Encyclopaedia Britannica [2, 4 ed.]

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AME
AME
AME
AME
AME
AME
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AMI
AMS
ANA
ANA
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ANC
ANG
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ANI
ANS
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DICTIONARY

ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS

LITERATURE;

ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.

THE FOURTH EDITION.

JUujstratcD toitl) neatly sir IjunOreQ ©ngratiings.

VOL. II.

INDOCTI DISCANT ; AA1ENT MEMINISSE PERITI.

EDINBURGH: Printed by Andrew Bell, the Proprietor, FOR ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND COMPANY, EDINBURGH; AND i OR VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE, LON DON. 1810.

ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA,

America. A MERICA (from Americas Vefputius, falfely Lid '‘““““■v*-—^ Jr\. to be the firft difcoverer of the continent) ; one of the four quarters of the world, probably the largeft of the whole, and from its late difcovery frequently denominated the New World. x Bgundaries. This vaft country extends from the 8oth degree of north, to the 56th degree of fouth latitude; and, where its breadth is known, from the 35th to the 136th degree weft longitude from London ; ftretching between 8000 and 9000 miles in length, and in its greateft breadth 3690. It fees both hemifpheres, has two fummers and a double winter, and enjoys all the variety of climates which the earth aftords# It is wafhed by the two great oceans. To the eaftward it has the Atlantic, which divides it from Europe and Africa ; to the weft it has the Pacific or Great South fea, by which it is feparated from Afia. By thefe feas it may, and does, carry on a direft commerce with the other three parts of the world. North and America is not of equal breadth throughout its whole South con- extent; but is divided into two great continents, called tinent. North and South America, by an ifthmus 1 500 miles long, and which at Darien, about Lat. 90 N. is only 60 miles over. This ifthmus forms with the northern and fouthern continents, a vaft gulf, in which lie a great number of iflands, called the Wejl Indies, in contradiftiinftion to the eaftern parts of Afia, which are called the Eajl Indies. Remark-! Between the New World and the Old, there are feable preva- yeral very ftriking differences ; but the moft remarkable

cold? °f

climate, though more fimilar to that of the torrid zone in other parts of the earth, is neverthelefs confiderably . milder than in thofe countries of Afia and Africa w'hich lie in the fame latitude. From the fouthern tropic to the extremity of the American continent, the cold is faid to be much greater than in parallel northern latitudes even of America itfelf. I or this fo remarkable difference between the climate of the new continent and the old, various caufes have been affigned by different authors. The following is the opinion of the learned Dr Robertfon on this fubjeeft. “ Though the utmoft extent of America to-^ 4 wards the north be not yet difeovered, we know thatfon’frea

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nearer t0 the pole than either A Europe or Superior fons for this Aha. The latter have large feas to the north, which deare open during part of the year ; and, even when co-Sr'e of yered with ice, the wind that blows over them is lefs S™ mtenfely cold than that which blows over land in the lame latitudes. But, in America, the land ftretches vol. i. p. rom the river St Lawrence towards the pole, and Ipreads out immenfely to the weft. A chain of enormous mountains, covered with fnow and ice runs through all this dreary region. The wind palling over inch an extent of high and frozen land, becomes fo impregnated with cold, that it acquires a piercing keenn . , which it retains in its progrefs through warmer climates ; and is not entirely mitigated until it reach the gulf of Mexico. Over all the continent of North America, a north-wefterly wind and exceffive cold are lynonymous terms. Even in the moft fultry weather 18 the £et*eralofPredominance of coldwrethroughout the the moment that the wind veers to that quarter, its pe? whole extent America. 1 hough cannot, in any netrating influence is felt in a tranfition from heat to country, determine the precife degree of heat merely cold no lefs violent than hidden. To this powerful by the diftance of the equator, becaufe the elevation cau e we may afenbe the extraordinary dominion of above the fea, the nature of the foil, &c. affecl the cli- cold, and its violent inroads into the fouthern provinces mate ; yet, in the ancient continent, the heat is much in that part of the globe. more in proportion to the vicinity to the equator than . Other caules, no lefs remarkable, diminilh the acin any part of America. Here the rigour of the frigid tive power of heat in thofe parts of the American conzone extends over half that which Ihould be temperate by its polition. Even in thofe latitudes where the win- tinent which he between the tropics. In all that portion of the globe, the wind blows in an invariable diter is icarcely felt on the old continent, it reigns with rection irom eaft to weft., As this wind holds its courfe great feverity in America, though during a ihort pe- across the ancient continent, it arrives at the countries riod. Nor does this cold, prevalent in the new' world, which ftretch along the weftern there of Africa, inflamconfine itfelf to the temperate zones ; but extends its’ ed with all the fiery particles which it hath colkaed influence to the torrid zone alio, confiderably mitigat- from the fultry plains of Afia, and the burning fands ing the excels of its heat. Along the eafteru coart, the m the African deferts. The coaft of Africa is accordVox.. II. Part I.

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, Areenca. ingly the region of the earth which feels the moft fer"v ' vent heat, and is expofed to the unmitigated ardour of the torrid zone. But this fame wind, which brings fuch an acceflion of warmth to the countries lying between the river of Senegal and Caffraria, traverfes the Atlantic ocean before it reaches the American fliore. It is cooled in its paffage over this vaft body of water ; and is felt as a refreshing gale along the coails of Brafil and Guiana, rendering thofe countries, though amongft the warmed in America, temperate, when compared with thofe which lie oppofite to them in Africa. As this wind. advances in its courfe acrofs America, it meets with immenfe plains covered with impenetrable forefts j or occupied by large rivers, marlhes, and Stagnating waters, where it can recover no considerable degree of heat. At length it arrives at the Andes, which run from north to South through the whole continent. In paSling over their elevated and frozen Summits, it is So. thoroughly cooled, that the greater part of the countries beyond them hardly feel the ardour to which they feem expofed by their fituation. In the other provinces of America, from Terra Firma w'elhvard to the Mexican empire, the heat of the climate is tempered, in fome places, by the elevation of the land above the ft a; iu others, by their extraordinary humidity ; and in all, by the enormous mountains Scattered over this tradh The islands of America in the torrid zone are either fmall or mountainous, and are fanned alternately by refreshing fea and land breezes. “ The caufes of the extraordinary cold towards the fouthern limits of America, and in the Teas beyond it, cannot be afeertained in a manner equally Satisfying. It was long fuppofed, that a vaSl continent, distinguished by the name of Terra Aujlralis Incognita, lay between the fouthern extremity of America and the antarftic pole. M he fame principles which account for the extraordinary degree of cold in the northern regions of America, were employed in order to explain that which is felt at Cape Horn and the adjacent countries. The immenfe extent of the Southern continent, and the rivers w'hich it poured into the ocean, ivere mentioned and admitted by philofopbers as caufes Sufficient to occafion the unufual fenfation of cold, and the Bill more uncommon appearances of frozen Seas in that region of the globe. But the imaginary continent to which fuch influence was aferibed having been Searched for in vain, and the Space which it v/as fuppofed to occupy having been found to be an open fea, new' conje&ures mult be formed W'ith refpeft to the caufes of a temperature of climate, fo extremely different from that which w'e experience in countries removed at the fame diltance from the opposite pole. “ The moft obvious and probable caufe of this Su451 *ote xxxu perior degree of cold towards the fouthern extremity of America, feems to be the form of the continent there. Its breadth gradually decreafes as it ftretches from St Antonio Southwards 5 and from the bay of St Julian to the ftraits of Magellan its dimenfions are much contra&ed. On the eaft and weft Sides, it is w’alhed by the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. From its fouthern point, it is probable that an open fea ftretches to the antarftic pole. In whichever of thefe directions the wind blows, it is cooled before it approaches the Magellanic regions, by pafling over a vaft body of water i nor is the land there of fuch exter.t? that it can

