×

We gebruiken cookies om LingQ beter te maken. Als u de website bezoekt, gaat u akkoord met onze cookiebeleid.


image

The Dawn of Canadian History : A Chronicle of Aboriginal Canada by Stephen Leacock, CHAPTER II. MAN IN AMERICA

CHAPTER II. MAN IN AMERICA

It was necessary to form some idea, if only in outline, of the magnitude and extent of the great geological changes of which we have just spoken, in order to judge properly the question of the antiquity and origin of man in America.

When the Europeans came to this continent at the end of the fifteenth century they found it already inhabited by races of men very different from themselves.

These people, whom they took to calling 'Indians,' were spread out, though very thinly, from one end of the continent to the other. Who were these nations, and how was their presence to be accounted for? To the first discoverers of America, or rather to the discoverers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Columbus and his successors), the origin of the Indians presented no difficulty.

To them America was supposed to be simply an outlying part of Eastern Asia, which had been known by repute and by tradition for centuries past. Finding, therefore, the tropical islands of the Caribbean sea with a climate and plants and animals such as they imagined those of Asia and the Indian ocean to be, and inhabited by men of dusky colour and strange speech, they naturally thought the place to be part of Asia, or the Indies. The name 'Indians,' given to the aborigines of North America, records for us this historical misunderstanding. But a new view became necessary after Balboa had crossed the isthmus of Panama and looked out upon the endless waters of the Pacific, and after Magellan and his Spanish comrades had sailed round the foot of the continent, and then pressed on across the Pacific to the real Indies.

It was now clear that America was a different region from Asia. Even then the old error died hard. Long after the Europeans realized that, at the south, America and Asia were separated by a great sea, they imagined that these continents were joined together at the north. The European ideas of distance and of the form of the globe were still confused and inexact. A party of early explorers in Virginia carried a letter of introduction with them from the King of England to the Khan of Tartary: they expected to find him at the head waters of the Chickahominy. Jacques Cartier, nearly half a century after Columbus, was expecting that the Gulf of St Lawrence would open out into a passage leading to China. But after the discovery of the North Pacific ocean and Bering Strait the idea that America was part of Asia, that the natives were 'Indians' in the old sense, was seen to be absurd. It was clear that America was, in a large sense, an island, an island cut off from every other continent. It then became necessary to find some explanation for the seemingly isolated position of a portion of mankind separated from their fellows by boundless oceans. The earlier theories were certainly naive enough.

Since no known human agency could have transported the Indians across the Atlantic or the Pacific, their presence in America was accounted for by certain of the old writers as a particular work of the devil. Thus Cotton Mather, the famous Puritan clergyman of early New England, maintained in all seriousness that the devil had inveigled the Indians to America to get them 'beyond the tinkle of the gospel bells.' Others thought that they were a washed-up remnant of the great flood. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, wrote: 'From Adam and Noah that they spring, it is granted on all hands.' Even more fantastic views were advanced. As late as in 1828 a London clergyman wrote a book which he called 'A View of the American Indians,' which was intended to 'show them to be the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. Even when such ideas as these were set aside, historians endeavoured to find evidence, or at least probability, of a migration of the Indians from the known continents across one or the other of the oceans.

It must be admitted that, even if we supposed the form and extent of the continents to have been always the same as they are now, such a migration would have been entirely possible. It is quite likely that under the influence of exceptional weather—winds blowing week after week from the same point of the compass—even a primitive craft of prehistoric times might have been driven across the Atlantic or the Pacific, and might have landed its occupants still alive and well on the shores of America. To prove this we need only remember that history records many such voyages. It has often happened that Japanese junks have been blown clear across the Pacific. In 1833 a ship of this sort was driven in a great storm from Japan to the shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia. In the same way a fishing smack from Formosa, which lies off the east coast of China, was once carried in safety across the ocean to the Sandwich Islands. Similar long voyages have been made by the natives of the South Seas against their will, under the influence of strong and continuous winds, and in craft no better than their open canoes. Captain Beechey of the Royal Navy relates that in one of his voyages in the Pacific he picked up a canoe filled with natives from Tahiti who had been driven by a gale of westerly wind six hundred miles from their own island. It has happened, too, from time to time, since the discovery of America, that ships have been forcibly carried all the way across the Atlantic. A glance at the map of the world shows us that the eastern coast of Brazil juts out into the South Atlantic so far that it is only fifteen hundred miles distant from the similar projection of Africa towards the west. The direction of the trade winds in the South Atlantic is such that it has often been the practice of sailing vessels bound from England to South Africa to run clear across the ocean on a long stretch till within sight of the coast of Brazil before turning towards the Cape of Good Hope. All, however, that we can deduce from accidental voyages, like that of the Spaniard, Alvarez de Cabral, across the ocean is that even if there had been no other way for mankind to reach America they could have landed there by ship from the Old World. In such a case, of course, the coming of man to the American continent would have been an extremely recent event in the long history of the world. It could not have occurred until mankind had progressed far enough to make vessels, or at least boats of a simple kind. But there is evidence that man had appeared on the earth long before the shaping of the continents had taken place.

