A M
E xtent.
'Original Population.
Of thjg vaft extent of Afia tl;e ancients. entertained' mod indifiindt
-ideas; and in fa& the difcovery of this great divifiaiL o£vthe-Wpri<J pray
be faid to have commenced with the travels, of Marco JPolo, tfie'Venetian,
in thg endwpf Jthe.lbiTteent^fcen.tury,} and'it-x^as ppt^ompleted^
with regard to3the eaftemextfe'minesj till the* recent travels'were pub-
lifhed in Ruffia, and the. voyages of Beering, Gook, and La PejouTe,?
It -is-now well known that Afia k^mited;.Qn. the eaft, by a ftrait which»1
divides it from America; and which -in honour of the difcovereris
called Betering’s ftrait The northern and fouthern boundaries are the
Atftic and Indian oceans, in which Jaft many, tag? iffisfirisj
that qf New Holland, now more claffically and property ftylecLby fcrie'
Aujtralafia * afford a vaft. addkrotjal’ gl°W
The weftern limits of Afia have'already, been ffifqulie^ |n account
of the eaftem limits of Europe,
The population of Alia; is by all authors allowed to jbe wholly primitive.
apd original; if we except that pf the Techuks'or TenuKtchi, who,,
by die Ruffian traveiiers'and Mr. TooTce, are luppofe^. to hajve-pafteu-
from the oppofite coaft of America. A few colonies nave migracea from
Ruffia to the northern parts, as far as the fca of Kamtchatka : and there
are welt known European fettlements in Hindoftan and the ifles to the
S. E .; but"the firft feriouTattempt to colonize what is efteemed a part
of Alia was the recent fettleffient af Pott Jackfon. With thefe. andi
other trifling exceptions Afia prefents a prodigious original population,
ak may be judged from the following table, which will be found more
cleat than any prolix difeuffion on the fubje£t.
LINNJEAN TAtfCE OF THE pATlOWS AN© tANSHAGES IN? Alt A".
Urio.
L Affyrians.
II. Scythians.
Aflyrians. ' . Chaldee. |
Arabians.. Hebrew, &c.
Egyptians, i
Perfians. —i ,w Armenians, f '
Scythians ultra etextra lmaum> See.
* More briefly Notafia, from the Greek, as from them we receive the name of Afia t and in
fucb new terms the Grecian language is juftly and properly preferred.
f The Parfi and Zend are cognate with the Gothic, Greek, Latin, according to Sir William
.Jones. Indian Diflert. vot i.p . *o5. The Pehlavi IcAflyrian or Chsaldaic. Id. * 8 ^ t8f>. ao6,
..." Or do.
A S I A . '3
Qrio,.
1 1 HI. .Sjsim jts, ■
!; Gemisi_
PaiimhnsI 1
Species., \\
Georgians.
r ": GitcalSW. 1. ' '
> • i s r ; , , .
.'-HinoWos', ■ Northern'and Southern, &c.
jgg sjgEL i. ffladeK.}' %
Japanefet' * '
Barbaric nations from-north-to fouth, andaccording to the degrees of barbafifm.
VI, Spmdieds. ‘ , , y Yurals, &cb
-'v'rT imets: Ui ' YiikAgi'rs. i (Expelled Tatars^ according
> iu I. to T°pke §nd Leffeps.) -
VIII, Ifpr%s. ;;; ,.Tecl.mk#;or TfhAt®i-
IX. Kamehadals, .KurilS ans,,
X. ’Maiidihur’l ot*
: 3H,;;ildonguJs,.
- ■ La’muts..,;
. ’ Kalntiiids. t -
, (Riling people in .China.)'
e \. ,1Toh^uti1r' ^-j
il , Bursts, &c. |
JIll.Tatars pr Huns. §. Turks.,
f V Eftafars. ‘
( /I'JJze's, ,')•
/. .Siberians.■ ’L
- 1 „ JSlogay^. ..
'V •* Bamkifs.
;;; rl%gjife;pr .Kaizaks.
Tekuts. ;
! Befides thefe ' numerous original natldhs,' the; Malays and Afiatic
iflanders^Cohftitirte1 anbther large and diftinSt tlafs1 of mankind, with
a‘ peculiar fpeech, in the fouth of the extenfive thrftinent of Afia.
.The
*. Thfife haye a ’Tatario form ami face.: thej? are probably Iiighly civilized Tatars, Monguls,
or Mandfhurs.
f From the oppofite coaft of America ‘ TookPs Ruffia! The Yukagirs area tribe of the
Yakuts (ground Yakutflt), and both areexpelled Tatars. TQoke’&yifi.w,.ii. Jo* Eefieps^ii. 3 ta.
' J Thefe refembl4 the Japaheife.
ii-M; After the deftruftion q£ Attila’s fwann 3,1 and th e (effefts of unfortunate inroads,-,the Hu'na
became fuhie& to the Monguls, whp u ^ e rK ^ i s ar.Qen^hiz-.Kban. ‘&c. copftituted
the 'in Afia.
The great Ibare of population which Europe has £ecp$ed)fr6i&Affi&'will appear frdm the fol-
'lowing litd#Sa$l4'; (jfg
iTRIMiEVAL INHABITANTS.
. Oris. 1 \ ' ij '" Ginns*
I. Celts. , 1 Irite J
-1 l i B i
II. ''Fins-.(chiifgod Turn- Finlanders.'
>>-; mala). * ' sEftheni»ns.
Laplanders.
T Hufigariins. ■
B i
~ Spsciet^'-^ ‘ ^
-Erfe, Manksi ' -
Cornilh..
Pirmian8orBiartniaris,'
LivbYtiahsV: ’ ’
Votfee'and -Ghermifies.'
V ogu Is -and. O ftiacs.
ORIGINAL
POPULATION.
.
COXON