Ethnology, Anthropology & Ethnology, Blackie & Son, Negro Race, c1880

Anthropology & Ethnology

HUMAN RACE-ETHIOPIAN, OR NEGRO.

FIG. 1. Hottentot, after Daniels.

FIG. 3. -Portrait of a Negro of the neighborhood of Timbuctoo.

FIG. 2. A Young Negro of Benguela, to the south of the Kingdom of Angola.

FIG. 4. -A female of the Congo, from the "Voyage au Brasil" of Maurice Rugendas.

Date: c1880

Publisher: Blackie & Son, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dublin

Paper Size: 250 x 170mm

Condition: Good

Technique: Lithography

Price: $50

Description:

The negroes inhabit Africa from the southern margin of the Sahara to the territory of the Hottentots and Bushmen, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.

The negro races display great variety in external characteristics, and what is popularly considered the typical negro is rarely met with. The colour of the skin passes through every gradation, from ebony black to dark brown, copper red, olive, or yellow. In some tribes, the nose is straight, in others hooked, though often broad and flat. The hair of the head is generally short, elliptic in section, and much crimped; that on the body is not plentiful; whiskers are comparatively rare.

The negroes may be divided into the Bantu negroes and the Soudan negroes, these divisions being based on differences in language. Among the first, who occupy a great part of South Africa, the best known are the Suaheli in the Zanzibar region, the Kafirs of the southeast, and the Bechuanas farther inland.

The Kafirs are well known as a brave, warlike, and intelligent race; they practice cattle breeding and cultivate the soil to a small extent. It is in the Soudan region that the most typical members of the negro race are found.

The Mandingoes cultivate the soil and carry on active commerce; they have public schools, and the majority of them can read. They are Mohammedans. 

The Bambarras are allied to the Mandingoes, but as yet have hardly emerged from barbarism. 

The Yoloffs, tall and well made, with regular features, are among the finest of the negro races.

The Ashantees are intelligent, skilled in making cotton cloths, sword blades, and other articles, cruel and blood-thirsty. These Soudan races are black, with crisp woolly hair.