Both in Europe and America the buried traces of primitive man are vast in antiquity, and carry us much further back in time than the final changes of earth and ocean which made the continents as they are; and, when we remember this, it is easy to see how mankind could have passed from Asia or Europe to America. The connection of the land surface of the globe was different in early times from what it is to-day. Even still, Siberia and Alaska are separated only by the narrow Bering Strait. From the shore of Asia the continent of North America is plainly visible; the islands which lie in and below the strait still look like stepping-stones from continent to continent. And, apart from this, it may well have been that farther south, where now is the Pacific ocean, there was formerly direct land connection between Southern Asia and South America. The continuous chain of islands that runs from the New Hebrides across the South Pacific to within two thousand four hundred miles of the coast of Chile is perhaps the remains of a sunken continent. In the most easterly of these, Easter Island, have been found ruined temples and remains of great earthworks on a scale so vast that to believe them the work of a small community of islanders is difficult. The fact that they bear some resemblance to the buildings and works of the ancient inhabitants of Chile and Peru has suggested that perhaps South America was once merely a part of a great Pacific continent. Or again, turning to the other side of the continent, it may be argued with some show of evidence that America and Africa were once connected by land, and that a sunken continent is to be traced between Brazil and the Guinea coast. Nevertheless, it appears to be impossible to say whether or not an early branch of the human race ever 'migrated' to America.

Conceivably the race may have originated there. Some authorities suppose that the evolution of mankind occurred at the same time and in the same fashion in two or more distinct quarters of the globe. Others again think that mankind evolved and spread over the surface of the world just as did the various kinds of plants and animals. Of course, the higher endowment of men enabled them to move with greater ease from place to place than could beings of lesser faculties. Most writers of to-day, however, consider this unlikely, and think it more probable that man originated first in some one region, and spread from it throughout the earth. But where this region was, they cannot tell. We always think of the races of Europe as having come westward from some original home in Asia. This is, of course, perfectly true, since nearly all the peoples of Europe can be traced by descent from the original stock of the Aryan family, which certainly made such a migration. But we know also that races of men were dwelling in Europe ages before the Aryan migration. What particular part of the globe was the first home of mankind is a question on which we can only speculate. Of one thing we may be certain.

If there was a migration, there must have been long ages of separation between mankind in America and mankind in the Old World; otherwise we should still find some trace of kinship in language which would join the natives of America to the great racial families of Europe, Asia, and Africa. But not the slightest vestige of such kinship has yet been found. Everybody knows in a general way how the prehistoric relationships among the peoples of Europe and Asia are still to be seen in the languages of to-day. The French and Italian languages are so alike that, if we did not know it already, we could easily guess for them a common origin. We speak of these languages, along with others, as Romance languages, to show that they are derived from Latin, in contrast with the closely related tongues of the English, Dutch, and German peoples, which came from another common stock, the Teutonic. But even the Teutonic and the Romance languages are not entirely different. The similarity in both groups of old root words, like the numbers from one to ten, point again to a common origin still more remote. In this way we may trace a whole family of languages, and with it a kinship of descent, from Hindustan to Ireland. Similarly, another great group of tongues—Arabic, Hebrew, etc.—shows a branch of the human family spread out from Palestine and Egypt to Morocco. Now when we come to inquire into the languages of the American Indians for evidence of their relationship to other peoples we are struck with this fact: we cannot connect the languages of America with those of any other part of the world.

This is a very notable circumstance. The languages of Europe and Asia are, as it were, dovetailed together, and run far and wide into Africa. From Asia eastward, through the Malay tongues, a connection may be traced even with the speech of the Maori of New Zealand, and with that of the remotest islanders of the Pacific. But similar attempts to connect American languages with the outside world break down. There are found in North America, from the Arctic to Mexico, some fifty-five groups of languages still existing or recently extinct. Throughout these we may trace the same affinities and relationships that run through the languages of Europe and Asia. We can also easily connect the speech of the natives of North America with that of natives of Central and of South America. Even if we had not the similarities of physical appearance, of tribal customs, and of general manners to argue from, we should be able to say with certainty that the various families of American Indians all belonged to one race. The Eskimos of Northern Canada are not Indians, and are perhaps an exception; it is possible that a connection may be traced between them and the prehistoric cave-men of Northern Europe. But the Indians belong to one great race, and show no connection in language or customs with the outside world. They belong to the American continent, it has been said, as strictly as its opossums and its armadillos, its maize and its golden rod, or any other of its aboriginal animals and plants. But, here again, we must not conclude too much from the fact that the languages of America have no relation to those of Europe and Asia.

This does not show that men originated separately on this continent. For even in Europe and Asia, where no one supposes that different races sprung from wholly separate beginnings, we find languages isolated in the same way. The speech of the Basques in the Pyrenees has nothing in common with the European families of languages. We may, however, regard the natives of America as an aboriginal race, if any portion of mankind can be viewed as such.

So far as we know, they are not an offshoot, or a migration, from any people of what is called the Old World, although they are, like the people of the other continents, the descendants of a primitive human stock. We may turn to geology to find how long mankind has lived on this continent.

