103 



in this manner cross their largest rivers, which ren- 

 ders them some of the best divers in the world. 



The women are also fond of frequent bathing, 

 and for this purpose, select the most obscure solitary 

 places, at a great distance from the men. Even on 

 the very day of the birth of a child, they take the 

 infant to the river and wash it, and also themselves, 

 and within a short time return to their customary 

 occupations, without experiencing any inconve- 

 nience ; so true it is, that the human constitution is 

 not naturally delicate, but is rendered so by our cus- 

 toms and modes of living. Child-birth is with them 

 attended with little pain, which must be attributed 

 to the strength of their constitutions; for a similar rea- 

 son the women of the lower classes in Europe, ac- 

 cording to the statement of Doctor Bland, in the 

 Philosophical Transactions, experience a more easy 

 delivery than the ladies, and are less subject to sick- 

 ness in consequence. 



Whether directed merely by the impulse of sim- 

 ple nature, or actuated by their solicitude to furnish 

 strong men to the state, they rear their children in a 

 very different manner from what is practised in ci- 

 vilized countries. When they have washed them 

 in running water, as I have already observed, they 

 neither swathe nor bandage them, but place them in 

 a hanging cradle, called chigua, lined with soft skins, 

 where they merely cover them with a cloth, and 

 swing them from time to time by means of a cord 

 attached to the cradle, which leaves them more at li- 

 berty to attend to their domestic concerns. 



