The Silent Trade; A Contribution to the Early History of Human Intercourse

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1903. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... that certain Europeans were unable to establish a traffic with certain savages. It may well be that refusal to trade is due, not to ignorance of trading, but to fear or suspicion or misunderstanding; and, besides, a savage may be ready enough to trade with one of his own tribe, while he will decline to hold communication of any kind whatsoever with an unknown stranger. Sec. 25. The association of groups forms for its members the world of possible existence, and in it the stranger has neither part nor place. It is not robbery to strip him of his goods, nor is it murder to kill him, for he is outside of the sphere within which alone rights are recognised and enforced. He is looked upon as a mortal enemy, whose life is a constant menace to the well-being of the community; and, accordingly, it is a public duty, incumbent upon each and all, to hunt him down and slay him like a beast of prey. This attitude of exclusiveness cannot, however, be permanently maintained except by a society which is wholly self-sufficing and wholly unprogressive. For so soon as men fail to find in the association to which they belong the satisfaction of their desires and the supply of their wants, they are compelled to go beyond it, and to enter into relations of some sort with the surrounding populations. To take all and give nothing is the line of action which naturally enough commends itself to the savage in his dealings with strangers. Still, a course of violence has its inconveniences; it is uncertain in its results, it is dangerous in itself, and it involves dangerous consequences; and, accordingly, many primitive peoples resort to a practice by means of which they can obtain, without the exercise of force, what they require from those who are strangers to them, and, therefore, their ...