4 l 6 ' C R 
dreffes cover them from the neck to the middle of the 
leg; there are, however, many among them who wear 
boots of fmooth fkin, refembling Englifh boots, only 
that thofe of the Indians open before, and are laced 
tight with a firing. They wear hats woven from the 
fine bark of trees, the form of which refembles that of a 
funnel or a cone. At the wrifis they have bracelets of 
copper or iron, or for want of thefe metals the fins-of 
whale's-; and round the neck, necklaces of fmail frag¬ 
ments of bones of fifties and other animals, and even 
copper collars of the bignefs. of tWo fingers. They 
wear in their ears pendants of.mother of'pearl, or flat 
pieces of copper, on which is embofied a refin of a. topaz 
colour, and which are accompanied \vith jet beads. 
Their hair is long and thick, and they make ufe of a 
comb to hold it together in a fmail queue from the 
middle to the extremity; a narrow ribbon of coarfe 
linen, woven for this purpofe, ferves as a ligament. 
They wear alfo as a covering a kind of fcarf, woven in 
a particular manner, fomething more than a yard and a 
half long, and about half'a yard broad, round which 
hangs a fringe fomething more than half a quarter of a 
yard deep, of which the thiead is regularly twifted. 
The women give proofs'of their modefty and decency 
by their drefs. Their phyfiognomy is agreeable, their 
colour frefh, their cheeks verfnilioned, and their hair 
long; they plait it together in one long trefs. They 
wear a long robe of a fmooth fkin tied round the loins, 
like that of a nun ; it covers them from the neck as low 
as the feet; the fleeves reach down to the wrifts. Upon 
this robe they put divers lkins of otters or other animals 
to defend themfelves from the inclemency of the wea¬ 
ther. Better drelfed, many of them might difpute 
charms with the mod hand fome Spanilh women; but, 
diifatisfied with their natural charms, they haverecourfe 
to art, not to embellifii, but to disfigure themfelves. 
All the married women have a large opening in the un¬ 
der lip, and this opening or orifice is filled up by a piece 
of wood cut in an oval ftiape, of which the f'malleft dia¬ 
meter isalmofl an inch ; the more a woman is advanced 
in years the more this curious ornariient is extended : it 
renders them frightful, the old women efpecially, wfiofe 
lip, deprived of its wonted fpring, and dragged by the 
weight of this extraordinary jewel, neceffarily hangs in 
a very difagreeable manner. The girls wear only a 
copper needle, which croifes the lip in the place where 
the ornament is intended to be placed. 
Thefe Indians in war make ufe of culraffes and 
fiioulder pieces of a manufacture like that of tire whale¬ 
bone (tays among the Europeans. Narrow, boards or 
fcantlings form, in feme fort, the Voof of the texture, 
and threads are the warp : in this manner the whole is 
Very flexible, and leaves a free ufe to the arms for the 
handling of weapons. They wear round the neck a 
coarfe and large gorget which covers them as, -high as 
below the eyes, and their head is defended by a morion, 
or fltull piece, ufually made of the head of feme fero¬ 
cious animal. From the vvaift downwards, they wear a 
kind of apron, of the fame contexture as their cuirafs. 
Laftly, a fine fkin hangs from their fhoulders down to 
the knee. With this armour, they are invulnerable to 
the arrows of their enemies; but thus armed, they can¬ 
not change polition with fo much agility as if they were 
lefs burdened. Their offenfive arms are arrows ; bows, 
of which the firings are woven like the large cords of 
our beft niufical infiruments; lances, four yards in 
length, .tongued with iron; knives, of the fame metal, 
longer than European bayonets, a weapon however not 
very common among them ; little axes of flint, or of a 
green ftone, fo hard that they cleave the moft compaft 
wood without injury to their edge. The pronunciation 
of their language is extremely difficult; they fpeak 
from the throat, with a movement of the tongue againfi 
the palate. The Spaniards could neither pronounce nor 
Write the words which they heard, 
a 
u z. 
