206 Idle Days in Patagonia. 



in it the tortoiseshell eye and chief glory of the 

 negro woman. Another surprising fact was the 

 large proportion of fine eyes. For this variety and 

 excellence several explanations might be given, 

 not one of which would probably seem quite satis- 

 factory ; I therefore leave the reader to form his 

 own theory on the subject. 



In the lower class no such difficulty appeared. 

 Here, in a very large majority of cases about 

 eighty per cent. I think the eye was grey, or grey- 

 blue, but seldom pure. The impurity was caused 

 by a small quantity of pigment, as I could generally 

 see by looking closely at the iris, a yellowish tinge 

 being visible round the pupil. My conclusion was, 

 that this impure grey eye is the typical British eye 

 at the present time ; that it is becoming pigmented, 

 and will probably, if the race endures long enough, 

 become dark. 



