restoration  of  the  Cromlech  of  Le  Couperon. 

^'The  Rev.  P.  Porter,  vicar  of  Yeddingham,  Yorkshire,  a 
gentleman  who  has  given  much  attention  to  the  sepulture  of  the 
aborigines  of  various  countries,  and  who,  with  the  Rev.  Canon 
Greenwell,  of  Durham,  has  opened  and  examined  many  of  the 
tumuli  which  abound  on  the  moors  and  wolds  of  Yorkshire,  is 
now  a  temporary  sojourner  in  the  Isle  of  Jersey.  This  gentle- 
man, true  to  his  instincts  as  an  antiquary,  was  readily  attracted 
to  the  cromlechs  still  extant  in  this  island.  A  very  cursory 
view  of  these  satisfied  him  that  they  had  been  opened,  but,  ap- 
parently, unskilftilly  explored.  One  was  said  to  remain  intact. 
Mr.  Porter  thought  otherwise,  but  resolved  to  reopen  it.  This 
cromlech  is  situated  on  the  north-east  part  of  the  island,  on  a 
promontory  called  or  known  as  Le  Couperon.  The  promontory 
projects  considerably  into  the  sea,  and  has  perhaps  an  altitude  of 
some  70  or  80  feet  from  the  level  of  high  water.  The  locality 
here  chosen  as  the  last  resting-place  of  our  unknown  friends  is 
a  proof  of  good  taste,  and  shows  a  degree  of  refinement  for 
which  we  are  scarcely  prepared  to  give  them  credit.  From  the 
east  end  of  the  cromlech  is  seen  the  bold  headland  of  La  Coup^, 
and  there  the  eye  passing  over  the  sea  rests  on  the  coast  line  of 
Normandy.  The  sim  gives  to  the  cromlech  his  first  radiance, 
the  western  slope  again  admits  his  rays  as  he  goes  down ;  and 
here  warmth  and  light  and  cheerfulness  pervade  the  tomb,  and 
take  from  it  much  of  that  sadness  we  are  so  prone  to  associate 
with  death.  Let  us  now  give  a  concise  account  of  Mr.  Porter  s 
operations.  In  July  last  he  assembled  a  party  of  friends,  in- 
cluding the  Rev.  W.  Ick,  Col.  Rynd,  Capt.  Evison,  R.  N.,  Capt. 
P.  Gaudin,  Mr.  W.G.  F.  Porter,  &c.,  with  the  proprietor  of  the 
soil,  and  proceeded  to  an  examination  of  the  ancient  monument. 


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in  the  Channel  Islands,  69 

It  was  found  in  a  state  of  great  dilapidation ;  some  of  the  up- 
right stones  had  fallen  and  thrown  off  the  transverse  blocks, 
briers,  ivy,  and  the  rankest  vegetation  had  taken  possession  of 
the  whole  exterior,  and  the  monument  had  become,  to  the  casual 
observer,  a  mere  mass  of  confusion.  When  cleared  externally,  it 
was  found  to  be  surrounded  by  an  oval  peristalith.  The  reve- 
rend gentleman  having  gained  access  into  the  interior  of  the 
cromlech,  saw  at  once  that  it  had  been  previously  despoiled. 
He,  however,  carefully  removed  and  sifted  the  earth,  and  was 
rewarded  by  finding  a  few  flint  flakes  and  the  bottom  portion  of 
a  rude  urn  in  small  fragments.  The  reverend  gentleman  having 
satisfied  himself  as  to  the  previous  opening,  set  about  restoring 
it  to  its  pristine  condition.  The  space  within  the  peristalith  he 
did  not  examine,  fearing  his  newly-executed  work  might  fall  in. 
We  give  its  dimensions  as  measured  by  Mr.  Porter.  The  crom- 
lech of  '  Le  Couperon'  lies  within  a  peristalith,  and  is  the  only 
instance  in  the  island.  The  circumference  of  the  peristalith  is 
100  feet,  composed  of  rough  blocks  of  stone  about  four  feet  long 
by  two  feet  thick,  standing  about  two  feet  above  the  soil :  they 
are  not  in  contact,  and  eighteen  only  remain.  The  position  of 
the  cromlech  is  (by  compass)  due  east  and  west.  It  is  26  feet 
9  inches  long ;  width  at  east  end  2  feet  3  inches,  centre  3  feet 
6  inches,  increasing  at  west  end  to  4  feet  4  inches.  The  crom- 
lech consists  of  nine  vertical  or  supporting -stones  on  the  south 
side,  and  eleven  on  the  north,  which  are  about  3  feet  6  inches 
high  at  the  west  end,  gradually  decreasing  to  about  2  feet  at  the 
east  end;  these  uprights  support  seven  covering -stones,  the  three 
largest  being  at  the  west  end,  measuring : — No.  1, 5  feet  6  inches 
long,  5  feet  6  inches  wide,  2  feet  thick  ,*  No.  2,  5  feet  10  inches 
long,  5  feet  6  inches  wide,  2  feet  thick ;  No.  3,  6  feet  7  inches 
long,  5  feet  wide,  2  feet  thick.  The  height  at  west  end  from 
covering-stone  to  present  floor  is  about  3^  feet.  The  space  be- 
tween the  peristalith  and  outside  of  the  vertical  stone  of  the 
cromlech  is  about  3^  feet.  Many  of  the  vertical  stones  had 
been  displaced,  and  two  only  of  the  transverse  or  covering  stones 
out  of  seven  were  found  in  position.  The  cromlech  as  it  now 
stands  is  worthy  of  a  visit  from  the  antiquarian  tourisf  *. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES  n.-X. 

Platb  IL 
Pocquelaye  Cromlech,  Anneville,  Jersey.  (See  plan,  PI.  Vm.  fig.  4.) 

*  Two  beautifully-executed  photomphs  have  been  taken  of  it,  and  may 
be  obtained  at  the  establishment  of  Messrs.  Asplett  and  Green,  18^  Beresfora 
Street. 


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70         Lieut.  Oliver — On  the  Channel-Island  Remains. 

Plate  III. 
Fig.  1.  Kiflt-vaen  at  L'Ancresae,  Guernsey.     (See  plan,  PI.  VII.  fig.  6.) 
2. J  La  Mare  aux  Mauves,  Guernsey.     (See  plan,  PI.  VIII.  ^g.  1.) 

Plate  IV. 
Fig.  1.  Cromlech,  Le  Tr^pied,  Guernsey,     ^ee  plan,  PL  VII.  fig.  4.) 
2.  ,  Le  Grand  Monceau,  Herm.     (See  plan,  PI.  X.  fig.  2.) 

Plate  V. 
Fig.  I.  Remains  of  a  Cromlech,  La  Roche  qui  sonne,  Guernsey.     (See  plan, 
PL  \TII.  fig.  3.) 

2.  Eist-vaen  at  Les  Mielles,  Herm.     (See  plan,  PI.  X.  fig.  6.) 

3.  Cromlech  at  Ville  Nouaux,  Jersey.     (See  plan,  PL  IX.  fig.  I.) 

4.  at  Mont  Uh^,  Jersey.    (See  plan,  PL  VIIL  fig.  6.) 

Plate  VI. 
Fig.  I.  Menhir,  La  Longue  Pierre,  Les  Paysans,  Guernsey. 

2.  Rudely  carved  stone  now  forming  a  gate-post  in  the  chiirchyard  of 

St  Martin's  Parish,  Guernsey.    Side  view. 

3.  The  same,  front  view. 

4.  Menhir,  Le  Crocq,  Guernsey. 

Plate  VH. 
Fig.  1.  Plan  of  cromlech  at  L'Ancresse,  Guernsey. 

2.  Plan  of  cromlech,  D^hus,  Guernsey. 

3.  Plan  of  cromlech,  Le  Creux  des  F^es,  Guernsey. 

4.  Plan  of  cromlech,  Le  Tr^pied,  Guernsey. 

5.  Plan  of  kist-vaen  at  L'Ancresse,  Guernsey. 

Plate  VIII. 
Fig.  I.  Plan  of  Idst-vaen.  La  Mare  aux  Mauves,  Guernsey. 

2.  Plan  of  kist,  Tomoeau  du  Grand  Sarazin,  Guernsey. 

3.  Plan  of  remains  of  cromlech,  La  Roche  qui  sonne,  Guernsey. 

4.  Plan  of  Pocquelaye  cromlech,  Jersey. 

5.  Plan  of  cromlech  at  Mont  Ub6,  Jersey. 

Plate  IX. 
Fig.  1.  Plan  of  cromlech  at  Ville  Nouaux,  Jersey. 

2.  Plan  of  Le  Couperon  cromlech,  Jersey,  restored. 

3.  Le  Couperon  as  it  appeared  in  1848. 

Plate  X. 
Fig.  1.  Plan  of  cromlech  at  Le  Grand  Monceau,  Herm. 

2.  Plan  of  another  cromlech  at  Le  Graiid  Monceau,  Herm. 

3.  Plan  of  stone  circle  at  Le  Petit  Monceau,  Herm. 

4.  Plan  of  stone  circle  and  kist  at  Le  Monceau,  Herm. 

5.  Plan  of  stone  circle  at  Le  Petit  Monceau.  HemL 

6.  Plan  of  stone  circle  and  kist  on  Les  Mielles,  Heim. 

N.B. — ^The  scale  of  the  plans  in  Plates  VII.  and  X.  is  ^if,  and  that  of  those 
in  Plates  VHI.  and  IX.  is  j^j. 

The  plans  of  the  cap-stones  are  shown  in  dotted  lines,  and  those  of  the 
side-stones  in  continued  lines.  The  stones  shaded  have  been  removed  since 
1848. 

These  plates  represent  only  a  portion  of  the  large  collection  of  plans  and 
drawings  which  accompanic({  the  report. 


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[Journ.  Ethnol.  Soc.,  Vol.  H.,  to  f%ce  p.  70.] 
PRESENT    STATE    AND    CONDITION   OF   THOSE    STILL   EXTANT. 


>r  exeatrated  ;  when,  and  by  whom. 


ed  or  uncovered  a  century  ago ; 
by  M.  Fauvel  (1848).  who  sold 
and  within  to  the  British  Ma- 
British  CJollection,  cases  34,  36) ; 
uncovered  by  the  Rer.  F.  Porter, 
Kldinghain,  in  1868-419. 
he  Kev.  F.  Porter,  1868. 


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ly  I860,  by  Lieut.  Oliver,  R.A. 
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Examined  by  F.  ? 


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DisctiSsUm,  71 

Discussion. 

The  Honorary  Secretary  read  the  following  letter  from  the 
Rev.  F.  Porter  in  justification  of  his  attempts  at  restoration : — 

"  What  I  did  with  regard  to  the  Couperon  cromlech  was  this : — 1 
cleared  away  the  briers  &c.  with  which  it  was  overgrown,  and  found 
that  all  the  cap-stones,  save  two,  had  been  displaced,  some  being  on 
the  north,  others  on  the  south  side,  but  all  within  the  peristalith. 

"  In  clearing  out  the  interior  I  found  the  vertical  stones,  which  had 
been  thrust  inward;  I  had  merely  to  raise  them  upright, and  thej  were 
as  nearly  as  possible  in  their  true  position ;  I  think  it  was  almost 
impossible  for  me  to  make  a  mistake  nere.  The  cap-stones  were  then 
placed  on  their  supports,  exactly  in  the  order  in  which  I  found  them, 
I  did  not  pick  one  here  and  another  there,  because  it  would  fit  and 
look  better,  but  replaced  them  in  the  order  in  which  they  lay,  thinking, 
from  their  large  size,  that  they  could  not  have  been  moved  since  the 
time  of  their  overthrow. 

^  I  did  bring  one  stone  which  had  been  taken  a  few  yards  from  the 
place,  and  put  it  as  one  of  the  block  stones  at  the  west  end  of  the 
cromlech.  Many  of  the  stones  of  the  peristalith  have  been  taken 
away,  and  used  tor  building-  or  road-purposes;  not  one  of  those  re- 
maining was  in  any  way  removed  or  replaced  by  me. 

"  And  now  for  a  word  respecting  the  *  Anneville  cromlech.'  With 
the  one  or  two  exceptions  I  will  name,  I  left  every  thing  as  I  found  it. 
I  again  distinctly  deny  the  charge  of  replacing  the  scattered  stones  in 
an  arbitrary  manner. 

'*  The  walls  surrounding  this  cromlech  I  was  obliged  to  break 
through,  in  order  to  remove  the  interior  of  the  mound.  Much,  how- 
ever, of  the  original  walls  was  untouched ;  to  these  portions  I  built  up 
(according  to  measure  taken  before  their  removal)  those  portions 
which  the  necessity  of  the  case  obliged  me  to  remove. 

**  I  replaced  a  cover-stone  over  one  of  the  kists  on  the  north  side, 
raised  upright  one  of  the  stones  of  a  kist  on  the  south  side,  which  had 
given  way  from  the  removal  of  the  soil  at  the  back,  and  brought  in, 
from  the  base  of  the  moimd,  a  stone  which  had  formed  part  of  a  kist 
on  the  south  side,  and  replaced  it  in  the  position  it  formerly  occupied, 
being  assured  as  to  this  fact,  as  also  in  the  case  of  the  cover-stone  on 
the  north,  by  the  person  who  some  thirty  years  back  opened  part  of 
this  cromlech. 

"  As  many  of  the  stones  had  been  destroyed  and  taken  away,  I 
thought,  by  showing  the  nature  of  the  monument,  this  might  for  the 
future  be  prevented ;  my  object  was  to  preserve,  not  destroy,  or  to 
make  a  *  cooked-up '  structure  to  please  my  own  taste  or  fancy." 

Mr.  J.  W.  Flower  remarked  that,  if  there  was  any  thing  to  regret 
in  Lieut.  Oliver's  able  Beport,  it  was  that  it  was  not  made  a  little  more 
full  by  adding  further  particulars  of  the  objects  found  in  the  dolmens. 
All  these  me^ithic  structures  seem  to  be  more  or  less  alike  as  regards 
their  extemad  forms ;  and  it  was  therefore  chiefiy  to  the  implements, 
weapons,  and  pottery  found  in  them  that  we  must  look  for  indications 
of  the  conditions  and  modes  of  life  of  those  who  built  them. 


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72         Lieut.  Oliver — On  the  Channel-Island  Remains, 

Mr.  Flower  exhibited  the  cast  of  a  very  beautiful  implement  in 
green  jade,  being  one  of  seven  or  eight  which  Mr.  Lukis,  sen.,  had  pro- 
cured from  the  Gruenisey  dolmens,  and  which,  he  observed,  indicated  a 
perfection  in  this  art  of  which  no  traces  had  been  elsewhere  found. 
This  implement  is  eleven  inches  long,  and  seven  in  circumference  in 
the  centre.  At  one  end  it  forms  a  sharp  hatchet ;  and  the  other  is 
rounded  to  a  point,  and  forms  a  pick-axe,  the  centre  being  pierced 
to  admit  a  handle,  and  the  sides  of  this  opening  being  strengthened 
by  two  bands  or  ribs  lefb  when  the  stone  was  carved.  Mr.  Flower  also 
exhibited  some  small  polished  implements  of  granite,  brought  to  an 
edge  of  two  facets,  and  some  hand-made  bricks  or  trivets,  of  a  peculiar 
form,  which  he  had  lately  found  in  examining  a  kjokken-modding  in 
the  Island  of  Herm,  containing  a  prodigious  quantity  of  limpet  and 
other  shells.  Precisely  similar  objects  had  been  found  by  Mr.  Lukis 
in  several  of  the  Channel  Islands ;  and  although  it  by  no  means 
followed  that,  because  these  things  were  found  so  near  to  each 
other,  the  dolmen-builders  must  also  have  been  the  people  of  the 
kjokken-moddings,  still  it  seemed  possible,  if  not  probable.  Mr. 
Lukis  had  ascertained  that  trivets  or  bricks  of  the  same  form  were 
even  now  in  use  by  the  potters  of  Allahabad,  in  order  to  support  their 
pottery  when  placed  in  the  kilns.  The  kjokken-modding  also  con- 
tained several  fragments  of  undoubted  Samian  ware ;  and  it  would 
seem  therefore  not  only  that  the  builders  of  the  dolmens  were  probably 
identical  with  the  kjokken-modding  people,  but  that  they  also  had 
some  intercourse  with  the  Bomans;  and,  further,  the  samd  method 
of  preparing  pottery  for  burning  which  was  in  use  in  Europe  at  this 
remote  period  was  still  practised  by  the  potters  of  India. 

Mr.  f,  W.  LrKis,  referring  to  the  Eev.  F.  Porter's  letter  which  had 
been  read  in  justification  of  his  so-called  reconstruction  of  some  of  the 
cromlechs  in  Jersev,  remarked  that  he  was  sorry  that  the  Sev.  gentle- 
man had  made  such  an  egregious  mistake  as  to  replace,  in  lieu  of  the 
missing  cap-stone  No.  5  of  the  Couperon  cromlech,  a  stone  (fig.  2, 
p.  61)  which  had  been  hollowed  out  on  one  side,  and  had  origi- 
nally formed,  with  a  similarlv  hollowed  block,  an  entrance-hole  into 
the  chamber.  Examples  oi  such  entrances  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
cromlechs  at  Avening,  at  Bodmarton,  &c.,  and  also  in  two  places  in 
the  chambered  barrow  of  Eerlescant,  Brittany. 

This  hollowed  stone  which,  is  the  only,  example  of  the  kind 
hitherto  discovered  in  the  Channel  Islands,  had  passed  totally  unob- 
served until  Mr.  J.  W.  Lukis  visited  that  island  in  July  last. 

In  corroboration  of  Mr.  J.  "W.  Flower's  remarks  relative  to  finding 
Samian  ware  in  the  kitchen-midden  in  the  Island  of  Herm,  Mr. 
Lukis  mentioned  that,  in  examining  the  *'  Autel  des  Yardes,"  L'An- 
oresse,  Guernsey,  in  1848,  several  pieces  of  Samian  ware  were  dis- 
covered, one  of  which  had  been  worked  in  a  circular  form  and  per- 
forated in  the  centre,  probably  to  be  used  as  a  charm ;  of  course  this 
pottery  was  found  at  the  surface,  and  not  immediately  connected  with 
the  earliest  deposits.  In  1847,  Mr.  Lukis  found  in  a  cromlech  near 
Hennebont,  Brittany,  three  Boman  coins  of  the  Lower  Empire.  It 
it  more  than  probable  that  many  of  these  localities  were  not  only 
held  sacred  by  subsequent  races,  but  made  use  of  by  t  hem^^  , 

.gitizedbyCOOgle 


G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvariajrom  China.  73 

Mr.  Hyde  Clabks  said,  with  reference  to  the  age  of  the  kitchen- 
midden  in  Guernsey,  that  it  did  not  follow,  because  the  pottery  was 
of  the  class  called  by  us  Samian,  that  the  period  was  Roman.  Re 
had  found  the  like  pottery  in  the  kitchen-midden  pointed  out  by 
him  on  Mount  Fagus,  at  Smyrna.  It  was  possible  tuat  the  pottery 
might  haye  been  imported  earlier  than  the  Boman  period.  He  tnought 
it  very  desirable  that  the  theoretical  matter  in  the  paper  should 
be  turned  to  account.  He  considered  the  Council  might  endeavour 
to  get  the  States  of  the  Islands  to  extend  their  protection  to  public 
objects,  and  to  give  greater  facilities  for  the  conversion  of  these 
monuments  into  heirlooms.  With  regard  to  the  favourite  assign- 
ment of  these  megalithic  remains  to  the  Celts,  he  knew  of  no  justi- 
fication for  it.  Their  distribution  is  not  conformable  to  the  Celtic 
area,  and  the  Celtic  nomenclature  is  not  distinctive  or  historical, 
but  meaning  only  **  long  stones,"  **  great  stones,*'  &c.,  which  forms 
usuaUy  imply  that  the  monuments  belonged  to  a  much  earlier  popu- 
lation. 

Col.  A.  Lane  Fox  observed  that  he  had  found  hand-bricks  of  the 
same  kind  as  those  mentioned  by  Mr.  Elower  in  a  pit  near  St.  Peters, 
Broadstairs,  associated  with  Boman  pottery  and  with  evidence  of  the 
fabrication  of  flint  implements :  the  contents  of  this  pit  had  been 
described  in  the  first  number  of  the  Society's  Journal  for  the  year 
1869.  He  did  not  concur  with  Mr.  Hyde  Clarke  in  thinking  that 
Samian  pottery,  in  this  country,  could  be  attributed  to  pre-Koman 
times.  He  thought  that  the  occurrence  of  Samian  ware,  wherever 
found,  might  be  regarded  as  a  proof  of  Boman  occupation.  It  was 
not,  however,  to  be  inferred  from  the  presence  of  this  class  of  pottery 
in  the  kitchen-middens  referred  to  by  Mr.  Flower,  that  other  lutchen- 
middens  were  Boman,  but  only  those  in  which  the  Boman  pottery 
occurred.  A  kitchen-midden  might  be  of  any  date ;  the  period  could 
only  be  determined  by  the  characters  of  the  associated  remains ;  and 
many  were  proved  to  belong  to  the  early  stone  age.  At  Bichborough, 
in  Kent,  examples  of  kitchen-middens  might  be  seen  belonging  ex- 
clusively to  the  Boman  age. 


Ordinary  Meeting^  December  218t^  1869. 

Pbofbssor  Huxlet,  LL.D.,  F.B.S.,  FreHdent,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Members. — Bev.  James  Simpson  ;   George  Campbell^ 
Esq. ;  Dr.  Thomas  Nicholas,  M.A.,  P.G.S. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author  : — 

VIII.  Description  of  and  Bemarks  upon  an  Ancient  Calvaria 

from  China,  which  has  been  supposed  to  be  that  o/ Confucius. 

By  George  Bcsk,  Esq.,  F.B.S. 

Amongst  the  various  curiosities  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1862, 

there  was  scarcely  any  more  striking  and  interesting,  of  its  kind. 


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74  G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvariafrom  China. 

than  an  object  in  the  "  Department  of  Goldsmiths'  Work  and 
Jewellery/'  in  the  Chinese  Court.  This  consisted  of  the  upper 
portion  of  a  human  skull^  richly  mounted  in  gold  and  jewels. 

The  object  is  briefly  described  and  figured  in  Mr.  Waring's 
'  Masterpieces  of  Industrial  Art '  (vol.  iii.  pi.  291).  "  The  skull 
is  placed  on  a  triangular  stand  of  pure  gold^  and  rests  on  three 
very  roughly  shaped  gold  heads ;  the  cover,  also  of  pure  gold, 
is  richly  ornamented  with  minute  patterns  in  low  relief,  and  is 
studded  with  small  precious  stones.  The  ornament  [ornamen- 
tation ?]  itself  presents  nothing  peculiar,  the  principal  portion 
of  it  being  formed  by  the  usual  conventional  mode  of  represent- 
ing clouds  or  sky,  typical  perhaps  of  the  region  to  which  the 
soul  of  the  deceased  had  flown.'' 

In  the  same  work  it  is  also  stated  that  the  object  was  taken 
from  the  Summer  Palace  of  the  Emperor  by  one  of  Fane's 
Cavalry,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Exhibition  was  the  property  of 
P.  M.  Tait,  Esq. 

Of  this  extraordinary  and  beautiful  piece  of  Chinese  work- 
manship nothing  now  remains  except  the  portion  of  skull  upon 
whose  preservation  and  adornment  such  great  pains  and  art  had 
been  bestowed.  With  the  most  astounding  stupidity  the  gold 
has  been  melted  down  for  its  mere  weight  as  bullion,  and  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  curious  relics  of  Chinese  art  and  history 
has  thus  been  irretrievably  lost. 

The  remaining  relic  has  lately  come  into  the  hands  of  my 
friend  Mr.  Mummery,  with  whose  permission  it  is  now  laid 
before  the  Society. 

From  such  a  small  portion  of  course  little  can  be  deduced  as 
to  the  general  characters  of  the  entire  calvaria.  But  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  show  that  the  individual  to  whom  it  belonged  was  a  man 
probably  advanced  in  life,  and,  so  far  as  his  bones  were  con- 
cerned, of  delicate  make.  The  cranial  bone  generally  is  thin ; 
and  scarcely  any  appearance  of  a  diploe  remains.  The  sutures, 
though  distinct  enough,  are  closed,  and  the  lower  portions  of 
the  coronal  on  either  side  completely  obliterated. 

1.  Norma  lateralis  (PI.  XI.  fig.  1) . — On  the  side  view  the  skull 
presents  an  elevated  vertex,  the  summit  of  which  corresponds  to 
about  the  middle  of  the  sagittal  suture.  The  upper  part  of  the 
frontal  bone  is  somewhat  depressed. 

2.  Norma  verticalis  (Fig.  2). — ^The  vertical  aspect  presents  an 
oval  outline,  slightly  compressed  at  the  situation  of  the  coronal 
suture. 

3.  Norma  frontalis  (Fig,  3). — In  the  front  view  the  outline 
is  somewhat  pyramidal,  a  form  that  is  still  more  manifest  in 
the 

4.  Norma  occipitalis  (Fig.  4)  or  occipital  aspect. 


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G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  Jram  China.  75 

The  dimensions  of  the  calvaria  are  as  under : — 

Length 6"-8 

Breadth 5"'8 

Height 8"0 

Least  frontal  width     .     .     .  S^-G 

Greatest  frontal  width     .     .  4"-5 

As  the  skull  has  been  sawn  across  in  a  plane  running  above 
the  glabella  and  through  the  upper  part  of  the  squamous  bones 
and  of  the  supraoccipital^  something  should  be  added  to  the 
above  length  for  that  of  the  entire  skuU^  which  I  conse- 
quently estimate  at  about  7".  This  would  give  a  latitudinal  or 
cephalic  index  of  '757.  Comparing  this  and  the  other  measure* 
ments  above  given  with  those  taken  from  nine  Chinese  skulls^ 
I  find  some  important  differences. 

For  instance^  the  mean  cephalic  index  of  the  Chinese  skulls 
is  '807 ;  the  maximum  being  -868^  and  the  minimum  '746.  The 
iqean  width  of  the  nine  Chinese  skulls  is  5^*71 ;  the  greatest 
being  5"'8^  and  the  least  5"'4.  The  mean  anterior  or  least 
frontal  width  in  the  Chinese  is  8"'72.  the  greatest  being  4"'0^ 
and  the  least  8"'5  ;  whilst  the  mean  of  the  posterior  or  greatest 
frontal  width  is  4^''7,  the  widest  measuring  4"'8,  and  the  nar- 
rowest 4"*6. 

The  present  calvaria  therefore  would  seem  to  differ  very  con- 
siderably from  the  average  or  typical  Chinese  skull^  although 
it  may  in  all  respects  but  one^  perhaps^  be  comprehended  within 
the  limits  of  variation  of  that  form. 

It  is^  in  the  first  place^  dolichocephalic^  whilst^  with  one  excep- 
tion out  of  nine^  the  Chinese  skuUs  may  be  termed  brachyce- 
phalic^  the  only  other  exception  being  that  of  a  Chinese  pirate^ 
whose  cephalic  index  is  '770,  and  who  may  not  improbably  have 
been  of  a  more  mixed  race  than  the  inhabitants  of  the  interior. 

It  will  also  be  observed  that  in  the  frontal  transverse  dia- 
meters the  calvaria  only  equals  the  narrowest  among  the  Chinese, 
and  is  notably  less  than  the  mean  of  them.  In  its  extreme 
or  parietal  width,  again,  it  is  absolutely  narrower  than  any  of 
the  Chinese  skulls. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  appears  to  me,  if  any  reliance  can 
be  placed  on  such  scanty  data,  that  the  so-called  skull  of  Con- 
fucius must  have  differed  considerably  from  that  of  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  that  it  is  not  improbably  of  foreign  origin. 

But  besides  the  craniological  characters  there  are  some  other 
points  in  the  specimen  which  appear  to  me  worthy  of  remark 
in  an  archaeological  or  antiquarian  sense,  and  which  may  even- 
tually perhaps  be  found  to  lead  to  its  identification. 

The  interior  offers  nothing  of  remark,  except  that  it  exhibits 

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76  6.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvariajrom  China. 

here  and  there  small  thin  patches  of  what  appears  to  be  wax, 
or  some  similar  substance,  by  which,  doubtless,  the  gold  with 
which  it  is  said  to  have  been  lined  was  cemented  to  the  bone. 

The  outer  surface  is  everywhere  highly  polished ;  and  to  effect 
this,  some  thickness  of  the  outer  table  of  the  bone  has  apparently 
been  removed.  The  skull  seems  to  have  been  very  carefully 
sawn,  in  the  plane  above  described. 

The  sawn  edge,  also,  has  afterwards  been  ground,  as  it  would 
seem,  on  a  flat  surface,  so  as  to  be  quite  true.  This  was  doubt- 
less done  to  ensure  the  close  fitting  of  the  gold  did. 

But  the  most  remarkable  circumstance,  as  regards  the  outer 
surface,  remains  to  be  described,  and  which,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  appears  to  have  been  hitherto  overlooked.  It  consists 
in  the  existence,  in  three  places,  of  figures  in  faint  relief,  which, 
though  easily  escaping  observation  on  the  bone  itself,  are  very 
distinctly  seen  in  a  plaster-cast  of  it,  upon  which,  indeed,  I  first 
noticed  them.  One  of  the  figures  is  placed  at  about  the  middle 
of  the  frontal  bone,  and  the  others  on  either  side,  just  behimd 
the  parietal  eminences. 

The  frontal  figure  (PI.  XI.  fig.  5)  is  obviously  a  written  cha- 
racter of  some  kind,  whilst  the  others  can  only,  I  should  ima- 
gine, be  regarded  as  ornaments.  That  on  the  left  side  (fig.  6)  is 
very  distinct,  and  of  a  trefoil  shape  ;  and  that  on  the  right  side, 
though  nearly  obliterated,  is  seen  on  close  inspection  in  a 
plaster-cast  Ito  have  been  of  the  same  form.  There  also  appear 
to  be  traces  of  a  figure  (fig.  7)  of  some  kind  on  the  back  of  the 
skull,  just  above  the  termination  of  the  sagittal  suture.  These 
are  so  faint,  however,  that  it  can  only  be  doubtfully  surmised 
that  the  figure  was  originally  of  a  horse-shoe  shape,  with  the 
points  of  the  crescent  expanded  into  more  or  less  circular  disks. 

These  figures,  as  before  said,  are  in  slight  relief;  but  whilst 
that  on  the  forehead  is  apparently  altogether  raised  above  the 
general  surface-level,  the  others  seem  to  have  been  produced  by 
a  mere  local  excavation  of  the  immediately  surrounding  surface. 

As  the  chief  interest  of  the  relic  in  its  present  condition  ap- 
pears to  lie  in  these  curious  markings  upon  it,  I  had  recourse 
to  my  friend  Mr.  J.  Fergusson  for  an  explanation  of  their  mean- 
ing. He  took  much  interest  in  the  matter,  and  has  kindly 
bestowed  considerable  pains  in  its  elucidation.  But  although 
he  at  once  recognized  the  Sanskrit  character  of  the  frontal  in- 
scription, and  was  assured  that  it  was  not  of  a  Chinese  type,  he 
was  unable  to  define  its  exact  significance.  He  thereupon  con- 
sulted two  distinguished  oriental  scholars,  who  are  especially 
skilled  in  the  interpretation  of  ancient  inscriptions — Mr.  £. 
Thomas  and  General  Cunningham, — ^who  both  agree  in  regard- 
ing the  frontal  monogram  as  representing  an  initial  A  of  the 

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G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvariafrom  China.  77 

Tibetan  form  of  Sanskrit  in  use  about  the  seventh  and  eighth 
centuries  of  the  present  era.     The  correctness  of  this  determi- 
nation will  at  once  be  obvious  to  any  one  who  regards  the  cha- 
racter placed  above  fig.  5,  and  which  is  copied  fix)m  General 
Cunningham^s  letter  to  Mr.  Feipisson.     And  I  may  remark 
that  the  letter  appears  in  precisely  the  same  form  in  plate  xxxix. 
vol.  ii.  of  Mr.  Thomases  edition  of  *  Prinsep's  Essays  on  Indian 
Antiquities ; '  and  from  another  plate  in  that  volume  it  would 
seem  that  the  same  letter^  or  one  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
it^  is  in  use  in  Tibet  at  the  present  time.     Mr.  Thomas  has 
ako  pointed  out  that  a  similar  form  of  A  occurs  in  an  ancient 
Mongol  inscription^  of  which  an  account  is  given  under  the 
title  of  "  Versuch  iiber  eine  alte  Mongolische  Inschrift/'  by 
V.  H.  C.  V.  d,  Gabelentz^  in  the  '  Zeitschrift  fur  die  Kunde  des 
Morgenlandes/  vol.  ii.  p.  1^  and  plates  I  &  2^  where  it  is  stated 
that  the  inscription  in  question  was  discovered^  with  several  others 
of  the  same  kind,  in  China  in  the  year  1618 ;  and  it  was  assigned, 
by  the  Chinese  antiquary  who  attempted  to  decipher  it,  to  the 
age  of  the  Mongol  Emperor  Youan,  who  reigned  from  1260  to 
1294,  and  who  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to  provide  an 
alphabet  for  the  Mongolian  language.     In  order  to  carry  out 
this  object  the  Emperor,  it  is  stated,  applied  to  the  Pag-pa  Lama 
of  Tibet  to  furnish  him  with  suitable  characters,  who  complied 
with  the  request  by  sending  the  Tibetan  alphabet  then  in  use. 
It  is  to  be  presiimed,  therefore,  that  the  inscription  in  question 
was  rendered  in  these  characters ;  and  we  are  thus  enabled  to 
trace  the  direct  connexion  of  the  frt)ntal  monogram  with  a 
Tibetan  origin. 

Presuming  therefore  that  the  significance  and  origin  of  the 
letter  is  placed  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt,  the  next  question 
arises  as  to  what  it  means.  But  as  to  this  I  fear  we  are  at  pre- 
sent much  in  the  dark. 

General  Cimningham  has  suggested  that  it  might  probably 
be  intended  for  the  initial  letter  of  the  name  of  Ananda,  who  is 
said  to  have  been  the  nephew  and  devoted  disciple  of  Buddha 
(Gk>tama),  and  to  have  been  with  him  at  the  time  of  his  decease. 
And,  in  support  of  this  surmise.  General  Cmmingham  adds  the 
interesting  remark  that  the  relic-bones  of  S&riputa  and  Maga- 
l&na,  found  at  Bhilsa,  were  similarly  inscribed  with  the  initials 
of  their  names ;  and  he  goes  on  to  observe  that  it  would  be  in- 
teresting to  find  that  any  relic  of  Ananda  had  been  taken  to 
China,  as  he  does  not  remember  the  notice  of  any  relics  except 
those  of  Buddha  himself,  although  statues  of  several  disciples 
are  recorded.  He  has  no  doubt,  however,  that  many  relics  of 
the  principal  disciples  must  have  found  their  way  to  China  at  the 
time  of  the  persecution  and  final  dispersion  of  the  Buddhists. 

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78  G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  from  China, 

"  The  Tibetan  letter/^  he  adds^  "  cannot  be  older  than  a.d.  GOO- 
ZOO,  and  is  probably  later/' 

With  the  utmost  deference  to  any  hint  from  so  weighty  an 
authority,  it  seems  to  me  that  a  great  difficulty  lies  in  the  way 
of  the  above  supposition,  from  the  circumstance  that  Buddha, 
or  the  Buddha  with  whom  Ananda  was  connected,  died  at  the 
latest  between  five  and  six  hundred  years  before  Christ ;  and 
consequently  the  inscription  must  have  been  placed  on  the  skull 
eleven  or  twelve  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  its  owner, — 
a  circumstance  that,  of  itself,  woald  tend  to  cast  great  doubt 
upon  its  authenticity,  although,  as  we  know  from  evidence  much 
nearer  home,  doubts  of  this  kind,  as  regards  relics,  do  not 
weigh  much  in  the  theological  mind. 

Mr.  E.  Thomas,  on  the  other  hand,  has  thrown  out  the  sug- 
gestion that  the  letter  might  have  been  intended  for  the  initial 
of  the  word  Atmi  or  Om,  which,  as  Mr.  Fergusson  informs  me, 
though  sometimes  used  to  express  the  Deity,  is  also  equivalent 
to  the  exclamation  Ave  !  or  Hail !  But  as  an  objection  to  this 
interpretation  it  might  perhaps  be  urged  that  the  same  Tibetan 
alphabet  in  which  this  form  of  A  occurs  contains  also  a  slight 
modification  of  the  same  character,  answering  to  au  or  o,  as  well 
as  one  signifying  am,  and  it  might  reasonably  have  been  thought 
that  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  characters  would  have  been 
employed  to  represent  om  rather  than  the  simple  A.  But  on  the 
present  occasion  it  would  be  useless  for  me  to  speculate  further 
on  a  matter  upon  which  I  cannot  pretend  to  give  any  opinion. 

A  second  interesting  subject  of  inquiry  is  that  of  the  probable 
object  or  purpose  of  the  specimen  when  entire.  With  respect 
to  this,  however,  I  am  unable  to  offer  anything  beyond  the 
vaguest  conjectures. 

We  may  regard  it  either  as  a  simple  monument  of  piety  or 
veneration  (without  any  special  use  or  purpose),  as  a  dnnking- 
vessel,  or  as  a  sort  of  mortuary  coffer  or  reliquary. 

Of  these,  the  supposition  that  it  was  intended  to  be  used  as  a 
drinking-vessel,  or  perhaps  as  a  libation-chalice,  though  at  first 
sight  not  very  probable  when  we  regard  the  weight  and  form  of 
the  setting,  becomes  less  improbable  when  we  consider  that  the 
skull  itself  does  not  appear  to  have  been  in  any  way  fixed  upon 
its  stand,  but  simply  to  have  rested  on  the  three  golden  heads, 
from  which  it  could,  consequently,  be  readily  lift^  to  the  lips. 
On  the  other  hand,  that  its  destination  might  have  been  for  some 
such  purpose  is  rendered  still  more  probable  by  what  we  know 
of  the  very  general  prevalence,  throughout  the  ancient  world 
and  amongst  the  most  widely  separated  peoples,  of  the  custom 
of  using  the  skulls  of  their  enemies,  or  of  their  friends  and  re- 
latives, as  drinking-vessels,  on  high  and  solemn  occasions.     The 


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G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvariafrom  China,  79 

custom^  in  fact,  has  survived,  it  may  be  said,  to  our  own  day  in 
Australia*. 

But  as  regards  ancient  times,  to  pass  over  the  mythical  ac- 
counts of  the  banquets  of  the  gods  in  the  Scandinavian  Valhalla, 
which  nevertheless  in  all  probability  represented  the  actual  prac- 
tice of  the  warriors,  whose  valour  was  stimulated  by  the  prospect 
of  joining  at  some  Aiture  day  in  the  sacred  feasts,  I  would  briefly 
refer  to  some  of  the  more  definite  accounts  given  by  ancient 
writers  of  the  use  of  skulls,  artificially  prepared  as  drinking- 
vessels  t.  Amongst  the  first  of  these  is  Herodotus,  for  a  reference 
to  whose  '  History '  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Fergusson.  And 
since  the  passages  therein  contained  relate  to  Asiatic  tribes 
whose  descendants  are  more  immediately  involved  in  the  present 
inquiry,  they  seem  to  me  of  very  considerable  interest. 

The  Father  of  History  mentions  two  nations  or  tribes  amongst 
whom  the  custom  in  question  obtained. 

In  his  ^History'  (book  iv.  chapter  26)  we  read,  in  Mr.  G. 
Rawlinson's  translation,  that  the  '^  Issedonians  are  said  to  have 
the  following  customs.  When  a  man^s  father  dies,  all  the  near 
relations  bring  sheep  to  the  house,  which  are  sacrificed,  and  their 
flesh  cut  into  pieces,  whilst  at  the  same  time  the  dead  body  un- 
dergoes the  like  treatment.  The  two  sorts  of  flesh  are  after- 
wards mixed  together,  and  the  whole  is  served  up  at  a  banquet. 
The  head  of  the  dead  man  is  treated  difierently ;  it  is  stripped 
bare,  cleansed,  and  set  in  gold.  It  then  becomes  an  ornament 
on  which  they  pride  themselves,  and  is  brought  out  year  by  year 
at  the  great  festival  which  sons  keep  in  honour  of  their  father's 
death,  just  as  the  Greeks  keep  their  '  genesia.' '' 

The  second  place  in  which  Herodotus  refers  to  the  custom  is 
in  the  same  book  (chap.  65),  where,  in  speaking  of  the  Scythians, 
he  says : — "  The  skulls  of  their  enemies — not,  indeed,  of  all,  but 
of  those  whom  they  most  detest — they  treat  as  follows : — Having 
sawn  ofi^  the  portion  below  the  eyebrows,  and  cleaned  out  the 
inside,  they  cover  the  outside  with  leather  (ox-hide) .  When  a  man 
is  poor,  this  is  all  that  he  does ;  but  if  he  is  rich,  he  also  fines 
the  iwAde  with  gold;  in  either  case  the  skull  is  used  as  a  drink- 
ing-cup.  They  do  the  same  with  the  skulls  of  their  own  kith 
and  kin  if  they  have  been  at  feud  with  them,  and  have  vanquished 
them  in  the  presence  of  the  king.  When  strangers  whom  they 
deem  of  any  account  come  to  visit  them,  these  skulls  are  handed 

*  [At  the  following  Meeting,  Col.  Lane  Fox  exhibited  two  Australian 
skulls  which  had  been  used  as  drinking-vessels  in  the  manner  described  by 
the  author. — SuBrEo.] 

t  The  Scandinavian  custom  appears  to  have  extended  into  Thrace,  as  Am- 
mianus  MarceUinus  relates  that  the  Scordisci,  who  are  supposed  to  have  been 
of  Teutonic  origin,  "  Hostiis  captivorum  Bellonse  litant  et  Marti,  huma- 
numque  sanguinem  in  ossibus  capitum  cavis  bibunt  avidius." 

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80  G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  from  China, 

rounds  and  the  host  tells  how  that  these  were  his  relations^  who 
made  war  upon  him^  and  how  that  he  got  the  better  of  them^ 
all  this  being  looked  upon  as  a  proof  of  bravery*'*. 

Mr.  Rawlinson  seems  to  be  of  opinion  that  the  above-men- 
tioned Issedonians  inhabited  a  coimtry  west  of  the  Ural  chain^  in 
N.  lat.  54°  to  56°;  but  Major  KenneU^  whose  opinion  I  presume 
must  be  regarded  as  of  great  weight  on  such  a  pointy  places  them 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Bootan^  which  brings  them  not  far 
from  the  Tibetan  frontierf.  And  he  states  that  he  "  has  seen, 
brought  from  Bootan,  skulls  that  were  taken  out  of  temples  or 
places  of  worship ;  but  it  is  not  known  whether  the  motive  to 
their  preservation  was  friendship  or  enmity.  It  might  very  pro- 
bably be  the  former.  They  were  formed  into  dnnking-bowls 
in  the  manner  descrilied  by  Herodotus^  by  cutting  them  off  below 
the  eyebrows;  and  they  were  neatly  varnished  all  over  J*  It  is 
curious  to  remark  that  the  lining  with  gold  and  the  polishing 
of  the  exterior,  which  is  perhaps  what  Major  Rennell  terms 
varnishing,  are  both  exhibited  in  the  present  skull. 

It  is,  moreover,  worthy  of  note  that,  in  Major  Rennell's 
opinion,  the  modern  descendants  of  the  Issedones  are  represented 
by  a  Mongol  tribe,  the  Oigurs  or  Elutfis,  a  people  occupying  a 
tract  in  the  centre  of  Asia,  who  were  conquered  in  the  last  cen- 
tury by  the  Chinese.  And  he  says  that  it  seems  to  be  under- 
stood in  Asia  that  these  Oigurs  furnished  the  Mongols  with  their 
alphabet;  while  M.  Souciet,  who  is  quoted  by  Major  Rennell, 
says  that  no  Tatar  nation  besides  them  had  the  use  of  letters 
in  the  time  of  Jinghis  Khan  (13th  century),  and  also  remarks 
that  the  characters  used  by  the  Eluths  were  the  same  with  those 
in  use  in  Tibet.  This  latter  statement,  though  not  admitted 
by  other  writers,  appears  to  be  in  accord  with  what  is  above  re- 
lated concerning  the  Mongol  inscription  found  in  China. 

As  an  instance  of  the  same  mode  of  using  the  human  skull, 
in  a  widely  remote  region,  may  be  cited  the  accoimt  given  by 
Livy]:  of  the  defeat,  by  means  of  a  very  ingenious  stratagem, 
of  a  large  Roman  force  imder  L.  Postumius  by  the  Boii,  a  tribe 
of  Gauls,  where  we  find  that  '^  spolia  corporis  caputque  ducis 
praecisum  ....  templo  quod  sanctissimum  est  apud  eos  intul^re : 
purgato  inde  capite,  ut  mos  iis  est,  calvam  §  auro  cselavSre.   Idque 

*  The  OeltiB,  according  to  Strabo  (iv.  65),  were  also  in  the  habit  of  em- 
balming with  resinous  substances  the  heads  of  distinguished  enemies,  which 
they  euiibited,  as  marks  of  prowess^  to  visitors.  These  heads  were  kept  in 
wooden  coffers. 

t  G^ffraphical  System  of  Herodotus,  p.  144. 

I  Book  xziii. 

$  I  do  not  know  when  the  word  "  cranium  "  was  first  employed  as  a  Latin 
term  for  a  skull.  Though  so  universally  admitted  it  is  not  to  be  found,  so  far 
as  I  can  discover,  in  any  Latin  author  or  dictionary.  The  earliest  citation  of  its 


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6.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  from  China.  81 

sacrum  vas  iis  erat  quo  solennibus  libarent ;  poculumque  idem 
sacerdoti  esse  ac  templi  antistitibus/'  Here  we  are  left  to  con- 
jecture as  to  the  form  or  mode  in  which  the  embossing  with  gold 
was  carried  out ;  but  the  instance  shows  that  the  same  vessel 
might  be  used  both  as  a  sacrificial  chalice^  and  as  a  drinking- 
bowl  for  the  priests  and  their  assistants.  But  there  is  still 
another  point  which  may  be  adverted  to.  It  would  seem  from 
the  worn  condition  of  the  exterior  surface^  as  shown  in  the 
nearly  complete  obliteration  of  the  embossed  figures  on  the 
occiput  and  right  parietal  region^  that  the  skull  had  been  sub- 
jected to  frequent  handlings  and  perhaps  for  a  long  period  an- 
terior to  its  being  so  carefully  encompassed  with  gold  and^  as  it 
was  supposed^  securely  lodged  amongst  the  treasures  of  the  Im- 
perial Palace.  With  reference  to  this  subject  it  is  interesting 
to  leam^  as  I  have  from  Dr.  Hooker,  that  the  Tibetans  at  the 
present  day  use  human  skulls  divided  as  the  present  one  is^  and 
having  membrane  or  skin  stretched  across  them,  as  a  sort  of 
drum  or  timbrel  in  certain  religious  ceremonies ;  and  it  seems  by 
no  means  improbable  that  the  present  calva  was  originally  ap- 
plied to  that  purpose. 

From  the  above  it  will  be  seen  that  it  would  at  present  be 
premature  to  regard  the  skull  as  having  any  direct  connexion 
with  Buddhism  or  any  other  form  of  religious  faith.  It  might 
quite  as  probably^  perhaps,  be  related  to  some  of  the  more 
ancient  legendary  customs  above  alluded  to. 

There  is  no  reason  whatever,  but  quite  the  contrary,  for  be- 
lieving that  it  has  any  thing  whatever  to  do  with  Confricius'^. 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XI. 

Fig.  1.  Lateral  aspect  of  a  calvaria  from  China,  which  has  been  supposed  to 
be  that  of  Confucius. 

2.  Vertical  aspect  of  the  same. 

3.  Frontal  aspect  of  the  same. 

4.  Occipital  aspect  of  the  9ame. 

6.  Figure  in  faint  relief  on  the  frontal  bone. 

6.  Trefoil  figure  on  the  left  side  of  the  skuU. 

7.  Traces  of  figure  on  the  back  of  the  skull. 

use,  in '  Ducange*8  Olossarium/  is  in  a  barber-surgeon's  report  of  a  case  in  1880 ; 
and  here  it  is  spelt "  craneum,"  evidently  a  latinization  of  the  French  cratie. 
The  proper  Latin  term  for  the  naked  skull  is  calvaria  (in  one  instance 
ealvarittm).  In  the  above  passage  from  Livy  it  seems  that  the  classical  term 
for  the  upper  portion  of  tne  fmvaria  is  calva^  a  term  which  it  may,  on 
occasion,  perhaps  be  useful  to  retain. 

*  Since  this  paper  was  read,  Mr.  Mummerv  has  informed  me  that  Mr. 
Lockhart  has  suggested  to  him  that  the  skull  may  Ix?  that  of  a  revolted 
Mongol  prince,  not  improbably  Ichangir. 

VOL.  II.  ^i^^^^T^ 

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82  G.  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Calvaria  from  China. 

Discussion. 

Mr.  Feboussoit  said  that  he  remembered  this  skull  and  stand  in 
the  Great  Exhibition  of  1862,  when  it  belonged  to  Mr.  Tait.  The 
speaker  had  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  it  was  the  most  exquisitely 
beautiful  specimen  in  oriental  goldsmith's  work  which  he  had  ever 
seen.     The  price  then  put  upon  it  was  one  thousand  guineas. 

Mr.Fergusson  was  afraid  that  the  Buddhist  theory  must  be  entirely 
abandoned.  We  are  too  familiar,  both  from  description  and  expe- 
rience, with  the  mode  in  which  Buddhist  relics  were  preserved,  to  be 
mistaken  on  this  point.  They  were  preserved  either  in  miniature 
dagobies  or  caskets  like  bon-bon  boxes,  or  in  metal  cases  ;  had  this 
skull  been  a  relic,  it  would  have  been  turned  upwards,  fastened  to  its 
stand,  provided  certainly  with  a  covering  of  some  sort,  and  placed  so 
as  to  be  admired  and  worshipped.  On  the  contrary,  il;  was  lined  with 
gold,  fitted  with  a  jewelled  lid,  and  laid  loosely  on  its  tripod  so  as  to 
DO  easily  removed  and  handled ;  and  its  worn  and  poHshed  appear- 
ance shows  how  frequently  this  was  done. 

It  seemed  to  him,  on  the  other  hand,  very  clear,  that  the  passages 
which  Mr.  Busk  had  just  quoted  from  Herodotus  and  Livy  contained 
the  true  explanation  of  its  history.  It  must  have  been  the  skull  of 
some  revered  ancestor  or  dreaded  foe  of  the  present  Tatar  dynasty  of 
China,  and  was  consequently  honoured,  and  used  (as  we  find  it  was) 
in  the  summer  palace  at  Peking. 

Mr.  MuMHEBT,  the  owner,  of  the  calvaria,  said  that  it  had  been 
given  to  him  by  a  medical  friend.  Dr.  Millar,  who  saw  it  lying,  un- 
cared  for,  at  the  house  of  a  Jewish  gold-dealer  in  Houndsditch. 

The  speaker  had  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Lockhart,  founder  of 
the  Hospital  at  Peking,  who  expressed  his  decided  opinion  that  the 
skull  was  never  supposed  by  the  educated  Chinese  to  have  been 
that  of  Confucius,  although  it  has  usually  been  assigned  to  that 
philosopher  by  Europeans.  He  believes  that  the  skull  belonged  to 
some  Tatar  prince  who  was  a  tributary  to  the  empire,  and  who  had 
rebelled — his  overthrow  and  death  having  been  commemorated  by  this 
costly  work  of  art  and  an  ancient  Mongolian  initial  engraved  on  the 
frontal  bone.  He  adds  that  the  trefoil  is  probably  the  emblem  of 
the  Buddhist  trinity. 

Dr.  A.  Campbell  said,  with  reference  to  Professor  Busk's  remarks 
on  the  objects  for  preserving  this  skull,  that  Buddhists  made  some 
strange  uses  of  human  bones  in  religious  observances.  The  thigh- 
bone was  used  as  a  trumpet  for  calling  to  prayers  ;  and  Dr.  Campj^ll 
had  a  lama*s  rosary  which  was  composed  of  circular  pieces  cut  out 
of  a  human  skull. 

Dr.  Donovan  observed  that  this  could  not  be  the  skull  of  a  man  of 
note  in  any  civilized  country,  or  even  of  a  man  at  all.  It  was  far  too 
small  for  an  ordinary  male  skull.  The  sutures  showed  that  it  could 
hardly  be  the  skidl  of  an  educated  person ;  for  they  were  very  simple 
and  not  at  all  serrated. 

Dr.  Oppebt  stated  that  skulls  were  used  both  as  drinking-vessels 
and  for  religious  purposes  in  much  later  tipies  than  had  been  men* 
tioned. 


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Ho  WORTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades,  ^c.    83 

In  A.B.  574,  Alboin,  the  King  of  the  Longobards,  was  killed  at  the 
instigation  of  his  wife,  Eosamunde,  the  daughter  of  Kunimund,  the 
last  king  of  the  G^pidae,  who  had  been  beaten  and  slain  in  battle 
against  Alboin.  Out  of  the  skull  of  Kunimund  a  drinking-vessel  had 
been  made,  and  used  as  such  at  the  great  festivals  of  the  Court.  At 
one  of  these  feasts  the  intoxicated  king  compelled  his  wife  to  drink 
out  of  the  skull  of  her  father,  which  atrocity  enraged  her  so  much 
that  she  assassinated  him*. 

But  as  the  skull  in  question  is  brought  into  connexion  with  East- 
Asiatic  customs,  an  interesting  instance  may  be  cited  from  oriental 
writers.  When  Ong-khan,  the  chief  of  the  Keraites,  had  been  slain, 
in  Mie  year  1203,  Tayanuk-khan,  the  chief  of  the  Naymans,  ordered 
the  head  of  his  late  friend  to  be  enchased  in  gold  and  silver.  When, 
on  one  occasion,  the  head  moved,  as  Tayanuk-khan  addressed  it  io  a 
jesting  manner,  this  was  regarded  by  the  Tatars  as  a  bad  omen ;  and 
soon  afterwards  the  Nayman  chief  was  slain.  The  Persiaa  chronicler 
Mirkhond  says  that  the  Nayman  chief  was  a  Butperest,  or  heathen, 
which  word  But  is,  without  doubt,  derived  from  Buddha  f* 


Major  P.  MiLLiNGEK,  P.E.Q-.S.,  then  read  a  paper  "  On  the  Koords 
and  Armenians." 


IX.  On  the  Westerly  Driptino  of  Pomades,  from  the  Fifth  to 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  By  H.  H.  Howorth,  Esq. — Part 
III.  The  Comans  and  Petchenegs. 

(Part  XL  was  published  in  Vol.  I.  pp.  37a-587.) 

I  SHALL  now  return  to  the  consideration  of  an  area  much  more 
connected  with  European  ethnology.  Here  we  shall  meet  with 
greater  difficulties  and  complications.  South  of  the  Jaxartes 
we  can  with  some  approximation  discriminate  Turkish  invaders 
from  Persian  settlers.  They  belong  to  two  separate  divisions  of 
the  human  race  in  the  classiiication  of  modem  science.  Reli- 
gion, manners  and  customs,  physique  and  language,  all  present 
features  assisting  the  division.  North  of  the  Jaxartes,  in  the 
great  deserts  of  the  Khirgises,  and  in  the  steppes  of  Little 
Tatary  and  of  Siberia,  we  meet  with  much  more  complicating 
circumstances.  There  the  difference  is  one  of  degree  rather  than 
of  kind,  and  we  only  multiply  difficulties  in  multiplying  dif* 

•  [These  "Longobards"  may  very  well  have  been  the  descendants  of  the 
JBcii  above  noticed,  to  whom  the  foundation  of  Bologna,  Parma,  Reggio,  Mo- 
dena,  &c.  ia  assigned. — G.  B.] 

t  [M  the  Meeting  of  the  Society  on  the  22nd  February,  1870,  Mr.  Busk 
exhibited  a  second  calvCf  lined  with  copper,  which  had  been  kindly  forwarded 
to  him  by  Mr.  W.  Lockhart ;  and  at  the  same  time  read  some  additional 
remarks  on  the  subject,  the  substance  of  which  was  derived  from  communi- 
cations ^m  Mr.  Lockhart,  Mr.  Wylie,  and  Mr.  R.  Swinhoe.  These  will 
appear  in  the  next  Number  of  the  Journal.] 

o  2 

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84        HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drafting  of  Nomades, 

ferences.  Turan,  the  complement  of  Iran,  is  used  as  the  collec- 
tive name  of  a  congery  of  clans  and  families  rather  than  of  races 
or  states^  all  nearly  related^  and  having  common  traditions. 
They  all  speak  languages  of  the  agglutinative  type,  and  as  we 
recede  from  our  own  times  they  approximate  more  closely  to  one 
another,  and  it  becomes  impossible  to  classify  them  rigidly. 

Greatly  as  I  respect  the  name  of  Latham  (and  I  have  some 
occasion  to  respect  it),  I  cannot  believe  in  the  artificial  weight 
he  attaches  to  names  and  distinctions,  nor  in  the  sharply 
defined  races  which  his  arguments  require.  I  believe  Ugrian, 
Turk,  and  Mongol  to  be  of  much  more  geographical  than  etlftiic 
value.  If  by  Ugrian  be  meant  those  tribes  living  under  hard 
conditions  along  the  borders  of  the  Frozen  Sea,  and  having  their 
typical  idiosyncrasies  in  Lapland,  and  by  Turk  those  prouder 
races  which,  having  been  frontagers  of  a  series  of  civilizations  in 
the  plains  of  Great  Tatary  and  Turkestan,  have  received  from 
them  grafts  of  a  more  energetic  blood,  and  have  had  their  lan- 
guage, manners,  and  appearance  altered,  and  of  whom  the  tvpe 
is  the  Turkish  race  of  the  Ouigours,  I  am  content  with  the  cuw- 
sification ;  but  between  these  extreme  types  almost  every  pos- 
sible intermediate  form  exists,  having  more  or  less  common  fea- 
tures, as,  for  instance,  the  Bashkirs,  who,  in  their  indigenous 
name  and  their  physical  forms,  are  very  Ugrian,  while  their  lan- 
guage is  very  Turk,  &c.  Bearing  this  in  mind,  every  one  can 
appreciate  the  almost  superhuman  difficulty  of  reconciling  the 
thousand  contradictory  statements  of  the  Byzantine,  and  the 
often  empirical  nomenclature  of  the  Arabian  geographers,  and 
may  also  find  ample  reason  for  the  confusion  which  still  reigns 
in  this  somewhat  repulsive  and  uninviting  field  of  ethnological 
inquiry.  Few  have  traversed  it  with  even  moderate  success,  nor 
do  I  claim  to  be  better  than  my  neighbours.  I  have  had  the 
assistance  of  their  ingenuity,  and  I  have  consulted  every  autho- 
rity within  my  reach,  among  whom  let  me  especially  name  the 
often-forgotten  Strahlenberg,  the  plodding  Zeuss,  whose  great 
work  on  ethnology  this  Society  ought  to  translate,  and  the  ubi- 
quitous Klaproth ;  with  these  materials  I  have  endeavoured  to 
give  a  connected  theory,  on  which  I  humbly  invite  criticism. 

First  I  must  say  a  few  words  about  the  Mongols.  As  is  well 
known,  they  are  divided  by  geographers  into  two  great  branches, 
the  Mongols  proper  in  the  east  and  the  Kalmucks  in  the  west 
of  Mongolistan.  I  have  already  given  an  account  of  the  sepa- 
ration, about  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  of  the 
European  Kalmucks  from  their  mother  race  in  the  little  Altai, 
when  they  drove  many  of  the  Nogay  hordes  fix)m  between  the 
Tobol  and  the  Jaik  before  them.  The  Kalmucks  of  the  Altaic 
known  as  Olot,  derive  their  origin  from  Tangout,  the  country 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  85 

lying  between  the  Kokonoor  or  Blue  Lake  and  Tiljet ;  nor  do 
I  see  any  reason  to  quarrel  with  this  tradition.  The  date  of 
their  settlement  about  Lake  Balkash  and  in  Soongaria  I  cannot 
believe  to  have  been  much  before  the  time  of  Zenghiz,  and  I 
believe  them  to  have  drifted  hither  gradually  during  tlie  supre- 
macy of  the  Great  Mogul  Khanate  of  Karakorum ;  for  in  the 
earlier  wars  of  Zenghiz  their  present  area  was  occupied  by  the 
Naymans^  whose  name  still  survives  in  one  of  the  clans  of  the 
Usbegs  and  among  the  Khirgises,  and  who  may  therefore  be 
considered  to  have  been  Turks. 

If  the  Olot  are  to  be  traced  to  the  Keraites,  as  D'Ohnson 
asserts,  we  have  another  confirmation  of  this  position.  Before 
the  time  of  Zenghiz,  then,  I  hold  that  the  Mongols  were  limited 
on  the  west  by  the  present  boundaries  of  what  are  known  as  the 
Mongols  proper,  the  hordes  of  the  forty-nine  banners  of  the 
Chinese  writers — ^that  is,  roughly,  by  the  eastern  frontiers  of 
the  great  provinces  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  known  as  Thian  Shan 
Nanloo  or  Little  Bukharia,  and  Thian  Shan  Peloo  or  Soongaria — 
that  they  occupied  all  the  country  from  the  Chinese  Wall  in  the 
south  to  the  province  of  Irkutsk  in  the  north,  roaming  over  the 
great  desert  of  Gobi,  and  having  their  chief  focus  in  the  regions 
around  Lake  Baikal.  Hence  they  crept  westward.  Bar  He- 
bneus,  who  wrote  in  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
who  lived  among  them,  places  their  western  limit  at  the  country 
of  the  Igurri  Turcse,  and  says  the  same  Mongols  conquered  the 
Igurri  and  took  tribute  from  them :  these  Igurri  are  the  Oui- 
gours  of  Bishbalig  &c.  Later  on  they  gradually  infiltered  the 
Khirgis  deserts  with  their  blood,  and  imparted  the  same  in  a 
smaller  measure  to  the  Nogay  Tatars. 

If  I  were  asked  for  an  opinion  as  to  the  ethnic  aflBnities  of  the 
Mongols,  I  should  say  that  they  are  merely  the  result  of  a  mix- 
ture of  Tongus  with  Turks,  their  neighbours  on  either  hand — 
that  on  the  west  they  fade  almost  insensibly  by  such  transition 
tribes  as  the  Kalmucks  and  the  Buriats  into  Turkish  forms, 
while  on  the  other  hand  they  do  the  same  even  more  insensibly 
into  Tongus  through  those  tribes  of  the  Baikal  to  whom  the 
name  Tatar  was  originally  applied,  the  greatest  aflSnity,  no 
doubt,  being  with  the  latter,  whose  religious  and  social  condi- 
tions they  most  affect. 

The  great  provinces  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  from  which  we 
have  succeeded  in  eliminating  the  Kalmucks,  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  little  Altai,  on  the  south  by  Tibet,  on  the  east  by 
the  desert  of  Gobi,  and  on  the  west  by  Great  Bukharia,  were 
known  to  the  Arabs  as  Kara  Kathay,  or  Black  Kathay,  either 
frdm  their  inferior  position  to  Great  Kathay,  or  China,  or  from 
their  sterile  aspect. 

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86        HowoETH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

The  name  Kathay  is  derived  from  the  Kitans  or  Khitans^  who 
were  known  to  the  Chinese  writers  as  Leao.  The  Kitans  had 
been  masters  of  Northern  China  from  the  year  907.  In  the 
year  1125  the  Nin  Tche,  a  Mantchu  race,  broke  the  power  of 
the  Kitans,  and  a  body  of  them  invaded  Kaschgar  and  settled 
there.  These  were  known  to  the  Chinese  as  western  Leao,  and 
were  the  Kitans  who  gave  their  name  to  Kara  Kathay.  Their 
leaders  only  were  Kitans,  the  soldiery  was  composed,  like  the 
army  of  Zenghiz,  of  Turks.  They  repeatedly  invaded  Trans- 
oxiana,  and  in  1171  defeated  the  Charizmians.  Their  most 
renowned  exploit,  however,  if  it  be  possible  to  credit  the  story, 
is  their  invasion  of  Georgia.  A  race  still  remains  there  (called 
the  Chaitaki,  their  land  Khaita  or  Cara  Khaita)  who  claim  descent 
from,  these  Kitans.  I  do  not  see  how  the  story  is  to  be  under- 
mined, and  should  be  thankful  for  some  more  information  on  the 
subject  of  this  obscure  tribe.  As  far  as  we  know,  they  are  Turks, 
and  allied  in  race  to  the  Basians. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  Kitans,  Chinese  Turkestan  was  the 
seat  of  a  renowned  power  known  to  the  Chinese  as  that  of  the 
Hoe-tche,  originally  a  clan  of  the  horde  Kao-tche,  settled  south 
of  the  Selinga.  In  742  their  Khan  was  acknowledged  as  Grand 
Khan  by  the  Chinese  emperor.  In  745  his  empire  reached  the 
Altai  and  the  Irtysch  in  the  west  and  the  country  of  the  Tun- 
guses  in  the  east.  In  758,  the  same  year  in  which  the  Arabs 
burnt  Canton,  there  was  a  quarrel  at  the  Chinese  court  about 
precedence  between  the  embassy  of  this  Grand  Khan  and  that 
of  Aboudjiasar  al  Mansor,  second  Khalif  of  the  Abassides  (De 
Guignes) .  At  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  the  empire  of  the 
Hoeitche  was  one  of  the  most  important  in  Asia.  Among  others^ 
the  Khirghises  were  subject  to  it. 

These  Hoeitche,  or  Goeitche,  as  they  are  also  called,  were,  as 
we  have  seen,  in  contact  with  the  Arab  conquests  of  the  Sama- 
nides;  and  many  of  them,  on  the  frontiers  of  l^ansoxiana,  adopted 
Mahommedanism.  They  are,  in  fact,  the  Turkish  race  known  to 
the  Nubian  geographer  as  Odhkos,  and  to  the  various  Arabians 
as  the  Gusses,  of  whom  we  have  already  written  at  length,  and 
from  whom  were  derived  the  Turkish  invaders  of  southern  Asia, 
the  Ghaznevides,  the  Seljuks,  &c.  Their  history  is  mixed  up 
with  that  of  the  Ouigoui*s  or  Kaotchary  Turks,  called  by  De 
Guignes  the  Cba-to,  Tagazgaz  by  Majoudi,  and  Bagargar  by 
other  Arabs.  The  Turkish  chroniclers  divide  their  own  race 
into  two  sections,  the  northern  and  the  southern,  each  with  an 
eponymous  hero  as  its  ancestor :  these  sections  are  the  Oghuz 
and  the  Ouigour.  I  have  more  faith  in  such  traditions  among 
the  Turks  than  among  any  other  race.  In  this  case  it  is  con- 
firmed by  many  facts ;  the  language  of  the  Uzbeks  and  that  of 

*  Digitized  by  CjOOQIC 


fnm  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  87 

the  Ouigonrs  is  almost  identical^  and  is  the  purest  Turkish  idiom 
known,  while  their  habits  and  traditions  are  the  same. 

I  am  awaiting  impatiently  the  results  of  M.  Vambery's  exami- 
nation of  the  remains  of  the  Ouigour  literature.  At  present, 
while  we  associate  with  the  name  Ouigour  the  typical  home- 
grown civilization  of  Asia,  which  Zenghiz  made  its  cultivators 
teach  his  people — ^while  we  are  joined  closer  in  sympathy  with 
the  same  cultivators  by  the  extraordinary  labours  among  them 
of  the  early  Nestorian  missionaries,  and  by  the  fact  of  their  land, 
and  especially  its  town  Konam-tcheou,  having  been  the  entrepdt 
where  the  Arab  traders  exchanged  the  products  of  Spain  and 
Arabia  for  those  of  Siberia  and  China — while  we  assign  to  the 
Ouigours  these  glories,  we  must  on  this  occasion  follow  them 
to  the  west  in  company  with  and  in  subordination  to  their 
more  enterprising  brothers  the  Hoeitche.  Let  us  resume  our 
story. 

The  Hoeitche  or  Ousses,  although  continually  drifting  west- 
wards, still  kept  up  connexions  with  China,  and  about  890  the 
Chinese  received  tribute  from  them.  They  now  become  cele- 
brated in  the  civil  strifes  of  the  Samanides.  Under  Bograh 
Khan,  in  992,  they  took  Bokhara ;  he  also  possessed  Kaschgar, 
Balasgoum,  Khotcn,  Earas,  and  the  country  as  far  as  China. 
He  advanced  as  far  as  Georgia,  and  his  successor  Illih  II  Khan 
was  master  of  both  Samarcand  and  Bokhara.  In  999  the 
Hoeitche  overturned  the  dynasty  of  the  Samanides.  They  still 
paid  tribute  to  China.  We  now  hear  of  their  struggles  with  the 
Khitans,  and  of  their  power  crumbling  away  before  those  eastern 
invaders.  I  have  already  given  some  account  of  their  swarm- 
ing into  Persia;  but  this  was  only  the  history  of  one  portion. 
Another  took  the  way  of  the  Kirghis  desert  towards  the  Volga. 
A  third  stayed  at  home,  and  became,  as  I  believe,  the  ancestors 
of  the  Naymans,  whom  I  have  referred  to,  and  of  the  numerous 
Turkish  races  still  found  in  Western  Chinese  Turkestan.  The 
Jeteh  or  Geteh,  of  the  annals  of  Timour  and  of  other  writers, 
who  are  placed  south  of  the  river  Khujend,  and  in  the  deserts  of 
the  Khirgises,  from  them  caDed  Desht  Jeteh,  I  believe  with 
some  authorities  to  have  been  merely  such  Turks  as  still  re- 
mained pagans  and  did  not  submit  to  Islamism.  Timour  calls 
them  his  countrymen.  Whether  this  opprobrious  designation  of 
heretics  be  the  origin  of  the  term  Jut  and  Get  in  the  Sikh  annals 
I  know  not. 

I  have  said  that  the  Khitan  invasion  drove  some  of  the 
Hoeitche  to  the  west :  these  would  not  be  likely  to  stay  in  the 
sandy  wilderness  of  the  Khirgises ;  and  we  accordingly  find  it 
recorded  by  the  Arab  Ma90udi  that,  about  the  beginning  of  the 
tenth  century,  hordes  of  the  Gusses,  a  Turkish  folk,  wintered 

Digitized  by  L:*OOQ IC 


88        Ho  WORTH — Oa,the  Westerly  Drifting  o/Nomades, 

on  the  east  of  the  Volga  (called  by  him  the  Nites)^  and  when  it 
froze  over  invaded  on  horseback  the  land  of  the  Chazars. 

The  Volga^  the  eastern  limit  of  Europe^  was  near  enough  to 
the  Greeks  and  Russians  to  lead  us  to  expect  to  find  such  an 
invasion  (especially  as  it  was  not  likely  to  be  a  mere  isolated 
raid)  mentioned  in  their  annals ;  and  on  turning  to  them  we  find 
ourselves  among  a  long  series  of  such  notices.  Wherever  we 
find  the  term  Ousses  or  Gozz  in  the  accoimts  of  the  Arabs,  we 
have  the  names  Uzes  or  Comani  used  by  the  Byzantines,  the 
former  term  used  with  great  laxity,  aud  sometimes  made  to 
include  the  Petchenegs.  Anna  Comnena,  in  1070,  first  uses  the 
name  Comani.  De  Guignes  makes  Comani  to  be  a  mere  dimi- 
nutive of  Turcoman!, — ^a  very  wild  etymology.  It  is  clearly 
derived  from  the  river  Eouma  or  Kuma,  the  country  about 
which  was  known  to  the  Persians  as  Kumestan,  and  which  the 
Arabian  Edrissi,  who  wrote  about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury, distinctly  calls  Al  Ckomania,  and  adds,  which  gives  name 
to  the  Ckomanians  (Klaproth,  Travels  in  the  Caucasus,  155). 

The  name  Comanians  is  therefore  of  small  value  in  tracing 
the  history  of  the  Gusses ;  it  is  merely  the  appellative  they 
derived  from  their  situation.  Nikon,  the  Russian  chronicler,  in 
speaking  of  them,  says,  the  "  Cumani,  more  properly  Polowtzy.'* 
Another  writer,  quoted  by  Schlozer,  says,  "  the  Cumani,  that  is 
the  Polowtzi.'^  Nestor,  in  describing  one  of  their  invasions  of 
the  Greek  empire,  says  Polowtzi  where  the  Greek  writers  say 
(/umani.  We  thus  identify  the  Cumani  of  the  Greeks  with  the 
Polowtzki  so  celebrated  in  the  Russian  annals  of  the  eleventh 
and  twelfth  centuries.  Polowtzki  merely  means  steppe-men. 
Rubruquis,  who  wrote  about  1253,  says,  "  Here  [i.  e.  in  the  pre- 
sent Nogay  steppe]  the  Comani  live  and  feed  their  flocks ;  they 
call  themselves  Capchat;  to  the  Germans  they  are  known  as 
Walani,  and  their  country  as  Walania."  Here,  then,  we  have 
the  indigenous  name  of  the  Comans,  the  name  adopted  by  the 
Mogul  khanate  of  Baton  Khan,  to  which  we  have  previously 
referred — a  name  still  borne  by  Uzbek  and  Nogay  tribes,  and 
by  a  tribe  of  the  middle  horde  of  the  Khirgises,  in  whose  terri- 
tory is  a  town  Kaptchak  and  a  lake  Kaptchi,  a  distinctly  Turk 
name,  being  adopted,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  from  some  noted 
leader ;  for  we  find  Kaptchak  mentioned  on  three  or  four  occa- 
sions in  Uzbeg  history  as  the  proper  name  of  a  chieftain.  The 
plain  between  the  Volga  and  Ural  was  known,  from  such  a  one, 
as  Desht  Kaptchak  (the  desert  of  Kaptchak),  just  as  it  was  sub- 
sequently known  as  Desht  Bereke,  from  Bereke  the  Nogay 
leader.  Here  we  have  another  proof,  if  such  were  needed,  of 
our  being  right  in  tracing  the  Comans  to  the  same  parentage  as 
the  Uzbegs.     The  German  appellative  by  which  the  Comans 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  89 

were  known  is  not  so  easy  to  explain.  The  province  of  Vol- 
hynia  took  its  name  firom  them^  according  to  Latham.  But 
this  can  hardly  be  so^  as  the  name  occurs  much  earlier  than 
their  inyasion.  Zeuss  gives  the  form  Falawa^  and  says  it  is  the 
literal  rendering  of  Polouci  (t.  e.  Steppe-men).  He  also  adds  the 
forms  Falon^  Valni,  Valewe,  Valwen,  and  Walmoen.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Zeuss  is  right. 

The  Comans  are  described  by  various  authors  as  a  savage  race, 
living  on  flesh  and  drinking  mare^s  milk  and  blood — ^the  typical 
food  of  the  Turkish  hordes.     , 

To  this  accumulated  evidence  we  may  add  the  best  of  all  tests^ 
namely,  that  of  language.  Rubruquis  tells  us  that  the  language 
of  the  Jugurri  (t.  e.  the  Ouigours)  is  the  original  and  root  of  the 
Turkish  and  Comanian  languages.  The  Genoese  called  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Turks  of  the  Black  Sea  (i.  e,  of  the  Comans) 
Ugaresca  [i.e,  Ouigour).  When  many  of  the  Comans  were 
driven  out  of  their  quarters  by  the  Mongols,  they  fled,  as  we 
shall  see,  into  Hungary.  Here  their  descendants  still  remain  : 
although  they  have  forgotten  their  tongue  and  adopted  Hun- 
garian, this  is  only  very  recently ;  several  copies  of  the  Lord^s 
Prayer  in  their  language  have  been  preserved.  Lastly,  Elaproth 
has  published  a  very  elaborate  analysis  of  a  Persian  and  Coma- 
nian vocabulary  he  discovered  in  the  library  of  St.  Mark  at 
Venice.    These  remains  are  all  of  them  purelv  Turkish. 

The  Byzantines  place  the  flrst  arrival  of  tne  Comani  or  Kip- 
tchaks  about  the  years  894r-899,  when  they  drove  the  Petchenegs 
&om  between  the  Ural  or  Jaik  and  the  Volga.  The  Russians 
first  speak  of  the  Polowzi  in  996,  during  the  reign  of  Wladimir, 
when  their  prince,  Wolodar,  invaded  Russia.  They  were  then 
defeated  and  their  king  killed.  From  this  date  to  the  year  1229, 
when  they  occur  for  the  last  time  in  the  Russian  chronicles,  the 
history  of  Russia  is  little  more  than  the  account  of  their  fearful 
devastEitions,  invited  and  assisted  by  the  miserable  squabbles  of 
the  various  Russian  princes.  In  their  earlier  struggles  with  the 
Petchenegs  we  find  the  Kiptchaks  in  alliance  with  the  ELhazars ; 
and  with  them  they  first  drove  the  Petchenegs  across  the  Don. 
A  portion  of  the  latter,  however,  survived  in  the  deserts  between 
the  Ural  and  the  Volga ;  the  remainder  were  gradually  pressed 
westward  into  Hungary  and  on  to  the  weak  defences  of  the  Greek 
empire ;  and  the  Comans  gradually  occupied  the  country  north  of 
the  Euxine  and  the  Caucasus,  where  they  are  placed  by  Rubru- 
quis and  De  Piano  Carpino.  Describing  the  Nogay  steppe  north 
of  the  Crimea,  the  former  writer  says,  "  This  whole  level  was, 
previously  to  the  irruption  of  the  Tartars,  inhabited  by  the  Co- 
manians.  .  .  .-  .  On  the  invasion  of  the  Tartars  a  great  multitude 
of  Comanians  fled  to  the  sea-shore  ....  The  whole  country 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


90        HowoRTH — On  ike  Westerly  Drifting  ofNomades, 

from  the  Danube  to  the  Tanais  is  more  than  two  months'  journey 
across^  even  for  such  swift  riders  as  the  Tartars,  and  is  entirely  in- 
habited by  Comanians,  who  extend  even  beyond  the  Tanais  to  the 
Edil  (Volga),  a  tract  of  ten  long  days'  journey  between  the  two 
rivers/'  In  an  old  map  of  the  year  1318,  in  the  Imperial  Library 
at  Vienna,  Comania  or  Chumania  is  the  tract  north  of  the  Sea 
of  Azof.  In  this  tract  Rubruquis  mentions  passing  the  tombs  of 
the  Comani — stately  erections,  pyramids  and  pillars,  upon  each 
of  which  was  placed  a  rude  figure  holding  a  drinking-cup. 
Klaproth,  who  describes  them  as  they  still  remain,  doubts  their 
having  been  made  by  the  Comani.  Similar  erections  in  the 
same  area  are  undoubtedly  described  by  the  Romans  as  having 
been  put  up  by  the  Huns.  The  arrival  of  the  Mongols  broke  up 
the  Comanian  power.  When  the  former  had  forced  their  way 
through  the  Caucasus,  they  were  opposed  by  an  allied  army  of 
Comans  and  Alans.  Commencing  the  struggle,  as  they  inva- 
riably did,  with  intrigues,  they  detached  the  Comans  from  their 
alliance  by  claiming  them  as  brothers  and  of  the  same  kin,  which 
they  denied  to  the  Alans.  This  is  another  proof  of  the  ethnic 
affinities  of  the  Comans ;  for  we  know  that  the  army  of  Baton 
Khan  was  almost  entirely  composed  of  Turks.  Having  defeated 
the  Alans  separately,  the  Mongols,  with  consistent  treachery, 
turned  their  arms  upon  the  Comans.  On  another  occasion, 
when  Comans  and  Russians  were  allied,  they  attempted,  but 
unsuccessfully,  the  same  policy  in  more  flattering  terms,  saying 
the  Comans  were  their  ancient  slaves  while  the  Russians  were  a 
noble,  independent  people.  The  various  alliances  of  Comans, 
Russians,  and  Alans,  however,  were  of  little  avail.  The  Mongol 
tide  swept  on,  and  the  Comanians,  as  a  separate  nation  (their 
capital  was  Soldaya),  were  heard  of  no  more  in  the  Nogay  steppe. 
Many  of  them  were  sold  by  the  Mongols  to  the  family  of  Saladin, 
and  became  the  nucleus  of  the  Mamelukes,  one  of  whom,  called 
Bibars  or  Biberdi  (a  Turk  name)  became  sultan  of  Egypt  and 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Greek  emperor  in  1261.  Many  of 
the  Comans,  however,  followed  in  the  steps  of  previous  unfor- 
timate  nomades  and  made  their  way  towards  the  Hungarian 
plains,  with  whose  inhabitants  they  had  had  many  conflicts,  in 
two  of  which,  in  1070  and  1089,  they  had  been  severely  defeated 
by  the  Hungarians  Salomo  andLadislav  (see  Zeuss,^Die  Deutschen 
und  die  Nachbarstamme').  In  Hungary  numbers  of  them  settled. 
On  the  middle  Theiss  still  remains  a  country  called  Kunsag, 
and  people  known  as  great  and  little  Kumans — ^the  former  on 
the  right,  the  latter  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  In  1410  they 
were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  in  the  same  century  fol- 
lowed the  trades  of  masons  and  archers  (in  Hungarian  Jazok). 
They  still  exist  to  the  number  of  112,000  free  persons,  but  have 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  91 

entirely  forgotten  their  language.  According  to  Klaproth,  the 
last  who  understood  it  was  a  man  named  Varro,  who  died  in  1 770. 
Remains  of  it,  as  I  have  said,  have  been  preserved  and  proved  to 
be  clearly  Turkish. 

The  establishment  of  the  Mongol  empire  of  the  Kaptchak  on 
the  ruins  of  the  Comanian  power  did  not  eradicate  that  race 
altogether;  although  the  name  Coman  disappears^  the  name 
Kaptchak  was  adopted  by  the  conquerors,  and  a  vast  number  of 
the  original  Kaptchaks  or  Comans  remained  behind  in  the 
steppes,  under  the  rule  of  the  Mongols^  and  became  the  nucleus 
of  the  various  Nogay  hordes,  the  most  important  of  whose  tribes 
is  known  as  Kaptchak.  The  name  Nogay  is  applied  to  most  of 
the  wandering  tribes  from  Bessarabia  to  the  Kuma.  Most  of 
these  have,  as  I  believe,  their  genealogies  rooted  among  the 
Comani,  mixed,  unquestionably,  with  a  tinge  of  Mongol  blood, 
and  in  a  greater  degree  with  the  blood  of  earlier  occupiers  of 
the  same  steppes.  Their  main  element  is  the  same  as  that  of 
the  earlier  Turcoman  invaders  of  Persia,  namely,  that  of  the 
Gusses,  the  western  wave  of  the  same  flood  of  which  the  Tur- 
comans formed  the  southern  wave — a  flood  caused  by  the  dis- 
persion of  the  empire  of  the  Hoeitche  in  Turkestan. 

Having  cleared  up  the  ethnology  of  the  Comans,  we  are  in  a 
position  to  examine  that  of  the  Petchenegs,  whom  the  former 
drove  out. 

Before  the  Coman  invasion  the  country  west  of  the  Volga 
was  occupied  by  the  Khazars  and  the  Petchenegs,  the  former  a 
great  and  most  interesting  race,  who  long  gave  their  names  to  a 
very  wide  territory — the  land  of  Khazaria,  as  it  is  called  by 
Ma90udi.  Tlie  Petchenegs  were  a  body  of  but  recent  origin,  who 
were  constantly  flghting  with  the  Khazars.  In  the  earlier  Co- 
man  invasions  we  generally  find  the  Comans  in  alliance  with  the 
Khazars  against  the  Petchenegs.  Who,  then,  were  the  Petche- 
negs ?  Zeuss  gives  their  various  synonyms  thus : — they  were 
known  as  Patzinakitai  to  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  Pece- 
natici,  Pizenaci,  Pincenates,  Pecinei,  Petinei,  and  Postinagi,  to 
the  western  writers,  Peczenjezi  to  the  western  Slaves,  Bisscui  to 
the  Hungarians.  Behnakyeis  their  name  in  Ibn  el  Wardi,  and 
Drewenses  («.  e.  woodmen,  from  drew  or  derew,  a  wood)  in  the 
Russian  chronicles. 

Strahlenberg  has  the  ingenious  suggestion  that  Petscheneg  is 
derived  from  Petsch  or  Pietsch,  which  he  says  is  the  literal 
translation  of  ^  Hund,'  a  dog,  and  connects  them  with  the  Huns. 
Latham  suggests  that  the  name  may  be  the  same  as  Peucini,  so 
called  from  the  island  Peuke  in  the  Danube, — not  that  the 
Petchenegs  were  in  any  way  connected  in  blood  with  the  Peu- 
cini of  the  Romans,  but  that  the  name  was  adopted  by  the 
invaders  as  Briton  has  been  adopted  by  an  Anglo-Saxon  race*jle 


92        HowoBTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  ofNomades, 

I  cannot  accept  either  of  these  etymologies.  Klaproth  relates 
that  when  Jermak^  the  Cossack^  attacked  the  Siberian  Tatars 
on  the  Tawda^  and  they  had  assembled  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Patschenka,  a  prince  named  Petscheneg  was  among  the  slain. 
This  shows  the  name  was  not  confined  to  the  Petchenegs  of  the 
Danube^  and  shows  further  the  probability  that,  like  Kaptchak 
and  Uzbeg,  it  was  a  family  name  of  note,  and  adopted  for  that 
reason  by  the  whole  race,  and  so  adopted  at  no  distant  date 
either ;  for  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  tells  us  they  were 
formerly  called  Kangar  or  Kankar,  which  among  them  means 
valour.  The  mention  oi  Patschenka  seems  to  introduce  us  to 
the  typical  area  of  the  race.  Snorro  Sturleson  mentions  the 
Petchenegs  as  Pezina  VoUhr.  Sviatoslav,  the  Russian,  we  are 
tbld,  was  beheaded  in  Petschenka  curia.  Where,  then,  was 
Patschenka  ? 

The  Arabian  geographer  Scherif  Edrissi  speaks  of  the  countiy 
of  Bedschenay,  and  places  it  in  the  seventh  part  of  the  seventh 
climate,  in  contiguity  with  Bassdshirt  (Baskiria).  He  says  it  was 
not  extensive,  he  did  not  know  whether  they  had  any  larger 
town  than  Banamuni,  which  contained  many  inhabitants  of  the 
race  of  the  Turks,  and  that  they  carried  on  war  with  the  Rus- 
sians and  the  Greeks.  With  these  scanty  materials  it  would  be 
impossible  to  dogmatize.  The  name  by  which  they  were  known 
to  the  Hungarians  is  said  to  be  the  origin  of  the  syllables 
Besse  in  Bessarabia.  It  is  at  the  same  time  a  curious  coinci- 
dence that  one  of  the  Thracian  tribes  was  also  called  Bessi  or 
Bissi. 

In  the  statement  of  the  Emperor  Constantine,  already  quoted^ 
we  come  upon  more  fruitful  etymologies.  The  Kangar  can  be  no 
other  than  the  Eangitcs  of  Carpino,  the  Curges  and  Changle  of 
other  travellers,  the  Cancalis  so  celebrated  in  the  Ural  steppe  at 
the  time  of  Tchinghiz — ^names  derived  by  Klaproth  from  their 
invention  and  use  of  wheeled  carriages,  "kanek'^  meaning  wheels. 
Among  the  names  of  Petcheneg  tribes  preserved  by  Constantine 
is  the  Talmat,  which  Strahlenberg  compares  with  the  Talma^ 
sata  found  east  of  the  Volga  in  his  day — ^another  proof  of  the 
identification.  The  ethnic  affinities  of  the  Petchenegs  are  clear 
enough.  Nikon  the  chronicler  associates  them  with  the  Tork- 
mcni,  Tortozy,  and  Cumani.  Ibn  el  Wardi  calls  them  a  Turkish 
race.  Anna  Comnena  says  they  spoke  the  same  language  as  the 
Comans.  The  Byzantines  constantly  confound  the  Comans  and 
Petchenegs  under  the  conmion  name  of  Uzi.  All  these  facts 
confirm  the  position  of  most  inquirers,  that  the  Petchenegs  were 
a  horde  of  Turks  belonging  to  a  previous  wave  of  invasion  to 
the  Uzi  proper,  less  purely  Turk,  I  believe,  and  more  mixed 
with  foreign  elements.  Their  former  seats  were  situated  at  the 
foot  of  the  Ural  mountains ;  and  I  believe  them  t0~have  been 

■igitized  by  V3 


from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century .  93 

very  nearly  related  to  the  Baschkirs — ^a  race  whose  language  is 
Turk  but  whose  blood  is  mixed.  The  name  Baschkir  suggests 
comparisons  with  Bessi  and  Bisseni  of  the  Hungarians ;  and  I 
know  of  no  other  source  whence  the  Turkish  language  of  the 
Baschkirs  can  have  been  derived,  if  it  were  not  from  the  Pet- 
chenegs  or  Cancalis.  The  Kangli  or  Cancalis  had  been  an 
ancient  foe  of  the  Hoeitche  on  the  other  side  of  the  Volga. 
When  the  power  of  the  latter  became  settled,  the  Caucalis  emi- 
grated or  were  forced  towards  the  west;  I  believe  they  then 
drove  out  the  inhabitants  of  Pascatir  or  Baschkir  land,  and 
caused  them  to  migrate  to  Hungary ;  they  also  broke  the  power 
of  the  Khazars,  many  of  whom  they  also  drove  into  Hungary. 
The  Petchenegs  occupied  the  vacant  lands,  and  gradually 
pressed  westward  into  the  woods  of  the  Ukraine,  whence  they 
grievously  afflicted  the  borders  of  the  Greek  empire  and  the 
Russians  of  Kief.  With  the  Cumans  they  are  described  as  a 
savage  race,  living  on  the  flesh,  milk,  and  blood  of  their  herds ; 
we  are  also  told  they  were  an  inferior  race  to  the  Comans,  both 
in  numbers  and  in  appearance,  and  that  they  had  a  distinctive 
dress.  Their  chief  town  was  called  Korosten  or  Kourosteszov 
(i.  e.  wall  of  bark),  also  known  as  Nowopolci,  on  the  river  Tetera, 
famous  for  the  death  of  Igor  and  the  mound  under  which  he 
was  buried.  Another  of  their  towns  was  Ovroutsche,  where 
Oleg  was  murdered  (see  Bohusz,  Becherches  historiques  sur 
i'Origine  des  Sarmates,  &c.,  8.  xxxi.  532).  We  are  told  the 
Petchenegs  lived  in  tents,  that  each  of  their  eight  tribes  had  a 
separate  chief,  and  that  these  tribes  were  themselves  split  up 
into  forty  lesser  ones.  The  names  of  these  eight  tribes,  as  given 
by  the  Emperor  Constantino,  are  Ertem,  Tzur,  Gyla,  Culpee, 
Charobo^,  Talmat,  Chapon,  and  Tzopon;  they  divided  their 
conquests  into  eight  provinces  corresponding  to  them — four  east 
of  the  Dnieper,  between  the  Russians  and  the  Khazars,  and  four 
west  of  the  Dnieper,  in  Moldavia,  Transylvania  on  the  Bug, 
and  the  neighbourhood  of  Kief.  The  same  writer  places  their 
first  arrival  at  fifty  years  before  his  time,  t.  e.  about  a.d.  862. 
Rhegnion,  who  lived  about  908,  makes  the  date  889  (De 
Guignes.  Nestor  mentions  them  first  in  Russia  in  915 ;  they 
occur  in  his  pages  very  frequently.  They  killed  Igor  in  945, 
and  in  968  hud  siege  to  Kief.  In  alliance  with  the  Russians 
they  made  constant  raids  on  the  Greek  empire.  From  the 
Petchenegs  the  Russians  bought  their  oxen,  sheep,  and  horses, 
their  country  not  producing  these  animals.  In  their  hands,  too, 
was  the  traffic  with  the  Baltic  coast  for  amber,  and  with 
Novgorod  for  all  the  products  of  the  east. 

From  these  seats  they  were  driven  by  the  Comans,  some  into 
Bessarabia,  some  into  Hungary,  where  the  Hungarian  kings 

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94      HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  o/Nomades,  ^c. 

made  them  useful  in  settling  them  on  the  marchlands  or  frou* 
tiers  of  the  Theutonici;  others,  again,  coalescing  with  the 
Comans,  became  the  ancestors  of  the  Nogays.  As  I  have 
already  related,  one  of  the  western  hordes  of  the  Nogays  is  still 
called  Budzuchy  while  one  of  their  eastern  ones  retains  the  name 
of  Mangat,  applied  to  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  Cancalis.  The 
Petchenegs  who  were  left  on  the  other  side  of  the  Volga  in  the 
great  invasion,  I  consider  were  the  ancestors  of  those  Turcomans 
roaming  between  the  Caspian  and  the  Aral,  known  as  Kara- 
kalpacs  or  Black-caps.  Lastly,  I  trace  to  the  Petchenegs  also 
the  various  Turkish  tribes  still  found  in  the  Caucasus,  called  by 
the  Georgians  Bassiani.  Klaproth  reports  the  tradition  of  their 
elders  that  they  were  formerly  settled  on  the  steppes  of  the 
Kuma  as  far  as  the  Don,  and  that  their  capital  city  was  named 
Ckirck  Madshar,  represented  by  the  ruins  of  Madshar.  He 
has  proved  that  its  remains  are  entirely  of  a  Turkish  type.  ''At 
the  commencement  of  the  second  century  of  the  Hegira  (or,  ac- 
cording to  other  accouats,  so  late  as  the  fourteenth  century)  their 
several  princes,  living  in  constant  enmity  with  their  neighbours^ 
were  at  length  expelled  by  them,  on  which  they  retired  to  the 
Great  Kabardaah,  whence  they  were  in  the  sequel  driven  by  the 
Tscherkessians,  and  being  divided  into  detached  bodies  were 
necessitated  to  fix  their  habitations  on  the  highest  mountains,  at 
« the  sources  of  the  Kuban  Baksan  and  Tschegem ;  one  portion 
still  remained  on  the  Malka,  and  did  not  remove  till  a  later 
period  to  the  source  of  the  Tscherek,  whence  it  yet  retains  the 
name  of  Malkar  or  Balkar/'  The  other  Turks  of  the  Caucasus, 
not  included  under  the  name  of  Bassiani,  and  known  as  Cka- 
ratschai,  have  a  similar  tradition,  and  that  they  were  drivea 
&om  Madshar  and  into  the  mountains  by  the  Circassians.  The 
language  of  all  these  Turks  is  very  like  Nogay ;  and  I  can  see 
no  reason  for  doubting  for  a  moment  their  traditional  origin, 
and  that  they  form  another  detached  fragment  of  the  Cancalis. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  survey  the  ethnological  effects  of  the 
twin  invasions  of  these  sister  races,  the  Petchenegs  and  the 
Comans.  In  the  first  place,  I  believe  them  to  have  been  the 
first  Turks  whom  we  can  show  to  have  invaded  Europe.  I  do  not 
deny  that  Turkish  chieftains  may  have  led  the  armies  of  the 
earlier  invaders;  but,  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Latham 
and  of  every  other  authority  I  know,  I  deny  to  any  of  the  pre- 
vious races  the  characteristics  of  Turks.  The  earlier  occupants 
of  the  Nogay  steppe,  the  Khazars  and  the  Alans,  were,  I  con- 
sider, entirely  different  races;  the  materials  for  their  ethno- 
logical distinction  have  been  assiduously  collected  by  Fraehn, 
Vivien,  St.  Martin,  and  D^Ohsson,  although  they  have  none  of 
them,  so  far  as  I  know,  solved  the  problem. 


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Review.  95 

If  these  races  were  the  first  Turks  that  invaded  Europe^  it 
follows  that  M.  Vambery  is  only  very  partially  right  in  trying 
to  trace  the  Hungarians  to  the  Ouigours  and  other  Turkish 
tribes.  The  only  Turks  in  Hungary  are  the  remnants  of  the 
Cancalis  or  Petchenegs,  the  Comans,  and  the  Osmanli ;  and  they 
have  only  affected  the  population  in  a  very  superficial  manner, 
hardly  so  much,  perhaps,  as  the  Normans  affected  the  English. 
The  examination  of  this  superficial  coating  cannot  be  more  pro- 
fitably done  than  by  a  careful  criticism  of  the  Turcoman  hordes 
of  the  Persian  border  and  the  remains  of  Ouigour  literature ; 
and  it  is  a  question  of  very  great  interest ;  but  we  shall  be  very 
wild  in  our  ethnology  if  we  attempt  to  connect  the  main  bulk 
of  the  Hungarian  nation  and  its  idiosyncracies  with  such  an 
origin  and  cradle-land.  Notwithstanding  the  rudeness  and  tur- 
bulence of  Turkish  nomades,  we  must  never  forget  that,  from 
their  arrival  on  the  northern  and  eastern  borders  of  the  Caspian 
till  their  overthrow  by  the  Mongols,  they  were  the  main  traf- 
fickers between  Europe  and  the  Persian  and  Indian  frontier; 
from  the  Crimea  to  the  city  of  Kharazm  or  Khiva  caravans 
were  constantly  passing.  I  believe  that  they  succeeded  to  a 
culture  much  more  advanced  than  their  own ;  but  that  of  the 
Turkish  hordes  has  been  unnecessarily  decried.  The  Tatars  of 
the  Crimea  have  remains  which  display  no  mean  taste.  It  is  a 
melancholy  fact  that  both  Tatars  and  their  remains  are  being 
rapidly  extinguished.  Hardly  any  remain  in  Bessarabia.  Thou- 
sands are  now  being  cruelly  transported  from  the  Crimea ;  and 
if  we  would  study  the  diminishing  type  we  must  travel  to  the 
distant  desert  of  the  Kuban.  Yet  the  proverb  is  true  enough, 
that  when  we  scratch  the  Russian  we  meet  with  the  Tatar ;  and 
we  may  in  the  marchland  of  the  Ukraine  find  much  that  can 
only  be  explained  as  the  heel-mark  of  the  Polowtzian  and 
Drewensian  invaders. 


EEVIEW. 


DaiUf  lAfe  and  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians.     By  James  Boitwick, 
RB-Q-.S.     (Sampson  Low,  Son,  and  Mars  ton,  1870.) 

The  Last  of  the  Tasmanians  ;  ar,  The  Black  War  of  Van  Diemen's 
Land.  By  James  Bonwick,  F.E.G.S.  (Sampson  Low,  Son, 
and  Marston,  1870.) 

Now  that  the  Tasinanians  have  become  so  nearly  extinct  as  to  find 
their  sole  surviving  representative  in  the  person  of  an  aged  female,  it 
is  well  that  some  attempt  should  be  made  to  put  on  record  a  history 


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96  Notes  and  Queries. 

of  this  hapless  race.  Materiab  for  such  a  history  have  been  zealoualj 
collected  in  the  colony  by  Mr.  Bonwick,  and  the  results  of  his  labours 
are  given  in  the  two  interesting  volumes  cited  above.  Inverting  the 
order  of  their  publication,  that  work  is  placed  first  which  promises 
the  greater  amount  of  interest  to  the  Ethnologist — ^a  work  which  in- 
troduces us  to  the  physical  characters,  the  daily  life,  the  language, 
and  the  superstitions  of  the  Tasmanians ;  whilst  the  second  work 
tells  the  melancholy  tale  of  their  gradual  decline. 

The  Tasmanians  are  described  as  having  been  a  people  of  moderate 
stature,  and,  compared  with  the  Australians,  stout  and  robust.  The 
skin  was  of  a  dark  brown  colour,  or  nearly  black,  and  was  ornamented 
with  cicatrices  cut  upon  the  chest,  the  shoulders,  and  the  thighs ; 
while  the  entire  body  was  bedaubed  with  a  mixture  of  grease  and 
red  ochre,  which  was  also  liberally  applied  to  the  hair.  The  hair  was 
black,  and  often  presented  a  cnsp  and  woolly  appearance,  but  was 
nevertheless  extremely  different  from  that  of  the  Negro. 

As  weapons  the  Tasmanians  used  the  waddy  and  a  wooden  spear 
from  15  to  18  feet  in  length.  Unlike  the  Australians,  they  had  nei- 
ther the  boomerang  nor  tlie  wommera  or  throwing-stick.  Their 
tools  consisted  of  a  stone  axe,  generally  made  of  greenstone  or  ba- 
salt, and  a  smaller  implement  described  as  a  stone  knife.  It  is  nota- 
ble that  certain  stone  circles,  and  piles  of  stones  evidently  of  human 
erection,  have  been  found  in  the  interior  of  the  island. 


NOTES  AND  QUEEIES. 


The  Veddas  of  Ceylon. — Fuller  information  as  to  these  tribes,  £rom 
new  observation  or  accounts  not  generally  known,  would  be  of  great 
ethnological  value.  The  Yeddas  are  understood  to  speak  a  Singha- 
lese dialect  containing  Dravidian  (Telugu)  words,  and,  if  so,  are  the 
only  known  savage  tribes  speaking  an  Aryan  language.  Physically 
they  seem  to  belong  rather  to  the  indigenous  non- Aryan  tribes.  It 
is  probable  that  they  are  a  mixed  race.  There  are  papers  on  them 
in  the  Society's  Transactions  (vols.  ii.  and  iii.),  and  accounts  iu 
Prichard's  'Natural  History  of  Man,'  Sir  John  Lubbock's  'Pre- 
historic Times,'  Sir  J.  E.  Tennent's  '  Ceylon,'  &c.  But  a  much  more 
perfect  account  of  their  language,  physique,  and  habits  is  required. 
— Edwabd  B.  Ttlob. 

Qeorgian  and  Sontal. — I  note  the  following  parallels  between 
Georgian  and  Sontal  or  the  Central-Indian  forms. 

House    oda,       ada. 

Arrow    isari,      sar. 

Oda  in  Turkish  is  commonly  "  a  room." — Hybe  Clabke. 

Water. — The  Turkish  for  "water"  is  soo;  the  Georgian  for 
"  drink  "  (thou)  is  soo. — Hyde  Clabke. 


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THE  JOURNAL 

OP  THE 

ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OP  LONDON. 


Ordinary  Meeting^  Jan.  11th,  1870. 

Richard  Kino,  Esq.,  M.D.,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Members. — THe  Earl  op  Dunraven  and  Mountearl, 
K.P.,  F.R.S.,  P.R.G.S.,  F.S.A. ;  Thomas  Henry  Baylis,  Esq. ; 
David  Duncan,  Esq.,  M.A.;  John  Edwards,  Esq.;  and  J.  F. 
McLennan,  Esq. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author  :-r 

X.  On  the  KiTAi  and  Kara-Eitai.     By  Dr.  Gustav  Oppbrt. 

While  studying  Oriental  languages  and  ethnology,  and  prepa- 
ring a  critical  history  of  Central  Asia  and  India,  my  attention 
has  been  directed  to  a  people  whose  few  descendants  now  live 
in  a  state  of  dependency  scattered  over  Asia :  I  allude  to  the 
Kitai  or  Kara-Kitai. 

In  the  Russian  Government  of  Derbend,  near  the  Caspian  Sea, 
in  the  Chanate  of  Kaitach  (or  Kara-Kaitach) ,  and  in  the  Sibe- 
rian district  of  Hi  or  Guldja,  are  found  to  this  day  in  humble 
condition  the  offspring  of  those  who  once  governed  Central 
Asia  and  China. 

The  Kaitach  and  Kara-Kaitach  are  a  very  industrious  race, 
who  in  their  Chanate  live  mostly  as  husbandmen,  while  their 
brethren  in  Guldja  excel  as  clever  artisans.  The  whole  Kitaian 
population  in  both  districts,  who  still  show  in  their  physiognomy 
their  Mongolian  or  Tatarian  origin,  will  hardly  amount  to  50,000 
souls.  Till  1725  the  Kaitach  and  Kara-Kaitach,  near  Derbend, 
remained  independent ;  but  they  then  submitted  to  the  Russian 
supremacy,  and  since  1799  their  Chan  or  Usmei  has  enjoyed  an 
annuity  from  the  Russian  Government.  They  are  now  mostly 
Mahommedans,  though  in  Guldja  some  still  adhere  to  their  for- 
mer belief. 

This  is  all  that  at   this  moment  remains  of  a  people  once 

VOL.  11.  p>  1 

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98  Dr.  GusTAV  Oppert — On  the  Kttai 

supreme  in  Asia,  reigning  over  Northern  China  and  Central 
Asia,  and  whose  preponderance  was  felt  even  in  Europe.     The 
Kitai  are  very  likely  of  Tatarian  or  Mongolian  race — an  opinion 
which  is  supported  by  the  famous  historian  Rashideddin,  who 
calls  them  Kidan  Tatse  or  Kitan  Tatars*.     The  home  of  the 
Kitai  is  to  be  found  in  those  mountainous  regions  in  the  north  of 
Korea,  whence  all  the  rulers  of  China  descended  to  the  plains, 
as  in  later  times  also  did  the  Niutche  and  the  Mandju.     There, 
in  the  north  of  the  Chinese  province  Leaotong,  they  remained 
for  some  time  ravaging  the  imperial  domains,  and  were  dreaded 
as  dangerous  neighbours,  before  they  became  of  political  conse- 
quence.    For  their  subsequent  power  they  are  mostly  indebted 
to  their  chieftain  Apaoki,  who  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  and  the 
beginning  of  the  tenth  century  contrived,  by  his  great  military 
genius,  united  to  a  shrewd  and  excellent  statemanship,  not  only 
to  raise  his  nation,  and  of  course  himself,  to  a  position  of  the 
utmost  consequence,  but  also  to  extend  his  dominion  so  far,  that 
it  reached  from  Kashgar  and  the  Tsunling  Mountains  in  the 
west  to  the  Pacific  in  the  east.     Korea  and  North  China  were 
subject  to  his  sway,  and  his  chief  capital  was  Leaoyang  in  Lea- 
otong, until  he  changed  it  for  Yan,  the  modem  Peking.      After 
his  death,  which  occurred  a.d.  926,  his  successors  continued 
extending  and  strengthening  their  realm,  until  they  ultimately 
gave  their  name  to  the  whole  of  Central  Asia  and  China, — a 
name  not  even  now  forgotten,  as  Kitai  is  the  appellation  by 
which  China  is  expressed  in  Russian. 

As  the  terms  Kitai  and  Kara-Kitai  are  promiscuously  used  for 
the  same  nation,  it  is  diffictUt  to  decide  whether  these  two  names 
were  also  previously  employed  at  the  same  time.     The  Tatarian 

*  With  us  it  is  customary  to  speak  of  Tatarian,  Mongolian,  Turkish,  and 
Tungeeze  races,  but  I  do  not' believe  that  such  is  the  case  in  the  East.  These 
great  classifications  are,  however,  only  very  vague.  According  to  Oriental 
tradition,  Turk  was  the  son  of  Janhet ;  the  twin-brothers  Tatar  and  Moghool 
were.Turk'8  grandchildren,  and  Tungeez  was  the  son  of  the  famous  Aghooz 
Khan,  also  a  descendant  from  Turk.  Although  I  do  not  wish  to  be  made 
responsible  for  the  correctness  of  these  pedigrees,  one  may  safdy  derive  from 
them  one  conclusion,  namely,  that  the  progeny  of  these  patriarchs  regaided 
themselves  as  near  relationB,*though  they  did  not  always  treat  one  another  as 
such.  About  the  time  of  Gengyz  these  tribes  passed  under  the  name  of  Ta- 
tars, and  as  they  behaved  like  children  of  heU,  they  were  considered  to  have 
come  from  Tartarus.  I  do  not  know  whether  the  Tatars  were  made  acquainted 
with  the  bad  odour  in  which  their  name  stood,  but  under  the  Gengyzkhanides 
they  repudiated  that  name  and  called  themselves  Mongols :  afterwards  they 
found  fault  with  this  expression ;  and  if  we  read  the  works  of  Tamerlane  or 
of  Baber  we  often  find  that  they  object  to  be  called  Mongols,  and  prefer  as 
l^eutlemen  to  be  addressed  as  Turin ;  now  the  European  Turks  do  not  consider 
It  polite  to  be  called  Turks,  but  prefer  the  title  of  Osmanlies.  We  therefbn 
.see  that  in  the  East  these  different  significations  were  applied  at  difierent 
times  to  the  same  race. 


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and  Kara-Kitai.  99 

tribes  are  very  fond  of  expressing  by  certain  colours  the  changes 
of  political  condition  to  which  a  nation  may  be  subjected.  Black 
or  Kara  has  the  meaning  of  dependency  and  servitude^  while 
White  or  Ak  has  that  of  sovereignty  and  freedom.  These 
expressions  were  put  before  the  name^  and  Kara-Kitsi  would 
properly  signify  the  dependent  Kitai.  But  these  colours  are 
employed  only  so  long  as  they  really  describe  the  position  of  a 
tribe ;  for  if  a  dependent  horde  becomes  independent  and  sove- 
reign, the  former  Kara  or  Black  will  be  changed  into  Ak  or 
White ;  the  Tatars,  to  whom  the  mighty  conqueror  Tchingyz- 
khan  belonged,  were  named  before  his  time  f  ara-Tatars,  while 
another  tribe  was  called  ^A-Tatars  or  White  Tatars.  This  is 
also  the  reason  why  the  Emperor  of  Russia  is  caUed  the  White 
Zar,  and  the  divisions  of  Russia  into  White  and  Black  express 
the  same  meaning. 

During  their  reign  in  China  the  Kitai  undertook  great  expe- 
ditions to  the  West ;  and  one  of  those,  made  in  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century,  is  mentioned  by  the  well-known  Primas  of  the 
Jacobite  Church,  Gregorius  Abulfaradg,  in  the  year  1046  a.d.,  or 
438  of  the  Hedgra.  At  that  time  the  Kitai  possessed  five  capital 
towns  of  the  first  rank,  156  fortresses,  and  209  cities  of  a  third 
rank ;  5002  hordes  of  Tatars  were  reduced  to  submission,  and 
60  kingdoms  paid  tribute.  But  this  prosperity  did  not  last  long ; 
after  preponderating  for  219  years  (from  906  to  1125)  the  Kitai 
were  beaten  by  a  kindred  nation,  the  Niutche  or  Kin*. 

Though  defeated  by  the  Niutche  and  subjected  in  China,  the 
Kitai  were  not  doomed  to  extinction ;  nay,  they  even  raised  a 
more  powerful  empire,  and  again  filled  Asia  and  Europe  with 
tales  of  their  prowess,  grandeur,  and  riches.  A  prince  of  their 
djmasty,  Yeliutashe,  went  westwards  with  a  number  of  his  fol- 
lowers, who  preferred  exile  to  slavery,  and  by  lucky  circum- 
stances and  great  ability  contrived  to  become  the  founder  of  a 
large  empire.  All  Central  Asia,  Samarkand  and  Bokhara  in- 
cluded, to  the  borders  of  China  became  his  dominion.  "The 
Emperors  of  China  were  again  afraid  of  their  former  foe  and 
had  recourse  to  stratagems,  as  open  enmity  did  not  avail  to  post- 
pone Yeliutashe^s  exp^ition  towards  the  East.  The  mighty  and 
victorious  Sultan  Sanjar  defied  him,  and  marched  against  him 
at  the  head  of  a  numerous  army,  but  deemed  himself  happy 
when  with  a  few  companions  he  reached  the  River  Gihon,  in 

*  The  Kitai  emperors,  as  soon  as  they  had  established  their  power,  assumed 
the  title  of  Leao,  or  Iron ;  while  their  victorious  enemies,  the  Niutche,  called 
themselves  the  JTm,  or  AHuHj  i.  e.  the  **  OM,^^  I  think  this  adoption  of 
bynames  taken  from  metals  should  not  be  overlooked.  It  mav  perhaps  be 
regarded  as  a  proof  that  those  people  were  well  conversant  witn  the  work- 
ing of  mines,  especially  if  we  consider  that  the  native  countries  of  both  the 
Kitai  and  the  Niutche^are  rich  in  minerals. 

Digitiz^bfGoOgle 


100  Dr.  GusTAV  Oppert — On  the  Kitai 

1141^  after  his  dreadful  defeat  not  far  from  Balkh.     This  is  the 
battle  mentioned  by  Benjamin  of  Tudela. 

But  what  still  more  enhances  the  interest  of  Yelintashe  is^ 
that  he  represents  a  personage  so  often  mentioned  in  the  middle 
ages,  but  whom  nobody  has  before  been  able  to  trace  to  his  pro- 
per origin;  he  is  no  other  than  Prester  John,  or  Presln/ter 
Johannes. 

The  first  chronicle  in  which  the  name  of  Presbyter  Johannes 
occurs,  is  that  compiled  by  Otto,  Bishop  of  Freisingen  in  Bavaria, 
a  grandchild  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV.,  a  half-brother  to  the 
Emperor  Konrad  III.,  and  uncle  to  Frederick  Barbarossa. 
Otto  relates  that  a  powerful  king,  called  the  Presbyter  Johannes, 
had  defeated  in  a  most  sanguinary  battle  the  Samiarchs  Jratres, 
the  kings  of  Persia  and  Media.  Sultan  Sanjar,  together  with 
his  brothers,  reigned  in  the  western  part  of  Asia,  and  the  word 
"  Samiar ''  is  nothing  else  than  the  name  Sanjar.  Otto  had  re- 
ceived the  news  through  the  Syrian  bishop  of  Gabala,  who  had 
come  to  Asia  to  ask  for  assistance  against  the  growing  power  of 
the  Atabek  Zenky,  who  had  taken  possession  of  the  strong  city 
of  Edessa.  Before  leaving  Asia,  the  Bishop  of  Gabala  bad 
been  beleaguered  by  the  Greek  Emperor  Johannes  Comnenus 
in  Antioch,  for  the  prince  of  Antioch,  Raimund,  had  refused 
to  allow  the  Emperor  to  march  with  his  troops  through  his 
territory.  It  is  this  siege  which  is  mentioned  by  the  famous 
traveller  William  Bubruquis  as  coeval  with  the  appearance 
of  a  mighty  Prince  in  the  North,  named  Coirchan  of  Kara 
khatai.  The  title  of  the  Prince  of  the  Kara-Kitai  was  Kor- 
khan,  which  means  the  Khan  of  the  Khans,  the  Supreme 
Khan,  or,  according  to  another  explanation,  may  also  signify 
the  Lord  of  the  People.  This  title  was  used  in  the  same  way 
as  that  of  Pharaoh  by  the  Egyptian  kings.  The  first  K  in 
Korkhan  is  a  Kaf,  which  in  the  Turkish  languages  can  be 
pronounced  as  K,  G,  or  J.  Gorkhan  or  Jorkban  sounds  to  the 
Syrian  ear  very  much  like  Jokhan  or  Jochanan,  which  is  the 
Syrian  form  for  Johannes*.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  the  Bishop  of  Gabala  could  call  the  Kitai  Korkhan, 
Johannes  or  John.  But  this  John  is  further  described  as  a  Nes- 
torian  and  a  Presbyter.  Now  it  is  generally  known  that  the 
Nestorian  missionaries  were  spread  over  Central  Asia  and  China, 
and  we  have  the  respectable  evidence  of  William  Rubruquis, 
who  states  that  the  Nestorian  bishops,  appearing  seldom  in  l^eir 

*  The  title  of  Korkhan  (Kurkhan,  Gurghan)  was  also  in  later  times  used 
by  Tatarian  sovereigns,  as,  e.  a.,  by  Tamerlane,  by  his  grandson,  the  famous 
astronomer,  Ulug  Beg,  and  others;  and  if  we  had  not  shown  it  before,  this 
circiunstance  alone  would  make  it  highly  probable  that  the  Kitai  belonged 
to  the  Tatarian  race. 


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and  Kara-Kitai,  101 

sees^  consecrated  to  the  priesthood  each  male^  even  the  children 
in  the  cradle.  The  Persian  historian  Mirkhond  distinctly  re- 
marks that  the  daughter  of  the  last  Korkhan  was  a  Christian. 
Moreover  the  title  of  Presbyter  Johannes  was  in  the  middle 
ages  held  in  great  respect^  as  it  was  then  often  announced  that 
the  end  of  the  world  was  near^  and  the  adherents  of  the  Millen- 
nium were  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  l^sbyter  Johannes  as 
the  precursor  of  Christ.  The  first  Prester  John  was  succeeded 
by  four  sovereigns  of  his  family,  who  all  reigned  prosperously, 
till  the  last,  JUuku  by  name,  was  shamef^y  deposed  by  his 
own  son-in-law,  a  Nayman  prince,  who  had  previously  found  at 
the  Court  of  the  Korkhan  shelter  from  the  persecution  of 
Tehingyzkhan  and  had  received  the  hand  of  the  Princess  Impe 
rial,  the  heiress  to  the  throne,  and  who  now  showed  his  gratitude 
by  ousting  his  benefactor.  Rubruquis  mentions  that  the  last 
Korkhan  was  succeeded  by  a  Prince  of  the  Nayman  tribe,  who 
also  took  the  title  of  Prester  John.  Kushluk  only  reigned  as 
Korkhan  or  Prester  John  a  few  years  (from  1213  to  1218),  when 
he  was  totally  defeated  by  the  troops  of  Tehingyzkhan  and  kiUed 
while  flying  from  the  field.  Thirty  years  afterwards  the  French 
monk  and  ambassador  to  the  Oreat  Khan,  Johannes  de  Piano 
Carpini,  passed  through  the  valley  in  which  Kushluk  was  de- 
feated. With  him  became  extinct  the  princes  who  had  the  title 
of  Korkhan  of  Kara-Kitai,  and  he  was  the  last  prince  of  that 
empire,  though  himself  only  a  usurper.  Another  dynasty  of 
Kara-Kitai  princes  settled  for  some  time,  fix>m  1224  to  1364,  in 
Kirman ;  but  the  memory  of  the  empire  of  the  Korkhan  soon 
passed  away,  and  when  the  European  travellers  passed  through 
Asia,  the  existence  of  the  Korkhan  or  real  Presbyter  Johannes 
had  already  assumed  a  mythical  aspect.  The  rapid  progress  of 
the  Mongolic  conquests  and  the  entire  overthrow  of  all  the  pre- 
vious empires,  and  of  the  whole  political  state  of  Asia,  explain  in 
some  degree  why  there  exists  no  trustworthy  history  of  these 
times,  and  how  a  manifest  falsification  of  history  could  have 
been  made  and  supported  even  up  to  the  present  day,  I  speak 
here  of  those  who  contend  that  Unkkhan,  the  chief  of  the  Ke- 
raite  tribe,  was  the  real  Prester  John.  This  hypothesis  is  quite 
unsupported ;  for  Unkkhan,  who  was  never  more  than  an  insig- 
nificant chieftain,  and  could  not  hold  his  own  without  the  assist- 
ance of  Tehingyzkhan,  and  his  father,  Pesuka  behadur,  was  not 
in  power,  perhaps  not  even  bom,  in  1141,  and  was  killed  before 
the  usurper  Kushluk,  the  last  Prester  John,  had  arrived  at  the 
Court  of  the  Korkhan. 

Thus  the  mighty  empire  of  the  Korkhan  had  been  destroyed 
in  the  West  by  the  troops  of  Tchingyzkhah,  while  in  the  East, 
in  China,  he  restored  the  Kitai,  if  not  to  their  previous  infitience', 

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102  Dr.  GusTAV  Opfert — On  the  Kitai 

yet  to  independence.  The  Great  Khan  was  anxious  to  strengthen 
his  forces  on  his  expedition  against  the  Emperor  of  the  Kin^  and 
nowhere  could  he  find  stauncher  supporters  than  in  the  de- 
scendants of  the  former  rulers.  Tchingyzkhan  succeeded  in 
gaining  the  affection  of  the  oppressed  population ;  and  though 
the  Niutche,  aware  of  the  dangerous  consequences  of  a  revolt, 
tried  the  utmost  cruelty  to  deter  their  subjects  from  rising,  yet 
Yeliu  Lieuko,  a  descendant  of  the  imperial  family  of  the  Leao, 
and  therefore  a  relative  of  the  Korkhan,  contrived  to  unite  his 
forces  with  those  of  the  Tatars,  to  defeat  the  Chinese,  and  to  be 
acknowledged  as  the  sovereign  of  the  Kitai,  though  naturally 
recognizing  the  Great  Khan  as  his  souzerain.  His  family  in- 
herited the  sovereignty ;  and  as  long  as  the  Mongolic  dynasty 
reigned  in  China,  the  Kitai  also  held  their  own,  keeping  up  a 
good  understanding  and  friendship  with  the  Tatar  Emperors. 

It  is  now  intelligible  how  the  Archbishop  of  Peking,  Johannes 
de  Monte  Corvino,  could  speak  in  his  letter,  dated  from  Peking, 
on  the  8th  of  January,  1305,  of  a  neighbouring  king  Geoi^us, 
a  descendant  of  Prester  John,  with  whom  he  stood  on  very  inti- 
mate terms ;  and  who,  persuaded  by  his  preaching,  had  left  the 
Nestorian  church,  had  become  a  Roman  CathoUc,  was  conse- 
crated by  him  a  priest,  and  used  to  administer  in  his  royal  gar- 
ments during  the  service.  This  king  Georgius  was  followed  by 
his  son  Johannes,  a  godson  of  the  archbishop.  Marco  Polo,  too, 
mentions  this  king  Georgius  as  the  fourth  (according  to  others 
as  the  sixth)  in  descent  from  Prester  John,  of  whose  family  he 
is  regarded  as  the  head.  "  There  are  two  regions  in  which  they 
exercised  dominion.  These  in  our  part  of  the  world  are  named 
Og  and  Magog y  but  by  the  natives  Ung  and  MongtU;  in  each  of 
these  provinces  is  a  distinct  race  of  people.  In  Ung  they  are 
Gog,  and  in  Mongul  they  are  Tatars.'^ 

Marsden,  in  his  edition  of  'Marco  Polo,'  despairs  of  explain- 
ing this  chapter ;  but  to  me  the  mentioning  of  Gog  and  Magog 
signifies  the  existence  of  a  wall,  that  is  of  the  Chinese  wall,  of 
which  Marco  Polo  nowhere  speaks,  because  it  was  for  the  most 
part  destroyed  by  the  Tatars,  and  then  of  no  great  use,  as  on 
both  sides  of  the  wall  obedience  was  paid  to  the  same  sovereign, 
the  Great  Khan.  But  what  makes  us  sure  of  the  correctness  of 
this  hypothesis  is  that  the  name  of  the  wall  is  in  the  language 
of  the  Kitai  Ungu  and  of  those  who  had  to  watch  it  Ungutti ; 
and  thus  we  see  that  by  this  Ung  is  clearly  expressed  the  Chi- 
nese wall,  and  that  the  Kitai  lived  near  it. 

Having  thus  proved  the  importance  oi  the  people  of  the  Kitai, 
it  only  remains  to  add  a  few  words  on  the  tales  of  Prester  John. 
At  the  time  when  the  rumour  of  this  prince  reached  Western 
Asia  and  Europe,  the  Crusaders  were  in  a  very  bad  position. 

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and  Kara-Kitai.  108 

Stronghold  after  stronghold  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Moslems,  and  despair  began  to  fill  their  hearts.  Is  it  therefore 
astonishing,  when  the  defeat  of  their  fiercest  enemy  Sultan  San- 
jar  excited  the  most  sanguine  hopes,  that  reports  from  the  East 
supported  the  excitement  of  expectation,  and  the  simple  truth 
was  shaped  into  marvellous  forms  ?  We  have  thus  to  under- 
stand that  singular  letter  of  Prester  John,  which  was  received 
by  the  Pope,  ttie  Emperors  of  the  East  and  West,  and  other 
sovereigns,  as  those  of  France  and  Portugal.  It  is  without  the 
least  doubt  spurious ;  but  it  is  of  importance,  as  it  shows  how 
easily  men  could  be  imposed  upon  during  the  middle  ages. 
Though  the  most  heterogeneous  things  are  reported  in  it,  I  can 
prove  that  this  letter  is  on  the  whole  nothing  but  a  bad  copy 
of  the  wonderful  letter  of  Alexander  the  Oreat  to  his  mother 
Olympias,  which  we  find  in  the  work  of  Pseudo-Kallisthenes. 
In  the  voyages  and  travels  of  Sir  John  Maundeville  we  meet 
with  a  very  extensive  and  amusing  account  of  these  tales. 

But  if  that  letter  was  spurious,  repeated  news  and  reports  in- 
duced Pope  Alexander  III.  to  write  a  letter  to  Prester  John. 
It  is  dated  the  27th  September,  1177,  and  signed  at  the  Rialto 
in  Venice.  His  friend  and  physician  Philippus  was  charged  with 
its  safe  delivery;  and  though  this  ambassador  had  previoiisly  been 
in  the  empire  of  the  Korkhan,  and  knew  much  about  it,  we  do 
not  hear  what  became  of  Philippus  and  his  letter.  Poetry  soon 
possessed  itself  of  this  interesting  personage,  and  the  epics  and 
romances  of  the  middle  ages  abound  with  descriptions  of  the 
splendour  of  Prester  John.  In  later  times,  by  a  mistaken  notion, 
Prester  John  was  supposed  to  live  in  Africa,  and  to  be  the 
Abyssinian  Negus.  What  makes  the  Presbyter  Johannes  so 
important  to  history  and  geography  is,  that  the  voyages  which 
led  to  the  discovery  of  the  Cape  of  Oood  Hope  and  of  the  sea- 
way to  the  East  Indies  were  undertaken  in  search  of  that  mys- 
terious Prince,  as  can  be  proved  by  the  orders  given  to  Bartolo- 
meo  Diaz.  The  reason  why  all  former  inquiries  with  respect  to 
Prester  John  led  to  no  result  may  be  ascribed  to  the  circum- 
stance that  more  attention  was  paid  to  the  explanation  of  the 
name  than  to  the  historical  facts.  Thus  Joseph  Scaliger  con- 
tends that  Prester  John,  which  is  in  Italian  Preste  Giani,  stands 
for  the  Persian  word  Prestegiani,  which  (though  it  is  no  Persian 
word  at  all)  should  answer  to  the  Greek  airoardkuco^ )  Padesha 
prestegiani  means  therefore  an  Apostolic  or  Christian  king. 
Another  scholar  explained  it  by  Prester  Chan,  or  the  Chan 
of  the  Adorers  or  Christians.  Tzaga  Zabus  converts  Presbyter 
Johannes  into  Pretiosus  Johannes  (Precious  John,  or  John  pos- 
sessing precious  things) — a  name  still  to  be  found  on  old  maps 
of  Abyssinia.    Cornelius  a  Lapide  contends  that  Preste  or  Prete 

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104  Dr.  GusTAV  Opfert — On  the  Kitai 

is  the  Portuguese  Preto  (black),  and  that  Preto  Joan  means 
Black  John,  a  name  for  the  Abyssinian  Emperor.  Paulus  Guicius 
calls  Prester  John  Pedro  Juan,  or  Peter  John ;  and  the  famous 
scholar  Sebastian  Miinster,  a  contemporary  of  Luther,  makes 
of  him  a  Presbyter  Kohan  or  Presbyter  Kohn.  According  to  a 
French  explanation  Presbyter  Johannes  is  the  Dalai  Lama; 
Preste  corresponds  to  Lama,-  and  Criani  means  Dalai  or  Sea, 
World  (Persian  Gehan),  so  that  "Dalai  Lama*'  signifies  a 
Priest  over  a  large  sea  or  empire,  a  sort  of  Presbyter  Universalis. 
Joseph  Stocklein  describes  him  as  the  Presbyter  or  Great  Lama  of 
Yunnan,  the  great  Province  near  China,  for  Lama  means  in  the 
Tatarian  languageCross ;  and  as  it  is  a  great  dignity  to  be  a  Grand 
Cross  of  a  European  Order,  so  it  is  likewise  in  Asia,  where  the 
Great  Lama  or  Grand  Cross  is  the  highest  priest.  The  diflFer- 
ence  of  opinion  is  still  more  glaring,  if  we  remember  that 
Samuel  Lee,  in  his  edition  of  the  travels  of  Ibn  Batuta,  makes 
of  him  a  Ferishta  Jan,  or  John  the  Angel,  while  others  regard 
him  as  John  the  Slave.  The  great  geographer  Karl  Bitter,  iden- 
tifying Prester  John  with  the  Keraite  Prince  Ung  Khan,  says 
how  easily  could  a  Chinese  title,  as  Vang  Khan  or  Vang  Rex,  be 
altered  to  Um  Can,  Ung  Khan,  Can  Khan  till  it  became  Joan 
Rex, — a  proceeding  somewhat  similar  to  the  derivation  of  fox 
from  alopex. 

Otto  of  Freisingen  connects  Prester  John  with  the  Three  Holy 
Kings.  He  says  that  he  was  a  descendant  of  the  Magi.  It  ia 
perhaps  not  generally  known  that  in  later  times  it  was  believed 
that  the  Magi  came  from  Eastern  Asia,  as  we  read,  e.  g.,  in  the 
Oriental  history  of  the  Armenian  Prince  Hayton  and  in  other 
chronicles.  In  the  legends  of  the  Three  Kings,  it  is  stated  that 
Melchior  came  from  Nubia,  Balthasar  frt)m  Saba,  and  Caspar 
was  king  of  Tharsis.  These  names  occur  first,  as  far  as  I  know, 
in  Bede ;  for  it  is  difficult  to  prove  that  the  chronicle  of  Flavius 
Dexter,  a  friend  of  St.  Jerome,  which  also  contains  these  names^ 
was  really  written  at  that  time  and  was  not  a  later  work*  These 
names  now  seem  to  me  to  indicate  the  countries  from  which 
the  Magi  were  supposed  to  have  come ;  Melchior  is  called  the 
king  of  Nubia,  or  the  king  of  the  Nile ;  Malchijeor  is  a  verbal 
translation  of  the  latter  (Jeor  being  the  Hebrew  name  for  the 
Nile).  Balthasar  is  naturally  Belshazzar,  and  Caspar  is  Cas-Bar, 
the  king  of  Central  Asia,  of  Tharsis,  or  the  Casia  regio,  where 
we  have  to  this  day  Kashmir,  Kashgar,  &;c.  Thus  we  see  that 
these  names  express  the  countries  in  which  the  kings  are  said  to 
have  reigned.  It  is  quite  different,  however,  with  that  set  of 
names  which,  besides  others,  are  mentioned  by  Petrus  Comestor 
in  his  Scholastica  historia,  viz.  Apellius,  Amerus,  and  Damasius, 
— ^names  which,  in  my  opinion,  are  derived  from  the  prophet 

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and  Kara-Kitai.  105 

Isaiah  (chap.  viii.  v.  4) .  Damasius  is  derived  in  this  instance 
from  Damask,  Amerus  from  Samaria,  and  Apelliiis  stands  for 
the  king  of  Assyria,  who  is  explained  by  Tertullian  and  other 
early  fathers  to  be  the  Diabolus  or  Apollyon. 

By  some  German  poets  the  legend  of  Prester  John  has  also 
been  mixed  up  with  that  of  the  San-Gral,  Wolfram  von  Eschen- 
bach  and  Albrecht  von  ScharflRenberg  contend  that  the  San  Gral 
went  to  Prester  John  when  the  West  was  not  deemed  holy 
enough  to  keep  the  precious  treasure.  In  the  Parcival  of  Wol- 
fram, the  Gral  is  described  as  a  stone  by  which  the  knights  o 
the  Gral  are  fed,  with  which  the  Phoenix  bums  himself,  ana 
whose  knights,  who  are  called  Templers,  defend  the  castle  of 
Salvatierra. 

Salvatierra,  also  called  Caatellum  Salutis,  lies  in  the  Mancha 
amidst  the  mountains  of  the  Sierra  Morena,  and  was  the  seat  of 
the  knights  from  1198  to  1210,  when  after  a  most  obstinate  de- 
fence the  fortress  was  taken  by  the  Khalif  Mohammed  the  Green. 
These  examples  give  us  an  insight  into  the  mode  in  which  his- 
torians and  poets  formerly  were  wont  to  amalgamate  historical 
events  with  mythical  traditions  and  personal  inventions. 

The  history  of  the  Kitai  shows  in  an  interesting  manner  how, 
even  in  half-civilized  ages,  the  most  distant  nations  are  brought 
in  contact  with  each  other,  and  how  legends  may  arise  from  mis- 
stated facts,  and  influence  for  some  time  the  destiny  of  powerful 
realms.  The  Kitai  gave  their  name  to  Asia;  the  victory  of 
their  Korkhan  over  Sultan  Sanjar  originated  the  famous  and 
influential  personage  of  Prester  John,  who  was  celebrated  in 
prose  and  in  verse.  To  find  him  was  one  of  the  chief  objects 
of  the  French  and  Papal  ambassadors  to  the  Court  of  the  Great 
Khan,  and  was  in  later  centuries  the  principal  causes  of  the 
voyages  of  the  Portuguese  navigators,  and  of  their  discovery  both 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  of  the  sea-way  to  the  East 
Indies. 

Discussion. 

Mr.  Htde  Clarke  said  that  Dr.  Oppert  had  given  them,  in  his 
enumeration  of  the  absurd  etymologies  assigned  by  men  of  learning 
to  Prester  John,  a  caution  as  to  that  abuse  of  comparative  philology 
not  uncommon  in  the  present  day,  and  which  sought  to  establish 
ethnological  relationships  by  the  association  of  incompatible  roots, 
while  in  his  own  instance  he  had  shown  the  true  services  that  phi- 
lology may  lender  to  ethnology. 

Mr.  Clarke  observed  that  Kitai,  under  the  form  of  Cathayy  had 
been  made  a  popular  name  by  our  poets,  and  was  down  to  the  seven- 
teenth century  a  well-known  term.  The  use  of  colours  and  metals 
as  distinctions  of  nations  deserved  comment.  From  what  he  had 
seen  he  believed  the  Black  and  White  cap  still  distinguished  tribes 

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lOG  Col.  A.  Lane  ¥ox—Note  on  the 

and  classes  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  Caucasus,  opposite  to  the 
Kitai.  He  concurred  with  Dr.  Oppert  in  believing  that  the  applica- 
tion of  the  terms  Manchoo,  Mongol,  Tongoos,  and  Turk  must  have 
been  interchangeable  in  many  cases,  or  that  they  are  much  mixed  up. 
The  languages  are  distinct  (except  some  accidental  identity  of  com- 
municated roots),  but  there  is  a  c;eneral  grammatical  affinity  suggest- 
ing relationship.  He  believed  they  might  be  regarded  as  holding  the 
same  relationship  within  themselves  as  the  more  southern  groups,  the 
Tibetan  (including  the  Caucasian),  the  Chinese,  and  Indo-Chinese. 

Dr.  Oppert  hi^  called  attention  to  an  interesting  ethnological 
fact,  that  the  Kitai  having  once  exercised  a  great  empire  have  now 
dwindled  to  50,000  souls.  Mr.  Clarke  considered  this  to  be  due  to 
the  fact  that  a  race  of  small  numerical  resources  had  become  domi- 
nant over  many  others ;  the  certain  result  in  such  cases  is  the  decline 
of  the  dominant  race,  if  not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Bomans,  extinction. 
A  dominant  race  can  only  be  maintained  by  large  and  compact 
bodies  of  its  members,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Turks,  the  Magyars,  and 
the  English,  but  when  these  are  diffused  over  greater  numbers  they 
must  decline. 


The  following  note  was  then  read  by  the  author  : — 

XI.  Note  on  the  Use  of  the  New-Zealand  Mere. 
By  Col.  A.  Lane  Fox,  F.S.A. 

In  a  paper  which  I  read  last  year  at  the  United  Service  Institution 
upon  "  Primitive  Warfare/'  the  subject  of  which  had  reference 
to  the  origin  and  development  of  the  weapons  of  savages  and 
early  races,  I  ventured  an  opinion  that  the  Mere  or  Pattoo-Pat> 
too  of  the  New  2ealanders  ought  to  be  classed  rather  with  axes 
or  thrusting- weapons  than  with  clubs ;  and  that  in  all  probability 
this  weapon  derived  its  origin  from  the  stone  celt  which  is  well 
known  to  be  common  to  those  regions,  as,  indeed,  it  is  to  the 
stone  period  of  nearly  every  part  of  the  globe. 

My  reasons  for  this  opinion  were  the  following : — 

First,  that  it  is  usuaUy  composed  of  jade  or  some  other  hard 
stone, — materials  of  which  the  celt  is  also  constructed  in  New 
Zealand,  Australia,  New  Caledonia,  and  the  adjoining  isles. 

Secondly,  that  the  Mere  is  not  unfrequently  ground  to  a  sharp 
edge  at  the  end  like  a  celt,  a  form  which  would  not  have  been 
given  it  unless  it  was  either  itself  used  for  striking  at  the  end, 
or  derived  from  a  similar  implement  so  used. 

Thirdly,  that  amongst  the  various  forms  of  the  New-Zealand 
Mere,  all  the  connecting-links  between  it  and  the  celt  are  found ; 
one  specimen  in  the  Christy  Collection  (fig.  3),  believed  to  be 
irom  New  Zealand,  has  a  straight  sharp  edge  at  the  end,  and 
could  only  have  been  used  as  a  celt.  Many  others,  as  for  ex- 
ample, fig.  4,  in  the  Christy  Collection,  resemble  celts  that  are 


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Use  of  the  New-Zealand  Mere, 


107 


slightly  rounded  at  the  small  end  to  receive  the  hand ;  and  the 
iiltimate  perfection  of  the  weapon  with  a  carved  knob  at  the 
small  end  (fig.  5)  appears  to  be  merely  a  development  of  the 
earlier  forms. 

Fourthly,  that  similar  stone  clubs  are  found  in  Ireland,  one 
of  which,  from  my  Collection,  is  here  given  (fig.  6),  and  another 


Fig.  3. 


Fig.  4. 


Fig.  6. 


Fig.  6. 


is  figured  in  the  '  Ulster  Journal  of  Archaeology'* ;  these  are 
evidently  stone  celts  similarly  cut  at  the  small  end  to  fit  the 
hand. 

Fifthly,  that  analogy  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  so  pecu- 
liar a  weapon  as  the  Mere,  not  being  the  best  adapted,  either  as 
to  its  form  or  composition,  to  be  used  as  a  hand-club,  must  have 
been  derived  from  some  other  implement  of  traditional  usage 
amongst  the  people,  it  being  a  fact  capable  of  demonstration  that 
nearly  all  the  weapons  of  savages  have  derived  their  form  from 
an  historical  development,  and  are  capable  of  being  traced  back 
through  their  varieties  to  earlier  and  simpler  forms,  tvith  as  much 
certainty  as  the  various  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life. 

Some  time  after  I  had  read  my  paper,  and  before  it  had  been 
published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Institution,  Sir  Charles  W.  Dilke 
happened  to  see  my  collection  of  prehistoric  antiquities,  and  in 
looking  over  the  series  of  stone  celts  from  various  countries, 
amongst  which  I  had  included  some  of  these  Meres,  according 
to  the  classification  which  I  had  adopted,  he  took  up  one  of  them 
and  said  to  me,  "  Do  you  know  the  way  in  which  the  New  Zea- 
landers  use  this  weapon  ?  They  do  not  strike  with  it  like  a  club 
or  sword,  but  use  it  in  prodding  the  enemy  behind  the  ear  with 
the  sharp  end  ;"  and  he  then  told  me  that  he  had  obtained  this 
information  from  a  New-Zealand  chief,  when  travelling  in  New 
Zealand. 

I  afterwards  mentioned  the  subject  to  Dr.  Hooker,  and  he, 
having  been  struck  by  the  circumstance,  determined  to  write  to 
New  Zealand  and  obtain  further  information  on  this  point  from 

•  Ulster  Journal  of  Archwology,  No.  18,  April  1857. 

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108  Col.  A.  L^NE  Fox— Note  on  the 

the  old  M aories.     The  result  has  been  the  following  correspon- 
dence : — 

Dr.  Hooker  to  Col.  Lane  Fox. 

"Sept.  30th,  1809. 
"  Dear  Col.  Lane  Fox. — I  wrote  to  New  Zealand  respecting 
the  use  of  the  Mere  as  a  thrusting-weapon^  and  have  received 
the  enclosed  answer.  If  you  think  it  worth  while,  will  you  com- 
municate it,  or  a  copy  of  it,  to  the  Ethnological  Society  and 
return  me  the  original. 

"  Ever  truly  yours, 

"Jos.  Hooker/' 

Eev.  Jas.  W.  Stack  to  Dr.  Haast. 

"'  St.  Stephens,  Kaiapoi, 
May  17th,  1869. 

"  My  Dear  Haast, — I  trust  you  will  forgive  me  for  leaving 
your  kind  note  so  long  unacknowledged.  With  regard  to  Dr. 
Hooker's  inquiry,  I  have  obtained  the  necessary  information  for 
you  from  the  old  Maories.  The  Mere  was,  as  he  conjectures, 
a  ^  thrusting-instrument.'  The  warrior  before  delivering  the 
thrust  generally  seized  his  enemy  by  the  hair,  and  then  drove 
the  point*  of  the  Mere  either  into  the  temple  or  at  the  angle 
of  the  jaw  just  below  the  ear,  or  at  the  back  of  the  head.  A 
down  stroke  or  a  blow  with  the  sharp  edge  would  have  shattered 
the  Mere.  It  was  grasped  with  the  thumb  towards  the  blade. 
If  I  have  omitted  any  point  please  let  me  know. 

"  Believe  me,  faithfullv  yours, 

"  James' W.  Stack." 
"  To  Dr.  Haast, 
"  Catiferbury,  New  Zealand." 

From  this  letter,  which  entirely  corroborates  the  information 
received  from  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Mere  is 
used  exactly  in  the  way  that  a  stone  celt  or  any  other  weapon  of 
the  axe- type  would  be  used,  if  held  in  the  hand  without  a  handle. 
I  am  therefore  confirmed  in  my  conjecture  that  it  must  have 
derived  its  origin  from  the  celt,  and  probably  from  a  period 
when  the  celt  was  used  in  this  manner,  perhaps  before  the  idea  of 
using  it  in  a  handle  had  been  thought  of.  As  these  weapons  are 
known  to  have  been  handed  down  as  heirlooms,  and  to  be  much 
prized  by  the  chiefs  as  symbols  of  office,  they  have  probably  (as 
not  unusually  happens  in  like  cases)  retained  their  primitive 
cliaracter,  and  may  therefore  be  r^arded  as  belonging  to  the 
class  of  objects  which  Mr.  E.  B.  Tylor  has  aptly  termed  "  sur- 
vivals."    We  have  not  far  to  go  to  find  the  stone  or  jade  celt 

•  It  should  rather  be  the  endj  for  the  Mere  is  not  pointed. — ^A.  L.  F. 


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Use  of  the  New-Zealand  Mere,  109 

actually  used  at  the  present  time  in  the  manner  I  have  described. 
Fig.  7  is  a  drawing  showing  the  manner  in  which  the  South 
p.  -  Australians  use  their  celts,  grasping  the  small  end 
in  the  hand  and  prodding  with  the  broad  sharp  end, 
the  fore  arm  of  the  holder  itself  supplying  the  place 
of  a  wooden  handle.  The  drawing  was  kindly  sent 
tQ  me  by  Mr.  Hodder  Westropp,  and  was  sketched 
by  an  eye-witness,  Mr.  Chas.  Seymour. 
I  believe  that  the  evidence  aflforded  by  the  study  of  weapons 
and  implements  will  eventually  prove  to  be  of  the  utmost  value 
as  a  means  of  traaing  back  the  connexion  of  races  and  the 
sources  of  early  culture,  owing  to  the  persistent  manner  in  which 
all  savages  preserve  their  ancient  types.  Whilst  language,  hav- 
ing no  material  existence  previously  to  the  introduction  of  writ- 
ing, is  liable  to  constant  change  as  the  words  are  passed  &om 
mouth  to  mouth ;  so  much  so  that  amongst  the  Polynesian  and 
Melanesian  races,  the  Bishop  of  Wellington  has  told  us,  there 
are  no  fewer  than  200  languages,  differing  from  each  other  as 
much  as  Dutch  differs  from  German  ;  these  implements,  having 
been  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  or  having 
been  otherwise  preserved  in  their  original  forms,  constitute  the 
most  enduring  memorials  of  the  ancestors  of  the  people,  and  are 
often  found  to  present  strong  family  likenesses  in  regions  re- 
motely separated. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  Mere  with  certainty  out  of 
New  Zealand ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  mention  that  Dr.  Klemm,  in  his 
work  on  the  Weapons  and  Implements  of  Savages*,  gives  an 
illustration  of  a  stone  Mere,  which  he  attributes  to  the  ancient 
Peruvians  (fig.  8) .  Its  identity  with  the  New-Zealand  Mere  is 
p.  g  evident ;  but  little  reliance  can  be  placed  on  an 
^*  '  isolated  example.  Some  of  the  small  wooden 
clubs  from  British  Guiana  very  much  resemble  the 
Mere,  and  those  constructed  of  bone  from  Nootka 
Sound  (fig.  9)  still  more  closely  resemble  the  New- 
Zealand  weapon.  I  also  exhibited  a  wooden  club  of 
the  same  form  from  New  Guinea,  the  ornamenta- 
tion upon  which  is  so  perfectly  identical  with  that 
of  the  New-Zealand  canoes  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
of  a  connexion  between  them.  Dr.  Klemm  also 
mentions  some  Meres  from  the  New  Hebrides; 
but  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  that,  and  I 
believe  it  to  be  a  mistake  of  the  author. 


•  '  Werkzeuge  und  WRffen,'  by  Dr.  Gustav  Klemm,  p.  2G. 

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110     Dr.  Julius  Haast — On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains 

The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Hon.  Secretary : — 

XII.  On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains  discovered  in  New  Zea- 
land^ and  on  the  Nature  of  the  Deposits  in  which  they 
occurred.     By  Dr.  Julius  Haast^  F,R.S. 

The  title  of  these  notes  might  be  considered  scarcely  appropriate 
if  the  term  prehistoric  were  applied  exclusively  to  works  of  art 
discovered  in  countries  which,  like  those  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
possess  historical  records  of  ancient  date  on  which  dependence 
may  be  placed.  New  Zealand,  having  been  inhabited  by  Euro- 
pean settlers  only  for  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years,  and  having 
been  before  that  time  exclusively  the  abode  of  savages,  has  no 
such  history ;  and  therefore  the  term  is  here  used  in  a  geological 
sense  to  designate  remains  of  human  workmanship  found  iu 
beds  of  quaternary  formation,  the  age  of  which  may  be  coeval 
with  strata  of  the  northern  hemisphere,  in  which  similar  objects 
have  been  discovered.  These  deposits  are,  moreover,  of  so  curi- 
ous a  nature  that  a  description  of  their  mode  of  formation  may 
not  be  without  interest  even  to  the  European  geologist. 

But  before  entering  upon  this  subject  I  may  perhaps  be  per- 
mitted to  glance  at  the  traditions  of  the  native  population  of 
these  islands  in  reference  to  their  origin  :  these  are,  however,  of 
a  very  contradictory  character.  According  to  the  generaUy 
accepted  traditions  of  the  natives,  which  are  apparently  well 
sustained  by  the  genealogies  of  many  tribes  in  several  parts  of 
these  islands,  the  ancestors  of  the  Maori  race  arrived  here  in  a 
few  large  canoes,  about  five  hundred  years  ago,  from  an  island 
called  Hawaiki,  situated  in  a  northerly  direction  from  New 
Zealand.  Increasing  rapidly,  they  spread  in  all  directions  in 
the  Northern  Island  where  they  first  landed ;  they  then  crossed 
Cook^s  Straits  and  peopled  also  the  Southern  Island.  Con- 
sidering the  natural  productions  of  New  Zealand,  the  compara- 
tive scarcity  of  animal  and  vegetable  substances  available  for 
the  sustenance  of  human  life,  and  the  savage  and  warlike  cha- 
racter of  the  Maories,  I  do  not  think  that  in  so  comparatively 
short  a  time  these  few  immigrants  could  have  grown  into  so 
numerous  a  population  as  was  found  here  when  New  Zealand 
was  first  visited  by  Europeans.  The  native  population  was  then 
estimated  at  several  hundred  thousands. 

The  same  traditions  state  also  that  the  immigrants  found  the 
islands  uninhabited,  and  consequently  there  could  have  been 
no  contest  with  aboriginal  inhabitants.  But  the  fact  that  the 
Maories  are  a  mixed  race,  in  which  Malayan,  Papuan,  and  (in  a 
minor  degree)  Mongolian  blood  are  apparently  blended,  seems 
to  forbid  such  an  assumption,  although  its  advocates  suggest 
the  possibility  that  the  present  inhabitants  of  New  Zealand 

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discovered  in  New  Zealand.  Ill 

mighty  during  their  migration^  have  mixed  freely  with  other 


races*. 

Other  inquirers  state  that  these  accounts  are  erroneous^  and 
that^  according  to  other  and  more  reliable  traditions^  the  present 
native  inhabitants  in  New  Zealand  are  a  mixed  race ;  that  the 
original  Papuan  population  intermarried  with  the  more  civilized 
newcomers  from  some  island  or  islands  in  the  north-east  Pacific 
ocean ;  and  that  all  traces  of  the  original  language  of  the  former 
have  been  lost. 

These  contradictory  accounts  are  foreign  to  the  scope  of  these 
notes^  and  I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  them  except  in  so  far  as 
they  may  affect  the  question  of  the  relative  age  of  flint  or  stone 
implements  found  in  New  Zealand ;  but  I  may  at  once  state  my 
conviction  that  these  islands  have  been  inhabited  much  longer 
than  the  current  traditions  of  the  so*called  Hawaiki  immigrants 
would  suggest. 

I  hope,  when  publishing  hereafter  the  results  of  my  excava- 
tions of  Dinomis  remains^  to  prove  convincingly  that  these  spe- 
cies have  been  extinct  much  longer  than  has  been  generally 
admitted.  I  shall  then  also  show  more  fully  that  the  Maories 
have  not  even  a  tradition  about  them^  and  that  the  huge  birds 
had  doubtless  disappeared  long  before  the  race  which  at  present 
inhabits  these  islands  arrived  here,  or  that  the  Moa  has  been  so 
long  extinct  that  every  record  of  it  has  been  lost. 

Several  of  my  friends  (amongst  them  the  Rev.  James  Stack, 
of  Kaiapoi,  Mr.  A.  Maekay,  Native  Commissioner  in  this  island, 
and  several  other  gentlemen  well  acquainted  with  the  natives) 
have  at  my  request  made  careful  inquiries  on  the  subject,  and 
all  without  exception  have  foimd,  in  sifting  the  Maori  traditions, 
that  beyond  the  fact  that  the  Moa  was  a  bird  and  that  its  fea- 
thers resembled  those  of  the  Kiwi  or  Apteryx,  the  natives  did 
not  possess  any  information  about  it. 

*  I  extract  the  following  passage  from  a  letter  from  my  friend  the  Rev. 
James  Stack,  of  Kaiapoi,  of  whom  I  made  inquiries  on  the  subject : — *^  The 
subject  of  your  in(^uirj^  is  one^  in  which  I  have  taken  some  interest,  but  the 
result  of  my  investigations  leai^  me  to  very  different  conclusions  from  those 
of  Mr.  Taylor  and  others.  From  inquiries  here  and  in  the  north  I  am  per- 
suaded tliat  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  evidence  to  prove  the  existence  of  an 
aboriginal  race  in  New  Zealand  when  the  Maories  arrived  five  hundred  years 
ago. 

**  The  existence  of  such  a  race  at  the  Chathams,  coupled  with  the  fact  that 
great  diversities  of  expression  are  noticeable  amonffst  the  Maories,  may  suggest 
the  probability  of  their  having  found  the  islaucu  preoccupied,  fiut  Maori 
traditions  are  all  against  the  supposition. 

"  K  any  race  inhabited  these  islands  prior  to  the  Maori  occupation  of  them, 
that  race  was  extinct  and  left  no  visible  trace  of  its  existence.  The  variety  of 
features  existing  amongst  the  native  race  I  attribute  to  their  intermingling 
with  Papuans,  Malays,  and  Mongolians  in  their  progress  to  these  islands. 


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112      Dr.  Julius  Haast — On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains 

The  Maories^  moreover,  attribute  it8  extinction  to  a  great 
fire,  called  the  Fire  of  Tamatea,  which  they  assert  swept  the 
Canterbury  plains  about  five  hundred  years  ago,  the  smoulder- 
ing remains  of  which  may,  as  they  think,  be  still  seen  in  the 
Rakaia  Gorge.  These  so-called  smouldering  remains  are,  how- 
ever, seams  of  lignite  in  combustion,  and  this  fact  alone  proves 
the  legendary  character  of  their  traditions.  The  proverb  he  Moa 
kai  hau  {"  di  wind-eating  Moa^^)  is  the  only  trace  which  the 
Rev.  J.  Stack  could  find  of  any  allusion  in  the  sayings  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  to  the  existence  and  habits  of  these  huge 
birds.  If  it  be  true,  as  I  have  been  informed,  that  it  is  a  favourite 
habit  of  the  African  Ostrich  to  stand  with  its  beak  wide  open 
towards  the  wind,  such  a  coincidence  in  the  habits  of  two  allied 
huge  terrestrial  birds  would  certainly  be  very  curious,  and  woidd 
clearly  show  that,  although  all  other  tracer  have  been  lost,  the 
proverbial  saying  has  survived,  and  moreover  it  would  compel 
us  to  believe  in  its  correctness. 

Concerning  the  traditions  on  this  subject  in  the  North  Island, 
the  Bev.  W.  Colenso,  writing  in  1842,  showed  convincingly  that 
no  value  attached  to  the  native  accounts ;  in  fact  it  seems  to  me 
evident  that  the  present  native  race,  unable  otherwise  to  account 
for  the  huge  remains  of  the  Moa  found  sometimes  washed  out 
from  the  postpliocene  alluvium,  and  at  other  times  scattered 
about  on  the  open  plains,  took  refuge  in  miraculous  legends. 

On  comparing  the  Moa-bones  with  those  of  other  living  spe- 
cies of  birds,  they  found,  undoubtedly,  that  in  their  principal 
characteristics  they  most  resembled  those  of  the  Kiwi  or  Apte- 
ryx,  which  were  sometimes  mixed  with  them ;  and  this  fact  may 
account  for  the  tradition  concerning  the  similarity  of  the  fea- 
thers. In  drawing  a  conclusion  from  our  present  knowledge  of 
the  subject,  there  is  the  greatest  probability  that  at  the  time  the 
Maories  arrived,  the  race  which  hunted  the  Moa  was  either  ex- 
tinct or  had  dwindled  down  to  a  small  remnant  living  in  the 
interior  of  the  South  Island. 

The  new  comers  must,  moreover,  have  been  greatly  advanced 
in  comparison  with  the  original  inhabitants,  as  they  were  able 
to  build  canoes  and  make  implements  for  the  purposes  of  agri- 
culture. 

The  unpolished  stone  implements  found  in  the  Moa-ovens  ^ 

*  I  shall  call  the  race  which  was  contemporary  with  the  Dinomis,  and 
in  whof^e  cooking-places  or  ovens  the  remains  of  those  huge  birds  were 
found,  Moa-hunters.  These  Moa-himters,  like  the  present  native  race,  dug 
shallow  pits  in  the  around  in  which  they  cooked  their  food  by  means  of 
heated  stones,  on  which  water  was  poured  in  order  to  generate  steam.  In 
several  localities  in  this  island  unusually  lar^e  ovens  of  this  description  have 
been  discovered,  in  or  near  which  split  and  sometimes  charred  Moa-bones 
are  found,  togetner  with  chips  of  stone  used  as  knives. 


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discovered  in  New  Zealand.  113 

resemble,  if  we  judge  from  the  way  they  are  manufactured, 
rather  those  of  the  Amiens  beds  than  the  true  Maori  imple- 
ments, which  are  highly  finished  and  polished.  Those  which 
are  found  in  old  burial-grounds,  pahs,  battle-fields,  and  some- 
times even  deep  below  the  ground  are  all  of  the  latter  character, 
and  are  quite  unlike  the  primitive  stone  implements  of  the  Moa- 
hunter. 

I  also  wish  to  point  out  that  the  stone  implements  I  am  about 
to  describe,  notwithstanding  their  great  age,  resemble  more 
closely  in  their  form  and  polish  the  Maori  implements  than 
those  of  the  Moa-hunter.  May  not  this  be  an  additional  proof 
that  the  different  species  of  Dinornis  have  been  extinct  for  ages  ? 
There  is  at  the  same  time  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  the  extinc- 
tion of  the  Moa  was  principally  caused  by  the  agency  of  man, 
either  directly  by  being  used  as  food,  or  indirectly  by  being 
driven  from  their  genial  feeding-places  amongst  the  grass  and 
scrub  of  the  plains  and  low  hills  into  the  dense  forest  or  the 
mountain-regions,  where  the  food  necessary  for  their  subsistence 
and  the  conditions  needful  for  their  reproduction  could  not  be 
obtained. 

Comparing  the  degree  of  advancement  of  New  Zealand  at  the 
time  of  its  colonization  with  that  of  Europe,  we  are  led  to  con- 
clude that  it  was  then  as  far  advanced  as  Europe  had  been  in 
the  neolithic  age,  while  the  Bruce- Bay  stone  implements  here- 
after to  be  described,  and  still  more  the  chipped  and  unpolished 
stone  implements  of  the  Moa-hunter,  represent  the  far  more 
remote  time  of  the  pateolithic  period  of  the  mother  country. 
But  another  explanation  might  be  offered  from  the  few  data  at 
our  command,  namely,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  coast,  being 
immigrants  from  more  advanced  countries,  already  used  polished 
stone  implements,  whilst  the  older  inhabitants  of  the  country 
living  in  the  interior,  whither  they  had  followed  the  Dinornis, 
were  still  in  a  more  primitive  state  of  civilization.  And  is  it 
not  possible  that  in  Europe  also  similar  conditions  may  have 
been  in  operation?  so  that  two  different  races  may  have  existed 
contemporaneously — a  primitive  one  in  the  forest  fastnesses  and 
near  the  lakes  in  central  Europe,  and  a  more  advanced  one  in 
the  coast  regions  or  along  the  banks  of  great  rivers ;  the  new- 
comers having  either  forcibly  taken  possession  of  the  country,  or 
found  it  deserted  as  no  longer  offering  good  hunting-grounds  to 
its  first  inhabitants. 

In  a  paper  printed  in  the  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society 
of  London  ^,  I  have  treated  of  the  glacial  deposits  at  the  west 
coast  of  this  island,  and  shown  that  many  morainic  accumula. 

•  Vol.  xxiii.  1867,  p.  34'2. 

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114    Dr.  Julius  Haast — On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains 

tions  not  only  reached  the  shores  of,  but  also  entered  into  the 
sea,  where  they  still  form  bold  headlands.  Many  of  them  ex- 
hibit all  the  characteristics  of  lateral  or  medial,  and  others  of 
terminal  moraines.  In  the  small  sketch-map  accompanying  the 
paper  referred  to,  I  have  marked  in  general  outlines  how  far 
these  remarkable  moraines  reached  and  where  they  formed  the 
principal  headlands.  Among  them  are  two  conspicuous  bluffs 
called  the  Makowiho  and  Heratanewha  points,  which  are  the 
two  lateral  moraines  of  an  enormous  glacier  formerly  descending 
from  the  western  slopes  of  the  southern  Alps  by  the  Makowiho 
and  Waitaha  valleys.  It  is  evident  from  the  present  configura- 
tion of  that  part  of  the  country,  that  when  the  huge  glacier  had 
retreated  within  the  ranges,  its  lateral  moraines  stood  out  boldly 
in  the  sea  Like  two  walls.  At  that  period  a  shallow  bay  existed 
between  them,  washing  the  western  foot  of  the  southern  Alps. 
In  this  bay  two  rivers,  the  Makowiho  and  Waitaha  (the  outlets 
of  the  retreating  glaciers),  emptied  themselves,  flowing  along  or 
near  the  two  lateral  moraines,  and  bringing  with  them  ample 
material  to  advance  their  deltas  in  the  bay.  At  the  same  time 
another  agency  was  at  work  obliterating  that  shallow  bay  by 
forming  it  into  a  lagoon.  Littoral  beds  were  deposited  by 
marine  currents  travelling  fix)m  south  to  north,  assisted  by  the 
powerful  north-western  and  north-eastern  gales,  which  in  their 
turn  assisted,  by  forming  a  very  heavy  surf,  to  throw  up  a  large 
bank  of  sand  and  shingle  between  the  two  walls,  crossing  from 
near  the  extremity  of  Makowiho  point  in  the  north  to  the 
northern  side  of  the  Heratanewha  wall,  about  a  mile  from  its 
western  extremity.  The  two  rivers  continuing  to  deposit  their 
shingle  in  the  lagoon  thus  enclosed,  soon  formed  shingle-beds 
along  the  two  walls,  reaching  in  time  the  littoral  deposits,  and 
leaving  in  the  centre  a  shallow  lake,  which  in  its  turn  was  gra- 
dually in  part  silted  up  and  in  part  filled  by  decaying  vegetable 
matter.  This  former  lake-bed  still  forms  a  plain,  severid  miles 
in  breadth  and  length,  covered  with  a  scanty  vegetation  of 
sphaffnumy  sedges,  rushes,  and  ferns  peculiar  to  such  marshy 
soil ;  while  the  surroimding  sides,  along  the  sea,  along  the  river- 
beds, and  on  the  mountain-slopes,  are  clothed  with  a  high  and 
luxuriant  forest. 

The  small  geological  sketch-map  (PI.  XII.  fig.  1)  will  give, 
better  than  any  description,  an  insight  into  the  peculiar  struc- 
ture of  this  portion  of  New  Zealand. 

When  the  highly  profitable  gold-fields  in  the  pliocene  allu- 
vium,  and  in  the  river-beds  crossing  it  near  Hokitika,  were  all 
taken  up  by  diggers  who  had  arrived  in  great  numbers  on  the 
west  coast,  the  rest  sought  paying  claims  in  other  directions, 
and  many  set  to  work  in  localities  where  scarcely  any  one  would 

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discovered  in  New  Zealand.  115 

have  thought  that  payable  ground  existed.  Amongst  these 
localities  were  the  sea-beaches^  where  in  many  instances  for- 
tunes have  been  made  by  their  lucky  owners.  These  sea- 
beaches  were  generally  situated  between  two  headlands^  often 
several  miles  distant  from  each  other^  and  where  the  slopes  of 
the  sea-bottom  and  of  the  shores  were  shallow.  Here,  after 
working  through  the  beds  of  shingle  and  sand  near  high- water 
mark,  layers  of  "black  sand''  are  frequently  found,  reposing 
mostly  on  shingle-beds  cemented  into  a  conglomerate  by  oxide 
of  iron.  When  the  deposits  were  in  such  a  position  that  the 
tides  did  not  interfere  with  the  labours  of  the  miners,  several 
beds  were  generaUy  found  below  the  first,  often  of  equal  or  even 
greater  richness ;  but  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  keeping  the 
water  out,  these  lower  beds  have  not  hitherto  received  that 
attention  which  they  deserve.  Instead  of  sinking  lower  down 
in  their  claims  near  the  sea-shore,  the  miners  have  gone  inland 
seeking  another  "  lead,''  as  it  is  technically  termed. 

During  my  last  journey  along  the  west  coast  of  this  island,  in 
March  and  April  1868,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  how 
these  auriferous  beds  were  being  formed,  and  I  found  that  some 
of  the  diggers  were,  from  a  practical  point  of  view,  already 
well  acquainted  with  their  mode  of  formation.  Thus,  on  one 
portion  of  the  coast  between  Makowiho  point  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Karangarua  river,  called  Hunt's  beach,  the  sea-coast  is  very 
shallow  and  sandy.  Here  during  fine  south-westerly  weather 
large  masses  of  sand  are  accumulating  in  and  above  the  tidal 
boundaries.  At  such  times  only  light  winds  are  blowing,  and  the 
surf  IB  consequently  of  no  great  force ;  but  when  an  occasional 
north-west  or  north-east  storm  rages  along  the  coast,  the  masses 
of  sand  deposited  during  the  preceding  fine  weather  are,  as  it 
were,  undei^oing  a  process  of  natural  sluicing.  Generally  the 
greater  portion  of  the  sand  is  removed,  but  in  favourable  spots, 
sheltered  either  by  a  slight  indentation  in  the  coast-line  or  by 
some  large  pieces  of  drifted  timber,  its  heavier  particles  remain ; 
these  consist  of  black  iron -sand  (both  magnetic  and  titaniferous 
oxide  of  iron)  associated  with  small  garnets  and  with  gold. 
These  black  layers  are  often  one  to  two  inches  thick,  and  repose 
upon  coarse  quartzose  sands. 

As  soon  as  a  storm  has  subsided,  the  "  beachers "  or  '^  sur- 
facers,"  as  they  are  called,  examine  the  coast-line  near  their 
houses.  When  they  come  upon  one  of  the  rich  spots,  the  fine 
particles  of  gold  being  often  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  they  at 
once  remove  the  black  layer  of  sand  out  of  the  reach  of  the  tide, 
and  wash  it  when  convenient. 

During  their  search  for  beach-diggings  the  miners  reached 
Bruce  Bay.     There  they  found  three  "  leads  "  running  parallel 

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116    Dr.  Julius  Haast — On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains 

with  the  coast-line,  the  one  nearest  the  sea  heing  the  shortest, 
the  second  intermediate  in  length,  and  the  last  and  most  inland 
one  the  longest.  I  may  here  observe  that  there  were  no  indica- 
tions whatever  to  guide  the  miner  in  his  search,  and  their  whole 
extent  and  general  features  were  discovered  from  experience  in 
prospecting  and  following  the  auriferous  leads  in  both  directions. 

Where  at  this  coast  ancient  level  strips  of  land  exist  dose 
to  the  sea,  which  are,  however,  often  breached  by  the  waves,  we 
find  that  the  usual  forest  vegetation  grows  to  the  water's  edge : 
but  generally  the  level  land  is  of  quite  recent  origin,  as  the  land 
is  gaining  upon  the  sea,  and  new  ground  is  continually  formed. 
In  localities  of  this  nature  we  observe  that  the  more  we  advance 
from  high- water  mark  inland,  the  more  luxuriant  becomes  the 
vegetation,  exhibiting  three  distinct  belts  of  peculiar  growth. 
This  is  well  shown  in  Bruce  Bay  (PL  XII.  fig.  2).  There  is 
generally  above  high-water  mark  a  zone  50-100  feet  broad,  con- 
sisting of  fine  drift-sand  usually  forming  small  hillocks,  amongst 
which  a  great  mass  of  drift-wood  is  decaying,  but  in  which  no 
other  vegetation,  except  a  few  fungi  on  the  rotten  wood,  makes  its 
appearance.  Then  follows  a  second  belt,  also  of  sand,  80-150 
feet  broad,  in  which  the  drift-wood  has  already  entirely  disap- 
peared, and  which  is  covered  by  vegetation  peculiar  to  such 
localities,  consisting  of  sedges,  rushes,  and  a  few  plants  of  higher 
organization.  The  following  plants  grow  principally  in  this 
second  or  *' Coprosma-acerosa  belt,''  as  I  propose  to  call  it; 
namely,  Coprosma  acerosa,  Jvncus  maritimus,  Desmoschomus 
spiralis,  Scirpus  maritimus,  Leptospermum  scopiarum,  Euphorbia 
glauca,  Convolvulus  soldanella,  and  Discaria  toumatou, 

A  third  distinct  zone  follows,  from  300-500  feet  broad,  com- 
monly called  the  "  scrub-belt.''  The  main  mass  of  its  vegeta- 
tion consists  of  Coriaria  ruscifolia,  Coprosma  petiolata,  Coprosma 
Baueriana,  Veronica  salicifolia,  Fucfisia  excorticata,  Griselinia 
littoralis,  Phormium  tenax,  and  some  more  shrubby  plants,  gene- 
rally with  a  dense  undergrowth  of  ferns  belonging  to  the  genera 
Asplenium,  Polypodium^  Lomaria,  &;c. 

The  boundary  between  the  first  and  second  belt  is  not  so  di- 
stinct as  that  between  the  others,  especially  between  the  ['  shrub  " 
and  "  forest-belt,"  which  is  generaUy  sharply  defined. 

In  Bruce  Bay,  where  the  ground  is  rather  swampy,  the  vegeta- 
tion of  this  last-mentioned  belt  consists  of  the  following  trees : — 
Podocarpus  dacrydioides,  Podocarpus  Totara,  Dacrydium  ctgnres^ 
sinum,  IMocedrus  Doniana,  Weinmannia  racemosa,  MetrocCderos 
lucida.  Several  species  of  Coprosma,  Pittosporum,  and  fem- 
trees,  as,  for  instance,  Cyathea  Smithii  and  Dicksonia  squarrosa, 
grow  between  and  below  them,  while  the  Khipogonum  scandens, 
the  ''  supple  Jack  "  of  the  colonists,  interlaces  the  whole  with  its 


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Joum.   Et3mo.  Soc.Vol  IT.  PL  UL 


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i 


I 


j'^ImJ  isr**^ 


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discovered  in  New  Zealand.  117 

numerous  flexible  stems.  Where  the  Kiekie  or  Preycinetia 
Banksii  occurs^  which  is  not  unfrequeot^  this  forest  zone  is 
almost  impenetrable. 

When  I  arrived  in  Bruce  Bay  the  two  auriferous  leads  situated 
in  the  beginning  of  the  second  and  third  belts  had  already  been 
worked  out,  and  the  miners  were  exclusively  at  work  on  the 
third  lead  situated  in  the  forest-belt,  where  they  had  to  sink 
13-15  feet  before  the  auriferous  beds  were  reached.  After 
having  removed  the  large  trees  growing  here,  sometimes  4  feet 
in  diameter,  and  standing  closely  together  upon  8-12  inches  of 
vegetable  soil,  in  which  the  roots  run  horizontally,  the  miners 
passed  generally  through  the  following  strata  before  the  au- 
riferous sands  were  reached : — 

ft.  in. 

Flattened  lieach-shingle  mixed  with  black  sand     4  0 

Black  sand  containing  a  little  gold   0  2 

Quartzose  and  black  sands  alternating  repeatedly  with  each 

other 1  1 

Large  flattened  shingle  with  some  black,  iron,  and  quartzose 

sandS;  but  not  auriferous  enough  to  pay  for  the  extraction 

oftheffold    0  5 

Fine  black  sand,  a  little  auriferous    1  0 

Very  coarse  gravel 1  7 

Auriferous  black  iron-sand,  which  is  the  layer  of  wash-dirt 

excavated  for  sluicing 0  6 

14    9 

This  last  layer  reposes  upon  a  bed  of  coarse  gravel,  which, 
being  cemented  by  an  argillaceous  matrix,  has  materially  assisted 
to  retain  the  fine  gold  in  the  black  sand  above  it. 

From  an  examination  of  the  section  (PI.  XII.  fig.  2)  it  will  be 
seen  that  a  long  period  of  time  must  have  elapsed  before  such  a 
succession  of  beds  could  be  formed,  because  it  is  evident  that 
the  beaches  have  not  been  always  receiving  new  additions,  but 
deposits  have  been  thrown  up  and  again  partially  removed  ac- 
cording to  the  prevailing  winds.  It  is  also  clear  that  since  the 
formation  of  these  littoral  deposits  a  slight  upheaval  of  this  part 
of  the  coast  has  taken  place,  the  edge  of  the  forest-belt  being 
situated  about  4  feet  above  the  highest  flood-line. 

Again,  there  is  evidence  that  since  the  formation  of  these  beds 
oscillations  in  the  relative  position  of  land  and  sea  have  taken 
place,  as  proved  by  a  surface-layer  of  wash-dirt  in  the  Coriaria 
or  third  belt,  overlying  unconformably  the  more  inclined  first- 
formed  strata ;  all  of  which  tends  to  confirm  my  opinion  that  a 
long  lapse  of  time  was  requisite  for  the  formation  of  these  beds, 
and  for  the  growth  of  the  dense  vegetation  which  now  covers 
them. 

If  we  examine  the  different  belts  of  vegetable  life  followina 

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118    Dr.  Julius  Haast — On  certain  Prehistoric  Remains 

each  other  with  such  distiiictness  as  we  go  inland^  additional  evi- 
dence is  offered  that  considerable  time  was  necessary  to  change 
the  Coprosma-acerosa  belt  into  the  scrub-belt^  and  a  still  longer 
period  had  to  elapse  for  the  formation  of  a  sufficient  thickness 
of  vegetable  mould  to  allow  the  forest-trees  to  grow  to  such 
large  dimensions ;  some  of  them  which  I  measured  were  4  feet 
in  diameter.  In  the  same  forest  many  and  often  still  larger 
trees  are  lying  prostrate  on  the  ground^  and  in  all  stages  of 
decay;  sometimes  they  are  only  indicated  by  long  mossy  ridges, 
so  that  we  may  safely  conclude  that  the  present  forest- vegetation 
is  not  the  first  one,  but  that  it  was  preceded  by  trees  of  the  same 
species,  and  often  of  large  dimensions,  which  formerly  grew 
there. 

In  one  of  the  claims  in  this  last  described  forest-belt,  on  the 
bottom  of  the  wash-dirt,  reposing  directly  upon  the  argillaceous 
gravel,  a  party  of  miners,  consisting  of  S.  Fiddean^  J.  Sawyer, 
and  T.  Harrison,  found  a  stone  chisel  (PL  XIII.  fig.  2)  and 
a  sharpening-stone  (PL  XIII.  fig.  1)  lying  dose  to  each  other; 
the  former  was  broken,  having  been  accidentally  struck  by  the 
pick  when  the  miners  were  loosening  the  wash-dUrt.  The  stone 
chisel  is  made  of  a  dark  greenish  chert,  and  is  partly  polished; 
the  sharpening-stone  is  made  of  a  coarse  greyish  sandstone, 
which  I  found  in  situ  about  ten  miles  south  of  this  locality,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Piringa. 

The  two  stone  implements  were  found  a  few  days  before  my 
arrival,  and  it  was  quite  accidentally  in  looking  at  the  claim  that 
I  heard  of  their  discovery.  They  are  now  in  the  Canterbury 
Museum,  New  Zealand. 

I  measured  carefully  the  distance  from  high-water  mark  to 
the  exact  spot  where  they  were  discovered,  and  found  it  to  be 
525  feet,  crossing  the  different  belts  as  foUows : — 

feet 

First,  or  drift-wood  belt  63 

Second,  or  Coproama-acerosa  belt    06 

Third,  or  Conaria  belt 390 

Fourth,  or  White-pine  belt 37 

526 

The  beds  through  which  the  miners  had  been  working  were 
quite  undisturbed,  and  some  very  large  trees  had  been  growing 
just  above  that  portion  of  their  claim  near  the  centre  of  which 
these  stone  implements  had  been  found. 

Owing  to  the  dense  forest  covering  the  ground  everywhere  on 
the  west  coast  of  this  island,  these  beaches  are  generally  used  for 
travelling,  the  favoiirable  time  of  the  receding  tides  being  selected. 
I  can  easily  imagine,  therefore,  how  these  tools  mav  have  been 

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discovered  in  New  Zealand,  119 

left  behind.  When  travelling  with  Maories  along  that  coast  I 
have^  daring  a  rest  of  a  few  moments^  seen  them  repeatedly  pull 
out  a  piece  of  greenstone  and  polish  or  cut  it  until  the  mot 
d'ordre  to  proceed  was  again  given  by  me.  In  the  same  way 
the  owner  of  these  implements  may  have  set  to  work^  and  when 
starting  again  either  forgotten  them  or  left  them  behind  when 
surprised  by  an  enemy. 

The  character  of  these  implements  shows  that  the  people  in- 
habiting or  visiting  this  island  at  that  remote  period  were  much 
more  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  Moa-hunters^  whose  tools 
consisted  only  of  chipped  pieces  of  sandstone^  flint,  and  similar 
siliceous  rocks  without  any  attempt  at  polish.  I  am  not  ac- 
quainted with  the  rate  of  growth  of  our  New-Zealand  forest- 
trees,  but  have  no  doubt  that  by  far  the  greater  portion  of  them 
grow  very  slowly,  especially  when  compared  with  Australian,  or 
even  some  European  and  North- American  trees. 

A  fair  criterion  by  which  to  judge  is  offered  in  our  New- 
Zealand  gardens,  where  the  native  trees,  which  are  raised  with 
great  diflSculty,  grow  only  a  few  feet  in  six  or  eight  years,  whilst 
the  introduced  trees  planted  as  seed  or  seedlings  at  the  same 
time  as  the  endemic  vegetation,  form  in  that  time  conspicuous 
trees  often  20-30  feet  high. 

To  sum  up  the  evidence  we  at  present  possess  as  to  prehistoric 
remains  in  New  Zealand,  I  may  state  that  the  most  primitive 
implements  hitherto  discovered  arc  those  found  in  or  near  Moa- 
ovens.  They  are  simply  chipped  from  boulders  and  blocks  of 
siliceous  rocks.  In  the  Manuherikia  valley,  in  the  Province  of 
Otago,  where  many  Moa-ovens  have  been  discovered,  an  old 
workshop  has  been  found  where  a  great  many  chips  and  blocks 
thrown  away  as  useless  are  still  lying  together,  making  us  well 
acquainted  with  the  mode  in  which  those  primitive  Moa-hunters 
manufactured  their  tools.  The  stone  implements  found  in  Bruce 
Bay,  and  described  in  this  paper,  are  more  highly  finished ;  and 
many  others  of  similar  characters  have  been  obtained  in  the 
Wellington  Province  during  the  dr  linage  of  swamps  and  the 
construction  of  roads,  often  several  feet  below  the  surface,  and 
under  the  roots  of  trees  of  enormous  size.  Others  were  occa- 
sionally found  in  the  Canterbury  plains  during  the  operations 
of  ditching  and  deep  ploughing,  but  all  these  implements  are 
more  or  less  polished,  and  resemble  in  many  respects  those  of 
the  present  native  population.  I  wish  to  point  out,  however, 
that,  although  these  tools  are  much  more  perfect  than  those 
found  in  the  Moa-ovens,  I  am  not  able  to  say  which  are  of  the 
greater  antiquity.  It  may  be  possible  that  after  the  interval  of 
a  great  lapse  of  time  various  races  arrived  in  New  Zealand  who 
possessed  a  higher  degree  of  civilization  than  the  original  in- 
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120     Dr.  J.  Haast — On  New-Zealand  Prehistoric  Remains, 

habitants.  Moreover,  the  latter  were  perhaps  living  only  in  the 
interior,  whither  they  had  followed  the  retreating  Dinomis. 
In  several  islands  in  the  Pacific  and  Indian  oceans  two  distinct 
races  are  now  living — ^the  more  civilized  near  the  coast,  and  the 
original  and  inferior  race  near  the  mountains.  In  order  to 
arrive  at  a  solution  of  this  question  it  will,  however,  be  neces- 
sary for  competent  observers  to  study  the  approximate  age  and 
position  of  the  Moa-ovens  in  this  and  the  Otago  Province  much 
more  closely  than  has  been  done  hitherto. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES  Xn.  and  XIIL 

Plate  XII. 