predion of thofe times, a pope made an original bull, in which he declared, that being defirous of founding bifhoprics in the richeft countries of America, it pleafed him and the Holy Spirit to acknowledge the Americans to be true men : in fo far, that without this decifion of an Italian, the inhabitants of the new world would have appeared, even at this day, to the eyes of the faithful, a race of equivocal men. There is no example of fuch a decifion fince this globe has been inhabited by men and apes.” Upon this paffage the Abbe animadverts, as being a fingular inftance of calumny and mifreprefentation ; and gives the following hiftory of the decifion alluded to. ^ “ Some of the firft Europeans wbo eftablilhed them-0CCaiionof felves in America, not lefs powerful than avaricious, the famou* defirous of enriching themfelves to the detriment of the bull of Americans, kept them continually employed, and made Paiu ufe of them as flaves; and in order to avoid the reproaches which -were made them by the bilhops and miftionaries who inculcated humanity, and the giving liberty to thofe people to get themfelves inftrufted in religion, that they might do their duties towards the church and their families, alleged, that the Indians were by nature Haves, and incapable of being inftrufted ; and many other falfehoods of which the chronicler Herrera makes mention againft them. Thofe zealous ecclefiaftics being unable, either by their authority or preaching, to free thofe unhappy converts from the tyranny of fuch mifers, had recourfe to the Catholic kings, and at laft obtained from their juftice and clemency thofe laws, as favourable to the Americans as honourable to the court of Spain, that compofe the Indian code, which were chietly due to the indefatigable zeal of the bilhop de las Cafas. On another fide, Garces bilhop of Tlafcala, knowing that thofe Spaniards bore, notwithftanding their perverfity, a great refpedl to the decifions of the vicar of Jefus Chrift, made application in the year 1586 to Pope Paul III. by that famous letter of which we have made mention; reprefenting tohim the evils which the Indians fuffered from the wicked Chriftians, and praying him to interpofe his authority in their behalf. The pope, moved by fuch heavy remonftrances, defpatched the next year the original bull, a faithful copy of which we have here fubjoined (A), which was not made, as is manifeft, to declare the

(A) Paulus papa III. univerfis Chrifti Fidelibus prefentes Literas infpe&uris Salutem et Apoftolicam Benediefionem—“ Veritas ipfa, quae nec falli nec fallere poteft, cum Praedicatores lidei ad ofticium praedicationis deftinaret, dixiffe dignofeitur : Euntes docete omnes gentes ; omnes, dixit, abfque omni deledtu, cum omnes Fidei difeiplina capaces exiftant. Quod videns et invidens ipfius human! generis aemulus, qui bonis openbus, ut pereant, femper adverfatur, modum excogitavit haftenus inauditum, quo impediret, ne \ erbum Dei Gentibus, ut falvae fierent, praedicaretur : ut quofdam fuos fatellites commovit, qui fuam cupiditatem adimplere cupientes, Occidentales et Meridionales Indos, et alias Gentes, quae temporibus iftis ad noftram notitiam pervenerunt, fub praetextu quod Fidei Catholicae expertes exiftant, uti bruta animalia, ad noftra obfequia redigendos effe, paflim afferere praefumant, et eps in fervkutem redigunt, tantis afflidionibus illos urgentes, quantis vix bruta animalia

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But although we Ihould fuppofe, that, in the torrid Americas* America. the Americans true men ; for fuch a piece of weak* nefs was very diitant from that or any other pope : but climates of the new world, as well as in thofe of the ' folely to fupport the natural rights of the Americans old, efpecially under the additional depreflion of 11aagainlt the attempts of their opprefibrs, and to con- very, there was an inferiority of the mental powers, ^ demn the injuftice and inhumanity of thofe, who, un- the Chilefe and the North Americans have difeovered der the pretence of fuppofing thefe people idolatrous, higher rudiments of human excellence and ingenuity or incapable of being imlru&ed, took from them their than have ever been known among tribes in a fimilar property and their liberty, and treated them as Haves Hate of fociety in any part of the world. M. de Paw affirms, that the Americans were unacand beails. 59 If at firft the Americans were deemed fatyrs, no- quainted with the uie of money, and quotes the followF.eprefentatioti of body can better prove it than Chriftepher Columbus, ing well-known paffage from Montefquieu : “ Imagine Cslumbus. their difcoverer. Let us hear, therefore, how that ceto yourfelf, that, by fome accident, you are placed in lebrated admiral fpeaks, in his account to the Catholic an unknown country ; if you find money there, do not fovereigns Ferdinand and Ifabella, of the firlt fatyrs he doubt that you are arrived among a poliftied people.” faw in the illand of Haiti or Hifpamola. “ I fwear,” But if by money we are to underftand a piece of metal he fays, “ to your majelties, that there is not a better- with the ftamp of the prince or the public, the want of. people in the world than thefe, more affe&ionate, af- it in a nation is no token of barbarity. The Athefable, or mild. They love their neighbours as them- nians employed oxen for money, as the Romans did felves: their language is the fweeteft, the fofteft, and (heep. The Romans had no coined money till the time the molt cheerful j for they always fpeak fmiling ; and of Servius Tullius, nor the Perfians until the reign of although they go naked, let your majefties believe me, Darius Hyftafpes. But if by money is underftood a their cuiloms are very becoming j and their king, who fign reprefenting the value of merchandife, the Mexiis ferved -with great majefty, has fuclr engaging man- cans, and other nations of Anahuac, employed money ners, that it gives great pleafure to fee him, and in their commerce. The cacao, of which they made alfo to confider the retentive faculty of that people, conftant ufe in the market to purchafe whatever they r and their defire of knowdedge, which incites them to w anted, was employed for this purpofe, as fait is in Abyffima. alk the caufes and the effects of things.” 60 “ We have had intimate commerce with the AmeriIt has been affirmed that ftone bridges were unknown Conclufions concerning cans (continues the Abbe) j have lived for fome years in America when it was firft difeovered ; and that the the capaci- in a feminary deltined for their inftruftion 5 faw the enatives did not know how to form arches. But thefe ties of the affertions are erroneous. The remains of the ancient reiffion and progrefs of the royal college of Guadaloupe, Americans. founded in Mexico by a Mexican Jefuit, for the edu- palaces of Tezcuco, and ftill more their vapour baths, cation of Indian children had afterwards fome Indians ffiow the ancient ufe of arches and vaults among the amongft our pupils; had particular knowledge of many Mexicans. But the ignorance of this art would have American redtors, many nobles, and numerous artifts ; been no proof of barbarity. Neither the Egyptians nor attentively obferved their charabler, their genius, their Babylonians underftood the conftruftion of arches. M. de Paw affirms, that the palace of Montezuma difpofition, and manner of thinking; and having examined befides, with the utmoft diligence, their ancient was nothing elfe than a hut. But it is certain, from hiftory, their religion, their government, their laws, the affirmation of all the hiftorians of Mexico, that the and their cuttoms: After fuch long experience and ftu- army under Cortes, confifting of 6400 men, was all dy of them, from which we imagine ourfelves enabled lodged in the palace ; and there remained ftill fufficient ^ to decide without danger of erring, we declare to M. room for Montezuma and his attendants. The advances which the Mexicans had made in the Tokens of de Paw, and to all Europe, that the mental qualities of the Americans are not in the leaft inferior to thofe of ftudy of aftronomy is perhaps the moft furprifing proof Mence. the Europeans; that they are capable of all, even the of their attention and fagacity; for it appears from mod abitraft fciences; and that, if equal care was taken Abbe Clavigero’s hiftory, that they not only counted of their education, if they were brought up from child- 365 days to the year, but alfo knew of the excels hood in feminaries under good mafters, were protebled of about fix hours in the folar over the civil year, and ftimulated by rewards, we fhould fee rife among and remedied the difference by means of intercalary the Americans, philofophers, mathematicians, and di- days. * vines, who would rival the firft in Europe.” Of American morality, the following exhortation of C 2 a illis fervientia urgeant. Nos igitur, qui ejufdem Domini noftri vices, licet indigni, gerimus in terris, et Oves gregis fui nobis commiffas, quse extra ejus Ovile funt, ad ipfum Oyile toto nixu exquirimus, attendentes Indos ipfos, utpote veros homines, non folum Chriilianae Fidei capaces exiftere, fed, ut nobis innotuit, ad Fidem ipfam promptiffime currere, ac volentes fuper his congruis remediis providere, praediclos Indos et omnes alias gentes ad notitiam Chriftianorum in pofterum deventuras, licet extra fidem Chrifti exiftant, fua libertate et dominio hujufmodi uti, et potiri, et gaudere libere, et licite poffe, nec in fervitutem redigi debere, ac quicquid fecus fieri contigerit irritum et inane, ipfofque Indos, et alias Gentes Verbi Dei praedicatione, et exemplo bonae vitae ad diiftam Fidem Chrifti invitandos fore. Auftoritate Apoftolica per praefentes literas decernimus, et declaramus, non obftantibus premiffis, cmterifque contrariis quibulcunque.” Datum Romae anno 1537* IV. Non. lun. Pontificatus noftri anno III. Qmefta, ^ non altra e qjjfella famofa bolla, per la quale s’ e fatto un fi grande fchiamazzo.

