If These Two Great Races Were Direct
Modifications, The One Of The Other, We Should Expect To Find In
The Intervening Region Some Homogeneous Indigenous Race
Presenting Intermediate Characters.
For example, between the
whitest inhabitants of Europe and the black Klings of South
India, there are in the
Intervening districts homogeneous races
which form a gradual transition from one to the other; while in
America, although there is a perfect transition from the Anglo-
Saxon to the negro, and from the Spaniard to the Indian, there is
no homogeneous race forming a natural transition from one to the
other. In the Malay Archipelago we have an excellent example of
two absolutely distinct races, which appear to have approached
each other, and intermingled in an unoccupied territory at a very
recent epoch in the history of man; and I feel satisfied that no
unprejudiced person could study them on the spot without being
convinced that this is the true solution of the problem, rather
than the almost universally accepted view that they are but
modifications of one and the same race.
The people of Muka live in that abject state of poverty that is
almost always found where the sago-tree is abundant. Very few of
them take the trouble to plant any vegetables or fruit, but live
almost entirely on sago and fish, selling a little tripang or
tortoiseshell to buy the scanty clothing they require. Almost all
of them, however, possess one or more Papuan slaves, on whose
labour they live in almost absolute idleness, just going out on
little fishing or trading excursions, as an excitement in their
monotonous existence.
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