fference of nations in bodily
characteristics, and in disposition, genius, and morals, springs from
the various climates of the regions, and from the difference in air,
water, and food--in accordance with that maxim, _Natura facit habilem_,
[93] in its common interpretation. That makes evident (in distant
regions) the difference between Spaniards and French, Indians and
Germans, Ethiopians and English. It is experienced, within distances
not so great, in the many provinces of Espana alone. Even in Ubeda
and Baeza, only one legua apart, this diversity of men and women is
found. There are more marked differences of this sort encountered in
Philipinas; for there are certain peoples at the mouth of one river,
while at the source are others very different in complexion, customs,
and languages. In the same province are found stupid and intelligent
peoples; white, black, and brown; and those of distinct degrees of
corpulency, and features according to the various temperatures and
climates. It is a matter which is truly surprising, to see so great
a diversity of temperatures and so great a diversity of men within
so small a space. But that happens in districts here and there,
for usually there is but little differentiation in these islands in
characteristics and genius. If one Indian be known, I believe that
they are all known; but God alone can have this complete knowledge.

"413. The very reverend father, Gaspar de San Agustin, an Augustinian
and a native of Madrid, with the practical experience of forty years
of life among those people, confesses, in a letter which he wrote
concerning their characteristics--and which although in manuscript,
deserves to be printed, for he understood those natives as far as it
is possible to comprehend them--that it is so difficult to describe
their characteristics that it would be more easy to define the formal
object in logic; more feasible to compute the square of a circle;
more discoverable to assign a fixed rule for the measurement of the
degrees of longitude on the globe; and after the four knowledges of
Solomon could be placed this fifth, as impossible. [94] In fact, after
so many years, he says that he has only been able to understand that
_quadraginta annis proximus fui Generationi huic, & dixi: semper hi
erant corde_. [95] He speaks at length and from experience and with
remarkable detail. Although the letter is worth printing, my lack of
space does not allow me to copy it. [96]

"