gravels contain the largest proportion of pebbles derived from Glacial beds, some of the implements themselves have been manufactured from materials not native to the spot but brought from a distance, and derived in all probability either from the Boulder Clay or from some of the beds associated with it.

We must, however, take a wider view of the whole question, for it must not for a moment be supposed that there are the slightest grounds for believing that the civilization, such as it was, of the Palæolithic Period originated in the British Isles. We find in other countries implements so identical in form and character with British specimens that they might have been manufactured by the same hands. These occur over large areas in France under similar conditions to those that prevail in England. The same forms have been discovered in the ancient river gravels of Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Some few have been recorded from the north of Africa, and analogous types occur in considerable numbers in the south of that continent. On the banks of the Nile, many hundreds of feet above its present level, implements of the European types have been discovered; while in Somaliland, in an ancient river valley at a great elevation above the sea, Mr. Seton-Karr has collected a large number of implements formed of flint and quartzite, which, judging from their form and character, might have been dug out of the drift deposits of the Somme or the Seine, the Thames or the ancient Solent.

In the valley of the Euphrates implements of the same kind have also been found, and again further east in the lateritic deposits of southern India they have been obtained in considerable numbers. It is not a little remarkable, and is at the same time highly suggestive, that a form of implement almost peculiar to Madras reappears among implements from the very ancient gravels of the Manzanares at Madrid. the case of the African discoveries we have as yet no definite Palæontological evidence by which to fix thelr antiquity, but in the Narbadá Valley of western India Palæolithic implements of quartzite seem to be associated with a local fauna of Pleistocene age, comprising,

In

like that of Europe, the elephant, hippopotamus, ox, and other mammals of species now extinct. A correlation of the two faunas with a view of ascertaining their chronological relations is beset with many difficulties, but there seems reason for accepting this Indian Pleistocene fauna as in some degree more ancient than the European.

Is this not a case in which the imagination may be fairly invoked in aid of science? May we not from these data attempt in some degree to build up and reconstruct the early history of the human family? There, in eastern Asia, in a tropical climate, with the means of subsistence readily at hand, may we not picture to ourselves our earliest ancestors, gradually developing from a lowly origin, acquiring a taste for hunting— if not, indeed, being driven to protect themselves from the beasts around them-and evolving the more complicated forms of tools or weapons from the simpler flakes which had previously served them as knives? May we not imagine that, when once the stage of civilization denoted by these Palæolithic implements had been reached, the game for the hunter became scarcer, and that his life in consequence assumed a more nomad character? en, and possibly not till then, may a series of migrations to "fresh woods and pastures new" not unnaturally have ensued; and these, following the usual course of "westward towards the setting sun," might eventually lead to a Paleolithic population finding its way to the extreme borders of western Europe, where we find such numerous traces of its presence.

How long a term of years may be involved in such a migration it is impossible to say, but that such a migration took place the phenomena seem to justify us in believing. It can hardly be supposed that the process that I have shadowed forth was reversed, and that man, having originated in north-western Europe, in a cold climate where clothing was necessary and food scarce, subsequently migrated eastward to India and southward to the Cape of Good Hope! As yet, our records of discoveries in India and eastern Asia are but scanty; but it is there that the traces of the cradle of the human race

are, in my opinion, to be sought, and possibly future discoveries may place upon a more solid foundation the visionary structure that I have ventured to erect.

It may be thought that my hypothesis does not do justice to what Sir Thomas Browne has so happily termed "that great antiquity, America." I am, however, not here immediately concerned with the important Neolithic remains of all kinds with which this great continent abounds. I am now confining myself to the question of Palæolithic man and his origin, and in considering it I am not unmindful of the Trenton implements, though I must content myself by saying that the "turtle-back" form is essentially different from the majority of those on the wide dissemination of which I have been speculating; and, moreover, as many here present are aware, the circumstances of the finding of these American implements are still under careful discussion.

Leaving them out of the question for the present, it may be thought worth while to carry our speculations rather further, and to consider the relations in time between the Palæolithic and the Neolithic Periods. We have seen that the stage in human civilization denoted by the use of the ordinary forms of Palæolithic implements must have extended over a vast period of time if we have to allow for the migration of the primeval hunters from their original home, wherever it may have been in Asia or Africa, to the west of Europe, including Britain. We have seen that, during this migration, the forms of the weapons and tools made from silicious stones had become, as it were, stereotyped, and further, that, during the subsequent extended period implied by the erosion of the valleys, the modifications in the form of the implements, and the changes in the fauna associated with the men who used them, were but slight. At the close of the period during which the valleys were being eroded, comes that represented by the latest occupation of the caves by Palæolithic man, when both in Britain and in the south of France the reindeer was abundant; but among the stone weapons and implements of that long troglodytic phase of man's history, not a single

example with the edge sharpened by grinding has as yet been found. All that can safely be said is that the larger implements, as well as the larger mammals, had become scarcer; that greater power in chipping flint had been attained; that the arts of the engraver and the sculptor had considerably developed; and that the use of the bow had probably been discovered.

