28o 



REMARKS ON the 



E T I E S. 



of th 



CAUSES llles were peopled from America. If wc moreover confult the 

 OF vARi- jYiexican, Peruvian, and Chilefe vocabularies, * and thofe of other 



American languages, f we find not the moil diftant, or even acci- 

 dental fimilarity between any of the American languages, and thofe 



r 



of the South Sea Ifles. The colour^ features, form, habit of body, 



B F 



and cuftoms of the Americans, and thefe iflanders, are totally 



J- 



different; as every oae converfant with the fubjed, will eaiily 



J- 



difcoven Nay, the diftances of 600, 700, 800, or even loco 

 leagues between the continent of America and the Eafternmoft of 

 .thefe ifles, together with the wretchednefs and fmall fize 

 veffels;, prove, in xny opinion, inconteilably, that thefe iflanders 



never came from America. 



We muft therefore go to the "Weflward -, let us begin with 

 New Holland. All the former navigators, and efpecially Capt. 

 Cook, in the Endeavour, found this immenfe continent very 

 thinly inhabited. The diminutive fize of its inhabitants, the 

 peculiarity of their cufloms and habits, their total want of coco- 

 ^nuts, cultivated plantanes, and hogs, together with the mofl 

 miferable condition of their huts and boats, prove beyond all 

 doubt, that the South Sea iflanders, are not defcended from 



r 



r 



. . natives 



/ 



* III Reland's Diff. Mlfcellan, vol. lii. 



f A Manuscript 'Vocabulary of the Brazilian languagCj obligingly eommunicatcd by 



Vis Excellency the Chevalier Pinto, 



-*v. 



