Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	heat_n	natural_a	1,732	5	6.1463	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A70052	A new discovery of Terra incognita Australis, or, The southern world, by James Sadeur, a French-man, who being cast there by a shipwrack, lived 35 years in that country and gives a particular description of the manners, customs, religion, laws, studies and wars of those southern people, and of some animals peculiar to that place ... translated from the French copy ...; Terre australe connue. English	Foigny, Gabriel de, ca. 1630-1692.	1693 (1693)	Wing F1395; ESTC R20648	83,070	196

always exposed to the rigours of bad seasons The natural inclination which I always had to know the wonders of Nature gave me a very sensible pleasure at the relation of them and as I sometimes desired of our Merchants to go abroad into the Country and examin the truth of these things which were told us so I shall give this Abridgement of them as follows This Country has not half the Inhabitants in it that Portugal has I know not whether it may happen from the little Inclination and the great difficulty there is to engender The Men there are entirely naked only within these few years there are some that begin to imitate the Europeans and cover what we call Shameful 'T is certain that the abundance of their Countrey renders them negligent slothful simple and stupid after having considered them sometimes I was forced to acknowledge that Man naturally becomes slothful when he has nothing to do and that Idleness transforms him to a Beast The Soil of these Regions which is watered throughout with the Rivers of Zair and Cariza produces Fruits in Abundance without any Labour and these Fruits are so delicate and nourishing that they fully satisfie those which eat of them even the very Water of certain Fountains has I know not what delicacy and juice which satisfies those that drink thereof We staid there a considerable time but without any expense because the People despise Gain the Countrey furnishing in abundance all that one can wish There 's so little need of Houses in this Countrey that no body goes into them and as the Nights have all the sweetness that one can desire so 't is better to sleep abroad than under a covering they know not how to make use of Beds yet they have their Reserves of some Mattresses for the weaker sort to lye upon tho there is no body that sleeps not upon the Ground All these Considerations gave me an Idea of a People who being not obliged to Labour lived with some justice in the midst of Idleness which rendred them dull negligent sleeping disdainful without Exercise and without Action Our Captain gave Liberty to me and three more of our Company to go by the River Zair to a Lake of the same Name we had all the Pleasure and Satisfaction possible in this Voyage Take one part of the most considerable Remarks which I then made as far as my Memory will assist me We arrived in twenty four days at the mouth of the Lake we went about it in ten and we came back again to the Fleet in twenty more the River Zair is not rapid and as we had four good Oars we could easily make fifteen and eighteen Leagues a day nevertheless 't is certain we never made above eight in going whence we may easily see how much our Geographers are deceived that place the Lake of Zair three hundred Leagues from the Sea that which obliged us to such little Journeys was the number of Curiosities which continually presented themselves to our Eyes in Fruits Flowers Fishes and tame Animals we could scarce remark a place in the vast Meadows of sixty and eighty Leagues long which was not enriched with a Marvellous Tapestry of Flowers which would pass for rare in the finest Cardens in Europe I could scarce see my Feet tread upon so many Miracles of Nature without Indignation but the vast quantity of them was the cause that they were no more esteemed then our Field Dazies there is scarce a Tree which does not bear some precious Fruits and such as are incomparably better than all that we know and Nature hath so accommodated them to the Constitution of the Inhabitants that they might be gathered without incommodety and danger we lived not upon any other Nourishment nor did we desire any more Our Master Pilot Sebastiano Deles a Man of great Experience seeing that we were admiring why we should go to the East-Indies for their Delicates and Curiosities and never brought back none of those things that we saw in this Countrey said That 't was with these Fruits as with Viands well baked and seasoned which could not be preserved four days with their ordinary Gust this obliged me to make the Experiment and I saw that indeed they would not be kept long without Corruption 't is true that in eating them we find 'em perfectly digesting nourishing and conformable to the Stomach very different from our Fruit and which brings at last as much Indisposition to the Body as Pleasure to the Taste For this Cause they may be preserved since their Crudity strives with their natural heat whereas those at Manicongo being perfectly ripe are spoiled in a little time and as