and good condüétj;. which eoriftitutè the eflënce o f réa l
civilization.— It is by very flow îdegteeéy and through long
periods o f intervening âgés, that nations, now tbe'nâoft po-
lifhed, have arrived at À^rsprefent ttate.^®bf mind of, in-
quifitive mari, too eager after knowledge which his limited
faculties can neveréæach/ofteh idlyafks—Wherefore -all theft \
varied gradations in human exigence f But hikqueftion will
remain for ever unanfwéred, and he mufi content himfelf
with being fatisfied that the ways o f Proved e n c e are> con'?
dudted with unerring wifdom, to anfwer purpofes beyond
mortal compfehenfion.— He will b o far more 'wifely-employ*
ed in feeling,.with becoming. gratitude, .that he w a sn o t de&
titled himfelf to be an'inhabitant o f T er&a b e l F uego, 'or
to add one to the number o f the forlorn favages o f the Nort
h e r n P o l e .
There -is- one -queftion, indeed, and a very important .©he,
whieh poffihly may,;kt fome future period, b e /fuoeefefully!
dn v e ftig a ted -h ow all the. numerous iflands, lately difeo-
vered, as well as the multitude-of- others, that are fcattered
through various parts o f -the vaft ocean, were . .originally
peopled ?— This fubje ff, which opens a wide field fpr conjecture
to rangepyer, hath already -exercifed, the abilities ;of
the ingenious— and, i f ever fatisfacftorilyafcértàined,.cannot
fail to throw many intereftinglights on the hiftory o f mankind.
The prefent account of,the Belew thavejalready
I I obferved,
observed, was offered tq thp Public und^r -the double claim
of Novelty and Authenticity. It is' therefore incumbent on me
to mention on gro^n4 claims are ^pported. '
The iflands in queftion yere probably firft noticed by
fome of thoSpaniards jjm the Philliriner, and by them,
named the Palos Islands ; the tall palm-tre.es, /whiclq
grow therein greRtabundance, having at a diftance the appearance
offfiafts of fhips ^-f-That this,was the origin pf
their name is rendered ftill rporc probable, as the Spaniards?
garve the fame appellation to alfthe npmq-rpus iflands of this
Archipelago, the f&r greater part of which-are novy known
by the rfamebf the'N'Ew
in tho Lettres Mdij£en$g.s; gt Cmifu/esxjty ittfn by Jrfuify
MifftanarieSy may be' fonnd
titles, feem to have a reference to, which, might; be
thought to relate to the clufter of iflands which are thp^fubr
je£t of thé prefent Work; büt whoever perufes.thpm, with
attention, will inftanfly fee that they relate folely tp.the New
Carolines, which were difeovered ahout.-the year 1696, as
may be' feeh by the fetter ;pf
from Manilla* xoth of June 1697 +.—Rutijeypp0the accounts?
given by hint iof the New Q^rc^hees, were not itL^nfe-
quence of any Spaniardshavingheen tl^erej but'mprely fuch
as he had received from fome-of their inhabitants, Who, vent
turing too far to fea, had been driven.by a ftQrrn to -one ©f tb.9
* Palos, in the Spanijh language, nautically applied, denoting, a malt.
f Lettres Edifientes et Curieufes, yoï. Jl page f^L, ^
I P h i l -