fwarthier than the Mexicans; and fo pofitive is he in this opinion, that he gives a reason for it. "This difference of colour," fays he, “ proves, that the civilized life of fociety fubverts,, or totally changes, the order and laws of nature, fince we find, under the temperate zone, a favage people that are blacker than the civilized nations of the torrid zone." On the other hand, Dr. Robertson claffes all the inhabitants of Spanish America together with regard to colour, whether they are civilized or uncivilized; and when he speaks of California, takes no notice of any peculiarity in their colour more than others. The general appearance of the indigenous Americans in various diftricts is thus defcribed by the Chevalier Pinto: "They are all of a copper colour, with fome diverfity of fhade, not in proportion to their distance from the equator, but according to the degree of elevation of the territory in which they refide. Those who live in a high country are fairer than those in the marshy low lands on the coaft. Their face is round; farther removed, perhaps, than that of any people from an oval fhape. Their forehead is fmall; the extremity of their cars far from the face; their lips thick; their nose flat; their eyes black, or of a chefnut colour, small, but capable of difcerning objects at a great diftance. Their hair is always thick and fleek, and without any tendency to curl. At the first aspect, a South American appears to be mild and innocent; but, on a more attentive view, one discovers in his countenance fomething wild, distrustful and fullen."

The following account of the native Americans is given by Don Antonio Ulloa, in a work intitled Memoires philofophiques, hiftoriques, et phyfiques, concernant la decouverte de l'Amerique, lately published.

The American Indians are naturally of a colour bordering upon red. Their frequent exposure to the fun and wind changes it to their ordinary dusky hue. The temperature of the air appears to have little or no influence in this refpect. There is no perceptible difference in complexion between the inhabitants of the high and thofe of the low parts of Peru; yet the climates are of an extreme difference. Nay, the Indians who live as far as 40 degrees and upwards fouth or north of the equator, are not to be diftinguished, in point of colour, from thofe immediately under it.

There is alfo a general conformation of features and perfon, which, more or less, characteriseth them all. Their chief distinctions in these refpects are a small forehead, partly covered with hair to the eye-brows, little eyes, the nofe thin, pointed, and bent towards the upper lip; a broad face, large ears, black, thick, and lank hair; the legs well formed, the feet fmall, the body thick and muscular; little or no beard on the No. II face,

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face, and that little never extending beyond a fmall part of the chin and upper lip. It may eafily be fuppofed that this general defcription cannot apply, in all its parts, to every individual; but all of them partake fo much of it, that they may easily be diftinguished even from the mulattoes, who come nearest to them in point of colour.

The resemblance among all the American tribes is not lefs remarkable in refpect to their genius, character, manners, and particular cuftoms. The moft diftant tribes are, in these refpects, as fimilar as though they formed but one nation.

All the Indian nations have a peculiar pleasure in painting their bodies. of a red colour, with a certain fpecies of earth. The mine of Guancavelica was formerly of no other use than to supply them with this material for dyeing their bodies; and the cinnabar extracted from it was applied entirely to this purpofe. The tribes in Louifiana and Canada have the fame paffion; hence minium is the commodity most in demand there.

It may feem fingular that these nations, whofe natural colour is red, fhould affect the fame colour as an artificial ornament. But it may be obferved, that they do nothing in this refpect but what correfponds to the practice of Europeans, who alfo ftudy to heighten and difplay to advantage the natural red and white of their complexions. The Indians of Peru have now indeed abandoned the cuftom of painting their bodies: but it was common among them before they were conquered by the Spaniards; and it ftill remains the cuftom of all thofe tribes who have preferved their liberty. The northern nations of America, befides the red colour which is predominant, employ alfo black, white, blue, and green, in painting their bodies.

The adjustment of these colours is a matter of as great confideration with the Indians of Louifiana and the vaft regions extending to the north, as the ornaments of drefs among the most polished nations. The business itself they call Matacher, and they do not fail to apply all their talents and affiduity to accomplish it in the most finished manner. Ne lady of the greatest fashion ever confulted her mirror with more anxiety, than the Indians do while painting their bodies. The colours are applied with the utmost accuracy and addrefs. Upon the eye-lids, precifely at the root of the eye-lafhes, they draw two lines as fine as the fmalleft thread; the fame upon the lips, the openings of the noftrils, the eye-brows, and the ears; of which laft they even follow all the inflexions and infinuofities. As to the reft of the face, they diftribute various figures, in all which the red predominates, and the other colours are afforted fo as to throw it out to the best advantage. The neck alfo re

ceives its proper ornaments: a thick coat of vermilion commonly dif tinguishes, the cheeks. Five or fix hours are requifite for accomplishing all this with the nicety which they affect. As their first attempts do not always fucceed to their wish, they efface them, and begin a-new upon a better plan. No coquette is more fastidious in her choice of ornament, none more vain when the important adjustment is finished. Their delight and felf-fatisfaction are then so great, that the mirror is hardly ever laid down. An Indian Mactahed to his mind is the vaineft of all the human fpecies. The other parts of the body are left in their natural ftate, and, excepting what is called a cachecul, they go entirely naked.

Such of them as have made themselves eminent for bravery, or other qualifications, are diftinguished by figures painted on their bodies. They introduce the colours by making punctures on their skins, and the extent of furface which this ornament covers is proportioned to the exploits they have performed. Some paint only their arms, others both their arms and legs; others again their thighs, while those who have attained the fummit of warlike renown, have their bodies painted from the waift upwards. This is the heraldry of the Indians; the devices of which are probably more exactly adjufted to the merits of the perfons who bear them than those of more civilized countries.

Befides these ornaments, the warriors alfo carry plumes of feathers on their heads, their arms, and ancles. These likewise are tokens of valour, and none but such as have been thus diftinguished may wear them.

