■ CHAP . For exertion and activity,their fhape is afluredly pre~
ferable to ours,, being generally ftrong- and mufcular- near
the trunk, and Sender towards the extremities; they have
moftly a remarkable fine theft, but are Shall about the
hips; their buttocks are more prominent,,and fcheir-mec'Rs,
are thicker than ours; the thighs are ftrong, as alfo- the
arms above the elbow, but the wrifts and lower part of
the legs are very {lender ^ and a good deal indeed o f the *
Herculean make o f the late Brougbhn the pugilift may
he traced' in the form o f a vigorous nègrèf. ' As1 to the
crookednpfs o f their limbs, it-ds to be accounted {for by
the manner in which they are carried whilft infants- upon
the mother’s back, their tender legs being tied olofe round
each fide o f her waift, which oecafions that unnatural
bent, with which they are , not born : . nor are • theit'
children, ever taught to walk, but left to creep - amorigft
the fand and grafs, until:they'gradually acquire, ftrength
and. inclination to- eredt, themfelvesy which t?hey<do -very
foon; by this cuftom,'however, the petition of their feet
is- much negledted, yet by exercifé, and* daily bathings
they acquire* that ftmngth and agility,/for -which the y
are fo remarkable.
Another cuftom which, in. thein opinion^ conduces^
much.to their health- and vigour- is, that, during the two*
years in which the mothers fuekle their children,, the y
frequently make them fwallow large quantities-of..watery,
after which they {hake them twice a day, with much*
violence$ they are then taken, by a. leg or an.arm,,and:
tofledi
toflbd into the river,, to be welt fcoured outwardly; nor CHAR,
are the females exempt from this mode o f rearing youth, , XXVI‘ f
which renders them not inferior to the men, in fizft alone
excepted,. while, fome: in running, fwimming, climbing,
.and dancing, as weH- as, wreftling, are: even their lit*-
peraorsthuSy that ifedepends on education to form a race
o f Amazonian, demales* is a propofition. o f which I have
.very littleidbubt..
Nor are thefe. hardy daughters o f the Torrid Zone
lefs remarkable: for propagation. I knew .a female fer-
iVanfe at. Mr. de|, Gr^af.’s,. called - Le/peranza, who adtu=-
ally bore, nin,e: children in- the Gourfe o f three years,,
tii.e-firffe, year four,- the. next two,, and the third three»
T^ey. bjci.rig.'*t|ieir pffspring into the world without pain,
and likee the: Indian women refuming their domeftic em*-
ploym^iits eyed' the fame day.. During the firft week
their infants areas fair ^ any Europeans, except that in
the males there is a little appearance o f black in a certain
part, and,-.the whole - body becomes gradually -of. that colour.
Their females arrive'early at the age of* puberty-;
hut,j^§ in-the fruits of this climate, .this early maturity is-
fueceeded,.by, a hidden decay. Many of. the: negroes,,
however, live to, a-very confiderable.age1 have feen onC
oivdwo^hat were above -one hundred-;, and the London
Chronicle for October 5, 1780, makes mention of a negro
woman,, called Louifa Truxo, ,at ‘tu&omea, < in South America,
ftill living, at the furprizing-. age o f one: hundred
and feventy-five. ye^rs.. In what tables of longevity is
therefuch an.European to be found? though moft probably/