Most interesting of all, however, are the people. Asia has always been one of the most important parts of the world as regards its population. History tells us that it is the oldest of all inhabited countries, and it is believed by many to have been man's first home. Our own ancestors of the long ago are said to have come from India, whence they made their way north into Europe. They populated that continent, and later some of their descendants crossed the Atlantic to found the New World. Asia also contains the lands of the Bible. It was the birthplace of Jesus, and the home of Adam and Noah and of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The whole earth is said to have about sixteen hundred million people, and of these more than nine hundred millions are Asiatics. They number, therefore, more than one half of the whole human race, and, considering the world as one vast family, are largely in the majority. Let us stop for a moment and see what that means.
If all the men, women, and children on this big round globe could be gathered together into one field, more room would be needed for the people of Asia than for all of the others. They would take up more than half of the field, and as we looked at them they might seem very strange. One third of the whole crowd would be of the Mongolian race, having yellow skins, and eyes which are slanting and of the shape of an almond. The majority of the Mongolians would be Chinese, the boys and men having their heads shaved up to the crown and long braids of black hair hanging down from their scalp locks. There would be millions of gayly dressed Chinese women hobbling along on feet so tied up that they could not move about without pain, and a vast number of Chinese children dressed in gowns. There would also be millions of brave little Japanese men
