THE INDIANS. 



191 



to advance money or clothing to them is a cer- 

 tain loss. If I had any labour which was to be 

 performed by a given time, the overseer would 

 always reckon upon his mulatto and negro free 

 people ; but did not mention in the list of persons 

 who were to work, any of the Indians whom I 

 was then employing j and on my speaking of 

 them, he answered " An Indian is only to be 

 mentioned for the present day*," meaning that 

 no reliance is to be placed upon them. 



Like most of the aboriginal inhabitants of the 

 western hemisphere, these people are of a cop- 

 per colour. They are short, and stoutly made ; 

 but their limbs, though large, have not the 

 appearance of possessing great strength ; they 

 have no show of muscle. The face is dispro- 

 portionately broad, the nose flat, the mouth 

 wide, the eyes deep and small, the hair black, 

 coarse, and lank; none of the men have whiskers, 

 and their beards are not thick. The women, 

 when they are young, have by no means an 

 unpleasant appearance ; but they soon fall off, 

 and become ugly ; their figures are seldom well 

 shaped. Deformity is rare among the Indians ; 

 I do not recollect to have seen an individual oi' 

 this race who had been born defective ; and the 

 well-informed persons with whom I conversed 

 were of opinion, that the Indians are more for- 



* " Caboclo he so para hoje." 