In a number of places in North and South America are found traces of human beings and their work so old that in comparison the beginning of the world's written history becomes a thing of yesterday. Perhaps there were men in Canada long before the shores of its lakes had assumed their present form; long before nature had begun to hollow out the great gorge of the Niagara river or to lay down the outline of the present Lake Ontario. Let us look at some of the notable evidence in respect to the age of man in America. In Nicaragua, in Central America, the imprints of human feet have been found, deeply buried over twenty feet below the present surface of the soil, under repeated deposits of volcanic rock. These impressions must have been made in soft muddy soil which was then covered by some geological convulsion occurring long ages ago. Even more striking discoveries have been made along the Pacific coast of South America. Near the mouth of the Esmeraldas river in Ecuador, over a stretch of some sixty miles, the surface soil of the coast covers a bed of marine clay. This clay is about eight feet thick. Underneath it is a stratum of sand and loam such as might once have itself been surface soil. In this lower bed there are found rude implements of stone, ornaments made of gold, and bits of broken pottery. Again, if we turn to the northern part of the continent we find remains of the same kind, chipped implements of stone and broken fragments of quartz buried in the drift of the Mississippi and Missouri valleys. These have sometimes been found lying beside or under the bones of elephants and animals unknown in North America since the period of the Great Ice. Not many years ago, some men engaged in digging a well on a hillside that was once part of the beach of Lake Ontario, came across the remains of a primitive hearth buried under the accumulated soil. From its situation we can only conclude that the men who set together the stones of the hearth, and lighted on it their fires, did so when the vast wall of the northern glacier was only beginning to retreat, and long before the gorge of Niagara had begun to be furrowed out of the rock. Many things point to the conclusion that there were men in North and South America during the remote changes of the Great Ice Age.

But how far the antiquity of man on this continent reaches back into the preceding ages we cannot say.

Learn languages from TV shows, movies, news, articles and more! Try LingQ for FREE

CHAPTER II. MAN IN AMERICA CAPÍTULO II. EL HOMBRE EN AMÉRICA CAPÍTULO II. O HOMEM NA AMÉRICA 第二章 美国男人

It was necessary to form some idea, if only in outline, of the magnitude and extent of the great geological changes of which we have just spoken, in order to judge properly the question of the antiquity and origin of man in America. It was necessary to form some idea, if only in outline, of the magnitude and extent of the great geological changes of which we have just spoken, in order to judge properly the question of the antiquity and origin of man in America. Amerika'da insanın antikliği ve kökeni sorununu doğru bir şekilde değerlendirebilmek için, az önce sözünü ettiğimiz büyük jeolojik değişimlerin büyüklüğü ve kapsamı hakkında ana hatlarıyla da olsa bir fikir edinmek gerekiyordu.

When the Europeans came to this continent at the end of the fifteenth century they found it already inhabited by races of men very different from themselves.

These people, whom they took to calling 'Indians,' were spread out, though very thinly, from one end of the continent to the other. Diese Menschen, die sie „Indianer“ nannten, waren, wenn auch sehr dünn, von einem Ende des Kontinents zum anderen verstreut. 'Kızılderililer' olarak adlandırdıkları bu insanlar, çok seyrek de olsa, kıtanın bir ucundan diğerine yayılmışlardı. Who were these nations, and how was their presence to be accounted for? Wer waren diese Nationen, und wie war ihre Anwesenheit zu erklären? Bu uluslar kimlerdi ve varlıkları nasıl açıklanacaktı? To the first discoverers of America, or rather to the discoverers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Columbus and his successors), the origin of the Indians presented no difficulty. Для першовідкривачів Америки, а точніше для першовідкривачів XV-XVI століть (Колумб і його наступники), походження індіанців не представляло труднощів.

To them America was supposed to be simply an outlying part of Eastern Asia, which had been known by repute and by tradition for centuries past. Für sie war Amerika einfach ein abgelegener Teil Ostasiens, der seit Jahrhunderten durch Ruf und Tradition bekannt war. Finding, therefore, the tropical islands of the Caribbean sea with a climate and plants and animals such as they imagined those of Asia and the Indian ocean to be, and inhabited by men of dusky colour and strange speech, they naturally thought the place to be part of Asia, or the Indies. The name 'Indians,' given to the aborigines of North America, records for us this historical misunderstanding. But a new view became necessary after Balboa had crossed the isthmus of Panama and looked out upon the endless waters of the Pacific, and after Magellan and his Spanish comrades had sailed round the foot of the continent, and then pressed on across the Pacific to the real Indies.

