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Show ( · g HI'Sti'ORV .OF ME"XICO. ~~ . d' . t. r. • 1 d A th people of Ceylon tli~re is a tra 1t1<m, ,tpat a lU111- Dl~~ll '1\ ~~u· 'tio~~~gthe e. fca fepat·~te<l their iUatld from th~ p~ninfqla of ~~ I d' p 'fi e famo thing is. believed by thofe of Mala bat' w•th refJ>etl; $1 J.:l, ·a 1 to the f M l.J . . ' and bv; ·th.e MalayCliOS with refp eel:, to Suma~r~ •. 1 es Jo a 11Ltv~A1 "' ' 1 1 1\: l.t is' certain fays the count de. Buffon, that- in C,eylon t~e earth l~as lo . h. · r ty' leagues which the fea has take11 from tt; .Qn the oon- t 1rty or. ror J • d h · 1 trary, Tongres, a place of the Low Countries, h.as game t. lr.ty· ~gt~es f 1 ...1 r. . the fcea The northern part of Egypt 'OWftS tts c;x1ftence. o an._, Il'Olll • · · h' · h to ,,m• unu.J-""' 't•w ns ·o f ·· tl1e Nile (h }. The c;arth wh10h 1t l~d n· ve·t • · as brougl t fr@m. th.e inland. countr~e~ of Afr,ica, -allcl depofi~e m tts m-undation&, lha.sJfornied.a foil of more ,tha.n twency-ti~c cubtt~ of depth •. ln lik~ maru(\er, aqds the, above author, the pro.vm.ce of the Yellow Jn. l'·t ver t· n Ch'1 0·a , and tha• t of L.ouifiana; h~v~ .qnly b~en formed • of 1.he mucL of rivers. · Pliny; Seueca,' Diodocus.., and &tr~h~, r<:pQtt .. 10- nu.n1erable exam~1es of :fimilar revolution.s, whi,ch .we om1~, tllnt our Difiertation may rJott .bec~me too prol~,; as r~o , ~any mod~rq revo-. htt~ons, whi.ch are related in t})e, thwliy ,of, tl e e..trth of thfi! count de Bu£Fon, and: .other authors. In our Amt~rlica; all thofe who have ob .. fe.rved. with !?hil~fophic eyes the per~in(u}a 1of X ).l~at~n~ .do ~ot doubt. that that country has once been the bed of the fea; and, on ~he contrary, in the channel of· Bahama many inc}icati~n~ lhe~ ~he 1f1nnd of Cuba to have been once ·united· to. the contint;nt of Flor.rda. In the 11jreight which fep~ratf;S . America frorp. Afla J;.Ilany iilaqds ~1:e found, w4,i.cl~ P.r ?ably ~erf the m9u,n.tairts b~loi)g~~ . t~., tha,t traCt .,of l~nd. whi~l{ w~ tuppofe to h,aye been fvya1low.ed 1,1p .~Y earth~~.k s; wh1ch is clade more P.robable by the m\.lltitud(( of' v.olcano~ whrcil we know rif in_ th.e peni.n u1t of K~mtfc.Iuitka. I ,we in;.~gide '.li~~~\ter,''thit the ynking qf tl¥tt. ;la?d, nnd the, feparation of,}~1e two ,contr ents, has. been op;afione~ by t~?[~ %reat a~Fr- extraor?~nary earthq~ake~ m~ntwned: i·n the hi!lorics of tlje Amencans, whtch formed an rera atmoft. as . . ' " ·, {h) Faro or Furion, nn' iijA.nu of Egypt, which, according to whnll J:l.orner rh,<:Jttions in hi Odyficy, waa diftant one day fnd OJ\e night's fail from t.hc northern land of Egypt, w~a fo ncar to it in the times of the celebr~ted Cleopatra, that It w:ta hardly feven furlongs off: for fo much was the length of the bridge which Um q LJcen ordered to be mad~ for the H hodHII)S, in order to fa ilitatc th~ communiquioJ\ bet~ce ~hat ifi;md, a1~d the. c?nnnent. HpJ·~do.m,, Arifiotle, Seneca, Pliny, and other ancient nllthors, make mention of thiS r~markable nugrr:cn· tat ion of the tcrm'... .. ry of E•g ypt. • ., l ' I · .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. memorable as that ~f the deluge. The hift?rjes of the !folcccas fix fuch oarthquakts in the yeati l )'ecpatl · but, as we know not to what century , that belonged, we can form no €onjetture of the time .that great calamity happened. If a· great1earthquake .lhoul(j.pverwJwlm the ifthtJ!lus of Suez, and there !hould be at the fame time -~s greqt ~ fea-r':' city of hiftorians as there were in the fidt ages nftor the del\ilge, lt woul~ be doubted in three or four hundred years after, w,het}Jler t\{ia brul qv~r been united by that p;lrt to Africa, atip maqy would ~rrply deny }t .. . V. The ~ 11adrupeds and reptiles of Aq1 er~ca JJalfed by diff~rt:nt pl~ce~· from the one continent -to the .o,ther. Amongil: the Amer!s:an b~ail:~ thei·e m:e fomewhofe natures 'are!averfc to cold; fuch as apes, dantes, "r.Qcodiies., &c. There are others, whofe difpolitio!ls lead th<:m· to colq.. conn tries, as martens, rein-deer, nnd gluttons. The form~ -eo.uld not ~o to America by the frigid zone,. becau.fe in that caf~ thc;y would be aCting violent'ly agairUl: their genius, and would not furvive the pa.lfage. The apes which are in New Spain paifed there certainly by South America (t'). The center of their population is the country under the equator, and between it .and the fourt~enth or fifteenth degree of latitude; _in. proportion to the diftance from the eg_uator their numbers de .• creafe, and beyond the tropics there are none to be found, except in. fome diil:riCl:s which from fome particularity of .fituation are as hot as the equinoCtial lands. Who, therefore,. can imagine that fuch fpecies E>f animals. fhould ha\le travelled to the new world through. the rigid climate of the· north ? lt may be faid, that it is· not improbable that they were tranfported by men, as they were valued for their extravagant Iefemblance and ridiculous. imitations of men. But befides that, the argument which this forms. in regard to apes, rpay be adduced with refpeCt to many other quadrupeds which have no value to fl?.akc them. be coveted, but rather many bad qualities to make them be avoided; it is not to be believed,. that men would have conducted with them fo many f pecies of apes. as there are iu America ; and far lefs, fome, ~i) Don Ferdinand d''Albn Ixtlilxochibl, an I:ndinn well informed in the antiquities of his Dation, fays in hi3 Univcrtill Hillory of New Spain, that there were no apes in th,e country t>f Anahuac; thn~ the firft which appeared there came from the quarter of the South, after the pcri··d of the great winds. The Tlafcalans make a fable of this event, and fay, thar the word waa dcfiroyed once by wind, nnd. that the few men who furv.ivcd. w.erc tr1Ul8formcd into apes • ·.: · f 2. which 2l<} DISSERT, I, ~ .. |