INTRODUCTION. 
fienfible, what mull be the in telle Anal fyftem ? that 
inexpreffibly more effential principle, which fecretly 
operates within ? that which animates the inimitable 
machines, which gives them motion, impowers 
them to adt, fpeak, and perform, this mull be 
divine and immortal ? 
lam fenfible that the general opinion of philo- 
sophers, has diftinguifhed the moral fyftem of the 
brute creature from that of mankind, by an epithet 
which implies a mere mechanical impulfe, which 
leads and impels them to neceffary addons, without 
any premeditated defign or contrivance ; this we 
term inilindl, which faculty we fuppofe to be infe- 
rior to reafon in man 
The parental and filial affedfcions feetn to be as 
ardent, their fenfibility and attachment as adlive 
and faithful, as thofe obferved in human nature. 
When travelling on the eaft coafl of the ifthmus 
of Florida, afcending the fouth Mufquito river, in 
a canoe, we obferved numbers of deer and bears, 
near the banks, and on the iflands of the river; 
vhe bears were feeding on the fruit of the dwarf 
creeping Chamaerops ; (this fruit is of the form and 
fize of dates, and is delicious and nourifhing food :) 
we faw eleven bears in the courfe of the day, they 
feemed no way furprifed or affrighted at the fight 
of us. In the evening, my hunter, who was an 
excellent markfman, faid that he would (hoot one 
of them, for the fake of the fkin and oil, for we 
had plenty and variety of provifions in our bark. 
We accordingly, on light of two of them, planned 
.our approaches as artfully as poffible, by eroding 
over to the oppoiite fhore, in order to get under 
cover of a fmall ifland ; this we cautioufly coafted 
round, to a point, which we apprehended would 
take us within fhoc of the bears 3 but here finding 
ourfelvesj 