nature has provided that some are always dying so the Trees are always laden with Flowers Buds and Fruits some green some rotten and others proper to Eat Amongst the great quantity of Fishes which I remarkt in the River Zair I saw two sorts which surprized me I may call the one Amphibious since they are something like our Water Spaniels and come as easily out of the Water they leap almost like Foxes with this difference that their Paws are as large as the Feet of our Drakes and those before are twice or thrice as short as those behind they have so great an Inclination for a Man that they will seek him out and offer them selves to him as so much Sacrifice it happens sometimes that they will even leap into Boats and come to the Feet of the Watermen to fawn upon them like Dogs this I saw with my Eyes and I wish not over well to a Water man that struck one of 'em down at my Feet the Natives of the Countrey call them Cadzeick and their Flesh resembles that of our Spanish Otters The other that I admired were slying F●shes and we might well call them Sea Peacocks but much more fine and of a brighter Colour than those at Land 't is rarely that they swim at the bottom of the Water but they are almost always seen at the top their Feathers appear just like the Scales of Fishes but with a diversity of Green Blew Yellow and speckled with Red which ravishes the Eyes of such as behold them these which I saw out of the Water appeared like great Eagles with two Wings every one with five or six Feet one would believe that they affected to be seen and admired sometimes did they gather together in a Circle round the Boat sometimes they placed themselves right against those who lookt upon them turning and returning after all manners with Trains which dazelled our Eyes The Shores were full of many sorts of Animals but the most common and the most charming resembled our Sheep at Leira excepting that we saw some of almost all Colours I mean Red Green Yellow and a Blew so shining that our Purple and best prepared Silks come not near them I askt why no one traffickt in such glistering rarities and 't was answered that these Natural

without and live contented as you see we do I cou'd not hear this man speak without reflecting on that great Principle of our Philosophy that the more perfect a Being is the less need it has of any Assistance from without I made some Reflections upon the Operations of the Sovereign Being I concluded a Creature cou'd not better resemble him then in acting simply and alone like him in all its Productions and that an Action which was perform'd by the concourse of two persons cou'd not be so perfect as that which was made by one only My Old Man perceived by the Suspension of my mind that I began to be pleas'd with his Reasons wherefore laying aside the rest of his Arguments and changing the discourse demanded of me that in case two persons concurr'd in the production of the same Child to which of them it belong'd to by right I answer'd him equally to both and alledg'd the example of many Animals who made it appear by their reciprocal cares that their young ones belong'd inseparably to each But he with indignation rejected the example of Animals and told me he would have no further Conference with me except I wou'd omit making any farther use of it because by that I confirmed him he said what he intended to prove to me that our production savour'd more of Beast than man and therefore he might with justice look upon us as Half-Men He added that this Mutual and indivisible Possession was lyable to great difficulties because the Will of two cou'd never be so regulated but one wou'd wish sometimes what was contrary to the other which wou'd undoubtedly produce many Contestations To which I answer'd There was great subordination in this possession and that the Mother and Child were both subject to the Father but the word Father being wholly unknown to the Australians I was obliged to express it in such terms as he might most probably understand me he made me repeat it to him three times and least he shou'd not apprehend me he explain'd to me what Idea he had conceiv'd of it After which he was entirely persuaded of the common opinion of the Australians that we cou'd not be Men and cryed to himself with an extraordinary severity O where is Judgment Where is Reason Where is the Man Where is the Man which he repeated three times I told him The Laws of the Country determined it so and that it was not without foundation since the Father being the Principle cause of Generation it was to him that the Issue that might be produced ought principally to belong Let us discourse in order upon this matter said he Thou hast advanced that the Father and Mother act together to produce it thou hast made me apprehend that the Mother is the most nearly concern'd in it from whence is it then that thou concludest the Father ought to be lookt upon as the Principle Cause If there is a precedency why givest thou it to the Father since the Mother seems to me to have the greatest share in it Wou'd it not be more reasonable to look upon this pretended Father as the accidental