Fig.  1.  Geological  map  of  Bruce  Bay,  New  Zealand.    Scale  4  miles  to  1  inch. 

2.  Section  from  N.N.W.  to  S.S.E.  across  the  deposits  in  Bruce  Bay, 

showins  the  four  belts  of  vegetation,  and  the  three  auriferous 

^  leads    :  in  the  most  inland  lead  the  stone  implements  were 

found.    Scale,  horizontal  and  vertical,  80  feet  to  1  mch. 

Plate  XIII. 

Fig.  1.  Sharpening-stone  found  in  Bruce  Bay.    Half  size. 

2.  Stone  chisel  found  in  Bruce  Bay,  showing  both  front  and  side  view. 
Half  size. 

DrscussioN. 

Mr.  BoNWiOK  thought  that  the  question  of  relative  antiquity  of 
the  implements  could  be  settled  by  geology.  If  that  third  inhmd 
auriferous  deposit  had  been  brought  along  the  beach  by  currents, 
then,  in  spite  of  the  argument  of  a  change  of  vegetation  on  the  spot, 
the  formation  would  be  comparatively  recent;  but  as  the  sunJcen 
pit  bore  much  of  the  likeness  of  an  ordinary  digging,  the  whole 
would  give  a  greater  antiquity.  The  map  furthermore  indicated 
moraines  near  the  sea,  marking  the  former  far  more  considerable 
elevation  of  the  country  around  that  formation;  wliile  the  meta- 
morphic  rocks,  the  source  of  gold,  are  placed  above  the  deposit,  as 
though  it  had  been  brought  down  from  the  mountain-ranges  in  the« 
ordinary  way,  and  not  in  from  the  sea. 

Mr.  Hyde  Clarke  called  attention  to  the  question  of  the  ethno- 
logical capacity  for  extension  within  a  limited  period.  Dr.  Haast  * 
doubted  whether  600  years,  or  15  generations,  would  be  sufficient  for 
three  canoesfuU  to  supply  the  alleged  population  of  several  hundred 
thousands.  Mr.  Clarke  thought  the  instance  of  Lower  Canada 
worthy  of  investigation.  The  French  population  at  the  conquest 
by  General  "Wolf  was  30,000,  and  without  immimtion  in  a  century 
it  had  increased  twenty  or  thirtyfold.  Supposing  the  30,000  had 
been  obtained  by  natural  increase  instead  of  by  immigration,  then 
1000  or  1500  a  century  before  would  at  the  same  rate  produce  30,000, 
and  a  century  before  that  three  boatloads  might  be  progenitors  in 
three  centuries  of  the  existing  French  Canadian  population. 


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James  Bonwick— On  t/ie  Origin  of  the  Tasmaniaris.      121 

Ordinary  Meeting^  Jan.  25th,  1870. 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Members. — Lord  Rosehill;  J.  W.  Barnes,  Esq. ;  Wal- 
ter Morrison,  Esq.,  M.P. ;  and  Robert  Lucas  Nash,  Esq. 

Dr.  Hooker,  C.B.,  exhibited  a  collection  of  figures  in  unburnt 
clay  modelled  by  a  native  Zulu,  and  sent  to  this  country  by 
J.  Sanderson,  Esq. 

Col.  Lane  Fox  exhibited  two  stone  mullers,  one  from  Tahiti, 
and  the  other  from  the  West  Indies,  together  with  a  drawing  of 
a  similar  muller  from  New  York. 

The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 

Xni.  On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians  Geologically  consi- 
dered.    By  James  Bonwick,  Esq.,  P.R.G.S. 
(Abridged.) 
The  *'  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians ''  has  at  this  moment  a  painful 
interest.   The  last  man  of  the  race  has  departed  :  an  old  woman 
is  the  sole  survivor  of  the  island  tribes. 

The  people  were  recognized  as  among  the  lowest  of  the  human 
form,  and  the  most  isolated  and  peculiar  of  the  family  of  man. 
Black  and  woolly-haired,  they  seemed  allied  to  Africans  seven 
thousand  miles  away,  while  their  manners  and  general  physique 
connected  them  with  their  Australian  neighbours.  How  came 
they  where  the  early  voyagers  found  them  ? 

Linguistic  analogies,  identity  of  customs,  and  assimilation  of 
habits  of  thought  associate  them  with  others  scattered  over  vast 
areas ;  but  grave  difficulties  beset  our  way  in  seeking  a  common 
origin  for  races  so  remotely  situated  from  each  other,  and  almost 
aU  of  whom  may  be  reputed  consistent  landsmen. 

In  pleading,  therefore,  as  I  shall  have  to  do,  for  the  prior 
existence  of  a  continent  with  which  these  several  peoples  could 
have  been  associated,  I  am  conscious  of  placing  myself  in  anta- 
gonism to  popular  and  established  theories,  and  of  confronting 
those  who  would  make  the  Aborigines  literally  "  Men  of  the 
Soil,'' — beginning  an  existence  as  a  race  in  the  country  where 
they  are  now  observed. 

Assuming  sufficient  time,  it  may  be  demonstrated  that  the 
Papuan  race,  which  we  see  at  so  many  isolated  spots,  were  for- 
merly more  associated  geographically,  and  that  they  could  have 
had  one  common  ancestry.  Prof.  Huxley  sees  reason  to  connect 
the  Tasmanian  and  his  neighbours  with  the  very  old  prehistoric 
folk  of  Europe.  *'  I  shall  be  inclined,''  says  he,  "  to  look  among 
the  Papuan  races  of  New  Guinea  and  New  Holland  for  the 
nearest  allies  of  men  to  whoi|^  the  Shell-Mounds  once  belonged." 

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122     James  Bokwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians, 

The  migratioa  took  place  at  a  period  when  civilizatioii  had 
made  little  advance;  and  not  only  prior  to  the  institution  of 
agriculture,  but  before  the  domestication  of  cattle. 

It  is  in  the  highest  degree  probable  that  the  site  of  the  sunken 
continent  whence  the  various  black  races  surrounding  the 
Indian  Ocean,  and  extending  into  the  Pacific  and  Southern 
Oceans,  may  have  radiated  was  the  source  of  the  Australian 
vegetation.  Dr.  Hooker,  in  his  valuable  work  on  the  Flora  of 
the  South,  has  afibrded  us  some  remarkable  data  for  this  con- 
ception. He  indirectly  supports  the  continental  theory  by 
showing  how  very  inadequate  the  powers  of  currents  of  air  and 
water  are  as  propagators  of  species.  In  accounting  for  the 
absence  of  certain  forms  in  New  Zealand,  after  that  region  was 
isolated  from  New  Holland,  he  demonstrates  that  it  '^is  still 
more  incompatible  with  the  theory  of  extensive  migrations  by 
oceanic  or  aerial  currents.  This  absence  is  most  conspicuous  in 
the  cases  of  Eucalypti  and  almost  every  other  genus  of  Myr^ 
tacea,  of  the  whole  immense  genus  of  Acacia,  and  of  its  nume- 
rous Australian  congeners.^^  The  Blackfellows  could  no  more 
cross  the  sea  than  could  the  gum-tree. 

But  he  proceeds  to  the  origin  of  that  flora.  He  found  273 
genera  of  North  Australia  allied  to  those  of  India ;  and  that,  as 
the  proportion  of  peculiarity  increased  while  going  south-east- 
wards, the  maximum  of  home  plants  was  obtained  in  the  south- 
western part  of  Australia.  He  sees  "  a  greater  specific  differ- 
ence between  two  quarters  of  Australia,  south-east  and  south- 
west, than  between  Australia  and  the  rest  of  the  globe  j  and  that 
the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  flora  are  concentrated  at 
that  point  most  remote  from  any  other  region  of  the  globe.'' 

But  that  quarter  would  be  the  one  nearest  the  sunken  conti- 
nent; to  which,  therefore,  we  trace  the  flora  of  Australia. 
Dr.  Hooker  is  led  also  to  the  old  continent  by  the  thought 
that  "  the  many  bonds  of  aflSnity  between  the  three  Southern 
Floras  (the  Antarctic,  Australian,  and  South  African)  indicate 
that  these  have  had  a  common  origin,  that  the  period  of  their 
divergence  antedates  the  creation  oi  the  principal  existing  gene- 
ric forms  of  each.'' 

The  extension  of  the  country  of  the  Blackfellows  was  neces- 
sary to  account  for  its  vegetation,  as  the  same  botanical  autho- 
rity is  convinced  that  facts  prove  "  not  only  the  antiquity  of  the 
flora,  but  that  it  was  developed  in  a  much  larger  area  than  it 
now  occupies 'y "  and  he  elsewhere  says,  *' the  antecedents  of  the 
peculiar  Australian  flora  may  have  inhabited  an  area  to  the 
westward  of  the  present  Australian  continent,  and  that  the 
curious  analogies  which  the  latter  presents  with  the  South- 
African  flora,  and  which  are  so  much  more  conspicuous  in  the 

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Jambs  Bonwick — On  the  Griffin  of  the  Tasmanians,     128 

south-west  quarter,  may  be  connected  with  such  a  prior  state  of 
things/' 

Dr.  Hooker  declares  that  one-eighth  of  the  plants  of  South 
America  may  be  found  in  New  Zealand,  while  the  Polynesian 
flora  generally  has  much  sympathy  with  that  continent.  One- 
tenth  of  the  New-Zealand  vegetation  is  common  to  Australia 
and  South  America.  The  Oxalis  Magelianica  is  found  in  New 
Zealand,  Tasmania,  and  South  America,  while  the  Edwardsia 
grandijlora  is  detected  in  the  first  and  third  of  these  regions ; 
and  yet  the  President  of  the  Linnsean  Society  has  affirmed  that 
"  the  seeds  of  neither  could  stand  exposure  to  the  salt-water,  and 
they  are  too  heavy  to  be  borne  on  the  air"  Mr.  Andrew  Mur- 
ray says  '^  South  America  was  most  probably  united  to  Australia, 
if  we  may  draw  any  inference  from  the  presence  of  allied  forms 
of  life  common  to  both.'' 

The  botany  of  South  Africa  is  much  like  that  of  Australia,  there 
being,  according  to  Dr.  Hooker,  280  genera  of  1000,  or  nearly 
thirty  per  cent.,  identical.  The  wonderful  egg  of  Madagascar, 
14  inches  long,  proves  that  the  land  must  have  extended  far  be« 
yond  the  present  narrow  limits  when  the  parent  of  such  an  egg 
existed,  and  that  most  probably  toward  the  east  and  north  end, 
as  Mr.  Wallace  believes  Madagascar  has  not  been  connected 
with  the  African  mainland  since  the  Miocene  period,  at  least. 
Mr.  Wake  gives  especial  prominence  to  the  island  in  his  theory 
of  continental  extension. 

We  may,  then,  conclude  with  Mr.  Murray  that  "  a  complete 
circlet  of  land  formerly  crowned  the  southern  temperate  regions, 
as  now  does  the  northern." 

Mr.  Pritchard  admits  that  "  an  archipelago  was  originally 
formed  by  the  disruption  of  an  ancient  continent  through  the 
invasion  of  the  equatorial  current."  D'Urville  wrote  of  that 
old  continent.  The  learned  Mr.  Logan,  of  Singapore,  has  these 
remarks : — "  Asia  cannot  be  severed,  in  a  physicfd  or  geological 
view,  fipom  the  great  infeular  region  which  lies  to  the  southward 
of  it."  He  has  shown  the  continuity  of  geological  formations 
from  Malaya  across  the  Strait  to  Singapore,  and  onward  to 
ialands  southward  and  eastward.  Mr.  Oxley  finds  the  four 
great  families  of  Casuarina,  Myrtacea,  Melaleucea,  and  Pro- 
teacea  represented  in  India.  The  Australian  flora,  according 
to  Dr.  Hooker,  terminates  with  the  Casuarina  on  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  the  StyUdium  on  the  western. 
''In  many  cases,"  writes  Sir  J.  E.  Tennant,  "the  faunas  of 
Ceylon  and  of  Australasia  seem  more  similar  than  those  of  Cey- 
lon and  Hindustan."  But  Mr.  Murray  adds,  ''Both  their 
faunas  and  floras  have  to  a  considerable  extent  an  Australian 
character."    The  traditions  of  Ceylon  point  to  a  time  when  the 

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124     James  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians, 

country  extended  far  southward.  The  Arabs  still  speak  of  the 
Gate  of  Tears^  which  opened  to  let  in  the  floods  that  tore  their 
land  from  Africa.  The  South-Australian  blacks  even  now  point 
to  the  West  as  the  source  of  Babydom.  Prof.  Owen  thinks  that 
"  the  Andaman  Islands^  like  the  Nicobar,  Java^  Sumatra^  and 
('eylon,  may  have  been  parts  of  some  former  tract  of  dry  land 
distinct  from^  and  perhaps  preexistent  to,  that  neighbouring 
and  more  northern  continent."  Prof.  Huxley  considers  that 
the  Australioid  and  Negroid,  of  his  ethnological  nomenclature, 
were  in  existence  when  there  was  land  communication  between 
Australia  and  the  Deccan  on  the  one  hand,  and  South  Africa, 
Malacca,  and  New  Guinea  on  the  other. 

New  Guinea  has  so  many  similarities  with  its  greater  neigh- 
bour that  we  seem  ready  to  regard  the  two  in  the  likeness  of 
Dover  and  Calais,  and  with  New  Guinea  may  be  brought  into  con- 
nexion with  Australia,  the  Melanesian  group  of  New  Hebrides, 
Solomon  Isles,  New  Britain,  New  Ireland,  New  Caledonia, 
&c.  Marsupialia  still  exist  in  the  New  Hebrides.  The  Rev. 
John  Inglis,  Presbyterian  Missionary,  is  disposed  to  con- 
nect some  of  those  with  New  Zealand,  though  regarding  New- 
Caledonian  botany  as  kindred  to  that  of  New  South  Wales.  Dr. 
Hooker,  however,  classes  the  plants  of  New  Hebrides  and  New 
Caledonia  with  those  of  New  Zealand  and  New  Holland.  Dr. 
Sdater  classes  the  birds  of  Polynesia  with  those  of  Australia. 
Mr.  Murray  sees  that  the  only  mammals  of  Polynesia  "  belong 
to  an  order  also  found  in  Australia,  the  Bats ; "  he  observes 
great  affinity  of  genera  in  birds  of  Australia  and  Papua,  and  Dr. 
Giinther  noticed  the  same  with  reptiles  and  batrachians. 

The  geological  history  of  New  Zealand  has  some  strong  con- 
nexion with  that  of  New  Holland.  For  example,  the  Coid-field 
of  Eastern  Australia,  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world,  seems  one 
with  that  of  New  Zealand  on  the  western  side  ;  whilst  the  gold- 
fields  of  New  Zealand  are  similar  to  those  of  Australia. 

The  existence  of  huge  birds,  like  the  Dinorms  or  Moa,  is  not 
at  all  in  accordance  with  the  theory  of  an  insular  history.  New 
Zealand  must,  in  all  probability,  have  been  then  much  greater 
in  extent.  Although  the  Emu  now  strides  over  the  pkins  of 
Australia,  and  is  of  kindred  family  to  the  wingless  birds  so  com- 
paratively recently  roaming  over  the  fern-land,  yet  the  latter 
country  may  have  stretched  far  eastward  and  northward,  as  well 
as  westward. 

A  most  important  additional  evidence  has  been  brought  by  a 
recent  mail  from  Australia.  We  learn  that  the  diggers  of  the 
Peak  Downs  Gold-field,  Queensland,  found  what  is  pronounced 
by  Mr.  Gerard  Krefft,  the  Curator  of  the  Sydney  Museum,  to 
be  the  right  femur  of  a  monster  bird,  allied  to  the  Moa  ! 

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Jambs  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  qf  the  Ta^manians.     125 

It  may  properly  be  asked,  Why  seek  to  prove  the  connexion 
of  New  Zealand  with  the  Australian  shores,  when  no  correspon- 
dence of  human  race  is  known  ?  The  Blacks  of  New  Guinea 
and  Australia  are  similar ;  but  the  inhabitants  of  New  Zealand 
are  Poljmesian,  not  Papuan. 

The  Maori  confesses  himself  a  stranger,  an  immigrant;  he 
has  traditions  of  the  canoes  that  brought  his  forefathers  to  the 
foreign  coast.  But  in  those  very  tales  are  stray  references  to 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  most  of  whom  the  savage  visitors  were 
said  to  have  devoured.  Five  hundred  years  only  are  assumed 
by  the  one  great  authority,  the  able  and  benevolent  friend  of  the 
coloured  races.  Sir  George  Grey,  as  the  limit  of  the  residence  of 
the  Maories.  Who  were  there  before  them  ?  Several  travellers 
have  spoken  of  the  presence  of  two  distinct  races ;  in  spite  of  in- 
termarriage, the  dark  skin>  crisp  hair,  thick  lip  of  the  one  would 
indicate  a  Papuan  character. 

The  islands  to  the  south  and  east  of  New  Zealand  present 
some  interesting  features  that  help  out  the  theory.  It  is  suf- 
ficient now  to  allude  to  the  Chatham  Isles  of  the  east ;  here  the 
volcanic  element  comes  out  in  strong  force,  and  furnishes  us, 
doubtless,  with  a  key  to  the  enigma  of  the  present  isolation  of 
the  place.  But  the  ethnological  remains  are  more  convincing 
than  in  the  parent  island  :  Broughton  and  Dieffenbach  are  clear 
in  their  testimony  that  the  inhabitants  were  dark,  with  crisp 
hair,  and  with  aU  the  other  peculiarities  of  a  people  wholly  di- 
stinct from  the  Maories. 

There  needs  no  argument  to  affirm  the  former  connexion  of 
Tasmania  with  South-eastern  Australia;  the  granite  of  the  for- 
mer is  led  to  the  granite  of  the  latter  by  a  succession  of  ocean 
granite-steps, — the  isles  of  Bass's  Strait.  Raised  beaches  in  the 
Straits  show  other  changes.  Wilson's  Promontory  has  a  flora 
peculiarly  Tasmanian.  Even  the  distinctive  Devil  (the Dasyurus) 
has  been  discovered,  with  other  remains  of  extinct  Australian  life, 
in  a  cave  of  Mount  Macedon,  in  Victoria ;  while  both  Devil  and 
Tiger  {Thylacinus)  have  been  seen  among  the  osseous  curiosities 
of  Wellington  Cave,  New  South  Wales,  along  with  monster 
Kangaroos  and  huge  marsupial  oxen.  Its  Omithorhynchus  is 
seen  in  South-eastern  Australia.  By  its  isolation  it  retained 
some  original  inhabitants  a  little  longer  than  the  continent  did. 

In  proceeding  to  the  specific  object  of  the  paper,  the  tracing 
of  the  progress  of  the  tribes  geologically,  I  must  assume  the 
now  generally  accepted  belief  of  the  allied  character,  at  least, 
of  the  dark  race  of  the  Indian  hills,  of  Malaya,  of  Cochin  China, 
of  the  Andaman,  and  of  the  Papuan  Isles  proper,  with  the  Abo- 
rigines of  New  Holland  and  Van  Diemen's  Land.  But,  as  it  is 
well  known  that  the  natives  of  those  two  last-named  countries 


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126     James  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians. 

have  peculiarities^  especiaUy  of  hair^  distinguishing  them  from 
one  another^  I  would  endeavour  to  indicate  the  probable  path- 
way of  the  woolly-haired  Tasmanians  in  contradistinction  to  that 
of  the  kindred^  but  more  flowing-haired^  men  of  the  continent. 

Mr.  Logan,  who  had  so  many  opportunities  at  Singapore  of 
noticing  a  variety  of  races,  teaches  this  respecting  the  two  in 
question  : — "  The  spiral-haired  Papuans  of  South  New  Guinea 
and  Torres  Strait  are  often  more  Africo-Semitic  and  South 
Indian  in  their  physiognomy  than  the  Australians,  while  the 
latter  have  the  fine  hair  of  the  South-Indian  and  some  Mid- 
African  nations,  and  a  linguistic  formation  which  resembles  the 
South  Indian  more  than  any  other  in  the  world/' 

To  raise  the  sunken  continent,  so  as  to  connect  the  woolly- 
haired  men  of  the  Southern  Isle  with  the  crisp-haired  Hill-men  of 
India  and  Malaya,  the  Veddas  of  Ceylon,  the  corkscrew-ringlet 
men  of  New  Guinea,  the  Blacks  of  New  Caledonia,  and  the  Va- 
zimbas  of  Madagascar,  we  may  be  obliged  to  go  back  through 
the  Pleistocene  to  the  Tertiary,  and  even  advance  considerably 
into  the  latter.  But  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  geologists 
place  the  Australian  flora  with  the  Oolitic  age  of  Europe ;  and 
Mr.  Huxley  has  prepared  us  for  enlarged  conceptions  of  anthro- 
pology by  asking,  "  Was  the  oldest  Homo  sapiens  Pliocene  or 
Miocene,  or  yet  more  ancient  ? "  At  any  rate,  if  unprovided 
with  this  extent  of  time,  we  see  no  other  way  of  deliverance 
from  the  dilemma  than  that  of  the  polygenestic  theory  of  sepa- 
rate creations  of  distinct  species  of  man  at  various  epochs.  No 
sea-migration  idea,  no  climatic  change,  no  intermarriages  can 
account  for  White  and  Black,  for  English  and  Tasmanians,  dur- 
ing the  limited  space  of  six,  or  even  twenty,  thousand  years. 

The  so-called  Oriental  Negroes,  having  the  crisp  and  woolly 
hair,  though  found  in  New  Guinea  on  the  north  and  Tasmania 
on  the  south,  have  left  some  representatives  on  the  mainland  of 
Australia.  Cape  York,  with  the  Murray  Islands,  show  this  pecu- 
liarity. Mr.  Earl  has  this  striking  report  of  Coburg  peninsula, 
to  the  north-west, — "  The  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  this  part  of 
Australia  very  closely  resemble  the  Papuans  of  New  Guinea,  or, 
which  is  almost  the  same  thing,  the  aborignes  of  Van  Diemen's 
Land.''  Mr.  Oldfield,  the  naturalist,  has  something  similar  to 
relate  of  a  part  of  Western  Australia.  ''  The  tribes,"  says  he, 
"  inhabiting  the  country  from  Murchison  River  to  Sharks'  Bay 
possess  more  of  the  characteristics  of  the  Negro  family  than  the 
aborigines  of  any  part  of  Australia." 

Although  the  Tasmanians  can  be  shown  to  be,  excepting  in 
their  hair,  so  much  like  their  continental  neighbours, — sdthough 
they  live  in  the  same  manner,  have  similar  customs,  and  cherish 
the  same  superstitions, — yet  they  evidently  form  two  distinct 

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James  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmamans.     127 

streams  of  population.  The  interesting  question  to  arrive  at  is^ 
whether  the  former  took  the  same  track  as  the  New  Hollanders^ 
and  whether  they  were  first  or  last  on  the  field  of  their  present 
locality. 

The  Australians^  as  a  rule^  are  physically  different  from  the 
Tasmanians;  but  the  fact  of  some  being  found  with^  at  leasts 
Tasmanian  tendencies^  and  these  at  three  comers  of  the  conti- 
nent furthest  removed  firom  Van  Diemen's  Land^  may  throw 
some  light  upon  the  former  distribution  of  the  people.  They 
would  thus  appear  to  have  come  somewhat  upon  each  other's 
track  at  one  period.  Had  they  approached^  it  would  have  been 
without  doubt  to  come  into  collision.  In  two  places  where  the 
curly-haired  people  remain  on  the  mainland^  they  are  in  compa- 
ratively inaccessible  retreats^  and  in  not  too  favourable  a  country, 
thus  furnishing  as  little  opportunity  as  temptation  for  the  Austra- 
lians proper  to  dislodge  them.  It  is  just  possible  that  the  crisp- 
haired  race  had  been  thrust  outward  on  all  sides  by  those  who 
possessed  the  rivers  and  the  interior,  as  we  find  them  all  round 
the  Australian  continent. 

Mr.  Logan  is  of  opinion,  chiefly  on  linguistic  grounds,  that 
the  Australian  was  a  prior  migration.  I  should  feel  disposed  to 
think  it  more  probable  that  the  Tasmanian  and  his  kindred  were 
first,  from  their  being  discovered  over  a  larger  area,  and  at  so 
many  distant,  isolated  spots.  The  New  Hollander  finds  his  allies 
in  India;  but  the  Tasmanian  has  his  in  Africa,  Ceylon,  India, 
Malaya,  the  Indian  archipelago,  and  far  onward  in  the  Pacific. 
When  a  comparison  is  made  between  the  two,  it  is  usually  to  the 
advantage  of  the  former,  in  point  of  civilization,  as  though  he 
had  been  more  recently  disconnected  from  the  parent,  or  less 
separated  from  his  fellow  tribes,  than  the  other. 

Australia  is  admitted  by  naturalists  to  be  one,  at  least,  of  the 
most  ancient  parts  of  the  world.  As  its  fossil  mammalia  have 
been  found  identical  in  family  with  the  present  forms,  and  these 
latter  are  pronounced  to  be  more  ancient  than  others,  it  may 
reasonably  be  assumed  that  the  land  is  of  a  greater  relative  an- 
tiquity, and  especially  possesses  the  least  changed  developments 
of  life. 

Again,  if,  as  can  be  proved  by  references  to  both  flora  and 
fauna.  Northern  Australia  has  no  unknown  types  of  life,  it  must 
be  more  recent  than  other  parts  of  the  New-Holland  continent. 
As  South  Australia,  according  to  Dr.  Hooker,  has  such  deficiency 
of  peculiar  plants,  and,  as  asserted  by  Mr.  Murray,  has  only 
four  peculiar  species  of  mammals  out  of  twenty-eight,  it  would 
surely  be  inferior  in  geological  age  to  South-western  Australia, 
where  the  specific  ones  are  as  28  to  39.  Pursuing  the  argument, 
Tasmania  with  part  of  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales  would 

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128    James  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tastnanians. 

rank  high  in  term  of  years,  as  the  land  holds  41  peculiar  species 
out  of  60.  Of  Tasmania  alone,  twelve  species  of  its  twenty  mar- 
supials are  peculiar  to  itself. 

Geology  substantiates  the  position  of  the  naturalists.  The 
main  chains  of  South-eastern  Australia,  with  Tasmania,  have 
reared  their  bold  fronts  from  very  early  times,  forming,  with  the 
angle  of  South-western  Australia,  the  original  islands  of  the 
Australian  seas. 

Following  the  guidance  of  such  observations,  there  seems  no 
occasion  to  halt  in  our  supposition  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
older  portion,  Tasmania,  were  older  than  those  of  most,  if  not 
all,  of  Australia. 

At  the  time  of  the  existence  of  the  former  continent  south- 
ward of  India,  tribes  would  pass  onward  and  outward.  In  all 
probability  the  Hottentots  of  Africa  and  the  woolly-haired 
Papuans  were  the  first  to  retire,  'followed  soon  by  the  Eastern 
Africans ;  for  Mr.  Huxley  has  pronounced  the  similarity  of  the 
three.  The  Hill-men  of  India  &c.,  preserving  so  much  of  the 
mental  characteristics  of  the  Tasmanians,  may  have  then  passed 
into  their  present  homes.  The  New  Hollander,  who  is  conjec- 
tured to  have  more  of  the  South-Indian  development  than  the 
Tasmanian,  may  have  proceeded  later  from  the  northern  side  of 
the  old  continent,  through  or  near  the  country  then  inhabited 
by  the  Dravidians,  and  so  have  subsequently  passed  overland 
into  New  Holland  on  the  western  side.  As,  probably,  a  broad 
sea  separated  Eastern  from  Western  Australia,  their  possession 
of  the  whole  land  was  a  work  of  time. 

The  curly-headed  Papuans,  with  their  strange  African  type, 
had  a  wider  range,  as  I  have  said,  being  now  found  east,  west, 
and  north  of  the  site  of  their  supposed  original  seat.  As  the 
more  ancient,  they  would  have  had  a  longer  time  to  ramble. 
They  are  not  found  in  Borneo  and  Java,  as  the  flora  and  fauna 
of  those  islands  indicate  a  more  Indian  character,  and  that  of 
a  more  recent  period  than  the  time  of  the  great  dispersion. 
From  their  presence  in  Papua  proper,  round  to  New  Caledonia, 
and  most  probably  in  New  Zealand,  the  subsidence  of  the  South- 
western Pacific  land  took  place  subsequently  to  their  arrival. 
The  New-Zealand  flora  may  date  after  that  period.  They  were 
in  Tasmania  when  that  country  had  connexion  both  with  New 
Zealand  on  the  one  hand,  and  with  the  southern  prolongation 
of  Western  Australia  on  the  other. 

As  the  Rev.  E.  Woods  assumed  that  the  Murray  country  of 
South  Australia  and  part  of  Victoria  was  formed  in  warm,  deep, 
and  tranquil  waters,  the  current,  doubtless^  brought  the  material 
from  Northern  Australia  when  partly  a  coralline  sea.  This  would 
make  the  land  between  Tasmania  and  Western  Australia  in  early 


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James  Bonwick— On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians.     129 

days  run  southerly,  so  as  to  leave  space  for  the  deep  South- 
Australian  Bay.  Tasmania,  being  then  part  of  Eastern  Austra- 
lia, the  natives  may  be  presumed  to  have  passed  upwards  along 
the  Cordillera  there,  as  they  had  extended  further  eastward  and 
northward.  It  is  true  that,  with  the  exception,  as  has  been 
stated,  of  some  remnants  of  their  blood  at  Melville  Island,  Cape 
York,  and  Sharks^  Bay,  no  Papuan  tribe  of  crisp  curly  hair 
exists  on  the  main  continent.  They  had  been  extirpated  by 
the  subsequent  migration  of  Australians,  who  had  less  of  the 
African  and  more  of  the  Mongolian  characteristics.  The  dis- 
connexion of  New  Guinea,  New  Caledonia,  and  Tasmania  from 
the  mainland  preserved  in  those  three  islands  the  int^rity  of 
the  woolly-haired  and  aboriginal  people,  while  the  continent  re- 
tained its  own  homogeneous  population. 

May  I  be  pardoned  the  indirigence  of  further  speculation  con- 
cerning the  lost  continent,  or  continents,  to  the  south  ?  Could 
such  possibly  have  been  the  birthplace  of  our  race  ? 

It  is  somewhat  singular  that  the  most  peculiar  languages  are 
found  with  the  Chinese,  Hottentots,  Australians,  and  Tasma- 
nians ;  these  are  all  believed  to  be  among  the  most  ancient  of 
human  tribes,  and  they  are  flung  around  the  lost  continent.  When 
Prof.  Owen  examined  the  curious  Andamaners,  he  was  unable 
to  class  them  with  existing  peoples,  and  was  compelled  to  range 
them  as,  "  The  repreeentativee  of  an  old  race  belonging  to  a  for- 
mer continent  that  had  almost  disappeared"  The  Andamaners 
are  the  same  as  the  Negritos;  and  of  the  latter  Mr.  Murray 
informs  us, ''  The  Negritos  of  the  Philippine  Islands  cannot  he 
separated  from  the  other  Papuan  Blacks.^'  The  latter,  therefore, 
of  New  Ouinea,  Australia,  and  Tasmania,  may,  as  to  origin,  be- 
long to  the  continent  that  has  "  almost  cUsappeared.'^ 

Assuming,  then,  that  these  races  belonged  to  that  lost  land,  to 
what  other  conclusions  are  we  led?  If  the  volcanic  band,  ex- 
tending over  so  large  an  arc,  from  Arabia  to  the  Philippines, 
or  to  Melanesia,  were  the  means  of  the  gradual  submergence 
of  the  southern  continent  between  Africa  and  Australia,  and  if 
it  were  connected  with  those  movements  of  India,  which  foot  by 
foot  had  elevated  the  Himalayas,  declared  by  Owen  to  be  "  the 
site  of  one  of  the  latest  of  the  greatest  systems  of  upheaving 
forces  that  resulted  in  the  formation  of  new  continents,^'  the 
submergence  of  that  southern  region  must  have  commenced  at 
a  period  when  most  parts  of  Europe  and  Asia  were  under  the 
ocean,  and  its  former  human  inhabitants  must  have  existed  be- 
fore the  primitive  men  of  the  caves  of  France,  or  the  wild  hun- 
ters  of  Kent's  Cavern.  While  man  is  known  to  have  lived  with 
Mammoths,  Rhinoceroses,  and  Cave  Lions  in  Europe,  these  very 

VOL.  II.  K 

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130    James  Bonwick — On  the  Origin  of  the  Tasmanians. 

animals  are  acknowledged  to  be  of  a  less  ancient  type  than 
those  associated  with  the  Tasmanians. 

Why^  then^  should  it  be  thought  merely  a  wild  conjecture  to 
contemplate  the  lost  continent  (the  early  home  of  the  Anda- 
man^ Hottentot^  and  Australian  races)  as  one  of  the  earliest 
scenes,  if  not  actually  the'first  scene  of  man's  existence  here  ? 

Discussion. 

Dr.  HooKBB,  C.B.,  made  some  remarks  on  the  floras  of  the  south- 
ern hemisphere. 

The  President  showed  that  the  conditions  which  affect  the  distri- 
bution  of  j)lants  and  of  animals  are  not  the  same.  If,  for  example, 
an  island  were  separated  from  the  coast  of  Australia  by  only  a  few 
miles  of  sea,  that  island  might  become  covered  with  Australian 
plants,  while  the  arm  of  sea,  although  extremely  narrow,  would  form 
an  effectual  ban*ier  to  the  passage  of  any  terrestrial  mammal  But, 
if  the  distribution  of  land-animals  be  compared  with  that  of  man,  it 
will  be  found  that  the  argument  tells  in  the  other  direction ;  for  man 
is  a  being  capable  of  using  artificial  means  to  effect  his  distribution. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  fauna  of  Australia  is  closely  akin  to  that 
of  New  Guinea  and  the  neighbouring  islands.  Thus  the  genus 
Casuarius  is  found  in  Australia,  the  New  Hebrides,  New  Guinea,  and 
as  far  westward  as  '^  Wallace's  line.*'  Facts  such  as  these  tend  to 
prove  that  New  Guinea  has  recently  been  connected  with  Australia. 

Turning  to  New  Zealand,  it  is  found  that  the  fauna  is  extremely 
different  from  that  of  Australia.  In  fact,  New  Zealand  constitutes 
a  distinct  province ;  it  has  no  emus,  no  cassowaries,  and  none  of 
those  types  of  mammals  which  would  certainly  be  found  had  land- 
communication  existed  between  New  Zealand  and  Australia.  The 
barrier  of  sea  between  the  two  may  have  been  extremely  narrow, 
but  there  could  not  have  been  absolute  contact.  A  similar  argument 
might  be  applied  to  the  islands  north-west  of  Australia,  and  would 
tend  to  show  that  no  direct  communication  could  have  extended  be- 
tween Borneo,  Sumatra,  New  Guinea,  and  Australia. 

The  type  of  the  Australian  man  is  entirely  distinct  from  that  of 
the  Tasmaniau.  The  speaker  had  seen  the  Australian  at  Cape  York, 
at  Port  Essington,  on  the  south-east  coast,  and  in  Victoria.  Every- 
where  the  native  presents  similar  characters,  being  distinguished 
especially  by  his  dark  skin,  heavy  brow,  and  smooth  hair,  never  crisp 
or  woolly.  It  is  true  that  a  Negrito  type  may  be  found  at  Cape 
York  and  in  the  adjacent  islands  in  Torres  Strait ;  but  this  is  evi- 
dently due  to  a  Papuan  race  which,  having  come  to  Australia  from 
New  Guinea,  has  brought  its  civilization,  and  introduced  the  use  of 
the  bow  and  arrow  and  the  construction  of  canoes. 

Although  the  speaker  had  not  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
Tasmanians,  there  is  evidence  that  they  are  extremely  like  the  peo- 
ple of  New  Caledonia ;  and  these  resemble  the  inhabitants  of  the 
iiouisiaile  Islands,  whom  he  had  often  seen,  and  who  are  extremely 


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H.  H.  HowoRTH — On  a  Froniier-line  of  Ethnology.     131 

different  from  the  AusfcraliaDS.  The  Tasmanian  had  no  throwing- 
Btick,  and  neither  in  language  nor  in  appearance  did  he  resemble  the 
Australian. 

It  seemed,  therefore,  physically  impossible  that  the  Tasmanian 
could  have  come  from  Australia,  and  apparently  the  only  way  of 
accounting  for  the  presence  of  the  Tasmanian  was  to  assume  his 
migration  from  New  Galedouia  and  the  neighbouring  islands.  It 
would  appear  that  at  one  time  a  low  negrito  type  spread  eastwards, 
and  reached  Tasmania  not  by  means  of  direct  and  uninterrupted 
land-communication  between  New  Caledonia  and  Tasmania,  but  ra- 
ther by  means  of  broken  land  in  the  form  of  a  chain  of  islands  now 
submerged,  similar  to  that  which  at  present  extends  between  New 
Caledonia  and  New  Gruinea. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Hon.  Secretary : — 

XIV.  On  a  Frontier-line  of  Ethnology  and  Geology. 
By  H.  H.  HowoRTH,  Esq. 

Buckle  reduced  many  problems  of  history  to  questions  de- 
pending on  fixed  laws.  Fanciful  and  crotchetty  sometimes  no 
doubt^  we  cannot  but  follow  him  with  approval  in  many  of  hia 
speculations.  He  first  taught  as  a  system  that  man  is  the 
creature  of  the  physical  surroundings  in  which  he  finds  himself^ 
that  his  life  is  only  the  subject  of  choice  within  very  narrow 
limits^  and  that  even  these  limits  depend  a  good  deal  on  his 
culture^  and  while  very  appreciable  in  a  philosopher^  are 
almost  absent  in  the  savage.  If  we  confine  this  remark  to  one 
subject  only^  namely^  the  migrations  of  different  races,  we  shall 
not  be  slow  to  accept  it. 

A  very  superficial  survey  of  ethnology  is  sufficient  to  satisfy 
any  inquirer  that  its  grand  divisions  coincide  remarkably  with 
the  great  zoological  and  botanical  provinces.  I  am^  of  cotirse^ 
excluding  at  present  the  vast  colonizations  of  different  parts  of 
the  earth  which  have  taken  place  since  the  16th  century.  Neg* 
lecting  these^  we  find  Australia  (that  remnant  of  one  of  the 
most  ancient  land-horizons  in  geology^  with  a  fauna  and  flora 
of  a  very  primitive  type)  occupied  by  the  humblest  and  most 
degraded  type  of  man.  The  forests  and  hills  of  India^  and 
parts  of  South  Africa^  which  form  another  province,  are  in- 
habited by  a  black  race  which  connects  the  Australian  with  the 
purer  negro.  Central  and  South  America,  including  Mexico, 
nave  another  type,  as  they  form  another  province;  China  and 
Indo-China  another;  Southern  Asia  and  the  Mediterranean 
border-land  another;  Northern  Europe,  Siberia,  and  North 
America  yet  another.     I  now  wish  to  call  attention  to  the 

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132  H.  H.  HowoRTH — On  a  Frontier-line 

effects  of  tlie  invasion  of  one  ethnological  province  by  a  race 
belonging  to  another — ^perhaps^  rather,  the  coincident  and  ac- 
companying circumstances  than  the  effects.  The  readiest  ma- 
terials at  our  command  for  the  purpose  are  famished  by  the 
wide- spread  migration,  in  recent  times,  of  that  race  collectively 
known  as  Indo-European  or  Iranian.  It  is  a  trite  and  undeni- 
able fact  that  this  migration  has  been  accompanied  by  a  very 
great  change  in  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  country  to  which  it 
has  tended,  A  portion  of  the  ancient  fauna  and  flora  haa  been 
driven  out  or  extinguished,  and  a  portion  of  the  rest  is  fighting 
a  losing  battle.  The  victors  are  the  invaders, — a  new  fauna 
and  a  new  flora,  brought  with  them  by  the  invading  race,  and 
apparently  as  superior  in  vigour  to  the  ancient  fauna  and  flora 
as  the  new  race  of  men  is  to  the  old.  It  is  not  sufficiently  con- 
sidered that  such  changes  may  not  be  the  effects  of  man's  mi- 
gration at  all,  save  in  that  he  is  the  immediate  instrument  of 
their  being  brought  about,  but  that  they  are  the  results  of  an 
invariable  law  to  which  man  is  as  subject  as  the  lower  animals, 
and  which  has  held  good  in  all  geologic  time,  namely,  that  the 
fauna  and  flora,  including  the  higher  and  the  humbler  classes, 
change  together.  The  fact  is  no  less  true  of  other  races  than 
the  Indo-European.  Indeed  I  hold  it  to  be  a  general  law, 
that  where  the  man  of  one  ethnological  province  bodily  invades 
and  drives  out  the  former  inhabitants,  he  is  merely  the  fore- 
runner of  a  great  change  in  the  fauna  and  flora  of  the  new 
country, — such  a  change  as  in  geology  would  mark  the  advent 
of  a  new  period ;  and  that,  in  fact,  such  a  new  period  in  geo- 
logy is  being  at  this  moment  inaugurated  in  every  country 
where  the  Indo-European  race  is  occupying  the  soil ;  and  fur- 
ther (but  I  am  rather  forestalling),  that  this  new  life-period  is 
coincident  with  new  climatic  and  other  conditions,  not  the  mere 
handiwork  of  man,  but  the  necessary  unfolding  of  a  fresh  leaf 
in  the  history  of  the  world,  of  which  the  creatures  more  im- 
mediately dependent  on  man,  and  the  plants  and  animals  more 
necessary  to  his  existence  and  pleasure,  are  to  form  the  palseon- 
tological  differentliB,  I  wish  to  apply  this  reasoning,  which,  so 
far  as  I  know,  is  new,  to  a  more  limited  area  of  inquiry. 

Siberia  and  North  America  form  perhaps  one  of  the  best  de- 
fined provinces  we  have,  zoologically  and  botanically.  In  these 
respects  it  coincides  ahnost  exactly  with  the  fauna  and  flora 
of  the  prehistoric  period*.  The  Megaceros  hardly  differs  from 
the  Moose,  or  the  Felis  spebea  from  the  Mandchurian  Tiger; 
and  the  rest  of  the  animals  are  equally  related.     It  is,  in  fact, 

♦  T  use  the  word  "  prehistoric"  us  Mr.  Boyd  Dawldns  uses  it,  to  repre- 
sent the  period  intervening  between  the  pleistocene  deposits  and  the  purely 
historical  ones. 


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of  Ethnology  and  Geology,  133 

the  yearly  diminisliing  but  still  vast  remnant  of  the  world  of 
yesterday,  or  rather  of  our  world  of  yesterday.  In  climate  and 
conditions  and  products  we  may  there  study  that  world  just  as  it 
was  with  us.  The  boundary  line  of  this  province  on  the  south 
follows,  as  is  natural  enough,  an  isothermal  line,  which  girdles 
the  northern  hemisphere  along  the  same  parallel  of  latitude, 
except  at  one  point.  It  is  weU  known  that  the  isothermals  of 
Western  Europe  have  a  very  abnormal  course.  Twisted  from 
the  horizontal  direction  they  maintain  across  the  Atlantic,  they 
turn  gradually  as  they  approach  Europe,  and  on  the  coast  of 
Norway  pass  almost  due  north,  and  enclosing  a  finger-like  projel^- 
tion,  they  return  again  as  rapidly  through  Central  Russia.  If 
we  ignore  the  European  emigrants  to  America,  and  the  as 
recent  Russian  emigrants  to  Siberia,  and  fix  upon  the  beginning 
of  the  16th  century  when  neither  of  these  events  had  occurred, 
we  shall  be  startled  to  find  what  a  decided  boundary  line  this 
isothermal  is  in  ethnology,  as  well .  as  in  zoology  and  botany 
even,  after  the  generalization  we  commenced  with.  North  of  it 
we  find  races  whose  physical  resemblance  is  unmistakable, — 
Ugnans,  Samoiedes,  Gilyaks,  Kamskatki,  and  North-American 
Indians.  In  America  the  ethnological  boundary  is  not  so  well 
defined,  perhaps,  more  because  we  have  not  yet  discriminated, 
as  we  shall  do  some  time,  the  various  divisions  of  the  American 
tribes,  than  because  of  the  want  of  a  real  frontier.  In  Asia 
and  Europe  the  case  is  different. 

In  Asia  the  great  succession  of  deserts  that  extend  from  the 
Caspian  to  the  Khingan  mountains  are  inhabited  by  mixed 
races  whose  history  points  a  curious  moral.  They  are  all  di- 
stinct from  the  races  north  of  these  deserts,  and  their  history  I 
have  epitomized  in  a  series  of  j)apers  I  am  writing  for  this 
Society.    In  Europe  the  contrast  is  still  greater. 

South  of  the  great  frontier  line  are  the  races  whose  fame  is 
wide  spread,  under  the  name  of  Indo-Europeans, — ^races  stretch- 
ing from  the  Hindu- Kush  to  the  Atlantic,  and  forming  a  power- 
ful ingredient  in  the  blood  of  the  Hindoos.  Most  of  the  in- 
tervening races  who  inhabit  the  Asiatic  deserts  are  compounded 
of  these  Iranians,  the  Chinese,  and  the  original  occupants  of 
Siberia,  whom  one  cannot  call  by  a  better  name  than  Ugrians. 
Our  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  Tungus,  the  Mongols,  and 
the  Turks  all  originated  in  such  a  mixture,  and  that  they  chiefly 
occupy  ground  once  held  by  the  same  Ugrians,  of  whom  relics 
and  wrecks  are  found  in  every  comer  of  NorthemAsia.  The 
Ugrian  race,  then,  is  the  race  identified  with  those  climatic  and 
other  conditions  which  in  geology  constituted  the  prehistoric 
period. 

If  we  complete  the  isothermal  line  we  have   mentioned  along 

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13  4«  II.  II.  Ho  WORTH — On  a  Frontier-line 

its  normal  course,  and  make  it  traverse  Europe  at  the  same 
latitude  that  it  crosses  Asia,  we  shall  enclose  between  it  and 
the  present  isothermal  the  European  area  characterized  by 
remains  of  the  prehistoric  fauna.  This  enclosed  area  is  also  one 
of  infinite  interest  to  the  ethnologist.  During  the  last  2000 
years  (a  period  well  within  the  reach  of  close  criticism)  we 
find  that  amidst  the  ceaseless  and  confusing  emigrations  that 
have  occurred  in  this  area,  there  has  been  a  constant  move  in 
one  direction  at  least, — a  gradual  encroachment  by  the  Celtic, 
Germanic,  and  Slavic  races  upon  the  humbler  races  on  their 
frontiers,  and  these  latter  invariably  of  the  Ugrian  family. 
The  Basques  in  Spain  are  now  penned  in  a  small  corner  of 
their  ancient  patrimony  in  the  time  of  the  Romans.  The  Fins 
and  Laps  have  been  pushed  back  in  Scandinavia  to  a  very 
small  portion  of  their  ancient  holding.  In  Livonia,  in  Esthonia, 
and  in  three-fourths  of  European  Russia  the  Ugrians  were, 
even  in  the.  11th  century,  the  preponderating  population. 
Proofs  are  now  accumulating  that  before  the  Christian  era 
this  process  of  displacement  was  taking  place  even  at  a  greater 
rate,  the  area  to  be  occupied  having  been  much  more  fertile 
and  inviting.  I  have  attempted  to  show,  in  a  paper  read  before 
the  British  Association,  that  a  very  great  element  in  the  Celtic 
language  is  Ugrian,  and  I  believe  the  same  to  be  true  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek.  The  German- speaking  race  can,  I  believe,  be  shown 
to  have  occupied  Central  Europe  since  the  3rd  century  B.C.,  the 
Celts  and  the  Slaves  to  have  arrived  since  the  9th,  and  the 
Indo-European  element  of  Italy  and  Greece  since  the  10th  or 
11th.  If  this  be  so,  then  we  get  a  very  recent  date  compara- 
tively for  the  period  when  the  Basques  in  Spain  and  the  Fins 
in  Sweden,  now  mere  wrecks  and  waifs  of  the  original  popula- 
tion, were  close  neighbours ;  and  one  homogeneous  people  occu- 
pied, if  not  a  ring  round  the  world,  at  least  one  reaching  from 
Britain  to  Kamskatka,  when  Europe  was  overrun  by  fishermen 
and  hunters,  such  as  we  find  in  Siberia,  where  we  ought  to  go  if 
we  are  to  study  the  religion^  the  manners,  and  government  of 
the  so-called  stone-folk.  If  the  result  of  our  ethnological  in- 
quiry be  to  discover  so  recent  an  occupation  of  Western  and  Cen- 
tral Europe  by  the  Ugrian  races,  what  about  the  palseontological 
and  botaniccd  evidence?  During  the  last  2000  years  huge 
forests  have  disappeared  firom  IiYance,  Germany,  and  Britain, 
and  have  been  replaced  by  cultivated  land  in  some  instances,  in 
others  by  bogs  and  heath.  At  a  not  remotely  earlier  day,  Den- 
mark and  Prussia  and  Ireland  were  similarly  covered.  The 
gradual  extinction  of  the  bear,  the  wolf,  the  beaver,  the  elk,  the 
reindeer,  and  the  urus  in  Western  Europe  can  all  be  dated  in 
various  areas.     We  hear  of  the  reindeer,  the  urus,  and  the  elk 

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of  Ethnology  and  Geology.  135 

in  Gennany  in  the  days  of  Csesar,  and  the  reindeer  is  mentioned 
in  Caithness  by  the  Norse  Saga  writers.  The  urns  survives  in 
Lithuania^  and  has  only  disappeared  from  Transylvania  within  a 
century.  Eastern  Grcrmany  still  has  in  its  forests  some  of  the 
ancient  animals^  and,  as  we  approach  the  Siberian  area,  they 
increase  in  numbers:  their  course  of  extinction  has  followed 
lliat  of  the  Ugrian  races.  As  we  have  the  Basques  still  remain- 
ing in  Spain,  so  do  we  find  a  few  bears  and  wolves,  and  a  lynx 
or  two  in  the  Pyrensean  mountains  and  the  larger  forests  of  the 
peninsula.  Man  more  readily  and  quickly  occupies  a  new  area, 
the  animals  take  a  longer  time  to  replace  one  another,  and  the 
plants  a  longer  time  still  -,  but  the  story  is  equally  true  of  all 
three  classes.  This  change  in  the  fauna  and  flora  of  a  countiy 
is  preceded  by  a  change  in  climatic  and  other  conditions.  We 
cannot  read  the  accounts  given  by  the  ancients  of  Thrace,  of 
the  northern  shores  of  the  Euxine,  of  the  Hercynian  forest, 
and  of  Gaul,  without  seeing  at  once  what  a  rigorous  climate 
there  was  in  those  areas  formerly  as  compared  with  that  climate 
now-a-days.  Among  the  remains  of  the  stone-folk  found  in 
Switzerland  are  bunches  of  reindeer  moss,  which  will  grow 
only  in  a  very  severe  climate.  To  my  mind,  the  disappearance 
of  the  reindeer  was  caused  chiefly  by  the  disappearance  of  this 
its  food,  just  as  the  elk  was  extinguished  in  Ireland  when  the 
forests  in  which  it  is  alone  at  home  were  demolished.  The 
whole  evidence  goes  to  show  that  the  isothermal  lines  in  Europe 
have  been  gradually  twisted  further  to  the  north.  We  have 
been  told  that  this  is  due  to  the  forests  having  been  cut  down, 
and  to  other  minor  influences  of  man's  occupation;  but 
this  is  a  ridiculously  inadequate  cause ;  nor  would  it  account  for 
the  facts  in  Norway,  where  the  ancient  forests  remain,  nor  for 
Switzerland,  where  the  same  holds  good.  There  is  only  one 
adequate  cause, — ^a  cause  which  has  been  a  good  deal  pooh- 
poohed  of  late  years,  namely,  the  Gidf-stream^  or  some  body  of 
equatorial  water  drifting  northward.  We  have  been  told  that 
no  such  stream  exists  beyond  the  mid- Atlantic,  and  that  it  there 
is  gradually  absorbed  and  dies  away;  but  the  existence  and 
influence  of  the  stream  has,  to  my  mind,  been  triumphantly 
established  in  the  communication  made  by  Admiral  Isbister  to 
Sir  R.  I.  Murchison,  Bart.,  and  even  better  by  the  dredging- 
expeditions  of  Dr.  Carpenter.  The  presence  of  West-Indian 
fruits  on  the  coasts  of  Iceland  and  the  open  fiords  of  Norway  in 
winter  can  have  no  other  explanation ;  nor  the  belt  of  warm  sea- 
bottom,  so  clearly  distinguished  by  its  faima  from  the  surround- 
ing cold  waters  in  the  North  Atlantic.  I  have  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  the  flexion  of  the  European  isothermal  is 
caused  mainly  by  the  presence  of  this  stream.     If  this  be  so. 

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136     H.  H.  HowoRTH — On  a  Frontier-line  of  Ethnology. 

then  the  reasoning  I  have  endeavoured  to  lay  before  yoa 
in  this  paper  would  tend  to  prove  that  the  gradual  advent 
of  such  a  stream  may  be  traced  from  no  earlier  period  than 
about  the  12th  century  b.c,  when  the  Ugnan  race  and  its 
associated  animals  and  plants  began  to  give  way  to  the  Indo- 
Europeans,  and  when  the  isothermals  of  Europe  began  to  be 
twisted  towards  the  north;  and  we  thus  get  an  approximate 
date  for  one  revolution  in  geology  which  is  susceptible  of  being 
more  accurately  gauged  as  our  evidence  increases. 

That  the  Gulf-stream  is  a  very  new  influence  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  believe.  Apparently^  after  it  reaches  the  banks  of  New- 
foundland, it  follows  the  line  of  least  resistance,  that  is,  of  the 
deepest  water;  for  we  must  never  forget  that  the  Gulf-stream  is 
an  actual  river  of  warm  water  padded  round  on  every  side  by 
cold.  This  line  of  least  resistance,  which  it  follows  on  its  way 
to  the  Pole,  makes  it  skirt  the  Bahama  banks  on  the  northj 
and  come  almost  due  west  to  the  Cape- Verde  islands.  Now 
these  Cape- Verde  islands,  in  common  with  the  Canaries  and 
other  Atlantic  islands,  are  subject  to  constant  earthquakes ;  the 
sea-bottom  is  never  long  quiescent,  but  constantly  altering  its 
level.  If  this  be  the  case  on  the  southern  frontier  of  the  Gulf- 
stream,  we  can  well  believe,  from  the  evidence  we  have  col- 
lected about  the  coasts  of  France,  Holland,  and  Britain,  that  the 
bed  of  the  North-west  Atlantic  is  also  constantly  altering  its 
level.  It  has  long  been  said  that  the  ice-fringe  of  the  Green- 
laud  coasts,  and  the  pack  in  Baffin's  Bay,  is  now  much  greater 
than  it  used  to  be,  nrlule  the  climate  of  Greenland  itself  is  appa- 
rently becoming  more  rigorous  every  year.  It  may  be  that  in 
all  this  we  have  evidence  that  the  Gulf-stream  formerly 
made  its  way  to  the  pole  on  the  western  rather  than  the  eastern 
side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  left  Greenland  on  its  right  hand  rather 
than  its  left,  as  it  does  at  present.  If  the  Gulf-stream  be  held 
to  be  an  inadequate  cause,  the  same  results  would  foUow  from 
the  distortion  of  some  other  body  of  warm  water  from  its 
normal  course  towards  the  pole  by  the  upheaval  or  sinking 
of  portions  of  the  Atlantic  sea-bed.  Either  one  or  the  other 
seems  to  me  to  be  necessary  to  explain  the  facts.  The  advent  of 
this  body  of  warm  water  has  introduced  two  new  sets  of  depo- 
sits,— one  subaqueous,  that  now  being  correlated  by  Dr.  Car- 
penter with  the  ancient  chalk,  and  the  other  terrestrial. 

In  concluding  this  very  disconnected  paper,  I  cannot  avoid 
one  somewhat  romantic  moral.  If  my  reasoning  be  sustained,  is 
it  not  wondrous  strange  that  the  area  where  these  latest  geological 
changes  are  in  progress  is  also  the  area  where  man's  culture  is 
most  developed,  and  where  the  focus  of  the  moral  world  also 
exists  ?     Can  it  be  that  we  have  in  this  correlation  an  example 

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G.  M.  Atkinson — On  the  Nicobar  Islanders,  137 

of  a  law  of  progress^  by  which  the  moral  empire  of  mankiud 
moTes  in  unison  with  the  spread  of  a  geological  and  physical 
wave  of  progress  ? 


Mr.  6.  M.  Atkinson  exhibited  a  collection  of  grotesque 
figures  carved  in  teak-wood^  obtained  by  Captain  Edge^  B.N., 
firom  the  Nicobar  Islands  in  1867;  and  read  the  following 
notes: — 

XV.  Notes  on  the  Nicobar  Islanders. 
By  G.  M.  Atkinson^  Esq.* 

In  July  1859  Captain  Mackenzie  first  visited  these  islands^  in 
command  of  a  barque  called  the  '  Aallotar.'  On  the  first  day 
of  his  visit  about  one  hundred  of  the  natives  came  off  to  the 
ship  in  canoes.  These  were  made  from  trees  hollowed  partly  by 
fire  and  partly  by  the  axe ;  they  were  firom  10  feet  to  30  feet 
in  length,  and  contained  on  an  average  from  6  to  8  men  each. 
After  the  natives  came  on  board,  the  pipe  of  peace  was  lighted 
by  the  interpreter,  and  passed  from  mouth  to  mouth  among  the 
chiefs,  who  washed  it  down  with  arrack.  The  goods  for  barter 
were  then  exhibited — axes,  iron  pots,  rice,  calico,  glass  beads, 
bangles,  &c ;  and  the  tariff  was  arranged,  so  mdny  cocoa-nuts 
for  each  article. 

On  the  followii^  days  it  was  judged  prudent  to  allow  only 
twelve  of  the  natives  on  board  the  ship  at  one  time.  Military 
duty  was  kept  up  on  board ;  sentinels  were*  stationed  on  deck ; 
armed  men  were  posted  on  the  tops ;  guns  were  all  loaded ;  and 
one  of  the  cannon  was  discharged  at  sunset  and  at  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  until  urgently  requested  by  the  natives  to  stop 
the  practice  on  account  of  the  fright  which  the  noise  caused  to 
the  women  and  children. 

The  chiefs  were  known  as  Captain  Jack,  Captain  Tom,  &c., 
names  assumed  from  previous  intercourse  with  Europeans. 
Although  they  had  no  perceptible  mark  of  distinction,  they 
always  regulated  the  barter.  No  women  ever  came  to  trade. 
This  was  looked  on  as  a  cause  of  suspicion,  as  no  dependence 
was  to  be  placed  on  their  professions  of  friendship,  but  the 
interpreter  said  that  if  the  women  came  there  would  be  no  fear 
of  hostility. 

Noncowry  and  Trincutte  are  the  largest  of  the  Nicobar 
Islands ;  they  are  very  hilly,  and  probably  volcanic.  Captain 
Mackenzie  noticed  blue  slate-like  rocks.      They  are  densely 

*  From  information  given  to  me  by  Captain  James  Mackenzie. 

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138  G.  M.  Atkinson — On  the  Nicobar  Islanders. 

covered  with  tropical  vegetation^  even  to  the  water  s  edge.  The 
rise  and  fall  of  tide  is  about  six  feet,  and  the  soundings  very 
deep.  The  islands  produce  fine  timber,  mangroves,  iron-bark, 
cocoa-nut  and  betel-nut  trees  :  the  grass  is  in  some  places  up- 
wards of  six  feet  in  height.  The  crew  cut  down  a  poon  tree,  26 
inches  in  diameter  at  base,  70  feet  long  from  root  to  the  first 
branch,  and  perhaps  90  feet  in  total  length.  The  huts  are  built 
like  bee-hives,  circular  or  octagonal,  and  elevated  on  poles  about 
10  feet  high.  Access  to  the  huts  is  gained  by  a  rung  ladder,  up 
and  down  which  the  native  dogs  run  with  facility.  This  ladder 
is  drawn  up  on  the  approach  of  an  enemy  or  suspicious-looking 
folk,  and  the  bottom  of  the  huts  have  open  spaces,  through 
which  the  spear  may  be  used.  The  huts  are  all  close  to  the 
margin  of  the  shore,  and  are  shaded  by  cocoa-nut  trees :  they 
are  thatched  with  cocoa-nut  or  banana-leaves,  and  terminate 
each  in  a  little  cone  or  ball.  Their  height  inside  is  perhaps 
about  six  feet. 

The  only  apology  for  dress  was  a  string  or  narrow  ribbon-like 
strip  of  red  or  blue  cloth  round  the  waist,  passing  between  the 
legs  and  tied  in  a  knot  behind,  the  ends  hanging  down  to  the 
heels  (Fl.  XIV.  fig.  1).  The  women,  as  seen  through  the  glass 
on  shore,  wore  a  little  mat  apron.  On  procuring  any  article  of 
clothing  it  was  immediately  put  on :  one  strutted  about,  to  the 
great  delight  of  the  rest,  in  an  old  black  hat.  They  would  not, 
however,  receive  in  barter  any  article  that  was  cracked  or  had  a 
hole  in  it. 

Captain  Mackenzie  was  invited  to  a  feast  by  the  chiefs.  He 
left  the  ship  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  all  the  boat's 
crew  were  fiilly  armed.  On  landing  they  found  that  the  feast 
had  commenced :  men,  women,  and  children  were  dancing  and 
singing  to  the  music  of  a  tum-tum,  sometimes  going  round  hand 
in  hand,  then  jumping  up  and  down  separately,  but  still  pre* 
serving  a  circle  about  15  feet  in  diameter.  There  was  nothing 
within  the  circle.  Several  parties  were  thus  engaged.  Appa- 
rently a  pig  had  been  killed,  and  sections  of  the  flesh,  fat,  and 
blood  in  circles  had  been  cut  off  and  placed  round  their  necks 
like  a  necklace.  It  was  a  most  filthy  spectacle.  They  drank 
toddy  (the  juice  of  the  cocoa-nut  palm)  out  of  cups  made  from 
the  shell  of  the  cocoa-nut  very  nicely  carved. 

This  dance-festival  was  held  in  the  centre  of  the  enclosure  of 
huts.  Torches  made  from  a  resinous  substance,  the  product  of 
some  of  the  trees,  were  burning  all  round.  These  torches  are 
also  used  when  spearing  fish  by  night  with  rods,  having  a  barbed 
end  of  iron- wood.  Even  the  children  are  exceedingly  expert  at 
this  description  of  fishing,  and  will  pierce  with  unerring  accu- 

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G.  M.  Atkinson — On  the  Nicobar  Islanders.  139 

racy  a  fish  quite  indiscernible  to  a  European.  Captain 
Mackenzie  stopped  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  (a  most  anxious 
time)^  and  then  respectfnUy  retired. 

Their  weapon  is  a  spear  and  paddle  (PI.  XIY .  fig.  2),  measur- 
ing about  five  feet  long,  and  made  of  iron-wood.  It  is  always 
carried  in  the  right  hand.  While  climbing  up  the  ship's  side^ 
it  was  passed  through  the  girdle  on  the  back. 

The  only  evidence  of  religion  observed  was  that  outside  the 
encampment  of  huts  were  placed  small  sticks  about  five  feet  in 
height,  each  cleft  at  the  top  into  three  parts,  and  containing  in 
the  cleft  the  youngest  and  sweetest  cocoa-nut  (PI.  XIV.  fig.  3). 
Under  each  nut  was  placed  a  spark  of  fire  in  a  small  reed-like 
tube,  and  a  little  tobacco  in  the  form  of  either  a  suspended  cigar 
or  a  pipe,  and,  it  is  thought,  also  a  few  grains  of  rice.  This  was 
offered  to  appease  an  evil  spirit.  The  interpreters  spoke  to  the 
natives  in  what  was  judged  to  be  the  Malay  language. 

While  loading,  information  was  received  that  a  white  woman 
was  captive  on  the  island,  and  my  friend  made  efforts  to  rescue 
her.  Before  daybreak  he  went  in  with  his  crew  fully  armed. 
They  entered  the  hut  which  was  pointed  out  as  her  prison,  but 
it  was  empty ;  and  a  second  time  he  went  to  the  back  of  the 
island,  but  had  no  better  success.  He  thinks  that  information 
of  his  movements  was  given  by  the  rascally  interpreters.  While 
pursuing  the  search  on  shore,  two  Calcutta-built  copper-fastened 
boats  were  found,  carefully  hidden  under  leaves.  From  certain 
European  chests,  clothing,  &c.  it  was  evident  that  many  ships 
had  been,  captured  and  plundered.  On  the  second  voyage  the 
interpreter  got  into  difficulties  amongst  the  natives,  was  chased 
to  the  boat,  and  had  to  swim  for  his  Ufe,  crying  out  to  the  officer 
in  charge  to  fire ;  but  as  the  natives  did  not  attempt  to  follow, 
the  officer  did  not  think  it  necessary.  The  supercargo,  on 
reaching  the  ship,  immediately  ordered  the  vessel  to  leave, 
fearing  that  an  attack  would  be  made  by  the  natives. 

In  consequence  of  their  propensities  for  plunder,  the  authorities 
at  Singapore  were  compelled,  in  July  1867,  to  despatch  an  expe- 
dition to  the  islands.  The  wooden  figures  which  I  had  the  plea- 
sure of  exhibiting  to  the  meeting,  and  one  of  which  is  represented 
in  PI.  XIV.  figs.  4  &  5,  were  taken  during  this  expedition  by  Cap- 
tain Edge,  R.N.,  Commander  of  H.M.S. '  Satellite.'  The  follow- 
ing memorandum  accompanied  these  figures :  — ''  Reports  hav- 
ing reached  the  authorities  at  Singapore  that  several  vessels  had 
from  time  to  time  been  attacked  by  the  savages  upon  these 
islands,  and  their  crews  barbarously  murdered,  it  was  determined 
to  despatch  an  expedition  to  that  spot,  and  accordingly,  in  July 
1867,  H.M.S.  'Wasp,'  Captain  Bedingfield,  R.N.,  and  H.M.S. 

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140  G.  M.  Atkinson — On  the  Nicobar  Islanders. 

*  Satellite/  Captain  Edge,  R.N.,  proceeded  thither.  The  savages 
fled  on  the  approach  of  the  vessels  of  war;  and  upon  landing  at 
Enonnga,  one  of  the  largest  of  the  villages.  Captain  Edge  dis- 
covered these  figures  in  their  huts,  and  upon  his  return  to 
Singapore  he  gave  them  to  Major  M^^air,  B.A.,  for  presentation 
to  a  museum/' 

Figs.  4  and  5  (PL  XIV.)  represent  the  front  and  side  view  of 
the  most  characteristic  of  the  figures.  The  original  is  made  of 
teak-wood,  and  is  3  feet  4  inches  high,  and  14  inches  broad.  It 
has  short  legs  and  long  arms,  and  the  back  is  armed  with  the 
form  of  the  shell  of  a  tortoise  for  a  shield.  The  eyes  are  formed 
of  pieces  of  pearl  shell,  and  the  pupils  of  some  gummy  substance. 
The  face  and  front  of  the  hood  are  painted  red,  and  the  teeth 
white,  while  a  stripe  of  white  surrounds  the  mouth.  The  dress  is  a 
bundle  of  tropical  grass  worn  round  the  neck.  One  arm  is  lost. 
The  imitative  power  of  the  natives  is  shown  by  the  representation 
of  one  of  the  Indian  deities,  an  abomination  made  of  teak,  8  feet 
high :  the  sceptre  and  spear  in  the  hands  are  wanting.  They 
have  also  made  a  figure  of  a  lady  in  European  dress,  to  them 
very  fascinating,  and  several  most  comical  imitations  of  Euro- 
peans, soldiers  and  sailors,  with  red  jackets  and  round  black 
hats.  Two  pieces  of  board  (one  with  a  procession  of  natives 
meeting  Europeans,  the  other  with  a  number  of  different  fishes) 
show  the  character  of  native  art  in  another  direction. 

The  natives,  as  shown  by  the  photographs  of  the  three  cap- 
tured, are  of  a  very  low  type.  Their  stature  is  from  5  feet  to 
5  feet  6  inches. 

Several  of  the  figures  and  the  photographs  are  now  in  the 
Christy  Collection  of  the  British  Museum,  and  the  others  have 
been  sent  to  the  Science  and  Art  Museum  in  Edinburgh. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XIV. 

Fig.  1.  Form  of  dress  worn  by  the  male  natives  of  the  Nicobar  Islands. 
2.  Implement  used  as  both  spear  and  paddle. 

d.  Cocoa-nut  in  deft  stick,  with  fire  below ;  probably  an  emblem  of 
religion. 

4.  Fiffure  in  teak- wood,  with  ejes  of  mother-of-pearl,  8  feet  4  inches 

nigh.    Taken  from  the  Nicobar  Islands  by  Captain  Edge,  K.N., 
and  now  in  the  Christy  Collection. 

5.  Side  view  of  fig.  4. 


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W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  Flints  from  a  Submerged  Forest.    141 

Ordinary  Meeting^  Feb.  8th,  1870. 
A.  Campbell,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Viee-JPresident,  in  the  Chair, 

New  Members. — Sir  Charles  Wbntworth  Dilke,  Bart., 
M.P.;  Rev.  A.  S.  Farrar,  D.D.;  Morton  Coates  Fisher, 
Esq.;  Francis  Kerridoe  Munton,  Esq.,  F.R.G.S.;  and  F. 
Berbspord  Wrioht,  Esq. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XYI.  On  the  Discovery  of  Flint  and  Chert  under  a  Submerged 
Forest  in  West  Somerset.  By  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  Esq., 
M.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S. 

The  submarine  forest  exposed  between  the  tide-marks  on  the 
coast  of  West  Somerset  has  long  been  known.  That  portion  of 
it  visible  at  Porlock  was  described  in  1839  by  Sir  Henry  de  la 
Beche  *,  and  more  recently  by  Mr.  Godwin-Austen  in  an  essay 
read  before  the  Geological  Society  in  1865.  It  was  shown  by 
the  latter  to  be  rooted  on  '^  an  angular  detritus,''  and  to  be  over- 
laid by  the  following  deposits  : — 

1.  A  blue  freshwater-mud  deposit,  resulting,  probably,  from 
the  depression  of  the  laud. 

2.  A  surface  of  plant-growth  {Iris). 

3.  A  marine  silt  with  Scrobicularia  piperata. 

4a.  Shingle  that  forms  a  ridge  which  is  at  the  present  time 
encroaching  on  the  level  water-meadows  behind. 

The  physical  changes  manifested  by  the  section  he  interprets 
thus  : — The  accumulation  of  angular  detritus,  in  which  the  trees 
are  rooted,  belongs  to  subaerial  conditions,  which  were  in  ope- 
ration while  the  boulder-clay  of  the  centre  and  north  of  Britain 
was  falling  from  the  melting  icebergs.  ''  It  is  a  condition  of 
surface  presenited  everywhere  by  that  portion  (t.  e.  the  west  of 
England  and  of  Europe)  which  was  not  submerged  during  the 
great  subaqueous  depression  of  the  northern  hemisphere.  In 
geological  history  it  belongs  to  the  subaerial  phenomena  of  the 
glacifd  period,  and  represents  the  whole  of  the  variable  condi- 
tions of  that  long  interval  of  time.''  This  was  followed  by  the 
epoch  of  the  growth  of  the  forest,  and  of  th^  accumulation  of 
vegetable  matter.  The  overlying  blue  clay  (no.  1)  marks  the 
time  during  which  the  trees  were  kiUed ;  the  surface  of  marsh- 
growth  (no.  2),  covered  with  Iris,  marks  the  epoch  when  the 
trees  fell ;  the  Scrobicularia'CleLj  (no.  3)  indicates  a  depression 
below  the  sea-level ;  and,  lastly,  the  clay  was  elevated  and  the 
shingle  thrown  up  on  its  surface  to  form  the  barrier  at  high- 
water  mark. 

•  Geol.  Report  on  Cornwall,  Devon,  and  West  Somerset. 

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142      W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  the  Discovery  of  Flint  and 

Mr.  Godwin- Austen's  valuable  essay  recalled  to  mind  a  worked 
flint  that  I  had  found  in  the  angular  detritus  in  1861.  On  its 
reexamination  I  found  that  it  had  been  chipped  by  the  hand  of 
man.  In  the  autumn  of  1869^  the  Rev.  H.  H.  Winwood  and 
myself  resolved  to  verify  the  discovery  by  a  thorough  examina- 
tion of  the  forest-bed.  On  digging  through  the  layer  of  undis- 
turbed  vegetable  matter,  we  met  with  ample  traces  of  man's 
handiwork  in  flint  and  chert  chippings,  and  in  one  very  well- 
formed  flake  which,  apparently,  had  never  been  used.  They 
were  imbedded  in  the  upper  ferruginous  portion  of  the  angular 
detritus,  and  evidently  had  been  dropped  upon  the  surface-soil 
of  the  period,  and  not  transported  by  water.  On  searching  the 
shingle  we  found  only  one  water- worn  flint-pebble,  which,  pos- 
sibly, may  have  been  washed  out  of  the  angular  detritus ;  it  is 
therefore  probable  that  the  presence  of  flint  and  chert  in  that 
neighbourhood  is  owing  to  their  transport  by  man. 

Encouraged  by  these  results  we  resolved  to  explore  the  sub- 
marine forest  in  the  nearest  bay  to  the  east  close  to  Minehead. 
It  there  consists  of  oak,  ash,  alder,  and  hazel,  which  grow  on  a 
blue  clay,  full  of  rootlets,  that  thickens  considerably  seawards. 
The  blue  clay  in  its  lower  part  is  full  of  angular  fragments  of 
Devonian  rocks,  which,  as  at  Porlock,  constitute  a  land-wash 
and  not  a  shingle.  At  the  point  between  tides,  where  the  an- 
gular fragments  began  to  appear,  the  flint  chippings  were  found. 
The  exact  spot  where  we  dug  was  to  the  east  of  the  little  stream 
that  enters  the  sea  between  Minehead  and  Warren  farm,  and 
close  to  a  large  stump  that  is  generally  exposed  at  one-third 
tides,  about  200  yards  from  the  shore  and  50  from  aline  of  posts 
for  nets.  Th6  splinters,  which,  as  at  Porlock,  clearly  had  been 
struck  ofi*  by  the  hand  of  man  in  the  manufacture  of  some  tool, 
consisted  of  flint  and  chert,  the  latter  of  which  was  derived  from 
the  greensand  of  Blackdown,  on  the  borders  of  Wiltshire ;  they 
were  imbedded  in  a  ferruginous  band  as  at  Porlock,  aaid  occurred 
as  deep  as  one  foot  from  the  surface  of  the  bed.  We  dug  in 
several  other  spots  without  flnding  any  other  traces  of  man's 
presence. 

In  both  these  localities  it  is  clear  that  man  had  been  living  on 
the  old  land-surface,  and  that  the  remains  of  his  handiwork  had 
been  dropped  in  the  angular  detritus  which  Mr.  Godwin- Austen 
believes  to  be  glacial.  If  the  latter  were  accumulated  under 
Bubaerial  conditions,  during  the  great  depression  of  land  in  the 
northern  hemisphere,  the  traces  of  man  contained  in  it  must  be 
of  a  like  antiquity.  But  I  cannot  admit  that  the  premises 
warrant  any  such  conclusion.  The  angular  detritus  at  Porlock 
and  Minehead  may  have  been  the  result  of  the  action  of  snow 
and  ice  during  hard  winters  at  any  time.     The  hills  that  over- 


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Chert  under  a  Submerged  Forest  in  West  Somerset.      143 

hang  both  those  loculities  are  very  precipitous,  and  therefore 
the  accumulation  of  angular  detritus  might  naturally  be  expected 
in  the  valleys.  It  is,  indeed,  the  result  of  the  natural  disinte- 
gration of  the  Devonian  rocks,  under  temperate  rather  than 
arctic  conditions,  and  at  the  present  day  in  that  area  constitutes 
the  surface-soil.  It  therefore  by  no  means  follows  that  man 
lived  on  the  land  in  the  south  of  England  during  the  glacial 
submergence  of  the  north ;  but  that  some  time  during  the  accu- 
mulation of  the  detritus,  and  before  the  deposit  of  the  blue  fresh- 
water clay,  he  occupied  the  district,  very  possibly  during  the 
time  when  the  forest  still  overshadowed  the  valley  now  sub- 
merged beneath  the  Bristol  Channel,  and  certainly  not  later 
than  that  remote  period. 

These  fragments  of  submerged  forest  are  mere  scraps,  spared 
by  the  waves,  of  an  ancient  growth  of  oak,  ash,  and  yew  that  is 
found  everywhere  in  the  Somersetshire  levels,  underneath  the 
peat  or  alluvium.  At  Porlock  Quay,  on  the  west,  it  dips  under 
the  freshwater  and  marine  strata,  that  have  been  described,  at 
high-water  mark,  and  is  stripped  of  its  superjacent  deposits  firom 
the  line  of  half-tide  down  to  low  water.  Opposite  the  precipi- 
tous headland  of  North  Hill  it  has  not  yet  been  found.  At 
Minehead  it  reappears  under  the  same  conditions  as  at  Porlock, 
and  thence  it  is  represented  in  an  easterly  direction  by  several 
patches,  visible  at  extreme  low  water,  as  far  as  Stolford,  where 
the  angular  detritus  rests  on  the  Liassic  reefs.  Then  it  passes 
under  the  alluvium  of  Stert  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Parret,  to  join  the  large  forest  that  lies  buried  in  the  basins  of 
the  Axe,  the  Tone,  the  Parret,  and  the  Yeo.  At  Weston-super- 
Mare  it  can  be  seen  under  the  alluvium.  Throughout  this  wide 
area  the  trees  have  been  utterly  destroyed  by  the  growth  of 
peat,  or  by  the  deposits  of  the  floods,  except  at  a  few  isolated 
spots,  which  stand  at  a  higher  level  than  usual,  in  the  great 
flats  extending  between  the  Polden  Hills  and  the  Quantocks. 
One  of  these  oases,  a  little  distance  to  the  west  of  Middlezoy,  is 
termed  the  Oaks,  because  those  trees  form  a  marked  contrast  to 
the  prevailing  elms  and  willows  of  the  district.  In  the  neigh- 
bouring ditches  that  gradually  cut  into  the  peat  and  then  into 
silt,  prostrate  oak  trees  are  very  abundant.  As  we  approach  the 
river  Parret  the  silt  gradually  increases  in  thickness  until,  at 
Borough  Bridge,  the  forest  is  struck  at  a  depth  of  18  feet  below 
the  present  surface,  or  about  the  same  distance  below  the  line 
of  high-water  mark  in  the  river. 

The  destruction  of  the  forest  seems  to  have  been  brought 
about  by  the  stagnation  of  water  consequent  on  the  deposit  of 
silt  in  the  rivers,  by  which  their  beds  were  raised  until  the  sur- 
rounding district  became  flooded;   then   the  peat  grew  and 

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144  W.  Boyd  Dawkinb — On  Flints  from  a  Submerged  Forest, 

gradually  changed  the  surface  into  a  spongy  morass,  in  which 
the  trees  died,  and,  as  the  latter  decayed,  they  were  blown  down, 
the  lines  of  their  trunks  pointing  away  from  the  prevalent  winds. 
But  while  this  was  going  on,  the  rivers  were  depositing  silt  in 
quantities  greatest  at  the  line  where  their  currents  impinged  on 
the  slack  water,  and  gradually  reaching  a  minimum  in  passing 
away  from  their  courses ;  and  in  this  way  the  fertile  alluvium 
of  the  vales  of  Taunton,  Bridgewater,  Highbridge,  and  Wes- 
ton-super-Mare was  deposited,  while  around  Shapwick  the 
peat  comes  up  to  the  surface,  and  attains  a  depth  of  at  least 
16  feet. 

The  conditions,  therefore,  under  which  the  forest  at  Porlock 
Quay  and  Minehead  was  destroyed  are  not  merely  confined  to 
those  isolated  spots,  but  are  constant  over  the  whole  of  the 
Somerset  levels.  If,  then,  we  can  approximately  fix  the  date  of 
the  destruction  of  the  forest,  we  have  a  clue  to  the  antiquity  of 
the  traces  of  man  found  in  the  land-surface  underneath.  And 
this  we  are  able  to  do  by  the  discoveries  made  by  the  late  Mr. 
Stradling  at  the  bottom  of  the  peat,  in  the  great  marsh  that  ex- 
tends from  Highbridge  to  Glastonbury.  From  time  to  time, 
between  the  years  1^0  and  1851,  he  obtained  sundry  flints, 
celts,  and  spear-heads  of  the  neolithic  type,  a  bronze  celt,  and 
three  paddles  from  the  top  of  the  subturbary  marl.  A  lax^ 
canoe  also,  formed  out  of  an  immense  oak,  and  known  as 
''  Squire  Phippen's  big  ship,"  made  its  appearance  in  dry  sea- 
sons, and  eventually  was  broken  up  for  firewood  by  the  cot- 
tagers. It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  at  least  as  early  as  the  neo- 
lithic age  the  forest  beneath  the  turbary  had  been  destroyed,  and 
its  area  occupied  by  a  lake  and  possibly  also  by  peat.  The 
atest  date,  therefore,  which  we  can  assign  to  the  traces  of  man 
in  the  submerged  land-surface  at  Porlock  and  Minehead  is  an 
early  stage  in  the  neolithic  period.  Possibly,  even  like  the  re- 
mains of  Rhinoceros  tichorhinus  dug  out  of  a  similar  deposit 
underneath  a  forest  that  underlies  Taunton  Oaol,  they  may  be 
of  Quaternary  or  Postglacial  age. 

I  have  brought  this  note  before  the  Ethnological  Society 
because,  so  far  as  I  know,  no  cases  are  on  record  of  the  occur- 
rence of  traces  of  man  underneath  any  submarine  forest  on  the 
shores  of  Britain.  They  do  not  add  to  our  knowledge  of  pri- 
meval man,  or  extend  his  range  frurther  than  we  already  know 
into  the  past ;  they  merely  prove  that  he  dwelt  in  the  district 
probably  before  and  possibly  during  the  growth  of  the  forest, 
and  before  those  physical  changes  began  to  be  felt  by  which  its 
destruction  and  submergence  were  brought  about, — changes  of 
great  magnitude  and  probably  of  long  duration. 


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Dr.  Campbell — On  Prehistoric  Remains,  145 

Discussion. 

Dr.  Nicholas  said  that  Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins's  interesting  analysis 
of  this  sea-coast  section  suggested  several  points  of  inquiry  bearing 
on  the  antiquity  of  man.  One  question  was  as  to  the  time  it  might 
take,  under  given  conditions,  to  amass  the  several  beds.  The  rapi- 
dity of  the  growth  of  peat  was  scarcely  subject  to  any  rule  of  calcu- 
lation ;  but  it  was  matter  of  observation  that  in  one  man's  lifetime 
considerable  changes  of  the  surface  of  marsh-lands,  through  accumu- 
lation of  flood-deposits  and  vegetation,  often  took  place.  Groves  of 
trees  within  a  comparatively  short  time  disappeared  through  too 
great  a  saturation  of  the  ground  with  wet,  or  other  causes,  and  the 
trunks  of  these  were  soon  covered  over  with  moss  and  peat,  and  by 
the  next  generation  might  be  discovered  a  foot  or  more  under  ground. 
He  himself  knew  a  place  on  the  sea-coast  where,  in  twenty  jears,  the 
shingle  bar  gathered  by  the  waves  had  considerably  grown  in  height, 
and  the  litue  valley  to  the  interior  had  perceptibly,  through  the 
causes  alluded  to,  had  its  surface  raised.  The  mere  existence  of  these 
accumulated  layers,  therefore,  did  not  argue  necessarily  any  very 
great  antiquity.  But  then  they  had  to  deal  with  another  fact,  viz. 
the  finding  of  those  flint  implements  in  these  deposits  ;  and  it  was 
necessary,  in  order  to  determine  how  long  it  took  to  accumulate  the 
strata  from  the  point  where  the  flints  were  found  upwards,  to  have 
fiome  definite  idea  as  to  the  period  when  the  formation  of  such  im- 
plements ceased  in  this  island.  Were  they  sure  that  none  such  were 
formed  within  historic  times  ?  The  same  kind  of  weapons  were  known 
to  be  still  formed  and  used  by  savage  or  half-civilized  nations ;  and 
it  was  just  possible  that  such  rude  contrivances  continued  long  in 
use  by  the  less  cultured  portions  of  even  civilized  communities  long 
after  bronze  and  even  iron  instruments  had  been  introduced. 

Mr.  BoTD  Dawkiks  said  in  reply,  that  implements  of  stone  were 
used  in  Britain  gun-flints  and  '^  strike-a-li^hts  "  being  put  out  of  the 
Question)  far  later  than  was  generally  believed.  He  had  discovered 
nakes  both  in  the  cinder-heaps  of  the  Wealden  Ironworks,  and  in  a 
Bomano-British  Cemetery  at  Hardham,  in  Sussex.  A  club  or  axe 
armed  with  stone  was  even  used  at  the  Battle  of  Senlac.  A  cargo 
of  stones  to  be  used  as  missiles  formed  an  important  part  of  a  Vi- 
king's equipment. 


The  Assistant-Secretary  then  exhibited  and  described  a 
stone  hammer-head  found  by  Mr.  R.  Mouat  in  the  ancient 
workings  of  the  copper-mine  of  Ruy  Gomes,  in  the  Province  of 
Alemtejo,  Portugal.  The  specimen  is  now  in  the  Museum  of 
Practical  Geology. 

The  Chairman  then  read  a  Note  introductory  to  a  paper  by 
the  Rev.  R.  J.  Mapleton  on  the  prehistoric  remains  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  Crinan  canal,  Argyllshire. 

He  said  that  his  attention  was  first  directed  to  the  occurrence 
VOL.  II.  x>  , 

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146         Rev.  R.  J.  Mapleton — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

of  these  remains  by  Sir  James  Simpson^  of  Edinburgh^  when  on 
board  the  '  lona'  steamer  last  autumn,  in  going  up  Loch  I^ne. 
The  tract  of  country  in  which  they  are  found  is  peculiar;  it  is 
situated  between  Loch  Fyne  and  Loch  Crinan  on  the  one  hand, 
and  between  the  former  and  the  head  of  Loch  Awe  on  the  other. 
Loch  Crinan  and  Loch  Fyne,  both  salt-water  lochs  or  inlets  of 
the  sea,  are  united  by  the  Crinan  canal,  which  is  nine  miles  long, 
and  by  which  navigation  is  carried  on  to  the  west  coast  of 
Argyllshire.  The  country  between  the  two  lochs  is  very  level 
and  productive,  and  although  it  is  not  thickly  peopled  in  the 
present  day,  it  may  have  maintained  a  heavier  population  in 
olden  times.  The  tract  lying  between  Lochs  Fyne  and  Ford  at 
the  head  of  Loch  Awe,  which  is  a  freshwater  loch  30  miles 
long,  and  is  estimated  to  cover  52,000  acres,  is  also  compara- 
tively rich  and  productive.  It  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Kilmartin 
in  this  tract  that  the  greatest  number  of  upright  stones  with 
carvings  are  met  with. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Mapleton,  of  Duntroon,  having  been  indicated 
as  the  best  authority  on  the  antiquities  of  this  district.  Dr. 
Campbell  had  applied  to  him  for  a  paper  on  this  subject,  and  he 
had  kindly  forwarded  the  following  communication. 

The  following  paper  was  then  read : — 

XYII.  Report  on  Prehistoric  Remains  in  the  Neighbourhood 
of  the  Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.  By  the  Rev.  R.  J. 
Mapleton. 

In  attempting  to  give  some  account  of  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  inhabitants  of  this  district,  I  think  that  perhaps  it  will  be 
the  better  plan  to  divide  the  subject  into  various  heads,  so  as 
to  be  able  more  readily  to  mark  any  differences  that  may 
occur.  I  shall  therefore  offer  some  remarks  upon — I.  Petro- 
glyphs ;  2.  Menhirs ;  3.  Cairns  and  other  sepulchral  remains ; 
and  4.  Residences. 

1.  Petroglyphs. — ^There  are  four  distinct  groups  of  these  still 
existing  in  the  glen  that  extends  from  Lochgilphead  to  the 
village  of  Kilmartin, — ^two  on  each  side  of  the  glen.  I  may  men- 
tion that  it  is  the  opinion  of  good  geologists  that  Loch  Awe 
at  one  time  emptied  itself  at  this  south  end,  instead  of  at  the 
north  end,  as  at  present.  There  are  evident  signs  that,  at  one 
time,  a  strong  and  rapid  river  ran  through  the  glen :  thus  the 
glen  would  have  been  of  more  importance  then  than  now.  The 
chief  peculiarity  in  these  specimens  is  that  the  markings  are  all 
circular,  none  are  square.  A  fifth  group  was  accidentally  de- 
stroyed a  few  years  ago  in  making  a  road,  and  I  have  heard  of 
a  sixth,  which  I  have  been  unable  to  find,  as  it  is  overgrown 


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in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the  Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.     147 

with  grass  'and  moss.  Thus  six  distinct  groups  at  least  have 
existed  in  this  neighbourhood^  three  on  each  side  of  the  glen ; 
they  are  all  situated  upon  the  ice- worn  crowns  of  rock,  and 
engraven  upon  the  solid  stone.  No  remains  of  camps  have  as 
yet  been  ascertained,  but  the  glen  is  one  mass  of  sepulchral 
remains.  These  petroglyphs  therefore  would  seem  to  be  con- 
nected  with  burials  or  religion  rather  than  with  war,  especially 
as  several  of  the  menhirs  are  sculptured  with  "  pits''  or  "  cups,'' 
some  of  which  are  surrounded  by  the  circle,  exactly  similar  to  a 
marking  that  I  saw  upon  a  stone  among  the  Carthaginian  re- 
mains in  the  British  Museum. 

The  only  variation  from  the  circle  is,  first,  a  kind  of  horse- 
shoe pattern ;  and,  secondly,  a  kidney-shaped  pattern,  formed  by 
a  line  drawn  into  a  kind  of  spiral  at  each  end.  The  number  of 
concentric  circles  varies  from  one  to  nine,  whereas  on  the  men- 
hirs only  one  circle  is  to  be  found ;  and,  as  is  common  in  the 
markings  in  other  districts,  several  are  connected  together  by  a 
groove. 

The  number  of  figures  in  the  groups  varies  from  nine  or  ten 
(excluding  the  pits  or  cups)  to  thirty- nine.  Near  Lochgilphead 
are  three  groups  at  least,  but  so  close  to  each  other  that  I 
reckon  them  as  one.  In  all  cases,  menhirs  and  sepulchral 
remains  are  not  far  off. 

2.  Menhirs. — Very  great  numbers  of  these  interesting  hoary 
stones  are  found  in  various  localities  about  this  district,  and 
many  more  existed  a  few  years  ago.  It  is  said  that  at  one 
time  an  avenue  of  them  extended  fit>m  Lochgilphead,  just 
below  the  largest  group  of  petroglyphs,  up  to  the  spot  near  Kil- 
martin  where  there  is  a  range  of  cairns.  Several  pairs  of  these 
are  to  be  seen  in  this  route,  till  we  arrive  at  a  field,  in  the  very 
midst  of  burials,  where  seven  are  now  standing.  These  seven 
do  not  form  part  of  a  circle,  but  are  arranged  in  three  patches, 
four  in  one  patch,  two  in  another,  and  one  by  itself;  they  are 
very  high  and  broad,  and  two  of  them  are  marked  with  pits  and 
circles.  The  one  standing  by  itself  is  perforated,  such  as  are 
often  called  "  Odin  stones."  Not  far  from  these  is  another 
patch,  if  possible,  more  surrounded  with  burials.  Some  of  these 
also  have  the  cup-  and  circle-markings.  No  menhirs  have  yet 
been  found  with  the  symbols  so  common  on  the  east  coast,  viz. 
the  "  spectacles,"  the  "  mirror,"  &c. ;  neither  have  any  Ogham 
inscriptions  as  yet  been  discovered. 

8.  Cairns  and  Burials. — ^There  are  several  forms  or  modes 
in  which  the  cists  &c.  have  been  made :  some  are  found  in 
large  cairns,  some  are  situated  above  and  some  below  the  sur- 
face. In  only  two  instances  have  I  found  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  unburnt  bodies ;  but  several  cists  have  been  so  much 

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148        Rev.  R.  J.  Mapleton — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

disturbed  at  an  early  period  that  it  is  hard  to  say  what  was  the 
original  use. 

(a)  The  first  form  that  I  shall  describe  is  one  in  which  the 

body  had  been  placed  unbumt ;  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the 

oldest  form,  unless  the  chambered  sepulchre  should  be  the 

oldest.     The  common  forms,  made  of  four  slabs,  with  a  cover, 

are  found  in  various  stages  of  neatness  and  perfection,  and 

some  associated  with  well-made  bronze  implements.     Some  of 

these  also  are  found  in  the  edges  of  large  cairns,  containing 

either  the  "  sepulchre  "  or  the  "  toulder  "  cist,  so  that  they  were 

in  use  at  a  later  date  than  the  others,  though  there  does  not 

seem  to  be  proof  as  to  whether  they  might  not  have  been  used 

before.      In   the   ''boulder"    cist,    the    grave  is  placed   just 

below  the  surface  of  the  natural  soil;  it  is  dug  out  of  the 

ground.     The  sides  and  two  ends  are  formed  of  large  boulders 

set  in  clay,  and  the  shape  is  a  long  oval.     The  grave  is  covered 

with  a  large,  heavy,  rough  slab,  in  one  instance  9  feet  long,  and 

4  feet  7  inches  wide ;  in  another  14  feet  long,  8  feet  wide,  and 

1  foot  3  inches  in  its  thickest  part.     The  first  of  these  two  cists 

was  in  the  centre  of  a  large  cairn,  which  still  shows  evidence  of 

having  been  110  feet  in  diameter,  and  is  still  13  feet  6  inches 

high.    There  was  not  the  slightest  trace  of  burnt  bones  or  of 

charcoal ;  but  a  thin  layer  of  clay,  which  covered  the  boulders 

at  the  bottom,  was  very  unctuous  and  discoloured,  and  it  was 

clear  that  the  body,  bones,  and  flesh  had  all  melted  away.    No . 

implement  of  any  kind,  and  no  chip  of  flint  could  be  discovered, 

except  a  broken  urn  of  red  half-baked  pottery,  roughly  but 

highly  ornamented,    which  had  fallen  to  pieces  through  the 

damp.     At  the  S.W.  comer  of  this  cairn  was  found  an  ordinary 

cist,  containing  urn  and  necklace,  and  surrounded  by  a  double 

circle  of  stones,  which  most  clearly  was  built  after  the  other,  as 

there  were  wallings  and  props  between  the  stones  of  the  circle, 

towards  the  interior  of  the  cairn,  to  preserve  the  cist  from  the 

pressure  on  that  side. 

The  other  example  of  this  form  of  cist  at  present  occupies  the 
edge  of  the  cairn,  in  which  another  cist  is  situated  in  the  centre, 
as  the  cairn  now  stands ;  but  a  great  deal  of  the  cairn  on  that 
side  has  been  removed  to  make  dykes,  and  so  many  cairns  have 
been  altogether  taken  away,  that  very  probably  it  was  the  pri- 
mary burial.  The  interior  of  this  grave  is  7  feet  6  inches  long, 
3  feet  2  inches  wide,  3  feet  6  inches  high.  It  had  been  dis- 
turbed long  ago;  for  it  contained  several  deposits  of  burnt 
bones,  most  carelessly  and  negligently  placed,  separated  from 
each  other  by  small  rough  fragments  of  stone.  Here  were  de- 
posits of  perhaps  eight  or  ten  bodies.  The  cist  is  so  exactly 
similar  to  the  one  above  described,  that  we  must  suppose  that 
at  first  it  was  constructed  for  one  body  unbumt.      r^.         i 

^  .gitizedbyLjOOgle 


in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the  Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.    149 

(6)  Chambered  Sepulchre. — Two  examples  of  this  form  of 
barial  are  still  existing,  about  two  miles  apart,  but  I  have  a 
suspicion  that  two  others  were  destroyed  not  long  ago.  Both 
are  built  on  a  very  similar  plan.  Both  were  covered  with  a 
large  cairn,  one  of  which  we  can  trace  to  have  been  at  least 
134  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  circle  of  great  stones  just  within 
its  edge.  The  sepulchre  itself  is  dug  some  3  or  4  feet  into  the 
ground,  but  part  of  the  building  is  above  ground,  as  the  interior 
of  one  is  8  feet  3  inches  high,  of  the  other  10  feet.  The  style 
of  building  is  similar,  though  differing  in  some  slight  respects. 
The  walls  are  formed  of  rough  slabs  of  various  sizes ;  in  one 
they  are  placed  horizontally,  like  a  rough  wall;  in  the  other 
they  are  upright,  and  the  spaces  filled  in  with  other  pieces. 
Each  is  covered  in  by  three  or  four  large  slabs.  The  entrance 
to  each  is  at  the  N.E.  end,  and  is  formed  in  one  hj  two  upright 
stones  slightly  converging,  so  as  to  narrow  the  entrance ;  in 
the  other  by  two  upright  stones,  not  converging,  but  placed 
a  few  feet  apart,  so  as  to  admit  a  passage,  and  yet  be  readily 
blocked  up  by  a  slab,  by  way  of  a  door.  The  interiors  are 
very  similar,  being  about  15  or  16  feet  long,  and  divided  into 
three  compartments;  or  perhaps  we  might  say  that  one  of  them 
has  four,  as  there  is  a  small  compartment  by  the  side  of  the 
passage  near  the  door.  The  compartments  are  formed  by  large 
slabs  running  across  the  tomb,  which  appear  to  have  been  placed 
there  at  first,  as  in  one  of  the  tombs  they  are  regularly  built 
into  the  rough  wall,  and  seem  necessary  for  the  support  of  the 
fabric. 

One  of  the  tombs  had  undergone  very  great  disturbance  and 
alteration.  The  compartments  were  fiUed  up  with  stones  and 
rubbish,  among  which  were  found  the  fragments  of  two  urns, 
one  of  the  usud  form  and  material,  the  other  of  a  black  pottery 
and  unusual  shape,  and  very  tender  from  age  and  damp.  On 
the  top  of  one  of  the  compartments,  a  small  cist  of  the  usual 
construction  had  been  built,  which  probably  had  contained  the 
red  urn  whose  fragments  we  found.  This  is  another  proof  that 
the  ordinary  cist  was  in  use  later  than  the  chambered  tomb. 
At  the  very  bottom  of  the  compartments  we  found  deposits  of 
burnt  bone,  flint  blocks,  and  chips,  and  some  very  delicate  well- 
made  arrow-heads  of  flint  that  I  thtnk  were  made  for  use,  not 
for  show;  there  was  also  one  well-made  flint  scraper.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  tomb  was  built  for  burial  after  crema- 
tion, and  probably  for  a  family  or  tribe. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  the  other  tomb.  Among  the  rub- 
bish was  found  a  portion  of  a  very  large  urn,  flint  chips,  and 
blocks;  and  in  the  natural  soil  at  the  bottom  were  found  several 
deposits  of  burnt  bones,  some  in  the  comers,  and  some  in  the 

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150        Rev.  R.  J.  Maplkton — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

middle.  A  great  deal  of  charcoal  was  there^  and  the  sand  was 
reddened  by  fire,  and  in  some  places  almost  nm  together. 
Several  fine  flint  scrapers  were  found  of  various  shapes  (knife- 
shaped^  round,  oval,  leaf-shaped,  oblong),  all  evidently  made  for 
use.  This  part  had  never  been  disturbed.  These  two  tombs 
seem  to  have  been  made  for  family  burial,  and  not  for  a  single 
interment,  especially  as  some  of  the  flint  implements  were  found 
fixed  to  the  wall  by  clay,  just  above  the  deposit  of  bones,  like 
a  slab  or  tombstone  of  the  present  day. 

{c)  Another  form  of  cist  is  that  made  of  four  side-slabs  and  a 
cover,  on  the  ground  or  just  above  it.  These  vary  somewhat 
in  size,  but  the  average  is  about  3  feet  6  inches  x  2  feet  4  inches, 
and  1  foot  9  inches  deep.  The  largest  is  6  feet  4  inches  X  3  feet 
1  inch,  and  4  feet  4  inches  deep ;  the  smallest,  1  foot  6  inches 
X  1  foot  3  inches  X  1  foot  3  inches. 

They  are  found  in  different  situations,  some  being  in  the 
centre  of  a  cairn,  with  a  circle  of  stones  round  them,  some  on 
the  outside  of  a  cairn  that  contains  other  cists,  some  standing 
in  circles  formed  by  a  rampart  of  earth  (and  in  these  cases 
several  cists  are  in  the  same  circle),  and  some  standing  in  sand- 
banks, with  a  cover  just  below  the  surface.  These  are  associ- 
ated with  flint,  urns,  &c.,  but  no  bronze,  except  that  in  one 
cairn,  where  we  obtained  three  cists,  each  of  different  construc- 
tion, we  found  among  the  stones  a  '^hone-stone,''  as  it  is 
called,  which  might  seem  to  imply  bronze,  though  close  to  it 
was  a  stone  axe  of  hard  green-stone.  In  this  cairn  we  found 
three  cists, — one,  a  small  one,  near  the  outside,  contained  a 
fine  urn ;  the  second  was  the  '^  boulder''  cist,  described  above, 
with  a  cover  14  feet  long ;  and  the  third,  occupying  the  present 
centre  of  the  cairn,  was  raised  a  few  feet  from  the  ground.  This 
cist  is  remarkable  from  its  containing  the  remains  of  two 
bodies.  On  opening  the  cist,  we  found  on  the  surface  an  urn 
of  the  same  make  and  pattern  as  that  in  the  small  cist,  and 
burnt  bone.  A  rough  pavement  seemed  to  form  the  bottom  of 
the  grave;  but  on  removing  it  we  found  the  remains  of  an  unbumt 
body  buried  in  clay.  The  bones  of  the  leg  and  some  of  those 
of  the  arms  were  p^ect.  The  skull  was  quite  gone,  except  one 
tooth.  The  bones  were  of  the  consistence  of  butter  or  new 
cheese,  and  seemed  almost  to  melt  between  the  thumb  and  fin- 
ger. The  clay  was  unctuous  and  discoloured.  From  their  size 
I  should  judge  the  bones  to  be  those  of  a  full-grown  and  rather 
tall  man. 

In  the  cairn  where  the  other  *'  boulder"  cist  occurs,  a  cist 
was  discovered  at  the  S.E.  end,  surrounded  by  a  double  circle. 
This  contained  a  very  beautifril  mm,  of  the  ordinary  materia], 
but  better  baked  and  larger  than  usual,  with  four  small  ears  or 

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in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the  Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.    151 

liandles^  having  a  hole  through  them,  as  though  for*  the  passage 
of  a  string  for  the  purpose  of  suspension.  Several  beads  and 
two  blocks  of  polished  jet,  forming  part  of  a  necklace,  were 
lying  over  the  urn,  which  was  sunk  in  the  soil  up  to  its  rim. 
It  did  not  contain  bones.  Several  cists  have  been  found  just 
below  the  surface  of  the  soil,  placed  by  themselves,  of  the  ordi- 
nary type,  and  containing  urns. 

(rf)  Another  form  of  making  or,  rather,  "  placing"  the  cist  is 
when  a  cist  of  ordinary  size  and  build  is  placed  some  2  or  3  feet 
below  the  surface,  in  a  sand  or  gravel  bank.  In  two  of  these, 
that  I  did  not  see,  but  was  told  of  by  a  man  who  opened  the 
cist  while  trenching  the  ground  for  a  plantation,  bronze  was 
found.  The  man  took  a  bronze  dagger,  with  six  rivets  still  in 
the  handle,  but  was  forced  to  replace  it  in  the  cist  by  his  wife, 
who  feared  that  the  ghost  of  the  buried  man  woidd  haunt  him. 

(e)  There  is  another  slightly  different  form,  viz.  that  in  which 
the  two  side-slabs  have  rough  grooves  in  them,  to  admit  the 
two  end-slabs.  Bronze  was  found  in  these ;  a  dagger  and  part 
of  another  are  still  in  the  house  of  a  farmer  in  this  neighbour- 
hood. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  add  that  burials  are  found  occasionally  on 
tops  of  hills.  I  examined  one  hill  that  had  a  small  cairn 
on  the  top,  that  was  disturbed  a  few  years  ago  to  make  a  seat, 
and  at  that  time  '^  something'^  was  found  and  taken  away.  I 
rather  suspect  that  this  "something"  was  an  urn. 

I  found  the  remains  of  an  ordinary  cist,  i.  e.  there  were  slabs 
that  seemed  as  though  they  had  been  used  for  that  purpose ; 
but  I  found  also  two  burials  in  a  rough  kind  of  cist,  formed  by 
a  comer  of  the  rock,  and  supplemented  by  two  slabs  to  form 
the  square;  both  contained  burnt  bone.  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  burials  still  exist  on  other  hill-tops.  A  few  I  know 
to  have  been  destroyed.  The  labour  of  carrying  the  boulders 
and  slabs  up  these  hills  must  have  been  very  great;  but  for  what 
reason  the  cists  were  placed  in  such  situations  I  know  not, 
unless  the  spot  was  sacred  from  having  been  used  for  burial- 
fires.  As  the  glen  contains  such  a  number  of  burials  of  all 
forms,  and  probably  of  many  ages,  the  hill-top  could  not  have 
been  selected  simply  for  security's  sake.  No  sculpture  has  been 
found  in  the  cists,  except  in  one  instance,  where  a  lozenge- 
shaped  pattern  was  found  cut  in  the  cist-cover. 

(/)  On  the  moss,  and  throughout  the  hills,  are  several  small 
circles  of  stones.  These  contain  burials,  but  I  have  not  found 
"  cists."  In  one  I  found  a  sling-stone,  in  another  a  large  block 
of  flint ;  in  another  there  was  a  perfect  burial,  consisting  of 
burnt  bone,  hastily  and  rather  imperfectly  burnt,  deposited  in 
a  very  small  heap  of  stones,  together  with  sphagnum  and  other 
bog-plants,  charred  and  burnt.  ^  I 

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152         Rev.  R.  J.  Mafleton — On  Prehistoric  Remains 

4.  Residences. — I  have  not  seen  any  "Piets'  houses/'  nor 
have  I  heard  of  any ;  but  we  have  crannogs,  duns,  vitrified  forts, 
one  brough,  one  cave-dwelling,  and  two  or  three  flint-manu- 
factories. 

(a)  Crannogs. — I  have  reason  to  believe  that  crannogs  have 
existed  in  most  of  the  lochs,  even  in  those  of  very  small  extent ; 
but  they  have  not  anywhere,  that  I  know,  assumed  the  form  of 
villages,  but  are  simply  separate,  solitary  dwellings  or  forts. 
They  seem  to  have  been  built  in  various  ways,  according  to  the 
nature  of  their  position  and  the  material  that  was  most  readily 
to  be  obtained.  In  two  that  I  have  examined,  the  structure  dif- 
fered from  that  of  those  described  by  Mr.  John  Stewart,  Secretary 
to  the  S.  A.  of  Scotland,  which  appears  to  be  the  general  form  in 
the  Lowlands.  In  one  case  the  structure  was  entirely  of  stone,  in 
the  other  of  wood,  or  rather  trunks  of  trees  placed  alternately 
upon  each  other.  The  stone  structure*  was  formed  by  walling, 
placed  between  projecting  points  of  rock,  and  the  interior  filled 
in  with  stones,  giving  the  whole  building  the  appearance  of  a 
cairn  under  water.  The  walls  were  examined  by  divers,  whom 
I  employed  for  the  purpose.  They  represented  the  walls  to  be 
most  beautifully  laid,  more  regular  and  strong  than  any  dry  wal- 
ling or  dykes  at  the  present  day.  No  mortar  or  cement  was  used, 
and  the  stones  bore  no  marks  of  tools.  At  ordinary  levels,  the 
present  top  of  the  cairn  is  from  1  foot  6  inches  to  2  feet  below 
the  surface  of  the  water.  I  have  never  seen  the  top  of  the  cairn 
above  water  in  the  driest  season.  The  loch  itself  is  about  one 
mile  and  a  half  in  length,  and  about  a  quarter  in  width.  The 
wall  varies  in  height,  according  to  the.  rock  on  which  it  is  built ; 
one  portion  is  8  feet  high,  another  6  feet,  and  another  4  feet  6 
inches. 

Near  to  the  cairn  the  divers  brought  up  some  charred  and 
broken  deer-bone,  and  a  very  beautiful  paddle,  shaped  like  an 
arrow-head ;  but  the  exceeding  depth  of  mud  prevents  the  hope 
of  finding  other  things. 

The  crannogt  made  of  logs  is  situated  in  a  much  flatter  part 
of  the  country,  where  stone  is  not  so  readily  obtained.  I  could 
only  dig  down  to  the  depth  of  three  layers  of  logs,  but  I  could 
feel  them  nearly  12  feet  down,  by  means  of  an  iron  rod.  Some 
of  the  trunks  were  40  feet  long  and  4  feet  6  inches  in  circum- 
fCTcnce.  We  found  two  or  three  fire-places  on  the  surface  of 
the  crannog,  with  a  great  deal  of  charcoal,  and  several  charred 
hazel-nuts. 

Both  the  crannogs  agreed  in  having  a  rampart  of  sharpened 

*  In  Loch  Kielziebar,  \\  mile  from  Bellanoch^  on  the  Crinan  Oanal. 
t  In  Loch  Ariflaigy  now  nearly  drained ;  but  the  crannog  still  exists,  and 
can  he  easily  examined. 


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in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the  Orinan  Canal,  Argyllshire.     153 

stakes  round  them.  We  fished  up  several  pieces  from  the  mud 
round  the  stone  building,  and  nearly  all  the  stakes  are  in  situ 
round  the  log  structure;  they  are  arranged  about  3  feet  dis- 
tant from  the  crannog,  and  other  logs  ran  horizontally  round 
the  ends  of  these,  and  were  fastened  by  grooves  at  the  comers. 
In  Loch  Awe  there  are  several  cairns  under  water,  which  I  feel 
sure  are  crannogs.  In  one  that  is  some  distance  down  the  loch, 
the  timbers  are  visible  at  low  water. 

Altogether,  in  this  district,  I  think  that  stone  buildings  were 
the  rule,  as  in  most  lochs  there  are  islands  and  cairns  under 
water,  which  are  most  clearly  artificial,  and  have  not  been  made 
for  ornament. 

{b)  Duns. — Bough  forts,  built  of  stone  without  mortar,  mostly 
(if  not  entirely)  circular,  are  very  common,  generally  situated 
on  the  top  of  some  marked  eminence  commanding  the  smaller 
glens  among  the  hills.  I  have  never  heard  of  any  implement 
being  found  near  any  of  them ;  and  they  have  been  so  much 
disturbed  and  robbed  of  their  stones,  that  it  is  hard  to  ascer- 
tain anything  beyond  their  extent. 

(c)  One  Vitrified  Fort  exists  close  to  this  place  and  very  near 
the  sea ;  it  occupies  an  eminence  that  probably  was  once  almost 
surrounded  by  the  sea,  perhaps  at  the  time  of  the  40-foot  beach. 
It  was  simply  a  wall  enclosing  the  crown  of  the  hill,  occupying 
a  space  of  40  yards  in  diameter.  The  stones  are  very  strongly 
run  together,  and  apparently  cemented  by  some  vitrified  sub- 
stance. 

Another  specimen  that  I  examined,  not  far  from  Ardnamur- 
chan,  was  a  long  triangular  building  enclosing  a  long  narrow 
neck  of  hiU,  not  far  from  the  sea.  Its  length  is  342  feet,  the 
width  33  feet,  and  the  wall  in  some  places  is  8  feet  high,  and 
6  feet  9  inches  thick ;  within  the  enclosed  space  are  two  small 
round  hollows  or  pits,  surrounded  by  a  vitrified  wall. 

(d)  We  have  one  hrough  situated  on  low  ground,  close  to  the 
sea ;  it  is  not  more  than  one  mile  from  a  Dun  up  the  little  glen ; 
the  building  stands  at  the  end  of  a  bay  or  sea  loch ;  the  walls 
are  7  or  8  feet  thick,  very  strong,  built  without  mortar  j  one  of 
the  chambers  in  the  wall  is  still  in  existence,  and  there  are  ap- 
pearances of  where  another  may  have  been.  We  partly  exa- 
mined the  floor  near  the  chamber,  and  found  great  quantities 
of  deer-,  cow-,  and  pig-bones  among  sand,  but  nothing  to  show 
the' time  when  these  were  placed  there.  I  am  informed  that 
broughs  are  more  common  towards  the  east  or  north-east  of 
Scotland,  and  were  once  considered  peculiar  to  that  side  of  the 
island. 

(e)  In  a  sea-cave  just  above  the  level  of  the  25-foot  beach, 
a  few  years  ago,  we  discovered  the  remains  (or  part  of  the  re- 
Digitized  by  LjOOQIc 


154        Rev.  R.  J.  Mapleton — On  Prehistoric  Remaitu 

mains)  of  a  family  of  nine  persons^  of  various  ages^  as  was 
evident  from  the  characters  of  the  teeth  &c.  The  rock  over- 
head had  fallen  in  and  fiUed  the  cave>  and  thus  kiUed  the  family. 
Bones  of  red  deer  and  shells  of  various  sorts  were  found  inside 
and  just  outside  the  cave.  A  flat  round  stone^  charred  and 
reddened^  was  found  imbedded  in  charcoal  and  ash^  and  near 
this  the  burnt  leg-bone  of  a  red  deer.  The  family  must  have 
occupied  the  cave  for  a  long  time ;  no  vestige  of  metal  or  pottery 
could  be  found.  The  only  implements  were  two  flint  scrapers 
and  a  block  of  flint ;  a  third  scraper  was  afterwards  brought  to 
me  by  a  workman^  but  as  I  did  not  see  it  taken  out,  I  cannot 
vouch  for  it.  The  cave  is  not  more  than  200  yards  from  the 
vitrified  fort.  The  only  perfect  skull  was  pronounced  in  London 
to  be  a  genuine  Celtic  skull. 

(/)  Perhaps  under  the  head  of  Residences  should  be  placed 
a  flint  manufactory  that  was  discovered  in  the  moss  not  far 
from  the  large  groups  of  Petroglyphs.  I  did  not  see  it ;  but  we 
have  some  flakes  of  flint  and  flint  scrapers  that  came  from  it : 
as  far  as  I  can  learn,  it  was  a  small  pit,  narrower  at  the  bottom 
than  the  top ;  the  remains  of  an  oak-stump  was  close  to  it.  I 
did  not  hear  of  any  tool  being  found  there;  and  as  the  place  was 
discovered  by  a  labourer,  who  appropriated  the  flint  to  strike 
fire  for  his  pipe,  there  may  have  been  all  the  requisite  tools. 

The  fiint  was  in  large  flakes,  very  like  the  flint  that  is  brought 
over  here  from  Ireland ;  the  flakes  had  been  prepared  and  care- 
fully broken  off  from  the  mass,  with  the  view  of  making  scrapers 
and  other  implements;  they  were  long,  narrow,  and  thin. 
Several  implements  were  found  in  various  stages  of  perfection ; 
I  believe  the  quantity  found  was  very  great.  If  this  spot  had 
been  examined  by  some  one  who  understood  the  matter,  it  would 
have  been  a  most  interesting  dbcovery. 

Several  deposits  of  flint  have  been  found  in  various  spots, 
though  I  believe  without  signs  of  a  dweUing ;  several  dozens  of 
rough  pieces,  of  the  size  and  shape  to  make  scrapers,  were  found 
in  draining  a  deep  moss.  Another  lot  was  found  in  the  hills ; 
but  unfortunately  I  never  hear  of  these  things  till  a  short  time 
afterwards,  and  then  I  am  not  able  to  ascertain  the  exact  spot. 
As  we  have  no  flint  anywhere  about  here,  the  flakes  must  have 
been  imported  ready  for  use. 

I  have  very  little  to  say  about  the  implements  that  have  been 
preserved  from  this  locality,  as  most  of  them  were  taken  away 
some  years  ago. 

The  flint  implements  seem  to  be  of  two  characters ;  first, 
those  made  caretully  and  for  use,  and,  secondly,  those  imperfectly 
made  and  found  in  the  more  ordinary  cists.  A  few  articles 
that  have  been  found  elsewhere  than  in  cists  are  usually  elabo- 

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in  the  Neighbourhood  of  the  Crinan  Canal,  Argyllshire,      155 

rately  made.  In  the  cists^  those  found  in  the  chambered  sepul- 
chres were  beautifully  finished;  the  arrow-heads  were  exceedingly 
fine  and  delicate  and  of  somewhat  diflFerent  shapes.  The  scrapers 
from  the  other  chambered  tomb  were  also  very  well  made  and 
of  yarious  shapes^  so  that  I  cannot  suppose  that  ^'  shape  ^'  had 
any  thing  to  do  with  the  period  of  deposit.  The  people  seemed 
to  have  used  any  likely  bit  of  flint ;  for  we  have  found  pieces  of 
flint  of  no  regular  shape,  but  yet  nicely  chipped  on  the  edges, 
and  bearing  marks  of  having  been  used.  Those  in  the  commoner 
cists  are  very  rough,  and  seem  to  have  been  made  for  the  occa- 
sion, for  form's  sake,  hardly  fit  for  use. 

I  should  mention  that  unbumt  cows'  teeth  are  nearly  always 
found  in  the  cists,  and  in  such  positions  as  to  show  that  they 
were  placed  there  at  the  time  of  burial ;  they  are  not  foimd 
among  burnt  bones  of  animals,  as  if  a  part  of  a  funeral  feast, 
but  as  a  part  of  the  ceremonial. 

A  lump  of  white  quartz  is  another  article  nearly  always  foimd ; 
the  people  here  still  use  this  for  striking  fire  when  flint  cannot 
be  obtained.  The  frequency  of  this  gave  us  the  impression  of  its 
being  also  a  part  of  the  ceremonial,  perhaps  an  emblem  of  fire. 

The  urns  do  not  vary  much.  One  type  is  the  commonest,  in 
shape  somewhat  like  an  old-fashioned  finger-glass;  they  are 
better  baked  and  in  better  preservation  than  most  of  those  foimd 
by  Canon  Greenwell.  The  roughest  and  the  unusual  shapes 
are  found  in  solitary  cists,  without  cairns,  and  one  from  a  rough 
cist  in  a  circle  of  earth. 

Discussion. 

Dr.  Nicholas  observed  that  the  menhirs  (long  stones)  described 
in  the  paper  differed  from  those  which  he  had  examined  in  Brittany 
in  one  very  striking  respect ;  for,  judging  from  the  transverse  sections 

fiven  on  the  diagram-board,  they  had  evidently  been  formed  by 
uman  labour  into  a  regular  shape ;  and  it  was  difficult  even  to 
imagine  the  amount  of  labour  it  required,  with  such  tools  as  were 
then  in  use,  and  the  bard  materials  to  work  upon,  to  bring  those 
great  masses  of  rock  into  any  regular  form.  The  menhirs  of  Brit- 
tany (he  referred  especially  to  that  wonderful  assemblage  of  them  at 
and  near  Camac)  had  been  erected  as  they  were  found,  as  great 
boulders  or  masses  of  dislocated  rock.  Ko  effort  had  been  made  to 
give  them  any  uniformity  of  shape.  But  he  observed  on  many  of 
them  certain  stri©,  which  were  not  the  effects  of  the  action  of  glaciers 
or  icebergs,  but  seemed  to  be  the  work  of  human  hands.  It  was 
observable  that  this  paper  confirmed  the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Lukis  as 
to  the  sepulchral  character  of  most  of  these  gigantic  monuments  ;  but 
this  was  by  no  means  inconsistent  with  the  idea  that  they  had  also 
a  religious  significance. 

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156         George  Busk — On  an  Ancient  Chinese  Calva. 

Ordinary  Meeting,  Feb.  22iid,  1870. 
Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
New  Member, — ^Edward  Backhouse,  Esq. 
The  following  note  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XVIII.  Supplementary  Remarks  to  a  Note  on  an  Ancient 
Chinese  Calva.     By  George  Busk,  Esq.,  F.R.S. 

SiNCE.my  former  communication  was  read^  I  have  been  favoured 
through  Mr.  Mummery  with  some  additional  information  on  the 
subject  of  these  prepared  skulls  from  China,  derived  from  Mr. 
W.  Lockhart  and  Mr.  Swinhoe,  both  authorities  of  the  greatest 
weight  in  matters  connected  with  Chinese  customs. 

In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Mummery,  Mr.  Lockhart  observes  that  he 
has  been  informed  by  his  friend  Mr.  Wylie  that  the  frx>ntal  let- 
ter is  the  Tibetan  character  for  the  vowel  sound  a  as  m  father j 
and  that  it  is  also  used  as  a  numeral  for  thirty.  The  trefoil 
symbol  he  regards  probably  as  an  emblem  of  the  Buddhist 
Trinity.  Mr.  Wylie  is  of  opinion  that  the  skull  is  of  Mongol 
origin,  and  was  taken  from  a  lama  temple  near  Peking. 

Mr.  Lockhart  himself  is  acquainted  only  with  the  lamds 
among  the  Mongols  and  Tibetans  at  Peking;  and  says  that  the 
cadets  of  the  families  of  the  Mongol  Princes  are  often  made  into 
Lamas  or  Priests,  and  retained  at  Peking  in  monasteries  at  the 
public  expense  as  hostages  for  the  fealty  of  the  other  members 
of  the  family. 

As  Mr.  Wylie's  opinion,  above  cited,  appeared  to  cast  some 
doubt  upon  the  statement  that  the  gold-mounted  calva  had  been 
taken  at  the  sack  of  the  Summer  Palace,  I  endeavoured  to 
ascertain  from  Mr.  Lockhart  the  probable  grounds  upon  which 
it  was  founded,  and  he  was  good  enough  to  procure  from  Mr. 
Swinhoe  the  following  interesting  particulars. 

Mr.  Swinhoe  writes,  "  that  when  the  British  army  was  lying 
oflf  the  North  Wall  of  Peking,  the  military  train  were  housed 
in  the  'Hih-Sze'  (a  Lama  Temple).  I  went  there,^'  he  says, 
^'  and  saw  in  the  inner  shrine  two  of  the  gold-mounted  calvarim 
in  question.  Each  was  a  skull  of  itself,  without  the  lower  jaw 
and  the  teeth  of  the  upper.  The  skull  was  cut  in  two,  so  that 
the  crown  lifted  off;  and  both  the  upper  and  lower  portions  of 
the  skull  thus  divided  were  lined  with  gold.  This  temple  was  a 
purely  Tibetian  one,  where  the  priests  spoke  no  Chinese,  and  I 
could  get  no  information  from  them.  It  was  full  of  designs  of 
skulls  and  bones  on  hanging  cloths  ranged  round  the  Central 
Hall,  and  was  filled  with  ^Avenging  Gods;'  and  I  was  of  the 

•  Journ.  Ethn.  Soc.  vol.  ii.  p.  73. 

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C.  MoNRMAN — Discoveries  in  Recent  Deposits.  157 

opinion  that  the  skulls  were  those  of  enemies  slain  by  the  Ti- 
betans. The  calvaruB,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  were  used  for 
pouring  libations  into  the  fire  which  was  kept  burning  before  the 
shrine^.  I  heard  of  other  calvaria  being  found  in  other  parts 
of  the  same  temple ;  but  I  myself  only  saw  the  two  above  men- 
tioned. As  soon  was  it  as  discovered  that  they  were  lined  with 
the  precious  metal  they  became  objects  of  theft  and  concealment, 
BO  that  there  was  no  seeing  any  more  of  them.  I  did  not  hear 
of  any  having  been  found  in  the  '  Yuen-ming-yuen.^  The  gold- 
mounted  ones  would  probably  be  the  skulls  of  prominent  ene- 
mies, whilst  those  lined  with  copper  might  be  those  of  inferior 
chieftains.^' 

From  the  above  description  of  the  two  gold-mounted  skulls  seen 
by  Mr.  Swinhoe  in  the  Buddhist  temple,  it  would  appear  scarcely 
probable  that  either  of  them  could  have  been  that  which  was 
exhibited  on  the  last  occasion,  and  which  consisted  solely  of  the 
calva  or  upper  portion  of  the  skull.  Consequently,  if  Mr.  Swinhoe 
in  his,  perhaps  hurried,  view  was  not  deceived  in  what  he  saw  of* 
the  mounted  skulls,  and  did  not  mistake  the  gold  lid  or  cover  for 
a  second  portion  of  the  calvaria,  it  would  appear  that  the  Tibe- 
tan or  Chinese  Buddhists  are  in  the  habit  of  preparing  skulls  in 
two  different  manners.  But  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  absence  of 
further  evidence  to  the  contrary,  more  probable  that  Mr.  Swin- 
hoe may  have  been  deceived,  and  that  the  specimen  exhibited  in 
1862  was  in  all  probability  one  of  those  seen  by  him  in  the 
temple  of  "  Hih-Sze.'' 

Mr.  Lockhart  has  also  been  kind  enough  to  afford  me  the 
opportunity  for  exhibiting  a  second  calva  prepared  in  the  same 
way  as  the  former,  and  like  that,  as  I  am  informed,  mounted  on 
a  tripod  stand  and  furnished  with  a  lid.  There  is,  however,  this 
important  difference,  that  the  lining  and  rest  of  the  mount- 
ings are  of  copper  instead  of  gold,  and  that  neither  the  metal  nor 
the  bone  is  sculptured.  The  skull  itself  in  the  present  instance 
is  rather  larger  and  considerably  thicker,  and  with  stronger 
muscular  impressions  than  the  former  one,  but  otherwise  of  the 
same  shape  and  proportions. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Assistant-Secre- 
tary:— 

XIX.  On  Discoveries  in  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire. 
By  C.  MoNKMAN,  Esq. 

The  following  paper  contains  a  record  of  discoveries  of  the 
later  prehistoric  period  in  Yorkshire.      The  districts,  lying 

♦  This  is  in  curioua  accordance  with  what  Livy  states  respecting  the  JBoii, 

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158  C.  MoNKMAN — On  Discoveries 

wide,  are  taken  in  separate  sections,  viz. — I.  The  Kelsea-Hill 
Clay;  II.  The  York  Sands;  and.  III.  The  Vale  of  Pickering. 

I.  The  Kelsea^mU  Clay. 

The  discovery  of  "struck-off^^  flints,  since  1864  (some  of 
which  show  chipping  and  sign  of  use),  in  the  clay  of  Kelsea 
Hill  (then  supposed  to  be  the  postglacial  ^'Hessle^^  clay),  in 
the  East  Biding  of  Yorkshire,  has  lately  aroused  considerable 
attention.  The  occurrence  of  the  flint  flakes  and  tools  in  this 
early  clay  was  first  observed  by  Mr.  J.  R.  Mortimer,  of  Pimber ; 
but  it  was  not  until  midsummer  of  1868  that  a  systematic 
search  was  instituted.  In  December  of  the  same  year  I 
accompanied  Mr.  Mortimer  to  the  place,  and  we  were  rewarded 
by  the  discovery  of  "  hand-struck  "  flints,  protruding  from  the 
clay  at  various  depths.  One  implement  was  half  of  a  "  finger- 
flint"  or  "  flaking-tool,"  chipped  finely  along  the  edges,  and 
smoothed  at  the  end  by  use  (PL  XV.  fig.  1).  This  was  picked 
*  down  from  the  face  of  the  day  cliflp  by  Mr.  Mortimer,  who,  as 
well  as  I,  saw  it  protruding  at  a  depth  of  fully  five  feet  irom 
the  surface.  This  is  the  best  chipped  tool  yet  found,  the 
remainder  being  cores,  one  of  which  shows  seventeen  facets 
(fig.  2)  ;  and  struck-off  flakes  of  all  shapes,  from  the  most 
delicate  to  the  coarsest,  some  of  which  latter  have  been  worked 
into  '^  scrapers  ^^  (figs.  3,  4,  5).  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
Kelsea  Hill,  near  Keyingham,  in  Holdemess,  where  the  flints 
are  found,  is  fast  disappearing,  the  North-Eastem  Railway 
Company^s  ballast-pit  being  there.  The  flints  have  become 
rare,  the  main  yielding  site  having  been  already  taken  away. 

The  "  Hessle  clay,"  of  which  the  flint-yielding  deposit  at 
Kelsea  Hill  was  at  first  supposed  to  be  a  part,  is  so  named 
from  the  evidence  furnished  at  Hessle  on  the  Humber,  near 
Hull,  of  the  overlap  and  unconformity  of  this  clay  to  the  true 
boulder-clay  of  Holderness ;  and  the  world  is  indebted  to  Mr. 
Searles  V.  Wood,  jun.,  F.G.S.,  and  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Rome,  F.G.S., 
for  the  knowledge  of  its  existence  as  a  separate  and  distinct 
deposit,  and  of  its  position,  relative  to  the  glacial  series,  as  a 
postglacial  formation  ^. 

The  fact  that  the  flint-bearing  clay  of  Kelsea  Hill  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Hessle-clay  series,  which  clay  caps  the  hill,  was 
completely  made  out  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  Sir  Charles 
Lyell,  Bart.,  to  the  East  Riding,  in  the  spring  of  1869.  Pre- 
viously the  Rev.  J.  L.  Rome  had  paid  a  hurried  visit  to  the 
pit,  in  company  with  Mr.  Symonds ;  and  the  aspect  of  the  cliff 
suggested  a  suspicion  that  the  stiff,  flint-yielding  clay  which 
remained  on  the  west  side  of  the  pit  was  quite  different  from 
•  See  paper  in  Quart.  Joum.  Qeol.  Soc.  Lond.  vol.  xxiv. 


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in  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire.  159 

the  true  Hessle-clay  capping  on  the  face  of  the  pit  which  looks 
south.  The  latter  had  the  unfailing  characteristics  of  the 
Hessle  clay, — the  blue  or  ash-coloured  fracture,  and  the 
pyramidal-shaped  blocks  into  which  it  breaks.  The  former 
wanted  these;  and  a  more  leisurely  visit  and  examination 
confirmed  the  suspicion  that  the  flint-yielding  clay  represents 
a  very  difiPerent  condition  of  things  from  that  represented  by 
the  Hessle  clay,  and  may  belong  to  any  part  of  the  later  pre- 
historic epoch.  Mr.  Rome  called  the  attention  of  Sir  Charles 
Lyell  to  the  difference  iu  the  two  clays,  who  entirely  agreed 
that,  while  one  was  the  true  Hessle  clay,  the  other  was  not 
(fig.  6) .  How,  then,  was  the  flint-bearing  clay  to  be  accounted 
for  ?  Sir  Charles  Lyell  and  Mr.  Rome  concur  in  this  answer : 
they  think  the  flint-bearing  clay  to  be  a  wash  from  old  Kelsea 
HiU,  which  has  now  (from  railway  needs)  disappeared,  the  top 
of  which  used  to  be  as  high  as  the  vane  of  Keyingham  church- 
steeple  on  the  opposite  hill.  In  recent  times,  and  traditionally, 
old  Kelsea  HiU  was  a  place  of  popular  resort,  where  feasts  and 
games  were  held.  It  would  probably  have  similar  attractions 
in  the  later  prehistoric  times  * ;  and  on  its  green  slopes,  or  on 
the  wave-like  ridges  at  its  foot  (such  a  one  as  now,  in  part, 
remains  on  the  western  side  of  the  pit,  where  Mr.  Mortimer 
and  I  made  our  discoveries),  the  old  flint-usiug  folks  played 
their  games  and  chipped  their  flints.  In  the  course  of  a 
lengthened  period  these  chippings,  and  with  them  occasional 
worked  flints,  were  covered  by  the  derivative  clay,  formed  by 
the  washings  of  the  Hessle  clay  proper  on  the  hill-top ;  and, 
instead  of  their  being  of  that  enormous  age  first  supposed,  they 
may  be  in  reality  no  older  than  the  flints  from  the  York  sands, 
or  from  the  Ryedale  fluviatile  beds,  afterwards  to  be  mentioned. 
Thus  the  opinion  expressed  at  the  time  by  Mr.  John  Evans, 
'^  that  the  sands  and  clays  at  York  and  Kelsea  are  either  of  very 
recent  age,  as  compared  with  the  old  river-gravels,  or  that  the 
implements  found  in  them  are  not  of  the  same  age  as  the  beds,'' 
is  frdly  borne  out.  The  implements  from  Kelsea  are,  as  Mr. 
Evans  further  observed,  "  identical  in  character  with  the  stone 
implements  found  on  the  surface,  and  which  probably  remained 
in  use,  at  all  events,  as  late  as  3000  years  ago,  if  not  to  consi- 
derably later  times.''  The  flints  are  certainly  not  insertions ; 
they  are  found  at  all  depths,  without  any  regard  to  the  law  of 
gravitation. 

II.  The  York  Sands. 
A  large  find  of  flint  implements  occurred  in  the  York  sands 
in  the  autumn  of  1868,  while  the  men  of  the  North-Eastem 

•  The  Rev.  William  Greenwell  suggests  that  the  place  may  have  been 
used  for  defensive  purposes,  and  so  contain  signs  of  occupation.  " 


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160  C.  MoNKMAN* — On  Discoveries 

Railway  Company  were  excavating^  on  the  east  of  the  line^  for 
the  erection  of  new  gas-works  about  one  mile  north  of  York. 
Unfortunately  I  did  not  bear  of  the  discovery  till  the  end  of  the 
year,  by  which  time,  if  recent  reports  are  to  be  relied  on,  most 
of  the  implements  had  become  dispersed,  and,  except  in  one 
case,  cannot  now  be  traced.  Fortunately  the  resident  engineer, 
Mr.  Thomas  Cabry,  had  secured  part  of  the  find,  and  these  he 
presented  to  me.  They  are  one  stone  adze  (PL  XV.  fig.  7),  one 
fiiie  flint  hatchet  (fig.  11),  four  oval  flint  knives  or  spear-heads 
(figs.  8,  9,  10,  12),  and  two  flint  flakes  (figs.  13,  14).  The 
implements  were  described  to  me  by  the  Rev.  J.  L.  Rome,  who 
first  saw  them  and  the  place,  as  having  come  out  of  the  undis- 
turbed sands  of  the  postglacial  Ouse,  of  the  wide-river  period ; 
and  thus,  as  their  type  is  neolithic,  there  arose  an  archaeological 
puzzle  to  solve.  On  visiting  the  place  with  Mr.  Sharpe,  an 
engineer  in  Mr.  Cabry's  department,  who  had  charge  of  the 
works,  and  in  whose  presence  part  of  the  find  took  place,  I 
found  the  bank  had  been  remov^  for  some  distance  beyond  the 
point  where  the  implements  were  deposited ;  but  the  remaining 
face  showed  that  the  sand-beds  contained  horizontal  bands  of 
marly  clay,  indicating  a  still-water  deposition,  in  one  of  which 
bandfi  the  implements  were  imbedded,  about  five  feet  above  the 
present  railway  level,  and  therefore  from  nine  to  ten  feet  below 
the  former  surface  (fig.  15.)  Singularly,  the  whole  of  the 
flints  were  close  together,  as  if  carefully  deposited  in  one  heap, 
it  being,  however,  stated  that  no  sign  of  disturbance  was  visible 
in  the  overlying  beds  of  loamy  clay  and  sand.  Had  the  imple- 
ments been  of  a  palieolithic  type,  their  presence  there,  as  having 
been  contemporaneously  deposited  with  the  sands,  could  have 
been  understood.  Subsequently  the  Rev.  Canon  Green  well, 
the  Rev.  J.  Robertson,  Mr.  G.  W.  Slater,  and  Mr.  Sharpe 
accompanied  me  to  the  place,  and  we  were  met  there  by  the 
''ganger^'  (or  foreman  of  the  workmen  when  the  find  was 
made),  who  gave  his  version,  differing  only  slightly  from  that  of 
Mr.  Sharpe.  So  far  as  the  evidence  went,  we  could  not  make 
out  that  any  sign  of  disturbance  had  been  noticed,  nor  had  any 
discoloration  of  the  upper  sand,  or  the  presence  of  other  manu- 
factured articles  than  the  flints  (which  would  have  shown  a  later 
insertion  in  the  beds),  been  observed.  The  ganger  particularly 
remembered  that,  at  the  time,  there  was  a  patch  of  rough  gravel 
near  the  top,  which  did  not  show  any  sign  of  having  been  broken 
through. 

The  difficulty  of  receiving  the  alleged  contemporaneousness 
of  the  deposit  of  the  sands  and  implements  is  this  : — first,  the 
implements  are  neolithic  in  type,  the  axes  being  ground  and 
polished,  and  are  therefore  without  precedent  as  belonging  to  the 

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in  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire.  161 

deposits  of  the  wide-river  period ;  secondly^  they  are  not  in  any 
d^^reeiirater-wom^  but  are,  on  the  contrary,  beautifully  fresh  and 
sharp,  and  have  evidently  never  been  in  use  (one  of  the  knives 
has  lost  its  point),  which  facts,  taken  in  connexion  with  their 
being  found  together,  indicate  an  insertion  subsequent  to  the 
sand-bed  deposition ;  and,  thirdly,  no  archseologist  or  geologist 
saw  the  implements  in  situ. 

The  nature  of  the  sands  is  described  by  Mr.  Borne.  "  The 
beds,"  says  that  gentleman,  "  are  not  drift  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  there  being  no  trace  of  drifted  materials  of  any  kind. 
When  I  first  saw  the  section  from  the  railway-train,  I  thought 
it  had  a  '  Hessle  clay'  aspect;  and  it  was  this  impression  which 
led  me  to  visit  the  place,  and  to  the  discovery  of  the  implements 
in  the  engineer's  ofBice.  The  actual  inspection  of  the  section 
showed  me  at  once  that  the  deposit  did  not  belong  to  the  series 
of  the  Hessle  beds  (deposited  when  the  vale  of  York  was  an 
inland  sea),  but  to  a  much  later  period,  when  that  old  post- 
glacial sea-bed  had  become  dry  land  and  the  present  river 
system  had  become  established.  In  the  absence  of  freshwater 
shells  it  may  seem  presumptuous  to  express  a  positive  opinion ; 
but  I  think  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  hill  through 
which  the  railway  cuts  is  a  sand-bank  of  the  later  prehistoric 
Onse,  which  was  much  larger  and  broader  than  the  historic  and 
present  river  of  that  name.''  Mr.  Sharpe  has  kindly  obtained 
for  me  the  measurements,  which  give  the  height  of  the  find 
above  the  present  river-level  at  26  feet,  and  the  distance  from 
the  river  396  yards,  the  intervening  distance  being  of  similar 
sand-hiUs,  and  the  flat,  low-lying  fluviatile  clay  of  the  Ouse. 

When  the  implements  were  given  to  me  by  Mr.  Cabry,  I  was 
under  the  impression  that  I  had  received  the  whole  of  the  find, 
Mr.  Rome  restoring  one,  which  he  had  taken  (the  broken  one) 
in  order  to  make  the  collection  complete.  I  have  since  dis- 
covered that  my  flints  represent  only  one-half  of  what  are  now 
known  to  have  come  from  the  sand-bed,  and  but  a  very  small 
part  of  what  we  are  now  asked  to  believe  were  found.  I 
learned  that  Mr.  Ed.  Allen,  of  York,  possessed  flints  from  this 
same  sand-bed,  and  that  gentleman  has  permitted  me  to  see 
them  and  to  take  outlines.  His  collection  is  all  of  flint,  and 
contains  two  axes  (one  a  very  fine  specimen  of  a  ground  imple- 
ment), three  roear-heads  or  knives,  two  chipped  scrapers,  and 
eleven  large  flakes;  but  they  are  not  equal  in  beauty,  as  a 
whole,  to  laose  in  my  possession,  though  fully  as  perfect,  and 
quite  unused.  Mr.  Allen  has  obtained  a  somewhat  difierent 
version  of  the  find  from  the  men,  and  the  new  statement  is  so 
remarkable  that  I  will  record  it  in  his  own  words.  In  a  letter, 
under   date  Nov.    15,    1869,   Mr.   Allen   writes: — '* Thomas 

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162  C.  MoNKMAN — On  Discoveries 

Chapman^  foreman  of  the  workmen^  and  Martin'  Hughes, 
labourer,  who  were  present  when  the  discovery  was  made, 
inform  me  that  the  flints  were  fonnd  in  a  sand-bed  buried 
about  six  or  seven  feet  below  the  surface,  and  lying  in  a  space 
of  not  more  than  two  feet  in  diameter.  7%ere  were  from  fourteen 
to  twenty  axe-heads,  many  spear-heads,  atid  at  least  a  bushel  of 
flakes*.  Most  of  the  axes  and  spear-heads  were  sent  to  Mr. 
Cabry's  ofBice.  The  flakes  were  not  thought  of  any  value,  and 
were  removed  along  with  the  sand,  and  used  as  ballast  for  the 
line.  No  other  flints  were  found  in  the  neighbourhood,  although 
the  sand  was  excavated  to  some  depth,  and  removed  for  several 
hundred  yards.  Chapman,  the  foreman,  states  positively  that 
there  was  a  layer  of  gravel  over  the  flints,  which  was  not  found 
in  any  other  part,  and  he  has  no  doubt  that  it  was  used  to  fill 
up  the  hole  in  which  the  flints  were  deposited'^  f.  Mr.  Allen 
further  informs  me  that  he  obtained  most  of  his  specimens 
from  the  man,  Martin  Hughes,  who  was  working  next  to  the 
man  who  made  the  discovery,  and  also  suggests  that  the  deposit 
was  the  hoard  of  a  manufacturer  of,  or  dealer  in  flint  weapons. 

I  may  remark  that,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Charles  Cabry, 
I  have  tried  to  discover  the  whereabouts  of  the  remaining  axes 
and  spear-heads  said  to  have  gone  to  the  engineer's  office,  but, 
beyond  those  in  my  possession,  none  can  be  traced.  Mr.  ^ 
Allen's  collection  and  mine  represent  only  four  axes  out  of 
"14  or  20,"  only  seven  of  the  "many  spear-heads"  are 
accounted  for,  and  but  thirteen  out  of  the  "  bushel  of  flakes  " 
have  been  obtained.  It  seems  likely  that  the  flints  I  received 
from  Mr.  Cabry  were  magnified  into  the  incredible  number 
mentioned  by  the  men,  and  that  Mr.  Allen's  collection  and 
mine  really  include  the  whole  find — ^important  enough,  cer- 
tainly. 

There  is  another  fact  of  interest  in  connexion  with  the  York 
sands.  Mr.  James  Cook,  of  Holgate  Lane,  York  (a  gentleman 
who  has  devoted  a  long  life  to  the  collection  of  antiquities),  in 
the  year  1847  picked  up  a  fine  stone  axe  fifom  the  sand-bed 
adjoining  the  Ouse  at  York,  near  where  the  Scarborough 
Railway  crosses  that  river.  The  axe  had  1)een  buried  in  the 
sand,  but  had  been  thrown  out  in  excavation  for  railway  works, 
and  therefore  no  further  details  could  be  obtained.  The  place 
where  Mr.  Cook's  axe  was  found  and  the  site  of  the  gas-works' 
discovery  are,  perhaps,  a  mile  apart,  but  the  beds  are  in  every 
respect  similar  deposits. 

*  This  statement  has  recently  been  read  to  the  members  of  the  Yorkshire 
Philoeophical  Society. 

t  This  version  diners  in  some  measure  from  the  information  given  to  my 
friends  and  to  me,  when  inquiring  on  the  spot 


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in  Recent  Deporits  in  Yorkshire.  163 

« 

III.  7%tf  Vale  of  Pickering. 

Lying  between  the  Wolds  and  the  Howardian  Hills  on  the 
souths  and  the  North  Riding  Moors  on  the  north,  is  the  large 
basin  known  as  the  Vale  of  Pickering,  tapering  almost  to  a 
point  at  Helmsley  on  the  west,  and  at  Filey  on  the  east,  being 
thirty  miles  in  length.  A  line  of  eight  miles,  drawn  north  and 
sonth,  from  Pickering  to  Malton,  where  the  vale  is  the  widest, 
divides  the  basin  into  two  nearly  equal  parts,  the  western  half, 
to  Helmsley,  being  drained  by  the  Rye  and  its  tributaries,  and 
from  this  called  '^  Ryedale,''  and  the  eastern  half  being  drained 
by  the  Upper  Derwent  and  its  tributaries,  and  so  called  the 
'^Derwent  valley .''  These  rivers  run  (in  opposite  directions) 
to  near  Malton,  and,  uniting,  drain  the  greatest  part  of  North- 
Eastem  Yorkshire.  Even  now  these  rivers  and  their  contri- 
butaries  are  subject  to  high  fioodings,  and  swell,  from  compara* 
tively  small  streauMs,  to  large  rivers,  some  of  a  quarter  to  half  a 
mile  in  width.  A  high  flood  is  estimated  to  submerge  32  square 
miles^,  and  this  land  is  known  in  Ryedale  as  ^^  ings,''  and  in 
the  Derwent  valley  as  '^  carrs.''  The  same  names  are  given  to 
flat  tracts,  out  of  reach  of  flood  now,  but  which,  within  the 
human  period,  have  been  the  beds  of  laige  streams,  when  in 
fact  the  Yale  of  Pickering  was  little  less  than  one  vast  lake. 
These -low-lying,  flat  tracts  have  now  from  3  to  5  feet  of  fluvia- 
tile  deposits,  locaUy  known  as  the  "  river-clay ,*'  which  in  the 
western  and  higher  parts  of  Ryedale  are  really  clay  derived  from 
the  glacial  deposits,  but  which  as  Malton  is  approached  become 
peaty  and  fibrous,  and  in  going  eastward  up  the  Derwent  from 
Malton,  getting  more  and  more  so  until  near  Filey,  where  they 
are  lacustrine  peat,  pure  and  simple,  and  of  unknown  depth. 
Belting  the  wolds  and  moors  are  beds  of  sand,  indicating  the 
shore  of  the  Vale  of  Pickering  in  the  wide-river  period;  and  in 
the  heart  of  the  vale,  in  the  Ryedale  half  particularly,  are 
numerous  prominences  of  glacial  date,  to  which  the  Saxon  name 
of ''  Holm,''  indicating  the  land  among  the  waters,  is  yet  applied. 
It  is  around  these  holms,  and  along  the  fiat,  ancient  river- 
deposits,  that  the  earlier  stone  antiquities  of  the  district  have 
been  found.  On  the  hills,  the  surface  soil  in  parts  abounds  with 
them,  but  in  the  valley  they  are  met  with  at  depths  varying 
with  the  thickness  of  the  clayey  accumulations,  from  3  ft.  to  5  ft. 
being  mostly  the  rule.  Some  are  foimd  among  the  gravel  of 
the  ancient  river-bed,  others  are  midway  in  the  fiuviatile  day 
deposit,  and  some  are  almost  at  the  surface  and  turn  up  with 
the  plough;  in  short,  they  are  discovered  at  all  depths,  and 
have,  like  the  Kelsea-Hill  flints,  been  lost  or  deposited  at  widely 

*  Malton  Messenger's  Leader,  Feb.  2, 1867. 

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164  C.  MoNKMAN — On  Discoveries 

differing  dates.  The  frequency  with  which  remains  of  the  later 
stone  period  have  been  met  with  during  the  past  six  years  (since 
they  have  been  looked  for^  and  the  labourers  have  been  educated 
to  recognize  their  forms  and  value)  is  surprising.  The  district 
seems  full  of  the  relics  of  the  ancient  people  who  inhabited  the 
hills^  and  came  down  into  the  valleys  on  himting  or  other 
expeditions.  The  axes^  when  founds  have  often  the  signs  of 
violent  use  upon  them ;  but  in  some  instances  they  have  been 
dug  out  quite  perfect^  and  in  two  or  three  cases  of  unusually 
large  size,  and  of  peculiar  form.  They  present  widely  different 
appearances.  Some  are  chipped  out  roughly,  and  ground  to  a 
cutting  edge,  with  the  least  amount  of  expended  labour  to 
answer  the  intended  use ;  others,  on  the  contrary,  are  ground 
over  their  whole  surface,  and  to  the  greatest  exactness  of  form. 
They  are  all  of  the  stones  of  the  neighbourhood,  gathered  from 
the  denuded  slopes,  or  extracted  from  the  boulder-clay,  and 
therefore  show  a  great  variety  of  the  early  rocks.  According 
to  the  position  in  which  they  are  foimd  their  surfaces  are 
affected.  Some,  in  sand  or  clay,  retain  their  polish  as  if  made 
yesterday;  others,  from  limestone  gravel,  are  thickly  coated 
with  lime  accretions ;  and  when  from  a  ferruginous  band,  the 
weapons  are  stained  of  a  deep  Indian-red  tint.  Singularly  no 
flint  axe  has  yet  been  found  in  Ryedale  or  in  the  Derwent 
valley,  the  nearest  approach  being  a  lump  of  flint  from  the  peat 
at  Flixton,  near  Filey,  which  is  in  my  possession  (PI.  XVI. 
fig.  8).  _ 

It  is  to  the  spirit  of  agricultural  improvement  now  going  on 
that  we  are  mainly  indebted  for  the  knowledge  of  the  early 
occupation  of  Ryedale,  and  for  the  discoveries  of  the  weapons. 
During  the  last  six  years  more  than  a  dozen  stone  axes  have 
passed  through  my  hands,  which  have  been  found  at  various 
depths,  and  in  most  instances  in  land-drainage  works.  In 
some  cases  the  implements  or  weapons  have  been  found  as  far 
back  as  twenty  years  ago,  and  have  been  retained  as  "  curious 
stones"  and  modem  ^'rockwork^'  ornaments.  "The  Ryedale 
axes  ^'  (for  Ryedale  has  been  most  prolific)  are  principally  in 
the  collections  of  the  Rev.  William  Greenwell,  Mr.  John  Evans, 
the  Rev.  J.  L.  Rome^  and  myself.  A  stray  one  or  two  has  got 
into  the  hands  of  the  curiosity  hunter. 

From  Slingsby,  in  Ryedale,  there  is  a  lateral  valley,  known 
as  the  Vale  of  Mowbray,  which  is  connected  with  the  great 
plain  of  York.  This  lesser  vale  has  the  same  geological  character ; 
and  the  subsidiary  valleys  of  the  Howardian  Hills  have  all 
deposits  of  the  ancient  wide-river  horizon,  and  have  yielded 
sparingly  similar  manufactured  remains.     This  valley  is  sepa- 

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til  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire,  165 

rated  from  Byedale  by  the  spur  of  the  Hambletons^  known  as 
"  Canlkless/'  on  which  flint  implements  and  ancient  earthworks 
are  found. 

The  first  event  which  led  me  to  regard  the  extensive  fluviatile 
deposits  of  the  district  as  weapon*  and  implement-yielding 
areas^  was  the  discovery,  early  in  1866,  during  drainage  opera- 
tions on  the  banks  of  the  Rye,  near  Byton,  of  a  very  good 
hammer-stone,  about  2  feet  deep  in  the  clay  (PI.  XVI.  fig.  9). 
This  is  a  pebble  of  a  fiat  egg-shape,  about  5  in.  long  and  3|  in. 
wide,  and  1|  in.  thick,  pierced  for  the  handle  with  great  care. 
Nothing  further  turned  up  until  1867,  when  the  group  of 
drainers  removed  to  the  Sleights'  Farm,  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Newsham  Bridge,  further  up  the  Bye.  Here  the  Rev.  J. 
Robertson  was  nearest  to  the  work,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  finding 
several  "used"  stones  (rubbers  or  poimders)  and  five  well- 
worked  flints,  all  of  a  red  colour  (figs.  2-6).  Singularly,  he 
had  not  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  an  axe.  The  flints  were 
from  3^  to  4  ft.  in  the  clay,  and  comprise  a  remarkably  fine 
lozenge-shaped  javelin-head,  about  2^  in.  long  (fig.  4),  a  leaf- 
shaped  arrow-point  (fig.  5),  and  three  arrow-points  of  the 
triangular  form  (figs.  2,  3,  6),  two  having  hollowed  bases 
(figs.  2,  6).  During  that  year,  and  indeed  during  each  winter 
since,  stone  axes  and  other  forms  of  weapon  have  been  obtained 
frt>m  the  drainers  and  labourers  in  the  vale,  either  found  in  the 
excavations  or  left  unobserved  upon  the  land.  One  of  the  latter 
class,  a  fine  Ume-coated  gouge  of  greenstone  (fig.  10),  was  so 
picked  up  by  Mr.  T.  E.  Satterthwaite  (Earl  Carlisle's  agent),  at 
Ganthorpe  bottoms,  near  Castle  Howard,  and  has  been  presented 
to  the  Bev.  William  Greenwell.  •  Of  the  many  others  which  I 
have  succeeded  in  obtaining,  the  best  specimens  are  those  now 
known  as  the  "  Normanby  axe  "  (fig.  11),  red  in  colour,  8  in.  in 
length,  found  in  the  bed  of  the  river  Severn  in  1864;  the 
"  GiUing  axe"  (fig.  12),  8  in.  long,  of  a  drab  colour,  found  in 
peaty  day,  4  ft.  deep,  in  1868 ;  and  the  "  Ness  axe,''  10  in.  long, 
found  in  the  clay  near  the  Bye  bank  (fig.  13.)  The  sections 
of  the  two  last  named  are  square,  or  oblong-square,  a  novel 
feature,  which  has  led  to  their  being  engraved  for  Mr.  Evans's 
forthcoming  book  on  stone  implements.  There  is  one  more 
tool  worthy  of  particular  mention,  viz.  a  pierced  stone  axe, 
6^  in.  long,  found  at  Sackleton  bottoms  in  1869  (fig.  14). 
All  the  four  relics  particularized  are  in  the  collection  of  Mr. 
Greenwell.  The  remainder  of  the  axes  found  in  Upper  Byedale 
are  of  the  ordinary  form,  and  mostly  of  small  size.  There  is  an 
exception,  however,  in  a  very  fine  three-edged  cutting  imple- 
ment, evidently  for  some  domestic  use,  possibly  a  knife  for 
skinning,  founanear  Harome,  which  is  also  in  Mr.  Green  well's 


Digitized  by  VjQOQ  IC 


166  C.  MoNKMAN — On  Discoveries 

collection  (fig.  15) ''^.  No  flint  axes  have  yet  been  found  in 
the  recent  clays  of  Upper  Ryedale;  but  in  the  valley  of  the 
Derwent  proper,  below  the  confluence  of  the  Rye  and  Derwent, 
from  the  brickfield  at  Norton,  near  Malton  (now  closed),  in 
the  angle  formed  by  the  intersection  of  the  Thirsk  and  the 
Scarborough  railways,  I  have  obtained  two  dark  flint  axes, 
found  between  8  and  4  feet  deep  (flgs.  16,  17).  One  is  over 
6  in.  long,  and  is  a  very  flne  specimen.  The  two  were  found 
together,  and  have  probably  been  formed  from  the  same  block 
of  flint.  At  a  corresponding  depth,  but  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river,  two  bone  pins  (figs.  18,  19)  and  two  flint  "  scrapers  " 
were  found.  These  were  2  to  8  feet  in  the  undisturbed 
clay,  which,  however,  was  overlain  by  3  to  4  feet  of  d&ris 
from  the  Roman  camp  at  Malton,  which  abounds  in  fragments 
of  Roman  pottery,  and  has  yielded  some  burials  of  Roman 
datet-  Going  eastward  into  the  peat  country  of  the  Upper 
Derwent,  the  finds  have  not  been  so  numerous.  They  are  not 
deserving  of  special  notice,  beyond  the  fact  that  the  axes  from 
the  peat  are  in  very  fine  preservation.  I  have  a  beautiful  one 
from  Scampston  (fig.  20),  which  has  for  some  years  been  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  J.  R.  Mortimer,  of  Fimber.  The  flakes  are  of  a 
red  colour  when  made  of  pure  flint,  but  some  are  of  a  peculiar 
cherty  stone  (figs.  1>  7).  The  main  finds  of  stone  implements 
have  been  made  at  Oanthorpe,  Sackleton^  Oilling,  Harome, 
Coxwold,  Ryton,  Kirby-Misperton,  Newsham  Bridge,  Ness, 
Norton,  Scampston,  and  Flixton;  but  there  are  others  not 
easily  traced. 

There  have  been  two  discoveries  of  human  remains  in  the 
day,  one  at  Kirby-Misperton,  the  other  at  Malton.  The  former 
occurred  at  Kirby-Misperton  in  July  1866,  while  cleansing  the 
lake  in  the  park.  The  skeleton  was  wonderfully  perfect,  and 
much  vivianitized ;  it  was  that  of  a  strong-made  man.  The 
body  had  evidently  been  contracted,  and  was  lying  on  the  left 
side,  with  the  head  to  the  east,  and  was  about  8  feet  below  the 
surface.  The  skull  (a  most  perfect  one)  is  dolichocephalic  in 
type;  7^  in,  greatest  length,  5^  in.  breadth,  and  5-|-|  in. 
height.  The  cephalic  index  gives  breadth  to  length  -72,  height 
'78.  The  skull  is  without  any  marked  peculiarity,  and  differs  in 
no  way  from  the  ordinary  Teutonic  head,  or  fit>m  many  of  those 

*  Since  this  paper  was  in  type  I  have  procured  another  curious  skinner 
from  the  same  district,  which  is  in  Mr.  Oreenwell's  collection.  It  may  be 
described  as  an  oblong  axe  or  chopper,  the  longest  side  being  around  to  a 
most  perfect  cutting-edge  of  considerable  len^pth.  On  one  face  is  a  depres- 
sion, and  on  the  opposite  &ce  are  two  depressions,  fitting  the  thumb  ana  two 
first  fingers  of  the  right  hand.    Mr.  Evans  will  engrave  the  implement 

t  The  skulls  are  in  Mr.  GreenwelFs  collection. 

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m  Recent  Deposits  in  Yorkshire.  167 

from  the  circular  tumuli  of  the  district.  The  latter  instance 
occurred  at  Malton  in  April  1866.  In  throwing  a  new  yiaduct 
across  the  Derwent^  the  North-Eaatem  Railway  Company  made 
three  attempts  to  reach  the  Kimmeridge  clay  beneath  the  bed 
of  the  river  east  of  Malton.  At  a  depth  of  10  feet  of  day 
(fluviatile)  and  3  ft.  of  sand  a  human  skeleton  was  founds  the 
skull  being  tjrpeless.  The  only  clue  as  to  date  lay  in  the  fact 
that  in  an  adjoining  coffer-dam,  at  about  the  same  depth,  an 
unomamented  and  very  rudely  made  earthen  vessel  was  found, 
&shioned  like  British,  but  burnt  as  hard  as  Roman  ware.  The 
third  struggle  against  the  water  brought  to  light  a  pair  of  bone 
pins  (doubtless  belonging  to  the  skeleton)  made  from  the  fibula 
of  a  red  deer,  and  at  a  depth  of  18  feet  underlying  the  human 
skeleton  were  found  the  antlers  of  a  red  deer,  some  vertebrae, 
and  a  femoral  bone.  These  were  by  the  side  of  an  immense 
oak  tree,  which  had  been  overturned  in  the  direction  of  the 
present  stream.  The  relics  were  all  sent  to  the  Rev.  W. 
Oreenwell. 

A  recent  discovery  of  consequence,  as  tending  to  show  the 
lake-like  nature  of  Ryedale  in  the  early  human  period,  is  that  of 
a  boat  or  canoe  on  the  farm  of  South  Holm.  This  was  struck 
by  the  plough  in  the  summer  of  1869  while  frirrow-draining. 
The  highest  part  was  more  than  a  foot  below  the  surfSeu^e,  and  the 
lowest  more  than  5  feet  into  the  fluviatile  clay.  The  boat,  on 
being  dug  out,  was  ''  snigged ''  off  to  a  stick-heap,  and  has  been 
partly  destroyed.  It  is  formed  fi*om  a  log  of  oak,  7  ft.  in  length, 
and  3  ft.  in  diameter;  the  hollowed  part  is  5  fl.  by  2  ft.  6  in., 
and  1  ft.  4  in.  deep.  The  relic  is  in  my  possession.  Subse- 
quently, in  the  same  district,  in  deepening  the  Slingsby  beck,  a 
large  nammer-stone  was  found ;  it  is  carefully  drilled  from  each 
side  (fig.  21).     The  implement  is  in  my  collection. 

The  latest  finds  of  interest  were  during  the  last  three  months 
of  1869.  The  Malton  Board  of  Health  drove  a  deep  cutting  (for 
drainage)  through  the  main  street  of  Old  Malton ;  this,  for  a 
long  distance,  was  below  the  river-bed,  and  showed  that  the 
Derwent  at  the  place  was  once  fully  fifty  yards  wider  than  at 
present.  In  throwing  out  the  old  river-bed,  surprising  quan- 
tities of  vivianitized  bones  of  the  horse,  ox,  dog,  sheep,  pig,  and 
some  birds  were  found,  but,  singularly,  all  detached.  In  no  case 
was  anything  approaching  a  skeleton  found.  The  only  traces 
of  human  occupation  met  with  were  two  bone  pins  and  half  of 
a  horse's  shoe  of  iron.  The  section  of  the  cutting  exhibited 
the  singular  fact  that,  since  the  period  when  these  bones  &c. 
were  deposited,  the  river  had  piled  up  more  than  15  feet  of 
alternating  beds  of  sands  and  clays — ^the  clays  retaining  the 
footprints  of  oxen  and  sheep  very  distinctly,  the  impressions 


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168  .  C.  MoNKMAN — On  Discoveries 

having  been  filled  up  and  preserved  by  the  succeeding  depoeitB 
of  sand. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES  XV.  Aitn  XVL 

Plate  XV. 

Fig.  1.  Half  of  a  fineer-flint  from  the  Kelsea-hill  daj.    i  aiie. 
2.  Flint  core,  with  17  facets,  from  ditto.    }  size. 
Sy  4,  6.  Flint  scrapere,  from  ditto.    }  size. 

6.  Sketch-section  of  KelseaHilL 

7.  Stone  adze,  from  the  York  sands.    |  size. 

8.  9, 10.  Flint  spear-heads,  from  ditto,    i  size. 

11.  Flint  hatchet,  from  ditto.    |  size. 

12.  Flint  spear-head,  from  ditto,    i  size. 
IS,  14.  Flint  flakes,  from  ditto,     i  size. 

15.  Section  of  the  railway-cutting  in  the  York  sands. 

Plate  XVL 

N.fi.  All  the  specimens  figured  in  this  Plate  are  from  the  river-day  of  the 
Vcue  of  Pickering,  Yorkshire. 

Fig.  1.  Flake  of  chert^  stone,  from  the  Upper  Derwent.    jt  size. 

2  to  6.  Worked  mnts,  from  Newsham  JBridge,  River  Rye.     ^  size. 

7.  Flake  of  cherty  stone,  from  the  Upp^i'  Derwent.    i  size. 

8.  Flint  from  peat  at  Flixton,  near  Filey.     I  size. 

9.  Hanuner-stone,  from  the  banks  of  the  Rye,  near  Ryton.     ^  size. 

10.  Qouffe  of  greenstone,  from  Ganthorpe  bottoms.    |  size. 

11.  The  Normanby  axe.    |  sLse. 

12.  The  Gilling  axe.    |  size. 

13.  The  Ness  axe.    ^  size. 

14  Perforated  stone  axe,  from  Sackleton  bottoms.    |  size. 

16.  Triangular  implement,  possibly  a  skinning  knife,  from  near  Harome. 

}  size. 
16, 17.  Flint  axes,  from  Norton,  near  Malton,  yalley  of  the  Derwent 

i  size, 
18,  19.  Bone  pins,  from  Ryedale.    }  size. 

20.  Stone  axe,  from  Scampston.    }  size. 

21.  Hammer-stone,  from  dlingsby  beck.    }  size. 

Discussion. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Floweb  obseryed  that,  of  the  several  implements 
exhibited,  there  was  not  one  that  could  possibir  be  attributed  to  the 

SalflBolithic  or  drift  type.  With  regard  to  those  which  had  been 
escribed  as  found  lying  together  under  a  solid  mass  of  gravel,  they 
were  in  all  probability  a  hoard,  or  part  of  a  hoard,  deposited  for  the 
purpose  of  concealment  by  the  maker  or  seller.  Two  of  the  imple- 
ments appeared  to  him  to  be  of  uncommon  form,  if  not  altogether 
unknown  elsewhere  in  England.  The  large  polished  axe,  squcured  at 
the  sides  (PI.  XVI.  fig.  13),  differed  decidedly  from  the  forms  usually 
found  in  England,  and  approached  closely  to,  although  not  identical 
with,  those  met  with  in  Denmark  and  Sweden.  The  bevelled  or 
gouge-shaped  axe  in  red  stone,  which  had  been  perforated  to  receive 
a  handle  (PL  XVI.  fig.  14),  appeared  to  him  to  be  perfectly  new.  The 
oval  disk-like  flints,  with  a  cutting-edge  all  round,  were  larger  and 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


Joum.  F.Lhao   So c.  Vol   U.  PJ  ^ 


Flints    from,   KtUea.  Hill   Cloff.    i  Svie 


Fig  6. 
KtUta.  mil 


*  ..»=•'''.!' 


^^^'  Vs4 

^^•■••■•v.^^^ 


■.'Ah'tt7i!l<i^>.^'liitu*^'- 


Kaihra^r 


K.Fhunt.  julding    Ciaj  :IfessU     CLaj  c.  Sanda  tc  Boulders 


Flints     from     York     Stuid    Beds    i   Size.     fN?  7  Storvt) 


Tig.  15 
York    Sand* 


a  1    r  ■  ^ 


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Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


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Pu^^tr    CU^  of  OtA    VaU    of   TUktruvg.  CM. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


in  Recent  Dytorits  in  Yorkshire.  169 

better  than  were  often  met  with.  They  were  probably  used  for 
Bhaping  or  catting  the  skinB  for  dresaes,  after  they  had  been  cleansed 
ana  prepared  by  the  flint  scrapers;  and,  indeed,  they  might  be  said 
to  bear  a  rude  and  distant  resemblance  to  implements  used  for  the 
like  purpose  by  leather-cutters  in  our  own  times. 

The  £ev.  J.  L.  Boms  remarked  that  as  none  of  the  persons  present 
on  the  occasion  of  discorering  the  neolithic  implements  in  beds  of 
the  wide-river  period  were  scientific  obserrers,  it  was  open  to  doubt 
whether  the  implements  were  there  from  original  deposition  or  from 
subsequent  disturbance  of  the  beds.  The  supposed  discovery  of  chip- 
ped flmts  in  the  Hessle  clay  of  Kelsea  Hill  oy  the  author  and  '^^, 
Mortimer  would,  if  real,  have  been  excessively  interesting,  because  it 
would  have  carried  back  the  human  epoch  much  further  than  any 
reliable  geologist,  even  of  the  most  advanced  school,  in  such  matters, 
had  furnished  geological  grounds  for  thinking  probable.  That,  how- 
ever, was  no  valid  reason  for  rejecting  the  supposed  discovery  by 
Messrs.  Monkman  and  Mortimer,  because  we  ought  to  follow  the  truth 
whithersoever  it  leads  us.  Mr.  Eome,  however,  detected,  on  his 
first  visit  to  Kelsea  Hill  afterwards,  that  a  much  later  wash  accumu- 
lated at  the  western  foot  of  the  now- vanished  hill  had  been  confounded 
with  the  Hessle  clay.  It  was  a  great  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Eome  that 
in  April  of  last  year  Sir  C.  Lyell  should  have  visited  Kelsea  Hill, 
and  snould  have  recognized  the  entire  distinction  between  the  true 
Hessle  clay  and  the  kter  wash  out  of  it,  in  which  the  chipped  flints 
were  founa. 

Mr.  Eome  also  idluded  to  the  correlation  between  the  Kelsea-Hill 
beds  and  the  Postglacial  Oyrena  beds  of  the  Thames  valley,  which 
had  been  suggested  by  Mr.  Wood  and  himself,  and  further  alluded 
to  Mr.  "Wood's  views  on  the  elevation  and  denudation  of  the  "Weald 
as  an  event  subsequent  to  the  formation  of  the  Thames  gravel- 
beds.  Could  this  view  be  substantiated,  the  archadological  interest 
excited  by  Mr.  Monkman*s  supposed  discovery  of  flints  in  the  Hessle 
day  would  be  revived  on  other  grounds ;  for  Colonel  Lane  Fox  is 
said  to  have  discovered  worked  flints  in  the  Thames  beds,  which, 
according  to  Messrs.  Wood  and  Eome,  are  the  equivalents  in  age  of 
the  Hessle-clay  series. 

Dr.  Nicholas  thought  that  the  statements  of  navvies  as  to  the 
exact  position  where  the  implements  were  found  ought  to  be  received 
with  great  caution  by  scientific  men,  especially  when  such  descrip- 
tions were  made  in  any  measure  the  basis  of  calculations  respecting 
the  age  of  their  deposit.  But  even  allowing  that  these  implements 
had  been  actually  found  at  the  rumoured  depth,  he  wished  to  point 
out  that  a  great  thickness  of  gravel  might  be  accumulated  in  a  short 
space  of  tiine.  Places  could  be  mentioned  where,  through  extraordi- 
nary floods,  the  channels  of  rivers  bad  in  a  day  or  two  been  changed 
from  one  part  of  a  valley  to  another,  and  the  old  bed  had  been  filled 
up  and  totally  obliterated  with  much  more  than  ten  feet  of  gravel,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  articles  might  be  found  which  conceivably  had 
only  been  made  a  year  before. 


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170  Dr.  Jaoob — On  the  Natives  of  Naga, 

The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Assistant-Secre- 
tary: — 

XX.  On  the  Natives  of  Naoa^  in  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands. 
By  Dr.  Jagor*. 

Naga  is  the  capital  of  South  Camarines,  the  see  of  a  bishop,  and 
the  seat  of  the  proyincial  govemment.  In  official  documents  it 
is  called  Nueva  Carceres,  a  name  given  in  honour  of  its  founder 
(1578),  Greneral  Don  F.  de  Sande,  who  was  bom  at  Carceres,  in 
Spain.  Formerly  Naga  was  the  capital  of  all  that  part  of 
Luzon  which  lies  east  of  Jayabes,  and  which,  as  the  population 
increased,  was  divided  into  the  three  provinces  of  North  and 
South  Camarines  and  Albay.  The  divisioDS  between  these 
governmental  districts  are  drawn  rather  arbitrarily,  especially 
that  between  Albay  and  South  Camarines;  while  the  entire 
region  has  well-defined  geographical  limits,  and  is  still  spoken 
of  as  a  whole  under  the  name  of  Camarines. 

It  is  inhabited  by  a  race  of  Bicol  Indians  who  differ  in  lan- 
gviage  and  in  other  respects  from  their  neighbours,  the  Tagals, 
in  the  west,  and  from  the  Bisayas  in  the  south  and  east.  They 
are  limited  to  this  district,  and  to  the  islands  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood.  As  a  rule  they  are  inferior  to  the  Tagals,  both 
physically  and  intellectually,  while  they  are  superior  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  eastern  Bisaya  Isles. 

Bicol  is  sj^ken  only  in  the  two  Camarines,  and  Albay  in 
Luzon,  and  m  the  islands  of  Alabate,  Burdas,  Ticao,  Catan- 
duanes,  and  the  small  neighbouring  isles.  It  is  found  in  greatest 
purity  among  the  natives  of  the  volcano  of  Isarog  and  its  imme- 
diate neighbourhood.  Passing  thence  to  the  west,  it  becomes 
gradually  more  like  Tagal,  so  that  even  in  Mambulao  it  contains 
more  Tagal  than  Bicol  words ;  while  to  the  east  it  gradually 
passes  into  Bisaya. 

It  will  be  sufficient  to  give  the  prevailing  features  in  the  life 
of  the  Bicol  Indians,  as  most  of  these  are  common  also  to  the 
Tagals  and  the  Bisayas. 

On  the  commencement  of  the  rainy  season  the  rice-culture  is 
undertaken.  In  South  Camarines  the  sowing  of  the  rice  in  beds 
begins  in  June  or  July,  according  to  the  commencement  of  the 
rain;  but  in  fields  that  are  artificially  irrigated,  it  is  begun 
earlier,  in  order  that  the  rice  may  ripen  at  a  time  when  the  stock 
in  the  country  is  but  small,  and  consequently  the  price  high. 
Although  the  fields  artificisdly  treated  might  well  furnish  two 
crops  annually,  they  are  sown  only  once;  they  are  neither 

«  Translated  and  abridged  from  the  German  manuscript  by  the  Asaistantr 
Secretary. 


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in  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands.  171 

manured  nor  ploughed^  but  the  mud  brought  down  from  the 
mountains  by  floods  in  the  rainy  season  serves  the  purpose  of 
manure. 

Some  peculiar  points  connected  with  the  harvest  deserve 
notice.  The  rice  which  first  ripens  is  cut  at  the  rate  of  ten  per 
cent. ;  that  is  to  say^  the  reaper  takes  the  tenth  bundle  for  his 
labour.  At  this  period  rice  is  very  scarce;  there  is  often 
poverty^  and  labour  is  cheap.  But  as  more  fields  become  ripe^ 
the  value  of  labour  increases^  and  the  wages  of  the  mower 
accordingly  rises  to  20,  30,  40,  or  even  50  per  cent. 

Besides  rice,  batates,  or  sweet  potatoes,  are  cultivated.  These 
grow  readily,  and  as  the  runners,  on  strUdng  root,  form  tubers, 
they  furnish  an  inexhaustible  supply  to  the  possessor  during  the 
whole  year. 

After  the  rice-harvest,  buffaloes,  horses,  and  oxen  are  turned 
into  the  fields.  During  the  growth  of  the  rice  they  remain  in 
the  gogondles*,  or  steppes,  which  are  formed  where  cleared 
places  are  left  for  the  culture  of  mountain-rice.  The  Indian 
does  not  fodder  his  cattle,  but  leaves  them  to  starve  if  they  can- 
not find  support  for  themselves.  In  the  wet  season,  it  not 
unfrequently  happens  that  a  buffalo,  while  drawing  a  load,  falls 
down  dead  £rom  sheer  hunger. 

According  to  Morgat>  there  was  neither  horse  nor  ass  in  the 
island  until  introduced  by  the  Spaniards  from  China  and  New 
Spain.  Horses  were  also  imported  from  Japan,  and,  although 
not  swift,  they  were  strong ;  they  had  large  heads,  thick  manes, 
and  somewhat  resembled  Frise  horses. 

The  cattle  are  small  and  well-flavoured,  but  the  Indians  prefer 
buffalo-meat  to  beef.  They  eat  meat,  however,  only  on  festive 
occasions,  and  commonly  subsist  on  fish,  crustaceans,,  mollusks, 
and  wild  plants,  with  rice. 

The  old  race  of  sheep  introduced  long  ago  by  the  Spaniards 
thrive  well  and  breed  freely;  but  it  is  said  that  those  brought 
from  Shanghai  and  Australia  do  not  thrive.  In  Manilla,  mutton 
is  to  be  had  daily;  but  in  the  interior,  especially  in  the  eastern 
provinces,  it  can  rarely  be  obtained,  although  sheep-breeding 
might  be  carried  on  without  difficulty  almost  anywhere,  and  in 
many  parts  to  great  advantage.  In  the  lai^er  districts,  where 
many  Europeans  dwell,  an  ox  is  slaughtered  daily,  or  at  least 
periodically;  but  in  more  insignificant  localities  there  is  no 
animal  food  but  that  of  fowls. 

Pork  is  eaten  by  the  Europeans  only  when  the  pig  is  home- 
fed.  In  order  to  prevent  it  from  straying,  the  pig  is  commonly 
put  into  a  cage  made  of  bamboo,  or  into  a  wide-meshed  cylin- 

*  Qogo  is  the  name  of  a  cane  from  7  to  8  feet  high  (SacdMrum,  8p.). 
t  Morga, '  Suoesos  de  las  Idas  I^ipinas/  Mexico,  1609,  p.  130. 


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172  Dr.  Jaoor — On  the  Natives  of  Naga, 

drical  baaket^  and  is  killed  when  it  grows  too  big  for  this  habi- 
tation. The  pigs  of  the  natives  are  too  disgusting  in  their 
habits  to  be  eaten  by  Europeans. 

The  province  exports  about  twice  as  much  rice  as  it  consumes. 
This  is  sent  chiefly  to  the  western  provinces  of  Albay,  which  is 
not  fitted  for  the  growth  of  rice^  but  produces  only  abaca^  or 
Indian  hemp.  A  part  goes  to  North  Camarines,  which  is  very 
mountainous  and  not  fertile. 

The  exports  of  the  province  consist  principally  of  rice  and 
abaca,  whilst  the  imports  are  limited  to  the  few  products  intro- 
duced  by  the  Chinese  merchants.  Nearly  all  the  traders  are 
Chinese ;  but  the  total  capital  invested  in  their  shops  certainly 
does  not  amount  to  200,000  dollars.  In  other  parts  of  the  pro- 
vince, there  are  no  Chinese  traders,  and  the  inhabitants  must 
be  supplied  £rom  Naga. 

All  the  land  belongs  to  the  state,  but  is  let  out  gratuitously 
to  any  one  who  will  cultivate  it.  The  usufruct  goes  to  the 
children  of  the  tenant,  and  only  reverts  when  the  land  has  hdn 
unused  for  two  years ;  it  is  then  at  the  disposal  of  the  autho- 
rities to  grant  it  in  favour  of  anyone  else. 

Each  family  possesses  its  own  house.  Usually  it  is  built  by 
the  young  husband  with  the  aid  of  his  firiends.  In  many  places 
it  does  not  cost  more  than  four  or  five  dollars.  When  neces- 
sary, he  can  repair  it  himself,  without  expense,  with  no  other 
tool  than  his  forest-knife  {bolo),  and  no  other  materials  than 
bamboos,  palm-leaves,  and  Spanish  reeds. 

A  handsome  house  built  of  planks,  for  the  family  of  a  cabeza, 
may  cost  about  100  dollars.  The  property  of  such  a  family, 
including  fixtures,  furniture,  ornaments,  &c.,  may  be  worth  from 
100  to  1000  dollars;  some  are  valued  at  even  10,000,  and  the 
richest  in  the  whole  province  is  estimated  at  40,000. 

