1334 



VARIETIES OF MANKIND. 



and some of the Tuaryks which inhabit the 

 borders of the Great Desert, are as black as 

 the darkest Negro. 



Among the proper African nations, it may 

 be supposed that no such variety would 

 embarrass us ; blackness, with a reddish or 

 yellowish tinge, being accounted the uni- 

 versal hue of the Ethiopian race. But this 

 notion is chiefly founded upon the com- 

 plexion which prevails in a very small part 

 of the great African continent ; and no 

 fact is really better established, than that of 

 the great diversity of complexion which pre- 

 vails among its different inhabitants. Thus, 

 among some of the Kaffir tribes, which often 

 possess high foreheads and prominent noses, 

 light brown complexions, and reddish hair are 

 often met with ; yet there is every reason for 

 the belief that they are of the same stock 

 with the Negroes of the Guinea coast, and 

 intermediate gradations in complexion are 

 presented by the nations which occupy an 

 intermediate geographical position. There 

 are tribes even upon the gold and slave 

 coasts, which are considerably lighter than 

 ordinary Negroes. Moreover, the Hottentot 

 has a large admixture of yellow in his com- 

 plexion, whilst the Fulahs' of Central Africa 

 are of a dark copper colour. The African 

 tribes which border on the Red Sea, and which 

 seem to constitute the link of transition be- 

 tween the Ethiopian and the Semitic races, 

 present every grade of colour, from the deep 

 black of the Negro to the swarthiness of the 

 lighter Arabs, notwithstanding that there is 

 no reason to believe these characters to have 

 been acquired by the intermixture either of 

 an Ethiopian stock with Arabs, or of an Arab 

 stock with Ethiopians. There is strong 

 ground for the opinion, as we shall see here- 

 after, that the ancient Egyptians, whose com- 

 plexion (as represented by their own artists) 

 seems to have been of a red copper or light 

 chocolate colour, were so closely allied to the 

 proper African nations, that the origin of both 

 must have been the same. The complexion 

 of the African nations, then, wants that cha- 

 racter of uniformity, which is required to 

 distinguish it from that of other branches of 

 the human family ; and a marked tendency to 

 assimilation is exhibited in the hues of the 

 African and of the Semitic races inhabiting 

 similar localities, a fact whose full significance 

 will appear hereafter. 



On instituting a similar comparison be- 

 tween the complexions of the various 

 branches and off-sets of the Mongolian race, 

 it will appear that, although an admixture 

 of yellow is one of its most constant cha- 

 racters, yet this may co-exist with other 

 shades, and may even disappear altogether. 

 Thus, in the remains of the aboriginal tribes 

 of India still existing in the hilly regions of 

 the north, in the Dekhan, and especially in 

 Ceylon, all of which appear, from the charac- 

 ters of their language, their peculiar customs, 

 and their traditions, to be descendants of the 

 Mongolian rather than of the Japetic stock, 

 we find a variety of shades of complexion, 



and this within the limits of the same people. 

 For example, the Cinghalese are described by 

 Dr. Davy as varying in colour from light 

 brown to black ; the prevalent hue of their 

 hair and eyes is black, but hazel eyes and 

 brown hair are not very uncommon ; grey 

 eyes and red hair are occasionally, though 

 rarely, seen, and sometimes the light blue or 

 red eye, and light flaxen hair of the Albino. 

 Dr. Davy, in describing such a one, remarks 

 that her complexion would scarcely be con- 

 sidered peculiar in England, certainly not in 

 Norway ; for her eyes were light blue, and not 

 particularly weak, her hair of the colour that 

 usually accompanies such eyes, and her com- 

 plexion rather rosy. This tendency towards 

 a fair and even florid complexion, with light 

 eyes and bushy hair, can be traced in several 

 other nations of the same type, such as the 

 Mantchoos in China, and also among the 

 Chinese themselves. On the other hand, the 

 hardy Samoiedes, Tungusians, Kamschatdales, 

 and others, living on the borders of the Icy 

 Sea, have a dirty brown or swarthy com- 

 plexion. 



If we pass on to the Oceanic races, we 

 find that any attempts to employ com- 

 plexion as a means of distinguishing them 

 from other primary stocks, must utterly fail, 

 so great and numerous are the diversities. In 

 almost every group of islands in the great 

 Oceanic area, the natives differ in complexion 

 from those of other groups ; thus the Malays 

 of the Eastern Archipelago, who resemble 

 the Chinese in features and general conforma- 

 tion, are of a darker colour, retaining, how- 

 ever, a yellow tinge in their complexion ; this 

 tinge comes out very strongly in the natives 

 of the Caroline Islands, whose aspect is de- 

 cidedly Mongolian, and whose complexion is 

 of a citron hue, becoming brown by exposure; 

 the Tahitians and Marquesans, especially in 

 the families of their chiefs, which are secluded 

 from the wind and the sun, exhibit a clear 

 olive or brunette complexion, such as is 

 common among the nations of Southern 

 Europe ; the Hawaii, or Sandwich Islanders, 

 are somewhat darker ; while of the new Zea- 

 landers and Ombai Islanders, some are com- 

 paratively fair, while others are dark or almost 

 black. Besides these, however, Australia, 

 New Guinea, and some of the neighbouring 

 islands are more or less exclusively peopled 

 by tribes bearing a close resemblance in com- 

 plexion and aspect to Negroes, whose precise 

 relation to the Mai ayo- Polynesian races it is 

 difficult to determine. There is, however, 

 such a complete transition from one type to 

 the other, presented by the natives of different 

 localities among whom there is no reason to 

 suppose that any intermixture has taken 

 place, and the differences are such between 

 the higher and lower castes of even the same 

 tribe, that all intelligent persons who have 

 long resided among the islands of the Pacific, 

 under circumstances favourable to accurate 

 investigation, appear to have come to the 

 conclusion, that none of those characters on 

 which some observers have relied, as being 



