206 On the peopling of America. 



continent, all the varieties of shades, from perfect white to per- 

 fect black, vve are natiuallv surprised that in the new world, 

 which extends to a higher degree of north and south latitude, 

 including every habitable region, there should not be a black 

 man, nor one, as it has been alleged, who is perfectly white. 

 The natives are generally of a reddish brown. Their colour 

 seems to be a uii.Ntine of white and black, reddened by paint, or 

 by the blood appearing through the skin, wliich is not thick. 

 This again receives a brownibh cast by more or less exposure to 

 the weather. 



On the whole continent of America, there is not a black In-" 

 dian, nor is there a spot for which a black skin is required. No 

 winds prevail in America tb.at rise on a hot surface or a sandy 

 desert ; nor is tlicre any large tract, within the tropics, that is 

 remarkably hot. The greater part of this continent is divided 

 by a long chain of inountuins, that extends from north to south. 

 These mountains, the highest in the world, have an astonishing 

 effect upon the climate, on both sides of the continent. They lie 

 across the trade winds, and cut them off; for they rise above the 

 winds. They are generally distant about seventy or eighty miles 

 from the Pacific Ocean, within the tropics ; but the whole space 

 between those mountains and the Pacific Ocean is so far from 

 being parched bv a hot vertical sun, that the inhabitants enjoy 

 the most pleasing temjjeratin e. There is a sandy desert, nearly 

 one hundred miles in extent, between Sachara and Lima, about 

 the seventh degree of south latitude. Such an expanse of dry 

 sand, under a vertical sun, in any part of the other continent, 

 woidd produce great heat, and give a sable colouring to the })eo- 

 ple in its vicinity. But in the province of Lima it can produce 

 no sucli effect, because the wind in those regions ought to blow 

 from the east ; but there are mountains in that direction, at no 

 great distance, covered with perpetual snow. 



I'he trade winds to the eastward of the Andes arc chcckecV by 

 those mountains ; there they deposit all the water with which 

 they had been charged. The quantity of rain in that region 

 being preat, the process of evaporation must also be great, 

 wherf'by the heat of the atmosphere is moderated. A reddish 

 brown, with a tawny cast, is the darkest colour that can be ex- 

 pected in such a climate. America, on both sides of the Andes, 

 abave the tropics, should produce, as in some parts of the old 

 continent, in similar latitudes, a brown or dusky race of men, until 

 we reach a high degree of latitude ; and it is very questionable, 

 whether a race of men, perfectly fair, will ever be found to pre- 

 serve that complexion for many ages, in any part of America, 

 to the eastward of the Cordilleras ; except in high latitudes, and 



near 



