31 



mock ; he lavishes no caresses on his infants, or 

 on his wives, whose office it is to serve him. 

 Parental affection begins to display itself only 

 when the son has become strong enough, to 

 take a part in hunting, fishing, and the agricul- 

 tural labours of the plantations. 



If the pernicious practice of taking drinks 

 that cause abortion diminish the number of 

 births, these drinks do not destroy health suffi- 

 ciently, to prevent young women from becoming 

 mothers at a more advanced age. This pheno- 

 menon, very remarkable in a physiological view, 

 has long since struck the missionary monks. 

 The Jesuit Gili, the confessor during fifteen 

 years of the Indians of the Oroonoko, who boasts 

 of knowing i segretl delle dome maritate, ex- 

 presses himself upon this point with singular 

 simplicity. " In Europe," says he, " married 

 women are afraid of having children, because 

 they know not how to feed, clothe, and provide 

 for them. All these apprehensions are unknown 

 to the women of the Oroonoko. They choose 

 the time when they will become mothers from 

 two systems diametrically opposite, and accord- 

 ing to the ideas which they have formed of the 

 means of preserving their freshness and beauty. 

 Some say, and this is the most general opinion, 

 that it is best to begin late to bear children, that 

 they may be able in the first years of their mar- 

 riage to devote themselves undisturbed to do- 



