«

were tielther white like .the Europeanst nof yellow Jik« most of the
Asiatictf nor blaok like the negroes* Their skin was reddisb browni
their hair long and shining, their lips thin, and their cheek-boncs verjT
prominent. The languages spoken by the North AmeritBcti tribes
were various as far as regarded their words, but they were eabjaot to
the satne grammati^sal rules* Those rules differed in several points
from such as had been observed to govern the origin of language. •

The idiom of the Americans seemed to be the product 9f new com*
binationsi and bespoke an effort of the understanding! of which the
Indians of our days would be incapable.'*

The social state of these tribes differed also in many respects fnnn
all that was seen in the Old Worid« They seemed to have multiplied
freely in the midst of their deserts, .without coming in contact with
other races more civilized than their own.
Accordingly, they exhibited none of those indistinct, incoherent
notions of right and wrong, none of that d^p corruption of roanaeis
that is usually joined with ignorance and rudeness among nations
which, after advancing to civilization, have relapsed into a state of
barbarism. The Indian was indebted to no one hot himself; his vir-
tues, his vices, and his prejudices were his own work ; he had grown
up in the wild independence of his nature.
If, in polished countries, the lowest of the people are rude and unci*
vil, it is not merely because they are poor and ignorant, hot that, be-
ing so, they are in daily contact with rich and enlightened men. The
sight of their own hard lot and of their weakness, which are daily
contrasted with the happiness and power of some of their fellow.
