Note 144 — Chapter XVII · ORIGIN OF THE FULANI

Barth, Baikie, Gray, Monteil, Mollien, De Giraudon, Callié, &c., vie with one another in their enthusiasm over the beauty of the Fulani woman of pure blood, which is all the more pronounced in view of their ethnic surroundings. Barth speaks of young Fulani girls whose forms “recall the finest Grecian sculptury.” “The women are very beautiful, and possess strange powers of fascination in their large deep eyes,” says Monteil. “The women in particular,” remarks Gray, “might vie in point of figure with the finest forms in Europe, and their walk is particularly majestic.” “The Fulani women, many of whose countenances are resplendent with a veritable beauty” (Reclus).