192 CARIPI. Chap. V. 



of organisation in the red rnan, and by inheritance 

 from Indians also in half-breeds, that the habit seems 

 impossible to be acquired by them, although they show 

 great aptitude in other respects for civilised life. Is 

 this attributable fundamentally to the absence in South 

 America of indigenous animals suitable for domestica- 

 tion ? It would appear so ; and this is a great defi- 

 ciency in a land otherwise so richly endowed by nature. 

 This, however, is a difficult question, and involves 

 many other considerations. The presence or absence 

 of domesticable animals in a country, no doubt, has 

 a very great influence on the character and culture of 

 races. The North American Indians, especially those 

 of Florida, offered many points of similarity in character 

 and social condition to the Indians of the Amazons 

 region ; and they were, like them, condemned, probably 

 from the same cause, to depend for existence chiefly 

 on the produce of the chase or fishing. On the other 

 hand, the Indians of Peru, whose more favoured home 

 contained the Llama, were enabled to reach a high 

 degree of civilisation, a great help thereto being this 

 priceless animal, which served as a beast of burthen, 

 and yielded wool for clothing, and milk, cheese, and 

 flesh for nourishment. In the plains of Tropical 

 America there exists no animal comparable to the ox, 

 the horse, the sheep, or the hog. Of the last-men- 

 tioned, indeed, there are two wild species ; but they are 

 not closely allied to the European domestic hog. Of the 

 other three animals, which have been such important 

 helps to incipient civilisation in Asia and Europe, the 

 genera even are unknown in South America. There 



