Note 1550 — Chapter XII · THE SEXUAL SELECTION OF MAN: TYPICAL BEAUTY

This rule does not hold good for all races. Speaking of the natives of King George’s Sound, Cook remarks (‘Voyage to the Pacific Ocean,’ vol. ii. p. 303) that ‘the women are nearly of the same size, colour, and form, with the men; from whom it is not easy to distinguish them.’ Ellis states (‘Polynesian Researches,’ vol. i. p. 81) that, among the Tahitians, the difference between the stature of the male and female sex is not so great as that which often prevails in Europe. Diodorus Siculus says (loc. cit. book v. ch. xxxii. § 2) that the Gallic women were as tall as the men; and Dr. Fritsch asserts (loc. cit. p. 398) the same with reference to the Bushman women of South Africa. Among the Californian Shastika, according to Mr. Powers (loc. cit. p. 244), the women are even ‘larger and stronger-featured, and in every way more respectable,’ than the men. Cf. Burton, ‘First Footsteps,’ p. 118 (Somals).