84 HISTORY OF 



the women who are mothers so soon, cease bear- 

 ing before they are arrived at thirty, and at that 

 time they appear wrinkled, and seem marked 

 with all the deformities of age. The Indians 

 have long been remarkable for their cowardice 

 and effeminacy ; every conqueror that has at- 

 tempted the invasion of their country, having 

 succeeded. The warmth of the climate entirely 

 influences their manners ; they are slothful, sub- 

 missive, and luxurious: satisfied with sensual 

 happiness alone, they find no pleasure in think- 

 ing ; and contented with slavery, they are ready 

 to obey any master. Many tribes among them 

 eat nothing that has life ; they are fearful of kill- 

 ing the meanest insect ; and have even erected 

 hospitals for the maintenance of all kinds of ver- 

 min. The Asiatic dress is a loose flowing gar- 

 ment, rather fitted for the purposes of peace and 

 indolence, than of industry or war. The vigour 

 of the Asiatics is in general conformable to their 

 dress and nourishment: Fed upon rice, and 

 clothed in effeminate silk vestments, their sol- 

 diers are unable to oppose the onset of an Euro- 

 pean army ; and from the times of Alexander to 

 the present day, we have scarcely any instances 

 of their success in arms. Upon the whole, there- 

 fore, they may be considered as a feeble race of 

 sensualists, too dull to find rapture in any plea- 

 sures, and too indolent to turn their gravity into 

 wisdom. To this class we may refer the Per- 

 sians and Arabians, and, in general, the inhabi- 

 tants of the islands that lie scattered in the Indian 

 Ocean. 



