N a t iv e s .
B l a c k T e e t h v
only be of the moffi defencelefs kind, for thefe pirates have nos
other veffels than the boats in which they carry on the filhing
bufinefs, and thofe unprovided with any fort o f fire-arms. From
the extreme corruption o f the government, there is no redrefs to-
be obtained again ft their excefles. An PngUfi captain has been
fined for killing one o f the crew o f thefe petty thieves which had
fhewed a defign of attacking his veffel.
In one of the ifles the Tonquinefe have a cuftom-houfer
which is faid tobring in a million of rix-dollars.
T h e kingdom is very populous, being thick fet with villages.
The natives generally are of a middle flature, o f the tawny
India color, but the faireft and cleareft o f the kind ; abluih or
change o f tint may be feen in fome o f them on any furprife o f
paffion, imperceptible in any other Indians; their faces are flat-
tiili and oval, their nofes and lips o f due proportions, and altogether
agreeable; their hair black, long,; and lank, very thick,,
■ and hanging down to their ihoulders,
T h e i r teeth are (like thofe of the Siamefe) as black as art'
can make them; the dying occupies- three or four days, and is
done to both boys and girls when they are about twelve or fourteen
years old ¡ during the whole* operation they never take any
nourifhment, except of the liquid kind, for fear of being poisoned
by the pigment, if they fwallowed what required maftica-
tion. Every perfon, high and low, rich and poor, is obliged to
undergo this fevere operation, alledging' it would be a difgrace
to human nature to have teeth white as thofe o f dogs or elephants,
to which they compare thofe who labor under that
misfortune.
Prion,
Prior, with his ufual humour, mentions this cuftom, but
transfers it to the Cbinefe.
l a China none hold women fweet,
Unlefs their fnags are black as j e t :
King Chihu pat nine queens to death,
Convift on ftatute iv’ry teeth.
T h u s ends my account o f India extra Gangem. The Ton-
quinefe have fo much fimilitude with the Cbtnefe, that it is with
fome relu&ance I place them as a feparate people. The uniformity
o f manners, the religion, and even the perfonal appearance
begin to ihew themfelves far more to the fouth. The Chi-
nefe had fpread themfelves to many of the kingdoms we have
paired over, and the likenefs is retained in proportion as they
kept diftindt, or mixed with the natives, fo as to occafion a deviation
from their native features and national cuftoms. We fall
in with the general arrangement o f geographers, and leave the
artificial diftinitions which feparate them from that great empire
whence they originated. The antients thought otherwife,
and formed o f thofe kingdoms a mighty government, diftin-
guiihed from their neighbors to the fouth and to the north by
the general name o f I t j or Sina.
M a