OUE RACE AND ITS ORIGIN. 
73 
ralized inhabitant of that region of the sun, or his sickly 
offspring, who from being thus reared in the shade, look like 
blanched plants, which soon run up, fade, and die away, 
unless speedily transferred to a colder clime. This however 
would not be the case if they were to be more exposed to 
the heat ; many indeed might never live to be acclimatised, 
but those who did, would gradually acquire the hue of the 
climate they lived in. This would especially be the case 
with their children, if their bodies were exposed to the sun 
in infancy, as those of negro children are, then the marks of 
his rays would be indelibly stamped upon their tender skin. 
This was exemplified in the family of an officer long resident 
in India, who permitted his children to run about with their 
ayah without restraint, though both parents were from Scot- 
land ; their offspring thus became quite dark, but as strong 
and healthy as native children. 
In 1834, the “ Charles Eaton ” was wrecked on Murray’s 
Island in Torres Straits, and all the crew were murdered by 
the natives, with the exception of a boy named John Ireland, 
and the infant son of Captain Doyley, who were after- 
wards rescued. A brief narrative was published by the 
former, in which he states that they were both stripped of 
their clothing, and the effect of the sun on the child’s skin 
soon became very apparent. In a few months he was not 
to be distinguished from the other children, his hair 
from its lighter hue being the only thing by which he 
could be known at a distance. He also stated that a 
dark chocolate is the color of the inhabitants of those 
isles. Can it be doubted, had the poor child been doomed 
to pass his life amongst those natives, that he would have 
become nearly as dark as themselves. When once the sun 
has colored the mucous network of the skin, every subsequent 
shade it gives, assists in perpetuating a still darker hue ; 
the deeper the dye, the more it absorbs the heat, and thus 
renders the color almost indelibly stamped. The skin then 
must necessarily require a far longer period to lose, than it 
first did to acquire the shade. Still, even the negro in pro- 
cess of time may acquire a lighter hue. 
