OCR Text |
Show 328 THE CRANIAL CIIARACT}~HISTICS their lanQ'uago is altogether difioront ft·om that of tho nations by whom they arc surrounded-it is more elegant and sonorous." 100 MoLLIEN, relying upon traditions extant about tho Senegal, thinks that tho Fulahs migrated along with tho J alofs fr m North .Africa, whence they wore expelled by tho Moors." 251 D'ElCH'l'HAL assigus them a Malayan origi u; 252 but tho inq uirios of' IIoDOSON negative this opinion.263 Tho Jalofs, a compact and limited people, occupying all tho maritime districts of SonogamLia, as well as a largo part of tho iutet·ior, number one million souls, who arc distributed into four scctions,-those of Cayor, in, Salem, and Brenk. They arc tho most northern, as well as the most comely, of all tho west-coast Negroes, and, according to GotDDERRY, arc robust and well-made; thoir features arc regular; their color a deep and transparent black; hair crisped and woolly; nose rather round; lips t.hick.264 Tho Vai family, comprising tho Timauis, BuJJoms, Deys, Condoos, Golahs, and Mondas, is one of tho principal famnics of North Guinea. They "are very black, of slender frames, but with largo and well-formed heads, · and of a decidedly in tell ctual cast of countenance." The Manon, or Kroo family, comprises tho Bassas, Fish, Kroo proper, Scstos, Grcbo, Drcwin, and St . .Andrew's people, tribes occupying the Liberian coast, between tho Bassa and St. Andrew's rivers. "Tho person of the Kruman is largo, square-built, ana remarkably Ol'cct. lie bas an open and manly couutonanco, aud his gait is impressively dignified and independent. llis head, however, is small and peaked, and is not indicative of high intellectual capacity." Tho Quaquas, with dark complexions, and vcl'y large, round heads; tho Ashantocs, of tho Inta or Amiua fhmily, presenting mot·c decided Ncgl'o cbamctcristics than the other tribes of this region; tho Dahomey family; and :finally, the Bouin tribes, a very black race of savages, inhabiting tho country between J;agos ami. tho Kamcrun Mount. ins, complete our rapid glance at tho people of Northern Guinea. Tho above-mentioned families are represented in tho Mortonian Collection, by skulls of tho Mina, Dey, Grebo, Bassa, Golab, I essah, Kt'oo, and Eboo tribes. Tho Goluh skull (No. 1093), is remarkable for its massiveness and density. Tho calvaria is well-formed, expanding fl'om the frontal 2110 Op. oit., Vol. I. p. 72. ~1 VoyrLges en Afrique, t. I. ot II. :~~~2 HiHtoiro ct 0l'igino des Foulahs ou Follans. P11r Gustavo d'Eichthal-in M<Smoiros do ln. Sooi<StcS Ethnologiquo, t. I. 2611 Notes on Northern Africa, tho Sahara and Soudan. Dy Wm. D. IIodgson. Now York, 1844.. 2M Op. cit., pp. 74-75. 0 F T II E U A C E S 0 F llf E N . 32!) region back towards tho occiput, which is :flat and sl1clving. The two l1~lvcs. o~ the ~s frontis form a double inclin c1 plane, whose summ1t comCJd a With tbo sagittal suture. Tho basis cranii is full an~ rot~nd, and . the mastoid processes large; nasal bones flat, and fallmg m below the glabella; orbits large, and wid ly scparatccl; m.alar bones laterally pr mincnt. This latt t' feature, in conjunctio 11 With t~1e double inclination of tho os feontis, gives to th~ head a pyram1dal form. Tl1o superior maxilla is disti11CLly evert d at tho alvcola.r ma1·gi~. .Anoth r head of tho sam tribe is longer and J1arro\~Cl·, and, 1n ~onsc~ucnco of the flatness of the malar bonos, hal'l lcRs o~ the pyra:n](lal form.- 'l'he calvaria of a Pcssah skull (No. 1.0?5) 1s .oblong m figure; tho for head :flat, and receding; supcrCihmy r1<lgcs 1~onclcrous; malar boneR large and flat; upper jaw cvcl'tc<l; lower ,Jaw retracted, ocdput protuberant. In a Kroo head (No. 1008), I find tho_foro~ead broad and J1igh; the calvarial' g11- larly arched, aJJd hamng 1ts greatest diameter bctw en tllC antcl'iOl' and ~nforior parts of th parjctalia; the oc ·ipital r gion ilat an<l sh lv1~1g downwards and 'lorwards to a small foramen mngnum; mast01d processes larg ; face very broad; malar bones shclvi nO' sliO'htl~ like. those of the Eskimo; inter-orbital Apace very Jm·o·c~ upp?r .J.aW slightly everted; teeth rather small, and vertical; zyg - mat1c fossro d p. In another Kroo skull, the v rtcx is flat, tho forehead rcccdent, and the jaws more prognathous. Tl10 calvaria of a Dey skull is nal'row in front and broad posteriorly, with a ilat vertex; face small, r gular, and compact, and, were it not for t11o projection of tl10 superior alveolus, might be considered as almoHt E11ropoan. The skull of an Eboo (No. 1102), presents chm·aut rs similar to those jnst cl tailed. It docs not coincide with the physical dcscri1 tiona of th so pcopl recorded by 0.LDl!'IELD in tl1o London Mf'dical and 8u?'!}£cal Journal (October, 1835), and by EDWARD· in l1is History of tlw West Ind£es, bnt is chiefly remarkable for the O'J'Cnt obliquity of the orbital opening, and the unusual smallness of tJ 10 mastoid processes. Between N rth and South Guinea, tho Kamcrun Mountains appear to form a natural ethnographic Hno of divjsion, rising w> th y do some fomtecn thousand feet above t},c s a-level, and prt'scn t i ng ·upon their nol'th rn aspect tl1o Oll Kaharclian Jangnag<', and upon tlt it· sonthot'l1, tho Duali-two dial cts whicl1, accordin<:r to Mt·. WrLSON, arc as dill:orcnt from each other, with the cxc piio~ of a f w words that tl1cy l1avo borrowed by frequent inter-communication, ns any two dialects tl1at might be Rcloctccl from the remotest parts of the country. All alonO' the coast, from tho Ka1norun to tho Cape of Good Hoi c, an extraordinary diversity of pl1ysical type pre- |