THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES This book is DUE on last date stamped below THE . . . LIVING RACES OF MANKIND ^N ARAB WOMAN. THE STANDARD LIBRARY OF Natural History EMBRACING Living Animals of the World and Living Races of Mankind EDITORS AND SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS : Charles J. Cornish, F. C. Selous, Ernest Ingersoll, Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B., Sir Herbert Maxwell, F.R.S., H. N. Hutchinson, F.R.G.S., J. W. Gregory, F G.S., R. Lydekker, F.R.S., F.Z.S., and many other eminent naturalists Nearly Two Thousand Illustrations Q Vol. IV OCEANIA ASIA AFRICA yj\j :'v\ :' ' ,y n ; :-,-:;; :-: ,% >,Y; ''I : - ^ ; ;., ; , -, 1907 THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY INC. NEW YORK 1 COPYRIGHT, 1906 By THE UNIVERSITY SOCIETY COPYRIGHT, 1901-1902 By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY Bionvdittl Library G"> 276 . 278 279 .280 . 281 . 282 . 283 .284 285 .286 .287 288 289, 290 A Swazi girl ..... 291 A Kaffir woman, Natal . . . 292 Three Kaffirs ..... 293 Khama, chief of the Bamangwato Bechuanas ..... 294 Khama' s brother . . . .295 A Cape Kaffir ..... 296 Kaffirs in fighting-costume . . 287 A Kaffir wedding-party . . .298 Zulu women grinding corn . . 299 Three Zulu girls .... 300 ABasutogirl ..... 301 Two Zulu girls ..... 302 PAGE Usipebu's wives, Zululand . . 303 A Zulu witch-doctor . . .304 A Zulu girl . . . . . 305 Matabili warriors .... 306 Mashonas bartering . . . 307 Two Mashona men . . . .308 Chief Umgabe and his followers, Mashonaland .... 309 TwoNyasalandmenandtheirwives 310 Natives of East Central Africa in full-dress costume . . .311 Confirmationcandidates,Nyasaland 312 Waganda scholars .... 313 Nubian police, Uganda . . .314 A Uganda man and woman in native style . . . .315 Wakwafi men of Kavirondo . . 316 A group of Suk .... 317 Y'suk warrior, Karaniojo . . 318 Wabeni school-girls . . . 319 Natives of Lumbwa .... 320 Wateita boys, East Africa . . 321 An Elgon chief . . . .322 Unyoro chiefs 323 An Unyoro girl (full-face) . . 324 An Unyoro girl (profile) . . 325 A princess of Unyoro (full-face) . 326 A princess of Unyoro (profile) . 327 A Monbuttu negress . . .328 Congo natives 329 Two Congo natives . . . .330 A Congo woman .... 331 A Congo man and woman . . 332 A group of Congo men . . . 333 A Congo native, with primitive stringed instrument . . . 334 A Congo warrior and his wife . 335 A group of Congo natives dressed for a war-dance . . . .336 A Congo man in native canoe . 337 Treaty-making, Kikuyu . . .338 Wyaki and his brother chief, Kikuyu 339 A group of Niam-niam natives . 340 Niam-niam warriors . . .341 A Niam-niam girl . . . . 342 A Niam-niam witch-doctor . . 343 A Niam-niam native . . .344 Typical women of the Equatorial region 345 Women and children of Equatorial Africa 346 Liberatedslavesfrom Central Africa 347 A Central African chief and his wives 348 A Monfu woman .... 349 A Dinka girl (full-face) . . .350 A Dinka girl (profile) . . .351 A Shilluk girl 352 A Shilluk man 353 Fajclu men and woman . . . 354 A Bari girl . . . . .355 A Bari woman (side view) . . 356 A Bari woman (front view) . . 357 A Madi man 358 Madi women 359 A Lango chief, showing peculiar head-dress 360 The Mandingan baJenjeh, or native piano 361 Native carriers, Upper Mendi . 362 An Upper Mendi princess . . 363 An Upper Mendi chief . . .363 An Upper Mendi chief in war costume 364 Amazons of Dahomey . . . 365 Natives of the Niger Delta . . 366 A native of the Oil Rivers, Niger Coast Protectorate . . .367 A Dahomeyan baby . . . .368 Dahomeyan Amazons . . . 3| A Dahomeyan warrior . . . 370 A Dahomeyan man . . . .371 A Yoruba woman .... 372 A Yoruba man . . . .373 Somali children . . . .374 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS Somali .... A Somali man . A Somali man and his wife An Abyssinian girl . A native of Abyssinia A group of Abyssinians . PAGE . 375 . 376 . 377 . 378 . 379 . 380 381, 383 .382 .384 385 386 A Haussa woman . . . . A group of Haussa . . . . A group of Tuaregs, South Algeria A Tuareg woman . . . . A Tuareg man ..... 387 Mixed type, Berber and Negro race, Sahara ..... 388 A Fellah woman . . . .389 Two Nubian girls . . . .390 Two Nubian dancing-girls . .391 A Nubian dancing-woman . . 392 An Uled-Nail (Algerian type) . 393 An Uled-Nail woman, Biskra 394, 393 An Uled-Nail woman . . .395 Uled-Nails and two Negro girls . 397 A Kabyle man ..... 398 A Kabyle woman . . . 399, 402 Two Kabyle women, Algeria . . 403 Arab children at play . ' -. . 401 Kabyle children . . . .403 Street minstrels, Cairo . . .404 An Algerian Moorish girl . . 405 A Moorish lady . . . .406 An Arab man ..... 407 An Arab camp ..... 408 A Russian mendicant . . .409 A Russian coachman . . -410 A group of Russian women . . 411 A sergeant in the Russian army . 412 A Russian school . . . .413 Tartars ...... 414 A Russian nurse .... 415 Two dancers, Little Russia . . 416 A Russian bride of the better class 417 Map based (by permission) on Pro- fessor Keane's language map of Europe in "Stanford's Com- pendium of Geography " . . 418 Russian peasant in costume . . 419 A Georgian woman, Caucasia . 420 Caucasian soldiers . . . .421 A Finlander ..... 422 A Lapp child on reindeer . . 423 A Mountain Lapp . . . . 424 A family of Lapps .... 425 A Lapp woman .... 426 A Norwegian girl in bridal dress . 427 A Hardanger girl .... 428 Hardanger peasant women . . 429 A Swedish girl in bridal dress . 430 A Tellemarken peasant . . .431 An Iceland woman . . . 432 A Greek girl in national costume . 433 A Greek girl ..... 434 A Greek soldier . . . .435 A Turk ...... 436 A Turkish pedlar . . . .437 A Rumanian bride .... 438 A Rumanian dairy-maid . . .438 A Montenegrin ..... 439 National dance of Montenegro at the present day : dancing the ftoro ...... 440 Bosnian falconers .... 441 A Bosnian belle .... 442 A native of Bosnia . . . 443, 445 A Bosnian soldier .... 444 A Bohemian woman . . .446 Chekhs ..... 447, 443 A Wend (front and back view) . 448 Wend woman in full dress . . 448 Germans of South Austria . . 449 Hungarian peasants . . .450 A South Austrian peasant . . 450 A Tyrolese girl ..... 451 A Hungarian woman from Szirok . 452 PAGE A Hungarian 453 A pure Gypsy, Alsace (profile) . 454 A pure Gypsy, Alsace (full-face) . 455 A Bohemian Gypsy girl . . . 456 A little German boy ... 457 A German lady . . . .458 Three Swiss girls .... 459. A Swiss man 460 A young woman of Bern . . 461 A Swiss girl in bridardress . . 462 An Italian man . . . .463 The tarantellc in Naples . . .464 An Italian shepherdess . . .465 An Italian monk . . . .466 Young women of Valence . . 467 An Italian peasant-girl in her wedding-dress . . . .468 A fisher-woman of Portel . . 469 An old Frenchwoman . . . 470 Two French peasants . . . 471 A French fisherman . . ' . 472 A Brittany boy 473 A Gypsy of Granada . . 474, 476 A Spanish fandango, Granada . 475 A Spanish lady 477 Two Portuguese boys . . .478 A Portuguese woman . .479, 480 A Danish bride 481 A Danish couple . . . .482 A Danish fisher-girl . . .483 A Belgian peasant woman and her draught-dogs . . . .484 A native of the Ardennes . . 485 A Belgian man and his wife, Ardennes 486 A family group of Marken people 487 A Dutch married woman, North Holland 488 A Dutch man, Volendam . . 489 A Dutch peasant woman, showing head-dress 490 A maid-of-all-work, Holland . . 490 A Derbyshire yeoman . . . 491 A Lowestoft smacksman . . 492 A type of English beauty . . 493 An English girl . . . .494 A group of fishermen, Devonshire . 495 A city waif 496 A Welsh woman at her spinning- wheel . . . . . .497 A Newhaven fishwife . . .498 In a Shetland crofter's home . . 499 An old Scot salt . . . .500 Two old men of Skye . . .501 A native of Mourne .... 502 An old Irishwoman at her spinning- wheel 503 An Irish peasant-girl . . .504 A type of Irish beauty . . .504 Greenland Eskimo in the snow . 505 A party of Greenland Eskimo . 506 Eskimo, with their sleighs and kayak 507 An Eskimo man .... 508 An Eskimo woman .... 509 A pair of Eskimo boys . . . 510 Heads of three Eskimo children . 511 Eskimo and sledge . . . .512 A Greenland Eskimo grandmother 513 An Eskimo belle . . . .514 Distribution of Eskimo and North American Indians . . . 515 An Eskimo youth . . . .516 An Eskimo girl and child . . 517 A party of Eskimo, with their tent of seal-skin and bear-skin . 518 A North American Indian in full dress 519 A group of North American Indians 520 A North American brave . . 521 North American Indian chiefs, with their wives and children . 522 A Chippewa Indian . . .523 PAGE Ma-gi-ga-bow (chief) . . .523 A Chippewa chief . . . .523 " Cut-nose," a Sioux criminal . 523 A North American Indian (pro- file) 524 A North American Indian (full- face), with pipe-tomahawk . 525 A North American chief, with feather head-dress . . . 526 A Dakota-Siouan chief, thirty-eight years of age, with pipe-toma- hawk 527 A North American Indian chief (profile) 528 A North American Indian, show- ing mocassins .... 529 An American Indian and his wife 530 Indian " sun dance " (the making of a. brave) 531 A group of North American Indians in full dress .... 532 North American Indians dressing . 533 An Indian chief and his squaws . 533 An Indian hunter, with wapiti skull 534 I North American Indians prepared for a journey .... 535 An Indian tent in winter, with squaw carrying papoose (child) 536 A woman of Kiawa .... 537 A North American Indian smoking tomahawk-pipe .... 538 Indian squaw and papoose (child) . 539 An aged Indian woman . . . 540 A group of Mic-mac Indians . . 541 A Dakota-Siouan squaw . . . 542 I A group of North American Indians 543 i A Mandan Indian in European dress 544 i North American Indians in camp 545 i Guanajuato water-carriers, Mexico 546 j A Hopi bride 547 i Guatuso women and child, Costa Rica 548 A Carib woman of Dutch Guiana, with leg-bands .... 549 1 A Carib or Ackawoi woman (pro- file), with spikes in lower lip and ears ..... 550 A Carib or Ackawoi woman (full- face), with spikes in lower lip and ears 551 A Carib man 552 A Carib woman .... 553 A Peruvian Indian, with orna- ments in the lobes of the ears 554 Natives of Peru .... 555 A Gaucho of La Plata . . .556 Map showing distribution of South American Indians . . .557 A group of Sanapana men of the Paraguayan Chaco . . . 558 A group of Sanapana women of the Paraguayan Chaco . . 559 A party of Botocudos . . .560 War Indians of the Lengua tribe 561 Lenguas of the Paraguayan Chaco 562 An encampment of Lengua Indians 563 A group of Lengua children, Paraguayan Chaco . . . 564 Araucanians and their children . 565 An Araucanian man . . . 566 A witch-doctor of Araucania . . 567 Civilised Araucanians . . . 568 A Chilian native and his wives . 569 An Araucanian beauty . . . 570 A Tehuelche woman and children, dressed in guanaco robes . . 571 Mapuche natives of Araucania . 572 A Fuegian man .... 573 A Tehuelche man . . . 574 A Fuegian woman .... 575 Fuegians 576 INTRODUCTION. /7 RECENT years have witnessed a great growth of interest among the people of this country in the more distant races of mankind. Until lately our relations with the rest of the world seemed so remote and accidental that colonial expansion was a fact for which statesmen were al- most apologetic. Our views of foreign politics rarely extended beyond the Con- tinent of Europe, and we were content for the most part that they should be directed, without criticism, by the experts in Downing Street. The attention of the nation was mainly directed to internal affairs, local government, taxation, and the electorate. A great change has now taken place. The rise of new, and the decline of old, powers; the stress of com- mercial competition ; the extraordinary expansion of Greater Britain, and the " pin -pricks " inflicted upon some of its long limbs by Continental rivals; the improved facilities for travel; the books of certain popular writers; and, above all, the growth of the im- pholo by the Tram n st Monastery, Mariann Hill, Natal. perial spirit called forth by A SWAZI WARRIOR. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee of the Empress-Queen, have awakened Englishmen and Englishwomen to the fact that their island-home is but a small piece of the world, or even of the British Empire. We have begun to realise that the most promising fields of enterprise for our ever-increasing community, the most profitable markets for our wares, may some day be found in places which are now the darkest corners of the earth; and that the half-clothed savage, just emerging from the brute condition, is a human being capable of being educated, in the near future, into a customer for British trade and a contributor to the world's wealth. The confidence of the British merchant, nursed in a period of prolonged peace, has been rudely shaken by the successful rivalry of other nations, which attach more im- portance to commercial educa- tion. It is now perceived that, if we are to maintain a great Imperial Policy and a lasting supremacy in trade, it must be through a better understanding of the needs and characteristics of the various peoples with whom we are brought in contact. It is of the highest im- portance that the British public, and especially those who are responsible for moulding its opinions and directing its affairs, should possess the widest possible knowledge of the peoples and races included in its great and worldwide empire. Sad mistakes have resulted from our ignorance, mistakes for which we have suffered severely. Everything should be done to popularise the study of Ethnology; but, unfortunately, we are in this respect as yet far behind some other nations. A work like the present is, therefore, urgently called for at the present moment. What is required is not a scientific j Horsburgh & Son, Edin- burgh. Government Copyright. POLYNESIANS. PROCEEDING eastwards from Fiji, we pass over the boundary-line that separates the dark frizzly-haired Papuans from the brown Polynesians, who inhabit most of the Pacific islands. The . Polynesians are certainly of a distinct race; but for all that the term Polynesian implies a purely arbitrary division, not founded upon geographical or racial distinctions. Polynesia Photo by Josiah Martin] [Auckland, New Zealand. A WOMAN OF THE TONGA ISLANDS. JO THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND itself is not a distinct unit. The people who inhabit New Zealand belong to the same race. Although the Polynesians are all of one stock, and speak dialects of a common language, yet they are far from being unmixed. However, the term is in general use, and has been found to be more or less convenient. The Polynesians, according to universal testimony, are one of the very finest races in the whole world. In their habits they are clean and tidy, with a sense of order and neatness never found among barbarous peoples. The reader will perceive, on examining our illustrations, that the type of face shows a marked approach to that of the European. The hair, always an important feature in determining race, is dark brown or black, smooth and curly, and quite unlike the frizzly hair of the Papuan, or the perfectly straight black hair of the Malay. As a rule the Polynesians have not much beard. In stature they are fully equal to Europeans. Unlike the Malay, their disposition is cheerful, and they are fond of dancing, singing, and all kinds of amusements. One of their games resembles draughts, but is not so simple. Perhaps it is the same game as that which, as we see from the frescoes on temple and tomb, was played ages ago by Egyptian Pharaohs and their wives. The board has 238 squares, divided into rows of fourteen. Another game is to hide a stone in a piece of cloth and try to find it by hitting with a stick; here betting is the chief excitement. Cricket has been introduced by Englishmen, and the late Kobert Louis Stevenson said that in Samoa, where he lived, cricket matches used to be played by whole villages, some hundreds on a side, so that a game sometimes lasted for weeks! At length the waste of time and cost of entertaining the visitors reached such a pitch that the chiefs interfered. Ball games are very popular. In the Hawaiian game called Ma, a wheel- shaped stone (maika) is thrown as far as possible; and players have been known to stake all their property, their wives and children, their arm- and leg-bones (after death), and at last even their own persons, on one throw. Boys and girls get up races among themselves not separately, for the girls can run as well as the boys. In Tahiti and in Hawaii surf-swimming is a favourite pastime. Children have toy-boats. New Zealanders are very fond of flying kites. Games with the fingers also are common. POLYNESIAN RELIGION. "ANIMISM," universal animation, or the endowing of all things with a soul, is the foundation of all Polynesian religion. But we must guard against misinter- preting the words "spirit" and "soul," as the terms are used here. " Soul " generally means "life," a sense also found in the Hebrew Psalms. In Tahiti, the term for "spirit" extends to the squeaking of rats, or the talk of children in their sleep! Everything has its soul, be it a tree, a stone, an implement, or an animal. Thus arose the primitive Photo by Mr. J. J. Lifter, St. John's College, Cambridge. A GIRL OF THE TONGA ISLANDS. POLYNESIAN RELIGION 1 1 Pantheism of Oceanica. Atua indicates the spiritual in its widest sense. The word may be used more generically, as Mana is used by Solomon Islanders. In this lower sense it is a power or influence expressing itself in any kind of force or superiority which a man may possess. It can be transferred to anything. Spirits possess this coveted influence, whether they be the souls of dead people or of some beings of a higher grade. Tutelary spirits (or deities) have an important place; their inspiration is desired because they are supposed to have learnt much from the gods of the upper regions. Should they not come willingly to man's assistance, they must be con- strained by prayers, sacrifices, and incantations. But Animism often de- generates into pure beast-worship. Thus in the Mortlock Islands the bastard mackerel caranx is reverenced as the god of war. The souls of old departed chiefs take rank as gods, to be invoked by prayer and sacrifice. As living men on earth are divided into different grades, so are spirits. A chief's spirit at once takes a higher place than that of an ordinary person. Some say chiefs go to the stars, while others wait about on the earth. Thus we see how gods originate. Heroic men are deified. The chief god of the Gilbert Islanders was formerly a chief; now he is Hai, living above the clouds. The legends that relate to the origin of the gods show that they were once men, and that all religion originated by a slow evolution from the worship of ghosts. This is the view generally held by anthropologists, but it has been ably controverted by Mr. Andrew Lang in his recent work on "The Making of Religion." Some spirits never were human, and so take at once a higher rank. With spiritual beings abounding everywhere, every aspect of nature meets with a ready explanation, and thus thousands of nature-gods who are merely localised spirits come into existence. A score or so of them rule the sea; others employ great blue sharks to execute vengeance. In certain places sharks are fed on fish and pigs, until they get into the habit of approaching the shore at certain times; and then the deluded natives maintain that the fish come at a priest's bidding. Hiro, a famous sea-god, was originally a bold and ingenious native of Raiatea, Society Islands, and until Christianity replaced paganism his skull was on view. In the Gilbert Islands sacrifices are offered on one stone in a stone circle. Upright stones are worshipped as in India. The megalithic monuments of Europe date from a distant time, when our ancestors were no further advanced in culture. (See " Prehistoric Man and Beast.") In some parts of Polynesia the priest adds to his other duties that of the healer, or "medicine man." But in the most populous districts, as in New Zealand, a separate class of priests is created for this business, which is chiefly based on pure sorcery. One of the chief Photo by Mr. J. J. Lister, St. John's College, Cambridge. A WOMAN OF THE TONGA ISLANDS. 12 THE LIVING- RACES OF MANKIND duties of the healer is to obtain information about the patient's illness from some god. He puts questions to the deity, and is supposed to receive answers. It is perhaps hardly necessary to explain that all over the world with primitive people death, sickness, and disease are believed to be the work of evil spirits, or of human beings who have cast a spell by some magical art. So the priest endeavours to discover the criminal, and "ordeals" are held. In Hawaii the suspected person must hold his hands over water, and if the water trembles in the vessel while the priest looks at him his guilt is supposed to be proved. Having thus indicated the general characteristics of the Polynesian, we will pro- ceed to visit some of the islands in which he is to be found, beginning with the TONGA OR FRIENDLY ISLANDS. LORD GEORGE CAMPBELL says in his description of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger: "There are no people in the world who strike one at first so much as these Friendly Islanders (or people of Tonga). Their clear, light, copper-brown coloured skins, yellow and curly hair, good- humoured, handsome faces, their tout ensemble, form a novel and splendid picture of the genus homo ; and as far as physique and appear- ance go, they give one certainly the impression of being a superior race to ours." Captain Erskine, speaking of the same people, says: "The men were a re- markably fine-looking set of people, and among them were several six feet high, and of herculean proportions. One stout fellow attracted attention as soon as he crossed the gangway, and I found that his arm measured above the elbow 15J inches, whilst that of one of our forecastle men, probably the stoutest man in the ship, Photo by Josiah Martin} [Auckland, 2fae Zealand. TANII, A SAMOAN CHIEF, WITH HEAD-DRESS AND NECKLACE OF CACHALOT TEETH. TONGA OR FRIENDLY ISLANDS was but 14 inches. . . . The manly beauty of the young men is very remarkable; one in par- ticular, who had decked his hair with the flowers of the scarlet hibiscus, might have sat for An- tinous. Their features are often beautiful, although the nose is somewhat flatter than with us; but this, I believe, is done by the mothers in the children's early youth as an im- provement to their ap- pearance." The following brief account of the Tow-Tow, a religious festival which was extremely popular before the conversion of the Tongans to Christianity, will serve to show how fond the people are of boxing, wrestling, and fighting, in a good-hnmoured way, among themselves. The Tow-Tow was really a special form of thanks- giving to the god of the weather for ripening the fruits. It began early in November, when yams are ripe, and the proceedings used to be continued for about three months, with in- tervals of about ten days. In the first place, the people collected plenty of food, yams, plantains, and sugar-canes. These they piled up in great heaps. The priest of the weather-god sent a small procession, accom- panied by a girl about nine years old, who was supposed to represent the wife of the god. She resided at the temple of the god, and presided at feasts, or at Jcava -drinking parties. The men were dressed in mats, with green leaves tied round their necks. They offered up prayers to Alo-Alo, asking him to give good weather for their crops. Some of the piles of food went to the chief, and others were scrambled for as soon as the drums were beaten. Then followed a regular ''free fight." The men arranged for "sides," and the chiefs joined in the game. They fought with great pluck and determination, but always observed the rule that no one must lose his temper. It was all done in perfect good-humour. A man who had been knocked down would get up again, smiling blandly, even if his Pltolo by Th [Apia, Samoa. A SAMOAX GIRL. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND arm were broken. Boxing and wrestling matches took place on these occasions, but with the greatest propriety and good-will. After each battle all those who had touched a chief came to be formally pardoned for the offence they had committed in touching his sacred person. He then, very good-naturedly, received them one by one, and pardoned them, even if his nose had been flattened in the game. It must have been strange to those who punched him to reflect that he had on all other occasions absolute command of their own lives. After a time the women took part in the game, laying aside their usual gentleness, for which they are quite remarkable. Captain Cook, when he visited Tonga, saw girls step into the ring and box with great spirit. Sometimes their elders found it necessary to go in and part the combatants; but as a rule those who were beaten yielded gracefully. On one famous occasion about 1,500 women engaged on each side, and went on fighting until the king ordered them to cease, when it was discovered that some had sprained ankles, others broken limbs. When a person of some importance dies, his or her body is washed and oiled; Avomen keep watch over it. After- wards the relations carry the corpse to the house for burial, and lay it there in its clothes, often in a little chest or boat, depositing at the same time the deceased's most valued possessions. Then they all go to the shore, singing loudly as they walk along, make baskets out of palm-leaves, and pour into them white sand, wherewith to fill the iipper part of the grave. The male mourners remain for twenty days in lightly built huts near the house of mourning, and the women within. On the twentieth day they go back to the shore, and collect basketfuls of black and white pebbles, to spread upon the floor of the house. The Tongans, when their king, Finnow, died, made great lamentation. The chiefs and others who belonged to his A SAMOAN GIRL. household inflicted very Photo by T/ios. Andrew] [Apia, Samoa. SAMOA A GIKL OF TAHITI (PROFILE). that another chief was plotting a revolt against the superior chief, who was a great tyrant and very cruel. This other chief was betrayed, and condemned to death, together with all his family. He had a beauti- ful daughter, whom this young man silently loved, not daring to declare his passion, for she was already betrothed. On finding that her life was in danger, he came and told her of the fatal decree, offering at the same time to save her. So he took the girl and they both got into the cavern. A GIKL OF TAHITI (FULL- FACE). quietly away in a canoe, and they both got into the cavern. There she remained, for the affection was mutual, and the young husband brought her mats and the best of food. Then he planned a voyage with certain other families to Fiji; but the expedition was kept secret. On making their start one of his friends suggested his taking with him a wife, to which he replied that he would find one on the way. On neariug the cave he suddenly took a dive and disappeared. Soon after he returned with his lovely young wife, greatly to the astonishment of his friends, who took her for a sea-goddess. The population of the Tonga group is estimated at about 17,500. SAMOA. THE handsome and well-built Samoan men generally wear only an apron made of the green leaves of the Draccena tree; but their ceremonial dress consists of a long flowing robe. They tattoo their bodies from the hips to the knees. They have been well described as a nation of gentlemen; they are hospitable, courteous, honest, and affectionate. The late Robert Louis Stevenson was very much attached to them. Our illustration on page 15 is a portrait of Talolo, his favourite cook. Their stately and quiet manner is in marked contrast to the quick and restless Papuans of Fiji, A MAN OF TAHITI (FULL-FACE). From photographs taken during the Scientific Expedition of H.M.S. " Challenger,'" 1872-6. Government Coin/right. A MAN OF TAHITI (PROFILE; . Published by Horsburgh & Son, Edinburgh. i8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND who do not welcome strangers, and used to eat them. The population is estimated at about 36,000, including 300 Europeans. Samoans, when they come on board an English vessel, do not steal like many primitive people; for honesty is one of their many virtues. All are nominally Christians, the London Missionary Society having over 200 native missionaries in these islands. One of their great chiefs, Malietoa by name, went on board an English vessel and received many presents, which were gladly accepted. The following extract from the journal of Mr. Williams, the Avell-knowu missionary, will serve to show how the chief and his people expressed their gratitude: "At the close of this important and interesting interview, Malietoa informed his people, who had been gazing with wonder upon the novel proceedings, that a large quantity of valuable property had been given to him, and that the English chiefs, to whom he was indebted for it, would want something to eat on their return; ; for,' said he, ' there are no pigs running about on the sea, neither is there any bread-fruit growing there.' Upon hearing this, the whole company instantly arose and scampered away; and in about an hour they returned, bringing with them fifteen pigs of various sizes, with a large quantity of bread-fruit, yams, and other vegetables, the whole of which the chief presented to us." Women accompany their husbands to the wars in order to nurse them and to look after the commissariat. They have been seen in action carrying water to the wounded, regardless of the bullets flying thick about them. Mr. Pritchard says: "After a fight the heads of the slain warriors are paraded in the presence of the assembled chiefs and people, when the heroes are individually thanked, and their general prowess and daring publicly acknowledged. The excitement of the successful warrior is intense, as he passes before the chiefs with his bleeding trophy, capering in the most fantastic evolutions, with blackened face and oiled body, throwing his club high in the air, and catching it behind his back or between his legs; sometimes himself carrying his dead enemy's head, sometimes dancing round a comrade who carries it for him, all the while shouting in his loudest voice, 'I have my man, I have my man.'" In these islands marriage transactions may be said to be merely speculations in fine mats, of which a bride's dowry consists. These are handed over to the husband's principal 9f the Professor of AtMirojwlogy, Ttie Natural History Museum, Paris. ROYAL FAMILY OF VAHITAI, TAOUATA (THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS). SAMOA From a photograph taken daring the Scientific Expedition of H.Jf.S. " Challenger" 187^-0. Published by Hamburgh & Son, Edinburgh. Government Copyright. A GROUP OF NATIVES, HAWAII. friend and supporter, or, as we should call him, " the best man," who arranges the match and provides the feast. Widows follow the law of the Levirate, and marry the husband's next brother. Each bride brings with her one or two handmaids, who may become secondary wives. A young man must be tattooed before he can marry. Having made his choice from among the girls of the island he lives in, he sends his " best man" to negotiate and make all the arrangements. The young woman usually has no choice, but is obliged to submit to the decision of her parents. They, on their part, must obtain the chief's consent. For a long time before the wedding takes place all the bride's relations help in getting her dowry of fine mats and native cloths. The family of the bridegroom are likewise actively engaged in collecting property for him, such as cloth, pigs, canoes, etc. When the contracting parties are of high rank, the ceremony takes place in some space devoted to public ceremonies, and surrounded by bread-fruit trees. Here the guests seat themselves in a circle, cross-legged, glistening with oil and bedecked with plenty of beads and flowers. At first the bride remains seated in a house somewhere near, from which extends a carpet of native cloth reaching to the place of assembly. There the expectant bridegroom is seated at the farther end of the long carpet. And now, all being ready, the bride comes forth. Needless to say, she is gaily bedecked with beads, flowers, and shells, and also girt round the waist with fine mats, some of which form a flowing train behind. Her maidens follow, all bearing mats. These they spread out before the bridegroom, and return to the house for more. This is repeated a good many times, until, in some cases, the number reaches two or three hundred. All these constitute the dowry collected by her relations. The bride takes her seat by the side of the bridegroom, and presently stands up to receive the applause of her assembled guests. It is now time for the husband to show his wealth, which he does with considerable display. The disposal of all these worldly 20 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND goods is arranged by the parents or brothers on both sides. It has already been stated that Samoan girls usually are compelled to submit to the arrangements made by their parents, but elopements are not unknown. Should a chief be refused by the parents, he sometimes abducts their daughter or persuades her to run away with him. Then his companions gather together in the evening, and walk through the settlement singing his praises and coupling his name with that of the young woman. After that the parents generally become reconciled to the marriage, and give their consent. HERVEY ISLANDS. THE people of the Hervey or Cook Islands have a remarkable custom. Here they are not always content to make a pathway with mats for the bride to walk along. Should she be the eldest girl, the members of her husband's tribe lie down flat on the ground, while she walks lightly over their backs! This street of human bodies, called in the native tongue ara tangata, extends from the bride's house to that of the bridegroom; and should the distance be so great that enough people cannot be found to make the pathway, then those on whom the bride has already stepped get up and quickly run on ahead, so as to lie down again and fill up the rest of the path. The ceremony takes place a few days after the wedding. The husband, on the day of the marriage, goes through a similar ceremony, walking on the backs of the people of the tribe to which his wife belongs. On that occasion the bridegroom's friends walk on each side of the human pathway, clapping their hands, and singing songs in his praise, not omitting to mention his ancestors. THE SOCIETY ISLANDS. THE Society Islands, eleven in number, of which Tahiti is one, form the chief possession of France in the South Seas. The French have also acquired the Paumota or Lo\v Archipelago, the Marquesas, the Tubnai or Austral Islands, and others. New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands are also French (see map, pages vi and vii). Discovered in 1606, Captain Cook gave the islands their present name, and he observed the transit of Venus in 1769 from Tahiti. This island (the Otaheite of Cook) is 35 miles long, and contains about 11,000 people. It presents one of the most striking examples in the world of denuded volcanic rocks. " This terrestrial Eden," says Dr. W. H. Guillemard, "is peopled by one of the finest races in the world, whose slightly veiled, or even fully displayed, symmetrical proportions did not fail to excite the admiration of the first European discoverers. Eecent opinions, however, are less enthusiastic on the subject, and Von Popp, amongst others, remarks that if we now look in vain for the gigantic race described by Captain Cook, their deterioration is due partly, at least, to civilisation and brandy; notwithstanding which, the natives of Tahiti are still a fine, well-proportioned people, tall and robust, with dark-brown complexions, broad noses, slightly protruding lips, beautiful teeth, black and mostly curling hair, but with slightly developed beards. With Christianity some restraint has been introduced amongst the islanders, who formerly indulged in unbridled licentiousness. At present we must visit the remoter villages to see, in their original forms, the seductive dances of the native women, gaily decked with flowers. But all this will soon vanish with the people themselves, who, like the Sandwich Islanders, are decreasing with alarming rapidity. The idyllic scenes of former days have already mostly disappeared under the influence of the Plcol.0 by H. W. Henskaw, IRlo, Hawaii. A YOUNG GIRT,, HAWAII. Photo bij the Davdj Photo. Co.} [Honolulu, Hawaii. A FISHERMAN, HAWAII. 21 22 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by the Davey Photo Co.] A WOMAN OF HAWAII. missions; the short and picturesque national garb has been lengthened and rendered unsightly; the Sunday songs and dances have been prohibited; and to harsh treatment, intemperance, and epidemics thousands have fallen victims." According to a French traveller, the people make up for the prohibition of their old national songs and dances by greatly increased drinking habits. Delicious oranges flourish abundantly here, and the natives have now been instructed in the art of making an intoxicating drink by fermenting orange juice. Men, women, and children in- dulge in excessive drinking, and have become greatly degraded by this habit. Our illustrations on page 17, excellent as they are, can hardly do justice to these handsome people. Their forms used to be quite classic, but the type has deteriorated of late years. Even judged by European standards, a Tahiti woman would be counted beautiful, her large full eyes and rich hair lending charms such as no words can adequately describe. The practice of tattooing is rapidly dying out. Men formerly were elaborately tattooed on the legs, arms, and the hands; women mostly on the arms, ankles, and feet. The people of Tahiti being, like other Polynesians, great lovers of etiquette, and naturally hospitable, have invented many quaint ways of making presents, especially in giving bark- cloth to a chief. One of these ceremonies has been described by Captain Cook, who himself was the recipient of such a present. They wrap the cloth round a girl; the end is laid on the ground, and then she rolls over and over until she has become a kind of living reel, not of cotton, but of cloth. On being taken into the presence of the chief, she is laid down on the ground, and turns round and round until all is unwound. One wonders whether the girl is "thrown in" as a mere detail; "take me also" would appear, on the face of it, to be the idea, but that is only surmise. The nobles of Tahiti naturally cling to their rank, but make no parade of it. Great deference is paid to a chief by his own people, but he dresses very much as they do, and partakes of the same kind of food. Mr. Bennett says it was " usual to see Queen Amiata clad in a loose cotton gown, bareheaded and barefooted, mingling with natives of every class. Her meals, too, are equally unostentatious, the bread-fruit, poe, cocoanuts, and baked pig, intended for her food, being placed on a layer of fresh leaves spread on the ground" ("Whaling Voyage Round the Globe"). In old days there was a confraternity called the "Aroeis" throughout these islands. The men who belonged to it believed in the immortality of the soul, and in a heaven suited to their natures, in which every one was young and fresh. They preached no sermons on self- denial and discipline quite the other way; for they proclaimed aloud that a life of unrestrained licentiousness here was the path leading to eternal happiness hereafter. Travelling from one island to another, they proclaimed this fearful doctrine, and were seen by Captain Cook. Everywhere they were received with much feasting, accompanied by the PITCAIRN ISLAND 2 3 utmost licence. The weak and the old were killed off, for every one must be young and vigorous. There was only one redeeming feature of their mission; they gave recitations and dramatic performances, and thus history and tradition were kept alive. In Tahiti and others of the Society Islands it is not customary to purchase wives; but there is, or perhaps we should say there was, a very curious marriage ceremony. The younger generation have mostly abolished, under the good influence of missionary teaching, the old barbaric practices. The particular custom in question refers to young betrothed girls, and resembles that of Xew Ireland (Bismarck Archipelago, see page 32). As she grows up the little maid is carefully guarded from contact with the outer world, and this is effected by keeping her railed up on a high platform in the home. Food is brought, and nearly everything is done for her. Only very occasionally is she allowed to go out, and then she must be accompanied by one of her parents. On the wedding day an altar is set up in the house, on which are displayed the relics of her ancestors their weapons, skulls, and bones. The presents given to the bride are usually pieces of white cloth. If bride and bridegroom are related to the reigning family, the party repair to the temple of two chief idols of the islands, in order to procure their blessing. This they receive after pledging their troth, and prayers are offered up for them. Then the relatives spread out a piece of white cloth on the floor; the bride and bridegroom step on to it, and take each other by the hand. Sometimes the skulls of ancestors are brought out, no doubt in order to represent their spirits, with the idea that they should take part in such an important family affair. The bride's relatives then take a piece of sugar-cane, wrap it up in the branch of a certain sacred tree, and, after placing it on the head of the bridegroom, lay it down between the now wedded pair, who are still holding each other's hands. The relatives on both sides consider that the two families are now for ever united. Finally, another cloth is produced, and thrown over the bride and bridegroom by the relatives. PITCAIRX ISLAND. IT is impossible in the space allotted to Polynesia to speak of all the groups of islands included under that term: but we may briefly allude to Pitcairn Island, situated in the Low Photo by H. \V. BauAaw] A FISHERMAN, HAWAII. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Archipelago, right away to the east, because it was the scene of a very re- markable episode in the history of civilisa- tion as promoted by Englishmen. In the year 1790 nine mutinous British seamen, with six Tahitian men and twelve women, arrived at this little island in the ship Bounty. Discord broke out among the settlers, so that after some years only one Englishman was left out of nine, together with the women from Tahiti, and a number of children. But this one Englishman whose memory deserves at least a monument (or a picture by some great artist) repenting of his evil ways and awakening to a sense of his responsibility for those dependent on him, set to work and taught his companions to be indus- trious, moral, and religious. The colony was several times visited in later years by English and American vessels. In 1825 Captain Beechey found a community of sixty-six persons living together in perfect harmony, a happy family where crime was un- known! In 1878 Rear- Admiral A. F. R. De Horsey visited the island and confirmed the previous report; the inhabitants then numbered ninety. In his words, they continued " to live together in perfect harmony and contentment; to be virtuous, religious, cheerful, and hospitable; to be patterns of conjugal and parental affection, and to have very few vices." Photo by H. )('. lltmhaw\ [Hito, l/aicuii. A MAN WITH CALA HASHES, HAWAII. SANDWICH ISLANDS. THE indigenous population of the Sandwich Islands is about 40,000, although at the time when Cook was there it was said to have numbered 300,000. This great decrease in numbers is, rather puzzling. Neither the diseases nor the ardent spirits introduced by Europeans are sulficient to account for it. Some writers consider that it is due to the missionaries, who have been very zealous in forbidding native customs. The oppressive system of government, the discontinuance of ancient sports, and consequent change in the habits of the people, have been powerful agents in this work of depopulation. The natives are often called Kanakas, but the term, a loose one, is not confined to these people. As the reader probably knows, they have adopted European customs and dress. They all read and write. In recent years they have excited a melancholy interest in Europe owing to the prevalence among them of the terrible disease of leprosy; but neither disease nor drunkenness offers a satisfactory explanation of the rapid dwindling away of this strong, healthy, and handsome race. From 1820 to 1860 the American Congregationalists held the missionary field in the Sandwich Islands, and HOAV the Anglican Church has begun work here. A large number of Chinese coolies have been imported into the islands for work on the plantations, and there are a good many Europeans. Honolulu is the capital, and the islands have recently been annexed by the Government of the United States. CHAPTER II. NEW GUINEA, BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO, ADMIRALTY ISLANDS, SOLOMON ISLANDS, NEW HEBRIDES, NEW CALEDONIA, AND NEW ZEALAND. WE now return to the region of Melanesia, which includes all the islands from New Guinea in the west to Fiji in the east, a region inhabited by the black Papuan race hence the name (Greek melas, black) and will describe the people of New Guinea, the Bismarck Archipelago, the Admiralty Islands, the Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and New Caledonia. The people whose manners and customs we are about to describe all have frizzly hair, as the reader will see on inspecting their portraits. It is one of their prevailing characteristics, and the whole head of hair has much the appearance of a mop. Hence the Malays gave them the name papuivah (frizzled); and so we call them Papuan (pronounced Pa-poo-an). Travelling eastwards from New Guinea, we pass the islands of Melanesia in the following order: the Admiralty Islands, New Britain (New Pomerania), and New Ireland (New Meckleu- berg), the t\vo latter having received from the Germans the names given in brackets, and being known to them as the Bismarck Archipelago. Proceeding, we meet with the Solomon Islands, the Santa Cruz (or Queen Charlotte) group, the New Hebrides, the French settlements of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, and, lastly, the Fiji group, whose inhabitants we have already described. (See the map on pages vi, vii.) NEW GUINEA. THE people of New Guinea have been known as Papuans ever since Europeans came to the island, some three hundred years ago, or more. The race, like most others, appears to be somewhat mixed; the purest part of it is in the north-west of the island, but there is probably no other indigenous race in New Guinea, unless we consider the Karons to be Negritos (little Negroes), a very primitive people of smaller stature, and generally of a very low type, such as is found in the Andaman Islands, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippines. Papuans differ among themselves, although, as Pro- fessor Keane says, "they are one of the most strikingly distinct types of mankind." On account of their differences, some authorities refuse to regard them as a distinct race. However, this much is quite certain: that Papuans are very different from their Photo by Kev. W. if. Lawts, New Guima. THREE NEW GUIXEA GIRLS. 26 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND neighbours, the Malays. Nor again can they be confused either with Australians, or with brown Polynesians, already de- scribed. The average height of a New Guinea native is from 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 8 inches. Although strongly built, his legs are thin. His hands and feet are large. The skin is dark, but never quite black, like that of the Negro. The skull is long, and the lower jaw is decidedly pro- minent, as are the brows. The nose is large, with broad nostrils, but deeply depressed at the top. There is hair on the chest and arms, but very little on the chin. The lips are full, but not so large as those of a Negro, and the face is somewhat oval. The physical differences observable among the Papuans of NCAV Guinea may be explained by a certain amount of intermingling with other races. Thus, Malays have settled in some parts of the island, Australians in others. Brown Polynesians, too, have put in an appearance in the south-east. But for all that, we find the frizzly hair everywhere, reminding us of the " Fuzzy- Wuzzy " of Mr. Eudyard Kipling's ballad. In character the Papuan is impulsive and demonstrative, in this way presenting a great contrast to the quiet Malay. Mr. Alfred Russel Wallace says: " Ib appears that, whether we consider their physical conformation, their moral characteristics, or their intellectual capacities, the Malay and Papuan races offer remarkable differences and striking contrasts. The Malay is of short stature, brown-skinned, straight-haired, beardless, and smooth-bodied. The Papuan is taller, is black-skinned, frizzly-haired, bearded, hairy-bodied. The former is broad-faced, has a small nose and flat eyebrows; the latter is long-faced, has a large and prominent nose (an important characteristic feature) and projecting eyebrows. The Malay is bashful, cold, undemonstrative, and quiet; the Papuan is bold, impetuous, excitable, and noisy. The former is grave and seldom laughs; the latter is joyous and laughter-loving; the one conceals his emotions, the other displays them." The New Guinea Papuans used to go about naked, as many of them do still, but they sometimes wear a breech-cloth made of bark, while the women wear a fringed girdle, or perhaps a short petticoat of woven grass. The men take much pride in their hair, which stands up like a big mop, or grows in tassels arranged round the head. But they have many fashions in hair-dressing, though we cannot here describe them all. The bright From Dr. A. JJ. Meyer's " Album von PAUippinen Typen," Dresden. YOUNG MEN OF SIAR, EAST NEW GUINEA. Photo by William Lind't] [.Melbourne. DOBO OR TREE-HOUSE FOR UNMARRIED WOMEN. 