( S6 ) 



are peopled ; and it is probable, fome have been fo 

 by accident. Now if it could have happened in 

 that manner, why might it not have been done at 

 the fame time, and by the fame means with the 

 other parts of the globe ? 



It cannot be denied, that the original of the an- 

 cient Celtes and Gauls, fo renowned for their ex~ 

 pertnefs in navigation, and who have fent fo many 

 colonies to the extremities of Afia and Europe, af- 

 cends as high as the children of Japhet •, and might 

 not they have penetrated into America by way of 

 the Azores ? Should it be objected that thefe iHands 

 were uninhabited in the fifteenth century, I anfwer, 

 that their firft difcoverers, had, undoubtedly, neg- 

 lected them, in order to fettle themfelves in larger 

 and more fertile countries, in an immenfe Continent, 

 from which they were at no great diftance. The 

 Efkimaux, and fome other nations of North- Ame- 

 rica, bear fo ftrong a refemblance to thofe of the 

 north of Europe and Afia, and fo little to the reft 

 of the inhabitants of the New World, that it is 

 eafy to perceive they muft have defcended from the 

 former, and that their modern original has nothing 

 in common with the latter 5 I fay, modern original, 

 for there is not the lead appearance of its being an- 

 cient ; and it is reafonable to fuppofe, that coun- 

 tries fo very far from being tempting, have been 

 inhabited much later than others. 



The fame does not hold good with refpect to the 

 reft of America, and I can never think that fo con- 

 fiderable a portion of the globe was unknown to, 

 or neglected by the firft founders of nations ; and 

 the argument drawn from the characters of the A- 

 mericans, and. the frightful picture which was at 

 firft given of them, proves nothing againft their an- 

 nuity. 



