1770. ROUND THE WORLD. 211 



without cultivation : it is extremely improbable that 

 the inhabitants of the coast should be totally igno- 

 rant of arts of cultivation, which were practised in- 

 land ; and it is equally improbable that, if they knew 

 such arts, there should be no traces of them among 

 them. It is certain, that we did not see one foot of 

 ground in a state of cultivation in the whole coun- 

 try, and therefore it may well be concluded, that 

 where the sea does not contribute to feed the inhabit- 

 ants, the country is not inhabited. 



The only tribe with which we had any intercourse 

 we found where the ship was careened : it consisted 

 of one-and-twenty persons, twelve men, seven women, 

 one boy, and one girl : the women we never saw but 

 at a- distance, for when the men came over the river 

 they were always left behind. The men, here and in 

 other places, were of a middle size, and in general 

 well made, clean limbed, and remarkably vigorous, 

 active, and nimble ; their countenances were not alto- 

 gether without expression, and their voices were re- 

 markably soft and effeminate. 



Their skins were so uniformly covered with dirt, 

 that it was very difficult to ascertain their true colour : 

 we made several attempts, by wetting our fingers and 

 rubbing it, to remove the incrustations, but with very 

 little effect. With the dirt, they appear nearly as 

 black as a negro, and according to our best discove- 

 ries, the skin itself is of the colour of wood soot, or 

 what is commonly called a chocolate colour. Their 

 features are far from being disagreeable ; their noses 

 are not flat, nor are their lips thick ; their teeth are 

 white and even, and their hair naturally long and 

 black, it is, however, universally cropped short ; in 

 general, it is straight, but sometimes it has a slight 

 curl ; we saw none that was not matted and filthy, 

 though without oil or grease, and to our great asto- 

 nishment free from lice. Their beards were of the 

 same colour with their hair, and bushy and thick ; 

 they are not, however, suffered to grow long. A man, 



p 2 



