The Ethnology of the British Colonies and DependenciesLatham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
History
The Ethnology of the British Colonies and Dependencies
Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)
Ethnology
_b._ _The Aborigines of Newfoundland._--Sebastian Cabot brought three
Newfoundlanders to England. They were clothed in beasts' skin, and ate
raw flesh. This last is an accredited characteristic of the Eskimo; and,
thus far, the evidence is in favour of the savages in question belonging
to that stock. Yet it is more than neutralized by what follows; since
Purchas states that two years after he saw two of them, dressed like
Englishmen, "which, at that time, I could not discover from Englishmen,
till I learned what they were."
Now as the Bethuck--the aborigines in question--have either been cruelly
exterminated, or exist in such small numbers as not to have been seen
for many years, it has been a matter of doubt whether they were Eskimo
or Micmacs, the present occupants of the island. Reasons against either
of these views are supplied by a hitherto unpublished Bethuck
vocabulary, with which I have been kindly furnished by my friend Dr.
King, of the Ethnological Society. This makes them a _separate section_
of the Algonkins. Such I believe them to have been, and have placed them
accordingly.
_c._ _The Fitz-Hugh Sound Numerals._--These are nearly the same as the
Hailtsa. On the other hand, they agree with the Blackfoot in ending in
-_scum_.
Now if the resemblance go farther, so as really to connect the Blackfoot
with the Hailtsa, it brings the Algonkin class of languages across the
whole breadth of the continent, and as far as the shores of the Pacific.
* * * * *
The Moskito Indians are no subjects of England, any more than the
Tahitians are of France, or the Sandwich Islanders of America, France,
and England conjointly. The Moskito coast is a Protectorate: and the
Moskito Indians are the subjects of a native king.
The present reigning monarch was educated under English auspices at
Jamaica, and, upon attaining his majority, crowned at Grey Town. I
believe that his name is that of the grandfather of our late gracious
majesty. King George, then, king of the Moskitos, has a territory
extending from the neighbourhood of Truxillo to the lower part of the
River San Juan; a territory whereof, inconveniently for Great Britain,
the United States, and the commerce of the world at large, the limits
and definition are far from being universally recognized. Nicaragua has
claims, and the Isthmus canal suffers accordingly.
The king of the Moskito coast, and the emperor of the Brazil, are the
only resident sovereigns of the New World.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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