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different from that which animals possess, yet do not show in what that difference consists.

Mr. WALLACE observed, in reference to the distinction drawn by Mr. Reddie between reason and instinct, that what is called instinct is generally the result of experience which forms a habit that is in time called instinctive. Alluding to the illustration of sagacity in a parrot in detecting a bad nut, he said that he knew a still better instance of apparent intelligence in a parroquet which he had. The bird was very fond of sugar, but could only take it when moistened, and when a dry lump of sugar was given to it, the bird dipped the sugar into water before attempting to eat it.

Mr. PIKE, in replying to the observations that had been made on his paper, said it was satisfactory to find that almost every one of the speakers had agreed to his main proposition. Mr. Reynolds had objected to the illustration of the elephant and the potato, that it was a mere assumption that the elephant reasoned on the effect of his blowing, and suggested that the rebound of the potato from the wall was merely an accident. But if so, it was a remarkable chance that the force of the elephant's breath should drive the potato against a particular point of the wall so that it should come back for him to catch it. Allowing, however, that to have been accidental, there were numerous other instances of sagacity in elephants which had given them the character of being reasoning animals. As to the parrot and the hollow nut, whatever might have been the means of indication still it was an act of reason so long as the bird did not crack the nut. Mr. St. Clair had objected to the paper on the ground that it was principally occupied with a refutation of the opinions of Professor Max Müller; but he (Mr. Pike) had selected that gentleman as the foremost of the class of reasoners who supported certain views. With respect to the instances of derivatives from the root "ma," the objections that had been raised to the derivation from it of the word "mama" did not refer to a fundamental point of the argument, for he suggested the connection of the repetition of the sound and the two breasts of the mother, merely as a conjecture. Mr. Reddie had accused him of saying there is no distinction between man and brutes; but what he said was directly contrary. He had stated "there is no fear that comparative psychology will fail to exhibit the immense superiority of man to the brutes." Mr. Reddie further asserted that no true instance had been adduced of reasoning power in brutes, and that they acted only from instinct. This objection seemed to resolve itself into a question of definition of terms. But it appeared to him that

if an act performed by man was considered an act of reason, a similar act by a brute must also be so considered. In all such cases of what is called instinct, the fact is, that they are the results of experience applied by the faculty of reason. With respect to the observations of Mr. Carter Blake on what he had said about the transformation of a gorilla into a Shakespeare or a Müller, there was a little misapprehension. He was merely answering the opinions of other people, for nothing could be further from his own opinion than such a transmutation.

into.

The question of a common origin it was not necessary to enter

Notes on the Capabilities of the Negro for Civilisation. By HENRY F. J. GUPPY, F.A.S.L.

How

IT is with much diffidence that I bring before the Anthropological Society a few observations on the apparent capabilities of the negro race for civilisation, so far, that is to say, as my own limited experience extends. I say apparent, because inTrinidad and other West India colonies, it has been contended that the negroes have been brutalised and reduced below their true standard, by slavery. ever true this may have been at the time of emancipation, a sufficient number of years has now elapsed for a new generation, free from any oppressing influences, to show forth the natural powers of the negro mind. That slavery does not necessarily degrade the negro, however much other races might be affected thereby, has been proved by the observations of several persons, for we find in Dr. Waitz's valuable volume, so ably translated by Mr. Collingwood (p. 72), that it is stated in many cases, despite of slavery, his contact with the superior race in the Slave States of North America has considerably softened down his more animal characteristics, and rendered even his countenance more like that of a thinking being. And to counterbalance any deterioration that may have been produced by slavery, the descendants of the slaves have had the means of improvement and of civilisation brought to their very doors, and their adoption enforced by the most improved methods of education known to the highest civilised race. The possible effect of slavery on the physical and mental organisation of the negro has, to say the least, been grossly exaggerated. It confessedly requires several generations at least to effect any great or permanent change in this respect, and as regards the slaves in these colonies, a large proportion, if not the majority of them, at the emancipation were either native Africans, or the immediate descendants of such. And may it be asked, what example can be adduced of the slavery, however brutal, of one or two generations of a race producing such an effect, that the children, on having the means of improvement placed before them, have been found so far below their progenitors as to be unable to make an equal, or nearly equal, use of them? My own observations, slight as they are, fully bear out the remarks made on the subject by our respected president at the meeting of the British Association at Newcastle.* Leaving out, as he proposes, the mixed race, there are, within my experience, but very few examples of the pure black holding places of trust and confidence; such of them as do so, certainly have their features much more nearly approaching to those of Europeans than one would have imagined possible, that is to say, when compared with the general bulk of the negroes; so much so, indeed, is this the case in some instances, as almost to lead one to doubt the purity of their descent. It has been remarked, that when equally coloured individuals intermarry, their offspring become darker and darker; it might be worth while, perhaps, to ascertain how far the influence of the lighter and (let us

