THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. S S9 



debilitate the favage. In Arabia and Turkey, where the 

 whole bufinefs of man's life is the devoting himfelf to do- 

 meftic pleafure, men remain conftantly in a fedentary life, 

 eat heartily, avoiding every manner of exercife, or expence 

 of animal fpirits by fweats. Their countries, too, are cold- 

 er than that of the Shangalla, who, living fparingly under 

 a burning fun, and obliged to procure food by laborious 

 hunting, of confequence deprive themfelves of that quantity 

 of animal fpirits neceflary to lead them to any extreme of 

 voluptuoufnefs. And that this is the cafe is feen in the 

 conftitution of the Shangalla women, even though they 

 are without fatigue, 



A woman, upon bearing a child or two, at 10 or 1 1 years 

 old, fees her breaft fall immediately down to near her 

 knees *. Her common manner of fuckling her children is 

 by carrying them upon her back, as our beggars do, and. 

 giving the infant the breaft over her ihoulders. They rare- 

 ly are mothers after 22, or begin child-bearing before 

 they are 10; fo that the time of child-bearing is but 

 12 years. In Europe, very many examples there are of wo- 

 men bearing children at 14, the civil law fixes puberty at i2 9 

 but by an inuendo | feems to allow it may be fomething 

 earlier. Women fometimes in Europe bear children at 50. 

 The fcale of years of child-bearing between the favage and 

 the European is, therefore, as 12 is to 38. There can be 

 little doubt but their defires are equal to their ftrength and 

 conftitution ; but a Shangalla at 2.2 is more wrinkled and 



deformed. 



* JuYenal, fat. 13. 1. 163, f Nifi malitia fuppleat aetatem.. 



