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Show 2I II I S T 0 R y 0 F M E X I C 0. DlS!:.lERT. B of thcfc folutions arc fufficie.nt to remove the difficulties r. . ,;~~c~~~:: in the way of the paHage of the wrld beaft~ .to th~ ne\~ . """_.....,_.-J world . for as to t 11 C fi .11. 't is certain that whatever {halt thete was J a, 1 . . k 1 . 1 betwee,n the two contm. en t s, . t . s quite ridiculous to thm t lat amma s 1 1 f . 1 . h. are not d.eftined to go into the water or accufiomed _to Wltn- ~~i~c' would attempt fuch a pafTage: it is true, that fome mtg~t have a!T:d by fwimming, as the beat's go from Codica to France; but who ~·ould believe this of fo many American apes, that are totally unfitt.ed for fwimming; or the Perico ligero, or fioth, which is fo. flow ~nd dtf- ficu 1t to move .? Beru.t des , what could induce fo many Wild ammals to abandon the land and encounter the da~gers of the fea? . . It is not lefs incredible, that thofe anunals were tranfported there by men in fhips, efpecially if we fuppofe their arrival on the coafts of America to have been accident~l and fortuitous. If fu ch v?yage was un~er~ k f . m defign they might have carried fome fqmrrels and cunous ta en 1 o , d h · h · 1 apes with them for amufement, [orne rabbits, hares, an tee tc ~s, t 1at, after multiplying, they might ferve for food, and fome deer, martms, and even tygcrs, for their .fkins to clothe them; but to wha~ purpofe carry wolves, foxes, American lions, ~c. which, in!l:ead of bemg 0~ any ufe, might prove defHuCl:ive to them? For the c?a.ce? But ~Jght they not have enjoyed this recreation without any Injury from ammal.s lefs ferocious? And if, laftly, we fuppofe ·thofe firft peoplers fo foohfl'l as to carry fuch pernicious animals t? new countries to hunt them, we cannot frill think them to have been fo mad as to take alfo fo many fpccies of ferpe~lts, for the pleafur.e of killing them afterwards: . With refpeCl: to the third foluhon, that God had created the ~mm.als in America as he had created them in Afia, that would unqueibonably cut off eve;y difficulty, were it not contradiCtory to facred h~~or~. There remains another folution of the paffage of beafts, whtch IS the fame that we mentioned in treating of men. It may be imagined that bea!l:s migBt pafs over fotne frozen ftrait of the fea; but can any perfon perfuade himfelf, that feveral fpecies of voracious ani~als ibo~tld tranf .. port themfelves to thofe regions defiitute of every thmg which could ferve for their food; and that others, whofe natures were repugnant to cold, ihould dare to venture, in the rigor of winter, over regions of ice? ' As As\ it is not prof:>able that tlie lbea{ls)o tl c ntw wo.rld •pa1fed)t0 it DISSZRn.· by fwimming, or over ice, n6r' that {hey were tranfpohed · eit)lell b.yl ~. trten, or by ·angels, nor created a:£1-e.lh by God, we ought o~ to believe[ · . that the· qua-drupeds, · as·.weU ~s tfio teptilds ·whioh .arb,found . iriliAme~ ' rJoa~ ·p>affed to it by lan~, and df courfe 'thadhe two continents1iwere for-mer- ly united. This. is! the opinion: of Acofl:a; tG.rotius; Buffon, and other great m~n.. Wei are. fa·r 'from adop~ing the 1yhem of count de Buffon. 'in its 'fuH exte·nr: (he cannot p6rfuade us, however .eloquent his philo-fophy1 and gro~t }:iis· fearning, thAt · that whic11 is now hmd Has once been tht bed· bf the f~a; or, t-flat··the did continent has' been .fubject to· a general inundation .di&intt .from thall of Noah, :and mdre.lafting than: jt. In' the feries of forty centuries and upwards; .comprehended in the hi!l:ory of the facred writings, tl}ere is no chafm or void by 'which we.coul(i ·actiou~ for this· fuppofed,inundation. In . our third( Differ-tntion we lh:an fl1ew there are no grounds to. believe .that. the new con-tineat has· fuffercd anY' inundation different from that of. Noah. : There is notla 'doubt, however/ illlat our planet has. b'een fubjeCI: to. great viciffitude-9 fince the_,deluge; ancient and moderh hiftories con .. finn the truth which:6'v1d-ha& fung-i(l the narnc· of Pythagoras·:- r · • · , .. I ' , ' 0 ' J ) ( • J ., ., ' I f ) 1. J7idi eg(J quod fuerat · q.u~ndt~m foltdf/}J)Jf{l, rdlu.r ~< :;1 E./Je fretum ;. vidifaBr'li .ex cequore terr. as,. , 1 • , ' II \ I . I J I I ~ , At prefent. ther, p ~.ugh thofe; la~ds over which fhips fprmerly failed~ and now the~ fail oye~ . l~Qd~, ~h~f~l were formerly plo~ghed :· earthqua, kes .. have · fwallowed fom~ Janps,. and fubterraneous fires . hav~ tl}rpwn ~,R .~tl~~f,$:: ~~~ ,r.'r~r; .h'a~~ formed ne~ foi.l ~ith. their mud : the fea retreating fi·om the. ili01·es,. has lengthened . tRe land in · fome , I I ' placsp ; and advancing .in o~her~, has diininia'1ed it : it has feparated· fo~e,,~~p;~tories which . were l~r~;rly ui1ited~ and ~o:m~d n'e~ fheights and gulfs. We have examples of al~ thefe revolutiOns 111 the pall:' cen •. tuty; Sicily was uni.oted to th~ continent of Naples, as E~bea, now the Black Sea, t'o .Bcb~tia .. D~o~dds, Strabo, and other ancient authors, fay the fi1me thing of Spain . a~d Africa, and> affirm .that by 'a ' v1olent i~rup1tioq,P.f .the ocean. upon the 1~~? ~~·~~een t~e mou~tai:ns Abyla ~nd · Calpc, that cammunicat10n was oroken, and th.e 1, .M editeuahean fea was. · VbL. 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