upon British Ethnology. 197
of making war, or the positions of their best harbours. In
the account of his second voyage he remarks,14 that in the
interior of Britain live the descendants of the original inhabi-
tants, while the parts near the coast are inhabited by those
who have crossed over from the land of the Belgae. Of course
the coast referred to is that of the south-east. He adds that
the most civilized of all these nations are those which inhabit
Kent, whose customs are similar to those of the Gauls. The
tribes of the interior were either pre-Celtic, or Gauls who
had settled in Britain many generations before the voyages
of Caesar.
Little can be said about the race-affinities of the various
tribes found here by the Romans during their occupation.
The fullest discussion of this question, from the philological
point of view, may be found in the late Dr. Guest's 'Origines
Celtica?.' The following examples, however, may be given.
The Silurians of South Wales are generally allowed to have
been largely pre-Celtic or Iberian, their dark complexion and
curly hair having been noted by Tacitus. Mr. Elton con-
siders the Ordovices of central Wales to have been a nation
of Gaelic descent, and Professor Rhys supposes the Damnonii,
or Dumnonii, of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, and the
Durotriges of Dorset to have been mainly Gaelic. Dr. Guest
is inclined to think there was a connection between the
Brigantes, Coritani (or Coritavi), and Iceni, and the Lloegrian
or Ligurian group of the Brythons. But the Iceni are con-
sidered by Mr. Elton to have been mainly of the more recent
Gallic immigration to which the Cantii, Trinobantes, and
Catyeuchlani belonged. As regards the Belgae, who, as Caesar
remarks, settled in the maritime parts, and who occupied a
considerable territory in what are now Hampshire and Wilt-
shire, they are considered by Dr. Guest to have been a Gaelic
people.
A general ethnological survey of the British Isles at the
time of the Roman Occupation would have given the follow-
ing broad results. In Ireland the population mainly consisted
of a dark pre-Celtic race, probably Iberian, with a later and
14 'De Bello Callico,' Book v. ch. 12.