to individuals of the barbarous tribes. Some have thought them Mngoea, who
were affiliated to the Iroquois: hut the form of the head does not support this
surmise. Of the great number of skulls found in this place, hut few were perfect,
of which last I have received eight. For these I am indebted to Dr. Hildreth of
Marietta, Ohio; Dr. Andrews and Judge Tappan of Steubenville, in that state;
and to Dr. M’Dowell of Pittsburg. The annexed drawing is taken from a
remarkably fine head of this series sent me by Dr. Andrews. All these skulls,
however, are surprisingly alike—the vertex elevated, the occiput flat, the parietal
diameter very great, and the lower jaw massive. They are also of singularly
large capacity, and in this respect approach nearer to the Sauks and Foxes, and the
Muskogees, than to any other tribes that have come under my notice. For
example, the mean internal capacity gives upwards of eighty-five cubic inches,
and the facial angle rises seventy-eight degrees. The anterior chamber gives 38.3
cubic inches, the posterior 49.2: but notwithstanding the proportion of the former,
there can be little doubt that these skulls belong to the savage tribes, and not to
the Toltecan stock.
T H E CH AR IB S .
That part of the American race called Charibs, was at one period a numerous
and widely distributed people. Their native seats were the northern regions of
South America, almost from the river of Amazons northward to the sea, including
the great valley of the Orinoco, and much of the present provinces of Guyana and
Venezuela. From thence they extended their migrations to all the Antilles, from
Trinidad to Santa Cruz.* They made a valorous opposition to the Europeans
who first attempted to colonise their country; and Peter Martyr, the companion
of Colunjbus, declares, that so fierce and menacing was the appearance of the
Charibs whom they took in their skirmishes, that no one could look on them
without a sensation of horror. In the year 1578, the Charibs of the Orinoco
made a desperate and successful incursion into the Spanish province of Valentia,
* The Charib Islands were Trinidad, Grenada, St. Vincent, Dominica, Guadaloupe, Martinique,
Santa Cruz, St. Thomas, Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua, St. Kitts, arid the Virgin Isles.