The  Indian  eats  three  meals  daily,— one  at  7  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  another  at  2  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  third  at  7 
or  8  in  the  evening.  The  strongest  workmen  will  consume  at 
each  meal  a  chupa  of  rice,  but  ordinary  individuals  only  half  a 
chupa  at  breakfast,  an  entire  chupa  at  mid-day,  and  half  a  chupa 
in  the  evening;  making  in  all  two  chupas^.  The  average 
retail  price  is  3  cuartos  for  2  chupasf. 

For  each  meal  the  requisite  quantity  of  rice  is  pounded  in  a 
wooden  mortar  by  a  woman.  The  rice  is  only  half  cooked,  at 
least  according  to  our  notions ;  but  it  appears  that  this  is  always 
the  case  where  rice  forms  an  essential  article  of  diet. 

For  seasoning  the  Indian  uses  salt  and  a  good  deal  of  Spanish 
pepper  {Capsicum) ,  which  is  grown  everywhere.    His  luxuries  are 

•  8  chupsfisd  litres.  t  160  cuartossl  doUar. 

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in  Luzon,  Philippine  Islands.  173 

buyo  and  cigars.  A  dgar  costs  1  cuarto,  and  a  buyo  0*1  cuarto. 
Buyo  is  the  fonn  in  which  betel  is  used  in  the  Philippines.  A 
leaf  of  betel-pepper  {Chavica  betel)  is  spread  over  with  lime^  and 
rolled  together  from  both  sides  towards  the  middle^  one  end  of 
the  roll  being  stuck  into  the  other  so  as  to  form  a  ring,  in  which 
is  inserted  a  flat  piece  of  areca-nut  of  corresponding  size.  The 
cigars  are  rarely  used  for  smoking^  but  are  cut  into  pieces  and 
chewed  with  the  buyo.  Wom^n  also  consume  both  tobacco  and 
buyo^  but  usually  only  to  a  very  moderate  extent.  They  do  not 
colour  the  teeth  blacky  as  the  Malays  do^  but  the  young  and 
handsome  women  constantly  polish  them  with  the  husk  of  the 
areca-nut^  the  fibres  of  which  lie  parallel  and  close  together^  so 
as  to  form,  on  perpendicular  section,  an  excellent  tooth-brush. 
They  wash  several  times  daily,  and  in  cleanliness  far  excel  the 
great  majority  of  Europeans*. 

Probably  every  Indian  keeps  a  fighting-cock,  and  even  if  he 
has  nothing  to  eat  he  manages  to  find  money  enough  for  this. 

An  earthen  vessel,  costing  about  three  or  four  cuartos,  serves 
for  all  purposes  of  cooking.  The  poor  have  no  other  vessel,  but 
the  richer  have  cast-iron  pans  and  earthen  vessels  with  covers. 
The  fire-place  in  a  small  house  consists  of  a  flat  box,  often  an 
old  cigar-box,  filled  with  sand  and  containing  three  stones  to 
serve  as  a  tripod;  but  in  the  larger  houses  the  fire-place  has 
more  the  form  of  a  bedstead.  In  small  households  the  water 
is  stored  in  stout  bamboos.  Everybody  possesses  a  bolo,  or 
forest-knife — a  imiversal  instrument,  which  the  Indian  carries 
in  a  wooden  sheath  of  his  own  make,  and  slings  round  his  waist 
by  a  cord  made  of  some  bast-fibres  carelessly  twisted  together. 
A  rice-mortar  (a  hollowed  wooden  block)  and  a  grinder,  to- 
gether with  a  basket,  form  all  the  household  implements  of  a 
poor  family.  Sometimes  there  is  a  large  snail-shell,  with  a 
rush-wick,  to  serve  as  a  lamp. 

The  wages  of  an  ordinary  labourer  for  working  from  6  to  12 
o^dock  and  from  2  to  6,  is  1  real  and  no  food.  The  women 
usually  do  no  field-work ;  but  they  plant-out  the  rice  and  help 
to  get  it  in,  and  in  both  these  cases  they  have  the  same  wages 
as  men  would  receive.  Workers  in  wood  and  stone  earn  1^ 
real  per  day. 

In  the  old  pfieblos  there  are  schools.  The  teachers  are  paid 
by  the  Government,  and  usually  receive  2  dollars  per  month, 

*  In  my  '  Reiseakizzen '  (p.  120)  I  have  remarked  that  in  the  Malay  Archi- 
pelago Eoropeans  are  never  troubled  with  the  vermin  of  the  natives.  This  is 
especially  the  case  in  the  Philippines,  where  the  natives  (particularly  the 
women)  although  they  take  neat  care  with  their  hair,  are  often  infested, 
while  the  Spaniards,  althougn  offcen  neglectful,  are  probably  never  thus 
visited. 

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174  Dr.  Jaoor — On  the  Natives  ofNaga. 

without  either  board  or  lodging.  In  lai^er  pueblos  the  wages 
rise  to  3^  dollars ;  but  an  assistant  has  to  be  paid  out  of  this 
sum.  Beading  and  writing  are  taught;  copies  are  set  in 
Spanish^  and  the  teacher  is  supposed  to  speak  only  Spanish  to 
his  scholars^  but  he  often  does  not  understand  it  himself: 
hence  Spanish  is  known  almost  only  to  those  Indians  who  have 
lived  in  the  service  of  Europeans. 

On  an  average  one-half  of  the  children  go  to  school^  com- 
monly from  seven  to  ten  years  of  age ;  they  learn  to  read,  and 
a  few  also  to  write  a  little,  but  they  soon  forget  it.  Only  those 
who  afterwards  serve  as  clerks  can  write  freely.  In  some  parts 
the  boys  and  girls  are  not  allowed  to  attend  the  same  school, 
and  in  such  cases  a  female  teacher  is  engaged  at  a  salary  of 
1  dollar  per  month. 

Women  rarely  marry  before  fourteen  years  of  age.  Twelve 
years  is  the  lowest  limit  fixed  by  law.  In  the  register  of  the 
church  of  Folangui,  in  Albay,  I  found  it  recorded  that  on  the 
28th  January  1837,  marriage  was  celebrated  between  an  Indian 
and  a  female  Indian  of  eleven  years  and  six  days,  who  bore  the 
ominous  name  of  '^  Hilaria  Concepcion.^'  This  was  done  by 
licence  of  the  bishop,  as  the  girl  was  pregnant,  but  had  not 
reached  the  legal  age  for  marriage.  The  parents  died  in  1857 
of  an  epidemic  disease,  but  a  son  is  still  living. 

In  the  same  register  I  found  a  marriage  recorded  between  an 
Indian  of  twenty-eight  and  an  Indian  woman  of  twelve  years. 

The  women  are  in  general  well  treated,  and  do  only  Ught 
work,  such  as  sewing,  weaving,  and  household  duties.  All  the 
heavy  work,  with  the  exception  of  grinding  rice,  is  performed 
by  men. 

Women  remain  fruitful  until  the  fortieth  year.  Two  women, 
known  to  me,  have  borne  each  fifteen  children.  Five  or  six 
births  are  conmion. 

The  first  excrements  of  a  new-bom  babe  are  carefully  pre- 
served, and  imder  the  name  of  triaca  {theriacum)  are  regarded 
as  a  universal  remedy  against  the  bite  of  snakes  and  mad  dogs. 
It  is  applied  to  the  wound,  and  is  also  taken  internally. 

A  large  number  of  children  die  in  the  first  two  weeks  after 
birth.  There  are  no  statLstical  data ;  but  one  of  the  first  doctors 
in  Manilla  is  of  opinion  that  at  least  on^-fifth,  if  not  indeed  a 
fourth,  die  at  that  period.  According  to  him,  the  cause  is  to  be 
attributed  to  the  great  impurity  of  the  air,  for  every  opening  in 
the  house  is  stopped  up  to  exclude  draught,  for  fear  of  injury  to 
the  mother. 

Formerly  this  was  done  to  exclude  Patiana,  an  evil  spirit 
who  worked  mischief  to  the  woman  and  sought  to  hinder 
delivery.     The  custom  is  still  retained,  and  probably  the  super- 
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Major  Frederick  Millinoen — On  the  Koofds.        175 

stition  yet  lingers  with  many^  although  they  do  not  confess  it ; 
and  where  this  belief  has  died  away  the  fear  of  catching  cold 
has  been  introduced  as  a  new  cause  for  the  retention  of  an  old 
custom. 

The  disease  of  mimicking^  called  in  Java  sakU-latar,  occurs 
also  here^  and  is  termed  mali-mali.  In  Java  it  is  supposed  by 
many  to  be  merely  an  imposition,  and  that  those  who  pretend 
to  be  thus  afiict^  find  it  advantageous  to  deceiye  the  newly 
settled  Europeans.  Here,  however,  I  observed  an  example 
which  could  certainly  not  be  regarded  as  an  imposition.  Cases 
of  amok  are  also  foimd  in  the  Philippines. 

It  is  one  of  the  greatest  offences  to  cry  out  to  a  native  when 
he  is  asleep,  or  to  awaken  him  quickly.  They  arouse  one 
another,  if  necessary,  with  the  greatest  caution,  and  very  gently. 
Among  the  Juinguianes,  in  North  Luzon,  the  greatest  of  all 
curses  is — "  May  you  die  sleeping !  ''* 


XXI.  On  the  KooRDs. 
By  Major  Frederick  Millingen,  F.B.G.S. 
(Read  December  2l8t,  1869.) 
Laying  aside  traditions  and  opinions  which  are  beyond  the  reach 
of  discussion,  we  shall  find  that  the  races  mentioned  in  early 
history  as  being  the  inhabitants  of  the  high  plateau  of  Armenia 
are  the  Armenians,  the  Karduks,  and  the  Chaldeans.  Xenophon, 
the  earliest  writer  whose  authentic  description  of  that  region 
has  been  transmitted  to  us,  relates,  in  his  ^  Retreat  of.  the  Ten 
Thousand,'  how  he  entered  the  mountainous  country  occupied  by 
the  warlike  Karduks.  That  the  Karduks  of  that  period  are 
the  ancestors  of  the  race  known  in  our  days  by  the  name  of 
Koords,  is  an  opinion  universally  adopted.  If  the  difference 
etisting  between  the  modem  and  the  ancient  name  could  be 
considered  as  a  reason  strong  enough  to  justij^  some  objection 
on  this  point,  an  inquiry  into  the  way  in  which  the  Koords  are 
called  by  their  Asiatic  neighbours,  as  well  as  by  themselves,  will 
serve  to  put  this  question  b^ond  doubt.  Though  the  Turkish 
and  Persian  way  of  pronouncing  and  writing  the  name  '^  Koord  ** 
is  almost  similar  to  the  one  adopted  by  western  nations,  we  shall 
yet  find  that  the  Arabs,  who  have  generally  shown  themselves 
more  accurate  in  historical,  ethnological,  and  literary  questions, 
have  kept  that  name  under  a  form  much  more  like  to  the  old 
Greek  wa^  of  spelling  it, — Kart  in  the  singular  and  Ekrai  in  the 
plural  being  the  Arabic  name  for  Koord  or  Koords.  As  for 
their  own  way  of  calling  themselves,  it  is  different  from  any 

*  Informe  sobre  el  Estado  de  las  fUipinas,  i.  14. 

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176       Major  Fredbbick  Millinoen — On  the  Hoards, 

other^  although  it  possesses  the  Kart  sound, — ^their  national  de- 
nomination being  Kartmantche.  I  am  at  a  loss  to  explain  the 
meaning  oimantche  placed  at  the  end. 

The  Koords  belong  to  the  Aryan  race,  and  have  a  language  of 
their  own,  independent  of  either  Armenian,  Persian,  or  Turkish. 
Persian,  however,  is  very  much  mixed  up  in  their  idioms, — ^a  re- 
sult which  is  due  to  their  close  contact  with  a  race  endowed 
with  a  higher  civilization.  The  peculiarities  which  I  have  re- 
marked in  the  Koordish  idiom  are  the  following : — ^a  predilection 
on  the  part  of  the  Koords  to  shorten  and  contract  proper  names, 
a  liberty  which  a  Turk  will  never  take ;  so  that,  instead  of  say- 
ing ''  Mehemet ''  in  esienso,  the  Koord  will  say  Mukho,  Hasso 
likewise  serves  instead  of  Hassam,  Memo  instead  of  Mahmud, 
and  so  on.  Another  peculiarity  is  the  Italian-like  o  termination 
which  prevails  in  the  Koordish  idiom,  as  seen  in  the  above-quoted 
names.  The  negative  no  is,  I  think,  more  extraordinary  still, 
as  the  negative  employed  by  other  Oriental  nations  is  totally 
different.  The  Koordish  language  contains  almost  as  many 
dialects  as  there  are  tribes ;  and  it  often  happens  that  one  tribe 
does  not  understand  another.  The  Koords  of  Dersim-dagh  are 
not  able  to  understand  those  of  Beyazid  or  Suleimanieh,  and 
vice  versd. 

The  great  intercourse  which  the  Koords  have  with  the  Persians 
not  only  makes  them  familiar  with  the  language  and  customs  of 
Persia,  out  has  led  them  to  adopt  the  same  creed,  the  Koords 
being  Shiahs  like  the  Persians,  and  not  Sunnites  as  their  Os- 
manli  masters. 

The  character  of  the  Koordish  race  partakes,  in  many  of  its 
principal  features,  of  those  peculiarities  which  are  general  with 
nomads  at  large.  Compelled  to  rove  through  vast  tracts  of  ter- 
ritory in  search  of  pasturage  or  for  marauding  and  plunder,  the 
Koord  acquires  an  enterprising  instinct  with  a  spirit  of  restless- 
ness, acuteness,  cunning,  and  rapacity.  In  constant  strife  with 
their  neighbours  or  with  each  other,  they  are  essentially  a  war- 
like people,  ever  ready  to  attack  or  to  meet  an  enemy.  Unlike 
the  chivalrous  Arab,  however,  the  Koord  does  not  hesitate  to 
stain  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  the  guest  who  has  taken 
shelter  under  the  folds  of  his  tent. 

Brigandage  is  systematically  established  throughout  Koordis- 
tan,  and  is  conducted  in  two  ways, — namely,  by  means  of  sudden 
attacks  on  caravans  and  travellers,  and  by  the  more  regular  plan 
of  forced  contributions.  The  attacks  on  caravans  can  only  be 
avoided  by  a  display  of  strength.  Commercial  travellers  are 
perhaps  the  only  people  who  traverse  Koordistan  with  little  fear 
of  being  hurt,  since  it  is  to  the  interest  of  the  Koord  to  protect 
them. 

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Major  Frederick  Millingen — On  the  Koords,        177 

Forced  contributions  and  ransoms  belong  to  the  regular  form 
of  brigandage.  Whenever  a  chief  is  in  want  of  money,  or  finds 
that  he  is  running  short  of  provisions,  he  at  once  has  recourse 
to  a  ransom  or  contribution  imposed  on  the  Armenian  vil- 
lages of  the  neighbourhood.  Besides  these  ransoms  on  a 
large  scale,  there  exists  a  kind  of  cpntribution  on  a  smaller 
scale  which  every  Koord  thinks  himself  entitled  to  impose 
whenever  he  finds  it  convenient.  This  consists  of  visits  paid 
by  the  Koords  to  the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the  towns  in 
order  to  request  them  to  take  upon  themselves  the  trouble 
and  cost  of  feeding  their  horses  or  buflFaloes  during  the  whole 
of  the  winter  season.  The  inhabitants  have  no  course  but 
that  of  complying  with  this  peremptory  request,  as  they  would 
otherwise  run  the  risk  of  seeing  their  crops  and  plantations 
destroyed. 

Amongst  the  many  acts  of  brigandage  of  which  Koords  are 
guilty,  a  peculiar  kind  of  highway-robbery  must  here  be  noted, 
the  parallel  of  which  has  probably  never  been  heard.  The 
culprits  are  in  this  case  young  women,  who  set  out  on  plunder- 
ing excursions.  A  troup  of  fair  bandits  takes  up  a  station 
at  the  side  of  the  road,  and  there  patiently  waits  for  the  arrival 
of  the  doomed  traveller;  as  soon  as  the  vedettes  announce 
his  approach,  the  fair  troup  starts  off  to  meet  the  traveller, 
giving  him  the  welcome  with  their  dances.  The  traveller  is 
compelled  to  stop,  as  a  matter  of  course ;  and  the  maids  then 
politely  request  him  to  alight  from  his  horse.  No  sooner  has 
the  bewildered  victim,  unconscious  of  his  fate,  put  foot  on  the 
ground,  than  he  finds  himself  at  close  quarters  with  the  whole 
troup,  and  is  immediately  stripped  of  all  he  has  on  his  back. 
Then  begins  a  series  of  dances  and  fascinating  gestures  in  the 
style  of  those  performed  by  the  maids  of  the  Lupercalic  era,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  make  the  unfortunate  traveller  loose  his 
reason  and  self-control.  An  attempt,  however,  on  the  part  of 
the  victim  to  reciprocate  with  the  charms  of  his  fair  tyrants  be- 
comes instantly  fatal. 

These  dances  and  the  flagellations,  which  serve  as  entr^actes, 
are  repeated  several  times,  until  the  sufferer  extenuated,  with  his 
limbs  bleeding,  is  nearly  fainting.  Then  the  female  troup  de- 
cides on  dragging  the  wretched  traveller  before  a  Court  of 
Matrons,  which  holds  its  sittings  somewhere  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. Once  there,  a  case  for  attempting  a  certain  transgression 
is  brought  against  the  pretended  culprit,  who  not  only  receives  a 
good  dose  of  upbraiding,  but  is  also  condemned  to  pay  the  fine 
stipulated  by  the  court.  This  fact  might,  for  the  extravagance 
of  its  nature,  excite  some  doubts  as  to  its  accuracy ;  I  have, 
however,  ventured  to  state  it  on  the  testimony  of  several  indivi- 

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178        Major  Frederick  Millinoen — On  the  Koords. 

duals  who  have  happened  to  pass  through  the  territory  of  the 
Bilbash  tribe^  whose  women  are  addict^  to  this  singular  kind 
of  highway-robbery.  I  may  add  that  these  statements  are  sup- 
ported by  one  of  my  colleagues  of  the  Staff,  Major  Daud  £ffendi> 
who  has  resided  a  long  time  in  the  province  of  Kerkuh^  of 
which  the  Bilbash  tribe  is  a  dependency. 

Koordistan  is  a  bare  country,  where  pasturage  is  the  only 
resource  which  can  furnish  its  inhabitants  with  the  means  of 
subsistence.  The  flock  provides  the  Koord  with  the  milk,  the 
butter,  and  the  djadjk  (cheese)  which  form  the  principal  ingre- 
dients of  his  metds.  It  is  upon  the  women  that  the  duty  de- 
volves of  manufacturing  the  butter  and  the  djadjk.  Sour  milk 
and  yatart  are  also  amongst  the  principal  ingredients  of  the 
Koordish  kitchen. 

The  Koord  seldom  eats  of  the  flesh  of  his  flock ;  indeed  few 
Koords  eat  meat  more  than  three  or  four  times  during  the  year. 
The  produce  of  the  flock  is  too  valuable;  for  it  constitutes 
the  wealth  of  the  Koord,  who  is  therefore  extremely  parsimo- 
nious in  squandering  it  for  the  satisfaction  of  his  own  appetite. 
The  wealthy  chiefs  form  an  exception  to  the  general  rule,  their 
table  being  abundantly  provided  with  the  best  of  meat  prepared 
in  various  ways.  The  wheat  necessary  for  subsistence  is  bought 
by  the  Koords  in  the  markets  of  the  country,  or  is  imported 
from  Persia.  After  having  reduced  it  to  the  state  of  flour  by 
means  of  water-mills,  the  women  make  with  it  a  very  thin  paste, 
which  is  baked  in  a  few  minutes  inside  the  tandur.  Wheat 
nicely  cleaned  and  broken  into  fragments  is  used  to  make  the 
pt/a/ called  bulffur-pilaf,  so  as  to  distinguish  it  from  the  ordinary 
pilaf  made  of  rice ;  this  dish  forms  the  principal  daily  food 
of  the  Koords. 

In  Koordistan  men  do  literally  nothing;  the  duties  of 
shepherd  and  vedette  once  fulfilled,  they  spend  their  time  in 
gossiping,  smoking,  intriguing,  plotting,  and  occasionally  in 
marauding  expeditions,  or  in  attacking  one  another.  Fiul  of 
vanity,  they  attach  great  importance  to  appearance,  and  highly 
prize  a  fanciful  costume.  Bed  morocco  boots  and  a  red  mantle 
form  the  regimental  outfit  of  a  warrior.  Persian  and  Kashmir 
shawls  are  articles  to  which  every  chief  aspires;  they  are  used 
as  turbans,  or  they  are  twisted  round  the  waist. 

The  costumes  worn  by  the  men  in  this  part  of  Koordistan 
are  of  three  sorts ;  the  first  is  composed  of  a  kind  of  morning 
gown,  and  a  long  gown,  called  djupeh^  worn  above ;  this  dress, 
common  all  through  the  east,  is  worn  by  the  Koords  in  doors, 
and  while  en  nigligi  under  the  tent.  The  second  costume  con- 
sists of  a  voluminous  pair  of  blue  breeches,  a  small  gown,  the 
scarlet  mantle,  together  with  its  lower  appendix  the  red  boots; 

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Major  Frederick  Millinoen — On  the  Koords.         179 

this  isj  strictly  speakings  a  warrior's  winter  costume.  The  third 
is  by  far  the  most  picturesque  of  all^  and  is  exclusively  Koor- 
disb ;  this  dress  is  composed  of  a  short  scarlet  jacket  with  its 


Fig.  10.  Costume  of  Koords*. 

hanging  sleeves^  a  pair  of  trousers  large  and  loose,  offering  a 
garb  and  ease  the  effect  of  which  is  difficult  to  convey  by  mere 
words.  The  usual  red  boots  and  the  big  turban,  around  which  a 
variety  of  coloured  handkerchiefs  are  careAilly  twisted,  complete 
this  elegant  costume  worn  by  the  Koordish  warriors  during  the 
hot  season.  Few  costumes  are  more  suited  to  the  service  of 
light  cavalry  than  this ;  it  possesses  the  required  qualities  of  ease, 
elegance,  and  of  presenting  a  martial  aspect. 

The  arms  used  by  the  Koords  are  these : — as  a  defensive  arm 
the  shield  made  of  elephant-,  rhinoceros-,  or  buffalo-skin.  This 
shield  is  small,  having  a  diameter  of  only  20  inches ;  externally 
it  is  covered  with  several  rows  of  brass  buttons,  which  gradually 
rise  in  thickness  from  the  circumference  to  the  centre.  The 
offensive  arms  are  a  short  carabine  with  a  wide  open  muzzle  of 
a  very  old  model,  an  old  flint  pistol,  and  scimitar  of  the  Persian 
manufacture  of  Khorasan;  some  carry  also  a  small  crooked 
Persian  dagger  {hantcher) .  The  best  of  their  arms  is  the  lance, 
in  the  handling  of  which  the  Koords  excel.   The  Koordish  lance 

*  From  Major  Millingen's  <  Wild  Life  among  the  Koords/  by  permission 
of  Messrs.  Hurst  and  Blackett. 


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180        Major  Frederick  Mtllinoen — On  the  Koards. 

is  made  of  bamboo  imported  irom  India  by  Persian  merchants ; 
the  bamboo  having  seven  knots  is  considered  to  be  the  best ;  its 
length  is  four  yards  and  a  half;  the  point  is  of  good  steel, 
and  remains  almost  concealed  inside  a  baU  made  of  long  black 
horse-hair.  The  object  of  this  ball  is  to  frighten  the  horses  of 
the  enemy,  and  to  conceal  the  deadly  weapon. 

The  Koordish  race,  both  men  and  women,  are  remarkably 
handsome,  being  far  superior  in  this  respect  to  the  Tatar-Turks 
or  to  those  of  Constantinople ;  they  are  tall,  powerfully  built, 
and  muscular.  It  is  strange  that  among  the  Koords  a  variety 
of  complexions  is  to  be  found ;  although  a  dark  complexion  with 
black  eyes  and  black  hair  is  predominant,  yet  light  hair  and 
blue  eyes  are  also  to  be  met  with ;  chestnut  is  not  uncommon. 
One  peculiar  feature  is  the  fire  and  the  power  with  which  their 
optic  organs  are  endowed.  Though  I  have  not  visited  the  inde- 
pendent district  situated  in  the  centre  of  the  Taurus  chain  (a 
region  known  to  the  Turks  under  the  name  of  Dersim-dagh), 
yet,  from  the  statements  made  to  me  by  my  fellow  officers,  I 
have  ascertained  that  the  Koordish  race  sheltered  in  that  moun- 
tainous country  can  be  looked  upon  as  a  model  of  physical 
beauty  and  power. 

Amongst  the  Koords  the  women  do  every  thing ;  they  pre- 
pare  the  meal,  wash,  and  milk  and  shear  the  flock ;  they  alone 
are  capable  of  weaving  and  dyeing  the  wool,  and  of  knitting  the 
carpets,  the  blankets,  the  tents,  and  the  other  textile  fabrics  of 
which  the  country  boasts.  I  have  seen  women  even  grooming 
and  saddling  their  husbands'  horses ! 

The  women  wear  large  oriental  trousers  {shalvar)  tied  at  the 
ankle,  a  small  jacket,  open  in  front  and  reaching  below  the 
knees,  and  a  voluminous  turban  in  the  Koordish  fashion.  This 
costume,  with  its  gay  colours,  displays  to  advantage  their  fiiU 
round  forms  and  sun-burnt  features. 

Koordish  women  are  extremely  moral,  and  their  character 
partakes  of  a  masculine  firmness  and  decision.  This  is  refer- 
able to  the  free  intercourse  between  the  sexes,  which  is  of  course 
at  variance  with  the  Mussulman  religion.  A  Koordish  woman 
is  familiar  with  all  the  affairs,  feuds,  plans,  and  conspiracies  of 
her  tribe ;  indeed  she  is  often  the  very  soul  and  moving  spirit 
in  such  matters.  As  enterprising  and  enduring  as  the  men, 
the  women  here  are  always  on  the  alert  and  ready  to  jump  into 
the  saddle. 

In  their  ideas,  manners,  and  habits,  the  Koords  are  a  rough 
and  half-savage  people;  their  knowledge  and  ideas  are  very 
limited,  and  they  are  even  destitute  of  those  national  traditions 
which  are  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation.  It  is 
worthy  of  note  that  the  Koords  have  no  ancient  traditions  of 

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Major  Frepe&ick  Millinoen — On  the  Koords.        181 

their  own,  and  anecdotes  relating  to  Persian  heroes  and  Shahs 
constitute  their  entire  stock  of  historic  lore.  The  Koords  do 
not  seem  to  have  ever  taken  much  interest  in  Turkish  history, 
and  it  is  unquestionable  that  they  find  themselves  much  more  at 
home  with  the  Persians  than  with  the  Turks. 

Buffoonery  and  jokes  of  all  sorts  are  much  in  favour  amongst 
the  Koords,  every  chief  having  some  buffoon,  whose  duty  it  is 
to  keep  the  company  merry. 

Amusements  are  not  much  in  vogue,  the  inventive  powers  of 
this  people  being  as  deficient  in  this  direction  as  in  others. 
Wrestling,  stone-throwing,  tournaments,  dances,  and  buffalo- 
fights  are  their  chief  sports ;  chess  is  also  played. 

To  do  the  Koords  justice  it  must,  however,  be  admitted  that 
they  are  often  frank  enough  to  avow  their  own  faults  and  short- 
comings; they  acknowledge  themselves  a  rough  and  wild  people 
and  therefore  consider  themselves  entitled  to  forbearance. 

One  of  the  characteristics  giving  to  the  customs  of  the 
Koords  a  certaui  European  type,  is  the  funeral  ceremony  per- 
formed  in  honour  of  a  dead  warrior  or  chieftain.  On  such  an 
occasion  special  invitations  are  sent  to  the  chiefs  of  the  friendly 
tribes,  and  to  all  those  who  are  related  to  the  defunct  by  ties  of 
consanguinity.  At  the  appointed  hour,  every  one  hastens  to  the 
house  whence  the  funeral  procession  is  to  start.  A  certain  num- 
ber of  horsemen  open  the  procession,  performing  before  the 
hearse  a  series  of  tournaments  and  evolutions ;  while  this  goes 
on  at  the  head  of  the  procession,  the  hearse  is  carried  in  the 
middle  on  the  shoulders  of  the  relations  and  friends  of  the  de- 
ceased. Just  behind  the  hearse  his  charger  follows  at  a  slow 
step,  carrying  the  empty  saddle,  the  arms,  and  the  war-costume 
of  his  late  master.  The  procession  is  closed  by  a  number  of 
warriors  presenting  an  imposing  mass  of  cavalry.  The  ladies, 
relatives  as  well  as  friends  of  the  deceased,  wear  on  this  occasion 
black  veils,  as  a  sign  of  mourning ;  at  the  moment  the  body 
is  taken  out  of  the  house  the  women  begin  to  cry  and  shriek 
wildly,  while,  in  sign  of  grief,  they  rend  their  clothes  and  throw 
handfuls  of  earth  aud  dust  on  their  heads. 

This  funeral  ceremony,  which  is  a  national  institution  with 
the  Koords,  is  the  .more  surprising  on  account  of  its  being 
utterly  opposed  to  the  principles  of  the  Koran,  as  well  as  to  the 
prejudices  of  other  Mussulman  nations.  According  to  them, 
all  men  are  reduced  by  death  to  the  same  level ;  and  hence  no 
honour  is  to  be  paid  to  any  one  after  death,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  position  while  living. 


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182      HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

XXII.  On  the  Wbsteely  Drifting  of  Nomades^  from  the  Fifth 
to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  By  H.  H.  Howorth^  Esq. — 
Part  IV.  The  Circassians  and  Wliite  Khazars. 

(Part  in.  was  published  in  this  yolume^  pp.  83-06.) 

By  tracing  back  the  various  lines  of  migration^  we  have  at 
length  succeeded  in  eliminating  firom  the  ethnography  of  Eu- 
rope and  Southern  Asia  a  most  perplexing  and,  in  many  respects, 
preponderating  element.  We  have  pushed  back  the  Turks  be- 
yond the  Volga  and  the  Oxus.  Their  history  in  that  further 
region,  which  forms  the  typical  Turkestan,  I  hope  to  trace  out 
in  a  future  paper.  At  present  I  must  commence  to  make  good 
my  rash  proposition,  that  the  Petchenegs  were  the  first  Turks 
that  crossed  the  Volga.  I  call  it  rash,  because  it  is  directly  at 
issue  with  the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Latham,  the  most  patient  and 
careful  of  English  ethnologists,  and  because  it  involves  a  posi- 
tion which,  so  far  as  I  know,  is  entirely  new. 

The  northern  flanks  of  the  Caucasus  form,  in  my  opinion,  one 
of  the  best  ethnological  barometers  that  we  possess.  Its  many 
races  are  the  waifs  and  strays  of  invasions  that  have  swept  by 
and  through  the  great  marching-ground  of  all  western  invaiders, 
the  Steppes  north  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Euxine.  Each 
body  of  invaders  who  has  occupied  these  plains  has  left  a  por- 
tion of  its  race  behind,  which  remnants  have  been  pressed  for- 
ward into  the  mountains  by  succeeding  invaders.  Thus  if  we 
peel  the  mountains,  as  it  were,  and  remove  the  successive  layers 
of  population  that  occupy  them,  we  shall  have  a  series  represent- 
ing, not  unfaithfully,  the  various  tribes  and  races  which  have 
occupied  Southern  Russia. 

According  to  Mayoudi,  when  the  Gusses  crossed  the  Volga, 
they  entered  the  land  of  Eazaria.  The  Khazars,  in  the  pages 
of  Byzantine,  Arabian,  and  Russian  authorities,  were  the  pre- 
cursors of  the  Gusses,  or  Comans,  and  the  Petchenegs.  Our 
inquiry  therefore  commences  with  the  Khazars.  Who  were  the 
Khazars  ?  One  mistake  by  one  author  may  divert  the  reasoning 
on  a  whole  science  into  a  vicious  and  wrong  channel.  No  better 
example  of  this  fact  can  be  chosen  than  the  case  of  the  Khazars. 
Ebn  Haoucal's  Geography,  which  was  written  in  976-7,  was 
translated  into  EngUsh  by  Sir  Wm.  Ouseley.  His  statements 
about  the  Khazari,  with  whom  he  was  contemporary,  are  of 
course  of  the  highest  value.  Sir  Wm.  Ouseley  has  unfortu- 
nately mistranslated  the  most  important  passage,  and  his  mis- 
translation has  been  followed  by  English  inquirers.  Long  ago, 
the  greatest  authority  on  this  branch  of  Arabian  literature, 
Fraehn,  in  his  "  De  Chasans,  Excerpta  ex  scriptoribus  Arabids,'' 
published  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  St.  Petersbui^  Academy,  called 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  183 

attention  to  and  corrected  this  mistake;  and  the  question  has 
been  ably  discussed  by  Vivien  St.  Martin.  There  can  no  longer 
be  the  slightest  doubt  that  Sir  Wm.  Ouseley  gave  the  exact 
reverse  of  the  meaning  of  the  passage.  Ebn  Haoucal  says  the 
Khazars  differed  entirely  in  their  language  from  the  Turks. 
Ouseley  made  him  say  they  were  like  the  Turks  in  language. 
The  term  Turk  is  used  by  Ebn  Haoucal  in  a  more  limited  sense 
than  by  many  of  his  Byzantine  and  Arabian  contemporaries^ 
who  apply  it  indiscriminately  to  the  Hungarians,  Bulgarians, 
and  to  all  the  various  Nomades  of  the  Steppes,  in  an  almost 
equivalent  manner  with  the  ancient  term  Scyth.  Ahmed  ben 
Fozlan  also  says  that  the  Khazar  tongue  differs  from  the  Persian 
and  Turk.  The  Khazars,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  differed 
from  the  Turks  entirely  in  their  phyaiqtie,  their  religion,  and 
their  manners,  as  they  did,  according  to  Ebn  Haoucal,  in  their 
more  important  ethnological  differentue,  as  in  their  language. 
If  they  were  not  Turks,  what  were  they?  I  cannot  believe  that 
a  race,  so  very  important  as  they  were  for  three  centuries,  should 
have  been  wiped  out  without  leaving  a  trace  behind.  Let  us 
appeal,  experimentally  only,  to  our  ethnological  barometer,  the 
flanks  of  the  Caucasus. 

In  a  previous  paper  I  have  shown  that  the  Nogays,  and  other 
so-called  Tartar  hordes  of  the  Kuban  and  the  Caucasus,  are  the 
descendants  of  the  Petchenegs  and  Gusses.  If  we  remove  the 
Nogays,  therefore,  from  our  map,  we  shall  perhaps  meet  with 
some  clue.  The  layer  of  population  which  lies  immediately 
beyond  the  Tartars  is  that  of  the  Circassians.  What,  then,  is 
the  history  of  the  Circassians  ?  This  question  involves  a  very 
difficult  answer,  if  we  are  to  be  guided  by  orthodox  text-books. 
It  is  not  denied  that  the  Circassians  are,  and  have  been,  as  long 
as  tradition  reaches  back,  the  masters  and  leaders  of  the  Cau- 
casian Tartars,  of  the  Ossetes,  and  of  their  other  neighbours, 
supplying  the  princely  and  governing  caste  to  all  the  northern 
Caucasus.  Yet  we  are  taught  to  believe  that  these  Circassians 
have  no  history,  properly  so  called,  and  that  we  must  be  content 
to  trace  them,  perhaps,  in  the  Zychians  &c.  of  the  Greek  writers. 
I  cannot  believe  such  a  position  to  be  well  founded.  Let  us 
trace  them  back  in  some  detail.  First,  we  must  limit  the  term 
Tscherkessian,  or  Circassian,  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  Ka- 
bardahs,  and  the  Circassians  proper  of  the  moimtains,  described 
in  detail  by  Klaproth,  under  their  various  tribal  names  of  Bes- 
lenie,  Muchosch,  Abasech,  Kemurqudhe,  or  Tenurgoi,  Hatti- 
qu&he  Attigoi,  or  Hattukai,  Bsheduch,  Schapschik,  Shana,  or 
Shani,  and  Schegakeh.  I  exclude  entirely  the  Abassians,  or 
Abkhassians,  classed,  I  know  not  on  what  authority,  by  Dr. 
Latham  with  the  Circassians,  but  most  sharply  distinguished 

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184      HowoBTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

from  them  by  Klaproth.  These  latter  have  Circassian  princes^ 
and  have  a  few  customs  and  words  in  common  with  their  mas- 
ters, otherwise  they  are  very  distinct,  and  are  really  the  rem- 
nants of  the  occupants  of  the  Circassian  area  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Circassians. 

Having  thus  limited  the  name  Circassian  to  the  Kabardiens 
and  the  Circassians  proper  of  the  mountains,  let  us  turn  to  their 
history.  First>  the  Kabardiens;  the  name  is  as  old  as  the  days 
of  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  as  applied  to  a  large  division  of 
the  Circassian  nation.  As  applied  to  the  district  now  occupied 
by  Kabardiens,  it  is  much  more  recent.  Their  ancient  seats 
were  among  the  Beschtau,  or  Five  Mountains,  the  most  northern 
spurs  of  the  Caucasus,  when  in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the 
quaint  language  of  Klaproth's  translator,  "  The  Tscherkessians, 
weary  of  everlasting  war,  at  length  aljandoned  the  Beschtau,  or 
the  Five  Mountains,  and  removed  nearer  to  the  Terek,  where 
they  settled  on  the  river  Baksan,  in  the  Russian  territory.  They 
had  then  at  their  head  two  princes,  the  brothers  Kabarty-Bek, 
who,  quarrelling  on  account  of  this  change  of  abode,  parted,  and 
divided  the  Tscherkessian  nation  between  them.  The  elder 
remained  on  the  river  Baksan,  but  the  younger,  with  his  fol- 
lowers, proceeded  to  the  Terek,  and  thence  afterwards  arose  the 
division  of  their  country  into  the  Great  and  Little  Kabardah. 
The  princes  and  usdens  (nobles)  of  the  nation  professed  Mo- 
hammedanism, but  the  mass  of  the  people  and  the  peasants 
were  Christians  of  the  Greek  persuasion,  and  had  churches  and 
orthodox  priests  among  them.^'  This  story  of  Klaproth's^ 
obtained  by  him  apparently  from  the  Count  Potocki,  is  so 
reasonable,  and  happened  within  such  a  recent  period,  that 
it  may  well  be  accepted.  It  is  confirmed  by  the  traditions  of 
the  Basians,  who  relate  that  they  occupied  the  Kabardahs  be- 
fore the  Circassians,  and  were  driven  into  the  mountains  on  the 
arrival  of  the  latter.  The  subsequent  history  of  the  Kabar- 
diens is  easily  accessible ;  it  would  not  assist  us  in  our  present 
inquiry. 

Jehosaphat  Barbaro,  the  Venetian  ambassador  to  the  Persian 
court  in  1474,  calls  the  present  Kabardah  by  that  name, 
according  to  Klaprotb.  This  somewhat  antedates  the  arrivid 
of  the  Kabardiens.  It  may  be  a  mistake  of  Barbaro ;  for  in 
1497,  in  a  map  made  by  Fredutio  of  Ancona,  found  in  the  library 
of  Wolfenbuttel,  the  name  Cabardi  stands  somewhat  west  of  the 
present  Tajanrog.  Here  it  is  also  found  nearly  two  centuries 
earlier  (about  1312)  in  some  manuscript  maps  preserved  at 
Vienna;  in  the  latter  it  is  spelt  Cabari.  The  upper  part  of 
the  river  Belbek  in  the  Crimea  is  known  as  the  Kabarda. 
Lastly,  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  places  the  Cabari  on  an 


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frwa  the  fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  185 

island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kuban.  So  much  for  the  Kabar- 
diens. 

Since  the  Russian  extension  into  the  Caucasus,  the  Circas- 
sians of  the  mountains  have  been  driven  much  ftirther  to  the 
south.  Many  of  their  tribes  lived  formerly  on  the  Kuban.  The 
island  of  Thaman  and  the  whole  coast  of  the  Black  Sea,  as  far 
as  Anapa,  was  in  their  possession.  They  then  used  to  go  in 
numerous  caravans  to  the  lakes  between  Kislar  and  Astrachan 
to  fetch  salt.  Georgio  Interiano,  who  wrote  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  places  their  northern  limit  at  the  Don.  We  have 
already  said  that  a  river  in  the  Crimea  is  called  Kabarda. 

In  that  peninsula,  situated  between  the  rivers  Katscha  and 
Belbek,  is  a  tract  known  as  Tscherkess-TUs,  or  the  Plain  of  the 
Tscherkessians ;  there  are  also  the  ruins  of  a  castle,  called  by  the 
Tartars  Tscherkess-kjennan.  It  is  well  known  that  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine  was  known  as  Tscherkesh, 
a  name  also  adopted  by  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don  for  their  capi- 
tal. In  the  Russian  annals  the  Cossacks  are  frequently  referred 
to  under  the  name  Tscherkessians.  In  1500  Agatscherkess  is 
named  as  a  chief  of  the  Azof  Cossacks.  Lastly,  and  perhaps 
most  important  of  all,  the  Nogays  still  call  the  whole  country 
between  Kabardah  and  the  Katscha,  Therkestus  [vide  Pallas,  i. 
892) .  All  these  facts  show  how  wide-spread  and  important  the 
Tscherkessian  name  was  in  southern  Russia  and  the  plains  of 
the  Kuban,  before  the  Mongol  supremacy.  But  our  evidence 
is  not  yet  finished.  The  name  Tscherkess  has  been  held  by 
BJaproth  to  be  a  Turk  gloss,  compounded  of  "Tcher,''  a 
road,  and  "  Kesmek,'*  to  cut  oflT,  meaning  a  cutter-oflF  of  roads, 
i.  e,  a  brigand.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  I  cannot  look  upon 
the  name  Tscherkess  as  an  ancient  one  in  the  Causasus,  nor  can 
I  see  any  evidence,  save  a  similarity  of  sound,  for  identifying  it 
with  the  Kerkites  of  the  ancients.  To  the  Ossetes  and  Min- 
grelians,  the  Tscherkessians  are  known  as  Kassack,  and  the 
Ossetes  have  a  tradition  that  the  Kabardiens  were  so  called 
before  the  emigratien  from  the  North.  We  thus  get  an  explan- 
ation of  the  term  Kasachia  of  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus. 

We  also  get  the  origin  of  the  Cossack  name.  The  Cossacks 
(although  of  Polish  and  Russian  descent),  and  more  especiaUy 
the  Cossacks  of  the  Don,  have  many  customs  in  common  with 
the  Circassians,  and  succeeded  to  the  name  as  well  as  policy  of 
their  predecessors,  the  Kassacks,  or,  as  they  are  called  by  Nes- 
tor, the  Kassogi.  The  name  Kassack  appears  for  the  first  time 
in  Cons.  Por.  and  had  apparently  very  limited  use.  We  must 
search  for  the  Tscherkessians  under  some  other  name  if  we  are 
to  find  them  in  the  pages  of  the  earlier  Byzantines  and  the  Arab 
geographers.     With  both  these  latter  the  name  Khazar  is  by  far 


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186      HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades^ 

the  most  important  in  these  regions,  in  the  eighth  and  two  fol* 
lowing  centuries.  The  Caspian  was  known  as  the  Chazaiian 
Sea;  the  plains  west  of  the  Volga  as  the  land  of  Khazaria, 
while  the  same  name  was  more  particularly  applied  to  the  Cri- 
mea. As  the  name  Khazar  gradually  disappears^  the  name 
Tscherkessian  predominates.  They  both  occupied  the  same 
area,  and  we  are  led  to  the  inevitable  result  that  they  were  the 
same  people  under  two  names;  the  more  so,  as,  especially  in 
the  case  of  the  Crimea,  the  Circassians  are  the  only  race  we 
know  whose  early  history  is  compatible  with  their  being  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Khazars,  all  the  Turkish  tribes  being  excluded 
from  such  a  claim,  as  we  showed  in  starting.  This  very  rea- 
sonable position  is  abundantly  corroborated  by  other  evidence. 
Thus  the  Circassians  have  a  tradition  that  they  were  formerly 
the  masters  of  the  Nogays ;  the  Nogays,  as  we  have  shown  in 
another  paper,  are  chiefly  the  descendants  of  the  Comans  or 
Gusses.  In  the  accounts  we  have  of  the  earlier  struggles  of 
the  Comans,  we  generally  find  them  fighting  in  alliance  with 
the  Khazars.  With  the  Khazars  they  invaded  the  Russian  and 
Petchenegian  territory.  When  Klaproth  went  to  the  Caucasus 
he  was  furnished  with  a  long  list  of  names  of  the  Polowzian 
or  Comanian  invaders  of  Russia,  preserved  in  the  chronicles. 
They  were  always  the  names  of  leaders  or  chieftains :  these 
names  had  been  a  puzzle  to  previous  inquirers.  They  were 
clearly  not  Turkish ;  no  such  names  are  found  among  the  No- 
gay  hordes.  Klaproth,  to  whose  pages  I  refer  the  cr^ulous  for 
proofs,  found  that  with  very  few  exceptions  these  same  names 
are  still  the  names  of  princely  families  in  Circassia,  and  that 
they  are  confined  to  the  Circassians.  This  chain  of  argument 
seems  to  me  to  be  complete,  nor  could  a  more  crucial  test  be 
chosen.  My  only  wonder  is  that  Klaproth  never  fell  upon  the 
notion  that  the  Khazars  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Circassians : 
the  more  so,  as  the  fact  is  attested  by  still  clearer  evidence  if 
need  be,  namely,  the  testimony  of  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus, 
who  mentions  the  Cabari  as  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  Khazars, 
and  even  as  the  chief  tribe,  to  which  the  predominance  was  wil- 
lingly  allowed.  These  Cabari  can  be  no  others  than  the  Kabardi 
and  Kabari  of  later  writers. 

The  only  vestige  remaining  of  the  language  of  the  Khazars,  in 
the  shape  of  a  gloss,  is  the  name  of  their  capital,  Sarkel,  which, 
according  to  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  means  the  ''white 
dwelling.'^  Sarghili  in  Hungarian  would  mean  ''  yellow  place.'' 
Klaproth  says  that  in  the  Yogul  dialect  and  in  western  Siberian, 
sar,  sarni,  somi,  and  sairan  mean  ''  white.''  In  many  Samoyede 
compounds  the  same  word  is  found,  as  syr,  sirr,  and  sin. 
Among  them  a  house  is  called  kell,  kella,  kuel,  koual,  kal ;  among 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  187 

the  Tchuvafih,  kil.  The  significance  of  this  derivation  will 
appear  in  a  fhture  paper. 

The  Arab  geographers  Ebn  el  Ethir  and  Schems-ud-din  re- 
spectivelj  connect  the  Khazars  with  the  Georgians  and  the 
Armenians.  This  sufficiently  distinguishes  them  from  the  Turks, 
and  is  no  bad  guess  at  some  of  their  superficial  relations,  if  they 
were  Circassians.  That  the  Khazars  were  very  distinct  from  the 
Turks  physically  is  perhaps  best  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  Rus- 
sian princes  and  the  Byzantine  grandees  chose  their  wives  (one  of 
whom  was  the  mother  of  Leo  the  Khazar,  who  succeeded  to  the 
imperial  throne,  in  758)  from  among  them ;  and  so  common  was 
this  practice,  that  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  the  Chesterfield 
of  his  day,  severely  warned  his  son  against  such  a  pernicious 
example.  Here,  again,  we  are  reminded  of  the  popularity  of 
Circassian  beauties  even  in  our  own  day,  and  can  only  credu- 
lously smile  when  we  find  the  Khazar  brides  identified  with  the 
ancestors  of  the  repulsively  ugly  Nogay  women. 

This  accumulation  of  facts  seems  to  me  overwhelming.  On 
the  other  side  we  have  only  the  dictum  of  Zeuss,  supported  by 
the  statement  that  the  titles  in  use  among  the  Khazars,  such  as 
Bee  or  Beg,  Khan  or  Khacan,  &c.,  are  Turkish.  Now  Bee  or 
Beg  is  unquestionably  found  as  a  particle  in  Circassian  names. 
Kiiacan  or  Khan  is  a  title  common  to  the  Bulgarians,  Avares,  and 
Russians,  and  is  the  same  as  the  Norse  Hacon.  Nor  do  I  know 
of  a  tittle  of  evidence  for  making  them  peculiarly  Turkish  glosses. 

That  the  Khazars  had  no  Turkish  blood  in  them  I  will  no 
more  affirm  than  I  would  make  the  same  assertion  of  the  Circas- 
sians. The  Khazars  were  constantly  in  alliance  with  the  Turkish 
Ousses,  in  the  forays  made  by  the  latter  upon  the  Russians  and 
the  Petchenegs ;  and  further,  the  body-guards  of  the  Khazarian 
princes  were  formed,  as  those  of  the  Arab  emirs  of  Transoxiana 
were,  of  Turkish  mercenaries.  In  the  case  of  the  Khazars  these 
were  known  as  Larssiyes,  a  name  very  ingeniously  compared  by 
lyOhsson  with  Alars,  a  tribe  of  the  Kaptchaks,  according  to 
Schems-ud-din.  These  Turks  must  in  both  cases  have  corrupted 
the  language  and  race  materially.  But  such  corruptions  can  no 
more  make  either  Khazars  or  Circassians  Turks  than  Anglo- 
Saxon  corruptions  make  North  Wales  into  a  German-speaking 
province. 

The  name  Khazar  has  received  many  etymologies.  Strahlen- 
berg  made  it  identical  with  the  Hungarian  Huzzar  or  Hussar. 
I  think  it  very  probable  the  latter  may  be  derived  from  the 
former^  Chazar  in  Slave  means  an  emigrant,  according  to  Bo- 
hucz.  The  Persians  called  all  the  Sunnites,  or  followers  of  Ali, 
Chadshars ;  the  term  Chadshar,  therefore,  with  them  is  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  heretic  with  us,  and  Klaproth  derives  from  it  the 

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188       HowoBTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  NomadeSj 

German  term  for  heretic,  "  Ketzer/'  The  Lesgs  call  the  Jews 
Ghusar,  which  is  their  way  of  pronouncing  Khazar.  Ouseley 
translates  Khazrians  by  Christians.  The  Chinese  mention  a 
western  people  called  Kosa.  Vivien  St.  Martin  connects  them 
with  the  Katiars  of  Herodotus  and  the  Cotieri  of  Pliny,  Scythian 
tribes.  Whatever  the  value  of  these  suggestions,  it  is  more  to 
our  purpose  to  know  that  the  Khazars  were  divided  into  two 
sections  by  the  Arabian  geographers, — the  Black  Khazars  and 
the  White  Khazars,  distinguished  by  very  marked  peculiarities, 
the  former  situated  to  the  north  of  the  latter.  These  divisions 
correspond,  as  Zeuss,  Schlsetzer,  and  Thunmann  have  already 
pointed  out,  to  the  Black  and  White  Ughres  of  Nestor,  the 
former  of  whom  were  the  Hungarians  or  Magyars.  They  cor- 
respond also,  as  I  believe,  to  the  Black  and  White  Huns  of  other 
writers.  The  White  Huns,  or  Epthalites,  of  Priscus  (on  whom 
Vivien  St.  Martin  has  written  an  elaborate  essay,  which  I  have 
not  been  able  to  procure)  were,  as  is  well  known,  the  invaders  who 
overran  Transoxiana  about  the  sixth  century,  and  formed  a  consi- 
derable power  there.  They  were,  I  believe,  the  Khazars,  who  at 
a  later  date  (819-820)  were  assisted  by  the  Khorasmiens  against 
the  Turks  of  Khorassan,  and  converted  by  them  to  Islamism,  as 
related  by  D'Ohsson  from  £bn  el  Ethir.  This  identification  is 
very  important.  These  White  Huns  must  have  come  from  the 
Khirghiz  desert.  Even  Dr.  Latham,  whose  Turcophobia  is  so  pro- 
nounced, allows  that  the  Khirgises  are,  in  name  and  in  many 
respects,  other  than  Turks,  though  their  language  is  unquestion- 
ably Turkish.  I  believe  with  him  that  Khirgis,  a  mere  form  of 
the  ancient  Kergis  or  Kerkis,  is  the  same  word  as  Circassian  or 
Tscherkessian ;  the  more  so,  as  the  Khirgises,  like  the  Tscher- 
kessians,  are  known  as  Keseks  or  Kassaks.  I  believe  also  that 
the  almost  simultaneous  invasion  of  Transoxiana  and  Europe  by 
the  Khazars  was  a  consequence  of  their  bfsing  driven  out  of  their 
native  country  by  Turkish  invaders.  That  native  country  called 
Bersilia  by  Theophanes  and  others,  I  can  find  no  room  for  any- 
where, except  in  the  ELhirgiz  steppe,  where  it  is  actually  placed 
by  Moses  of  Chorene  {vide  infrh) .  Before  this  invasion  the  Kha- 
zars occupied  the  country  north  and  north-west  of  the  Aral  and 
the  Caspian,  and  the  Turks  were  confined  to  more  eastern  and 
northern  regions,  the  Altai  and  the  banks  of  the  Irtysch. 

We  may  now  trace  out  rapidly  the  history  of  tibe  Khazars, 
for  which  the  Arabs  and  the  Byzantines  have  left  us  abundant 
material.  I  shall  not  discuss  the  traditional  and  other  early 
invasions  of  the  Caucasus  by  the  Khazars  mentioned  ty  the 
Armenian  historian  Moses  of  Chorene,  and  in  the  Georgian 
annals,  because  it  is  very  doubtful  if  the  exploits  of  some  other 
race  have  not  been  credited  to  the  Khazars,  and  because  we  are 

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Jrfm  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  189 

going  somewhat  beyond  our  subject  (already  involved  enough) 
in  discussing  them.  I  shall  commence  with  Theophanes,  who 
is  the  first  Byzantine  who  clearly  mentions  them^  and  describes 
the  part  they  took  in  the  invasion  of  Persia  by  Ueraclius  in  626, 
when  they  forced  the  Caspian  Gates,  and  entered  Adjerbaidjan. 
This  temporary  foray  was  followed  by  a  general  invasion  in  the 
reign  of  Constantine  III.,  between  the  years  642-688,  when 
leaving  the  land  of  Berzilia,  and  driving  the  Bulgares  before 
them,  they  occupied  the  plains  east  of  the  Don,  as  far  as  the 
Euxine.  Batbaia,  one  of  the  princes  of  the  Bulgares,  was  made 
tributary.  The  country  BerzUia  has  been  a  puzzle  to  most  geo- 
graphers. Herodotus  names  the  Katiars  with  a  people  he  calls 
Basiliens  (Royal  Scyths).  Fomponius  Mela,  Fliny,  Strabo,  and 
Ptolemy  all  mention  them.  Moses  of  Chorene,  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, says  the  Volga  divides  itself  into  sixty  branches,  on  which 
is  settled  the  BarsUeen  nation.  We  cannot  be  wrong  in  placing 
Berzelia  in  the  Kirghiz  steppe,  east  of  the  Volga.  The  relations 
of  the  Royal  Scyths  of  Herodotus  with  the  Circassians,  through 
the  intermediate  links  of  the  White  Huns  of  Claudian  and  the 
Acatziri  of  other  authors,  is  a  promising  subject,  which  we  must 
postpone  to  another  occasion. 

The  Khazars  speedily  made  tributary  the  neighbouring  Russian 
tribes,  as  appears  from  Nestor,  and  made  incessant  incursions 
into  Armenia  and  the  other  appanages  of  the  caliphs  south  of 
the  Caucasus,  which  are  detailed  by  D'Ohsson. 

At  the  demand  of  the  Khan  of  the  Khazars,  the  emperor  Theo- 
philus  sent  engineers,.in  834,  to  build  a  fortress  on  the  Don,  as  a 
protection  against  thePetchenegs.  This  was  the  celebrated  Sarkel, 
known  to  the  Russians  as  Belaia  Wess.  Lehrberg  has  fixed  the 
situation  of  Sarkel  about  seventy  versts  from  the  month  of  the 
Don.  Another  of  their  towns  was  Phanagoria  or  Tamatarkha. 
In  the  tenth  century  their  territory  was  bounded  on  the  south  by 
the  Caspian  and  the  last  spurs  of  the  Caucasus ;  on  the  west  by 
the  Don,  which  separated  them  from  the  Petchenegs,  by  the 
Maeotis  and  the  Cimmerian  Bosphorus ;  on  the  north  by  the  Bul- 
garians of  Great  Bulgaria  on  the  Volga ;  and  on  the  east  by  the 
Baschkirs  and  Gusses.  Such  are  the  limits  fixed  by  D'Ohsson ; 
but  from  the  first  invasion  of  the  Khazars  they  must  have  occu- 
pied the  flat  country  of  the  Crimea,  which  was  known  as  Kha- 
zaria  down  to  the  times  of  the  Genoese  supremacy  at  Kafia. 
The  previous  masters  of  the  peninsula  had  been  a  remnant  of 
the  Goths.  These  were  now  driven  into  the  mountains,  where 
their  stronghold  was  known  as  Kastron  Gothia  to  the  middle- 
age  writers.  We  are  told  that  in  the  reign  of  Constantine  the 
sixth  (780-797)  the  Gothic  Bishop  St.  John  Parthenites  had  to 
flee  for  having  attempted  to  detach  the  Goths  from  their  subjection 

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190       HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

to  the  Khazars.  South  of  theKuban^  the  Alana  long  contested  the 
supremacy  of  the  Khazars^  but  like  the  Gusses  and  the  Petchenegs 
they  had  to  submit  to  the  superior  energy  and  perhaps  culture  of 
the  KJiazars.  The  power  of  these  latter  seems  to  have  been  effec- 
tually broken  by  the  great  Russian  conqueror^  Sviatoslav^  who 
overran  their  country  and  took  their  capital^  Sarkel.  Thence- 
forward the  Gusses  seem  to  have  gradually  gained  ascendancy. 
The  Khazar  nation  was  divided  into  two  sections^  one  in  the 
Crimea^  the  other  pressed  beyond  the  Kuban ;  the  former  retained 
the  old  name^  came  into  constant  contact  with  the  Genoese, 
and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  Kabardiens,  whose  emigration 
we  have  already  mentioned ;  the  latter  began  to  appear  in  the 
Russian  annals  under  the  new  name  of  Kassogues,  perhaps  so 
called  from  their  chief  tribe,  for  we  are  told  by  Constantine  Por- 
phyrogenitus  that  one  of  the  tribes  of  the  Khazars  was  called 
Kosa.  So  late  as  1226,  the  Khazars  formed  the  van  of  the  Geor- 
gian armies  in  their  invasions  of  Persia.  We  have  thus  traced 
the  history  of  this  extraordinary  race,  and,  I  think,  succeeded  in 
proving  their  connexion  with  the  Circassians.  In  conclusion,  I 
would  give,  from  Fraehn's  '  Extracts  de  Chasaris,'  a  few  particu- 
lars about  the  manners  and  customs  &c.  of  the  Chazars. 

Ibn  Fozlan,  who  wrote  about  921,  a.d.,  Ibn  Haukal,  about 
976-977,  Ma90udi,  about  943-947,  and  Yakout,  about  1220,  are 
the  chief  authorities  made  use  of  by  Fraehn.  From  these  I 
take  the  following  : — 

The  Khazars  differed  entirely  from  the  Turks,  the  Persians, 
and  the  Russians  in  language.  Their  language  was  the  same  as 
that  of  the  Bulgarians.  In  their  appearance  they  also  differed 
from  the  Turks.  There  were  two  kinds  of  Khazars :  one,  the 
Black  Khazars,  of  a  dark  colour  almost  approaching  that  of  the 
Indians ;  the  other  of  a  fair  complexion,  and  a  handsome  and 
distinguished  look  (both  kinds  had  black  hair) .  The  idolaters 
among  the  Khazars  sold  their  children  into  slavery,  and  held  it 
right  to  make  one  another  slaves ;  the  Christians  and  Jews  among 
them  held  this  to  be  wrong.  Their  king  was  a  Jew ;  the  Khazars 
themselves  were  Mahommedans,  Christians,  and  idolaters ;  a  few, 
like  their  king,  were  Jews.  The  soldiers  were  chiefly  Mahomme- 
dans. According  to  Ibn  el  Asir  they  formerly  followed  the  reli- 
gion of  their  ancestors,  i.e.  idolatry.  In  the  eighth  century, 
and  during  the  reign  of  Haroun  al  Raschid,  the  Jews  were  ex- 
pelled from  the  Greek  empire ;  finding  the  Khazars  a  tractable 
race,  they  converted  them,  but  some  time  after  they  became 
subject  to  the  Khorassan  Turks.  Having  sought  assistance  from 
the  Chorezmiens  against  these  Turks,  the  latter  offered  their 
assistance  conditionally  on  the  Khazars  embracing  Islamism, 


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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  191 

\Fhich  most  of  them  did.  Thus  does  the  Arabian  historian  re- 
late the  conversion  of  the  Kiiazars. 

The  king  of  the  Khazari  was  called  Khakan,  or  the  great 
Khakan ;  he  was  a  mere  roi  fainSant^  kept  in  rigid  seclusion ;  he 
was  shown  on  particular  occasions^  and  held  more  the  position 
of  the  Dalai  Lama  than  that  of  an  ordinary  ruler.  He  had 
twenty-five  wives  and  sixty  concubines.  These  wives  and  con- 
cubines lived  in  a  separate  house^  known  as  the  Kubba;  each 
one  had  a  eunuch  to  wait  on  her. 

When  the  king  went  out  on  horseback^  he  was  attended  by 
all  his  army,  who  kept  off  the  vulgar  gaze.  His  throne  was  a 
rich  erection  of  gold  and  hangings;  his  commands  were  held  so 
sacred  that  any  one  turning  his  back  on  any  commission  ap- 
pointed by  him  had  his  head  taken  off.  He  was  not  allowed  to 
reign  more  than  forty  years,  and  when  that  limit  was  reached 
he  was  strangled,  or  allowed  to  commit  suicide.  Occasionally, 
in  times  of  dire  calamity,  the  king  was  required  to  sacrifice 
himself  for  the  people.  The  same  story  is  told  about  him  that 
is  told  of  Attila,  and  doubtless  true  in  both  cases,  that  on  his 
death  a  palace  was  built  in  the  bed  of  a  river,  and  his  corpse 
placed  inside,  and  the  river  then  diverted  over  it,  those  who 
took  part  in  the  erection  being  aU  killed.  His  unknown  resting- 
place  they  called  Paradise.  They  held  it  safe  from  the  attacks 
of  men  or  worms.  The  Khacan  of  the  Khazars  was  held  in  high 
esteem  at  Byzantium.  He  was  addressed  as  the  most  noble  and 
illustrious  Khacan  of  Khazaria.  Letters  addressed  to  him  were 
sealed  with  seals  of  the  value  of  three  solidi,  while  those  on  the 
letters  to  the  most  illustrious  European  potentates  were  sealed 
with  seals  of  the  value  of  two  solidi  only.  We  have  said  that 
the  Khacan  of  the  Khazars  was  a  mere  roi  faineant. 

The  real  ruler  (he  who  commanded  the  army,  made  peace  and 
war^  and  was  de  facto  the  king,  although  nominally  only  a  vica- 
rial sovereign)  was  known  as  the  Khacan-bh  (Khacan  bey  ?),  or 
simply  the  Khan.  Such  was  Ziebil,  who  assisted  Heraclius 
against  the  Persians.  Next  to  him  was  one  called  Kender  Cha- 
kan ;  next  to  him  again,  another,  who  bore  the  title  of  Tschaus- 
chian.  These  great  dignitaries  alone  had  audience  of  the  sacred 
king,  the  great  Khacan.  The  body-guard  of  the  king  consisted, 
as  we  have  said,  of  Turkish  mercenaries,  called  Larssiy^s  \  they 
were  7000  in  nimiber,  all  armed  with  bows  and  lances,  equipped 
in  helmets,  in  cuirasses,  and  coats  of  mail  (compare  this  with  the 
modem  Circassian  uniform) .  Russians  and  pagan  Slaves  also 
formed  a  portion  of  the  Khazar  army.  Justice  was  administered 
at  Itil,  the  capital  of  Khazaria,  by  seven  judges :  two  Mahomme- 
dans  administered  the  law  of  the  Prophet,  two  Khazars  that  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  two  Christians  that  of  the  Gospel.     The  seventh 


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192  Notes  and  Queries. 

for  the  Slaves^  the  Russians,  and  other  pagans  judged  by  the 
law  of  nature.  In  difficult  cases  the  latter  consulted  the  Ma- 
hometan cadhis^  and  was  ruled  by  their  decisions.  The  king 
was  in  constant  communication  with  the  judges. 

Security  of  property  and  ample  justice,  we  are  told  by  the 
Arab  authorities,  led  to  the  settlement  at  Itil  of  a  great  number 
of  merchants,  as  many  as  10,000.  Copper  and  silver  were  both 
found  in  Kliazaria;  but  its  chief  wealth  consisted  in  its  being 
the  entrepot  of  a  vast  trade :  honey,  wax,  the  roe  of  the  stur- 
geon, and  furs,  especially  otter-skins,  passed  this  way  from 
Russia  and  Bulgaria  to  Persia,  and  no  doubt  the  products  of 
Persia  and  the  East  returned  by  the  same  route.  Itil  itself  was 
a  large  city  of  wooden  houses,  containing  thiily  mosques  and  a 
large  cathedral,  with  schools  attached.  Besides  Itil,  the  Arabs 
describe  three  other  cities  of  the  Khazars, — Belendscher,  Semen- 
der,  and  Chamlidsch ;  the  Georgian  chronicles  have  several  more; 
but  this  will  suffice.  It  will  be  seen,  even  from  our  meagre 
relation,  that  the  Khazars  were  a  people  highly  advanced  in  the 
arts,  a  people  with  an  ancient  civilization,  with  customs,  such  aa 
those  attaching  to  their  king,  pointing  to  an  old  history.  We 
have  brought  them  from  beyond  the  Volga,  we  must  follow 
them  there  on  another  occasion.  It  must  suffice  us  now  to 
have  proved  them  to  have  been  the  ancestors  of  the  Circassians^ 
to  have  brought  the  latter  isolated  race  into  more  close  connex- 
tion  with  the  history  of  Eastern  Europe,  and  to  have  somewhat 
simplified  the  tangled  subject  of  the  ethnology  of  the  Caucasus. 


NOTES  AlND  QUERIES. 


Meneam, — This  people  of  cannibals,  among  whom  Dr.  Livingstone 
in  his  last  letter  announced  that  he  was  about  to  take  his  course,  and 
whom  be  stated  to  be,  on  native  authority,  notorious  cannibals,  are 
the  Niam  Niam  or  Nya  Nyas,  the  people'  in  the  western  ranges  of 
the  district  of  the  Nile.  Livingstone  has  either  carried  out  that 
intention,  or,  from  fear  of  the  Nya  Nyas,  he  has  soilght  to  return  by 
the  course  of  the  Couco,  and  may  thus  have  exposed  himself  to  the 
misfortune  alleged  to  nave  befallen  him. — ^Hini  Clares. 

Turkish  "  Know'^  and  **  Soto,'* — In  Turkish  eofftioscere  and  scire 
are  distinguished,  being  respectively  tanemaJc  and  hilmek.  Sow  and 
Seto  are  represented  by  one  verb,  dikmek. — Hydb  Clarke. 


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Journ .  Etlmo.  SocVol.lL  PLXVH 


TMhit 


AVMARA  MAN 


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THE  JOURNAL 


OF  THIS 


ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OE  LONDON. 


XXIII.  On  the  Aymara  Indians  of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 
By  David  Forbes,  Esq.,  F.R.S.,  F.G.S.,  &c.* 

(Read  June  2lBt,  1870). 

The  country  inhabited  by  the  Aymara  race  of  Indians  is  nearly 
equally  divided  between  the  two  South- American  republics  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru,  forming  the  most  northern  or,  rather,  north- 
western part  of  Bolivia  and  the  southernmost  of  Peru. 

From  north  to  south  it  extends  from  about  15°  to  20®  of  south 
latitude ;  but  from  east  to  west  it  is  more  diflScult  to  define  its 
limits  with  any  approach  to  exactitude,  owing  to  the  existence 
of  several  outlying  colonies  of  these  Indians;  the  Aymara 
country  proper,  however,  may  be  regarded  as  boimded  by  the 
two  great  chains  of  mountains  called  by  the  Spaniards  the  Cor- 
dilleras de  la  Costa,  or  Coast  Andes,  and  the  Cordilleras  de  los 
Andes,  or  High  Andes,  which  in  this  part  of  South  America 
traverse  somewhat  obliquely  the  provinces  of  Peru  and  Bolivia, 
situated  between  the  lon^tudes  67*  and  72^  west  of  Greenwich. 
The  district  itself,  now  only  sparsely,  but  in  former  times  much 
more  thickly  populated  by  these  Indians,  may  be  estimated  as 
about  300  English  geographical  miles  in  length,  with  a  breadth 
of  about  150  miles,  and  consequently  represents  a  superficial 
area  of  about  45,000  square  miles. 

The  whole  of  this  country  is  situated  at  a  great  elevation,  and 
may  be  looked  upon  as  an  extensive  table-land,  having  a  mini- 
mum altitude  of  10,000  feet,  above  which  again  rise  several 
more  or  less  parallel  north  and  south  mountain  ridges,  whose 
snowy  peaks  frequently  attain  double  that  height,  or  more  than 
20,000  feet  above  the  Pacific  Ocean ;  amongst  these  might  be 
mentioned  the  volcanic  cones  of  Sajama  and  Tacora,  in  the 

•  [Special  circumstances  connected  with  this  paper  have  led  to  iU  early 
publication. — Sub-Ed.] 


VOL.  II. 


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194  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

western  range,  which,  upon  measurement,  were  found  to  be 
23,014  and  22,687  feet,  as  also  the  Silurian  moipitains  of  U- 
lampu  (Sorata)  and  lUimani,  in  the  most  eastern  chain,  re* 
spectively  24,812  and  24,155  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea. 

This  high  plateau  extends  further  both  to  the  north  and 
south,  but  upon  its  other  two  sides  it  terminates  abruptly  by 
rapid  descents  into  regions  but  comparatively  little  elevated 
above  the  level  of  the  sea,  which  differ  very  greatly  firom  it,  as 
well  as  from  one  another,  in  both  climate  and  general  geogra- 
phical features.  On  the  east  side,  the  greatest  heights  of  the 
Andes  look  down  like  precipices  upon  the  virgin  forests  and  the 
low,  humid,  hot  valleys  and  plains,  irrigated  by  copious  rains, 
and  traversed  by  mighty  rivers,  which  divide  the  republics  of 
Peru  and  Bolivia  firom  the  empire  of  Brazil,  the  change  being  so 
sudden  that  the  traveller  descending  from  the  perpetual  snows 
of  the  Andes  finds  himself  in  the  course  of  but  a  few  hours^ 
journey  amongst  the  palms  and  luxuriant  hothouse  v^etation 
of  the  tropics. 

On  the  western  side,  however,  the  change,  although  seen  to 
be  equally  sudden,  is  altogether  different  in  character;  for  upon 
leaving  behind  the  cold  misty  mountains  and  streams  of  the 
Aymara  highlands  and  crossing,  as  it  were,  an  almost  sharply 
defined  line,  every  thing  in  the  shape  of  moisture  vanishes ;  the 
air  becomes  all  at  once  clear,  dry,  hot,  and  scorching;  and  the 
mountain-declivities  and  sloping  plains,  which  extend  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  present  the  appearance  of  an  arid  and,  in  many 
parts,  saline  desert, — ^a  rainless  region,  destitute  of  water  and, 
consequently,  of  verdure,  in  which  few  living  creatures  are  to  be 
seen,  other  than  the  numerous  lizards  basking  in  the  sun,  or  the 
occasional  huanaco  which  has  strayed  down  from  the  mountains 
above.  Vegetation  is  altogether  absent,  or  at  most  only  repre- 
sented  by  a  few  solitary  cactus  trunks,  except  only  in  some  few 
favoured  small  valleys  (like  cafions)  far  distant  from  one  another, 
in  which  some  small  rivulet  or  natural  spring  exists,  frumishing 
the  basis  for  a  luxuriant  vegetation,  like  an  oasis  in  the  midst  of 
a  desert. 

If  the  latitude  of  this  country  be  alone  taken  into  considera- 
tion, and  its  altitude  above  the  sea-level  neglected,  the  climate 
of  this  high  table-land  will  be  regarded  as  an  extremely  severe 
one.  Above  17,000  feet  the  mountains  are  covered  with  perpe- 
tual snow ;  but  below  this  elevation  the  snow  seldom  remains  for 
more  than  a  few  days  at  a  time.  The  year  may  be  divided  into 
a  rainy  and  a  dry  season ;  the  rainy  season,  commencing  in  No- 
vember or  December,  continues  until  April,  with  heavy  rains 
and  occasional  snow-storms,  the  weather  usually  cold  and  raw, 
the  thermometer  indicating  between  40°  and  50°  F.,  and  not 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  195 

unfrequently  descending  to  the  freezing-pointy  or  even  some  few 
dqgrees  below  it^  whilst  the  air  is  nsually  damp^  and  the  .moun- 
tains are  enveloped  in  dense  misty  clouds. 

In  the  dry  season,  from  April  to  November,  the  climate  is 
fine  and  rather  agreeable,  the  thermometer  in  the  shade  ranging 
from  50*  to  7(f  P. ;  but  in  the  sun  the  air  is  extremely  scorching, 
and  often  accompanied  by  winds,  which  are  so  dry  and  parching  as 
to  affect  the  face  and  eyes  in  an  extraordinary  degree,  blistering 
and  drying  up  the  skin  to  the  consistence  of  horn,  and  making 
it  crack  and  peel  off,  so  as  to  cause  extreme  irritation,  and  even 
temporary  disfigurement — so  much  so  that  when  travelling  in 
the  Puna  region  it  is  customary  amongst  the  whites  to  protect 
the  face  by  masks  or  veils.  During  this  season  storms  of  rain 
and  wind,  with  thunder  and  lightning,  often  of  a  truly  terrific 
nature,  are  very  common,  and  frequently  cause  considerable 
loss  of  life  to  man  as  well  as  beast ;  these  storms  are  often  accom- 
panied by  hail  of  great  size,  and,  as  I  have  noticed,  sometimes 
of  a  peculiar  conical  form. 

Situated  near  the  northern  extremity  of  this  district  is  the 
greatest  sheet  of  water  or  inland  sea  of  South  America,  called 
the  Lake  of  Titicaca*,  covering  a  superficial  area  of  about  2500 
geographical  square  miles,  hems  100  miles  in  length  from  N.W. 
to  S.E.,  with  an  average  breadth  of  about  25  miles,  although 
it  is  some  35  miles  across  in  its  broadest  part.  The  surface 
of  this  lake  is  elevated  12,850  English  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
sea;  and  its  waters  are  somewhat  brackish.  When  not  agitated 
by  the  winds,  1  found  the  surface-waters  almost  fresh  to  the 
taste;  but  it  was  evident  that  in  depth  the  lower  stratum  of 
"water  was  much  more  saline. 

The  shores  of  the  Lake  of  Titicaca  still  remain  the  home,  and 
no  doubt  also  were  the  original  cradle  of  the  Aymara  race,  from 
^hich  neither  the  victories  of  the  Incas  nor  the  subsequent  con- 
quest by  the  Spaniards  have  succeeded  in  dislodging  them, 
notwithstanding  that  this  has  been  the  case  with  so  many  of 
the  other  tribes  of  both  North  and  South  America.  The  Ay- 
mara f  or,  as  they  were  frequently  termed  by  older  Spanish 

*  Thifl  name  is  supposed  to  have  been  derived  ficom  the  Aymara  words 
**  Uti "  and  "  Caca."  "  Titi "  is  the  Aymara  name  for  tin,  the  ores  of  which 
are  found  in  large  quantity  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake  at  Oarabuco ;  and 
*^  Caca/'  a  rock.  Titi  is  also  the  name  for  the  wild  cat  in  Aymara;  and  as 
there  is  a  tradition  amount  the  Indians  of  the  appearance  at  times  of  an 
enormous  wild  cat  on  the  island  of  Titicaca,  some  of  the  old  Spaniards  have 
accepted  this  interpretation. 

t  it  is  believed  that  the  name  Aymara  was  applied  to  this  race  of  Indians 
even  before  the  foundation  of  the  Inca  empire  (vide  Garcilasso  de  la  Veffa, 
Com.  Real,  de  las  Incas,  Book  iii.  chap.  x.  p.  84).  The  name  of  Colla  In- 
dians is  of  much  later  date,  and  is  derived  firom  their  being  inhabitants  of 

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196  David  Forbes — On  ike  Aymara  Indians 

writers,  the  "  Colla''  Indians  are  the  only  race  in  Peru  or  Bolivia 
at  all  entitled  to  the  appellation  of  the  "  Titicaca  race/'  which 
term  has  been  quite  incorrectly  applied  by  Tschudi  and  others 
to  the  Inca  or  Quechua  nation,  a  race  totally  distinct  in  lan- 
guage, character,  and  geographical  position. 

Under  the  Inca  dynasty  the  Aymaras,  although  subjugated, 
appear  to  have  remained  more  as  a  tributary  people,  without  ever 
being  actually  incorporated  into  the  empire ;  and  consequently 
they  never  became  assimilated  into  the  great  Peruvian  or 
Quechua-speaking  nation,  as  was  the  case  with  the  numerous 
Indian  tribes  both  to  the  north  and  south  of  them.  Even  to 
the  present  day  they  remain  more  or  less  isolated,  and  in  many 
respects  almost  unchanged,  retaining  their  ancient  language, 
and  a  sort  of  national  existence  more  pronounced  probably  than 
any  of  the  other  Indian  races  now  remaining  under  the  Hispano- 
American  rule. 

Most  of  the  Indian  languages  in  both  the  Americas  have 
become  all  but  extinct,  and  gradually  replaced  by  Spanish  or 
English.  The  only  ones  which,  in  Spanish  or  Portuguese  South 
America,  have  survived  are  the  Quechua  in  Northern  Peru  and 
Southern  Bolivia,  the  Aymara  in  southern  Peru  and  Northern 
Bolivia,  and  the  Guarani  in  Brazil  and  Paraguay ;  these  three 
may  still  be  said  to  remain  the  languages  of  the  countries, 
being,  like  Hindostanee  in  India,  generally  spoken  by  the  white 
inhabitants  also,  and  alone  used  by  them  in  their  intercourse 
with  their  domestics  and  with  the  mixed  and  pure  Indian  popu- 
lation. 

The  history  of  the  Aymaras  calls  to  mind  the  ancient  history 
of  the  Welsh,  where  the  inhabitants  of  Wales,  unable  to  oppose 
their  more  numerous  invaders  in  the  open  field,  retired  to  their 
mountain  fortresses,  and,  by  their  dogged  but  patriotic  cha- 
racter, managed  not  only  to  prevent  their  being  absorbed  into 
the  mass  of  their  more  powerful  neighbours,  but  to  preserve 
their  ancient  language  and  many  of  their  customs  even  down  to 
the  present  day. 

What  little  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  this  race  may 
be  stated  in  but  a  few  words.  According  to  Indian  tradition, 
from  Aymara  as  well  as  Quechua  or  Inca  sources,  the  inha- 
bitants of  this  country,  even  in  or  before  the  time  of  the  first 
Inca,  Manco  Capac  (1021-1062),  possessed  a  degree  of  civiliza- 
tion higher  than  that  of  the  Incas  themselves,  or  probably  of 

Colla-Buyo,  or  the  southern  division  of  the  Inca  empire,  which  was  divided 
into  four  grand  quarters,  known  as  the  Ohincha-suyo,  or  North ;  the  Oolla- 
suyo,  or  South;  the  Anti-suvo,  or  East;  and  the  Cunti-suyo,  or  West 
The  term  Colki  Indians  prob*'ibIy  included  many  other  Indian  tribes  in  the 
south,  and  may  be  regarded  as  a  purely  geogr^pfiical  name. 


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oj  Bolivia  and  Peru.  197 

even  any  other  of  the  South- American  tribes ;  and  evidences 
attesting  this  may  still  be  seen  in  the  ruins  of  the  grand 
temples  and  palaces  of  Tiahuanaco^  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  Titicaca. 

At  this  early  period^  however,  every  thing  is  involved  in  dark- 
ness, until  Lloque  Yupanki,  the  third  of  the  Incas  (1091-1126), 
in  a  war  against  the  Aymaras,  overran  the  entire  district,  situated 
on  the  western  side  of  the  lake  of  Titicaca,  inhabited  by  these 
Indians,  and  annexed  to  the  Inca  dominion  the  whole  of  that 
portion  of  the  Aymara  country  at  present  included  in  the  re- 
public of  Peru.  Although  his  victorious  progress  was  stopped 
by  the  river  Disaguadero,  which  runs  southward  from  the  Lake 
of  Titicaca,  his  successor,  the  fourth  Inca,  Mayta  Capac  (1126- 
1156),  continued  the  war,  crossing  the  Disaguadero  and  taking 
Tiahuanaco,  which  at  that  time  appears  to  have  been  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  Aymaras,  and  extending  his  conquests 
southwards,  over  the  provinces  of  Caquiaviri,  Huarina,  Larecaja, 
Huaichu,  and  Chuquiapu,  now  called  La  Paz. 

The  victories  of  the  fifth  and  sixth  Incas  carried  their  arms  still 
further  southwards ;  and  under  the  seventh  Inca,  Yahuar  Hu- 
accac  (1249-1289),  the  subjugation  of  the  Aymara-speaking  or 
CoUa  Indians  was  completed  by  the  conquest  of  Caraugas,  their 
most  southern  province ;  after  which  his  successors  on  the  throne 
extended  the  Peruvian  empire  northwards,  westwards,  and  still 
fiirther  to  the  south,  so  as  to  annex  not  only  the  remainder 
of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  but,  traversing  the  desert  of  Atacama,  to 
include  the  greater  part  of  Chile,  as  far  south  as  the  river  Maule, 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  1526. 

With,  the  exception  only  of  the  Aymaras,  all  the  other  Indian 
tribes  thus  brought  under  the  rule  of  the  Incas  seem  to  have 
been  quickly  deprived  of  all  traces  of  a  separate  national  exist- 
ence, losing  even  their  language  and  adopting  that  of  their  con- 
querors, the  Quechua  or,  as  it  was  called  by  the  Spaniards,  the 
"  Lengua  general  del  Peru,^'  and  otherwise  becoming  in  every 
respect  identified  with  the  conquering  race.  The  Aymaras, 
on  the  contrary,  never  submitted  tamely  to  their  Peruvian 
masters,  but  from  time  to  time  gave  them  much  trouble  by 
attempts  to  recover  their  independence,  which,  however,  always 
proved  unsuccessful,  and  invariably  were  punished  with  extreme 
severity. 

According  to  an  old  tradition,  the  entire  population  of  the 
province  of  Aymaraes,  after  an  unsuccessful  revolt,  were  forcibly 
removed  into  exile  by  the  Incas,  and  the  country  repopulated  by 
Quechua-speaking  colonists  from  a  distant  part  of  the  Empire. 
One  of  the  last  attempts  made  by  the  Aymaras  to  throw  ofl" 
the  Peruvian  yoke  appears  to  have  been  by  the  inhabitants  of 

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198  David  Forbss — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

the  province  of  Carangas  not  many  years  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Spaniards  in  the  reign  of  the  twelfth  Inca^  Huayna  Capac 
(1475-1525)^  and  was  only  put  down  after  much  bloodshed; 
according  to  a  tradition  still  preserved  in  the  district^  a  great 
number  of  the  prisoners  taken  in  this  rebellion  were^  after  having 
had  their  throats  cut^  thrown  into  a  lake^  which  from  that  time 
has  retained  the  name  of  ''Yahuar  Cocha^'  or  the  Lake  of 
Blood. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  condition  of  the  Aymaras  under 
the  Incasj  it  became  infinitely  worse  after  the  Spaniard  con- 
quest; it  is  all  but  impossible  to  convey  in  words  a  true  picture 
of  the  barbarous  treatment  which  they^  as  well  as  the  neigh- 
bouring Indian  tribes^  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards. 
Treated  infinitely  worse  than  slaves^  they  were  torn  from  their 
homes  and  families  to  be  driven  like  cattle  either  to  the  coca 
plantations  and  gold- washings  in  the  Yungas^  or  hot  unhealthy 
valleys  to  the  east  of  the  high  Andes  (where  they  rapidly  fell 
victims  to  a  climate  altogether  unsuited  to  their  constitutions)^  or 
to  the  silver  mines  of  Potosi^  Chayanta,  Oruro,  &c.  (where  irom. 
forced  labour^  ill-treatment^  and  insufficient  food  they  succumbed 
ei^ually  fast^  only  to  be  replaced  by  fi^sh  supplies  similarly  ob- 
tamed). 

The  statements  made  by  some  of  the  old  writers  on  this  sub- 
ject seemed  altogether  incredible  until  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  country  showed  that  they  were  not  exaggerated. 
Everywhere  proofs  are  seen  of  a  former  dense  population :  de- 
serted villages  are  met  with  at  every  step ;  and  the  ndes  of  the 
mountams  even^  in  many  parts  up  to  the  very  line  of  perpetual 
snowj  are  covered  with  walled-in  enclosures,  fields,  and  terraces 
which  had  formerly  been  cultivated  but  now  lie  desert  and 
abandoned ;  and  the  traveller  who  journeys  day  after  day  through 
such  districts  cannot  but  believe  that  the  Aymara  country,  which 
does  not  now  contain  a  population  of  much  more  than  three 
quarters  of  a  million,  must  in  former  times  have  contained 
several  million  inhabitants. 

Notwithstanding  the  naturally  submissive  character  of  the 
Indians,  the  cruelties  of  the  Spaniards  at  last  drove  them,  in 
1780,  into  open  rebellion ;  the  Aymaras  under  the  Cataris,  joined 
soon  after  by  some  of  the  Quechuas  under  Tupac  Amaru,  rose 
up  against  the  whites  and  all  but  effected  their  entire  extermi- 
nation ;  as  it  was,  more  than  40,000  Spaniards  perished,  and  the 
country  was  only  saved  to  the  crown  of  Spain  by  the  arrival  of 
an  army  sent  from  Buenos  Ayres  to  the  rescue. 

The  effect  of  this  insurrection  was,  as  might  be  expected,  to 
paralyze  and  in  great  measure  destroy  the  commerce  and  in- 
dustries of  the  country,  more  especially  the  mines,  to  such  a 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  199 

degree  that  they  have  never  yet  recovered.  Soon  after,  the 
war  of  South- American  Independence  broke  out^  continuing 
until  1826,  and  foUowed  by  the  endless  civil  wars  and  internal 
dissensions  in  the  new  republic,  which  still  continue,  and  have 
resulted  in  this  rich  country  retrograding  instead  of  advancing 
with  the  age. 

In  these  wars,  the  fighting  fell  all  but  entirely  to  the  whites 
and  mixed  races,  the  pure  Indians  looking  on  and  abiding  their 
time  until  the  governing  powers  should  have  exhausted  them- 
selves :  and  as  during  this  period,  if  not  better  treated,  the 
Indians  had  at  least  been  left  more  to  themselves,  they  rapidly 
increased  in  numbers  and  became  every  day  more  confident  in 
their  own  strength.  In  1854  it  was  discovered  that  they  had 
made  preparations  for  an  immediate  rise ;  and  had  they  done  so, 
they  must  have  completely  overpowered  the  whites,  had  not, 
fortunately  for  the  latter,  a  terrible  epidemic  (a  species  of 
typhoid  fever)  broken  out  amongst  the  Indians  and,  without 
attacking  the  whites,  committed  such  havoc  amongst  them  as  to 
all  but  depopulate  entire  districts.  In  1860  an  attempt  to  rise 
was  made  on  a  small  scale  by  the  Aymara  Indians  of  Tiquina, 
in  which  some  horrible  cruelties  were  committed  on  the  un- 
fortunate whites  who  fell  into  their  hands ;  this  rising,  however, 
was  entirely  local,  and  was  very  quickly  suppressed  by  some 
Bolivian  troops  under  Colonel  Flores. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the  Aymara  Indians 
cherish  the  most  deep-rooted  and  inveterate  hatred  towards  their 
white  oppressors,  and  console  themselves  with  the  hope  that 
sooner  or  later  they  will  be  enabled  to  repossess  themselves  of 
the  country  of  their  ancestors. 

The  condition  of  the  Aymara  Indians  under  the  Bepublics  of 
Peru  and  Bolivia,  although  no  doubt  infinitely  better  than  in 
the  time  of  the  Spaniards,  is  nevertheless  still  very  deplorable. 
Although  declared  free  by  the  constitution,  they  in  reality  are 
only  serfs,  being  ill  treated  and  imposed  upon  in  all  manner  of 
ways*^  by  both  the  civil  and  military  authorities,  as  well  as  by 
the  white  population  in  general,  who  all  combine  to  plunder 
them  whenever  an  opportunity  occurs ;  so  that  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  poor  Indian  is  never  happier  than  when  he  is  up 
amongst  his  mountains  far  away  from  the  white  man. 

The  Aymara  Indians  in  the  country  generally  live  in  little 
straggling  villages  or  clusters  of  houses,  and  are  associated  in 
what  are  called  "  Comunidades,''  to  which  the  governments  of 
the  Republics  have  apportioned  the  major  part  of  the  land  not 

*  Cortes,  in  his  '  Ensayo  sobre  la  bistoria  de  Bolivia,'  Sucre,  1861|  p.  800, 
says,  ''Los  indios,  a  causa  de  su  ignorancia, no  saben  hacervalersus  derechos, 
que  no  son  mas  que  un  nombre,  y  todo  el  mundo  se  cree  facultado  a  abusar  de 
aquella  clase  degradada  de  nueetra  sociedad/'  ^  .^.^^^  ^  GoOqIc 


200 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indiana 


occupied  by  the  whites^  and  iu  return  impose  upon  the  Indians 
an  annual  contribution  or,  as  it  is  termed,  "  tributo/^  amounting 
to  some  4  to  10  Bolivian  dollars  per  annum,  payable  half-yearly. 
At  the  head  of  each  of  these  Comunidades  is  an  Indian  (one 
of  themselves),  who  has  the  title  of  Alcalde,  and  carries,  ad  a 
mark  of  office,  a  sort  of  wand  not  unlike  a  thick  long  English 
carter^s  whip  (without  the  lash),  and  like  it  usually  decorated 
with  numerous  ferrules,  or  flat  rings,  often  of  silver.  The  Alcalde 
is  responsible  for  keeping  the  Indians  in  order,  and  is  the 
medium  of  communication  with  the  white  authorities  of  the 
district.  All  their  internal  affairs  are  managed  amongst  them- 
selves, including  the  subdivision  of  the  lands  amongst  the  families, 
in  which  the  widow  always  takes  her  share  with  ^e  others.  The 
white  population  are  exempt  from  the  "tributo;''  and  since 
about  the  year  1856,  the  Peruvian  government,  rich  from  their 
Huano  deposits  on  the  islands  of  the  coast,  have  not  enforced 
this  contribution  from  their  Indians.  In  Bolivia,  however,  it 
still  remains  one,  if  not  the,  most  important  item  of  the 
revenue. 

The  public  works  of  a  district,  such  as  roads,  bridges,  churches, 
&c.,  are  all  executed  by  the  compulsory  and  unpaid  labour  of 
the  Indians  in  the  vicinity. 

The  Aymara  population  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  together  probably 
does  not  exceed  three  quarters  of  a  million,  if  so  much ;  but 
I  have  endeavoured  to  obtain  as  near  an  approximation  as 
possible  in  countries  where  not  much  reliance  can  be  placed  in 
their  statistics. 

In  Bolivia  the  entire  population,  as  taken  in  the  census  made 
during  the  summer  of  1854,  of  the  Aymara-speaking  provinces, 
eleven  in  number,  was  as  follows : — 


Name  of 
Province. 

White  and 
mixed 

Total 
populatkm. 

Male. 

Female. 

Total. 

La  Paz    

28,155 

41,206 

33,459 

24,111 

16,493 

13,082 

10,060 

8,793 

9,483 

21,907 

9,846 

31,974 
45,547 
82,381 
24,697 
18,319 
11,641 
10,880 
8,454 
9,822 
21,115 
10,821 

60,129 
87,758 
65,840 
48,808 
84,812 
24,728 
20,440 
17,247 
19,805 
48,022 
20,667 

29,353 
4,565 
5,870 
4,509 
6,210 
8,802 
6,067 
8,844 
6,249 
1,880 
681 

89,482 
91,318 
71,710 
53,317 
41,022 
83,625 
26,507 
21,091 
26,654 
44,352 
21,848 

Omasuyos 

Ineravi     

Sica  Sica    

Munecas    

Yungas  

Larecaja     

laquisivi     

Oruro 

Paria  

Carangas    

216,595 

226,151 

441,746 

77,480 

619,226 

of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  201 

from  which  it  will  be  perceived  that  the  total  admixture  of  whites 
and  half-castes  is  not  more  than  15  per  cent. ;  and  of  these  the 
large  portion  are  in  the  city  of  La  Paz^  Oruro^  and  some  of  the 
other  larger  towns.  Since  the  above  census  was  taken^  another 
was  made  in  La  Paz,  in  1858;  but  up  to  the  date  of  my  depar- 
ture from  Bolivia,  in  1864,  nothing  but  the  total  numbers  of  the 
inhabitants  of  each  province  had  been  published,  without 
particulars  as  to  race :  these  were  as  follows : — 

La  Paz 99,059 

Omasuyos    103,976 

Ingavi 83,699 

SicaSica 57,666 

Munecas 40,872 

Yungas    36,823 

Larecaja  31,647 

Inquisivi 19,930 

Oruro  28,340 

Paria    52,618 

Carangas 29,973 

Total    584,603 

and  if  from  this  number  we  deduct  87,236,  or  the  same  relative 
proportion  of  whites  and  mixed  races  as  were  found  by  the 
former  census,  we  shall  have  the  pure  Aymara  Indians  of 
Bolivia  as  about  497,367,  more  or  less,  in  1858. 

In  Peru  the  statistics  of  the  population  are  far  less  to  be 
depended  upon  than  in  Bolivia ;  for  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
census  pubUshed  between  1795  and  1850.  In  the  former  year 
the  Guia  de  Forasteros  gives  the  numbers  of  the  Aymaras  as 
follows : — 

o_  .    _  Pure  Aymara    Half-caflte  Aymara 

Pronnoet.  j^^^  Spanish. 

Aymaraes    10,782  2,256 

Ariquipa 5,929  4,908 

Camana  1,249  1,021 

Condesuyos     12,011  4,358 

Caylloma 12,872  1,417 

Moquegua  17,272  2,916 

Arica  12,870  1,977 

72,985  18,852 

If,  however,  we  take  the  census  of  the  population  of  these 
districts  taken  in  1850,  by  Dr.  Buenaventura  Seoane,  as 
follows : — 


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202  David  Forbbs — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

Bepartmeiit             ProTinoe.           PopuUtion.         ToCaL 
Ousco  Aymaraes  18,221         18^21. 

rCercado 60,04!0^ 

Camani 11,270  | 

Ariquipa  ...<  CayUoma    23,449  V  121,686. 

1  Condesuyos    21,170 

'^  Union; 16,669j 

f  Arica 18,6421 

Moquequa...  \  Cercado 82,380  t      61,440. 

[  Tarapaca    10,4il8J 

fAzdngaro    64,333') 

Carabaya    22,138 

Puno <  Chucuito    36,967  >  246,681. 

I  Huancand  66,766 

LLampa    76,488J 

446,927. 

and  from  this  number  we  now  deduct^  as  in  tbe  ease  of  the 
Bolivian  census^  some  16  per  cent.,  or  67,038^  as  belonging  to 
mixed  races  and  whites,  we  shall  have  the  numbers  of  the 
Aymara  race  approximately  as  follows : — 

Peruvian 879,884 

Bolivian  497,367 

or  a  total  of 877,261 

a  number  which  seems  to  me  considerably  higher  than  the 
reality,  more  especially  as  regards  Peru :  the  total  number  of 
pure  Aymara  Indians  cannot,  I  imagine,  be  above  three  quarters 
of  a  million. 

Under  the  Spanish  rigime,  owing  to  the  cruel  treatment 
experienced,  the  Indian  population  appears  to  have  been 
reduced  to  its  minimum.  After  the  War  of  Independence  it 
recovered  rapidly  up  to  1866,  when  it  again  became  greatly 
reduced  by  the  epidemic  which  raged  for  some  years  and  in 
parts  almost  cleared  away  the  entire  inhabitants;  during  the 
last  ten  years,  however,  it  has  again  been  augmenting  rapidly. 

If  we  consider  the  total  superficial  area  occupied  by  this 
nation  as  46,000  square  miles,  as  before  mentioned,  then  the 
numbers  above  given  will  represent  about  nineteen  inhabitants 
to  the  square  mile.  If  numbers  be  taken  into  the  calculation,  the 
Aymara  will  be  the  third  of  the  South- American  races,  coming 
after  the  Ouarani  and  Quechua;  but,  if  the  superficial  area  of 
their  country  be  alone  compared,  then  they  will  probably  rank 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  203 

about  fifth  or  sixth,  since  the  tribes  of  the  plains  of  Brazil  and 
Patagonia,  although  much  less  numerous,  occupy  a  greater  area 
of  country,  owing  to  their  nomadic  habits — ^tiie  very  contrary 
of  the  Aymaras. 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  the  highlands  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  I 
was  struck  with  the  very  characteristic  and  peculiar  appearance 
of  the  Indian  population  in  general,  as  it  seemed  to  me  to  difier 
greatly,  in  many  respects,  from  that  of  any  of  the  other  races  of 
South  America  or  Polynesia  with  whom  I  had  previously  become 
acquainted.  A  great  difference  in  the  external  proportions  of 
the  body  could  be  remarked  at  a  glance,  especially  when  an 
Aymara  Indian  was  seen  sitting  down  or  on  horseback,  and 
still  more  strikingly  if  by  the  side  of  a  European  similarly 
mounted:  the  greater  part  of  the  entire  body  seemed  to  be 
raised  high  up  above  the  horse's  back,  perched  up  on  the  legs 
in  a  curious  manner ;  and  other  peculiarities  of  outline  show^ 
themselves,  which  made  me  extremely  interested  in  finding  out 
how  these  differences  could  be  accounted  for. 

A  subsequent  residence  of  some  three  years  in  the  very 
centre  of  the  country  inhabited  by  the  Aymara  Indians,  with 
whom  I  was  brought  into  immediate  and  daily  contact,  offered 
excellent  opportunities  for  studying  them  more  closely;  and, 
although  I  now  perceive  with  regret  that  I  could  have  profited 
much  more  than  I  did  by  the  facilities  thus  afforded  me,  still  I 
believe  that  any  details  relating  to  this  very  remarkable  and 
so  little  known  race  of  men  cannot  fail  to  prove  interesting  to 
ethnologists,  and  I  now  submit  the  following  abstract  of  my 
notes  made  during  the  years  from  1859  to  1863  inclusive. 

The  general  bmld  of  the  Aymara  Indians  may  be  described 
as  massive  without  being  large;  short,  thickset,  beardless  men, 
who,  as  far  as  my  measurements  enable  me  to  judge,  do  not 
average  above  5  feet  3  inches  English,  and  rarely  exceed  5  feet 
4  inches  in  height;  they  are  a  somewhat  large-headed,  small- 
eyed,  square-built,  broad-shouldered,  long-bodied,  short-legged, 
and  small-footed  race,  whose  form  is  more  indicative  of  strength 
than  of  beauty  or  flexibility. 

The  contours  are,  as  a  rule,  full  and  rounded  off,  rarely,  if 
ever,  angular,  the  breasts  being  often  prominent  in  the  male  as 
well  as  the  female,  and  the  whole  outline  conveying  a  somewhat 
effeminate  impression,  as  is  the  case  with  many  of  the  other 
South- American  tribes ;  so  that  in  youth  the  sexes  are  often  not 
easily  to  be  distinguished  in  appearance  from  one  another, 
except  by  dress. 

The  men  are  generally  well-formed,  and  sometimes  even 
handsome;  but  the  women,  who  appeared  to  average  about 
4  feet  8  inches  in  height,  are  seldom  so,  being  usually  far  too 

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204  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

robust,  as  well  as  heavy  in  their  movements,  to  possess  any  thing 
like  grace;  yet,  occasionally,  exceptions  are  to  be  met  with, 
who,  if  washed  and  dressed  up,  might,  even  when  placed  along- 
side Europeans,  be  considered  pleasing  and  good-looking. 
Neither  men  nor  women,  although  very  robust,  appear  ever  to 
become  corpulent  j  I  cannot  call  to  mind  having  seen  a  single 
instance  of  a  fat  person  amongst  the  pure  Indians;  yet  amongst 
the  ''  Cholada,^'  or  half  Indian  half  Spanish  race,  this  is  fre- 
quent enough. 

l^hroughout  the  whole  of  the  Aymara-speaking  country  these 
Indians  present  a  remarkable  uniformity  as  well  in  their  habits 
and  customs  as  in  their  outward  appearance ;  and  this  seems  to 
have  been  so  from  time  immemorial,  since  the  representations 
on  ancient  sculptures,  pottery,  and  the  little  images  found  in 
the  Indian  graves  are,  in  many  cases,  but  copies  of  what  the 
Indians  themselves  are  at  the  present  day,  and  in  some  in- 
stances not  only  show  the  exact  character  of  the  face,  but  also 
indicate  the  peculiarities  of  the  relative  proportions  of  the  body 
as  seen  in  the  Aymaras  at  present. 

The  appearance  of  the  face  and  head  of  what  I  regard  as  the 
normal  Aymara  of  the  highlands  or  Titicaca  region  may  be  seen 
(male  and  female)  on  reference  to  Plates  XVII.  &  XVIIL,  which 
represent  very  correctly  an  Aymara  man  and  woman  of  the  De- 
partment of  La  Paz,  in  Bolivia*,  and  were  drawn  from  life  by 
Mr.  Isidore  Miiller  expressly  for  me.  In  some  parts  of  the  country, 
however,  especially  in  the  north,  where  the  Quechua-Indian 
race  commences,  another  type  of  face  is  also  seen  amongst  the 
men  (it  is  rarer  in  the  women),  represented  in  PI.  XIX.  This, 
however,  is  quite  a  subordinate  type ;  and,  as  will  be  perceived, 
the  shape  of  the  head  is  somewhat  rounder,  and  the  expression 
far  from  being  so  good  as  in  the  normal  type ;  excepting  only 
the  head,  I  found  that  the  proportions  of  idl  the  other  parts  of 
the  body  were  identical  in  both  these  types. 

The  facial  angle  differs  but  little  from  that  of  the  European  ; 
and  the  features  and  profile  of  the  normal  Aymara  are  decidedly 
good.  The  head  always  appears  to  be  somewhat  long  from 
behind  to  before,  and,  if  any  thing,  somewhat  large  when  com- 
pared with  the  body ;  it  appears  to  be  less  wide  than  the  Quechua 
head :  the  cheek-bones  are  seldom  very  prominent,  except  in  old 
age,  and  the  face  is  only  slightly  oval,  the  hair  on  the  forehead 
in  the  men,  and  still  more  so  in  the  women,  descending  very  low. 

The  extraordinary  elongated  skulls  (many  of  which  have 
been  received  in  Europe  and  have  been  frequently  figured  as 

•  The  figure  mven  in  Smith's  '  Natural  History  of  the  Human  Species/ 
of  an  Indian  of  the  Oto  tribe,  in  North  America,  is  almost  an  exact  likeness 
of  Conduri,  an  old  Aymara  man,  some  time  in  my  service. 


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jQuro,  Etimo   Soc  Vol  P,  Pi  XVm 


■VlT^f 


AYMARA  WOMAN 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  205 

well  as  described)  which  are  met  with  in  the  ancient  graves  on 
the  islands  in  the  Lake  Titicaca^  in  the  Asmara  country^  have 
been  described  and  regarded  by  Tschudi  as  natural  and  pecu- 
liar to  what  he  caUs  the  Titicaca  or  Inca  race.  As  before  men- 
tioned, the  Inca  or  Quechua  race  cannot  be  correctly  termed  a 
Titicaca  race,  since  the  entire  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca  have  even 
from  pre-incarial  times  been  solely  inhabited  by  the  Aymaras, 
although  subsequently  conquered  by  the  Incas.  Elongated 
skulls  are  not  confined  to  this  district*,  or  even  entitled  to  be 
considered  natural  productions;  if  the  evidence  to  prove  their 
artificial  origin  is  allowed  due  weight,  the  partial  or  total 
obliteration  of  the  sutures  in  all  those  skulls  which  I  examined 
must  be  regarded  as  so  many  proofs  of  the  application  of  com- 
pression in  infancy;  and  Bolivians  who  have  disinterred  them 
assure  me  that  in  the  same  graves  (family  or  tribal  burial- 
grounds)  many  other  skulls  of  the  usual  form  were  always 
found  along  with  them,  and  that  the  general  opinion  was  that 
these  elongated  skulls  belonged  to  the  families  of  chieftains, 
amongst  whom  it  was  considered  a  mark  of  distinction  to  so 
distort  the  head  (of  the  male  only)  in  childhood.  Although 
Tschudi  mentions  that  he  could  not  find  any  evidence  to  show 
that  such  practice  of  compressing  the  head  was  usual  amongst 
the  ancient  Peruvians,  I  found  full  proof  to  the  contrary  upon 
searching  the  '  Ordinanzas  del  Peru,'  Lima  1752,  where,  in  tomo 
primero,  lib.  ii.  tit.  ix.  ord.  viii.,  we  find  the  decree : — 

''  Iten  mando,  qui  nigun  Indio  ni  India  apriete  las  cabezas 
de  las  criaturas  recien  nacidos  como  lo  suelen  hazer  por  hazerlos 
mas  lai^as;  porque  de  averlo  hecho,  se  lesk  recrecido,  y  recrece 
dafio,  y  vienen  amorrir  dello,  y  desto  tengen  gran  cuydado  los 
Justicias,  sacerdotes,  y  alcaldes  y  caciques  en  que  no  se  hagaf,^^ 
which  may  be  considered  as  settling  this  question. 

The  superoccipital  or.  interparietal  bone,  the  os  Inca  of 
Tschudi,  cannot  be  considered  peculiar  to  any  Titicaca  race ;  for 
not  only  was  it  deficient  in  all  the  skulls  which  I  examined 
from  this  district,  recent  as  well  as  ancient,  but  it  was  found 
present  in  some  of  the  skulls  out  of  the  graves  on  the  Pacific 
coast  (out  of  111  skulls  examined  by  me  at  Arica  and  further 
south  I  found  3  with  this  bone) ;  it  seems  to  me  probable,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  somewhat  more  common  amongst  the  American 
races  than  amongst  those  of  other  parts  of  the  world,  at  least  so 
far  as  our  knowledge  at  present  extends. 

The  general  expression  of  the  Aymara  face  is  sad  and  reflec- 
tive, melancholic,  with  at  the  same  time  a  strong  admixture  of 

*  In  1863  1  disinterred  three  fine  specimens  of  elongated  skulls  from 
inrAves  on  the  very  edge  of  the  Pacihc^  at  Pisa^ua^  in  the  province  of 
rarapacAy  in  Peru.  t  Spelling  a^  in  original. 


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206  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

determination,  as  if  a  continual  struggle  was  going  on  within 
to  conceal  the  emotions  under  the  appearance  of  stolid  indiffer- 
ence, which,  however,  is  far  from  real ;  the  expression  of  stu- 
pidity often  seen  and  described  by  travellers  is  altogether 
assumed.  The  Aymara  Indian  is  always  grave,  and  rarely  seen 
to  laugh  or  even  smile;  whilst  the  Quechua  Indians  are  in 
these  respects  very  different. 

The  profile  is  good,  the  nose  being  invariably  aquiline,  except 
in  the  instances  before  alluded  to ;  and  in  all  the  ancient  figures 
the  nose  is  also,  as  a  rule,  aquiline.  In  many  cases,  especially 
in  women,  it  is  often  somewhat  curved  inwards  at  the  point; 
the  nostrils  are  usually  broad  at  the  base,  open,  and  expanded. 

The  mouth  is  somewhat  large,  but  not  excessively  so,  the  lips 
being  of  a  yellowish  or  brownish  red  colour,  often  full,  but  not 
flabby  or  thick  as  in  the  negro.  The  teeth,  usually  very  regular 
and  almost  vertical,  are  generally  fine  and  white,  unless  coloured 
by  coca-chewing;  they  resist  age  well,  and  caries  is  not  very 
common. 

The  eyes  are  always  small,  black  or  deep  brown  in  colour, 
the  cornea  being,  however,  never  pure  white,  but  invariably 
more  or  less  yellowish  in  tint ;  they  are  brilliant  and  generally 
deep-set,  the  eyelids  being  fringed  with  long,  fine,  black  lashes. 
The  angle  made  by  the  central  line  of  the  eyes  is  very  slightly 
inclined  inwards,  not  nearly  so  much  as  in  the  Mongol,  yet  not 
altogether  horizontal  as  in  many  of  the  Chinese,  The  eye- 
sight is  very  good  and  enduring;  the  eyebrows  are  black  or 
brown  black,  and  usually  somewhat  sparse. 

The  hair  of  the  head  commences  very  low  down  on  the  fore- 
head, and  is  extremely  abundant  and  long,  in  the  men  as  well 
as  the  women.  It  is  of  a  deep  black-brown  or  black  colour, 
perfectly  straight,  without  any  attempt  to  curl,  and  rather  fine 
in  texture ;  on  comparison  I  found  that  it  was  never  so  coarse 
as  the  black  hair  of  the  Spaniards  or  half-castes.  It  is  said 
never  to  fall  off^  or  become  grey  or  white  in  old  age;  and,  as 
far  as  my  own  observation  extended,  I  cannot  remember  ever 
having  seen  a  pure  Indian  man  or  woman,  however  old,  with 
white  or  grey  hair. 

The  men  wear  their  hair  drawn  backwards  over  their  heads, 
and  plaited  into  a  long  pigtail,  sometimes  reaching  behind  down 
to  their  knees ;  occasionally  the  hair,  after  having  been  drawn 
back,  is  first  divided  into  several  portions  (I  often  noticed  five), 
each  of  which  are  separately  plaited  for  a  short  distance,  and 

*  The  Indianfl  have  the  custom  of  waslung  their  hair  in  urine,  which,  they 
imagine,  nourishes  it;  and  this  disgusting  practiee  is  also  adopted  and  gene- 
rally followed  by  the  Spanish-American  women  of  these  parts  of  South 
America. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  207 

then  the  whole  united  into  one  long  pigtail^  as  before.  This 
same  mode  of  hair-dressing  appears  also  to  have  been  used  in 
more  ancient  times,  as  the  hair  of  several  mummies  which  I  dug 
out  of  ancient  graves  was  put  up  in  a  like  manner.  The  women 
also  draw  their  hair  backwards,  but  then  divide  it  into  two  por- 
tions, which  are  both  plaited  into  pigtails,  one  hanging  down  on 
each  side  of  the  back. 

The  men  are  beardless,  and,  beyond  the  eyelashes  and  eye- 
brows, rarely  have  any  trace  of  hair  on  the  face,  although  in 
some  older  men  I  have  occasionally  seen  a  few  straggling  short 
hairs  on  the  upper  lip,  but  never  so  much  as  could  be  entitled 
to  the  appellation  of  a  moustache.  Neither  men  nor  women 
have  any  hair  on  or  under  the  arms  or  legs,  nor  on  the  body, 
excepting  only  that  the  men  have  occasionally  a  little  tuft  or 
fringe  of  soft  black  hair  on  the  pubes^.  It  is  not  the  custom  to 
pull  out  or  otherwise  eradicate  the  hair  from  any  part  of  the 
body ;  on  the  contrary  any  straggling  hair  or  tuft  which  might 
make  its  appearance  is  more  Ukely  to  be  encouraged  and  re- 
garded with  something  akin  to  pride.  The  men  especially  prize 
their  pigtails,  and,  I  believe,  often  introduce  false  hair  when 
plaiting  them,  in  order  to  make  them  appear  longer  and  thicker 
at  their  feasts. 

When  not  exposed  to  the  weather  or  hard  work,  the  skin  of 
the  Aymara  Indian  is  always  extremely  smooth,  fine,  soft,  and, 
as  if  polished,  having  no  trace  of  hair  upon  it,  and  never  clammy, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  somewhat  cool  to  the  feel.  Its  odour  did 
not,  at  least  when  in  good  health  and  cleanly,  appear  to  be 
stronger  than  in  the  European — ^in  fact,  is  so  slight  as  to  be  all 
but  imperceptible.  The  Indian,  however,  whose  sense  of  smell 
is  highly  developed,  notwithstanding  the  state  of  dirt  in  which 
he  lives,  has  particular  names  to  denote  the  natural  odour  of  the 
white,  black,  and  Indian  man  respectively. 

The  colour  of  the  skin  in  the  new-bom  infant  is  of  a  reddish 
tint,  and  did  not  appear  to  me  to  be  very  much  darker  than  in 
the  white  infant;  but  it  becomes  rapidly  darker,  and  soon  ac- 
quires the  permanent  hue  of  the  race.  This  colour,  however, 
seemed  to  me  to  vary  greatly  with  the  locality,  no  doubt  from 
causes  due  entirely  to  the  climate.  In  the  moist,  cold  high- 
lands the  colour  is  a  light  somewhat  coppery  brown  resembling 
much  in  tint  that  of  many  of  the  North- American  Indians.  In 
the  dryer  highlands  and  the  rainless  valleys  of  the  western  range 
this  colour  becomes  much  less  red,  and  more  of  a  blackish- 
brown;  whilst  in  the  hot  humid  valleys  of  the  eastern  slopes  of 
the  Andes,  looking  towards  Brazil,  all  trace  of  the  red  dis- 

*  The  women  have  no  hair  on  the  pubes  even  in  old  age. 

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208  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

appears^  and  the  skin  has  a  much  yellower  hue^  a  sort  of  bilious- 
looking  light-brown  tint^  often  silky  in  appearance.  As  a  rule, 
the  darkest  and  blackest-looking  skin  is  always  found  in  the 
dryest  localities^  independent  of  the  amount  of 'sun  to  which  it 
may  be  exposed.  The  influence  of  the  sun,  as  on  the  skin  of 
the  European,  appears  to  be,  in  greater  part  at  least,  only  mo- 
mentary; thus  one  of  the  redder-coloured  Indians  becomes 
much  darker  in  tint  after  remaining  some  time  in  the  hot  dry 
district  of  the  Pacific  (as,  for  example,  at  Tacna),  or  attains  a 
more  yellowish-brown  hue  when  employed  in  the  gold-workings 
or  coca  plantations  in  the  hot  humid  valleys  of  eastern  Bolivia ; 
yet  upon  his  return  to  his  native  mountains  the  original  rud- 
dier tint  gradually  asserts  itself  in  a  short  time.  Although  in 
the  white  race  the  skin  of  the  face  and  parts  exposed  to  the  light 
become  invariably  the  darkest,  this,  at  least  with  regard  to  the 
face,  very  much  to  my  surprise,  was  not  the  case  with  these 
Indians ;  for  in  all  the  instances  where  I  had  opportunities  for 
comparison,  the  face  was  as  a  rule  lighter  in  colour  than  the 
other,  covered  parts  of  the  body*. 

The  Spanish  writers  have  always  maintained  that  the  Indian 
cannot  blush:  this  is  without  doubt  incorrect;  for  although, 
from  the  very  colour  of  the  skin,  it  is  impossible  that  a  blush 
should  be  so  visible  as  in  the  white,  still,  under  such  circum- 
stances as  would  raise  a  blush  in  the  latter,  there  can  always  be 
seen  the  same  expression  of  modesty  or  confusion  on  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  Indian,  and  even  in  the  dark  a  rise  of  tempera- 
ture of  the  skin  of  the  face  can  be  felt,  exactly  as  occurs  in  the 
European.  On  many  Aymara  Indians  I  noticed,  more  particu- 
larly in  women,  a  red  tinge  on  the  cheek,  something  like  what 
might  be  termed  a  permanent  blush,  and  reminding  one  of  the 
hectic  tinge  on  the  cheek  which  often  accompanies  ill-health  in 
the  white :  whether  this  in  the  Indian  owes  its  origin  to  a  similar 
cause  or  not  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify. 

The  great  size  of  the  body  of  the  Aymara  Indian,  when  com- 
pared with  his  other  dimensions,  cannot  fail  to  attract  imme- 
diate attention ;  and  a  closer  examination  at  once  shows  that  of 
this  the  major  part  is  occupied  by  the  region  of  the  chest ;  the 
neck  is  not  long,  oftener  short,  but  always  thick ;  the  shoulders, 
although  always  broad,  convey  to  the  eye  the  impression  of  their 
being  even  broader  than  they  are  found  to  be  upon  actual  mea- 
surement. The  space  occupied  by  the  breasts  is  both  broad 
and  high,  i.e.  longer  than  usual — besides  projecting  much  more, 

*  The  skin  of  the  nipples  of  the  mammae  in  the  women  and  the  organs  of 
generation  in  the  men  was  deepest  in  colour,  hut  that  of  the  inside  of  the  pre- 
puce and  glans  usually  flesh-coloured. 


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Joum.  Et.lino     Soc.  Vol  IT.  PI  XDC 


AVMARA  MAN 


Liikog' 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  209 

being  nnusually  large  in  circumference,  which  consequently  in- 
dicates a  great  internal  capacity,  affording  space  for  an  immense 
development  of  the  breathing-organs.  The  circumference  of  the 
body  both  at  the  waist  and  navel  is  unusually  laige ;  but  at  the 
pelvis,  although  still  large,  is  not  extraordinarily  so,  except  in 
the  Indian  women,  who  consequently  bring  forth  with  great 
ease*. 

The  relative  proportions  of  the  extremities  are  equally  re- 
markable with  that  of  the  body  itself,  although  this  is  less  con- 
spicuous in  the  case  of  the  arm  than  in  that  of  the  leg. 

The  arm  is,  as  a  rule,  well  formed,  full,  and  rounded,  the 
muscles^  although  well  developed,  not  producing  that  angu- 
larity of  outline  so  commonly  seen  in  the  European.  The  arms 
are  shorty  but  chiefly  so  with  respect  to  the  upper  arm ;  and  the 
hands  are  small,  but  somewhat  broad. 

The  lower  extremity  is  decidedly  short,  its  height  from  the 
ground  to  the  hip  (tip  of  the  trochanter  major)  being,  on  an 
average  of  a  number  of  measurements,  exactly  one-half  of  the 
entire  stature.  The  relative  proportions  of  its  subdivisions  are 
curious ;  for  instead  of  the  thigh  being,  as  in  all  other  know^ 
nations,  longer  than  the  leg,  it  would  appear  to  be,  on  the  con- 
trary, slightly  shorter,  giving  a  peculiar  appearance  to  the  In- 
dians of  the  highlands  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  especially  when  seen 
unclothed.  In  several  of  the  ancient  figures  found  in  the  tombs 
these  relative  proportions  are  distinctly  indicated,  as  also  in  the 
rude  pictures  and  caricatures  which  the  Quechua  Indians  of 
Cochabamba  paint  and  sell  about  the  country,  in  which  Spaniards 
and  Indians  are  seen  depicted  together  :  the  Indians  are  always 
figured  with  longer  bodies  and  shorter  legs  than  the  whites,  and 
with  the  thighs  looking  very  short  when  compared  with  the  length 
of  the  leg. 

These  remarkable  differences  in  the  proportions  of  the  body 
and  extremities  appear  also  to  be  present  in  such  of  the  Quechua 
race  of  Indians  as  inhabit  the  highlands  to  the  north  of  the 
Lake  of  Titicaca — ^but  as  a  whole  is  most  characteristic  of  the 
Aymara  race,  more  especially  those  who  inhabit  the  great  ele- 
vated basin  of  Titicaca,  as  the  Aymara  colonies  in  the  lower 
regions  of  Yungas  did  not  exhibit  these  proportions  in  nearly  so 
marked  a  degree. 

*  The  symphysis  pubis  seemed  to  differ  somewhat  from  the  European  in  its 
angle,  being  apparently  somewhat  more  elevated  above  the  fork  of  the  leg9. 
The  male  organs  appear  to  be  placed  somewhat  higher  up;  the  penis  is 
usually  less  in  its  dimensions  than  in  the  white,  although  the  testes  are  about 
of  the  usual  size ;  in  some  instances  the  raphe  of  the  scrotum  was  observed  to 
be  continued  like  a  thread  of  flesh  attached  outside  the  pkin  all  the  way  up 
to  the  prepuce ;  but  this  may  be  exceptional. 

VOL.  II.  ^       /^^  T 

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210  Datid  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

All  the  joiBts  in  the  Aymara  Indian  had  the  appearance  of 
being  somewhat  large^  the  knee-joint  in  particular ;  as  the  mea- 
surements of  the  circumference  around  this  joint  did  not  quite 
bear  this  out^  I  imagine  that  the  greater  width  of  the  joint  in 
front  was  alone  the  principal  reason  of  this  appearance. 

The  legs  are  perfectly  smooth  and  free  from  hairs^  and  are 
well  developed,  full  and  rounded  in  outline,  without  any  mus- 
cular angularity.  The  thickest  part,  or  calf,  of  the  leg  is  situated 
somewhat  lower  down  than  usual  (the  exact  reverse  of  the  negro), 
at  least  in  the  men ;  and  this,  in  conjunction  with  the  effect  of 
the  dress,  which  is  a  sort  of  knee-breeches  of  llama  wool,  open 
and  flapping  about  at  the  knees  (below  which  the  leg  is  bare), 
caused  upon  me  at  first  the  impression  that  the  peculiar  appear- 
ance and  gait  of  these  Indians  were  due  to  the  leg  being  in 
reality  extremely  short,  whereas  upon  seeing  the  entire  leg 
bared  it  was  perceived  and  proved  by  measurement  that  the 
reverse  was  actually  the  case. 

The  calf  of  the  leg  is  generally  well  developed ;  and  in  the 
Indians  of  the  highlands  the  surface  veins  are  usually  seen  to  be 
extremely  prominent,  and  particularly  so  in  the  middle-aged 
men,  projecting  from  the  surface  like  varicose  veins  in  Euro- 
peans ;  yet  I  am  not  aware  of  any  evil  consequences,  although 
this  was  the  case  with  many  of  my  Indian  messengers,  who 
would  accomplish  extraordinary  distances  on  foot  in  an  almost 
incredibly  short  space  of  time. 

My  attention  was  directed  to  the  structure  of  the  Indian  foot, 
which  is  probably  one  of  the  smallest  known,  from  observing 
that  a  pair  of  woollen  stockings  which  had  been  knitted  for  me 
by  an  Indian  woman  were  shaped  so  that  there  was  absolutely 
no  projection  allowed  for  the  heel  as  usual  in  those  of  European 
make.  Upon  examination,  I  noticed  at  once  that  the  heel  in 
the  Indian  was  but  very  little  prominent,  and  did  not  project 
backwards  at  all,  or,  at  any  rate,  not  to  any  thing  like  the  extent 
met  with  in  most  other  races  of  men,  the  leg  itself  rising  up 
almost  straight  from  the  ground  at  once ;  and  it  is  extremely 
rare  to  see  amongst  the  Aymaras  the  graceful  swell  of  the  ankle, 
so  enticing  in  what  we  in  Europe  regard  as  a  well-made  leg. 

Another  peculiarity  of  the  foot  is  the  position  in  which  it  is, 
so  to  speak,  set  on  to  the  leg :  in  the  Aymara,  by  far  the  greater 
mass  of  the  foot  is  placed  altogether  in  front  of  the  leg,  the 
result  of  which  is,  that  although  the  sole  or  total  length  of  the 
foot  itself  fi^m  the  heel  to  the  extremity  of  the  great  toe  is  ex- 
tremely short,  and  possibly  even  more  so  than  in  any  other  race 
of  men,  the  back  of  the  foot,  t .  e.  the  upper  part,  measured 
from  the  extremity  of  the  great  toe  to  the  nearest  part  of  the  leg, 
is  comparatively  very  large. 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  21 1 

The  height  of  the  foot,  t .  e.  the  distance  firom  the  ground  to 
the  tip  of  the  inner  ankle,  is  not  great ;  but  its  breadth  is  con- 
siderable, as  well  as  its  circumference  measured  round  the 
instep.  The  great  toe  is  usually  very  large,  and  directed  out- 
wards, which  most  probably  is  principally  due  to  the  effect  of 
the  thong  of  the  sandals  worn  by  these  Indians.  Curiously 
enough,  the  foot  of  the  Aymara  seems  to  be  about  the  least 
sensitive  part  of  his  body ;  however  cold  or  wet  it  may  be,  they, 
as  a  rule,  never  seem  to  feel  it,  or  attempt  to  cover  their  feet, 
and  will  walk  for  miles  in  the  snow  and  sludge  without  taking 
any  precautions  or  appearing  to  suffer  in  the  slightest  degree 
from  the  damp  or  severity  of  the  weather.  In  such  cases  all 
their  attention  seems  directed  to  keeping  their  heads,  not  their 
feet,  warm. 

To  the  preceding  observations,  which  are  as  it  were  a  resumi 
of  my  notes  on  the  general  appearance  and  proportion  of  the 
Aymara  Indians,  I  have  added  in  the  AppenduL,  Table  A,  a  de- 
tailed tabular  statement,  containing  the  results  of  a  number  of 
measurements  of  their  bodies,  made  when  in  Bolivia  and  Peru. 
These  I  regard  as  the  more  important,  since  the  figures  them- 
selves will  tell  their  own  tale  more  correctly  than  any  descrip- 
tion in  words,  founded  merely  upon  the  impressions  which  the 
external  appearance  of  these  Indians  in  their  costumes  could 
convey  to  the  mind  of  the  traveller. 

As  it  is  obviously  impossible,  by  a  mere  reference  to  measure- 
ments stated  in  inches,  to  form  any  correct  idea  of  the  relations 
which  the  various  dimensions  of  the  different  parts  of  the  body 
bear  to  one  another,  or  to  compare  the  size  of  any  one  member 
of  the  body  of,  say,  a  small  with  that  of  the  same  member  of 
a  large  individual,  a  supplementary  column  of  figures  is  in  each 
case  added,  which  enables  all  such  comparisons  to  be  made  at  a 
glance,  since  the  numbers  in  these  columns  are  those  which 
represent  the  proportion  which  each  individual  measurement 
bears  to  that  of  the  entire  body  or  stature  of  the  person,  sup- 
posing this  to  be  represented  by  the  number  1000^. 

In  order,  however,  to  facilitate  a  comparison  between  the 
general  proportions  of  the  Aymara  Indians  of  the  highlands  and 
the  low  valleys,  both  with  one  another  and  also  with  the  white 
and  black  races  of  Europe  and  Africa,  the  annexed  tabular  state- 
ment has  also  been  drawn  up  in  a  more  condensed  form,  the 
actual  measurements  in  indies  having  been  omitted,  and  in  their 
place  the  proportional  numbers  before  referred  to  alone  inserted, 
BO  that  a  mere  examination  and  comparison  of  these  figures  with 

•  This  calculation  is  made  simply  by  multiplying  each  separate  measure- 
ment by  1000,  and  then  dividing  the  product  by  the  whole  stature  or  height 
of  the  individual.  ^^  , 

DigitiJld2ydOOgle 


212  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

one  another  will  show  in  what  respects  and  to  what  extent  the 
Aymara  Indian  differs  in  external  configuration  firom  these 
races^  as  well  as  indicate  the  relative  ratios  of  the  dimensions  of 
the  different  members  of  the  body  to  one  another. 

In  this  Table  the  first  three  columns  are  devoted  to  the  Ay- 
mara : — 1  being  the  average  proportional  numbers,  based  on  the 
measurements  of  all  the  Indians  of  the  Puna  or  cold  highlands 
of  the  l^ticaca  region  in  both  Peru  and  Bolivia,  given  in  the 
Table  before  referred  to;  2  the  average  of  two  Indians  of 
the  Aymara  colonies,  in  the  low  hot  valleys  to  the  east  of  the 
high  Andes,  both  being  colonists  of  the  second  generation,  t.  e. 
who  themselves,  as  well  as  their  fathers,  had  been  bom  in  these 
tropical  regions ;  and  3  the  general  average  of  both  the  pre- 
ceding columns;  column  4  gives  the  proportional  niunbers 
derived  from  the  average  of  the  measurements  of  two  young 
Englishmen  in  robust  condition  of  health,  but  of  two  different 
types,  the  Saxon  and  Celtic,  the  fair-haired  robust  and  black- 
haired  slender  forms  of  body  respectively;  and  lastly,  the 
fifth  column  gives  the  average  figures  obtained  from  the  mea- 
surements of  three  fine  specimens  of  the  Menas  negro  on  the 
west  coast  of  Africa, — all  in  excellent  health  and  condition. 
When  comparing  these  figures,  however,  it  must,  be  remem- 
bered that,  as  it  naturally  follows  that  every  circumferential 
measurement  made  round  the  body  or  any  of  its  members  must 
altogether  be  dependent  upon  the  condition  and  general  state 
of  health  of  the  individual  at  the  moment  of  being  taken,  such 
circumferential  measurements  are  naturally  less  suited  for  reli- 
able comparison  with  one  another  than  are  those  straight  mea- 
surements taken  of  the  limbs  or  other  parts  of  the  body  not 
so  affected  ♦. 

*  In  reference  to  both  these  Tables  I  may  state  that,  having  been  quite 
unable  to  find  any  system  of  human  measurement  in  general  use,  or  to  meet 
with  any  published  (detailed)  measurements  of  even  a  single  white  or  black 
individuaf  for  comparison,  I  was  entiiely  thrown  upon  my  own  resources, 
and  constructed,  wnen  in  South  America,  the  above  scheme  of  71  measure- 
ments, of  which  60  are  direct  (from  nos.  1  to  60)  and  11  indirect  (a  to  /) 
measurements.  These  appeared  to  me  to  take  in  all  the  main  features  of  ex- 
ternal human  configuration.  With  regard  to  the  standard  white  and  black 
races,  or  rather  the  numbers  representing  the  relative  proportions  of  their 
bodies,  g^iven  in  the  Table,  I  was  obliged,  for  the  same  reasons,  to  content 
myself  with  such  averages  aa  in  my  travels  I  found  myself  enabled  persoiially 
to  obtain. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


213 


Mcasurementa*. 


1  Stature 

2  Extreme  distance  between  finger-tip«,  arms  liorizon tally 
I    extended   , 

3,II«id,  greatest  circumference , 

41 ,       „       width  (with  callipers)    , 

6| ,       „       antero-posterior  diameter  (with  oillipers) 

a  ,       „       height  from  under  chin  to  vertex  (6+7 

+8+11  +  12) 

h  I ,  height  without  lower  jaw  (6+7+8+11) 

6,  ,  distance  perpendiculs[rl7  from  vertex  to  growth  of 

j  hair   

7- ,  forehead  from  growth  of  hair  to  orbit  

8} ,  Nose  from  orbit  to  nostril,  vertically 

9, ,     „    projection  at  nostrils 

I0| ,     „    breadth      „        „  

,  Jaw,  upper  (upper  lip),  from  nostrils  to  centre  of 

mouth   

,      „    lower  (under  lip  and  chin),  from  centre  of 

mouth  to  below  chin   , 

,  Face,  breadth  between  clieck-bones  (with  callipers) 

,      "    length  from  growth  of  hair  to  below  chin 

(7+8+11  +  12) 

,  Eye,  distance  between  inner  corner  of  eyes  

.     >i  M  .>        outer  .,  


,     „    length  of  orifice  of  eye  (  '  »>  —  ) 


,  Mouth,  breadth 

,  Ear,      length 

Neck,  length  from  chin  to  semilunar  notch  of  sternum 
measured  upright 

,  breadth  across  from  semilunar  notch  to  7th  vertebra 

of  neck  (with  callipers) 

,  circumference 

Head  and  neck,  from  vertex  to  semilunar  notch  of  ster- 
num (6+7+8+11+12+18) 
Trunk,  breadth  across  between  outer  tips  of  shoulders  in  a 

straight  line 

,  front  lengtli  from  semilunar  notch  of  sternum  to 
fork  of  legs  (30+33) 


1000 1000 1000 


lOlf) 

337 

87 

116 

142 
114 

33 
38 
26 
11 
23 

17 

28 
82 

IW 
22 
68 

23 

34 
34 

52 

83 
211 

194 

230 

354 


1062 

341 

94 

105 

136 
HI 

36 
32 
33 
12 

23 

12 

26 

80 

101 
19 
63 

22 

33 
31 

35 

72 

198 

171 


1038 

339 

90 

110 

140 
113 

34 
35 

29 

HI 
23 

15 

27 
81 

ia3 

20 
65 

22i 

d3i 
32 

44 

76 
205 

184 

234 


1000 

10^ 

326 

92 

129 

143 

111 

26 
43 
31 
11 
20 

11 

32 
73 

117 

18 
59 

21 

30 
36 

48 

82 
204 

191 

250 


1000 

1085 

302 

86 

107 

139 

112 

33 
37 
26 
11 
27 

16 

27 

76 

rj6 
22 
61 

20 

31 
33 

41 

83 
195 

180 

241 


*  In  the  above  Table  the  direct  measurements,  sixty  in  number,  are  numbered  from 
1  to  60 ;  the  indirect,  or  deductive  measurements,  eleven  in  number,  are  marked  a  to  ^, 
and  in  parentheses  are  placed  the  numbers  of  the  direct  measurements  from  which  they 
are  obtained.  The  circumferential  measurements,  which  are  only  useful  when  the  exact 
state  of  health  of  the  individual  is  known,  are  printed  in  italics.  As  it  is  sometimes 
difficult  to  get  the  exact  distance  from  the  umbilicus  to  the  symphysis  pubis,  the  distance 
to  the  fork  or  division  of  the  legs,  always  easily  obtainable,  is  also  ffiven ;  the  circumference 
of  the  body  is  siven  both  at  the  narrowest  part,  or  waist,  as  well  as  at  the  navel,  as  these 
dimensions,  although  sometimes  the  same,  are  not  always  so. 

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214  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

Table  {continued). 


Meunremento 


Ajmxr%. 


•«  e 


H 


'U 
I? 

a-' 

I    M 


11 


22  Trunk,  Back,  length  from  7th  Tertebra  of  neck  to  oe  ooc« 

ojgw 

g ^  gide,  lenffth  from  shoulder-tip  to  trochanter  major 

(36+37)  

,  Breasts,  breadth  between  nipples  of  mammas 

24 ,        „      height  from  below  mammas  to  semilunar 

notch  of  sternum 

-,  Chest,  breadth  across  between  armpits,  in  straight 
line 


25 
26 
27 

28 

29 
SC- 
SI- 

33j- 

34'- 


,  Chest,  height  in  front  from  semilunar  notoh  to  tip 

of  sternal  cartilaee  

— ,  Chest,  height  at  side  from  tip  of  shoulder  to  lowest 
rib 

— ,  Chest,  circumference  under  armpite,  respiration  at 


-,  Waist,  circumference  of  the  smallest  part  of  body 
-,  Distance  from  semilunar  notoh  of  sternum  to  um- 
bilicus 


-,  Abdomen,  circun^erence  at  narel  , 

-,        „         distance  from  umbilicus  to  symphysis 

pubis  in  a  straight  line   

-,  Abdomen,  distance  from  umbilicus  to  fork  of  legs 

in  a  straight  line  , 

-,  Abdomen,  distance  from  umbilicus  to  anterior  su- 


perior spine  of  ilium  .. 

35| ,  Distance  from  shoulder-tip  to  anterior  superior 

spine  of  ilium  

>  FeUis,  breadth  straight  across  between  the  ante- 
rior superior  spines  of  the  ilium 


38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 


45 


',  Felyis,  height  from  anterior  superior  spine  of  ilium 

to  trochanter  major 

-,  Pelvis,  circumference  round  ala 

Upper  extremity,  arm,  upper,  length  of  humerus    

„      ereaf est  circumference  .,. 
„      least  „ 

lower,  length  of  radius 

'eaiest  circumference  ... 


Hand,  length  from  wrist  to  tip  of  fore- 
finger   

Hand,  length  exolusiye  of  fingerB(45-<47) 
„     breadth  exclusive  of  thumb  ... 

„      forefinger  to  knuckle-joint 

entire  arm  from  shoulder-joint  to  tip  of 

forefin^r     (39-1-42+45) 

Lower  extremity,  thigh,  length  from  trochanter  major  to 
knee-joint  (femur) 


363 

337 
127 

125 

190 

128 

228 

580 
473 

226 

490 

81 
129 

88 

267 

172 

70 
460 
179 
145 
143 
148 
148 
102 

108 
56 
55 
52 

435 

211 


143 
98 
197 
123 
215 

197 


94 
231 
203 


179 
141 
121 
146 
187 
96 

107 
54 
49 
53 


220 


135 
112 
194 
126 
222 

212 


91 
249 

188 


179 
143 
132 
147 
143 
99 

107i 
55 
52 
52J 

433| 

215 


347  323 

334I  322 
1221  1231 


207 
118 
175 


88j 
188| 
ll3j 
17D 


518!  494 


433 

227 
465 

87 

136 


447 

220 
441 


106 


971    98 


168 

164 

ai    74 

458  443 

1S8  i9r» 

161,  l.V» 

127 

144 

147 

176 

15^ 

153 

93 

94 

107 

117 

50 

51 

52 

60 

57 

66 

442 

488 

244 

258 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 
Tablb  (continued). 


215 


Heasurementa 


Ayman. 


! 

1. 


II 


n 


49  Lower  extremitj,  thigh,  length  inside  from  fork  of  1^  to 
knee-joint   

50 ,  thigh,  areatest  circuftrference    

51 — ,    „      ieast  „  

52 ■ , 'KnBB'ioiDt,  cireun^erence 

53 ,  Leg  (tibia)»  length  from  knee-joint  to 

ankle   

54 ,  greatest  wrewmference^  calf  of  leg 

56 ylMuA  „  „  

56 ,  Foot,  length  of  the  sole  from  heel  to  tip 

of  great  toe 

,  Foot,  back  or  ridge  from  1^  to  tip  of 

great  toe 

58 ,  Foot,  greatest  breadth  

59 — ^ ,      „    height  from  ground  to  tip  of  inner 

ankle   

00 ,  Foot,   greatest    circumference    around 

instep 

k  ■ — — ,  entire  (thigh,  leg,  and  foot),  from  tro- 
chanter major  to  ground(48+ 53-1-59) 

/ ,  entire  (thigh,  1^,  and  foot),  inside  from 

fork  to  ground  (49-1-53+59)    


191 
283 
204 
202 

252 
188 
127 

137 

98 
56 

37 

149 

500 

444 


197 

aof 

227 
187 
121 

143 


200 
201i 

24() 
1874 
121 

140 


92     95 

56i 


57 

43 

147 

490 


40 
148 
500 


204 
300 
200 
fi04 

230 
206 
121 

148 

93 

56 

47 

138 
522 
495 


218 
292 
223 
211 

241 
204 

129 

153 
102 

41 
156 
540 
602 


In  examining  a  tabular  statement  of  this  character  in  order 
to  compare  the  relative  proportions  of  the  different  members 
of  the  body  of  the  Aymara  Indian  both  with  one  another 
and  with  those  of  other  races^  one  of  the  first  points  which 
demand  attention  is  the  ratio  which  the  lower  extremities  or 
legs  bear  to  the  entire  height  or  stature.  From  measurement 
k  in  this  Table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  height  of  the  legs  in 
the  Aymara,  measured  from  the  trochanter  major  of  the  femur 
down  to  the  ground,  is  500  thousandths  of  the  stature,  i,e. 
exactly  one-half;  whilst  in  both  the  European  and  Negro  it  is 
much  greater,  being  respectively  522  and  540  thousandths,  so 
that  the  Aymara  and  African  are  the  two  extremes.  In  the 
white  infant  I  understand  that  the  stature  is  divided  into  two 
equal  parts  by  a  line  drawn  through  the  symphysis  pubis, 
thus  the  same  proportion  as  in  the  adult  Aymara  Indian,  but 
that  subsequently  the  lower  extremities  in  the  white  increase 
more,  becoming  relatively  longer  with  age  up  to  puberty. 

With  regard  to  the  upper  extremities  or  arms,  a  similar  rule 


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216  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

seems  to  hold  good ;  for  upon  reference  to  the  measurement  No. 
2  it  will  be  seen  that  in  the  Aymara  Indian  the  distance  between 
the  tips  of  the  fingers,  when  the  arms  are  held  out  horizontally,  is 
also  considerably  less  than  in  the  white  or  in  the  black  man,  these 
proportions  being  respectively  1015, 1034,  and  1085  thousandths; 
and,  as  seen  in  i,  the  length  of  the  entire  arm  from  shoulder 
to  tip  of  finger  is  435  in  the  Aymara,  442  in  the  European, 
and  488  thousandths  in  the  African;  so  that  here  again  the 
Indian  and  Negro  are  the  extremes,  and  it  is  perceived  that 
the  Aymara  has  the  shortest  and  the  African  the  longest  arms 
and  legs  of  the  three  races. 

If  now  the  details  of  the  measurements  of  the  upper  and  lower 
extremities  be  examined  in  order  to  compare  their  relative 
proportions  one  with  another,  some  interesting  results,  difficult 
of  explanation,  are  obtained.  Thus,  taking  the  arm,  the  pro- 
portions of  its  different  members,  when  stated  in  thousandths  of 
the  stature,  are  given  in  the  Table  as  follows : — 


89.  Upper  arm 179 

42.  Forearm    148 

h.  Hand  without 
fingers 
47.  Longest  finger..     52 


Indian.  European.  African. 


}    56 


327 

108 


188 
147 

50 

57 


335 

107 


195 
176 

51 

66 


371 
117 


435  442  488 

from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  proportions  of  the  fore  arm 
and  entire  hand  are  nearly  the  same  in  the  Aymara  and  Euro- 
pean, yet  both  are  shorter  than  in  the  African ;  also  that  the 
upper  arm,  both  in  the  white  and  negro,  is  much  longer  than 
in  the  Aymara, — the  Indian  and  African  being  again,  as  also  in 
the  length  of  their  fingers,  the  two  extremes ;  and  fiarther  that 
the  reason  why  the  entire  arm  of  the  Aymara  Indian  is  so  much 
shorter  than  in  the  white,  lies  mainly  in  the  shortness  of  his 
upper  arm. 

In  the  lower  extremities  the  results  are  still  more  curious, 
the  different  numbers  being  as  follows : — 

Indian. 

48.  Thigh    211 

53.  Leg  252 

59.  Foot     37 


European. 

AfHcftn. 

244, 

258 

280 

Ml 

47 

41 

500  521  540 

Here  we  find  the  extraordinary  instance  of  the  thigh  being  shorter 
in  length  than  the  leg,  which,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  not  the 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  217 

case  in  any  other  race  of  men  as  yet  described'^.  The  African 
and  Indian  are  still  the  extremes  with  respect  to  the  length  of 
the  thigh ;  but  the  leg  appears  to  be  proportionally  longest  in 
the  Aymara  and  shortest  in  the  European. 

The  great  peculiarity  of  the  Aymara  foot  consists  in  the 
absence  of  the  considerable  protuberance  at  the  heel^  so  com- 
mon in  other  races^  and  which  appears  to  attain  its  maximum 
development  in  the  negro^  who^  consequently^  here  again^  as 
well  as  in  the  total  length  of  the  foot^  is  the  opposite  extreme 
when  compared  with  the  Aymara.  Another  curious  point  about 
it  is  that  a  greater  portion  of  its  total  length  is  placed  in  front 
of  the  leg  than  in  the  European^  as  will  be  seen  by  reference 
to  the  figures  in  No.  57,  which  are  respectively  98  and  93  thou- 
sandths, although  the  sole  of  the  foot  is  as  137  to  148  thou- 
sandths, and  consequently  much  longer  in  the  European  than 
in  the  Aymara.  The  Aymara  and  Negro  are  again  the  two 
extremes  when  the  total  length  of  the  foot  is  compared.  Coming 
now  to  the  details  of  the  trunk,  which  is  so  large  in  the  Aymara 
when  compared  with  his  stature,  we  also  find  that  it  is  divided  in 
very  different  proportions  between  the  thoracic  and  abdominal 
regions  than  in  either  the  white  or  the  black  man ;  and  what 
specially  deserves  attention  is,  that  the  region  of  the  chest  occupies 
a  much  larger  portion  of  the  whole  both  in  height  and  bulk,  thus 
giving  a  vastly  greater  space  for  the  development  of  the  respira- 
tory organs. 

If  the  height  of  the  side  of  the  chest  be  measured  from  the 
shoulder  down  to  the  lowest  rib,  the  numbers  given  in  No.  27  are 
228,  175,  and  179  for  Aymara,  European,  and  African,  whilst 
that  of  the  entire  trunk  from  the  seventh  vertebra  of  neck  to  the 
OS  coccygis  was  found  to  be  363, 347,  and  323  respectively.  These 
differences,  great  as  they  are,  are  however,  in  reality,  much 
greater ;  for  in  addition  to  the  mere  height  of  the  chest-region, 
its  two  diameters  must  also  be  taken  into  due  consideration ;  and 
as  the  circumference  of  the  Aymara  chest  when  measured  under 
the  same  conditions  of  health  and  respiration  was  always  found 
to  be  considerably  greater  than  in  either  the  white  or  negro  (in 
the  Table  No.  28  gives  the  figures  580, 518,  and  494  respectively) , 
it  naturally  follows  that  the  capacity  of  the  thoracic  cavity  must 
be  much  more  voluminous  in  the  Indian. 

*  When  making  my  first  measurements  of  an  Aymara  Indian,  who  died 
in  the  hospital  of  La  Paz  in  February  1860, 1  was  so  surprised  at  this  result 
that  I  got  Dr.  Lopera  of  that  city  to  verify  the  measurements ;  and  subse- 
quently, in  order  to  avoid  deceiving  mysel/,  I  obtained  in  several  other  in- 
stances the  assistance  of  Dr.  Cooke,  of  London,  then  residing  in  Bolivia.  The 
measiirements  of  the  thigh  were  all  taken  from  the  trochanter  major  to  the 
knee-jointHis  correctly  as  these  points  could  be  distinguished  in  the  living 
subject  by  the  touch. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


218  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

From  the  above  observations  it  will  be  perceived  that  the 
more  prominent  differences  in  the  configuration  of  the  Aymara 
Indian  from  that  of  the  European  or  Negro  consist  mainly  in 
the  greater  length  of  the  trunk,  the  enormous  development  of 
the  chest,  the  shortness  of  the  arms^  legs,  and  feet,  and  in  the 
great  differences  in  the  relative  proportions  of  the  parts  which 
make  up  these  several  members. 

The  inquiry  into  the  causes  which  have  brought  about  these 
abnormities,  ^they  may  so  be  called,  is  one  of  great  interest; 
but  this  I  must  leave  to  the  ethnologists  at  home,  contenting 
myself  with  having  furnished  data  upon  which  they  may  found 
their  explanations;  it  is  right,  however,  that  I  should  direct 
their  attention  to  some  points  which  cannot  but  have  a  strong 
bearing  upon  such  researches,  and  which  appear  to  throw  some 
light  upon  more  than  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  build  of 
these  Indians. 

It  must,  in  the  first  place,  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Aymaras 
in  their  normal  condition  are  more  or  less  confined  to  the  high 
table-lands  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  and  consequently  live  at  a 
greater  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea  than  any  known  or 
at  least  as  yet  described  race  of  people ;  and  as  the  air  at  such 
great  altitudes  is  extremely  rarefied*,  it  follows  as  a  natural 
consequence  that  it  would  require  a  larger  development  of  the 
lungs  in  order  to  take  in  an  amount  of  oxygen  at  each  respira- 
tion equal  to  the  volume  found  necessary  to  keep  up  the  same 
activity  of  circulation  at  the  level  of  the  sea ;  for  this  reason, 
therefore,  we  might  expect  to  find  the  region  of  the  chest  more 
prominent  in  a  race  living  under  these  exceptional  circumstances ; 
and  it  is  probably  from  this  reason  that  the  Indian  does  not 
suffer  from  the  so-called  Puna  or  Sorochif  which  so  frequently 

*  It  ifl  also  not  improbable  that  the  prominent  or  varicose  character  of  the 
surface  veins  of  the  legs  so  often  seen,  as  before  mentioned,  is  connected  with 
the  rarity  of  the  external  air  in  which  the  Indian  lives. 

t  The  affection  known  in  different  parts  of  Pacific  South  America  by  the 
names  of  Puna,  Sorochi,  Veta,  or  Marea,  appears  to  be  a  species  of  inflamma- 
tion of  the  lungs,  brought  on  by  over-exertion  in  working  tne  lungs  at  so  much 
quicker  a  rate  than  ordinarily,  in  consequence  of  the  very  attenuated  state 
of  the  atmosphere  at  these  elevations ;  and  this  is  necessarily  aggravated  hj 
the  exertions  attendant  upon  travelling  in  these  rude  countries.  Usually  it 
commences  with  more  or  less  severe  headaches  and  a  feeling  of,  as  it  were, 
swelling  of  the  head ;  the  sense  of  smelling  is  often  lost ;  and  the  symptoms 
occasionally  become  so  aggravated  as  to  end  in  death.  Three  instances  of 
Europeans  having  died  when  suffering  from  Puna  came  under  my  notice; 
amongst  these,  the  last  case  was  that  of  Lieutenant  Wallace,  who,  when 
crossing  the  Cordilleras  by  the  pass  of  Tinogasta,  was  taken  ill  at  an  elevation 
of  14,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  died  on  May  2,  1809.  These  s3rmptQma 
anpear  to  be  much  aggravated  by  the  use  of  spirits,  often  taken  as  a  remedy, 
alUiough  in  reality  they  seem  to  augment  the  inflammation.  Onions  an 
universally  recommended  as  a  good  remedy,  both  for  man  and  beast ;  for  the 


Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  219 

attacks  the  white  traveller,  whether  European  or  South- Ameri- 
can, when  he  ascends  from  the  Pacific  coast  to  the  higher  parts 
pf  the  Andes,  and  which  even  when  he  has  become  in  a 
measure  acclimatized,  is  likely  to  attack  him  whenever  he  may 
happen  to  over-exert  himself. 

1  particularly  noticed  the  difficulty  in  breathing  and  distress 
of  the  white  (Hispano-American)  officers  in  the  Bolivian  infantry 
when  the  troops  happened  to  march  up  hill  or  somewhat  faster 
than  ordinarily,  whilst  at  the  same  time  the  soldiers  themselves 
(half-breed  or  nearly  pure  Indians)  would  be  quite  unaffected, 
and  those  in  the  band  of  music  would  be  blowing  away  lustily 
at  their  wind  instruments  without  apparently  the  slightest  in- 
convenience to  themselves. 

Although  several  outlying  colonies  of  these  Indians  are  seen 
situated  at  lower  altitudes,  it  may  be  considered  that  normally 
the  Aymara  Indian  is  not  met  with  below  8000  feet  in  elevation, 
but  that,  on  the  contrary,  he  is  only  truly  at  home  in  the  high 
plains  and  mountain-sides  ranging  in  height  from  10,000  feet 
up  to  the  very  line  of  perpetual  snow,  which  in  this  part  of  the 
world,  lat.  17°  S.,  may  be  regarded  as  about  16,500  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

On  descending  from  these  heights,  the  Aymara  Indians,  like 
their  llamas   and  alpacas^,  find  themselves  altogether  out  of 

mules,  when  taken  up  from  the  lowlands,  suffer  greatly  from  Sorochi,  and  the 
arrieros  have  a  practice  of  rubbing  the  mouth  and  nose  of  their  mules  with  a 
sliced  onion  when  at  high  elevations.  With  respect  to  myself,  I  seldom  suf- 
fered from  Puna  at  all,  and  never  to  any  extent,  except  upon  the  occasion  of 
the  ascent  of  Tacora  (Chipicani),  19,740  feet ;  but  I  occasionally  suffered  from 
a  sense  of  fulness  in  the  head  and  headaches,  and  felt  the  impossibility  of 
making  any  continued  exertion,  such  as  running,  without  being  often  pulled 
up  for  want  of  breath,  as  it  is  vulgarly  called,  having  to  sit  down  to  recover 
very  much  oftener  than  under  the  same  circumstances  at  a  lower  elevation. 
Tttchudi  considers  the  first  effects  of  Puna  to  commence  at  12,600  feet  eleva- 
tion ;  but  this  seems  dependent  on  the  state  of  health  of  the  individual  at 
the  moment,  as  well  as  on  the  locality :  whilst  I  never  suffered  at  all  under 
16,000  feet,  my  servant  was  on  one  occasion  laid  up  with  it  at  Palca,  only 
some  9000  feet  above  the  sea :  and  it  is  commonly  believed  in  this  part  of 
South  America  that  certain  localities  are  more  "  Assorochado  "  than  others. 
The  natives  believe  it  due  to  what  they  call  "  antimonies  "  or  metallic  exha^ 
lations ;  from  my  own  experience  I  found  that  I  suffered  from  Puna  only  when 
amongst  the  high  volcanic  ranges  nearer  the  western  coast,  and  never,  even 
at  equal  heights,  amongst  the  western  or  high  Andes.  Tschudi  mentions  its 
extraordinary  effects  upon  dogs,  and  relates  that  cats  cannot  live  at  these 
altitudes;  but  after  having  lived  three  years  at  about  16,400  feet  elevation, 
my  e^roerience  was  quite  the  contrary,  having  been  pestered  with  both  these 
animals,  who  seemed  to  thrive  well  wherever  man  hved. 

*  When  brought  down  to  the  coast  the  llama  or  alpaca  seldom  lives  any 
length  of  time;  and  as  the  main  trade  of  Bolivia  and  the  interior  is  princi- 
pally carried  on  by  llamas,  the  mortality  which  occurs  amongst  these  ani- 
mals after  descenmng  with  their  loads  nrom  the  heights  of  the  Andes  is  a 


Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


220  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

their  natural  element,  and  if  they  do  not  soon  return,  die  off  in 
large  numbers -in  climates  so  unsuited  to  their  constitutions. 
This  is  the  case  both  in  the  dry  regions  of  the  Pacific  coast  and 
in  the  humid  valleys  to  the  east  of  the  Andes.  On  the  Pacific 
side  the  pure  Indian  population  (which  is  not  at  all  numerous) 
of  such  provinces  as  Arica,  Tacna,  Tarapaca,  &c.  is  only  kept 
up  by  continued  fresh  arrivals  from  the  interior ;  whilst  in  the 
east  the  same  may  be  said ;  for  the  great  mortality  amongst  the 
Aymara  Indians  who  are  induced,  now  by  high  pay  but  formerly 
by  compulsion,  to  descend  from  their  hills  in  order  to  work  at 
the  coca  plantations  of  Yungas,  the  gold- workings  of  Tipuani, 
or  the  quinine-bark  trade  of  the  eastern  forests,  affords  ample 
evidence  of  how  unfitted  they  are  to  inhabit  these  lower  regions : 
as  a  rule,  but  an  extremely  small  percentage  of  such  colonists 
survive  their  transplantation. 

In  order  to  examine  whether  the  descendants  of  such  Ay- 
mara colonists  differed  or  not  in  appearance  and  proportions 
from  the  normal  Indian  of  the  highlands,  I  made,  in  1861  and 
1862,  journeys  to  the  Tipuani  and  Yuugas  districts,  to  the 
foot  of  the  high  Andes  in  the  department  of  La  Paz,  in  Bolivia, 
and  was  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  measurements  of  two  indivi- 
duals who,  as  well  as  their  fathers  before  them,  had  been  bom 
in  these  lower  tropical  regions.  These  measurements  are  given 
in  full  detail  in  the  Appendix,  Table  A ;  but  for  the  purpose  of 
comparison,  the  proportional  numbers,  which  alone  are  intro- 
duced in  the  former  table  (p.  213)  are  more  convenient  for 
reference,  as  they  show  at  a  glance  that  the  proportions  of  at 
least  several  members  of  their  bodies  have  already  experienced 
a  considerable  change  from  what  they  were  in  the  parent  stock, 
as  before  explained. 

These  Indians,  besides  being  as  a  rule  somewhat  taller  men, 
appear  to  have  lost  very  much  of  their  massive  build,  and 
become  more  slender  and  flexible  in  their  forms  and  move- 
ments, whilst  the  colour  of  their  skins  had  lost  all  shade  of  red, 
and  assumed  a  yellowish  brown,  a  very  different  and,  at  the  same 
time,  less  healthy-looking  tint. 

1 

very  serious  item  in  the  cost  of  transport  Of  late  years  this  has  heen  con- 
siderahly  reduced  by  the  establishment  of  stations  like  those  at  La  Portada, 
Palca,  sc,  situated  at  the  commencement  of  the  descent  from  the  Bolivian 
table-land,  where  the  llamas  stop  and  deliver  up  their  ciurffoes  to  mules,  who 
take  them  down  to  the  Pacific  harbours,  and  vice  versd,  Tne  original  alpacas 
which  were  brought  by  Mr.  St.  Leger  from  the  Bolivian  highlands  at  Chul- 
luncajani  to  the  coast  of  Chili,  notwithstanding  that  several  years  were  occu- 
pied m  driving  them  that  distance,  in  order  to  acclimatize  them  gradually, 
aU  di»*d  off  on  the  road,  so  that  those  which  eventually  were  shipped  off  to 
Australia  from  Caldera  were  already  of  the  second  and  third  generation  from 
the  stock  started  with  from  the  highlands. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  221 

Prom  the  Table  it  Avill  be  seen  that,  in  the  case  of  the  lowland 
Indian,  the  division  of  the  stature  or  entire  height  made  by  the 
length  or,  rather,  height  of  the  lower  extremities  or  legs,  re- 
mained the  same  as  before,  being  still  500  thousandths,  or 
exactly  one-half  of  the  stature,  but  that  the  trunk  did  not  now 
take  up  so  much  of  the  other  half;  for,  if  the  measurement 
No.  35  be  referred  to,  it  is  seen  to  be  only  231  instead  of  267 
thousandths  in  the  highland  Indian ;  and  of  this,  again,  the 
chest-region  did  not  occupy  so  great  a  proportion  as  before,  as 
will  be  seen  on  referring  to  the  measurements  Nos.  24  and  25. 

Although  the  length  of  the  arm  was  not  found  to  differ  much, 
the  distance  measured  between  the  finger-tips,  when  the  arms 
were  held  out  horizontally  (No.  2),  was  somewhat  greater  in 
*  the  lowland  Indian ;  but,  as  is  seen  from  measurement  No.  21, 
this  was  in  reality  due  to  the  greater  breadth  across  the 
shoulders,  as  also  was  the  case  between  the  nipples  of  the 
breast  and  across  the  pelvis;  in  the  lowland  Indian,  however, 
this  increased  breadth  was  accompanied  by  a  decrease  in  width, 
for,  although  not  shown  in  the  Table,  the  body  of  the  highland 
Aymara  was  much  wider  from  back  to  front  than  that  of  the 
colonist. 

The  relations  between  the  lengths  of  the  component  members 
of  the  entire  arm  did  not  seem  to  have  undergone  much  change, 
being  as  follows : — 

39,  upper  arm.  42,  forearm. 

Highlander 179  148 

LowLinder  179  146 

but,  in  the  case  of  the  leg,  the  diflTerence  was  much  more  pro- 
nounced, being — 

48,  thigh.         53,  leg.  59,  foot.        k,  total. 

Highlander 211  252  37  500 

Lowlander  2^0  227  43  490 

which  shows  that,  although  the  thigh  in  the  lowland  Indian 
still  continues  to  be  somewhat  shorter  than  the  leg,  it  is  so  in  a 
very  much  less  proportion  than  in  the  highland  Aymara,  or,  in 
other  words,  it  much  more  approaches,  or  has  returned  to,  the 
proportions  usual  in  other  races. 

The  foot  also,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  measurements  Nos.  56, 
57,  and  58,  has  undergone  an  equally  great  change ;  for  it  has 
now,  in  the  lowland  Indian,  become  proportionately  both  longer 
and  broader  than  before ;  besides  which,  the  back  of  the  foot 
has  become  shorter  if  measured  from  the  tip  of  the  great  toe  to 
the  Ic^,  and  consequently  the  heel  has  become  more  prominent 

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46,  band. 

1,  total 

108 

435 

107 

432 

222  Davii)  F0RBE8 — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

than  in  the  foot  of  the  highland  Aymara,  in  which,  as  before 
observed,  it  is  very  slightly  pronounced*. 

To  place  too  much  reliance  upon  figures  derived  from  the 
measurements  of  only  two  individuals  would  not  be  prudent ; 
yet,  when  these  are  taken  in  conjunction  mith  the  general 
appearance  of  the  Aymara  Indians  of  the  lowlands  as  a  whole, 
it  seems  to  me  not  only  all  but  certain  that  we  have  here 
very  confirmatory  evidence  that  the  remarkable  configuration 
of  the  highland  or  normal  Aymara  must  be  in  great  measure 
dependent  upon  local  circumstances,  more  particularly  those  of 
climate  and  elevation  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  but  also  that  we 
have  strong  proofs,  when  these  circumstances  again  become 
changed,  that  the  relative  proportions  of  the  body  may  again 
return  in  their  dimensions,  so  as  to  approximate  more  closely  ' 
to  those  found  in  other  races  of  men  living  under  similar  and 
more  ordinary  conditions. 

The  mixed  race  of  Aymara  and  white  have  always  been 
derived  from  the  intercourse  of  Indian  women  with  men  of 
Spanish  extraction ;  and  although  in  external  appearance  they 
may  be  regarded  as  an  improvement  upon  the  Indian,  my  belief 
is  that,  in  moral  character  at  least,  the  Cholada,  as  they  are 
called  on  the  Pacific  coast  {cholo,  man;  chola,  woman),  are,  if 
any  thing,  inferior  to  either  of  their  parents,  from  having  re- 
tained most,  if  not  all,  the  vices  of  both  with  but  very  few  of 
the  virtues  of  either  race. 

I  now  regret  that  I  did  not  avail  myself  of  the  opportunities 
afforded  me  for  obtaining  a  series  of  measurements  of  the  mixed 
races ;  but,  judging  from  their  external  appearance,  I  should  ima- 
gine that  the  chest-  and  trunk-region  were  longer,  and  the  ex- 
tremities shorter  than  in  the  white,  although  probably  not  so 
much  so  as  in  the  pure  Indian.  The  general  features  of  the 
half-caste  are  usually  more  Indian,  and  generally  more  pro- 
nouncedly so  in  the  man  than  in  the  woman.  Occasionally 
pretty,  and  sometimes  even  handsome,  half-caste  women,  as 
well  as  men,  may  be  met  with;  and  they  often  become  very 
corpulent,  which  is  never  the  case  with  the  pure  Indiioi. 

*  The  measurements  made  on  several  individuals  pertaining  to  the  Tacana 
and  Muchani  tribes  of  Indians,  to  the  east  of  Aymaras,  who  innabit  the  lower 
tropical  slopes  of  the  Andes  looking  towards  Brazil,  as  also  of  the  P^uenche 
Indians  of  the  Pampas  of  the  Argentine  Confederation,  showed  that  tiiese 
races  were  not  characterized  by  any  of  the  remarkable  peculiarities  of  the 
Avmara  configuration,  such  as  the  great  length  of  body  and  cheat,  shortnesa 
of  extremities,  absence  of  heat,  &c. ;  and  measurements  of  the  bones  of 
mummies  taken  out  of  graves  near  Arica  and  Pisaqua,  on  the  Padfic  coast  of 
Peru,  proved  that  in  these  instances  the  thigh  could  not  have  been  shorter 
than  tlie  leg,  since  the  femur,  when  measured  from  its  lower  extremity  to 
the  tip  of  the  trochanter  major,  was  always  longer  than  the  tibia. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  228 

The  cornea  of  the  eyes  always  remains  yellowish  in  coloor ; 
and  they  usually  possess  but  very  little  hair  on  the  face  or  body, 
although  the  hair  of  the  head  is  extremely  abundant  and  long : 
it  is  of  a  dark  brown-black  to  black  colour ;  and,  although  not 
coarse  in  texture,  I  have  several  times  observed  that  it  appeared 
to  be  coarser  than  in  the  pure  Indian.  The  colour  of  the  skin 
is  seldom  darker  than  in  the  darker  inhabitants  of  southern 
Europe ;  but  on  the  body  I  noticed  that  it  was  not  unfrequently 
patchy  and  irregular  in  tint*. 

Although  no  great  reliance  can,  as  before  remarked,  be  placed 
on  the  statistics  of  the  population  of  these  countries,  it  appears 
to  me,  even  after  making  due  allowance  for  the  mortality 
amongst  the  half-castes  caused  by  the  interminable  civil  wars, 
which  have  lasted  ever  since  the  independence  of  Spanish 
America  was  secured,  during  which  the  mass  of  the  combatants 
were  drawn  from  this  class,  that  the  Cholada  or  mixed  race  do 
not  increase  in  numbers  in  such  proportion  as  they  might  have 
been  expected  to  do,  provided  they  had  really  been  inter  se  a 
fruitful  race. 

Without  being  able  to  advance  absolute  proof,  I  still  retain 
the  impression  that  the  half-caste  of  the  first  generation,  i.  e, 
those  resulting  from  the  intercourse  of  the  white  man  with  the 
pure  Indian  woman,  are  not  amongst  themselves  very  prolific, 
and  that  the  Cholada  are  really  but  a  floating  population  whose 
numbers  are  kept  up,  at  least  in  major  part,  by  the  direct 
offspring  of  the  white  man  and  Indian  woman,  and  of  both 
white  and  pure  Indian  with  the  half-caste  woman,  and  not,  as 
is  usually  imagined,  the  progeny  of  the  Indian  half-caste  with 
the  Indian  half-caste  t* 

It  seems  to  me  difficult  otherwise  to  explain  why  we  still 
meet  in  Bolivia  with  three,  as  it  were,  quite  distinct  races,  and  do 
not  find  any  complete  fusion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country 
into  one  uniform  mixed  race,— or  to  understand  how  an  Indian 
tribe  like  the  Aymaras  could  have  retained,  as  it  were,  a  distinct 
and  separate  existence  all  but  unmixed  with,  and  apart  from,' 
either  the  Cholada  or  the  white  population  of  Bolivia  or  Peru. 

In  the  time  of  the  Spaniards  many  negro  slaves  were  intro- 
duced into  Bolivia ;  but  they  seem  to  have  quickly  died  out, 
owing  to  this  highland  climate  being  quite  unsuited  to  their 
constitutions,  so  that  it  is  now  very  rare  to  meet  with  half- 

*  Dr.  Haygarth,  of  La  Paz,  informs  me  that  in  the  nearly  white  crosses 
the  last  trace  of  Indian  blood  is  indicated  by  the  dark  colour  around  the 
nipples  of  the  breast,  and  anus,  and  in  a  black  line  or  groove  extending  from 
the  pubes  to  the  umoUicus  and  upwards,  in  children  of  both  sexes. 

t  What  I  have  seen  of  the  mulatto  or  ne^ro  half-caste  makes  me  inclined 
to  beHeve  that  this  is  fdso  the  case  with  tnem,  and  that  such  a  thing  as  a 
true  mulatto  or  half-breed  race  does  not  exist  in  actuality. 

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224  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

breeds  between  the  negro  and  Aymara ;  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Andes,  in  the  tropical  valleys  of  Yungas,  however,  I  have 
met  some  few  examples;  and,  to  judge  firom  their  appearance, 
they  seemed  rather  a  fine  race.  The  colour  of  the  skin  was  of 
a  rich  dark-brown  tint,  smooth,  and  glossy ;  the  nose  straight, 
and  the  features  rather  good,  yet  with  the  mouth  and  lips  much 
fuller  than  in  the  Indian ;  the  eyes  black  and  brilliant,  and  the 
whole  expression  intelligent  and  infinitely  more  animated  than 
in  the  Aymara ;  the  hair  glossy,  jet  black,  and  with  a  slight 
tendency  to  curl. 

On  the  Pacific  coast  are  to  be  seen  a  few  half-breeds  resulting 
from  the  intercourse  of  Chinamen  with  Indian  women;  and 
certainly  their  external  appearance  would  lead  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  were  far  from  being  an  improvement  upon  either  of 
the  parent  races ;  for  they  were  intensely  ugly,  both  in  features 
and  expression. 

The  Aymara  Indians  of  the  "Puna,''  as  the  highlands  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru  are  termed,  generally  enjoy  robust  health, 
and,  notwithstanding  that  they  are  exposed  to  a  very  trying  and 
severe  climate,  and  are  poorly  clothed,  lodged,  and  nourished, 
both  men  and  women,  as  far  as  I  could  learn,  frequently  attain 
to  an  advanced  age.  One  great  reason  for  this,  however,  is  that, 
owing  to  the  great  mortality  which  takes  place  amongst  the 
infants,  a  sort  of  natural  selection  asserts  itself,  and  only  the 
very  strong  children  survive  the  first  few  years  after  birth :  this 
is,  no  doubt,  also  the  cause  why  deformed  individuals  are  rarely 
or  ever  seen. 

There  seemed  to  be  but  few  large  families — very  seldom  more 
than  four  children,  and  more  often  less  than  that  number.  The 
infants  are  kept  to  the  breast  always  for  one  year,  and  frequently 
until  they  are  two  years  of  age,  and  are  swaddled  up  in  llama- 
wool  cloths,  and  bound  round  so  as  to  be  quite  unable  to  move 
their  limbs  in  any  direction;  in  this  state  they  are  carried 
about,  sbing  in  a  poncho  behind  their  mother's  backs,  as  with 
the  peasantry  in  some  parts  of  Ireland.  At  the  religious 
feasts,  when  women  as  well  as  men  usually  contrive  to  attain  a 
state  of  beastly  intoxication,  these  living  bundles  are  often  left 
lying  about  on  the  ground,  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  and  not  unfrequently  perish  before  their  wretched 
parents  come  to  their  senses.  On  the  morning  after  such  a 
feast  I  found  the  little  child  of  one  of  my  Indians  dead  from 
exhaustion,  after  having  been  left  out  in  the  rain  all  night;  and 
such  scenes  are  far  from  unconmion. 

In  some  districts,  particularly  in  the  provinces  of  Larccaja 
and  Mufiecas,  the  Indians  suffer  from  wens  or  goitre,  which 
-^ften  attain  a  great  size.    Amongst  the  inhabitants  of  Quiabaya 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  225 

and  Sorata  it  is  so  common  that  they  have  received  from  their 
neighbours,  not  so  affected,  the  nickname  of  ^'Ccotosos/' 
from  Ccoto,  the  Aymara  word  for  goitre.  Although  the  Cho- 
lada  as  well  as  the  pure  Indians  suffer  much  from  this  disease, 
I  did  not  hear  of  any  instances  in  which  whites  were  affected; 
yet  I  had  previously  found  it  common  enough  amongst  the 
white  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Mendoza,  in  the  Argentine 
Confederation,  where  also  Dr.  Edmund  Day  informed  me  of  a 
case  of  an  infant  bom  with  decisive  symptoms  of  goitre.  Animals 
are  also  stated  to  be  affected;  and  Dofia  Toribia  Bemal,  of 
Sorata,  informed  me  that  she  had  an  instance  in  two  kids  born 
with  incipient  goitre. 

In  Bolivia,  dried  seaweed  from  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  is 
employed  in  the  cure  of  goitre.  In  March  1859  I  saw  large 
quantities  being  collected  for  this  purpose  at  Cobija,  and  for- 
warded some  300  miles  into  the  interior,  where  it  is  sold  at  the 
rate  of  4  Bolivian  dollars  per  arroba,  of  25  pounds,  or  about 
sixpence  per  pound.  The  employment  of  this  substance  in 
m^icine  is  remarkable,  as  showing  how  similar  results  may  be 
arrived  at  in  far  distant  parts  of  the  globe ;  for  it  is  quite  evident 
that  the  curative  properties  of  the  seaweed  are  due  to  the  iodine 
contained  in  it ;  yet  in  Europe  the  discovery  and  employment 
of  preparations  of  iodine  in  the  cure  of  goitre  are  comparatively 
of  but  very  recent  date. 

An*  epidemic,  known  as  the  "Peste,''  committed  terrible 
havoc  amongst  the  Aymara  Indians  of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  in  the 
years  from  1855  to  1858,  without  at  the  same  time  appearing  to 
attack  the  white  inhabitants;  I  understand,  from  Drs.  Hay- 
garth,  Cooke,  and  Lopera,  that  this  was  a  species  of  fever  closely 
allied  to  typhus,  and  raged  with  greatest  violence  during  the 
months  from  June  to  September.  It  was  accompanied  by  the 
appearance  of  spots  on  the  skin  of  the  body,  and  by  intense 
haemorrhage  from  the  nose  and  anus.  The  Indians  usually 
recovered  from  the  first  attack;  but  most  frequently  this  was 
followed  by  a  second  one,  to  which  they  generally  succumbed. 
Don  Pedro  Saientz,  of  Corocoro,  informed  me  that  he  believed 
he  had  saved  a  great  number  of  his  Indians  by  compelling  them 
to  bathe  daily  in  a  large  tank  of  water. 

Both  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis  are  known  amongst  the  Aymara 
Indians,  and  treated  by  themselves  without  foreign  medical  assist- 
ance. Their  treatment  of  syphilis  would  seem  to  be  attended  with 
success,  since,  although  it  is  known  to  be  common,  the  general 
health  of  the  Indians  appears  to  be  good,  and  I  have  never  met 
with  any  instance  of  an  Indian  disfigured  by  the  disease.  I  was 
informed,  on  good  authority,  that  these  Indians  employ  mercury, 
both  in  the  metallic  form  and  as  a  chloride  (calomel),  in  the 

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226  David  Forbes — On  the  Aynuara  Indians 

cure  of  the  disease,  and  that  they  now  procure  these  substances 
firom  the  apothecaries  or  merchants  (who  sell  mercury  to  the 
silver-amalgamating  establishments)  in  the  lai^e  towns ;  as  they 
are  also  acquainted  with  cinnabar,  which  in  several  parts  of  the 
country  is  found  in  the  native  state  as.  a  mineral  in  veins,  it  has 
been  surmised  that  they  may  also  employ  this  compound  of 
mercury  as  a  medicine. 

Some  of  the  medical  men  in  La  Paz  assured  me  that  the 
Aymara  Indians  who  chew  coca  are  not  salivated  by  mercurial 
preparations,  even  when  administered  in  great  excess ;  how  far 
this  is  correct  is  worthy  of  inquiry.  It  was  proposed  in  La  Paz 
to  employ  cocaine  to  prevent  salivation;  but  there  are  some 
doubts  as  to  whether  the  substance  so  called  really  represents 
the  true  active  principle  of  the  coca-leaf. 

It  would  appear  probable  that  syphilis  has  been  known  amongst 
these  Indians  from  a  very  early  period,  because  they  have  in 
their  language  a  name  for  this  disease  {" Cchaca^usu"  UteraUy 
translated  '^bone-disease'^  Huanti,  a  bubo),  because  they  are  ap- 
parently quite  familiar  with  its  treatment,  and,  lastly,  from  the 
occasional  occurrence  of  skulls  taken  out  of  graves  dating  from 
a  period  antecedent  to  the  Spanish  conquest,  on  which  may  be 
seen  depressions  or  scars  pronounced  by  several  medical  men  to 
have  resulted  from  syphilitic  caries  of  the  bone,  and  which  in 
two  instances  which  came  under  my  observation  afforded  proof 
that  the  disease  had  been  arrested  in  its  progress  and  new  bone 
formed  during  the  lifetime  of  the  individual. 

A  very  remarkable  circumstance  also  is,  that  the  Alpaca,  an 
animal  altogether  peculiar  and  confined  to  these  highlands  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru,  also  suffers  extensively  frx>m  a  disease  which, 
in  aU  its  symptoms  and  effects,  appears  to  be  identical  with 
syphilis  in  man,  and  which  is  treated  by  the  Indians  by  a  pre- 
cisely similar  mode  of  cure,  consisting  principally  of  inunction 
witli  mercurial  ointment.  Several  white  landed  proprietors  of 
Bolivia  and  Peru  with  whom  I  have  frequently  spoken  upon  this 
subject,  have  assured  me  that  the  prevalence  of  this  disease  is 
the  sole  reason  why  they  have  such  a  repugnance  to  occupying 
themselves  with  the  culture  of  alpaca  wool,  which  as  a  commer- 
cial speculation,  although  an  extremely  lucrative  one,  has  still 
been  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians  themselves :  the 
mortality  amongst  the  alpacas  caused  by  the  disease,  when  not 
extremely  carefdly  treated,  is  said  to  be  very  great  indeed ;  and 
the  bones  of  the  diseased  animals  are  stated  to  be  affscted  by 
caries  exactly  as  in  man*^. 

*  The  question  whether  this  disease  may  hare  been  communicated  finom 
the  Alpaca  to  man,  or  vice  versd,  is  an  open  one.  It  is  well  known,  however, 
that  such  unnatural  intercourse  is  common,  and  that  under  the  Incaa  severe 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  227 

The  character  of  the'Aymaras  is  a  peculiar  one,  not  easy  to 
describe;  they  rarely  smile  or  laugh,  and  always  appear  to  be 
sad  and  serious,  reflective,  silent,  and  uncommunicative,  in- 
tensely suspicious  and  distrustful,  never  forming  attachments 
until  after  long  acquaintance. 

Although  they  are  patient  under  suffering  and  submissive  to 
the  laws  and  governing  powers,  they  at  bottom  possess  a  dogged 
determination  which  nothing  can  shake,  and  which  enables  them 
to  support  torture  and  even  death  rather  than  confess.  In  my 
own  experience,  I  have  seen  an  Aymara  Indian,  who  stole  a  mule, 
expire  under  the  lash  rather  than  reveal  where  he  had  concealed 
the  animal ;  and  in  former  times  many  an  Indian  has  been  tor- 
tured or  put  to  death  by  the  Spaniards  for  not  pointing  out  the 
localities  of  the  gold-  or  silver-mines  from  which  he  had  pro- 
cured these  metals. 

Impotent  as  they  know  thev  are  at  present,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  Indian  still  lives  cherishing  the  hope  of  one 
day  crushing  his  oppressors.  With  an  intense  hatred  to  the  white 
man,  he  has  if  possible  a  still  deeper  hatred  to  the  Negro,  al- 
though at  present  these  latter,  who  were  much  more  numerous 
under  the  rule  of  the  Spaniards,  have  since  the  independence  all 
but  disappeared  from  the  country,  or  at  least  from  the  highlands. 
Their  hatred  to  the  white  was  so  strong  that,  during  the  insur- 
rection in  1780  they  swore  to  destroy  even  all  the  white  animals 
in  the  country,  and  as  far  as  possible  carried  this  oath  into  effect. 