It was now clear that America was a different region from Asia. Even then the old error died hard. Selbst dann starb der alte Fehler schwer. Long after the Europeans realized that, at the south, America and Asia were separated by a great sea, they imagined that these continents were joined together at the north. The European ideas of distance and of the form of the globe were still confused and inexact. A party of early explorers in Virginia carried a letter of introduction with them from the King of England to the Khan of Tartary: they expected to find him at the head waters of the Chickahominy. Virginia'daki ilk kaşiflerden bir grup, yanlarında İngiltere Kralı'ndan Tataristan Hanı'na bir takdim mektubu taşıyordu: Onu Chickahominy'nin baş sularında bulmayı umuyorlardı. Jacques Cartier, nearly half a century after Columbus, was expecting that the Gulf of St Lawrence would open out into a passage leading to China. But after the discovery of the North Pacific ocean and Bering Strait the idea that America was part of Asia, that the natives were 'Indians' in the old sense, was seen to be absurd. It was clear that America was, in a large sense, an island, an island cut off from every other continent. It then became necessary to find some explanation for the seemingly isolated position of a portion of mankind separated from their fellows by boundless oceans. The earlier theories were certainly naive enough.

Since no known human agency could have transported the Indians across the Atlantic or the Pacific, their presence in America was accounted for by certain of the old writers as a particular work of the devil. Bilinen hiçbir insan aracı Kızılderilileri Atlantik ya da Pasifik ötesine taşıyamayacağından, Amerika'daki varlıkları bazı eski yazarlar tarafından şeytanın özel bir işi olarak açıklanmıştır. Оскільки жодна відома людська сила не могла переправити індіанців через Атлантику чи Тихий океан, деякі стародавні автори вважали їхню присутність в Америці справою диявола. Thus Cotton Mather, the famous Puritan clergyman of early New England, maintained in all seriousness that the devil had inveigled the Indians to America to get them 'beyond the tinkle of the gospel bells.' So behauptete Cotton Mather, der berühmte puritanische Geistliche des frühen Neuenglands, allen Ernstes, der Teufel habe die Indianer nach Amerika verführt, um sie „über das Läuten der Evangeliumsglocken hinaus“ zu bringen. Bu nedenle, New England'ın ilk dönemlerinin ünlü Püriten din adamı Cotton Mather, şeytanın Kızılderilileri Amerika'ya 'müjde çanlarının tınlamasının ötesine' götürmek için kandırdığını tüm ciddiyetiyle savunmuştur. Таким чином Коттон Мазер, відомий пуританський священик ранньої Нової Англії, цілком серйозно стверджував, що диявол звів індіанців до Америки, щоб вивести їх «поза дзвін євангельських дзвонів». Others thought that they were a washed-up remnant of the great flood. Andere hielten sie für einen angeschwemmten Überrest der großen Flut. Diğerleri ise onların büyük tufandan arta kalanlar olduğunu düşünüyordu. Інші думали, що вони були вимитими залишками великого потопу. Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island, wrote: 'From Adam and Noah that they spring, it is granted on all hands.' Roger Williams, der Gründer von Rhode Island, schrieb: „Von Adam und Noah, dass sie entspringen, ist es allen zugestanden.“ Rhode Island'ın kurucusu Roger Williams şöyle yazmıştır: 'Adem ve Nuh'tan geldikleri herkesçe kabul edilmektedir. Роджер Вільямс, засновник Род-Айленда, писав: «Від Адама та Ноя, що вони весняться, це даровано з усіх рук». Even more fantastic views were advanced. Daha da muhteşem manzaralar ortaya çıktı. As late as in 1828 a London clergyman wrote a book which he called 'A View of the American Indians,' which was intended to 'show them to be the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. 1828 gibi geç bir tarihte Londralı bir din adamı 'Amerikan Kızılderililerine Bir Bakış' adını verdiği ve 'onların İsrail'in on kabilesinin torunları olduğunu göstermeyi' amaçlayan bir kitap yazdı. Even when such ideas as these were set aside, historians endeavoured to find evidence, or at least probability, of a migration of the Indians from the known continents across one or the other of the oceans. Bu gibi fikirler bir kenara bırakıldığında bile, tarihçiler Kızılderililerin bilinen kıtalardan okyanusların biri ya da diğeri üzerinden göç ettiklerine dair kanıt ya da en azından olasılık bulmaya çalışmışlardır.

