[195] D’Orbigny saw the Charruas continue a war against the Spaniards (who decimated them) rather than renounce their much-valued independence. (_Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale_, vol. iv, Introduction p. 4.) [Our author ought not to compare the northern Americans with the southern aborigines, giving to _both_ of them, apparently, the same characteristics. The northerners are whites, and (supposing the Canadians and the north-western settlers are spoken of) worthy of his praise. We put the present _Northern States_ on one side altogether, as the character given by our author cannot possibly apply to them. The Charruas, who are mentioned in the above note, are Indians, inhabiting the banks of the Uruguay in South America, and therefore, whatever may be their courage and love of liberty _as aborigines_, they cannot properly be classed with white inhabitants, who are merely _settlers_.--EDITOR.] [196] Compare D’Escayrac de Lauture, _Le Désert et le Soudan_; _Mémoire sur le Soudan_, etc. [These people are not so very peculiar in this respect. Even in our own land, there is sometimes a good deal of difficulty in obtaining information about routes; and agricultural labourers especially are much given to scratching their heads and chewing the cud of meditation, ending with an indecision quite delightful to the tired traveller.--EDITOR.] [197] See _Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica_, pp. 482, 483, 4to, Amstelodami, 1723. [198] See _Essai Politique sur le royaume de la Nouvelle Espagne_, Paris, 1811. [199] _Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale._ [200] _Crania Americana_, Introduction. [201] _Mémoire_ on the preceding work. [202] [Dr. Hunt, however, does not think that language is such an unfailing test as our author appears to imagine. He considers that language must be utterly discarded as the first principle of anthropological classification, and gives a far higher value to religion and to art, considering language merely as the third element. It is possible to change the language of a race; but apparently impossible to change either their religion or their innate ideas of art. See Hunt on _Anthropological Classification_ (_Brit. Assoc._, 1863), _Anthrop. Rev._, vol. i, p. 383. “On ethnology, Professor Müller says, ‘The science of language and the science of ethnology have both suffered most seriously from being mixed up together. The classification of races and languages should be quite independent of each other. Races may change their languages; and history supplies us with several instances where one race adopted the language of another. Different languages, therefore, may be spoken by one race, or the same language may be spoken by different races; so that any attempt at squaring the classification of races and tongues must necessarily fail.’”(_On the Science of Language_, R. S. Charnock; _Anthrop. Rev._, vol. i, p. 200.)--EDITOR.] [203] See Chavée, _Les Langues et les Races_, 1862.