study xi. 335 



of which ferves to make cloth. As much may be 

 faid of the vegetable productions of the Iilands of 

 America relatively to their Continent. 



Thefe obfervations might be extended even to the 

 very birds and quadrupeds, which are more beau- 

 tiful, and of fpecies more varied, in iflands, than 

 any where elfe. The elephants held in higheft 

 eftimation in Afia, are thofe of the Ifland of Cey- 

 lon. The Indians believe them to be pofleffed of 

 fomething divine ; nay, more, they allege, that 

 other elephants acknowledge this fuperiority. One 

 thing is certain, they fetch a higher price all over 

 Afia than any others. In a word, travellers the 

 mod worthy of credit, and who have made the 

 mod accurate obfervations, as the Englilh Dam- 

 pier, Father du Tertre, and fome others, aflure us, 

 that there is not a (hallow in the feas lying between 

 the Tropics, but what is diftinguilhed by fome fort 

 of bird, of crab, of turtle, or of filh, which is no 

 where elfe to be found, either of fpecies fo varied, 

 or in fo great abundance. I prefume that Nature 

 has thus fcattered her choiceft benefits over the 

 iflands, in order to allure men thither, and to per- 

 vade the Earth. Thefe are only conjectures, I 

 grant ; but they rarely deceive us when they are 

 founded on the wifdom and goodnefs of the Au- 

 thor of Nature. 



The 



