The uncivilized races of men in all countries of the world; vol. 2 of 2 / Being a comprehensive account of their manners and customs, and of their physical, social, mental, moral and religious characteristics

Chapter 2: PREFACE.

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About This Book

A sweeping nineteenth-century survey that compiles descriptive accounts of indigenous peoples across the Americas, the Pacific islands, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia, focusing on their physical characteristics, social organization, customs, religious beliefs, and material culture. Illustrated chapters document dwellings, tools, clothing, ceremonies, warfare, burial practices, myths, and everyday life, often with engraved plates and explanatory notes. The author offers comparative observations that note regional variations and includes occasional notices of extinct or long-vanished communities. The text combines a natural-history lens with ethnographic description and provides indexes and lists of illustrations to assist readers.

PREFACE.

In this volume will be found a selection of the most interesting uncivilized tribes that inhabit, or once inhabited, America and the vast number of islands which lie between that country and the eastern coast of Asia, including among them the great groups of Australia and New Zealand. A short notice is given of the long-perished Lake-dwellers of Switzerland, and the partial civilization of India, China, Japan and Siam is also represented.

My best thanks are due to the Geographical and Anthropological Societies, for the constant access permitted to their libraries, and to the Curator of the “Christy Collection,” for the assistance which he rendered in the illustration of the work.