Chap. XIX. Man — Beauty. 579 



woman who was considered a beauty, and she was so immensely 

 developed behind, that when seated on level ground she could 

 not rise, and had to push herself along until she came to a slope. 

 Some of the women in various negro tribes have the same pecu- 

 liarity ; and, according to Burton, the Somal men " are said to 

 '* choose their wives by ranging them in a line, and by picking 

 " her out who projects farthest a tergo. Nothing can be more 

 " hateful to a negro than the opposite form." 60 



With respect to colour, the negroes rallied Mungo Park on the 

 whiteness of his skin and the prominence of his nose, both of 

 which they considered as " unsightly and unnatural conforma- 

 <c tions." He in return praised the glossy jet of their skins and the 

 lovely depression of their noses ; this they said was, " honey- 

 " mouth," nevertheless they gave him food. The African Moors, 

 also, " knitted their brows and seemed to shudder " at the white- 

 ness of his skin. On the eastern coast, the negro boys when they 

 saw Burton, cried out " Look at the white man ; does he not look 

 " like a white ape ? " On the western coast, as Mr. Winwood 

 Eeade informs me, the negroes admire a very black skin more 

 than one of a lighter tint. But their horror of whiteness may be 

 attributed, according to this same traveller, partly to the belief 

 held by most negroes that demons and spirits are white, and 

 partly to their thinking it a sign of ill-health. 



The Bauyai of the more southern part of the continent are 

 negroes, but " a great many of them are of a light coffee-and-milk 

 *' colour, and, indeed, this colour is considered handsome 

 " throughout the whole country ; " so that here we have a 

 different standard of taste. With the Kafirs, who differ much 

 from negroes, " the skin, except among the tribes near Delagoa 

 " Bay, is not usually black, the prevailing colour being a mixture 

 " of black and red, the most common shade being chocolate. 

 " Dark complexions, as being most common are naturally held in 

 " the highest esteem. To be told that he is light-coloured, or 

 " like a white man, would be deemed a very poor compliment by 

 " a Kafir. I have heard of one unfortunate man who was so very 

 ■' fair that no girl would marry him." One of the titles of the 

 Zulu king is " You who are black." 61 Mr. Galton, in speaking 

 to me about the natives of S. Africa, remarked that their ideas of 



60 'The Anthropological Review,' Burton's statement is quoted by 

 November, 1864, p. 237. For ad- Schaaff hausen, ' Archiv fur Anthro- 

 ditional references, see Waitz, ' In- polog.' 186(3, s. 163. On the Banyai, 

 troduct. to Anthropology,' Eng. Livingstone, 'Travels,' p. -54. On 

 translat. 1863, vol. i. p. 105. the Kafirs, the Rev. J. Shooter, 



61 Mungo Park's 'Travels in 'The Kafirs of Natal and the Zulo 

 Africa,' 4to. 1816, pp. 53, 131. Country,' 1857, p. 1. 



