8 



ftf*/lib. a. 



Mucrob. inSomm Scip. 

 lib**. 



How .beafts came on re- 

 mote llLnds, 



And chiefly the wild. 



/f«/?/'« is contradicted. 



How men came to new 



Countrey*. 



Reafons why America was 

 fo long unknown. 



Who firft fail'd on the 

 Ocean. 



Several opinions of the 

 Antients concerning it. 



cc 



ii 



AMERICA Cbap. I. 



<c heats of the Sun : Two Tracts are Habitable, one to the South , our Jnt'tpQ* 

 " des, the other North, which we Inhabit. 



And Pliny alfo affirms, though againft the Vulgar Opinion, this truth, 

 cc That the Earth is round about inhabited, and that peopk walk Foot to Foot 

 u in moft parts thereof- though every one be ready to ask why our Antipodes drop 

 <c not into the Sky 5 which queftion, our Antipodes may alfo ask concerning us. 



But although the Ancients upon thefe and the like Demonftrations well Ufl* 

 derftood, that there was a Habitable World towards the South under our Ho* 

 ri%pn, yet they could not make out or believe, that there was any poffibility to 

 pafs thither . And, according as St. Auftin conceived , That the Earth produced 

 nothing under either Pole, by reafon of exceflive cold , and that the Equinoxs 

 or Middle *Zone, was not to be penetrated, becaufe of the infufferable heat. 



« And Macrobms faith, " That the Equinottial GYc/e,the Jrtkk and AntartkkL'mes, 

 ic bind the two Habitable Zones , and make Temperate by the exceffive Neigh- 

 boring Heats and Colds ; and thefe Countreys onely give Animation, and 



comfortable Enjoyment to all Living Creatures. 



Moreover/St. Aujlin in fome places feems to clear his own Doubts, faying, 



That People , if they could find a means to Sail thofe Vaft and Undifcover'd 

 u Seas, might make Land, railing new Stars under another Sky. 



A Learned Father, fearching after the Original of all forts of Beafts which 

 multiply by Generation , concludes , That they muft derive themfelves from 

 thofe that werefav'd with Noab in the Ark. But how came they to the Ifles ? 

 To thofe adjacent and near the Main Land, they might cafily Swim 5 to the re- 

 moter,they were Tranfported. 



But this Doubt is not altogether clear'd, for the Domeftick and other Cxtai 

 cures fit for Humane ufe and Suftenance were thus brought thither : Yet how 

 comes it to pafs, that Voracious and Wild Creatures are alfo found there, fuch 

 as Wolves,Tigers,Lions,and other Beafts of Prey ? This puzzle putting St. Ah- 

 pinto a ftand , he had no other means to get off> but by faying, that by God's 

 Commands or Permiflion, the Angels convey'd them thither 5 If fo, why might 

 not God pleafe to Plant Men there in like manner, and the rather, the Earth be- 

 ing created for Humane ufe ? But what needed this , when Men can in Ships 

 Tranfport themfelves , either of their own accord for curious Inqueft, to find 

 new Countreys, or elfe enfore'd by ftrefs of Weather, to far remoter, and alto- 

 gether unknown Lands : Befides , though the Earth is here and there divided 

 by large Bays and vaft Seas,, yet neverthelefs, in other places it is all continu'd 

 Land, or at leaft parted by fome narrow In-let or Sea 5 fo that there was no 

 difficulty for a crouded Plantation to go over, and fo eafe themfelves in an- 

 other Countrey, till then not Inhabited 5 therefore none need to queftion, but 

 that from Adam, or nearer, from Noab's three Sons, Sent, Ham, zn'djaphet, thofe, 

 as well as we, were extracted, that Inhabit this out* other World. 



But one queftion is to be obferVd , How firft after the expiration of fo ma* 

 ny Ages in thefe our later times , a New-World was difcover'd, altogether 

 unknown to the Antients , when they in the greatnefs of their Parts and Un- 

 dertaking, Prowefs and Prudence, were no ways inferior to the Modern, and 

 every way as fit for great Defigns and grand Exploits ? We need not fcruple or 

 make the leaft doubt, but the Sea hath been Navigated of old j but the firft at- 

 tempters fet forth unexperienced, in as pittiful and ill-contriv'd VefTels. The 

 Heathens afcribe the Art of Navigation, firft to the Cretans, who under the Con- 

 du&ofi\^««<,>, fet forth a Navy to explore Foraign Countries. But Winy 



long 



