The Progress of Ethnology Part 9

In the same distant region we hear of the journeys of H.R.H. Prince Waldemar, of Prussia (cousin to the king). "Consulting only his ardor for science, and burthened with the usual load carried by a traveller on foot, he scaled the lofty Himmalayah, crossed the frontier of the Celestial Empire, and reached the table-land of Thibet."[93] The prince has already transmitted a large collection of objects of natural history, many of which are new, to Berlin. It is his intention to return to Europe by way of Affghanistan, Persia, and Asia Minor.

The following list embraces the late works on a.s.syria and Persia, as well as those relating to the arrow-head inscriptions.

The Persian Cuneiform Inscriptions at Behistun, decyphered and translated; with a Memoir on Persian cuneiform inscriptions in general, and on that of Behistun in particular, by Major H.C.

Rawlinson, 8vo., in the journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Vol. 10. London, 1846.

On the Decyphering of the second Achaemenian or Median species of Arrow-headed Writing; by N.L. Westergaard, 8vo., in the Memoires de la Societe Royale des Antiquaires du Nord.

Copenhagen, 1844.

Lettres de M. Botta sur les Decouvertes a Khorsabad, pres de Ninive, publiees par M.J. Mohl, 8vo., with 56 plates. Paris, 1845.

Essai sur la Numismatique des Satrapies et de la Phenicie, sous les rois Achaemenides, par H. de Luynes, 4to. Paris, 1846.

The Manual, Formation and early Origin of the Hebrew letters and points, demonstrated and explained; also an Elucidation of the so-called Arrow-headed or Cuneiform characters. 8vo.

London, 1847.

Essai de Dechiffrement de l'ecriture a.s.syrienne pour servir a l'explication du Monument de Khorsabad. Par J. Lowenstern. 8vo.

Paris, 1846.

Die Grabscrift des Darius zu Nakschi Rustum erlautert. Von F.

Hitzig. Zurich, 8vo. 1846.

Remarks on the Wedge Inscription recently discovered on the upper Euphrates by the Prussian engineer, Capt. Von Mulbach.

Being a commentary on certain fundamental principles in the art of decyphering the "cuneatic" characters of the ancient a.s.syrians, by G.F. Grotefend. 8vo. In the papers of the Syro-Egyptian Society. Vol. I. London, 1845.

Voyage en Perse. de MM. Eugene Flandin et P. Coste. Recueil d'Architecture ancienne, Bas reliefs, inscriptions cuneiformes et Pehlvis, plans topographiques et vues pittoresques. Folio.

250 plates and text.

This magnificent work, the result of an expedition sent out by order of the French government, under the directions of the Inst.i.tute, and now published by a commission of savans, consisting of Messrs Burnouf, Le Bas, and Leclerc, is in the course of publication. It will unquestionably be the most complete work ever published on this interesting country and will include the antiquities of Babylon and Nineveh.

G.F. Grotefend, Neue Beitrage zur Erlauterung der Persopolitanischen Keilschrift, nebst einem Anhange uber die Vollkommenheit der ersten Art-derselben. Hanover, 1837.

G.F. Grotefend, Neue Beitrage zur Erlauterung der Babylonischen Keilschrift, nebst einem Anhange uber die Beschaffensheit des altesten Schriftdruck. Hanover, 1840.

The valuable Oriental Journal edited by Prof. La.s.sen, ent.i.tled "Zeitschrift fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes," contains many papers of great interest on these subjects.

SIBERIA. To the love of science which the enlightened Emperor of Russia, has always manifested, we are indebted for an expedition, the most successful which has yet been undertaken for the exploration of the northern and eastern parts of Siberia. The results of this extensive exploration of a region not before examined by scientific men, are of the greatest interest to science, and have earned for its distinguished and undaunted leader, Prof. Von Middendorff, the applause of the savans of Europe. Not having seen any detailed account of this journey, I am indebted to Sir R. Murchison for some particulars of its results.[94]

The expedition traversed the whole extent of Siberia, from east to west, and from south to north, even to the extreme northern headland of Taimyr. "Undaunted by the severe privations he had undergone in obtaining his knowledge of the far northern lands of Siberia, he next undertook the not less arduous task of traversing the whole of that vast continent to the Shantar Isles, at its southeastern extremity, and thence to return to Nertchinsk, along the Chinese frontier. His journey through thickly-wooded rocks, deep mora.s.ses and over swollen rivers, was so successfully accomplished, that the stores he has brought back to St. Petersburgh, will fully lay open the Fauna and Flora of a region never previously explored by a man of science."