It must be admitted that, even if we supposed the form and extent of the continents to have been always the same as they are now, such a migration would have been entirely possible. Kabul etmek gerekir ki, kıtaların biçim ve boyutlarının her zaman şimdiki gibi olduğunu varsaysak bile, böyle bir göç tamamen mümkün olabilirdi. It is quite likely that under the influence of exceptional weather—winds blowing week after week from the same point of the compass—even a primitive craft of prehistoric times might have been driven across the Atlantic or the Pacific, and might have landed its occupants still alive and well on the shores of America. It is quite likely that under the influence of exceptional weather—winds blowing week after week from the same point of the compass—even a primitive craft of prehistoric times might have been driven across the Atlantic or the Pacific, and might have landed its occupants still alive and well on the shores of America. Olağanüstü hava koşullarının etkisi altında -pusulanın aynı noktasından her hafta esen rüzgârlar- tarih öncesi çağlara ait ilkel bir geminin bile Atlantik ya da Pasifik'i geçerek, içindekileri canlı ve sağlıklı bir şekilde Amerika kıyılarına indirmiş olması oldukça muhtemeldir. To prove this we need only remember that history records many such voyages. Um dies zu beweisen, müssen wir uns nur daran erinnern, dass die Geschichte viele solcher Reisen aufzeichnet. It has often happened that Japanese junks have been blown clear across the Pacific. Es ist oft vorgekommen, dass japanische Dschunken über den Pazifik geweht wurden. It has often happened that Japanese junks have been blown clear across the Pacific. Japon gemilerinin Pasifik'in öbür ucuna savrulduğu çok olmuştur. In 1833 a ship of this sort was driven in a great storm from Japan to the shores of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia. In the same way a fishing smack from Formosa, which lies off the east coast of China, was once carried in safety across the ocean to the Sandwich Islands. Auf die gleiche Weise wurde einst ein Fischkutter von Formosa, das vor der Ostküste Chinas liegt, sicher über den Ozean zu den Sandwichinseln transportiert. Similar long voyages have been made by the natives of the South Seas against their will, under the influence of strong and continuous winds, and in craft no better than their open canoes. Ähnlich lange Reisen sind von den Eingeborenen der Südsee gegen ihren Willen unter dem Einfluss starker und anhaltender Winde und in Fahrzeugen gemacht worden, die nicht besser sind als ihre offenen Kanus. Подібні далекі подорожі здійснювали тубільці південних морів проти власної волі, під впливом сильних і безперервних вітрів, і на судні не краще, ніж їхні відкриті каное. Captain Beechey of the Royal Navy relates that in one of his voyages in the Pacific he picked up a canoe filled with natives from Tahiti who had been driven by a gale of westerly wind six hundred miles from their own island. Captain Beechey of the Royal Navy relates that in one of his voyages in the Pacific he picked up a canoe filled with natives from Tahiti who had been driven by a gale of westerly wind six hundred miles from their own island. Kraliyet Donanması'ndan Kaptan Beechey, Pasifik'teki yolculuklarından birinde, Tahiti'den gelen ve kendi adalarından altı yüz mil uzağa batı rüzgârıyla sürüklenen yerlilerle dolu bir kanoyu aldığını anlatır. It has happened, too, from time to time, since the discovery of America, that ships have been forcibly carried all the way across the Atlantic. Amerika'nın keşfinden bu yana zaman zaman gemilerin zorla Atlantik'in öbür yakasına geçirildiği de olmuştur. A glance at the map of the world shows us that the eastern coast of Brazil juts out into the South Atlantic so far that it is only fifteen hundred miles distant from the similar projection of Africa towards the west. The direction of the trade winds in the South Atlantic is such that it has often been the practice of sailing vessels bound from England to South Africa to run clear across the ocean on a long stretch till within sight of the coast of Brazil before turning towards the Cape of Good Hope. Güney Atlantik'teki ticaret rüzgarlarının yönü, İngiltere'den Güney Afrika'ya giden yelkenli gemilerin Ümit Burnu'na doğru dönmeden önce Brezilya kıyılarını görene kadar okyanusu boydan boya kat etmelerine sıkça rastlanan bir durumdur. All, however, that we can deduce from accidental voyages, like that of the Spaniard, Alvarez de Cabral, across the ocean is that even if there had been no other way for mankind to reach America they could have landed there by ship from the Old World. In such a case, of course, the coming of man to the American continent would have been an extremely recent event in the long history of the world. It could not have occurred until mankind had progressed far enough to make vessels, or at least boats of a simple kind. But there is evidence that man had appeared on the earth long before the shaping of the continents had taken place.

Both in Europe and America the buried traces of primitive man are vast in antiquity, and carry us much further back in time than the final changes of earth and ocean which made the continents as they are; and, when we remember this, it is easy to see how mankind could have passed from Asia or Europe to America. The connection of the land surface of the globe was different in early times from what it is to-day. Even still, Siberia and Alaska are separated only by the narrow Bering Strait. From the shore of Asia the continent of North America is plainly visible; the islands which lie in and below the strait still look like stepping-stones from continent to continent. Asya kıyılarından Kuzey Amerika kıtası açıkça görülebilmektedir; boğazın içinde ve altında uzanan adalar hala kıtadan kıtaya atlama taşları gibi görünmektedir. And, apart from this, it may well have been that farther south, where now is the Pacific ocean, there was formerly direct land connection between Southern Asia and South America. Bunun dışında, daha güneyde, şimdi Pasifik Okyanusu'nun bulunduğu yerde, eskiden Güney Asya ile Güney Amerika arasında doğrudan kara bağlantısı vardı. The continuous chain of islands that runs from the New Hebrides across the South Pacific to within two thousand four hundred miles of the coast of Chile is perhaps the remains of a sunken continent. Yeni Hebridler'den Güney Pasifik boyunca Şili kıyılarının iki bin dört yüz mil yakınına kadar uzanan kesintisiz adalar zinciri belki de batık bir kıtanın kalıntılarıdır. In the most easterly of these, Easter Island, have been found ruined temples and remains of great earthworks on a scale so vast that to believe them the work of a small community of islanders is difficult. Bunların en doğusunda yer alan Paskalya Adası'nda yıkık tapınaklar ve küçük bir ada halkı topluluğunun eseri olduğuna inanmayı güçleştirecek kadar büyük ölçekli toprak yapı kalıntıları bulunmuştur. The fact that they bear some resemblance to the buildings and works of the ancient inhabitants of Chile and Peru has suggested that perhaps South America was once merely a part of a great Pacific continent. Or again, turning to the other side of the continent, it may be argued with some show of evidence that America and Africa were once connected by land, and that a sunken continent is to be traced between Brazil and the Guinea coast. Ya da kıtanın diğer tarafına dönerek, Amerika ve Afrika'nın bir zamanlar kara yoluyla birbirine bağlı olduğu ve Brezilya ile Gine kıyıları arasında batık bir kıtanın izinin sürülebileceği bazı kanıtlarla iddia edilebilir. Nevertheless, it appears to be impossible to say whether or not an early branch of the human race ever 'migrated' to America. Bununla birlikte, insan ırkının erken bir kolunun Amerika'ya 'göç edip etmediğini' söylemek mümkün görünmemektedir.