Cause and the Mother without whom it is impossible it shou'd have Being as the natural and chief Cause But tell me freely Is this Mother so tyed to the Father that she cannot unite her self with any other Man I answered him with a great deal of sincerity That it was not only possible but that it often happened If so replied he interrupting me He that takes the Title of Father can never be certain he is effectively so nothing is more ridiculous therefore than to look upon him as Principal Cause who has concurr'd in the producing a Child since it is always uncertain whether it was his or no and you cannot without Injustice take this Quality from that of the two persons that you call Mother to speak justly of things as they are in themselves I found my self shock't by the Discourse of this Old man and altho I cou'd not consent to his Reason which overturn'd all our Laws I cou'd not hinder my self from making a thousand Reflections and confessing that they treated that Sex with too much severity from whom all Mankind receiv'd so many obligations My thoughts furnished me then with an hundred reasons to maintain what my Philosopher had asserted I found my self forc'd to believe that this great power which man had usurped over Woman was rather the effect of an odious Tyranny than a Legitimate Authority The first part of my proposition being found void we entred upon the second which was in respect to the understanding of the Europeans but my Old Man spoke of it very briefly thinking I had said all that I cou'd upon the first head I doubt no longer now said he what you Europeans are it is a point which is fully clear'd Nevertheless added he as it cannot be deny'd but thou hast shewn something extraordinary both in thy Courage and Reasoning so it is necessary that I know from whence it might proceed I assured him that what he had seen me do in the Combat was rather an effect of my dispair than courage That we had no such Fools to engage with amongst us but that Men fought sometimes amongst themselves till they had utterly destroy'd one another They are exactly like the Fondins said he and as I was going to proceed Thou hast added he been with us long enough to know us and to be perswaded of the Wisdom of our Conduct This word Man which carries with it so necessary a consequence of Reason and Humanity obliges us to an Union which is so perfect amongst us that we know not what Division and Discord is wherefore thou must confess either that we are more than Men or that we are less than Men since that you are so far from our perfection To which I answer'd it could not be deny'd but that the divers Climates contributed much to the different Inclinations of their Inhabitants that from thence it happen'd that some were more eager others more calm some dull others quick which diversity of Temperaments was the ordinary cause of Divisions Wars and all other Dissentions which arm Men against one another but he laught at this Reason maintaining That man as man could never cease to be man that is humane reasonable affable without passion c. because 't is in this that the nature of man consists and as the Sun cannot be a Sun when it does not give light so a man cannot be a man but he must differ essentially from Beasts in whom Madness Gluttony Cruelty and other Vices and Passions are a consequence of their imperfect and defective Nature that the who was the Subject of these Defaults was no more than a vain and deceitful Image of a Man or rather a true Beast I confess that I could not hearken to this Discourse without admiration and nothing ever edifyed me more than this purity of Morals inspir'd by the

have no place in our Northern Countries whither none would be transported but tame ones and where there would be no wild ones at all These are the most considerable Remarks I have made upon the Animals of the Southern Countries Next as for the Fruits it bears they surpass all imagination in beauty and deliciousness The Fruit which they call the Fruit of Rest or Repose is indued with some properties that to us would appear miraculous It s faculty in procuring Rest when we please and the vertue of its Juice in healing in very little time all manner of wounds induce me to believe there 's no Ail or Distemper in Europe for which it would not prove a soveraign Remedy I was informed afterward that it was with that all my wounds were cured I had received at my coming and though I afterward received in several Fights many sore blows more some whereof made great wounds in my body and some broke and shattered my bones yet by vertue of that only Juice I was always cured in three days which if known and used in Europe would cut short that numherless number of Drugs and Remedies that cost so dear among us and which yet after all kill more Patients than they cure While I lived in Portugal I was subject to several Infirmities and the terrible shocks I had suffered by my disasters upon the Sea had very much weakned me and yet when I came into Australia and began to live upon the Fruits of the Earth that are the only Food there I can boldly affirm That I felt not the least