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 
