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LANGSDORFF.

HERRERA - FLECKNO — VIEYRA.

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.

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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 Magellenica, 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

[Stars brighter as they pass over the Eme-gal, que letra tocaria ao nosso Maranham ?

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.

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[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

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.

[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.

524 MERC. PERNANS-DOBRIZHOFFER-CONDAMINE-ADAIR.

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 Abregée, 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.

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[Singular Custom in Trinidad Bay of grinding down the Teeth to the Gums.] AT Trinidad Bay, VANCOUVER observed a fashion " must be attended with much pain in the particularly singular, which 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 tion, one from each corner of the mouth, three perpendicular columns of punctuaand 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

GUMILLA-P. ANDRES PEREZ DE RIBAS-WINTERBOTTOM. 525

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[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.

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[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.

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BUCHANAN - PINCKARD - STEDMAN - FALKNER.

[The White Ant an Article of Food.] "THE Termes, or White Ant, is a common article of food among one of the Hindoo tribes."-BUCHANAN, vol. 1, p. 7.

[The Amphisbana, or, King of the Emmets.]

"STEDMAN saw one species of Ants perfectly black, and not less than an inch long. They pillage a tree of all its leaves in a short time, which they cut in small pieces the size of a sixpence, and carry underground, to feed their young. But the common belief is, that it is to feed a blind serpent, the Amphisbona, who is called therefore the King of the Emmets."-Narrative, &c. vol. 2, pp. 141, 203.

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[Lice of Surinam.]

"THE grass about Surinam is infested by Pattat and Scrapat lice, as they are called. The former is so small, as to be scarcely visible, the latter something larger, and shaped like a crab; both stick close to the skin, and occasion an intolerable itching. These insects abound most during the rainy season, when the best means of avoiding their attacks is supposed to be by walking barefoot, as they are believed to fasten more easily, and consequently, in greater numbers, upon the cloaths, whence, however, they very speedily find their way to the skin."-STEDMAN'S Nurrative, &c., vol. 1, p. 19.

[Ashes of a Volcano near Mendoza.]

FALKNER, (c. 2, p. 51,) says that the eruption of a volcano near Mendoza, has covered the grass on both sides the Plata with ashes, the winds carrying them to the incredible distance of three hundred leagues, or more.

[The Razor Grass of Surinam.]

STEDMAN mentions the cutty-weeree-weeree, as among the most serious pests in Surinam; it is a kind of strong-edged grass which is in some places very plentiful, and when a man walks through it, will cut his legs like a razor, vol. 2, p. 29. We have grasses in England which would do the same, if we went bare-legged.

Pacheco desirous of going on the Indian Mission.

"SUBITO fugere parentum Illecebræ, notique omnes è pectore, dulcis Et patria, et quidquid gressus retineret, in undas

It Lethes, similesque ferunt oblivia curas. Obvia sola oculis, cordi sola obvia surgit

DU PRATZ - PEYRON - DOBRIZHOFFER.

India, sola meos prædata est India amores. Ah quoties quoties sera mihi nocte carinam Indulgens animo fingebat somnus, et undas Consterni, velum expandi, retinacula scindi,

Aspirare austros, et me simulabat euntem!" PACIECIDOS, 1. 8.

[The Natchez enslaved and sent to St.
Domingo.]

"1730. WHEN the French extirpated the Natchez this year, they sent all whom they spared as slaves to St. Domingo." - Du PRATZ, vol. 1, p. 161.

[The Bridge of Xativa.]

"THERE is a bridge about three miles from Xativa, called the Widow's Bridge, and interesting for its history. A mother, who lost her only son in the river there, built it, in order that the same affliction

might never happen to any mother again for want of one in that place."-PEYRON.

[The Chaco Grub that produces Milk.] "JOLIS speaks of a grub in the Chaco, which only the women eat, and which, in a few days, produces milk, even in persons who are not pregnant, and who are advanced in years. He affirms this positively. Per mezzo di detti vermini fritti, o a lesso, che mangiansi, abbonda in pochi giorni il latte nelle donne, ancorché avvanzate in età, ed anche in quelle, che in istato non sono di partorire, come ne fui lo assicurato, e convinto da quei seloaggi. Non è cio, come sembrar potrebbe, una favola, ma un fatto avverato, e di cui non è a dubitarsi. (SAGGIO JULLA Storia del Chaco, p. 374.)

The ABATE JOLIS is not a judicious writer, though in many respects a valuable one. The thing itself is most improbable, but, perhaps, not absolutely impossible. The

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[Eating of Clay by the Othomacos and Guamos explained.]

THE Othomacos and Guamos are said to eat clay. GUMILLA, (t. 1, c. 13,) explains how far this assertion is well founded. The women have little pits by the river-side, which they line with chalk or fine clay, tempered as if for pottery. In this they lay their maize, or whatever fruit or grain they choose when the mass ferments, they take it out with the clay, work it up in water, pass it through a sieve, mix it with a considerable quantity of tortoise or cayman fat, and bake it in round balls. If there is plenty of this fat, the bread is tender, other

wise it is almost as hard as a brick."

[Tobacco: - Indian Smoking of the Calu

met.]

"ONE of the mervelles of this herbe, and that whiche bringeth most admiration, is the maner howe the priests of the Indias did use it, which was in this manner. When there was amongst the Indians any manner of businesse of greate importance, in the which the chiefe gentlemen called Casiques, or any of the principal people of the countrey, had necessitie to consult with their priestes in any businesse of importance,

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