From the vivacity of fpirit in thefe Indians, and from 
their attention amply to furnifit the market eftablifhed 
in the harbour, it may be concluded that they are natu¬ 
rally laborious. They brought fluffs well woven and 
fliaded by various colours, the fkins of land and fea 
wolves, of otters, bears, and other fmalier animal's; of 
thefe fome were raw, and others dreffed. There were to 
be found at this market alfo coverlets of coarfe cloth, 
fhaded with white and brown colours, very well woven, 
but in fmail quantities: large ribbons of the fame linen 
Which might match with that of the Spanilh officers’ 
mattreffes ; fkeins of thread fuch as this cloth was made 
of ; wooden plates or bowls neatly worked ; fmail boats, 
or canoes, painted in various colours, the figures of 
which reprefented heads with all their parts ; frogs in 
wood, nicely *■ imitated, which opened like tobacco 
boxes, and which they employed to keep their trinkets 
in : boxes made of fmail planks, of a cubical form, 
being three quarters of a yard on each fide, with figures 
well drawn, or carved on the outfide, reprefenting 
various animals,; the covers fabricated like Flanders 
etwees, with rabbeted edges, formed fo as to fhut into 
the body of the box ; animals in wood, as well thofe of 
the earth as of the air;‘figures of men of the fame ma¬ 
terial, with fkull-caps reprefenting the heads of various 
fierce animals-; fnares and nets forfifhing; copper col¬ 
lars for the neck, and bracelets of iron for the wrift, but 
which they would not part with except at a very high 
price; beak-like infiruments, from which they drew 
founds' as from a German flute. The principal officers 
took fuch of thefe merchandizes as were moft agreeable 
to them, and left the remainder to the (hips crews. As 
the Indians dilcovered that the Spaniards were very 
dainty in their fifty, they did not let them want for 
choice : the greateft abundance was in falmon, and a 
fpecics of foie or turbot three yards and a quarter long, 
broad and thick in proportion ; cod and pilchards were 
alfo brought to market, and fifties refembling trout. 
From all this it may be inferred, that this gulf is full of 
fifti; the banks too are covered with ftiells. 
The quantity of mother-of-pearl that thefe Indians 
cut -o pieces for making ear-rings awakened the curiofity 
of the Spaniards : they tried to difeover whether thefe 
people had not in their poffeffion, or whether their 
country did not produce, pearls or fome precious ftones: 
but their refearches were fruitlefs, they only found fome 
ftones which they judged to be metallic, and which they 
carried on-board, not haying the neceffary means for ex¬ 
tracting the metal they might contain. Thefe Indians- 
appeared to the Spaniards to worfiiip the fun, the earlieft 
and moft natural of all idolatrous worfiiip ; and they 
paid a decent refpeft to the remains of their dead. 
Don Maurelle, one of the Spanifh officers, in an expe¬ 
dition round the gulf, found in two iflands three dead 
bodies laid in boxes, and decked in their furs. Thefe 
biers were placed in a little hut upon a platform, or 
raifed floor, made of the branches of trees. 
The country is very hilly, the mountains lofty, and 
their flope extends almoft every where to the fea. The 
foil, lime-ftone ; it is neverthelefs covered with an impe¬ 
netrable foreft of tall flr-trees, very large and ftrait. 
The commerce between the Spaniards and the Indians 
was quite undifturbed ; and fo delirous were the latter 
to obtain iron, cloth, and other Huffs, that they fold 
their children for broken iron hoops and other wares. 
The Spaniards bought three young lads, and two girls,; 
not to make flaves, but Chriftians, of them ; they hoped 
befides to derive ufeful information from them as to the 
nature of the country and its inhabitants. Thefe were 
fo contented in being with the Spaniards, that they hid 
themfelves when their parents came on-board, from the 
apprehenfion of being again reftored to them. At the 
full and change of the moon, the fea rifes in the harbour 
of Cruz feventeen feet three inches Englifh ; it is then 
high water at a quarter after twelve at noon; the lowed: 
tides 
