208 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



garded as established, that subsequent to, if not before the Eighteenth 

 Dynasty, the Egyptians were regarded as belonging nationally to the 

 White race. 



On the other hand, there exists abundant evidence, that some of the 

 Egyptian Pharaohs were physically Ethiopians. Eighteen of these, 

 were enumerated by the Egyptian priests to Herodotus. And if the 

 place of birth may be regarded as an index in this question of race, 

 the claims of the Elephantinite Dynasty would seem to deserve special 

 consideration. 



SOMALI. 



The Somali inhabit that projecting portion of the African continent, 

 which is opposite to and hems in the southern angle of Arabia ; and 

 they extend along the coast and more or less into the Interior, from 

 the Straits of Bab el Mandeb to the river Juba under the Equator. 

 Their country, although arid and intensely hot, affords pasturage, and 

 seems eminently adapted for rearing a peculiar close-haired variety 

 of sheep. The Somali also engage in maritime pursuits; and many 

 of them are to be found established in separate communities, at the 

 principal ports on the lower portion of the Red Sea. 



The Somali seem to be very much confined to the above limits. I 

 met with one individual who had strayed as far as Muscat. But I saw 

 none of them at Bombay ; where there occurred but a single example 

 of the Ethiopian race. I heard of a Somali woman at Cairo, but 

 such instances, I presume, are rare; I observed, however, a Somali 

 lad, among the crew of the English steamboat on the Red Sea. 



The Somali, appear to have had very little intercourse with Euro- 

 peans, prior to the recent establishment of the English at Aden. On 

 landing at that place, their flaxen locks (stained like those of the Fee- 

 jeean girls) rendered many of the Somali conspicuous; and where 

 this mark was wanting, their slender graceful forms, and their Euro- 

 pean-like features, readily distinguished them from the Negroes 

 around. They consisted chiefly of young men and boys, in search 

 of employment, after having brought from the opposite coast great 

 numbers of sheep for the supply of the town. I also saw a few 

 women, offering articles for sale in the market-place. My Parsee in- 

 terpreter, Manockjee, regarded the Somali as "a better class of people 



