consideration of the kind of food on which they subsist.

"His forehead, like that of the natives of Aracan, was flat and large, and probably had been made so by an operation similar to what the inhabitants of that country practise on their children, to wit, by pressing a plate of lead on their foreheads immediately after their birth. For in that one dissected by the missionary, the os frontis was exceedingly thick and hard, and seemed capable of sustaining very great violence without any material impression.

"Like the inhabitants of the Friendly Isles, they use a liquor made of the spittle of others, called by our late circumnavigators cava, which the Phusalophagi swallow either in its natural state, or, like the Otaheiteans, in a state of fermentation. Indeed, they do not at all resemble the Icthuophagi, or Fish-eaters, in the circumstance of living entirely without drink, as they seem, on the contrary, very much inclined to drinking: like the Fish-eaters, however, as Diodorus reports them, it must be confessed, they have very little sense of the to xaλov, or the To go, the beautiful or the decent. One instance of this the learned Father gave me, that, as far as he was informed or could perceive, they had no objection, as indeed is the custom among several other savage nations, to an union with a female who had formerly had an illicit intercourse with the other sex; but, on the contrary, like the Tartars and Tongusians, often preferred such to all others.

"The agility of this species, like that of the Acridophagi, is amazing. That one whom I saw in the possession of the noble person abovementioned, would skip over chairs and tables, at a signal given, with the most amazing alertness. In this they resemble a good deal the monkey tribe, as well as in their

faculty of imitation, in which my informer told me they excel in a very wonderful degree. Their strength, likewise, the missionary reports to be very uncommon. He says, he has seen some of them bear to be loaded with burdens that would have wearied a porter of Bassora.

"This one had learned the use of speech, though not to a very high degree of perfection, and indeed his natural propensity seemed to be rather to listen: yet with that inclination to silence which is common to man in a savage state, he did not seem to have the melancholy cast of either the Orang-Outang, or the other varieties of uncultivated mankind; on the contrary, he had a mirthful disposition, or at least a facility of laughing and seeming merry, beyond any thing that could have been imagined of one in his situation.

"He had, by the time I saw him, perfectly lost all inclination and relish for his former manner of living, and was by no means averse to the delicacies of refined cookery. His taste, however, was far from being acute, as at times he appeared highly to relish, and to be extremely fond of, very indifferent fare, when it was set before him by his master. According to the missionary, his countryman, like the Bedas of Ceylon, have a custom of seasoning every thing with honey, a practice which accordingly this particular one at Don Gabriel's still continued; and His Excellency, as well as some of his guests, assured me they found it very palateable.

"Like his taste in this instance, his other senses appear to be subject to much uncertainty. His seeing and hearing are at some times remarkably acute; at others he seems hardly to possess those faculties at all. Like the Chacrelas, in the island of Java, his sight is generally much quicker in the night than the day-time; and the later the hour, it appears to

Like some

be the clearer and the more distinct. other savages, he seems to delight in music; though his discrimination of sounds, as might be expected, is not very nice. His patron, Don Gabriel, plays on the Viol de Gamba, but very indifferently; and yet he seems more pleased with the sound of his instrument, than with that of some others played by the ablest musicians of the King's opera.

"The powers of his mind seem to be of a very limited sort. He does not, however, appear to be naturally so dull as some of his countrymen of whose stupidity Charlevoix gives remarkable instances; who, according to his account, cannot count beyond the number 3. Though I never had occasion to try his conception of numbers in its utmost extent, I saw that he could very readily number the guests at Don Gabriel's table, who often greatly exceeded the above denomination, or even the dishes, which were still more numerous. He resembles those natives of Guinea more nearly in another particular; he, as Father Charlevoix tells us of them, seems very seldom to think spontaneously. In point of memory, however, he differs widely from those natives of Guinea, of which faculty he seems endowed with a wonderful proportion. When he had learned enough of the Spanish to be able to hold a conversation easily, he gave many instances of a memory exceedingly tenacious, and often remembered things which had happened to Don Gabriel, or which Don Gabriel related, though nobody else had the most distant recollection of them.

"Nor was he more distinguished from that species mentioned by Charlevoix, in memory, than in patience and temper. Though possessed of little genius,' says that traveller, these Guinea negroes are extremely acute in their feelings. According to the manner in which they are treated, they are

lively or melancholy, laborious or slothful, friendly or hostile. When well fed and not ill treated, they are contented, cheerful, and ready for every employment; but when ill used and oppressed, they grow sullen, and often die of melancholy. Of injuries, as well as of benefits, they are extremely sensible; and against those who injure them they bear a most implacable hatred.' The very reverse of all this seems to be the temperament of the Phusalophagos. He is extremely patient under harsh usage, insensible to injuries, and is equally cheerful and ready for any employment when ill as when well treated, with the exception, however, of good feeding, which seems necessary to him in common with the Guinea men.

"I have thus, my very worthy and respected Sir, endeavoured to give you as particular a description of the distinguishing characteristics of this species, as the accounts I could rely on, or my own observation, could furnish me with. But as I know how far short any recital, how copious or exact soever, falls of an actual examination, I am not without hopes of being able to afford you an opportunity of examining a specimen of the Phusalophagi yourself, by means of some of our merchants who have opportunities of correspondence with Africa. But as the keeping of one, I am informed by Don Gabriel's maitre d'hotel, is somewhat expensive, you will be kind enough to inform me in your next, whether there is any individual naturalist who would be desirous of such a present; if your acquaintance does not furnish such a person, it may be as well that I send him, not to enrich any private collection, but to the President or Vice-president of the Royal or Antiquarian Society. "I am, &c. Ꮓ

"Madrid, 27th Feb. 1785,"

"W. C."

No. 16. SATURDAY, MAY 21, 1785.

"TO THE AUTHOR OF THE LOUNGER.

"SIR,

"YOUR correspondent Mrs. Careful has given a very just picture of the Female Loungers, in her entertaining letter. The disturbance which the morning visits of those idlers give to sober families, is become matter of very serious concern to many a mother in this town, who would wish to educate their daughters in such a way as to qualify them for performing their parts with propriety, in whatever rank they may be called to.

"Idleness and frivolity seem to form the character of the times. According to the present system of female education amongst us, the culture of the mind and heart, the knowledge of those useful duties which a good wife and a good mother owes to her husband and her children, are but slightly attended to, if not altogether neglected, for those exterior accomplishments which ought properly to be the handmaids of the former. Hence the dissipation of individuals, and the final wreck we often see of families!

"The task I am going upon is a melancholy one -to illustrate the truth of the above observation from my own woeful experience; yet, as it may be a caution to others, I think it a duty on me to communicate to you the following narrative.

"I was married, a few years ago, to an amiable young woman, the only daughter of a wealthy and respectable merchant. My father-in-law, Mr. Lum