The New World was first colonised by Mediterranean man, but later all the European races contributed their part to its peopling. When we add a strong negro element in the southern United States, a remnant of the original Indian population, and an infusion of eastern races, it is obvious that the mingling of blood which has apparently produced good results in Europe, is being carried out on a much more elaborate scale across the Atlantic.
One other point may be touched upon. We have shown that the nations of Europe are not races in the pure sense. But, at the same time, it may be noted that in the western nations one or other of the two chief races tends to predominate at the expense of the other.
Thus broadly we may say that the antagonism between the French and German nationalities is fed by the fact that in race, in culture, in tradition, the one is predominantly Mediterranean, and the other predominantly Teutonic. In the Iberian peninsula, as we have seen, the Mediterranean strain enormously predominates, while in the countries of the north-west the Teutonic race tends to overbalance the other.
CHAPTER IX
THE DISTRIBUTION OF MINERALS AND THE LOCALISATION OF INDUSTRIES AND OF TOWNS
The distribution of minerals over the surface of the earth is much less obvious phenomenon than that of plants and animals, but it has always been of great importance in determining the distribution of man and his settlements. Except in the most primitive communities man must have tools and implements; probably never since he became man has he been without weapons. The first sign of emergence from the rudest barbarism is the use of metals, instead of stone or bone, to construct these tools and weapons and the necessity for finding the metals best suited to his use at each stage of civilisation has always influenced the movements and settlements of man. The existence of useful metals in a particular area must always attract population to that spot, and it is obvious in the case of Australia, of California, and later of Alaska, how strong the attractive power of metals is, even when the other conditions are distinctly unfavourable. As metals have always had this attractive power, the study of their distribution must always be important to the geographer.
We have seen that the first men whose remains have been preserved in Europe used only implements of stone, but that at a later state bronze was used, and corresponded to a marked rise in civilisation, as shown by the improved pottery, the nature of the ornaments used, and so on.