MENTAL IMAGERY. 67 



is the case. I hardly like to refer to civilized nations, because their 

 natural faculties are too much modified by education to allow of their 

 being appraised in an off-hand fashion. I may, however, speak of the 

 French, who appear to possess the visualizing faculty in a high degree. 

 The peculiar ability they show in prearranging ceremonials 2Lndi fetes 

 of all kinds and their undoubted genius for tactics and strategy show- 

 that they are able to foresee effects with unusual clearness. Their in- 

 genuity in all technical contrivances is an additional testimony in the 

 same direction, and so is their singular clearness of expression. Their 

 phrase " figurez-vous," or " picture to yourself," seems to express their 

 dominant mode of perception. Our equivalent of " imagine " is am- 

 biguous. 



It is among uncivilized races that natural differences in the visual- 

 izing faculty are most conspicuous. Many of them make carvings and 

 rude illustrations, but only a few have the gift of carrying a picture 

 in their mind's eye, judging by the completeness and firmness of their 

 designs, which show no trace of having been elaborated in that step- 

 by-step manner which is characteristic of draughtsmen who are not 

 natural artists. 



Among the races who are thus gifted are the despised, and, as I 

 confidently maintain from personal knowledge of them, the much- 

 underrated Bushmen of South Africa. They are no doubt deficient 

 in the natiiral instincts necessary to civilization, for they detest a reg- 

 ular life, they are inveterate thieves, and are incapable of withstanding 

 the temptation of strong drink. On the other hand, they have few 

 superiors among barbarians in the ingenious methods by which they 

 supply the wants of a difiicult existence, and in the effectiveness and 

 nattiness of their accoutreijaents. One of their habits is to draw pic- 

 tures on the walls of caves, of men and animals, and to color them 

 with ochre. These drawings were once numerous, but they have been 

 sadly destroyed by advancing colonization, and few of them, and, in- 

 deed, few wild Bushmen, now exist. Fortunately, a large and valuable 

 collection of f ac-similes of Bushman art was made before it became too 

 late, by Mr. Stow, of the Cape Colony, who has very lately sent some 

 specimens of them to this country, in the hope that means might be 

 found for the publication of the entire series. Among the many pic- 

 tures of animals in each of the large sheets full of them, I was particu- 

 larly struck with one of an eland, as giving a just idea of the precision 

 and purity of their best work. 



A small but interesting sheet of copies of Bushman drawings was 

 presented by Colonel Moncrieff, C. B., of gun-carriage celebrity, to the 

 Christie Collection, which is now incorpoi'ated with the British Mu- 

 seum. Many notices of them are to be found in Barrow's travels in 

 South Africa, and elsewhere. 



The method by which the Bushmen draw is described in the fol- 

 lowing extract from a letter written to me by Dr. Mann, the well- 