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a Mexican to his fon may ferve as a fpecimen. “ My fon, who art come into the light from the womb of thy m Specimen other like a chicken from the egg, and like it art of their mo- preparing to fly through the world, we know not how rality. long Heaven will grant to us the enjoyment of that precious gem which we pofTefs in thee ; but however fhort the period, endeavour to live exaffly, praying God continually to affift thee. He created thee : thou art hix property. He is thy father, and loves thee flill more than 1 do : repofe in him thy thoughts, and day and night direfl thy fighs to him. Reverence and falute thy elders, and hold no one in contempt. To the poor and diftrefled be not dumb, but rather ufe words of comfort. Honour all perfons, particularly thy parents, to'whom thou oweft obedience, refpeft, and fervice. Guard againft imitating the example of thofe wicked fons, who, like brutes that are deprived of i-eafon, neither reverence their parents, liften to their inRruftion, nor fubmit to their correcfion 5 becaufe whoever follows their fteps will have an unhappy end, will die in a defperate or fudden manner, or will be killed and devoured by wild beads. “ Mock not, my fon, the aged or the imperfeft. Scorn not him whom you fee fall into fome folly or tranfgreffion, nor make him reproaches; but reftrain thyfelf, and beware left thou fall into the fame error which offends thee in another. Go not where thou art not called, nor interfere in that which does not concern thee. Endeavour to manifeft thy good breeding in all thy words and aftions. In converfation, do not lay thy hands upon another, nor fpeak too much, nor interrupt or difturb another’s difcourfe. When any one difcourfes with thee, hear him attentively, and hold thyfelf in an eafy attitude, neither playing with thy feet, nor putting thy mantle to thy mouth, nor fpitting too often, nor looking about you here and there, nor rifmg up frequently, if thou art fitting ; for fuch actions are indications of levity and low breeding.”—He proceeds to mention feveral particular vices which are to be avoided, and concludes,—“ Steal not, nor give thyfelf to gaming •, otherwife thou wilt be a difgrace to thy parents, whom thou oughteft rather to honour for the education they have given thee. If thou wilt be virtuous, thy example will put the wicked to fhame. No more, my fou; enough hath been faid in difeharge of the duties of a father. With thefe eounfels I wifh to fortify thy mind. Refufe them not, nor aft in contradiction to them j for on them thy life and all thy happinefs depend.” Amrnrn.

