160 THEORY OP THE EARTH. 



The Negroes, the most degraded race 

 men, whose forms approach nearest to those of 

 the inferior animals, and whose intellect has riot 

 yet arrived at the establishment of any re- 

 gular form of government, nor at anything which 

 has the least appearance of systematic know- 

 ledge, have preserved no sort of annals or of 

 tradition; and from them therefore we are not 

 to expect any information on the subject of our 

 present researches. Yet even the circumstances 

 of their character clearly evince that they also 

 have escaped from the last grand catastrophe, 

 perhaps by another route than the races of the 

 caucassan and altaic chains, from whom perhaps 

 they may have been long separated before the 

 epoch of that catastrophe. 



Thus all the nations which possess any records 

 or ancient traditions, uniformly declare that they 

 have been recently renewed, after a grand revo- 

 lution in nature. This concurrence of historical 

 and traditionary testimonies, respecting a com- 

 paratively recent renewal of the human race, and 

 their agreement with the proofs that are furnished 

 by the operations of nature, which have been al- 

 ready considered, might certainly warrant us in 

 refraining from the examination of certain equivo- 

 cal monuments, which have been brought forward 

 by some authors in support of a contrary opinion.* ft 

 But even this examination, to judge of it by some 

 attempts already made, will probably do nothing 



