THE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MAN. 



119 



Those of the ^gsean Archipelago are very white, lively, and agreeable ; 

 like all Greeks, their eyes are very large and of great beauty. 



But the most enchanting models formed by the hand of Nature are 

 allowed to be the Circassians, the Cashmerians, the Georgians, the Min- 

 grelians, and in general all those from Gurgistan, Imerita, and the 

 neighbourhood of the Caucasian chain of mountains. All travellers agree 

 upon this point ; and the beauties of these nations being largely exported 

 for slaves, are exclusively reserved, by the laws of Mahomedan countries, 

 for the Faithful alone, while Jews and Christians are not permitted to pur- 

 chase them in the markets of the Turkish empire. According to the 

 most recent observations, the Lesghian women surpass all the others in 

 beauty. Their manners are not, however, the most unobjectionable. In 

 the regions inhabited by this beautiful race, scarcely an ugly countenance 

 can be seen in either sex. Constancy is there as rarely to be found among 

 the women as jealousy among the men. It is a remarkable fact, that this 

 handsome race is immediately surrounded by the ugliest inhabitants of 

 the earth, the hideous Calmucksand Nogais Tartars, with flat noses, high 

 cheek-bones, their eyes far apart, their skins deeply sun-burnt, and of 

 a dark brown colour. Yet the climate, the soil, the habits and mode of 

 life in both, are the same ; but the races are very different. The Calmuck 

 women are not less frightful than their husbands. Imagine a mouth al- 

 most reaching to the ears ; a skin of the colour of soot ; oblique eyes, not 

 very dissimilar to those of a goat ; a nose so flat that the holes of the nos- 

 trils are alone visible ; the lips and cheeks projecting and elevated ; the 

 hair stiff', black, and coarse as a horse's mane ; a small stature and meagre 

 limbs ; flaccid mammse hanging down like sacks of tanned leather, sur- 

 mounted with a jet black nipple,— and we have the picture of a Calmuck 

 beauty. The young Circassian female is a complete contrast in every 

 particular. With a skin of the utmost deh'cacy and whiteness, she pos- 

 sesses fair and flowing tresses, blue eyes, a gentl3'-swe!ling bosom, a slen- 

 der and flexible figure, — qualities which are combined with a lightness of 

 step, a softness of voice, and an expression of the eye, which renders her 

 the most charming of women, in respect at least to her external form. 

 We must not, however, expect to find in her either the polished educa- 

 tion, or that propriety of conduct which belongs exclusively to the most 

 civilized nations. It is indeed chiefly from intermarrying with the females 

 of Cashmere, Circassia, and other nations inhabiting the ancient Colchis, 

 that the higher classes among the Persians are more handsome than the 

 lower. The descendants of the ancient Guebres, or Parsees, of the sect 

 of Zoroaster, who were forbidden, like the Jews, to marry out of their own 

 caste, still continue brown and very ugly. 



The expressive physiognomy and brilliant complexions of the English 

 ladies are admired by foreigners. The general elegance of the bust, pro- 

 bably derived from their Norman ancestors, finds an exact counterpart 

 at the present day in Belgium, Normandy, and Switzerland. Their hair 

 and eyes are most commonly light, sometimes the former is even red, 

 especially towards the northern part of the island. In Scotland, the 

 bones of the cheeks and ancles appear rather too prominently, and tlie 

 general complexion is paler, approaching more nearly to that of the 

 Dutch ladies. Tlie latter are remarkable for an excessive embonpoint. 



Among the Germans, the Saxon ladies bear the palm of beauty. Scarce- 

 ly an ugly face can be seen in the territory of Hildesheim, and the charm- 

 ing complexions of its inhabitants have given rise to the German proverb, 

 that " The pretty women spring from the earth like flowers." Althoush 

 the Austrian ladies are not in general ugly, the Hungarians far exceed 

 them in beauty ; but among all the German nations, a tendency towards 

 embonpoint is rather common. 



The Polish women are said to possess all the whitenesSj as well as the 

 coldness, of their native snows. This observation must, however, be con- 

 sidered as rather hyperbolical, for nearly all the females of Sclavonian 

 origin are lively and ardent, though doubtless their countenances want 

 expression. Tlie Russian ladies were recently in the habit of daubirig 

 their faces with a thick paint, while the abuse of the vapour-bath soon 

 deprived them of their attractions. Their forms are masculine, and like 

 most Sclavonian women, their dispositions are energetic and passionate. 

 The Albanian females are more agreeable than the Morlachians. The skins 

 of the latter are very much sun-burnt, while long, pendant mammae, sur- 

 mounted by black nipples, are often exhibited to the traveller's eye. In 

 the extreme North of Europe, in Denmark, and Sweden, the women are 

 almost always of a pale blonde, with blue eyes, and complexions often 

 fading into a deadly whiteness. They usually have very large families, 

 especially on the borders of the Baltic Sea. 



