v BRITISn ETHNOLOGY. 255 



dark people resembled the Aquitani and the Iberi- 

 ans; the fair people were like the Belgic Gauls. 



The chief direct evidence of the truth of this 

 proposition is the well-known passage of Tacitus: — 



" Ceteruin Britanniam qui mortales initio coluerint, 

 indigence an advecti, ut inter barbaros, parum compertum. 

 Habitus corporum varii : atque ex eo argumenta : namque 

 rutilae Caledoniam habitantium coma?, niagni artus, Ger- 

 manicam originem asseverant. Silurum colorati vultus 

 et torti plerumque crines, et posita contra Hispania, 

 Iberos veteres trajecisse, easque sedes occupasse, fidem 

 faciunt. Proximi Gallis et similes sunt; seu durante 

 originis vi, seu procurrentibus in diversa terris, positio 

 coeli corporibus habitum dedit. In universum tamen sesti- 

 manti, Gallos vicinum solum occupasse, credibile est; 

 eorum sacra deprehendas, superstitionum persuasione; 

 sermo haud multum di versus." * 



This passage, it will be observed, contains state- 

 ments as to facts, and certain conclusions deduced 

 from these facts. The matters of fact asserted are: 

 firstly, that the inhabitants of Britain exhibit 

 much diversity in their physical characters; sec- 

 ondly, that the Caledonians are red-haired and 

 large-limbed, like the Germans; thirdly, that the 

 Silures have curly hair and dark complexions, like 

 the people of Spain; fourthly, that the British peo- 

 ple nearest Gaul resemble the " Galli." 



Tacitus, therefore, states positively what the 

 Caledonians and Silures were like; but the inter- 

 pretation of what he says about the other Britons 



* Tacitus Agricola, c. 11. 