When,  however,  the  treatment  which  these  Indians  have  re 
ceived  at  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards  and  their  successors  is  re- 
coUected,  no  one  can  wonder  at  the  depth  of  these  feelings,  or 
be  surprised  at  the  influence  which  so  many  generations  of 
oppression  has  had  on  the  original  character  of  the  race. 

Secretiveness  seems  also  to  be  a  well-developed  trait  in  their 
character.  The  Indian,  except  possibly  on  his  feast-days,  looks  as 
if  reduced  to  a  state  of  the  most  abject  poverty,  if  one  is  to  judge 
from  their  clothing,  habitations,  and  mode  of  living.  They,  as  a 
rule,  hide  all  their  riches,  i.  e.  their  silver  or  gold,  generally  bury- 
ing it  in  earthen  pots  in  the  ground ;  and  as  the  Indians  rarely 
confess  before  death,  a  large  part  at  least  of  such  hoards  remain 
concealed,  although  not  unfrequently  such  "  tapadas,''  as  thej 
are  called  by  the  Spaniards,  are  come  upon  accidentally.  It  is 
also  well  known  that  after  the  battles  in  the  eternal  civil  wars 
of  Peru  and  Bolivia,  a  large  portion  of  the  arms  disappear,  hav- 
ing been  carried  off  by  the  Indians  and  concealed  by  them,  no 

laws  were  enacted  affainat  it.  Even  after  the  Spanish  conquest,  an  old  law 
not  permittinK  the  llama-drivers  to  start  on  their  joumevs  unless  accom- 
panied by  their  wives  was  retained  in  force ;  and  this  regulation  was  under- 
stood to  be  intended  as  a  safeguard  against  such  abuses. 

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228  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

doubt  with  a  view  to  their  ultimate  employment  against  their 
oppressors. 

The  amount  of  silver  so  buried  or  hidden  by  the  Indians 
must  be  enormous ;  for  they  rarely  part  with  any  silver  money, 
when  once  it  comes  into  their  hands.  In  later  yean,  when  the 
demand  for  the  wool  of  the  alpaca  became  so  great  and  the 
price  rose  proportionately,  the  amount  of  hard  cash  (Bolivian 
silver  dollars,  which  until  lately  were  the  only  currency  in  this 
part  of  the  world)  received  by  the  Indians  was  extremely  large ; 
and  as  the  major  part  of  it  at  once  vanished  from  circulation,  it 
has  been  calculated  by  well-informed  merchants  of  Tacna  and 
La  Paz  that  more  than  some  ten  millions  of  Bolivian  dollars 
must  in  the  course  of  but  comparatively  few  years  have  been 
hidden  away  by  the  Indians  of  the  highlands  of  Peru  and  Bolivia. 

The  Aymara  Indians  seem  to  have  a  natural  preference  for 
solitude;  and  it  is  strange  to  come  suddenly  upon  solitary 
Indians,  as  it  were  ruminating  for  hours  together,  when  unob- 
served, in  some  out-of-the  way  spot  in  the  mountains,  or  to  see 
the  Indian  women  sitting  crouched  up  the  whole  day  as  if  mo- 
tionless, on  the  top  of  some  heap  of  stones  or  other  elevation, 
herding  their  llamas.  Often  I  have  sent  an  Indian  to  watch  the 
mules  at  night,  and  found  him  in  the  morning  squatted  down  on 
his  haunches  with  his  knees  up  to  his  chin  and  his  arms  clasped 
round  his  knees  (in  almost  the  exact  position  of  a  mummy  in  an 
ancient  grave),  in  which  position  he  has  remained  all  night,  al- 
most without  moving,  more  than  to  renew  his  quid  of  coca- 
leaves. 

The  character  of  the  Aymaras  cannot  at  bottom  be  bad ;  for  it 
is  rare  to  £nd  any  of  the  greater  vices  much  developed  amongst 
the  pure  Indians :  murder  is  extremely  rare ;  and  thefk,  except 
of  a  very  petty  character,  is  not  common.  I  have  myself 
repeatedly  sent  Wge  sums  of  money  long  distances  in  charge  of 
a  single  Indian  on  foot,  but  never  had  occasion  to  repent  of  so 
doing — although  I  knew  of  an  instance  in  which  an  Indian  did 
murder  another  who  was  carrying  a  sum  of  money  from  Sorata 
to  the  gold-washings  of  Tipuani.  This,  however,  was  quite  an  ex- 
ceptional case  i  and  the  arrieros  who  travel  between  Tacna  and 
La  Paz,  and  other  parts  of  the  country,  often  with  large  amoimts 
in  money  and  gold  dust,  are  as  a  rule  never  molested,  even  du- 
ring the  civil  wars  which  are  the  curse  of  this  unhappy  country. 

As  servants,  the  Aymara  Indians,  to  judge  from  my  own  ex- 
perience, do  well  as  long  as  they  remain  in  their  own  district; 
but  if  taken  elsewhere  they  soon  get  homesick  and  run  away 
without  notice.  When,  however,  they  do  form  an  attachment  to 
their  masters,  they  are  reported  to  be  very  faithful,  and  more 
particularly  so  when  brought  up  from  youth ;  so  that  a  system 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  229 

of  purchasing  or^  rather^  kidnapping  young  Indians  is  common^ 
they  being  sent  to  the  coast  districts  or  to  distant  towns,  where 
they  are  bought  into  the  families  of  the  landed  proprietors  or  mer- 
chants. On  several  occasions  during  my  residence  in  Bolivia  I 
was  requested  by  firiends  in  Tacna  to  send  them  a  young  Indian 
boy  as  a  present,  which,  although  not  openly  permitted  by  the 
law,  is  still  often  done. 

Although  the  Aymara  Indian  the  moment  he  comes  into  con- 
tact with  or  is  employed  by  the  white  at  once  puts  on  an  expres- 
sion of  stolid  indifference  and  stupidity  far  from  real,  and  only 
moves  step  by  step,  so  as  religiously,  it  may  be  said,  to  do  the 
least  possible  amount  of  work  with  which  he  can  escape,  he 
is  far  otherwise  when  amongst  themselves;  for  there  he  is 
seldom  or  never  idle;  even  the  llama-driver  as  he  walks  along  side 
his  animals  always  has  his  distaff  in  his  hand,  spinning  coarse 
yarn  of  llama- wool  as  he  goes  along;  they  do  not^  as  many  other 
and  especially  North- American  tribes,  throw  all  the  burdens  on 
the  women's  backs ;  and  the  Indian  at  home,  although  never 
animated  or  merry,  is  apparently  sociable  and  probably  even 
amiable  in  his  family  relations. 

They  particularly  excel  in  walking,  and  can  keep  up  on  foot 
with  the  quick  walk  of  the  mule  for  a  long  time  and  distance. 
In  March  1860,  an  Indian  on  foot  accompanied  my  mule  at  a 
sort  of  trot,  for  a  distance  of  twenty-three  leagues  (69  miles)  in 
one  day ;  and  the  Indians  who  fetched  my  letters  from  La  Paz 
have  on  several  occasions  made  the  journey  to  and  fro  (a  reputed 
distance  of  60  leagues)  in  three  days,  during  which  their  only 
food  would  be  a  small  bag  of  parched  Indian  corn  and  another 
of  coca-leaves ;  the  post  from  La  Paz  to  Tacna,  a  reputed  dis- 
tance of  250  miles,  was  during  my  residence  in  Bolivia  regularly 
carried  by  a  single  Indian  on  foot  in  five  days.  I  have  reason, 
however,  to  believe  that  the  extraordinary  story  given  by  Dr. 
Scherzer,  of  the  Novara  expedition,  of  the  custom  said  to  be 
prevalent  amongst  these  Indians,  of  standing  on  their  heads 
after  such  long  journeys,  in  order  to  allow  of  the  blood  return- 
ing to  the  feet*,  is  somewhat  of  a  hoax  played  on  the  learned 
Doctor  when  in  Tacna;  and,  further,  I  am  also  inclined  ta be- 
lieve that  the  virtues  generally  attributed  to  the  use  of  the  coca- 

*  Bd.  III.  p.  849,  when  speaking  of  an  Aymara  guide  who  had  already 
marched  30  leagues  on  foot,  ne  adds,  '^  fiihlte  Herr  Campbell,  obschon  er  ein 
Tortreffliches  Thier  geritten,  echwer  ermiidet;  der  Fiihrer  dagegen,  nachdem 
er  sich  einige  Minuten  anf  den  Kopf  gestellt  und  ein  Glas  Brantwein  zu  sich 
genommenhatte,  trat  unverweilt,  ohne  waiter  auszumhen  die  Heimreise  an;'' 
and  remarks  further:  *^  £s  ist  dies  cine  eben  so  allgemeine  als  wunderliche  Si  tie 
der  Aymara-Indianer  nach  langen,be8chwerlichen  Marschen,um,  wie  es  scheint 
dem  Instincte  folgend,  der  gewaltigen  Andrang  des  Blutes  nach  uuten  zu 
mUdem." 


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230  Datid  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

leaf  are  very  considerably  exaggerated  in  most  of  the  accounts 
given  by  travellers  and  others,  both  because  I  found  by  expe- 
rience various  of  my  Indians  who  did  not  use  coca  to  be 
equally  good  walkers,  and  as  capable  of  enduring  fatigue  as  those 
who  habitually  indulged  in  it,  and  because  I  was  assured  by 
General  Belzu  (the  President  of  the  Republic  of  Bolivia,  and 
nearly  a  pure  Indian  himself)  that,  although  in  the  Bolivian 
army  coca  was  never  allowed  to  the  soldiers,  they  were 
quite  as  good,  if  not  better  walkers  than  the  average  of  the 
other  Indians;  and  as  a  proof  of  this  I  may  mention  that  when 
in  the  months  of  January  and  February  1860,  owing  to  a  num- 
ber of  almost  simultaneous  revolutionary  attempts  breaking  out 
in  different  parts  of  Bolivia  (La  Paz,  Oruro,  and  Potosi)  at  great 
distances  from  one  another,  the  walking-powers  of  some  of  the 
most  reliable  companies  of  infantry  were  severely  taxed  in  order 
to  repress  these  movements,  I  saw  the  first  battalion  of  the  Boli- 
vian army  arrive  in  Biacha  in  excellent  condition,  notwithstand- 
ing that,  upon  summing  up  the  lengths  of  the  different  marches 
they  had  made  during  the  previous  three  weeks  as  detailed  to  me 
by  Colonel  Flores  their  commander,  it  appeared  that  they  must 
have  maxched  on  an  average  during  this  period  something  like 
forty-five  miles  English  per  day ;  yet  their  entire  list  of  casual- 
ties only  included  one  man  who  had  dropped  dead  on  the  road, 
and  three  left  behind  from  illness. 

What  the  religion  of  the  Aymara  Indian  at  the  present  time 
is,  is  a  question  difficult  if  not  impossible  for  even  one  of  them- 
selves to  answer  definitely ;  it  seems  to  be  a  curious  and  con- 
fused jumble  of  their  ancient  Ijelief  with  some  slight  admixture 
of  Christian  doctrines.  Outwardly  the  Roman  Catholic  form  of 
worship  has  been  forced  upon  them  by  the  Spaniards  ever  since 
the  conquest,  the  infants  being  all  obliged  to  be  baptized  and 
named  after  some  saint  in  the  calendar,  whether  their  parents 
wish  it  or  not ;  and  consequently  the  white  inhabitants  regard 
the  whole  of  the  Aymaras  as  "  Indios  Christianos,''  in  contradi- 
stinction to  the  so-called  '^Gentiles  "  or  Pagan  Indians,  although 
it  seems  quite  certain  that  but  very  few  of  these  Indians  have 
any  clear  conception  of  what  the  Christian  religion  really  is. 

The  worship  of  the  Sun  does  not  seem  at  any  epoch  to  have 
played  a  prominent  part  amongst  the  Aymaras,  if  even  at  all 
acknowledged  by  them,  before  the  Incas,  after  their  conquest  of 
the  country,  introduced  this  form  of  religion,  and  built  temples 
on  the  islands  in  the  Lake  of  Titicaca  dedicated  to  the  sun  and 
moon.  The  sun  in  Aymara  is  called  Lupi,  not  Inti  as  among 
the  Quechuas  or  Inca  race;  and  in  some  of  the  old  Spanish  wri- 
ters it  is  expressly  mentioned  that  the  CoUa  Indians  were  neither 
allowed  to  enter  the  grand  temple  of  the  sun,  nor  to  assist  at  the 

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oj  Bolivia  and  Peru.  231 

ceremonies,  being  regarded  by  the  Incas  in  the  light  of  heathens. 
Idols  seem,  however,  to  have  been  common  with  them ;  but  it 
would  appear  that  these  idols  had  more  a  local  signification,  i,  e. 
were  regarded  more  as  the  guardian  saints  of  the  different 
districts  or  places  than  as  representing  the  universal  or  almighty 
God,  who  seems  to  have  been  at  all  times,  both  ancient  and  mo- 
dem, acknowledged  by  the  Aymara  Indians,  and  to  whom  they 
sacrificed  and  made  offerings,  especially  of  their  esteemed  coca, 
as  well  as  poured  out  libations  of  chicha,  both  of  which  latter 
customs  they  still  continue  to  keep  up,  in  out-of-the-way  districts. 
They  are  also  equally  firm  in  their  belief  in  the  existence  of  an 
evil  spirit  or  devil,  whom  they  appear  to  think  it  necessary  to 
propitiate  at  times,  and  call  by  the  names  of  Aucca,  Huantahualla 
or  Supay;  they  also  believe  in  several  attendant  or  administer- 
ing angels  of  the  devil,  one  of  whom  is  called  by  them  Cari- 
eari,  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  messenger  sent  by  the  devil  to  kill 
men  and  remove  the  fat  firom  their  bodies,  for  what  purpose, 
however,  I  could  never  get  them  to  explain. 

The  Aymara,  moreover,  acknowledges  the  immortality,  or  ra- 
ther the  existence  of  the  soul  in  the  next  world,  and  in  ancient 
times  always  buried  the  dead  along  with  a  supply  of  food  and 
sometimes  clothing  to  take  along  with  them ;  even  at  the  present 
day  Cortez  states  that  this  custom  is  kept  up  in  certain  districts 
of  Bolivia.  Under  certain  circumstances,  it  is  believed  by  them 
that  the  souls  of  the  dead  may  return  to  this  earth ;  and  it  is 
known  that  the  Indians  of  the  Puna  occasionally  put  an  end  to 
the  sufferings  of  their  relatives  when  about  to  die,  by  strangling 
them  with  a  rope,  under  the  impression  that  by  so  doing  they 
can  prevent  the  ghost  of  the  defunct  returning  to  this  world  to 
haunt  and  trouble  them. 

The  symbol  of  the  cross  (always  rectangular  and  equal-sided) 
is  very  common  on  the  ancient  Aymara  ruins  at  Tiahuanaco ; 
but  it  seems  to  have  been  used  only  as  an  ornament,  since,  not- 
withstanding that  they  now  employ  the  cross  as  a  symbol  of 
Christianity,  and  commonly  place  crosses  of  wood  in  a  conspi- 
cuous position  on  the  roof  or  at  the  eaves  of  their  houses,  on 
the  bodies  of  the  dead,  and  on  the  graves  afterwards,  they  appear 
to  do  so  merely  out  of  fear  of  the  Catholic  priests,  as  they  are 
always  ready  to  swear  by  the  cross,  (or  by  Jesus  Christ  or  the 
Virgin  Mary,)  yet  evidently  have  not  the  slightest  respect  for 
such  oaths,  which  they  never  scruple  to  break  when  convenient. 
In  order  to  make  an  oath  binding  on  an  Aymara,  it  is  customary, 
at  least  in  some  districts,  for  the  Alcalde  of  his  community  to 
lay  his  staff  of  office  on  the  ground,  and  then  make  the  Indian 
step  over  it  before  giving  his  declaration. 

As  a  remarkable  instance  of  how  in  a  perverted  form  some  of 

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232  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

the  doctrines  of  Christianity  may  become  grafted  into  the  pre- 
sent Aymara  belief^  I  may  mention  that  tibe  so-called  ''  Indio 
Christiano  **  of  the  Puna  of  La  Paz  still  believes  that  on  one  day 
in  the  year^  which  is  Good  Friday^  he  may  commit  any  crime 
short  of  murder  with  impunity ;  and  on  this  day  instances  are 
known  where  they  have  even  violated  their  own  daughters  in 
presence  of  their  mothers^  as  I  have  been  assured  by  a  trustwor- 
thy Indian  of  Omasuyos^  who  explained  at  the  same  time  to  me 
that  it  could  be  no  sin,  as  on  that  day  God  was  dead^  and  conse- 
quently could  not  possibly  on  the  next  day  remember  any  thing 
which  happened  the  day  before — ^rather  a  strange  application  of 
a  Christian  dogma ! 

When  Roman  Catholic  churches  have  been  built  in  this 
country,  it  has  not  unfrequently  been  found  subsequently  that 
the  Indian  masons  have  concealed  in  the  walls  or  in  the  altar  it- 
self small  idols,  as  if  to  put  the  church  itself  under  the  protec- 
tion of  their  ancient  gods  also.  The  small  idols  or  figures  found 
in  the  Indian  graves  seem  to  have  stood  in  the  same  relations  to 
the  Aymaras  as  the  Lares  and  Penates  or  household  gods  amongst 
the  ancient  Romans,  and  appear  to  have  been  kept  by  each 
family  in  their  huts. 

The  influence  exercised  by  the  parish  priests  over  the  Aymara 
population  is  an  extremely  powerM  one.  This  must  certainly  be 
attributed  more  to  a  sort  of  innate  sense  of  duty  inherited  from 
their  ancestors,  than  to  any  true  respect  for  the  present  priesthood, 
whose  morals  (or  rather  want  of  morals)  are  not  often  such  as 
would  engender  any  great  amount  of  reverence  for  their  cloth. 
This  power,  however,  too  often  exercised  to  bad  purposes,  al- 
ways seemed  to  me  to  be  founded  more  on  fear  than  on  any 
true  respect  or  love  for  their  spiritual  leaders. 

I  often  found  it  advantageous  to  avail  myself,  in  my  dealings 
with  the  Indians,  of  the  power  possessed  over  them  by  the 
priests.  On  one  occasion,  when  a  number  of  Indians  who  had 
agreed  to  carry  a  heavy  and  important  piece  of  machinery  up  an 
almost  inaccessible  path  to  the  mines  and  had  found  the  task  so 
difScult  as  to  have  at  last  abandoned  it  in  despair,  I  as  a  last  re- 
source appealed  to  the  parish  priest  to  assist  me,  which  he  did 
most  efl'ectually,  by  at  the  next  mass  ^ving  them  such  a  thun- 
dering sermon  in  Aymara,  in  which  he  threatened  them  with  all 
manner  of  pains  and  penalties  in  this  and  the  next  world,  that 
the  Indians  in  their  Mght  ran  out  of  the  church  and  did  not 
return  until  they  had  effected  my  object. 

Under  the  rule  of  the  Incas,  and  probably  even  from  a  much 
earlier  period,  the  religion  of  these  Indians  had  always  been  in- 
timately connected  with  their  fStes  or  religious  feasts;  and  a 
similarity  in  this  respect  no  doubt  greatly  facilitated  the  intro- 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  233 

duction  of  the  Roman  Catholic  form  of  Christian  worship 
amongst  them^  since  the  Indians  did  not  feel  that  there  was  any 
very  great  revolution  in  the  order  of  things  when  they  still 
were  allowed  to  retain  their  "  fiestas/^  which,  if  somewhat  ^tered 
as  to  date,  were  otherwise  more  changed  in  name  than  in  reality, 
and  most  prohably  still  retain  much  of  the  character  which  they 
had  even  before  the  Spanish  conquest. 

The  priests  were  on  their  side  only  too  glad  to  encourage  the 
Indians  in  these  tastes ;  for  they  soon  found  out  that  the  weak 
side  of  the  Indian  was  his  attachment  to  his  feasts,  for  which 
alone  he  can  be  induced  to  part  with  his  money,  which  otherwise 
he  would  only  continue  to  hoard  up,  grudging  even  the  most 
necessary  comforts  to  himself.  Encouraged  by  the  priests,  the 
Indians  of  many  districts  are  urged  on  to  a  rivalry  in  getting  up 
feasts,  one  more  magnificent  than  the  other,  all  of  which  natu- 
rally puts  money  into  the  pockets  of  the  priest  himself. 

The  impression  made  upon  my  mind  upon  first  witnessing  one 
of  these  feast-days  celebrated  by  the  Aymara  Indians  is  quite 
inefiaceable.  Arriving  in  the  evening  at  La  Paz,  in  Bolivia, 
after  a  long  and  wearisome  journey  of  seven  days  on  muleback 
from  the  Pacific  coast  of  Peru,  this  city  (of  about  70,000  inhabi- 
tants, of  which  some  40,000  are  Indians,  whilst  the  remainder 
consists  of  the  Cholada,  and  still  fewer  whites  of  a  rather  dusky 
tint  in  general)  seemed  to  me,  at  least  that  evening,  very  much 
like  some  of  the  older  towns  in  Southern  Spain.  Next  morning, 
however,  which  (unknown  to  me)  happened  to  be  a  feast-day,  my 
slumbers  were  broken  by  music  of  an  unearthly  but  certainly 
not  heavenly  character,  and  I  beheld  the  streets  filled  with 
troops  of  Indians,  men  and  women,  dancing  energetically  to  the 
accompaniment  of  numerous  drums,  pandean  pipes,  Indian 
flutes,  and  long  trumpets,  which  together  produced  a  most 
dolefal  and  monotonous  sound,  loud  enough  indeed,  but  hardly 
entitled  to  the  appellation  of  music.  The  Indians  themselves 
were  attired  in  the  most  grotesque  costumes :  many  of  the  men 
had  enormous  head-dresses  of  ostrich-  or  condor-feathers,  often 
dyed  of  various  colours,  some  erect  and  others  drooping  down  so 
as  entirely  to  conceal  the  head;  others  had  masks  representing 
the  heads  of  animals,  or  were  attired  in  the  hides  of  oxen  with 
the  horns  projecting  from  their  heads,  whilst  many  had  cuirasses 
made  of  the  skin  of  the  jaguar,  or  American  tiger,  as  it  is  com- 
monly called.  The  women  were  decked  out  in  all  their  finery ; 
and  many  had  enormous  bunches  of  flowers  himg  as  if  from  their 
ears,  but  actually  supported  by  being  looped  up  on  each  side  by 
their  pigtails  of  hair,  or  had  similar  pendants  of  oranges, 
lemons,  red-pepper  pods,  or  ring-shaped  cakes  iucrusted  with 
sugar. 

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234*  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

The  effect  altogether  was  most  extraordinary  and  surprising, 
especially  from  the  great  contrast  between  the  appearance  of  the 
Indians  themselves  and  the  almost  European  buildings  and  streets 
in  which  they  moved ;  for  it  seemed  like  a  dream  to  behold  them 
occupied  by  so  incongruous  a  population. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  towns^  the  Indians  on  these  occasions 
usually  crowd  in,  and  pass  the  first  day  perambulating  the  streets 
with  their  music  and  dancing  before  the  various  churches  and 
in  the  squares  of  the  town ;  afterwards  they  generally  retire  to 
their  own  hamlets,  where  they  continue  their  diversions  during 
the  remaining  feast-days. 

These  diversions  are  kept  up,  without  any  interruption,  day  and 
night,  as  long  as  the  feast  continues,  or  until  the  Indians  literally 
drop  down  from  sheer  exhaustion  or  intoxication.  It  is  perfectly 
astonishing,  however,  to  observe  how  long  both  the  men  and  wo- 
men can,  hour  after  hour,  without  any  cessation,  keep  on  dancing 
round  and  round  like  lunatics,  whilst  all  the  time  not  a  smile 
can  be  perceived  on  their  countenances,  which,  on  the  contrary, 
never  indicate  the  slightest  trace  of  excitement  or  hilarity,  but 
retain  the  same  sad  and  melancholy  expression  characteristic  of 
their  features  in  their  most  serious  moods.  In  fact,  the  Aymara 
Indians  are  a  paradox ;  for  they  seem  to  amuse  themselves  with- 
out ever  appearing  gay,  and  to  dance  without  becoming  ani- 
mated. 

On  these  occasions  also  it  is  common  to  find  the  Indians 
burlesquing  any  new  fashion  which  may  come  into  vogue  amongst 
the  whites:  thus,  for  example,  when  the  use  of  crinoline  became 
introduced  amongst  the  ladies  of  La  Paz,  this  custom  was  imme- 
diately caricatured  by  Indians,  who  danced  at  their  feasts  in 
would-be  imitations  of  enormous  volume. 

The  name's  day  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  town  or  village  is 
always  kept  in  great  style  by  the  Indians,  who,  no  doubt,  recog- 
nize in  it  the  feasts  which  their  ancestors  celebrated  in  honour  of 
their  local  gods  or  saints.  Besides  the  usual  f^tes  common  to 
the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  some,  which  are  held  by  the  Indians 
under  the  auspices  of  the  priests,  appear  to  have  been  introduced 
into  the  calendar  after  the  Spanish  conquest,  no  doubt  for  the 
sake  of  securing  the  goodwill  of  the  Indians  and  facilitating  their 
adoption  of  Christianity,  by  allowing  them  to  hold  religious 
feasts  corresponding,  or  nearly  so,  to  their  ancient  ones.  This 
appears,  for  example,  to  be  the  case  with  the  '^  Fiesta  de  la 
Cruz,''  held  in  La  Paz  on  the  third  and  following  days  of  May, 
which  I  am  informed  is  not  known  in  other  parts  of  the  CathoUc 
world,  and  which  is  evidently  only  a  replacement  of  the  great 
feast  called  "  Aimoray"  held  in  this  month  by  the  Indians  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards. 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  235 

On  St.  John's  eve  it  is  usual  to  see  bonfires  lighted  on  the  hills^ 
and  even  in  the  streets  of  La  Paz ;  but  I  cannot  say  whether  this 
custom  has  been  introduced  by  the  Spaniards  or  was  prevalent 
before  the  conquest. 

The  three  days  of  the  carnival  are  a  great  time  amongst  the 
Indians  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  as  also  the  feast  of  Corpus 
Christi,  which  is  specially  celebrated  in  the  towns  by  the  erection 
of  huge  altars  in  the  plaza  or  before  the  churches,  covered  by 
coloured  cloths,  and  decorated  by  pictures  of  the  saints,  mirrors, 
bunches  of  firuit,  and  by  all  the  valuables  which  the  Indians  pos- 
sess or  can  borrow  for  the  occasion.  The  Indians  vie  with  each 
other  in  the  size  of  these  altars,  which  are  frequently  several 
stories  in  height,  and  occasionsdly  so  carelessly  put  together 
(being  constructed  only  of  wooden  poles  tied  together  with 
ropes  made  of  llama-wool)  that  they  tumble  down  during  the 
ceremony,  and  sometimes  cause  the  loss  of  life  in  their  ruins. 

The  Indians  themselves  make  great  preparations  for  these 
feasts,  which  may  be  regarded  as  their  only  luxuries ;  they  will 
not  part  with  money,  if  th^  can  help  doing  so,  except  in  the  pur- 
chase of  materials  for  the  decoration  or  brandy  to  be  consumed 
at  them.  Rich  Indians  have  been  known  to  spend  even  some 
hundred  dollars  for  fireworks,  and  they  pay  highly  for  the  fea- 
thers of  the  condor  or  ostrich  for  their  head-dresses, — as  much, 
for  example,  as  nine  dollars  for  a  jaguar  skin,  of  which  they 
make  their  ornamental  cuirasses  worn  in  the  dances. 

These  feasts  are  attended  with  great  drunkenness  and  im- 
morality^, and,  as  might  be  expected,  frequently  end  in  fights, 
in  which  sometimes,  but  very  seldom,  lives  may  be  lost.  In  the 
villages,  the  priest,  when  at  hand,  is  usually  appealed  to  in  such 
disputes ;  and  it  has  amused  me  to  see  the  summary  mode  in 
which  the  holy  (but  often  rather  unsteady)  man  administers 
justice,  by  laying  about  him  promiscuously  with  a  heavy  pair  of 
tapir-skin  reins,  or  any  other  thing  at  hand,  to  the  dire  confusion 
of  the  Indians  around. 

At  these  feasts  in  the  towns,  or  at  the  celebration  of  some 
national  event,  bullfights  are  occasionally  arranged  by  the  autho- 
rities of  the  district;  as,  however,  they  have  no  bull-rings,  the 
animals  are  simply  let  loose  in  the  square  {plaza) ,  and  allowed 
to  be  tormented  by  the  Indians,  without  any  further  ceremony 
or  precautions  being  taken  than  the  temporary  erections  which 

*  In  the  midflt  of  the  dances  men  and  women  are  frequently  seen  to  ex- 
change head-gear,  by  which  is  understood  a  mutual  arrangement  to  become 
partners  for  the  night  of  the  feast.  The  Indians,  however,  are  not  a  lascivious 
race  in  general,  aluiough  Dr.  Cooke  informs  me  that  this  was  due  only  to 
their  rarely  removing  their  garments  at  night,  sleeping  completely  clothed, 
and  usually  all  the  family  together,  on  the  earthen  noor  of  their  huts. 


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236  Dayid  Fokbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

most  of  the  dwellers  around  put  up  in  all  haste,  in  order  to  pro- 
tect their  doors  and  windows,  and  enable  them  to  look  on  in 
safety.  As  might  be  expected,  lives  are  often  lost,  when  the 
enraged  bulls  charge  at  the  Indians  and  Cholos,  who  irritate 
them  on  all  sides,  and  who  are  often  too  much  excited  by  drink 
to  take  much  care  of  themselves.  At  Achecache  and  other 
towns  in  the  Puna  it  is  common  on  these  occasions  for  the  Indians 
to  bring  forward  and  set  at  liberty  wild  animals,  such  as  vicufias, 
foxes,  viscachos,  wild  rabbits,  &c.,  the  smaller  animals  being 
placed  in  holes  made  in  the  groimd  and  loosely  covered  over 
by  stones,  which,  on  being  kicked  aside  by  the  bull  in  its 
charges,  allow  them  to  jump  out,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
spectators. 

The  Aymara  Indian  is  extremely  superstitious,  and  is  a  firm 
believer  in  omens  and  witchcraft  *.  I  am  told  that  they  have  a 
custom,  similar  to  what  in  Europe  was  common  up  to  a  very  recent 
date,  of  making  small  images  of  clay  of  those  whom  they  wish  to 
injure,  which,  after  piercing  through  with  a  thorn,  they  leave  in 
some  out-of-the-way  place,  believing  that  the  individual  in  ques- 
tion will  then  suffer  as  long  as  the  thorn  remains  sticking  in  the 
effigy. 

They  also  have  the  idea  that  the  possessor  of  any  part  of  the 
body,  or  any  thing  pertaining  to  them,  can,  as  long  as  he  holds 
it,  exercise  an  influence  for  good  or  evil  over  them.  For  this  * 
reason  I  found  it  very  difficult  toobtain  samples  of  the  Indian 
hair  for  comparison.  This  was  more  particularly  the  case  with 
the  men,  who  could  not  be  persuaded,  like  the  women,  that  you 
might  like  to  keep  it  as  a  memento. 

To  cut  off  the  pigtail  of  an  Indian  is  one  of  the  heaviest 
punishments  which  can  be  inflicted  on  him.  On  two  occasions, 
in  which  this  was  done  for  theft,  the  Indians  offered  what  to 
them  was  a  very  large  sum  to  obtain  the  severed  pigtail  back 
again.  An  Indian  whose  hair  has  been  cut  short  is  always 
regarded  with  great  suspicion  by  his  comrades,  and  rarely 
admitted  afterwards  to  their  society  or  confidence.  In  like 
manner  I  found  it,  in  some  out-of-the-way  districts,  occasionally 
very  difficult  to  persuade  them  to  sit  for  their  photograph  or 
portrait,  as  they  always  retained  the  idea  that  the  possessor  of 
even  their  likeness  must  retain  some  power  over  them. 

When  the  Indian  is  about' to  commence  any  undertaking, 
such  as  building  a  house,  marking  his  llamas,  or  starting  upon 
a  journey,  he   always   puts  great  faith  in  what  he  considers 

*  It  occasionally  happens  that  individuals  supposed  to  practise  witchcraft 
have  been  put  to  death  with  terrible  tortures  by  the  Indians  of  the  remote 
districts.    This  is  also  the  case  amongst  the  Pampa  Indians. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  237 

good  or  bad  omens  (such  as  the  appearance  of  the  heavens,  the 
flight  of  birds,  dreams,  &c.),  and  usually  pours  out  a  propitiatory 
libation  of  chicha,  brandy,  or  even  water^  before  banning  his 
labours  *. 

When  the  Indians  in  1854  were  arranging  their  plans  for  a 
general  rising  against  the  whites,  one  of  them,  on  his  death-bed^ 
confessed  to  the  parish  priest  that  the  insurrection  had  been 
deferred  because  the  omens  had  been  unfavourable,  and  informed 
him  that  a  council  of  the  principal  Indians  had  selected  three 
llamas,  one  of  each  colour,  white,  black,  and  brown,  which  were 
respectively  intended  to  represent  the  white,  black,  and  Indian 
races,  and  had  forced  them  to  swim  across  the  river  Have,  which 
runs  with  a  rapid  current  into  the  Lake  of  Titicaca,  on  its  western 
side.  The  white  llama  got  across  all  right,  the  black  managed 
also  to  do  so,  but  was  so  exhausted  as  to  drop  down  dead  upon 
reaching  the  shore,  whilst  the  third,  or  brown  llama,  was  carried 
away  by  the  stream  and  drowned.  From  this  result  the  Indians 
had  drawn  the  conclusions  that  the  white  race  was  still  too 
powerful,  that  the  blacks  were  not  to  be  feared,  and  would  soon 
die  out,  but  that  the  Indians  must  wait  longer,  since  they  were 
not  as  yet  so  strong  as  their  white  masters.  The  outbreak  of 
the  *^  Peste'''  epidemic  soon  after,  and  the  great  mortality  caused 
by  it  amongst  the  Indians,  contributed  to  make  them  respect 
this  verdict. 

As  a  means  of  freeing  themselves  from  the  "  Peste/'  the  In- 
dians of  some  districts  (in  1857)  loaded  a  black  llama  with  the 
clothes  of  the  infected  persons,  sprinkled  them  with  brandy,  and 
then  turned  the  animal  loose  on  to  the  mountains,  in  the  vain  hope 
that  it  would  carry  the  disease  off  along  with  it. 

When  an  animal,  as  a  cow  or  llama,  is  killed  by  lightning, 
they  regard  it  as  a  mark  of  the  displeasure  of  Ood,  and  carry  the 
carcass  to  the  summit  of  some  neighbouring  hill,  where  they 
bury  it,  placing  along  with  it,  at  the  same  time,  an  earthen  jar 
of  chicha  or  aguardiente,  apparently  as  a  peace-offering  to  Ood. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  top  of  a  steep  hill,  the  Uamero,  as  the 
llama-driver  is  called,  commonly  places  a  stone  upright,  or  lean- 
ing against  the  side  of  the  hill,  as  a  token  of  thanksgiving  for 
having  arrived  so  far  with  his  llamas  without  their  having  been 
knocked  up  by  fatigue.  All  along  the  roads,  or  rather  tracks, 
especially  in  the  higher  and  little-inhabited  parts,  numerous 
heaps  or  cairns  are  encountered,  often  of  very  considerable  di- 

*  The  Indian  fishen,  before  commencing  operations,  drink  a  little  of  the 
water  with  reverence,  and  mutter  a  prayer.  When  rain  is  desired^  it  is 
said  that  they  often  make  little  images  of  frogs  and  other  aquatic  animalB, 
and  place  them  on  the  top  of  the  hills,  aa  a  means  of  bringing  down  rain  by 
propitiating  their  deities. 

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238  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

mensions  (where  loose  stones  are  abundant  in  the  yicinity) ;  these 
are  called  apachetas;  and  the  Indian^  when  he  passes  them^  in- 
variably adds  a  stone ;  and  if  he  has  his  quid  of  coca  in  his  mouthy 
he  takes  it  out  and  throws  it  against  the  cairn,  on  which  he 
occasionally  sticks  feathers  or  places  one  or  more  of  his  leather 
sandals,  and  mutters  some  words,  probably  a  prayer.  When 
he  passes  these  cairns,  the  Indian  is  sometimes  seen  to  pull  a 
hair  or  two  out  of  his  eyebrows  or  eyelashes,  and,  placing  them 
before  his  mouth,  to  blow  them  away  in  the  direction  of  the  sun, 
probably  as  an  offering.  As  these  cairns  or  apachetas  were  con- 
sidered remnants  of  Pagan  worship,  the  Lima  Council  pronounced 
against  them''^;  but  I  regard  them  as  originally  instituted  to 
mark  the  line  of  road. 

When  travelling  from  Tacna  to  La  Paz,  I  noticed,  on  the  Bo- 
livian side  of  the  Pass  of  Huaylillos  (14,650  feet  above  the  sea), 
numbers  of  small  erections,  put  together  with  loose  stones,  and 
upon  inquiry  was  informed,  by  the  arrieros,  that  these  were  put 
up  by  the  Indian  Uameros  when  descending  to  Tacna  with  their 
loads,  and  that  upon  their  return  they  examined  them,  in  order 
to  see  whether  they  still  remained  standing,  in  which  case  they 
regarded  them  as  proofs  of  their  wives  having  remained  faithful 
to  them  during  their  absence,  and  the  contrary  if  the  stones  had 
tumbled  down. 

Some  of  these  are  sketched  in  PI.  XXI.  fig.  2.  A  glance  at 
the  style  of  some  of  these  little  erections  makes  one  almost  fancy 
oneself  capable  of  distinguishing  between  the  characters  of  the 
men  who  had  put  them  up.  The  confident  husband  would  no 
doubt  content  himself  with  putting  one  or  two  stones  on 
the  top  of  one  another,  so  as  to  be  not  easily  displaced; 
whilst  the  anxiety  or  jealousy  of  another  would  be  likely  to  tempt 
him  to  still  further  risk  his  own  happiness  by  erecting  a  flimsy 
structure  in  two  or  three  stories,  very  likely  to  be  upset  acci- 
dentally. 

I  am  sorry  to  add  that  my  muleteer,  a  Cholo  or  half-breed, 
who,  by-the-by,  are  almost  as  much  hated  by  the  pure  Indians 
as  the  whites  themselves,  before  I  could  expostulate  with  him, 
backed  his  mule  purposely  so  as  to  kick  over  a  number  of  these 
little  structures,  remarking  with  malicious  delight, '' Won^t  there 
be  a  row  when  those  fellows  get  home  again.'' 

The  Aymara  Indians  celebrate  the  birth  of  an  infant,  as  also 
marriages,  but,  curiously  enough,  appear  (although  they  have 
the  verb  marmasifia,  from  marmi,  a  woman)  to  have  no  word  in 
their  language  to  signify  the  act  of  marriage,  and  always  use  the 
Spanish  substantive  "  casamiinto  "  and  the  verb  "  casdr"  putting 
to  the  latter  an  Aymara  termination,  thus: — '^ ccLsarasina,  to 
*  EI  Concilio  Limense  segundo,  in  su  parte  2*,  capitiilo  20. 

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o/  Bolivia  and  Peru.  289 

marry  oneself;  '^ casararla/^  to  marry  one  to  another,  i.e.  per- 
form the  ceremony  of  marriage ;  and  casarayarla,  to  make  to 
marry,  or  give  in  marriage. 

Although  the  ancient  Aymaras  had  their  fiemaily  or  tribal 
places  of  burial,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  islands  of  Lake  Titicaca, 
Caranhas,  &c.,  the  Indian  at  present  seems  to  be  quite  indif- 
ferent as  to  where  a  corpse  may  be  buried,  interring  it  anywhere 
most  convenient,  and  not  troubling  themselves  to  transport  it 
any  distance  for  the  sake  of  burying  it  in  holy  ground.  In  the 
various  instances  which  I  have  witnessed  they  place  the  corpse, 
in  its  clothes,  lengthways  in  an  ordinary  grave,  dug  out  appa- 
rently in  any  convenient  direction,  the  hands  being  tied  (at  the 
wrist)  across  the  breast,  and  a  cross,  made  of  a  couple  of  twigs 
tied  together,  placed  on  the  body.  On  the  grave  itself  a  simple 
wooden  cross  is  placed,  probably  only  out  of  deference  to  the 
priests. 

In  ancient  times,  however,  the  position  of  the  body  in  the 
tomb  {chulpa  or  kuaca)  or  grave  was  always  that  which  the 
infant  had  originally  occupied  in  its  mother's  womb,  the  knees 
being  drawn  up  to  the  chin  and  the  arms  placed  crosswise  over 
the  breast — the  whole  usually  sewed  in  a  species  of  sack,  gene- 
rally made  of  a  species  of  grass  {ichu)  or  of  reeds  {Totora) 
sewn  together.  In  the  chulpas  at  Carahuara  in  Caranhas,  I  was 
informed  by  Messrs.  Bode  and  Savalla  that  the  mummies  there 
are  all  found  in  baskets,  and,  curiously  enough,  have  invariably 
a  stone  about  5  inches  in  length  placed  in  ano.  In  some  parts 
the  chulpas  are  square  towers,  about  14  feet  high,  and  from 
7  to  8  feet  on  each  side,  btdlt  of  unbumt  sun-dried  clay,  tem- 
pered with  straw;  those  at  Palca  had,  I  found,  their  sides  placed 
in  the  direction  of  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass ;  at  many 
other  parts,  as  in  Caranhas  and  around  the  Lake  of  Titicaca, 
they  are  built  of  stone,  and  round  as  weU  as  square  in  shape ; 
several  of  these  have  been  figured  and  described  by  Mr.  Squier 
in  his  memoir  on  the  primeval  monuments  of  Peru*  • 

High  up  on  the  sides  of  the  mountain  Illampu,  more  com- 
monly known  as  the  Nevado  de  Sorata  I  found  (in  1861),  at 
Marcomarcani,  at  an  elevation  of  more  than  16,000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  two  graves  within  a  few  feet  of  one  another, 
on  a  narrow  ridge  connecting  two  great  spurs  of  this  mountain ; 
both  of  these  were  about  4  feet  deep,  quite  empty,  and  lined 
with  stone  waUs  neatly  put  together :  the  one  had  a  direction 
nearly  east  and  west,  was  3  feet  8  inches  long  and  I  foot  8  inches 
wide  in  the  centre,  but  tapered  to  each  end,  which  was  only  15 
inches  wide;  the  direction  of  the  other  was  about  north-east 

*  The  American  Naturalist,  vol.  iv.  1870. 

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240  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

and  soath-west,  and  its  shape  a  rectangle  5  feet  long  by  1  foot 
in  breadth.  No  tower  or  other  erection  appeared  to  have  marked 
their  site. 

OecasionaUy^as  in  the  island  of  Quebaya^in  the  Lake  of  Titacaca 
and  elsewhere  in  that  district^  the  chnlpas  or  burial-towere  have 
two  or  even  more  stories^  as  if  the  chamber  in  each  story  was 
intended  for  the  interment  of  a  different  member  of  the  same 
family.  In  some  districts^  as  in  Caranhas,  these  monuments 
are  so  abundant  as  even  to  form  what  might  be  termed  villages 
of  the  dead.  Many  of  these  graves  have  been  opened  and  ran- 
sacked for  the  gold  and  silver  articles  which  they  so  often  con- 
tain, as  it  was  the  general  custom  to  bury  along  with  the  corpse 
articles  of  pottery,  wood,  and  metal,  especially  small  imagea  or 
figures  of  men  and  animals  made  of  gold,  silver,  or  copper.  A 
gold  ornament,  represented  in  PL  XXI.  fig. .  1,  evidently  in- 
tended to  be  worn  round  the  neck,  was  found  in  a  chulpa  near 
Corocoro,  along  with  a  silver  spoon-shaped  ornament  called  a 
"  pichi  '^  (PI.  XXI.  fig.  11) ,  such  as  at  present  are  worn  by  almost 
all  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  Pacific  coast  down  to  Araucania ; 
mace-heads  of  magnetic  oxide  of  iron  occurred  in  some  of  these 
tombs ,-  but  the  most  curious  article  which  came  under  my  notice 
during  my  residence  in  the  country  was  the  small  solid  silver 
image  represented  in  fiill  size  in  PI.  XX.  figs.  1  a  and  b.  This  was 
placed  in  my  hands  by  M.  Ramon  Doux,  who  took  it  out  of  a 
chulpa  in  Caquinhora,  about  four  leagues  from  Corocoro,  in  the 
department  of  La  Paz,  Bolivia.  What  makes  this  figure  ex- 
tremely interesting  is  the  fact  that  it  has  in  its  left  hand  what 
appears  to  be  a  telescope,  or  rather  a  tube,  evidently  intended 
to  assist  the  vision,  since  the  one  end  of  it  is  held  to  the  eye, 
whilst  the  other  is  apparently  directed  to  the  heavens.  Although, 
like  the  rest  of  the  figure,  this  part  also  is  of  solid  silver,  and 
not  really  tubular,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  in- 
tended to  represent  a  tube,  since  the  outer  end  is  hollowed  out. 
The  right  hand  of  the  figure  holds  a  mask,  as  if  this  had  been 
just  removed  from  the  face  in  order  to  permit  of  the  telescope 
being  brought  up  to  the  eye.  The  features  and  proportions  of 
this  figure,  the  aquiline  nose,  long  body,  short  thigh,  and  long 
legs,  are  quite  characteristic  of  the  Aymara ;  the  peculiar  head- 
dress may  possibly  indicate  the  rank  of  chieftain  or  priest,  whilst 
the  instrument  held  to  the  eye  would  indicate  that  the  use  of 
some  such  tubular  arrangement  to  assist  the  vision  was  known 
to  these  Indians  at  a  very  early  period. 

The  custom  of  burying  things  with  the  dead  was  carried  on 
long  after  the  Spanish  conquest,  and  is,  as  before  mentioned, 
not  altogether  extinct  in  the  present  day.  A  wooden  chicha 
cup  given  to  me  by  Mr.  Thackeray,  who  obtained  it  fix)m  an  old 


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Fi^4. 


AVMARA         IMAGES.       POTTCHY        tc. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  241 

tomb  near  Piino,  on  Lake  Titicaca^  is  inlaid  with  figures  painted 
like  mosaic^  in  red^  green^  and  yeliow^  evidently  representing 
the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards  in  their  vessels ;  and  another  wooden 
cnp^  also  in  my  possession^  of  probably  much  more  recent  date^ 
has^  standing  up  inside  from  the  bottom^  rude  projecting  figures 
of  the  heads  of  two  oxen  yoked  together^  and  is  the  only  ex- 
ample of  one  turned  in  a  lathe  which  I  have  seen  in  any  of  the 
graves.  Both  of  these  must  naturally  have  been  made  subse- 
quently to  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards^  who  first  brought  homed 
cattle  and  turning-lathes  into  Peru.  These  chicha-cups  were 
apparently  filled  and  emptied  by  those  at  the  funeral  to  the  me- 
mory of  the  dead^  and  then  thrown  into  the  grave.  They  are  , 
venr  commonly  found  of  pottery  also. 

It  is  now  a  matter  of  (Ufficulty^  if  not  an  impossibility,  to  tell 
with  any  certainty  what  the  dress  of  the  Aymara  Indian  was 
before  tne  Spanish  conquest.  The  only  article  of  costume  which 
is  without  doubt  of  thoroughly  ancient  origin,  is  the  woollen 
poncho,  which  appears,  however,  to  have  been  in  general  use 
amongst  all  the  South- American  tribes  on  the  Pacific,  from  New 
Oranada  down  to  Araucania,  even  from  the  oldest  times ;  all 
the  other  articles  of  clothing  at  present  employed  by  these 
Indians  are  of  much  more  douotful  origin. 

In  the  Aymara  highlands  the  men  wear  on  their  heads  a  large- 
brimmed  hat,  made  (apparently  felted)  of  llama  wool,  or,  pre- 
ferablv,  vicuna  wool,  of  the  natural  colour  of  the  animal.  Under 
this  they  generally  have  one  or  even  more  knitted  woollen  caps, 
like  old-fashioned  night-caps.  As  before  mentioned,  the  Aymara 
has  no  care  for  his  feet,  however  inclement  the  weather  may  be ; 
but  he  takes  every  care  of  his  head,  often  placing  two,  and  I 
have  even  seen  at  times  three,  of  such  woollen  caps  one  over  the 
other.  Sometimes  these  are  made  so  as  even  to  reach  over  the 
face,  leaving  orifices  for  the  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth;  such  I 
have  seen  occasionallv  in  Norway  or  the  Welsh  Mountains. 
The  body  is  protected  by  a  coarse  shirt  of  unbleached  white 
llama  or  sheep's  wool,  whilst  the  legs  are  clothed  in  a  sort  of 
breeches  or  drawers  made  of  black  or  white  llama  wool,  which 
reach  down  to  the  knees,  below  which  the  leg  is  nearly  always 
bare,  the  sole  of  the  feet  alone  being  protected  by  a  sandal, 
called  cjota  or  usuta,  of  leather,  usually  made  from  the  skin  of  the 
neck  of  the  llama,  which,  together  with  the  thongs  which  hold  it 
on,  is  cut  out  of  one  piece.  Stockings  are  rarely  seen,  even  among 
the  well-to-do  Indians,  and,  when  used,  generally  have  no  feet, 
reaching  but  to  the  ankle.  Over  all  is  the  universal  poncho, 
generally  only  a  square  piece  of  cloth  of  undyed,  usually  black, 
Uama  wool,  with  a  slit  in  the  centre  to  put  the  head  throuojli. 
The  Uamcros  commonly  carry  in  their  hand  a  short  wooden 

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242  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

whip,  the  handle  of  which  ia  somewhat  ingeniously  inlaid 
diagonally  with  strips  of  lead,  which  look  like  silver,  and  makes 
it  extremely  heavy  and  almost  as  formidable  as  a  life-preserver*. 

The  women,  when  at  home,  go  about  bareheaded,  their  long 
black  hair  being  plaited  into  two  pigtails,  which  hang  down  one 
on  each  side  of  the  back.  Next  the  skin  they  wear  a  chemise 
of  wool  or  cotton,  over  which  from  the  waist  downwards 
hangs  a  short  petticoat,  made  of  thick  woollen  stuff,  black  or 
deep-blue  in  colour.  Across  the  shoulders  they  throw  an  oblong 
piece  of  coarse  black  llama-wool  serge  or  of  baize,  which  is  dyed 
of  the  brightest  colours,  as  orange,  red,  yellow,  blue,  or  green, 
and  fastened  in  front  with  the  ''pichi,^'  a  sort  of  spoon- 
shaped  ornament  usually  made  of  silver.  Two  of  these  are  often 
seen,  one  on  each  side  of  the  breast,  sometimes  of  very  great 
dimensions ;  the  handles,  being  pointed,  serve  as  bodkins,  whilst 
the  other  end  or  bone  is  very  commonly  used  as  a  spoon  when 
eating.  This  ornament  is  not  confined  to  the  Aymaras,  being 
used  by  most  of  the  Indian  races  of  Western  South  America^ 
and  is  shown  in  PI.  XXI.  fig.  II. 

The  women  are  nearly  always  barefooted,  being  but  rarely 
seen  with  stockings  or  with  sandals  like  the  men. 

Like  the  fair  sex  in  many  more  civilized  countries,  the  Aymara 
women  seem  to  consider  it  a  special  beauty  to  appear  more  than 
ordinarily  massive  about  the  launches,  notwithstanding  that 
naturally  they  are  far  from  being  deficient  in  this  respect; 
when  in  full  dress,  as  at  their  feasts,  they  consequently  do  not 
fail  to  place  thick  woollen  skirts  one  over  another,  the  number 
being  a  mark  of  the  wealth  of  the  lady,  until  their  actual  dimen- 
sions are  wonderfully  exaggerated. 

When  at  their  feasts  or  on  a  joumev,  the  women  wear  a 
peculiarly  shaped  hat  {montera),  generally  made  of  black  or 
dark-blue  cloth  or  velvet  lined  with  some  red  stuff.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  cylinder,  or  rather  a  cone,  expanded  greatly  at  the  top, 
the  lower  part  for  a  short  distance  cylindrical,  fitting  dose  on  to 
the  head,  whilst  the  upper  part  is  turned  down  in  the  form  of 
a  square,  so  that  the  part  turned  down  has  the  appearance  of 
flaps  hanging  down  on  to  the  face  on  all  four  sides.  I  at  first 
imagined  that  this  peculiar  head-dress  might  be  a  remnant  of 
their  ancient  costume,  but  was  told  by  General  Sagamaga,  of 
La  Paz,  that  he  believed  that  it  was  derived  from  an  old  Spanish 
woman's  head-dress  long  ago  introduced  into  Peru. 

Neither  men  nor  women  are  cleanly  in  their  habits,  rarely 
removing  their  clothes  at  night,  often  leaving  them  on  until 

*  The  lead  is  secured  by  cutting  grooves  into  the  whip-handle,  wider  at 
the  bottom  than  at  the  8ur!ace^  after  which  melted  lead  is  poured  into  them, 
and  fixes  itself  in  when  cold« 

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oj  Bolivia  and  Peru.  243 

worn  to  pieces ;  and  even  then  some  of  the  Indians  would  draw 
their  new  pair  of  breeches  over  the  old  ones^  allowing  the  latter 
to  remain  on  the  body.  They  sleep  on  the  ground  or  earthen  floor 
of  their  huts^  or  on  a  sort  of  bench  of  earth  raised  some  eighteen 
inches  above  the  ground — their  only  bed-clothes  being  a  few 
skins^  and  a  poncho  (or  thick  quilt)  of  llama  wool^  called  ccanieri. 

The  food  of  the  Aymara  Indian  is  much  more  of  a  vegetable 
than  animal  character.  Of  the  flesh  which  he  consumes^  that  of 
the  llama  is  the  most  important;  but  from  my  own  experience  I 
did  not  consider  it  well  flavoured^  except  when  the  animal  was 
only  about  a  year  old,  when  they  are  called  chuchos  by  the 
Indians.  A  considerable  quantity  of  the  llama  flesh  is  prepared 
by  being  sprinkled  with  salt  and  air-dried,  and  is  then  known  as 
charqtd.  A  very  important  article  of  consumption  and  of  export 
to  the  mining-districts  and  the  coca-plantations  and  gold-work- 
ings to  the  east  are  the  '^  chalonas  "  or  dried  mutton,  being  the 
whole  sheep,  which,  after  being  skinned  and  the  head  removed, 
is  split  open,  flattened  out,  and  dried  in  the  air,  after  having 
been  sprinkled  with  a  little  salt.  Beef  is  rarely  seen  or  con- 
sumied  by  the  Indians,  who  often  keep  a  few  domestic  fowls. 
Around  the  Lake  of  Titicaca  many  wild  fowl  and  a  good  supply 
of  their  eggs  are  obtained,  as  well  as  some  nine  species  of  fish, 
several  of  which  are  excellent  eating,  especially  the  boga,  which 
in  taste  and  appearance  much  resembles  a  smaU  herring  or  large 
sardine. 

Salt  is  obtained  by  the  Indians  from  springs  which  have  their 
origin  in  the  saliferous  marls,  probably  of  triassic  age,  the  water 
being  allowed  to  run  into  clay  moulds  and  spontaneously  evapo- 
rate, the  operation  being  repeated  until  cakes  of  salt,  about  one 
foot  square  and  some  three  inches  thick,  are  left  behind,  and  are 
of  tolerably  good  quality. 

As  before  mentioned,  however,  the  staple  of  the  Aymara  food 
are  the  vegetable  productions  of  his  country,  a  summary  of  which 
may  be  given  as  follows* : — ^potatoes  of  several  varieties,  in- 

*  The  above  are  such  productions  as  are  either  peculiar  to  the  highlands 
or  are  there  grown  by  the  Indians  for  their  own  use ;  for  I  may  mention 
that  it  is  eztraordinaiy,  when  examining  the  markets,  say  of  La  Paz  or  Sorata, 
where  the  snow  lies  close  at  hand  all  the  year  round  on  the  peaks,  to  ob- 
serve the  extraordinary  admixture  of  tropical  products  from  the  hot  valleys 
below  with  the  alpine  ones  peculiar  to  the  district  itself:  thus,  in  addition 
to  the  above,  there  are  abundant  supplies  in  the  markets  of  oranges,  sweet 
and  soar  lemons,  Umes,  paltos  (fruit  of  the  Laurua  penica),  banimas,  nine- 
apples,  prickly  pears,  granadillas,  pacays  (pod  of  a  S|>ecie6  of  inga),  cneri- 
moyos  (nruit  of  tne  Jiuma  cheremoha),  sweet  potatoes,  rice,  yam,  gualusa,  ari- 
coma  or  yacona,  &c.,  as  well  as  (from  the  intermediate  xones)  strawberries, 
grapei^  melons,  pears,  apples,  and  peaches ;  but,  with  the  exception  possibly  of 
some  ill-looking  small  ^preen  apples  and  pears,  few  of  these  products  ever 
reach  the  hut  of  the  Indian. 

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244  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

eluding  the  Papa  amarga  or  bitter  potato^  called  '4uki  cheque''  iu 
Aymara ;  maize  or  Indian  com ;  beans ;  ocas^  called  in  Aymara 
'^apilla/'  ullucos,  the  tubers  of  the  Ulluctts  tuberosa;  onions; 
garlic ;  chichchipa^  a  variety  of  fennel ;  quinoa^  the  Peruvian 
rice  or  seeds  of  Chenopodium  quinoa ;  ysano^  the  tuber  of  the 
Tropaolum  tuberosum ;  chuchuchu,  a  freshwater  plant  from  the 
Lake  of  Titicaca ;  and  several  other  minor  vegetables,  including 
the  soft  white  lower  part  of  the  Totora  or  great  Titicaca  reed, 
which  is  eaten  as  a  salad. 

Here  I  may  remark  that  not  only  have  the  peculiarities  of 
the  country  inhabited  by  the  Aymara  Indians  determined  to  a 
great  extent  the  nature  of  their  nourishment^  but,  particularly 
those  of  altitude  and  climate,  have  also  exercised  a  great  in- 
fluence upon  the  methods  found  necessary  to  be  employed 
for  the  culinary  preparation  and  conservation  of  many  of  the 
articles  of  food. 

Owing  to  the  great  elevation  which  this  part  of  South 
America  has  above  the  mean  level  of  the  sea,  it  follows  that  the 
atmospheric  pressure  is  greatly  diminished,  and  consequently 
that  the  temperature  of  water  when  boiling  is  very  much  lower 
or,  in  other  words,  less  hot  than  on  the  coast — ^in  fact,  so  much 
so  that  several  ordinary  articles  of  consumption  cannot  be  tho- 
roughly cooked  even  by  prolonged  boiling  with  water  in  an 
ordinary  open  pot.  For  this  reason  the  diy  small  beans  which 
elsewhere  in  South  America  are  almost  everywhere  the  fa- 
vourite and  one  of  the  principal  articles  of  food,  especially  of 
the  lower  classes,  for  the  reason  that  they  cannot  be  thoroughly 
boiled  in  the  whole  state,  are  not  used  in  any  quantity,  and 
are  always  first  ground  to  fine  powder  before  being  cooked. 
Peas  have  to  be  treated  in  a  similar  manner,  as  also  the  dry  maixe 
or  Indian  com ;  so  that  before  every  hut  there  is  always  seen  an 
Indian  grinding-apparatus,  ^'parara''  (it  cannot  be  called  a  mill), 
which  only  consists  of  two  rough  stones,  the  lower  being  a  heavy 
one  fixed  in  the  ground^  with  a  flat  smooth  surface  upwards, 
whilst  the  other  is  a  semicircular  piece,  which  is  rocked  in  see- 
saw fashion  by  the  Indian  women^  so  as  to  crush  up  the  sub- 
stance placed  beneath  it. 

I  remember  the  delight  of  a  Bolivian  family  in  La  Paz  upon 
their  first  trying  a  cooking-pot  made  with  a  lid  so  arranged  as 
to  convert  it  into  a  sort  of  digester,  and  thus  to  raise  consider- 
ably the  boiling-point  of  its  contents^  which  had  been  sent  up 
from  the  coast  as  a  present^  and  which  they  found  did  enable 
them  to  cook  beans^  &c.  thoroughly  in  their  whole  state.  On 
another  occasion,  when  on  an  exploring-expedition,  accompanied 
by  two  arrieros  fh)m  the  coast  who  had  never  before  been  very 
high  up  in  the  mountains,  I  left  them  with  the  mules  at  an  de- 
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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  345 

▼ation  of  about  17^000  feet,  to  make  a  fire  and  prepare  their 
meals,  whilst  I  ascended  higher  on  foot;  on  my  return,  some 
hours  after,  I  found  them  in  a  good  state  of  fear  and  excitement, 
insisting  that  we  should  at  once  leave  a  place  which  must  be 
bewitched,  since  they  could  not  get  a  dish  of  beans  cooked, 
notwithstanding  that  they  had  seen  the  water  in  the  pot  boiling 
away  lustily  for  several  hours. 

The  potato,  which  is  cultivated  on  a  large  scale  by  the 
Aymaras,  and  forms  the  most  important  article  of  their  food,  is, 
owing  to  the  severity  of  their  climate  in  these  highlands,  often 
frozen  before  its  tuber  has  arrived  at  maturity — a  circumstance 
which  has  given  rise  to  its  being  subjected  to  a  preservative 
mode  of  treatment  quite  unknown  in  other  countries,  and  well 
worthy  of  being  imitated,  particularly  in  the  northern  parts  of 
Europe,  where  the  summers  are  short  and  severe. 

The  method  of  preparing  the  potatoes  to  convert  them  into 
''  chunu^^  (or  ''  chuno,"  as  it  is  called  in  Spanish)  is,  as  far  as  I 
could  observe,  somewhat  as  follows,  although  I  understand  that 
there  are  minor  differences  in  the  procedure  in  almost  every 
district.  The  potatoes,  after  being  dug  out  of  the  ground,  are, 
in  the  months  of  May  and  June,  steeped  in  or  sprinkled  with 
water,  and  spread  out  on  a  thin  layer  of  straw  (ichu)  placed  on 
the  ground.  They  are  then  exposed  to  the  frost,  turning  them 
occasionally  by  hand  some  three  or  more  nights  and  days  con- 
secutively, until  they  are  quite  frozen  throughout  their  substance. 
During  the  congelation  they  become  covered  with  blisters  filled 
with  a  watery  fluid,  and  when  thawed  have  a  somewhat  spongy 
consistence.  They  are  now  steeped  in  water,  and  trampled  out 
by  men's  feet  to  remove  all  soluble  matter,  after  which  they  are 
spread  out  in  the  air  until  perfectly  dried,  when  they  are  ready  for 
use,  and  known  in  the  market  as  black  chuno  or  chufio  negro^. 

When  thus  prepared  the  potatoes  are  much  reduced  in  volume, 
being  shrivelled  up  to  the  size  of  about  musket-balls,  of  a  some- 
what deep-brown  colour  and  not  very  inviting  appearance.  The 
white  chu&o  (or  "ttunta,''  as  it  is  called  in  Aymara),  which  is 
much  better,  in  outward  look  at  least,  both  when  raw  and  boiled, 
is  prepared  in  the  same  way,  except  that  after  the  potatoes  have 
been  frozen  they  are  steep^  in  water  for  from  two  to  four  weeks, 
changing  the  water  frequently,  or,  what  is  better,  allowing  a 
current  of  clean  water  continually  to  run  through  them,  after 
which  they  are  dried  as  before ;  when  cut  through  they  show  a 

*  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  climate  of  these  highlands  is  verr  fa- 
vourable to  carrying  out  this  operation,  both  from  the  night  frosts  ana  the 
diying-quaUty  of  the  air  itself,  which  very  rapidly  removes  all  the  water 
from  iJie  chunos  by  evaporation,  and  in  a  very  short  time  completely  dries 
them  up  into  hard  balls. 


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246  David  Forbes — On  the  Asmara  Indians 

thin  tough  external  skin^  filled  with  a  white  matter  exactly  like^ 
and  in  actuality  nothing  more^  than  a  form  of  potato-starch. 
In  this  state  both  the  varieties  of  chuiio  will  keep  for  any  length 
of  time,  even  for  years,  if  only  stored  in  a  tolerably  dry  place, 
and  require  merely  to  be  steeped  in  water  (the  white  for  about  a 
day  and  a  half,  and  the  black  for  £rom  four  to  eight  days)  in  order 
to  soften  them,  after  which  they  are  boiled  like  an  ordinary  potato 
before  being  eaten.  Although  the  white  chuiio  when  cooked 
looks  extremely  tempting,  being  in  external  appearance  of  a  pure 
white  colour,  even  more  enticing  than  a  nice  new  potato,  I  never 
got  quite  reconciled  to  its  taste,  as  it  always  seemed,  at  least  to 
me,  somewhat  soapy ;  and,  with  the  Indians  themselves,  I  agree 
in  preferring  the  cheaper  or  more  common  black  chuiio  (or 
merely  chuno,  as  it  is  called,  in  contradistinction  to  the  other,  to 
which  the  name  "ttunta*^  is,  as  before  mentioned,  applied), 
which  is  free  from  this  savour,  and,  although  somewhat  insipid 
and  crisp  in  the  mouth,  has  a  taste  which,  even  if  not  at  first 
relished,  one  soon  acquires  a  liking  for. 

The  theory  of  this  process  appears  to  be  a  purely  chemical 
one.  When  the  potato,  which  is  mainly  composed  of  potato- 
starch,  along  with  a  small  amount  of  gluten  or  other  such  nitro- 
genous compound,  becomes  frozen,  upon  thawing  a  species  of 
decomposition  or  fermentation  is  immediately  set  agoing,  the 
nitrogenous  ingredient  acting  the  part  of  yeast  or  ferment,  and 
changing  a  portion  of  the  starch  first  into  dextrine  and  then 
into  sugar,  which  explains  the  sweet  taste  recognized  when 
potatoes  which  have  been  touched  by  the  firost  are  eaten.  This 
fermentation,  when  once  it  has  conmienced,  proceeds  rapidly  to 
putrefaction,  and  destroys  the  potato.  The  Aymara  Indian,  how- 
ever, without  understanding  the  rationale  of  his  procedure,  has 
found  out  the  means  to  arrest  the  fermentation  in  its  first  stage, 
by  dissolving  out  the  dextrine,  sugar,  and  nitrogenous  ferment, 
leaving  the  potato-starch  alone  behind  in  a  form  but  little 
susceptible  of  further  alteration  as  long  as  it  is  kept  dry;  and  by 
this  means  is  enabled  to  keep  the  farinaceous  matter  of  the 
root  for  an  indefinite  period. 

The  object  of  the  Indian  in  thoroughly  fireezing  his  potatoes 
before  washing  out  the  soluble  matter,  appears  to  be  to  get 
the  whole  of  the  nitrogenous  matter  into  a  state  capable  of 
being  washed  out  by  the  water,  and  so  prevent  any  germs  of 
fermentation  being  left  behind. 

It  has  always  struck  me  as  very  remarkable,  that  the  uncid- 
tivated  Indian  could  thus  have  invented  a  process,  founded  on 
the  most  correct  chemical  principles,  which  has  enabled  him  to 
use  and  conserve  as  food  the  frozen  potato,  which  otherwise 
would  be  quite  worthless,  had  not  this  discovery  converted  it 

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(4  Bolivia  and  Peru.  247 

into  his  moat  valuable  article  of  food^  espedaUy  during  the 
winter  months^  and  without  which  he  would  not  only  not  have  been 
able  to  reap  the  fiill  benefit  of  his  most  important  harvest,  but 
also  could  not  have  availed  himself  of  a  variety  of  this  esculent^ 
the  Papa  amarga,  or  bitter  potato^  which  is  not  regarded  as  edible 
until  after  it  has  been  converted  into  chuno. 

The  bitter  potato  (or  "  luki  choque/^  as  it  is  called  in  Ay- 
mara)  is  a  very  important  vegetable  for  the  Indian,  since  it 
grows  well  in  the  very  coldest  parts  of  the  highlands,  which 
will  not  produce  any  other  crop.  Whether  it  is  a  different 
species,  or  merely  a  variety  of  the  common  potato,  I  was  not 
sufficient  botanist  to  decide;  but  the  only  external  difference 
which  I  noticed  was,  that  the  tuber  appeared  to  be  somewhat 
longer  and  flatter  than  the  small  round  ones  of  the  ordinary 
potato  grown  in  the  district,  and  that  the  plant  had  a  blue 
instead  of  the  more  usual  white  flower.  It  is  not  cultivated  or 
eaten  by  the  whites ;  and  I  have  eaten  it  only  in  the  state  of 
chuno.  I  am  told,  however,  that  it  has  only  a  very  slightly 
bitter  taste,  but  that  this  taste  cannot  be  removed  even  by  pro- 
longed boiling,  which  also  does  not  render  it  soft  like  the  ordi- 
nary potato.  I  am  uncertain  whether  the  Aymaras  ever  eat  it 
in  its  natural  state  when  simply  boiled;  but  converted  into 
chuno  it  has  no  unpleasant  taste,  and  is  a  very  important 
article  of  their  consumption. 

Several  varieties  of  the  ordinary  potato,  "  cheque,"  are  cul- 
tivated by  the  Aymaras ;  but  none  of  them  appear  to  attain  to 
any  size,  probably  never  coming  to  full  maturity  in  this  climate; 
the  wild  potato,  called  ''  lillecoya,''  also  occurs.  The  Aymara 
women  understand  the  boiling  a  potato  in  their  earthen  pots  to 
full  perfection.  Occasionally  the  ordinary  potato  is  preserved  by 
being  dried  in  the  air,  after  having  been  first  boiled  and  peeled. 
It  is  then  called  ''  cucupa"  by  the  Indians. 

The  oca  (or  "  apilla"  in  Aymara)  is  another  root,  well  suited 
to  the  climate,  much  cultivated  by  the  Indians,  and  is  the  tuber 
of  the  Oxalis  tuberosa,  of  which  several  varieties,  red  and  white, 
are  grown.  The  white,  called  queni-apilla,  or  floury  ocas,  are  the 
best.  As  I  can  testify,  this  root  when  simply  boiled  is  hard  and 
}ui8  a  horrid  acid  taste, — ^in  fact,  is  quite  unfit  for  consumption, 
unless  it  also  has  undergone  a  previous  preparation.  Tins  is 
effected  by  the  Indians  by  exposing  the  ocas  to  the  sun  and  air 
for  firom  six  to  twelve  days,  which  causes,  as  it  were,  a  species 
of  ripening,  after  which  the  oca,  when  boiled,  is  a  very  agreeable 
farinaceous  vegetable. 

If  exposed  in  this  maimer  for  a  much  longer  period  (several 
weeks,  or  even  months,  is,  I  believe,  necessary),  taking  care  not 
to  let  them  fireeze,  they  become  still  sweeter,  and  taste  very 

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248  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

much  like  sweet  potatoes.  In  this  state  they  are  called  ''caui/' 
and  should  not  be  boiled  in  water^  but  merely  steamed.  The 
Indians  cook  them  by  placing  them  on  the  top  of  a  pot  full  of 
straw^  with  a  little  water  at  the  bottom^  to  which  they  apply  the 
heat.  Another  preparation  of  the  oca  is  called  ''  caya/'  and  is 
obtained  by  freezings  and  treating  them  much  in  the  same 
manner  as  in  the  preparation  of  chuno  from  potatoes,  as  before 
described.  Although  much  esteemed  by  the  Indians,  this  sub- 
stance did  not  quite  suit  my  palate. 

As  another  example  of  how  the  culinary  preparation  of  the 
articles  of  food  used  by  these  Indians  has  been  influenced  by 
the  peculiarities  of  the  climate,  may  be  mentioned  the  ^'isimu/' 
the  tubercle  of  the  Tropaolum  tuberosum,  a  variety  of  Indian 
cress  or  nasturtium,  cultivated  particularly  about  La  Paz.  When 
removed  firom  the  ground,  this  is  so  acrid  and  nasturtium-like  in 
its  flavour  as  to  be  imeatable,  or  at  any  rate  unpalatable ;  here, 
however,  they  eat  the  boiled  tuber  in  a  frozen  state,  when  it 
possesses  a  very  agreeable  taste,  and  is  much  appreciated  by 
the  whites  also,  being  sold  frozen,  kept  from  thawing  by  being 
wrapped  up  in  woollen  cloths,  and  covered  with  straw,  under 
the  name  of  "  taiacha.*' 

Another  important  article  of  food  is  the  quinoa  {hupa  in 
Aymara),  the  seeds  of  the  Chenopodium  quinoa,  or  Peruvian 
rice,  as  it  is  sometimes  called.  These  are  exactly  of  the  form 
and  size  of  an  ordinary  mustard-seed,  and  are  of  a  red,  yellow,  or 
white  colour  in  different  varieties  of  the  plant.  The  seeds 
must  always  be  first  well  washed  with  water,  to  remove  a  bitter 
principle  they  contain,  before  cooking.  When  boiled,  they  make 
an  excellent  porridge  or  pudding.  The  leaves  of  the  young 
plant  are  eaten  as  salad ;  and  a  sort  of  chicha  or  fermented  drink 
is  also  made  frxim  the  seed,  called  ''  hupaccusa.'' 

Beans  are  cultivated  to  a  considerable  extent,  but  are  always 
ground  to  powder  on  the  stone  before  being  cooked,  or  are 
eaten  whole  after  having  been  parched  over  the  fire  in  a  pot. 
Indian  com  or  maize  does  not  grow  in  the  puna  and  higher 
lands,  but  in  the  sheltered  valleys  grows  well,  and  is  largely 
bought  by  the  highland  Indians,  who  exchange  their  dried 
llama-  and  sheep-meat,  wool,  salt,  and  chuno  for  Indian  com. 
When  dried,  it  is  either  ground  up  or  toasted,  in  which  latter 
state  a  small  bag  of  it  is  usually  the  entire  sustenance  taken  by 
the  travelling  Indian.  Several  varieties  are  known,  amongst 
which  a  sweet,  shrivelled- up,  semitransparent,  yellow  one,  called 
"chulqui,''  is  especially  esteemed  for  eating  raw  or  parched;  an- 
other variety,  of  a  mulberry  colour,  is  called  ''  culli,''  and  often 
used  to  give  a  colour  to  their  drinks. 

The  beverages  employed  by  the  Aymara  are  but  few  in 

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o/  Bolivia  and  Peru.  249 

number ;  and,  except  on  grand  occasionsj  the  pure  water  from 
his  native  hilla  quenches  his  thirst.  His  national  drink  is  the 
chicha,  made  from  the  Indian  com  fermented,  called  in  Aymara 
^*  ccusa.''  It  is  made  in  different  ways;  but  the  most  esteemed 
is  the  so-called  ''  chicha  mascada,''  or  chewed  chicha,  the  pre- 
paration of  which  is  nothing  less  than  disgusting ;  but  haying 
been  often  described  by  former  travellers,  since  it  is  in  common 
use  in  many  parts  of  South  America,  I  need  not  frirther  refer  to  it 
than  to  state  that  it  is  not  alone  appreciated  by  the  Indians;  for 
the  whites  and  Europeans  in  Bolivia,  as  a  rule,  take  to  it  with 
apparent  relish.  Chicha  is  also  made  from  the  quinoa  seeds.  In 
some  parts  a  fermented  drink  is  made  by  the  Indians  from  the 
sweet  stalk  of  the  young  green  Indian  com,  called  ''huiru'' 
(wiru) :  this  is  the  name  of  the  stalk.  Of  late  years,  however, 
the  establishment  of  large  manufactories  on  the  coast  of  Peru  for 
the  distillation  of  "  chancaca,'^  or  unrefined  sugar  and  molasses, 
has  sent  in  great  quantities  of  a  very  inferior  white  rum,  or 
'' aguardiente''  as  it  is  called,  amongst  these  Indians,  and  is 
rapidly  doing  great  mischief  amongst  them. 

The  two  main  dishes  of  the  Aymara  cuisine  are  the  chupe 
and  the  chairo.  The  former  of  these  is  common  all  over  the 
northern  cotmtries  (at  least  of  the  Pacific  coast)  of  South  Ame- 
rica, and  consists  of  a  soup  made  with  potatoes  and  any  flesh  or 
fowl  which  may  be  to  hand,  as  well  as  any  other  vegetables  conve- 
nient, never  omitting  to  add  some  red-pepper  pods.  The  chairo, 
however,  is  peculiar  to  the  highlands  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  its 
fundamental  ingredient  being  chuno  instead  of  potatoes;  and  to 
this,  as  in  the  case  of  the  chupe,  any  flesh  (generally  of  the 
llama  or  sheep)  or  fowl  is  added.  Although,  from  the  dirty-looking 
leather-like  fragments  of  chu&o  which  mainly  compose  it,  the 
chairo  has  at  first  a  far  frt>m  inviting  aspect,  which  certainly 
would  not  recommend  it  at  a  European  table,  a  taste  for  it  is 
soon  acquired,  and  it  is  even  relished  by  the  traveller  who  visits 
the  inhospitable  Puna  of  Bolivia  and  Pern. 

The  Aymara  Indian,  in  his  cuisine,  is  not,  however,  content 
merely  with  the  productions  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  king- 
dom, amongst  which  I  forgot  to  enumerate  the  aquatic  larva  of 
a  species  of  diptera  called  **  chichi,''  which  is  found  in  abun- 
dance in  the  rivers  of  the  Puna,  and  from  which  he  makes  a 
ragout  seasoned  with  red  pepper  said  to  be  excellent.  He  also 
applies  to  the  mineral  kingdom,  not  only  for  the  salt  which  he 
employs  as  a  condiment,  but  also  for  the  clay  which,  extraor- 
dinarily enough,  he  adds,  often  in  considerable  quantity,  to  the 
chupe  or  chairo  before  described. 

In  the  city  of  La  Paz  I  foimd  that  clay  prepared  for  this  pur- 
pose was  regularly  sold  in  the  market,  under  the  name  of 

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250  David  Forbes — On  theAymara  Indians 

"ppassa"  (the  Aymara  name  for  crude  clay  being  "llinquc") ; 
and  going  amongst  the  Indians  myself  when  they  were  cooking 
their  dinners  in  the  streets  near  the  market-place^  I  saw  how 
they  added  it  to  and  mixed  it  with  the  other  constituents  of 
their  chupe^  eating  the  whole  apparently  with  good  relish. 
Afterwards^  when  I  purchased  from  them  a  large  bag  of  this 
'^ppassa^'  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  it  to  England^  I  continu- 
ally found  that  my  own  Indians  pilfered  from  it^  to  add  to  their 
own  food^  and  declared  to  me  that  they  considered  it  to  improve 
greatly  the  taste  of  the  soup. 

When  in  La  Paz  I  went  to  see  the  Indians  digging  out  this 
clay  from  the  deposits  in  the  alluvial  formation  through  which 
the  Bio  de  la  Paz  runs^  the  only  preparation  which  it  received 
on  the  spot  being  to  separate  as  much  as  possible  aU  the  small 
stones  and  fine  gravel  by  hand^  or  by  a  sieve;  before  being  sold 
in  the  market^  however^  it  undergoes  some  further  preparation, 
which  appears  to  consist  in  kneading  it  up  between  the  hands 
into  doughy  lumps,  which  looked  as  if  they  had  been  mixed 
with  a  minute  quantity  of  lard  or  some  other  fatty  matter;  in 
this  state,  although  it  stiU  feels  very  gritty  when  tried  between 
the  teeth,  it  is  used  and  sold  for  immediate  consumption. 

The  idea  having  been  put  forward  that  the  clays  or  earths 
known  to  be  eaten  by  certain  Indian  tribes  contaiQ  a  small 
quantity  of  organic  matter  capable  of  being  assimilated  by  the 
human  system,  I,  in  order  to  see  whether  this  might  be  the  case 
with  the  clay  eaten  by  the  Aymaras,  made  a  complete  analysis 
of  a  sample  taken  with  my  own  hands  at  La  Paz,  and  obtained 
the  following  results : — 

SiUca 60-64 

Alumina 8019 

Lime  , 1-09 

Magnesia   0*87 

Protoxide  of  Iron 9*64 

Protoxide  of  Manganese 0*49 

Potash,  with  trace  of  Soda 3'76 

Water 2-28 

Organic  matter  and  loss  1*05 


lOOOOO 


frt>m  which  it  will  be  perceived  that  this  day,  which  geologi- 
cally is  a  product  of  the  wearing-down  of  the  clay  slates,  and 
the  granite  intruded  amongst  them,  of  the  Silurian  forma- 
tion of  the  high  Andes,  really  contains  no  dement  of  nourish- 
ment; and  therefore  I  imagine  that  the  custom  of  eating  it  is 
merely  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  stomach  more  diatended, 

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oj  Bolivia  and  Peru.  251 

and  retaimng  the  food  longer  under  the  action  of  the  gastric 
joice^  so  as  to  make  the  most  of  the  extremely  small  allowance 
of  food  which  the  Indians  of  the  Puna  exist  upon  when  they 
have  to  provide  for  themselves;  for  I  have  practically  proved 
that  they  can  and  always  will  tsike  in  a  very  large  supply  when 
they  can  procure  it  at  the  cost  of  the  white  man. 

The  so-called  "  calcareous  earth/^  which^  according  to  Hum- 
boldt*^ is  sold  in  the  streets  of  Popayan  and  several  parts  of 
Peru  as  an  eatable^  is  evidently  not  an  earth  at  all ;  but  only  the 
ashes  of  wood  or  plants  commonly  sold  in  order  to  be  used 
along  with  the  coca-leaf  chewed  by  the  Indians. 

TUs  ash  is  prepared  for  that  purpose.  That  from  the  wood  of 
the  quenua  tree^  which  grows  in  abundance  on  the  Puna^  and  is 
something  like  a  wild  olive  tree  in  appearance,  is  generaUy  con- 
sidered the  best,  from  its  being  strongest  in  alkidi ;  the  ash  of 
the  banana  is  held  to  be  next  in  quidity :  but  all  sorts  of  ash 
fipom  cacti,  shrubs,  or  trees  are  employed;  and  in  the  north  of 
Peru  even  burned  lime  is  used,  although  not  considered  equally 
good  for  the  purpose. 

The  ash  is  usuallv  made  up  with  a  little  water,  and  kneaded 
into  small  pieces,  sticks,  or  cakes,  sometimes  with  the  figure  of 
a  saint  stamped  upon  them ;  and  they  are  regularly  sold  in  the 
market  under  the  Aymara  name  of  '^  llucta.'^ 

The  use  of  a  substance  like  vegetable  ashes  containing  alkali, 
or  an  alkaline  earth  like  lime,  along  with  the  coca-leaf  by  the 
Aymara  and  Quechua  tribes  of  Peru  and  Bolivia  is  altogether 
analogous  to  the  custom  so  prevalent  in  the  East  Indies  of  add- 
ing lime  when  chewing  the  betel  nut  {Areca  catechu)  or  betel 
leaf  {Piper  betel) ;  and  in  both  cases  the  object  of  this  addition 
appears  to  be  for  the  purpose  of  setting  free  the  vegetable  alka- 
loid of  the  plant.  The  Indians  declare  that  the  coca-leaf  will  not 
yield  up  its  virtues  when  chewed  alone. 

The  coca  plant  {Erythroxylon  coca)  does  not,  however,  grow 
in  the  higher  regions,  and  is  not  even  known  as  a  wild  plant  (at 
least  as  far  as  I  could  learn)  even  in  the  Yungas  or  tropical  val- 
leys to  the  east  of  the  Andes,  where  it  is  cultivated  by  the 
Aymara  and  Quechua  colonists  on  a  very  considerable  scale. 
Although  used  by  all  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  part  of  South 
America,  it  is  consumed  in  larger  quantities  by  the  Aymaras 
than  by  any  other  nation;  and  its  name  appears  to  be  of 
Aymara  origin,  the  word  "  coca,'*  as  it  is  usucdly  spelt  by  the 
Spaniards,  being  evidently  only  the  Aymara  word  ^*  ccoca,''  sig- 
nifying a  plants  bush,  or  tree,  apparently  applied  to  it  as  the  plant 
par  excellence,  just  as  amongst  the  Hispano- Americans  the  Fara- 

*  <  Aspects  of  Nature.'    Philadelphia  edition,  1849,  p.  150. 

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252  Dayid  Forbes — On  the  Aynuxra  Indians 

guay  tea  is  always  called  only  "  Yerba/'  t.  e.  the  herb.  Fram 
the  oldest  times  it  seems  to  have  been  esteemed  as  the  most  pre- 
cious of  all  y^etable  productions,  the  Indians,  as  before  men- 
tioned, always  making  it  a  part  of  their  offerings  to  their  gods ; 
and  even  at  present  they  hang  on  the  altars  of  the  Virgin  or 
Roman  Catholic  saints  small  packages  of  coca-leaves  bound  up 
nicely  in  maize  husks  into  the  form  of  the  letter  Y,  as  offerings 
likely  to  be  acceptable,  at  least,  according  to  their  ideas.  Under 
the  dominion  of  the  Incas  the  coca  was  held  in  very  great 
esteem,  and,  being  regarded  as  a  luxury,  was  not  allowed  to  be 
an  article  of  general  consumption  amongst  the  lower  classes. 

The  Aymara  Indian,  especially  when  travelling,  is  rarely  if 
ever  seen  without  his  ^'istalla,''  or  small  bag,  which  contains  his 
supply  of  coca-leaves,  firom  which  he  takes  out  a  pinch  of  the 
leaves  (say,  about  firom  1  to  2  drachms)  at  a  time,  in  order  to  fonn 
his  quid  or ''  aculli,^^  as  it  is  termed  in  his  language.  Before  doing 
so,  however,  (or,  as  the  Spaniards  say,  beginning  to  ''  acculicar,'') 
he  generally  sits  down  at  ease  on  the  ground,  always  relieving 
himself  of  any  load  or  other  object  he  may  be  carrying ;  and 
then,  picking  out  leaf  by  leaf,  he  turns  them  in  his  mouth  so  as 
to  moisten  them  well,  and  forms  them  into  a  small  ball  or  quid, 
which  he  carries,  when  conversing,  inside  his  left  cheek*.  This 
he  now  takes  out ;  and,  opening  it,  he  places  inside  of  it  a  small 
quantity  of  the  "  llucta"  or  aULaline  ash,  and  then,  returning  it 
to  his  mouth,  he  commences  chewing  it  for  an  hour  or  two,  until 
he  considers  it  exhausted,  when  he  again  repeats  the  operation 
as  before,  continuing  to  do  so  with  such  regularity  that  amongst 
themselves  the  Indians  often  describe  the  distance  between  two 
places  as  being  equal  to  so  many  "  accullis.''  The  verb  "  accidi- 
car  "  is  used  amongst  the  Bolivians  to  denote  this  operation ;  and, 
as  far  as  I  could  perceive,  the  Indian,  as  a  rule,  seems  to  swallow 
the  saliva,  and  not  to  expectorate,  as  in  the  case  of  chewing 
tobacco.  Having  had  to  provide  the  coca  necessary  for  a  large 
number  of  Indians  in  my  employ,  I  found  that,  on  an  average, 
each  Indian  used  about  |  of  a  pound  per  week,  but  occasionidly 
more :  my  old  Aymara  man-servant  Mateo  always  took  his  one 
pound  per  week ;  but  he  admitted  himself  that  it  was  too  much, 
and  it  is  generally  considered  among  the  Indians  that  more  than 
this  amount  is  injurious  to  the  system.  The  whites,  negroes, 
or  Cholos  in  Bolivia  and  Peru  do  not  as  a  rule  make  use  of  coca; 
and  it  is  stated  that  when  they  do  commence  chewing  it  they 
generally  carry  its  employment  to  a  very  injurious  excess. 
Cholos  are  said  to  occasionally  take  as  much  as  three  pounds  per 

*  In  most  of  the  little  images  of  silver  or  gold  found  in  the  ancient  grsTes 
the  left  cheek  is  shown  to  be  swelled  out  by  the  coca  quid. 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  253 

week;  and  I  was  told  that  a  Negro  who  took  as  much  as  one 
pound  per  day  became  demented  in  consequence ;  but  I  cannot 
vouch  for  the  truth  of  these  statements. 

The  women  amongst  the  Aymaras^  at  least  as  far  as  my  own 
experience  goes,  never  employ  coca,  nor  are  the  Bolivian  soldiers 
allowed  to  use  it;  the  Peruvian  soldiers,  although  not  furnished 
with  rations  of  coca,  are  not  prohibited  firom  occasionally  pur- 
chasing it  at  their  own  expense  when  on  the  march ;  the  Quechua 
Indians  of  Cochabamba,  Chuqidsaca,  and  Santa  Cruz  do  not  chew 
coca;  nor  is  it  employed  by  the  tribes  of  the  lower  tropical  re- 
gions of  Bolivia;  so  that  the  custom  is  in  great  measure  confined 
to  the  highland  Indians  of  Peru  and  Bolivia.  I  found  that  the 
coca-leaf  when  used  as  tea,  only  taking  care  to  throw  away  the 
firstwater  or  infusion,  which  contains  a  bitter  principle,  was  re- 
fireshing,  and  somewhat  stimulating  to  the  weak  stomach. 

A  somewhat  careful  study  of  this  habit  of  chewing  the  coca- 
leaf  does  not  at  all  convince  me  that  its  true  properties  have 
anything  like  the  marvellous  characters  commonly  ascribed  to 
it  by  previous  travellers  in  general;  for,  as  before  mentioned, 
I  found  quite  as  much  power  of  endurance  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances amongst  those  of  this  race  who  did  not  chew  the 
leaf  at  all  as  amongst  those  who  did;  and  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  amongst  the  Indians  themselves  it  is  never  regarded 
in  the  light  of  a  necessity,  but  always  as  an  indulgence  (in  other 
words,  as  a  luxury,  like  tobacco  in  Europe),  and  that  they  often 
apply  the  Spanish  word  "  vido,*'  or  vice,  when  speaking  of  its 
employment. 

Just  as  in  many  out-of-the-way  parts  of  Europe  men  can  be 
bribed  to  do  little  services  by  what  is  called  ''  a  drink ''  more 
easily  than  by  the  offer  of  payment  in  coin,  so  I  found  with 
these  Indians,  that  by  carrying  with  me  a  smaJl  bale  or  "  cesto,'' 
as  it  is  called,  of  coca-leaves,  and  giving  them  a  handful  on  such 
occasions,  I  coidd  supply  the  deficiency  of  small  change  (so  dif- 
ficult to  be  obtained  in  these  countries),  and  get  what  I  wanted 
both  more  cheaply  and  cheerfully  performed  at  the  same  time. 

In  the  highlioids  of  Peru  and  Bolivia  it  is  only  at  rare  inter- 
vals that  any  trees  are  seen,  or  even  brushwood;  so  thieit  no  re- 
liance can  be  placed  on  a  supply  of  fuel  from  the  vegetable 
kingdom.  The  combustible  i^  but  universally  employed  is 
'^tajia,''  or  the  dried  Uama-dung.  As  the  excrements  of  these 
animak  are  in  the  form  of  small  round  balls  like  those  from  the 
sheep,  it  is  fortunate  that  these  animals,  as  also  the  allied  spe- 
cies the  Alpaca,  Huanaco,  and  Vicuna,  when  pressed  by  the  calls 
of  nature,  do  not  scatt^  their  dung  at  random,  but  if  left  to 
themselves  (i.  e.  not  driven)  always  resort  to  fixed  spots,  so  that 
Uttle  heaps  of  a  bushel  or  more  are  found  at  each  spot,  very  con- 

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254  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indiana 

venient  for  the  Indian,  who  otherwise  would  find  it  an  endless 
task  to  collect  a  similar  quantity.  Owing  to  the  dry  winds  and 
peculiar  climate  of  the  highlands,  the  dung  rapidly  loses  the 
water  it  contains,  and  forms  an  excellent  fael,  giving  a  good  red 
heat  with  little  or  no  smoke ;  it  is  not  only  employed  in  culinary 
operations,  but  on  a  larger  scale  is  used  for  smelting  the  copper- 
ores  (100  lbs.  dung  smelting  80  lbs.  copper  ore)  and  casting 
bronze  for  bell-  or  cannon-metal  or  other  purposes. 

The  vessels  made  use  of  by  the  Aymaras  in  cooking  are  inva- 
riably of  baked  clay ;  and  it  is  perfectly  astonishing  to  see  how 
expert  the  women  (and  even  the  children)  are,  without  the  assist- 
ance of  a  potter's  lathe,  in  making  them  merely  with  their  hands. 
The  shapes  in  general  use  at  present  amongst  them  are  given  in 
fig.  4,  PI.  XX. ;  whilst  fig.  3,  PI.  XX.  represents  one  of  the  small 
earthen  cooking-stoves  which  the  women  put  up  at  the  door 
of  their  huts,  erecting  them  in  an  extraordinarily  short  space 
of  time.  When  the  clay  is  quite  dry  it  is  burnt  whilst  in  position, 
and  answers  remarkably  well  for  heating  the  earthen  pots  placed 
in  the  orifices.  I  have  often  been  amused  when  the  Indian 
women  quarrelled  amongst  themselves,  to  see  that  they,  as  one  of 
the  first  symptoms  of  anger,  generally  make  a  rush  at  each  other's 
stoves,  kicking  them  to  pieces  with  revengeful  pleasure. 

The  dwellings  of  the  Aymara  Indians  are  small,  rude,  square, 
oval,  or  circular 'huts,  usually  of  rough  stone  put  together  with 
clay  and  thatched  with  ''  ichu,^'  a  species  of  long  coarse  grass, 
something  like  esparto  grass.  In  the  towns  and  villages  the 
houses  are  usually  square,  with  gables,  but  rarely  possess  any 
window  at  all,  or  at  most  only  a  small  sighthole,  ordinarily  stop- 
ped up  with  some  few  stones ;  the  doors  of  the  houses  are  always 
extremely  small.  In  the  town  of  Santiago  de  Machaca,  I  had 
the  curiosity  to  measure  the  dimensions  of  the  door  of  the  house 
in  which  I  lodged,  and  found  it  to  be  only  3  feet  in  height  by 
15  inches  in  extreme  width,  the  angles  at  top  and  bottom  being 
somewhat  rounded  off,  so  as  to  give  the  opening  a  slightly  oval 
shape.  The  door  itself  is  made  of  a  couple  of  boards,  or  more 
often  of  a  raw  hide  stretched  and  dried  over  a  wooden  frame ; 
but  in  the  out-of-the-way  districts  no  door  is  used  beyond  a 
poncho,  which  is  htmg  up  across  the  opening  when  the  hut  is 
tenanted ;  when  the  family  is  absent  the  entrance  is  blocked  up 
by  loose  stones  placed  one  on  another. 

Furniture  is  rarely  or  ever  used  even  in  the  houses  of  the 
richer  Indians ;  a  chair  or  table  is  rarely  if  ever  seen,  as  the  In- 
dians invariably  take  their  meals  whilst  squatting  down  on  their 
haunches  (never  crosslegged  however),  with  the  dishes  placed  on 
the  ground  beside  them.  Whenever  a  table  is  seen,  it  is  usually 
a  little  thing  standing  about  15  inches  high  firom  the  floor.    On 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  255 

one  occasion  at  San  Andres  I  noticed  a  chair  with  the  figure  of 
a  double-headed  Eagle  carved  upon  it^  which  puzzled  me  for 
some  time^  until  I  remembered  that  the  iron  bottles  used  for 
exporting  quicksilver  from  Idria,  and  which  occasionally  come  to 
the  amalgamating-establishments  attached  to  the  Bolivian  and 
Peruvian  silver-mines  have  the  Austrian  Eagle  stamped  upon 
them ;  and  no  doubt  this  had  been  copied  from  them. 

The  walls  of  the  huts  are  alwajrs  quite  bare^  and  the  floor 
merely  the  natural  soil  of  the  spot — often  (in  fact^  more  com- 
monly) somewhat  lower  than  the  level  of  the  ground  outside  the 
hovel.  There  is  never  more  than  one  room  in  a  house ;  and 
along  one  side  of  this  a  raised  sort  of  bench  of  mud^  about  twenty 
inches  high  and  broad,  is  usually  seen,  which  is  used  as  a  bench, 
as  a  bed,  or  for  sitting  upon,  whilst  a  similar  one,  about  six  feet 
long  and  some  four  feet  broad,  at  the  end  of  the  room  is  employed 
as  a  bedstead  to  sleep  upon. 

In  the  out-of-the-way  places  I  observed  circular  or  oval  stone 
huts ;  such  have  been  called  beehive  houses,  the  stones  forming 
the  roof  and  sides  not  being  arched,  but  i^proaching  one  another 
little  by  little  until  they  meet  in  the  form  of  a  dome ;  I  found 
an  excellent  example  of  this  construction,  well  and  neatly  put 
together,  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain  of  lUampu.  This  mea- 
sured, internally,  9^  feet  long  by  5  feet  broad,  and  5  feet  in 
height;  the  door,  which  was  on  the  longer  side  of  the  oval,  was 
straight,  3  feet  high  and  18  inches  broad;  no  chimney  or  other 
opening  for  smoke  was  visible. 

Notwithstanding  that  the  present  dwellings  of  the  Aymara 
Indians  are  so  wretched  and  rude  in  their  construction,  the 
Aymara  appears  nevertheless  to  have  a  natural  talent  for  archi- 
tecture ;  and  I  am  informed  by  Bolivian  architects,  and  have 
myself  also  proved,  that  he  is  very  quick  in  picking  up  any  thing 
novel  in  masonry  when  shown  to  him.  Some  of  the  churches 
met  with  in  out-of-the-way  districts,  although  built  entirely  by 
the  Indians,  with  their  "  cura,^'  as  the  village  priest  is  called,  at 
their  head  as  architect,  and  without  plans  or  tools,  except  such 
as  are  of  the  rudest  conceivable  nature,  occasionally  show  proofs 
of  considerable  skill.  In  1863 1  was  surprised  to  see  some  htm- 
dred  Indians  rebuilding  the  church  at  El  Disaguadero,  on  the 
Lake  of  Titicaca,  in  Peru,  and  dressing  the  stones  for  the  edifice 
with  no  other  implements  than  stones  and  a  few  pickaxes  and 
other  rude  agricultural  instruments  made  of  iron ;  such  a  thing  as 
an  iron  hammer  or  chisel  was  not  to  be  foimd  amongst  them. 

Seiior  Munos,  the  architect  of  the  Cathedral  of  La  Paz,  fur- 
ther informed  me  that  the  beautiful  Corinthian  columns  made 
of  hard  white  granite,  finished  in  a  style  which  would  not  dis- 
grace a  first-rate  European  establishment,  were  all  made  by  the 

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256  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

untaught  Indian  masons  after  his  drawings;  they,  however, 
would  not  make  use  of  the  hammers  he  provided  them  with,  but 
accepted  his  steel  chisels,  which  they  hit  with  a  round  stone  held 
in  the  palm  of  the  hand,  in  a  similar  manner  to  that  m  which 
their  ancestors  had  no  doubt  been  accustomed  to  work  at 
Tiahuanaco  and  elsewhere. 

In  ancient  times  ».  e,  (before  the  eleventh  century,  or  Inca 
conquest)  the  Aymaras  possessed  an  architecture  peculiar  to 
themselves,  apparently  of  a  much  higher  character  than  that  of 
any  of  the  other  nations  of  South  America :  full  evidence  attest- 
ing this  is  to  be  seen  at  the  present  day  in  some  of  the  magni- 
ficent ruins  at  Tiahuanaco,  near  the  southern  extremity  of  Lake 
Titicaca;  an  examination  of  which,  however,  leads  to  the  con- 
clusion that  they  are  probably  of  two  very  different  dates,  the 
one  being  evidently  earlier  and  of  a  much  ruder  character  than 
the  other,  which  is  of  vastly  superior  workmanship.  Although 
these  ruins  are  by  the  older  Spanish  writers  represented  as  being 
of  immense  antiquity,  or,  as  they  firequently  express  it,  works  of 
a  period  before  there  was  a  sun  in  the  heavens''^,  it  appears  that 
part  of  these  were  not  even  completed,  and  were  probably  in 
course  of  construction,  at  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  that  part 
of  the  Aymara  country  by  the  third  Inca,  Lloque  Yupanki,  some 
time  before  his  death  in  1026;  so  that  the  downfall  of  the  Aymara 
civilization  may  be  reckoned  firom  about  this  date. 

When  at  this  place,  I  took  drawings,  on  a  considerable  scale,  of 
the  principal  features  of  these  interesting  ruins ;  but  upon  my 
return  to  Europe  I  found  that  various  figures  and  descriptions 
of  several  of  the  more  important  sculptures  and  monoliths  had 
already  been  published  by  other  writers;  so  that  at  present  I 
purpose  only  to  add  a  few  remarks  upon  points  which,  as  far  as 
I  am  aware,  have  not  as  yet  received  any  attention.  In  the  first 
place  I  may  mention  that  the  stone  of  which  the  buildings  and 
sculptures  are  formed  is  of  two  very  different  characters.  The 
one  is  a  light  red  sandstone,  which  forms  the  hills  in  the  imme- 
diate neighbourhood,  and  is  probably  the  equivalent  of  the 
Devonian  formation,  since  I  obtained  fossils  of  undoubted  De- 
vonian age  from  the  beds  of  similar  sandstone  at  Aygatchi,  not 
far  distant  from  Tiahuanaco.  The  other  stone,  however,  is 
very  different  in  nature,  being  a  hard,  tough,  and  compact  vol- 
canic rock,  precisely  the  same  as  what  was  originally  called 
Andesite  by  G.  Rose,  from  a  specimen  brought  home  from 
Cotopaxi  by  Humboldt,  and  which  is  a  true  Trachydolerite. 
Notwithstanding  its  great  hardness,  most  of  the  sculptured 

*  Diego  D'Avalos y  Fi^puioa,  in MiaceL  Austral  (Lima,  1602) p.  145:  ^Oim 
de  antes  que  hubiese  sol  in  el  cielo." 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  257 

work,  the  great  monolithic  portals  and  some  of  the  finer  figures^ 
are  made  of  this  rock ;  and  to  this  day  they  retain  all  the  sharp- 
new^  of  their  edges,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent^  even  the 
original  polish  on  their  surfaces ;  whilst  a  few  others^  made  of 
the  sandstone  before  alluded  to,  are  in  a  very  dilapidated  condi- 
tion. 

The  size  of  some  of  the  great  blocks  of  stone  employed  in  one 
of  these  buildings'*^  is  very  imposing.  I  measured  one  which 
appeared  to  be  of  the  largest,  and  found  it  to  be  about  27  feet 
long,  18  broad,  and  7  thick,  so  that,  as  it  was  of  sandstone,  it 
could  not  have  weighed  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  tons.  It 
seems  very  difficult  to  explain  how  these  Indians,  with  their 
imperfect  mechanical  appliances,  and  no  beasts  of  draught, 
^  could  handle  and  transport  such  masses  from  their  original 
sites,  in  order  to  place  them  in  their  proper  positions  in  pdaces 
or  temples  situated  on  the  top  of  artificial  mounds  raised  some 
40  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  plain  itself. 

Although  the  sandstone  has  evidently  been  taken  from  the 
hills  seen  at  but  a  few  miles  distance  from  Tiahuanaco,  the  vol- 
canic stone  of  which  the  two  great  monolithic  portals  &c.  have 
been  constructed  has  been  conveyed  a  very  great  distance  from 
the  volcanic  mountains  on  the  other  or  western  side  of  Lake  Ti- 
ticaca,  where  the  quarries  are  still  visible ;  and  there  still  remains 
at  the  edge  of  the  lake  an  immense  block  hewn  out  into  the  form 
of  a  sort  of  sofa  or  divan,  which  has  received  from  the  Spaniards 
the  appellation  of  "  La  Piedra  Cansada,^^  or  stone  which  got 
tired,  which  no  doubt  had  been  left  behind  when  on  its 
road  to  Tiahuanaco,  at  the  time  that  the  invasion  of  the  Inca 
Lloque  Yupanki  put  an  end  to  the  building  of  the  great  palace 
there. 

An  examination  of  the  situation  of  the  ruins  of  Tiahuanaco 
shows  them  to  be  in  a  narrow  plain  (bounded  at  the  sides  by 
two  small  ranges  of  hills)  which,  although  extending  a  consider- 
able distance  from  the  present  shore  of  the  lake,  is  but  very 
slightly  elevated  above  the  level  of  its  waters,  makes  me  believe 
that  the  lake  (or,  more  correctly  speaking,  an  arm  of  it)  in  former 
times  extended  to  Tiahuanaco,  and  that,  probably,  the  rise  of  its 
waters  in  the  rainy  season  inundated  the  plain  itself,  and  thus 
enabled  the  Indians  to  transport  the  great  blocks  of  stone  pre- 
viously alluded  to  from  the  other  side  of  the  lake  on  rafts  up  to 
the  very  site  of  the  edifices  themselves.  This  view  seemed  to 
me  to  be  confirmed  by  my  finding  in  a  small  pool  of  water  situ- 
ated in  the  midst  of  these  ruins,  the  Totora  or  great  Titicaca 

*  I  was  told  by  one  of  the  Cholos  there  that  this  had  been  called  the  pa- 
lace of  Pumapuiuku  (of  the  gate  of  the  Puma)  ;  but  whether  this  is  correct  or 
not  I  am  unaole  to  say. 

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258  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indiana 

rush  growing  luxuriantly^  although  I  understand  that  it  is  nerer 
found  elsewhere  than  in  the  lake  itself  or  the  Disaguadero  riyer 
leading  from  it;  the  great  artificial  mounds  on  which  the  build- 
ings themselves  are  placed  also  seemed  to  favour  the  idea  of  the 
plain  being  at  times  intmdated. 

When  we  remember  that  the  Indians  were  unacquainted 
with  steel  or  iron  implements^  it  seems  perfectly  unexplainable 
how  these  Indians  could  work  the  hard  volcanic  rock  to  such 
perfection;  the  Aymaras  have,  it  is  true,  a  word  for  iron, 
** qaella/*  in  their  language;  whence  quella^cahua  a  coat  of 
mail,  and  quellahuisca  an  iron  chain ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
this  word,  before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  was  in  reality  only 
applied  to  iron-ore,  i .  e.  the  black  heavy  magnetic  oxide  of  iron 
commonly  found  native  in  Peru  and  Bolivia,  and  employed  by 
the  Indians  for  clubheads,  one  of  which  is  depicted  in  PL  XX. 
fig.  5,  from  a  grave  at  Calacota,  was  some  2^  inches  long  by 
1 J  inches  thick,  neatly  worked  with  a  groove  around  it  by  which 
to  fasten  it  to  the  handle^.  Some  of  their  tools  of  bronze  were 
capable  of  taking  a  pretty  good  edge,  but  would  stand  a  very 
short  time  if  used  for  cutting  stone ;  we  must  remember,  how- 
ever, that  the  wonderful  patience  and  perseverance  of  these  and 
many  other  of  the  South- American  tribes  would,  with  imlimited 
time  at  their  disposal,  enable  them  to  overcome  difficulties  other- 
wise seemingly  insurmountable.  In  1863  I  was  extremely  asto- 
nished to  see  the  Indians  rebuilding  the  church  at  El  Disagua- 
dero work  hour  after  hour,  one  might  almost  say  day  after  day, 
in  order  to  square  or  dress  the  sides  of  a  rough  stone,  with  the 
aid  only  of  another  one  used  as  a  hammer,  when  a  few  strokes 
of  a  civilized  mason's  hammer  and  chiBcl  would  have  effected 
the  same  result  in  as  many  minutes. 

Everywhere  in  both  Peru  and  Bolivia  the  idea  prevails  that  in 
ancient  times  all  these  stones  were  cut  after  having  been  pre- 
viously rendered  soft  by  the  application  of  an  herb  called  by  the 
Indians  tisccraj  and  by  the  Spaniards  garbandUo;  this  is  said 
to  have  been  used  along  with  urine,  and  left  upon  the  stone  for 
some  time  before  cutting  it.  If  the  stone  in  question  was  of  a 
calcareous  nature,  such  as  might  possibly  be  acted  upon  by 
the  vegetable  acids  which  might  be  formed  by  the  acid  fermen- 
tation of  the  juices  of  plants,  this  explanation  might  be  entitled 
to  some  consideration ;  but  as  the  stones  used  at  Tiahuanaco  are 
all  either  composed  mainly  of  silica  or  silicates  quite  unaffected 

•  In  like  maimer  the  Ajmaras  have  a  word  for  glass^  *'  quupi,**  whence 
qmspinaira^  8|>ectacle8y  literally  glass  eyes;  since  they  were  quite  nnac- 
quamted  with  the  artificial  product  this  tenn  was  no  doubt  formfflrly  applied 
only  to  quartz  or  rock  crystal,  just  as  in  Europe  it  is  at  present  common  to 
use  the  word  crystal  to  denote  certain  varieties  of  glass. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  259 

by  even  the  stronger  acids,  excepting  only  such  as  contain 
fluorine,  I  imagine  that  this  commonly  recdved  supposition  has 
no  foundation,  but  that  it  may  possibly  have  arisen  from  seeing 
the  Indians  employ  the  Mare's-tail,  a  species  of  equiseium,  for 
rubbing  the  stones  in  order  to  give  the  exterior  a  final  polish, 
for  which  this  plant  is  well  qualified,  firom  the  amount  of  sharp 
silidous  matter  contained  in  its  rind  and  substance. 

One  distinctive  feature  in  the  Aymara  architecture  is  the  con- 
stant use  of  the  right  angle ;  an  acute  or  obtuse  angle  is  rarely 
if  ever  seen  in  any  of  the  buildings,  the  blocks  of  stone  being 
as  a  rule  dressed  on  all  sides  at  right  angles  to  one  another  and 
then  fitted  together  with  perfect  accuracy,  often,  when  very  large, 
being  held  fast  by  cramps  of  copper  fixed  into  holes  with  melted 
tin  or  lead.  Every  comer,  slot,  or  depression  in  these  stones 
is  cut  in  the  most  clean  and  workmanlike  manner,  the  angles 
being  as  it  were  as  mathematically  correct  and  the  surface  as 
plane  and  smooth  as  if  made  by  the  most  perfect  machinery  of 
the  present  day.  The  cross  (especially  when  sunk  into  the  stone) 
is  extremely  common  as  an  ornament,  but,  as  far  as  I  observed, 
has  its  arms  always  of  equal  length.  In  respect  to  architecture, 
at  least,  the  Aymaras  seem  to  have  been  far  in  advance  of  their 
conquerors  the  Quechuas,  whose  cyclopean  masonry  about  Cusco 
and  elsewhere,  although  put  together  with  such  consummate 
skill  that  the  blade  of  a  knife  can  scarcely  be  introduced  be- 
tween the  joints  of  the  stones,  is  but  of  a  rude  character  when 
compared  with  the  beautiful  dressed  stonework  and  sculptures  seen 
in  the  Aymara  ruins  at  Tiahuanaco ;  the  two  styles  of  architec- 
ture are  altogether  difi^rent  and  distinct,  one  striking  peculiarity 
being  that  the  form  of  the  portals  or  doors  in  the  Aymara  ma- 
sonry is  invariably  rectangular  and  upright,  whereas  in  the 
Quechua  the  sides  are  inclined  inwards  at  the  top,  exactly  as 
in  the  ancient  Egyptian. 

Many  ruins  of  ancient  Aymara  towns,  from  the  time  be- 
fore the  Spanish  conquest,  called  by  the  Spaniards  ''Pue- 
blos de  Los  Oentiles,''  can  still  be  seen  in  various  parts  of 
Bolivia,  some  of  them  being  now  in  almost  exactly  the  same 
condition  as  when  last  inhabited ;  they  are  usually  situated  on 
the  summits  of  hills,  probably  for  facility  of  defence.  One 
of  these,  called  by  the  Indians  Himoco,  on  the  east  side  of  lake 
Titicaca,  between  Carabuco  and  Ancoraimes,  is  of  considerable 
extent,  surrounded  with  walls  having  gateways,  and  with  streets, 
some  of  which  seem  to  have  been  paved,  arranged  at  right 
angles  to  one  another,  and  leading  into  several  squares  or  mar- 
ket-places. The  houses  are  tolerably  well  built  of  red  sand- 
stones, with  stone  roofs,  and  are  small  rectangular  rooms,  most  of 
which  have  a  sort  of  stone  shelf,  like  a  mantelpiece,  in  one 

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260  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

comer.  The  only  traces  of  inhabitants  seen  at  present  are  the 
occasional  occurrence  of  straggling  bones  or  of  an  entire  skeleton. 
In  one  or  two  of  the' houses  little  rude  eflSgies  of  men^  made  of 
clay^  hung  up  by  a  string  round  the  neck^  or  pierced  through  the 
boay  with  a  thom^  were  met  with — evidently  remnants  of  witch- 
craft. 

In  the  high  mountain-passes  of  the  Eastern  Andes  near  So- 
rata^  which  lead  down  to  the  tropical  valleys  of  Tipuani  Stc.^ 
I  noticed  considerable  ruins^  like  fortresses^  perched  up  on  the 
sides  of  the  precipices  overlooking  the  valley^  in  the  most  won- 
derfully inaccessible  positions^  and  probably  at  an  elevation  of 
more  than  16^000  feet  above  the  sea^  since  they  were  on  the  very 
edge  of  the  perpetual  snow.  These  looked  as  if  originally  in- 
tended to  guard  the  passes  from  invasions  of  the  Indians  from 
the  east ;  yet^  at  the  same  time^  I  can  hardly  imagine  any  induce- 
ment in  the  cold  highland  regions  which  oould  tempt  the  far 
less  hardy  races  of  the  tropics  below  to  make  such  raids. 

Excepting  the  ruins  of  palaces  or  temples  previously  noticed, 
the  country  of  the  Aymaras  presents  but  few  traces  of  public 
works,  such  as  roads,  aqueducts,  reservoirs,  &c.,  -more  common 
amongst  the  Quechuas.  The  roads  are  but  rude  Uama-tracks, 
and  never  seem  to  have  had  such  attention  directed  to  them  as 
is  shown  by  the  Inca  government  in  Peru.  Permanent  bridges 
are  seen  nowhere;  but  the  rivers,  when  not  fordable,  are  crossed 
by  rafts  made  of  rushes  tied  together  in  bundles,  or  by  what  is 
called  a  "maroma''— that  is,  a  rope  (made  of  raw  hide  or  of  Uama- 
wool  in  the  highlands,  and  of  "lUanas  *'  or  long  vines  or  creepers 
in  the  tropical  valleys)  which  is  stretched  across  the  river  firom 
bank  to  bank,  and  has  aerosspiece  or  cradle  suspended,  in  which 
the  passenger  seats  himself  and  hauls  himself  along,  or  is  pulled 
over  with  a  cord.  The  Rio  Disaguadero,  which  runs  south 
from  lake  Titicaca,  is  crossed  in  several  places  by  floating 
bridges,  formed  by  attaching  one  to  another  numerous  '^balsas'' 
or  rafts,  formed  of  bundles  of  totora,  the  great  Titicaca  rush, 
upon  which  a  sort  of  platform  is  made  by  spreading  a  large 
quantity  of  the  loose  rushes.  No  wheeled  vehicles  being  used 
in  these  parts  of  South  America,  these  primitive  bridges  serve 
very  well  for  the  passage  of  the  llamas,  mules,  and  other  animals, 
as  well  as  for  men  on  foot. 

The  chief  occupations  of  the  Aymara  Indians,  now  as  in  more 
ancient  times,  are  agricultural  and  pastoral.  The  metallic  riches 
of  the  country  seem  to  have  been  comparatively  little  attended  to 
before  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards.  They  were,  however,  well- 
acquainted  with  the  metals  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  tin,  and 
made  use  of  several  alloys  of  these  metals :  one  of  gold  and 
opper,  called  ^^champi,^'  was  much   used  for  making  small 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  261 

images  and  certain  ornaments  and  tools.  Bronze  was  also  in 
very  general  use.  The  analysis  made  by  me  of  a  bronze  head 
of  a  chieftain's  club  or  mace,  which  was  found  at  Sorata,  and  is 
about  3^  inches  across  the  extreme  tips  of  the  spikes,  of  which 
there  are  thirteen  in  all,  showed  its  composition  to  be  as  fol- 
lows : — 

Copper 8805 

Tin 11-42 

Iron •.     0-86 

SUver 017 

10000 

from  which  it  is  evidently  quite  identical  with  many  of  the 
ancient  bronzes  of  Europe.  This  club  had  been  cast,  and  has 
a  socket  in  which  there  is  a  crosspin  for  attaching  the  handle 
by  means  of  a  leather  thong.  The  Aymaras  evidently  under- 
stood the  art  of  soldering  metals ;  for  I  found  many  little  figures 
of  llamas  and  men,  some  of  which,  in  the  British  Museum, 
can  be  seen  to  be  hollow,  and  made  of  thin  plate  silver  nicely 
soldered  at  the  joints. 

Tin,  called  in  Aymara  ^'causi''  or  "titi,''  has  been  fipom 
time  immemorial  obtained  from  the  stream  tin-ore  worked  at 
Carabuco  on  the  east  side  of  Lake  Titicaca,  and  in  the  district 
Oruro,  where  it  is  still  obtained  in  large  quantities.  Gold, 
"  chocque,''  is  generally  found  in  the  alluvial  deposits  of  the 
rivers,  whence  many  of  the  Aymara  names  of  places,  Chuque- 
apo  (now  La  Paz),  Chuqueaguillo, Chuqesaca  (now Sucre),  which 
denote  respectively  the  valley,  river,  or  plain  of  gold.  Silver, 
'^colcqui,''  found  native  in  veins,  appears  to  have  been  also 
worked  out  of  certain  beds  amongst  the  cupriferous  sandstone 
series  of  Corocoro,  in  which  it  occurs  finely  disseminated  in  a 
native  state,  whilst  the  main  supply  of  native  copper  was  evi- 
dently furnished  from  those  same  deposits,  which  appear  to  have 
been  worked  from  extremely  ancient  periods. 

The  domestic  industries,  as  spinning,  weaving,  dyeing,  &c., 
are  carried  on  by  the  women,  who  still  continue  to  furnish  the 
greater  part  of  the  clothing  of  the  household,  although,  at  least 
around  the  larger  towns,  cotton  and  woollen  fabrics  of  European 
manufacture  have  come  into  considerable  use  amongst  the 
Indians.  I  have  occasionally  noticed  spinning-wheels  and  looms 
of  an  extremely  rude  construction;  but  in  the  majority  of  instances 
I  found  that  the  wool  was  spun  into  yam  by  the  hand ;  and 
afterwards,  when  stretched  out  on  the  ground  by  pegs,  it  is 
woven  by  hand  into  cloth,  without  the  aid  of  a  loom  at  all. 
They,  as  a  rule,  sell  all  their  alpaca  and  sheep's  wool,  but  reserve 
the  llama-wool,  which  is  of  a  very  inferior  quality,  for  making 
their  clothes,  as  well  as  their  cords  and  ropes.     The  llama  is,  to 

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262  Datid  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

the  Indian  what  the  reindeer  is  to  the  Laplander ;  for^  besides 
being  his  sole  beast  of  burden^  its  wool  and  hide  senre  for 
clothings  the  flesh  for  food^  the  bones  for  his  tools,  musical  instru- 
ments^ &C.J  whilst  its  dung  is  the  general^  and  in  many  places 
the  only  combustible  at  command.  The  Indian  women  are  veiy 
clever  in  dyeing  their  wools^  and  also  in  knittings  and  at  their 
fairs  often  bring  for  sale  curious  little  bags^  purses,  &c.  made 
in  the  shape  of  llamas,  turkeys,  and  other  animals,  very  in- 
geniously knitted  in  wool  of  divers  colours.  Aroimd  the  lake 
of  Titicaca  I  have  seen  socks  and  gloves  for  children  made  of 
the  down  of  the  waterfowl,  which  had  apparently  been  first 
spun  into  yam  and  then  knitted. 

Fishing  is  pursued  chiefly  on  the  Lake  of  Titicaca.  The  In- 
dians, not  having  any  boats,  or  wood  to  make  them  of,  use  as  a 
substitute  the  totora  or  great  Titicaca  rush,  which  they  tie  to- 
gether in  bundles  to  form  a  ''  balsa''  or  species  of  raft. 

Hunting  can  hardly  be  said  to  be  followed  at  all  by  the 
Indians,  although  there  are  large  herds  of  vicunas  running  wild 
over  the  mountains  and  plains,  and  also  the  huanaco,  deer, 
biscacho,  skunk,  fox,  weasel,  and  the  puma,  as  well  as  a  bear, 
which  last  animal,  however,  I  never  came  across,  and,  I  believe, 
it  is  rarely  seen.  Amongst  the  birds  are  numerous  condors  (quite 
unfit  for  food,  as  I  have  found  upon  trial),  the  S.  American  ostrich, 
flamingo,  numerous  species  of  ducks,  water-hens,  divers,  geese, 
ibis,  snipe,  &c.,  many  of  them  very  good  eating. 

As  the  Indian,  however,  has  neither  firearms  nor  bows  and  ar- 
rows, he  has  no  means  of  following  the  chase ;  the  only  weapon 
which  he  uses  is  the  sling  ('^huaraca''),  made  of  llama  wool,  which 
occasionally  he  employs  with  some  dexterity.  The  fox  is  caught 
in  a  rude  stone  trap,  shown  in  section,  plate  XXI.  fig.  9,  in  wUch 
the  bait 'is  tied  on  with  a  piece  of  raw  hide,  which,  being 
gnawed  away,  causes  the  stone  door  to  fall  and  imprison  the 
fox,  which  is  afterwards  taken  out  through  the  hole  at  the  other 
end  of  the  trap,  closed  by  a  stone.  When  a  puma  has  com- 
mitted any  ravages  amongst  their  animals,  the  Indians  of  the 
district  follow  up  its  tracks  in  parties,  relieving  one  another 
night  and  day,  without  allowing  it  a  moment's  rest,  until  the 
animal  is  literally  run  down,  brought  to  bay,  and  despatched 
with  sticks  and  stones.  In  March,  1862,  at  lUabaya,  I  saw  an 
instance  of  such  a  turn-out,  the  animal  being  hunted  down,  and 
literally  knocked  to  pieces  by  the  Indians,  who  drank  up  its 
blood,  under  the  belief  that  it  implants  courage  in  the  person 
who  does  so. 

The  culture  of  the  ground,  which  is  the  main  and  most  labo- 
rious occupation  of  the  Indian,  is  effected  by  very  rude  imple- 
ments. The  plough,  called  ''  arma,"  is  driven  by  one  or  two 
oxen,  tied  to  it  by  a  lasso  or  rope  of  untanned  leatherpand  is  of 

oyVjOC 


JouTP.    -LUmo.   3oc.  Vol.  J-  PI  XXl 


wn 


Fig.  9. 

nigiti7PHhyC  ^OOglP 


AYMARA         IMPLEMENTS       tc. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  .    263 

a  very  rimple  construction,  consisting,  as  shown  in  plate  XXI. 
fig.  3,  of  three  pieces  of  wood  tied  together  by  thongs  of  raw 
hide,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  does  little  more  than  scratch 
the  surface  of  the  soil.  The  Aymara  representative  of  the 
spade,  fig.  4,  pL  XXI.,  called  "  oiso,"  is  but  a  pole  of  hard  wood, 
about  7  feet  long,  sharpened  and  hardened  at  the  end  by  char- 
ring the  wood  externally.  It  has  a  curved  handle,  and  a  support 
for  the  feet,  like  a  couple  of  horns,  on  the  right  side  of  the 
handle,  tied  on  to  it  with  raw  hide.  The  next  important  imple- 
ment is  the  ocana,  a  sort  of  pickaxe,  fig.  5,  pi.  XXI.,  which  is 
now  always  made  of  a  piece  of  flat  iron,  tied  on  with  raw  hide 
to  a  hooked  stick  as  a  handle,  whilst  in  the  out-of-the-way  places 
a  hoe, "  asadon,''  sketched  in  fig.  6,  pi.  XXI.,  is  still  used,  formed 
merely  of  the  shoidder-bladeof  the  Uama,  tied  on  to  a  hooked  stick, 
as  shown  in  the  illustration.  Besides  these,  they  also  employ  a  sort 
of  mace  or  club,  fig.  7,  pi.  XXI.,  consisting  merely  of  a  stone  tied 
on  to  a  stick,  as  a  dod-crusher''^,  and  an  axe  of  iron  or  steel, 
which  in  the  out-of-the-way  districts  is  still  made  by  the  Aymara 
smiths  in  precisely  the  same  form  (fig.  8,  pi.  XXI.)  as  the  ancient 
ones  of  copper  or  bronze,  being  merely  a  flat  piece  of  metal  of 
the  form  shown  in  the  figure,  placed  in  a  cleft  stick,  which 
serves  as  a  handle,  and  secured  in  it  by  a  thong  of  raw  hide 
bound  tightly  around  it. 

I  was  informed  that,insome  very  much  out-of-the-way  districts, 
bronze  and,  even,  stone  axes  may  occasionally  be  seen  employed 
by  the  Indians ;  but  I  have  not  personally  fallen  in  with  such 
implements,  yet  can  believe  that  this  may  actually  be  the  case. 

The  Indians,  as  a  rule,  make  their  fields  of  a  very  small  size, 
usually  surrounding  them  with  walls  of  dry  stone.  On  the 
mountain-sides  they  build  up  small  terraces  one  above  another, 
in  some  cases  up  to  very  great  altitudes.  Since  they  appear 
never  to  manure  the  land,  they  make  a  rule  of  only  sowing  it 
with  crops  once  every  fifth  year,  allowing  it  to  remain  fallow  for 
the  intermediate  four,  in  order,  as  they  say,  that  it  may  repose 
or  recover  itself.  This  circumstance  must  naturally  be  taken 
into  due  account  when  the  traveller  in  these  districts  judges  as 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants  firom  the  amount  of  land  enclosed 
or  under  apparent  cultivation.  The  crops  generally  sown  are 
potatoes,  ordinary  and  bitter,  ocas,  quinoa,  and  beans,  along 
with  maize  or  Indian  corn  in  the  more  sheltered  valleys  or  lower 
grounds.  A  bearded  variety  of  wheat  is  also  cultivated  in  some 
parts ;  but  I  do  not  think  it  is  very  productive.  In  the  more  tem- 
perate parts,  lucem  is  grown  as  a  green  fodder  for  the  beasts. 
Barley  is  also  sown  as  fodder  in  considerable  quantity;  but, 

*  One  of  these  may  be  seen  in  the  Christy  collection  of  the  British 
Museum.  /^^^r^T^ 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


264  David  Forbes — On  the  Aynwra  Indians 

except  what  is  required  for  seed,  it  is  not  allowed  to  come  to 
maturity,  being  cut  down  before  it  is  ripe,  and  employed  for  the 
cattle  whole,  t.  e,  along  with  its  straw. 

A  great  expense  and  trouble  to  the  traveller  in  these  districts 
is  the  difficulty  experienced  in  obtaining  from  the  Indians  a  suf- 
ficient supply  of  barley  to  keep  his  animals  alive ;  threats,  and  even 
physical  force,  must  sometimes  be  resorted  to ;  for  the  Indians 
are  so  accustomed  to  be  cheated  that  they  can  hardly  be  con- 
vinced that  you  are  really  willing  to  pay  them  for  what  they 
furnish.  When  a  detachment  of  the  army  passes  through  the 
country,  the  corregidores,  or  heads  of  the  district,  summon  the 
alcaldes  or  foremen  of  the  Indians,  and  require  them,  within  a 
certain  time,  to  bring  forward  the  amount  of  barley  necessary 
for  the  beasts,  for  which  they  are  paid  far  less  than  its  real 
value.  On  one  occasion,  at  Achecache,  when  I  was  present, 
the  barley,  which  was  extremely  scarce  that  year,  was  only  paid 
by  the  cavalry  at  3  rials  a  quintal  instead  of  15,  which  was  the 
actual  price  ruling  in  the  district;  besides  which,  instead  of 
weighing  a  quintal,  they  still  further  imposed  upon  the  Indians 
by  measuring  it  in  the  following,  to  me,  somewhat  novel  man- 
ner:— Two  of  the  tallest  soldiers  of  the  troop  were  made  to 
stand  upright,  so  far  apart  that  their  forefiugcr-tips  coidd  just 
reach  one  another  when  one  of  the  arms  of  each  was  extended 
at  full  length ;  all  the  barley  which  could  be  packed  into  the 
space  between  their  bodies  from  the  ground  up  to  under  the 
arms  was  then  taken  as  a  quintal,  although  in  reality  much 
more;  but  (as  the  unfortunate  Indian  well  knew)  complaints 
were  useless. 

The  practice  of  cutting  barley  before  it  arrives  at  maturity, 
although  common  in  many  parts  of  South  America,  where  it  is 
done  in  order  that  the  straw  itself  may  be  sweeter  and  more 
palatable  to  the  animals,  seems  in  these  highlands  to  be,  as  it 
were,  enforced  by  the  severity  of  the  climate,  since  only  in  more 
sheltered  spots  does  the  grain  fully  ripen  before  die  finosts 
commence. 

The  coca-leaf,  so  much  employed  by  these  Indians,  does  not 
grow  in  the  higher  regions  of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  and  is  chiefly 
cultivated  in  the  hot  valleys  of  the  province  of  Yungas  *,  to  the 
east  of  the  high  Andes,  by  Indian  colonists,  who  formerly  were 
forcibly  sent  there  for  the  purpose,  but  now,  since  the  inde- 
pendence, are  enticed  there  by  high  wages,  to  engage  themselves 
for  longer  or  shorter  periods.  The  mortality  among  these  colo- 
nists is  very  great ;  so  that  since  they  have  not  been  compelled  to 
go  there,  great  extents  of  the  plantations  or  cocales,  as  they  are 
called,  formerly  planted  with  coca,  have  been  abandoned  and 

•  The  word  "  yungas  "  is  not  A jniara,  but  Quechua,  in  which  Uogua^ 
**  yunca  "  eignifiw  hot,  C c^c^n\o 

*  .  Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  265 

become  overgrown  with  forest^  owing  to  the  impossibility  of 
obtaining  hands  to  cultivate  them.  In  Ynngas  all  the  slopes  of 
the  hills^  at  an  elevation  of  &om  3000  to  6000  feet  above  the 
sea^  the  soil  of  which  is  composed  of  a  disintegrated  Silurian 
clay-slate,  are  covered  with  small  terraces  or,  as  they  are  termed 
by  the  Spaniards,  Andenes,  rising  one  above  another,  like  the 
seats  in  an  ancient  amphitheatre,  and  covered  with  the  small 
coca  bushes,  about  from  20  to  30  inches  in  height,  planted  in 
single  rows  along  each  little  terrace,  which  is  about  12  inches 
in  width,  and  supported  by  a  little  wall  of  stone  in  front.  When 
the  coca  is  grown  on  level  ground,  which  is  more  seldom  the  case, 
the  plants  are  placed  in  furrows  (''  uachos  ")  separated  from  one 
another  by  little  walls  of  stone  called  ^'  umachas/^ 

Before  being  transplanted  into  cocales  arranged  on  either  of 
the  before-mentioned  systems,  the  plant  is  raised  in  separate 
nurseries,  from  seed,  which,  when  frequently  watered,  makes  its 
appearance  above  the  ground  in  from  ten  days  to  a  fortnight ; 
the  next  year  these  plants,  which  will  then  have  attained  a 
height  of  from  12  to  15  inches,  are  ready  for  transplanting  to 
the  cocal,  and  are  sold  in  large  quantities  for  this  purpose,  at  the 
rate  (when  I  was  in  Yungas  in  1861)  of  two  dollars  Bolivian 
per  what  is  called  the  "  head,'^  t .  e.  the  bundle  of  plants  in  size 
equal  to  the  circumference  of  the  purchaser's  head ;  so  that  the 
planter  with  whom  I  was  residing  told  me  that  he  always  chose 
one  of  his  men  who  had  the  largest  head  to  buy  coca  plants 
for  him.  Old  plants,  however,  are  much  dearer,  and  were  at  that 
time  valued  at  three  rials  per  plant. 

When  the  plants  are  between  two  and  three  years  old,  the 
leaves  first  commence  to  be  picked  for  consumption,  and 
are  stated  to  yield  the  most  abundant  crops  between  the  ages  of 
three  and  six  years,  yet  to  have  an  economical  life  of  from 
twenty  to  forty  years,  and  occasionally  even  more.  The  plant 
is  said  to  be  most  productive  when  not  allowed  to  attain  a 
greater  height  than  about  30  inches,  although  when  not  culti« 
vated  it  is  said  to  attain  double  this  height. 

The  first  time  the  plant  is  picked  the  leaves  are  found  to  be 
coarser  in  quality,  and  are  seldom  exported,  being  used  up  by 
the  Indians  on  the  plantations ;  afterwards,  in  the  larger  planta- 
tions, the  pickings  (or  mitas,  as  they  are  called)  take  place  three 
times  a  year,  in  March,  July,  and  October,  which  are  known 
respectively  as  the  Mitas  de  Marzo,  San  Juan,  and  Santos ;  the 
first  of  these,  taking  place  immediately  after  the  rainy  season, 
is  the  most  abundant,  and  that  of  July  the  least  prolific.  In 
the  little  plantations  owned  by  Indians  more  care  is  taken  to 
pluck  the  leaves  as  soon  as  they  are  full-grown,  and  not  ac^ 
cording  to  fixed  times ;  by  this  means  they  are  enabled  to  get 

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266  Datid  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

four  cropB  a  year.  The  pickings  are  done  by  girls,  each  leaf  being 
plucked  separately  firom  the  plant,  and  great  care  being  taken 
that  none  of  the  top  shoots  are  injnred,  as  otherwise  the  plants 
would  die.  It  is  a  curious  sight  to  see  these  girls,  often  in 
great  numbers,  arranged  in  rows ;  and  the  noise  made  by  their 
nimble  fingers  when  picking  the  leaves,  in  which  they  acquire 
wonderful  dexterity,  is  very  strange,  the  sound  keeping  distinct 
time,  and  being  sometimes  like  the  rustle  made  by  the  wind 
among  dry  leaves. 

The  plantations  are,  as  a  rule,  not  irrigated  or  watered,  not- 
withstanding that  this  is  known  to  develope  the  leaves  much 
more  rapidly,  and  to  ensure  the  bare  plant  being  covered  again 
with  leaves  in  even  less  than  two  months,  so  that  as  much  as 
five  pickings  can  be  obtained  from  well-irrigated  plantations ; 
it  is  considered,  however,  that  such  leaves  are  much  inferior  in 
quality :  their  colour  is  not  so  rich ;  and  in  drying  they  do  not 
retain  the  fine  green  tint,  but  acquire  a  blacker  hue,  which  is  not 
liked  in  the  market. 

The  women  and  children  who  pick  the  leaves  place  them  in  a 
poncho  or  cloth  hung  in  front  of  them,  and  then  take  them  to 
the  hacienda,  where  they  are  spread  out  in  a  yard  floored  with 
slabs  of  slate,  turning  them  frequently  in  the  sun  until  perfectly 
dry.  If  the  weather  has  been  fine,  the  leaf,  when  dry,  retains  its 
form  and  colour,  on  which  the  value  of  it  in  the  market  depends. 
The  dried  leaves  are  then  put  up  in  small  bales  called  cestos, 
which  weigh  about  an  arroba  (or  25  pounds)  each,  and  are  in  this 
state  sent  up  to  the  highlands  for  the  general  consumption  of 
the  Indians;  on  the  road,  however,  the  Bolivian  government 
exacts  a  duty  upon  each  bale. 

The  coffee  and  cacao  plantations  of  these  tropical  valleys  are 
also  worked  by  Aymara  Indians,  of  whom  a  few  also  engage  in  the 
search  of  Cascarilla,  i .  e.  the  bark  of  the  Cinchona  tree,  which  also 
is  found  in  quantity  in  the  hot  humid  forests  on  the  eastern  slopes 
of  the  high  Andes,  the  cascarilla  bark  of  this  part  of  South  Ame- 
rica being  the  most  esteemed  of  all  the  varieties,  fetching  by 
far  the  highest  price  in  the  market,  and  being  considered  the 
richest  in  quinine*.    Notwithstanding  the  great  inducements 

*  Most  of  the  men  employed  in  the  hark  trade  are  not  pure  Indians, 
but  cholos.  When,  in  1861, 1  was  in  this  district,  I  obtained  from  the  ca»- 
carilleros  a  quantity  of  the  seeds  of  what  they  considered  the  most  valuable  of 
all  the  very  numerous  kinds  of  this  tree,  and  forwarded  them  to  Sir  Roderick 
Murchison,  who,  however,  did  not  receive  them  before  1864;  they  were  sent 
bv  him  to  Kew;  but  the  replv  was  discouraging,  since  it  was  to  the  efiect 
that  they  must  be  far  too  old  to  germinate.  In  June  1806,  however,  Sir 
Roderick  wrote  to  me  that  he  had  heard  from  Dr.  Hooker  that  they  had  been 
successfully  raised  at  Kew;  but  further  information  I  have  not  received. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  267 

held  out  to  the  Aymaras  by  the  extremely  high  rates  of  wages^  the 
Indians  will  not  enter  these  regions  until  all  other  resources  fail 
them ;  for  they  have  an  intense  horror  of  these  warm  climates, 
where  they,  as  a  rule,  die  off  so  very  rapidly  that  but  a  small  pro- 
portion of  those  who  enter  ever  return.  For  this  reason,  there- 
fore, it  is  that  the  vegetable  riches  and  the  rich  gold-deposits  of 
this  vast  tropical  region  remain  as  yet  quite  undeveloped;  the 
cultivation  of  the  coffee,  cacao,  &;c.  is  carried  on  on  a  very  small 
scale ;  and  the  great  extent  of  abandoned  and  now  overgrown 
coca  plantations  attest  the  imwillingness  of  the  Aymaras  to 
colonize  regions  so  prejudicial  to  their  health,  now  that  they 
have  been  freed  from  the  Spanish  tyranny  which  previously 
forced  them  away  from  their  homes  like  slaves,  to  cultivate 
these  plantations  for  the  sole  benefit  of  their  oppressors. 

The  animals  domesticated  by  the  Aymaras  are  the  llama, 
alpaca,  sheep,  and  homed  cattle ;  the  horse,  mule,  and  ass,  but 
more  especidly  the  latter,  are  also  reared  by  them.  All  of  these 
animals,  with  exception  of  the  llama  and  alpaca,  are  very  dif- 
ferent in  appearance  from  the  fine  beasts  found  in  the  lower 
regions  of  South  America ;  the  horse  especially,  although  ori- 
ginally of  the  same  Andalusian  parentage,  degenerates  greatly, 
becomes  in  these  highlands  a  small  scraggy  pony,  with  but 
little  strength  or  endurance,  and  altogether  a  very  inferior  ani- 
mal to  what  it  is  either  in  the  mountainous  Chili  or  the  level 
pampas  of  the  Argentine  Republic.  Notwithstanding  Tschudi's 
statement  that  the  dog  will  not  live  in  the  very  high  regions,  this 
animal  is  everywhere  found  in  abundance,  and,  as  a  rule,  is  a 
surly  beast,  apparently  much  resembling  his  Indian  master  in 
character,  and  usually  a  very  mongrel-looking  animal.  Cats 
are  also  abundant;  and  occasionally  I  have  noticed  some  of  very 
great  size.  Pigs  and  domestic  fowls  are  also  common ;  but  I  do 
not  remember  having  seen  a  tame  goose  or  duck  amongst  the 
Indians.  Their  huts  often  swarm  with  guinea-pigs,  which  are 
great  favourites  with  them,  and  whose  dirty-yellow-looking  flesh 
is  considered  a  delicacy  by  the  Indians,  although  I  never  liked 
it.  Cows  are  rarely  seen  in  large  numbers,  and  milk  is  seldom 
procurable  except  near  towns;  oxen  are  used  in  ploughing. 
Upon  asking  an  Indian  why  they  did  not  milk  their  alpacas  or 
llamas,  he  replied  that  they  gave  more  kicks  than  milk.  The 
llamas  are  shorn  with  shears,  in  the  ordinary  way,  for  the  sake  of 
their  wool ;  but  the  wool  of  the  alpacas,  for  what  precise  reason 

Although  living  in  the  interior  of  Bolivia  when  I  collected  these  seeds,  I  had 
not  at  the  time  the  remotest  idea  that  Mr.  C.  Markham  was  then  in  PerUi 
sent  out  hy  the  government  of  India  for  the  purpose  of  ohtaining  Cinchona 
plants. 


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268  David  Fobbks— -On  the  Aymara  Indians 

I  do  not  know^  is  cut  off  with  a  knife^  the  animal  lying  down,  with 
his  head  held  by  a  woman  between  her  legs,  while  the  man  all  the 
time  cuts  off  the  long  hair  or  wool :  the  Indians  declare  that,  un- 
less a  woman  holds  them  in  this  position,  they  cannot  keep  the 
animal  quiet.  The  flesh  of  the  alpaca  is  eaten,  but  not  unless  killed 
by  accident;  I  do  not  think  that  the  Indians  make  a  rule  of 
slaughtering  them  for  food,  probably  because  of  their  greater 
value,  since  the  wool,  especially  of  the  white  alpaca,  is  extremely 
sought  after,  and  when  I  was  in  Bolivia  fetched  £rom  60  to  80 
dollars  per  quintal  of  100  Spanish  pounds,  and  even  more,  whilst 
the  price  of  the  animal  itself  in  Bolivia  varied  from  5  to  8 
dollars. 

From  the  immense  difference  between  the  native  climate  of 
the  alpaca,  which  is  cold  and  wet,  with  a  moist  and  extremely 
attenuated  atmosphere,  and  that  of  the  dry,  hot,  denser  atmo- 
sphere of  Australia,  I  always  maintained  that  the  experiment  of 
introducing  alpacas  into  that  country  could  not  prove  a  com- 
mercial success,  believing  that,  even  \£  the  animal  in  the  course 
of  some  few  generations  could  be  so  far  acclimatized  as  to  be 
able  to  live  under  so  different  circumstances,  the  wool  must 
change  its  nature,  so  as  to  become  shorter  and  more  hairy,  like 
that  of  the  camel,  and  consequently  more  suited  to  the  animal's 
comfort  in  a  hot  climate,  and  that  it  could  not  retain  the  long 
soft  silky  character  evidently  provided  by  nature  to  keep  the 
animal  warm  up  in  the  cold  highlands  of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 

The  alpaca  in  Peru  and  Bolivia  has  never  been  thoroughly 
tamed,  and  is  left  in  a  semi- wild  state  to  graze  up  amongst  the 
highest  mountains  close  to  the  borders  of  perpetual  snow,  its 
fleece  improving  in  quality  in  proportion  as  the  country  which 
it  inhabits  is  more  elevated. 

As  beasts  of  burden  the  Indian,  except  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  towns,  seldom  possesses  either  horses  or  mides, 
but  in  the  more  temperate  parts  often  has  asses,  which  are 
generally  very  small  and  inferior  specimens  of  the  animal ;  his 
true  beast  of  burden  is  still,  as  in  the  most  ancient  times,  the 
llama*,  or,  in  Aymara,  ''  ccaura,'*  on  which  he  carries  not  only 

•  In  Humboldt's  <  Aspects  of  Natme,'  1649,  p.  140,  it  is  stated,  ^  Since 
the  introduction  of  the  more  useful  mules  and  asses,  the  custom  of  learinff 
and  using  the  llama  or  alpaea  as  beasts  of  burden  in  the  mountains  and 
amongst  the  mines  has  much  decreased."  This  is  altogether  incorrect  \  for 
although  it  is  true  that  the  number  of  mules  in  employment  is  probably  now 
greater  than  before,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  traffic  itself  has  greatly 
augmented ;  and  whilst  I  was  in  Bolivia  the  llamas  used  for  transport,  so  fur 
from  having  diminished,  were  probably  greater  in  number  than  at  any  pre- 
vious period.  As  for  the  alpacas,  thev  are  never  used,  or  even  attemptea  to 
be  used  as  beasts  of  burden — and,  as  mr  as  I  could  learn,  never  were,  even  in 
the  most  ancient  periods.    Further,  on  pp.  139  and  140,  herds  of  tame  llamas 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  269 

all  his  agricultural  and  other  produce  at  home^  but  transports 
the  metallic  ores^  wood,  iron,  salt,  and  other  exports  and  im- 
ports of  the  trade  of  the  country, — the  cascarilla  or  quinine 
bark,  which  is  packed  up  in  hide  bales  called  serous,  too  large 
for  the  animal,  as  well  as  other  bulky  articles,  being,  however, 
always  carried  to  and  fro  by  mules. 

The  cargo  or  load  for  a  llama,  when  on  a  long  journey,  does 
not  exceed  100  lbs.  in  weight ;  and  since  no  packsaddle  is  em- 
ployed, the  load  being  equally  divided  on  each  side  of  the  back, 
and  tied  on  to  the  animal's  back  by  a  soft  rope  of  llama  wool, 
with  or  without  a  cloth  or  skin  under  it,  it  must  be  also  of  such 
a  nature  as  not  to  hurt  or  tear  the  skin  of  the  llama.  For  short 
journeys  I  have  knowu  llamas  to  take  122  lbs.  wool,  but  not 
more.  To  each  33  loaded  llamas  one  driver,  or  Uamero,  as  he  is 
termed  in  Spanish,  is  required;  all  contracts  for  carriage  of 
goods  by  Uamas  are  consequently  made  by  the  "  piara,"  or  33 
quintals  or  llama-cargoes. 

The  llama  travels  very  slowly,  and  will  not  be  forced  out  of 
his  natural  pace ;  if  too  much  urged  or  if  overloaded,  they  im- 
mediately stop  and  kneel  down,  and  then  cannot  be  persuaded 
to  go  on  unless  relieved.  When  thus  kneeling  down,  they  look 
exactly  like  so  many  small  African  camels.  The  Indian  driver 
walks  alongside  them,  usually  spinning  llama  wool  into  yam 
with  his  distaff  as  he  walks  along ;  as  these  animals  will  never 
eat  at  night,  they  browse  as  thev  proceed  on  their  way,  and 
consequently,  at  the  pace  they  go,  do  not  make  a  longer  average 
journey  than  four  leagues,  or  about  twelve  miles,  per  day  :  one 
of  the  most  sagacious  old  llamas  in  each  piara  goes  at  the  head 
of  the  troup  and  has  a  small  beU  suspended  round  his  neck. 
The  cost  of  a  llama  is  from  four  to  five  dollars ;  the  white  llamas, 
which  are  more  esteemed  than  theother8,are  often  decorated  with 
tassels  of  red  wool  attached  to  their  ears,  and  sometimes  to  their 
sides  or  breast  also ;  the  greater  number  of  the  llamas,  however, 
are  black  or  deep  brown;  yet  occasionally  particoloured  ones 
are  seen.  When  meeting  others  or  any  traveUers  who  may  pass 
them,  they  stretch  out  their  long  necks  and  stare  at  the  passers- 
by  with  their  large  eyes.    If  offended,  they  will  stamp  their  feet 

in  Chili,  are  mentioned :  it  is  added  that  ''the  moromoio  of  Chili  appears  to  be  a 
mere  variety  of  llama,  and  that  in  that  country  the  wild  and  tame  huanaco 
are  distinguished  by  separate  names — the  wild  being  called  ''  luan  "  and  the 
tame  '*  Chilehueque : ''  these  remarks  are  also  incorrect,  since  llamas  of  any 
land  are  not  even  known  in  Chili,  nor  are  there  an^  tame  huanacos ;  the 
name  Luan  or  Lluan  is  applied  in  Chili  to  an  artificiallv  brought-about 
hybrid  between  the  sheep  and  the  goat,  cultivated,  especially  in  Aconcag^ua, 
for  the  sake  of  its  fur,  wnich  is  much  esteemed  for  saddle-cloths,  owing  to 
its  great  strength,  length  of  hur  (not  wool),  and  durability. 


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270  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

with  rage,  like  a  woman,  and  spit  at  their  opponent's  face, 
which,  as  the  saliva  is  very  acrid,  usually  makes  the  Bkin 
smart. 

The  Aymara  language  is  one  which  as  yet  has  attracted  but 
very  little  attention,  and  has  even  by  some  writers  been  spoken 
of  as  a  dialect  of  the  Quechua  or  language  of  the  Incas,  notwith- 
standing that  there  are  many  reasons  for  believing  that  it  must 
be  by  far  the  older  of  the  two  languages ;  and  as  many  words  are 
identical  or  very  much  allied  in  both  languages,  and  as  the 
general  features  of  the  grammars  are  much  alike,  I  am  inclined 
to  the  opinion  that  the  Quechua  language  was  of  a  very  mixed 
character,  like  our  present  English,  and  that  it  had  its  origin  in 
the  Aymara, — also  that,  taking  all  circumstances  into  due  con- 
sideration, the  probability  is  that  Manco  Capac,  the  founder  of 
Cusco  and  of  the  Inca  dynasty,  was  an  Aymara,  who,  after  leaving 
the  lake  Titicaca,  the  home  of  the  Aymara  nation,  founded  a 
colony  in  the  more  genial  region  about  Cusco,  where  he  and  his 
successors  established  themselves  and  extended  their  conquests 
or  annexations  on  all  sides,  incorporating  with  themselves  the 
numerous  minor  tribes  which  then  held  the  country,  into  one 
great  Peruvian  or  Inca  empire,  whilst  at  some  time  their  lan- 
guages became  grafted  on  to  and  assimilated  with  the  original 
Aymara  to  form  a  much  richer  and  more  perfect  language,  the 
Quechua — "La  Lengua  generaP'  (or  universal  language)  of  Peru, 
as  it  was  called  by  the  Spaniards — which  still  retains  many  traces 
of  its  parentage.  The  original  language  of  Manco  Capac,  or  secret 
language  known  only  to  the  members  of  the  Inca  families,  would, 
according  to  this  supposition,  have  been  Aymara.  Having  con- 
quered the  greater  part  of  the  tribes  of  Western  and  Northern 
Peru,  the  Incas  turned  their  arms  southwards,  where  they  also 
overran  and  annexed  the  Aymara  country  around  Lake  Titi- 
caca, from  which,  according  to  their  own  traditions,  the  founder 
of  their  nation,  Manco  Capac,  had  originally  proceeded. 

Neither  the  Quechua  nor  Aymara  Indians  appear  to  have  ever 
possessed  a  written  language^;  and  it  is  uncertain  whether  the 
latter  ever  made  use  of  the  Quipus,  or  system  of  recording  events 
by  knotted  cords,  which  is  said  to  have  attained  a  great  degree 
of  perfection  amongst  the  Quechuas  in  the  time  of  the  Incas. 
In  many  parts  of  the  Aymara  country,  however,  representations, 
usually  on  a  very  large  scale,  are  seen,  cut  into  the  mountain- 
sides, of  llamas,  pumas,  men,  circles,  rectangles,  crosses,  and 
other  figures,  several  of  which  have  already  been  described  by 
BoUaert.  Some  of  these  figures  appear  to  have  been  intended 
to  mark  places  of  burial,  since  mummies  have  been  found  in- 

*  Nevertheless  the  Aymaras  have  in  their  language  a  word,  '^  quelcana,"' 
signifying  to  write. 


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HIETROCLYPHICS      -     SOUTHERN      ^PtrRU  O 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  271 

terred  close  to  them ;  whilst  others  are  supposed  to  serve  as 
indicators^  to  point  out  the  direction  of  roads :  thus  the  path  to 
the  pass  across  the  Andes^  at  Cabesa  de  Vaca^  in  the  south  of  the 
Desert  of  Atacama^  is,  I  am  informed,  pointed  out  by  figures  of 
Uamas  cut  in  the  side  of  the  rocks,  with  their  heads  all  turned 
in  its  direction.  This  also,  I  imagine,  is  the  case  with  the  figure 
of  a  llama,  shown  fig.  10,  Plate  XXI.,  which  I  saw  on  the  side 
of  a  hill  at  Pena,  in  the  saline  desert,  or  pampa,  of  Tamargual, 
in  Tarapaca,  the  eight  triangular  marks  on  the  body  of  the 
animal  possibly  signifying  the  number  of  hours'  journey  to  the 
next  inhabited  place. 

Besides  these,  however,  there  are  seen  at  several  places  in 
Peru  rocks  or  large  loose  stones,  more  or  less  covered  with  a 
species  of  hieroglyphic  markings;  and  through  the  kindness  of 
Professor  Boeck,  of  Arequipa,  who  copied  them  for  me,  I  am  en- 
abled to  give  an  example  of  these  in  Pis.  XXII.  and  XXIII., 
which  show  the  figures  on  the  sides  of  fifteen  large  stones 
(amongst  others)  which  are  situated  between  Uchumaya  and 
Vitor,  in  the  south  of  Peru,  and  have  been  called  by  the  Spaniards 
'  Las  Campanas,'  or  '  La  Biblioteca  del  Diabolo,'  i.  e.  the  Bells,  or 
the  Library  of  the  Devil,  the  former  name  having  been  given 
because  these  stones  are  very  sonorous  when  struck  by  a  ham- 
mer or  stone.  Whether  these  symbols  are  of  ancient  Aymara 
origin,  or  were  engraved  by  Quechuas  subsequent  to  the  Inca 
conquest  of  this  part  of  the  coimtry,  is  uncertain ;  and  I  do  not 
make  any  attempt  in  the  present  communication  to  decipher 
them,  or  explain  their  possible  signification,  my  object  being  to 
bring  them  before  the  attention  of  those  who  have  made  such 
matters  a  special  study. 

The  Aymara  language  is  probably  one  of  the  most  guttural 
in  the  world,  much  more  so  than  even  the  Quechua,  which  is 
probably  considerably  richer  in  words;  many  of  the  Spanish 
writers,  both  ancient  and  modem,  have  described  it  as  a  beauti- 
ful and  manly  language — according  to  them, ''  as  sonorous  as  the 
Spanish,  yet  as  energetic  and  laconic  as  the  English.^'  The 
Aymaras  themselves  are  evidently  proud  of  their  language,  and 
in  some  parts,  as  about  La  Paz,  are  said  to  hold  meetings  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  up  its  study,  and  discussing  the  purity  or 
pronunciation  of  words  or  dialects  spoken  in  the  various  districts ; 
and  I  have  been  assured  that  some  of  the  speakers  at  these  re- 
unions have  not  at  all  been  deficient  in  the  powers  of  oratory. 

The  Aymara  alphabet  may  be  regarded  as  represented  by 
the  following  twenty-three  letters  (of  which  four,  cc,  il,  pp  and  tt 
may  be  looked  upon  as  double  sounds) : — ^A,  C,  CC,  K,  E,  H,  I, 
J,  L,  M,  N,  »,  O,  P,  PP,  Q,  R,  S,  T,  TT,  U,  W  and  Y.  The 
consonants  B,  D,  F,  6,  V,  X  and  Z  are  altogether  wanting. 


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272  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indiana 

whilst  the  letters  E^  R,  fi,  and  probably  also  J^  are  never  used 
in  the  commencement  of  a  word. 

The  letters  a,  e,  i,  j,  I  (both  when  single  and  donbled)^  m,  n, 
^f  o,  p,  g,  r,  s,  t,  u,  and  y  are  pronounced  as  in  Spanish,  the  h* 
and  10  as  in  English ;  but  as  the  Spanish  do  not  have  the  latter, 
they  replace  it,  when  writing  Aymara,  by  the  letters  "  ku/'  which, 
in  order  to  prevent  confusion,  is  retained  in  the  vocabulary  given 
in  the  Appendix  C. 

The  double  letter  cCy  or  ck  (as  it  is  sometimes  written),  is  also 
known  in  Quechua,  and  is  much  harsher  than  either  c  or  k,  being 
a  combination  of  a  deep  guttural  with  a  sound  from  the  roof  of 
the  mouth  at  the  same  time :  we  have  no  identical  sound  in  any 
European  language ;  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  acquire,  causing 
much  trouble  to  the  beginner  in  Aymara,  especially  as  the  words 
spelt  wither  are  quite  different  in  signification  from  those  with  the 
single  c,  which  is  pronounced  as  in  Spanish  or  English.  Thus, 
for  example,  we  have : — 

Camiri,  Creator,    and    ccamifi,  rich. 

chaca,  a  bridge        „      cchaca,  a  bone. 

tonco^  Indian  com  „      toneco,  a  locker  or  small  box. 

Although  a  third  sound,  or  "*,"  is  usually  enumerated 
amongst  the  letters  of  the  Aymara  alphabet,  I  confess  that  I 
was  in  the  majority  of  instances  quite  unable  to  make  any  di- 
stinct separation  between  it  and  the  ordinary  c,  and  therefore 
have  put  most  of  the  words  in  which  these  letters  occur  under 
the  latter.  The  only  examples  I  am  quite  sure  of  are  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

Karitha,  lied,  caritha,  tired,  and  ccaritha,  cut;  as  also  kisimira, 
a  large  wasp,  kinchata,  heart-disease,  &c.  A  few  more  are  given 
in  the  vocabulary. 

pp  in  Aymara  is  a  very  strongly  accented  p,  being  an  intensely 
labial  sound ;  tt  is  what  may  be  termed  an  exaggerated  or  very 
forcibly.pronounced  and  drawn-out  t.     For  example : — 

tanta,  together,  united  ;         ttantta,  bread ; 
tacana,  to  seek ;  ttacana,  to  hate ; 

taque,  for;  ttaqw,  a  road. 

When  writing  Aymara,  the  Spaniards  express  the  sound  of  w 
by  the  letters  "  Ati,"  and  frequently  place  g  for  A  or  c,  o  instead 
of  tt,  or  /  for  r.     Thus  they  write  huah^hua  (a  baby)  for  wauHi, 

•  The  Aymarafi  in  some  districts  occasionally,  like  the  Cockneys,  add  tha 
"  h "  when  not  required :  thus  they  often  pronounce  "  unia "  water,  ta  Jl 
spelt  "huma"  and  when  speaking  Spanish  will  say  "  hutil "  for  "util,"  "hare  ^ 
for  "  ave,"  &c. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru,  273 

guanaco  and  guano  for  huanaco  and  huana^  yungas  for  yuncas, 
punco  ior  puncuy  &c. 

The  noun  in  Asmara  has  but  one  declension,  the  cases  being 
effected  by  the  addition  of  a  termination,  thus  atiqui,  a  father ; 
atiguina,  of  a  father.  The  plural  is  formed  by  the  addition  of 
"  naca/'  thus  auquinaca,  fathers ;  auqtdnacana,  of  fathers.  The 
difference  of  gender  is  expressed  either  by  distinct  words,  as 
chacha  or  haqui,  a  man ;  marmi,  a  woman ;  or  by  the  addition 
of  the  words  urco  male,  and  ccachu  female;  thus  anocara  urco, 
a  dog ;  anocara  ccachu,  a  bitch ;  atahualpa  urco,  a  cock ;  atahu- 
alpa  ccachu,  a  hen.  The  Aymara  language  is,  like  the  Quechua, 
extraordinarily  rich  in  family  nouns,  L  e.  those  denoting  degrees 
of  relationship :  I  made  a  list  of  no  fewer  than  43  separate  words, 
signifying  each  some  distinct  degree  of  family  connexion; 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  many  more  beyond  this 
number.  The  termination  ^^  collo  '^  when  added  to  a  substan- 
tive magnifies  its  meaning,  thus,  for  example,  achaco,  a  mouse, 
gives  achacollo,  a  large  mouse  or  rat;  ccoca,  a  tree,  affords  in 
like  manner  ccocacollo  a  forest,  or  aggregation  of  many  trees. 

The  pronouns  are  declined  like  the  nouns;  there  are,  how- 
ever, two  plurals  to  the  pronoun  na,  I, — nanaca,  we,  being  the 
exclusive  one,  used,  for  example,  when  it  is  said  we  shall  teach 
another,  in  contradistinction  to  huissa  we,  the  inclusive  one, 
employed  when  it  is  said  we  shall  teach  ourselves.  The  posses- 
sive pronouns,  ha,  my,  ma,  thy,  pa,  his,  ssa,  ours,  are  declined 
almost  the  same  as  nouns,  and  are  attached  to  the  end  of  the 
substantive,  thus  uta,  a  house,  utaha,  my  house,  utahana,  of  my 
house,  utanacahana,  of  my  houses.  The  addition  of  '^  self*'  is 
expressed  by  placing  '*  quiqui  '*  before  the  possessive  pronoun, 
thus  quiqutha,  I  myself,  quiquima,  thou  thyself,  &c. 

Adjectives  when  alone  are  declined  like  substantives,  but  if 
placed  before  substantives  are  unaltered  in  all  the  cases,  whether 
the  nouns  be  masculine  or  feminine ;  thus,  amauta  chacha,  a 
wise  man,  amauta  marmi,  a  wise  woman,  and  in  the  genitive 
amauta  chachana,  not  amautana  chachana. 

The  Aymara  numerals  are  as  follows  : — 

1,  maya.  10,  tunca. 

2,  paya.  11, may  an. 

3,  quimsa.  12, pay  an. 

4,  pusi.  13, quimsan. 

5,  ppisca.  14, pusin. 

6,  sojta.  15, ppiscan. 

7,  pacalco.  16, sojtan. 

8,  quimsacalco.  17, pacalcon. 

9,  llatunca.  18, quimsacalcon. 

VOL.  II.  T 

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274  David  Fobbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

19,  tuDca  Uatuncan.  80,  quimisacalcotimca. 

20,  patunca.  90,  Uatimcatimca. 
80,  quimsatunca.                         100,  pataca. 

40,  pusituuca.  500,  piscapataca. 

50,  ppiscatimca.  1000,  patacatuncani,  or 

60,  Bojiatunca.  hacbu. 
70,  pacalootunca. 

Although  there  is  only  one  conjugation  for  all  yerbs  in  the 
Aymara  language,  many  circumstances  combine  to  render  it  ex- 
tremely difficult  for  a  foreigner  to  acquire  any  thing  like  a  correct 
or  complete  knowledge  of  this  part  of  the  grammar 'i^,  especially 
from  the  use  of  particles  which  modify  the  sense,  and  the  system 
of  formation  of  what  are  called  by  the  Spaniards  ''transitive'' 
verbs,  in  which  a  combination  of  the  verb  and  pronoun  is  ex- 
pressed. The  construction  of  many  irregular  verbs  which  re- 
quire to  be  syncopized,  under  certain  circumstances,  in  order  to 
modify  or  vary  their  signification,  and  the  tendency  in  some 
districts  to  shorten,  or  cut  out  letters,  or  even  syllables,  al- 
though to  be  regarded  only  as  a  local  or  dialectic  corruption, 
is  nevertheless  extremely  perplexing  to  the  student  in  a  coun- 
try where  all  must  be  learned  from  actual  vivd  voce  contact  with 
the  Indians  themselves.  In  order  to  show  that  the  language  is 
a  rich  one  in  synonyms,  or  rather  in  words  expressing  but  very 
slight  diiferences  in  meaning,  I  will  take  the  verbs  in  Aymara 
signifying  ''to  bring''  or  "fetch"  as  an  example,  which,  it  will 
be  seen,  vary  according  to  the  nature  of  the  thing  referred  to, 
thus : — 

Apanima  is  applied  when  the  object  is  held  in  the  hand,  as  a 

jug  of  water. 
Hiscanima,  when,  as  with  a  horse,  it  must  be  lead  by  a  lasso. 
Iriptanima,  when  moved  like  a  chair,  table,  &c. 
Aptanima,  when  lifted  up  after  having  fallen  down. 
YunimUy  when  the  animd  or  person  is  brought  along,  whether 

he  will  or  will  not  come. 
Catatinima,  when  it  requires  to  be  dragged,  like  a  large  stone 

&c. 

*  On  the  whole  I  imagine  there  are  not  more  than  four  or  five  publicatioiis 
in  this  language ;  and  I  am  satisfied  that,  in  greater  part,  at  least,  the  sources 
from  which  these  have  been  compiled  have  been  far  from  pure  AymaiA;  for 
I  have  found  that  a  large  number  of  words  employed  in  them  are  of  Quechua 
origin,  not  used  by  the  Aymaras,  except  in  tne  provinces  borderinff  on  the 
Quechua-speaking  districts;  and  the  works  themselves  contain  abundant 
proofs  that  the  authors  have  been  more  versed  in  that  language  than  in  _pare 
Aymara.  Although  I  made  all  possible  eflPorts  during  my  residence  in  Boli- 
via, and  advertised  in  the  papers  that  I  would  pay  the  high  sum  of  60  dol- 
lars for  a  copy  of  an  Aymara  dictionary  or  grammar,  Iround  it  impossible 
to  procure  one. 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  275 

Yanima,  when  the  thing  is  proportionally  very  long,  like  a 

pole  or  tree. 
Iranima,  when  it  is  round:  this  word  is  always  applied  to 

money. 
Asinima,  when  hollow  or  concave  like  a  bowl,  plate,  or  trough. 
Apakanima,  when  removed  altogether  from  a  place. 
Apgunima,  when  it  has  been  taken  out  of  a  place  which  it  fits. 
Unkutayema,  when  it,  as  it  were,  is  shifted  from  one  place  to 

another. 
Irpanitna,  when  to  be  brought  to  another  person. 
Iscanima,  when  the  thing,  or  person,  requires  guiding,  as, 

for  example,  when  a  blind  man  is  brought  to  another''^. 

And  it  is  probable  that  others  might  be  added  to  this  list  of  four- 
teen, which  I  made  in  the  district  of  Omasuyos. 

Although  the  Aymaras  make  a  rule  of  appearing  as  unde- 
monstrative as  possible  before  whites,  they  have,  nevertheless, 
various  interjections  in  their  language,  which  are  as  follows : — ^to 
denote  imploration,  Af;  admiration,  Huay ! ;  grief,  Atach! ; 
joy,  AMy  ! ;  disgust,  ytity ! ;  unconcern,  coWess,  or  indiffer- 
ence, alala  ! 

In  the  Aymara  there  is  the  same  tendency  as  in  the  Quechua 
and  many  other  of  the  South-American  languages  (in  common 
•  also  with  some  of  those  of  North  America  and  Australasia)  to 
repeat  words,  as  corocoro,  caricari,  ninanina,  tiscotisco,  8cc.  In 
some  instances  it  appears  to  be  a  form  of  plural,  or  of  magni- 
fying the  signification;  in  others  (like  mocco-mocco,  knotty, 
hilly,  from  mocco,  a  knot  or  hill ;  umauma,  watery,  juicy,  from 
uma,  water)  it  converts  the  substantive  into  an  adjective ;  but  I 
am  not  able  to  state  any  rule  in  reference  to  it. 

In  the  scale  of  languages  the  Aymara  does  not  by  any  means 
occupy  a  low  position;  it  is,  probably,  only  second  to  the 
Quechua  in  its  powers  both  of  description  and  expression,  which 
are  conveyed  in  the  most  terse,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  precise 
language.  From  the  character  which  I  have  given  of  the  Indians 
themselves,  one  would  not  expect  any  great  amount  of  sentiment 
to  enter  into  their  conversation ;  yet,  in  addressing  one  another, 
there  is  a  good  deal  of  what  has  been  regarded  as  the  figure  of 
speech  characteristic  of  eastern  nations ;  thus  an  Aymara  In- 
^an  would,  when  paying  his  addresses,  be  likely  to  make  use  of 
some  such  expression  as  the  following :  '^  Suma  pancara  chuima 
churiricsma^'  which,  literally  translated,  is  '^  Beautiful  flower  I 
desire  to  present  you  with  my  heart.'' 

The  Lord's  prayer  in  Aymara  is  as  follows : — 

Nanacan  auquia  alajpachanacana  cancta,  sutima  hamppati- 
*  All  given  in  the  imperative  mood. 

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276  David  Fobbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

tapa^  ccapaj  cancanama  nanacaru  hutpana^  muiumama  lurat* 
&pana^  camisa  acapachan  ucamaraqui  alajpachansa*  Unimjama 
bichumm  ttanttaha  churapjeta^  huchanacahasti  pampachara- 
quita,  camisa  nanacasa^  nanacaru  huchachacirinaca  pampacha- 
pjta  hucama^  faaniraqui  huatecaru  tincufiahasti  haitaristati^  nan- 
canacatsti  qquespiaraqnita.     Amen''^. 

The  first  workf  on  the  Aymara  language  known  to  have  been 
printed  was  the  '  Orammatica  Aymara  por  Bertonio '  in  Rome, 
1603 ;  a  second  edition  of  this,  called  the  '  Arte  de  la  lengua 
Aymara/  appeared  in  4to,  in  1612^  and  was  probably  printed  at 
Juli,  on  the  lake  Titicaca^  in  Peru^  as  in  the  same  year  Bertonio 
brought  out  in  that  town  a  '  Vocabulario  de  la  lengua  Aymara ' 
in  8vo^  which  still  is  the  only  attempt  at  a  dictionary  known,  and 
is  now  so  scarce  that  I  could  not  find  a  copy  in  Bolivia;  subse- 
quently in  1616,  in  Lima,  there  appeared  a  Grammar  or  'Arte 
Aymara  por  Torrez  de  Rubio,'  12mo;  and  these  works,  along  with 
two  little  pamphlets  of  a  few  pages  each,  published  in  La  Paz, 
respectively  entitled  '  Catechismo  de  la  Doctrina  Christiana,  tra- 
ducido  del  Castellano  en  Aimara  i  Quechua  por  el  Presbiter  Jose 
Gregorio  Jurado,'  1860,  and  a  '  Breve  CatsJogo  de  Aymara  de 
las  voces  mas  usuales  al  Castellano,'  1857,  complete,  as  far  as  I 
could  learn^  the  entire  literature  of  this  so  little  studied  language. 

Being  compelled  by  circumstances  to  live  some  years  amongst 
these  Indians  in  the  most  out-of-the-way  part  of  the  Aymara 
district,  I  was  obliged  (since  all  my  efforts  to  obtain  or,  even,  see 
a  grammar  or  dictionary  were  fruitless)  to  form  a  vocabulary  for 
my  own  use;  and  as  the  words  in  this  were  obtained  direct  from 
the  Indians  themselves,  quite  independently  of  any  previously' 
published  sources,  and  as  I  believe  many  of  them  are  not  to  be 
found  in  the  dictionary  of  Bertonio,  I  have  added  this  in  the 
Appendix  C,  under  the  idea  that  it  may  prove  useful  in  the 
future  study  of  this  very  interesting  language. 

In  concluding  this  communication,  I  have  but  to  add  that  its 
entire  substance  was  written  down  during  my  residence  and 
traveb  in  Bolivia  and  Peru^  in  the  years  from  1859  to  1863  in- 
clusive, where  I  had  no  opportunity  of  consulting  any  works  of 
previous  travellers  in  these  regions,  and  consequently  had  to 

*  This  version  was  that  which  was  authorized  for  general  use  in  the  de- 
partment of  La  Paz,  and  published  by  the  Presbyter  Jurado  in  1860;  and 
therefore  I  should  regard  it  as  probably  more  correct  than  the  version  (which 
differs  somewhat  from  it)  given  by  Tschudi,  <  Die  Kechua  Sprache  *  (\^en), 
p.  19,  as  taken  from  Bayer,  in  Murro,  *  Journal  fiir  Kunst  u.  literatur*  iii 
p.  173. 

t  Before  this  I  understand  that  a  series  of  Questions  in  Aymara  were 
printed  in  the  ^  Confesionario  en  la  lengua  Espafiola,  en  la  eeneral  del  Cwco 
and  en  la  Aymara,  impreso  en  los  Reyes,  1565,  por  Pndn  Diego  de  Al- 
coba^' 


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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  277 

content  myself  with  recording  only  what  fell  directly  under  my 
personal  observation.  Since  returning  to  Europe,  however,  I 
have  consulted  all  the  works  relating  to  this  part  of  South  Ame- 
rica which  I  could  lay  my  hands  upon,  with  a  view  to  rewriting 
the  whole ;  yet,  notwithstanding  that  I  find  that  in  some  minor 
points  I  differ  from  those  who  have  gone  before  me,  and  that  in 
others  I  have  been,  at  least  in  part,  anticipated,  more  especially 
by  D^Orbigny,  I  have  upon  mature  consideration  considered  it 
best  to  communicate  the  manuscript  as  it  stands,  with  but  a  few 
remarks  interpolated,  in  order  to  explain  some  discrepancies 
which  otherwise  would  not  be  quite  so  clear  to  the  reader. 


APPENDIX. 

A.  Table  of  detailed  Measurements  of  Asmara  Indians,    (See  p.  282.) 

The  only  reference  to  any  previous  measurement  of  the  stature  or 
relative  proportions  of  these  Indians  is  contained  in  D*Orbigny's 
work  on  '  L'Homme  Am^ricain,'  tome  i.  p.  102,  where  he  gives  the  ex- 
treme height  of  the  Aymara  men  as  1*65  metre,  equal  to  64*96  English 
inches,  the  average  height  being,  according  to  him,  1*60  metre  or 
62*99  English  inches ;  whilst  the  average  height  of  the  woman  he 
regards  as  1*46  metre  or  57'48  inches.  As  before  stated,  my  mea- 
surements led  me  to  the  figures  63  inches  for  the  average  and  64  the 
extreme  height  of  the  men,  and  56  inches  as  about  the  average  height 
of  the  women.  D'Orbigny  does  not  report  having  made  any  mea- 
surements of  the  other  proportions  of  the  body. 

The  measurements  or  the  different  individuals  given  in  the  Table 
are  stated  in  English  inches,  from  which  the  proportional  numbers, 
or  thousandths  of  their  entire  stature,  are  in  each  case  calculated  and 
given  in  the  next  column  ;  in  addition,  the  following  remarks  were 
noted  down  when  measuring  the  various  individuals  numbered  in 
the  columns  of  the  Table. 

No.  1.  Bolivian  Aymara  from  the  Puna  region  near  La  Paz,  about 
14,000  feet  elevation  above  the  sea ;  age  somewhere  between  30  and 
40 ;  measured  afber  death,  in  February  1860,  in  the  hospital  of  La 
Paz,  with  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Lopera.  *  As  death  had  resulted  from 
dysentery,  the  body  was  in  an  extremely  emaciated  condition,  and 
consequently  several  of  the  measurements  are  naturally  less  than 
would  be  the  case  if  the  same  individual  had  been  in  a  good  state  of 
health. 

The  features  and  expression  were  good ;  nose  aquiline ;  mouth 
not  large,  with  fine  teeth,  although  coloured  from  chewing  coca ;  the 
hair  of  the  head,  which  was  abundant,  was  drawn  backwards  and 


278  David  Fobbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

plaited  into  a  long  pigtail ;  it  was  'black,  perfectly  straight,  and  rather 
nne  in  texture.  No  trace  of  hair  under  the  arms  or  elsewhere  on 
the  body,  except  a  mere  trace  of  soft  hlack  hair  on  the  pubes. 

Owing  to  the  emaciated  condition  of  the  body,  the  contours  of  the 
limbs  were  more  than  usually  angular ;  but  the  muscles  were  not 
strongly  developed ;  the  surface-veins  on  the  legs  were  prominent. 

The  arch  of  the  lower  jaw,  measured  from  angle  to  angle,  was  7| 
inches,  or  120  thousandths  of  the  entire  stature ;  the  shoulder-blade 
6  inches,  or  96  thousandths ;  and  the  height  of  head  without  the 
lower  jaw  was  6^  inches,  or  105  thousanaths.  The  colour  of  the 
skin  was  a  reddish  brown,  the  face  being  somewhat  lighter  in  hue 
than  the  rest  of  the  body,  which  also  possessed  a  much  stronger 
odour  than  usual  in  these  Indians,  most  probably  due  to  dirt  and 
disease. 

No.  2.  Bolivian  Aymara  from  the  highlands  above  Sorata,  named 
Manuel  Chuquimia,  a  perfect  specimen  of  a  fine-built  young  Indian, 
about  20  years  of  age  and  in  a  perfect  state  of  health ;  measured  on 
the  2nd  of  March,  1861,  some  eighteen  hours  after  having  been  acci- 
dentally killed. 

The  features  and  expression  were  more  than  usually  good  and  pleas- 
ing; the  face  rather  round ;  nose  aquiline;  mouth  not  large;  the  teeth 
white  and  good ;  and  the  lips  of  a  faint  yellowish-red  tint  and  not 
thick.  The  eyes  were  of  a  deep  brown  colour,  somewhat  lenticular 
in  shape,  and  nearly,  but  not  altogether,  horizontal,  being  but  very 
slightly  inclined  inwards ;  the  eyelashes  were  black  and  thick-set,  and 
the  hair  of  the  eyebrows  black  and  rather  abundant. 

The  hair  of  the  head  was  drawn  backwards  and  plaited  into  one 
long  pigtail,  and  was  of  a  deep  brownish-black  colour,  abundant, 
perfectly  straight,  and  not  coarse  in  texture.  No  b^sird  or  hair 
otherwise  on  face,  under  arms,  or  on  limbs  or  body,  except  a  small 
fringe  of  soft  black  hair  on  pubes. 

The  arms  and  legs  were  well  formed,  the  contours  being  well 
rounded  off,  smooth,  with  neither  the  muscles  nor  sur&ce-veins  at  all 
prominent ;  the  hands  and  feet  small. 

The  skin  was  of  a  fine  soft  texture,  and  of  a  dirty  yellowish- 
brown  colour,  that  of  the  face  being  lighter  in  tint  than  the  body  or 
limbs.  The  nipples  of  the  mamm®  were  only  just  visible,  and  the 
umbilicus  quite  superficial.  The  penis  was  small  and  apparently 
situated  somewhat  higher  up  on  the  pubes  than  usual  The  measure- 
ments were  all  verified  by  Dr.  Cooke. 

No.  3.  Peruvian  Aymara  of  the  Puna,  from  Tanapilla  near  Tun- 
gullo,  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Titicaca,  close  to  the  confines  of 
Bolivia,  named  Simona  Mamani,  between  22  and  26  years  of  age, 
and  apparently  in  a  good  state  of  health  when  measured,  on  the  27^1 
June,  1861. 

Although  the  face  was  pock-marked  and  the  features  decidedlv  ugly, 
the  expression  was  neither  bad  nor  repulsive ;  the  eyes,  which  were 
brown,  were  very  slightly  inclined  inwards,  with  long  black  eyelashes 
and  rather  abundant  eyebrows. 

The  nose  was  rather  turned  up  at  the  extremity,  with  expanded  and 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  279 

open  nostrils ;  the  mouth  straight,  not  very  large,  with  fine  white 
teeth  and  lips,  which  were  not  flabby  or  thick,  and  had  a  brownish 
red  tint. 