* Vide Anthropological Review for November 1863, p. 386. VOL. II.-NO. VI.

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assume) the superior race would extend. Would it continue to affect the features and form when the complexion had returned to the dark tint of the inferior race? And if so, would the mental powers in any measure correspond? These are interesting questions that it would be, no doubt, premature to answer. But if an affirmative could be given, we might, perhaps, explain, at least in some cases, the apparent anomaly of a completely black individual possessing bodily and mental characteristics exceeding much the standard of his race. As to the rebellious propensities of the negroes, it may be remarked, that when an outbreak does occur amongst them, as at St. Vincent a short while since, the object is generally one of lust or ease, and not one caused by ambitious and domineering ideas; we have seen this exemplified in Hayti, where the extermination of the numerically inferior race was determined on by the blacks, and not their subjugation, for that, indeed, was impracticable.

That it is far from being always the case that when the negro has opportunities of improvement he will use them, we have, unfortunately, too many instances in this island alone to prove. For example, there were some negroes conveyed hither after the American war of independence, in which they had fought on the side of the British, and who were allotted pieces of land, some ten or twelve miles from S. Fernando, the second town of the island. Their descendants, far from being improved, notwithstanding the advantages of having schools in their midst, and the constant efforts of clergymen and others to induce them to become more civilised, have decidedly retrograded. The original settlers, of whom a few are still alive, are found to be civil and well-ordered, whereas their children are wild and almost ferocious savages, extremely inhospitable, and jealous of the designs of visitors. The negroes generally have a tendency to withdraw themselves from the neighbourhood of their fellow colonists, and to bury themselves in the valleys and woods, there to live a merely animal life, cultivating, perhaps, a small patch of land, no more than is barely sufficient to supply themselves with scanty clothing, and, perhaps, to purchase a few such luxuries as tobacco or rum. This conduct is probably to be attributed to their natural and uneradicated desire for ease, and dislike for labour of any kind, having liberty to express itself by their possession of land, the cultivation of a very small portion of which being sufficient for a savage existence. Their distance, too, though small it be, from the pressure and presence of a more energetic people, no doubt contributes to this effect. This dislike of steady work and want of thrift has rendered the bulk of the negroes utterly unfit for labourers, and has necessitated the introduction, into some of these colonies, of Coolies from India and China. If the cultivation of these islands had, indeed, depended upon the exertions of the liberated slaves and their offspring, we should, long ere this, have sunk to such a low ebb, that our present condition is wealth comparatively, to what it would have been, though we are still struggling under many difficulties.

The negro, in effect, requires constant stimulation, and the hard

teaching of necessity to force him to activity. He has no ambition of rising either in intelligence or in wealth. When left to himself but for a short time, he falls back rapidly into a mere listless condition, in which he cares not for the outer world, or, indeed, for anything out of his own personal existence. As for knowledge, the progress of his fellow-beings, the improvements made in arts or sciences, all these are blanks to him; he seemingly comprehends not. their import; and though their importance may be impressed on his mind for a while, he soon forgets all that he has heard, and quickly relapses into his former apathy. How different from this are the Chinese and Hindoos, with whom we are able, in some measure, to compare him, in this and other colonies, where the immigration of these races has been carried on for some years. With far less opportunities, both the Chinese and the Indian coolies, more especially, perhaps, the former, have already turned their advantages to some account. They trade, they speculate, and endeavour in other modes to emulate the wealth and prosperity of their fellow-citizens; indeed, it is a common observation here that some of our chief merchants will some day be of Chinese descent, if not Chinese themselves. There is barely an instance of such foresight and industry to be found in the pure negro, at all events, as existing here. He has no ambition for advancement, as I said before, and this may be said to sum up his character. If we were to take an average English labourer, and place him in similar circumstances, and in such a situation that by steady application to work he would soon attain independence, I am confident that he would prove, in a short time, that such a tempting prospect was sufficient to urge him on to renewed exertions.

