My company fat down at the uppermoft Pagoda and eat fome water melons, but I had a greater inclination towards the plants that grew hereabouts; for which reason I went to the other fide of the houfe, Here I was met by a Chinese, who offered me a filled tobacco pipe; but, on my refufing to accept of it, he took hold of my coat, and endeavoured with all his might to take my kneebuckles. I at laft got rid of this fellow, who however endeavoured to do me a favour in return, and fet a number of boys at me, who pelted me with fand and pebbles. I was therefore obliged to join my company, and give over my amufement.

I now longed to fee the country without the town, and fome of my fellow travellers honoured me with their company. We had fcarce paffed through the principal treets of the fuburbs, but a crowd of boys gathered about us, who perhaps looked upon us as ambaffadors from the moon, or fome fuch odd animals, whom they were obliged to attend out of the city with an univerfal clamour : the crowd continually increafed,

and particularly in the Miller's ftreet, in all the houfes of which, on both fides, rice is pounded and ground. Little ftones, fand, and dirt being thrown at us, we made the best of our way out of the fub urbs, to get rid of our difagreeable retinue.

On our return we met three Chinefe, who defired money; but their demands not being complied with, they attacked us with great ftones; I in particular was in dan ger, being fomewhat behind my companions, in queft of plants.

[Our Author upon another occafion gives the following account.]

As

I had a mind to fee the fituation of the environs of the fuburbs, in that part where I had not yet been; and was forced to go by myfelf for want of company. foon as I had paffed the ufual trading ftreets, the boys gathered about me in thoufands, throwing fand, ftones, and dirt at me, and fhouted all together Akia, aque ya, quailo; and with this mufic they followed me through the whole

town.

At the end of the fuburbs begins a plantation with Sagittaria bulbis oblongis close to the houfes. A large, low, clayey field was employed in the culture of this plant. And as I stopped here, and only gathered now and then a plant, my difagreeable company topped their noife, efpecially when I turned to them. Here was no road which carried directly into the country, nor did I venture any farther; but returned whence I came. However, in the afternoon, I went out of town in a palankin,

by this means avoiding my difagreeable forenoon companions. When we came to the firft citygate, towards the fide of the European burying-place, a mandarin, with a whip in his hand, joined us to accompany us about the city. Near this gate was a Chinese inn, where brandy and tea were fold. The people stood by the fide of the round-houfe on the wall, and flared at us; however we got by without hurt, though not without fear, because we remembered that a perfon was fome time before pelted with ftones from this very place. When we approached nearer to the fuburbs, we every where, and almoft clofe up to the wall, found houfes; they were all full of men, and efpecially children and youths who fang their old fong, of which they were put in mind by the grown people, if they did not begin it themfelves. Yet we likewife found an old reverend man who had more fenfe than the others, and made his children or grandchildren greet us civilly. The perfons of rank in this country teach their children from their earliest years the dictates of virtue and honefty, and fpare no expences towards a good education: but the common fort of people train their children up with their dogs; for which reafon neither of them can bear ftrangers. We afterwards paffed by many gates, and over a little canal into a lane along the fide of the wall, in which Chinaoranges, Plaintains, China-olives, or Packla, and many other fruits, were fold. An intolerable stench, and the noife and clamour of the populace, obliged us to make hafte to the Swedish factory.

At a time that the Patagonians, have fo greatly excited the curiofity of the public, and have been the caufe of fome difcuffion, as well as of a confiderable difference in opinion among the learned, we doubt not but the two following accounts of that extraordinary people, given by gentlemen of character, and of different countries and interefts, will be acceptable to many of our readers.

A Letter from Philip Carteret, Efq; Captain of the Swallow Sloop, to Matthew Maty, M. D. Sec. R. S. on the Inhabitants of the Coast of Patagonia.

[ Read Jan. 25, 1770.]

On board the Swallow, in Port Famine, Streights of Magellan, 11th January, 1767.

SIR,

T

HE Patagonians having made

fo much noife of late in Europe, and particularly in England, I imagine a more particular and certain account of them will not be difagreeable to my good friend Doctor Maty.

In the morning of the 16th Dec. 1766, we were clofe in with the entrance of the river Gallegoes; the country about which river, Į have fome reafon to imagine, is the place of their common abode. I fhail forbear to mention my reafons for this fuppofition, as it would take too much room in this letter. From thence we failed along in. fight of the fhore as far as cape Virgin Mary, which is the northermoft promontory of the eaftermost entrance of the ftreights of Magellan. There feems to be but a fhort diftance over across this