28 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND PhoLo by Jtei: W. If. La , New Guinea. TWO NEW GUIXEA HOYS. flowers of the hibiscus are often placed in the hair; plumes of the bird- of-paradise are also used in the same way. A small bar of shell, bone, or wood is thrust through the septum of the nose. Xor must \ve omit the comb, which is a long piece of split bamboo sticking out for a length of two feet, or even m o r e, a n d o r n a- m e n t e d with feathers, or disks of pith. Necklaces are usually made of small shells, teeth, or bone. For bracelets and armlets, shells are cut and ground into circular shape, but some are made merely of grass or fibre. The people paint their bodies red, yellow, white, or black. The dwellers on the coast build their houses on piles over the sea. Inland the houses are also raised above the ground. Safety from snakes and human enemies is doubtless the main object, but this mode of building is also advantageous from a sanitary point of view. The illustration on page 29 shows one of these pile-dwellings. Another illustration shows a very peculiar house built up in a tall tree; these houses are called dobos (see page 27). If any enemy comes to attack the inmates, he receives a shower of stones, for they keep a supply ready on the floor. There are also very large communal houses, as in Borneo, containing many families, and often over 500 feet long. As in Sumatra and other parts, the people have club-houses, where strangers are welcome, and feasts or festive gatherings take place. In the eastern part of New Guinea agriculture is largely followed; the fields are fenced in, to protect them from the ravages of wild pigs, and the people grow sweet potatoes, bananas, yams, and sugar-cane. In the Dutch portion of New Guinea, to the west, the ground is not much cultivated; fish and sago are the principal diet in that large district. Intoxicating drinks are fortunately unknown in most parts of the island. The people are very fond of pork, and, as in New Zealand, the women make great pets of little pigs. You may see a girl holding a young pig in her arms, caressing it and talking to it, just as an English young lady might treat a cat or a small dog. Captain Cayley Webster says he has seen a mother suckling a young pig and an infant at the same time. Like the Australian Aborigines, they do not object to eating many large kinds of insects; lizards, fish, and molluscs are also regular articles of food. The Papuan weapons of New Guinea are spears, knives, axes of jade, with the edges ground, clubs, and the bow and arrow. Spears are tipped with bone or hard bamboo. The blow-pipes, which emit a cloud of dust and smoke, appear to have been used of old in imitation of firearms; but that trick is no longer of any_ujse, so they have been given up. The religion is chiefly a belief in spirits, most of whom are inclined to evil deeds. When any one dies, his relations make a wooden image in which his departed spirit may dwell, so that it shall not wander aimlessly about and perhaps cause all manner of sickness and disease. These images are NEW GUINEA 29 often most elaborately carved. Some Papuans worship their ancestors; they certainly have no doubts regarding a future life. The Papuan men, being warriors, look down . upon their women-folk, whom they regard as labourers at least to a certain extent. The wives, however, are not, as a rule, badly treated, and by no means as mere slaves, for they somehow contrive to have a voice in the management of affairs, both domestic and public. As in Europe in the time of Julius Caesar, so here, it is often the women who incite the men to war, or perhaps to deeds of murder and plunder. They have been known to arouse the fighting instinct in men by rushing wildly into their midst and addressing them in such terms as these: "What! Are you afraid to do this? and yet you call yourselves men and warriors! Out upon you! You have not the hearts of men; you are more like a pack of old women! You ought to put on the grass petticoat, stay at home, and do the cooking!" Taunts such as these usually have the desired effect. When a man is grown up, he looks out for a wife; but there are difficulties in the way, and the would-be husband may have to wait a long time. Wives cannot be got for nothing, and so the man (we can hardly call him a lover) must make the best use he can of his time, and get together no small amount of worldly goods wherewith to buy his wife from her parents, or, if they are dead, from her guardians. The payment usually consists of pigs, food, ornaments, pearl-shells, calico and beads, or other European articles of manufacture, if such have found their way to his village. There is usually great variety in the presents. Mr. William Lindt, some of whose beautiful photographs are here reproduced by Photo by [Melbourne. PILE-DWELLINGS. KOITAPU, AT LOW \VATEK. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND his kind permission, says in his book "Pic- turesque New Guinea": "Among other curious sights, we were shown the price, or dowry, of a wife, heaped upon the platform of one of the houses. It consisted of a quantity of all kinds of New Guinea goods and chattels, pots, earthenware, wooden wea- pons, birds-of -paradise plumes, baskets of yams, bunches of bananas, and other produce. Among the articles were two pigs tied up underneath the house. The bride herself sat, all smiles, on the verandah above, over her earthly treasures, with as much pride as any white sister might feel on exhibiting her trousseau." The pig or pigs must on no account be omitted. As a rule, a woman, on her marriage, is deprived of all her hair and ornaments. As a sign to all that she is now married, her face is tattooed; young girls are tattooed all over the body, their faces only excepted. On the day of the wedding a great feast is held, at which the company devours yams, bananas, betel-nut, and the fatted pig. Presents are brought by the invited guests, and these consist chiefly of contributions to the marriage feast. Bride and bridegroom are dressed in all their best garments, and decked out in feathers and shells and bright leaves of plants. No priest is called in to tie the knot, and as soon as the feasting is over the young couple settle down to married life. The marriage tie, un- fortunately, is not considered very binding, and it is no uncommon thing for a woman to leave her husband three or four times during their married life. Under these cir- cumstances domestic life can hardly be said to present a pleasing picture; quarrels are matters of frequent occurrence. The manners and customs of New Guinea vary greatly in different parts of the island. Hereditary chiefs are unknown, and there is no recognised form of government. Public opinion, however, is strong, and the people have unwritten rules of conduct. We may be allowed to add a few words in conclusion on mission work in this great island (which is very much larger than Great Britain). Dutch and German missionaries have been at Avork since 1856 in Geelvink Bay, on the north-west coast, Dutch territory, but with little success. The Papuan is so self-reliant as to be almost entirely devoid of the feelings of reverence and respect, and it seems hopeless to look for any great results in this territory at least with the present generation. But in British territory missionary labours have been by no means in vain. The Wesleyan Mission began work in 1891, and the Anglican Mission in the same year. The London Missionary Society has been established many years; it is under the management of Mr. Chalmers and Mr. Lawes (two of whose photographs we reproduce by kind permission on pages 25 and 28), who have both rendered great service to science by their careful researches in Ethnology. It has over 50 stations and about 100 of Dr. \\'. //. Guilleinard. TWO ARFAK MEN. BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO From Dr. A. B. Meyer's "Album xoit, P/lilippinen ' 1 Dresden. MAN OF NEW BRITAIN. native Avorkers; some 3,500 children attend school. So far as one can judge, the Papuan has not as yet been deeply impressed by the truths of the Gospel. But the success of the above Society has been recognised by the Government, for a Colonial Office Report says: " But if striking outward manifestation of the working of religious feeling be rare among those under the influence of the Mission, it can be said without re- serve that the labours of the missionaries have to such an extent modified the ways of thinking and the social relations of the natives, that the good they have done is incalculably great." Missionaries of the Order of the Sacred Heart are also at work here, but each society has a separate field, so that there is no overlapping. BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO. A LITTLE to the east of New Guinea lies the Bismarck Archipelago, which belongs to Germany. The people here are Papuans. The chief islands are New Britain (Neu Pommern the Germans call it), New Ireland (Neu Mecklenberg), the Admiralty group, and Duke of York Islands. In New Britain a young man contemplating matrimony confides the secret to his parents, or, if he be an orphan, to the chief of the tribe to which he belongs, informing them at the same time who is the maiden that he wishes for. He is then sent off into the bush, in order, we may suppose, to be out of the way while his father goes to the girl's relations to arrange about the dowry, or purchase-money, over which there is usually much haggling. On the wedding day a feast is held at the bridegroom's house, with the usual accompaniments of music and dancing. The bride does a good deal of dancing herself. Meanwhile, the unfortunate bridegroom is still waiting in the bush; the parents at last send some one to bring him in. The person deputed for this purpose may have great difficulty in finding him; for young men, on these interesting occasions, frequently wander away for many a mile with the idea of escaping from the power of departed spirits, who are supposed at such times to exercise an evil influence. These excursions into the "forest primeval" are not un- attended with danger, for there is a risk of the bridegroom being killed by some hostile tribe on the war-path. Should a chief desire to be allied by marriage with a particular family, he buys a child before its birth. Should it prove to be a boy, the presents are returned; if a girl, she becomes his absolute property, although living with her parents until old enough to become his wife. When married, there is no limit to the power of her lord and master, who can even take her life. There is a horrible story of a chief who lived on the shore of Blanche Bay. His young wife used to cry and beg to be allowed to return to her own people, and, what Avas much From Dr. A. B. Meyer's " Album von Phillpjnnen Ti/ijen^ Dresden. AVOMAN OF NEW BRITAIN. 3 2 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND / worse in the eyes of her brutal husband, she refused to do any work. This he could not endure, and flying one day into a furious passion, he told her that, since she was of no use as a wife, he would make use of her in another way. Seizing a spear, he killed her on the spot, cooked her body, and called his friends together for a feast. It is not necessary to give a separate description of the people of N"ew Britain, for they are very similar in appearance to the natives of Xew Ireland. They are all Papuans. The people of New Ireland, according to Mr. A. J. Duffield, are poor in flesh, lanky, short in stature, and light in weight. Their usual colour is a dark brown, but many are much lighter. Their hair is crisp and glossy. Their power of sight for long distances is remarkable, and they readily take to habits of cleanliness, order, and regularity. Both men and women usually go about abso- lutely naked; some women, however, wear a grass apron. Tattooing and cutting of the flesh are entirely confined to women and the head-men. The women make an excellent bonnet from palm-leaves, and also a cloak covering the back of the head; but this they only use in the rainy season. The septum of the nose is perforated, to receive rings of beads or other ornaments. Mr. Duffield saw no mutilations, such as knocking out the front teetli or cutting off the eyebrows. The people put flowers and gaudy feathers in their hair; some paint their bodies with red and yellow earth. Their huts are in the shape of beehives, small, and surrounded by palisades of bamboo. The young unmarried men live in larger common houses. Canni- balism is more or less general. Polygamy is common; and here we find a very re- markable marriage custom, young girls of six or eight years of age being put up in cages made of palm-leaves, which they can never leave till the day they are married. Old women guard them. The cage, being small, is placed inside a larger house, but the girl may only come out of the cage once a day to have a wash, and the house is surrounded by a fence made of reeds. A somewhat similar custom is to be found in Tahiti and in a part of Borneo. These people construct admirable canoes, but use From Dr. A. B. Meyer's-" All/am von Philippinen Typen." Dresden. WOMAN OF THE ADMIRALTY ISLANDS. no sails. With twenty paddles they can go along at ten miles an hour. They have no bows and arrows, but only clubs and spears; the latter are of great length, well pointed, From Dl . A B _ Veyer , s , A(bum wn Phmppinen Typen Dresden . and horribly barbed with birds' bones. WOMAN OF THE ADMIRALTY ISLANDS. 34 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Both clubs and spears are elaborately carved; they also carve their earrings, combs, necklaces, bracelets, and musical instruments, as well as canoes. Many of the men, when Mr. Duffield saw them, bore deep scars on the forehead or the thigh, the result of recent fighting. No one can see the collection of their masks, weapons, etc., in the British Museum Ethnological Gallery, without perceiving that they have the artistic faculty well developed. Mr. Duffield says that, on first making their acquaint- ance, the natives proceeded to help themselves to evervthing he showed them which took their fancy. On seeing a watch, ^^^^^^^^^^ they showed 110 emotion; but the sight of a common screw, when they saw it enter two pieces of wood and hold them together, produced screams of joyous appreciation. For brass screws they were willing to part with their most valued possessions. The mechanism of a large clasp-knife puzzled iKigHflfl them, but a iile or a saw they readily understood. To a painted landscape they showed marked repugnance, but the coloured photograph of a fair woman riveted their silent attention. When Mr. Duffield showed them a looking-glass, some were scared for a few seconds, but presently broke out into a hearty laugh at recognising their own faces. Others were struck with fear, as if they had seen a ghost. They were much pleased when their visitor demonstrated the reflecting power of the glass by flashing sun-light about. But their attention appeared to be chiefly occupied with scheming how to get possession of the things which they most fancied. Some few articles were stolen, but readily given up on demand. Fi-om hi. A. li. Mtyer'n .c Typen." A NEW IRELAND MAIDEN. ADMIRALTY ISLANDS. BEFORE leaving the Bismarck Archipelago, we must say a few words about the people of the small group known as the Admiralty Islands. It was first visited by Carteret in 1767, but his party were attacked by the natives and did not land. The first Europeans who landed were those on board the famous scientific exploring ship H.M.S. Challenger in 1875. The inhabitants are mop-headed Papuans of the usual type, fond of ornament and clever at carving wood. They make lovely ornaments of tortoise-shell, carved and cemented on tridacna shells. Metal, fermented drinks, and tobacco were all unknown to them. They do not appear to be so nearly related to the people of New Guinea as we might expect, and probably emigrants came in a long time ago from the north and cast. The average height of a man is 5 feet 5 inches, and of a woman 5 feet 1 inch. They are thinner and more lanky than the people of New Guinea. Their colour is a blackish brown, but youths and girls are lighter, sometimes light yellowish brown. The hair is crisp, glossy, and curled in spirals, and there is a good deal of hair on the arms and legs. The forehead is flat, with overhanging brows; nose short, with flattened tip, and the septum perforated for the suspension of an ornament. The ear-lobes are dragged down by ornaments. The men wear ornaments much more than the women, who rarely do so. Those for the ear or the -nose are made of crocodiles' teeth; earrings of tortoise-shell are also worn. Waist- belts and armlets are made of fine plaited work, with black and yellow patterns. Round the neck and hanging down the back are carried charms, consisting of human arm-bones (the humerus) bound up with eagles' feathers. Adult males have large scars dotted about the n;>ck and shoulders, which sometimes are continued down the back, in two oblique lines, from the shoulders down to the waist. They are seldom tattooed, but the women always are. The tattoo is of a dark blue colour, and consists 'of short lines forming rings round the eyes ADMIRALTY ISLANDS 35 and all over the face; also diagonal Hues over the upper part of the body. The men, however, sometimes redden their chests and faces with burnt clay. Occasionally one sees a face reddened on the one side, but not the other. Some use a black manganese ore instead; old women are often blackened. These people, unlike some others, are ashamed to go about naked: the men wear a piece of bark-cloth as a bandage, about 6 inches wide, and a shell in a bag hangs from the neck. The women wear two bunches of grass fastened to a belt one in front and one behind, the latter being the longer but no ornaments. The diet is mixed: cocoanuts and sago are the chief vegetables; they eat pigs' flesh and what fish they can catch. Unlike most Papuans, they have no bows and arrows, clubs or shields. Their houses are built on the ground, close to the shore, not elevated, and of an elongated beehive shape. Some are merely a continuous wall and thatch of grass and cocoanut leaves; others have wooden Avails cut up into billets. They are about 20 feet long, 10 feet broad, and 15 feet high. Food, implements, etc., are kept on shelves, resting Dr. A. B. Meyer's " Album von Philip jjitie it Ti/pe/t. MEX OF NEW IRELAND, WITH SPEARS. From Dr. A. B. Meyer's " Album von Philippinen Typen."" MEN OF NEW IRELAND, IN BATTLE-ARRAY. 36 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND on the main supporting-posts. The latter are sometimes carved and painted, with a human skull stuck on the top. The temples are rather larger, with carved wooden posts, one repre- senting a male, the other a female figure. These probably represent the guardian deities. The canoes are more Polynesian than Papuan in form; each is formed from the hollow trunk of a tree, with a single plank built on to it above. They have an outrigger on one side. A platform is formed with planks between the canoe and the outrigger. Of musical instruments the natives of the Admiralty Islands have for trumpet a conch-shell perforated on one side, a simple Jew's harp of bamboo, panpipes of from three to five pipes of different lengths, and drums. But they have no idea of a tune. In character they appeared to Fnau a photograph by the Bishop of Tasmania (by permission}. WOMEN OF PORT ADAM, SOLOMON ISLANDS. Mr. H. N. Moseley, of the Challenger Expedition to whom we are indebted for the above facts to be excitable, rapacious, greedy, and jealous. A few words, in conclusion, with regard to their expressions of emotion. Astonishment is shown by placing the finger in the mouth, delight by clapping the hands. To say "Yes" the head is jerked upwards. To express "No," or a negative, the nose is struck with the right forefinger, as if the tip were to be cut off. This action is capable of modification. Thus, a decided negative is indicated by a quick stroke; a hesitating one by rubbing the finger slowly across the nose. The natives quite understood the action of a burning-glass, but a looking-glass was beyond their comprehension, and they have been known to break one in order to get at the image behind! Crowds of people came to see the man with white arms who showed them all these things: they could not understand his arms and legs being white. SOLOMON ISLANDS 37 SOLOMON ISLANDS. THE Solomon group comprises seven large islands and others which are smaller; they now all belong to Great Britain. Formerly the natives were so treacherous that Europeans held but little intercourse with them. But now traders come frequently, and a mission has been established ever since 1847. Mission work is spreading fairly rapidly in the Diocese of Melanesia, which now contains 12,000 Christians. Some bushmen in the island of Guadalcanal-, noticing the difference between their own lives and those of the Christian teachers, who neither killed people nor stole, said: "We see that you are different from us. What have you got inside you that makes you different from us?" The teachers promised to tell them, and thus a mission was started there. The people are of a deep brown colour, with a frizzly but rather loose mass of hair. They wear very little clothing. The lobes of the ear are often greatly distended for the insertion of very large rings (see illus- tration below). The men wear a great many ornaments, and in this respect resemble Papuans ; but they have certain customs which (together with their brownish colour) point to a Polynesian influence. Their large war-canoes, from 40 to 50 feet long, are highly carved and much decorated. They have hereditary chiefs, differing in this respect from the New Guinea Papuans. Polygamy and cannibalism prevail. They cultivate the banana, tare, and sweet potato. Besides the usual weapons, they make beautiful shields of wicker-work. A girl is not sought in marriage until her charms have been enhanced by the tattooer's art. The painful and tedious operation is performed by a specialist a sort of sorcerer (called a tindalo), whose services are hand- somely rewarded. It is considered necessary to employ musicians as well ; so he first engages a company of pro- fessional vocalists. The concert begins at sunset, and is kept up vigorously throughout the night. The poor child is kept awake by her friends in order to hear it all. At sunrise the man begins his operations, using only a sharp bamboo knife, for bamboo is very hard and frequently used for making knives, as with the Andaman Islanders. He makes a curious and artistic network of patterns on the girl's face and chest. It is a painful process, but she suffers without a murmur, for all primitive races train up their young people to endure pain silently. Next day all is forgotten in the joyful thought that She is nOW Photo by Henry King] an eligible young woman. From this A NATIVE OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, WITH LARGE RING time her parents keep a watchful eye THE LOBE OF HIS EAR. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND over their daughter, and check any levity on her part. Proposals follow ere long, and her friends, who have subscribed towards the expense of the tattooing, look forward to repayment when she gets a husband. The higher her rank the more her parents demand of a suitor; consequently a needy young man often has to wait a long time for a wife as in some other places. But if a swain is known to have "expecta- tions," he may pay down a part of the purchase-money, and claim the girl as his fiancee. Chiefs' daughters seldom marry early; their fathers expect too much. Oc- casionally it happens that the daughter of a chief remains in single blessedness until the death of her father, when she may be bought "for an old song," as the saying is, by some middle-aged widower, or an impecunious suitor who has been waiting for years. When a young girl is betrothed, and her future husband has paid the amount in full, she goes to live with his mother until the time comes when she may become his wife. Soon after the purchase has been made her parents give a feast to those who have generously subscribed towards the tattooing; this is followed by another feast, given by the bridegroom's parents, and there are no other ceremonies, either at betrothals or marriages. In a small island of this group, known as Florida Island, marriage customs are somewhat different. The money is paid to the girl's female relations. The act of giving away the bride is rather curious; she is lifted off the ground, and carried out of the house on the back of one of the women, Avho delivers her to the youth's father. For two or three months after this she stays in the house of her future father-in-law, until the necessary presents of pigs and food arrive. Not till then can the wedding be celebrated. And here we meet with another curious custom. During the morning of the feast the boys of the village harass the bride's relations by playfully shooting arrows at them. So skilful is their practice that they can safely send arrows whizzing past the ears of a guest, over his head, beneath his legs, or even through his hair. These delicate attentions, however, become a positive nuisance; and after many forcible expressions of disgust the men gladly purchase immunity from further hair breadth escapes by paying ransom. In the large island of Malanta betrothed children pay frequent visits at the homes of their parents, and thus become well acquainted with one another. Consequently, when the wedding day comes, the girl shows none of that reluctance so often displayed elsewhere. The Solomon Islanders are very fond of dancing, though they do not carry the art to such a state of perfection as do the people of the New Hebrides, farther south. However, they make it a professional business, on the principle that the greatest delight is to watch other people dance. The chief and his advisers choose the dance, and select the dancers out of a large number of aspirants. Then comes the rehearsal, which sometimes lasts for a year or more. We will only attempt to describe one of their dances, the souruka, and that only briefly. Thirty-six dancers are required, who take up their position in a wedge-like phalanx- four ranks of fours, four of threes, and four of twos, one rank behind the other; the big By jwmistiion of Messrs. Mansell & Co. A MAN OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. NEW HEBRIDES 39 meii being placed in front, the smaller men and boys behind. The dancers pipe for themselves, and the dancing consists in wriggling the body, and, bent double, swaying the head, arms, and legs, and marking time with the feet. Strings of nutshells bound on their ankles rattle in rhythm with their movements. The leaders play a melody on panpipes, to which less skilled musicians add an accompaniment with bamboo trumpets. The music changes with the figures of the dance, marking the time and the change of step. The general effect is good the result of careful rehearsing. The chief who owns the party, like an enterprising manager, spares no expense to make the performance a success. His dancers are gaily decked in white cockatoos' feathers and gaudy waist-cloths, necklaces, and other ornaments. Formerly, when the people were more under the influences of their sorcerers (tindalos), they went through a solemn function or ceremony, in order to place the dancers under the protection of some powerful tindalo whose influence (or spirit) should make their movements agile and their music inspiring. The man who presided over this ceremony Avas highly paid for his services. A party of dancers and the mixed multitude attending them, sometimes numbering more than 350 in all, and occupying a fleet of thirty canoes, make a round of visits lasting three months. Several performances are given at each place, after which the spectators supply them with food, while the chief pays their wages. These dancing parties, according to the Rev. Alfred Penny, are quite harmless, and in fact have been used for the spread of Christianity. He says: "At first the Christians held aloof because of the tindalo influence upon the dancers, and because they would have to give up school and prayers during the tour. But when their numbers came to be consider- able, the idea occurred to some of us to let a Christian party go, attended by a teacher as chaplain, if the chief would consent to forgo the tindalo part of the business. On several occasions this has been done. A large dancing party started three years ago from Gaeta with a contingent of fifty Christians, and went the round of Florida Island. Each night and morning those men met together for prayers; and though at first they had to encounter ridicule, the ridicule in time gave way before their pertinacity." NEW HEBRIDES. THE New Hebrides are a group of vol- canic islands which received their present name from Captain Cook, who visited them in 1774. They have a total area of 5,000 square miles, with a population of 70,000, governed at present by a mixed commission of officers of the British and French warships in the Pacific. Although the climate is ill-suited for Europeans, missionary work has been carried on with unremitting zeal. Erromanga, the largest of the southern group, where the natives were at first extremely hostile, and where five missionaries have been murdered, now contains over 1,000 Christians. In the five southern islands there are more than forty schools, thanks to the labours of the Presbyterian Church. In the northern group, consisting of thirty-five islands, the natives are more friendly than in the By permission of Messrs. Mansell & Co. A WOMAN OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND southern islands; throughout the archipelago there is great variety of character, language, and complexion. Thus, the people of Aoba, or Lepers' Island, seem to be true Polynesians, with nearly straight hair and a light complexion, but as a rule the natives of the K"ew Hebrides are dark and woolly-haired, although probably not pure Papuans. In the northern islands of the group only the chiefs, or other great and important people, betroth their children in youth. A betrothed girl lives in the same house as her future husband, who very often is taught to regard the little plaything as his sister. Girls assume the petticoat when they arrive at marriageable age. On. the wedding day guests arrive in large numbers to enjoy the good things provided for them. The bridegroom fixes the branch of a tree, or shrub, in the ground, and brings forward gifts of pigs, food, and rholo by Captain W. Acland, It.X. WOMEN AT MOTA ISLAND, NEW HEBRIDES. nuts. The bride's father, or some special friend of the family, makes a speech, and exhorts the bridegroom to feed his wife properly and treat her kindly. With such and similar admonitions he hands over, or "gives away," the bride, gaily attired and wearing her new petticoat. At the feast which follows the bridegroom is spared the trying ordeal of making a speech; he merely strokes his father-in-law to show his gratitude and affection. Then follows a sham fight, in which it sometimes happens that men are wounded. On one side are ranged the bride's kinsmen, on the other those of the bridegroom. Should a brother of the latter be injured, "compensation," in the form of a present, is required. When the family of the bride consider that they have made enough show of resistance, to prove how highly they value her services, they allow her to be taken away. Accordingly she is dragged off by female friends to the bridegroom's house. Even if the poor child is willing to leave NEW CALEDONIA her parents, etiquette demands that, for the sake of appearances, she shall make some show of reluctance. It sometimes happens that a bride who is really unhappy takes the earliest opportunity of running away from her hushand, and seeks a home with a man she likes better. In such a case, if the parents perceive that nothing will induce her to return to her injured husband, they offer him a pig as solatium, to soothe his wounded feelings; and there the matter ends. We are indebted to Captain W. Acland for the two excellent photographs reproduced on pages 40 and 41. At the Santa Cruz (or Queen Charlotte) Islands, between the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides group, we find the same custom of infant betrothal. The father, without telling the boy, seeks a bride for his son. Some time elapses before the son is told that a girl is engaged for him. His parents do not say who she is, but only warn Photo by Captain W. Acland, A GROUP OF NATIVES, PENTECOST ISLAND. him that he must not go near the particular house in which she lives for it is not allowed to betrothed ones to meet. Youths sometimes show great reluctance to marry the brides thus chosen for them. NEW CALEDONIA. A LITTLE to the south of the New Hebrides lies the island known as New Caledonia. Its inhabitants appear to be distinctly Papuan, having dark skins and frizzly hair; but here again there is evidence of intercourse with the brown Polynesian race. There are many tribes, each having its chief. The people Kanakas, as the French call them (though the term is used very loosely) wear very little clothing, have no bows and arrows, and were all cannibals 4-2 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND when the French first colonised the island. They are fast disappearing, owing to constant warfare, the introduction of drinking habits, and the practice * of abortion. Their number now is less than 22,000, a great decrease since the middle of the present century. NEW ZEALAND. IN the year 1840, when the islands of New Zealand were first colonised by England, they were inhabited by the Maori race, who were then much more numerous than now. It would seem that the Maoris are dying out not because they are vicious, but because they are very filthy and do not know how to make a proper use of clothes. An appalling number of deaths occur annually from what may be called "galloping consumption," and there is no doubt .that the misuse of clothes is responsible for much of this terrible waste of life. A Maori woman, visiting town, parades the streets muffled up to the eyes in flannels, furs, rugs, and wraps of every description. On returning home, these are all cast aside and replaced by a thin cotton bodice and a chintz petticoat. Thus scantily clothed, she squats down before a fire outside the house, and cooks the family meal. It is much the same with the men: one day a thick woollen shirt, the next a thin cotton one. Overcoats appear, by a curious perversion, to be worn in summer rather than in winter. The favourite place for lounging about is one with plenty of damp grass, and the most popular building site the edge of a swamp! We need not be surprised that habits such as these cause a heavy death-rate. In the year 1840 the number of Maoris was probably 120,000; in 1856 it had fallen to 65,000; in 1874, to 45,740; in 1886, to 41,432; and the last census (1896) puts down the number of natives and half-castes at 39,834, exclusive of 2,259 half-castes living with the Europeans. Peschel remarks that English grasses are spreading with great rapidity and supplanting the indigenous vegetation. The native rat is being replaced by the Norwegian variety, our house-sparrow is now very common, and nearly everything native is disappearing. The people say, "As the white man's rat has extirpated our rat, so the European fly is driving out our flv. The foreign clover is killing our ferns, and the Maori himself will disappear before the white man!" It is a pity that this singularly fine race are destined to die out. They are tall, power- ful, and well made; the colour of the skin is brown, as with all Polynesians, and never black, although some are darker than others. The variation in type puzzled ethnologists until it was perceived that there has been here, as in most other parts of the world, a certain amount of fusion. Thus, many Maoris are of fair com- plexion, with straight hair, and the character- istic features of a handsome Polynesian; but others are to be found with a much darker skin, curly or almost frizzly hair, the long and broad arched nose of the Papuan of New Guinea; or it may be with the coarse, thick features of the lower Melanesian races. The facts can only be explained on the supposition that when the Maoris first came to these islands they discovered an indigenous Melanesian race. Probably the men were soon exterminated, but Photo by Valentine *.] "^ : : ~ '{.Bristol'."' Before a girl can come NATIVES OF RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. OUt," aS W6 should Say that AUSTRALIA 53 Photo bij Mr. li. Phillips] NATIVES OF RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. [Bristol. is, before she can be con- sidered a woman and marriageable she must go through a very painful opera- tion. Great gashes are cut across her back in horizontal lines Avith a sharp-edged flint or a shell. The blood that flows out freely is Aviped off with bunches of grass, or Avith green boughs warmed near the fire. After some Aveeks the wounds have healed up, and the cicatrices are con- sidered to enhance her natural charms, if she has any. Sometimes the belly and the arms are similarly adorned. During the opera- tion of making these scars the girl's nearest relations express their sympathy by shedding tears and uttering loud lamentations. Marriage is a very simple affair, and a wife is either obtained by purchase from her father or brother, or else carried off by main force. In the latter case the usual practice is to lie in wait for the girl at night, stun her by a heavy blow on the head with a club, and drag her off to a place of retreat. In accordance with customs not yet fully understood, girls are betrothed to certain men as soon as they are born. This "engagement" is considered so binding that a Avoman breaking it is killed and often eaten; while the offending man is punished Avith a severe Avound from a spear. The Avives have a hard time of it, and are cruelly treated, being often beaten or speared. To kill a gin (wife) is thought no offence, and few women are free from frightful scars. The men are not insensible to female charms. A young Avoman at all celebrated for her beauty usually undergoes a series of captivities to different masters. She never stays long with one man, be- cause another steals her away. It is her sad fate to be a Avanderer among strange families, and to be the cause, like Helen of Troy, of many a fight. When women are scarce, the men make raids on other tribes. WidoAvs be- come the property of the tribe. Wives are some- times lent to friends or strangers. In the dry season many parts of Australia Mr. K. Phillip] NATIVE GIRLS OF RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND will not support human life; hence the Aborigines lead rather a wandering existence. Having no beasts of burden, they are compelled to carry everything themselves, and sore burdens are placed on the unfortunate women. One woman usually carries on her back the following articles: a sack containing a flat stone for crushing eatable roots; pieces of quartz for knives and spear-heads ; stones for axes; cakes of gum from the xanthorrlicea or grass-tree, for mending old weapons or preparing new ones; kangaroo sinews for thread, and needles of kangaroo bone; opossum hair to make girdles; pieces of kangaroo skin for polishing the spears; sharp shells to serve as knives and axe-heads; yellow and red ochre for painting; a piece of bark for making "bast," ropes, girdles; ornaments; tinder for making fire; some fat and a piece of quartz revered as a relic, having been extracted by the "doctor," or magician, from a sick man; and besides these things, she must carry roots or fruits collected on the road. But this is not all, for between the sacks and her own back she carries a store of undressed hides, and in her hand a staff 5 or 6 feet long, or a firebrand. Sometimes she carries her husband's spears also! One need not therefore be surprised that, as a rule, 16 or 18 miles is considered a good day's march. It can hardly be said that the Austra- lians are a brave race, like- Zulus, Arabs, or Sikhs; but here and there examples have been found of truly heroic determination or of great coolness. Self-control they certainly have in a high degree. To the present day the natives reverence the names of certain brave and fiery leaders who fought in many a desperate battle with Euro- peans. They seem somewhat fond of fighting among themselves. But such fights are not very deadly; their mode of warfare does not, as a rule, lead to much bloodshed. One reason for this is obvious: every death must be avenged, and therefore they have the fear of blood-feuds constantly before their eyes. They are very fond of pouring torrents of abuse on their enemies from a safe distance. They prefer to attack from an ambush, and they are extremely clever at dodging spears by a sudden and almost imperceptible movement, or at covering themselves with their small wooden shields. They often catch a spear and throw it back at the enemy who hurled it. The Australian shows more skill in the making of his weapons than he does in making tents, clothing, or in cookery. Except in the extreme north, he is ignorant of the bow and arrow used by his neighbours the Malay and the Papuan; but his spears, throwing-sticks, clubs, and boomerangs are well made and very skilfully used. The wooden spear is found everywhere. Of the spears used in war, some are 8 or 9 feet long. Thin stems of the eucalyptus are used for this purpose, straightened and hardened by the action of heat. Some have sharp flints, or pieces of quartz, fastened by gum in two grooves near the point. Want of space forbids the writer from enlarging on the subject of weapons; but he would like to Photo by Mr. R. Phillip*} NATIVES OF RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. [Bristol. AUSTRALIA 55 direct the reader's attention to the splendid exhibition of arms, clothing, and ornaments of all the primitive peoples in the ethnographical collection at the British Museum, now under the care of Mr. C. H. Eead. The University of Oxford possesses a very fine ethnographical collection, and that of the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury is also most admirable. Heavy spears the Australian Aborigines can throw by hand a distance of from 50 to 70 feet; light spears, hurled by means of a throwing-stick, may travel as far as 100 yards, for this implement gives a powerful leverage. Their accuracy in throwing is wonderful. "We must say a few words about that remarkable Australian weapon the boomerang. It is a flat piece of hard wood, about as large as a scimitar (though sometimes smaller), bent in the middle, flat on one side and a little rounded on the other. For this purpose pieces of wood that are naturally curved are selected; hence their strength. The boomerangs used in warfare are large and heavy, with pointed ends, and capable of inflicting a serious wound. In hunting, and especially for killing birds, a smaller boomerang, the ends of which are slightly twisted in opposite directions, is used. It has the remarkable property of changing its course while in the air, and finally returning to the thrower. It is hardly necessary to say that the boomerang, while travelling forward with great speed, revolves rapidly on its own axis, and takes a slanting direction. In the use of this weapon dexterity is required rather than strength. Some of the Austra- lian Aborigines are trog- lodytes, or dwellers in caves, like the prehistoric men of Europe (see the writer's " Prehistoric Man and Beast"). But caves are only to be found in certain districts. More- over, as we have already remarked, the Aborigines lead a rather wandering life. They usually erect rude huts or screens, constructed of whatever material happens to be at hand tAvigs and bushes, covered with bark, turf, or leaves. These shelters are purely temporary, but serve for a few weeks or months, until the family moves on. In the north and north-west, where Papuan influence evidently comes in, they build regular ^,,. y & Co _ \. Sv d,* y . huts, as high as a man, A NATIVE WARRIOR, PRINCE OF WALES ISLAND. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND yam but and capable of holding ten per- sons. These they construct with stakes covered with clay. So backward are these people in civilisation that many of the coast tribes know nothing of navigation. On the north-west coast we find only simple rafts, made of man- grove branches tied together. In Southern Australia we meet with canoes made from the bark of the eucalyptus. Though these are very light and frail, natives will venture out to sea in them for several miles. In New South Wales they use tree-stems hol- lowed out by the action of fire, like the neolithic men of Europe. Cook saw boats of this kind 13 feet long. Knowing nothing of agricul- ture, and having no flocks and herds, the blacks can hardly be said to have an ample larder. Of course they prefer animal food, but game is not always to be had. Sometimes they devour their dogs, which originally were dingoes, but now are mostly crossed with European breeds. They are other- wise very kind to these domestic pets, the women even suckling the young ones. There are very few animals that they will not eat. Occasionally they get a dead whale or catch a dugong. Besides the marsupials of their country, such as kangaroos, wombats, and opos- sums, they eat birds and eggs, lizards, snakes, frogs, tadpoles, and the Iarva3 of insects. White ants are eaten alive, and a certain moth, which is very abundant, is con- sidered a great delicacy. Snakes are also much appreciated. Tad- poles are fried on grass. Certain roots and fruit are used as dessert after meat. Many kinds of shell- fish are eaten. Of the vegetables IVE OF TWEED RIVER. Qne Qf ^ ^ ^ & ^.^ ^ . The roots of the bulrush are roasted and kneaded into cakes. Fruits are not abundant, the young leaves of the grass- tree are much eaten, as it grows abundantly. The people are From Spencer and Giilen' Tribes of Central Australia' 1 '' (by permission). AN OLD MAN OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND very fond of honey (from the banksia and zanthorrhwa), and show great ingenuity in tracking bees to their nests. A certain kind of eucalyptus provides them with " peppermint-gum," from which they make a sweet drink by adding water. They appear to have had no intoxicating drink before the advent of our colonists, with the exception perhaps of a sort of mead in New South Wales, mentioned by Braim. They have no objection to rotten eggs, or even the contents of the intestines of animals. Their capacity for eating meat is almost incredible. When a man is fortunate enough to .catch a kangaroo, he will go on eating, with short intervals, until he has consumed it all. The lazy disposition of the Aboriginal makes him alternate between gluttony and starvation. Cannibalism used to be a frequent occurrence, but was not universal. Fat people were liable to be stolen and eaten; for this reason a man who had a fat wife was unwilling to allow her to wander about alone. An "unprotected female" of that sort might be made away with to replenish the larder of some neighbouring tribe! Human skulls are used as drinking-cups. The natives have special words to denote every minutest portion of the human body. Their language is in harmony with their low mental condition; it is rich in terms for concrete objects or expressions of sensuous pleasure. Abstract terms hardly exist. It is said they cannot recognise accurate portraits of themselves, but only large outlines with big heads. They have little sense of number, few of them being able to count beyond three, or at most five. Anything further is expressed by compounds. They are not altogether without poetry, but their verse is of a very humble order, consisting of short, disconnected snatches of thought. They have plenty of legends and fables. It would not be true to say that the Australians have no kind of government beyond what may be exerted at home by parents. Though chiefs are neither elected nor hereditary, yet each tribe has its leader, chief, or king. It gradually recognises the greater activity and prowess of its ablest man, who, by general consent, becomes its head. He rules partly by selecting men who will carry out his wishes. Generally speaking, as we have already said, women are despised; but there is one exception. In West Australia an old woman under- takes the office of grandmother to the tribe. She settles quarrels, separates men who fight, and summons the tribe to war. Every tribe is divided into two, four, or even six classes, each of which has a class-name, taken from some animal or totem as Dog, Eat, or Emu. These classes are sometimes called clans or totems, and all the members of each are considered to be blood relations. So a man of the "Rat clan" must not marry a girl of that clan, but must aspire to the hand Photo by Mr. R. Phillip*} [Z?rWaT~ f > ^> an " EmU " NATIVES IN OUTRIGGER, RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. girl. The AUSTRALIA 59 in these classes is in the female line only, so that children belong to their mothers' clans. Land, how- ever, is inherited from the fathers. All Australians are very strict in following the unwritten laws of public opinion, and the rights of property are strictly upheld. In Central Australia it is different, as Messrs. Spencer and Gillen have shown in their most important recent work on the Central Tribes. The natives are fond of amusements, such as dancing, From Spencer and Gillen' s " Tribes of Central Australia" (by permission). A GROUP OF THE ARUNTA TRIBE. throwing spears, bathing and diving, and games that tend to sharpen the eyesight, or to make the players quick at concealing themselves. So sharp are their eyes that they can recognise the footprints of most of their acquaintances from some peculiarity in the foot's shape, or the way in Avhich the person walks. Boisterous games are not so popular. The dances, like those of the European "Little Folk" or fairies, usually take place by moonlight. They may be warlike, licentious, or in imitation of the chase and the habits of animals. The corroboree partakes of the nature of a spectacle as well as of a dance. It generally aims at reproducing in a dramatic way some phase in native life that interests both the performers and the spectators. In its principal features it is similar all over the continent, but the details vary according to the locality. New features are frequently invented. It is the Aboriginal drama, and the "Management" are naturally expected From Tribes of Central Australia." UNCHICHERA OF IMANDA. 