Conceivably the race may have originated there. Muhtemelen ırk orada ortaya çıkmış olabilir. Імовірно, раса могла виникнути там. Some authorities suppose that the evolution of mankind occurred at the same time and in the same fashion in two or more distinct quarters of the globe. Bazı otoriteler insanlığın evriminin dünyanın iki ya da daha fazla farklı bölgesinde aynı zamanda ve aynı şekilde gerçekleştiğini varsaymaktadır. Others again think that mankind evolved and spread over the surface of the world just as did the various kinds of plants and animals. Bazıları da insanoğlunun tıpkı çeşitli bitki ve hayvan türleri gibi evrimleşerek dünya yüzeyine yayıldığını düşünmektedir. Of course, the higher endowment of men enabled them to move with greater ease from place to place than could beings of lesser faculties. Elbette, insanların daha yüksek donanıma sahip olmaları, bir yerden bir yere daha az yetenekli varlıklara göre daha kolay hareket etmelerini sağlamıştır. Most writers of to-day, however, consider this unlikely, and think it more probable that man originated first in some one region, and spread from it throughout the earth. Ancak günümüz yazarlarının çoğu bunu olası görmemekte ve insanın ilk olarak tek bir bölgede ortaya çıkıp buradan tüm dünyaya yayılmış olmasının daha olası olduğunu düşünmektedir. But where this region was, they cannot tell. We always think of the races of Europe as having come westward from some original home in Asia. This is, of course, perfectly true, since nearly all the peoples of Europe can be traced by descent from the original stock of the Aryan family, which certainly made such a migration. This is, of course, perfectly true, since nearly all the peoples of Europe can be traced by descent from the original stock of the Aryan family, which certainly made such a migration. Bu elbette tamamen doğrudur, çünkü Avrupa'nın neredeyse tüm halkları, kesinlikle böyle bir göç gerçekleştirmiş olan Aryan ailesinin orijinal soyundan gelmektedir. But we know also that races of men were dwelling in Europe ages before the Aryan migration. What particular part of the globe was the first home of mankind is a question on which we can only speculate. Of one thing we may be certain.

If there was a migration, there must have been long ages of separation between mankind in America and mankind in the Old World; otherwise we should still find some trace of kinship in language which would join the natives of America to the great racial families of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Eğer bir göç olduysa, Amerika'daki insanlarla Eski Dünya'daki insanlar arasında uzun ayrılıklar yaşanmış olmalıdır; aksi takdirde Amerika'nın yerlilerini Avrupa, Asya ve Afrika'nın büyük ırksal ailelerine bağlayacak bir dil akrabalığı izi bulmamız gerekirdi. But not the slightest vestige of such kinship has yet been found. Aber es wurde noch nicht die geringste Spur einer solchen Verwandtschaft gefunden. Everybody knows in a general way how the prehistoric relationships among the peoples of Europe and Asia are still to be seen in the languages of to-day. The French and Italian languages are so alike that, if we did not know it already, we could easily guess for them a common origin. We speak of these languages, along with others, as Romance languages, to show that they are derived from Latin, in contrast with the closely related tongues of the English, Dutch, and German peoples, which came from another common stock, the Teutonic. We speak of these languages, along with others, as Romance languages, to show that they are derived from Latin, in contrast with the closely related tongues of the English, Dutch, and German peoples, which came from another common stock, the Teutonic. Bu dillerden, diğerleriyle birlikte, başka bir ortak soydan, Cermen soyundan gelen İngiliz, Hollandalı ve Alman halklarının yakın akraba dillerinin aksine Latinceden türediklerini göstermek için Roman dilleri olarak bahsediyoruz. But even the Teutonic and the Romance languages are not entirely different. The similarity in both groups of old root words, like the numbers from one to ten, point again to a common origin still more remote. In this way we may trace a whole family of languages, and with it a kinship of descent, from Hindustan to Ireland. Similarly, another great group of tongues—Arabic, Hebrew, etc.—shows a branch of the human family spread out from Palestine and Egypt to Morocco. Now when we come to inquire into the languages of the American Indians for evidence of their relationship to other peoples we are struck with this fact: we cannot connect the languages of America with those of any other part of the world.

