ANTMALS. iSl 



willi a bitumen of wliich the Indians knew (lie properties. 

 Garcilasso, however, is of a ditferent opinion, as he saw nothing 

 bituminous about them ; but be confesses that he did not 

 examine them very particularly ; and he regrets his not have 

 ing inquired into the methods used for that purpose. He 

 adds, that being a Peruvian his countrymen would not have 

 scrupled to inform him of the secret, if they really Iiad it still 

 among them. 



Gareilasso, thus being ignorant of the secret, makes use of 

 some inductions to throw light upon the subject ; he asserts, 

 that the air is so dry and so cold at Cusco, that flesh dries 

 there like wood, without corrupting; and he is of opinion, 

 that they dried the body in snow before they applied the bitumen : 

 he adds, that in the times of the incas, they usually dried the flesh 

 which was designed for the use of the army ; and that, when ii 

 had lost its humidity, it might be kept without salt, or any 

 other preparation. 



It is said, that at Spitzbergen, which lies within the arctic 

 circle, and consequently in the coldest climate, bodies never cor- 

 rupt nor suffer any apparent alteration, even though buried for 

 thirty years. Nothing corrupts or putrefies in that climate ; the 

 wood which has been employed in building those houses where 

 the train-oil is separated, appears as fresh as the day it was 

 first cut. 



If excessive cold, therefore, be thus capable of preserving 

 hodies from corruption, it is not less certain that a great degree 

 of dryness produced by heat, produces the same effect. It is 

 well known that the men and animals that are buried in the 

 sands of Arabia quickly dry up and continue in preservation 

 I'or several ages, as if they had been actually embalmed. 

 It has often happened, that whole caravans have perished in 

 crossing those deserts, either by the burning winds that in- 

 fest them, or by the sands wliicb are raised by the tempest, 

 and overwhelm every creature in certain ruin. The bodies 

 of those ])ersons are preserved entire ; and they are often 

 foiuid in this condition by some accidental passenger. Many 

 authors, both ancient and modern, make mention of such 

 nnnnmies as these ; and Shaw says, that he has been as- 

 sured that numbers of men, as well as other animals, have 

 I (!eu thus preserved, for times immemorial, in tlie burning 



