Page:Atlantis - The Antediluvian World (1882).djvu/423

Rh 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 Phœnician 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."

Spix and Martius, the German travellers, depict the Moors as follows:

"A high forehead, an oval countenance, large, speaking, black eyes, shaded by arched and strong eyebrows, a thin, rather long, but not too pointed nose, rather broad lips, meeting in an acute angle, brownish-yellow complexion, thick, smooth, and black hair, and a stature greater than the middle height."

Hodgson states:

"The Tuarycks are a white people, of the Berber race; the Mozabiaks are a remarkably white people, and mixed with the Bedouin Arabs. The Wadreagans and Wurgelans are of a dark bronze, with woolly hair."