Constitutional Whig

Translated for the Constitutional Whig.--No. III.

In considering the human race in a more extended point of view, we find it divided into great masses, according to the general divisions of the globe, in the same manner that we saw them divided into families, according to the configuration of the soil and the direction of the mountains and streams. The people who inhabit the centre of Asia and the multitude of rivers which direct their courses to the East and South, are, without exception, of Mongol species. Those who inhabit the Isles of the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to the Sandwich Islands, and from the Isle of Paques to Malaca, are wholly of the Malai species. Those who, before the arrival of the Europeans, inhabited the continent of America from Terra del Fuego to the straits of Hudson, were of the copper species. A race wholly different was found upon the continent of Africa, with the exception of the territory watered by the Nile and the Northern coast which was occupied by a people of European descent. It is somewhat remarkable that the points, at which the continents touched or approached each other, contained a mixed population of all the species. For example, at the northern extremity of America the people appear in many respects similar to those who inhabit the neighbouring parts of Asia. And upon the coasts of Africa and the parts of Asia which are nearest to the European continent, the inhabitants are mostly of European extract.

It is impossible to know what parts of the globe were first peopled, and how the inhabitants spread themselves over the cultivated places. But in supposing that all had a similar origin, and were at first as barbarous as the Aborigines of America, nothing appears to me easier than to determine the causes of the successive development of those in the same vallies or along the courses of the same streams, and on the other hand of the stationary condition of others. This matter will be fairly exposed in considering the causes which in uncivilized countries, force a people to settle along the borders or at the mouths of rivers.

A territory abandoned to itself furnishes a very small quantity of food for the nourishment of man. As I have already observed, the earth produces a very small number of plants naturally; those which are vigorous possessing themselves of the soil and destroying the rest, or striking them with sterility. The greater part cannot of themselves produce any kind of fruit, and those which might produce them are for the most part barren, either because they mutually obstruct each other or are crowded. And again, when trees and shrubs are found to produce some fruit, it is a resource that can last but a few days, because these fruits are common both to brutes and men, and because they soon perish on coming to maturity. Men who have adopted neither an agricultural or a pastoral life are therefore drawn towards the lakes, the rivers and the gulfs for means of subsistence. They there enjoy the advantage of fishing and at the same time those of hunting; because animals are attracted hither by the ready means of subsistence and are also more easily surprised. The alimentary plants, roots, fruits, &c. grow much better here than elsewhere, the earth is covered with more vegetable soil, the temperature of the atmosphere is milder and the soil itself is more watered and less shaded than other parts of the country.

The waters and winds continually transport into the vallies the different kinds of vegetables which grow on elevated places; but it is more difficult for vegetables which grow in the vallies and low places to be transported to the hills. The vallies too, along streams generally represent a triangle, the summit of which is formed by the junction of two mountains, and the base by the course of the sea. Hence it follows, the nearer one approaches the mouth of a stream or the confluence of two rivers, a larger portion of productive earth will be found.

At the same time that waters contain in their bosoms a considerable part of the substance of man, and multiply in certain places the species of vegetables and attract a large number of animals to their shores, they offer routes more or less easy across impenetrable forests. Lands abandoned to themselves are generally covered with immense forests, but these forests have no resemblance to those which are found among civilized people. In the latter the undergrowth is destroyed, the trees never fall of old age and the waters of rains and rivulets are carefully drawn off. But in the former, nothing that the earth produces is removed. Briars, brambles and brakes cover the soil, and often render an access impossible to either the traveller or hunter. The trees being destroyed by time alone, fall of old age and contribute to render the country impassable. Finally, the foliage, the remains of vegetables and the soil washed off by rains, arrest the course of streams, turn them from their proper channel, and convert immense plains into marshes. The country is then covered with insects and reptiles, and, if animals are yet able to penetrate it, man cannot follow them, but with great labour and danger.

Rivers among savages who inhabit a country covered with forests, do not present the same facilities of navigation as those among civilized people. The immense trees fallen from old age or torn up by the waters, lie across the stream and render the navigation dangerous. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the people who live on the banks and who possess the art of constructing boats, have much greater means of transportation than are enjoyed by those who live in the interior. It is only necessary to abandon themselves to the current, to be carried to immense distances. The facility of descending and the difficulty of ascending contributes to fix them at the mouths of rivers and along the gulfs. This fact may be illustrated by many examples in the U. States and especially in the State of Virginia. Governments have often fixed upon places where towns shall be built, but their decrees have been without effect whenever the position and the nature of the places were not able to attract a population. Mr. Jefferson, in mentioning the towns of Virginia, says, "there are other places at which the laws have said there shall be towns, but nature has said there shall not, and they remain unworthy of enumeration." Jefferson's Notes.

All the causes, moreover, which contribute to determine the location of a savage tribe, contribute also to increase the population and to develope the human faculties. A tribe of savages in order to fish with success and with security must find a place where the fish are attracted by the calmness of the waters and the facilities of subsistence, and where the tribes themselves may be sheltered from the ravages of storms. They, therefore, choose a bay which is calm and deep, or place themselves at the mouths of rivers. They build their cabins on the borders of the banks & there establish their families. Here they commence to improve navigation. According to necessity they can advance into the sea for the purpose of successful fishery, or plunge themselves into the woods for the pursuit of game. The temperature being more pleasant, vegetation is more continued, and it is more easy for them to observe its progress, and the idea of cultivating plants more naturally presents to their mind. Lastly, the earth itself is more fertile, because being nearer the level of the sea it is under a milder climate. From this place, population and cultivation gradually extend themselves along the vallies; villages are formed at the confluence of rivers, because there the lands are susceptible of a more extended cultivation, the communication between different people more easy, and the means of subsistence can be brought from more places at the same time.

Rivers, therefore, have an immense influence on the civilization and the distribution of people; but the configuration and extent of different parts of the globe, the nature of the soil, and the temperature of the atmosphere have as great an influence upon the courses of rivers, their distribution, their volume and their utility.