Page 84

Cook's Descriptions of Places

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New Holland (continued) and their Voices are soft and tunable. They go quite naked both Men and Women without any manner of Cloathing whatever, even the Women do not so much as cover their privities. Altho none of us was ever very near any of their women, one gentleman excepted, yet those^we are all are none of us ^butwhat areof us as well satisfied of this as if we had lived among them. Notwithstanding we had several interviews with the Men while we lay in Endeavour River, yet wether through Je^alousy or disrigard they never brought any of their women along with them to the Ship, but always left them on the opposite side of the River where we had frequent oppertunities viewing them through our glasses. They wear as Oraments Necklaces made of shells, Bracelets or hoops about their arms, made mostly of hair twisted and made like a cord hoop, these they wear teight about the uper partspartof their Arms, ^and some have girdles made in the same manner The men wear a bone about 3 or 4 Inches long and a fingers thick, run through the Bridget of the nose^which the Seamen call'd a sprit sail yard. they like wise have holes in their ears for Earrings, but we never saw them wear any, neither are all the other oraments wore in common for we have seen as many without as with them — Voyaging Accounts © Transcribed from National Library of Australia Manuscript 1 page 295, 2004 Published by South Seas To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook_remarks-084