5.  The  Primeval  Home  of  man,  then,  must  have
been  a  place  suitable  for  the  nurture  of  such  a  weak,
defenceless  creature.  In  endeavouring,  therefore,  to
locate  the  cradle  of  mankind,  great  stress  is  laid  upon
the  environments  necessary  for  his  growth  and  safety :
the  climate  must  have  been  warm  and  healthy  ;  food
must  have  been  abundant  and  easily  procurable.    We


6  History  of  Ancient  Peoples.  [Part  i

instinctively  turn  toward  the  tropics,  and  search  for
the  Garden  of  Eden.  Primitive  routes  of  migration
point  toward  Asia  Minor,  but  as  they  do  not  con-
verge to  a  point  until  they  reach  the  Indian  Ocean,
some  have  located  there  a  sunken  island  and  have
pronounced  it  the  hon)e  of  primitive  man.  But  the
oldest  remains  of  man's  handiwork,  in  the  shape  of
flint  chips  and  rough  stone  implements,  have  been
found  in  France,  England,  and  Northern  Africa;  '
in  the  forests  of  this  region,  anthropoid  apes  built
their  rude  shelters  and  gathered  tropical  fruits ;
in  this  remote  epoch,  these  regions,  that  have  since
resounded  with  the  avalanche's  roar,  were  favoured
with  a  mild,  subtropical  climate.  A  warm  climate,
the  oldest  remains  of  anthropoid  apes,  and  the  re-
mains of  the  most  primitive  men,  furnish  the  pro-
gressionist with  his  three  conditions  necessary  to  the
evolution  of  man.  Therefore  some  scientists  argue
that  this  region  was  the  cradle  of  the  human  species ;
but  this  theory  demands  for  its  fulfilment  an  extended
period  of  time.
