192 travels TtntotJGii north America i 
forced to proceed much farther in a day that! 
I have wished* in order to avoid the scenes of 
rioting and quarrelling that I have met with at 
the taverns., which it is impossible to escape as 
long as you remain in the same house where 
they are carried on, for every apartment is 
considered as common, and that room in 
which a stranger sits down is sure to be the 
most frequented. 
Whenever these people come to blows, they 
light just like wild beasts, biting, kicking, and 
endeavouring to tear each other's eyes out w ith 
their nails. It is by no means uncommon to 
meet with those who have lost an eye in a 
combat, and there are men who pride them¬ 
selves upon the dexterity with which they can 
scoop one out. This is called gouging. To 
perform the horrid operation, the combatant 
twists his forefingers in the side locks of his 
adversary's hair, and then applies his thumbs 
to the bottom of the eye, to force it out of the 
socket. If ever there is a battle, in which 
neither of those engaged loses an eye, their 
faces are however generally cut in a shocking 
manner with the thumb-nails, in the many 
attempts which are made at gouging. But 
what is worse than all, these wretches in their 
combat endeavour to their utmost to tear out 
each other's testicles. Four or five instances 
came within my own observation, as I passed 