"Floating down the sea of Okotsk from Udskoi in frail canoes, M.

Middendorff and his friends, braving shoals of floating ice and perpetual rains, reached Nitka on the great Shantar island. The wild regions which were traversed, in many parts could only be threaded by _following the tracks formed by bears beneath the dense matting of underwood and birch trees_" In his return journey, he examined the frontier line of China, a tract never explored even by a Cossack, and ascertained that between the Udskoi of the Russians and the mouth of the Amur, there is a considerable tract quite independent both of Russia and China, and occupied by a people called Guilaiques, who pay no tribute to either Emperor.

In addition to the several arduous journeys performed by this intrepid traveller and his companions, many questions. .h.i.therto unsolved were investigated and much new light added to our previous knowledge on these respective points. One was the real state of the question of the frozen subsoil of Siberia. "By placing thermometers at various depths in the shaft at Yakutsk, he has found that at its bottom, or at 382 feet below the surface, the cold is 2 4'' Reaumur, and that it is probable the frozen subsoil reaches to the great depth of about 600 feet!

Notwithstanding this extraordinary phenomenon, the lateral extent of which has still to be determined, it appears that the culture of rye succeeds perfectly under favorable local conditions in those regions, and that the crops of grain are more abundant than in Livonia!" M.

Middendorff has also thrown new light on the boreal range of vegetation.

He has ascertained "that whilst rye, turnips, beets, and potatoes grow on the Yenisei to lat.i.tude 61 40', indigenous plants, requiring less warmth, flourish much farther north, and that even trees with vertical stems reach to about 72 north lat.i.tude, in that parallel of longitude!"

This fact will show that geographers can no longer mark the limit of vegetation by a rectilinear zone, but must accommodate such line to climatological and local conditions.

In regard to the mammoths, the fossil bones of which have been found in Siberia, M. Middendorff has shown that, in accordance with the views of Professor Owen, (who states that these quadrupeds were specially organized to live on the branches and leaves of such shrubs and trees as grow in boreal lat.i.tudes) there are still trees in lat.i.tude 72 which would suffice for their sustenance.

The Ethnology of this region has been elucidated by our traveller, who by investigating the languages and physical characteristics of these remote tribes, has been enabled to affiliate them with their parent stocks.

Our knowledge of the geology and geography of the northern and southeastern extremities of Siberia have been greatly extended by this journey; in fact no enquiry for the advancement of science and a knowledge of this far distant and hitherto unknown region, seems to have been neglected.[95]

Another scientific expedition of an Ethnological character is employed in Siberia under the direction of M. Castren, who has devoted much of his first report to the geography of the country. After speaking of the river Irtisch and its fisheries, he gives some account of the Ostiaks, the most ancient people of its banks. Surrounded by Russians and Tartars, they have lost all their nationality except their language. The Tartar influence is feeble, but that of Russia is felt in their religion, their manners, their customs and even in their general mode of thinking.

A paper containing "Ethnological Notes on Siberia," by Prof. Von Middendorff, was read at the late meeting of the British a.s.sociation for the advancement of science. "In this paper, the geographical boundaries of the different tribes were set forth, the tribes were enumerated and some of the characteristic peculiarities described. The 1st, was the Ostiaks; these were stated to be of Finnish origin, on both physiological and philological evidence. 2d, the Samoiedes, who were of Mongol descent. 3rd, the Tunguses. 4th, the Yakuts; the extent to which Mongol features were found in a nation speaking a language akin to Turkish, was insisted on. 5th, the Yukagins; the physical peculiarities of which placed them along with the Samoiedes. 6th, the Ainos; these were the inhabitants of the Kinule islands at the mouth of the Arnus; of these there were two types, the Finnish and the j.a.panese. 7th, the Kachkell; these were only known through the Ainos."