Directly we encounter the relics of the Neolithic Period, often, in the case of the caves lately mentioned, separated from the earlier remains by a thick layer of underlying stalagmite, we find flint hatchets polished at the edge and on the surface, cutting at the broad (and not at the narrow) end, and other forms of implements associated with a fauna. in an essential respects identical with that of the present day.

Were the makers of these polished weapons the direct descendants of Palæolithic ancestors whose occupation of the country was continuous from the days of the old river gravels? or had these long since died out, so that after western Europe had for ages remained uninhabited, it was re-peopled in Neolithic times by the immigration of some new race of men? Was there, in fact, a "great gulf fixed" between the two occupations? or was there in Europe a gradual transition from the one stage of culture to the other?

It has been said that "what song the Syrens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture;" and though the questions now proposed may come under the same category, and must await the discovery of many more essential facts before they receive definite and satisfactory answers, we may, I think, throw some light upon them if we venture to take a few steps upon the seductive, if insecure, paths of conjecture. So far as I know, we have as yet no trustworthy evidence of any transition from the one age to the other, and the gulf between them remains practically unbridged. We can, indeed, hardly name the part of the world in which to seek for the cradle of Neolithic civilization, though we know that traces of what appear to have been a stone-using people have been discovered

the latest of the relics of their industry have been assigned to a date some thirty-five hundred to four thousand years before our era. The men of that time had attained to the highest degree of skill in working flint that has ever been reached. Their beautifully-made knives and spear-heads seem indicative of a culminating point reached after long ages of experience; but whence these artists in flint came, or who they were, is at present absolutely unknown, and their handiworks afford no clue to help us in tracing their origin. Taking a wider survey, we may say that, generally speaking, not only the fauna but the surface configuration of the country were, in western Europe at all events, much the same at the commencement of the Neolithic Period as they are at the present day. We have, too, no geological indications to aid us in forming any chronological scale.

The occupation of some of the caves in the south of France seems to have been carried on after the erosion of the neighboring river valleys had ceased, and, so far as our knowledge goes, these caves offer evidence of being the latest in time of those occupied by man during the Palæolithic Period. It seems barely possible that, though in the north of Europe there are no distinct signs of such late occupation, yet that, in the south, man may have lived on, though in diminished numbers; and that in some of the caves-such, for instance, as those in the neighborhood of Mentone-there may be traces of his existence during the transitional period that connects the Palæolithic and Neolithic Ages. If this were really the case, we might expect to find some traces of a dissemination of Neolithic culture from a North Italian centre, but I much doubt whether any such traces actually exist.

If it had been in that part of the world that the transition took place, how are we to account for the abundance of polished stone hatchets found in Central India? Did Neolithic man return eastward by the same route as that by which in remote ages his Palæolithic predecessor had migrated westward? Would it not be in defiance of all probability to answer such a question in the

fessed, nothing of a substantial character to guide us in these speculations; but, pending the advent of evidence to the contrary, we may, I think, provisionally adopt the view that owing to failure of food, climatal changes, or other causes, the occupation of western Europe by Palæolithic man absolutely ceased, and that it was not until after an interval of long duration that Europe was re-peopled by a race of men immigrating from some other part of the globe where the human race had survived, and in course of ages had developed a higher stage of culture than that of Palæolithic man.

I have been carried away by the liberty allowed for conjecture into the regions of pure imagination, and must now return to the realms of fact, and one fact on which I desire for a short time to insist is that of the existence at the present day, in close juxtaposition with our own civilization, of races of men who, at all events but a few generations ago, lived under much the same conditions as did our own Neolithic predecessors in Europe.

The manners and customs of these primitive tribes and peoples are changing day by day, their languages are becoming obsolete, their myths and traditions are dying out, their ancient processes of manufacture are falling into oblivion, and their numbers are rapidly diminishing, so that it seems inevitable that ere long many of these interesting populations will become absolutely extinct. The admirable Bureau of Ethnology instituted by our neighbors in the United States of America has done much towards preserving a knowledge of the various native races in this vast continent; and here in Canada the annual Archæological reports presented to the minister of education are rendering good service in the same cause.

Moreover, the committee of this Association appointed to investigate the physical characters, languages, and industrial and social conditions of the north-western tribes of the Dominion of Canada is about to present its twelfth and final report, which, in conjunction with those already presented, will do much towards preserving a knowledge of the habits and languages of those

It is, however, lamentable to notice how little is being, or has been, officially done towards preserving a full record of the habits, beliefs, arts, myths, languages, and physical characteristics of the countless other tribes and nations more or less uncivilized, which are comprised within the limits of the British Empire. At the meeting of this association held last year at Liverpool, it was resolved by the general committee "that it is of urgent importance to press upon the government the necessity of establishing a Bureau of Ethnology for Greater Britain, which by collecting information with regard to the native races within and on the borders of the empire will prove of immense value to science and to the government itself." It has been suggested that such a bureau might with the greatest advantage and with the least outlay and permanent expense be connected either with the British Museum or with the Imperial Institute, and the project has already been submitted for the consideration of the trustees of the former establishment.

