But man, however rude and ignorant he may be in the western hemisphere, maintains his superiority over the lower animals, and supports the dignity to which his nature entitles him. If he cannot reduce them to complete subjection, he destroys them by various arts and contrivances, and depends on their destruction for his subsistence. It is obvious, that those only who reside in the vicinity of lakes and rivers can live by fishing. Hence the tribes which are remote from any great collections of water, support themselves chiefly by killing the land animals, with which their forests abound. From this source, by far the greater part or the American Indians derive their subsistence. The chace is with them a necessary and constant pursuit. They follow their prey through the woods with aston ishing perseverance ; and laying aside the indolence and stupidity of their nature, become active, skilful, and acute. They mark the footsteps of a wild animal where no other eye can distinguish them ; and if, at any time, they pursue it into regions which they have not visi ted before, they cut down the branches of the trees at regular distances, in order to facilitate their return. Their arrow, pointed with bone or flint, seldom devi ates from the object at which they aim. No beast can avoid their snares. Among some tribes, the youth are not allowed to marry, till they have proved, by their skill and address in hunting, that they are able to support a family. And as the use of the bow in the chace is often connected with its use as a pastime, they acquire such a dexterity in the management of it, that in their hands, it is a weapon equally destructive with the musket in those of European nations.
Nor is the dexterity here alluded to, the only advan rage which they posses., w hen engaged in hunting. They dip their arrows in a poison,' which renders the slightest wound inflicted by means of them instantly fatal ; the animal, whose skin is pierced, Falls at once to the ground ; its blood congeals, and its whole body becomes stiff and cold. Yet however violent this ex traordinary poison may be, and however quick in its operation, such is its peculiar character, that it never taints the flesh, or unfits it for the purposes of nutrition. Many instances of these effects are recorded by the missionaries and travellers who have visited the western continent, and directed their attention to its central regions ; all the nations of which are acquainted with this destructive composition. Gumilla, in particular, relates, that lie examined the carcass of an ape which had been killed by a poisoned arrow ; and that after having opened it as quickly as possible, he found the blood thick and clotted, and its temperature surprisingly diminished, even in the neighbourhood of the heart. The life of the animal was completely extinguished ; and its members ceased to vibrate when sharp instru ments were applied to them. But notwithstanding, all these circumstances, the Indians of the party boiled it without delay, and (lumina himself partook of the re past. "I asked them," says he, " many questions about it, and was so satisfied with their answers, that I ven tured to eat one of the limbs of the ape, which appeared to me as savoury as the most delicate pig ; and af terwards, they never killed any thing which I did not taste."—(/Iistoire de l'Orenoytte Traci. de 1'1:snag-not, torn. iii. p. 3. et seq.) The chief ingredient in this poison of such deleterious energy, is the juice of the root curare, a species of willow ; and the manchrnille, used in other parts of America with a similar intention, produces likewise the same effects.
But whatever may be the dexterity of the hunter, or the efficacy of his weapons, the chace cannot afford a regular subsistence. At certain seasons of the year, the
pursuit of the wild animals must be entirely suspended. Hence those nations of the American continent, who are strangers to agriculture, often experience the most severe and desolating famine ; the unhappy individuals being forced to eat lizards and toads, and unctuous earth ; and to subsist on the bones of fish and serpents, which they grind into powder, and form into bread. According to Alvar Nugnez Cabeca de Vaca, one of the most brave and virtuous of the Spanish adventurers, this was frequently the case with the savages of Florida, among whom he resided for a period of nine years. (Nazifragias, chap. xviii. p. 20. et sty, and c. xxiv. p. 27.) It is by agriculture alone that a regular supply of food can be procured. There are very few nations of America who live by hunting, that do not at the same time cultivate the ground ; and derive a part at least of their subsistence, from the productions which their in dustry has raised. But the agriculture of the Indians is neither systematic nor laborious. They live chiefly upon game and fish ; and their only object in cultivating the earth, is to supply the accidental deficiency of these, and to guard against the evils of famine. Both the plough and the harrow are unknown among them ; and the instruments which they use, are exceedingly awk ward and rude. Their exertions are confined to the rearing of a few plants, which, in a fertile soil, spring up and ripen, with very little care. The chief of these are maize, or Indian wheat ; the manioc, from a species of which the Cassada bread is made ; the plantain, which grows to the height of a tree, but which, notwith standing, vegetates so rapidly, as in less than a year to afford its increase ; the potatoe, a root now common in Europe, and a variety of pepper called pimento, the fruit of which the Americans reckon one of the neces• sarics of life, and mingle with their food in such "natal ties, that it excoriates the tongues of those who are unac customed to its use. These productions might yield a full supply even to a numerous people ; but among the American tribes, agriculture is only a collateral or auxili ary employment. Slothful by nature, and accustomed to the irregular and wandering life of hunting, they cannot submit to the labours of the field with any consecutive application of industry to the subjects of cultivation. Their provision from that source is limited and scanty ; and upon a failure of their usual success in killing the wild animals, they are reduced to such extremities,that many of them perish.t We have now given a general view of the mode in which subsistence was procured by the natives of the western continent, at the time when they were first visit ed by the Europeans : in the islands it was somewhat different, though, for the most part, the same. On the arrival of the Spaniards, no animal was to be found in these islands whose carcass could recompence the trouble of killing it ; a species of rabbit, and a little dog that could not bark, being the only creatures of size which were discovered upon them. The inhabitants lived sometimes by killing birds, or by fishing ; at other times, they upon lizards, and reptiles of unknown shapes, and disgustir g appearance. Agriculture was known in some degree ; but the grain raised was exceedingly small, and afforded a very limited maintenance ; so that, if the Spaniards settled in any district for a short time, the unusual consumption exhausted the scanty posses sions of the inhabitants, and famine, with all its train of consequences, ensued.