This is a very notable circumstance. Dies ist ein sehr bemerkenswerter Umstand. The languages of Europe and Asia are, as it were, dovetailed together, and run far and wide into Africa. Die Sprachen Europas und Asiens sind gleichsam miteinander verzahnt und reichen weit in Afrika hinein. Avrupa ve Asya'nın dilleri, adeta birbirleriyle iç içe geçmiş ve Afrika'ya kadar uzanmıştır. From Asia eastward, through the Malay tongues, a connection may be traced even with the speech of the Maori of New Zealand, and with that of the remotest islanders of the Pacific. Asya'dan doğuya doğru, Malay dilleri aracılığıyla, Yeni Zelanda'daki Maorilerin ve Pasifik'in en uzak ada halklarının konuşmalarıyla bile bir bağlantı izlenebilir. But similar attempts to connect American languages with the outside world break down. Ancak Amerikan dillerini dış dünyayla ilişkilendirmeye yönelik benzer girişimler başarısızlıkla sonuçlanıyor. There are found in North America, from the Arctic to Mexico, some fifty-five groups of languages still existing or recently extinct. Throughout these we may trace the same affinities and relationships that run through the languages of Europe and Asia. Throughout these we may trace the same affinities and relationships that run through the languages of Europe and Asia. Bu dillerde, Avrupa ve Asya dilleri arasındaki benzerliklerin ve ilişkilerin izini sürebiliriz. We can also easily connect the speech of the natives of North America with that of natives of Central and of South America. Kuzey Amerika yerlilerinin konuşmaları ile Orta ve Güney Amerika yerlilerinin konuşmaları arasında da kolaylıkla bağlantı kurabiliriz. Even if we had not the similarities of physical appearance, of tribal customs, and of general manners to argue from, we should be able to say with certainty that the various families of American Indians all belonged to one race. Fiziksel görünüm, kabile gelenekleri ve genel davranış biçimlerindeki benzerlikler olmasaydı bile, Amerikan Kızılderililerinin çeşitli ailelerinin hepsinin tek bir ırka ait olduğunu kesin olarak söyleyebilirdik. The Eskimos of Northern Canada are not Indians, and are perhaps an exception; it is possible that a connection may be traced between them and the prehistoric cave-men of Northern Europe. But the Indians belong to one great race, and show no connection in language or customs with the outside world. They belong to the American continent, it has been said, as strictly as its opossums and its armadillos, its maize and its golden rod, or any other of its aboriginal animals and plants. They belong to the American continent, it has been said, as strictly as its opossums and its armadillos, its maize and its golden rod, or any other of its aboriginal animals and plants. Söylendiğine göre, opossumları ve armadilloları, mısırları ve altın çubukları ya da diğer yerli hayvanları ve bitkileri kadar kesin bir şekilde Amerika kıtasına aittirler. Вони належать американському континенту, як було сказано, так само суворо, як його опосуми та його броненосці, його кукурудза та його золотий жезл або будь-які інші його аборигенні тварини та рослини. But, here again, we must not conclude too much from the fact that the languages of America have no relation to those of Europe and Asia.

This does not show that men originated separately on this continent. For even in Europe and Asia, where no one supposes that different races sprung from wholly separate beginnings, we find languages isolated in the same way. Denn selbst in Europa und Asien, wo niemand annimmt, dass verschiedene Rassen aus ganz verschiedenen Anfängen hervorgegangen sind, finden wir in gleicher Weise isolierte Sprachen. The speech of the Basques in the Pyrenees has nothing in common with the European families of languages. Мова басків у Піренеях не має нічого спільного з європейськими сім'ями мов. We may, however, regard the natives of America as an aboriginal race, if any portion of mankind can be viewed as such. We may, however, regard the natives of America as an aboriginal race, if any portion of mankind can be viewed as such. Bununla birlikte, eğer insanlığın herhangi bir bölümü böyle görülebiliyorsa, Amerika'nın yerlilerini yerli bir ırk olarak kabul edebiliriz. Однак ми можемо вважати корінних жителів Америки аборигенною расою, якщо будь-яку частину людства можна вважати такою.

So far as we know, they are not an offshoot, or a migration, from any people of what is called the Old World, although they are, like the people of the other continents, the descendants of a primitive human stock. Наскільки ми знаємо, вони не є відгалуженням або міграцією будь-якого народу так званого Старого Світу, хоча вони, як і люди інших континентів, є нащадками первісного людського роду. We may turn to geology to find how long mankind has lived on this continent.

