4 3 4
MANNERS de-ftitute of the marks o f puberty. A s fbon as they appear, the
young women are obliged to undergo a very painful operation, yiz.
to have large arched .ftripes. pundtured on their buttocks : thefe
curious, marks are reputed honourable,: and it is thought a mark o f
pre-eminence to be capable of bearing children; I f therefore a man
fhould reproach the perfon with the deficiency of thefe marks, Ihe
cannot in honour avoid refuting it by ocular demonftration. *
T h e origin o f thefe ftrange cuftoms, it. was not in my power to
inveftigate. I contented myfel.f therefore, with collecting and
recording the fa£t.
* Among the Thracians it was cuftomary not to watch the challity o f their virgins, who
were at liberty to admit any man they chofe to their embraces.,; but they kept a ftriftwatch
ove» the conduct of their wives, whom they bought at a great price from their parents.- To-
b e punctured they thought a mark o f nobility, to have no punctures, that o f being bafely
.horn« Herodotus, libr v* c. >6,
S E C T I O N V I I ,
Instruction, Private and Public. Origin an»
Progress of Manufactures, Arts and.- Sciences,
ZJfus, & impigrajimul experlentla mentis
Paulatim do cuit pedeientirn progvedkntis.
Lucretius, lib. v. p. 14, 51,
t T A V IN O endeavoured to difplay the principles o f morality
^ •* adopted among the natriöris o f the South Sea, together with
the charaldteriftic lines, forming their manners, and the progrefs
they had made in refinement and luxury 5 I laftly annexed forne
curfory remarks on their worfien. Thefe" feveral particulars,
together with the obferVatlons on the population, the phyfical
confutation of the tribes found by us in the South Sea, the caufes
o f their diverfity, the origin of their races, the firft ftate o f rude
K k k 2 ' focieties
ARTS
AND
SCIENCES