NOTES AND QUERIES. 333 



Among the instances quoted by Mr. Distant as bearing on the suggestion 

 that "Even the obscure problem of the colouration of mankind may have 

 originally — and before migration became such an important factor in 

 modification — been due to a more or less assimilative colouration," are 

 some remarks (p. 398) on the natives of Mashonaland from a paper by the 

 late Mr. W. Eckersley, whose acquaintance I made when he visited this 

 country seven years ago. In one portion of his paper Mr. Eckersley 

 states that "large areas of red soil are frequently met with"; in quite 

 another part he mentions that the colour of the Mashonas is " dark 

 chocolate-brown, some shades removed from black." As a matter of fact, 

 the absolute proportion of red soil in Mashonaland is comparatively small, 

 and, moreover, the vast majority of the Kafirs live on the huge outcrops of 

 granite which constitute the great bulk of the plateau. But, quite apart 

 from this, any argument for the hypothesis of assimilative colouration, 

 based on the relation of the Mashonas, or indeed any of the Bantu tribes, 

 to the soil they now inhabit, is entirely vitiated by the fact that we know 

 that these tribes have come down from the North comparatively recently, 

 and some of their migrations, at least, have taken place within historic 

 times.* I certainly cannot agree with Mr. Distant's somewhat sweeping 

 assertion that " the colour of mankind can in no sense come under the 



explanations of protective or aggressive resemblance or nuptial 



colouration." Any one who has seen a Kafir in his native bush must have 

 been struck by his incouspicuousness as compared with a white man, and 

 there can be little doubt that this assimilation to his surroundings must be 

 of considerable value for aggressive purposes (as, for instance, in stalking 

 game which might frequently be of vital importance); further, Darwin 

 himself has argued (' Descent of Man,' ed. 2, p. 604) that racial colouring 

 may be to some extent due to sexual selection. 



Unfortunately, suggestions of the type referred to above are only too 

 easily made, and might readily be multiplied with a little ingeuuity. For 

 instance, we might suggest that, as swallows are eminently aerial birds, the 

 great predominance of blue in their colouring is due to continual exposure 

 to the blue sky, and we might seek for confirmation of this in the fact that 

 the blue colour is principally found on the upper surface, which is most 

 exposed to this influence ; and, finally, we should pass over in silence the 

 little difficulty as to the colouring of the Swifts. 



* Mr. Marshall does not seem to have read a passage which might have 

 mollified his strictures: — " It is true that assimilative colouration seems to 

 have little modified the colour of indigenous races, even in Africa, if we take 

 a comprehensive view of the whole area. But we must not forget that men 

 have so often migrated from their original birthplaces, and, more than that, 

 much mixture has taken place " (p. 399).— Ed. 