The most beautiful French women are found towards Avignon,' Mar- 

 seilles, and the ancient Provence, which was formerly peopled liy a Greek 

 colony of Phocians. Further to the north, the Cauchoises, the Picardes, 

 and the Belgians, are the prettiest, their skins being of a dazzling white- 

 ness. There is, however, less elegance in their motions, as well as deli- 

 cacy in their forms. The Parisian ladies are more distinguished for the 

 finished elegance of their manners than for beauty. In Brittany, the 

 ancient Armorica, the women are generally too thick in the hmbs. The 



prettiest Portuguese ladies have rather long necks ; those of the Castiliarjs 

 are excessively short. The more attractive beauties of Italy are found in 

 Tuscany, about Florence, Sienna, or even Venice ; but in Lombardy and 

 the neighbourhood of the Alps, their forms, being more voluminous and 

 massive, are less attractive. 



In those regions of Asia situate on this side of the Ganges, and peo- 

 pled, like Europe, by the same white race, we still observe some beauti- 

 ful features in the females. The Persian women, born under a fertile and 

 temperate climate, are generally very agreeable. The women of Turkey 

 are pretty, for the most part. " Even among the lower classes in the 

 East, every woman," says Belon, " has a fresh and blooming countenance, 

 with a white skin as soft as velvet," probably owing to the frequent use 

 of the hot-bath. They destroy the hair on every part, excepting the eye- 

 brows and head, with the Rusma, a depilatory substance made of lime and or- 

 piment ; while they tinge their nails and fingers red with Henna (Lawsonia 

 inermis, Linn.') From the excessive inactivity of their harems, their coun- 

 tenances acquire, according to the Turkish expression, the roundness of 

 the full moon. An unusual rotundity of form is here considered as the 

 highest beauty ; so that, according to Volney, beauty is estimated bv the 

 quintal. As in Egypt, their mammae are of enormous size. Yet nothing 

 can be more monotonous than the physiognomy of all Turkish women, 

 owing to their faces being always covered. Indeed, so much are they at- 

 tached to this practice, that some of the poorer women, wlio can atford 

 only a partial clothing, prefer exposing any part of their body rather than 

 the face. Their countenances thence become wholly destitute of every 

 expression. 



The Arab women, although tolerably agreeable in their extreme youth, 

 and remarkable at all times for large black and biilliant eyes, which their 

 ^oets compare to those of the Gazelle, disfigure themselves by passing a 

 large ring through the cartilage of the nostril ; also by designs engraved 

 upon the skin with the point of a needle, and dyed of various colours. 

 The Hindoo women place a similar ring in the left nostril. The heat of 

 the sun dries up and browns the Bedouin and Hindoo females. I hey 

 sometimes paint the forehead and cheeks blue, and the nails always red. 



Nearly the same observations are applicable to the Moorish and Ber- 

 ber women of the white races ; their features are considered tolerably re- 

 gular. Those who never leave the harems and towns preserve a very 

 white appearance, according to Bruce and Poiret. They are even etio- 

 lated or blanched like plants which vegetate in obscurity. 



In Malabar, Bengal, Lahore, Benares, all Hindoostan, and Mongolia, 

 the women seem agreeable in general, but small, yellow, and slender; 

 partiv from the heat of the climate, which enervates them, and partly 

 from marrying excessively young, at ten or twelve years of age, before 

 their constitutions can be completely formed. The continual transpiration 

 which they experience from the surface of the skin renders its appeaiance 

 always fresh, and this is increased by the use of perfumed oil of cocoa. 

 The latter is also copiously applied to the hair; and thej' make frequent 

 application of some depilatory substance. It is stated that the jaws of 

 the women of Malabar are very narrow, that their legs are long in pro- 

 portion to the body, and their ears placed very high. All the women of 

 the East, according to many travellers, have the pelvis very broad, a de- 

 fect which the Armenian and Jewish dealers in female beauty endeavour 

 to remedy by tight bandages. 



The females of the White races, according to the notions prevalent in 

 our climates, engross the whole beauty of the sex. We must, however, 

 add a few words regarding the Yellow and Black beauties, — such, at least, 

 as they appear in the eyes of those who have learned by habit to get rid 

 of the prejudices of colour. 



In Asia, the yellow ladies of Golconda and Visapour are much prized; 

 their features are lively and attractive. Those of Guzerat are ohve-co- 

 loured ; but paler than the men, who are more tanned by the heat of the 

 sun. It is said that the prettiest Chinese beauties come from the pro- 

 vince of Nan-king, and Nan-chou its capital. 



Even the Negresses are not without their degrees of beauty. In the 

 markets of the East, they bear their proportionate prices, especially the 

 younger females. According to the reports of the slave-mercliauts, no 

 black beauty is ever imported from countries where the waters are bad, 

 or the soil steril. The black women from the shores of the Red Sea are 

 much esteemed by the Persians, who import a great number annually. 

 The East Indians are also partial to the Caffi-e girls, who are entirely 

 black, and exported in large numbers from Mozambique. " Les feiiimes 

 Kamtchadales et Samiiiedes ont, dit-on, les parties de la generation tres- 

 larges. On salt que plusieurs Hottentotes ont les grandes levres dii va- 

 gin longues et pendantes comme le fanon du bceuf, et quelquefois decoupees 

 en festons ; mais elles n'ont point ce pretendu tablier de peau qu'on leur 

 attribuoit; les femmes des Houzouanas portent vers la croupe un coussin 

 de grais=e qui ressemhle a un ciil postiche." 



Many attempts have been made to estimate the total number of human 

 beings on the surface of our globe ; but relative to this subject nothing 

 has hitherto appeared but conjectures of great vagueness. While Soiiie 