In the discussion that ensued on the reading of Dr. Hunt's paper, Mr. Craft observed that the agricultural labourers in England were bent (in figure) as well as the negro. It may be observed that the majority of aboriginal races who, like the negroes, dislike labour, or, at all events, the labour of tilling the soil (which is the cause of the bend in the English labourer), are finely formed, and exceedingly straight, as for instance the Indians of North America and the Maoris, both of which races are undoubtedly highly capable of improvement, and who yet themselves admit the superiority of the Caucasian race.

If Mr. Craft's observations with regard to the intellectual power and independence of character of the Haytians be correct, how is it that that fine and beautiful island has so notoriously retrograded since its independence and erection into a negro state? Statistics and observations show the wild and desolate condition it has attained from the utter neglect of its inhabitants, who, taken up with continual and petty political squabbles and the mockery of a court, have left their fertile plantations and allowed them to return to a condition only worthy of a people utterly savage, and careless of progression. An island that before its independence produced more sugar than the whole of the other West India colonies (150,000 hogsheads), within twenty years after the negroes had had full possession, produced less than the smallest isle inhabited by Europeans; in 1823, for example,

it was estimated that the exports of sugar from St. Domingo amounted to but 6 or 700 hogsheads; and the deficiency was by no means made up by other products.*

As to Professor Wilson's remarks, it is not at all true that the negroes are to be compared to the inmates of a workhouse. I speak, of course, of those in the West Indies. They (the negroes) have liberty of action unrestrained, a climate that enables them to live upon little, and a soil that would allow thom to procure a competence and even wealth, by the expenditure of a certain amount of energy; education can be had by every one, if they only think it worth the attendance at school.

The negro seems unable to adopt even the inventions of the Europeans for saving labour, or do so very slowly and clumsily indeed, whereas many other primitive peoples, the Maoris, for instance, have shown themselves the very contrary to this, and employ all the contrivances for saving labour possible for them to obtain, and learn with avidity of more.

It would, however, be undoubtedly wrong to say that the negro possesses no capacity for mental improvement; for that would be placing him in a very low rank of the animal creation indeed; but it would certainly seem that his capacity must be left, in a great measure, to itself, to develope into anything worthy of the name of civilisation. He does not comprehend that of the European; it is, as it were, out of his sphere. Such civilisation as he is capable of will be sui generis, and utterly unlike that of the Caucasian races. We shall not, probably, have any opportunity of witnessing this negro civilisation in the western hemisphere; for observation fully bears out Sir Alexander Tulloch's remark, "that before a century has passed, the negro race will almost have disappeared from the British colonies in the West Indies." As to the American negroes, the same in effect has been said of them by Nott, De Bow and others.

These remarks are made with reference solely to the pure negro; the mixed race, as might be naturally supposed, shows a great variety of conformation, both bodily and mentally, the latter especially perceptibly improving as the individual approaches more nearly to the European race. There are many men of great intelligence, and who occupy very respectable positions here, of the mulatto and lighter coloured classes; there is one thing that may be remarked of these, that they are, as a rule, neither so robust as either the European or the negro, and are certainly more liable to chest diseases.

May I be allowed to protest against the use of the word African as being synonymous with negro. The latter has, no doubt, its faults, but it is certainly more distinctive than the former, for we know very well that the negro, strictly so called, occupies but a small district comparatively speaking, of the immense continent of which he is a native, and to which he is peculiar. It is to be remarked that the former is a name that is affected by many of the coloured people, as conveying less reproach, as they think, than the other designation.

* Vide Quarterly Review, January 1824, p. 577.

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