72 



CHARACTER OF NATIVES. 



brought us to another bend of the creek, which it 

 crossed and continued on the other side. Here 

 several of them plunged in and waded and swam 

 across, and w r ere verv urgent for us to follow. It 

 looked, however, both deep and muddy, and we 

 declined* My friend Thomas continued with us, 

 and also another small man, whom we called Little 

 Jacket, from his having had a jacket given him, and 

 which he now wore the wrong side before, buttoned 

 down his back. 



After going some way down the creek, however, 

 and finding we were not inclined to cross, they 

 also took their leave and went over. A little farther 

 on, we arrived at the same open sandy space we had 

 been upon yesterday when we first landed, so we 

 struck back to our boat, for, as we had brought only 

 one day's provision with us, it was necessary to take 

 advantage of the ebb tide to go down. This tribe 

 of natives had no very athletic men among them, and 

 some of them were very short ; they were all, how- 

 ever, well made, active, lively, and good tempered. 

 They were all more or less scarred, and had lost one 

 front tooth. Some of the scars were very deep, or 

 rather the raised fold of flesh very much in relief: one 

 man especially had a double fold across his back 

 from his shoulder to his loins, raised fully half an 

 inch above his skin, and each half an inch wide, as 

 if two pieces of rope had been let in under his skin 

 side by side. The women were also scarred, espe- 

 cially over the hips, and had likewise each lost a 

 front tooth. 



