210 
HISTORY OF 'f HE [sook iv. 
at noon, seasoned with Cayenne pepper, consti¬ 
tutes their principal repast. The effect of this 
mode of life, in a hot and oppressive atmosphere, 
is a lax fibre, and a complexion in which the lily 
predominates rather than the rose. To a stranger 
newly arrived, the ladies appear as just risen from 
the bed of sickness. Their voice is soft and spirit¬ 
less, and every step betrays languor and lassitude. 
With the finest persons, they certainly want that 
glow of health in the countenance, that delicious 
crimson (hunen purpureum juventa) which, in cold¬ 
er countries, enlivens the coarsest set of features, 
and renders a beautiful one irresistible. 
Youth’s orient bloom, the blush of chaste desire, 
The sprightly converse, and the smile divine, 
(Love’s gentler train), to milder climes retire, 
And full in Albion’s matchless daughters shine. 
In one of the principal features of beauty, how¬ 
ever, few ladies surpass the creoles ; for they have, 
in general, the finest eyes of any women in the 
world; large, languishing, and expressive; some¬ 
times beaming with animation, and sometimes melt- 
ins: with tenderness; a sure index to that native 
o ^ # . • r 
goodness of heart and gentleness of disposition for 
which they are eminently and deservedly applauded, 
and to which combined with their system of life and 
manners (sequestered, domestic, and unobtrusive), 
it is doubtless owing, that no women on earth 
make better wives, or better mothers.* 
* The creole ladles are noted for very fine teeth, which they pre¬ 
serve and keep beautifully white by a constant use of the juice of a 
