ULLOa's voyage to south AMERICA. ^^^ 



The principal caufe of the fhort duration of fuch promlfing beginnings, and of the 

 indolent turn fo Often feen in thofe bright geniufes, is doubtlefs the want of proper 

 objefts for exercifing their faculties, and the fmall hopes of being preferred to any 

 pofl anfwerable to the pains they have taken. For as there is in this country neither 

 army nor navy, and the civil employments very few, it is not at all furprifmg that the 

 defpair of making their fortunes by this method, fhould damp their ardour for excell- 

 ing in the fciences, and plunge them into idlenefs, the fure forerunner of vice ; where 

 they lofe the ufe of their reafon, and ftifle thofe good principles which fired them when 

 young and under proper fubjeftion. The fame is evident in the mechanic arts, in 

 which they demonftrate a furprifing fkill in a very little time ; but foon leave thofe alfo 

 imperfed, without attempting to improve on the methods of their maflers. Nothing 

 indeed is more furprifing than the early advances of the mind in this country, children 

 of two or three years of age converfing with a regularity and ferloufnefs that is rarely 

 feen in Europe at fix or leven ; and at an age when they can fcarce fee the light, are 

 acquainted with all the depths of wickednefs. 



The genius of the Americans being more forward than that of the Europeans, many 

 have been willing to believe that it alfo fooner decays ; and that at fixty years, or 

 before, they have outlived that folid judgment and penetration, fo general among us 

 at that time of life ; and it has been faid that their genius decays, while that of the 

 Europeans is haftening to its ma^rity and perfection. But this is a vulgar prejudice, 

 confuted by numberlefs inftances, and particularly by the celebrated Father Fr. Benito 

 Feyjoo, Teatro Critico, vol. iv. effay 6. All who have travelled with any attention 

 through thefe countries, have obferved in the natives of every age a permanent capa- 

 city, and uniform brightnefs of intelle<^ ; if they were not of that wretched number, 

 who dlforder both their minds and bodies by their vices. And indeed one often fees 

 here perfons of eminent prudence and extenfive talents, both in the fpeculative and 

 practical fciences, and who retain them in all their vigour, to a very advanced age. 



Charity is a virtue in which all the inhabitants of Carthagena, without exception, 

 may be faid particularly to excel : and did they not liberally exert it towards European 

 ftrangers, who generally come hither to feek their fortune, fuch would often perlfh 

 with licknefs and poverty. This appears to me a fubjeO: of fuch importance, though 

 well known to all who have vifited this part of the world, that I Ihall add a word or 

 two on it, in order to undeceive thofe, who, not contented with perhaps a competent 

 eftate in their own country, imagine that it is only fetting their foot in the Indies, 

 and their fortune is made. 



Thofe who on board the galleons are called Pullzones, as being men without em- 

 ployment, flock, or recommendation ; who, leaving their country as fugitives, and, 

 without licenfe from the officers, come to feek their fortune in a country where they are 

 utterly unknown ; after traverfing the flreets till they have nothing left to procure 

 them lodging or food, they are reduced to have recourfe to the laft extremity, the 

 Francifcan hofpital ; where they receive, in a quantity fufEcIent barely to keep them 

 . alive, a kind of pap made of cafava ; of which, as the natives themfelves will not eat, 

 the difagreeablenefs to wretched mortals never ufed to fuch food, may eafily be con- 

 ceived *. This is their food ; their lodging is the entrance of the fquares and the 

 porticos of churches, till their good fortune throws them in the way of hiring them- 

 felves to fome trader going up the country, who wants a fervant. The city merchants, 



* This is called Mandioc by the natives, and is the chief fnbftitute the poorer people have for bread ; 

 and fo far from being rejefted even by the richer, that many prefer it to bread made from the beft 

 European flour, much more to bifcuit, which after fuch a voyage generally begins to be full of weevils. A. 



ftanding 



:4ff^^tiCu.J 



