THE AFRICAN COLONIES.
Africa, like Europe and America, evidences a commingling of different
stocks: the blacks are not all black, nor all woolly-haired; the
Africans pass through all shades, from that of a light Berber, no darker
than the Spaniard, to the deep black of the Iolofs, between Senegal and
Gambia.
The traces of red men or copper-colored races are found in many parts of
the continent. Prichard divides the true negroes into four classes; his
second class is thus described:
"2. Other tribes have forms and features like the European; their
complexion is black, or a deep olive, or a copper color approaching to
black, while their hair, though often crisp and frizzled, is not in the
least woolly. Such are the Bishari and Danekil and Hazorta, and the
darkest of the Abyssinians.
"The complexion and hair of the Abyssinians vary very much, their
complexion ranging from almost white to dark brown or black, and their
hair from straight to crisp, frizzled, and almost woolly." (Nott and
Gliddon, "Types of Mankind," p. 194.)
"Some of the Nubians are copper-colored or black, with a tinge of red."
(Ibid., p. 198.)
Speaking of the Barbary States, these authors further say (Ibid., p.
204):
"On the northern coast of Africa, between the Mediterranean and the
Great Desert, including Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Benzazi,
there is a continuous system of highlands, which have been included
under the general term Atlas--anciently Atlantis, now the Barbary
States.... Throughout Barbary we encounter a peculiar group of races,
subdivided into many tribes of various shades, now spread over a vast
area, but which formerly had its principal and perhaps aboriginal abode
along the mountain slopes of Atlas.... The real name of the Berbers
is Mazirgh, with the article prefixed or suffixed--T-amazirgh or
Amazirgh-T--meaning free, dominant, or 'noble race.'... We have every
reason to believe the Berbers existed in the remotest times, with all
their essential moral and physical peculiarities.... They existed in
the time of Menes in the same condition in which they were discovered by
Phoenician navigators previously to the foundation of Carthage. They are
an indomitable, nomadic people, who, since the introduction of camels,
have penetrated in considerable numbers into the Desert, and even as far
as Nigritia.... Some of these clans are white, others black, with
woolly hair."
Speaking of the Barbary Moors, 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 country. It displays great varieties."
Jackson says:
"The men of Temsena and Showiah are of a strong, robust make, and of a
copper color; the women are beautiful. The women of Fez are fair as the
Europeans, but hair and eyes always dark. The women of Mequinas are very
beautiful, and have the red-and-white complexion of English women."
Spix and Martins, the German travellers, depict the Moors 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,
brownish-yellow complexion, thick, smooth, and black hair, and a stature
greater than the middle height."
Hodgson states:
"The Tuarycks are a white people, of the Berber race; the Mozabiaks are
a remarkably white people, and mixed with the Bedouin Arabs. The
Wadreagans and Wurgelans are of a dark bronze, with woolly hair."
The Foolahs, Fulbe (sing. Pullo), Fellani, or Fellatah, are a people of
West and Central Africa. It is the opinion of modern travellers that the
Foolahs are destined to become the dominant people of Negro-land. In
language, appearance, and history they present striking differences from
the neighboring tribes, to whom they are superior in intelligence, but
inferior, according to Garth, in physical development. Golbery describes
them as "robust and courageous, of a reddish-black color, with regular
features, hair longer and less woolly than that of the common negroes,
and high mental capacity." Dr. Barth found great local differences in
their physical characteristics, as Bowen describes the Foolahs of Bomba
as being some black, some almost white, and many of a mulatto color,
varying from dark to very bright. Their features and skulls were cast in
the European mould. They have a tradition that their ancestors were
whites, and certain tribes call themselves white men. They came from
Timbuctoo, which lies to the north of their present location.
The Nubians and Foolahs are classed as Mediterraneans. They are not
black, but yellowish-brown, or red-brown. The hair is not woolly but
curly, and sometimes quite straight; it is either dark-brown or black,
with a fuller growth of beard than the negroes. The oval face gives them
a Mediterranean type. Their noses are prominent, their lips not puffy,
and their languages have no connection with the tongues of the negroes
proper. ("American Cyclopædia," art. Ethnology, p. 759.)
"The Cromlechs (dolmens) of Algeria" was the subject of an address made
by General Faidherbe at the Brussels International Congress. He
considers these structures to be simply sepulchral monuments, and, after
examining five or six thousand of them, maintains that the dolmens of
Africa and of Europe were all constructed by the same race, during their
emigration from the shores of the Baltic to the southern coast of the
Mediterranean. The author does not, however, attempt to explain the
existence of these monuments in other countries--Hindostan, for
instance, and America. "In Africa," he says, "cromlechs are called tombs
of the idolaters"--the idolaters being neither Romans, nor Christians,
nor Phoenicians, but some antique race. He regards the Berbers as the
descendants of the primitive dolmen-builders. Certain Egyptian monuments
tell of invasions of Lower Egypt one thousand five hundred years before
our era by blond tribes from the West. The bones found in the cromlechs
are those of a large and dolichocephalous race. General Faidherbe gives
the average stature (including the women) at 1.65 or 1.74 metre, while
the average stature of French carabineers is only 1.65 metre. He did not
find a single brachycephalous skull. The profiles indicated great
intelligence. The Egyptian documents already referred to call the
invaders Tamahu, which must have come from the invaders' own language,
as it is not Egyptian. The Tuaregs of the present day may be regarded as
the best representatives of the Tamahus. They are of lofty stature, have
blue eyes, and cling to the custom of bearing long swords, to be wielded
by both hands. In Soudan, on the banks of the Niger, dwells a negro
tribe ruled by a royal family (Masas), who are of rather fair
complexion, and claim descent from white men. Masas is perhaps the same
as Mashash, which occurs in the Egyptian documents applied to the
Tamahus. The Masas wear the hair in the same fashion as the Tamahus, and
General Faidherbe is inclined to think that they too are the descendants
of the dolmen-builders.
These people, according to my theory, were colonists from
Atlantis--colonists of three different races--white, yellow, and
sunburnt or red.