348 SEXUAL selection: man. PartII. 
In several of tlie tribes of North America the hair 
on the head grows to a wonderful length ; and Gatlin 
gives a curious proof how much this is esteemed, for 
the chief of the Crows was elected to this office from 
having the longest hair of any man in the tribe, namely 
ten feet and seven inches. The Aymaras and Quichuas 
of S. America, likewise have very long hair ; and this, 
as Mr. D. Forbes informs me, is so much valued for 
the sake of beauty, that cutting it off was the severest 
punishment which he could inflict on them. In both 
halves of the continent the natives sometimes increase 
the apparent length of their hair by weaving into 
it fibrous substances. Although the hair on the head 
is thus cherished, that on the face is considered by 
the North American Indians as very vulgar,” and 
every hair is carefully eradicated. This practice pre- 
vails throughout the American continent from Van- 
couver’s Island in the north to Tierra del Fuego in the 
south. When York Minster, a Fuegian on board the 
Beagle ” was taken back to his country, the natives told 
him he ought to pull out the few short hairs on his face. 
They also threatened a young missionary, who was left 
for a time with them, to strip him naked, and pluck 
the hairs from his face and body, yet he was far from 
a hairy man. This fashion is carried to such an ex- 
treme that the Indians of Paraguay eradicate their eye- 
brows and eyelashes, saying that they do not wish to 
be like horses.^^ 
It is remarkable that throughout the world the races 
d’OrTgiiy, as quoted in Prichard, ‘ Phys. Hist, of Mankind,’ vol. v. 3rd 
edit. p. 476. 
‘North American Indians,’ by G. Gatlin, 3rd edit. 1842, vol. i. p. 
49 ; vol. ii. p. 227. On the natives of Vancouver Island, see S]3roat, 
‘Scenes and Studies of Savage Life,’ 1868, p. 25. On the Indians of 
Paraguay, Azara, ‘ Voyages,’ tom. ii. p. 105. 