6o THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND to provide novelties from time to time. Men are the chief performers; the women form the orchestra, and make the music. Sometimes the men have boughs tied to their ankles, feathers in their hair, the down of birds attached to their skin here and there, with drops of blood, and other decorations. They paint themselves with coloured clays, the patterns being horrible and fantastic. Thus a man will paint himself to look like a skeleton, the effect of which by moonlight is weird, the lines of white standing out sharply against his black body. The "figures" executed often represent warlike scenes. Sometimes the actions of the emu or of the kangaroo are imitated. The ground is selected for the purpose, any- thing which might hurt the feet being removed. The scenic effect, with the fires burning, and a forest for the background, is very striking. But the performance entails a great deal of muscular exertion. The women remain seated on the ground, and sing the songs that properly ac- company each "figure." An old man stands near them, his duty being to sing the first few words of each song, and to beat time with two sticks which he holds in his hands. Mr. A. W. Howitt has written a valuable account of the Australian medicine-men, wizards, or doctors (Journal of the Anthropological Institute, XVI.). Over a large portion of South-eastern Australia the term " blackfellow doctor" is always used for those who profess supernatural powers not merely of healing, but others that are purely magical. There are also " rain-makers," seers, or spirit-mediums, and bards who employ their poetic faculties for pur- poses of enchantment. The wizards are everywhere credited with the power of conveying themselves through the air, or of being conveyed by the ghosts from place to place, or even from earth to the sky. Numer- ous accounts were given to Mr. Howitt by natives of the "going up" of these wizards. The reader will not be surprised to learn that the upward flights always took place under cover of darkness, and that the return of the wizard is frequently accom- plished by means of a tree, down which he was heard to descend and finally to jump on to the ground; but these suspicious circumstances do not affect the faith of the Aboriginal in the accomplishments of his wizard, who, in addition to the power of travelling to and from the skies, is able also to hurl stones invisibly at any person or persons whom he may wish to injure. The projectile generally employed for this amiable purpose is a piece of the mineral known as quartz ("Bristol diamond" or rock-crystal), crystals of which are always carried about by a "blackfellow doctor" as part of his stock-in-trade. All bright transparent stones are sacred amulets which the doctor alone may touch or investigate. It is believed Photo by Kerry & Co.] [Sydney. A MAN OP THE WORKII TRIBE, GILBERT RIVER. AUSTRALIA 61 that the sorcerers have a stone or a bone in their stomach from which they can secretly transfer splinters into the veins of those upon whom they exercise their arts, and the cure of diseases with them generally consists in the extraction of these stones. Magic wands are made of acacia sticks, especially the knotted stick called plongge: if a sorcerer touch the breast of a sleeping man with one of these, he causes him to fall ill. If a man has an enemy, he plots for his death or downfall with the sorcerer, bringing him a fragment of anything the enemy has worn, or a portion of his hair if he can obtain it, or even a morsel of food he has left, by means of which the sorcerer is supposed to be able to work any ill upon the unfortunate victim. Many tribes burn what food is left after a meal, as a precaution against sorcery. The Australian cannot reconcile his mind to the idea that death is a natural event. Every death not brought about by open violence is considered to be the result of magical arts. Some wizard must have been at work with his fatal spells, and the friends of the dead man endeavour in their own peculiar way to find out who is the murderer. Some put questions to the bier on which the corpse is laid, calling it " The know- ing one." At the funeral a relation who does not make sufficient lamenta- tion is liable to be suspected ! Should the man suspected belong to another tribe, the matter becomes a casus belli: a few spears are thrown, and some wounds inflicted, until the old men declare that " Honour is satis- fied." With many tribes, it is believed that a man can be bewitched by the use of his name. In order to prevent such a misfortune, a lad, as soon as he becomes a man (after passing through the initiation ceremonies), gives up his name and is described as the son or brother of a woman; for women, being supposed to be less subject to witchcraft, are allowed to keep their names. To counteract the malevolent arts of the sorcerer, charms of various kinds are resorted to. Mr. Howitt speaks of a young man of the Murring tribe who had a bagful of powerful charms, among which was the cut-glass stopper of a bottle, supposed to be very efficacious. When asked how such things could possibly protect him, the young man, who had for his totem the kangaroo (on his father's side), replied: "If I were going along, and saw an old-man kangaroo hopping straight towards me and looking at me, I should know that he was giving me notice that enemies were about. I should get my spear ready, and I should hold mjjoea bag in my hand, so that if the man [i.e. the wizard] were to chuck something at me, I should be safe." The Kurnai tribe also believe in kangaroo warnings ; and if one of them should happen Photo by Kerry & Co.\ [Sydney. A MAN OF THE WORKII TRIBE, GILBERT RIVER. 62 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND to dream of "old-men kangaroos" sitting round his camp, he would take it as a kindly warning of coming danger. One may be sure that the sorcerers are not induced to exercise their powers without some material reward. They all demand payment in kind. Some of their patrons give presents for favours received; others from fear of possible injuries. The sorcerers are not particular, and will gladly take such uncousidered trifles as weapons, rags, implements, and especially game. After a " fair" they come away loaded with gifts. It is difficult to ascertain the manner in which the sorcerers qualify themselves to practise their profession and to impose upon their fellow-blacks, for they surround themselves with profound mystery as the augurs did in Home, though Macaulay naively wondered how two of them could meet without laughing. The tribes have innumerable tales of the manner in which the powers of magic are acquired. Some, as the Kurnai tribe, say that the ghosts of ancestors visit a sleeping man and communicate to him the secrets of sorcery, or take him away with them while his spirit wanders in dreams and complete his education in the distant spirit-world. Other tribes believe that a man becomes a wizard by meeting a supernatural being, who lives in hollows in the ground, and who opens the man's side and inserts therein quartz crystals and other minerals by which he obtains his powers. Mr. K. H. Mathews has described (Journal of the Anthropological Institute] the initiation ceremonies of certain Australian tribes. An old man, who appeared to be a wizard, told him a curious legend connected with the initiation ceremonies of the Wiradthuri tribes of New South Wales. The myth was as follows: A long time ago there was a gigantic and powerful being, something between a blackfellow and a spirit, called Dhuramoolan, who was one of Baiame's people. His voice was awe-inspiring and resembled the rumbling of distant thunder. At a certain age the boys of the tribes were handed over to this god, in order that he might take them away into the bush and instruct them in all the laws, traditions, and customs of the community, to qualify them to sit on councils, and discharge all the duties and obligations devolving upon them as tribesmen. He pretended to Baiame that he always killed the boys, cut them up and burned them to ashes, and then restored them to human shape again, as new beings doubtless much improved by the process. But not all the boys came back to the tribe, for at every initiation ceremony some of the candi- dates died in the bush. Dhuramoolan said they had died from natural causes; but Baiame, becoming uneasy at the loss of so many of his young men, and, suspecting that something was wrong, questioned their companions. At first they were afraid to tell; but on being compelled to speak the truth, they said that the missing boys had been eaten by Photo by Mr. Phiiii^] \_Bri*toi. Dhuramoolan. It was NATIVES OF RIVER ENDEAVOUR, NORTH QUEENSLAND. not trUC that the Photo by W. Lindt, Melbourne. A NATIVE, WITH WIFE AND MOTHER. 64- THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND survivors had been burned and restored to life. Baiame, on hearing this, became very wroth and killed this great being Dhuramoolan. But Dhuramoolan put his voice into all the trees of the forest, telling it to remain in them for ever. He also made a "bull-roarer" (a whip used to frighten away women at the ceremonies) by splitting one of the trees, and the tree still retained the voice. Baiame told his chief men that in future they must themselves initiate the youths of the tribes, using the " bull- roarers " to represent the voice of Dhuramoolan. The women were not told of the death of Dhuramoolan or the deceit which he had practised, and they therefore continued to believe that he took the boys, burned them, and brought them back to life. It is quite clear that the object of the initiatory rites is to teach the privileges, duties, and obligations of manhood, to harden them and make them able to bear pain. Youths are thus enrolled among the men, and removed from the care of the women. They are no longer .> Photo by Kerry [Sydney. RIVER LANDSCAPE, WITH HUT. "tied to their mother's apron-strings," as we should say. The ceremonies create a gulf between the past . life of the boy and the future of the man that can never be recrossed. They also strengthen the authority of the old men. Finally, the opportunity is taken of impressing upon the mind of the youth, in an indelible manner, the rules of conduct which he is expected to obey. In addition to all this there is a semi-religious element which tends to strengthen very greatly the emotional effect of the rite. It is difficult to imagine anything better calculated to impress, to awe, and even to terrify a young Australian savage than the initiation ceremonies of his race. According to some writers, Australians have no religion beyond the dread of ghosts and evil spirits. They certainly have no worship, even of idols. But Ilatzel and others maintain that a good many ideas have been imported from Polynesia, Melanesia, Borneo, and other regions. With the Kamilaroi tribe in the north-west of New South Wales, Baiame is regarded as the maker of all things; his name signifies "maker" or "cutter out," and he is the rewarder of men according to their conduct. He it is who sees and knows all, being kept well informed by a lower deity who presides at the initiation ceremonies. Another deity, whose name is Dhuramoolan, acts as mediator. The latter has a wife called the Egg, or Life. She has charge over the instruction of women. The spirit that which speaks and thinks AUSTRALIA within man does not die with the body, but ascends to Baianie, or it may wander about on the earth, or enter a wild animal or a white man. A native once quaintly expressed his belief in a future state in the following words: "When black-fella tumble down, he jump up all same white-fella." Numbers of white men have been recognised by the blacks as their lost relatives returned from the spirit-world, and have accordingly received native names! The late Dr. Bennett, F.R.S., mentions that on one occasion, when a European was chasing a wild animal, the black who accompanied him entreated him to spare it and to take it alive, as it was once "him brother"! The white man, disregarding the petition, killed the animal, at which his black companion was greatly grieved, refusing to eat any of it, and muttering all the while about "tumbling down him brother"! According to Mr. E. Palmer, a certain tribe believe that there is a place among the stars whither they go after death by means of a rope! When a meteorite is seen, they say it is a Photo by Henry Kiny] A GROUP OF NATIVE AUSTRALIANS. 66 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND falling rope discarded by a spirit which has succeeded in climbing up to heaven; but if the meteorite bursts with a loud noise, it shows that the rope has broken. The Kev. Charles Greeuway, speaking of the Kamilaroi tribe of New South Wales, says they have a legend that the stars forming the constellation known as the Pleiades were young women of extraordinary beauty who once lived on earth. The young men, becoming enamoured of their charms, pursued them. The girls prayed for deliverance, and Baiame and his mediator, Dhuramoolan, helped them to climb to the top of some very high trees, whence they sprang up to the sky. One of them, not being so beautiful as the rest, hides behind the other six. The leader of the young men who pursued them no\v appears as Orion, with a boomerang in his belt. The natives of Encounter Bay say that the souls up above, in the clouds or in the stars, leave their habitations in the evening, and go about their business as they used to when they dwelt on earth. The Milky Way is said to be a row of huts, and natives profess to see therein the ash-heaps and columns of ascending smoke, as from an encampment. Meteorites, according to these tribes, are the children of the stars. The outer and inner bands of colour in the rainbow are male and female. The moon is a good in- fluence, but the sun a bad one. It is always diffi- cult to generalise about the mental characteristics of any race of people, and only those are justi- fied in the attempt who have lived among them for a good many years even then they may fall into serious errors, so reserved are all the lower races. But we cannot be far wrong in quoting the opinion of Mr. Curr, who was for many years " Protector of the Aborigines" in Victoria. He says: "The black, especially in his wild state, is quicker in the action of his mind, more observant, and more self-reliant than the English peasant, but less steady, persevering, and calculating. In our aboriginal schools it has been found that the pupil masters reading, writing, and arithmetic more quickly than the English child. He will also amuse himself with reading stories as long as he is under the influence of the whites. At this point, however, he stops. Could our blacks part with their knowledge of reading and writing, I am persuaded that they would do so for a trifle. . . . Socially, the black is polite, gay, fond of laughter, and has much bonhomie in his composition. As regards courage, he is inferior to the white man; for, though his nerve is superior, his resolution is less. His tactics in war are such that he will never undertake an enterprise in which the death of even one of the party is inevitable, or nearly so. Hence, no blacks, however numerous, will attempt to rush a hut in which there is one armed man on guard. On the other hand, a black has been known, in a place far removed from civilisation, to Photo by Mr. II. Phillip] [Bristol. WOMEN IN MOURNING THEIR BODIES COATED WITH WHITE CLAY. TASMANIA 67 Photo by J. W. Beattie] [Uobart. WILLIAM LANNEY. resist, single-handed, the advance of an exploring party with the greatest intrepidity, though the horses must have seemed to him goblins or devils. Touching the moral feelings of the blacks, Avriters say little or nothing; but observation has convinced me that they are not without them nevertheless, though they are much blunted from constant repression, and that they discriminate between right and wrong, though unable to formulate the difference. I believe their horror of consanguineous marriages proceeds from a feeling of this sort which they are unable to analyse or explain. I am convinced from personal observation that, after the perpetration of infanticide or massacres, though both are practised without disguise, those engaged in them are subject to remorse and low spirits for some time afterwards." Katzel speaks of the "soul-depressing misery" that hangs over these people, rendering them unquestionably far inferior to that beau-ideal child of Nature, the wild North American Indian. For this the climate is partly responsible. Eain, which is so essential for filling the springs and maintaining both animal and vegetable life, comes so irregularly that droughts are frequent. Certain steppe districts are oppressively hot, and the sudden chill that follows the sunset seems to cause a stupefying effect. Where the land is desert, the inhabitants are few in number and of a miserable appearance; where the land is good, they are more numerous, better-looking, and more active. The women are not so handsome as the men, and the old women are dreadfully ugly; this is partly due to the very 'laborious lives they lead, but also to the very poor food vouchsafed to them by their lords and masters. Mr. C. S. Wake, who has contributed papers on Australian Aborigines to the Journal of the Anthropological Institute, thus sums up his view of them: "It is evident that these people are, as compared with more advanced races, in the condition of children. Among all the tribes; whether the more hostile ones of the east, or those who in the west appear to give evidence of a milder disposition, there is the same .imperfect development of moral ideas. In fact, none of them have any notion of what we call morality, except the simple one of right and /"""" """^ wrong arising out of questions of property. With this moral imperfection, however, the Australian natives exhibit a degree of mental activity which, at first sight, may be thought inconsistent with the childish position here assigned to them. It is evident, however, that this activity results from the position in which the Australian is placed. Extremely indolent when food is plentiful, when it is scarce the greatest exertions can be made for its acquirement, and the repeated exercise of the mind on the means of accomplishing the all-impor- tant end of obtaining food has led to a development of the lower intellectual faculties somewhat disproportionate to the moral ideas with which they are associated." TASMANIA. IT is to Van Diemen, governor of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies in the year 1642, who sent Tasman Photo by J. W. Beattie} WILLIAM LANNEY. \_Hobart. 68 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND in command of two successive expeditions from Batavia, that we owe our first knowledge of Australasia. In that year Tasman came in sight of the large island, which he called Van Diemen's Land, after his patron. He guessed that the island was inhabited, but saw no natives. The first meeting of the Aborigines with Europeans took place on March 4, 1772. When the French navigator Marion de Fresne arrived at the spot at which the Dutchman had touched, the blacks came down to the French boats with confidence; but unfortunately there was some misunderstanding, and one of them was shot, and the rest fled. The first Englishman who approached the shores of Tasmania was Captain Furueaux, of the Resolution, who in March 1773, having been accidentally separated from the ship of his commander, Captain Cook (then on his second voyage of discovery), coasted along the south and east shores. He saw none of the people, but he says the country "appeared to be thickly inhabited, as there was a continual fire along the shore as we sailed." On January 26, 1777, Captain Cook, then on his third voyage, entered Adventure Bay. The inhabitants were found to be distinctly below the English standard of stature. The average height of twenty- three men gave 5 feet 3f inches; of twenty-nine women the average was 4 feet 11 inches. The colour of the skin was dark brown, or chocolate colour, sometimes approaching black. The hair was very characteristic of their race which is believed to be Papuan or Melanesian, though modified by long isolation. Instead of being straight or wavy, as with the Australians, it was finely curled or frizzled; when short, it had the appearance commonly called "woolly," but when allowed to grow long it went into small ringlets, which when covered with grease and ochre gave the appearance of a sort of mop of red strings hanging over the head and neck. The men had good beards and whiskers. The eyes were small but bright, and sunk beneath heavy, prominent brows. The nostrils were large and open; the nose was short and prominent, the upper part being deeply sunk under the projecting ridge connecting the eyebrows, and the lower part very wide. The brain-capacity was small compared with the general dimensions of the skull and face; the projection of the lower jaws was very marked. The people lived "like beasts of the forests, in roving parties, without arts of any kind, sleeping in summer like dogs, under the hollow sides of trees, or in wattled huts made with the lower branches of evergreen shrubs, stuck in the ground at small distances from each other, and meeting together at the top." Captain Cook's ship surgeon, Mr. Anderson, tells us that they "had little of that fierce or wild appearance common to people in their situation, but, on the contrary, seemed mild and cheerful, without reserve or jealousy of strangers. But," he adds, "their not expressing that surprise which one might have expected ^ from their seeing men so much unlike themselves, j& ^ k5^*^H^ an< ^ things to which, we were well assured, they had been hitherto utter strangers, their in- difference for our presents, and their general inattention, were sufficient proofs of their not possessing any acuteness of understanding." Cook's intercourse with these people was of a perfectly friendly nature. Their treatment by whites in the present century is, unfortunately, */ a very different story. In the year 1804 the English took pos- / session of the island, and changed its name to Tasmania. They colonised it from New South Wales. At Restdown, afterwards Risdon, a settlement was formed by a military party and convict labourers. It was here, in 1804, that Photo by J. w. Seattle] [Hobar/. the first serious conflict took place, and through " TRUGANINA," WILLIAM LANNEY'S WIFE, a foolish misunderstanding. A party of several TASMANIA 69 hundred blacks, men, women, and children, engaged in a harmless kangaroo chase, were suddenly seen running down the side of a hill towards the young colony. The alarmed settlers, thinking that they were about to be attacked, fired volleys among the unhappy natives, killing, it is said, as many as fifty before the fatal mistake was found out. Thus began that terrible "Black War" which makes so dark a page in the history of our colonial expansion. It is perhaps only fair to say that the English settlers consisted largely of con- victs of the most hardened and degraded type, who, frequently escaping, took to a roving and lawless life in the forests as bushrangers, or on the islands in the straits as sealers. From such men as these, the very dregs of our home population, utterly selfish and cruel, the natives mostly received impressions of European civilisation and character, which led to reprisals upon the more peaceful settlers. Life became almost everywhere so insecure as to cause an urgent cry for Government interference. An attempt to divide the country between the two races by a line of demarcation failed. More severe measures followed; martial law was proclaimed against all the blacks, and the famous operation of the "Line" was commenced. The intention was to surround all the natives by a military cordon reaching right across the island, gradually to close in upon them, and finally to drive them into Tasman's Peninsula on the east, and keep them there by means of a strong guard. But the blacks were too cunning to be caught in a trap like that, and, knowing the ground much better than their pursuers, easily eluded their vigilance, although nearly the whole of the white population, civil and military, were employed in the chase. The experiment cost nearly 30,000, and resulted in the capture of one wretched black. By this time the native population, robbed of their hunting-grounds, and acquiring diseases by contact with the whites, were reduced to little more than 300 in number. After methods of coercion, including the offer of rewards for individual captures, had been tried, with little more success, one white man accomplished by kindness, and almost single-handed, what all the forces of the Government had failed to do. Mr. Augustus Robinson, a builder, devoted himself to the cause of the blacks at a time when the whole island was in a panic from the attacks of a few natives. Gathering around him at Bruni Island as many of them as he could induce to adopt settled habits, he taught them the rudiments of European education, at the same time learning from them what he could of their language and ideas. In this way he gradually won their confidence, and the report soon spread through the island that there was one white man who was really a friend of the blacks. With a few native and English friends he went about, unarmed, among the people, and atciiiy by Mr. T. Bock. A NATIVE OF TASMANIA. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND iii ct water-colour ilTdici A YOUNG MAN OF TASMANIA. persuaded them by promises of good treatment to sur- render their freedom. In the course of three years they all came in. William Lanney, as he was after- wards called, was one of the last party brought into Hobart Town in 1835. He was the "last man" of this now extinct race; and we reproduce on page 67 his photograph, and on page 68 that of his wife, from lantern-slides kindly lent by the Agent-General for Xew South Wales. The blacks were finally settled in Flinders Island, in Bass Strait, their number then scarcely exceeding 200. Here they were fed, clothed, and educated at Government expense, but they sadly missed the old freedom and the excitement of the chase or of war, and partly from melancholy and partly from diseases they rapidly died off, until in 1847 their numbers were reduced to forty-four. William Lanuey died in 1869. The last of the native women, Truganina, who, as the faithful companion of Eobinson's conciliatory missions, had played an important role, and on one occasion had been the means of saving his life, survived until 1876. The languages of the Tasmanians were soft and musical, and quite unlike those of the Australians. It is said that many of them were really handsome savages. The few photographs still extant suggest quite the reverse, but it is possible that the ugliest and weirdest-looking natives were purposely selected as subjects for the camera. In Cook's time, besides covering their heads with grease and red ochre, the Tasmanians wore bracelets, armlets, and necklaces, also girdles of kangaroo sinews or vegetable fibre, to which shells, bones, or teeth were often attached. They never cultivated the ground, and had no domestic animals, not even dogs. Of the potter's art they were entirely ignorant. No charges of cannibalism have been brought home to them. Although it seems probable that they were acquainted with the art of producing fire, they always took burning torches on their journeys. Their weapons were only two, both made of wood a simple long spear, sharpened at one end and hardened by the action of fire, and the waddy, a short stick, which could be used either as a club or missile. They possessed no bows and arrows, nor did they use the shields, boomerangs, and throwing- sticks of the Australians. Of course metal of any kind was quite unknown. The thin bone of a kangaroo's leg served for needle, awl, or pin; their domestic utensils were stone axes and knives of the very rudest construction; in fact, Professor Tylor shows in a valuable paper read before the Anthropological Institute that these people may be fairly taken as representing the primitive state of the European men of the older Stone Age (or Palaeolithic period), when men hunted the mammoth, reindeer, wild horse, and the primeval bull. The Tasmanians had no seaworthy canoes; they crossed a river or a small arm of the sea on logs, roughly constructed rafts, or bark canoes. They were divided into numerous small tribes, each speaking a different dialect, sometimes incomprehensible to each other; and as it not unfrequently happens among rival communities boasting a far higher condition of civilisation, these tribes were often at war with one another; but being by no means of a savage or bloodthirsty disposition, and the weapons, as indicated above, not being of a very destructive nature, their battles were rarely attended with many casualties. The sanguinary side of their disposition was unfortunately developed in the life-and-death struggle with the intruding Europeans. As with most people in a primitive condition of society, the chief occupation of the men was hunting, while the women attended to the concerns of the household (if such a term can be fitly employed for the domestic economy), taking care of the children, searching for roots, shell-fish or eggs, cooking, making TASMANIA 7 1 nets, etc. Dancing was a favourite amusement; and notwithstanding the excessively low grade of their culture, scattered notices of their primitive mode of existence show that life was to them not altogether without its amenities, and even enjoyments. As far as is known, they had no system of caste, and apparently no regular chiefs, either hereditary or elective; but a man of superior power or intelligence would sometimes acquire a temporary leadership of a family or tribe. Monogamy is said to have been the usual rule in their marriages, but very little is really known about their social customs; even the accounts in Bonwick's work are greatly eked out with relations of the manners of the Australians and other kindred races, in such a way that it is often difficult to distinguish what is really authentic with regard to the people of whom he is especially treating. The geographical position of these people completely out of all the ordinary tracks of commerce and civilisation isolated them from all the rest of the world. Neither they nor the almost equally barbarous natives of Australia possessed boats by which the straits between Tasmania and the neighbouring mainland could be crossed; and there are no proofs that they had ever been visited by or received any extraneous culture from inhabitants of any of the Pacific islands. It is this long isolation Avhich gives so much interest to the study of the customs, morals, and physical condition of the Tasmanians, as we have to do with a people unaffected by all the complicated ethnological problems arising from the mingled influence of diverse and various races found among the nations of most other parts of the world. Unfortunately the opportunity for a complete investigation of this interesting subject has been allowed to pass away under our very eyes, as it were. The language of the natives is irretrievably lost, only imperfect indications of its structure and a small proportion of its words having been preserved. In the absence of sibilants, and some other features, their [Hobart. A GROUP OF TASMANIANS. 7 2 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by J. ir. A GROUP OF TASMANIANS. dialects resembled the Australian, but were of a ruder, of less-developed structure, and so imperfect ; that, according to Joseph. Milligau, our best 1 authority on the subject, they observed no settled f order or arrangement of words in the construction of their sentences, but conveyed in a supple- \ mentary fashion by tone, manner, and gesture I those modifications of meaning which we express | by mood, tense, number, etc. Abstract terms were rare, and for every variety of gum-tree or \ wattle-tree there was a name, but no word for 3 "tree" in general, or for qualities, such as hard, \ soft, warm, cold, long, short, round, etc. Any- " thing hard was "like a stone," anything round ''like the moon," and so. on, "usually suiting the action to the word, and confirming by some sign the meaning to be understood." The records of their arts, customs, and beliefs, before they were contaminated by European influence, are far from satisfactory; and even of their physical structure far less evidence than could be desired is at present attainable. Anthropologists believe that the island-continent of Australia was at some distant period inhabited by a woolly-haired race of Papuans or Melanesiaus, from whom the Tasmanians were derived, and that, later on, these people were driven out of their continent by the present race of so- called Aborigines, who are believed to be Caucasian, like ourselves. By this explanation we escape the difficulty of supposing that the Tasmanians could have come all the way from Melanesia, or from New Guinea. According to Professor Tylor, the religion of these people was a rude "Animism"; they thought that a man's shadow was his ghost. The echo of his voice when he spoke against a cliff was his shadow talking. They believed in a future state, of which the abode was some distant region of the earth; and as in the case of Australians, they were wont to recognise in their white visitors the souls of dead Tasmanians returned from the land of spirits. "In religion" (according to the late Dr. Brown) " they believed in a spirit who could, especially during the night, hurt or annoy them, and beyond this their mythology was limited. They also believed in a world beyond the grave, where they were better fed and led a somewhat easier life than in the present one where stockmen who set spring- guns for them were unknown, and where neither mutton impregnated with strychnine nor flour with arsenic was put in their way when they were hungry. They had great confidence in the power of amulets. The most valued of these was a bone from either the skull or the arm of their deceased relatives, to be sewn up in a piece of skin; this was sovereign against sickness or premature death." A WOMAN OF CELERES. CHAPTER IY. CELEBES, BORNEO, JAVA, SUMATRA, PHILIPPINES, MALAY PENINSULA. THE MALAYS. WE pass from the Australian Continent to the Eastern Archipelago, which extends westward and north-westward from New Guinea, and contains among its more important islands Timor Laut, the Timor 'Group, the Moluccas, Celebes, Mores, Sumba, Sumbawa, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines. We shall include in this chapter a brief account of the very primitive Negritos of the Malay Peninsula, although geographically they belong to the continent of Asia. The Negritos are also found in the Philippines; but the chief race of this vast archipelago is the Malay. The Malay race, which gives its name to the whole region of Malaysia, is a branch of the great Mongolian division of mankind. Its people are slim and of medium stature, some three or four inches below the average European height. The complexion is light brown (with variations). The face is somewhat square, with high and prominent cheek- bones. The eyes are black (rarely oblique, as in China and Japan); the mouth is rather large, with somewhat thick but well-cut lips, and the chin is round; the nose is short, and quite unlike that of either the European or the Negro. The hair is black. The beard, when allowed to grow, is scanty, and at first sight the men and women appear very much alike to European eyes. Three distinct social groups of Malays are recognised: (1) the "Men of the Soil," or Orang Benua (known also as " Highlanders " and " Wild Men ") ; (2) the "Men of the Sea" (Orang Laut}, a semi-civilised floating population; (3) the "Malay Men" (Orang Malay u), who are the civilised Malays possessing a certain culture and a religion. The " Wild Men " are the raw material, or aboriginal element, hitherto almost entirely unaffected by foreign influence, living chiefly by the chase, and with very little, if any, social organisation. These principally exist in the almost inaccessible wooded uplands of Malacca and Sumatra, and are more or less intimately associated with the still older 73 SAKAKAXG DYAS. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND DYA WOMEN' AXD CHILDREN. race of Negritos. The Bajans, or " Sea Gypsies," may be classed with the second group. They were known to the Portuguese when they first reached Malaysia. De Barros then described them as "a vile people, dwelling more on the sea than on the land," and "living by fishing and robbing." This description may still be not unfitly applied to them. The Malays proper, or "Malay Men," constitute that section of the race which, under the influence first of the Hindus, who settled in Sumatra as far back as the fourth century of our era, and then of the Arabs, has developed a national life and culture, and has founded more or less powerful political states in various parts of the archipelago. The chief divisions of all the civilised communities are as follows: Malays Proper live in Menangkabo, Palembang, and Lampong in Sumatra; petty states of the Malay Peninsula; Borneo, Tidor Ternate. Sumatran Group : Achenese, Eejangs, Passomahs. Javanese Group : Javanese proper, Sundanese, Madurese, Balinese. Celebes Group: Bugis, Makassars, and others. Philippine .Group : Tagalas, Bisayans, Bicol-Sulus, etc. Outlying Groups: Hovas of Madagascar, Formosan Islanders. Perhaps the principal characteristic of the Malay is his easy-going and indolent nature. He is generally gentle, quiet, extremely civil in manner, not wont to rebel against authority: he never openly expresses surprise or fear, and in speech is invariably slow and deliberate. Malays seldom offend one another, and never indulge in rough behaviour or anything which might be called "horseplay." In all matters of etiquette they are very particular, and in this respect the upper classes behave with the dignity of European gentlemen, although they have a natural tendency to suspicion, which causes their manners to lack the frankness which is typical of the educated Englishman. In contrast with this there is a dark side to the Malay character, which often manifests itself in the most pitiless cruelty and contempt of human life. Hence murder and robbery with violence are of somewhat frequent occurrence. Many travellers describe the Malays as gentle and peaceable, while others dwell on their brutality and ferocity, and it is only by bearing in mind the two opposite sides of the Malay character that we can reconcile descriptions so apparently contradictory. The Malays dislike manual MALAYS 75 labour, and consider themselves degraded by it; but under favourable conditions, especially if well paid, they can get through no small amount of work. Gambling is one of their worst vices, and they bet heavily over cock-fighting, which is their chief form of amusement. They are also very much addicted to opium-smoking. Among their virtues must be reckoned frugality and contentment. The barbarous practice of head-hunting is a time-honoured custom of all the Malays. Martin de Eada speaks of its existence as early as the year 1577; and even at the present day, in spite of vigorous opposition on the part of the colonial authorities, the custom of taking the heads of enemies as trophies has by no means died out. All Malays appear to worship skulls, or to regard them as sacred. Hence they naturally regard a human skull as the most suitable sacrifice that they can offer to appease the spirits of their ancestors. Chris- tianity and Islamism have both done something to check the practice. In North Borneo skulls now lie about like old lumber, instead of being carefully kept as of old. Among the Igorottes, according to Hans Meyer, the only surviving reminiscence of the practice is the dance, accompanied by derisive songs, round a bare pole, on which formerly the skull was stuck. Among the Ilongotes, on the other hand, a young man cannot marry until he has brought his bride-elect a certain number of heads those of Christians being preferred. The Dya head-hunter keeps his skulls in a beautifully carved box. When a chief wishes to ornament his house, he demands human skulls. Heads must be placed under the posts of a house at its foundation. None but the successful head-hunter can claim to be tattooed. By a kind of unwritten law tribal quarrels are usually settled by the cutting off of heads. The practice SAREBAS DYA WOMEN. SIB HUGH Low COLLECTION. 7 6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND proceeded originally from super- stitious motives; but ultimately it became a fashion, and every one de- sired to have skulls, just as in England people like to collect old china or ancient armour to decorate the ancestral hall. Owing to the innate idleness of the Malays, blood- feuds gradually ceased, and head- hunting became a less dangerous, and consequently more popular, amuse- ment. A lazy Dya would catch a man asleep in order to take his head off, or he would prowl about the paddy-fields, awaiting his opportunity to fall upon one or two helpless women and children. The people are too lazy to avenge the death even of a relation killed in this way, and Michaelsen says: "Only once has it occurred that a Dya of Serajen, whose daughter had been murdered by ahead-hunter of Katingen, followed the murderer, and cut his head off actually at the festival which was being held in his honour. The deed caused such terror that the man who dared to do such a thing in vengeance for his child was allowed to depart unhindered with the decapitated head." Dyas conduct their head-hunting operations in a very systematic way. They begin by a religious consecra- tion. They construct a hut on four posts; the entrance is barred with coils of rattan, hung with red flowers, palm leaves, and many little wooden counterfeit swords, spears, shields, etc. Inside the place is decorated with spears, blow-guns, freshly poisoned arrows, and other arms. The company stay here for several days before setting out, and consult the omens. No one not belonging to their number is allowed to approach the hut, and any man attempting to do so renders himself liable to a heavy fine, or even to death. The position of women among the Malays is not very low, and those who are Moslems treat their women-folk better than the heathen Malays do. Speaking of the island of Timor Laut, Riedl says: "The husband never beats the wife; it is quite the other way." In all respects the woman is highly valued, and a man must pay a heavy price for a wife. The Malays of to-day are fond of submitting appeals to " the judgment of God " by means of "ordeals." The commoner forms of ordeal -are by ducking, pulling a ring out of boiling oil, and licking red-hot iron. Another form of ordeal is the " trial by candle," which the Tagals borrowed from certain Christians. In this case a candle, having been duly con- secrated, is solemnly lighted, and watched closely by the suspected persons, for if it should bend towards one of them he is adjudged the guilty party. When two Igorottes quarrel, the backs of their heads are scratched with sharp splinters of bamboo, and the one who loses A KANOWIT CHIEF. CELEBES BORNEO 77 most blood loses also his case. Sometimes judgment is sought by testing the size of the gall of a hen which has been roasted to death. The proverbs of a nation are always interesting, and those of the Malays exhibit a good deal of mother- wit. We say, ''Out of the frying-pan into the fire"; the Malay equivalent is, '"Escaping the jaws of the alligator to fall into the fangs of the tiger." Having no pots and kettles, they say, "The net calls the basket a coarse piece of work." Other examples are as follows: "What use is it for the peacock to swagger in the jungle?" "Can the ground turn itself into iron?" "The turtle lays a thousand eggs and no one knows; a hen lays one and tells all the world." "Even the fish which lives at the bottom of the sea comes to the net at last." A coward is called "a duck with spurs." CELEBES. THE Island of Celebes is the home of many distinct and separate tribes of the Malay race, all in different stages of civilisation. \Ve may conveniently divide them into two groups: the Mohammedans, who are to some extent civilised, and the Pagans, who are little better than savages, wearing bark-cloth garments and unable to weave or to work in metal. The Mohammedans, on the other hand, can read and write, have fixed forms of government, and have made no small progress both in agriculture and in arts. Among these people the more important are the Bugis, the Mandars, and the Makassars. The Bugis are good traders and settlers, and navigate their ships, of fifty or sixty tons' burden, from the farthest point of Sumatra to Xew Guinea. The Mandars by the Strait of Makassar have a language of their own and are good fishermen. The Mnkassars also have a distinct language. Some of the re- maining tribes are head-hunters and cannibals, and either are or were very similar to the Dyas of Borneo. In the Moluccas we find Malays, Papuans, and Indonesians (or pro-Malays) all very much mixed up. BORNEO . THE Island of Borneo is divided for political purposes into four territories: North British Borneo (or Sabn) in the north, and the Raj of Sarawak in the north-west; between these lies the small state of the Sultan of Brunei; all the rest of the island is Dutch. It is not thickly inhabited, the population being roughly estimated at 2,000,000. Numerous ruins of Hindu temples, scattered over this great island, prove that Indonesians (or pre-Malays) once came here perhaps from Java. Then Plioto by Xtgretli & Zambru] A MAN OF JAVA. \_Londo THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND came the Malays themselves, driving inland the older population. The peoples inhabiting the Raj of Sarawak are Land Dyas, Sea Dyas, Milanans, Kayans, Muruts, Ukits, Bisayans, Malays, and Chinese. The Land Dyas, of whom there are about forty branches, are a small race, of slender build, with straight black hair, and of the same complexion as Malays. Although all the wild people of Borneo are by Europeans called Dyas, the name belongs properly to one particular class inhabiting parts of the north-west coast and the mountains of the interior. As a generic term the word appears to mean "man." Dyas of pure blood are only to be found in the interior, and there is no doubt that for centuries they have been marrying with Chinese immigrants. Their language differs entirely from that of either the Malays or the Sea Dyas, and is subject to so much variation that tribes in Upper Sarawak often find a difficulty in making themselves understood in the Upper Sadong. The Sea Dyas are of stouter build than the Land Dyas, with well-made limbs, a subdued and calm but Photo by Negretti & Zantbru\ JAVA WOMEN. resolute air, an imposing carriage, walking with a light, graceful step. The men are fine healthy fellows; the women are often ill favoured in personal appearance. The colour of the skin is dark brown, with a strong tinge of yellow. The teeth are stained black and filed to a point. Love of finery is inherent in the young of both, sexes, but the old people often dress very shabbily. The male attire consists of a waist-cloth, a head-dress, and a mat to sit upon; but for full dress a jacket and a shawl are considered necessary. The women usually wear a short petticoat at home and a jacket out of doors. By way of ornament they wear earrings, finger-rings, necklaces, bracelets, ankle-rings, and a curious corsetj which in some cases is simply a series of cane hoops on which a great number of brass rings have been threaded. A few of the hoops are made larger than the rest, so as to hang loose on the hips. The upper hoops are pinned together with brass wire. These brass corsets are rarely taken off. A writer in The Field newspaper, December 6, 1884, describing the operation of removal, says: "The girl I saw had to hang by her hands to a bar of wood, whilst a friend slipped BORNEO 79 Photo by AV;//'(i K.rpHlitio,, of H..\[.S. " Chal- lenger" 1872-76. Published by Horaburgh & Son, Edin- burgh. Government Copyright. A MORO INDIAN GIRL. THE MALAY PENINSULA the brass support of the ribs of an umbrella! Through the septum of the nose they wear either a porcupine quill or a bone of a bird. Earrings are also worn. The Sakais paint their faces (as our illustra- tions on pages 90-96 show) Avith juice from a plant Avhich they cultivate for the purpose. Their hair is gene- rally worn in true Negrito style, standing out from the head all round in a great mop; but near the Malay ii j/u j i/u Taken during the villages they drop their own scientific Expeditu >. * i_- j 4.- 1 ofH.M.S. " Cha!lenr/fr." primitive fashion and tie the 1872-76. published 6y HO hair back in a knot, as their neighbours do. When they simplest kind; the men's bracelets and belts are made from a black leafless aquatic creeper that grows in the mountain streams. The women make bracelets of any curiosities they can get from the Malays. One, which Mr. Hale purchased from an old woman, was made up of the following strange collection nine strings of black and white seeds, a string of old Malay copper coins, a few glass beads, one tip of a squirrel's tail, two tufts of monkey's hair, a serpent-ring (or spiral) made of brass wire, five snail-shells, and part of A MORO INDIAN. 9 o THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND dance, the women wear wreaths of sweet-smelling grasses and leaves. A French writer, speaking of their dress and ornaments, says: "The whole effect is an indescribably strange mixture of grace and horror, flowers and rags, carnival and Avoodland poetry. The little figure gives an impression of something child-like and fairy-like too; these little beings with great flowering antennae are the forest gnomes, the goblins, Avhich for once have shown, in the full sunlight, a vision of the moonlight." In their wild state they eat all the animal food they can get, devouring even snakes and lizards; but they will not take the trouble to go in search of animal food until all their stock of fruits and vegetables is exhausted. Once in about three months a big fishing party is organised; but as the art of drying fish is not understood, the feast ends in a few days, because what remains uneaten is no longer eatable. They appear to have but two manufactured foods. One is made from the tubers of a wild tapioca; these roots, if eaten in their natural state, are said to cause a sort of drunkenness, or perhaps merely sleepiness. They place the roots about 4 feet deep in the mud of a swamp. After they have lain there four nights they are lifted and brought home, and the women set to work to rasp the now soft roots up into a pulp, using a prickly rattan for a rasp. At this stage they have a particularly sour and pungent smell. The pulp is then put into a mat, and the juice most carefully squeezed out. This is done by means of a simple lever, one end of a long piece of timber being put under the wall of the house, the bag of pulp placed under the lever, and a woman sitting on the other end soon expresses all the water. The dried pulp is then squeezed into a joint of bamboo and dried over the fire; it will then keep for a month. The Sakais rise about dawn and prepare their breakfast, probably roasted tapioca and some sugar-cane. Fires soon begin to burn briskly, for the hill-tops are chilly. Breakfast over, some of the men go and collect firewood and food. Others stay at home, work in the house, or make darts for the sumpitan, or blow-pipe, used in hunting. The only other meal is served at midnight. But those who are indoors during the day are continually eating. About 9 p.m. they retire to rest, only to wake up at twelve, light up the fires, and take food again, after which they sleep on till dawn. Dancing and song of a very primitive description are reserved for the afternoon. The sumpitan (see illustration above), already referred to earlier in this chapter as a weapon of the Dyas, is a straight tube of bamboo, fitted with a mouthpiece something like that of a cornet. Being very thin and delicate, it is kept inside another tube. The darts are from 8 to 11 inches long, made from the midrib of a palm leaf. One end of a dart is sharpened and dressed with poison; the other Pholo by Mr. Leonard Wray, Ptrak Must TWO NEGRITOS, WITH SUMPITAN SIR HUGH Low COLLECTIC THE MALAY PENINSULA end is provided with a small hub of pith. A wad of some kind is necessary, and for this purpose the velvet-like covering found at the base of the midribs of the leaves of some rattans (bamboo) is used. It is a deadly weapon. The roof of a Sakai house is supported on nine posts; these are very slight, and some of them are crooked, but one of the number is much stouter than the others, being composed of the trunk of a tree. All the rafters, uprights of the walls, joists, etc., are entirely made of bamboo. Bark and leaves are often used for the partitions. Each hearth is simply a mat of leaves, over which earth is spread. On this logs of wood are burned two logs at a time, arranged so that their ends are nearly touching, and small sticks burn between and under the ends. Where a man supports two or three wives, each has her own separate hearth. On two occasions Mr. Hale witnessed a Sakai dance. A man commences the performance by beating a drum. This very primitive (musical ?) instrument is made from a section of a tree trunk, hollowed out by burning. Across one end the skin of some animal, perhaps that of a monkey, is stretched and kept taut by means of cords. This is the only instrument used. After about five mintues of very monotonous drum-beating, to a one-two time tune, another man gets up and performs a dance; or perhaps two men dance. It is an extremely simple performance, consisting of certain gesticulations, the chief of which is a sort of curtsey made once to every one-two beat of the drum. At the same time the man makes grotesque gestures with his hands. After about an hour the men squat about on logs of wood, and commence a dreary chant to the same tune. The song closes with a shout or cry, something like " Heugh! " The song apparently consists of nothing more than a repetition of the names of a number of mountains, rivers, and other natural objects in the Sakai country. Later on Photo by Mr. E. J. Boberttm] A GROUP OF NEGRITOS. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND From " Le Tour du Monde:' 1 A NEGRITO MAN, WITH SPEAR. which he pronounced after having blown the fumes [of aromatic gum and wood] of his censer from his hand, most probably to the four winds, as he faced to the four points of the compass, pronouncing the word and blowing the fumes to each. He told me that the word Sum'bat meant the same as Salamat means in Malay i.e. either ' Hail ' him to whom he or prayed; be unto you. he said to the I asked Hantus. Now, Hantu in Malay may be taken to mean either Ghost or Spirit only not God; the spirit may also be either benignant or malignant. I then asked him to tell me what Hantu, and he said the Hantus of the forest, of the mountains, of the rivers, of the winds; also the Hantus of Malay and Sakai chiefs who had died; also the Hantus of headache, of stomach-ache the Hantus that caused his people to gamble, to smoke opium, and who sent all sorts of disputes, and who sent mosquitoes. He prayed to these Hantus to be kind to him and to his people to send plenty of food to eat, and not to send any evil things. He further said that the Sakais do not pray to Allah that is, to God. The question, undecided in my mind as yet, is whether this worship was learned from the Sakais by the Malay Pawangs of the present day who practise it, or vice versd." the women come forward, and go through certain evolutions, clapping their hands frequently and making curtseys. The other musical instruments are bamboo flutes and whistles, a Jew's harp, and a simple guitar. " My friend who accom- panied me," says Mr. Hale, "and I, both considered that the effect was perfectly har- monious. The music of the Sakais is in fact very pretty, much more so than the Malay music as a rule. I took the opportunity to question the chief concerning his prayer, which he delivered in a queer mixture of Malay and Sakai, preceding each string of peti- tions by the expression Sum'bat, " Le Tour du Monde." TWO NEGRITO WOMEN. THE MALAY PENINSULA 93 As every anthropologist is aware, it is most difficult for travellers to obtain clear and true information with regard to the religion of any savage race. According to Mr. Hale's testimony, which he gives for what it is worth, the Sakais offer up prayers to a great variety of spirits spirits of the forest, of the mountains, of the rivers, of the winds, and also of chiefs now departed. When a Sakai dies, the friends bury with the corpse some of the articles which the deceased used in daily life, such as a necklace, if a woman; or a rattan tobacco-box, if a man. The house of death is invarjably burned down, and the place entirely forsaken even if it involves the loss of a crop of tapioca or sugar-cane. All the objects that belonged to the dead are considered to be bartered or given away. Professor Keane, in his latest work "Man Past and Present,*' says of these little people: '' Surrounded from time out of mind by Malay peoples, some semi-civilised, some nearly as wild as themselves, but all alike slowly crowding them out of the land, these aborigines have developed defensive qualities unneeded by the more favoured insular Negritos, while their natural development has been arrested at perhaps a somewhat lower plane of culture. In fact, doomed to extinction before their time, they never have had a chance in the race, as Mr. Hugh Clifford sings in 'The Song of the Last Semangs': The paths are rough, the trails are blind The Jungle People tread; The yams are scarce and hard to find With which our folk are fed. We suffer yet a little space Until we pass away, The relics of an ancient race That ne'er has had its day. Photo by Mr. E. J. Robtrtsoit] A GROUP OF NEGRITOS. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND These peculiar Semangs, who have hitherto succeeded in maintaining their independence, have a weird legend of a mysterious nation of great Amazons destined one day to come and smite the faithless Sakai people, who have gone over to the enemy's camp, and now join with them in tracking and hunting down their own kinsfolk. These female warriors who dwell in the depths of the dark woodlands beyond the Gunong Korbu heights, and are stronger, taller, bolder, and of paler colour than any men have even been seen, and their bows and blow-pipes also, larger and truer and better carved than any others, are found now and then in the deep recesses of the forests. A Semang chief tells how, ' many months ago,' he and his two brothers, when following the trail of a wounded stag, found it lying by a brook, killed by a larger arrow than theirs, and that instant, looking up, on hearing a loud threatening cry in a strange tongue, he beheld a gigantic pale-skinned woman breaking through the jungle, Photo by Mr. E. J. Hobertaon\ [Singapore. and then his elder brother fell pierced by an arrow. He escaped by flight, and alone lived to tell the tale, for the two brothers were never seen again. Mr. Clifford, who relates this story ('In Court and Kampong,' -1897, page 179 sq.), and has perhaps been more intimately associated with the Orang-utan (Wild Men), as the Malays often call them, than any other white man, describes those of the Plus Kiver Valley as 'like African Negroes seen through the reverse end of a field-glass. They are sooty-black in colour; their hair is short and woolly, clinging to the scalp in little crisp curls; their noses are flat, their lips protrude, and their features are those of pure Negroid type. They are sturdily built and well set upon their legs, but in stature little better than dwarfs. They live by hunting, and have no permanent dwellings, camping in little family groups wherever, for the moment, game is most plentiful.'" Professor Keane goes on to say: "All the faculties are sharpened mainly in the quest for food, and of means to elude the enemy now closing round their farthest retreats in the Mr. Leonard Wray, Perak Museum SIB HUGH Low COIJLECTION. NEGRITO WOMEN. 95 9 6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND upland forests. When hard pressed and escape seems im- possible, they will climb trees and stretch rattan ropes from branch to branch where these are too wide apart to be reached at a bound, and along such frail aerial bridges women and all will pass with their cooking-pots and other effects, with their babies also at the breast, and the little ones clinging to their mothers' heels. For, like the Andamanese, they love their women-folk and children, and in this way rescue them from the Malay raiders and slavers. But, unless the British raj soon intervenes, their fate is sealed. They may slip from the Malays, but not from their own traitorous kinsmen, who often lead the hunt, and squat all night long on the tree- tops, calling one to another and signalling from these look- outs when the leaves rustle and the rattans are heaved across; so that nothing can be done, and another family group is swept away into bondage." A Sakai man, when looking out for a wife, goes to a considerable distance, generally to a tribe who speak quite a different dialect. He gives the parents presents of considerable value, which are sometimes purchased from Malays. la some cases the young man sets to work and clears one or two acres of jungle, and plants it with tapioca and sugar-cane, in order to present it to the parents of the girl he wishes to make his wife. Photo by Mr. Leonard \Yray, Perak Museum. NEGRITO WOMEN. THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. FORMERLY attached to British India, the Straits Settlements now form a Crown Colony, with a separate administration vested in a Governor at Singapore and two others at Penang and Malacca. Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, and Johor are "Protected States." Taking the population of Singapore, Penang, and Malacca together, we find there are roughly speaking, 213,000 Malays, 228,000 Chinese, and 54,000 Klings (Indians). CHAPTER V. SI AM, AN AM, CAMBODIA, BURMA. THE chief inhabitants of Indo-China and Malacca are the Shans, Laos, and Siamese, the Anamese and Cambodians. Not so long ago this part of the world was generally supposed to be occupied only by Mongolian peoples allied to Chinese and Tibetans. Of late years, however, a Caucasian element has been discovered in the Me Kong Valley (French Cochin-China and Cambodia), where the people speak languages akin to those of the Malayo-Polynesian family. SIAM. THE kingdom of Siam (see map, page 130) embraces part of the Indo-Chinese and part of the Malay Peninsula. On the west lies British . Burma; on the north, as a buffer between Siam and China, are the Independent Shan States; on the east lies the kingdom of Anam, under which heads are included Tong- king and Cochin-Chiua; and south of Siam we find Cambodia and French Cochin-China. The great natural and economic centre of Siam is the delta of the Me Nam Eiver, which is flooded every year between June and November. The population is estimated by the Siamese Government at 6,000,000, or more. Until a few years ago the eastern frontier coincided with the mountains that border Anam; but the French, by a display of force, compelled the king to sign a treaty, which surrendered to them part of his kingdom, and shifted the eastern frontier westwards to the right bank of the River Me Kong. In this way the French took possession of a region 80,000 square miles in extent. England then intervened, and the region from Tongking to British Burma was left to form a "buffer state" between Britain, China, France, and Siam. By this, and other arrangements, Siam is now prac- tically reduced to the Me Nam Valley. She still retains a part of the Malay Peninsula, which is called Lower Siam, and to the eastward the Korat Plateau and Battambony Plain. 9 8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Mr. H. Warington Smyth. A SHAN MAN. Both Shans and Siamese proper call themselves Tai (Shan Tai), i.e. "free." Assam may be a translation of the word Shan. The obsolete Siamese word is Siem, and the Chinese Sien-lo, the Sien being, according to them, a tribe which came north about A.D. 1341. The Siamese call Shans "Great Tai," as having preceded them, and them- selves " Little Tai." There is certainly a close relationship between them; but the Siamese, having had much intercourse with the Malays, and other southern races, are of inferior physique. The Cambodian kingdom formerly extended much farther north. Tradition says that the town of Lapong wa& founded in 575, and that the half-mythical king Phra Euang freed the Siamese from the Cambodian yoke. The Siamese proper are a well-formed people, with olive complexion and black hair. They are darker than the Chinese, but fairer and handsomer than the Malays. Their eyes are well shaped, the lips rather prominent; the nose is slightly flattened, the face rather wide across the cheek- bones, the top of the forehead pointed, and the chin short. They are dearly fond of bathing and swimming in their rivers many times in the course of ' the day, a practice rendered almost necessary by the heat of the climate. Many of the men shave off the hair of the head, leaving only a coarse tuft on the top. The preservation of this tuft, and the changes it undergoes under different circumstances, are matters of considerable social importance. The tuft on a child's head is prettily knotted, and kept together by a gold or silver pin, unless the family are poor, in which case a porcupine quill serves instead; but it is generally wreathed with fragrant flowers. The shaving of the hair-tuft of children is an important family festival, to which friends and relations are invited. Displays of fireworks announce the event. Priests recite prayers and wash the head of the young person, who is decorated with all the jewellery the family can lay their hands on. Music is played during the ceremony; congratulations, together with gifts of silver, are presented to the newly shorn one. One seldom sees a bearded man, for the hairs on the chin are generally plucked out. The passion for ornaments is universal. Scarcely a family is so poor as not to possess some jewellery. Kings of silver and gold adorn the arms and legs of children; and rich necklaces, earrings, and belts are sometimes worn in such quantity as to embarrass the wearer's- movements. As among the Chinese, so here also long nails are regarded as a mark of aristocracy; and every art is employed for making the teeth black, betel and areca being used to accomplish this- object. As a rule, the people go about barefooted. The Siamese are decidedly a sober race, though when a man takes to strong drink he generally becomes a hopeless drunkard. Opium- smoking, owing to severe edicts against the practice, has not increased very much of late years. Tobacco is smoked a good deal, and tea is used almost as freely as in China. Bishop Pallegoix, who knew the Siamese very well, was favourably impressed with the character of these people. "They are," he says, "gentle, cheerful, timid, careless, and almost passionless. They are disposed to idleness, inconstancy, and exaction; they are liberal alms- givers, and severe in all matters of decorum. They are fond of sports, and lose half their time in amusements. They are sharp, and even witty in conversation, and resemble the Chinese in their aptitude for imitation." Serious disputes are of rare occurrence, and strangers- can rely upon being hospitably received. Eeverence for authority appears as the ground-work on which all institutions and habits are founded, and is developed to the most absurd extremes. No man of inferior rank dares- to raise his head to the level of that of his superior; no person can cross a bridge if some IOO THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND one of higher grade happens to be passing below; no mean person may walk upon a floor above that occupied by his betters. As in China, great respect is shown to old age. The king is treated as almost diviue, and his subjects on approaching him must prostrate themselves hundreds of times. A person of rank is approached by his attendants in a peculiar prostrate position, the number of prostrations being determined by his rank. The education of women is much neglected; few of them can read or write. Many, however, are taught music; and the wives and concubines of nobles are frequently engaged in singing and in giving concerts for the amusement of their lords and guests. A few can embroider, many more can prepare sweetmeats and other delicacies for the table. No sooner has a child been born than the mother is placed near a large fire, where she remains for days, exposed to such intense heat that serious illness and even death sometimes ensue. So strong is the prejudice in favour of this barbarous practice, both among high and low, that the king himself has vainly attempted to stop it. Marriages take place at an early age. When the necessary negotiations have been nearly completed, the bridegroom travels by water to the house of the bride-elect, in a large boat gaily adorned with flags, and laden with presents, such as garments for his future wife, plates, fruits, betel-nut, etc. In the centre is a huge cake, in the form of a pyramid, and decorated with bright colours. Musicians in the boat play as it glides along. Arrived at his destination, the bridegroom lands and makes his way to the house to arrange the final details and to fix the happy day. There is no religious ceremony, only a great feast, at which the musicians again perform. When any one is grievously ill, the priests sprinkle holy water over him, recite passages from the sacred books, and utter loud exclamations. When death takes place, the family address the deceased in some such terms as these: "0 father, benefactor, why leave us? What have we done to offend you? Why depart alone? It was your own fault; why did you eat the fruit that caused the dysentery? misery! desolation!" The body, having been washed and enveloped in white cloth, is placed in a coffin covered with gilded paper and decorated with tinsel flowers. A dais is prepared ornamented with the same materials as the coffin, but with wreaths of flowers and a number of wax lights. After a day or two the coffin is removed, not through the door, but through an opening specially made in the wall. It is then carried three times round the house at full speed, in the hope that the ghost of the dead person, forgetting the way through which he or she has passed, will not be able to return to molest the living. The coffin is then taken, to the sound of melancholy music, to a large barge, and placed on a platform surmounted by the dais. A procession of small boats containing the friends and re- lations accompanies the barge to the temple, where the cremation takes place. The officials charged with this duty wash the face of the corpse with cocoanut milk. With the poorest people, however, the body, instead of being cremated, is cut up and given to ptwto by Mr. u. ir. Roife} [Bangkok. the birds of P 1 " 6 ?- After a cremation, the A BUDDHIST PRIEST. relations assemble, collect the principal SIAM 101 bones, which they place in an urn and convey them to the family abode. The garb of mourning is white. At a rich man's funeral there are fireworks, sermons by the priests, and theatricals wherein all sorts of monsters are in- troduced. Tents are erected within the precincts of the temple, and games and gam- bling accompany the sacred rites connected Avith the dead. The Siamese are a musical people and possess a great variety of Avind and stringed instruments. They have no Avritten music, their tunes being taught by ear alone. The profession of music is highly esteemed. In every nobleman's house there is music and dancing in the evening. Cock-fighting, though forbidden, is a favourite sport. Crowds sur- round the scene of combat. A courageous game-cock is a great treasure and the object of special attention. The passion for gaming and betting seems unchecked by public opinion, but the Government is taking steps to check these evils. Young and old also indulge in kite-flying. The domain of the Shans and the Laos, who are of one and the same race, occupies the Avhole of Northern Siam and a portion of East Burma, Avhence it stretches far into Yuu-nan, and down the Me Kong Elver to the frontier of Cambodia. Hence the allegiance of these people is divided between Burma, China, and Siam. Ethnographically, of course, they belong to the Siamese proper, as they are all members of the Tai ("free" or "noble") race. The Chinese have partly absorbed them, driving them southwards into Yun-nan and Further India. Here they become more or less assimilated to the Khas, or Avild aboriginal tribes of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula. The Avord Kha means "man," or "savage." The physical characteristics of the Tai race are a IOAV stature, light yelloAV complexion, black hair and eyes, small nose, dilated nostrils, and a somewhat dull expression of countenance. On the Avhole, it is not a pleasing type, although the children are often pretty, and the Avomen may be fairly good-looking while yet in their teens. (For illustrations of Shan people, see pages 98, 116, 117). The domain of the Laos is divided into many provinces, ruled by hereditary princes, under the superintendence of commissioners appointed by the King of Siam. These Lao states were long subjected to regular slave-hunting expeditions, organised by the rulers themselves, or by their subordinates. Dr. Harmand, an eye-witness of one of these forays, says: "The brother of the Prince of Bassac told me without any reserve that he Avas about to Photo by Mr. II. IF. Rolfe\ A ROYAL PRIEST, SIAM. 102 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND take a trip to the left bank of the Me Kong in order to hunt down the Khas. It seems that when times are bad the Lao mandarins organise these expeditions against the savages. Under some slight pretext a favourable camping-ground is selected, whence forays are made against the surrounding villages. When a sufficient number of all ages and both sexes have been captured, they are bound together, and led to Bassac, Sienpang, and Attopeu. Here they are purchased by native, Chinese, and especially Malay traders, who form them into gangs, and forward them chiefly to Bangkok, Korat, and Pnompenh, the capital of Cambodia." But this slave-hunting has now ceased. The traditions of the Northern Shans tell of an ancient and great kingdom held by them in the north of Burma. They all speak the same language, but there are many dialects. In the Tai or Shan language there are, according to Mr. J. G. Scott, four different characters in use. The AVestern Shans use letters very much like those of the Burmese; the Siamese have a writing of their own, very much like Pali; the Shans called Lii have theirs, and the Lao Shans use another. The Western Shans differ somewhat from their eastern neighbours both in their dress and in their architecture. The men's dress, usually white, consists of a short jacket and full trousers, but on festive occasions coloured silk and velvet trousers are much worn, and the most fashionable shape is that which most nearly approaches a sack with holes at the corners for the feet and arms to pass through. The women wear variegated turbans and striped petticoats, made like a sack, open at both ends, and fastened over the breasts and under the arms. A small jacket is worn over this. The Shans are a law-abiding people, and loyal to the families of their rulers. A Shan of good birth is very proud of his family. Among the Western Shans marriage is a very simple affair. As a rule, the young people merely eat rice together out of the same dish in the presence of their relatives and the village elders, and the bridegroom then declares that he marries the girl and will support her. Among the Eastern Shans, however, there is more ceremony on the wedding day. A feast is held, to which all the rela- tives and many friends are invited. Liquor flows freely on these occasions. Early in the afternoon the bridegroom is taken to the bride's house, accompanied by the relatives and friends. As the procession advances it finds its way obstructed at various points by ropes, at each of which the bridegroom has to pay toll. When the governor of a district of Reng Tung married the Sawbwa's aunt, he had to pass twenty of these ropes in the distance of half a mile. The Sawbwa himself had a rope, and so had each of the royal ladies, the bridegroom on this occasion being mulcted of about seventy rupees. The Sawbwa's sister demanded twenty rupees for permission to pass, but eventually accepted fifteen. Arrived at the bride's house, the bridegroom takes his seat beside her, and their hands are tied together, with a piece of string; they eat together and an old man pronounces them to be man and wife. Meanwhile, the guests amuse themselves by throwing balls of rice at each other and at SIAMESE STREET-SINGERS. the happy couple. SIAM 103 The burial customs of the Shans are sufficiently interesting to be briefly described. When a person dies, the corpse is washed, dressed in a new suit, and some money is put into the mouth; this "passage-money" is considered to be necessary, in order to prevent any let or hindrance to the transmigration of the soul. The priests recite prayers over the body daily, until the day of the funeral, when the corpse is carried out in a coffin highly decorated with coloured paper and tinsel, under a gaudy canopy. The eldest son heads the procession with a naked sword in his hand, in order to clear the way, which is supposed to be barred by evil spirits, and the relations dance as they go along. Presents for the priests, such as yellow robes, handkerchiefs, and umbrellas, are carried to the grave. Arrived there, the wife or wives, and children, and the brother's wife or wives, all go in procession round the coffin, carrying lighted candles as a last sign of respect for the departed; rthe priests then recite a few prayers, and the body is buried; sometimes a rocket is fired. Priests and chiefs are burned, not buried, since burning is considered more honourable. Both Shaus and Burmese believe that a man's spirit takes the form of a butterfly, which leaves him when he is asleep or unconscious. Hence they are unwilling to awaken any one suddenly, "for fear," as they say, "that his butterfly may not return in time." Nominally Buddhists, they are given to the worship of spirits, or Nats, the genii supposed to reside in all natural and material objects stones, mountains, rivers, trees, clouds, winds, etc. In some places buffaloes are sacrificed to the spirits; and there are Nats which can only be appeased by human sacrifices. The guardian spirit of a certain ferry, for instance, claims a victim every year, preferably a Chinaman; and if no one is obliging enough to be accidentally drowned Photo by Mr. Isonaga] [Bangkok. A TYPICAL SIAMESE NOBLEMAN AND FAMILY. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND at the proper season, a boat-load of passengers is capsized in order that the ferry may be safe for the ensuing year. A human sacrifice is necessary to pro- cure a good harvest; and although the Shans dare not in these days openly kill a fellow-creature as a sacrifice, they endeavour to poison some one at a State festival. The chiefs set their faces against the custom, but cannot suppress it altogether. The people of Siam have for ages intermarried with Laos, Shaus, Peguans, Cambodians, and Chinese, as well as with slaves of the aborigines, or Khas, of whom many quite different tribes are found. Hence the type is varied. Not very much is known about the Khas. While the Laos inhabit the mountain valleys, these people live on ridges and heights, never less than 3,000 feet above the sea-level, and their clearings in the forest on the high hill-slopes are often visible many a mile away. The Siamese name Kha Che is generally applied to all of them. According to Mr. H. Wariugton Smyth, F.R.G.S., author of the interesting work "Five Years in Siam," they are a short, thick-set people. They live in small communities, with no chiefs, and possess no social organisation. Mr. Warington Smyth says: "Notwithstanding their wild and savage mien, the Khas are gentle, harmless folk, patient and enduring on the march, and grand climbers." At the same time he speaks of their "singular stupidity." He has very kindly lent some of the photographs here reproduced. ANAM. THE kingdom of Anam occupies the eastern side of the Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and is bordered on the south by Lower Cochin-China and the subject kingdom of Cambodia. The French, having established themselves on the Me Kong Delta, have asserted their authority throughout the whole of Anam, and made it a vassal state. It consists of three divisions: Tongking, i.e. the "Eastern Land"; Lower Cochin-China, or the "Interior Land"; and Chiampa, in the south-east corner of the peninsula. The country has a population roughly estimated at from 10,000,000 to 20,000,000. The civilised inhabitants of the above countries present a striking uniformity of physical and mental characteristics. They appear to have been moulded in the course of ages, partly by geographical and partly by political conditions, into a homogeneous ethnographical group. The Anamite man is scarcely of middle height, shorter and less vigorous than his neighbours; his complexion is tawny, but darker than that of the Chinese; the forehead is low, Le Tour clu Monde." A YOUNG COUPLE (KHAS). Photo by Mr. Isonaya} A SIAMESE PRINCE. 105 io6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND and the skull slightly depressed at the top, but well developed at the sides. The face is flat, with high cheek-bones; the nose is small, the mouth large with thick lips. The body is thick-set and large. The long black hair, shaven in childhood, but never afterwards cut, is worn in a sort of chignon at the back of the head. There is a curious swagger in the gait of the Anamite, which has been described as theatrical, and it serves to distinguish him from, all the other Indo-Chinese races. Another peculiarity is a greater separation of the big toe from the rest than is found in any other people that walk barefooted. The name Giao-shi, by which the Anamites have been known from ages before the Christian era, means "separated toes," and some authorities regard this as a true racial characteristic; but as Mr. Keane points out, it may be due to the stirrup used in riding, which is gripped in the cleft between the big toe and the others. According to ancient Chinese chronicles, this curious feature was noticed as far back as 2285 B.C. The Anamites appear to have intermarried with Malays, Chinese, and Cambodians, so that many cross-breeds are to be found. It is impossible, even after making all due allowances for their surroundings, to speak highly of these people, with their coarse and 'repulsive features. Morally they are the most disagreeable of all the peoples of Indo-China. M. Mouhot says: "They are headstrong, revengeful, deceitful, thieves, and liars. Their dirty habits surpass anything I have ever seen, and their food is abominably nasty, rotten fish and dogs being their favourite diet." Even Lord Curzon, who is favour- ably disposed towards them, cannot deny that they are tricky and deceitful; but, on the other hand, he considers them gentle and amiable. "They have," he says, "the submissiveness without the nerveless apathy of the Hindu; while they possess industrial aptitudes, rendering them diligent workmen, and an artistic ingenuity which on the one hand makes them excellent cooks, and on the other inspires the various artistic productions, such as inlaid work in mother-of-pearl, embroideries, wood-carving, and jewellery. Though not a courageous people in the sense of inviting or voluntarily meeting danger, they are very tenacious in re- sistance, and make capital soldiers against an Asiatic enemy. They are, moreover, hospitable, polite, lively, sentimental, and of easy temper. The women present two types: the wife, or concubine, who is merely the brainless instrument of her master's pleasure, and the active and business-like housewife, who toils hard either in the fields or at the oar, and who, in the upper ranks of life, frequently takes to business and manages all her husband's affairs." Polygamy is iiniversal among the Anamese. They dispose of the dead by burial, not by cremation. They show A GROUP OF LAO PEOPLE. great outward respect for their superiors Fro ANAM 107 and parents, but take great delight in mocking and banter. Their attachment to the soil of their country is very strong, and they never leave it for long. The form of government is absolute monarchy, and the succession to the throne follows the order of primogeniture. Public offices are open to all, and there are no social distinctions other than those due to office. Hence all citizens who are not officials are on terms of equality. The Anamese are not a religious people, but have great respect for the dead; their worship consists chiefly of ceremonies in honour of their ancestors. In other respects their religion, if so it may be called, is a strange mixture of cults and creeds. Buddhism, the dominant creed, is overlaid by coarse, popular superstitions, and there is a great deal of spirit- Photo by Signor Seato] [Handalay. BURMESE DANCING-GIRLS. worship, or crude demonology. At their pagodas incense is burned to the good or evil spirit of the place (genius loci), or perhaps to the dreaded tiger. In Tongking there are said to be more than 500,000 Christians. Among the most picturesque and characteristic of Anamite spectacles are the markets, which are thus described by the present Viceroy of India (Lord Curzou): "They are held on stated days in the week, either in an open place in the middle of the village, frequently tiled over, or thatched as a protection against the sun the site being the property of the commune and being let out in plots or stalls or sometimes in the open country at a central spot between several hamlets. Marketing is entirely conducted by the female sex, who may io8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND be seen for miles walking in single file along the narrow dykes which separate the soaking rice-plots, and carrying their produce in baskets at the end of a bamboo pole. Others will approach in sampans along the waterways and canals. When business opens, there is just such a jabbering as in the monkey-house in the Zoo. The women squat down by the side of their wares and intersperse a ceaseless chatter with chewing of the betel-leaf and ejection of long splashes of scarlet saliva from their discoloured mouths. You will see exposed for sale pigs, chickens, and ducks in hampers, fish fresh and slimy, and sun-dried big prawns and tiny land-crabs, cabbages, radishes, the areca-nut, vermicelli, cakes, sweetmeats, and eggs. Elsewhere will be cheap articles of furni- ture or raiment, tin lamps for petroleum, pottery, brass-ware, opium-pipes, bracelets, necklets, amber buttons, palm-leaf hats, turbans, Bombay cotton, and CAMBODIA. THE ancient kingdom of Cambodia has long been restricted to the lower course of the Me Kong River. For some time it was a vassal of the Siamese kingdom; but the king is now subject to ' France. The stupendous ruins of Angkor Vaht and many other remains are evidence of the former greatness of this old empire. The finest of these monuments, which are now in Siamese territory, cover a space of twenty square miles, and have been carefully studied by French archaeologists. Lord Curzon says they form "the most remarkable collection of ruins in the world, whether we regard the prodigious magnitude of the ground-plan, the grandiose dimen- sions of the principal palaces and temples, or the artistic beauty and delicacy of the bas-reliefs and sculptures." There is reason to believe although the French savants do not accept this view that they were built by the Cambodians under the direction of Brahman missionaries from India, who introduced Aryan culture among the rude inhabitants of the country. "Some of these wild tribes," says Keane, "are still distinguished by a gentle disposition, a certain innate politeness and courtesy, as well as a surprising artistic taste and skill lavished on their dress, ornaments, pipes, quivers, and other objects. These traits may well be the faint reflection of a now extinguished culture still cherished by these children of nature, lost for ages amid their dense woodlands, which they believe to be the centre of the universe, and which nothing can ever induce them to leave. But the Cambodians themselves seem to have retained little of their former greatness, except an overwhelming pride and arrogance. They are being gradually absorbed by the surrounding Anamese and Lao populations. A strange mystery hangs over this Cambodian race, who, fully 2,000 years ago, built cities and raised monuments amid the swamps of Tonle-sap, vying in size and grandeur with those of the Photo by Signm- Beuto] \_Mandalay. A BURMESE NATIVE, WITH TATTOOED LEGS. BURMA in marriages, as in India, and the people seem happy in their domestic affairs. Although girls are considered to be the property of their parents, they are very seldom constrained to marry against their will. The young men, too, make love pretty much where their fancy leads them, obtaining first the consent of the parents. The period of day between eight in the evening and midnight is called courting- time; in Burmese it is " loo-lyo-lai- thee-kala." The Burmese mother is a great match-maker, but she uses persuasion rather than compulsion. If she tries constraint, it generally results in the girl eloping with the lover of her choice or committing suicide. The women carry on most of the trading and shop- keeping, and are excellent housekeepers, as Mr. Rudyard Kipling shows in one of his short stories of Indian life. Mr. E. W. Cuming's excellent book "With the Jungle Folk in Burma" Avill be found to contain a very true picture of these people. DACOITS IN PRISON. Every jail in Burma contains a certain number of prisoners undergoing penal servitude for life reckless desperadoes whose presence is a standing source of anxiety to those in charge of them. The Burmese dread imprisonment above all things. Lazy and indolent by nature, and accustomed to the unrestrained liberty of the jungle, they prefer death itself to being shut up within the walls of a prison. The most revolting type of human ugliness is the Burmese jail-bird, with his shaven head and the unmistakable stamp of "criminal" on his vicious face. The dacoits have quaint devices tattooed on their bodies as charms against death or capture. Some have rows of unsightly warts, like large peas, upon the breast and arms, which mark the spots where charms have been inserted scraps of metal and other substances inscribed with spells known only to the wise men who deal in such things. In the north of Burma are found the Singpos and Kachins, formerly supposed to be 112 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND distinct races, but now generally regarded as one people, although divided up into many tribes. The Siugpos claim to be the elder branch of the family. To the same group belong the Chins of the Chin Hills and the Lushai of the Lushai Hills. These tribes are closely related to the Nagas and the Arbors of Assam (India), and their territory was formerly a borderland between Burma in the east and India (mouth of the Brahma- pootra) in the west. They are all Kuki, or "Hill Men." The Kachins are a square-faced people, with strong jaws and oblique eyes, like all Mongols. The Chins, who have been fully described by Messrs. Bertram S. Carey and H. N. Tuck in their valuable work "The Chin Hills," printed by the Government at Rangoon, are a fine race, taller and stouter than their neighbours in the plains on both the north and east. Though falling short of the Pathans in height, they are taller than the average Ghoorka. They are strong, carrying heavy loads "SHWE MAONG," FOUNDER OF THE w ith ease. In their habits they are very dirty, although they wash themselves occasionally. Some Chins wear their hair in a top-knot, coiling it all into one ball well forward on the crown of the head. Others wear a chignon on the nape of the neck. Hats and coats, made of bark, grass, bamboo, or the leaf of the date-palm, are worn to protect the body from rain. Boots and sandals are unknown in the hills. Fashions among the women vary greatly. Formerly the women went about half naked that is, bare down to the hips; now they appear in public wearing a coat which covers the bosom. The houses are built with planks, one-storeyed and with a thatch roof; they have no windows or chimneys, and the smoke escapes anyhow. The floor is some feet above the ground; underneath are the pigs and cattle. The labour of building a house is enormous; it takes from three to ten years; for not only is the amount of material used very large, but poles and planks have to be felled and dragged some miles to the village. The Chins endeavour to act up to their old adage, "A man should drink, fight, and hunt, and the portion for women and slaves is work." One can hardly visit a village without seeing an assemblage of people sitting round the liquor-pots, while the beating of gongs announces that a feast is going on. Birth aud marriage, death and sacrifice, the payment of a debt, the courting of a sweetheart, the making of an agreement, the slaughter of an enemy, and the shooting of a deer, all demand their feasts, and a feast means a drinking-bout of many days' duration. Beasts are brought in aud slain. Women and slaves wait on the guests, throwing a lump of meat into any basket which is empty. The music consists of blowing the horns and beating the gongs in regular time; while the dancers, in a large 'circle with arms locked round each other, swing the body and keep step, singing at the same time a low, mournful tune. If there are any lethal weapons in the house in which a feast is to be given, they are prudently sent to a neigh- bour, to be out of the reach of drunken people; so that the frequent quarrels that ensue are generally settled by a fight with fists. But in the south, where hairpins are worn, quarrellers often draw them and stab one another, sometimes with fatal results. When sufficiently sober, the young men often wrestle, an exercise in which they excel. The heads of the animals killed at a feast are used to adorn the // ] "'""I ' ' ' : " """"^^-viJ verandah of the host's house. When a child is born, its ears are bored with a quill ^DRIA'N'" A RUSSIAN HAIRY MAN or a hairpin, and after about a month its hair is shaved and OVER FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OLD. BURMA kept so for a few years. In the north the eldest boy is given part of the name of the paternal grandfather, and the eldest daughter part of that of the maternal grandmother but in the south the names are chosen independently of any rule. When a Chin dies, his body rests sitting in state, dressed and fully armed, whilst his relations and friends dance and drink round the corpse, firing off their guns and singing songs which set forth the number of raids in which the deceased has successfully taken a part, the number of slaves he captured, and the number of heads which he took. The body is then taken to an outhouse, and placed on a board, under which fires are lighted and kept burning until the corpse dries up and becomes practically a mummy. It is afterwards rolled up in rags and placed on a shelf in the house, awaiting the funeral feast, which is sometimes delayed for two years. In the north the Chin people erect rude memorials to their departed chiefs. These are simply thick planks of wood, with the head of a man carved at the top, to P/wto by Siynor Beato] [Mandalay. THRKE BURMESE GIRLS. represent the dead chief; underneath they carve men, women, and children, all sorts of animals, gongs, beads, guns, etc. The figures represent the chiefs wife and family, the enemies and animals he killed, and the slaves and booty captured. The departed hero is often represented as shooting an elephant or a tiger. But nowadays the Chins are ceasing to set up these interesting memorials. "We can no longer take heads and raid slaves," they say; " therefore the histoiy of our lives is not worth handing down to posterity." Those who are well acquainted with the Chins say they are all liars and thieves, and that the most accomplished thieves in all this district of the Chin Hills are the tribe known as Siyins, who may in this respect be classed as criminals. The Haka people and others are also great thieves, and, like the Siyins, will work in gangs, some distracting attention, whilst others carry off the booty. Hakas, as well as Siyins, we are sorry to say, have been known to accept a present, and then deliberately steal from the benefactor ! The Falam chiefs, too, although they are so particular in their outward conduct, and pretend that they are superior to all other Chins, THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND have been found capable of stealing iron when they thought that they had the chance of doing so and evading detection. Messrs. Carey and Tuck (to whose valuable work we have already alluded) say that a Siyin can creep into a British "post" on his stomach, and carry off cooking-pots under the very nose of a sentry! He can even enter a house inside the posts, and carry off property without disturbing the inmates! The Northern Chins, apparently, do not believe in a Supreme Being. The Southern Chins, while believing in a god (Kozin) to whom they sacrifice, do not worship him, never looking to him for any grace or mercy, except that of withholding plagues and misfortunes. Besides this Kozin the southern people believe in many spirits. There are the spirit of the village (genius loci of the Romans); the spirit of the family, or clan, residing in trees, or in particular tracts which the clan inhabit; the spirit of the cultivations, living in the fields; the spirit of the air; the spirit of the stream, or the jungle, or the hills. The Chins say there is no Supreme God, and no other world save this, which is full of evil spirits, who inhabit the fields, infest the houses, and haunt the jungles. These spirits must be propitiated, otherwise they may do grievous harm, such as destroying the crops or making women barren. When a man dies, his soul joins the spirit-world of the forests; if he die a natural death, his spirit is content; but if he has been slain, it will haunt his relations until his death is avenged in blood. The slain, however, becomes the slave of the slayer in the spirit-world; so that if a man has killed many people in this life, he will have many slaves to attend him in the next. One can hardly expect people who cherish such beliefs to live at peace with one another. "When a man falls sick, he attributes his illness to some evil spirit, and accordingly sacrifices a young fowl or a small dog. If he gets well, it is a sign that the spirit is appeased. ' In all villages there is a wise man or woman, who is believed to under- stand what the spirits require, and who is accordingly consulted as to what should be sacrificed. The wise man does not hesitate to ask many prying questions with regard to the unfortunate suppliant's recent conduct. These inquiries concluded, he will probably announce that the spirit of some stream has been insulted! Such a dire offence can only be atoned for by the sacrifice of a red cock on the bank of the stream whose spirit claims redress. Sometimes a pig is sacrificed; the animal is slain by the wise man himself, who mutters to the spirit, "You have wanted a pig, and so one has been killed; now be satisfied, and remove the sickness which you have put upon the man." It need hardly be added that the wise man always helps to eat the flesh which he has ordered for the spirit; and generally he chooses pig, because he is fond of pork himself, and therefore perhaps the spirit also prefers it! So much eating and drinking accompanies all ceremonies that one cannot tell without Photo by tiignor Beato] [Mandalay. A BURMESE PRINCESS. Photo by Signor B< [Jlandalay. A BURMESE LILY. 115 n6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND asking whether any given assemblage of people are keeping a feast, a burial, or a sacrifice. In the south of the Chin Hills they believe that a man can take to the next world anything that is buried with him; hence many things are put in graves, such as guns, gongs, and even cooking-pots. These interesting customs throsv light on the well-known fact that in the prehistoric burial-mounds, dolmens, etc., of Europe and Asia weapons and utensils are found buried with the skeleton or the ashes, as the case may be (the present writer has dealt with this subject in his work on "Prehistoric Man and Beast"). These superstitious people believe that evil spirits may seize them, maltreat them, or inflict diseases and death upon them. AVhen an epidemic of cholera broke out among some Chins who went on a visit to. Eangoon, they carried drawn swords whenever they moved about, in order to scare away the evil spirit, and spent the whole day hiding under bushes, so that he should not be able to find them. The Southern Chins even begged that they might be allowed to sacrifice a slave boy to the foreign spirit to whose influence the outbreak was attributed; but humaner counsels at last prevailed, and they were allowed to sacrifice pariah dogs instead. Messrs. Carey and Tuck relate how, owing to the belief that spirits wander about at night, a small Burmese slave once escaped. The boy was creeping silently towards their post at night, when he Avas detected by one of their sentries, who at once cocked his gun. The small boy quietly sat down in the long grass, while another sentry seized the man's gun and cried out, " Do not shoot; it is a spirit, and misfortune will fall on us." Meanwhile, the boy quietly glided off, and reached the post in safety. The chiefs have a sacred grove within which is a rock used as an altar, on which are laid food and various odds and ends. "In dealing with a Chin, it is right to remember that his spirit is of supreme importance in his eyes, and that his grove or his rock is as much feared by him as the pagoda is revered by the Buddhist. Therefore, if it is possible, the felling of trees in a sacred grove should be avoided. But care must be taken that the cupidity of the Chin is not pandered to, as it is no sin for him to lie, and he will claim any tree in the forest as dedicated to or inhabited by a spirit, if he wants it for his own use" (Carey and Tuck). From time to time a man sacrifices to his own private household spirit; and when he does so he closes his gate, setting on it a green branch to let every one know that they must leave him alone. Sometimes a whole village will sacrifice to the village spirit, and then the traveller must seek hospitality elsewhere. On the original site of the Chassad Kukis, or Taksatte, as the Chins call them, are some tall stone pillars still standing. The natives, when questioned about these monuments, were silent; some said they did not know anything about them. But some time afterwards a friendly Chin came up and quietly whispered, "Those stones at Taksatte were set up by the spirits; but do not tell any one that I have told you so, as the spirits would be avenged on Photo by JHAN BEAUT BURMA 117 me if they heard that I have done so." Near Haka there is a grove which no one must injure. A slave girl once fell ill, and then confessed that she had cut wood in this grove for sale to the troops; and although sacrifices were freely offered up she died, and the comment of the neighbours was that "it served her right." Omens are consulted before undertaking a journey, a feast, a raid, or a sacrifice; and the most trivial things that may happen are looked upon as omens, either good or bad. They generally kill an animal and examine its liver. If the liver is congested, or in any way different from what it ought to be, they