The Mineral argus., 1884-03-27

@"~@08 ~ 80 &4%N NEHA&A @AAA1H Al Il AANG
tine, they have been obtained by the
Able Richard between Mount Tabor
n the Sea of Tiberias, and by Mr..
Slopes between Jerusalem and Bethle-
hem. Throughout this wide area the
implements are of the same rude type.
and generally of the same materials,
flint or QuartZite. those of Luxor and
PALESTINE being identical with those in
the river valleys of Britain and France.
Throughout this area, too. the river
drift mar hunted some or other of
those animals which we have mention
ed above.
Nor is our survey yet ended. He is
proved by many discoveries to have
ranged over the Indian peninsula, from
the valley Of the NeTbudda in the north
as far as Madras. Here we find him
forming part of a fauna in which are to
be numbered species now living in In
dia, such as the Indian ~rhinoceros AMI
the arnee. as we'll as distinct types of
oxen and elephants. There were two ex-
tinct hyppopotaml in the rivers, as well
as living gavials, turtles, and ~tortoises,
1t is plain, therefore, that at this time
the higher mammals of India stood in
the same relation to the present Indian
animals as the European fauna of the
Pleistocene does to that now living In
L%uAOpC" III bONAl lAlCAO was u SllIllldL
association of living with extinct forms,
and i'll both the central figure is the
river-drift hunter.
We are led from the region of tropical
India to the banks of the Delaware, in
New Jersey, by the recent discoveries of
DR.. Abbott in the n~eighborhood o. Tren-
ton, which l have had the opportunity
of examining with that gentleman and
Prof. Haynes and Lewis. The lmple-
ments are of the same type, and occur
under exactly the same conditions, as
The rlver-drift implements of Europe.
They are found in a terrace of river
gravel and from overlooking the river,
ana are composed of materials derived
from tine old terminal moraine which
strikes across the states of New Jersey
and Pennsylvania in the direction of
Lake Erie. The large blocks of stone
which it contains indicate that during
the time of its accumulation there were
ice RATS boating down the Delaware in
the spring, as in the Thames, the Seine,
andthe Somme in those days. Fl 3 The
Identity of the implements proves that
the river-driit hunter was in the same
rude state Of civiliZation-in the Old and
New worlds, while the hand of the geo.
logical clock pointed to the same hour. 1t
is not a little strange that his mode of
lin 6LOul0 IldNC DE6h bllG Bdul6 III Tue
lands bordering on the Mediterranean.
in the tropical forests of India, and on
both sides of the Atlantic. The hunter of
the reindeer in the valley of the Della
ware was the same kind Of wage as the
hunter of the reindeer in the banks of
the Thames or the Seine. 1t does not,
however, follow that this identity of n
plements implies that the same race of
men ranged over this vast tract. While
this may be left an open question, 1T GER
tainly indicates a primeval condition of
savagery, from which mankind has en-
eTged in the long ages that separate it
from our own time. We may also infer
from his wide range that the river-drift
hunter assuming that mankind sprang
from one centre) inhabited the earth for
a long time, and that his dispersal took
place before the glacial submergence
and the lowering of the TEN perature in
northern Europe, Asia, and America.
1t is not reasonable to suppose that t re
Straits of Behring could Lave offered a
free passage either to the river-drift
migrating from Asia to America, or
to the American animals from America
to Europe, while there was a great bar
Tier of ice or of sea, or of both, in the
high northern ATTITUDES.
1t will naturally be asked who and
NIdJ was tue TlNdl-uTllb hunter. Inc
question can only he partially answered
in the present stage Of the inquiry. The |
few fragments of human bones, beyond
associated with the implements,
are too imperfect to offer any evidence
as to race. They, however, point out
Enthusiastically that he was a man, and
not "a missing link" aud that he was
without traces of Simian ancestry, such
as has been ascribed to him by Mortillet |
and others. On this important point 1
entirely agree with DR.. Virehow. The
man has vanished from the
face of the earth without leaving any
clew to his Identification with any living
race. After him the race of cave men
appeared in Europe, now represented
by the Esquimaux.
We may realize before the rock-hewn
at Luxor the impossibility of
measuring the date of the river-drift
hunter in terms of years. In the inter-
val between the time of his encampment
on the site of ancient Thebes and the
rise ofthe splendor of Egypt, the condi-
tons Of life described in the preceding
pages passed away, and man had pro-
crossed from the hunter stage of c~iviliza-
ton into that of the Neolithic, of the
Bronze, and of the Iron ages. He
on the other side Of an abyss of
past time, the depth of which has not
been, and which in my opinion cannot
fathomed. W. BOYD DAWKINS.