499 



en las cosas grandes la novedad y el descre- 

 dito*." 



Had the nations of the lower region of equi- 

 noxial America participated in the civilization 

 spread over the cold and alpine region, that im- 

 mense Mesopotamia between the Oroonoko and 

 the Amazon would have favored the develop- 

 ment of their industry, animated their com- 

 merce, and accelerated the progress of social 

 order. We see every where in the ancient 

 world' the influence of locality on the dawning 

 civilization of nations*f\ The island of Meroe 

 between the Astaboras and the Nile, the Pun- 

 jab of the Indus, the Duab of the Ganges, and 

 the Mesopotamia of the Euphrates, furnish ex- 

 amples, that are justly celebrated in the annals 

 of the human race. But the feeble tribes, that 

 wander in the savannahs and the woods of east- 

 ern America, have little profited from the ad- 

 vantages of their soil, and the interbranchings 

 of their rivers. The distant incursions of the 

 Caribbees, who went up the Oroonoko, the Cas- 

 siquiare, and the Rio Negro, to carry off slaves 

 and exercise pillage, compelled some rude tribes 

 to rouse themselves from their indolence, and 

 form associations for their common defence ; 



* f In great objects" (in the extraordinary phenomena of 

 nature) " novelty always excites mistrust." 



+ Rittar, Erdkunde, vol. i, p. 181. 



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