The Human Race Part 44

The faculties of the blacks can consequently in certain respects become developed, and it is established that Negroes who live for several generations in the towns of the colonies, and who are in perpetual contact with Europeans, improve by the connection, and gain an augmentation of their intellectual capacities.

To sum up, then, the Negro family possesses less intelligence than some others of the human race; but this fact affords no justification for the hateful persecutions to which these unfortunate people have been the victims in every age. At the present day, thanks to progress and civilization, slavery is abolished in most parts of the globe, and its last remnants will not be slow to disappear. And thus will be swept away, to the honour of humanity, a barbarous custom, the unhappy inheritance of former times, repudiated by the modern spirit of charity and brotherhood; and with it will vanish the infamous traffic which is called the slave-trade.

No little time will, however, be needed in order to confer social equality on the enfranchised Negro. We cannot well express the scorn with which the liberated blacks are treated in North and South America.

They are hardly looked on as human beings, and notwithstanding the abolition of slavery, are invariably kept aloof from the white population. Centuries will be required to efface among Americans this rooted prejudice, which France herself has had some trouble in shaking off, since an edict of Louis XIV. cancelled the rank of any n.o.ble who allied himself with a Negress, or even with a mulatto woman.

The general a.s.suagement of manners and customs will ultimately, it must be hoped, entirely obliterate these distinctions, so cruel and unjust to the unhappy people whom a fatal destiny has condemned to a state of perpetual martyrdom, without their having done anything to deserve it, beyond coming into the world beneath an African sky.

CHAPTER II.

EASTERN BRANCH.

The _Eastern Blacks_, who have also been called _Melanesians_ and _Oceanian Negroes_, inhabit the western part of Oceania and the south-east of Asia. Their complexion is very brown, sometimes increasing in darkness until it reaches intense black. Their hair is frizzled, crisp, flaky, and occasionally woolly. Their features are disagreeable, their figures of little regularity, and their extremities often lank.

They live in tribes or small divisions, without forming themselves into nationalities.

We shall divide them into two groups, one, the _Papuan Family_, composed of peoples among whom the characteristics indicated above, are the most developed; the other, the _Andaman Family_, made up of tribes which more resemble the Brown Race, and probably result from a mixture of it with the Black one.

PAPUAN FAMILY.

The _Papuan Family_ seems to dwell only in small islands or on the coasts of larger ones. Two groups of peoples are observable in it, one, resembling the Malays, consists of the _Papuans_, who inhabit the New Guinea Archipelago, and the other, resembling the Tabuans, occupies the Fiji Islands, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, and the Solomon range. We proceed to say a few words as to the manners and customs of these different sections of the Black Race.

_Papuans._--A remarkable feature presented by the Papuans, is the enormous bulk of their half-woolly hair. Their skin is dark brown, their hair black, and their beard, which is scanty, is, as well as their eyebrows and eyes, of the same colour. Though they have rather flat noses, thick lips and broad cheekbones, their countenance is by no means unpleasant. The women are more ugly than the men, their withered figures, hanging b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and masculine features render them disagreeable to the sight, and even the young girls have a far from attractive look.

[Ill.u.s.tration:

_P. Sellier, p.^{t}_

_Imp. Dupuy, 22, R. des Pet.i.ts Hotels_

_G. Regamey, lith._

PAPOUAN

NEGRO OF NEW GUINEA

BLACK RACE]

Lesson considered the Papuans fierce, inhospitable, crafty men, but the inhabitants of Havre de Doresy and generally of the northern part of this Oceanic region, as far as the Cape of Good Hope, seemed to him of great mildness and more disposed to fly from Europeans than to hurt them. He thinks, nevertheless, that the Negroes in the south of New Guinea, pushed back into that part of the island, and whom no intermixture has altered, have preserved their savage habits and rude independence. The state of perpetual hostility in which they live renders their character distrustful and suspicious. Never did Lesson visit a village, in a small boat manned by a fair number of men, that women, children, old men, and warriors did not take to flight in their large canoes, carrying off with them their movables and most precious effects. He adds, that by good treatment and plenty of presents, people may succeed in making way with them, may be able to lull their uneasiness and establish friendly relations. The coloured Plate accompanying this part of the work represents a native of the Papuan Islands.

_Vitians._--The first accurate information about the Viti or Fiji Islands is due to Dumont d'Urville. Mr. Macdonald, an a.s.sistant-surgeon on board the English s.h.i.+p Herald, has published an account of his visit to Fiji, and from it we extract the following particulars.

Thakombau (fig. 234), the king, was a man of powerful and almost gigantic stature, with well-formed limbs of fine proportions. His appearance, which was further removed from the Negro type than that of other individuals of lower rank, sprung from the same stock, was agreeable and intelligent. His hair was carefully turned up, dressed in accordance with the stylish fas.h.i.+on of the country, and covered with a sort of brown gauze. His neck and broad chest were both uncovered, and his naked skin might be seen, of a clear black colour. Near him was his favourite wife, a rather large woman with smiling features, as well as his son and heir, a fine child of from eight to nine years old. His majesty was also surrounded at respectful distance by a crowd of courtiers, humbly cringing on their knees.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 234.--THAKOMBAU, KING OF THE FIJI ISLAND.]

In the course of his peregrinations, Mr. Macdonald was present at a repast, consisting of pork, ignames, and taro,[11] served in wooden dishes by women. Freshwater sh.e.l.l-fish of the cyprine kind completed the banquet. The broth was very savoury, but the meat insipid. During the conversation which followed, the traveller became convinced that gossip is a natural gift of the Fijians. Figs. 235 and 236 represent types of these people.