The  hair  of  the  head  was  black,  not  coarse,  and  was  drawn  back- 
wards and  plaited  in  two  divisions  for  a  short  distance,  after  which 
the  whole  was  plaited  into  one  long  pigtaiL  No  trace  of  hair  on  the 
face  except  a  little  down  on  the  upper  lip ;  and  on  the  limbs,  under 
the  arms,  or  on  the  body  no  trace  was  seen}  beyond  a  few  black 
silky  hairs  on  the  pubes. 

The  limbs  were  rounded  in  outline  and  well  formed,  but  neither 
the  surface-veins  nor  muscular  development  were  at  all  prominent ; 
the  hands  and  feet  were  small,  and  the  second  toe  projected  some- 
what beyond  the  great  toe. 

Although  the  luibits  of  the  individual  were  apparently  dirty,  the 
skin  did  not  possess  axiy  perceptible  odour,  and  was  of  a  brownish 
colour  with  tmges  of  yellow  and  red ;  the  areolsB  of  the  nipples  of  the 
breasts,  and  the  skin  of  the  penis  and  scrotum,  were  darker  in  colour, 
with  a  shade  of  black.  The  texture  of  the  skin  was  fine,  soft,  and 
smooth,  without  any  trace  of  hairs. 

No.  4.  Peruvian  Aymara  firom  Fomata,  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Titi- 
caca,  about  45  years  of  age,  named  Mariano  Quispi ;  when  measured, 
on  the  26th  of  June  1861,  appeared  to  be  in  good  health ;  and  when 
weighed,  at  same  time,  was  found  to  be  130  lbs. 

The  expression  of  features  was  not  very  good,  being  somewhat 
sullen,  the  eyes  very  small  and  slightly  inclined  inwards, — the  fieM;e, 
on  the  whole,  being  exactly  that  shown  in  Plate  XIX.,  the  nose  not 
being  aquiline,  but  the  same  as  there  represented,  the  nostrils  being 
expanded  and  prominent.  The  hair  of  the  head  was  of  a  deep  brown- 
black,  straight,  and  not  coarse.  The  eyelashes  were  black,  as  also  the 
hairs  of  the  eyebrows,  which  were  sparse.  A  few  straggling  short 
hairs  were  seen  on  the  upper  lip  and  under  the  armpits,  but  none 
otherwise  on  the  body  or  umbs,  except  a  little  silky  brown-black  soft 
hair  on  the  pubes. 

The  colour  of  the  skin  was  dusky  yellowish  brown  with  a  faint  tinge 
of  red,  that  of  the  scrotum,  penis  (mcluding  the  glans)  (which  was  ap- 
parently situated  higher  up  than  usual),  and  the  nipples  of  the  breasts 
Deing  much  darker  and  blacker  in  tint.  The  colour  of  the  face  was 
rather  lighter  than  the  general  hue  of  the  body,  which  emitted  no 
perceptible  odour  and  was  smooth  and  soft  in  texture. 

The  contours  of  the  limbs  were  rounded  off,  the  muscles,  although 
well  developed,  not  producing  any  appearance  of  angularity  in  out- 
line ;  the  surface-veins  were  not  prominent,  and  the  feet  and  hands 
were  smaU. 

No.  5  gives  the  average  of  the  four  preceding  measurements. 

No.  6.  Bolivian  Aymara  Indian  from  Timusa,  in  the  tropical 
valleys  on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  high  Andes ;  both  he  ana  his 
father  before  him  had  been  bom  and  brought  up  in  this  district,  his 
grandfather,  however,  having  come  from  the  Puna  region  as  a  colo- 
nist. His  name  was  Manuel  CaUi;  and  when  measured,  on  the 
17th  of  June,  1861,  he  appeared  to  be  in  tolerable  health  and  about 
thirty  years  of  age.  ^,g,^,^^^  ^^  GoOglc 


280  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

The  features  and  expression  of  countenance  were  good ;  the  nose 
aauiline ;  mouth  slightly  curved,  not  large,  with  good  teeth,  and  lips 
of  a  jellowish-red  colour,  not  thick.  The  ejes  were  blac^,  some* 
what  lenticular  in  shape  and  slightly  inclined  inwards,  with  short 
black  eyelashes  and  sparse  evebrows. 

The  hair  of  the  heaid  was  deep  brown-black,  perfectly  straight,  and 
not  coarse ;  it  was  drawn  backwards  and  plaited  into  a  long  pigtail, 
hanging  down  the  back.  Except  a  little  hair  on  the  pubes,  no  beard 
or  other  hair  was  seen  on  the  face,  body,  or  limbs. 

The  colour  of  the  skin  was  of  a  clear  yellowish-brown  hue,  with- 
out a  trace  of  red,  the  face  being  lighter  and  of  a  still  more  yellow 
tint  than  that  of  the  rest  of  the  body,  which  did  not  exhale  any  ap> 
parent  odour. 

The  limbs,  although  thin  and  in  poor  condition,  did  not  look  an- 
gular ;  neither  muscles  nor  surface-veins  were  prominent. 

No.  7.  Eudisindo  Perez,  a  Bolivian  Aymara  from  Coroico,  in  the 
tropical  valleys  of  the  Yungas  to  the  east  of  the  high  Andes,  was 
bom  and  brought  up  on  the  Hacienda  de  San  Jose  de  Chicalulo, 
near  Coroico,  his  father  having  also  been  bom  in  Yungas ;  when 
measured,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1861,  he  was  evidently  in  a  bad 
state  of  health,  and  appeared  to  be  about  forty  years  of  age.  He 
was  considered  to  be  the  tallest  man  on  the  hacienda  or  in  the 
neighbourhood,  yet  was  only  5  feet  4  inches  when  measured,  al- 
though he  looked  very  much  taller. 

The  expression  of  the  features,  although  good,  was  sad  and  very 
dejected ;  nose  aquiline ;  mouth  not  large,  with  thin  lips  of  a  brown- 
red  colour ;  eyes  black,  slightly  inclined  inwards,  and  had  a  melan- 
choly expression ;  eyelashes  long  and  black,  the  hair  of  the  eyebrows 
being  black  but  sparse. 

The  hair  of  the  head  was  black,  but  not  coarse,  and  was  drawn 
back  and  plaited  into  one  long  pigtail ;  a  few  straggling  short  hairs 
were  seen  upon  the  upper  lip,  out  none  on  the  rest  of  the  face ;  a 
trace  of  hair  occurred  on  the  legs,  but  not  on  the  arms  or  body,  except 
on  the  pubes. 

The  skin  had  a  soft  texture  and  a  yellow-brown  colour,  without 
any  trace  of  red;  it  had  a  disagreeable  odour,  probably  due  to 
disease.  The  muscles  of  the  limbs  were  veiy  little  developed,  and 
the  surfjEuse-veins  not  prominent — the  ^neral  outline  being  some- 
what angular,  evidently  on  account  of  the  bad  state  of  health  of  the 
individual. 

No.  8.  Average  of  the  measurements  of  the  last  two  Indians. 

No.  9.  General  average  of  all  the  measurements  of  the  Aymara 
men  in  this  Table. 

No.  10.  Bolivian  Aymara  woman  from  the  district  of  La  Paz, 
probably  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  married,  but  with  no  children ; 
when  measured,  in  March  1862,  she  was  in  a  good  state  of  health. 

The  expression  of  the  features  was  less  smlen  than  usual,  being 
more  lively  and  sly  than  in  the  generality  of  Aymara  women ;  fore- 
head extremely  low ;  nose  aquiline  and  somewhat  curved  in  at  lower 
extremity  ;  nostrils  very  open  and  expanded ;  mouth  not  large,  with 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


o/  Bolivia  and  Peru.  281 

strong,  white,  but  somewhat  irregular  teeth,  and  full  but  not  flabbj 
lips.  The  eyes  were  small,  deep  brown,  somewhat  inclined  inwards, 
and  had  a  peculiar  sly  expression.  The  eyelashes  were  long  and 
black,  whilst  the  hair  on  the  eyebrows,  also  black,  was  sparse. 

The  hair  of  the  head  was  very  abundant  and  long,  perfectly 
straight,  and  in  texture  yery  much  finer  than  the  black  hair  of  the 
Spanish  or  Chola  women ;  it  was  drawn  backwards  and  plaited  into 
two  pigtails.  No  trace  of  hair  elsewhere  on  the  body,  limbs,  or 
under  the  arms,  except  a  few  silky  hairs,  like  an  eyelash,  on  the 
edge  of  the  labi». 

The  skin  was  smooth  and  soft  in  texture,  feeling  cool  and  as  if 
polished  to  the  touch,  and  was  of  a  yellowish-brown  colour,  with 
a  slight  tinge  of  red,  which  was  most  pronounced  on  the  legs. 
The  colour  of  the  face  was  lighter  than  that  of  the  body ;  the 
breasts  were  well-formed  and  firm,  the  nipples  being  surrounded 
with  a  dark  blackish  areola,  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  dia- 
meter. The  contour  of  the  limbs  was  slightly  rounded  off,  neither 
muscles  nor  surface-veins  being  prominent. 

This  woman  is  below  the  average  stature,  and  much  less  mas- 
sive in  proportions  than  the  Aymara  females  in  general,  but  other- 
wise may  be  regarded  as  a  good  specimen. 

B.  8ubst€mces  used  as  Medicines  hy  the  Aymara  Indians^  and  their 
names  for  Diseases. 

Quinoa,  the  seeds  of  the  Chenopodium  quinoa.  The  water  in 
which  these  seeds  are  steeped  before  being  cooked  for  food  contains 
a  bitter  principle,  and  is  used  as  an  emetic ;  about  a  tenth  of  the 
weight  oi  a  Bolivian  dollar  of  the  seeds  are  placed  in  a  glass  full  of 
cold  water,  and  allowed  to  stand  (covered  over)  all  night,  when  the 
seeds  are  strained  off,  and  the  water,  taken  by  spoonfuls,  acts  as  an 
emetic.  The  water  in  which  a  handful  of  seeds  has  been  boiled, 
when  taken  internally,  is  said  to  cure  gonorrhoea  very  quickly. 

JECuanapaco,  a  sort  of  soft  thistle,  similar  in  appearance  to  that 
common  m  England ;  the  leaves  are  used  as  a  poultice  for  wounds. 

FaniipanH,  a  wild  flower,  pink-red,  with  a  yellow  centre ;  about 
twenty  of  the  fresh  or  dried  flowers,  infused  in  warm  water,  are 
taken  as  a  dose  as  a  sudorific  in  colds  or  pleurisy. 

Condurif  the  Condor.  The  flesh  of  this  bird  is  esteemed  as  a  sort 
of  universal  remedy ;  and  the  fat  is  especially  recommended  in  rheu- 
matism and  diseases  of  the  joints. 

Itapalu,  a  species  of  nettle,  the  leaf  of  which  is  longer,  and  the 
stinging-hairs  more  prominent  than  in  the  ordinary  English  plant ; 
a  decoction  is  used  for  cutting  short  the  menses. 

Quellhua,  a  species  of  white  &ull,  common  around  Lake  Titicaca, 
the  heart  of  which  is  used  for  bringing  away  the  after-birth. 

Opopo,  a  small  plant  (a  species  of  wort)  is,  when  dried,  put  into 
hollow  teeth  to  cure  the  toothache, 

Anuehape^  a  small  thorny  shrub,  about  18  inches  high,  with 
prickly  seeds ;  when  boiled  in  water,  the  decoction  is  used  to  cure 
eruptions  of  the  skin.  {Continued  on  p.  286.) 

.gitized  by  Google 


282 


David  Fobbbs — On  the  Aymara  Indiant 


AfllUUftflMl 

ColdUgMaadtor 
uidPeni. 


1.  BdlMft. 
LaPm. 


S>  BODfH* 


1 

2. 

3 

4 
5 
a 

b 
6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 
e 

14 
15 


16 
17 
18 

19 

20 
e 

21 

/ 
22 


24 
25 
26 
27 
28 


Stature  

Bxtreme  distance  between  finger-tipe,  anna  extended  hori- 

sontallj   , 

Head,  gveateat  dvoomferenoe 


6r5o 


width  (with  callipen) 

antero-poeterior  diameter  (with  oallipere)^ 


height  from  under  ohin  to  rertex  (6-f  7-f  8 

+11+12)   

,        „     height  without  lower  jaw  (6+7+8+11)... 

— ,  diffauioe  perpendiouUrlj  from  yertez  to  growth  of 

hair 

,  forehead  from  growth  of  hair  to  orbit , 

,  Noee  from  orbit  to  nostrils,  rertioallj , 

,    „     projection  at  nostrils  , 

'^■^■',    „     biVMidth  ■,  .•.•••••.••••<••■■•••■•••■•. .4 

— — ,  Jaw,  upper  (upper  lip),  from  nostrils  to  oentre  of 

mouth 

,    „     lower  (under  lip  and  ohin),  from  oentre  of  mouth 

to  below  chin 

9  Face,  breadth  between  cheek-bones  (with  callipers) 

b    „     length  from  growth  of  hair  to  below  cfam  (7+8 

+11+12)   

,  I^e,  distance  between  inner  comers  of  ejes  

^1    »         If  i»         outer  „  , 


19-50 
5*5 
7 


— ,    „     length  of  oriftoe  of  eye  / — 3 —  j 


,  Mouth,  breadth 

,  Ear,  height  or  length. 

Neck,  length  mm  chin  to  semilunar  notch  of  sternum,  mea- 

measured  upright  

,  breadth  across  from  semilunar  notch  to  7th  yertebra 

of  neck  (with  callipers) 

,  CtTCWnj€TtflC€ •••...., 

Head  and  neck,  from  rertex  to  semilunar  notch  of  sternum 

(6+7+8+11+12+18) 
Trunk,  breadth  across  between  outer  tips  of  shoulders  in  a 

straight  line 

,  frt>nt  length  from  semilunar  notch  of  sternum  to  fork  of 

legs  (30+33}   

,  back  length,  from  7th  vertebra  of  neck  to  os  coo- 

cygi* 

.  side  length,   from   ahoulder-tip  to   trochanter  nuuor 

(35+37) :. 

,  Breasts,  breadth  between  nipples  of  mammse 

,      „        height  from  below  mamm»  to  semilunar  notch 

of  sternum  

,  Chest,  breadth  across  between  armpits  in  strai^t 

line  

,  Chest,  height  in  front  from  semilunar  notch  to  tip  of 

sternal  cartilage 

,  Chest,  height  at  side  from  tip  of  shoulder  to  lowest 

rib    

,  Chest,  circufr\fermc$  under  artiynts,  respiration 


ao*5o 


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7 

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61 


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7 

9 

175 
»75 
175 
75 
1-50 


175 

5 

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4 

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115 

1 

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11*50 

50 
1315 


333 


11 

775 


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10-50 

775 
14-50 


111 

MS 
117 

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12 

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«7 

28 

80 

106 
so 

64 

22 

36 
3» 


80 
208 

»34 
375 


169 
»5 

»34 


o/BoHvia  and  Peru. 


288 


ATmanmen. 

Cold  higiihDdt  of  Bdivia  and  Ptftt. 

NonnaL 

HoClowndloTiorBoUviA. 
Almonnal. 

Averace 
ofaUthe 
pieeeding 
Ayman 
men. 

10. 
Ayman 

Department 
ofLePai, 
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NonnaL 

9.  Ffern. 
YunguUo. 

4.  Pero. 
FomAla. 

ft.  Atmge. 

0.  BoliTia. 
TumiMu 



7.  BoUvia. 
Coroioo. 

8.  Average. 

in. 
6a 

1000 

in. 
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1000 

in. 
61-87 

xooo 

in. 
64 

1000 

64 

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64 

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ao*87 

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6850 
22*50 

6-25 

7 

1070 
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67-50 
21-50 

5-75 
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1054 
336 

90 

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68 
22 

6 
675 

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94 

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65-43 
7 

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339 
90 

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54-50 

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6 
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108 

121 

875 

7 

140 
xia 

8-87 

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142 
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9»5 
750 

144 
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8-75 
675 

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875 
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152 

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115 

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43 
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X2 

»3 

175 
2-25 

2 

75 
x-50 

»7 
35 

31 

X2 

»3 

2-25 

2 

2-X2 

75 
X-50 

35 
3» 
33 

X2 

*3 

2-X2 

x-87 

75 
«'37 

34 
36 

49 
IX 

*3 

«75 
175 

2 

-50 
«75 

31 

11 

9 
31 

125 

ao 

•87 

M 

I 

17 

75 

X2 

75 

12 

75 

12 

•87 

«5 

X 

18 

1-75 
511 

a8 
83 

«75 

a8 
89 

175 
5*5 

28 

82 

«75 

5 

^7 
78 

X-50 
5-»5 

11 

x-62 

5-X2 

V, 

x-62 
5-ia 

•7 
82 

2 
5'a5 

36 
94 

675 
i-6a 

4»S 

X08 
a6 
69 

650 
ia5 
4-*5 

104 
ao 
69 

675 
1-37 
4-xa 

X06 
aa 

68 

6-50 
x-25 

4 

xox 

63 

6-50 
x-25 

4 

lOX 

5! 

6*50 

1-25 

4 

XOI 

63 

6-6a 

175 
4x2 

X07 
21 
66 

6-75 
x-50 

375 

X2X 

a7 
67 

1*37 

aa 

150 

a4 

n? 

»3 

«*37 

22 

x-37 

22 

«-37 

22 

x-25 

aa 

X'X2 

20 

a 

%'2S 

\l 

aa5 

aa5 

36 

a-xa 
a-xa 

34 
34 

2-25 

2 

35 
3« 

2 
2 

31 

3« 

2-X2 

a 

33 
3« 

2-X2 

a-xa 

34 
33 

250 

a 

tl 

3 

4« 

4'*5 

69 

3»5 

5» 

2 

3« 

2-X2 

39 

ao6 

35 

a75 

45 

a-50 

45 

5 
13 

81 

ao8 

5-50 
13-50 

a?2 

5-xa 
x3-ia 

83 
axx 

475 
>3 

74 
203 

450 
X2 

70 
187 

462 

X2-50 

7; 
198 

u 

79 
ao5 

5 
13-50 

90 
242 

1175 

x88 

i3xa 

an 

la-xa 

194 

XI*25 

175 

10-37 

X67 

xo*8x 

171 

XX -50 

x86 

IX 

197 

13-50 

ai8 

«5 

a4a 

H»5 

23c 

15-50 

242 

>5 

»34 

X5-25 

238 

1475 

»35 

ia-a5 

220 

20 

3" 

388 

331 

lai 
lai 

aa-75 

aa75 

21-50 

S,o 

367 

368 

344 

«37 
xa9 

aa 

354 
363 

337 

X27 

X25 

aa 

354 
363 

337 

114 
III 

19'xa 
ax 

363 

377 

*4 

ao'S© 

7-50. 
750 

aa'50 

20-87 

7-87 
775 

aa-50 

ao-87 

8-37 
562 



'9 

7-25 
625 

341 
130 

XX2 

925 

650 

H5 
X02 

1 

141 

94 

9x2 
625 

'tl 

la 

«93 

'3 

aio 

ix-75 

X90 

13-25 

207 

X2 

187 

X2-62 

«97 

xa'xa 

«93 

10 

179 

8 

laj 

9 

145 

7-87 

X28 

8 

X25 

775 

121 

7-87 

"3 

7-87 

126 

675 

X2I 

14 

aa6 

14 

aa6 

i4-xa 

228 

'4 

219 

13-50 

2XX 

»3-75 

"5 

«4 

a23 

10 

»79 

34 

549 

37-75 

610 

3587 

580 

3587 

580 

31 

556 

284. 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 


Table 


29 
30 

31 
32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

87 

38 
39 
40 
41 
42 
43 
44 
45 

h 
46 
47 

« 

48 

49 

50 
51 
52 
53 

54 
55 
56 

57 

58 
59 

60 

k 

I 


ATmmineo. 
Cold  higUudt  of  Bolmi  < 
and  Peru. 
AbnoraiaL  > 


1.  BoUtia. 
LaPu. 


Tnink,  Waist,  ctfvnifl^/erence  of  the  smaUestp^  

,  Diftanoe    from  the  semilunar  notch  of  sternum  to 


in. 


9*5o 


umbilicus. 

,  Abdomen,  ciretmferenee  at  nayel 

,       „         distance  firom  umbilicus  to  symphysis  pubis 

in  straight  line    ......:... ..^ 

,  Abdomen,    distance   from     umbilicus    to    fork    of 

legs 
,  Abdomen,  distance  from  umbilicus  to  anterior  supe- 
rior spine  of  ilium  

,  Distance  from  shoulder-tip  to  anterior  superior  spine  of 

ilium    

,  Pelyis,  breadth,  straight,  between  the  anterior  superior 

spines  of  ilium 

^— ,  Pelvis,  height  from  anterior  superior  spine  of  ilium  to 

trochanter  mi^or 

,  Pelvis,  circumference  round  als    

Upper  extremity,  arm,  upper,  length  of  humerus 

.    n        n       greatest  circufr\ferenoe 

,    „        „       least  ditto 

,    „     lower,  length  of  radius 

,    „         „      orwtest  eireumfermue 

,    „         „      least  ditto 

' ,  Hand,  length  from  wrist  to  tip  of  fore- 
finger   

,  Hand,  length,  exclusive  of  fingers  (45—47) 

' ,      „      brcttdth  without  thumb . . . , 

,      M      forefinger  to  knuckle-joint. 

,  entire  arm  from  shoulder-joint  to  tip  of 

forefinger  (39-^42+45) ....a6-a5 

Lower  extremi^,  thigh,  length  from  trochanter  major  to 

knee-joint  (femur) 13 

,  thieh,  length  inside  from  fork  of  legs  to 

knee-joint 


5-joint, 
-,  ^ight  greatest  cireun^firenoe 
-,    „      Hast           ditto 
-,  Knee-jomt,  eireut/^ference  ... 
-,  Leg   (tibia),  length  from    knee-joint   to 
ankle    


950 


fl  Bolim.  I 


1475 
1715 


8*50 
575 
»7 
«54»075 


i6a 


675 


-,  greattst  cireumferenee,  calf  of  leg , 

^,least  ditto  

-,  Foot,  length  of  the  sole  from  he^  to  tip 


of  great  toe  . 

-,  Foot,  length  of  back  or  ridge  from  leg  to  tip 
of  great  toe  

-,  Foot,  matest  breadth 

-,  „  height  from  ground  to  tip  of  inner 
ankle    

-,  Foot,  greatest  cireumference  around  in- 
step   

,  entire  (thigh,  leg,  and  foot),  from  trochanter 


major  to  ground  (48-|-53+59) 
-,  entire  (thigh,  Ii^,  and  foot),  inside  from 
fork  to  ground  (49-|-53-f  59)    


775 
6*50 


»54 


109 


13S 


! 
'37 

93! 

»74 


160 


950 

6-25 


^3 

loii; 


4*5 
11 


"5 
105 


7 
4 

3-^5 
3 

16*50 

13 
11 


116  14-15 
[I 
8 


Gbotle 


8*50 

5*50 
»75 


112, 

5'! 
4« 

4»5 
210 

«93 


«77 
177 

130 

177 
129 

m 
89 

5» 
44 
I4« 


4«7j 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


285 


(c 

ontinued). 

Ajnanmea, 

Coldhifl^ilaiids  of  Bolim  and  Pera. 

Abnormal. 

ATmanmen. 

HotlowTaUejaofBoUvU. 

Abnonnal. 

9. 
ATerage 

ofaU&e 
preceding 
Aymara 

10. 
Aymarm 
woman. 

oflipat, 
BoUTia. 
Normal. 

8.  Pera. 
TungttUa 

4.  Pwo. 
Ponuua. 

ft.  ATcrage. 

tt.  Bolim. 
Tifflun. 

7.  BoliTia. 
Coroico. 

8.  Avenge. 

in. 
26 

420 

in. 
3250 

5*5 

in. 
29-25 

473 

in. 

in. 

in. 

in. 
2925 

473 

in. 
27-50 

493 

'3 

2g 

5 

7 

450 
15*50 

209 

14-50 
3575 

5 

230 

14 

30-75 

5 

226 
4JO 

12*50 

195 

12-75 

199 

12*62 

'97 

13*50 
30*37 
5 

»i4 

490 

81 

II 

27-50 
575 

'97 
493 
103 

"3 

8-50 

137 

8 

129 

8 

129 

8-25 

166 

73 
250 

6 
17-50 

97 

»79 

5-87 
1650 

88 
267 

6 
»4 

94 
219 



15-50 

242 

6 
'475 

94 
231 

5-62 
15*87 

94 
»53 

5"5o 
14*50 

99 
260 

II 

177 

ir50 

186 

10*62 

172 

1350 

211 

12-50 

195 

'3 

203 

"75 

183 

II 

197 

5 
2950 

8 

8-75 

9 
925 

6-25 

81 

4 

65 

4*37 

70 

4-37 

70 

450 

81 

476 
'93 
129 
141 
145 
H9 

lOI 

27-50 
12-50 
10 

9 

8-75 

44^ 
102 
162 

145 
141 

147 
97 

28-50 
11-12 

912 

460 
«79 
145 
143 
148 
148 
102 

2850 
11-25 
9 

8-37 
925 

460 
'79 
'43 

15 

'43 
100 

31 
10 
10 
875 

h 

556 
179 

161 
148 
108 

12 

9 
8-50 

9*5 

187 
HI 
M3 
145 

II 

9 

7 

950 

850 

6 

172 
141 

1:1 

"33 
94 

11*50 
9 

775 
9*62 

875 
612 

'79 
'4' 
121 
146 

96 

6*50 

3 
350 

3*50 

105 
56 

6 

a75 
3-50 
325 

97 
46 
57 
53 

662 
3*5 
3-37 
3-»5 

108 
53 
55 
5* 

650 
3 
3 
3*5 

102 
47 
47 
51 

7 
3*62 

3»5 
350 

7^ 

5' 
55 

6-75 
3*3' 
312 

3*37 

105 
5a 
49 

53 

662 

3*37 
3-12 

3-»5 

106 
54 
5a 
5* 

6 

a75 
3 
3«5 

108 
5c 

»9a5 

443 

»r*5 

440 

27-12 

435 

»775 

434 

27-50 

429 

27-87 

430 

2725 

434 

»5 

448 

13*37 

216 

«3 

210 

131* 

211 

14 

219 

«4 

219 

'4 

219 

'3-37 

214 

'3 

a33 

«3 
17 
>3 
1350 

209 

2174 
209 
218 

II 

18 

'4 
'3 

171 
291 
226 
210 

12 

17-50 
12-62 
12-50 

283 
204 

202 

12 

17*50 
12-62 
12-62 

283 
201 
201 

10*75 
18-50 

'3 
12*50 

192 
33' 
a33 
224 

13-50 
13-25 

211 
207 

11-75 
12*50 

184 
'95 

12-62 
12-87 

'97 
20X 

14-50 

11-75 
S 

134 
X90 
129 

1387 
12-25 

775 

224 

198 
125 

14-12 
11-62 
7-12 

»53 
188 

127 

»5 

»34 
199 
125 

»4 

11-25 
7-50 

219 
176 
117 

14-50 
12 
775 

226 
187 
121 

1415 
11-75 

7-87 

228 
188 
'»5 

13-25 

10-50 

750 

138 

«-75 

141 

9 

145 

850 

137 

950 

148 

«75 

'37 

9-12 

'43 

8-37 

'39 

8 

«43 

% 

5 
375 

81 
60 

6 

350 

97 
57 

750 
3-50 

56 

6 
375 

94 
59 

575 
3-50 

90 

55 

362 

9* 

57 

6 
350 

96 
54 

5 
325 

^ 

2-i8 

35 

206 

33 

2-37 

37 

2-50 

39 

3 

47 

»75 

43 

250 

40 

2*50 

45 

10 

161 

925 

"47 

9*a5 

149 

9-50 

148 

9»5 

'45 

9-37 

'47 

937 

148 

850 

'5* 

31-50 

508 

30-50 

493 

3« 

500 

3150 

492 

3250 

508 

3* 

500 

31-50 

500 

2825 

506 

20-68 

478 

2693 

4»8 

28*50 

444 

28-50 

444 

26-50 

474 

1      1 

286  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 

Anatuya^  the  Skunk ;  the  heart  of  this  animal,  taken  internally,  is 
used  under  the  impression  that  it  assists  labour. 

Taea-^aea,  the  Woodpecker ;  the  tongue  of  this  bird  is  placed  m 
hollow  teeth  to  cure  toothache. 

AnocarOy  the  Dog ;  the  hair  of  the  dog,  when  burnt,  and  its  ashes 
rubbed  into  the  wound,  is  said  to  cure  the  bite  of  a  dog. 

Toucan ;  the  tongue  of  this  bird  is  considered  so  good  a  remedy 
against  heart-disease,  that  the  Indians  pay  as  much  as  five  shillings 
for  the  tongue  alone. 

Chutichutiy  a  plant  with  a  viscid  juice,  much  employed  in  the  cure 
of  recent  wounds. 

Bamo-ramo  {ilainuhlamo\  is  a  mineral  used  internally  as  an  anti- 
dote against  poisons ;  a  sample,  which  I  analyzed,  was  only  a  mix- 
ture of  iron  pyrites  with  quartz. 

MoHe-molte^  the  wild  currant,  which  has  both  red  and  yellow 
fruit,  and  is  used  in  catarrh,  &c. 

Chactufoma,  a  plant  having  a  fostid  smell,  which  is  used  interaaUy 
in  cases  of  colic  and  disorders  of  the  bowels ;  it  has  a  hot  taste,  and 
is  used  in  small  quantity  by  the  Indians  in  their  sauces  as  a  condi- 
ment. Externally,  when  mixed  with  dried  figs,  they  use  it  in  the 
form  of  a  cataplasm,  applying  it  to  the  testicles  in  hernia. 

Ohieh  chipa,  a  snecies  of  fennel ;  the  seeds  are  used  as  a  stimulant, 
and  are  also  addea  as  a  condiment  to  the  Aymara  soups. 

Women's  milk  is  used  as  a  lotion  in  cases  of  injuries  to  the  eyes. 

As  before  mentioned,  dried  seaweed,  obtained  from  Cobija,  on 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  is  used  in  the  cure  of  goitre ;  and  mercury, 
principally  made  up  with  lard  into  a  species  of  blue  ointment,  is 
used  in  the  treatment  of  syphilis  both  in  man  and  the  alpaca.  Mr. 
Falckenheimer,  the  6erman  apothecary  in  La  Paz,  informed  me  that 
the  Indians  also  purchased  calomel  largely  for  this  purpose,  and 
that  they  were  never  known  to  apply  to  the  medical  men,  but 
always,  and  apparently  with  success,  cured  the  disease  themselves; 
they  also  employ  cascarilla-  or  quinine-bark  in  the  cure  of  Tertians 
or  mtermittent  fever,  which,  in  the  lower  valleys,  commits  great 
havoc  amongst  the  Indians. 

The  names  of  the  principal  diseases  in  Aymara  are  as  follows:— 
chuecchu,  fever  and  ague;  huju  or  ti;u?,  a  cough  or  bronchitis; 
tayeayestua,  a  cold  or  catarrh :  echaca-iMU,  syphilis  ;  eeoto,  the  goitre ; 
earatehi,  eruptions  or  pustules  of  the  skin ;  chupu^  tumours,  boils 
or  carbuncles ;  huanti,  bubo ;  tirgui^  a  wart ;  macattrHuu^  conta- 
gion ;  hwUiusu^  fever ;  suicho^  paralysis  of  legs ;  cucillOy  paralysis  of 
the  arms ;  kinchata,  heart-disease ;  laeacama^  toothache ;  yaea^taea, 
stone  in  the  bladder ;  chocritacha  or  chocri,  a  wound ;  eoyOy  a  con- 
tusion ;  tuluya,  club-foot;  natrahuisa^  short  sight ;  lerco,  squint-eyed ; 
oecara,  deaf;  hiUeo,  blind ;  pefecora,  bald ;  hinaia,  dead ;  huUa,  blood, 
or  the  menses ;  Atfa/i;^,  pregnancy ;  huahua-^hahoy  childbirth ;  upaeo^ 
twins ;  tueu-usu,  madness ;  ocolla,  medicine ;  U9U,  disease. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


287 


C.  Voedbulary  qf  Aymara  Worth. 

The  following  Ajmara  words  were  collected  in  daily  intercourse 
with  the  Aymara  Indians  of  the  northernmost  provinces  of  Boliviai 
and  those  of  the  Department  of  Puna,  in  Peru.  In  the  latter  dis- 
strict,  owing  to  the  relations  with  the  Quechua  Indians  more  to  the 
north,  many  words  of  Quechua  orimi  are  used,  which  are  seldom 
employed  farther  south  in  Boliyia.  In  putting  them  on  paper,  they 
are  written  as  if  spelt  according  to  the  usual  rules  of  Spanish  pro- 
nunciation, at  least  as  nearly  as  was  found  possible  in  the  case  of  so 
extraordinarily  distinct  and  guttural  a  language. 


A  I  dah !  tnierfection  of  imploration. 

Aca,  this. 

Acaacata,/rom  hereabouts, 

Acaaja,  hereabouts. 

Acahua,  here  it  is. 

Acajpacba,  the  earth. 

Acama,  thu,  in  this  mamner. 

Acampi,  with  this. 

Acana,  here. 

Acanhua,  here, 

AcarvLfhere. 

AcBitAy/rom  here, 

Accanca,  any  large  or  thick  thing. 

Achachi,  old  {masculine). 

Achachiha,  grandfather. 

Achaco,  mouse. 

AchacoUo,  rat. 

Achulla,  weasel. 

Achuma,  thistle. 

Aculli,  quid  qf  coca^leaves. 

Ahuatina,  to  graze. 

Ahuatiri,  a  shepherd. 

Aiccona,  to  con^Uun  lamenting. 

Mi^Ufflesh. 

Ainacha,  low,  below. 

Ainachata,  from  below . 

Ainina,  to  dispute  or  argue. 

Aim,  a  plant. 

Ajipa,  Oil  esculent  root. 

AJlIina,  to  select. 

Ajllita,  a  thvM  selected. 

Ajsarana,  to/ear. 

Ajaarayalia,  to  terrify. 

Akanu  (ajanu),  the  face. 

Alacpacha  (?  Ajmjpacha),  heaten. 

Alala!  exclamation  qf  coldness,  indif" 
ference. 

Alana,fo  buy. 

Alata,  a  purchaser. 

Alcaman,  a  sort  ofbuszard. 

Alcbiha,  grand-daughter. 

Ali,  a  branch. 

Aljiri,  a  seller. 


AUchicha,    nqfhew  qf  amis  grand- 

mother. 
Alloja,  much. 

Alloha,  a  wife's  younger  brother. 
Altana,  to  stooo  or  crouch  down. 
Altata,  defectea,  low  spirited. 
Aliyana,  to  increase,  or  to  make  to 

grow. 
Amauta,  wise^  prudent. 
Amaya,  dead. 
Ampara^  hand. 
Ampata,  high. 

Amtosina,  to  arrange  or  agree. 
Amu,  amuta,  dumb,  silent. 
Amuquina,  to  be  silent. 
Anoco,  a  woman's  robe, 
Anata,  the  carnival. 
Anati^  to  play, 
Anaturi,  a  player. 
Anca,  toasted  Indian  com. 
Ancu,  a  nerve  or  sinew, 
Anccaru,  besides. 
Anccaro,  without. 
Anocara,  a  dog. 
Antuti^,  to  loosen. 
Antutata,  a  thing  loosened, 
Anu,  a  dog. 

Anuchape,  a  medicinal  plant, 
Aiiatuya,  the  skunk, 
Anay !  exclamation  qfjoy. 
Apacana,  to  remove. 
Apachi,  old  {feminine). 
Apacheta,  a  cairn. 
Apachiha,  grandmother. 
^pafia^  to  fetch  or  bring. 
Apatanca,  a  large  spider. 
Apichu,  sweet  potato. 
Apilla,  oca  {root  of  OxaUs  tuberosa), 

penis. 
Apsuna,  to  take  out  a  thing. 
Aptana,  to  fetch  a  thing  fallen  down. 
Apn,  fierce,  brave  J  also  used  for  Mr. 

or  Master. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


288 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 


Aquiri,  this  nearest. 

Arcana,  to  follow. 

Arctana  to  track. 

Araja,  above. 

Arajpacha,  heaven,  the  sky. 

Ari,  sharp,  pointed. 

Aricoma,  an  esculent  root. 

Annona,  to  forget. 

Annosina,  to  forget  oneself 

Arpi,  the  lap. 

An,  language,  words. 

ATU}Bnai,toforetell. 

Aruma  *,  night. 

Anunanti,  morning. 

Arumaji,  tn  the  morning. 

Anintana,  to  salute. 

Aruaina,  to  speak. 

Aittana,  to  shout  after. 

Asana,  to  bring  or  fetch  a  hollow  or 

concave  object. 
ABoue,  good,  well. 
Atakh  !  exclamation  qf  grief. 
Atahualpa,  a  fowl. 

ccachu,  a  hen. 

urco,  a  cock, 

Atha,  seed. 

Atipana,  to  overcome  or  conquer. 

Atipata,  a  thing  conquered. 

Atipari,  a  conqueror. 

Aucca,  an  enemy,  the  devil. 

Auqui,  father. 

Auquichiha,  husband's  father. 

Aya-aya,  Aymara  nightingale. 

Ayllo,  race,  tribe,  penis. 

Ca,  take  hold  of. 

CsLum,  tomorrow. 

Caccana,  to  rub. 

Cacboioasi,  a  friend. 

Cachu,  husk  of  the  Indian  com. 

Cachua,  an  Indian  round  dance. 

Cachuana  to  dance  in  a  ring, 

Cahuai&a,  to  put  in  order. 

Callana,  to  cure. 

Callachi,  shoMer. 

Callcu,  bitter,  sour. 

Cama,  until, 

Camachina,  to  command. 

Camachitaarii,  a  command,  law. 

Camani,  worthy. 

Camisa,  how. 

Camisati,  how  so. 

Campu,  the  Puna  spider. 

Canca,  roast  flesh. 

Cancana,  a  roasting-spit. 

*  The  Indians,  in  conrersation,  mt 
night." 


Cancana,  to  possess. 

Cantatiuriuri,  dawn,  break  of  day. 

Canu,  a  Titicacafish. 

Canamiski,  treacle. 

Capa,  a  span. 

Carachi,  skin  disease,  also  a  fish. 

Carcatina,  to  tremble. 

Carhuachincha,  opossum. 

Caricari,  messenger  qf  the  devU. 

Caruru,  tomorrow. 

Catari,  a  serpent,  snake. 

Catatina,  to  bring  dragging  along. 

Catufia,  to  take  hold  of. 

Cauna,  egg. 

CtLVLCBLVLtfish-roe. 

Caui|  sweet  prepared  ocas. 

Cauqui,  where. 

Cauquijata, /rom  whereabouts. 

Cauquina,  in  what  place. 

Cauquinhama,  very  seldom. 

Cauquipachaqui^  seldom. 

Cauquini,  whtther. 

Cauquita,  yrom  whither. 

Cauquitaataflaa,yrofii  where  are  you  f 

Caya,  cAiiiio  qf  ocas. 

Chaca,  a  bridge. 

Chaccana,  to  loose  onese\f. 

Chacacbaca,  o  small  snipe. 

Chacha,  a  man,  husband. 

Chachacoma,  a  medical  plant. 

Chacasita,  choked. 

Chactona,  to  nail. 

Cbacuni,  a  pole. 

Chabuichabui,  a  large  snipe. 

Cbabuana,  to  suckle. 

Cbaina,  a  gokfinch. 

Cbairo,  soup  made  qf  chwU). 

Cbajcbuna,  to  irrigate. 

Cbaillallapi,  close  at  hand. 

Cballa,  sand, 

Cballicballi,  cantharidesfly. 

Chu\\vLti,fish. 

ChtimtL,  force. 

Cbamaca,  dark. 

Cbamani,  strong. 

Cbampa,  turf. 

Cbanca,  thread. 

Cbani,  value. 

Gbapi,  a  thorn. 

Cham,  leg. 

Gbarqui»  dried  flesh. 

Cbatana,  to  denounce. 

Chcca,  true. 

Cbecapuni,  truly. 

always  "nigbt  and  day/'  nerer  "day  and 


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289 


Cbectaiia,  to  split  or  break  vp. 

Checaptayana,  to  rectify. 

Cheka,  l^. 

Checca,  a  birdie  wing. 

Chenque,  vagina. 

Chia,  measure  of  a  span. 

Cbiana,  to  split  np,  to  break. 

Chiara,  black. 

Chica,  united. 

Chica  aruma,  midnigkt. 

Cbichi,  aquatic  larva  eaten  by  the  /n- 

dians, 
Chichchiptif  fennel. 
Chichillanca,  bhubottle-fiy. 
Chiliua,  verdure. 
Chihnaia,  to  express. 
Chilmaiicu,  a  thrush. 
Chji^i,  danger. 
Ghijcbi,  hail. 

Cbijniana,  head-gear  of  an  animal. 
Cbiloa,  ice. 

Chilque,  a  step,  a  pace. 
China,  end,  rumpt  buttocks. 
Chinasca,  endly,  lastly. 
Cbinanciairi,  hindermost. 
Cbinebi,  red  pepper. 
Cbinqui,  younger  sister. 
Cbinu,  a  knot. 
Cbinuna,  to  bind  or  tie. 
Chinta,  arriero*s  assistant. 
Chmi,  a  bat. 
Chipana,  bracelet. 
Cbirbnana,  to  express. 
Cbiroti,  a  small  bird. 
Cbitua,  shade,  shadow, 
Choca,  a  water-hen. 
Cbocque,  gold. 
Chocri,  a  wound, 
Chocricata,  wounded. 
CboJDi,  green. 

Chojnibuaicu,  green  pepper. 
Choqqe,  potato. 
Choque,  raw. 
Chora,  urine. 
Cborana,  to  make  water. 
Cboriti,  a  small  bird. 
Cbua,  an  earthen  saucer. 
Choa,  bar-silver. 
Cbucho,  a  yearling  llama. 
Chuccbu,  tertian  fever  and  ague. 
Chucuna  to  sew. 
Cbuima,  heart. 
Choisaana,  to  be  absent. 
Cbumapusa,  a  hollow  thing. 
Cbuluca,  a  cricket. 
CbuUuDcaya,  snow. 
Chulpa,  a  burial  tower. 
VOL.  II. 


Cbulqui,  a  sweet  variety  ofmaise. 

Cbuma,  brushwood. 

Cbunu  potatoes  prepared  by  freeze 

ing. 
Cbupu,  a  tumour  or  boil. 
Cbupica,  brown^red. 
Churu,  a  curve  or  circle. 
Chasaca,  an  owl. 
Chusaana,  to  be  absent. 
Cocahuanco,  a  rabbit. 
Cochamasi,  friend. 
Colcque,  silver, money. 
Collacbaa,  elder  sister. 
Collafta,  to  cure. 
CoUocaya,  prepared  frosen  ocas. 
Concho,  dirty. 
Conduri,  condor. 

Coori,  gold. 

Capanaira,  blue  eyes. 

Cora,  a  leaf. 

Corana,  to  release. 

Corompila,  a  small  bird. 

Coya,  a  queen. 

Coyo,  a  (Mruiset  contusion. 

Cquoa,  cotton. 

Cqueiacbana,  to  injure. 

Cquenaya,  a  cloud. 

Cquefia,  to  excite. 

Cquepa,  a  woof,  a  species  of  trumpet. 

Cucata,/rom  above. 

Cucbufia,  to  cut. 

Cucbicucbi,  a  small  bird. 

Cucbocbn,  an  edible  aquatic  plant. 

Cudllo,  paralysis  of  the  arms. 

Cucupa,  dried  boiled  potatoes. 

Cula,  air-dried  brick. 

Colcataya,  a  dove,  pigeon. 

Culiaca,  sister. 

CuUi,  dark-coloured  maize. 

Cumu,  a  load. 

Cuna,  what. 

Cunalaicu,  why. 

Cunapacba,  when. 

Cunata,  wherefore. 

Cunataicu,  because. 

Cunataque,  wherefore. 

Cunca,  voice,  throat. 

Cupi,  right. 

Cupiampara,  right  hand. 

Curcura,  cane. 

Curibualuru,  three  days  ago. 

Curmi,  a  load. 

Cuaca,  equal. 

Cuscacbana,  to  match,  to  equalise, 

Cusicuii,  spider. 

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Cusillo,  monkey, 

Cusisina,  to  rejoice,  enjoy  oneee^, 

Ciissi,  a  witty  saying. 

Cutinana,  to  turn,  return, 

Cuuna,  this  way. 

Cuuro,  yonder, 

Cuuta,  thereabouts, 

Cuyu,  that. 

Cuyuna,  to  whistle, 

Karifia,  to  lie. 

Kepi,  the  lap. 

Kinchata,  heart-disease, 

Kirikiri,  a  sinying-hird, 

Risimira,  a  large  woof, 

Kuitururui,  a  water-beetle, 

Cc&chvL,  female,  wtfe,  woman, 

Ccahua,  Indian  shirt. 

Ccaica?^  how  much. 

Ccaira,  a  frog, 

Ccala,  a  stone,  a  rock, 

Ccalana,  to  commence, 

Ccalauchana,  to  pave. 

Ccamiri,  a  thick  coverlet. 

Ccamaki,  a  fox. 

Ccaoa,  light,  clearness. 

Ccantayana,  to  illuminate. 

Ccanaqui,  clearly. 

Ccanca,  how  much. 

CcApi,  fierce^  brave. 

Ccapisina,  to  irritate  oneself. 

Ccapu,  distaff,  spindle. 

Ccapuna,  to  spin. 

Ccara,  morning. 

Ccaruru,  morning. 

Ccarurumaca,  until  tomorrow. 

Ocarina,  to  tire  oneself. 

Ccatua,   son-in-law    by   husband^ s 

side. 
Ccatahui,  lime. 
Ccauca,  how  much. 
Ccaura,  llama. 
Ccauralliki,  llama-fat. 
Ccaysi&a,  totora,  Titicaca  rush. 
Cchaca,  bone. 
Cchacausu,  syphilis. 
Ccbara,  a  leg. 
Ccoca,  a  tree,  plant. 
Ccocacollo,  a  forest,  plantation. 
Ccohona,  to  chant. 
Ccolla,  medicine, 
Coollo,  a  mountain. 
Ccollma,  to  plough. 
Cconana,  to  grind. 
Cconcari,  knee. 


Ccorahua,  deep. 

Ccorpa,  the  end. 

Ccorpauta,  a  resting-place,  inn. 

Ccota,  a  lake. 

Ccoto,  a  wen,  goitre. 

Ccoya,  a  mine. 

Ccu,  there. 

Ccucha,  a  comer. 

Ccumu,  humpbacked. 

Ccumuna,  to  load  a  beast. 

Ccuna,  to  snow. 

Ccunu,  snow. 

Ccuri,  that  furthest. 

Ccururu,  navel. 

Ccusa  chicha. 

Ccuti,  a  flea,  an  illegitimate  son. 

Ccuyana,  to  have  pity. 

Ha,  my, 

Hacana,  to  live. 

Hacayana,  to  cure  another. 

Hacba,  great,  large. 

Hacha,  a  tear. 

Hachana,  to  cry. 

Hachatana,  to  revive. 

Hachausu,  the  pest. 

Hachu,  a  thousand, 

HtLCCVL,  flour,  meal, 

Hahuin,  a  river. 

Haitjana,  to  hang. 

Haipu,  night. 

Haipucania,  until  to-night. 

Hairu,  idle. 

Ilaitana,  to  abandon. 

Halla,  yes. 

Hallam,/y !  runl 

Hallana,  to  run. 

Halpana,  to  lick  or  lap  up. 

Hallu,  rain. 

Hallupacha,  rainy  season. 

Hulyataiia,  to  assault, 

Hania,  thou, 

Hamachi,  a  bird. 

Hamatata,  secretly. 

Hamattanca,  scarabteus  beetle, 

Hampatina  *,  to  kiss,  to  adore. 

Hampatita,  a  kiss. 

Haiopatua,  a  toad. 

Hamppi,  toasted  maize. 

Hamppina,  to  toast  maize. 

Hanco,  white. 

Hanchi,  the  body. 

Hancca,  quickly, 

Hani,  no, 

Hanicaruriri,  disobedient. 


*  To  \am  or  adore  are  the  same  in  Ajmara ;  in  ancient  times  they  sent  a  kiai 
with  their  flngen  to  the  gods  or  idols  as  a  mark  of  adoration. 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


291 


Hanihihairiy  immortaL 

Hanihucbani,  inttocent, 

Hanirara,  not  yet, 

Haniraque,  neither,  just  as  Uttle. 

Hapasnacana,  to  pride  oneself, 

Uaqui,  a  num. 

Haquimaaa,  neighbour. 

Haquiri,  nephew. 

Harapi,  rib. 

Hararana,  to  untie. 

Hararancu,  a  lizard. 

Harcana,  to  hinder. 

Harilurana,  difficult. 

Harina,  to  wash. 

Harita,  almost. 

Hani,  bitter. 

Haya, /or. 

Hayu,  salt. 

Hayunchana,  to  salt. 

Hemque,  pus. 

Ueuque,  smoke. 

Hicani,  shoulder. 

Hicha,  noio. 

Hichuru,  to-day. 

Uicbpacba,  this  instant. 

Htchpacbabua,  this  very  instant. 

Hicbat-acaru,  in  advance. 

Hicbi,  a  handful, 

Hicco,  hiccup. 

Hibuana,  to  die. 

Hibuayana,  to  kiU. 

Hibuasi,  us. 

Hila,  a  brother. 

Hinata,  dead. 

Uincbu,  ear,  handle. 

Hinu,  orphan. 

Hipilla,  entrails. 

Hiquina,    to    bring    or    draw    out 

(iquina?). 
Hiquisina,  to  encounter. 
Hiaca,  smaU,  little. 
lliscana,  to  bring  along  (iscana?). 
Hitisina,  to  envy. 
Huaca,  idol,  ancient  grave. 
Huacabampatina,  to  worship  idols. 
Hiiacaichana,  to  keep  the  laws. 
Huacana,  a  heron. 
Hnacbanca,  a  vomipurge  root. 
Huacboca,  dishonest. 
Hiiaculla,  ajua,jar. 
Huacca,  a  sash. 
Huaccba,  poor  person. 
Huabua,  a  child. 
Huahuaobana,  to  give  birth. 
Huabuataya,  a  vegetable  condiment. 
Huaicu,  red  pepper. 
Huaicatana,  to  hang. 


Huaina,  a  youth. 
Huaita,  plumage,  feathers. 
Huajra,  horn. 
Hualique,  well,  excellent. 
Hualqui,  pregnancy. 
Huallaque,  boUing. 
Huallata,  wild  goose. 
Hualluru,  day  before  yesterday. 
Huallusa,  an  edible  root. 
Hualpa,  a  fowl. 
Huauipu,  balsa,  raft  or  boat. 
Huana,  to  dry. 
Huanapaco,  soft  thistle. 
Huanana,  to  amend. 
Huancara,  a  drum. 
Huanco,  rabbit. 
Huanicbana,  to  warn,  correct. 
Huantabualla,  the  devil. 
Huanti,  bubo. 
Huaraca,  a  sling. 
Huarana,  to  pull  down. 
Uuarariiia,  to  shout. 
Huarabuara,  star. 
Uuarapo,^tt»ce  of  sugar-cane, 
Huarini,  a  huanaco. 
Huasara,  desert,  wilderness. 
Huasitoraqui,  another  time. 
Huaauni,  yesterday. 
Huaticana,  to  waylay. 
Huayacca,  a  bag. 
Huayronco,  a  gadfly. 
Hucanca,  this  way,  hereabouts. 
UvLchtL,  fault,  sin. 
Hucbapucbasina,  to  sin. 
Hucbba,  porridge. 
Hucbusa,  a  thin  thing. 
Huccba,  the  siee  of  a  iking. 
Huccabuaro,  deep. 
Huccanca,  a  thick  thing. 
Hucja,  so  much. 
Hucjaqui,  enough. 
Huju,  a  cough  (uju?). 
Hucumari,  a  bear. 
Hiiicbinca,  tail. 
Huicu,  blind. 
Huila,  blood,  the  menses. 
Huinaya,  ever,  always. 
Huinayataque, /or  ever. 
Hiuntu,  the  heel. 
Huipuru,  day  after  to-morrow. 
Huiru,  green  stalk  of  maise. 
Huisca,  a  chain. 
Huissa,  we. 
Huma,  thou. 
Humampi,  with  thee. 
Huntu,  hot. 
Uuutua,  heat. 

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292 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 


Huntihitua,  sensation  of  heat, 

Huntuchana,  to  heat  up, 

Huntunsu./er^. 

Hupa,  he, 

Hiipa,  quinoa. 

Hupaccusi,  chichafrom  quinoa. 

Huri,  wet. 

Hurpuru,  rfoy  after  to-morrow, 

Icanu,  shoulder  (?h), 

Icha,  now  (?h). 

Icma,  widow, 

Ichu,  long  grass,  thatch, 

Icbiiru,  to-day  (?h). 

Ihuicana,  to  lecture^  to  advise, 

llicatA,  farm-bailiff,  river-bird, 

Illapa,  lightning, 

Imana,  to  hide  away, 

Imatisina,  to  hide  oneself 

Iniilla,  girl, 

Inaja,  probably, 

Inata,  uselessly, 

Ipa,  aunt, 

Ipasari,  nephew. 

Iquiiia,  to  sleep, 

Iquihancatana,  to  wish  to  sleep, 

Irama,  road  on  side  of  a  mountain, 

Irana,  to  bring  something  round, 

Iraacafia,  to  work, 

Irpana,  to  carry  to  a  person, 

Isanu,  root  of  Tropteolum  tuberosum, 

Isapayana,   to  make  oneself  under' 

stood. 
Iicallo,  cloak. 
Iscu,  sandals. 
Iscca,  small. 
Isi,  clothing, 

Iscafia,  to  bring  guiding  along. 
lapana,  to  hear,  to  understand, 
Ispaco,  twins, 
lapi,  a  small  fish. 
Isquina,  to  ask,  to  inquire, 
Istorana,  to  open, 
Istalla,  bag  of  coca  leaves, 
Istasifia,  to  clothe  oneself. 
Itapalu,  nettle, 
Itacana,  to  retire, 
Laca,  mouth, 
Lacacama,  toothache, 
Lacaoehaca,  teeth,  jawbone. 
Lacca,  earth. 
Lacco,  worm. 
Lahua,  wood, 
Laica,  witchcraft. 
Laicafia,  to  bewitch. 
Laicu, /or,  on  account  of. 
Lajra,  the  tongue. 
Lam  pa,  spade. 


Lancana,  to  stumble, 

LKDccu,fat,  large. 

Lanti,  representative. 

Lappa,  louse, 

Lappi,  a  leaf. 

Laquina,  to  distribute. 

Larama,  blue. 

Larca,  ditch,  canal. 

Lariha,  male  connexions  of  the  wife, 

Laruna,  to  laugh, 

Lattana,  to  clmb, 

Lattorana,  to  come  down. 

Lejhui,  brains. 

Lepitchi,  skin. 

Lercu,  squint-eyed, 

Liga,  a  plant, 

Liuchu,  a  cap. 

Lillicoya,  wild  potato. 

Llacca,  a  leaf, 

LlacUana,  to  cut  wood. 

Llacota,  Indian  garment, 

Llacstata,  perverse. 

Llallina,  to  benefit. 

Llamaya,  harvest, 

Llamcana,  to  touch,  to  try, 

Llapoclia,  thunder. 

Llampu,  small  powdery  stuff. 

Llanipucbana,  to  powder,  to  smooth. 

Llaqui,  qfiiction,  pain. 

Llaquisina,  to  suffer. 

Llatayna,  envy. 

Llatunca,  nine. 

Llaosa,  slavering, 

Llica,  aid, 

L\i\i\,fat, 

Lliclla,  a  woman's  shawl. 

Llicllic,  a  bird  (Charadrius  resplen- 

dens), 
Llinoue,  clay, 
Lloclla,  inundation. 
Liucta,  ash  used  with  coca, 
Locoto,  large  green  pepper, 
Luccaxiti,  finger, 
Lukichoque,  bitter  potato. 
Lulli,  humming  bird, 
Lupataha, /ac^,  thing  done. 
Lupi,  the  sun. 
Lupimactri,  sunrise. 
Lupiusaracani,  sunset. 
Lurani,  do  so, 
Maa,  one. 
Maacuti,  once. 
Maamara,  next  year, 
Maaqui,  at  once,  quickly. 
Macallo,  tasteless,  insipid. 
Macamaca,  a  black  titex, 
Maeataiia,  to  approach^ 

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293 


Macatiriusu,  contagion, 

Machaca,  new, 

Macbacama^^  new  year, 

Macbacata,  again. 

Machana,  to  get  drunk, 

Macbata,  sober. 

Mallina,  to  prove. 

Mallco,  corrigidor. 

Mama,  mother, 

Mamaccota,  sea. 

Mamani, /olcoii,  hawk, 

Mamoraya,  a  fly. 

Manca,  food. 

Mancana,  to  eat. 

Mancayana,  to  feed, 

Mancataautjata,  hungry. 

Mancca,  within, 

Manccana,  inwardly, 

Mancaro,  below, 

Mantana,  to  enter,  stoop,  descend. 

Mantayana,  to  make  to  enter,  Sfc, 

Manu,  debt,  debtor. 

Manuina,  to  lend. 

Manuuna,  to  owe, 

Manutina,  to  lend  oneself, 

Manupocana,  to  repay. 

Bf ara,  a  year. 

Marca,  a  village. 

Marcachana,  to  approach,  to  join. 

Maripacha,  buttocks,  anus. 

Manni,  woman,  wtfe, 

Marmiasina,  to  marry, 

Maroma,  a  rope  to  cross  rivers  with^ 

Masana,  once  upon  a  time, 

liasi,  comrade,  like, 

Massanoba,  husband,  brother. 

Masqui,  although. 

Masnni,  yesterday. 

Mati,  a  smaU  gourd  or  calabash. 

Maun,  a  freshwater  fish. 

Maya,  one. 

Mayampi,  another  time, 

Mayina,  to  ask, 

Maymara,  last  year, 

Maymnni,  kidney. 

Mayni,  one. 

Maynimpi,  with  another. 

Maynigui,  only  one. 

Maytana,  to  lend,  to  offer. 

Maytasiiia,  to  ask  a  loan. 

Mayurcu,  the  other  day. 

Micha,  bad. 

Michi,  bow  and  arrow. 

Michina,  to  shoot  with  bow  and  arrow. 

Minca,  a  substitute. 

Minoada,  to  substitute. 

Miski,  treacle,  syrup. 


Misqui,  ounce,  puma, 

Mocco,  a  knot,  a  small  hiU, 

Moccomocco,  knotty,  hilly. 

Molle,  a  tree,  (Schinus  moUe). 

Mollemolle,  with  current, 

Morocco,  round. 

Mpi,  with, 

Mujlli,  elbow, 

MuUa,yri^A/,  alarm, 

Munana,  to  love, 

Munapayana,  to  love  at  a  distance. 

Munaaina,  to  love  oneself, 

Munata,  hved. 

Muquina,  to  smell, 

Muspa,  pensive, 

Muspana,  to  be  pensive. 

Mutuna,  to  suffer  punishment, 

Mutuyana,  to  punish, 

Muttu,  blunt. 

Na,J. 

Na,  prep.,  tn,  with. 

Nacana,  to  bum. 

Nacata,  a  thing  burnt. 

Nacuta?,  hair. 

Nahatansa,  of  my  size. 

Nanaca,  we. 

Nana,  almost. 

Nasa,  nose, 

Naya,  I, 

Nay  am  pi,  with  me, 

V&yTtL,  first  f  in  front,  before, 

Nayra,  eye. 

Na3rracata,  ahead,  in  front. 

Nayra  buisca,  short  sight, 

Nauccba,  of  my  size. 

Nia,  presently. 

Niapini,  only  this  moment. 

Niapinibua,  in  a  moment,  instantly. 

Niaraque,  another  time. 

Nicota,  hair  of  the  head. 

ViiiA,  fire. 

Ninanina  dragon-fly. 

Ninquira,  lately. 

Ninquiraque,  very  lately. 

Nuana,  to  beat,  to  knock  about. 

Nucuna,  to  shove,  push. 

Nunu,  breast,  teat. 

Nunuayana,  to  suckle. 

Nunuiri,  wet-nurse. 

Nusana,  to  rot. 

Nusata,  rotten. 

Nusatabua,  to  be  decayed 

Nypa,  three  days  hence. 

Oca,  a  wave. 

Ocana,  a  pick. 

Ocque,  ash-grey. 

Ocqueuaira,  Ught  blue  or  ^rf  y  eyes. 

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294 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians 


Occaiia,  to  He  in  a  bow, 

Occara,  deaf. 

Ocallo,  frog'Spaum, 

Ocoocao,  a  muddy  place. 

Oiso,  a  sort  of  spade. 

Ojota,  sandal. 

Opopo,  a  plant  used  for  toothache. 

Oracci,  ground,  land,  estate. 

Ouranypa,  in  four  days  hence. 

Pa,  two. 

Paca,  eagle,  vulture. 

Pacaico,  seven. 

Pacarifia,  to  waken. 

Pacay,yha/  of  a  species  of  Inga. 

Pacha,  time  or  place. 

Pachacantati,  streak  of  day. 

Pachacha,  gypsum^ 

Paco,  red. 

Pacoma,  captive,  prisoner, 

'PucchtL,  fountain,  waterfall. 

Paccoma,  old  wood. 

Pacsi,  moon,  month. 

Pacuti,  twice. 

Pallalla,  a  small  trowel,  aflat  thing. 

Pallana,  to  gather. 

Pampa,  a  plain. 

Pamjtachana,  to  smoothen. 

Pana,  a  waterfowl. 

Pancara,  a  flower. 

Pancataya,  a  beetle. 

Pani,  two. 

Panini,  between  two. 

PaDisa,  we  two. 

Pantana,  to  err. 

Pantipanti,  a  flower  used  as  a  sudo- 

rifle. 
Paquina,  to  break. 
Fsirfi,  forehead. 
Parara,  stone  for  grinding  on. 
Paraltuela,  a  hand-barrow. 
Parpa,  eyelash. 
Pascana,  a  storehouse. 
Pataati,  a  stone  bench. 
Pataca,  a  hundred. 
Patapata,  a  ladder. 
Patcaro,  above, 
Patunca,  twenty. 
Paura,  ear  of  com. 
Paurnaohata,  com  in  ear. 
Pauniachasina,  to  shoot  into  ear. 
Paya,  two. 
Payampiy  two  more. 
Payana,  to  cook. 
Payiri,  a  cook. 
Payla,  large  pot. 
Payee » (?Pallco),  a  species  of  Cheno- 

podium. 


Pejicara,  bald. 

Piara,  the  number  of  33  llamas. 

Pichi,  spoon-shaped  ornaments. 

Pichana,  to  sweep. 

Pichitanki,  a  swallow. 

Picho,  a  brand,  a  faggot. 

Pichuichaya,  a  sparrow, 

Pillu,  a  garland. 

Pilpinto,  a  butterfly. 

Pinquillo,  a  flute. 

Pinquilluna,  to  play  the  flute. 

Pircuna,  to  clean. 

Pima,  a  granary. 

Piruru,  a  spindle,  distaff. 

Pisacca,  a  partridge. 

Pisi,  little,  scarce, 

Pituna,  to  mix  or  knead  up. 

Poco,  an  earthen  pot  or  jar  (Ppucu?). 

Pocota,  a  ripe  thing. 

Pongo,  a  house-porter  or  male  ser- 
vant. 

Poroma,  virgin  ground. 

Possoi  CO, /ro/ A. 

Puchu,  enoughj  more  than  enough. 

Pucyo,  a  well. 

Puma,  a  puma. 

Piinku,  a  door. 

Puraca,  belly,  stomach. 

Purina,  to  arrive. 

Puruma  (poroma  ?),  virgin  land,  de- 
serts. 

Purtana,  to  lodge. 

Pusana,  to  blow  on  an  instrument, 

Vusi,fovr. 

Pusini,  in  four  parts,  between  four, 

FusiiuncK,  forty, 

Putisina,  sad,  melancholy. 

Pututu,  a  long  trumpet. 

Putuncu,  a  hole. 

Puyu,  a  feather. 

Ppampafia,  to  bury. 

Ppassa,  clay  eaten  by  the  Aymaras, 

Ppala,  rope  cord. 

P(Mpa,  marrow. 

Ppekei,  head. 

Ppia,  a  hole. 

Ppiaiia,  to  make  a  hole. 

Ppiscca,/ve. 

Ppisccatunca,  flfty. 

Ppisna,  a  light  thing. 

Ppoco,  a  full  thing. 

Ppocana,  toflll. 

Ppucha,  a  daughter. 

Ppucu,  an  earthen  pot. 

Quajra,  horn. 

Quelcana,  to  write. 

Quelhu.,««.»i*e^«.QQQg[^ 


of  Bolivia  and  Peru. 


295 


Quella,  ashes. 

Quelk,  iron,  steel. 

Quellacahua,  coat  of  mail. 

Quellahuisca,  iron  chain. 

Quemisina,  to  discover. 

Queni,  farinaceous. 

Quenti,  hwnming'bird. 

Quenua,  a  tree. 

Querari,  dirty,  filthy. 

Quesi,  a  freshwater  fish. 

Qaespi,  glass. 

Quespinaira,  spectacles. 

Quespina,  to  escape, 

Quespayana,  to  liberate. 

Quesphiru,  liberator,  saviour. 

Quiatuha,  sister-in-law. 

Quichina,  to  strip. 

Quillimi,  charcoal. 

Quillpina,  to  kneel. 

Quilquina,  a  vegetable  condiment. 

Quimsa,  three. 

Quimsacalco,  eight. 

Quimsatunca,  eighty. 

Quinocaya,  a  species  of  diver. 

Quiqui,  self. 

Quistuna,  to  chew. 

Quitana,  to  envy. 

Quiti,  who. 

Quitisi.  who  is  it  7 

Sn  (conj.)>  and,  as. 

Sama,  rest. 

Sampana,  to  rest. 

Samca,  sleep. 

Samcona,  at  night,  whilst  sleeping. 

Samcasina,  to  snore. 

Sana,  to  say. 

Sanu,  a  comb. 

Saouna,  to  comb. 

Sapa,  alone. 

Sapa  sapa,  one  by  one. 

Sapacal,  woodlouse. 

Sapana,  a  girl. 

Sappa,  a  basket. 

Sappi,  a  root. 

Sarana,  to  go  on  a  journey. 

Saram,  ^ol  be  off  \ 

Sari,  agouti. 

Sata,  seed. 

Satana,  to  sow. 

Satha  or  stha,  /  wish,  desire. 

Sau,  cloth. 

Sauna,  to  weave. 

Sauri,  a  weaver. 

Sauca,  nonsense,  fun. 

Saucosina,  to  make  fun  of. 

Sayana,  to  stop. 

Sayri;  tobacco. 


SeponiUii  to  live  in  concubinage. 

Sepi|  a  cockroach. 

Sequel,  a  freshwater  fish. 

SiWu,  finger-nail. 

Simpla,  a  maroma  of  hide  rope. 

Sind,  much. 

Sirca,  vein,  lode. 

Siripito,  cricket. 

Sistaaina,  to  stuff  oneself  in  eating. 

Socoso,  reed. 

Sojta,  six. 

Sojtatunca,  sixty. 

Saa,  ours. 

Suchi,  a  freshwater  fish. 

SuichO;  paralysis  qflegs. 

Sulla,  dew. 

Sullca,  elder  brother, 

Sullu,  miscarriage. 

Sulluna,  to  miscarry. 

Suluqui,  a  small  diver, 

Suma,  beautiful. 

Suncca,  hair  on  the  face. 

Suni,  puna, 

Suntifia,  to  wallow. 

Supay,  the  devil.     ^ 

Sun,  American  ostrich. 

Susuna,  to  sift. 

Suti,  name. 

Sutiasiri,  a  baptizer. 

Suteyana,  to  name,  to  baptise. 

Suyana,  to  hope. 

Tacana,  to  search  for, 

Tachlli,  five  fingers. 

Tacsanai  to  wash. 

Tacsiri,  a  washerwoman. 

Tahuaco,  young  woman,  girl. 

Taiachas,  boiled  frozen  ysahos. 

Taica,  mother. 

Taipuuru,  noon. 

Taipi,  middle,  centre. 

Taiquichi,  mother-in-law. 

Tajia,  Llama-dung. 

Tajo,  Algarrobo  tree. 

Talarana,  to  shake  a  thing. 

Tanccatancca,  scarabttus  beetle. 

Tansa,  heipht. 

Tanta,  united. 

Tantana,  to  unite. 

Tapa,  a  nest. 

Tapachana,  to  nestle,  to  dwell. 

Tapathama,  suddenly. 

Taparacu,  a  butterfly  of  ill  omen. 

Taque,  all,  every  one. 

Taqueatipiri,  almighty. 

Taquesifia,  to  suffer. 

Taqui, /or. 

Taquina,  to  kick. 

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206 


David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indiana 


Tarhua,  wool, 

Taripafia,  to  judge. 

Taripirii  a  judge, 

Tarujai  a  stop, 

Tmu,  caff  o/the  teg, 

TtLttL,faiher, 

Tatita,  do,  dimnutwe. 

Taya,  cold. 

Tayhitna,  eensation  of  cold. 

Taycayestua,  catarrh. 

Tayuta3ru,  heel, 

Thui  outside  boundary. 

Thuca,  a  clothes^moth. 

Tica,  air'dried  bricks, 

Tilana,  to  weave. 

Timpinai  a  workman's  apron. 

Tinea,  aJUUp. 

Tincona,  to  fall. 

Tincya,  a  guitar. 

Tipa,  dragon* S'blood  tree, 

Tipuiina,  to  get  in  a  passion, 

Tiquitiqiii,  red-crested  waterhen, 

Tironcayui  beard. 

Tiscotisco,  grasshppper. 

Titi,  wild  cat,  tin. 

Tocona,  to  dance. 

Tooori,  a  dancer. 

Tonco,  nkaise,  Indian  com. 

Toncco,  a  locker  or  cupboard, 

Toquena,  to  wrangle,  to  degrade. 

Toquero,  towards. 

Touhouacotna,  female  friend. 

Tucaa,  stinking. 

Tucaana,  to  stink. 

Tuchichaiia,  to  finish. 

TuirvL,  a  stick, 

TukuuBUy  madness, 

TiiUca,  son^n-ktw, 

TuDca,  ten. 

l\inqui,  a  red  bird  {Rupicola  Perw 

viana), 
Tupu,  a  measure. 
Tupuna,  to  measure, 
Tutuca,  a  hurricane. 
Ttacafia,  to  wean. 
Ttacu,  rough,  foul,  entangled. 
Ttanta,  bread. 
Ttaqiii,  a  road. 
Ttuca,  lean. 

Ttucaptana,  to  become  lean, 
Ttucuna,  to  admire  oneseff, 
Ttuna,  dirt. 
Ttuta,  moth. 
Uacho.  a  furrow, 
Uarauara,  stars, 
Uca,  that, 
Ucalaycu,  therefore. 


Ucama^uii  no  more  of  this, 

Ucampi,  more. 

VctLmpaUfjust  lately. 

Ucapacha,  then. 

Ucasti,  also. 

Ucata,  i^er. 

Ucsa,  furthermore. 

Uihua,  a  domestic  animai. 

Uihuaiia,  to  breed. 

Uju,  a  cough. 

Uiuna,  to  cough. 

miieo,  tubercles  of  UlUeus  tuberosas. 

Ulnpique,  smallest  and  strongest 
green  pepper. 

Uma,  water. 

Umana,  to  drink. 

Umahtti,  drunkenness, 

Umauma,  watery,  juicy. 

UmacayA,  steeped  ocas, 

Umachos,  ridges  for  planting  be- 
tween, 

Umacollo,  duck. 

Vmtaito,  fish  from  Lake  TUicaca. 

Unancba,  6aiiii^,  signal,  image, 

Unanehana,  to  signalise,  to  advertise. 

Unuctayana,  to  move  to  another  place, 

Ufijana,  to  look  at. 

Unisina,  to  abhor. 

Uru,  day. 

Ururi,  morning  ^ar. 

Uracquei  ground,  foundation. 

Urpi,  pigeon,  dove. 

Uscufia,  to  place, 

Uau,  disease,  Ubsess. 

Usuna,  to  be  ill,  to  sicken. 

Uauta,  sandals. 

VtSL,  a  house. 

Utamad,  a  neighbour. 

Utjaiia,  to  sit  down. 

Utachafia,  to  bmld. 

Uyu,  a  bed,  an  inclosure. 

Yaca-yaca,  woodpe^cer, 

Yacachana,  to  gwe  birth. 

Yacallachi,  bladder, 

Yaoona,  an  edible  root. 

Yaeca,  urine. 

Yaccana,  to  make  water. 

Yaccana,  separate,  apart. 

Yahuina,  to  darken. 

Yallina,  to  surpass. 

Ymn,  a  servant,  domestic. 

Yanana»  to  attempt, 

Yanapafia,  to  assut. 

YaDCca,  bad. 

Yacpihana,  to  bind  the  hands, 

Yapina,  to  tie  up. 

y^pu,  field,  estate, 

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of  Bolivia  and  Peru.  297 

Yareta,  Bolax  glebaria,  Yepocca,  thunder  (Llapocha  ?). 

Yarhui,  arriero's  needk.  Yoaniha,  vnfe's  connexions, 

Yarhuihtiiaca,  chain  of  wire.  Y^ocachaijiri,  midwife, 

Yasafia,  to  believe,  Yocca,  son. 

Yatjayana,  to  mend.  Ysanu,  tubercle  qf  Tropieolum  tube- 

Yatifla,  to  know.  rosum. 

Yatichafia,  to  teach,  Yupaichafia,  to  obey. 

Yatichiri,  a  teacher.  Yuta,  a  partridge. 

Yatiri,  an  instructed  man.  Yuyu,  a  young  herb. 

Yatiyri,  Creator  {all^knowing).  Yyafia,  to  grind. 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES  XVU.  TO  XXIII. 


.       Plate  XVH. 

Portrait  of  an  Armara  man  of  the  normal  type ;  from  the  Department  of 
La  Paz,  Bolivia.    Keduced  from  a  drawing  from  life. 

Platb  XVIIL 

Portrait  of  an  Aymara  woman,  from  the  Department  of  La  Paz ;  more  than 
usually  good-looking,  yet  perfectly  characteristic.  Reducend  from  a  drawing 
from  life. 

PlatbXIX. 

Portrait  of  an  Aymaza  man  of  less  usual  type ;  from  the  northernmost  part 
of  the  Aymara  country,  in  Peru,  on  the  confines  of  the  Quechua  district. 
Reduced  from  a  drawing  from  lire. 

Plate  XX. 

Fig.  1,  a  and  b.  Figure  (full  size)  of  a  silver  image  found  in  an  ancient 
grave  at  Caquinhora,  near  Corocoro,  in  Bolivia. 

Fig.  2,  a  and  b.  Representation  of  an  idol  at  Tiahuanaco  in  Bolivia.  This 
shows  the  character  of  the  more  primitive  remains  at  that  place  when  com- 
pared with  the  elaborately  sculptured  idols  of  later  date  ana  totally  different 
character,  some  of  which  are  ngured  in  the  atlas  to  D'Orbigny's  '  Homme 
Amdricain.' 

fig.  8.  Small  clay  stove  used  in  cooldng. 

4.  Forms  of  potteiy  in  common  use  amongst  the  Aymaras. 

5.  Form  of  club-head  of  magnetic  oxide  of  iron  frequently  found  in 

the  tombs. 

Plate  XXI. 

Fig.  1.  Neck-ornament  of  thin  gold  plate ;  found  in  a  tomb  near  Corocoro, 
in  Bolivia. 

2.  figures  of  some  of  the  small  stone  erections  put  up  by  the  travel- 

ling Indians  at  the  pass  of  Huaylillos,  or  Tacora,  in  Southern  Peru. 

3.  Aymara  plough.  /^ 

•^  r     -o  .igitized  by  ^ 


y  Google 


298  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians. 

Plate  XXI  (contmtud,). 

Fig.  4.  Ajmara  wooden  spade,  or  instrument  for  digging. 
6.        „       iron  pick. 

6.  „      hoe,  made  of  the  shoulder-blade  of  llama  or  ox. 

7.  f,      stone  clod-breaker. 

8.  ,,       steel  axe. 

9.  „       stone  fox-trap. 

10.  Figure  of  lUma  rudew  cut  on  the  side  of  a  hill  at  Pena,  in  the  de- 

sert of  Tamarugal,  Tarapaca,  Peru. 

11,  a  and  b.  Spoon-shaped  ornaments  called  Pieht.  Usually  the  bowls 

are  like  ordinary  spoons ;  but  sometimes  they  are  flattened  out 
like  round  plates  or  metal :  both  shapes  are  shown  in  the  figures. 

Plates  XXH.  and  XXFTL 

Plate  XXn.  figs.  1  to  8,  and  Plate  XXIEE.  figs.  1  to  7,  represent  the  hie- 
roglyphic markiDgs  seen  on  the  sides  of  latge  stones  (amongst  others  less 
elaborate)  called  Las  Oanwatuu  or  La  Biblioteca  dd  Diabolo,  dtilated  between 
Uchumaya  and  Vitor,  in  southern  Peru. 

Discussion. 

The  Hon.  B.  G.  Squiee,  of  New  York,  having  been  called  on  by 
the  President,  remarked  that  he  found  much  to  confirm,  and  little  or 
nothing  to  criticize,  in  the  elaborate  paper  of  Mr.  Forbes.  His  own 
inyestigations  in  Bolivia  and  Peru  had  been  specially  directed  to  the 
ancient  monuments  of  these  interesting  regions,  where  once  existed 
the  grandest,  and,  in  most  respects,  the  most  advanced  of  aboriginal 
American  empires.  He  had  nevertheless  been  able  to  give  some 
attention  to  other  matters — to  the  geography  of  the  great  Andean 
plateau,  and  the  physical  characteristics,  haoits,  and  languages  of  its 
occupants.  The  peculiar  physical  proportions  of  the  people  of  IndisDi 
and  especially  of  Aymara  stock,  as  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Forbes,  had 
certainly  impressed  the  speaker;  but  ne  had  not  tested  his  impressions 
by  actual  measurements,  as  Mr.  Forbes  had  done.  The  speaker's 
own  opportunities  of  studying  the  Aymaras  had  been  far  less  than 
those  of  the  author  of  the  paper ;  but  he  probably  possessed  a  some- 
what better  acquaintance  with  the  Quichuas,  the  undoubted  founders 
of  the  Inca  empire,  and  alone  entitled,  of  all  the  numerous  fSunilies  of 
which  it  was  made  up,  to  be  called  the  Inca  race.  Between  the 
Quichuas  and  the  Aymaras  were  many  marked  physical  and  other 
differences.  The  peculiarities  of  the  Aymaras,  pointed  out  by 
Mr.  Forbes,  were  probably  less  obvious  in  the  Quichuas.  These  con- 
stitute a  taller  and  better-proportioned  race,  with  a  much  dearer 
complexion,  and  a  more  open  and  genial  character,  contrasting 
strongly  with  the  smaller,  darker,  more  reserved,  sinister,  and  dis- 
trustful Aymaras.  The  basin  proper  of  Lake  Titicaca  was  undoubtedly 
the  original  seat  of  the  Aymara  family,  being  for  the  most  part  a 
high,  cold,  and  barren  region,  with  its  severer  features  fairly  reflected 
in  the  character  of  its  occupants.  Their  conquest  by  the  Tncas  was 
effected  only  after  a  severe  and  protracted  struggle,  and  probablj^ 
might  not  have  been  effected  at  all  had  the  Aymara  fkmily  been  poh- 


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David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians.  299 

tically  homogeneous ;  for,  if  we  may  judge  from  their  descendants, 
the  A^maras  were  in  no  degree  inferior  to  the  Quichuas  in  warlike 
qualities.  Indeed,  the  Ajrmaras  are  now  regarded  as  among  the  best 
soldiers  of  all  the  mountain  families.  The  Aymaras  do  not  seem  to 
have  been,  anciently,  under  a  single  head  or  authority,  nor  even  to 
have  Bad  their  various  families  or  tribes  united  bj  any  efficient 
alliance.  Collectively,  however,  they  were  the  most  numerous  of  any 
of  the  various  races  or  families  that  were  brought  under  Inca  rule, 
with  the  probable  exceptions  of  the  Scynis  of  Quito  and  the  Yuncas 
or  Chimus  of  the  coast. 

The  territory  occupied  by  the  Aymaras,  as  already  observed,  does 
not  appear  to  have  extended  much  beyond  the  Titicaca  basin — cer- 
tainly not  on  the  north,  where  their  characteristic  monuments  are 
strictly  limited  by  the  "  divide  "  between  the  head-waters  of  the 
Amazonian  rivers  and  the  streams  flowing  into  Lake  Titicaca.  After 
their  conquest  by  the  Incas,  the  Quichuas  seem  to  have  pressed  over 
this  divide,  and  down  the  valley  of  the  Pucura,  almost  or  quite  to  the 
lake,  besides  flanking  the  Aymaras  on  the  east,  and  lapping  around 
them  on  the  south.  At  present  the  region  north  of  the  eity  of  Puno 
may  be  considered  as  having  a  nearly  equal  population  of  Quichuas 
and  Aymaras.  They  exist  in  about  even  numbers  in  Puno  itself,  and 
there,  as  elsewhere,  maintain  a  strict  separation.  The  town  of 
Huancan^,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  lake,  is  the  last  strictly  Ay- 
mara town  of  importance  in  the  direction  of  Cuzco.  This  was  the 
centre  of  the  last  uprising  of  the  Indians,  only  three  years  ago, 
which  at  one  time  threatened  to  become  general  throughout  the 
ancient  Gollas.  It  is  said  that  it  would  have  become  so,  had  it  met 
with  the  cooperation  of  the  Quichuas,  who,  however,  kept  entirely 
aloof. 

Mr.  Squier  could  not  agree  with  those  writers  who  derived  Inca  civili- 
zation from  the  Aymaras.  One  tradition  of  the  Incas  places  the  origin 
of  Manco  Capac,  the  alleged  first  Inca,  in  the  island  of  Titicaca,  in 
the  lake  of  the  same  name ;  and  that  island  was  certainly  regarded  as 
sacred  by  his  successors.  But  the  weight  of  tradition  gives  the  Valley 
of  Paucartambo,  to  the  east  of  the  City  of  Cuzco,  as  the  place  whence 
the  founders  of  the  Inca  empire  came.  The  very  name  "  Paucar- 
tambo' '  confirms  the  tradition,  signifying  birthplace  or  homestead.  The 
evidence  of  language  does  not  go  far  towards  a  solution  of  the  problem 
of  origins,  for  the  undoubted  strong  resemblances  between  the 
Quichua  and  Aymara  can  most  readily  be  accounted  for  by  the  known 
practice  of  the  conquerors  in  imposing  their  language  on  the  con- 
quered,— a  notorious  practice  of  the  Cicas,  and  one  of  the  leading 
features  of  their  policy. 

If  we  consult  the  monuments  of  the  Aymaras  and  Quichuas  re- 
spectively, we  find  scarcely  a  trace  of  resemblance.  In  point  of  fact, 
except  in  their  chulpaSy  or  Durial- towers,  and  their  rude  stone  pucuraSf 
or  hul-forts,  the  ancient  Aymaras  have  left  few  if  any  remains  of  im- 
portance— none  comparable  in  design,  skill,  and  magnitude  with  the 
numerous  aud  massive  monuments  of  the  Incas.  The  most  important 
regular  structures  of  which  remains  exist  in  the  Collas,  sucjCas  the. 

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800  David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians. 

Temple  of  the  Sun  and  the  Palace  of  the  Incas,  on  the  iskndof  Titi- 
caca ;  the  Palace  of  the  Virgins  of  the  Sun,  on  the  island  of  Coati ; 
the  structures  at  Arapa,  and  those  found  in  connexion  with  the  Ay- 
mara chulpaa  at  Villustani,  were  erected  by  the  Inoas,  and  are  unmis- 
takeable  types  of  Inca  architecture.  Of  the  remains  of  Tiahuanaoo 
Mr.  Squier  declined  to  speak,  regarding  them  as  equally  unique  and 
enigmatical.  He  was  entirely  at  a  loss  to  know  on  what  authority 
Mr.  Forbes  accepted  them  as  relics  of  an  ancient  Aymara  capitoi. 
As  fiir  as.the  speaker's  observations  extended,  they  are  wholly  unlike 
any  other  remains  in  the  entire  Aymara  region.  Indeed,  excepting 
a  &w  of  the  chulpai^  the  monuments  of  the  Aymaras  are  exceedingly 
rude,  comparable  only  with  those  early  remains  which  we  have  latelj 
come  to  regard  as  the  first  efforts  of  man  architecturally,  and  in  the 
way  of  fortifications,  throughout  the  world.  He  had  elsewhere  pointed 
out  the  resemblance  between  them  and  what  arecalled,inEurope,  *'ine- 
galithic  "  and  "prehistoric  "  monuments,  but  to  which  the  term  "  noo- 
historic  "  woula  perhaps  best  apply.  And  as  regards  monuments  of 
this  kind,  he  must  admit  they  are  fiir  more  numerous  in  the  Aymara 
country  than  in  any  other  portion  of  Peru  or  Bolivia  that  he  had 
visited ;  but  he  was  not,  therefore,  prepared  to  say  that  they  indicated 
a  higher  antiquity  for  the  Aymaras  than  for  several  other  Andean 
families,  whose  earlier  monuments  had  probably  been  displaced  by 
works  of  a  more  advanced  kind. 

On  one  other  point  Mr.  Squier  felt  constrained  to  differ  firom  Mr. 
Forbes,  namely,  as  to  the  existence  of  sun-worship  among  the  Ay- 
maras. He  believed  that  all  the  Andean  families  were  solar-wor- 
shippers, and  very  naturally  so.  After  having  shivered  for  months 
in  the  Collao,  where  little  or  no  fuel  is  to  be  found,  and  where  the 
natural  heat  of  the  system  can  only  be  reinforced  by  the  direct  lays 
of  the  sun,  he  had  himself  come  to  regard  that  luminary  as  the  most 
beneficent,  as  it  is  certainly  the  most  splendid,  object  in  the  physical 
creation,  to  which  he,  and  everybody  else,  paid  involuntary  worship 
by  always  seeking  the  sunny  side  of  rocks  in  the  punas,  and  of  houses 
in  the  towns.  He  would  not  undertake  to  say  how  far,  or  how  clearly, 
the  various  "  intihuatanas  *'  or  stone  "  sun-circles  "  which  he  had  dis- 
covered in  the  Collao,  and  described  elsewhere,  were  evidences  of  the 
prevalence  of  sun- worshii),  nor  was  he  prepared  to  agree  with  all  the 
speculations  of  an  ingenious  French  savan,  M.  Angrand,  as  to  the 
significance  of  the  sculptures  on  the  great  monolithic  gateway  at 
TUiuanaco ;  but,  whether  of  Aymara  origin  or  not,  he  fully  concurred 
with  M.  Angrand  that  they  are  only  explicable  on  the  hypothesis  of 
being  solar  symbols.  He  was  aware  that  it  was  the  pride  and  glory 
of  the  Incas  to  compel  the  acceptance  of  sun-worship  bv  aU  the 
nations  and  families  brought  under  their  rule ;  and  it  might,  there- 
fore, be  inferred  that  these  nations  and  £eunilies  had  originally  an 
entirely  different  system  of  religious  adoration ;  but  Mr.  Squier  was 
disposed  to  believe  that  the  Incas  sought  only  to  inculcate  and 
imuose  a  more  spiritual  worship  of  the  sun,  whose  descendants 
and  ministers  they  affected  to  be,  than  had  existed  before,  and 
to  substitute  a  refined  for  a  gross  and  material  worship  of  the  Day- 

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David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians.  301 

Mp.  Squiep  agreed  with  Mr.  Fopbes  in  protesting  against  the 
looseness  with  which  the  designation  **  Peruvian,"  as  synonymous 
with  "  Inca,"  was  applied  to  crania  taken  from  the  political  area 
denominated  Peru.    The  Inca  empire  was,  as  every  student  well 
knew,  a  grand  mosaic  of  families,  tribes,  and  principalities,  some 
of  which  might  better  deserve  the  title  of  kingdoms  than  a  num- 
ber of  such  so  called  in  Europe,  and  which  difiered  widely  among 
themselves  in  many  respects  —  physically,  mentally,  in  language, 
and  in  social  and  civil  organization.    Most  of  the  crania,  probably 
ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred,  in  museums  and  pnvate  col- 
lections, kbelled  "Inca"   or  "Peruvian,"  were  from  the  desert, 
sandy  coasts  extending  from  &uyaquil,  or  rather  Tumbez,  to  Cobija, 
and  which  were  either  Tunca  or  Chincha  (speaking  generally),  but 
not  Inca.    Those  found  in  and  about  Arica  might  be  safely  deno- 
minated Aymara,  differing  in  their  style  of  deformation  little  if  at 
all  from  those  found  in  the  Collao,  and  occurring  often  in  chulpas, 
themselves  differing  only  in  respect  of  material,  oeing  composed  of 
mampoHeria  or  indurated  clay,  inst«id  of  stone,  as  m  the  central 
seats  of  the  Aymaras.    The  coast-families  deformed  the  head  in  di- 
stinct and  easily-recognizable  fashions,  as  did  also  the  Aymaras,  who, 
by  means  of  bandages,  ^.,  gave  the  skull  an  occipital  extension,  while 
the  Yuncas  and  some  others  prolonged  it  vertically  by  "  fore-and-aft'' 
compressions,  thus  giving  it  also  great  lateral  expansion.    Although 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  Incas  themselves  did  occasionaSy 
deform  the  skull,  for  purposes  of  family  or  other  distinction,  yet  Mr. 
Squier  never  found  an  instance  of  such  distortion  in  or  around 
Cuzco,  nor  in  the  seats  proper  of  the  Inca  fistmilies.  And  while  general 
among  the  Aymaras,  it  was  not  universal,  for  he  had  found  in  the 
same  ehtdpay  burying-place,  or  familj-tomb,  skulls  of  normal  or  na- 
tural shape,  others  but  slightly  changed  by  artificial  means,  while 
some  were  extravagantly  £storted,  constituting  most  striking  ex- 
amples of  ''the  long-headed  race,"  which  rapid  generalizers  nave 
located  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca.    Mr.  Squier  had  in  his  col- 
lection several  of  the  ancient  {chulfa)  KjioaxK female  skulls,  evinc- 
ing in  a  marked  manner  the  popular  deformation,  so  that  this  evi- 
dence of  beauty  or  distinction  was  certainly  not  limited  to  the 
male  sex. 

Mr.  Squier  here  exhibited  a  photograph  of  an  Inca  skuU,  from 
a  cemet^  in  the  Valley  of  Yucay,  on  which  the  delicate  and  difficult 
operation  of  trepanning  had  been  performed  during  life,  the  subject 
having  lived  for  several  days,  perhaps  weeks,  thereaf^r.  The  removed 
section  of  bone  had  not  been  sawn,  but  cut  out  as  with  a  graving-tool 
or  burin. 

The  efforts  of  the  Incas  to  assimilate  the  families  that  were  brought 
within  their  empire  bv  force  or  alliance,  in  respect  of  language,  reli- 
gion, and  modes  of  li^,  were  powerful  and  well-directed ;  but,  how- 
ever potential  they  may  have  oeen  for  the  time,  and  notwithstanding 
the  later  influence  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  same  direction,  they  had 
not  been  of  lasting  influence.  The  primitive  families,  in  spite  ofeyeTj 
kind  of  repressive  circumstances  and  of  altered  conditions,  had  vindi- 

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302  David  Forbes — On  the  Jymara  Indians. 

cated  tiiemselves  with  more  or  less  energy  and  effect,  exhibiting  a 
constant  tendency  to  revert  to  their  original  type.  Were  it  not  for 
this,  the  dream  of  the  Quichuas  to  reestablish  the  old  Inca  empire 
would  not  be  difficult  of  realization;  but  the  Aymaras  will  not  heartily 
cooperate  with  them,  and  vice  versd,  nor  will  the  remnants  of  abori- 
ginal stock  to  the  northward  enter  into  the  struggle  that  the  attempts 
would  involve.  Should  an  understanding  be  come  to  by  the  various 
Andean  &milies,  and  a  general  uprising  take  place,  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  certain  that  a  great  aboriginal  state  may  once  more  be  built 
up  in  the  American  Tibet ;  nor  would  such  a  result  be  greatly  to  be 
deplored  by  the  civilized  world.  It  would  be  a  poor  compliment  to 
Inca  civilization,  or,  for  that  matter,  to  the  Inca  system  of  religion, 
to  say  that  they  have  been  ^  improved  '*  upon  under  Spanish  dominion, 
imperial  or  republican. 

Mr.  B.  Cull  said  that  we  had  abundant  information  as  to  the 
habits  and  maimers  of  the  Aymaras,  and  were  well  informed  as  to 
their  arts,  religion,  and  language.  D'Orbigny  and  Tschudi  have  de- 
scribed all  these  things  of  the  present  generation  of  Aymaras,  as  the 
Spanish  authors  described  those  of  their  ancestors  three  centuries 
ago.  What  we,  as  ethnologists,  desire  to  know  is  the  physical  man. 
iTow,  all  authorities  are  agreed  that  the  Aymaras  have  large  chests 
(by  a  large  chest  is  commonly  meant  a  broad  chest),  but  Mr.  Forbes 
spoke  of  the  long  body  of  the  Aymara — indeed,  so  Iods  as  to  be  a 
deformity ;  and  this  great  length  of  body  is  said  to  be  the  result  of  a 
chest  which  is  disproportionately  long.  The  speaker  appealed  to 
those  gentlemen  present  who  were  familiar  with  this  people  to  know 
if  they  ^reed  upon  this  point  with  the  author  of  the  paper. 

Mr.  W .  BoLLAEBT  said  that  he  became  acquainted  with  the  Ay- 
maras in  1826,  in  the  pampa  of  Tarapacd,  South  Peru,  their  villages 
commencing  at  an  elevation  of  dfOOO  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea^ 
and  extending  to  some  15,000.  He  agreed  with  Mr.  Forbes  in  many 
of  the  details  he  had  given,  particularlv  in  that  they  have  short  limbs 
and  large  trunks ;  and  he  admitted  that  the  great  capacity  of  the 
thorax  might  meet  the  requirements  of  better  respiration  at  high  ele- 
vations in  the  Andes.  However,  when  surveving  in  1826-7  on  the 
boundary  of  Bolivia,  and  ascending  the  peak  of  Tata  Jachura,  its 
summit  being  some  18,000  feet  high,  the  Aymara  guides  would  not 
go  higher  than  about  15,000  feet. 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  the  Aymaras,  it  would  seem  that  Manco 
Capac  was  of  Aymara  origin,  and  that  the  alleged  secret  language  of 
the  Incas  may  have  been  the  Aymara. 

The  speaker's  impression,  as  a  polygenist,  was,  that  the  red  man  is 
peculiar  to  the  New  World,  and  that  what  he  has  produced  in  lan« 
guages,  &c.,  and  particularly  in  architecture,  is  of  his  own  creation ; 
and  probably  he  could  not  have  made  much  further  progress,  even  if 
he  had  been  left  to  himself. 

It  is  thought  that  the  ruins  of  Tia-Huanaco  are  of  an  older  date 
than  are  the  people  we  know  as  Aymaras.  The  first  Spanish  writers 
speak  of  these  Aymaras  as  the  09/2a«-mouhtaineers,  and  as  having  been 
conquered  by  the  fourth  Inca,  Mayta-Capac,  who  was  the  first  Inca 


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David  Forbes — On  the  Aymara  Indians.  803 

to  behold  these  ruins,  and  from  him  came  the  name  of  Tia-Huanaco. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  a  great  chief  named  Huyu-Suiu  built  Tia- 
Huanaco,  then  called  Chua^ikua^  clear  streams.  Huffu  may  mean 
halls,  palaces,  or  city ;  Sutu^  the  name  of  the  chief. 

Mr.  Clehents  Mabkham  observed  that  a  study  of  the  earliest 
accounts  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Peruvian  Andes  had  led  him  to  the 
conclusio)!  that  the  different  tribes  remained  isolated  for  centuries, 
and  that  each  tribe  developed  such  a  form  of  civilization  as  the  pecu- 
liarities of  the  region  where  its  abode  was  fixed  rendered  possible. 
As  a  race,  all  the  tribes  were  probably  about  equal  as  regards  capacity 
for  improvement. 

Thus  the  Yncas,  who  finally  became  the  dominant  tribe,  lived  in  a 
region  blessed  with  almost  every  variety  of  climate.  On  its  bracing 
uplands  were  flocks  of  llamas  and  abundance  of  edible  roots,  while  its 
sunny  valleys  yielded  large  crops  of  com,  pepper,  and  fruit.  Under 
such  favourable  circumstances  the  inhabitants  attained  the  highest 
degree  of  civilization  of  which  the  race  was  capable,  and  eventufdly 
became  the  imperial  tribe.  .  The  dwellers  on  the  lofly  plateaux  of  the 
Titicaca  region,  on  the  other  hand,  were  confined  to  a  cold  and  bleak 
country,  yielding  nothing  but  potatoes  (converted  when  frozen  into 
the  insipid  chunu),  the  oca,  and  a  grain  called  ^uinua.  These 
people  gradually  attained  the  physical  charactenstics  so  care- 
fully recorded  by  Mr.  Forbes ;  they  multiplied  enormously ;  their 
country  became  densely  populated,  and  a  civilization  was  developed 
peculiar  to  themselves,  and  not  so  high  as  that  of  the  Yncas.  There 
are  vestiges  of  it  in  their  beautiful  monumental  towers,  and  in  the 
extensive  ruins  at  Tia-Huanaco. 

Mr.  Markham  spoke  of  the  peculiar  difficulties  surrounding  the 
ethnological  study  of  these  interesting  Andean  tribes,  and  especially 
as  regards  the  dwellers  in  the  basin  of  Lake  Titicaca.  It  must  be 
remembered  that,  for  the  last  three  centuries,  they  have  been  in  a 
false  position,  owing  to  the  domination  of  a  foreign  race,  which  has 
checked  their  natural  development,  and  has  had  so  baneful  an  effect 
upon  their  increase  as  almost  to  have  annihilated  them.  When  the 
Spaniards  came,  the  Aymaras  extended,  in  densely  peopled  villages, 
from  Ayaviri  to  the  provinces  south  of  the  lake.  Now  all  that  region 
is  almost  depopulated,  and  the  Aymara  race  and  language  are  not 
met  with  north  of  the  little  village  of  Faucar-colla,  a  few  miles  from 
Funo.  But,  even  at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest,  the  Aymaras 
were  a  conquered  people  in  an  unnatural  condition.  The  very  word 
Aymara  is  foreign  to  their  language,  and  the  earliest  writers  invariably 
call  these  people  Collas,  The  name,  too,  by  which  their  grandest  mo- 
numents are  now  known  is  composed  of  two  words  foreign  to  their 
language,  and  commemorates  an  insignificant  circumstance  connected 
with  their  conquest.  The  real  name  of  the  ruins  on  the  south  of 
L^e  Titicaca  is  lost.  The  object  of  these  remarks  is  to  show  that 
the  only  way  now  left  us  of  obtaining  any  correct  notions  respecting 
the  Aymaras  and  other  Andean  tribes  is  a  careful  and  critical  study 
of  the  earliest  Spanish  records,  combined  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
languages,  whereby  not  only  all  Spanish,  but  also  all  Quichua  elements 

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304  David  Forbes — On  the  Aytnara  Indians. 

may  be  eliminated.  What  remains,  though  the  information  may  be 
small  in  quantity,  will  at  all  events  be  strictly  connected  with  the  Ay- 
maras  as  a  separate  tribe.  Our  knowledge  will  be  limited,  but,  as  far 
as  it  goes,  it  will  be  accurate. 

Mr.  Squier  seemed  inclined  to  rive  the  Ay  maras  a  wider  area  than 
was  assigned  to  them  by  Mr.  Forbes,  and  spoke  of  having  met  with 
their  remains  within  a  short  distance  of  the  coast  at  Axica.  This 
may  be  accounted  for  by  the  system  of  colonies  introduced  by  the 
Incas,  with  a  view  to  supplying  the  natives  of  the  highlands  with 
coca,  pepper,  maize,  and  other  products  of  the  low  warm  valleys. 
Thus  the  toidition  is  still  preserved  that  the  cholos  of  Areouipa  are 
descended  from  colonists  who  were  natives  of  the  village  of  Cfavanilla, 
near  Puno.  The  colonists  in  Moquegua  came  from  Acoraand  Have, 
on  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca,  and  those  of  Tacna  firom  Juli  and 
Pisacoma. 

With  reference  to  the  custom  of  flattening  the  heads  of  infants, 
Mr.  Markham  mentioned  that  both  Cieza  de  Leon  and  Garcilasso  de 
la  Yega  say  that  it  prevailed  among  the  Aymaras  or  CoUas. 

Mr.  FoBBis,  after  premising  that  the  object  of  his  communication 
was  to  place  on  record,  for  the  use  of  ethnologists,  the  facts  he  had 
collectea  during  a  residence  of  several  years  amount  these  Lidians, 
confined  his  further  remarks  to  those  points  on  which  the  speakers 
appeared  to  differ  from  him. 

Mr.  Squier  asked  why  he  regarded  Tiahuanaco  as  forpierlv  the  seat 
of  government  of  the  Aymaras.  Li  reply,  he  did  so  in  deference  to 
the  traditions  of  the  Indians  themselves ;  because  they  were,  without 
exception,  the  mo8t  important  of  the  ancient  Aymara  remains,  and 
because,  as  D'Orbigny  had  also  laid  stress  upon,  the  very  name  it- 
self, taken  in  conjunction  with  the  occurrence  of  the  central  figure 
in  the  great  Monolithic  Portal,  which  holds  two  sceptres,  one  in  each 
hand,  has  long  been  interpreted  as  incUcating  that  tnis  was  the  seat  of 
both  the  temporal  and  spiritual  power  of  the  nation*. 

Again,  Mr.  Squier  disputes  the  opinion  that  the  Aymaras  were  not 
origmally  sun-worshippers  like  the  Quichuas.  Mr.  Forbes,  although 
he  also  believes  that  all  these  tribes  had  a  profound  veneration  for 
this  luminary,  still  does  not  think  that  its  worship  ever  assumed 
amongst  the  Ajrmaras  any  such  pre-eminent  position  as  it  did 
amongst  the  Quichuas  under  the  uca  dynasty.  It  required  too 
great  a  stretch  of  imagination  to  suppose  that  any  of  the  figures  on 
the  Tiahuanaco  ruins  (a  most  complete  set  of  illustrations  of  which 
were  on  the  table  before  him)  were  actually  intended  to  represent 
the  sun,  especially  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  most  unmistak- 
ably characteristic  representations  of  the  sun  were  common,  and  it 
might  be  said  even  peculiar,  to  the  Incarial  remains,  but  rarely  or 
ever  met  with  on  those  of  undoubted  Aymara  origin.    In  addition  to 

*  Tiahiumaoo,  from  "  Tiakua,**  seated,  and  "  mom,'*  both  ;  or,  aooording  to  an- 
other yersion,  the  name  was  due  to  one  of  the  Ineae  having  on  this  spot  addrensd 
Tia  kuanaco,  "  sit  down  Guanaoo,"  to  an  Indian  courier  who  had  just  arrived  fron 
Gusoo  in  a  wonderfuUj  short  time.  The  word  "  kunanaeo  "  is  Qaichua,  the  name 
for  this  animal  in  Ajmara  being  "  ku4xrinV* 


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David  Pordbs — On  the  Aymara  Indians.  805 

this,  fdl  the  words  relating  to  sun-worship  which  he  found  in  use 
amongst  the  Ajmaras  were  derived  from  the  Quichua  "  Inti,"  and 
not  from  the  Aymara  *'  Lupi,"  which  fully  confirmed  the  statements 
of  old  Spanish  writers  that  the  Incas  had  introduced  this  worship 
into  the  Titicaca  region.  Padre  Alonzo  Bamos,  who  wrote  in  1620, 
after  describing  the  temples  built  by  the  Incas  for  the  worship  of  the 
sun  on  the  Titicaca  Islands,  states  that  the  neighbouring  Indians, 
who  appear  to  have  been  regarded  as  pagans,  were  not  allowed  to 
assist  in  the  ceremonies  or  even  to  enter  the  temples  of  the  sun. 

In  reply  to  the  extraordinary  remark  of  Mr.  Markham,  **  that  the 
very  word  Ajrmara  is  foreign  to  their  language,  and  that  the  earliest 
writers  invariably  called  these  people  CoUas,"  I  may  state  that  the 
Aymara  Indians  of  both  Peru  and  Bolivia  do  not  know  themselves 
under,  or  admit  that  they  ever  were,  called  by  any  other  name ;  and  a 
mere  reference  to  the  earliest  writers  on  the  subject  (such  as,  amongst 
others,  Alcobaca,  1585,  Bertonio,  1603,  or,  somewhat  later,  Torres 
del  Eubio,  Grarcilasso  de  la  Vega,  Ac.)  will  fully  bear  witness  not  only 
to  the  antiquity  of  this  name  and  nation  (admitted  to  be  in  all  pro- 
bability more  ancient  than  the  Quichua),  but  also  show  that  the 
Aymara  language  was  one  of  the  first  to  occupy  the  attention  of  the 
early  Spanish  writers  on  Peru. 

Anv  person  acquainted  with  the  history  of  Peru  will  at  once  per- 
ceive how  the  name  *'  Colla,'*  often  used  in  older  writers,  has  been  mis- 
understood by  Messrs.  Markham  and  Bollaert.  Every  Aymara  is 
naturaUv  just  as  much  a  Colla  Indian,  as  a  Greek  or  Spaniard  is  a 
South  European,  although  it  does  not  necessarily  follow  that  a  South 
European  must  be  a  Greek  or  Spaniard ;  the  term  *'  Colla,*'  or,  more 
correctly,  "  Colla-suyo  "  (of  much  more  recent  origin  than  Aymara), 
bein^  merely  a  geographical  one,  the  name  of  one  of  the  four  great 
divisions  or  quarters  of  the  Peruvian  Empire,  which  were  called  re- 
spectively: Chincha-suyo,  the  Northern;  Anti-suyo,  the  Eastern; 
Cunti-suyo,  the  Western ;  and  Colla-suyo,  the  Southern,  which  last 
division,  for  shortness  commonly  called  the  CoUao  by  the  Spaniards, 
embraced  the  whole  of  the  empire  situated  south  of  Lake  Titicaca*, 
and  inhabited  by  numerous  distinct  Indian  nations,  the  names  of 
which  will  be  found  in  the  *  Historia  de  Copacabana '  by  Samos 
(1620),  and  who  collectively  were  known  as  Colla  Indians. 

*  At  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conqueet,  flie  Inca  Empire  reached  as  &r  south 
as  the  Biver  Maule  in  Chile,  lat  35®  B.,  or  more  than  a  thousand  miles  south  of 
lAke  Titioaca. 


VOL.  II. 


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306  Col.  A.  L.  Fox — On  the  Opening  of  two 

Ordinary  Meeting,  March  8th,  1870. 
Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  P.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 
New  Member. — Captain  Walter  Campbell,  B.E. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XXIV.  On  the  opening  of  two  Cairns  near  Bangor,  North 
Wales.  By  Col.  A.  Lane  Pox,  P.S.A.,  Hon.  Sec.  Ethno. 
Soc. 

In  1868,  whilst  on  a  visit  at  Penrhyn  Castle;  my  attention  was 
drawn  to  two  conspicuous  cairns  upon  the  summit  of  Moel 
Faben. 

Moel  Faben  is  a  spur  running  down  southward  from  Moel 
Wnion  and  the  still  higher  mountains  to  the  north-east ;  it  is 
about  four  miles  south-east  of  Bangor  as  the  crow  flies,  and 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  south-east  of  the  village  of 
Llanllechid.     Both  cairns  are  marked  upon  the  ordnance  map. 

The  hill-side  to  the  east  and  south  is  covered  with  the 
remains  of  prehistoric  habitations,  some  of  which  have  been 
described  by  Mr.  Elias  Owen  in  the  '  Archseologia  Cambrensis,' 
in  which  a  detailed  map  of  the  remains  in  this  neighbourhood  is 
given*.  The  foundations  of  several  circular  huts  from  9  to  20  feet 
in  diameter,  and  some  oblong  ones,  may  be  seen  here  and  there  on 
the  barren  waste  to  the  eastward ;  and  several  large  rectangular 
inclosures  towards  the  bottom  of  the  hill,  on  that  side,  show 
that  this  part  of  the  hill  must  have  been  under  cultivation  at  a 
remote  period.  Further  to  the  south  stands  the  curiously 
marked  stone  called  "  Carreg  Saethau,''  the  incised  lines  upon 
which  are  believed  to  have  been  made  by  the  old  people  in 
sharpening  their  metal  arrow-heads  f* 

The  whole  of  the  top  of  the  hill,  in  a  line  running  in  a  north- 
easterly direction,  is  covered  with  angular  fragments  of  felspathic 
rock,  brought  down  and  deposited  by  ancient  glaciers  trom  the 
high  mountains  to  the  east.  It  is  from  the  materials  of  this 
drift  that  the  cairns  and  other  prehistoric  remains  on  the 
mountain  have  been  constructed.  Reference  to  Mr.  Elias 
Owen's  useful  archaeological  map  will  show  that  the  whole  of 
this  district  is  teeming  with  objects  of  prehistoric  interest,  all  of 
which  invite  the  carefrd  attention  of  archaeologists,  pending  the 
destruction  which  it  is  to  be  feared  inevitably  awaits  them 
through  the  agricultural  improvements  which  are  yearly  ex- 

*  *  Archieologia  Cambrensia,*  voL  xii«  3rd  aeries^  1866,  p.  215 ;  yoL  ziiL 
Srd  series,  1867,  p.  102, 
t  Op,  eit.  vol.  IX.  Srd  series,  1863,  p.  .331. 


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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  307 

tending  in  all  directions  throughout  the  area  of  Lord  Penrhyn's 
estate. 

The  cairns,  more  especially,  stand  out  so  conspicuously  upon 
the  hiU  top,  that  I  was  unable  to  resist  the  temptation  of  exa- 
mining them.  Accordingly,  on  the  16th  of  October,  1869,  I 
ascended  the  hill,  accompanied  by  three  gardeners  whose  services 
Lady  Penrhyn  had  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal. 

We  commenced  with  the  more  northern  of  the  two  cairns 
which  stood  on  the  ridge  of  the  mountain,  some  hundred  yards 
or  more  to  the  north  of  the  highest  peak. 

It  was  composed  entirely  of  loose  stones,  varying  from  6  inches 
to  2  feet  across,  without  any  superficial  covering  of  earth  or 
moss ;  it  was  about  50  feet  in  diameter  and  8  feet  high ;  and 
we  found  that  two  large  holes  had  already  been  made  in  the 
cairn  extending  nearly  to  the  bottom.  This  was  not  promising ; 
but  knowing  how  often  implements  of  the  roughest  kind  have 
been  overlooked  by  former  explorers,  it  did  not  deter  me  from 
continuing  my  search. 

I  was  shortly  afterwards  joined  by  Archdeacon  Evans  and 
Mr.  Elias  Owen. 

We  soon  cleared  away  with  our  hands  the  stones  which  lay  piled 
up  between  the  two  previous  openings,  when  to  my  surprise,  at 
a  depth  of  4  feet  from  the  apex  of  the  cairn,  we  came  to  the  top 
of  a  small  cist. 

The  cist  may  be  roughly  described  as  a  cube  of  1  foot  10  inches 
interior  measurement;  but  it  was  not  quite  square,  the  north 
side  being  contracted  to  1  foot  4  inches;  the  east  side  extended 
to  2  feet,  and  the  remaining  two  sides,  and  the  depth,  1  foot 
10  inches.  It  was  formed  of  six  flags  of  the  same  stone  as  the 
cairn,  four  on  the  sides,  and  two  top  and  bottom.  The  bottom 
stone  was  slightly  tilted  up  on  the  north  side  as  if  by  some 
animal  burrowing  in  from  beneath :  the  floor  was  strewed  with 
a  thin  coating  of  brown  mould,  amongst  which  I  could  detect  no 
trace  of  burnt  bones,  nor  could  I  find  a  trace  of  them  in  any  part 
of  the  cist.  In  the  south-east  comer  the  urn  (PI.  XXIV.  fig.  1) 
was  found,  broken  in  several  pieces.  Unfortunately  the  work- 
man who  first  found  the  cist  put  in  his  hand  and  took  up 
several  pieces  of  the  urn,  so  that  I  am  unable  to  say  whether 
they  lay  in  such  positions  as  to  denote  that  the  fragments  had 
been  pUed  up  by  hand  after  being  broken,  or  whether  they  were 
in  positions  in  which  they  might  have  fallen,  had  the  urn  been 
upset  by  a  rat  or  some  other  animal  that  had  obtained  an  entry 
into  the  cist :  fragments  of  gnawed  bones  found  in  different  parts 
of  the  cairn  showed  that  it  had  been  infested  by  these  animals. 
All  the  pieces  were  foimd  capable  of  being  united,  an  operation 
which  was  kindly  undertaken  and  efiiciently  executed  by  one  of 

Digitfec^y  Google 


808  Col.  A.  L.  Pox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

the  ladies  in  the  house^  so  that  we  are  not  left  in  doubt  as  to  the 
original  shape  of  the  um,  respecting  which  I  will  add  a  few 
words  presently.  Suffice  it  to  say  for  the  present  that  it  is  of  a 
flowerpot  shape>  8  inches  high^  small  at  the  bottom^  and  widen- 
ing to  6^  inches  at  the  top ;  two  roughly  formed  welts  run  round 
the  um  at  2  and  3  inches  from  the  top :  the  rim  is  bevelled  in 
the  inside^  and  a  row  of  punch-marks  along  the  bevelled  surface 
forms  the  only  ornament.  The  material  is  black  in  the  insidCj 
of  a  reddish-brown  colour  where  exposed  to  the  fire,  i  an  inch 
thick^  imperfectly  baked,  and  without  any  trace  of  sand,  stone, 
or  shell  in  its  composition.  It  will  be  seen  that  a  great  part 
of  one  side  and  the  bottom  are  wanting;  the  edges  of  the  parts 
where  the  missing  pieces  occur  are  not  cleanly  broken  like  the 
other  bits,  but  much  rounded  and  weathered,  showing  that  in 
all  probability  those  parts  had  decayed  before  the  um  was  broken, 
and,  Yery  possibly,  the  fracture  of  the  remaining  portion  may 
have  been  produced  by  the  natural  decay  of  the  vessel,  causing 
it  to  fall  on  one  side.  This  is  the  only  way  in  which  I  am  able 
to  account  for  the  missing  pieces,  supposing  it  to  have  been 
found  intact  and  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  previous  ex- 
plorers. The  position  of  the  cist  between  the  two  holes  pre- 
viously opened  in  the  cairn  would  lead  to  the  inference  that 
this  may  have  been  the  case;  it  was  a  little  to  the  southward 
of  the  centre  of  the  caim,  but  the  shape  may  very  probably  have 
been  altered  in  recent  times,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  it 
must  have  been  the  central  interment.  The  floor  of  the  cist 
was  raised  2  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

The  object  of  most  interest,  however,  connected  with  this  in- 
terment consists  in  the  discovery  on  the  floor  of  the  cist,  near 
the  um,  of  five  small  worked  stones  composed  of  the  same  ma- 
terials  as  the  cairn,  three  of  which  appear  to  have  been  intended 
for  arrow-heads,  and  the  other  two  have  the  appearance  of  flakes, 
such  as  in  other  parts  of  the  country  often  occur  in  flint  in  con- 
nexion with  prehistoric  interments,  but  which  had  not,  to  my 
knowledge  at  the  time  of  the  discovery,  been  previously  found 
in  stone.  The  artificial  dressing  is  distinctly  visible  on  one  of 
the  arrow-points  (fig.  4,  PI.  XXIV.),  but  less  so  on  the  other 
two.  One  of  the  flakes  (fig.  6,  PI.  XXIV.)  is  clearly  polished 
and  rubbed  into  several  distinct  surfaces  on  one  side.  They 
were  mixed  with  the  brown  soil  before  mentioned  on  the  floor 
of  the  cist ;;  and  had  I  not  been  especially  on  the  look-out  for 
implements  in  this  material,  I  should  certainly  not  have  noticed 
them.  In  those  districts  in  which  flint  was  used  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  smallest  fracture  made  by  the  hand  of  man  is  at  onoe 
recognized,  but  the  absence  of  conchoidal  fracture  generally  in 
trap  and  felspathic  rocks,  greatly  increases  the  difficulty  of  dis- 

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Jovjrn.    JLthno.  Soc.  Vol  U.  PI.  XXIV". 


Ti^.3. 


URN        &       STONE  IMPLEMENTS 

MOCL      FABEN     ;nORTM    WALCSl 


%.^. 


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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  809 

tinguisliing  natural  from  artificial  surfaces ;  and  on  this  account 
I  am  inclined  to  think  that  implements  of  this  class  may  have 
been  firequently  overlooked  in  this  district. 

The  cairn  was  cleared  out  to  the  natural  surface  of  the 
groimd;  and  beneath  the  cist,  mixed  with  the  material  of  the 
cairn,  a  number  of  other  "stones  were  found  flaked  by  hand : 
amongst  these  was  a  pointed  stone  representing  a  spear-head 
(fig.  2,  PL  XXIV.)  with  a  tang,  formed  apparently  by  rubbing,  at 
a  a  fig.  2 ;  another  stone,  resembling  a  scraper,  was  also  found 
in  the  cairn,  one  of  the  edges  of  which  was  distinctly  worn  by 
use. 

I  brought  away  a  number  of  these  stones,  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion of  which,  by  Professor  Ramsay,  will  be  given  hereafter. 

The  adjoining  cairn  to  the  south  was  next  examined,  but  it 
produced  no  trace  of  an  interment,  and  it  had  evidently  been 
turned  over  before. 

Some  of  the  hut- circles  were  examined;  but  nothing  of  inte- 
rest was  found  in  them,  except  a  pointed  stone  nearly  resembling 
the  spear-head  found  in  the  cairn,  but  considerably  larger,  which 
was  turned  up  in  the  soil  excavated  from  the  interior  of  one  of 
them.  Its  size,  and  a  doubt  whether  it  was  in  reality  an  imple- 
ment, or  a  form  produced  by  accidental  fracture,  deterred  me 
from  bringing  it  away. 

A  small  cist  to  the  north-east  of  the  gully  called  Ffos  Bhufei- 
niaid  had  been  opened  by  former  explorers ;  the  superincumbent 
cairn  had  been  scattered  around ;  the  cist  had  been  excavated  . 
beneath  the  surface.  On  clearing  out  the  rubbish  I  found  a  flat 
stone  trimmed  into  the  form  of  a  leaf-shaped  spear-head  (fig.  3, 
PL  XXIV.). 

This  concluded  my  investigations  upon  Moel  Faben. 

The  next  I  examined  was  a  large  cairn  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  River  Ogwen,  about  a  mile  south  of  the  village  of  Llandegai 
and  close  to  the  back  of  the  keeper's  house  at  Llys-y-gwynt. 
It  was  called  "  Camedd  Howel ''  from  the  popular  belief  that  it 
was  the  resting-place  of  a  prince  of  that  name :  but  it  is  hardly 
necessary  to  say  that  these  associations  of  prehistoric  burial- 
places  with  historical  personages  are  generally  mythical ;  they 
date  probably  from  a  comparatively  recent  period,  when  history 
itself  had  become  somewhat  legendary,  and  when  past  events 
had  become  jumbled  together  in  the  traditions  of  the  people. 
Readers  of  the  '  Archceologia  Cambrensis'  will  call  to  mind 
examples  of  this  jumble  of  dates  in  the  tumulus  called  Yr- 
orsedd-wen  near  Selattyn,  supposed  to  be  the  burial-place  of 
Gwfin,  one  of  the  sons  of  Llywarch  Hen,  who  was  prince  of  the 
Cambrian  Britons  dliring  the  sixth  century*. 

*  '  Archaeologia  Cambrensis,'  vol.  ii.  2nd  scriesi  p.  9. 

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810  Col.  A.  L.  Pox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

The  tumulus  on  the  banks  of  the  Alaw  in  Anglesea,  attributed 
to  Bronwen,  sister  of  Br&n  the  Blessed^  the  father  of  Caractacus^ 
A.D.  50*,  and  the  cairn  called  "  Twr-Gwyn-Mawr/'  in  Mont- 
gomeryshire, considered  to  be  the  burial-place  of  Traheame-ap- 
Caradog,  who  fell  here  in  a  battle  in  the  tenth  century  t>  have 
been  proved  by  their  contents  to  belong  to  a  period  long 
prior  to  history.  Howel-ap- Jeuaf,  if  this  is  the  prince  referred 
to,  appears  to  have  been  Lord  of  Arwystli  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
turyj;  but  the  name  cannot  be  an  uncommon  one  I  presume, 
Howel-ap-Howel  being  corrupted  into  ''  Powel ''  in  modem 
times. 

An  old  man  of  80,  named  Bx)bert  Roberts,  told  me  that,  as  a 
boy,  he  was  much  afraid  of  passing  here  by  night,  as  he  had 
often  seen  lights  dancing  about  on  the  Camedd. 

The  cairn  was  a  large  one,  108  feet  in  diameter;  but  its  form 
had  been  materially  altered  during  the  construction  of  the 
keeper's  garden,  and  I  have  no  doubt  exceeded  its  original  size 
by  the  accumulation  of  stones  carried  from  adjoining  fields.  I 
had  a  pit  sunk  in  what  was  marked  as  the  original  centre  by  a 
circle  of  stunted  trees. 

On  the  first  day,  October  26th,  nothing  of  consequence  was 
discovered,  and  the  bottom  was  reached  at  5  feet  5  inches  from 
the  top.  On  the  second  day,  October  27th,  digging  further  to 
the  eastward,  fragments  of  an  urn  were  found  at  4  feet  from  the 
top,  siirrounded  by  particles  of  burnt  human  bone ;  the  urn  was 
broken  into  so  many  fragments,  and  scattered  about  amongst 
the  stones  of  the  cairn  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  was  impossible 
to  determine  its  original  position ;  but  a  piece  of  shattered  slate 
was  found  amongst  the  bits,  which,  no  doubt,  had  served  to  close 
the  mouth  of  the  urn.  The  interment  had  been  placed  in  the 
cairn  without  any  protection  of  flags  or  cist,  and  the  bones  and 
fragments  of  pottery  were  separate  from  each  other  and  scattered 
over  a  space  of  from  1  to  2  square  feet,  varying  also  more  than 
a  foot  in  depth. 

It  was  evident  the  grave  had  been  previously  disturbed. 
Marks  of  fire  extended  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  cairn  at 
6  feet. 

A  sufficient  number  of  pieces  have  been  restored  to  show  the 
shape  of  the  urn.  *  It  is  of  rather  unusual  form,  being  shorter 
and  wider  than  the  average  of  urns.  It  is  8  inches  high,  4^  in 
diameter  at  the  foot,  widening  to  8f  inches  at  the  height 
of  5  inches,  and  9|  inches  in  diameter  at  the  rim;  it  con- 
tracts slightly  below  the  rim.     It  is  ornamented,  to  a  depth  of 

*  *  Archffiologia  Cambreneis/  vol.  xiv.  3rd  series,  p.  235-239. 

t  Op,  cit.  vol.  iii.  3rd  series,  p.  301. 

t  Op,  ciL  vol.  xiii.  3rd  series,  pp.  178--300. 


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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  811 

4i  inches  from  the  top,  with  parallel  lines  formed  by  the  impres- 
sion of  alternately  plain  and  twisted  thongs  passing  round  the 
urn.  The  interior  of  the  rim  is  also  ornamented  with  the  im- 
pression of  twisted  thongs  in  three  rows.  Its  size  and  form 
appear  to  me  indicative  of  a  late  period.  On  the  third  day  the 
bottom  of  an  incense-cup  was  found  at  4  feet  7  inches  from  the 
top  and  2  feet  south  of  the  find  of  the  27th.  This  fitigment  is 
recognized  as  belonging  to  the  class  of  vessels  called  incense- 
cups,  from  the  fact  of  the  bottom  being  ornamented  with  two 
rows  of  cuneiform  markings,  formed  by  the  impress  of  some 
sharp-pointed  implement  and  arranged  in  concentric  circles, 
surrounded  by  three  circles  of  incised  lines ;  it  is  of  a  light-red 
colour  all  through,  mixed  apparently  with  particles  of  sand,  but 
it  has  not  the  cruciform  ornament  so  frequently  found  on  the 
bottoms  of  vessels  of  this  class. 

One  small  fragment  of  a  second  urn  was  also  found ;  it  was 
marked  with  alternate  bands  of  horizontal  and  vertical  lines 
both  on  the  outside  and  on  the  inner  side  of  the  projecting  rim, 
and  from  the  style  of  ornamentation  may  very  possibly  have 
been  the  rim  of  a  drinking-cup. 

A  few  fragments  of  fractured  stone  were  found  in  this  cairn 
and  are  included  in  Professor  Ramsay^s  description ;  but  they 
are  hardly  of  a  character  to  be  worth  noticing. 

Before  speculating  upon  the  evidence  afibrded  by  the  exami- 
nation of  these  cairns,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  briefly  the 
results  of  former  explorations  in  cairns,  tumuli,  and  megalithic 
monuments  in  Wales.  We  shall  then  be  in  a  better  position  to 
judge  of  the  inferences  to  be  drawn  from  the  peculiar  nature  of 
the  rough  stone  implements  discovered  on  Moel  Faben. 

In  turning  over  the  pages  of  the  '  Archaeologia  Cambrensis,' 
I  find  the  following  notices  of  interments  associated  with  imple- 
ments of  bronze. 

In  a  tumulus  on  a  farm  called  Yr-Orsedd  Wen  near  the 
village  of  Selattyn,  in  Denbighshire,  close  to  Offals  Dyke,  Mr. 
W.  Wynne  Ffoulkes  found,  in  1850  or  1851,  a  piece  of  a  bronze 
dagger  associated  with  an  interment  by  inhumation.  This  was 
a  cairn  covered  on  the  top  with  about  18  inches  of  soil.  A 
piece  of  iron  was  also  found  above  this  interment;  but  it  seems 
doubtful  whether  it  was  connected  with  it.  Jhis  was  the  tumulus 
supposed  to  be  the  burial-place  of  GwSn,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Llywarch  Hen,  prince  of  the  Cambrian  Britons*. 

About  forty-four  years  ago  some  bronze  chisels  were  found  in 
digging  beneath  a  cromlech,  near  Trefarthin,  in  Angleseaf. 

In   the  second   volimie    of  the  '  Archaeologia  Cambrensis ' 

•  '  ArchrBolopia  CambrenBis/  vol.  ii.  2iid  series,  1861,  p.  9. 
t  Op.  cit.  vol.  i.  l8t  series,  1846,  p.  467. 


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812  Col.  A.  L.  Fox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

(8rd  series),  Mr.  Albert  Way  mentions  a  bronze  socket-celt 
found  under  a  cromlech  or  Druid's  Altar  in  Brecknockshire'^. 

In  1855,  Mr.  D.  Davies  opened  a  cairn,  called  Tur-gwyn-mawr, 
in  the  parish  of  Camo,  Montgomeryshu^  In  the  cairn,  6  feet 
from  the  top,  and  beneath  three  flagstones,  were  found  burnt 
bones  and  a  small  piece  of  bronze.  Near  it  a  cist  or  grave  was 
found,  9  feet  in  length  by  2  in  breadth,  and  2  feet  6  inches  in 
depth.  It  contained  fragments  of  burnt  bone  and  ashes,  nume- 
rous river-pebbles,  two  well-formed  barbed  flint  arrow-heads, 
and  a  flint  knife.  The  grave  lay  north  and  south.  This  cairn 
was  locally  considered  to  be  the  grave  of  Traheame-ap*Caradog, 
who  fell  in  a  battle  in  the  tenth  century  f* 

In  the  sixth  volume  of  the  '  Archseologia  Cambrensis '  (third 
series),  mention  is  made  of  a  bronze  dagger  found  with  two 
small  urns  in  a  cairn  at  Meinau'r  Gwyr,  in  Llandyssilo  parish, 
in  Pembrokeshire  J. 

Mr.  W.  O.  Stanley,  in  a  paper  published  in  the  fourteenth 
volume  of  the '  Archseologia  Cambrensis'  (third  series)  §  "  on  In- 
terments and  Sepulchral  Urns  in  Anglesea  and  North  Wales,'' 
with  additional  notes  by  Mr.  Albert  Way,  mentions  eight  other 
instances  in  which  articles  of  bronze  have  been  found  with  mor- 
tuary urns,  or  in  cists,  viz. : — 

At  Forth  Dafarch,  in  Holyhead  Island,  in  1848,  a  fragment  of 
bronze,  with  a  bronze  rivet,  was  found  in  or  close  to  a  cist,  asso- 
ciated with  two  large  inverted  urns,  each  containing  a  smaller 
vessel,  and  an  interment  by  cremation. 

In  1818,  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Alaw,  in  Anglesea,  an 
interment  by  cremation  was  discovered  in  a  mortuary  urn,  and 
in  conjunction  with  another  urn  of  the  form  called  a  drinking- 
cup.  On  one  of  the  bones  a  slight  stain  of  bronze  was  disco- 
vered by  Professor  RoUeston.  This  was  the  grave  attributed  to 
Bronwen,  the  aunt  of  Caractacus. 

In,  or  about,  the  year  1860,  a  cinerary  urn  was  found  at  Tol- 
men-y-mftr,  2  miles  south  of  Ffestiniog,  Caernarvonshire.  The 
urn  contained  burnt  bones,  a  triangular-shaped  bronze  dagger, 
a  fractured  flinty  and  a  wooden  bodkin. 

In  1864",  two  urns  were  found,  with  an  interment  by  crema- 
tion, a  bronze  pin,  and  a  bronze  blade,  near  the  landing-place 
for  steamers  at  the  Menai  Bridge. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Wynne  Ffoulkes  found  an  urn  with  burnt  bones 
and  a  bronze  dagger  in  a  tumulus  at  Rhiwiau,  between  Pentre- 


«  '  AichflBologia  Cambrensis,'  toL  ii.  3rd  series,  1856,  p.  123. 
t  pp.  cit,  vol.  ill.  3rd  series,  1867,  p.  301. 

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I        vr^.    V«>.     TVX.    XAA.    UlAA    QC/<^iaO,     JICTU  (  ,    U 

X  Op,  cU,  vol.  vi.  3rd  series,  1860,  p 

§  0^.  ctt.  vol.  xiv.  3rd  series,  1868,  p.  217 


Caims  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  818 

foelas  and  Denbigh.    The  nm  was  covered  by  a  flat  stone^  but 
not  placed  in  a  cist. 

In  1851^  a  large  cairn,  16  yards  in  diameter,  was  opened  at 
Penyberth,  or  Gloucester  HaU,  five  miles  north  of  Aberystwyth. 
It  contained  a  cist,  in  which  was  found  an  nm  with  burnt  bones 
and  a  bronze  pin. 

Two  interments  were  discovered  at  Brjm  Crftg,  near  Llanfair 
Isgaer,  about  two  miles  from  Caernarvon,  on  the  Bangor  road, 
each  containing  objects  of  bronze,  and  one  of  them  an  incense- 
cup.    One  of  the  bronze  objects  was  a  palstave. 

This  makes  thirteen  interments  in  which  articles  of  bronze 
have  been  discovered,  nine  of  which  were  by  cremation,  one  by 
inhumation,  and  three  unknown.  Two  of  the  latter  were  in 
cromlechs,  the  sepulchral  remains  of  which,  if  any,  had  probably 
long  since  been  dispersed. 

Tlie  following  are  notices,  extracted  from  the  same  source,  in 
which  interments  in  Wales  have  been  associated  with  flint  imple- 
ments only : — 

In  1851,  Mr.  Wynne  Foulkes  published  an  account  of  the 
opening  of  a  cairn  covered  with  about  two  feet  of  soil  at  Bryn 
Bugailen  Fawr,  in  the  parish  of  Llangollen,  to  the  east  of  Selat- 
tyn,  Denbighshire.  Six  inches  below  the  siirface  he  came  to  the 
top  of  a  cist,  17  inches  by  19  inches,  interior  measurement.  It 
contained  a  flowerpot-shaped  urn,  ornamented  with  a  cimeiform 
pattern.  The  urn  was  inverted ;  it  contained  burnt  bones  and 
a  flint  knife*. 

In  August  1851,  Mr.  James  Dearden  opened  a  tumulus  called 
Hay's  or  Carew  Beacon,  near  Tenby.  He  found  an  interment 
by  inhumation,  accompanied  by  an  earthen  vessel  and  a  flint 
arrow-headf. 

In  1868,  Archdeacon  Wynne  Jones  showed  me  about  one 
hundred /in/  flakes  which  had  been  found  some  years  before  in 
a  cist  composed  of  slate  slabs  at  Gwatchinai,  in  Anglesea.  The 
flakes  averaged  about  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length ;  all  showed 
bulbs  of  percussion,  and  several  had  traces  of  secondary  chipping 
on  one  side.  Amongst  them  were  three  or  four  scrapers,  two  of 
which,  kindly  presented  to  me  by  Archdeacon  Jones,  were  exhi- 
bited at  the  meeting.  I  was  unable  to  obtain  any  frirther  in- 
formation respecting  this  interment. 

In  1851,  Mr.  Wynne  Ffoulkes  opened  a  cairn  at  Plas  Heaton, 
two  miles  south  of  Denbigh.  He  found  four  skeletons  in  or 
about  the  cist,  contracted,  and  a  drinking-cup.  Above  this  was 
a  secondary  interment  by  cremation  in  a  cinerary  urn.     No 


*  '  ArcliSBologia  Cambrensis/  vol.  ii.  2nd  series,  1851,  p.  219. 
t  Op,  cit,  vol.  ii.  2nd  series^  1861,  p.  291. 


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814  Col.  A.  L.  Fox — On  the  Opening  of  two 

relics  were  found ;  but  I  include  this  amongst  probable  stone- 
period  burials  on  account  of  the  position  of  the  body. 

At  Bhosbeiro^  in  the  north  of  Anglesea^  a  drinking-cup  was 
found,  with  an  unburnt  body  in  a  cist,  contracted ;  but  no  relics 
were  noticed  as  accompanying  this  interment. 

Of  the  five  interments  above  mentioned,  three  were  accom- 
panied with  implements  of  flint  only;  but  as  flint  knives, 
scrapers,  and  arrow-heads  are  frequently  associated  with  imple- 
ments of  bronze,  they  afford  no  proof  that  the  graves  in  which 
they  occur  are  of  the  stone  age.  In  the  remaining  two,  no  relics 
were  noticed ;  but  the  contracted  positions  of  the  bodies  point 
with  great  probability  to  an  early  period.  Each  of  the  latter  was 
accompanied  by  an  earthen  vessel  of  the  form  known  as  a 
drinking-cup. 

I  now  come  to  notices  of  three  interments  discovered  by  Mr. 
Wynne  Ffoulkes,  which  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  relics 
found  in  the  cairn  upon  Moel  Faben.  I  read  the  account  of 
them  with  particular  interest,  because  I  was  not  aware,  at  the 
time  of  my  examination  of  that  cairn,  that  rough  stone  flakes 
and  implements  had  been  previously  noticed  in  connexion  with 
burials  in  Wales.  Mr.  Ffoulkes's  observations  may  therefore  be 
compared  with  my  own  as  the  result  of  independent  investiga- 
tion. 

In  1852,  Mr.  Wynne  Ffoulkes  published  an  account  of  the 
opening  of  a  cairn  at  Goleuem,  in  Merionethshire.  It  con- 
tained a  rectangular  cist,  8  feet  8  inches  in  length  by  1  foot  9 
inches,  and  1  foot  5  inches  in  depth,  divided  by  a  flag,  placed 
across,  into  two  unequal  parts ;  the  long  side  lay  nearly  north 
and  south,  and  the  top  was  1  foot  7  inches  beneath  the  apex. 
The  following  is  Mr.  Ffoulkes^s  account  of  the  contents : — "  On 
first  removing  the  covering  stone,  we  were  struck  with  the 
singular  appearance  of  the  deposit,  which  presented  an  even 
surface,  carefully  strewed  with  flakes  or  chippings  of  stone,  re- 
sembling in  character  the  ordinary  stone  found  upon  the  moun- 
tain; these  covered  a  deposit  of  moist,  clammy,  yellowish, 
gravelly  soil,  with  which  the  cist  seemed  to  have  been  filled  up 
to  the  height  of  8  or  4  inches.  This  soil  we  carefully  looked 
through,  but  without  discovering  any  remnants  of  bone,  or  any 
thing  resembling  a  relic,  either  ornamental  or  warlike,  excepting 
one  piece  of  stone,  now  in  the  possession  of  W.  W.  E.  Wynne, 
Esq., — a  piece  which  was  convex  on  one  side,  flat  on  the  other, 
and  rudely  pointed  at  one  end ;  the  nature  of  the  stone  it  was 
made  of  we  are  unable  to  describe  geologically ;  we  can  only  say 
that  it  was  not  oi flint,  but  of  a  common  and  rather  soft  stone. 
We  found  it  on  the  western  side,  and  at  about  the  centre  of  the 
cist,  not,  as  far  as  wc  could  ascertain,  deposited  with  any  care." 


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Cairns  near  Bailor,  North  Wales.  315 

Mr.  Ffoulkes  concludes  from  this  that  the  cairn  must  be  of 
comparatively  great  antiquity,  both  on  account  of  the  rude 
nature  of  the  stone  chips  found  in  it  and  from  the  fact  of  all 
trace  of  bones  having  disappeared.  From  the  size  of  the  cist 
he  supposes  the  body  to  have  been  burnt ;  but  from  the  absence 
of  an  urn  in  this  and  other  cairns  in  the  neighbourhood  which 
he  examined,  he  concludes  that  they  belong  to  a  period  when 
men  were  strangers  to  the  fictile  art,  or  ^  a  race  amongst  whom 
the  cinerary  urn  was  not  in  use  *. 

In  the  same  year  Mr.  Ffoulkes  opened  another  camedd  at 
Cwm  Llwyd,  in  the  parish  of  Llanegryn,  Merionethshire.  It 
contained  a  cist,  measuring  2  feet  4  inches  by  1  foot  8  inches, 
and  1  foot  3  inches  deep ;  the  bottom  was  covered  with  a  cake 
of  brown  soil,  in  which  a  few  fragments  of  burnt  bone  were  dis- 
covered with  the  aid  of  a  magnifying-glass;  in  the  soil  beneath 
the  cist  were  a  number  of  stone  flakes  or  chips  resembling  those 
observed  in  the  camedd  of  Goleuwern ;  some  of  these  chips  re- 
sembled the  rudest  form  of  arrow-head  or  knife.  In  a  footnote 
Mr.  Ffoulkes  adds — "  I  regret  that  I  did  not  preserve  some  of 
them.  We  took  some  home  with  us,  but  after  some  discussion 
and  examination  of  them  we  thought  that  they  were  mere  pieces 
of  broken  stone.  Their  presence,  however,  in  the  cist  was  re- 
markable, and  the  fractures  appeared  fresh  and  not  at  all  worn 
by  attrition  ^'f-  We  see  from  this  that  the  stones  found  in  this 
cairn  must  have  been  of  the  same  rude  form  as  those  discovered 
on  Moel  Faben.  Their  form  and  their  position  was  sufficient  to 
attract  the  notice  of  a  careful  observer  like  Mr.  Ffoulkes,  but  the 
nature  of  the  stone  makes  it  impossible  to  determine,  as  in  the 
case  o{  flint,  the  design  of  the  fabricator  in  constructing  his  tool. 
It  is  only  by  repeated  observation  of  the  same  class  of  facts  that 
we  are  able  to  arrive  at  the  trath  in  cases  of  this  kind. 

Mr.  Ffoulkes  subsequently  opened  another  cairn  on  Ffridd 
Eithynog,  in  the  parish  of  Llanddwy we,  in  the  same  county.  It 
contained  a  rectangular,  but  ill-formed  cist,  measuring  3  feet 
1  inch  in  length,  by  2  feet  5^  inches  broad ;  it  was  filled  up  to 
within  5  inches  of  the  top  with  a  dark  brown  soil,  in  which  were 
found  flakes  or  chips  of  hard  stone,  of  a  greenish-brown  colour, 
and  burnt  bones,  broken  into  small  pieces  and  much  decom- 
posed. "The  stone  flakes  or  chippings,''  he  says,  "  which  were 
three  or  four  inches  in  length,  bear  a  faint  resemblance  in  outline 
to  the  rudest  form  of  flint  knife,  so  rough,  however,  and  un- 
wrought  that  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  the  conclusion  that  they 
were  knives,  or  implements  of  any  kind ;  but  I  consider  that 
design,  not  accident,  placed  them  in  the  cist ;  for  although  I  am 

♦  '  Archseologia  Cambrensis/  vol.  iii.  2nd  series,  1852,  p.  65. 
t  /Wrf.  p.  0«. 

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816  Col.  A.  L.  Pox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

not  geologist  enough  technically  to  describe  the  stone  with  which 
the  camcdd  was  built,  I  think  I  can  safely  assert  that  it  differed 
fipom  that  of  which  the  relics  in  question  were  chipped.  I 
think  I  can  also  safely  say  that  they  are  not  pieces  of  stone 
accidentally  splintered  *,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  have 
been  purposely  severed  from  a  larger  mass.  It  seems  that  in 
North  Britain  flakes  of  flint  have  sometimes  been  found  depo- 
sited with  some  care  in  the  comer  of  a  cist,  as  if  intended  to 
Aimish  the  deceased  with  more  darts,  should  he  have  occasion  for 
them  on  the  passage  into  the  future  state.  In  this  part  of 
Merionethshire  I  beUeve  that  flint  is  scarcely  to  be  met  with. 
It  may  therefore  be  suggested  that  these  stones  were  deposited 
with  the  same  object  that  the  flint  flakes  in  the  north  are  sug- 
gested to  have  basn.  It  may  be  so ;  but  the  stone  is  here  of  a 
coarse  kind,  not,  I  should  say,  the  best  that  could  be  found  in 
the  neighbourhood  for  the  manufacture  of  weapons  and  knives. 
In  this  camedd,  too,  they  did  not  appear  to  have  been  laid  in 
the  soil  of  the  cist  with  any  more  care  than  to  give  them  a 
horizontal  position ;  on  the  other  hand,  at  Golenwem  and  Cwm 
Llwyd,  they  were  laid  horizontally  all  together  on  the  sur&ce 
of  the  deposit  in  the  cist,  for  the  most  part  pointing  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  length  of  the  cist.  In  addition  to  this,  their 
presence  in  the  cist  is  a  peculiarity  that  I  have  not  noticed  in 
any  other  sepulchral  mounds  in  North  Wales  "f.  Some  of  the 
animal  bones  found  in  this  cairn  having  been  submitted  to  the 
late  Prof,  Quekett,  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  he  de- 
tected amongst  them  one  fragment  which  he  believed  to  be 
probably  part  of  a  fallow  deer.  Should  this  be  so,  I  apprehend 
that  comparative  anatomists  would  consider  this  as  indicative 
of  a  late  period. 

In  this  stage  of  the  inquiry  it  will  be  desirable  that  I  should 
give  the  detailed  and  valuable  description  by  Professor  Ramsay 
of  the  stones  submitted  to  his  inspection  from  the  cairns  upon 
Moel  Faben  and  Carnedd  Howel. 

Professor  Ramsay  to  Colonel  A.  Lane  Pox  relative  to  some 
artificially  worked  stones  found  by  the  latter  in  cairns  upon 
Moel  Faban  and  Camedd  Howell,  near  Bangor,  North  Wales. 

Having  twice  examined  the  stones  collected  by  you  from  Moel 
Eaban  and  Camedd  Howell,  and  being  familiar  with  the  geology  of 
the  district,  from  having  mapped  it,  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  all 
belonged  originally  to  rocks  native  to  that  part  of  Caernarvonshire. 

*  Some  of  the  pieces  were  suhmitted  to  Mr.  Tennaiit,  of  the  Strand,  Lon- 
don, who  came  to  the  same  opinion  about  them. 
t  '  Archieologia  Gambrensis/  voL  iii.  2nd  series,  1852,  pp.  100-103. 

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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  817 

But  none  of  them  seem  to  have  been  quarried  or  broken  bj  art  from 
the  massive  slates,  grits,  or  igneous  rocks  in  place  that  form  the 
mountains  and  valleys  of  the  country.  On  the  contrsuy,  they  appear 
to  have  been  picked  up  from  the  superficial  covering  of  drift  or 
boulder-clay  that  covers  much  of  the  ground  up  to  the  height  of 
about  2000  feet,  and  which,  as  a  general  rule,  consists  of  material 
derived  from  the  waste  of  the  hills  in  the  neighbourhood  during  the 
Glacial  period. 

The  next  question  that  suggests  itself  is,  whether  the  fragments 
are  in  the  natural  state  in  which  they  might  occur  on  the  sumce  of 
the  drift,  or  whether  they  have  afterwards  been  more  or  less  fashioned 
by  art. 

At  first,  I  felt  doubts  upon  this  point,  but  the  longer  I  handled 
them  the  more  convinced  I  became  that  the  majority  of  them,  though 
somewhat  weathered,  present  forms  and  fractures  such  as  we  should 
not  expect  to  find  either  in  the  miscellaneous  rubbish  composing  the 
drift,  or  in  gravels  of  watercourses.  The  latter  are  generaUy  smooth 
and  water-wom ;  the  former,  though  often  angular,  are  yet  apt  to 
present  natural  forms  and  surfaces  not  easily  mistaken  for  works  of 
art,  however  rude,  even  when  accidentally  fractured  by  frost,  the 
treading  of  beasts,  or  by  impinging  on  other  stones  while  rolling 
down  hill. 

MoEL  Pabak. 

No.  1  (fig.  2,  PL  XXIV.)  seems  to  be  a  fragment  of  very  compact 
^t,  brought  to  a  point  at  one  end  and  rudely  bevelled  at  the  sides 
mto  rude  edges,  which  are  quite  unlike  the  effects  of  natural  wear. 
On  one  side  it  presents  three  distinct  fractured  faces ;  and  the  whole, 
though  weathered,  has  an  aspect  rather  fresh. 

No.  2  is  a  fragment  of  felspathic  ash,  common  in  the  Silurian 
rocks  of  the  country.  One  end  is  broken,  the  broad  side  flat,  and 
one  of  the  remaining  sides  is  smooth  ;  the  other  end  is  rounded  in 
a  manner  suggestin?  that  it  was  artificially  produced,  though  possibly 
it  may  have  been  selected  because  of  its  natural  shape.  The  surface 
is  somewhat  weathered. 

No.  3  (fig.  3,  PI.  XXIV.).  Of  felspathic  ash,  has  been  very  symme- 
trica]  till  fractured  on  one  side ;  somewhat  egg-shaped,  but  more 
sharplv  pointed  at  one  end  than  the  other,  where  it  is  bevelled ;  but 
possibly  these  bevellings  indicate  the  surface  of  a  pebble  before 
the  stone  was  split.  There  are  surfaces  of  three  ages, — 1st,  the 
narrow  sides  converging  towards  the  point ;  2nd,  the  flat  sides ;  8rd, 
the  broken  side,  which  shows  marks  of  a  blow. 

No.  4,  about  5  inches  long,  seems  to  have  been  flaked  off  by  a 
blow.  The  convex  surface  seems  partlv  natural,  from  which  a  flake 
has  been  struck ;  the  inner  surface  is  the  concave  surface  of  a  flake. 
These  flaked  surfaces  are  less  weathered,  It  is  probably  of  felspathic 
trap. 

No.  5.  A  split  piece  of  felspathic  ash.  It  also  is  more  weather- 
worn on  the  original  outer  rounded  surface  than  on  the  split  side. 


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318  Col.  A.  L.  Fox— 0?i  the  Opening  of  two 

No.  6  lookfl  like  a  thick  weatfaer-wom  flake  of  the  same  kind  of 
material  as  no.  5.     It  has  been  roughly  dressed  on  the  edges. 

No.  7.  An  ashy  fragment  of  irregular  rhomboidal  form,  like  a  flake. 
Outside  natural  and  weathered. 

No.  8  has  a  doubtfuUy  flaky  look,  split  off  in  a  cleavage-plane,  and 
is  equally  weather-worn  all  round. 

No.  9  looks  like  a  flake  knocked  off  a  piece  of  felspathic  tran,  one 
side  being  the  original  rounded  surface  of  a  pebble.  Edge  rougnened 
by  subsequent  blows. 

No.  10.  Another  flake-like  body,  roundish,  weather-worn  on  the 
back,  and  much  fresher  inside  where  fractured. 

No.  11.  Of  felspathic  trap,  about  3  inches  long,  slopes  to  the 
sides,  as  if  by  fractures,  very  artificially.  I  cannot  think  this  form 
could  have  been  produced  by  any  natural  process.  Very  fresh,  and 
has  no  natural  weathered  surface. 

No.  12.  Of  fine  compact  grit,  slopes  to  an  edge,  and  has  been 
equally  weathered  all  over,  excepting  on  the  surface  of  more  recent 
fractures.  The  point  is  broken  as  if  by  use.  A  very  bad  stone  to 
make  a  tool  of 

No.  13.  Felspathic  trap,  about  8  inches  long  and  2  wide,  pear- 
shaped  in  outline,  has  a  very  artificial-looking  outline,  and  is  wea- 
thered all  over. 

No.  14.  A  short  oval  pebble,  about  3^  inches  long  and  2  thick. 
Looks  as  if  it  had  been  water-worn  and  afterwards  ground. 

No.  15.  Orit  P  Budely  triangular,  the  acute  angle  broken  off,  and 
the  opposite  side,  which  is  curved  outwards,  bevelled  by  a  number  of 
blows.  The  broader  sides  split  in  the  plane  of  stratification,  one 
naturally.  The  straight  side  seems  to  be  a  natural  joint,  and  is 
clearly  ground  on  one  side  of  its  edges. 

No.  16.  Of  long,  narrow,  regular  form,  about  6  inches  long ;  sili- 
ceous and  felspathic  ash.  One  face  is  a  natural  surface,  and  the 
opposite  face  has  been  split  in  the  plane  of  stratification  or  cleavage. 
Tne  narrower  sides  are  natural  iomts,  sloping  up  towards  the  nar- 
rower end ;  the  opposite  end  is  bluntly  pomted  and  bevelled  off  by 
chipping. 

No.  17.  A  fragment  with  a  conchoidal  fracture  that  has  been  riven 
by  a  blow ;  outer  side  natural,  with  &int  traces  of  elacial  scratd&es. 

No.  18.  A  flake  of  fine  greenish  compact  Cambrian  grit,  about 
3^  inches  long. 

No.  19.  A  flake  of  felspathic  ash,  about  4  inches  long.  Both  of 
the  above  flakes  have  very  characteristic  forms  to  the  practised  eye. 

No.  20,  Budelv  pear-shaped  in  outline,  looking  like  a  nake ;  dressed 
at  the  edges  by  blows.     It  has  been  burnt. 

No.  21.  Weathered  and  rounded,  but  has  an  artificial  hatchet-like 
shape.    Fine  grit. 

No.  22.  Like  a  flake  struck  fr^m  an  oval  pebble  of  felspathic  trap. 

No.  23.  A  small  flake  formed  by  three  blows,  and  havmg  a  natu- 
ral surface  on  the  end  struck. 

Nos.  24-28  (figs.  4, 5,  &  6,  PL  XXIV.).    Apparently  three  arrow- 


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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  319 

points  and  two  flakes.  One  flake,  of  felspathic  trap,  is  polished  on  one 
side.  One  arrow-point  of  slaty  rock;  the  other  two  of  Silurian  grit, 
which  seem  both  artificial  and  weathered. 

Cabkbdd  Howell. 

No.  29.  An  igneous  rock,  very  artificial  in  form  ;  of  a  thick,  short, 
broad-edge  "  hache  "-shape,  smooth,  and  very  much  worn  ;  weathered 
and  rounded  on  the  edges ;  broken  at  the  broad  end  ou  one  side  as 
if  from  use,  or  to  form  an  edge.     The  other  surfaces  may  be  natural. 

No.  30.  Felspathic  porphyry  ;  an  oval  pebble  split  on  two  sides ; 
one  side  seems  fresher  than  the  other,  and  appears  to  have  received 
several  blows. 

No.  31.  A  flake  of  grit,  about  5  inches  long,  from  a  water-worn 
pebble. 

No.  32.  Angular  flake  subsequently  broken  at  the  edge. 

No.  83.  Ball  of  greenstone.  Seems  natural,  as  if  waterwom  and 
afterwards  a  little  weathered. 

No.  34.  Quartz,  about  2  inches  long.  Fresh-looking,  fractured, 
and  flake-like. 

No.  35.  A  piece  of  grit ;  on  one  weathered  side  showing  faint 
signs  of  glacial  scratches ;  split  naturally  on  the  plane  of  a  joint,  and 
broken  at  the  more  pointed  end. 

The  next  point  to  be  considered  in  connexion  with  the  inter- 
ment on  Moel  Faben  is  the  shape  of  the  urn. 

Urns  have  been  divided  by  Mr.  Bateman*  into  four  classes ;  and 
subsequent  archseologists  have  adopted  this  classification. 

1.  Cinerary  urns. — ^These  are  of  various  shapes,  but  usually 
small  at  the  bottom,  from  10  to  18  inches  high,  widening  towards 
the  top,  and  frequently  furnished  with  an  overhanging  rim,  which 
measures  in  many  cases  more  than  a  third  of  the  entire  height  of 
the  vessel.  These  usually  contain  the  burnt  bones.  They  are 
found  in  interments  associated  with  both  flint  and  bronze.  In 
their  composition  they  are  frequently  mixed  with  small  frag- 
ments of  pebbles  or  sand. 

2.  Incense-cups. — Small  vessels  varying  from  1  to  3  inches  in 
height,  and  broad  in  proportion ;  the  colour  is  lighter  and  the 
texture  finer  than  that  of  the  lai^er  urns.  Mr.  Birchf  has 
suggested  that  they  may  have  been  used  as  lamps ;  others  have 
supposed  that  they  were  intended  to  burn  incense  in  during  the 
funeral  rites.  From  the  circumstance  of  the  bottoms  being  orna- 
mented, and  from  their  being  sometimes  furnished  with  loops  at 
the  side,  it  has  been  suggested  that  they  were  intended  for  sus- 
pension. They  are  often  found  with  the  larger  cinerary  urns, 
but  never  with  the  earliest  interments. 

*  'Ten  Years'  Diggings  in  Celtic  and  Saxon  Grave  Hills/  by  Thomas 
Bateman. 
t  Birch,  *  History  of  Ancient  Pottery.' 


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320  Col.  A.  L.  Fox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

8.  Food-vessels. — Small  vessels  averaging  firom  4|  to  6  inclieB 
in  height,  occupying,  in  point  of  size,  an  intermediate  place  be- 
tween the  urns  and  the  incense-cups ;  the  foot  small,  the  mouth 
wide.  They  are  often  quite  plain,  though  some  are  highly  orna- 
mented. They  occur  not  unfrequently  with  incinerated  remains, 
but  more  usually  with  unbumt  bodies. 

4.  Drinkinff-cups. — Larger  vessels,  firom  6  to  9  inches  in 
height ;  somewhat  globular  towards  the  foot,  and  contracted  or 
nearly  cylindrical  in  the  upper  part;  generally  highly  orna- 
mented and  of  comparatively  fine  well-baked  clay.  As  ahready 
noticed,  in  the  examples  above  mentioned,  these  cups  occur 
usually  with  unbumt  bodies. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  these  several  classes  of 
urns  were  manufactured  expressly  for  mortuary  purposes ;  but 
Mr.  Stanley  and  Mr.  Way*  are  of  opinion  that  they  represent 
the  ordinary  household  utensils  of  the  period;  and  that  the 
ancient  Britons,  like  the  Romans,  used  any  vessel  that  might 
be  found  convenient  in  which  to  deposit  the  ashes  of  the  dead* 
In  point  of  form,  the  one  found  in  the  cist  upon  Moel  Faben, 
fig.  1,  PL  XXIV.,  most  closely  resembles  one  figured  in  Mr.  Stan- 
ley's paper,  firom  a  grave  near  Tenby :  it  is  there  classed  as  a  food- 
vessel;  but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  associated  remains,  except 
that  the  graves  in  the  neighbourhood  were  all  found  with  burnt 
bodies,  and  that  the  contents  denoted  a  poor  and  degenerate  race. 
It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  although  this  vessel  has  not  the  over- 
hanging rim  common  in  the  cinerary  urns,  and  is  of  smaller  size 
than  the  majoritv  of  them,  it  nevertheless  approaches  closely  to 
the  flower-pot  shape  of  those  urns;  and  the  fact  of  its  being 
found  alone  in  a  small  cist,  such  as  would  have  been  formed  only 
for  an  interment  by  cremation,  shows  that  in  all  probability  it 
must  have  contained  the  bones,  notwithstanding  that  all  trace  of 
them  had  disappeared. 

In  point  of  fact,  I  believe  that  the  evidence  upon  which  the 
classification  of  British  pottery  has  been  based  is,  as  yet,  very 
insufficient.  Being  composed  of  the  most  firagile  materials, 
archaeologists  ai^  necessarily  restricted  to  the  examples  that  are 
preserved  in  the  graves.  No  two  urns,  however,  hitherto  dis- 
covered exactly  resemble  each  other ;  and  I  have  little  doubt 
that  if  a  sufficient  number  of  any  given  period  could  be  brought 
together,  it  would  be  found  that,  like  all  other  prehistoric 
remains,  without  exception,  the  several  classes  passed  one  into 
the  other  in  such  a  manner  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  draw 
any  hard  and  fast  line  of  separation  between  them.  This  is  the 
normal  characteristic  of  the  products  of  all  early  and  savage 
races,  and  should  serve  as  a  guide  in  classifying  the  relics  of  past 
*  '  Archaeologia  Cambrensifl,'  xiv.  drd  aeries,  1868,  p.  283. 

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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  821 

ages  where  the  evidence  is  doubtful  or  incomplete.  There  seema 
to  be  little  doubt  now  that  the  ancient  Britons^  like  the  Greeks^ 
at  one  time  practised  both  cremation  and  inhumation  contempo- 
raneously ;  and  if^  as  is  suggested  by  Mr.  Stanley  and  Mr.  Way^ 
the  vessels  found  in  the  graves  were  those  in  ordinary  use  for 
domestic  purposes^  it  would  be  natural  that  the  larger  vessels 
should  be  usoL  to  contain  the  ashes ;  whilst  the  unbumt  bodies 
would  be  placed^  in  accordance  with  the  traditional  customs  of  a 
savage  people,  with  those  smaller  vessels  which  the  deceased  was 
in  the  habit  of  using  for  eating  and  drinking. 

The  conclusions  to  which  we  are  led  from  a  consideration  of  the 
&cts  adduced  in  this  paper  appear  to  me  to  be, — that  in  some  parts 
of  North  Wales,  where  none  but  rocks  of  the  primary  geological 
formation  occur,  the  inhabitants  used  the  stone  of  the  country 
for  the  same  purposes  which,  in  other  districts,  were  served  by 
fiiwt;  that  the  use  of  these  stones  occurred  at  a  time  when 
cremation  was  practised,  when  the  fictile  art  was  known,  and 
when  vessels  were  occasionally,  but  not  invariably,  deposited  with 
the  dead ;  and  that  the  stones  used  were  not  of  the  materials 
best  adapted  for  implements,  although  such  materials  were 
readily  obtainable  in  the  mountains  close  by ;  the  stone  selected 
seems  rather  to  have  been  that  found  in  the  drift-rubble  on  the 
spot,  and  which  was  capable  of  being  easily  worked.  We  might 
infer  from  this  that  the  implements  were  used  only  for  some 
temporary  purpose,  possibly  merely  as  votive  offerings  to  the 
dead ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  the  arrow-heads,  the  flakes  found 
in  the  cist,  and  the  rubbed,  scraper-like  implement  discovered 
in  the  cairn  upon  Moel  Faben,  afford  unmistakable  evidence  of 
having  been  actuaUy  in  use  for  some  purpose.  It  appears, 
therefore,  not  imreasonable  to  suppose  that  they  may  have  been 
the  work  of  a  people  driven  to  the  hills  by  war,  and  who,  not 
having  the  tools  necessary  for  quarrying  the  hard  rock  of  which 
the  hills  are  composed,  and  hemmed  in  within  a  very  circum- 
scribed area,  may  have  been  compelled  to  employ  in  the  fabri- 
cation of  their  weapons  the  drift-rubble  that  lay  scattered  upon 
the  surface.  The  signs  of  cultivation  that  are  found  high  up  on 
the  hill  appear  confirmatory  of  this  hypothesis.  In  the  Island 
of  Zetland,  the  late  Dr.  Hunt  found  a  large  number  of  stone 
implements  quite  as  rudely  constructed  as  those  under  con- 
sideration ;  but  he  was  unable  to  form  any  opinion  about  them 
further  than  "  that  they  were  found  on  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
and  in  connexion  with  an  underground  structure^'*. 

As  regards  the  relative  antiquity  of  these  implements,  we  are 
not^  I  tUnk,  in  a  position  to  form  any  definite  opinion  on  the 

*  '  Memoin  of  the  Anthropological  Society  of  London,'  vol  ii.  1865-66, 
p.  336. 
VOL.  II.  ^    r^         T 

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322  Col.  A.  L.  Fox— On  the  Opening  of  two 

subject :  they  have  not,  as  yet,  been  found  associated  with  bronze ; 
but  BS- flint  flakes  of  the  rudest  kind  have  been  found  in  inter- 
ments with  bronze  weapons,  it  is  possible  that  these  stones  may 
hereafter  be  found  associated  with  bronze.  The  forms  of  the 
implements,  if  they  are  to  be  dignified  with  the  term,  in  so  far 
as  we  are  enabled  to  judge  of  them  from  the  extreme  rudeness 
of  their  construction,  are  not  characteristic  of  the  early  stone 
age,  but  approach  towards,  although  they  cannot  actually  be 
identified  with,  the  types  common  in  the  bronze  period.  To 
future  explorers  must  be  left  the  credit  of  determining  this 
point,  I  would  only  suggest,  in  conclusion,  that  it  might  be 
worth  while  to  reexamine,  with  this  object,  some  of  the  cists 
in  which  bronze  weapons  have  been  previously  discovered. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XXIV. 

Fig.  1.  Urn  found  in  a  cist  on  Moel  Faben,  Caemaivonshiie. 
Figs.  2  to  6.  Rudely  worked  stone  implements  found  in  the  cist  on  Moel 
Faben. 

DiscussiOK. 

Prof.  Eamsat  was  of  opinion  that  though  the  supposed  identifica- 
tion of  many  of  the  "Welsn  tumuli  as  the  burial-places  of  historical 
persons  was  probably  mythical,  yet  he  felt  strongly  that  an  exception 
must  be  made  in  the  case  of  Bronwen  in  consequence  of  the  many 
circumstantial  details  attending  her  story,  including  her  burial. 

He  believed  that  most  of  the  stone  implements  found  in  the 
tumuli  described  by  Col.  Lane  Fox  had  not  been  made  for  actual 
use,  but  were  rudely  made,  perhaps,  from  stones  picked  up  on  the 
spot,  and  were  then  thrown  into  the  tumuli  as  they  were  formed ;  it 
being  probably  a  point  of  ancient  etiquette  to  offer  something  pre- 
sumed to  be  useful  to  the  dead  as  a  token  of  respect  to  his  memory. 

Sir  John  Lubbock  thought  there  could  be  little  doubt  that  most 
of,  if  not  all,  the  specimens  exhibited  showed  unmistakable  traces 
of  human  workmanship.  At  the  same  time  he  agreed  with  Prof 
Bam  say  in  doubting  whether  they  were  intended  for  actual  use, 
and  he  was  disposed  also  to  regard  them  as  having  been  deposited 
with  the  dead  in  accordance  with  the  pious  feeling  so  widely,  not 
to  say  universally,  prevalent,  that  obiects  buried  with  the  dead 
could  be  used, by  them  in  the  Land  of  Spirits. 

Mr.  J.  Evans  agreed  with  most  of  what  had  been  advanced  by  the 
author  and  by  the  previous  speaker,  though  he  pointed  out  that  the 
rubbed  parts  of  some  of  the  stones  were  much  less  weathered  than 
the  rest  of  the  sur&ce. 

While  the  worked  character  of  most  of  the  presumed  implements 
was  not  very  manifest,  there  was  little  doubt  of  some  of  their  sur&ces 
having  been  artificially  produced.  One  of  them  also  had  the  appear- 
ance of  having  been  scraped  by  metal. 

He  thought  it  would  be  a  great  error  to  suppose  that  the  rudeness 
of  the  implements  was  in  any  way  proportionate  to  their  antiquity ; 

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Cairns  near  Bangor,  North  Wales.  323 

as  for  many  purposes  the  stones  which  came  nearest  to  hand  might 
be  utilized  even  after  an  acquaintance  with  metal.  He  considered  that 
the  deposit  of  such  objects  in  ^ves  might  be  connected  with  some  an- 
cient funeral  custom.  In  assigning  an  antiquit}^  to  such  interments, 
he  suggested  that  the  urns  afforded  the  safest  criterion,  and  if  sepul- 
chral vessels,  of  precisely  simDar  character,  occurred  in  the  same 
district  associated  with  bronze,  those  without  anj  metal  were  pro- 
bably of  the  same  date. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Flowbe  observed,  with  reference  to  the  position  of  the 
cist  close  or  near  to  the  circumference  of  the  barrow  or  cairn,  that 
the  same  thing  had  been  noticed  in  several  other  barrows  or  crom- 
lechs in  Wales,  and  that  it  was  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Algeria. 

With  regard  to  the  suggestion  that  the  rude  coarse  implements 
produced  were  "  ex  votos"  and  merely  imitations  of  those  in  use  by 
the  deceased  person  or  persons,  it  rested  only  on  the  slightest  pos- 
sible conjecture.  It  seemed  to  him  most  unreasonable  to  suppose, 
upon  such  imperfect  grounds,  that  the  comparative  modern  usage  of 
throwing  into  the  graves  the  arms,  implements,  and  ornaments  of 
the  deceased  should  have  prevailed  also  in  prehistoric  times  ;  and  it 
was  still  more  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  that  rude  people  should 
have  been  so  sentimental  as  to  make  use  of  imitations  of  weapons 
and  tools  as  votive  offerings. 

Dr.  Nicholas  said  it  was  quite  possible  that  the  name  of  the  ele- 
vated place  where  the  barrow  was  situated  had  some  relation  to  the 
interment.  Moel  was  Celtic,  ancient  and  modem,  for  a  bare  and 
rounded  eminence;  and  habarij  in  like  manner,  was  the  word  for 
child.  If  the  exact  form  of  the  local  name,  therefore,  was  Moel- 
faban,  it  meant  literally  and  in  perfect  analogy  with  Welsh  name- 
giving,  "  the  child's  hill-top  ";  the  initial  letter  of  the  second  word, 
to  mark  the  genitive  or  possessive  case,  undergoing  the  well-known 
mutation  into/!  They  all  knew  how  vital  and  persistent  were  local 
names,  and  how  they  continued,  from  age  to  age,  to  mark  particular 
spots  as  the  scenes  of  events  of  high  and  special  interest  long  after 
idl  traces  of  the  events  had  disappeared  from  the  spots  and  even  from 
the  tradition  of  the  locality.  In  the  present  case,  there  seemed  to  be 
now  exhumed  from  the  heart  of  that  barrow  a  trace  which  he  ven- 
tured to  suggest  threw  some  light  upon  the  name.  Col.  Lane  Pox 
had  been  careful  to  take  exact  measurement  of  the  encisted  grave, 
and  &om  the  smallness  of  the  dimensions  it  would  appear,  unless  the 
burial  was  wholly  by  cremation,  that  it  was  the  resting-place  of  a 
ve^  young  person, — the  child,  perhaps,  of  a  king  or  prince. 

it  was  very  remarkable  that  of  the  many  barrows  opened  in  Wales, 
very  few  were  reported  to  have  yielded  any  such  prehistoric  stone 
implements  as  had  been  discovered  in  the  instance  now  before  the 
Society,  and  he  was  afraid  that  this  lack  was  the  result  of  a  too  care- 
less and  unscientific  exploration.  As  to  the  object  of  placing  such 
articles  in  the  grave  with  the  dead  body,  much  was  conjectured  be- 
cause BO  little  was  known.  It  was  not  necessary  to  associate  the 
custom  with  superstitious  ideas,  or  with  any  ideas,  about  a  future 
state.    The  motives  of  human  action  in  the  remote  past  might  some- 

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824      H.  M.  Wkstropp — Earliest  Phases  of  Civilizaiian. 

times  be  interpreted  from  watching  the  processes  of  their  own 
thoughts.  Human  nature,  in  all  time,  was  actuated  by  certain 
common  sentiments  and  feelings  which  could  ouly  be  slightly  modi- 
fied by  circumstances.  Bespect  for  the  dead  was  a  universal  senti- 
menty  and  it  was  not  a  superstitious  or  a  frivolous  one.  Judging 
each  from  his  own  consciousness,  could  they  not  easilv  conceive  that 
the  sentiment  of  respect  and  affection  might  lead  the  survivors  to 
place  with  the  bodjr  of  their  friend  such  objects  as  were  valued  or 
used  by  him  while  in  life  ?  The  act  was  not  to  be  referred,  of  neces- 
sity, to  religious  motives,  but  might  be  simply  the  impulse  of  mere 
human  affection. 

Mr.  EowLAWD  Hamilton^  remarked  with  reference  to  the  .doubts 
expressed  as  to  whether  the  stone  instruments  found  could  be  sup- 
posed to  be  symbols  placed  in  the  cairn  rather  than  articles  having 
any  real  value,  that  the  Chinese  of-the  present  day  were  certainly  in 
the  habit  of  using  symbols  in  the  most  direct  manner ;  especially  bars 
or  "  shoes  "  of  silver  very  rudely  made  of  paper  were  used  for  cere- 
monial observances.  Nor  could  he  concur  m  the  idea  that  the  notion 
of  using  such  symbols  was  of  too  refined  a  nature  to  be  found  among 
a  comparatively  rude  people.  The  very  earliest  records  of  ideal  be- 
liefs were  of  a  very  elevated  character.  Such  beliefs  in  later  ages 
lost  much  of  their  power,  not  from  any  growth  of  intellectual  scepti- 
cism, but  from  ignorance  and  decay.  To  such  a  state  the  supersti- 
tious observance  of  the  form  would  be  quite  natural,  though  the 
feeling  of  reverence  would  be  insufficient  to  overcome  the  promptings 
of  selfishness ;  and  there  thus  seemed  nothing  inherently  improbable 
in  the  offering  of  such  worthless  substitutes,  even  where  the  higher 
perception  of  their  symbolical  significance  was  lost. 

He  had  little  experience  in  such  matters ;  but  one  of  the  ston^ 
instruments  had  certainly  struck  him  as  an  imitatioif,  being  of  a  foiln 
into  which  metal  hammered  out  to  a  sharp  edge  would  naturally  be 
formed,  while  there  was  no  object  in  making  or  selecting  a  stone 
instrument  of  that  shape. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  tbe  Assistant-Secre- 
tary:— 

XXV.  On  the  Earliest  Phases  of  Civilization. 
By  HoDDEB  M.  Westrofp^  Esq. 

(Abstract) 

The  author  traced  the  progressive  development  of  man  through 
the  earliest  phases  of  civilization^  and  sought  to  show  that 
an  invariable  law  of  progress  attends  the  development  of  the 
higher  races.  As  the  individual  man  passes  from  a  state  of 
infancy  through  the  successive  stages  of  childhood^  youth,  and 
manhood,  so  man  collectively  ascends  from  a  state  of  barbarism 
to  one  of  high  civilization  through  a  definite  sequence  of  phases. 

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J.  p.  Campbell— 0»  British  Mythology  and  Oral  Tradition.  825 

Emerging  from  the  barbarous  phase,  which  is  the  lowest  stage 
of  development,  man  gradually  becomes  a  nomadic  hunter  and 
fisher.  By  slow  degrees  the  hunting-phase  gives  place  to  the 
pastoral,  and  the  wild  hunter  becomes  a  shepherd  and  herds- 
man; still,  however,  continuing  to  some  extent  a  nomad,  wan- 
dering with  his  flocks  and  herds.  At  length  he  settles  down  to 
a  stationary  life,  and  devotes  himself  to  the  culture  of  the  soil. 
From  this  agricultural  phase  man  rapidly  advances  towards  the 
highest  stages  of  development.  The  author  adduced  a  number 
of  illustrations  tending  to  show  that  different  races  have  passed 
in  regular  sequence  through  these  several  phases  of  civilization. 


Ordinary  Meeting,  March  22nd,  1870. 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  P.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Mender. — R.  S.  Newall,  Esq. 

Mr.  W.  Topley,  F.G.S.,  exhibited  a  collection  of  stone  im- 
plements from  various  localities  in  England  and  Prance. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XXVI. — On  Current  British  Mythology  and  Oral  Tradi- 
tions.    By  John  F.  Campbell,  Esq.,  of  Islay. 

I  HAVE  been  asked  by  Col.  Lane  Fox  to  read  you  a  paper  half- 
an-hour  long  about  Ttaditions. 

My  chief  difficulty  was  to  chose  a  branch  of  this  vast  subject 
upon  which  to  perch  and  prate  for  the  specified  time ;  but  after 
due  consideration  I  have  settled  upon  my  own  particular  branch, 
about  which  I  really  know  something,  and  leave  the  rest  of  this 
tree  of  knowledge  to  your  learned  Society  to  cultivate  as  you 
think  best. 

Let  me  then  tell  you,  as  shortly  as  I  can,  how  it  happens 
that  I  know  something  about  Traditions  of  any  kind. 

I  was  "  raised  ^'  in  the  highlands  of  Scotland,  and  as  soon  as 
I  was  out  of  the  hands  of  nursemaids  I  was  handed  over  to  the 
care  of  a  piper.  His  name  was  the  same  as  mine — John  Camp- 
bell— and  from  him  I  learned  a  good  many  useful  arts.  I 
learned  to  be  hardy  and  healthy,  and  I  learned  Gaelic ;  I  learned 
to  swim,  and  to  take  care  of  myself,  and  to  talk  to  everybody 
who  chose  to  talk  to  me.  My  kilted  nurse  and  I  were  always 
walking  about  in  foul  weather  or  fair,  and  every  man,  woman, 
and  child  in  the  place  had  something  to  say  to  us.  Thus,  1 
made  early  acquaintance  with  a  blind  fiddler,  who  could  recite 
stories.     1  worked  with  the  carpenters ;  I  played  shinny  with 


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826  J.  F.  Campbell— On  Current 

all  the  boys  about  the  farm ;  and  so  I  got  to  know  a  good  deal 
about  the  ways  of  Highlanders  by  growing  up  as  a  Highlander 
myself. 

As  times  went  on,  Dr.  MacLeod,  of  Campsie,  whose  name  is 
well  known,  suggested  to  me,  then  a  lanky  boy,  the  gathering 
of  Highland  lore. 

In  1847  I  had  begun  to  gather  a  few  traditions,  and  these  I 
have  still.  In  1859,  on  the  publication  of  the  translation  of 
Popular  Tales  from  the  Norse,  the  author  of  that  excellent 
work,  who  has  now  come  to  rule  over  Civil-Service  erudition, 
suggested  that  I  might  do  for  Scotland  that  which  others  had 
done  elsewhere;  and  acting  under  his  counsel,  upon  my  own 
knowledge,  I  set  to  work  in  earnest,  in  January  1859,  to  gather 
the  popular  tales  of  the  West  Highlands.  [The  book  was  laid 
on  the  table.] 

The  fourth  volume  was  published  within  two  years  of  the  first 
start :  I  have  manuscripts  enough  to  make  four  volumes  more, 
and  I  know  where  to  find  traditions  enough  of  this  kind  alone 
to  fill  a  small  library.  All  that  I  need  is  a  short-hand  writer 
who  knows  Gaelic,  and  I  will  undertake  to  find  stuflF  enough  in 
a  summer  tour  in  Scotland  to  surfeit  the  greatest  glutton  that 
ever  devoured  popular  lore. 

When  my  own  work  was  done,  my  chief,  the  Duke  of  Argyll, 
at  my  suggestion  continued  the  collection  of  traditions,  but  of 
a  different  kind.  I  have  his  collection  in  manuscript,  made 
chiefly  by  one  man.  He  was  a  woodman,  and  is  a  precise, 
accurate,  old  fellow,  of  the  most  matter-of-fact  disposition.  He 
goes  wandering  about  the  country,  and  he  writes  down  exactly 
what  he  hears  as  popular  traditional  history  of  real  people  and 
real  events.  I  have  this  collection;  one  bound  volume  is  on 
the  table.  I  have  about  as  much  more  unbound,  and  the  col- 
lector is  now  wandering  and  working  away  in  the  Highlands 
amongst  men  of  his  own  class.  I  hear  from  him  occasionally. 
Thus  I  have  acquired  considerable  knowledge  of  Tradition  as  it 
actually  exists  amongst  one  set  of  people — ^the  Highlanders  of 
Scotland. 

Whilst  engaged  on  this  work  I  was  led  to  read  everything 
about  my  subject  that  came  within  my  reach  in  all  the  lan- 
guages of  which  I  know  anything;  and,  further,  I  learned  to 
know  the  kind  of  man  who  contains  a  store  of  knowledge,  and 
how  to  get  it  out  of  him. 

I  will  give  you  one  example,  to  show  that  traditions  abound 
even  here  at  your  very  doors,  and  that  any  one  who  chooses  may 
pick  up  a  harvest  by  gleaning  after  me. 

In  March  1861,  I  was  driving  to  my  office  in  a  "hansom," 
when  I  happened  to  see  a  knife-grinder  near  the  Knightsbridge 

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British  Mythology  and  Oral  TVaditions.  327 

Barracks,  who  seemed  to  be  a  field  worth  cultivation;  so  I 
stopped  my  cab  and  jumped  out. 

The  kuife- grinder  was  somewhat  startled,  but  he  was  speedily 
convinced  that  I  was  not  a  disguised  policeman,  and  he  soon 
understood  what  I  wanted,  and  that  something  was  to  be  got 
out  of  me.  He  said  that  he  was  not  good  at  telling  stories 
himself,  but  he  had  a  brother  who  was  exceedingly  good.  I 
made  an  appointment,  gave  my  card  and  a  shilling,  promised 
half-a-crown,  and  drove  oflF  to  my  office. 

