348 DESCRIPTION OF SAVU CHAP. XV 
men wear pretty tight, but it makes a kind of loose belt, in 
which they carry their knives, etc., and often many other 
things, so that it serves entirely the purpose of pockets. 
The other piece is tucked into this girdle, and reaching over 
the shoulders, passes down to the girdle on the other side, so 
that by opening or folding it they can cover more or less of 
their bodies as they please. The arms, legs, and feet of 
both sexes are consequently bare, as are the heads of the 
women, which is their chief distinction by which they are 
at once known from the men, who always wear something 
wrapped round theirs, which, though small, is of the finest 
material they can procure; many we saw had silk handker- 
chiefs, which seemed to be much in fashion. 
The distinction of the women’s dress, except only the 
head, consists merely in the manner of wearing their clothes, 
which are of the same materials and the same quality as 
the men’s. Their waist-cloths reach down below the 
knees, and their body-cloths are tied under their arms and 
over their breasts. Both sexes eradicate the hair from 
under their armpits, a custom in these hot climates almost 
essential to cleanliness ; the men also pluck out their beards, 
for which purpose the better sort carry always a pair of 
silver pincers hanging round their necks: some, however, 
wear a little hair on their upper lips, but they never suffer 
it to grow long. 
Ornaments they have many; some of the better sort wear 
gold chains round their necks, but these were chiefly made 
of plated wire of little value; others had rings which, by 
their appearance, seemed to have been worn out some 
generations ago. One had a silver-headed cane, on the top 
of which was engraved &4, so that it had probably been a 
present from the East India Company. Besides these, beads 
were worn, chiefly by the men of distinction, round their necks 
in the form of a solitaire; others had them round their 
wrists, etc. but the women had the largest quantity, which 
they wore round their waists in the form of a girdle, serving 
to keep up their waist-cloths. Both sexes universally had 
their ears bored, but we never saw any ornaments in them, 
