412 DIFFERENCES IN" 



have slice! their glories round Mango Capac the first sage 

 and lawgiver, and the succeeding Incas or emperors of Peru ; 

 whose lives and exploits have been recorded by one of their 

 own descendants on the female side, Garcilasso de la 

 Vega, surnamed the Inca. 



In stating the moral and intellectual inferiority of the 

 native Americans to the white races, I speak of an inferiority 

 common to them with the other dark-coloured people of the 

 globe; and do not mean to adopt, in the smallest degree, 

 the fanciful notions, promulgated by some writers, of the de- 

 generacy of all animal nature in this vast Continent. That 



instances by Robertson {Hist, of Jmerica), liave been amply exposed and 

 refuted, so far as the people themselves are concerned, by Count Carli ; 

 who has proved, by the clear testimonies of the original Spanish conquerors, 

 that the Mexicans and Peruvians defended themselves with the greatest bra- 

 very and resolution ; and that they had made considerable advances in know- 

 ledge, in the arts, in general civilization, and in government, at the time of 

 the Spanish conquest. (See his Letiere Americaiie composing the 11th, 12th, 

 13th, and 14th volumes of his Opere, 15 t. Milano, 1786 : but particularly 

 the two first.) The two fundamental truths of religion, the existence of God, 

 and the immortality of the soul, were recognized in Peru (Lettere, t. i. 1. 7.); 

 and th;' knowledge of arithmetic and astronomy had been carried to a great 

 extent (ib. t. ii, 1. I. et 2.) They had constructed considerable aqueducts, of 

 which the remains are still to be seen ; and numerous canals for irrigation, of 

 which one is said to Itavebccn 150 leagues in length (t.i. p. 317). They were 

 able to extract, separate, and fuse metals : to give to copper the hardness of 

 steel, for the fabrication of their weapons and instruments ; to make mirrors 

 of this hardened copper or of hard stone ; to form images of gold and silver 

 hollow within ; to cut the hardest precious stones with the greatest nicety ; 

 to manufacture and dye cotton and wool, and work and figure the stuffs in 

 various ways ; to spin and weave the tine hair of hares and rabits into fa- 

 brics resembling and answering the purposes of silks (ibid, t.i.) 



The preceding statements are fully corroborated by the existing remains of 

 these ancient arts, as seen and described by Ulloa, Bouguer, Coxdamine, 

 and Humboldt. Travels in South America, v. i. book 6. ch. 1 1 . Acad, des 

 Sciences; 1740, 1745. Vuedes CordillereSy Monumens des Peuples.,S^c. 



"• The Toultees," says the latter author, " introduced the cultivation of 

 maize and cotton ; they built cities, made roads, and constructed those 

 great pyramids, which are yet admired, and of which the faces are very ac- 

 curately laid out. They knew the use of hieroglyphical paintings ; they could 

 found metal and cut the hardest stones ; and they had a solar year, more 

 perfect than that of the Greeks and Romans." Political Essaij.hook 2. ch. G- 



