| I. | Vocabularies of some of the Tribes of Northwestern America, with an account of the Sign Language. Translated and adapted from the German edition (Coblentz, 1839), by Asa Currier Tilton. |
| II. | Tradition of the Origin of the Oto, Jowa, and Missouri. From the London edition, 1843. |
| III. | Extract from an Indian Land Contract. From the London edition. |
| IV. | Treaty of Peace between the American Fur Company and the Blackfeet. From the London edition. |
| V. | Meteorological Observations at Forts Union and Clarke. Summarized from the German edition, by Asa Currier Tilton. |
| VI. | Bird Calendar for the Region of the Mandan Village, Winter of 1833-34. Translated and adapted from the German edition, by Asa Currier Tilton. |
| VII. | Catalogus Plantarum in Monte Pocono. From the London edition. |
| VIII. | Systematic View of Plants from the Missouri. From the London edition. |
| IX. | Catalogue of Birds observed in the months of November, December, January, and February, at the Mouth of the Wabash. Translated and adapted from the German edition, by Asa Currier Tilton. |
I. VOCABULARIES OF SOME OF THE TRIBES OF NORTHWESTERN AMERICA, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE INDIAN SIGN LANGUAGE
INTRODUCTION
Much has been written by scholars in recent times on the Asiatic extraction of the American peoples; and the attempt has been made, particularly in the United States, to prove such a relationship. This exceedingly interesting subject opens to the investigator a boundless field; but one whose paths are dark and difficult to make clear. Many good reasons can be given for an Asiatic descent of the Americans; on the other hand, objections can be made which cannot easily be set aside. In either case strikingly similar traits have been found in the peoples of the two continents, as may be seen from Delafield's new work, where everything that can be said on the subject has been brought together.[222]
As the traveller stands in front of the long lines of the old Indian burial mound near St. Louis, he can easily believe that he has before him one of the south Russian kurgans. Moreover, surprising correspondences are found from a comparison of the works of art, as well as the intellectual and moral characteristics, of the peoples of Mexico and Peru with those of India and Egypt. But we search in vain for Mongols in North America. When one has seen the Hindoos, Kalmucks, Bashkirs, and Chinese, he will find that the features and complexion of the type of man now inhabiting North America are very different from those of the Asiatic peoples; and will feel justified in regarding the Americans as a distinct race.
The most firmly-grounded objections to the theory of the Asiatic extraction of the Americans seems to lie in the difference in the color of the skin and in the slight relationship of the languages; for the few words related to American, which have so far been sought out with great difficulty in the Asiatic languages, do not appear to have much weight.
D'Orbigny[223] assumes that there are different races among the peoples of America. But even if it is necessary, for the sake of clearness, to make various subdivisions in such an extended and varied population, on the basis of distinguishing characteristics, nevertheless such a division is difficult and arbitrary. If representatives of all these peoples could be brought together, a classification would present fewer difficulties; but great distances often separate related tribes, and memory rarely suffices for making these exact comparisons. I cannot render a decision on D'Orbigny's supposition that in the American branch of humanity the North Americans form a different race from the South Americans, since I have become acquainted with only a small number of the South American nations.
One claim, which seems to me to have decided probability, is that the ancient Mexicans migrated from the more northern parts of the continent of America. There are many indications of this. The hieroglyphic painting of the migration of the people, which later rose to a higher culture in Mexico, which was discovered by Boturini and brought out by Delafield, is, from this standpoint, a highly interesting document.[224] The drawings of the present North American Indians still show many similarities to those of old Mexican pictures, although it must be said that they are much rougher, cruder, and more childish.[225] Therein, also, foot prints are represented when it is desired to show a continued movement of the figures; and other correspondences have already been pointed out. In various places in the account of my travels, I have sought to call attention to them and to the conjectured southward migration of the Americans. The skulls, however, which have been taken from the old burial grounds on the Wabash, do not show that flattening of the heads that is portrayed on Delafield's first plate; but their crowns are rounded just as nature formed them.