naries in the center. Before the white man introduced the horse, the
ox, and iron ploughs, there prevailed an extraordinary similarity in the
habits of the plains Indians from Texas to Alberta. All alike depended
on the buffalo; all hunted him in much the same way; all used his skins
for tents and robes, his bones for tools, and his horns for utensils.
All alike made him the center of their elaborate rituals and dances.
Because the plains of North America were easy to traverse, the
relatively high culture of the ancient people of the South spread into
the Mississippi Valley. Hence the Natchez tribe of Mississippi had a
highly developed form of sun-worship and a well-defined caste system
with three grades of nobility in addition to the common people. Even
farther north, almost to the Ohio River, traces of the sun-worship of
Mexico had penetrated along the easy pathway of the plains.

South of the great granaries of North America and Eurasia the plains are
broken, but occur again in the Orinoco region of South America and
the Sahara of Africa. Thence they stretch almost unbroken toward the
southern end of the continents. In view of the fertility of the plains
it is strange that the centers of civilization have so rarely been
formed in these vast level expanses.

The most striking of the inverse resemblances between America and the
Old World are found along the Atlantic border. In the north of Europe
the White Sea corresponds to Hudson Bay in America. Farther toward the
Atlantic Ocean Scandinavia with its mountains, glaciers, and fiords
is similar to Labrador, although more favored because warmer. Next
the islands of Great Britain occupy a position similar to that of
Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. But here again the eastern
climate is much more favorable than the western. Although practically
all of Newfoundland is south of England, the American island has only
six inhabitants per square mile, while the European country has six
hundred. To the east of the British Isles the North Sea, the Baltic, and
Lakes Ladoga and Onega correspond in striking fashion to the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, the river of the same name, and the Great Lakes from Ontario
to Superior. Next the indented shores of western France and the
peninsula of Spain resemble our own indented coast and the peninsula
of Florida. Here at last the American regions are as favored as the
European. Farther south the Mediterranean and Black seas penetrate far
into t