The whole of the countries now Ascribed are sometimes
termed Nigritia, or the Land ofNieg-roes^they have been
likewise termed Ethiopia. -The former of these names is
more frequently given to the western, and the latter to the
eastern parts, but there is no exact limitation between the
countries so termed. The names are taken from the paces of
men inhabiting different countries, and these are interspersed
and not separated by a particular line. Black and woollyhaired
races, to which the term Negro is applied, are more predominant
in Western Africa; but there are also woollyhaired
tribes in the east; and races who resemble the Ethiopians
in their physical characters, are found likewise in the
west. We cannot mark out geographical limits to these different
classes of nations, but it will be usefiil to remember the
difference in physical chaiacters which separates them. The
Negroes are distinguished by their well-known traits, of which
the most strongly marked is their woolly hair; bat it, is_di£-
ficult to point out any common property characteristic of the
races termed Ethiopians, unless it is the negative bne of wanting
the above-mentioned peculiarity of the Negro; any other
definition will apply only in general, and will be liable tq;r#o-
eeptions. The Ethiopian races have generally isomethmg in
their physical character which is peculiarly African, though
not reaching the degree in which it is displayed by the. black
people of Sudan. Their hair, though not woolly, is com?*
monly frizzled or strongly curled or crisp. Their complexion
is sometimes black, at others of the colour of bronze^or olive;,
or more frequently of a dark copper or red-brown, such as
the Egyptian paintings display in human figures, though
generally of a deeper shade. In some instances their hair,
as well as their complexion, is somewhat brown or red.
Their features are often full and rounded, not so acute and
salient as those of the Arabs; their noses are not flattened or
depressed, but scarcely so prominent as those of Europeans ;
their lips are generally thick or full, but seldom turned out like
the lips of Negroes; their figure is slender and well-shaped, and
often resembling that form of which the Egyptian paintings
and statues afford the most generally known exemplification.
These characters, though in some respects approaching
towards, those of the NegrÓ, are perfectly distinct from the
peculiarities-pf :.the Mulatto, or; mixed breed.
' Móst’'of these nations, both classe»being equally included,
are originally African. By this 1 do not mean to imply that
their first parents were rÿCrfeated on the soil of Africa, but
merely that they , cannot be traced by historical proofs from
any other part of the world; .» and* that they appear to have
grown into clans or tribes.-of peculiar physical and social
character, or that their national existence had its commencement
in that continent.*
S e c t io n ll.—General Survey óf the Physical and Moral
State of the Native Races in the Interior of Africa.
The Negro nations of Africa differ widely as to their manner
of life and their characters, both of mind and bódy, in different
parts of that continent, according as they have’existed under
.different moral and physical conditions. Foreign culture,
though not of a high degree; has been introduced among
the population of some regions, while from others it has
been shut out by almost impenetrable barriers, beyond
which the aboriginal people remain Secluded amid their
mountains and forests in a state of instinctive existence, a
state from which history informs us that human races have
hardly emerged, until moved by some impulse from without.
Neither Phoenician nor Roman culture seems to have penetrated
into Africa beyond the Atlantic region and the desert.
The activity and enthusiasm of the propagators of Islam have
reached further. In the fertile low countries beyond the Sahara,
watered by rivers which descend northward from the central
highlands, Africa has contained for centuries several Negro
empires, originally founded by Mohammedans. The Negroes
of this part of Africa are people of a very different description
from the black pagan nations further towards the south.
They have adopted many of the arts of civilized society,
and have subjected themselves to governments and political
* The proof and further developement of all that has been stated in this brief
generalization will be found in the following chapters.