Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

The slave trade, domestic and foreign - Why It Exists, and How It May Be Extinguished by H. C. (Henry Charles) Carey
page 48 of 582 (08%)
arrival of the stranger who brings them knives and clothing to be
exchanged for skins and corn; wealth grows, and the habit of
association--the first step toward civilization--arises.

The little tribe is, however, compelled to occupy the higher lands.
The lower ones are a mass of dense forests and dreary swamps, while at
the foot of the hill runs a river, fordable but for a certain period
of the year. On the hillside, distant a few miles, is another tribe;
but communication between them is difficult, because, the river bottom
being yet uncleared, roads cannot be made, and bridges are as yet
unthought of. Population and wealth, however, continue to increase,
and the lower lands come gradually into cultivation, yielding larger
returns to labour, and enabling the tribe to obtain larger supplies of
food with less exertion, and to spare labour to be employed for other
purposes. Roads are made in the direction of the river bank.
Population increases more rapidly because of the increased supplies of
food and the increased power of preserving it, and wealth grows still
more rapidly. The river bank at length is reached, and some of the
best lands are now cleared. Population grows again, and a new element
of wealth is seen in the form of a bridge; and now the two little
communities are enabled to communicate more freely with each other.
One rejoices in the possession of a wheelwright, while the other has a
windmill. One wants carts, and the other has corn to grind. One has
cloth to spare, while the other has more leather than is needed for
its purpose. Exchanges increase, and the little town grows because of
the increased amount of trade. Wealth grows still more rapidly,
because of new modes of combining labour, by which that of all is
rendered more productive. Roads are now made in the direction of other
communities, and the work is performed rapidly, because the exertions
of the two are now combined, and because the machinery used is more
DigitalOcean Referral Badge