We thus see how widely the different races of man differ in their taste
for the beautiful. In every nation sufficiently advanced to have made
effigies of their gods or of their deified rulers, the sculptors no
doubt have endeavoured to express their highest ideal of beauty and
grandeur. (67. Ch. Comte has remarks to this effect in his Traite de
Legislation, 3rd ed. 1837, p. 136.) Under this point of view it is
well to compare in our mind the Jupiter or Apollo of the Greeks with
the Egyptian or Assyrian statues; and these with the hideous
bas-reliefs on the ruined buildings of Central America.
I have met with very few statements opposed to this conclusion. Mr.
Winwood Reade, however, who has had ample opportunities for
observation, not only with the negroes of the West Coast of Africa, but
with those of the interior who have never associated with Europeans, is
convinced that their ideas of beauty are ON THE WHOLE the same as ours;
and Dr. Rohlfs writes to me to the same effect with respect to Bornu
and the countries inhabited by the Pullo tribes. Mr. Reade found that
he agreed with the negroes in their estimation of the beauty of the
native girls; and that their appreciation of the beauty of European
women corresponded with ours. They admire long hair, and use artificial
means to make it appear abundant; they admire also a beard, though
themselves very scantily provided. Mr. Reade feels doubtful what kind
of nose is most appreciated; a girl has been heard to say, I do not
want to marry him, he has got no nose ; and this shews that a very flat
nose is not admired. We should, however, bear in mind that the
depressed, broad noses and projecting jaws of the negroes of the West
Coast are exceptional types with the inhabitants of Africa.
Notwithstanding the foregoing statements, Mr. Reade admits that negroes
do not like the colour of our skin; they look on blue eyes with
aversion, and they think our noses too long and our lips too thin. He
does not think it probable that negroes would ever prefer the most
beautiful European woman, on the mere grounds of physical admiration,
to a good-looking negress. (68. The African Sketch Book, vol. ii.
1873, pp. 253, 394, 521. The Fuegians, as I have been informed by a
missionary who long resided with them, consider European women as
extremely beautiful; but from what we have seen of the judgment of the
other aborigines of America, I cannot but think that this must be a
mistake, unless indeed the statement refers to the few Fuegians who
have lived for some time with Europeans, and who must consider us as
superior beings. I should add that a most experienced observer, Capt.
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