[Cruelty of Atahualpa.]

ATAHUALPA was quite as cruel as his conquerors. The Cañaris, a brave and highly civilized people, sent their youths and children to request pardon for having opposed him, and he slew thousands and tens of thousands of them, and had their hearts taken out, and set in rows in the fields, saying, he would see what fruit would come of such lying hearts. "To this day," says HERRERA," their bones and skulls strike horror into any one who sees the multitude of them, which still remain unconsumed in that dry and sandy soil." — Ibid. 5. 3. 17.

[Montezuma's Way of keeping up the Popu

lation in poisonous Districts.] "MONTEZUMA used to keep up the population on the pestilential north coast of

the other a Negro.]

"A NEGRESS had twins this year by a Portugueze, both were boys, the one white, the other a negro."-Piso, p. 34.

[Reason why the Ingas married their
Sisters.]

"THE reason why the Ingas married their sisters, was that blood-royal might not fail, though the woman should commit adultery."-HERRERA, 5. 4. 1.

[Quilted Cotton Jackets.]

“1511. A HUNDRED jackets (jaquetas,) quilted with cotton, and brought from England, were sent to the Spaniards at Hispaniola, as the best defence against the arrows

of the Indians."-Ibid. 1. 9. 5.

eight thousand families to settle there, mak

ing them free from tribute, and giving them

America.]

IN 1731, a bark, with six men, which was

to another of the Canary Isles, was driven by a storm to Trinidad. GUMILLA, (c. 32,) who was in the neighbourhood, relates the fact, as a proof that America may have received some of its first people in this man

ner.

[Extraordinary Statement as to the immense number of Cattle in the Neighbourhood of Monterey.]

"THE immense herds of cattle now to be seen in these parts spring from five head which were brought hither by the mission in the year 1776. The Governor of Monterey, with whom we became acquainted during our stay, assured me that the number had been so great during the latter years in the missions of St. Francisco, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, that some months before he had been under the necessity of sending out a party of soldiers, who had killed no less than twenty thousand, as he began to be afraid that from the immense increase of them, there might, in a short time, have been a want of sufficient pasture for their support."- LANGSDOrff, vol. 2, p. 170.

523

foil, is set off the more by a great black cloud that is continually under it, as is the whiteness of the Milky Way rendered more perspicuous, by a streak of black in the midst of it, tending towards the same Constellation; both which, as also another great black cloud on the other side the Milky Way, I observed at my being there, for more than six months continually whence I concluded, it was the natural complexion of that sky, (as ours is blue,) to have much part black; which perhaps renders the people of that climate far more melancholy than ours, which black clouds I much wonder none (as I know of,) has observed besides myself, especially since there are two white clouds not far from the Cruciers, appearing always in the same posture and figure, so generally observed and known, as they are called Nubes Magellenicæ, from Magellan, who first discovered them.” FLECKNO, p. 80.

[Enter:-Letter M.]

"Os vicios da lingua saõ tantos, que fez Drexelio hum Abecedario inteiro et muito copioso delles. E se as letras deste Abecedario se repartissem pelos Estados de Portu

rald Mines of Ytoco.]

"BOTH Spaniards and Indians say, that when a star passes over Ytoco, where the emerald mines are, it becomes manifestly brighter, as bright as the moon of six days old."— HERRERA, 8. 4. 11.

Nao ha duvida que o M. M. Maranham, M. murmurar, M. motejar, M. maldizer, M. malsinar, M. mixericar, et solve tudo M. mentir: mentir com as palatras, mentir com as obras, mentir com os pensamentos, que de todos, et por todos os modus aqui se mente.”—VIEYRA, Serm. t. 4, p. 294.

[Starry Influences.]

"I WILL conclude this Treatise of Brazil with a word or two of the Stars of the other Hemisphere, garnished with many Constellations wholly unknown to us, of which the Cruciers, or Crosse, is the principal, consisting of five or six Stars of the first magnitude, as bright as any in our Hemisphere; whose brightness, as with a

[The Weapon Yuele.]

"THEY used also a singular weapon, which they called yuele, but to which the Spaniards improperly applied the name of the macana: it was a truncheon, three

1 DOBRIZHOFFER says, Hungarorum pusagan aliquomodo refert.

palms in length, well rounded, and thicker at the ends than in the middle; with this they practised at a mark, making it skim along the ground, as boys make a flat pebble leap along the surface of the water. In war it became a formidable missile, with which they broke the bones of their enemies."-HERRERA, 2. 58.

[Population of the Valley of Tariga.] "THE population of this valley of Tariga is redundant, and the Chirihuanos continually send out swarms of emigrants towards Tucuman."-MERC. PERNANS, May 15, 1791, t. 2, p. 37.

