160 



HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



as he himfelf fays that the ako, or techiche, a quadru- 

 ped fimilar to a little dog, which is common to both Ame- 

 ricas, was domefticated by the Indians. In the fame 

 manner the Mexicans domefticated rabbits, ducks, tur- 

 keys, and other animals. 



" Laflly, their arts, concludes Mr. Buffon, were as 

 " rude as their fociety, their talents inferior, their ideas 

 " not yet developed, their organs rough, and their lan- 

 " guage barbarous :" the errors contained in thofe 

 words we fhall effectually refute in the following dhTer- 

 tations. 



We mud, therefore, upon the whole, deny that pre- 

 tended inundation, as one of thofe philofophical chimeras 

 invented by the unquiet geniufes of our century : fince 

 among the Americans there has been no memory of any 

 other inundation than that univerfal deluge of which the 

 Scriptures make mention. We would, on the contra- 

 ry, fay, that if it was true that the deluge of Noah did 

 not overflow the whole earth, no country might be foon- 

 er fuppofed to have been exempted from that calamity 

 than Mexico ; for befides its great elevation above the 

 level of the fea, there is no inland country where petrifi- 

 ed marine bodies are more rare. 



SECT. II. 



On the Climate of Mexico. 



IF we were to employ ourfelves to refute all the ab- 

 furd notions which M. de Paw has written againfl: the 

 climate of America, a large volume, inftead of a diflerta- 

 tion, would be neceffary. Let it fnffice to fay, he has 

 collected all that has been faid by feveral authors, right 

 or wrong, againfl different particular countries of the 



New 



