Chap. XIII. REVERSION. 21 



from the musk-duck having paired with a truly wild duck ; 

 and this is known not to be the case in North America ; hence 

 we must infer that they have reacquired, through reversion, 

 their wildness, as well as renewed powers of flight. 



These latter facts remind us of the statements, so frequently 

 made by travellers in all parts of the world, on the degraded 

 state and savage disposition of crossed races of man. That 

 many excellent and kind-hearted mulattos have existed no one 

 will dispute ; and a more mild and gentle set of men could 

 hardly be found than the inhabitants of the island of Chilce, 

 who consist of Indians commingled with Spaniards in various 

 proportions. On the other hand, many years ago, long before 

 I had thought of the present subject, I was struck with the 

 fact that, in South America, men of complicated descent 

 between Negroes, Indians, and Spaniards, seldom had, what- 

 ever the cause might be, a good expression. 47 Livingstone, — 

 and a more unimpeachable authority cannot be quoted, — after 

 speaking of a half-caste man on the Zambesi, described by the 

 Portuguese as a rare monster of inhumanity, remarks, "It is 

 unaccountable why half-castes, such as he, are so much more 

 cruel than the Portuguese, but such is undoubtedly the case." 

 An inhabitant remarked to Livingstone, " God made white 

 men, and God made black men, but the Devil made half- 

 castes." 4S "When two races, both low in the scale, are crossed 

 the progeny seems to be eminently bad. Thus the noble- 

 hearted Humboldt, who felt no prejudice against the inferior 

 races, speaks in strong terms of the bad and savage disposition 

 of Zambos, or half-castes between Indians and Negroes : and 

 this conclusion has been arrived at by various observers. 49 

 From these facts we may perhaps infer that the degraded state 

 of so many half-castes is in part due to reversion to a primitive 

 and savage condition, induced by the act of crossing, even if 

 mainly due to the unfavourable moral conditions under which 

 they are generally reared. 



Summary on the proximate causes leading to Reversion. — "When 



47 'Journal of Researches,' 1843, 49 Dr. P. Broca, on 'Hybridity in. 

 p. 71. the Genus Homo,' Eng. translat. 



48 'Expedition to the Zambesi,' 1864, p. 39. 

 1865, pp. 25, 150. 