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cies of living creatures. The caufe of this he aferibes America! to the diminution of heat in America, and to the prevalence of humidity from the extenfion of its lakes and waters over a prodigious furface. In other words, he affirms, that heat is friendly and moijlure adverle to the production and developement of the larger quadrupeds. 6i he hypothefis, that moifture is unfriendly to animal The hypogrowth, Mr Jefferfon ffiows to be contradicted by ob- thefis, that fervation and experience. It is by the affiftance 0fni0ll*ulx\is heat and moifture that vegetables are elaborated from ^anlmaf the elements. Accordingly we find, that the more hiv- growth, mid climates produce plants in greater profufion than confukrtT. the dry. Vegetables are immediately or remotely the food of every animal; and, from the uniform operation of Nature’s laws we difeern, that, in proportion to the quantity of food, animals are not only multiplied in their numbers, but improved in their fize. Of this laft opinion is the count dc Buffon himfelf, in another part of his work : “ En general, il paroit que les pays un pen froids conviennent mieux a nos boeufs que les pays chauds, et qu’ils font d’autant plus gros et plus grands que le climat eft plus humide et plus abondans en paturages. Les bceufs de Danemarc, de la Podolie, de 1’Ukraine, et de la Tartaric qu’habitent les Calmouques, font les plus grands de tons.” 6f. Here, then, a race of animals, and one of the largeft The Contoo, has been increafed in its dimenfions by cold and trary mainmoifture, in direCl oppofition to the hypothefis, which tained by fuppofes that thefe two circumftances diminiffi animal ^ Jefterbulk, and that it is their contraries, heat and drynefs, 01 ‘ which enlarge it. But to try the queftion on more general ground, let us take two portions of the earth, Europe and America for inftance, fufficiently extenfivc to give operation to general caufes; let us confider the circumftances peculiar to each, and obferve their effeCl on animal nature. America, manning through the torrid as well as temperate zone, has more heat colleCHvely taken, than Europe. But Europe, according to our hypothefis, is the drieft. They are equally adapted then to animal productions 5 each being endowed with one of thofe caufes which befriend animal growth, and with one which oppofes it. Let us, then, take a comparative view of the quadrupeds of Europe and America, prefenting them to the eye in three different tables \ in one of which (hall be enumerated thofe found in both countries •, in a fecond, tbofe found in one only 5 in a third, thofe which have been domefticated in both. To facilitate the comparifon, let thofe of each table be arranged in gradation, according to their fizes, from the greateft to the fmalleft, fo far as M° de^uf erc '^'S r"n§*n& on t^e ^lITle the Abbe Clavi- their fizes can be conjeftured. The weights of the , fon con- " g b the, ingenious Mr Jefferfon deferves particular large animals ffiall be exprefled in the Engliffi avoirducerningthe attention. This gentleman, in his Notes on the State pois pound and its decimals; thofe of the fmaller in degeneracy of Virginia, &c. has taken occafion to combat the the ounce and its decimals. Thofe which are mark• el animal opinions of Buffon 5 and feems to have fully refuted ed thus *, are aftual weights of particular fubjefts, America1 them both by argument and faCts. The French phi- deemed among the largeft of their fpecies.. Thofe lofopher afferts, “ That living nature is lefs aCHve, lefs marked thus f, are furnilhed by judicious perfons, well energetic, in the new world than in the old.” He acquainted with the fpecies, and faying, from conjecaffirms, 1. That the animals common to both conti- ture only, what the largeft individual they had feen nents are fmaller in America. 2. That thofe peculiar would probably have weighed. The other weights to the new are on an inferior feale. 3. That thofe are taken from Mefffs Buffon and D’Aubenton, and which have been domefticated in both have degenera- are of fuch fubje&s as came cafuaily to their hands for ted in America. And, 4. That it exhibits fewer fpe- diffe.iStion, “ Comparative

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A TABLE

“ Comparative View of tire Quadrupeds of Europe and of America. TABLE

Europe.

America.

lb.

lb. *1803

J53-7

*413

288.8 167.8 69.8 56-7

*27J

t3° 25* 18.5 13.6

*45

l

3-5

8.9 6.5 2-. 8 2.2 1.9 oz. 7-5 2.2 2.2 1.

Water rat. Rat d’eau Weafel. Belette Flying fquirrel. Polatouche Shrew moul'e. Mufaraigne TABLE

f 12

f6 oz. f4

II. Aboriginals of one only.

EUROPE.

AMERICA. lb.

Sanglier. Wild boar 280. Moudon. Wild fheep 56. Bouquetin. Wild goat Lievre. Flare 7.6 Lapin. Rabbit 3.4 Putois. Polecat 3.3Genette 3.1 Defman. Mulk rat oz. Ecureuil. Squirrel X 2. Hermine. Ermine 8.2 Rat. Rat 7.5 Loirs 3.1 Lerot. Dormoufe 1.8 Toupe. Mole 1.2 Hamfter .9 Zifel Leming Souris. Moufe .6

Am erica}

II. continued. AMERICA. lb.

I. Aboriginals of both.

Mammoth Buffalo. Bifon Wiffterbear. Ours bianc Caribou. Renne Bear. Ours Elk. Elan. Original, palmated Red deer. Cerf. Fallow deer. Daim Wolf. Loup Roe. Chevrtuil Glutton. Glouton. Carcajou Wild cat. Chat fauvage Lynx. Loup cervier Beaver. Callor Badger. Blaireau Red fox. Renard Gray fox. Ifatis Otter. Loutre Monax. Marmotte Vifon. Fouine Eledgehog. Heriffon Martin. Marte

EUROPE.

M E

lb. Tapir 534. Elk, round horned f 450.. Puma Jaguar 2.18. Cabiai 109. Tamanoir 109. Tamandua ^5-4 Cougar of N. Amer. 75. Cougar of S. Amer. 59-4 Ocelot Pecari

4^*3

Jaguaret Alco Lama

43-^

Paco Paca

Serval Sibth. Unau Saricovienne Kincajou Tatou Kabaffou Urforu Urchin

32.7

27^ 21.8

16.5 Raccoon. Raton Coati Coendbu 16.3 I Sloth. Ai 3* Sapajou Ouarini SapajoU Coaita 9-8 Tatou Encubeft Tatou Apar Tatou Cachica Little Coendou 6.; Opoffum. Sarigue Tapeti Margay Crabier Agouti 4.2 Sapajou Sa'i 3.5 Tatou Cirquingon Tatou Tatouate 3.3 Mouffette Squafh Mouffette Chiche Mouftette Conepate. Scunk Mouffette. Zorilla Whabus. Hare. Rabbit Aperea Akouchi Ondatra. Mulk rat Pilori Great gray fquirrel Fox fquirrel of Virginia f 2.62 5 Surikate 2. Mink f2. Sapajou. Sajou 1.8 Indian pig. Cochon d’Inde 1.6 Sapajou. Saimiri 1.3 Phalangcr Coquallin Leffer gray fquirrel fi.5 Black fquirrel Red fquirrel 10.0*. Sagoin Saki Sagoin Pinche Sagoin Tamar in oz. - Sagoin Ouiftiti 4.4 Sagoin Marikine Sagoin Mico Cayopollin Fourmillier Marm-efe Sarigue of Cayenne Tucan Red mole 02. 4, u Ground fquirrel

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Domejlicated in both. Europe. I America.

Cow Horfe

lb.

lb.

763-

*2500

*1366

Afs

Hog Sheep Goat Dog Cat

^1200 *125

67,6

*80

7*

*1

“ The refult of this view is, that of 26 quadrupeds common to both countries, feven are faid to be larger in America, feven of equal fize, and 12 not fufficiently examined. So that the fifft table impeaches the firlt member of the affertion, that of the animals common to both countries the American are fmallelt, “ Et cela fans aucune exception.” It Ihows it not juft, in all the latitude in which its author has advanced it, and probably not to fuch a degree as to found a diftindlion 68 between the two countries. Explana“ Proceeding to the fecond table, which arranges tion and the animals found in one of the two countries only, refult of the fecond M. de Euffon obferves, that the tapir, the elephant of table. America, is but of the fize of a fmall cow. To preferve our comparifori, Mr Jefferfon ftates the wild boar, the elephant of Europe, as little more than half that fize. He has made an elk with round or cylin* drical horns an animal of America, and peculiar to it; becaufe he has feen many of them himfelf, and more of their horns; and becaufe, from the beft information, it is certain that in Virginia this kind of elk has abounded much, and ftill exifts in fmaller numbers. He makes the American hare or rabbit peculiar, believing it to be different from both the European animals of thefe denominations, and calling it therefore by its Algonquin name whabus, to keep it diftinfl from thefe. Kalm is of the fame opinion. The fquirrels are denominated from a knowledge derived from daily fight of them, becaufe with that the European appellations and defcriptions feem irreconcilable, Thefe are the only inftahces in which Mr Jefferfon departs from the authority of M. de Buffon in the conftru&ion of this table j whom he takes for his ground-work, becaufe he thinks him the bell informed of any naturalift who has ever Written. The refult is, that there are 18 quadrupeds peculiar to Europe ; more than four times as many, to wit 74, peculiar to America; that the flrft of thefe 74, the tapir, the largeft of the animals peculiar to America, weighs more than the whole column of Europeans; and confequently this fecond table difproves the fecond member of the affertion, that the animals peculiar to the new world are on a fmaller fcale, fo far as that affertion relied on European animals for fupport : and it is in full oppofition to the theory which makes the animal volume to depend on the circumftances of heat and moifture. 69 Of the third “ The third table comprehends thofe quadrupeds table. only which are domeftic in both countries. That fome of thefe, in fome parts of America, have become lefs than their original ftock, is doubtlefs true"; and the reafon is very obvious. In a thinly peopled country, 1 ftefult of the tirft table.

