Now, if the
unquestioned works of man should be found to be coeval with the remains
of fossilized existing animals in Southern Africa, the travelled
geographer, who has convinced himself of the ancient condition of its
surface, must admit, however unwillingly, that although the black man is
of such very remote antiquity, he has been very stationary in
civilization and in attaining the arts of life, if he be compared with
the Caucasian, the Mongolian, the Red Indian of America, or even with
the aborigines of Polynesia." ("The most remarkable proof of the
inferiority of the Negro, when compared with the Asiatic, is, that
whilst the latter has domesticated the elephant for ages, and rendered
it highly useful to man, the Negro has only slaughtered the animal to
obtain food or ivory.")
CHAPTER XIX.
THE BLACK ANTELOPE.
We continued our voyage down the Nile, at times scudding along with a
fair wind and stream, when a straight portion of the river allowed our
men respite from the oars. This was the termination of the dry season,
in this latitude 7 degrees (end of March);--thus, although the river
was nearly level with the banks, the marshes were tolerably firm, and in
the dryer portions the reeds had been burnt off by the natives. In one
of these cleared places we descried a vast herd of antelopes, numbering
several thousands.
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