Atlantis: The Antedeluvian WorldDonnelly, Ignatius
History
Atlantis: The Antedeluvian World
Donnelly, Ignatius
Atlantis (Legendary place); Deluge; Ethnology
Africa, like Europe and America, evidences a commingling of different
stocks: the blacks are not all black, nor all woolly-haired; the
Africans pass through all shades, from that of a light Berber, no darker
than the Spaniard, to the deep black of the Iolofs, between Senegal and
Gambia.
The traces of red men or copper-colored races are found in many parts of
the continent. Prichard divides the true negroes into four classes; his
second class is thus described:
"2. Other tribes have forms and features like the European; their
complexion is black, or a deep olive, or a copper color approaching to
black, while their hair, though often crisp and frizzled, is not in the
least woolly. Such are the Bishari and Danekil and Hazorta, and the
darkest of the Abyssinians.
"The complexion and hair of the Abyssinians vary very much, their
complexion ranging from almost white to dark brown or black, and their
hair from straight to crisp, frizzled, and almost woolly." (Nott and
Gliddon, "Types of Mankind," p. 194.)
"Some of the Nubians are copper-colored or black, with a tinge of red."
(Ibid., p. 198.)
Speaking of the Barbary States, these authors further say (Ibid., p.
204):
"On the northern coast of Africa, between the Mediterranean and the
Great Desert, including Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and Benzazi,
there is a continuous system of highlands, which have been included
under the general term Atlas--anciently Atlantis, now the Barbary
States.... Throughout Barbary we encounter a peculiar group of races,
subdivided into many tribes of various shades, now spread over a vast
area, but which formerly had its principal and perhaps aboriginal abode
along the mountain slopes of Atlas.... The real name of the Berbers
is Mazirgh, with the article prefixed or suffixed--T-amazirgh or
Amazirgh-T--meaning free, dominant, or 'noble race.'... We have every
reason to believe the Berbers existed in the remotest times, with all
their essential moral and physical peculiarities.... They existed in
the time of Menes in the same condition in which they were discovered by
Phoenician navigators previously to the foundation of Carthage. They are
an indomitable, nomadic people, who, since the introduction of camels,
have penetrated in considerable numbers into the Desert, and even as far
as Nigritia.... Some of these clans are white, others black, with
woolly hair."
Speaking of the Barbary Moors, Prichard says:
"Their figure and stature are nearly the same as those of the southern
Europeans, and their complexion, if darker, is only so in proportion to
the higher temperature of the country. It displays great varieties."
Jackson says:
"The men of Temsena and Showiah are of a strong, robust make, and of a
copper color; the women are beautiful. The women of Fez are fair as the
Europeans, but hair and eyes always dark. The women of Mequinas are very
beautiful, and have the red-and-white complexion of English women."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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