42 HISTORY OF THE [BOOK. i. 



ed the nuptual intercourse after pregnancyj. I am 

 sorry to add, that the condition of these poor creatures 

 was at the same time truly wretched. Though fre- 

 quently bestowed as the prize of successful courage, 

 the wife, thus honourably obtained, was soon con- 

 sidered of as little value as the captive. Deficient in 

 those qualities \vhich alone were estimable among 

 the Charaibes, the females \vere treated rather as 

 slaves than companions. They sustained every spe- 

 cies of drudgery : they ground the maize, prepared the, 

 cassavi, gathered in the cotton, and wove the ha- 

 mac; nor were they allowed even the privilege of 

 eating in presence of their husbands :|| Under these 

 circumstances, it is not wonderful that they were less 

 prolific than the women of Europe.* But brutality 

 towards their wives was not peculiar to the Charaibes. 

 It has prevailed in all ages and countries among the 

 uncivilized part of mankind; and the first visible proof 

 that a people is emerging from savage manners, is a 

 display of tenderness towards the female sex.f 



; Roche fort, ch. xxii. p. 548. Du Tertre, torn. ii. p. 374. 



Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1272. Labar, torn. ii. p. 40. 



|| Labat, torn. ii. p. 15 and 95. 



* Lafitau, torn.i. p. 590. 



f- Father Joseph Gumilla, in his account of the nations bordering on 

 the Oronoko, relates, (torn. i. p. 207. Fr. translation), that the Charaibes 

 of the continent punish their women caught in adultery, like the ancient 

 Israelites, " by stoning them to death before an assembly ef the people :" 

 but I do not find this facl recorded by any other writer j and as it is evi- 

 dently brought forward to support the author's hypothesis, that the Ame- 

 ricans are originally descended from the Jews, I suspeft that it is not well 

 founded : at least there it no trace that such a custom existed among the 

 insular Charaibes. Rochefort speaking of the latter, observes, that be- 



