OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 4(>7 



The inhabitants of Persia, of Turkey, of Arabia, of Egypt, 

 and of Barbary*, may be regarded in great part as the same 

 race of people, who, in the time of Mahomed and his suc- 

 cessors, extended their dominions by invading immense ter- 

 ritories. In all these situations the skin retains its native 

 fairness, unless the tint be changed by exposure to the sun; 

 and the children are invariably fair. " II n'y a femme de 

 laboureurou de paysan en Asie (Asia Minor) qui n'a le teint 

 frais comme une rose, lapeau delicate et blanche, si polie et 

 si bien tendue, qu'il semble toucher du velours f." The 

 Arabians are scorched by the heat of the sun ; for most of 

 them are either covered with a tattered shirt, or go entirely 

 naked. La Boullaye informs us, that the Arabian women 

 of the desert are born fair, but that their complexions are 

 spoiled by being continually exposed to the sun J. Another 

 traveller remarks, that the Arabian princesses and ladies, 

 whom he was permitted to see, were extremely handsome, 

 beautiful, and fair, because they are always covered from the 

 rays of the sun ; but that the common women are very 

 much blackened by the sun §. 



The Moors, who have lived in Africa since the seventh 



♦ Africa, north of the great desert, has been always inhabited by races of 

 Caucasian formation. The original tribes, called Berbers or Brebers, have 

 given the name of B.'irbary to this division of the Continent. We know but 

 little of their peculiar physical characters; which, however, probably were 

 similar to those of the ancient Egyptians and Guanches (see p. 299.) These 

 Berbers, which constituted the people known to the Roman writers by the 

 names of Libyans, Getulians, Numidians, Mauritanians, Garamantes, have 

 received accessions of PhcKnicians (the Carth^iginians), Greeks, Romans, 

 Vandals, and Arabians. The latter particularly entered the north of 

 Africa in great numbers, destroying or driving away the original inhabitants. 

 The general prevalence of Mahomedanism and of the Arabian language, 

 testifies the impression which they made on the country. The remnants of 

 the aboriginal tribes are now principally found in the mountains. They 

 may be traced, however, south of the great desert, and seem to forn\ even 

 considerable states between Tombuctoo and Upper Egypt ; where they 

 preserve their distinctive characters in the same climates with the Negro race. 



+ Obs- de Pierre Belon, p. 199. 



J Voyages de La Boui.laye le Goijz, 318. 



^ Voyage fait par Ordre du Roi dans la Palestine^ p. 260. 

 H H 2 



