Negro

Negro (Span. Black), a term popularly synonymous with "African," but in ethnology restricted to that section of mankind that is specially distinguished by its dark complexion, which, however,: is rarely a true black. There are two main divisions, the Eastern or Oceanic, for which see Papuans, and the Western or Continental, i.e. the Negroes proper of the African continent. Here also there are two main divisions, the Southern, for which see Bantu, and the Central of Sudan, i.e. Bilad-es-Sudan, "Land of the Blacks," Negritia, Negroland, to which the typical African Negro is mainly confined. Even in this region, which ethnologically includes Upper Guinea, the White Nile, Welle, and Shari basins, the black aborigine shave been largely encroached upon, mainly by the Berber and Galla Hamites, and the Arab Semites,. with whom extensive intermingiings have taken place. Hence many of the Sudanese populations who pass for Negroes are really Negroid, showing all the shades of transition between the true Negroand the Caucasic Hamites and Semites. Such especially are the Fulahs of west Sudan, not originally Negroes at all [Fulahs], the Hausasand Kanuri of central Sudan, the Mabas of Waday, the Furs of Dar-Fur, the Nubians of the Nile-Valley, and many branches of the historical Sonrhay and Mandingan peoples. In general,. wherever Mohammedan culture has been of long standing, miscegenation may always be suspected,. and may be said to coincide with the prevalence of costume properly so-called, and of stone structures, for the true Negro never goes clothed, as do the Moslem Mandingans and Kanuri, and never raises stone buildings, such as those of Timbuktu, Kano, Katsena, and other Sonrhay and Hausa cities. With these reservations the Negro race proper will be found mainly confined to the western seaboard from the Senegal to the Niger delta, to a large part of the region enclosed by the great northern bend of the Niger; to the Upper Nile basin between the Sobat confluence and Lake Albert Nyanza; to nearly the whole of the Welle-Ubanghi basin, to the regions about the Congo, Chad, and Nile-Congo water-partings, and generally throughout South Sudan from the Niger delta eastwards to Dar-Fertit, Senaar, and South Kordofan. In all these lands the Negro type proper is found either exclusively or amongst the immense majority of the natives. Its chief characteristics are: dolichocephalic, i.e. long narrow head, with some important exceptions in the Nile and Welle basins where the Bongos, Zandehs [Niam-Niam], and others have round heads; black, woolly hair, mostly rather long, flat in transverse section, and distributed evenly over the scalp; scant or no beard; smooth, silky, and very dark brown skin, black or almost black amongst the Wolofs of Senegambia, the Nubas of Kordofan, the Nilotic Shilluks, and a few other groups; broad, flat nose; prominent cheekbones; thick, everted lips showing the red inner skin in marked contrast to the white teeth; large, black, round and prominent eye, with yellowish cornea, co-ordinate with a distinct yellowish tinge on the palms and soles; "larkspur" heels; large, massive, and even herculean frames, with thick skulls, but weak legs and long arms.