CHAPTER VIII MAN IN THE SUDAN At this point it may be well to glance at the history of some of the tribes who now inhabit the countries we enter, or what is known of or guessed at in regard to it.

The student inevitably comes to the conclusion that guesswork greatly preponderates.

The earliest remains found, probably neolithic, long anterior to earliest Egyptian history, are in Egypt and Somaliland, and a mummy now in the British Museum, found in Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, though light in colour and fair-haired, lies on its side, with legs bent up against its body, and head supported, in the identical position of some prehistoric remains uncovered at Harlyn Bay, Cornwall.

The main points of theories naturally rest, firstly, on an assumption that the human race originated beyond the Euphrates, from thence spreading over the world, perhaps in the first instance in Africa in the form of pigmies and bushmen, then Hottentots, who have in the course of known history been driven farther and farther back into forest or desert 147 10—2