The Beothucks or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland (Classic Reprint) - Tapa blanda

Excerpt from The Beothucks or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland

From this chaotic mass of material, I shall endeavour to sift as much of the truth as possible, and finally make such corrections as are deemed necessary, or offer such solutions of points in the narrations as seem to require explanation. Modern research in ethnological studies affords much new light upon such subjects, which was entirely beyond the reach of the earlier writers.

I am fully aware that all my efforts must still fall very short in many respects, and that there are probably, numerous unrelated traditions Which have not come under my notice. I can only claim that I have used my best endeavours to preserve from oblivion, the principal facts relating to this interesting but unfortunate section of the human family.

I had long since intended publishing the result of these enquiries but various circumstances interposed to prevent my doing so, not the least of which was the hope that at any moment some additional or important fact might come within my reach; furthermore, I had cherished the hope of being able to trace certain documents known to have been in existence, but in this I have been but partially successful.

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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from The Beothucks or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland

For the past forty years I have endeavoured to gather, from every available source, all possible information bearing upon this subject. After a minute study of every detail obtainable, I have come to the conclusion that at this distance of time, with such meagre material as we possess, it would be utterly out of the question to attempt to write an accurate history of the aborigines of this island.

All that can be aimed at now is to gather together the various disjointed and disconnected references to those people that have appeared from time to time in print, arrange these in some sort of consecutive order, and relate the numerous traditions, anecdotes, etc., current amongst the fisher-folk, that I have gathered, and which have been preserved and handed down from generation to generation.

From this chaotic mass of material, I shall endeavour to sift as much of the truth as possible, and finally make such corrections as are deemed necessary, or offer such solutions of points in the narrations as seem to require explanation. Modern research in ethnological studies affords much new light upon such subjects, which was entirely beyond the reach of the earlier writers.

I am fully aware that all my efforts must still fall very short in many respects, and that there are probably, numerous unrelated traditions which have not come under my notice. I can only claim that I have used my best endeavours to preserve from oblivion, the principal facts relating to this interesting but unfortunate section of the human family.

I had long since intended publishing the result of these enquiries but various circumstances interposed to prevent my doing so, not the least of which was the hope that at any moment some additional or important fact might come within my reach; furthermore, I had cherished the hope of being able to trace certain documents known to have been in existence, but in this I have been but partially successful.

Every individual who was supposed to possess any information whatever, bearing on the subject, has been either interviewed or written to, with the view of making the work as complete as possible. Needless to say, much that has been so acquired is of a very dubious character.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.