Danes, who have colonies in several of the West India islands, as well as we, have more than once carried off some of the Esquimaux savages who inhabit the country of Labrador to the north of Canada. I imagine then that the captain of a ship from the north of Holland, or Scotland, or some town in Norway, may have carried off a parcel of slaves from some northern country, from Labrador perhaps, with an intention to sell them in the West India islands, where they may have had an opportunity of seeing and eating sugar canes and manioc. The same captain may probably have transported one or two of these slaves to Europe, either because he could not find an opportunity of disposing of them to advantage, or from caprice or curiosity; and the youth of our two little savages might naturally enough procure them that preference; in which case, it is not improbable, that on his arrival in Europe, he may have either sold them, or given them away in a present. And it is likewise probable, that either through a frolic, or with a fraudulent intention, the proprietor may have painted them black, by which means he might pass them for natives of Guinea, and at the same time avoid any challenge on account of his having decoyed them away. There is in America a plant that yields a clear transparent liquor, which rubbed on the skin, renders it perfectly black: This colour indeed wears off in aboutnine
