19 



None of the aborigines cared for clothes as a covering 

 for decency, and scarcely even as a preservative against 

 cold. Men, -women, arid children alike went entirely naked, 

 or when they did wear a cloak it was over the shoulders 

 only. Huts they rarely used, their only shelter being two 

 large strips of bark placed against some tree, with a fire 

 in front to keep out the night wind or the musquitoes. Of 

 canoes, those on the coast had no idea, though dependent 

 upon the sea iu a great measure for their supply of food. 



This absence of constructiveness led many of the first 

 writers on the subject to consider the natives the very 

 lowest in the human scale ; but more extended observation 

 had shown that they were by no means deficient in this 

 attribute. Their nets, fishing baskets, weirs, and weapons 

 were constructed with considerable ingenuity ; and the 

 rapidity with which they learned many of the arts of 

 civilized life proved that they possessed a superior intellect 

 to the generality of barbarians. In the north-west parts of 

 the island many caves had been found in which were pour- 

 trayed, on the walls, rude paintings of men and women, 

 evidently of an ancient date. Round many of these, 

 characters had been found, resembling letters, and other 

 marks, which had led to the belief that the caves had been 

 used as places of divination. It was well worthy of remark, 

 that all the figures were painted as being clothed — some 

 with Jong garments like shirts, others with tightly-fitting 

 jackets, and all with turbans, or some other kind of head- 

 dress. In the vicinity of one of these caves, a human 

 head was found sculptured on a rock in bold relief, wbose 

 large size and correct proportions showed that it had been 

 done by no novice in the art. Its form showed that the 

 model had not been one of the present natives, as it 

 approached very nearly to that of the classic Eomans. 

 This, when coupled with the fact that the painted figures 

 everywhere represented white, or, at least, only slightly- 

 coloured men, would lead to the supposition that, at no 

 very remote period, the country had been inhabited by a 

 higher race than now exists. 



The rite of circumcision had been found to be practised 

 in the north and south, but did not seem to be of general 

 obligation. A far more common practice, but which, 

 nevertheless, was not uniformly followed, was, for the men 

 to have the two front teeth knocked out, when they arrived 

 at puberty, and to have the nose bored by a skewer, which 

 they continued to wear subsequently as an elegant and 

 attractive ornament. 