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the fpontaneous productions of the forefts and wafte Aftieriea. fields are fufticient to fupport indifferently the domeftic 1 animals of the farmer, with a very little aid from him in the ferereft and fcarceft feafon. He therefore finds it more convenient to receive them from the hand of Nature in that indifferent ftate, than to keep up their fize by a care and nourifhment which wmuld coft him much labour. If, on this low fare, thefe animals dwindle, it is no more than they do in thofe parts of Europe where the poverty of the foil, or poverty of the owner, reduces them to the fame fcalrty fubliftence. It is the uniform effecl of one and the fame caufe, whether aCling on this or that fide of the globe. It would be erring, therefore, againft that rule of philofophy, which teaches us to afcribe like effeCls to like caufes, fhould we impute this diminution of fize in America to any imbecility or want of uniformity in the operations of nature. It may be affirmed with truth, that in thofe countries, and with thofe individuals of America, where Heceffity or curiofity has produced equal attention as in Europe to the nourifhment of animals, the horfes, cattle, fheep, and hogs, of the one continent are as large as thofe of the other. There are particular inftances, well attefted, where individuals of America have imported good breeders from England, and have improved their fize by care in the courfe of fome years. And the weights aftually known and ftated in the third table, will fuffice to fhow, that we may conclude, on probable grounds, that, wdth equal food and care, the climate of America will preferve the races of domeftic animals as large as the European ftock from wffiich they are derived ; and confequently that the third member of Monf. de Buffon’s affertion, that the domeftic animals are fubjedl to degeneration from the climate of America, is as probably wrong as the firft and fecond Were certainly fo. That the laft part of it is erroneous, which affirms, that the fpecies of American quadrupeds are comparatively few, is evident from the tables taken all together ; to which may be added the proof adduced by the Abbe Clavigero. According to Buffon’s lateft calculation, in his Epoques de la Nature, there are 300 fpecies of quadrupeds ; and America, though it does not make more than a third part of the globe, contains, according to Clavigero, almoft one half of the different fpecies of its animals. Of the human inhabitants of America, to whom the The human fame hypothefis of degeneracy is extended, M. Buffon inhabitants gives the following defcription : “ Though the Ame- comprerican favage be nearly of the fame ftature with men in poliffied focieties; yet this is not a fufficient exception hypothefis to the general contraftion of animated nature through- oi degeneout the whole continent. In the favage, the organs ofracy* generation are fmall and feeble. He has no hair, no beard, no ardour for the female. Though nimbler than the European, becaufe more accuftomed to running, his ftrength is not fo great. His fenfations are lefs acute ; and yet he is more timid and cowardly. He has no vivacity, no aflivity of mind. The a&ivity of his body is not fo much an exercife or fpontaneous motion, as a neceffary aftion produced by want. Deftroy his appetite for victuals and drink, and you wall at once annihilate the active principle of all his movements : He remains in ftupid repofe, on his limbs or couch, for whole days. It is eafy to difeover the caufe of the fcattered

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fcattered life of favages, and of their eftrangement he'would incur indelible difgrace The feeming frigi- America, from fociety. They have been refufed the moll pre- dity of the men, therefore, is the effefl of manners, cious fpark of Nature’s fire : They have no ardour for and not a defefl of nature. They are neither more women, and, of courfe, no love to mankind. Unac- defeflive in ardour, nor more impotent with the fequainted with the moll lively and moll tender of all male, than are the whites reduced to the fame diet and 73 attachments, their other fenfations of this nature are exercife. ■ “ They raife few children.”—They indeed raife few-Why they cold and languid. Their love to parents and children is extremely weak. The bounds of the moll intimate er children than we do •, the caufes of which are to be of all focieties, that of the fame family, are feeble 5 found, not in a difference of nature, but of circumand one family has no attachment to another. Hence fiance. The women very frequently attending the men no union, no republic, no focial Hate, can take place in their parties of -war and of hunting, childbearing among them. The phylical caufe of love gives rife to becomes extremely inconvenient to them. It is faid, the morality of their manners. Their heart is frozen, therefore, that they have learned the praftice of protheir fociety cold, and their empire cruel. They regard curing abortion by the ufe of fome vegetable 5 and that their females as fervants deltined to labour, or as beads it even extends to prevent conception for a confiderof burden, whom they load unmercifully with the pro- able time after. During thefe parties they are expofed duce of their hunting, and oblige, without pity or gra- to numerous hazards, to exceflive exertions, to the titude, to perform labours which often exceed their greatefl extremities of hunger. Even at their homes, flrength. They have few children, and pay little at- the nation depends for food, through a certain part of tention to them. Every thing mull be referred to the every year, on the gleanings of the forell; that is, they firll caufe : They are indifferent, becaufe they are experience a famine once in every year. With all aniweak; and this indifference to the fex is the original mals, if the female be badly fed, or not fed at all, her flain which difgraces Nature, prevents her from ex- young perifli 5 and if both male and female be reduced panding, and, by dellroying the germs of life, cuts the to like want, generation becomes lefs adlive, lefs proroot of fociety. Hence man ur.kes no exception to dudlive. To the obftacles, then, of want and hazard, what has been advanced. Nature, by denying him the which Nature has oppofed to the multiplication of faculty of love, has abufed and contracted him more wild animals, for the purpofe of reflraining their num1 bers within certain bounds, thofe of labour and of vothan any other animal.” 7 ObfervaA humiliating picture indeed ! but than which, Mr luntary abortion are added with the Indian. No wonder, tions by Mr Jefferfon affures us, never one was more unlike the then, if they multiply lefs than we do. Where food Jefferfon. original. M. Buffon grants, that their llature is the is regularly fupplied, a fingle farm will fhow more of fame as that of the men of Europe ; and he might have cattle than a whole country of forefts can of buffaloes. admitted, that the Iroquois were larger, and the Lenopi The fame Indian women, when married to white trador Delawares taller, than people in Europe generally ers, who feed them and their children plentifully arid are : But he fays their organs of generation are fmaller regularly, who exempt them from exceflive drudgery, and weaker than thofe of Europeans; which is not a who keep them ftationary and unexpofcd to accident, faCl. And as to their want of beard, this error has produce and raife as many children as the white women. Inftances are known, under thefe circumftances, been already noticed (N® Jupra.') 7* ^ “ They have no ardour for their females.” It is of their rearing a dozen children. Seeming Neither do they feem to be “deficient in natural af-Of their coldnefs of true, they do not indulge thofe exceffes, nor difcover the Ameri-that fondnefs, which are cullomary in Europe j but feflion.” On the contrary, their fenfibility is keen, fenfibility cans to the js not owing J-Q a defeCl in nature, but to manners. even the warriors weeping moll bitterly on the lofs of1^' ex for. account-TT^j^ foul is wholly bent upon war. This is what their children; though in general they endeavour to cd procures them glory among the men, and makes them appear fuperior to human events. the admiration of the women. To this they are eduTheir friendflnps-are ftrong, and faithful to the utcated from their earliell youth. When they purfue termoll extremity. A remarkable inftance of this apgame with ardour, when they bear the fatigues of the peared in the cafe of the late Col. Byrd, who was fent chafe, when they fullain and fuffer patiently hunger to the Cherokee nation to tranfacl fome bufinefs with and cold, it is not fo much for the fake of the game they them. It happened that fome of our diforderly peopurfue, as to convince their parents and the council of ple had juft killed one or two of that'nation. It was the nation, that they are fit to be enrolled in the number therefore propofed'in the council of the Cherokees, of the warriors. The fongs of the women, the dance of that Col. Byrd fhould be put to death, in revenge for the warriors, the fage counfel of the chiefs, the tales the lofs of their countrymen. Among them was a of the old, the triumphant entry of the warriors return- chief, called Silbuee, who, on fome former occafion, had ing with fuccefs from battle, and the refpeft paid to contradled an acquaintance and friendftiip with Col. thofe who ditlinguilh themfelves in battle, and in fub- Byrd; He came to him every night in his tent, and duing their enemies j in ffiort, every thing they fee or told him not to be afraid, they ftiould not kill him. hear tends to infpire them with an ardent defire for After many days deliberation, however, the determimilitary fame. If a ybung man were to difcover a nation was, contrary to Silbuee’s expectation, that fondnefs for women before he has been to war, he Byrd Ihould be put to death, and fome warriors werewould become the contempt of the men, and the fcorn defpatched as executioners. Silbuee attended them j and ridicule of the women : or were he to indulge and when they entered the tent, he threw himfelf behimfelf with a captive taken in war, and much more tween them and Byrd, and faid to the warriors, “ This were he to offer violence in order to gratify his luff, man is my friend ; before you get at him, you muft kill America,

