The Placer herald., 1866-09-22
THE NEGRO,

In special number of the Popular Mag
azine of Anthropology." by Commander
Bedford PIN, R. N, we have paper read
before the Anthropological Society Of Lon
don. For five thousand years, as Egyptian
sculptures prove, the negro has been more
or less in constant contact with high forms
Of civilization, and during that period he has
never emerged from the lowest social posi-
ton; never given to the world an idea of the
remotest value in art, science or literature;
never shown the slightest capacity, even, for
self-govarnment. Is he then, to be put on
an. equality with the white race! Certainly
not-uuIess by those who look back with
reverence to progenitor in the ape. Aorel
over, the negro will on y labor when coerc
ed. Left to himself, he is merely incorrigi.
bic lazy, but vicious and cruel IG jutapo-
sition with manoriy Of whites, his domi
nant idea is that Of extermnating them and
possessing their goods. In passions he is
brute, in capacity child Years ago, in
total ignorance Of the subject, we fanced, as
some do now, that ',was a mere question of
skin, and that, give the negro fair chance,
he would run parallel with the white man.
We acknow ledge cur mistake. Long and
unbiased s.uAy Of the matter has convinced
US that the negro, left alone, relapses, Ger
anly, into his o1ignsi barbarism, and is
about as safe a neghbor as a wild beast
We here give description Of eQme I'm
Gle Toms in the rough.
There were two towns at Digby governed
by cousins, and this mercantile venture gave
rise to a feud between them " hich ended in
war, in which Captain Canot himself,
though not siding With either party, was ia,
ken prisoner. After describing the battle
he says: "A palaver house Immediately in
front of my quarters was the general rende
vous and scarcely bushnan appeared with
out the body of some manned and bleeding
victim. The mangled but living captives
were lumbled on heap in the center, and
soon every avenue to the square was crowd
ed with exulting savages. Rum was brought
forth 10 abundance for the chiefs. Present.
y, slowly approaching from distance, l
heard the drums, horns and war-belIs, and
in less than fifteen minutes procession of
women, whose naked limbs were smeared
with chalk and ocbre poured into the palav-
er house to join the beastly rites. Each Of
the devils were armed With knife aud bore
in her hand some cannibal trophy. The
wife Of Jen Ken lthe leader Of one party), a
corpulent wretch of forty>fve, dragged along
the ground, by single limb, the Shiny
corpse of an infant ripped alive from its
mothers womb. As her eyes met those Of
her husband, the two fends yelled forth a
shout Of mutual joy, while the teless babe
was tossed 10 the air, and caught AS it de
scended, upon lhe point of a spear Then
came the refreshments, in the shape Of rum,
powder and blood, ich was quatted by the
brutes till they reeled off, with Iinked hands,
in wild dance around the pile of victims.
As the women leaped and sang, he men ap-
piauded and encouraged. Soon the ring was
broken, and with a yell each female Ieaped
on the body of a wounded prisoner, and
commenced the final sacrifice with the mock.
ely of ascivious embraces. in my wander
ings in African forests have offer seen the
Tiger pounce upon its prey, and with lnsllnc-
tive thirst, salia,e its app' tite for blood, and
abandon the drained corpse; but these Afr-
can negresses were neither as decent or as
merciful as the beast OF the Wilderness -
Their malionant pleasure seemed TO consist
in the invention of torlures that would or
yanize but not slay. There was deviIisb
spell in the tragic scene that fascinated my
eyes to the spot. A slow, lingering, tor
mentiug mu,ilaton was practiced on the
living as we'll as on the dead, and in every
instance the brutality of the women exceeded
that of the men. | cannot picture the hell
ish glee with which they passed from body to
body, dig ging out eyes, wrenching off lips,
tearing the ears, and slicinc the flesh from
the quivering bones; while the queen of the
harpies crept amid the butcherv, gathering
The brains from each skull as bonne bouche
for the approaching feast"
A Cincinnati paper, in speaking Of the
cholera in that city, says it is very remark
able coincidence that the caterpillars which
heretofore destroyed the trees and sbubbery
during the summer months, have not made
their appearance this year; and the same
phenomenon occurred in l849, when the
cholera was so fatal.
The Bishop Of Wurizburg once asked 4
sprighty shepherd boy: "What are yon do