The Human Race. Figuier Louis

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СКАЧАТЬ Europe, more particularly that portion which now forms Belgium, France as far as the Garonne, and a part of Switzerland. Later on, the Celts or Gaels extended their conquests as far even as the British Isles. It was in the twelfth or tenth century before Christ that they invaded Gaul, and subdued the indigenous Iberian population.

      Of their Asiatic origin the Celts preserved no more than a few dogmas of Eastern worship, the organization of a priestly sect, and a language, which, through its close connection with the sacred language of the Indian Brahmins, reveals the kinship which united these people with those of Asia.

      

      The Celts were a nomadic people, and lived essentially by hunting and pasturage. The men were very tall: their height being, it has been asserted, from six to seven feet. Many tribes dyed their skin with a colour extracted from the leaf of the woad. Others tattooed themselves. Many adorned their arms or breasts with heavy chains of gold, or clothed themselves in tissues of bright colours, analogous to the Scotch tartan. Later on they gave themselves up to greater luxury. Above their tunic they wore the saya, a short cloak, striped with purple bands and embroidered with gold or silver. Among the poorer classes this saya was replaced by the skin of some animal, or by a cloak of coarse and dark-coloured wool. Others wore the simar, which is analogous to the modern blouse or the caraco of the Normandy peasants. The second article of dress worn by the Gaelic men, was a tight and narrow form of trouser, the braya. The women wore an ample puckered tunic with an apron. Some restricted their dress to a leathern bag.

      Their weapons consisted of stone knives, axes furnished with sharp flint or shell points, clubs, and spears hardened in the fire. Celtic stone hatchets are common in the West of France.

      The Celts were warlike and bold. They marched against the enemy to the sound of the karnux, a sort of trumpet, the top of which represented a wild beast crowned with flowers. As soon as the signal was given, the front rank threw itself stark naked and impetuously into the struggle.

      Leading a wandering form of life, the Celts constructed no fixed habitations. They moved from one pasturage to another in covered waggons, erecting simple cabins, which they abandoned after a few days. They sometimes took shelter in caves, sleeping upon a little straw, or the skins of animals spread upon the earth. More frequently, however, they ate and slept under the open sky. Fond of tales and recitations, they appear to have been inquisitive and garrulous. Their habits were peaceful.

      A branch of the Celtic family, the Cymris, who, like their predecessors, originally came from Asia, overran the fertile plains which extend from the moorlands at Bordeaux to the mouth of the Rhine, their course being arrested toward the west only by the ocean, toward the east by the Vosges, and toward the south-east by the mountains of Auvergne and the last ridges of the Pyrenees and the Cevennes. The Cymris, or Belgians, brought with them the simplicity of the north, and having built towns, called upon the Gaels to join them.

      These two groups, distinct in themselves although of the same race, lived apart in some countries, while in others they held supremacy. The Irish and the Highlanders of Scotland were Gaels. The Gaelic element also predominated in Eastern France. The inhabitants of Wales, Belgium, and Brittany belonged to the Cymrian branch; but the Romans confounded these two races under the general name of Britons in Great Britain, and Gauls in Gaul.

      We will briefly review the physical types, manners, and customs of the Gauls.

      At the time when Julius Cæsar invaded and conquered the Gauls, they were distinguished as the northern, north-eastern, western, and southern Gauls. The first were remarkable for the abundance and length of their hair; hence their name of long-haired Gauls. Those of the south and south-east were known as the braya-wearing Gauls.

      The Gauls used artificial means of giving to their hair a bright red colour. Some allowed it to fall around their shoulders; others tied it in a tuft above the head. Some wore only thick mustachios, others retained the whole beard.

      When arming for battle, the Gauls donned the saya. They used arrows, slings, one-edged swords in iron or copper, and a sort of halberd, which inflicted terrible wounds. A metal casque, ornamented with the horns of the elk, buffalo, or stag, covered the head of the common soldier, that of the rich warrior being adorned with flowing plumes, while figures of birds or wild beasts were wrought upon the crest. The buckler was covered with hideous figures. Beneath a breast-plate of wrought-iron the warrior wore a coat of mail, the produce of Gallic industry. He further adorned himself with necklaces; and the scarves of the chiefs glittered with gold, silver, or coral. The standard consisted of a wild boar, formed of metal or bronze, and fixed at the end of a staff.

      The Gauls dwelt in spacious circular habitations, built of rough stones, cemented together with clay, or composed of stakes and hurdles, filled up with earth within and without. The roof, which was ample and solid, was composed of strong planks cut into the form of tiles, and of stubble or chopped straw kneaded with clay.

      The wealthy Gaul, besides his town residence, possessed a country house. His wooden tables were very low, and in them excavations were made which answered the purpose of plates and dishes. The guests sat upon trusses of hay or straw, upon hassocks formed of rushes, or forms with wooden backs. They slept in a kind of press, formed of planks, similar to those which are met with in some cottages of Brittany and Savoy. They had earthen vessels, of delicate grey or black pottery, more or less ornamented, and brazen vases. They used horns as drinking-vessels.

      The Gauls ate little bread, but a great deal of roast or boiled meat. As a rule, they tore with the teeth pieces which they held in their hands. The poor drank beer, or other less costly beverages; the rich, aromatic wines.

      The beauty of the Gallic women was proverbial. The elegance of their figure, the purity of their features, and the whiteness of their skins, were universally admired. To captivate these fierce men they made abundant use of coquetry. In order to heighten the freshness of their complexions, they bathed themselves with the foam of beer, or chalk dissolved in vinegar. They dyed their eyebrows with soot, or a liquid extracted from a fish called orphi. Their cheeks they coloured with vermilion, and dressed their hair with lime in order to make it blond, and covering it with network, let it fall behind, or else turned it up crestwise. They wore as many as four tunics, one above the other, veiled their head with part of their cloak, and wore a mitre or Phrygian head-dress.

      Any ordinary person who died was interred in a manner suitable to their sex and condition, with arrow-heads, hatchets, flint knives, necklaces, rings, bracelets, articles of pottery, &c. The grave was marked by an unhewn stone, which was surrounded with herbs, moss, or flowers. These tombstones were raised up in the plains, by the way-side, and amid the deep shade of the forests. They were guarded by a statue of Tentates, one of whose cheeks was painted white, the other black.

      When a chief died, his body was burnt. In order to do this, the body was placed upon a pile of resinous wood, with his weapons of war and of the chase, his charger and dogs, and sometimes even, his slaves. While the flames devoured the body, the bystanders uttered loud cries, and the warriors clashed their shields. The half-calcined bones were enclosed in an urn of coarse earth, rudely ornamented with a few engravings or figures in bas relief. This urn was then deposited beneath a tumulus covered with turf. In southern Gaul it was placed beneath a funeral column.

      In order to render complete the idea which we should wish to convey of the outward appearance of the Gauls, we must say a few words about the Druids.

      The Druids were the priests of the Gauls, a clergy powerful by reason of their political duties and judicial functions. The Druids led a solitary life in the depth of oak forests and in secluded caves. They wore a distinctive dress, their robes reaching down to the ground. During religious ceremonies they covered СКАЧАТЬ