644 



EARLY MIGRATION 



That colour is not alone dependant upon, or caused by cli- 

 mate, however much it may be altered by exposure to sun and 

 wind, or by seclusion, no person can doubt who has at all 

 attended to the subject, and read the opinions of men who have 

 made it their study : but that its various hues may be derived 

 from intermarriage, without any change of climate, this table 

 goes far to prove.* 



Having seen how all the varieties of colour may be pro- 

 duced from white, red, and black, we pause, because at fault, 

 and so we should remain, did we rely on our own unassisted 

 reason. But, turning to the Bible, we find in the history of those 

 by whom the earth was peopled, after the flood, a curse pro- 

 nounced on Ham and his descendants ; and it is curious that 

 the name Ham should mean " heat — brown — scorched," while 

 that of Cush his son, means " black :" that Japheth should imply 

 " handsome," and that Shem, from whose line our Saviour was 

 descended, should mean " name — renown — he who is put or 

 placed." I cannot myself read this explanation of Cush, and the 

 denunciation " Cursed be Canaan — a servant of servants shall he 

 be unto his brethren," without believing that Cush was a negro, 

 and that from the intermarriages of his descendants with those 

 of Shem and Japheth, came hosts of mulatto, copper, or dark- 

 coloured men who peopled a great part of Asia, Polynesia, 

 America, parts of Africa, and part of Australia. According to 

 this view the black descendants of Cush overspread part of 

 Africa, Australia, and Van Diemen's Land, New Guinea, and 

 portions of other islands : while white families, children of 

 Japheth and Shem, spread over Asia Minor, the Caucasian 

 district, great part of Northern Asia, and the whole of Europe. 



We read, in another place, that Abraham gave gifts to the 

 sons of his concubines, and sent them away eastward from 

 Canaan, unto the east country : many years before this sepa- 

 ration, Ishmael, the son of Hagar, an Egyptian slave belong- 

 ing to Abraham, was established in the country next to the 



* It did not, however, satisfy me as to the production of a bright red 

 copper colour ; but of that I afterwards saw an excellent example at the 

 Keeling Islands. See page 63C. 



