Origin of the American Nations. 237 



ia harveft ; made the rent in butter, be ikies a little ufed in 

 the family. The man relates that he thinks he clears, one 

 year with another, from the three acres, about £.30. The 

 daily wages his family earns, about keep them. It is very- 

 evident that this man clears from his three acres more than 

 a farmer can poffibly lay by from more than eighty acres of 

 land in the common hufbandry of the country, paying for 

 horfes, fervants, &c. ; and it mull be obvious to every one how 

 great the advantages mud be to fociety by cultivating land in 

 this manner. It would have taken more than half the quan- 

 tity of his three acres in pafture for one cow at grafs during 

 half the year; whereas (excepting the fummer's gait for one 

 of his cows, as mentioned before) his frock of two cows and 

 two pigs is kept and carried on the whole year. The family 

 lives well, and a handfome fum has been yearly faved to place 

 out two fons, and fupply them with clothes, warning, &c. 



" I am, &c. HENRY VAVASOUR. 



u P. S. The man's name is Thomas Rook." 



XXXVI. Conjectures ref peeling the Origin of tk/ American 



Nations. 



T 



[Concluded from p. 119.] 

 6. Arrows the Symbol of a general Proclamation. 



HESE arrows, which were blunt, were not feathered, 

 and had a greater refemblance to fmall (licks than to arrows* 

 They were employed at fir (I for foretelling future events. The 

 names of the objects refpe&ing which information was re- 

 quired were written upon two of them, and a third remained 

 without writing; one arrow contained the things good or 

 bad which had been obferved, and another forbade them. 

 All the three were put into a covered vefiel, and on drawing 

 one of them out, the perfon who confulted this kind of oracle 

 knew what to do. If the thing was allowed, the perfon pro- 

 fecuted his purpofe ; if it was forbidden, he purfued meafures 

 of a different kind : but if the arrow without writing was 

 drawn out, it was believed that the proper period for engaging 

 in the undertaking had not yet arrived. Thefe arrows, how- 

 ever, are not the kind here alluded to, but thofe by which 

 the affembling of a whole people was forbidden. They were 

 much ufed, in particular, fn the northern kingdoms. " When 

 an army comes into the land," fay the Norwegian laws, u or 

 when any infurrection takes place in the country, a mo^ 



