748 VARIETIES OF COLOUR CLIMATIC. 



homy, Ashantee, Loango, Angola, Benguela, and 

 other parts of central Africa, where the tempe- 

 rature rises higher than in any other quarter of 

 the globe, and from 105 to 1 13 in the shade, 

 during the heat of the day, in places where there 

 is no sea breeze; as we learn from Denham, Clap- 

 perton, and other travellers. If we pass to the 

 more temperate regions of North and South 

 Africa, we shall find that the natives are neither 

 black nor white, but exhibit various shades of 

 colour, from dark brown, olive, and dusky red, 

 to a tawny yellow, with black and slightly curled 

 hair, as among the Berbers, Caffres, Boshuanas, 

 Hottentots, and several other tribes. 



We have also seen, that in the tropical portions 

 of New Holland, the temperature approximates 

 that of central Africa, owing to the absence of 

 mountains, the prevalence of large sandy deserts, 

 and the scarcity of rain, that in this dreary region, 

 the mercury sometimes rises to 112 in the shade, 

 during the hot winds from the interior, according 

 to Mr. Lang, and it is known that the natives 

 are almost as black as in central Africa. The 

 climate is also excessively hot in the large tropi- 

 cal islands of New Guinea, Borneo, Java, and 

 Sumatra, in consequence of their vicinity to 

 Southern Asia and New Holland. As might be 

 supposed, the natives exhibit various shades of 

 black, dark brown, and dusky olive. But in the 

 smaller tropical islands scattered over the Pacific, 

 the temperature scarcely every, rises above 85 or 