[11] The native subst.i.tute for bread.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 235.--NATIVE OF FIJI.]

The Fijians are fond of a.s.sembling to hear the local news, or to narrate old legends. Respect for their chiefs is always preserved unalterable among this people, turbulent in their behaviour, depraved in their instincts, and familiar with murder, robbery, and lying. The homage paid to their chiefs makes itself manifest both by word and action; men lower their weapons, take the worst sides of the paths, and bow humbly as one of the privileged order pa.s.ses by. One of the oddest forms taken by this obsequiousness is a custom in accordance with which every inferior who sees his chief trip and fall, allows himself to stumble in his turn, in order to attract towards himself the ridicule which such an accident might have the effect of drawing upon his superior.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 236.--NATIVE OF FIJI.]

The different cla.s.ses or castes into which the Fijian population is divided, are as follows: 1, sovereigns of several islands; 2, chiefs of single islands, or of districts; 3, village chiefs, and those of fisheries; 4, eminent warriors, but born in an inferior station, master carpenters, and heads of turtle-fisheries; 5, the common people; and 6, slaves taken in war.

The horrible custom of eating human flesh still exists in Fiji; the missionaries have succeeded in bringing about its disappearance in some parts of the island, but it remains in the interior districts, concealing itself, however, and no longer glorying in the number of victims devoured! Cannibalism does not owe its existence among the Fijians, as in most savage tribes, to a feeling of revenge pushed to the utmost limits; it arises there from an especial craving for human flesh.

But as this choice dish is not sufficiently abundant to satisfy all appet.i.tes, the chiefs reserve it exclusively to themselves, and only by extraordinary favour do they give up a morsel of the esteemed delicacy to their inferiors.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 237.--A TEMPLE OF CANNIBALISM.]

The engraving (fig. 237) is taken from a sketch made by the missionary Thomas Williams, of a sort of temple used on occasions of cannibalism in Fiji. The four persons squatted in front of the edifice are victims awaiting their doom, and whose bodies will afterwards serve for the feast of these man-eaters.

Mr. Macdonald discovered that the custom of immolating widows is still in full vigour in one of the districts of the island.

Dancing is the popular diversion of the Fiji Islands. The chant by which it is usually regulated is of monotonous rhythm, its words recalling either some actual circ.u.mstance or historical event. The dancers'

movements are slow at first, growing gradually animated, and being accompanied by gestures of the hands and inflections of the body. There is always a chief to direct the performers. A buffoon is sometimes brought into the ring whose grotesque contortions bring applause from the spectators.

Two bands, one of musicians, the other of dancers, take part in the regular dances of the solemnities at Fiji (fig. 238); the first usually numbers twenty, and the other from a hundred and fifty to two hundred, individuals. These latter are covered with their richest ornaments, carry clubs or spears, and execute a series of varied evolutions, marching, halting, and running. As the entertainment draws towards its close their motions increase in rapidity, their action acquires more liveliness and vehemence, while their feet are stamped heavily on the ground, until at last the dancers, quite out of breath, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.e a final "Wa-oo!" and the antics cease.

_New-Caledonians._--The inhabitants of New Caledonia belong to the branch of Oceanian Negroes. This island, hidden in the Equinoctial Ocean, is a French possession, and has been marked out for the reception of those Communist insurgents and incendiaries arrested in Paris in June 1871, after the "seven days' battle" who were sentenced to transportation by the courts-martial. We are indebted to MM. Victor de Rochas and J. Garnier for some valuable details concerning the population of the colony.

The aborigines of New Caledonia have a sooty-black skin; woolly, crisp hair and abundant beard, both black; a broad, flat nose deeply sunk between the orbits; the white of the eye bloodshot; large, turned-out lips; prominent jaws; a wide mouth; very even and perfectly white teeth; slightly projecting cheekbones; a high, narrow, and convex forehead; and the head flattened between the temples. Their average stature is at least as tall as that of the French, their limbs are well-proportioned, and their development of both chest and muscles is generally considerable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 238.--A FIJIAN DANCE.]

The men are not very ugly, many even showing a certain regularity of feature; and some tribes on the east coast are better favoured than the rest in this respect. Figs. 239 and 240 convey a fair idea of the male population.

The ugliness of the women is proverbial. With their shaven heads and the lobes of their ears horribly perforated or pinked, they present a revolting appearance, even when young in years. The rude toil and bad treatment to which they are subjected bring upon them premature old age.

They suckle their children for a long period, for three years on the average, and sometimes for five or six.

Like all savages, the New-Caledonians possess an exquisitely keen sense of sight and hearing. They are active and capable of exerting considerable strength for a short effort, but have no lasting power.

Their inability to support fatigue for any length of time doubtless arises from the nature of their nourishment. They swallow really nothing beyond sugary and feculent vegetable food, seldom eating meat, the true source of the sustainment and recuperation of strength. Their island supplies the New-Caledonians with no quadrupeds which they can capture for sustenance, and they possess no weapons suitable for killing birds.

The quant.i.ty of eatables these people can gorge at a single meal is wonderful, quite three times as much as an European would be equal to.

M. Garnier visited the village of Hienghene. Its chief came to meet the travellers and presented to them his eldest son, while numbers of naked warriors, with blackened chests, beards, and faces, stood round in a silent and motionless group. They might have been taken for bronze statues were it not for their dark and sparkling eyes which followed the smallest gesture of the visitors.