A geographical Society has lately been founded at St. Petersburg, to which the emperor proposed to give ten thousand silver rubles annually.

The first great exploratory expedition under the directions and patronage of this Society will be directed along the eastern flank of the Ural mountains, from the parallel of 60 north (Bogoslafsk) to the Glacial sea. This survey is to be conducted by Count A. Von Keyserling, already known to the public through his valuable geological co-operation in the work on Russia, by Sir R.I. Murchison; and who by his sound acquirements in geology, zoology and geography, will it is presumed, during the ensuing three years, throw great additional light on the wild Arctic Ural which separates Europe from Asia, and which, inhabited by Ostiaks and Samoiedes, extends beyond the limits of arboreal vegetation.

Among numerous other objects, it is hoped that this expedition will elicit new results concerning the entombment and preservation of the mammoths.[96]

INDIA. The obstacles which have existed in India, and which have r.e.t.a.r.ded the extension of European civilization, will now be effectually removed by the n.o.ble step taken by Lord Hardinge, the Governor General, for promoting education in that country.[97] This benevolent and excellent man, whose well earned laurels on the field of battle are not more honorable than his philanthropic efforts in extending education among the natives of India, and in improving their social condition, "has directed the Council of Education and other authorities charged with the duty of superintending public instruction throughout the provinces subject to the government of Bengal, to submit returns of the students who may be fitted according to their degrees of merit and capacity, for such of the various public offices, as with reference to their age, abilities and other circ.u.mstances, they may be deemed qualified to fill." As this order recognizes no distinction of schools, or castes, or religion, it will have a great influence on the people, towards inducing them to give their children the benefit of a good education, which to a great extent must be obtained through the Christian missionaries. "It is," says the Friend of India, "the most powerful impulse which the cause of education has received during the last twenty-five years. It makes the seminaries the nursery of the service, and the service the stimulant of the seminaries. It introduces the enlightened principles adopted by European governments, of recruiting the public service in every department from those who have earned distinctions in the public schools. At the same time it will be found instrumental in the highest degree in the general elevation of the country. It will transplant into the interior that European knowledge and science which has. .h.i.therto been confined to Calcutta, and diffuse their influence through every district."

The renunciation of idolatry must necessarily follow the first steps in this great work of reform, and we already see it noticed that in southern India, within the short period of three months, eight hundred and thirty-two persons renounced idolatry and embraced Christianity.

This large number was a part of the population of seven villages.[98]

Such changes are not without their effects on the great ma.s.s of the natives, indeed it is only by removing from their minds the gross superst.i.tion in which they have been for ages immersed, that there can be a hope of improving their social condition. The wealthy Hindoos cling to their ancient religion with greater tenacity as it totters towards its downfall, than when in its most flourishing state. Alarmed at the innovations which European civilization and Christianity have made, they are printing by subscription, a series of popular religious books in monthly numbers, on their doctrines, rites, superst.i.tions and idolatry.

Fearing that the Europeans and such as have been taught to observe these things with ridicule, might controvert them, they have confined the subscription to Hindoos, and have directed that their books shall be rigidly kept from the hands of Christians.

The Mahommedans too, in Bengal, are greatly alarmed at the danger to which their religion is exposed. They have prepared tracts and books in opposition to Christianity, and have sent, or are sending emissaries in every direction, with a view to strengthen the tottering cause of their false prophet.[99] A Mahommedan merchant in Bombay has printed at his own expense, two thousand copies of the Koran for gratuitous distribution, at a cost of several thousand dollars.