The propensity to indolence is equal among all the tribes of Indians, civilized or favage. The only employment of those who have preferved their independence is hunting and fishing. In fome diftricts the women exercife a little agriculture in raifing Indian corn and pompions, of which they form a fpecies of aliment, by bruising them together: they alfo prepare the ordinary beverage in ufe among them, taking care, at the fame time, of the children, of whom the fathers take no charge.

The female Indians of all the conquered regions of South America practice what is called the urcu (a word which among them fignifies elevation). It confifts in throwing forward the hair from the crown of the head upon the brow, and cutting it round from the ears to above the eye; so that the forehead and eye-brows are entirely covered. The fame custom takes place in the Northern countries. The female inhabitants of both regions tie the rest of their hair behind, fo exactly on the fame fashion, that it might be fuppofed the effect of mutual imitation. This however being impoffible, from the vaft diftance that feparates them, is thought to countenance the fuppofition of the whole of Amèrica being originally planted with one race of people. N 2

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This cuftom does not take place among the males. Those of the higher parts of Peru wear long and flowing hair, which they reckon a great ornament. In the lower parts of the fame country they cut it fhort, on account of the heat of the climate; a circumstance in which they imitate the Spaniards. The inhabitants of Louisiana pluck out their hair by the root, from the crown of the head forwards, in order to obtain a large forehead, otherwise denied them by nature. The rest of their hair they cut as short as poffible, to prevent their enemies from feizing them by it in battle, and also to prevent them from eafily getting their scalp, should they fall into their hands as prifoners.

The whole race of American Indians is diftinguished by thickness of fkin and hardness of fibres; circumftances which probably contribute to that infenfibility to bodily pain for which they are remarkable. An inftance of this infenfibility occurred in an Indian who was under the neceffity of fubmitting to be cut for the ftone. This operation, in ordinary cafes, feldom lasts above four or five minutes. Unfavourable circumstances in his cafe prolonged it to the uncommon period of 27 minutes. Yet all this time the patient gave no tokens of the extreme pain commonly attending this operation: he complained only as a perfon does who feels fome flight uneafinefs. At laft the flone was extracted. Two days after, he expressed a defire for food, and on the eighth day from the operation he quitted his bed, free from pain, although the wound was not yet thoroughly clofed. The fame want of fenfibility is obferved in cafes of fractures, wounds, and other accidents of a fimilar nature. In all these cases their cure is easily effected, and they seem to fuffer lefs prefent pain than any other race of men. The skulls that have been taken up in their ancient burying-grounds are of a greater thickness than that bone is commonly found, being from fix to feven lines from the outer to the inner fuperficies. The fame is remarked as to the thickness of their skins.

It is natural to infer from hence, that their comparative infenfibility to pain is owing to a coarfer and stronger organization than that of other nations. The ease with which they endure the severities of climate is another proof of this. The inhabitants of the higher parts of Peru live amidst perpetual froft and fnow. Although their cloathing is very flight, they support this inclement temperature without the least inconvenience. Habit, it is to be confeffed, may contribute a good deal to this, but much alfo is to be ascribed to the compact texture of their skins, which defend them from the impreffion of cold through their pores.

The northern Indiaas refemble them in this refpect. The utmost rigours of the winter feafon do not prevent them from following the

chace

chace almoft naked. It is true, they wear a kind of woolen cloak, or fometimes the skin of a wild beaft, upon their shoulders; but befides that it covers only a small part of their body, it would appear that they use it rather for ornament than warmth. In fact, they wear it indifcriminately, in the severities of winter and in the fultrieft heats of fummer, when neither Europeans nor Negroes can fuffer any but the flightest cloathing. They even frequently throw afide this cloak when they go a-hunting, that it may not embarrass them in traverfing their forefts, where they fay the thorns and undergrowth would take hold of it; while, on the contrary, they flide fmoothly over the furface of their naked bodies. At all times they go with their heads uncovered, without fuffering the leaft inconvenience, either from the cold, or from thofe coups de foleil, which in Louifiana are so often fatal to the inhabitants of other climates.

DRESS. The Indians of South America diftinguish themselves by modern dreffes, in which they affect various taftes. Thofe of the high country, and of the valleys in Peru, drefs partly in the Spanish fashion. Inftead of hats they wear bonnets of coarse double cloth, the weight of which I neither feems to incommode them when they go to warmer climates, nor does the accidental want of them feem to be felt in fituations where the moft piercing cold reigns. Their legs and feet are always bare, if we except a fort of fandals made of the skins of oxen. The inhabitants of South America, compared with thofe of North America, are defcribed as generally more feeble in their frame; less vigorous in the efforts of their mind; of gentler difpofitions, more addicted to pleasure, and funk in indolence. This, however, is not univerfally the cafe. Many of their nations are as intrepid and enterprifing as any others on the whole continent. Among the tribes on the banks of Oroonoko, if a warrior afpires to the poft of captain, his probation begins with a long faft, more rigid than any ever obferved by the most abstemious hermit. At the close of this the chiefs affemble; and each gives him three lashes with a large whip, applied fo vigorously, that his body is almost flayed. If he betrays the least symptom of impatience, or even of fenfibility, he is difgraced for ever, and rejected as unworthy of the honour. After fome interval, his conftancy is proved by a more excruciating trial. He is laid in his hammock with his hands bound faft; and an innumerable multitude of venomous ants, whofe bite occafions a violent pain and inflammation, are thrown upon him. The judges of his merit ftand around the hammock; and whilst thefe cruel infects faften upon the moft fenfible parts of his body, a figh, a groan, or an involuntary motion expreffive of what he fuffers, would exclude him from the dignity of

which