75() THE BLACK JEWS OF COCHIN. 



where many of them are exceedingly fair and 

 ruddy, with sandy beards. 



We also learn from " The Researches' 1 of Clau- 

 dius Buchanan in India, that in the southern 

 province of Malabar, there is an ancient colony 

 of Jews who are black, and scarcely distinguish- 

 able from the Hindoos; whereas the modern 

 Jews who came from Palestine at a much later 

 period are nearly white, (pp. 226 230). It is 

 therefore undeniable, that notwithstanding the 

 rigid adherence of this remarkable nation to their 

 original manners, customs, and modes of living, 

 their complexion is as various as the climates in 

 which they have long resided. Nor is it less 

 certain, that the Arabs who passed over to Africa 

 about a thousand years ago, are much darker 

 than those of Asia ; and in the Great Desert of 

 Sahara, they have become nearly as black as the 

 Tibboos and natives of Fezzan. 



There is also reason to believe, that in the 

 course of two thousand years, and perhaps a much 

 shorter time, the blackest negroes of central 

 Africa would become perfectly white in such a 

 climate as that of Great Britain, and undergo a cor- 

 responding change in their whole organization. 

 For it is stated by Dr. Samuel Smith, in his work 

 on the Varieties of Colour, Form, &c. of the Hu- 

 man Race, that, after the third generation, the de- 

 scendants of negroes brought from Africa to the 

 United States, are several shades lighter than 



