Page:Essays ethnological and linguistic.djvu/108

96 over the snowy regions of the northern parts of the world, from Scythia or Tartary, which theory Grotius thought he had triumphantly overset, by remarking that the Scythians were preeminently pastoral people, and had horses and herds of cattle, of which the Americans had no knowledge; whereupon he supposes that they had come over originally partly from Norway, and partly from Abyssinia. The latter supposition is such an extraordinary one, as to make us doubt what could be his meaning. If he intended all Africa, we cannot altogether admit the correctness of the opinion, nor yet of their having come from Norway, even if, under this name, we suppose him to intend all the north-western parts of Europe. That there were circumstances inducing numbers of the Scandinavians to seek new habitations in Iceland and elsewhere we admit; but we have neither authority, nor reason to believe that any people analogous to the red or copper-coloured Indians ever inhabited that part of Europe. There might possibly have been some nations formerly inhabiting Scandinavia distinct from those settled there within historical memory, of whom we have no record or tradition: but we have trustworthy accounts of the first peopling of Iceland by its present race of inhabitants, and at that period we know it was a desert island, from which, therefore, there were no such tribes to be driven away. Grotius seems to have fixed on Norway and Abyssinia as the two nearest countries to the American continent from which men, possessed of seafaring knowledge could have passed over, without, however, entering into any inquiries to judge of their ethnological affinities. But in so doing, he forgot that the same arguments might be brought against his suppositions, which he considered so conclusive against the others. For if the American Indians could not have come from Tartary because they had no knowledge of horses or cattle, neither could they have come from Norway or Abyssinia without a knowledge or possession of the animals found in those countries. But we cannot admit his argument to be a valid one. If some of the American tribes had originally proceeded from Scythia or Tartary, having been possessors there of horses and cattle, those who came to America may well be presumed to have come, not of free will over the inhospitable regions of the north, but as wanderers and fugitives. Some might have come as hunters, and some from the restlessness of spirit characterizing uncivilized people; but the greater part we may presume came over the ice and snows of the north as weaker bands driven away from their former habitations by stronger parties in their native communities.