JAN. 1769 INHABITANTS 59 



ages and sexes. They are of a reddish colour, nearly resem- 

 bling that of rust of iron mixed with oil ; the men are largely 

 built, but very clumsy, their height being from five feet eight 

 inches to five feet ten inches, and all very much of the same 

 size. The women are much smaller, seldom exceeding five 

 feet. Their clothes are nothing more than a kind of cloak of 

 guanaco or seal skin, thrown loosely over their shoulders, 

 and reaching nearly to their knees ; under this they have 

 nothing at all, nor anything to cover their feet, except a 

 few who had shoes of raw seal hide drawn loosely round 

 their instep like a purse. In this dress there is no dis- 

 tinction between men and women, except that the latter 

 have their cloak tied round their waist with a kind of belt 

 or thong. 



Their ornaments, of which they are extremely fond, 

 consist of necklaces, or rather solitaires, of shells, and 

 bracelets, which the women wear both on their wrists and 

 legs, the men only on their wrists ; but to compensate for 

 this the men have a kind of wreath of brown worsted which 

 they wear over their foreheads, so that in reality they are 

 more ornamented than the women. 



They paint their faces generally in horizontal lines, just 

 under their eyes, and sometimes make the whole region 

 round their eyes white, but these marks are so much varied 

 that no two we saw were alike. Whether they were marks 

 of distinction or mere ornaments I could not at all make out. 

 They seem also to paint themselves with something like a 

 mixture of grease and soot on particular occasions, for when 

 we went to their town there came out to meet us two who 

 were daubed with black lines in every direction, so as to 

 form the most diabolical countenance imaginable. These 

 two seemed to exorcise us, or at least make a loud and long 

 harangue, which did not seem to be addressed to us or any 

 of their countrymen. 



Their language is guttural, especially in particular words, 

 which they seem to express much as an Englishman when he 

 hawks to clear his throat. But they have many words which 

 sound soft enough. During our stay among them I could 



