234 condamine's- travels ^ 



in the midft of Guyana, a diftrift to which neither the Portuguefe of Para, nor the 

 French of Cayenne, have hitherto penetrated. Yet notwithftanding thefe corrobora- 

 tions I muft confefs, that I fhall give credence to the exillence of Amazons at this time, 

 in the fpot pointed out, with great reludance, until more pofitive proofs be gradually 

 afforded by the natives of the countries in the neighbourhood of the European colonies 

 on the coaft of Guyana; but this migratory nation will very poffibly again have 

 changed its refidence ; or, what to me appears a more probable event than any other, 

 will have forfaken its antient habits, either in confequence of being overpowered by 

 fome other nation, or of the maidens having at length loft the averfion of their mo- 

 thers to the company of men. Thus, though no remaining veftige fliould be" found 

 of this feminine republic, this would not yet prove that none fuch had ever exifted. 



Sufficient on the contrary has been adduced to determine the hiftorical fa6f of the 

 exiftence at one time, of a nation of women who had no men living with them. For 

 the cuftoms of this nation, and efpecially that of cutting off one of their breafts, as, 

 trufting to the tales of American natives, Acuiia relates ; thefe are accefforial circum- 

 ftances, independent of the fa6t itfelf, and are probably exaggerations or inventions of 

 Europeans informed of the practices attributed to the Amazons of Afia, and which a 

 fondnefs for the wonderful may have caufed the natives of America learning thefe tales 

 from them,, to interweave in their narratives. In fa£t, it is ftated, that the Cacique 

 who admonifhed Orellana to be on his guard againft the Amazons, whom in the lan- 

 guage of his country he denominated Comapuyaras, defcribing them as but with one 

 breaft ; and the native of Coari, on repeating the relation of his grand-father who faw 

 four Amazons, one of them fuckling her child, made no mention of this peculiarity,. 

 one of too remarkable a nature to have efcaped obfervation. 



I return to the principal fa6t. If, in refutation of the exiftence of a nation of this de- 

 fcription, be alledged the want of probability, and the next to moral impoffibility, that fuch 

 a feminine republic could be founded and fubfift, I fhall not attempt to fupport it by in- 

 ftancing the antient Amazons of Afia, nor the modern ones of Africa *, as what we read 

 of thefe in antient and modern authors, is at beft much mingled with fable, and open 

 to difpute ; but ftiall confine myfalf to remarking that if ever fuch a nation had exift- 

 ence, there is moft reafon to conclude it muft have been in America, where the frequent 

 wanderings of the women, who often accompany their hufbands to war, and the hard- 

 fhips of their domeftic life, might not only originate fuch an idea, but likewife furnifti 

 them with numberlefs opportunities of fhaldng off" the yoke of their tyrants, of forming 

 an independent eftablifhment, and of avoiding that vihfying condition of flavery, fo 

 little removed from that of beafts of burthen, in which they had previoufly lived. 

 Such a refolution once formed, it would neither be more extraordinary, nor more 

 "difficult to put it in execution than fmiilar plans, in the European colonies of America ; 

 whence Haves, who weary of ill-treatment, or difgufted with their condition, fo fre- 

 quently fly to the woods, either in bands, or where no alTociates are found, alone;, 

 thus paffmg years, and oftentimes their whole lives, in the folitude of the unbounded 

 wildernefs. 



I am aware that if not all, yet the majority of the natives of South America are 

 liars, credulous, and prone to the marvellous ; but none of thefe people could ever 

 have heard of the Amazons of Diodorus, Siculus, and Juftin, previous to the arrival 

 of the Spaniards among them ; but even then Amazons were fpoken of as exifting in. 



* See Father Labat, and the defcription of Eaftern Ethiopia by Father Juan de Santos, in Portu- 

 guefe, Lifboa, and the French tranflation at Paris. 



s '' tlie 



