Page:Essays ethnological and linguistic.djvu/139

Rh these facts before us I think we cannot admit the supposition that the American race is naturally and instinctively different from the rest of mankind," and then adds as a summary conclusion, "there seems to be no great difficulty in the supposition that people from some tribe or tribes of the extreme north-east, crossed over Behring's straits, or passed along the Aleutian chain of islands from Asia to America in an early period, and formed a nation in the New World, who after constructing or rather developing into its complex form a primitive speech, of which all the polysynthetic idioms are derivations or imitations, spread themselves over the whole continent of America, and being thereby scattered, soon separated into particular hordes, which became the germs of many particular nations." Here however he felt a difficulty, which he meets by observing that "the number and diversity of languages at the present day require, that we should assume an early æra for this event, and the rapidity, with which the human species is propagated under favourable circumstances removes any difficulty that may attend the supposition."

From this passage it appears that the eminent writer declaring himself opposed to the supposition of the American race being naturally and instinctively different from the rest of mankind, was yet inclined to accept the commonly received opinion of all America having been peopled from the north-east of Asia, and afterwards divided into the different nations with different languages found on the Continent by the Spanish and other subsequent discoverers. He makes no reference to any other theory, though throughout his work there are sufficient indications which lead to very much more extended sources of origin for the different people described. Had these more extended views been presented to Dr. Prichard's attention, I cannot therefore but believe that he would have accepted them rather than the old theory, which he found prevailing and which he preferred to the supposition of the native "American race being naturally and instinctively different from the rest of mankind," as other writers had ventured to assert and some are even yet still asserting. But as these considerations had not been then put forward, it becomes the more incumbent on me after having raised them in opposition to the other theory to take every means of showing their validity. In the infancy of every Science, the steps by which the candid enquirer proceeds must be necessarily uncertain, and it is only by careful and continual advances that he can hope to proceed securely. The light afforded to Ethnological knowledge has