Among the proper African nations, it may be supposed that no such variety would embarrass us ; blackness, with a reddish or yellowish tinge, being accounted the uni versal hue of the Ethiopian race. But this notion is chiefly founded upon the com plexion which prevails in a very small part of the great African continent ; and no fact is really better established, than that of the great diversity of complexion which pre vails among its different inhabitants. Thus, among some of the Kaffir tribes,—which often possess high foreheads and prominent noses,— light brown complexions, and reddish hair are often met with ; yet there is every reason for the belief that they are of the same stock with the Negroes of the Guinea coast, and intermediate gradations in complexion are presented by the nations which occupy an intermediate geographical position. There are tribes even upon the gold and slave coasts, which are considerably lighter than ordinary Negroes. Moreover, the Hottentot has a large admixture of yellow in his com plexion, whilst the Fidahs of Central Africa are of a dark copper colour. The African tribes which border on the Red Sea, and which seem to constitute the link of transition be tween the Ethiopian and the Semitic races, present every grade of colour, from the deep black of the Negro to the swarthiness of the lighter Arabs, notwithstanding that there is no reason to believe these characters to have been acquired by the intermixture either of an Ethiopian stock with Arabs, or of an Arab stock with Ethiopians. There is strong ground for the opinion, as we shall see here after, that the ancient Egyptians, whose com plexion (as represented by their own artists) seems to have been of a red copper or light chocolate colour, were so closely allied to the proper African nations, that the origin of both must have been the same.—The complexion of the African nations, then, wants that cha racter of uniformity, which is required to distinguish it from that of other branches of the human family ; and a marked tendency to assimilation is exhibited in the hues of the African and of the Semitic races inhabiting similar localities, a fact whose full significance will appear hereafter.
On instituting a similar comparison be tween the complexions of the various branches and off-sets of the Mongolian race, it will appear that, although an admixture of yellow is one of its most constant cha racters, yet this may co-exist with other shades, and may even disappear altogether. Thus, in the remains of the aboriginal tribes of India still existing in the hilly regions of the north, in the Dekhan, and especially in Ceylon, all of which appear, from the charac ters of their language, their peculiar customs, and their traditions, to be descendants of the Mongolian rather than of the Japetic stock, we find a variety of shades of complexion, and this within the limits of the same people. For example, the Cinghalese are described by Dr. Davy as varying in colour from light brown to black; the prevalent hue of their hair and eyes is black, but hazel eyes and brown hair are not very uncommon ; grey eyes and red hair are occasionally, though rarely, seen, and sometimes the light blue or red eye, and light flaxen hair of the Albino.
Dr. Davy, in describing such a one, remarks that her complexion would scarcely be con sidered peculiar in England, certainly not in Norway ; for her eyes were light blue, and not particularly weak, her hair of the colour that usually accompanies such eyes, and her com plexion rather rosy. This tendency towards a fair and even florid complexion, with light eyes and bushy hair, can be traced in several other nations of the same type, such as the Mantchoos in China, and also among the Chinese themselves. On the other hand, the hardy Samoiedes, Tungusians, Kamschatdales, and others, living on the borders of the Icy Sea, have a dirty brown or swarthy com plexion.
If we pass on to the Oceanic races, we find that any attempts to employ com plexion as a means of distinguishing them from other primary stocks, must utterly fail, so great and numerous are the diversities. In almost every group of islands in the great Oceanic area, the natives differ in complexion from those of other groups ; thus the Malays of the Eastern Archipelago, who resemble the Chinese in features and general conforma tion, are of a darker colour, retaining, how ever, a yellow tinge in their complexion ; this tinge comes out very strongly in the natives of the Caroline Islands, whose aspect is de cidedly Mongolian, and whose complexion is of a citron hue, becoming brown by exposure; the Tahitians and Marquesans, especially in the families of their chiefs, which are secluded from the wind and the sun, exhibit a clear olive or brunette complexion, such as is common among the nations of Southern Europe ; the Hawaii, or Sandwich Islanders, are somewhat darker ; while of the new Zea landers and Ombai Islanders, some are com paratively fair, while others are dark or almost black. Besides these, however, Australia, New Guinea, and some of the neighbouring islands are more or less exclusively peopled by tribes bearing a close resemblance in com plexion and aspect to Negroes, whose precise relation to the Malayo-Polynesian races it is difficult to determine. There is, however, such a complete transition from one type to the other, presented by the natives of different localities among whom there is no reason to suppose that any intermixture has taken place, and the differences are such between the higher and lower castes of even the same tribe, that all intelligent persons who have long resided among the islands of the Pacific, under circumstances favourable to accurate investigation, appear to have come to the conclusion,—that none of those characters on which some observers have relied, as being strongly marked in the individuals whom they have happened to see in the course of their brief visits to different localities, can be relied on as general expressions of the attributes of particular races. So that if colour be once adopted as a test of separate origin, we must suppose that tribes speaking the same lan guage, having the same customs and tradi tions, and closely allied in general conforma tion, sprang nevertheless from ancestors who had no relation to one another ; and a distinct pair must be assigned to every island or group of islands, and, in some instances, even two or more pairs to a single island.