i6o TRAVEI. S IN 
" hufbands about the head with it till theif 
" arms arc weary of the exercife. 
Oxgall the alfronts which they can ofFei^, 
" this is the rnoft infulting. Unable to with- 
" (land it, the men in their turn become furi- 
ous. They put on their war* cap, a fort of 
" helmet made with the Ikin that covers the 
^' neck of the hyasna, the long hair of which 
forms a creft that floats over the head, and, 
fetting out like madmen, never return till 
they have fucceeded in carrying off fome- 
cattle. 
" When they come back, their wives go to 
meet them, and extol their courage amidft 
^' the fondeft careffes. In a word, nothing is 
" then thought of but mirth and jollity ; and, 
" till fnnilar fcenes are recalled by fimilar wants, 
" pad evils are forgotten.'' 
Such was the fubftance of the details by 
which my guide endeavoured to juftify the 
condud of the Houzouanas — a condad ren-* 
dered neceifary by want, and fufFiciently autho- 
* rifed by their quality of favages. With ouf 
laws, civilization, manners, and the p'^ejudices 
we thence imbibe, v/e confider it as fomething 
Hiojiftrous to find, in the favage fiate, hordes 
of 
