From examinations which have been carried on in the numerous shell-heaps which line the shores, there is no evidence that any other people ever occupied the islands. Skulls and relics are such as those of the present inhabitants.[551] The total number of these is about 8000, nearly equally divided between the tribes named. The classification of the smaller tribes under the above stocks is not yet complete. So far as I can make it out, it is as follows: ALIKULUF LINGUISTIC STOCK. _Alikulufs_, on the western end of the Beagle Channel. _Karaikas_, south of the Alikulufs. ONA LINGUISTIC STOCK. _Aoniks_ or _Onas_, on Magellan Strait, both shores. _Huemuls_, near Skyring and Otway Bays. _Irees_, see _Pescherees_. _Oensmen_, see _Aoniks_. _Pescherees_, on central portions of the Strait. _Yacanas_, see _Aoniks_. YAHGAN LINGUISTIC STOCK. _Kennekas_, see _Takanikas_. _Takanikas_, on both shores of the Beagle Channel. _Yahgans_, see _Yapoos_. _Yapoos_, on the central Beagle Channel. The opinion has been advanced by Dr. Deniker of Paris,[552] that the Fuegians represent the oldest type or variety of the American race. He believes that at one time this type occupied the whole of South America south of the Amazon, and that the Tapuyas of Brazil and the Fuegians are its surviving members. This interesting theory demands still further evidence before it can be accepted. It is not confirmed by such linguistic comparisons as I have been able to institute. LINGUISTIC APPENDIX The linguistic classification of the American tribes is at present imperfect in many regions on account of the incomplete information about their tongues. A proper comparison of languages or dialects includes not merely the vocabulary, but the grammatical forms and the phonetic variations which the vocal elements undergo in passing from one form of speech to another. In some respects, the morphology is more indicative of relationship than the lexicon of tongues; and it is in these grammatical aspects that we are peculiarly poorly off when we approach American dialects. Yet it is also likely that the tendency of late years has been to underestimate the significance of merely lexical analogies. The vocabulary, after all, must be our main stand-by in such an undertaking. For that reason I have thought it worth while to bring together a short list of common words and show their renderings in a number of American tongues. Inasmuch as the languages north of Mexico--those in the United States and Canada--have been frequently studied and are readily accessible in published books, I have confined my specimens to the tongues of the central and southern regions of the continent.