INTRODUCTION. 
Many hngularities, refpe£ting what may be called the 
natural hiftory of the human fpecies, in different climates, 
will, on the authority of our late navigators, open abun¬ 
dant fources for philofophical difcufhon. One queftion of 
this fort, in particular, which had formerly divided the 
opinions of the inquifitive, as to the exiftence, if not of 
“ giants on the earth,” at lead; of a race (inhabiting a dif- 
tri< 5 t bordering on the North fide of the ftrait of Magal- 
haens), whofe flature confiderably exceeds that of the bulk 
of mankind, will no longer be doubted or difbelieved. 
And the ingenious objections of the fceptical author of 
Rechercbes fur les Americans % will weigh nothing in the 
balance againfk the concurrent and accurate teftimony of 
Byron, Wallis, and Carteret. 
Perhaps there cannot be a more interefting inquiry than 
to trace the migrations of the various families or tribes 
that have peopled the globe;, and in no refpedb have our 
late voyages been more fertile in curious difcoveries. It 
was known in general (and I fhall ufe the words of 
Kaempferf), that the Afiatic nation called Malayans, 66 in 
a former times, had by much the greateft trade in the In- 
u dies, and frequented with their merchant fhips, not only 
u all the coaffcs of Alia, but ventured even over to the 
u coafts of Africa, particularly to the great ifland of Ma- 
a dagafcar %. The title which the king of the Malayans 
u affirmed 
* Tom. i. p. 331. 
+ Hiftory of Japan, Vol. i. p. 93. 
t That the Malayans have not only freque nted' Madagafcar* but have alfo been the 
progenitors of fome of the prefent race of inhabitants there, is confirmed to us by the 
teftimony of Monfieur de Pages, who vifited that ifland fo late as 1774. “ Ils m’ont 
“ P aru provenir des diverfes Races; leur couleur, leurs cheveux, et leur corps 1 ’indi- 
quent; Ceux que je n’ai pas cru originaires des anciens naturels du pavs, font petits 
‘ c et 
Ixxi 
