- it has 
A 
dren of ordi parents ; and their descendants, in- 
stead of resembling themselves, resemble their fore- 
fathers. Besides, all the other members of their own 
generation are usually of the common size. Never- 
theless, with tions, the human race, as 
that of other animated beings, may be improved ; of 
which a notable + aearie said to exist at — “4 
oy wemesy of a very grenadier regiment form 
by Frederic. Thus the stature of an entire tribe may 
be preserved, as in South America. In Europe, it is 
observed that men of the | dimensions are gene- 
‘rally of fair complexion, but that their muscles are soft, 
their pulse slow and languid. 
There are several reasons why mankind have been 
‘one to believe in gigantic nations, First, among the 
Rees, from its being recorded in scripture ; secondly, 
from the m ies and fabulous histories of the 
Greeks and Romans; thirdly, from the discovery of 
enormous bones in the earth, belonging to no existin, 
race of animals in the place where they were found. 
This last has been deemed one of the strongest confir- 
mations ; and unquestionably, without due considera- 
tion, it might the most incredulous, Suetonius 
tells us; that in the time of Augustus huge bones were 
shewn as those of former races of men ; and St Augus- 
tine reasons on the existence of giants before the de- 
luge, from observing a tooth an hundred times exceed- 
ing the common size on the shores of Cilicia. At the 
present times, bones of immoderate dimensions are fre- 
quently dug out of the earth, which it has been reser- 
ved for modern anatomists to prove are those of extinct 
animals, instead of gigantic men. But it is not sur- 
prising, if, in the ages of ignorance, they were sup- 
posed to be such; and even now, osteology is so little 
understood by the vulgar, that few can tell, on the 
first discovery of a bone or a fragment of it, whether 
toa man or an animal. Those enor- 
mous skulls or leg-bones, which would have created a 
race of giants sixteen or twenty feet high, have there- 
fore been the relics of elephants, or of*some of those 
extinct animals, whose dimensions surpassed those of 
any which at present inhabit the known world. 
is no evidence whatever, that the modern tribes 
of mankind have degenerated in size. The catacombs 
of ancient Egypt and Palestine ; the cenotaph, if it be 
- such, in the great pyramid ; the tomb of Alexan- 
der the Great, are all calculated for bodies of ordinary 
imensions. The truth is still more satisfactorily estab- 
lished from the niummies which are yet withdrawn 
from their subterranean receptacles in Egypt, and the 
caverns of the Canary Islands. In the most ancient 
sepulchres of Britain, those apparently anterior to the 
introduction of Christianity, no remains are discovered 
which indicate the stature of the inhabitants than 
our own. In part of the world, domestic imple« 
ments and ornaments, many centuries old, are 
obtained from tombs, from bogs and mosses, or those ci« 
ties overwhelmed by volcanic eruptions, which would be 
ill adapted to a gigantic race of ancestors. See Philo- 
Pepe Transactions, vol. xxxiv. and Ix.; Journal dé 
ique, 1778; Hawksworth’s Voyages, voli i. ii. ; 
268 
GIA 
Kircher, Mundus Subterraneus, lib. viii. ; Cuvier, Osse- 
Giant's 
mens Fossiles ; aoray Magius, Miscellanea ; Flo- heway 
rus, lib, iii. cap. 3.; Pliny, lib, viii. cap. 16. ; Augus- 
tine, De Civitate Dei. (c) 
GIANT’s Causeway. To traditionary ignorance 
we may safely attribute a name, by which a basaltic 
— of the coast of Antrim has been distinguished, 
in M‘Coul, or, as he is classically denominated, Fion 
Mac Cumhal, desirous to punish the daring inroads of the 
Scots, resolved to 
*¢ Bridge the ocean for the march of war.” 
: DruMMOND. 
And as all the heroes of his standing were either gods, 
demigods, or giants, we cannot be surprised; that an 
appearance bearing such close resemblance to artificial 
combination, should have been attributed to one or other 
of these agents. 
The Giant's Causeway must not be limited to the 
icular mole or quay to which the traveller is con- 
cted, when he approaches the coast from Bush Mills, 
the usual resting- a It extends, as we have already 
observed under the article Farrueap, throughout the 
whole of Bengorehead, from Port Moon on the east, to 
Port na Ganye on the west ; a district of coast extend 
ing to more than a mile and a half in a direct line ; and 
in every part of it, deeply indented with the most beau- 
tifully diversified bays. 
Upon approaching the Causeway, the tourist is sure 
to be assailed by a host of ragged natives, whose at~ 
tentions it is utterly impossible to get rid of: he must 
therefore quietly submit to take a few of them into 
his pay in the character. of guides, in order to defend 
him from the importunities of the rest. Accompanied 
by these unwelcome guests, he is conducted down a 
steep path, which was formed at a great expence by 
Shie-ae Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Londonderry, to a 
natural mole which projects considerably into the sea ; 
and here he ‘is told, Sat this is the Giant's: Causeway. 
The impression which generally follows is something 
like disappointment, so much has been heard, and’ con~ 
sequently so much expected of the place. This feeling, 
however, is only of a momentary nature ; for the mind 
has no sooner time to reflect on 
of an object with which nature seems ly to have 
sported, in order to baffle the feeble intellect of man- 
kind, than wonder and delight replace the apathetic 
feeling, which had nearly produced an ejaculation of 
discontent. 
This mole or quay is entirely composed of basaltic 
columns : it is part of an immense bed, which here dips 
into the sea, and rises, as it is traced eastward, until it 
reaches a height of 200 feet above the level of the sea. 
These columns are arranged perpendicularly, and so 
accurately: fitted into each other, that the point of a 
knife is not to be introduced between them, excepting 
where the seams have been opened by the action of 
the weather. This collection of columns extends from. 
the base of the cliff into the sea about 725 feet, 
part of it at low water being still covered. It is di- 
vided into three parts, which are denominated the 
Great, the Middle, and the Little Causeway. These 
separations are occasioned by two parallel dykes, which 
traverse the columns in a northern direction ; and to 
these perhaps the preservation of this mole is to be 
attributed; for although they are excavated, and 
worn down on the surface, still they remain firm at the 
base, and afford an immoveable support to the columns. 
These are of all shapes, from the triangular prism to 
admirable symmetry - 
