62 HISTORY OF THE [BOOK. r. 



hope their original numbers must have been greatly 

 exaggerated ; first by the associates of Columbus, 

 from a fond and excusable propensity to magnify the 

 merit and importance of their discoveries, as undoubt- 

 edly they were afterwards by the worthy prelate I 

 have quoted, in the warmth of his honest indignation 

 at the bloody proceedings of his countrymen: with 

 whom, indeed, every man of a humane and reflecting 

 mind, must blush to confess himself of the same na- 

 ture and species ! 



But, riot to anticipate observations that will more 

 properly appear hereafter, I shall now proceed to the 

 consideration, 



I. Of their persons and personal endowments* 

 II. Their intellectual faculties and dispositions : 



III. Their political institutions : 



IV. Their religious rites. - 



Such subordinate particulars as are not easily redu- 

 cible to either of these heads will conclude the pre- 

 sent chapter. 



I, Both men and women wore nothing more than 

 a slight covering of cotton cloth round the waist; but 



o o 



in the women it extended to the knees : the 'children 

 of both sexes appeared entirely naked. In stature 

 they were taller, but less robust than the Charaibes. 



Oviedo, Som. 



