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As I had two measuring rods with me, we went round and measured those that appeared to be tallest among them. One of these was six feet seven inches high, several more were six feet five, and six feet six inches; but the stature of the greater part of them was from five feet ten to six feet. Their complexion is a dark copper colour, like that of the Indians in North America; their hair is strait, and nearly as harsh as hog’s bristles: it is tied back with a cotton string, but neither sex wears any head-dress. They are well made, robust, and boney; but their hands and feet are remarkably small. They are cloathed with the skins of the guanico, sewed together into pieces about six foot long, and five wide: these are wrapped round the body, and fastened with a girdle, with the hairy side inwards; some of them had also what the Spaniards have called a puncho, a square piece of cloth made of the downy hair of the guanico, through which a hole being cut for the head, the reft hangs round them’ about as low as the knee. The guanico is an animal that in size, make, and colour, resembles a deer, but it has a hump on its back, and no horns. These people wear also a kind of drawers, which they pull up very tight, and buskins, which reach from the mid-leg to the instep before, and behind are brought under the heel; the rest of the foot is without any covering. We observed that several of the men had a red circle painted round the left eye, and that others were painted on their arms, and on different parts of the face; the eye-lids of all the young women were painted black. They talked much, and some of them called out Ca-pi-ta-ne; but when they were spoken to in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Dutch, they made no reply. Of their own language we could distinguish only one word, which was chevow: we supposed it to be a salutation, as they’ always
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 374, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/374.html