Thence  I  wrote  to  my  friend,  who  is  now  Civil-Service  Com- 
missioner, and  next  day,  March  9,  1861,  we  held  a  meeting  at 
No.  7  Milbank  Street,  in  the  office  of  the  Lighthouse  Com- 
mission, to  which  learned  body  I  then  acted  as  Secretary.  All 
^y  guests  came.  I  had  tobacco  and  long  clay  pipes,  beer,  and 
bread  and  cheese,  and  a  good  fire;  but  it  took  some  time  to 
thaw  the  ice  between  us.  I  knew  well  enough  that  my  men 
would  be  shy  and  awkward  in  a  room ;  but  as  we  could  not  hold 
our  colloquy  in  the  open  street,  we  did  the  best  we  could. 

William  and  Soloman  Johns,  tinkers  and  gypsies,  were  not 
at  ease  ofi*  their  own  beat.  First  one  told  a  ghost-story  which  was 
devoid  of  interest  or  point :  that  would  not  do  at  all.  So  I  told 
the  story  of  a  tinker  and  a  cutler,  which  I  had  learned  from  a 
London  tinker  some  time  before :  that  thawed  the  ice  and  raised 
my  harvest.  The  kev-note  made  harmony  and  a  concert;  it 
opened  my  '^  book  in  breeches,''  and  from  that  moment  we  read 
him  freely  for  some  hours. 

He  told  us  seven  long  rigmarol  popular  tales,  of  which  I  wrote 
the  names  and  some  references  only. 

(1)  A  story  about  a  lad  and  some  dancing  pigs.  It  is  like 
"  Hacon  Grizzlebeard ''  in  Norse,  the  '^  Mouse  and  the  Bee '' 
in  Gaelic,  and  a  whole  series  of  stories  and  ballads  which  can  be 
traced  back  to  Dunbar  and  1488,  or  thereabouts,  in  Scotland. 

(2)  He  told  a  long  story  which  turned  upon  the  subterranean 
world,  in  which  are  castles  of  copper,  silver,  and  gold,  full  of  magic 
and  mystery,  princesses  and  adventurers ;  in  all  of  which  the 
principal  character  was  an  Irishman  with  a  black-thorn  stick, 
which  thrashed  people  of  its  own  accord.  I  knew  every  single 
incident ;  we  all  knew  the  stick,  for  it  is  in  Grimm.  It  is  well 
known  in  India ;  see  '*  Old  Deccan  Days,"  by  Miss  Frene,  p.  141 . 

(3)  Next  came  the  story  of  the  five  hunchbacks,  which  I  did 
not  then  know.  Last  year,  in  looking  through  a  curious  library 
of  rare  books  in  Cheshire,  I  hit  upon  my  story  in  Italian. 

The  history  of  the  three  hunchbacks  is  the  first  in  Novelle  de 
Meiser  Anton  Francesco  Doni,  edi.  1815.  The  book  from  which 
this  is  taken  is  in  the  Index  of  prohibited  books,  printed  in  Rome. 
The  story  was  printed  in  1544-45-52. 


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828  J.  P.  Campbell— On  Cwrreni 

A  queen  has  a  daughter,  and  swears  not  to  give  her  a  hus- 
l3and  till  a  lizard  which  the  daughter  throws  on  her  back  is  as 
big  as  the  child.  The  nurse  nourishes  the  lizard,  which  grows 
as  big  as  a  *'  civet/'  Then  the  queen  kills  the  beast,  takes  out 
its  liver,  and  offers  her  daughter  and  half  the  kingdom  to  the 
man  who  can  divine  what  liver  it  is.  The  nurse  sends  a  hunch- 
back to  tell  the  secret  to  a  prince  suitor;  but  the  hunchback, 
tells  it  for  himself,  and  wins  the  lady,  who  hates  him.  The 
bride  entertains  three  hunchbacks  who  dance  and  play,  and  by 
mishap  she  smothers  them  in  hiding  them  in  a  chest.  She  and 
her  nurse  send  for  a  porter,  who  takes  the  dead  hunchbacks  one 
by  one  in  similar  sacks  to  the  river.  He  peeps  into  a  sack  and 
finds  a  "  gobbo.^'  Returning  from  the  river  he  meets  the  bride- 
groom gobbo  and  takes  him  to  the  river  and  drowns  him, 
thinking  that  the  same  hunchback  had  returned  to  be  carried  a 
fourth  time.  The  widow  marries  the  Duke  of  Milan,  to  whom 
she  had  sent  the  message  at  first. 

In  all  essential  points  this  story  was  told  me  by  the  London 
knife-grinder,  who  said  that  he  could  not  read.  The  "  facchino  '^ 
was  made  an  Irish  *^  porter ;"  the  queen  an  eastern  potentate  ; 
the  lizard  and  the  liver  were  not  there ;  but  the  smothering  of 
the  hunchbacks  and  the  death  of  the  "  gobbo '^  by  mistake  were 
told  exactly. 

There  was  enough  of  difference  to  make  it  quite  certain  that 
my  knife-grinder  did  not  borrow  from  Doni's  Italian ;  enough 
resemblance  to  make  it  certain  that  Doni  and  the  knife-grinder, 
the  Italian  and  the  English  gypsy,  more  than  800  years  apart, 
had  got  the  same  story  to  tell,  each  in  his  own  fashion. 

There  is  a  version  of  this  story  in  a  book  illustrated  by  Cruick- 
shank,  but  it  differs  from  the  oral  version. 

(4)  He  told  us  a  long  story  about  a  strap,  a  hut,  a  cane,  a 
Jew,  and  a  sailor ;  which  we  recognised  in  stories  known  to  us 
in  Gaelic,  in  Norse,  and  in  the  ItaUan  of  Straparold. 

(5)  A  story  called  the  Art  of  Doctoring,  which  none  of  us  had 
ever  heard  before,  and  neither  wiU  care  to  hear  again.  It  had 
the  very  rare  feature  of  coarseness. 

(6)  A  long  story  about  a  poor  student  who  travelled  with  a 
black  man.  They  dug  up  a  dead  woman,  got  into  a  church, 
made  a  fire  there  to  roast  a  sheep,  and  terrified  the  parson  and 
clerk.  We  knew  all  the  incidents  in  "  Goosey  Grizzle "  in 
Norse,  and  in  Gaelic  stories  now  told  in  the  Highlands,  espe- 
cially a  joke  in  which  one  asked  if  the  sheep  were  fat,  which  the 
listening  parson  understood  to  be  a  prelude  to  his  own  roasting 
by  '*  the  black  man.'* 

(7)  Then  came  a  story  about  another  poor  student  and  a  par- 
son, and  a  man  with  a  cat,  which  was  exceeding  uncanny. 
This  wc  did  not  know :  and  I  have  never  heard  it  since.      i 

oogle 


British  Mythology  and  Oral  Traditions.  829 

By  this  time  we  had  had  enough.  The  beer  was  dry^  and  the 
*' baccy '^  done;  so  I  gave  the  men  half-a-crown  apiece,  and  I 
have  never  set  eyes  upon  them  since.  I  have  met  many  of  their 
class  elsewhere,  and  from  them  I  have  often  heard  popular  tales. 

Having  said  this  much  to  gain  your  confidence  by  giving  you 
mine,  I  may  now  begin  to  tdk  of  current  British  Tradition,  as 
one  who  knows  something  about  his  subject. 

British  Myths, 

It  is  now  an  established  fact  that  certain  classes  of  traditional 
stories  always  bear  a  general  resemblance  one  to  another  when 
faithfully  collected  from  people  who  tell,  repeat,  or  recite  them ; 
and  that  fact  is  variously  explained. 

Some  hold  that  nursery  tales  and  more  remote  elaborate  stories, 
which  are  the  novels  and  romances  of  untaught  men  and  women, 
are  separate  creations  of  the  human  mind,  which  have  been  in- 
vented over  and  over  again  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  In  like 
manner  it  was  anciently  held  that  a  child  who  had  never  heard 
human  speech  would  nevertheless  speak  the  "primeval  lan- 
guage "  at  a  certain  age,  and  it  was  even  maintained  that  the  ex- 
periment, when  tried,  resulted  in  Hebrew.  But  that  theory  ex- 
ploded ;  and  every  deaf  mute  who  has  the  faculty  of  speech  in 
abeyance,  proves  the  fallacy  by  his  dumb  eloquence  till  he  is 
taught  to  articulate. 

Others  strive  to  trace  myths  through  books  to  some  one 
author ;  but  this  explanation  will  not  now  suffice  to  account  for 
all  the  facts  known. 

The  "  primitive  language  "  nowhere  exists ;  for  languages  alter, 
grow,  and  decay  :  they  are  ''  traditional,^'  and  so  are  myths. 

"  Continuity  '^  which  explains  so  much,  best  explains  the  de- 
velopment and  diversity  of  modem  speech ;  and  Continuity  of 
the  same  kind  best  accounts  for  the  strange  resemblance  which 
certainly  exists  in  popular  tales  of  difierent  races  and  nations. 
As  whole  families  and  races  of  men  resemble  each  other,  as 
whole  tribes  of  languages,  by  their  affinities,  indicate  a  common 
ancestral  speech,  so  whole  collections  of  childish  stories  and 
wild  myths  are  related  to  each  other  in  various  degrees,  because, 
like  the  people  who  tell  them,  and  like  their  words,  they  all 
came  from  ^tant  sources  or  from  one  source.  Etlmologists, 
philologers,  mythologists,  and  their  disciples  now  generally 
believe  in  a  common  origin  for  many  European  languages  and 
myths,  and  in  .  continuous  successive  migrations  of  so-called 
Aryan  tribes,  who  set  out  from  Central  Asia  and  spread  like 
waves  from  a  pebble  tossed  into  a  pool.  Those  who  followed 
the  setting  sun  early  are  now  found  in  the  British  Isles,  still 
speaking  the  modem  forms  of  their  ancient  speech,  mingled  with 


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830  J.  F.  Campkbll — On  Current 

older  races  whom  they  found  in  possession^  and  with  younger 
Aryans  who  followed  and  drove  them  to  the  great  sea,  which  was 
a  mystery  to  all  at  first.  If  this  be  true  of  races,  tongues,  and 
myths,  then  genuine  British  traditions  orally  preserved  in  Celtic 
languages  probably  are  old  Aryan  myths,  mingled,  it  may  be, 
with  pre-Ajyan  myths,  and  with  newer  versions  of  old  Aryan 
myths  brought  from  the  starting-point  by  successive  waves  of 
emigrants  from  Central  Asia,  of  whom  the  Gypsies  are  the  last. 
Fragments  of  bone,  chips  of  flint,  obsolete  weapons,  slang,  and 
nonsense  all  have  scientific  value  for  men  who  know  how  to  use 
them.  Like  them,  British  traditions  ought  to  interest  anthro- 
pologists who  seek  to  reconstruct  "primeval  history ''  from 
relics  of  all  kinds. 

Few  of  the  educated  know  how  very  abundant  genuine  oral 
British  traditions  still  are.     I  can  say  this  from  experience. 

(1)  Amongst  gentlefolk,  the  mass  of  nursery  lore  is  now 
taken  from  books;  but  almost  every  family  has  some  tradi- 
tional story,  which  goes  on  from  generation  to  generation,  from 
mother  to  child.  Of  these,  many  were  traditions  before  simple 
tales  were  thought  worthy  of  print  and  gay  bindings ;  but  of 
these,  many  are  now  printed  in  collections  published  of  late 
years. 

(2)  Amongst  well-to-do  people  who  have  ceased  to  be 
children,  story-books  and  stories  are  alike  despised  as  a  rule. 

(3)  Settled  people,  who  have  work  to  do,  generally  know 
nothing  about  stories. 

(4)  Certain  classes  of  wandering,  idle  vagabonds — ^tinkers, 
knife-grinders,  broom-sellers,  vagrants,  nomads  in  this  land  of 
civilization— often  have  great  collections  of  genuine  oral  tradi- 
tions, which  they  repeat  for  the  entertainment  of  working 
people  at  idle  times.  Such  men  are  to  be  found  in  all  parts  of 
England,  in  the  country,  in  London,  and  in  the  great  towns. 
It  is  supposed  that  two  hundred  thousand  vagrants  now  wander 
in  the  British  Isles ;  and  most  vagrants  of  my  acquaintance  can 
recite  talcs,  and  delight  in  them. 

(5)  Wherever  an  Irish  colony  exists,  there  Irish  traditions 
may  be  gathered  in  abundance.  As  a  wave  returns  when  it  has 
reached  the  shore,  so  waves  of  human  thought  return  with 
returning  men  eastwards,  while  the  wave  itself  rolls  on  west- 
wards over  the  sea. 

(6)  Wherever  a  cluster  of  Scotch  Highlanders  have  got 
together  anywhere,  there  also  a  skilful  collector  may  reap  a 
harvest. 

(7)  In  the  lowlands  of  Scotland  a  great  deal  that  never  was 
in  a  book  is  still  to  be  gleaned,  but  chiefly  in  nurseries  or 
amongst  wanderers. 

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British  Mythology  and  Oral  Traditions.  331 

(8)  Old  castles  and  old  dwellings  have  traditions  attached  to 
them ;  and  old  people  who  live  about  these  places  know  and 
preserve  traditions  as  family  relics^  which  are  in  fact  common 
to  similar  places  all  over  Europe. 

(9)  In  Wales  some  traditions  are  preserved ;  but  I  know 
little  about  them. 

(10)  In  Ireland  and  in  the  Isle  of  Man  traditional  stories 
abound.     That  I  know. 

(11)  These  are  all  accessible  to  English  collectors;  for  they 
are  told  in  English.  Mr.  Robert  Hunt  has  published  a  book  of 
Cornish  tales.  Miss  Dempster  is  about  to  publish  a  collection 
of  Sutherland  tales.  An  Irishman^  Mr.  Denney^  has  published 
a  set  of  Irish  tales. 

(12)  In  the  Highlands  of  Scotland^  and  in  Ireland,  where 
Oaelic  is  the  language  of  the  people,  a  stranger  might  suppose 
that  nothing  could  be  gleaned.  The  richer  classes,  the  gentry, 
clergy,  sheep-farmers,  factors,  and  such  like  know  little  or 
nothing  of  popular  lore.  But  in  these  districts  any  body  who 
can  speak  Gaelic,  and  who  can  make  himself  pleasant  and  com- 
panionable with  cottars  and  workmen,  will  find  that  oral  tradi- 
tion supplies  the  place  of  literature,  and  that  whole  volumes  of 
all  sorts  of  queer  lore  could  be  written  from  the  dictation  of 
men  who  never  learned  to  read,  and  who  speak  only  Gaelic,  be 
it  the  Scotch  or  Irish  dialect.  Though  familiar  from  childhood 
with  the  people  of  the  West  Highlands,  my  collectors  were 
quite  unprepared  for  the  abundance  of  the  harvest,  and  I  was, 
and  still  am,  somewhat  puzzled  how  to  deal  with  my  sheaves, 
when  my  gleaners  had  garnered  a  lot  and  I  saw  how  much 
remained  unreaped. 

In  these  distant  islands,  where  men  live  slowly,  and  live 
long,  probably  because  they  do  not  live  fast, — in  queer  rude 
hovels  built  of  turf  and  boulders,  where  men  of  fourscore  years 
have  spent  the  most  of  their  quiet  lives, — in  these  quiet  still 
pools  in  the  current  of  life,  old  thoughts  accumulate  like  gold- 
dust  in  a  Sutherland  bum,  and  there  they  are  preserved.  There 
on  winter  nights  children,  with  wondering  eyes  and  mouths 
agape,  sit  in  the  ruddy  light  of  the  peat-fire,  under  the  grey 
canopy  of  smoke,  and  listen  breathless  to  these  weird  old  myths. 
They  cease  to  be  ragged,  bare-legged  lads  and  lasses,  with 
shock  heads  of  dark  or  flaxen  hair,  unkempt  and  unshorn; 
they  hear  how  the  bold  bard  fought  the  dragon,  and  won  the 
princess  and  the  kingdom,  and  their  spirits  are  up  and  doing 
like  him.  Potatoes  and  milk,  wooden  noggins  and  good  horn- 
spoons  cease  to  exist ;  while  the  golden  basin  and  the  giant^s 
stores  are  spread  before  them  by  the  eloquent  voice  and  gesture 
of  some  grey  wrinkled  old  man.     And  when  the  story  ends,  and 

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the  fire  bums  low^  and  they  coil  themselves  up  to  rest  in  their 
cribs^  lads  and  lasses  dream  on^  and  so  they  dream  tiU  they 
grow  up^  and  grow  old,  and  the  old  tale  becomes  a  part  of  their 
quiet  lives.  The  child's  dream  of  romance  is  the  bright  spot  in 
a  dull  round  of  hardship  and  toil^  and  the  man  never  forgets  it 
while  he  lives. 

Those  who  know  the  inner  life  of  a  Highland  hut,  and  the 
power  of  association,  eloquence,  and  imagination  in  Celtic 
minds,  cease  to  marvel  at  the  abundance  of  oral  tradition  which 
is  still  preserved  at  the  end  of  the  Aryan  journey  in  the  British 
Isles. 

The  volumes  on  the  table  are  the  gatherings  of  two  years ; 
they  contain  my  museum,  my  collection  of  rubbish,  my  pre- 
historic history. 

And  now  I  will  strive  to  give  you  some  notion  of  the  con- 
tents, and  a  sample  or  two  to  indicate  my  classification. 

Oral  History, 

A  real  incident  must  happen  before  it  can  be  described  ;  if 
described,  the  event  must  become  a  prose  narrative.  Such 
narratives  of  real  events  are  continually  growing  up,  and,  as 
daily  gossip  grows  old,  it  becomes  a  kind  of  personal  oral 
history. 

Because  himian  memory  is  subject  to  decay,  and  is  only  capable 
of  retaining  a  limited  quantity,  minor  incidents  drop  out,  and 
the  most  conspicuous  incidents  approach  each  other,  and  get 
worn  by  use  as  time  goes  on.  So  the  incidents  of  last  year  and 
last  century,  and  it  may  be  incidents  which  happened  before 
written  history  began,  get  strung  together  like  some  old  neck- 
lace of  coins.  The  string  of  incidents  becomes  a  '^  story,''  as 
coins,  beads,  bones,  and  jewels  may  become  a  *'  bracelet "  and 
adorn  an  arm. 

Let  me  give  you  shortly  a  sample  of  popular  oral  history,  to 
show  what  1  mean.  In  1863  John  Dewan  Forster  sent  me  a 
story  which  he  got  from  Mrs.  George  Cameron,  of  Paisley,  a 
native  of  Glendavad,  in  Argyllshire,  where  the  scene  of  the 
story  is  laid. 

The  black  knight  of  Loch  Awe  had  three  sons  by  bis  first  wife, 
of  whom  the  eldest  was  "  Cailean  Mor "  (Great  Colin,  from 
whom  the  Argylls  take  their  patronymic).  By  a  second 
marriage  he  had  a  son  called  Duncan  the  Cross,  who  was 
fostered  at  Baile  Ghuirgean,  now  Poltalloch. 

When  the  boys  were  men  the  Maccallum  clan,  wishiug  their 
foster  brother  to  be  heir  to  the  Black  Knights,  waylaid  Colin, 
who  was  returning  from  some  expedition  alone,  armed  with 


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helmet  and  coat  of  mail.  Colin  fled  to  a  bam^  whicli  he  de- 
fended with  his  Bword.  They  fired  the  roof.  He  stood  the 
heat  till  his  metal  armour  began  to  bum.him^  and  then  he 
broke  through  the  back- wall  of  the  bam^  and  jumped  into  a 
pool  in  a  river,  where  he  slipped  ofi^  his  armour,  swam  over,  and 
so  escaped.  The  pool  is  csdled  the  pool  of  the  '^  luireach^'  to 
this  day, — that  is^  the  pool  of  the  patched  shirt  of  mail ;  im 
Latin  lorica. 

In  this  story  there  is  no  date ;  but  we  have  the  name  of  a  real 
man,  and  a  dress  of  a  certain  period,  and  no  end  of  family 
histories  firom  which  to  extract  dates. 

From  one  manuscript  history  I  find  that ''  Colin  the  Great " 
was  slain  in  a  fight  with  Mac  Dougal  of  Lorn,  at  the  Bed  Ford, 
between  Loche  Awe  and  Loch  Skamadil,  and  that  his  tombstone 
is  in  Kilchrennan  churchyard,  on  Loch  Awe  side. 

He  witnessed  a  charter  of  Malcolm,  Earl  of  Lennox,  in  1281 ; 
and  the  present  Duke,  as  28th  Baron  of  Lochawe,  has  set  up 
a  monument  to  this  ancestor.  I  find  the  same  thing  in  an  old 
family  history  taken  from  Camden  Castle,  which  ends  in  1770; 
and  Colin  the  Great  was  at  the  battle  of  Largs,  fought  1263. 
So  here  are, — 1st,  a  conspicuous  name;  2ndly,  an  incident; 
Srdly,  a  locality ;  and  4thly,  a  dress, — strung  into  a  "  story  '^  with 
a  date  added  by  means  of  the  man^s  signature  to  a  deed  1281. 
But  between  1770  and  1863,  between  my  two  written  versions 
of  this  narrative,  the  date  had  altered  150  years,  and  the  name 
had  changed. 

The  story  is  told  in  the  genealogy  of  1770  of  the  fourth 
"Mac  Callan  Mor,'*  who  was  styled  for  his  eccentricities 
"  Queer  Colin,^'  and  who  died  1426.  The  burners  are  named 
Clan  Calluin  Ariskodnish  in  1770;  in  1863  they  are  called 
Clann  Challum  Bhaile  Ghuirgean. 

As  for  the  main  incident,  it  is  in  the  Icelandic  saga  the 
story  of '  Burnt  Njall,'  vol.  ii.  p.  179  : — ^'  Kari  ran  [out  of  the 
burning  house]  till  he  came  to  a  stream,  and  then  he  threw  him- 
self down  into  it,  and  so  quenched  the  fire  on  him.'' 

Now  the  first  settlers  in  Iceland  were  Irishmen  and  priests. 
The  colonists  about  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  were  Scandi- 
navians, many  of  whom  went  from  the  Hebrides,  and  with  the 
Hebrides  communication  was  always  kept  up. 

^*  Colin  Mor  '^  was  at  the  battle  of  Largs,  which  was  fought 
in  1263,  between  Scots  and  Scandinavians ;  but  the  burning  of 
Njal  was  in  1012, — 250  years  earlier. 

I  have  stood  by  the  river  into  which  ''  Kari  ran  to  quench  the 
fire ''  in  Iceland ;  and  the  pool  in  which  somebody  else  cooled  his 
armour  is  in  Corval.     All  is  vague  and  old. 

To  get  at  the  origin  of  this  tale,  there  remain  but  the  in- 


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cideuts  which  are  necessary  to  each  other^  and  these  are  the 
heavy  dress,  the  armour,  which  had  first  to  be  cooled,  and  then 
thrown  off  to  admit  of  swimming. 

That  dress  is  commonly  sculptured  on  stones  in  lona  and 
elsewhere.  The  upshot  of  the  whole  thing  is  that  this  ^'  story  of 
the  burning '^  may  be  as  old  as  1012,  when  Njal's  house  was 
burned  in  Iceland,  or  as  late  as  1426,  when  the  writer  of  the 
family  history  put  Colin  the  Queer  into  Linne  Na  Luireach,  in 
CorvfJ.     It  has  a  date  within  about  414  years. 

To  use  my  illustration  once  more ;  here  is  a  story  which  is 
made  up  of  true  or  probable  incidents  arranged  in  order,  like  a 
chaplet  of  l)eads,  or  a  necklace  of  coins.  We  know  that  it  was 
ranged  in  this  same  fashion  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  that  it  has 
changed  but  little  in  a  hundred  years ;  we  know  that  it  must  be 
as  old  as  the  last  use  of  body  armour  and  helmets ;  but,  for 
aught  we  know,  the  event  narrated  may  have  happened  to  some 
one  of  the  first  wearers  of  shirts  of  mail  anywhere. 

The  bit  of  family  history  may  be  true  of  some  one  member  of 
the  family,  but  it  cannot  be  true  of  Colin  the  Great  aad  of  CoUn 
the  Queer.  We  must  be  content  with  tradition  as  it  is :  it  is  a 
very  pretty  ornament  and  a  great  aid  for  history.  It  is  wonder- 
fully true  and  accurate  in  one  sense;  but  history  cannot  be 
taken  from  tradition  alone,  as  it  now  exists.  This  is  a  &ir 
sample  of  one  kind  of  tradition  which  is  very  abundant. 

Oral  history  as  it  now  exists  is  something  quite  different 
from  written  history.  Current  stories  are  '^  anecdotes  -/*  family 
traditions  about  individuals,  their  acts  and  deeds,  their  adven- 
tures at  battles  which  were  fought,  their  private  adventures  at 
home  and  abroad.  Popular  oral  history  is  ancient  gossip,  not 
history.  The  popular  view  of  great  events,  looked  at  from 
below,  is  microscopic,  and  accurate  for  details,  but  hazy  and 
vague,  distorted  and  mythical,  for  all  that  is  beyond  and  above 
"  the  people.'^  "  The  people,''  and  their  traditions,  know  as 
little  of  the  upper  classes  and  their  inner  life,  as  the  upper 
classes  generally  know  of  the  inner  life  of  the  people  and  of  the 
popular  mind,  when  they  begin  to  talk  or  write  about  them. 

The  speakers  who  held  forth  in  Hyde  Park,  in  May  1867, 
talked  utter  nonsense  when  they  spoke  of  other  classes;  and 
their  hearers  seemed  to  know  less  than  they  did,  even  in  these 
days  of  newspapers.  The  Highland  people  who  followed  chiefs 
to  battle  in  1745,  and  earlier,  knew  less  of  politics;  but  they 
knew  accurately  what  happened  to  their  own  relatives  at  Cul- 
loden,  or  after  it,  and  their  descendants  remember  and  tell 
stories  which  have  been  told  over  winter  fires  ever  since,  on  the 
same  spot  where  the  first  narrator  told  his  tale  fresh  from  the 
event.    Tradition,  so  far  as  I  have  gone,  seems  to  have  no 

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British  Mythology  and  Oral  Traditions.  385 

power  of  preserving  history  entire.  I  have  never  found  a  trace 
of  Bannockbum. 

But  the  popular  mind,  especially  in  an  old  country  where 
people  vegetate,  has  an  almost  unlimited  power  of  retaining 
fragments  of  history,  which,  like  fragments  of  glass  in  a  kaleido- 
scope, take  strange  forms,  and  become  myths. 

I  find  that  personal  anecdotes  are  common  property,  and 
that  one  anecdote  gets  localized  in  many  places.  It  often  occurs 
that  a  story  told  in  Argyllshire  of  the  chief  Mac  Calain  Mor,  is 
elsewhere  told  of  some  other  chief.  Thus  for  example,  a  story 
which  is  told  in  Argyll  of  the  founder  of  the  family  of  Ard- 
kinglas,  is  told  in  Moray  of  the  founder  of  the  Camden  family ; 
but  the  main  incidents  in  that  story  were  told  to  me  in  Shrop- 
shire by  a  brawn-seller.  The  scene  was  laid  by  him  in  the  south 
of  England,  and  the  hero  of  the  tale  had  no  name  at  all.  The 
story  is  in  the  Red  Book,  a  Welsh  MS.  about  360  years  old. 

In  this  case  real  events  probably  get  jumbled  up  with  an  Aryan 
myth,  which  here  turns  upon  the  discovery  of  a  treasure  hid 
under  a  tree. 

Take  one  more  sample:  an  incident  recorded  in  a  manu- 
script of  the  reign  of  James  the  Sixth,  as  part  of  the  story  of  a 
real  battle  which  was  fought  in  the  Western  Isles,  is  now  told  in 
Eastern  Ross,  and  is  there  localized,  and  made  mythical  and 
magical.  It  is  a  story  of  a  dwarf  who  was  despised  by  a  giant 
before  the  fight,  and  who  slew  the  giant  with  an  arrow  in 
battle.     The  dwarf  had  become  a  fairy  in  Ross. 

Popular  history  is  thus  devoid  of  geography  and  dates  and  accu- 
racy, where  it  can  be  brought  to  book ;  but  it  is  singularly  accurate 
in  minute  details.  An  incident,  as  told  in  the  reign  of  James 
the  Sixth,  is  so  told  in  this  reign  as  to  be  certainly  recognized 
for  the  same  account  of  an  event.  But  when  and  where  the 
real  giant  met  the  real  dwarf  is  not  to  be  learned  with  cer- 
tainty from  oral  tradition. 

In  these  few  samples  of  one  large  class  of  traditions  I  have 
tried  to  show  how  a  legend  sprouts  from  a  fact.  The  story  is 
put  into  words,  and  narrated  at  the  place  where  the  event  hap- 
pened. It  is  accurately  told  at  the  place  at  first,  and  becomes 
a  "local  tradition''  there.  As  time  passes,  even  local  nar- 
rators become  uncertain  about  dates  and  persons.  When  the 
locality  is  changed,  uncertainty  extends  to  local  incidents,  to 
geography,  to  dates,  and  to  persons.  Finally,  after  long  time 
and  far  travel,  nothing  remains  to  the  wandering  tradition  but 
incidents  in  a  certain  order. 

The  narrative  becomes  a  thing  like  thistle-down,  which  may 
settle  anywhere  and  grow;  the  flying  seed  will  always  become  a 
thistle,  but  the  plant  may  be  stunted  or  luxuriant,  according  to 

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climate  and  soil.  In  the  course  of  ages  varieties  may  increase, 
so  as  to  puzzle  those  who  try  to  classify  weapons^  men^  and 
legends. 

Vagrani  Traditions. 

I  will  next  produce  a  sample  of  a  local  .tradition  changed 
into  a  flying  rumour,  a  personal  narrative  become  impersonal, 
personal  property  given  to  humanity  in  common. 

I  take  a  story  which  has  never  been  published,  so  far  as  I 
know,  and  which  was  sent  me  in  Gaelic  by  John  Davan  in  De- 
cember 1862. 

This  is  the  outline  of  it : — ^There  was  a  man,  at  some  time  or 
other,  who  was  well  off,  and  had  many  children. 

This  at  once  disposes  of  dates  and  geography,  and  personalty. 

When  the  family  grew  up  the  man  gave  a  well-stocked  farm 
to  each  of  his  children.  This  subdivision  of  land  by  tenants  is 
the  dress  and  declaration  put  on  by  the  class  who  now  tell  this 
tale ;  but  it  will  be  seen  that  the  backbone  of  the  thing  might 
equsJly  well  support  a  farmer's  body  clad  in  any  legal  dress 
that  happens  to  fit  the  knowledge  of  the  narrator  and  his 
audience. 

When  the  man  was  old,  his  wife  died,  and  he  divided  all  that 
he  had  amongst  his  children,  and  lived  with  them  turn  about  in 
their  houses. 

This  points  to  the  old  Highland  cluster  of  houses,  and  to  the 
farm  worked  by  several  families  in  common.  In  this  the  man 
acted  King  Lear,  and,  as  Shakspeare's  plays  are  widely  known, 
a  natural  but  mistaken  inference  would  be  that  in  Shakspcare's 
mind  was  the  origin  of  this  story.  This  sequel  is  not  the  sequel 
of  the  play ;  this  is  comedy,  not  tragedy. 

Like  Lear's  children,  this  man's  sons  and  daughters  got  tired 
of  him  and  ungrateful,  and  tried  to  get  rid  of  him  when  he 
came  to  stay  with  them.  At  last  an  old  friend  found  him 
sitting  tearful  by  the  wayside,  and,  hearing  the  cause  of  his 
distress,  took  him  home ;  there  he  gave  him  a  bowl  of  gold,  and 
a  lesson  which  the  old  man  learned  and  acted. 

When  all  the  ungrateful  sons  and  daughters  had  gone  to  a 
preaching,  the  old  man  went  to  a  green  knoll,  where  his  grand- 
children were  at  play,  and,  pretending  to  hide,  he  turned  up  a 
fiat  hearthstone  in  an  old  stance,  and  went  out  of  sight. 

He  spread  out  his  gold  on  a  big  stone  in  the  sunlight,  and  he 
muttered  "  Ye  are  mouldy,  ye  are  hoary,  ye  will  be  better  for 
the  sun." 

The  grandchildren  came  sneaking  over  the  knoll,  and,  when 
they  had  seen  and  heard  all  that  they  were  intended  to  see  and 
hear,  they  came  running  up  with  ^'  Grandfather,  what  have  you 
got  there?" 

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British  Mythology  and  Oral  Traditions.  837 

"  That  which  concerns  you  not^  touch  it  not !''  said  the  grand- 
father ;  and  he  swept  his  gold  into  a  bag,  and  took  it  home  to 
his  old  friend. 

The  grandchildren  told  what  the^  had  seen,  and  thenceforth 
the  children  strove  who  should  be  kindest  to  the  rich  old  grand- 
father. 

Still  acting  on  the  counsel  of  his  sagacious  old  chum,  he  got 
a  stout  little  black  chest  made,  and  carried  it  always  with  him. 
When  any  one  questioned  him  as  to  the  contents,  his  answer 
always  was,  ^'That  will  be  known  when  the  chest  is  opened.'* 

When  he  died,  he  was  buried  with  great  honour  and  cere- 
mony, and  then  the  chest  was  opened  by  the  expectant  heirs. 
In  it  were  found  broken  potsherds,  and  bits  of  slate  (to  chink 
pleasantly,  I  suppose),  and  a  long-handled,  white,  wooden 
mallet,  with  this  legend  on  its  head : — 

So  am  fityioche  fionn, 

Thabhavit  gnoc  annsa  cheann. 

Do  n'  fhear  nach  gleidh  maoin  da'  fein, 

AiCh  bheir  a  chuid  go  leir  d'a  chlann. 

Translation, 

Here  is  the  fair  mall, 

To  give  a  knock  on  the  skull, 

To  uie  man  who  kee^  no  gear  for  himself, 

But  gives  his  aU  to  his  bairns. 

This  is  a  fair  sample  of  a  very  large  class  of  traditional 
wisdom  now  current  in  Scotland.  The  story  must  have  been 
invented  after  agriculture  and  fixed  habitations,  after  laws  of 
property  and  inheritance ;  but  it  may  be  as  old  as  the  lake- 
dwellings  of  Switzerland,  or  Egyptian  civilization,  or  Adam, 
whose  sons  tilled  the  earth. 

In  this  class  I  would  place  the  works  of  Doni,  Straparold, 
Boccaccio,  and  early  prose  writers  of ''  novels.'*  With  the  class 
I  would  place  modem  novels,  which  are  but  luxuriant  elon- 
gated specimens  of  the  same  mental  growths.  These  are  tales 
of  the  human  understanding,  and  belong  to  a  certain  stage  in 
progress  and  civilization. 

Compositions,  Ballads,  ^c. 

It  will  be  observed  that  my  last  specimen  differed  from  the 
rest  by  having  a  bit  of  composition  at  the  end.  A  great  many 
current  traditions  carry  with  them  a  pithy  senteuce,  which 
becomes  a  proverb,  or  a  bit  of  jingling  rhyme,  which  is  a  kind 
of  artificial  memory.  This  helps  to  keep  the  incidents  on  their 
string,  and  preserve  the  unity  of  a  story.  I  venture  to  say  that 
aU  who  have  heard  even  my  translation  will  remember  the  last 

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888  J.  F.  Campbelit— Oil  Current 

story  all  the  better  for  this  bit  of  composition.  We  may,  then, 
conclude  that  poetry  is  a  good  vehicle  for  preserving  facts.  If 
Homer,  or  others  in  his  name,  had  not  turned  Trojan  "  local 
history ''  and  "  flying  Greek  rumours ''  into  verse,  no  one  could 
hope  to  remember  entire  the  long  story  which  must  have  been 
narrated  after  the  events  which  happened  at  Troy.  I  therefore 
class  together  all  ballads  which  are  orally  preserved ;  and  of 
them  a  considerable  number  seem  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
historical  facts  which  have  no  other  record. 

I  have  seen  a  large  troop  of  Faroe  islanders,  men  and  women, 
great  girls,  young  men  and  little  children,  holding  hands  and 
winding  about  a  house  like  a  great  snake,  each  joint  in  the  tail 
singing  chorus  to  a  ballad,  of  which  the  head  man  sang  the 
verses.  The  subject  was  an  ancient  Scandinavian  story,  and  it 
has  been  orally  preserved  in  the  ballad,  as  the  Greek  story  of 
the  Iliad  was  preserved  in  verse  before  it  was  written. 

In  thh  Highlands  of  Scotland  a  great  number  of  ballads  are 
remembered  and  repeated.  Of  these,  some  were  written  down 
in  1530;  many  are  ^' Ossianic,''  and  attributed  to  Ossian.  I 
wish  I  could  add  that  the  Epic  Ossian  is  orally  preserved.  I 
have  not  found  it,  and  I  believe  that  all  epics  are  founded  upon 
ballads  which  were  vagrant  traditions,  and  oral  history  of  real 
events. 

The  sequence  which  I  have  thus  attempted  to  show  is, — 

Ist.  An  event. 

2nd.  A  narrative. 

3rd.  A  narrative  broken  and  distorted. 

4th.  A  narrative  helped  by  a  form  of  words. 

(a)  A  proverbial  saying. 

{b)  A  measured  prose. 

(c)  A  verse  of  some  kind. 

The  next  class  may  be  called  Popular  Romance. 

Popular  Romance, 

Popular  romances  are,  as  I  believe,  compounded  of  firagments 
of  narrations  of  real  events  which  have  taken  a  form  which  suits 
fancy,  and  is  easily  remembered.  They  are  like  plauts  which 
are  made  of  chemical  bases,  or  of  "  protoplasm.'' 

The  story  which  is  now  told  by  word  of  mouth  in  the  high- 
lands of  Scotland  by  men  who  cannot  read,  and  who  under- 
stand  no  language  but  their  own,  is  told  in  the  lowlands  by 
highland  drovers,  and  is  taken  up  by  thousands  of  vagrants  and 
spread  abroad.  The  story  which  the  gipsy  vagrant  tells  at  a 
wake,  is  carried  back  to  his  distant  home  in  the  islands.  The 
emigrant   carries  his  story  to  the  antipodes ;   and  so  vagrant 


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British  Mythology  and  Oral  Traditions.  339 

traditions  wander  over  the  world.  The  very  same  collection  of 
incidents,  woven  into  a  story,  is  told  in  Norse,  in  Scandinavia; 
and  of  these  queer  myths  many  are  also  told  in  various  dialects 
of  Lapp,  in  the  north  of  Russia.  The  story  is  Aryan,  and  non- 
Aryan  at  once.  We  know  that  the  very  same  incidents  in  the 
same  sequence,  differently  dressed  up  and  put  on  the  stage,  were 
made  to  act  in  Italian  by  Straparold,  by  Doni,  and  by  other 
early  writers.  Further,  some  of  these  are  known  to  black  races 
in  Africa. 

The  reason  why  some  animal  has  a  stumpy  tail,  is  told  in  an 
African  language,  in  Norse,  in  Gaelic,  in  Lapp,  and  in  some 
South- American  form  of  speech.  It  is  the  same  story  all  over 
the  world,  but  it  is  diflferently  told  everywhere. 

After  trying  every  theory  that  has  come  within  my  ken,  I 
hold  that  popular  tales  are,  in  the  widest  sense  of  the  word, 
human. 

The  story  about  the  stumpy  tail  is  neither  Aryan  nor  Tura- 
nian ;  it  is  common  to  the  human  race.  White  and  black  now, 
I  believe  it  to  be  impossible  to  say  what  race  first  strung  this 
rude  chaplet  of  beads,  as  it  is  impossible  to  find  out  the  first 
owner  of  a  vertebrate  skeleton  and  fix  its  date"^. 

The  author  of  the  preface  to  the  translation  of  Norse  tales 
has  said  that  a  nation  dreams  all  its  history  in  its  popular  tales. 
With  my  present  experience  I  hold  that  he  said  well,  but  that  he 
did  not  say  enough.  A  man  dreams  bits  of  his  life  and  of  all 
that  he  has  learnt  of  the  past,  with  all  that  he  thinks  about  the 
future.  Like  a  man,  a  race  of  men  dreams  its  longer  life,  and 
all  that  it  learned  from  still  older  ancestors,  and  learned  to 
think  about  the  unknown  future  in  its  religious  beliefs. 

All  that  I  learn  of  the  past  from  the  beginning  of  human 
thought  seems  to  hang  together  with  popular  traditions.  The 
more  I  learn,  the  more  points  of  contact  I  find  between  mytho- 
logy and  popular  tales.  As  a  man  can  often  anatomize  a  dream, 
and  assign  each  incongruous  element  in  it  to  something  which 
happened  in  waking  hours ;  so,  when  I  sit  down  to  examine 
traditions,  I  seem  to  find  shivered  fragments  of  history,  of 
manners  and  customs,  religions,  and  laws  of  all  times,  so  far  as 
they  are  known  to  me.  I  believe  that  the  same  thing  has  been 
found  by  every  one  who  has  worked  for  himself  on  his  own 
bough  in  this  great  tree  of  knowledge.  I  believe  that  the  same 
thing  will  prove  true  if  ever  we  get  to  know  all  the  current 
traditions  of  the  world. 

And  now,  one  word  in  conclusion.  It  seems  to  me  worthy  of 
your  Society  to  take  up  this  withered  branch  of  ethnology,  and 
treat  it  on  scientific  grounds,  to  see  if  it  will  grow. 

*  The  Author  here  read  samples  of  Popular  Romances. 

Digitize?  b^GoOgle 


840       Rev.  R.  J.  Maplbton— On  a  Cist  at  PoUalloeh. 

While  every  man  is  his  own  architect^  the  result  is  a  sony 
hut ;  but  if  every  man  who  finds  a  stick  or  a  stone  brings  it  to 
a  builder^  he  may  help  to  raise  a  goodly  cairn.  I  have  brought 
you  some  pebbles  and  drifts  which  are  but  rubbish  till  sorted. 
If  put  in  their  places^  these  waifs  and  strays  may  help  builders 
and  architects  who  construct  theories  out  of  rubbish  and  old 
bones.  If  you  accept  my  rubbish,  and  use  it,  you  will  do  me 
great  honour.  The  catch-words,  the  keynotes  to  this  harmony 
of  popular  tales  I  take  to  be  *'  Continuity ''  and  '*  Evolution.^' 
No  big  work  of  any  kind  is  ever  done  without  combination  :  it 
would  take  many  able  workmen  and  much  hard  labour  to  gather 
and  to  make  good  use  of  current  oral  tradition,  even  in  the  firitish 
isles.  No  single  man,  be  he  Solon  in  wisdom  and  Hercules  in 
strength,  is  fit  to  accomplish  the  whole  work  in  a  life  as  long  as 
that  of  Methusaleh.  If  the  work  be  worth  doing,  let  us 
combine. 

When  my  friend  Col.  Lane  Fox  asked  me  to  read  you  a  paper 
about  the  migrations  of  popular  tales,  to  last  for  half  an  hour,  I 
knew  that  the  task  had  kept  me  working  half  my  life,  and  that 
I  could  not  yet  see  half  the  size  of  it. 

I  hope  that  I  have  now  said  enough  to  show  you  what  a 
gigantic  many-headed  dragon  of  a  subject  has  to  be  fought  and 
conquered  before  you  can  hope  to  taste  the  golden  fruit  of  this . 
tree  of  knowledge,  and  drink  a  draught  from  the  weary  well  at 
the  world's  end. 


The  following  note  was  then  read  by  Dr.  A.  Campbell,  Vice- 
President  : — 

XXVII.  Note  on  a  Cist  with  Enoravbd  Stones  on  ifte  Pol- 
TALLocH  Estate,  County  op  Argyll,  N.  B.  By  the  Rev. 
R.  J.  Mapleton. 

In  the  glen  that  extends  from  Loch  Awe  to  the  Crinan  Canal 
are  several  sand-  and  gravel-banks  rising  among  the  moss,  in 
many  of  which  cairns  and  cists  have  been  found.  One  such 
gravel-bank  contains  a  very  interesting  cist.  It  is  skirted  on  the 
east  by  moss,  and  on  the  west  by  reclaimed  pasture-land,  which 
was  loose  moss  about  forty  or  forty-five  years  ago;  at  that  time 
the  bank  was  trenched  for  the  purpose  of  planting,  and  it  is 
now  occupied  by  a  small  plantation. 

There  are  remains  of  the  cairn ;  but  as  some  houses  were  built 
jon  the  spot,  it  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  limits  or  size  of  the 
cairn.  The  situation  of  the  plantation  is  in  the  middle  of  the 
flat  extent  of  land  between  Callton  Mor,  the  residence  of  Mr. 


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Bey.  B.  J.  Maplbton— On  a  Cist  at  PoUalloch.       341 

Malcolm,  of  Poltallocli,  and  the  village  of  Kilmartin.  Three 
cists  were  fonnd  at  the  time  of  trenching,  one  of  which  was 
partly  destroyed,  and  all  that  deserves  mention  of  it  is  that  the 
side  slabs  were  grooved  to  admit  the  end  slabs.  The  second 
cist  is  situated  nearer  to  the  north  edge  of  the  cairn,  about  22 
or  23  feet  distant ;  the  cover  of  this  had  been  partially  rolled 
away  some  years  back,  and  probably  the  urn,  if  there  was  one, 
was  then  removed.  This  cist  also  had  grooved  sides  like  the 
other;  but  altogether  it  was  a  more  finished  and  neat  structure 
than  cists  usually  are.  Its  position  was  N.E.  and  S.W.  The 
outside  measurement  was  5  feet  6  inches  long,  the  cover  being 
10  feet  by  4  feet ;  the  inside  measurement  was  4  feet  4  inches 
long,  2  feet  2  inches  wide,  and  4  feet  3  inches  deep.  The  chief 
feature  in  this  cist  is,  that  instead  of  the  usual  rough  pavement 
of  pebbles  or  broken  stone,  there  was  a  fine  slab  at  1  foot 
9  inches  &om  the  top,  of  the  same  length  as  the  cist,  viz.  4  feet 
4  inches,  but  not  quite  so  wide,  being  only  1  foot  9  inches. 
The  spaces  were  neatly  filled  in  with  pebbles.  The  whole 
structure  was  very  neat.  It  contained  burnt  bone,  but  no 
implements  or  weapons. 

The  third  cist  is  placed  to  the  south  of  both  these,  27  or  28 
feet  from  one,  and  5  feet  from  the  other ;  apparently  it  occupied 
the  centre  of  the  cairn.      A    supposed  Yio  11  Fiff  12 

''Ogham''  stone    (fig.  11)   was  found  at      ^'     *  ^*     ' 

the  east  end,  and    another  stone,  with    f^^  ^ 

marks  like  the  shape  of  bronze  celts  (fig.     ^'  ^^ 

12),  at  the  west  end.  These  axe-heads 
are  very  perfect  in  shape  and  beautifiiUy 
executed,  though  worn  at  the  edges  and 
points.  Thev  show  most  evident  marks 
of  tools,  which  seem  not  to  have  been 
iron,  and  probably  not  flint ;  most  likely 
they  were  bronze  tools;  yet- flint  would 
have  produced  them.  They  are  very 
shallow,  but  not  mere  outlines ;  for  the  whole  of  the  inside  space 
is  tooled  away.  Nothing  can  be  gathered  from  the  edges :  they 
have  the  appearance  of  having  been  chipped  away,  and  not  cut 
cleanly ;  but  this  may  be  the  effect  of  time  and  abrasion.  Were 
these  intended  merely  as  representations  of  axes  instead  of  the 
axe  itself?  Their  position  and  combination  seem  to  point  to 
their  having  been  symbols ;  if  so,  were  the  axes  used  as  letters 
instead  of  the  more  usual  eastern  form  of  arrows  ?  or  are  these 
some  modification  of  cuneiform  letters  ? 

On  another  stone  there  occur  about  ten  or  eleven  artificial 
*'  pits,'*  each  the  size  of  a  fourpenny  piece.  They  are  much  worn. 


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342         HoDDER  M.  WssTBOFF— On  the  Irish  Tribal  System 

bat  clearly  artificial^  and  are  irregularly  placed,  althougli  very 
close  together. 

It  is  evident  that  both  the  east  and  the  west  stone  are  of  the 
nature  of  inscriptions.  Can  any  light  be  thrown  upon  them? 
No  pottery,  no  flint,  no  charcoal,  no  burnt  bone ;  but  there 
were  evident  signs  of  an  unbumt  body  having  been  placed  there, 
firom  the  very  dark  and  unctuous  clay  on  the  pavement.  The 
men  who  first  peeped  into  the  cist  complained  of  a  close  bad 
smell.  Some  of  the  stones  of  the  pavement  are  coated  with 
a  dark  greasy  substance. 

Discussion. 

Col.  Lake  Pox  suggested  that  the  axe-shaped  markings  (fig.  12) 
were  probably  moulds  in  which  copper  or  bronze  celts  had  been  cast. 
The  ngures  are  not  merely  incised  outlines,  but  the  entire  area 
within  the  outline  has  been  worked  away,  so  as  to  form  a  shallow 
depression  corresponding  in  shape  and  size  to  a  common  flat  form 
of  celt.  If  this  were  the  case,  the  stone  must  have  originally  lain  in 
a  horizontal  position  when  the  moulds  were  used. 

The  speaker  was  not  disposed  to  regard  the  markings  on  the 
other  engraved  stone  (fig.  II)  as  an  Ogham  inscription,  because 
the  horizontal  strokes  were  confined  to  one  side  of  the  fleasg,  while 
the  Ogham  letters  extend  some  to  the  right  and  some  to  the  left 
of  the  vertical  base-line. 


Ordinary  Meeting,  April  I2th,  1870. 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Members, — Dr.  Bonavia  ;  Dr.  Carl  Semper,  of  Wiirz- 
burg.  Honorary  Foreign  Member;  and  Lieut.  S.  P.  Oliver, 
R.A.,  Corresponding  Member. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  Honorary  Secretary : — 

XXVIII.  On  the  Tribal  System  and  Land-Tenure  in  Ireland, 
under  the  Brehon  Laws.     By  Hodder  M.  Westropp,  Esq. 

As  the  laud-system  in  Ireland  is  engaging  much  public  atten- 
tion at  the  present  moment,  a  short  notice  of  the  tribal  system 
of  land-tenure  in  Ireland  in  the  early  and  primitive  times  may 
not  prove  unacceptable. 

The  social  condition  of  the  early  Irish  people  was  patriarchal 
and  pastoral.  The  Brehon  laws,  which  enable  us  to  realize  the 
society  in  its  prehistoric  state,  and  the  frequent  number  of  the 
roths,  or  homesteads,  enclosed  by  a  ditch  and  rampart  for  the 
protection  of  flocks  and  herds  in  the  wide  pasture-grounds,  am- 
ply testify  to  this. 

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and  Land-Tenure  under  the  Brehon  Laws.  343 

Prior  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  invasion^  Ireland  was  solely  governed 
by  the  Brehon  law^  so-called  from  being  expounded  by  judges 
named  in  the  Irish  language^  Breiiheamhuin  or  Brehons.  Fema" 
chas,  however,  and  Breiiho'^ieimeadth,  words  signifying  respec- 
tively ancient  laws  and  sacred  ordinations,  are  terms  commonly 
applied  to  the  coUection  of  the  ancient  laws  of  the  Irish  by  the 
native  writers.  There  is  abundant  evidence  to  prove  that  some 
of  the  collections  of  the  Breitha-neimeadth  are  of  equal  anti- 
quity with  the  oldest  manuscripts  of  Irish  history,  whether  civil 
or  ecclesiastical, — an  antiquity  which  carries  us  safely  back  to 
the  earlier  ages  of  the  Christian  era.  The  language  in  which 
they  were  written  has  become  obsolete;  and  two  successive  com- 
n^entaries  remain,  written  themselves  in  two  successive  anti* 
quated  dialects.  They  evince,  it  is  true,  a  very  primitive  state 
of  society,  but  still  they  are,  for  the  greater  part,  the  work  of 
firehons,  conformable  to  Brehon  law,  and  affoid  indisputable 
evidence  that  the  native  Irish  not  only  possessed  a  fixed  and 
written  code  by  which  to  regulate  the  judgments  of  their  Bre* 
hons,  but  also  that  these  functionaries  duly  committed  their 
judgments,  such  as  they  were,  to  writing.  Archbishop  Usher 
speaks  of  the  Brehon  laws  as  being  in  his  day  contained  *'  in 
large  volumes,  still  extant  in  their  own  [the  Irish]  language.^' 
A  collection,  which  now  fills  two  large  quarto  volumes,  is  depo- 
sited in  the  library  of  the  Royal  Irish  Academy.  They  are  now 
in  course  of  publication  by  the  Government. 

The  following  is  a  brief  notice  of  the  social  system  and  land** 
tenure  of  the  old  Irish  under  the  Brehon  laws,  such  as  their 
available  fragments,  compared  with  the  general  history  of  the 
country,  would  point  out  to  the  reader  of  the  various  accessible 
authorities  on  the  subject. 

It  is  well  known  that  Irish  society  was  formed  upon  the  tribal 
system.  The  tribal  system  is  the  first  shape  into  which  human 
society  is  moulded.  It  arises  from  the  condition  and  necessi- 
ties of  the  earliest  immigrants  or  wanderers.  Most  nations  may 
be  traced  back  to  this  primitive  form,  and  it  still  subsists  over  a 
large  portion  of  the  world.  The  tribe-system  is  the  develop- 
ment of  the  family.  The  first  wanderer  from  the  original  seat 
of  the  people  strays  forth  into  foreign  lands  at  the  head  of  his 
family :  the  father  is  at  once  the  priest,  the  judge,  and  the  king. 
He  rules  his  children,  as  the  ablest  and  the  wisest ;  round  the 
original  family  gather  their  slaves  and  dependants.  All  the 
members  of  the  original  family  and  their  followers  form  a  single 
unit.  No  individual  has  an  existence  except  as  a  member  of 
this  body ;  their  flocks  and  herds  form  a  common  property.  They 
possess  no  clear  idea  of  individual  ownership.  The  tribe  exists 
upon  the  assumption  of  common  descent. 

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844        HoDDEB  M.  Westropf— On  the  Iri$h  Tribal  System 

Suppose  a  tribe  of  this  nature  to  abandon  its  wandering  life^ 
and  conquer  for  itself  a  district  in  some  foreign  country ;  the 
principles  upon  which  the  land  would  be  occupied  flow  firom  the 
ideas  on  which  the  tribe  is  constituted.  The  tribe  is  an  undi- 
Tided  whole.  The  land  would  be  conquered  by  all  for  the 
benefit  of  all^  and  would  belong  to  all  in  common.  For  the 
convenience  of  cnltiyation^  separate  lots  might  be  appropriated 
to  individuals,  but  none  would  gain  an  absolute  ownership  in 
his  allotted  portion.  His  occupancy  would  be  subject  to 
resumption  by  the  tribe ;  and  the  arable  land  might  be  from  time 
to  time  divided,  as  would  suit  the  convenience  of  all.  The  pas- 
ture-lands would  remain  open  for  the  cattle  of  the  tribe,  subject 
to  such  rules  as  from  time  to  time  might  be  thought  necessaiy. 

Most  of  this  system  we  find  developed  in  Irish  tribal  history. 
The  districts  occupied  by  an  Irish  tribe  generally  amounted  to 
about  the  area  of  a  modem  barony,  and  belonged,  as  a  rule,  to 
the  tribe.  This  common  land  seems  to  have  been  divided  into 
common  pasture^land,  common  tillage-land,  private  demesne- 
land,  and  demesne-land  of  the  tribe;  each  man  of  the  tribe 
had  a  right  to  pasture  as  many  cattle  as  he  possessed  on  the 
common  grazing-land ;  and  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  cattle 
thus  pastured  by  each,  was  the  share  of  the  common  tillage-land 
assigned  to  him  upon  the  annual  partition.  The  private  demesne- 
lands  were  the  distinct  property  of  individuals,  who  were  entitled 
to  acquire  and  transmit  by  certain  qualifications  not  very  clearly 
explained.  The  demesne-lands  of  the  tribe  were  set  apart  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  chief  elect  or  tanist,  the  bard,  the  doctor, 
and  Brehon ;  the  four  offices  of  the  chief,  bard,  doctor,  and  Brehon 
were  descendable  in  distinct  families,  but  not  necessarily  from 
father  to  son,  rather  the  contrary.  Upon  his  demesne-lands 
the  chief  established  his  tenants,  many  of  them  not  members  of 
the  tribe ;  he  thus  provided  for  his  military  followers,  whom  he 
also  had  a  right  of  quartering  from  time  to  time  on  the  members 
of  the  tribe  itself. 

With  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  property  enjoyed  in  these 
several  estates,  the  tribe  at  large  possessed  what  is  called  the 
allodial  or  original  indefeasible  property  in  all  the  lands,  and 
could  not  be  ejected  out  of  them  in  consequence  of  any  arrears  of 
tribute,  inasmuch  aa  the  superior  lord  claimed  only  a  proportion 
of  the  increase  of  stock  upon  the  pastures,  and  was  bound  to 
take  the  same  away  at  certain  seasons ;  this  rent  was  precisely 
a  lay-tithe,  being  one-tenth  of  the  increase.  As  to  the  common 
tillage-lands,  every  member  of  the  tribe  possessed  a  life-interest 
in  them,  proportioned  to  his  stock  in  cattle.  In  the  private 
demesne-lands  individuals  had  a  permanent  inheritable  interest. 
In  his  separate  portion  of  the  demesne-lands  of  the  tribe,  the 


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and  Land-Temare  under  the  Brehon  Laws.  845 

cUef  bad  a  life-interest^  of  which  the  reyenion  lay  with  the 
tanist^  s.  e.  the  second  man^  or  chief-elect ;  and  in  like  manner 
the  tanist^  bard^  &c.  possessed  life-interests  in  their  several 
portions. 

The  distinctions  of  the  tribe^  corresponding  to  the  above  ter- 
ritorial divisions^  were^  so  far  as  can  be  gathered  from  the  con- 
fused authorities  on  this  head^  the  In-finni,  holders  in  common^ 
and  the  Dathaig-fiwniy  those  individuals  alluded  to  above  who 
were  entitled  to  separate  inheritable  possessions.  The  In-finni, 
or  commonalty  of  this  pastoral  corporation^  appear  to  have  been 
of  one  rank;  but  the  Dataigh-finni  were  divided  into  several 
classes,  of  which  the  three  most  intelligible  were^  the  Devrbh" 
finniy  or  class^  as  the  commentators  explain  it^  nearest  to  suc- 
cession^ who  had  the  right  to  inherit  the  whole  patrimony  of 
their  kin  without  deduction;  the  Gall-finni,  who  inherited  three- 
fourths  of  their  patrimonial  estates ;  and  Sar-finni,  whose  right 
of  inheritance  extended  to  only  one-fourth  of  the  property  left 
by  their  relations.  These  privileged  classes  were^  in  every  tribe^ 
limited  in  number ;  but  it  does  not  exactly  appear  what  was  the 
qualification  for  admission^  or  the  rule  of  exclusion^  or  whether 
the  Deirbh'finni,  for  instance,  became  disqualified  on  the  election 
of  a  tanist  less  nearly  related  to  them  than  to  others;  although 
it  is  evident  that  a  man  might  rise  fix)m  the  condition  of  a 
tenant  of  common  tillage  to  that  of  a  freeholder,  or,  viceversd, 
descend  from  the  higher  class  to  the  lower.  As  to  the  chief 
himself,  he  was  usually  elected  before  the  death  of  his  prede- 
cessor, and  the  rule  seems  to  have  been  invariably  that  the 
eldest  of  the  candidates,  if  not  incapacitated  by  age  or  infirmity, 
should  have  the  preference,  the  brother  being  commonly  chosen 
instead  of  the  son,  and  the  son  rather  than  the  nephew.  His 
revenue  arose,  as  has  been  said,  from  the  tenths  of  the  increase 
of  cattle,  and  from  the  revenues  of  his  demesne-lands.  In  ad- 
dition, he  had  certain  claims  of  entertainment  for  himself  and 
household,  at  stated  times,  in  the  houses  of  his  tenants,  in  the 
same  manner  as  his  superiors,  at  certain  seasons,  quartered 
themselves  or  their  soldiers  upon  him.  These  claims  were 
sometimes  compromised  by  both  for  an  equivalent  in  tribute. 

So  far  of  the  Finne,  or  original  members  of  the  kindred,  who 
constituted  the  great  majority  of  the  tribe.  But  in  every  tribe 
there  was  another  class,  less  numerous  and  generally  less 
honoiurable,  but  in  many  respects  peculiarly  interesting  and 
important,  particularly  as  regards  the  origin  of  the  feudal  law* 
The  subject  of  feudal  tenures  has  occupied  the  attention  of  the 
most  distinguished  English  lawyers  and  historians.  The  origin 
of  the  system  has  been  in  all  cases  referred  more  or  less  to  the 
necessities  of  military  conquest,  and  its  genius  has  been  inva- 


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346        HoDDEE  M.  Westbopp— On  ike  Irish  Tribal  Sgsiem 

liably  considered  as  qnite  distinct  firom  that  of  any  pastooral 
constitution.  The  remains  of  the  Brehon  law,  howeyer,  wonld 
go  £akr  to  show  that  the  feudal  and  pastoral  systems,  if  not  to 
some  extent  identical,  have  been  in  their  origin  closely  and 
necessarily  connected.  The  system  laid  down  above  is  so  far 
calculated  for  the  government  of  a  society  composed  of  tribes, 
each  tribe  possessing  the  allodium  of  its  own  district,  and  the 
mass  of  its  members  holding  in  common.  But  coexistent  with 
the  first  practical  development  of  such  a  system,  if  not  actually 
contemplated  in  its  very  rudiments,  arises  the  necessity  of  pro- 
viding for  those  members  of  the  community  who,  either  by 
chance,  or  choice,  or  compulsion,  have  been  separated  from  their 
particular  kindreds,  and  have  thus  no  proper  Ftnni  with  whom 
to  claim  a  share.  Such  individuals  could  not  expect  to  partici- 
pate in  the  rights  of  blood  enjoyed  by  those  tribes  among  which 
they  might  be  dispersed,  neither  could  they  be  received  by  the 
commonalty  of  those  tribes  as  tenants  on  their  fluctuating  pos- 
sessions. To  provide  for  them,  it  was  necessary  that  a  certain 
portion  of  the  land  should  be  set  apart  for  the  reception  of 
strangers.  To  prevent  the  confusion  of  many  landlords,  the 
profits  of  these  tenements  were  allotted  to  the  chief,  who  could 
thus  afford  to  exact  a  higher  tribute  from  the  Fintii  of  his  tribe. 
To  induce  the  better  sort  of  strangers  to  settle  among  them,  the 
chief  was  empowered  to  grant  some  of  these  tenements  in  per- 
petuity ;  but  the  greater  portion  was  usually  let  at  will.  As  for 
those  who  had  only  their  labour  to  offer  in  lieu  of  the  chiefs 
protection^  they  were  received  on  his  private  demesne-lands  and 
became  his  serfs.  Admission  to  the  upper  class  depended  on 
the  stranger's  ability  to  pay  the  entrance-fee  on  one  or  more  of 
the  disposable  tenements.  These  tenements  consisted  of  a  home- 
stead, with  a  certain  extent  of  ground  annexed :  the  homestead 
was  denominated  a  Rath :  to  constitute  a  legitimate  rath,  five 
things  were  requisite,  viz.,  a  dwelling-house,  an  ox-stall,  a  hog- 
sty,  a  sheep-pen,  and  a  calf-house ;  these  buildings  were  gene- 
rally surrounded  by  a  ditch  and  rampart,  and  formed,  if  neces- 
sary, a  place  of  defence  as  well  as  residence.  There  is  one  very 
prevalent  error  with  regard  to  raths  in  Ireland,  viz.  that  they 
were  Danish  erections,  and  designed  solely  for  military  occupa- 
tion. The  term  "  Danish  rath  "  is  altogether  a  misnomer.  The 
original  titles  of  raths,  according  to  the  classification  of  the  Bre* 
hon  law,  were  drawn  solely  from  the  circumstance  of  their  erec- 
tion and  occupation  by  the  natives  themselves, — as,  for  example, 
among  many  others,  the  Flnni-rathj  a  homestead  occupied  by 
the  origind  kindred,*  a  Mer^ath,  one  rented  by  stranger 
tenants  for  the  first  time;  a  Sar-rath,  one  occupied  by  stranger 
serfs  on  the  chiefs  demesne-lands.    The  entrance-fine  of  sud^  a 


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and  Land-Tenure  under  the  Brehon  Laws.  847 

tenement  was  denominated  fat,  and,  for  the  legitimate  rath, 
amounted  to  fifty  head  of  cattle.  As  distinguished  from  the 
Finne,  or  original  clansmen,  the  stranger-tenant  was  called 
f\iidhir,  and  lus  tenure  Fksidh.  These  terms  are  pronounced 
respectively  Feuer  and  Feu. 

Thus,  then,  it  would  appear,  that  the  country  was  occupied  by 
kindreds  called  Flnne,  holding  for  the  most  part  in  common, 
and  by  Feuers,  who  were  either  tenants  by  rent  and  service,  or 
vassals  of  the  chief.  The  tributes  of  chief  to  superior  chief,  up 
to  the  supreme  king  of  the  whole  island,  were  regulated  by  esta- 
blished precedents.  The  collection  of  these  rules  for  the  king- 
dom of  Munster  is  entitled  'The  Book  of  Rights,'  and  is  st^ 
extant. 

It  has  been  seen  above  that  in  proportion  to  the  number  of 
cattle  possessed  by  each  member  of  the  tribe  was  his  share  of 
the  common  tillage-lands.  Thus  cattle  were  not  only  the  stan- 
dard of  value,  but  the  qualification  for,  and  a  necessary  conco- 
mitant of  property.  The  land  was  thus,  by  a  sort  of  legal  fiction, 
an  appurtenance  of  the  stock ;  so  that  to  say  of  a  person  under 
this  system,  that  he  possessed  a  hundred  cows,  implied  not  only 
that  his  herds  amounted  to  so  many  head  of  cattle,  but  that  in 
addition,  and  as  a  necessary  appurtenance  of  his  estate  in  them, 
he  also  possessed  the  grazing  of  a  hundred  cows,  and  the  share 
proportioned  to  a  hundred  cows  in  the  common  tillage-lands  of 
his  tribe.  Every  addition  to  the  number  of  a  man's  cattle  was 
therefore  a  virtual  accession  of  land  and  produce,  and  vice  versd; 
and  thus  a  mulct  of  cattle  fell  as  heavily  on  the  granary,  as  on 
the  larder  or  dairy  of  the  fined  individud ;  for  these  proportion- 
ate partitions  of  the  land  took  place  at  stated  periods,  and  each 
man's  harvest  fluctuated  with  lus  herds,  as  they  bore  a  greater 
or  less  ratio  to  the  aggregate  of  all  the  cattle  of  the  rest.  The 
division  of  the  ground  into  portions  so  uncertain,  precluded  the 
use  of  permanent  fences  on  those  arable  commons,  which  were 
probably  separated  from  the  pasture  by  only  one  exterior  cir- 
cumvallation,  while  each  man  knew  the  portion  that  was  to  fall 
to  his  reaping-hook  within.  The  adjustment  of  these  portions 
must  have  been  a  matter  of  some  difficulty.  It  would  appear 
that  the  plan  usually  formed  was  this : — ^The  land  was  divided 
into  equ^  shares,  in  the  proportion,  each  to  the  whole,  of  the 
herd  of  the  least  proprietor  to  the  whole  creaght,  or  common 
stock  of  all  their  cattle.  These  shares  were  drawn  by  lot,  in 
order  to  give  to  all  an  equal  chance  of  getting  the  worse  or 
better  land.  He  thus,  it  is  supposed,  whose  herds  were  thrice 
as  numerous  as  those  of  the  least  proprietor,  drew  three  such 
aliquot  parts ;  he  possessing  ten  times  as  many,  ten  such,  and  so 
on,  the  shares  being  taken  here  and  there,  as  they  turned  up. 


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848        HoBBEB  M.  WxsTBOPF— On  the  Irish  TWia/  System 

and  every  man  cropping  his  own  portion  as  he  thought  fit.  The 
system  is  still  remembered  in  some  parts  of  the  country^  and  a 
mode  of  expressing  the  extent  of  land  among  the  Munster  pea- 
santiT  is  still  to  say  "  so  much  ss  follows  so  many  cows ;''  hence 
in  all  likelihood,  the  term  Bally ^boe,  i.  e.  "  cow-land/'  a  term 
which  has  perplexed  many  writers,  in  consequence  of  the  varying 
extent  represented  by  it  at  different  times  and  in  different  dis- 
tricts. 

Such,  so  far  as  can  be  collected  from  the  present  ill-arranged 
and  defective  materials,  would  appear  to  have  been  the  old 
tribal  system  and  land-tenure  which  prevailed  in  Ireland  prior 
to  the  invasion  of  the  Anglo-Normans  in  the  twelfth  century. 
The  Brehon  law,  however,  prevailed  in  every  part  of  Ireland 
not  immediately  subject  to  the  English  power  until  the  reign 
of  James  I.,  when  the  ancient  Irish  laws  were  abolished. 

Discussion. 

Col.  A.  Lake  Fox  said  that  there  was  one  part  of  the  paper  which 
appeared  to  him  to  be  very  valuable,  and  that  was  the  explanation 
which  the  author  had  |;iven  of  the  Baths.  If  the  information  on 
this  subject  contained  m  the  paper  was  derived  from  the  Brehon 
law,  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  coudusive,  as  it  entirely  tallied  with 
the  evidence  afforded  by  the  Baths  themselves.  That  they  were  not 
constructed  exclusively  for  defensive  purposes  was  shown  by  their 
positions,  bein^  sometimes  commanded  within  short  arrow-shot  from 
the  outside ;  tnat  they  were  the  dwelling-places  of  an  agricultural 
and  pastoral  people  was  shown  by  the  querns  for  grinding  com, 
and  by  the  anmial  remains  that  have  been  found  in  them,  by  their 
being  almost  invariably  in  the  vicinity  of  a  good  spring,  and  by 
their  being  situated  generally  in  the  most  fertile  parts  of  the 
country.  The  Ordnance  Survey  Map  showed  as  many  as  10,000  of 
these  Kaths  in  Munster  alone,  and  although  many  of  them  had  been 
since  destroyed,  a  considerable  number  yet  remain.  It  was  very  de- 
sirable that  an  accurate  record  should  be  kept  of  the  relics  found  in 
these  earthworks.  Col.  Fox  exhibited  maps  reduced  from  those  of 
the  Ordnance  Survey,  showing  the  position  of  every  Bath  in  Munster, 
and  pointed  out  their  distribution  over  the  more'fertile  parts  of  the 
country. 

Mr.  Geobre  Cakpbell  said  it  occurred  to  him  that  the  descrip- 
tion  of  the  old  Irish  land-laws  was  not  taken  wholly  from  the  Brehon 
code,  but  was  supplemented  from  other  sources.  So  far  as  he  knew, 
all  old  written  codes  of  the  Aryan  nations  were  singularly  deficient 
in  land-laws,  and  the  Brehon  code  was  no  exception.  la  fact,  he 
might  hazard  a  doubt  whether  that  code  was  all  genuine,  and  whether 
much  of  it  was  not  a  corruption  of  the  Boman  law  introduced  by  the 
early  Christian  priests. 

He  doubted  whether  Ireland  was  correctly  described  as  exclusively 
a  pastoral  country.    The  descriptions  of  Spenser  and  Davis  showed 


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and  Land-Ttnure  under  the  Brehon  Laws.  849 

that  before  the  introduction  of  the  English  system,  there  was  much 
agriculture ;  so  much  so  that,  in  some  parfcs  of  the  country,  the  land 
was  already  excessively  suhdiyided  to  the  degree  that  "  every  acre 
hath  its  freeholder." 

The  speaker's  Indian  experience  of  similar  customs  further  led 
him  to  doubt  whether  the  repartition  of  the  land  was  so  constant  as 
had  been  supposed,  and  especially,  he  believed,  that  the  repartition 
was  not  **per  ctmita"  but  "per  ttirpea-^'  that  is,  it  was  not  a  fresh 
repartition  to  all  the  males  of  the  clan  equally,  but  only  a  readjust- 
ment according  to  ancestral  shares,  for  the  purpose  of  redressing  in- 
equalities and  inexactitudes  which  had  crept  in.  For  the  purpose  of 
expressing  such  shares,  some  unit  must  oe  taken ;  in  agricultural 
communities  it  is  generally  a  plough-land ;  where  pasture  prevails,  it 
is  a  cow's-grass. 

There  was,  he  thought,  a  good  deal  of  contradiction  and  confusion 
in  various  accounts  as  regards  the  relative  position  of  chief  of  tribes 
and  Tanists;  but  he  had  found  in  one  passage  in  Davis  a  dear  and 
circumstantial  statement  which  seemed  to  hmi  the  most  reasonable, 
viz.  that  while  there  was  one  chief  of  a  whole  tribe  or  clan,  the  Tanists 
were  subchiefs  of  the  subdivisions  of  the  clan.  The  descriptions  in 
the  paper  brought  very  vividly  to  his  mind  the  extreme  similarity  of 
Aryan  institutions  in  Europe  and  Asia.  He  believed  that  nothing 
was  more  hereditary,  or  had  oetter  marked  ethnological  affinities,  than 
social  and  political  institutions,  and  much  that  was  said  in  a  paper  on 
the  Irish  customs  would  apply  word  for  word  to  a  Jat  or  Kajpoot 
village  in  India.  The  system  under  which  the  lands  were  distributed 
was  very  much  the  same :  there  was  the  same  assignment  of  lands 
for  official  duties,  the  same  partition  among  the  men  of  the  tribes, 
and  the  same  system  under  wnich  the  surplus  lands  were  cultivated 
by  stransers.  Even  the  name  applied  to  these  latter  was  the  same, 
as  the  Insh  called  them  Fuidirs  or  Jv^itivei,  while  in  India  they  were 
called  **  Foot  cultivators,"  implying  that  they  were  not  freed  and 
settled  inhabitants,  but  people  who  came  and  went  at  pleasure. 

The  FresideKt  asked  Mr.  Campbell  on  what  authority  he  re- 
garded the  viUage-system  as  an  Aryan  institution.  It  appears  in 
India  in  the  midst  of  a  population  in  which  there  is  a  strong  Dravi- 
dian  element ;  for,  basing  his  observations  on  physical  characters,  he 
regarded  all  who  possessed  true  Hindoo  features  (whatever  may  be 
the  language  they  now  speak)  as  having  a  large  infusion  of  so-called 
"Dravidian"  blood.  He  believed  that  the  Aryans,  when  they 
invaded  India,  were  a  nomadic  people  without  a  village-system,  that 
they  found  an  agricultural  people  already  possessed  of  the  soil,  and 
that  the  conquerors  adopted  the  institutions  of  the  conquered. 

Mr.  Campbell,  in  reply,  said  that  he  attributed  the  iustitutions 
known  as  village  institutions  to  the  Aryans,  because  wherever  we 
find  Aryans  settled,  whether  in  the  east  or  the  west,  there  we  find 
these  institutions.  It  was  clear  that  they  did  not  belong  to  the 
Indian  aborigines,  because  nothing  in  that  country  was  more  marked 
than  the  distinction  in  this  respect  between  Aryans  and  aborigines. 
Wherever  Aryan  features,  Aryan  languages,  and  an  Aryan  civiliza- 


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350         HoDDER  M.  Westropf — Irish  THbal  System. 

tion  showed  that  the  Aryan  element  prevailed  over  the  aboriginal 
element  in  the  people,  there  these  people  exhibited  attachment  to  the 
soil,  and  established  themselves  m  nxed  settlements  governed  by 
village  institutions :  whereas  all  the  tribes  whose  features,  language, 
and  manner  showed  that  the  aboriginal  element  remained  tolerably 
pure,  were  incapable  of  attachment  to  the  soil ;  there  was  no  fixing 
them  to  it^  they  were  incorrigible  wanderers  from  one  part  of  the 
jungle  to  another,  and  they  had  nothing  like  village  institutions.  He 
believed  that  mankind  might  be  divided  into  people  who  fixed  them- 
selves in  the  soil  and  those  who  did  not.  You  have  the  contrast  be- 
tween Kabyles  and  Arabs  in  Algeria,  between  Affghans  and  Turcomans 
in  Central  Asia,  between  Aryan  Hindoos  and  aborigines  in  India ; 
the  Kabyles,  Afighans,  and  Hindoos  fixing  themselves  in  the  soil  and 
adhering  to  it  with  the  utmost  tenacity,  while  African  Arabs,  Turco- 
mans, and  Indian  aborigines  are  incorrigible  wanderers.  The  di- 
stinction in  India  between  Aryan  and  aboriginal  features  is  such  that, 
if  you  see  two  naked  men  walking  on  the  roadside,  you  can  say  at 
once  that  is  an  Aryan  Hindoo,  that  is  an  aboriginal,  just  as  you  can 
tell  a  short-horn  bullock  from  a  black  Highland  bullock.  So  distin- 
guishing, you  may  farther  affirm  that  the  Aryan-featured  man  is  a 
land-lover,  and  has  a  home  where  he  is  governed  by  village  institu- 
tions. 

Mr.  J.  F.  M^Lenkak  observed  that  the  paper  contained  not  a 
little  that  was  new  to  him.  The  accuracy  of  some  of  the  statements, 
however,  he  ventured  to  doubt ;  against  others  he  desired  to  protest. 
It  was  said  that  the  social  condition  of  the  early  Irish  was  patriar- 
chal. He  could  not  reconcile  that  with  the  early  Irish  relationships 
and  laws  of  succession  as  we  know  them,  or  with  the  fact  that  the 
chiefs  were  elective.  It  was  said,  again,  that  early  Irish  society  was 
founded  on  the  tribal  system,  and  it  was  stated,  as  a  general  proposi- 
tion, that  the  tribe  was  the  development  of  the  fanuly.  In  this  he 
could  not  concur.  He  held  that  in  social  development  the  tribe  came 
first.  The  tribe  existed  before  the  familv,  and  was  resolved,  by  the 
operation  of  causes  that  could  be  assignea,  first  into  sentes  or  septs, 
which,  again,  owing  to  causes  that  could  be  assignee^  were  resolved 
verv  gradually  into  family  groups.  He  thought  there  was  much 
evidence,  though  this  was  not  the  place  to  discuss  it,  that  this  had 
been  the  order  of  evolution  in  Ireland.  We  had  now  two  volumes 
issued  of  the  ancient  Irish  laws,  as  we  possessed  them  in  'The 
Senchus  Mor'  modified  by  Soman  law  and  Christian  influences. 
What  the  ancient  Irish  laws  reallv  were  before  this  modification  took 
place  would  probably  never  now  be  known ;  but  it  was  obvious  that 
parts  of  the  code  were  more  primitive  than  others,  and  he  appealed 
to  the  law  of  fosterage  developed  in  the  second  volume  as  being  very 
primitive,  and  as  showing  that  the  early  Irish  family  system  was  in 
a  transitional  state — ^not  yet  solidified  into  any  thing  like  the  modem 
family.  Fosterage,  as  a  system,  implied  alterage  as  a  system ;  both 
systems  prevailed  in  Ireland,  and  they  could  imagine  what  fiunilies 
were  in  which  there  were  no  children  belonging  to  the  heads.  As  to 
the  account  that  had  been  given  of  land-laws  he  could  say  nothing  of 


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Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — Danish  Element  in  Cleveland.     351 

it  confidently,  as  that  part  of  the  code  which  regulated  it  had  not  as 
yet  been  issued.  He  doubted,  however,  the  explanation  that  had 
been  given  of  the  meaning  of  cow-lands,  and  the  alleged  right  of 
parties  to  a  share  of  tillage-land  proportioned  to  the  stock  they 
possessed.  He  was,  on  the  whole,  disposed  to  think,  with  Mr.  Camp- 
bell, that  the  Irish  tribe  resembled  the  Indian  village  community ; 
but  he  could  not  agree  with  Mr.  Campbell  in  regarding  the  village 
system  as  peculiarly  Aryan.  It  was  found  among  purely  Tatar 
races,  e.  g,  among  the  hill-tribes  round  Munnipore,  whom  none  would 
suspect  of  being  Aryan,  and  in  Bussia,  in  districts,  as,  he  believed, 
purely  Tatar.  He  was  not  aware  of  any  custom  or  institution  that 
could  be  claimed  to  be  distinctively  Aryan.  Caste  certainly  was 
not,  though  Mr.  Campbell  said  it  was.  Mr.  Campbell,  in  his  paper 
on  the  Ethnology  of  India,  read  before  this  Society,  had  used  the 
words  caste  and  race  as  synonyms.  If  that  was  correct,  caste  could 
not  be  distinctively  Aryan,  seeing  there  were  various  races  of  Tura- 
nians and  Semites.  Caste  and  race  were  not,  however,  synonyms ;  and 
the  literature  of  India  disclosed  to  us  the  growth  of  caste  distinctions 
amoug  a  people  of  one  race  within  the  period  of  the  growth  of  the 
literature.  Ihere  were  caste  distinctions  in  Peru,  where  the  Incas 
were  a  caste;  and  no  one  claimed  the  Peruvians  as  Aryan.  For 
himself,  he  believed  that  the  linguistic  classification  of  men  in  fami- 
lies as  Aryans,  Semites,  and  Turauians  had  no  proper  foundation ;  it 
had  served  its  day  and  fell  to  be  abandoned. 

Mr.  Hyi)£  Clabsj:  remarked  that  the  subject  required  the  appli- 
cation of  the  comparative  knowledge  of  similar  institutions.  Many 
such  illustrations  would  be  obtained  from  this  island  during  the 
Anglo-Saxon  time.  The  rath^  as  an  enclosure,  corresponded  with 
the  ton  or  town.  Like  institutions  will  often  be  found  under  like 
circumstances.    There  did  not  appear  to  be  as  yet  a  sufficient  ex- 

flanation  of  the  position  of  the  olaer  aboriginal  or  serf  population  in 
reland. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  Assistant- Secre- 
tary:— 

XXIX.  On  the  Danish  Element  in  the  PopiUation  of  Cleve- 
land^ Yorkshire.     By  the  Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson. 

The  occurrence  in  a  dialect  of  English  of  a  very  large  number 
of  words,  of  which  garsel^flan,  segg,  scare  on,  cutwin,  cuwin-scar, 
grim,  kirk-grim,  kelps,  kenspack  are  types — words  which  have 
not  only  no  place  but  no  representative  in  the  English  diction- 
ary^ but  yet  which,  allowing  for  nothing  beyond  a  little  phonetic 
alteration,  inevitable  under  the  circumstances,  still  maintain 
their  hereditary  place  in  the  Scandinavian  dictionaries  and 
word-books — ^the  occurrence  of  a  host  of  such  words  is  a  fact 
which  calls  for  the  attention,  not  merely  of  the  philologist,  but 


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852         Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson— On  the  Danish  Element 

also  of  all  such  as  are  interested  in  tracing  the  fluctuations  and 
mutations  and  successions  of  the  races  or  tribes  or  peoples 
who  may  (or  must)  in  former  days  have  occupied  the  land,  or 
indeed  any  portion  of  it,  whether  more  or  less  definite. 

But  in  Cleveland  we  not  only  find  garsel  (hedge-sticks),  repre- 
sented by  S.  G.  gardsel,  Sw.  gdrdsle,  Dan.  gferdsel,  S.  Jutl. 
gardsel)  grim  (a  death^s-head,  as  sculptured  on  a  grave-stone 
or  monument),  by  O.  N.  gr(ma,  a  mask,  O.  Sw.  grima;  kkrk^ 
grim  (a  bar  guest),  by  Sw.  Dial,  kyrke-grime,  Dan.  Dial,  ktrke- 
grim;  cuwin,  cuwin-scar  (the  periwiiikle,  and  the  flat  surface 
of  rock  which  is  the  habitat  of  that  mollusk),  by  O.  N.  kujungr, 
Norse,  kuvung;  Norse  skjer,  O.  N.  sker,  a  rock  rising  to  the 
level  of  the  water-surface ;  and  so  on  of  other  words  to  the 
number  of  many  scores,  but  we  also  meet  with  a  very  laige  pro- 
portion of  personal  names  which  are  not  only  not  English  in  their 
origin,  but  most  certainly  Scandinavian.  I  take  as  types  of  this 
class  of  names  (and  only  a  few  out  of  many)  Milbum,  Mew- 
bum,  Osbum,  Allison,  Jordison,  Towlson,  Lockson,  Colson, 
Birkell,  Aiskell,  Thirkell,  Home,  Horden,  Gill,  Keld,  Rigg, 
Ness,  Lax,  Scarth,  Scar.  Most  of  these  exist  in  the  district  to 
this  day,  and  all  of  them,  with  the  rest  of  the  large  class  to 
which  they  belong,  and  of  which  they  are  £Eur  samples,  are  met 
with  in  continual  iteration  in  all  the  older  parochial  registers 
to  which  I  have  so  far  had  access. 

On  passing  from  personal  to  local  nomenclature,  the  impres- 
sion produced  by  such  facts  as  those  already  adduced  on  the 
mind  of  any  inquirer  roused  to  observant  attention  cannot  fail 
to  be  deepened.  Not  only  do  -by's,  -thorpe^s,  -thwaifs,  --griff's, 
'dale's,  'Um's  (all  demonstrably  O.  Norse  or  O.  Danish  datives 
plural),  and  a  host  of  others  not  admitting  of  classification,  be- 
sides the  manifold  prefixes  furnished  by  such  personal  names  as 
Kell  or  Ketel,  Dane,  Norman,  Ugelbard,  Leising,  Orm,  In- 
gialld,  Bergulf,  Grim,  Grimkell,  Baldr, — ^not  only  do  such  local 
names  as  are  distinguished  by  the  presence  of  one  or  more  of 
these  characteristics  meet  us  in  preponderating  numbers  at 
every  glance  we  cast  over  the  map,  but  we  find,  as  a  rule,  ad- 
mitting of  only  a  few  exceptions,  the  geographical  or  physical 
features  of  the  country  described  or  distinguished  by  such  terms 
as  gill,  f OSS,  scar,finkel,  dale,  rigg,  botton,  head,  brae,  sike,  haul, 
bank,  nab,  and  the  like;  and  this  without  dwelling  on  such 
words  as  garth,  intake,  houe,  &c.,  which  are  perhaps  rather  dia- 
lectic than  classifiable  as  making  an  element  in  local  names. 
Facts  such  as  these  now  stated  are  obviously  not  accidental, 
and,  taken  in  mutual  connexion  and  combination,  they  are 
surely  such  as  are  likely  to  provoke  inquiry  and  suggest  a  part, 
at  least,  of  its  method  and  direction. 

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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire.  353 

For^  to  a  student  of  such  matters,  though  but  little  practised, 
one  of  the  most  obvious  facts  connected  with  names,  either 
local  or  personal  (so  obvious  that  it  seems  almost  impertinent 
to  do  more  than  simply  state  it),  is,  that  not  a  few  of  them  have 
been  subjected  to  the  distorting  and  disintegrating  influences 
of  corruption.  Take  Marsey,  Parsyble,  Breckon,  Hebron, 
Cowtus,  Stanas,  personal  names  borne  by  many  families  within 
the  present  century,  and  all,  save  one,  existing  at  the  present  day 
in  the  forms  given;  or  take  Moorsholm,  Coatham,  Ugglebamb^, 
Aislaby  (pronounoed  Hesselby  by  the  country  people,  both  m 
Yorkshire  and  Lincolnshire)  as  samples  of  local  names,  and  it 
seems  very  difficult  by  mere  inspection  to  make  any  thiug  of 
them.  In  fact,  two  or  three  of  them  are  simply  misleading,  if 
regarded  only  in  connexion  with  their  form  and  sound,  and  one 
in  particular,  Moorsholm,  is  a  coupling  together  of  contradic- 
tions. Obviously,  in  the  former  instances,  the  inquiry  becomes 
— ^What  was  Marsejr's  father^s,  grandfather^s,  or  great  grand- 
father's name?  what  Hebron*8,  Breckon's,  Parsyble's,  Cowtus's, 
and  Stanas's?  And  in  nearly  every  instance  the  inquiry,  if 
duly  pushed,  meets  with  its  solution :  Marsey  is  found  to  be 
Mercer;  Hebron, in  1596, was  Abram ;  Parsyble,  in  1691,  Persi- 
bell,  and,  two  or  three  generations  before  that,  Persivallus ; 
Breckon,  Braican  or  Braykan,  sending  us  further  back  and 
afield  still  for  its  origin,  while  Cowtus  and  Stanas  (found  with 
eight  or  ten  variations  of  each)  resolve  themselves  ultimately 
into  Stonehouse  and  Colthurst.  In  fact  I  can  specify  but  one 
current  and  special  Cleveland  name  which,  three  centuries  since, 
was  as  much  corrupted  (at  least  presumably)  as  at  the  present 
day.     That  name  is  Hartas,  then  Hartus. 

But  researches  of  the  same  kind,  touching  such  names  as 
Moorsholm,  Hesselby,  Yarm,  and  the  like,  pushed  back  over  a 
space  of  no  more  than  300  years,  produce  almost  absolutely 
nothing  in  the  way  of  light  or  explanation.  Some  strange 
illustrations  of  change  Or  corruption  in  local  names  com- 
menced and  completed  within  that  space  certainly  do  by 
chance  occur,  such  as  the  conversion  of  a  name  that  was 
written  Armitthwate  in  1623,  Armthwaite  about  1720,  into 
Ainthorpe  of  1820,  and  sounded,  in  1870,  Aintrup.  This 
is  in  the  parish  of  Danby.  But  Moorsholm,  Yarm,  Coatham, 
XJgglebarnby,  &c.  were  unaltered,  except  in  being,  in  some  in* 
stances,  spelt  rather  more  phonetically,  300  years  ago.  Moors- 
holm fluctuated  between  Moreshame,  Moorshara,  Mooresome, 
Moresum,  &c.,  and  Coatham  might  be  found  written  Cotham ; 
and  this  was  all.  Further  inquiry,  therefore,  but  in  the  same 
direction,  not  only  became  necessary  but  was  distinctly  indi- 
cated.    For  this  purpose  all  ancient  deeds  and  documents,  espe- 

'^^^-  "•  Digitiz^ed^y  Google 


854        Bev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 

cially  sncli  as  owed  their  existence  to  acts  of  apportionment,  set- 
tlement, definition,  or  the  like,  of  landed  property  would  obvi- 
ously be  ayailable;  and  although,  most  unfortunately,  by  far 
the  larger  part  of  the  most  ancient  deeds  connected  with  the 
district  seem  to  have  been  lost,  still,  what  is  left  of  the  MSS. 
(or  copies  of  the  MSS.),  once  belonging  to  the  great  conven- 
tual establishments  of  Whitby  and  Guisborough,  together  with 
the  Hundred  Bolls  and  Inquisitiones  poet  mortem,  and  especially 
with  Kirkby's  Inquest  and  Domesday  Book,  was  found,  if  not 
fully  adequate,  yet  strangely  instructive  and  helpful ;  for  they 
not  only  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  Moorsholm  of  the  19th 
century  passes  through  Moresum  of  1540  into  Morusum  of  1340 
and  Morehusum  of  Domesday  times,  or  how  Coatham  and  Toc- 
ketts  resolve  themselves  into  Cotum  and  Tos-cotum,  Uggle- 
bamby  into  Ugelbardby  or  Ugleberdebi,  but  they  clear  up  the 
obscurity  about  Aislaby  or  Hesselby,  by  revealing  the  fact  that 
Aislaby  near  Whitby  was  originally  Asuluesbi  (that  is,  Asuirs- 
by),  while  another  place  like-named  near  Yarm,  and  a  third 
near  Pickering  (a  fourth  also  near  Sleaford  in  Lincolnshire), 
were  all  three,  in  1088,  Aslachesbi,  or  Aslachebi;  and  this, 
besides  incidentally  suffering  it  to  appear  that  Aslac,  Asulf,  Ug- 
lebert,  or  Ugelbard  (one  or  several  of  each  name),  were  owners 
of  land  in  the  district  at  the  time  of  the  conquest,  even  if  not 
continuing  to  be  so  long  after.  Professor  Worsaae,  avowedly 
basing  his  calculation  upon  the  authority  of  ''  Walker's  maps,'' 
published  in  1832,  gives  as  the  result  of  his  examination  the 
conclusion  that  there  are  100  places  in  North  Yorkshire  with 
names  ending  in  -^,  18  ending  in  ^thorpe,  and  2  in  -thwaite. 
But  a  very  cursory  examination  of  the  sources  of  information  I 
have  specified  above,  and  especially  as  combined  with  careful 
inspection  of  the  6-inch  Ordnance  maps,  supplemented  by  a 
little  accurate  local  knowledge,  shows  immediately  that  Mr. 
Worsaae's  calculations  fall  greatly  short  of  the  actual  state  of 
the  case,  while  a  more  systematic  investigation,  and  an  exacter 
reckoning,  give  the  following  list  of  name-endings  in  -it  (or 
-%>,  -thcrpe,  and  -thwaite  for  the  small  district  of  Cleveland 
(inclusive  of  Whitby  Strand)  alone : — 

Alewardebi  or  Elwordebi  (now  Bamodebi. 

Ellerb^).  Bemodebi  ^amabv). 

Asuluebi,  Asuluesbi  (Aislaby).  Berraluesbi,  Bergolbi. 

Badresby  (Battersby).  Bollebi,  Bolebi. 

Bamebi  (Baraby).  Buschebi  (Busby). 

Baldebi  (Baldby).  Cherchebi  (Kirby). 

Bergelbi,  Bergebi  (Borrowby).  Colebi  (Coleby  Manor). 

Bordalebi,  Bordlebi.  Crossebi  (Crosby). 

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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire. 


355 


Danebi  (Danby). 

Dragmalebi  (Ehromonby). 

Englebi  (Ingleby  Hill). 

Englebi  (Ingleby  Amdiffe). 

Englebi  (Ingleby  (^breenhow). 

Eseb^r  (Eaaby). 

Peizbi,  Fezbi  (Faceby). 

GtrimesbL 

Haxby. 

Irby. 

Lachenebi,  Lackebi  (Lackenby). 

Lesingebi,  Lesighebi  (Lazenby). 

Maltebi  (Maltby). 

Micbelbi  (Mickleby). 

Netherbi  (in  Whitby). 

Newby. 

Normanebi    (Normanby,     near 


ToUesbi  (Tolesby). 

Tnrmozbi,  Tormozbi  (Thomaby). 

Turoldesbi,  Toroldeebi  (Tborald- 

by). 
nigeberdesbi,  Ugelbardebi  (Ug* 


Whitby), 
lebi 


(Nonnanby,     near 


Normanet 
Eaton). 
Overbi  (in  Whitby). 
Ormesbi  (Ormeaby). 
Preetebi  (in  Whitby)- 
Bodebi  (Button  Budby). 
BoBcebi,  Bozebi  (fiozby). 
Sowerby  (in  Danby). 
Sourebi  (in  Whitby). 
Staxebi  (Stakesby). 
Steinesbi  (Stainsoy). 
Swainby. 


MBstingby,  Westonby. 
Wracby. 
YeaAy. 
Ainthorpe. 
Amodestorp. 
Boythorpe. 
Hailthorpe. 

Linthorpe  or  Leyenthorpe. 
Boscheltorp,  Boschetorp. 
Torp  (Kilton  Thorpe). 
Torp  (Nunthorpe). 
Torp  (Pinchingthorpe). 
Sneaton  Thorpe. 
Fyling  Thorpe. 

Dgetorp,  XJghetorp  (Ugthorpe). 
Braithwaite. 
Huthwaite. 
Midthwaite. 
Millthwaite. 
Stnbblethwaite. 
Baithwaite. 
Bertwait,  Berthwait. 
Setwait. 


In  this  list^  then,  which  still  I  do  not  belieye  is  altogether 
exhaostiyej  there  are  49  names  ending  in  -by,  12  in  -thorpe,  and 
8  in  'thwaite,  these  last  being  more  by  5  than  Prof.  Worsaae 
assigns  to  the  whole  N.  Biding^  while  the  -by' 8  are  only  one 
short  of  his  total  number. 

It  may,  of  course,  be  assumed  that  the  statistics,  on  which 
Worsaae  grounds  his  argument  at  the  part  of  his  work  to  which 
reference  has  been  made,  are  alike  understated  with  reference 
to  other  parts  of  N.  Yorkshire,  as  well  as  Cleveland ;  and,  in- 
deed, as  far  as  my  own  investigations  have  gone,  the  assump- 
tion would  appear  to  be  exceedingly  well  supported ;  but,  pass- 
ing that  by  with  the  bare  mention,  it  is  more  to  my  point  to 
observe  that  the  list  just  given  is  very  far  indeed  from  exhaust- 
ing that  class  of  Cleveland  local-name-endings  of  which  -Ay, 
-thorpe,  and  -thwaite  are  special  instances.  Thus,  to  specify 
oue  or  more  others,  besides  Basdale,  Basedale  (Baysdale),  Chil- 
dale  (Kildale),  Camisedale,  Commondale,  Glasdale  (Glaisdale), 

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356        Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 

Handale  or  Orendale,  Ibumdale^  Westerdale^  all  names  of  town- 
ships or  parishes^  there  are  no  fewer  than  55  local  designations 
in  Cleveland  ending  in  ^dale.  To  the  name-endings  in  -urn 
also  it  is  well  to  draw  special  attention.  Of  these  we  have  the 
following  list: — ^Achelum^  Aclum  (Acklam),  Laclum^  Lelum 
(Lealholm),  Ergum^  Jarum  (Yarm),  Morehusum,  Morhusnm 
(Moorsholm),  Locthusum^  Loctnsmn  (Lofthonse)^  Cotum  (Coat- 
ham)^  Toscotum  (Tocketts)^  WestUdum^  Lithum  (Kirklea- 
tham),  Uplium,  Lyum,  Uplithum  (Upleatham),  Lid,  Lithum 
(Lythe),  Jlorun,  Flore,  Arusum,  Harhusum  (Airsome),  Thac- 
rum.  About  such  names  as  Arusiun  (cf.  Aarhuus,  S.  Jutland), 
Morehusum,  Locthusum,  Cotum,  Toscotum,  it  is  not  possible 
there  should  be  any  uncertainty ;  the  first-named  proclaims  its 
original  as  markedly  as  Upsal  (one  place  of  the  name  in  Cleve- 
land, a  second  a  few  miles  beyond  the  borders  to  the  west)  or 
Baldersby ;  the  others  are  all  Old  Danish  datives  plural.  The 
same  seems  to  be  true  of  Lithum  and  the  other  two  names 
ending  in  -liihutn  (all  depending  on  O.  N.  hlidj  the  flank  or  side 
of  a  hill  or  mountain) ;  and  it  is  worth  notice  that  that  district 
of  Cleveland  in  which  these  names  occur  is  to  this  day,  by  those 
who  live  on  the  higher  levels  of  the  dales  among  the  hills  to 
the  south  of  it,  called  '^  the  low  side/'  Yarm,  in  its  old  form 
Jarum,  bears  a  singular  resemblance,  which  can  hardly  be  acciden- 
tal jone  would  think,  to  a  place-name  in  S.  Jutland,  the  phonetic 
form  of  which  is  written  Jarum,  the  true  form  being  Hjardum 
(due  to  O.  N.  IljarSaheimr :  Kok's  '  Danske  Folkesprog  in  Son- 
dergylland,^  ii.  179).  Aclum  and  Laclum  probably  depend  on 
O.  N.  holmr,  and  Ergum  is  uncertain. 

Even  yet  there  is  much  of  the  same  kind  requiring  to  be 
noticed.  While  the  name  of  the  district  at  large  is  the  little 
altered  Kliflond  of  the  Saga  writer  (Flateyiarbok,  iii.  p.  889), 
there  are,  besides  Crumbeclif  (or  clive),  Roudeclif  (or  dive, 
two  of  the  name),  Gerneclif  or  Emeclive  (two  of  the  name), 
all  in  Domesday  or  Kirkby,  about  a  dozen  other  names 
with  the  same  termination,  though  many,  of  them  corrupted 
by  phonetic  abuse;  seven  or  eight  ending  in  -ffnf  or  ffreve; 
holms  so  many,  both  in  composition  and  uncompoimded,  as 
to  render  counting  a  work  of  some  trouble  (I  estimate  them 
as  not  under  50) ;  on  the  coast  several  wykes  (O.  N.  vik) ;  nearly 
as  many  -stys  (O.  N.  stigr,  Dan.  sti,  a  path,  especially  an  as- 
cending one) ;  besides  -borgs,  -becks,  -hows,  -gills,  -scars,  -kelds, 
&c.,  to  such  a  number  collectively  as  to  make  enumeration  sim- 
ply tedious.  Some  of  these  compounds,  however,  deserve  espe- 
cial notice,  as,  for  instance,  Trenholm,  side  by  side  with  S.  Jut- 
land Tranholm  (two  of  the  name) ;  Houlbeck,  Holebec,  Hol- 
beck,  with  S.  Jutl.  Holbk,  Holbek  (several  places  so  named. 

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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire.  857 

as  also  in  Cleveland) ;  Scalebeck,  S.  Jutl.  SkeUbsek;  Hellas- 
wath^  S.  Jutl.  Hellevad;  Hellscar^  S.  Jutl.  Helleskar^  and  very 
many  others. 

One  large  class^  however^ containing  39or40names^yet  remains 
to  be  mentioned ;  I  mean  that  of  those  ending  in  -ton  or  -tun ; 
and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  prefix  in  not  a  few  among  these  is 
of  the  same  character  as  in  the  case  of  names  ending  in  -by, 
'thorpe,  "thwaite,  or  other  unmistakable  O.  Danish  suffix.  Thus, 
Kilton  is  in  Domesday  Chilton,  Chiltune,  provoking  compari- 
son with  Childale  (KiUale),  where  the  Chil  is  simply  the  Norse 
Kell  as  in  Thorkell,  Arnkell,  &c.  So  also  in  Skelton,  Domes- 
day Sceltun,  Schelton ;  the  first  syllable  is  the  same  as  in  Scale- 
beck,  S.  Jutland  Skelbaek,  while  Astun  (now  Eston),  Steintun 
(two  of  the  name),  Carltun,  Blatun,  &c.  suggest  comparisons 
of  the  same  kind.  In  fact  tun  is  as  much  Scandinavian  for  a 
farm  inclosure  as  it  is  Anglo-Saxon,  and  the  Icelandic  tun 
meets  with  its  exact  analogue  in  many  parts  of  ancient  Nor- 
thumbria  at  the  present  day. 

Reference  was  made  a  few  pages  back,  but  with  less  preci- 
sion than  might  have  been  used,  to  the  occurrence  of  such 
n^mes  as  Arusum  (Aarhuus)  and  Upsal ;  but  there  is  one  other 
to  which  it  will  be  well  to  direct  special  attention,  and  it  seems 
strange  that  the  local  historians  and  antiquaries  of  Whitby 
should  have  left  it  to  the  present  writer  to  do  so. 

In  the  '^  Memorial  of  Benefactions''  to  Whitby  Abbey,  re- 
capitulating the  grants  of  land  and  other  property  made  to  that 
body  by  Wm.  de  Perci  and  his  son  Alan,  the  list  begins  thus : — 
"Villam  et  portum  de  Witebi;  Overbi;  et  Nethrebi,  id  est 
Stainsecher ;  Thingwala ;  Leirpel ;  Helredale ;  Onip,  i.  e,  Hau- 
chesgard,  &c.''  Young  (Hist,  of  Whitby,  ii.  p.  912),  after  giv- 
ing this  memorial  in  extenso,  proceeds  to  remark  on  some  of 
the  local  names  involved.  "Overbi,''  he  says,  "is  probably  High 
Whitby,  Thinffwalay  Highgate-houe,''  and  so  dismisses  the 
name.  Prof.  Worsaae  deals  otherwise  with  Shetland  Thing- 
wal  [*'Tingwall,  hvor,  som  navnet  (]^inga  voUr)  antyder, 
Oemes  Hovedthing  gjennem  Aarhundreder  blev  holdt,''  is  his 
notice  of  the  place  so  named] ;  and  but  for  the  remarkable  dim- 
ness of  vision  besetting  the  Whitby  historians,  their  local  Thing- 
wal  would,  long  ere  this,  have  taken  rank  with  those  of  Shet- 
land, Orkney,  Chester,  Ross-shire,  and  demanded  coordination 
in  significance  alike  with  them  and  with  Norwegian  "Jring 
vellir,  now  Tingvala;  and  with  Island  ic  }?ingvollr.''  The  fact, 
taken  by  itself,  that  a  Thing-place  existed  at  Whitby,  would 
have  amply  justified  the  presumption  that  the  entire  district 
to  which  access  is  thence  afforded  by  the  sea  must  have  been 
not  only  to  a  notable  extent  under  the  influence  of,  but  occti- 

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868 


Bey.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 


pied  by^  men  of  Northern  or  Old  Danisli  origin ;  but^  coining 
as  it  does  as  a  sort  of  practical  commentary  on  tbe  enumeration 
given  above  of  local  names^  all  bearing  the  impress  of  Scandi- 
navian coinage,  and  prevailing  to  the  extent  of  something  like 
9  out  of  10  of  the  whole^  it  'is  difficult  to  overrate  its  signifi- 
cance. 

If  further  illustration  of  the  same  character  be  requisite,  I 
ask  a  moment's  attention  to  the  following  list  of  Owners  or 
Lords  of  the  Soil,  as  extracted  from  '  Dom^ay' : — 


Aldred. 

Archil  (Amkell). 

Aschel  (Askell). 

Alter  (Althor). 

Alver(Alfr). 

Carl  (Karl  or  KArle). 

Edmund. 

Oamel  (two  of  the  name). 

Oospatric. 

Hauuard. 

Lieuenot. 

Leising  or  Lesing. 

Ligulf. 


Magbanec 

Ma%rim. 

Norman. 

Orme  or  Orm. 

TJctred. 

Walteof(Valtheofr). 

Siward  (SigurSr). 

Suuen  (Sweyn). 

Tor  (Thor). 

Torchel  (Thorkell). 

Turome  (Thorarinn). 

Ulf. 

Ulcbel  (UlfkeU). 


But  this  list,  in  which  Old  Danish  names  preponderate  (with- 
out allowing  for  duplicates,  the  existence  of  which  I  suspect  in 
two,  if  not  in  three  cases)  to  the  extent  of  85  per  cent.,  is  not 
the  only  list  of  the  same  kind  available.  A  reference  to  the 
list  given  (pp.  354,  855  of  this  paper)  supplies  the  following,  as 
identifiable : — 

Alfgerdr.  Norman. 

Asulf.  Orm. 

Bodvar.  Steinn. 

Bjom.  Sweyn. 

Baldr.  Toli. 

Biarnvardr.  Thorwalldr. 

Ber?ulf.  TJglebard. 

Bolfi.  Vesteinn. 

Ir,  lar  (Ivar).  Amodr, 

Kole,  Kolli,  or  Kollr.  Leuuin. 

Dane  (the  name  occurs  in  Hrosskell. 

Lincolnshire  Domesday).  XJggr. 

In^;ialld  (three  of  the  name) .  Jur. 

Esi  or  Asif  or  Asa.  (Ivar). 
Grimr. 

besides  two  or  three  others,  which  are,  at  leasts  open  to  con- 
jecture. 

Further,  the  last  is  a  list  admitting  of  considerable  amplifica- 

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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire.  359 

tion :  every  such  name  of  a  farmstead^  as  Butterwick  in  Dauby ; 
of  a  house^  as  Grinkle  Park  in  Easington^  or  Gunnergate  in 
Marton ;  of  a  natural  or  geographical  feature^  as  Kettleness  in 
Lythe  (and  they  are  not  few)^  adds  one  item  more  to  it. 

I  will  adduce  but  one  other  piece  of  evidence  of  the  same 
nature  as  that  which  has  preceded  it,  and  I  do  not  know  that  I 
can  put  it  in  a  more  compressed  form  than  as  it  appears  in  a  note 
to  the  introduction  to  my  Cleveland  Glossary.  In  the  works 
connected  with  the  rebuilding  of  Kildale  Church  during  the 
latter  part  of  1867^  while ''  digging  for  the  foundations  of  the  new 
north  waU^  and  also  along  the  middle  of  the  nave  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  warming-apparatus^  a  number  of  skeletons  in  perfect 
preservation  were  disclosed^  in  company  with  several  of  which 
were  objects  of  bronze  and  weapons  of  iron  (swords^  daggers^ 
and  a  battle-axe)^  of  such  a  distinctly  marked  character  that 
there  could  be  as  little  doubt  of  their  origin  as  of  their  antiquity. 
They  were  unmistakably  Danish,  and  there  could  be  no  room 
left  for  imcertainty  as  to  the  fact  that  the  mediaeval  church,  the 
last  remains  of  which  had  been  so  lately  removed,  had  been 
built  upon  the  site  of  a  cemetery  which  had  been  such  from  the 
ninth  century  downwards.'' 

The  general  conclusions  deducible  from  the  statistics  which 
have  been  thus  in  succession  detailed,  seem  to  be  clearly,  not 
only  that  the  district  in  general  was  occupied  at  an  early  period 
by  Danish  colonists,  but  that,  both  as  a  whole  and  in  its 
several  and  constituent  parts— I  mean  what  are  now  parishes, 
townships,  farmsteads,  or  merely  local  peculiarities  of  geo- 
graphy or  configuration— it  was  named  by  them,  to  the  amount, 
it  would  seem,  of  not  less  than  85  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  local 
designations  known  to  have  existed  in  mediaeval  times.  The 
existence  of  the  names  which  are  not  Scandinavian,  but  assu- 
mably  Anglian,  perhaps  suggests  the  question.  Are  they  the  only 
names  of  the  sort  which  were  in  existence  when  the  imposition 
of  the  Danish  names  just  reviewed  took  place?  or,  in  other 
words.  Did  the  old  Danes  merely  take  up  and  occupy  and  name 
the  parts  of  the  districts  hitherto  unoccupied  and  unnamed,  or 
did  they  enter  on  other  men's  possessions  and  rename  as  well 
as  take  possession  ? 

The  materials  for  the  answer  of  such  a  question  are  unhap- 
pily very  scanty ;  but,  as  far  as  they  go,  they  tend  to  the  con- 
clusion that  these  northern  invaders  and  colonists  overcame 
and  killed  or  ousted  the  former  possessors  of  the  lands,  which 
they  then  proceeded  to  rename.  Certainly  the  name  of  Whitby 
itself,  probably  much  the  most  important  place  at  that  time  in 
the  Cleveland  district,  was  thus  changed.  In  the  times  of  An- 
glian possession  it  was  Streoneshalh,   or  Streoneshalc ;  and  it 

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860         Bev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 

was  reserved  for  its  new  northern  masters^  not  only  to  replace 
that  name  by  Whitby,  but  either  to  rename  existing  divisions  of 
ancient  Streoneshalc,  or  to  create  new  local  distinctions  with 
the  characteristic  appellatives^  Priestby,  Overby,  Netherby, 
Stakesby,  Normanby,  Gnipe,  Berthwait,  Sethwait,  and  Thing- 
wall. 

A  like  change  took  place  in  respect  of  one  of  the  most  marked 
natural  features  of  the  entire  Cleveland  district^  namely,  what 
is  now  called  Roseberry  Topping.  Between  the  dates  1119  and 
1540,  I  j5nd  the  name  of  this  conspicuous  hill  written  Otne- 
berch,  Ohtnebercg,  Othenbruche,  Othenesbergh,  Ombach, 
Ounsbery,  Onesbergh,  and,  more  corruptly,  Hensberg  (1119), 
Hogtenberg,  Thuerbrugh,  Thuerbrught,  all  (except  the  two  last) 
manifest  corruptions  of  an  original  Odinberg  (a  name  which 
could  only  have  been  imposed  by  Danes),  but  uever  written 
Roseberry.  Camden  (according  to  Mr.  Graves,  Hist.  Clevel. 
p.  215)  calls  the  mount  Ounesberry  Topping,  Thoresby  desig- 
nates it  Rosebury  Topping,  while  Roseterrye  Toppinge  is  its 
name  in  the  Cott.  MS.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  the 
name  Roseberry  was  new-minted  in  the  16th  century  or  later. 
It  is  almost  certainly  the  old  Anglian  name,  which  had  never  been 
completely  lostfrom  popular  recollection, but  had  maintained  itself 
cooidinately  with  Othenbergh,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  com- 
pletely excluding  its  would-be  supplanter.  This  has  certainly 
been  the  case  with  Thomborough  between  Northallerton  and 
Thirsk ;  Hundulftorp  is  the  name  of  the  manor  in  question,  as  it 
appears  in  'Domesday/  and  no  mentionls  made  of  Thomborough; 
and  except  that  Hundulfthorpe  exists  in  some  old  lease  or  other 
territorial  document  belonging  to  the  present  owner,  the  very 
name  would  be  lost.  To  be  sure  Haigh  (A.-S.  Sagas,  pp.  45- 
85)  and,  following  him,  Prof.  Morley  identify  Roseberry  with 
Hreosnabeorh  in  Beowulf.  But  there  is  not  a  tittle  of  tangible 
evidence  to  support  the  identification,  and  criticism  is  almost 
thrown  away  on  the  discernment  which  detects  the  name  of 
Hygelac  in  Ugglebamby,  "an  easy  contraction  of  Beowulfes- 
beorh"  in  Boulby,  and  Ravenwood  (Hrefna-wudu)  in  Robin 
Hood^s  Bay, — a  name  of  which,  as^far  as  I  can  ascertain,  no  trace 
exists  up  to  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries. 

That  very  distinct  traces  of  Anglian  nomenclature  remain  in 
the  district,  or  close  upon  it,  is  indisputable;  and  it  is  somewhat 
interesting  that,  in  several  instances,  these  old  names  are  con^ 
nected  with  the  ancient  burial-mounds  of  former  occupants  of 
the  country.  Among  these,  Glap-howe,  in  the  parish  of  Skel- 
ton,  is  one  of  the  most  prominent,  as  reproducing  a  name  so 
well  known  as  that  of  Glappa  or  Clappa.  Carling-howe,  in 
Guisborough  parish,  I  look  upon  as  another  instance  of  the 

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in  the  PopuUUian  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire.  361 

same  kind ;  Basin-houe^  a  name  local  antiquarians  account  for, 
some  of  them  on  the  ground  that  it  has  a  large  basin-shaped 
cavity  (the  result  of  former  opening)  on  its  summit,  others  firom 
the  absurd  fable  that  a  silver  basin  had  been  dug  out  of  it,  may 
be  yet  a  third  case;  Lilhoue,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  contains 
the  name  Lilla,  irhile  Nean  Howe,  Nanny-houe,  and  the  ancient 
boundary-stone  or  mere  called  the  "nan-stone,'*  all  seem  to 
involve  an  old  Teutonic  name,  which  has  furnished,  in  part  or 
in  whole,  not  a  few  both  German  and  English  personal  appel- 
latives. 

The  Basin  (for  Basing),  Carling,  and  possibly  Nanny  (re- 
garded as  a  corruption  from  Nanning),  I  look  upon,  of  course,  as 
Teutonic  patronymics.  The  first  occurs  in  Yorkshire  Domes- 
day, in  both  the  forms  Basinc  and  Basin,  together  with  the 
place-name  Basinghebi;  the  second,  in  Carlingford  and  Lin- 
colnshire Domesday,  Carlentone,  as  well  as  in  three  or  four 
other  local  names  in  Cleveland;  while  the  simple  names  Besi 
or  Basi  and  Carle  are  of  perpetual  occurrence  in  Yorkshire  and 
Lincolnshire  Domesday  and  elsewhere. 

Other  marked  Anglian  names  of  places  in  Cleveland  seem  to 
be  Hildreuuelle,  Esington,  Himelingetim,  Lentune  or  Leving- 
ton,  Neuham  or  Neweham,  Mideltun,  Neutone,  Broctun,  and 
some  others.  And  yet,  with  respect  to  one  or  more  of  these,  it 
should  be  observed  that  speculation  or  inquiry  is  suggested.  Thus 
we  have  the  name  Esebi,  of  purely  Danish  form,  the  personal 
name  Esi  (Asa,  Asi  in  Yorkshire  Domesday)  supplying  the  first 
element.  But  this  same 'name,  with  the  generally  recognized 
A.-S.  patronymic  ending  -ing,  furnishes  also  the  former  element 
in  Esingetun,  as  well  as  in  JEsingewald  (Easingwold),  and  it  is 
perplexing  to  think  of  Esi  as  a  Dane,  and  Esing  as  an  Anglian. 
The  same  difficulty  occurs  in  the  case  of  Besi  or  Basi,  in  a 
somewhat  altered  form;  for  the  Lincolnshire  D.  Basingeham 
would  seem  to  be  distinctly  Anglian,  while  Yorkshire  D.  Ba- 
singhebi (Besingby  in  Whitby  Charters),  Line.  Basingthorpe, 
must  equally  be  regarded  as  distinctly  Danish.  In  this  case 
the  elementary  name  Besi  or  Basi  is  met  with  in  the  names 
Beswick,  Besthorpe  (two),  all  three  of  which  are  of  northern 
form.  Lentune  or  Levington  is  another  name  beset  with  the 
same  difficulties,  though  in  a  minor  degree;  for  we  have  the 
apparently  Anglian  Leving,  not  only  in  combination  with  the 
probably  Anglian  -/on,  but  also  prefixed  to  the  certainly  Danish 
4horpe  in  the  12th  century,  Levingtorp,  Leuyngtorp,  now 
Linthorpe  near  Middlesbrough. 

I  suppose  the  difficulty  is  more  apparent  than  real,  and  ad- 
mits of  easy  solution  by  recalling  to  mind  that  the  termination 
'ing  is  by  no  means  exclusively  Germanic  any  more  than  'ton. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQIC 


Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 

The  mere  reooUection  of  the  title  Ynglingla-saga,  and  of  who  the 
Ynglings  were — desceDdants  of  Yngir,  another  name  for  Freyr 
—and  of  such  names  as  Hasting  (as  that  of  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  of  the  Viking  leaders)^  is  sufficient  to  suggest  that 
if  Esi,  Leue  or  Levi^  Besi  or  Basi  were  Northmen  by  birth^  or 
even  by  adoption^  their  sons  or  descendants  might,  with  no 
violation  of  Northern  tongue-rules,  be  called  Esing,  Leving  or 
Leuing,  and  Basing  or  Besing;  and  thus  there  would  be  no  dif- 
ficulty or  inconsistency  in  such  names  as  Basinghebi,  Basing- 
thorpe,  Levingthorpe,  Esebi,  in  contrast  with  Basingeham,  Lev- 
ington,  and  Esington. 

All  this,  I  am  well  aware,  is  but  a  sketch  of  a  subject  requiring 
carefiil  handling  and  elaboration ;  but  I  have  been  compelled  to 
write  the  greater  part  of  it  under  pressure  for  time,  and  with 
the  materials  (on  which  I  depended  when  I  became  responsible 
for  the  paper)  still  left  in  a  crude  state,  owing  to  circumstances 
involving  absences  from  home,  and  much  unforeseen  business 
of  a  painful  and  onerous  nature  both  at  home  and  away.  Still, 
I  trust  it  will  be  thought  that  enough  has  been  advanced  to 
show  the  interest  attaching  to  the  subject,  and  to  prove  that 
the  views  brought  forward  are  not  unsubstantiated  by  facts; 
and,  in  conclusion,  I  will  only  add  a  little  in  the  way  of  state- 
ment, confirmatory  and  illustrative,  of  the  circumstances  to 
which  attention  was  directed  in  the  opening  paragraphs  of  the 
paper. 

Under  the  conditions  of  preponderating  Danish  occupancy 
and  nomenclature  noticed  at  a  preceding  page,  and  of  less  ex- 
tensive but  still  distinct  Anglian  presence  and  influence^  also 
above  noticed,  it  would  obviously  be  reasonable,  so  long  as  the 
inhabitants  of  the  district  in  question  continued  in  their  mutual 
intercommunication  to  make  use  of  what  might  with  reality  be 
termed  a  ''  dialect,'^  to  look  for  distinct  evidences  in  such  dia- 
lect of  its  indebtedness,  on  the  one  hand,  to  the  Old  Danish 
tongue,  and,  on  the  other,  to  the  original  folk-speech  intruded 
on  by  the  Danish-speaking  colonists.  It  is  of  course  an  unsatis- 
factory matter  to  venture,  without  actual  enumeration  made,  an 
estimate  of  the  number  of  words  which  appear  jointly  in  the 
Cleveland  and  Scandinavian  vocabularies,  but  do  not  appear  in 
the  English  dictionary  or  south-country  word-books,  but  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that  they  are  to  be  reckoned  by  hun- 
dreds. In  a  very  hasty  inspection  of  the  Cleveland  Glossary^ 
under  letter  S,  I  find  (and  with  rather  a  tendency  to  imder- 
rate  than  to  overestimate)  I  have  jotted  down  94  words  to 
which  such  a  character  belongs.  A  few  among  the  most  cha- 
racteristic of  these  are  scow  (the  sheath  of  a  horse's  penis),  seyg 

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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire,  363 

(a  male  animal^  ox  or  swine^  castrated  after  having  arrived  at 
maturity),  scug  (to  Ude),  scud  (to  pare  off  a  surface  fix)m  the 
groimd  or  floor),  smout  (a  hole  at  the  bottom  of  a  hedge  or  wall 
used  by  sheep,  hares,  &c.  to  pass  through),  snod  (smooth^ 
even,  trim),  snog  (tidy,  trimmed  up),  steg  (a  gander),  stoven 
(the  stool  whence  a  sapling  tree  has  been  cut),  swagger  (a  pen* 
non,  vane),  sund,  swidder  (to  smart,  tingle  with  pain),  stridden 
(to  bum),  swip  (likeness),  swipple  (the  striking  part  of  the  flail), 
swang  (a  boggy  piece  of  ground),  syke  (an  oozing  stream),  &c. 

But  besides  words  such  as  these,  the  idiom  of  the  pure  ver- 
nacular is  in  many  instances  still  markedly  un-English,  the 
deviations  from  English,  however,  meeting  with  their  exact 
counterpart  in  the  speech  of  the  Scandinavian  countries.  "  I 
do  not  object,'*  or,  "  I  have  no  objection  to  this  or  that,''  is,  in 
Cleveland,  put  thus,  "  Ah  hes  nowght  agen  that,"  which  is  sim- 
ply a  translation  of  Dan.  "  Jeg  har  ikke  noget  imod  detJ^  "  I 
ran  as  fast  as  I  could"  is  "Ah  ran  what  ah  could;"  Dan.  "Jeg 
randt  hvad  jeg  kundeJ^  "  Will  you  do  so  and  so  ?  "  may  be 
asked  of  a  Clevelander,  and  if  so,  the  circumstances  being  such 
as  to  justify  the  rejoinder  "  Why  not  ?  "  or  "  Why  should  I 
not?"  his  reply  would  be  most  likely  '*  What  for  not?"  It  is 
an  idiom  I  have  heard  a  hundred  times,  and  with  it  I  collate 
the  Dan.  use  of  hvad  for.  Nay,  in  many  instances,  the  old  pro- 
verbial sayings  of  the  district  meet  with  their  exact  counter- 
parts in  those  of  some  Scandinavian  district.  The  S.  Jutlander 
says  of  the  man  whose  outward  appearance  may  be  described  as 
fat  and  well-liking,  "Han  lever  infved  daw  Nodr-/'  the  Cleve- 
land saying,  in  like  case,  being  "  He  deean't  luik  as  gin  he  lived 
upo'  deeaf  nuts." 

Illustrations  of  this  kind  might  be  compiled  to  the  extent  of 
many  pages,  and  such  compilation  might  not  be  without  its  in- 
terest. Here,  the  amount  of  notice  idready  given  will  suffice ; 
but  it  is  to  our  point  to  observe  that,  while  northern  words, 
idioms,  and  proverbs  occupy  the  prominent  position  they  do  in 
the  familiar  speech  of  the  genuine  Cleveland  people,  some  (as  to 
their  nature)  equally  marked  instances  of  what  must  be  regarded 
as  the  old  Anglian  tongue  and  modes  of  expression  are  to  be 
discerned  by  the  observant  inquirer.  Such  words  as  sackless 
(dull,  heavy,  spiritless),  shaffment  (the  circumference  of  the 
wrist),  may  be  foimd  among  the  words  beginning  with  S,  and  a 
list  may  be  made  numbeiing  perhaps  one-tenth  of  the  words 
in  that  of  Scandinavian  words  just  now  adverted  to,  and  of 
which  no  counterpart  shall  be  found  in  the  Scandinavian  word- 
books. But  that  is  all,  and  I  think  that  estimate  almost  too 
high. 

Something  to  the  same  effect  is  true  of  Anglian  idioms.   Thus, 

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364         Rev.  J.  C.  Atkinson — On  the  Danish  Element 

in  nearly  23  years  of  familiar  intercourse  with  my  parisliioners, 
I  have  never  once  heard  a  true  Cieyelander^  intending  to  say 
what  is  expressed  by  the  English  '*  kneel  down/'  use  any  other 
phrase  but  "  sit  thee  doon o'  tha'  knees,"  or,  ''sit  o'  tha'  knees;*' 
and  the  frequency  with  which  I  have  heard  it  may  be  estimated 
by  the  fact  that,  if  children  are  present  when  a  visiting  clergy- 
man is  about  to  kneel  by  the  sick  person's  bed,  the  direction  to 
them  is  given  in  the  form  specified.  Only  the  last  sick  visit  I 
paid,  the  person  visited  being  sadly  weak  and  infirm,  the  doubt 
was  expressed  whether  he  were  physically  able  to  ''  sit  on  his 
knees."     In  Layamon,  ii.  p.  506,  we  read, — 

pecs  here-f riges  free 

Comen  to  j>an  kigo 

&  setten  an  heore  cneowen ; 

while  in  the  Coke's  Tale  of  Gamelyn,  1.  1397,  it  stands, — 

Whan  that  they  hym  found  in 

On  kneys  they  them  sette 
And  adoun  with  their  hode,  and 

Ghimelyn  their  Lord  grette. 

Among  a  great  number  of  other  instances  of  usage,  it  is  inter- 
esting to  find  it  in  the  truly  Northumbrian  **  Havelok  the  Dane  " 

(p.  77),- 

pat  athelwold  fe  dide  tiie 
On  kne*. 

Other  examples  of  the  same  sort  are  found  in  the  Cleveland 
phrases,  to  "  bear  at  hand,"  to  "  rap  and  ree,"  which  are  met 
with,  the  latter  in  Layamon  more  than  once  or  twice,  ''  Hii 
rupten  hii  refden,"  and  the  former  in  the  Towneley  Mysteries, 
and  frequently  in  Chaucer,  in  the  form  "  here  on  hand,"  and 
with  materially  the  same  sense  as  in  Cleveland,  namely,  ''to 
give  one  the  credit"  of  a  thing,  "  to  accuse  of."  In  fact,  the 
usage  in  the  Yorkshire  book  named  coincides  exactly  with 
ours,  as  the  fall  phrase  there  is  "  here  falsly  on  hand." 

My  purpose  originally  was  to  have  touched  on  such  pecu- 
liarities of  tone,  of  phonesis,  and  other  specialities  of  the  same 
sort  as  appeared  to  me  to  have  a  bearing  upon  the  general  sub- 
ject ;  and  also  to  have  given  some  statistics  as  to  the  personal 
appearance,  features,  and  build  of  the  Clevelanders,  matters  all 
possessing  more  or  less  interest,  and  strictly  in  place  in  such  a 
paper  as  this.  I  am,  however,  from  simple  want  of  time, 
obliged  to  forego  that  part  of  my  purpose,  and  to  content  my- 
self with  the  unsatisfactory  sketch  given  above. 


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in  the  Population  of  Cleveland,  Yorkshire.  865 

D18CU88IUN. 

Mr.  J.  A.  H  JAXTALnsr  said  that  the  onlj  point  to  -whicli  he  wished 
to  call  the  attention  of  the  Society  was,  that  the  author  seemed  to 
suppose  that  there  was  a  clear  distinction  between  Scandinavian 
names  and  Anglo-Saxon  names,  so  that  we  could  at  one  glance  pro- 
nounce a  name  to  be  either  Scandinavian  or  Anglo-Saxon,  as  if  those 
two  languages  were  so  different  and  distinct  from  each  other  that  a 
word,  or  a  name,  must  necessarilj  belong  to  one  of  them  onlj,  and 
not  to  both.  If  this  were  the  opinion  of  the  author,  the  speaker 
could  not  agree  with  him.  Manj  words  and  names  apparently  b^ 
longing  to  the  Scandinavian  language  may  not  be  more  Scandinavian 
than  Anglo-Saxon,  and  vice  versd.  Take,  for  instance,  the  names 
Harold^  Scand  Haraldr ;  Oodwin^  Scand.  €h$idini,  or  Oitdin,  Now 
are  those  two  names  Scandinavian  or  Anglo-Saxon  P  The  speaker 
believed  that  he  was  right  in  saying  that  they  were  both. 

Until  the  12th  century  there  was  one  language  in  use  over  all 
Scandinavia  (Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark)  and  in  Iceland ;  and 
the  same  langu^e  was  spoken  in  the  Faroe,  Orkney,  and  Shetland 
Islands,  in  the  ^brides,  and  in  many  parts  of  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.  This  language  was  then  called  Danish,  or  the  North- 
em  language;  and  survives  now  in  its  ancient  purity  in  Iceland 
only ;  it  may,  therefore,  properly  be  called  Icelandic  instead  of  Scan- 
dinavian. Modem  Swedish  and  Danish  stand  in  the  same  relation 
to  this  old  language  as  Italian  and  Spanish  stand  to  Latin.  The 
language  of  Norway  is  now  Danish,  but  among  the  country  popula- 
tion there  are  several  dialects  more  resembling  Icelandic  than  either 
modern  Danish  or  Swedish.  The  old  Scandinavian  language,  the 
present  Icelandic,  was  so  like  the  language  spoken  by  the  Saxons  in 
England  at  the  above-mentioned  period,  that  the  Scandinavians  and 
the  Anglo-Saxons  could  understand  each  other,  speaking  their  respec- 
tive languages,  just  as  Danes  and  Swedes  do  at  the  present  day.  In  fact 
the  Scandinavians  considered  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  be  the  same  tongue 
as  their  own ;  for  it  is  expressly  stated  in  some  of  our  most  reliable 
Sagas  that  the  same  tongue  prevailed  in  England  as  in  Scandinavia 
until  the  arrival  of  William  the  Conqueror.  The  similarity  between 
the  two  languages  is  further  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  it  is  nowhere 
mentioned  in  our  Icelandic  Sagas  that  the  Scandinavians  made  use 
of  an  interpreter  in  their  intercourse  with  the  Saxons  in  England ; 
but  it  is  expresslv  mentioned  that  they  required  an  interpreter  in 
their  dealings  with  the  Irish. 

The  speaker  further  remarked  that  both  Anglo-Saxon  and  Icelandic 
have  the  genitive  plural  ending  in  a,  and  dative  plural  ending  in  urn,  in 
common  with  Frisian,  but  differing  in  that  respect  from  German.  As 
far  as  he  could  judge  from  bis  limited  acquaintance  with  Anglo-Saxon, 
there  seemed  more  similarity  between  An^lo-Saxon  and  Icelandic 
than  between  either  Anglo-Saxon  or  Icelandic  and  German.  And  the 
similarity  between  Anglo-Saxon  and  Icelandic,  as  they  were  spoken  in 
the  9th,  10th,  and  11th  centuries,  may  have  been  still  closer  than  we 
find  it  to  be  in  the  written  monuments  of  subsequent  date. 


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866  Note9  and  QuerieB. 

From  the  foregoing  remarks  it  mnst  be  plain  how  extremely  dif- 
ficult it  will  always  be  to  decide  which  names  are  pecidiarlj  Anglo- 
Saxon,  and  which  Scandinavian,  or  Icelandic. 

Mr.  Htde  GLum  thought  that  this  well-compiled  paper  did  not 

S resent  the  true  explanation  of  the  extent  of  Danish  ana  Norse  in- 
uence  in  England,  although  it  actually  sus^ested  it.  It  appeared 
strange  that  Scandinavian  illustrations  shomd  be  sought  by  mi.  At- 
kinson in  South  Jutland ;  but  this  presented  the  key  to  the  whole 
problem.  Notwithstanding  the  statements  of  staunch  Norse  advo- 
cates, England  did  not  afford  strong;  evidence  of  a  decided  Norse 
population ;  and  the  assertors  that  it  did,  created  difBculties  in  the 
adjustment  of  the  existing  fEU^ts.  The  moderate  paper  of  Mr.  At- 
kinson was  calculated  to  help  them.  He  referred  to  South  Jutland. 
Now,  assuredly  South  Jutland,  even  in  this  day,  could  not  be  con- 
sidered a  Scandinavian  country ;  it  was,  in  the  time  of  Tacitus, 
occupied  by  populations  which  he  (Mr.  Clarke)  classified  as  Suevians, 
and  of  English  kin,  An^li,  Saxones,  Frisians,  Jutes,  Burgundians,  &c. 
It  was  not  till  the  thinning  away  of  these  populations  that  the 
Scandinavians  advanced  from  the  north,  and  the  Shives  from  the  east. 
The  early  ethnology  of  South  Jutland  and,  he  believed,  of  North 
Jutland  was  Suevian,  and  he  included  the  early  Danes  as  Suevians ; 
he  considered  that  the  Danes  had  become  Scandinavianiced,  as 
the  Jutland  populations  had  been,  by  this  Norse  filtration  south- 
wards. If  this  were  so,  the  early  Danish  invasions  of  England 
would  be  effected  by  the  Suevians,  who  would  readily  amalgamate 
with  their  kinsmen  m  the  island ;  and  it  would  only  be  at  a  later 
period  that  the  Scandinavian  element  would  become  stronger  among 
the  invaded,  and  particularly  preponderating  in  the  higher  class. 
Thus  Scandinavianism  in  England  would  be  smaller  than  usually 
asserted,  both  as  to  the  number  of  original  invaders,  and  as  to  their 
amalgamation  with  the  populations  in  the  districts  of  the  Dane  Law ; 
while  affmities,  assertea  to  be  Norse  because  found  among  the  Danes 
and  in  South  Jutland,  would  be  really  attributable  to  a  community 
of  blood  and  speech  between  the  original  Danish  population  and  the 
other  Suevians.  He  used  the  term  Suevian  as  a  convenient  one  to 
separate  the  English  from  the  Scandinavian  and  High-Dutch  branches 
of  the  Grermani,  considering  that,  the  English  belonged  to  a  separate 
branch. 


NOTES  AND  QUERIES. 


AmazoM :  The  Woman  Question, — That  the  name  Amazon  repre- 
sented a  popidation  known  in  early  historic  times  we  are  safe  in 
believing,  and  we  are  equally  safe  to  believe  that  such  population 
did  not  consist  of  women.  This  fable  was  propagated  by  the 
ignorance  of  Greek  writers,  and  particularly  those  of  Western 
Greece,  and  stereotyped  for  public  acceptation  by  sculptors  and 


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NoteB  and  Queries.  867 

painten.  Various  origins  haye  been  assi^ed  to  this  fable.  I  offer 
as  one  the  possibility  that  the  Hellenic  settlers  in  Asia  Minor 
mixed  up  in  their  conifused  notions  and  traditions  the  Amazon  popu- 
lation and  the  Iberian.  That  they  were  so  mixed  up,  in  fact,  is 
shown  by  the  juxtaposition  of  Amazon  and  Iberian  names  in  the 
Troad  and  elsewhere.  My  attention  has  been  drawn  to  this  sug- 
gestion by  the  notice  of  an  article  on  the  Basques  by  M.  Cordier. 
He  remarks  that  the  Basques  apply  a  rieid  nue  of  primogeniture 
without  distinction  of  sex  or  person.  The  consequence  is,  that 
females  succeed  to  property  and  political  power,  and  the  husband  is 
subordinate  if  of  inferior  rank.  If  the  Iberians  in  Asia  Minor  prac- 
tised this,  or  if  they  adopted  it  from  the  Amazons  (and  it  was  origi- 
nally an  Amazon  practice),  it  is  one  which  would  strike  the  Hellenes. 
The  legends  of  Amazon  queens  and  chiefs  may  therefore  so  far 
represent  facts,  but  they  do  not  otherwise  countenance  Amazon 
armies. — Hyde  Clabke. 

Fuaitives  from  Troy, — ^Although  many  of  the  legends  as  to  the 
foun<£ition  or  occupation  of  cities  by  Irojan  fugitives  after  the  fall 
of  Troy  are  late  inventions,  yet  there  is  good  reason  to  credit  the 
traditions  in  the  mass,  if  Hium  were  indeed  occupied  by  Iberians. 
Upon  that  basis,  sanctioned  by  the  Iberian  names  of  cities  recogniz* 
able  in  Asia  Minor,  the  Ibenans,  I  consider,  were  advancing  from 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  conquest  of  Asia  Minor  from  the  Amazons, 
when  thev  were  checked  bv  the  irruptions  of  the  Hellenes.  The 
Iberians  had  already  possibly  driven  the  Amazons  out  of  Italy, 
Greece,  and  Sicily,  and  formed  settlements  of  their  own.  After  the 
occupation  of  GmBece,  the  Hellenes  turned  their  arms  against  Asia 
Minor,  and  readily  occupied  the  country  of  the  west,  weakened  by 
contests  between  the  Amazons  and  the  Iberians.  Like  events  had 
probably  prepared  the  way  for  the  occupation  of  Greece.  On  the 
fiill  of  Ilium,  the  last  Iberian  stronghold,  the  Iberians  would  flee, 
not  to  the  east  and  not  to  Greece,  but  to  their  remaining  scattered 
settlements  in  the  islands,  in  Italy,  South  Gaul,  and  Spain,  whither 
they  were  followed  in  time  by  the  Hellenes.  Thus  there  would  be 
in  the  Mediterranean  an  eastward  and  westward  ethnic  tide. — 
Hyde  Clabke. 

Alleged  connexion  of  Madagaeeofl^  and  Caffre  Lcmguagee,"-^  far  as 
the  roots  are  concerned,  there  is  no  justification  for  connecting  Mada* 
gascar  with  the  South- African  groups,  as  the  aflSnities  are  distinctly 
with  Mahiy,  and  the  other  alleged  affinities  are  accidental.  Nothing  is 
more  dangerous  than  to  allege  affinities  from  mimmatical  structure. 
When  a  universal  comparative  grammar  shall  be  drawn  up,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  general  laws  are  more  widely  distributed  nian  is  sup- 
posed, that  the  laws  are  derived  from  more  than  one  source  or 
example,  and  that  laws  and  exceptions  are  partially  disseminated 
without  reference  to  immediate  connexion. — Hyde  Glabkb. 

Ferpetuaiion  of  namee  of  Natural  Objects  hy  Tranelatore. — In  a 
paper  read  before  the  Ethnological  Society  on  the  Idsi  Daktuli,  I 
showed  that  the  ancient  name  of  the  Besh  Parmak  Mounteins  in 


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368  Notes  and  Queries. 

Asia  Minor  must  have  been  in  ancient  Ghreek,  and  in  the  preyioua 
languages,  ''  Five  Finger."  I  now  beg  to  note  what  appears  to  me 
to  be  another  instance  with  regard  to  Mount  Tmolus  in  the  same 
region.  This  is  now  called  bj  the  Turks  the  Boz  Dagh,  Snow  or 
Ice  Mountain.  Tmolus  I  conceive  to  be  represented  in  modem 
G-eorgian  by  Thovli  (Snow),  and  therefore  that  the  Amazon  name 
represented  the  Snow  Mountain,  which  is  also  most  likely  the 
vernacular  name  among  the  Qreek  population.  The  Amazon  name 
of  the  Besh  Parmak  would  have  been  something  like  Khuth  thithi. — 
Htds  Clabee. 

Khan  and  Bey, — These  words  have  a  peculiar  interest  to  ethno- 
logists. In  Smith's  *  Dictionary  of  Geographv,'  in  the  notes  to  the 
latest  edition  of  G-ibbon,  and  m  other  standard  works,  we  find  it 
jauntily  asserted  that  certain  races  (the  Khazars  and  Avares,  for 
instance)  were  Turkish  because  they  used  these  words  as  titles  of 
their  chiefs.  Now  Constantino  Porphyrogenitus  and  other  Byzan- 
tine authors  tell  us  that  the  King  of  the  Bussians  was  called  Khacan. 
The  Mongols  call  their  greater  chiefs  Khacans  and  Khans ;  so  did 
the  primitive  Khirgises.  It  would  be  a  bold  conjecture  which  would 
therefore  make  these  three  races  to  belong;  to  the  Turkish  stock.  I  be- 
lieve there  is  no  foundation  for  making  the  two  words  Turkish  glosses 
at  all.  They  are  not  used  by  the  Jakouts,  Barabinski,  and  other 
unsophisticated  Turkish  tribes,  and  are,  in  fact,  the  common  pro- 
perty of  all  the  nomad  races  who  have  had  intercourse  with  Chma ; 
and  nere  we  have  an  explanation  of  them  both.  Xhan  is  simply  the 
Chinese  title  San  applied  by  them  to  this  day  to  the  greater  Mongol 
feudatories,  <&c. ;  the  change  from  Han  to  Khan  is  paralleled  in  other 
cases,  as  in  Hunni  changed  to  Chunni,  &e. ;  and  where  we  meet  with 
the  title  Khan,  it  is  only  a  proof  of  the  influence  of  China.  On  the 
word  Bey  I  will  let  a  much  greater  authority  than  myself  speak, 
namely,  Abel  Bemusat  (Becherches  sur  les  langues  Tartares,  p.  303). 
Speaking  of  Chinese  words  in  Turkish,  he  says — *'  It  is  known  that  the 
dignity  pe  or  prince  (in  the  vulgar  tongue  hea  or  bek)  was  often 
granted  to  the  Tartar  princes.  At  present  the  tributaries  of  Ili, 
Aksou,  and  Elhashgar  are  styled  bek  by  the  Mandchou  emperors,  and 
it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  the  Arabic  he^  or  beif  is  thence  derived." 
These  two  words  are  therefore  broken  reeds  for  those  to  rely  upon 
who  see  everywhere  traces  of  the  Turks,  and  if  no  better  proofs  are 
forthcoming  it  is  time  some  of  our  common  books  of  reference  werai 
revised.  I  have  elsewhere  asserted  that  the  Petchenegs  were  the 
first  Turks  whom  we  can  prove  to  have  invaded  Europe.  The 
!Khazars,  Avares,  &c.  &c.,  who  have  been  so  held  oh  the  authority  of 
the  two  words  above  referred  to,  were  most  assuredly  very  different 
from  Turks,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  series  of  papers  the  Society  is 
honouring  me  by  printing. — H.  H.  Howorth. 


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THE  JOURNAL 

or  THB 

ETHNOLOGICAL  SOCIETY  OE  LONDON. 


'  Ordinary  Mebting,  April  26tli,  1870. 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XXX.  On  the  Brain  in  the  Study  ©/Ethnology. 
By  Dr.  C.  Donovan. 

(Abstract) 

After  stating  that  one  of  the  main  objects  of  ethnological  in- 
quiry is  to  ascertain  the  mental  condition  of  the  various  races  of 
men,  the  author  sought  to  show  that  the  comparatively  low  state 
of  intellectual  and  moral  development  exhioited  by  most  un- 
civilized races  might  be  attributed  to  a  corresponding  inferiority 
in  "  the  quality,  quantity,  and  form  of  the  brain.*'  He  believed 
that  much  might  be  inferred  concerning  the  characters  of  the 
brain  from  the  condition  of  the  skull — especially  from  its  shape, 
size,  and  weight,  and  from  the  appearance  of  its  sutures.  Tlie 
author  urged  upon  travellers  who  wish  to  advance  ethnological 
science,  the  importance  of  analyzing  the  mental  constitution  of 
each  race,  and  of  determining  the  relation  which  it  bears  to  that 
of  the  normal  European. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 

XXXI.  The  Philosophy  of  Religion  among  the  Lower  Races 
0/ Mankind.     By  Edward  B.  Tylor,  Esq.* 

The  belief  in  spiritual  beings,  and  the  spiritualistic  philosophy  of 
Nature  connected  with  this  belief,  may  be  called  '^  SpirituaUsm,'* 

*  Ab  the  subject  of  this  paper  will  be  treated  with  detailed  evidence  by 
the  author  in  a  forthcoming  work  on  '  Primitive  Culture/  an  abstract  only  is 
here  reproduced. 

VOL.  II.  2  B    nr\r\n\o 

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370  E.  B.  Tylor— 77*e  Philosophy  of  Religion 

and  is  often  so  called.  But  the  word  has  this  obvious  defect  to 
us — that  it  has  become  the  designation  of  a  peculiar  modem  sect, 
who,  indeed,  hold  extreme  spiritualistic  doctrines,  but  who  cannot 
be  taken  as  typical  of  the  theory  of  spiritualism  among  mankind 
at  large.  It  may  therefore  be  found  convenient  to  use  for  the 
belief  in  spiritual  beings  the  not  unknown  term  of  Ammism. 

This  animism  is,  in  fact,  the  groundwork  of  the  philosophy  of 
religion  at  large,  from  the  religion  of  savagery  to  that  of  civilized 
life.  It  may  be  taken  as  the  minimum  definition  of  religion,  in  an- 
swering the  often  repeated  question,  ^^Have  such  and  such  a  tribe 
a  religion  ?  "  If  they  are  animists,  we  may  say  "  Yes."  And 
though  this  definition  of  minimum  religion  may  seem  bare  and 
meagre,  it  will  be  found  practically  to  carry  more  than  at  first 
appears.  For,  first,  he  who  believes  in  spiritual  beings  will 
generally  be  found  to  believe  them  active  as  to  his  own  life 
here  and  hereafter ;  and  secondly,  he  who  believes  in  such  active 
spirits  will  generally  put  himself  into  intercourse  with  them, 
seeking  to  propitiate  them,  and  thus  will  arise  some  form  of 
prayer  and  worship. 

Here  arises  a  profoundly  interesting  question,  "  Are  there,  or 
have  there  been  human  tribes  so  low  in  culture  as  to  have  no 
religious  conceptions  whatever?  "  This  is  an  old  question,  and 
has  been  aflSrmed  and  denied  for  thousands  of  years  with  a  con- 
fidence that  may  seem  surprising  to  us,  who  see  on  what  imper- 
fect evidence  both  afiirmatiou  and  denial  were  based. 

Ethnographers,  if  looking  to  a  theory  of  development  to  ex- 
plain civilization,  regarding  its  successive  stages  as  rising  from 
low  grades  upwards,  would  receive  with  great  interest  accounts 
of  tribes  devoid  of  all  religion.  Here,  they  will  natiirally  say, 
are  tribes  of  men  who  have  no  religion  because  their  forefathers 
never  had  any.  They  represent  a  prereligious  stage  of  the 
human  race,  above  which,  in  the  course  of  ages,  religious  stages 
have  risen ;  but,  though  in  general  advocating  a  development- 
theory  of  culture,  I  am  imable  to  start  a  theory  of  animism 
from  this  prereligious  condition.  The  niche  is  ready,  but  there 
is  a  difficulty  about  the  statue  to  place  in  it.  I  fail  to  find  the 
existence  of  tribes  in  this  state  proved  by  sufficient  evidence- 
Assertions  of  tribes  said  to  have  no  religion,  but  who  prove,  on 
closer  examination,  to  have  a  good  deal,  and  of  others  whose  reli- 
gious condition  is  obscure,  may  be  had  in  abundance,  but  will  not 
serve  our  purpose.  What  is  wanted  is  a  declaration  by  observers 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  language  of  the  tribe,  and  also 
intimate  enough  to  gain  confidence  on  a  subject  on  which  savages 
are  less  apt  to  be  confidential  than  any  other.  The  savage's  poor 
shy  gods  hide  in  holes  and  comers  before  the  white  man's 
mightier  Deity.      Now  it  is  not  denied  in  the  abstract  that 


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among  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind,  371 

prereligious  tribes  may  have  existed  or  may  still  exist;  but  I  am 
bound  to  say  that,  if  they  exist,  they  must  be  found  among 
extinct  ancient  tribes  or  imperfectly  described  modem  ones. 

Where  low  tribes  have  been  fully  examined,  they  have  been 
found  to  be  animists ;  and  their  animism,  or  spiritualistic  philo- 
sophy, is  the  subject  of  the  present  remarks.  I  may  hint  at  the 
connexion  of  savage  animism  with  its  development  among  higher 
races;  but  my  especial  object  is  to  describe  it  particularly  so  far 
as  it  constitutes  a  philosophic  system  of  nature.  This  I  shall  do 
in  a  very  rough  and  simple  way,  seeking  only  to  delineate  as 
clearly  as  I  am  able  its  main  outlines. 

Animism  divides  roughly  into  two  great  divisions :  (1)  souls ; 
(2)  other  spirits. 

It  is  proper  to  place  souls  first ;  for  the  conception  by  the 
lower  races  of  the  human  soul  seems  to  be  that  on  which  they 
formed  and  modelled  their  general  idea  of  spirits. 

The  savage  mind  appears  to  have  been  especially  struck  by 
two  groups  of  phenomena,  which  they  endeavoured  to  account 
for  on  a  scientific  theory. 

(A.)  That  which  constitutes  the  difference  between  a  living 
and  a  dead  body : — ^the  fading  of  light  from  the  glazed  eyes,  the 
cessation  of  breath,  the  stoppage  of  pulsation,  the  loss  of  con- 
sciousness and  voluntary  movement — in  a  word,  of  the  pheno- 
mena classed  together  under  the  heading  "  Life.''  These  they 
especially  associated  with  the  breath,  how  naturally  we  may 
judge  from  the  story  of  the  deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  Laura  Bridg- 
man's  dream,  which  she  described  by  the  gesture  of  taking 
something  from  her  lips,  explaining  in  words,  '^  I  dreamed  God 
took  up  my  breath  to  heaven.''  The  languages  of  the  world  will 
express  this  deep-lying  connexion  in  the  many  cases  where  the 
word  breath  has  come  to  denote  life  or  soul;  from  the  Austra- 
lian watig  and  the  Malay  Aawa,  to  the  Semitic  nephesh  and  the 
Indo-European  pneuma,  antma,  ghost,  &c. 

(B.)  The  phantom  copy  of  man  seen  in  dreams  and  visions, 
apparently  thin  enough  to  flit  through  space  and  permeate  solid 
nature,  and  to  evade  the  dreamer's  waking  grasp.  This  is  espe- 
cially and  naturally  associated  with  the  shadow,  an  association 
also  well  expressed  in  languages,  from  the  Ojibwa  otahchuk  to 
the  Indo-European  slda,  tmbray  shade. 

Now  the  savage  to  a  remarkable  extent  connects  these  two 
conceptions  into  what  may  be  called  an  apparitional  soul,  a 
ghost-soul.  He  considers  that  what  causes  death  and  what  causes 
visions  and  dreams  are  one  and  the  same.  There  are  some  who 
try  to  separate  them,  as  the  Greenlanders  and  Fijians ;  but  the 
generally  received  connexion  of  the  life  with  the  phantom  into 
a  soul-ghost  is  the  very  key  to  savage  psychology. 

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372  E.  B.  Tylor— 7%€  Philosophy  of  Religion 

Thus  the  Nicaraguans  held  that  when  a  man  dies^  there  comes 
out  of  his  mouth  something  resembling  a  person^  which  is  the 
life,  and  which  departs  to  where  the  man  is ;  but  the  body  re- 
mains here.  Parallel  to  this  is  the  African  conception  of  the 
man's  shadow  seized  by  a  monster,  whereupon  the  man  after- 
wards dies — a  story  which  appears  to  give  the  fundamental  idea 
of  the  well-known  European  folk-lore  tales  of  shadowless  men. 

The  soul-ghost  appears  in  dreams  and  visions.  Live  men's 
souls  may  do  this,  as  when  a  Fijian's  soul  goes  out  in  sleep,  and 
troubles  other  people.  But  especially  the  souls  of  the  dead  are 
supposed  to  do  this.  Thus  Wilson  says  of  the  negroes  that  their 
dreams  are  visits  from  souls  of  deceased  friends,  and  that  the 
habit  of  talking  dreams  over  makes  them  dream  the  more^  till 
they  have  almost  as  much  intercourse  with  the  dead  in  sleep  as 
with  the  living  in  waking;  and  can  hardly  distinguish  dream 
from  fact.  A  familiar  classic  instance  is  when  the  soul  of  Pa- 
troklos  stands  by  Achilles,  like  in  stature  and  the  beauteous  eyes, 
and  the  voice  and  garments ;  Achilles  tries  to  grasp  it  with 
loving  hands,  but  cannot  catch  it,  and  like  a  smoke  the  soul  is 
borne  away.  The  shade-soul  appears  as  a  ghost  in  the  philoso- 
phy alike  of  the  North-American  Indian,  the  African  negro, 
and  the  European  peasant. 

For  obvious  reasons,  the  idea  appears  in  savage  psychology 
that  the  soul  is  sometimes  visible  and  sometimes  invisible.  This 
explains  the  fact  of  only  one  seeing  it  at  once,  though  we 
account  for  this  in  a  different  way  by  the  theory  of  the  subjec- 
tivity of  visions.  This  is  unknown  to  the  savage,  who  (these 
Africans  may  serve  as  a  type)  is  a  man  who  scarcely  distin- 
guishes his  subjectivity  from  objectivity,  hardly  knows  his  inside 
from  his  outside. 

The  animistic  theory,  as  it  explains  death,  so  among  many 
races  explains  sleep,  and  with  this  dreaming  works  in,  as  when 
the  Greenlander  lies  insensible  while  his  soul  goes  out  hunting 
and  visiting.  The  Karens  cleverly  account  for  the  fact  of  our 
seeing  known  places  in  dreams,  by  saying  that  the  leip-pya  can 
only  find  the  way  where  it  has  been  before  in  life.  It  explains 
coma,  where  the  body  lies  senseless  while  the  mind  wakes  with 
new  experiences,  as  when  Australian  or  Khond  sorcerers  go  out 
of  their  bodies  for  spirit-knowledge,  or  where  in  the  Vatns-dsela 
Saga,  the  Finns  sent  to  visit  Iceland  lie  rigid  while  their  souls 
go  out  on  the  errand  and  return  with  information.  Of  classic 
tales  appropriate  to  these  things,  is  the  story  of  Hermotimos, 
whose  body  his  wife  burnt  while  his  soul  was  gone  out  in  search 
of  spiritual  knowledge.  It  explains  sickness,  as  when  the 
Karens  call  back  the  kelah  of  a  sick  man,  and  the  sick  Fijian 
may  be  heard  bawling  £Dr  his  own  soul  to  come  back. 

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,am(mg  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind.  878 

Thus  we  see  what  a  whole  theory  of  savage  biology  is  here^ 
which  explains  life  and  deaths  sleep  and  wakings  swoons  and 
illness^  djneams  and  visions. 

It  is  partly  retained  in  modem  psychology ;  but  we  should 
find  among  modem  peasants  that  a  much  more  nearly  savage 
state  is  retained. 

When  the  body  dies,  the  soul  departs  to  its  place.  Not  con- 
tent with  this,  the  lower  races  assist  nature,  and,  when  a  warrior 
or  chief  dies,  despatch  wives  and  slaves,  whose  souls  are  to  con- 
tinue their  earthly  relations.  Thus  the  Fijian  and  African  are 
buried  with  wives,  slaves,  &c.,  the  custom  extending  upward 
into  the  Hindu  sati,  &c. 

That  animals,  "  our  younger  brothers,''  as  the  North- Ame- 
rican Indian  calls  them,  have  souls  like  men  is  an  obvious  in- 
ference to  the  lower  races,  and  has  continued  to  some  extent 
into  modem  speculative  philosophy.  Therefore  animals  also 
are  sacrificed  for  the  dead ;  the  horse  for  the  Red  Indian,  the 
dog  for  the  Aztec  and  Greeulander,  the  camel  for  the  Beduin. 

Lastly,  not  only  men  and  animals  have  souls,  but  in  savage 
philosophy  things  also,  which  at  any  rate  are  seen  in  dream  and 
vision.  This  doctrine  is  distinctly  believed  among  the  Algon- 
quins,  Fijians,  and  Karens.  All  these  send  objects  for  the  use 
of  the  dead  on  his  journey;  and  though  among  most  savage  and 
higher  races  no  such  theory  is  stated,  yet  we  find  it  considered 
that  the  objects  are  for  use,  and  will  pass  into  the  possession  of 
the  deceased.  Thus  in  Madagascar,  Badama  was  seen  riding 
the  horse  and  dressed  in  the  uniform  buried  with  him ;  the 
Caribs  destroy  slaves,  dogs,  and  weapons ;  the  Guinea  negroes 
oflFer  wives,  elaves,  property,  gold  fetishes,  &c.  for  use  in  the 
other  world.  In  Modern  Asia,  the  Kirghis  kill  horses,  gold  is 
offered  and  implements  of  craft — ^much  as  the  old  Scythian  in 
funerals  sacrificed  wife  and  servants,  gold  vessels,  &c. 

The  importance  of  this  point  consists  in  its  being  a  t^t  whether 
savage  philosophy  dwindles  into  survival,  or  whether,  on  the 
other  theory,  we  are  to  suppose  that  nonsense  is  degraded  into 
sense. 

As  regards  the  details  of  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life  among 
the  lower  races,  no  immortality  is  recognized ;  the  soul  is  ethereal 
and  surviving,  not  inmiaterial  and  immortal.  It  carries  on  a 
mere  continued  existence,  as  shown  by  dreams  and  visions. 
The  descriptions  of  future  existence  current  among  the  lower 
races  are  not  limited  to  a  single  theory,  but  include  every  idea 
likely  to  occur  to  them.  The  conception  may  be  roughly  divided 
as  follows: — 

1st.  The  doctrine  of  the  ghost  hovering  or  wandering  on 
earth,  or  coming  back  occasionally  to  visit  its  former  home,  is 

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874  E.  B.  Tylor— On  the  Philosophy  of  Religion 

displayed  among  mankind  from  savagery  upwards^  especially 
causing  the  prevalent  fear  of  graves  and  the  practice  of  offering 
food  for  the  dead  usual  amongst  most  savage  races^  lasting  on 
among  such  nations  as  the  ancient  Romans  and  modem  Chinese^ 
and  even  now  surviving  in  form  in  the  Eastern  Church. 

2nd.  The  doctrine  of  Metempsychosis.  The  transmigration 
of  souls  of  the  dead  into  other  human  beings  is  well  marked 
among  the  Greenlanders^  where  widows  will  make  it  a  plea  for 
the  adoption  of  an  orphan  child  by  some  rich  man,  declaring  it 
to  have  received  the  soul  of  some  one  of  his  family — or  among 
tribes  of  Nutka  Sound,  who  account  for  the  existence  of  a  dis- 
tant tribe  speaking  the  same  language  by  supposing  them  ani- 
mated by  the  souls  of  their  own  dead.  In  Africa  the  dead  are 
buried  near  the  living,  that  their  souls  may  enter  new-bom 
children.  The  indigenes  of  Africa,  America,  and  Asia  account 
in  this  way  for  likeness  to  deceased  relatives,  and  look  for 
personal  likeness  and  marks  of  ancestors  on  new-bom  in£EUits. 
The  belief  in  transmigration  into  animals  is  well  marked  among 
the  lower  races,  as  in  Greenland,  where  a  man  will  avoid  a 
particular  animal  as  food  on  the  score  of  a  deceased  kinsman 
having  passed  into  such — among  the  Icannas  of  Brazil,  who  ima- 
gine that  brave  warriors  become  beautifril  birds,  and  cowards 
reptiles — or  the  Zulus,  who  believe  that  certain  harmless  com- 
mon house-snakes  are  animated  by  the  souls  of  deceased  kindred. 

The  general  transmigration-theory  takes  especially  its  moral 
bearing  in  India,  where  Brahmins  and  Buddhists,  '^  bound  in 
chains  of  deeds,''  and  "  eating  fmit  of  past  actions,"  migrate 
into  ^^gods,  ascetics,  brahmins,  nymphs,  kings,  counsellors, 
birds,  dancers,  cheats,  elephants,  horses,  sudras,  barbarians, 
wild  beasts,  snakes,  worms,  insects,  and  inert  things.'' 

The  classical  instances,  especially  Pythagorean  and  Platonic, 
are  well  known ;  and  the  doctrine  survived  into  modem  Europe, 
though  now  fallen  into  contempt. 

8rd.  The  doctrine  of  the  residence  of  departed  souls  in  another 
world.  The  conceptions  of  this  spirit-world  among  the  lower 
and  higher  races  are  various,  and  we  have  not  a  key  for  their 
full  understanding;  but  it  may  be  observed  that  the  next  world 
has  been  located  in  every  place  which  was  likely  to  occur  to  the 
minds  of  savage  tribes.  One  thought  is  very  prevalent  in  these 
conceptions — that  of  taking  the  sun-myth  as  a  type  of  the  destiny 
of  man,  and  placing  the  land  of  the  dead  in  the  region  of  the 
sunset.  Examples  of  the  localization  of  the  land  of  the  dead 
may  be  given.  (1)  The  happy  Western  Islands,  as  to  which 
the  mythology  of  the  modern  Australians  and  Fijians  agrees 
with  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks :  we  ourselves  dwell  in  these 
islands  of  the  blessed ;  for  such  Britain  seemed  to  the  continental 

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among  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind.  375 

nations  of  Europe.  (2)  The  nnder-world  of  the  Eamchadal^ 
whither  the  sun  descends  at  nighty  and  where  souls  of  men 
and  animals  descend;  the  subterranean  cavems^  where  the 
Patagonian  looks  forward  to  a  new  life  of  perpetual  drunken- 
ness ;  and  so  on^  to  the  Sheol  of  the  Jews  and  the  Hades  of  the 
Greeks.  (3)  The  abode  of  Heaven^  whither  the  Winnebagos 
travel  by  the  Milky  Way ;  the  Path  of  the  Dead^  or  where  Tamoi, 
the  Ancient  of  Heaven,  awaits  the  Quarayos  of  Brazil;  and 
so  onward  to  the  fisuniliar  conceptions  of  a  Paradise  in  the 
skies. 

With  regard  to  the  admission  of  the  dead  to  these  regions  of 
new  life,  two  theories  especially  prevail  in  the  world — one  which 
may  be  called  the  continuance-theory,  the  other  the  retribution- 
theory.  The  first,  which  regards  the  new  life  as  but  a  renewal 
of  the  old,  perhaps  dull  and  shadowy,  perhaps  bright  and  happy, 
is  habitual  among  the  lower  races,  and  extends  on  to  the  level 
of  Greeks  and  Israelites.  The  influence  on  morals  of  the  belief 
in  a  future  existence  mainly  depends  on  the  retribution-theory, 
which  expects  in  the  next  world  reward  and  punishment  for 
works  done  in  this. 

With  regard  to  the  grounds  on  which  the  lower  races  accept 
the  doctrine  of  the  future  life,  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
any  views  which  have  become  current  are  supported  by  the  evi- 
dence of  dreams  and  visions.  The  North- American  Indian,  who 
in  a  trance  visits  the  happy  plains  of  the  dead  and  sees  the  souls 
carrying  the  phantoms  of  guns  and  kettles  sacrificed  to  their 
manes,  and  the  Zulu,  who  has  followed  a  porcupine  into  a  hole  in 
the  ground  and  gone  down  to  the  under-world,  where  Zulu  souls 
have  their  huts  and  cattle  as  on  earth,  are  among  the  scores  of 
types  which  among  the  lower  races  show  the  habit  of  visions  of 
a  future  life — ^which  extend,  with  properly  varied  details,  to  the 
Greek  and  Hindu  visits  to  the  judgment-halls  of  Minos  and 
Yama,  and  the  visits  to  the  abode  of  the  dead  from  the  entrance 
to  St.  Patrick's  purgatory. 

In  completing  the  classification  of  orders  of  the  spiritual 
world  as  recognized  by  the  lower  culture,  an  important  group 
has  to  be  noticed  as  intermediate  between  mere  souls  in  their 
ordinary  function  and  superhuman  demons  or  deities.  This 
class  is  that  of  manes,  souls  in  origin,  but  demons  or  deities  in 
quality.  They  thus  form  an  instructive  transitional  series, 
favouring  the  opinion  that  spirits  in  general  are  modelled  on 
human  souls. 

Manes-worship  is  strong  among  savage  races.  The  Polynesian 
and  South  African  propitiate  them  as  the  great  causes  of  good 
and  evil  to  man.  West-A&ican  negroes  and  indigenes  of  Bri- 
tish India  alike  keep  up  their  ancient  cultus,  which  reaches  its 

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376  E.  B.  Tylor— On  the  Philosophy  ofReliffion 

height  in  the  ancestor-worship  which  is  the  essential  religioii 
of  Cbina^  and  suryives  in  fragmentary  relics  among  cultured 
nations. 

Next^  as  to  the  functions  which  spirits  are  considered  to  per- 
form, and  the  phenomena  which  make  a  belief  in  them  a  neces- 
sary part  of  barbaric  philosophy. 

As  soul  enters  into  body  and  agitates  and  works  it,  so  spirit, 
which  may  be  soul,  enters  and  causes  a  wonderful  group  of 
phenomena  when  man,  with  changed  face  and  voice  under 
violent  excitement,  bursts  out  into  floods  of  eloquence  unknown 
in  his  ordinary  state,  into  expressions  of  wisdom  and  mystery 
beyond  his  dsoly  powers.  Patagonian  epileptics  selected  as 
conjurors  drum  themselves  into  fits;  so  Yeddahs  and  Bodo 
work  themselves  into  fits  to  give  information  for  the  cure  of 
patients.  The  Fijian  gazes  at  a  whale's  tooth,  twitches  and  is 
convulsed ;  his  veins  swell,  his  eyes  roll,  sweat  pours  down  his 
limbs,  his  face  is  pale  with  livid  lips,  his  breathing  stertorous : 
now  he  is  possessed,  and  no  longer  a  voluntary  agent ;  he  gives 
answers,  flings  himself  down,  and  says,  '^  I  depart,''  then  has 
his  dinner  and  comforts  himself  with  a  pipe.  Such  a  Polynesian 
could  have  looked  on  at  Delphi,  and  watched  and  listened  to  the 
Pythoness  with  no  surprise  at  proceedings  so  congruous  with  his 
ordinary  notions. 

As  a  human  soul  goes  into  its  body,  so  other  vital  phenomena 
are  accounted  for  by  the  entrance  of  spirits ;  and  thus  we  have 
the  great  theory  pf  disease-possession.  Even  the  Tasmanians  and 
Polynesians  can  feel  demons  knotting  and  twisting  in  their  in- 
side ;  and  the  Mintira  have  a  hatUu  for  each  disease.  Especially 
certain  peculiar  diseases  are  so  explained — epilepsy,  delirium, 
hysteria,  mania,  &c.  The  East  Africans  simply  explain  madness 
and  idiocy  by  saying,  "  He  has  fiends.''  In  South  Afirioa  deU- 
rium  or  fits  are  supposed  to  be  caused  by  possession  by  a  ghost ; 
for  here  still  the  analogy  is  kept  up,  and  the  disease-spirit  is  not 
only  like  a  human  soul,  but  may  be  one.  So  in  British  India 
&c.  the  phenomena  of  demoniacal  possession,  raving,  convulsions, 
breaking  cords,  speaking  strange  things  in  the  name  of  the 
demon  they  suppose  inside  them,  may  still  be  seen  as  of  old, 
and  the  exorcist's  profession  thrives.  We  find  comparatively 
little  of  it  except  in  heathen  countries ;  for  the  influence  of 
Christianity  has  for  centuries  been  turned  to  superseding  it  by 
civilized  medicine. 

The  disease-spirit  has  to  be  got  out  or  away  from  the  patient 
by  the  savage  exorciser ;  and  sometimes  he  only  drives  it  away  as 
people  hunt  away  a  haunting  ghost.  But  here,  again,  some- 
times the  typical  analogy  of  the  human  soul  comes  into  play. 
To  get  rid  of  this  spirit  they  seem  to  say,  let  us  get  it  a  new 


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among  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind.  377 

body  to  enter  or  pervade.  Burton  describes  the  Central  African 
habit  of  transferring  diseases  into  bits  of  stick  or  rag^  &c.^  which 
form  what  is  called  the  keti  or  stool  on  which  the  noxious  influ- 
ence sits ;  and  it  is  got  rid  of  by  hanging  it  to  a  sacred  tree — a 
practice  which,  apparently  in  part  for  the  same  reason,  prevails 
in  Europe,  and  is  not  forgotten  in  Ireland.  Modem  folk-lore 
keeps  up  the  idea  of  transferring  disease  into  objects  such  as 
flowers,  coins,  &c.,  which  are  given  to  others  or  left  for  them  to 
find. 

As  the  soul  may  be  in  or  out  of  the  human  body,  so  other 
spirits  are  held  to  exist  free  or  to  become  embodied.  Thus  the 
South-American  Indians'  rattles,  possessed  by  spirits,  can  receive 
offerings  and  utter  oracles.  Mr.  Darwin  saw  a  dressed-up 
wooden  spoon  become  lunatically  possessed,  and  dance  in  the 
hands  of  the  women  holding  it. 

Objects  thus  possessed  or  inhabited  by  a  spirit  maybe  conve- 
niently defined  as  fetishes ;  and  the  word  fetishism,  brought 
into  use  by  De  Brosses  and  adopted  by  Comte,  may  be  better 
limited  to  this  more  special  meaning  than  allowed  to  cover  the 
whole  range  of  animistic  belief  and  worship. 

To  fetishism  idolatry  belongs  in  great  measure  in  principle. 
Stocks  and  stones  set  up  by  savage  races,  and  identified  with 
ancestors  or  deities,  form  the  lowest  variety  of  idols.  Polyne- 
sian rude  images,  held  to  be  receptacles  inhabited  at  times  by 
the  spiritual  beings  which  go  in  and  out  of  them,  display  the 
principle  of  the  fetish  and  idol  most  perfectly.  Onward  in 
culture,  the  idol  is  either  thus  a  receptacle  for  the  deity,  a  habita- 
tion for  him  as  the  human  body  is  for  the  soul,  or  it  passes  into  a 
purely  symbolic  connexion  with  the  god  it  represents. 

Among  the  lower  races,  the  possession  of  spirits  enables  the 
medium  or  priest  to  give  oracles,  speaking  by  his  voice  or  guiding 
his  divining  instrument,  and  their  power  enables  him  to  perform 
what  are  considered  superhuman  feats.  This  kind  of  spiritual 
action,  which  may  be  traced  from  the  lowest  savagery  onwards 
through  the  whole  course  of  civilization,is  in  our  own  time  renewed 
with  extreme  vigour  in  the  ascription  to  spiritual  influence  of 
the  sounds  of  table-rapping,  the  action  of  the  hand  using  the 
spirit-pen,  &c. 

Spiritual  beings  hold  in  the  lower  philosophy  a  position  im- 
mensely more  important  than  this.  The  philosophy  of  the 
savage  recognizes  a  countless  host  of  spirits  pervading  all  nature. 
To  the  Australian  all  his  world  swarms  with  spirits ;  and  it  is  a 
dismal  symptom  of  the  unhappiness  of  his  condition  that  he 
regards  them  as  generally  ill-disposed  to  the  poor  black  fellow. 
To  the  Ehond  of  Orissa  every  rock  and  hill  is  inhabited  and  every 
action  of  nature  presided  over  by  appropriate  spiritual  beings. 

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378  E.  B.  Tylor— 0»  the  Philosophy  of  Religion 

It  has  been  well  said  of  the  Polynesians  by  Ellis^  that  they  hold 
the  doctrine  expressed  in  Milton's  lines — 

^'  Millions  of  apiritual  creatures  walk  the  earth. 
Unseen^  both  when  we  wake  and  when  we  sleep." 

And  from  this  level  the  doctrine  of  nature-pervading  spirits 
extends  fully  into  mediaeval  European  culture^  and  thence  holds 
on  to  no  small  extent  in  survival. 

What  are  these  spirits  for?  If  it  be  true^  as  the  poet  sings^ 
"  Felix  qui  potuit  rerum  cognoscere  causas/' 
then  the  savage  should  be  happy^  for  here  he  at  least  thinks  he 
has  grasped  the  causes  of  things.  To  him  all  is  the  immediate 
work  of  personal  spirits.  We  have  seen  that  life  and  death  and 
dreams  and  disease  have  spirits  for  causes^  and  so^  to  the  savage 
mind^  nature  throughout  is  animated  nature.  As  the  Abbe  Raynal 
says^  where  there  is  motion,  there  the  savage  supposes  a  soul. 
What  gives  some  men  knowledge  and  power  sometimes,  or  takes 
it  away?  What  makes  strange  noises  in  the  hut  ?  What  pushes 
the  North- American  Indian  into  the  fire?  What  pulls  him 
under  water?  What  drives  the  £Eit  deer  some  days  into  his 
path,  and  some  days  gives  none?  Do  not  go  under  that  tree, 
the  fever  demon  is  sitting  upon  the  branches  ready  to  pounce 
upon  you.  Will  you  cross  the  lake?  Pray,  and  offer  to  its 
Manitu. 

From  the  tiniest  elf  in  the  long  grass  to  the  Gitchi  Manitu,  all 
spirits  are  causes.  The  hamadryad  of  the  tree  grows  with  it,  and 
£es  when  it  falls,  ^'  Non  sine  hamadryadis  fato/'  Every  group 
of  trees,  every  grove  has  its  presiding  genius.  Wells,  wate^rfiedls, 
rocks  have  their  superintending  spirits ;  and  over  these  reigns 
the  higher  Spirit  of  the  Forest,  the  Water,  fcc.  Species  and  tribes, 
animsJ  and  human,  have  presiding  genii.  Whatever  we  may 
judge  of  the  savage  belief  in  spirits,  we  are  not  to  call  it  a  pur- 
poseless fancy ;  for  these  beings  have  full  office  to  perform  in 
being,  as  it  were,  the  souls  of  natural  objects  in  carrying  on 
their  operations.  Phenomena  which  the  savage  referred  to  the 
action  of  personal  spirits,  civilized  peoples  explain  by  theories  of 
another  sort ;  but  we  are  not  to  misunderstand  the  reasonable, 
purposeful  inference  by  which  men  in  the  lower  culture  used  the 
theory  of  animism  to  serve  them  as  a  philosophy  of  nature. 

In  conclusion,  as  to  the  higher  deities  of  Polytheism.  Above 
the  inferior  divinities  of  nature  there  reign  the  great  nature- 
gods,  whose  sway  extends  not  over  this  or  that  district,  but  over 
the  world  at  large — Sun  and  Moon,  Heaven  and  Earth  and  Sea, 
the  Thunder-god,  the  Storm-god.  Evil  deities  are  often  more 
propitiated  than  good,  as  the  savage  seeks  rather  to  appease  his 
enemy  than  please  his  friend ;  and  early  in  savage  culture  ap- 


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among  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind,  379 

pears  that  Dualism  which  divides  spiritual  beings  into  good  and 
evil^  i.  e.  friendly  and  hostile^  each  company  led  by  a  great  deity. 
And  sometimes  a  deity  is  erected  into  supremacy.  Thus  over 
the  polytheistic  system  of  nature-gods  reigns  the  Peruvian  Sun- 
god  ;  the  Heaven-god  is  the  Chinese  Tien  or  the  Greek  Zeus. 
Even  the  system  of  the  manes-worshippers  admits  of  a  primeval 
ancestor  obtaining  the  divine  supremacy,  like  the  UnkulunhUu, 
the  Old-old-one  of  the  Zulus. 

It  has  thus  been  attempted  to  set  forth  very  briefly  the  out- 
lines of  the  lower  animism.  The  theory  of  its  aevelopment  may 
be  thus  recapitulated  :  Man's  earliest  and  primitive  conception 
of  a  spiritual  being  may  well  have  been  that  of  his  own  human 
soul,  the  idea  of  which  served  to  explain  many  of  the  great  phe- 
nomena of  his  own  existence — ^life,  death,  sleep,  dreams,  visions, 
ecstasy,  disease.  Then  he  may  have  extended  this  conception 
to  souls  of  animals,  trees,  even  lifeless  objects.  Then  looking 
to  the  analogy  of  his  own  human  life  to  explain  the  action  of 
Nature  at  large,  he  attributed  to  other  spiritual  beings,  bearing 
strong  likeness  in  form  and  character  to  the  souls,  the  existence 
and  growth  of  a  nature  which  to  him  was  indeed  ^^  animated 
nature''  in  a  sense  fsir  beyond  ours.  These  spiritual  beings  are 
of  many  orders,  from  low  elves  up  to  great  fetish  deities  like 
Heaven  or  Sun ;  and  the  Polytheism  of  low  races  even  shows  traces 
of  approach  to  the  supremacy  of  one  great  deity,  and  thus 
faintly  foreshadows  the  coming  Monotheism.  But  throughout 
his  hierarchy  the  human  conception  served  as  his  model  of  the 
divine. 

This  may  be  called  the  natural  theology  of  the  lower  races. 
It  is  true  that  it  differs  a  good  deal  from  the  natural  theology 
of  which  we  read  in  books.  But  then  we  must  remember  that 
men  like  Paley  and  Butler  drew  their  main  ideas  from  races  at 
a  condition  as  high  at  least  as  the  ancient  Greeks.  Ethnology 
was  scarcely  known  to  them,  or  appreciated  by  them. 

The  great  question  for  ethnographers  is.  Do  these  savage 
views  represent  remnaTit  or  rudiment  ?  If  they  represent  a  rem- 
nant of  broken  down  high  culture,  they  are  of  comparatively 
little  consequence.  But  if — and,  it  seems  to  me,  the  more  we 
work  at  ethnography  the  more  we  shall  admit  this — if  they 
represent  human  thought  at  a  comparatively  rudimentary  stage, 
they  become  of  immense  practical  interest.  To  imderstand  the 
rude  animism  of  the  lower  races,  and  to  trace  it  onward  as  modi- 
fied from  century  to  century  to  fit  with  more  advanced  intelli- 
gence, is  indispensable  to  the  full  comprehension  of  not  only  the 
historical  but  the  actual  position  of  philosophy  and  theology. 


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380       On  Religion  among  the  Lower  Races  of  Mankind. 

Discxrasioir. 

