304 PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. [PART II. 



the historical fate of a people, are more influential in this respect 

 than upon moral development. Even the symbolism of colour 

 differs among individual peoples, though here and there we 

 meet with an interesting conformity. The colour of mourning 

 at the death of near relations is yellow in some Asiatic regions, 

 and among the Quiches in Guatemala; 1 brown among the 

 Persians ; blue among the Turks ; white among the Chinese, 

 Anamese, and Siamese ; 2 the colour is dark blue in Elmina ; 3 

 dark blue and black among the Quichuas. 4 The Australian 

 when in mourning paints his body white, or draws merely a 

 white line across his forehead, nose, or cheeks. 5 The Omahas 

 also use white paint when in mourning; 6 whilst among the 

 natives of North America black is generally the colour of 

 mourning, and red the colour of war. Among the Mandingoes 

 in the region of Sierra Leone white is the symbol of peace. 7 

 Among the Ashantees and other negro peoples white is the 

 colour of joy, and they paint themselves white on their birth- 

 days. 8 Priests, ambassadors, and warriors are dressed in 

 white among the Yebus. 9 Persons who have gained a suit, or 

 been acquitted of some crime, dress in white in some parts of 

 Africa. The natives of Elmina, in opposition to the belief of 

 other negro tribes, imagine the good god to be of white, and 

 the bad god to be of a black colour. 10 Among the inhabitants 

 of Tierra del Fuego white is the colour of war, red that of 

 peace and friendship. 11 Yellow, the favourite colour of the 

 Malays and the lowest Hindoo castes, 12 is at the same time the 

 colour of priestly clothing among the Birmese. 



1 Ximenes, " Hist. del. Orig. de los Indies," p. 214, ed. Scherzer. 



2 Virey, " Hist. nat. du genre humain," iii, p. 86. 



3 Boudyck, p. 180. 



4 Tschudi, " Peru," i, p. 353, 1846. 



5 Baker, " Sydney and Melbourne," p. 150, 1843. 



6 James, " An Account of an Expedition to the Rocky Mountains," i, p. 282, 

 1823. 



7 Matthews, " Reise nach Sierra Leone," p. 89, 1789. 



8 Halleur, " D. Leben der Neger West-Afrikas," p. 31, 1850. 



9 D'Avezac, "Notice sur le pays et le peuple des Yebus," in Mem. dela 

 Soc. Ethnol., ii, p. 70. 



10 Boudyck, " Voyage a la cote de G-uinee," p. 179, 1853. 



11 King and Fitzroy, " Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of the Adventure 

 and Beagle," ii, p. 177, 1839. 



12 Crawford. 



