VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 



135 



liatids and the soles of the feet ; the forehead depressed ; the hair woolly 

 and curly, forming a true cap on the top of the head, and leaving the in- 

 feriormarain almost regular; the eyes large and prominent; the sclerotica 

 tinged witli yellow; the nose flattened ; the cheek-bones projecting ; the 

 lips very thick and protruding forward ; the chin depressed ; the ears long 

 and directed laterally; the occiput thrown far behind. The shoulder- 

 blades are longer and more pointed than tliose of any of the Caucasian 

 races; the anterior limbs are singularly elongated ; the lower limbs ate thin, 

 the thighs flattened, especially in the internal parts ; the calf of the leg 

 is very small, and placed at a short distance from the cavit}' at the back of 

 the knee, the heel projects far behind, and the sole is excessively flattened. 



It has been shown by M. Soemmering, that the bruin of the Ethiopian 

 is comparatively more confined than ours, the cranium being always 

 smaller in proportion as the face projects forward ; while, on the other 

 hand, the nerves which issue from it are larger. The colour of his blood 

 is evidently deeper, as well as that of rhe muscles, the bile, and generally 

 of all tlie humours of his body. His perspiration is also more ammoniacal, 

 and taints hnen with a very disagreeable odour. The breasts of the fe- 

 males hang very low, and from the earliest marriageable age assume a long, 

 pendant, and pear-like form, which permits them to suckle their infants 

 over the shoulder. " Elles ont aussi le vagin en tout temps large et 

 proportioune au membre viril du male, souvent enorme, mais a-peu-pres 

 incapable d'une erection compliite. La grande facilite avec laquelle 

 consequemment les Negresses accouchent des I'age de onze a douze ans 

 ou elles sont definitivement reglees, degenere en inconvenient, et nulles 

 femnies ne sont plus sujettes a I'avortement. Dans le foetus, la tete n'est 

 pas aussi grcsse proponionnellement qu'clle Test dans les autres especes ; 

 aussi la fontanelle du nouveau-ne est tres peu considerable et presque 

 fermee des la naissance. les os du crime ne devant pas jouer les uns vers 

 les autres, quand il est question de la delivrance." 



Every thing in the constitution of the proper Negro denotes an ap- 

 proximation towards the animal, where the mere physical impressions 

 predominate over, and often almost extinguish, the moral or intellectual. 

 His sight is piercing, his sense of smelling extremely subtile, and his 

 hearing very sensitive to musical impressions. The Ethiopian is sensual 

 in his tastes, gluttonous, and excessively amorous. Every other variety 

 of the human species is excelled by his race in agility, dexterity, and 

 indeed in all those imitative qualities which more or less depend upon the 

 animal frame. He is an adept in dancing and swimming, but seldom 

 rides. He performs the most striking feats of address, climlis, and leaps 

 with an agility surpassed only by the Apes. While dancing, the Negro 

 agitates every part of the body, and seems indefatigable. He can dis- 

 tinguish a remote object, which the gaze uf a European could only reach 

 by the aid of a telescope; and can detect the presence of a serpent, or 

 hunt an animal by the scent. The slightest noise does not escape his 

 ears, and the fugitive Negro slave frequently evades the pursuit of his 

 master through the superior delicacy of his organs of sense. His touch 

 is surprisingly acute ; but being thus keenly attentive to the impressions 

 of mere sense, his reflecting powers are but little exercised. The dread 

 of the most cruel punishments, and even of death itself, does not pre- 

 vent the Ethiopian from abandoning himself to the passion of the mo- 

 ment; and evea when writliing under the lash of the overseer, the sound 

 of the tam-tam, or some other execrable music, will inspire him with for- 

 titude, or bind up the feelings of the past in forgetfulness. The mono- 

 tonous notes of some dull chant, picked up by chance, are suflicient to 

 support him under the most violent fatigues. A moment of pleasure 

 is sufficient to obliterate the remembrance of a year of pain. Ever de- 

 voted to the affections and feelings of the moment, the past and the future 

 are nothing in his eyes ; his griefs are fugitive, and as he follows the sug- 

 gestions of sense rather than the dictates of reason, he is extreme in 

 all things, — like a Iamb when oppressed — like a tiger when power is placed 

 in his own hands. In a moment of vengeance, he does not hesitate to 

 massacre one of his wives, or dash his infants upon the earth. Nothing 

 is more terrible than his despair, or more sublime than the devotedness of 

 his attachments.' 



The genuine Negroes are subject to certain disorders, such as the vaws, 

 which they do not communicate to the other varieties. The small-pox 

 IS very dangerous in them, and commonly appears before the age of 

 fourteen ; but after that period, we are assured that the Negroes are com- 

 paratively free from it. Though exceedingly muscular, the prevalent tem- 

 perament is lymphatic ; the pulse appears to be more accelerated than 

 "mong the White races. = 



Whatever opinion may be adopted regarding the cause of the intellectual 

 and social inferiority which the Ethiopians exhibit, when contrasted with 

 the Caucasian races, or even with several of the Mongolians ; whether 

 we consider it as proceeding from their original constitution, or from the 

 uncultivated state in which their faculties have always been suffered to 

 remain, — the fact cannot be denied. In genera], the Ethiopian is lazv, 

 without the least foresight, deriving no knowledge from the experience 

 of the past, w ith few wants but such as Nature can readily satisfy in a 

 tropical climate ; and thus lie vegetates in a condition which cannot be 

 termed absolutely savage, although without the smallest pretensions to 

 be accounted as a genuine civilization. 