The existence of an almost unrivalled ethnological collection in the museum, and the presence there of officers already well versed in ethnological research, seem to afford an argument in favor of the proposed bureau being connected with it. On the other hand, the Imperial Institute was founded with au especial view to its being a centre around which every interest connected with the dependencies of the empire might gather for information and support. The establishment within the last twelve months of a Scientific Department within the Institute, with well-appointed laboratories and

a

duce to the welfare of the outlying parts of the British Empire; a fact of which I believe that Canada is fully aware. The Institute is therefore likely to develop, so far as its scientific department is concerned, into a bureau of advice in all matters scientific and technical, and certainly a Bureau of Ethnology, such as that suggested, would not be out of place within its walls.

Wherever such an institution is to be established, the question of its existence must of necessity rest with her Majesty's government and treasury, inasmuch as without funds, however moderate, the undertaking cannot be carried on. I trust that in considering the question it will always be borne in mind that in the relations between civilized and uncivilized nations and races it is of the first importance that the prejudices, and especially the religious or semi-religious and caste prejudices, of the latter should be thoroughly well known to the former. If but a single "little war" could be avoided in Consequence of the knowledge acquired and stored up by the Bureau of Ethnology preventing such a misunderstanding as might culminate in warfare, the cost of such an institution would quickly be saved. SIR JOHN EVANS, K. C.B., D.C.L., LL.D,

ETC.

Translated for THE LIVING AGE. CONTEMPORANEOUS PROBLEMS.1 THE COLONIAL POLICY OF EUROPE AND WHAT THAT OF SPAIN SHOULD BE.

I must congratulate the worthy members of the Geographical Society of Madrid upon the fact that they have created an actual literary controversy. I also congratulate them upon the idea and upon the manner in which this idea has been carried out. Although my observation of this congress has been con

1 This address was delivered by the late Senor A. Canovas del Castillo, Prime Minister of Spain, before the Geographical Society of Madrid, No vember, 1883. Among Senor Canovas's published

addresses none is more characteristic or forceful.

fined, until to-day's discussion, to what the press has sent to my chamber, I have been most gratefully surprised by one thing which does not generally distinguish this class of assemblies, and that is the strong practical spirit which has illumined it.

It cannot be said of this assembly, full of spontaneity, youth and life, not bound by any regulations or traditions -this assembly of Spaniards whose minds are inspired by the heroic deeds of the past and who might be easily carried away by illusions-that the debates have been marked by rash enthusiasm or excess. No, it is enough for me to have heard to-day's discussion to know that there is in this congress that truly virile spirit which in unfortunate circumstances, or at least in those less fortunate, will not be content with the simple and perhaps youthful pleasures of the imagination, but will know how to look at adversity when it comes, face to face, to struggle valiantly with it, to resist it, to dominate it, to conquer it sooner or later, as I hope that, sooner or later, the noble and glorious spanish nation will conquer all its misfortunes and all its difficulties.

It often happens that among the great number of ideas which discussions bring forth, only a few seem practical and timely, but in this congress, which is a completely free and spontaneous effusion of the national spirit, there is no obligation nor necessity for any one to accept what is said in its entirety. The conclusions themselves, although they express the opinions of the majority, do not by any means carry the legal force which the usages of human soclety give to the majority in other places, and therefore the minority-the individuals who do not agree with some of the theories or conclusions-preserve their rights intact. They may leave here declaring that although they have sympathized with the general spirit of the Congress, although they have applauded, although they may be satisfied in a great measure with the ideas and conclusions which have been expressed, they still reserve their own personal opinions. The Congress leaves us free to speak, free to resolve. We go out from here free, and we come back another day yet more free, because assem

blies and congresses of this class are not for one time alone. I sincerely hope that this congress, so brilliantly begun, may be one more step in the pathway of the expression and development of the national ideal—an ideal which, although it cannot be fully realized, is in certain decisive moments of history, as I have said before, the very soul of the country, the soul without which a nation may be considered dead.

Debates like those which have taken place here arouse, naturally, a contradiction of interests, more or less latent, a diversity of ideas obvious to every one, From these interests and ideas, to-day discordant, there will be born some day, if not harmony,-for harmony is a difficult thing for humanity in general and for nations in particular, and still more difficult for individuals, because it contradicts in itself the individual liberty of each thought,-therefore, I say, if not harmony, at least that co-ordination of interests and of ideas which finally produces in nations, as in individuals, those systems of conduct without which all action is half-hearted and ineffectual.

We have done, or rather, you have done well to consider, to demonstrate here this afternoon, as you have often done here before, that there are interests in the heart of the Spanish nation which seem contradictory, and which are irreducible. You have done well to lay bare different principles and systems which are, in truth, more contradictory and more irreducible in themselves. Each one has loyally defended his own ideas. You have taken, in these discussions, the first step, or one of the first steps towards that fruitful co-ordination which only the joint labor of human activity can bring to a perfect end.

Why should a nation like ours sit silent in these times of historical remembrance? Why, I say, should Spain remain mute; the nation that discovered and populated so great a part of America; the nation that has spread upon all seas and upon all continents so much renown in her own tongue-the sure evidence of an epoch of glory, although now the object of a singular and fitting melancholy.

Ought such a nation to remain inert,