222 ENVIRONMENT 



and Bengalis who change their domicile to drier 

 climates do not lose their quietism in one or two 

 generations. In Africa also the inhabitants of the 

 drier regions are more strenuous than the tribes 

 who live under a tropical rainfall. The men of 

 Northern Nigeria the Hausas make infinitely 

 better soldiers than the negroes of the south. We 

 need not labour this point, which we habitually 

 recognize by applying the term " enervating " to 

 a moist hot climate. Exceptions occur. But 

 immigration will account for them. The Moplahs 

 of Western India have already been mentioned as 

 having preserved through many generations the 

 courage of their Arab ancestors amidst enervating 

 surroundings. But the persistency of their traits 

 merely shows that environment may need time 

 to produce its effects. Dry heat, on the other 

 hand, develops restlessness and courage. We 

 need only instance the Turkomans and the Arabs. 

 The energy that is produced by cold is quite as 

 strenuous and is far more persevering. It will 

 apparently withstand for some centuries the 

 gradual effects of migration southwards. But if 

 suddenly exposed to tropical conditions it seems 

 to wilt more rapidly than the vigour that 

 is derived from desert surroundings. English 

 families which have settled in the tropics deterio- 

 rate more rapidly than the Moplahs of Malabar. 

 The energy and persistence of purpose which 

 characterize the Teutonic peoples of Northern 

 Europe are not relieved by the versatility of mind, 

 the expansiveness of heart, which we associate 

 with the Gallic and Mediterranean temperaments. 

 We habitually ascribe this emotional sensibility 

 to the effect of clearer skies and a warm climate. 

 In the native population of Wales and Ireland 

 it may be a relic of the south that has survived a 

 change to a less genial environment. 



