alomon, who has been cited as
a model of that which the negro race could produce, did not belong to
that race; he was a Foulah."[F]

[Footnote F: _Memoires de la Societe Ethnologique_, Tom. I. Ptie 2, p.
147.]

D'Eichthal develops at great length his theory, that the Foulahs are
descended from some Eastern people of strong Malay characters, who found
their way to their present site through Madagascar, along the coast, to
Cordofan, Darfour, and Haoussa. They are bronzed, or copper-colored, or
like polished mahogany,--the red predominating over the black. Their
forms are tall and slim, with small hands and feet, thin curved noses,
long hair braided into several queues, and an erect profile. Certain
negro traits do not exist in them.

Burmeister, who saw Ira Aldridge, the Foulah actor, play in Macbeth,
Othello, and his other famous parts, saw nothing negro about him, except
the length of his arm, the shrillness of his voice in excitement, the
terrible animality of the murder-scenes, and his tendency to exaggerate.
"The bright-colored nails were very evident, and his whole physiognomy,
in spite of his beard, was completely negro-like."[G]

[Footnote G: _The Comparative Anatomy and Physiology of the African
Negro_, by Hermann Burmeister.]

But if Ira Aldridge's exaggerated style of acting points to an African
origin, would it not be better, if some of our distinguished actors, who
are presumptively white before the foot-lights, took out free-papers at
once? We have seen Macbeth and Othello so "created" by the Caucasian
models of the stage, that but one line of Shakspeare remained in our
memory, and narrowly escaped the lips,--"Out, hyperbolical fiend!"

It is not unlikely that the Felatah was mixed with Moorish or Kabylic
blood to make the Foulah. If so, it proves the important fact, that,
when the good qualities of the negro are crossed with a more advanced
race, the product will be marked with intelligence, mobility, spiritual
traits, and an organizing capacity. Felatah blood has mixed with white
blood in the Antilles; the Jolof and the Eboe have yielded primitive
affections and excellences to a new mulatto breed. This great question
of the civilizable qualities of a race cannot be decided by quoting
famous isolated cases belonging to pure breeds, but only by observing
and comparing the average quality of the pure or mixed.

When we approach the Slave Coast itself, strong contrasts in appearance
and culture are obs