ems still represented by the
_Koraks_ and _Cookchees_, found in that part of Asia which
extends to Behring's Straits."[540:4]

Hon. Charles D. Poston, late commissioner of the United States of
America in Asia, in a work entitled, "_The Parsees_," speaking of an
incident which took place "beyond the Great Wall," says:

"A Mongolian came riding up on a little black pony, followed
by a servant on a camel, rocking like a windmill. He stopped a
moment to exchange pantomimic salutations. He was full of
electricity, and alive with motion; the blood was warm in his
veins, and the fire was bright in his eye. I could have sworn
that he was an _Apache;_ every action, motion and look
reminded me of my old enemies and neighbors in _Arizona_. They
are the true descendants of the nomadic Tartars of Asia and
preserve every instinct of the race. He shook hands friendlily
but timidly, keeping all the time in motion like an
Apache."[540:5]

That the continents of Asia and America were at one time joined
together by an isthmus, at the place where the channel of Behring's
straits is now found, is a well known fact. That the severance of Asia
from America was, geologically speaking, very recent, is shown by the
fact that not only the straits, but the sea which bears the name of
Behring, is extraordinarily shallow, so much so, indeed, that whalers
lie at anchor in the middle of it.[541:1] This is evidently the manner
in which America was peopled.[541:2]

During the _Champlain_ period in the earth's history the climate of the
northern portion of the American continent, instead of being frigid, and
the country covered with sheets of ice, was more like the climate of the
Middle States of the present day. Tropical animals went North, and
during the Terrace period--which followed the Champlain--the climate
changed to frigid, and many of these tropical animals were frozen in the
ice, and some of their remains were discovered centuries after.

It was probably during the time when the climate in those northern
regions was warm, that the aborigines crossed over, and even if they did
not do so at that time, we must not be startled at the idea that Asiatic
tribes crossed over from Asia to America, when the country was covered
with ice. There have been nations who lived in a state of nudity among
ice-fields, and, even at the present day, a naked nation of fishermen
still exist in Terr