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kill me.” On which they returned } and the council ^ rerpetled the principle fo much as to recede from their determination. That “ they are timorous and cowardly,” is a charadler with which there is little reafon to charge them, when we re coll eel the manner in which the Iroquois met Monf. , who marched into their country ; in which the old men, who fcorned to fly, or to lurvive the capture of their to.wn, braved death like the old 75 Romans in the time of the Gauls, and in which they Of their -courage. foon after revenged themfelves by facking and deftroy(See alfo ing Montreal. In Ihort, the Indian is brave, when an ^os 54> 55* enterprife depends on bravery ; education with him ma" * J king the point of honour conlift in the deftrudtion of an enemy by ftratagem, and in the preferv'ation of his own peifon free from injury : or perhaps this is nature, while it is education which teaches us to honour force more than hneffe. He will defend himfelf againft an holt of enemies, always drooling to be killed rather than to furrender, though it be to the whites, who he knows will treat him well. In other frtuations alfo, he meets death with more deliberation, and endures tortures with a firmnefs unknown almoft to religious enthuliafm among us. Much lefs are they to be characterized as a people of no vivacity, and who are excited to aCtion or motion only by the calls of hunger and third. Their dances, in which they fo much delight, and which to a European would be the moil fevere exercife, fully contradict this j not to mention their fatiguing marches, and the toil they voluntarily and cheerfully undergo in their military expeditions. It is true, that when at home they do not employ themfelves in labour or the culture of the foil: but this, again, is the efteCl of cuiloms and manners which have afligned that to the province of the women. But it is faid, “ they are averfe to fociety and a focial life.” Can any thing be more inapplicable than this to people who always live in towns or in clans ? Or can they be faid to have no repubhque, who conduCl all their affairs in national councils ; who pride themfelves in their national charafter ; who confider an infult or injury done to an individual by a ftranger as done to the whole, and refent it accordingly ? To form a juft eftimate of their genius and mental powers, Mr Jefferfon obferves, more fade are wanting, and great allowance is to be made for thofe circumftances of their fttuation which call for a difplay of particular talents only. This done, we ftiall probably find that the Americans are formed, in mind as well as in body, on the fame model with the homo fapiens Europceus. The principles of their fociety for>• bidding all compulfion, they are to be led to duty .and to enterprife by perfonal influence and perfuafion. Hence eloquence in council, bravery and addrefs in war, become the foundations of all confequence with them. To thefe acquirements all their faculties are directed. Of their bravery and addrefs in war we have multiplied proofs, becaufe we have been the fubjedts on which they wrere exercifed. Of their eminence in oratory we have fewer examples, becauie it is difplayed chiefly in their own councils. Some, however, we have of very fuperior luftre. We may challenge the whole orations of Demofthenes and Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, if Europe has furniihed more eminent, to produce a Angle paflage fuperior to the America,

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fpeech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to Lord Duntnore America, when governor of this ftate. The ftory is as follows ;1 ^ '‘ of which, and of the fpeech, the authenticity is un76 queftionable. In the fpring of the year 1774, a rob-Story°f bery and murder were committed on an inhabitant of^J^dn* the frontiers of Virginia by two Indians of the Shawanee tribe. The neighbouring v.'hites, according to their cuftom, undertook to puniflr this outrage in a fummary way. Colonel Crefap, a man infamous for the many murdershe had committed on thofe much-injured people, colledled a party, and proceeded down the Kanhaway in quell of vengeance. Unfortunately a canoe of women and children, with one man only, wras feen coming from the oppofite ftiore, unarmed, and unfufpedting any hoftile attack from the whites. Crefap and his party concealed themfelves on the bank of the river ; and the moment the canoe reached the fhore, fingled out their objects, and at one fire killed every perfon in it. This happened to be the family of Logan, who had long been diftinguiftied as a friend of the whites. This unworthy return provoked his vengeance. He accordingly fignalized himfelf in the war which enfued. In the autumn of the fame year, a decifive battle was fought at the mouth of the Great Kanhaw ay, between the colledled forces of the Shaw^anees, Mingoes, and Delawares, and a detachment of the Virginian militia. The Indians were defeated, and fued for peace. Logan, however, difdained to be feen among the fuppliants j but, left the fincerity of a treaty ftiould be diftrufted from which fo diftinguilhed a chief abfented himfelf, he fent by a meffenger the following fpeech, to be delivered to Lord Dunmore r—I appeal to any white man to fay if ever he entered Logan’s cabin hungry, of Indian and he gave him not meat: if ever he came cold and eloquence, naked, and he clothed him not. During tire courfe of the laft long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the W’hites, that my countrymen pointed as they pafled, and faid, Logan is the friend of vchite men. I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Crefap, the laft fpring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not (paring even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have fought it j I have killed many j I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace j but do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to fave his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one.” To the preceding anecdotes in favour of the Ameri- Other acan charafter, may be added the following by Dr Ben- necdotes, jamin Franklin. The Indian men, when young, are hunters and warriors : when old, counfellors 5 lor all their government is by the counfel or advice of the fages. Hence they generally ftudy oratory 5 the belt fpeaker having the moft influence. 'I he Indian w omen till the ground, drefs the. food, nurfe and bring up the children, and preferve and hand down to pofterity the memory of public tranfaftions. Thefe employments of men and women are accounted natural and honourable. Having few' artificial wants, they have abundance of leifure for improvement by converlation. Gu.r laborious manner of life, compared with theirs,, they efteem

