hair, especially towards the end, “ a mean between the wool,of the - Negro and the long stiff hair of
the American.” This bushy mass is combed out from the head so as to be between two and three
feet in diameter, like that of the Papuas of New Guinea*
The most remarkable mixture of the Indian and Negro races, is perhaps^ that described by Mr.
Stevenson as seen by him in the republic of Colombia. '«T h e natives of Es'meraldas, Rio Verde and
Atacamesj” says he, «are all Zambos, apparently a.mixture of Negroes and Indians; indeed thé oral
tradition of their origin is, that, a ship having Negroes on board arrived on the coast, and having
murdered a great number of the male Indians, kept their widows and daughters and laid the foundation
of the present race.” Hé describes these Esmeraldenos as «tall and rather slender, of a lightish
black color, different from that called copper color; have soft curly hair, large eyes, nose rather flat,
and thick lips, possessing more of the Negro than the Indian.” ! Dr. M’Culloh does not admit the
asserted Negro origin of these people; but it so much resembles that of the black Charibs of St.
Vincent, as to leave little doubt on the subject. Mr. T. R. Peale, who was some time among the
Esmeraldenos, has assured me that so far as his personal observation goes they are a decided mixture
of Negro and Indian blood. It has been thought by some that these are the very «blackamoors”
described by Péter Martyr as having been seen by Balboa;! a point which, at this distance of time, is
not readily decided.
17. TH E NEGRO FAMILY.
The term Ethiopian is in common use to designate the Negro, yet very
improperly, inasmuch as the name Ethiopia was applied by the ancients not only
to certein parts of eastern Africa, including Nuhia and Abyssinia, hut also to
southern India; and it was moreover applied to any country whose inhabitants
were of a very d art complexion.^ “ The Greeks,” says Sir William Jones, “ called
all the southern nations of the world by the common appellation of Ethiopians,
thus using Ethiop and Indian as convertible terms.”|| It is obvious, therefore,
that the term Ethiopian, as applied by Blumenbach and others to the Negro
nations collectively, is vague if not inadmissible.
The N eg ro F am ily , in the present instance, embraces all the proper Negro
nations near and south of Mount Atlas and Abyssinia to the country inhabited by
the Caffers and Hottentots. The more northern tribes, as we have already
intimated, present various mixed features derived from their proximity to the
Caucasian nations in their vicinity. “ The people of El-wah,” says Browne, “ are
* Spix and Martius, Trav. in Brazil, I, p. 324.
t Trav. in South Amer. II, p. 387. t M’Culloh, Researches, p. 26.
§ Russell, Nubia and Abyssinia, Introd. p. 19.—Heeren, Anc. Nations of Africa, I, p. 295.—
«Ethiopia, though a vague name, was applied to that country lying beyond the Cataracts, which in
the Scriptures and in the Egyptian language, is called Cush.”
|| Legh. Jour, in Egypt, p. 89.
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 Leucaethiopes 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.—P richard, Researches, Yol. I.—Murray, Trav. in
U. States.