The true Negroes are generally divided into petty tribes or small nations, 

 despotically governed by chiefs of the most sanguinary dispositions, nearly 

 always at war with each other, for the purpose of making prisoners, to 

 satisfy the avidity of the execrable slave- dealer. Some of these tribes, 

 according to their geographical position, live on fish ; others devote them- 

 selves to trade ; and others, again, cultivate some kinds of pulse or grain, 

 or lead the nomadic life of shepherds. Without any established form 

 of religious belief, they attribute supernatural powers to any remarkable 

 object which strikes their attention. Some adore a Serpent, or any 

 other animal, some a Baobab, or any large tree, according to the pecu- 

 liar form of Fetishism, which happens to be countenanced in the locality.^ 



Polygamy, in the widest sense of the word, seems to be practised 

 throughout the entire races ; and seldom do sentiments either of modesty 

 or humanity penetrate into tlieir savage breasts. Blood flows unh.eeded, 

 and the most inhuman torments and mutilations are inflicted on their van- 

 quished enemies ; such as tearing off the lower jaw, or some of the limbs, 

 as a trophy. Whole tribes wander entirely naked, armed with bows and 

 arrows, or wooden javelins pointed with iron ; and it is only in the Euro- 

 pean colonies that they consent to wear the langouli, or blue girdle. 

 Some of the tribes, who have become more civilized or degraded by their 

 commerce with Europeans, adopt the cotton cloths or stuflTs of foreign 

 manufacture. The beautiful natural productions of the vast and almost 

 unknown continent of Africa are exchanged for ardent spirits, gunpow- 

 der, iron, or trinkets. " Les Ethiopiennes passent pour tres lascives ou 

 plutot elles paraissent ignorer qu'on puisse repousser les solicitations d'un 

 homme, surtout lorsqu'il est blanc. Cependant il est quelques nations 

 Negres ou une sorte d'etat social ordonne la fidelite des femmes envers les 

 maris, et oii Ton punit I'aduitere, en enterrant tout vif's les deux coupables." 



The Negroes do not appear to be equally long-lived with the individu- 

 als belonging to the other races of mankind ; they become decrepid at 

 sixty years of age, even when they enjoy, in a free country, the utmost 

 extent of that domestic hlicity which they seem to be capable of enjoy- 

 ing. Their woolly hair is observed to become grey sooner than among 

 the White races. 



Before the avarice of Europeans had transported the Ethiopian races 

 to the New World, Africa was their exclusive abode ; here they con- 

 tinue to occupy a vast tract of coast, extending along the Gulf of Guinea, 

 from the river Senegal, and the 16th or 17th degree of north latitude, as 

 far south as the parallel of Saint Helena, that is to say, to about the I6th 

 or 17th degree of south latitude. The Ethiopian races scarcely ap- 

 pear beyond the Tropics, but probably extend far into the interior of the 

 continent. They are rarely to be met with on the eastern coast, which 

 is inhabited by races of Men differing from them in many respects. To- 

 wards the west, we find the Foulahs, on the banks of the River Gambia, 

 already slightly mingled with the Moors ; the Ghiolofs or Yalofs, a very 

 black, tall, and robust race ; the Sousous of Sierra Leone ; the Mandings of 

 the Grain Coast ; the Ashantees of the Gold Coast, whose warlike and 

 datigeious character is much celebrated ; the Negroes of the Coast of Ardra 

 and Benin, where the greater number of slaves are at present procured ; 

 the inhabitants of the Coast of Gabon, which are shunned by Europeans ; 

 and the nations of Loango, Congo, Angola, and Benguela, more or less 

 civilized from their intercourse with the Portuguese for several centuries. 



B. HOMO CAFFRARIUS.— CAFFRF.S. 

 Sijn. H. Cafeb Bory, Es-s. Zool. II. 86. 



Cafre. — Less. Mam. 27. 



Kaffer.n Licfitcnst.* Ileise. II. 



El'FIO-Afkicai.ve Desmoul. Tab. 



Icon. Peron, Voy.s pi. jl. (A native of the Mosatr.biqiic Coast.) 



The term Caftre, or Infidel, originally applied by the Mussulmans to 

 designate all Negroes who refused to submit to tlie rite of circumcisir ii. 



' Virpy. Hist. Nat. du G. Hum. tome II. 

 2 Bory, Ess. Zool. II. p. 33. 



.lournal of an Expedition to explore the Course and Termination of the Nio;er. By Richard and Jahn Lander. London, 1832 Also Annales des Voyages, passim. 



' LiCHTENST. Reise. — Reise nach dem siidliehen Afrika von H. Lichtenstcin. Berlin, 1811. 



-' 1 EaoN, VoY. — Voyaf:;e de decouvertes aux Terres Australes, fait pas ordre du gouverneini-nt sur les Corvettes le Geographe, le Xaluraliste, et la Goelette le Casuarina, 

 P'ndant les annees 1800 a 1804. Redige par Fran9ois Peion, et continue par M. Louis de Freycinet. — Atlas par M.\l. Lesueur et Pel.t. Paris, 1824. 