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eflecm flaviih and bafe } and the learning on which we value ourfelves, they regard as frivolous and ufelefs. . * Having frequent occafions to hold public councils, they have acquired great order and decency in conducting them. The old men fit in the foremoit ranks, the warriors in the next, and the women and children in the hindmoft. The bufinefs of the women is to take cxadt notice of what paffes j imprint it in their memories, for they have no writing, and communicate it to their children. They are the records of the council, and they preferve tradition of the ftipulations in treaties a hundred years back ; which, when we compare with our writings, we always find exaft. He that would fpeak rifes. The reft obferve a profound filence. When he has finilhed, and fits down, they leave him five or fix minutes to recoiled, that if he has omitted any thing he intended to fay, or has any thing to add, he may rile again and deliver it. d o interrupt another, even in common converfation, is reckoned highly indecent. .79 Politenefs The politenefs of thefe favages in converfation is, and civility indeed, carried to excefs; fince it does not permit of the Arnerman In- 'them to contradift or deny the truth of wdrat is afferted in their prefence. By this means they indeed avoid difdians. putes j but then it becomes difficult to know their minds, or what impreffion you make upon them. The miffionaries who have attempted to convert them to Chriftianity, all complain of this as one of the greateft difficulties of their million. The Indians hear with patience the truths of the gofpel explained to them, and give their ufual tokens of alfent and approbation $ but this by no means implies conviction j it is mere civility. When any of them come into our towns, our people are apt to crowd round them, gaze upon them, and incommode them where they defire to be private j this they efteem great rudenefs, and the effeCt of the want of inftruftion in the rules of civility and good manners. “ We have (fay they) as much curiofity as you; and when you come into our towns, we wiffi for opportunities of looking at you} but for this purpofe we hide ourfelves behind bulhes where you are to pafs, and never intrude ourfelves into your company.” So Their manner of entering one another’s villages has Their hofpitality. likewife its rules. It is reckoned uncivil in travelling ftrangers to enter a village abruptly, without giving notice of their approach. Therefore, as foon as they arrive within hearing, they flop and holla, remaining there till invited to enter. Two old men ufually come out to them and lead them in. There is in every village a vacant dwelling, called theJlrangers houfe. Here they are placed, while the old men go round from hut to hut, acquainting the inhabitants that ftrangers are arrived, who are probably hungry and wTeary j" and every one fends them what he can fpare of victuals, and Ikins to repofe on. When the ftrangers are refreffied, pipes and tobacco are brought j and then, but not before, converfation begins, with inquiries who they are, whither bound, what news, Sec. and it ufually ends with offers of fervice \ if the ftrangers have occafion for guides, or any necefl'aries for continuing their journey $ and nothing ij exaCted for the entertainment. The fame hofpitality, efteemed among them as a Vox.. II. Part I. America.'

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principal virtue, is praCtifed by private perfons 5 of which Conrad Weifer, the interpreter, gave Dr Franklin the following inftance : He had been naturalized among the Six Nations, and fpoke well the Mohock language. In going through the Indian country to carry a meflage from our goverpor to the council at Onondaga, he called at the habitation of Canafletego, an old acquaintance, who embraced him,,fpread furs for him to fit on, placed before him fomc boiled beans and venifon, and mixed fpme rum and water for his drink. When he was well refreffied, and had lit his pipe, Canaffetego began to converfe with him ; afked how he had fared the many years fince they had feen each other, -whence he then came, what had occafioned the journey, &c. Conrad anfwered all his queftions, and when the difeourfe began to flag, the Indian, to continue it, faid, “ Conrad, you have lived long among the white people, and know fomething of their cuftoms; I have been iometimes at Albany, and have obferved, that once in feven days they ftiut up their (hops, and affemble all in the great houfe j tell me what it is for !—What do they do there ?” “ They meet there (fays Conrad) to hear and Izwngood things."" “ I do not doubt (ft./s the Indian) that they tell you fo ; they have told me the fame : but I doubt the truth of what they fay, and I will tell you my reafons. I went lately to Albany to fell my fkins, and buy blankets, knives, powder, rum, &c. You know I generally ufed to deal with Hans Hanfon •, but I was a little inclined this time to try fome other merchants. However, I called firft upon Hans, and afked him what he would give for beaver. He faid he could not give more than 4s. apound ; but (fays he) I cannot talk on bufinefs now; this is the day when we meet together to learn good things, and I am going to the meeting. So I thought to myfelf, fince I cannot do any bufinefs to-day, I may as well go to the meeting too j and I went w ith him. —There flood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not underftand what he faid j but perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanfon, I imagined he wras angry at feeing me there : fo I went out, fat down near the houfe, ftruck fire, and lit my pipe, waiting till the meeting fhould break up. I thought too, that the man had mentioned fomething of beaver, and I fufpe&ed that it might be the fubjecl of their meeting. So when they qame out, I accofted my merchant.—Well Hans (fays I), I hope you have agreed to give more than 4s. a-pound ?” “ No (fays he), I cannot give fo much, I cannot give more thmi 3s. 6d.” “ I then fpoke to feveral other dealers, but they all fung the fame fong, three and fixp.ence, three and fixpence. This made it clear to me that my fufpicion was right j and that whatever they pretended of meeting to learn good things, the real purpofe was, to confult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Confider but a little, Conrad, and you muft be of my opinion. If they met fo often to learn good things, they certainly would have learned fome before this time. But they are ftill ignorant. You know our pra&ice. If a white man, in travelling through our country, enters one of our cabins, wTe all treat him as I treat you •, wre dry him if he is wet, we warm him if he is cold, and give him meat and drink, that he may allay his thirft and hunger: and w e fpread foft D "

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(America., furs for him to reft and deep on : we demand nothing ' ^ ' in return. But if I go into a white man’s houfe at Albany, and alk for vittuals and drink, they fay, Where is your money ? And if I have none, they fay, Get out, you Indian dog. You fee they have not yet learned thofe little good things that we need no meeting to be inftru&ed in ; becaufe our mothers taught them to us when we were children ; and therefore it is impoftible their meetings ftiould be, as they fay, for any fuch purpofe, or have any fuch effe£l 5 they are only to contrive the cheating of Indians in the price of beaver.’1'1

