TOL. LXXVI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TflANSACTIONS. 93 



lingham- house is not seen over the top of the hill, but considerably to the left 

 of it, and clear even of the base of the hill. Besides, a moment's reflection 

 would have told him, that the sinking of the hills could not produce the effects 

 he mentions ; for if the ground in the plain was pushed forward by it, it could 

 not be a partial slipping ; not only the church, and the whole town, must have 

 been removed, but every object between the base of the hills and the cliff must 

 have been removed out of their place ; but I may venture to affirm, there is no 

 proof of this having been done. I should have been drawn into the same or 

 similar errors myself, if I had rested satisfied with the first accounts I received 

 from an ancient fisherman. He told me the same story of the hills sinking in 

 his time, and Tarlingham-house appearing higher than it did since he could 

 remember. In one part of his relation he was right ; for I found, on inquiry, 

 that Tarlingham-house has been taken down, and built on a much larger scale 

 than formerly, since it has been in the hands of the present proprietor. 



XL Particulars relative to the Nature and Customs of the Indians of North- 

 America. By Mr. Richard M'Causlandj Surgeon to the 18th Regiment. 

 p. 229. 



It has been advanced by several travellers and historians that the Indians of 

 America differed from other males of the human species in the want of one very 

 characteristic mark of the sex, viz. that of a beard. From this general obser- 

 vation, the Esquimaux have been excepted; and hence it has been supposed, that 

 they had an origin different from that of the other natives of America. In- 

 ferences have also been drawn, not only with respect to the origin, but even 

 relative to the conformation of Indians, as if this was in its nature more imper- 

 fect than that of the rest of mankind. I will not by any means take on me to sav 

 that there are not nations of America destitute of beards ; but 1 years residence 

 at Niagara, in the midst of the six nations (with frequent opportunities of seeing 

 other nations of Indians) has convinced me, that they do not differ from the rest 

 of men, in this particular, more than one European differs from another: and 

 as this imperfection has been attributed to the Indians of North-America, 

 equally with those of the rest of the continent, I am much inclined to think, 

 that this assertion is as void of foundation in one region as it is in the other. 



All the Indians of North-America (except a very small number, who, from 

 living among white people, have adopted their customs) pluck out the hairs of 

 the beard; and as they begin this from its first appearance, it must naturally 

 be supposed, that to a superficial observer their faces will seem smooth and 

 beardless. As further proof that they have beards, we may observe, first, that 

 they all have an instrument for the purpose of plucking them out. Secondly, 

 that when they neglect this for any time, several hairs sprout up, and are seen 

 on the chin and face. Thirdly, that many Indians allow tufts of hair to grow 



