Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-09-10


and medical points of Wow In the almost
inaccessible heart of the wild Sierra Madre
mountains of Mexico. says the New York
Herald, he has found q dark, handsome
people, puro blCoded aborigines, living
Just as they have done since the beginning
of the sixteenth century, when the Span
iards destroyed their vast empire. They
are direct descendants of n once mighty
race. its exact counterpart in physical ap-
rCarance in mental aptitude and in every
thing by which the real civilization may
be asccrtained.
He had found bones and skulls in neigh
boring caves, and he knew that they were
the remains of great race among whom
We're the AZtecs, Zarotecs, Tarahumares
and other ancient nations. He suspected
that the strange people were in some way
bones of the anciCnts with careful scicn-
tific measurements of the dark, handsome
race he was able to identify tEo new
tribes beyond all doubt the pure de-
6cendants Of the foremost prehistoric ma
tons.
Regarding this part of his work DR.
Hrdlicka says: In order to make any sat
isfactory Investigations of these tribes /
had to approach them very carefully, first
of all gaining their complete confidence.
In their superstition they believe that
bones and bodies of the dead exercise an
evil influence over them, and they think n
man who is willing to take skeletons out
of their graves must be possessed of super
natural power. Whenever l excavated for
bones they all stood in awe around me. i
had to dig them myself, because my Mex
lean laborers were lazy and SO clumsy that
they destroyed the scientific value of every
thing they handled Mexican mummies
are in almost every respect like those of
Egypt, excepting that they have been pre-
served without artificial means.
1t was necessary to have at least 20
skulls or skeletons of each sex of single
tribe in order to complete beyond question
the Identification of their modern descend
ants and to determine to what particular
branch of the ancient race the remains be-
longed. Bones which excavated mark
ed on the SPOT, giving each skeleton a sep
arate number. They were packed in sacks
or sometimes boxes improvised from the
trees. Many times they were wrapped in
leaves torn from the branches. there be-
ing nothing else at hand. When all were
carefully numbered and packed, they had
TO be sent on the backs of mites ten or
more days journey to the nearest railroad
station and from there shipped to the
museum in New York for further study
Il found the people TO be possessed of
great mental capacity. Their cognitiye
powers are far in advance Of the ordinary
and romantic, and, while they have lost
many of the arts of their great, ancestors
the main features of their civilization are
the same as they were centuries ago The
tribes consist of families called Indians
for convenience. They are really nine
teenth century aborigincs, who lave been
hanpered but not contaminated by Euro
pean civilization.
"PhysioIogically the tribes arc far in nd
vance of any of the white races The
greatest difference between the aborigine
and the well known American Indian is
in the shape of the head, which in the
former is invariably much longer-that
is, of greater depth from front to back |
The skin, too, is of a chocolate tan hue
rather than copper colored, like that of the
Indian It is quite common to find among
the aborigines bodies which would stand |
for a physical type with the most exacting |
sculptor. The women are often very beau |
tifUL The men are remarkable for their I
W alking and running, and, incredible !
though it may seem, often run down a |
deer with nothing but bow and arrows
So far as traditions go, all these peo- |
pie say that they came originally from the !
north. Not a single tribe shows any trace |
Of Indian cruelty. On the contrary, they !
are peaceful and hospitable- They love l
teasts, dances and songs more than any /
thing else In fact, feasts are going on
in every tribe almost all the
time, often although the people have
scarcely anything to eat the next day.
They preserve more or less of their ancient
religion and, connected with it, many su-
perstitions-
For centuries and centuries Mexico |
md parts of the United States were thick
' populated with these same people
Sorthward the tribes at present are of
over grade than the pure aborigines
whom found in the seclusion of the ST.
IRA Madre mountains The marks of civ
liZation increase to the southwark, for the
egion of the highest prehistoric culture
attended from northern Mexico almost
lninterruptedly through Guatemala, Hon
uras and northern South America TO an
lent Peru"