'773- The women, however, were exempted from this cuftor»
TOBER. 5 7
of disfiguring themfelves, and had only a few black dots-
on their hands. ' But befides thefe, both fexes had three
fpots on the arms, confifting of concentric circles of punctures,
without any blacking, which I have mentioned before.
The men in general went almoft naked, having only
a fmall bit of cloth round the loins. Some, however,
wore a drefs nearly refembling that of the women. This
was a long piece of cloth made of bark, in the fame manner
as the Taheitee cloth, but afterwards painted chequer-
wife, or in patterns nearly refembling our painted floorcloths,
and covered with a fize, which turned the wet for a
long while. This they wrapped round their waift, the
men nearly about their middle, the women more immediately
under the breaft, and in both it commonly defcended
below the knees. Inflead of the cloth they likewife fub-
ftituted mats, extremely well wrought, in form refembling
thofe of Taheitee, and fometimes, though rarely, covered
even their fhoulders and breafts with them. The men frequently
wore a firing round their necks, from which a
mother of pearl fliell hung down on the breaft. The women
often had loofe necklaces, confifting of feveral firings of
fmall fhells, intermixed with feeds, teeth of fifties, and in
the middle of all the round operculum, or cover of a fhell,
as large as a crown-piece. Both their ears were perforated,
and fometimes with two holes, and a little cylinder cut out
of
of tortoife-fhell or bone, was ftuck through both the holes.
Sometimes thefe cylinders were only of reed, filled with a
red folid fubftance, painted and lacquered with different colours
in regular compartments: The moft lingular circumftance
which we obferved among thefe people was, that
many of them wanted the little finger on one and fometimes
on both hands ; the differences of fex or age did not
exempt them from this amputation ; for even amongft the
few children, whom we faw running about naked, the
greater part had already fuffered this lofs. Only a few
grown people, who had preferved both their little fingers,
wera an exception to the general rule. We immediately
■ conjeftured that the death of a near relation or friend
might require thefe ftrange mutilations, in the fame manner
as is cuftomary among the Hottentots, in Africa *; the
Guaranos, in Paraguay ; and the Californians ; and our
enquiries, though unfuccefsful at firft, afterwards confirmed
the conjefture. Another Angularity, which we obferved
to be very general among thefe people, was a round fpot
on each cheek-bone, which appeared to have been burnt or
bliftered. Some had it quite recent, in others it was covered
with a fcurf, and many had a very flight ftiark of its
former exiftence. We could never learn how and for what
purpofe it was made ; but we fnppofed it could only be
* See KolbenYaccount of the Cape o f Good. Hope,; alio the Recherches
Philofophiques fur les Américains, par M. Pauw, vol. I I.' p, 224, 229.