of blood. The Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, and Vandals, successively,
founded colonies in the Barbary States* : but they built and
inhabited towns for commercial purposes — mixed little socially with
the people-—never resided in the interior, and have disappeared from
the scene, leaving nearly imperceptible traces behind them. Arabs
have since overrun the country, but their numbers have been small,
compared with the natives ; and, except during and since Saracenic
culture in the towns, they have generally preserved their nomadic
habits — keeping much aloof from the indigenous Barbaresques ; and
there is not merely no reason for thinking that Arabia has exercised
great influence on the Berber type, but circumstances rather indicate
Barbary’s action over the Arab colonists. The ruling tuition of the
Arabs, the genial vitality of IsIàm, and the constant reading of the
Koran, have had the effect of spreading the Arabic language much
faster and farther than Arabian blood. In some of the more civilized
cities—Morocco, Fez, &c.—Arabic is the only tongue spoken among
the patrician Berbers; thus affording another evidence of the utter
fallacy of arguments in favor of the identity of origin or consanguinity
of races based solely upon community of language.
The Mohammedan in Africa, like the Christian religion elsewhere,
is spreading its own languages over races of all colors: just as did
Shamanism, Budhism, or Judaism, in many parts of Asia, during ages
past. Many Jews are scattered throughout Barbary, but especially
in the empire of Morocco, where their number is estimated a t 500,000.
Some black blood too has infiltrated from the South.
Mo little difference exists in descriptions of the physical characters
of Barbary Moors (corruption of the Latin Mauri), no less than
concerning the native tribes of Atlas now diffused over the Sahara.
Prichard says —
“ Their figure and stature are nearly the same as those of the Southern Europeans ; and
their complexion, if darker, is only so in proportion to the higher temperature of the countries
which they inhabit. It displays, as we shall see, great varieties.”
The influence of climate is here again boldly assumed by Prichard,
without one particle of evidence. What reason is there to suppose
that climate influences Berbers, any more than it does Mongols,
American Indians, or other races, who, each with their typical complexions,
are spread over most latitudes ? Moreover, the complexion
of the Berbers does not, in very many cases at least, correspond with
climate. The same action, we presume, operates in Barbaresque localities
that seems to prevail in various parts of the earth ; and which we
have insisted upon in our general Remarks on Types. The Berber
family, at present, appears to be made up of many tribes, presenting
a sort of generic resemblance, but differing specifically, and possessing
physical characteristics that are original, and not amenable to
climatic influences any more than those which denote the Jew, the
Iberian, or the Celt.
We submit a few examples of Atalantic physical characters, as
described by various travellers. J ackson informs us, that —
“ The men of Temsena and Showiah are of a strong, robust make, and of a copper-color—
the women beautiful. . . . The women of Fez are fair as the European, but hair and eyes
always dark. . . . The women of Mequinas are very beautiful, and have thq red and white
complexion of English women.” %
Rozet gives the annexed description of the Moors : —
“ Il existe cependant encore un certain nombre de familles, qui n’ont point contracté
d’alliances avec des étrangers, et chez lesquelles on retrouve les caractères de la race primitive.
Les hommes sont d’une taille au dessus de la moyenne ; leur démarche est noble
et grave ; ils ont les cheveux noirs ; la peau un peu basanée, mais plutôt blanche que brune ;
le visage plein, mais les traits en sont moins bien prononcés que ceux des Arabes et des
Berbères. Ils ont généralement le nez arrondi, la bouche moyenne, les yeux très ouverts,
mais peu vifs ; leurs muscles sont bien prononcés, et ils ont le corps plutôt gros que maigre.”
Spix and Martius, the well-known German travellers, depict
them as follows : —
“ A high forehead, an oval countenance, large, speaking black eyes, shaded by arched
and strong eyebrows ; a thin, rather long, but not too pointed, nose ; rather broad lips,
meeting in an acute angle ; thick, smooth, and black hair on the head and in the beard ;
brownish-yellow complexion; a strong neck, joined to a stature greater than the middle
height, characterize the natives of Northern Africa, as they are frequently seen in the streets
of Gibraltar.”
M. Rozet recounts, that —
if The Berbers or Kabyles of the Algerine territory are of middle stature ; their complexion
is brown, and sometimes almost black {noirâtre) ; hair brown and smooth, rarely
blond; they are lean, but extremely robust and nervous, very well-formed, and with the
elegance of antique statues ; their heads more round than the Arabs’.”
Lieutenant W ashington declares —
“ The Moors are generally a fine-looking race of men, of middle stature, disposed to
become corpulent ; they have good teeth ; complexions of all shades, owing, as some have
supposed, to intermixture with Negroes, though the latter are not sufficiently numerous to
account for the fact.”
He describes the Shilloulis or Shilhas as having light complexions.
P richard thus sums up his inquiries : —
* It seems, from these accounts, that the nations whose history we have traced in this
chapter, present all varieties of complexion ; and these variations appear, in some instances
at least, to be nearly in relation to the temperature.”
With all his inclination that way, however, it is evident that ne
himself cannot make his own climatic theory fit.
Our reasonings are based upon comparison of Barbaresque families
diffused over a vast superficies — comprising tribes now more or
less commingled, and in all social conditions, civic, agricultural, and
nomadic. We may mention; although we exclude, as too local and