kind of ifthmus to the river Gallegoes. As we kept failing along the fhore, we faw fome people riding on horfes over this part of the peninfula or neck of land, towards the place they faw we were making for with the hips. At the clofe of day, as the wind was contrary, we anchored, within three or four miles of the above Cape. All the night long these people kept making fires on the beach, abreast of the fhips, with a great hollowing noife for us to come on fhore to them, which we did early the next morning with fome armed boats; but I believe we had no occafion for this (altho' effential and proper) precaution, for thefe people received us in a civil, friendly, and pretty regular manner. They all readily fate down at fome diftance from us, at our defire, by figns to them and we then went amongst them. Captain Wallis, of the Dolphin, gave them beads, ribbons, and fome trifling cutlery, &c. at all which they feemed to be well pleafed. They were between fixty and feventy at this time, but their numbers kept increafing, as fome continually came down to the fea fhore; and before the next morning they were increased to feveral hundreds, men, women, and children. In the evening, having been obliged to anchor again, one of our boats, in which were feveral officers, went near the beach, a breaft where the ships lay; thofe people having followed us here, they endeavoured by all the friendly invitations they could make to entice our men to land; but as they had orders from captain Wallis to the contrary, they did not. When they faw that our people

would not come on fhore to them, they all drew off at a distance, leav ing their children by the waterfide. This I take to have been done to fhew we had no occafion to be apprehenfive of any danger, and to exprefs their friendly intentions, and the confidence they had of ours; and probably likewise, from our having taken pretty much knowledge of their children, by dreffing fome of them with beads, and ribbons, when we were on fhore before. We measured the heights of many of these people; they were in general all from fix feet, to fix feet five inches, although there were fome who came to fix feet feven inches, but none above that. They are well proportioned, their features large and pretty regu lar, with pretty clear complexions; and they would be much more fo, if they did not paint, and expofe themselves to the inclemency of the weather, any more than we do in Europe. I am fure there are many in Europe as dark coloured as they are; they have long black hair (but I think not fo very black, as the generality of the Indians), which many of them had tied up with a kind of woven stuff, of about the breadth of a garter, and feemed to have been made from fome kind of wool. They feem to have but little hair on their bodies, and very fmall breafts, little beard, for I believe they pull it out by the roots, for many of them had little tufts left growing at each corner of the mouth, on the upper lips, and one in the hollow part of the chin, in the middle of the under lip; many had the hair of the eye-brows plucked off, and fome had their faces painted. They are

cloathed

cloathed in skins, which they wear with the fur part next to the body; it hangs from their fhoulders halfway down their legs, with a girdle tied about their waift, which makes their cloathing very decent, and they feem to be modest both in their actions and behaviour, at least as much as we faw of it. They wear a kind of boots, which ferves them likewife for fhoes; but I know not if they wear any kind of drawers or breeches. The upper part of their garments being loofe about their fhoulders, they did not feem cautious of hiding from fight that part of their bodies; they have fine white teeth, but their hands and feet feemed to me rather small, for fuch ftout, lufty people, by which I imagine they are not used to much hard work. The men and women are cloathed alike, fo that it requires a little attention to diftinguifh the fex. Altogether they are the finest fet of men I ever faw any where before there feems to be fome fubordination amongst them; fome had their cloathing painted on the outfide, in different fquares, ftrokes, and lines; these I obferved feemed to have fome authority over the rest. When we went to reimbark in our boats to return to the fhips, most of them wanted to go off with us; we took a few of them in each boat, and carried them on board of each fhip, by which the companies curiofity was fatisfied as well as ours. We regaled them with fuch things as we had; they eat falt beef, but feemed most fond of the fhip's bifcuit, nor did they feem to like much the wine or ftrong liquors, but drank water by tumblers full. We gave them pipes of tobacco, which they fmoaked, and did not feem ftrangers to it;

they fwallowed the fmoak, as the Turks and many other nations do. They feemed very free and easy, no ways miftruftful, or afraid to truft themselves in any part of the fhip with us; and they very willingly would have ftayed longer with us, for we found fome little difficulty to make them go back afhore. When they found we wanted them to go away, they pointed to the fun, fhewing us its course with their hands, and by their figns intimated, that as the fun was fo high there was no occafion, and that it would be time enough when it came to go down. They did not feem inclinable to thieve, or take any thing without its being given them, for if they took a fancy to any thing they faw, they made figns for it; and if we did not appear inclinable to give it them, they did not offer to take it. They feemed to be very intelligent and quick of apprehenfion, and pronounced very well and diftinctly many English words after us. We often heard them repeat the word Chovoa, but what it meant we could not find out; they made ufe of the word Capatana, which I fuppofe is from the Spaniards, for captain. They had not any arms with them, fo I cannot fay what may be their common weapons; they all had a couple of round ftones, like two balls, which are flung, one at each end of a cord, which is about one fathom and a half long; and with thefe two balls I believe they kill most of their game. The method of ufing them is, by keeping one of the balls in their hand, and fwinging the other at the full end of the line, round over their heads, by which it acquires a greater velocity, and they

throw