THE NEGRO FAMILY. 87 



quite of Egyptian or Arab complexion and feature, and none of them black ; so 

 that I scarcely conceived myself to have arrived at the confines of the blacks till 

 we reached the first inhabited parts of Darfour."* In like manner the Foulahs, 

 who inhabit the Atlantic coast in the same parallel of latitude, are of a brown 

 complexion, with long hair and European features; but these tribes are obviously 

 in part of Moorish descent, and are supposed by some to be the Leucsethiopes of 

 Ptolemy. Many nations to the north of the Mountains of the Moon, however, 

 together with nearly all those south of them, present the peculiar features which 

 render the people of this race more readily identified than those of any other. 

 These characteristics, which have been already adverted to, are so uniformly 

 bestowed, that among the thousands of Negroes of many different nations whom 

 I saw in the West Indies, not one could have been mistaken for an individual of 

 any other race. 



The moral and intellectual character of the Africans is widely different in 

 different nations. Thus the Makouas and Ashantees have continued to be the 

 uncompromising enemies of the European colonists, and remain to this day 

 unsubdued. The fiery and revengeful Eboe contrasts strongly with the docile 

 native of Benguela. The Kroomen of the western coast are an intelligent and 

 industrious people, while many of the tribes of the Niger are remarkably stupid 

 and slothful. The Mandingoes are tractable and honest ; but the Lucumi, who 

 also inhabit the western coast, are a brave and independent people, who in captivity 

 will even resort to suicide to avoid punishment or disgrace* The Caravalli tribe 

 is remarkable for combining industry and avarice ; and it is observed in the West 

 Indies that they constitute the greater proportion of the free Negroes who become 

 rich. On the other hand, all the tribes of Congo, and they are very numerous, 

 are noted for indolence, deception and falsehood. The Negroes are proverbially 

 fond of their amusements, in which they engage with great exuberance of spirit; 

 and a day of toil is with them no bar to a night of revelry.f 



Like most other barbarous nations their institutions are not unfrequently 

 characterised by superstition and cruelty. They appear to be fond of warlike 

 enterprises, and are not deficient in personal courage; but, once overcome, they 

 yield to their destiny, and accommodate themselves with amazing facility to every 

 change of circumstance. 



* Trav. in Africa, p. 165. 



t Lander, Trav. to Source of the Niger.— Prichard, Researches, Vol. I.— Murray, Trav. in 

 U. States. 