take the fact as an omen that the time is unpropitious, and the enterprise is often abandoned. But this depends on the nature of the undertaking. If a raid or a marriage be the object in view, or, in fact, anything which they may be unwilling to postpone, a second animal is killed, and its liver examined; it seldom happens that both livers give the same result. The call of a certain bird is regarded as a most favourable omen, and he who starts on a journey proceeds boldly if he hears it. The Chins have a great belief in witchcraft and the evil eye. The tribe known as Hakas consider that the Siyins, Yahows, and many of the Lushais (other tribes) are wizards, whose single glance is quite enough to bewitch them. To them such playful tricks are attributed as causing lizards to enter. ^^^^^^^^^ the body or balls of string to form in the stomach. In 1893, when a Lushai officer came to Haka to take over mules, he was accompanied by Lushai coolies, who strolled down to the village to chat; their approach was marked by a stampede of the women, who fled to the fields or hid in the houses. They after- wards explained that the mere sight of one of these Lushais was sufficient to cause sickness and distress. Messrs. Carey and Tuck say: "Chins have begged permission from us to shoot individuals who have the misfortune to be pronounced wizards. When told that our customs do not admit of the spilling of blood except when blood has been intentionally spilled, they reply that our customs are most unjust and protect the wizard, who is allowed to practise his uncanny occupa- tion in peace, and who kills people right and left, but, because he spills no blood, we take no notice." Virtue in women is looked upon rather as a "counsel of perfection." An outraged Plioto bij Messrs. Watts & Sheen] A SHAN-TALOK WOMAN. [Rangoon. n8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND husband can divorce his wife for her indiscretions; but if he does so, he loses the price he paid for her to her brother or her parents, from whom he purchased her. Consequently the affair is usually overlooked as regards the woman; but if he can find the seducer, he will make him pay compensation, or perhaps challenge him to fight. In this, however, he seldom succeeds, because popular opinion is averse to the shedding of blood over the virtue of women. At feasts, when men and women are expected to get drunk and forget themselves, adultery is considered no offence at all, and they treat it as a mistake which auy one is liable to make. However, this sin is not so common as one would expect from the low moral tone that prevails. The belief in witchcraft and in omens is general. Surgeon-Major Newland narrates that a Chin man came to him complaining that a rat had entered his stomach. He was given an emetic, and in the morning reported that he had vomited up the rat in the night; then went home cured and happy. When two tribes take an oath of friendship, they meet and produce a mithun, which is a cross between a cow and a buffalo. The wise men of each village pour liquors over it, and mutter to their respective spirits to note the agreement which is now to be made over the blood. The chiefs of either side each take a spear, and, standing on opposite sides of the animal, drive the weapons into its heart. If guns, and not spears, are used, the two chiefs simultaneously fire into the animal's brain or heart. As the animal falls its throat is cut and the blood collected in bowls; the tail of the animal is then cut off and dipped in the blood, and with it the chiefs and elders of the two parties daub each other's faces, whilst the wise men mutter, " May the party who breaks this agreement die even as this animal has died, and may he be buried outside the village and his spirit never rest; may his family also die, and may every bad fortune attend his village!" When a tribe or a clan make formal submission to the British Government, the ceremony is somewhat modified. The Govern- ment representative and the chief simulta- neously shoot the animal; the tail is cut off, and, holding it in his hand, the chief swears to be true to his oath, to recognise the Government, never to cut the telegraph- wire or shoot on the troops, and always to pay tribute regularly; and he calls on the spirit to kill the Government representative if he without cause attacks the Chins, and also to inflict every misfortune on himself and his village if they break the oath. Sad to say, however, in spite of this elabo- rate form, the oath is of no value. The Chin chief will only keep it so long as he to do otherwise; and if it should Photo by Me#gis. Watts & Skeen] KACHINS BOY AND GIRL. [Rangoon. is afraid suit his purpose, he will break his vow. No Government servant should count on a Chin keeping his word because he has sworn over blood to do so, and it should always be borne in mind that a Chin does not lose caste in this world or happiness in the next for lying and deceiving. Chins have no records, so a big stone is set up to remind the contracting parties of their agreement. To make an oath very binding they must eat some earth. The Karens of the TenasserSm highlands dwell in great seclusion, having formerly been BURMA 119 greatly oppressed by the Burmese, who con- quered them; they occasionally visit the towns of the lowlands for purposes of trade. To some extent they appear to approach the European type. They live in small settle- ments near streams in the woodlands, culti- vating rice, bananas, betel-nut, and other fruits or vegetables, such as sweet potatoes. In ordinary circumstances they are a quiet and peaceable people; but one branch of them, the Red Karens, are the most brutal savages, committing every atrocity except cannibalism. The Karen girl's dress is pretty and picturesque. The tame in, or skirt, re- sembles that worn by the Burmese girl, but the Karen prefers more sober hues. A dark cloth sleeveless jacket, made like a short skirt, cut in a low peak at the breast and back, replaces the Burmese white jacket and coloured neckerchief. It is decorated with scroll designs worked in coloured threads banded with narrow red and white braids, and sometimes with spangles bought in bazaars. Occasionally it is further embellished by narrow ribbons, generally made of red flannel, 20 inches long, which are sewn in pairs under the armholes and at the breast and back. The effect is very pleasing when worn by a bright-looking Karen girl, whose beauty, however, from an English stand- point, is doubtful. The Karens have a curious way of cele- brating marriages and funerals at the same time. When celebrating one of their " wakes," a platform of bamboo is erected in front of the house where the dead man lived. On this platform or stage, barbarously adorned with pieces of cloth, a linen sheet is placed, on which the body is laid. People from neighbouring villages come in large numbers; but although certain funeral rites are performed, these they postpone until the youug men and maidens have done their courting and chosen their partners for life. And so the occasion partakes more of the nature of a public courting than of a funeral. The proceedings are somewhat after this fashion: The young men and girls separate into two choirs, and seat themselves on opposite sides of the remains. Family jewels are displayed in great profusion. The young men begin with a chorus celebrating the beauties of the Karen maidens, their charm of movement, and modest demeanour. To this the girls respond in a falsetto of the usual drawling character, accepting the eulogy of their graces. These overtures are usually set pieces handed down from antiquity, or rendered into the Karen tongue from some popular Burmese play. Then the young bachelors begin, each in turn, and sing love-stricken solos, calling on the name of some particular damsel. Among an Eastern and poetic people, a flowery language is only what might be expected on such an occasion; so we need not be surprised to learn that the girl is compared to a star, a flower, or a ruby. No painter could Photo by Messrs. Watts <& Skeen] KAREN WOMEN. \Rangoon. 120 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND OUT FOK AN AFTERXOOX DRIVE. ly do justice to her charms; she would ruin the peace of mind of a hermit! When rejected, the suitor becomes plaintive perhaps in the belief that "pity is akin to love "- saying that he can neither eat nor drink, and will assuredly die before the morning! Far from feeling embarrassed, the Karen maidens appear to be pleased at such expressions of devotion. Their answers are usually of a somewhat stereo- typed character. The girl will declare that it is a shameful thing not to be married, but that to be divorced afterwards is much worse "to be like a dress that has been washed." Another will declare that she is not going to give herself away too cheaply. She lets the suitor know that she is not like a day dim with the heat-haze, nor like a diamond that has lost the foil below to set it off, nor like a peacock's tail draggled in the wet. All this means that the wrong man has applied, and the lucky swain will be a great fool if her eyes do not let him know that, when his turn comes, the answer will be favourable. A girl seldom says "No" outright; she prefers a more indirect and less crushing mode of refusal. But these cases are exceptional; for, as a rule, the girl has made up her mind which young man she will accept, and the others will .look elsewhere. The young people have met before, and so matters are considerably simplified. When all ptwto by \\-uhdm ischannaitn, Berlin. the courting is over they retire, and are forthwith married. A PAIR OF DWARFS FROM BURMA.* Then the elders go on with the funeral rites. * The writer saw these two little dwarfs, a boy and girl, of about eighteen and nineteen years of age respectively, and a little over three feet high, at Herr Karl Hagenbeck's Indian Exhibition in Berlin, 1898, and is much indebted to him for permission to reproduce the photograph, as well as another which illustrates India in this book. CHAPTER VI. CHINA AND MONGOLIA. CHINA. ANCIENT writers speak of the Chinese as the people of the land of Seres. The country has been called by different names at different eras in the past, but always by some form of the name Sin, Sina?, Chin, or China. This region was described in the classic age of Eome as a vast and populous country, touching on the east the ocean and the limits of the habitable world, a line beyond which, in the words of Cosmas, "there is neither habitation nor navigation." The people, imperfectly as they were then known, were described as civilised, mild, jnst, and frugal, avoiding collisions with their neighbours, and ever shy of close intercourse, but not averse to dispose of their own products, of which raw silk is the staple Photo by Mr. Afong] CHINESE COOLIES IN RAIN-COATS. 121 [Hong-kong. 16 122 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND a description which, although too favour- able, might be still applied to them in a general way. The present area of the Chinese Empire is 4,500,000 square miles, only two other empires, the British and the Eussian, exceeding it in extent. But, measuring by population, it is actually the biggest empire on record, the number of people subject to its rule being esti- mated at 360,000,000, whereas that of India is less than 300,000,000. The area of China Proper is not more than half of the whole empire. The early history of the Chinese is singularly obscure. Their own "Book of History " records events said to have occurred so far back as 2350 B.C., the period from which, according to Con- fucius, the authentic annals of China begin. But it gives no account of the origin of the race. A few learned Chinese have gone so far as to say that the race now and for more than 4,000 years dominant in China is not the race which first possessed the land. They maintain that the original ancestors of the Chinese were the Bak Sing tribes, and that they came into the country from the west, easily conquering and exterminating the aborigines, and so becoming undisputed lords of the Flowery Land. The Bak Sings were in a much more advanced state of civilisation; hence their advance was made easy. Ethnologists divide mankind into four great families, or stocks: the Caucasian, or white; the Ethiopian, or black; the Mongolian, or yellow; and the American, or red. The Mongolian stock in the course of time became divided into a number of branches, which spread over Central and East Asia. Two of the great branches from that stock are the Mongolo-Tartar and Tibeto-Indo-Chinese, and it is with the latter important section of the Mongol race we are now concerned. Since they became masters of their vast dominions, they have passed through wars and revolutions which would almost certainly have divided such a teeming population into different states if they had been of any other race. But the most violent convulsions did not destroy their cohesion. They did not even lead to any change in the fundamental principles and beliefs on which their social and political life was founded 4,000 years ago, and which continue to be the guiding and controlling sources of their government at the present time. The strength of national unity and the durability of national institutions are the every-day boast of most peoples; but on both points history compels us to award the highest place to the Chinese. The physical traits of the average Chinaman may be described in a few words. The form is well built, and, though rather short to represent what we regard as perfect symmetry, is fairly proportionate. It is something between that of the lithe, supple Hindu and the muscular, fleshy European. The complexion may be described as brunette, with a strong yellowish tinge. In the south of China the people are darker in tint than in the northern provinces, but their swarthiness is not so deep as that of the Portuguese. Photo by M A CHINESE HAKIiEK. Photo by Mr. Afong} [Hong-kong. A CHINESE LADY OF HIGH RANK. 123 124 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND The hair of the head is lauk, black, coarse, and glossy; the beard is always black, and is very scanty; while whiskers are still more scanty or wholly wanting. Very little hair grows on the body. The eyes, distinctly typical features, are always black, narrow, and apparently oblique. The latter appearance is due to the very slight degree in which the inner angles of the eyelids open, not allowing the whole iris to be seen. This Mongolian peculiarity in the eye distinguishes the races of Eastern Asia from all other races of mankind. The cheek-bones are high, and the outline of the face is remarkably round; the nose is short, flat, but wide at the end; the lips are somewhat thicker than those of Europeans; while the hands are small, and the lower limbs of average proportions. The women in China are smaller than European women; and even at the risk of being reproached as ungallant, we must say they possess very little of the form and the air which we consider essential to female beauty. The broad upper face, flat nose, and narrow eyes are decidedly not handsome, though sometimes brightened with good- humour and the animation of youth and health. Fashions in dress among the Chinese are not quite so unalterable as some other things. They change occasionally, as they do in less conservative lands, but far longer intervals elapse before any alteration will be admitted, and then such changes are not so thorough and so striking as those so frequently introduced into the costume and ornaments of our people. The Chinese dress has remained in its main characteristics the same for centuries. Garments of fur or velvet or silk are handed down from parent to child for two, three, or more generations, and no fear is entertained that they will be condemned as old-fashioned when seen on the form of some sallow young lady or gentleman eighty or ninety years after they were made. The materials mostly used in the making of clothes are silk and cloth, with a fabric called grass- cloth, which isynuch worn in summer. Furs and skins largely constitute the winter finery, woollens being very sparingly used, and always of foreign manufacture. The costume of the Chinese is simple, yet as fully serviceable as more elaborately designed robes could be. Inner and outer tunics, made of cotton or silk, according to the social rank of the wearer, are the principal articles. In some cases they are made to reach only below the loins, but oftener the outer tunic goes down to the feet. The lapel on the Photo by Mr. w. Rau] [Philadelphia. right side folds over the breast and fits close A CHINESE WOMAN, WITH NAIL-PKOTECTOR (ON LEFT HAND). around the neck, which is otherwise uncovered. CHINA I2 5 Photo by M, OPIUM-SMOKERS. [Hoitg-kong. The sleeves are very wide, and much longer than the arms. They have no cuffs, and in most cases sleeves are made to serve the purpose of pockets. If a Chinaman accepts a present, purchases a ball, or appropriates any small article of value to which he has no just claim acquires anything which an ordinary Briton would deposit in his pocket the Celestial does not say he ''pockets it," but "sleeves it," as he actually does. The lower limbs are not so fully protected. A pair of loose trousers, covered to the knee by cloth stockings, is the usual summer wear. Tight leggings are pulled over both in winter, and fastened to the girdle by loops. As the trousers are very loose and baggy and the tunic is short, the excess of trouser material forced to the rear by the tight leggings protrudes behind in what we should think a rather awkward manner. Shoes are made of silk and cotton, the soles of felt being defended on the bottom by hide. Quilted cotton garments are very common, and are so made as to protect the whole person from cold and obviate the need of fires. In the north dressed sheepskin robes serve for bedding as well as garments, and their durability makes them more desirable than the best woven fabrics. Next to the oblique eyes the plaited "tail," or, more correctly, the queue, is generally regarded as the most distinctive feature of the Chinaman. But that fashion of dressing the hair is not one of the ancient customs of the Chinese, nor was it originally practised by them for their own gratification. The ancient Chinese wore the hair long, bound upon the top of the head in a fashion similar to that practised by the Loo-choo islanders. They took pride ill its glossy blackness, and had long distinguished themselves from other peoples as "the black-haired race." But two centuries and a half ago the Mauchu Tartars invaded China from the north, and defeated the Chinese in successive battles. They wore their hair in the long queue with which all who have seen Chinese are now familiar; and in 1627 they issued an 126 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND order that all Chinese should adopt their coiffure as a sign of allegiance on pain of death. As they overthrew the ruling dynasty at that time with ease, and the chief of the Manchus was made emperor, they enforced the order with such merciless rigour that the Chinese throughout the land eventually submitted. The queue was imposed on the people as a badge of subjection; but before the Manchu dynasty (the present rulers of China) had been fifty years established, the "tail" had become an appendage of which the Chinese were proud, and a long thick queue was an object of intense desire to every honest Chinaman. The head-dress of married women is at once tasteful and becoming. The plentiful black hair is bound upon the head in an oval knot, which is secured in its place by a pin placed lengthwise in it, and fastened by a shorter pin thrust across and under the bow. In front of the knot a tube is often worn, in which flowers can be placed. A widow is known by white flowers in her hair, a maiden by one or two plaits instead of a knot; but in some parts white flowers are worn by all women. Matrons wear an embroidered fillet on the forehead, about an inch wide, pointed between the eyebrows, and covering the front of the hair. This fillet, embroidered or adorned with pearls, is a favourite ornament with Chinese ladies. Along the Yang-tse-kiang River women wear a band of fur around the head. The hair of children is unbound; but girls advancing in age allow the side-locks to grow until the hair reaches the waist, and plait a tress down the neck. False hair is made use of by men and women, the men particularly being fond of making their queues as long as possible. The population of China as we know it is the result of a fusion of tribes of connected lineage. Different classes from beyond the bounds -of China Proper, as the Mongolo-Tartars under Genghis Khan and his successor, and the Mauchu Tartars under Tsen-uing, at different periods assumed the mastery of the settled inhabitants. But the Chinese were only governed and plundered by their new masters, not destroyed. They invariably absorbed into their own nation intrusive neighbours whom they were unable to expel, for common sense and practicality are strongly developed traits in the character of the people. The Chinaman thinks nothing is worthy of serious regard but that which is visibly useful or materially beneficial. His arts and sciences, his poems and romances, his religions and philosophies, all re- volve around and minister to the needs and pleasures of his daily life. Abstract virtue, the universal, the ideal, are terms which A CHINESE WOMAN WITH DEFORMED FOOT. have hardly the shadow of [Hong-kong. 128 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo bij Mr. Afoixj [Hong-kong. A CHINESE GARDEN PARTY. a meaning to him. Such an action as a missionary voluntarily incurring hardship and danger in the attempt to secure eternal felicity for men who have never done him service, and from whom he cannot expect any compensating good, he can understand only as the result of a wofully deranged mind. He is not endowed with much imagination, or it may be that centuries of rigorous training within strictly material lines have practically clogged that mental faculty, until it has become so torpid that it cannot become active under normal conditions. The Mongol character, in Mr. Keane's estimation, is sluggish, with little initiative, but great endurance; frugal, thrifty, and industrious; morality low; science slightly, art and letters moderately developed. Men who possess little initiative that is, little of the bold, originative power which constitutes genius are naturally largely imitative, and still more markedly tenacious of that which they have tried and approved. They will expend immense energy on the elaboration of a work they have begun,- but the mind shrinks from the attempt to conceive a new task involving different principles and possessing a totally different character. On a given solid base the Chinese will produce astonishing results, giving proof of tireless industry, ingenuity, and perseverance. This fondness for elaboration of detail is displayed in nearly every act of his ordinary life, and gives rise to the many ceremonies which the Chinaman a very ceremonious creature daily practises. "Ceremony is the type of virtue," said Confucius about 2,400 years ago; and the Chinese have not failed to preserve the axiom of the great teacher. The form of government in China is decidedly patriarchal. The State is embodied in the Emperor, who assumes towards his subjects at large the office of guide and guardian, which CHINA 129 the head of a family should hold with relation to the minor and dependent members of the same. His title, Tien-Tsze, proclaims him "the Son of Heaven," and the people he governs are supposed to be his children. Standing in this intermediary position, he,, and he alone, has power to mediate between his father, Heaven, and his children, his subjects. His sacrifices and prayers in discharging the duties pertaining to this high office are conducted with great parade .and ceremony; and the pomp, it need hardly be said, tends to impress upon the people a sense of the greatness and dignity of their chief, who is able thus to commune on their behalf with the Everlasting and Almighty. But the power wielded by the Emperor is still circumscribed by certain laws and hampered by precedents. From the day on which he ascends the throne, special duties are appointed by the Board of Eites to nearly every hour of his daily life. In all offices of State the Emperor is assisted by the Nuy-Ko, or Privy Council. The provinces are mainly self-governed. Each province (in a few cases, two conjointly) is presided over by a Viceroy, who is supreme within his jurisdiction, and who has, in cases of emergency, the power of life and death in his hands. Next to him comes the Governor, whose authority in all matters relating to the province is second only to that of the Viceroy. Each province is divided into several departments, and each department or district has to maintain its own staff of officials. There are prefectures and sub- prefectures, prefects and sub-prefects. The smallest of these divisions is again sub- divided into districts, over each of which is placed a magistrate, and subordinate to the magistrate are a host of petty officials, each and all of whom have to be maintained and enriched at the cost of the people whose affairs they administer. Every occupant of office must be a mandarin. Mandarins of all classes are divided into nine ranks, each distinguished by the button or buttons worn on the top of the cap. These buttons are the insignia of rank. The first and highest is a plain red button; the second, a flowered red button; third, a transparent blue button; fourth, an opaque blue button; fifth, an un- coloured glass button; sixth, a white glass button; seventh, a plain gilt button; eighth, a gilt button with flowers in relief; and ninth, a gilt button with engraved flowers. Theoretically, the system of government practised in the provinces is nearly all that can be desired; but, as a matter of fact, it is as corrupt as any system regulating Photo by Mr. W. Rau] A WOMAN OF MANCHURIA. [Philadelphia. 130 CHINA intercourse between different classes of men could be. The mandarins are blamed for nearly all the iniquity attaching to the system; arid though it is beyond denial that they are as powerful and rapacious as they are numerous, there is yet a word to be said in extenuation of their conduct. The salaries they receive when in office and when they are regularly paid, which is seldom the case are so trifling that they hardly suffice to maintain the staff which it is necessary for each mandarin in office to keep. The mandarin thinks it is a sacred duty to himself to remedy that state of things at the cost of the people. This becomes a more imperative duty because there is a law which forbids that any mandarin shall hold office for more than three years. The instant he arrives at his post all the subordinate officials hasten to pay their respects to him. Not one of them would dare absent himself, and each vies with his colleague in procuring a present of the utmost value he can afford to give to the mandarin as a proof of his loyalty and devotion. Then, again, when a suitor comes with a legal cause to the yamen, or mandarin's office, he is obliged to pay fees to the mandarin and all the subordinate officials, or he would have but small chance of securing a hearing. The shocking corruption which is audaciously and flagrantly practised in open day in high places has a most demoralising effect upon the people. Dishonesty is hardly regarded as a vice; ib is practised every day and everywhere, the only deterrent being the fear of discovery and punishment. False-speaking is as prevalent as dishonest dealing. The Chinese set little or no value upon truth. It has been said that the Chinaman may sometimes speak the truth by accident. The makers of the fatherly laws which the mandarins administer, and the mandarins themselves, apparently have knowledge of the rarity of such accidents, and therefore, to have more on their side than the chance of accident when trying to elicit truth in their courts of justice, they employ torture. Flogging is the kind most commonly inflicted to bring home to the mind of a prevaricating Photo by Mr. Afony] CHINESE TAKING TEA. 132 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND witness the necessity for speaking the truth. Shocking as the application of the lash is thought to be in England, the Chinese method of flogging is more painful, if not more debasing. The witness is laid flat on his face, and the executioner delivers his blows on the upper part of the thighs with the concave side of a split bamboo. When the strokes are heavy, the flesh rises in ridges in the hollow part of the cane, and the sharp edges cut the victim terribly. This punishment is not limited to a fixed number of blows. The sufferer may release himself by giving the evidence required, or the flogging is continued until he becomes insensible. Many other kinds of torture are resorted to. The Chinese display a horrible inge- nuity in producing the greatest possible suffering with the most apparently simple means. For example, one of the ordinary punishments in China is compulsory kneeling, bare-legged, on a coiled chain. This does not sound shocking, and it might be supposed that it could hardly inconvenience people so little sensible to pain as the hardier Chinese are known to be. But the agony that is caused by this punishment is indescribable, especially as two officers stand by the sufferer to prevent him from seeking even a momentary relief by changing his position. Broken crockery is some- times substituted for the chain, but those who have experienced the punishment find one material as cruel as the other. A common punishment in China is that of the cangue, a sort of movable pillory. It is a collar formed of a piece of wood, four feet square and nearly four inches in thickness. It has a hole formed in the middle, through which the culprit's head is passed. The machine opens with a hinge. When closed around the culprit's neck, it is locked, and a placard, describing the offence for which he suffers, is always pasted on it. As long as the cangue is worn the delinquent cannot feed himself, so that he would soon expiate his offences by death from starvation if he were not kept alive by occasional scraps tendered by good-natured people. Indeed, little risk of actual starvation is run, for it is popularly thought a becoming and meritorious action to feed a prisoner in the cangue. The principal terror of this instrument is the pain caused by continuously carrying so much dead weight upon the neck and shoulders. There is another mode of punishment in which the cangue is used, but in this case the collar is fixed and does not rest on the shoulders. A tall cage is constructed, the top of which is flat and thick, with a hole in the centre, through which a man's head may be thrust. The top of the cage is so adjusted in height from the bottom that the sufferer is forced to stand on tiptoe to avoid supporting the weight of his body by his jaws, under Photo by Mr. Afong] A CHINESE NURSE AND CHILD. [Hong-kong. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND which the board passes. His hands being bound behind him, he cannot relieve himself for a moment. Iron snakes are another form of torture; they are tubes of soft metal, fashioned in the form of snakes with open mouths. The sufferer is stripped naked and forced to a kneeling position, with his arms extended straight out on each side. One of the metal snakes is then coiled round each arm from the wrist to the shoulder, the mouth or orifice of the tube appearing at the latter end. Another tube is coiled round the body, with the mouth at the back of the neck. Boiling water is then poured into the snakes until they are filled, and the burning torture thus inflicted can hardly be imagined. Finger-squeezing is a torture also frequently used. Four pieces of bamboo are tied loosely together at one end, and a string passes through the other ends, so arranged that, by pulling the string with some force, the pieces of cane can be drawn closely together. The fingers are placed between the pieces of bamboo, and the executioner, by pulling on the string with gradually increasing force, can inflict excru- ciating torment, and even break the bones of the fingers to pieces. This torture is often employed by the mandarins when trying to force money from persons whom they suspect of having concealed wealth somewhere. The ankles are squeezed in a similar manner, only that the implement of torture is necessarily much larger. Capital punishment is inflicted in several ways. The mode that is thought to be least terrible is to be accorded permission to commit suicide. This is a privilege granted only to men of very high rank, and is con- ferred upon them by sending " the silken cord." When the mandate is received which intimates to the offender that he may use the silken cord, the doomed man takes some of his relatives and nearest friends to his house, fastens the silken cord to a beam, stands upon a stool, places the noose round his neck, then leaps off the stool, and so hangs himself. For criminals of no particular social standing strangulation is the mode of execution generally practised. It is inflicted in a manner closely resembling the garrote. The criminal is placed, standing, with his back to a post, through which a hole is bored at the level of his neck. The two ends of a cord are passed through the hole, and the loop embraces the man's neck. The ends are then twisted round a stick, and by a few rapid turns the loop is so tightened that strangulation is almost instantaneous. Beheading is another way in which criminals are executed, but to this death the Chinese have the strongest objection. They believe that the spirits of the dead appear in the Photo*, XT. Afon g \ [Hong-kong. next world minus an y members which their A WOMAN OF SHANGHAI. bodies may have lacked when they died in CHINA '35 this, and they shrink with a horror which it is hard for us to conceive from appearing hereafter as armless, legless, or, above all, as headless ghosts. The mode of execution requires a few words. The criminal is carried to the place of execution in a bamboo cage, and by his side is a basket in which his head will be removed. He is effectively pinioned. The middle of a long, thin rope is passed round the back of his neck, and the ends are crossed on the chest and brought under the arms. They are then twisted round the arms, the wrists tied together behind the back, and the ends fastened to the portion of rope upon the neck. A slip of paper, containing the culprit's name, crime, and sentence, is fixed to a reed and stuck at the back of his head. On arriving at the place of execution, the officials remove the paper and take it to the presiding mandarin, who writes on it in red ink the warrant for execution. The paper is then replaced, a rope loop is passed over the head of the culprit, and the end given to an assistant, who draws the head forward so as to stretch the neck, while a second assistant holds the body from behind. In a moment the executioner wields his broad, heavy sword, sweeps it down in one deadly, unerring stroke, and the head is removed from the body. It is taken away, and generally hung up in a bamboo cage near the scene of the crime for which the death-penalty was inflicted, with a label announcing the name and offence of the criminal, and also the name of the presiding mandarin by whose order he was executed. A Chinese wife is extremely anxious to present her husband with sons, who will perpetuate his name and burn incense before his tablet after death. Female children are of so little account that when a baby-girl is born it is often made away with. A childless woman sometimes, however, adopts a girl from another family, believing that this course will make Photo by Mr. Afonff] [Hong-kong. A CHINESE FAMILY GROUP OF THREE GENERATIONS. 136 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND her in time a happy mother. The idea is based on a strange superstition, or rather on a curious and interesting conception of the relation between the spirit-world and the earthly life. The train of thought is explained thus: The woman is represented by a tree in the unseen world. Whether she will have children or not, and Avhat their number and sex will be, is indicated by the condition of the tree, whether it has flowers or not; and if it has flowers, what is their number and colour. If the tree has red flowers, she will have girls; if white flowers, she will have boys. If the flowers be of different colours, some white and some red, she will have boys and girls; if no flowers at all, the poor woman will be childless. But as in this world men graft on one tree a shoot from another, and thus have the desired fruit, so the Chinese adopt a child into a childless family, in the hope that there will be flowers on the flowerless tree in the spirit-land that represents the barren wife. This custom is consequently known as "grafting." There is a goddess of children, commonly called " Mother." Every year, between the llth and 15th of the first and of the eighth months, several of the most popular temples of this goddess are visited by childless women, who burn incense and candles before her image, vowing to offer a thanksgiving if the goddess will grant their desire. As the time approaches for a woman to give birth to a child, a custom is observed in somo families for the purpose of propitiating two female demons believed to be present with the intention of .killing the woman. A table is spread with plates of food, incense, flowers, and false money. A priest makes suitable recitations. At the end of this ceremony various evil spirits are invited to come" and receive the worship of the woman and her husband. When a woman suffers much pain in child-birth, or if the child be not born after long waiting, and her life appears to be in danger, friends or relations produce a kind of puppet- show, in which is a puppet representing "Mother." These puppets are made to dance near the door of the sick-room; in some cases the particular puppet of the goddess is made to walk and dance on the body of the woman herself. This treatment is supposed to relieve pain and hasten the birth. In China three different religions are upheld and favoured by those in authority; these are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. But besides these religious systems there is the worship of ancestors, which plays so important a part in the life of the people, from the highest to the lowest. Two features distinguish Chinese religions from those of other countries. In the first place, there are no human sacrifices; and, secondly, vice is not personified or deified. No Aphrodite or Venus is found in the list of goddesses, and it cannot Photo by Mr. Afong] [HoiKj-kong. A CHINESE FORTUNE-TELLER. CHINA be said that the Chinese have endeavoured to lead the votaries of sensuality farther on the road to ruin by putting immorality under the protection of a god or goddess. It may also be remarked that it is no easy matter for Europeans to understand the Chinese religion. The people appear to entertain such indefinite ideas on the real character of their ceremonies, and to hold such varied opinions on religious matters, that the inquirer finds it difficult to obtain clear and consistent accounts on this subject. Confucianism would be more accurately described as a system of moral philosophy than as a religion. But the belief in a Supreme Power always underlies its teachings, though it is not so pointedly and persistently expressed as in other systems. The State worship of "Heaven," or "God," was, and still is, confined to the Emperor in his double capacity of father and priest of the people. It is held that the will of God is to be learned from the moral principles of man's nature. Government is ordained by God for the good of the people; and when the sovereign ceases to promote the popular good, his government is antagonistic to the divine ordinance, and therefore he has forfeited his right to the throne. Thus it is that revolutions and changes of dynasty are always referred to as "the will of Heaven." Associated with the worship of Heaven was the worship of heaven and earth and the powers of nature, but they were always regarded as subordinate to God, and fulfilling His will for the good of men. Both Emperor and people worship their ancestors. This worship is universally practised in China. It is a perpetuation of " the duty which every one owes to his parents the first and chief of all virtues." On this Confucius laid the greatest stress, endeavouring to derive all other virtues from it. Taoism derives its name from a treatise composed by Lao-Tsze, a contemporary of Confucius. It is called "The Tao," or "The Way and its characteristics." The "Way" is the Photo by Mr. Afong] CHINESE MANDARINS, CANTON. i 3 8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND quiet, passionless discharge of all which our nature prompts and our relations require us to do, without violent striving or crying, while steadily maintaining and preserving life. "Heaven" in this "Way" is not a ruler or legislator, as in Confucianism, but only a pattern. The system was older than Lao-Tsze, who, however, reduced it to method. The recognised head of Taoism has his seat on the Lung-hu Mountain in Chiang-hsi. To Lao-Tsze belongs the merit of having formulated the grand principle that good will overcome evil, and should be returned for it. The form of Buddhism prevailing in China is called Shamanism, or Hwang Kiao (Yellow Sect) in Chinese, from the colour of the priestly robes. A Shaman is one who has overcome all his passions. The Dalai Lama at Lassa, in the great monastery of the Putala, is the head of the religion, the abode of deity. Mongolia swarms with Lamas; and the Government at Pekin, in order to maintain its influence, aids in supporting them. The Photo by Messrs. Watts & Skeen] CHINESE HUSBAND AND WIFE. [Rangoon. ritual of the Shamans contains their ten principal precepts or commandments: "(1) Do not kill; (2) Do not steal; (3) Do not commit fornication; (4) Speak not falsely; (5) Drink no wine nor eat flesh; (6) Look not on gay silks or necklaces, use no perfumed ointment, and paint not the body; (7) Neither sing nor dance, and do no sleight-of-hand tricks nor gymnastic acts, and go not to see or hear them; (8) Sit not on a high, large couch; (9) Do not eat out of time; (10) Do not grasp hold of living images, gold, silver, money, or any valuable thing." The general character of the Chinese is irreligious; they care much more for worldly gam than for religious ceremonies of any kind. Except those attaching to ancestor worship, they have no ceremonies they consider so binding as to be willing to fight for their preserva- tion. These are of so domestic a nature that thousands of converts might discard them before much would be known or done by the people in connection with the matter. The toleration of the Christian religion has been allowed throughout the empire by imperial edicts 140 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND issued by Shun-chi and his' son, but these have not prevented the persecution and even massacre of missionaries. In 1844 the French envoy brought the disabilities of Christians in China to the notice of Ki-ying, who memorialised the throne, and received a rescript which reversed the bloody decrees of 1722 and later years. Churches have increased since the first one was formed in Canton, and some of them are now served by native evangelists. The future is not without promise. MONGOLIA. THE primeval home of the Mongols is the region known as Mongolia, where every mountain is a king and every lake or stream a national divinity. This region, over which China nominally rules, stretches from Siberia in the north towards the Great Wall of China in the south, and from Manchuria in the east to the Altai Mountains, the Thian-shan (i.e. Heaven Mountains), and East Turkestan in the west. The Desert of Gobi is in its centre (see map on page 130). The total number of Mongols under Chinese rule is estimated at 2,000,000. The meaning of the name Mongol is said to be "brave," and to have been given to the people on account of their war- like character. Once they were the terror of the world. In the year 1236 they invaded Georgia and Great Armenia, committing frightful atrocities, sparing neither man nor woman, young nor old. Tiflis was among the cities captured by assault, and Kars was surrendered at their approach in the vain hope that submission would gain clemency. Meanwhile, in 1235, Ogdai, their chief khan, whose troops were as numerous as their thirst for conquest was devouring, dis- patched three armies in as many directions. One was directed against Korea; one against the Sung dynasty, which ruled over the provinces of China south of the Yang-tse-kiang; and the third was sent westwards into Europe. This last took the capital city of the Bulgars, and pushed on over the Volga Eiver. With irresistible vigour and astonishing speed the Mongols made their way through the forests of Penza and appeared before the beautiful city of Eiazan. For five days they dis- charged a ceaseless storm of shot WITH VEIL OF BEADS. from their ballistas, and carried Photo by Mr. Thos. Child] A CHINESE BRIDE, \_Chelsfield. MONGOLIA the city after making a breach. The prince, with his mother, wife, sons, the boyars (nobles), and the inhabitants were slaughtered with savage cruelty. Some were impaled, some shot at with arrows for sport; others were flayed alive. Priests were roasted, and nuns and maidens ravished in the churches. " No eye remained open to weep for the dead." Next, Moscow fell into the hands of the invaders, who then advanced against Vladimir. After holding out for several days the city succumbed, and the horrors of Eiazan were repeated. The imperial family, with a vast crowd of fugitives, sought shelter in the cathedral, only to perish by the swords of the conquerors or by the flames which reduced the building to ashes. An even worse fate overtook the in- habitants of Kozelsk, near Kaluga, where the Mongols held so terrible a "carnival of death " that the city was called " the city of woe." Krief was also captured, with the inevitable massacre. Having desolated this portion of Eussia, they invaded both Hungary and Poland. They even conquered China, but did not stay there long. Brave and hardy as the Mongols have always shown them- selves to be, they could not gain the allegiance of those whom they con- quered, nor establish settled forms of government. For a time their prowess and the ability of some of their first emperors held China in bondage; but at last the long pent-up hatred of a foreign yoke broke out, and the invaders were driven back to their old home in Mongolia. This took place in the fourteenth century of our era. Since the last century the Mongols have ceased to be of any political importance. During centuries of migration and fighting they have mingled with other races, such as the Chinese, Turki, Tibetans, and the non- Mongolian Iranians. The whole Mongol tribe is usually divided into three branches East Mongols, West Mongols, and Buriats. Captain Younghusband noticed a distinct difference between the Eastern and the Western Mongols, the features of the former being rounder and fuller than those of the Western Mongols. The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. E. Delmar Morgan, F.E.G.S., for his kindness in allowing him to reproduce here some of the excellent photographs taken for him during his travels in Eastern Turkestan. The originals are in the possession of the Eoyal Geographical Society, the Council of which also kindly gave their permission. Others of Mr. Morgan's photographs appear in Chapter X. The Mongol countenance is an exaggeration of the Chinese type: the face is flat and broad, the nose low, and the eyes are oblique. Living most of their lives on horseback, the Mongols have short legs and small feet; the calves are undeveloped, and the knees bent out. The famous Venetian traveller Marco Polo, who visited them in the thirteenth century, thus describes their habits, in words which are equally true even now: "The Tartars never remain By permission of the Royal Geographical Society. A FAMILY GROUP OF MONGOLS, KULDJA. 142 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND fixed, but as the winter approaches remove to the plains of a warmer region iii order to find sufficient pasture for their cattle; and in summer they frequent cold situations in the mountains, where there are water and verdure, and their cattle are free from the annoyance of horse-flies and other biting insects. During two or three months they progressively ascend higher ground and seek fresh pastures, the grass not being adequate in one place to feed the multitude of which their flocks and herds consist. Their huts or tents are formed of rods covered with felt; and being exactly round if nicely put together, they can gather them into one bundle, and make them up as packages [a process which the present writer witnessed in Berlin at the interesting Exhibition of Kirghese by Herr Gebrink at the Flora Garten, Charlottenberg], which they carry along with them in their migrations upon a sort of car with four wheels. When they have occasion to set up these again, they always make the entrance front to the south. Besides these cars they have a superior kind of vehicle upon two wheels, covered likewise with felt, and so effectually as to protect those within it from wet during a whole day of rain. They are drawn by oxen and camels, and serve to convey their wives and children, their utensils, and such provisions as they require. The women attend to their trading concerns, buy and sell, and provide everything necessary for their husbands and their families, the time of the men being entirely devoted to the employment of hunting and hawking, and matters that relate to military life. They have the best falcons in the world, and also the best dogs. They subsist entirely upon flesh and milk, eating the produce of. their sport, and certain small animals not unlike rabbits, called by our By permission of the JRoyal Geographical Hod A GROUP OF MONGOLS. 