Mr.  HowoBTH  thanked  the  author  for  the  new  and  Buggestiye 
manner  in  which  he  had  treated  a  much-written  about  and  apparently 
trite  subject.  In  illustration  of  his  remark,  that  the  immoktion  of 
the  widow  on  the  pyre  of  her  deceased  husband  is  a  very  widespread 
custom,  the  speaker  observed  that  he  had  met  with  a  curious  illustra- 
tion a  short  time  ago  in  an  essay  by  D'Ohsson,  giving,  from  an 
Arabic  traveller,  an  account  of  the  funeral  of  a  Norse  chie^  which  he 
witnessed  at  Bolghara.  The  body  was  laid  out  in  a  ditch  for  ten 
days.  Meanwhile  the  bark  of  the  deceased  was  dragged  ashore,  a 
splendid  tent  of  Baman  cloth  of  gold  erected  on  it,  in  which  was  put 
a  couch,  and  on  the  couch  the  dead  warrior  in  most  sumptuous  dress. 
His  wives  and  slaves  were  now  asked  which  of  them  would  volunteer 
to  die  on  the  pyre.  An  old  hag,  called  the  Angel  of  Death,  was 
mistress  of  the  ceremonies.  (The  volunteer,  after  drinking  plenty  of 
spirits  and  wailing  a  weird  good-bye  to  her  friends,  was  then 
strangled  and  placed  alongside  her  dead  husband.  Two  horses  were 
then  chased  round  till  they  were  fagged  and  covered  with  sweat 
(apparently  to  make  them  easier  to  catch  in  the  Happy  Land) ;  they 
were  then  killed,  as  were  also  two  hounds  and  a  cock  and  hen.  The 
whole  having  been  thrown  on  the  pyre,  fire  was  applied,  and  in  the 
quaint  language  of  the  Arab,  the  deceased  went  straight  to  Heaven 
instead  of  passing  through  ignoble  worms.  This  account  has  been 
confirmed  to  the  letter  by  the  Cossack  explorations  of  graves  at 
Novgorod. 

With  Mr.  Tyler's  conclusions  the  speaker  could  not  possibly 
agree.  Comparative  mythology,  like  com|>arative  philology  and 
even  anatomy,  cannot  be  safely  treated  empirically.  The  only  scien- 
tific method  is  the  historic.  We  must  trace  up  the  history  of  known 
religions  to  their  sources  if  we  are  to  genen^ize  on  the  source  of 
all  religions.  If  we  approach  our  subject  &om  this  point,  we  shall 
find  that  Mr.  Tyler's  theory  is  untenable.  He  argues  that  polytheism 
is  the  earliest  type  of  religion,  and  that  polytheism  is  ovlj  a  deve- 
lopment of  manes  or  ancestral  worship,  and  was  in  its  origin  invari- 
ably anthropomorphic  Now  among  the  Norsemen  and  the  Greeks 
we  can  actually  trace  the  first  introduction  of  manes-worship  at  a 
very  secondair  state  of  religious  development.  The  demigods  of  the 
Greeks,  like  Odin  and  his  Asirs  among  the  Norsemen,  formed  no 
part  of  their  original  mythology,  which  was  in  both  cases  that  of 
superhuman  deities.  If  we  examine  religions  nearer  home,  in  Italy 
and  Portugal  for  instance,  we  shall  find  that  an  immature  form  of 
polytheism  has  developed  itself  from  a  monotheistic  religion.  The 
army  of  saints,  whose  cultus  is  more  popular  than  and  even  hides 
that  of  the  Deity  himself,  is  but  an  everyday  type  of  the  growth  of 
polytheism.  If  we  examine  the  earliest  records  we  possess,  the  in* 
Bcnptions  of  Mesopotamia,  we  shall  find  a  more  reasonable  theory 
for  the  growth  of  polytheism.  Each  town  and  little  community  has 
its  separate  god,  and  only  one  god,  the  Ood  of  the  Hebrews,  of  the 
Hittites,  &c.     When  several  of  these  communities  were  joined  into 


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Discwsion,  381 

one  state,  the  latter  adopted  these  national  gods  (originally  the 
same  god),  and  thus  formed  a  Pantheon. 

Fetishism  is  the  natural  growth  of  pantheism.  The  uuiversallj 
present  god  is  easily  translated  bj  the  savage  mind  into  a  substan- 
tive god  in  each  material  object.  This  growth  we  may  also  trace  in 
better  known  mythologies ;  spirits  of  woods  and  brooks  and  hills  are 
only  disintegrated  portions  ol  the  one  underlying  spirit. 

Mr.  Howorth  held  that  the  historic  testimony  proved  that  the 
simplest  and  earliest  form  of  religion  is  monotheism,  from  which 
the  various  faiths  of  savages  have  grown — luxuriantly  grown  very 
often ;  and  where  we  see  the  introduction  of  a  monotheistic  creed 
among  a  polytheistic  race,  it  is  only  another  instance  of  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  more  cultured  human  mind  reverting  to  its  original  and 
most  ancient  creed. 

Mr.  Hyde  Clabee  called  attention  to  the  phenomena  connected 
with  the  com|)arative  psychology  of  the  subject — ^the  animistic  ten- 
dencies of  animals.  Those  who  have  experience  of  the  domestic 
animals  know  that  they  have  superstitions  like  ourselves.  The  dog 
or  the  horse  is  affected  by  the  same  strange  appearances  as  is  the 
man,  and  has  the  like  dread  of  ghosts  and  spirits.  It  might  be  asked 
how  animals  obtained  these  ideas ;  but  Mr.  Tylor  had  afforded  a  clue 
by  his  reference  to  the  experience  of  man  in  dreams  as  to  phantoms 
and  creatures  of  a  disturbed  imagination.  The  mind  of  a  dog  being 
constituted  like  that  of  a  man,  he  has,  there  can  be  no  reasonable 
doubt,  the  same  phenomena  of  dreaming,  and  in  the  disordered 
condition  of  the  senses  at  the  moment  of  waking  would  see  distorted 
images,  which  are  treated  as  actual  experiences.  In  this  way  he 
accounted  for  the  growth  of  superstition  in  animals,  although  they 
have  no  means  of  intercommunication,  except  by  the  propagation  of 
fear  at  the  sight  of  some  object  of  alarm. 

With  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  the  souls  of 
ancestors  to  children,  he  would  suggest  that  it  may  be  partly  due  to 
the  natural  phenomena  of  atavism.  Where  it  has  been  observed 
that  a  child  inherits  the  likeness  or  qualities  of  a  grandparent 
(those  of  the  grandsire),  it  was  easy  to  suppose  that  he  has  inherited 
the  soul.  Mr.  Tyler's  doctrine  of  the  influence  of  the  dual  idea  of 
p;ood  and  evil  in  animistic  developments  should  be  extended  to  the 
influence  of  the  dual  sexual  idea,  as  more  notably  in  its  application 
to  the  sun  and  moon  and  the  nature-gods. 

Mr.  Ttlob,  in  a  brief  reply,  called  attention  to  the  citation  by 
Jacob  Grimm  (in  his  *  Verbrennen  der  Leichen ')  of  the  remarkable 
Slavonic  wife-sacrifice  noticed  by  Mr.  Howorth.  With  regard  to 
the  argument  for  monotheism  as  the  original  doctrine  of  mankind, 
Mr.  Tylor  pointed  out  that  the  course  theology  has  taken  in  the 
world  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  religions  of  savage  races  afford 
explanations  of  otherwise  obscure  beliefs  and  rites  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  not  pice  versd ;  so  that'it  is  rather  in  the  doctrines  of  low 
tribes  than  among  high  nations  that  original  theological  conditions 
are  to  be  sought. 

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382       Professor  Huxley— On  the  Ethnology  of  Britain. 

Special  Msetino^  Mat  lOth^  1870. 

[Hdd  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Royal  School  of  Mines,  Jermyn  Street,  by  permu- 

sionof  Sir  Roderick  L  Murchison,  Bart,,  K.C.B.,  F,R&,  Director- General 

of  the  Geological  Survey  of  the  United  JBSngdom,] 

Pbofessob  Huxlet,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

New  Member. — P.  O'Callaghan,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.S.A. 

The  HoNOBABY  Secretary  read  a  letter  firotn  Lieut.  Oliver, 
R.A.,  relative  to  the  recent  destruction  of  the  Menhir  of  Le 
Quesnel  in  Jersey*. 

The  President  then  delivered  an  Address,  of  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  abstract : — 

XXXII.  On  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.     By  Professor 
T.  H.  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

The  President  commenced  his  observations  by  a  reference  to 
the  earliest  information  given  by  ancient  writers  concerning  the 
inhabitants  of  these  Islands.  This  information  relates  pardy  to 
the  physical  characters  of  the  natives,  and  partly  to  their  lan- 
guage. Much  unnecessary  confusion  has  arisen  from  not  keeping 
these  two  subjects  distinct  from  each  other ;  and,  in  accordance 
with  Professor  Max  Miiller,  the  President  strongly  insisted  on  the 
necessity  of  pursuing  the  study  of  language  apart  from  that  of 
the  physical  characters  of  a  people. 

JuUus  Csesar,  like  many  other  men  of  his  time,  is  somewhat 
reticent  on  such  subjects ;  but  Tacitus,  who  wrote  a  century 
later,  gives  much  fuller  information.  These  early  accounts 
show  that  probably  in  the  time  of  Caesar,  and  certainly  in  that 
of  Tacitus,  there  existed  in  these  islands  two  distinct  types  of 
population : — ^the  one  of  tall  stature,  with  fieiir  skin,  yellow  hair, 
and  blue  eyes ;  the  other  of  short  stature,  with  dark  skin,  dark 
hair,  and  black  eyes.  We  further  learn  that  this  dark  popula- 
tion, represented  by  the  Silures,  bore  considerable  physical 
resemblance  to  the  people  of  Aquitania  and  Iberia;  while  the 
fair  population  of  parts  of  South-East  Britain — the  present  coun- 
ties of  Kent  and  Hants — resembled  the  BelgSB  who  inhabited  the 
North-East  of  France  and  the  country  now  called  Belgium. 
These  Belgse,  again,  were  closely  akin  in  physical  characters  to 
the  tall  fair  people  who  dwelt  on  the  east  Dank  of  the  Khine, 
and  were  called  Germani. 

These  two  distinct  ethnological  elements  probably  coexisted 
in  these  islands  when  the  country  was  discovered  by  the  Romans ; 
and  the  subsequent  invasions  to  which  Britain  has  been  sub- 
jected have  not  introduced  any  new  stock,  but  have  merely 
affected  one  or  other  of  the  preexisting  elements.     During  the 

•  See  '  Journal  of  the  Ethnological  Society/  April  1870,  p.  65. 


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Professor  Huxley — On  the  Ethnology  of  Britain,        883 

four  centuries  of  Roman  occupation^  people  of  many  nation- 
alities were  introduced  in  tlie  legions ;  but  at  the  present  time  it 
is  difficulty  if  not  impossible,  to  determine  whether  their  in* 
fluence  tended  to  strengthen  the  fair  or  the  dark  element  in  our 
population.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  subsequent  invasions, 
by  people  speaking  dialects  aUied  to  the  Low  Dutch,  from 
the  shores  of  North  Germany  bordering  on  the  Baltic  and  the 
North  Sea,  strengthened  the  fair  type,  without  introducing  any 
new  stock ;  and  the  Danes  also  assisted  in  giving  prominence 
to  the  fair  modification.  The  ethnological  influence  of  the 
Norman  conquest  was  to  form  the  subject  of  the  paper  to  be 
read  in  the  course  of  the  evening;  but  the  speaker  ob- 
served that,  whatever  may  have  been  the  eflFect  of  that  inva- 
sion, it  certainly  did  not  introduce  any  new  element  into  our 
population. 

Reference  to  the  Continent  shows,  that  over  the  northern  and 
central  portions  of  Europe  there  stretches  a  wide  area  occupied 
by  a  fair,  tall  population  similar  to  that  which,  as  far  back  as  our 
history  extends,  has  existed  in  Britain.  On  the  contrary,  in 
Spain,  in  Southern  Prance,  and  on  the  North  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean, there  are  certain  people  who  may  be  referred  to  the 
same  dark  type  as  that  represented  in  Britain.  Hence  it  may 
be  said  that  a  fair  population  exists  in  the  north  and  centre  of 
Europe,  and  a  dark  population  in  the  south. 

Evidence  may  be  adduced  to  show  that  the  language  spoken 
by  both  these  types  of  people  in  Britain,  at  and  before  the 
Roman  conqiiest,  was  exclusively  Celtic.  This  evidence  is  fur- 
nished not  only  by  the  statements  of  Csesar  and  other  early 
writers,  but  also  by  the  testimony  of  ancient  monuments  and 
local  names.  Probably  the  Cymric  dialect  of  Celtic  was  spoken 
throughout  Britain,  whilst  the  Gaelic  dialect  was  confined  to  Ire- 
land. 

While  the  two  physical  types  of  people  in  Britain  thus  spoke 
one  language,  it  was  otherwise  with  the  corresponding  types  on 
the  Continent.  The  inhabitants  of  Northern  and  Eastern  Oaul 
spoke  Celtic — probably  Cymric ;  but  the  people  to  whom  the 
fair  portion  of  the  population  of  Gtiul  was  physically  allied,  and 
who  dwelt  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  spoke  Teutonic  dia- 
lects. Diflisrent  as  the  Teutonic  and  Celtic  languages  are,  philo- 
logers  declare  them  to  be  cognate,  both  belonging  to  the  Aryan 
or  Indo-European  family.  But  philologers  are  unable  to  refer 
to  this  group  the  languages  spoken  by  the  ancient  population  of 
Aquitania  and  Iberia.  There  we  have  a  large  area  occupied  by 
the  Basques  or  Euskarians,  who  speak  a  language  which  has  no 
affinity  with  any  other  known  Eur- Asiatic  language.  At  the 
present  day  the  Euskarian  area  has  been  so  largely  encroached 

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384  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

upon  that  it  is  reduced  to  a  portion  of  its  primitive  dimensions. 
And  it  is  to  this  circumstance^  possibly^  that  we  must  ascribe 
the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  modem  Basques  are  fair 
people.  Looking  at  the  characters  of  the  present  inhabitants 
of  the  old  Euskarian  area^  however^  it  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  the  Euskarian-speaking  people  were  essentially  dark.  Thus, 
on  the  Continent  there  were  two  types  of  people  speaking 
distinct  languages^  while  in  Britain  there  were  two  correspond- 
ing types  speaking  one  common  language. 

Considerable  changes  in  this  language,  however,  were  conse- 
quent upon  the  foreign  invasions.  The  Saxon  invaders  brought 
with  them  their  Teutonic  dialects ;  and  these,  to  a  great  extent, 
supplanted  the  preexisting  Celtic.  Hence  at  the  time  of  the 
Norman  conquest,  Celtic  was  but  little  spoken  in  the  east  and 
southern  parts ;  but  it  long  retained  its  place  in  Wales,  Cornwall, 
and  the  western  parts  of  England.  At  the  end  of  the  tenth,  or 
beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  we  had  therefore  a  primitive 
population,  consisting  of  the  dark  stock  in  the  west  and  the 
fair  in  the  east,  the  latter  replaced  to  some  extent  by  another 
fair  stock  speaking  a  different  language.  Such  was  the  state  of 
the  country  at  the  period  of  the  Norman  invasion. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author : — 

XXXIII.  The  Influence  of  the  Norman  Conquest  on  the  Eth- 
nology 0/ Britain.    By  Dr.  T.  Nicholas,  M.Af,  F.G.S.,  &c. 

The  question  before  us  has  received  but  slender  notice  bom 
either  historians  or  ethnologists.  In  the  popular  mind  there 
exists  a  certain  fixed  belief  with  respect  to  the  Norman  as  with 
respect  to  the  Saxon  conquest,  which  in  a  manner  puts  a  veto 
on  discussion.  In  itself,  however,  the  question  is  simple ;  and  I 
propose  to  present  its  substance  in  the  barest  form,  avoiding  the 
numerous  historical  and  ethnological  theories  which  fringe  its 
field,  and  thus  facilitating,  I  trust,  its  effective  elucidation. 

Our  evidence  shall  be  mainly  historical.  Arguments  from 
language  and  physical  characters,  always  props  liable  to  slip, 
and  yet  in  some  cases  of  essential  value,  shall  not  in  this  instance 
be  relied  upon.  Nor  is  it  of  much  importance  to  separate  by 
broad  boundary  lines  the  oft-named  races  in  the  early  and  mid- 
age  history  of  France  and  England.  What  the  relations  and 
what  the  distinctions  of  Celts  and  Saxons,  Norsemen,  Franks, 
and  Gauls  may  have  been  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  settle.  There 
may  have  been  Celts,  there  may  have  been  Saxons,  pure  and 
simple ;  or  there  may  have  been  neither :  that  there  are  such  now 


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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         885 

is  altogether  problematical.  The  inhabitants  of  England  when 
Harold  II.  was  king,  may  have  been,  as  some  have  with  com- 
mendable courage  argued,  "  Low  Dutch  /'  and  even  now,  as 
the  same  people  still  more  courageously  maintain,  they  may  be 
such ;  or  they  may,  along  with  the  much-prized  "  Low  Dutch '' 
blood,  carry  some  slight  tinge  of  ancient  British  and  some  slight 
tinge  of  Norse  blood  in  them.  This  does  not  essentially  affect 
our  subject  as  now  proposed  to  be  treated.  One  thing  only  must 
we  lay  down  as  a  postulate  essential  to  a  rational  discussion  of 
the  question — essential,  indeed,  to  the  very  existence  of  ethno- 
logical science — namely,  that  there  do  exist  certain  varieties 
among  mankind,  separating  them  into  races  or  families,  and 
making  classification  and  comparison  possible. 

In  the  light  of  this  postulate  we  may  hold  one  of  three  things 
—-either  that  the  people  of  Britain  and  the  hordes  that  came  in 
with  William  the  Bastard  were  all  of  the  same  variety  or  race, 
or  that  they  were  an  amalgam  of  various  races,  or  were  of  races 
completely  distinct  and  diverse.  But  if  we  held  the  first,  there 
would  be  no  meaning  in  our  discussion — the  Norman  conquest 
could  have  no  ethnological  influence  in  Britain,  any  more  than 
pouring  together  two  quantities  of  the  same  spring  water  would 
have  an  influence  on  the  quality  of  the  water.  In  view  of  a 
more  general  classification,  of  course,  Normans,  Franks,  Bre- 
tons, Oauls,  and  Iberians,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Saxons,  Danes, 
Romans,  and  ancient  Britons,  on  the  other — all  contributors  to 
the  totality  of  our  national  being — ^belonged  to  one  and  the  same 
great  division  of  the  human  species,  commonly  called  Indo- 
European,  and  spoke  varieties  of  one  great  family  of  languages ; 
but  though  all  the  branches  belonged  to  one  tree,  they  were  still 
separate  branches,  and  each  branch  had  its  own  form  and  its 
own  smaller  ramifications,  from  which  you  could  distinguish  and 
name  it.  What  we  call  Scandinavians  and  Norsemen  had  an 
ethnical  character  and  individuality  not  merely  territorial  and 
political;  so  had  the  Angles  and  Saxons;  so  had  the  so-named 
Celts  of  Britain.  Whatever  their  primeval  relationship,  they 
had  come  in  course  of  time,  by  growth  of  habit,  and  various 
physical  influences,  to  possess  separating  characteristics.  How 
far  back  into  the  solitudes  of  prehistoric  ages  we  should  have  to 
go,  if  we  had  a  guide  to  conduct  us,  before  we  saw  such  distinc- 
tions vanish,  and  the  now  named  Norman  and  Gaul,  Saxon  and 
ancient  Briton,  meeting  in  the  same  tribe,  calling  the  same  man 
ancestor,  and  speaking  the  same  language,  we  know  not — pro- 
bably, as  past  time  is  now  by  the  light  of  science  estimated,  not 
very  far ;  and  in  what  measure,  as  the  swelling  tide  of  humanity 
swept  along  the  plains  westwards,  the  waters  met  and  mingled 
and  again  divided,  each  partaking  of  the  substance  of  the  other, 

^^^-  "•  Dgtz^dSy Google 


886  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

and  each  taking  up  in  its  course  some  new  characters  from  the 
lands  and  climes  it  traversed,  we  know  not ;  but  few,  except 
those  who  will  believe  that  each  variety  of  the  race  had  a  sepa- 
rate and  independent  origin,  and  that  race  is  permanent  in  its 
features,  will  fail  to  admit  that  the  Europe  of  Herodotus,  of 
Ptolemy,  and  Tacitus,  had  neither  Celts  nor  Germans,  neither 
Greeks  nor  Iberians,  which  were  such  in  an  exclusive  and  pure 
sense.  That  they  were  such  in  a  qualified  sense,  is  the  common 
belief  of  men  who  ha^e  not  believed  without  reason.  In  this 
same  sense  there  was  an  ethnological  differentia  sufficient  to 
mark  off  the  one  from  the  other  between  the  people  of  Britain 
and  those  of  Normandy  when  William  swore  that  he  would 
possess  the  throne  of  the  Confessor ;  and  the  influx  of  his  follow- 
ers may  thus  be  said  to  have  had  an  influence  on  the  ethnological 
character  of  Britain. 

This,  then,  is  the  scope  of  our  question.  Admitting  that  the 
people  on  both  sides  of  the  channel  had  by  previous  admixtures 
become  possessed  of  many  elements  in  common,  but  had  still 
widely  differentiating  features,  how  far  did  the  so-called  Nor- 
man conquest  produce  a  change  by  making  more  or  less  Teuton 
or  more  or  less  Celtic  the  British  people  ? 

Our  inquiry  may  be  distributed  under  the  three  following 
heads : — 

1.  What  presumably,  subject  to  the  qualified  notions  as  to 
race-purily  we  have  indicated,  were  the  proportions  of  race- 
elements  in  Britain  prior  to  the  Conquest  ? 

2.  What,  under  the  same  qualifications,  were  the  race-elements 
in  Normandy  and  the  general  field  whence  William  gleaned  his 
followers  ? 

3.  Having  thus  determined  the  quality  of  the  body  to  be 
affected,  and  the  quality  of  the  body  to  affect  it,  the  next  point 
will  be  to  estimate  the  quantity  of  the  influendng.  agent. 

(1.)  The  first  ofthese  need  only  be  touched  upon^cursorily.  To 
any  man  freed  from  the  ideas  instilled  in  the  nursery,  and 
capable  of  ascertaining  and  believing  facts,  it  must  be  clear  that 
the  people  called  English  in  the  11th  century  were  not  the  un- 
mixed descendants  of  the  Jute,  Frisian,  Saxon,  and  Anglian 
heroes  who  achieved  what  is  usually  termed  the  "  Saxon  Con- 
quest/' A  powerful  imagination,  with  idiosyncratic  views  of 
facts,  alone  can  picture  us  the  English  of  to-day  as  proper 
children  in  direct  line  of  Hengist,  Ella,  Cerdic,  XJflGa,  and  Ida, 
and  their  followers ;  for  the  grounds  usually  relied  on  for  such  a 
representation  are  as  utterly  legendary  as  the  fables  of  Hercules, 
Perseus,  or  the  Argonautic  Expedition,  although  it  would  be 
hypercritical  to  deny  the  historical  personality  of  most  of  the 
great  Germanic   chiefs.       The  fact  that  we  spoke  English  a 


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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         387 

thousand  years  ago  and  speak  English  now  is  no  proof  whatever 
of  our  being  ethnologicallj  Anglian.  The  French  spoke  a  Latin 
tongue  a  thousand  years  ago  and  speak  it  now^  and  yet  are  not 
Latin.  The  blacks  of  the  Southern  States  may  speak  English 
for  a  thousand  years  to  come,  as  they  do  now ;  but  that  circum- 
stance will  not  make  them  descendants  in  a  direct  line  from 
Englishmen.  For  ages  Britain  has  been  a  reservoir  into  which 
most  of  the  nationalities  of  Europe  have  been  pouring.  We 
have  forged  and  welded  the  mass  together^  in  the  process  driving 
out  much  of  the  dross,  and  formed  a  race  greater  and  nobler 
than  most  others.  But  let  us  not  call  this  race  "  Saxon/'  or 
'^  Anglo-Saxon/'  or  ^' Anglo-Saxon-Danish-Norman.'*  It  is 
more  and  greater  than  all  these  put  together. 

It  matters  little  what  name  we  attach  to  the  people  whom 
Caesar  found  in  Britain.  Perhaps  the  familiar  designation 
"Ancient  Britons''  is  the  best.  Whether  they  were  Celts,  or 
mixed  Celts,  or  no  Celts  at  aU,  is  not  of  main  import.  But 
whatever  they  were,  that  they  were  not  expelled  bodily  or  exter- 
minated, but  entered  on  a  large  scale  into  the  new  nationality 
formed  after  the  (xermanic  conquest,  is  all  but  demonstrably 
certain. 

As  we  have  nothing  worthy  of  the  name  of  connected  history 
to  rely  upon,  we  must  fall  back  on  a  few  fragmentary  but 
authentic  facts,  and  on  such  reasoning  from  those  facts  as  his- 
torical criticism  warrants.  We  can  judge  what  the  Britons 
would  do  in  their  conflict  with  the  Germans  from  what  they  un- 
deniably did  in  their  conflict  with  the  Romans.  For  the  Roman 
period  we  have  history,  and  we  know  from  the  testimony  of 
Roman  writers  themselves  that  these  old  Britons  were  numerous 
and  powerful  enough  to  supply  the  Roman  legions,  the  chiefest  of 
the  Roman  generals,  and  several  of  the  Roman  Emperors  in  per- 
son with  abundant  work  to  effect  their  subjugation  in  260  years, 
t.  e.  from  Csesar  to  Severus  (b.  c.  55  to  a.  d.  211),  a  period  which 
equals  the  space  from  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  to  the  present 
time,  and  to  render  more  than  irksome  the  task  of  keeping  them 
-in  subjection  200  years  more.  If  they  had  had  a  combined 
organization,  it  is  highly  probable  Rome  would  never  have  got 
the  mastery ;  but,  as  Tacitus  says,  ^^  they  fought  in  sections, 
and  were  overcome  in  detail"  (Vita  Agric.  xii.).  They  were 
subdivided  into  minute  sovereignties,  jealous  of  each  other,  and 
almost  habitually  in  a  state  of  war  amongst  themselves ;  and  the 
first  attacked  by  a  foreign  foe  had  to  bear  the  brunt,  until  the 
sense  of  general  peril  compelled  some  kind  of  cohesion.  Then, 
let  it  be  remembered  that  Rome,  as  soon  as  Britain  was  formed 
into  a  province,  did  its  utmost  to  foster  the  growth  of  the  natives 
as  the  best  way  to  recruits  and  revenue — and  that,  when  the 

Digle^b^OOgle 


388  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

legions  abandoned  the  province^  all  over  Britain  there  was 
spread^  sparsely  doubtless  in  some  tracts^  a  settled  civilized 
population^  familiarized  with  home-life^  subject  to  law,  holding 
property,  and  masters  of  the  land.  This  population,  though, 
nwre  suo,  it  soon  again  became  torn  into  factions,  was  present  at 
the  extremest  points  of  the  land.  The  people  of  the  North  had 
only  to  cross  the  wall  of  Severus  to  encounter  them.  The  Jutes, 
landing  on  Thanet,  met  them.  The  Angles,  on  the  eastern  and 
north-eastern  coast,  and  the  Norsemen  on  the  west,  met  them. 
Now,  is  it  conceivable  that  the  German  pirates  and  warriors  could, 
if  they  tried,  utterly  annihilate  or  expel  such  multitudes  of  such 
people  ?  Is  it  conceivable  that  they  would  try,  if  they  could, 
when  it  was  their  obvious  interest,  after  subduing,  to  use  them  as 
soldiers,  as  tillers  of  the  soil,  and  for  the  various  crafts  in  which 
they  were  so  well  instructed?  Is  it  likely  that  the  Germanic 
people  in  Britain  would  pursue  a  policy  different  from  that  pur- 
sued by  their  brethren  the  Franks  in  Gaul,  the  Visigoths  in 
Spain,  and  the  Ostrogoths  in  Italy?  In  all  these  cases  subju- 
gation was  immediately  followed  by  conciliation.  .The  conquered 
were  partly  reduced  to  servitude,  and  partly  settled  as  freemen 
on  the  soil  they  had  before  held.  The  Britons,  it  is  true,  had 
surpassed  all  other  nations  in  their  resolution  not  to  yield;  and 
this  is  the  reason  why  their  Germanic  invaders  had  to  fight  inch 
by  inch,  as  the  Romans  had  had  to  do,  for  the  conquest,  and  only 
accomplished  it  after  about  140  years  of  resolute  conflict ;  but  it 
is  quite  conceivable  that  this  very  circumstance  would  lead  to  a 
more  general  though  more  gradual  amalgamation. 

It  is  quite  conceivable  that  a  small  body  of  invaders  could 
overcome  a  large  population  far  more  civilized,  especially  if  taken 
in  detail.  This  was  seen  done  under  BoUo  in  Neustria :  but  sub- 
jugation of  a  people  through  triumph  in  battle  is  not  extermina- 
tion; and  there  is  not  a  scrap  of  reliable  historical  data  to 
favour  the  idea  that  the  Old  Britons  of  Southern,  Central,  and 
Northern  Britain,  any  more  than  of  Western  Britain,  were  ever 
destroyed  or  removed  from  the  soil. 

Besides,  it  would  be  perfectly  extravagant  to  suppose  that 
communities  so  large  as  are  implied  in  the  Saxon  Heptarchy  or 
Octarchy  could  have  been  formed  so  speedily  out  of  Germans  who 
had  come  over  in  the  open  boats  of  the  period,  and  their  descen- 
dants. And  even  if  it  were  conceded  that  most  of  the  male 
progenitors  of  such  multitudinous  subjects  were  Germanic,  it 
still  remains  more  than  probable  that  the  mothers  were  native 
women;  for  robber  bands  did  not  carry  the  women  of  their 
country  with  them  when  in  search  of  settlement  or  plunder;  so 
that  the  increase  of  the  population  would  be  as  much  in  favour 
of  British  as  of  Germanic  blood. 


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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         389 

In  fine,  it  may  reasonably  be  concluded  that  in  the  blood  of 
Engla*land,  when  onited  under  Egbert,  there  was  a  considerable 
preponderance  of  that  of  the  ancient  British  race — a  race  which 
we  do  not  hold  to  be  purely  Celtic  any  more  than  the  Germanic 
race  was  purely  Teutonic,  or  purely  any  thing  else.  But  constant 
accessions  from  the  Continent,  and  especially  the  growth  of 
Northern  blood  through  the  Danish  invasions,  though  perhaps 
not  sufficient  to  create  an  equilibrium,  doubtless  brought  far 
nearer  to  an  equality  the  proportions  of  ancient  British  and 
foreign  elements  in  the  population  of  England. 

Such,  then,  were  the  race-elements  in  Britain,  by  and  by  to 
be  disturbed  or  confirmed  by  the  Norman  conquest.' 

(2.)  The  race-elements  of  the  regions  whence  the  so-called 
"  Norman  '^  conquerors  were  derived. 

To  determine  this  matter  we  must  cast  a  glance  at  those 
regions  as  they  were  settled  before  the  North-men  had  a  place 
as  a  ruling  community  in  Prance — and  then  at  the  nature  of 
the  Norman  conquest  of  Rouen  and  the  surroimding  country, 
the  nucleus  of  Normandy,  estimating,  as  far  as  we  can,  the 
amount  of  northern  blood  introduced  into  the  region  afterwards 
so  called.  It  will  soon  appear  that  the  name  was  no  faithfiil 
exponent  of  the  race,  any  more  than  the  name  France  is  of  the 
nationality  of  that  country.  This  region  was  a  part  of  that 
wider  territory  which,  as  Caesar  tells  us,  was  inhabited  by  the 
OaUi — a  people  usually  considered  more  purely  Celtic  than  the 
Belgse  of  the  North-east,  more  Celtic,  therefore,  than  the 
Cymri  and  Britons,  and  divided  by  a  still  wider  line  from  the 
Aquitani  or  Iberi  of  the  south-west.  It  was  possessed  of  a  large 
number  of  towns  and  a  considerable  population,  divided  into 
several  tribes  or  clans.  On  the  breaking  up  of  the  Roman 
Empire  in  the  fifth  century,  Clovis,  or  Chlodwig  (a.d.  486),  the 
head  of  a  Teutonic  tribe,  and  of  the  family  of  Merowig,  which 
occupied  a  tract  of  country  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Somme, 
pushing  his  way  westward,  became  master  of  the  GaUi  as  far  as 
the  eastern  limits  of  Armorica.  It  would  seem  from  the  best 
authorities  that  the  conquest  effected  by  Clovis  and  the  hordes 
which  followed  him  imder  the  name  of  "  Frank-manni,''  or  *^  free- 
men,'*  was  comparatively  without  bloodshed*  They  met  with 
strenuous  opposition  in  the  eastern  parts,  the  territory  of  the 
Belgse ;  but  on  reaching  Rheims,  Clovis  became  a  Christian,  and 
of  the  orthodox  Roman  Church ;  and  henceforward  his  progress, 
as  argued  by  Thierry,  was  a  matter  of  diplomatic  arrangement 
through  the  bishops,  the  customary  mediators  between  the 
Roman  Emperor  and  the  provincials.  From  the  Somme  to  the 
borders  of  Brittany  the  Franks  were  admitted  as  masters  almost 
without  opposition ;  in  fact  the  people  who  had  been  ruled  by 

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890  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

the  Romans  wanted  masters.  The  change  was  simply  a  change 
of  rulers,  with  the  addition  of  some  Germanic  rules  respecting 
the  relation  of  classes  and  the  occupation  of  land.  The  masters 
were  alone  Frank-manni,  all  others  being  in  a  state  of  more  or 
less  subjection  or  bondage.  The  title  ''  Franks  "  was  thus  for 
a  long  time  applied  as  a  social  rather  than  an  ethnological  de- 
signation, until  at  last  it  lost  its  specific  meaning,  and  settled 
down  as  a  national  and  geographical  term.  The  new  sovereignty 
thus  set  up  by  the  Frank-manni  extended  from  Antwerp  to 
Bennes,  and  fix)m  Calais  to  Nevers. 

What  is  worthy  of  especial  notice  in  this  new  occupation  is 
the  fact  that  it  reduced  but  by  a  very  small  number  the  native 
Gallic  population,  and  added  but  a  very  small  proportion  of 
Frankish  immigrants.  The  district  occupied  was  large :  the 
Merovingian  tribe,  though  terrible  in  warlike  power,  was>  small. 
The  parts  subsequently  embraced  under  the  name  Normandy 
were  the  most  distant  westward,  and  the  last  and  easiest 
brought  under  rule,  so  that  here  the  disturbance  was  smallest 
and  the  influx  of  alien  blood  least.  M.  Guizot  notifies  a  striking 
difference  between  the  Neustrian  Franks  and  their  brethren  of 
the  Oster-^rike,  or  Austrasian  kingdom  on  the  Rhine,  in  that  the 
latter  were  far  more  dense  and  compact  than  the  former.  The 
Neustrian  Franks  had,  indeed,  taken  possession  of  so  wide  a  ter- 
ritory that  they  were  obliged  to  spread  themselves  sparsely  over 
the  underlying  native  race. 

This  was  the  first  Frankish  conquest  of  the  region.  In  about 
300  years  another  followed.  This  was  brought  about  by  that 
more  concentrated  and  more  intensely  Germanic  family  of 
Franks  which  held  the  Austrasian  kingdom.  In  the  8th  century, 
when  the  earlier  Franks  and  the  natives  had  well-nigh  forgotten 
their  separate  origin  and  were  nearly  fused  into  one  people, 
Pepin  and  his  son  Charlemagne  overran  the  whole  country,  and 
established  a  new  Frankish  dynasty — the  Carlovingian.  The 
change  now  introduced,  though  not  accompanied  by  greater 
violence,  was  far  more  radical  and  disturbing  than  the  former. 
A  larger  proportion  of  strangers  was  thrust  in,  and  the  old  social 
system  was  more  disintegrated.  But  the  language,  religion,  and 
manners  which  Rome  had  given  Gaul  were  not  dislodged.  And 
as  Charlemagne  aspired  to  create  an  empire  even  transcending 
in  glory  the  Roman,  he  pursued  a  policy  similar  to  that  of  the 
Romans  in  his  humane  treatment  of  the  subjugated.  In  fact  the 
new  order  of  things  was  greatly  in  favour  of  the  natives.  Of  the 
conquest  by  Pepin,  M.  Guizot  says :  ''  Never  was  a  revolution 
accomplished  more  easily  and  noiselessly.  Pepin  possessed  the 
power;  the  fact  was  converted  into  right;  neither  resistance 
nor  protest  of  sufficient  weight  to  have  a  trace  in  history  was 

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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         391 

offered.  Every  thing  seemed  to  remain  the  same ;  nothing  was 
changed  except  a  title.  Yet  it  is  certain  that  a  grand  event  had 
happened — ^that  the  change  marked  the  end  of  a  particular  social 
state  and  the  beginning  of  another^  a  veritable  epoch  in  the  his- 
tory of  civilization  in  France/' 

In  this  second  Prankish  conquest^  therefore^  as  in  the  firsts  no 
attempt  was  made  to  dislodge  the  inhabitants.  The  high  places 
of  society  were  occupied  by  the  ruling  Franks ;  but  the  next  lower 
strata,  and  especially  the  multitude  below,  continued  what  they 
had  always  been — substantially  Gallic  or  Celtic. 

We  may  mention,  in  passing,  that  after  the  death  of  Charle- 
magne and  the  dismemberment  of  his  empire,  during  a  period  of 
anarchy  and  confusion  scarcely  equalled  in  the  history  of  civilized 
nations,  and  mainly  through  the  power  of  feudalism,  several 
dukedoms  or  countships  were  set  up,  which  virtually  were  in- 
dependent soYcreignties,  although  doing  nominal  homage  to  the 
King  of  what  was  now  called  France.  Brittany  had  always  pre- 
served a  kind  of  independent  existence;  but  now  arose,  one 
after  another,  the  countships  or  dukedoms  of  Anjou,  Poitou, 
Maine,  Guienne,  Burgundy,  Champagne,  Provence,  &c.,  to  define 
and  synchronize  which  has  always  proved  an  impossible  task 
to  French  historians.  This  was  in  fact  the  period  when  feudal- 
ism grew  into  ftdl  stature,  and  spread  with  mysterious  rapidity 
oyer  all  Europe.  With  several  of  these  sovereignties  William 
the  Bastard  had  intimate  relations,  of  which  he  availed  himself 
to  the  full  in  raising  his  army  of  inyasion. 

It  was  at  this  time  of  con^ion,  when  the  kingdom  of  France 
proper  was  in  its  weakness,  and  every  feudal  lord  was  carving 
out  a  petty  kingdom  for  himself,  that  the  Norman  Rollo,  with  a 
troop  of  followers,  made  a  descent  upon  Neustria.  It  will  be 
well  at  once  to  mark  and  estimate  the  volume  of  race-intrusion. 
Kollo  was  the  captain  of  a  robber-band.  He  had  been  banished 
for  a  misadventure  from  the  Danish  Court,  and  set  out  to  mend 
or  make  his  fortune  by  such  means  as  might  be  effectual.  He 
led  no  army.  He  carried,  as  was  the  fashion  in  those  days,  a 
troop  of  desperate  fireebooters,  in  small  boats  capable  of  skim- 
ming shallow  rivers,  and  even  of  being  dragged  up  the  banks,  to 
pass  bridges  and  obstructions.  His  men  were  picked,  daring, 
and  strong  of  limb.  He  chanced  to  fall  on  the  coast  of  Neustria, 
probably  not  without  knowledge  of  the  fertility  of  the  land 
and  the  sweetness  of  the  climate,  and  went  up,  plundering  his 
way,  until  he  approached  Bouen.  There  was  no  army  in  exist- 
ence to  meet  them.  Charles  the  Simple  could  scarcely  protect 
his  own  capital  of  Paris.  Accustomed  as  that  coast  had  been  to 
devastation  from  Danish  adventurers  (for  Roilo  was  by  no  means 
atxB  first,  though  he  was  the  most  terrible  visitor  of  his  kind), 


Digitized  by 


Google 


892  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

there  was  no  concert  or  organization  for  defence^  each  feudal 
lord  being  satisfied  if  by  thickness  of  wall  and  depth  of  moat  he 
could  make  scatheless  his  own  castle^  and  pass  on  the  unwelcome 
strangers  to  his  next  neighbour.  The  common  people,  carrying 
their  whole  world  on  their  backs,  made  the  forest  and  the  crags 
their  safe  retreat.  Rollo's  fleet  of  boats  had  nearly  reached 
Bouen  when  the  inhabitants  heard  of  them.  The  city  was  filled 
with  consternation.  Bouen  had  many  stalwart  men,  probably 
far  outnumbering  the  Norman  plunderers ;  but  they  were  not 
fighting  men  in  the  feudal  sense  of  the  term ;  and  it  would  take 
many  men  of  strong  make,  unaccustomed  to  arms,  to  meet  the 
giant  Bollo  himself.  There  was  no  attempt  at  defence.  The 
archbishop,  taking  the  customary  lead,  went  forth  to  meet  the 
pirates  and  to  arrange  terms.  Bollo  and  his  followers  were 
admitted  through  the  gates  as  conquerors.  The  Normans  went 
round  to  view  the  city  j  and  finding  it  a  strong  and  gainly  place, 
chose  it  as  their  home  and  centre  for  further  operations. 

This  is  the  representation  given  of  the  matter  by  Depping,  in 
his  Expeditions  Maritimes  des  Normands,  by  Wace  in  his  Reman 
de  RoUj  and,  following  them,  by  Thierry. 

Having  now  secured  a  footing,  the  chief  recruited  his  smaU 
fighting  force  from  the  citizens  of  Bouen  and  the  district  around. 
The  great  town  of  Bayeux  (the  seat  of  the  old  Baiocapes),  and 
Evreux  (of  the  old  Eburovices),  and  others  were  soon  captured. 
No  time  was  lost  in  formiug  matrimonial  connexions.  Bollo 
took  to  wife  the  daughter  of  the  Count  of  Bayeux,  and  by 
adopting  a  method  of  ruling  at  once  strong  and  wild,  demanding 
nothing  but  feudal  subjection  and  tribute,  became  popular  with 
the  natives.  As  a  stroke  of  poUcy,  he  professed  himself  a  Chris- 
tian ;  he  made  peace,  after  successful  conflict,  with  the  King  of 
France,  and  married  his  daughter,  having  put  away  his  former 
wife  on  the  singular  ground  that  he  was  now  a  Christian  man.  The 
land  of  Normandy  was  granted  him  in  fief,  and  was  duly  parcelled 
out  among  his  followers.  The  Northmen  now  freely  intermar- 
ried with  the  natives,  and,  strange  to  say,  in  two  generations,  as 
Sismondi  has  shown,  had  generally  laid  aside  tiieir  Northern 
speech,  and  adopted  the  Bomanish  language. 

Now,  in  pondering  these  events,  one  cannot  fail  of  feeling  sur- 
prise at  the  fact  that  a  body  so  small  could  conquer  and  possess 
a  region  so  large  and  populous,  the  fief  of  an  established  and 
civilized  kingdom,  and  studded  on  all  sides  with  baronial  castles 
and  intrenched  cities.  The  exact  number  of  the  immigrants 
cannot  be  ascertained,  nor  the  populousness  of  the  towns  and 
districts  they  subdued ;  but  from  the  tenor  of  the  whole  account 
it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the  conquerors  were  but  a  mere  handful 
as  compared  with  the  natives.  To  remove  our  surprise,  how- 
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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain,         893 

ever,  we  liave  only  to  remember  the  marims  and  practices  of  the 
time.  Feudalism,  now  dominant,  had  its  stringent  and  omnipo- 
tent laws.  The  bearing  of  arms  was  an  honour  conferred  only 
on  the  few.  Men-at-arms  were  gentlemen.  The  commonest 
grade  of  people,  firom  whom  the  soldiery  in  our  days  of  standing 
armies  are  drawn,  were  not  men;  and  ^^  chattels''  could  not  be 
supposed  capable  of  bearing  arms.  The  fiefholder,  or  lord,  had 
a  claim  for  militair  and  any  other  kind  of  sorvice  from  his  re- 
tainers; and  the  King,  as  suzerain  of  the  lord,  had  a  claim  on 
him.  But  the  lord,  as  already  observed,  was  often  in  practice 
the  master  of  his  own  territory,  and  the  protectors  of  that  terri- 
tory  were  his  own  men-at-arms.  To  bring  the  army  of  the  king 
to  his  assistance  might  be  a  work  of  long  n^otiation  and  doubt- 
ful result.  When,  therefore,  an  enemy  stronger  than  the  local 
guardians  attacked  a  territory,  the  day  was  his  own.  This  was 
precisely  how  it  was  that  Rollo,  prompt  in  action,  fell  in  purpose, 
with  few  companions,  but  companions  of  the  right  mettle,  sur- 
prised Bouen,  and  obtained  ascendancy  over  the  populous  cities 
and  districts  surrounding  it.  In  those  days  the  prowess  and 
bodily  strength  of  one  man  not  unfrequently  scattered  a  multi- 
tude, and  turned  the  tide  of  battle  when  the  foe  had  well-nigh 
seized  on  victory.  The  Homeric  mode  of  warfare  had  almost 
been  reproduced.  Whoever  has  read  '  Ivanhoe '  will  scarcely 
forget  the  graphic  pictiure  of  feudalism*  and  its  practice  of  arms 
there  given,  or  the  prodigious  valour  and  exploits  of  such 
knights  as  Ivanhoe,  Brian  de  Bois-Guilbert,  and  the  Black 
Knight. 

Now,  when  a  district  had  been  won  by  the  sudden  descent  of 
such  a  small  body  of  men  as  Bollo  and  his  companions,  and  the 
conquest  extended  by  the  aid  of  the  subjugated,  it  were  absurd 
to  suppose  that  the  race-elements  of  the  country  were  greatly 
affected.  The  land  was  still  tilled,  the  vines  tended,  the  cattle 
herded,  by  the  same  race  which  had  done  so  before.  The  con- 
querors  would  soon  stamp  their  own  name  on  the  country,  and 
even  on  its  inhabitants;  but  the  real  change  would  only  be  a 
change  of  name  and  of  name-givers.  The  conquerors  might 
begin  at  once  to  enter  into  a  marriage  alliance  with  the  natives, 
and  might  abandon  their  own  speech,  adopting  that  of  the  land 
they  hsid  won ;  but  this  would  only  give  advantage  to  the  native 
race. 

This  was  precisely  the  case  in  Western  Neustria,  afterwards 
called  Normandy.  The  disturbance  of  the  native  race  by  the 
Norman  was  even  less  than  that  caused  by  the  Frankish  con- 
quest. The  land  was  not  more  the  same  land  than  the  people 
who  dwelt  upon  it  were  the  same  people  as  they  had  been  for 
ages ;  that  is,  they  were  substantially  Gallic. 

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894  Dr.  T.  NiceoLAa— On  the  Influence  of  the 

And  if  this  was  the  case  in  Normandy^  a  fortiori  it  was  the 
case  in  the  regions  lying  eastward  and  southward  of  that  terri- 
tory, while  Brittany,  to  the  west,  was  in  a  more  marked  degree 
than  any  held  by  a  native  race — a  race,  according  to  the  best 
authorities,  not  omitting  scientific  searchers  of  the  present  day, 
more  Cymric  than  the  Belgse,  and  nearly  related  to  the  so-called 
Celts  of  Britain,  through  various  accessions  between  the  5th  and 
7th  centuries  from  the  Cymri  of  Wales,  The  wide  and  fertile 
regions  on  both  sides  of  the  river  Loire,  where  afterwards  we  find 
the  duchies  of  Maine,  Anjou,  Poitou,  Touraine,  the  seats  of  the 
ancient  Arvii,  Pictones,  Turones,  and  on  the  east  as  far  as  the 
Somme,  and  even  the  Scheldt  and  the  Meuse,  the  land  of  the 
ancient  Belg»,  were  all  marked  by  an  immense  preponderance 
of  the  native  race,  the  intrusive  Franks  having  only  given  it  the 
fiEdntest  tinge  of  Grermanic  blood.  All  the  great  writers  and 
almost  all  the  scientific  explorers  of  France  agree  that  the 
modern  French  are  what  in  popular  phrase  we  designate  them, 
a  "  Gallic ''  people — considerably  Aquitanian  or  Iberian,  dark- 
haired  and  swarthy,  to  the  south  and  south-west,  but  prevail- 
ingly Oallic  in  the  much  more  extensive  central  and  northern 
part,  Cymric  or  Belgse  to  the  east,  and  emphatically  Cymric  in 
the  extreme  north-west.  We  should  not  omit  to  mention  that 
M.  Broca,  the  celebrated  ethnologist  of  Paris,  has  recently 
confirmed  this  view,  which  was  the  view  of  M.  W.  F.  Edwards 
and  the  two  Thierrys,  by  minute  and  carefully  conducted  calcu- 
lations. He  has  found,  taking  the  measurements  of  the  militaiy 
conscription  as  his  basis,  that  a  line  drawn  diagonally  across 
France  from  near  Coutances  in  La  Manche  to  Lyons,  and 
another  parallel  to  it  from  a  Uttle  west  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Somme  to  Creneva,  cut  off  to  the  north-west  the  shortest  in 
stature,  whom  he  classes  as  purest  Celtic,  and  to  the  north-east 
the  tallest,  that  is,  the  people  of  Belgic  race,  corresponding  with 
the  GalUa  Belgica  of  Caesar,  leaving  in  the  intervening  space  a 
people  of  medium  height,  representing,  as  M.  Broca  thinks,  the 
ancient  Galli  proper.  He  holds  the  Bretons  to  be  the  most 
unmixed  Celts  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  France,  and  considers 
them  the  key  to  the  ethnology  of  that  country :  "  la  def  de 
Fethnologie  de  la  France  est  en  Bretagne.^' 

I  have  said  so  much  on  this  })oint  of  the  substantially  Gallic 
and,  so-named,  Celtic  character  of  these  regions  with  a  distinct 
purpose ;  for  I  now  desire  to  point  out  that  from  all  these  parts, 
in  greater  degree  from  some,  in  less  from  others,  were  dbrawn 
the  forces  which  William  the  Conqueror  used  in  his  descent  on 
Britain.  It  is  clear  that  this  is  the  most  satisfactory  way  to 
estimate  critically,  in  the  absence  of  definite  statistics,  the  eth- 
nological influence  which  the  Conquest  exerted  on  our  popula- 

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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         395 

tiou.  The  degree  of  that  influence  must  more  appear  from  other 
considerations  again  to  be  mentioned. 

What,  then,  was  the  field  whence  William  gleaned  his  army? 
Normandy,  of  course,  was  Jbhe  first  and  principal  part  of  it.  A 
line  drawn  from  Abbeville  through  Mantes  and  Alen9on  to 
Granville,  in  the  Contentin,  will  nearly  describe  the  inland 
limits  of  this  country.  It  generally  corresponded  with  the 
modem  departments  of  La  Manche,  Calvados,  Ome,  Eure,  and 
Seine-Infmeure.  Having  first,  witii  due  forethought,  got  per- 
mission of  the  Pope  to  enter  and  plunder  England,  and  establish 
there  the  tax-office  of  Peter's-peuce,  his  next  step  was  to  call  a 
council  of  his  barons  and  most  intimate  friends.  They  agreed 
to  his  proposals.  In  ordinary  cases  this  alone  would  be  re- 
quired ;  but  the  enterprise  was  of  a  nature  so  grave  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  Chronique  de  Normandie,  the  barons  advised  that 
the  people  of  Normandy  should  be  consulted.  This  was  a  de- 
parture from  the  rules  of  chivalry  and  feudal  policy  of  great 
import  for  us  to  note ;  for  it  led  to  the  result  that  William's  host 
was  not  a  feudal  agglomeration  of  fief-holders  and  their  men-at- 
arms  simply,  but  an  armed  multitude,  under  recognized  chiefs, 
gathered  from  all  ranks  of  the  people  far  and  near.  William 
called  a  popular  assembly,  and  requested  a  free  expression  of 
their  views.  Opinions  differed ;  for  he  had  now  consulted  men 
many  of  whom  prospered  by  peaceful  pursuits — merchants, 
tradesmen,  agriculturists.  But  the  hero's  tact  and  resolution  at 
last  prevailed,  and  all  Normandy  began  to  pour  in  its  con- 
tingents. 

His  next  step,  yery  significant  to  our  argument,  was  to  make 
proclamation  through  all  the  surrounding  states,  wherever  any 
kind  of  influence  could  avail  him,  inviting  indiscriminately  all 
who  had  in  them  a  love  of  adventure,  all  who  needed  a  better 
fortune,  all  who  could  bring  sword  and  lance,  to  come  to  the 
conquest  and  partition  of  England.  From  William  of  Malmes- 
bury,  Guilielmus  Oemeticensis,  and  Ordericus  Vitalis,  we  learn 
that  the  call  was  promptly  answered  from  all  quarters.  Brit- 
tany, to  whose  ducal  house  William  was  nearly  related,  was 
first  and  most  liberal  in  response. 

Two  of  the  duke's  sons,  Alain  Fergant  and  Brian,  and  the 
lords  of  many  castles  and  important  fie&,  such  as  Raoul  de 
Gael,  Robert  de  Vitry,  Bertrand  de  Dinan,  were  among  the 
Breton  volunteers.  The  young  Count  Alain  alone,  according  to 
Hume,  was  followed  by  no  less  than  5000  men.  Others  fiocked 
in  from  Maine  and  Anjou,  from  Poitou  and  Flanders,  Burgundy 
and  Aquitaine,  and  from  the  very  borders  of  the  Rhine  and 
Italy.  Most  who  came  from  these  distant  parts  were  hungry 
adventurers  and  military  yagabonds,  whose  trade  it  was  to  fol- 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


896  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

low  the  standards  of  any  chief  who  would  pay  or  promise  pil- 
lage, and  who  scarcely  had  a  right  to  anticipate  the  day  when 
noble  families  in  England  would  proudly  trace  their  lineage  to 
them  as  "  Normans  who  came  in  wjth  the  Conqueror  1  '*  All 
who  came  to  swell  the  ranks  were  welcomed  with  eagerness. 
Broad  manors,  castles,  titles,  pillage,  were  freely  promised. 
The  terms  had  a  charm  that  operated  mightily.  Some  joined 
on  regular  pay,  some  on  the  simple  condition  of  licence  to 
plunder,  some  on  the  promise  of  a  Saxon  heiress  in  marriage. 
All  were  satisfied  with  promises,  and  all  were  ardent  for  the 
fray.  Proud  Norman  barons,  Breton,  Flemish,  Anjevin  Counts 
had  already  marked  for  themselyes  those  Saxon  estates  which 
suited  their  cupidity.  Outlaws  and  thieves,  humble  villains  and 
serfs  of  Grallic  and  Frankish  blood  saw  a  chance  of  *'  founding  a 
family.^'  Power  of  muscle  was  now  a  precious  possession ;  for 
he  who  did  most  execution  on  Saxon  flesh  would  most  win  the 
Conqueror's  favour.  The  spirit  of  the  terrible  man's  harangue 
before  the  battle  was  already  interpreted  before  the  Channel  was 
crossed : — "  Remember  to  fight  well  and  put  all  to  death ;  for  if 
we  conquer  we  shall  be  all  rich.  What  I  gain  you  will  gain : 
if  I  take  their  land,  you  shall  have  it." 

Thus  the  Conqueror's  great  army  was  gathered  and  made 
ready  for  embarkation.  It  crossed  the  Channel  and  won  the 
battle  of  Hastings,  and  by  this  one  blow  secured  for  Duke 
William  the  throne  of  England,  and  for  every  man  who  did  his 
work  well  a  substantial  recompense. 

(3.)  One  step  more  to  complete  our  intended  line  of  argument. 
We  have  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  nationality  to  be  ethno- 
logically  influenced  by  the  Norman  conquest  was  probably  not 
Teutonic  or  Germanic  in  a  preponderating  degree,  and  that  the 
populations  whence  the  army  of  the  Conquest  was  drawn  were  be- 
yond doubt  Gallic  and  Cymric  in  a  greatly  preponderating  degree. 
The  latter  proposition,  if  proved,  has  of  course  as  its  corollary 
that  the  army  which  William  brought  over  was  mainly  Gullic 
and  Cymric.  It  was  called  "  Norman,''  in  a  loose  indiscrimi- 
nating  way,  because  it  was  the  army  of  William,  who  was  called 
a  Norman,  and  because  it  came  mainly  from  Normandy  as  a 
recruiting-ground  and  point  of  departure.  We  hold  that  it  was 
not  a  ^'  Norman  army "  ethnologically  considered,  but  an  ex- 
tremely mixed  multitude,  whose  race  was  mainly  the  race  which 
dwelt  in  north-western  Gaul  long  before  RoUo  was  bom  or  the 
name  Normandy  invented. 

We  have  therefore  already  arrived  at  that  stage  of  the  treat- 
ment where  it  is  obvious  what  our  conclusion  as  to  the  Con- 
quest's influence  on  British  ethnology  must  be.  From  our  pre- 
mises, we  have  no  escape  but  to  hold  that  the  so-called  ^'  Nor- 

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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         397 

man  '*  army  made  the  population  of  Britain  in  the  gross  less^ 
rather  than  more,  Teutonic  or  Germanic. 

But  now  comes  the  other  consideration  oi  quantity.  To  what 
degree  did  the  army  of  the  Conquest  add  to  the  non-Germanic 
element  in  Britain  ?  Confining  our  attention  to  the  army  and 
its  crowds  of  ministering  attendants,  the  answer  of  course  would 
be  that  the  degree  would  depend  on  the  number  of  the  invaders. 
This  is  not  the  whole  of  what  must  be  considered ;  but  it  is  the 
first  part  of  it. 

It  has  been  said  by  Mackintosh  and  other  historians  who  have 
somewhat  critically  scanned  the  accounts  of  this  descent,  and 
especially  the  capabilities  of  William^s  transport  vessels,  without 
calling  in  question  the  mere  number  of  those  vessels  given,  that 
the  multitude  which  formed  the  Conqueror's  army  could  not  be 
fiairly  taken  as  exceeding  25,000  men.  Four  hundred  knights 
or  captains  are  mentioned  by  name  in  the  Boll  of  Battle  Abbey ; 
and  it  is  said  by  men  who  have  understanding  in  these  matters 
that  the  custom  of  the  time  would  assign  to  that  number  of 
knights  commanding  such  a  proportion  of  cavalry  and  infantry 
as  would  give  a  total  in  round  numbers  of  about  25,000 ;  but  it 
is  obvious  that  this  would  mean  25,000  soldiers.  The  traditional 
total  is  60,000.  Who  first  sent  the  ball  rolling  by  mentioning  this 
nimiber  none  can  tell.  Considering  the  way  things  of  the  kind  are 
magnified  by  the  popular  wonder-loving  and  imaginative  faculty, 
it  is  satisfactory  to  find  the  army  which  at  a  stroke  brought 
England  to  the  feet  of  the  Norman,  estimated  with  so  much 
moderation.  We  are  willing  that  the  traditional  number  should 
stand,  especially  as  the  concession  will  only  operate  favourably 
to  our  argument.  The  more  you  augment  the  common  soldiery, 
the  more  you  will  augment  the  non-Norman  element. 

Now,  even  if  we  aJlowed  that  all  the  60,000  men  had  been 
veritable  Norsemen,  the  augmentation  of  Scandinavian  blood  in 
Britain  would  not  be  relatively  very  large,  despite  the  fact  that 
the  total  population  of  England  at  the  time  was  probably  imder 
three  millions.  But  the  considerations  abeady  advanced  will 
not  aUow  the  supposition.  Perhaps  not  half  the  knights  com- 
manding companies  were  Normans — ^we  mean  in  the  qualified 
sense  in  which  William  himself,  whose  maternal  ancestors  in 
more  than  one  instance  were,  of  the  earlier  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  was  a  Norman.  We  have  seen  that  a  number  of  the 
chief  knights  were  Bretons,  followed  by  their  Breton  soldiery. 
Many  were  Poitevins,  many  Anjevins,  &c.  The  names  of  a 
large  proportion  of  them  are  palpably  Celtic  or  Gallic,  with 
Norman- French  accretions,  as  De  ilforville,  De  Tbwrville,  De 
TVeby,  De  TVcgoz,  De  Corroy,  De  Br^wville,  Penbri,  TWbot, 
Morley,  &c. 


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398  Dr.  T.  Nicholas— On  the  Influence  of  the 

If  a  large  proportion  of  the  lieutenants  were  thus  Celtic  or 
Oallo-Frankish  (though  I  admit  that  their  being  called  after 
Celtic  local  names  is  not  conclusiye  evidence  that  in  every 
instance  they  were  of  Celtic  or  pre-Norman  race)  what  must  we 
not  believe  as  to  the  nationality  of  the  common  soldiery  and 
camp-followers  ?  Each  knight  had  brought  as  many  retainers^ 
dependents^  villains,  and  seiis  as  he  could  persuade  to  follow 
him.  The  nationality  of  these  is  dear.  Their  class  was  that 
which  conquest  and  feudal  law  l\jad  made  either  servile  or  holdera 
of  humble  fiefs.  Into  this  class  few  of  the  Norman  fraternity 
had  been  suffered  to  descend.  If  race-characteristics  can  be 
supposed  to  be  so  persistent  as  many  hold^  without  renewal  from 
the  original  stocky  in  that  multitude  there  were  some  with  fea- 
tures as  Roman  as  any  that  had  landed  on  the  same  strand  with 
Caesar^  and  some  with  the  German  red  hair  and  round  head 
which  followed  Merowig  and  Chlodowig  from  the  Rhine  country, 
and  not  a  few  from  the  lustrous-eyed  and  black-haired  Iberians 
of  Old  Aqtdtania.  But  it  is  impossible,  I  conceive,  to  doubt 
that  the  great  majority  were  authentic  Gtiuls  and  Celts. 

If  this  representation  be  correct,  then  the  effect  of  the  Norman 
conquest,  so  far,  on  the  ethnology  of  Britain  must  have  been 
greatly  gainful  to  what  I  believe  was  already  in  the  main  a  non- 
Teutonic  or  Old  British,  that  is,  a  Gallo-Celtic  population. 

But  there  are  two  or  three  slightly  qualifying  facts  to  be 
mentioned.  The  conquering  army  was  not  the  only  channel 
guiding  Norman  blood  into  Britain  at  this  period.  Before  the 
conquest^  and  after  the  conquest,  hosts  of  Normans,  perhaps  as 
pure  in  extraction  as  any,  had  settled  here.  All  know  that  in 
the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  whose  mother  was  a  Norman, 
and  who  had  spent  so  large  a  portion  of  his  life  in  the  Court  of 
Rouen  that  he  was  said  to  be  more  French  than  English  when 
he  was  placed  on  the  throne,  great  numbers  of  his  relatives  and 
friends  had  been  brought  over,  or  had  brought  themselves  over, 
and  had  been  placed  in  high  positions,  and  made  the  owners  of 
large  estates.  Malmesbury,  with  his  usual  moderation,  only 
says,  "  The  King  had  sent  for  several  Normans  who  had  for- 
merly ministered  to  his  wants  when  in  exile.'^  So  far  had  this 
work  of  favouritism  gone  on,  however,  that  the  greatest  discon- 
tent and  apprehension  had  been  excited  among  the  English 
party,  and  a  strong  feud  already  existed,  which  required  but 
little  to  kindle  it  into  open  war.  The  Norman  party  was,  indeed, 
small,  but  also  influential.  Bishops  in  those  days  were  potent 
in  state  matters ;  and  Edward  had  seated  a  Norman  prelate  at 
Canterbury,  at  Rochester,  and  at  London.  About  the  King's 
person,  in  the  high  offices  of  state,  in  chief  posts  of  command, 
were  found  Normans.     When  William  the  Bastard,  therefore,  a 

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Norman  Conquest  on  the  Ethnology  of  Britain.         399 

few  years  before  the  Conquest,  came  over  on  a  visit  to  his  royal 
relative,  he  found  himself  surrounded  bv  such  troops  of  his  own 
countrymen  that  he  felt  nearly  as  much  in  Normandy  as  if  he 
had  not  crossed  the  Channel.  It  is  surmised  that  this  was  the 
time  when  the  idea  of  becoming  ruler  of  England  first  took  shape 
in  his  mind.  It  is  true  that  as  yet  the  addition  to  the  Norse 
blood  of  England,  apart  from  the  Danish  importation,  was  but 
smaU,  being  confined  to  chief  families  aud  their  domestics  and 
dependents ;  but  such  as  it  was  it  must  be  taken  into  account. 

A  much  larger  influx  occurred  after  the  Conquest.  The  bar- 
riers had  now  been  thrown  down,  and  all  had  a  right  of  entry. 
The  cowards  who  could  not  fight,  the  soft  and  luxurious,  the 
idle  loungers  and  waiters  on  the  tide-strand  of  fortune  could 
now  come.  The  land  of  the  kingdom,  all  the  patronage  of  the 
kingdom,  had  been  seized  by  the  Conqueror,  and  was  held  in 
his  single  hand ;  and  on  whom  he  pleased  he  bestowed  favour. 
His  terrible  besom  swept  away  all  Saxon  influence,  and  left  the 
ground  clear  for  his  own  partisans.  Under  William  and  under 
his  immediate  successors,  thousands  of  Normans  came  over  who 
had  no  hand  in  the  Conquest  as  such,  except  as  they  contributed 
to  fortify  the  position.  But  in  such  a  body  of  emigrants  purity 
of  Norman  descent  would  rarely  be  found;  nor,  probably,  was 
it  in  any  case  demanded.  AU  who  came  with  Norman  sym- 
pathies, Franco-Norman  speech,  and,  haply,  Norman  names 
were  *'  Normans,'^  were  registered  as  such  in  the  Saxon  mind, 
and  for  ever  after  in  English  history. 

This,  then,  is  the  conclusion  we  arrive  at  from  this  necessarily 
general  review  of  the  subject  in  all  its  parts.  The  people  who 
came  in  with  William  the  Conqueror,  though  called  "  Normans,'' 
were  Norman  in  blood  in  a  lesser,  Cymric  and  Gallo-Frankish 
in  a  far  greater  degree ;  and  making  every  allowance  for  those 
of  purely  Norman  extraction,  who  before  and  after  the  Conquest 
settled  permanently  in  the  country  (for  many  after  a  time 
returned),  the  preponderance  lies  greatly  in  favour  of  those 
social  characteristics  which  were  ascendant  in  Britain  after  the 
Saxon  conquest,  and  had  been  scarcely  balanced  by  the  Teutonic 
after  the  incursions  of  the  Danes. 

DiBOUSSIOK. 

Mr.  Hyde  Clabxs  observed  that  he  was  precluded  by  want  of  time 
from  discussing  at  length  Professor  Huxley's  address,  or  the  paper 
of  Dr.  Nicholas.  Notwithstanding  what  either  had  said,  those  of  tnat 
audience  who  were  Englishmen  and  Englishwomen  would  still  feel 
or  believe  that  they  were  such,  and  neither  Irish  nor  Welsh. 
Ethnological  differences  are  not  to  be  so  summarily  exorcised. 
With  r^;ard  to  the  conclusions  of  Dr.  Nicholas,  they  were  to  be 


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400  Dr.  R.  Caulfield — Note  on  a  supposed 

examined  bj  the  light  of  the  comparative  evidence  of  what  takes 
place  in  the  case  of  an  invading  armj  among  an  alien  population, 
or  the  effect  of  other  influences  than  those  of  numerical  consider- 
ations. In  ethnology,  no  more  than  in  many  other  moral  sciences, 
two  and  two  do  not  alwavs  make  four,  but  three  or  five.  It 
did  not  by  any  means  follow  that  the  addition  of  two  hundred 
thousand  to  a  million  would  a  thousand  years  ago  or  now  be 
represented  by  one-sixth  of  such  blood.  It  was  much  more  likely, 
as  the  fact  could  be  proved  to  be  here,  that  it  was  quite  insignifi- 
cant so  far  as  the  lower  classes  were  concerned,  and  comparatively 
so  with  regard  to  the  higher.  Although  Professor  Huxley  had  laid 
down  his  statements  as  established  by  the  concurrence  of  men  of 
science,  there  was  very  little  capable  of  proof.  No  one  could  safely 
affirm  the  Belgse  were  Germanic.  With  regard  to  the  Iberians  he 
would,  however,  contribute  a  hint  to  strengthen  Professor  Huxley's 
case.  The  latter  thought  that  there  are  no  remains  of  the  Iberian 
language  here.  He  (Mr.  Clarke)  considered  that  this  depended  on 
the  common  assumption  that  all  the  old  local  names  are  Celtic ;  but  it 
will  be  found  that  the  river-names,  although  they  have  received 
Celtic  explanations  and  many  of  them  are  Celtic,  yet  include  many 
which  are  to  be  found  not  only  in  the  Celtic  area,  but  beyond  it  in 
the  Iberian  area.  This  class  of  names,  whether  in  the  Celtic  or 
Iberian  bounds,  is  justly  to  be  separated  as  Iberian. 


Special  Meeting^  June  Ist^  1870. 

IHM  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Royal  United  Service  IngtHutiofi,  WhiUhaU  Yard, 
by  permission  of  the  Council  of  the  Institution,'] 

Professor  Huxley^  LL.D.^  F.B.S.^  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  Honorary  Secretary  read  the  following  letter  firom  Dr. 
Caulfield  :— 

XXXIV.  Note  on  a  supposed  Ooham  Inscription,  yrom  Rus- 
Glass,  Co.  Cork.    By  R.  Caulfield,  Esq.,  LL.D.,  P.S.A. 

Royal  Institulion,  Cork,  April  10, 1870. 
My  dear  Col.  Fox, — You  wiD  receive  with  this  note  a  tracing 
from  a  rubbing  which  I  made  yesterday  from  a  very  large  stone 
containing  what  seems  to  be  an  Ogham  inscription  (PI.  XXV. 
fig.  1 ) .  A  copy  was  brought  to  Cork  on  Saturday  last  by  a  tenant 
of  Lord  Egmont's.  Captain  Tooker  brought  it  to  me,  and  we 
determined  to  go  down  at  once  with  the  view  of  examining  into 
the  matter.  You  may  form  an  idea^  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
stone  when  I  tell  you  that  it  is  29  feet  3  inches  in  circumference, 
9  feet  10  inches  long  by  5  feet  7  inches  in  breadth,  and  4  feet 
6  inches  in  height.     It  is  old  red  sandstone,  and  the  inscription 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


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Ogham  Insaiption,  Jrom  Rw- Glass ,  Co.  Cork.         401 

is  cut  on  a  hollow  part  about  two  feet  from  the  upper  edge ;  the 
stone  appears  originally  to  have  had  a  greater  number  of  letters 
than  are  now  visible,  traces  of  which  may  be  seen  in  different 
parts  of  the  stone.  The  name  of  the  ploughlaad  is  Rus-glass 
(Green  seeds) ;  it  is  in  the  parish  of  Drumtariff,  near  Kanturk, 
on  the  property  of  Mr.  Leader,  late  M.P.  for  the  co.  Cork. 
The  stone,  singular  to  say,  is  split  right  through  the  middle, 
and  the  fissure  seems  quite  smooth  on  the  iuncr  surface.  It  is 
imbedded  in  a  thick  kind  of  loam  in  boggy  ground,  in  a  most 
exposed  place,  and  acted  on  by  every  drop  of  rain  that  falls  or 
wind  that  blows.  There  is  no  legend  about  the  place,  except 
that  when  any  of  the  neighbours  die,  of  which  there  are  very  few 
indeed,  a  bright  fire  seems  to  envelope  the  stone  at  night  when 
the  wake  is  going  on.  I  was  in  two  very  interesting  forts,  viz. 
Carregeen  {Little  rock)  and  the  fort  of  Fermoyle  [Bald  man), 
I  also  saw  most  of  the  remains  of  a  very  remarkable  wall,  built 
of  stones  of  great  size,  without  any  mortar :  it  ran  for  seven  or 
eight  miles  over  a  high  mountain  called  Tureen  (^Little  tower) , 
through  valleys,  down  to  the  brink  of  a  rapid  brook,  continued 
at  the  other  side  on  through  the  county,  over  the  brook  again, 
and  up  the  mountain.  This  ancient  wall  would  be  worth  inves- 
tigation. It  is  called  by  the  country-people  Dixon's  Wall,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  constructed  some  generations  ago. 

Yours  most  sincerely. 

Rich.  Caulfield. 
Col  A.  Lane  Fox,  F.S.A. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XXV. 

Fig.  1.  Rock-markings  from  Rus-Glass,  co.  Cork,  Ireland ;  one-sixth  natural 
ske. 

2.  Ditto  from  Qlauthane,  co.  Cork ;  one-twelfth  natural  size. 

3  &  4.  Ditto  from  North  Wales. 

6.  Ditto  firom  the  stone  called  *'  Carreg  Saethau/'  or  "  Stone  of  the  Ar- 
rows," on  Moel  Faben,  Caernarvonshire. 


DiscxrssioN. 

Col.  Lai7e  Fox  said  that  although  no  one  was  better  entitled  than 
Dr.  Caulfield,  from  his  great  experience,  to  be  heard  on  the  subject 
of  Irish  antiquities,  yet  the  speaker  could  not  help  thinking  that  he 
was  mistaken  on  the  present  occasion,  in  supposing  these  marks  to 
he  Oghams.  They  are  not  on  the  edge  of  toe  stone,  nor  have  they 
any  fleasq  or  central  stem-line ;  nor  do  the  ends  of  the  lines  terminate 
in  the  same  line,  so  as  to  represent  an  imaginary  fleasq, — one  or  other 
of  which  conditions  are  necessary  in  the  case  of  all  Ogham  inscrip- 
tions :  the  lines  do  not  correspond  in  any  way  to  the  Ogham  alpha- 
bet ;  they  are  very  irregular,  and  run  into  one  another.    The  speaker 

VOL.  n.  Digitizaj?GoOgIe 


402  Mr.  J.  P.  Phair — Notes  on  the  Discovery  of 

believed  that  tbey  were  marks  formed  by  people  of  the  iron  age  in 
sbarpening  their  metal  tools  or  weapons.  The  material  (sandstone) 
would  be  very  suitable  for  the  purpose.  Col.  Lane  Fox  exhibited  a 
rubbing  of  another  stone,  similarly  marked  (PI.  XXV.  fig.  2),  which 
he  had  taken  some  years  ago  from  a  standing- stone  on  one  side  of 
the  entrance  of  a  rath  (called  Jack  Dick's  Fort),  in  the  parish  of  Glau- 
thane,  co.  Cork.  It  was  seen  that  the  marks  ran  down  one  side  of 
the  stone  and  along  the  bottom  ;  but  all  were  more  or  less  horizontal, 
which  is  the  position  in  which  they  would  be  most  convenient  for  the 
use  of  a  person  standing  on  one  side  of  the  stone  and  rubbing  hia 
arrow-  or  spear-head  in  che  grooves.  Similarly  incised  stones  occur 
in  North  Wales ;  and  Col.  Fox  had  copied  an  illustration  of  three  of 
them,  given  by  Mr.  Elias  Owen  in  the  *  ArchflBologia  Cambrensis  '  * 
(PI.  XXV.  figs.  3, 4,  &  5).  One  of  these  (fig.  5)  is  on  the  hilUide  of 
Moel  Faben,  the  antiquities  of  which  have  been  described  by  the 
speaker  in  the  *  Journal  of  the  Ethnological  Society '  for  October 
1870,  p.  306.  The  stone  on  which  these  marks  occur  is  known  by 
the  name  of  "  Carreg  Saethau,"  or  "  Stone  of  the  Arrows,"  and  is 
traditionally  believed  to  be  the  place  where  the  ancient  inhabitants 
of  the  district  used  to  sharpen  their  arrows  before  going  to  war. 
There  is  another  circumstance  which  points  very  clearly  to  the 
object  for  which  these  marks  were  used.  The  marks  upon  the  **  Car- 
reg Saethau  "  are  round  the  sides  of  a  shallow  depression  on  the  top 
surface  of  the  rock ;  they  converge  from  the  circumference  towards 
the  centre  or  bottom  of  the  basin.  It  seems  evident  that  this  basin 
was  for  the  purpose  of  holding  water  to  facilitate  the  process  of 
sharpening  the  tools.  Dr.  Caulfield  mentions  in  his  letter  that  the 
marks  upon  the  stone  at  Eus-glass  are  also  at  the  bottom  of  a  similar 
depression  on  the  top  of  the  rock ;  and  this  shows  unmLstakably  that 
they  must  have  been  used  for  a  similar  purpose.  It  is  only  by  a 
comparison  of  similar  relics  in  different  parts  of  the  country  that  we 
are  able  to  form  a  conception  as  to  the  object  of  these  prehistoric 
remains.  He  thought,  therefore,  that  the  thanks  of  the  meeting  were 
due  to  Dr.  Caulfield  for  his  extremely  interesting  communication. 


The  Honorary  Secretary  then  read  the  following  letters 
from  Mr.  Phair  to  Dr.  Caulfield  : — 

XXXV.  Notes  on  the  Discovery  o/ Copper  Celts  at  Butti- 
VANT,  Co.  Cork.     By  J.  P.  Phair,  Esq. 

Buttivant,  April  27, 1870. 
My  dear  Caulfield, — I  send  you  an  outline  of  a  copper 
instrument,  three  of  which  were  found  here  yesterday  by 
a  man  who  was  quarrying.  He  found  them  in  a  cleft  of 
a  rock  (which. forms  one  side  of  a  deep  ravine),  about  4  or 
5  feet  from  the  surface,  and  where  the  rock  begins  to  slope 

*  Vol.  ix.  3rd  series,  p.  382, 1863. 

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Copper  Celts  at  Buttivant,  Co,  Cork.  403 

precipitously.  They  had  not  fallen,  but  had  been  put  in  as 
they  were,  together  side  by  side,  the  broad  and  narrow  end 
corresponding. — Ever  truly  yours, 

J.  P.  Phaik. 
R.  Caulfield,  Esq.,  LL.D. 

Second  Letter  on  the  subject. 

My  dear  Caulfield, — ^Many  thanks  for  your  interesting 
letter  and  the  drawings.  The  rock  is  limestone.  The  fissure 
was  about  5  or  6  feet  deep  and  3  or  4  inches  wide.  Small  stones 
were  over  the  celts,  and  over  all  the  soil  of  no  great  depth. 
They  must  have  been  put  there  for  concealment,  or  they  would 
not  have  been  found  regularly  disposed  at  that  depth  in  so 
narrow  a  fissure.  I  dare  say  they  were  originally  tied  together, 
and  the  bond,  of  whatever  material,  long  since  decayed  away.  The 
position  of  the  find  is  an  exact  English  mile  south  of  the  town, 
and  about  400  yards  south  of  Ballybeg  Abbey.  The  townland 
is  Ballybeg.  So  far  as  I  can  make  out,  there  are  no  raths  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood.  I  am  told  there  was  a  battle  at 
Rilaloosha,  a  mile  away ;  but  my  informant  could  only  tell  me 
that  it  was  "  in  the  time  of  all  the  battles '' !  This  is  rather 
indefinite;  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  it  must  have  been  a 
''  long  time  ago,^'  inasmuch  as  there  was  "  a  giant  killed  there 
that  had  a  horse's  ears '' !  I  have  also  a  rumour  of  a  battle  at 
Ballybeg,  in  the  immediate  vicinity.  If  I  find  out  any  thing 
about  these  battles,  I  shall  let  you  know. — Ever  sincerely  yours, 

John  P.  Phair. 

R.  Caulfield,  Esq.,  LL.D. 


Mr.  C.  Spencb  Bate,  F.R.S.,  presented  a  Report  "On  the 
Prehistoric  Monuments  of  Dartmoor ''*. 


Special  Meeting,  June  7th,  1870. 

\Heid  in  the  Theatre  of  the  Museum  of  Practical  Geology ^  Jermyn  Street ^  by 
permission  of  Sir  Roderick  L  Murchison,  Bart.,  K.C.B,^  F.II.S,,  IHrec^ 
tor- General  of  the  GeohgicaX  Survey  of  the  United  Kingdom.'] 

Archibald  Campbell,  Esq.,  M.D.,  Vice-President y  in  the  Chair, 

New  Member. — Richard  Hill  Tiddeman,  Esq.,  B.A.,  P.G.S., 
of  H.M.  Geological  Survey. 

*  [This  Report  has  been  supplemented  bv  a  communication  read  before  the 
Society  on  December  13th,  18/0.  Both  tne  original  report  and  the  supple- 
ment will  be  published  in  the  next  Number  of  tEis  Journal. — Sub-Ed.  J 

2  D  2     oogle 


40 1«      Prof.  Huxley — On  the  Geographical  Distribution 

The  President  made  the  following  communication  : — 

XXXVI. — On  the  Geographical  Distribution  of  the  Chief 
Modifications  0/ Mankind.  By  Professor  T.  H.  Huxley, 
LL.D.,  F.R.S. 

The  centre  of  the  accompanying  map  of  the  world  (See  Frontis- 
piece)  nearly  corresponds  with  that  of  the  Indo- Pacific  Ocean, 
which  is  bounded  on  three  sides  by  the  great  land-masses  of  the 
Old  and  New  Worlds.  Disjointed  fragments  of  land  separate 
the  Indian  from  the  Pacific  division  of  the  great  ocean,  and 
stretch  like  so  many  stepping-stones  between  the  Malay  penin- 
sula and  Australia,  the  latter,  semicontinental  mass  of  land 
lying  almost  halfway  between  Africa  and  South  America.  The 
indigenous  population  of  Australia  presents  one  of  the  best 
marked  of  all  the  types,  or  principal  forms,  of  mankind ;  and  I 
shall  describe  the  characters  of  this  modification  first,  under  the 
head  of 

I.  The  Australioid  Tyfe  (No.  5  tint  on  the  Map). 

The  males  of  this  type  are  commonly  of  fair  stature,  with  well- 
developed  torso  and  arms,  but  relatively  and  absolutely  slender  legs. 
The  colour  of  the  skin  is  some  shade  of  chocolate-brown ;  and  the 
eyes  are  very  dark  brown,  or  black.  The  hair  is  usually  raven- 
black,  fine  and  silky  in  texture ;  and  it  is  never  woolly,  but  usually 
wavy  and  tolerably  long.  The  beard  is  sometimes  well  developed, 
as  is  the  hair  upon  the  body  and  the  eyebrows.  The  Australians 
are  invariably  dolichocephalic,  the  cranial  index  rarely  exceed- 
ing 75  or  7Qy  and  often  not  amounting  to  more  than  71  or  72. 
The  brow-ridges  are  strong  and  prominent,  though  the  frontal 
sinuses  are  in  general  very  small  or  absent.  The  norma  occipitalis 
is  usually  sharply  pentagonal.  The  nose  is  broad  rather  than 
fiat;  the  jaws  are  heavy,  and  the  lips  remarkably  coarse  and 
flexible.  There  is  usually  strongly  marked  alveolar  prognathism. 
The  teeth  are  large,  and  the  fangs  usually  stronger  and  more 
distinctly  marked  than  in  other  forms  of  mankind.  The  outlet 
of  the  male  pelvis  is  remarkably  narrow. 

These  characters  are  common  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  Aus- 
tralia proper  (excluding  Tasmania);  and  the  only  notable  differ- 
ences I  have  observed  are  that,  in  some  Australians,  the  calvaria 
is  high  and  wall-sided,  while  in  others  it  is  remarkably  depressed. 
No  skulls  are,  in  general,  so  easily  recognizable  as  fair  examples 
of  those  of  the  Australians,  though  those  of  their  nearest  neigh- 
bours, the  inhabitants  of  the  Negrito  Islands,  are  frequently 
hardly  distinguishable  from  them. 

The  only  people  out  of  Australia  who  present  the  chief  charac- 
teristics of  the  Australians  in  a  well-marked  form  are  the  so- 
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CORDING  TO  PROF"HUXL 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC* 


of  the  Chief  Modifications  of  Mankind.  405 

called  hill- tribes  who  inhabit  the  interior  of  the  Deklian,  in 
Hindostan.  An  ordinary  Coolie,  such  as  may  be  seen  among 
the  crew  of  any  recently  returned  £ast-Indiaman,  if  he  were 
stripped  to  the  skin,  would  pass  muster  very  well  for  an  Austra- 
lian, though  he  is  ordinarily  less  coarse  in  skull  and  jaw. 

In  the  accompanying  map,  therefore,  the  deep  blue  colour 
(No.  5)  is  given  not  only  to  Australia,  but  to  the  interior  of  the 
Dekhan.  A  lighter  tint  of  the  same  colour  occupies  the  area 
inhabited  by  the  ancient  Egyptians  and  their  modern  descen- 
dants. For,  although  the  Egyptian  has  been  much  modified  by 
civilization  and  probably  by  admixture,  he  still  retains  the 
dark  skin,  the  black,  silky,  wavy  hair,  the  long  skull,  the  fleshy 
lips,  and  brofldish  alse  of  the  nose  which  we  know  distinguished 
his  remote  ancestors,  and  which  cause  both  him  and  them  to 
approach  the  Australian  and  the  "Dasyu''  more  nearly  than 
they  do  any  other  form  of  mankind. 

It  is  a  most  remarkable  circumstance  that  no  trace  of  the 
Australioid  type  has  been  found  in  any  of  the  islands  of  the 
Malay  archipelago,  all  the  dark-skinned  people  who  occur  in 
some  of  these  islands  and  in  the  Andamans  being  Negritos.  On 
the  other  hand,  no  Negroid  type  is  known  to  occur  between 
the  Andamans  and  East  Africa,  the  darker  elements  of  the 
Southern  Arabian  population  being  Australioid  rather  than 
Negroid. 

II.  The  Negroid  Type  (Nos.  1,  2,  8). 

As  the  chief  representive  of  the  Australioid  type  is  the  Aus- 
tralian of  Australia,  so  is  that  of  the  Negroid  type  the  Negro 
of  South  Africa  (including  Madagascar)  between  the  Sahara  and 
what  may  be  roughly  called  the  region  of  the  Cape. 

The  stature  of  the  Negro  is,  on  the  average,  fair,  and  the  body 
and  limbs  are  well  made.  The  skin  varies  in  colour,  through 
various  shades  of  brown  to  what  is  commonly  called  black ;  and 
the  eyes  are  brown  or  black.  The  hair  is  usually  black,  and 
always  short  and  crisp  or  woolly :  the  beard  and  body-hair 
commonly  scanty.  Negroes  are  almost  invariably  dolichoce- 
phalic. I  have  not  met  with  more  than  one  or  two  skulls  with 
an  index  of  80,  while  indexes  of  73,  or  less,  are  not  uncommon. 
The  brow-ridges  are  rarely  prominent,  the  forehead  retaining  a 
good  deal  of  the  feminine,  or  child-like,  character.  The  norma 
occipitalis  is  often  pentagonal,  but  not  so  strongly  as  in  the  Aus- 
tralioid skull.  Prognathism  is  general ;  and  the  nasal  bones  are 
depressed :  hence  the  nose  is  flat  as  well  as  broad.  The  lips 
are  coarse  and  projecting. 

The  Bushmen  of  the  Cape  area  (No.  1)  must  be  regarded  as  a 
special  and  peculiar  modification  of  the  Negroid  type.     They  are 

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406      Prof.  Huxley — On  the  Geographical  Distribution 

remarkable  for  their  low  stature,  the  males  rarely  much  exceeding 
four  feet  in  height,  while  the  females  may  fall  considerably 
below  that  stature.  Both  sexes  are  remarkably  well  made.  The 
skin  is  of  a  yellowish-brown  colour,  the  eyes  and  hair  black,  and 
the  latter  woolly.  They  are  all  dolichocephalic ;  and  the  brim 
of  the  female  pelvis  has  its  antero-posterior  diameter  longer 
than  the  transverse,  in  a  larger  proportion  of  cases  than  in  other 
forms  of  mankind.  One  of  the  most  curious  peculiarities  of  the 
people  is  the  tendency  to  the  accumulation  of  fat  on  the  buttocks, 
and  the  wonderful  development  of  the  nymphae  in  the  females. 
The  Hottentots  seem  to  be  the  result  of  crossing  between  the 
Bushmen  and  ordinary  Negroes. 

In  the  Andaman  Islands,  in  the  Peninsula  of  Malacca,  in 
the  Philippines,  in  the  islands  which  stretch  from  Wallace's 
line  eastward  and  southward,  nearly  parallel  with  the  east  coast 
of  Australia,  to  New  Caledonia,  and,  finally,  in  Tasmania,  men 
with  dark  skins  and  woolly  hair  occur  who  constitute  a  special 
modification  of  the  Negroid  type — the  Negritos  (No.  3).  Only 
the  Andamans  have  presented  skulls  approaching  or  exceeding 
an  index  of  80 ;  all  the  other  Negritos,  the  crania  of  which 
have  been  examined,  are  dolichocephalic.  But  the  skulls  of  the 
eastern  and  southern  Negritos  present,  as  I  have  mentioned,  a 
remarkable  approximation  to  the  Australioid  type,  and  differ 
notably  from  the  ordinary  African  Negroes  in  the  great  brow- 
ridges  and  the  pentagonal  norma  occipitalis.  The  best-known 
and  the  most  typical  of  these  eastern  Negritos  are  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Tasmania  and  of  New  Caledonia,  and  those  of  the 
islands  of  Torres  Straits  and  of  New  Guinea.  In  the  outlying 
islands  to  the  eastward,  especially  in  the  Peejees,  the  Negritos 
have  certainly  undergone  considerable  intermixture  with  the 
Polynesians ;  and  it  seems  probable  that  a  similar  crossing  with 
Malays  may  have  occurred  in  New  Guinea. 

III.  The  Xanthochroic  Type  (No.  6). 

A  third  extremely  well-defined  type  of  mankind  is  exhibited 
by  the  greater  part  of  the  population  of  Central  Europe.  These 
are  the  Xanthochroi,  or  iEair  whites.  They  are  of  tall  stature 
and  have  the  skin  almost  colourless,  and  so  delicate  that  the 
blood  really  shows  through  it.  The  eyes  are  blue  or  grey ;  the 
hair  light,  ranging  from  straw-colour  to  red  or  chestnut;  the 
beard  and  body-hair  abundant.  The  skull  presents  all  varieties 
of  forms,  from  extreme  dolichocephaly  to  extreme  brachycephaly. 
On  the  south  and  west  this  type  comes  into  contact  and  mixes 
with  the  "  Melanochroi,''  or  "'  dark  whites,"  while  on  the  north 
and  east  it  becomes  mingled  with  the  i>eople  of  Mongoloid  type. 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


of  the  Chief  Modifications  of  Mankind.  407 

who  bound  it  on  that  side.  Its  extreme  north-west  limit  is 
Iceland;  its  south- west  limit  the  Canary  Islands;  its  south 
border  lies  in  Africa  north  of  the  Sahara^  in  Syria,  and  Northern 
Arabia;  its  south-eastern  limit  is  Hindostan;  while  in  a  north- 
easterly direction  traces  of  it  have  been  observed  as  far  eastward 
as  the  Yenisei.  I  have  not  ventured,  however,  to  draw  the  red 
bars  which  indicate  the  existence  of  this  type,  alongside  of  an- 
other, so  far  to  the  east,  as  one  really  knows  very  little  about  the 
people  of  Central  Asia. 

IV.  The  Mongoloid  Type  (No.  8). 

An  enormous  area,  which  lies  mainly  to  the  east  of  a  line 
drawn  from  Lapland  to  Siam,  is  peopled,  for  the  most  part,  by 
men  who  are  short  and  squat,  with  the  skin  of  a  yellow-brown 
colour ;  the  eyes  and  hair  black,  and  the  latter  straight,  coarse, 
and  scanty  on  the  body  and  face,  but  long  on  the  scalp.  They 
are  strongly  brachycephalic,  the  skull  being  usually  devoid  of 
prominent  brow-ridges,  while  the  nose  is  flat  and  small,  and  the 
eyes  are  oblique.  The  Malays  proper,  and,  I  suspect,  the  indige- 
nous people  of  the  Philippines  who  are  not  Negritos,  fall  under 
the  same  general  definition. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese,  in  whom  the 
skin,  hair,  nose,  and  eyes  are  like  those  of  the  Mongoloids  just 
mentioned,  are  dolichocephalic ;  and  the  Ainos,  also  dolichoce- 
phalic, are  distinguished  for  the  extraordinary  development  of 
hair  on  their  faces  and  bodies. 

The  Dyaks  of  the  interior  of  Borneo  are  likewise  dolichoce- 
phalic; and  these  people,  and  thcBattaks  of  Sumatra,  the  so-called 
Alfurus  of  Celebes,  and  the  inhabitants  of  other  easternmost 
islands  of  ''  Indonesia,^'  seem  to  me  to  pass  insensibly,  through 
the  people  of  the  Pelew  Islands,  and  of  the  Caroline  and  Ladrone 
archipelagos,  into  the  Polynesians,  in  whom  the  straightness  of 
the  hair  and  the  obliquity  of  the  eyes  disappear,  while,  in  the 
majority,  the  skull  is  long  and  often  approximates  to  the  Aus- 
tralioid  type.  I  have  never  met  with  a  brachycephalic  Maori, 
though  I  have  examined  a  large  number  of  New-Zealand  skulls. 
Brachycephaly,  however,  occurs  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and 
apparently  in  the  Samoan  Islands*. 

As  linguistic  evidence  leaves  no  doubt  that  Polynesia  has 
been  peopled  from  the  west,  and  therefore,  possibly,  from  Indo- 
nesia, it  becomes  an  interesting  problem  how  far  the  Polynesians 
may  be  the  product  of  a  cross  between  the  Dyak-Malay  and 
the  Negrito  elements  of  the  population  of  that  region.  I  am 
inclined  to  think  that  the  differences  which  have  been  over  and 

*  llie  Easter-Island  skulls  I  have  seen  are  long. 

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408       Prof.  Huxley — On  the  Geographical  Distribution 

over  again  noted  between  the  elements  of  the  population  in 
Polynesia,  and  notably  in  New  Zealand^  may  be  due  to  such 
a  mixed  origin  of  the  Polynesians. 

To  the  north-east,  the  Mongoloid  population  of  Asia  comes 
into  contact  with  the  Tchuktchi,  who  are  said  to  be  physically 
identical  with  the  Esquimaux  and  Greenlanders  of  North  Ame- 
rica. These  people  combine,  with  the  skin  and  hair  of  the 
Asiatic  Mongoloids,  extremely  long  skulls.  The  Mongoloid 
habit  of  skin  and  hair  is  also  visible  in  the  whole  population  of 
the  two  Americas;  but  they  are  predominantly  dolichocephalic, 
the  Patagonians  and  the  ancient  mound-builders  alone  present- 
ing unmistakable  brachycephaly. 

I  have  been  much  perplexed  to  know  in  what  way  to  give  a 
graphic  representation  of  these  facts.  It  seems  quite  impossible 
to  draw  any  line  of  distinction,  based  on  physical  characters, 
among  the  so-called  "American  Indians;''  and  therefore  a 
uniform  colour  is  given  to  the  area  which  they  occupy  (8  c) . 
I  have  given  the  Esquimaux  area  a  diflFerent  colour  (9)  rather 
for  the  purpose  of  reminding  the  student  of  the  very  peculiar 
character  of  the  type,  when  well  marked,  than  because  I  conceive 
it  to  be  sharply  distinguished  from  that  of  the  North- American 
Indians.  This  colour  (9)  has  by  misadventure  been  extended 
over  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  Kamschatka,  which  should 
rather  in  all  probability  receive  the  same  hue  as  8  b.  The 
strongly  coloured  area  (8  a),  finally,  is  intended  to  indicate 
roughly  the  distribution  of  the  Mongols  proper.  It  is  a  most 
singular  circumstance  that  there  is  the  same  sort  of  contrast, 
combined  with  certain  definite  points  of  resemblance,  between  a 
Mongol  and  an  Iroquois  that  there  is  between  a  Malay  and  a 
New-Zealander;  and  in  the  huge  Americo- Asiatic  area,  as  in 
the  only  less  vast  space  occupied  by  the  Polynesian  islands,  it  is 
possible  to  find  every  gradation  between  the  extreme  terms. 

The  four  great  groups  of  mankind,  the  areas  of  which  have 
now  oeen  defined,  occupy  the  whole  world,  with  the  exception  of 
western  and  southern  Europe,  cis-Saharal  Africa,  Asia  Minor, 
Syria,  Arabia,  Persia,  and  Hindostan.  In  these  regions  are 
found,  more  or  less  mixed  with  Xanthochroi  and  Mongoloids, 
and  extending  to  a  greater  or  less  distance  into  the  conterminous 
Xanthochroic,  Mongoloid,  Negroid,  and  Australioid  areas,  the 
men  whom  I  have  termed  Melanochroi,  or  dark  whites.  Under 
its  best  form  this  type  is  exhibited  by  many  Irishmen,  Welshmen, 
and  Bretons,  by  Spaniards,  South  Italians,  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Arabs,  and  high-caste  Brahmins.  A  man  of  this  group  may,  in 
point  of  physical  beauty  and  intellectual  energy,  be  the  equal 
of  the  best  of  the  Xanthochroi :  but  he  presents  a  great  con- 
trastj   in  other  respects,   to  the   latter    type;    for  the  skin, 


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of  the  Chief  Modifications  of  Mankind,  409 

though  cleOr  and  transparent,  is  of  a  more  or  less  brown  hue, 
deepening  to  olive,  the  hair,  fine  and  wavy,  is  black,  and  the 
eyes  are  of  a  like  hue.  The  average  stature,  however,  is  ordinarily 
lower  than  in  the  Xanthoehroic  type,  and  the  make  of  the  frame 
is  usually  lighter.  In  Hindostan  the  Melanochroi  pass  by  in- 
numerable gradations  into  the  Australioid  type  of  the  Dekhan, 
while  in  Europe  they  shade  off  by  endless  varieties  of  inter- 
mixture into  the  Xanthochroi. 

I  have  great  doubts  if  the  Melanochroi  are  to  be  regarded  as 
a  primitive  modification  of  mankind  in  the  sense  in  which  that 
term  applies  to  the  Australioids,  Negroids,  Mongoloids,  and 
Xanthochroi.  On  the  contrary,  I  am  much  disposed  to  think 
that  the  Melanochroi  are  the  result  of  an  intermixture  between 
the  Xanthochroi  and  the  Australioids.  It  is  to  the  Xanthochroi 
and  Melanochroi,  taken  together,  that  the  absurd  denomination 
of  '^  Caucasian"  is  usually  applied. 

Perhaps  the  most  interesting  fact  which  comes  into  promi- 
nence in  the  map  of  the  distribution  of  these  great  groups  of 
mankind,  is  the  contrast  between  the  broad  and  general  unifor- 
mity which  prevails  over  such  an  enormous  area,  exhibiting  every 
diversity  of  climate  and  physical  conditions,  as  that  of  the  two 
Americas,  and  the  singular  variety  crowded  into  a  relatively 
small  area  elsewhere,  as,  for  example,  in  the  Pacific.  Here,  if 
we  follow  one  and  the  same  zone  of  latitude  for  a  few  thousand 
miles  of  longitude  from  east  to  west,  we  pass  from  Polynesian 
Mongoloids,  in  the  Navigators,  or  the  Friendly  Islands,  to 
Negritos  in  the  New  Hebrides,  and  to  Australioids  on  the  main- 
land of  Australia. 

A  fact  of  this  kind,  taken  alone,  is  sufficient  to  show  that 
causes  of  quite  a  different  character  from  mere  changes  of 
physical  conditions,  operating  upon  the  same  stock,  must  have 
been  required  to  give  rise  to  the  phenomena  presented  by  the 
present  distribution  of  mankind. 

Discussion. 

Mr.  G-EOEGE  CampbelIj  observed  that  it  was  difficult,  on  the  spur 
of  the  moment,  to  approach  so  great  a  subject  treated  by  so  great  an 
authority.  With  respect  to  the  supposed  connexion  between  the 
aborigines  of  India  and  the  Australians,  he  would  ouly  at  present  say 
that  all  the  information  which  he  had  collected  respecting  those  primi- 
tive Indian  races  tended  in  the  direction  which  Professor  Huxley  had 
pointed  out.  To  what  the  Professor  had  said  he  might  add  that  there 
was  good  reason  to  suppose  that  certain  traces  of  lingual  affinities 
between  the  Dravidian  aborigines  and  the  Australians  existed.  But 
these  Indian  aborigines  presented  a  field  for  much  further  inquiry. 
There  y^ere  great  materials  for  further  investigation,  and  great  facili- 
ties now-a-days  for  obtaining  more.  He  trusted  that,  when  Professor 
Huxley's  words  went  forth  to  the  world,  many  zealous  and  capable 


410       Prof.  HuxLifiY — On  the  Geographical  Distribution 

men  on  the  spot  would  be  prompted  to  follow  out  the  line  of  inves- 
tigation which  had  been  inaicated,  and  that  a  year  or  two  hence  we 
should  be  in  a  position  to  carry  the  matter  much  further. 

On  one  other  branch  of  Professor  Huxley's  great  subject  he 
would  like  with  much  diffidence  and  deference  to  say  a  few  words. 
The  Professor  seemed  to  have  put  our  old  friends  the  Aryans  and 
Semites  into  his  crucible  and  melted  them  away  completely,  so  that 
not  a  trace  of  them  was  left  to  us ;  but  out  of  the  material  he  had 
composed  two  other  races  whom  he  called  Xanthochroi  and  Mela- 
nochroi.  Now,  doubtless,  if  he  had  gone  further  into  the  details 
the  Professor  might  have  been  able  to  tell  us  of  other  features  dis- 
tinguishing those  two  races ;  but,  so  far  as  we  had  yet  heard,  the 
distinction  was  founded  on  the  one  single  feature  of  colour  alone. 
Nothing  seemed  to  be  as  yet  so  little  certain  as  the  source  and  per- 
manency of  human  colour.  He  was  not  going  to  try  to  set  the 
Aryans  and  Semites  on  their  legs  again ;  in  fact  he  very  much 
doubted  whether,  looking  to  palpable  physical  features,  it  could  be 
said  that  there  is  any  such  race  as  the  Semites ;  but  taking  Aryans 
and  Semites  together  under  the  old  name  of  Caucasians,  he  would 
ask  to  be  allowed  to  go  to  other  features  besides  colour,  and  also  for 
the  present  to  omit  language,  and  to  suggest  another  classification  of 
the  Caucasian  races  with  reference  to  the  most  palpable  features. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  certain  Caucasian  countries  presented  to  the 
eye  what  he  believed  to  be  the  extreme  and  perfect  form  of  the  Cau- 
casian race,  the  handsome  high-featured  people  best  known  in  this 
country  as  the  Jewish  type.  All  who  were  acquainted  with  the 
north  of  India  would  testify  to  the  great  predominance  of  a  very 
handsome  type  of  this  kind  among  the  Afghans  and  peoples  of  the 
hills  to  the  north-west  of  India ;  it  was  the  uniform  remark  that 
these  people  were  very  Jewish-looking,  These  people  were  Aryans. 
It  was  the  same  type  which  prevailed  among  the  Aryan  Persians,  and 
again  among  the  Jews,  Syrians,  and  Northern  Arabians,  commonly 
called  Semites.  But  the  Central  and  Southern  Arabians,  in  fact  the 
mass  of  the  Arab  people,  w^ere  by  no  means  of  this  type.  Palgrave 
constantly  contrasts  the  short,  swarthy,  small-featured  Arabs  with 
the  tall,  handsome,  hook-nosed  Persians.  He  (Mr.  Campbell)  believed 
then  he  might  assert  as  a  fact  that  the  high-nosed,  handsome-featured 
people  occupied  a  continuous  area  from  the  Syrian  shores  of  the 
Mediterranean  through  Northern  Arabia  and  Persia  to  the  sources 
of  the  Indus,  including  the  ranges  of  the  Caucasus,  supposed  to  be 
the  primitive  seat  of  the  Aryan  family.  These  people  are  certainly, 
throughout  this  area,  remarkably  like  one  another ;  in  fact  in  physi- 
cal features  they  are  quite  undistinguishable.  Notwithstanding  the 
difference  in  language  between  the  Syrians  and  proper  Aryans,  his 
theory  was  that  this  uniform-featured  people  of  the  area  which  he  had 
described  were  the  purest  and  truest  type  of  the  Caucasian  variety 
of  man.  He  imagined  that  when  that  breed  was  first  developed  it 
was  in  the  form  of  a  Jewish-looking  man.  He  then  supposed,  as 
Professor  Huxley  seemed  to  suppose,  that  these  true  Caucasiana  de- 
scending towards  the  south  and  mixing  with  Australioids  became 


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of  the  Chief  Modificatiom  of  Mankind.  41 1 

Hindoos,  that  in  Southern  Arabia  mixing  with  some  other  race  thej 
became  those  Arabs  whom  Falgrave  describes  as  more  like  Southern 
Hindoos  than  Northern  Arabs.  Again,  descending  to  the  north-west 
into  Europe,  he  believed  that  our  Caucasian  fathers  intermixed  with 
some  primitive  races  of  cockle-eaters  and  such  like,  who  (through 
our  great-great-grandmothers)  shortened  our  noses,  detracted  from 
our  beauty,  and  rendered  us  the  mixed  and  varied  race  that  we  now 
are.  In  fact,  instead  of  distinguishing  the  peoples  of  Europe  and 
Western  Asia  into  Xanthochroi  and  Melanochroi,  he  would  distin- 
guish them  into  perfect  aud  imperfect  Caucasians.  On  the  subject 
of  skulls,  while  they  might  be  one  of  the  marks  to  distinguish  very 
primitive  races,  Professor  Huxley's  statements  had  pretty  well  de- 
molished them  as  a  safe  test  of  more  advanced  races,  since  he  had 
shown  that  races  otherwise  very  similar  had  very  wide  diversities  of 
skull,  e,  a.  the  Tartars  and  Chinese  among  the  Mongols — and,  above 
all,  the  European  peoples,  any  assembly  of  whom  presented  every 
form  of  skull.  With  respect  to  the  predominance  ol  rou:id  skulls  in 
certain  parts  of  Europe,  he  would  suggest  that  possibly  those  were 
the  parts  which  had  been  most  mixed  with  round-headed  Tartars  or 
Mongols.  In  the  part  indicated  by  Professor  Huxley  there  had  been 
the  great  Hungarian  invasions ;  and  generally  it  might  be  said  that 
the  Mongol  races  had  spread  westwards  in  later  times,  and  come 
more  into  contact  with  the  Slavonians  and  later  tribes  of  Europe, 
while  our  Norman  and  Saxon  progenitors,  being  an  earlier  wave  of 
immigration,  had  not  so  much  mixed  with  Asiatic  Tartars. 

Mr.  Alfkei)  E.  Walli.ce  said  that,  as  a  small  contribution  to  the 
subject,  he  would  venture  to  point  out  that  there  were  certain  mental 
characteristics  which  in  two  at  least  of  the  primary  groups  were  as 
well  marked  aud  as  constant  as  the  physical  characters  by  which 
Professor  Huxley  had  defined  them.  The  great  Mongoloid  group, 
for  instance,  was  distinguished  by  a  generd  gravity  of  demeanour 
and  concealment  of  the  emotions,  by  deliberation  of  speech,  and  the 
absence  of  violent  gesticulation,  by  the  rarity  of  laughter,  and  by 
plaintive  and  melancholy  songs.  The  tribes  composing  it  were  pre- 
eminently apathetic  and  reserved ;  and  this  character  was  exhibited 
to  a  high  degree  in  the  North- American  Indian,  and  in  all  the 
Malay  races,  and  to  a  somewhat  less  extent  over  the  whole  of  the 
enormous  area  occupied  by  the  Mongoloid  type.  Strongly  contrasted 
with  these  were  the  Negroid  group,  whose  characteristics  were  viva- 
city and  excitability,  strong  exhibitions  of  feeling,  loud  and  rapid 
speech,  boisterous  laughter,  violent  gesticulations,  and  rude,  noisy 
music.  They  were  preeminently  impetuous  and  demonstrative ;  and 
this  feature  was  seen  fully  developed  both  in  the  African  Negro  and 
in  the  widely  removed  Papuan  of  New  Guinea.  This  striking  corre- 
spondence of  mental  with  physical  characters  strongly  supported  the 
view  that  these  two  at  least  were  among  the  best- marked  primary 
divisions  of  our  race. 

The  only  point  on  which  he  ventured  to  differ  from  the  classificar- 
tion  of  Professor  Huxley  was  as  to  the  position  to  be  assigned  to  the 
brown  Polynesians.  These,  as  typically  represented  by  the  Tahitians, 


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412    Col.  A.  L.  Fox — On  the  Threatened  Destruction  of  the 

appeared  to  him  to  be  much  more  nearly  related  to  the  Papuans  than 
to  the  Malays,  and  should  therefore  be  classed  as  Negroid  instead  of 
Mongoloid.  In  all  important  physical  characters,  except  colour,  they 
agreed  with  the  former ;  and  the  general  testimony  of  travellers,  from 
Cook  downwards,  showed  that  their  mental  characteristics  were 
entirely  Negroid,  as  evinced  by  their  vivacity,  demonstrativeness, 
and  laughter.  At  the  same  time  there  was  no  doubt  a  large  infusion 
of  Malay  blood ;  but  that  this  was  for  the  most  part  a  comparatively 
recent  event  was  shown  by  the  language,  which  retained  a  number 
of  Malay  terms  almost  unchanged.  He  maintained  therefore  that 
the  typical  Polynesians  were  fundamentally  Negroid  with  a  consider- 
able Mongoloid  intermixture,  and  not  originally  Mongoloid  with  a 
Negroid  intermixture. 

Mr.  Luke  Bubee  maintained  that  differences  in  the  colour  of  the 
skin  and  hair,  and  in  the  relative  proportions  of  the  skull,  were  only  of 
trivial  value,  and  should  not  be  taken  as  a  basis  in  defining  the 
primary  divisions  of  the  human  race. 


.    Special  Meeting,  June  21st,  1870. 

IHeld  m  the  Theatre  of  the  Royal  United  Service  Inditution,  Whitehall  Yard, 
by  the  permission  of  the  Council  of  the  Inttiiutum,'] 

Professor  Huxley,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  President,  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XXXVII.  On  the  threatened  Destruction  of  the  British 
Earthworks  near  Dorchester,  Oxfordshire.  By  Col. 
A.  Lane  Fox,  Hon.  Sec.  Ethn.  Soc. 

Although  the  subject  is  not  in  any  way  connected  with  the 
paper  that  is  to  be  read  this  evening  (Mr.  Forbes^s  paper  on  the 
Aymaras),  yet,  knowing  the  interest  which  is  taken  by  this  So- 
ciety  in  the  preservation  of  our  prehistoric  antiquities,  I  venture 
to  think  that  a  few  words  in  reference  to  the  Dykes  at  Dor- 
chester in  Ojdbrdshire  may  not  be  without  interest  to  the  Meet- 
ing, owing  to  the  report  which  has  appeared  in  the  papers  since 
our  last  meeting,  relative  to  the  threatened  destruction  of  these 
works  by  the  owner  of  the  property  on  which  they  stand. 

The  ancient  fortifications  of  this  place  consist  of  two  distinct 
works — one  on  the  south  and  the  other  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Thames  (see  Map,  PL  XXVI.  fig.  1).  The  former  (on  the 
south  side)  occupies  the  more  eastern  of  two  conspicuous  hills, 
each  of  which  is  topped  by  a  clump  of  trees,  known  as  the 
Wittenham  Clumps.  This  work  is  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to 
the  south  of  the  river-bank,  and  three  miles  to  the  north-east  of 
Didcot  Station  on  the  Great  Western  Railwav.     The  intrench- 


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Journ.Etlmo.  SocVol.n.Pl.  XXVI. 


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DORCHESTER         DVKES       &         SINOOUN         CAMP, 


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Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


British  Earthworks  near  Dorchester,  Oxfordshire.-^   413 

ment,  like  that  of  most  British  camps,  follows  the  outline  of  the 
hill,  running  round  it  in  the  most  suitable  position  for  defence. 
It  commands  an  extensive  view  of  the  country  for  mUes  round ; 
but  the  interior  of  the  camp  is  itself  commanded  within  150 
yards  by  the  adjoining  hill  to  the  north-west.  It  is  of  an  irre- 
gular oval  form,  about  400  paces  across  from  S.E.  to  N.W. 
The  defences  consist  of  a  ditch,  about  five  paces  wide  at  the 
bottom,  with  a  rampart  on  both  sides,  the  inner  commanding 
the  outer  in  consequence  of  the  natural  slope  of  the  hiU 
(PL  XXVI.  fig.  5).  The  inner  rampart,  if  it  ever  existed,  has 
been  destroyed  by  cultivation;  but  it  is  not  improbable,  from 
the  great  command  which  the  inner  side  of  the  ditch  has  over 
the  opposite  side,  that  the  defence  may  originally  have  been  con- 
fined to  an  escarpment  surmounted  by  a  stockade  or  some  other 
defensive  obstacle  on  that  side.  This  mode  of  defence  appears 
not  unfrequently  to  have  been  adopted  by  the  ancient  Britons  in 
cases  where  the  ground  itself  aflForded  the  necessary  command  of 
the  exterior.  There  is  an  entrance  on  the  north-west  salient 
angle  which  is  swept  by  a  knoll  on  the  inner  side  of  the  ditch. 
Another  entrance  on  the  north-west  leads  in  the  direction  of 
the  ancient  ford  on  the  Isis.  All  these  are  characteristics  of  a 
British  earthwork.  The  interior  of  the  camp  is  terraced  on  the 
north  side ;  but  these  terraces  are  evidently  the  result  of  culti- 
vation in  modem  times.  I  found  no  sufficient  evidence  of  the 
fabrication  of  flints  in  this  work ;  but  I  picked  up  in  the  interior 
a  fragment  of  a  polished  celt  and  a  sea-shore  quartzite  pebble 
rubbed  to  an  edge  at  one  end  (PL  XXVI.  fig.  7).  Pebbles  simi- 
larly rubbed  at  one  end  are  not  uncommon  amongst  the  relics  of 
the  prehistoric  age.  I  exhibit  a  precisely  similar  implement  which 
I  found  amongst  the  debris  of  a  barrow  on  the  Yorkshire  Wolds. 

Passing  over  the  Thames,  to  the  north  side,  we  come  to  the 
Dykes,  the  threatened  destruction  of  which  is  reported  in  the 
newspapers.  They  consist  of  a  nearly  straight  line  of  intrench- 
ments,  about  900  yards  in  length,  and  composed  of  double  banks 
and  ditches,  which  cuts  off  a  promontory  formed  by  the  bend  of 
the  river,  and  encloses  an  area  of  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
in  length  by  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  breadth.  The  principal 
ditch  (PL  XXVI.  fig.  2),  about  57  feet  in  width,  is  situated  be- 
tween the  two  banks.  There  is  a  smaller  ditch  on  the  outer  or 
north  side.  The  outer  or  northern  bank  appears  to  have  been 
the  highest,  which  is  probably  to  be  accounted  for  by  its  being 
placed  between  the  two  ditches,  and  having  received  the  mate- 
rials excavated  from  both. 

This  was  well  shown  in  the  section  of  a  fresh  cutting  made 
through  the  bank,  in  which  the  lines  of  the  successive  deposits 
could  be  traced  (PL  XXVI.  fig.  4).  This  section  also  showed 
that  the  banks  are  covered  with  a  thickness  of  from  8  to  12  inches 


414   i^ol.  A.  L.  Fox— On  the  Threatened  Destruction  of  the 

of  vegetable  soil,  entirely  devoid  of  stones  or  pebbles  of  any  kind, 
and  which  must,  in  all  probability,  have  accumulated  from  the 
decay  of  the  grass  on  the  banks.  The  length  of  time  necessary 
for  the  formation  of  so  great  a  thickness  of  vegetable  soil  must 
have  been  considerable.  There  are  at  present  three  openings 
through  the  dykes.  About  200  yards  of  the  right  flank  of  the 
dyke  is  thrown  back  in  the  direction  of  the  junction  of  the 
Thame  stream  with  the  Isis.  From  this  point  the  river  assumes 
the  name  of  the  Thames  river. 

On  carefully  searching  the  ground  which  had  been  excavated 
from  the  banks  on  the  left  flank,  and  the  cultivated  ground  in 
the  interior  of  the  camp,  I  found  abundant  evidence  of  the  fabri- 
cation of  flint  implements  [a  number  of  cores,  flakes ,  and  chips 
from  this  spot  were  exhibited  to  the  Society] ;  but  I  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  finding  any  flint  tool,  with  the  exception  of  one  fragment 
of  a  well-chipped  spear-head  (PI.  XXVI.  fig.  6).  I  also  found 
on  the  dykes  several  pieces  of  pottery  of  undoubtedly  British 
production,  and  a  fragment  of  wheel-made  pottery  of  later  date. 

In  the  year  1836  an  oval  bronze  shield,  14  by  13  inches  in 
diameter,  was  discovered  in  the  bed  of  the  Isis,  about  150  yards 
to  the  rear  of  the  left  flank  of  the  dyke,  beneath  an  accumulation 
of  recent  drift.  [A  drawing  of  this  shield  was  exhibited,  of  the 
actual  size.]  The  original  is  in  the  British  Museum,  and  is 
described  in  vol.  xxxviii.  of  the  'Archaeologia.^ 

Mr.  Clutterbuck,  the  rector  of  Long  Wittenham,  and  the  writer 
of  an  article  on  this  place  in  the  '  Archseologia,'  is  of  opinion, 
from  the  position  of  this  discovery,  that  the  river  still  runs  in  its 
original  course,  and  no  doubt  this  is  the  case  to  a  considerable 
extent ;  but  there  is,  I  think,  evidence  that  the  river  has  slightly 
altered  its  course  since  the  dykes  were  erected.  From  the  curve 
which  the  river  makes  at  this  point  it  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected  that  it  would  leave  the  dykes  on  the  north,  and  work  its 
way  southward;  but  it  was  no  doubt  checked  by  the  higher 
ground  on  the  south.  The  sketch  plan  exhibited  to  the  Meeting 
shows,  however,  that  the  flanks  of  the  dyke  do  not  reach  the 
present  bank  of  the  river,  and  that  a  space  of  thirty  paces  inter- 
venes on  the  left  flank,  while  on  the  right  the  dyke  stops  seventy 
paces  short  of  the  Thame  stream.  It  is  improbable  that  the  de- 
fenders should  have  neglected  to  secure  their  flanks  by  causing 
them  to  abut  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  as  they  existed  at  the 
time  of  its  construction.  The  position  of  the  portion  of  the 
dyke  which  is  thrown  back  on  the  right  flank  dso  shows  the 
Thame  stream  must  have  extended  more  to  the  westward,  pro- 
bably up  to  the  line  now  marked  by  a  small  ditch.  From  the 
nearest  point  of  this  original  line  the  dyke  is  drawn  straight 
across  to  the  Isis ;  but  the  meadow-ground  below  Dorchester, 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Thame  stream,  must  have  been  covered 


British  Earthworks  near  Dorchester,  Oxfordshire,      415 

with  water,  though  probably  shallow  and  fordable ;  and  it  was 
in  order  to  command  this  ground  that  an  epaulement  was  thrown 
back  on  the  right  flank ;  but  the  abrupt  termination  of  the  work 
at  seventy  paces  distance  from  the  present  stream  shows  that  deep 
water  must  have  existed  to  the  westward  of  the  present  stream. 

I  found  no  trace  of  Roman  tiles  or  pottery,  nor  can  I  learn 
that  any  thing  Roman  has  been  discovered  on  the  site  of  the 
camp,  though  no  doubt  Dorchester  itself  was  at  one  time  a 
Roman  station.  This  circumstance,  coupled  with  the  discovery 
of  a  bronze  shield  and  the  evidence  of  flint  cores  and  debris 
(all  of  which  must  have  been  imported,  as  this  is  not  a  flint-pro- 
ducing district),  appears  to  me  conclusive  in  determining  the  for- 
tifications to  be  of  British  construction.  Viewing  the  position 
of  the  two  works,  and  the  position  of  the  ancient  ford  between 
them,  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that  they  were  connected  in  the 
defence  of  this  locality,  and  were  the  work  of  the  same  people. 
The  ancient  Britons  never  constructed  their  camps  upon  low 
ground.  Sinodun  Hill  was  no  doubt  the  principal  stronghold ; 
and  the  Dorchester  dykes  on  the  low  ground  to  the  north  of  the 
river  were  thrown  up  to  cover  the  passage  of  the  river  at  the 
ford,  and  secure  a  communication  with  the  left  bank. 

About  200  yards  of  the  left  flank  of  the  Dorchester  dykes  have 
now  been  levelled,  or  rather  reduced  for  cultivation  (PI.  XXVI. 
fig*  3) ;  a  portion  of  this,  however,  was  done  by  the  former  owner. 
I  called  upon  Mr.  Latham,  the  present  owner,  by  whom  the  work 
of  demolition  is  now  being  continued.  After  some  conversation 
I  elicited  from  him  a  promise  that  the  levelling  should  be  discon- 
tinued for  the  present ;  but  I  could  obtain  no  assurance  that  it 
would  not  be  continued  at  some  future  time.  This  is  much  to 
be  regretted,  as  the  ramparts  are  now  in  a  good  state  of  preser- 
vation. Traces  of  the  work,  however,  will  stiU  be  seen  in  those 
parts  which  have  been  lowered  for  cultivation. 

(See  also  Extracts  from  the  '  Saturday  Review'  and  '  Pall  Mall 
Gazette'  in  '  Notes  and  Queries.') 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XX\^. 

Fig.  1.  Map  of  the  country  around  the  Dorchester  Dykes  and  Sinodun 
HiU.    Scale  1  inch  to  1  mile. 
2.  Present  section  of  Dorchester  Dylies,  June  1870. 
8.  Section  showing  the  reductions  which  are  now  being  made  for  the 

purpose  of  cultivation,  June  1870. 
4.  Section  of  fresh  cutting  in  north  rampart,  showing^  the  lines  of 
successive  deposits  ana  thickness  of  vegetable  mould. 
N.B.  Of  all  these  sections  the  scale  is  60  feet  to  1  inch. 
6.  Section  of  rampart  of  Sinodun  Camp. 

6.  Fragment  of  a  flint  spear-head  founa  within  the  area  of  Dorchester 

Dykes. 

7.  Water- worn  pebWe,  rubbed  to  an  edge  at  one  end,  found  in  Sinodun 

Camp.  / 

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y  Google 


416  Sir  John  Lubbock — Description  of  the 

Dr.  A.  Campbell,  Vice-President,  exhibited  copies  of  certain 
Rock- carvings,  or  "Indian  Picture  Writings/'  from  British 
Guiana,  which  were  taken  by  Mr.  C.  B.  Brown,  of  the  Geolo- 
gical Survey,  George  Town,  Demerara. 


Mr.  David  Forbes^  F.R.S.,  then  gave  a  verbal  abstract  of  his 
paper  "  On  the  Aymara  Indians  of  Bolivia  and  Peru  "*. 


Sectional  Meeting  for  Prehistoric  Archeology, 
June  27th,  1870. 

Professor  G.  Busk,  F.R.S.y  in  the  Chair. 

The  following  paper  was  read  by  the  author : — 

XXXVIII.  Description  of  the  Park  Cwm  Tumulus.  By  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  M.P.,  F.R.S.,  V.-P.  Ethnol.  Soc., 
&c.  &c. 

The  Park  Cwm  cairn  is  situated  on  the  property  of  qiy  friend 
Mr.  Vivian,  in  the  parish  of  Penmaen,  and  in  the  celebrated 
peninsula  of  Gower.  In  the  spring  of  1869  Mr.  Vivian  was 
making  a  new  road;  and  for  that  purpose  the  workmen  at- 
tacked a  heap  of  cairn,  which  stood  conveniently,  and  the 
true  nature  of  which  was  not  then  suspected.  After  removing 
a  certain  portion  of  the  stones  on  the  north  side,  the  men  came 
upon  some  large  upright  stones  forming  a  cell  or  chamber,  and 
in  the  chamber  they  found  portions  of  a  skeleton.  Upon  this 
being  reported  to  Mr.  Vivian,  he  at  once  ordered  that  no  more 
of  the  cairn  should  be  removed,  and  he  asked  me  to  come  down 
and  see  it  explored. 

The  ''  Red  Lady  of  Paviland,'^  and  the  successful  researches 
of  Col.  Wood  in  the  bone-caves  along  the  coast,  have  made 
the  peninsula  of  Gower  extremely  interesting  to  archaeologists. 

I  gladly,  therefore,  accepted  my  friend^s  invitation.  We  drove 
to  the  spot  early  in  the  morning,  on  Saturday,  14th  August, 
1869,  accompanied  by  a  party  from  the  Cambrian  Archseological 
Society,  under  the  guidance  of  their  President,  Lord  Dunraven, 
and  at  once  commenced  operations. 

The  cairn  is  situated  in  a  beautiful  woody  comb  or  dell, 
about  a  mile  from  the  sea,  and  almost  at  the  foot  of  the  small 
cave  known  as  Cat  Hole. 

It  occupied  an  oblong  area  of  about  60  feet  in  length  by  50, 

*  This  paper,  with  the  discussion  which  it  excited ,  is  published  in  the 
'  JouniRl  of  the  Ethnological  Society '  for  October  1870,  pp.  103-305. 

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Jourxi.Etino.  Soc.VoL  II.  PI.  JOVII. 


Sc^   H  Tub  U  Ilh^efv 


PARK      CWM     TUMULUS 


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Park  Cwm  Tumulus.  .  417 

and  was,  when  first  noticed,  about  5  feet  in  height.  The  general 
design  of  the  building  will  be  seen  from  the  plan  (PL  XXVII.). 
The  direction  of  the  cairn  was  N.  and  S.,  the  entrance,  as  usual, 
being  to  the  S. 

The  entrance  itself  was  funnel-shaped,  16  feet  in  length, 
and  12  in  width  at  the  entrance,  gradually  contracting  to  3  feet 
6  inches.  The  sides  were  neatly  built  of  flat  stones,  placed  on 
their  broad  sides,  and  presenting  the  narrow  edges  externally. 
The  walls  are  not  perpendicular,  but  slope  or  batter  outwards. 

The  central  passage  or  avenue  connecting  the  chambers  is 
17  feet  long,  with  a  uniform  width  of  3  feet.  The  sides  were 
formed  of  ten  large  stones  \  but  it  is  probable  that  there  were 
originally  eleven.  They  did  not  fit  one  another  very  well ;  but 
the  interspaces  were  built  up  by  small  flat  stones,  arranged  as  in 
the  entrance  walls.  The  cairn  itself  extended  some  distance 
beyond  the  avenue  towards  the  north.  At  each  end  of  this 
passage,  and  at  right  angles  to  it,  are  two  square  or  somewhat 
oblong  chambers.  The  first  (No.  1)  was  about  3  feet  in  width. 
Where  it  joined  the  central  passage  was  a  sillstone  (a).  The 
sides  were  each  formed  of  two  large  stones ;  and  there  can,  I 
think,  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  originally  closed  by  a  fifth. 
In  this  chamber  we  found  remains  of  three,  if  not  of  four 
skeletons,  and  one  fragment  of  pottery. 

The  second  chamber  (No.  2)  is  6  feet  in  length,  by  about  2 
feet  6  inches  in  breadth,  and  closely  resembles  the  first,  but  is 
imperfectly  divided  into  two  unequal  parts  by  two  low  stones 
[by  b).    This  chamber  contained  the  remains  of  two  skeletons. 

The  third  chamber  much  resembled  the  second,  and,  like  it, 
was  imperfectly  divided. 

The  fourth,  on  the  contrary,  like  the  first,  had  no  division ; 
it  had  been  somewhat  disturbed,  as  was  also  the  case  with  the 
second,  by  the  roots  of  an  ash. 

At  each  end  of  the  central  passage  was  a  long  sillstone  (c,  d). 
The  large  stones  forming  the  central  passage  and  side  chambers 
were  very  irregular  in  height ;  and  we  saw  no  sign  of  any  cover- 
ing slabs.  The  interspaces  (/,/)  were  filled  up  with  stones  and 
earth — ^the  latter  probably  arising  from  decomposed  leaves  &c., 
and  quite  unlike  the  natural  bolL  of  the  cwm,  both  in  colour  and 
character. 

In  all  cases  the  large  stones  were  placed  with  their  flatter 
sides  inwards.  On  the  outside  they  were  very  irregular ;  none 
of  them  were  at  aU  worked. 

The  upper  part  of  the  cairn  had  been  removed  long  ago,  and 
the  upper  parts  of  the  large  stones  had  been  long  exposed. 

It  also  appeared  to  me  that  the  tumulus  had  been  opened  at 
Bome  previous  period,  although  Mr.  Vivian  did  not  feel  satisfied 

VOL.  n.  2  E    nr\r\n\o 

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418  Sir  J.  Lubbock — On  the  Park  Cwm  Tumulus. 

upon  this  point.  The  bones  were  much  broken,  and  in  no  regular 
arrangement.  There  appeared  to  be  at  least  twenty  skeletons. 
The  bones  were  very  tender;  and  the  skulls,  unfortunately,  were 
crushed  into  small  fragments.  The  teeth,  aa  usual,  were  ground 
flat,  and  showed  no  trace  of  decay. 

The  only  bones  of  other  animals  were  a  tooth,  I  believe,  of  a 
deer,  found  in  the  space  on  the  east  side,  at  the  spot  marked  ^, 
and  a  few  pig's  teeth,  which  occurred  in  the  entrance.  Close  to 
the  sillstone  marked  a,  ire  found  some  fragments  of  pottery ;  but 
throughout  the  mound  we  met  with  no  ornament  or  implement 
of  any  kind,  no  trace  of  metal,  nor  a  single  bit  of  worked  flint. 

Mr.  Vivian  submitted  the  bones  to  Mr.  Douglas,  whose 
report  is  subjoined. 

It  appear,  therefore,  that  this  tumulus  resembles,  in  its  internal 
construction,  the  one  at  Stoney  Littleton,  in  the  parish  of 
Wellow,  Somersetshire,  which  was  described  by  Sir  Richard 
Colt  Hoare  in  the  nineteenth  volume  of  the  *  Archaeologia,' 
The  Stoney-Littleton  tumulus,  however,  had  three  transepts, 
whereas  ours  had  only  two.  In  this  respect  it  resembled  the 
one  at  Uley,  in  Gloucestershire  (see  Somerset  Archaeological 
and  Natural  History  Society's  Proceedings,  1858,yol.  viii.  p.  51) . 

Report  of  Dr.  D.M.Douglas  on  Bones  from  the  Park  CwmTumulus. 

Hafod  YiUa,  24th  Aagust,  1869. 

Dear  Sir, — I  have  examined  the  interesting  relics  which 
you  kindly  sent  to  me  for  inspection. 

I  found  that  they  represented  the  distinctive  remains  of 
twenty -four  individuals :  several  of  them,  I  have  reason  to 
believe,  were  females.  They  were  all  adults,  excepting,  I  think, 
three,  who  were  children,  probably  from  eight  to  ten  years  of  age. 
One  individual  had  evidently  arrived  at  extreme  old  age;  an- 
other perhaps  was  sixty  or  seventy  years  old,  and  the  rest  com- 
paratively young — say  twenty-five  to  forty-five  years  respectively. 

There  are  the  remains  of  two  remarkable  skeletons :  one 
must  have  been  of  gigantic  proportions*  I  was  much  struck 
with  the  enormous  thickness  of  some  of  the  skulls,  which  are 
much  thicker  than  those  we  find  in  the  present  age. 

The  teeth  are  wonderfully  preserved,  very  good  and  regular ; 
there  are  only  two  that  exhibited  signs  of  decay  during  life, 
The  bones  are  well  formed ;  and  the  food  must  have  contained 
considerable  quantities  of  phosphate  of  lime. 

The  very  comminuted  state  of  the  bones  rendered  the  exami- 
nation difficult,  and  it  was  impossible  to  arrive  at  a  precise 
conclusion. 

Case  No.  1  contains  distinctive  portions  of  the  remains  of  six  in- 
dividuals— ^probably  four  males  and  one  female,  and  ayoung  person. 


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Rev.W.  Greenivell — On  Grime's  Graves.  419 

Enclosed  separately  will  be  found : — a  considerable  number 
of  teeth  (I  think  I  can  make  up  five  distinct  sets  almost  com- 
plete^ and  all  in  excellent  preservation) ;  a  portion  of  the  shaft 
of  a  femur,  the  head  of  another,  and  portions  of  a  very  thick 
skull — the  remains  of  a  male  of  very  considerable  proportions. 

Case  No.  2  contains  those  of  two  individuals,  male  and 
female  probably :  enclosed  separately  are  the  portions  of  a  very 
thick  skull. 

Case  No.  3  contains  those  of  at  least  ten  individuals  *,  one  of 
whom,  I  should  say,  had  reached  an  extreme  age:  enclosed 
separately  are  the  condyloid  ends  of  two  femurs,  representing  a 
skeleton  of  gigantic  size,  and  a  portion  of  a  thick  skull. 

Case  No.  4  contains  those  of  four  individuals :  this  case 
possesses  nothing  of  any  note. 

Case  No.  5  contains  those  of  two  individuals.  These  bones 
appear  to  me  to  be  of  far  greater  antiquity  than  any  of  the 
others,  and  seem  to  have  been  a  distinct  interment,  probably 
male  and  female.  Judging  from  the  various  stages  of  decay  in 
some  of  the  other  cases,  I  am  strongly  of  opinion  that  the  inter- 
ments took  place  at  different  intervals. 

I  remain,  dear  Sir,  yours  faithfully, 

(Signed)  D.  Morton  Douglas,  L.R.C.P.,  M.R.C.S.L. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XXVtt 

Plan  of  the  Park  Cwm  TumuluB,  in  the  Peninsula  of  Gower,  Glamorgan- 
shire— the  property  of  H.  H.  Vivian,  Esq.,  M.P.    Scale  IG  feet  to  1  inch. 


The  following  paper  was  then  read  by  the  author  : — 

XXXIX.  On  /Ae  Opening  o/Geime's  Graves  in  Norfolk. 
By  the  Rev.  William  Greenwell,  M.A.,  F.S.A- 

The  small  town  of  Brandon,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  is,  with 
one  exception,  the  only  place  in  England  where  the  manufac- 
ture of  gun-flints  is  still  maintained.  This  is  principally  due  to 
the  abundance  of  flint,  of  a  superior  quality,  which  the  Upper 
Chalk  of  the  neighbouring  district  supplies.  The  town  is  situ- 
ated on  the  River  Ouse,  there  forming  the  boundary  between 
the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk ;  and  the  locality  has  been, 
in  various  ages,  the  abode  of  people  who  have  used  flint  exten- 
sively, though  for  very  different  purposes.  The  drift-gravel, 
found  at  levels  of  greater  or  less  height  in  the  valley  of  the 
river,  has  been  most  prolific  in  implements  of  the  time  when 
man  was  occupying  the  country  together  with  many  extinct 

*  These  bones  were  found  in  the  central  avenue. 

2e2 


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420  Rev.  W.  Qreenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

mammals.  These  beds,  worked  for  road  material,  at  Thetford, 
Dowuham,  Broomhill,  and  Brandon  Fields,  have  afforded  an 
almost  endless  store  of  palseolithic  implements,  as  the  cases  of 
many  a  museum  bear  witness.  In  very  much  later,  but  still  in 
prehistoric  times,  the  district  was  occupied  by  a  large  popula- 
tion, as  is  shown,  amongst  other  indications,  by  the  numerous 
articles  of  flint  lying  scattered  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground.  In 
a  country  like  that  in  question,  where  the  soil  is  an  infertile  and 
drifting  sand,  it  appears  diflScult,  at  first  sight,  to  account  for 
its  having  been  so  extensively  occupied  in  those  early  days — an 
occupation  which  continued  throughout  Roman  and  Anglian 
times.  Without  taking  into  consideration  the  supply  of  flint, 
in  itself  a  mine  of  wealth  to  a  stone-using  people,  the  isolation, 
and  therefore  defensible  position  of  the  locality,  was,  probably, 
one  reason  why  it  became  the  place  of  habitation  of  a  numerous 
population.  To  a  great  extent  it  is  separated  from  other  parts 
by  the  Fens,  which,  under  any  circumstances,  must  always 
have  presented  a  strong  barrier  against  attack  from  the  west 
and  north.  Besides  the  defence  afforded  by  the  Fens,  they 
provided,  in  their  forests  and  swampy  thickets,  a  constant  supply 
of  game — one  of  the  principal  requirements  in  any  place  of  abode 
selected  by  a  people  who  to  some  extent  subsisted  by  the  chase. 
The  country  was  then,  as  it  is  still,  a  very  paradise  of  the  hunter, 
whether  the  necessity  of  existence  was  the  motive  which  im- 
pelled him  to  ihe  exercise  of  his  craft,  or  he  was  prompted 
thereto  merely  by  the  love  of  sport.  The  deer,  the  swine,  and 
the  ox  were  the  wild  animals  which  then  rewarded  the  hunter's 
toil,  now  replaced  by  the  hare,  the  rabbit,  the  pheas^t,  and  the 
partridge. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  implements  of  flint,  most  of  them 
belonging  to  the  neolithic  age,  are  found  scattered  over  the 
surface  of  the  ground  throughout  the  whole  of  the  locality  in 
question.  There  are  some  particular  sites,  however,  where  such 
articles,  together  with  large  numbers  of  chippings  and  cores  of 
flint,  imperfect  and  broken  implements,  and  the  tools  with 
which  they  were  fabricated,  are  discovered  in  still  greater  pro- 
fusion. One  of  these  is  situated  about  three  miles  N.E.  of 
Brandon,  and  one  mile  north  of  the  River  Ouse,  at  a  place  called 
Grime's  Graves,  in  the  parish  of  Weeting  and  county  of  Norfolk. 
It  is  evident  from  the  quantity  of  refuse  pieces  of  flint,  and  the 
numerous  fabricating-tools  still  remaining  at  the  spot,  that  it 
was  the  place  where  a  manufactory  of  flint  implements  had  been 
carried  on ;  and  the  purpose  of  this  paper  is  to  give  an  account 
of  the  examination  of  the  pit- workings  there,  from  which  the 
material  itself  was  obtained. 

Before  describing  the  pits  themselves  and  the  way  in  which  the 


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Journ.EUmo   Soc  Vol.  llPi.X8.Vlll. 


FLINT      IMPLEMENTS      FROM       NEAR      CRIMES      CRAVES 


Grime's  Graves  in  Norfolk.  421 

flint  was  worked^  it  may  be  well,  in  the  first  instance,  to  give 
some  account  of  the  implements,  whole  and  broken,  and  of  the 
articles  in  flint  and  other  stone,  found  on  the  fields  immediately 
adjoining  to  the  pits.  This  appears  to  be  necessary,  because 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  them  we  have  the  result, 
to  some  extent,  of  the  operations  of  the  people  who  quarried  the 
flint ;  and  we  may  thus  gain  a  knowledge  of  the  implements 
they  fabricated,  and  by  that  means  arrive  at  some  conclusion 
aa  to  the  period  during  which  the  pits  were  worked. 

By  far  the  larger  number,  as  might  indeed  be  expected,  are 
chippings  of  various  sizes,  the  refuse  pieces  struck  off  from  the 
block  in  reducing  it  to  shape.  These  are  in  such  quantities  in 
a  field  immediately  to  the  south  of  the  pits,  that  in  some  places 
it  is  scarcely  possible  to  put  the  foot  down  without  treading  on 
one.  The  next  most  numerous  article  is  what  at  first  sight 
might  be  taken  for  a  round  core,  the  remainder-piece  left  after 
all  the  flakes  suitable  for  implements  had  been  struck  off.  On 
a  more  careful  examination  these  appear  to  have  been  chipped 
into  shape  by  design,  and  to  have  been  intended  for  hammers, 
to  break  up  the  flint  and  to  flake  it  with ;  and  many  of  them 
show,  in  their  battered  edges,  the  signs  of  a  long-continued  use 
for  some  such  purpose.  They  were  also  probably  used  for 
splitting  the  chalk  in  the  course  of  sinking  the  shafts  and  making 
the  galleries  to  be  described  in  the  sequel. 

Of  such  articles  as  may  be  denominated  implements,  the 
most  frequent  one  is  somewhat  in  the  form  of  an  adze  (PI. 
XXVIII.  figs.  4  &  5).  The  greater  part  of  these  were  broken; 
but  a  few  perfect  specimens  have  been  found.  The  cutting-edge 
is  not  equally  bevelled  on  each  side  as  in  an  axe,  but  flat  on 
one  side  and  more  or  less  convex  on  the  other,  thus  having  the 
shape  best  adapted  for  the  purpose  to  which  an  adze  is  applied. 
These  tools  may  have  been  intended  to  quarry  the  chalk  on  the 
spot,  and  may  also  have  been  used  as  hoes  in  cultivating  the 
ground.  I  think  it  highly  probable  that  stone  implements  of 
the  axe  and  adze  form  have  served  a  double  purpose,  in  the 
manufacture  of  wooden  articles  and  in  the  processes  of  agricul- 
ture. Those  in  question  vary  considerably  in  size,  and  range 
from  4  inches  to  8  inches  in  length. 

The  ubiquitous  scraper,  round  and  oval,  is  abundant,  and  attains 
to  a  large  size,  some  being  as  much  as  3^  inches  in  diameter 
(PI.  XXVIII.  fig.  7). 

Drills  or  tools  for  boring  are  not  unfrequent :  most  of  them 
are  very  rough,  though  showing  evident  intention  in  the  shape ; 
but  some  have  been  carefully  finished  by  elaborate  chipping  (PI. 
XXVIII.  fig.  3). 

A  few  knives  (PI.  XXVIII.  fig.  1),  or  what  may  have  been 

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422  Rev.  W.  Green  well — On  the  Opening  of 

used  for  skinning  and  catting,  have  occurred ;  and  I  found  two 
implements,  looking  very  much  like  the  heads  of  spears  or  jaye- 
lins:  the  one  is  hollowed  out  at  the  but,  and  approaches  to 
the  barbed  form  (PL  XXYIII.  fig.  2) ;  the  other  is  of  an  elon- 
gated leaf-shape  (fig.  6).  Besides  these  several  weapons  and 
toolsy  there  are  many  enigmatical  articles  to  which  it  is  impos- 
sible to  assign  either  use  or  name. 

All  these  implements  have  merely  been  chipped  into  shape, 
and  I  have  not  met  with  one  firom  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  the  pits  which  shows  any  trace  of  grinding. 

Besides  the  articles  of  flint,  numerous  water-rolled  pebbles  of 
quartzite  and  other  stone  are  abundantly  found,  showing  in  the 
bruised  ends  and  sides  that  they  have  been  used  as  hammer- 
stones,  and  principally,  no  doubt,  for  flaking  flint,  for  which 
purpose,  from  their  hardness  and  toughness,  they  are  well 
adapted. 

Though  all  these  different  implements,  cores,  and  chippings 
are  discovered  for  some  distance  round  the  pits,  they  become 
more  firequent  the  nearer  the  pits  are  approached,  indicating,  as 
indeed  might  be  expected,  that  the  principal  manufacture  went 
on  close  by  the  place  where  the  flint  was  procured. 

This  place,  consisting  of  a  large  assemblage  of  pits,  is  called 
Grime's  Graves.  They  are  situated  in  a  wood,  upon  ground 
sloping  slightly  towards  the  north,  and  are  about  254  in  number, 
placed  in  an  irregular  fashion,  generally  about  25  feet  apart,  and 
covering  a  space  firom  20  to  21  acres  in  extent.  It  does  not 
appear  necessary  to  enter  into  the  etymology  of  the  name,  further 
than  to  mention  that  the  place  is  in  the  Hundred  of  Grim8how,the 
first  part  of  both  words  being  taken  either  firom  Grime-an,  a 
witch  (and  this  is  the  more  probable  origin),  or  firom  some 
Scandinavian  possessor  of  the  district  called  Grim — a  name  by 
no  means  uncommon,  and  which  is  found  in  Grimsby,  Grims- 
tborp,  and  other  places.  There  is  a  Grimsdyke  in  Hertfordshire 
and  Buckinghamshire,  another  in  Wiltshire,  a  third  in  Essex, 
and  two  in  Oxfordshire.  The  same  origin  is,  no  doubt,  to  be 
found  in  Graeme's  Dyke  in  the  south  of  Scotland.  Another 
name  of  the  same  being  who  gave  this  designation  to  these 
various  earthworks  occurs  in  combination  with  Dyke  in  the 
Devil's  Dyke.  The  English  inhabitants,  who  were  ignorant  of 
the  origin  and  purpose  of  the  pits,  attached  the  name  of  Grim  to 
them,  either  taking  it  from  the  hundred,  or  giving  it  to  the  pits 
themselves  in  the  first  instance.  However  this  may  be,  they 
called  them  Grime's  Graves,  that  is,  Grim's  diggings  or  pits. 

At  the  east  side  of  the  collection  of  pits  is  a  mound,  which  has 
figured  as  a  speculatorium,  and  a  barrow ;  for  Grime's  Graves  have 
been  taken  to  be  a  British  village,  a  Danish  encampment,  and 


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Grimes  Graves  in  Norfolk,  428 

other  equally  impossible  constroctions.  The  mound  was  cut 
through  by  the  Norfolk  Archaeological  Society,  when  nothing  was 
discovered  except  a  piece  of  a  red  deer's  antler.  It  appears  to  be 
nothing  more  than  a  heap  of  the  material  taken  out  of  one  of  the 
pits,  possibly  from  the  first  that  was  opened,  and  when  there  was 
no  other  way  of  disposing  of  it,  there  being  no  existing  excava- 
tion into  which  to  throw  it. 

The  pits  are  circular,  and  vary  in  diameter  from  20  feet  to 
65  feet.  In  some  cases  they  have  nm  together,  and  form  irre- 
gularly shaped  hollows.  This  is  probably  caused  by  the  falling 
in .  of  the  roof  of  the  galleries,  to  be  hereafter  described,  by 
means  of  which  the  ground  between  two  or  more  pits  has  settled, 
and  so  destroyed  the  original  outline.  They  have  all  been  filled 
in  to  within  abqut  4  feet  of  the  surface,  and  present  the  appear- 
ance of  a  series  of  bowl-shaped  depressions,  having  in  some  in- 
stances a  slight  mound  round  the  edge,  due  to  some  of  the  exca- 
vated material  not  having  been  thrown  back  into  the  pit  when  it 
was  filled  in. 

Having  thus  briefly  introduced  Grime's  Graves,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the  way  in  which  they 
have  been  made,  as  shown  by  the  opening  and  examination  of 
one  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the  various  manufactured  and  other  • 
things  discovered  during  the  operation. 

The  pit  which  was  opened  is  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the 
series,  near  the  extreme  edge,  and  almost  in  the  south-east  angle 
of  the  space  occupied  by  the  pits.  It  is  rather  under  the  medium 
size,  being  28  feet  in  diameter  at  the  mouth,  and  gradually 
narrowing  to  a  width  of  12  feet  at  the  bottom,  which  is  39  feet 
below  the  surface.  It  is  cut  through  a  deposit  of  dark  yellow 
sand,  13  feet  in  thickness,  here  overlying  the  chalk.  Inter- 
spersed at  yarious  places  in  the  sand  are  irregular-shaped 
nodules  of  flint,  of  a  coarse  texture  and  not  well  fitted  for  the 
fabrication  of  implements.  The  chalk  upon  which  this  bed  of 
sand  rests  has  also,  in  the  upper  part,  similar  nodules  of  flint 
placed  after  the  same  fashion  as  those  in  the  sand ;  but  at  a  depth 
of  19^  feet  from  the  top  of  the  chalk  a  regular  stratum  of  flint 
of  a  somewhat  better  quality  occurs.  This  is  called  by  the  pre- 
sent flint- workers  the  "wall-stone,''  from  its  being  used  for 
building-purposes,  and  is  not  well  adapted  for  the  manufacture 
of  gun-flints,  on  account  of  its  want  of  fineness  of  grain,  and 
from  not  possessing  sufiicient  hardness  to  enable  it  to  resist  a 
continued  percussion  against  steel.  It  was,  however,  used  to  a 
considerable  extent  by  the  people  who  made  the  pits,  as  is  shown 
by  the  chippings,  cores,  and  other  articles  made  from  it,  found 
on  the  surface  of  the  adjoining  ground.  In  the  pit  itself,  though 
much  of  it  had  been  thrown  back  again  unmanufactured,  several 

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424  Rev.  W.  Greenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

flakes  were  nevertheless  discovered,  evidencing  its  having  been 
made  use  of  in  the  fabrication  of  implements.  At  a  depth  of  7i 
feet  below  the  stratum  of  wall-stone,  and  39  feet  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  a  second  bed  was  met  with,  called  by  the 
workmen  the  "  floor-stone,'^  and  now  worked  for  the  material 
from  which  gun-flints  are  manufactured.  The  flint  in  this  bed 
has  an  average  thickness  of  about  7  inches,  and  is  of  the  best 
quality  in  every  respect.  Though  found  at  a  much  greater  depth 
than  the  same  stratum  about  a  mile  to  the  S.W.,  where  it  is  now 
being  worked  for  flint -knapping,  it  has  more  than  twice  its 
thickness,  and  is  of  finer  grain  and  closer  texture ;  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  ancient  workings  were  established  at  the 
place  on  account  of  these  qualities  in  the  flint. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  pits  have  all  been 
filled  in  to  within  about  4  feet  of  the  surface.  This  seems  to 
have  been  done  by  throwing  into  an  open  shaft  the  waste  mate- 
rials taken  out  of  one  or  more  pits  in  course  of  being  excavated. 
By  doing  this  the  sand  and  chalk  were  at  once  removed  out  of 
the  way,  so  that,  if  there  was  at  any  time  a  necessity  to  sink  a 
shaft  near  to  a  former  one,  it  might  be  done  without  incurring 
the  additional  labour  of  cutting  through  the  debris  from  the  pits. 
If  the  material  taken  out  of  the  shaft  and  galleries  had  been  left 
round  the  edge,  the  access  to  the  workings  would  have  been 
made  more  difficult.  The  shaft  which  I  reopened  had  been  filled 
in,  apparently,  from  more  than  one  pit ;  for  the  way  in  which 
the  different  materials  were  placed  in  it  was  such  as  could 
scarcely  have  happened  if  all  had  been  taken  from  a  single  pit. 
The  filling  in  for  about  18  feet  from  the  bottom  was  almost  pure 
chalk,  taken  from  that  part  which  lies  between  the  two  beds  of 
flint.  Above  that  was  a  considerable  thickness  of  sand,  inter- 
mixed with  flint  nodules  and  some  pieces  of  chalk ;  then  came  a 
deposit  of  chalk  and  flint  chippings,  in  some  parts  of  which  the 
flint  chippings  very  much  preponderated ;  after  that  was  chalk 
rubble,  then  sand,  and  at  the  top  chalk  rubble  again.  All  these 
various  deposits  were  so  irregular  that  they  could  not  be  measured 
with  any  exactness ;  and  in  many  cases  a  mass  of  chalk  rubble 
at  the  centre  did  not  extend  as  far  as  the  sides  of  the  pit,  whilst 
in  others  it  only  reached  from  the  side  to  near  the  middle.  The 
whole  appearance  favoured  the  opinion  that  the  pit  had  been 
gradually  filled  in,  the  operation  being  a  work  of  considerable 
time.  This  impression  was  further  confirmed  by  finding  nume- 
rous animal  bones  (most  of  them  broken  to  extract  the  marrow), 
charcoal,  burnt  sand,  chippings  and  cores  of  flint,  pebbles  for 
flaking,  tools  of  deer^s  horn,  and  other  articles,  to  be  specially 
mentioned  in  the  sequel.  These  were  found  scattered  indiscri- 
minately throughout  the  whole  of  the  material  which  filled  in 

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Joum.X^}lno.  SocVolILPlXJClI. 


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Grime? 8  Graves  in  Norfolk,  425 

the  pit.  The  quantity  of  charcoal  was  not  very  great  j  but  at  one 
place^  close  to  the  east  side  and  at  a  depth  of  28  feet^  a  layer  of 
charcoal  and  wood  ashes  was  found,  4  feet  in  width,  and  extend- 
ing for  a  distance  of  5  feet  towards  the  centre.  It  appeared  as  if 
a  fire  had  been  lighted  on  the  spot ;  for  the  chalk  and  flint  below 
and  in  immediate  contact  with  it  were  partially  calcined.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  the  occurrence  of  a  fire  in  such  a  posi- 
tion, removed  as  it  was  at  so  great  a  depth  from  the  surface ;  but 
it  is  scarcely  possible  to  understand  how  the  underlying  chalk 
became  burnt  in  the  way  it  was,  unless  a  fire  had  been  lighted 
there ;  for  the  throwing  in  of  hot  embers  could  not  have  calcined 
the  chalk  to  the  extent  in  which  it  was  found. 

Having  noticed,  by  way  of  introduction,  those  secondary 
questions  which  appeared  to  require  some  explanation,  it  now 
remains  to  describe  how  the  flint  itself  was  worked  out  by  the 
prehistoric  people  who  made  the  pits.  The  process  differs  in 
some  respects  from  that  adopted  by  the  present  flint-raisers. 
The  ancient  workers  sunk  a  circular  shaft,  gradually  decreasing 
in  size  to  the  level  of  the  stratum  of  the  best  flint,  passing 
through  the  upper  layer  of  the  so-called  wall-flint,  but  not  re- 
moving any  of  that  bed  beyond  what  occurred  within  the  limits 
of  the  shaft  itself.  When  the  floor-flint  was  reached,  it  was 
worked  out  to  the  extent  of  the  pit;  and  then  galleries  were 
excavated  in  various  directions  upon  the  level  of  the  bed  of 
flint.  In  order  that  sufficient  height  might  be  obtained  to 
enable  the  workmen  to  extract  the  flint,  a  considerable  quantity 
of  the  overlying  chalk  has  been  removed,  the  galleries  being  on  an 
average  about  3  feet  in  height,  though  in  some  places  the  roof 
was  5  feet  high.  Their  height,  however,  is  very  irregular, 
owing  in  some  measure  to  the  manner  in  which  the  chalk  roof 
had  given  way  in  some  places  more  than  in  others.  In  no  case 
was  any  of  the  chalk  below  the  flint  bed  removed — a  practice 
contrary  to  that  of  the  present  workmen,  who,  in  making  their 
galleries,  excavate  the  chalk  both  above  and  below  the  flint. 
The  galleries  vary  in  width  from  about  4  feet  to  7  feet ;  and  the 
flint  was  worked  out  beyond  their  sides  as  far  as  was  practicable 
without  causing  the  roof  to  give  way.  The  position  of  the  galleries 
will  be  better  understood  from  the  plan  (PI.  XXIX.  flg.  1),  which 
shows  their  ramifications  and  the  way  they  run  one  into  another, 
than  by  description  in  words.  I  had  not  time  to  examine  them 
to  the  full  extent  of  the  workings ;  but  they  no  doubt  connect  all 
the  shafts.  A  side  gallery  (2),  proceeding  from  the  first  gallery 
opening  out  of  the  pit  which  I  examined,  was  found  to  extend  for 
a  distance  of  27  feet  to  the  west,  where  it  ended  in  a  pit,  which 
still  remains  filled  in.  Nor  can  there  be  much  doubt  that  the 
whole  space  occupied  by  the  pits  is  a  complete  netwoi^  of  gal- 

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426  Rev.  W.  Oreenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

leries,  and  that^  if  the  chalk  rubble  were  taken  out  of  them^  it 
would  be  possible  to  travel  underground  over  the  space  in  ques- 
tion. To  do  this  would  be  a  work  of  great  labour;  for  as  one 
gallery  was  worked  out^  it  was  filled  in  again  with  the  chalk 
excavated  from  other  galleries^  so  that  nearly  the  whole  of  them 
are  now  filled  up  with  rubble. 

There  were  no  steps  cut  in  the  side  of  the  pit,  or  any  provision 
of  that  kind  for  obtaining  access  to  the  galleries ;  so  that  the* 
workmen  must  either  have  been  drawn  up  by  ropes,  probably  of 
hide,  or  have  ascended  by  means  of  a  ladder,  which,  if  such  was 
the  case,  was  most  likely  made  by  cutting  notches  in  a  tree-stem. 

The  principal  instrument  used,  both  in  sinking  the  shaft  and  in 
working  the  galleries,  was  a  pick  (PI.  XXIX.  fig.  2),  made  from 
the  antler  of  the  red  deer,  numerous  examples  of  which  were 
found  in  the  shaft  at  various  depths,  and  in  the  galleries.  The 
pick,  almost  identical  in  form  with  that,  of  iron  and  wood,  used  by 
the  present  workmen,  was  made  by  breaking  off  the  horn,  at  a 
distance  usually  of  about  16  or  17  inches  from  the  brow  end,  and 
then  removing  all  the  tines  except  the  brow  tine.  The  process 
of  dividing  the  antler  and  breaking  off  the  tines  had  been  made 
more  easy  by  partly  burning  the  horn  at  the  places  where  it 
was  desired  to  divide  it,  most  of  them  being  partially  charred  at 
those  parts.  There  were  very  slight  indications  of  any  of  them 
having  been  cut  through;  but  one  antler  from  a  slain  deer, 
having  part  of  the  skull  attached  to  the  horn,  it  had  been 
attempted  to  make  more  handy  by  cutting  off  the  piece  of  skull. 
This  has  evidently  been  done  by  flint  flakes ;  and  the  work  proving 
too  hard,  the  piece  of  skull  still  remains  attached  to  the  antler, 
with  the  ineffective  and  irregular  cuttings  still  upon  it.  Another 
antler,  which  had  the  brow  tine  projecting  from  it  at  an  incon- 
venient angle,  has  had  it  removed  by  making  a  shallow  groove 
at  the  base  of  the  tine,  and  then  snapping  it  through. 

These  tools  had  been  used  both  as  picks  and  as  hammers,  the 
point  of  the  brow  tine  serving  for  a  pick,  and  the  opposite  part 
of  the  brow  acting  as  a  hammer,  to  break  off  a  plt)}ecting  piece 
of  chalk  or  flint,  the  adjacent  parts  of  which  had  been  previously 
removed  by  the  tine.  Nearly  the  whole  of  the  tools  show  signs 
of  use,  in  the  splintered  extremity  of  the  tine  and  in  the  worn 
and  battered  brow;  and  numerous  cuts  upon  the  horns  give  in- 
dications of  the  sharp  edge  of  the  fractured  flint  having  come  into 
contact  with  the  pick  and  hammer  part  of  the  antlers.  In  one 
instance  a  piece  of  flint  was  firmly  fixed  in  the  back  of  the  horn, 
where  the  appearance  showed  that  it  had  been  used  in  splintering 
the  flint.  The  marks  of  both  pick  and  hammer  were  thickly 
scattered  over  the  walls  of  the  galleries,  and  appeared  as  fresh  as 
if  made  but  yesterday. 

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Jouni.Etbfto.Soe.Vol.JI.Pl.  XXX. 


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OBJF.CTB  FOUND       IN       GRIME'S        GRAVEsOOglC 


Grime's  Graves  in  Norfolk.  427 

The  chalk  had  also  been  excavated  by  another  implement,  one 
of  which  was  found  in  the  first  gallery,  4  feet  from  the  entrance. 
It  is  a  hatchet,  of  basalt  (PI.  XXX.  fig.  3) ;  and  the  marks  of  its 
cvitting  edge  were  plentiful  on  the  chalk  sides  of  the  gallery  in 
which  it  was  discovered. 

A  very  striking  occurrence  in  connexion  with  the  working  out 
of  the  flint  was  met  with  at  the  end  of  the  first  gallery,  20  feet 
8  inches  from  its  mouth.  The  roof  had  given  way  about  the 
middle  of  the  gallery,  and  blocked  up  the  whole  width  of  it  to  the 
roof.  On  removing  this,  and  when  the  end  came  in  view,  it  was 
seen  that  the  flint  had  been  worked  out  in  three  places  at  the 
end,  forming  three  hollows  extending  beyond  the  chalk  face  of 
the  end  of  the  gallery.  In  front  of  two  of  these  hollows  were  laid 
two  picks,  the  handle  of  each  towards  the  mouth  of  the  gallery, 
the  tines  pointing  towards  each  other,  showing,  in  all  probability, 
that  they  had  been  used  respectively  by  a  right-  and  a  left- 
handed  man.  The  day's  work  over,  the  men  had  laid  down  each 
his  tool,  ready  for  the  next  day's  work ;  meanwhile  the  roof  had 
fallen  in,  and  the  picks  had  never  been  recovered.  I  learnt  from 
the  workmen  that  it  would  not  have  been  safe  to  excavate  further 
in  that  direction,  the  chalk  at  the  point  being  broken  up  by 
cracks  so  as  to  prevent  the  roof  from  standing  firm.  It  was  a 
most  impressive  sight,  and  one  never  to  be  forgotten,  to  look, 
after  a  lapse,  it  may  be,  of  3000  years,  upon  a  piece  of  work  un- 
finished, with  the  tools  of  the  workmen  still  lying  where  they 
had  been  placed  so  many  centuries  ago.  Between  the  picks  was 
the  skull  of  a  bird,  but  none  of  the  other  bones.  These  two 
picks,  as  was  the  case  with  many  of  those  found  elsewhere,  had 
upon  them  an  incrustation  of  chalk,  the  surface  of  which  bore 
the  impression  of  the  workmen's  fingers,  the  print  of  the  skin 
being  most  apparent.  This  had  been  caused  by  the  chalk  with 
which  the  workmen's  hands  became  coated,  being  transferred 
to  the  handle  of  the  pick. 

The  galleries  extended  so  far  beyond  the  side  of  the  shaft, 
that  it  is  impossible  they  could  have  been  excavated  without  the 
aid  of  an  artificial  light;  and  it  is  probable  that  some  rudely 
made  cup-shaped  vessels  of  chalk  had  been  used  for  lamps. 
Four  of  them  were  found,  one  in  the  pit  (PL  XXX.  fig.  2),  the 
others  in  the  galleries,  in  one  case  placed  upon  a  ledge  of  the 
chalk  j  list  in  the  proper  position  for  throwing  light  upon  the  place 
being  worked.  The  only  objection  to  their  having  been  lamps 
is  the  absence  of  any  staining,  either  from  the  smoke  of  the 
wick  or  the  oil  or  tallow  which,  if  used  as  lamps,  they  must 
have  held.  They  can  scarcely,  however,  have  fulfilled  any  other 
purpose ;  and  during  the  long  interval  which  has  elapsed  since 
they  were  left  in  the  pit  any  discoloration  arising  from  the 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


428  Rev.  W.  Greenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

stain  of  fatty  matter  would  probably  have  disappeared ;  and  if 
the  wick  floated  on  the  oil,  there  would  be  no  remains  of  its 
smoke  upon  the  side  of  the  vessel. 

I  now  purpose  to  give  a  fuller  and  more  detailed  account  than 
has  yet  been  done  of  the  various  manufactured  articles  found  in 
the  shaft  and  galleries,  and  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  occurred.  The  first  place  is  due  to  the  picks,  of  stag's 
horn,  both  on  account  of  their  number  and  from  the  primary 
importance  they  claim  as  the  implements  with  which  the  work 
of  excavating  the  chalk  and  flint  was  performed.  These  tools 
were  found  in  great  abundance,  as  well  in  the  shaft  as  in  the 
galleries,  and  sometimes  lying  many  of  them  together,  in  one 
instance  to  the  number  of  eight.  With  two  exceptions,  they 
are  all  made  from  the  lower  part  of  the  antler,  after  the  fashion 
already  described ;  and  they  vary  in  length  from  14  to  20  inches, 
the  greater  number  being  about  16  inches  long.  The  brow  tine 
used  for  the  pick-end  had  a  length  of  1 1  inches  in  one  case, 
whilst  in  others  it  was  worn  down  by  use  to  a  point  not  above 
3  inches  long.  The  exceptional  tools  have  been  made  from  the 
cup-end  of  the  antler,  one  tine  being  used  for  the  handle  and 
another  for  the  pick.  None  of  these  tools  were  found  until  the 
pit  was  cleared  out  to  a  depth  of  17  feet ;  but  from  that  point 
to  the  bottom  they  occurred  here  and  there  indiscriminately. 
There  were  more,  however,  in  the  galleries  than  in  the  shaft. 
The  whole  number  was  79,  many  of  them  much  decayed  and 
broken;  of  these  only  11  were  antlers  from  deer  which  had 
been  killed,  the  rest  being  all  shed  ones.  The  animals  to  which 
they  belonged  had  most  of  them  been  of  large  size,  and  much 
beyond  the  average  of  the  present  Scotch  red  deer.  In  this  they 
correspond  with  the  antlers  found  in  the  Fens,  and  show  that 
the  deer  in  those  times  attained  a  greater  size,  and  probably,  as 
a  rule,  lived  to  a  greater  age.  This  is  only  what  might  be  ex- 
pected ;  for  the  red  deer  is  now  confined  to  a  small  area  in  Bri- 
tain, and  that  of  a  high  elevation,  and  almost  entirely  devoid  of 
any  vegetation  except  ling  and  very  coarse  grasses,  whereas  in 
prehistoric  and  much  later  times  it  occupied  a  country  abound- 
ing in  wood,  and  possessing  a  much  more  varied  and  nutritious 
flora  than  is  now  possessed  by  the  Highlands  of  Scotland.  The 
large  number  of  tools  found  in  the  workings,  apparently  thrown 
aside,  many  of  them  when  scarcely  used  at  all,  implies  a  great 
abundance  of  deer  at  the  time,  whilst  the  relatively  small  propor- 
tion of  antlers  of  slain  deer  to  the  shed  horns  would  lead  us  to 
believe  that  the  capture  of  the  animal  was  not  an  easy  task.  It 
is,  I  understand,  by  no  means  common  to  find  shed  horns,  even 
where  deer  are  plentiftd ;  and  when  the  abundance  of  them  found 
in  the  pit  is  considered  in  connexion  with  this  fact,  a  very  strong 

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Grime's  Graves  in  Norfolk.  429 

impression  of  the  plentifulness  of  the  animal  in  the  district  is 
conveyed.  One  of  the  largest  of  the  horns  measured  9  inches 
round  its  base,  immediately  above  the  brow.  Besides  the  picks, 
there  were  thirteen  of  the  cup-end  of  the  antler,  and  many 
whole  and  fragmentary  tines,  the  remains  of  damaged  tools,  or 
of  tines  broken  off  in  shaping  out  the  picks.  The  tines,  except 
in  two  or  perhaps  three  instances,  where  they  have  been  partly 
cut  through,  have  been  simply  snapped  off.  Many  of  the  picks 
showed  that  they  must  have  been  continued  in  use  for  a  long 
time  before  they  were  thrown  aside ;  for  the  horn  was  worn  quite 
smooth  in  those  parts  where  the  workmen^s  hands  had  come  into 
contact  with  it. 

Two  other  implements  of  bone  were  discovered  in  the  shaft : 
— a  pin  or  awl,  4^  inches  long,  at  a  depth  of  17  feet,  made  from 
the  fibula  of  some  small  animal,  probably  a  roe  deer,  split  and 
then  rubbed  to  a  point ;  and  a  rounded  piece  of  bone  4|  inches 
long,  and  1  inch  in  circumference,  carefully  rubbed  smooth,  and 
showing  signs  of  use  at  the  ends.  It  may  possibly  have  been  a 
tool  for  making  pottery,  or  an  implement  for  taking  off  the  lesser 
flakes  of  flint,  in  making  arrow-points  and  other  small  articles. 
It  somewhat  resembles,  though  longer,  the  piece  of  deer's 
antler,  inserted  into  a  handle  of  wood  or  fossil  ivory,  used  by 
the  Eskimo  for  flaking. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  a  hatchet  of  basalt 
was  found  in  the  first  gallery,  and  that  the  marks  of  its  cutting 
edge  were  distinctly  seen  upon  the  sides  of  the  gallery,  showing 
that  it  had  been  used  in  excavating  the  chalk.  It  is  of  a  type 
not  commonly  found  in  East  Anglia,  but  very  usual  in  York- 
shire; and  it  appears  strange  that,  flint  being  so  plentiful,  a 
hatchet  of  any  other  material  should  have  been  used.  I  shall 
have  occasion  to  revert  to  this  fact  in  the  sequel,  when  the 
question  of  the  people  who  worked  the  pits  is  considered.  It  is 
7|  inches  long,  2^  inches  wide  at  the  cutting  edge,  the  other 
end  being  sharply  pointed.  In  one  of  the  pits,  at  the  opposite 
side  of  the  series,  which  Lord  Rosehill  partially  examined,  two 
rude  adze-shaped  tools  of  flint  were  discovered,  showing  that  the 
material  at  hand  was  occasionally  used  in  working  the  chalk. 

Numerous  water-rolled  quartzite  and  other  pebbles  were  found 
in  the  pit,  at  various  depths,  abundance  of  which,  coming  out  of 
the  boulder-clay,  are  scattered  over  the  surface  of  the  adjoining 
ground.  Fourteen  of  these  showed,  in  their  bruised  ends  and 
sides,  that  they  had  been  used  as  hammer-stones,  and  probably 
for  flaking  flint,  for  which  purpose,  as  I  can  testify  from  experi- 
ence, they  are  well  adapted  (Fl.  XXX.  fig.  1) .  They  are  quite 
small,  one  being  not  above  1^  inch  long,  and  they  could  not,  on 
account  of  their  want  of  weight,  have  been  used  for  breaking  up 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


430  Rev.  W.  Gkeenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

either  the  chalk  or  the  flint  whilst  in  the  bed.  Besides  these 
stones^  seven  large  rounded  cores  of  flint  occurred,  which  also 
showed  signs  of  having  been  used  for  hammering  (PI.  XXX. 
fig.  4) .  From  their  size  and  weight  they  might  have  equally 
served  for  taking  off  large  flakes,  or  for  breaking^  the  chalk 
and  flint  in  the  block.  Similar  round  cores  are  found  abundantly 
on  the  surfiEuse  of  the  adjoining  fields,  and  have  the  same  appear- 
ance of  having  been  used  as  hammer-stones.  At  the  end  of 
the  second  gallery  a  peculiar-shaped  flint  nodule  was  discovered, 
which  is  very  like  a  cat's  head.  It  has  been  used  as  a  hammer, 
and  is  most  conveniently  formed  for  the  purpose. 

Some  cup-shaped  vessels  made  of  chalk  have  already  been 
referred  to  as  being  probably  lamps.  Of  these,  three,  almost 
complete,  and  a  fragment  of  a  fourth,  were  found.  One  of  them 
and  the  fragment  occurred  in  the  shaft,  at  a  depth  of  26  feet, 
another  on  a  ledge  at  the  end  of  the  second  gallery,  and  the  third 
in  a  gallery  branching  from  the  east  side  of  the  first  one.  They 
have  all  been  fashioned  and  hollowed  with  flint  flakes ;  and  the 
marks  of  the  cutting  are  as  distinct  upon  them  as  when  they 
were  first  made.  They  are  rudely  formed,  circular,  with  a  flat 
bottom;  one  is  about  2j  inches  in  diameter,  another  about 
2|  inches,  the  first  being  \^  inch  high  and  the  second  2  inches; 
the  cup  part  in  each  is  not  quite  an  inch  in  depth ;  the  third  one 
is  rather  larger  and  much  more  irregularly  formed. 

Some  other  articles  of  chalk  were  found,  the  use  of  which  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  determine.  One  is  a  roughly  shaped, 
flat  and  thin  piece,  pierced  by  a  hole  about  the  middle,  which  has 
been  drilled  from  each  side.  But  for  the  softness  of  the  material, 
it  might  be  taken  for  one  of  the  so-called  tool-stones  found  not 
unfrequently  in  Ireland,  though  more  rarely  in  England.  It 
occurred  at  a  depth  of  18  feet.  Another  is  not  unlike  part  of  a 
human  leg  or  arm.  The  marks  of  cutting,  probably  with  flint 
flakes,  are  distinctly  seen  upon  it ;  and  the  broken  ends  show 
that  it  formed  part  of  a  larger  article ;  the  present  length  is  10 
inches,  and  it  is  14  inches  in  circumference.  A  third  may  have 
been  part  of  a  flngcr;  it  is  1^  inch  long,  2^  inches  in  circum- 
ference, and  is  only  a  fragment. 

The  most  remarkable  piece  is  a  representation  of  the  glans  of 
a  human  penis,  which  has  evidently  been  broken  off  from  the 
whole  member.  It  is  very  well  carved,  and  appears  to  have  been 
modelled  from  life,  the  anatomical  features  being  rendered  with  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  parts.  These  three  last  articles  were 
found  not  very  far  from  each  other,  and  at  a  depth  of  about  31 
feet.  It  is  not  impossible  that  they  may  have  formed  part  of  a 
whole  figure,  though  it  might  scarcely  have  been  expected  that 
the  people  who  worked  the  flint  had  arrived  at  so  advanced  a 


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Grime's  Graves  in  Norfolk.  431 

stage  in  art  as  the  sculptunDg  of  a  life-size  human  figure  implies. 
People,  however,  who  were  certainly*  living  under  ruder  condi- 
tions have  exhibited  marvellous  skill  in  sculpture,  and  that  too 
in  relief,  so  that  we  need  not  deny  to  these  early  inhabitants  of 
Norfolk  a  power  of  imitation  which  has  been  widely  diflFused 
even  amongst  savage  races. 

But  if  the  opinion  which  attributes  these  pieces  of  carved  chalk 
to  the  remains  of  a  statue  must  be  rejected,  I  should  not  be  in- 
clined to  assign  any  religious  significancy  to  this  penis,  or  to  re- 
gard it  as  an  evidence  of  phallic  worship,  but  rather  consider  it 
the  production  of  some  ancient  workman  who  had  no  further 
intention,  when  he  carved  it,  than  the  artists  who,  in  a  very 
inferior  style,  depict  the  same  member  upon  our  walls  and 
palings.  ' 

A  number  of  animal  bones,  principally  broken  so  as  to  extract 
the  marrow,  were  found  scattered  amongst  the  materials  which 
filled  in  the  pit.  They  were  discovered  from  within  4  feet  of  the 
top  to  a  depth  of  about  28  feet,  but  beyond  that  point  and  in  the 
galleries  they  were  absent.  1  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of 
Mr.  W.  Boyd  Dawkins,  F.R.S.,  for  their  identification.  The 
animal  whose  bones  are  the  most  numerous,  putting  aside  the 
red-deer  antlers,  is  the  ox,  of  a  small  species,  probably  Bos 
longifrons.  A  very  remarkable  and  instructive  fact  connected 
with  these  ox-bones  is  their  being  to  a  great  extent  those  of 
very  young  calves.  It  would  appear  from  this  that  a  principal 
element  in  the  food  of  these  people  was  milk,  and  therefore  they 
could  not  afibrd  to  keep  the  calves,  which  must  have  consumed 
a  large  portion  of  what  would  otherwise  have  been  available  for 
the  use  of  the  household.  The  herbivorous  animal  whose  bones 
are  next  in  order  of  number  is  the  goat  or  sheep,  followed  by 
the  horse  and  pig,  and,  after  a  long  interval,  by  two  bones  of 
the  red  deer.  Of  the  camivora,  the  only  animal  whose  remains 
were  found  was  the  dog.  Bones  of  several  individuals  were 
discovered,  all  of  them  having  been  old  when  killed ;  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  when  they  were  no  longer,  on  account  of 
their  age,  of  much  use  for  hunting,  they  were  then  made  to  serve 
for  food. 

The  bones  were  all  of  domesticated  animals,  a  fact  which 
proves  that  the  people  who  worked  the  flint  had  passed  beyond 
the  hunting  stage.  A  similar  condition  of  things  prevailed  on 
the  Yorkshire  Wolds  at  the  time  of  the  erection  of  the  barrows 
there ;  and  an  examination  of  a  large  series  of  animal  bones  from 
those  burial-mounds  shows  that  scarcely  any  are  of  wild  animals. 

From  the  fact  of  these  various  bones,  hammer-stones,  cores, 
and  chippings  of  flint  being  placed  indiscriminately  amongst  the 
materials  which  filled  up   the  pit,  we  may  conclude  that  the 


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432  Rev.  W.  Greenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

people  lived  close  by  the  mouth  of  the  shaft.  If  this  was  the 
ease^  the  remains  of  their  food  and  the  waste  pieces  of  the  flint 
struck  off  or  left  unworked  in  the  process  of  manufacture  would 
naturally  be  thrown  into  the  adjoining  pit^  which  was  being  gra- 
dually filled  up  by  the  chalk  and  sand  taken  out  of  other  shafts. 
The  shafts  must  have  remained  open  at  different  levels  for  a  con- 
siderable time^  and  would  be  most  convenient  places  for  the  de- 
positing of  rubbish  of  all  kinds;  and  it  is  surprising  that  more 
numerous  and  varied  articles  were  not  discovered  in  the  pit 
which  was  examined.  The  absence  of  such  things  in  the  shaft 
may  be  accounted  for  on  the  supposition  that  it  was  an  accident 
incidental  to  that  especial  pit,  or  that  the  people  who  worked  the 
flint  were  not  in  possession  of  many  implement  and  utensils.  The 
not  finding  any  remains  of  pottery  is  very  remarkable^  because^ 
from  its  fragile  and  yet  indestructible  nature^  it  is  one  of  those 
things  which  usually  marks  the  site  of  habitation  longer  and  more 
abundantly  than  almost  any  other  article.  It  is  impossible  to 
believe  that  these  people  were  ignorant  of  its  use. 

Until  the  examination  of  the  pit  at  Grime's  Graves^  no  ancient 
workings  for  flint  have  been  explored  in  England  with  reference 
to  their  former  purpose^  though  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  many 
similar  places  exist  throughout  the  whole  of  the  flint-bearing 
districts  of  the  country.  There  are  two  instances  in  the  county 
of  Norfolk  where  discoveries  have  been  made,  indicating  the 
existence  of  workings  of  the  same  character  as  thone  at  Grime's 
Graves.  One  is  situated  only  a  few  miles  distant  to  the  north- 
east, at  Buckenham,  where,  in  cutting  a  deep  drain  to  cany 
away  the  sewage  from  the  house,  at  a  depth  of  18  feet,  some 
hollows  were  discovered  in  the  chalk.  At  the  time  these  were  sup- 
posed to  have  been  the  hiding-places  of  smugglers ;  but  there  can 
be  no  question  that  they  are  ancient  flint-galleries.  Many  deer's 
antlers  were  found  in  them,  which,  from  the  description  I  have 
heard,  corresponded  with  the  picks  already  described.  At  Eaton, 
close  to  Norwich,  deer's  antlers,  broken  off  in  a  similar  way  to 
those  at  Grime's  Graves,  were  met  with  amongst  chalk  rubble; 
but  they  do  not  appear  to  have  excited  any  attention,  having 
been  regarded  as  ordinary  shed  horns,  which  had  not  been  made 
use  of  by  man.  It  seems  probable  that  the  chalk  rubble  in 
question  was  the  filling-in  of  shafts  or  galleries,  and  that  the 
site  of  an  old  flint-quarry  was  there  met  with.  In  much  later 
days,  Norwich  was  earlier  the  seat  of  a  gun-flint  manufactory 
than  Brandon ;  and  the  trade  still  lingers  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  city. 

