ioned by Dampier, relative to those he met with on the
western coast of this country, such as their defective sight, and want
of fore-teeth, are not found here; and though Hawkesworth's account of
those met with by Captain Cook on the east side, shews also that they
differ in many respects; yet still, upon the whole, I am persuaded that
distance of place, entire separation, diversity of climate, and length
of time, all concurring to operate, will account for greater
differences, both as to their persons and as to their customs, than
really exist between our Van Diemen's Land natives, and those described
by Dampier, and in Captain Cook's first voyage. This is certain, that
the figure of one of those seen in Endeavour River, and represented in
Sidney Parkinson's Journal of that voyage, very much resembles our
visitors in Adventure Bay. That there is not the like resemblance in
their language, is a circumstance that need not create any difficulty.
For though the agreement of the languages of people living distant from
each other, may be assumed as a strong argument for their having sprung
from one common source, disagreement of language is by no means a proof
of the contrary."[139]

[Footnote 139: The ingenious author of _Recherches sur les Americains_
illustrates the grounds of this assertion in the following satisfactory
manner: "C'est quelque chose de surprenant, que la foule des idiomes,
tous varies entr'eux, que parlent les naturels de l'Amerique
Septentrionale. Qu'on reduise ces idiomes a des racines qu'on les
simplifie, qu'on en separe les dialectes et les jargons derives, il en
resulte toujours cinq ou six languesmeres, respectivement
incomprehensibles. On a observe la meme singularite dans la Siberie et
la Tartarie, ou le nombre des idiomes, et les dialectes, est egalement
multiplie; et rien n'est plus commun, que d'y voir deux hordes voisines
qui ne se comprennent point. On retrouve cette meme multiplicite de
jargons dans toutes les Provinces de l'Amerique Meridionale." [He might
also have included Africa.] "Il y a beaucoup d'apparence que _la vie
sauvage, en dispersant les hommes par petites troupes isolees dans des
bois epais, occasione necessairement cette grande diversite des
langues_, dont le nombre diminue a mesure que la societe, en rassemblant
les barbares vagabonds, en forme un corps de nation. Alors l'idiome le
plus riche, ou le moins panvre en mots, devient dominant, et absorbe les
autres." Tom. i. p.