144 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND people ' Pharaoh's mice,' which during the summer season are found in great abundance on the plains. But they likewise eat flesh of every description horses, camels, and even dogs provided they are fat. They drink mare's milk, which they prepare in such a manner that it has the qualities and flavour of white wine." This is the well-known koumiss. The Mongolian is robust, and capable of enduring great hardships. He can ride a camel for fifteen hours at a stretch with the thermometer down at 15 below zero (Fahrenheit). But he does not like walking, and is nearly always mounted. After 200 years of Chinese government the race has greatly degenerated, even losing to a great extent the personal courage which gave them the power of making rapid conquests over other peoples. Like their ancestors, they are still nomads, and their wealth consists of flocks of sheep, herds of horses (small, but very enduring), cattle, camels, and goats. As a rule they are , hospitable, though indifferent to personal comfort, addicted to cattle-stealing and to drink, but when sober good-hearted and friendly. Tents are their only protection against the violent sandstorms of summer, and the yet more terrible snowstorms of winter. Frequent pilgrimages are made to Urga, the religious capital of the country, and to various other Mongolian and Chinese shrines. They are very dirty people, never washing their bodies, and very seldom their faces and hands. Lamaism, a form of Buddhism, has taken a strong hold upon them, and superstitions are very prevalent. By permission of the Royal Geographical Society. KHAN WANG, A MONGOL OF KULDJA. CHAPTER VII. JAPAN, THE HAIRY AINU, KOREA, FORMOSA, LIU-KIU ISLANDS, AND TIBET. JAPAN. THE Japanese people live in what has been aptly described as an empire of islands. Their own native name Nippon signifies "Land of the Kising Sun." They sometimes speak of it as Great Nippon, just as we ourselves speak of Great Britain. Geographically their country has a very strong analogy to ours in its proximity to a vast continent, in latitude, and in having its shores washed by a great ocean current of warm water from the tropics. The area of the country has been estimated at 155,000 square miles, which is 34,000 square miles larger than the United Kingdom. But besides the four large islands of Yezo, Hondo, Shikoku, and Kiusiu, to which the above figures refer, there are in the Mikado's' dominion about 4,000 small islands, among which are the Loo-choo and the Kurile Islands, not to mention the large island of Formosa taken from China in 1895. The census taken in 1891 showed a population of 40,719,000. The fact that several different races are blended and combined in the Japanese type of to-day may be reasonably explained by the geographical situation of the country. It is connected with the Malay Archipelago by groups of islands. From the Peninsula of Korea, on the mainland of Asia, it is separated only by a narrow strait. With Kamschatka it is more or less connected by a chain of islands, and by another chain it is similarly connected with the North American Continent. Here we have at least four routes by which Japan has always been accessible with the most primitive means of transport. Mixed though they are, the Japanese have not often been conquered. Their neigh- bours, the Chinese, have made several attempts to subdue them and annex their beautiful archipelago, but always met with signal defeat. The Japanese became skilful and daring navigators. With Arabs they may have made voyages even as far as India. Their junks have undoubtedly sailed to the coasts of Central America, and as freebooters they Avere once the terror of the people on the Chinese coast. The Japanese, like ancient peoples Avith hardly an exception, have an accepted account not only of their origin as a distinct race, but of the creation of the island realms destined for their habitation photo by Messrs. Kajima A- suwo. and heritage. They say that, when THREE JAPANESE GIRLS. 145 146 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND the world was being formed, and the earth was still soft like mud, or like thick oil floating on the surface of water, there arose out of the mass the flag or rush called asi (Erianthus japonicus], from which there sprang the land-forming god, Kuni-soko-tatsino-mikoto. After him arose the god and goddess whose functions are the baking of mud-earth and the baking of sand-earth. As the asi grows thickly in marshy places round the Japanese coast, we have here stated the geological process of the formation of new ground. One of the next proceedings was the special production of the Japanese islands by the god Iza-na-gi, and the goddess Iza-na-mi. They stood on the heaven-bridge and dipped a spear in the muddy waters. Then they raised the spear, and each drop that fell from it formed an island. Then followed the loves of this divine pair, who descended on Dai Nippon, the larger island, which, indeed, may be regarded as the mainland of Japan. They met near the stalk of the asi, from which the land-forming god had sprung, and which had now grown into a tall imperial column. A JAPANESE VEGETABLE-PEDLAR. They regarded each other with looks of admiration. But, unhappily, the goddess was not free from all the human weaknesses of her sex, for she spoke first, and from that fact only a presage of evil could be drawn. The first child born to them was set adrift in an ark of reeds, but survived many perils and became the progenitor of an illustrious race. The physical characteristics of the Japanese type are a flat forehead with more than the usual distance between the eyebrows, a small but well-formed nose, slightly raised nostrils, and small black eyes, rather less oblique than the Chinese, lank black hair, little or no beard, short legs and low stature, the average being about 5 feet 4 inches. The complexion is sallow, or dirty olive-yellow. "It is curious," says Dr. W. H. Guillemard, "how the face-complexion of these people differs from the body-complexion. In the course of two visits to Japan, in which I travelled much in various parts of the country, I saw many hundreds of naked Japanese, the bathing of both sexes in company being at that time the rule, and I was struck particularly with the fact that, in spite of their sallow or yellowish complexion, their bodies JAPAN were Avhiter than those of Englishmen, or even Englishwomen. The Chinaman, however, strips yellowish." The mental endowments of a people can seldom be correctly inferred from a view of their physical qualities. This truth is forcibly illustrated in the Japanese race, who appear but a feeble folk when compared with the average Chinese and with the Koreans, who are more closely related to them. They possess very considerable powers of endurance, but are physically weak, with only slight muscular development and narrow chests. Nevertheless, they stand intellectually at the head of all the peoples of Mongol stock. In recent years the Japanese have shown that, in this respect, they can claim to rank with the more advanced European nations, being highly intelligent, progressive, quick-witted, and brave to a degree of heroism unsur- passed by any other people. " The sense of personal honour, so feebly developed among other Asiatics, became a passion under the medieval feudal system, and led to astounding acts of Taken during the Scientific Expedition ofH.M.S. ''Challenger" 1872-70. Published by Horsburgh & THE JAPANESE MODE OF CONVEYANCE. Government Copyright. devotion and self-sacrifice, as well as to deeds of incredible ferocity, of almost daily occurrence. With much enterprise and originality is combined an imitative faculty surpassing even that of the Chinese, as shown by the fact that their first steamer with engines complete was constructed solely from the directions given in a Dutch treatise on the subject. These varied mental qualities explain the rapidity with which the Japanese the barriers of exclusion once broken down have taken their place in the comity of the Western nations" (Keane). It is strange that the Koreans, to whom they are so nearly related, should have failed to rise to the same height of intellectual culture. But by no means are all the Japanese educated, many of those living away from the towns being in a very low state of culture. The Japanese commence their authentic history about the same time as that of Ancient Rome began, namely 660 B.C. The first Emperor, or Mikado, established something like systematic government in the vicinity of Kioto, not far from the modern port Osaka. For centuries their histories speak of efforts to subdue the wild intractable aborigines (Hairy Ainu), 148 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND who obstinately clung to their independence, and who, in the second century of our era> were driven beyond Yokohama, and subsequently to the north island of Yezo, where they still exist, only nominally subject to their conquerors. These highly interesting aborigines, of Caucasian origin, will be described further on (see page 152). The Japanese of all classes are highly courteous and obliging. Personally brave, and proud of the great deeds performed by their forefathers, they are altogether a warlike nation, distinguished beyond others for their contempt of death and by an almost morbid sense of personal honour. The latter sentiment leads to frequent duelling and to quarrels between individuals and families, which are maintained with a persistency and pitiless rancour that remind one of the Corsican vendetta. This dark side of their character is not, however, apparent to ordinary observers. Their restless activity and good-humour are the traits most constantly displayed, and are illustrated by the amusements which they pursue with uncommon zest. The natives seem to be almost frivolous in their freedom from care. But they are always polite, and this is as true of the sturdy porter who carries your baggage, and the man who draws you through the streets in the jinriksha, as of the pretty waitress who supplies you with the universal beverage in the tea-house. Even the beggars and they are many excite interest by their professional buffoonery. In every Japanese city a large space is set apart for amusements and called the josliiwara. There may always be found performing in the streets troupes of clever acrobats, jugglers, clowns, and strolling players. The many theatres may be visited for a trifling fee, and in these establishments the audience remains squatted in family groups for hours. Wrestling is even more popular than the drama, often exciting enthusiasm as frantic as that which Spaniards exhibit at a bull-fight. Another very favourite form of amusement is the flying of kites, and it is no uncommon sight to see quite old people amusing themselves in this manner. On the whole, the Japanese must be described as a gay, pleasure-seeking people. They devote the whole evening to some kind of relaxation, which is always preceded by the cleansing and refreshing bath. The rapidity with which the Japanese adopt European customs is strikingly illustrated in their dress. This is more particularly true of Tokio, Yokohama, and other populous cities where Europeans reside longest and in greatest number, though it applies chiefly to the wealthier and the more cultivated classes. The real charm of Japanese life, so different from that of other lands, is not to be found in its Europeanised circles, but among the great mass of the people. It is they who repre- sent in Japan, as in all countries, the national character, national virtues, and national vices, and who cling to their old customs, their Buddhist images, their household shrines, their fervent worship of ancestors, and their queer, if rather picturesque, style of dress. Photo by Messrs. Kajima & Suwo. Notwithstanding the intellectually TWO FAIR DAUGHTERS OF JAPAN. emancipating effect of the revolution AN ELABORATELY TATTOOED JAPANESE MAN. 150 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND of 1868, which abolished feudalism and restored the Mikado to his position of almost divine power and authority, and notwithstanding the wide adoption of Western notions since the opening of the country to foreign merchants, missionaries, and tourists at that date, the Japan of to-day remains decidedly Japanese. The coolies do not wear "bowler" hats, even though there is an apparent inclination among the humbler Japs to combine the Englishman's hat and boots with a Japanese costume. To the stranger in Japan who may be making his first excursion through the city in a rattling jinriksha, everything appears quaint, elfish, and pantomime-like. Everything as well as everybody is small, quaint, and mysterious. Some shade of blue predominates. The houses are crowned with blue roofs; the little shop-fronts are hung with blue, and the smiling little people have more dark blue in their costume than any other colour. A first glance down one of the queer streets you pass creates only an odd confusion as you look through a seemingly endless flutter of flags and swaying of dark-blue tapestry, all made more strange (though certainly relieved and it may be beautified) by the Japanese or Chinese lettering which appears on them. There is no regularity of plan at least, none which the stranger can immediately discern. Nothing is exactly like anything else. The shops are all low and light, with their first storeys open to the street. Above each shop-front a thin strip of roofing slopes back to the miniature balcony of the paper-screened second storey. The floors of the tiny shops are well raised above the level of the street, and they are covered with matting. The dark-blue blouses of the labouring people are adorned on the back with the same curious lettering which appears on the shop draperies. As the letters appear on the back of a workman's frock pure white or dark blue large enough to be easily read at a great distance, they give to the poor cheap garment an appearance of distinction and value which it is not possible to estimate correctly at first. The letters are the wearer's trade-mark they make known the name of some guild or company of which he is a member, or by which he is employed. Children are everywhere. In the quieter thoroughfares you may see rows and processions of girls, carrying funny -looking little Jap babies in hoods on their backs. One cannot be quite sure whether the carriers are the sisters or the mothers of their burdens, for Japanese girls marry and become mothers very early. The women are fond of dress. All who can afford it have the hitomo, or under-garment of silk, which is generally of a bright colour. Over it, according to the season and the occasion, are worn two or three and sometimes as many as five or six flowing robes called kimono which fall down over the feet. These are mainly of silk or crape, those underneath of a light, the others of a dark colour, generally blue. All are girdled round the waist by the obi, 6 or 8 feet long, and a foot wide, which is generally of satin or some Leavy silk material. The ends of this girdle are tied into a large square bow behind. The feet are protected by high clogs of elm-wood or straw sandals, according to the weather. Tattooing, introduced less than three hundred years ago, was once very common, but is now chiefly practised by men of the lower class. Umbrellas and fans are used by both sexes; but the men, during the past thirty years, have largely imitated the European style of dress. Photo by jfo*r.. Kujima A nuwo. li ma Y be d of the Japanese, with far more AN ELABORATE JAPANESE HEAD-DRESS. truth than it has been said of the Chinese, that they JAPAN are a nation of artists. A striking character- istic of their art is that they display it largely in articles of practical utility. There are no more industrious people on the earth . Having no Sabbath, they take a holiday only when there is nothing to do. Their spade in- dustry turns the country into a vast beautifully kept garden, in which one might almost look in vain for a weed. The Japanese turn every- thing to useful account; in their application of the commoner and ap- parently often worth- less materials artistic- feeling is exercised, together with thrift and practical common sense. " Viewed in this light," says Sir Rutherford Alcock, " it is not too much to say that no nation in ancient or modern times has been richer in art motifs and original types than the Japanese." Art in Japan is not, as in Europe, the grafting of some style upon another, and the accumulated knowledge of all the various schools since remote antiquity. It has been a growth unaffected by outside influences, and is self-contained, self-sustaining, and strictly national. If we compare the decorative art of Japan with that of China, we see how far the Japanese have left their former masters behind, and how thoroughly they have produced a school of art peculiarly their own. Mr. Cutler has well said: "If we study the decorative art of the Japanese, we find the essential elements of beauty in design, fitness for the purpose which the object is intended to fulfil, good Avorkmanship and constructive soundness, which give value to the commonest article, and some touch of ornament by a skilful hand, together creating a true work of art." Pictorial art as understood in Europe can hardly be said to have any existence in Japan, whose art is essentially decorative, most of the designs consisting of natural objects treated in a conventional way. The flowers may not be rigidly correct botanically, and the birds may not be absolutely without blemish in the eyes of an ornithologist, but they show a truth to nature which declares that every blade of grass, each leaf and feather depicted, has been the object of loving and most patient study. In their methods of ornamentation the Japanese, like the Chinese, treat every object flatly. It is not a picture that they produce, but a decoration full of extraordinary beauty. The PROFESSIONAL JAPANESE WRESTLERS. 152 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Plioto bij Messrs. Kajima & Suwo. A VILLAGE SCENE IN JAPAN. delicacy of touch is everywhere seen. The artist specially excels in conveying an idea of motion in the swift flight of birds and the gliding movement of fishes, and that is one of the most difficult triumphs of art. The Japanese may be styled the Raphaels of fishes, and insects, and flowers, and bamboo stems swaying in the wind; but they have never succeeded in adequately transferring to canvas "the human form divine"; they have never, like the early Italian masters, drawn away men's hearts from earth to heaven in an ecstasy of adoration. As has been tersely said by Mr. Alfred East, in a lecture on the subject, "Japanese art is great in small things, but small in great things." No people display greater indifference to religion and religious teaching than the Japanese. The accepted religions are two a much corrupted form of Buddhism and Shintoism. The latter belief was professed by the Japanese long before Buddhism and the year 552 of our era. It has emerged doctrines were taught, its votaries again Confucianism were introduced from Korea about from an eclipse which it suffered when the newer number many millions, and it is practically the national religion, if that epithet can be applied to any of the several doctrines at present freely taught and professed in the country. Shinto means literally " the way of the gods." Though called a religion, it is really no more than a system of moral philosophy. Motoori, a high Japanese authority on Shinto, points out that it does not contain any strictly formulated moral precepts, which are unnecessary, as the Japanese must act aright if he consults his own heart. He asserts that the whole duty of a good Japanese consists in obeying implicitly and without question the commands of the Mikado. According to Shinto doctrine, Japan is the country of the gods, and the Mikado the direct descendant and representative of the Sun-goddess. It teaches a species of hero-worship, and it strongly inculcates reverence for the dead.. By it, too, spiritual agencies are attributed to the elements or natural phenomena. The Shinto shrines throughout the country are built in very simple style, and before each shrine stand one or more torii archways formed of two upright posts with a projecting cross-bar laid on their tops, and beneath that a smaller horizontal beam, the ends of which do not project. The most marked distinction between pure Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples is the absence from the former of images exposed for the veneration of the worshipper; but at the same time the Shinto shrine always contains some object in which the spirit of the deity therein enshrined is supposed to reside. The principal Shinto shrines are maintained by Government. Buddhism, once everywhere prevalent in Japan, has been virtually disestablished since 1874. Since the country was opened to foreigners, various Christian missions have been established. Their principal seats are Tokio and Yokohama. Churches have been built, and schools opened for the children. The number of native converts is constantly but slowly increasing, for the Japanese mind has not yet been thoroughly aroused from its materialism and the apathy or dislike with which it regards things spiritual. THE HAIRY AIXU. THE wild hairy aborigines of Japan referred to on page 147 have attracted a good deal of attention. They have been fully described by Mr. A. H. Savage Landor and other travellers who use the THE HAIRY AINU pencil as freely as the pen. Although now confined to Yezo, part of Saghalin, and the southern members of the Kurile Islands, their territory appears to have formerly comprised a great part, if not the whole, of Japan. In the national traditions there was a time when they could look out on their watery domain and exclaim, " Gods of the sea, open your divine eyes. Wherever your eyes turn, there echoes the sound of the Ainu speech." The full-blooded and half-caste survivors of this remote Asiatic branch of the Caucasian race scarcely number 20,000. They are not Mongolian, as some writers have attempted to prove; but their low stature, and the skulls of all shapes (long, round, and intermediate), seem to show that they have to some extent mingled with the surrounding Mongolian peoples. The features are not regular in the European sense; yet the faces are often handsome, with large, slightly curved noses, clear brown or greenish eyes set straight in the head, and olive-brown or fair complexions. Miss Bird (Mrs. Bishop), in the account of her travels in " Unbeaten Tracks in Japan," says that the Ainu possess many excellent qualities, and take advantage of such opportunities as they can find to better themselves. She describes them as being " about the middle height, broad-chested, broad-shouldered, very strongly built, the arms and legs short and muscular, the hands and feet large. The bodies of many are covered with short bristly hair. I have seen two boys," she says, "whose backs are covered with fur as fine and soft as that of a cat. The foreheads are very high, broad, and prominent, and at first sight give one the impression of an unusual capacity for intellectual development. The nose is straight but short, the cheek-bones low, the eyebrows full, forming a straight line nearly across the face. The eyes are large, tolerably deep-set, and very beautiful, the colour a rich liquid brown, the expression singularly soft, the skin of an Italian olive tint, and light enough to show the changes of colour in the cheeks." The people pride themselves above all things on their hairiness, and their name in the language of the people signifies " Hairy Men." Probably the first thing that strikes the visitor to Yezo is the odour of dried fish which prevails everywhere, and tells of the principal industry. Other smells abound too, for the Ainu are a very dirty people. The huts are small, with hardly any furniture or bedding. It is easy for the stranger to gain admission, for the Ainu are a hospitable race. Having entered, he sees that there is only one small window, not large enough to light the interior, and the many smells are most disagreeable. In the dimness he will perhaps see an old man. perfectly naked, with a fine head, long white hair and beard, sitting on the ground among a mass of seaweed, which he is disentangling as fast as he can, arranging it in something like order. A couple of young men and a couple of young women, with bright, intelligent eyes, and high cheek-bones, are assisting in the work. In their quiet, gentle way they all bring their hands together, rub the palms, and, lifting their arms, slowly stroke their hair. The men stroke the beard also with the backs of their hands, phutu bi Vftwjt Ka . ima & S . MWO while the women draw the first finger under A DAUGHTER OP JAPAN. 154 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND the nose from the left to the right. This is their salutation to the stranger, and, odd as it is, it is not ungraceful. Men and women wear large earrings or pieces of red or black cloth, which add to their picturesque ness, but the women are nearly all disfigured by a long moustache tattooed across the face from ear to ear. Rough drawings adorn the arms and hands of the women, who on the whole possess comely features, though they look, notwithstanding the gentleness of their manner, as if they could be very passionate. A traveller says of a little girl, about ten years old, whom he saw in one of the seaside villages, that her large eyes, tanned complexion, white teeth, the tiny bluish-black tattoo on her upper lip, her uncombed long black hair flying around her, and her red cloth earrings, made her as quaint a study of colour and vitality as an artist could desire. A large number of the Ainu have settled in a line of little villages on the banks of the Saru River, and of these villages Piratori, situated about fifteen miles from the sea, is the largest. Near the huts in which the people live may be seen a number of tent-like constructions of bamboo and matting, which are built on the top of posts or piles, and are raised 6 or 8 feet above the ground. These stilted houses are the store-rooms, and are raised so high to protect their contents from the ravages of wild animals and the destruction that would be caused by the floods that frequently cover the land. The chief's house is larger than the other huts. On state occasions he wears a crown made of shavings and seaweed, having in front a small bear's head roughly carved in wood. This he solemnly places on his head, after which his better-half assists him to put on his -imi, or regal garments, and then hands him a large sword, which also is part of his regalia. The garments are made of strips of red, white, and blue cloth sewn together. The materials are Japanese, but there is nothing Japanese in the shape of the garments which have been cut, arranged, and sewn by the Ainu, and are thoroughly Ainu in fashion, and therefore in ordinary English absolutely indescribable. Even when royally arrayed the chief's person will be found much in need of an application of soap and water a fact which, an enthusiastic artist might say, adds to rather than detracts from the picturesqueness of his appearance.* The Ainu have very few public festivals, and none that depend upon the seasons, but it is on such occasions that the girls (manokoft) may be seen at their best. They nearly all dress in long yellowish gowns, descending nearly to the feet, with rough white and red ornamentations on a patch of blue cloth on their backs. In a kind of savage dance called the lapkara they arrange themselves in a circle, and sometimes a child or two children are placed in the centre. The dance or game consists in hopping round and round in a ring, while calling out either the name or making some sound characteristic of their usual occupation, and clapping the hands so as to keep time. The dance is in some parts somewhat like our Sir Roger de Coverley, and though in a barbarous form is hardly less pretty. t,,j .!/,*,*. A'niima ,t- SUM. Tne wa l iri which the Ainu fish A JAPANESE DOCTOR AND PATIENT. for salmon in the Otsu River is * The writer is indebted to Messrs. Kajima & Suwo, of London and Japan, for the valuable photographs of Ainu, taken by them, which illustrate pages 156-160. THE HAIRY AINU primitive but interesting, and often exciting. A party of travellers, not far from the river banks, were attracted by shouts and cries of excitement on the river. They hurried to the bank to learn the cause. Two native "dug-outs" were coming swiftly down with the strong current, parallel with each other and about 7 feet apart. There were three people in each "dug-out" a woman with a paddle steering at the prow, another woman crouched in the stern, and a man standing up in the middle. A coarse net made of young vines, and about 5 feet square, was fastened to two poles 7 or 8 feet long. The men who stood in the canoes each held a pole, to the upper end of which the net was attached, and attentively watched the water. The salmon were coming up the stream from the sea. The small net was plunged into the water between the canoes, and nearly every time it was raised a large salmon was caught and flung into one or other of the "dug-outs," where the woman crouching in the stern crushed its head with a large stone. If a fish escaped, yells of indignation, especially from the women, were heard. Both men and women were naked, and the dexterity and speed with which, they paddled their canoes down the stream, working their net at the same time, and seldom missing a fish, were marvellous. As the Ainu of to-day is and lives, so Japanese art and traditions depict him in the dawn of history. His language, religion, dress, and manner of life are the same as of old. He has no alphabet, no writing, and no numbers above a thousand. In character and morals he is still stupid, good-natured, brave, peaceable, and gentle, but apparently destined soon to be numbered among the extinct races. His religious notions are of the vaguest possible kind, his gods being merely wooden sticks and posts so whittled as to let the shavings fall down in curls. But the chief divinity seems to be the bear, which is eaten as well as worshipped. A young bear, captured in the early spring, and confined in a cage, is kept in the chief's house, where it is suckled by an Ainu woman, and played with by the children till it becomes A WAYSIDE RESTING-PLACE IN JAPAN. i 5 6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND strong and dangerous; then the great Bear Feast is celebrated, and the sacred animal is immolated and eaten by its worshippers. KOREA. THE people of the Peninsula of Korea, numbering about 8,000,000, are mainly of Mongolian stock, but there may be present also a Caucasian element. Their hair is black, but one often meets with faces that look almost English. Women are not much esteemed among the Koreans, but they enjoy a considerable amount of freedom, and it is only among the upper classes that they are kept in seclusion. Strong affection for their children is one of the better Ph.o/o by Messrs. Kujiina & Suwo. TWO AINU MEN IN DUG-OUT CANOE. characteristics of these people. Filial piety is held in the highest estimation, and the conduct of a son to his father is guided by a great number of rules. If he meets him on the way, he must bow down to him with the humblest obeisance. If he writes to him, he must employ the most respectful forms in the language. If the father is sick, his son must attend him; if the father is in prison, the son must be somewhere close at hand. If the father is exiled, the son must accompany him on his journey. On the death of his father the eldest sou becomes the head of the family, responsible for all the duties of a father towards his brothers and sisters, who receive no assigned share in the patrimony. The houses in Korea are of one storey only, flimsily built of wood, clay, and rice-straw, usually covered with thatch, and very badly provided with windows. The dwellings of the commoner people are only about 10 or 12 feet square, with bare earth for floor, covered in a few instances with mats of poor AINU MAN AND WIFE. 157 158 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND quality. There are no beds and no chairs. The national hat is composed of a framework of bamboo, covered with an open kind of hair-cloth. It affords no protection from rain, cold, or sun, and is altogether very incon- venient. The shoes or sandals are of straw. FORMOSA. ONE of the chief advantages gained by Japan in her war with China was the accession of the Island of Formosa. The settled Chinese and mixed popu- lation is estimated at from 2,500,000 to 3,000,000, but it is impossible to form any correct estimate of the number of the savage tribes of the centre and mountainous eastern dis- tricts. Wild Malay tribes inhabit the eastern side of the island. The aborigines are divided into a great number of tribes, each of which is governed by a headman or chief. Their language also is split up into a great number of dialects very different from each other. These tribes exhibit great differences in feature, complexion, and customs. They wear large ear-ornaments of bamboo, or of the bone of a cuttle- fish. Circular pieces of this substance are worn by the men in the centre of the forehead, where they are held in place by a band of hemp-cloth tied round the head. In many tribes the women are more interesting than the men, for the girls and young married women often possess inherent good qualities not to be found in their brothers or husbands, and notwithstanding their wild surroundings they are well conducted, hard and willing workers, and good wives. A curious custom among them is that of extracting the eye-teeth of young girls, which gives them a lisp and certainly does not add to the attractive- ness of their appearance. On the east coast the men do the same, but the inland tribes have no such custom. Girls are tattooed on the face before marriage, the tattoo marks and lines being so drawn as to produce the effect of a dark blue veil stretched tightly from ear to ear over the mouth; the men also are tattooed on the face. Over the doorway of a house are often suspended as trophies the skulls of wild boars, deer, and apes. It is recorded of an unusually vain-glorious savage that he made display of a tuft consisting of six pig-tails of human hair, which his own hand had cut from the heads of as many Chinamen. Notwith- standing their barbarity, however, the people are capable of improvement, and it is said that Christianity is here making some progress. THE LIU-KIU (OR LOO-CHOO) ISLANDS. THE natives of the Liu-kiu Isles betray their Japanese origin in both their speech and physical appearance, but there is also an unmistakable Chinese strain. Possessing all the courtesy Photo by Messrs. Kajima & Suwo. THREE AINU WOMEN. Photo by Messrs. Kajima & Suwo. THREE AINU MEN. 159 i6o THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND and geniality of their Japanses kindred, they appear even to excel the Chinese in their veneration for those who have departed this life. Mr. Basil H. Chamberlain (Journal of the Anthropological Institute, 1894) says: "It were scarcely too much to say that, if the living dwell in hovels, the dead dwell in palaces, so imposing are the vaults, of which each family, even the very poorest, possess one. . The roofs of these burial-vaults may be seen from a considerable distance at sea, on account of the dazzling white plaster that distinguishes them from the surrounding vegetation. On the occasion of a death, the corpse is conveyed to the family vault m-selemn procession, a Buddhist priest leading the way, hired mourners following with bitter wails, and the kinsmen of the dead bringing up the rear. The religious rites duly concluded, the body is left shut up for two years. Then the family again assemble for the purpose of washing the bones and depositing them in their final resting-place, an earthenware urn, which is lifted on to one of the numerous shelves that run round the vault. The name of the dead and the date are inscribed in Chinese characters on the urn in a space left for that purpose." A Liu-kiu man, when hard pressed for cash, pawns his family vault; for every one knows that money ad- vanced on that security must be paid back. The usual every-day costume resembles that of the Japanese, both men and women wearing a simple loose robe. The men of these islands, unlike the Japanese, wear two large hair-pins of gold, silver, or pewter, according to the wearer's rank. The hair being tied in a knot on the top of the head, the pins are stuck through this. Young men of all classes shave clean up to the age of twenty-five; after that age beards and moustaches are allowed to grow. The gait of the people is dignified, the expression of their faces usually serious, often almost sad, but singularly sweet in the venerable old men. Their voices are soft and low. All the women tattoo their hands; those of the lower classes roll their hair round in a twist on the top of the head, Avhere it is fastened with hair-pins. The native courtesans differ greatly in their ways from those of the mainland of Japan, being very frank and straightforward. It is said that every Japanese trader arriving in these islands engages one of these women, to whom he entrusts everything, even to the management of his mercantile affairs. When he departs, the girl sells to the best advantage those articles which he confided to her charge. So that when her master comes back again, she is able to render him a satisfactory account, in which there is never any error or prevarication, even to the amount of a single penny. According to Mr. Chamberlain, Buddhism, as a religion and a rule of life in these islands, is practically extinct, for Confucianism has taken its place. He speaks of the natives in terms of the highest praise, and says that their system of farming would put European agriculturists to shame. Schools flourish here, but of course the women are not educated. The roads are said to be bad, being (except in the towns) mere tracks impassable for wheeled conveyances, and the streams uncrossed by bridges. Photo by Messrs. Kiiji AINU CHILDREN. TIBET 161 TIBET. THE Tibetans occupy an extensive table-laud in the heart of Asia, ranging from 12,000 to 17,000 feet above the level of the sea. The country is bounded on the north by the Kuen Lun range of mountains, and on the south and south-west by the Himalayas, and is the loftiest table-laud on the face of the globe. Its area exceeds 700,000 square miles, of which a great part is uninhabited by human beings, while a considerable portion is too mountainous and sterile to be cultivated, and is traversed only by wandering tribes of nomads. The centres of the settled and agricultural population lie to the south in a region named Bod-yul by the inhabitants, and known as Bhot by the Hindus, their immediate neighbours south of the Himalayas. The whole population of Tibet is estimated at about 8,000,000, half of whom belong to tribes governed by their own chiefs, and prac- tically independent of or owning but a nominal allegiance to the central authority. The people who are under the rule of the supreme govern- ment of Lassa occupy the southern provinces, the valley of the Sanpo, or Upper Brahmaputra River, in which the capital is situated. This is the most fertile and thickly peopled portion of the country, the true Bod-yul that is, land of the Tibetan race. Several origins have been assigned to the name Tibet, but we need note only that which is given in ancient Chinese records. It is there said that the king of the country is called diba, and is descended from an ancient race of the Langut Tartars. In A.D 433 the historical founder of a state in the east of Tibet gave to his dominions his own name of Tubat. This was a famous family name borne by several Tartar dynasties, and belonged to the Sien-pi race, in whose language Tubat means "a coverlet." There can be no doubt that the Tibetans are a Mongol race, even though marked differences of physical type in certain localities plainly show that other branches of the human tree have been grafted on the Mongol stock. The people generally may be characterised as slender of limb, above the average height, and strong; their eyes are black and slightly oblique; they have large mouths, brown hair, no beards, clear ruddy- brownish complexions, and an intelligent ex- pression. They have good natural gifts, are mild in temper, kindly, and regard their pledged word. They are fond of music, dancing, and singing, but are entirely lacking in enterprise, and are thoroughly imbued with superstition. Being a very social people, nearly all the notable events in life are made occasions for friendly meetings, feasting, and enjoyment. The Tibetans are far less industrious and skilful than the Chinese, to whom they have been tributary and nominally subject for about 180 years. Those of their industries that can be described as national, because most generally practised, are few. They have some skill in Photo by Sir Walter C. Hillier, K.C.M.d A KOREAN COOLIE. 162 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND metal-working, but their statues and small bells are no more than creditable copies of Indian models. They use iron of good quality from their own mines for making excellent blades for sabres and other weapons. Although fond of precious stones, they do not know how to work them. Their chief industries are connected with wool, which, on account of the favourable P/toto by Sir Walter (J. Hilli-.r, K.C.M.G. KOREAN SECRETARIES OF STATE. climate, is their staple produce. Weaving is generally the work of women. Although they do not excel as manufacturers, the Tibetans are born ..traders. Officers for the superintendence and regulation of trade are appointed by the king, the ministers, and the great lamaiserais (a kind of monastery). The two great market centres are Shigatze and Lassa, the capital, where the caravans arrive in astonishing numbers all through December and January. Yaks and sheep are used for transport. A European traveller, describing a party of Tibetan tent-dwellers, says that, while the men wore a variety of coats and hats, certain leading characteristics of dress were common to all. One man wore a gaudy coat trimmed with leopard-skin; another had a long grey woollen robe like a dressing-gown, taken up at the waist by a belt; and a third was clad in a loose garb of sheep-skin with the wool inside. Yet another was arrayed in a deep red tunic, fastened by a belt of leather, with silver ornamentations inlaid in wrought iron, the belt holding a needle-case, tinder-pouch and steel, a pretty dagger with sheath of ebony, and other articles. Most Tibetan men wear a sword in the front of their belts, and whether the coat is long or short it is invariably loose, and 'made to bulge at the waist, where the wearer generally carries two or three eating and drinking utensils, a snuff-box, such bags of money as he may possess, and one or two bricks of compressed tea. It is owing to this custom that Tibetan men at first sight look stout, although as a matter of fact they are really very thin. When standing or walking, they leave one arm and part of the chest bare, letting the sleeve hang loose. The reason for this is that the days are very hot and the nights cold; and as Tibetans always sleep in their clothes, the garments that protect their bodies from frost during the night are too warm in the day, and therefore this expedient is adopted. When sitting 164 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND down, both arms are drawn from the sleeves, and the chest and back are left bare. When on foot, one arm is slipped in to prevent the coat and its heavy contents from falling off. The Tibetans have innumerable varieties of head-gear, although many men go about uncovered. Conical brown and grey felt hats, not unlike filters, are common, as also are cloth or fur caps with ear-flaps. The ground of the head- dress in our illustration on this page is of cloth of a claret colour, with rough turquoises sewn on, and silver ornaments on the buckles in front. The appendages at the side of the head are made of the hair of some animal, and fastened on to the natural hair. The mantle is lined with sheep-skin, and has an outer covering of cloth, half red and half dark green. The woman on the left wears an em- broidered mantle-cloth. There are two religions in Tibet Buddhism, in the form of Lamaism, and an earlier creed, generally called the Bon or Bonla religion, of which not much is known. Lassa, the capital of Tibet, is the sacred city of the Buddhists, and the centre of Lamaism, the religion which prevails throughout that country and Mongolia. The name of the city signifies "Seat of the gods." The fundamental doctrines of Lamaism are those taught by Buddha about 450 years before the beginning of our era; but so much has been added to the original articles of belief in the course of centuries, that Lamaism is really Buddhism corrupted by belief in Siva and other spirits whose existence Buddha did not acknowledge, while Lamaists worship them as gods. The central point of pure Buddhism is that deliverance on the part of man from all the evils and sorrows of life can be achieved here on earth by the practice of self-control, self-denial, and constant intellectual self-culture. The essence of all that is sacred in Lamaism is comprised under three heads, which they call the "three most precious jewels." The first is the " Buddha jewel"; the second, the "doctrine jewel"; and the third, the "priesthood jewel." The first person in this trinity, the Buddha, is not regarded as the creator of the universe, but as the founder of the doctrine, the highest saint, though endowed with all the qualities of supreme wisdom, power, virtue, and beauty. The second jewel is the law, or religion, that which constitutes, as it were, the existence of Buddha on earth after he had entered the Nirvana, or state of everlasting rest. The third jewel, the priesthood, is the congregation of all the saints, those who are in the flesh, and those * The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. H. C. V. Hunter, F.R.G.S., for the excellent photographs of Tibetans here reproduced, which were taken by himself when travelling in Tibet. Photo by Mr. 11. C. V. Hunter, F.B. WOMEN AND GIRL OF LADAK." TIBET who are disembodied spirits. The latter comprise the five Buddhas of contemplation, and all those myriads of pious men who became canonised after death. Inferior in rank to these saints are the gods and spirits, such as Indra, the god of the firmament; Yama, the god of death and the infernal regions; Siva, the god of vengeance the avenger in his most terrible shape; and Vaisravana, the god of wealth. Lamaism, like Buddhism, forbids injury to life, and does not allow the burial of the dead as practised by us. Persons distinguished by rank, learning, or piety are burned after their death; but the general way for disposing of dead bodies is to expose them in the open air to be devoured by birds and beasts of prey. One of the most interesting features of Lamaism is the organisation of its hierarchy, or priesthood. It may be said there are two heads of the national religion in Tibet. This anomalous feature resulted from the action of a reformer, one Tsongkapa, who has been styled "the Luther of Tibet," though his attack on the corruptions in Lamaism was effected two hundred years before the Protestant Reformation. He died in Lassa in 1419, and there were then in that city three huge monasteries containing 30,000 of his disciples, besides many more in other parts of the country. In doctrine this great Tibetan teacher adhered to the purer forms of the Buddhist school. He took very little part in church government, and did not question the right of the SaJcya Lamas to supremacy in title, though in other matters he raised and resolutely maintained the standard of revolt till his ends were attained. So completely did the new sect outnumber and overshadow the old, that the Emperor of China in the middle of the fifteenth century acknowledged the two leaders of the reformed religionists as titular overlords of the Church and tributary rulers of the realm of Tibet. These two rulers were then known as the Dalai Lama and the Pantshen Lama, and were the abbots of the great monasteries at Gedun Dubpa, near Lassa, and at Krashis Lunpo, in Further Tibet, respectively. Since that time the abbots of these monasteries have continued to exercise sovereignty over the country. The reincarnation of a Lama's spirit is naturally regarded as an event of greater consequence PlMto by Mr. H. O. V. Hunter, F.R. G.S. BUDDHIST PRIESTS AT LEH, WITH COPPER TRUMPETS, DRUMS, AND CYMBALS. i66 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Pkolo by Mtgnrs. Kapp & Co.} TIliKTAX DA.NTKKS. than the restoration to flesh of an ordinary layman's soul. To ascertain when that takes place, several means are resorted to. Sometimes the deceased had, before his death, confidentially mentioned to his friends where and in which family he would reappear, or possibly his will contained an intimation with the same purport. In most cases, however, the sacred books and the official astrologers are consulted, and they, by virtue of an extraordinary wisdom amounting to inspiration, after many ceremonies and long periods of contemplation, give all who are interested the information they seek. It can be easily imagined that extraordinary and startling consequences may result from the introduction of the same soul as the vivifying principle in members of different and probably hostile families. What must be regarded as the Lamaist clergy consists of four orders; and the lowest of these, having no claim to holiness on the grounds of good works done by predecessors, recruits its ranks on the principles of personal merit and theological proficiency. It has four grades. Every member must make the vow of celibacy, and by far the greater number of them live in convents. A Lamaist convent, or lamaiserai, consists of a temple, which forms its centre, and of a number of buildings connected with the temple, appropriated as the meeting- rooms, library, refectory, dwellings, and' for other worldly and spiritual wants of the monks. Lumaism has likewise its nuns and nunneries. The Lamaist Sacred Books bear the name of the Kandjur, and consist of 1,083 distinct works, which, in some editions, fill from 102 to 108 volumes, folio. The political authority of the Dalai Lama is confined to Tibet, but he is the acknowledged head of the Buddhist Church also throughout Mongolia and China. The Bonba are sometimes called the " Sect of the Black," to distinguish them from the ''Red" or "Yellow" Lamaists, these appellations arising from the colour of the garments worn by the members of the respective sects. The Bonba have eighteen principal gods and goddesses, of whom the most popular and the one universally Avorshipped is the " Tiger-god of Glowing Fire." Those Bonba who, when travelling, camp in black tents are presumably very orthodox, and perhaps divide their worship among a dozen at least of their divinities. P/ioto by Messrs. Johnson cfc llvffmun\ TWO LAMAS OF NUD. 167 i68 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] [Bombay. TIBETAN WOMEN. As Mr. Andrew Wilson says, the Tibetans are " the most pre-eminently praying people in the world. . . . They have praying-stones, praying-pyramids, praying-flags flying over every house, praying- wheels, praying-mills, and the universal prayer 'Om mane paclme hum''* is never out of their mouths." These four words, as Colonel Yule remarks, among all prayers on earth, form that which is most abundantly recited, written, printed, and even spun by machines for the good of the faithful. " They are the only prayer known to the ordinary Tibetans and Mongols the first words the child learns to stammer, the last gasping utterances of the dying." Colonel T. G. Montgomerie, R.E., thus describes the ' 'prayer- wheel " of Tibet, which, he says, "consists of a hollow, cylindrical copper bag, which revolves round a spindle, one end of which forms the handle. The cylinder is turned by means of a piece of copper attached to a string. A slight twist of the hand makes the cylinder revolve, and each revolution represents one repetition of the prayer, which is written on a scroll kept under the cylinder [sometimes it is engraved outside]. The prayer-wheels are of all sizes, from that of a large barrel downwards; but those carried in the hand are generally 4 or 6 inches in height by about 3 inches in diameter, with a handle projecting about 4 inches below the bottom of the cylinder. . . . The top of the cylinder was made large enough to allow the paper to be taken out when required. The rosary, which ought to have 108 beads, was made of 100 beads, every tenth bead being much larger than the others [this refers to the one used by a certain pundit]. The small beads were made of a red composition to imitate coral, the large ones of the dark corrugated seeds of the ridrds. The rosary was carried on the left sleeve." * The meaning of this sentence seems to have been lost ; but some say it may be translated " God the jewel in the lotus." CHAPTER VIII. THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. THE VEDDAS OF CEYLON. THE ABORIGINAL RACES OF INDIA: CENSUS RETURNS OF POPULATION: CLASSIFICATION OF RACES: THE ARYAN INVASION: CASTE: KOLS, GONDS, TOD AS, KHONDS, ETC. THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. THE people of the smaller and lower group of islands, known as Little An- daman, have always shown so much hos- tility to strangers that our knowledge of them is extremely slight. Concerning those from the Great Andaman Islands, it may be said that we possess a fairly complete know- ledge, thanks chiefly to the work of Mr. E. H. Man and the late Mr. G. E. Dobson, to whom we are indebted for the following brief description. The average height of the men is 4 feet lOf inches (very few ex- ceed 5 feet in height), and that of the women 4 feet 7 inches, while the average weight of the former is 98 Ibs., which is about half the average weight of an Englishman. Mr. E. H. Man, their English protector and friend, who has for many years been in charge Photo by the late G. E. Dobson, M.B. (by permission of the Anthropological Institute). A GROUP OF ANDAMANESE. (The woman in the centre, who is a widow, wears her late hushaiid's skull on her shoulder. The girdles are of bamboo.) 