BOOK III. CHAP. I. ^6^- 



talks; thfir hair black, and curled like wool; they arc very nimble, 

 and run with a fpeed that is almoft incredible ; they arc very dif- 

 agrceable in their perlbns, and, in fiiort, taking all things together, 

 one of the meaneft nations on the face of the earth [^]. 



Has the Hottentot, from this portrait, a more manly tigure than the 

 oran-outang? I fufped that he owes, like the oran-outaiig, the celcritv" 

 of his fpecd to the particular conformation of his foot ; this, by the 

 way, is only my conje£lure, for he has not as yet undergone anato- 

 mical invefligation. That the oran-outang and fome races of black 

 men are very nearly allied, is, I think, more than probable ; Mr. Buf- 

 fon fupports his dedudions, tending to the contrary, by no decliive 

 proofs. 



We can fcarcely fpeak more of the oran-outang race than wc 

 might of any newly difcovered people, the meafure of whofe facul- 

 ties we have not yet had fufficient opportunity to examine. 



We have feen their bodies hitherto in miniature only, which con.- 

 veys very little further information of their intellect than might be 

 gained from the view of a pidure, or a flatue. 



But, if we reafon about them from analogy, they poffefs all thofe 

 organizations which indicate, according to LePluche[fl, the pre-emi.- 

 nence of man over brutes, and (hew him born to govern them. 



Thefe tokens of fuperiority are, ift, The advantages received from 

 the ereift pofition of his head and body. All the brute fpecies re- 

 cline towards the earth, and creep upon it. Man alone walks with 

 his head upright, and by this attitude maintains himfelf in full liberty 

 of adion, and command. 2d, The expreffion in his countenance, from 

 the multitude of mufcles which are diftributed through the extent 

 of his face. 3d, The liberty of governing all, and varying his actions 

 according to the exigency of circurnftances, is the firft help which 

 man experiences from the ?iolfk pofition of his body. 4th, But the 

 analogy of his (hape, with the things around him, is a new fource 

 of eafy methods to him in making himfelf tnajlcr of all. What we 

 have juft remarked of the whole frame of the body of man, and of 

 tlie exact proportion. betweerL his fliape and that univerfal fway whicii 

 is alloted him, we may again obferve in his legs and arms. 5th, His 

 legs fupport him with an air of dignity, that fets him off, and be- 



\jl\ Commodore Rogge-.vein's voyage. [c] Spiftaclc. de I.i Natutc. , 



fpeaks-. 



