Amidst all the evils of an uncivilized state, ignorance, famine, and the want of security, it has, in America at least, one blessing which is unknown to many polished nations of the ancient world. This blessing is that or independence. While myriads of human beings follow in the train of an Asiatic prince, the slaves of his will, and the sport of his caprice ; while they tremble before him, or fall down at his presence, knowing that he can dispose of their lives with a nod ; the rude inhabitant or America wanders where his choice directs him, and breathes the air or his native plains, unrestrained by the voice or the look of a superior. What avails it the wretch whom the eastern despot has consigned to des truction, that the man who wills him to perish lives in all the splendour of royal magnificence ; drinks the most costly wines, and is attended by millions of slaves, watchful of his desires, and prompt to execute his com mands ? The death of the sufferer may be more pomp ously cruel ; but his life is a period of unconditional servitude ; and deprived of freedom, he is a stranger to many of the highest enjoyments of which our nature is capable.
It may be agreeable, as well as useful, to trace the origin of that spirit of independence which prevails among the rude inhabitants of America whom we are now considering. It will be found to take its rise from the circumstances in which they are placed, and parti cularly from the state of society among the uncivilized natives of that extensive continent.
The savages of the New World are, 1. Those who depend for subsistence on the bounty of unsolicited nature. 2. Those who live chiefly by fishing. 3. Those who support themselves principally by killing the wild animals ; and, 4. Those who supply the de ficiency of hunting or fishing by a partial agriculture. To the individuals belonging to all these classes, just ideas of property, either in the fruits of the earth, or in the soil itself, are in a great measure unknown. They have no fixed and continued residence, but wan der from place to place in quest of their food. They are, of consequence, divided into a number of small communities or tribes. In small communities the exertions of every individual are requisite, in order that any enterprize may succeed, or that any operation may be effectual. Hence every individual considers him self and his exertions, as necessary to the welfare of the community ; and knowing this, he maintains his in dependence, and spurns at the though of obeying the commands of another.
In some parts of the western continent, the human species appears in the most degraded condition, which it ever has presented to the eye of a philosopher. Not
a few of the tribes which inhabit the more fertile re gions of South America, are wholly unacquainted with any artificial means of procuring subsistence. They are strangers to foresight and to ingenuity, and trust to the spontaneous productions of the earth for the support of their lives. According to Nieuhoff, the Tapoyers of Brazil neither sow nor plant. They do not even cul tivate the manioc, from the root of which the Cassada bread is made, but eat it, like the inferior animals, with out preparation or care. A similar account is given by Teco and Simon, of the Guaxerons, the Moxes, the Caiguas, and other nations of Terra Firma and Paraguay.
They live on fruits, berries, and legunurious vegeta bles, with which the soil, unsually productive, supplies them in extraordinary abundance ; or on lizards and reptiles of various kinds, which are at once sufficiently numerous, and easily taken. No effort of industry is requisite, and no exertion is made. Other tribes sup port themselves chiefly by fishing. In South A mcilica, lakes and marshes are annually formed by the inundation of the rivers, and in these the fish is left for the use of the inhabitants. They swarm in prodigious numbers, and are caught without art or skill. In the larger rivers, as the Maragnon and Oroonoco, they arc yet more abundant. P. Aquina asserts, that the former of these may be taken with the hand ; and Gumilla, an author of the highest respectability, declares, when speaking of the latter, that they equal the sands upon its shore for multitude. In consequence of this liberal supply, many nations resort, at certain seasons of the year, to the banks of the rivers, and depend entirely for sub sistence on what the waters can afford them. The in habitants, of some provinces have discovered a method of intoxicating the fish, by means of vegetable juices ; so that they float motionless upon the surface, and re quire only to be lifted from the element to which they belong. Other tribes have found out a way of preserv ing them without salt, by drying them in the sun, or smoking them upon hurdles. In this part of the world, fishing seems to have been the earliest employment of our species ; and as it requires less exertion and less dexterity than hunting or agriculture, the Americans who live in the neighbourhood of the Maragnon and Oroonoco, are perhaps the most inactive and the least improved of the Indian race.