316 W. F. Daniell, Esq., on the Natives of Old Callehar. 



support of the correctness of this statement could not be 

 furnished, than is presented in the structural diversities that 

 prevail between the inhabitants of the low swampy districts 

 of the Bonny, and the more elevated sandstone regions of 

 Old Callehar. 



The average stature of the male population of Old Callehar 

 may be stated to vary from 5 ft. 6 in. to 5 ft. 10 in., taking 

 the inhabitants of the towns as a criterion in preference to 

 those of the predial districts. The trunk and other portions 

 of the body are in close conformity with their physical confi- 

 guration ; being somewhat robust and symmetrical in mould, 

 with a tendency to great muscular development. In the 

 chiefs, however, who indulge freely in a generous diet, and are 

 accustomed to pursue more sedentary occupations than the in- 

 ferior classes, these harmonious proportions are partially lost: 

 excess of food, and want of exercise, leading to a deposition 

 of adipose substance in various parts of the body, particu- 

 larly in the mesentery and nates. In the female this redun- 

 dancy of fat is encouraged in its accumulation by various 

 artificial means, inasmuch as obesity in equinoctial Africa is 

 esteemed as one of the greatest charms of a native beauty ; 

 nay, in several countries is considered as an indispensable re- 

 quisite for the marriage state. The w^omen, although con- 

 siderably less in height (being from 5 ft. to 5 ft. 4 in.), are, 

 nevertheless, proportion ably larger in corporeal bulk, their 

 extreme stoutness and breadth increasing their rotundity 

 of form. In many instances, women have so increased in 

 size as to render it a difiicult matter for them to walk. The 

 countenances of both sexes exhibit less prominently the me- 

 lancholic and despondent expression of the Eboes, the fea- 

 tures in their place assuming a more cheerful and intelligent 

 character, with an apparently higher intellectual endowment. 

 In the female, in the bloom of youth, the slim and graceful 

 form, and bright and joyous face, often remind the stranger 

 of the fair girls of his own more civilized communities. Al- 

 though the conformation of the inhabitants of this river is 

 in many respects precisely in accordance with the delinea- 

 tions of the Negro, yet there are some obvious deviations 

 which require notice. Possessing, more or less modified. 



