THE SOUTHEEN KABTERS. 519 



ever been one dull monotonous scene of ignorance, barbarism, 

 and stagnation. 



As to the causes of this stationary unprogressive state 

 opinions are greatly divided, for while some authorities con- 

 sider tlie African as decidedly inferior in intellect to the more 

 favoured races of Europe, he is according to others merely the 

 victim of unfortunate circumstances, which have never allowed 

 the latent germs of improvement to quicken into life ? That 

 there is no defect in his organisation to account for his low 

 condition, is sufficiently proved by the celebrated physiologist, 

 Tiedemann, who found, as the result of numerous measurements 

 and examinations, that his brain is by no means smaller than 

 that of the European, and that its form and structure are 

 identical. 



Travellers and missionaries w^ho have had the best oppor- 

 tunities of forming a just estimate of the character and capa- 

 cities of the Negroes, describe them as social, generous, and 

 confiding. No one, such is their opinion, can live among them 

 without being impressed with their natural energy of character, 

 their shrewdness and close observation, the cunning with which 

 they can drive a bargain, and the perfect adroitness with which 

 they practise upon the unsuspecting credulity of white men. 

 They have long since risen above the hunter life, have fixed 

 habitations, cultivate the soil for the means of subsistence, have 

 herds of domestic animals, construct for themselves houses 

 sufficient to protect them alike from the scorching heat of the 

 sun and the chilly damps of night, show a taste for the mechanical 

 arts, a surprising skill in the fabrication of implements of 

 warfare and articles of ornament, and at the same time a 

 decided taste and aptitude for commercial pursuits. 



Th(^ Southern Kaffers gradually pass through the transition 

 of intermediate tribes into the pure typical equatorial Negroes, 

 and travellers have been astonished at the acuteness of in- 

 tellect displayed by the Zulus, Betchuanas, and other Kaffer 

 nations. Of the Mandingoes, a pure Negro race, inhabiting 

 parts of Senegambia and Upper Gruinea, shrewd observers 

 assure us that no one who has had personal intercourse with 

 them, can have the least doubt as to their intellectual equality 

 with Europeans. These few examples, to which many others 



