Part 17 (1/2)
THE GEORGIAN FAMILY.
The _Georgian_ Family is gathered together on the southern slope of the Caucasus. The beauty of the Georgian women is proverbial. M. Moynet, in his ”Journey to the Caspian and the Black Seas,” tells us that they deserve all their reputation. Their physiognomy is as calm and regular as that of the immortal type handed down to us in the ancient statuary of Greece. A head-band of bright colours in the shape of a crown, and from which hangs a veil pa.s.sing under the chin, forms their head-dress.
Two long plaits of hair fall behind, reaching nearly to their feet.
Nothing can be imagined more graceful or more dignified than this head-dress. A long ribbon of the gayest hues serves them for a sash, and falls down the front of their dress to the ground. Out of doors they wrap themselves up in a flowing white cloth, which s.h.i.+elds them from the sun, and which they wear with much grace.
[Ill.u.s.tration: 89.--GEORGIANS.]
The men are also generally handsome. They have preserved the Caucasian type untouched and unaltered. They wear rich dresses, embroidered with gold and silver, and carry costly, sparkling arms. They are brave and chivalrous, and are pa.s.sionately fond of horses.
THE CIRCa.s.sIAN FAMILY.
The _Circa.s.sian_ Family, collected in the Caucasian mountains, is composed of a population distinguished for their bravery, but very feebly civilized. The Circa.s.sian type has in the whole of the East a great reputation for beauty, and it deserves it. Most Circa.s.sians have a long oval face, a thin straight nose, a small mouth, large dark eyes, a well-defined figure, a small foot, brown hair, a very white skin, and a martial appearance.
In affinity with the Circa.s.sians are the _Abases_, who speak a dialect akin to Circa.s.sian. They are semi-barbarous, and live on the produce of their herds and from the spoil of their brigandage. Their features show no sign of Circa.s.sian grace. They have a narrow head, a prominent nose, and the lower half of their face is extremely short.
The _Mingrelians_, inhabitants of Mingrelia, a little kingdom on the sh.o.r.es of the Caspian Sea, resemble the Georgians in physical appearance, in manners, and in customs.
THE YELLOW RACE.
The Yellow Race has also been called the _Mongol Race_, from the well-defined features of one of the families it comprises.
The princ.i.p.al characteristics which distinguish the individuals and the families belonging to the Yellow race, are, high cheekbones, a lozenge-shaped head, a small flat nose, a flat countenance, narrow obliquely-set eyes, straight coa.r.s.e black hair, a scanty beard, and a complexion of a greenish hue.
However, all the members of the yellow race do not exhibit these distinct features. Sometimes they show but a few of them, whilst others of their characteristics would seem to identify them with the Caucasian group. It is thus very difficult to make the proper divisions in this race.
We will separate it into three branches--the Hyperborean, the Mongolian, and the Sinaic branches.
CHAPTER I.
HYPERBOREAN BRANCH.
The Hyperborean branch is composed of the various races inhabiting the districts in the vicinity of the North Pole, small in stature and possessing the princ.i.p.al characteristics of the Yellow Race.
The people belonging to the Hyperborean branch are nomadic, and their only domestic animals are the dog and the reindeer. They are spread over a vast surface, but are few in number. They support themselves by hunting and fis.h.i.+ng. They are pa.s.sionately fond of strong drinks, and their civilization is of a very rudimentary character.
Some of these people might perhaps be more properly cla.s.sed under the Mongolian branch. Possibly some even should be cla.s.sified in the White Race, for they have lost, under the influences of climate and of their mode of life, the distinguis.h.i.+ng characteristics of the Yellow Race. As it is very difficult to make a natural cla.s.sification of these people, we will retain that set up by M. D'Omalius d'Halloy.
This naturalist distinguishes, amid the people who compose the Hyperborean branch, seven families, taking the affinities of language as a basis. These are the _Lapp_, the _Samoiede_, the _Kamtschadale_, the _Esquimaux_, the _Ienissian_, the _Jukaghirite_, and the _Koriak_ families.
THE LAPP FAMILY.
The Laplanders are thin and short, but pretty strong and active. Their head is disproportionately large. They have a round skull, wide cheek-bones, the broad flat Mongol nose, a protruding forehead, and goggle eyes. Their complexion is a yellowish brown, and their hair is usually black. This curious race of men is divided into two distinct cla.s.ses, the nomadic Laplander and the sedentary Laplander.