169 22 iyo THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND THE CHIEF OF A TRIBE LIVING IX THE VICINITY OF PORT BLAIR, AND HIS WIFE. of these people, says that they are well developed. The peculiar goat-like exhalations of the Negro are absent, but the odour of their presence is chiefly due to the unguent they use, which is composed of red oxide of iron, being mixed with the fat of either the turtle or the pig. The general excellence of the teeth is remarkable. Their hair is extremely frizzly, growing apparently in spiral tufts; its colour is usually quite black, turning grey at about the fortieth year. Their clothing is of the scantiest description, and what little they have serves chiefly for ornamental pur- poses. They live in small encampments and in dwellings rudely constructed of branches and leaves of trees. They have absolutely no agriculture, and keep no poultry or domestic animals. With dug-out canoes and outriggers they navigate the numerous creeks of the islands. They are expert swimmers and divers. Though constantly using fire, they are quite ignorant of the art of producing it, and therefore take great care to keep up a constant supply of burning or smouldering wood. Being entirely ignorant of metals, they use shells for many domestic purposes, especially a species of Gyrene, found abundantly, also chips of quartz and bamboo for knives. This wood, being very hard, produces good cutting edges, which they even use for shaving. Anvils and hammers are of stone (as with our ancestors of the Stone Age). Baskets, fishing-nets, and sleeping-mats are made of vegetable fibres. With the bow and arrow they are very skilful; and, as seen in our illustrations on pages 171 and 172, they shoot fish with arrows. The islands yieid them an abundant supply of food. They feed chiefly on pigs, dugongs, porpoises, iguana lizards, turtles and their eggs, and many kinds of fish, prawns, molluscs, the larvae of beetles, honey, and numerous roots (as yams), fruits, and seeds. Food is invariably cooked, and before the advent of Europeans they drank only water and had never seen tobacco; now they are very fond of the fragrant weed. The social life of these Negritos is enveloped in a perfect maze of unwritten law or custom, the intricacies of which it is difficult for strangers to unravel. The relations they may or may not marry, the food they are obliged or forbidden to take at particular epochs of life or seasons of the year, the words and names they may or may not pronounce, their games, amusements, traditions, and superstitions all these and other matters have been carefully observed by Mr. Man. With regard to the character of these people, the reader will perhaps be surprised to learn that they treat their women with great consideration. Self-respect and modesty characterise their intercourse with one another. From early youth the young people are instructed in the duties of hospitality, while the aged, the suffering, and the helpless are objects of special attention. It has often been observed by travellers that modesty and morality do not depend upon the amount of clothing considered necessary by so-called savages. The Andamanese present a case in point; for in spite of their scanty clothing the self-respect and the modesty THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS which characterise their intercourse one with another have been remarked by all observers. The curious and by no means uncommon custom of adoption prevails among these people. Strangers introduced by mutual friends are invariably warmly welcomed by the whole community; the best food in the encampment is set before them, and in every way they are Avell treated, presents being frequently given to them, especially when about to depart. ; ' Speeding the guest" is an axiom with these people, and the host always accompanies his friend to the landing-place. When bidding each other farewell, the guest takes the hand of his host and blows upon it. When the compliment has been returned, the departing visitor says, "I am off," to which his kind host replies, " Very well, go ; when will you come again?" After blowing once more on each other's hands, the two friends part, shouting invitations and promises for a future date. Contrary to the customs of most races, no salutations pass between friends even after a ritot.0 bij Menxi-s. P. Kltlr & Co.} [Hangoon. ANDAMANESE SHOOTING FISH. rather long separation. Kissing, rubbing noses, hand-shaking, etc., are quite unknown. The two friends merely gaze silently into each other's faces. But with relations the case is rather different. Two relations after a long separation demonstrate their joy at meeting by sitting with their arms round each other's necks and weeping and howling in a manner which would lead a stranger to suppose that some bitter sorrow had befallen them. In fact, there seems to be no difference at all between demonstrations of joy and of grief. When any one dies, the women begin to cry in loud chorus, but the men speedily join in. Then they all weep together, until, through sheer exhaustion, they are compelled to desist. Then if neither of the parties is in mourning, they get up a dance, in which the families not infrequently take part. When a husband returns to his home, his wife hangs upon his neck and sobs with joy as if her heart would break. He then goes to his relations, who also burst into tears. The early stories of cannibalism among these people do not at the present day require to be refuted. The natives express the greatest horror of such a custom, and indignantly deny that it ever held a place among their own institutions. Marriage is only allowed between those who are known to be not even distantly connected. So inexorable is this rule that it applies equally to such as are merely falsely related by the custom of adoption above referred to. A first cousin, even if only a cousin by adoption, is 172 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND regarded as a half-brother or a half-sister, as the case may be, and nephews and nieces are looked upon almost as sous and daughters. Notwithstanding the lack of female chastity before marriage, the girls are always modest and childlike in their behaviour, and when married they make good wives and become models of constancy. The statement made by some writers that communal marriage here exists is without foundation. As they have no idea of invoking the aid or the blessing of a Supreme Being, nothing of a religious character attaches to the marriage ceremony. It often happens that a young couple will pass several days after their nuptials without exchanging one single word, and to such an extent do they carry their bashfulness that they even avoid looking at each other. In fact, their behaviour would lead a stranger to suppose that some serious quarrel had arisen. THE VEDDAS OF CEYLON. THE aboriginal inhabitants of Ceylon are the Veddas,* who until a comparatively recent period ranged over a much more extended area. They may be regarded as a remnant of the Yakkos, who, after the conquest of the island, retired before the invaders into the wilder parts, withdrawing themselves deeper and deeper into the jungle, so as to avoid contact with the conquering race. For upwards of 2,000 years this remarkable fragment of an ancient race has remained almost unaltered as regards its customs, language, and pursuits, and therefore exhibits to the present day a living portrait of the condition of the islanders as described by the native chroniclers before the conquerors had taught the people even the rudiments of agriculture. All Veddas present the same characteristics of wretchedness and dejection namely, * All except one of our illustrations of Veddas are from photographs kindly sent by Dr. Paul and Dr. Fritz Sarasin, of Basle, whose valuable German monograph on the subject is adorned by very many of their photographs. One is by the Apothecaries' Company of Colombo. Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd\ A GROUP OF ANDAMANESE. METHOD OF SHOOTING TURTLE. [Bombay. THE VEDDAS OF CEYLON 173 projecting jaws, prominent teeth, flat noses, small stature, and every evidence of the effects of in- sufficient diet. The children are unsightly objects, entirely naked, with ill-shaped limbs, huge heads, and prominent stomachs; the women, as the reader will see from our illustrations on pages 173-7, are, to say the least, not pleasing specimens of humanity. Some of the men and women present a type apparently somewhat similar to that of the native Australian. Those who live in the forests subsist chiefly on roots, fish, honey, iguana lizards, and the products of the chase, such as the Wandura monkey, the deer, and the wild boar. In their choice of food they are omnivorous, no carrion or even vermin being too repulsive to suit their appetite; but grain and fruits, when procurable, are used. Being skilful archers, they bring down with their long arrows such prey as bats, crows, owls, and kites, but for some curious reason they will not touch the bear, the elephant, or the buffalo. The flesh of deer and other animals they dry in the sun and store it away in hollow trees for use on some future occasion. Their food is always cooked. Veddas may be divided, according to Sir James Tennent, into three groups: first, the " Rock Veddas," who till lately dwelt almost entirely within the Bintenne forests, and lodged in caves or under the shelter of overhanging rocks, sometimes sleeping in trees, in which a kind of stage or platform has been constructed; secondly, the "Village Veddas," on the eastern coast, where they cultivate some kinds of grain, and even dwell in rude huts of mud and bark. These Village Veddas are but slightly removed from the wild tribes of the jungle, with whom they have no dealings. Their position is somewhat intermediate between the more or less civilised people of Kandi and the Veddas of the rock. Probably they have to some extent intermarried with the people of Kandi. The only garment they wear is a bit of cloth larger than that worn by the forest tribes. Some, as the reader will see from the illustrations on pages 173-7, simply make a substitute for cloth out of leaves. The women ornament themselves with necklaces of brass beads and bangles cut out of shells. The third division, or " Coast Veddas," numbering about 300, have settled down in the jungles, and eke out a living by helping the fishermen in their operations, or by felling timber for the Moors, to be floated down the rivers to the sea. By the assistance of the Government their condition has been materially improved. In the year 1844 they came in, expressing the utmost reluctance to abandon the seashore and the water, but nevertheless gladly accepting Photo by Doctors Paul and Fritz Sarasin, Basle. A VEDDA WOMAN. 174- THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND patches of land which were cleared for them in the forest near the beach. Cottages were built, fruit-trees were planted, and seed was supplied. Education has here made some progress, and as the result of missionary enterprise the majority of them have embraced Christianity. The principal weapon of the Veddas is a big bow 6 feet long, the strings of which they prepare from the tough bark of the upas-tree. They occasionally use their feet as well as their hands in manipulating the bow; but it cannot be said that their skill in archery is great, for they appear to bring down game rather through luck than by any adroitness. Formerly the country was regarded by Euro- peans with some apprehension. This was due to absurdly exaggerated misrepresentations on the part of the people of Kandi, who attributed to them a savage disposition, so that none but armed parties ventured to pass through their fastnesses. Of late years, however, this delusion has been entirely dispelled, and travellers now feel them- selves as safe in the neighbourhood of these people as in the villages of the Singhalese. They are constantly visited by traders in search of deer's horns and ivory, also supplies of dried deer's flesh and of honey. The Veddas have to a large extent lost their former shyness and timidity, so that now they not only come with confidence into the open country, but even venture into the towns for such commodities as they can purchase with their slender means. Mr. Atherton, formerly Assistant Government Agent, spoke in favourable terms of the gentleness of their disposition. Notwithstanding an apparently almost complete indifference to morals, grave crimes, he said, were rarely committed. In cases of theft the delin- quent, if detected, must make restitution. Thus, if a girl be carried off from her parents, she is claimed and brought home. The husband of a faithless wife is content to receive her back, while his family punish the seducer by flogging him. Murder is almost unknown. In a general way these people may be described as gentle and affectionate one to another. They are strongly attached to both their children and their relatives. Widows are invariably supported by the local community, receiving their share of fruits or grain and the products of the chase. Altogether they appear to be a quiet and submissive race, obeying the slightest expression of a wish, and being very grateful for any assistance or attention. They consider themselves superior to their neighbours, and are unwilling to. exchange their wild forest life for any other. Their intellectual capacity is very low; they cannot count, even on their fingers, and their memory is most defective. They never wash, thinking it would weaken them! and they never laugh! With regard to their moral character, it is only fair to add that another writer, Mr. B. F. Hartshorne, who contributes an interesting paper on these people to The Fortnightly Review for 1876 (New Series, Vol. XIX., page 406), says that they think it perfectly inconceivable that any person should ever take that which Photo bij Doctors Paul and Friiz tiarasin, tiasle. A VEDDA MAN, WITH LEAF GIRDLE. Photo by the Colombo Apothecaries' Co.] [ Ceylon. TWO VEDDAS, -\VITH BOWS. 175 i 7 6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Doctors Paul and Fritz Sarafin, Basle A VEDDA MAN (PROFILE). The Yeddas have no knowledge of a God, idols, and no altars. They have nothing which certain ceremonies, by means of which they hope believe to be the cause of death and disease. does not belong to him, strike his fellow, or say anything that is untrue. The language of the Veddas, which is extremely limited, is said to be a dialect of the Singhalese. They appear to have no marriage ceremonies, although acknowledging the duty of supporting their families. Marriages amongst them are settled by the parents of the young people. The bride's father presents his son-in-law with a bow, while his own father bestows upon him the right of chase in any portion of his hunting-ground. The youth presents the lady of his choice with a cloth and a few simple ornaments, where- upon she straightway follows him into the forest, where they become man and wife. They are not polygamists, probably because the man's slender means will not allow of supporting more than one wife. Marriage with sisters is allowed, but never with the eldest sister; and they are generally re- markable for constancy and affection. These people live in such a primitive state that what we should call a funeral is quite unknown. Instead of burying their dead they simply cover them with leaves and brushwood from the jungle, not even of a future state, no temples, no one can call an act of worship, unless it be to drive away the evil spirits which they INDIA.* IN describing the "Hindu type" Dr. Topiuard, in his well-known "Anthropology," divides the population of the Indian Peninsula into three strata viz. the Black, the Mongolian, and the Aryan. "The remnants of the first," he says, "are at the present time shut up in the mountains of Central India under the name of Bhils, Mahairs, Gonds, and Khonds; and in the South under the name of Yenadis, Maravers, Kurumbas, Yeddas, etc. Its primitive characters, apart from its black colour and low stature, are difficult to discover, but it is to be noticed that travellers do not speak of woolly hair in India. The second has spread over the plateaux of Central India by two lines of way, one to the north-east, the other to the north-west. The remnants of the first invasion are seen in the Dravidian or Tamil tribes, and those of the second in the Jats. The third, more recent, and more important as to quality than as to number, was the Aryan." The same authority, in harmony with the late Mr. Huxley, considered the Australians to be also Dravidian, and therefore allied to the ancient inhabitants * For permission to reproduce the photographs illustrating India, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan, the writer is much indebted to Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd ; Herr Karl Hagenbeck, of Hamburg ; Messrs. Watts & Skeen, Rangoon : Messrs. Frith & Sons; Mr. Fred. Bremner, Quetta; to the Under-Secretary of State for India for permission to use photographs illustrating two books published by the Indian Government, which we quote in the text ; and to Messrs. J. W. Gregory & Co., Strand, W.C. INDIA 177 of the Deccan. The features of the present blacks in India, and the characters which the Dravidian and Australian languages have in common, tend to assimilate them. The existence of the boomerang in the two countries helps to support this view. We would ask the reader to judge for himself whether the remarkable photograph of a female Vedda on page 173 does not show quite a striking resemblance to those of Australian women in Chapter III. The second general census of India, taken in 1891, gave a population of over 287,000,000; or, including the French and Portuguese settlements, of over 289,000,000. This figure is about equal to one-fifth of the world's entire population! Since the census of 1881 there has been an increase of 28,000,000, which nearly equals the entire population of England and Wales. And yet the rate of increase is only about 10 per cent. As above stated, the population has increased under English rule, as might have been expected, but the apprehensions expressed by newspaper writers at home do not appear to be shared by some experts. The Kolarians, or Kols (e.g. Santhals, Kurkus, Bhils, etc.), appear to be the oldest race in the peninsula, but it is not known whether they were really the true aborigines. They came first, however, and after them the Dravidians arrived. Both are in an exceedingly low state of culture. It is perhaps undesirable to separate them in this way, for anthropologists now consider the Kols to be Dravidian. They were only separated by the linguists, who are inclined to attach too much importance to language. The anthropologist rightly judges by the physical type shape of the skull, etc. However, for the sake of convenience, we now give a brief abstract of the scheme of classification given by Professor Keane in his "Asia," Vol. II. in Stanford's " Compendium of Travel and Geography." The divisions of the Kolarians and the Tibeto-Burmans are chiefly of a tribal character; those of the Dravidians and all the Hindus are based on languages : I. II. III. IV HINDUS (Aryan mixed stock), classified by languages. Kashmiri, 2|*; Pun- jabi (Sikh, Jat, etc.), 17; Sindi, 2; Gujarati and Kachi, 10; Marathi and Konkani, 19; Hindi and Urdu (North- West Provinces, Raj pu tana, and Upper Bengal), 100; Bengali, 41; Uriya, 9; Assamese, 1; Nepali, 2. DRAVIDIANS (classified by languages). Telugu, 20; Tamil, 16; Kauarese, 94; Malayalim, 5; Tula, 9|; Kodagu, about ^; Oraon, about f ; Rajmahal, about sV; Khondi, about ; Goudi, H; Toda, only about 750 persons; Kota, about 1,000 persons; (?) Singhalese, If; (?) Vedda, supposed to number about 8,000 persons. KOLARIANS (classified by tribes'). Santhal, If; Munda, f ; Kharia, Mal- Paharia, Juang, Gadaba, Korwa, Kurku, Mehto, Savara, and Bhil, altogether about 2. TIBETO-BURMANS (Mongol stock), classi- fied by tribes. Ladakhi, Champa, etc.,-^; Garhwali, etc., 2*0 (?) ; Magar, etc, ; Lepcha, etc., &\?)> Photo by Doctors Paul and Fritz Sarasin, Basle. A VEDDA MAN (FULL-FACE). *The figures denote millions (approximately). To save space we are obliged to omit the geographical distributions, but the names themselves in some cases will give a clue. i 7 8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Platt <& Co.} [Colombo. DEVIL-DANCERS, CEYLON. Llopa, etc. (of Bhutan), f (?); Miri, etc., -^ (?); Kachari, \; Singpo and Kuki, i(?); Mikir, ^V; Khasi (of the Khasia Hills), ^ (?); Naga, about . V. SUNDRIES (making a total of only about 2,000,000). Shan, Malay, Negrito (Andaman Islands), Indo-Arab, "Moormen" (Arab), Baluchi, Afghan (Afridi, Waziri, Yusafzai, etc.), S \vati, etc., Persian, Parsi, Eurasian (half-caste), and European, about 536,000 persons. As already stated, the last census, of 1891, gave the total population as over 287,000,000. Speaking of the Dravidiaus and Hindus, Mr. Keane says: "All have long been fused together in one common ethnical, social, and religious system, while still separated one from another mainly by their different languages, all derived in Europe from the common Latin stock, in India either from a common Sanskrit or from a common but now extinct Dravidian mother- tongue." It is hardly necessary after this to point out that India presents a great diversity of tribes and races. Some are in a high state of culture; others can only be spoken of as savages. The great bulk of the population can be traced to two main sources the Aryan Hindus, chiefly in the northern plains, and the Dravidians in the Deccan. Thrust back by the Aryans from the plains that once were theirs, the aborigines lie hidden in the recesses of the mountains, like the fossilised remains found by geologists in mountain caves only these "specimens" are not dry bones, but actual living people. Thus India is a great museum of races, in which we can study man in various stages of culture, some very low, and in fact interesting survivals from prehistoric times, others more advanced in the scale of civilisation. All are fond of music and dancing. Sometimes they form a ring by joining hands, and advance in step towards the centre, and again retire, while circling round and round. When INDIA 179 wearied with dancing they sing. A man steps out of the crowd, and sings a verse impromptu, a woman there joins him, and the pair chant in alternate strains, for the most part taunting each other with personal defects. They all seem prone to excessive drinking. Nearly all the aboriginal hill people have the dark skin, flat nose, and thick lips which so easily distinguish them from the Aryan race, and they mostly dress in the same way. For men and women alike a cloth wound round the waist constitutes the chief article of attire. Necklaces of beads, earrings of brass and iron, brass bracelets, and girdles of twisted cords find favour in the eyes of young men and women. They seldom wear any covering on the head, though the women often add false hair to their own. In one of the religious hymns of the Gonds their god alleges as one cause of his displeasure against the first-created Gouds that they did not bathe for six months together. It must be confessed that, in this respect, the hill tribes of to-day do not belie their ancestry; and though they carry their scanty costume with a certain grace, their dirtiness, and the tattoo-marks on their faces, arms, and thighs, have a repelling effect. For the most part light-hearted and easy-tempered, when once their shyness is overcome they prove very communicative. But while naturally frank, and far more truthful than the Aryan Hindus, they are nevertheless arrant thieves, though their pilfering is generally managed in the simplest and most maladroit manner. It may be said generally of the dark aborigines that they possess no written records, being ignorant of letters, and even of hieroglyphics. The only works of their forefathers are the rude stone circles, upright standing stones, and the mounds beneath which they were buried, reminding one of a time when Europe was in an equally primitive stage of culture. The knives and rough flint instruments found in the Narbada Valley speak of a time yet more distant. By permission of Herr Karl Hagenbeck. A GROUP OF TAMIL GIRLS. i8o THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND The new-comers from the north prided themselves on their fair complexion. Their earliest poets, three or perhaps four thousand years ago, praised in the Rig- Veda their gods, who " subjected the black-skin to the Aryan man," and speak of those who, " slaying the Dasyus, protected the Aryan colour." The Aryan with his finely formed features loathed the ugly and perhaps somewhat Negroid faces of the aborigines. Yedic hymns abound in scornful epithets for the primitive tribes, such as "disturbers of sacrifices," "lawless," "without rites," "without gods." Having been driven back into the forests, they were painted in still more hideous shapes, until they became the "monsters" and "demons" of the Aryan poets. Their name "enemy" thus came to mean "devil." Our friend Mr. William Crooke, a well- known ethnologist, has formed a different idea of the so-called Aryan invasion. He thinks " it was never apparently an invasion in the common sense of the word, an inroad of a fully organised nation, overwhelming and enslaving the indigenous races, such as was, for instance, that of the Turkish tribes into Europe. The colonisation of Central Asia by the Mongol races probably took place Photo by M. Pia-rc Petiti [/'/;*. through the Indian Peninsula, and this was A TAMIL MAN OF CEYLON (MIXED TYPE). followed by a continuous southward movement of the Aryans which was only part of that great series of emigrations which went on continuously during prehistoric times. Their incoming may have been gradual and spread over vast eras of time; it may have taken the shape of successive waves of colonists, never very numerous, and establishing their superiority more by the influence of their higher culture than by actual brute force. In some places they may have become real over-lords of the races which they found in the country; in the other parts the conquered may have absorbed their conquerors. This theory would in a measure account for some of the most difficult problems in the ethnology of Upper India." He goes on to point out that the Aryans did not, as has previously been supposed, occupy the fertile plains and rich alluvial valleys, because they were covered with impenetrable forests, swarming with dangerous beasts, and full of malaria. Eather they took the course of the lower hills that flank the river valleys. His view is not that the Dravidians were driven into the mountains by the Aryans, but that the former were always living among the mountains where we find them. HINDU CASTES. THE dark aborigines of India, Kolarians and Dravidians, were undoubtedly far more numerous than their fair Aryan conquerors, and the latter would certainly have been absorbed by them had not the system of caste been invented. Accordingly, by the laws of Manu, marriage with the dark races was strictly forbidden, and a definite rank was assigned to each shade of colour which had been already developed. Caste therefore originally meant colour, and by its means the intruding Aryans maintained their supremacy. But already a certain amount of fusion P/ioto by Messrs. W. L. H. Skeen & Co.} A TAMIL GIRL. 182 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND had taken place. The subject is too compli- cated for discussion in these pages, but it may be pointed out that caste, as now known in India, is the product of several factors viz. race, occupation, and religion. The four original castes are the priests (Bralimans)\ the warriors (Kshatriyas)\ citizens, traders, and agriculturists (Vaisliyas)\ and the menials (Sndras). These, however, have been under- going a continual subdivision, until now there are 2,500 main divisions. Some castes are of political origin. Of this the most striking example is to be met with in the hill tracts of the Punjab, where the rajah is the fountain of honour, and by his word creates, enlarges, or restricts the castes of the people in his realm. As a rule the process is confined to the two upper classes of Brahman and Rajput. Lower castes may gradually acquire a higher caste. In the Deccan a landholder who be- comes rich may rise to a higher caste, but as a rule the process is the other way, and in the direction of degradation. The barriers of caste are supposed to be immutable, but it is plain that the people contrive to leap over them and to creep under them. Mention must also be made of the Pariahs, or outcasts. The term originally meant " hillmen," a fact which throws no small light on the institution. And so the Pariahs were the independent highlanders who were excluded from all social privileges. One is reminded by this of the absurd contempt with which the famous Dr. Johnson spoke of the Scotch highlanders; in his narrow view they were simply pariahs I These hill people may be regarded as being of the aboriginal elements of a prehistoric period. Caste, again, has been somewhat affected by the spreading of Mohammedanism. But the sacerdotal caste (Brahmans) have survived this and other changes, often retaining the noble cast of countenance which is characteristic of the race. The following table shows at a glance the chief castes and tribes: Photo by M. Pierre Petit] DEVIL-DANCERS, CEYLON. I. Agricultural. Military and dominant, e.g. Rajputs. Other cultivators. Field labourers. II. Pastoral. Cattle-grazers, shepherds, etc. HI. Forest Tribes (very numerous). Santhals, Kols/Gonds, Bhils, Todas, Kotas Irulas, Khasis, Kukis, Lushais, Chins, an others. IV. Fishers. Kahars, Mallahs, etc. V. Artisans. Carpenters, masons, potters, etc. VI. Personal Service, Food, etc. Barbers, servants, butchers, washerwomen. VII. Leather-workers and Lower Village Menials. VIII. Traders. IX. Professionals. Priests, devotees, etc. Temple servants, writers. X. Arts, etc. Astrologers, singers, dancers, actors. XI. Carriers. XII. Vagrants. Knife-grinders, mat- and cane-workers, hunters and fowlers, jugglers and acrobats. XIII. Indefinite Indian Castes. XIV. Native Christians. Then follow Burmese, Western Asiatics, Eurasians, Europeans, and Africans. INDIA 183 THE WARRIOR OR KSHATRIYA CASTE. THE true Kshatriya, when engaged in fighting an enemy, should give up all desire to live. Far be it from him to think of retreating or taking to flight! On the contrary, let him advance bravely, resolved to conquer or to die! The happiest death for a Kshatriya, the one he should wish for most, is to die sword in hand, fighting. It procures for him the inestimable happiness of being admitted to Swarga (Paradise). Boundless ambition is the highest virtue a Kshatriya can possess. However vast his possessions may be already, he should never say that he has enough. All his thoughts should tend to enlarging and improving his territories and to making war on neighbouring princes, with a view to appropriating their possessions by main force. He should show faith and piety towards the gods, and should respect Brahmans (a caste .we shall speak of later on), placing the utmost confidence in them and loading them with gifts. Truth and justice are the foundation on Avhich all his actions should be based. In a work like the present it would be quite impossible to describe, however briefly, all the principal races and tribes and castes of the peninsula with its teeming population. We therefore have selected a few, especially those of which we procured the best photographs. These we shall now deal with as far as space permits. The reader should first consult the brief scheme of classification on page 177. THE KOLS. THE Kols, or Kolarians, formerly overspread the plains of Bengal, but are now to be found only in the hill and jungle tracts between Upper and Lower Bengal, the Nagpur Plateau, and generally from the Ganges to about 18 N. latitude. According to Colonel Dalton, they show much variety, and there may have been a good deal of fusion with the Aryan conquerors. Photo by Mexsrs. Bourne & Shepherd] A GROUP OF KOLS. 184 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND la colour they vary greatly, the copper tints being most common. The hair is black and straight or wavy, as everywhere in India. They carry themselves very well. Many have high noses and oval faces, and some of the young girls have delicate and regular features, finely chiselled straight noses, and perfectly formed mouths and chins. However, the eyes (dark brown) are seldom so large, so bright, and so gazelle-like as those of pure Hindu maidens. There are also traces of some fusion with the Mongols of the North (see illustrations on pages 183 and 185). The Mirzapur Kols appear to have lost all recollection of the sun-god revered by the Mundas of Bengal. Still, they venerate the sun. The Kols worship demons and spirits, whom they greatly fear, and the souls of the dead. THE JUANGS OF OEISSA. IN the Tributary States of Orissa there is a poor tribe of Juangs (also Kolarian), or Patuas (literally the "leaf-wearers"), whose women wear no clothes, but only a few strings of beads round the waist, and a bunch of leaves tied in front and behind. Her Majesty's Government, shocked at this state of things, gave orders in 1871 that those under British influence should be clothed. The English officer therefore called the tribe together, made a speech on the subject of clothes, and then handed out strips of cotton for the women to put on! Obediently they passed before him in single file, to the number of 1,900, made obeisance as a sign of their submission, and were afterwards marked on the forehead with vermilion. But this enforced submission to the great Mrs. Grundy was not a success, for before long many of the Juang women had gone back to their leaves. These people, until qiiite lately, had no knowledge of metals, and may be regarded as a relic from the Stone Age. An officer who knew them well said their huts were the smallest ever deliberately constructed as dwellings. The head of the family and all the females huddle together in one hut about 6 feet by 8 feet in area. The boys and young men live in a separate building. THE BHILS. THE Bhils (also Kolarian) are of small stature, slender, and very dark, but possessing great agility and strength. Robbery and war are their delight. As thieves they still keep their old reputation for adroitness. Many tales are told illustrating their wonderful skill in this art, so widely practised in India. They have been known to steal the blanket from under a sleeping man, although warned that the attempt would be made! Naked and oiled all over, they move about without making any noise, and it is no easy matter to lay hold of them. They are very clever at hiding, and cases are on record in which they have escaped capture when pursued by adopt- ing what naturalists call " pro- tective mimicry." Their plan when thus pressed is to throw their black sinewy limbs into such attitudes that they are From " The Primitive Tribes of t Under- Secretary of State for India) by J. W. Bretks (by permission of ike TWO IRULAS (FROM THE LEFT), TWO BADAGAS, TWO TODAS, TWO KOTAS, AND TWO KURUMBAS. i86 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photu by Mi E. Thurttou, Madron Mttseu TWO TOD A GIRLS. mistaken for the scorched aud burned stumps of trees, so often to be met with in India on account of forest fires. Sir James Outram won many of them over to comparative civili- sation; and there are now two regiments of Bhils in the native army. Their huts in the forest are made of boughs and sticks thatched and wattled with long grass. They are fearful of evil omens, and worship trees, stones, etc. They number 900,000.. THE GONDS. THE domain of the Gonds, who are Dravidian, is in the highlands north of the Deccan, and called after them Gondwana. Many of them were formerly employed in the coal-pits of the Narbada Valley. According to Mr. Hislop, they are darker than most of the other aboriginal races, are of average height, and have well-proportioned bodies, but rather ugly features. They have a somewhat round head, wide mouth and wide nostrils, thick lips, and straight black hair, with only a scanty beard. It is quite a mistake to suppose that any of them have woolly hair, like a Negro. On the contrary, both hair and features are decidedly Mongolian'. Captain Forsyth says the women differ among themselves more than the men: in the opener parts of the country, near the plains, they are often great robust creatures; but in the interior bevies of Gond women may be seen who are more like monkeys than human beings. The features of all are strongly marked and coarse. As soon as their short youth is over, they all pass at once into a hideous old age. This is not surprising, for they lead very hard lives, sharing in nearly all the men's labours. They dress decently enough in a short petticoat often dyed blue, tucked in between the legs, so as to leave them naked to the thigh; a mantle of white cotton covers the upper part of the body. They have their legs elaborately tattooed. Their number appears to be about 124,000. THE TODAS. THE Todas dwell quite in the south in scattered hamlets on the slopes of tlie Nilgiri Hills, or "Blue Hills." They are a tall, sturdy race, with regular features, and of a dark chocolate colour. The nose is aquiline, the lips thick, aud they are very hairy, a feature which at once distinguishes them from the Aryan Hindus and reminds one of the Australians. The general contour of the head and cast of countenance are rather such as we are accustomed to associate with the ancient Eoman. Mr. William Crooke, however, considers them to be probably the earliest race in India, and retaining certain Negrito characteristics. Their brown eyes are wonderfully quick and bright, full of intelligence, often melancholy and gentle. In some instances the physiognomy appears rather Jewish; hence they have been associated by some writers with the lost tribes of Israel. These people are essentially herdsmen (as their [Tamil] name implies), and herdsmen they have been for untold ages. liaised high above the torrid plains of India, they inhabit a sort of tropical Switzerland. Secluded amongst their pastures, taking pleasure only in their' own customs, they hold aloof from all foreign influences. The tone of voice is kind and grave, but with the women solemnity is replaced by a i88 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND certain playfulness. It is impossible not to be struck by the taste and simplicity of their cos- tume. Draped in a sort of toga, with one arm and thigh uncovered, they have quite the "grand air " ; but it is a pity they do not wash themselves. Mr. J. W. Breeks says: " We could not help liking them. They were extremely amused at our British idiosyncrasies, and laughed at them un- restrainedly, not consider- ing themselves in any way our inferiors." Their hearty good- humour and free, jovial manners are no less pleasing than their politeness, affability, and courtesy. Dr. Shortt, writing in 1868, made the sweeping assertion that most of the women have been debauched by Europeans, who have in- troduced diseases to which these innocent tribes were once perfect strangers, but which are no less surely sapping their once hardy and vigorous constitutions. This, however, is untrue. They are sadly addicted to strong drink, and will drink neat brandy out of a mug. The women are treated with respect, and enjoy a large amount of freedom. They tend children, cook the family meals, bring water from the spring, and keep the house in order such as it is. The men tend the cattle and do most of the outdoor work. They are a quiet, undemonstrative, and very domestic people. The entire family, down to the last cousin, are regarded as one household. The men maintain their authority sensibly and without tyranny. But sometimes a. woman of superior intelligence may rule her husband. The women mark, or tattoo, portions of the body namely, the arms, chest, and legs; and they wear a heavy metal ring on the arm. Though their intellect is of a very inferior order, and they possess but little force of character, yet what they do know they know well. They may be said to be even intelligent within certain narrow limits. The odorous abode of the Todas is called a mand (village, or hamlet), which is composed of huts (see illustration on page 187), dairy, and cattle-pen. Each mand usually comprises about five buildings, or huts, three of which are used as dwellings. These are usually 10 feet high, 18 feet long, and 9 feet broad. The very small entrance, only 18 inches wide, is not provided with any door or gate, but is closed by a wooden plank, which forms a sort of sliding-door. To enter, one has to go down on all-fours, arid even then much wriggling is necessary. The hut is built of bamboos closely laid together, and the roof is thatch; only in the middle is the height sufficient to enable a tall man to walk about comfortably. On one side there is a platform where the family sleep. Each hut is surrounded From " The Primitive TrUim of the Xil< the Under-Secretury of State for Indi KOTA WOMEN, MAKING POTS. INDIA 189 by a wall of loose stones. The dairy is situated at some distance from the inhabited huts, and strangers never attempt to approacli too near, for fear of incurring the ill-will of the god or spirit believed to preside therein. The herd of buffaloes retreats at night to a circular enclosure with a wall of loose stones. The writer is indebted to Mr. R. Lydekker, F.R.S., who is arranging the Anthropological Collection at the Museum of Natural History, for kindly lending the photograph of two Toda girls on page 186. It is by Mr. E. Thurston. THE KOTAS. PROBABLY the Todas and the Kotas lived near to each other before the latter settled on the Nilgiri Hills. The Kotas number about 1,200. Each village consists of from thirty to sixty huts, arranged in rows along the street. There is no caste; the people are divided according to the streets in which they live; people belonging to the same street may not marry. They are, unfortunately, very fond of intoxicating liquors. They are universally looked down upon as unclean feeders and eaters of carrion, a custom which is to them no more repulsive than eating "high" game is to ourselves. However, they make excellent artisans. The Kota women have none of the fearlessness and friendliness of the Todas, and on the approach of a European to their domain bolt out of sight, like frightened rabbits in a warren, and hide within the inmost recesses of their huts. As a rule they are clad in filthy dirty clothes, all tattered and torn, and frequently not reaching nearly as low as the knees. They fetch water, collect firewood, and make baskets and earthen pots. They worship rude images of wood or stone, a rock, or a tree in some secluded place. Both the Todas and Kotas have long (dolichocephalic) heads. for India). KURUMBAS, WITH HOUSE. THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND THE KURUMBAS. THE picture drawn by Mr. King in his " Aboriginal Tribes of the Nilgiris" (1876) is not a pleasant one. Their food consisted then of wild roots and berries, or grain soaked in water, with occasionally a porcupine or a polecat. Their dwellings were generally a few branches piled up together like heaps of dead brushwood in a plantation, often simply holes or clefts among the rocks. No such ceremony as marriage existed among these people, who lived together like the brute creation. Though they have somewhat improved since those days, and work on planters' estates for regular wages, their appearance even now is wretched. They are short and ill-made, with bleared eyes, a rather wide mouth, and often projecting teeth. Spare to leanness, there is also a total absence of any apparent muscle, and the arms and legs are as much like black sticks as human limbs. The illustration of Kurumbas on page 189 is from a photograph in Breeks' "Primitive Tribes of the Nilagiris," published by the Indian Government at Calcutta, and the writer is indebted to the Under-Secretary of State for India for permission to reproduce this photograph as well as those on pages 184 and 188. THE SANTHALS. AMONG aborigines who have progressed to a higher stage of civilisation are the Santhals. They still live in villages in the jungles or among the mountains of Lower Bengal. Although still clinging more or less to their forests and keeping up the customs of a hunting forest tribe, yet they have learned the use of the plough, and make skilful husbandmen. Photo by Messrs. Frith & Co.] [ If, ii/iu, . ISCARDS, SOLDIERS OF THE MAHARAJAH OF KASHMIR. JUNGLE FOLK. MANY of the Dravidian tribes and castes live in the jungles, and thus acquire a knowledge of the wild animals therein which to us seems astounding, and their faculty of ob- servation has been very highly developed. Speaking of this, our friend Mr. William Crooke, whose researches in Indian ethnology are well known, says: "One thing he [the jungle-dweller] does acquire by this course of life is a marvellous insight into Nature and her secrets. His eyesight or power of hearing is not, I think, by nature better than ours, but he will hear or see a tiger creeping down a ravine long before the English sportsman will. Every sound in the forest has a meaning for him the grunt of the baboon as the tiger comes beneath his tree, the hoarse alarm bark of the stag. From the way the vultures hover in the air he wilt tell whether the tiger has finished his meal or is still tearing the carcase. Every footmark, a displaced pebble, a broken grass- stalk, will tell him something what beast has passed there, and how long ago. We of late hours and crowded rooms and artificial light look upon such powers as almost a miracle; but it is really only the result of INDIA 191 the fact that he has thoroughly adapted himself to his environment, and this he must do or starve" (Journal of the Anthropological Institute, New Series, Vol. I., p. 223). THE KHOXDS. AXOTHER Dravidian race is that of the Khouds. In old days they practised human sacrifice, but this custom has been suppressed. They also used to kill the baby-girls, saying that they were too poor to support useless children. In 1835 they became subject to English rule; their stock of human victims was delivered up, and they had to be content with sacrificing goats and buffaloes. They have a strange belief that certain persons can change themselves into tigers. General Campbell, when in their country, saw fourteen of their great wooden elephant- figures on which human victims were offered, tied on to the trunk and hacked to pieces while the whole image was spun round. He ordered these images to be destroyed; but it Photo by Messrs. Frith & Co.] [Beigate. NAUTCH-GIRLS OF KASHMIR. was no easy matter to overthrow a practice so deeply rooted, which had existed from time immemorial. They even believed that he wanted to sacrifice the very victims whom he released, in order to bring back water into a certain large tank made for his elephants! One day at this very place the English officer was told that a human victim was acu tally being offered up. It was a handsome girl of about fifteen years of age. Instantly, therefore, he set off with a large party. On arrival they saw the aged priest ready to give the signal, and the onlookers mad with excitement. He came to the rescue and demanded the girl's release, which was granted but only from motives of fear. Xo sooner had the soldiers gone out of sight than the Khonds broke out into loud murmurings. They would not be disappointed; and so, at the suggestion of one of the party, they sacrificed the aged priest himself, because, being seventy years old, he could be of no further use! And so he was forthwith tied on to the wooden elephant-image and cut to pieces. They kidnapped their victims from the plains, and a thriving Khond village usually kept a small stock in reserve "to meet sudden demands for atonement." The victim, on being 192 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND brought to the hamlet, was welcomed at every threshold, daintily fed, and kindly treated till the fatal day arrived. He was then solemnly sacrificed to the earth-god, the people shouting in his or her dying ears, "We bought you with a price; no sin rests with us." His flesh and blood were distributed among the village lands. Among these people the custom of " marriage by capture " prevails. The young man snatches up his bride, while her friends pretend to pursue them. How- ever, his friends come to the rescue and prevent her recapture. As soon as his own village is reached he is safe, and the young couple settle down to married life. In spite of the cruel human sacrifices above referred to, which of course have a religious aspect, the Khonds have good points in their favour. According to Captain Macphersqn, their nine cardinal sins are: to refuse hospitality; to break an oath or promise; to speak falsely, except to save a guest; to break the pledge of friendship; to break an old law or custom; to commit incest; to contract debts, the payment of which is ruinous to the man's tribe, they being responsible; to skulk in time of war; to divulge a public secret. On the other hand, their three chief virtues are: to kill a foe in public battle; to die in public battle; and to be a priest. Photo bij Mturt, Bourne <& Shepherd] A PARSI GIRL. [Bombay. THE JATS AXD RAJPUTS. AMONG the people of the " Punjab the Jats and Rajputs come first, they being the most numerous. Both may perhaps belong to the same stock, although differing in appearance. They are considered by Sir J. B. Lyall, late Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, to be directly descended from the military clans which the Indian chiefs led against Alexander the Great when he invaded .the Punjab in 325 B.C., but the latest view is that they came from Central Asia. The Greek historians of that time described these people as eminently brave in war, tall, and graceful. This is. still true of them. In the Sikh wars they opposed us in the hardest battles ever fought in India; and since then they have fought side by side with British soldiers. Among the Jats. those who are Mohammedan are usually not so fond of fighting as the Hindu Jats; the most martial of them are those living in the centre of the Punjab and belonging to the Sikh religion. .It was the Jats who in the eighteenth century gradually overturned the Mohammedan government of the Punjab ("India," British Empire Series). Professor Keane, however, accepts Mr. William Crooke's view that they represent an invasion of the Yu-cchi from Central Asia. CHAPTER IX. INDIA (continued}: WOLF-REARED CHILDREN, KASHMIRIS, P ARSIS, KHASIS: RELIGION IN INDIA: ARYAN THEOLOGY, LITERATURE, ETC. AFGHAN- ISTAN AND BALUCHISTAN. WOLF-REARED CHILDREN. READERS of Mr. Kipling's most fascinating "Jungle-Books" will possibly not be altogether surprised to learn that a good deal of valuable and trustworthy evidence has been collected to establish the fact, so long denied as unworthy of credence, that human babes have been carried off and nurtured by wolves. Tradition, as we all know, has said so for ages, ever since the story of Romulus and Remus. But it has been the fashion till lately to reject most traditions. However, a re- action in their favour has at length taken place. In a valuable paper entitled "Jungle Life in India," Mr. V. Ball, of the Indian Geo- logical Survey, brings together the evidence which has been collected. It is published in The Journal of the Anthro- pological Institute, Vol. IX., page 466. The following is the text of a letter he received from a correspon- dent: "DEAR SIR, " I see your name mentioned in the newspapers as one who leans to the belief that children have been nourished by wolves. And as there are sceptics who will have it that you labour under a delusion, it may be in- teresting to you to learn photo by Messrs _ Boume & Shepherd} a few particulars about a PAHARIS (HILL WOMEN). THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Mr. If. DANCING-MEN AT MONGKNEM DANCE, KHASIA HILLS. wolf-mau who was for many years living in this city. He was sent in by Colonel Slee- man, and a Mohammedan took charge of him. The Mutiny occurring, this pro- tector disappeared, and then the poor fellow came under my notice. At the time he might have been about twenty years of age. I took a little interest in him and tried to make him work, but found that it was not possible to keep him at it. I tried him with food from the table, and he was guided by smell, rejecting such portions as did not please him. His recog- nition Avas a grunt. The hands were bent back, but were not stiff; and when taking anything these retained the position instead of clutch- ing. He walked on the front portion of the foot, the heels being slightly raised; and he walked with his knees bent; in fact, one could readily suppose that he had as a child pro- gressed in a stooping position, using both hands and feet. He lived in a corner, with his legs brought up to his chin, and placed his food under anything that he might have to lie on, straw or old bedding. Clothes he would not wear, but was induced to keep on the usual strip, and this probably because he had been beaten at first and made to comply with cus- toms so far. The man is now dead. I cannot vouch that he had been nourished by a wolf, but the natives of the city believed that he had been so brought up, etc., etc. He had not learned to speak; he simply grunted and looked at persons askant, with the cunning, silly leer above re- ferred to. Photo by Mr u z Dan . ah Yours, etc. DANCING-GIRLS AT MONGKNEM DANCE, KHASIA HILLS. [Seigate. 