In former times the efforts of the missionaries were directed to proselyting among the Hindoos and other idolaters of the East, without first making themselves acquainted with the fabric which they were laboring so earnestly to demolish. Nursed and educated as the natives were in the doctrines and superst.i.tions which for ages their forefathers had venerated and professed, the efforts of the missionaries and of others who labored to improve their condition were unattended with success--and a conflict between Oriental and European civilization--between Hindooism and Christianity--between the false science of the shastres and the enlightenment of Europe, for a long time existed; and it seemed doubtful whether truth or falsehood would triumph. Now, the system is changed, and a course is pursued which bids fair to produce the most wonderful effects on the people of India and China.

It has been a.s.serted that the missionary enterprise in India was a failure, and did not warrant the large sums expended there. Those who are unfriendly to the cause do not see that more than half the amount there expended was for educating the people, for improving their social condition, for translating valuable books into their various languages and for establishing among them that mighty engine of civilization and reform, the printing press.[100]

But it is not merely in the translation and distribution of these books, that the missionaries have rendered so much service. In this labor it is true they have contributed greatly towards disseminating Christian truth and useful knowledge among a large cla.s.s of people, and have improved their religious, their moral and their social condition. But to Europe and to the learned world they have also furnished a vast deal of philological knowledge, elucidating and developing languages scarcely known beyond the precincts of the several countries in which they were spoken. Many of these languages, too, were previously unwritten; and from this rude state the missionaries have trained and moulded them into forms adapted to written speech.

While speaking of the labors of the missionaries in the East, I should do great injustice to Catholics not to speak of their efforts to improve the moral and religious condition of the people in these distant countries. In the most barbarous and secluded portions of the earth do we find these devoted men diligently laboring to elevate the condition of the natives. In many do we see a zeal and devotedness, an endurance of hardships, of the most severe privations, and often martyrdom itself, which has never been surpa.s.sed in the annals of missionary enterprise.

Neither Francois Xavier, nor Ignatius Loyola, so famous among the pioneers of the Eastern missions, ever exhibited a greater zeal or devotedness than we now witness among the Catholic missionaries in Thibet, China, Corea, the islands of the Eastern Archipelago and Oceanica. They too have added much to our stock of knowledge of the inhabitants, their manners and customs, and their languages. Their narratives give us particular accounts of the productions of the countries in which they reside, their trade, commerce, and all that interests us.

SIAM. An interesting fact connected with the progress of European civilization, and the extension of Christianity in the kingdom of Siam, seems deserving of notice in this place. It was communicated by the American Mission in that country.

"The king of Siam despatched one of his ships to Ceylon about the close of last year, to carry back some Ceylonese Boodhists whom he had invited to Siam, two or three years before, and also to send a fresh ecclesiastical emba.s.sy to that island--regarded by all Boodhists as very sacred--to make further religious researches in the primitive nursery of their faith. That emba.s.sy fulfilled its mission, and returned to Siam in June, bringing a letter to his Majesty from a high priest of Boodh in Ceylon, written in English, and stating in substance, that the religion of Boodh had become almost extinct in Ceylon, chiefly through the influence of the Christian religion, and the schools and seminaries of the missionaries and English residents in that part of the world; and that, if some aid from abroad could not be obtained to prop up crumbling Boodhism in that island, it must soon become utterly extinct. The writer expressed much pain at the thought, that the very birth place of his religion should not have some permanent witness of it; and requested that his Majesty, in his pious zeal for Boodhism, would send him funds, with which he might build a _Wat_ (Religious house) and support priests in honor of his G.o.d. He suggested that this would be a n.o.ble work for a great king, and one that would confer upon him the highest honors of Boodhism."[101]

The following list embraces the recent works on India.

Travels in the Kashmir and the Punjab; containing a particular account of the Sikhs. From the German of Baron Hugel, with notes by Major Jervis, royal 8vo. London, 1846.

The Punjaub; being a brief account of the country of the Sikhs, its extent, history, commerce, productions, religion, &c., to the recent campaign of the Sutelege. By Lt. Col. Steinbach, post, 8vo. London, 1846.

A Peep into Turkistan; by Capt. R. Burslem, 8vo. London, 1846.

Travels in the Punjab, Affghanistan and Turkistan, to Balk, Bokhara and Herat, by Mohan Lal, 8vo. London, 1846.