Indisposition nor Infirmity and tho' my absence at such a dreadful distance from my own Country and the extraordinary odd and strange Customs of the People I conversed with and which I was obliged to conform to gave me no small cause to be Melancholick and tormented me with many a bitter reflection yet as soon as I tasted but one of the Fruits of Repose all my Resentments were calmed and my Courage and usual briskness came to me again my Blood danced in my Veins and I found my self in such a disposition both of body and mind that there was nothing I could desire to render my Contentment more compleat than it was Of what inestimable price would such Fruits be in Europe where grief and vexation kill the greatest part of mankind and troubles cause languishments far worse and far more formidable than Death But can there be any thing imagined more desirable than to live splendidly and fare very delicately without being at any charge since for that end one need not have any greater Provision than three or four of those Fruits which are incomparably more delicate and of a much richer Relish and Nourishment than our most succulent Meats and most artfully seasoned Dishes nor any other Drink than a sort of natural Nectar that is found running in streams in that Country where every one may eat and drink his fill with the greatest Pleasure in the World without being obliged either to Till the Earth or cultivate any Trees I have admired an hundred times how Nature comes to be so partially liberal to that Country to give away as 't were in sporting and with a careless prodigality those things she is so nigardly of in our Regions But among other things I cannot pass in silence that abundance of fine Crystal that is there to be found and which the Australians know how with such admirable Skill and Symmetry to cut and put together that it is very hard to find where the Stones joyn so exactly they seem to be all of a piece This Crystal is so transparent that 't were impossible to distinguish any Po●es in it if the rich Figures Nature forms in it of divers colours did not convince us it had some But that which in my Opinion surpasses all the most prodigious Rarities in the World is a Hab which is to be seen in the Seizain or district of Haf which is made all out of one entire piece of Crystal which could not be done but by cutting it out of a great Rock of the same matter This wonderful Hab or Temple surpasses all the rest in height and breadth for it is 200 Foot high and 150 Foot wide the Figures with which this Crystal is interspersed are bigger than those observed in the other and it is visible that they are all entire without being patched up with any inlaid pieces They assured me that it had been oftentimes debated among them whether it would not be better to destroy it than to keep it standing because it tempts the curiosity of those that dwell afar off and causes distraction of Thoughts in them that assemble in it However it is yet standing and I can hardly believe that ever they can find in their Hearts ' to vote the demolition of so rich and rare a piece as that The greatest difficulty I find in procuring a Traffick in these Commodities between Europe and Australia consists in finding out some way either to force or otherwise to dispose of such a Communication for after having well considered the whole matter there appear to me unsurmountable difficulties in such an enterprise for the Australians being a People that neither cover any thing there is no likelihood of bringing them to a Compliance by the allurements of Gain of Rewards or of Pleasure nor any practicable means left for us to overcome that strange aversion they have for us which is so great that they cannot endure to hear us mentioned without declaring the passion they have to destroy us And then besides all those things that we usually carry into the new discovered Countries and which procures us access to their Inhabitants pass in the esteem of the Australians for Childrens Play-things and meer trifles and bawbles they look upon our Gawdy Stuffs and richest Silks as Spiders Webs they know not so much as what the names of Gold or Silver signifie and in a word all that we count precious appear in their esteem to be but ridiculous and therefore there remains no other way to introduce our selves among them but by open force and in that matter they have a great advantage over us which would frustrate all our attempts that way for the Sea in those parts is so very shallow that it will hardly carry a Boat at two or three Leagues distance from their Shoars unless it be in certain particular Creeks where there are some Veins of Water which cannot be known but by long experience Besides all which obstacles they keep so exact a Guard upon all their Coasts that it is impossible to surprise them nor yet to attack them with any hopes of Success as will appear by the following Relation of some of their Wars CHAP. XII Of the ordinary Wars of the Australians IT is by a constant Decree establish'd in the World that we should possess no happiness without some pains nor be able to keep it without some difficulty