ETHNOGRAPHY
OF
E U R O P E AND ASIA.
CHAPTER I.
PR 11*1 MINA’R'Y^URVEY OF THE WIIOLE^UBJECT.—-DIFFERENT
PORTS' OP VIEW.-rf|§fJ&bIVfSTONSi-s|
S ection '§#—General Observation®..
W h e n the geographical circumstances of Europe and Asia
awe compared: with' those of the two other great regions of the
earth, namelyiAfrica and America, :-theyi appear fo h a in
many respeetsiyery different, tv Each of the iatter continents
is not only,'Cut off in a great measure by seas from the rest
of the world, but is likewise intersected;; by chains of
mountains, of'h separated by vast wildernesses g pr other
barriersfintodnsulated tracts, the inhabitants of which may be
said to have been shut up from immemorial ages within the
limits of countries, where: they appear to have been, first
collected into nations. ! Hence may have resulted in part,
those strongly marked!.'varieties which a r e , observed in the
physical characters; of particular races, secluded during thousands
of years within narrow limits and .subjeeted^to the influence
of the same external agencies. Europe and Asia, on the
other hand, form one vast regioii, separated by no boundaries
which are .difficult to surmount. .Races of wandering shepherds—
of such consisted in early times a great part of
VOL. I I I. B