[Belief of equestrian Tribes in evil Spirits.]

"THE equestrian tribes towards the south believe in an immense number of evil spirits, whom they call Quezubû, and their prince El-El. But they offer them no worship, execrating them as the authors of all evil."-DOBRIZHOFFER, t. 2, p. 100.

[Artificial Parroquets.]

"Les Indiens des bords de l'Oyapoc ont l'adresse de procurer artificiellement aux perroquets des couleurs naturelles, differentes de celles qu'ils ont reçues de la nature, en leur tirant les plumes, et en les frottant avec du sang de certaines Grenouilles; c'est la ce qu'on apelle à Cayenne, tapirer un Perroquet; peut être le secret ne consiste-t-il qu'a mouiller de quelque liqueur âcre l'endroit qui a été plumé; peut être même n'est-il besoin d'aucun apprêt, et c'est une expérience à faire. En effet, il ne paroit pas plus extraordinaire de voir dans un viseau renaître des plumes rouges ou jaunes, au lieu des vertes qui lui ont été arrachées, que de voir repousser du poil blanc en la place du noir sur le dos d'un cheval qui a été blessé."-CONDAMINE, Relation Abregće, p. 169.

[Feathers of the Inca's Crown.]

"THE Peruvians believed that there were two birds, spotted with black and white, who lived by the Lake of Tongasuca, who never bred, and were themselves immortal. At the coronation of an Inca, thousands of the people went to the mountains where these two birds made their abode, and hunted them till they caught them, took a feather from each, and then let them go. To offer them any other injury at any time was a capital offence. These feathers were inserted in the crown of the new Inca."-MERC. PERNANS, No. 139.

[Singular Custom in Trinidad Bay of grinding down the Teeth to the Gums.]

Ar Trinidad Bay, VANCOUVER observed a fashion "particularly singular, which must be attended with much pain in the first instance, and great inconvenience ever after. All the teeth of both sexes were, by some process, ground uniformly down horizontally, to the gums; the women especially, carrying the fashion to an extreme, had their teeth reduced even below this level, and ornamented their lower lip with three perpendicular columns of punctuation, one from each corner of the mouth, and one in the middle, occupying threefifths of the lip and chin."— Vol. 3, p.

415.

[Expert Fishing.]

"THEY have a surprising method of fishing under the edges of rocks, that stand over deep places of a river. There, they pull off their red breeches, or their long slip of Stroud cloth, and wrapping it round their arm, so as to reach to the lower part of the palm of their right hand, they dive under the rock where the large cat-fish lie to shelter themselves from the scorching beams of the sun, and to watch for prey : as soon as those fierce aquatic animals see

that tempting bait, they immediately seize it with the greatest violence, in order to swallow it. Then is the time for the diver to improve the favourable opportunity: he accordingly opens his hand, seizes the voracious fish by his tender parts, hath a sharp struggle with it against the crevices of the rock, and at last brings it safe ashore." ADAIR'S Hist. of the American Indians, p. 404.

[Buoyancy of the Cayman.] GUMILLA (c. 43,) believes, with the Othomacos, that the Cayman, having no alacrity at sinking, is obliged to swallow stones by way of ballast, till he is heavy enough to get to the bottom.

[Free Negroes of the Caraccas, and their Town.]

GUMILLA, (c. 17,) says that the free Negroes in Caraccas have been permitted to found a town of their own, which is called Nirua, where they have their own priest, their own municipal government, and from which they exclude all white persons, and all strangers.

[Extempore Clock at Cinaloa.]

"In the province of Cinaloa, (in New Spain,) the natives used to make extempore clocks of this kind, in a rude but easy and effectual manner. Quando llueve, si quieren defenderse del agua, el remedio es coger una macolla, o manojo de paja larga del campo. Este atan por lo alto, y sentandose el Indio lo abre, y pone sobre la cabeça, de suerte que le cubra el cuerpo al rededor; y esse le sirve de capa aguadera, y de techo y casa, o tienda de campo, aunque este lloviendo toda una noche.-P. ANDRES PEREZ DE RIBAS, 1. 1, c. 2.

[The Omnivorous Ant of Africa.] "THE snakes have a formidable enemy in a species of ants, not larger than those in England, and from their colour, called black ants. These frequently enter houses in such incredible multitudes as to cover the walls and floors, which they never quit unless driven out by fire or boiling water, until they have searched every cranny, and have destroyed every thing which has life, or which can serve them for food. Were they to find a person confined to bed by sickness, he would quickly be destroyed, if not immediately removed. When they depart, the house is left perfectly desert; neither snake, rat, lizard, frog, centipes, cockroach, nor spider, the usual guests in an African hut, are to be seen." -WINTERBOTTOM's Native Africans, vol. 2, p. 176, Note.