iO INTRODUCTION. 



sioned by the influence of the climate, which, by tend- 

 ing to relax and enervate the body, must of course 

 lessen the vigour of the mind : Yet there is a degree of 

 humanity amongst some of these unenlightened peo- 

 ple, that proves the natural goodness of their hearts; 

 for they not only refuse to eat any thing that has life, 

 but are fearful of killing the meanest insect. Indolence 

 and sensuality are the vices that prevail, and prevent 

 them from exerting the little vigour they possess : in 

 short, since the time of Alexander the Great, there has 

 scarcely been an instance of their success in arms. 



The fourth variation in the human species is to be 

 found among the negroes of Africa. This gloomy race 

 of mankind may be said to extend from the southern 

 parts of Africa, from eighteen degrees north of the 

 Line, to its extreme termination at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



Each of the Negro nations, it must be owned, differ 

 from each other; like us, they have peculiar countries 

 remarkable for beauty or deformity. Those of Guinea, 

 for example, are extremely ugly, and have an unpleasant 

 scent attached to their persons; whilst those of Mosam- 

 bique are allowed to be beautiful, and are entirely free 

 from a disagreeable smell. The negroes, in general, are 

 of a black colour, with a remarkable smooth and polish- 

 ed skin : their hair is short, soft, and woolly, and the 

 beard partakes of the same qualities : their eyes are ge- 

 nerally of a deep hazel ; their noses flat and short ; their 

 lips thick, and their teeth of an ivory whiteness. They 

 are in general allowed to be indolent, mischievous, and 

 revengeful ; though many instances might be brought 

 to evince the goodness of their hearts, and to prove 

 that where they are treated with kindness and compas- 

 sion, their fidelity and attachment know no bounds. 