196 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by M< it Shepherd} A BRAHMAN AT PRAYERS. The subject attracted the atten- tion of Professor Max Miiller, who in the pages of The Academy pointed out the importance of the subject, and quoted a selection from the recorded cases of wolf-reared children. At the same time he strongly urged upon sportsmen, naturalists, and dis- trict officials the desirability of carefully investigating on the spot the probability and possibility of such cases being true. The story of Romulus and Remus is not by any means singular. There are many other gods and heroes of antiquity who are stated to have been suckled by wolves, and whose histories are regarded as AV holly mythical in consequence of the presence of this element. If the case of a child being suckled and reared by Avolves can be established as a physical possibility by a single well-authenticated case in India, such histories will assume a totally neAV aspect, and will have a chance of being accepted in their entirety. Want of space alone prevents us from giving other examples, but the reader will find them in the paper quoted above. THE KASHMIRIS. THE Hindus of Kashmir, in the north, are among the finest of Indian races. They became Mohammedans several centuries ago. They are described as almost European in appearance, and in Kashmir Ave miss the slender frames, prominent cheek-bones, and other unpleasant features so prevalent in other parts of India. The men are of a square, herculean build, well proportioned, and with a frank expression, while the women are fresh -looking and often decidedly beautiful (see illustrations on pages 190 and 191), with an almost Jewish cast of counten- ance. Those of the better classes are scarcely darker than the average natives of Italy. In character they are shrewd, witty, and cheerful. The Tibetans of this region, Avho belong to the Mongolian stock, are chiefly found in Ladak and Baltistau. The Avarlike Grhoorkas of Nepaul are of mixed Tibetan stock. THE PARSIS. WE must not omit from this brief survey of Indian races the Parsis of Bombay. They are Iranians (not Hindus at all in the proper sense) and descendants of the old Persian fire- worshippers who took refuge in India in the seventh century during the Mohammedan invasion of their country. They have ever since kept themselves aloof, thus preserving their religion intact, and their race too (see the photograph on page 192). They are remarkable for general intelligence and commercial ability. They seem to be more in sympathy with their English rulers than any other race in the peninsula. They are very loyal subjects of His Majesty, and have acquired no small wealth. THE KHASIS. As a specimen of the Tibeto-Burmese race, which comes last but one in the scheme of classification given on page 177, we select the Khasis for brief description. This tribe, which INDIA 197 dwells in the Khasia Hills of Southern Assam, numbers about 140,000. Their voices are clear and distinct, and their cries, as they call to one another across long distances from hill-top to hill-top, can be heard far away echoing among the valleys. They are a well-built race, some of the men and women being perfect marvels of muscular development; as a rule, too, they are courageous, and can fight well behind a stockade. Their women are fond of dress and finery. According to Lieutenant Steel, R.A., who contributed a paper on these people to The Journal of the Anthropological Institute (Vol. VII., p. 305), they have grand dances in the Photo by Messrs. Frith & Co.] [Eeigate. NATIVE PRINCES OF ORISSA. month of March in honour of the new moon. They assemble in certain places, when a ring is formed, the girls standing two and two in the centre, facing outwards, in no particular order; they then move slowly round from left to right, the whole mass of them in twos, 'with a sideling step, such as soldiers make in "closing" right or left, with eyes fixed on the ground. The young bachelors run round the outside of the ring, waving fans made of feathers; outside them again come the ring of spectators, old married men and women, with children too young to be married. Rude music is played the whole time, and the spirit of THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND the proceedings is kept up by frequent and deep potations on the part of the male dancers and musicians. The whole is of an orderly character, and never degenerates into an orgie. The demure looks of the girls, some pretty enough, and the ardent glances of the youths as they pass round and peep slyly at their lovers, make a pretty picture. The dress of the girls is silk throughout, and the ornaments are of gold and coral, all but the crown, the feather, and the bracelets, which are of silver. The Khasis are evidently a very primitive people who have lingered on in their native hills from a remote antiquity. RELIGION IN INDIA. THE Hindus, being an essentially religious people, cling very persistently to their old beliefs, and consequently Christian missionaries have great difficulties to contend with. The women exert a powerful influence, and until they are converted India can never become Christian. Another difficulty, and a very serious one, is the fact that a Hindu who gives up his old faith becomes an outcast, and those who espouse Christianity are not always of the best. But in spite of these obstacles it cannot be said that missions have failed. The number of native Christians is considerably over 2,000,000, and the Protestant communities have been increasing at the rate of 50 per cent, in each decade. Three hundred ordained native clergymen are helping the work of evangelisation, and there are 450 mission stations, with 500 European missionaries. The Roman Catholic Church counts over 1,250,000 of adherents, and is carrying on its work with great zeal. As the reader is well aware, caste is one of the chief obstacles to the spread of Christianity. "Will it ever be done away with?" is a very natural question, in answer to which we give the following quotation from Keane: "Redemption from this social yoke will ultimately be found in the spread of education, in such internal upheavals as are foreshadowed by the Brahmo-Somaj and other monotheistic movements, in the silent influences of the higher European culture, quickened by the development of the railway system and other levelling institutions." The Abbe Dubois, a well- known and zealous missionary, completely despaired of the higher castes ever becoming Christians, though he was ready to acknowledge that there was a harvest-field among the lower castes and outcasts. Of his own attempts NAGAS IN FULL DRESS. to convert the Hindus, he Photo by Messrs. Bo lB o^ ay . INDIA 199 remarks: "For my part, I may not boast of my suc- cesses in the sacred career during the period that I have laboured to promote the interests of the Christian religion. The restrictions and privations under which I have lived by conforming myself to the usages of the country, embracing in many respects the prejudices of the natives, living like them, and becom- ing all but a Hindu myself in short, by being all things to all men, that I might by all means save some of those have proved of no avail to me to make proselytes. During the long period I have lived in India in the capacity of a mis- sionary, I have made, with the assistance of a native missionary, in all between 200 and 300 converts of both sexes. Of this number two-thirds were Pariahs, or beggars, and the rest were composed of Sudras, vagrants, and outcasts of several tribes, who, being without resources, turned Christians in order to form connections, chiefly for the purpose of marriage or with some other interested views." Photo by Messrs. Bourne 's Shepherd} A RELIGIOUS MENDICANT. [Bombay. The following table shows at a glance the chief religions of India, and their relative strength in numbers. The Brahmans are by far the most numerous, being population, while Mohammedans come next with nearly 20 per cent.: per cent, of the Brahrnanic . Mohammedan Animistic Buddhist Christian Sikh . Jain Zoroastrian . Unreturned . Jew Minor forms TABLE OF EELIGIONS. Nunibere. 207,731,727 57,321,164 .'.... 7,131,361 . . 2,284,380 1,907,833 . . 1,416,638 87,904 42,578 . . 17,194 185 Total 287,223,431 Percentage of Population. . 72.33 . 19.96 . 3.23 . 2.48 . 0.80 . 0.66 . 0.49 . 0.03 . 0.014 0.006 . 100.000 2OO THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND We have already had occasion in previous chapters to speak of animistic religion; this very low and degraded form of faith prevails largely in Polynesia, Melanesia, and Australia, as well as in parts of Asia, where it is largely embedded as a sort of substratum in better religions. The term is used in a wide sense by Dr. Tiele, who thus defines it: "Animism is the belief in the existence of souls or spirits, of which only the powerful those on which man feels himself dependent, and before which he stands in awe acquire the rank of divine beings, and become objects of wor- ship. These spirits are conceived as moving freely through earth and air, and, either of their own accord, or because conjured by some spell, appearing to men. But they may also take up their abode, either perma- nently or temporarily, in some object, whether lifeless or living it matters not; and this object, as endowed with higher power, is then worshipped or employed to protect individuals or communities (fetishism)." The main object seems to be to keep evil spirits in order by means of magic, or to propitiate them by gifts or by acts of homage. Leaving for the present this very low form of religion, we pass on to consider the faith of the noble Aryan immigrants from the North. F/toto by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] A FAKIR. [Bombay. ARYAN THEOLOGY, LITERATURE, ETC. SEVERAL exquisite hymns from the Vedas show clearly and eloquently the Aryan belief in a future state. The deceased, whose body the flames are consuming in the funeral pyre, is thus addressed: "Depart thou, depart thou, by the ancient paths to the place whither our fathers have departed. Meet with the Ancient Ones; meet with the Lord of Death. Throwing off thine imperfections, go to thy home. Become united with a body; clothe thyself in a shining form. Let him depart to those for whom flow the rivers of nectar. Let him depart to those who, through meditation, have obtained the victory; who, by fixing their thoughts on the unseen, have gone to heaven. Let him depart to the mighty in battle, to the heroes who have laid down their lives for others, to those who have bestowed their goods on the poor." The doctrine of transmigration is unknown, so that the circle of relatives round the funeral pyre sing with a firm assurance that their friend goes direct to a state of blessedness and reunion with the loved ones who had gone before. " Do thou conduct us to heaven; let us be with our wives and children," says a later hymn. "In heaven, where our friends dwell in bliss having left behind the infirmities of the body, free from lameness, free from crookedness of limb there let us behold our parents and our children." "May the water- shedding spirits bear thee upwards, cooling thee with their swift motion through the air, and sprinkling thee with dew." " Bear him, carry him; let him, with all his faculties complete, go to the world of the righteous. Crossing the dark valley which spreadeth boundless around him, let the unborn soul ascend to heaven. Wash the feet of him who is stained with sin; let him go upwards with cleansed feet. Crossing the gloom, gazing with wonder in many directions, let the unborn soul go up to heaven." 1 by Messrs. Bourne & tiheplitrd] A NATIVE INDIAN LADY. 201 [Evrnbay. 26 2O2 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND The Vedic hymns reveal the Aryans on their victorious march from the North: in the earliest examples we see them still to the north of the Khyber Pass, in Kabul; in the later ones, as far as the Eiver Ganges. They gradually pushed eastwards along the base of the Himalayas, and formed settlements by the great rivers of the Punjab. Their poets praise the rivers that gave them wealth in the form of broad fields Avith water. Never did they forget their northern home when they ceased to be wanderers and settled down into agricultural communities. Of this period the Eig-Veda is the great literary memorial. Its age is unknown. It may have been composed about 1400 B.C., which would probably be not very far removed from the period of the Exodus of the Israelites. Buddhism arose in the sixth century before Christ, and long before then the Vedas had been written. These splendid hymns were composed by certain families of psalmists (or Rishis). The Kig-Veda, contains over 1,000 hymns, with 10,580 verses. The system of caste was unknown then. The father was the priest of his own household. The chieftain was father and priest to his tribe; but at the greater festivals he chose some one specially learned in holy offerings to conduct the sacrifice in the name of the people. His title was " Lord of the settlers," and he seems to have been elected. Xo one can study early Aryan literature and religion without being filled with admiration for this noble race, from which we ourselves are sprung. Their women (as in Egypt) enjoyed a high position, and some of the most beautiful hymns were composed by ladies and queens. Marriage was held sacred. Husband and wife were both "rulers of the house," and drew near to the gods together in prayer. The barbarous practice of burning widows (suttee] was quite unknown; and it now appears that the later Brahmans were the responsible authors of this horrible rite. They actually distorted the plain and obvious meaning of the following beautiful Photo by Messrs. Bourne jfc Shepherd] [Bombay. A FAKIR S HOME. INDIA 203 Photo by Mr. H. Z. Darrah. A FAKIR AND FAMILY IN DWELLING-PLACE UNDER THE WHITE ROCK, NEAR DOWLIE. words from one of the Vedas: "Rise, woman" (says the sacred text); "come to the world of life come to us; thou hast fulfilled thy duties as a wife to thy husband." These free-hearted tribes had a grand trust in themselves and in their gods. Like other conquering races, they believed both themselves and their deities to be altogether superior to the swarthy aborigines. Such noble confidence of which Britons certainly inherit their full share is a great source of strength to a nation. Their divinities (Devata in Sanskrit, literally "The Shining Ones") were the great powers of Nature, and some of their names still survive in English, and can easily be traced back through Latin and Greek forms. But as the Aryans advanced in progress they became divided into castes, directed by a powerful priesthood. How did the priests become so completely a caste by themselves? In this way. As already stated, in the early days a lord or chieftain called in some man specially learned in holy offerings to conduct the tribal sacrifices. These men were highly honoured. The art of writing being unknown (so it is supposed), the hymns and words were handed down'by word of mouth. In this way those families who learned them by heart became hereditary owners of the liturgies required at the most solemn offerings to the gods. Hence members of such households were chosen again and again to conduct the sacrifices and to chant the battle-hymn, to implore the divine aid, or to pray away the divine wrath. The simple warriors of that age came to believe that a hymn or prayer which had once brought them victory would probably do so again. In this way the hymns became a valuable family property for those who had composed or learned them. It was a possession even more absolute than modern "copyright." The potent prayer was called Brahma, and the man who offered it Brahman. These families did all in their power to make the ceremonies solemn and imposing; and gradually a vast array of ministrants grew up round each of the greater sacrifices, first, the officiating priests and their assistants, who dressed the altar, slew the victims, and poured out the libations; then, the chanters of the hymns; then, the reciters of other parts of the service; and, lastly, the superior priests, who supervised all the proceedings. 204 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND The Brahmans had in their keeping not only the sacred books, but the philosophy and science of the Hindus. And, moreover, they were the custodians of all the secular literature like the monks of Europe in early and mediaeval days. In order to understand the long period of time that this Brahman supremacy has lasted, we must bear in mind that they were a literary as well as a religious caste. At times this supremacy has been assailed and for two centuries actually overthrown but still for twenty-two centuries they have been the counsellors of princes and teachers of the people. An extract from the Eig-Veda illustrates their power: "That king before whom marches the priest, he alone dwells well established in his house, to him the people bow down. The king who gives wealth to the priest, he will conquer, him the gods will protect." In time the thoughtful and re- flective Brahmans began to perceive that the old gods of the Vedas were but poetic fictions. For when they came to think the matter out, they arrived at the conclusion that the sun, the aqueous vapour, the sky, the wind, and the dawn could not all be separate and supreme creators, but that they must all have proceeded from one great First Cause. They therefore, in order to appease old prejudices, accepted "The Shining Ones "of the Vedas as beautiful and useful manifestations of divine power, and did not cease to conduct sacrifices in their honour. But among themselves they began to teach the doctrine of the Unity of God. To the Vedas, the Brahmanas, and the Sutras they added a vast body of theological literature, composed at in- tervals between 1000 B.C. and 800 B.C. The Upanishads, meaning the Science of God and his Identity with the Soul; the Aranyakas, or Tracts for the Forest Recluse; and the much later Puranas, or Traditions from of Old, all contain mystic and beautiful doctrines incul- cating the Unity of God and the Immortality of the Soul, mingled with less noble dogmas, popular tales, and superstitions. The masses continued to believe in four castes, four Vedas, and many deities; but the most thoughtful Brahmans taught and believed that in the beginning there was but one caste, one Veda, and one God. The High-born Dawn, the Genial Sun, the Friendly Day, and the kindly but confused old groups of Vedic deities gradually gave place to the conception of one god in his three manifestations, as Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer and Eeproducer. These still form the Triad of Hindu mythology. But Brahma, the Creator, was too abstract to be a popular god. There is only one great seat of his worship at the present day. Vishnu, the Preserver, was more popular; in his ten incarnations, especially in his seventh Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd} THE LATE MAHARAJAH OF HOLKAR. [Bombay. INDIA 205 Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] A HINDU SACRIFICE. {Bombay. and eighth, as Rama and Krishna, under many names and in various forms, he supplanted the bright Vedic gods. On the other hand, Siva, the third person of the Triad, first as Destroyer, and then as Reproducer, conveyed the profound conception of death as a change of state and the means whereby the gates of heaven are opened to the righteous. Thus Siva claimed reverence from the mystic and philosophical Brahmans, while at the same time, his terrible aspects associated him alike with the Rudra, or " God of Roaring Tempests " of the Veda, and also with the blood-loving deities of the aborigines. Vishnu and Siva, in their diverse male and female shapes, now form, to a large extent, the gods of the Hindu population. In those early days religion and literature were intimately connected; a few words on the Aryan religious poetry may therefore not be out of place here. The entire religious service was taken from the Veda, or "Inspired Knowledge," an old Aryan word that reappears in the Latin vid-ere, to see or perceive (compare the Greek o!8a, I know, German wissen, and English wit). The Vedic books are four in number, and known as the Rig- Veda, the Yajur-Veda, the Sama- Veda, and the Atharva-Veda. Of these, the Sama consists mostly of selections from the Rig- Veda, while the Yajur-Veda is only a collection of hymns relating to the practical details of sacrificial rites; hence the Atharva and the Rig Vedas are the chief source from which we can gather information of the religion of the early Aryans. The Atharva-Veda, which is much more recent than the others, consists mainly of incantations, invocations, magic spells, love-charms, and formulas. To the Vedas were appended long prose compositions called the Brahmanas; these, although long and tedious, are yet of considerable interest, because they contain the record of the oldest forms of the sacrificial ritual, the oldest traditions, and the oldest philosophical speculation. The Rig- Veda has two Brahmauas, the Sama- Veda has four, the Yajur-Veda has two, and the Atharva-Veda has only one. These Brahmanas are again divided into the Aranyakas, dealing with the life of the ascetic in the forest; 206 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND and the Upanishads, which contain the freer religious speculations of the time. By the time the latter were written the simple and lofty ideas of the Vedic hymns had vanished, and the worship of the gods was replaced by an elaborate cult. Everything was done that could be done to make the people believe more than ever in the supernatural origin claimed by the Brahmans both for themselves and .for their teaching. In the Vedic period the Brahman was (as the word denoted) "one who prays," a "worshipper," or "the com- poser or reciter of a hymn." The veneration for these priests runs through all the life of the Hindu peasant, and takes the practical form of either offer- ings or food. No child is born, named, betrothed, or married, nobody dies or is burned, no journey is undertaken or auspicious day selected, no house is built, no agricultural operation of im- portance begun or harvest gathered in, without the Brahmans being fed. A portion of the produce is set apart for their use. They are consulted in sickness and in health; they are feasted in sorrow and in joy. Tall, erect, proud, conscious of his superior intellect, the Brahman walks along with an air that well expresses his inward conviction of inherent purity and sanctity. The Brahman caste, having after prolonged struggles established its power, made a wise use of it. From the ancient times when the Yedic hymns were composed, they clearly recognised that, in order to rule their fellow-men in spiritual matters, they must renounce temporal power a lesson which the Eornan Church has not learned even yet. They could not be kings, but they did become kings' counsellors and guides. As the duty of the Sudra, or menial, was to serve, of the Vaisya, or peasant, to till the ground or follow some handicraft, and of the Kshatriya caste to fight, so that of the Brahman was to be priest and offer up prayers and sacrifices. As their functions were mysterious and above the reach of other men, so they considered must their lives be. Their whole life was mapped out for them. On entering into manhood, the Brahman was solemnly invested with the sacred thread of " the twice-born." Youth and early manhood were spent in learning by heart the inspired scriptures from the lips of some older priest, in tending the sacred fire, or in attending to the personal wants of their revered teacher. These studies completed, the young man married and brought up a family, so gaining a practical knowledge of the world and of human nature. To thia period the third stage in his life was a strange contrast; for he retired into the forest, feeding on roots, and practising certain religious rites. The last stage was that of the ascetic or religious mendicant, quite out of touch with mundane affairs, and striving to attain a condition of mind which, heedless of the joys or pains of the body, is intent only on its own perfection and the attainment of peace. He became one of the holy men so well described by Mr. Kipling in his wonderful and enchanting "Jungle-Books" (see "The Miracle of Pimm Bhagat"). He ate Photo by Messrs. Watts & Skeen] A CORMGHI WOMAN, MADRAS. [Rangoon. A BRAHMAN PRIEST. Photos by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] A BHATIA. [Bombay. 208 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND only what was given to him. All through life he practised a strict temperance, drank no wine, and set an example to others of " plain living aud high thinking." For "what is the world?" said a Brahman sage. " It is even as the bough of a tree, on which a bird rests for a night, and in the morning flies away." Doubtless a certain number of individuals out of such a large class would find the yoke a hard one, and might relapse into worldliuess. This has happened to a certain extent; and, moreover, the struggle of life in modern times has forced very many of these sacred persons to take up secular pursuits. But all Sanskrit literature bears witness to the fact that this ideal life was constantly before the eyes of the Brahmans, and that they did to some considerable extent live up to this high standard in its two essential features of self- culture and self-restraint. Certain incidents recorded in the history of Buddha in the sixth century before Christ show that numbers of Brahmans were then living according to the rules of life laid down for them. Three centuries later the Greek ambassador Megasthenes found them discoursing in their groves chiefly on subjects such as life and death. To this day they have their colleges, and English visitors to these retreats are struck with the strict discipline enforced and the devotion of the students to their studies. Brahmans marry only within their caste; they become fathers when in their prime; and not being called upon for military service, they have not lost any of their best and strongest sons in war. Hence their best qualities have been transmitted in an ever-increasing measure to their descendants. The Brahmans of to-day, therefore, present to us the result of nearly 3,000 years of hereditary education and self-restraint, and the result is that they have produced quite a distinct type. Even the passing traveller in India marks them out both from the muscular and athletic Rajputs, or warrior class, and from the dark-skinned, thick-lipped, and short aborigines (Dravidians and Kolarians). The class has become the ruling power, not by force of arms, but by superior mind and the effects of culture and true temperance. Dynasties rose and fell; conquests took place; religions, such as Buddhism, have spread themselves over the land and disappeared; but the Brahman has calmly ruled, swaying the counsels of kings and princes, and receiving the homage of the people, as beings half Messrs. Bourne <& Shepherd] AN EXECUTIONER OF REWA. Photo by 1C. Gregory c- Co.} AN INDIAN PRINCE WHO ATTENDED THE QUEEN'S JUBILEE, 1897. [Strand, W.C. 27 2IO THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND divine. But we have not yet awarded them the full measure of praise which is undoubtedly their due. For their own Aryan people they developed a noble literature. Not only were they priests of their people, but also their philosophers, statesmen, law-givers, men of science, and even poets. Nor could the lower and aboriginal race fail to share in the general upward pro- gress. To these barbarians, survivals of the Stone and Bronze Ages (so called), they brought a knowledge of metals and higher religious teaching in the place of a mere belief in demons. Within historic times the Brahmans have largely incorporated the aborigines within the folds of an all-embracing Hinduism, though not without some concessions to their primeval notions. But let us look at the other side of the picture. A Brahman sees nothing humiliating in asking for or receiving alms. According to his ideas, it is a right of which he may make free use. His attitude when begging is also very unlike that of the poor wretch among ourselves who fawns and grovels for the smallest trifle. The Brahman asks for alms as for something that is his due, and not as though imploring a favour or a benefit. The begging Brahman boldly enters a house and states what he wants. Should he receive anything, he takes it without saying a word, goes away without any acknowledgment, and without showing the smallest sign of gratitude. Should he meet with a refusal, however, he retires without any complaint or grumbling. Intense selfishness is also a common characteristic of a Brahman. Brought up in the idea that nothing is too good for him, and that he owes nothing in return to any one, he models the whole of his life on these principles. He would unhesitatingly sacrifice public good or his country itself if it served his own interests, and he would stoop to treason, ingratitude, or any deed, however black, if it promoted his own welfare. He makes it a point of duty, not only to hold himself aloof from all other human beings, but also to despise and hate from the bottom of his heart every one who happens not to be born of the same caste as himself; and, further, he thinks himself absolved from any feelings of gratitude, pity, or consideration towards them. If he occasionally shows any kindness, it is only to some one of his own caste. As for the rest of mankind, he has been taught from his earliest youth to look upon them all as infinitely beneath him. The Brahmans number more than 4,500,000. Perhaps there is no 'country in the world where religious fanaticism is carried so far as in India. Devotees are often seen stretched at full length on the ground, and rolling in that posture all round the temples, or during the solemn processions before the cars which carry the idols. It is a remarkable sight to see a crowd of fanatics rolling in this manner quite regardless of stones, thorns, and other obstacles. Others, inspired by extreme fanaticism, voluntarily throw themselves down to be crushed under the wheels of the car on which the idol is borne (this has now been prohibited by law) ; and the crowds that witness these acts of Pholo by Mr. Fred. Bremner} A NATIVE FROM THE AFGHAN-BALUCH FRONTIER. INDIA 211 madness, far from preventing them, applaud them heartily, and regard them as the very acme of devotion. Some devotees are to be met with who make a vow to walk with bare feet on burning coals. Very few escape from the ordeal with their feet uninjured. Others pierce both cheeks with silver wire. Thus bridled, the mouth cannot be opened without acute pain. Many have been known to travel for twenty miles with these wires in their jaws. Some fanatics will cut out half their tongue. Again, there are others who bind themselves to go on a pilgrimage to some distant shrine by measuring their length along the ground throughout the whole distance. Beginning at their very doors, the pilgrims stretch themselves on the ground, rise again, advance two steps, again lie down, again rise, and continue this until they reach their destination. In India there are thousands of men living a life of religious contemplation who never do any work, but are supported by alms. Fakir is one of the names by which these holy men are known (see illustrations on pages 199, 200, 202, and 203). They sit under trees or among the tombs, or live together in monasteries. They are not all of one religion; for while some are Hindus, others are Sikhs, or even Mohammedans. According to Mr. William Crooke, however, the fakir is often an " idle, loafing vagabond, who wanders about the country begging alms. In the North- western Provinces there are no less than 2,000,000 of these sturdy beggars." It is only fair, however, to add (as Mr. Crooke himself informs us) that there is another class of fakirs who live in monasteries, devoting themselves to religious meditation, and who do not beg. Many of them are quiet and worthy people. The Egyptians con- sidered that to kill, even by accident, one of their sacred animals was the most heinous of crimes. Whoever was guilty of such an act was invariably put to death. A Koman soldier was torn in pieces by the populace, in spite of the terror that the name of Eome inspired, for having by mischance killed a cat. Diodorus, who records this incident, also mentions that during the famine the Egyptians preferred to devour each other rather than touch the animals they held sacred. The Hindus would also carry their scruples to the same point. In whatever straits they may be, they would prefer to die rather than save their lives by killing cattle. From this we may conclude that, though they daily witness the slaughter of the sacred animals by Photo by Mr. Fred. Bn-iniu-r\ \_Quetta. NATIVES FROM THE AFGHAN-HALT; CH FRONTIER. 212 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Photo by Mr. Fred. Bremner] AN AFGHAN WOMAN AND CHILD. [fyietta. Europeans without uttering any loud complaint, they are far from beiug insensible to the insult; and although they do not now openly revolt, on account of the fear inspired in them by foreigners, their indigna- tion is none the less because secret. " Pious Lingayats have often come to me," says the Abbe Dubois, " imagining that my title of European priest gives me great influence over my fellow-countrymen, to implore me, in earnest terms and even with tears in their eyes, to do every- thing in my power to put a stop to the sacrilege. In states which are still ruled by heathen princes, on no pretext whatever is it per- mitted to kill a cow. In fact, this act of sacrilege, so hateful to Hindus, is only permitted in provinces where Europeans or Moham- medans hold sway." AFGHANISTAN AND BALUCHISTAN. THE Afghans are a fine race, tall and well built, with somewhat aquiline nose and a warlike countenance. Within recent times many of them have migrated into the Punjab and seized territory there; not a few of them now serve in the native army of India. Although famous for courage, their discipline is not so good as that of Sikhs or Rajputs. If we compare the national character and customs of the Rajputs of India with those of the Afghans in their own country, we find a very remarkable similarity. Both exhibit a warlike spirit, are strongly averse to control, addicted to vice and debauchery, unstable, proud, jealous of national honour and personal dignity, and domineering. With regard to customs, we find pretty much the same laws of hospitality, protection to the refugee, exaction of vengeance, jealousy of female honour, and widows marrying the dead husbands' brothers. Again, in physiognomy there is a striking resemblance, both possessing a decidedly Jewish type of countenance. According to a native tradition, Syria was the home of the Afghans until Nebuchadnezzar carried them into captivity and planted them as colonists in parts* of Persia and Media. Hence they appear to have migrated eastwards into Ghor, a mountainous country, where they received the names " Bani Afghan," or " Children of Afghan," and " Bani Israel," or " Children of Israel." This theory of their origin seems to be confirmed by the testimony of Esdras, the prophet, who says that the captured ten tribes escaped and took refuge in the country of Arsareh, which may be the Hazarah country of which Ghor is a part. There is other testimony to the same effect. At present no one can say at what period the Afghans of Ghor moved on into the Kandahar country. AFGHANISTAN AND BALUCHISTAN 213 By the people of India, Afghans are called Pathans, in common with all the Pukh to- speaking peoples, who use the word in a very wide sense; but the people themselves use it in a very restricted sense. The former include under this general term even the Tajik and the Hazarah, both Persian-speaking peoples. The latter apply it only to Pukhto-speaking races, and even then with a distinction. Pathan, then, means Pukhtun. "The sections themselves are divided into a multiplicity of minor branches, septs, and clans, offering still further obstacles to a general amalgamation of the whole race. And the race itself is everywhere opposed to other races speaking different languages, such as Tajiks, Hindkis, Usbegs, Siah-Posh Kafirs, Hazaras, and Aimaks, which, although numerically inferior, possess greater national cohesion, Photo by Mr. Fred. B BRAHUIS OF AFGHANISTAN. and which in some cases have been able to maintain their independence. But for these untoward circumstances the Afghan race, by its warlike spirit and remarkable physical vitality, might seem destined to subdue the surrounding peoples. But their national resources have hitherto for the most part been frittered away in internecine broils and struggles for the local independence of individual chiefs and tribes" (Keane). Mr. Bellew, in his " Eaces of Afghanistan," says: "Looking at the Afridi as we find him to-day, it is difficult to imagine him the descendant of the mild, industrious, peace-loving, and contemplative Buddhist, abhorrent of the shedding of blood or destruction of life of even the minutest or meanest of God's creatures; or even to imagine him descended from fire- worshipping ancestors, whose tender care for life was almost equal to that of the Buddhist, and whose sincere and punctilious devotion to the observance of the minute ceremonies and ordinances of their religion was surpassed by none. The Afridi of to-day, though professedly a Mohammedan, has really no religion at all. He is, to a great extent, ignorant of the 214 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND tenets and doctrines of the creed he professes, and, even if he knew them, would in no way be restrained by them in pursuit of his purpose. Whatever he may have been as a Buddhist or as a fire-worshipper, he has now sunk to the lowest grade of civilisation, and borders upon the savage. Entirely illiterate, under no acknowledged control, each man his own king, the nation has dwindled down to a small community of less than 300,000 souls, mostly robbers and cut-throats, without principles of conduct of any kind, and with nothing but the incentive of the moment as the prompter to immediate action. Even among his own nationality (the Pathan) he is accounted the faithless of the faithless, and is held on all sides to be the most fierce and stealthy of all enemies. As we know him, merely in the character of an independent neighbour, he is a wily, mistrusting, wolfish, and wilful savage, with no other object in life but the pursuit of robbery and murder, and the feuds they give rise to." Photo by Messrs. Bourne & Shepherd] The writer of the above work (published in the year 1880), so well known to all students of Indian ethnology, makes a remarkable prophecy with regard to these Afridis, and one which a year or two ago was so completely fulfilled that we feel sure his warning will interest our readers. He says: "The result of thirty years' contact with them has in no way attached the people to us, nor has the example of British rule made any visible change in their condition, except perhaps in enabling them, through our own neglect to protect ourselves manfully, to become the best armed of any of our frontier tribes. We shall have some day to conquer this people and annex the country, and we shall then find what a born race of marksmen can do with our own Enfields and Sniders and Martini-IIenris in their hands, partly acquired by a weakness the Afridi has for enlisting into our native army and then deserting, and quite naturally taking his arms with him; but mostly by clever theft in the barracks of every newly arrived regiment, European or native." On the southern slopes of the Hindu-Kush Mountains and near to Kashmir are the CHIEFS OF BALUCHISTAN. 215 2l6 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND territories of Kafiristan, Gilgit, Chitral, Swat, and Chilas, hitherto supposed to owe allegiance to the Afghans. But all except Kafiristan, which the Afghans have now occupied, have come under British rule. Very little was known of Kafiristan ("Land of the Infidel") before Mr. (now Sir) G. T. Kobertson's expedition of 1889-90, and his journeys were in the eastern and central parts only; but he has collected valuable information. In his opinion the people appear to be mainly derived from the old Indian population of Eastern Afghanistan, who, rejecting Islam, took refuge in the almost inaccessible mountain valleys of the liindu-Kush, and mixed more or less with the dark aborigines, who are still represented by the Presuns, Arams, and others, while they themselves have received the name Siali-Posli, or " black-clad," on account of the dark colour of their clothing. The two types are still clearly to be discerned: the one (Aryan) with high and regular features; the other coarse, flat-nosed, and with hair nearly down to the eyebrows. The Siah-Posh are a brave and intelligent people, living under a tribal system. The inhabitants of Baluchistan, often called Baluchis, are decidedly different from Pathans, both in character and in appearance. They are brave and chivalrous, essentially wanderers, not very energetic, and always needy and hungry. Though less democratic in their ideas than the Pathans, they are even fonder of their personal liberty. The ruling race, however, in Baluchistan are not the Baluchis, but the Brahuis, who were in the country before them, and are more numerous. The affinities of the Brahuis have not yet been determined. They inhabit the eastern highlands, while the Baluchis dwell mainly in the lowlands. The latter have migrated into the Punjab; hence we were able to obtain the excellent photographs of a group of them by Mr. Fred. Bremner, of Quetta. Both races are Mohammedans, the Brahuis being Sunnis and the Baluchis Shiahs, like their Persian kinsmen. Photo by Fred. Bremner] CHIEFS OF BALUCHISTAN. [Quetta. CHAPTER X. TURKESTAN, BOKHARA, SIBERIA, AND PERSIA. TURKESTAN. THE population of this great region is composed of different races, so blended together as to produce a type differing in important characteristics from the primary stocks, both Turki and Iranian. The Turki branch of the great Mongolo-Tartar division of the human species, which is the predominating one, occupies nearly all Turkestan. The population is estimated at 5,500,000, of whom Iranians, of Persian stock, constitute one-fifth, while the Galchis, another distinct people, though related to the Iranians, number about 300,000 in Ferghana, Zarafshan, and the valleys of the Upper Oxus. In prehistoric times the Turki races were nomad tribes, wandering over the plains and uplands of their country. "\Yarlike and fond of freedom, they sought only pas- turage for their flocks and herds. Their arable tracts and the cities they built (as, for example, Khiva, Bokhara, Ferghana, and Samarcand) were of old, as they are now, the joint home of men belonging to the Turki and Persian races. For centuries a considerable inter- mingling of these races has been going on, with the result that the original types have become so much modified as to be hardly distin- guishable in the general mass, although some typical features may appear as strongly marked in in- dividuals of the mixed race as in either Turk or Persian of the purest blood. The people of both races are divided into a great number of tribes, and each tribe is again split up into clans or families. The principal tribes of Turki stock are the Kirghiz, the Turko- mans, and the Usbegs (described on page 222). The Kirghiz are divided into two branches - namely, the tiy ])ermig ^ H of ike Pt0yal Gemld Kirghiz-Kazaks and the Kara- A TURKOMAN. 217 2l8 THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND Kirghiz, who together number about 3,000,000. The Kara-Kirghiz, or "Black Kirghiz," who live on Great Pamir and the Tianshan Highlands, number only about 300,000. The Kirghiz-Kazaks themselves have never used the name Kirghiz, which was given them by the Eussiaus in order to distinguish them from their own Cossaks. They are the lowlanders; while the Kara-Kirghiz are the high- landers, who have largely wasted their energies in fighting among themselves and with the Kirghiz-Kazaks, who exercise the authority of lords and owners over the vast steppes extending from the Lower Volga to Zungaria, and from the head-waters of the streams that flow northward to the shores of the Sea of Aral. The Kirghiz-Kazaks are considered to fill an intermediate position between the Turki and Mongol races, possessing many physical traits in common with the Mongolian, but speaking a pure Turki dialect. Originally they were divided into three septs, or "hordes." The Middle Horde retained the cities Tashkend and Turkestan; the Great Horde moved to the east; and the Lesser Horde to the west and north. In the year 1734 the subjugation of the Kirghiz-Kazaks by the Russians began; but more than a hundred years of intermittent war and constant persecution were required to make these wild wanderers of the plain recognise that they were in conflict with a mighty and constantly increasing power, to which they must surrender some, at least, of their indepen- dence. These people are generally short of stature, with round, swarthy faces, short noses, small, sharp black eyes, and the tightly drawn eyelids which are seen in all races derived from primary Mongolian stock. Flocks and herds are their only wealth. The summer they spend on the higher slopes of the mountains where pasture can be found; in winter they descend to the valleys. Members of the same tent-village, which they term an aul, are generally kinsmen, and their flocks may graze on the same lands. So hardy are these people that they can go without drink for a whole day and without food for several days. They are very fond of mutton, but at their great feasts horse-flesh is eaten. Having no bread, they sometimes make a kind of porridge of millet. Tea is a favourite beverage, but koumiss may be called the national drink. It is made of mare's milk fermented, and is preserved in skins. Travellers say it is very wholesome, and many medical men in England recommend it to consumptive patients. The men all shave their heads and allow their small beards to grow. They wear immense baggy breeches and a coarse shirt, the most noticeable feature of which is the wide, flapping collar. The outer garment is like a dressing-gown, and two or three of these are some- times worn together, according to the temperature. Men who are rich in flocks and herds have magnificent velvet robes, richly embroidered with gold and silver. Embroidered skull-caps arc worn, and over these oddly shaped hoods of sheep skin or conical felt hats. Belts, saddles, By permission of the Royal Geographical Society. A KARA-KIRGHIZ WOMAN. A KIRGHIZ MAN OF TASHKEXD. A KIRGHIZ MAN, DISTRICT OF SEMIRETCHENSK. A KARA-KIRGHIZ, DISTRICT OF SEMIRETCHENSK. AN USBEG MAN, DISTRICT OF ZARAFSHAN.