ordinary stature• of the Americans is not very di•rent from that of the Europeans. But whether rt arises from their inactive lite, or from some constitu tional tendem y, they are more plump and full than the natives of the opposite hemisphere. The Esquiniaux, howe ver, a people who must he excepted from C \ cry general stalement with regard to America, do not rise above the height of four feet, and are of a peculiar make ; and it we give credit to the reports of travellers, the southern regions of the New World are inhabited by the Patagonians, or Puelches ; a class of men, of a gigantic stature, and of a most formidable appearance. 'They were first observed by Magellan, as he approached the straits w ldch bear his name ; and the first accounts of them were given by his officers and sailors, when they arrived in Europe. But those who, in later times, have visited the regions 01 South America, have not confirmed the relation of the people who accompanied that navigamr ; and have declamd, that these regions are inhabited by men not differing in any surpris'ing de gree from the rest of the American tribes. If we reason from analogy, ire should certainly not expect to find a race of giants in the coldest climate which modern dis covery has brought to our knowledge. It is in the mild e• latitudes that the human species acquires its highest honours, and rises nearest to perfection. Tall men are perhaps to be found among the inhabitants of South America, as tall men are to be found everywhere ; but in the language of Dobrizhoffer, the missionary, " Me Nums.orcPatagones pre giganiibus.,desinas habire."—His t oria de .lbilionibus, vol. ii. p. 13, kc. Echavarri, an au thor of great credit, says, that the Indians of South America are nearly of the same stature with the Spa niards. Reyno ?esuitic°, p. 23S. Sec PATAGONIA.
The reader, who wisht s for more accurate informa tion concerning the Patagonians, may consult the Re c/ erches Philosoplibizzes, par M. de Pilaw, vol. i. 281, and vol. iii. 181, &c., where the testimonies of different travellers are collected and stated with considerable Sze also Phil. Trans. vol. lvii. p. 78, and vol. ix. p. 2.2. Bougainville, 129. Falkener, Descrip. cf Patagonia, Introd. p. 26, and p. 102.
After the se general observations on the American Indians, as to the constitution of their bodies, it may be proper to introduce some account of their aspect and features. They are thus described by the Chevalier Pinto. "Those who live in the high country, are fairer than those in the marshy lands on the coast. Their lace is round ; farther removed, perhaps, than that of any people from itn oval shape. Their forehead is small; tile extremity of their ears tar from the face ; their lips thick ; their noses flat ; their eves black, or of a chesnut colour, small, but capable of discerning objects at a great distance. Their hair is always thick, and sleek, and without any tendency to curl. At the first aspect, a South American appears to be mild and innocent ; hut on a more attentive view, one discovers in his counte nance something wild, distrustful, and sullen." We may now inquire from what part of the Ancient World America was first peopled.
This enquiry is attended with many difficulties ; though the number of these has been increased without necessity by the authors who have discussed this sub ject, and who have, perhaps, been more willing to state her difficulties than to resolve them. Thus, for exam ple, it has been considered as utterly improbable, that one hemisphere of our planet should have been destitute of inhabitants, while the other was peopled. But, when this objection is urged, it is forgotten, that if we sup pose all mankind to be derived from one pair, originally settled in a particular quarter of the Old World, the other regions of the ancient continent must have been destitute of inhabittants, till the primitive race had multiplied to such a degree, as to have it in their power to occupy those, regions. It is not, however, to be denied, that the investigation, which we are about to undertake, is encompassed with difficulties ; sonic of these we shall mention afterwards, and shall state likewise what we have found in authors, and what occurs to ourselves, in order to obviate or surmount them.
We regard it as true, that the whole human race sprung hum a single pair. For this we have the un questionable authority of revelation ; which declares, that Adam and Eve were the first progenitors of our species ; that they occup.cd a part of Asia near the river Euphrates ; and that their descendants were miraculously separated from one another, and scattered over the earth. As they separated, they formed them selves into distinct communities, which gradually in creased into nations ; and from one or more of which it is believed that the New World was peopled. We it•e not ignorant of the opinion which Lord Karnes has maintained on this subject. (Sketches of Man, vol. lie contends that it is impossible to account for the dif feren :es, which we know to exist among human beings, with regard to their form, their colour, and their man ners ; unless we admit, that the various races are the specific descendants, each of a single pair, whose elementary characters it still preserves. Thus, according to him, the negroes of Africa must have descended from parents who w ere originally black ; the inhabitants of France and of Great Britain, from parents who were originally white ; and the Indians of America, from parents who were originally of a copper colour, or red. To this it may be replied, 1. That the form, colour, and dispositions of men, are influenced by the climate under which they live, by their local situation, and by moral and political causes; so that no inference against the common opinion can be drawn from these circum stances. The Jews are undoubtedly of one race, and that race has been kept distinct and pure ; yet they are of all complexions ; fair in Britain and Germany, brown in Spain and Portugal, olive in Syria and Chaldea, and copper-coloured in Arabia and Egypt. (Button, Xat. Hist. vol. iii.) The descendants of the Spaniards in South America have already the same tinge with the aboriginal inhabitants. (Phil. Trans. No. 476.) The people of the United States, though sprung from many different nations of Europe, have an uniform cast of fea tures and shade of complexion ; and the negroes, in many parts of the sgane country, though intermarrying vv ith one another, are losing the dark hue and curled hair of their African progenitors' (Smith on the Causes of Complei-ion and Figure of the Human Species, pas sim.) 2. That we are not acquainted with every cause which may affect the human appearance, nor can we ascertain the limits within which the operation of any single cause is to be confined. S. That it is a principle in sound philosophy, never to introduce a supernatural power to account for any effect, when we are able to account for it by causes which are natural, and w ithin our view. There is no propriety in supposing, that the omnipotence of the Deity was exercised in creating many pairs, of different characters, yet all of the same species, in order to show how America was peopled, if we can establish a connection between the Old World and the New, so as to admit of a passage from the one to the other. 4. That although we should suppose as many pairs and as ninny races as any philosopher would require, still there are differences of families and of individuals to be fotmd in any single race which may be chosen for the purpose of examination. One family is distinguished by a peculiar set of features, and another family another set ; one man is tall, and another man is short ; one is active and bold, and another sloth ful and cowardly. And surely, if there be differences of families and of individuals in a single race, deriving its origin from one pair, there is no reason why we should not conclude, that there may be differences among the races themselves, though all of them arc sprung from a common source. Lastly, That even, if we could not account for the varieties among the people who inhabit the earth, by the operation of natural causes, it would by no means follow, that the different races were sprung from different pairs ; we could only infer, that philosophers have not yet succeeded in accounting for the varieties among the people that inhabit the earth, by the operation of natural causes.