Africa is yet a terra incognita, and we cannot, therefore, fix their
birth-place with precision, however manifest may he the Caffrarian
link in the chain of gradation we have assumed. Albeit, they resemble
the true Negro much more than the Hottentot; whilst, both intellectually
and physically, they are greatly superior not only to Hottentots,
but to many Negro tribes on the SlaverOoast. They possess
some knowledge of agriculture and the use of metals; they dress in
skins, and live in towns. Descriptions of the Caffres, by different
writers, vary considerably; and it is probable that several closely
allied though diverse types have been included under this general
appellation. No one has had better opportunities for studying this
race, or can be more competent, than Lichtenstein, and we shall
therefore adopt his description.
“ The universal characteristics of all the tribes of this great nation consist in an external
form and figure, varying exceedingly from' the other nations of Africa: they are much
taller, stronger, and their limbs better proportioned. Their color is brown-, their hair
black and woolly. Their countenances have a character peculiar to themselves, and which
does not permit their being included in any of the races of mankind above enumerated.
They have the high forehead and prominent nose of the Europeans, the thick lips of the
Negroes, and the high cheek-bones of the Hottentots. Their beards are black, and much
fuller than those of the Hottentots.”
This race, it will thus be seen, is a very peculiar one, combining
both moral and physical traits of the higher and the lower African
races. Widely disseminated, they exhibit such singular affinities
with opposing, such strange differences from proximate, Africans,
that it is impossible to fix them to one locality: at the same time,
being, like all savage races, without a history, we are unable to say,
with any probability, to what latitude or to which coast they belong.
Wben, however, taking our departure from the Cape (the central
regions of the continent being unknown), we continue our examination
[along the eastern and western coasts, as far as the transverse
belt, just beyond the Equator, which separates the two great deserts,
Northern and Southern, we find a succession of well-marked types,
seemingly indigenous to their respective localities. Along the East-
tem coast we encounter the various tribes inhabiting Inhambane,
Sabia, Sofala, Botonga, Mozambique, Zanguebar, &c., each presenting
physical characters more [br less hideous; and, almost without
exception, not merely in a barbarous, but superlatively savage state.
All attempts towards humanizing them have failed. Hopes of eventual
improvement in the condition of these brutish families are entertained
by none but missionaries of sanguine temperament and little
instruction. Even the Slaver rejects them.
I f we now go back to Cape Colony, and thence pass upwards along
the Western coast, we meet with another, equally diversified, series
of Negro raees, totally distinct from those of the eastern side, inhabiting
Cimbebas, Benguela, Angola, Congo, Loango, Matembas, and
Guinea ; where we again reach the Equator. These are all savage
tribes* but little removed, in physical nature and moral propensities,
from the Hottentots. Anything like a detailed analysis of them would
be but an unprofitable repetition of descriptions, to be found in all
travellers’ accounts, exhibiting pictures of the most degraded races
of mankind. In a word, the whole of Africa, south of 10° N. lat.,
shows a succession of human beings with intellects as dark as their
skins, and with a cephalic conformation that renders all expectance
of their future melioration an Utopian dream, philanthropical, but
somewhat senile.
North of the Equator, and dividing the two great Northern and
Southern deserts, we fall in with a belt of country traversing the
whole continent of Africa, terminating on the east with the highlands
of Abyssinia — on the west with the uplands of Senegambia ; and,
between these two points, including part of the Soodàn, Negro-1 and
proper, or Nigritia. About 10° N. lat. stretches an immense range
of mountains, which are supposed to run entirely across the continent,
and to form an insurmountable barrier between the Southern
Deserts and the Northern Sahara. Throughout this region, we behold
an infinitude of Negro races, differing considerably in their external
characters. The annexed extracts from Prichard, bearing upon this
subject; contain some important facts requiring comment.
“ The whole of the countries now described are sometimes called Nigritia, or the Land
of Négroes— they have likewise been 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 races of men
inhabiting different countries, and these are interspersed, and not separated by a particular
line. Black and woolly-haired races, to which the term Negro is applied, are more predominant
in Western Africa ; but there are also woolly-haired 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 useful to remember the difference in physical characters which separates them. The
Negroes are distinguished by their well-known traits, of which the most strongly marked
is their woolly hair ; but it is difficult to point out any common property characteristic of
the races termed Ethiopians, unless it is the negative one of wanting the abovè-mentioned
peculiarity of the Negro : any other definition will apply only in general, and will be liable
to excèptions. The Ethiopian races have generally something in their physical character
which is peculiarly African, though not reaching the degree in which it is displayed by the
black people of Soudan. Their hair, though not woolly, is commonly frizzled, or strongly
curled or crisp. Their complexion is sometimes black, at others, of the color 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 thé Arabs; their noses are not flattened
or depressed, but scarcely so prominent as those of Europeans ; their lips are generally
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