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271 



The chiefs in the Society-Ifles value themfelves on having long 

 nails on all, or on fome of their fingers ; it is an evident proof of 

 their indolence, and that they are not obliged to work, which 

 would foon deprive them of this diftinguifhing mark of their pre- 

 eminence -, they are, however, very careful in keeping thefe long 

 nails clean, and free from any impurity -, the cuftom of tattowing 

 the faces in fpirals and various fcrolls, which prevails in New- 

 Zeeland, and the various figures with which the natives of the Mar- 

 quefas pund;ure their faces, naturally deflroys the growth of hair, 

 and to this v/e mufl afcribe it, that in both places, thofe who are 



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much punctured, have very little or no beards at all. 



Thefe are the mofl remarkable particulars which chiefly form 



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the variety of the two great tribes, obferved by us in the South Sea 

 illes ; from whence may be inferred the powerful influence of cli- 



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mate, food, and peculiar cuiloms upon the colour, fize, habit, 

 and form of body, and certain defedis, excefi^es, or modifications 



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of the parts ; but it muft be acknowledged at the fame time, that 

 the caufes here enumerated are not the only ones, and particularly 

 that climate alone does not produce fuch extraordinary efFed:sj 

 for we find that the Dutch, who have been fettled at the Cape of 

 Good Hope, during an uninterrupted courfe of 120 years, have 

 conftantly remained fair and fimilar to Europeans in every refped:^ 

 notwithftanding, if we compare them with the Hottentots, the na- 



CAUSES 

 OF VARI- 

 ETIES. 



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tive 



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