196 Idle Days in Patagonia. 



strange unique loveliness. Again in that exquisite 

 type of female beauty which we see in the white 

 girl with a slight infusion of negro blood, giving the 

 graceful frizzle to the hair, the purple-red hue to 

 the lips, and the delicate dusky terra-cotta tinge to 

 the skin, an eye more suitable than the dark dull 

 brown would have been the intense orange-brown 

 seen in some lemur's eyes. For many very dark- 

 skinned tribes nothing more beautiful than the ruby- 

 red iris could be imagined ; while sea-green eyes 

 would have best suited dusky-pale Polynesians and 

 languid peaceful tribes like the one described in 

 Tennyson's poem : 



And round about the keel with faces pale, 

 Dark faces pale against that rosy flame, 

 The mild-eyed melancholy Lotos-eaters came. 



Since we cannot have the eyes we should like 

 best to have, let us consider those that Nature 

 has given us. The incomparable beauty of the 

 " emerald eye " has been greatly praised by the 

 poets, particularly by those of Spain. Emerald 

 eyes, if they only existed, would certainly be 

 beautiful beyond all others, especially if set off 

 with dark or black hair and that dim pensive 

 creamy pallor of the skin frequently seen in warm 

 climates, and which is more beautiful than the rosy 

 complexion prevalent in northern regions, though 

 not so lasting. But either they do not exist or 

 else I have been very unfortunate, for after long 

 seeking I am compelled to confess that never yet 



