OF THE AMAZON. 
493 
blue-black, on their heads, and let it run in streams all 
down their backs ; and the red and yellow are often dis- 
posed in large round spots upon the cheeks and fore- 
head. 
The use of ornaments and trinkets of various kinds 
is almost confined to the men. The women wear a brace- 
let on the wrists, but none on the neck, and no comb in 
the hair ; they have a garter below the knee, worn tight 
from infancy, for the purpose of swelling out the calf, 
which they consider a great beauty. While dancing in 
their festivals, the women wear a small tanga, or apron, 
made of beads, prettily arranged : it is only about six 
inches square, but is never worn at any other time, and 
immediately the dance is over, it is taken off. 
The men, on the other hand, have the hair carefully 
parted and combed on each side, and tied in a queue 
behind. In the young men, it hangs in long locks down 
their necks, and, with the comb, which is invariably car- 
ried stuck in the top of the head, gives to them a most 
feminine appearance : this is increased by the large 
necklaces and bracelets of beads, and the careful extirpa- 
tion of every symptom of beard. Taking these circum- 
stances into consideration, I am strongly of opinion that 
the story of the Amazons has arisen from these feminine- 
looking warriors encountered by the early voyager. I 
am inclined to this opinion, from the effect they first pro- 
duced on myself, when it was only by close examination 
I saw that they were men ; and, were the front parts of 
their bodies and their breasts covered with shields, such 
as they always use, I am convinced any person seeing them 
for the first time would conclude they were women. We 
