features and complexion have never deviated from the mould in which they were first cast, six thousand years ago?

What shall we say of the difference be, tween the erees, or nobles, and lower classes in the islands of Australasia? "The former," says Captain Cook, "were, without exception, perfectly well-formed; whereas the lower sort, besides their general inferiority, are subject to all the variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace of other countries."

By the advocates of distinct species the well-known difference between the noble families of Persia and the inferior classes must be sought for in the history of their ancestors, and not ascribed to the cause to which it is generally referred, their selection of the most beautiful Circassians for their harams,

Travellers in Africa agree in relating, that almost every tribe has its distinct physiognomy. The Jaloffs are jet black, but their features approach the European model. The Foulahs, who adjoin them, rank

themselves among the white people. Thè colour of the people of Congo differs greatly in depth of dye. Their hair is in general black and curled; but, in some instances, of a dark sandy colour. They have neither flat noses nor thick lips, likė other Negroes. The island of Mada gascar is inhabited by races of people who differ considerably in their physical characters. Some tribes are of a deep black colour, with crisp or woolly hair; in short, true Negroes. Other tribes have dark and smooth hair, and are tawny. Some are copper-coloured. The people of Natal, on the eastern shore of Africa, are of a middle stature, well-made, and of graceful aspect. Their faces are oval, and noses neither flat nor high, but well-proportioned. Passing to the opposite side of Africa, we are informed, that the com plexion of the Moors is of all shades, from black to white. The women of Fas are as fair as Europeans, with the exception of their eyes and hair, which are universally dark. "It is extraordinary," says Mr. Jackson* "that the inhabitants of two cities,

Account of Morocco, p. 137.

situated within a day's journey of each other, should discover such a physiognomical difference, as is apparent between the females of Fas and those of Mequinas; the former being generally of a sallow or pale complexion, while the latter unite that beautiful red and white so much admired by foreigners in our English ladies. The men of the neighbouring district of Temsena are of a copper colour."

Similar differences, both in colour and form, without any discoverable cause, are remarked by Ulloa and Humboldt in America. The natives of Guayaquil are not tawny, though the heat there is equal to that of Panama or Carthagena: they are fresh-coloured. and so finely featured as to be justly called the handsomest of all Peru*. Again, some of the Mestizoes, born at Quito, are as tawny as the Indians themselves; others have so fine a complexion, that they might pass for whites till viewed attentively. In North America, under 54° 10′ north latitude, at Cloak Bay, in the midst of copper-coloured Indians, with

* Ulloa, i. 164.

+ Ulloa, i. 277.

small long eyes, there is a tribe with largeeyes, European features, and a skin less dark than that of our European peasantry.

2

There is a like diversity in the Finnish race. The Laplanders are diminutive and deformed; have black hair and a swarthy brown complexion. The Finns, though nearly related to them, are much stouter and better made: they have fair complexions, and very generally red hair.

This cursory view of the diversities existing between nations closely adjoining each other, and bearing every presumptive proof of a common origin, is quite enough to show how little would be gained towards a consistent theory, by adopting the hypothesis of several species of the human race. If we once admit the idea, that the varieties of colour and features are specific, it is impossible to assign a limit, and a thousand different tribes in every extensive district crowd upon us, each claiming, and with almost equal right, the distinction of a separate creation. The European is not more unlike the Caffre, than the Caffre

differs from the Bojesman, or the Hottentot, from whom they are separated only by a range of hills.

Upon the whole, I think we are justified in concluding, that although the mode by which peculiar features and complexion become permanent, is still involved in much obscurity, yet the account of the origin of the human race, contained in the Mosaic history, agrees better with the general results concerning the appearance of mankind in different countries, than any other theory which has hitherto been proposed,