Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

OF THE HUMAN RACE. 655 rieties of hair ; some being more or less woolly, others frizzled, almost like that of a mulatto.* The occasional peculiarities of outward form, on which so much stress has been laid, to the prejudice of the Hottentots especially, are considered by able anatomists whom I have con- sulted to be of no more real consequence than that existing in a six-fingered family. On their authority it may be shown that such occasional deviations from ordinary conformation, which are sometimes continued in particular families, and therefore might be found in a whole tribe who were origi- nally but one family, in no degree constitute distinct species. From theili we learn also that all varieties of the human race are alike in their anatomical structure, and that intermarriage be- tween any two varieties whatever is productive of a prolific ofi'spring. Considerable stress has been laid on language as a means of tracing affinities or descents ; but with great deference for the * Of the natives of Van Diemen's Land Cook remarks that their hair diflfered in texture from that of the natives of New South Wales, being" in Adventure Bay as woolly as that of any native of Guinea, while that of the aborigines of New South ^yales was naturally long and black, though cropped short. — Cook's Voyage, 1769-7^. Bligh says that the aborigines of Van Diemen's Land are black, and that their hair, " which resembled the wool of the Caffres," was separated into shreds, and powdered with red ochre. They were generally slender, tolerably well made, kept their shoulders back, and upon their prominent chests several had marks raised in the skin. — Bligh's Voyage — Adven- ture Bay, 1788-1792. Flinders saw only one native of this country, but his appearance much resembled that of the inhabitants of New South Wales. He had also marks raised upon the skin, and his face was blackened, and hair rud- dled, as is sometimes practised by them. The hair was either cropped close, or naturally short, but it had not the appearance of being woolly. In Marion's voyage a skirmish with the natives of Van Diemen s Land took place, after relating which, the writer says, " on entering among the trees they found a dying savage. This man was a little more than five feet se'ven inches in height, (French measure). His breast was marked like those of the Mosambique Caffres, and his skin appeared as black ; but, on washing off the soot and dirt, his natural colour appeared to have a reddish tinge."