499 



en 1as 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 

 immense Mesopotamia between the Oroonoko 

 and the Amazon would have favoured the deve- 

 lopment 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 

 eastern America, have little profited from the 

 advantages 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 • 



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

 nature) tr novelty always excites mistrust." 



f Rittar, Erdkunde, vol, i, p, 181, 



2k2 