In a number of places in North and South America are found traces of human beings and their work so old that in comparison the beginning of the world’s written history becomes a thing of yesterday. Kuzey ve Güney Amerika'nın bazı yerlerinde insanoğlunun ve eserlerinin izleri o kadar eskidir ki, dünyanın yazılı tarihinin başlangıcıyla kıyaslandığında dün gibi kalır. У ряді місць у Північній та Південній Америці знайдено сліди людських істот та їх роботи настільки давні, що в порівнянні з ними початок світової писемної історії стає вчорашнім днем. Perhaps there were men in Canada long before the shores of its lakes had assumed their present form; long before nature had begun to hollow out the great gorge of the Niagara river or to lay down the outline of the present Lake Ontario. Belki de göllerinin kıyıları bugünkü şeklini almadan çok önce Kanada'da insanlar vardı; doğa Niagara nehrinin büyük geçidini oymaya ya da şimdiki Ontario Gölü'nün ana hatlarını belirlemeye başlamadan çok önce. Let us look at some of the notable evidence in respect to the age of man in America. In Nicaragua, in Central America, the imprints of human feet have been found, deeply buried over twenty feet below the present surface of the soil, under repeated deposits of volcanic rock. Orta Amerika'daki Nikaragua'da, toprağın mevcut yüzeyinin yirmi metreden fazla altında, tekrarlanan volkanik kaya birikintileri altında derine gömülmüş insan ayak izleri bulunmuştur. These impressions must have been made in soft muddy soil which was then covered by some geological convulsion occurring long ages ago. Bu izler, uzun yıllar önce meydana gelen bir jeolojik sarsıntıyla örtülmüş olan yumuşak çamurlu toprakta yapılmış olmalıdır. Ці відбитки, мабуть, були зроблені в м’якому мулистому ґрунті, який потім був покритий якимись геологічними конвульсіями, що відбулися багато століть тому. Even more striking discoveries have been made along the Pacific coast of South America. Güney Amerika'nın Pasifik kıyısı boyunca daha da çarpıcı keşifler yapılmıştır. Near the mouth of the Esmeraldas river in Ecuador, over a stretch of some sixty miles, the surface soil of the coast covers a bed of marine clay. Ekvador'daki Esmeraldas nehrinin ağzı yakınlarında, yaklaşık altmış millik bir alan boyunca, kıyıdaki yüzey toprağı deniz kilinden oluşan bir yatağı kaplamaktadır. This clay is about eight feet thick. Bu kil yaklaşık bir metre kalınlığındadır. Underneath it is a stratum of sand and loam such as might once have itself been surface soil. Bunun altında, bir zamanlar yüzey toprağı olabilecek kum ve balçıktan oluşan bir tabaka bulunmaktadır. In this lower bed there are found rude implements of stone, ornaments made of gold, and bits of broken pottery. Bu alt yatakta kaba taş aletler, altından yapılmış süs eşyaları ve kırık çanak çömlek parçaları bulunmuştur. Again, if we turn to the northern part of the continent we find remains of the same kind, chipped implements of stone and broken fragments of quartz buried in the drift of the Mississippi and Missouri valleys. Yine kıtanın kuzey kısmına dönersek, Mississippi ve Missouri vadilerinin sürüklenmesiyle gömülmüş aynı türden kalıntılar, yontulmuş taş aletler ve kırık kuvars parçaları buluruz. Знову ж таки, якщо ми звернемося до північної частини континенту, ми знайдемо залишки того ж виду, відколоті кам'яні знаряддя та розбиті фрагменти кварцу, поховані в дрейфі долин Міссісіпі та Міссурі. These have sometimes been found lying beside or under the bones of elephants and animals unknown in North America since the period of the Great Ice. Bunlar bazen fillerin ve Büyük Buzul döneminden beri Kuzey Amerika'da bilinmeyen hayvanların kemiklerinin yanında ya da altında yatarken bulunmuştur. Not many years ago, some men engaged in digging a well on a hillside that was once part of the beach of Lake Ontario, came across the remains of a primitive hearth buried under the accumulated soil. Çok uzun yıllar önce, bir zamanlar Ontario Gölü sahilinin bir parçası olan bir yamaçta kuyu kazmakla uğraşan bazı adamlar, biriken toprağın altına gömülmüş ilkel bir ocağın kalıntılarına rastladılar. Не так багато років тому деякі чоловіки, які копали колодязь на схилі пагорба, який колись був частиною пляжу озера Онтаріо, натрапили на залишки примітивного вогнища, похованого під накопиченим ґрунтом. From its situation we can only conclude that the men who set together the stones of the hearth, and lighted on it their fires, did so when the vast wall of the northern glacier was only beginning to retreat, and long before the gorge of Niagara had begun to be furrowed out of the rock. Bulunduğu konumdan, ocağın taşlarını bir araya getiren ve ateşlerini yakan insanların, bunu kuzey buzulunun devasa duvarı henüz çekilmeye başlarken ve Niagara geçidi kayadan oyulmaya başlamadan çok önce yaptıkları sonucuna varabiliriz. Many things point to the conclusion that there were men in North and South America during the remote changes of the Great Ice Age.

But how far the antiquity of man on this continent reaches back into the preceding ages we cannot say. Ancak bu kıtadaki insanlığın antikliğinin önceki çağlara ne kadar uzandığını söyleyemeyiz. Але як далеко давність людини на цьому континенті сягає в попередні віки, ми не можемо сказати.