Chap. XIX.] BEAUTY. 327 



and often in a diiferent manner ; sometimes, though rarely, 

 the women are hardly at all ornamented. As the women 

 are made by savages to perform the greatest share of the 

 work, and as they are not allowed to eat the best kinds 

 of food, so it accords with the characteristic selfishness of 

 man that they should not be allowed to obtain, or to use, 

 the finest ornaments. Lastly, it is a remarkable fact, as 

 proved by the foregoing quotations, that the same fash- 

 ions in modifying the shape of the head, in ornamenting 

 the hair, in painting, tattooing, perforating the nose, lips, or 

 ears, in removing or filing the teeth, etc., now prevail and 

 have long prevailed in the most distant quarters of the 

 world. It is extremely improbable that these practices 

 which are followed by so many distinct nations are due to 

 tradition from any common source. They rather indicate 

 the close similarity of the mind of man, to whatever race 

 he may belong, in the same manner as the almost univer- 

 sal habits of dancing, masquerading, and making rude 

 pictures. 



Having made these preliminary remarks on the admi- 

 ration felt by savages for various ornaments, and for de- 

 formities most unsightly in our eyes, let us see how far the 

 men are attracted by the appearance of their women, and 

 what are their ideas of beauty. As I have heard it main- 

 tained that savages are quite indifferent about the beauty 

 of their women, valuing them solely as slaves, it may be 

 well to observe that this conclusion does not at all agree 

 with the care which the women take in ornamenting them- 

 selves, or with their vanity. Burchell *' gives an amusing 

 account of a Bushwoman, who used so much grease, red 

 ochre, and shining-powder, " as would have ruined any 

 but a very rich husband." She displayed also ".much 

 vanity and too evident a consciousness of her superiority." 

 ^ ' Travels in South Africa,' 1824, vol. i. p. 414. 



