22 



fore trust that two hundred thousand years will l)e sufficient to- 

 remove the prejudices of the most fastidious as to their ancestors 

 at that period. 



Some time ago an interesting paper on the " Eaces of 

 South Africa and the question of Evolution " was read to the 

 Eastern Province Literary- and Scientific Society h}- the Bishop 

 of Grahamstown and was subsequentl}' pubUshed in the 

 Grahamstown " Journal." The question of how far the facts, 

 adduced in reference to these races, bear upon the question of 

 Evolution, is treated by the Bishop in a spirit of fairness and 

 moderation. In fact, on this great problem he expresses himself 

 as in accord with the Duke of Argyle w^hen he says " that the 

 difficulties involved by evolution are more scientific than 

 theological " With this liberal avowal the Bishop proceeds to 

 deal with the question in a critical manner. In reference to 

 these races he says : " Two answers may clearly be given 

 when we are asked how we account for the South African races 

 as they meet us here. First Ave may say that they have been 

 developed from beneath, having been during all their period of 

 humanity from the beginning utter savages, with a suspicion 

 that in some types we may light upon specimens not far removed 

 from the " missing link ; " or secondly we may reply that we 

 have good ground for the conclusion that they have been 

 evolved by degradation and degeneration from a higher estate 

 in the scale of humanity." The Bishop then states that his 

 observation has led him to favour the latter hypothesis. To 

 m_y mind neither of these answers full}' meets the case ; while 

 the rejection of the one surely does not, as the Bishop would 

 apparently imply, involve the acceptance of the other. There 

 is probably a measure of truth in both. The answer I should 

 make would be that the evidence hitherto collected on the subject 

 seems to point to the conclusion that the Bushmen, and pro- 

 bably also the Hottentots, are the true aboriginal inhabitants 



