[26] If Noah's utterance were to be regarded as a prophecy, it applied
only to the Canaanites, the descendants of Canaan, Noah's grandson.
Nothing is said in reference to any person but Canaan in the supposed
prophecy.




CHAPTER II.

THE NEGRO IN THE LIGHT OF PHILOLOGY, ETHNOLOGY, AND EGYPTOLOGY.

CUSHIM AND ETHIOPIA.--ETHIOPIANS, WHITE AND BLACK.--NEGRO
CHARACTERISTICS.--THE DARK CONTINENT.--THE ANTIQUITY OF THE
NEGRO.--INDISPUTABLE EVIDENCE.--THE MILITARY AND SOCIAL
CONDITION OF NEGROES.--CAUSE OF COLOR.--THE TERM ETHIOPIAN.


There seems to be a great deal of ignorance and confusion in the use
of the word "Negro;"[27] and about as much trouble attends the proper
classification of the inhabitants of Africa. In the preceding chapter
we endeavored to prove, not that Ham and Canaan were the progenitors
of the Negro races,--for that is admitted by the most consistent
enemies of the blacks,--but that the human race is _one_, and that
Noah's curse was not a divine prophecy.

The term "Negro" seems to be applied chiefly to the dark and
woolly-haired people who inhabit Western Africa. But the Negro is to
be found also in Eastern Africa.[28] Zonaras says, "Chus is the person
from whom the Cuseans are derived. They are the same people as the