National Life and Character 301 



tribes like those of the Soudan, with a similar re- 

 ligion and morality. It is almost impossible that 

 they will not in the end succeed in throwing off the 

 yoke of the European outsiders, though this end may 

 be, and we hope will be, many centuries distant. 

 In America, most of the West Indies are becoming 

 negro islands. The Spaniard, however, because of 

 the ease with which he drops to a lower ethnic level, 

 exerts a much more permanent influence than the 

 Englishman upon tropic aboriginal races; and the 

 tropical lands which the Spaniards and Portuguese 

 once held, now contain, and always will contain, 

 races which, though different from the Aryan of 

 the Temperate Zone, yet bridge the gulf between him 

 and the black, red, and yellow peoples who have 

 dwelt from time immemorial on both sides of the 

 equator. 



Taking all this into consideration, therefore, it 

 is most likely that a portion of Mr. Pearson's fore- 

 cast, as regards the people of the tropic zones, will 

 be justified by events. It is impossible for the dom- 

 inant races of the temperate zones ever bodily to dis- 

 place the peoples of the tropics. It is highly prob- 

 able that these people will cast off the yoke of their 

 European conquerors sooner or later, and will be- 

 come independent nations once more; though it is 

 also possible that the modern conditions of easy 

 travel may permit the permanent rule in the tropics 

 of a vigorous northern race, renewed by a complete 

 change every generation. 



Mr. Pearson's further proposition is that these 



