S2 COOKS* SECOND VOYAGE JULY, 



grown pismire. The men go quite naked, except a 

 piece of cloth or leaf used as a wrapper.* 



We saw but few women, and they were not less 

 ugly than the men ; their heads, faces, and shoul- 

 ders are painted red ; they wear a kind of petticoat ; 

 and some of them had something over their shoulders 

 like a bag, in which they carry their children. None 

 of them came off to the ship, and they generally kept 

 at a distance when we were on shore. Their orna- 

 ments are ear-rings made of tortoise-shell and brace- 

 lets. A curious one of the latter, four or five inches 

 broad, wrought with thread or cord, and studded 

 with shells, is worn by them just above the elbow. 

 Round the right wrist they wear hogs' tusks bent cir- 

 cular, and rings made of shells ; and round their 

 left, a round piece of wood, which we judged was to 

 ward off the bow-string. The bridge of the nose is 

 pierced, in which they wear a piece of white stone, 

 about an inch and a half long, and ^ ^J~^ x 

 in this shape. As signs of friendship O^ *\J) 

 they present a green branch, and sprinkle water with 

 the hand over the head. 



Their weapons are clubs, spears, and bows and 

 arrows. The two former are made of hard or 

 iron wood. Their bows are about four feet long, 

 made of a stick split down the middle, and are 

 not circular, but in this form. 

 The arrows, which are a sort of 

 reeds, are sometimes armed with a long and sharp 

 point, made of the hard wood, and sometimes 

 with a very hard point made of bone ; and these points 

 are all covered with a substance which we took for 

 poison. Indeed, the people themselves confirmed our 

 suspicions, by making signs to us not to touch the 

 point, and giving us to understand, that if we were 

 pricked by them we should die. They are very 



* The particular manner of applying the wrapper may be seen 

 in Wafer's Voyage, who mentions this singular custom as existing, 

 though with some little variation, amongst the Indians of the 

 Isthmus of Darien. See Wafer's Voyage, p. 140. 



