THIRD VOYAGE 337 



eyes, though not small, scarcely bore a proportion to the 

 size of their faces ; and their noses had full round points, 

 hooked or turned up at the tip. Their hair was black, 

 thick, straight, and strong ; and their beards, in general, 

 thin or wanting. Very few of them have any pretensions 

 to beauty, though their countenance commonly indicates a 

 considerable share of vivacity, good-nature and frankness. 



" Their common dress (for men, women, and children are 

 clothed alike) is a kind of close frock, or rather robe, 

 reaching generally to the ankles, though sometimes only 

 to the knees. At the upper part is a hole just sufficient to 

 admit the head, with sleeves that reach to the wrist. These 

 frocks are made of the skins of different animals ; the most 

 common of which are those of the sea-otter, gray fox, racoon, 

 and pine-marten, with many of seal skins ; and in general 

 they are worn with the hairy side outward. Some also have 

 these frocks made of the skins of fowls, with only the down 

 remaining on them, which they glue on other substances. 

 A few have a kind of cape or collar ; and some a hood ; but 

 the other is the most common form, and seems to be their 

 whole dress in good weather. When it rains, they put over 

 this another frock, ingeniously made from the intestines 

 of whales, or some other large animal, prepared so skilfully 

 as almost to resemble our gold-beaters' leaf. 



" In general they do not cover their legs or feet ; but 

 a few have a kind of skin stockings, which reach half 

 way up the thigh ; and scarcely any of them are without 

 mittens for the hands, made of the skins of bears' paws. 



" Both sexes have the ears perforated with several holes, 

 about the outer and lower part of the edge, in which they 

 hang little bunches of beads. The septum of the nose is 

 also perforated, through which they frequently thrust the 

 quill feathers of small birds, or little bending ornaments, 

 made of shelly substances, strung on a stiff string or cord, 

 three or four inches long, which give them a truly grotesque 

 appearance. But the most uncommon and unsightly 

 ornamental fashion, adopted by some of both sexes, is the 

 having their under lip slit, or cut quite through in the 

 direction of the mouth, a little below the swelling part. 

 This incision, whfth is made even in the sucking children, 

 is often above two inches long ; and either by its natural 

 retraction, when the wound is fresh, or by the repetition 

 of some artificial management, assumes the true shape of 

 lips, and becomes so large as to admit the tongue through. 

 This happened to be the case when the first person, having 

 this incision, was seen by one of the seamen, who called 

 out that the man had two mouths ; and, indeed, it does 

 not look unlike it. In this artificial mouth they stick a 