Si Lord ^

THE next queftion that occurs is, Whether the peculiarities of the Americans, or the difparity between them and the inhabitants of Europe, afford fufficient grounds for determining them, as fome have done, to be a race of men radically different from all others ? In this queftion, to avoid being tedious, we fhall confine ourfelves to what has been advanced by Lord Kames ; who is of opinion, that there are many different fpecies of men, as well as of other animals ; and gives a hypothefis, whereby he pretends his opinion may be maintained in a confiftency with revelation. “ If (fays he) the only rule afforded by nature for claf-

^inS an^ma^s can he depended on, there are different men as we for differentraces ^ as d°gs : a maftiff differs not fpecies. more from a fpaniel, than a white man from a negro, or a Laplander from a Dane. And if we have any faith in Providence, it ought to be fo. Plants were created of different kinds, to fit them for different climates ; and fo were brute animals. Certain it is, that all men are not fitted equally for every climate. There is fcarce a climate but what is natural to fome men, where they profper and ilourifh 5 and there is not a climate but where fome men degenerate. Doth not then analogy lead us to conclude, that, as there are different climates on the face of this globe, fo there are different races of men fitted for thefe different climates ? “ M. Bufton, from the rule, That animals which can procreate together, and whofe progeny can alfo procreate, are of one fpecies 5 concludes, that all men are of one race or fpecies ; and endeavours to fupport that favourite opinion, by aferibing to the climate, to food, or to other accidental caufes, all the varieties that are found among men. But is he ferioufly of opinion, that any operation of climate, or of other accidental caufe, can account for the copper colour and fmooth chin univerfal among the Americans 5 the prominence of the pudenda univerfal among the Hottentot women ; or the black nipple no lefs univerfal among the female Samoiedes ?—It is in vain to aferibe to the climate the low ftature of the Efquimaux, the fmallnefs of their feet, or the overgrown fize of their heads. It is equally in vain to aferibe to climate the low ftature of the Laplanders, or their ugly vifage. The black colour of negroes, thick lips, flat nofe, crifped woolly hair, and rank fmell, diftinguifh them from every other race of men. The Abyftinians, on the contrary, are tall and well made, their complexion a brown olive, features well proportioned, eyes large and of a fparkling black, thin lips, a nofe rather high than flat. There is no fuch difference of climate between Abyflinia and Negroland as to produce thefe linking differences. Nor Ihall our author’s ingenious hypothefis concerning the extremities of heat and cold, purchafe him frTmerts

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impunity with refpecl to the fallow complexion of the Samoiedes, Laplanders, and Greenlanders. The Fin-' landers, and northern Norwegians, live in a climate not lefs cold than that of the people mentioned } and yet are fair beyond other Europeans. I fay more, there are many inftances of races of people preferving their original colour, in climates very different from their own 5 but not a fingle inftance of the contrary, as far as I can learn. There have been four complete generations of negroes in Pennfylvania, without any vifible change of colour 5 they continue jet black, as originally. Thofe who aferibe all to the fun, ought to confider how little probable it is, that the colour it impreffes on the parents Ihould be communicated to their infant children, who never faw the fun : I Ihould be as foon induced to believe with a German naturalift, whofe name has efcaped me, that the negro colour is owing to an ancient cuilora in Africa, of dyeing the Ikin black. Let a European, for years, expofe himfelf to the fun in a hot climate, till he be quite brown 5 his children will neverthelefs have the fame complexion with thofe in Europe. From the aftion of the fun, is it poffible to explain, why a negro, like a European, is born with a ruddy Ikin, which turns jet black the eighth or ninth day r” Our author next proceeds to draw fome arguments for the exiftence of different races of men, from the various tempers and difpofitions of different nations j which he reckons to be fpecifc differences, as well as thole of colour, ftature, &c. and having fummed up his evidence he concludes thus: “ Upon lumming up the whole particulars mentioned aboverwould one hefitate a moment to adopt the following opinion, were there no counterbalancing evidence, viz,. 1 That God creat‘ ed many pairs of the human race, differing from ‘ each other, both externally and internally 3 that Ire ‘ fitted thofe pairs for different climates, and placed ‘1 each pair in its proper climate 3 that the peculiarities of the original pairs were preferved entire in ‘ their defendants 3 who, having no afliftancebut their ‘ natural talents, were left to gather know ledge from ‘ experience : and, in particular, were left (each tribe) ‘ to form a language for itfelf 3 that figns were fuffi‘ cient for the original pairs, without any language ‘ but what nature fuggefts 3 and that a language was ‘ formed gradually as a tribe increafed in numbers, ‘ and in different occupations, to make fpeech necef‘ lary ?’ But this opinion, however plaufible, we are not permitted to adopt 3 being taught a different leffon by revelation, viz. That God created but a fingle pair of the human fpecies. Though we cannot doubt the authority of Mofes, yet his account of the creation of man is not a little puzzling, as it feems to contradidl every one of the fa£Is mentioned above. According to that account, different races of men were not formed, nor were men formed originally for different climates. All men muft have fpoken the fame language, visa, that of our firft parents. And -what of all feems the moft contradiflory to that account, is the favage ftate : Adam, as Mofes informs us, wras endued by his Maker wdth an eminent degree of knowdedge 5 and he certainly wras an excellent preceptor to his children and their progeny, among whom he lived manygenerations. Whence then the degeneracy of all men into the favage ftate ? To account for that difmal cataftrophe.

A M E f 27 ] A M E America. taftropKe, mankind muft have fuffercd Tome terrible con- (ff.) No perfon can affert natural caufes to be infuffi- America. v vullion. That terrible convulfion is revealed to us in the cient to produce fuch and fuch effe&s, unlefs he per-' 82 His hypo- hiftory of the tower of Babel contained in the nth fecffly knows all thefe caufes and the limits of th.ir thelis con. chapter of Genefis, which is, ‘ That, for many cen- power in all poffible cafes 5 and this no man has e\ er cerning ‘ turies after the deluge, the whole earth was of one known or can known the origin < language, and of one fpeech ; that they united to By keeping in view thefe principles, which rve hope of the dif- 1 build a city on a plain in the land of Shinar, with a are felf-evident, we will eafily fee Lord Karnes’s arferent fpe‘ tower, whofe top might reach unto heaven ; that the guments to confiff entirely in a petitio principii.—In cies, ( Lord, beholding the people to be one, and to have fubBance they are all reduced to this fingle fentence : ‘ all one language, and that nothing would be re- “ Natural philoiophers have been hitherto unfuccefsful ‘ Brained from them wLich they imagined to do, con- in their endeavours to account for the differences ob‘ founded their language that they might not under- ferved among mankind, therefore thefe differences can‘ Band one another, and fcattered them abroad upon not be accounted for from natural caufes.” ‘ the face of all the earth.’ Here light breaks forth His Lordihip, however, tells us in the pafiages al-Inconfiltin the midB of darknefs. By confounding the language ready quoted, that “ a mafliff differs not more from a ency in of men, and Battering them abroad upon the face of fpaniel, than a Laplander from a Dane that “ it is^or