Many  pits  in  the  chalk  have  been  known  for  long,  or  have 
been  discovered  from  time  to  time,  in  the  counties  of  Essex, 
Hertford,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  which  it  is  needless  to  specify ;  and 


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Grimes  Graves  in  Norfolk.  438 

many  different  conjectures  as  to  their  use  have  been  hazarded. 
Some  of  these  will,  no  doubt,  prove  to  be  prehistoric  flint- work- 
ings ;  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will  all  receive  a  careful  exa- 
mination, with  the  view  of  testing  this  explanation  of  their  use. 
The  extensive  series  of  pits  within  the  camp  at  Cissbury,  so  fully 
described  by  Colonel  A.  Lane  Fox  in  the  Arcfueoloffia,  will 
probably  be  found  to  be  the  place  whence  the  flint  was  ob- 
tained, as  they  certainly  are  the  site  where  it  was  manufactured. 
The  Pen  Pits,  in  Wiltshire,  described  by  Sir  Richard  Colt 
Hoare,  Bart.,  may  have  had  their  origin  in  a  similar  process  of 
mining ;  and  there  are  other  hollows  like  them  in  the  same  part 
of  England,  which  may  have  to  take  a  place  in  the  same  category. 

In  Belgium^  however,  the  site  of  a  flint-manufactory  and  the 
workings  from  which  the  material  was  obtained  have  been 
carefully  examined.  The  neighbourhood  of  Spiennes  has  long 
been  known  to  abound  not  only  in  chippings  and  cores  of  flint, 
but  in  implements,  whole  and  fragmentary.  The  greater  part  of 
the  implements  found  there  are  unground ;  but  a  few  ground  ones 
have  occurred.  These  various  articles  have  been  discovered  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground.  In  the  year  1842  the  ancient  work- 
ings were  first  noticed ;  and  the  mode  in  which  the  flint  was  ob- 
tained, by  a  system  of  shafts  and  galleries,  is  very  similar  to  that 
of  Grime's  Graves.  Many  tools  of  deer's  horn  were  found  in 
the  workings,  but  not  of  the  same  form  as  those  from  the  pits 
in  Norfolk.  The  Spiennes  tools  have  been  made  by  cutting  off 
the  horn  just  above  the  brow  tine,  which  has  been  left  on,  appa- 
rently to  serve  as  a  handle.  They  must  have  been  used  as  ham- 
mers rather  than  as  picks,  and  they  are  by  no  means  such  effi- 
cient implements  as  are  those  from  Grime's  Graves.  The  chalk 
in  the  Spiennes  workings  seems  to  have  been  excavated  princi- 
pally with  tools  made  of  flint,  many  of  which  were  found  in  the 
pits  and  galleries  there.  As  was  the  case  at  Grime's  Graves,  a 
single  pin  or  awl  of  bone  was  discovered  at  Spiennes,  where  spe- 
cimens of  pottery,  coarse  and  badly  baked,  occurred  in  abun- 
dance*. 

The  question  remains  for  consideration.  Who  were  the  people 
who  worked  the  flint  at  Grime's  Graves,  and  when  did  that  work 
go  on  ?  There  have  been  only  two  periods  during  which  flint  of 
the  quality  found  there  has  been  quarried  as  extensively  as  these 
workings  imply.  One  is  the  age  when  stone  was  the  material 
used  in  the  fabrication  of  weapons  and  cutting-implements ;  the 
other  and  much  later  one,  when  it  was  used  in  the  manufacture 

*  Alphoose  Briart|  Florent  Comet  et  Augoste  Hoozeau  de  Lehaie, 
"Rapport  8ur  les  D^couvertes  Gl^log^aues  et  Archdologiques  faites  k 
Spiennes  en  1867,"  M^moires^  &c.  de  la  Soci^t^  des  Sciences,  des  Arts  &c. 
du  Hainaut,  onn^e  1866-7  (Mons,  1868),  p.  855. 

V«^'   "•  D,g,t,  Jby'GoOgle 


434  Rev.  W.  Gbeenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

of  gan-flintSr  It  is  eyident  that  the  latter  period  was  not  that 
when  these  pits  were  excavated ;  for  the  animal  remains  alone 
point  to  an  earlier  one^  without  taking  into  consideration  the 
fact  that^  since  the  invention  of  firearms^  flint  and  chalk  have 
never  been  quarried  by  other  tools  than  those  of  iron.  There 
remains,  then,  the  period  during  which  stone  was  used  for  wea- 
pons and  implements.  This  period,  no  doubt,  was  to  a  certain 
extent  contemporary  with  the  age  when  bronze  was  also  in  use 
for  certain  articles.  But  before  that  time  a  pure  stone  age  had 
prevailed,  when  no  metal,  except  perhaps  gold,  was  known.  To 
this  earlier  period,  the  Neolithic,  I  think  these  extensive  work- 
ings must  be  referred.  The  quantity  of  flint  that  has  been  ob- 
tained from  the  pits  at  Grime's  Graves  is  so  great,  and  the  sup- 
ply of  material  for  implements  was  so  very  large,  that  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  operations  on  a  scale  so  extensive  could 
have  been  required  when  the  use  of  stone  must  have  been,  to  a 
great  extent,  superseded  by  metal.  During  the  time  when  both 
stone  and  metal  were  in  use,  flint  was  required  more  for  smaller 
weapons,  such  as  arrow-points,  and  for  articles  like  scrapers, 
saws,  and  knives,  than  for  larger  implements  such  as  hatchets. 
The  perforated  stone  axes,  which  were  no  doubt  in  use  together 
with  bronze,  are  never  made  of  flint.  We  may  regard  these 
workings,  then,  as  belonging  to  the  neolithic  age,  when  metal 
was  unkDOwn,  but  when  the  grinding  and  polishing  of  stone  was 
imderstood.  The  palaeolithic  age,  when  flint  was  most  exten- 
sively used  in  the  same  district,  cannot  have  been  that  of  the 
working  of  these  pits ;  for,  apart  from  the  fact  that  nearly  all 
the  drift  implements  have  been  made  Irom  surface  flints,  and 
those  generdly  not  belonging  to  flint  of  the  quality  obtained  at 
Grime's  Graves,  the  greater  part  of  the  animal-remains  found 
in  the  pit  do  not  belong  to  the  fauna  of  the  drift,  nor  were  any 
bones  of  the  most  characteristic  animals  of  that  peribd  discovered 
there. 

The  time  occupied  in  working  the  whole  series  of  pits  and 
galleries  must  necessarily  have  been  a  long  one ;  for  even  with  a 
large  population  such  extensive  operations  could  not  have  been 
undertaken  in  a  short  period.  There  could  scarcely,  however, 
have  ever  been  a  large  population  settled  in  the  locality ;  for  such 
could  not  have  been  supported — the  supply  of  game,  large  though 
that  may  have  been,  being  quite  inadequate  to  afford  food  for 
more  than  a  people  of  limited  number,  and  pasturage  for  domes- 
ticated animals  being  very  scanty  and  poor.  The  evidence  sup- 
plied by^  the  pits  themselves  very  strongly  supports  the  view  that 
a  long  period  of  time  must  have  been  occupied  in  quwrrying  the 
flint.  A  single  pit,  with  its  galleries,  would  afford  stone  suffi- 
cient for  the  manufacture  of  thousands  of  implements,  even  al- 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


Grimes  Graves  in  Norfolk.  485 

lowing  for  a  most  lavish  and  wasteful  expenditure ;  and  when  it 
is  considered  that  the  pits  number  about  250,  some  idea  may  be 
formed  of  the  enormous  quantity  of  implements  which  must 
have  been  supplied  by  the  Grime's-Graves  workings  alone. 
There  is,  however,  good  reason  for  believing  that  this  series  of 
workings  is  only  one  out  of  many  others  in  the  same  district ; 
and  if  such  is  the  case,  imagination  almost  fails  to  conceive  the 
vastness  of  the  supply  of  material  for  the  people  of  the  stone 
age  provided  by  the  chalk  of  Norfolk.  But  flint  was  worked  by 
means  of  pits  in  other  chalk-bearing  counties,  besides  being  ob- 
tained  on  the  surface,  and  in  the  shape  of  rolled  pebbles  on  the 
sea-beach ;  so  that  we  have  to  add  many  other  sources  of  supply 
to  that  of  Grime's  Graves  and  other  Norfolk  workings.  Taking 
these  facts  into  consideration,  we  seem  to  require  a  very  extended 
period  for  the  neolithic  age  itself,  as  well  as  for  the  time  during 
which  the  pits  in  question  were  in  operation.  We  have  no  cer- 
tain factor,  however,  at  present  by  which  to  measure  that 
period. 

Another  and  important  question  which  arises  is  whether  the 
flint  was  worked  by  a  population  in  possession  of  the  district, 
or  by  various  tribes,  who  came  there  from  different  localities 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  so  essential  a  material  for  their 
wants.  There  are  certain  kinds  of  stone  in  North  America  and 
in  Australia  to  which  different  tribes  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
resorting  to  obtain  what  they  required  for  one  purpose  or 
another.  In  some  instances  the  people  of  these  tribes  travelled 
from  places  at  a  great  distance  to  that  where  the  particular 
stone  is  found.  Was  a  similar  practice  in  use  amongst  the 
people  of  the  neolithic  age  in  Britain?  A  possession  so  valuable 
as  an  almost  inexhaustible  mine  of  flint  must  have  been,  could  only 
have  been  retained  by  a  people  powerful  enough  to  resist  any 
attack  which  might  have  been  made  by  neighbouring  tribes, 
unless  there  was  a  political  system  so  complete  that  the  law  of 
nations  was  in  force  in  a  stronger  way  than  it  was  in  times  long 
subsequent  to  that  in  question.  It  appears  unlikely  that  any 
single  tribe  could  have  been  allowed  a  quiet  possession  of  such  a 
material  by  any  common  consent  of  the  adjacent  communities ; 
and  we  must  therefore  conclude  that,  if  these  pits  belonged  ex- 
clusively to  one  tribe,  the  tribe  in  question  must  have  been  a 
more  powerful  one  than  any  of  its  neighbours.  We  have  no 
evidence  to  show  how  the  country  was  subdivided  at  the  time,  if 
it  was  so  parcelled  out,  or  whether  it  was  all  in  the  hands  of  one 
large  community  or  of  a  confederation  of  tribes.  Be  this,  how- 
ever, as  it  may,  it  seems  on  the  whole  more  probable  that  the 
flint  was  the  property  of  a  single  people,  and  not  of  the  whole 
country  and  worked  by  different  tribes  temporarily  settling  at 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


436  Rev.  W.  Greenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

the  place  from  time  to  time.  Not  only  would  any  occasional 
residents  have  found  great  diflBculty  in  subsisting  during  the 
long-extended  period  necessary  to  sink  shafts  and  work  galleries^ 
but  the  regular  and  systematic  way  in  which  the  flint  has  been 
obtained  seems  to  require  a  set  of  workmen  habituated  to  the 
mode  of  quarrying  this  stone.  The  finding  of  a  hatchet  of 
basalt^  of  a  type  not  usual  in  the  district^  in  one  of  the  galleries 
may  seem  to  favour  the  view  that  the  pits  were  worked  by 
people  from  other  parts  of  the  country.  It  certainly  does  ap- 
pear strange  that  if  the  flint  was  raised  by  a  permanently  resi- 
dent population,  a  material  so  generally  inferior  to  flint,  and  at 
the  place  so  much  scarcer,  should  have  been  used  for  making  a 
tool  to  excavate  the  chalk.  This  particular  tool,  however,  may 
have  come  into  the  hands  of  the  workmen  in  some  accidental 
way ',  or,  from  being  superior  in  toughness  to  flint,  it  may  have 
been  a  more  useful  implement  than  a  hatchet  of  that  stone.  This 
single  fact,  even  if  it  does  favour  the  view  of  the  pits  having 
been  worked  by  tribes  foreign  to  the  district,  is  not  sufficient  to 
set  against  the  very  strong  probability,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
the  flint  was  the  property  of  and  worked  by  a  native  population, 
to  whom  it  must  have  been  a  most  valuable  possession. 

The  quantity  of  flint  obtained  at  Grime's  Graves,  as  has 
already  been  noticed,  was  very  great ;  and  the  traffic  that  went 
on  in  it  must  have  been  in  consequence  extensive.  It  is,  how- 
ever, most  difficult  to  say  what  was  obtained  in  exchange  for  it 
in  the  way  of  barter.  If  the  pits  had  been  worked  during  the 
bronze  age,  we  might  understand  that  the  medium  of  exchange 
was  that  metal ;  but,  upon  the  whole,  it  seems  most  probable 
that  they  were  in  operation  principally,  if  not  altogether,  before 
bronze  was  known.  Gold,  amber,  and  jet  are  all  substances 
used  by  the  people  of  that  age,  and  which  would  have  formed 
fitting  materials  for  barter ;  audit  is  possible  that  such  and  other 
like  products  were  exchanged  for  the  flint.  But  if  we  are  to  judge 
by  the  contents  of  the  barrows  in  the  neighbourhood,  we  must 
attribute  great  poverty  in  such  articles  to  the  people  living  there* 
Lord  BosehiU  opened  seven  barrows  near  Grime's  Graves,  finding 
in  them  deposits  of  burnt  bones,  and  those  only  in  one  case  placed 
in  a  cinerary  urn ;  but  in  none  of  them  did  he  discover  any  thing 
associated  with  the  interment.  It  is  not  necessary  to  suppose 
from  this  that  the  people  were  destitute  of  any  thing  in  the  way 
of  ornament  &c. ;  but  it  could  scarcely  happen,  if  they  were 
rich  in  such  things,  that  nothing  of  the  kind  should  have  oc- 
curred in  so  many  burial-places  as  were  examined.  As  the 
people  who  worked  the  flint  appear  to  have  subsisted  mainly 
upon  domesticated  animals,  it  is  not  improbable  that  these 
formed  the  product  given  in  exchange  for  the  flint ;  and  indeed. 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


Grime's  Graves  in  Norfolk.  487 

on  account  of  the  poverty  of  the  soil,  it  is  not  eajsy  to  understand 
how  any  large  quantity  of  domesticated  animals  could  have  been 
permanently  reared  and  sustained  in  the  district. 

EXPLANATION  OF  PLATES  XXVm.  to  XXX. 

Plate  XXVIIL 

Fig.  1.  Flint  implement  resembling  a  knife :  |  size. 
2.  Ditto,  resembling  a  spear-bead :  |  size. 
8.  Ditto,  used  as  a  drill  or  boring-tool :  i  size. 
4  &  6.  Ditto,  somewhat  in  tbe  form  of  an  adze :  ^  size. 

6.  Ditto,  resembling  a  spear-head :  i  size. 

7.  Flint  scraper. 

All  the  objects  figured  in  this  Plate  were  found  in  the  fields  near 
Grime's  Graves,  Norfolk. 

Platr  XXIX. 

Fig.  1,  Plan  of  the  workings  for  flint  at  Grime's  Graves,  Weeting,  Norfolk. 
Scale  12  feet  to  I  inch. 

A.  Place  where  the  picks  were  found. 

B.  Spot  where  the  roof  fell  in. 

2.  Pick  made  of  antler  of  the  red  deer,  found  in  on^  of  the  galleries  at 
Grime's  Graves. 

Plate  XXX. 

¥ig,  1.  Quartzite  pebble  with  bruised  end,  showing  that  it  had  been  used 
as  a  hammer-stone :  f  size. 

2.  Cup-shaped  vessel  formed  of  chalk,  and  probably  used  as  a  lamp : 

]  size. 

3.  Basalt  hatchet  employed  in  excavating  the  chalk :  }  size. 

4.  Core  of  flint  which  had  been  used  for  hammering :  4  size. 

All  the  objects  figured  in  this  Plate  were  found  in  the  excavations 
at  Grime's  Graves. 

Discussion. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Flowbe  observed  that,  having  been  present  for  several 
days  during  Canon  Greenwell's  explorations,  he  could  testify  to  the 
great  accuracy  of  tbe  details  which  had  been  given.  He  remarked 
that  the  history  of  the  little  town  or  village  of  Brandon  was  particu- 
larly interesting  to  ethnologists,  as  showing  for  what  vast  periods  of 
time  the  geological  condition  of  a  district  may  influence  the  occupa- 
tions, and  through  them  (in  a  certain  limited  sense  and  degree)  the 
condition  and  character  of  successive  races.  Notwithstanding  that 
this  town  is  situate  in  a  very  bleak  and  barren  district,  it  has  evidently 
been  a  place  of  considerable  resort  from  a  very  remote  period — a  cir- 
cumstance  which  can  only  be  attributed  to  the  abundance  and  good 
quality  of  the  flint  found  here.  First,  we  have  here  the  flint  imple- 
ments of  the  drift,  of  which  Mr.  Flower  had  collected,  in  and  near  the 
town,  a  large  number  of  characteristic  and  fine  specimens ;  in  fact, 
this  deposit  was  just  as  prolific  as  those  so  well  known,  and  so  often 
described,  in  the  Somme  valley ;  and  although  he  wa^  unable  to  accept 

Digitized  by  VjOOQIC 


438  Rev.  W,  Gbeenwell — On  the  Opening  of 

the  opinion  held  by  Sir  John  Lubbock  and  other  able  writers,  that 
the  implement-makerB  were  contemporary  with  the  elephants  and 
other  animals,  of  which  the  teeth  and  bones  were  sometimes  found  in 
the  same  gravel,  still  it  could  not  be  doubted  that  the  implements  were 
of  extreme  antiquity,  as  evidenced  bv  the  great  geological  changes 
which  must  have  taken  place  since  they  were  fabricated,  and  which 
resulted  in  covering  them  with  prodigious  masses  of  sand  and 
gravel. 

Next  in  order,  although  probably  by  a  very  long  interval,  came  the 
people,  whoever  they  were,  who  excavated  the  pits  at  Grime's  Graves 
to  procure  flints  for  makmg  scrapers  and  other  implements,  which, 
however,  were  of  an  entirefy  different  character  from  those  of  the 
drift,  liese  people  were  evidently  ignorant  of  the  use  of  metals ;  but 
they  seem  to  nave  been  far  in  advance  of  the  men  of  the  drift-imple- 
ment period,  since  they  were  able,  as  Canon  Greenwell  has  shown, 
to  excavate  the  chalk  to  the  depth  of  50  feet,  and  then  to  form  a  series  of 
galleries  or  shafts.  The  bones  of  the  red  deer,  of  which  so  many  had 
been  found,  afforded  no  satisfactory  evidence  as  to  the  age  of  these 
workings,  since,  although  extinct  for  several  centuries,  they  abounded 
in  the  country  lying  to  the  north-west  (which  was  then  an  extensive 
forest  but  is  now  a  fen)  until  as  late  as  Edward  the  First's  reign. 

That  the  Ancient  Britons  or  Celts  came  to  Brandon  is  evident  from 
the  name  Bran-f  from  atn  or  an,  Celtic  for  a  river  or  stream,  with  Br 
for  the  prefix,  as  in  Bran,  Brane,  and  Brent,  ancient  river  names ; 
and  dune,  a  hill ;  that  is,  the  "  river  hill,"  or  "  hill  by  the  river,"  which 
exactly  describes  its  situation,  it  being  the  first  eminence  by  the 
riverside  on  approaching  from  the  west.  Upward  of  thirty  large 
British  cinerary  urns  were  discovered  a  few  years  since  about  half  a 
mile  from  the  river ;  and  in  the  adjoining  parish  of  Hockwold  a  very 
large  cinerary  urn  of  glass  was  found,  as  well  as  many  other  articles, 
showing  that  the  Bomans  had  settled  here  in  considerable  numbers. 
In  due  time  the  Anglo-Saxons  made  their  appearance,  as  well  as  their 
Danish  invaders.  Canon  Greenwell  possesses  a  very  fine  brooch  of 
undoubted  Danish  workmanship  lately  found  in  the  adjoining  village 
of  Santon  Downham ;  and  the  Bev.  Mr.  Foley  has  another. 

William  the  Conqueror  fixed  his  camp  here  when  he  was  besieging 
the  Anglo-Saxons  in  their  stronghold  at  Ely ;  and  it  was  here,  as  we 
learn  from  the  *  Liber  Eliensis '  (upon  which  Mr.  Kingsley  founded 
his  tale  of  *  Hereward,  the  Last  of  the  Saxons '),  that  Mereward,  in 
the  disguise  of  a  potter,  and  calling  out  "  Fots,  pots  to  sell,"  got  into 
the  king's  camp  and  narrowly  escaped  capture. 

TV  hen  metal  superseded  the  use  of  stone  for  weapons  and  tools, 
the  staple  production  of  Brandon  became  of  little  vsJue ;  but  when 
firearms  were  invented,  the  demand  revived,  and  for  a  long  time  a 
great  trade  was  carried  on  in  flint ;  and  although,  owing  to  modern 
improvements  in  firearms,  it  is  no  longer  much  used  in  Europe,  a 
considerable  trade  is  still  carried  on  with  the  'East — thus  presenting 
a  remarkable,  and  probably  unparalleled,  instance  of  manufiEusture 
and  commerce  carried  on  in  our  own  days  in  an  article  which  was 
made  and  probably  sold  on  the  same  spot  at  what  (so  far  as  the  evi- 

Digitized  by  LjOOQ  IC 


Grime^i  Graves  in  Norfolk,  439 

dence  goes)  we  may  believe  to  have  been  the  earliest  period  of  man's 
appearance  on  the  earth. 

Col.  A.  Lake  Fox  thought  that  the  Society  might  be  congratulated 
upon  the  paper  which  they  had  heard  from  Canon  Green  well ;  for 
although  other  localities  in  chalk  districts  had  afforded  strong  pre- 
sumptive evidence  of  having  been  used  by  prehistoric  people  for 
quarrying  flints,  this  was  the  first  time  that  the  object  of  these  pits 
had  been  so  clearly  determined.  Amongst  the  places  mentioned  by 
Canon  Ghreenwell  was  the  camp  at  Cissburj,  which  had  been  explored 
by  the  speaker.  The  pits  there  were  of  different  construction,  being 
open  at  the  top  and  converging  towards  the  bottom;  but  he  had 
little  doubt  that  they  were  constructed  for  the  same  object,  of  ob- 
taining flints  for  the  fabrication  of  implements,  a  large  number  of 
which  were  found  in  them.  In  the  case  of  Cissbury,  some  clue  was 
obtained  as  to  the  period  at  which  the  pits  were  constructed ;  for 
UDon  digging  in  the  ditch  of  the  rampart  which  surrounded  the  camp 
wnere  the  pits  occur,  similar  implements  to  those  found  in  the  pits 
were  discovered  lying  on  the  orijginal  bottom  of  the  ditch,  beneath  an 
accumulation  of  some  three  or  four  feet  of  soil.  He  thought,  there- 
fore, that  it  was  pretty  clearly  determined  in  this  case  that  the  pits 
were  of  the  same  or  a  subsequent  period  to  the  camp ;  and  the  num- 
ber of  flint  flakes  found  in  many  of^the  camps  on  the  adjoining  downs 
confirmed  this  hypothesis.  These  pits  dia  not  appear  to  have  been 
excavated  with  deer-horn  picks,  as  no  trace  of  deer-horn  was  found 
in  them  ;  he  believed  that  flint  adzes  similar  to  those  described  by 
Canon  Greenwell,  were  used  for  this  purpose ;  and  a  number  of  these 
were  discovered :  they  were  found  to  fit  the  hand  on  one  side,  being 
worked  to  an  edge  at  the  other.  Amongst  the  pits  which  had  been 
attributed  to  this  purpose,  was  the  one  near  Broadstairs,  which 
had  been  described  by  the  speaker  in  the  Journal  of  the  Society 
(vol.  i.  p.  8) ;  he  was  bound  to  say,  however,  that  he  had  since  had  an 
opportunity  of  completing  the  excavation  of  this  pit,  and  he  could 
find  no  vein  of  flint  in  the  chalk,  such  as  was  described  in  the  paper 
as  existing  at  Orime's  Graves.  This  circumstance,  and  the  fact  of  a 
number  of  rolled  flints  from  the  sea-shore  having  been  brought  into 
the  pit,  left  him  in  doubt  whether  this  pit  was  really  constructed  for 
flint  working.  Other  pits,  commonly  known  as  Dane's  Holes,  in 
parts  of  Kent  more  closely  resemble  those  described  in  the  paper. 
At  East  Tilbuiy  they  were  described  as  having  a  small  entrance  above, 
leading  to  several  galleries  below.  Those  at  Crayford  and  Dartford 
are  of  similar  construction.  At  Chislehurst  the  shafts  are  from  20  to 
50  feet  deep,  expandinc;  at  the  bottom  or  running  into  passages ;  the 
shafts  are  described  as  being  filled  with  worked  fiints  and  the  bones  of 
animals,  including  those  of  the  Bos  longifrons^  deer,  and  wolves.  No 
doubt  these  pits  were  constructed  for  the  same  object  as  those  at 
Grime's  Graves,  the  careful  excavation  and  description  of  which  by 
Canon  Greenwell,  he  thought,  would  probablv  serve  as  an  impulse  to 
prehistorians  to  examine  other  pits  careiully,  which  he  trusted 
might  lead  to  important  results. 

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440  W.  Boyd  Dawkin&^0»  the  Discovery  qf 

A  verbal  abstract  of  the  following  paper  was  then  given  by 
the  authors : — 

XL.  On  the  discovery  of  Platycnemig  Men  in  Denbighshire. 
By  W.  Boyd  Dawkins^  Esq.,  F.R.S. ;  with  Notes  on  the 
Human  Remains,  by  Professor  Busk,  F.B.S. 

Contents. 
L  $  1.  Introduction. 

$  2.  Refuse-heap  and  Gave  at  Perth!  Chwareu. 

$  3.  The  Cefii  Gave. 

{  4.  Ghambered  Tomb  at  Gefii. 

S  6.  Gorrelation  of  Ghambered  Tomb  with  Intermenta  in  Cefh  and  Perthi- 
Ghwareu  Gaves. 

S  6.  Relative  Age. 
II.  §  1.  Introduction  to  Notes  on  the  Human  Remains. 

S  2.  Human  Remains  from  Perthi  Chwareu. 

§  S.  Human  Remains  from  Gefii  Chambered  Tomb. 

S  4.  Human  Remains  from  Gefri  Cave. 

I.  §  1.  Introduction. — In  the  following  essay  I  have  described 
the  discoveries  made  in  1869  in  a  refuse-heap,  a  tumulas,  and 
two  bone-caves  in  Denbighshire,  which  establish  the  fact  that 
platycnemism  was  manifested  by  the  ancient  dwellers  in  North 
Wales,  as  well  as  by  those  who  buried  their  dead  in  the  cave  of 
Cro-magnon,  in  France,  and  who  are  foimd  also  in  the  caves  of 
Gibraltar.  Professor  Busk  has  been  good  enough  to  bring  his 
great  knowledge  to  bear  on  the  human  remains,  and  to  ascertain 
the  precise  value  of  platycnemism  as  a  race-character. 

§  2.  Refuse-heap  and  Cave  at  Perthi  Chwareu.  —  The  first 
hint  of  the  presence  of  remains  of  archaeological  value  at  Perthi 
Chwareu,  a  farm-house  about  ten  miles  to  the  east  of  Corwen, 
was  afforded  by  a  small  box  of  bones,  forwarded  through  Mr. 
Charles  Darwin ;  and  by  the  kind  assistance  of  the  owner  of  the 
property  on  which  they  were  found,  Mrs.  Lloyd,  of  Rhagatt,  we 
were  able  fully  to  explore  the  place  from  which  they  were 
derived.  The  mountain-limestone  which  there  forms  mil  and 
valley  consists  of  thick  masses  of  hard  rock,  separated  by  soft 
beds  of  shale,  and  contains  large  quantities  otProducti,  crinoids, 
and  corals.  The  strata  dip  to  the  south,  at  an  angle  of  about  1  in 
25,  and  form  two  parallel  ridges  with  abrupt  faces  to  the  north, 
and  separated  from  each  other  by  a  narrow  valley  passing  east  and 
west  along  the  strike.  The  remains  sent  by  Mr.  Darwin  were 
obtained  from  a  space  between  two  strata,  near  the  top  of  the 
northern  ridge,  whence  the  intervening  softer  material  had  been 
carried  away  by  water.  Its  maximum  height  was  six  inches, 
and  its  width  twenty  feet  or  more ;  and  it  extended  in  a  direction 
parallel  to  the  bedding  of  the  rock.     The  bones  had  evidently 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire. 


441 


been  washed  in  by  tbe  rain^  and  not  carried  in  by  any  carnivore. 
They  belong  to  the  following  creatures: — 

The  Dog  {Cants  famUiaris). 

The  Fox  \Ckm%8  wdpei). 

The  Badger  (Meles  taxus). 

The  Pig  (Su8  serofa). 

The  Roe  Deer  {Cerviu  capreolus). 

The  Red  Deer  VCennw  daphwi). 

The  Sheep  or  Goat 

The  Celtic  Shorthorn  {Bos  longifrotu). 

The  Horse  (Equun  cahaUm), 

The  Water-Rat  (Arvicola  amphibia). 

The  Hare  {Ltmm  timidus). 

The  Rabbit  (tepuB  cumctdus). 

The  Eagle  (8p.P). 

Nearly  all  the  bones  were  broken,  and  belonged  to  young 
animals.  Those  of  the  Celtic  Shorthorn,  of  the  Sheep  or 
Goat,  and  of  the  young  Pig  were  very  abundant ;  while  those 
of  the  Roe  and  Reid  Deer,  Hare  and  Horse,  were  comparatively 
rare.  The  remains  of  the  domestic  Dog  were  rather  abundant ; 
and  the  percentage  of  young  puppies  would  imply  also  that  they. 


Fig.  13. 


Section  of  Cave  at  Perthi  Chwareo.    Scale  12  feet  to  1  inch. 


like  the  other  animals,  had  been  used  for  food.  Possibly  the 
Hare  may  also  have  been  eaten ;  but  its  remains  were  scarce, 
and  belonged  to  adults.  Some  of  the  bones  have  been  gnawed 
by  dogs.  The  only  reasonable  cause  that  can  be  assigned  for 
the  accumulation  of  the  remains  of  these  animals  is  that  the 


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442 


W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  the  Discovery  of 


locality  was  inhabited  by  men  of  pastoral  habits  but  yet  to  a 
certain  extent  dependent  on  the  chase,  and  that  the  relics  of 
their  food  were  thrown  oat  to  form  a  refuse-heap.  The  latter 
has  now  altogether  disappeared  from  the  surface  of  the  groimd, 
from  the  action  of  the  rain  and  other  atmospheric  causes;  while 
those  portions  of  it  which  chanced  to  be  washed  into  the  narrow 
interspace  between  the  strata  have  been  preserved  to  mark  the 
spot  where  it  once  existed. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  deposit  that  fixes  the  date  of  its 
accumulation.  It  may  have  been  of  the  stone,  bronze,  or  iron 
age;  but  firom  the  presence  of  the  Sheep  or  Goat,  Short-homed 
Ox  and  Dog,  it  certainly  does  not  date  so  far  back  as  the  epoch 
of  the   Reindeer,  Mammoth,   Rhinoceros,    and   Cave-Hyaena. 


Fig.  14. 


Plan  of  Cave  at  Perth!  Chwareu. 

The  presence  of  the  Celtic  Shorthorn  throws  no  light  upon  the 
antiquity,  because  for  centuries  after  it  had  ceas^  to  be  the 
domestic  breed  in  England  it  remained  in  Wales,  and  still  lives 
in  the  small  black  Welsh  cattle,  that  are  lineal  descendants  of 
those  which  furnished  beef  to  the  Roman  coloni.     While  this 

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Plaiycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  443 

work  was  in  progress^  we  selected  a  small  hollow  in  the  precipi- 
tous side  of  the  southern  ridge^  that  formed  a  kind  of  rock 
shelter  (figs.  13  &  14,  a)  overlooking  the  valleyj  and  that  seemed 
to  be  a  likely  place  for  the  abode  of  man  or  of  wild  animals. 
On  setting  the  men  to  work,  in  a  few  minutes  we  began  to  dis- 
cover the  remains  of  Dog,  Marten-cat,  Fox,  Badger,  Sheep  or 
Goat,  Celtic  Shorthorn,  Boe  Deer  and  Red  Deer,  Horse,  and 
lai^e  Birds.  Mixed  with  these,  as  we  proceeded,  we  began  to 
find  human  bones  between  and  underneath  large  masses  of 
rock  that  were  completely  covered  up  with  red  silt  and  sand. 
As  these  were  cleared  away  we  gradually  realized  that  we  were 
on  the  threshold  of  an  ossiferous  cave  (figs.  13  &  14,  b).  In  the 
small  space  then  excavated,  human  remains  belonging  to  no 
fewer  than  five  individuals  were  found.  Subsequently  the  work 
was  carried  on  by  Mrs.  Lloyd,  under  the  careful  supervision  of 
Mr.  Reid.  The  rock-shelter  narrowed  into  a  "  tunnel  cave '' 
that  penetrated  the  rocks  in  a  line  parallel  to  the  bedding,  and, 
roughly  speaking,  at  right  angles  to  the  valley,  having  a  width 
varying  from  3  feet  4  inches  to  5  feet  6  inches,  and  a  height 
from  8  feet  4  inches  to  4  feet  6  inches. 

The  entrance  was  completely  blocked  up  with  red  earth  and 
loose  stones,  the  latter  apparently  having  been  placed  there  by 
design.  The  inside  of  the  cave  was  filled  with  red  earth  and 
sand  to  within  about  a  foot  of  the  roof.  The  remains  were 
found  for  the  most  part  on  or  near  the  top,  but  in  some  cases 
they  were  deep  down.  One  human  skuU,  for  example,  was 
found  6  inches  only  above  the  rocky  floor.  The  human  bones 
were  associated  with  those  of  the  animals  of  which  a  list  has 
been  given,  and  occurred  in  little  confused  heaps.  One  human 
femur  was  in  a  perpendicular  position.  The  account  of  the 
continuation  of  the  digging  we  give  almost  in  the  words  of  Mrs. 
Lloyd.  On  the  second  day,  &er  an  hour's  work,  a  human 
skdl  was  found  near  the  roof  of  the  cave,  resting  on  a  femur ; 
then  11  feet  explored  brought  to  light  a  lai^e  quantity  of 
human  bones,  including  9  femurs.  The  third  and  fourth  days 
were  devoted  to  clearing  out  the  cave  up  to  this  point,  and  to  ex- 
cavating about  4  feet  further  in,  or  15  from  the  entrance.  During 
this  work  two  teeth  of  a  horse  were  found  resting  on  the  floor 
near  the  entrance,  and  nine  more  about  10  feet  within  the  cave, 
also  a  Boar's  tusk  of  remarkable  size,  and,  close  by,  a  mussel-  and 
a  cockle-shell,  and  a  valve  of  My  a  truncata,  along  with  a  quantity 
of  human  and  other  bones,  including  five  skulls,  more  or  less 
perfect,  and  many  fragments.  All  ti^e  skulls  were  found  be- 
tween the  10th  and  15th  feet  from  the  entrance.  During  the 
fifth  and  sixth  days  the  work  was  superintended  by  Mr.  Reid, 
who  entirely  cleared  the  cave  for  about  13  feet  further :  the  firpt 

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444  W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  the  Discovery  of 

8  feet  yielded  a  small  quantity  of  human  and  other  bones,  in- 
cluding the  perfect  skull  of  a  Marten-cat  and  the  incisor  of  a  Wild 
Boar.  The  only  implement  found  in  the  cave,  a  broken  flint 
flake,  occurred  here,  and  a  nearly  perfect  human  skuU,  lying 
face  downwards,  with  the  pelvis  adhering  to  one  side.  Tlie  last 
5  feet  famished  only  two  bones,  both  of  the  Short-homed  Ox. 

Small  bits  of  charcoal  occurred  throughout  the  cave,  and  a 
great  many  rounded  pebbles  firom  the  boidder-clay  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Within  the  first  10  feet  there  were  bits  of  modem 
glazed  pottery  and  small  pieces  of  coal  ,*  and  near  the  end  of  the 
excavation  a  small  scrap  of  iron  was  found,  which  seems  to  be 
a  mere  splinter  broken  firom  one  of  the  tools  of  the  workmen. 
The  coal  and  the  modern  pottery  have  most  likely  been  con- 
veyed into  the  cave  by  the  wash  of  the  rain,  or  possibly  by  the 
burrowing  of  the  rabbits  which  abound  in  fissures  of  the  rock 
immediately  above  the  cave.  The  fact  that  the  splinter  of  iron 
is  scarcely  oxidized  implies  that  it  had  not  been  in  the  cave  very 
long. 

The  human  remains  belong  for  the  most  part  to  very  young 
or  adolescent  individuak,  firom  the  small  infant  to  youths  of 
twenty-one.  Some,  however,  belonged  to  men  in  the  prime  of 
life.  All  the  teeth  that  had  been  used  were  ground  perfectly 
flat.  The  skulls  belong  to  that  type  which  Prof.  Huxley  terms 
the  river-bed  skull.  Some  of  the  tibue  present  one  remarkable 
peculiarity,  now  for  the  first  time  recognized  in  any  British  leg- 
bone.  They  are  very  much  compressed  in  a  plane  parallel  to 
the  median  line,  and  indicate  the  platycnemic  character  of  the 
people  to  whom  they  belonged.  A  somewhat  similar  character 
has  been  recognized  in  remains  from  the  caves  of  France  and 
Gibraltar,  and  is  presented  also  by  the  only  fragment  of  bone 
which  has  been  obtained  by  Mr.  Foote  from  the  laterite  of  India, 
along  with  stone  implements''^. 

The  remains  of  the  animals  in  the  cave  belong  to  the  same 
species  as  those. which  have  been  before  mentioned  from  the 
debris  of  the  kitchen-heap,  and  are  precisely  in  the  same  frag- 
mentary condition.  From  their  close  intermixture  with  the 
human  remains,  they  probably  were  deposited  with  them  at  the 
same  time.  They  may,  however,  be  the  result  of  a  previous 
occupation. 

How  can  we  account  for  the  presence  of  the  human  remains 
in  the  cave?  Unlike  those  of  the  other  animals,  they  are  for 
the  most  part  perfect.  They  exhibit  no  marks  of  scraping  or 
cutting,  and  therefore  cannot  be  viewed  as  the  relics  of  the  feasts 
of  cannibals.     The  only  satisfactory  explanation  is  that  the  cave 

♦  International  Congress  of  Prehistoric  Archieolosr,  Norwich  volume, 
1868,  p.  224.  ^^ 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  445 

was  used  as  a  burial-place.  That  the  dead  were  not  interred  at 
one  time  is  conclusiyely  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  number  of 
individuals  was  too  large  to  be  accommodated  in  so  small  a 
space.  They  must  therefore  have  been  buried  at  different  times. 
Moreover  they  were  certainly  not  buried  at  fall  length.  From 
the  juxtaposition  of  one  of  the  skulls  to  the  pelvis,  the  vertical 
position  of  a  femur,  and  the  coniused  heaps  in  which  the  human 
bones  lay,  the  corpses  must  have  been  buried  in  a  sitting 
posture,  as  in  the  chambered  tomb  of  Cefia. 

The  flake  of  flint  is  an  uncertain  guide  to  the  antiquity  of  the 
burial-place;  for  the  use  of  flint  for  solemn  purposes  lingered  on 
long  after  that  material  had  been  driven  out  of  use  in  every-day  life 
by  bronze  and  iron.  In  Egypt,  for  instance,  the  first  incision  in  a 
corpse  to  be  embalmed  was  made  with  a  sharp  flint,  although 
both  bronze  and  iron  were  in  use  at  the  time.  In  the  founda- 
tion of  the  king's  palace  at  Khorsabad  flint  flakes  were  deposited, 
probably  for  some  superstitious  reason.  In  a  Romano-British 
grave  at  Hardham,  in  Sussex,  a  flint  flake  was  discovered.  In  all 
these  cases  a  great  mistake  would  manifestly  be  made  were  the 
Egyptians,  Assyrians,  and  Roman  provincials  in  Britain  relegated 
to  the  stone  age.  Flint  flakes  were  employed,  moreover,  for  cut- 
ting-purposes long  after  the  introduction  of  bronze,  and  very 
possibly  after  the  introduction  of  iron.  The  occurrence,  there- 
fore, of  the  flint  flake  in  the  cave  at  Perthi  -Chwareu  does  not  of 
itself  imply  that  the  people  who  used  it  are  of  the  stone  age. 
But  nevertheless,  when  the  interment  is  brought  into  relation 
with  others,  we  shall  see  that  it  may  be  referred  to  the  Neolithic 
age.  It  is  very  probable  that  the  folk  who  ate  the  animals  found 
in  the  debris  of  the  reftise-heap  were  the  same  as  those  who 
used  the  cave  as  a  burial-place.  The  identity  of  animal  remains 
in  both  is  strongly  in  favour  of  such  a  view. 

§  3.  The  Cefn  Cave. — ^In  the  collection  of  fossil  bones  from 
the  caves  of  Cefiii,  near  St.  Asaph,  in  the  possession  of  Mrs. 
Williams- Wynn,  there  is  a  human  skull  and  lower  jaw  along 
with  platycnemic  limb-bones.  They  were  found  mingled  with 
the  bones  of  Sheep  or  Goat,  Pig,  Fox,  and  Badger,  and  cut 
antlers  of  the  Red  Deer,  inside  the  lower  entrance  of  the  cave 
in  which  the  extinct  postglacial  animate  were  found  in  the 
valley  of  the  Elwy,  Four  flint  flakes  also  were  found  along 
with  them.  The  skull  in  its  general  features  strongly  resembles 
those  found  in  the  Perthi-Chwareu  cave,  and  presents  a  cephalic 
index  of  '770,  which  comes  within  the  limits  of  the  extreme 
forms  from  that  locality  *.     Mr.  Busk,  however,  as  will  be  seen 

*  The  mean  cephalic  index  of  the  Perthi-Chwareu  skuUa  is  '765,  while 
this  la  -770. 


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446  W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  the  Discovery  qf 

in  his  account  of  tlus  skull^  because  of  its  low  altitudinal  index, 
•702,  as  compared  with  '710  of  the  lowest  Perthi-Chwareu 
skull,  is  inclined  to  view  it  as  of  a  different  type.  The  condi- 
tions, on  the  other  hand,  under  which  it  was  found  appear  to  me 
to  be  circumstantial  evidence  that  the  interment  is  of  the  same 
relative  age  as  that  of  Perthi  Chwareu,  Both  were  in  caves : 
in  both  the  remains  of  the  same  domestic  and  wild  animals  were 
found  in  the  same  fragmentary  condition.  Flint  flakes  also 
occurred  in  both ;  and  what  is  more  important,  the  platycnemic 
limb-bones  in  both  imply  a  somewhat  similar  mode  of  life  in  the 
people  to  whom  they  belonged.  This  body  of  evidence  in  favour 
of  the  interments  having  been  made  by  the  same  race  of  men 
who  lived  some  time  in  Denbighshire  seems  to  me  of  greater 
weight  than  that  to  the  contrary  afforded  by  the  difference  of 
-008  in  the  altitudinal  indices  of  the  skulls.  After  a  comparison 
of  the  carefdlly  prepared  measurements  of  the  crania  published  in 
the  ^Crania  Britannica'  with  those  published  elsewhere,  I  cannot 
resist  the  conviction  that  if  similar  modes  of  life  and  of  burial  in 
Britain  imply  an  identity  of  race,  cranial  variation  within  the 
limits  of  that  race  is  by  no  means  very  small.  Absolute  purity 
of  blood  in  an  island  so  near  the  Continent  as  Britain  cannot  be 
looked  for ;  and  therefore  the  result  of  isolation  from  other  races, 
such  as  that  presented  by  the  Australian,  cannot  be  obtained.  It 
is  therefore  very  probable  that  some  of  the  variations  may  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  blending  of  different  ethnical  elements  in  one 
race.  I  am  consequently  inclined  to  view  the  interments  in  these 
two  caves  as  having  been  made  by  the  same  people,  in  spite  of 
the  small  cranial  difference  manifested  by  the  Cefii  skuU. 

§  4.  Chambered  Tomb  at  Cefn. — ^The  systematic  exploration 
of  the  chambered  tomb  at  Cefh  was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1869, 
under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  D.  R.  Thomas,  to  whom  I  am  in- 
debted for  the  following  account : — 

^  On  the  23rd  of  JanuArj  1869.  one  of  our  fiurmen,  who  had  been  busy 
carting  away  stones  from  a  part  oi  a  field  where  until  lately  there  had  been 
some  old  trees^  growing,  came  upon  some  bones,  and,  conceiving  them  to  be 
human,  sent  me  a  message  to  that  effect.  Hastening  to  the  spot,  I  saw  at 
once  that  he  had  come  upon  an  old  cistvaen,  and  that  it  was  mm  within  it, 
after  breaking  one  of  the  upright  stones  which  formed  its  base,  tiiat  the  bones 
had  been  extracted.  The  stones  of  the  surrounding  cairn  had  been  removed 
at  different  times  for  the  mending  of  the  roads.  The  farmer  at  once  con- 
sented to  let  it  remain  as  it  was ;  and  Mrs.  Williams- Wynn,  on  whose  pro- 
perty it  WAS  found,  being  from  home,  allowed  it  to  be  opened  in  the  presence 
of  Mr.  Williams,  of  Rhy^croesau,  who  fortunately  was  my  guest  at  the  time. 
This  was  done  on  the  26th.  First  clearing  away  the  loose  stones  from 
above  and  around  it,  we  found  it  to  be  in  the  form  of  an  isosceles  triangle, 
with  the  apex  pointing  north-east,  the  base  measuring  four  feet  on  the 
inside,  and  formed  of  two  large  upright  stones  standing  some  two  feet  out  of 
the  ground,  and  the  sides  measuring  about  nine  feet  each  and  consisting  of 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire. 


AM 


three  upright  stones.  The  whole  of  the  interior  was  filled  up  with  fine  sand ; 
and  capstones  seem  to  have  been  placed  over  the  whole,  but  had  been  broken 
or  removed.  Beginning  carefully  to  remove  the  sand  near  the  base,  where 
the  bones  had  first  been  found,  we  discovered  several  skulls,  jaws,  teeth,  and 
other  bones,  the  skulls  in  a  verv  fragmentary  condition,  but  the  teeth  and 
bones  wonderfully  preserved,  llie  teeth  seem  to  be  those  of  young  people ; 
but  some  of  them  are  ground  down  to  a  smooth  surface,  as  if  from  eating  hard 
substances,  such  as  com.  Judgmg  from  the  position  of  the  bones,  the  mode 
of  burial  would  seem  to  have  been,  first,  to  nutke  the  cistvaen,  then  to  put  in 
the  bodies,  with  their  backs  or  hcuads  to  the  sides,  and  after  that  to  nil  the 
whole  up  with  fine  sand,  finishing  off  with  capstones  and  cairn.  The  name 
of  the  field  is  Tyddyn  Bleiddyn ;  and  one  of  the  workmen  remembers  hearing 
a  former  tenant,  a  very  old  man,  speak  of  the  Camedd  in  it  as  a  nuisance. 
Hundreds  of  loads  of  stones  (lime;  have  been  carted  away  lately,  and  many 
more  some  years  ago,  when  stones  as  large  as  any  now  exposed  were  broken 
up,  and  perhaps  a  similar  cistvaen  destroyed,  as  there  is  a  sort  of  tradition 
that  there  were  two  burial-places  there.*' 

Subsequently,  in  tlie  autumn,  the  work  was  resumed,  and 
the  chamber  a  (fig.  15)  fully  cleared  out. 
At  the  point  c  it  was  partially  shut  ofiT  Fig.  15. 

from  the  passage  b  by  a  slab  of  stone 
18  inches  high.  The  passage  passed 
from  the  chamber  in  a  northern  direc- 
tion, and  was  6  feet  long  by  2  wide. 
The  chamber  gradually  narrowed  to- 
wards the  passage,  being  6  feet  wide  at 
its  broad  end,  and  9  feet  long.  In  the 
passage,  as  well  as  in  the  chamber,  there 
were  hiunan  bones  belonging  to  indivi- 
duals who  had  been  buried  in  a  crouch- 
ing posture.  Unfortunately,  as  the  re- 
mains have  been  scattered,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  ascertain  the  exact  number  of 
the  burials.  I  have,  however,  restored 
one  skull  and  have  examined  seven 
frontal  bones,  and  other  remains,  which 
indicate  that  there  were  at  least  twelve 
persons,  varying  in  age  from  infancy  to 
full  prime,  buried  in  this  tomb.  In 
addition  to  these,  there  is  a  large  box  of 
bones  in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  D. 
R.  Thomas,  as  well  as  other  remains  in ' 
other  hands.  But  although  the  exact 
number  of  bodies  interred  cannot  be 
made  out,  there  is  full  proof  that  there 
were  too  many  to  have  been  deposited  at  one  time  in  so  small 
a  cubic  area;  and  therefore  they  must  have  been  deposited  at 
diflferent  times,  as  in  the  Pertlu-Chwareu  cave.  Some  of  the 
tibuB  are  of  the  platycnemic  type.     There  were  no  remains  of 


Plan  of  Chambered  Tomb 
at  CefiL 


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448  W.  Boyd  Dawkins — On  the  Discovery  of 

either  wild  or  domestic  animals ;  and  the  only  foreign  object  was 
a  small  slightly  chipped  flint  pebble.  From  the  remarkable 
conformation  of  the  nasal  bones  of  some  of  the  skulls,  it  would 
seem  likely  that  the  burial-place  belonged  to  one  family;  but^ 
for  a  reason  stated  by  Professor  Busk,  this  is  by  no  means  a 
certain  inference. 

The  plan  of  the  chamber  and  passage  (fig.  15)  corresponds 
with  that  of  the  long  barrow  of  West  Kennet,  figured  in  the 
*  Crania  Britannica/  and  with  that  of  the  cromlech  of  Le  Creux 
des  Fees,  Guernsey,  described  by  Lieut.  Oliver*.  In  the  former 
of  these  the  corpses  were  buried  in  a  crouching  posture,  along 
with  flint  scrapers  and  fragments  of  rude  pottery.  In  the  latter 
the  original  contents  have  disappeared.  To  speak  in  general 
terms,  the  chamber  and  passage  belong  to  the  class  of  tombs 
which  Dr.  Thumham  names  Long  Barrows,  and  Prof.  Nilsson 
"  Ganggnlber,''  and  whict  are  found  in  Scandinavia  and  France, 
as  well  as  in  Britain.  And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  partial 
insulation  of  the  chamber  a  (fig.  15)  firom  the  passage  b  by  a 
slab  (c),  which  does  not  reach  up  to  the  height  of  the  walls,  is 
to  be  seen  also  in  like  tombs  both  in  Guernsey  and  in  Brittany. 

§  5.  Correlation  of  Chambered  Tomb  with  Interments  in  Cefn 
and  Perthi-Chwareu  Caves. — Out  of  the  large  number  of  frag- 
ments at  my  disposal,  I  have  only  been  able  to  restore  one 
cranium  sufficiently  to  obtain  the  measurements  necessary  for 
comparison.  If  the  last  row  of  Professor  Busk^s  Table  I.  (p.  452) 
be  compared  with  the  rest,  it  wiU  be  seen  that  this  cranium  is 
precisely  of  the  same  character  as  those  firom  the  caves  of  Cefii 
and  Perthi  Chwareu.  This  fact,  coupled  with  the  occurrence  of 
platycnemic  tibuB  and  the  crouching  posture  of  the  dead,  would 
imply  that  all  these  three  interments  were  made  by  one  and  the 
same  race  of  men,  although  the  remains  of  the  animals  found  in 
the  latter  were  not  found  also  in  the  tumulus.  To  explain  this 
difference,  I  must  fall  back  on  the  hypothesis  of  the  origin  of 
chambered  tombs  invented  by  Prof.  Nil^on.  Chambered  tombs, 
according  to  that  great  authority,  were  originally  the  subterranean 
houses  in  which  the  deceased  Uved,  and  there  the  dead  were  laid 
literally  each  "  in  his  own  house.'*  And  long  after  this  mode 
of  liabitation  had  been  given  up  in  Britain,  the  plan  of  the  huts 
was  probably  preserved  in  that  of  the  sepulchral  chamber,  in 
obedience  to  that  strong  principle  of  conservatism  which  has 
always  been  manifested  in  religious  and  solemn  ceremonial. 
And  it  is  very  likely  that  the  people  who  no  longer  built 
huts  for  themselves  after  the  fashion  of  the  dwellers  within  the 

*  Journal  of  the  Ethnological  Society  of  London,  vol.  ii.,  new  series, 
no.  1,  April  1870,  p.  46,  pi.  vu.  fig.  3. 

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Plaiycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire,  449 

arctic  circle,  built  tumuli  for  their  dead  in  accordance  with  an 
ancient  practice.  The  absence  of  the  remains  of  animals  in  the 
chignbered  tomb  at  Cefh  may  easily  be  explained  by  the  fact  of 
its  never  having  been  a  dwellings  while  the  remains  of  the  caves 
of  Cefh  and  Perthi  Chwareu  are  probably  evidence  of  occupation. 
And  thus  the  idea  of  the  dead  being  interred  in  his  dwelling- 
place  would  be  the  cause  of  burial  both  in  the  caves  and  in  the 
tumulus;  and  it  is  not  at  all  strange  that  people  of  the  same 
race  should  have  buried  their  dead  in  caves  as  well  as  in  cham- 
bered tombs. 

§  6.  Relative  Age. — The  question  naturally  arises.  When 
did  this  ancient  platycnemic  race  of  men  live  in  Denbighshire? 
Were  they  stone-folk  or  bronze-folk,  or  users  of  iron  ?  A 
decisive  answer  cannot  be  given ;  but  the  circumstantial  evidence 
points  very  strongly  in  one  direction.  In  the  first  place  no 
traces  of  metal  (to  pass  over  one  tmoandized  fragment  of  iron) 
were  found  in  the  caves  of  the  tumulus,  but  merely  frag- 
ments of  flint.  This  fact  per  se  is  merely  negative ;  and,  as  I 
have  stated  before,  of  no  very  high  significance.  When,  how- 
ever, it  is  viewed  in  connexion  with  the  crouching  posture  of 
the  corpse  in  all  three  interments,  it  implies  the  high  proba- 
bility of  all  three  being  of  the  Neolithic  age.  The  platycnemism 
also  is  a  character  that  has  not  been  recognized  in  any  human 
remains  later  than  that  age.  This  conclusion  is  considerably 
strengthened  by  an  appetd  to  the  skulls.  They  all  agree  in 
shape  with  those  described  by  Professor  Huxley  as  river-bed 
skulls'^,  and  with  some  of  those  given  in  Tables  i.  and  ii.  of 
the  ^  Crania  Britannica/  as  "  ancient  British .''  As  examples  1 1 
may  quote  from  the  latter  work : — the  skull  found  in  a  kistvaen 
in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin,  along  with  a  shell  necklace,  a  bone  pin 
and  pottery ;  that  from  a  barrow  on  Acklam  Wold,  Yorkshire,  in 
which  the  corpse  was  buried  in  a  crouching  posture  and  accom- 
panied by  flint  flakes,  coarse  pottery,  and  bone  pins ;  and  that 
from  Hay  top  Barrow,  in  Derbyshire,  which  presented  precisely  the 
same  condition  of  burial  as  at  Acklam,  excepting  that  instead  of 
bone  pins  there  were  jet  beads.  The  skull  found  in  the 
chambered  barrow  at  Plas  Heaton,  Denbighshire,  in  which  the 
dead  were  buried  in  the  crouching  posture,  is  also  of  the  same 
character.     In  all  these   cases,  the  identity  of  cranial  form, 

*  Compare  the  Muskliam  and  Blackwater  skulls  with  those  under  notice, 
the  one  having  a  cephalic  index  of  '77,  the  other  *78.  See  'Geologist,* 
1862,  p.  201. 

t  A  comparison  of  the  measurements  in  the  'Crania  Britannica*  with  those 
of  the  skulls  from  Denbighshire  shows  a  remarkable  similarity  of  forQi  in  a 
great  many  cases.  I  have  not  giren  the  measurements  in  the  latter  work, 
because  they  would  needlessly  add  to  the  length  of  this  essay. 

^■°^-"-  DigiJdb'?  Google 


450  G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 

ooapled  with  similar  modes  of  interment,  implies  an  identity  of 
race.  Many  other  instances  might  be  quoted  from  the  '  Crania 
Britannica '  to  show  that  the  sknlls,  with  a  few  exceptions,  belong 
to  the  neolithic  age ;  and  those  few  exceptions  belong  to  the 
age  of  bronze.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  it  may  be  inferred, 
with  a  high  degree  of  probability,  that  the  platycnemic  men 
who  baried  their  dead  in  the  tumuli  and  caves  of  Denbighshire 
were  of  the  neolithic  age.  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
platycnemism  will  be  recognized  in  remains  from  chambered 
tombs  in  many  parts  of  Britain,  and  that  eventually  the  men 
found  in  Denbighshire  will  be  proved  to  belong  to  a  race  that 
spread  over  Britain  and  Ireland,  and  a  large  area  on  the  Conti- 
nent. 

Notes  on  the  Human  Remains.    By  Professor  Busk,  F.B.S. 

II.  §  1.  Introduction. — The  remains  discovered  in  the  sepul- 
chral cave  at  Perthi  Chwareu,  according  to  a  list  furnished  by 
Mr.  Boyd  Dawkins,  are  as  under ;  but,  I  believe,  this  catalogue 
does  not  include  all  that  were  found  in  the  locality. 

1.  Eleven  more  or  less  perfect  skulls,  some,  however,  repre- 

sented Iqt  mere  fragments. 

2.  Twelve  mandibles. 

3.  Seven  arm-bones  or  humeri — ^four  right,  and  three  left. 

4.  Six  ulna. 

5.  Twenty-two  thigh-bones,  including  five  pairs,  five  odd  ones 

of  the  right  side,  and  seven  of  the  left ;  and  amongst  them 
are  three  of  very  young  children. 

6.  Seventeen  tibia  or  leg-bones,  nine  of  the  right  and  eight 

of  the  left  side,  and,  apparently  none  of  them  in  pairs; 
so  that  there  must  probably  have  been  a  good  many 
more. 

7.  Eight  astragali. 

8.  Nine  cakanea  or  heel-bones. 

The  number  of  individuals,  therefore,  whose  relics  were  depo- 
sited in  this  cavern  could  not  have  been  less  than  sixteen,  and 
may  have  been  many  more.  They  appear  to  have  been  of  all 
ages  and  of  both  sexes. 

Of  the  other  bones  of  the  skeleton,  of  which  there  must  have' 
been  abundance,  I  have  received  no  information. 

In  the  Cefn  cave  there  were  discovered : — 

1.  One  mandible. 

2.  One  humerus. 

3.  Two  ulna. 

4.  A  pair  of  thigh-bones. 

5.  A  pair  of  leg-bones. 

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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  451 

And  in  the  tomnluB : — 1.  Portions  of  seven  skulls. 

2.  Two  right  humeri. 

3.  A  pair  of  ulme. 

4.  A  right /ewwr. 

From  St.  Asaph  the  only  bone  that  has  come  under  my  ob- 
servation is  a  single  calvaria. 

§2.  Description  of  the  bones  from  the  cavern  at  Perthi  Chwareu. 

a.  General  Condition.  —  In  general  condition,  as  regards 
colour  and  texture,  these  bones  present  some,  but  no  very 
striking,  differences;  on  the  whole  they  are  much  alike,  though 
it  might  be  suppos^  that  some  have  lain  longer  in  the  ground 
than  the  others.  One  or  two  among  them  (but  these  are  appa- 
rently the  younger  bones)  are  fragile  ,•  the  majority,  however,  are 
as  firm  as  common  churchyard  bones,  and  some  have  quite  the 
natural  degree  of  hardness.  They  are  of  a  lightish  yellow 
colour,  do  not  adhere  to  the  tongue,  and  afford  scarcely  any 
earthy  smell  when  breathed  upon  or  moistened :  only  one  among 
them  presents  any  staining  from  oxide  of  manganese ,-  and  this 
exists  in  diffiise  blotches,  and  is  not  at  all  of  the  dendritic  form. 
Many  are  partially  covered  with  a  very  thin  film  of  crystalline 
carbonate  of  lime. 

b.  7%tf  Skulls. — Of  these  only  three  of  the  moare  perfect  have 
come  under  my  observation.  These  alone  will  form  the  subject 
of  what  I  have  to  remark  on  this  portion  of  the  skeleton.  But 
in  the  subjoined  Table  I.  (p.  452)  I  have  given,  together  with  the 
dimensions  of  these  three,  those  of  five  others  which  have  been 
furnished  to  me  by  Mr.  Dawkins. 

In  the  specimen  No.  I  (Fl.  XXXI.  figs.  1,  2, 3)  the  entire  facial 
part  is  wanting,  together  vrith  the  whole  of  the  base  and  a  great 
part  of  one  side  of  the  calvaria.  The  skull  is  of  an  oval  form, 
symmetrical,  with  a  rather  prominent  occiput.  The  region  of 
the  vertex  is  slightly  and  evenly  arched;  and  the  forehead, 
though  not  high,  is  vertical,  and  slightly  compressed  on  the 
sides.  The  sutures  are  all  open  and  finely  serrated.  The  frontal 
sinuses  are  distinct  though  small.  The  supraorbital  ridge  is 
thin  but  rather  prominent  towards  the  external  angular  process. 
The  mastoid  processes  are  very  large,  and  the  cQgastric  fossa 
remarkably  deep.  The  occipital  spine  is  very  prominent,  as 
are  the  lateral  ridges.  The  tempond  ridges,  also,  and,  in  short, 
all  the  muscular  impressions  are  very  strongly  marked. 

The  skull  is  evidently  that  of  a  powerful,  muscular  man,  in  the 
prime  of  Ufe,  and  apparently  of  robust  but  not  coarse  build*. 

*  Amon^t  the  Eeiss  crania  described  by  Prof.  Huxley,  this  most  closely 
resembles  his  No.  6;  but  it  is  of  the  same  type  as  No.  3  and  No.  7,  and  not  very 
far  from  that  of  the  Towyn-y-Capel  cranium^  through  which  ihe  transition 
to  the  Mewslade  form  (Nat  Hist.  Rev.  vol.  L  p.  174,  pi.  v.)  is  very  easy. 

2  G  2    oogle 


452 


G.  BiTSK — On  the  Discovery  of 


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Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  453 

Skull  No.  2  (PI.  XXXI.  figs.  4, 5,  6)  is  that  of  an  adult  male, 
presenting  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same  dimensions,  form,  and 
other  characters  as  that  above  described,  except  that  the  bone 
is  somewhat  thicker  and  heavier.  The  muscular  ridges  and  im- 
pressions are  even  more  strongly  developed  than  in  the  former, 
and  especially  the  temporal  ridges  immediately  above  the  ex- 
ternal angular  processes.  The  left  maxilla  remains  loosely 
attached,  containing  the  two  bicuspid  teeth,  which  are  of  small 
size,  and  worn  quite  flat,  and  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render  it 
probable  that  the  man  was  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  al- 
though none  of  the  sutures  are  closed.  The  face  is  strictly 
orthognathous,  and  the  skull  dolichocephalic  and  aphanozy- 
gous  *. 

Skull  No.  8  is  the  entire  calvaria  of  a  very  young  individual. 
The  two  milk-molars  remain  on  either  side ;  and  behind  them 
the  first  true  molar  is  fuUy  out  but  not  in  the  least  worn.  The 
incisors  and  canines  have  fallen  out.  The  former,  from  the  size 
of  the  alveoli,  were  of  the  permanent  set,  but  not  the  latter. 
The  age  of  the  individual,  therefore,  may  be  estimated  as  about 
seven  or  eight. 

The  only  point  worthy  of  notice  in  this  calvaria  is  the  exist- 
ence of  a  well-marked  depression  across  the  middle  of  the  occi- 
pital bone,  which  appears  exactly  as  if  it  had  been  caused  by 
the  constriction  of  a  bandage.  The  depression  barely  extends 
beyond  the  lambdoidal  suture  into  the  parietals.  It  requires, 
perhaps,  some  imagination  to  perceive  the  slight  traces  of  a  cor- 
responding depression  in  the  fore  part  of  the  skull ;  but  I  think 
a  faint  depression  may  be  there  perceived  on  caref^ud  inspection. 
The  efiect  of  the  occipital  constriction,  if  it  be  such,  reminds 
one  of  some  of  the  deformed  French  skulls  described  by  M. 
Poville  t  and  by  M.  Gosse  J.  In  all  other  respects  the  skull  is 
well  formed  and  symmetrical.  It  is  strictly  orthognathous,  and 
of  a  broad  oval  shape. 

If  deformed  artificially,  it  would  come  under  the  head  of 
"  tfite  annulaire  "  of  M.  Gosse ;  and  Dr.  Foville  shows  that  this 
kind  of  deformation  arises  from  the  popular  custom  of  applying 
a  kind  of  bandage  round  the  head  of  the  new-bom  infant,  which, 
passing  over  the  anterior  fontanelle,  descends  obliquely,  and  is 
crossed  behind  the  occiput  and  brought  back  and  tied  in  front. 
This  band,  or  ''  serre-tlte,''  he  states,  is  worn  during  the  first 

*  The  forms  most  closely  resembling  this  skull  amongst  those  from  Eeiss 
are  Nos.  3  &  7. 

t  Deformation  du  crane  resultant  de  la  m^thode  la  plus  g^n^rale  de  couvrir 
la  tete  des  enfans.    Paris,  1834. 

X  Essai  sur  les  deformations  artificielles  du  crane,par.  L.  A.  Gosse,  de 
Geneve.    Paris,  1855. 


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464  G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 

yesif  and  for  a  longer  period  by  female  children  than  by  males. 
Dr.  Lunier  gives  pretty  nearly  the  same  account^  adding^  how- 
ever, further  particulars*.  It  may  be  remarked,  also,  that  the 
Berbers,  who  formed  great  part  of  the  Moorish  forces  that  in- 
vaded Europe  in  the  eighth,  ninth,  and  tenth  centuries,  used  to 
elongate  the  skuU  posteriorly  and  flatten  the  forehead. 

c.  Thigh-bones. — ^I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  examining 
only  a  single  perfect  specimen  of  the  thigh-bones.  This  is  an 
entire  bone,  18*2  inches  long,  with  a  least  circumference  of  3*5. 
Its  perimetral  index  t  consequently  is  '192,  which  is  about  the 
normal  standard.  The  linea  aspera,  at  the  middle  of  the  bone 
more  especially,  is  very  prominent,  so  that  the  bone  may  be 
termed,  in  some  degree,  carinated  (fig.  16). 
The  shaft  is  straight ;  and  the  chief  peculia-  Rg^^lC. 

rities,  besides  the  prominent  linea  aspera, 
which  it  presents  are  (1)  an  unusual  com- 
pression in  the  antero-posterior  direction 
in  the  upper  part,  for  the  extent  of  about 
three  inches  below  the  trochanter  minor. 
At  about  two  inches  below  that  process,  or 
at  a  point  corresponding  with  the  lower 
part  of  the  insertion  of  the  pectineus  muscle, 
tlie  shaft  measures  *9  x  1*45,  whilst  in 
three  other  ordinary  femora  with  which  I 
have  compared  it,  the  bone  at  the  corresponding  part  measures 
•9x  1*20,  9  X  1-10,  '9x  115,  showing  that  the  Perthi-Chwareu 
femur  is  unusually  expanded  laterally  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
shaft.  The  consequence  is  to  give  the  bone  at  that  part  a  pecu- 
liar aspect,  which  is  especially  seen  in  an  acute  internal  angle, 
and  one  rather  less  acute  externally,  instead  of  the  usually 
rounded  internal  and  external  borders.  (2).  The  distal  extre- 
mity appears  to  be  rather  disproportionately  large  as  compared 
with  a  recent  well-formed  bone  of  the  same  length,  the  con- 
dyles measuring  2*5  x  3*3  instead  of  2*4  x  3*05 ;  and  the  lower 
part  of  the  shaft  is  also  somewhat  expanded.  But  the  chief 
peculiarity,  as  above  remarked,  is  the  compression  of  the  shaft 
in  the  upper  part.  Besides  the  linea  aspera,  all  the  muscular 
impressions  are  strongly  marked,  and  especially  those  for  the  in- 
sertion of  the  gluteus  maximus  and  the  trochanter  minor.  The 
neck  is  long  and  very  oblique,  and  the  head,  upon  which  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  articular  surface  is  left,  must  have  had  a 
diameter  of  about  1*9. 

*  "  Recberches  8ur  quelquea  deformations  du  crane  obsenr^es  dans  le  IM- 
partement  des  Deux-Sevrt's     CAnn.  Mt^ico-psychologique).    Paris,  1862. 

t  This  index  is  obtained  by  dividing  the  least  circomference  by  tbe  length 
of  the  bone. 

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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire. 


455 


Mr.  W.  B.  Dawkins  has  furnished  me  with  the  principal 
dimensions  of  several  other  femora,  varying  in  length  from  16 
to  18  inches,  and  affording  an  average  length  of  about  17, 
corresponding  to  a  mean  height  of  the  individuals  of  about 
6  ft.  4  in.  to  6  ft.  6  in.,  the  tallest  being  perhaps  5  ft.  6  in.,  and  the 
shortest  about  6  ft.  2  in.,  no  doubt  a  woman.  The  mean  peri- 
metral  index  of  the  eight /emora  is  -186,  which  shows,  in  com- 
parison with  the  usual  thickness  of  well-formed  maJe  thigh- 
bones of  the  present  day,  a  certain  degree  of  slendemess.  That 
this  is  not  altogether  owing  to  the  circumstance  that  the  bones 
include  those  of  perhaps  more  than  one  female,  is  proved  by  the 
fact  that  in  no  instance  does  the  perimetral  index  exceed 
•192,  and  in  one  thigh-bone,  18""2  long,  it  is  not  more,  if  the 
circumference  is  correctly  given,  than  '178,  the  normal  peri- 
metral index  for  the  adult  xnsXe  femur  in  this  country  being 
taken  as  about  '194. 

d.  TlbuB. — Of  the  leg-bones  brought  under  my  notice,  five  are 
entire,  and  five  more  or  less  defective.  The  principal  dimen- 
sions and  proportions  of  these  bones,  so  far  as  they  could  be 
taken,  are  given  in  the  subjoined  Table. 

Tablb  II. — DimensioxiB  fto.  of  Perthi-Cbwareu  Tibiie. 


No. 

Length. 

TransrerBe 

diameter, 

proximal 

end. 

Least 
circum- 
ferenoe. 

Antero-poeterior 
diameter  and 
transrerse  dia- 
meter of  shaft. 

Perime- 
tral 
index. 

Latitu- 
dinal 
index. 

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
6. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 

14-9 
13-7 
13-2 
12-9 
12-9 

2-8 
27 
30 
2-5 
2-6 

... 

3-2 
2-9 
30 
2-5 
2-76 

140x80 
120x76 
136x80 
125x70 
100x70 
135x90 
140x90 
130x70 
135x85 

•214 
-211 
•227 
•193 
•211 

•671 
•625 
•592 
•541 
700 
•666 
•642 
•538 
•629 

Mean. 

13-5 

27 

2-86 

129x79 

•211 

•611 

In  this  Table  the  length  means  the  extreme  length  of  the  bone 
as  measured  from  the  summit  of  the  spinous  process  to  the  point 
of  the  internal  malleolus ;  and  the  numbers  in  the  fifth  column 
represent  the  antero-posterior  and  the  transverse  diameter  of 
the  shaft  at  the  point  where  the  popliteal  line  terminates  at  the 
inner  border  of  the  bone,  which  is  usually  about  an  inch  and  a 
half  below  the  nutritive  foramen.  The  latitudinal  index  repre- 
sents the  relation  that  the  transverse  diameter  bears  to  the  an- 
tero-posterior, and  it  is  employed  to  indicate,  with  some  degree 
of  precision,  the  actual  amount  of  compression  or  flattening  of 


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456 


G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 


the  shaft  as  compaFed  with  the  normal  form^  which  may^  so  far 
as  my  ohservations  show^  be  taken  for  the  ordinary  English 
tibias  as  from  '700  to  -800,  or  in  the  mean  at  '780,  as  will  be 
seen  in  the  subjoined  Table^  which  contains  the  proportions  of 
thirteen  leg-bones  taken  indiscriminately  from  a  drawer  in  the 
College  of  Surgeons. 

Table  III. — ^Proportioxis  &c.  of  ordinary  Tibiai. 


No. 

Length. 

TranBTerse 

diameter, 

proximal 

end. 

Least 
ciroum- 
ference. 

Antero-posterior 
diameter  and 
transverse  dia- 
meter of  shaft. 

Perimo- 

tral 

index. 

Latitu- 
dinal 
index. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 

16-7  ■ 

16-4 

15-8 

15-5 

15-3 

15-2 

150 

150 

15-0 

15-5 

13-6 

13-4 

128 

315 
•   3-2 
2-95 
2-95 
2-9 
30 
2-8 
2-6 
2-6 
30 
2-8 
275 
2-5 

3-4 
3-5 
30 
2-9 
2-8 
3-2 
2-8 
2-8 
2-8 
2-9 
2-9 
2-7 
2-4 

130X100 

150x115 

120x90 

140x90 

130x90 

140x90 

140x90 

120x85 

120x90 

120x95 

120x90 

120X&5 

100x85 

•203 
•213 
•189 
•122 
•150 
•213 
•187 
•187 
•187 
•193 
•214 
•201 
•187 

•769 
•766 
•750 
•642 
•692 
•642 
•642 
•709 
•782 
•791 
•750 
•708 
•860 

Mean. 

151 

2-88 

2-9 

126x91 

•188 

•730 

Comparison  of  the  mean  proportions  given  in  the  two  tables 
shows : — 

(1)  That  the  Perthi-Chwareu  leg-bones  are,  on  the  whole, 
shorter,  and  absolutely  smaller  in  all  dimensions  but  one,  viz. 
in  the, antero-posterior  diameter  of  the  shaft,  which,  notwith- 
standing the  smaller  size  generally  of  the  bones,  is  rather  greater 
(that  is  to  say  in  the  proportion  of  129  to  126)  than  in  the  ordi- 
nary  run  of  English  tibitB. 

(2)  That  their  perimetral  index  is  greater,  showing  that,  in 
proportion  to  their  length,  the  Welsh  bones  are  somewhat 
thicker,  or  in  the  proportion  of  211  to  188. 

(3)  But  the  most  marked  difference  is  seen  in  the  latitudinal 
index,  which  in  the  Ferthi-Chwareu  bones  is  -611,  and  in  those 
of  the  ordinary  type  '730,  varying  in  the  former  case  from  -538 
to  *700,  and  in  the  latter  from  *642  to  '850;  but  the  last  is  pro- 
bably an  exceptional  case.  In  accordance  with  this,  we  find 
that  the  mean  transverse  diameter  of  the  shaft  at  the  point 
above  indicated  is  greatly  under  the  usual  mark,  viz.  as  79  to  91. 

It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  the  Perthi-Chwareu  tibue  are  more 
compressed  or  flattened  than  the  usual  run  of  modem  European 
tibue ;  in  other  words,  they  belong  to  the  platycnemic  type. 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  457 

As  this  is^  I  believe,  the  first  instance  in  which  the  occurrence 
of  tibue  of  this  peculiar  conformation  has  been  observed  in  this 
country,  the  circumstance  is  of  some  interest,  especially  with 
relation  to  the  occurrence  of  priscan  bones  of  the  same  type 
elsewhere. 

This  peculiar  conformation  of  the  tibia,  to  which  we  gave  the 
name  of  ''  platycnemic,*'  was,  I  believe,  first  noticed  by  Dr. 
Falconer  and  myself,  in  1863,  in  the  human  remains  procured 
by  Captain  Brome  from  the  Genista  Cave,  on  Windmill  Hill, 
Gibraltar,  of  which  an  account  will  be  found  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  International  Congress  of  Prehistoric  Archaeology  for  the 
year  1868  (p.  161) ;  and  about  the  same  time,  or  in  May  1864, 
M.  Broca  *  independently  observed  the  same  condition  in  tibiae 
procured  from  the  dolmen  of  Chamant  (Oise),  and  afterwards 
in  bones  from  the  dolmen  of  Maintenon  (Eure-et-Loire) .  Similar 
bones  have  since  been  noticed  in  other  localities  on  the  Conti* 
nent,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  diluvium  of  Montmartre,  by  M. 
Eugene  Bertrand.  But  that  the  peculiarity  in  question  is  not 
common  in  all  the  varieties  of  priscan  man  belonging  to  the  rein- 
deer period  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  it  has  not  been  observed 
in  any  of  the  tibia  exhumed  by  M.  Dupont  in  the  Belgian 
caves. 

M.  Broca's  almost  exhaustive  remarks  upon  the  anatomical, 
physiological,  and  pathological  relations  of  this  form  of  tibia 
leave  but  little  to  be  said  under  those  heads.  I  would,  how- 
ever, venture  to  add  a  few  words  as  to  its  ethnological  signi- 
ficance. But  before  doing  so  I  would  remark  that  there  appear 
to  be  two  forms  of  platycnemism,  apparently  indicative  of  some 
difierence  in  the  cause  or  nature  of  this  aberration  from  the 
more  usual  shape  of  the  bone.  To  save  many  words,  I  subjoin 
outlines  of  several  weU-marked  instances  of  platycnemic  bones, 
all  drawn  of  the  natural  size  and  in  the  same  position,  the 
letter  (a)  in  each  corresponding  to  the  interosseous  ridge,  and 
(i)  to  the  crista  or  shin. 

The  line  b  c,  drawn  through  the  crista  and  the  middle 
of  the  posterior  surface  of  the  bone,  is  bisected  by  another 
{a  d),  drawn  at  right  angles  to  it,  at  the  level  of  the  interosseous 
ridge. 

In  fig.  17,  which  represents  what  may  be  regarded  as  a  normal 
tibia,  the  length  of  that  portion  of  the  antero-posterior  line 
which  is  behind  the  transverse  line  is  to  that  of  the  anterior  as 
274  to  1000,  whilst  in  fig.  18,  taken  from  Mr.  Broca's  outline 
of  the  Cro-magnon  tibia,  which  would  seem  to  represent  the 

*  M^moires  sur  les  ossemeiiB  des  Evzies :  Paris,  1868.  ''  On  the  Human 
Skulls  and  bones  found  in  the  cave  of  Cro-magnon,"  Beliquiee  Aquitanicae, 
p.  97. 


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458  G.  Busk— On  the  DUcavery  of 

extremist  degree  of  platycnemism  as  yet  observed^  the  propor- 


tion in  question  is  as  623  to  1000.     Figs.  19,  20,  21  are  taken 
fix)m  as  many  of  the  Gibraltar  tibue  *,  in  which  the  proportion 


varies  from  600  to  523,  whilst  it  will  be  observed  that  in  figs.  22, 
23, 24,  taken  from  the  most  platycnemic  of  the  Perthi-Chwareu 
tibuBf  the  proportion  in  one  only  differs  in  any  considerable 
degree  from  the  extreme  normal  proportion  shown  in  fig.  17; 
and  in  this  it  is  as  512  to  1000,  whilst  in  fig.  23,  which  is  never- 
theless undoubtedly  platycnemic,  the  proportion  is  exactly  the 
same  as  in  the  most  triangular  form  of  bone. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  platycnemism  may  arise  from 
an  unusual  antero-posterior  expansion  of  the  bone,  either  in 
fix>nt  or  behind  the  level  of  the  interosseous  ridge.  What  this 
difference  may  indicate,  or  of  what  importance  it  may  be  in  the 

*  But  these  are  by  no  means  extreme  instances  of  the  Gibraltar  t^a. 

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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire. 


459 


consideration  of  questions  relating  to  platycnemism,  I  am  not 
prepared  to  discuss ;  .but  as  in  all  probability  it  is  connected 
with  a  difference  in  the  cause  of  the  deformation  (if  it  be  defor- 
mation), I  have  thought  that  the  observation  should  be  recorded, 


Fig.  22. 


Fig.  23. 


Rg.24 


i  4  i 

and  would  merely,  in  addition,  remark  that,  so  far  as  I  have 
noticed,  the  occasional  and  not  infrequent  platycnemism  ob- 
served in  the  shin-bones  of  negroes  is  what  may  be  termed 
anterior. 

With  respect  to  the  ethnological  value  of  the  platycnemic 
/iWa,  I  conceive  we  are  as  yet  very  much  in  the  dark.  That  it 
is  a  race-character  would  seem  to  me  in  the  highest  degree  im- 
probable, seeing  that  it  woidd  be  diflScult  to  find  any  other 
points  of  resemblance  between  the  Cro-magnon  platycnemic 
men  and  those  whose  remains  were  met  with  in  the  Gibraltar 
caves,  although  the  platycnemism  is  of  the  same  kind  in  each ; 
and  still  less  could  the  former  gigantic  race  be  identified  with 
the  occupants  of  the  Perthi-Chwareu  sepulchre,  from  whom 
they  differ  not  only  in  stature  but  even  more  remarkably  in 
cranial  conformation. 

If,  then,  platycnemism  cannot  be  regarded  as  of  any  value  as 
a  race-character,  it  can  a  fortiori  be  still  less  looked  upon  as 
indicative  of  simian  tendencies,  a  notion  that  M.  Broca  seems 
somewhat  inclined  to  favour.  It  is  quite  true  that  the  tibue  of 
the  gorilla  and  of  the  chimpanzee  are,  to  a  certain  extent,  pla- 
tycnemic ;  but  it  is  by  no  means  so  much  so  as  the  human 
platycnemic  bone.  The  tibia  of  a  male  gorilla  in  the  College  of 
Surgeons  has  a  latitudinal  index  of  '681,  and  that  of  a  female  of 
•650,  whilst  that  of  the  chimpanzee  is  '611,  or  exactly  the  mean 
of  the  Perthi-Chwareu  bones.  It  is  needless  to  insist  upon  the 
other  marked  distinctions  between  the  simian  and  the  human 
tihia ;  but  as  regards  platycnemism  it  will  be  obvious,  if  we 


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460  G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 

are  disposed  to  trace  it  to  any  genetic  descent,  that  the 
descendant  has,  in  this  respect,  at  one  time  far  out-simianized 
the  Simiae. 

But  this  comparison  with  the  anthropoid  apes  may,  perhaps, 
afford  ground  for  a  suggestion  respecting  some  possible  con- 
nexion between  this  peculiar  form  of  the  tibia  and  the  habits  of 
the  people  amongst  whom  it  has  been  observed.  One  great 
distinction  between  the  human  and  the  simian  foot  consists  in 
their  respective  adaptations  to  totally  distinct  functions.  In  the 
one  case  it  is  simply  an  organ  of  support  and  progression ;  in 
the  other,  for  the  most  part,  of  prehension.  This  necessarily 
involves  a  considerable  difference  in  the  proportions,  &c.  of  the 
muscles  by  which  the  greater  mobility  and  adaptability  of  the 
foot,  and  more  particularly  of  the  digits,  are  ensured.  Would 
it  not,  then,  be  admissible  to  inquire  how  far,  at  any  rate  pos- 
terior platycnemism  may  be  connected  with  the  greater  freedom 
of  motion  and  general  adaptability  of  the  toes  enjoyed  by  those 
peoples  whose  feet  have  not  been  subjected  to  the  confinement 
of  shoes  or  other  coverings,  and  who  at  the  same  time  have  been 
compelled  to  lead  an  active  existence  in  a  rude  and  rugged  or 
mountainous  and  wooded  country,  where  the  exigencies  of  the 
chase  would  demand  the  utmost  agility  in  climbing  and  other- 
wise? 

Some  common  cause  of  this  kind  would  seem  to  be  not  im- 
probable; and  it  woidd  not,  perhaps,  be  difficidt  to  ascertain 
whether  it  is  a  vera  causa  or  not.  But,  with  respect  to  this, 
observations  are  at  present  wanting. 

From  the  foregoing  data  we  may  conclude : — 

(1)  That  the  Perthi-Chwareu  bones  belonged  to  a  race  cha- 
racterized by  the  proportionally  rather  large  dimensions  of  the 
cranium,  whose  form  presents  nothing  very  remarkable,  and  is 
pretty  nearly  conformable  to  several  of  those  found  by  Mr. 
Laing  in  the  ancient  shell-mounds  in  Shetland  *. 

(2)  That  this  form  is  distinctly  different  from  that  of  the  Mew- 
slade  skull,  in  which  the  vertical  region  is  somewhat  flattened, 
as  is  the  case  also  with  several  Anglesea  crania,  which,  however, 
appear  to  pass,  by  gradual  transition,  into  the  Keiss  and  Perthi- 
Chwareu  shape,  through  such  a  form  as  that  of  the  Towyn-y- 

*  As  regards  the  absolute  dimensions  of  t£e  skulls^  it  would  seem  that 
the  Welsh  crania  stand  high  in  the  scale — quite  as  hi^h  as  any  of  the  exist- 
ing races  of  mankind.  I  have  made  the  comparison  m  a  rough  way  in  the 
following  manner : — 

If  the  nimihers  representing  the  lenffth,  breadthf  and  height  of  the  skull  are 
added  together,  a  numher  is  obtained  which  will,  of  course,  in  some  measure, 
indicate  the  gross  dimensions  of  the  skull.  From  the  rather  numerous  data 
furnished  by  my  own  Tables  of  measurements  I  obtain  the  results  stated  in 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  461 

capel  skull  figured  by  Professor  Huxley* ;  and  the  whole  of  them 
consequently  may  be  regarded  as  belonging  to  the  so-called 
''  River-bed  skulls ''  of  that  author,  excepting  the  Borris  cranium, 
which  appears  to  belong  to  a  different  type  altogether. 

(3)  That  the  people  whose  remains  were  found  in  this  loca- 
lity were  of  low  stature  (the  mean  height,  deduced  from  the 
lengths  of  the  long  bones,  being  little  more  than  5  feet),  the 
tallest  being  5  ft.  6  in.,  and  the  shortest  adult  not  more  than  4  ft. 
10  in.,  the  intermediate  ones  being  5  ft.  1  in.  and  5  ft.  2  in. 

(4)  That  the  proportions  of  the  long  bones  are  rather  thick, 
and  the  muscular  impressions  in  all  are  very  strongly  marked. 

(5)  That  the  tibuB  are,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  much  more 
compressed  form  than  those  of  the  modem  English,  but  that 
this  platycnemism  does  not  appear  to  be  exactly  of  the  same 
kind  as  that  which  is  exhibiteid  in  the  Gibraltar  bones  and  in 
those  from  Cro-magnon  (as  figured  by  M.  Broca),  the  difference 
consisting  in  the  fact  that  in  the  two  latter  instances  the  bone 
is  expanded  backwards  behind  the  transverse  plane  at  the  inter- 
osseous ridge  as  much  as  it  is  in  front  of  that  plane,  whilst  in 
the  Welsh  tibiae  it  is  the  anterior  portion  of  the  shaft  only  which 
is  expanded ;  or,  in  other  words,  the  platycnemism  in  them  is 
due  simply  to  an  absolute  compression  of  the  shaft. 

§  3.  Human  Remains  from  the  Cefn  Tumulus. — ^These  remains, 
as  submitted  to  my  inspection,  consist  of : — 

(1)  Portions  of  three  frontal  bones,  two  of  which  are  nearly 
complete,  and  one  constituted  of  little  more  than  the  superciliary 
region. 

(2)  Two  parietals  and  a  left  temporal,  probably  belonging  to 
the  same  skull  as  the  more  mutilated  frontal. 


the  subjoined  list,  m  which  the  gross  mean  dimensions  of  various  sets  of 
crania  are  contrasted. 

1.  Scandinavian  priscan  skulls  of  the  Neolithic  epoch  18'8S 

2.  Esquimaux  and  Greenlanders 18*81 

3.  Perthi-Chwareu  skulls 18-66 

4.  Modem  European 18*58 

5.  Various  ancient  and  priscan  skulls 18*55 

6.  Burmese 18*65 

7.  Cafires  and  Zooloos  (extratropical  negroes) 18*46 

8.  Derbyshire  tumuli 18*42 

9.  Tasmanian 17*95 

10.  Hottentot  17*80 

11.  Negroes  (intertropical) 17*67 

12.  Australian 17*58 

13.  Bushmen    17*48 

14.  Veddahs ^ 17*09 

15.  Andamanese 17*00 

*  Notes  on  the  Human  Remains  from  Keiss,  p.  85. 

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462  a.  Busk— On  the  DUeovery  of 

(8)  Portions  of  fonr  thigh-bones^  two  left  and  two  rights  one 
of  the  latter  wanting  the  proximal^  the  other  both  extremities. 

We  have  thns  the  remains  of  three  individuals  firom  this  in- 
terment. 

1.  The  Frontal  Bones. — No.  1.  The  least  transverse  diameter, 
immediately  behind  the  external  angular  processes  is  S^'d,  and 
its  greatest  (at  the  coronal  suture)  about  ^r-S.  Longitudinal  arc 
^''1 .  The  profile  outline  of  the  forehead  is  slightly  receding ;  the 
frontal  sinuses  moderately  developed ;  and  the  supraorbitid  bor- 
der thin  and  acute,  whilst  the  glabellar  eminence  is  large  and 
prominent.  The  bone  is  a  good  deal  compressed  on  the  sides, 
so  as  to  have  almost  the  appearance  of  having  formed  part  of  a 
cymbecephalic  skull.  The  bone  itself  is  thin,  and  probably 
without  any  diploe. 

No.  2  presents  exactly  the  same  characters,  except  that  the 
longitudinal  arc  is  greater,  being  5"'3.  The  postorbital  or  least 
transverse  diameter  is  3"*4,  and  the  corontd  or  greatest  4"'4. 
The  frontal  sinuses  are  well  developed;  the  supraorbital  ridge 
rather  prominent,  but  thin  and  sharp;  the  external  angular 
process  prominent  and  thick.  Glabellar  eminence  large  and 
prominent.  The  nasals  remain  in  situ,  and  project  almost,  if 
not  quite,  horizontally  forwards,  with  a  rapid  curve  at  first,  and 
then  straight  out.  The  generd  contour  of  the  bone  is  exactly 
like  that  of  No.  1,  in  which  also,  although  the  nasals  are  want- 
ing, the  position  of  the  surfisu^e  by  which  which  they  were 
attached  shows  that  they  must  in  all  probability  have  resembled 
those  of  No.  2.  The  crista  gaUi  of  the  ethmoid,  which  is  left  m 
situ,  is  remarkably  thick  and  high. 

No.  3  is  a  portion  of  a  larger  and  wider  bone,  the  post- 
orbital  diameter  being  at  least  4"*0.  The  frontal  sinuses  are 
very  large,  but  distinctly  defined,  as  the  remainder  of  the  supra- 
orbital border  is  not  tluckened.  Owing  perhaps  to  the  greater 
prominence  of  the  sinuses,  the  glabella  does  not  appear  so  pro- 
tuberant as  in  the  other  instances.  The  nasal  bones  remain  and 
project  forwards  in  the  same  curious  fashion  as  in  No.  2.  The 
frontal  crest  on  the  inner  surface  is  remarkably  develop^,  being 
at  least  half  an  inch  high,  though  it  is  separated  bv  a  wide  notch 
from  the  equally  strongly  developed  crista  galU  of  the  ethmoid. 

No.  4,  when  the  three  bones  of  which  it  is  composed  are  put 
together,  consists  of  the  greater  part  of  the  parietal  region  of  the 
skull,  to  which,  as  before  said,  the  last-described  frontal  mav 
have  belonged.  The  left  parietal  is  quite  perfect;  and  a  consi- 
derable portion  of  the  right  also  remains,  together  with  the 
entire  1^  temporal ;  so  that  a  very  sufficient  estimate  of  the 
proportions  of  the  parietal  region  of  the  skull  can  be  obtained. 

As  well  as  can  be  estimate,  the  parietal  longitudinal  arc,  or 

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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  463 

length  of  the  sagittal  sature^  is  5"'2.  The  yertical  transyerse 
arcj  or  that  drawn  from  one  auditory  foramen  to  the  other^  oyer 
the  point  of  junction  of  the  coronal  and  sagittal  sutures,  is  12"'2, 
the  parietal  IS'',  and  the  occipital  12'''2.  In  the  temporal  bone, 
the  external  auditory  foramen  is  large,  the  mastoid  process  of 
moderate  size,  but  the  digastric  fossa  is  wide  and  deep.  The 
channels  for  the  middle  meningeal  artery  and  its  branches  are 
large  and  deep ;  and  yery  deep  depressions  on  the  sides  of  the 
sagittal  suture  show  that  the  fflanduUe  Pacchioni  must  haye  been 
greatly  deyeloped.  The  bone  is  yery  thin,  and  with  scarcely  a 
trace  of  diploe  where  its  structure  is  yisible.  None  of  the 
sutures,  however,  which  are  strongly  serrated,  are  in  the  slightest 
degree  closed,  although,  as  I  should  imagine,  the  skull  must  have 
been  that  of  a  man  beyond  the  i{iiddle  period  of  life. 

2.  The  Thigh-bones.  —  Two  of  these  bones,  which,  though 
much  alike,  differ  sufSciently  to  show  that  they  did  not  belong 
to  the  same  individual,  are  decidedly  carinate. 

No.  1  wants  the  upper  and  lower  ends.  The  least  drcnm- 
ference  of  the  shaft,  which  is  at  a  point  about  3^  inches  below  the 
trochanter  minor,  is  8"-2.  That  process,  as  well  as  all  the  other 
muscular  impressions,  is  strongly  developed ;  and  that  for  the 
insertion  of  the  gluteus  maximus  is  peculiar  in  presenting  the 
form  of  a  deep  elongated  pit  instead  of  a  roughened  elevation  as 
usual.  The  antero-posterior  and  transverse  diameters  of  the 
shaft,  about  1^  inch  below  the  trochanter  minor ,  are  '85  x  1*4  j 
and  the  shaft  at  this  part,  like  that  of  the  above-described 
from  Perthi  Chwareu,  presents  a  rather  acute  or  narrow  external 
and  internal  border  instead  of  the  usual  more  rounded  form. 
Lower  down,  the  shaft  becomes  strongly  carinate ;  and,  owing  to 
the  flattened  form  of  the  anterior  surface,  its  transverse  section 
affords  a  subtriangular  figure  (fig.  25).    The  walls,  or  cortical 

Fig.  26.  Fig.  26. 


substance,  are  rather  thicker  than  usual,  and  the  substance  of 
the  bone  is  dense  and  hard. 

No.  2  is  very  similar  in  character  to  the  foregoing,  but  is  not 
quite  so  much  compressed  in  the  upper  part,  measuring  *8  x  1*2. 
Nevertheless  the  inner  border  is  very  acute,  and  the  outer  more 

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464  G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 

80  than  in  the  common  form  oi  femur.  The  shaft  lower  down 
is  not  so  strongly  carinate  as  it  is  in  the  former  instance,  but  is 
still  so  in  some  degree  (fig.  26) ;  and  the  walls  (or  cortical  sub- 
stance) were  still  thicker  in  proportion. 

No.  3.  A  third  specimen  consists  of  the  lower  half,  or  rather 
more,  of  the  right  femur.  The  least  circumference  is  3"'2. 
The  bone  exhibits  no  special  external  characters,  and  is  in  no 
degree  carinated.  The  shaft,  at  about  the  middle  of  its  length, 
is  somewhat  angular  in  front ;  and  the  pit  for  the  origin  of  the 
popliteua  muscle  is  deeper  and  perhaps  larger  than  in  most 
bones  of  the  same  size.  The  texture  of  the  cortical  substance  is 
quite  ebumeous ;  and  it  is  extremely  thick,  so  that  the  medullary 
canal  is  reduced  to  a  calibre  of  little  more  than  0"-25  in  its 
longest  diameter.  The  shaft,  however,  is  straight,  and  exhibits 
no  other  sign  whatever  of  having  been  affected  with  rachitis.  It 
is,  however,  a  curious  circumstance  that  many  of  the  Gibraltar 
thigh-bones,  most  of  which  are  carinate,  present  the  same  thick- 
ening of  the  cortical  substance  (fig.  27) . 

Fig.  27.  Fig.  28. 


No.  4.  A  fourth  specimen  is  constituted  of  merely  a  portion 
of  the  shaft,  about  12  inches  long,  and  without  either  extremity. 
Its  least  diameter  is  3" '3,  and  its  antero-posterior  and  transverse 
diameters,  at  the  same  point  as  in  the  other  bones,  I  x  1*25,  or 
pretty  nearly  in  the  usual  proportions.  Nevertheless  the  bone, 
throughout  its  whole  remaining  extent,  is  less  rounded  on  the 
inner  side  of  the  shaft  than  is  usual.  The  trochanter  minor 
is  of  gigantic  size ;  and  the  shaft  of  the  bone,  about  and  below 
the  middle,  exhibits  a  subtriangular  aspect  (fig.  28),  though 
scarcely  to  be  called  carinate.  The  cortical  substance  is  of  the 
normal  thickness. 

3.  TibitB. — ^No.  I  consists  of  the  greater  portion  of  the  left 
tibia,  wanting  only  the  lower  extremity.  The  proximal  end 
measures  2*9  x  1*9;  and  the  diameters  of  the  shaft,  about  the 
middle,  are  1*2  x  '75,  giving  a  latitudinal  index  of  -620.  The 
shin  is  remarkably  sharp  and  prominent,  and  rather  curved  over 
to  the  outer  side ;  and  the  apparent  compression  or  tendency  to 

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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire.  465 

platycnemism  may  in  some  measure  be  referred  more  to  the 
production  in  front  of  the  anterior  part  of  the  bone  than  to 
actual  narrowing  of  the  posterior  side  of  the  triangle^  which  is 
nevertheless  rather  more  rounded  than  in  most  cases.  The  axis 
of  the  shaft  is  quite  straight ;  and  the  bone  has  not  the  least 
rickety  appearance. 

No.  2  is  also  a  portion  of  the  left  tibia.  Both  extremities  are 
wanting^  and  the  bone  offers  nothing  worthy  of  remark.  Its  least 
circumference  is  2"'65 ;  and  the  shafts  at  the  middle^  measures 
l"'l  X  '65 ;  so  that  the  latitudinal  index  is  about  '640^  showing 
a  slight  degree  of  compression.  The  entire  length  of  the  bone 
may  be  estimated  as  rather  more  than  13  inches^  corresponding 
to  a  height  of  about  5  ft.  4  in.  or  5  ft.  5  in.^  so  that  the  subject 
may  be  supposed  to  have  been  a  female. 

These  remains  represent  at  least  four  individuals^-one  pro- 
bably somewhat  aged^  another  of  strong  and  robust  make^  and 
one,  in  all  probability,  a  woman — in  fact,  a  family  group.  No 
correct  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  cranial  conformation  of  these 
persons.  In  general  shape  it  would  seem  to  correspond  with 
that  of  the  Perthi-Chwareu  skulls ;  but  two  of  them  at  any  rate 
are  of  smaller  size,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  least  frontal 
diameter.  The  forehead  also  is  perhaps  a  little  more  reclined. 
The  most  striking  feature  in  two  of  the  specimens,  and  which 
appears  also  to  have  existed  in  a  third,  is  the  extraordinary  pro- 
jection forwards  of  the  nasal  bones.  In  the  present  case  this 
may  probably  be  regarded  as  a  family  peculiarity ;  but  with 
reference  to  it,  it  should  be  remembered  that  M.  Broca*  has  de- 
scribed a  very  similar  condition  in  the  skull  of  the  "  Old  man*' 
of  Cro-magnon,  in  whom,  he  says,  "the  ridge  of  the  nose, 
slightly  depressed  at  its  base,  rises  again  almost  immediately, 
and  advances  boldly  forward,  making  a  rapid  curve,  with  the 
concavity  directed  rather  forward  and  especially  upward,  so 
that  the  lower  ends  of  the  ossa  nasi  are  placed  18  mm.  (7 
inch)  in  front  of  a  line  dropped  vertically  from  the  fronto- 
nasal suture.^' 

The  condition  of  the  bones  from  the  Cefh  tumulus  differs 
very  considerably  from  that  of  the  remains  from  Perthi 
Chwareu.  They  all  have  an  appearance  of  much  greater  an- 
tiquity. With  the  exception  of  the  very  dense  femur,  they 
adhere  to  the  tongue;  and  they  are  all  deeply  stained  with 
manganous  oxide,  by  which  the  substance  even  of  the  hardest 
portions  is  stain^  to  a  depth  of  more  than  one-eighth  of  an 
in  inch.  That  this  discoloration,  which  for  the  most  part 
does  not  assume  the  dendritic  appearance,  is  due  to  manga- 
nese and  not  to  any  vegetable  stain,  is  quite  certain. 

♦  i  c.  p.  114. 

VOL.  II.  2  H 

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466  G.  Busk — On  the  Discovery  of 

The  form  of  the  skull^  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained  from 
such  imperfect  remains^  and  the  rather  platycnemic  shape  of 
the  tibiae^  may  perhaps  justify  onr  supposing  that  the  Cefn 
bones  belong  to  a  cognate  race  to  those  whose  remains 
were  deposited  at  Perthi  Chwareu,  or  to  one  which  had  lived 
imder  similar  conditions.  But  the  cranial  data  are  hardly 
sufficient  to  allow  of  any  satisfactory  inference  being  drawn 
from  them;  and  as  regards  the  tibuB,  it  has  already  been 
pointed  out  that  platycnemism  cannot^  in  the  present  state 
of  our  knowledge^  be  regarded  as  an  important  ethnological 
character  amongst  priscan  peoples^  though  it  may  undoubtedly 
be  considered  a  character  betokening  remote  antiquity. 

§  4.  Shdl  from  the  Cefn  Cave  near  St.  Asaph. — ^The  only 
specimen  of  human  remains  from  this  locality  is  a  nearly  entire 
calvaria,  wanting  the  whole  of  the  face  below  the  superciliary 
border. 

In  the  middle  of  the  left  parietal  bone  is  a  small  irregular 
openings  with  short  radiating  lines  of  fracture  proceeding  from  it ; 
but  this  appears  to  have  been  recently  caused^  and  from  the  inside. 

The  bone  generally  is  of  a  brown  colour,  and,  as  regards  firm- 
ness, in  a  natural  condition;  and  it  does  not  adhere  to  the 
tongue.  Judging  from  its  aspect  alone,  it  would  not  appear  to 
be  of  any  very  great  antiquity ;  but  as  it  has  lain  in  a  dry  soil, 
and  sheltered  from  rain  or  moisture,  this  appearance  may  be 
deceptive. 

Its  dimensions  are  given  in  Table  I.  {supri),  from  which  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  cephalic  or  latitudinal  index  is  *770,  and 
the  altitudinal  '702.  It  belongs,  therefore,  to  the  category  of 
subbrachycephalic  skulls  of  Thumam  and  Professor  Huxley. 

In  the  side  view  {norma  lateralis)  (PI.  XXXI.  fig.  7),  it  so 
closely  resembles,  except  in  one  respect,  that  described  and 
figured  by  Professor  Huxley  (/.  c.  p.  125,  figs.  60,  61)  from  the 
bed  of  the  Nore,  at  Borris,  in  Ireland,  that  we  can  scarcely  refuse 
to  recognize  a  common  character  between  them,  which,  since  in 
the  present  case  it  cannot  be  looked  upon  as  denoting  a  mere 
family  relationship,  may  reasonably  be  regarded  as  indicative 
of  some  affinity  of  race.  The  chief  difference  observable  in  this 
view  of  the  two  skulls  is  the  greater  development  of  the  frontal 
sinuses  in  the  Borris  calvaria.  The  occipital  view  {norma  occi- 
pitalis, fig.  8)  is  also  very  similar,  except  that  in  the  Borris  skull 
the  greatest  width  appears  to  be  in  the  temporal,  and  in  the 
other  in  the  parietal  region.  In  the  Borris  skidl,  also,  there  is  a 
shallow  groove  in  the  course  of  the  sagittal  suture,  which  does 
not  exist  in  that  from  St.  Asaph. 

The  Borris  skull  is  said  to  be  of  the  extraordinary  length  of 


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Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire,  467 

8  inches ;  and  this  may  account  for  the  much  lower  cephalic 
index  of  the  skull^  whose  absolute  width  in  reality  somewhat 
exceeds  the  Cefn  specimen  (5"'9  and  5"* 7),  whilst  the  altitudinal 
as  compared  with  the  latitudinal  is  but  very  little  gn^eater  than  it 
would  be  were  the  skulls  reduced  to  the  same  breadth.  They 
may  both,  therefore,  be  regarded  as  "  low/^  or,  as  this  class  of 
skull  might  be  termed,  in  the  euphonious  language  of  craniolo- 
gists,  *^  tapinocephalic."  One  great  peculiarity  of  the  Cefn 
cranium  (which  exists  also,  but  apparently  not  to  quite  so  great 
a  degree,  in  the  other)  is  the  absolute  horizon tality  of  the  plane 
of  the  subinial  portion  of  the  occipital  bone.  And  it  is  to  this 
flattening  that  the  comparative  lowness  may  perhaps  be  chiefly 
attributed. 

The  sutures,  where  visible,  appear  to  be  open.  The  mastoid 
processes  and  all  other  muscular  impressions  are  strongly 
marked. 

A  third  skull  of  very  similar  character,  except  that  it  is  not 
so  much  depressed,  has  come  im.der  my  observation.  It  was 
discovered  in  a  submarine  or,  rather,  subterranean  peat-bed  or 
ancient  forest,  30  feet  below  the  sea-level,  at  Sennen,  near  the 
Land^s  End,  in  Cornwall ;  and  a  brief  notice  and  outline  figure 
of  it  will  be  found  in  the  ' Natural-History  Review'  for  1861*. 
The  Sennen  skull  has  the  same  elongated  form ;  but  it  is  higher 
than  either  the  Ce&,  St.  Asaph,  or  Borris  crania,  having  an 
altitudinal  index  of  '730. 

On  the  whole,  these  three  skulls  {Le,  that  from  Borris, 
Senifen,  and  St.  Asaph)  would  appear  to  have  a  common  cha- 
racter, and  to  be  of  a  dificrent  type  ftx)m  either  the  Perthi- 
Chwareu  or  the  Newslade  form. 

As  a  rule  it  may,  I  think,  be  stated  that  in  all  brachyccphalic 
skulls  the  breadth  exceeds  the  height,  whilst  the  reverse  is  the 
case  in  the  dolichocephalic.  Individual  exceptions  are  of  course 
not  unfrequently  met  with,  more  especially  among  very  mixed 
races,  such  as  the  modem  English ;  but  I  am  myself  acquainted 
with  only  two  dolichocephalic  races,  properly  so  termed,  in 
which  the  rule  does  not  hold  good.  These  are  the  Tasmauian 
(not  Australian)  and  the  Bushman. 

Any  exceptions,  therefore,  to  either  rule  among  ancient  and, 
consequently,  less  mixed  races  are  worthy  of  being  noted. 

As  regards  modem  brachycephalic  skulls  the  law  holds  almost 
universally,  the  only  marked  exception,  except  in  an  individual 
here  and  there,  being  in  two  Ear^n  skulls,  in  which,  although 
both  decidedly  brachycephalic,  the  respective  indices  stand  as 
•848  to  -924,  and  as  -790  to  -842. 

Among  priscan  brachycephalic  skulls  the  most  remarkable 
*  Vol.  L  p.  174,  pi.  v. 

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468  G.  Busk — Platycnemic  Men  in  Denbighshire. 

and  important  exceptions  I  have  met  with  occur  among  the 
neolithic  crania  in  the  Copenhagen  Museum^  more  than  half  of 
which  are  brachycephalic,  and  most  of  the  others  nearly  so^  the 
mean  cephalic  index  of  21  skulls  being  '790^  whilst  the  mean 
altitudinal  is  as  high  as  *810.  In  fact^  out  of  12  skulls  whose 
indices  vary  from  *795  to  -838^  no  fewer  than  10  have  the  lati- 
tudinal index  less  than  the  altitudinal. 

The  exceptions  to  the  role  as  applied  to  dolichocephalic  skulls 
also  appear  to  be  far  more  common  among  the  ancient  than 
among  the  modern^  excepting  the  two  races  I  have  above  re- 
ferred to. 

In  a  long  list  of  ancient  and  priscan  skulls^  I  find  the  follow- 
ing having  the  tapinocephalic  character : — 


1.  From  the  Thames  allaviam  at  Old  Ford 

2.  From  the  same  deposit  at  East  Ham. . . 
8.  From  the  same  deposit  at  Battersea  . . . 
4  From  the  same  deposit  at  London  Bridge 
6.  From  tumulus  at 

6.  A  Guanche  skull 

7.  A  Guanche  skull 

8.  Gefii^  St  Asaph's 


L.  ind. 

Altind. 

•792 

•763 

•774 

•690 

•768 

•743 

•762 

•611 

•763 

•684 

•775 

•787 

•763 

•684 

•770 

•702 

The  number  is  but  small,  it  must  be  confessed,  and  perhaps 
hardly  sufficient  to  do  more  than  prove  the  rule ;  but  still  I  think 
it  will  be  found  worth  inquiry  whether  a  departure  troifi  the 
rule  in  question  was  more  frequent  among  the  unmixed  or  little- 
mixed  races  of  ancient  times  than  it  is  amongst  similarly  un- 
mixed races  of  the  present  day ;  and  whether  consequently  its 
infiraction  in  a  considerable  number  of  instances  may  or  may  not 
be  indicative  of  a  lower  type,  as  which  we  are  accustomed  to 
regard  the  Tasmanian  and  Bushman  races. 


EXPLANATION  OF  PLATE  XXXL 

Figs.  1,  2,  3.  Skull  (No.  1)  from  Perthi  Chwaieu,  Denbighshire. 
1.  Norma  lateralis. 


3.  verticaUB, 

Figs.  4,  6, 6.  Skull  (No.  2)  from  Perthi  Chwareu. 

4.  Norma  lateralis, 
6.  occipitalis. 

6.  verkcaUs. 

Figs.  7,  8, 9.  Skull  from  the  Cefri  Cave^  near  St.  Asaph. 

7.  Norma  lateralis. 

8.  occipitalis, 

9.  ——verkcaUs. 


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Journ-Ethno.  Soc, Vol.11.  Pi.  XXXI. 


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HowoBTH — On  the  Westerly  Driflitig  ofNomades,     469 

XLI.  On  the  Westerly  Driptino  of  NoMADEs^yrom  the  T\fth  to 
the  Nineteenth  Century.  By  H.  H.  Howorth,  Esq. — Part  V. 
The  Hungarians. 

(Part  IV.  WB8  puUiahed  in  this  Yolume,  pp.  182-102.) 

The  ethnological  position  of  the  Hungarians  is  now  too  well 
fixed  to  admit  of  any  new  theories  on  the  subject.  M.  Vambery 
has,  indeed,  made  some  vague  announcements  that  the  question 
is  by  no  means  settled,  and  has  even  thrown  out  hints  that  he 
expects  to  find  his  ancestors  among  the  Ouigours  of  Bishbalik, 
the  most  cultured  race  of  the  Turks ;  and  that  it  was  with  the 
object  of  making  such  a  race-pedigree  that  he  set  out  on  his 
voyage  to  Turkestan,  which  has  yielded  so  many  picturesque 
chapters  to  our  stores  of  adventurous  travels.  But  such  a  theory 
is  Quixotic  in  the  extreme.  The  Turkish  ingredient  in  the 
Hungarian  population,  consisting  of  the  various  hordes  of 
Petchenegs  and  Comans  which  it  has  absorbed^  may  perhaps  be 
traced  to  such  a  source ;  but  these  are  the  merest  surface-wash- 
ings of  the  race,  the  great  bulk  of  which,  as  has  long  been  known, 
is  not  Turk  at  all,  but  Ugrian.  In  tracing  out  its  early  history 
we  may  be  able  to  fix  rather  more  accurately  its  exact  position 
among  the  Ugrian  races. 

We  will  commence,  as  usual,  with  an  examination  of  the  various 
synonyms  by  which  the  race  is  known.  They  have  been  collected 
by  Zeuss  in  his  ^  Die  Deutschen  und  die  Nachbarstamme,'  bis 
chapter  on  the  Ungri  in  that  work  being  particularly  full  and 
interesting.  The  Ungri  and  Ungari  of  the  western  writers,  and  the 
Ouiggroi  of  the  Byzantines,  are  both  derived  firom  the  Slavic 
Ugri.  Ugri  is  the  form  in  Nestor;  Uhry,  Wcgry,  and  Wengri 
in  other  authors.  In  Russian,  Ugor  or  Tjgr  means  an  eeh, 
thence  Zeuss  derives  Ugra,  the  name  of  a  river  near  Oka,  the 
province  Ugra  (Yugra  of  Nestor),  the  Yugoriaof  later  writers — 
a  province  reaching  the  Arctic  Sea,  east  of  Archangel,  whose 
inhabitants  are  called  Yu-griczi  by  the  Bussian  Chroniclers^ 
Ugri  and  Ugari  by  Sabinus. 

The  Hungarians  are  known  to  themselves  as  Magyars.  Mogerii 
is  the  form  the  name  takes  in  the  pages  of  the  notary  Bela :  he 
also  gives  the  forms  Deutumoger  and  Hetumoger.  Some  of  the 
Byzantines  give  it  as  Magaroi,  others  as  Mazaroi  and  Matzroi. 
The  Arabs  call  them  Madscher.  This  name  is  apparently  iden- 
tical with  Megere,  the  most  important  of  those  Chazar  tribes 
which,  according  to  Constantine,  broke  off  firom  their  0¥m  people 
and  joined  the  Turks  (t.  e,y  with  him^  the  Hungarians).  By  many 
of  the  Byzantines  they  are  very  loosely  called  Turks ;  by  others, 
almost  as  loosely,  Huns. 

Let  us  foUow  the  migration  of  the  Hungarians.     ''The  Scy- 

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470      HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

thian  region  is  divided  into  three  parts — ^that  is  to  say,  Bostardia^ 
Deutia,  Alagaria''  (Thwrocz).  Carpino  says,  "  the  Bastarque, 
that  is  great  Hungary;'^  ^'Baschart  or  Paseatir,  which  is  great 
Hungary/^  Rubruquis  tells  us,  "  the  language  of  those  of  Pas- 
catir  and  of  the  Hungarians  is  the  same/'  ''The  country  of 
Pascatir,  whence  formerly  came  the  Huns,  who  were  afterwards 
called  Hungarians  "  (Berg) .  Such  is  the  burden  of  the  travellers' 
accounts  of  the  thirteenth  century.  It  is  abundantly  confirmed 
by  the  accounts  of  those  more  competent  to  speak,  namely  the 
various  Arabian  geographers.  Yacout,  Cazvin,  as  well  sua  Ma- 
9oudi,  speak  of  the  Hungarians  under  the  name  Baschardes. 
Ibn  Haoucal  speaks  of  two  nations  of  the  Baachkhartes : — one  at 
the  extremity  of  the  east  {vide  D'Ohsson  *  Peuples  du  Caucase,' 
257),  near  the  Bulgarians,  to  whom  they  are  subject ;  the  other 
more  numerous  near  the  Batcheuakes  (Petchenegs).  The  histo- 
rians of  the  Mongols,  Alai-ed-din  and  Raschid-ed-din,  in  relating 
the  conquest  of  Hungary  by  Baton  Khan  in  1241,  call  it  Basch- 
cardia.  These  authorities  are  sufficient  to  prove  to  us  that  the 
Hungarians  came  from  the  Baschkir  country,  namely  the  present 
government  of  Orenburg,  and  that  they  were  the  Baschkirs  of 
the  eighth  century.  The  present  Baschkirs,  I  need  hardly  say, 
show  few  traces  of  such  an  origin  in  their  language ;  in  the 
main  this,  as  well  as  many  of  their  characteristics,  is  TWk ;  but 
their  physique  betrays  a  cross  at  least  of  Ugrian  blood,  while, 
as  Dr.  Latham  remarks^  they  are  called  Ishtaki  (Ostiaks)  by 
some  of  their  neighbours — another  link  in  such  connexion. 

I  have  already  remarked  in  a  previous  paper  on  the  Petchenegs, 
that  I  consider  the  present  Baschkirs  to  be  in  a  great  measure 
their  descendants.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Petchenegs  and  the 
Thiukiu  or  Turks  proper,  the  Baschkirs  were  not  Turks.  Relics 
and  fragments  of  the  previous  layer  of  population  are  still  found 
in  the  Orenburg  country :  they  are  known  as  Vogulitzi,  or 
simply  Voguls.  The  Voguls  stiU  are,  almost  exactly  what  the  first 
Hungarians  are  described  to  have  been,  most  expert  hunters  and 
fishermen. 

Listen  to  the  eloquent  description  of  them  by  Dr.  Latham. 
"  They  are  at  the  same  time  hill-men  and  foresters  j  for  they  lie 
within  the  northern  limit  of  the  fir  and  birch  .  .  .  They  are  a 
comfortless,  undersized,  ill-developed  population  .  .  .  From  four 
to  eight  cabins  constitute  a  Vogul  village ;  and  these  lie  from  ten 
to  fifteen  miles  apart,  the  uncleared  forest  lying  between.  They 
have  adopted  a  little  agriculture  from  the  Bashkirs.  The  winter 
hut  of  the  Vogul  is  small,  close,  and  smoky ;  the  summer  cabin 
made  of  the  boughs  and  rinds  of  the  birch-tree.  He  hunts  on 
foot :  even  the  dog  is  a  rare  companion ;  the  elk  is  the  chief 
beast  for  sustenance,  and  the  sable  for  trade.     Obdorsk,  at  the 

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frtm  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  471 

mouth  of  the  Obi,  is  the  trading  town  of  the  Voguls ;  their  hair 
is  black  or  brown,  seldom  yellow  or  red;  the  beard  scanty  ;  the 
skin  glabrous  and  pale ;  the  cheekbones  project ;  the  face  broad 
and  flat/'  Their  traditions  point  to  an  emigration  from  the  west, 
from  theYug,  and  the  Dwina,  which,  as  Dr.  Latham  says,  probably 
only  means  that  thejr  formerly  extended  over  a  much  larger 
area,  and  that  their  limits  have  been  curtailed.  Their  language 
is  the  nearest  of  any  known  tongue  to  the  Magyar.  Oerdik, 
the  Magyar  Devil,  is  the  Ostiak  Ortik,  an  evil  demon.  Lastly, 
the  Voguls  were  known  to  the  Siraniau  merchants  as  Yograyess, 
which  is  equivalent  to  the  Ughres  of  the  Russian  chroniclers. 
All  these  facts  make  it  clear  that  the  Voguls  are  the  descendants 
of  the  old  stock  whence  the  Hungarians  were  derived,  the  in- 
habitants of  Pascatir,  whose  language  was  declared  to  be  like 
the  Hungariansf'  by  Ruysbrock.  Vogul  is  a  name  they  derive 
from  the  river  on  which  they  are  settled ;  they  are  the  western 
branch  of  the  race  known  as  Ostiaks  (also  frt>m  the  name  of  a 
river,  the  Ob,  which,  according  to  Dr.  Ronay,  is  known  in  their 
language  as  the  Asz).  They  make  no  distinction  between  them- 
selves and  the  Ostiaks,  and  call  both  by  the  same  name,  Mausi 
or  Maucsi.  This  race,  I  hold,  in  common  with  most  modem 
ethnologists,  extended  over  all  the  present  Baschkir  area  before 
the  arrival  of  the  Turks.  It  was  known  to  some  of  the  Russians 
as  the  Black  Khozar  race.  It  was  bounded  on  the  south  by  the 
Khozars  or  Khazars,  more  properly  so  called,  the  White  Khazars 
of  the  Russians,  who  inhabited  the  border  of  the  Caspian,  and 
the  Steppe  of  the  Kuban ;  with  these  last  it  had  relations  of  blood 
and  language, — ^proved  by  the  etymology  of  their  capital  Sarkel, 
which,  as  Klaproth  has  shown,  is  a  Vogul  and  Ostiak  gloss ; 
proved  also  by  the  fact  that  they  are  said  to  have  spoken  the 
Hungarian  (Turk  of  Constantine)  language  as  well  as  their  own, 
which  among  rude  races  means  probably  that  the  languages 
were  cognate.  West  of  the  Hungarians,  when  in  their  seats  on 
the  Volga,  were  the  White  Bulgarians,  identified  by  Carpino 
with  the  Mordvins  and  Bileres.  The  Arabs  tell  us  the  Khazars 
spoke  the  same  language  as  the  Bulgarians.  We  know  the 
Mordvins  and  Voguls  are  only  branches  of  one  race.  This 
reasoning  would  make  the  Circassians  and  Hungarians  nearer 
relatives  than  they  have  been  heretofore  held  to  be,  if,  as  I  have 
tried  to  show  in  a  previous  paper,  the  Khazars  are  to  be  iden- 
tified with  the  Circassians.  In  describing  the  Cabari,  a  tribe 
of  the  Khazars,  Constantine  mentions  several  facts  which  have 
been  overlooked  by  ethnologists,  and  which  would  explain  in  a 
measure  how  a  race  of  mere  fishermen  and  hunters,  such  a  race 
as  the  Voguls  now  are,  were  enabled  to  tramp  over  two-thirds 
of  Europe,  and  to  defeat  its  most  renowned  soldiers.    Such  an 

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472      HowoBTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

event  would  seem  to  be  impossible^  unless  these  fishermen  were 
led  by  a  caste  of  warriors  very  superior  to  the  Voguls  and 
Ostiaks.  Constantine  tells  us  that  a  civil  war  arose  among  the 
Khazarsj  and  that  one  portion  of  them  was  conquered.  Of  these, 
a  section  fled  to  the  Turks  in  the  Patzinacitan  territory  (i.  e,  to 
the  Hungarians),  and  settled  among  them,  and,  having  contracted 
a  mutual  friendship,  were  called  Cabari.  They  taught  the  Turks 
the  language  of  the  Khazars,  they  also  used  the  other  language 
of  the  Turks.  As  they  excelled  the  eight  other  tribes  in  strength 
&c.,  they  held  the  first  place,  and  one  of  the  Cabari  was  prince 
of  those  tribes  in  his  day.  In  another  chapter  he  tells  us  that 
the  tribes  that  broke  oflP  from  the  Khazars  were  the  Cabari,  the 
Nece,  the  Megere,  the  Cuturgurmati,  the  Tarcani,  the  Oenach, 
the  Care,  and  the  Case.  Apparently  all  these  tribes  are  spoken 
of  in  other  places  under  the  general  name  Cabari.  The  Cabari, 
as  we  have  elsewhere  shown,  were  the  ancestors  of  the  Kabardi, 
in  later  times  the  most  important  division  of  the  Circassians. 
It  would  appear,  then,  that  the  Ougres,  Ogors,  or  Hungarians, 
were  really  led  and  governed  by  a  caste  of  foreigners,  whose 
warlike  skill  and  talent  we  may  assume,  from  their  descendants' 
wars  with  Russia,  to  have  been  very  considerable.  We  may  well 
believe  that  this  dominant  caste  was  the  source  of  the  chief 
families  in  the  country,  just  as  the  Norsemen  were  the  ancestors 
of  the  best  blood  in  Russia  and  Poland.  One  of  its  tribes,  the 
Megerey  seems  to  have  given  its  name  to  the  race ;  for  I  know  of 
no  other  origin  for  the  name  Magyar.  Every  other  etymology 
suggested  by  the  latest  writers  appears  to  me  unsatisfactory. 
About  the  same  period  the  Scandinavian  Russians  were  giving 
a  name  to  the  first  power  among  the  Slaves — a  valuable  parallel 
in  many  respects.  Thus  the  Magyars  were  a  dominant  cast6 
of  foreigners,  comparatively  highly  cultured,  who  effectually 
subdued  the  more  numerous  Ogors.  Thus  also,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  Russians,  the  culture  remained,  the  chivalrous  spirit  re- 
mained, and  so  did  many  customs  that  carry  us  to  the  mountains 
of  Circassia:  but  the  language  was  absorbed  as,  in  another 
parallel  case,  the  Mandchou  language  has  been  absorbed  by  the 
Chinese.  Perhaps  (and  I  have  very  high  authority  for  the  state- 
ment, though  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  mention  it)  the  Hungarian 
language  contains  a  very  considerable  element  which  may  be 
correlated  with  Circassian ;  and  thus  my  position  is  considerably 
strengthened.  We  will  now  trace  out  rapidly  the  earlier  history 
of  the  Himgarians. 

The  Turks  proper,  the  Thukiu  of  the  Chinese  writers,  first 
came  into  contact  with  the  Romans  about  the  year  569.  Having 
conquered  the  Avares  and  other  nations  of  Central  Asia,  their 
Khan  had  acquired  the  rank  of  Grand  Khan,  and  their  race  had 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  478 

spread  out  in  all  directions  over  the  Kirghiz  steppes.  They 
now  sent  an  embassy  to  Rome  to  try  and  open  a  trade  in  silk 
and  other  Eastern  produce  with  the  West.  This  embassy  was 
well  received  by  Justin  11.^  and  an  account  of  it  is  given  by 
Menander.  In  reply  to  it,  Zemarchus  was  sent  as  ambassador 
by  Justin  to  the  Turkish  camp,  on  the  Irtysch.  He  was  enter- 
tained in  a  most  imperial  fashion,  had  a  Eerkes  slave  presented 
to  him,  and  returned  home  by  the  Kiptchak  steppe  and  the 
northern  shores  of  the  Caspian,  and,  on  crossing  the  river  Volga, 
entered  the  country  of  the  Ogours.  These  Ogours  have  been 
confounded  by  Zeuss  with  the  Turkish  Ouigour  of  Bishbalig ; 
they  were,  in  fact,  the  Ughres  or  Hungarians.  They  were  sub- 
jects of  the  Khan  of  the  Turks ;  and  it  was  doubtless  for  this 
reason  the  Hungarians  were  called  Turks  by  the  Greeks  at  a 
later  day.  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  tells  us,  the  Hunga- 
rians (by  him  called  Turks)  formerly  dwelt  near  the  Chazars,  in 
a  place  called  Lebedias;  then,  he  says,  they  were  not  called 
Turks  but  Sabartoiasphali.  Zeuss  ingeniously  conjectures  that 
the  first  syllables  are  equivalent  to  the  German  swart,  schwarz, 
"  black ;  '^  and  that  the  whole  word  is  a  translation  of  the  Slavic 
Czemii  Ugriy  Black  Ugri,  by  which  the  Hungarians  are  known 
in  later  Russian  writers.  For  details  of  what  follows  I  must 
refer  to  the  next  papers  in  this  series,  on  the  Avares  and  Bul- 
garians. Here  it  will  suffice  to  say  that,  when  the  power  of  the 
Turks  in  Western  Asia  was  broken,  the  Khazars  succeeded  to 
their  supremacy  in  the  regions  north  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and 
the  Caucasus,  and  the  Hungarians  became  their  subjects. 
White  and  black,  as  is  well  known,  means,  with  Eastern  writers, 
little  more  than  dominant  and  dependent;  thus  the  Black 
Khazars,  or  Hungarians,  were  the  subjects  of  the  White  Khazars. 
The  former  seem  to  have  spread  westwards  very  considerably  on 
the  decay  of  the  power  of  the  Great  Bulgarians  in  the  seventh 
century,  and  to  have  occupied  their  seats  east  of  the  Don  on 
their  great  migration  to  Bulgaria  beyond  the  Danube.  From 
these  seats  they  were  apparently  driven  by  the  Petchenegs — 
driven  across  the  Don  into  the  country  called  Lebedias,  so 
called,  says  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  from  their  first  voi- 
vode,  who  was  named  Lebedias.  This  country  is  watered,  he 
says,  by  the  river  Chingylus.  This  river,  Zeuss  identifies  with 
the  Ingul,  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Bug. 

Zeuss  has  some  pertinent  remarks  on  this  passage  of  Constan- 
tine. He  says,  this  title  of  Voivode  (Bcebodos,  as  Constantine 
has  it)  is  a  title  unknown  to  the  Hungarians,  and  is  clearly  Slavic. 
The  Hungarians,  again,  are  hardly  likely  to  have  named  their 
country  from  any  leader.  "The  land  of  Lebedias^'  is  clearly  a 
namegiven  by  his  neighbours  to  the  land  of  some  renowned  prince. 

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474      HowoRTH — On  the  Westerly  Drifting  of  Nomades, 

The  Petchenegs  still  pressed  on ;  and  we  are  told  by  Constan- 
tine  that^  about  fifty  years  before  his  day  (that  is^  about  862 ;  the 
date  is  fixed^  perhaps^  with  greater  accuracy  by  Bhegnion^  a 
contemporary^  at  889),  the  Turks  retired  under  Lebedias  to  a 
country  called  Atelchousou,  identified  by  D'Ohsson,  with  great 
probability,  with  Moldavia.  It  is  identical  with  the  Erdelen  of 
the  Hungarian  legends.  We  are  told  that,  having  arrived  there, 
the  Khan  of  the  Khazars  (that  is,  of  the  White  Khazars),  whose 
supremacy  the  Hungarians  acknowledged,  wished  them  to  elect 
Lebedias  as  king,  and  sent  word  by  Chelandia,  the  first  of  the 
Hungarian  voivodes,  to  solicit  him  to  take  it ;  but  he  declined, 
saying  there  was  another  voivode,  Salmuts  by  name,  who  had  a 
son  Arpad ;  either  of  these  was  worthy  of  the  honour.  Arpad 
was  chosen  as  the  one  deemed  by  the  Hungarians  (the  Turks, 
as  Constantine  calls  them)  the  most  worthy;  and  we  are  told 
that,  after  the  solemn  manner  of  the  Khazars,  he  was  elevated 
on  a  buckler.  He  was  the  first  king  of  the  Hungarians,  accord- 
ing to  Constantine ;  and  the  first  royal  house  of  Hungary  was 
descended  from  him.  If  the  emperor  is  consistent  in  his  ac- 
count, he  must  also  have  been  a  Chazar  of  the  tribe  of  the  Cabari 
{vide  anti).  At  this  time  Sviatopolk  had  formed  his  kingdom 
of  Great  Moravia,  which  included  Bohemia,  by  the  cession  of 
Amolf,  the  Emperor  of  Germany.  So  long  as  he  lived  the  west 
was  well  protected  from  nomade  invaders,  the  previous  wave 
having  been  well  broken  by  Charlemagne.  On  his  death  in 
894,  civil  war  broke  out  between  his  sons  (see  Bohucz),  and  the 
barrier  was  broken.  The  Hungarians  having  sustained  a  fresh 
defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Petchenegs,  marched  into  Moravia 
under  Arpad.  This  is  one  account;  another,  collected  by 
Bohucz  from  Hungarian  legends,  is  to  this  effect : — 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Avares,  Pannonia  became  a  huge 
desert.  The.  Slaves,  who  were  settled  there  by  leave  of  the 
emperor,  were  employed  in  restoring  it  to  cultivation  when 
Cusid,  son  of  Cund,  an  envoy  of  the  Ougres,  announced  to  Svia- 
topolk that  his  people  intended  to  settle  there;  the  latter, 
wishful  rather  of  allies  than  of  enemies,  consented,  and  Cusid 
returned  laden  with  the  fruits  of  the  country  and  a  jar  of  water 
from  the  Danube;  Arpad  hereupon,  having  made  an  offering  to 
the  gods,  sent  a  white  horse  as  a  present  to  Sviatopolk,  wUch 
was  accepted  with  too  great  complaisance.  The  Ougres  now 
requested  the  great  Moravian  to  evacuate  a  province  which  was 
worth  only  one  white  horse,  and,  on  his  refusal,  defeated  him 
severely.  He  escaped  to  the  Danube,  where  some  say  he  was 
drowned,  others  that  he  escaped  to  the  forests  beyond,  and 
sought  refuge  among  some  anchorites,  with  whom  he  lived  for 
six  years  and  then  died — making  a  parallel  story  to  that  of 

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from  the  Fifth  to  the  Nineteenth  Century.  475 

Harold.  Whichever  of  these  accounts  we  accept  (and  I  am 
bound  to  say  the  former  one  is,  in  every  respect,  the  most  cre- 
dible), we  are  safe  as  to  the  main  facts,  which  are  the  invasion 
of  Pannonia  by  the  Hungarians  about  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Sviatopolk. 

They  were  then  divided  into  seven  tribes,  each  governed  by 
its  separate  chieftain,  the  seven  forming  the  Hetumoger  or 
seven  Magyars  of  the  Notary  of  King  Bela.  He  gives  their  names 
as  Almus,  the  father  of  Arpad,  Cond,  the  father  of  Curzan, 
Ound,  the  father  of  Bte,  Tosu,  the  father  of  Lelu,  Huba,  Tuhu- 
tun,  father  of  Horca,  who  was  the  father  of  Gyula  and  Zombor, 
and  Eleud,  the  father  of  Zobolsu.  The  last  of  these  may  be 
profitably  compared  with  Ziebil,  the  Khazar  ally  of  Heraclius. 
In  another  list  the  names  are  given  as  Arpad,  Bolcher,  Oyula, 
Cund,  Lcel,  Verbulchir,  and  Urs.  Three  of  these  names  occur 
in  Zonaras;  so  they  may  be  considered,  on  the  whole,  reliable. 
Each  of  the  tribes  is  said,  in  the  legends,  to  have  numbered 
30,857  men,  and  the  number  of  clans  or  families  is  put  at 
108. 

In  occupying  their  new  country,  according  to  Constantine, 
the  eight  Turkish  tribes  (i.  e,  Hungarian)  settled  on  its  various 
rivers ;  they  remained  independent  of  one  another,  but  had  a 
mutual  understanding  that,  in  whichever  direction  war  com- 
menced, all  should  join  against  the  enemy.  They  chose  a  common 
general  of  the  race  of  Arpad  to  lead  their  armies,  with  whom 
were  associated  two  officers  to  perform  the  office  of  judges ; 
they  were  entitled  gylcLS  and  carchan  (compare  this  last  with  the 
later  Gourkhan  of  Carakitai) .  Besides  these,  each  tribe  had  its 
proper  prince. 

It  may  well  be,  and  is  in  fact  most  probable,  that  only  a 
small  portion  of  the  Khazars  who  broke  away  from  the  main 
body  accompanied  the  Hungarians  in  their  emigration;  the 
rest  remaining  behind,  near  their  kindred,  occupied  the  Crimea, 
and  became  the  ancestors  of  the  Kabardi,  as  I  have  shown  in 
my  last  paper. 

The  chronicler  Bheginon  describes  the  Hungarians  as  living 
by  fishing  and  hunting,  and  as  fighting  with  bows  and  arrows. 

The  notary  of  Bela  tells  us  they  had  no  cities  nor  fixed  houses, 
nor  did  they  live  on  the  produce  of  agriculture,  but  on  flesh  and 
fish;  their  young  men  were  continually  hunting;  and  thus  it 
happened  that,  even  in  his  day,  the  Hungarians  were  the  most 
renowned  hunters.  This  tallies  well  with  what  we  have  said  of 
the  affinities  of  the  Hungarians  with  the  Yoguls.  Leo  has  fur- 
nished Gibbon  with  material  for  some  sonorous  phrases  in  his 
description  of  the  Hungarians.  "  Their  tents  were  of  leather, 
their  garments  of  for ;  they  shaved  their  hair,  and  scarified  their 

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476  Notes  and  Queries. 

faces ;  in  speech  they  were  slow,  in  action  prompt,  in  treaty 
perfidious/^  &c.  &c. 

In  the  infancy  of  Lewis  the  Pions  they  invaded  Bavaria,  they 
overran  Swabia  and  Franconia;  and  Gibbon  affirms  that  the 
origin  of  walled  towns  is  ascribed  to  the  necessities  of  this  period. 
Almost  at  the  same  instant  they  laid  in  ashes  the  Helvetian 
monastery  of  St.  Gall  and  the  city  of  Bremen.  Pavia  was  burnt, 
and  Italy  overrun  to  the  mountains  of  Calabria.  They  overran 
the  Eastern  empire  to  the  very  walls  of  Byzantium;  and  all 
Europe  seemed  to  be  the  camping-ground  of  the  Normans,  the 
Saracens,  and  the  Hungarians. 

Henry  the  Fowler  and  Otho  the  Great  owe  no  little  of  their 
fame  to  the  victories  they  gained  over  the  Hungarians,  whose 
power  they  eflFectually  crushed.  Their  subsequent  history  is 
beyond  the  scope  of  this  paper.  When  they  arrived  in  Hungary 
their  religion  was  no  doubt  that  of  the  foresters  of  the  Vril 
mountains ;  but  this  arrival  synchronizes  with  the  most  ener- 
getic  period  of  Mahometan  propagandism,  and  we  find  accord- 
ingly that  Yakut  mentions  having  met  at  Aleppo  certain 
Mahometan  Bashkirs  from  Hungary,  who  told  him  that  in 
the  time  of  their  forefathers  seven  pious  men  from  Bulgaria 
had  visited  their  land  and  taught  them  the  true  faith.  What- 
ever progress  these  missionaries  may  have  made,'  they  have 
left  little  trace  behind ;  nor  had  Rome  a  more  faithful  ally,  or 
civilization  many  more  prolific  cradles  than  Hungary  after  the 
days  of  St.  Stephen. 

The  subsequent  history  of  Hungary  is  very  easily  accessible, 
and  is  beyond  the  limits  of  my  subject,  which  deids  only  with 
the  pedigrees  of  races.  Its  present  ethnological  condition  has 
been  well  described  by  Mr.  Paterson  in  his  recently  published 
travels,  an  able  rSsumS  of  which  was  given  by  Dr.  Hyde  Clarke, 
in  the  'Athenaeum.^  A  subsequent  paper  will  deal  with  the 
somewhat  intricate  subject  of  the  Avares  and  their  ethnology, 
in  which  the  earlier  history  of  the  Hungarians  will  receive  some 
further  criticism. 


NOTES  AND  QUEEIES. 


The  FlcBnix. — This  is  the  name  of  a  new  monthly  magazine  pub- 
lished in  London,  and  devoted  to  Chinese,  Japanese,  Tibetan,  Man- 
choo,  Mongol,  and  Indo-Chinese  subjects.  It  is  edited  by  the  Eev. 
Professor  Summers,  and  reckons  among  its  contributors  and  corre- 
spondents some  of  the  leading  students  of  these  branches  of  know- 
ledge. Ethnology  is  included,  and  thus  a  new  opening  to  most  in- 
teresting sources  of  information  is  obtained. — ^H.  C. 


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Google 


Notes  and  Queries.  477 

Dochester  Dvkes. — The  Abbey  Church  is  not  the  only  thing  which 
makes  the  Oxfordshire  Dorchester  a  place  of  high  interest  to  all  who 
cherish  the  antiquities  of  our  land,  to  whatever  age  or  people  they 
may  belong.  Large  traces  still  remain  of  the  yet  earlier  times, 
before  Dorchester  became  a  seat  of  abbots  or  of  bishops,  before  it 
became  a  possession  of  Englishmen  at  all.  Boman  remains  are 
still  abundant:  pavements  are  not  uncommonly  found  in  gardens 
and  under  the  floors  of  houses ;  and  the  local  phrase  of  "  going  a- 
CsBsaring"  shows  how  rich  was  the  harvest  of  coins  bearing  the 
image  and  superscription  of  the  old  masters  of  Britain.  But  the 
chief  relic  of  Koman  days  lies  outside  the  present  village.  A  penin- 
sula formed  by  one  of  the  many  windings  of  the  Thames  or  Isis  and 
its  junction  with  its  tributary  the  Thame,  is  cut  off  by  a  strong  de- 
fence, a  double  dyke  with  a  fosse  between,  which  we  can  have  no 
doubt  as  to  attributing  to  the  ancient  conquerors.  But  it  is  equally 
plain  that  it  was  designed  for  some  temporary  purpose  of  warfare,  and 
that  it  was  not  meant  as  the  fortification  of  the  town,  which  lies  out- 
side of  it.  The  object  of  its  formation  is  obvious.  On  the  other, 
the  right,  bank  of  the  river,  on  what  was  in  later  times  the  West- 
Saxon  or  Berkshire  shore,  rise  two  hills,  which,  crowned  as  each  of 
them  is  by  a  clump  of  trees,  form  prominent  objects  in  the  view  of  the 
neighbourhood,  and  which  seem  to  be  called  indifferently  from  Dor- 
chester, from  Wallingford,  and  from  the  nearer  village  of  Witten- 
ham.  On  one  of  these  hills,  whicli  bears,  among  antiquaries  at  least, 
the  traditional  name  of  Sinodun,  there  stiU  remains  a  perfect  ex- 
ample of  a  British  hill-fort  well  girded  about  by  its  ditch  and  ram- 
part. There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  intrenchment  by  the  river 
marks  the  position  of  the  Boman  besiegers  while  engaged  in  the 
reduction  of  this  Celtic  stronghold.  As  to  the  exact  date  of  this 
warfare  there  may  be  some  doubts.  Mr.  James  Parker,  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  Oxford  Architectural  and  Historical  Society  in  1868, 
tries  to  show  that  the  Eoman  intrenchment  was  the  work  of  Aulus 
Pkutius  in  that  campaign  in  the  reign  of  Claudius  which  is  recorded 
in  the  sixtieth  book  of  Dion  Gassius.  It  may,  however,  be  doubted 
how  far  this  theory  can  be  reconciled  with  the  views  put  forth  by 
Dr.  G-uest  in  his  memorable  essay  of  the  '  Origin  of  London.'  But 
the  exact  date  and  author  of  the  work  is  a  matter  of  secondarv  inter- 
est. Whether  the  Dorchester  dykes  were  made  by  Aulus  rlautius 
or  by  any  later  Boman  general,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  are 
genuine  Boman  works,  raised  with  an  eye  to  the  siege  of  the  great 
British  fortress  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  As  such,  the  fortress 
at  Dorchester  and  the  fortress  on  Sinodun  are  among  the  most 
speaking  monuments  of  the  earliest  history  of  our  island,  and  till 
lately  they  were  among  its  most  perfect  monuments.  But  it  is  a 
grievous  truth  that  while  we  are  writing  the  dykes  at  Dorchester 
are  being  levelled.  Hitherto  the  neighbouring  ground  has  been 
grazed,  and  the  harmless  sheep  is  no  foe  to  history ;  but  it  has  lately 
occurred  to  the  owner  of  the  ground  that  a  few  shillings  more  of 
yearly  profit  might  be  gained  bv  turning  pasture  laud  into  arable ; 
and  to  such  a  sordid  motive  as  this  these  precious  antiquities  are  at 


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478  Notes  and  (Queries. 

this  very  moment  being  sacrificed.  At  least  a  third  of  the  dyke  has 
been  already  lowered,  and  will  gradually  be  utterly  levelled  beneath 
the  yearly  passage  of  ruin's  merciless  ploughshare.  Such  wanton 
destruction  naturally  aroused  the  indication  of  men  of  taste  and 
knowledge,  especially  in  the  neighbouring  University.  A  vigorous 
appeal  to  the  owner  to  stay  his  hand,  was  made  by  some  of  the  most 
eminent  Oxford  residents,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  call  public 
attention  to  the  subject  by  describing  the  state  of  the  case  in  various 
newspapers.  Here  comes  the  ludicrous  part  of  the  story,  which 
revealed  the  curious  fact  that  there  are  people  who  &ncy  themselves 
to  know  something  of  English  history  ana  antiquities,  who  vet  did 
not  know  that  Ei^land  contained  two  Dorchesters,  and  who  had 
never  heard  of  the  great  Mid-English  bishopric.  The  Oxford  writers 
and  memorialists  certainly  made  it  plain  that  they  were  speaking  of 
the  Dorchester  in  their  own  neighbourhood,  a  Dorchester  whose 
existence  they  mi^ht  fairly  have  assumed  to  be  familiar  to  an^r  edu- 
cated person.  Still  editors  and  correspondents  could  not  take  in  the 
fact  that  there  were  two  Dorchesters,  and  they  began  to  talk  about 
Dorsetshire,  Dorsetshire  farmers.  Maiden  Castle,  and  what  not. 
The  *  Pall  Mall  Gazette '  took  the  opportunity  to  give  great  promi- 
nence to  an  essay  on  the  antiquities  of  the  wrong  Dorchester,  while  it 
gave  much  less  prominence  to  a  correction  which  seems  for  the  first 
time  to  have  revealed  in  that  quarter  the  existence  of  the  right  one. 
Indignant  inhabitants  of  Dorchester  and  Dorsetshire  wrote  to  say 
that  the  whole  thing  was  a  mistake,  and  that  none  of  the  antiquities 
of  Dorchester  had  been  touched  or  threatened.  This  sudden  revela- 
tion  of  popular  ignorance  was  ridiculous  enough,  but  it  has  doue  real 
damage.  It  has  quenched  the  public  interest  in  the  subject  which 
had  begun  to  be  awakened,  and  it  has  led  some  people  to  believe  that 
the  whole  complaint  was  a  complaint  about  nothing.  Such  is  the 
disadvantage  of  there  being  two  Simon  Fures — ^o  places  each 
bearing  the  same  name,  and  each  famous  for  antiquities  of  th^  same 
class.  As  we  before  said,  we  know  not  whether  there  be  or  be  not 
*'  two  Wussesters ;"  but,  at  any  rate,  it  was  a  gain  when  we  had  oc- 
casion to  denounce  the  destruction  of  the  Questen  Hall  at  the  one 
^  Wussester,"  that  the  people  of  the  other  did  not  rise  up  to  say  that 
nothing  of  the  kind  had  happened  among  them. 

Meanwhile  the  work  oi  destruction  is  actually  going  on.  The 
pickaxe  and  shovel  were  busily  at  work  only  a  few  days  back ;  but 
meanwhile  those  who  have  the  antiquities  and  the  credit  of  the 
country  at  heart  have  been  stirred  up  to  more  vigorous  exertions. 
A  memorial  to  the  Home  Office  was  a  few  days  back  in  the  course 
of  signature  at  Oxford,  and  it  had  received  the  names  of  many  of  the 
most  eminent  members  of  the  University.  The  memorial  praved 
that  any  available  means  might  be  taken  both  to  stop  the  hand  of 
destruction  in  this  particular  case,  and  to  secure  our  national  anti- 
quities against  such  danger  for  the  future.  It  is  really  frightful  to 
tnink  that  so  many  of  our  most  precious  antiquities,  boiii  primeval 
and  medieval,  cromlechs,  barrows,  dykes,  ruined  castles,  and  ruined 
churches,  lie  absolutely  at  the  mercy  of  individual  owners,  who  may 

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Notes  and  Queries.  479 

happen  to  be  liberal  and  intelligent,  but  who  may  also  happen  to 
be  sordid  and  ignorant.  The  rights  of  property  must  have  some 
limit.  The  law  in  many  cases  hinders  a  man  from  doing  to  his 
neighbours  not  only  substantial,  but  even  what  mieht  be  called  sen- 
timental damage.  He  oughir  surely  to  be  hindered  in  the  same  way 
from  doing  a  damage  to  the  whole  nation  bv  wiping  out  a  portion 
of  its  history.  A  man  may  do  as  he  wills  with  his  own ;  but  he  should 
not  be  allowed  so  to  do  with  his  own  as  to  destroy  the  right  which 
every  man  has  in  the  history  and  monuments  of  his  country.  We 
believe  that  the  present  Government  is  not  unwilling  to  t-ake  some 
steps  in  the  matter ;  and  the  part  of  the  Dorchester  dykes  which 
has  already  fallen  will  not  have  fallen  in  vain  if  it  leads  to  some  mea- 
sure for  the  permanent  security  of  the  daily  threatened  antiquities 
of  our  land. — Extract  from  an  article  in  the  Saturday  Bevtew  of 
July  2,  1870. 

Dorchester  Dykes*,  Sib, — An  article  in  a  late  Number  of  the 
*  Saturday  Eeview,'  written  with  the  worthy  object  of  arresting  the 
destruction  of  an  important  national  monument,  would  ill  deserve  to 
be  received  by  the  public  in  a  spirit  of  hypercriticism.  Few  persons 
can  have  heard  without  regret  the  contemplated  destruction  of  the 
dykes  at  Dorchester.  We  should  have  double  reason,  however,  to 
regret  the  attention  which  has  unhappily  been  drawn  to  this  place 
if  a  bold  and,  as  I  venture  to  think,  erroneous  assertion  as  to  the 
origin  and  object  of  these  intrenchments  were  permitted  to  pass 
unchallenged.  To  those  who  have  studied,  as  the  writer  of  the 
article  in  question  doubtless  has  done,  the  campaigns  of  CsBsar  and 
Aulus  Flautius,  and  have  built  upon  the  scanty  materials  afforded  by 
history  plausible  theories  of  the  operations  of  theEoman  armies  in  their 
invasions  of  Britain,  the  temptation  to  see  evidence  of  the  Eomans 
in  every  defensive  work  which  can  be  brought  within  the  probable 
line  of  march  of  those  Generals  must  no  doubt  be  irresistible.  But 
we  have  ample  testimony  to  show  that  the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of 
these  isles  were  no  strangers  to  the  art  of  war.  The  numerous 
fortifications  which  occupy  commanding  eminences  throughout  the 
country,  some  of  which  have  been  shown  by  their  relics  to  belong  to 
the  stone  age,  or  at  any  rate  to  the  age  in  which  stone  implements 
were  still  in  common  use  by  the  people,  prove  beyond  doubt  that 
there  were  Yaubans  and  Cormontaignes  of  no  mean  skill  in  those 
days.  The  fair  and  the  dark  races  must  have  had  life-long  struggles 
for  the  mastery ;  the  flint  and  the  bronze  folk  must  have  had  bones 
to  pick  with  each  other ;  and  every  inch  of  ground  must  have  been 
fought  over  a£;ain  and  again  ages  before  the  Bomans  pushed  their 
legions  towards  Britain.  While,  therefore,  thanking  the  writer  and 
those  before  him  who  have  drawn  public  attention  to  this  act  of 
vandalism,  I  beg  permission  to  join  issue  with  him  through  your 
columns  upon  one  paragraph  of  his  article  which  appears  to  me  to 
contain  the  pith  of  nis  errors  in  respect  to  the  Dorchester  intrench- 
ment.     "  Whether  the  Dorchester  dykes,"  he  says,  "  were  made  by 

♦  A  letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  '  Pall  MaU  Gazette/  July  11^  1870. 


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480  Notes  and  Queries. 

Aulas  Plautius  or  by  any  later  Boman  G-eneral,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  they  are  genuine  Boman  works,  raised  with  an  eye  to  the 
siege  of  the  great  British  fortress  (Sinodun)  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  As  such,  the  fortress  at  Dorchester  and  the  fortress  on 
Sinodun  are  among  the  most  speaking  monuments  of  the  earliest 
history  of  our  island."  Without  doubt  ancient  fortifications,  to 
those  who  understand  their  language,  are  among  the  most  speaking 
monuments  that  we  possess.  The  skill  with  which  their  defences 
are  often  adapted  to  the  features  of  the  ground,  and  the  relief  of 
their  ramparts  to  the  natural  strength  of  the  positions,  are  points 
which  render  these  works  objects  of  surpassing  interest  to  the  officer 
who  studies  them  with  a  military  eye.  The  rules  of  war,  as  we 
understand  them  now,  were  well  applied  by  the  Ancient  Britons, 
and  often  enable  us  to  determine  without  much  difficulty  the  object 
of  the  defenders  and  the  relative  positions  of  the  contending  forces. 
Having  twice  examined  the  camp  at  Dorchester  (and  I  may  observe, 
en  passant,  that  I  know  of  no  place  that  will  so  well  repay  the  mili- 
tary officer  who  has  an  archsBological  turn  of  mind  for  the  trouble  of 
visiting  it),  I  have  arrived  at  a  totally  different  conclusion  from  the 
writer  of  the  article.  First,  the  camp  is  not  Boman ;  and,  second,  it 
was  not  thrown  up  with  any  view  to  the  reduction  of  Sinodun.  As 
regards  the  first  noint,  it  must  be  understood  that,  although  the 
camp  is  within  half  a  mile  of  Dorchester,  it  does  not  cont^n  any 
portion  of  the  Boman  station  of  Dorchester,  Dorocina,  within  its  lines. 
The  position  of  Dorchester  therefore  is  of  no  more  value  thau  the 
position  of  Jericho  in  determining  the  origin  of  the  camp ;  and, 
further,  notwithstanding  the  vicinity  of  Dorchester,  and  the  nume- 
rous relics  of  the  Boman  period  discovered  there,  I  have  been  unable 
to  ascertain  that  an^  thing  Boman  has  been  found  within  the  area  of 
the  camp.  I  examined  carefully,  by  pacing  backwards  and  forwards, 
the  whole  of  the  interior  of  the  camp  at  a  time  when  the  crops  were 
off  the  ground ;  but  I  failed  to  discover  a  single  fragment  of  Boman 
tile  or  pottery,  which,  considering  the  relief  of  the  dykes,  denoting 
periAanence  of  occupation,  could  hardly  have  been  absent  if  the  camp 
nad  been  the  work  of  the  Bomans.  On  the  other  hand,  evidence  of 
British  occupation  was  abundant :  I  found  several  fragments  of  un- 
doubted British  pottery  in  the  materials  excavated  from  the  dykes,  a 
fragment  of  a  flint  spear-head ;  and  cUbris  of  the  fabrication  of  flint 
implements,  flakes  and  chips,  covered  the  ground.  These,  considering 
that  the  flint  is  foreign  to  the  soil,  and  must  have  been  imported,  are 
sufficient  evidence  of  pre-Boman  industry.  In  Sinodun  the  same 
class  of  objects  met  the  eye.  Although  the  traces  of  the  fiibrication 
of  flint  implements  were  less  abundant  than  in  the  camp  below,  I 
found  a  fragment  of  a  polished  celt  and  a  rubbing-stone  of  the  kind 
that  is  not  unfrequently  found  in  the  tumuli  of  the  bronze  age.  In 
the  rivers  between  the  camps,  the  discovery  of  a  British  shield  of 
bronze  and  a  bronze  sheath  tells  the  same  tale,  and  affords  additional 
evidence  in  support  of  the  theory  of  the  British  as  opposed  to  the 
Boman  origin  of  these  works.  There  is  nothing  in  the  construction 
of  the  dykes  themselves  to  lead  to  the  supposition  that  they  were 


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Notes  and  Queries.  481 

Soman.  The  double  dyke  and  double  foBse  (for  there  are  traces  of 
two  ditches)  were  common  to  both  British  and  Boman  fortifications ; 
indeed  the  double  dyke  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  in  Bri- 
tish earthworks.  Sinodun  itself,  which  the  writer  of  the  article 
admits  to  be  British,  has  a  rampart  outside  the  ditch,  the  inner 
rampart  haying  been  dispensed  with  on  account  of  the  natural  com- 
mand afforded  by  the  rise  of  the  ground  on  the  inside.  This  is  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  rule  of  defence  so  frequently  to  be  noticed  in  British 
earthworks. 

With  respect  to  the  second  point,  yiz.  the  object  of  the  work,  here 
the  rules  of  war  come  in  to  help  us.  Dorchester  Camp  occupies  a 
position  which  no  enemy  at  an^  period  of  warfare  coula  haye  taken 
up  for  the  attack  of  Sinodun — situated  upon  low|;round,  commanded 
on  two  sides  by  the  high  ground,  on  which  the  defenders  had  strongly 
intrenched  themselyes,  and  separated  from  the  object  of  attack  by  a 
broad  riyer,  where  eyery  moyemcnt  in  preparation  for  attack  would 
haye  been  seen  by  the  defenders,  and  eyery  sortie  of  the  defenders 
must  haye  taken  tne  besiegers  by  surprise ;  where  eyery  assault  upon 
the  place  must  haye  been  preceded  by  the  passage  of  the  riyer  at  the 
point  most  disadyantageous  for  the  attackmg  party,  it  is  impossible 
to  conceiye  the  Boman  General  so  ignorant  of  war  as  to  haye  thus 
thrown  himself  wittingly  into  a  cul-de-sac. 

The  Biyer  Thames,  or,  more  properly,  the  Isis  as  it  is  here  called, 
runs  from  Abingdon  in  the  direction  of  Dorchester,  through  a  com- 
paratiyely  flat  country.  Here  it  turns  to  the  south,  and  running 
straiG;ht  to  Sinodun  hill,  it  is  there  turned  sharply  to  the  eastward 
by  the  high  ground  on  the  south.  The  command  of  ground  is 
here  everywhere  on  the  south  side  of  the  riyer ;  the  ground  to  the 
north  of  the  riyer  is  a  dead  flat,  and  the  Dorchester  dykes  cut  off  a 
promontory  of  this  flat  ground  formed  by  the  abrupt  turn  of  the 
riyer.  Sinodun  Camp  occupies  the  high  ground  to  the  south  of  the 
riyer,  and  oyerlooks  tne  Dorchester  Camp  at  the  distance  of  about  a 
quarter  to  half  a  mile,  and  at  a  height  of  about  250  feet  aboye  it. 
In  ancient  times  a  ford  existed  at  the  bend  of  the  riyer  between  the 
two  camps.  It  is  eyident  that  to  select  this  spot  for  the  passage  of 
an  army  from  the  north  to  the  south  side  of  the  riyer  would  be  to 
select  the  yery  spot  on  the  whole  line  of  the  riyer  which  would  be 
least  fayourable  for  the  purpose;  and  for  the  same  reason  that  it 
would  be  unfayourable  in  passing  from  north  to  south,  it  would  be 
fayourable  for  a  passage  in  the  opposite  direction,  that  is  to  say,  in 

foing  from,  not  in  advancing  towards  Sinodun.  Supposing  Aldus 
^lautius  to  have  come  from  the  north-west,  as  assumed  by  Mr. 
Parker  in  his  communication  to  the  Oxford  Architectural  and  His- 
torical Society,  he  would  no  doubt  haye  crossed  the  riyer,  preceded 
by  his  special  corps  of  swimmers,  at  Clifton  Hampden,  wnere  the 

f'ound  is  fayourable,  or  at  least  not  absolutely  disadvantageous, 
rom  thence  he  would  have  adyanced  to  the  attack  of  Sinodun  by 
Little  Wittenham,  and  he  would  haye  occupied  the  high  clump  which 
commands  Sinodun,  within  150  yards  to  the  westward  of  it.    In  this 

VOL.  II.  2  I 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


483  Notei  and  Queries. 

poiition  he  would  alao  have  commanded  the  fort  ahoYe  mentioned, 
Dj  means  of  which  he  would  have  brought  over  his  supplies,  and  the 
reduction  of  the  British  fortress  would  probably  then  have  been  the 
work  of  a  few  days.  But  it  does  not  appear  to  me  there  is  a  particle 
of  evidence  for  supposing  that  the  Bomans  had  any  thing  to  ao  with 
either  camp.  The  ^tuies  of  the  ground  point  clearly  enough  to  the 
intention  of  both  camps,  and,  as  I  mentioned  before,  th^  mark  this 
spot  for  the  passage  of  an  army  from  south  to  north.  Both  camps 
were  probably  the  work  of  the  same  people,  and  were  connected  m 
the  defence  of  this  important  strategical  position.  Dorchester  Camp 
eould  never  have  been  occupied  so  permanentlv,  as  its  large  dykes 
show  that  it  was  occupied,  at  the  same  time  that  Sinodun  and  the 
commanding  position  around  it  were  in  the  hands  of  an  enemy. 
We  must  attnbute  both  to  the  intestine  wars  of  the  Britons. 

It  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  river  formed  the  boundary 
between  tribes.  The  Southerners  (for  such  we  must  call  them  in  the 
absence  of  any  possible  clue  to  identify  the  people  of  this  remote  age) 
selected  Sinodun  as  the  best  position  for  dominating  the  north  bank. 
The  ford  at  this  place  offered  them  the  means  of  communicatioii 
which  they  desired,  and  the  Dorchester  dykes  were  thrown  up  by  the 
same  people  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  as  a  kind  of  tSte-de-poni 
to  cover  the  passage  of  the  river,  and  keep  open  the  oommimication 
with  the  enemy's  country.  Hence  it  is  that  we  find  the  soil  in  both 
camps  teeming  with  evidence  of  the  same  people,  viz.  the  Ancient 
Britons,  whether  prehistoric  or  merely  non-historic  it  may  be  dif- 
ficult to  determine,  but  certainljr  non-Eoman.  It  nuiy,  perhaps,  be 
thought  by  some  that  by  divesting  these  dykes  of  their  historical 
associations  we  deprive  them  in  a  great  measure  of  the  interest 
which  attaches  to  them,  but  their  value  as  evidence  of  the  social 
condition  of  our  ancestors  or  our  predecessors,  as  the  case  may  be,  is 
greatlv  increased.  The  historic  monument  is  interesting  as  a  means 
of  realizing  the  information  which  history  conveys  to  us ;  but  the 
prehistoric  monument  assumes  double  importance  from  its  affording 
the  only  available  evidence  of  the  period  to  which  it  belongs.  Judg- 
ing by  the  rapid  progress  which  prehistoric  archsology  has  maae 
during  the  last  ten  years,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  know- 
ledge we  now  possess  is  as  nothing  compared  to  what  is  stored  up  in 
these  primeval  monuments  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations,  and 
the  duty  of  handing  them  down  intact  for  the  more  enlightened 
judgment  of  posterity  is  one  which  the  Government  of  a  civilized 
country  would  do  ill  to  neglect. 

I  have  the  honour  to  remain.  Sir,  yours  obediently, 

A  UT£  AsSISTANT-QUABTSSMASTSS-GsmBBAI^. 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ  IC 


INDEX. 


A.  ?•«• 

Acheson^  M r.^  on  a  stone  implement 

jfrom  Wicklow 43 

Africa  (South),  atone  implements 

from 89 

Ak-Tatara 99 

Alderney,  preliistoric  remains  in  .    66 

Amazons 866 

American  Indians  of  Ghipewyan 

tribe,  stature  of    44 

Ammda 77,  78 

Anglian  element  in  GleTeland .  860, 868 

Ammism  870 

Argyllshire,  prehistoric   remains 

in    146, 146,  840 

Atavism    881 

Atherstone,  Dr.,  on  South- African 

stone  implements 40 

Atkinson,  Mr.  G.  M.,  on  the  Ni- 

cobar  islanders 187 

Atirinson,  Rev.  J.  0.,  on  Danish 

element  in  Cleveland 861 

Australian  flora    122 

Australians  and  Tasmanians .  127, 180 

Australioids 404 

Aymara  Indians,  Mr.  D.  Forbes  on  198 

B. 

Bangor,  two  cairns  near 806 

Baschkirs 98,  470 

Bey    368 

Bolivia,  Aymara  Indians  of  ....  193 
BoUaert,  Mr.,  on  the  Aymaras  . .  802 
Bonwick,    Mi.,  on    the   Tasma- 

nians 96, 121 

,  on  New-Zealand  implements  120 

Bowker,  Mr.,  on  South-African 

implements  89 

Brain,  study  of  the,  in  ethnology .  869 

Brehon  laws 842 

Brigandage  among  the  Eoords  . .  176 

Britain,  ethnology  of 882 

f  Norman  conquest  of 884 

British    Guiana,    rock-markings 

from 416 


Britiah  mythology    826 

Bronze  dub,  Aymara ,  261 

Bronze,  interments  with 811 

Brouffh  in  Argyllshire. 168 

Buddnism  in  China 21 

Buddhist  use  of  human  bones  81, 82, 167 
Busk,  Prof.,  on  a  Chinese  calvaria 

attributed  to  Confucius. ...  73, 166 
,   on   Platycnemic    remains 

from  Denbighshire 460 

C. 

Cafire  and  Madagascar  languages .  867 
Calvaria  from  China,  attribute  to 

Confticius 73, 166 

Campbell,  Dr.  A.,  on  prehistoric 

remains  in  Argyllshiro    146 

,  on  inscribed   stones  from 

Guiana 416 

,  remarks  in  discussions  by  84,  82 

Campbell,  Mr.  G.,  remarks  in  dis- 
cussions by   848,  409 

Campbell,  Air.  J.  F.,  on  current 

Bntish  mythology  826 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  stone  imple- 
ments from   39 

Camedd  Howel    809, 319 

Carreg  Saethau 800, 402 

Caulfield,  Dr.,  on  an  Irish  incised 

stone 400 

Cefh  caves,  Denbighshire   440 

Ceylon,  Veddahs  of 96 

Channel  Islands,  prehistoric  re- 
mains in    45 

Chia-pu,  or  Chinese  family  re- 
nter   17, 18 

China,  Mr.  Gardner  on 6 

,  calvaria  from 78, 166 

Chipewyan  Indians,  stature  of  . .     44 

Chitral 86,  86 

Chulpas,  or  burial-places .  239, 299, 301 

Cinerary  urns   319 

Circassians    182 

Civilization,  Mr.  Westropp  on  . .  824 

Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


48^ 


INDEX. 


Clarke,  Mr.  Hyde,  notes  by  . .  96, 1^ 
366,  367.  476 

remarks,  in  discussions  by.  30, 33, 

73, 106,  120,  351,  366,  381,  399 

Cleveland,  Danish  element  in    . .  351 

Colla  Indians   ....  195, 302,  303,  305 

Comparatiye  m3rthology.   22,  32, 105. 

309,  325,  369,  380 

Confucianism  21 

Confucius,  calvaria  attributed  to.  73,156 

Comans  and  Petchenegs 83 

Copper  celts,  Irish   402 

Cranium,  Mr.  Busk  on  the  word .    80 

Crannogs  in  Argyllshire 152 

Crinan  Canal,  prehistoric  remains 

near    146 

Cull,  Mr.  K.,  question  on  the  Ay- 

maras  by  302 

Cimningham,  Qen.,  on  inscription 

on  Chinese  calvaria 76,  77 

D. 
Banish  element  in  Cleveland. . . .  351 

Dardistan 31 

Dawkins,  Mr.  W.  Boyd,  on  worked 

stones  from  a  submerged  forest 

in  Somersetshire 141 

f  on  Denbighshire  caverns  . .  440 

,  remarks  in  discussions  by.  43, 145 

Dilke,  Sir  C.  W.,  on  the  mere  . .  107 
Donovan,  Dr.,  on  the  brain  and 

ethnology 369 

.  on  a  Chinese  skull 82 

Dorchester  dykes 412,  477, 479 

Douglas,  Dr.,  on  bones  &om  Park 

Cwm  Tumulus 418 

Duns  in  Argyllshire    153 

E. 

Ethnoloffy  and  geology,  frontier- 
line  of   131 

Ethnology  of  Britain 382 

Etymology  . .  56,  88,  91,  92, 103, 104, 
187, 195,  304,  323,  360 

Evans,  Mr.  J.,  on  stones  from 
Welsh  cairns    322 

F. 

Ferffusson,  Mr.  J.,  on  an  inscribed 

Chinese  calvaria  76,  82 

Fetishism 377,  381 

Flbrolite  celt 52 

Flints,  worked  . .  2, 142, 158, 159, 160, 
166,  421,  430 
Flower,  Mr.  J.  W.,  remarks  in 
discusaons  by. ...  71, 168,  32^  437 


Fo-hi*s  symbols 5,  23 

Food-vessels 320 

Forbes,  Mr.  David,  on  the  Ay- 

mara  Indians 193,  304 

Forest,  submerged,  in  West  So- 
merset      141 

Fox,  Col.  Lane,  on  Stonehenge  . .       1 

,  on  the  New-Zealand  mere..  106 

,  exhibited  stone  mullers    . .   121 

,  on  two  cairns  near  Bangor. .  306 

,  on  Dorchester  dykes 412 

,  remarks  in  discussions  by .  41,  73, 

342,  348,  437 
Frontier-line    of  ethnology    and 
geology 131 

G. 
Gardner,  Mr.  C.  T.,  on  the  Chinese.     6 
Geographical  distribution  of  the 

races  of  man 404 

Geology  and  ethnology,  frontier- 
line  of   131 

Georgian  9(5,368 

Ghilghit 31,  32, 36 

Gilling  axe    165 

Good   Hope,   stone    implements 

from  the  Cape  of 39 

Greenwell,  Rev.  W,,  on  Grime's 

Graves 419 

Grey,  Sir  G.,  on  stone  implements 
from  Cape  of  Good  Hope    . .  39,  40 

Grimes's  Graves 419 

Guernsey,  ^prehistoric  remains  in  .    48 
Guiana,  British,  inscribed  stones 

from 416 

Gulf-stream 135 

Gusses 87, 182 

H. 
Haast,  Dr.,  on  prehistoric  remains 

from  New  Zealand 110 

Hamilton,  Mr.  R.,  remarks  in  dis- 
cussions by 29, 32,  34 

Herm,  prehistoric  remains  in  ... .     57 
Herodotus  on  skulls  as  drinking- 

vessels  79 

Hessle  clay,  supposed  flints  in.  168, 168 
Hjaltalin,  Mr.,  on  Scandinavians .  365 

flx)eitche   86,  87 

Hooker,  Dr.,  on  the  mere   108 

,  exhibited  Zulu  figures 121 

Hovas,  erection  of  megp&liths  by . .    67 
Howorth,  Mr.  H.  H.,  on  the  Co- 
mans  and  Petchenegs 88 

,  on  a  frontier-line  of  ethno- 
logy and  geology 131 


Digitized  by  VjOOQ IC 


INDEX. 


4^5 


Iloworth,  Mr.  H.  H.»  on  Circas- 
sinns  and  White  Khazars   ....   182 

,  on  the  Hungarians 469 

,  remarks  and  note  by  . .  368,  380 

Hunsfarians 469 

Huxley,  Prof.  T.  H.,  on  the  eth- 
nology of  Britain 382 

,  on  the  geo^phical  distri- 
bution of  the  chief  modifications 

of  mankind 404 

,  remarks  in  discussions  by. .    28, 

32,  130,  349 

L 

Idolatry 377 

Incas 196, 197,  302 

Incense-cups 319 

Irish  coi>per  celts 402 

incised  stones 400 

stone  implement 43 

tribal  system 342 

J. 

Jagor,  Dr.,  on  the  natives  of  Naga.  170 
Jersey,  prehistoric  remains  in  . .  69 
Jet  bracelet 52 

K 

Kafirs     40 

,  Siah-p6sh    32,  34 

Kahnuks    84,  85 

Kara-Kathay    86,  86 

Kara-Kitai    97 

Karduks    175 

Kathay 86,106 

Kelsea-hill  clay    158 

Khajunah 32,  33 

Khan 368 

Khazars 182,  187,  471 

Kitai    97,  106 

Kitchen-middens 68,  72,  73 

Klemm  on  the  mere    109 

Koords 176 

Korkhan  100,101 

Kunjat,  or  Hunza 32,  33,  86 

L. 

Land-tenure,  ancient  Irish 342 

Language  of  Aymaras. .  270,  271,  287 

of  Chinese    6,  29,  30 

of  Koords 176 

Le  Couperon  cromlech.  .60,  68,  71,  72 
Lefroy,  Maj.-Gen.,  on  the  stature 

of  Chipewyan  Indians 44 

Legends  . .  22,  32, 106, 110,  309,  326 


Page 

Leitner,  Dr.  G.  W.,  on  the  races 

of  Dardistan 31 

Livingstone's  Meneam    192 

Livy  on  use  of  skulls  by  the  Boii.  80 
Lockhart,  Dr.,  on  a  Chinese  calva.  166 
Lubbock,  Sir  John,  on  the  Park 

Cwm  tumulus 416 

,  on  stones  from  Welsh  cairns.  322 

Lukis,  Mr.  J.  W.,  on  remains  in 
the  Channel  Islands    72 

M. 
MacLennan,  Mr.  J.  F.,  on  the 

ancient  Irish  laws    360 

Madagascar  and  Cafire  languaffes.  367 
Mankind,  distribution  of  the  cnief 

modifications  of    404 

Maories 108, 110, 126 

Mapleton,  Rev.  R.  J.,  on  prehis- 
toric remains  in  Argyllshire.  146, 340 
Markham,  Mr.  C.  R.,  on  the  Ay- 
maras   303 

Measurements  of  Chipewyan  In- 
dians       44 

of  Aymaras 213,  277,  282 

Medicines  of  Aymaras 281 

Mel^ochroi 408 

Meneam    192 

Menhirs    ....  63.  64, 66,  66, 147, 166 

Mere  of  New  Zealand 106 

Metals,  bynftmes  from 99 

Millingen,  Major,  on  the  Koords .  176 

Moel  Faben 306,  317 

Mongoloids   407,  411 

Mongols 28,  80,  84,  85,  98,  166 

MouKman,  Mr.  C,  on  discoveries 

in  Yorkshire 167 

Mortimer,  Mr.  J.  R.,  on  disco- 
veries in  Yorkshire 168 

Mummery,  Mr.,  on  a  Chinese  calva.   82 
Munphooi  Pundit's  report  on  Gil- 
git  &c 36 

Mythology,  current  British    ....  326 

N. 

Naga,  natives  of 170 

Nagyr    32,  36 

Negroids   406 

Ness  axe 166 

New  Zealand.  .106, 110, 123,  124, 130 

Niam  Niam 192 

Nicholas,  Dr.,  on  the  ethnological 
influence  of  the  Norman  Con- 
quest    384 

,  remarks  in  discussions  by  . .  146, 

166, 169, 323 


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486 


INDEX. 


Page 

Nicobar  Islanders 187 

Niutehe 99 

NomadeS;  westerly  driftmg  of 

83,  182,  469 

Normanby  axe 165 

Norman  conquest     884 

Norse  Chief,  burial  of 880 

Notes  and  queries  . .  96, 192,  SCO,  476 
NyaNyas 192 


Og  and  Magog 102 

Offham  stones 341, 342, 401 

Oliver,  Lieut.  S.  P.,  on  prehistoric 

remains  in  the  Channel  Islands.    45 
Oppert,  Dr.  A.,  on  the  Kitai  ....     97 

,  on  skulls  as  drinking  vessels.    82 

Origin  of  the  Tasmanians    121 

Osborne,  Capt  S.,  on  the  Chinese.    28 


Park  Cwm  tumulus 416 

Pattoo-pattoo 106 

Perthi-Chwareu  caves    440 

Peru,  Aymara  Indians  of   193 

Petchenegs 83,  474 

Petroglyphs  .  .146,  270,  271,  341,  400 
Phair,  Mr.  J.,  on  Irish  copper  celts  402 

Philippine  islanders 170 

Philology.  6,  29,  30,  32,  33,  96, 100, 

106,  176,  192,  271,  287,  351,  365, 

866,  307,  368,  388. 

Philosophy  of  religion. . 369,  380 

Phoenix 476 

Pickering,  vale  of    163 

Platycnemic  men  in  Denbighshire.  440 
Poltalloch  estate,  a  cist  on  the  . .  340 
Torter,  Rev.  F.,  on  Le  Couperon 

cromlech 68,  71,  72 

Pottery  of  Aymaras 254 

Prehistoric  remains  in  the  Channel 

Islands 45 

remains  in  Argyllshire.  146,  340 

Prester  John 100, 106 

Psychology,  comparative    381 

Q. 

Quartzite  implements  from  South 
Africa    39 

R. 
Ramsay,  Prof.  A.  C,  on  stones 

from  Welsh  cairns 316,322 

Raths 342, 346,  348,  351 

Religion 21,  87,  139,  230,  369 

Reports.on  prehistoric  remains.  45,  146 


Page 

Rivington,  Mr.,  on  Cooper's  jour- 
ney to  Tibet 3S 

Romance,  popular    838 

Rome,  Rev.  J.  L.,  on  Yorkshire 
implements   158,  169 

Roseoeny  Topping 360 

S. 

Samian  ware 72,  73 

Saunders,  Mr.  T.,  on  Kunjut ....     32 

Scaliger  on  Prester  John    103 

Serk,  prehistoric  remains  in    ... .     58 

Siah-posh  Kafirs 32,  84 

Sinodun  Hill 412,  477,  480 

Skvery 19,  87 

Somerset,  submerged  forest  in  . .   141 

Sontal    96 

Squier,  Hon.E.  G. , on  the  Aymaras.  298 

Stack,  Rev.  W.,  on  the  mere 108 

Stature  of  Chipewyans   44 

of  Aymaras 203 

Stonehenge  1 

Stone  implements.  2, 39, 41, 48, 50, 56, 

57,  67,  72,  106,  110,  121, 141,  145, 

158, 159,  164,  263,  808,  816,  421, 

427,429 

Submerged  forest  in  Somerset   . .  141 

Summers,  Prof.,  on  Chinese  ....     29 

Sun-worship  among  A^aras.  230, 800 

Swinhoe,  Mr.,  on  a  Chinese  calva.  156 


Tasmanians,  Mr.Bonwick  on  the.  95,121 
Thomas,  Mr.  £.,  on  inscription 

on  Chinese  calva 77 

Tiahuanaco 257,  800,  802,  804 

Tibetan 29 

Tibetan  use  of  skull 81,  167 

Titicaca 195 

Tmolus,  Mount    868 

To-pi,  or  lazy  people 16 

Tribal  system  in  Ireland 342 

Troy,  fugitives  from    367 

Turkish  30,  89,  96, 192 

Turks 84,94,95,  98,  368,472 

Tylor,    Mr.    E.    B.,   on  religion 

among  the  lower  races. . . .  369,  881 
,  query  as  to  Veddaa   96 

U. 

Ugrians 84, 138,  184 

Qnkkhan 101, 104 

Urns  from  Welsh  cairns.  307, 810,  811 

V. 

Vagrant  traditions 886 


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INDEX. 


487 


849 
163 

287 


Veddas  of  Ceylon    

Village  system 

Vitrified  fort  in  Aigyllahire    . 
Vocabulary  of  Aymara  words 

W. 

Wallace,  Mr.  A.  R.^  on  Prof. 
Huxley's  classification  of  man- 
kind    411 

Welsh  cairns    306 

Westerly  drifting  of  nomades.  88,  182 
Westropp,  Mr.  H.  M.,  on  the  an- 
cient Irish  tribal  system 842 

,  on  the  earliest  phases  of 

civilization    324 

White  Khazars    182 


Wicklow,  stone  implements  from.    43 

Witchcraft  among  Aymaras 236 

Women.  Aymara 203 

,  Cninese 18 

,  Koordish 180 

X. 

Xanthochroi 406,  410 

Y. 

Yeliutashe 99 

Yorkshire,  discoveries  of  stone  im- 
plements in  157 

Z. 

Zulu  figures 121 


THE  END  OF  THE  SECOND  VOLUME. 


PBINTBB  BY  TAYLOB  AND  PBANCI8, 
BED  UOir  COURT,  FLBET  BTBJBST. 


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