OF THE INDIANS. 
229 
it amongst us, is the smallest sign of hair visible, 
except, indeed on the chins of old men, where 
a few slender straggling hairs are sometimes 
seen, not different from what may be occasion¬ 
ally seen on women of a' certain age in Europe. 
Many persons have supposed that the Indians 
have been created without hair on those parts 
of the body where it appears wanting ; others, 
on the contrary, are of opinion, that nature has 
not been less bountiful to them than to us; 
and that this apparent deficiency of hair is 
wholly owing to their plucking it out them-* 
selves by the roots, as soon as it appears above 
the skin. It is well known, indeed, that the 
Indians have a great dislike to hair, and that 
such ofthe.men as are ambitious of appearing 
gayer than the rest, pluck it not only from their 
eye-brows end eye-lashes, but also from every 
part of the head, except one spot on the back 
part of the crown, where they leave a long lock. 
For my own part, from every thing I have 
seen and heard, I am fully persuaded, that if 
an Indian w 7 ere to lay aside this custom of pluck¬ 
ing out the hair, he would not only have a, 
beard, but also hair on the same parts of the 
body as white people have : I think, however, 
at the same time, that this hair would be much 
finer, and not grow as thickly as upon our 
bodies, notwithstanding that the hair of their 
